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.

April 3, 1981

The Hockey News April 3, 1981

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>INNEAPOLIS&mdash;Score it a clean sweep for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ice hockey playoffs and register it as a near-sweep for the WCHA when it came time to dish out All-America awards.</p><p>Three WCHA teams advanced into the final four of the NCAA tourney, to be held March 26-28 in Duluth, by winning first-round playoff victories.</p><p>Minnesota, the No. 1 team from the west and WCHA champion, hammered Cornell 9-4 and 5-4 to win that two-game, total goal series 14-8 on Minnesota&rsquo;s home ice.</p><p>The other two WCHA teams had a tougher test on the road. Michigan Tech, seeded third from the West in the first round of the NCAA tourney, took the No. 2 team from the East, Providence, out of the picture with 7-3 and 6-5 wins for a 13-8 edge in the total goal series.</p><p>And Wisconsin, resurrected from the dead after losing in the first round of the WCHA playoffs to Colorado College, took advantage of its new life by edging the No. 1 team from the East, Clarkson. 9-8 in the total goal series. A 6-6 tie followed a 3-2 Wisconsin win.</p><p>That put those three WCHA teams, which were the top three in the regular season final standings as well, into the final four along with Northern Michigan, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular season and playoff winner, which disposed of the No. 3 team from the East, Cornell, winning the total goal series 10-7 with a 7-3 win and a 4-3 loss.</p><p>That makes it an all-western final in Duluth in the first year of the expanded format which saw eight teams selected for the NCAA field, four from the west, four from the East. It&rsquo;s the first time in the 34-year history of the tourney it has been an all-Western final.</p><p>A new champion is assured since defending titlist North Dakota was a first round loser in the WCHA playoffs, bowing to Michigan Tech, which now has advanced to the nationals and the right to meet Minnesota in the opening game. Wisconsin will clash with Northern Michigan in the other series with the winners meeting March 28 for the championships.</p><p>Minnesota and Michigan Tech met twice during the regular season in Michigan Tech with a split resulting.</p><p>Tech won the opener 5-3, but Minnesota won the second game 8-3.</p><p>Wisconsin and Northern Michigan didn&rsquo;t meet during the regular season, but the Badgers did claim a 5-4 exhibition victory over Northern Michigan in pre-season play in Northern Michigan.</p><p>When they handed out the All-American awards from the West earlier in the week, the WCHA dominated there, too.</p><p>The WCHA grabbed five of the six All-America honors, headed by the selection of two players from Minnesota&mdash;forwards Steve Ulseth and Neal Broten&mdash;to the All-America West team.</p><p>Others selected were goaltender Paul Fricker of Michigan, defensemen Marc Chorney of North Dakota and Tim Watters of Michigan Tech and forward Steve Bozek of Northern Michigan.</p><p>Ulseth is the most intriguing selection. He came to Minnesota four years ago without any scholarship help, then developed himself into one of the premier college players in the game with hard work and dedication. He went on to win the WCHA scoring championship with 63 points on 28 goals and 35 assists, five in front of teammate Aaron Broten. Ulseth led the league in goals and was second in assists to teammate Neal Broten, who missed the last two weeks of the regular season with an elbow injury.</p><p>Chorney learned of his All-America selection the day he made his debut in the uniform of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL. He celebrated by scoring his first NHL goal as the Penguins lost 4-3 to Vancouver. Chorney, a senior, turned pro the week after North Dakota was eliminated from the playoff picture.</p><p>While Minnesota was the only team with two All-America selections as picked by the American Hockey Coaches Association, there were some who felt the Gophers should have had three.</p><p>Sophomore center Aaron Broten, the younger brother of Neal, didn&rsquo;t pick up any honors despite the face he became the first Gopher to score over 100 points in a season when he hit the century mark in the playoff series with Colgate. His 45th goal of the season gave him his 100th point, but he still lost out for the third forward spot to Northern Michigan&rsquo;s Steven Bozek, who has helped put the wildcat program into the spotlight. Broten had the hat trick as Minnesota clinched a berth in the NCAA with a 5-4 win over Colgate.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01426/4444541-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="606" height="792"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Ulseth of Minnesota was selected as an All-American after winning the WCHA scoring crown.</b></figcaption></div><p>The selection of Neal Broten and Tim Watters brought awards to two players who took a year off from college hockey last year to play Olympic hockey. Broten helped the U.S. to the gold medal while Watters was a mainstay on defense for the Canadian Olympic team.</p><p>Four of the All-Americans (Neal Broten, Ulseth, Watters and Bozek) will be in action in the final round of the NCAA tourney in Duluth, which has been a sell-out for weeks. Having four teams from the West in the final four will put a heavy strain on the 5,681-capacity Duluth Arena.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Minnesota, Michigan Tech, Wisconsin Strut WCHA Strength In NCAA Finals

<div class="byline">BY FRANK FONTAINE</div><p class="dropcap"><span>Q</span>UEBEC&mdash;There are many factors which go into making a winning team in sports&hellip;such as the Nordiques have become. One of them is thinking like a winner.</p><p>No player on the Nordiques&rsquo; roster thinks more&rsquo; like a winner than Andre Dupont. The Moose has always been a winner. Whatever team he has played with, in whatever league, he has always been in the playoffs. He has won the Memorial Cup, with the junior Montreal Canadiens, and the Stanley Cup, with the Philadelphia Flyers, with whom he played eight years before coming to Quebec this season.</p><p>To the 32-year-old defenseman, missing the playoffs would be nothing short of disaster. &ldquo;You play a whole season to make the playoffs; if you don&rsquo;t make it, you&rsquo;ve lost your year,&rdquo; says the straightforward, uncomplicated Dupont.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a winner for whom the word <i>team</i> has a very concrete meaning,&rdquo; says coach Michel Bergeron. &ldquo;His cheerfulness and dedication have always made him a leader in the dressing room.&rdquo;</p><p>It was Dupont who took Anton Stastny under his personal care at the start of the season. The Moose made the shy, 21-year-old Slovak feel at home by making him laugh. He nicknamed him &ldquo;Ti-Toine,&rdquo; [a popular French nickname which means something like Little Tony, | and he kidded the rookie at every opportunity.</p><p>Humor is an essential part of success for Dupont. He will cheerfully let himself be the butt of a good joke if it will help the players laugh and relax&hellip;together. For instance, whenever former Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; coach Fred Shero would impart new pearls of wisdom to his players, he would wind up the chalk talk by asking: &ldquo;Do you understand Moose? Yes? Fine.</p><p>The Moose understands. That means everybody understands.&rdquo;</p><p>Dupont recalls Shero with affection: &ldquo;I lived my happiest years in Philadelphia. Mr. Shero taught me a lot because he never yelled at us; he preferred to explain what he wanted. He gave you confidence and made you feel like a better man. I&rsquo;ll never forget that.&rdquo;</p><p>Nowhere is Dupont&rsquo;s respect for fellow human beings more evident than in his attitude toward younger players&hellip;of which there are plenty with the Nordiques. In fact, the only other veteran on defense is Dale Hoganson, who is the same age as Dupont. The rest of the blueline brigade is made up of seldom-used Kim Clackson, 26; Mario Marois, 23; Pierre Lacroix, 22; Dave Pichette, 21; and Normand Rochefort, 20. In other words, unless he is paired with Hoganson, which is not often, Dupont shares shifts with youngsters. Nowdays, that&rsquo;s not so bad; in fact it&rsquo;s fun, because those kids have come a long way. They make fewer and fewer mistakes&rsquo; and have more and more confidence. Dupont deserves some of the credit for that too.</p><p>Often at the start of the season, Dupont did look to the inexperienced eye, like a moose on skates, because he had to cover for the mistakes of his young partners. There were times when it was more difficult to figure out what his youthful fellow rearguard would do, than to anticipate the opposition&rsquo;s play. But Dupont never got angry with those kids. On the contrary, he encouraged them; gave them confidence&hellip;the way Fred Shero had done. And the way some of Shero&rsquo;s veterans had done for the younger Dupont, years before.</p><p>&ldquo;I made a lot of mistakes when I was young. What would I&rsquo;ve become if veterans like Barry Ashbee, Ed Van Impe and Joe Watson hadn&rsquo;t encouraged me? I&rsquo;m only giving back what they gave me,&rdquo; says Dupont.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02637/4444210-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="608" height="860"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Veteran defenseman Andre (Moose) Dupont has been a team leader for the Nordiques.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-02

