Dallas Widens Lead With Stingy Goaltending

LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS DALLAS — Danny Belisle’s Black Hawks ran their winning streak to five straight games and opened up a 10-point lead over runnerup Birmingham in the Central League South with the Hawks having three games in hand. The latest victories, both at home, were a 3-2 nail-biter over Houston and a 5-1 “laugher” against Fort Worth. That one gave the Hawks a commanding 4-0 advantage in the Turnpike Series. Paul Harrison lowered his goals-against average to 2.60 (third best in the league) with the victory over Fort Worth. The only goal he allowed, to Texan Jack Valiquette, tied the score briefly in the second period, but the Hawks’ five-goal outburst in that period sealed the verdict. Brian Young had started the big period for Dallas. After Fort Worth matched…

Green Bighorns Eyeing Second Half

BILLINGS — Les Calder, head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Billings Bighorns, finds himself in the same situation as a lot of Major Junior coaches: He’s coaching a team that has an abundance of youth and inexperience. “All that means,” says Calder, who works with assistant coach Joe Arling, “is that we key on the second half of the schedule. In the first half, we just try to stay healthy and work with the kids. Then, once the second half gets here, we want to play consistently. “We tried it that way last year and it really worked. We lost just nine games in the second half and went into the playoffs on a high.” The Bighorns were eliminated in the opening round of those playoffs, but not before an incredibly tough…

The CAN/AM Hockey Group and The Hockey News

Gorence’s Shots Dodging Goaltenders

PHILADELPHIA — It can’t be acquired, you either have it or you don’t. Hitting goalies with hockey pucks is not a learned art. You could shoot for hours, try to miss targets until your hands bled, but every once in a while a player comes along with that innate sense that leaves the hockey world in awe. Goalies could be prone, or on their knees praying for mercy. Or caught up at the red line. Or playing without a stick. They could even be sitting on the bench in favor of an extra attacker in the final minute and a guy like T.J. Gorence would have found them. Uncanny. It is, like overskating the puck and taking dumb penalties, a unique art. With the speed of a gazelle and the hands of a…