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.

March 14, 1980

The Hockey News March 14, 1980

<div class="byline">BY PAT DOYLE</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;The scene was strictly Smalltown U.S.A.Banners and signs were in every storefront window, the Stars &lsquo;n Stripes fluttered in the February breeze, close friends and relatives gathered in the local hockey rink to welcome their hero home, the mayor was there with the key to the city&hellip;and John Ferguson was there with a contract.Yes, Dave Christian Day was a happening in Warroad, Minn., and the town may never be the same.&ldquo;It was really something,&rdquo; said Christian. &ldquo;I think they closed down the whole town and there were about 1,200 people in the rink.&rdquo;Christian, of course, was a member of the United States Olympic hockey team which won the gold medal at Lake Placid and, following stops at the White House and Minneapolis, he finally made his way home from the Olympic Games on Feb. 28.The warm greeting he received.was nice, and the key to the city was a grand gesture, too, but the real prize that day was the contract Ferguson presented Christian with. It was a multi-year deal which made the 20-year-old forward a member of the Winnipeg Jets.Christian had been Winnipeg&rsquo;s second-round pick in the 1979 National Hockey League entry draft, but the Jets had to keep their hands off him until the Olympics had concluded.Ferguson didn&rsquo;t mind the wait, though, because he knew he&rsquo;d be getting himself a hockey player somewhere down the line.Although he played center during his two years with the North Dakota University Sioux, Christian was used exclusively as a defenseman by coach Herb Brooks of the Olympic team.&ldquo;The fact that Dave could learn a new position and adapt so well,&rdquo; says Ferguson, &ldquo;is testimony to the hockey skills he possesses. He is a very versatile hockey player and a most welcome addition to our club.&rdquo;Versatile is a good adjective to put before Christian&rsquo;s name, because he not only won recognition as an all-state, all-conference hockey player in high school, but he also lettered in football, baseball and track.Dave is the son of Bill Christian, and if the name rings a bell it&rsquo;s not surprising.Bill Christian played on the 1960 and 1964 U.S. Olympic hockey teams, and in 1960 he scored the winning goal in a 3-2 victory over the Soviet Union on the way to the gold medal.Two of Dave&rsquo;s uncles, Roger and Gord Christian, also won Olympic hockey medals. Roger also played on the 1960 and &lsquo;64 teams, while Gord was a member of the 1956 squad which won a silver medal.&ldquo;The Christian name is associated with winning,&rdquo; said Ferguson in officially announcing Christian&rsquo;s signing. &ldquo;We are obviously pleased that we will have one who will help us start that tradition in Winnipeg.&rdquo;Christian, by the way, is the second American-born player to put on a Jets&rsquo; jersey, the other being dfenseman Craig Norwich. For starters, he&rsquo;ll be used at center.&ldquo;I was just beginning to feel comfortable back on defense,&rdquo; Christian said, &ldquo;but it shouldn&rsquo;t be much of an adjustment to make.&rdquo;In all likelihood, Christian will see plenty of action from the blueline, as well, because Jets aren&rsquo;t blessed with a lot of mobility back there. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Contract With Jets Makes Christian’s Day

<div class="byline">BILL LIBBY&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011311/5133864-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="291" height="378"></div><h2>An Unusual Youngster</h2>WHEN GLEN HANLON reported to the Vancouver Canucks, general manager Jake Milford sent him to get a rental car so he could get around until he was settled down. Every other player had taken a taxi to the car rental place, but young Glen didn&rsquo;t even take a bus. He walked.Milford worked out Hanlon&rsquo;s contract with his agent. The agent checked with the player and told the manager Glen wanted 48 hours to think about it. Upset, Milford said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good contract.&rdquo; The agent admitted, &ldquo;Glen thinks it&rsquo;s too good. He thinks it&rsquo;s too much money.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021097/5133857-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="295" height="374"><figcaption class="caption-body">Glen Hanlon</figcaption></div>Startled, Milford said, &ldquo;Just tell him to sign it.&rdquo;But when the boyish redhead came in to sign the contract he said he had hurt his arm in an accident at home and didn&rsquo;t think he should sign. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my fault I hurt myself,&rdquo; he told Milford, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t deserve this contract.&rdquo; &ldquo;Sign it,&rdquo; Milford told him.Milford, who has been in this business a good many years, says, &ldquo;Glen is the most incredible kid I&rsquo;ve come across, especially in recent years. In an era when most players want to get big money more than they want to earn it, ne just wants to play. He turned down $10,000 to do a commercial because he decided it would distract him. He&rsquo;s the most dedicated kid I&rsquo;ve come across.&rdquo;Hanlon was born to John and Audrey Hanlon in Brandon, Manitoba in February, 1957. His father and an older brother, Ward, are salesmen. Glen played amateur at home for Brandon in the Western Canada League. In his last season he led the league with a 3.09 goals-against average, including four shutouts in 65 games, good enough to be that league&rsquo;s all star goalie.Although that is an astonishing average for wide-open junior ranks, Hanlon was passed over until Vancouver took him in the third round as the 40th player picked. He turned pro in 1977 and had a 3.07 goals-against average, with a league-leading three shutouts in 53 games and was voted Rookie of the Year in the Central League.League president Bud Poile said, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best young netminder I&rsquo;ve seen come along in many a year.&rdquo;<h2>First Hockey Injury</h2>GLEN MADE THE majors last season with the Canucks and had a 3.10 goals-against average, with three shutouts in 31 games. He was a contender for Rookie of the Year honors in the NHL until he suffered ligament damage in one knee when he twisted it making a save in a pileup in front of his crease late in January.&ldquo;That was the first hockey injury I ever suffered,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Until then, this was just a game I was playing. But I did get hurt playing racquetball.&rdquo; (He plays racquetball and handball to keep his reflexes sharp.)Last summer he almost took out his eye when he hooked himself on his cheek while learning to fly-fish in British Columbia. Then he suffered a dislocated elbow in the backyard of his parents&rsquo; house in Brandon. It&rsquo;s reported he fell from the roof while retrieving a frisbee, but he says he fell off a ladder while pruning a tree.He smiles and says, &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t want to say I hurt myself having fun with a frisbee. I&rsquo;d rather say I hurt myself doing good work,&rdquo; Milford says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll buy his story, whatever it is.&rdquo;This season Hanlon was slowed a bit by the shoulder and a few other injuries, but he&rsquo;s still compiled a 3.30 average while playing most of his team&rsquo;s games over the first two-thirds of the season.Vancouver is not good defensively but the team is getting better&mdash;slowly. Coach Harry Neals says, &ldquo;Glen is the one who keeps us in games.&rdquo;Good young goalies are rare, but Milford says, Hanlon is &ldquo;the best to come along in years,&rdquo; and former star Roger Crozier says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll be one of the two or three best in a few years.&rdquo;The slender six-foot, 175-pounder has remarkable reflexes and is an acrobatic performer who is enormously popular in Vancouver, where they&rsquo;ve had few worthwhile draft picks.&ldquo;I guess all goalies lose,&rdquo; Glen says, &ldquo;but I hate to lose. It depresses me, but it doesn&rsquo;t discourage me. We were doing better last year. This has been a hard year.<h2>Sports Book Helped</h2>HANLON&rsquo;S COACHES USED to complain that he worried so much about the shot that got by him he wasn&rsquo;t ready for the next shot. Glen admits this, but says he has gotten over it with the help of a book he read in Tulsa Sports Psyching, by Thomas Tutko.&ldquo;There was one sentence, Glen recalled, &ldquo;which said you can only concentrate on one thing at a time and you have to put the play that just passed in the past and get to work on the present. I don&rsquo;t even think about the next play in the future. I just work on what&rsquo;s in front of me now.&rdquo;The 23-year-old is a bachelor, living with a teammate. He gets so nervous before games he won&rsquo;t talk to anyone. If his mother calls, he won&rsquo;t take the call. But when he beat mighty Montreal, he rushed to telephone her. &ldquo;I wanted to share it with her. I&rsquo;m not ashamed to say I was so happy I cried,&rdquo; he admits.Called on to accept an award and thousanddollar prize before a game, he went to center ice but was so lost in his own world that when a photographer touched him to get his attention, Glen jumped and was furious. He swears he&rsquo;s not superstitious, but taps each post with his stick, bounces on his skates, whirls his stick overhead, then slaps his pads in a pre-game ritual that never vanes.He is so into every game he says he&rsquo;d be sick if he thought about it. He is intense and after games runs over and over video tapes of goals he&rsquo;s allowed. &ldquo;By the time I&rsquo;m finished, a two to one loss seems like two hundred to one, but I&rsquo;ve got to get better out there,&rdquo; he says.An agreeable lad off the ice, he says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m serious about this sport. I love it. I just love it. It&rsquo;s what I always wanted. Money doesn&rsquo;t mean much to me. Being a good goalie does. I&rsquo;ve had some success, but I don&rsquo;t want it to go to my head. I&rsquo;ve got a long way to go.&rdquo; He actually says, &ldquo;Hockey is my life.&rdquo;He does have a sense of humor. Admitting he likes to fish almost as much as play hockey, he says, &ldquo;My ambition is to help a team to the Stanley Cup and catch a ten-pound trout.&rdquo; &#9632;

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HOCKEY AD LIB

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2027/5134920-1-eng-US/f0029-202.jpg" title="f0029-20" width="548" height="418"></div><h2>Top Canadian College Teams</h2>1. Alberta Golden Bears2. McMaster Marlins3. Moncton Aigles Bleus4. Toronto Blues5. T-Rivieres Patriotes6. Dalhousie Tigers7. Calgary Dinosaurs8. Concordia Stingers9. Brandon Bobcats10. St. Mary&rsquo;s Huskies &#9632;

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Leading U.S. College Teams

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>MADISON&mdash;If there was any question about the Western Collegiate Hockey Association being the best amateur league in the United States, that doubt was removed by a gutty band of collegians plucked mainly from WCHA rosters in the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y.When the United States won the gold medal in hockey by shocking the world by beating Russia 4-3. then topping Finland 4-2, it was the WCHA that furnished the bulk of the players as well as the coach for the Cinderella story.Of the 20 players on the Olympic roster, no less than 13 came from the WCHA. The group was molded into one by Herb Brooks, who took Minnesota to the NCAA championship last season after his Gophers had finished second to North Dakota in the regular season.Brooks took goalie Steve Janaszak, defensemen Mike Ramsey and Bill Baker and forwards Rob McClanahan, Neal Broten, Steve Christoff, Eric Strobel and Phil Verchota from his national championship Gopher team from a year earlier.He plucked defenseman Bob Suter and forward Mark Johnson from Wisconsin and took forwards Mark Pavelich and John Harrington from Minnesota-Duluth.And last but certainly not least, he snared David Christian from North Dakota, where he was a standout center. Brooks converted him to a defenseman, where all Christian did was lead the team in assists with nine in the Olympic Games.Buzz Schneider, another standout at Lake Placid, is another former Gopher who was the only player to also play on the 1976 Olympic team. He played in the International League while waiting his chance for his second Olympic chance.That the WCHA could furnish 14 players who went on to become a part of the Olympic Team which went on to defeat the Soviet Union&mdash;did much for the status of college hockey in the United States as well as Canada.And the only man who didn&rsquo;t get a gold medal out of it was Brooks, simply the man who blended the talent, taught them a foreign system of play, then beat the masters at their own game.Meanwhile, the teams who&rsquo;ll make a run at this year&rsquo;s national championship were decided on the final weekend of play.North Dakota, which won its second straight WCHA title, ran its winning streak to eight and firmed up its status as the top college team in the nation by knocking hopeful Wisconsin out of the playoffs for the first time in Wisconsin history.North Dakota whipped Wisconsin 8-1 and 4-3 in Madison to drop Wisconsin to ninth in the final standings. Just the top eight teams in the 10-team WCHA advance to the playoffs.First round pairings have No. 8 Michigan State at No. 2 North Dakota, No. 7 Michigan Tech at No. 2 Minnesota, No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth at No. 3 Colorado College and No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 4 Michigan.Winners in the two-game, total goal series advance to the second round March 14-15. The top-seeded team after the second round advance automatically to the Nationals March 27-29 in Providence, R.I. The runnerup will likely have to face the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoff winner, most likely Northern Michigan, for the other berth from the West in the four-team national tournament.The most interesting first round pairing has Notre Dame at Michigan. Notre Dame beat Michigan 54, then tied the Wolverines 5-5 in Michigan just two weeks before the season ended.But with scoring ace Murray Eaves returning to good health for Michigan, the Irish could face a tougher time now.Michigan Tech split an earlier regular season series at Minnesota while Duluth and CC matches two offensive-minded teams in what should be a high-scoring series.Michigan State made the playoffs by virtue of North Dakota knocking Wisconsin out. Had Wisconsin beaten the Sioux just once, Wisconsin would have been in the playoffs and Michigan State would have been out.It&rsquo;ll be no bed of roses for Michigan State, which made the postseason action for the first time in four seasons under the guidance of first-year rookie coach Ron Mason, no newcomer to playoff pressure when at Bowling Green.North Dakota can field practically an all-star lineup. The Sioux walked away with the WCHA title in a year where there was tremendous balance throughout the league&mdash;except for the Sioux, who ran away and hid with the late eight-game streak.UND coaches feel Junior Marc Chorney and sophomore Howard Walker are the two best defensemen in the league, a feeling seconded by some experts. They don&rsquo;t rank with the great scoring defensemen in the WCHA, but that isn&rsquo;t necessary in North Dakota&rsquo;s defensive style of play. As pure defensemen, they can&rsquo;t be beat.Center Mark Taylor has been called probably the best all-round player in the country, by Minnesota coach Brad Buetow. Taylor leads the Sioux in scoring, is a vital cog on the power play and teams with linemate Doug Smail to give the Sioux the best penaltykilling unit in the WCHA as well.Smail ranks with Minnesota&rsquo;s Tim Harrer as one of the two best wings in the league and Bob Iwabuchi, who made All-America last year as a freshman, teams with freshman Darren Jensen to give the Sioux the best goaltending in the league as well.It all adds up to North Dakota being the favorite to emerge from the WCHA playoffs stamped as the team to beat for the national championship. The Sioux, second in the nationals a year ago, appear to have the talent to bring the first national title to the school since 1963. &#9632;

WCHA Graduates Made Bulk Of Olympic Team

The Washington Capitals have kept their fans&rsquo; hopes alive by telling them this year is going to be the one that they finally will participate in the NHL playoffs. Well, they&rsquo;re not there yet, but a strong second half by sophomore captain Ryan Walter has put the Caps in a position to qualify for postseason play. HOCKEY NEWS correspondent Steve Winter examines Walter&rsquo;s role with the club and the respect he receives around the league.Herb Brooks, the 42-year-old coach of the U.S. Olympic team and the man behind that incredible win at Lake Placid, will reveal in next week&rsquo;s issue the tactics and techniques he employed in those big victories over the Soviets and Finns. Don&rsquo;t miss it! &#9632;

What’s Coming…

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011238/5133212-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="335" height="358"></div><h2>An Extraordinary Win</h2>A REALLY SPECIAL moment in sport, wasn&rsquo;t it, when that group of young U.S. hockey players won the gold medal in the Olympic Games tournament!If you didn&rsquo;t get caught up in it, if you didn&rsquo;t feel just a trifle choked up by it all, then, buddy, your relatives should all be walkin&rsquo; slow and wearin&rsquo; black behind your box.Unless you&rsquo;re a Soviet, that is! The comrades undoubtedly think only of the scorn they&rsquo;d receive when they returned to the steppes because that Olympic Gold was something they collected automatically every four years.If there are good things in team sport, then the U.S. Olympic hockey team represented most of them. They showed what can be accomplished when a gang of guys get together, decide what they want to do and devote every calorie of energy they possess to doing it, especially if they have an excellent coach and a fine goaltender.In fact, the U.S. hockey teams now have provided two of the special achievements in Olympic history&mdash;the 1960 victory at Squaw Valley and this year&rsquo;s effort. There&rsquo;s a world of difference, though, in the two accomplishments.Back in &lsquo;60, the Soviets were good but they didn&rsquo;t have the luster of the &lsquo;80 USSR team. That first Soviet team was 19 years away from a wipeout of the National Hockey League All Stars, the credentials carried by the &lsquo;80 Soviet side.And the lure of lucrative NHL careers wasn&rsquo;t there for the &lsquo;60 U.S. players because in that era of hockey, the NHL felt that if a player didn&rsquo;t come from north of the border, he had little pro potential. Only one member of the &lsquo;60 team&mdash;goalie Jack McCartan&mdash;became a pro.Of course, a few cynics have suggested that there was some sort of ulterior motive to the efforts of the U.S. lads: That they were all armed with agents ready to turn Olympic gold into green as pros. .So what? The Soviets have turned the medals into better apartments, higher pay than the average citizens and trips abroad to buy their very own blue jeans and stereo tapes. It&rsquo;s not only the goalies who must play the angles in hockey, is it?<h2>Used Soviet Approach</h2>THE SUCCESS of the U.S. side provides a lesson on the way things should be done for the NHL on the matter of international exchanges with the Soviets. The NHL found out in last year&rsquo;s Challenge Cup series that no matter how much talent the players on a team have, they need more than three workouts as a unit to be ready for the superbly co-ordinated Soviets.Both the U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams&mdash;the latter a major disappointment in the Games&mdash;tackled the comrades on their own terms. The Soviets devote the entire season to preparation for a couple of major events, notably the world championships or the Olympics. They&rsquo;re able to gear their entire training program to one two-week competition and to carefully bring the club to a peak for that event.That&rsquo;s the approach the U.S. and Canadian teams used this season and the way any NHL All Star team should be prepared if it doesn&rsquo;t want to be embarrassed by the USSR. However, the necessity of an 80-game schedule to pay the bills makes that attack impossible for the pros.If an NHL All Star team competes as Team Canada or Team U.S. in a 1980 Canada Cup tournament in September&mdash;and the chances of that event being staged are very slim because of the world political situation&mdash;then training camp for those squads must open no later than July 1.Back in late December, when two top Soviet club sides were on tour against NHL teams, Bill Torrey, general manager of New York Islanders, made a statement that turned out to be extremely profound.&ldquo;Because the U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams are gearing their seasons to that one competition, they have a better chance of beating the Soviets than the NHL does because we lack the time to prepare our team properly,&rdquo; Torrey said.<h2>NHL Big Adjustment</h2>SEVERAL MEMBERS of the U.S. Olympic club will finish the season with NHL teams and their pro play will be watched keenly. The Olympic win was a large boost for U.S. college hockey. Many NHL men feel that the college game is doing a much better job of teaching skills to players than the Canadian junior hockey factory because the college teams have a more advantageous game-to-practice ratio than the juniors.However, one NHL general manager expressed some pessimism about the NHL futures of the Olympians.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t use my name, please, because everyone will think I&rsquo;m a scrooge after the high of the Olympic team&rsquo;s win,&rdquo; the man said. &ldquo;But I think those players are going to find the move to the NHL to be a big adjustment.&ldquo;They won the gold medal with great goaltending from Jim Craig, total team effort, plus the fact that they could gear their entire season to that two-week tournament.&ldquo;The NHL grind and the different style of play is going to be a change for those players. Eventually, some will be good NHL players but I don&rsquo;t think anyone should expect instantaneous success from all of them.&rdquo;Nothing, however, will detract from those two weeks in Lake Placid. &#9632;

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HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011278/5133243-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Danny Gare has had a career filled with successes and injuries, but his main characteristic is his determination to be a winner.</figcaption></div>Danny Gare was looking forward to this hockey season. Yet in a way, he wasn&rsquo;t, mainly because he was just a little wary of testing himself.Gare, captain of the Buffalo Sabres and once a 50-goal scorer (in only his second pro season) has had physical troubles the last three years. Last season wasn&rsquo;t, as he put it, &ldquo;one of my better years.&rdquo; And it ended with Danny being hit by a severe case of mononucleosis.Understandably, he wasn&rsquo;t sure just how things would work out for him in 1979-80, his sixth season as a professional hockey player.Things, however, seem to be working out pretty well, even though he was temporarily slowed by yet another physical problem, a corneal abrasion on his right eye.<div class="sidebar">&ldquo;I felt I had something to prove this year,&rdquo; Gare said. &ldquo;Last year wasn&rsquo;t too good.&rdquo;</div>Danny is leading the Sabres in goals and is up among the National Hockey League leaders. At this writing, with just 16 games remaining in the regular season, Gare had 42 goals and 27 assists, numbers which make another 50-goal season a strong possibility.He is, as teammate Craig Ramsay pointed out early in the campaign, &ldquo;the Danny Gare of old,&rdquo; and Danny feels he&rsquo;s regained his old form largely because of that bout with mononucleosis, which he calls, &ldquo;a blessing in disguise&rdquo;.Through the three previous seasons, the rugged little right winger suffered from back trouble, which started when Gare was training with Team Canada before the 1976-77 campaign.He played only 35 games that year and scored 11 goals, quite a comedown from the 50 he tallied the season before. Danny bounced back pretty well in 1977-78, scoring 39 goals, but he was bothered by his back and other ailments and missed 11 games.Last season he suffered an ankle injury early and his back was hurting throughout. Besides that, the Sabres as a team had all sorts of problems and Gare, as captain, was affected.General Manager Punch Imlach (for Gare&rsquo;s comments on Imlach and the situation in Buffalo last season, see sidebar) and Coach Marcel Pronovost were fired just before midseason. Billy Inglis took over as interim coach and John Anderson became acting general manager.After those massive changes, Gare was hit by the mono. Then, over the summer, Scotty Bowman was named general manager and coach of the Sabres, with Roger Neilson as associate coach and Jim Roberts as assistant coach.Bowman was told by physicians that Gare might not be fully recovered from his illness until Christmas time.&ldquo;As soon as I got out of the hospital, I went back home and got a good rest,&rdquo; said Danny &ldquo;That was the best thing I could have done.&rdquo;Back home meant a trip to his family in Nelson, British Columbia. Gare, one of Buffalo&rsquo;s better-known bachelors-about-town, comes from a close-knit family and back home he had good home cooking and a real rest.&ldquo;I worked on my back and that&rsquo;s about all I did,&rdquo; Gare said. &ldquo;The rest of the time I took it good and easy.&rdquo;&ldquo;I finally found out the proper exercises that would make me feel comfortable,&rdquo; Gare said. &ldquo;What had happened was that my back muscles were too tight. I got a couple of cracked vertebrae&mdash;I guess it was with Team Canada but I&rsquo;m not sure&mdash;and the muscles, doing the work of the bones, tightened up.X-rays show that the bones are OK now. It&rsquo;s just a matter of keeping the muscles loose, stretched and strong.&rdquo;Danny does stretching muscles every day and so far, he has had no trouble. By the time he reported to training camp, he had recovered from the mono&mdash;&ldquo;the rest did it&rdquo;&mdash;and his back was feeling good again.&ldquo;Here I was, coming into a new coaching situation and a new situation in the front office,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wanted to make sure I was really healthy. Besides,&rdquo; he added, &lsquo;I was into the option year of my contract. I wanted a good season.&rdquo;Danny was one of the high finishers in the battery of physical fitness tests devised by the new regime, and that built up his confidence.Danny went right on from there. He had a good camp, scored well in exhibition games and seemed to work well with center Derek Smith and left wing Tony McKegney.Smith was playing his first full season in the NHL and so was McKegney. The center, who spent three years in the minors, had been hurt much of last season and played only half the games. McKegney had spent last season, his first as a pro, shuttling between Buffalo and Hershey in the American League.In the Sabres&rsquo; season opener, a 5-3 win over Washington, the trio picked up six points and Gare scored two goals.In the second game, a 5-2 victory on the road over the New York Islanders, Gare got two more. He was off to a fine start.&ldquo;I felt I had something to prove this year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Last year wasn&rsquo;t too good.&ldquo;But when I started in training camp, I felt strong again. I felt like I could jump into the open spot again, and could shoot the way I used to.&ldquo;Don Edwards (goaltender) told me in camp that I was shooting as hard as I used to, getting more on my shots. I didn&rsquo;t realize it myself but it was a good feeling.&rdquo;The best part about it was that Gare was able to play with the same intensity and drive that attracted the Sabres to him initially, in 1974, when he was Buffalo&rsquo;s second draft choice. That was the year Lee Fogolin, now with the Edmonton Oilers, was picked first as an underager in a process in which the NHL allowed its clubs to pick juniors who still had eligibility left.<div class="sidebar">It took Gare only 18 seconds in his first NHL game to score the first goal of his career.</div>Danny became a regular right away. It took him only 18 seconds to score his first NHL goal, when he blasted in a goal just 18 seconds after the opening faceoff of the Sabres&rsquo; first game of the 1974-75 season, against the Boston Bruins.That was a great year for the Sabres, 1974-75, and Gare played an important role. He was on the club&rsquo;s so-called &ldquo;checking line&rdquo;, with Don Luce and Craig Ramsay, and usually went against the opposition&rsquo;s top scoring line.Despite his defensive responsibilities, Danny scored 31 goals that year and the Sabres won the Adams Division. His 30th goal also came against Boston, the team the Sabres beat out for the division title.Then came the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Sabres beat Chicago in the first round, then went against Montreal in the semi-finals.Gare scored in overtime to beat the Canadiens in this series opener. The Sabres went on to eliminate the Canadiens, then lost to the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers in six games. Gare had seven goals and six assists in 17 playoff games.The following season, there was no sophomore jinx for Danny Gare. He became the second Sabre in history to score 50 goals.The Sabres went into their final game of the season, against Toronto, hoping to have Rick Martin, who had scored 52 goals each of the two previous seasons, score his 50th. Nobody gave much thought to Gare, who had 47. But in that dramatic final game, Martin was shut out and Gare scored the hat trick for his 50.Gare is not a big guy&mdash;five foot nine inches and 175 pounds&mdash;but nobody takes liberties with the feisty right winger. In the first exhibition game of his rookie season he took on Dave Schultz in the opening minute of play.This season, he got off to a great start&mdash;giving goalies nightmares with his quick wrist shot, tearing up the right side, crashing into the corner for the puck, and playing as if he&rsquo;d never heard of mono or a back injury.Gare was slowed down somewhat in a recent game, when Edmonton&rsquo;s Cam Connor brushed his glove against Danny&rsquo;s right eye and scratched the cornea.<div class="sidebar">Gare is not a big guy&hellip;but nobody takes liberties with the feisty right winger. &#9632;</div>

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Gare Back In Productive Groove For Sabres

BUFFALO&mdash;As captain of the Buffalo Sabres, Danny Gare had a close-up look at a lot of the events that led to the demise of general manager Punch Imlach in Buffalo last season. It was Gare, in fact, who went to Sabres&rsquo; owner Seymour Knox III when the situation became intolerable and told Knox that the communications gap between Imlach and the players was immense and that the team could no longer perform for a &ldquo;puppet coach&rdquo; whom they didn&rsquo;t respect as a leader (Marcel Pronovost). That conversation with Knox ultimately led to the dismissal of Imlach and Pronovost from Buffalo and opened the way for Punch to return to Toronto.In the wake of the Punch &lsquo;n Hal Horror Show currently going on at &ldquo;Make Believe&rdquo; Gardens, Gare recently discussed Imlach&rsquo;s antics with the Sabres with freelance correspondent Jim Robertson: On Beer: &ldquo;It was like we were a bunch of kids,&rdquo; Gare told Robertson. &ldquo;Here we were, guys 27, 28 and 29 years old being told that we couldn&rsquo;t have beer on the plane. So instead of bringing a case or two of beer onto the plane, you&rsquo;d have to sneak it on like a kid&mdash;just to get back at Imlach. It was ridiculous, because all it did was lessen your opinion of yourself and make you do stupid things.&rdquo; On Ties: &ldquo;If you came to a practice in a sweater and jeans and got called up to see Imlach, the first thing you had to do was go over to the trainer&rsquo;s locker, where you could rent a shirt ana tie. That was one of the rules; some guys used to keep an old shirt and tie around just in case they got called up to see Punch.&rdquo; On Soviets: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that much about the Leafs&rsquo; press conference this year on that Russian game they were supposed to play, but a similar thing happened here in Buffalo last year: Seymour Knox had agreed to play the Rus-sians, but Punch wanted nothing to do with it&mdash;so he went out and rented the Aud ice on the same day the Russian game was supposed to be played. I really don&rsquo;t know anything much else about that, but it certainly kept things hopping around here for awhile.&rdquo; (Many say that it was that act of defiance which finally compelled Knox to fire Imlach.)On Pronovost: &ldquo;I remember a meeting with Marcel and a few of the players, just before he and Punch were fired,&rdquo; Gare said. &ldquo;We told him that we just wanted him to be his own man, to make his own decisions. We wondered why he always had to go to Imlach about everything and asked if he could change the way things were working. Marcel just said that no, he couldn&rsquo;t; he was very honest about it and he also said that if Punch was fired he (Marcel) would resign because Punch gave him the chance to coach and Marcel felt a lot of loyalty to Punch.&ldquo;The worst part of it all,&rdquo; Gare went on, &ldquo;was that we just didn&rsquo;t have any respect for Marcel. We kept saying to ourselves, &lsquo;How can we play for a guy who doesn&rsquo;t have a say about anything? I mean, it was ridiculous. Who else do you turn to? You&rsquo;re supposed to be professionals and not worry about these kinds of things, but if Marcel kept telling us one thing and the guy above him (Imlach) kept changing it&mdash;and that happened all the time&mdash;what do you do? You have a really f---d up situation. That&rsquo;s exactly what&rsquo;s happening with the Leafs right now. Those players don&rsquo;t know where to turn, so they take it all out on their own management&hellip;and you really can&rsquo;t blame them for that.&rdquo;On the Maple Leafs&rsquo; Current Situation: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know whether I really have any encouraging words for the players who are going through all of that now. They&rsquo;re fighting something there that&rsquo;s really a hopeless cause, because the general manager (Imlach) is on the same level as the owner (Ballard) and they really don&rsquo;t have anyone they can turn to. It&rsquo;s too bad, too, because all the players want to do is play hockey and win, and there&rsquo;s no way they can do that in that atmosphere.&ldquo;Hockey players are human beings,&rdquo; Gare went on. &ldquo;They have emotions and feelings and things bother them. You can&rsquo;t expect that kind of thing going on in Toronto not to affect them. I say that working together and not fighting has got to be the answer; that&rsquo;s the most important thing. If you&rsquo;re not working together with the people who are running your organization&hellip;you&rsquo;re not going to get anywhere.&rdquo; &#9632;