Dupont Makes Nordiques Feel Like Winners

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY ROSEN</div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>INNIPEG&mdash;Gambling establishments, the legal variety of course, often use an expression when a client wishes to place a wager on a sports event that in the mind of the bookie is a foregone conclusion: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s off the board.&rdquo;</p><p>On March 4, the Winnipeg Jets rolled into Montreal and before the club could mount any semblance of an attack, it faced a 5-0 first period deficit.</p><p>The Canadiens raised the count to 9-0 and then staved off a token effort by the Jets and won handily 9-3.</p><p>On the subsequent evening the Philadelphia Flyers, at home, proved to be equally inhospitable as they thrashed the cellar dwelling Jets by a count of 10-1.</p><p>What were the odds, then, of Winnipeg, winless in 10 consecutive games defeating the hottest club in the circuit, the Canadiens, who hadn&rsquo;t lost a contest in 14 games, 72 hours after their visit to the Forum? As they say at the betting shops: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s off the board.&rdquo;</p><p>But there was one thing that Montreal didn&rsquo;t count on, far beyond their collective imaginations. It was the Jets&rsquo; fans&rsquo; &ldquo;Annual Tuxedo Night.&rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps the most widely publicized fan participation event of the last NHL campaign, fans were encouraged to wear ruffled shirts, top hats and tails.</p><p>A Canadiens-Jets game in December. 1979, was televised on <i>Hockey Night in Canada</i> and the purpose was to demonstrate to the national populace that folks in this central Canadian outpost oozed class.</p><p>Talk about history repeating itself, what transpired in Winnipeg on March 7 was a classic example of &ldquo;deja vu&rdquo; if ever there was such a phenomenon.</p><p>Contemplate the following chain of events, if you will. On Nov. 22, 1979, the Jets visited Montreal and were blanked 7-0 by their hosts.</p><p>Approximately three weeks later, on the Jets&rsquo; initial Tuxedo Night in what became a national news story, Willy Lindstrom scored three goals to become the team&rsquo;s first player to record a hat trick as Winnipeg surprised Montreal with a convincing 6-2 win.</p><p>The victory was the club&rsquo;s 10th of their initial NHL season, and it was only mid-December. A gargantuan feat when compared with the seven wins this year&rsquo;s team had going into the Montreal game.</p><p>A crowd of 15,648, a small percentage of which paid scalpers&rsquo; prices to witness what was to be a one-sided clash, sat back and awaited the inevitable loss again this season.</p><p>Just six seconds after the Jets&rsquo; Dave Christian was assessed a holding penalty, Guy Lafleur scored on a hard slapshot from just inside the blueline at 9:30 of the opening period.</p><p>Less than five minutes later Winnipeg&rsquo;s Tim Trimper moved into the slot, took a pass from Rick Bowness and beat Denis Herron with a 20-footer along the ice to tie the score.</p><p>Late in the period Montreal&rsquo;s Doug &lsquo;Risebrough beat Jets&rsquo; goalie Michel Dion with a drive to the top left corner to restore the one-goal margin.</p><p>The middle frame saw the Jets turn on the after burners, outshoot the Canadiens 18-8 and tie the game on a Willy Lindstrom power play goal. Yet there was little cause for optimism for the nattily dressed audience. So often this campaign, the Jets have faltered in the stretch.</p><p>At the 13:00 minute mark of the final frame, Rick Bowness, with his fourth goal of the year, surfaced as the unlikely hero of the game, unleashing a hard 35-foot slapshot from a sharp angle and the puck sailed over Herron&rsquo;s shoulder.</p><p>Tenacious checking for the final seven minutes an an empty net tally by Bowness at 19:44 gave the home-towners a 4-2 victory. Indeed, history often repeats itself.</p><p>The post-game celebrations on the part of both the fans and players were not unlike the evening of December 23 of this season when the Jets broke a 30-game winless streak by edging the Colorado Rockies 5-4.</p><p>Will there be another Tuxedo Night in &lsquo;81-82 when the Canadiens pay a visit to the Winnipeg Arena?</p><p>Bet on it! Unless of course&hellip;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s off the board.&rdquo;</p><p><b>JETS JABBER&mdash;</b>Fans were extremely displeased with the Jets&rsquo; lackluster effort in a 8-2 loss to the Chicago Black Hawks. Uncharacteristic for a Winnipeg audience, they began to depart the Winnipeg Arena early in the third period and those that remained cheered when the final buzzer sounded. The subsequent match against Colorado drew the smallest crowd of the season, 10,936. They missed out on a rare Jets&rsquo; victory<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Answer To Jets’ Woes: More Tuxedo Nights

<h2>MARCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1343/4445437-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="606" height="956"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1440/4445430-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="596" height="139"></div><h2>APRIL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1539/4445423-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="586" height="821"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-13

WHERE NHL TEAMS PLAY

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01726/4446183-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RICK MIDDLETON)</span></figcaption></div><p>THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY</p><p>RICK MIDDLETON: THE BOSTON SHARPSHOOTER</p><p>IN THIS ISSUE; VOTE FOR ALL STARS ON PAGE 6</p><p><b>BOBBY CLARKE NOTCHES 1,OOOth CAREER POINT</b></p><p><b>WAYNE GRETZKY BREAKS ASSIST RECORD FOR CENTERS</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Cover-01

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011102/4443229-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="316" height="360"></div><h2>Still Honing His Touch</h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>G</span>ORDON (RED) BERENSON,</b> of course, is a splendid addition to the National Hockey League coaching ranks, a favorite for Coach of the Year honors because of the extraordinary season of his St. Louis Blues.</p><p>But it&rsquo;s easy to be a little browned-off at Berenson because, when he retired as a player at the conclusion of the 1977-78 season, he removed from the game a play that aficionados of hockey loved to watch.</p><p>Really, there&rsquo;s no one left in the NHL who does it at all, yet alone the way Berenson did. As a player, the Red Baron was a man who was in charge of his skills and few players ever had as much proficiency in the full range of basics.</p><p>Berenson was a master of the backhand shot. Now, quick, tell me when you saw an NHL player score a goal on a good, hard, well-aimed backhander! Tough to remember, isn&rsquo;t it?</p><p>Not only did Berenson have a splendid backhand shot but he employed it a few times a season on a play that no one else could execute with the same flair. Red would acquire the puck in the corner in the opposition&rsquo;s zone and loop out through the faceoff circle, the puck on his backhand, guarded carefully from checks with his body. At precisely the proper instant, Berenson would whip a backhand shot high to the top corner on the far side of the net.</p><p>Much of the time, the play worked because of his accuracy with the shot and the element of surprise. It was one of the game&rsquo;s prettiest plays and, certainly, among the most difficult to pull off.</p><p>The approach that Berenson brought to the game as a player is the same one he&rsquo;s employing as a coach. Berenson was an extremely intelligent player, blessed with a notable amount of natural talent. But he honed every skill he had to a fine edge because he worked hard at every facet of his game.</p><p>As a coach, Berenson is working hard at every aspect of the job and, in the NHL in the 1980s, the job has as many facets as any profession you can name.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew that coaching was a complex job but until I became a coach, I really had no idea how many areas there are to cover,&rdquo; Berenson said.</p><p>&lsquo;&lsquo;There&rsquo;s the physical side of the game&hellip;the teaching of skills, devising strategy, working with advance scouts on game plans. Then there&rsquo;s the emotional side, I guess you could call it.</p><p>&ldquo;That includes preparing a team&mdash;and myself&mdash;mentally, making certain that any problems that 20 or so players have as individuals or a group don&rsquo;t grow too large and trying to maintain a competitive edge over 80 games.</p><p>&ldquo;Making certain that all those things dovetail together properly certainly is a fulltime job.&rdquo;</p><h2>His Approach Works</h2><p><b>BERENSON, OBVIOUSLY,</b> has juggled all those features with remarkable dexterity this season because the Blues have held the overall lead in the NHL for a large portion of the schedule.</p><p>A book on Bill Bradley, the superb scholar-basketball player, was titled: A <i>Sense Of Who You Are.</i> That seems to be the approach Berenson employs, although perhaps paraphrasing it to &ldquo;A Sense Of Who His Players Are&rdquo; would describe the Red&rsquo;s approach with more accuracy.</p><p>A flaw in many coaches&mdash;or bosses in any field, for-that matter&mdash;is that they place unrealistic expectations on their workers, then become disappointed in the employees when they are unable to measure up to those standards, often simply because the expectations are too high for their ability and make-up.</p><p>&ldquo;Yes, I&rsquo;ve found it a challenge to keep my expectations for players in the proper perspective,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a case of placing narrow limits on anyone&rsquo;s potential or having a permanently fixed opinion on what an individual can accomplish. In this game, teams have so many young players that the level of their performances is changing all the time.</p><p>&ldquo;But a coach must have a good handle on what each man is capable of accomplishing on a consistent basis at all times. If I have a view of a player&rsquo;s capabilities that&rsquo;s higher than what he can really accomplish, then I&rsquo;m going to be disappointed in his work.</p><p>&ldquo;So I&rsquo;ve found that a key part of this job is devising a system that is tailored to what my players can do, not what I figure they should be able to do.&rdquo;</p><h2>Controlled Aggression</h2><p><b>BERENSON ADDS</b> that how much physical aggressiveness a player owns is an important facet for a coach to evaluate accurately. Because he owned good skills himself, Berenson was able to play the game aggressively and not step outside the rule boundaries too often (305 penalty minutes in 987 games).</p><p>&ldquo;If I expect a player to play with more aggressiveness than he&rsquo;s capable of delivering, then I&rsquo;m going to have doubts about him when he backs off in a situation where I figure he should wade in,&rdquo; Berenson said.</p><p>&ldquo;I played on teams that were capable of physically intimidating the opposition and ones that could be intimidated. I try to remember what my own attitude was, depending on how aggressive the team I played on was.&rdquo;</p><p>Berenson is one hockey man who believes that fist fighting eventually will disappear from the game.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a simple matter to end suddenly something that&rsquo;s been in the game from the start,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same with illegal use of the sticks. Suppose that bad stick fouls were eliminated from hockey. I feel that if that happened, then the number of first fights would decrease noticeably because many fights are started by stickwork.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a type of player in hockey&mdash;and there are quite a few of them, too&mdash;who finds the whole aspect of fighting with bare fists to be distasteful. So those players simply stay away from any of the aspects of hockey that could lead to fisticuffs, such as throwing a clean bodycheck or digging hard in the corners.</p><p>&ldquo;If the threat of fighting were removed from the game, many of those players would be much more physically aggressive.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-01

HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011111/4443260-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Rick Middleton is the player who makes the Bruins go; the guy they can lean on to propel the offense and the chief sharp-shooter on a team with plenty of pluggers who marvel at Middleton&rsquo;s ability.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>Who is the most valuable of the Boston Bruins?</p><p>Bobby Orr, who used to be the unanimous choice for that honor himself, was asked that question the other day at a bantam hockey banquet.</p><p>&ldquo;Rick Middleton,&rdquo; he answered without hesitation, and he added:</p><p>&ldquo;All you youngsters watch Rick Middleton. Watch how he handles the puck. Watch how he passes the puck. Watch how he looks ahead. Watch everything he does.&rdquo;</p><p>Oldsters as well as youngsters more and more are watching Rick Middleton as, at the age of 28 and in his seventh year in the National Hockey League, he has become the stemwinder of the Bruins, the one player who is looked to for the big goal or the key play to get them going.</p><p>He had three goals in the Bruins&rsquo; first four games of the season. The Bruins were 2-2-0. He had only two goals in the next eight games. The Bruins went 0-7-1. He had both goals in a tie with Winnipeg.</p><p>He scored 16 goals in the first 38 games of the season, which saw the Bruins get off to their worst start in 15 years, a 13-18-7 record. He had 23 goals in the next 31 games and the Bruins were 19-7-5.</p><p>So much for statistics.</p><p>The 11,000-plus fans who are in regular attendance at Boston Garden have learned to put down their cups of beer and slices of pizza when Middleton gets the puck for they know that the chances are good that something exciting is about to happen.</p><p>A sign recently appeared on the Garden balcony which read: &ldquo;How to Stop Rick Middleton-Get an Exorcist!&rdquo; His teammates used to call him Casper (after the friendly ghost) for his pale face and wraithlike moves on the ice. Now they call him &ldquo;Nifty.&rdquo;</p><p>Those same teammates are his biggest boosters.</p><p>&ldquo;If they wanted to make a highlight film of Ricky Middleton to stand for his career, all they had to do was isolate on him today,&rdquo; said Brad Park after Middleton had scored two goals and all but ran the New York Islanders out of Boston.</p><p>&ldquo;He set me up in front, my mouth&rsquo;s still open. I couldn&rsquo;t believe it. 1 was watching Ricky to see what he was going to do next and the puck was already on my stick.&rdquo;</p><p>Middleton&rsquo;s move was a behind the back pass and Park was so astounded that he couldn&rsquo;t get the shot off until the golden moment had passed. The last guy to do that in Boston was Bob Cousy, the basketball player, who sometimes had to slow down to let his teammates catch up.</p><p>Mike Milbury, the defenseman whose skating is most appropriately described as adequate, is particularly fascinated by Middleton&rsquo;s skating ability.</p><p>&ldquo;He was on one leg, looking as if he were out of control,&rdquo; said Milbury, describing his favorite Middleton escapade, &ldquo;and he just put his hand out and steadied himself against the side of the net and kept going. Anyone else tries that and he&rsquo;s in the net.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just like rubber out there, getting by guys,&rdquo; said Dwight Foster, who has gotten a full ration of Middleton as his centerman this season. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s watching him; he draws two or three guys to him and that leaves everybody else open. It&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;</p><p>Recently in Minnesota Middleton got the puck in center ice and cruised into the zone, leaning left and drawing the North Stars&rsquo; defense with him. Then, almost casually, he dropped a pass to Ray Bourque steaming down the slot for a break way goal.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very adept at one-on-one,&rdquo; said Brad Park. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll make his move and he&rsquo;ll go to the other side and he&rsquo;ll lean that way. You go to put the stick on him and he&rsquo;ll lean even farther until he&rsquo;s around you. His balance on skates is uncanny.&rdquo;</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t always that way, of course. In fact, Middleton was considered something of a klutz as a skater until, at the bantam age of 14, he came under the tutelage of Frank Miller on the Toronto Young Nationals.</p><p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t really teach someone to skate at that age,&rdquo; said Middleton, &ldquo;but he really turned my skating around. He taught me to power skate. He had me strengthen my ankles. Every night I&rsquo;d go home from practice and do ankle exercises.</p><p>&ldquo;I was never that big and Frank convinced me that if there was any way I was going to be a good hockey player it had to be for my skating. Obviously, it worked.&rdquo;</p><p>It had been Middleton&rsquo;s good fortune that whenever his career has reached a critical crossroads there has been someone on hand to point out the right way. In Toronto it was Frank Miller. In Boston it was Don Cherry.</p><p>Middleton came to Boston in 1976 in exchange for Ken Hodge after two rather mediocre seasons with the New York Rangers. He came with the reputation of being strictly an offensive player and something of a playboy to boot.</p><p>Cherry disliked him from the start.</p><p>&ldquo;I saw him at Providence when I was coaching at Rochester and I didn&rsquo;t like him as a player,&rdquo; said the former Bruins&rsquo; coach. &ldquo;He scored a lot of goals but he only went one way and I never could stand that.&rdquo;</p><p>The initial meeting with his new right winger didn&rsquo;t help much either.</p><p>&ldquo;The first time I met him at training camp,&rdquo; said Cherry, &ldquo;1 went up and introduced myself. I told him he looked like he put on some weight and he said he had. I asked him if he had been lifting weights. He grins at me and says, &lsquo;No, I had a good summer.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>From that moment on it was war between coach and player.</p><p>&ldquo;You would not believe the abuse I gave that man,&rdquo; said Cherry. &ldquo;He was my whipping boy. But I have to admit I always admired the way he stuck it out. A lot of players would have folded.&rdquo;</p><p>The turning point came one night in Buffalo. The Bruins were leading 2-0. The Sabres&rsquo; Danny Gare and Bill Hajt broke in 2-on-l on Middleton. He chose Gare, who passed to Hajt for a goal.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m thinking, &lsquo;Oh, now, here it comes,&rdquo;&rsquo; recalled Middleton, &ldquo;I go back to the bench and he&rsquo;s standing over me, screaming. It must have lasted for 30 seconds. I&rsquo;m just hoping the TV cameras aren&rsquo;t on me.</p><p>&ldquo;I said to myself, &lsquo;The hell with it, I&rsquo;ll do exactly what he wants me to do.&rsquo; If I get beaten on a play at least I was doing it his way and what could he say then?</p><p>&ldquo;But do you know something? It worked. It never ceased to amaze me, but it worked.&rdquo;</p><p>Cherry has been gone from the Boston coaching scene for two years now but Middleton stands as a living monument to his brief but highly successful stay with the Bruins.</p><p>&ldquo;I never believed him in the beginning,&rdquo; said Middleton, &ldquo;but once I started doing the defensive things right my offense opened up and obviously it&rsquo;s gotten better each year.</p><p>&ldquo;I found that I was in the play a lot more instead of just waiting for the puck all the time. If you don&rsquo;t come back with your man, you get caught too far ahead of the play. Then you&rsquo;re always stopping at the blueline and getting into the zone late.</p><p>&ldquo;Don kept on me and he got me to do these things without having to think about them. That&rsquo;s the whole thing, reacting without thinking. Now I just concentrate on doing the things he taught me.</p><p>&ldquo;Oh, sometimes I sway. I don&rsquo;t do the right things and Cheesy [coach Gerry Cheevers] gets on my back. That&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;ve got a coach for, to stay on your back.&rdquo;</p><p>Middleton has also left behind the playboy image, although there are those who insist they have seen him on occasion at Daisy Buchanan&rsquo;s, a Boston watering hole popular with the sporting set.</p><p>&ldquo;Those stories about Derek Sanderson and the things we were supposed to have done in New York were blown out of proportion,&rdquo; said Middleton.</p><p>&ldquo;Derek never really hung out with us. Oh, he&rsquo;d introduce us to people and places but all of a sudden you&rsquo;d turn around and he&rsquo;d be gone. We&rsquo;d stay out sometimes but Derek would be home by 12 or one o&rsquo;clock with his girl friend.&rdquo;</p><p>Actually, it was his friendship with Sanderson that got Middleton traded to the Bruins.</p><p>&ldquo;Derek got shipped out to St. Louis,&rdquo; said Middleton, &ldquo;and they put a few things in the paper about him that 1 didn&rsquo;t like, especially since he wasn&rsquo;t in New York to defend himself.</p><p>&ldquo;I said a few things back to Bill Jennings, the president of the Rangers, and 1 guess it gave him bad vibes against me. He didn&rsquo;t like me. We were supposed to have a meeting and talk about it but we never did. Then 1 was traded. I guess it all worked out for the best.&rdquo;</p><p>Middleton is also pleased that things apparently are working out for his old friend Sanderson, who has been helping to coach the Niagara Falls Flyers in the Ontario Hockey League.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great that Derek is back in hockey,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I would think all those problems are behind him if they&rsquo;re going to ask him to help out with a junior team. I haven&rsquo;t talked to him in a long time but it sounds like he&rsquo;s on the right track.&rdquo;</p><p>Marriage has also wrought changes in the Middleton lifestyle off the ice. His wife is Nicole, a Montreal girl who was once a stewardess for Air Canada. They have daughter, Claudine, who was a year old March 22 and have bought a house in suburban Boxford.</p><p>&ldquo;Obviously, marriage does change things,&rdquo; said Middleton. &ldquo;It settles things down. I get the home-cooked meals. It&rsquo;s keeping my weight up. In the summer, it&rsquo;s putting the weight on too much.</p><p>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re young, when you&rsquo;re 21 or 22, you can do all those things they say I did. But if you&rsquo;re still single when you hit 26 or 27 or 30 and you go out carousing it&rsquo;s different.</p><p>&ldquo;I found out that when we&rsquo;re on the road and we go out after games just a couple of nights, you get sluggish toward the end of the road trip. I wouldn&rsquo;t be able to do it now.</p><p>&ldquo;Marriage gives you discipline and it helps your game. I know it&rsquo;s helped mine.&rdquo;</p><p>In fact, marriage and other things have helped Rick Middleton&rsquo;s game so much that there was outrage around Boston when selectors from the Professional Hockey Writers Association and coach Scotty Bowman left him off the Wales squad for the 1981 Ail Star game, an error that was later corrected.</p><p>&ldquo;If he doesn&rsquo;t make that ridiculous All Star team, it&rsquo;s a farce,&rdquo; snorted Peter McNab.</p><p>&ldquo;What an All Star team that&rsquo;s going to be if Rick Middleton can&rsquo;t make it,&rdquo; said Gerry Cheevers.</p><p>Brad Park was almost tongue-tied with indignation.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably too good for that All Star team,&rdquo; he sputtered.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s on&hellip;he&rsquo;s on&hellip;he&rsquo;s on God&rsquo;s team.&rdquo;</p><p>Which is probably about as high as you can go.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-01

