The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

October 3, 1980

The Hockey News October 3, 1980

<div class="byline">BY BUDDY O&#x2019;CONNOR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011187/4420869-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Their adventure over, Peter (left) and Anton Stastny smile at a press conference called by the Nordiques to announce that the two Czechs had signed multi-year contracts with the team. (CP Photo)</figcaption></div>Secret meetings in hotel rooms, cloak-and-dagger intrigue, and frantic midnight car rides through the Austrian Alps are not the usual steps a National Hockey League team takes when signing a prospective player.But in the case of the Stastny brothers, Peter and Anton, all of the above were vital and necessary steps in the Nordiques&rsquo; harrowing, but ultimately successful attempt to land the two players.Before we get into the adventure itself, here is the cast of the main characters involved:&bull; Peter and Anton Stastny: Up until their defection, Peter, 23, and Anton, 21, had been standout players on Slovan Bratislava, the Czechoslovakian National Team. Peter, 6-1 and 200 pounds, is a center who has scored a total of 60 goals and 53 assists in the last two seasons with Bratislava&mdash;a span encompassing 80 games. In the same period of time the 6-0, 185-pound Anton, a left wing, scored 62 goals and 38 assists. For three years they&mdash;as well as their older brother and linemate Marian, had been avidly sought by the Nordiques.&bull; Marcel Aubut: The 32-year-old president of the Nordiques and a driving force behind the effort to acquire the Stastnys&bull; Gilles Leger: The Nordiques&rsquo; director of player development and Aubut&rsquo;s companion on the expedition to bring the Stastnys from behind the Iron Curtain to the Nordiques.&bull; Darina Stastny: Peter&rsquo;s wife, who was almost nine months pregnant.&bull; Lloyd Axworthy: The Ottawa-based Canadian immigration minister.Our story actually begins three years ago, when Aubut and Maurice Filion-then the Nordiques&rsquo; general manager, now also its coach&mdash;came up with a great idea: To bring all three of the Stastny brothers over to play for Quebec, then a member of the World Hockey Association.After the WHA folded in 1978, Gilles Leger joined the Nordiques. Leger had been a member of the WHA Toronto Toros&rsquo; front office and he had been instrumental in arranging for Vaclav Nedomansky (now with the Detroit Red Wings) to defect from Czechoslovakia to the Toros in 1974. With Leger on the scene, the talks about acquiring the Stastnys became even more serious.The first move was made in the summer of 1979, when Aubut and Leger made two separate trips to Europe and tried to contact the Stastnys. They weren&rsquo;t successful on either trip.Then came the Olympics at Lake Placid in February, 1980, and what both Leger and Aubut thought would be their ideal chance. But once again they were foiled&mdash;and for a very logical reason: The security was so tight that they couldn&rsquo;t get near the players, let alone talk to them.And so, for the third time, Leger and Aubut were unsuccessful in their attempts to get the Czechs. Instead of giving up in frustration, however, both men put their heads together once again and began plotting yet another scheme.They talked to Jim Taylor, the Toronto-based president of the Carling O&rsquo;Keefe brewery, owners of the Nordiques.&ldquo;Jim was just great,&rdquo; Aubut told THE HOCKEY NEWS in an exclusive interview. &ldquo;He gave us the green light on whatever we needed to contact the Stastnys.&rdquo;Bolstered by that support, Aubut and Leger went to Innsbruck, Austria in late August. The Stastnys, along with their Slovan Bratislava teammates, were in Innsbruck to participate in the European Cup tournament. No one in Quebec City knew where Aubut and Leger were except Aubut&rsquo;s wife Francine, their intermediary In Quebec during the trip.Although the Stastnys had arrived in Innsbruck on Wednesday, August 20, no contact was established with Aubut or Leger until late on Friday evening, the 22nd, when Peter and Anton somehow made their way to the rooms of the Nordique officials.Aubut is very relucant to reveal the specifics of that surreptitious meeting with Peter and Anton in his hotel room, but he does say that he and Leger tried to talk the players into leaving as quickly as possible&mdash;preferably the following morning, Saturday.But both Czechs wanted to play in their final game on Sunday against the Soviets. Aubut and Leger finally agreed that they could play the game and leave immediately afterwards. Peter&rsquo;s pregnant wife Darina, also at Innsbruck, would be included.That issue resolved, the parties then set about negotiating terms for the players. Again, Aubut is reticent on this phase of the meeting but the speculation is that both Peter and Anton will be making $1 million each over the next five years, plus an option year.When asked whether he thought he might be able to lower the Stastnys&rsquo; asking price because of their lack of knowledge of the NHL&rsquo;s salary structure. Aubut replied, &ldquo;No way! Those fellows knew all about the salaries in the NHL from reading THE HOCKEY NEWS. They got their copies each week from a lady in Montreal who sent it to them.&rdquo;On Sunday, Aubut and Leger attended the game, watched the Soviets maul the Czechs and the undoubtedly nervous Stastnys 11-1, and then went back to their Innsbruck hotel to await the arrival of the two players and Darina.From this point on, the details of the story are very foggy for one simple reason: Aubut will not talk about it. &ldquo;I cannot give any details,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;on any of the specifics of our trip from Innsbruck to Vienna.&rdquo;So, while the methods the wily Frenchmen employed to get their precious cargo to Vienna&mdash;seven hours south of Innsbruck&mdash;remains a mystery, the fact that they arrived safely is not. Aubut won&rsquo;t even divulge whether they all went together or split up for the trip. Regardless, they made contact in Vienna with the Canadian Embassy, where there were papers waiting which would make it possible for the Stastnys to enter Canada immediately. These had been arranged by Francine Aubut, who had contacted Canadian immigration minister Lloyd Axworthy in Ottawa and let him in on the plan.&ldquo;Without Axworthy&rsquo;s help and cooperation,&rdquo; Aubut said later, &ldquo;there would have been delays and the entire operation would have aborted. We couldn&rsquo;t have pulled it off without him.&rdquo;After the papers were secured, the party&mdash;now, under the protection of the Austrian police&mdash;were taken to Vienna International Airport, where KLM officials arranged for them to be put on the first flight leaving Vienna for Amsterdam. Prior to that flight, Darina Stastny had to sign a waiver absolving the airline of any responsibility should she suffer any pregnancy-related problems during the flight.Upon their arrival in Amsterdam, CP Air came into the picture and arranged seats for the Aubut safari on a flight to Mirabel Airport in Montreal. And there, finally, what Aubut calls his &ldquo;Six Day Saga&rdquo; came to an incredible end. &ldquo;I have never been so happy,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;to touch down on Canadian soil as I was on that day.&rdquo;Francine Aubut. pregnant herself, was on hand to greet her husband and on the following day she was out shopping for maternity clothes with Darina Stastny. One day later. August 26, the Nordiques held a press conference to introduce their latest acquisitions to the hockey world. There, the two brothers revealed that while they were sad that they had to leave their family and friends behind&mdash;&ldquo;We kept this a secret from our parents,&rdquo; Anton said, &ldquo;and left without saying goodbye&rdquo;&mdash;they were thrilled to have the opportunity to play in the NHL.And any lingering sadness either player was feeling was quickly dispelled several weeks later, when Darina Stastny gave birth to a baby girl on September 14. Both mother and daughter are doing just fine.For details on Moose Dupont, the Nordiques&rsquo; latest acquisition, see story on page 5. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Czech Stastnys Defect And Sign With Quebec

<div class="byline">BY STEVE WINTER</div>LANDOVER&mdash;The Capitals kicked-off their own mini-version of preseason training camp last month when captain Ryan Walter invited the entire club to full-morning workouts at the Fort Dupont Ice Rink in downtown Washington; and at last look, there were no absentees.Walter, last year&rsquo;s inspirational leader and a 24-goaI scorer, summoned the team a week prior to the official opening of training camp for the Capitals, who left the country last week along with the Minnesota North Stars to compete in a four-team international hockey tournament in Stockholm, Sweden, with the Swedish First Division clubs, AIK and Djurgarden.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good sign that this club is exhibiting such great self-motivation with regards to the optional training camp,&rdquo; said coach Gary Green, who&mdash;according to NHL rules&mdash;was not permitted to set foot on the ice until the official opening of training camp. &ldquo;At this point we&rsquo;ve got a lot going for us. By what I&rsquo;ve seen so far, the players are in fairly good condition. Apparently they&rsquo;ve made every effort to stay in shape during the off season, so that aspect is something I&rsquo;m not overly concerned with.&ldquo;The system, right now, is what we have to rehearse for the players who were here last year, and that&rsquo;s what we will go over for the newcomers.&rdquo;Green indicated that the Stockholm tournament, September 22 through 26, will be merely an extension of training camp, which began officially on September 14 in Hershey, Pa. &ldquo;This tournament is extremely important to us as well as the NHL,&rdquo; Green said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s more important that we get started right as we head into the regular season. I intend to pick right up from Hershey, drop down in Stockholm, and continue at the same pace that we started with.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to be prepared to open the season on October 10.&rdquo;Green approached this year&rsquo;s training camp with an optimism unparallelled in the club&rsquo;s brief seven-year history. Two reasons are newcomers in Capitals&rsquo; colors, ex-Philadelphia winger Bob Kelly and former Toronto goaltender Mike Palmateer.&ldquo;Kelly will play a regular role for us this year,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s certainly going to add a great deal of balance to our club, without question. He&rsquo;ll offer us intensity, aggressiveness, and the ability to dig the puck out of the corners, in both ends of the rink. He&rsquo;s an incredible team man, and he&rsquo;s been a big factor in Philadelphia&rsquo;s success this past decade.&rdquo;Kelly, who was acquired from the Flyers for future considerations on August 21, was understandably disappointed in leaving the Philadelphia oganization, but sees this new opportunity as a unique challenge. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been with the Flyers for 10 years, and was part of a winning tradition,&rdquo; Kelly said; &ldquo;but the Capitals are a young up-and-coming team. They have good players and management, and I&rsquo;m looking forward to helping this team and contributing in any way I can.&rdquo;Palmateer will find his own ways to contribute as well, although he may find himself pressed in the competition.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question that Mike is going to add a lot to this club.&rdquo; Green said; &ldquo;but nobody can play 80 games a season. My recollection is that Wayne Stephenson played extremely well for us during the second half of the season, and we&rsquo;re still very satisfied with him.&ldquo;Also, Rollie Boutin is determined that he&rsquo;s not going to lose his spot on the roster, so it&rsquo;s going to be an incredibly fierce battle at that position; and I&rsquo;m sure the best man will win.&rdquo; Others vying for a shot at the net-minding chores include the forgotten man, Gary Inness and Hershey goalie Dave Farro.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very excited about the competition at every level as we enter training camp,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re deficient at any position. We&rsquo;ve worked hard to acquire players to fill certain areas we felt we were deficient in.&rdquo;Now, it&rsquo;s all a matter of hard work.CAPSHOTS Bob Kelly, in joining the Capitals, becomes the fourth ex-Flyer Stanley Cup winner to play for Washington. The others? Wayne Stephenson, Bill Clement and&hellip; (who can forget) Bruce Cowick! &#9632;

Walter Recruits Capitals For Early Training Camp

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06156/4421847-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="607" height="889"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-07138/4421840-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="1827" height="721"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-08123/4421833-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="575" height="129"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01506/4421826-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="613" height="1689"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02396/4421819-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="1242" height="1012"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03274/4421812-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="1216" height="1672"></div><h2>CHL Starting Times</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04176/4421805-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="1041" height="544"></div><h2>Starting CHL Teams</h2>NORTH DIVISIONOklahoma City StarsSalt Lake Golden EaglesIndianapolis CheckersTulsa OilersWichita WindSOUTH DIVISIONFort Worth TexansHouston ApollosDallas Black HawksBirmingham Bulls &#9632;

f0023-06

Central Hockey League

As we went to press with this issue, the Toronto-area postal strike had been temporarily resolved and the mail was once again flowing to and from Toronto. However, by the time you read this, the strike could very well be back in effect&mdash;meaning that you won&rsquo;t be receiving your copy of THE HOCKEY NEWS in the mail. If this is the case, please immediately inform your local newsstand, handy store, tobacco shop&mdash;wherever you know THE HOCKEY NEWS is sold each week&mdash;and tell the owner that you want to get a paper. If you do this, he&rsquo;ll be able to let us know how many more copies of THE HOCKEY NEWS to send him. Don&rsquo;t let the mail strike prevent you from reading THE HOCKEY NEWS each week! Act Now!!! &#9632;

An Important Message For Canadian Mail Subscribers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01722/4422588-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TORONTO&rsquo;S DARRYL SITTLER THE ORDEAL IS OVER (Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div>OCTOBER 3,1980 Vol. 34, No. 1 THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY 64522 $1.00 &#9632;

Cover-01

The Hockey News

The NHLBoston&hellip;&hellip; 11Buffalo&hellip;&hellip; 28Calgary&hellip;&hellip; 39Chicago&hellip;&hellip; 14Colorado&hellip;&hellip; 29Detroit&hellip;&hellip; 28Edmonton&hellip;&hellip; 29Hartford&hellip;&hellip; 38Los Angeles&hellip;&hellip; 38Minnesota&hellip;&hellip; 7Montreal&hellip;&hellip; 10Islanders&hellip;&hellip; 12Rangers&hellip;&hellip; 14Philadelphia&hellip;&hellip; 5Pittsburgh&hellip;&hellip; 12Quebec&hellip;&hellip; 6St. Louis&hellip;&hellip; 7Toronto&hellip;&hellip; 40Vancouver&hellip;&hellip; 39Washington&hellip;&hellip; 4Winnipeg&hellip;&hellip; 14The MinorsAHL&hellip;&hellip; 30CHL&hellip;&hellip; 31IHL&hellip;&hellip; 32EHL&hellip;&hellip; 33The AmateursOMJHL&hellip;&hellip; 34WHL&hellip;&hellip; 35QMJHL&hellip;&hellip; 36ColumnistsFrank Orr&hellip;&hellip; 2Bob Verdi&hellip;&hellip; 4Ken McKenzie&hellip;&hellip; 5Bill Libby&hellip;&hellip; 12Stan Fischler&hellip;&hellip; 18FeaturesDarryl Sittler&hellip;&hellip; 3NHL Preview&hellip;&hellip; 16NHL Schedule&hellip;&hellip; 19Slapshots&hellip;&hellip; 27Hockey Classified&hellip;&hellip; 37Coming Next WeekWhen it comes to negotiating a contract, who are the toughest agents to deal with in the National Hockey League? The most reasonable? Find out next week when THE HOCKEY NEWS interviews the game&rsquo;s general managers for their answers to these questions.Also in the next issue will be the predictions of the correspondents who cover the 21 NHL teams for us. See how the experts pick your favorite team to finish the 1980-81 season. &#9632;

Where To Find It…

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011096/4420621-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="293" height="339"></div><h2>Gump And Harry&rsquo;s Day</h2>HARRY LUMLEY and Lome (Gump) Worsley were sharing a joke in a corner of the room during a press conference on the day they were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and across the room Toe Blake had his needle out.Blake, who was Worsley&rsquo;s coach during the Gumper&rsquo;s splendid years in the 1960s with the Montreal Canadiens and who played against Lumley in the &rsquo;40s, wields the old needle as well as anyone. He knew his jabs would be relayed to Worsley and draw an indignant snort&mdash;and an assassination of Blake&rsquo;s character&mdash;from Gump.&ldquo;Look at those two guys,&rdquo; Blake said, nodding towards Worsley and Lumley. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t say they&rsquo;ve gotten fat since they retired because they always did pack a lot of fat.&ldquo;You know, I think I&rsquo;ve figured out why goalies of that era lasted so long. They were all really good beer-drinkers, which meant they were sort of chubby and out-of-shape.&rdquo;Gump did snort when he heard Blake&rsquo;s remarks.&ldquo;Why would I listen to Blake, another coach who doesn&rsquo;t know what he&rsquo;s talking about?&rdquo; Worsley said.&ldquo;Phil Watson always said the same thing when I played for the New York Rangers&mdash;that I had a beer belly.&ldquo;I never drank beer, only whisky.&rdquo;Worsley, Lumley and the late Lynn Patrick entered the players&rsquo; sector of the hall in early September. American League president Jack Butterfield went into the builders&rsquo; category.For Worsley and Lumley, it was a laugh a minute all day. Gump did get a trifle sore, though, when his son Dean approached Reggie Jackson, the New York Yankee slugger, in the hotel lobby and asked for an autograph.Jackson had a simple answer: &ldquo;NO!&rdquo;That burned the Gump, a man who never turned down a request for anything.&ldquo;But I guess I had it all wrong when I figured that signing autographs for nice, polite kids was part of the job,&rdquo; Worsley said.<h2>Travel&rsquo;s Easier Now</h2>WORSLEY, WHO NOW doubles as a scout and goalie coach for the Minnesota North Stars, doesn&rsquo;t go along with the players of today who claim that the coast-to-coast travel has made hockey much tougher.&ldquo;Bull!&rdquo; Gump said. &ldquo;These guys don&rsquo;t realize that the travel is easier now than it was in the old six-team days. Hell, they fly everywhere by jet plane, which takes no time at all.&ldquo;Do they think that&rsquo;s tougher than playing a game in Montreal on a Saturday night, rushing like hell to a train after the game, riding the train all night and getting to Chicago at 4 p.m. the next afternoon for a Sunday night game, getting back on the train and arriving in Montreal at six on Monday night?&rdquo;Gumper isn&rsquo;t wild about hockey&rsquo;s two-goalie system either.&ldquo;I realize that a team has to carry two goalies but most good clubs have a number one man and a back-up,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think most good goalies thrive on a heavy workload. If you know you&rsquo;re playing games, you stay ready and psyched up.&ldquo;Wanna know the real reason for the two-goalie television that caused it When the game started to they didn&rsquo;t want those long delays while a goalie who patched up.&rdquo;Worsley also doesn&rsquo;t feel that today&rsquo;s players are as close as teams were back in the &rsquo;50s and &rsquo;60s.&ldquo;The players like to think they are but it seems to me that they go their own way much more than we did when I was playing and don&rsquo;t spend as much time together,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;Those old train trips, when we&rsquo;d have a car to ourselves, some marathon card games and somebody would sneak along a jug or two, made the guys very close.&ldquo;But don&rsquo;t get me wrong! The players and the goalies are just as good now as they&rsquo;ve ever been.&rdquo;<h2>Sort Of Semi-Retired</h2>LUMLEY, 53, WHO was the youngest goalie ever to play in the NHL, claims that he&rsquo;s &ldquo;sort of semi-retired&rdquo; these days in his hometown of Owen Sound, Ont.Big Lum was a smart man with a buck. He was partners in a successful auto dealership in Owen Sound but sold his shares in it a few years ago.He retains an interest in the very successful harness racing track at Orangeville, Ont., where he drove the starting gate for 10 years until this summer.Lumley played senior hockey in Collingwood for six years after his 1960 retirement and even tried coaching for a brief stretch.&ldquo;I coached the Owen Sound senior team for 10 games one year but I had no patience for that job,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;I was fired after the 10 games, so I suppose I wasn&rsquo;t the only one with no patience.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0002-01

HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011105/4420676-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darryl Sittler (left) and Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard were all smiles at the press conference announcing their reconciliation. When asked about all of the insulting remarks he made about Sittler, Ballard responded, &ldquo;I was just kidding, trying to keep things stirred up.&rdquo;(The Globe And Mail, Toronto)</figcaption></div>Darryl Sittier hopped over the boards in one swift motion, a bright red &ldquo;C&rdquo; stitched below the left shoulder of his jersey and a gleam in his eyes. Circling around deep in his defensive zone, Sittler suddenly darted up-ice, picking up momentum with every stride he took and easily eluding the checking of Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; center Bill Derlago. As he hit the red line, Sittler took a pass from a teammate and, skirting by charging Leafs&rsquo; defenseman Borje Salming, broke loose for a two-on-one with a trailing wing. His head up, his eyes darting back and forth, Sittler skated wide, drawing Ian Turnbull, the lone defender, towards him. At the last possible instant. Sittier feathered a perfect pass across the ice to his uncovered teammate, who simply redirected the puck past the helpless goaltender and into the net. Sittler skated with upraised arms to congratulate the goal scorer, a huge grin spreading across his face.As anyone who has even remotely followed the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Toronto Maple Leafs for the past several years knows, Darryl Sittler does not play against Bill Derlago, Borje Salming and lan Turnbull, but with them on the Leafs. However, just two weeks before the above scene took place&mdash;at a scrimmage before training camp&mdash;a very strong possibility existed that Sittler would indeed be playing against the Leafs this season rather than for them. And the very thought of that made the fans in Toronto, where Sittler is worshipped like a god. shudder with horror.For anyone who has never heard of Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard or who has been hiding in a cave since September, 1979, when the whole mess between Ballard and Sittler got started&hellip; the following synopsis should bring you up to date:Since the 1970 Amateur Draft, when Sittler was Toronto&rsquo;s first pick, taken from the Kitchener Rangers, he had established himself as a winner in a city of losers: No Leafs&rsquo; team had won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and the Argonauts of the Canadian Football League hadn&rsquo;t won a championship since 1952. The city was hungry for a winner, and in the view of the fans Sittier was the force that had the Leafs moving in that direction.In all but two of his first nine years with the Leafs, the team finished above.500 and made the playoffs&mdash;no easy feat in those days&mdash;every year except 1972-73.Sittler backed up his leadership qualities with glowing statistics: 328 goals and 782 points in his first decade in the NHL, status as a second team All Star in 1977-78, and a role as a hero Canada&rsquo;s victory in the 1976 Canada Cup, when he scored the winning goal in overtime. He has also served as vice president of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and until his resignation last December, had been captain of the Leafs, taking over for Dave Keon after the 1974-75 season. (More on that later)Sittier&rsquo;s actions off the ice were as commendable as they were on it. Anytime a charity, fund-raising project or special dinner requested his presence. Sittler always complied&mdash;giving not only his name but his time and enthusiasm as well.All of the above factors were essential in creating what ultimately became a father-son relationship between Sittier and the cantankerous, outspoken Ballard, who always regarded Sittler as the perfect example of what a Maple Leaf player should be.But the arrival of Punch Imlach on the scene in the summer of 1979 marked the beginning of the end of the blissful relationship between Sittler and Ballard. The Leafs&rsquo; highpoint of the 1970s came in 1978, when they advanced to the Stanley Cup semifinals after shocking the New York Islanders, an accomplishment Sittler describes as his &ldquo;greatest thrill as a Leaf.&rdquo;But the Leafs&rsquo; fortunes had declined steadily since then and Ballard, anxious to turn things around quickly, fired coach Roger Neilson and general manager Jim Gregory and brought in Imlach. Actually, Ballard didn&rsquo;t bring Imlach in, he brought him back: In the 1960s Punch had led the Leafs to three consecutive Stanley Cups and four in six years before being fired after a 1969 playoff loss to the Boston Bruins. Imlach immediately resurfaced in Buffalo, where he built the expansion Sabres into a team that was consistently near the top of its division and always in the playoffs. The only problem was that except for 1975, when they made the finals, the Sabres could never seem to advance beyond the early stages of the playoffs&mdash;and Punch was fired midway through the 1978-79 season.By the summer of 1979, Ballard had figured that Imlach was the perfect man to instill the type of discipline on the Leafs that would combine the talents of Sittler, Lanny McDonald, Salming, Turnbull and others into a team that could win the Stanley Cup. But the Imlach-Leafs relationship got off to a rocky start before the 1979-80 season had even started. Ballard and blach unsuccessfully attempted to restrain Sittler and goalie Mike Palmateer (since traded to the Washington Capitals) from competing in the Showdown series, aired last season on Hockey Night In Canada&rsquo;s telecasts. And then on a road trip to Pittsburgh, Imlach told an interviewer that he thought Sittler was laboring with a knee injury suffered the year before and that he &ldquo;may have lost a step or two.&rdquo;Then the trade rumors began. The Leafs were playing badly once the season got underway and names like Palmateer and Turnbull were bandied about. Before too long a swap was made&mdash;Lanny McDonald, Sittier&rsquo;s closest friend on the team, and Joel Quenneville went to Colorado for Wilf Paiement and Pat Hickey.Sittier&rsquo;s reaction to the trade was swift and. he admits now, emotional: He ripped the &ldquo;C&rdquo; off his jersey&mdash;an act Ballard Categorized as &ldquo;treason.&rdquo;&ldquo;I just couldn&rsquo;t believe that Lanny was being traded,&rdquo; Sittler said in a recent interview. &ldquo;He was my best friend on the team and it was an emotional time for me. A lot of people thought because I resigned the day after the trade, that it was the reason. But I had been thinking about resigning for some time.&rdquo;Other trades soon followed and the whole complexion of the team changed. Imlach defended his actions, claiming that he was trading for youth and speed. But many of the players that he was sending away from Toronto were clients of Alan Eagle-son&mdash;Sittier&rsquo;s agent, the executive director of the Players&rsquo; Association and historically no bosom buddy of Imlach&rsquo;s.&ldquo;At first,&rdquo; Sittler said, &ldquo;I thought the trades were management&rsquo;s way of getting back at me. But I don&rsquo;t believe that now.&rdquo; At the time, however, it wasn&rsquo;t hard to see why Sittler felt the way he did.For instance, at a Toronto sports banquet attended by more than 2,000 people, Ballard couldn&rsquo;t resist getting in a few comments about Sittler and his agent: &ldquo;Darryl&rsquo;s a fine player and we&rsquo;re glad to have him,&rdquo; Ballard said. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s got to stop taking bad advice.&rdquo;The situation intensified when the Leaf players informed Ballard that they would not play an exhibition game to benefit the Ronald McDonald House, which was being opened for children and their families as a temporary home while the children were being treated for cancer and other related illnesses at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.Just minutes before the press conference announcing plans for the game, Sittler, as team spokesman, had to tell Ballard that the team didn&rsquo;t want to play the benefit because it would mean performing in five games in six nights. Ironically, Sittler was chairman of the project and had wanted to play.Eagleson, meanwhile, had outlined several options that the players could follow and they agreed to play the game if Ballard would let them play an exhibition against a touring Soviet team. Ballard, whose anti-Soviet sentiments are well documented, grudgingly said they could but then changed his mind and the entire exhibition idea was scratched.And so it went last season for the Leafs and Darryl Sittler. Prior to the March 11 trade deadline, rumors had him going to Philadelphia, Buffalo, Minnesota, Montreal and the New York Rangers; but nothing happened&mdash;mainly because a unique no-trade clause in Sittier&rsquo;s contract dictated that he had to approve any deal before it could be made. The Leafs finished their horrendous season five games below.500 and were eliminated by the Minnesota North Stars in three straight preliminary round playoff games. Darryl Sittler went home facing a summer of uncertainty and trade rumors, not knowing that by the time September came Harold Ballard would be saying, &ldquo;Darryl Sittler is a cancer on the Maple Leafs and I&rsquo;ll pay him to stay away from training camp.&rdquo;Anyone who covered the Maple Leafs last season quickly learned not to be shocked or amazed by any of the events that took place. So no one was really surprised when on a sunny Thursday morning in the first week of September, a press conference was held in the Hot Stove Lounge at Maple Leaf Gardens. The reason? To announce the reconciliation of Harold Ballard and Darryl Sittler.Decked out in a beige suit which, wrote Frank Orr in the Toronto Star, &ldquo;made him look like a retired Man From Glad,&rdquo; Ballard dismissed all of his name calling with one quick line. &ldquo;I was just kidding,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;trying to keep things stirred up.&rdquo; And with that, the carnival-like session got off the ground.Would Sittler be invited to training camp? Of course, Ballard replied.Would Sittler be reinstated as captain? &ldquo;I&rsquo;d seriously consider it,&rdquo; Ballard replied.Would Sittler want to wear the &ldquo;C&rdquo; again? &ldquo;I&rsquo;d seriously consider it,&rdquo; Darryl replied.Although neither Ballard, Sittler nor any of the other Leafs&rsquo; officials present on that day would admit it, the fact that Punch Imlach had suffered a heart attack, his second, several weeks before was probably the major reason why Sittler was reinstated. Punch, resting in a Toronto hospital was under strict doctor&rsquo;s orders to not even think about his job, much less try to perform it. That opened the door for&mdash;who else?&mdash;Harold Ballard to step in and finish what Sittler had started during a conversation with Imlach earlier in the summer.&ldquo;We discussed a whole bunch of things,&rdquo; Sittler said recently, recalling his meeting with Punch, &ldquo;and one of them was my request that Punch set up a meeting for me with Mr. Ballard. He said he would, but then he had his heart attack. A short time later Joe Crozier [now the Leafs&rsquo; head coach] phoned and asked me to meet with Mr. Ballard right after Labor Day. So we. sat down and settled it in one afternoon and that was it.&ldquo;A lot of things that Mr. Ballard had to say about me began with Showdown and just went on from there,&rdquo; Sittler went on. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I was surprised by any of it. When Mr. Ballard hired Mr. Imlach to be the general manager, it&rsquo;s, only proper that he back him up on his decisions on running the club. It only makes sense.&ldquo;Things happened whatever way they happened and for whatever reasons,&rdquo; Sittler said, making it obvious that he would just as soon like to forget about the past.&rdquo; I&rsquo;m just looking forward to this year and glad that everything has been resolved.&rdquo;To accomplish that, Sittler was forced to proceed without his agent, Eagleson. &ldquo;Al and Punch, I guess, have never gotten along,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I imagine there may have been times when I was caught in the middle, but I&rsquo;ve always voiced my opinion. I&rsquo;ve spoken out when I thought it was necessary.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just that from now on, I&rsquo;ve decided to do all my own negotiating, all my own talking about matters concerning the Leafs and myself,&rdquo; Sittler said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a reflection on Alan Eagleson; he&rsquo;s still my lawyer. It&rsquo;s just the way I prefer to handle it.&rdquo;With Sittler back in the Leafs&rsquo; good graces, the question of whether he will again become their captain arises. Sittler offended Ballard very deeply when he took a pair of trainer&rsquo;s scissors and cut the &ldquo;C&rdquo; off his uniform moments before going on the ice against the Winnipeg Jets on the day after the McDonald trade. Even Sittler admits that the manner in which he resigned was regrettable.&ldquo;With all of the off-ice stuff going on, all I wanted to do when I resigned was clear my mind and concentrate on playing hockey,&rdquo; Sittier said. &ldquo;And I think that the record shows that&rsquo;s exactly what I did in the second half of the season.&rdquo;(Indeed it does. Sittler was second only to Edmonton&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky in scoring during the second half of the season, with 27 goals and 39 assists.)&ldquo;I have my own definition of what I feel a captain&rsquo;s role should be,&rdquo; Sittler continued, choosing his words carefully, &ldquo;and I didn&rsquo;t feel that I was permitted to do what I felt I should have been doing for the club.&ldquo;As far as being captain again, I&rsquo;ll just have to wait until the time comes before I see what the circumstances are and make a decision.&rdquo;Although reluctant to speak of the troubles that have passed under the bridge, Sittler seemed genuinely enthusiastic about his future in Toronto.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think things were as bad for me mentally as a lot of people might have believed,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I knew that I had that no-trade clause in my contract and I was always optimistic that the problems could be resolved.&rdquo;&ldquo;I have four years left on my contract and I&rsquo;d like to play my whole career in Toronto,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I signed the contract with that intention. Six years ago, I could have signed with the Toronto Toros [of the now-defunct World Hockey Association] for a lot more money, but I wanted to stay with the Leafs and that&rsquo;s when I had the no-trade clause put in. Then we simply extended the contract for five more years.&rsquo;&ldquo;I had many opportunities to leave Toronto during the last year,&rdquo; Sittler said, &ldquo;and I could have left very easily if I wanted to. But my wife Wendy and I talked it over and we both decided that the best place for us and our two children [son Ryan, six, and daughter Meaghan, four and a half] was Toronto. We have made many friends here in the last 10 years and I also think that the fans are terrific here.&rdquo;And what about the Leafs&rsquo; prospects for this season?&ldquo;All I have to do,&rdquo; Sittler replied, &ldquo;is think back to 1978, when we beat the Islanders in the playoffs. We had a very close-knit team back then. Hopefully we can get that feeling back again. It can be moulded very quickly if you start winning a few hockey games.&rdquo;One of the chief men responsible for seeing that the Leafs start winning is coach Joe Crozier, who is also handling some of Imlach&rsquo;s GM duties while Punch recovers from his heart attack.&ldquo;Joe came in under difficult circumstances last year,&rdquo; Sittler said. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t know all of the players and what we could do. Now I think he&rsquo;ll have more control and hopefully he&rsquo;ll be able to correct the flaws which have held us back.&ldquo;We have a lot of talented players,&rdquo; Sittler went on, &ldquo;but sometimes talent alone isn&rsquo;t good enough to win. You need character, temperament and you also need good relationships between the players, the coach and management. I think that&rsquo;s essential.&ldquo;Again, I look at the Islanders,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Three years ago they were right at the top of the league and we beat them in the playoffs. The next year they finished first, but the Rangers beat them. And then last year they won the Stanley Cup after finishing fifth. It&rsquo;s maturity and it&rsquo;s a combination of a lot of little things&mdash;toughness, depth and hot streaks by your big players.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really looking forward to training camp and to this season,&rdquo; Sittler said emphatically. &ldquo;Hockey&rsquo;s my livelihood, but it&rsquo;s also a pleasure for me. I&rsquo;ve had to work my butt off to get here and to stay here. Nothing&rsquo;s ever been given to me and I know how imporant it is to prepare yourself at all times and to play your best.&ldquo;I know one thing for sure,&rdquo; said Sittler, adamantly, &ldquo;I have only one person to please when I&rsquo;m out on the ice&mdash;and that&rsquo;s Darryl Sittler.&rdquo;And, of course, Harold Ballard. &#9632;

f0003-01

Sittler Resumes Role As Leader Of The Leafs

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011155/4420707-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="285" height="329"></div><h2>Communication Breakdown</h2>THIS SUMMER, HOCKEY fans were informed that the NHL would institute a sudden-death overtime period during the regular season for the first time since 1943.Then a week or so ago, hockey fans were informed that the sudden death overtime plan had met sudden death.What&rsquo;s going on here?A failure to communicate, that&rsquo;s what. There is still an infinitesimal chance that overtime will be approved soon, but first we must have a miracle, and then the players blessing.When the owners ratified the five-minute tie-breaker by a 12-9 vote, they took it for fact. They neglected to run it by the increasingly aware NHL Players&rsquo; Association, an oversight which league president John Ziegler subsequently admitted was a mistake.In exchange for playing more minutes, the NHLPA wanted some concessions. The owners balked. And that, until probably next year at this time, is that.There is a tendency here to depict the athletes as greedy, but that is not entirely fair. Two summers ago, the owners also put the carriage before the horse when they ratified a merger with four World Hockey Association clubs. Only when they were finished congratulating themselves over this master stroke did they realize the NHLPA hadn&rsquo;t been asked its opinion. For such a significant issue, the men in short pants at least deserved a phone call.At that point, the players could have sabotaged the project, or at least held out for a few unbelievable demands. They did neither. They accepted the merger on the promise that the owners would negotiate in good faith several unresolved and thorny issues toward a new collective bargaining agreement.<h2>Slap From The Owners</h2>I CAN STILL remember the meeting in Nassau and waiting to discover what fabulous new fruits the players acquired. Soon, then-president Bobby Clarke walked out and said that the thing was settled, that the players had turned in their loaded gun.&ldquo;For the good of hockey,&rdquo; said Clarke, &ldquo;we went along with this. Our game didn&rsquo;t need any more chaos at this time.&rdquo;I can still remember, also, thinking how reasonable the players had been. Some militant types had another adjective&mdash;they thought the players were just plain stupid.&ldquo;Then, the day after we gave the merger our OK,&rdquo; recalled Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; goalie Tony Esposito, &ldquo;the owners came back to us with a proposal that was more ridiculous than any they had recommended before. We did what we did for the good of the sport, then they turned around and slapped us in the face.&ldquo;Now, they&rsquo;ve tried to do it again. They OK overtime, but they don&rsquo;t even bother to discuss it with the 500 or so players who play the games. It&rsquo;s not that we don&rsquo;t want overtime. We just want some input into the negotiations. That is what a collective bargaining agreement is all about, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;Right, and now the NHLPA has achieved added leverage toward untangling the thorniest issue of them all&mdash;free agency. As Esposito himself discovered not long ago, being a free agent in hockey means a player is not very free at all. There are all sorts of strings attached to prevent a hockey player from enjoying the latitude of a baseball player.The NHLPA isn&rsquo;t asking for carte blanche, such as the baseball players have. It merely wants the owners to relax their current stand which stipulates that teams acquire free agents at the risk of having their cupboards cleaned.<h2>Players Are Scapegoats</h2>&ldquo;WHETHER THIS LATEST thing helps us, I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; said Esposito, an NHLPA vice president. &ldquo;Because, although the owners voted for overtime, I&rsquo;m not all that sure they want it. The vote was only 12-9, and it&rsquo;s as though they are saying to us, &lsquo;we want overtime, but if you don&rsquo;t want it, we&rsquo;re not going to press it.&rsquo;&ldquo;It also seems as though they [the owners] are telling the public that they really want the overtime, but that if it doesn&rsquo;t happen, it&rsquo;s the players&rsquo; faults. We&rsquo;re the scapegoats. I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s very fair, either.&rdquo;What would be fair now is that the customers get what they were promised&mdash;a potential solution to all those tie games during the season. There were 142 during the 840-game schedule last year, which is a few too many. The Philadelphia Flyers, who led the league in points, played 20 of their 80 contests to no-decision.If the worry is that weak teams will become weaker during overtime, implement the idea whereby each team gets a point after a 60-minute tie, with the sudden death winner getting an added point. It&rsquo;s worth a try, anyway. &#9632;

f0004-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02769/4420838-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="283" height="338"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN MCKENZIE&rsquo;S</figcaption></div>&bull; JERRY BUSS, owner of the Los Angeles Kings, didn&rsquo;t endear himself to the other National Hockey League owners when he signed Marcel Dionne to a five-year contract at $600,000 per season. The NHL has been trying to bring their escalating salary scale downwards and this move by Buss further complicates the already troubled hockey league insofar as its overhead costs are concerned&hellip; The Toronto Maple Leafs boast the largest radio network of any NHL team. The Leafs will be heard on 30 stations throughout Ontario this year. Ron Hewat will be the play-by-play announcer and Mike Nykoluk, former assistant coach of the New York Rangers, will be the color man&hellip; When Gordie Howe signed his first contract with the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; organization he was paid $1,850 for the season plus $500 for signing. He spent that first season with Omaha of the United States League and moved up to the Red Wings at the start of the 1946-47 campaign&hellip; Every time Larry Robinson steps on the ice for the Montreal Canadiens he makes sure that he&rsquo;s between Guy Lafleur and Serge Savard. And before the start of each period he always makes certain to touch the two posts of the Canadiens&rsquo; net. These are superstitions that the giant Montreal defenseman has displayed since joining the club&hellip; Al Arbour, coach of the Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders, doubts very much if the Islanders can start a Canadiens-style dynasty. &ldquo;The way the league is arranged now,&rdquo; Arbour said, &ldquo;I think there will be a scramble for the Cup every year. Dynasties, like dinosaurs, are a thing of the past.&rdquo;&hellip; Harry Sinden, general manager of the Boston Bruins, jokingly scolded us for featuring Don Cherry on the cover of the September issue. Wonder why?&hellip; Jim Loria, the New Bedford, Mass, boy who did such a fine job with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, is now working in the publicity department of the Washington Capitals under Lou Corletto&hellip; Marcel Dionne, who won the 1980 Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring champion on a technicality, feels the NHL should change the ruling in the future and that he and Wayne Gretzky should have shared the award. &ldquo;They share the Vezina Trophy every year, don&rsquo;t they?&rdquo; Dionne said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03526/4420831-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="373" height="505"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marcel Dionne</figcaption></div>&bull; EMILE FRANCIS, president and general manager of the St. Louis Blues, feels the only road to success for a National Hockey League team these days is to control your top farm team and use it for development. That means ownership of the farm team is the only way to insure a flow of new blood to the major club each year. Francis, incidentally, did one of hockey&rsquo;s outstanding turnarounds with the Blues last season, and Hal Dean, John Baird and Paul Comelsen, owners of the St. Louis franchise, are to be congratulated for maintaining faith in the fiesty Francis&hellip; No less than seven colieage coaches, six of them from Canadian colleges, have been appointed assistant NHL coaches for the 1980-81 season: Ron Smith from York University, Toronto, is with Buffalo; Paul Page from Dalhousie, Halifax, is with Calgary; Billy Harris of Laurentian U., Sudbury, was signed by Edmonton; Bob Boucher of St. Mary&rsquo;s, Halifax, is with Philadelphia; Tom Watt of the University of Toronto has joined Vancouver; Bill Mahoney of McMaster U, Hamilton, is with Washington; and Ralph Backstrom from the University of Denver has joined the Los Angeles Kings&hellip; The NHL made an excellent acquisition when they hired Roger Leblond as statistician. Lebond had previously done part-time work with the Montreal Canadiens&hellip; Carol Randall, the NHL&rsquo;s researcher and statistician for seven years, resigned to return to her native Maritime provinces, where she will pursue other interests&hellip; Three NHL players suffered broken bones during the summer. The Canadiens&rsquo; Pierre Mondow fractured his Achilles tendon; Quebec&rsquo;s Real Cloutier broke his ankle, and Philadelphia&rsquo;s sensational young goaltender Pete Peeters broke a toe&hellip; Guy Lafleur tested his knee several times before the Canadiens reported to training camp and he apparently felt no pain when he skated&hellip; Johnny Wilson should do a first-rate job as general manager and coach of the AHL Spring-field Indians. Harry Sinden of the Bruins put it best when he said, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good hockey man, and you can entrust young players to him.&rdquo; Wilson did a fine coaching job in the NHL with Los Angeles, Detroit, Colorado and Pittsburgh, but always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He&rsquo;s never been out of a coaching job, however.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04348/4420824-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="397" height="507"><figcaption class="caption-body">Johnny Wilson</figcaption></div>&bull; ONLY TWO teams in hockey history have not had plural nicknames, such as Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Rangers, Bruins, etc. The first one was the Ottawa Silver Seven, Stanley Cup winners at the turn of the century, and the other team is the Wichita Wind, latest entry in the Central Hockey League. The last time pro hockey was played in Wichita was in the 1930&rsquo;s, when the club was known as the Sky-hawks. Semi-pro hockey was played during the 1940s and &rsquo;50s but the Wind is the first club to represent the midwestern city in the brand new auditorium which seats close to 10,000 for hockey. Larry Gordon, formerly with the Edmonton Oilers, is the owner and the Wind will serve as the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; No. 1 farm club. There&rsquo;s a big opening Hockey Weekend when four games will be played in four nights in Wichita. Edmonton and Colorado play the first game, followed by Wichita against Edmonton, Tulsa and Oklahoma City&hellip; Mike Emrick, who did such an outstanding job with the Maine Mariners, has moved up to the parent Philadelphia Flyers. Mike will broadcast 30 home telecasts over Prism TV and will assist Pete Silverman, producer of radio and TV for the Flyers. Gene Hart continues to be &ldquo;The Voice&rdquo; of the Flyers and handles all radio broadcasts and telecasts over WTAF-Channel 29. Dale Arnold will succeed Emrick as P.R. man with the Mariners and Hal Maas, who was with the Port Huron Flags the past three years, replaces him as the broadcaster&hellip; Washington top draft pick Darren Veitch is one of Canada&rsquo;s foremost golfers and recently won a major tournament in Regina, Sask. He finished the tourney with a three-under-par 69 to give him a 54-hole total of 214, nine strokes better than his closest competitor. Another top hockey-playing golfer is Doug Lecuyer, rookie forward with Chicago, who finished second in the Alberta amateur tournament. Gaston Gingras, the Canadiens&rsquo; promising young defenseman, is another better than average man on the links. He finished second in the first annual Gaston Gingras Tournament held at Temiskaming, Que&hellip;. Two new coaches in the CHL this season will be Nick Beverley at Houston and Danny Belisle with Dallas&hellip; The New Brunswick Hawks of the AHL showed good judgment in signing Doug Carpenter as coach. Carpenter led the Cornwall Royals to the Memorial Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05225/4420817-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="373" height="505"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Lecuyer</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-02

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011005/4420786-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Moose Dupont won the respect of all his Flyer teammates for his heart and total loyalty to the club.</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA-The future of whatever considerations the Flyers acquired for Moose Dupont should only turn out to be half of what The Moose gave them for seven years.He was, in his own way. as responsible for two Stanley Cups as any of his more celebrated teammates. For while they were making headlines, he was a large part of their backbone.&ldquo;This is,&rdquo; said coach Pat Quinn with proper reverence after Dupont was traded to the Quebec Nordiques for future considerations, &ldquo;what the brains in this organization think is best. I have to go along with it. I just hope we are able to compensate for what we&rsquo;ve lost.&rdquo;Moose fell victim to youth, personified by a Swedish defenseman named Thomas Eriksson, whom the Flyers are sure will prove too good in the exhbition games to need any development time in Maine. The trade was the second of the off-season involving one of the survivors of the two Stanley Cup teams, coming three weeks after the trade of Bob Kelly to Washington and only one day before Dupont was to fly to Portland. Me., to begin getting ready for his eighth Fiver season. The timing was the only aspect of the transaction which disappointed him. Quebec City, an hour drive from his home in Trois-Rivieres, was the place he had asked to go.&ldquo;I wish it could have bee done earlier.&rdquo; said Dupont. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve already got my kids in school. But I had told Keith Allen, when I was in negotiating my contract earlier this summer, if he was going to move me to make it Quebec.&ldquo;That part of it&rsquo;s a relief, but I&rsquo;m disappointed. You know it can&rsquo;t last forever, it&rsquo;s part of the business, but I wanted to stay one more year. We&rsquo;re so close to winning a Stanley Cup. I wanted to be part of another one.&rdquo;The Flyers came as close as they did last year, losing in a six-game final to the New York Islanders, largely because of Dupont, a player who had been the subject of trade rumors and been considered expendable for two years.But just when the torch he carried had. in a second in-and-out season, gone all but out&hellip; he rallied. The goofs were as much a part of Moose as the spear he held raised in front of the Flyer goal, but last year, when the Fiver defense was debilitated&mdash;in either body or spirit&mdash;Dupont responded with some of the steadiest hockey of his career.&ldquo;What a heart he has,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;When his knee was bad early in the year he&rsquo;d come to us and ask to play. We thought better of it, but it was just another example of how he hasn&rsquo;t lost anything of what set him apart. I played against hint, and he, as much as any of them, is what the Flyers are all about.&ldquo;You try to instill that spirit in some of the younger guys. It&rsquo;s become an organizational trait because of guys like him. He was one who never had to be shown.&rdquo;The deal finally completed a summer of on-again, off-again negotiations between Allen and the Nordiques. Moose was offered in June as part of a package for the Nordiques&rsquo; 1980 No. 2 draft choice and No. 1 in 1981, but Allen&rsquo;s price had obviously come down. The Nordiques asked that specific considerations not be revealed but it is definitely for a pick in the 1981 draft, probably a third to a fifth rounder.&ldquo;We talked off and on,&rdquo; said Allen. &ldquo;There was one other team that was interested in him. but the Quebec offer was better.&rdquo;The trade opened up a spot on the Fiyer defense that Eriksson, who is a fine offensive talent with a belligerence that is rare in European playes, can only lose with a bad pre-season. Allen still has an overload of centers and has discussed Rick MacLeish with several clubs, but says all other irons in the fire have cooled.A good exhibition showing by Blake Wesley, last year&rsquo;s No. 2 pick, could force another move, but a seven-man Flyer defense of Bob Dailey. Jim Watson, Mike Busniuk, Behn Wilson, Norm Barnes, Eriksson and Jack Mcllhargey is likely the way the Flyers will start the season.Moose leaves with the security of a new three-year contract, the consolation that he is going home to complete his career, and the respect of his teammates, nurtured over eight seasons.&ldquo;If he was six years younger,&rdquo; said Joe Watson, now a Flyer scout, &ldquo;and I was a general manager, he&rsquo;d be one of the first guys I&rsquo;d go after for my team. There was no more that you could ask from a guy than what Moose gave.&rdquo;FLYER FACTS: The National Hockey League fined Flyers&rsquo; owner Ed Snider $5,000 for the comments he made about referee-in-chief Scotty Morrison following the sixth-game elimination in May&hellip; The Flyers will take a long training camp look at Danny Lucas, a disappointing No. 1 draft choice in 1978, and defenseman Glen Cochrane, a No. 4 the same year. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t have any problems with my 18-man list (for the waiver draft),&rdquo; said Allen. &ldquo;But both, as third-year pros, would have to be waived to send them down again. Glen came on last year, he may be a prospect and we have to make a decision if Danny has any future in our organization. Some other teams, I hope, are interested in him.&rdquo; Lucas is in competition for a fourth-line left wing job against Greg Adams, an underage signee a year ago from Victoria and Mark Taylor, who may face a logjam at his natural position&mdash;center.<h2>Exhibition Scoreboard</h2>Fri. Sept. 19Boston 9, Philadelphia 3Sat. Sept. 20Los Angeles 7, Vancouver 2Hartford 2, Colorado 2Boston 6, Islanders 1Rangers 5, Buffalo 1Toronto 5, Montreal 3Sun. Sept. 21Detroit 5, Hartford 2Chicago 5, Islanders 2Buffalo 4, Montreal 2Calgary 6, Colorado 2Winnipeg 3, Tulsa (CHL) 0Los Angeles 3, Houston (CHL) 1Edmonton 7, Wichita (CHL) 3 &#9632;