Captain Gare On Imlach: No Day At The Beach

<div class="byline">KEN McKENZIE&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011307/5133326-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="312" height="358"></div>&bull; NICE TO SEE that Ed Snider, Fred Shero and Bobby Clarke will be honored at the Lester Patrick Dinner in New York on March 10. All three were the recipients of awards by THE HOCKEY NEWS in years gone by&hellip;The Philadelphia Flyers, hockey&rsquo;s No. 1 team, have only seven players on a 23-man roster who weren&rsquo;t their own draft choices&hellip;The Flyers have only lost six games all season. This is a big change from the original Philadelphia team, known as the Quakers, which only won four games of a 44-game schedule in 1930-31&hellip;Al Strachan of the Montreal Sunday Express points out two major improvements in the NHL this season. One is that goalies are improving, like Mike Luit at St. Louis, Michel Dion in Quebec and Glen Hanlon of Vancouver&mdash;all excellent examples of the splendid young netminders. The other development is that goons are disappearing. Dave Schultz is in the minors, Nick Fotiu can&rsquo;t get any ice time in Hartford and Steve Durbano can&rsquo;t find a job&hellip;The Turner Cup champion Kalamazoo Wings had 10 more wins and 16 more points this year than they did for the same period a year ago&hellip;Only twice in the 47-year history of the NHL has a team had five players named to the First All Star Team. The 1944-45 Montreal Canadiens placed goalkeeper Bill Durnan, defenseman Butch Bouchard, center Elmer Lach, right winger Maurice Richard and left wing Toe Blake on the No. 1 squad. The 1963-64 Chicago Black Hawks had Glenn Hall in goal, Pierre Pilote on defense, Stan Mikita at center, Ken Wharram at right wing and Bobby Hull at left wing.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021218/5133319-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="247" height="389"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michel Dion</figcaption></div>&bull; DID YOU know that Behn Wilson, Philadelphia&rsquo;s standout young defenseman, is an accomplished actor and has appeared in productions of Shakespeare&rsquo;s &ldquo;Othello&rdquo; and &ldquo;Midsummer Night&rsquo;s Dream&rdquo; as well as Gilbert & Sullivan&rsquo;s &ldquo;Mikado&rdquo;. He expects to qualify shortly for his Canadian teaching certificate in Speech Arts and Drama&hellip;Bobby Clarke, senior member of the Philly Flyers, played on the same forward line with Reggie Leach in junior hockey with the Flin Flon Bombers&hellip;Average ages of the NHL scoring champs since the NHL&rsquo;s inception and shown in 10-year intervals were as follows: 1918-29: 28.5 years; 1930-39: 26.6: 1940-49: 28; 1950-59: 25.6; 196069: 26.5; and 1970-79: 26.8&hellip;The annual Boston Bruins Gallery Gods dinner dance will be held March 25 at the Knights of Columbus Bldg., 25 Winthrop Ave., Revere, Mass. Proceeds will be turned over to John Bucyk&rsquo;s Heart Fund&hellip;The Toronto Maple Leafs used to have two first-rate development clubs, the Rochester Americans of the AHL and Victoria in the old Western League. They now have half a team, the New Brunswick Hawks in the American League. This means they have but 11 possible NHL&rsquo;ers and half of these will be doubtful National League starters&hellip;Since the first draft in 1968, Toronto drafted 114 players, but only six of these are still with the team. They are Darryl Sittler, Ian Turnbull, John Anderson, Mike Palmateer, Laurie Boschman and Rocky Saganiuk&hellip;Mel Wakabayashi of Chatham, Ont. was the coach of Japan&rsquo;s Olympic team while his brother Herb was the team&rsquo;s star player&hellip;The team representing Holland at the Olympics was loaded with Canadian players who happen to hold Dutch citizenship. The players on the Dutch Nationals speak English on the ice for the most part&hellip;John Muckler, who has taken over the coaching reins of the Dallas Black Hawks from John Choyce, has his work cut out for him in trying to lift Dallas from last place in the Central Hockey League. Last year Muckler coached Dallas to the CHL championship.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031041/5133312-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="279" height="415"><figcaption class="caption-body">Behn Wilson</figcaption></div>&bull; AMATEUR HOCKEY is a growing sport in the Denver, Colorado area. There is a league in Denver comprised of professional and businessmen who play once a week and thoroughly enjoy themselves. They hail from all over the United States and Canada with the majority coming from the Eastern and midwestern States. Ages vary. One league dictates that no player be younger than 21. Some leagues require that players be at least 30 years old (except goalkeepers, a rare commodity among older hockey players). Many of the better players are in their mid-30s&hellip;Rumors persist that NHL president John Ziegler may move the National Hockey League headquarters out of Montreal, where they&rsquo;ve been located since the league was formed in 1917&hellip;Steve Vickers, veteran New York Rangers&rsquo; veteran left winger, was the most accurate shooter in the NHL during the first half of the schedule. Of 51 shots on goal, Vickers scored on 16 of them. That gave him a scoring percentage of 31.4, the best in the circuit. However, it might be noted that the league&rsquo;s leading goal scorers such as Marcel Dionne and Guy Lafleur are not among the players with the highest scoring accuracy. They take a lot more shots on goal and as a result score more but also have more stopped&hellip;Vickers, incidentally, has passed his life insurance exams and plans to go into the insurance business in the Long Island area as soon as the hockey season ends. He makes his year-round home in Long Island.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04910/5133305-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="286" height="416"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Vickers</figcaption></div>&bull; SWEDEN&rsquo;S OLYMPIC team might have done better if they hadn&rsquo;t lost Anders Kallur to the New York Islanders before the current season started. He was the Most Valuable Player in Sweden last year and his decision to turn pro cast a spell of gloom over the Swedish pucksters&hellip;Canada&rsquo;s team would have been stronger, too, if Laurie Boschman and Rob Reinhardt, original members of the team, had waited one more year before turning pro. Boschman with Toronto and Reinhardt with Atlanta are two of the NHL&rsquo;s better rookies&hellip;Eddie Giacomin, former goalkeeper with the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, has been playing forward for the Red Wings&rsquo; Alumni team and having a lot of fun doing it. One of Eddie&rsquo;s linemates is Joe Klukay, who played for a number of NHL clubs before retiring in the late 1950s&hellip;President John Ziegler of the NHL says he is confident that realignment and an unbalanced schedule featuring more intradivisional play will be a fixture for the 1981-82 season. &ldquo;Travel costs are soaring and we must find a way to cut back,&rdquo; he said recently. &ldquo;We must cut costs and promote the natural rivalries we have now&hellip;he added. The Minnesota North Stars copied some of Mike Eaves&rsquo; ideas on the power play and it has worked out very well for them. The rookie ace, who was an All-American at the University of Wisconsin and Central Hockey League rookie of the year with the Oklahoma City Stars, has proved to be a sensation on the power play. He has a younger brother, Murray Eaves, with the University of Michigan. Murray has been a top scorer all this season in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association&hellip;Brad Park and the Boston Bruins are both happy that Brad&rsquo;s knee has been holding up. He&rsquo;s been playing regularly since he returned to the Boston lineup&hellip;Park figures the Bruins this year are better than the team that came so close to eliminating The Montreal Canadiens in the semi-finals last May. He credits the fine goalkeeping of Gerry Cheevers and Gilles Gilbert plus the addition of the two rookie defensemen, Brad McCrimmon and Ray Bourque, as the main reasons for Boston&rsquo;s improvement as a team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05761/5133298-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="278" height="410"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Bourque</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY FOUNDED 1947VOLUME 33, NUMBER 24 MARCH 14, 1980Editorial and Advertising Offices: 214 King Street West Suite 314Toronto, Ontario. M5H 1K4Charlie Halpin&nbsp;Editorial DirectorTom Murray&nbsp;Assistant PublisherMike Dennis&nbsp;Assistant EditorCathy Munro&nbsp;Copy EditorBob Hanley&nbsp;Editorial ConsultantStan Fischler, Frank Orr Bob Verdi&nbsp;Contributing EditorsBusiness StaffPeter Emerson&nbsp;Executive Vice President and General ManagerJoanne Hatch&nbsp;Sales Service ManagerKenneth W. McKenzie&nbsp;President and Publisher W. C. C. Publishing Ltd.,Suite 217, 1434 St. Catherine St. W., Montreal, Canada. H3G 1R7Donald R. Wall&nbsp;ChairmanTom Murray&nbsp;Assistant Publisher850 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022Advertising Representatives:New York:Tom Murray 850 Third Ave,. New York, N.Y. 10022 &bull; (212) 593-2100Chicago:Hooper, Jones & Associates 3322 W. Peterson Avenue Chicago, III. 60659 &bull; (312) 478-5544Boston:Steve Ganak Steve Ganak Ad Reos Statler Office Bulding Boston, Mass. 02116 &bull; (617) 542-6913THE HOCKEY NEWS, (ISSN 00183016), Is published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 214 King St. W., Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4. Phone: (416) 598-1753. In U.S. c/o W.C.C. Publishing Corp., 850 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022. Phone (212) 593-2100.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $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., Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M4H 1K4, Canada. &#9632;

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">BY JIM MATHESON</div>EDMONTON&mdash;&ldquo;We gained 10 years and 20 pounds,&rdquo; said Edmonton Oiler coach Glen Sather.That was the first reaction to the Oilers&rsquo; recent trade of veteran Bobby Schmautz to the Colorado Rockies for 24-year-old minor-leaguer Don Ashby.Schmautz, who came to the Oilers from Boston in mid-December after a disagreement with Bruins&rsquo; coach Fred Creighton and GM Harry Sinden, was tickled pink by the deal. He was planning on joining the Rockies in June when he officially became a free agent, anyway, and the trade just sped up the process. &ldquo;I want to thank Slats (Sather),&rdquo; said Schmautz, before packing his bags for a reunion with old Boston boss Don Cherry. &ldquo;He said he&rsquo;d try to work something out, but I&rsquo;m a little surprised things happened so fast.&rdquo;Only four days before the trade, Schmautz had jokingly snuck into the Rockies&rsquo; dressing room at McNichols Sports Arena and put on a Colorado jersey prior to an Oiler workout. He trooped onto the ice to a chorus of chuckles and the Rockies&rsquo; theme song,&rdquo; Gary Glitter&rsquo;s pulsating Rock &lsquo;n Roll, part II.&ldquo;I was only foolin&rsquo; around,&rdquo; grinned Schamutz. &ldquo;We did a number of goofy things that day. Hell, even Glen laughed.&rdquo;Sather had just finished yakking with Rockies&rsquo; GM Ray Miron, so he could afford to be in a good mood. He knew Schmautz wanted out and the Rockies&rsquo; were more than willing to talk deal, but the Oiler coach wasn&rsquo;t interested in Dean Turner, Don Saleski or Doug Berry.He held out for Ashby, a failed NHLer who was once Toroto&rsquo;s No. 1 draft pick in 1975. &ldquo;He was a great junior (Calgary Centennials) who showed some promise when he first turned pro,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s potentially an outstanding trade for us.&rdquo;Ashby, the sixth player taken in the 1975 lottery of top juniors, had one good year in the NHL, 1976-77, when he had 19 goals and 42 points for Toronto. But he never fulfilled that promise in future years and was dispatched to Colorado last spring with Trevor Johansen for Paul Gardner. This season he suited up for the first 11 games before being sent to Fort Worth. &ldquo;Ace Bailey (the Oilers&rsquo; assistant coach in Houston) tells me he&rsquo;s without question the best player in the Central League,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;He was the captain in Fort Worth, so he must be something of a leader.&rdquo;Ashby joins the Oilers with 27 goals and as many assists, better stats than Schmautz accumulated&mdash;but Bobby was doing his skating in the majors. &#9632;

Oiler Swap Makes Schmautz A Happy Rockie

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011180/5133429-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="310" height="356"></div><h2>NHL Shouldn&rsquo;t Benefit</h2>THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE, and the coneheads who so regularly mismanage it, stand to gain the most from the glorious saga of the United States&rsquo; team in the XIII Winter Olympics.Which is a shame, because the National Hockey League doesn&rsquo;t deserve it.America&rsquo;s Team in two weeks accomplished what the NHL has failed to do in 63 years&mdash;that is, turn on an entire nation to perhaps the greatest of all games, played as it should be played. It took a bunch of college kids to put hockey back on national television, back on the front pages, back in the public consciousness, back on the map, period.What the NHL should be by all this is embarrassed. But it is unlikely that will happen, because the people who don&rsquo;t know how to run this league are, by and large, uninsultable.One would hope, too, that the NHL could learn by the experiences of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, but don&rsquo;t hold your breath there, either.Wasn&rsquo;t it ironic that on the same Friday night the Americans were beating the Soviet Union in an electric match that was end-to-end good theater, the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks were staging one of the most repugnant brawls in the NHL&rsquo;s repugnant history?And wasn&rsquo;t it ironic that on the same Sunday that the Americans were clinching the gold medal, the New York Rangers and New York Islanders were beating on one another&rsquo;s craniums?&ldquo;We have to stop this garbage,&rdquo; said Phil Espo sito afterward. Obviously he is a voice in the cold.<h2>Breath Of Fresh Air</h2>IF THE NHL EVER needed a further mandate to eliminate its violent madness, the Olympics was it. For two weeks, teams from throughout the world played brilliant hockey. There was not one fight, not one penalty for longer than two minutes. To say the spectacle was a breath of fresh air is an understatement. Maybe that is why there is a waiting line for hockey tickets at the University of Wisconsin, while the only waiting lines in the NHL are at bars when the Bored (cq) of Governors decide to have another of those vital policy sessions in Florida, or wherever else is nice and warm.Herb Brooks, the cerebral coach of America&rsquo;s Team, long has been dismissed as somewhat of an annoyance by NHL dunderheads. No wonder. He actually has had one or two ideas since World War II.One of them, horrors, is to eliminate fighting in the NHL. Another is to encourage players to do something with the puck other than dump it 80 feet into the other team&rsquo;s end, then chase it if they are so inclined. Last and most outlandish, Brooks thinks that each rink in the NHL should have the first few rows of seats along each side removed so as to open the ice.&ldquo;The goons who can&rsquo;t keep up with the good players now would fall even further behind them,&rdquo; he reasons. &ldquo;It would create a more wide-open game, the kind that is played in international hockey. Of course, you know that&rsquo;s never going to happen.&rdquo;Right on. Herb. Asking the NHL to take away a few rows of customers is like asking the Govs to declare a moratorium on martinis. No way.<h2>Rearrange Ice Surfaces</h2>WHAT THE NHL COULD do is rearrange the ice surfaces it already has. The neutral zone, a virtual wasteland, should be reduced. Move the blue lines closer together by ten feet, and move the goal cages five feet further out from the end boards. That would enable attacking skaters to maneuver more behind the net, face the play. More offense would be generated.The NHL, though, probably would reject that for reasons that it usually rejects unsolicited proposals and suggestions. Too logical.At any rate, what the XIII Winter Olympics proved beyond doubt is that hockey is not a minor league sport, but rather that the NHL is a minor the gorillas who can&rsquo;t skate ten feet. They merely play by the rules provided them.As for America&rsquo;s Team, its skaters showed a truly worldwide audience the qualities of togetherness and effort. They might not beat the Russians the next time they would play them, or the next time, or the next time. But that is irrelevant. What is important is that this mixture of collegians and itinerants&mdash;exercising the body&rsquo;s most vital muscle, the heart&mdash;sweated out seven months of bus rides to evoke a miracle in two weeks. That&rsquo;s only half as long as it took John Ziegler to decide that players invading the stands isn&rsquo;t polite.To read too much patriotism into the American victory may be wrong. There are still hostages in Iran, still Soviet tanks in Afghanistan. But it was nice to see college kids wearing the American flag in Lake Placid. A few years ago, college kids were burning it.The Russians got 10 gold medals and Eric Heiden five. But America&rsquo;s Team got 20. What could be more fitting? &#9632;

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HOCKEY TALK

The victory at Lake Placid inspired a surge of optimism from many people in the NHL, who thought that the attention being directed towards hockey would, finally, land the NHL a national television contract. Here&rsquo;s what each major U.S. network, through anonymous spokesmen, has to say about that possibility:CBS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-0882/5133568-1-eng-US/f0006-082.jpg" title="f0006-08" width="279" height="131"></div>There&rsquo;s a large difference between a seven-game series in the Olympics, where nationalism and patriotism are involved, and an 80-game NHL schedule. So I don&rsquo;t think that it would be fair to assume that the support for the American hockey team will necessarily translate into support for watching a wide variety of NHL games. At the present time I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any possibility that there will be immediate cause and effect from the Winter Olympics to broadcasts of NHL games.What we will be doing is watching closely to see what local ratings are like for each individual team for the next two months or so, and see if there is any dramatic upsurge in the ratings of the local teams and if any of that Olympic spirit has been translated into the NHL.ABC<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-0958/5133561-1-eng-US/f0006-092.jpg" title="f0006-09" width="281" height="119"></div>There is a tremendous emotional upsurge of interest in hockey, no question about it. But I think what you have to take into consideration is that anything under the Olympic umbrella does very, very well. In the Summer Games, track and field is dynamite. But put it on the Sports Spectacular or Wide World of Sports or Sports World and you will find that the ratings are much less than other sports; yet that is the main event in the Summer Olympics.Hockey turned out to be the main event at the Winter Olympics. But it is still under the Olympic umbrella, and for that reason we just have to wait and see. One benefit I can see for hockey is that so many people watched hockey with interest at the Games that were not hockey fans at all, didn&rsquo;t even know what a puck was. Those people may therefore become NHL fans. But the emotion that surrounds a hockey match in the Olympics doesn&rsquo;t necessarily translate into NHL play.NBC<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-1042/5133554-1-eng-US/f0006-102.jpg" title="f0006-10" width="272" height="106"></div>As the Olympic players sign on with the various NHL teams, I think that the identity of that Olympic team will diminish and I don&rsquo;t really think that there&rsquo;s going to be a large carry-over effect to the league itself. Initially, on an individual franchise basis, there will be quite a positive action. But as far has having a large impact on the popularity of the sport in terms of a television commodity, I don&rsquo;t really think the impact will be so great.What led to our dropping hockey was the fact that we were losing a network. We need clearances, we need stations to pick up what we&rsquo;re carrying. When it got to hockey, 80 percent of the stations, sometimes even more, weren&rsquo;t picking up our games. That was a very fundamental problem. &#9632;

f0006-08

TV Networks Adopt ‘Wait And See’ Attitude

In the wake of the Olympic victory at Lake Placid, THE HOCKEY NEWS asked the following people to comment on the impact each one thinks the win will have on the National Hockey League in particular and the hockey industry in general.DON CHERRY, Coach, Colorado Rockies: I was elated to see it because I really think it&rsquo;s going to help hockey in the United States. Maybe now (ABC commentator) Jim McKay will quit calling it ice hockey! Somehow or another, though, I just knew that somebody would work it in that the NHL is bad because of the style of play used by all those teams at Lake Placid.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011362/5133523-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="288" height="406"></div>I don&rsquo;t want to sound like sour grapes, because that win by the U.S. was tremendous, but did you see that Russian-Finland game the next day? How would you like about 40 of those in a season?The U.S. team played terrific; they took the body, they were motivated, Herb Brooks did a heckuva job. But let&rsquo;s be honest about the whole thing: Jim Craig was the reason they beat the Russians; they were outshot, 39-16. So let&rsquo;s keep everything in perspective.<div class="sidebar">&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see nicer hockey&hellip;but let&rsquo;s see if the people buy it&rdquo;&mdash;Fred Shero</div>It know this isn&rsquo;t going to be a very popular opinion, you&rsquo;re sup-posed to say that this is the most wonderful thing and all that. But I&rsquo;m telling it the way it is! I&rsquo;ll probably be getting letters calling me a communist; I said the same thing out here already and I got a letter&mdash;the day after I said it. I don&rsquo;t know how the broad got it here that quick, but she called me a communist.It just ticks me off that everything that happens in the world gets blamed on the NHL. I thought for sure that the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets would be blamed on us. It&rsquo;s not fair. Why don&rsquo;t they just say that the U.S. Team and Herb Brooks did a heckuva job?BRUCE NORRIS, owner, Detroit Red Wings: I think it was a helluva shot in the arm; it did an awful lot for hockey generally, as far as generating interest among the unaware public who don&rsquo;t normally follow the game. I think we got an awful lot of enthusiastic support from knowledgeable, non-hockey people.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02983/5133516-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="278" height="422"></div>As far as the fighting in our game goes, the referees have to handle the game. I&rsquo;m not sympathetic to all the rhubarb that&rsquo;s going on. It used to be rougher than it is now. The rules are there: You can&rsquo;t club a guy; if you do you should get a penalty. Maybe the penalties aren&rsquo;t stiff enough, but I&rsquo;m not for changing anything.I don&rsquo;t know what else that win at Lake Placid did for us. Personally, outside of showing support for the Olympics&mdash;I think the team is going to be at the Lester Patrick Dinner&mdash;I don&rsquo;t know what else we can do. I&rsquo;m not in that frame of mind. Maybe I should be, but I&rsquo;m not. I can&rsquo;t get all that wrapped up in them.FRED SHERO, general manager/coach, New York Rangers: (THE HOCKEY NEWS awoke Fred Shero in his room on a road trip. Here&rsquo;s the discussion we had with him): THN: Fred, what impact do you think the U.S. victory at Lake Plaod will have on hockey in general and the NHL in particular?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03640/5133509-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="277" height="416"></div>SHERO: I don&rsquo;t know what all the fuss is about; they&rsquo;ve played Olympic hockey before.THN: But we&rsquo;ve never won a gold medal when the Russians and Europeans have been as good as they are today.SHERO: They were as good in 1960.THN: They could have beaten the NHL teams in 1960?SHERO: I imagine so.THN: Well, uh, everyone seems to be really excited by this because hockey over there has gotten so much better.SHERO: Why is that so big? We&rsquo;re getting better. I don&rsquo;t know what the hell people are talking about. We&rsquo;ve got all kinds of guys in the U.S. that are good enough to play professional hockey. I don&rsquo;t know why they think the Europeans are getting so much better.THN: So you&rsquo;re not impressed with all this excitement going on?SHERO: I&rsquo;m impressed with our kids. They worked like hell. I don&rsquo;t know what kind of an impact it&rsquo;s going to have, though. I think kids want to play, but it costs so much money nowadays. I got a kid playing hockey. Know what it costs (chuckle)? About three or four thousand dollars a year. That&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s wrong with hockey&mdash;it costs so much. The average kid can&rsquo;t afford it. It&rsquo;s brutal&mdash;and I get a lot of stuff for nothing. So what&rsquo;s an ordinary person going to do?THN: So the Olympics are going to get all sorts of kids excited about hockey and their parents are going to go broke, right?SHERO: They&rsquo;re broke now.THN: Take the night the U.S. beat the Russians. Just a few hours after that victory, Vancouver and Philadelphia had 340 minutes in penalties and something like 18 game misconducts. Do you see the irony there?SHERO: (Silence).THN: You know, a European style being played in Lake Placid as opposed to the goon show in Vancouver?SHERO: Well, we&rsquo;ll see if the people buy it. I&rsquo;d like to see nicer hockey. Why not? Wouldn&rsquo;t you? So, let&rsquo;s see if the people buy it.THN: John Ziegler says that they won&rsquo;t buy European hockey.SHERO: Well, let&rsquo;s see. I&rsquo;m not John Ziegler.LOU NANNE, general manager, Minnesota North Stars: That win was the biggest asset to hockey in North America in the last 20 years. It came at a time when things were strained with Russia, it got tremendous attention and it brought hockey to the forefront. Even ABC said that if they had been able to get that game on in the evening, they anticipated a higher rating than any of the previous Super Bowls&mdash;which is incredible. It&rsquo;s definitely revived any waning interest in areas where hockey may have been getting soft and it&rsquo;s also created interest in many areas that had little knowledge of hockey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04424/5133502-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="284" height="439"></div>The NHL right now has the best opportunity it&rsquo;s had in many, many years to get hockey on television&mdash;even if it means incorporating international hockey to a limited extent. We should try to ride the coattails of the U.S. success in some of those areas where there is some revived hockey interest and promote the game and the players that we have in the NHL from the Olympic team. We have an opportunity now to really capitalize on some tremendous interest in the sport.<div class="sidebar">&ldquo;Fighting should be banned. Eventually, hockey is going to be played without fighting, anyway&rdquo;&mdash;Lou Nanne</div>Fighting should be banned. Eventually, hockey is going to be played without fighting, anyway. I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s going to be next year, in five years, or in 10 years&mdash;but it&rsquo;ll happen. Look at what they said about the helmet: Everyone said that no one would wear it; now most players wear them. Now they&rsquo;re saying that there won&rsquo;t be facemasks, but I guarantee you that there will be prevalent facemask wearing in the next five years. You can&rsquo;t fight anyone with a facemask on, and international hockey is doing just fine without fighting.There are people who say you&rsquo;ve got to have fighting in the game as an outlet. Why? What&rsquo;s wrong with just normal discipline? You&rsquo;ve got to discipline a professional athlete&mdash;just like they are in college and international hockey. You&rsquo;ve got to remember one thing: Everyone who is a pro athlete somewhere along the line had to discipline himself, had to really work on his game. He had to sacrifice. Now we&rsquo;re just going to have to ask him to take that extra step forward and sacrifice a little more. You don&rsquo;t have to have fighting as an outlet&hellip;that&rsquo;s bull&hellip;HAL TRUMBLE, Executive Director, Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS): I don&rsquo;t thing there&rsquo;s any question about the fact that the win came at a good time for us because it brought hockey into prominence and into the forefront, and I think we&rsquo;ll turn on an awful lot of kids to play the game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05345/5133495-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="263" height="285"></div>We had a tremendous growth in our organization from 1969 to 1976 and then, over the last four seasons, we&rsquo;ve kind of leveled off. We haven&rsquo;t gone down in the number of registered players; it&rsquo;s just stayed the same. With something like this, with the exposure that it got on national television and the enthusiasm shown by the players, I&rsquo;m sure that an awful lot of kids would like to find themselves in the same position. The fact that they won the gold medal is significant, but so is the image they all projected&mdash;as being young, enthusiastic, hard-working, All American-type athletes. It was very patriotic and very emotional. Put it all together, and it&rsquo;s got to result in a lot of kids being interested in playing hockey.HARRY SINDEN, general manager, Boston Bruins: I think the impact on the NHL will be shown in the advancement and increased awareness of hockey programs throughout the U.S. More and more people will start thinking about playing hockey, and this will affect college programs and high school and youth hockey programs throughout the country&mdash;all because of the success of the team and the rewards its players are now getting. That win may start producing in years to come more and more hockey players for the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-06249/5133488-1-eng-US/f0006-062.jpg" title="f0006-06" width="275" height="420"></div>I think that after the 1960 victory at Squaw Valley there was an upsurge in hockey throughout the U.S. It&rsquo;s continued right up to the present day, because we have more U.S. players in the NHL today than we&rsquo;ve ever had before. If that influx of U.S. players was the result of 1960 and it took 20 years&mdash;say 10 years, because these players have been coming in during the last 10 years&mdash;I can see it happening again now. It will probably have an even greater impact because of the exposure created for this team by television coverage, which the 1960 team didn&rsquo;t have.Almost anyone I talk to abhors the type of team brawling that took place in Vancouver several weeks ago. I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll find anyone who truly believes that brawling can help the NHL. I&rsquo;m not sitting in an ivory tower here, either. In the past the Bruins have had some incidents, but that&rsquo;s not to say that I condone them.<div class="sidebar">&ldquo;Because of the Olympic victory, people within the league became very aware of some of the negative aspects of the NHL&rdquo;&mdash;Harry Sinden</div>I do think that because of the Olympic victory people within the league became very aware of some of the negative aspects of the NHL. As a result, they are now thinking about what things can be done to improve our game&mdash;and that can only mean good things for us in the long run.BILL TORREY, general manager, New York Islanders: I think anything that is positive for hockey in America will have some positive ruboff effect on the NHL. I think the Olympic victory has obviously attracted people to see the game that may never ever bothered to watch it before. How long will it linger? I guess that depends on how good a job we do in selling the game. Whether these new fans stay with hockey or not is going to be partially up to us.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-07140/5133481-1-eng-US/f0006-072.jpg" title="f0006-07" width="293" height="448"></div>The violent aspect of our game seems to be of more concern and more interest than any other aspect of it. No, I don&rsquo;t like to see it, and there&rsquo;s no question in my mind that in June we will again look at the brawl aspects of our game. No one likes to see it. Part of it is the players&rsquo; responsibility, part of it is management&rsquo;s, and part of it is the responsibility of the referee and linesmen not to let these things simmer so that they boil over. All of us have a responsibility in that area.But it seems to me, for some reason, that we&rsquo;re always zeroing in on the negative aspects and nothing else. Whether that&rsquo;s the way our society is, I don&rsquo;t know. But to me, the positive aspects of that Olympic victory are that hockey is a helluva game. I still think that the NHL, game in and game out, gives the best entertainment in hockey that there is.I watched Finland play Romania at the Olympics and I saw guys spear one another, slash one another and butt-end one another. But they never fought. It&rsquo;s like asking me what I enjoy most&mdash;getting a stick in the stomach or a punch in the nose? Physical contact, the speed of the game, and the fact that the players carry sticks in their hands all mean that no matter what you do, somebody&rsquo;s going to get ticked off at somebody else and they&rsquo;re going to want to do something about it.In my mind, what we have to try and eliminate is everything that has anything to do with sticks. And we&rsquo;ve got to eliminate the brawls: If two guys get mad at one another and are man enough to square off against each other and get it over with&hellip;I don&rsquo;t see any problem with that.ED SNIDER, owner, Philadelphia Flyers: I&rsquo;m one of the recipients of the Lester Patrick award this year, and I called John Ziegler and said that I would gladly give up my award to honor the U.S. hockey team because I feel that their accomplishment this year was without question the number one contribution to hockey in the United States&mdash;ever!<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01503/5133474-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="278" height="409"></div>I think that you can&rsquo;t find enough words to describe the magnitude of their feat and the great things that it did for the United States, for themselves and for hockey.JACK KELLEY, general manager, New England Whalers: The Whalers have been aware of the American player as you can tell, because we have several on our roster. I think what happened in Lake Placid more or less emphasized the great strides that American boys are making in hockey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02397/5133467-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="281" height="356"></div>The numbers have changed so much that you just can&rsquo;t find enough talent in Canada to supply 21 professional teams; that&rsquo;s why you find us going into Sweden, Finland and wherever, and it&rsquo;s just a natural course of events that you&rsquo;re going to find a number of American boys, a larger number each year, as you go along.The gold medal triumph sparked a wave of patriotism throughout the country that wasn&rsquo;t there. It&rsquo;s a great thing and there are some people I know in some parts of our country that never knew a piece of coal from a puck and all of a sudden they&rsquo;ve become interested in hockey just because of what those young men have accomplished.LEFTY SMITH, coach, University of Notre Dame: I think that without a doubt the gold medal win by the Olympic hockey team would rank for emotion as one of the top three events that I&rsquo;ve experienced in my life. The first, of course, would be the end of World War II, the second would be the moon walk. It&rsquo;s really sort of surprising to see a sporting event take over in this fashion.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03319/5133460-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="279" height="399"></div>As far as its effects on hockey, I think that several things were very apparent to me: Number one, I think the style of play has captured the imagination of the people in this country. It&rsquo;s a college type or what I like to think of as an international style. I would like to see a time when all of us in hockey&mdash;college, amateur and pro, everyone&mdash;standardize our rules to be the same as international.I think that this style of play has proved through the Challenge Cup, through the idea of the other series between Russia and the other countries, as well as this Olympics, to have been one of the highlights of hockey. &#9632;

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Olympic Victory Inspires Diverse Views