‘Nifty’ Middleton Is Catalyst Of Bruins’ Attack

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011161/4443291-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="318" height="360"></div><h2>Too Good To Be True</h2><p><b>TOO GOOD TO BE</b> true, too young to be so good.</p><p>Wayne Gretzky.</p><p>Say what you will about the merger-marriage-amalgamation-consolidation between the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association two years ago. Too many teams. Too many non-entities. Too many games that mean too little.</p><p>But one thing one league means is that some of the largest markets in North America&mdash;New York, Chicago, Los Angeles&mdash;and some of the best hockey markets&mdash;Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver&mdash;were not denied an immediate look at the kid who, in time, may be mentioned as the finest ever to play this game.</p><p>Wayne Gretzky. He does it just about all now, and he&rsquo;s only 20. What in the name of the Smythe Division is this fellow going to do, what magic will he perpetrate, what records will he destroy, when he finally fills out between the shoulders?</p><p>Surely, we all had reservations about this wil-o-the-wisp when he first joined the WHA. He was green, but so, really, was the league. He did score 110 points in 80 games during the 1978-1979 season, but what would it be like after the merger?</p><p>Surely, that lean, and apparently not-so-mean body, would be buffeted by elbows and body checks and intimidating crunches in the NHL as never before. The WHA wasn&rsquo;t bad, it just wasn&rsquo;t the NHL. There was a run-and-gun madness to the WHA ways, there wasn&rsquo;t a whole lot of depth, and goalkeeping was, shall we say, penetrable.</p><p>Wait, they all said. Wait.</p><p>Well, last year, Gretzky amassed 51 goals and 86 assists to tie for the scoring title with Marcel Dionne, Gretzky, though, won the Hart Trophy as Most Valuable Player, and many, many thousands of new admirers.</p><p>If the Philadelphia Flyers knew a way to bump him, they were keeping it a secret. If the Montreal Canadiens thought they could outlast him by outskating him, they had to think again. If the New York Islanders planned to shut him down with one of their All Stars while the rest of their All Stars had a frolic, well, the plan didn&rsquo;t always work.</p><h2>Has No Complaints</h2><p><b>THIS YEAR, BY WAY</b> of proving that the sophomore jinx can be the emptiest of cliches, the kid is doing even better. Phil Esposito&rsquo;s record of 152 points suddenly doesn&rsquo;t look so untouchable any more. Next year&hellip;what next?</p><p>There is much to be impressed about in Gretzky, besides his numbers. The attitude is there. This is an era when the leaders of government are cautioning their citizenry to cut spending and save, yet it is an era when athletes want more, more and a little bit more.</p><p>However, for some strange reason, we never hear Wayne Gretzky asking for more. On his 18th birthday in 1979, he signed a contract that would bind him to Oilers&rsquo; owner Peter Pocklington until 1999&mdash;thus, the &lsquo;99 on Gretzky&rsquo;s slim back. Since then, we have never heard the word &lsquo;renegotiate&rsquo; from Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s mouth.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy where I am, in Edmonton, making what I am, which is not the $300,000 a year people think, but closer to half that,&rdquo; says Gretzky. &ldquo;I will not make a fuss over it. If Mr. Pocklington wants to do something, that&rsquo;s fine. But I know I wasn&rsquo;t planning on giving any money back if I had a horrible year. The management has been very good to me. No complaints.&rdquo;</p><p>Keep talking like that, and you&rsquo;ll be banished from the brotherhood, Wayne. In this day and age, it&rsquo;s palms up. And sticky, too. What&rsquo;s this, an athlete satisfied?</p><p>The other badge Gretzky deserves is for doing his thing everywhere, not just at home. He already has had his say about thugs in the NHL, and what good they aren&rsquo;t. Yet, he goes right about his business. Such as skating into Philadelphia and bagging four goals. He does not merely fatten up on the league&rsquo;s lesser lights, then vanish into invisibility against the more formidable clubs.</p><h2>Gretzky&rsquo;s Sixth Sense</h2><p><b>THERE IS A POSSIBILITY</b> that if Gretzky were with a more talented team than moderately efficient Edmonton, he might not be the whole show. But, there is perhaps a greater possibility that, with a better supporting cast, he might be an even more awesome show. With all due respect to linemates Jari Kurri and Brett Callighen, they are not the type of virtuosos who surround Marcel Dionne in Los Angeles, or who surrounded Phil Esposito in Boston, for that matter.</p><p>It is blasphemous at this point, perhaps, to mention Gretzky in the same breath as Bobby Orr or Gordie Howe or Jean Beliveau, but the fact is, the kid on Edmonton&rsquo;s team is not what the Bostons or Detroits or Montreals used to be when those legends were carved.</p><p>Watch Wayne Gretzky and, in all likelihood, you will not be awed. For sure, the physical statue is not stunning. Nor does he create an Orr-like electricity when he latches onto the puck.</p><p>But, like Orr, like Howe, like all the magnificent ones, Wayne Gretzky has that sixth sense which is given, not learned; gunned for, but never really shot down. He may not make poetic moves, but he does make all the moves that have to be made. He spares the frills, and in some cases, the thrills.</p><p>However, at 20, he&rsquo;s making us all think again about what greatness could be should he stay healthy of mind and body until, say, 40.</p><p>One can hardly wait to see what his numbers will be then.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0004-01