f0005-01

Flyer Vet Dupont Victim Of Youth Movement

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Ever since Bill Nyrop retired from the Montreal Canadiens two years ago, general manager Lou Nanne of the Minnesota North Stars has tried to talk the big defenseman into joining his hometown team.Nanne first received permission from the Canadiens to negotiate with Nyrop, whose name is on the Stanley Cup three times as a member of the Montreal defense. Then Nanne sent Montreal two future second-round choices in a trade for Nyrop, one which has been paid and one which will be due if Nyrop does return to the Stars.For a time in the almost 24 months of pursuing Nyrop, Nanne might as well have been plucking petals off a daisy. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll join us, he&rsquo;ll join us not. He&rsquo;ll..The wishing and talking is over, at least temporarily.A day before the Stars opened their 1980-81 training camp, Nyrop gave in. The 6-2, 205-pound blueliner agreed to report to training camp and accompany the Stars to Sweden for a tournament (which included Washington of the NHL and two Swedish teams) during the exhibition schedule.Nyrop said he would announce later in the exhibition season if, indeed, he would end his retirement.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to take two weeks off my job and then decide,&rdquo; said Nyrop. &ldquo;I want to find out how long it will take for me to regain my quickness. I have to make the team before I can decide. I don&rsquo;t want to wind up as the seventh or eighth defenseman.&rdquo;Even if he doesn&rsquo;t make the team, he&rsquo;ll have something to do: In the two years since he last played for the Canadiens, he has been gaining experience in the insurance field in Bloomington.But the Minnesota brass think Nyrop will have no problem making the team. &ldquo;I hope Bill will be with us this season,&rdquo; Nanne said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;d want to go through training camp if he didn&rsquo;t want to play in the regular season. He has been one of the best defensemen in hockey. If he chooses to play, it will give this team an immense lift.&rdquo;And it will also give the North Stars their best defense in history. Back from last year are the likes of Fred Barrett, Curt Giles, Craig Hartsburg, Brad Maxwell, Gary Sargent, Paul Shmyr and Greg Smith.Nyrop already provided some depth in training camp when Hartsburg suffered a shoulder separation and was not expected back until right before the start of the regular season.Coach Glen Sonmor was quite excited by the addition. &ldquo;If Bill decides to play, he will give us eight quality defensemen,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t remember when a Minnesota team had that much depth on defense.&rdquo;Sonmor had watched Nyrop closely the first few training camp practices and observed. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not concerned about Bill. He will be among our best once he gets his legs back.&rdquo;Nyrop does not score a lot, nor does he take an excess of penalties. His main attribute is using his tremendous strength to wipe the opposition out from in front of the net and in the corners, plus moving the puck up the ice.Montreal drafted Nyrop during the seventh round (66th choice overall) in 1972. Nyrop played one full season and part of another for Montreal&rsquo;s Nova Scotia team in the American League before he was called up for the final 19 games of the 1975-76 season. He was a regular on Montreal&rsquo;s Cup-winning teams in 1976, 1977 and 1978 before making the stunning announceent at the start of the 1978-79 season that he was retiring.In three NHL seasons, Nyrop scored eight goals and 43 assists in regular season play with 66 minutes in penalties. He logged one goal, seven assists and 22 penalty minutes in 33 Stanley Cup games.Nyrop, the son of a retired airlines president, graduated from Notre Dame after his Edina High School team won the Minnesota state championship tournament.The other newcomers who are bidding to win a job with the Stars are 1980 draft choices Brad Palmer, left winger and Don Beaupre, a goalie. Center Kevin Maxwell, a 1979 pick who played on the Canadian Olympic team, is another new face who has been impressive.Even without making a major trade during the summer. Nanne feels the Stars will be much improved this season.&ldquo;Our top 24 players are as good or better as any team in the league,&rdquo; the GM aid. &ldquo;We are definitely one of the NHL&rsquo;s best six clubs. For us to improve, we have to cut down on injuries that ruined our chances of finishing higher last season. We had the worst injury record in the league by a country mile. We lost 310 man games.STAR DUST: The Stars have extended Sonmor&rsquo;s contract, which was to have concluded at the end of this season&hellip; Nanne has also signed Mike Polich, Tim Young and Brad Maxwell&hellip; The North Stars were in camp four days before departing for Sweden&hellip; Left winger Jack Carlson received clearance from doctors to start training camp&hellip; Carlson, who did not accompany the team to Sweden, missed all of last season after surgery to repair a cracked vertabrae.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011054/4420900-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="551" height="887"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Nyrop is giving pro hockey another try in his home state after a 24-month layoff.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Nanne Lures Nyrop To Stars’ Camp

<div class="byline">BY ARNOLD IRISH</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Ask any official of the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; hockey team to comment on the team&rsquo;s prospects for the future and the chances are excellent that the conversation will not go too far before Mike Liut&rsquo;s name is mentioned.&ldquo;Mike Liut,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; coach Red Berenson, &ldquo;is the best young goalie in the league. We improved more than any other team in the NHL last season (10th place finish, 80 points) and we had the farthest to come. But Mike had to stand on his head in a lot of games for us to do it.&ldquo;Ideally,&rdquo; Berenson continued, &ldquo;we&rsquo;d like to move up among the league&rsquo;s top five or six teams this season. We finished only eight points behind the No. 6 team, Minnesota. But it will have to be a step by step process. The way other teams have improved, scoring 80 points again may be quite an accomplishment.&rdquo;But as long as Liut is his No. 1 man in goal, Berenson has no doubts that the Blues are capable of pulling some surprises this season.&ldquo;Whatever progress we&rsquo;re going to make will be tied closely to Mike&rsquo;s continued development,&rdquo; said Berenson of the 24-year-old Liut, whom the Blues picked up in the fifth round (56th overall) in the 1976 Amateur Draft. Instead of joining St. Louis immediately, however, Liut finished playing college hockey at Bowling Green and then joined the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA for another two years before finally making his way to the Blues.His NHL debut was, to say the least, an auspicious one: The 6-2, 180-pounder played in 64 games for St. Louis last season (only Chicago&rsquo;s venerable Tony Esposito logged more time in the cage) while amassing a creditable 3.18 goals against average.&ldquo;Mike covers a lot of net,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;He takes advantage of his size and reach, but he also moves well.&rdquo;&ldquo;He plays each shot according to its degree of difficulty&mdash;never making a tough save of an easy shot&mdash;and in that sense I relate his poise to (ex Montreal goalie Ken) Dryden. Mike&rsquo;s poise reminded me of Dryden since I first saw him (Liut) in camp last year.&ldquo;At the same time, he has Glenn Hall&rsquo;s ability to move quickly. Glenn was a reflex goalie. He&rsquo;d give you room to shoot, then take it away from you.&rdquo;Just as the Blues can&rsquo;t afford to ride Liut&rsquo;s coat tails, Berenson points out that Mike can&rsquo;t afford to relax or allow his brillant play to abate.&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t come easy for Mike,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;He had an edge last year, but he made it happen. Work thrives on work, and Mike understands what got him where he is. He didn&rsquo;t relax getting here, and he can&rsquo;t relax if he wants to stay.&ldquo;Furthermore, we can&rsquo;t take Liut for granted. He&rsquo;s a talented person, but he&rsquo;s not a machine. He&rsquo;s going to have good days and bad days. There&rsquo;s no guarantee he couldn&rsquo;t go the other way as quickly as he got here if he were to lose the mental edge.&rdquo;Backing up Liut is Eddie Stan-iowski at 24 less than a year older than Mike but now in his sixth NHL season. Although he never has justified the early promise he flashed as a rookie in 1976 when, in three playoff games against Buffalo he allowed seven goals (some observers compared him at that time of his career to Frank Brimsek in his &ldquo;Kid Zero&rdquo; days), Berenson said Liut&rsquo;s strong work prevented Eddie from &ldquo;getting as much time as he normally would, but he&rsquo;s still a young, up-and-coming goalie.&rdquo;Additional support is available in the persons of veteran Doug Grant and two promising youngsters, Rick Heinz and Paul Skidmore. Both possess &ldquo;potential quitehigh,&rdquo; Berenson said.&ldquo;But you don&rsquo;t make a National League goalkeeper overnight. Liut is not a 20-year-old kid. He has a great deal of maturity.&rdquo; &#9632;

Liut Blues’ Cornerstone

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.214 King St. West, Suite 314, Toronto. Ont. M5H 1K4<h2>It&rsquo;s That Time Again</h2>IT SEEMS ONLY yesterday that an ecstatic Clark Gillies was skating around the ice surface of the roaring, chaotic Nassau Coliseum, the Stanley Cup held high above his head, a throng of joyous, screaming New York Islander teammates in his wake.As hard as it may seem to believe, four months have gone by since that unforgettable Saturday afternoon in May and now it is time for the Islanders to defend the Cup and for the 20 other teams in the National Hockey League to pursue it for the next eight months.For the first Fall in many years, the Montreal Canadiens&mdash;eliminated in last year&rsquo;s quarterfinals after winning four consecutive Cups&mdash;are no longer considered a shoo-in for the Springtime silverware. But then again, neither are the champion Islanders, mainly because the parity that the league has been seeking for so long seems finally to have been attained: The traditionally stronger teams&mdash;Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Philadelphia, the Islanders and, to some extent, the Rangers&mdash;still enjoy that status. But teams that have had more than their share of troubles in the past are starting off this new decade as bona fide contenders. Minnesota, last year&rsquo;s surprise as a Stanley Cup semifinalist, and St. Louis, the NHL&rsquo;s most improved team in 1979-80, probably have the most potential. But don&rsquo;t forget Chicago and Keith Magnuson, their inexperienced but very enthusiastic coach. Or Edmonton and the incredible Wayne Gretzky. Or Pittsburgh and Toronto, both of whom are starting out fresh with different coaches than they had at this time last year.The struggling Atlanta franchise has relocated in hockeycrazy Calgary; Marcel Dionne, hockey&rsquo;s highest paid player and last year&rsquo;s scoring champion, will be performing his magic once again with Los Angeles; Hartford, although lacking the retired (don&rsquo;t believe it until you see it!) Gordie Howe, promises to be much improved, as does revamped Vancouver.Perhaps most exciting of all are the prospects of the teams that didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs last year: Colorado, Detroit and Quebec all have new coaches and Quebec will be sporting two of the finest players in the world in Peter and Anton Stastny. The Washington Capitals, lead by their ingenious young coach Gary Green, could well be this year&rsquo;s surprise team. And with the bevy of promising players in their system, the Winnipeg Jets are bound to improve on last season&rsquo;s dismal 20th place finish.Not a bad outlook for the start of a new decade. Here&rsquo;s to an exciting, profitable and successful season for all of us.<h2>The End Of An Era</h2>THE HEADLINE appeared in an obscure corner of most sports pages in mid-September, hidden among the base-ball box scores, gossip and obituaries and simply saying, &ldquo;Dave Schultz Retires From Hockey.&rdquo;In many ways that news may as well have been an obituary; not for Dave Schultz&mdash;at 31 he&rsquo;s still very much alive&mdash;but for the kind of game he and many others played in the NHL in the mid-1970s. That was an era which saw the Philadelphia Flyers brawl their way to two consecutive Stanley Cups as the &ldquo;Broad Street Bullies.&rdquo; And Dave Schultz was the bigget bully of them all, setting an NHL record in 1974-75 for most penalty minutes in one season&mdash;472.But that season was really the last hurrah for the Flyers, that particular style, and, ultimately, Dave Schultz. The Montreal Canadiens won the next four Stanley Cups with speed, style and panache and by the end of the decade even the Flyers had partially adopted that approach to the game. Winning through brawling had become obsolete and Dave Schultz was out of a job&mdash;an anachronism trying to survive in a game that had passed him by.The suspicion here is that this trend will continue as this decade progresses and that in the NHL record books Dave Schultz&rsquo; record for penalty minutes is as safe as Gordie Howe&rsquo;s record for longevity. &#9632;

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GFELLER</div>For what seems like an eternity&mdash;actually it&rsquo;s been just over one year&mdash;the National Hockey League has been conducting a search for the right person to fill a job at the NHL as director of public relations and marketing. And for a brief span in early September it appeared as if NHL president John Ziegler had found his man&mdash;John Gfeller, who on September 1 had resigned as vice president of marketing of Madison Square Garden Corp., a Gulf and Western subsidiary. The news broke in papers all over North America and the NHL&rsquo;s search seemed to have come to a happy, satisfying end.As it turns out, however, the league is still without it&rsquo;s man: Just twodays after Gfeller committed himself to the NHL, word got out that he had reversed his decision and was remaining under the G&W umbrella after all&mdash;as executive vice president and general manager of the Silhouette Book Division of Simon and Schuster. In the space below, Gfeller explains why he changed his mind.I have been at Gulf and Western now for almost 10 years, and going back as far as June I had some conversations regarding the job I currently hold at Simon and Schuster. Because of the state of business developments at that time they were not in a position to make a commitment to me.That was the situation around the first of September as well, when I made the decision to leave Gulf and Western and my job at Madison Square Garden. I heard about the job opening at the NHL and went through a very professional interviewing process that John Ziegler had established. When I had my interview with John, I dealt with him in good faith&mdash;because I had left the Garden and Gulf and Western. We agreed to the job, I committed to it and John went ahead and made the announcement.Meanwhile, during the same week that the announcement was made by John (September 7-13), the situation had changed at Gulf and Western to the point where they were in a position to make a commitment to me&mdash;and they did, by offering me this job at Simon and Schuster.Forgetting about personalities, environment, tenure, longevity, and all of the other factors that have to be considered when taking a job, I chose to accept Simon and Schuster&rsquo;s offer for one main reason&mdash;the work itself. This job is what I have done, I think well, over the course of 20 years, which is the basic consumer packaging business. That would not have been my function with the NHL and I just felt that this was the right job for me at the right time, in terms of both my career development and my responsibilities to my family.I was terribly embarrassed to have to tell all of this to John Ziegler, who is a man I respect enormously. But I told him that it would be crazy for me to sit in the NHL offices and not be committed 150 percent to the job because I&rsquo;d know that there was another one across the street that was more suited for my talents. And if I didn&rsquo;t feel that the job was right for me, then I certainly wouldn&rsquo;t be doing any good for John Ziegler, the NHL, or the world of hockey.It wasn&rsquo;t a matter of the Gulf and Western people panicking or making me an offer I couldn&rsquo;t refuse. It was simply a business decision. They had a business, they were ready to make a commitment and I was the right guy at the right time. And I would have made the same decision regardless of where the other offer had come from&mdash;Exxon, Mobil, IBM, company XYZ, whatever&hellip; It was a matter of matching a job to the talents of a man. I just happened to be the guy who walked through the door at the right time. &#9632;

“The Job Wasn’t Right For Me”

<div class="byline">BY DAVE BRANCH</div>This season, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League introduced legislation that requires all of its players to wear a protective facemask attached to their hockey helmets. The QMJHL thus joins the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference of the United States, which encompasses three divisions of college hockey teams, as major leagues which require a facemask.The Ontario Major Hockey League, the largest producer of players for the National Hockey League, does not require its players to wear facemasks. Its commissioner, Dave Branch, who is beginning his second year at the helm of this prestigious junior league, explains his feelings about facemasks and what their effect will be on the OMJHL and, eventually, professional hockey.Because of the implementation of facemasks in minor hockey, our league has certainly made it known to the players that if they choose to wear a facemask, they should advise their team management of such and we will encourage their use as much as we can.While the OHA (Ontario Hockey Association) has made it mandatory for all of the minor hockey leagues under their control, we in the OMJHL have chosen not to make it mandatory. We will review the situation as we go along, but we feel that we are dealing with mature young men who can decide for themselves if they choose to wear the facemasks.We&rsquo;re going to be keeping a close eye on the Quebec Major Junior League this season and it should prove very interesting as a pilot project on the use of the facemask at this level of hockey.I have been speaking to a few referees who have worked games where the facemasks have been used and they say that they are concerned about the increased illegal use of the stick. I would say that there are two major areas of concern: First, that the players are using the sticks more for checking because they feel that their opponents are protected; and secondly, that the attitude of the players has changed. They are playing almost fearlessly because they feel that they are totally protected. And I believe that this unabated style of play may leave room for more injuries.Personally, I feel that the facemasks are a coming thing for hockey. It&rsquo;s just like the helmet. Within a few years you&rsquo;ll have players entering the professional ranks and in a year or two players heading into junior hockey, who have worn facemasks all throughout their careers. It will become a basic thing, a part of the equipment, that they just bring with them as they move up the hockey ladder.I believe in the saying that one eye lost is one too many and if facemasks can prevent even one eye injury, then they have played an important role.My only concern as a member of one of the higher echelons of hockey is that I&rsquo;m caught between a rock and a hard place in the sense that 1) we want the players to have the best possible protection 2) we are in the entertainment business and we&rsquo;ll want to see how the fans are going to react to the loss of identification of the players. It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ll be able to analyze from what happens in the Quebec League.Another positive spinoff is that the facemask should pretty well eliminate fighting. We don&rsquo;t need fighting to sell tickets and maybe if the players are sticking to hockey and improving their play, we&rsquo;ll get more fans in our buildings as a result. &#9632;

Facemasks Definitely In Future For OMJHL

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Time was when training camp would be used by hockey players to get in shape for the season. But those days went out with the six-team league, games played under two and a half hours and train rides from Montreal to Chicago.For example, the Canadiens&rsquo; official training camp did not open until Sept. 16. But two weeks before, several of the players were on the Forum ice participating in scrimmages and getting ready for what was expected to be one of the most competitive camps ever.And before they hit the ice, several of the players had taken part in an off-season conditioning program designed by team therapist Yvon Belanger.While some followed a specially designed plan at home, others went to Belanger&rsquo;s Club 13 in nearby Laval to develop their conditioning on the Nautilus machine.&ldquo;We decided last year that we should create some kind of off-ice program,&rdquo; said Belanger. &ldquo;We feel greater flexibility and muscle endurance are the major ingredients for the athlete.&ldquo;The program can help the athlete now and in the future. It could extend his life in the sport for two or three years and that means a lot of money. We designed this and worked on it to help them.&rdquo;Guy Lafleur, who normally does not do off-season training, was seen at Belanger&rsquo;s fitness center several times during the summer and now has a few exercises to do on the road designed by Belanger.Players like Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Rod Langway and Chris Nilan, who were not in Montreal during the summer, worked out on their own and all came into camp in excellent condition.But while most of the players were in top shape, there were some players causing a little concern to the management.Goaltender Denis Herron was among the missing in the pre-training camp scrimmaging. The reason was a soreness in his right elbow, a recurrence of an old injury.Herron, who missed two months last season with a broken collarbone, insisted the elbow problem was not serious, but he had to take a cortisone shot about a week before training camp opened to reduce the inflammation.Pierre Larouche, who became a 50-goal scorer for the second time in his career during the 1979-80 campaign, reported trouble with his left knee. Larouche missed the seventh game of the Canadiens-Minnesota quarterfinal series last April when Fred Barrett cranked him into the boards and gave him a charley horse. That injury cleared up during the summer, but the other problem goes back to the middle of November when Larouche accidentally bumped into teammate Rick Chartraw.Doug Risebrough, who missed the final five weeks of the regular schedule and all of the playoffs with a separated left shoulder, admits to some soreness in the shoulder, but insists that he will be all right.Of course, Pierre Mondou is still missing due to a torn achilles tendon suffered while playing racquetball in late July. Estimates of his return range from December to January.Doug Wickenheiser, the No. 1 pick overall in last June&rsquo;s entry draft, skated with his new teammates for about a week prior to training camp and looked as if he will be able to adequately fill a starting role.Wickenheiser probably won&rsquo;t be the only new forward in the lineup. Winger Yvan Joly, a top scorer with Ottawa of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League last season, was making a determined bid to make the team. Joly has the style and speed reminiscent of Yvan Cournoyer.On defense, Guy Lapointe came to camp in good shape both mentally and physically and determined to get back into the good graces of the Montreal fans. While Lapointe was expected to get a starting job, coach Ruel also had to make sure that nothing retarded the immense progress made last season by people such as Langway, Brian Engblom and Gaston Gingras. The three youngsters, along with Norris Trophy winner Larry Robinson, gave the Canadiens outstanding defense during the second half of the season.Bill Baker, a former U.S. Olympic star, was one of the candidates for a job on defense, thus making Gilles Lupien expendable. Lupien made it clear he wanted out and the Canadiens were trying to accommodate him. &#9632;

Eager Canadiens Seek Conditioning Edge

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;The Boston Bruins, in the opinion of their general manager Harry Sinden, have just performed the difficult feat of rebuilding a winning team while remaining in contention for the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;We injected more youth into this team in the past year alone than has been the case in the last four or five years,&rdquo; said Sinden, answering charges that the Bruins are becoming the Over-the-Hill Gang of the National Hockey League.&ldquo;We played three rookies, defense-men Ray Bourque and Brad McCrimmon. and Craig MacTavish. Dwight Foster didn&rsquo;t play much in his first two years. Al Secord hardly got on the ice in his rookie year. Bob Miller was given new responsibility.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a lot of youth to put into the lineup in one year but it worked out pretty well.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we can do that next year. But we can work in two or three more. It looks like we&rsquo;re going to add Jim Craig in goal. Doug Morrison and Larry Melnyk are knocking on the door. If they make it, we&rsquo;ll have turned around six to 10 players in two years.&ldquo;With Gerry Cheevers [40 in December] retired and not counting Jean Ratelle [40 in October] our average age drops dramatically from 28 to around 26, which is right in the middle of the league.&ldquo;And, remember, we did all this even though we missed by a whisker getting into the Stanley Cup finals for the third straight year. Our performance against the Islanders was as good, if not better than anyone else&rsquo;s. We lost three overtime games to them.&ldquo;We got 106 points last year and we went through one of the most incredible years that a team could go through. The suspensions [Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Peter McNab and Mike Mil-bury] had a tremendous effect. We had a coaching problem.&ldquo;This team ended up doing pretty damn well, I thought.&rdquo;The Bruins&rsquo; big need, as Sinden sees it, is a medium range scorer, a forward who can put the puck in the net consistently from distances between 20 and 35 feet&mdash;like the Islanders&rsquo; Clark Gillies and Bob Bourne did to the Bruins in overtime in the playoffs.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s our biggest weakness,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a very weak-shooting team. We&rsquo;re among the top four or five teams every years but we don&rsquo;t fall in that area as a shooting team. We&rsquo;re back around 12th or 15th, something like that.&ldquo;We score very few goals from medium range. Our best shots are our defensemen. We don&rsquo;t have the good-shooting forwards. We produce many, many goal-scoring opportunities because we&rsquo;re a good forechecking team, but we don&rsquo;t get the results.&rdquo;Is Doug Morrison, who had 58 goals for Lethbridge in the Western Hockey League last season, the answer?&ldquo;He was a good scoring junior and he&rsquo;s got brilliant speed.&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll be as fast a skater as we have. But I don&rsquo;t know if he can score in the NHL. We&rsquo;ll have to see. You can never tell with a junior player.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN- Two major concerns for coach Gerry Cheevers (what a strange ring that has!) are Jean Ratelle and a No. 3 goalie.Ratelle, who missed the last seven playoff games with a bad back, was idled all summer. He didn&rsquo;t even play tennis or golf. At one point, he had difficulty just standing up. Five doctors differed on the ailment but all prescribed the same remedy&mdash;rest.&ldquo;I want to be ready for the first game of the season&rdquo; said Ratelle. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s my goal.&rdquo;Cheevers, who didn&rsquo;t really have to, attended the Bruins&rsquo; pre-training camp tryouts in search of a No. 3 goalie behind Rogie Vachon and rookie Jim Craig.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get that third or fourth guy for future use and for depth,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Every team in the league is in the same position.&rdquo;Craig, the Olympic hero, is a question mark, too.&ldquo;Is he a big league goalie?&rdquo;Cheevers repeated the question. &ldquo;We all think he is or he wouldn&rsquo;t be here. The real bottom line is that he has to be.&rdquo;Two of the more interesting amateurs invited to the Bruins&rsquo; tryout camp were left winger Paul Miller, brother of Bob Miller, and defense-man Anders Brostrom, who plays for the first division Vastra Frolunda IF team in Sweden.Miller, 21, left Boston University last February after a dispute with coach Jackie Parker, and wound up playing the last 13 games of the season with Flint in the IHL.Brostrom. 27, is a 6-4. 220-pounder who has another year to go on his Swedish contract. Come what may, he&rsquo;ll return to Europe Oct. 5.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011111/4421051-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="543" height="727"><figcaption class="caption-body">One oldster the Bruins would like to have around, Jean Ratelle. was idle during the off season because of a back injury.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Bruins Injecting Youth Into Lineup