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011212/5133599-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Right after they received their gold medals at Lake Placid, Team America captain Mike Eruzione (waving flag) led his jubilant mates in a victory lap around the rink&mdash;the last time they would ever be together as a team. (Photo Credit: AP Laserphoto)</figcaption></div>Usually, a story that has a title like this concerns someone who has been out of circulation for quite some time. The subject of this piece, however, is the United States Olympic hockey team. Although they have only been disbanded for just over one week, the 20 players that gave themselves and an entire continent the thrill of a lifetime are already scattered all over North America. Here&rsquo;s a rundown on what each player will be doing in the coming months:BILL BAKER: The 6-1, 195-pound defenseman scored what many consider to be the most important goal of the Olympics for Team USA&mdash;the shot that tied Sweden in Game 1 with just 27 seconds remaining on the clock. Baker, 23, is reporting to the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; Nova Scotia affiliate in early March but according to a spokesman for the Canadiens, &ldquo;he&rsquo;ll be with the big club soon. He&rsquo;s too good to stay down.&rdquo;NEAL BROTEN: The 5-9, 155-pound forward, 20 years old, belongs to the Minnesota North Stars, but he&rsquo;s returning to the University of Minnesota, where as a freshman in 1978-79 he established a school record for assists, with 55.DAVE CHRISTIAN: The 5-10, 165-pound center, 20, who played on the Olympic Team as a defenseman, signed a contract with the Winnipeg Jets and, in his first shift ever as a pro, scored a goal.STEVE CHRISTOFF: The 6-1, 180-pound forward, 22. signed a contract with the North Stars and was in uniform for their game against the Montreal Canadiens last week&mdash;just four days after he had competed at Lake Placid.JIM CRAIG: The 6-1, 190-pound goalie, 22, signed a long-term contract with the Atlanta Flames only three days after his last game at Lake Placid. For the details on his debut as a pro, see page 10.MIKE ERUZIONE: The 5 10, 185-pound forward, 25, received an offer from the Hartford Whalers to play for their minor league affiliate in Springfield. But Eruzione turned them down and also said that he would not pursue a career in the NHL. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to be remembered,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;as an Olympic hero who didn&rsquo;t make it in the NHL.&rdquo; Eruzione said that he had been offered a college coaching job but that he might just &ldquo;paint houses.&rdquo;&ldquo;Even if I become a bum,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I can still go into a bar with that gold medal and tell stories.&rdquo;JOHN HARRINGTON: The 5-10. 180-pound forward, who did a hilarious imitation of Herb Brooks at that final press conference, had not received any offers from any NHL teams when we went to press. The 22-year-old is contem-plating an offer to play in Switzerland.STEVE JANASZAK: For someone who didn&rsquo;t play one second at the Olympics, Janaszak didn&rsquo;t do too badly for himself: The 5-8, 160-pound backup goalie, 23 years old, signed a contract with the North Stars and was, along with Christoff, in uniform for that game against Montreal. A team spokesman said that Janaszak would remain as a backup with the Stars until the injured Gary Edwards returns. Then Janaszak will be assigned to Oklahoma City or Baltimore.MARK JOHNSON: The 5-9, 160-pound center, 22, agreed to terms with the Pittsburgh Penguins and made his pro debut exactly one week after his last Olympic game. His opponents in that game were the New York Islanders and their newest defenseman&mdash;a kid named Ken Morrow.ROB McCLANAHAN: The 5 10 180-pound center has one year of eligibility remaining at Minnesota. But Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman thinks the 22-year-old McClanahan can play in the NHL right now and was trying to sign him as we went to press.KEN MORROW: The 6-4, 210-pound defenseman, 22, signed a contract with the New York Islanders and was in action less than one week after the Olympics ended. Morrow&rsquo;s winning ways didn&rsquo;t rub off on his new teammates, however: The Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3.JACK O&rsquo;CALLAHAN: The 6-1, 185 pound defenseman played only four of the seven Olympic games, because of a bad knee. That knee has been examined by doctors for the Chicago Black Hawks, who own the 22-year-old O&rsquo;Callahan&rsquo;s rights, and their consensus is that he shouldn&rsquo;t play for the rest of the season&mdash;even though the injury is not serious enough for surgery. &ldquo;We hope to eventually sign him,&rdquo; said Hawks&rsquo; GM Bob Pulford.MARK PAVELICH: The scrappy, 5-7, 160-pound center, 21, has two choices: He can return to Minneso-ta-Duluth, where he was an All American in 1978-79. Or he can join John Harrington in Switzerland.MIKE RAMSEY: The 6-3, 190-pound defenseman, just 19, is owned by the Buffalo Sabres. Scotty Bowman has gone on record as saying that Ramsey could join the Sabres this season and Scotty was in the process of trying to sign Ramsey as we went to press.BUZZ SCHNEIDER: The 5 11, 180 pound forward was, at 25, the oldest man on the team and the only member to have played for the USA Olympic hockey team in 1976. Although ne was once on Pittsburgh&rsquo;s negotiations list, he isn&rsquo;t anymore and the Pens don&rsquo;t seem too anxious to sign him. Schneider may just end up playing over in Europe.DAVE SILK: The 5-11, 190-pound forward, 22, is the property of the New York Rangers. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no big rush to sign him,&rdquo; said Ranger GM/Coach Fred Shero. &ldquo;We offered him a contract before the Olympic tryouts; he didn&rsquo;t want to go to the Olympic Team but we made him. Now we&rsquo;re just waiting for him and his agent to get back to us. They don&rsquo;t talk without agents, anyway, you know.&rdquo;ERIC STROBEL: The 5-10, 175 pound forward, 21, is also owned by the Buffalo Sabres. Unlike Ramsey and McClanahan, whom Bowman feels can play right away, Strobel needs a little seasoning. If he signs with the Sabres, he&rsquo;ll probably be assigned to Rochester.BOB SUTER: The 5-9, 178-pound defenseman, 22, is the property of the Los Angeles Kings. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a borderline case,&rdquo; says Kings&rsquo; GM George Maquire. &ldquo;I hope he can play out I don&rsquo;t know that he can. We made him an offer, but his agent wasn&rsquo;t too enthralled with it. I don&rsquo;t know what the hell to say about him&hellip;but I do know that I&rsquo;m not interested in signing minor league hockey players.PHIL VERCHOTA: The 6 2, 195-pound forward, 23, is the property of the Minnesota North Stars, who hope to have him signed very shortly. &ldquo;He can certainly play for us now,&rdquo; said a spokesman, &ldquo;because of all the injuries we have. I don&rsquo;t know if he can stick with us, though.&rdquo;MARK WELLS: The 5-9, 175-pound center, 22, is reporting to Nova Scotia with Bill Baker. Wells had limited playing time in the Olympics and a spokesman for the Canadiens intimated that Wells&rsquo; chances of playing at a level higher than Nova Scotia were slim.HERB BROOKS, COACH: As we went to press, Brooks was reported to be considering offers from theNew York Islanders, Rangers and Minnesota North Stars, as well as several from other teams. While conceding that the Rangers were the team that had shown the most interest in Brooks&rsquo; services so far, no decision had been made and there was even some speculation that Brooks might just refuse all NHL offers and resume his job as head hockey coach at the University of Minnesota. &#9632;

f0007-01

Where Are They Now?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02858/5133630-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg"></div>Goaltender Jim Craig played every minute (419:36) of ail 7 games for the team, making 163 saves and allowing 15 goals, for a 2.14 goals-against average and a 91.57 saves percentage. He also picked up 2 minutes in penalties in the process. &#9632;

f0007-02

Team America’s Olympic Statistics

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.214 King St. West, Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4<h2>A Lesson Learned?</h2>THE OVERWHELMING CONSENSUS of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s general managers and other officials who were on hand at Lake Placid for that victory over the Soviets and the ensuing gold medal was that the win was &ldquo;the greatest thing to happen to the NHL in a long, long time.&rdquo;It may well have been, but only time will tell if the NHL&mdash;which has a long history of not capitalizing on events that can be used to its advantage&mdash;really has learned something from Lake Placid.To be fair, there have been some encouraging signs which indicate that the style of play exhibited at the Olympics had a profund effect on some people in the NHL: One general manager conceded that the events at Lake Placid &ldquo;made a lot of people in the NHL realize some of the negative things about our game.&rdquo; Another said that he believed that fighting would be totally out of the NHL &ldquo;within five years&rdquo;&mdash;just as it is today in college and international hockey. And Scotty Morrison, the Referee-In-Chief of the NHL, said that at the upcoming June meetings, definitive measures would be taken to impose stiff new rules which would discourage&mdash;if not completely prevent&mdash;brawls of the kind that took place in Vancouver last month. (See &ldquo;Some Other Views&rdquo; on this page).There are others, of course, who feel differently, who claim that the Olympics presented the perfect excuse for the &ldquo;purists&rdquo; to jump on the bandwagon and cast stones at the NHL. &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; one general manager said, &ldquo;that more time is spent concentrating on the negative aspects of our game, rather than its positive aspects.&rdquo;<h2>Words vs. Actions</h2>He has a point. An awful lot of attention has been given to the fighting side of the NHL, especially since the Olympics, where some very exciting hockey was played and not a glove was dropped or a punch thrown. And maybe it is true that too much emphasis is put on the brawls, when they do occur, and not enough on the talents of Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne, or Wayne Gretzky.But whose fault is that? The NHL has only itself to blame for the adverse publicity it has been receiving. For too long the league has tolerated goon shows like the one that took place in Vancouver and not done nearly enough to emphasize and, more importantly, publicize the qualities that make hockey such a beautiful, exciting sport. As a result, the fights and brawls got all the attention, the &ldquo;Three S&rsquo;s&rdquo;&mdash;Stickhandling, Skating and Shooting&mdash;were pushed into the background until they practically disappeared; hockey, to the unschooled observer, anyway, became that game where &ldquo;the players are always fighting&rdquo;.Whether the NHL likes it or not, the Olympics changed that image of hockey; in two games played in a brief, 48-hour span, the U.S. Olympic team succeeded where the NHL has failed for the last seven decades, demonstrating that hockey can be pretty exciting without punches, bench-clearing brawls, and the haunting image of sticks and gloves strewn all over the ice.What remains to be seen is whether the NHL really has sufficient confidence in the saleability of its game&mdash;without brawls&mdash;to back up their present words with future actions at these meetings in June. &#9632;

<div class="byline">By SCOTTY MORRISON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011297/5133685-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="303" height="466"></div>On Friday night, February 22, 1980, the Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers engaged in a 45-minute brawl that resulted in 340 minutes in penalties and 15 game misconducts. Scotty Morrison, the Referee-InChief of the National Hockey League, was present at that game and he called the incident, &ldquo;one of the worst gangland, back alley brawls that I&rsquo;ve seen in my 15 years of refereeing.&rdquo;Here are some changes in the current rules on fighting which Morrison hopes to have implemented by the 1980-81 season.We&rsquo;re adamant that come this June, we&rsquo;re really going to take a long, hard look at the overall issue of fighting with respect to three main areas: First and foremost would be how to prevent players from leaving the bench during a fight. The second would be improving the Third Man In rule, and the third would be doing something to prevent the spontaneous second, third and fourth fights that take place.Leaving The Bench: The penalty for any player who leaves that bench is going to have to be so severe in the future that the player will not leave the bench&mdash;under any circumstances. The double minor and being tossed out of the game obviously has lost its effect as a deterrent to leaving the bench.I would like to see something that would really put some teeth into this rule&mdash;like assessing a major misconduct that would be a five-minute penalty that cannot be offset with coincident majors. We could also really put some teeth into the rule and say that the first player to leave the bench to precipitate a bench-emptying brawl is gone with a misconduct penalty and his team plays shorthanded for 10 minutes.In making the penalty that severe, one of the things that we also have to get rid of is the temptation that players have to leave their bench when their team is shorthanded. In the case of that Philadelphia-Vancouver brawl, it started when Philadelphia was down by two players. In the last two or three years, in exhibition games, we have tried to get all players to go to their respective benches when a fight breaks out. It didn&rsquo;t work and in my judgment it probably never will work.But how about trying this: When a fight breaks out, the linesman or referee moves in on the team with the man advantage and tells the first player that he reaches from that team to go right to his bench. If the player doesn&rsquo;t comply, he gets a game misconduct penalty. This would eliminate the temptation a player has to leave his bench because at least now he knows that his team is at even strength on the ice.Third Man In: The game misconduct penalty for being the third man in a fight has also lost its impact as a deterrent. All that happens is that the player gets thrown out of the game; this is serious enough, but his team doesn&rsquo;t suffer a time penalty. So, let&rsquo;s make being the third man in an automatic double minor penalty plus whatever other penalties that player incurs. Maybe then he&rsquo;ll think twice about rushing right in if he&rsquo;s going to hurt his team.Spontaneous Fights: The World Hockey Association had this rule, said that it was a little rough at first, but that it eventually worked fine: When the first fight breaks out, any other player who drops his gloves automatically gets a 10-minute misconduct penalty plus whatever else he incurs. The temptation for everyone to drop their gloves, rush right in and grab somebody&rsquo;s jersey would not be there.We would have a lot of misconducts at first, sure, but I think that eventually everyone connected with the game would understand that we accept the one-on-one fight that&rsquo;s over in 30 seconds because the officials don&rsquo;t have to worry about 15 other guys pairing off and fighting.There&rsquo;s no way, after being at that game in Vancouver the other night, that anyone is going to convince me that people like those brawls. I was right down in the stands, and I saw the reactions of the spectators; I saw the people getting up and leaving&mdash;about eight or ten thousand of them. Who&rsquo;s going to sit there for 45 minutes and watch that go on? Nobody&hellip;nobody. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Doesn’t Need Brawls!

<div class="byline">BY LOU LEFAIVE</div>THE HOCKEY NEWS talked with Lou Lefaive, president of Hockey Canada, about the future plans of Canada&rsquo;s national team, which narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympic medal round and finished sixth in the 1980 tournament.I think our plan vindicated itself. I think we played very respectable hockey; we showed that with this kind of a program what could be done.One of the differences between our program and the U.S. program is that the U.S. program&mdash;and this isn&rsquo;t taking anything away from their accomplishment, which was a tremendous accomplishment&mdash;was geared to that one thing. After Monday, they had their dinner with the President and now it&rsquo;s all over. Fourteen of the guys have signed and gone pro, whereas ours is just the first year of a four-year program, so we did certain things that are not just geared to the Olympics, but were geared to longer term. You pay a price for that sort of thing and they paid the price in the Finnish game or in the Soviet game. I don&rsquo;t know where we paid the price but we obviously did.But there&rsquo;s no question that the concept is one that we&rsquo;re going to keep alive and we&rsquo;ll try to keep as many of these players as we can. We&rsquo;re taking them to a tournament in Sweden in April almost as a unit. I think we&rsquo;ll have all of them back, with the exception of four. There may be one or two of our guys turning pro, but none of our guys are jumping at going pro.What this means for other years is that we&rsquo;ll try to bring this team together, as many of them that we can, for the Pravda Tournament, for the Izvestia Tournament, and we&rsquo;ll be gearing towards next year&rsquo;s World Championship in Sweden.So we think we&rsquo;re going to keep the team together, not in being concentrated as we have been for the last eight months in Calgary. They&rsquo;ll go back to their universities, or whatever, but we&rsquo;ll be pulling them together for periods of a month here, three weeks there, and we&rsquo;ll certainly use Calgary as our base of operation.We have 40 players we can choose from and at the same time we&rsquo;re pursuing the whole concept of a strengthened university hockey league. I think we&rsquo;re about a season away from a Canadian national league. We&rsquo;ve got to find 10 to 12 universities who are firmly committed to strong hockey programs, and then we&rsquo;ve got to find a way of supporting them&mdash;getting them coaches, helping with scholarships and getting television contracts&mdash;sort of trying to make Friday night college hockey as big as Saturday afternoon college football is in the States. That&rsquo;s really what we&rsquo;re aiming for.We&rsquo;re keeping the concept of the national team alive; whether we can keep each and every player there remains to be seen, but right now we know that we can keep a good number of them. &#9632;

Canada Has Four-Year Program

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div>ATLANTA&mdash;The newest member of the Atlanta Flames, Olympic gold medal-winning goalie Jim Craig, pulled off his sweat soaked jersey and remarked, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m beat. It seems like the game was played a week ago.&rdquo;Actually it was only two hours since Craig had made his National Hockey League debut, a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies, but Craig had to finish making a commercial for Coca-Cola before his night was completed.It brought to a close one of the most astonishing nine days for any hockey player in history.For Craig and his Olympic teammates the &ldquo;Impossible Dream&rdquo; started with their victory over the Soviets, and two days later, they made the dream a reality when they beat Finland to win the highest award for any amateur athlete, the Olympic gold medal.After a trip to the White House and luncheon with President Jimmy Carter, the team split up and each player went his own way. For Craig it was an emotionally and physically draining week, but one he will never forget.In the course of five days he went from the pedestal success in Lake Placid to the White House, he visited and was introduced to the senates of both Massachusetts and Georgia, was the featured person in a homecoming parade in his hometown of North Easton, Mass.; and made a national television appearance on ABC&rsquo;s Good Morning America.By Thursday, Craig&rsquo;s agent Bob Murray of Boston and Flames&rsquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher had agreed on a contract and it was announced Craig would play goal against the Rockies.By Friday he was in Atlanta and worked out with his new team-mates that morning before being introduced to Atlanta at a public press conference attended by some 2,000 Georgians.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe what has happened to me this past week,&rdquo; Craig said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to describe. I&rsquo;m tired, but I owe it to the American public to be here, because the country supported us so well in the Olympics.&rdquo;The following night, Craig made his NHL debut before 15,157 howling, flag-waving fans who made up the Flames&rsquo; first sellout crowd of the season.And his new teammates made sure his initial appearance at The Omni was a successful one. For the first 12 minutes he didn&rsquo;t face a shot, and the first shot on goal was a 130-footer by Lanny McDo-nald which was actually a clearing pass while the Rockies were killing a penalty.&ldquo;I was just hoping the first puck didn&rsquo;t go in,&rdquo; Craig said. &ldquo;And it didn&rsquo;t. The guys played great in front of me tonight. I was a little nervous when I went onto the ice, but that came mostly because I was overtired. I really didn&rsquo;t know how I would react.&rdquo;In the first period, Craig faced only seven shots on goal, six in the second, but had a fairly busy time in the third turning away 12 shots.Jack Valiquette had the honors of putting the first puck by the gold medal winner&mdash;a goal on which Craig had no chance as Valiquette was allowed to stand six feet from Craig, take a pass from McDonald and bang the puck in.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to say it was a good goal,&rdquo; Craig said. &ldquo;I tried to get to the other side of the net, but I was a little late.&rdquo;With the addition of Craig, the Flames are now carrying three goalies: Craig, Dan Bouchard, and Pat Riggin. Fletcher said the Flames may carry three goalies the rest of the season. The amount of time they play, says Fletcher, will be up to coach Al MacNeil. HOT NOTES: Craig was voted the game&rsquo;s second star in his debut, while Eric Vail, who had two goals and an assist, was No. 1 and linemate Guy Chouinard, with a goal and two assists, was No. 2&hellip;. The Flames left for a West Coast trip following Craig&rsquo;s first NHL game, but Craig headed for New York and a ticker tape parade. He joined the team later in Vancouver.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011338/5133740-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="583" height="748"><figcaption class="caption-body">In less than one week, Jim Craig went from Lake Placid to the White House to the NHL.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Omni Packed For Craig’s Golden Debut

<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/f0010-021028/5133771-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="576" height="336"></div><h2>Olympians Inspired Hockey Pride</h2>After watching the US Olympic hockey team play three of the best hockey games I have ever seen, I&rsquo;m starting to realize that I must be following the wrong league when I watch the NHL.Not only have I seen precision play executed, good, solid clean hitting, and some very pretty goal scoring, but I have also seen the absence of the one aspect of hockey that all true hockey fans hate: Fighting.It&rsquo;s time for the head men in the NHL offices, including John Ziegler, to realize fighting has no place in hockey. It never has, and never will. One only has to watch the US Olympic team to realize the truth in that statement. .When I watch Paul Holmgren of the Flyers, Ed Hospodar of the Rangers, and others, I am ashamed of my sport. When I watch David Silk, Mark Johnson, David Christian, and Mike Eruzione of the Olympic team, I feel a pride never felt before for my sport.David Beedle&nbsp; Hellertown, PA<h2>Ban Stick-Swingers For Life</h2>To say that violence in the NHL must be curbed is belaboring a point. This has been repeated so often that even the most fanatical antiviolence proponent must be tiring of the clamor. Until the penalties for fighting are changed, nothing will stop players from going at each other at the drop of a stick.This brings me to my point, which is that as long as both players drop their sticks and gloves, I feel there should be no change in the rules. Those who use their sticks as weapons and cause injuries should be eliminated from the game, and I mean permanently. There can be no excuse for cracking someone over the skull, whether he be wearing a helmet or not.John Ziegler&rsquo;s recent condemnation of the Boston Bruins for retaliating against the mental dwarfs who inhabit Madison Square Garden was certainly not in the best interests of the NHL, as he set a precedent by judging and sentencing them before they appeared in a court of law. It would appear he is a prosecutor for those who are bringing suit against the Bruins, the NHL and the Garden.As an attorney I wonder if his priorities are in order. Un-fortunately it seems the old adage has applied here, &ldquo;When things go wrong it&rsquo;s easier to find a scapegoat than a remedy.&rdquo; As long as the quickest thing that brings people to their feet at a hockey rink is a fist fight, you won&rsquo;t see any rule changes that discourage it.Robert Gudger&nbsp; Los Angeles, CA<h2>Notre Dame Hockey Alive And Well</h2>We at the University of Notre Dame beg to differ with an item which appeared in Ken McKenzie&rsquo;s &ldquo;Passing the Puck&rdquo; THE HOCKEY NEWS, Feb. 15.In his column, Mr. McKenzie said, &ldquo;Rumor has it that Notre Dame, concerned about some of its hockey players failing to graduate, may reduce that sport to a club level. It would be a shame if that happens.&rdquo;Nothing concerning the academic backgrounds of our players could be further from the truth. We are in our 12th season at Notre Dame, and over that span, every player has received his degree. In fact, the grade point average of our team as a whole&mdash;right now&mdash;is above the university average.I would also like to point out the fact that our captain, Greg Meredith, and co-captain, Tom Michalek, are both Rhodes Scholarship candidates. I don&rsquo;t think any other collegiate team in any sport can boast of two leaders like we have.Lefty Smith, Hockey Coach&nbsp; U. of Notre Dame<h2>NHL Needs More Like Demers</h2>Jacques Demers for president of the NHL! After reading his column in the Feb. 22 issue, I am convinced that this man is extremely sensitive to the problems that currently beset the league.He states that intimidation and violence should have no place in hockey, and that infractions are not being called closely enough. He points out that the Soviet system of strong skating and precision passing is far superior to the mindless dump-it-in philosophy that prevails today in the NHL. Demers couldn&rsquo;t be more right on both counts.For the good of the game, let&rsquo;s increase the penalties to those who engage in violent play. Let&rsquo;s also give the officials free rein to call all the holding, hooking and interference that is now being over-looked. Hockey skills such as skating, passing and shooting would then flourish instead of being smothered.In summary, my blueprint for NHL success: Much stricter officiating and 20 more coaches like Jacques Demers.Stephen Corrao&nbsp; Queen&rsquo;s, NY<h2>Current Quandary: Wrist vs. Slapshot</h2>Hockey experts are periodically vexed by two recurring thoughts. The first wonders why so many young players rely so heavily on the slapshot. This leads to wondering why they have not tried harder to develop a more accurate wrist shot.One good answer is evident during a game of road hockey. On a rough surface a decent wrist shot is almost impossible. The only power shot that works with any ease of consistency is the slapshot.Most youngsters practice shooting more on surfaces much less, smooth than ice. Unfortunately, too many of them are unable or unwilling to adapt to a different playing surface when they are on skates.H. Scott Givens,&nbsp; London, Ont.<h2>Young Olds A Total Player</h2>Like most fans, I&rsquo;ve always been thrilled by the high scorers who are usually the &lsquo;name&rsquo; players. After all, a pretty goal is an exciting thing to see. This is true, for me, whether watching my 15-year-old son playing club hockey, or watching a college or professional game.Over the last few years, I&rsquo;ve watched many college hockey games at Princeton University, which is a member of the ECAC. It took a particular game&mdash;this year&rsquo;s Cornell at Princeton&mdash;and a particular Cornell player&mdash;Number 19, John Olds&mdash;to make me recognize something that I had somehow always known but never fully apppeciated: the instant pleasure of a goal scored is not a lasting feeling, while the sheer enjoyment of watching a complete hockey player go all out whenever he&rsquo;s on the ice remains in one&rsquo;s memory for months.Most high scorers are basically one-way players; they are geared to offense, and do not do much hitting, backchecking, or mucking in the corner. As examples of that type of player, check some of the leading scorers who appear on various stat sheets.As an example of a complete hockey player, however, I give you John Olds. Here is a kid who plays with nerve and elan, is a hard (but clean) hitter, digs in the corner, forechecks, backchecks, kills penalties, is on the power play, is gutsy enough to drop in front of a blast from the point and block it, will score in the clutch, and just generally is the most exciting college player I&rsquo;ve ever seen! If that sounds like high praise, it is; but it doesn&rsquo;t do this young man justice. (Are you listening, Harry Sinden?)If any of you fans want to see what hockey is really all about, try to catch a Cornell game sometime and let Number 19 show you!Craig T. Bell&nbsp; Pennington, NJ<h2>Fleischman&rsquo;s Barbs Hit Soft Spot</h2>Recently, a few columns have annoyed me, but none have driven me to the point of writing to Fan Forum as much as Mr. Fleischman&rsquo;s column in the Feb. 15 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. He wrote:&ldquo;When the film &ldquo;Animal House&rdquo; was released, people thought it was about the Rangers&rsquo; fans. When tourists visit New York and their children ask to see the Bronx Zoo, some parents automatically head for Madison Square Garden.&rdquo;Now I know all about freedom of the press but this is a little ridiculous. I have been a Rangers&rsquo; fan for the last seven years and I resent this statement enormously. (I&rsquo;m sure other Rangers&rsquo; fans share the same feeling).I know there are a few crude and unruly people in the Garden, but I am not one of them, and do not like being categorized as one.D. Scala&nbsp; Brooklyn, NY &#9632;

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FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011222/5133802-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">A defensive specialist, Hajt&rsquo;s parents didn&rsquo;t get to see him do his thing because the Sabres were on the attack so often.</figcaption></div>Buffalo&mdash;Bill Hajt&rsquo;s parents traveled 300 miles to see their son play hockey for the Buffalo Sabres and what happened?Because of perhaps the set of most unusual penalties of the season, Bill hardly played at all in the second period.Hajt, strictly a defensive defenseman, is having what is probably his best season since joining the Sabres before the 1974-75 campaign. He usually is on the ice against the opposition&rsquo;s top scoring line and he kills penalties.But one thing he does not do, is work on the power play.In this particular game last week, when the elder Hajts traveled from Radisson Sask., to Edmonton, Alta., to see their son play hockey, the Sabres had a power play for 12 straight minutes in the second period.Edmonton defenseman Kevin Lowe was sent to the penalty box with penalties that kept his team shorthanded for 12 minutes. It all started when Buffalo&rsquo;s Tony McKegney knocked down the Oilers&rsquo; goaltender, Ed Mio, behind the Edmonton net.Lowe went after McKegney and they punched away while Buffalo&rsquo;s Danny Gare and Edmonton&rsquo;s Pat Price threatened and pushed. McKegney and Lowe went down in a tangle with both linesmen, Randy Mitton and Wayne Forsey, who were trying to break up the fight.When peace finally was restored, Lowe received a minor penalty for kneeing, a major for fighting and two five-minute penalties for attempting to kick both McKegney, and then Gare, with his skate.Dutch van Deelan, supervisor of officials, who was at the game, explained the Oiler defenseman received two match penalties because he kicked at two different players with &ldquo;intent to injure.&rdquo;McKegney got a major for fighting and Gare a 10-minute misconduct &ldquo;for inciting Lowe&rdquo; according to Van Deelan.<div class="sidebar">Never a spectacular player and not a hitter, he hasn&rsquo;t always been appreciated by Buffalo fans.</div>The Oilers did a great job of killing the long penalty. They gave up one goal&mdash;and that came when they were short two men because Colin Campbell was sent off for slashing while Lowe was in the cooler&mdash;and got a shorthanded goal, themselves.When the penalty was finally over, the score was Buffalo 3, Edmonton 2. But the work they did in killing the penalty apparently wore out the Oilers.They got only five shots in the third period while the Sabres were putting 14 on Mio, one of which was Rick Martin&rsquo;s 36th goal of the season.&ldquo;What a game for my folks to see,&rdquo; said Hajt, afterward.Earlier in the, week, Hajt scored his first goal of the season, a shorthanded one, at that, only Buffalo&rsquo;s second this season, while the opposition had a manpower advantage.But that was the only goal Buffalo got in a 3-1 loss to Chicago, so Hajt didn&rsquo;t feel very pleased after that game, either.Then in the next game, before the trip to Edmonton, the Sabres played a penalty-filled 1-1 tie with the Philadelphia Flyers at home. There were so many penalties that Hajt played one shift early in the first period and didn&rsquo;t get on the ice again until only six minutes were left in the period.Hajt, who has led the plusminus rating of the Buffalo defensemen often through his previous years with the club, was a bit worried at the start of this season.Never a spectacular player and not a hitter, he hasn&rsquo;t always been appreciated by the Buffalo fans. Last season he was sidelined twice, first by a back injury, then by a severely jammed wrist.He played in only 40 games and, with seven other defensemen who played for the Sabres last year in training camp, he sometimes wondered if he could work his way back into the lineup. He has and is doing quite well, thank you. &#9632;

f0011-01

Buffalo’s Hajt Not Flashy, Just Defensively Efficient

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div>DENVER&mdash;Joel Quenneville was left out of the picture in the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; rebuilding plans at age 21. But now he feels he&rsquo;s in the right place with the Colorado Rockies.Quenneville, a 21-year-old defenseman, has played very well for the Rockies since coming to the Mile High City from the Maple Leafs in the four-player trade which also brought Lanny McDonald here in exchange for wingers Wilf Paiement and Pat Hickey.Quenneville played particularly well during a stretch of games in which he was shifted from his normal left defensive position to the right side.&ldquo;Yeah, I feel a lot more confident on the right side,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;Last year in Toronto I was playing the right side the last half of the year and in the playoffs. This year I was playing the left side in Toronto and when I came here. &lsquo;Grapes&rsquo; (Coach Don Cherry) noticed I seem to play better on the right side. You see more of the play from the right side. It seems your stick is always in the middle of the ice and you can cover a lot more area.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;d been switching Joel back and forth and I&rsquo;d noticed that when he gets burnt it&rsquo;s on the left side,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;I found out he likes to play the right side.&rdquo;&ldquo;I do. I was getting beat a lot,&rdquo; Quenneville admitted. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t get beat in this league. If you do, you get burned.&ldquo;It seems like I have more ice on the right side,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re on the left side, you turn into the play with your backhand.&rdquo;But playing the off side can create problems. &ldquo;The one problem is in the opposition&rsquo;s end when the puck is coming around the boards,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo;You have to take it on your backhand and that&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve got to work on.&rdquo;McDonald, the powerful right winger who just turned 27, has been one of Quenneville&rsquo;s biggest boosters, even during the players&rsquo; days in Toronto before the trade.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to say I&rsquo;m more than high on Joel,&rdquo; said McDonald, who has become an instant hit with Rockies&rsquo; fans for his total performance game in and game out.&ldquo;This guy&rsquo;s gonna be an All Star,&rdquo;. McDonald continued. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe Toronto gave up on him. Although I&rsquo;m very happy about it&hellip;to give up on a guy like Joel doesn&rsquo;t make any sense. Although like I said, I&rsquo;m happy we&rsquo;re both here. It makes the forwards&rsquo; job a lot easier.&rdquo;&ldquo;Right now Joel has been our steadiest defenseman for the first three weeks of February,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;He plays like the old-timers play. He takes the man and he&rsquo;s tough. He blocks shots, too.&ldquo;Lanny McDonald said when he came here, &lsquo;Don, he&rsquo;s gonna be the steal of the century.&rsquo; And he has been,&rdquo; Cherry said.Quenneville does seem to make the odd mistake, but many times he comes right back to recover in time to break up the play. &#9632;

Quenneville ‘Steal Of The Century’

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Baz Bastien was awarded THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; Executive of the Year Award last season for pulling off a series of trades that almost completely restructured the Pittsburgh Penguins.This season, however, Bastien has not been quite so active in the trading market. The only deals he has made so far this season saw Pete Mahovlich go to Detroit in the off-season for Nick Libett and Blair Chapman move to St. Louis in exchange for Bob Stewart.If there haven&rsquo;t been any deals involving the Penguins lately, it hasn&rsquo;t been because their general manager hasn&rsquo;t tried.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to get a 40-goal scorer,&rdquo; said Bastien. &ldquo;No question about it. But you start talking about a player like that and the first thing the other club wants is Greg Malone. No way I&rsquo;m parting with Malone.&rdquo;Malone, 24, recently underwent surgery for torn knee ligaments and is probably out for the remainder of the season. He was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s leading scorer, with 19 goals and 32 assists, when he was hurt. He also led the Penguins in scoring last season with 35 goals and 30 assists.After climbing into first place in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Norris Division in early January, the Penguins lost 16 of their next 20 games, and Bastien began to look around for some help.A major portion of the problem during the losing period was the inability of the Penguins to put the puck in the net. A 40-goal scorer would certainly have helped the situation, especially with Malone injured.Bastien flew to Detroit and held talks with officials from the Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs&mdash;two clubs with similar records to the Penguins who might have been willing to make a deal.&ldquo;The feeling I got was that Toronto intends to hold onto Darryl Sittler through the end of this season,&rdquo; Bastien said after talking to Leafs&rsquo;. General Manager Punch Imlach about the star center. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re just doing a lot of hemming and hawing right now. I think they&rsquo;re going to let some of the smoke blow away before they do anything with Sittler.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t do things as quickly as you would like sometimes,&rdquo; Bastien said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not going to get the guy you really want at this time of the year. I think if we do anything at all in the next little while, it will be just a little some-thing to shake the trees.&rdquo;In addition to missing Malone, the Penguins were also without the services of center and team captain Orest Kindrachuk, who missed 20 of 22 games with a hip pointer.With injuries to his top two centers, Coach Johnny Wilson was forced to juggle his lines. He moved right wing Pat Hughes to center and brought up rookie Kim Davis from the minors.Despite their record, Bastien was not all that unhappy with the Penguins&rsquo; play.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re snakebit,&rdquo; he said after another loss. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve played very well lately. I believe we&rsquo;re on the right track.&rdquo;Now if he could only find the track the train is leaving on that would bring him a trade&hellip;PENGUIN TRACKS: Defense man Ron Stackhouse was named acting captain during Kindra-chuk&rsquo;s absence&hellip;United States Olympic hockey star Buzz Schneider was a Penguin draft choice in the sixth round of the 1974 Amateur Draft&hellip;Left wing Jim Hamilton, called up from the minors due to the injuries, suffered a pulled groin. &#9632;