HOCKEY TALK

<p><b>THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY</b> &bull; <b>FOUNDED 1947</b></p><p><b>Founded in 1947 by Kenneth W. McKenzie</b></p><p><b>DONALD R. WALL</b></p><p><i>Chairman and Publisher</i></p><p><b>TOM MURRAY</b></p><p><i>Editor in Chief</i></p><p><b>TOM WORSLEY</b></p><p><i>Business Manager</i></p><p>Advertising and Editorial Offices 2U King Street West-Suae 314 Toionlo Ontario. Canada M5H 1K4(416)-598-1753</p><p><b>Executive Office</b></p><p>850 Third Ave</p><p>New York New York 10322 (212) 593-2100</p><h2><b>EDITORIAL STAFF</b></h2><p>Charlie Halpin</p><p><i>Editorial Director</i></p><p>Mike Dennis Assistant Editor Bob Hanley. Editorial Consultant</p><p>Contributing Editors Stan Ftschler, Frank Orr. Bob Verdi</p><h2><b>ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES</b></h2><p><b>Toronto:</b></p><p>Randy Green</p><p>2U King Street West-Smte 3&rsquo;4 Toronto Ontario Canada M5H 1K4 (4161 598 1753</p><p><b>New Yerk:</b></p><p>Bob Bassinette</p><p>Bassinette/White</p><p>50 fast 42nd Street</p><p>New-Yoik. NY 10017</p><p>Tel (212)986 6210</p><p><b>Chicago:</b></p><p>Hooper lones & Associates 3322 W Peterson Avenue</p><p>Chicago minors 60659 (312)478 5544</p><p><b>Boston:</b></p><p>Steve Ganak-Steve Ganak Ad Reps</p><p>Statler Office Binding</p><p>Boston. Mass 02116 (617)542 6913</p><p><b>Esther Sumka.</b></p><p>Advertising Service Manager (461)598-1753</p><p><b>THE HOCKEY NEWS</b> (ISSN 0018-3016). is published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C Publishing Ltd. 214 King Street West Suite 314. Toronto. Ontario M5H IK4 (416) 598 1753 In U S. c/o WCC Publishing Corp 850 Third Ave. New York. N.Y. 10022</p><p><b>YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES</b>: SI6.95 in the U.S.A. $16.95 in Canada. S20.95 n Foreign Countries. Send all Canadian and Foreign subscription orders to THE HOCKEY NEWS. P.O. Box 13035. Postal Station A.&rsquo; Toronto. Ont M5W IV7 U.S. subscription requests should be mailed to Box 112. Martinsville. N.J. 08836 Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing.</p><p><b>IN CANADA SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO THE HOCKEY NEWS</b>. Box 112. Martinsville. N.J. 08836 Second Class mail Registration No 1327 All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed Io Subscription Dept The Hockey News. 214 King St. W. Suite 314. Toronto. Ont M5H IK4. Canada</p><p><b>IN THE UNITED STATES</b>: Second class postage paid al New York N.Y and at additional mailing offices U.S POSTMASTER send address changes to The Hockey News Box 112. Martinsville. N J 08836</p><p><i>Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

<div class="byline">BY STEVE WINTER</div><p>LANDOVER&mdash;The Capitals, at long last, appeared to be back on the winning track. But will it last?</p><p>In the aftermath of a 13-game winless streak, the Washington club reeled off consecutive wins over Toronto, Colorado and Hartford to vault themselves over the Edmonton Oilers into a 14th place tie with the Rangers. But they then lost 7-1 at home to the Bruins and 5-3 in Toronto to slide to a shaky 16th. Still, they were glad to smash their winless streak.</p><p>&ldquo;It was all a matter of getting that first win,&rdquo; said defenseman Howard Walker. &ldquo;Now, we&rsquo;ve just got to continue to play well.&rdquo;</p><p>There have been a number of major contributors to the club&rsquo;s quick turnabout. One is the improved overall play of the Capitals&rsquo; defense, particularly Rick Green, who scored twice and added one assist as the Capitals broke their winless streak with a 7-3 romp over the Toronto Maple Leafs.</p><p>Another reason is the recent play of goalie Mike Palmateer, who blossomed during the modest winning streak and turned in a number of key saves, including one spectacular play on Paul Gagne in the final seconds of their second win during the streak, a 4-3 triumph over Colorado.</p><p>A third key factor is the club&rsquo;s offensive production, which&mdash;even during the winless streak&mdash;remained pretty much intact. Through a 10-game stretch, the Capitals produced 45 goals, including Dennis Maruk&rsquo;s hat trick against Toronto, which is not a bad scoring record at all.</p><p>But there has been one surprise in the scoring column, that being the recent contributions of an unheralded 22-year-old native of Montreal, Glen Currie.</p><p>Currie portrays the original story of the &ldquo;Hard Luck Kid.&rdquo; Riding the bench much of last year except for shorthanded situations, Currie scored but twice in 32 games, yet he teamed primarily with Wes Jarvis to give the Capitals one of the more respectable penalty killing units in the league.</p><p>This year seemed no better for Currie. Starting the season once again in Hershey, he found himself recalled to the parent club in early January, only to find himself back in the designated role of No. 1 penalty killer. Injuries, however, gave &ldquo;The Kid&rdquo; somewhat of a regular shift, but through his first 18 games he hit nothing but goal posts, goaltenders and bad luck. Many a night found Currie wandering through the Capitals&rsquo; locker room shaking his head at those numerous near-misses.</p><p>Finally, on Feb. 21, his luck changed. Currie took a pass down the left wing and whistled a 45-foot slapshot through the pads of Ranger goaltender Steve Baker during a 6-4 loss to the New Yorkers. &ldquo;I was practically in shock when that shot went in,&rdquo; Currie would say later.</p><p>Seven games after that, he was back in the scoring column again, this time in a winning cause, when he notched his first NHL two-goal game in the win over the Rockies. The following night, he scored shorthanded to help the Capitals to a 5-2 win over the Whalers.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess I was just waiting for [the] March 10 [trading deadline] to roll around,&rdquo; said Currie. &ldquo;I feel as though I&rsquo;m starting to play the way I used to play. I&rsquo;m handling the puck more, and if they give me a few more games to see what I can do, I&rsquo;m sure I can contribute a lot more.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021112/4443322-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="599" height="921"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Used primarily in a penalty-killing role, Glen Currie hopes to chip in on the Caps&rsquo; attack.</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;But since I&rsquo;m playing more right now. I&rsquo;m also getting more of a chance to skate; and as result, it seems as though I&rsquo;m getting more scoring opportunities.&rdquo;</p><p>Capitals&rsquo; coach Gary Green likes to see those scoring opportunities, and so long as they continue, Currie will play a regular shift.</p><p>&ldquo;I really like what I&rsquo;ve seen in him lately,&rdquo; said Green. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s just getting his offensive game together again. He was playing so well offensively in Hershey, but when we brought him up and kind of designated him back to the penalty killer role and played him primarily in defensive situations, it got him thinking defensively a little bit more.</p><p>&ldquo;But we don&rsquo;t want him totally for that reason. We know what he can do, and now we&rsquo;re using him in-more crucial game situations. I&rsquo;ve got good confidence in Glen&rsquo;s abilities and skills.&rdquo;</p><p>Currie, in a sense, concurred.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m progressing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting better, game by game. I&rsquo;m not exactly up to the same level 1 was when I was in Hershey, but I&rsquo;m not far away.&rdquo;</p><p>According to Currie&rsquo;s linemate, Alan Hangsleben. his slick centerman is already there.</p><p>&ldquo;Kid&rsquo;s a great stickhandler,&rdquo; Hangsleben said after the Colorado win, &ldquo;and he&rsquo;s got that ability to move the puck well. The coach has got him playing with Dennis Ververgaert and myself right now. and really, we&rsquo;re just a checking line going in there to keep the other line off balance.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0004-02