<div class="byline">BY PAT CALABRIA</div>LONG ISLAND-About the only problem the New York Islanders may face as they open the defense of their first Stanley Cup is the same weakness they have had for several years&mdash;their own lack of enthusiasm.In two playoff failures in 1978 and 1979. the team was accused of not having the spirit and the drive to climb to the final round. It was not until last season that the Islanders hushed their critics by upsetting Boston, Buffalo and. finally, Philadelphia&mdash;all of whom had finished higher in the point standings&mdash;to win the Stanley Cup.Still, general manager Bill Torrey, coach Al Arbour and even some of the players have mentioned that the team must summon its spirit once again to avoid a disappointing season. And disappointing, the way the Islanders see it. would be failing to get to the finals again.&ldquo;We made it so hard on ourselves in other years and for a long time during the regular season last year,&rdquo; Mike Bossy said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we want to put ourselves through that again. So I don&rsquo;t think we will take anything for granted. We want to avoid the aggravation, you know?&rdquo;The Islanders, remember, slumped and bickered at the start of last season and with a rash of serious injuries to star players plunged under.500 as late as January. That, after leading the NHL in points in 1978-79.By the time the playoffs rolled around, however, the team had righted itself. Torrey landed Butch Goring from the Los Angeles Kings and the Islanders stormed into the playoffs with a 12-game unbeaten streak. The spirit, sagging for so long, suddenly was re-discovered.&ldquo;I think we all remember what the season was like,&rdquo; Dave Langevin said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to have to force any big changes, any trades, this season. Rather than put last season behind us, I think we&rsquo;ll want to remind ourselves of it because now we know what he takes to win.&rdquo;Torrey is watching anxiously to see how his players handle success after two years of handling failure. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you this,&rdquo; Clark Gillies said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve lost and we&rsquo;ve won. It&rsquo;s much nicer to win than it is to lose. Now we realize how nice we can make it for ourselves if we work hard.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s why the season will be important for the Islanders. Any signs of complacency will almost certainly be interrupted by changes. Torrey has a platoon of young, eager players in the farm system. The veterans don&rsquo;t have to be told that.As Bossy said: &ldquo;Everyone knows what&rsquo;s at stake.&rdquo;For years, the Islanders thought the stiffest competition came from within themselves. When they lost to Toronto in the 1978 quarterfinals, they knew they were a better team, and that made the upset so much more difficult to explain.When they were beaten by the Rangers in the 1979 semifinals, the Islanders could point out that the Rangers had dispatched of the Flyers in five games in the quarterfinals and that goalie John Davidson had never played so well. But it hurt just the same.Last season, they knew there would be no excuses. &ldquo;You lose once and you can say, &lsquo;okay,&rsquo; Bossy said. &ldquo;You lose twice and you begin to wonder. You can&rsquo;t lose three times.&rdquo;&ldquo;We had to prove things not only to ourselves,&rdquo; Glenn Resch said, &ldquo;but we had to prove them to everyone else, too.&rdquo;Clearly, the rest of the league had grown weary of taking the Islanders seriously. Now the rest of the league has no choice. The team is deep at every position, but especially at forward. The farm teams are ripe with talent.Resch, if not quite retracting his-wish to be traded, at least appears cheerful and ready to start the season alongside Bill Smith in goal. Lome Henning, who also was unhappy, seems ready to accept a role as a fourth center if that&rsquo;s what the team decides is best.&ldquo;After Dave Lewis and Billy Harris got traded last season for Butch Goring, a lot of guys started thinking how nice it was to play here,&rdquo; Resch said.It also was especially nice to win. The players say they remember that, too.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011137/4421082-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="549" height="937"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Bossy says that the Islanders will avoid aggravation by not taking anything for granted.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Isles Must Guard Against Mental Letdown

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02969/4421113-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="277" height="335"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL LIBBY&rsquo;S</figcaption></div><h2>An Interesting Experiment</h2>MOST NATIONAL HOCKEY League players have cabins by the countless lakes in Canada and spend their summers swimming, boating or fishing. Some play a lot of golf or tennis. Some run to stay in shape and a great many skate at hockey camps.Thomas Gradin, the spectacular center of the Vancouver Canucks, spent this summer gathering garbage in Sweden. He got up at six o&rsquo;clock every weekday morning to work as a garbage collector in a Stockholm suburb.&ldquo;I always hated weight training and running,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;so I thought this would be an interesting experiment. It&rsquo;s tough, but picking up 400 garbage sacks daily is good for your body.&rdquo;Gradin turned 24 in February. At 5-11 and 175 pounds he is a very durable player but he could stand some beefing up.Like most Swedish players, Gradin was taught to skate, not check, and certainly not fight. He has been tested by Canadians, who have roughed him up but found him to be fearless. He gets up and goes on. He missed four games with a broken bone in his left hand his first season. He didn&rsquo;t miss a game last season.Gradin says the hardest thing he has learned to do is not only hit physically, but continue his checks until he has opponents pinned on the boards and out of the play.&ldquo;It is the way they play here so it is the way I have to play,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Clean checking is good, but there is rough stuff here that takes away from the play.&ldquo;I am a skater and stick-handler. That is my game. I can shoot, but I&rsquo;d just as soon pass. I like making a good play that gets my team a goal as well as I like scoring a goal myself.&rdquo;<h2>Building Up Endurance</h2>GRADIN HAS AN easy, fluid style and explosive speed. He carries the puck skillfully, makes accurate passes, and is a quick, accurate shooter.In Sweden, where he played just 35 games a year, Gradin notched 22 goals in his third season in the Swedish First Division while averaging 16 assists a season. In 1978-79, his first season in the NHL, Gradin scored 20 goals and 31 assists for 51 points. Last year he improved his stats to 30-45-75 while becoming the Canucks&rsquo; second leading scorer in all departments (goals, assists and points).When asked what the biggest differences are between the NHL and the hockey in Sweden, Gradin cites the length of the schedule as one big factor. &ldquo;After 35 games here,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;I am not even halfway through the season. I have to build up my endurance.&rdquo;While Gradin may be concerned about the adjustments he must make in his game to conform to the style in the NHL, Vancouver GM Jake Milford is not too worried about Gradin&rsquo;s progress. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been great,&rdquo; Milford says, &ldquo;and he could become one of the greatest in the game. He has unusual natural talent, works hard, and is serious about his sport. He could be more aggressive, but that is not unusual for a Scandanavian.&rdquo;<h2>Sweden Is Still Home</h2>GRADIN WAS BORN 24 years ago in Solleftea, a harbor town of 60,000 on the outskirts of Stockholm. His team, AIK, was named for the paper factory that provides employment to many of the townspeople.His father, Kjell, drives a tractor and works in the mill. Tom&rsquo;s mother, Elsie, works at a day care clinic for crippled children.Thomas attended the university and graduated with a degree in Physical Education. He has worked as a gym teacher in the off-seasons. He has a home in Stockholm, where he and his wife, Lil-libeth, spend their time after the season ends.&ldquo;Sometimes we miss our parents and friends back home during the winters, but we have by now made friends in Vancouver,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;At first here everything was a problem for us, but we have learned the language and the life. We like the life here, but our home is still in Sweden.&rdquo;Gradin can make more money in Vancouver and is gaining security for his future. Originally, he was drafted by Chicago back in 1976, but he did not like the kind of contract he was offered. &ldquo;It was not so good,&rdquo; he smiles.Chicago traded the rights to him for a second-round draft choice in 1978, not one of the best trades Chicago GM Bob Pulford ever made. With the help of a Vancouver lawyer, Gradin got what he wanted from the Canucks. &ldquo;It was good,&rdquo; he smiles.All Gradin wants to now is become an even better hockey player than he already is, and he&rsquo;ll do anything to achieve that goal&mdash;including collecting garbage during the off season. &#9632;

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HOCKEY AD LIB

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;As he begins his first season at their helm. Eddie Johnston believes improvement in two areas will help strengthen the Pittsburgh Penguins&mdash;the power play and penalty killing.&ldquo;We have a lot of talent here,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get some more togetherness, and be a little more consistent.&rdquo;Johnston, 44, was named to replace the fired Johnny Wilson during the off-season, after being dismissed by the Chicago Black Hawks.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a firm believe in the theory that you practice the way you play,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll really work on the power play. I have some ideas. When I was in Chicago last year, from December on we had one of the best power plays in the whole game. That alone should get you up there 10 or 12 points.&ldquo;We have a lot of skating ability on this club, and we have to utilize it. We have to improve our defense. Our defense has to become a little more mobile.&rdquo;&hellip;&hellip;As Johnston spoke, he watched a replay of a Penguin playoff game last season against Boston.&ldquo;I try to familiarize myself with the personnel, and I look at some of the tapes and see how they play on the road,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They shouldn&rsquo;t, but certain players play differently on the road than they do at home.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get the guys playing on the road a little better. If we improve our road record, it will make it a little tougher for people coming into our building.&rdquo;Prior to coaching, Johnston tended goal for 16 seasons in the NHL with Boston, Toronto, St. Louis and Chicago. One of the reasons he was hired by Pittsburgh is because of his rapport with his players, and his ability to impart some of the things he learned during his playing career.&ldquo;I feel that you start with your goalkeeping,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;If the goalkeeping can improve, it will just continue outward from the net. There has to be communication between the goalkeeper and the defensemen. From what I&rsquo;ve watched on the video tapes that may have been lacking here in the past.&ldquo;I know that when I went to Chicago, I did my job there. I improved the rapport with the press, and with the players. It showed in our game.&rdquo;The Penguins will send their top minor-league players to Binghamton of the American Hockey League this season, but Johnston believes it is important that they establish their own minor-league franchise in the future.&ldquo;Establishing a minor-league affiliate is very important to our team, and it&rsquo;s very important that you have a good minor league coach,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;By having a good coach down there you help build up your minor league players.While he believes the Penguins will improve this season, Johnston has set realistic goals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to get 85 points,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If we do, I think we will have turned the corner.&rdquo;PENGUIN TRACKS: Johnston named Mike Corrigan as his assistant coach. Corrigan, 34, assisted Wilson late last season. He played for Los Angeles, Vancouver and Pittsburgh in the NHL before having his playing career come to an abrupt end when he shattered his ankle in December 1977. &#9632;

Johnston Realistic In Assessing Pens

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;After scoring 208 goals, assisting on 254, and winning countless friends in 11 seasons with the Black Hawks, Cliff Koroll has retired as a player to become the assistant to Keith Magnuson, the team&rsquo;s new coach and his old pal.&ldquo;I first met Cliff in a corner during a Peewee game in our hometown of Saskatoon,&rdquo; reminisced Magnuson. &ldquo;He was built then like he&rsquo;s built now and when we bumped he knocked me down. I got up wanting to fight and he just bumped me again and I went back down.&ldquo;That was more than 20 years ago. Since then he has become my closest friend. When we went to college in Denver he looked out for me and during the 10 years we played together on the Hawks he took care of me. It&rsquo;s going to be the same now that I&rsquo;m the coach.&rdquo;&ldquo;In all my years of hockey, Cliff is one of the finest men I&rsquo;ve met,&rdquo; said Bob Pulford, the Hawks&rsquo; general manager. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sad that his great career has come to an end but I couldn&rsquo;t be happier that he&rsquo;s joining our coaching staff.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve no qualms over Keith and Cliff&rsquo;s lack of coaching experience. Scotty Bowman, in my opinion, was the finest coach in hockey and he walked right in from the playing ranks as did Al Arbour, another of the best around.&ldquo;Cliff is one of the most dedicated players I ever coached or skated with,&rdquo; Pulford continued. &ldquo;He did his job&mdash;both offensively and defensively&mdash;and never got the credit he deserved.&rdquo;Koroll, whose forte was checking opposing scoring stars, was used sparingly last season by ousted coach Eddie Johnston. The 33-year-old right wing finished with three goals and four assists in 47 games.Next to left wing John Marks, the soft-spoken Koroll was the team&rsquo;s most durable player over the last decade. He played in all 80 games in three seasons and, until last year, never played less than 72.His most productive goal-scoring season was 1972-73 when he bagged 33.&ldquo;There are three reasons ath-letes.retire,&rdquo; said Koroll. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re injured or their team doesn&rsquo;t need them any more or they have a great opportunity. Because of this opportunity, it was easy for me to make my decision.&ldquo;Staying in hockey and contributing by helping young players is something I&rsquo;ve always dreamed of. My wife, Lynnae, and our children will be able to stay in Chicago&mdash;the city we love&mdash;and I&rsquo;ll continue working for the great people in the Wirtz family [which owns the team].&ldquo;I consider myself privileged to have played with Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito, Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull, four of the greatest in hockey history.&rdquo;Trying to compensate for the fact that their combined coaching experience consists of Magnuson&rsquo;s stint as Johnston&rsquo;s assistant last season, Keith and Cliff have been picking the brains of the best in the business.Magnuson set up appointments with both Bowman&mdash;now concentrating solely on his work as Buffalo&rsquo;s general manager&mdash;and Arbour, who led the Islanders to the Stanley Cup.He and Koroll also paid a visit to coach Tom Landry and the Dallas Cowboys&rsquo; National Football League training camp in Thousand Oaks, Cal.&ldquo;We watched how Coach Landry and his assistants handled their practices and their players,&rdquo; said Magnuson. &ldquo;When Cliff and I left it was obvious to us why the Cowboys have compiled one of the best records in pro football. Their practices are highly-organized and very detailed&mdash;not a second of wasted time.&ldquo;They have a concentration drill that I&rsquo;m going to incorporate into our practices. In the last five or 10 minutes of a practice, if a player makes a mistake on a specific drill, he has to do laps as a penalty.&ldquo;The theory behind it is that there are certain times in every game that are critical&mdash;times when you can&rsquo;t afford to make a mistake. These drills condition players to react in those situations.HAWK TALK- The Hawks are letting veteran Alain Daigle, who played both right-wing and center, go his way as a free agent. He wasn&rsquo;t invited to training camp. When camp opened the team was without either a TV or radio outlet.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02917/4421199-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="553" height="1263"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cliff Koroll ended his playing career to become Chicago&rsquo;s assistant coach.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Koroll Signed As Hawks’ Assistant

<div class="byline">BY PAT DOYLE</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;John Ferguson doesn&rsquo;t want to confuse anybody, but he insists his hockey team&rsquo;s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness.&ldquo;Youth is our strongest point,&rdquo; says Ferguson, general manager of the Winnipeg Jets. &ldquo;Our team this season may be the youngest ever to perform in the National Hockey League.&ldquo;But, the key thing is that we have quality in our youth. We aren&rsquo;t just bringing a bunch of guys in just because of their youth&rsquo;&hellip; these guys can play.&rdquo;Among the youngsters who figure to be with the Jets in their second NHL season are David Babych, 20, Moe Mantha, 19, Murray Eaves, 20, Dave Chritian, 21, Peter Marsh, 23, Markus Mattsson, 23, Morris Lukowich. 24, Scott Campbell, 23, Ron Wilson, 24, and Anders Steen, 25.&ldquo;I guess we&rsquo;re a bit like the Minnesota North Stars were a few years back when they started to rebuild,&rdquo; says Ferguson. &ldquo;They drafted a lot of good, young players and it&rsquo;s paying off now.&rdquo;Still, there&rsquo;s a danger in having too young a team, because lack of experience can cost you games during the long, cold winter.&ldquo;Our strength is youth, but that youth is also our weakness,&rdquo; Ferguson concedes. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure our age is going to cost up a couple of games along the way, but we feel this is the right approach to building a contending hockey club.&rdquo;The Jets will not be Stanley Cup contenders in 1980-81, but Ferguson would be satisfied if the young legs he has gathered can carry him to a playoff berth.&ldquo;Definitely a playoff spot, that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m looking for this season,&rdquo; said Ferguson, whose Jets finished 20th in the 21-team NHL last season. &ldquo;I feel we have a much improved hockey club, particularly at center and on defense.&rdquo;Those two positions represented warts on Winnipeg&rsquo;s nose a year ago, but this time around Ferguson can count on improved production from his pivots and rearguards.Up the middle, the Jets will have veteran Peter Sullivan, rookie Christian, Sweden&rsquo;s Steen and freshman Eaves. If a fifth center is kept, it would likely be Jude Drouin.Back on the blueline, there&rsquo;ll be some heavy in-fighting for the six available positions. Babych, this summer&rsquo;s top draft, will stick, and in all likelihood Mantha will, too. Campbell is also guaranteed employment.Left to feud over the final three spots are Barry Melrose, Ross Cory, Barry Legge, Don Spring, Don McIver, Mark Plantery, Tim Dunlop, Glen Ostir and Al Cameron were the favorites going into camp, but Spring was given a good chance of sticking with the club. He played with Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team last winter.Regardless of which players are still around when the dust has settled, this year&rsquo;s defensive corps will have to fill an offensive gap left by the departures of Lars-Erik Sjoberg and Craig Norwich. Combined, those two scored 79 points in 1979-80.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s no problem,&rdquo; assures Ferguson. &ldquo;Norwich can be replaced on the power play by either Mantha or Babych. We&rsquo;ll get those points, and then some.&rdquo;JETS NOTES: Fifty-eight players reported to the Winnipeg training camp on Sept. 16. They were given a one-day reprieve before having to run the dreaded McVie Mile, which signals the start of coach Tom McVie&rsquo;s camp. The players are expected to run a mile in six minutes or less, otherwise face disciplinary action&hellip; The Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; rookies won a trio of exhibition games against junior clubs from the Western League. &#9632;

Inexperience Jets’ Main Stumbling Block

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011118/4421168-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="569" height="981"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;I drank too much last year,&rdquo; Fred Shero admitted. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s under control now. I guarantee. &ldquo;</figcaption></div>NEW YORK-Fred Shero went public last week with hockey&rsquo;s best-known open secret.The Rangers&rsquo; coach, initially in off-the-record comments and finally for attribution, admitted that he had a drinking problem last season&mdash;but insisted he now has it licked.&ldquo;I drank too much last year,&rdquo; said Shero. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s under control now. I guarantee it.&rdquo;The startling admission came at the close of the first week of training camp, a week in which Shero&rsquo;s drinking was a prime topic of converstation among both reporters and players. When it hit the newspapers, players and management alike closed ranks behind Shero, declaring that his drinking did not have an effect on the team last year, and that he was &ldquo;a new man&rdquo; this year.Indeed, he looks healthier, and seems more at peace with himself. He is skating with the team, along with assistant coaches Lars-Erik Sjoberg and Andre Beaulieu, lingering with reporters and exhibiting an enthusiasm of a man reborn, going so far as to open and close the gates at the players&rsquo; bench. All this is in vivid contrast to last season, when he became increasingly estranged from the players as assistant coach Mike Nykoluk ran the team, and when his now-acknowledged drinking problem played a role that will be debated for some time.The revelations of Shero&rsquo;s drinking came only hours after one New York daily paper mentioned what it considered the three likely candidates for Shero&rsquo;s job should he fail to finish the season here: Nykoluk, who now is doing color commentary on Maple Leafs&rsquo; broadcasts. Rod Gilbert, who was just appointed coach of the Rangers&rsquo; AHL New Haven farm team, and Herb Brooks, the former Olympic coach who is apparently committed to spending the year coaching in Switzerland and who ran the Olympic team with Craig Patrick, the Rangers&rsquo; new director of operations.No matter how likely any of these candidates are, this season is clearly Shero&rsquo;s big test as the Rangers&rsquo; coach, and possibly his Last Stand. But last week&rsquo;s revelations highlighted something even more important: At age 54, Shero faces what is likely to be the biggest test of his life, more personally than professionally.&ldquo;If he fails,&rdquo; said one old friend who knew of Shero&rsquo;s history of drinking, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m afraid he may be unhappy for the rest of his life.&rdquo;BLUE CHIPS: Almost 20 years after he first skated in a Rangers&rsquo; uniform here, Rod Gilbert was sent off to his new job. as coach of the New Haven Nighthawks, with an affectionate, informal roast at the Rangers&rsquo; offices at Madison Square Garden&hellip; The Rangers enter training camp with more than a dozen players in their option years, as enumerated by the Daily News&rsquo; Frank Brown. Contract talks with some have taken place since Patrick&rsquo;s arrival. Among the veterans in their option years: Phil Esposito, Carol Vadnais, Steve Vickers, and Ron Duguay&hellip; With the NHL Players Association&rsquo;s resistance to the owners&rsquo; overtime plan, NHLPA president Phil Esposito and of course its Executive Director, Alan Eagleson. emerged as eloquent spokesmen. Here&rsquo;s what Esposito told Larry Brooks of the New York Post: &ldquo;The owners voted for it without our consent but, OK, there was a mistake made and I can accept that. But then they went ahead to make a major announcement without consulting Eagle or myself, and that&rsquo;s not right.&rdquo; Esposito also explained that his view on the free agent question is changing&mdash;in favor of free agency: &ldquo;My mind is rapidly changing. We agreed last year that both the owners and players would bargain in good faith on this, and we aren&rsquo;t getting anywhere. Suddenly I find myself moving to the side of those people who think total free agency is the best thing for the game, if that&rsquo;s what has to be done.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll say one thing, if the agreement does, indeed, run out, the players will take a tougher stance. There are more players now, they&rsquo;re more intelligent; the owners can&rsquo;t snowball us anymore.&rdquo;Speaking of the Post&rsquo;s Brooks and the News&rsquo; Brown&mdash;who recently switched over from Associated Press&mdash;New York&rsquo;s newspaper war will mean nothing but good, and more, news for Rangers fans. The Post, an afternoon paper, recently introduced a morning edition, while the News, a morning paper, brought out an afternoon paper that hits the streets before the afternoon rush hour. Many industry observers believe that newspapers live or die with their sports and entertainment pages, so the struggle between these two tabloids for New York&rsquo;s shrinking market should result kin good reading for the Rangers&rsquo; faithful. &#9632;

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Shero Admits To Drinking Problem