Penguins Cautious In Trading Market

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011237/5133919-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="302" height="364"></div><h2>Giacomin Threw Curve</h2>THE NERVE OF MY OLD buddy Eddie Giacomin.There we were, E.G. and I, doing an &ldquo;Overtime&rdquo; post-game show on &ldquo;Hockey Night in Canada&rdquo; with moderator Vic Rauter. For 10 minutes the banter was right out of Good Housekeeping. Then came the last two minutes of the program and suddenly I felt like a bad guy on The Avengers.That&rsquo;s when Eddie threw a high, hard one at me and my typewriter. While millions of Canadians watched, Giacomin stunned me to the core.&ldquo;How come,&rdquo; he demanded, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re always writing nasty things about Fred Shero in your column?&rdquo;What a dreadful time for E.G. to ask that question! Why just two days earlier I had made an Old Year&rsquo;s resolution never to mention Fibber McShero in this space&mdash;at least until the Rangers win the Stanley Cup.I decided on the Shero embargo after my pals, Ira Gitler and John Brockman, said &ldquo;Enough, already. Stop knocking Freddie! &ldquo;If that&rsquo;s how they felt, it was good enough for me. No more stories about Fibber McShero. I wasn&rsquo;t even going to mention his assistant, Sonny Werblin.But then Giacomin went and put me on the spot, so now I am obliged to go public with my feelings about Freddie.I don&rsquo;t like him.I don&rsquo;t like him for a lot of reasons. The first reason is Rhoda Rappeport. In case you haven&rsquo;t heard, Rhoda once wrote a book about Shero for St. Martin&rsquo;s Press.It was a good book. In fact Rhoda claims that Shero called it the best thing ever written about him. One day I get a phone call that Shero is suing Rhoda. I checked with his agent and, sure enough, the guy said he was suing her. Why? Oh, something about Rhoda writing about Freddie without his &ldquo;authorization&rdquo;.Now I can see Fibber getting mad if Rhoda wrote something nasty about him. But this was a sweetheart of a book and yet the $250,000-a-year Shero had to put poor Rhoda through the legal grinder. Nice fellow.My second reason is the Philadelphia writers. Up, down and sideways, Freddie told the Philly fourth estate how much he loved The Spectrum and Broad Street and the statue of William Penn. The boys with the typwriters believed him and figured that Fibber meant to stay in Philly, so they wrote that he would and then Freddie left. Not nice, Fibber.My third reason is me. When The Fibber arrived in New York I sat down with him after his &ldquo;Blessed-be-the-one-who-is-coming-I-am-here&rdquo; press conference. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s your philosophy about dealing with the media?&rdquo; I asked.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m open,&rdquo; said Freddie. &ldquo;I believe players and management have an obligation to the press. Gimme a call. I&rsquo;ll be available.&rdquo;A few weeks later I got an assignment from a magazine to do a profile on The Fibber. I phoned. No Freddie. I phoned again. No Freddie. He was as available as the Dalai Lama.Suddenly I remembered what Jimmy Breslin once wrote about his former friend, Fat Thomas: &ldquo;It was his attitude. Give the man seven or eight winners and he becomes General Rommel. Whenever you saw Fat Thomas, his look told you, &lsquo;Who are you to quetion my actions?&rdquo;&lsquo;To me, Fred Shero is Fat Thomas. Which comes to my fourth reason&mdash;the New York writers. Me, I don&rsquo;t need Freddie. I feel very good not talking to him, but a lot of nice people like Pat Calabria, Larry Brooks, Hugh Delano, Walt McPeek and Mike Tully, who cover the Rangers in New York, feel a journalistic need to quote The Fibber. They try to be fair but Shero has gotten to them.For the past year, they have written&mdash;and told&mdash;stories about Shero&rsquo;s arrogance, his duplicity and general disdain for people who earn their living writing hockey.Brooks, Delano, Calabria, Tully and McPeek are my people. If Freddie makes like he doesn&rsquo;t like them, then I don&rsquo;t like him.My fifth reason hasn&rsquo;t happened yet, but I&rsquo;m betting it will. I&rsquo;m talking about the expected hosing of Mike Nykoluk. Remember last June when Mike was named &ldquo;co-coach&rdquo; of the Rangers after Toronto had tried to sign him? Remember how the Rangers promised Nykoluk the head coaching job for next season? Naturally, they (Shero-Werblin) didn&rsquo;t put it in writing but Mike said that &ldquo;promises were made.&rdquo;I&rsquo;m waiting to see how those promises are kept now that Andre Beaulieu, Ed Giacomin and Herb Brooks are hovering in the wings. I&rsquo;m wondering whether, by next September, Mike Nykoluk will be liking Fred Shero as much as I do.Any more questions, E.G.?<h2>Can&rsquo;t Buy Stanley Cup</h2>NOTES: I phoned Harold Ballard to determine if he has mellowed in his feelings about Rangers&rsquo; boss Sonny Werblin&hellip;No way!&hellip;&ldquo;I still don&rsquo;t talk to him,&rdquo; Harold tells me. Ballard then reeled off a half-dozen reasons why&hellip;&ldquo;And furthermore,&rdquo; Mister Maple Leaf concluded, &ldquo;you can tell Mister Werblin that you can&rsquo;t buy a Stanley Cup!&rdquo;&hellip;Sorry, Harold, but I don&rsquo;t talk to him either&hellip;The Philly Flyers ought to put p.r. director Joe Kadlec on loan to the NHL office. Kadlec and class are synonymous&hellip;The North Stars&rsquo; Gilles Meloche is getting more raves as the NHL&rsquo;s best goalie; or, at worst, second-best to Tony Esposito. &ldquo;The funny thing,&rdquo; says Gilles, &ldquo;is that Tony has been my idol. Yet, he&rsquo;s going down to block shots all the time and I like to stand up as much as possible.&rdquo;&hellip;Minny coach Glen Sonmor cringed when he heard what Don (Grapes) Cherry said after Colorado goalie Bill Oleschuk had allowed two goals on Boston&rsquo;s first four shots. &ldquo;I should&rsquo;ve put a bullet through his head,&rdquo; said Grapes.DEFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN: In case you missed last week&rsquo;s edition, I am awarding a Jim Thomson Trophy to the NHL&rsquo;s best defensive defenseman. The trick is to find qualified candidates. The following are suggestions I obtained from some of the top NHL thinkers:&bull; Tom McVie, Coach, Winnipeg Jets&mdash;&ldquo;If I had a two-on-one situation against my team the defensive defenseman I&rsquo;d want back there would be Jim Schoenfeld. After that it would be either Rick Ley, Jim Watson or Gerry Hart.&rdquo;&bull; Lou Nanne, G.M., North Stars&mdash;&ldquo;Give me Fred Barrett, Dave Burrows and Bill Hajt.&rdquo;&bull; Jacques Demers, Coach, Quebec Nordiques&mdash;&ldquo;Number one, Larry Robinson. Then, Jim Schoenfeld, Dale Hoganson and Craig Hartsburgh.&rdquo;&bull; Fred Creighton. Coach, Boston Bruins&mdash;&ldquo;Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe are in the top group. Then I like Ray Bourque, whose offensive abilities overshadow his defensive play. After that, Larry Robinson and Jim Schoenfeld.&rdquo;&bull; Bobby Kromm, Coach, Detroit Red Wings&mdash;&ldquo;Dave Burrows, Larry Robinson and Dave Lewis.&rdquo;&bull; Glen Sonmor, Coach, Minnesota North Stars&mdash;&ldquo;Norm Barnes and Mike Busniuk of Philadelphia are doing a whale of a job but get very little publicity. Rick Smith is also one of the best defensively. After that I&rsquo;d pick Dave Burrows and Freddie Barrett.&rdquo;&bull; Andre Boudrias, Asst, coach, Nordiques&mdash;&ldquo;Craig Hartsburg and Ray Bourque. If you want a third, Jim Schoenfeld.&rdquo;My choice: Schoenfeld.<h2>No Respect In Toronto?</h2>MEDIA NOTES: Toronto Globe&rsquo;s Don Ramsay has come down hard on the Leafs&rsquo; high command. &ldquo;The players,&rdquo; writes Ramsay, &ldquo;have absolutely no respect for (G.M. Punch) Imlach and coach Floyd Smith.&rdquo;&hellip;I know at least one Toronto skater who disagrees&hellip;The Winnipeg Free Press ran a re-vealing piece about Hilliard Graves, authored by Reyn Davis&hellip;Graves emerges as one of the NHL&rsquo;s most hated players because of his devastating &ldquo;low-hit&rdquo; bodycheck&hellip;&ldquo;Most of his victims are predetermined,&rdquo; writes Davis&hellip;Next on Graves&rsquo; hit list is defenseman Pat Price of Edmonton&hellip;New York scribes are having a field day theorizing about the future of the Rangers&rsquo; high command. Tim Moriarty of (Long Island) Newsday has Phil Esposito bidding for the Blueshirts&rsquo; coaching job. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to coach the Rangers,&rdquo; Espo told moriarty. &ldquo;That way I wouldn&rsquo;t have to leave New York&rdquo;&hellip;The Bottom line is Sonny Werblin, who appears to have become the Rangers&rsquo; manager as, well as major domo. It&rsquo;s Werblin, not Fibber McShero, who makes all the major decisions now. Which explains why Esposito went over Shero&rsquo;s head and beefed to Werblin about the lack of discipline on the team. The latter item was revealed by the N.Y. Post&rsquo;s Larry Brooks, who has been a determined ferret on the spoor of a good Ranger story&hellip;Sports Illustrated has taken the NHL to task again for its 200-200 vision when it comes to violence. &#9632;

f0013-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;When there were only 25 games remaining in the season, the North Stars had only three players on their roster who had played in every game&mdash;Al MacAdam and Steve Payne, the team&rsquo;s top two scorers, and Fred Barrett, the steady veteran defenseman.Injuries, injuries, injuries. The North Stars can&rsquo;t get away from them.Latest to go were center Glen Sharpley, who was playing the best hockey in his four-year career, and left winger Tom McCarthy, the underage draftee who led the Stars in game-winning goals, with five.Sharpley went down with a knee injury that could keep him out of action the rest of the regular season. A rib injury put McCarthy out of action for three weeks.Surgery will not be required at this time for Sharpley, and it&rsquo;s possible he&rsquo;ll be fit for the playoffs. &ldquo;We could get him back just at a time when we need a spark,&rdquo; said coach Glen Sonmor.Already, the Stars have lost considerable playing time from the likes of Bobby Smith (19 games), Greg Smith (25 games) and Gary Sargent (11 games). Lost for the season were wingers Mike Fidler and Jack Carlson.The healthiest the team has been all season was soon after Bobby Smith returned from his broken ankle and the Stars rose as high as third in the overall standings.But a mid-season slump sent the Stars spinning into an eightgame winless streak.The Stars snapped out of it in early February on the play of goalie Gilles Meloche and the scoring of Smith, MacAdam and Payne.When the latest injuries hit the club, the consistent play continued, especially on the road.The Stars are almost impossible to beat at home, but games in away rinks were disappointing until late February when the team went four games without a loss (30-1).&ldquo;You&rsquo;re not going anywhere in this league until you learn to win on the road,&rdquo; said Sonmor. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ve stressed all season. If you walked into a rink and didn&rsquo;t know what city you were in but were watching Philly or Boston play, you couldn&rsquo;t tell which was the home team because they play the same everywhere. That&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;re striving for.&rdquo;Payne and MacAdam apparently got the message. They&rsquo;ve been scoring as frequently on the road as they have been at home. MacAdam reached a career high of 34 goals in a 5-2 victory over the Islanders in New York. Payne picked up his 33rd of a banner sophomore season the same game.Smith, despite missing almost a quarter of the season, is starting to score in bunches with a teamleading 40 assists.And Meloche hovers around the 2.75 goals-against-average with a personal high of 22 victories.To keep the momentum going the Stars have to avoid&mdash;what else?&mdash;further disabling injuries.STAR DUST: With McCarthy out, Bob Flockhart was called up from Oklahoma City, where he had led Minnesota&rsquo;s top farm in scoring&hellip;After Sharpley&rsquo;s injury, winger Dan Chicoine was told he would remain with the Stars the rest of the season&hellip;The Stars have drawn more fans (380,420) than they did all of last year, with 11 home games remaining. &#9632;

North Stars Keep Shining Through Injuires

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011288/5133998-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="259" height="338"></div><h2>America&rsquo;s Dream Team</h2>AMERICA&rsquo;S TEAM&hellip;Dream Team&hellip;The Golden Boys of Winter. Their names are Johnson, Craig, McClanahan, Eruzione, Ramsey, Baker, Schneider, Morrow and O&rsquo;Callahan. And they won the hearts of the United States and Canada and every free nation where a successful underdog is admired and respected.By now America&rsquo;s Team has scattered&mdash;to NHL teams, to universities, back to hometowns where what they achieved will never be forgotten.The United States Olympic hockey team, coached by a shrewd, tough gentleman named Herb Brooks, accomplished something only a very few thought possible. The U.S. shocked the world-champion Soviets and then rallied to clinch the gold medal Over the stubborn Finns.Upsetting the Soviets shouldn&rsquo;t have been more than a hockey game, but it was. Americans have badly needed a hero. We have sat by helplessly as some radical cowards have held our people hostage for more than 100 days. Daring work by some courageous Canadians has been the only positive sign to come out of Iran.Americans have been split over President Carter&rsquo;s threatened boycott of the Moscow Olympics. The only chance to confront the Soviets was in Lake Placid. It was an opportunity to remind the aggressors from the Kremlin that our athletes are as tough and as talented as theirs&mdash;and what a splendid job our people did.First, Eric Heiden skated the socks off everyone from Moscow and points west. Then the Johnsons and Craigs and McClanahans&mdash;kids facing the paid professionals that embarrassed the NHL&rsquo;s All Star men last February&mdash;went out and beat the Mikhailovs and Petrovs and Tretiaks.<h2>Tribute To Discipline</h2>WHAT AN EXHILIRATING feeling it was, watching the U.S. skate and shoot and hit with the Soviets. The U.S. team displayed remarkable poise, which is a tribute to coach Brooks and his discipline. It was also a tribute to Mike Eruzione, the team captain who helped convince his teammates they could beat the Soviets. Eruzione isn&rsquo;t good enough to be an outstanding NHL player, but some major league team should hire him to work with and encourage its prospects. Or, some college should bring him aboard as a recruiter and/or coach.Almost 20 years in the newspaper business has taught me many things, one of which is: don&rsquo;t root for teams or players. I can&rsquo;t even cheer at my daughters&rsquo; swim meets. But, the night the U.S. beat the Soviets, I felt as proud as any American. Like many televiewers, I was misty-eyed watching ABC&rsquo;s profile of Jim Craig as he talked about his father and deceased mother.Bobby Clarke may not understand this, but I also felt some sympathy for the Soviet players. With few exceptions, I am convinced they are decent people who are frequently confused by the hostile reception they receive, whether it&rsquo;s in Prague, Montreal, New York City or Lake Placid.One of my goals is to have a man-to-in-trepreter-to-man conversation with a Vladislav Tretiak or Boris Mikhailov where I would hope to learn what they really think about their government. I&rsquo;m anxious to discover how they feel about being disliked almost everywhere they go.Do they know what their troops have done in Afghanistan? Do they realize how respected they are as athletes? Wouldn&rsquo;t they like to live and play hockey in Canada or the U.S., and leave their dreary country behind?<h2>Time-Wasting, Ugly Brawls</h2>I WAS THINKING of these questions, and about what a high standard the U.S. team had set for hockey in North America, when I tuned in the Philadelpia-Vancouver game the same night. It would be nice, I thought, to drift off to sleep with inspiring thoughts of the U.S. victory as Gene Hart and Bobby Taylor described the hockey action from Pacific Coliseum.Instead, all I heard was Hart saying &ldquo;Uh, oh, this is getting ugly.&rdquo; And Taylor saying, &ldquo;Now Bridgman and Logan are going again.&ldquo;Look out, they have Kenny Linseman two-on-one. Now Glen Hanlon and Phil Myre are going at it.&rdquo;Hanlon and Myre are goaltenders, but here they were, victims of the lunacy that an otherwise great game like hockey can drive its participants to. Knowledgeable fans, the press, and the courts tell the NHL it must stop these time-wasting, senseless, ugly brawls, but little is done.I, for one, don&rsquo;t get paid enough to lecture millionaires about what is right&mdash;or what is wrong with their sport. But maybe&mdash;and it&rsquo;s a faint maybe&mdash;they&rsquo;ll notice the excitement created by the U.S. victory over the Soviets, a victory achieved with hard-hitting but clean hockey, when emotions were strung tighter than any Stanley Cup final, and finally start giving the NHL&rsquo;s product some dignity. &#9632;

f0014-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Marcel Pronovost, the Hall of Fame defenseman, is back with the Detroit Red Wings.Pronovost, 49, was hired to assist Coach Bobby Kromm with the club&rsquo;s defense.&ldquo;His job is to help teach the young guys the game of defense and give them the support, the confidence they need,&rdquo; said General Manager Ted Lindsay.&ldquo;Particularly the young guys who are looking for guidance. They feel they&rsquo;re doing it right, but Marcel will give them a greater degree of confidence.&ldquo;Marcel will be behind the bench to watch the defense and give them the guidance as they come off the ice. A guy makes a mistake, that&rsquo;s the time to tell him. When a guy comes off, it&rsquo;s pretty difficult for Bob to watch the defense, offense, name the lines, watch the plays.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad to be here, of course,&rdquo; Pronovost said. &ldquo;I thinkthere is a lot of inexperience. With a little on-ice discipline, all these fellas are big enough and quick enough, so I think we should be able to improve on it.&ldquo;Bobby coached in Dallas while I was coaching in Tulsa&hellip;so we&rsquo;ve followed one another&rsquo;s career since that time.&ldquo;I imagine we will co-ordinate the workouts with both the offense and defense,&rdquo; Pronovost continued, &ldquo;because there is a very, very close relationship. If your defenseman moves the puck well up to the forwards, the forwards will have more opportunity to score and vice versa. If the forwards come back into their zone, then it helps the defense. It&rsquo;s a matter of being synchronized.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll let Bob carry the thing for awhile until I get to know the people better. One important thing is that coaching is a very lonely job. At times, if you have somebody you can talk to, exchange ideas, you&rsquo;re on the same wavelength, you&rsquo;re better off.&ldquo;I might see things a little differently. I might be oriented a little differently.&ldquo;One thing about playing defense is that you&rsquo;re always reacting. And reaction is always secondary to initial action. So you have to be in position possibly to cover two or three areas. I always tell the defensemen you&rsquo;ve got two guys you can rely on right off the bat&mdash;your defense partner and your goaltender.&rdquo;Pronovost was inducted into the hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. He played 16 seasons on defense for the Red Wings from the 1949-50 season through 1964-65. He was a Red Wing teammate of Lindsay&rsquo;s on four Stanley Cup teams and played on another championship team in Toronto.While with the Wings, he served on Sid Abel&rsquo;s four man &ldquo;cabinet,&rdquo; which advised the Red Wing general manager and coach on matters pertaining to the players. Others on the &ldquo;cabinet&rdquo; were Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio and Bill Gatsby.&ldquo;It took me a little while to realize that we should have somebody else,&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;It wouldn&rsquo;t surprise me if in another year or so we end up with another person. Who knows? It might be a psychiatrist or a psychologist.&rdquo;Ironically, the moves come at a time when the Wings are getting some exceptional performances from their young defensemen. Reed Larson and Willie Huber began to dominate games as the Wings put together a three-game winning streak with victories at home over Minnesota and Washington and in Uniondale over the New York Islanders.Larson increased his goal total to 16 with three goals in two games, while Huber scored in two straight games for a total of 14. &#9632;

Pronovost Secured As Wing Assistant

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD FRIEDMAN</div>NEW YORK,&mdash;In the last days of February and the first 48 hours of March, the Rangers finally began to find themselves.Shrugging off an endless series of trade rumors, injuries and months of inconsistent play, the Blueshirts put together four consecutive victories and began to hit playoff form.They beat the Islanders, 8-2 on Sunday, February 24 in Madison Square Garden, came from behind to defeat the Kings, 5-4 three days later, and then took the Boston Bruins in a home-and-home series, 5-2 and 2-1. The last win was perhaps the most emotionally-charged, taking place on Sunday, March 2nd as the Bruins visited the Garden for the first time since they fought with fans in the stands there last December 23.The brawl-filled victory over the Islanders came a day after the Rangers&rsquo; 6-3 loss in Minnesota as speculation of a multiplayer deal between the Rangers and Maple Leafs was put to rest. The Rangers received an extra morale boost with their first good medical report in months.Big defenseman Barry Beck returned to action against the Islanders for the first time since the end of January, when he suffered a hyperextended elbow. And it became apparent that Ulf Nilsson would be returning from a long layoff&mdash;the result of a mysterious nerve ailment.And at least four Rangers breathed a collective sigh of relief as the Leafs attempted to peddle goalie Mike Palmateer and center Darryl Sittler and perhaps defenseman Dave Burrows&mdash;elsewhere. The Rangers&rsquo; high command decided that Leafs&rsquo; G.M. Punch Imlach was asking too much; the package the Leafs reportedly wanted would have included wing Don Murdoch, defenseman Ron Greschner, goalie John Davidson&mdash;the man wholed the Rangers into last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup finals&mdash;and center Ron Duguay.Three days after the Rangers dispatched the Islanders, Phil Esposito and Warren Miller scored goals less than five minutes apart in the third period to take the Rangers from a 4-3 deficit to a 5-4 win over the Kings. And it was Greschner who set up Miller&rsquo;s game-winning goal when he drew Kings&rsquo; goalie Mario Lessard out of the net and then passed the puck off to Miller on the right side.The next night in Boston, the Rangers beat the Bruins, 5-2 as Duguay scored the first and last goals of the game in what may be looked back upon come May as the turning-point of the Rangers&rsquo; season. Duguay&rsquo;s two goals gave him 11 goals and 18 points in 15 games and the second, at 17:56 of the third period on a breakaway, was his 20th of the season and a pretty play.Steaming in on Gilles Gilbert after defenseman Tim Bothwell had set him free at mid-ice with the lead pass, Duguay hesitated until he was within range and then lifted a wrist-shot over Gilbert&rsquo;s right shoulder.&ldquo;Duguay was the big difference in this game&hellip;the whole difference,&rdquo; said Boston&rsquo;s Peter McNab. &ldquo;He is the single most dominant person out there on the ice.&ldquo;Maybe the trade rumours are what perked him up, got him going.&rdquo;Murdoch had set up Duguay for his first goal on the power play with a pass at center ice as Duguay prepared to split the Bruins&rsquo; defense, Mike Milbury and Brad Park.&ldquo;I never hesitate to give it to Duguay when he&rsquo;s in flight,&rdquo; said Murdoch.Shero has been double-shifting Duguay and using him on bothpower-play and penalty-killing units, and Duguay thrives on the extra work.&ldquo;When I feel the coach needs me, it gives me incentive,&rdquo; said Duguay after the Rangers beat the Bruins at Madison Square Garden. For that game, Garden security had been beefed-up to defuse any repeats of the December debacle, but the Garden crowd was too enthralled with the Rangers&rsquo; fourth win in a row to consider any rowdiness.<div class="sidebar">A 5-2 win in Boston may turn out to be the turning point in the Rangers&rsquo; season. &#9632;</div>

Rangers Finally Put Playoff Form Together

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;He gets the puck in the Boston end and turns up ice, gathering a head of steam and leaving flustered checkers in his wake.You can tell who it is without even looking by the roar of anticipation that wells up suddenly in the throats of the 14,000 Boston Garden faithful.It&rsquo;s a rare thing.They did it for Eddie Shore when he circled the Bruins&rsquo; net and laid back his ears and took off for the other end like the express out of Edmonton.They did it for Bobby Orr when he cradled the puck in the curve of his stick and shifted into the second of his many skating gears and headed up the ice.And now they are doing it for young Raymond Bourque.They did it a lot the other week during two vintage Bourque performances, one in a losing cause against the New York Rangers, the other in a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.He didn&rsquo;t score a point in either game nor did he win one of the three stars&mdash;an oversight that casts doubt on the selection system&mdash;and therein lies the problem.The best rookie of 1979-80 probably will not win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in the NHL because (a) he is a defenseman and (b) the things he does best for the Bruins do not show up on the statistical sheets, where reputations are made.Only one defenseman now playing (Denis Potvin) has a Calder back home on his trophy shelf.Ask Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Maurice (Rocket) Richard and Brad Park, none of whom ever won the Calder, either, about the quality of the selections.Ever since Bourque joined them last fall, a first round draft choice, eighth overall, only 18 years old, the Bruins have tried to avoid comparisons between him and Orr.But, after Bourque&rsquo;s performance against Los Angeles, O&rsquo;Reilly didn&rsquo;t mind comparing them at all.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be much more prepared to compare Ray to Bobby than any defenseman who&rsquo;s come along, even Denis Potvin,&rdquo; said the Bruins&rsquo; acting captain. &ldquo;Ray is the closest to Orr that I&rsquo;ve seen since I&rsquo;ve been in the league.&ldquo;He really took charge today, especially on the power play when Brad Park wasn&rsquo;t out there with him. He seems to think because of seniority he always has to pass off to Brad. Today he chose to control it himself.&ldquo;He has the same in-the-blood instincts that Bobby had. The way he turns and skates and makes plays&hellip;most players you can see them thinking out there. To Ray, it&rsquo;s just like walking is for some people.&ldquo;The big difference is in their skating. Ray is a good strong skater but I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s got as much control over his change of pace as Bobby did.&ldquo;Bobby had two or three different speeds. He&rsquo;d go along and then he&rsquo;d just shift it and go faster. He wouldn&rsquo;t have to stickhandle by anybody. He&rsquo;d just skate by on the other side of him.&ldquo;Ray seems to be growing so fast from the player he was at training camp. In training camp he was very impressive. There doesn&rsquo;t seem to be any bounds in sight right now. There doesn&rsquo;t seem to be any real limits to what he can do.&rdquo;Bruins&rsquo; General Manager Harry Sinden can hardly contain himself when he talks about Bourque, but he makes a good try.&ldquo;He certainly had it today,&rdquo; he said after the LA game. &ldquo;He played an absolutely spectacular game. In the New York game, when we finally came alive, he was the guy who took charge.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like to compare him to Bobby. Bobby was Bobby. There&rsquo;ll be no Orr, ever. I just like to look at him as himself, as a new face in hockey, a new excitement in hockey. I think what lies ahead for this young man could be unbelievable.&rdquo;The young man himself, just turned 19, is rather shy and still not fully at home in a roomful of English-speaking strangers.&ldquo;We had a banquet up in New Hampshire one night,&rdquo; says Rick Middleton, &ldquo;and they asked him to speak. He came up and he wasn&rsquo;t sure what to say. Finally he said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m just glad to be here.&rsquo; That was all.&rdquo;With 17 games remaining, Bourque had 48 scoring points, seven more than Orr did as a rookie, two less than Gregg Sheppard&rsquo;s record for a Boston rookie, and 12 shy of Barry Back&rsquo;s NHL mark for rookie defensemen.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011212/5134053-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="603" height="903"><figcaption class="caption-body">Many of the things Ray Bourque does best for Boston don&rsquo;t show up on the stat sheet.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

Bourque’s Talents Seem Boundless

<div class="byline">BY PAT CALABRIA</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Richard Brodeur was happy. He had just spent an exhausting day getting from Indianapolis to Quebec City, but he could not have been more delighted. The distance was great in more ways than one.Indianapolis is in the Central League, the Islanders&rsquo; top minorleague franchise, but a minorleague franchise just the same. Quebec City had all that bilingual charm, plus it had its place in the NHL. The Islanders were there to play the Nordiques. And, finally, Brodeur was there to play for the Islanders.Brodeur had been acquired by the Islanders from Quebec during the expansion draft in the complex deal that kept Gerry Hart unprotected so he could be chosen by the Nordiques. The Islanders thought that along with Bill Smith and Glenn Resch, they would have three experienced goalies&mdash;and leverage for a trade.But Brodeur was hurt in training camp, never got a chance to win a job, was sent to Indianapolis and managed a 3.03 goals-against average. When Smith had to leave the Islanders briefly to attend the funeral of his fatherin-law, general manager Bill Torrey called up Brodeur.And it just so happened that Brodeur, after seven seasons in the WHA, made his NHL debut against his former teammates. Not only that, he beat them, with the help of the other Islanders, 53. And he played well in doing so.&ldquo;It was a special feeling for me coming back to play them,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;I was stunned when they told me I was going to play, especially because it was against Quebec. It&rsquo;s the greatest thrill of my whole life.&rdquo;Brodeur&rsquo;s appearance marked the first time since 1974 that the Islanders had started a goaltender other than Smith or Resch, since Gerry Desjardins was traded. With Resch playing inconsistently and with the team bracing for a grueling schedule ahead, coach Al Arbour decided to give Brodeur his chance.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not surprised he did as well as he did,&rdquo; Arbour said. &ldquo;He was playing well in Indianapolis, wasn&rsquo;t he? He deserved a chance.&rdquo;Two of the goals that Brodeur allowed against his old teammates were questionable. Brodeur thought that one scored against him was deflected in by a high stick, although a television replay appeared to indicate otherwise, and he allowed another goal after stopping a shot but tum bling over the goal line with the save.The question, of course, was what the Islanders would do with Brodeur once Smith returned. Brodeur was particularly interested in that. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been told that if I play well, I&rsquo;m going to stay around,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;So it&rsquo;s a good start.&rdquo;Torrey has, in the past, been reluctant to deal one of his two goalies. He probably won&rsquo;t make a trade until he is convinced Brodeur can do the job. The trading deadline is March 11 and Torrey is planning some moves, though right now none of them appears to be major.The hint of change seems designed to spur a team which is floundering again. Before their impressive victory in Quebec, the Islanders had lost four straight games, won in St. Louis, then were blasted by the Rangers, 8-2, at Madison Square Garden. In that game, the Islanders allowed five goals in the second period. Five of the Ranger goals were scored on power plays.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m mystified,&rdquo; Arbour said.Among those trying to help the Islanders surge to a higher spot in the point standings is Mike Bossy. He had two goals and an assist in the game against Quebec&mdash;after being so disgusted with flagrant but uncalled penalties in the Ranger game that he impulsively threatened to quit hockey, &ldquo;unless they do something to clean all that chippy stuff up.&rdquo;Bossy said: &ldquo;Good checking is part of the game and I can take a check. What I don&rsquo;t like is that high-sticking and slashing. It&rsquo;s no good for the game.&rdquo; That echoed the sentiment previously expressed by Los Angeles center Marcel Dionne and Montreal defenseman Serge Savard.Bossy almost certainly will have his third 50-goal season, but almost certainly won&rsquo;t threaten his right wing record of 69 goals set last season. &ldquo;I wish I could,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I have to be realistic.&rdquo; &#9632;