Capitals’ Playoff Drive Hinges Upon Team Effort

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011011/4443377-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Philadelphia Flyers signed Pat Quinn to a new five-year contract as their coach because it gives the organization the kind of stability they have been seeking. <span class="photo-credit">(Photo By Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;March 17 struck the Flyers as no better day to elevate their own Pat to the equivalent of coaching sainthood.</p><p>Pat Quinn has coached the Flyers for just over two years now and is already fourth among his NHL peers in length of service. Considering that rate of turnover, the five-year contract renewal the Flyers announced for Pat last week was a vote of confidence without recent precedent.</p><p>Fred Shero got a five-year deal in 1974, but he had just become the first coach of an expansion team to win a Stanley Cup. If that wasn&rsquo;t enough to convince the Flyers of his value, Freddie also said he had an offer from the Minnesota Fighting Saints and a whim to go to law school.</p><p>Pat, who has a bachelor of economics degree, hasn&rsquo;t talked about law school since he joined the Flyers organization as an assistant coach in 1978. Since he was under contract for the rest of this season, he had no other offers, either. In addition, not only did Quinn&rsquo;s Flyers lose in the finals last May, he is neither mysterious nor a genius.</p><p>But he is one of the bright coaching minds in the game, using a positive approach that the Flyers&rsquo; braintrust recognizes as the best for today&rsquo;s athlete. If you can&rsquo;t play for Pat, then it&rsquo;s your problem, not his. He is as much to blame for the Flyers&rsquo; difficulties this season as the full moon. And there was never any hint from the Flyer management that they thought otherwise.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the kind of stability we feel our organization, any organization, needs,&rdquo; said Flyer president Bob Butera at a hastily-called St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day press conference. &ldquo;We feel we have the best young coach in the business and we&rsquo;re thrilled that Pat has decided to stay with us.&rdquo;</p><p>Quinn. 38, had never really considered doing anything else. Most of the players didn&rsquo;t even realize Pat&rsquo;s old contract, signed a month after he took over for Bob McCammon in January 1979, was expiring, let alone have any concern that their playoff performance would have any bearing on his continuing. But neither did it hurt to get it settled.</p><p>That took only two sessions. &ldquo;I was prepared to wait until after the season,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;About a month ago they said let&rsquo;s stop beating around the bush and get it done. So we did it.&rdquo;</p><p>When the Flyers suggested five years at the first meeting, Pat said he wasn&rsquo;t stunned.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe 1 should be,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;considering the way the business is now. But I started in an era where coaches did have some tenure. You knew the guy you played for would be the coach the following year. And that you might be gone instead.&rdquo;</p><p>The Flyers never disclose terms, but an intelligent guess on the contract would be about a $40,000 raise to $100,000 a year. &ldquo;Enough,&rdquo; laughed Pat as he lit a cigar after the day&rsquo;s practice, &ldquo;to keep me in Mexican El Ropos.&rdquo;</p><p>Pat said there was no renegotiation clause after a number of years, nor any trap door from which he or the club could escape. At this stage, there is no reason-for either party to want one, but then no one would have anticipated Freddie not fulfilling all five of his years, either. This plot could twist a few times before this contract runs out, but Bobby Clarke will not still be playing when it does. So the long-term commitment to Pat removed any remaining speculation that the Fivers were holding the head coaching job open for Bobby immediately upon his retirement.</p><p>Since Clarke&rsquo;s coaching desires have waned anyway over the last few years, the more likely spot for him would be as assistant general manager to Keith Allen. Eventually, he would take over when Allen retires.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s getting a little far ahead.&rdquo; said Allen. &ldquo;All we know is that Bobby will stay in the organization in some capacity. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll figure out the niche later You know Ed [Snider] treats him like a son. And you know, too, that he should.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ICEBERGS&mdash;</b>Bobby Clarke became the 15th player in NHL history to score 1,000 points when he put in his own rebound early in the third period of a 5-3 Spectrum victory over Boston. &ldquo;The numbers don&rsquo;t really mean that much,&rdquo; said Bobby. &ldquo;But the ovation was unbelievable.&rdquo;&hellip;Rookie Tim Kerr scored his first NHL hat trick in the same game, which turned out to be exactly one week after Clarke passed the 300-goal plateau&hellip;One increasing bright spot as the Flyers continued to ride their yo-yo into the last two weeks of the season was the play of Ken Linseman. The Rat appearing to finally have his game back together again, ran up a 12-game scoring streak and linemate Brian Propp a 14-gamer&hellip;Defenseman Behn Wilson broke Boh Dailey&rsquo;s record for points by a Flyer defenseman in one season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-01

Flyers’ Five-Year Plan Guided By ‘Pat’ Hand

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>UFFALO&mdash;It looks as though the return of Gil Perreault to action with the Buffalo Sabres has offset the repercussions of the trade of two of the club&rsquo;s longtime regulars.</p><p>The evening of the day that Rick Martin and Don Luce were dealt to Los Angeles for a 1981 first-round draft choice, the Sabres left on a four-game western trip.</p><p>The players were unhappy over the departure of two players who had been key members of the organization for 10 years. There was the feeling that management had given up thoughts of a Stanley Cup this year, to build for the future, when some of the other veterans would no longer be with the club.</p><p>The next night the Sabres turned in one of their poorer performances of the campaign in losing to Minnesota. 3-1. They bounced back in the next game with a 5-2 win over lowly Winnipeg as Jim Schoenfeld put on quite a show. The veteran defensemen scored his first National Hockey League hat trick&mdash;&rdquo;my first since peewee&rdquo;&mdash;and assisted on a fourth goal.</p><p>The next game, however, the Sabres lost to Vancouver, 2-1.</p><p>Then they landed in Los Angeles for a three-day stay and the finale of their western journey.</p><p>Martin and Luce were there to greet them. Martin, who had not been on friendly terms with Buffalo&rsquo;s general manager, Scotty Bowman, since Rick was hurt Nov. 8&mdash;and even before that, actually&mdash;blasted the respected GM, both to Buffalo and Los Angeles newspapermen.</p><p>The game is no fun in Buffalo under Bowman, said Rick, and Bowman is a very&rsquo;, very hard man to work for. He has, said Martin, a total lack of respect for people and their feelings.</p><p>A story in a Los Angeles newspaper reported that Sabre veterans didn&rsquo;t care any more about winning the Stanley Cup.</p><p>Whether that had something to do with it, or whether it was the return of Perreault to the lineup after an absence of 21 games, or a combination of both, the Sabres went out and played one of their best two-way games of the year in winning, 3-1, to pass the Kings in the NHL standings.</p><p>Schoenfeld played another fine game and was chosen the game&rsquo;s first star. Afterward, he said. &ldquo;We lost two good players but that&rsquo;s done. There&rsquo;s no sense in thinking of what might have been. We go with what we have and do the best we can.</p><p>&ldquo;We lost two good players and for this year we-got nothing in return. But I think we answered in this game any question about whether we have given up on the season.&rdquo;</p><p>Back home, the Sabres really opened up against the Toronto Maple Leafs in their next game. Perreault skated with his old verve, scoring three goals and assisting on a fourth as the Sabres trounced the Leafs, 14-4, Andre Savard, however, was the top performer with three goals and three assists. The Sabres scored nine times in the second period, an NHL record. Twelve goals by both clubs in that period also set a league mark, as were 31 points by both teams in a period. Buffalo&rsquo;s 23 points in the period tied an NHL record.</p><p>Two nights later, the Sabres played in Toronto and beat the Leafs again, 6-2. Perreault, although he didn&rsquo;t score, again was a key man. The Sabres took a 3-0 lead in the first period but the Leafs rallied for two goals early in the second. The momentum was changing when Perreault made one of his patented rushes to set up a goal by Ric Seiling and put Buffalo back in command.</p><p>&ldquo;Having Perreault back and with him being fresh after that long layoff, is a big help to our club,&rdquo; said Danny Gare, who scored his 41st and 42nd goals in the game.</p><p>Perreault scored one of the Buffalo goals in a 6-5 loss to the league-leading St. Louis Blues last Sunday in Buffalo. The win was the Blues&rsquo; first in Memorial Auditorium since Dec. 16, 1973.</p><p>Fittingly enough, it was Jack Brownschidle, a Buffalo native, who broke a 3-3 tie with a shorthanded goal for the Blues in the third period. It was the first NHL goal the Notre Dame graduate ever scored in his home city.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Perreault’s Presence Pumps Up Sabres