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011071/4421254-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wonderful Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers will be in the NHL spotlight this season to prove his big first year in the league was no flash in the pan. Gretzky and Marcel Dionne of the Kings ended tied for the individual scoring lead with 137 points but Dionne won the title with a superior goal record (53-51). (Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div>With the National Hockey League heading into its 63rd year of operation&mdash;the 840-game 1980-81 schedule will open on Oct. 9&mdash;there will be a mixture of something old and something new for hockey fans.For openers, the NHL is still undecided as to whether they want to venture into overtime play this season. Secondly, the 21 teams will continue to function with a balanced 80-game schedule, a concession the old line clubs grudgingly made to the four incoming WHA expansion teams last season.In addition, there will be a telephone waiver draft Oct. 7 from Montreal among all teams; many new rule changes will be implemented with the emphasis on reducing fighting and brawling; the 1981 All Star game will be staged on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles for the first time ever; there will also be an influx of younger players, notably top 1979 and 1980 draft picks; the European player shuttle will be stepped up with approximately 10 new faces dotting NHL rosters; at least eight coaching changes have taken place since last season; and for the first time in several decades neither Gordie Howe nor Bobby Hull will be around on the ice as a new generation continues to take over the NHL limelight. Also, Stan Mikita and Gerry Cheevers have retired.And there will also be a franchise change. The Atlanta Flames, plagued by failing attendance and a lack of hockey interest in the deep U.S. south, shifted across the border into Canada to relocate in Calgary. It is the first such move since 1978, when the NHL allowed the Cleveland Barons to merge with the Minnesota North Stars and form one team, thereby reducing the NHL from 18 to 17 teams.The overtime issue appears to have reached an impasse as we went to press. However, a new wrinkle has crept into the negotiations between the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and the team owners. It seems the NHL governors want overtime and are reportedly willing to pay for increased medical and dental plans for the players to get it. Alan Eagleson, the executive director of the NHLPA, said that each of the 21 teams will vote on whether to pay for the increased dental and medical plans themselves or to have the league pick up the tab. The owners originally approved the overtime in June but did so without consulting the players, who claim the move violated the collective bargaining agreement between the two groups.With time running out as the season opener approaches, it is possible the issue will be held over and voted on again at the February All Star break and possibly implemented in 1981-82.The two-year existence of the balanced NHL schedule will end at the conclusion of the 1980-81 season and it is expected the league will act on a new unbalanced schedule with a possible alignment of teams to create better geographical rivalries and reduce travel commitments.While the forthcoming NHL waiver draft isn&rsquo;t likely to be too productive&mdash;they have never drafted more than five or six players in past years&mdash;it is nevertheless interesting because of the ground rules which appear to exempt everyone but the team trainers.Basically, the 21 teams will be allowed to file protected lists of 18 players and two goaltenders. All transactions will be conducted in a telephone hook-up emenating from the league&rsquo;s office in Montreal. The cost of taking a player will range from $50,000 down depending on the amount of pro experience the drafted player has accumulated.Briefly, here are the five exemption rules as outlined by the NHL:1. All 1980 draft choices are ineligible. Also unsigned draft picks from previous years.2. All players having not played more than one pro season.3. All goaltenders who have not played more than three pro seasons.4. All players who performed in the final year of the defunct WHA, who were considered as underage. Players like Wayne Gretsky, Rob Ramage, Mark Messier, Gaston Gingras, Michel Goulet, Rick Vaive and netminder Pat Riggin fall into this category.5. All players who were put into special category and reclaimed prior to the 1979 NHL expansion draft. They are also referred to as parity selections and include Gretzky, Jordy Douglas, Mark Howe, Scott Campbell, Gary Lariviere and Morris Lukowich, to name a few.Without Howe, Hull, Mikita and Cheevers, the NHL will be stripped of many of the old names but there are plenty of replacements on the way. It appears that of the 21 first-round draft picks this year, at least 10 could be in NHL lineups for opening night. Both the No. 1 pick, Doug Wickenheiser of Montreal, and the No. 2 choice, David Babych of Winnipeg, are certain to make it. In addition, the NHL clubs have added some imposing European names like Matti Hagman, Jari Kurri, Thomas Eriksson, Tommy Abrahamsson, and the famed Czech defectors, Peter and Anton Stastny.NHL referee-in-chief Scotty Morrison will put eight new rules on the ice this year as well as a handful of new game officials.Veteran referee Ron Wicks is recovered from his back injury and will return as one of the loop&rsquo;s top officials. Linesman Claude Bechard is the only veteran not coming back.Morrison, who struggled through last season keeping up with official assignments when a wave of injuries struck his seasoned referees, is certain to like the change in rule 42, which provides for extra penalties for abuse of officials.The new rules stipulate that when a player is assessed a misconduct or game misconduct penalty after he persists 1n continuing or attempting to continue a fight or altercation he is involved in, or when he resists a linesman in his discharge of his duties, that player&rsquo;s team will be assessed a minor penalty. Morrison sees the rule change as vital in eliminating man-to-man wrestling exhibitions between players and linesmen, who have had to resort to some pretty tough strong-arm tactics in the past to subdue belligerent NHL fighters.Under rule 54, when a fight breaks out, all other players must go to a designated &ldquo;neutral zone&rdquo; away from the fisticuffs. Additional minor penalties will be meted out if they don&rsquo;t. If a player drops his gloves and stick and is not one of the original combatants, he automatically receives a 10-minute misconduct.In other changes, stick lengths have been increased from 55 inches to 58 maximum; if a player stands in the goalie&rsquo;s crease area, a referee shall stop play and penalize the player for interference, a rule aimed at the league&rsquo;s big slot men (like Yvon Lambert, Wayne Cashman and Phil Esposito); and minor penalties will go to team violators who delay games with last-second line changes. The home team has the last change and referees will be asked to enforce the rule strictly.On the coaching front, there will be eight new men behind the NHL benches. Four&mdash;Eddie Johnston (moved from Chicago to Pittsburgh), Keith Magnuson (Chicago), Cheevers (Boston) and Billy MacMillan (Colorado)&mdash;are new to their teams. At Edmonton, Bryan Watson replaces Glen Sather, who will continue to have his hand in the coaching but will concentrate more on the hockey operations of the Oilers as GM and new team vice-president, Roger Neilson will do likewise for Scott Bowman at Buffalo, Ted Lindsay stems down as GM to coach the Detroit Red Wings after the club fired Bobby Kromm, and GM Maurice Filion will combine two portfolios and coach the Quebec Nordiques in place of Jacques Demers. Watson and Neilson were assistant coaches last season.NHL president John Ziegler commences his fourth season at the helm of the league confident that everything is in place for possibly the loop&rsquo;s best season ever both on and off the ice. &#9632;

f0015-01

Changes Abound In NHL—On And Off Ice

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01922/4421292-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="501" height="1161"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Trottier was the man who led the Islanders to their first cup last season and he&rsquo;ll be the one the New Yorkers will look to in 1980-81 in the defense of their league championship. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>UNIONDALE&mdash;Winning the Stanley Cup invariably puts more pressure on a team but the New York Islanders appear to have the depth again to withstand the challenge in the first defense of their new National Hockey League championship.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02763/4421285-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="161" height="158"></div>The Islanders, who roared to the cup in a sensational playoff performance beating the Philadelphia Flyers in the six-game cup final, have few changes. Many experts feel the New Yorkers can only get better with their tremendous offensive talent and solid defense.Here&rsquo;s how THE HOCKEY NEWS sees the Islanders this season:STRONG POINTS: A squadron of able forwards and a good blend of scoring, speed and crisp checking. If Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies, Butch Goring, Anders Kallur, Bob Bourne, Mike Bossy, Bobby Nystrom and John Tonelli aren&rsquo;t enough, then just look at the defense. Denis Potvin and Stefan Persson are swift. Bob Lorimer is underrated. Dave Langevin is coming off a terrific playoff. Ken Morrow is cool. And don&rsquo;t forget Bill Smith and Glenn Resch in goal.WEAK POINTS: Must find playing time for Garry Howatt and Duane Sutter, who are too good to be ignored. Team could also use a solid fifth defensemen in case tough Gord Lane spends too much time in penalty box.NEW FACES: None probably, but Alex McKendry and Yvan Vautour, both wingers, could get chances if team falters early.OUTLOOK: No reason team can&rsquo;t advance to finals again. No reason it can&rsquo;t win again. Experimenting in early season could cost some points, but might improve team in long run. &#9632;

f0016-01

Islanders Have Depth To Win Cup

f0016-03

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PREVIEW ’80

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01814/4421494-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="497" height="765"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02681/4421487-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="483" height="751"><figcaption class="caption-body">Among the new NHL coaches this season are Gerry Cheevers, top, at Boston, and Keith Magnuson, below, at Chicago.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03520/4421480-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="147" height="145"></div>STRONG POINTS: Being the surprise team of the year last season is certain to give club confidence this campaign to do even better and possibly continue their turnabout. Red Berenson will be starting out from beginning of schedule this time after taking over from Barclay Plager in 1979-80. Goaling is strong with Mike Liut, defense and penalty killing ranked highly and Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter and Wayne Babych comprised high-powered line. Young draft picks coming up look good giving team depth it needs to improve on lOth-place finish overall last year.WEAK POINTS: Team offense is restricted to one line, which is something Berenson must change. Club&rsquo;s power play must also be improved immeasurably and offense could easily stand another 25 goals.NEW FACES: Craig Norwich was obtained from Winnipeg in trade and he&rsquo;ll help defense considerably. Top drafts Rick Wilson and Jim Pavese might be moved right into defense because of their size and ability. Finnish winger Jorgen Pettersen may also be a starter.OUTLOOK: Blues will be right up there battling Chicago for division title and with a little more offense from some new sources, they could make it all the way to No. 1. &#9632;</div>

f0017-01

St. Louis

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01832/4421525-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="280" height="334"></div><h2>The Quick Solution</h2>THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE&rsquo;S crisis over overtime need not have happened if those masters of planning could see things clearly and see them whole.Objections to a five or 10-minute extra period were obvious. Players, in general, don&rsquo;t want the extra work. Weaker teams always believe they&rsquo;ll lose in overtime. So, they would rather do without it. And television programmers, who comprise an important lobby in the hockey world, find overtime upsetting to their delicate schedules.Yet, hockey fans want a decision no less than baseball rooters expect a tie to be resolved in extra innings, or soccer followers anticipate a shootout.The NHL&rsquo;s solution had to produce an extra session that (a) is non-taxing to the players; (b) gives weaker teams an even-money shot at winning; (c) enables TV people to get their show off the air in a hurry and, most important, (d) provides fans with an exciting denouement.My suggestion is simplicity itself. Ten seconds after a game ends in a tie each team has its &ldquo;designated shooter&rdquo; at center ice. A pair of penalty shots will be awarded to each shooter. If, after the four shots are taken, the game still is a tie, fine, everyone has obtained his money&rsquo;s worth.Under this plan only two goalies and two shooters are working overtime. No sweat. Weak teams often have sharpshooters who are as good as any on the power clubs, so that evens out the mighty with the mediocre. The whole shebang could be wrapped up within four minutes and, as every netminder knows, nothing is more exciting than a penalty shot. Hence, a socko finish in the Hollywood tradition,I suspect this solution is so flawless that even Bob Verdi will endorse it.NOTES: Finding the appropriate retirement niche for Gordie Howe will be a major problem for the Hartford Whalers. A front-office job of no consequence would be disastrous.for all concerned. The smart move would be to make Gordie a super-scout. Who knows more about players and playing than The Great Man?&hellip; Punch Imlach&rsquo;s heart attack was worse than reported. Under the best of conditions, Punch will not return to full-time duty until February. Leafs&rsquo; boss Harold Ballard will run his club by himself for very logical reasons. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t do any worse than the people I&rsquo;ve hired for the last 10 years,&rdquo; chirps Harold&hellip; Joe Crozier will coach the Leafs until he crosses the boss&hellip; Several NHL owners are furious with their colleague, Dr. Jerry Buss of the L.A. Kings, for an assortment of reasons. One club prexy gripes about Buss&rsquo; less-than-formal behavior at the governors&rsquo; meetings in Los Angeles. Another is concerned about Jerry&rsquo;s I-want-to-be-a-hockey-George Steinbrenner thinking&hellip; Another NHL official even suggested that the league switch the All-Star Game out of L.A. in 1981. But all commitments will be fulfilled and the game will be held at The Forum in Inglewood as planned&hellip; The classiness of the Keith Magnuson personality is already becoming evident: The Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; new coach visited Buffalo to get a line on videotaping, from Sabres&rsquo; GM Scotty Bowman and impressed The Master&hellip; Of all the NHL coaches none will be under greater pressure than the Red Wings&rsquo; Ted Lindsay. If he fails behind the bench, he&rsquo;s as good as gone after 1980-81&hellip; The present lord of Detroit hockey is Jimmy Skinner, a solid, well-schooled citizen of the game&hellip; The Skinner-Lindsay relationship could be antsy&hellip; Sonny Werblin is masterminding many of glamor-boy Ron Duguay&rsquo;s off-ice ventures. If &ldquo;Doogie&rdquo; enjoys anything resembling a hot season, and avoids use of a helmet, he will become the sexiest sports symbol since Joe Namath&hellip; Anyone who believes that time is a healer is mistaken when it comes to Harold Ballard&rsquo;s feelings about Werblin.<h2>Hoping Hull&rsquo;s Active</h2>THE HULL TRUTH: The prospect of another season without seeing Bobby Hull gives me a pain in the neck. Even in his NHL twilight, The Golden Jet was capable of the big game. It will be unfortunate if he fails to hook up with some major league club&mdash;anybody!&mdash;this season. Hull&rsquo;s shot alone is worth the price of admission.Which reminds me of a Bernie Parent story about Hull. Bernie was starring for Philadelphia at the time when his Flyers were playing against Bobby&rsquo;s Black Hawks. &ldquo;Bobby came across the blue line,&rdquo; said Parent, &ldquo;and wound up for the big shot. My defenseman Joe Watson was tying up this guy out in front and I could see Hull winding up.&ldquo;I said &lsquo;to hell with this, I&rsquo;m hiding behind these two guys. If he scores 1&rsquo;11 tell the reporters that I was screened.&rsquo; All of a sudden Watson and the other guy moved out and there was Hull coming at me all alone!&ldquo;Hull&rsquo;s shot was so hard it seemed to hit the glass behind me as soon as it hit the blade of his stick. I said to myself, &lsquo;Thank God that puck was off the mark.&rsquo; I breathed a lot easier after that!&rdquo;MEDIA NOTES: Ex-NHL vice president Don Ruck penned a prediction piece for Sports Today magazine. Ruck, who handles the Major Indoor Soccer League programs, picks the Canadiens to finish on top&hellip; Prentice-Hall was interested in publishing a By Ron Duguay book but the bucks were far too small to interest the Ranger&hellip; ESPN, the 24-hour-a-day allsports cable TV network, plans a bigger-than-ever NHL slate this season&hellip; If John Gfeller had decided to stay with the NHL as its executive director of marketing and public relations, one of his first priorities would have been to head off a major hatchet job (on hockey) being planned by a large American non-sports magazine for publication this Fall&hellip; Hartford hockey fans are tickled with the coverage of Dave Smith on WFSB-TV (Channel 3-CBS)&hellip; Now that Frank Brown has left The Associated Press for The New York Daily News, United Press International takes the wire service lead in hockey coverage, thanks to energetic Mike Tully&hellip; Don Ramsay, the Toronto Globe and Mail scooper-turned-agent, reports that he has signed new clients but cannot yet reveal their names since he&rsquo;s in the process of notifying previous agents of the switches&hellip; Hockey author Ira Gitler has proven a champ with pen and puck. His Manhattan-based club, Gitler&rsquo;s Gorillas, won the Sky Rink Summer League Division I championship&hellip; Mark Atchison, who quit hockey to work for the Ottawa Journal, was rehired by the NHL&rsquo;s Ron Andrews when the Journal folded&hellip; He&rsquo;s a good man&hellip; Frank Brown of the New York Daily News broke the story on Bobby Orr&rsquo;s displeasure with his job as special assistant to NHL President John Ziegler. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got nothing good to say,&rdquo; Orr told Brown. &ldquo;Anything I would say would be negative.&rdquo; Orr is upset with the fact that he has been under-utilized by the league. &ldquo;They haven&rsquo;t used me for bleep,&rdquo; Orr concluded.MORE NOTES: Before taking the Colorado Rockies coaching job Billy MacMillan consulted with his exboss, Al Arbour, to determine whether he could handle head-coaching. Arbour encouraged Billy to move up&hellip; MacMillan&rsquo;s first bright move was taking suitable time to hire an assistant and then bringing in Terry Harper, who is a cerebral ace in the Red Berenson mold&hellip; Wasn&rsquo;t Flyers&rsquo; GM Keith Allen overdoing it when he said that Bob Kelly (now a Washington Cap) was &ldquo;the most colorful player to wear the Flyers&rsquo; uniform.&rdquo; What about Bobby Clarke? Or Dave Schultz? Or Doug Favell?&hellip; Philly&rsquo;s Pat Quinn still insists that injuries to key players should not be divulged to the media (public, or opposition). &ldquo;If any opposing team knows of an injury on the other club, they&rsquo;ll try to further injure that player,&rdquo; says Quinn. &ldquo;Injuries reveal a weakness and in pro sports, you keep your weaknesses quiet. If one of my injured players wants to play, I owe it to him to keep the nature of the injury quiet&rdquo;&hellip; Doesn&rsquo;t the remarriage of Maple Leafs&rsquo; center Darryl Sittier and his paymaster Harold Ballard&mdash;achieved without the help of Al Eagleson&mdash;further indicate that The Eagle&rsquo;s power base continues to erode?&hellip; &#9632;

f0018-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01795/4421584-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="646" height="1461"><figcaption class="caption-body">NHL scoring champ Marcel Dionne of the Kings is set for the new season.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02633/4421577-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="2343" height="1246"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03460/4421570-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="2331" height="1521"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01628/4421563-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="2355" height="1518"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02445/4421556-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="2352" height="1501"></div><h2>Schedule Abbreviations</h2>Bos.&mdash;BostonBuf.&mdash;BuffaloCal.&mdash;CalgaryChi.&mdash;ChicagoCol.&mdash;ColoradoDet.&mdash;DetroitEdm.&mdash;EdmontonHar.&mdash;HartfordL.A.&mdash;Los AngelesMin.&mdash;MinnesotaMtl.&mdash;MontrealIsl.&mdash;IslandersRan.&mdash;RangersPha.&mdash;PhiladelphiaPit.&mdash;PittsburghQue.&mdash;QuebecSLL.&mdash;St. LouisTor.&mdash;TorontoVan.&mdash;VancouverWas.&mdash;WashingtonWpg.&mdash;Winnipeg &#9632;

f0019-01

1980-81 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCHEDULE

BOSTONWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Saturday matinees&hellip;&hellip; 1:15p.m.Sunday nights&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Except Feb. 1&hellip;&hellip; 1:15 p.m.BUFFALOWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Sunday nights&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.CALGARYWeeknights & Sundays&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Saturday nights&hellip;&hellip; 6:05 p.m.CHICAGOAll night games&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Matinees&hellip;&hellip; 3:05 p.m.COLORADOWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Sunday matinees&hellip;&hellip; 4:05 p.m.DETROITWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Except Feb. 3&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Sunday nights&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Saturday matinees&hellip;&hellip; 1:30 p.m.EDMONTONWeeknights & Sundays&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Saturdays&hellip;&hellip; 6:05 p.m.Matinees&hellip;&hellip; 2:35 p.m.HARTFORDWeeknights & Saturdays&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Sunday nights&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Matinees&hellip;&hellip; 2:05 p.m.LOS ANGELESWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Saturday nights&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Except Mar. 14&hellip;&hellip; 2:05 p.m.MINNESOTAWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Except Mondays&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Saturdays&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Matinees&hellip;&hellip; 2:05 p.m.MONTREALAll night games&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.N.Y. ISLANDERSAll games&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Except Mar. 28 & Apr. 4&hellip;&hellip; 5:05 p.m.N.Y. RANGERSAll games&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Except Dec. 22, Feb. 2 and Mar. 30&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Except Mar. 1 & Apr. 3&hellip;&hellip; 8:35 p.m.PHILADELPHIAWeeknights & Sat nights&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Saturday afternoons&hellip;&hellip; 1:35 p.m.Sundays&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Except Sun. Oct. 26&hellip;&hellip; 8:35 p.m.PITTSBURGHWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; Sundays 7:35 p.m.Saturdays&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Matinees&hellip;&hellip; 2:35 p.m.QUEBECAll games&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.ST. LOUISWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Except Mar. 7 & Apr. 4&hellip;&hellip; 1:35 p. m.TORONTOAll games&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.VANCOUVERWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Except Nov. 11 & Dec. 26&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Saturdays&hellip;&hellip; 5:05 p.m.Sundays&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.WASHINGTONWeeknights & Saturdays&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m.Except Fridays&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Sundays&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Except Feb. 1&hellip;&hellip; 5:05 p.m.Matinees&hellip;&hellip; 1:35 p.m.WINNIPEGWeeknights&hellip;&hellip; 8:05 p.m.Saturdays&hellip;&hellip; 7:05 p.m.Sundays & Dec. 31&hellip;&hellip; 7:35 p.m. &#9632;

Starting Times For NHL Games

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01470/4421646-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02297/4421639-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="1188" height="913"></div><h2>Starting QMHL Teams</h2>DILIO DIVISIONSherbrooke Beavers Trois-Rivieres Draveurs Quebec Remparts Chicoutimi Sagueneens Shawinigan CataractsLEBEL DIVISIONMontreal Juniors Cornwall Royals Hull Olympics Sorel Black Hawks Laval Voisins &#9632;

f0021-01

Quebec Major League Schedule

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01519/4421691-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02406/4421684-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="2363" height="1793"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03329/4421677-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="2361" height="406"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

THE 1980-81 NHL SCHEDULE

<h2>American Hockey League</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01487/4421743-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="613" height="2805"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02366/4421736-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="1244" height="1697"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03272/4421729-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="596" height="2645"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04209/4421722-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="577" height="2009"></div><h2>Starting AHL Teams</h2>NORTHERN DIVISION Maine Mariners New Brunswick Hawks Nova Scotia Voyageurs Springfield Indians Adirondack Red WingsSOUTHERN DIVISION Binghamton Whalers Hershey Bears New Haven Nighthawks Rochester American &#9632;

f0023-01

HOCKEY NEWS SCHEDULES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05179/4421774-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="952" height="773"></div> &#9632;

f0023-05

AHL Starting Times

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05136/4421906-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="613" height="1762"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06116/4421899-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="1212" height="793"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0799/4421892-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="584" height="1769"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0893/4421885-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="565" height="1000"></div><h2>EHL Starting Times</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0986/4421878-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="1044" height="745"></div><h2>Starting EHL Teams</h2>Erie BladesBaltimore ClippersHampton AcesRichmond RiflesSalem RaidersSyracuse Hornets &#9632;

f0024-05

Eastern Hockey League

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01441/4421944-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"></div><h2>International Hockey League</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02325/4421937-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="589" height="1133"></div><h2>Starting IHL Teams</h2>EAST DIVISIONFlint GeneralsToledo GoaldiggersPort Huron FlagsSaginaw GearsWEST DIVISIONFort Wayne KometsMuskegon MohawksKalamazoo K-WingsMilwaukee Admira &#9632;

f0025-01

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03221/4421996-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="609" height="1593"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04159/4421989-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="1828" height="1410"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05135/4421982-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="577" height="1521"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04238/4421975-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="3055" height="1129"></div> &#9632;

f0025-03

Western Hockey League

<h2>Ontario Major League</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01454/4422041-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="617" height="2493"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02353/4422034-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="1858" height="2338"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03301/4422027-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="580" height="1542"></div><h2>Starting OMHL Teams</h2>EMMS DIVISIONNiagara Falls FlyersLondon KnightsWindsor SpitfiresKitchener RangersBrantford AlexandersToronto MarlborosLEYDEN DIVISIONPeterborough PetesKingston CanadiansSudbury WolvesS. Ste. Marie GreyhoundsOshawa GeneralsOttawa 67s &#9632;

f0026-01

<h2>Schultz Retires</h2>BUFFALO&mdash;The most penalized player in the NHL, Dave &ldquo;The Hammer&rdquo; Schultz, has retired from hockey at the tender age of 31.Schultz, under contract to the Buffalo Sabres, spent last season with Rochester in the American Hockey League and decided to hang up his skates before the Sabres began their 1980 training camp.Schultz, who in 1974-75 set an NHL single season penalty mark of 472 minutes that still stands today, began his NHL career with Philadelphia in .1972. For the next four years he was the most notorious of the Flyers' numerous &ldquo;Broad Street Bullies,&rdquo; who won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975.The hard-hitting left winger was penalized for nearly 2,300 minutes during his eight NHL years. After the Flyers traded him away to Los Angeles in 1976. he moved on to Pittsburgh and eventually to Buffalo in 1979, where he failed to catch on with the Sabres and ended in the minors with Rochester.<h2>Hamilton Eyes NHL</h2>HAMILTON&mdash;Hamilton&rsquo;s hockey fathers are probably wondering if Toronto Maple Leaf owner Harold Ballard is finally going soft.Ballard, whose Leafs control the NHL territorial rights for a 75-mile radius around Toronto (Hamilton is 45 miles to the west), has approved a construction proposal that will enable the city to build a $40 million arena which could house an NHL franchise and a new $40 million stadium for the canadian Football League&rsquo;s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who are owned by Ballard.The City of Hamilton report, commissioned at a cost of $94,000, calls for construction of a 15,000-seat combined arena and trade center facility for the downtown area and a new football stadium on Hamilton Mountain on the city&rsquo;s west side.Hamilton mayor Jack MacDonald said the project has already passed one major obstacle by winning Bal-lard&rsquo;s support. Ballard, under the existing NHL constitution, has the right to veto any NHL franchise that comes within the Maple Leafs&rsquo; marketing area.<h2>Brooks Ejected</h2>KARLSKOGA&mdash;Former Olympic coach Herb Brooks is finding his first sojourn into European hockey slightly different than when he stood behind the bench of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team.Brooks was ejected from a game in which Davos Hockey Club was clobbered 8-1 after he argued too strenuously with a referee. The official ordered Brooks from behind the bench and imposed a misconduct penalty on him. When he refused to leave, an official of the opposing Bofors team persuaded him to watch the remainder of the exhibition game action from the stands.Brooks contended that the game referee tripped him during their heated argument.<h2>Heart Attack Fatal</h2>KITCHENER&mdash;The first fatality of the 1980-81 hockey season took place recently when 16-year-old Dave Uberig of Elmira, Ont., died of a heart attack.An autopsy showed that the heart attack was the result of a congenital defect in the right ventrical of Uberig&rsquo;s heart which, according to one of the examining doctors, was &ldquo;swollen to the size of a bellows.&rdquo;Uberig, a rookie trying to crack the lineup of the Junior &lsquo;B&rsquo; Elmira Sugar Kings, collapsed during a game against the Kitchener Rangers. After taking one shift, he suddenly left the ice complaining of dizziness. He sub-sequently passed out and did not respond to efforts by his coach, the team trainer and the referee to revive him. He was rushed to hospital by ambulance where more attempts at resuscitation proved fruitless.<h2>Swiss Won&rsquo;t Pay</h2>LAUSANNE-The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation has made it clear that it is unwilling to pay transfer fees for Canadian and U.S. hockey players who will be playing in Switzerland this year.Formerly free agent players from Canada and the U.S. could join European clubs without a transfer fee being involved, but a tentative agreement reached among several federations grants a 25,000 Swiss franc fee for any departing pro, college or junior player to be distributed in the following manner: 60 per cent to the Canadian or American Hockey Association; 30 per cent to the national European federation and 10 percent to the International Ice Hockey Federation.The main objection of the Swiss federation is that transfer fees are a one-way street, because they are not provided should the players return to North America.<h2>Boucha Settles</h2>DETROIT&mdash;One of hockey&rsquo;s most celebrated stick-swinging cases of the mid-1970&rsquo;s has been settled out of court five years after it occurred.Henry Boucha, who played in the NHL with Detroit. Minnesota and Colorado from 1971 to 1977, reached a settlement in the $3.5 million lawsuit he filed against Dave Forbes, then a member of the Boston Bruins, for allegedly striking him in the eye with his stick during an NHL game Jan. 4, 1975. Boucha was a member of the. Minnesota North Stars at the time.The amount of the settlement was not disclosed. The decision to settle out of court came three years after Boucha retired from playing, insisting that his NHL career was never the same after the eye injury. Forbes, too. has since left the NHL; he coached in the AHL last season with Binghamton. &#9632;