Brodeur Has Homecoming As Islander In Quebec

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011087/5134129-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01959/5134122-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="606" height="814"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02772/5134115-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="572" height="2491"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03595/5134108-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="553" height="551"></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div>TORONTO&mdash;March 11 will be VD day. Christmas morning and the Final Judgment all rolled into one for many players on the Maple Leafs&rsquo; roster.It&rsquo;s when everybody finds out whether their roommate is a permanent one (at least through the end of the playoffs) or whether a Darryl Sittler, or a Mike Palmateer or a Walt McKechnie will be drawing his paycheck from a different employer.Mid-March marks the cutoff date for trading in the National Hockey League and the Leafs, who roared into March in their best shape in a long while&mdash;both mentally and in the standings, where they have solidified themselves as playoff material&mdash;will finally have a chance to build on the togetherness that has begun to spread among a group of athletes just beginning to know each other.There are several reasons why the Leafs are playing lively, determined and decent hockey, but let&rsquo;s start with the biggest&mdash;goaltending.Czech ex-patriate Jiri (George) Crha has made the most of his big chance in the NHL after sitting around for more than half the season, participating only in practices. Crha went down to Moncton of the American League, quickly got his goaltending game in order and was summoned in February for a look-see. He was besieged by the flu and had to postpone his debut, but finally dressed as a backup for a game against Pittsburgh. Starting goaler Curt Ridley broke his hand early in that contest and Crha took over, allowing just one goal.Crha started the next game against Hartford, which the Leafs won, and then went 4-2 on a six-game road journey, playing exeptional hockey at times.His unique style&mdash;Crha likes to hang back well inside the crease, only occasionally challenging shooters&mdash;means that opponents have to beat him, rather than getting an empty net should Crha come out too far. He&rsquo;s been successful with this style, notably in a 4-3 win over Colorado in which he made 42 saves.As has been the custom with Toronto goaltenders this year, Crha injured his knee in the Colorado win and was replaced in the Leafs&rsquo; return home by&mdash;tah dah!&mdash;Mike Palmateer.Palmateer was his usual, gambling, aggressive and high-spirited self in a moral victory against the Philadelphia Flyers (actually a 3-3 tie)&mdash;where the Leafs came back from a three-zip deficit to earn their second tie of the season against the Flyers.&ldquo;My game&rsquo;s not all there,&rdquo; said Palmateer, who had played just 10 minutes since Dec. 26. &ldquo;I was losing my balance a lot, but I was prepared to play since I knew George might not be able to make it.&rdquo; (Crha&rsquo;s problem turned out to be a bruise and he was expected back in the lineup this week.)&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to try to play myself back into shape,&rdquo; Palmateer explained, &ldquo;but the best news is that my ankle felt great.&rdquo;Arriving concurrently with the Leafs&rsquo; suddenly respectable goaltending, or perhaps the goaltending upswing followed their arrival, has been the spark provided by center Bill Derlago and right winger Ricky Vaive, the pair acquired from Vancouver for Tiger Williams and Jerry Butler.The two youngsters, 21 and 20 respectively, scored four goals apiece in their first six starts with the Leafs, each turning in two-goal games in Leaf wins over the Islanders (Vaive) and Colorado (Derlago).Against the Flyers, Vaive sent Derlago off on a breakaway which resulted in the first Leafs&rsquo; goal when Derlago slipped a backhander through the legs of Phil Myre late in second period.Then, with the Leafs within a goal in the third period, Vaive whipped home a Derlago rebound with the Leafs enjoying a two-man advantage to earn the club a tie.&ldquo;We just weren&rsquo;t playing much in Vancouver,&rdquo; said Vaive following the Flyer game,&rdquo; and now we&rsquo;re even getting a chance on the power play.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been great playing here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think the attitude is better than most people would think it to be. I&rsquo;m not upset with Vancouver, or anything, I guess they figured we weren&rsquo;t scoring the way we should be and that they had to make the trade to help their team.&rdquo;Lately, the Leafs&rsquo; trades have been helping the team. They now have three solid lines which have been producing on a regular basis. Pat Hickey is playing the left side with Vaive and Derlago, while the trio of Terry Martin, Darryl Sittler and Wilf Paiement, left to right, has been hot. Th next night after the Flyer game, Paiement knocked in two goals, his 23rd and 24th, while Sittler had a third-period hat trick, to lead the Leafs to a 6-3 come-from-behind triumph, making them 6-2-1 in their last nine games.Said Rocky Saganiuk, the right winger for the team&rsquo;s most consistent line featuring Laurie Boschman at center and John Anderson (who was injured briefly but will be back this week): &ldquo;We keep plugging away and we&rsquo;re confident now that we can score a few goals, even when we fall behind.&rdquo;You might even say the Leafs are starting to look like a team. &#9632;

Trade Deadline Finds Leafs Blooming

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Flyers, naturally, had some questions following Coach Pat Quinn&rsquo;s stunning three-game suspension by the NHL.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like what happened in that game,&rdquo; said a dismayed Quinn, referring to the Feb. 22 brawl in Vancouver that resulted in 15 game misconducts. &ldquo;Nobody likes what happened. I had hoped to express some problems that needed looking into (in his hearing NHL Vice President Brian O&rsquo;Neill), but I didn&rsquo;t get that chance. Those problems are not just with players and coaches.&rdquo;Bobby Clarke, the Flyers playing-assistant coach who, along with scout Joe Watson, was to fill in while Quinn was on bread and water, wanted to know why NHL president John Ziegler didn&rsquo;t handle the hearings.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing to me that Ziegler isn&rsquo;t doing it himself,&rdquo; said Clarke. &ldquo;Bowie Kuhn doesn&rsquo;t have somebody else suspend players. It&rsquo;s pretty serious when you suspend players and coaches, and it should be done by the president of the league.&rdquo;Deciding NHL justice is O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s job, unless players decide to battle customers in the expensive seats. Then Ziegler steps in, as he did in the infamous Boston Bruins-Rangers&rsquo; fans brawl.However, if the NHL plans to punish coaches for teams&rsquo; behavior, Clarke wondered how Los Angeles&rsquo; Bob Berry escaped time in the stockade for the Flyers-Kings brawl Dec. 6 at the Spectrum.&ldquo;What were we supposed to do,&rdquo; asked Clarke, &ldquo;sit back and watch him (Randy Holt) pound Kenny (Linseman)? Maybe the correct way is to suspend coaches, but why didn&rsquo;t they do anything to Berry? He let Holt go after Linseman. He didn&rsquo;t put Holt out there to win the hockey game. The score was 9-3. Holt was only out there for one reason.&rdquo;Quinn was punished for admitting he waved three Flyers out of the penalty box in Pacific Coliseum. O&rsquo;Neill obviously didn&rsquo;t want to hear that the Flyers were seriously short-handed on the ice. O&rsquo;Neill figures these ugly benchclearing episodes that severely detract from hockey&rsquo;s good points must stop, and, if coaches are held responsible, then maybe they and the players will think before players join the punching parties on the ice.Maybe O&rsquo;Neill is right. Surely, something has to be done. But seeing Pat Quinn, one of hockey&rsquo;s more intelligent, articulate coaches hit with such a stiff penalty makes many observers wonder about the league&rsquo;s wisdom. NHL coaches over the years have reflected much more unfavorably on the league than Quinn ever has and never been punished.&ldquo;We were the next case up, and we were singled out,&rdquo; said Flyers GM Keith Allen. &ldquo;I just think it was tough in that it was the first time Pat had been called for a hearing.&rdquo;After cooling off a day, Quinn responded by saying he was preparing a statement and would consult with his legal counsel. Quinn who has guided the Flyers to the NHL&rsquo;s best record in his first full season as coach, insisted he doesn&rsquo;t intend to sue the league.&ldquo;But I feel if I don&rsquo;t make a statement, it leaves the assumption I&rsquo;ve just accepted this,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I plan to be a coach for quite awhile and they&rsquo;re playing with my career. It&rsquo;s a black mark on me.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m extremely frustrated at this decision. I feel they just look at the results, not the problems, and ignore why things like this happen.&rdquo;FLYERS FACTS: A 5-8-13 scoring binge in 7 games allowed Paul Holmgren to match his career high in goals (19). Other scoring streaks: Bob Dailey 3-6-9 in 7 games, Mel Bridgman 3-7-10 in 8 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01989/5134184-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="584" height="924"><figcaption class="caption-body">Philadelphia&rsquo;s Pat Quinn feels the NHL is only looking at the results of its problems&mdash;and not at the reasons which cause them.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Suspension Leaves Flyers’ Quinn Bewildered

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;The Black Hawks&rsquo; captain, Terry Ruskowski, has a theory concerning Rich Preston, his fellow migrant workaholic from the World Hockey Association.&ldquo;I think a little bit of Gordie Howe rubbed off on Rich those years we all were in Houston,&rdquo; suggests Ruskowski.&ldquo;Rich has the reputation of being a good hockey player. He&rsquo;s underrated. When you&rsquo;ve played with him for six years the way I have you come to realize he&rsquo;s a great hockey player. He does so many things and he does them all so well.&rdquo;Goalie Tony Esposito sprawls to stop pucks but he&rsquo;s reserved in jumping to conclusions. What does he think of Preston?&ldquo;He may be the best addition we&rsquo;ve made in all the years I&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; says Esposito, whose Chicago career dates back to 1969. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tremendous hockey player. Let me tell you something else&mdash;he&rsquo;s a winner.&rdquo;The archives of the WHA support Esposito&rsquo;s motion. In five seasons, Preston and Ruskowski played on two WHA championship teams in Houston and last winter they helped Winnipeg take the final title in the league&rsquo;s history.&ldquo;I can see why Preston was the Most Valuable Player in those WHA playoffs,&rdquo; says Lou Angotti, the Black Hawks&rsquo; TV analyst and a former National Hockey League player and coach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the most complete players I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s strong on his skates; he moves without the puck; he can pass, shoot, and kill penalties.&ldquo;What makes Preston even more valuable is his ability to play either wing effectively. By moving him from left wing on Ruskowski&rsquo;s line to the right side on (Tom) Lysiak&rsquo;s line, (Coach) Eddie Johnston was able to make a tremendous improvement in the offense.&ldquo;Sometimes a winger will have what I call withdrawal symptoms if he&rsquo;s put with a center with a completely different style. Preston knows Ruskowski like a book. But right from the first night he and Lysiak were together (Jan. 25 in Atlanta) it seemed as though they had been together for years.&rdquo;Strong in the corners, Preston (a righthanded shot) specialized in setting up right wing Grant Mulvey in front of the net when he operated on Ruskowski&rsquo;s line.With Lysiak, he&rsquo;s getting more chances and scoring more goals. Preston scored two in the 3-1 victory over powerful Buffalo on Feb. 24 and ended the month with 23 goals and 21 assists. (He and Mulvey are the only Hawks who have played in all 62 games.)Preston can be explosive. In November, 1975&mdash;playing for Houston&mdash;he scored twice within 11 seconds against the Chicago Cougars&rsquo; goalie, Dave Dryden versus San Diego that season in the playoffs, Preston scored two shorthanded goals in one period.The Houston Aeros went out of business after the 1977-78 season and contracts of 12 players&mdash;Preston and Ruskowski among them&mdash;were bought by Winnipeg. Both had been drafted by the Black Hawks before entering the WHA and Chigago still had their NHL rights. In October, 1978 General Manager Bob Pulford of the Hawks made Preston an offer to jump here this season and he accepted.&ldquo;Had I known Tommy McVie was going to wind up as the Winnipeg coach and John Ferguson the general manager, I probably wouldn&rsquo;t have done it,&rdquo; admits Preston.&ldquo;But Chicago had picked up a lot of guys who had moved from the WHA and I knew if they could play here so could I. The big difference I&rsquo;ve observed is the amount of talent on the top teams in the NHL. You also don&rsquo;t find the goons that we had in the WHA.&ldquo;After Birmingham forced that goon squad, every team in the WHA signed up two or three goons.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad I went to college (at Denver University) but my four years in the WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) didn&rsquo;t really prepare me for the physical game we play in the pros. They don&rsquo;t fight in college.&rdquo;When Rich was in high school he was an outstanding quarterback. He was expected to be, for his father, Ken Preston, was general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League from 1958-78.&ldquo;Every football writeup about me would begin: &lsquo;Rich Preston, son of Ken Preston&hellip;recalls Rich. &ldquo;Hockey was like a vacation. There wasn&rsquo;t the pressure.&rdquo;Now, he seems to thrive on pressure. In Angotti&rsquo;s words: &ldquo;In the last minute of close games he&rsquo;s one of the guys you always see on the ice.&rdquo;HAWK TALK: Chicago finished February with a 7-3-1 record. Since Dec. 15, the Hawks&rsquo; record is the fourth best in the NHL. They&rsquo;ve been held to 30 shots only twice in their last 16 games, and their 51 powerplay goals (through Feb. 29) are 10 more than the team scored all last season&hellip;Goalie Esposito leads the NHL in starts, 54; victories, 26; and shutouts, 6. He has 73 career shutouts&hellip;Ruskowski still leads the team in assists, 43; points, 57; and penalty minutes, 224&hellip;Mulvey is the top goalscorer with 30. &#9632;

Preston Great Black Hawk Addition

<h2>PIERRE LAROUCHE&hellip;Montreal Canadiens</h2>It&rsquo;s been a whole new bailgame for Montreal center Pierre Larouche this season and the Canadiens couldn&rsquo;t be happier with the 24-year-old&rsquo;s performance.A part-time player under coach Scotty Bowman last year, Larouche managed only nine goals in 36 games, but now he&rsquo;s passed 40 goals and may well be headed towards another 50-goal year like the one he had as a sophomore with Pittsburgh.Larouche lit the lamp five times last week, scoring pairs of goals in Montreal victories over Minnesota and Philadelphia. He also tallied once in between, in the Canadiens&rsquo; triumph over the Washington Caps.The five goals pushed Larouche&rsquo;s total to 43 on the season, just one behind injured teammate Guy Lafleur and fourth in the NHL overall; Pierre also has reclaimed a spot in the top ten scoring list, with 75 points. &#9632;

NHL Player Of The Week

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01920/5134270-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div><h2>Hull Joins Howe</h2>HARTFORD&mdash;The big story out of Hartford last week was the news that 41-year-old Bobby Hull was obtained by the Whalers from the Winnipeg Jets in return for future consideration:Hull, who played in 18 games for the Jets this year, but had been out of the lineup since Dec. 12 with a shoulder injury, began practicing with the Whalers at the end of February and was expected to play by the second week in March.He thus joins 51-year-old (soon to be 52) legend Gordie Howe as well as Dave Keon, the Whalers&rsquo; smooth center who turns 40 March 22.Before the season started Hull reportedly refused an opportunity to be traded to Hartford, but he recently approached Winnipeg general manager John Ferguson with the request that he be traded to an American team.Previous to his days as a Jet, Hull scored 604 regular season goals over 15 seasons for the Chicago Black Hawks.<h2>Ballard Profiled</h2>TORONTO&mdash;Maple Leafs&rsquo; president and owner Harold Ballard was recently profiled on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program The Fifth Estate by interviewer Adrienne Clarkson and was his usual forthright self. Among some of Ballard&rsquo;s comments were:&bull; On the subject of his prison term: (Former prime minister) John Diefenbaker stood up in the house and said, &lsquo;There&rsquo;s laws for the rich and laws for the poor.&rsquo; That Sucker,&rdquo; Ballard told Clarkson, &ldquo;would steal your eyes and give you two grapes and tell you that you looked fine.&rdquo;&bull; On NHL president John Ziegler: &ldquo;That jerky little Ziegler is telling us we have to pay another $25,000 for that player.&rdquo; General manager Punch Imlach interjected: &ldquo;No, no, it&rsquo;s only after he&rsquo;s played 40 games for us.&rdquo;&bull; On calling people names: &ldquo;It happens when you&rsquo;re mad&mdash;you call&rsquo;em nigger, or wop or mick. It doesn&rsquo;t mean anything. If somebody makes you angry and you call them a damned fool, well, you don&rsquo;t actually mean that. Remember: Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will never harm you.&rdquo;<h2>Campbell Defended</h2>MONTREAL&mdash;A parade of associates of former National Hockey League president Clarence Campbell, who awaits sentencing after being convicted of conspiracy in early February, have asked the presiding judge in the case, Mr. Justice Melvin Rothman, not to send Campbell to prison because of his &ldquo;high moral character and fragile health.&rdquo;The witnesses for Campbell included former governor-general Roland Michener, Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; president William Wirtz, former Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; general manager Sam Pollock and Campbell&rsquo;s personal physician.&ldquo;If I had to go away for 10 years and entrust my private affairs to one man,&rdquo; Wirtz told the judge, &ldquo;that man would be Clarence Campbell.&rdquo;The maximum penalty for Campbell&rsquo;s offense&mdash;conspiracy to pay a benefit to Senator Louis Giguere to gain a lease extension for the duty-free Sky Shops Export Ltd. store at Montreal&rsquo;s Dorval Airport&mdash;is five years in prison.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02685/5134263-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="1900" height="1822"></div><h2>Bucyk&rsquo;s 9 Retired</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Number 9 for Boston, the jersey worn by the Bruins&rsquo; alltime leading scorer, Johnny Bucyk, will be retired in a special Boston Garden ceremony on March 13.Bucyk, an administrative assistant with the Bruins, holds the club records for most games, 1,436, most consecutive games, 482, and several playoff scoring marks.&ldquo;The Chief,&rdquo; as he was known in Boston, will be honored at the game between the Bruins, for whom he played from 1957-1978, and the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he broke into the NHL in 1955.<h2>Quinn Suspended</h2>MONTREAL&mdash;Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; coach Pat Quinn was suspended for three games and fined $1,000 by the National Hockey League for failing to restrain his bench during a recent fracas between the Flyers and Vancouver Canucks in the Pacific Coliseum.A total of $10,100 in fines was assessed by the league, including $5,000 to the Flyers when defenseman Frank Bathe became the first player to leave the bench and join the fray. Bathe was also suspended for a total of three games, while players on both teams were handed $4,100 in fines.<h2>Palmateer Leaving</h2>TORONTO&mdash;Player agent Alan Eagleson has stated that one of his clients, Toronto goaltender Mike Palmateer, who is playing out his option, will definitely not be playing for the Leafs next year.Eagleson&rsquo;s statement, as reported by Toronto Globe and Mail sportswriter Donald Ramsay, was a response to statements attributed to Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard in an article by Dick Beddoes, which at the time of Eagleson&rsquo;s reply, had not been printed.Ballard was quoted as saying he is bothered by Palmateer&rsquo;s lifestyle and that, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve thought about putting a tail or detective on him to find out where he goes when he leaves the rink.&rdquo;Eagleson told Ramsay: &ldquo;Under no circumstances will Palmateer sign a new contract with the Leafs. Ballard and Punch Imlach have a vendetta going to discredit Mike.&rdquo;The 26-year-old goaltender is seeking a no-cut, five-year contract in the vicinity of $200,000 per season. The Leafs are said to agree with the money portion, but wish to retain the option of buying out the contract (for one-third of the price).<h2>Howe Hits 800</h2>HARTFORD&mdash;At the 1:27 mark of the third period of a game against the St. Louis Blues on February 29, Gordie Howe reached another amazing milestone when he scored the 800th regular season NHL goal of his career before 13,622 fans at Hartford Arena.Howe, who scored 786 goals for Detroit in the NHL before scoring another 174 goals in six seasons in the World Hockey Association, took a pass from Greg Carroll and knocked in a five-foot shot past Blues&rsquo; goalie Mike Liut for his 14th goal of the season.<h2>Olympians Honored</h2>NEW YORK&mdash;A special presentation will be made to the United States&rsquo; gold medal-winning Olympic team at the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Lester Patrick Dinner at the Plaza Hotel on March 10.The Lester Patrick Award is given annually for outstanding &lsquo;service to hockey in the United States and its presentation to the Olympians will mark the first time in the award&rsquo;s 14-year history that it has been given to a team. &#9632;

f0019-01

SLAPSHOTS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01777/5134308-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div>TORONTO&mdash;With the recent additions of Jirie Crha, Rick Vaive and Bill Derlago, the total of players who have worn the blue and white of the Toronto Maple Leafs in NHL games since the inception of the team in 1927 is an even 400, points out Leaf publicist Stan Obodiac.It take eight pages in the Toronto Maple Leaf Fact Book to record the service records of these 400 Leafs, from the first name of Doug Acomb to the last name of Lefty Wilson.At least 40 of those ex-Leafs are dead. The most recent to die were Johnny McLelland, Johnny McCreedy, Scott Garland and Gerald Lowery.Many of the Leafs and executives have distinguished themselves. Amongst those in the Hockey Hall of Fame are Harold Ballard, J. P. Bickell, William Hewitt, Foster Hewitt, Frank Selke, Conn Smythe, Syl Apps, George Ar-mstrong, Ace Bailey, Andy Bathgate, Max Bentley, Johnny Bower, Turk Broda, King Clancy, Charlie Conacher, Hap Day, Gord Drillon, Babe Dye, George Hainsworth, Red Horner, Tim Horton, Syd Howe, Dick Irvin, Busher Jackson, Red Kelly, Ted Kennedy, Dickie Moore, Frank Nighbour, Pierre Pilote, Jacques Plante, Babe Pratt, Joe Primeau, Marcel Pronovost, Terry Sawchuk, Sweeny Schriner and Carl Voss.Leaf names which will be considered for the Hall of Fame in the future are Punch Imlach, Hal Cotton, Bert Olmstead, Frank Mahovlich, Bob Goldham, Howie Meeker, Nick Metz, Dave Keon, Lorne Carr, Norm Ullman, Dick Duff.Only 400 have made it into the Maple Leaf &ldquo;club&rdquo;. Thousands and thousands have tried. It has a more confined and prestige membership than the Senate of Canada.Its alumni are all over the world Some have become millionaires, politicians, judges, doctors, lawyers, school principals, even priests. Many have become hockey coaches and managers and scouts. Others have become presidents of companies and others, broadcasters.These 400 players have brought 11 Stanley Cups to Toronto, two Hart Trophies, eight Lady Byng Trophies, nine Calder Trophies, six Vezina Trophies, five Art Ross Trophies, one Conn Smythe Trophy, 82 all-stars, six first-place finishes and several NHL records.There have been four general managers, 14 coaches and 11 captains in the Leafs&rsquo; 53-year history.Although the Beatles or Frank Sinatra may have sold out one performance at Maple Leaf Gardens, the Leafs have sold out every game since 1946, the most incredible sports attendance record in the world, any sport. All these things have been chronicled in the book &ldquo;The Leafs&mdash;the first 50 years.&rdquo;So it remains that one of the great honours and identities in Canada is belonging to the 400-club.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02525/5134301-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="723" height="1360"><figcaption class="caption-body">The two forwards recently obtained by the Maple Leafs, Bill Derlago, left, and Rick Vaive, were the 399th and 400th players to have donned the famous blue and white jerseys over the past 53 years. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Maple Leafs’ Colors Have Been Worn By 400

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;This is a story that does not yet have an ending, but it is too good to go unreported. It is one of those stories that comes along every season or two.Doug Keans, a goaltender from Barrie, Ontario, was drafted out of Oshawa by the Kings in the summer of 1978.Although he was the Kings&rsquo; second pick, it didn&rsquo;t come until the sixth round and Keans was only the 94th player picked.He played as an amateur at Saginaw, Michigan, in the International League last season, went to training camp with the Kings this season, and was signed to a pro contract.From camp with the Kings at Portland, Oregon, he was sent to camp with Binghamton in upstate New York, then sent back to Saginaw to start the season.When an injury sidelined Lorne Molleken in Binghamton, Keans was called up to the American League to fill in. Molleken recovered and Keans returned to Saginaw.Another injury sidelined Molleken and Keans was called back to Binghamton. There he was called into the front office and told his practice performances &ldquo;weren&rsquo;t satisfactory&rdquo; and the team was &ldquo;sending him out&rdquo;.Keans was stunned until told he was being sent to Toronto to join the Kings, who weren&rsquo;t satisfied with regulars Mario Lessard and Ron Grahame.The Kings had lost six straight games, but won that night without using Keans. He wasn&rsquo;t used in his first four games as the Kings went to Philadelphia, then returned to L.A.The Kings had lost three more and 14 out of 17 when Keans finally made his debut in L.A. against the Islanders, a team they hadn&rsquo;t beaten in 11 games. That night they beat the Islanders, 3-2.Then they flew to Detroit and, with Keans playing, topped the Red Wings, 4-2. Keans&rsquo; parents and girlfriend travelled 400 miles from Barrie to see him in the big leagues.The Saginaw team takes one 90-mile trip a year to see the Wings and this game was the one they had scheduled, so they were all there to root for their old teammate.Keans&rsquo; car was in Binghamton, his clothes in Saginaw. He couldn&rsquo;t reach roommate Claude LaRo-chelle to ask him to bring some of his clothes to Detroit. When Claude came into the Kings&rsquo; dressing room after that Detroit game, he was wearing Doug&rsquo;s jacket and pants. Keans wanted to strip him.Flying right back to L.A. Keans started against Boston. In the last minute of the first period, he was elbowed by Al Secord and went woozy. Lessard replaced him and went on to a 3-0 victory.That win was the first shutout an opponent had scored against the Bruins in 208 games, since October of 1977. Lessard got the credit for it. but it was Keans who had led the Kings out of their tailspin and into a three-game winning streak.Doug&rsquo;s previous stats were unimpressive. He cut his goals-against average from 8.2 to 6.6 to 4.1 in three seasons as a junior in Oshawa.He went to 4.0 last season and 3.7 in 22 games this season at Saginaw. He was 3.8 in eight games this season at Binghamton. But he&rsquo;s under 2.0 after playing seven periods in the NHL.Those other leagues are wide open&mdash;a lot like the Kings have been this season. But in those three games Keans played, they have been tight and tough, playing superb positional hockey and hitting.Keans faced only 15 shots from the Islanders, but he made several difficult saves. He faced 34 in Detroit, 14 in the first period. Two long slap shots got by him, but he broke up three breakaways, standing up, coming out, and cutting down the angles.He faced seven shots before being sidelined by Boston. He looked good and coach Bob Berry thinks he&rsquo;ll be a good one. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very cool and keeps in control,&rdquo; Berry says.The five-foot, seven-inch, 175-pound Keans says, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get too excited, though this has been exciting. I stand up and play the angles. I&rsquo;m pretty quick, but when I start to go down I get in trouble.&ldquo;The last couple of years I&rsquo;ve been working on my stickwork, learning to get the puck along the boards to defensemen who can clear it.&ldquo;I never dreamed I&rsquo;d be up this soon,&rdquo; Keans says, &ldquo;I thought it would take a couple of good years in the minors and a couple of good training camps. Even now, I don&rsquo;t know how long I&rsquo;ll last here.&rdquo;Keans could be back down by the time you read this, or he could be up top to stay. The odd man out at the moment is Molleken, who would have been the one to get a chance if he hadn&rsquo;t broken his hand.KINGS THINGS: Hard-hitting by rookies Jay Wells, John Paul Kelly and Don Howse helped the club&rsquo;s resurgence. Wells sprained his thumb punching Secord for hitting his road roomie, Keans, in the head&hellip;Marcel Dionne was bitter because no one came to his rescue when Frank Bathe high-sticked him in Philadelphia earlier&hellip;With Charlie Simmer back after 16 games out and Dave Taylor back after ten, the reunited Dionne line returned right to its spectacular pace, scoring<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01578/5134339-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="516" height="611"></div> &#9632;

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Kings’ Unknown Kid Conies Through In Clutch

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;It shouldn&rsquo;t be necessary to describe the brawl that took place between the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks on the night of February 22, but it seems to be necessary in order to sufficiently condemn the whole mess.With the Flyers employing their traditional tactics of hooking, holding and spearing at every opportunity, referee Bryan Lewis started calling some of the more blatant offenses early, but having taken verbal abuse at every call, he eventually reduced his involvement in the game. He began ignoring much of the nonsense on the ice and the Flyers were obviously encouraged in their ways by the Canucks&rsquo; pathetic power play.Problems began when Lewis&rsquo; calls reduced the Flyers to two men short in the third period and the score 7-3 for the league&rsquo;s &ldquo;best&rdquo; team.Philly&rsquo;s Bob Dailey gave Canucks&rsquo; Jere Gillis a vicious two-hander, figuring quite rightly that with Philadelphia shorthanded, it wouldn&rsquo;t be called. Gillis came back and flagrantly interfered with Dailey. This was also ignored by Lewis, who had seen so much grabbing and spearing that it must have looked normal to him by then. The puck went to Phil Myre&rsquo;s crease and a scramble ensued, with Dailey reacting to Gillis by punching him, Gillis threw down his glovs and Canuck Kevin McCarthy, a former Flyer and friend of both, stepped in to cool things down. With the Flyers short, Frank Bathe jumped off the bench illegally, trying to even things up; the Canucks Harold Snepsts and Glen Hanlon followed, and the brawl was under way.A fight would break out, and somebody would come over and grab someone and it would all begin again. Many heavyweights paired up, with Jack McIlhargey rushing to grab Curt Fraser, Snepsts squaring off with Paul Holmgren and Mel Bridgman confronting Dave Logan. Only Logan and Bridgman fought, with the Philadelphia player getting the better of it. There were other fights, too, Glen Hanlon pummelled fellow goaltender Phil Myre and Ken Linseman dared Vancouver coach Harry Neale to sucker punch him while Linseman was paired up with of all people, Thomas Gradin.A 45 minute delay in the game and 340 minutes in penalties resulted, plus automatic suspensions to Gillis (for his third game misconduct of the year), Bathe and Ron Busniuk, the former for leaving the penalty box during an altercation.The Flyers said very little to the Vancouver media. Coach Pat Quinn simply said his team &ldquo;hasn&rsquo;t had a brawl of this nature this season,&rdquo; and added that it &ldquo;was a good victory for us.&rdquo;Bridgman said, &ldquo;It was just one of those things that happened.&rdquo;Only Paul Holmgren had anything intelligent to say.&ldquo;Frank (Bathe) just jumped over to even things up without thinking what would happen,&rdquo; said Holmgren. &ldquo;Snepsts and I didn&rsquo;t really fight. Every time he wanted to go to someone&rsquo;s aid I&rsquo;d stop him, and every time I wanted to go to someone&rsquo;s aid he&rsquo;d hold me.The only humor to be drawn out of the ugly mess was Vancouver coach Harry Neale&rsquo;s comments about Linseman, who came over to the deserted Vancouver bench and, according to Neale, said: &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you sucker me?&rdquo;Neale said he told him: &ldquo;Kenny, I knew you&rsquo;re dad and I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;d be very pleased with your selection in the fight (Gradin). I know it took you long enough to search him out.&rdquo;Neale, who can hardly claim he has a bunch of choir boys after acquiring Jerry Butler and Tiger Williams, said that Philly works under the theory that, &ldquo;If you throw so much s&hellip;. at the wall, some of it sticks. They never worry about penalties in the first period, and after every one they bitch like mad. Eventually the referee sees so much holding and spearing, he quits calling it and they have complete control of the game. And if I had the toughest team in the league, I&rsquo;d probably do the same thing.&rdquo; &#9632;