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011193/4443432-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t&rsquo;s that time of year once more when you, the fan, receive your one and only chance to select your own National Hockey League All Star teams.</p><p>For this issue only, THE HOCKEY NEWS is allowing you the opportunity to fill out the All Star ballot on this page and choose the players you feel should be on THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; 34th annual All Star teams.</p><p>The procedure is the same as in past years with selectors picking two goaltenders, four defensemen, two centers, two right wings and two left wings.</p><p>In addition, THE HOCKEY NEWS would like you to pick the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player, the outstanding rookie of the year, the best defenseman, best all-round forward, best goaltender, the top coach of the year and the team you consider to be the most exciting to watch in the NHL this season.</p><p>Selectors are asked to pick the players they judge to be the best from all 21 teams&mdash;not only your home town team.</p><p>Simply clip the ballot on this page with your selection PRINTED PLAINLY and mail to All Star Editor, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 214 King St., West, Suite 314, Toronto, Ont., M4H 1K4. Please note that all envelopes must be clearly marked All Star Editor to qualify for the poll. The players you select will be announced in the April 24th issue.</p><p>&bull; <i>See NHL team rosters on page 35 to guide you in your All Star selections.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

Fans Get Their Only Chance To Pick NHL All Star Teams

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>ORONTO&mdash;If there was a turning point in the Leafs 1980-81 season, a key time which might have made the difference between making and missing the playoffs, then a 3-3 tie in Hartford with two weeks remaining in the regular season was it.</p><p>The Leafs were coming off a week with an incredible high&mdash;a 6-2 drubbing of the first place St. Louis Blues&mdash;and then back-to-back misfortunes at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, losses of 14-4 in Buffalo and 6-2 at home&mdash;when they arrived in Hartford for their last match of the season against a team below them in the standings.</p><p>Twice the Leafs had two-goal leads, 2-0 in the first period and 3-1 by the first minute of the final period, but the best they could come away with was a 3-3 tie, leaving them tied for 15th place with Edmonton and one point up on the 17th-place Washington Capitals, with both of their adversaries holding a game in hand.</p><p>A victory for the Leafs would have given them 15th place all by themselves, a point ahead of Edmonton and two points up on the Capitals. The Leafs also had more wins than the Caps so if the two had finished tied for the season, the higher standing would have gone to the Leafs.</p><p>That the Leafs would manage three out of a possible eight points for their four-game series in the past week was no surprise, but of course the way that they managed the feat was par for the course the Leafs have been traveling this season.</p><p>That they could get so up and play so soundly in beating the Blues and then fall so flat against the Sabres is part of the mystery that envelops this team, which has the talent to be in the upper half of the league.</p><p>Against the Blues, the Leafs received some outstanding play from goalie Michel (Bunny) Larocque, making his third consecutive start. They also got two-goal performances from Bill Derlago and newcomer Ron Zanussi, the latter who combined with John Anderson and Laurie Boschman bn a line which accounted for three goals (Boschman had the other). Derlago. playing between Rick Vaive and Dan Maloney, had his pair on a quick wrist shot from the slot when Maloney passed it out front and on a backhander, also from the slot, after a feed from Vaive.</p><p>Add in some pretty solid work from the other two lines, Terry Martin, Darryl Sittler and Wilf Paiement and Ron Sedlbauer. Bruce Boudreau and Rocky Saganiuk, and the ability of the Leafs&rsquo; defense to stand up at the blueline and negate the St. Louis attack, and it grew into a pretty impressive victory.</p><p>Nine goals on Larocque in the second period in Buffalo, an NHL record, and four more in the third period against Jiri Crha turned a 1-0 Buffalo lead into a 14-4 laugher, the worst loss in the Leafs&rsquo; history.</p><p>Most folks just shrugged it off as one of those weird, &ldquo;once in a blue moon&rsquo;&rsquo;-type occurrences, but in the return match against the Sabres in Maple Leaf Gardens, the Leafs probably showed their true colors in a 6-2 loss. Buffalo grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first period by outshooting the Leafs 21-7, and scoring twice on power play goals, brought on by foolish Leaf penalties. Then, over a 15-minute stretch in the second period, the Leafs were transformed into the team they were against St. Louis&mdash;relentlessly forechecking, taking the man, cutting off the Sabres&rsquo; break-out passes and they scored two goals, by Vaive and Derlago, to climb back into the game, down only 3-2. But just as quickly, the Leafs&rsquo; proficiency vanished. Buffalo added two more goals late in the period and won easily, 6-2 with the lone tally of the third period.</p><p>Toronto took a 3-1 lead in the opening minute of the third period in Hartford and then gradually lost their grasp on an important two points, settling for just the one. The Whalers got a lift when Dave Debol scored with eight minutes left in the game to bring them within one, but the tying goal by Hartford&rsquo;s Mike Rogers was particularly agonizing.</p><p>It came in the final two minutes and was one of the few good scoring chances the Whalers had after the Debol goal. Rogers burst in on the left side and let go a blast which sliced between</p><p>Crha&rsquo;s pads. The puck trickled slowly towards the goal-lineas Crha, who had come out to cut down the angle on Rogers, couldn&rsquo;t pursue it and the Leafs&rsquo; Dan Maloney sped towards the net. At the last moment, Maloney swept the ptick out of the crease and then crashed into the net, but the puck had crossed the line by inches and the Whalers had a tie.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02911/4443463-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="594" height="920"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dan Maloney was too late to save a goal for the Leafs and an important point in the playoff race.</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a game we should have won,&rdquo; said Leafs&rsquo; coach Mike Nykoluk. &ldquo;I hope this point doesn&rsquo;t come back to haunt us.&rdquo;</p><p><b>LOOSE LEAFS-</b>Rene Robert returned to the lineup following a recovery from a broken wrist, but Zanussi was lost due to a back injury&hellip;Derlago became the third Leaf to top the 30-goal mark (Sittier and Paiement preceded him) with his pair against St. Louis. Vaive reached 29 with his score against Buffalo.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-02

Hartford Tie Leafs’ Turning Point?

<div class="byline">BY PAT CALABRIA</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011060/4443494-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Although Billy Smith, above, expects to be busy come playoff time, he feels the Islanders won&rsquo;t have any reservations about using rookie Roland Melanson</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ONG ISLAND-The trade of Glenn Resch is likely to have an effect on the Islanders for the rest of the season, but the player most affected by the deal will be Billy Smith, the surviving goalie of what was once among the best tandems in the National Hockey League.</p><p>There was a time when coach Al Arbour was fond of saying. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have a No. 1 goalie. I have two No. 1 goalies.&rdquo; And while the club is impressed with Resch&rsquo;s replacement, rookie Roland Melanson, it appears that for the first time since the team&rsquo;s first season, one goalie has an edge on the other.</p><p><b>&ldquo;I know I have to be big in the playoffs,&rdquo; Smith said, &ldquo;because they&rsquo;re counting on me.&rdquo;</b></p><p>Smith won&rsquo;t admit to being No. 1. He prefers to call himself, &ldquo;the senior goalie.&rsquo;&rsquo; But Smith is all but a certainty to start the playoffs and to be used in the most important playoff games. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ll start in the playoffs,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;But I think Rollie will see a lot of action. What happens if 1 play bad and he comes in the next game and plays well, and then keeps playing well? I don&rsquo;t think it will be anything like last season.&rdquo;</p><p>Last season. Smith started the last 19 playoff games and helped take the team to the Stanley Cup while Resch sat on the bench. But both Arbour and general manager Bill Torrey realized that Smith&rsquo;s performances were coming back down to earth during the finals because of the toll of six weeks of non-stop playing time.</p><p>&ldquo;I think we realized a lot of things about the playoffs last season,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;Certainly, Smitty did a nice job against Philadelphia, but he was not quite as effective as he had been earlier against Boston and Buffalo. He knows that. Playing all those games is very demanding.&rdquo;</p><p>So Melanson, the 20-year-old Indianapolis farmhand who was recalled the day of the Resch trade, is likely to get a turn. In the meantime, he has been patient. &ldquo;I just want to help out,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure they wouldn&rsquo;t have called me up if they didn&rsquo;t think I could play.&rdquo;</p><p>Nevertheless, Smith started four straight games&mdash;his longest stretch of the season-as the Islanders upped their unbeaten streak to 5-0-2. Melanson, who played one period in Winnipeg before tiring and being replaced by Smith, was not expected to get another start until the Islanders played in Denver against the Rockies&mdash;Resch&rsquo;s new team.</p><p>While Smith was personally sorry to see Resch go, he understood the implications it would have for him with the Islanders. While expecting to play more than he had alongside of Resch&mdash;the two virtually split every regular season&mdash;Smith said: &ldquo;I know that I have to be big because they&rsquo;re counting on me. I plan on being big in the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s in the playoffs where Smith has forged a reputation as a clutch goaltender. He allowed only two goals in 141:20 as the Islanders won the first two games against Buffalo&mdash;the second in double overtime&mdash;in the semifinal round. Smith&rsquo;s lifetime playoff record is 31-15 with a 2.86 goals-against average.</p><p>Yet, even with a new long-term contract, Smith knows that one day he might be traded from the Islanders, too. When Melanson matures and if&rsquo; junior goalie Kelly Hrudey is everything Torrey believes he can be, then Smith expects to be dealt away in a few years, too.</p><p>&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m not going to be around forever,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It could have been me this time instead of Chico. It&rsquo;s just the way things worked out. In a few years they&rsquo;ll have two young goalies here, so who&rsquo;s going to be gone then. Probably me. I understand that. And when it happens, it happens.</p><p>It&rsquo;s the same thing that happened when I was here with Gerry Desjardins. Chico was on the way up. Everyone knew Gerry was going to be traded and me and Chico would be the goalies. Same thing now. Next time, it will be my turn to go.&rdquo;</p><p>Desjardins was eventually traded to Buffalo and Resch and Smith went on to become one of the best goalie combinations around&mdash;once finishing second to Ken Dryden and Bunny Larocque in the Vezina Trophy race. But that&rsquo;s history now.</p><p>What Smith looks forward to is the playoffs, where he has a chance to help produce another Stanley Cup. &ldquo;But if I don&rsquo;t play well. They&rsquo;ll have no hesitation in using Rollie,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So I don&rsquo;t think you can say I&rsquo;m No. 1. I don&rsquo;t. I guess I&rsquo;m like the senior goalie.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