SLAPSHOTS

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01421/4422096-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="579" height="771"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran Don Luce will be fighting tough competition for ice time at a center spot.</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;&ldquo;We expect to improve over last season,&rdquo; said Roger Neilson, &ldquo;and we figure our main improvement will come from young players who are playing their second season in the National Hockey League.&ldquo;We had quite a few who played their first full season in 1979-80 and they improved quite a bit during the season. We expect them to continue improving.&ldquo;And our veterans are not old, you know&mdash;only two over 30 years of age&mdash;so they should not go backwards.&ldquo;There will be plenty of competition in training camp but it will be tough for newcomers to break into the lineup. There are a few who have a chance, though, and there will be plenty who will push the veterans.&rdquo;Neilson was speaking before starting his first season as head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. He takes over this season fulltime while Scott Bowman confines himself to the general manager&rsquo;s duties. Now that he is strictly a front office man. Bowman prefers being called Scott to Scotty, his name throughout a very successful dozen years as a National Hockey League mentor.Neilson will have Jim Roberts and Ron Smith as his assistant coaches. John Andersen continues as assistant general manager.It&rsquo;s surprising, but true, that the Sabres, a stable hockey club for so long, do have a considerable group of players who were putting in their first full NHL season in 1979-80: Richie Dunn, Larry Playfair and Lindy Ruff at defense, Tony McKegney, Bobby Mongrain and Derek Smith at forward. Smith was in his&rsquo; third Sabre season but he never before played through a full campaign.Then, there are the two Olympians, defenseman Mike Ramsey and winger Rob McClanahan. They played a few games at the end of the regular season and through the playoffs after finishing with the U. S. Olympic team.That&rsquo;s eight players who came to camp with a lot more confidence and maturity than they had in the past.Ric Seiling, going into his third NHL season, does, too. He improved greatly during the 1979-80 campaign over his rookie year.The two Sabres over 30 are Don Luce and Rick Dudley. Both face stiff competition for their jobs.Luce, who has been a Buffalo regular for nine seasons, is one of five centers who dressed for games in the playoffs last spring.The quintet is headed by Gil Perreault, the NHL&rsquo;s fourth highest scorer last season, and includes Smith, Luce, Mongrain and veteran Andre Savard.Mongrain played most of his first pro season in the American League with Rochester but he was called up at the time the Olympians joined the club and played regularly in the playoffs.Dudley, who plays either wing, is one of seven wingmen who appeared during the playoffs. The Sabres picked a big right winger, Steve Patrick, 6-4 and 206 pounds, from the Brandon Wheat Kings as their first draft choice and he has to be considered.Gilles Hamel and Alan Maworth, both of whom were selected as underage juniors in the 1979 draft, then went back to junior hockey, figure to get a good look in camp, as do Chris Malyk and Geordie Robertson, who did well for Rochester last season.Ruff and John Van Boxmeer, both of | whom prefer defense, played forward against the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup semifinals when the Sabres were riddled by injuries. They could be under consideration for jobs up front.One reason they could is that the Sabres have seven defensemen back who played regularly at one time or another last season. Mark Robinson, another underage draftee of 1979, looked good in training camp before he went back to junior, and will be given a good look.Two defensemen who played regularly in 1978-79, then spent last season in Rochester. Bill Stewart and Mike Boland, also will be vying for jobs.The Vezina Trophy winners, Don Edwards and Bob Sauve, should have the goaltending jobs locked up, with rookie Jacques Cloutier from Three Rivers expected to be the third man in line. &#9632;

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Sabres’ Sophomores Should Shine

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Ted Lindsay is a rookie National Hockey League coach, and it&rsquo;s appropriate that he isn&rsquo;t about to short-change the new guys. He&rsquo;s sold on what some talented youngsters can do for the Detroit Red Wings this season and he&rsquo;s ready to give them every opportunity to prove themselves in training camp.&ldquo;Who knows what will happen with those youngsters in camp,&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;I think it will be an interesting camp from that standpoint. It&rsquo;s not just a case of having a lot of bodies, but having young guys with talent. The eight we drafted this year, those kids come to play every night, like a Mike. Foligno or a Jim Korn or a Reed Larson.&ldquo;Who plays, from goaltending to the defense and the forwards, that&rsquo;ll all be decided in training camp and in the exhibition games,&rdquo; Lindsay went on. &ldquo;The defense is going to be a very interesting part of training camp.&rdquo;Willie Huber, Reed Larson and Jim Korn are the three young players Lindsay hopes can be the anchors of his defense.&ldquo;Those three young guys are the equivalent of the best in the league,&rdquo; the new coach said. &ldquo;When these young men get to believe in themselves, they will be stars. The experience they gained last year will be nothing but an asset.&rdquo;For the final two months last season, Perry Miller, demoted early in the year, was &ldquo;probably the best defenseman in the American Hockey League,&rdquo; according to Lindsay. Rick Vasko, another Detroit farmhand, was selected the AHL&rsquo;s best defenseman. Along with veteran holdover Barry Long, they&rsquo;re frontrunners for the remaining spots.&ldquo;Miller kept in good shape and he tells me he wants it. Then there&rsquo;s Greg Joly. If he&rsquo;s recovered from his wrist injury, he&rsquo;s a very talented player. We&rsquo;ll have a decision to make,&rdquo; Lin-day said.Rejean Cloutier, an underaged free agent last season, played three games with the Wings last spring. &ldquo;He did not hurt us. In fact, he helped us,&rdquo; Lindsay said.Where the Wings need help desperately&mdash;and didn&rsquo;t get it during the off-season&mdash;is at forward. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with the forwards the Wings have, other than the fact that they&rsquo;re all the same: Fast-skating, good scoring. But there aren&rsquo;t enough forecheckers, backcheckers, grinders or corner men. The Wings tried to do it with skaters the past three season, but discovered it wouldn&rsquo;t work unless there was a blend of skaters and grinders.Here again, the Wings and Lindsay are relying on some large-sized youngsters to provide the muscle and grit. If they don&rsquo;t, the Wings will be in serious trouble.Mike Blaisdell, the Wings&rsquo; top pick, should fit in nicely. He&rsquo;s a goal scorer&mdash;and the Wings already own five 30-goal scorers in Foligno, Dale McCourt. Errol Thompson, Dan Labraaten and Vaclav Nedomansky. That&rsquo;s six forwards, two whole lines. With the exception of Foligno, no one is going to do anything for the club defensively or in the corners.John Ogrodnick, Paul Woods and Pete Mahovhch (if he isn&rsquo;t traded) can expect to play regularly, which makes nine forwards and leaves room for two more.The Wings don&rsquo;t have enough forwards who like to get ice chips on their uniforms. That&rsquo;s why they&rsquo;ll keep the door open to a return by Dennis Hex-tall. Hextail, a former Wing captain, wants to make a comeback, but only with the Wings, and so far the club&rsquo;s offer is far from acceptable. Lindsay and Jimmy Skinner, the director of hockey operations, have given Hextall&rsquo;s comeback bid their stamp of approval but it&rsquo;s now hung up in contract negotiations.The Wings&rsquo; goaltending is in capable hands, or so it appears.The focus is on veterans, Jimmy Rutherford and newcomer Gilles Gilbert, acquired from Boston in the Rogie Vachon deal, and rookie Al Jensen, a third-year pro. &#9632;

Training Camp Decides Wings’ Lineup—Lindsay

The Toronto Maple Leafs dumped Laurie Boschman into the NHL inferno last season as an underager and hoped for the best. The youngster didn&rsquo;t disappoint but he is capable of doing better&mdash;and this could be the year now that he&rsquo;s reached age 20.The hard-nosed center of the Leafs got off to a flying start to prove his point, scoring two goals in Toronto&rsquo;s very first exhibition win. The one-time Brandon Wheat King scoring star was instrumental in carving the 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.Boschman scored the first two Leaf goals to send the team on its way to a rare win over the Canadiens. He also played an aggressive game without incurring the chippy penalties he fell prey to last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02310/4422151-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="562" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body">LAURIE BOSCHMAN Toronto Maple Leafs</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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NHL Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">By JIM MATHESON</div>All spots on the team are open.Like:(1) Who will back up goalie Ron low?(2) Will top draft pick Paul Coffey of Kitchener be a starter on defense or a bench sitter when the season opens for real Oct. 10 against the Stastny boys and the Quebec Nordiques?(3) Can Matti Hagman score as often In places like Philadelphia and Buffalo as he did in Helsinki and Tampere last season?(4) Will Dave Semenko finally be scored on something other than the five-point must system?(5) Will Canadian Olympic team winner Glenn Anderson fit in as well as the other 19-year-old kids, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier?While the questions are tough. Sather isn&rsquo;t worrying. For the first time the Oilers have enough depth to make things interesting. The team is starting to get some character, some substance. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s going to be some tremendous battles,&rdquo; said Sather.Low, who recently signed a three-year contract for $100,000 plus per season, will be No. 1. Off his performance last season, nobody should move him aside. The back-up role will go to either Eddie Mio, who lost his effectiveness through various injuries last season, or Pete LoPresti, who&rsquo;s back after a year working in a sporting goods store.When Mio&rsquo;s hot, he&rsquo;s very hot. But he lacks consistency. LoPresti has a better track record. He went through a trial separation last October when the Oilers farmed him to the minors and he quit instead. But now he claims he has his head &ldquo;screwed on straight.&rdquo; After working for a living, nine-to-five like most people, he&rsquo;s decided he&rsquo;d rather stop pucks than sell them. &ldquo;Peter made a mistake by retiring and we made one by not keeping him around after training camp last year.&rdquo; said assistant coach Bryan Watson. &ldquo;Eddie and Peter were the best goalies but we owed loyalties to Dave Dryden, who was coming off an MVP season in the WHA.&rdquo;On defense Coffey will have a tough time, even if Sather and chief scout Barry Fraser have been waxing poetic about his skills. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a defenseman who can carry the puck out of his own end rather than passing it,&rdquo; said Sather, who envisions him on the point on the powerplay with his strong shot. &ldquo;His shot reminds me of Reed Larson&rsquo;s.&rdquo;Pat Price, who was signed to a new contract over the summer, Lee Fogolin and Doug Hicks are automatic choices back there. The rest of the spots are wide open. Finn Risto Silt-anen, Colin Campbell, Kevin Lowe and free agent Tom Bladon will fight it out for the other berths.Sather has been working on getting an experienced defensive-oriented blueliner along the lines of Dave Burrows. however.Center Matti Hagman was acquired over the summer with the help of Edmonton Drillers soccer coach Timo Liekoski, who phoned Hagman&rsquo;s brother-in-law Kai Haaskavi of the Houston Hurricane for some help. Haaskavi, who figures to play here next season, whispered in Hagman&rsquo;s ear and Hagman, who played briefly with Boston Bruins and Quebec Nordiques, came running. He brings a superb touch around the net, 87 points (50 goals) in 34 games with IFK Helsinki last season. If he can stand the rough stuff in the NHL he might bump Stan Weir out of a spot. Either that or Mark Messier might be moved to left wing. Gretzky is obviously No. 1.Semenko is probably the best fighter in the league, but he&rsquo;s often lucky to get five minutes of skating action in a game He&rsquo;s a fourth-line leftwinger. While he&rsquo;s unofficially Gretzky&rsquo;s personal bodyguard, the Oilers have enough scrappers in their supporting cast&mdash;they were third in the league in penalties last year&mdash;to maybe do without him. After three years of pro he&rsquo;s got to be able to start. &ldquo;In practice he skates well, handles the puck and makes plays,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s tense in games.&rdquo;Anderson is another story. He&rsquo;s so loose, they call him Mork. He&rsquo;s a free spirit, with blazing speed. He stickhandled all summer between the NHL and going back to U of Denver before finally settling on a three-year deal in early September for about $250,000. He was the best player on the Canadian Olympic team last year. The Oilers picked him in the fourth round of the amateur draft in &rsquo;79. [&ldquo;He&rsquo;s powerful enough to skate over checkers, yet fast enough 6.7 seconds from goalline to goalline] to surprise people,&rdquo; said western scout Lome Davis, who was an assistant coach with the Olympic team last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01371/4422182-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="556" height="1063"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Weir, the Oilers&rsquo; No. center last year, can expect tough competition at training camp</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Rather Relishingng Fight For Olier Positions

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div>DENVER&mdash;There were not that many additions to the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; National Hockey League roster over the summer. As a matter of fact, the team looks embarrassingly the same as the one that wound up last season with the worst record (19-48-13) in the league.But a couple of changes&mdash;one in particular&mdash;have general manager Ray Miron feeling good about the coming season.New Coach Billy MacMillan is the man Miron feels will help right the Rockies in the proper direction&mdash;up from the cellar.Other changes of note were the additions of goalie Al Smith to stabilize one of the team&rsquo;s weakest areas and the naming of former defenseman Terry Harper as MacMillan&rsquo;s assistant. Otherwise, there were few personnel moves and two goalies, Michel Plasse and Bill McKenzie&mdash;who have played considerably since the team&rsquo;s inception in 1975-76&mdash;will not be back because of their unwillingness to agree to contractual conditions offered by Miron.&ldquo;That change alone is worth 10 wins,&rdquo; Miron boldly predicted of the switch from the volatile Cherry&mdash;with whom he didn&rsquo;t get along&mdash;to the soft-spoken MacMillan.Other than MacMillan&mdash;and the additions of Smith and Harper&mdash;the only other changes will be made within the system, barring a training camp trade. And this is the first time the Rockies will be able to benefit from a system: They owned and operated their own farm club in Fort Worth last season for the first time since their inception and Miron claims the development of players down there will pay off; if not this year, then maybe next.Miron contends the Rockies have improved themselves in the areas of previous weakness&mdash;goaltending, left wing and center. And he feels that right wing and defense are very solid.&ldquo;Well, I think overall we&rsquo;re going to be stronger. We have more depth at more positions than we ever had,&rdquo; said Miron, who has been GM of the Rockies&rsquo;since the franchise was shifted from Kansas City after the 1975-76 season.&ldquo;I think Smith will strengthen the goaltending because of his experience and give our young goaltenders a chance to mature,&rdquo; Miron said. Smith and Swedish goalie Hardy Astrom, who was so maligned by Cherry last season, are the Rockies&rsquo; top two goalies with Bill Oleschuk and Steve Janaszak, backup to Jim Craig on the U.S. Olympic hockey team, also in the running. The young goalies to whom Miron referred were Janaszak and underage draft Rick LaFerriere.The Rockies&rsquo; top draft choice, Paul Gagne, could help bolster the left wing position, but Miron is not counting on it. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to expect a kid 18 years old to come in and turn things around for us, but if he can&rsquo;t crack our lineup this year, he will next year,&rdquo; Miron said.Another No. 1 Rockies&rsquo; draft choice, Mike Gillis (in 1978) is another in contention for a left wing spot. &ldquo;I think Gillis realizes this is a key year for him. He&rsquo;s had problems, but his attitude is great and he&rsquo;s in better shape than he has been,&rdquo; Miron said of the injury-prone Gillis, who has been a major disappointment.Veteran Gary Croteau is attempting a comeback from knee surgery. Draft choice Ed Cooper, Peter Sturgeon and Steve Peters were also candidates as camp opened.One of the big advantages for MacMillan is that natural right wingers Randy Pierce, Ron Delorme, Bob Attwell and rookie Bobby Crawford, the player to be named later in the Barry Beck trade, can play either side. &ldquo;That gives Billy a lot of options,&rdquo; Miron said.The Rockies&rsquo; right wing position is their forte, with Lanny McDonald, Rene Robert and Lucien DeBlois leading the way. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re probably as strong, or stronger, than anybody in the league on right wing,&rdquo; Miron said.&ldquo;At center we think we&rsquo;ll be better mainly because of Merlin Malinowski and Gary Dillon (who played in Fort Worth last season). Then we&rsquo;ve got Bobby Sheehan and Joe Ward (No. 2 draft choice). A lot of people around the league tell me Ward&rsquo;ll-make our team. Doug Berry has one year of NHL experience behind him and Walt McKechnie has told people he has something to prove this year. He had a bad stretch at the end of last season.&rdquo; All those candidates will be vying with Jack Valiquette, one of the team&rsquo;s leading scorers the past two seasons, at center.Defense is also a strong suit, despite being relatively young. That&rsquo;s where Harper know-how can help. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve got a better defense than quite a few clubs in the league,&rdquo; Miron said of Rob Ramage (21), Trevor Johansen (23), Mike McEwen (24), Joel Quen-neville (22) and Mike Christie (30). Jack Hughes and Les Auge, both late cuts from the U.S. Olympic team last year, and Dean Turner and Mario Giallonardo could also figure in defensive plans. &#9632;

Rockies’ Fort Worth Farm May Produce Bumper Crop

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSSPRINGFIELD-After months of struggling, the Boston Bruins have made it official. They will, after all, operate their top development team in Springfield this season. The city gave them a fabulous deal which, according to informed sources, included use of the parking garage attached to the Springfield Civic Center. The Indians will leave the ancient Big E Coliseum across the river in West&rsquo; Springfield and move to the modern Springfield Civic Center, which seats about 7,500 for hockey and was used by the Hartford Whalers while their own Civic Center was being rebuilt.Springfield fans have suffered through several years of losing teams when the franchise was stocked by the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers and finally the Hartford Whalers. Their late-season choke last year soured many area fans and the AHL followers in this city may have been relieved to see the Whalers take their act to Binghamton.This is Boston Bruins&rsquo; country. Everybody knew that the Bruins were the only team that could make a go of it in Springfield. The Hartford Whalers were perceived as a natural rival for their beloved Bruins. However, if the Boston organization comes up with some support for their new Springfield AHL team, the fans will come back. Unfortunately, the Bruins do not have a great record of providing help to their minor league affiliates. Last season, when they shared Binghamton with the Kings, the team was simply awful. The Indians may have to sign a few free agents in order to be competitive.At least the AHL has been spared the embarrassment of having their oldest franchise either going under, or trying to operate as an independently owned team. AHL headquarters are located in Springfield and the area has the potential of being the franchise it once was several years ago. Now that the team will be playing in a new facility, perhaps the AHL will see this great old franchise prosper once again.ADIRONDACK-The Red Wings may have set a modern record for minor league hockey. The Glens Falls Civic Center is sold out for the upcoming 1980-81 season. Only standing room tickets remain&mdash;a fact that is hard to believe. The tiny community of Glens Falls, N.Y., has gone bananas for their Red Wings. The AHL is the only game in town during the fall and winter and the fans have responded in an unprecedented fashion. Detroit players sent here will almost certainly be looked upon as local heroes. In addition, the sellout crowds at every home game will pump up the Red Wings and make it extremely difficult for visiting teams to leave the Civic Center with a victory over Adirondack.SYRACUSE&mdash;The Firebirds are grounded. After suffering through a disastrous season at the gate last year, the franchise will probably be sold to the Quebec Nordiques and remain inactive for at least a year. Quebec will not operate an AHL team because the deal to play in St. John. N.B., fell through, as did the plan to place their club in Fredericton, N.B.Quebec may send their AHL-calibre players to Springfield or decide to scatter them throughout the AHL or CHL. As a club relatively new to the National Hockey League, Quebec must have their own development team sooner or later. As the AHL regular season approaches, one thing appears to be certain: The league will operate with nine teams this year and the status of Quebec&rsquo;s contribution to the AHL is very much in doubt.As for Syracuse, they will be in the Eastern Hockey League this season after failing twice in recent years to support an AHL team. The Firebirds lasted through the 1979-80 campaign and their immediate predecessors, the ill-fated Syracuse Eagles, also lasted only one year. The Eagles played in the AHL during the 1974-75 season, finishing with a terrible 21-43-11 record.NEW HAVEN-As Parker MacDonald headed west to join the Los Angeles Kings, Rod Gilbert assumed the role as head coach of the New Haven Nighthawks. Gilbert will have a tough act to follow. The Nighthawks won the Southern Division title the last two years and finished with the best record in the league last season. Nearly 300 people &ldquo;roasted&rdquo; Mac Donald at the Coliseum just prior to his departure in an often hilarious, yet extremely emotional affair. Hockey people from all over the eastern seaboard were on hand. The parent New York Rangers sent Craig Patrick and the AHL sent President Jack Butterfield. Ironically, MacDonald used to play for Butterfield when the AHL leader coached the Springfield Indians. After the roasters had concluded their presentations, the former Night-hawks&rsquo; mentor expressed hi's desire that the people give Rod Gilbert a chance. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be watching the papers to see how New Haven is doing, this franchise is like a baby to me,&rdquo; said MacDonald. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen it grow and now prosper and I am proud to have been associated with all of this.&rdquo;Gilbert may be in the process of being groomed for the coaching position in New York with this assignment in New Haven. Since he does not have any coaching experience, the Rangers plan to provide him with an assistant. At any rate, Patrick has promised to be in New Haven more often than Ranger brass visited last year. There is a possibility that newly-acquired defenseman Gordie Smith may be chosen to become a player-coach if the Rangers are unable to find some help for Gilbert.Unfortunately for the likable Gil-bert, New Haven fans are very demanding and could care less if he was one of the greatest Rangers of all time. It should be an interesting baptism of fire in a few weeks when the season get under way.BINGHAMTON- The parent Hartford Whalers gave Binghamton&rsquo;s chances for improvement in the AHL standings a giant shot in the arm when they signed ex-New Haven Nighthawk center Tom Colley. The high-scoring Colley holds just about every New Haven scoring record, and he also has more goals than any other player still active in the American Hockey League. Colley scored 66 points in 79 games last season on 23 goals and 43 assists. His presence in the Binghamton lineup will add some much-needed firepower to the Whalers&rsquo; attack this season.Colley became available when the New York Rangers did not renew his contract this summer. Undoubtedly, Hartford scouts saw him play in nearby New Haven and jumped at the chance to add some depth to their roster.ROCHESTER- Last week the Amerks opened their pre-season slate of games with two contests against the Nighthawks in the New Haven area. Those were the first of five games on the pre-season schedule and Amerks&rsquo; general manager George Bergantz likes the regular season schedule as well. &ldquo;We start and finish off with home stands and have some excellent home dates during the season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Building manager Bernie Hopefl (of Gladieux Service) worked closely with us to obtain some of these dates and we are grateful to him.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01415/4422237-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="521" height="665"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Colley&rsquo;s scoring prowess should help make rookie New Haven coach Rod Gilbert&rsquo;s life easier.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Springfield Natural For Bruins’ Franchise