Vancouver Brawl A Senseless Mess

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div>as so often happens, Keon not only smothered his adversary but he also managed to assist on a pair of Whaler goals.It&rsquo;s no wonder that there have been times this year when Keon has looked like he has needed a rest. Early in the year Blackburn used Dave in every key shorthanded situation. He&rsquo;s one of the league&rsquo;s best at that assignment and remains one of the best on the power play as well. There was no question that Davey was a key performer for the &lsquo;Big Whale&rsquo; all season.When Keon was finally felled by illness, the Whalers were forced to play without the veteran centerman for three games&mdash;a loss and two ties. Keon&rsquo;s absence was particularly noticeable against Minnesota&rsquo;s North Stars. With Keon home in bed, Bobby Smith had a field day!There&rsquo;s no question that if Keon decides to call it a career after 21 seasons in the profession, the Whalers will have a large void to fill. But the folks in Hartford are still hoping that Number 14 will hang in there for at least one more year.The Whalers have found out quite a bit about themselves this season. With all the predictions of doom that were being bandied about prior to the season, it was difficult to look on the positive side. After the three-quarter mark in the 1979-80 campaign, however, they not only believed in themselves but they had others believing as well.The Hartford team&rsquo;s biggest difficulty seemed to be getting up for the so-called lesser teams. The Whalers apparently took delight in meeting the top teams, but when it came to playing those clubs that they had to beat out for a playoff spot, the intensity was not always there.There were so many teams battling for playoff positions that the Whalers couldn&rsquo;t afford to take any of them lightly. Coach Blackburn put it best, saying: &ldquo;You can go from 13th to 18th in about two games if you don&rsquo;t win, or vice versa if you do win. That&rsquo;s how tightly packed it is. Every game is a life and death battle from here to the end.&rdquo;Lack of killer instinct has bothered the Hartford team on several occasions throughout the season. They&rsquo;d stretch out the lead against a team and then sit back, apparently thinking about the next game. In a recent contest in Atlanta, the Whalers raced out to a 6-2 lead and then relaxed, resting on their laurels. In six or seven minutes the Flames struck back for three goals and Hartford had to hold on in order to get out of the Omni with the two points.Assistant coach Larry Pleau says what the team needs most in such situations is character, the ability to pull together to get the game back under control. And that is a lesson which still has to be learned.The addition of Pat Boutette a couple of months ago (trade with Toronto for Bob Stephenson) has begun to pay off for the Whalers. With his willingness to go into the corners, Pat has brought an aggressive ingredient to the team that has long been scarce.Boutette&rsquo;s penalty killing ability has enabled Blackbum to give Keon more rest. And, placed on a line with center Mike Rogers and right wing Blaine Stoughton, Pat has shown that he&rsquo;s rugged enough to stand in front of the net. As a result, the trio has been quite successful on the power play, with Pat beginning to get his share of goals too&mdash;mostly from rebounds in front.Mark Howe is enjoying a splendid second half; since moving to defense he has scored 35 points in just 19 games&mdash;nine goals and 26 assists. &ldquo;Ever since he&rsquo;s played back there he hasn&rsquo;t had a bad game&mdash;he&rsquo;s been outstanding,&rdquo; says Blackburn. And of those 19 games, the Whalers had lost only five times (12-5-2).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01667/5134394-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="576" height="900"><figcaption class="caption-body">Should Dave Keon decide to retire after the current season, it won&rsquo;t be because he couldn&rsquo;t help the team.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Keon Delighting In Weighty Whaler Workload

<div class="byline">BY BUDDY O&#x2019;CONNOR</div>Close team spirit has been the Nordiques&rsquo; big claim this season but somehow their spirit was showing wide cracks. Players, though remaining obviously anonymous, were criticizing Tardif in public places around Quebec where the hockey fraternity congregates.Yet with all this clamor around him, coach Demers remains calm&mdash;outwardly at least, though he is pensive. He has lost weight and gray hair is creeping in on the 34-year-old coach.&ldquo;There is positively no personality conflict between Marc and Buddy with myself,&rdquo; Demers said.Demers continued, &ldquo;It was ridiculous for Marc to state that he is not wanted here. The Nordiques have never said that Tardif is up for trade. Never. And there are no trades coming up before the March 15 cutoff with Tardif being in-volved.&rdquo;Continuing, Demers claimed, &ldquo;The four WHA entries to the NHL this year have tremendous difficulties to complete any trade whatsoever. The other clubs just don&rsquo;t want anything to do with us as far as trades are concerned.&rdquo;Demers remarked, &ldquo;I feel I am being caught in the shuffle. I&rsquo;ve made a few moves and they seem to have created problems. I&rsquo;m the coach of this club and if I know a guy is not giving his best then I will bench him immediately. There are not just two or four guys on this club, not even 15. There are 19 players out there every game and every one of them has to pull his full share. As long as I&rsquo;m coach here, it&rsquo;s going to be done my way, and I&rsquo;ll bench anyone, no matter who they are.&rdquo;Commenting on the current season, Demers said, &ldquo;If we make the playoffs&mdash;and I think we will&mdash;good. If we don&rsquo;t we had better beat our own breasts this coming summer.&rdquo; &#9632;

Seasonal Storm Swirls Nordiques

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSHALIFAX&mdash;A tough 5-4 loss at home to Maine prevented the Voyageurs from gaining ground on New Brunswick and propelled the Mariners into a tie with Nova Scotia for second place in the Northern Division. The Vees lost the only other game on the schedule, falling 6-5 at the Metro Center to New Brunswick.Norm Dube and Keith Acton are 1-2 in the AHL scoring race and Dan Metivier is fifth among the league leaders. Dube is tied with New Haven&rsquo;s Bill Lochead for the AHL lead in goals scored. Each has found the range 34 times. Fiery Chris Nilan has emerged as the league&rsquo;s penalty minute leader. He had 297 minutes in the penalty box through 46 games, also maintaining the dubious honor of pacing the AHL in 10-minute and game misconducts.NEW HAVEN: While the trade rumors continue to swirl in New York, several members of the Nighthawks were watching the papers and probably calling their agents to see if they would be in-volved. With netminder Wayne Thomas about to come back from his leg injury the parent Rangers will in all probability trade one of the three Nighthawk goaltenders. Will it be Jim Pettie, Doug Soetaert or Thomas? Only the moguls in New York know for sure.The Rangers finally sent rookie Ed Hospodar back to New Haven after he spent several weeks in New York seeing little or no action. Three other Rangers were rumored to be on waivers and about to be sent to New Haven unless they are claimed by another NHL team.The Nighthawks skated to a 4-4 overtime tie at home with Adirondack, blanked Springfield, 5-0, behind Soetaert and edged Hershey, 7-5, at the Coliseum. The one road game in Hershey, ended in a 5-4 win for New Haven.ROCHESTER: The Amerks completed a long eight-game road trip in Syracuse by losing once again. Prior to the finals in Syracuse, the Amerks lost, 6-3 in Springfield, 5-4 in Syracuse and 3-2 in Hershey. The injury-riddled club just doesn&rsquo;t have the depth to be very competitive this season and now they have to worry about hard-driving Syracuse overtaking them and dropping the club into fourth place.More players were hurt or lost to the Amerks during recent action. Buffalo dropped right winger Jacques Richard and he was subsequently signed by the Quebec Nordiques. Goaltender Randy Ireland missed some action after suffering a cut to his catching hand. Defenseman Mark Toffolo was out for a few games with torn shoulder muscles. Three players still have their limbs in casts. They are: Jim Walsh (wrist), Jim Turkiewicz (hand) and Geordie Robertson (wrist).With all the injuries they have had so far this season, it&rsquo;s no wonder the Rochester offense has been relatively non-existent. The Amerks are the lowest scoring team in the AHL at this point. In addition, the injuries have devas-tated the Rochester defense corps, causing the club to be one of the most scored-upon teams in the league. Unless the parent Buffalo Sabres provide some help soon, the fans in Rochester will be saddled with another year watching a losing club. Yet despite the team&rsquo;s record thus far, attendance in Rochester has been excellent, a tribute to the fans who have supported the Amerks for many years.SYRACUSE: A 7-4 loss in Binghamton snapped a three-game winning streak for the Firebirds, but Syracuse remains in a tight battle with Hershey and Rochester for second place in the Southern Division. Earlier, the Firebirds defeated Rochester on Blair Stewart&rsquo;s goal in sudden death overtime to give Syracuse a thrilling 54 win. Two more home games closed out the action. Rochester came to town and then the Binghamton Dusters. Both were defeated by the &lsquo;Birds.Several roster changes were on tap. The co-parent Quebec Nordiques sent left winger John Smrke, center Blair Stewart, right winger Pierre Plante and defenseman Barry Legge to Syracuse. They also reassigned left winger Kevin Zappia from Milwaukee of the IHL to the Firebirds. Center Greg Bogaerts was released from his amateur tryout. However, the Nordiques later recalled Smrke and Plante along with Louis Sleigher and Roland Cloutier. All four were brought up to Quebec under emergency conditions and could be back in Syracuse soon.NEW BRUNSWICK: The strike that closed the Moncton Coliseum is over and the Northern Divisionleading Hawks celebrated their return home by blasting Maine, 81, before nearly 4,000 fans in Moncton. Earlier, they had lost 5-3 in Hershey and skated to a very big 6-5 victory in Halifax over the Nova Scotia Voyageurs. The Mariners returned to New Brunswick later and were again blown out, this time by an 8-2 margin.Toronto sent three players to New Brunswick and Chicago one. Veteran left winger Gord Gallant, was dropped. The rebuilding Maple Leafs dispatched left winger Bob Stephenson, center Paul Gardner and defenseman Greg Hotham to New Brunswick. Chicago sent left winger Doug Lecuyer back to the HawksBINGHAMTON: Victories on home ice over Syracuse and Springfield, coupled with a loss to Hershey at the Arena and a defeat in Syracuse left the Dusters eight points behind fourth-place Rochester in the battle for the last playoff spot in the Southern Division. Dan Bonar has been hot of late, going through a recent streak where he scored five goals in three games. All five of the tallies came on just six shots on net. Bonar and left winger Gary Burns became the first Dusters to score 20 or more goals this season, while tough winger Rick Dorman became the first player in Duster history to amass more than 200 penalty minutes in a season. Dorman has already surpassed the mark set in 1977-78 by Glen Irwin.HERSHEY: The Bears would be happy not to play the New Haven Nighthawks again this season. Two more defeats at the hands of the Southern Divisionleading Nighthawks made it nine losses in 11 games. Hershey has only been able to eke out one win and one tie thus far this year against New Haven. Their recent action was more of the same. A visit to New Haven was a case of too little too late as the Bears almost came back from a 6-2 deficit, but ended up losing 7-5 on an empty net goal by Jim Mayer which cemented the win for New Haven. The next night in Hershey, some 6,022 were on hand but the results were the same. Once again the Bears were defeated by New Haven, this time by a 5-4 margin after Hershey took a 3-2 lead into the third period.Goaltender Dave Parro has been a real workhorse for Hershey. He started both of the games against New Haven, the finale in Hershey being his 16th straight starting appearance. Backup netminder Mike Parker has been watching Parro in action from the Hershey bench, but Washington has sent down Gary Inkess to aid the Bears.Injuries and callups have still been a problem for Hershey so Doug Gibson is serving as playercoach for awhile. General manager Frank Mathers has been behind the Hershey bench while Gibson skates a regular shift. Defenseman Mike Haworth did come back from his leg injury during the week, as did left winger Harvey Pocza. Right winger Tim Coulis has rejoined the club from Washington, but the Capitals took up left winger Gary Rissling, who was leading the Bears in scoring prior to his NHL recall.MAINE: The Mariners drew even with Nova Scotia but were unable to overtake first place New Brunswick. In two head-to-head meetings in New Brunswick with the Hawks the Mariners were destroyed twice. Maine did manage to beat Nova Scotia, 6-5 in Halifax, and earlier they skated to an easy 8-2 win over Adirondack at the Civic Center.Gordie Clark, Wayne Schaab and Paul Evans are still leading the Mariners in scoring. Goaltender Rick St. Croix has a fine 2.41 GAA and backup netminder Robbie Moore an excellent 3.30 average. The Mariners have the best overall team defense in the American Hockey League, a strength that has enabled the club to remain near the top of the Northern Division despite its lack of a strong scoring attack.SPRINGFIELD: A record of 22-1 kept the Indians four points ahead of the Adirondack Red Wings in the battle for the final playoff spot in the Northern Division. In a key battle, the two clubs skated to a 4-4 overtime tie at Springfield. Earlier, the Tribe lost in New Haven and Binghamton while defeating the Mariners in Portland, 6-4 and the Rochester Americans at the Big E by a 6-3 margin.Jeff Brubaker and Bill Bennett were out of the Springfield lineup for a while with knee injuries and the Tribe lost rookie defenseman Mark Renaud, who was brought up by the parent Hartford Whalers. Winger Mike Antonovich is out for six weeks after suffering a badly bruised back. Doctors say he could be through for the year.ADIRONDACK: The Red Wings had a big chance to gain some ground on fourth place Springfield in a recent big game with the Indians. Unfortunately, the best that the club could do was to hold the Tribe to a 4-4 overtime tie. The other road games produced mixed results. The Wings were blasted 8-2 in Maine and skated to a 4-4 overtime tie down in New Haven. In the only home game on the schedule, Adrondack edged Hershey, 3-1, at the Civic Center. The Red Wings are still in the Northern Division cellar, some four points behind Springfield.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01604/5134449-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="599" height="909"><figcaption class="caption-body">After 16 straight starts, Hershey goalie Dave Parro will be glad for some relief.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Voyageurs Drop Crucial Contests To TOP Northern Division Rivals

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSThat left the Oilers unbeaten in five games, and moved them back into fifth place, a point ahead of the Houston Apollos, but five behind fourth-place Fort Worth.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve only been in town a few hours,&rdquo; Stamler said after his hat trick, &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t plan to stay long. I&rsquo;ve nothing against Tulsa, you understand, but I&rsquo;ve got a baby daughter back in Winnipeg, and I have to get back there.&rdquo;Two nights later the Oilers scored in 23 seconds, when Stamler set up rookie Rick Gosselin in front of the Oklahoma City net. But the Tulsans had to come from behind twice in the third period, first on Stamler&rsquo;s goal and finally on one by Ralph Cox, former U.S. Olympian, to gain the tie with 5.30 left. Although the Oilers had eight shots on the net in the 10-minute overtime, they had to settle for a tie.Stamler and Gosselin scored in the Sunday victory over Indianapolis, before Pat Daley&rsquo;s short rebound won it at 12:09 of the third. Again the Oilers had to score twice in the third period to overcome two goals by Indianapolis&rsquo; Neil Hawryliw.But that ended the brief homestand, and the Oilers faced six road tests before their next action at the Assembly Center.The overtime game with Oklahoma City was the sixth in this season&rsquo;s turnpike feud, with Tulsa holding a 3-1-2 edge in the extralength games. Overall, the Oilers led their state rivals, 7-4-2, with four to play.Left wing Larry Hopkins, the leading scorer, was summoned to Winnipeg, along with defenseman Don MacIver. The Oilers brought back center George Hughes from Dayton in the International League. The line of center Bud Stefanski, left wing Stamler and right wing Gosselin had 17 points in three games to pace the &ldquo;new-look&rdquo; Oilers. Stamler had five goals and an assist, Stefanski six assists, and Gosselin two goals and three assists.OKLAHOMA CITY:&mdash;Two overtime road games left the Stars winless for the week, as they tied in Tulsa (3-3) and bowed in Houston (7-6). They scored in every period at Tulsa. Tony White&rsquo;s long blast tied the score in the first, and later goals by Henry Taylor and Peter Shier provided leads that didn&rsquo;t last.Ken Kusyk had the hat trick in Houston, as the Stars rallied from a 3-1 deficit to a 6-4 lead, but couldn&rsquo;t hold off the Apollos. The Stars dropped four points behind Houston in the battle for the sixth and last playoff berth, and were only four ahead of last-place Dallas.Goalie Louis Levasseur, center Jon Fontas and wingers White and Rob Flockhart were recalled by the Minnesota North Stars. Forwards Ron Friest, Warren Young and Taylor were sent to Baltimore in the Eastern League, but Friest and Taylor were quickly recalled.HOUSTON:&mdash;Tom Roulston&rsquo;s goal after 6:21 of overtime gave the Apollos a come-from-behind 7-6 triumph over Oklahoma City at home for a break-even week. Cal Roadhouse and Mike Kouwenhoven had tallied late in the third period to force the overtime.Roadhouse had two goals in an earlier 3-3 home tie with Fort Worth. Ron Carter notched his 38th and 39th in a 4-2 loss at Fort Worth. Goalie Don Cutts was returned by Edmonton.INDIANAPOLIS:&mdash;The Checkers beat first-place Salt Lake at home, 6-2, but dropped three straight on the road, 4-3 in Salt Lake, 4-3 in Fort Worth, and 3-2 in Tulsa.Hector Marini&rsquo;s hat trick featured the week&rsquo;s lone victory. Yvon Vautour scored twice in the loss at Salt Lake while Neil Hawryliw got both Checker goals at Tulsa. At Fort Worth Hawryliw had given Indy a 3-2 lead, but Bobby Sheehan&rsquo;s penalty shot beat Jim Park with four minutes left, and they lost on Don Ashby&rsquo;s power play goal with six seconds to play in regulation time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01645/5134480-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="570" height="741"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got nothing against Tulsa,&rdquo; Stamler said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve got a baby daughter back in Winnipeg.&rdquo;</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Stamler’s Scoring Heroics In Tulsa Pave Way For Rapid Winnipeg Recall

Doug Palazzari&rsquo;s late first-perigoal (his 36th) was all the Eagles could do in 35 shots against the Bull&rsquo;s Reggie Lemelin. Birmingham had only 14 shots, but made them count.DALLAS&mdash; Ken Ellacott posted his fourth shutout of the season, beating Birmingham, 3-0, to tie for the league-lead in whitewashes.Drew Callander, Rob Tudor and Steve Hazlett scored, one in each period, to back up Ellacott&rsquo;s perfect goaltending. Dave Salvian got two goals the next night, but they came after the Bulls had taken charge with six goals in the middle period.After Friday&rsquo;s rough game, only three minor penalties were called Saturday, all against Birmingham. It was the Hawks&rsquo; first penalty-free game in more than three years.FORT WORTH&mdash; The Texans had to settle for a 3-3 tie in Houston, but came home to Will Rogers Coliseum to post a 4-2 win over the same foe, then edged Indianapolis, 4-3. That ran their home streak to 10 victories, 11 games without a loss, as Ron Ullyot&rsquo;s crew had an 8-1-1 overall record for February.Archie Henderson scored twice in the tie at Houston. Don Ashby had the hat trick against the Apollos in the rematch, and scored the winning goal against Indy on a power play with six seconds left in the game.But as the new week started, the parent Colorado Rockies traded Ashby to Edmonton, and called up center Merlin Malinowski. They send down right wing Don Saleski, a veteran of seven National League seasons, mostly with the Philadelphia Flyers. Earlier the Rockies returned goalies Bill Oleschuk and Michel Plasse, so the Texans sent Carey Walker back to Erie in the Eastern League. &#9632;

Bulls Avenge Brawl, Loss

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSTOLEDO&mdash;Gregg Pilling and his surging Goaldiggers may have saved the franchise. At least hockey for Toledo fans has been assured by stockholders of the Toledo Sports Arena, home base for the International Hockey League team.Toledo Sports Arena Inc. announced that it has purchased the Goaldiggers from a group of 26 Toledo businessmen who organized the team in 1974.Despite success in the ice, the Goaldiggers haven&rsquo;t been big hits at the box office in recent seasons. The team will reportedly lose $200,000 this season. A loss of $100,000 was reported for last season and a debt of approximately $70,000 was the result of efforts two years ago when Toledo won its last Turner Cup.The Diggers struggled on the ice. as well, earlier this season under Pilling, who took over when Ted Garvin was forced to abdicate because of heart surgery. But the team has turned things around and has put together an undefeated string of eight straight. Apparently the new owners think the Diggers have a bright future on the ice, which could eventually reflect favorably at the box office.Toledo Sports Arena Inc. is a publicly held company with 62,000 shares of stock held by 420 individuals. There is no majority stockholder but Virgil Gladieux is a major stockholder and he holds controlling interest.In order for the deal to be completed, 80 percent of the original owners had to agree to the sale. While no terms of the sale were announced, a tender reportedly was sent to each of the former owners seeking their approval in a transfer action in which Sports Arena Inc. would buy the team at ten dollars per share. Sports Arena Inc. is also assuming all debts of the hockey club.Toledo&rsquo;s recent surge included a road win at Saginaw, 5-3, and a 4-4 tie at Fort Wayne. Pilling got additional good news when he learned goalie Sam St. Laurent was returned to the Diggers from Portland.During the streak, Toledo had secured a hold on second place in the south division and currently rests eight points above the cutoff for the final playoff position.Fort Wayne, still skating well ahead of the pack in the south division (22 points up on Toledo), has gone into a mild slump. Maybe better now than later, according to coach Moose Lallo. The Komets returned home from a road win at Dayton to suffer a 4-2 loss to Milwaukee and could do no better than the 4-4 tie with Toledo in two home appearances.Captain Al Dumba, despite suffering a broken nose and two badly bruised eyes in a recent game at Grand Rapids, continues to lead the league in points, with 93. Teammate Barry Scully leads in goals, with 45.The north division race continues pretty much a two-team affair between Kalamazoo and Saginaw. The K-Wings ended on top overall with 79 points. Saginaw was second to the Wings and third overall to Fort Wayne with 45 points. Fort Wayne has 76 points.The Gears and K-Wings split a home-and-home series to feature their recent action. Kalamazoo won at home, 7-3 and dropped a one-goal thriller in Saginaw, 6-5. That was the only win for the Gears, who were upset by Toledo at home in addition to the loss at Kalamazoo.Muskegon and Port Huron enjoyed good weeks in the north. The Mohawks, who have recently been playing more consistently than any time during the last two seasons, picked up five of a possible six points. The Mohawks played a 4-4 tie with Port Huron and defeated Grand Rapids at home in addition to smoothing out a 3-2 decision at Dayton.The Flags, who are just four points behind second place Saginaw in the north, also had a nearperfect stretch of games. In addition to the tie at Muskegon the Flags were victorious over Dayton and Milwaukee in home games by respective scores of 9-3 and 5-2.Meanwhile, troubles continue to abound for Mark Boileau and his Flint Generals. Flint suffered one-sided defeat on the road a Kalamazoo, 8-3, and at Grand Rapids, 10-2, to run the curren losing season to seven. &#9632;

Goaldigger Resurgence May Save Franchise

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSgoals with seven. Brad Rhiness notched a pair of goals in the losing effort in Baltimore.Erie got some good news when goaltender Carey Walker rejoined the Blades and guarded the nets for the first time in over 20 games. Walker was 13-10-2 before being recalled by the Colorado Rockies and assigned to Fort Worth.Just three of the Blades&mdash;Paul Sheard, Val James and Jim Cowell&mdash;have appeared in all of the club&rsquo;s 52 games this season.Defenseman Daniel Poulin, who is the team leader with six power play goals, is also tops in scoring with 67 points.BALTIMORE: The rampaging Clippers vaulted over Erie into second place and now have their eye on first place and the Rifles.Coach Gene Ubriaco&rsquo;s club is on many streaks, including 13 straight wins at home and a seven-game unbeaten skein. The onrushing Clippers are 14-3-1 in their last 18 games and 19-1-1 in their last 21 outings.Baltimore chalked up three more home wins in impressive style by defeating Johnstown, 8-3, Hampton, 13-0 and Erie, 6-5 in overtime.Streaking Ron Friest and newcomer Pierre LaGace each collected two goals and one assist against Johnstown with goalie John Rockwell earning his first win since rejoining the team.There were 5,137 fans on hand when Hampton visited Baltimore and the Clippers gave them their money&rsquo;s worth, blasting the Aces. Warren Young had a four-goal hat trick with Friest again chipping in two goals. Paul Devlin had four assists and netminder Jim Weaver was hot in the net in picking up his fourth shutout, an EHL high.Friest and Young have been on a hot streak, with Friest accumulating 19 goals and 15 assists in 18 games and Young ripping EHL goalies for 15 goals and 19 assists in the same span. Friest spent one game with Oklahoma City of the CHL and, as usual, he scored two goals.RICHMOND The Rifles announced that Ray Clearwater would remain as coach for the rest of the season. Clearwater, an assistant at New Haven, was assigned by the New York Rangers to Richmond as coach after the parent club called up Andre Beaulieu to New York. Beaulieu will stay with the Rangers as an assistant coach. In 12 games under Clearwater, the Rifles have won eight and lost four.Richmond split four games and kept their seven point advantage over second place Baltimore. Richmond had an incredible 72 shots on goal in besting Hampton on home ice, 7-3, but then dropped back-to-back road games in Johnstown, 7-2 and Utica, 6-3. Returning back to friendly ice, Richmond stymied Utica 5-2 at the Coliseum.Lawrie Nisker, the league&rsquo;s second best in points, earned a pair of goals against Hampton with his &ldquo;Bullet Line&rdquo; mates Kent Reardon and Alex Jeans adding three others. Mike Clarke tallied two goals and Jeans three assists in the home win over Utica.Rick Slawson was returned from New Haven and the Rifles announced that Alan Globenski (six-foot-five, 230 pounds) would be joining the team. Latest addition to the roster was Norm Martel, picked up on waivers from Hampton.Nisker, tops in the circuit with 12 power play goals, was expected to be out for a week after injuring his knee.UTICA: The Mohawks six-game unbeaten streak came to an abrupt halt in Richmond when the&rsquo; Rifles shot down Utica 5-2.The 1979-80 edition of the Mohawks got into the record books with their five straight wins, equaling a mark that was set five years ago by the old Mohawk Valley Comets of the North American Hockey League.The biggest crowd of the year (3,421) was treated to a 6-3 upset of the Rifles with Lance Breault, Cam McGregor, Paul Conway, Dana Decker, Greg McPhee and Bob Ferguson getting goals. Ferguson added three assists to his totals and is the sixth-highest scorer in the EHL, with 65 points. It was also the first time in the history of Utica hockey that the club had attracted two consecutive crowds of over 3,000 spectators.Coach Larry Mickey&rsquo;s charges shocked the Blades, 5-2, at the Erie County Fieldhouse&mdash;Utica&rsquo;s first win in Erie in six attempts. MacGregor had two goals, Dean Willers netted a goal and two assists and Joe Fernald three assists.Goalie Jim Stewart was returned from Binghamton after more than a month, but Tom O&rsquo;Toole kept his job as he made his tenth start in a row. Kevin O&rsquo;Donoghue is the only current Utica player still in Binghamton.Because of prior commitments the Mohawks were forced to move three March home games to the smaller Clinton Arena in Clinton, New York.JOHNSTOWN: The Red Wings fell further behind in their quest for a playoff spot by absorbing three losses in four games.With 18 games remaining, the Red Wings face an uphill battle to unseat Utica for the fourth and final playoff spot. Johnstown trails fourth-place Utica by nine points.Injuries have played a major part in the inability of the Red Wings to make up any ground and the latest hard luck Johnstown casualty was goalie Claude Legris, who was placed on a five game trial only to be injured and placed on the disabled list the same day.Dave MacQueen remains the top scorer in the EHL with 42 goals and 42 assists for 84 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01597/5134559-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="590" height="746"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Clippers are sailing upward in the standings, led by Ron Friest (above) and his goal-a-game pace.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

Aces Buried In Bottom of EHL Deck

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>but Denis Lapensee, Dan Fridgen, Ken Iselmoe (injured now), and LeMonde have pulled the Raiders through time and again.In fact, Slater only had Bill McCreary for one semester until academics forced him off the team. He plans to return to school next fall, so the outlook is bright. If Slater can bring in eight varsity caliber players or so, look for further improvements, even though Terry will tell you that he actually expected to make the top eight this season.The other Colgate win to clinch seventh was a 7-4 dumping of New Hampshire which saw Lapensee get a hat trick and Mike Houle notch two goals.Another team keeping alive was the University of Maine, with two wins and a loss, all on the road, in the final week of its season. The Black Bears, in their first season of hockey at the Division One level, edged rugged Providence in Schneider Arena, 6-5 on the strength of Gary Conn&rsquo;s second goal of the game with 2:39 to play and a 39-save performance by Jim Tortorella.The Bears did the North Country swing, got bombed by Clarkson, 11-2 and regrouped to defeat St. Lawrence, 4-2. As usual, Steve Cruickshank did a lot of damage for the Knights, notching four goals. But the next night it was Rob LaFleur who got hot for Maine, scoring three times against the Larries. The win made Maine&rsquo;s final regular season record 10-11-1.Maine thus stayed in contention for the final playoff spot. Cornell, loser of two games in the week, stood at 9-11 with a pair of league games remaining, against Providence at home and at Boston University. If the Big Red wins both, they&rsquo;re in eighth. If they lose one, Maine will slip into the playoffs while Cornell would be out for the first time since 1964.That final slot was the only playoff berth still to be filled with a week to go in the season. Boston College and Providence will be seeded first and second; the order could be reversed if BC drops both its remaining games to BU and Northeastern while Providence defeats Cornell. Dartmouth finished its season at 16-5-1 and will be third seed.Colgate, as mentioned before, will be seventh while places four through six will go to Clarkson, Vermont, and RPI in a yet undetermined order.Boston College rolled over Vermont, 7-3 at home to give coach Len Ceglarski his 400th career triumph. Ceglarski, in his 22nd year of college coaching, is only the fifth coach ever to win 400 or more. The others are John MacInnes, John Kelley, Murray Armstrong, and Jack Riley.Lee Blossom had a pair of goals against Vermont but injured his knee in a subsequent 6-2 loss at Providence. The Friars ran out to a 3-1 first period lead with each member of the freshman line of Kurt Kleinendorst, Mike Bolstad, and Steve Anderson each scoring a goal. Paul Stasiuk then scored a pair in the second period and the Friars kept their slim hopes of winning the overall league pennant alive.Vermont and RPI each scored a victory in BU&rsquo;s Walter Brown Arena to eliminate the Terriers from post season competition for the first time since 1964. The Engineers came from behind three times to tie BU, and Michel Deschenes scored with 47 seconds remaining in overtime to make it 7-6. Then UVM&rsquo;s Sylvain Turcotte made a 2-1 lead stand up from 12:22 of the second period to give the Catamounts a win by that margin.Earlier in the week, Vermont had delivered another blow to Cornell, whipping the Big Red, 8-6 in Burlington. Pennsylvania refugees Tom Cullity and Gary Prior combined for five scores before three late goals by Cornell made the score respectable. Then Princeton overcame a 3-0 first period deficit in Ithaca and pushed the Red to the brink with a 7-6 defeat.RPI, meanwhile, closed out its regular season at 14-8 by whipping Northeastern 10-4 in Troy. Fifty-four shots peppered George Deme-troulakas off the sticks of Engineer skaters, and Jacques de St. Pahlle, John Emerson, and Pete DeCenzo all scored twice. RPI can&rsquo;t make a home seed but is sure of either fifth or sixth depending on what Clarkson and Vermont do in the final week.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01567/5134614-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="597" height="669"><figcaption class="caption-body">Denis Lapensee contributed a hat trick in a key victory in Colgate&rsquo;s stretch run.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