<div class="byline">By TOM LOBAUGH</div>HOUSTON&mdash;Nick Beverley, 33-year-old defenseman with seven years of National League experience, became the newest rookie in the Central Hockey League coaching ranks when |he was named as mentor of the Houston Apollos. The announcement was made jointly by Al Rollins, general manager of the Apollos, and George Maguire, general manager of the parent Los Angeles Kings.&ldquo;Throughout his career Nick has had the reputation of being a class guy and a leader,&rdquo; said Maguire. &ldquo;Even in his short time with the Kings [seven games in the fall of 1978], one could see that he could communicate with the younger players. Since young players will make up the bulk of the Houston roster, Nick was the ideal man for the job.&rdquo;&ldquo;Nick has played in this league before,&rdquo; said Rollins. &ldquo;He not only knows how the league operates, but he&rsquo;ll be able to think like our players do. That&rsquo;s a great advantage over someone coaching on a minor league level who has spent his entire career in the National League.&rdquo;Beverley began last season as a playing assistant coach in Forth Worth in the CHL. However, after 12 games with the Texans, the parent Colorado Rockies suffered defensive problems and recalled him for the balance of the season. His contractual obligations to the Rockies expired at the season&rsquo;s end, which allowed him to rejoin the Kings&rsquo; organization.&ldquo;Coaching is something I&rsquo;ve thought about pursuing for the past few years,&rdquo; Beverley commented. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the capacity I thought I could serve best. I have spent the past few seasons preparing for a coaching career, and I&rsquo;m delighted to have been able to rejoin the Kings.&rdquo;Beverley was signed by Kings&rsquo; player personnel director Wren Blair, who originally signed Nick off the junior Oshawa Generals. A blueline teammate on the Generals, also signed by Blair for the Boston Bruins, was Bobby Orr.Nick broke in as a rookie with Oklahoma City in the CHL in 1966-67, and spent three years there, with short stints at Boston. He played two full seasons with the Bruins, was traded to Pittsburgh as the 1973-74 season began, then dealt to the New York Rangers after that season ended.Following two seasons with the Rangers, Beverley was dealt to Minnesota in the fall of 1976. Los Angeles claimed him on waivers from the North Stars at the start of the 1978-79 campaign, but traded him to Colorado after seven games.Beverley becomes the second new coach in the nine-team CHL. Danny Belisle is the new coach at Dallas, while Ace Bailey, who finished last season at Houston, will coach the new Wichita Wind franchise this year. Holdovers in the league are Jack Evans at Salt Lake, Bert Marshall at Indianapolis, John Brophy at Birmingham, Mike Smith at Tulsa, Ron Uliyot at Fort Worth and Ted Hampson at Oklahoma City.DALLAS&mdash;Harry Gage, former longtime hockey writer, was named director of public relations for the Black Hawks, and Carmela Martini, a graduate student at Southern Methodist University, was named his assistant.Gage served 13-year tours with both the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times-Herald before his retirement from the latter three years ago.Genera! manager Ed Terhune announced a &ldquo;first&rdquo; for the CHL. Advertising space on the rink-side boards is being sold and the sales campaign was going well.BIRMINGHAM-Bulls&rsquo; coach John Brophy was assisting Calgary Flames coach Al MacNeil and assistant coach Pierre Page at the Flames&rsquo; training camp in the Calgary Stampede Corral.Meanwhile, the Bulls Backers Booster Club was still receiving compliments on the late summer CHL Booster Club convention, which drew over 100. The boosters voted to hold their 1981 convention in Fort Worth.FORT WORTH&mdash;Season ticket sales were picking up for the Texans&rsquo; new management, and had passed the 900 mark. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a million things to do to get ready for the season, because we got a late start,&rdquo; said new general manager John Choyce.Choyce, who has spent most of the last 10 years coaching in the CHL (Kansas City, Albuquerque, Fort Worth, Tulsa and Dallas), was making no plans to attend the training camp of the parent Colorado Rockies in suburban Littleton, Colo., but admitted, &ldquo;when camp opens, I may get the itch to get up there.&rdquo;<h2>NORTH DIVISION</h2>SALT LAKE&mdash;As their last official act before training camp opened with the parent St. Louis Blues in Port Huron, Mich., the Golden Eagles held a golf tournament at Alpine Country Club. After expenses, more than $3,000 went to the Utah Society to Prevent Blindness.Featured guest was former Eagle Charlie Simmer, now an NHL All Star left wing for the Los Angeles Kings, who received the first Thane and Lorraine Acord Memorial Award, given in honor of the late Eagle owners.The award was presented by Bill and Dean Acord, sons of Thane and Loraine, and was inscribed &ldquo;in recognition of extraordinary individual accomplishments and in appreciation for an exemplary contribution to the growth and popularity of professional hockey in Salt Lake City and the state of Utah.&rdquo;Among the celebrities in attendance were CHL president Bud Poile, St. Louis general manager Emile Francis, Red Berenson and Barclay Plager from the Blues, Warren Spahn and Herman Franks of baseball fame, and some 15 present or former Eagle players.Three of the 1979-80 champion Eagles won&rsquo;t be available for CHL Coach of the year Jack Evans this season. Brian Ogilvie has retired, Ken Richardson has become a playercoach in Switzerland, and Rick Bowness was traded from St. Louis to Winnipeg.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01380/4422268-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="553" height="706"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nick Beverley rejoined the Kings&rsquo; organization to serve as their coach at Houston.</figcaption></div>Broadcast plans were confirmed for all Eagle games over radio station KWMS (1280-AM) with Chuck Schell at the microphone again. In addition, a five-game television package was being worked out with station KSTU-TV (Channel 20), which did the Adams Cup championship series last spring.TULSA&mdash;Veteran goaltender Gary Smith, who shared the Tulsa nets last season, retired after 16 pro seasons to become a scout for the parent Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg general manager John Ferguson said, &ldquo;Gary will serve as our advance scout, mainly covering those teams who are coming into Winnipeg after playing in the West. He&rsquo;ll also be able to cover some of the college and university teams in that part of the country.&rdquo;Bud Stefanski, last year&rsquo;s Oiler captain, will play in Austria this winter. Bill Lesuk retired to become a scout. Jim Wiley joined the physical education faculty at the University of Tulsa, and Gordon Smith was traded from Winnipeg to the New York Rangers.After a two-year absence from the airwaves, Oiler road games will be broadcast by radio station KTOW (1340-AM) with Hal O&rsquo;Halloran the voice.OKLAHOMA CITY-Principal owner John W. Hail of the Stars headed for the Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; training camp in Bloomington, Minn., where the 1980-81 Oke City team was taking shape.WICHITA-While coach Ace Bailey and his players were in camp at Jasper and Edmonton, Alta., getting set for Kansas&rsquo; first professional hockey season, general manager Larry Gordon signed contracts for extensive radio and television coverage of the CHL&rsquo;s newest entry.All 80 regular-season and five preseason games were to be broadcast over radio station KEYN (14I0-AM). The voice is Wally Shaver, Wind marketing director, who for the past seven seasons handled play-by-play for the Flint Generals in the International League.Gordon announced the Wind&rsquo;s season-opener in Tulsa, Oct. 10, would be telecast live over KARD-TV (Channel 3) and over the Kansas State network with other stations in Great Bend, Garden City and McCook-Oberlin.INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Left wing Lome Stamler, who cut a wide swath in a brief CHL appearance last spring, was signed by the New York Islanders as a free agent, and is expected to bolster the Indianapolis Checkers&rsquo; offense.Checker general manager James Devellano, CHL Executive of the Year last season, welcomed the acquisition of Stamler, a 29-year-old former Michigan Tech star.&ldquo;This move further strengthens our club as we strive to bring an Adams Cup championship team to Indianapolis,&rdquo; Devallano said. &#9632;

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Beverley Launches Coaching Career; Oilers Lose Five Veteran Players

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSPORT HURON-Port Huron has always been the &ldquo;runt&rdquo; of the International Hockey League&mdash;population-wise. But from a competitive standpoint. Port Huron has always played like a giant.Still, numbers at the box office often do more for survival than numbers in the standings. Port Huron has struggled through most of its life span as a member of the IHL lodge, which this season marks a 20th anniversary. It almost didn&rsquo;t happen.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;d asked me last May about the franchise, I would have told you it was dead,&rdquo; general manager Morris Snider pointed out recently. &ldquo;We had a bad year last year, our worst. And with the economy the way it is there seemed to be no way we could stay alive.&rdquo;But Snider has been surprised. Pleasantly so. &ldquo;We are ahead of last year on ticket sales, which really shouldn&rsquo;t excite me too much because last year was so bad. But the response has been very good. I think we can open the season with 1,000 season ticket holders.&rdquo; The club record is 1,200.The surge of interest is hard for Snider to explain. &ldquo;Maybe people aren&rsquo;t taking that long vacation because of the economy and the price of gasoline. It could be they are looking closer to home for entertainment.&rdquo;There could be another reason. Snider can take a bow here. &ldquo;We changed our approach. We used to have a fulltime person year-round to work on the program and we never made a dime on the damn thing. By the time you figured a person&rsquo;s salary, printing costs, and so forth there wasn&rsquo;t much left.&ldquo;This year we are going with a very modest program. Lineups. That&rsquo;s about it. Still, we&rsquo;ve sold $10,000 worth of advertising. We could make an $8,000 profit except we have so little in the production of the thing,&rdquo; Snider reported.There&rsquo;s been another benefit. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve convinced some of the advertisers to spend what they used to on advertising in season tickets. The response has been very good. I&rsquo;m very optimistic about the coming season. But you never really know what&rsquo;s going to happen until it happens.&rdquo;The Flags weren&rsquo;t as bad on the ice last season as the box office figures reflect. They finished third in the North Division with a 38-26-16 record, just seven points out of first place, and they had a most exciting playoff without achieving the ultimate. Port Huron advanced to the semifinals before bowing out to eventual champion Kalamazoo. Three of the games went into overtime.&ldquo;The attendance for the playoffs was a great disappontment,&rdquo; Snider admitted. &ldquo;The series with Kalamazoo was a great series. But that&rsquo;s been our playoff history. We&rsquo;ve never really drawn well until we got into the finals. Had we got into the finals last year, I think the attendance would have improved considerably.&rdquo;Snider has one concern about the coming season. &ldquo;We lost a good rival in Kalamazoo but maybe Toledo will pick it up. We&rsquo;ve always done well with Toledo because of Ted (Ted Garvin. who spent his IHL coaching career at Port Huron).Snider was referring to the new East-West alignment which becomes effective in the IHL this season. Under the new set-up Port Huron is assigned to the East with Toledo, Saginaw and Flint. Kalamazoo is now in the West along with Muskegon, Fort Wayne and Milwaukee.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01392/4422299-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="545" height="941"><figcaption class="caption-body">Port Huron general manager Morris Snider is pleasantly surprised that the Flags have survived.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Ticket Holders Keep Flags Flying

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSYRACUSE&mdash;Following a special scheduling meeting in Richmond, commissioner Bill Beagan announced tat the six Eastern Hockey League teams would play a 72-game slate for the 1980-81 campaign.Each of the clubs was given a roximity riv&rsquo;al which it will play 16 mes during the year (eight home, kht away) and the rivals will then Het the remainder of the EHL clubs a jtal of 14 times (seven home, seven way). Named as rivals were the tan-ems of Hampton-Richmond, Salem-altimore and Erie-Syracuse.Bill Horton is thrilled with his first ead coaching and general manager&rsquo;s) with the Syracuse Hornets (not hargers as was reported in a revious story) and is eager for the eason to begin. A 13-year veteran of he hockey wars. Horton served as ssistant coach to Larry Mickey in Jtica a year ago before getting the iromotion he had been waiting for.Horton will be greeting his players it training camp beginning October 14 ind in between time is trying to break iown some barriers that exist in Syracuse. &ldquo;Some of the fans in Syra-:use liked the American Hockey-eague type of play that was seen here ast year with the Firebirds and others ike the old EHL style, so we&rsquo;ll be rying to blend in both types to give fans the kind of hockey they want,&rdquo; said Horton.The new mentor is shooting for a.500 record and he plans on putting to use some of the hockey style he learned while playing in Sweden. &ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s going to be a real challenge and I&rsquo;m looking forward to it,&rdquo; related Horton. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen the ice in the (State Fair) Coliseum yet, but I&rsquo;ve heard it is plenty fast, so it will be to our advantage to go with a fast skating team. I&rsquo;ll also be looking for size. We&rsquo;ll be aggressive and I&rsquo;ll be looking for the player that can go into the corners and get the puck.&rdquo;The Hornets hope to play four exhibition games (two home and two away) and Horton has made plans to visit the camps of the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings.Mike Lindner will serve as the club&rsquo;s business manager.In other league news, the EHL offices have been moved to the Medical Arts Building in Windsor, Ont. The Johnstown franchise remains in limbo as the local owners attempt to negotiate a deal with an NHL team for the 1981-82 season. People in Johnstown are presently talking with two NHL teams. Last year&rsquo;s Johnstown players will go to the other EHL teams in a dispersal draft with Syracuse getting the first choice followed by Hampton, Salem, Richmond, Baltimore and Erie.The owners are also planning to approve the Winston-Salem franchise at a Board of Governors meeting. The Winston-Salem team will be owned by former Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; owner Al Savill and will join the EHL in 1981-82.HAMPTON: The Aces will open their training camp in Clinton, N.Y., on October 16. The site is the former camp of the Utica Mohawks, who moved south to Salem, Va.Hampton announced their first exhibition game against Syracuse on October 17 in Clinton and they will then return the favor and trek to Syracuse for an exhibition contest on October 19. The Aces will break camp and proceed to play their first four games on the road before debuting at the Hampton Coliseum on November 1 with the Richmond Rifles.The first players announced that will be in training camp will be center-right wing Paul O&rsquo;Neil, center Dave Walters and defenseman Ken Southwick.There was reason to celebrate in the Aces office when owner and Director of Operations Jim Wanting was married.RICHMOND: Coach Bill Purcell was a visitor to the camp of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Winnipeg Jets, where he viewed some good prospects.The Rifles will open their training camp in early October in New Haven, Conn. Richmond&rsquo;s home opener will see them hosting Baltimore on October 23 before they hit the road to Baltimore on October 25 and Syracuse October 26.ERIE: Coach and general manager Nick Polano just returned from a trip to Quebec for a look at some good, young prospects. Polano expects help from the Nordiques and he is also counting on a couple of players from Buffalo.The defending John Mitchell Cup champions will open training camp on October 15 and Polano will get a chance to see his players in action until an October 18 home exhibition against Syracuse. Erie is also hoping to set up one or possibly two more exhibition contests before they open the regular season on Thursday, October 23 against the Rifles.Polano also negotiated a radio contract with WLKK which will broadcast all of the Blades&rsquo; home and away games.One of the many special events being planned by the Blades is Golden Dawn Night, in which a local grocery store will put produce on the ice. Fans will then be picked for the mad scramble to accumulate as many groceries as possible in a certain amount of time.BALTIMORE: The season ticket count has reached 700 for the Clippers, who will hold training camp from October 14 to October 22.Baltimore will debut with a home contest with the Rifles on October 25 and the Clippers are already talking about a sellout of more than 10,000 for the game.All of the Clippers who played with the runner-up team of a season ago, are expected in the camp of the Minnesota North Stars.Gene Ubriaco also will return as coach and general manager after reaching agreement with the North Stars on a contract for 1980-81.SALEM&mdash;The Raiders&rsquo; coach and general manager, Pat Kelly, paid visits to the camps of the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings in seeking out players for Salem.Interest is reported very good in the Virginia city where hockey is returning for the first time in three years.Players will report on October 12 and hit the ice for the first practice session on October 13. The Raiders are still seeking to line up two or three exhibition games before their regular season home opener on October 25 with Hampton. The Raiders will be playing their first four games on home ice.Sam Lazzaro is the club&rsquo;s Public Relationsand Marketing Director.Salem is also attempting to work out a radio deal and talks were underway when this issue went to press. &#9632;

EHL Schedule Builds Geographical Rivalries

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BROPHY</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSOTTAWA&mdash;What type of junior hockey team will occupy the nation&rsquo;s capital this year?Brian Kilrea, coach and general manager of the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s, is hoping that he can mold a crew that won&rsquo;t fold in the stretch. Despite always having some of the top players in the country wearing the gaudy black, red and white striped uniforms of the 67&rsquo;s, Ottawa seems to annually run out of steam in April.Last season was no exception. Ottawa was expected to walk away with the Leyden Division and Ontario Major Junior Hockey League titles and earn a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament.They were a fast, explosive and high scoring team. They were also a team that came to depend only on a handful of players and eventually went down the tube in four straight games to the defending Memorial Cup champion Peterborough Petes. The big guns didn&rsquo;t produce and the supporting cast failed to help.&ldquo;At one point, we looked like a sure championship team,&rdquo; said Kilrea, midway through the Leyden Division final with the Petes. &ldquo;We are nowhere near that level now. It&rsquo;s not in my hands. I can only open the door and change the lines. If the players don&rsquo;t want it bad enough, there&rsquo;s nothing I can do.&rdquo;After the series was over and his club had been shelved for another years, he added, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very disappointing. It&rsquo;s as if we wasted a whole year. We aimed for the championship and got nothing.&rdquo;How could it happen?Their lineup was like a Who&rsquo;s Who in Ontario Junior hockey. In goal the 67&rsquo;s had returnee Jim Ralph, who on a good night can make top shooter&rsquo;s chins drop to their knees with his acrobatic saves. They also had hot-shot rookie Mike Vezina, a final year junior who won the F. W. &ldquo;Dinty&rdquo; Moore Trophy as top rookie goalie with a 3.93 goals against average.On defense, Doug Crossman was the highest scoring backliner in the OMJHL, with 20 goals and 96 assists for 116 points. Beside him was rugged Bill Kitchen, who scored only 26 points but spent 195 minutes in the penalty box.Complimenting that pair was giant 6-6 Rory Cava and tough rookie Randy Boyd. CaVa kept the crease area free of traffic while Boyd, who chalked up 148 penalty minutes, played like a veteran right from the start of training camp.The forward line of Jimmy Fox, Yvon Joly and Sean Simpson raised attendance all over the league.Fox, the sly right winger, led the league in scoring with 65 goals and 101 assists despite missing 16 of the 68 game-schedule. Not blessed with great speed or size, Fox relied on his hockey sense.Yvon Joly, the Roadrunner, represented speed, toughness and unpredictability on the big line. One second Joly would be floating in his own zone like he was in dreamland and the next he would be behind the defense, busting in the clear for a breakaway pass. He finished the season with 66 goals and 159 points.Center Simpson wasn&rsquo;t a good skater but complimented both his wingers and rarely took penalties. He scored 65 goals and assisted on 84 others for 149 points.Even with all that offense, the 67&rsquo;s were shut down by a strong Peterborough defense.This season, there is no Fox, Joly and Simpson line to rely on. Gone from the defense are Crossman, Kitchen and Cava.Early predictions concerning the 67&rsquo;s have them finishing somewhere around last place in the Leyden Division. The 67&rsquo;s should have won last year. If they couldn&rsquo;t win with the likes of Fox, Joly and Simpson, what are they going to be like without them?Kilrea has heared those rumors but isn&rsquo;t about to fold yet.&ldquo;So they&rsquo;re writing us off are they?&rdquo; said Kilrea. &ldquo;Well, if that&rsquo;s true, I think we&rsquo;re going to surprise a few people around the league this year. We have a lot of talented players on this team coming back from last year that didn&rsquo;t get the recognition they deserved. Maybe people will take notice of them this year.&rdquo;Returning from last year on forward will be Doug Smith, John Linesman (brother of the-Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Ken Linesman), Randy Cunneyworth, Dan Fascinato, Jay Fraser, Chris Veno and Mario Cerri.Linesman had a poor year last season with only 17 goals and 48 assists and Kilrea expects he will improve on that this year. Smith, a small but speedy center, scored 23 goals and assisted on 34 others.Both goaltenders will be returning to the 67&rsquo;s with Vezina the team&rsquo;s overage player.Ottawa received a setback when their first draft pick, Ali Butorac, reported to camp with an injured back and won&rsquo;t be able to start the season. Then their second choice in the midget draft, David Grbich of the Sault Ste. Marie Legion midgets, left camp.Butorac played with the Soo Greyhounds for 15 games last year and although he didn&rsquo;t score any points, he picked up 38 minutes in penalties.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01391/4422354-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="537" height="821"><figcaption class="caption-body">Speedy center Doug Smith may step into the limelight for Ottawa this season.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Ottawa Hopes To Silence Critics

<div class="byline">BY GREGG DRINNAN</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSWINNIPEG&mdash;The Western Hockey league expansionist Winnipeg Wariors got their first taste of game con-itions in an exhbition game against le Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; unsigned rookies. Ind what a night it was!There were 6,818 fans in the Win-ipeg Arena and while the Jets skated a 4-3 victory, the biggest winner was Terry Fox Marathon of Hope, which received the gate&rsquo;s receipts. The crowd was treated to an excel-ent hockey game and the Warriors of loach Fran Huck were clearly the ans&rsquo; favorites. Finnish-born Jukka Effraimson, Barry Soper and Doug luxton scored for the WHL club.A couple of nights later, the War-iors whipped the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Major unior League, 8-2. Bruce Schmidt, Dan Sylvester and Carey Lucyk all had wo goals apiece for the Warriors while Doug Hall and Luc St. Mars ad-led one each. The Greyhounds got revenge the next night with a 5-2 win.Meanwhile, off the ice, the Warriors made a couple of moves in an effort to bolster their defense. They started by adding Bill Juzda to their coaching staff. A former professional, who at one time played with the Winnipeg arriors of the old Western League, Juzda will work with the defensemen.And, the Warriors purchased a pair |of veteran defensemen&mdash;John Mac&rsquo;illan and Mike Rainville&mdash;from the gina Pats.Unfortunately for the Warriors Rainville refused to report to the club. MacMillan, who was vying for one of the team&rsquo;s two overage spots, had six goals, 24 assists and 126 penalty minutes in 66 games for the Pats last season.BILLINGS: The Bighorns, under head coach Les Calder and assistant Joe Arling, had a rookie camp in High River, Aka. with over 100 players appearing. When the main camp finally opened, Calder said his two major concerns are goaltending and defense. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be young at these positions, but the strength of our competition will be fierce. With the number of exhibition games [seven in 12 days] we have, it will give Joe and myself an excellent opportunity to evaluate the talent we have and to see how well they perform in a competitive situation.&rdquo;Tim Koppin, a native of Detroit, has taken over as the Bighorns&rsquo; public relations man, joining the club from Muskegon of the International League and Tom Zych, a native of Hamilton, Ont. is the club&rsquo;s trainer.BRANDON: Coach Les Jackson&rsquo;s Wheat Kings think they acquired a good one when they signed 18-year-old Darryl Stelay, a right winger from the Spokane Flyers. The deal originated in October of 1978 when the Wheat Kings sent Mike Mosalyk to the Edmonton Oil Kings (now the Spokane franchise). Staley scored 56 goals for the Yorktown Terriors of the Saskatchewan Junior League last season and was the All Star right winger. Staley, though, went home to think things over and wasn&rsquo;t around as the Wheat Kings dropped a 3-2 decision to the Jets&rsquo; rookies in Winnipeg. The next night, the Jets&rsquo; prevailed 8-5 and Brandon also dropped an 8-5 decision to Calgary.CALGARY: The Wranglers acquired 17-year-old goaltender Mike Vernon from Billings in exchange for Wade Waters, a 17-year-old right winger. Both played with the Alberta junior league&rsquo;s Calgary Canucks, last season. Calgary coach Doug Sauter called Vernon the best goaltender for his age in Canada. Sauter told Red Wiest of the Calgary Herald that he doesn&rsquo;t intend to have players around who have signed NHL contracts. Three players&mdash;center and captain Kelly Kisio, goalie Warren Skorodenski and defenseman J im Crosson&mdash;were under contract to NHL clubs last season and only Kisio performed decently. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll advise players not to sign,&rdquo; Sauter told Wiest. &ldquo;If someone does sign, maybe I&rsquo;ll trade him.&rdquo; Sauter also knows that two veterans&mdash;defenseman Darren Walker and forward Greg Chudiak&mdash;won&rsquo;t be back.REGINA: The defending champion Pats, under general manager Bob. Strumm and coach Jack Sangster, have been wheeling and dealing. Besides selling MacMillan and Rainville to Winnipeg, they sent 19-year-old Jeff Marshall, a defenseman, to the Lethbridge Broncos for 20-year-old goalie Greg Dumba and Darcy Pindus, an 18-year-old blueliner. At the same time, Regina traded Ron Propp, an 18-year-old right winger who is the younger brother of Philadelphia&rsquo;s Brian Propp, to the Saskatchewan Blades for Dick Kortje, a 19-year-old defenseman. Sangster also says he&rsquo;ll shift left winger Brian Varga, 118-point man last season, to center. In a 6-6 tie with Saskatoon the Pats got two goals from Eric Samuelson and Scott Lynch and singles from Todd Strueby and Varga.SASKATOON: Two power play goals late in the third period gave the Blades a 6-6 home-ice tie with Regina in an exhibition game marred by a 390-minute first-period bench-clearing incident. Terry Gancher had two goals for the Blades while singles came from Mark Havfchied, Arliss Preus, Brent Hamilton and Brian Skrudland.NEW WESTMINSTER: The Bruins&rsquo; top farm club this season will be the NorWes Caps of the B.C. Junior League. The Caps recently purchased by Tim Harrigan, of North Vancouver, replaced the Abbott Sports as the Bruins&rsquo; number one affiliate.PORTLAND: The Winter Hawks picked up 19-year-old Tom McGillivray in a five-player deal with Spokane. Mcgillivray scored 25 times and added 24 assists while skating for-the Great Falls Americans (now Spokane) and the Medicine Hat Tigers last season. Although he finished the season with the Tigers after the Americans folded, his rights reverted to Spokane at the season&rsquo;s end.The Flyers dealt McGillivray to Portland for defenseman Darren Yankovsky, left winger George Walter, right winger Joe Engert and a player to be named later. Yankovsky is a familiar figure to Spokane fans, having started last season with the Western International League Flyers. A 6-0, 200-pounder, Yankovsky had 133 penalty minutes in 44 games for Portland, plus four goals and 12 assists. Walter, a brother of Washington Capitals&rsquo; captain Ryan, is a 6-1, 190-pound two-year veteran, who had eight goals and 15 assists last year. Engert, a 6-0, 185-pounder, saw limited action in 27 games with Portland.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01370/4422385-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="573" height="763"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Pats hope to boost their offense by shifting Brian Varga, who scored 118 points as left winger, to center.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

Expansion Warriors Draw 6,818 To Exhibition

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMONTREAL&mdash;Heading into the upcoming Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season, it appears as though all the excitement will emanate from the Dilio Division. In the Lebel Division it will be a case of who is least inept.But all of the teams in the league, regardless of the division in which they compete, will feel the pinch of the recent NHL amateur draft.The level of play should be down a touch because of the graduation of so many excellent offensive QMJHL stars. The defending Memorial Cup champion Cornwall Royals will be without Dave Ezard, who broke league totals for defensemen with 105 points; the Sherbrooke Beavers could be missing as many as 13 from last season&rsquo;s runner-up squad, including 91-goal man Normand Aubin; the Chicoutimi Sagueneens will be without Guy Carbonneau and Gilles Hamel, who respectively totalled 72 and 86 goals; the Montreal Juniors have said goodbye to catalysts Denis Savard and Denis Cyr, 63 and 70 goals respectively; the defensive-minded Quebec Remparts have lost two defensemen and might lose a third. And so it goes down the line.Anyway, here&rsquo;s a look at each of the 10 teams individually in order of where THE HOCKEY NEWS figures they&rsquo;ll finish come mid-March.<h2>DILIO DIVISION</h2>1. CHICOUTIMI: The Sags could also lose center Alain Lemieux 47 goals, 95 assists, to the St. Louis Blues, who selected him underage, and goalie Yvan Charbonneau, although the latter might return as the team&rsquo;s overage member.Still, there&rsquo;s enough of a nucleus returning to give rookie coach Michel Morin a solid opportunity to represent the league at the Memorial CupRobert Millette (43 goals), Francois Gravel (37), super defenseman Gilbert Delorme (25-86-111), Remi Gagne and Normand Leveille (24 each) and Chris Langevin (22) should keep enemy nets filled and Daniel Turgeon (4.67 goals against average) will be a suitable replacement between the pipes.2. SHAWNIGAN: The Cats have come a long way the last two seasons under coach Ron Racette and should improve on last season&rsquo;s 28-35-9 mark despite the loss of goalie Paul Pageau, of Canadian Olympic fame, and leading scorer Pierre Dumouchel, 36 goals, 50 assists.Back again are Guy Fournier (47 goals), Pierre Rioux (27), Michel Cote (25) and Denis Tremblay (25 goals in 51 games after his trade from Montreal). Steve Penny (5.1 average) will get the brunt of the goaltending duties. Defense could be suspect with the loss of Marc Guerette and Gilles Hudon, although the latter could return as the Cats&rsquo; over-age member.3. QUEBEC: Unless the Quebec Nordiques decide under-age defenseman Norman Rochefort needs more seasoning, the Remparts will be forced to go with seldom-used Scott Fraser and Dany Rondeau, along with a crop of rookies along the blueline.On a positive note, big gunners Daniel Rioux (57 goals), Stephane Lessard (37) and Jacques Chouinard (28) are back, along with goalies Guillaume Abbatiello and Roberto Romano, who combined for the league&rsquo;s third best average&mdash;4.60.4. TROIS-RIVERES: Coach Michel Bergeron has gone to the Nordiques, and with him, most of the Draveurs&rsquo; feared attack of recent seasons.New coach Remi Gilbert finds himself without experienced centers after the loss of Jean-Francois Sauve, league scoring leader with 63 goals and 124 assists, and Michel Leblond (31 goals). Goalie Jacques Cloutier is gone, along with defensemen Michel Damboise and Mario Tardif. Fortunately, 85-goal man Pierre Aubry could return as an overage player.Goaltender Denis Groulx, acquired in an off-season trade from Hull, will get plenty of playing time along with rookie defenseman Mario Paradis and centers Daniel Courcy, Claude Verette and Daniel Lamiranda.5. SHERBROOKE: Coach-general manager Ghyslain Delage put all his eggs in one basket last season, utilizing 19-year-olds primarily and will now be forced to pay the price.The Beavers have recruited heavily from the Maritimes and could ice as many as 17 rookies, among them defensemen Paul Bouthiller and Russell Mackenzie and forwards Daniel Campeau, Gerard Gallant and Whitney Richardson.But they won&rsquo;t be enough to replace the likes of Aubin. Louis Begin, Serge Boisvert, Brian Johnson and Bernard Gallant, who scored 275 goals between them.<h2>LEBEL DIVISION</h2>1. SOREL: A mid-season shift from Verdun disturbed the Hawks so much that they finished out of the playoffs, with a 20-47-5 records. Of course the trades of Aubin and Johnson didn&rsquo;t help either.But in what is clearly a unique situation, coach Ron Lapointe has his entire team returning. They&rsquo;ll be led by Steve Kasper (57 goals), sophomore Chris Valentine (48) and Andre Cote (34) up front along with goalies Michel Dufour (5.78 average) and Mario Belanger (6.20), who can only get better with one year under their belts.Lapointe thinks so much of rookie defensemen Victor Cormier and Richard Gagne that he&rsquo;s cut veterans Alain Asselin, Carol Gauthier and Mario Patry.2. CORNWALL: The Royals have lost goalie Ron Scott, Ezard, underage defenseman Fred Arthur, expected to stick with Hartford, along with Dan Daoust (40 goals), Rod Willard (29), and Newell Brown (24) and Pat Haramis (32), who have elected to attend American colleges.While the Royals could be hard-pressed to reach the.500 level, their plight will be considerably more optimistic for rookie head coach and former NHL official Bob Kilger should Gilles Crepeau (48 goals) return overage and underage Mike Corrigan (30) fail to stick with Detroit and decide against college in the U.S.Outstanding rookie Dale Hawerchuk 66-103) returns along with Mark rawford (27) and Scott Arniel (22). red Boimistruck, an underage selec-on by the Toronto Maple Leafs, will nchor the defense, while goalie Tom raovac split the duties with Scott, nd thus cannot be considered a ability.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01349/4422416-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="502" height="736"><figcaption class="caption-body">Robert Millette should be a leading sharpshooter for Chicoutimi which may have the QMJHL&rsquo;s best team.</figcaption></div>The Royals are also looking for a ew coach after Doug Carpenter left to ake a similar job with New Bruns-&rsquo;ick of the AHL.3. HULL: Coach Marcel Pronovost saw he writing on the wall, so he took off a Detroit, leaving Jean Lachapelle in his stead.He is without Mike Brisebois (57 goals), Ben Laporte (37), Claude Lafontaine (30), plus defensemen Marc-Andre Marchand and Claude Godbout and goalie Pierre Groulx although Daniel Sanscartier got most of the work last season. Jean Poulin (52 goals) returns, and even if underage members Michel Galarneau and John Chabot (39 and 26 goals, respectively) fail to stick with their NHL clubs, things should remain sub-par in Hull.4. LAVAL: After what seems like centuries in last place in the Lebel Division, the Voisins finally appear ready to move up the ladder and could conceivably overtake Hull and qualify for the playoffs.Leading scorer Alain Grenier (39-47-86) returns with Louis Haman (33), overage Marcel Tourigny (28) and Norman Beck (27). Big things are also expected of right wing Yves Courteau, this summer&rsquo;s top midget selection.The Voisins&rsquo; shortcomings will come in goal, where Yves Dechene has been replaced by unproven Michel Morissette (8.35 average). Laval allowed 499 goals last season&mdash;worst in the league&mdash;and have lost Richard Morneau. Mike Shea&rsquo;s a good one, but he can&rsquo;t perform miracles alone.5. MONTREAL: The Juniors have no scoring to speak of after losing Savard and Cyr, along with Alain Bouchard (43 goals), J. P. Dubois (43) and Mike Krushelnvski (39). They might also lose Eric Morin (30) who wants to be traded and Gaetano Orlando (28) who would like to attend Providence College.New head coach Pierre Creamer can only hope last season&rsquo;s porous defense and sophomore goalies Patrice Pare and Jeff Barratt tighten their belts. &#9632;

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Sagueneens Picked To Lead QMJHL

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;In his first two seasons as the coach of the Kings, Bob Berry often carried seven or more extra players at the beginning of the regular season schedule. This year, when the Kings opened training camp in Victoria, B.C., in the second week of September, Berry said that he was determined to make the difficult decisions and cut to a tight roster before the season opener.Berry expects to carry 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. Although there were many more players in camp, realistically there are about 30 who will be bidding for the 20 spots, pending any trades which might develop. Here is how the competition shapes up:Centers&mdash;Probables: Marcel Dionne, Garry Unger, Andre St. Laurent. Possibles: Steve Carlson, Don Howse, Dan Bonar, Warren Holmes, Nelson Pyatt. New Rookies: Greg Terrion, Bernie Nicholls.Right Wings&mdash;Probables: Dave Taylor, Mike Murphy, Billy Harris (also left wing), Dean Hopkins. Possibles: Al Dumba, Barry Scully. Rookies: Jim Fox. Dave Morrison.Left Wings&mdash;Probables: Charlie Simmer, Glenn Goldup, Steve Jensen, John Paul Kelly. Possibles: Scott Gruhl, Rick Hampton, Mike Marson. Rookies: Michel Brisebois, Alain Bouchard, Brian Carroll.Defense&mdash;Probables: Dave Lewis, Jerry Korab, Doug Halward, Rob Palmer, Mark Hardy, Jay Wells. Possibles: Randy Manery, Brad Sel-wood, Barry Gibbs, John Gibson. Rookies: Larry Murphy.Goaltenders&mdash;Probables: Mario Lessard, Doug Keans. Possibles: Ron Grahame, Julian Baretta. Rookies: Paul Pageau.The rookies listed are those signed in 1980 and a couple, including Fox and Terrion, are given good chances to make the team. Technically, there are other rookies up from the International League, including Dumba, who led the league with 119 points, scored 47 goals and was MVP; Scullly, who had 61 goals, and Gruhl, who had 53 goals.Veteran centers Syl Apps and Vic Venasky were released just prior to training camp.KINGS THINGS: General Manager George Maguire named long-time PR man John Wolf, formerly GM at Portland when that was a Kings&rsquo; farm club, his assistant GM. Bright young Scott Carmichael, completing his last year of college at Loyola-Marymount, moves in as assistant PR man&hellip; Bob Borgen will be in charge of videotaping practices and games for coaching purposes&hellip; Former Kings&rsquo; defenseman Nick Beverley was named coach of the Kings&rsquo; farm team in Houston&hellip; Gerry Fleury was signed as a scout&hellip; Gordon Edes, from Chicago, will cover the club for the L.A. Times&hellip; Doug Spoon is the new beat-man for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.The Kings finally found a new radio outlet, KOGO (600 AM), and while it is in San Diego, its signal blankets southern California better than other stations the club has had in recent seasons. KGOE (850 AM) in the San Fernando Valley and KQLH (950 AM) in San Bernardino will broaden the coverage. All pre-season and regular season games will be broadcast by Bob Miller and Pete Weber. Hopefully, starving hockey fans in San Diego will be lured north to attend games. Fifteen games will be televised on KHJ-TV (Channel 9).The Kings have moved up the starting times of their weeknight games to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday night games to 7 p.m. Opening with Detroit at home Oct. 11, they will play 16 games on Saturdays, 10 games on Wednesdays, six on Tuesdays, five on Thursdays, and three on Mondays. They will buck Monday night TV football on Nov. 10 and Dec. 8 and Thursday night TV football on Dec. 4.The Kings&rsquo; seven-game pre-season schedule opened Sept. 20 in Victoria and included home dates with Edmonton Sept. 30, Vancouver Oct. 2, and Calgary (formerly Atlanta) Oct. 4. It concludes at Vancouver Oct. 5&hellip; At home the Kings will again practici at the Culver City Ice Rink, a facility owner Jerry Buss was negotiating to purchase.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01364/4422447-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="509" height="841"><figcaption class="caption-body">Greg Terrion, center from Brantford, may have chance to stick with the Kings.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Kings’ Berry Promises Slimmed Down Roster

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div>HARTFORD&mdash;When the curtain went up at their training camp just outside Binghamton, N.Y., neither of the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; top two scorers had signed contracts for the upcoming season.Mike Rogers, the NHL&rsquo;s fifth highest scorer in 1979-80 (44-66-105) was unable to come to terms with the Whalers. But he had agreed to enter binding arbitration rather than play out his option. Beginning his fifth full year with the Whalers, the speedy center volunteered, &ldquo;I like it here in Hartford.&rdquo;There was considerable uncertainty about one of his linemates, however. Right wing Blaine Stoughton, a 56-goal scorer last year, was among the missing when camp opened. Not only hadn&rsquo;t he signed a new contract, but he was in the process of suing the Hartford franchise in U.S. District Court for the tidy sum of $600,000&mdash;and free agency status.Stoughton claimed that the Whalers failed to offer him a contract by July 1, which according to the NHL&rsquo;s collective bargaining agreement with the Players&rsquo; Association would make him a free agent. Furthermore, since the Whalers had not offered him a formal Standard Players&rsquo; Contract, Stoughton claimed that he should be declared a free agent without equalization or compensation to the team.The Whalers&rsquo; claim was that not only had Stoughton been offered a contract prior to the deadline, but the Whalers&rsquo; rights to Stoughton&rsquo;s services were spelled out in the contract that they had assumed after the Indianapolis Racers of the old WHA folded in December, 1978.Additional claims and counterclaims were scheduled to be heard in court during the training camp period, but it seemed unlikely that the high-scoring sharpshooter would be lacing on his skates prior to the season opener.The consensus among experienced Whaler watchers was that no matter what happens in court, there&rsquo;s a strong likelihood that Blaine Stoughton will be skating under a new banner before long. The hope is that the Hartford team will get compensation if he becomes a free agent.Playmaker Rogers, corner man Pat Boutette, and sharpshooter Stoughton were a very effective line last year. But coach Don Blackburn has indicated on several occasions that it is Mike Rogers who is the catalyst for the trio. &ldquo;With that explosive speed, he opens things up,&rdquo; says Blackburn. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the one guy we&rsquo;d least like to have a bad night.&rdquo;When the Stoughton court case was initiated (less than two weeks prior to the opening of training camp), Blackie didn&rsquo;t seem overly disturbed. As a matter of fact, he quickly decided that second-year man Ray Allison was the logical choice to step in with Rogers and Boutette.Pointing out that Allison&rsquo;s statistics in juniors (Brandon Wheat Kings) were better than Stoughton&rsquo;s, he said, &ldquo;If you lose a 56-goal scorer you&rsquo;ve gotta replace him.&rdquo; After a slow start in his rookie year, Allison, a right winger, came on strong toward the end of the season. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the credentials to be a top scorer,&rdquo; said Blackie.Fortunately for the Whalers, right wing was perhaps the team&rsquo;s strongest position going into training camp, with Allison, Tommy Rowe, Warren Miller. Dave DeBol, and rookie Ray Neufeld all in contention for a spot.In a move that surprised quite a few people, the Whalers made a straight cash deal in sending veteran goalie Al Smith to Colorado. It had been expected that Smith would be battling with John Garrett and newcomer Mike Veisor for the netminding chores this year, but then it became apparent that one of the three would undoubtedly be lost in the upcoming waiver draft. When management chose to go along with the younger legs (Garrett is 29, and Veisor 28) the 34-year old Smith was the odd-man out.An interesting competition is developing for the final spot in the Whalers&rsquo; defense corps. It is generally conceded that five players have the inside track on the blue line. Captain Rick Ley, Mark Howe, Thommy Abra-hamsson, Gordie Roberts, and rookie (first round selection) Fred Arthur supposedly will be around at the start. That leaves Al Sims, Marty Howe, along with youngsters Mark Renaud and Stuart Smith to scramble for a sixth spot which Blackburn has indicated may be short-lived in his overall plans. He&rsquo;d prefer to go with five.Sims, after coming to Hartford via the expansion draft (from Boston) last year, never seemed to shake his allegiance to Boston. This year, however, he has settled in and seems determined to earn the right to play at least as many games as he did last year (76). &#9632;

Stoughton Suing Whalers In Free Agency Dispute

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY&mdash;When the Atlanta lames were shifted to Calgary in the if-season, it meant a new beginning veterans and rookies alike.No player is more grateful for the nance to start over than Bob Mac-lillan. Three days into last year&rsquo;s raining camp, MacMillan was rushed the hospital for an emergency ppendectomy. Although he missed ply three games at the start of the eason he admits that he never got ritracked.&ldquo;It was just a disastrous year,&rdquo; said BacMillan. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not really wor-led about it. I&rsquo;ve got confidence in my me. I think I&rsquo;m going to have a good son.&rdquo;Two years ago, MacMillan was one of the National Hockey league&rsquo;s top scorers. He finished fifth in the league with 37 goals and 71 assists, just behind Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders. He also won the Lady Byng award as the most gentlemanly player.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure that I can get 108 points again, but I&rsquo;ll certainly get more than the 61 I got last year,&rdquo; the 28-year-old right winger said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to continue playing with Guy Chouinard and Eric Vail.&ldquo;Last year we were off our game, but a lot of it had to do with me, I see no reason why we can&rsquo;t be a great line again.&rdquo;In 1978-79, Chouinard scored 50 goals and Vail had 38.MacMillan, a native of Charlottetown, P.E.I., is one of seven &ldquo;islanders&rdquo; playing in the NHL. He says that P.E.I. may have the highest ratio of professional hockey players of any area in Canada.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of the fact that I&rsquo;m from the Island,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Islanders are proud people. We always won at hockey against the other Maritime provinces. We&rsquo;re almost more Island-ders than we are Canadians.&rdquo;At first, the move from Atlanta to Calgary was not popular among the Flames&rsquo; players, but MacMillan says things have changed.&ldquo;There was a lot of negative feeling after last season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;For us, it was just like being traded and nobody likes to get traded. But about a month ago everybody started jogging and skating and getting into shape. Everybody was talking it up. We&rsquo;re excited about things here. Everybody likes it here now.&rdquo;Flames&rsquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher agrees that a return to form by MacMillan and Chouinard is the key to the Flames&rsquo; success this year.&ldquo;If they can carry the offensive load they did two years ago, what with the addition of a Kent Nilsson, who has the capability of being one of the finest players in the league, I think we&rsquo;ll be all right,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;If Nilsson, Chouinard and MacMillan have top years, then our club is going to be right there with everybody else. That&rsquo;s the way it will be. And if they don&rsquo;t, then we&rsquo;ll struggle.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01342/4422502-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="569" height="837"><figcaption class="caption-body">After an early-season appendec tomy, Bob MacMillan never got rolling forthe Flames last year</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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MacMillan Excited By Fresh Start

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER-Harry Neale has Iways possessed the gift of gab or matever else you might like to call it, nd as he began the final year of a three-year contract as coach of the ancouver Canucks, the verbs coming rom his lips were all positive.Just why Neale is so high on the 980-81 edition of his club is not clear o everyone in this city, but he is wiling to take the time to explain why people should be looking on the bright ide.Despite the fact that the Canucks e only one signficant new face in erms of player help, Neale feels that because the club will not be making wholesale changes like they did throughout most of the previous campaign, it will have a positive effect on the development of his team.Neale sees stability in having nearly 11 of the same players back, plus the ddition of No. 1 draft pick Rick Lanz, he defenseman from the Oshawa ienerals of the Ontario Major Junior.eague. However, while he is correct n assuming that their newly estab-ished stability will have a positive uilding effect on the club, Neale must Iso realize that the team&rsquo;s depth at ertain positions is not exactly enuine, most notably at center. If it is rue that a team will do well if they ave strength down the middle, then he Canucks may have reason for lightly more pessimism than some of their NHL adversaries.Yes, there is Thomas Gradin and the freshly-signed Ivan Boldirev at center, but it ends there. After that Neale has an assortment of people he can throw onto a third line, including veteran Chris Oddleifson, Per-Olov Brasar and second-year pro Gary Lupul among the candidates, but none of the three can be expected to produce a big scoring year.Lanz makes the defensive picture look improved as he will push either John Hughes or Dave Logan if he does what is expected of him, but goaltending is another problem area.With Glen Hanlon recovering from a final game injury and then surgery to a shoulder, there are a few raised eyebrows when one looks at the depth chart. While it&rsquo;s true that Gary Bromley played well last season, he rarely starts work much before Christmas and after that the Canucks have only second year pro Ken Ella-cott.Doubtless, the Canucks will be looking for a goalie in the intfa-league draft and with the possibility of Al Smith (Colorado) and Doug Soetaert (Rangers) available, they just might acquire some experience in that area.Neale is also optimistic because of the schedule. The club does not have one situation where they play four games in five nights and none of the road trips are over five games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always felt that if we have some time between games to practice we&rsquo;re better off,&rdquo; says Neale. &ldquo;We found so often last year that on the seven-game trips when we went with four lines as we did, many of the guys would actually play themselves out of shape.&rdquo;Neale&rsquo;s theory is not new in Vancouver and this is not the first time the Canucks have had a schedule which called for more but shorter road trips. It was former Canucks&rsquo; Coach Orland Kurtenbach who lobbied the league for fewer, longer trips because he felt that once the squad had adjusted to the big time change, it didn&rsquo;t matter how many games they had to play. So in effect the thoughts on the schedule have gone the full circle and the fact remains that Vancouver still gets the shaft for no other reason than geography alone.The addition of the Calgary franchise will certainly not hurt either. Atlanta was the farthest city in the league from Vancouver and this, combined with the fact it adds another Western team for the Eastern clubs to meet, is to the Canucks&rsquo; advantage.Meanwhile the Boldirev deal was finally cleared up when general manager Jake Milford went to Chi-cago to see the center&rsquo;s agent Jack Childers. Milford apparently came up slightly from what he said would be his final offer, even though he appeared to have Boldirev over the free agent barrel.Boldirev had tested the free agent waters and Chicago was interested, but Milford easily scared off the Hawks by asking for either Terry Ruskowski or Tom Lysiak in return.Boldirev signed a three-year deal and should finally get to settle down after being traded twice in the last two seasons. &#9632;

Canucks’ Stability Making Neale Optimistic

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div>TORONTO&mdash;While acting general manager Harold Ballard was sweetening the pot, expecting to get All Star defenseman Borje Salming&rsquo;s name onto a new multi-vear contract with the Maple Leafs, Joe Crozier, who&rsquo;s running the on-ice show for the Toronto club, was busy formulating which players will survive his training camp and open the season for the Blue and White.With the Leafs finishing the previous season with the worst goals against average in the National Hockey League it must be obvious that reducing the number of goals by the opposition is perhaps the No. 1 task which the Leafs must tackle in order to become a contending team.Somewhat surprisingly, however, the defense corps of the Maple Leafs is undoubtedly the section of the team that is the least accessible to newcomers, other than Robert Picard and Dave Shand, who were obtained at the beginning of summer. They, along with Salming, Dave Burrows, Ian Turnbull and Dave Farrish. give the Leafs six experienced NHL defensemen right off the bat. There is also a fair amount of balance among the six, with Salming, Picard and Turnbull known for their offensive capabilities and Shand, Burrows and Farrish more defensive minded.Crozier doesn&rsquo;t see any worry about getting his team down to 17 skaters and two goaltenders when the season begins the second week in October. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t necessarily have to get down to any magic number,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We could very well be carrying a couple of extras. There are lots of jobs being sought here and I like the competitiveness being shown in camp.&rdquo;A longshot for a defense post, but a player who has been impressive in training camp, is Czechoslovakian defector Vitezslav Duris, who escaped from his homeland just shortly after the Stastny brothers left for the Quebec Nordiques. Like the Stastnys, Duris was also a member of the Czechoslovakian National Team.Crozier, who said that the Leafs would employ Duris a great deal during the exhibition schedule, teamed the Czech with Salming when the Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3, in their first preseason contest.If there are any new faces in the lineup when the Leafs open the 1980-81 schedule, they are expected to appear in the forward ranks. Center Normand Aubin was the odds-on favorite to crack the lineup because of his notable scoring talents, including 91 goals last season for the Sherbrooke Beavers of the Quebec Major Junior League. In the early going the Leafs had Aubin, who wears jersey number 4, centering Darryl Sittier and Wilf Paiement.Aubin&rsquo;s teammate from last year, Serge Boisvert, also a center and a prolific scorer, has drawn praise around the Leafs&rsquo; camp for his efforts thus far.At left wing, Bill McCreary Jr. has been a pleasant addition and could move ahead of a veteran like Dan Maloney in a bid for ice time. McCreary is only 20 years old and just out of Colgate University. He opted to remain there after being drafted by the Leafs two years ago, but it is obvious that he was getting prepared for a pro career. He&rsquo;s an excellent skater, strong at 6-1, 190 pounds and is remarkably poised and calm.Another left wing candidate is Tim Coulis, a former high draft pick of the Washington Capitals who came to the Leafs with Picard in the deal for goalie Mike Palmateer. Coulis missed most of his first two seasons with an assortment of injuries, including a broken wrist, but he&rsquo;s healthy now and could be a surprising factor on the club.In goal, Jiri Crha will open the season as No. 1 and he&rsquo;ll most likely be backed up by Curt Ridley, who joined the Leafs mid-way through last season. Ticketed for Moncton in the American League are Vincent Tremblay and Paul Harrison, who opened last season as Palmateer&rsquo;s backup.So how does Crozier expect to get the Leafs on the road to better hockey? &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to work on a system in our own end,&rdquo; Crozier explained. &ldquo;The biggest thing is not to have your players running around back there. But I find that a lot of positive things happen when you look after your own end first.&ldquo;We&rsquo;d like to go with six defensemen, like the Islanders and Minnesota do,&rdquo; Crozier said. &ldquo;That keeps you a little fresher and for the guys who need extra work like Salming and Picard, we hope to use them on the power play or killing penalties.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f00c4-01221/4422557-1-eng-US/f00c4-012.jpg" title="f00C4-01" width="554" height="835"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Leafs are expecting to loc up Borje Salming, the glue of thei defense, to a multi-year contrac soon.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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October 3, 1980

Czech Stastnys Defect And Sign With Quebec

Walter Recruits Capitals For Early Training Camp

Central Hockey League

An Important Message For Canadian Mail Subscribers