Sweep Lands Colgate Playoff Berth

CWUAA: Alberta and Calgary both placed four members on the Canada West All Star teams, while Saskatchewan and UBC had three and two members respectively. The Golden Bears&rsquo; Ted Poplawski and Jerry Farwell of Calgary shared the goaltending honors of the first team. Poplawski, an AllCanadian last year, had the country&rsquo;s second-best goals against average (2.68). On the blueline, the Dinasaurs&rsquo; Rick Williams was a unanimous choice for the first All Star team and was paired up with Alberta&rsquo;s Larry Riggins. Williams was also voted the winner of the Red Dunton Award as the league&rsquo;s top defenseman.Up front the forward line consists of Chris Helland, Jim McLaughlin and Del Chapman. Helland, of the Golden Bears, was an All-Canadian last year and repeated the honor this season even though he missed seven games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02398/5134645-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="576" height="603"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defensman Brad White, a potential All-Canadian, has been a mainstay for Brandon.</figcaption></div>The second team consisted of Calgary&rsquo;s netminder Terry Kryczka and captain Jerry Bancks, while Saskatchewan also placed two of their stars.Willie Desjardin, their leading point-getter, and rugged defenseman Marlowe Allison both deserved their second team awards. Rounding out the team was UBC&rsquo;s Rob Jones as a member of the forward line, while Bruce Rolin of Alberta completed the selections. Individual awards went to the Golden Bears&rsquo; Jim Lomas for combined sportsmanship and athletic ability. The Rookie of the Year award went to Bill Holowaty of UBC. Bill tied for third place in the scoring race with 45 points, only three shy of the leaders. The Adam Kryczka Memorial Award went to Alberta&rsquo;s goaltenders, Poplawski and Brad Hall. This combination gave up only 87 goals for an average of 3.48.QUAA: Once again the majority of the news in Quebec came from behind closed doors. Protests, suspensions and court actions ail overshadowed the games as a lot of hard feelings spilled out. The University of Chicoutimi, who looked only a week ago as if they had secured a playoff spot, are now out in the cold. The Concordia Stingers, who had tied the Inuks and lost to Bishop&rsquo;s, were credited with a win over Chicoutimi and had the loss against Bishop&rsquo;s removed. The problem stems from the fact that the QUAA uses the CAHA rule book but with certain modifications from the Quebec Ice Hockey Federation rule book.The University of Chicoutimi has taken legal court action against the QUAA as a result of the decision handed down by league president Jean Francois Grenier. Mr. Grenier ruled that the Inuks had used five ineligible players in their game with Concordia. One of the rules used in Quebec but not listed in the CAHA rule book states that any player who receives a game misconduct penalty for not proceeding directly to his bench when a fight starts is automatically suspended for the following game. Chicoutimi is claiming that they were not aware of this rule.The decision against Chicoutimi erased the point they had earned against Concordia and suspended anyone who had played in that game for the following contest against Ottawa. Chicoutimi lost three points that they needed to secure the final playoff spot and they feel the QUAA cost them that spot on an obscure rule.The Concordia Stingers came out of all this smelling like a rose. They not only received credit for a victory over the Inuks and gained an extra point, but the protest they filed against Bishop&rsquo;s stood up with the QUAA. Once again it was one of those rider rules applied in the CAHA rule book that was protested. In Quebec any referee who is not listed as a Junior Major referee is not permitted to officiate any university contests. The Stingers felt that the ref who worked the Bishop&rsquo;s games was responsible for the loss.When further investigated, Concordia found out that the referee was not of Junior Major caliber and thus filed their protest. Jean Grenier ruled in favor of the Stingers and their loss to Bishop&rsquo;s has since been nullified. But the Stingers are not out of the woods yet: All Star goaltender Grant McNichol was given a match penalty and an automatic three game suspension. The Stingers are protesting that because they feel that a competent referee would never have assessed that penalty. A ruling on McNichol&rsquo;s status will be made before the playoffs. If the Stingers hope to keep their championship they will need the services of McNichol.Meanwhile, the semifinals match Ottawa at Concordia and the Bishop Gaitors against the Patriots of Trois-Rivieres.OUAA: Guelph Gryphons have done it again, shutting out the University of Toronto Blues, 4-0, in the deciding game of the best-of-three Ontario University semi-final played at Toronto&rsquo;s Varsity Arena.Guelph goalkeeper Jim Lockhurst faced 45 shots from a Blues&rsquo; team overflowing with rookies, while Ray Irwin, Joe Campagnola, Doug Heslip and Mal MacWilliam did the scoring for the Gryphons.The once-mediocre Gryphons garnered seven wins and a tie by the end of their regular schedule. They went on to beat the Laurentian Voyageurs, 8-6, during a quarter-final game preceding the Toronto round. They lost the opener of the series but came back to win the next two games to enter a best-of-three final against the McMaster Marlins.The Gryphons have won the Ontario final for two straight years and the winner of this year&rsquo;s series heads for the national finals held in Regina from March 13-16. &#9632;

f0028-02

Bobcats Play Waiting Game

<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Tue., March 4)<h3>DIVISION 1 East Section</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01490/5134830-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="552" height="179"></div><h3>West Section</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02337/5134823-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="551" height="157"></div><h3>Ivy Section</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03219/5134816-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="551" height="184"></div>X-clinched berth in first playoff round, Tues., March 11.<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon., Feb. 25Maine 6 at Providence 5Vermont 3 at Boston College 7Tues., Feb. 26New Hampshire 3 at Brown 6Clarkson 5 at St. Lawrence 2RPI 7 at Boston Univ. 6Wed., Feb. 27Princeton 7 at Yale 6Harvard 5 at Dartsmouth 6Cornell 6 at Vermont 8Fri., Feb. 29Northeastern 1 at Colgate 5Maine 2 at Clarkson 11Sun., March 1Maine 4 at St. Lawrence 2Princeton 7 at Cornell 6Northeastern 4 at RPI 10Vermont 2 at Boston Univ. 1Yale 4 at Harvard 4Boston Coll. 2 at Providence 6Dartmouth 4 at Brown 5New Hampshire 4 at Colgate 7<h3>NON CONFERENCE GAMES</h3>Merrimack 8, Northeastern 6Colgate 9, Elmira 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04152/5134809-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="559" height="505"></div><h2>ECAC CONFERENCE DIVISION II</h2><h3>East Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05133/5134802-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="553" height="305"></div><h3>West Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06109/5134795-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="554" height="360"></div><h2>DIVISION II PLAYOFFS</h2>EAST&mdash;QUARTERFINALSHoly Cross 5, Salem State 1Bowdoin 5, Colby 2Lowell 8, New Haven 5Merimack 9, Babson 3<h3>SEMIFINALS March 5</h3>Holy Cross at LowellMerrimack at BowdoinFINAL&mdash;March 8WEST&mdash;QUARTERFINALSMiddlebury 5, WestfieldSt. 4 (OT) Plattsburgh State 4, Norwich 3Oswego State 12, Army 6North Adams State 7, Elmira 5<h3>SEMIFINALS March 5</h3>North Adams at PlattsburghMiddlebury at OswegoFINAL&mdash;March 8<h2>DIVISION III PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>SEMIFINALS</h3>Rochester Tech 8, Amherst 4Bentley 4, Wesleyan 1<h3>CHAMPIONSHIP</h3>Bentley 7, Rochester Tech 6 (OT)<h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(FINAL STANDINGS)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0791/5134788-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="554" height="276"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>North Dakota 8, Wisconsin 1North Dakota 4, Wisconsin 3Minnesota 3, Notre Dame 2Minnesota 8, Notre Dame 7Duluth 7, Michigan Tech 5Michigan Tech 6, Duluth 3Michigan State 5, Michigan 4Michigan 6, Michigan State 1Colorado College 4, Denver 2Colorado College 10, Denver 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0881/5134781-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="556" height="380"></div><h3>LEADING GOALIES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0976/5134774-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="550" height="354"></div><h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>Final Standings<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1068/5134767-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="553" height="176"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Fri. Feb. 29Ohio State 5 at Bowling Green 3Northern Mich. 5 at Western Mich. 4Ferris State 7 at Lake Superior 5Sat. March 1Ohio State 7 at Bowling Green 6Northern Mich. 5 at Western Mich. 7Ferris State 5 at Lake Superior 2<h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>Final Standings<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1163/5134760-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="555" height="325"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Final)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1258/5134753-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="553" height="302"></div><h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2>Final Standings<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1351/5134746-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="551" height="202"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Fri. Feb. 22Concordia 7 at McGill 2Laval 4 at T-RivieresSat. Feb. 23Bishop&rsquo;s 7 at T-Rivieres 6Ottawa 7 at Chicoutimi 5Sun. Feb. 24Bishop&rsquo;s 8 at Laval 6Chicoutimi 4 at Ottawa 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>Final<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1447/5134739-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="552" height="155"></div><h2>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</h2><h3>East Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1543/5134732-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="550" height="132"></div><h3>West Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1641/5134725-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="553" height="182"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Wed. Feb. 20St. Mary&rsquo;s 3 at Acadia 2St. F. Xavier 2 at Dalhousie 4Fri. Feb. 22Moncton 7 at St. Thomas 3Mt. Allison 3 at UNB 5Sat. Feb. 23Moncton 5 at UNB 7Acadia 5 at St. F. Xavier6Sun. Feb. 24St.F. Xavier 3 at UPEI 7Monday. Feb. 25Dalhousie 6 at UPEI 3<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><h3>East Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2127/5134718-1-eng-US/f0029-212.jpg" title="f0029-21" width="552" height="154"></div><h3>West Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2223/5134711-1-eng-US/f0029-222.jpg" title="f0029-22" width="553" height="157"></div><h2>CANADA WEST</h2><h3>Final Standings</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2322/5134704-1-eng-US/f0029-232.jpg" title="f0029-23" width="552" height="130"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tues. Feb. 19Calgary 7 at Alberta 3Fri. Feb. 22Saskatchewan 5 at UBC 4Sat. Feb. 23Saskatchewan 2 at UBC 1Sun. Feb. 24Alberta 3 at Calgary 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Final)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2421/5134697-1-eng-US/f0029-242.jpg" title="f0029-24" width="551" height="179"></div><h3>GREAT PLAINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2718/5134690-1-eng-US/f0029-272.jpg" title="f0029-27" width="547" height="154"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Fri. Feb. 22Lakehead 4 at Brandon 9Sat. Feb. 23Regina 3 at Manitoba 8Lakehead 7 at Brandon 8<h2>ROCKY MOUNTAIN</h2>(Standings on Sat. Feb. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2815/5134683-1-eng-US/f0029-282.jpg" title="f0029-28" width="552" height="156"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2915/5134676-1-eng-US/f0029-292.jpg" title="f0029-29" width="555" height="524"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

How They Stand

<h2>ECAC Conference</h2><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1739/5134889-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="571" height="204"></div><h3>ECAC PLAYOFFS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1837/5134882-1-eng-US/f0029-182.jpg" title="f0029-18" width="394" height="98"></div><h2>WCHA Conference</h2><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1932/5134875-1-eng-US/f0029-192.jpg" title="f0029-19" width="492" height="129"></div><h2>CCHA Conference</h2><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2519/5134868-1-eng-US/f0029-252.jpg" title="f0029-25" width="582" height="333"></div><h2>CIAU Conference</h2><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2617/5134861-1-eng-US/f0029-262.jpg" title="f0029-26" width="414" height="452"></div> &#9632;

f0029-17

Games To Come

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>BIG RAPIDS&mdash;Ferris State used a five-goal second period to top Western Michigan, 10-7, to sweep a two-game series and clinch a Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoff spot in its first full season in the league. This FSC Bulldogs took the opener, 5-4, in Kalamazoo.In other CCHA games Bowling Green snapped champion Northern Michigan&rsquo;s 17-game home winning streak by a 7-5 score before NMU bounced back, 7-3 and Ohio State swept Lake Superior, 6-0 and 9-5.Senior Keith Zoldak earned CCHA player-of-the-week honors with a pair of key goals and two assists in his first playing time after missing games due to illness.Dan Pupillo gave FSC a 1-0 lead in the opener, but the score was 32 for the host Broncos after two periods with Pete Raps, Dave Berthelsen and Kevin Scott collecting the WMU goals. Kelly Mitchell pushed the WMU lead to 4-2 at 1:46 of the third period, but Ferris State rallied with K. Zoldak scoring at 10:05, assisted by brother Perry Zoldak and Paul Pickard.Pickard then tied the game at 12:00 with assists from the Zoldak brothers and Joe Buchly netted the winner at 19:30 of the third period. Ted Ykema made 29 saves in the win, while Jim Doyle had 31 saves in the loss for Glen Weller&rsquo;s club.The second game of the home-and-home series was more offensive with the score 3-2 for the host Bulldogs after one period of play with Paul Cook, Tom Rudrud and Pupillo scoring the FSC and Terry Olson and Rob Reid scoring for Western Michigan.The Bulldogs put the game away with five unanswered goals in the second period with Cook scoring twice for his hat trick and Jim Baker and each of the Zoldaks scoring once. WMU rallied for five goals in the third period, but goals by Randy Strong and Baker kept the Broncos away from the lead. Freshman Steve Abbott, recovering from tendinitis, had a rough night in goal for the Broncos, allowing seven goals on 36 shots. The loss eliminated WMU from the playoffs.Bowling Green scored five goals in less than five minutes in the second period against NMU&rsquo;s ace netminder Steve Weeks to hand the Wildcats a 7-5 loss. The veteran Weeks bounced back to even the series with 38 saves in the 7-3 win. Weeks leads the CCHA in overall goaltending.Dave Ikkala scored after just 17 seconds of play and Terry Houck added a goal as Northern Michigan jumped to a 2-0 lead after one period of the opener. But BG roared out in the second period with Andy Crowther scoring at 2:44 and Ron Megan at 3:02 to tie the game. Tim Alexander&rsquo;s goal at 3:52 on the power play from Brian Hills and George McPhee made the score 3-2 and McPhee pushed the margin to 4-2 at 6:30.Kim Collins ended the BG scoring streak at 7:10, assisted by Pete Sikorski, but the BG lead was 5-3 after two periods.Tri-captain Steve Dawe scored his first goal in more than a month, after suffering a separated shoulder, to put BG ahead, 6-3, with his shorthanded goal, assisted by Yves Pelland at 2:27.NMU scored quickly with Bill Joyce and Brian Verigan netting goals just 29 seconds apart, but Mark Kindrachuk&rsquo;s first career goal as a Falcon iced the win.NMU used three-goal periods in the first and third frames to win the second game. Don Waddell, Greg Tiguauelli and Jeff Pyle supplied the first Wildcat outburst and Joyce added two more goals in the third period to close out the scoring.Pelland, Mike Cotter and Hills scored the BG goals in the second game, while Wally Charko gained the win in goal for BG with 32 saves in the opener and Michael David had 50 saves for BG in the loss. .Ohio State seniors Steve Jones and Tom Scanlon paced the Buckeyes in the series opener against Lake Superior as Jones made 32 saves to record his second shutout of the season and Scanlon fired in three goals for a hat trick.Jones snatched the CCHA goaltending lead away from NMU&rsquo;s Weeks by allowing just one goal in 93 minutes of action against LSSC. Jim Finch played the second half of the second game, allowing four goals.Mike Conrad added two goals in the opener and Jamie Crapper had the other goal.Rich Barker scored the first goal and Jim Mroszak added two others as OSU took a 3-0 lead in the second period of the second game pushing the two-game total to 9-0.Rod McNair and Scanlon made the second game 5-0 before Steve Mulholland broke the ice for LSSC. Larry Marson and Mulholland exchanged goals 15 seconds apart later in the second period for a 6-2 Buckeye lead.Mroszak collected his hat trick for Ohio State in the third period and Ed Lisogar scored two other goals for OSU while Bobby Ciotti was scoring twice and Myles Forget once for the Soo Lakers.The weekend action decided the four playoff teams, with Northern Michigan and Ohio State gaining home ice. BG and Ferris State, tied after the weekend, will need the final week of the regular season to determine third and fourth. Western Michigan was knocked out of the playoffs for the third straight season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01559/5134951-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="585" height="738"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith Zoldak made a timely appearance for Ferris State after being injured most of the year.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Bulldog Outburst Assures Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY MORRIS DALLA COSTA</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSSAULT STE. MARIE&mdash;The Greyhounds will have to pack their kennels and wait until next year.The Greyhounds are playing out the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League schedule, but they are leaving reminders to teams around the OMJHL that they are going to have a lot more bite when next season rolls around.The Greyhounds started to play good hockey around Christmas time and although they haven&rsquo;t exactly torn up the league, they have shown signs of playing tough, fundamental hockey. If they are able to come up with just a little more talent, they may be preparing for the playoffs when this time rolls around next season, instead of watching them.&ldquo;I think the players are starting to play as a team,&rdquo; says Greyhounds&rsquo; coach Terry Crisp. &ldquo;The toughest thing to get a junior team to do is play as a unit. How do you tell a kid that he should play for a team when an agent is saying, &lsquo;Listen kid, you get 150 points and I&rsquo;ll get you a million-dollar eontract.&rsquo; They have to realize the better they play for the team the better it is for them.&rdquo;The Greyhounds are definitely playing better as a team. A big step toward team solidification was the trading of two of the team&rsquo;s big guns, Paul Coffey to Kitchener and Art Rutland to Brantford.For Coffey, Sault obtained Kerry Williston, Doug Sheddon and Tim Zwijack, while for Rutland it was Dave Robson who came to the Hounds.All four players have played solidly for the rebuilding club.The Greyhounds only lose four players off this season&rsquo;s club. That isn&rsquo;t to say all they have to replace is four players. They may have to replace several others who are going to university on scholarships.A big load will fall on the shoulders of new general manager Sam McMaster. McMaster took over mid-way through the season from Angelo Bumbacco and he has the reputation of building a team through the draft. He&rsquo;s an exceptional hockey man, a fact that people in both Niagara Falls and Toronto can attest to.&ldquo;You bet I&rsquo;m looking forward to working with Sam,&rdquo; Crisp says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll get some good players and then it&rsquo;s up to me to make this team win. With Sam here I know we&rsquo;ll get results.&rdquo;Meanwhile, the league playoff races are tightening up. Ottawa, Oshawa and Kingston are in a dogfight for second, third and fourth in the Leyden division.The Generals continue to ride a hot home record, but on the road they continue to fizzle. The Generals have won 13 in a row at home, and their record there is 28-3, the best in the league.Included in that record is a recent 5-1 win over the Peterborough Petes and a 7-5 win over a determined Greyhounds squad.The Generals completely dominated Peterborough and got a pair of goals from Dave Kobryn to pace them. Barry McQuaid, Bob Crawford and Bob Kucheran had the others.Larry Floyd was the only Petes&rsquo; player to score on the Generals&rsquo; Roland Melanson, who has been outstanding since coming to Oshawa from the Windsor Spitfires.Crawford hit for three goals against the Greyhounds, including his 50th of the year. Dan Lane hit for two, while Mitch Lamoureux, who scored goal number 28 and seriously deserves a look as rookie of the year, had another goal for the Generals.The Ottawa &lsquo;67s kept ahead of Oshawa by winning their last three games on the road, despite missing leading scorer Jim Fox. Their biggest win was a 6-2 victory over the Windsor Spitfires.Mario Cerri scored twice for Ottawa, while Moe Lemay, who has been really hot, Doug Crossman, Sean Simpson, and Doug Smith all hit for singles.Blair Barnes fired his 57th goal of the season for Windsor to set a team scoring record, while J. P. Leroux had the other goal in that game.The Kingston Canadians are hanging tough with two wins and a tie in recent games. Avelino Gomez Jr. came up with 26 saves to record a 7-0 shutout win over the Spitfires. Tim Kerr had a pair of goals for the Canadians, while Perry Anderson, Scott Howson, Justin Hanley, Walt Poddubny and Scott Clements scored the others.Kingston came back for a 8-4 win over the Kitchener Rangers, with Dave Avery coming up with a five-point performance on two goals and three assists. Ian MacIn-nis and Hanley also had two goals each. Tim Laurence, Mike Moher, Grant Martin and Duane Sprague all had single goals for Kitchener in the same week, Kingston also came up with a 4-4 tie against the London Knights&hellip;Right now it looks like Sudbury will wind up fifth and Peterborough first. Sudbury is settling away, hoping to get all their injured players back. Not many teams like the idea of having to go to Sudbury for a playoff series, even if they have a home-ice advantage.Sudbury has lost a bunch of close games this season, the latest being a 4-3 loss to the Niagara Falls Flyers.Daryl Evans hit for a pair of goals for the Flyers, while Steve Larmer and Brad Rorabeck had the others. John Kirk, Wayne Groleau and Dan Frawley scored for Wolves.Peterborough, meanwhile, is far from the awesome team they were thought to be earlier in the year. Despite a 7-2 win over Windsor, the Petes just don&rsquo;t seem the same team that they were before that trip to Helsinki.They lost a 5-2 decision to Oshawa and looked terrible and then fell, 5-4, in overtime to the Brantford Alexanders.Mark Hunter&rsquo;s 33rd goal of the year gave Brantford the win, with only five seconds left in overtime.Rutland had a pair of goals for Brantford, while Ron Leef and Dave Newsom got singles.Carmen Cirella and Dave Morrison, with one each and Bill Gardner with a pair all scored for Peterborough.In the Emms division, Windsor is struggling to hold on to first place, with Toronto in hot pursuit. Windsor&rsquo;s only win during the week was a 5-2 decision over the London Knights.Claude Julien had two goals for Windsor, while Frank Janicek, Ernie Godden and Brent Jarrett got singles. Bob Goodish and Dino Ciscarell had goals for London.London, having a tough season, saw some frustration end up on the bench as teammates Tony Collard and Ciccarelli exchanged blows during the contest.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01509/5134982-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="576" height="749"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Zwijack is one of three Kitchener players who should help the Soo next season.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

Greyhounds Map Future Strategy; Leyden Division Dogfight Develops

<div class="byline">BY GREGG DRINNAN</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSREGINA&mdash;The Regina Pats&rsquo; long chase is over.The Pats opened a western road swing with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Breakers in Seattle and that lifted the Regina club into first place in the seven-team Eastern Division.It wasn&rsquo;t all that long ago that the Pats trailed the Calgary Wranglers by 12 points. But, hard times have befallen the Wranglers since then, while coach Bryan Murray&rsquo;s Regina machine has just kept purring along.The most amazing part of all this is how quickly Murray and general manager Bob Strumm have turned the Pats around. A year ago, the Pats&mdash;then under the guidance of general managercoach Gregg Pilling&mdash;were the Eastern Division cellar-dwellers, with only 18 wins and seven ties in 72 outings. This time around, they&rsquo;ve got 38 wins, 18 losses and one tie.The major reason for the incredible turn-around by the Pats has to be attitude. Strumm and Murray have done a lot of work with their hockey club and the players are again proud to be Pats.&ldquo;I want our people to be prepared,&rdquo; said Murray when his club still had 15 games remaining. &ldquo;That means we have to have a full commitment for the balance of the schedule. We will be doing such things as conducting pregame meetings.&rdquo;Murray has to be odds-on favorite for the coach-of-the-year award, while center Doug Wicken-heiser, an 18-year-old, will in all likelihood pocket the scoring title and, possibly, the most valuable award.Wickenheiser scored his 72nd and 73rd goals as the Pats caught the Wranglers by beating the Lethbridge Broncos, 6-3 in Regina. Brian Varga hit the 30-goal mark with a pair, while defenseman Darren Veitch, the WHL&rsquo;s highest-scoring defenseman, scored his 21st goal and became No. 1 in the Pats&rsquo; record book. That goal broke Greg Joly&rsquo;s record of 20 from the 1973-74 season. Veitch, who now has 95 points, has also smashed Joly&rsquo;s Regina record for most points by a defenseman in one season.Regina then stumbled a bit, as they dropped a 6-4 home-ice decision to the Saskatoon Blades. Center Ron Flockhart, the league&rsquo;s highest scoring rookie, hit the 100-point plateau in that setback.Regina then took over first place by dumping the Breakers, 51 in Seattle as Wickenheiser picked up two more goals.CALGARY&mdash;The Wranglers continued their so-so play by suffering a 6-4 home-ice loss to the New Westminster Bruins. Kelly Kisio picked up his 56th goal in the defeat. Calgary then dropped another game at home, losing 5-4 in overtime to the Portland Winter Hawks. Rookie Glenn Merkosky scored twice against Portland, giving him 33 goals on the year.MEDICINE HAT&mdash;The Tigers wrapped up a west coast swing, losing 4-1 to the Cougars in Victoria and gaining a 4-4 tie in Seattle with the Breakers. Brant Kiessig had two goals, his 26th and 27th, to give the Tigers the draw. Kiessig also had the Tigers&rsquo; lone goal in Victoria.BRANDON&mdash;The Wheat Kings had their biggest offensive night of the season, when they hammered the Lethbridge Broncos, 11-3, in Brandon. Left winger Darren Halasz scored three times, giving him 21, while left winger Dave McDonald had a pair, his 28th and 29th. Right wingers Steve Patrick and Don Gillen each had four assists, while center Dave Stewart had two goals and two helpers. Brandon moved into sole possession of piace, two points behind Medicine Hat and two ahead of Billings, by dumping the Bighorns 4-1. Centre Dave Stewart broke a 1-1 tie with a shorthanded goal and goaltender Scott Olson was credited with 60 stops.BILLINGS&mdash;Pat Rabbitt&rsquo;s 23rd goal of the season, at 9:43 of sudden-death overtime, gave the Bighorns a 4-3 win over the Wranglers in Calgary. Rabbitt&rsquo;s centering pass deflected into the net off of Calgary&rsquo;s Ray Cote. Gord Stafford, with two goals and two assists, and Lindsay Carson, with two goals, led the Bighorns to an 8-3 win over the Lethbridge Broncos in Billings. Stafford hit the 40-goal mark, while Carson has 32.LETHBRIDGE&mdash;The injury-and-sickness-riddled Broncos lost, 11-3 to the Wheat Kings in Brandon and then were pounded, 8-3 by the Bighorns in Billings. Gord Williams scored his 50th and 51st goals in Brandon.SASKATOON&mdash;The Blades, fighting to get out of the Eastern Division cellar, scored a pair of important victories when they beat the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings, 7-4 and 7-2. Saskatoon, trailing 3-2 going into the third period in the first game, pumped in five straight goals to wrap it up.PORTLAND&mdash;Rookie Rob Geale scored his 14th and 15th goals as the Winter Hawks beat Seattle Breakers, 5-3, in Portland to become the first WHL team this season to win 40 games. The Winter Hawks then opened an eastern road trip with a 5-4 overtime win over the Wranglers in Calgary.VICTORIA&mdash;Brad Palmer&rsquo;s 31st and 32nd goals erased a 1-0 deficit and sent the Cougars on to a 4-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Cougars followed that up by beating the Seattle Breakers, 5-2, as Barry Pederson scored twice and added an assist.SEATTLE&mdash;After 14 consecutive losses, the Breakers finally earned a point when they tied the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 4-4. The Breakers, who got three goals from Tom Marsh, held a 4-1 lead at one point.NEW WESTMINSTER&mdash;The Bruins snapped their record-equalling 16-game losing streak by stunning the Wranglers, 6-4 in Calgary.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01535/5135013-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="579" height="782"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defenseman Darren Veitch has enjoyed a record-setting season for the Pats.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

Attitude Change Has Pats Purring

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLAVAL&mdash;Alain Grenier is the best player on the worst team in the Quebec Major Junior League, a title he could certainly do without.During his two seasons with Laval. Grenier&rsquo;s emotions have been mixed between the joys of developing into a star, and the disappointments that come from playing on a consistent loser.This is unfortunate because Grenier is not a loser and deserves better. In his last year of midget with the powerhouse Lac. St. Louis Lions, Grenier scored 66 goals and 40 assists.When Grenier made his junior debut with Laval last season, the skills which made him a midget standout were obvious to even the most casual observer. A lightning fast skater and phenomenal scorer, Grenier lived up to high expectations by scoring 51 goals and 66 assists, and winning rookie of the year honors.But finishing in ninth place and out of the playoffs took a lot of fun out of it for Grenier. And now, with Laval in tenth place this season and out of the playoffs again, Grenier&rsquo;s contribution has been limited far below his potential.&ldquo;Even if you score goals, it&rsquo;s not the same if you don&rsquo;t make the playoffs,&rdquo; says the right winger from St. Laurent, Quebec. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to lose all the time.&rdquo;Shining on a squad that has won just 37 of 136 games is extremely difficult, even for a player of Grenier&rsquo;s ability. If Grenier was playing for a team like Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, or Chicoutimi, most of his current problems would simply not exist.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re with a winner,&rdquo; says Grenier, &ldquo;Small mistakes are small mistakes. When you&rsquo;re losing, small mistakes become major disasters. The fans here really get on you when you make a mistake.&rdquo;In a recent game with Chicoutimi, Laval was trailing 12-2 after two periods. That&rsquo;s not a very good atmosphere for an 18-year-old looking for a pro career.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very hard when you&rsquo;re down that much,&rdquo; says Grenier. &ldquo;How do you get motivated? There are eight games left and we&rsquo;re out of the playoffs.&rdquo;Grenier&rsquo;s scoring has dropped off a bit this season. He has 39 goals and 45 goals, but as far as the pro draft goes, it shouldn&rsquo;t hurt him too much. His size, 5-9 and 172 pounds, remains his only drawback as a pro prospect.As far as being traded to a winner for his final junior season,. Grenier has made no demands on Laval coach Claude Fourner, although he does not see much hope for Laval next season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a worker here,&rdquo; says Grenier, &ldquo;a man in the shop. It&rsquo;s up to Claude if he wants to make trades. I just try to do my best.&rdquo;SHERBROOKE: The Beavers, led by the scoring of Louis Begin, broke away from the pack with three wins. Begin scored five goals in the Beavers&rsquo; 7-4 win over Shawinigan. Then he paced Sherbrooke with a pair of goals in each of the next two games. They defeated Cornwall, 4-2 and Chicoutimi, 6-2. Those two wins over their rivals for the league title gave Sherbrooke a three-point lead over Chicoutimi and four-point lead over Cornwall with two games in hand on both teams.QUEBEC: The Remparts rose out of their recent slump with three important victories. Pat Masse scored twice and Jean-Marc Lanthier added two more, including the winner to edge Montreal, 76. Then Dan Rioux scored twice and Lanthier notched another game winner as the Remparts stopped Trois-Rivieres, 5-4. In another match with Trois-Rivieres, Stephane Lessard picked up a pair of goals in a 5-3 win. The six points put Quebec in a tie with Montreal for fifth place in the overall standings, and only two points behind Trois-Rivieres.HULL: The Olympics may be trailing Shawinigan by one point in the race for seventh place, but they do have two games in hand. After losing to Laval 5-4, Mario Guillemette scored twice in a 6-4 upset win over Chicoutimi. Then Mike Brisebois scored twice as the Olympics tied a tough Cornwall team 4-4.SOREL: New coach Ron Lapointe directed the Hawks to two consecutive wins. The Hawks upset Trois-Rivieres, 7-2, to give Lapointe his first victory in Sorel, and then eased by Laval, 6-1, with Michel Lanouette picking up two goals.CHICOUTIMI: The Sagueneens were severely hurt in the race for first place by dropping three games. They lost to Hull, 6-4, and then dropped &ldquo;four pointers&rdquo; to Cornwall, 5-4 and Sherbrooke, 6-2, The Sags ended their losing streak by bombing Laval, 15-3. Gilles Hamel scored an amazing four goals and five assists in that game, lifting his totals to 81 goals and 64 assists, which is good for fifth place on the QMJHL scoring race. The league leader is Chicoutimi&rsquo;s Guy Carbonneau, who raised his point total to 171 with a goal and seven assists.TROIS RIVIERES: The Dra veurs are finding it difficult to win even one game. They lost to ninthplace Sorel. 7-2, and then dropped back-to-back games with Quebec, 5-4 and 5-3. The Draveurs have just four points in their last seven games.SHAWINIGAN: The Cataractes broke out of their winless ways by defeating Montreal, 7-4. Alain Rioux scored a hat trick, and Guy Fournier added two. Previously, the Cats had lost to Cornwall 9-3 and Sherbrooke 7-4.MONTREAL: Gaetano Orlando scored twice in each of the Juniors&rsquo; games, but that was small consolation for the team&rsquo;s inability to pick up a point. They lost to Quebec, 7-6, and to Shawinigan at home, 7-4.CORNWALL: The Royals&rsquo; lengthy unbeaten streak was ended in Sherbrooke with a 4-2 loss. Against Hull, Rod Willard scored the only goal of the third period to give the Royals a 4-4 tie.LAVAL: Grenier and Marcel Tourigny each scored twice as the Voisins defeated Hull 5-4. In their next two games, they were outscored 21-4. They lost to Sorel, 6-1, and Chicoutimi, 15-3.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01482/5135044-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="572" height="691"><figcaption class="caption-body">Louis Begin scored five goals for Sherbrooke in one game, then added four more in two others.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

Grenier’s Star Dimmed By Poor Laval Showing

<h2>MARCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1879/5135400-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="578" height="1160"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1975/5135393-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="578" height="1214"></div> &#9632;

f0034-18

WHERE NHL TEAMS PLAY

(Standings on Mon. March 3)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2251/5135452-1-eng-US/f0034-222.jpg" title="f0034-22" width="560" height="156"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2348/5135445-1-eng-US/f0034-232.jpg" title="f0034-23" width="559" height="156"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2443/5135438-1-eng-US/f0034-242.jpg" title="f0034-24" width="564" height="157"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2534/5135431-1-eng-US/f0034-252.jpg" title="f0034-25" width="557" height="184"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. Feb. 26Montreal 3 at Atlanta 3Los Angeles 3 at Washington 5Hartford 5 at Quebec 9Vancouver 4 at Minnesota 5Toronto 2 at St. Louis 5Wed. Feb. 27Los Angeles 4 at Rangers 5Islanders 5 at Quebec 3Philadelphia 1 at Buffalo 1Boston 6 at Hartford 3Winnipeg 2 at Pittsburgh 3Edmonton 5 at Chicago 2Toronto 4 at Colorado 3Thu. Feb. 28Rangers 5 at Boston 2Washington 1 at Detroit 4Minnesota 3 at Montreal 6Fri. Feb. 29St. Louis 0 at Hartford 3Vancouver 3 at Winnipeg 3Buffalo 4 at Edmonton 2Sat. March 1Detroit 4 at Islanders 3Philadelphia 3 at Toronto 3Colorado 1 at Atlanta 4Washington 3 at Montreal 6Hartford 6 at St. Louis 3Los Angeles 0 at Boston 4Vancouver 5 at Edmonton 2Chicago 4 at Minnesota 1Sun. March 2Boston 1 at Rangers 2Islanders 0 at Pittsburgh 0Montreal 5 at Philadelphia 1Colorado 3 at Washington 1Toronto 6 at Detroit 3Los Angeles 4 at Quebec 3Chicago 3 at Winnipeg 2Buffalo 2 at Minnesota 2 &#9632;

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NHL SCOREBOARD

(Standings on Mon. March 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2156/5135483-1-eng-US/f0034-212.jpg" title="f0034-21" width="564" height="938"></div> &#9632;

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The Point Race…

ATLANTA: Chouinard 24, 25, 26, Plett 9, Vail 21, 22, Nilsson 25.BOSTON: R. Smith 7, Ratelie 24, 25, McNab 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, MacTavish 5, O&rsquo;Reilly 17, McCrimmon 4, Secord 19, Middleton 28.BUFFALO: Perreault 32, Dunn 6, 7, Gare 42, Martin 36, Halt 2, McKegneyCHICAGO: Preston 23,24,25, Sedlbauer 14, 15, Bulley 9, 10, Lysiak 19, TrimperCOLORADO: Morrison 4, DeBlois 21, Ramage 8, Valiquette 22, McDonald 32, 33, Smith 2.DETROIT: Labraaten 26, 27, Huber 14, Larson 16, 17, Bergman 1, Ogrodnick 4, Korn 3, McCourt 22, 23, Foligno 29.EDMONTON: Chipperfield 17, Price 9, Semenko 5, Fogolin 5, Weir 30, Siltanen 6, Hicks 7, Hamilton 2, MacDonald 37.HARTFORD: Douglas 27, Johnston 7, Rogers 30, 31, 32, Sheehy 2, Stoughton 38, 39, 40, Boutette 7, 8, Roberts 8, G. Howe 14, Keon 8, Fotiu 8, Ley 2, 3.LOS ANGELES: Simmer 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, Dionne 45, 46, Manery 5, St. Laurent 5, Taylor 34, Hopkins 8.MINNESOTA: B. Smith 19, 20, 21, Young 22, 23, 24, Payne 35, 36, Flockhart 1, G. Smith 3, MacAdam 37.MONTREAL: Jarvis 9, Napier 8, 9, Mondou 27, 28, Larouche 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, Shutt 34, 35, 36, Robinson 10, Langway 3, 4, Lambert 13, 14, 15, Gainey 10.ISLANDERS. Bossy 41, 42, Merrick 10, Kallur 15, Trottier 33, 34, Sutter 9, Howatt 6.RANGERS: Johnstone 11, Talafous 4, 5, 6, Esposito 27, 28, Milter 6, Duguay 19, 20, Tkaczuk 11, Don Maloney 16, Hedberg 30.PHILADELPHIA: Bridgman 12, 13, Propp 27, Barber 32, Holmgren 20.PITTSBURGH: Lee 15, Sheppard 11, Ferguson 15.QUEBEC: Plante 4, Hislop 13, Tardiff 18, 19, 20, Real Cloutier 34, 35, Roland Cloutier 2, Cote 3, Guolet 15, 16, Leduc 17, 18, Weir 2, Thomas 7.ST. LOUIS: Sutter 19, Currie 15, Perry Turnbull 5, 6, Federko 28, 29, Babych 16, Zuke 19.TORONTO: Vaive 16, 17, Saganiuk 18, Boschman 15, 16, Paiement 20, 21, 22, 23, Derlago 14, 15, Salming 18, Sittler 28, 29, 30.VANCOUVER: Rota 13, Smyl 24, 25, Boldirev 20, 21, 22, Fraser 15, Gradin 23, 24, Williams 23, Lupul 6, Gilles 12.WASHINGTON: Jarvis 10, Walter 19, Ribble 2, Lofthouse 13, Gartner 23, 24, Sirois 7, Hangsleben 8, Lehtonen 8, Bouchard 3.WINNIPEG: Wilson 15, 16, Manery 6, Lindstrom 19, 20, Lukowich 29, Christian 1.<h2>NHL LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2066/5135514-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="563" height="282"></div> &#9632;

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NHL’S SCORERS THIS WEEK

<h2>Tue. Feb. 26 MONTREAL 3, ATLANTA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01548/5135362-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="559" height="556"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 3, WASHINGTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02430/5135355-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="564" height="634"></div><h2>HARTFORD 5, QUEBEC 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03330/5135348-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="571" height="660"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 4, MINNESOTA 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04235/5135341-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="554" height="281"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05183/5135334-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="565" height="433"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 5, TORONTO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06157/5135327-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="564" height="629"></div><h2>Wed. Feb. 27 LOS ANGELES 4, RANGERS 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07145/5135320-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="567" height="752"></div><h2>ISLANDERS 5, QUEBEC 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08136/5135313-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="563" height="654"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA 1, BUFFALO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09124/5135306-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="561" height="580"></div><h2>BOSTON 6, HARTFORD 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10121/5135299-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="546" height="83"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11112/5135292-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="561" height="632"></div><h2>WINNIPEG 2, PITTSBURGH 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12108/5135285-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="568" height="634"></div><h2>EDMONTON 5, CHICAGO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1399/5135278-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="563" height="580"></div><h2>TORONTO 4, COLORADO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1495/5135271-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="562" height="639"></div><h2>Thu. Feb. 28 RANGERS 5, BOSTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1591/5135264-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="565" height="629"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 1, DETROIT 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1690/5135257-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="562" height="506"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 3, MONTREAL 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1783/5135250-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="560" height="231"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02413/5135243-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="558" height="432"></div><h2>FRI. FEB. 29 ST. LOUIS 0, HARTFORD 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03328/5135236-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="556" height="504"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 3, WINNIPEG 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04273/5135229-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="554" height="749"></div><h2>BUFFALO 4, EDMONTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05224/5135222-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="546" height="155"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06204/5135215-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="553" height="481"></div><h2>SAT. MARCH 1 DETROIT 4, ISLANDERS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07192/5135208-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="562" height="605"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA 3, TORONTO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08171/5135201-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="553" height="604"></div><h2>COLORADO 1, ATLANTA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09162/5135194-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="552" height="280"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10141/5135187-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="556" height="280"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 3, MONTREAL 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-11129/5135180-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="365" height="27"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-12113/5135173-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="553" height="358"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1399/5135166-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="548" height="279"></div><h2>HARTFORD 6, ST. LOUIS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01430/5135159-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="563" height="554"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 0, BOSTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02309/5135152-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="554" height="379"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03237/5135145-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="553" height="133"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 5, EDMONTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04198/5135138-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="563" height="632"></div><h2>CHICAGO 4, MINNESOTA 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05172/5135131-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="556" height="277"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06148/5135124-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="556" height="235"></div><h2>SUN. MARCH 2 BOSTON 1, RANGERS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07126/5135117-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="564" height="554"></div><h2>ISLANDERS 0, PITTSBURGH 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-08103/5135110-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="548" height="207"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0989/5135103-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="560" height="213"></div><h2>MONTREAL 5, PHILADELPHIA 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1082/5135096-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="569" height="609"></div><h2>COLORADO 3, WASHINGTON 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1167/5135089-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="551" height="152"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1258/5135082-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="556" height="432"></div><h2>TORONTO 4, DETROIT 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1352/5135075-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" width="563" height="605"></div> &#9632;

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NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01519/5135545-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"></div>&mdash;C&mdash;Captain &#9632;

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NHL TEAM ROSTERS

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. March 4)<h3>Northern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01492/5135646-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="562" height="160"></div><h3>Southern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02372/5135639-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="561" height="133"></div>1-Nova Scotia. 4-New Haven. 5-Adi-rondack. 7-Maine. 14-Rochester. 16-Hershey 19-Springfield 22-New Brunswick. 23-Binghamton. 24-Svra-cuse.<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. Feb. 24Springfield 2 at Nova Scoia 5Wed. Feb. 27Rochester 3 at Binghamton 3Hershey 3 at Maine 4Thu. Feb. 28Springfield 6 at New Brunswick 5Fri. Feb. 29Maine 3 at Adirondack 5Rochester 2 at New Haven 3Springfield 3 at Nova Scotia 1Hershey 4 at Syracuse 2Sat. March 1Maine 5 at Hershey 3Binghamton 2 at New Brunswick 8Adirondack 4 at Springfield 5Sun. March 2Adirondack 5 at Maine 3Hershey 2 at New Haven 3Binghamton 3 at Nova Scotia 6Syracuse 1 at Rochester 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03297/5135632-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="559" height="285"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. March 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04219/5135625-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="561" height="228"></div>9-Salt Lake. 10-Oklahoma City. 12-Indianapolis. 13-Dallas. 15-Birming-ham. 17-Fort Worth. 18-Houston. 19-Cincinnati. 21-Tulsa.<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. Feb. 25Birmingham 5 at Salt Lake 1Tue. Feb. 26Indianapolis 3 at Oklahoma City 4Wed. Feb. 27Tulsa 2 at Fort Worth 8Oklahoma City 0 at Houston 5Birmingham 0 at Salt Lake 7Fri. Feb. 29Tulsa 3 at Dallas 2Birmingham 2 at Fort Worth 3Houston 2 at Oklahoma City 5Indianapolis 0 at Salt Lake 3Sat. March 1Dallas 4 at Forth Worth 6Birmingham 3 at Houston 6Tulsa 6 at Oklahoma City 2Indianapolis 1 at Salt Lake 3Sun. March 2Birmingham 3 at Houston 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05175/5135618-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="558" height="281"></div><h3>GOALING RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06153/5135611-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="556" height="455"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Fri., March 7)<h3>North Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07145/5135604-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="557" height="160"></div><h3>South Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08140/5135597-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="555" height="157"></div>5-Kalamazoo. 7-Toledo. 20-Milwau-kee. 25-Dayton 26-FHnt. 27-Fort Wayne. 28-Grand Rapids. 29-Muske-gon. 30-Port Huron. 31-Saginaw.<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Wed., Feb. 27Fort Wayne 4 at Port Huron 10Muskegon 3 at Flint 6Saginaw 1 at Milwaukee 4Fri., Feb. 29Kalamazoo 5 at Muskegon 2Dayton 2 at Flint 4Port Huron 3 at Saginaw 10Sat., March 1Kalamazoo 2 at Fort Wayne 5Saginaw 2 at Muskegon 3Flint 2 at Port Huron 6Dayton 3 at Toledo 6Grand Rapids 5 at Milwaukee 8Sun., March 2Port Huron 4 at Dayton 6Kalamazoo 2 at Flint 5Muskegon 1 at Saginaw 3Fort Wayne 3 at Milwaukee 5Toledo 7 at Grand Rapids 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09134/5135590-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="557" height="429"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. March 4)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10131/5135583-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="561" height="187"></div>4-Richmond 5-Johnstown. 10-Balti-more. 32-Erie. 33-Hampton. 34-Utica.<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. Feb. 26Erie 4 at Richmond 2Wed. Feb. 27Erie 9 at Hampton 1Richmond 1 at Baltimore 5Fri. Feb. 29Hampton 3 at Johnstown 2Utica 3 at Erie 5Sat. March 1Hampton 5 at Erie 6Johnstown 0 at Baltimore 2Richmond 3 at Utica 5Sun. March 2Utica 3 at Baltimore 6Richmond 1 at Johnstown 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11127/5135576-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="561" height="156"></div> &#9632;

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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>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. March 4)<h3>Emms Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12123/5135806-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="554" height="182"></div><h3>Leyden Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13120/5135799-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="556" height="155"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tues. Feb. 26Oshawa 3 at Brantford 6Kitchener 3 at Ottawa 7London 5 at Toronto 8Thurs. Feb. 28Kingston 4 at Peterborough 5Toronto 2 at Windsor 3Brantford 8 at Sault Ste. Marie 5Fri. Feb. 29Brantford 6 at Sudbury 8London 3 at Kitchener 7Toronto 8 at Niagara Falls 5Peterborough 5 at Kingston 2Windsor 1 at Ottawa 6Oshawa 4 at Sault Ste. Marie 3Windsor 5 at Peterborough 9Sun. March 2Oshawa 1 at Sudbury 8Windsor 7 at Kingston 5Niagara Falls 5 at London 7Brantford 5 at Kitchener 10Ottawa 5 at Toronto 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-14114/5135792-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="560" height="407"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon., March 3)<h3>Western Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-15113/5135785-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="561" height="135"></div><h3>Eastern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-16110/5135778-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="554" height="204"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tues., Feb. 26Regina 7 at Saskatoon 4Medicine Hat 11 at Calgary 3Lethbridge 4 at Seattle 7New Westminster 1 at Victoria 4Wed., Feb. 27Lethbridge 4 at Portland 8Calgary 4 at Brandon 5Billings 6 at Regina 4Fri., Feb. 29Billings 4 at Saskatoon 5Lethbridge 4 at New Westminster 5Calgary 2 at Regina 7Sat., March 1Lethbridge 1 at Victoria 10New Westminster 2 at Portland 13Calgary 6 at Medicine Hat 3Sun., March 2Portland 7 at New Westminster 6Victoria 4 at Seattle 7Calgary 4 at Saskatoon 7Billings 4 at Brandon 0<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-17104/5135771-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="562" height="404"></div>WESTERN LEAGUE<h2>LEADING GOALTENDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1899/5135764-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="559" height="184"></div><h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. March 3)<h3>Lebel Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1997/5135757-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="559" height="163"></div><h3>Dilio Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2092/5135750-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="555" height="131"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. Feb. 25Chicoutimi 15 at Laval 3Tues. Feb. 26Shawinigan 2 at Hull 1Sherbrooke 3 at Trois-Rivieres 3Quebec 4 at Sorel 3Wed. Feb. 27Montreal 7 at Laval 1Fri. Feb. 29Trois-Rivieres 7 at Montreal 10Hull 4 at Quebec 3Sorel 2 at Shawinigan 8Laval 4 at Sherbrooke 11Sat. March 1Montreal 5 at Cornwall 6Trois-Rivieres 3 at Laval 1Hull 2 at Shawinigan 5Quebec 2 at Sherbrooke 6Chicoutimi 2 at Sorel 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2184/5135743-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg" title="f0036-21" width="556" height="283"></div><h2>GEORGIAN BAY LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2281/5135736-1-eng-US/f0036-222.jpg" title="f0036-22" width="552" height="207"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2375/5135729-1-eng-US/f0036-232.jpg" title="f0036-23" width="548" height="157"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2468/5135722-1-eng-US/f0036-242.jpg" title="f0036-24" width="559" height="306"></div><h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 22<h3>SOUTHERN CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2564/5135715-1-eng-US/f0036-252.jpg" title="f0036-25" width="555" height="130"></div><h3>NORTHERN CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2661/5135708-1-eng-US/f0036-262.jpg" title="f0036-26" width="553" height="104"></div><h2>CENTRAL JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Tues. March 4)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2754/5135701-1-eng-US/f0036-272.jpg" title="f0036-27" width="554" height="181"></div> &#9632;

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AMATEUR SCOREBOARD

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2848/5135858-1-eng-US/f0036-282.jpg" title="f0036-28" width="589" height="1133"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2945/5135851-1-eng-US/f0036-292.jpg" title="f0036-29" width="551" height="848"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3042/5135844-1-eng-US/f0036-302.jpg" title="f0036-30" width="571" height="728"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3140/5135837-1-eng-US/f0036-312.jpg" title="f0036-31" width="530" height="598"></div> &#9632;

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PRO GAMES TO COME…

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Chris Nilan was excited.On a Monday morning in Halifax, Nilan was told by his coach Bert Templeton that he was going to be leaving the Voyageurs for a little while and was going to the big time.And when the 22-year-old from West Roxbury, Mass., left Nova Scotia to join the Canadiens for their game against the Atlanta Flames, he almost forgot something vital.&ldquo;I got the tickets from the coach and jumped into the cab,&rdquo; Nilan said. &ldquo;About three miles down the road, I realized that I only had my clothes and had forgotten my equipment.&rdquo;But Nilan arrived in plenty of time the night before the Canadiens played the Flames and took to the ice wearing No. 30, becoming the third American player on the Montreal roster.He had played college hockey against one of the others, defenceman Rod Langway, who is also from the Boston area. Nilan, who was studying criminal law at Northeastern University, was a 17th round draft pick and 233rd over-all in 1978. Not many people expected he would be joining the Canadiens so soon, but he did not look out of place in Atlanta nor two nights later when the Canadiens recorded a home-ice victory over the Minnesota North Stars.And when Bob Gainey, who reinjured his left foot in a game against Detroit, returned to the Canadiens&rsquo; lineup, Nilan was kept around because the Canadiens were up against three physical clubs and his 6&rsquo;1&rdquo;, 210-pound frame was considered highly useful against teams such as Washington, Philadelphia and Edmonton.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a hard worker,&rdquo; said Canadiens&rsquo; coach Claude Ruel. &ldquo;You can see he wants to improve. He has some work to do on things like moving the puck up, but you can see that he wants to learn. &ldquo;He is going to help us.&rdquo;Nilan. who has two years remaining towards his degree, made his first appearance at the Canadiens&rsquo; training camp last fall.&ldquo;I was a little nervous,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;I almost felt as though I didn&rsquo;t belong. I didn&rsquo;t know whether I could keep up with the pace or positional play.&rdquo;And with his style of rock-&rsquo;em, bang-&rsquo;em play, Nilan did not expect to be wearing the red, white and blue of the Canadiens.&ldquo;I play a Boston type of game, a physical game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I like to go in there and bang bodies. I never expected to be drafted by Montreal though.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t that good a skater before. I have worked to develop it.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to sound cocky about being here, but I think from the time that I got to Nova Scotia, I have worked hard to improve my game.&ldquo;I was surprised that I was called up, but I know that I have worked hard. It&rsquo;s the hard work that gets you up here.&rdquo;So, for the first time in a while, the Canadiens have a John Ferguson-type forward who is not afraid to mix things up but can still score a goal here and there to help out offensively.Of his 15 goals with the Voyageurs, four were game winners and there were also three on the power play. And there was the matter of 307 minutes in penalties which have already been duly noted, but Nilan did not have to go looking for trouble, because there were a number of the AHL tough guys looking for him to test the new kid on the block out. They found it was a tough test.&ldquo;This is kind of the cherry on top of the dessert,&rdquo; said Nilan. &ldquo;NU (Northeastern) won the Beanpot tournament, the U.S. won the Olympic gold medal and I won dered what could happen after that.&rdquo;What happened was that Nilan joined the Canadiens and there was a good chance that it would be quite a while before the young right wing left.IN PASSING: Rod Langway won the February segment of the Molson Cup. Rocket, who has been solid as Larry Robinson&rsquo;s defence partner, finished tied with Robinson and Bob Gainey with 20 points, but got the top billing because of one first star selection, two seconds and one third while the other two had one first, one second and two thirds. &#9632;

Bruin-Style Winger Nilan Gets Shot With Canadiens

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>ATLANTA&mdash;Signed U.S. Olympic goaltender Jim Craig, to contract.BOSTON&mdash;Called up Craig MacTavish, C, from Binghamton of American League.COLORADO&mdash;Sent Don Saleski, RW, and Bill Oleschuk, G, to Fort Worth of Central League. Called up Merlin Malinowski, C, from Fort Worth. Signed Steve Peters, C, of Oshawa of Ontario Major Junior League.EDMONTON&mdash;Traded Bobby Schmautz, RW, to Colorado for Don Ashby, C. Signed Canadian Olympian Bob Dupuis, G, to contract.HARTFORD&mdash;Obtained Bobby Hull, LW, from Winnipeg, for future considerations.MINNESOTA&mdash;Lost Glen Sharpley, C, for season with knee injury. Lost Tom McCarthy, LW, for three weeks with rib injury. Called up Louis Levasseur, G, Jon Fontas, C, Tony White LW, and Rob Flockhart, RW, from Oklahoma City of CHL. Signed Olympians Steve Christoff, C, and Steve Janaszak G.MONTREAL&mdash;Placed Serge Savard, D, Guy Lafleur, RW, and Bob Gainey LW, on injured list. Called up Chris Nilan, RW, from Nova Scotia of AHL.RANGERS&mdash;Sent Ed Hospodar, D, Frank Beaton, LW, and Pat Conacher, C, into New Haven of AHL. Called up Jim Mayer, RW, from New Haven.ISLANDERS&mdash;Signed up U.S. Olympian Ken Morrow, D, to contract. Denis Potvin, D, returned from injured list.LOS ANGELES: Recalled Mark Hardy, D, from Binghamton of AHL.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Sent Blake Wesley, D, and Gary Morrison, RW, to Maine of AHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Lost Jim Hamilton, LW, with groin injury. Signed U.S. Olympian Mark Johnson, C, to contract.QUEBEC&mdash;Brought up Blair Stewart, LW, Louis Sleigher, RW, Pierre Plante, RW, and Roland Cloutier, C, from Syracuse of AHL.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Sent Ed Staniouski, G, to Salt Lake City of CHL. Recalled Doug Grant, G, and Dick Lamby, D, from Salt Lake.TORONTO&mdash;Returned Paul Harrison, G, and Vince Tremblay, G, to New Brunswick of AHL. Placed John Anderson, LW, on injured list with sore ankle. Activated Mike Palmateer, G, from injured list.WASHINGTON&mdash;Sent Gary Inness, G, and Jim Coulis, RW, to Hershey of AHL. Called up Gary Rissling, LW, from Hershey.WINNIPEG&mdash;Called up Don MacIver, D, and Larry Hopkins, LW, from Tulsa of CHL. Signed U.S. Olympian Dave Christian, CD, to contract. Lost Peter Marsh, RW, for season with broken thumb.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>FORT WORTH&mdash;Sent Carey Walker, G, to Erie of Eastern LeagueOKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;Sent Warren Young to Baltimore of EHA. TULSA&mdash;Recalled George Hughes, C, from Dayton of International League. &#9632;

Player Movements

<div class="byline">BY STEVE WINTER</div>LANDOVER&mdash;For the Capitals&rsquo; sophomore winger, Mark Lofthouse, the 1979-80 NHL season began with a pair of shocking surprises.The first surprise was the finest training camp the 22-year-old forward ever enjoyed; but when the beginning of the season rolled around, the Caps&rsquo; second-round 1977 draft choice was confronted with his second surprise&mdash;a spot on the roster of the Capitals&rsquo; farm club, at Hershey.&ldquo;I was completely disappointed,&rdquo; Lofthouse said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t usually have a great camp, but this time I thought I had a really good one. I skated well, I felt good, and even a lot of the guys who are up here now came to me and said I was one of the best guys in camp.&lsquo;&lsquo;But they had a lot of talent up here at the time, so I guess I could see their point. Still, I was really disappointed.&rdquo; -Lofthouse wasted no time proving he belonged in the big leagues. In nine games at Hershey, he scored nine goals and was leading the league in scoring.&ldquo;So I started thinking, &lsquo;Hey, they&rsquo;ve just got to bring me back up,&rsquo; he said, and sure enough, 10 games into the season, Lofthouse was back in Washington. And just to prove he meant business, he scored three goals in his first four games.&ldquo;When I first got brought up, I never felt so good,&rdquo; Lofthouse said. &ldquo;I just got in there and started pumping in those goals right away. It was a great feeling.&rdquo;Unfortunately though, that great feeling was only temporary, as Lofthouse hit a streak in which he scored but once in the next 23 games.That was early in the season, however&mdash;ancient history in the annals of the 1980 Washington Capitals.For since that incredible come-from-behlnd victory over the New York Rangers in mid-December, Lofthouse has played an integral role in the Caps&rsquo; climb toward playoff contention and respectability in the NHL.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been going real well lately,&rdquo; Lofthouse said after scoring two goals and assisting on another in a 6-2 win over the Chicago Black Hawks. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got 12 of our last 17 games at home, and if we keep going the way we are, there&rsquo;s no question that we&rsquo;re going to be in the playoffs.&rdquo;Lofthouse is seeing to that al-ready. In a recent nine-game stretch, the native of New West-minster, B.C. scored nine points, including the game-winning-goal in a 5-3 triumph over Los Angeles, which pulled the Capitals to within three points of that tantalizing final playoff position.&ldquo;Loftie&rsquo;s been playing aggressively, and forechecking well,&rdquo; said center Wes Jarvis, whose four-point effort (one goal, three assists) sparked the win over Chicago. &ldquo;I guess you&rsquo;d say he&rsquo;s playing real spirited. He&rsquo;s been working hard and digging hard. He bears down, he&rsquo;s skating real well and he&rsquo;s also scoring goals.&rdquo;For Mark Lofthouse, that&rsquo;s a real relief. He scored his 13th goal of the season on a high wrist shot to beat the Kings, and equal his entire output of his 1978-79 rookie season. And coming from a man who scored 128 times in three Western Hockey League seasons with the New Westminster Bruins, that&rsquo;s only the beginning.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m starting to get my shots away quicker,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In junior, I was getting off that quick wrist shot, and scoring all the time. But then, when I came up here, I was having trouble getting my shot off as quickly.&ldquo;Now, it seems, I&rsquo;m even getting more opportunities, and my shots have been improving. I really feel there&rsquo;s no reason why I shouldn&rsquo;t be able to score 30 goals in this league.&rdquo;But while Lofthouse looks toward success in the slot and a playoff berth for the Capitals, coach Gary Green sees yet another area of development for his swiftskating forward.&ldquo;I had Mark at Hershey, and the one problem he had there was lack of consistency,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;But I had a lot of confidence in him, and gave him the chance to play.&ldquo;The goal for this year was to improve that consistency, and to recognize him as a true NHL-er. If he comes to play that way, he won&rsquo;t have anything to worry about.&rdquo;As far as Mark Lofthouse is concerned, his main worry these days is the success of his hockey club, now that he&rsquo;s convinced he&rsquo;s in the NHL to stay.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s only one place to play, and that&rsquo;s the NHL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everything else is just minor league&mdash;and I never intend to go back there again.&rdquo;CAPSHOTS: Mike Gartner, the Capitals&rsquo; number-one 1979 amateur pick, leads the club in goals scored with 23 after 61 games. Gartner who is ineligible for the NHL Calder Trophy, due to one year spent in the WHA as an underage draft selection, has paced the Caps with 37 points in 37 games, and a team-high plus-19 rating.Goalie Wayne Stephenson continues to sparkle in the nets for Washington, compiling a 6-1-2 record in a recent nine-game stretch; and defenseman Robert Picard reached a personal milestone, recording his 100th NHL assist on Wes Jarvis&rsquo; first period goal against the Kings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01473/5135937-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="588" height="1152"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sophomore Mark Lofthouse has stepped up his production in the Caps&rsquo; playoff drive.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Lofthouse Strives For Consistency

<div class="byline">BY ARNOLD IRISH</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Some people believe that a revved-up power play is all the St. Louis Blues need to leave their middle-echelon days behind forever and establish permanent residency among the National Hockey League&rsquo;s elite.Red Berenson, the Blues&rsquo; coach and a man who abhors negative thinking, doesn&rsquo;t necessarily agree.&ldquo;Our power play hasn&rsquo;t been devastating,&rdquo; Berenson said, but that&rsquo;s because we haven&rsquo;t emphasized it. I don&rsquo;t look for an instant turnaround, and I don&rsquo;t want to pursue it until it becomes a thorn in our sides.&ldquo;If we couldn&rsquo;t kill off penalties (the Blues have been leading the league in that important department), that would be a bigger concern. Cutting down our goals against continues to be our top priority.&rdquo;Well, what about the Blues&rsquo; power play? Statistically it&rsquo;s ranked near the bottom of the NHL.&ldquo;Statistics don&rsquo;t tell the whole story,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had months when we certainly weren&rsquo;t the worst power play team. A team may have three or four power play goals in a game. Colorado had six one night. Does that mean Colorado&rsquo;s power play is that good? Performances like that produce misleading statistics.&ldquo;We had trouble with our power play early in the season,&rdquo; Berenson continued. &ldquo;We had problems getting the puck in the other team&rsquo;s zone. But one thing you look for in a good power play Is good puckhandling and puck control, and we have it in Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter, Mike Zuke and Tony Currie. It&rsquo;s a matter of hanging on to the puck and not rushing. I&rsquo;d say we now have good control.&ldquo;What we haven&rsquo;t had is a big shooter from the point. We tend to work the puck around to the open man in front and make plays from behind the net or from the corners.&ldquo;If you have a big point shooter,&rdquo; Berenson said, &ldquo;you have everything that goes with that&mdash;the deflections, rebounds, whatever. But you&rsquo;ve got to be penetrating that box. If you aren&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;re just circling the wagons.&rdquo;The St. Louis power play has consisted of either the Federko line or the Zuke line with defensemen Jack Brownschidle, Joe Micheletti and Rick LaPointe at the points. Blake Dunlop has also logged some time on the right point.&ldquo;Some nights our power play hasn&rsquo;t been effective or productive, and other nights it&rsquo;s been effective but not productive,&rdquo; Berenson said.What&rsquo;s the difference?&ldquo;If your power play scores, obviously that&rsquo;s productive,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;But if you pin the other team in its own end for two minutes and keep the pressure on, that is effective because it can change the momentum. The next shift may come on the ice and score a goal.&ldquo;When you score, that gives you a lift. If you take penalties, you pay for them. But if you kill them off, that can change the game&rsquo;s tide and the flow of your own power play.&rdquo;While a point shooter with a heavy shot is a handy guy to have around, Berenson isn&rsquo;t convinced a team&rsquo;s power play is futile without one.&ldquo;Naturally, you&rsquo;d like to have a Lanny McDonald or Larry Robinson on the point, but a power play can be devastating without a big point shooter,&rdquo; Berenson said.&ldquo;Ours doesn&rsquo;t work that way. We have good in-close shooters. Blair Chapman is as good at that as anybody in the league. He gets his shot away quickly and scores most of his goals from in-tight situations.&ldquo;It can be frustrating if your power play doesn&rsquo;t get anything going. Maybe in time we will. Our penalty-killing came out of nowhere when some fellows established cameraderie and developed pride and confidence. Once you get it rolling&mdash;whether it be penaltykilling or a power play&mdash;it snowballs.&rdquo;Berenson sees no instant panacea for St. Louis&rsquo; power play, but he isn&rsquo;t discouraged. It isn&rsquo;t his nature.&ldquo;Our power play, statistically, is about the same as Philadelphia&rsquo;s,&rdquo; the Blues&rsquo; coach said. &ldquo;When a team is as successful as the Flyers have been with a power play as mediocre as theirs is on paper, I have to think our team could have worse problems. You may not get a chance to use your power play, but you know you&rsquo;re going to have penalties against you.&rdquo; &#9632;

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March 14, 1980

Contract With Jets Makes Christian’s Day

HOCKEY AD LIB

Leading U.S. College Teams

WCHA Graduates Made Bulk Of Olympic Team