Isles’ Goaltending Load On Smith’s Shoulders

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><p>DETROIT-At last.</p><p>The Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; 11-game winless streak came to an end with a 5-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. But it wasn&rsquo;t easy. Nothing is these days for the beleaguered Red Wings.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to win,&rdquo; coach Wayne Maxner said. &ldquo;A team can only take so much. Winnipeg came in loose and we&rsquo;re uptight. There were a lot of errant passes but the effort was there.&rdquo;</p><p>Dale McCourt&rsquo;s second goal of the game on a power play with 30 seconds left gave the 19th-place Red Wings their first victory in more than a month. Earl Ingarfield tied the game at 13:33 of the final period on a deflection. On the winning goal, four Red Wings hit the Winnipeg blue line in a wave, McCourt carrying the puck down the left wing.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know what I was going to do but I knew 1 had a lot of time to do it,&rdquo; McCourt said.</p><p>McCourt fired a shot from the top of the circle for his 27th goal.</p><p>&ldquo;1 didn&rsquo;t see it but Brent Peterson told me it flicked off the goalie&rsquo;s [Michel Dion] glove,&rdquo; McCourt said.</p><p>The winless streak reached 11 games with a 6-3 loss to the Calgary</p><p>Flames at the Joe Louis Arena. For the second time in three nights, Maxner watched as the Wings made a two-goal lead disappear like magic. The Flames rocked the Wings with three third-period goals.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel like making them put their uniforms on and going back out for some extra skating,&rdquo; Maxner said.</p><p>Maxner credited the Flames with outplaying his club and &ldquo;executing better than we did.&rdquo; And then the phone on Mayner&rsquo;s desk rang, interrupting his post-game remarks. It was Red Wings&rsquo; owner Bruce Norris.</p><p>&ldquo;I was just saying, Bruce, that I told the players to be on the ice at nine tomorrow morning,&rdquo; Maxner said.</p><p>&ldquo;And one of them said, &lsquo;Why don&rsquo;t you make it seven?&rdquo; Well, I know who it was. Wait until I get him. I can&rsquo;t say who, but just wait.&rdquo;</p><p>Several Red Wing players were queried about the comment but none heard it.</p><p>Maxner had a brief, and obviously pleasant, exchange with Norris. The coach mentioned the &ldquo;frustration&rdquo; of being a Red Wing follower during the past 14 years.</p><p>&ldquo;Some of these guys are stealing money,&rdquo; Maxner said into the telephone. &ldquo;Unfortunately, it&rsquo;s your money.&rdquo;</p><p>After hanging up, Maxner said: &ldquo;A super owner. I&rsquo;ll tell you.&rdquo; And what did Norris have to say?</p><p>&ldquo;He said to keep working. We knew it wasn&rsquo;t going to be easy,&rdquo; Maxner said.</p><p>McCourt has come on with a rush at the end of the season. He&rsquo;s playing with the same drive&hellip;and success&hellip;of his rookie season when so many people came to expect so much of the young center.</p><p>He set a personal best for assists when he got his 52nd and was crowding another 30-goal season.</p><p>&ldquo;When have you seen McCourt play like that?&rdquo; Maxner said. &ldquo;I bet you it hasn&rsquo;t been since his rookie year. I don&rsquo;t know what was happening before I got here, but since I arrived he&rsquo;s done nothing but play strong hockey for this team.&rdquo;</p><p>Under Maxner, who arrived on Nov. 24, the Wings posted a 16-22-13. That includes the 11-game winless streak.</p><p>Oh well, nobody said it was going to be easy.</p><p><b>MOTOR CITY SHORTS-</b>Dennis Polonich, recalled on an emergency basis, was returned to the American Hockey League club in Glens Falls, N.Y. when Mark Kirton (shoulder separation) returned to the lineup. Paul Woods was out at the same time. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t afford to have those two out,&rdquo; Maxner said. &ldquo;It puts a dent in the lineup.&rdquo; Kirton returned for the victory over Winnipeg. &ldquo;He makes a difference on the bench. He gives us an ingredient we need,&rdquo; the coach said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Nothing Comes Easy For Red Wings

<p><b>The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947</b></p><p>Published by W C C. Publishing Ltd 214 King St West. Suite 314 Toronto Ont M5H IK4</p><h2><b>Justice For All?</b></h2><p><b>NOT TOO LONG AGO,</b> National Hockey League president John Ziegler suspended the New York Rangers&rsquo; Nick Fotiu and Don Maloney for going into the stands in pursuit of a fan who had splashed them with beer and insults after a 7-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.</p><p>The Rangers appealed the decision but the NHL&rsquo;s Board of Governors backed Ziegler, presumably because they agreed with his contention that no hockey player, regardless of how badly he is provoked, has any business going into the stands after anyone.</p><p>Not too long after that was settled, another kind of a confrontation took place, this one on the ice, between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers&rsquo; Bobby Clarke and the Leafs&rsquo; Darryl Sittler had been going at each other throughout the game and their latest collision had resulted in Clarke breaking his stick after giving Sittler a two-hander and Sittler responding by promptly turning around and spearing Clarke in the shoulder.</p><p>As Clarke and Sittler balefully eyed each other and the linesmen endeavored to separate not only the two combatants but also their rapidly converging teammates, the Flyers&rsquo; Brian Propp skated into the fray, his stick well up, and thrust it not once, but twice, at Sittler&rsquo;s head.</p><p>Result? Six stitches and a five-minute spearing major for Sittler; a five-minute slashing major for Clarke; absolutely nothing for Propp, who remained in the game and&mdash;how&rsquo;s this for rubbing salt into Sittler&rsquo;s fresh wound&mdash;scored the goal which enabled the Flyers to tie the Leafs with just 21 seconds remaining in the game.</p><p>While it&rsquo;s unfortunate that Propp was allowed to remain in the game instead of being immediately ejected for intentionally trying to injure Sittler, the explanation given by NHL Referee-in-Chief Scotty Morrison, after viewing tapes of the incident, is somewhat understandable.</p><p>&ldquo;With all the traffic around,&rdquo; Morrison said, &ldquo;I can understand how it wasn&rsquo;t seen by the officials.&rdquo;</p><p>Fine. But why didn&rsquo;t the league take that tape analysis one step further and&mdash;while recognizing that the situation was too confusing for the referee to properly penalize Propp on the spot&mdash;discipline him <i>after</i> the fact, based on the evidence displayed on the tapes?</p><p>Part of the answer to that question lies in the fact that for some strange reason the Maple Leafs chose not to file a protest with the league over the incident. Had they done so, the chances are good that an investigation of some sort would have taken place.</p><p>But even without a formal protest from the team, NHL disciplinarian Brian O&rsquo;Neill is authorized to conduct an investigation on his own and, furthermore, to mete out any punishment he sees fit.</p><p>For the same strange reason that the Leafs chose not to file a protest, O&rsquo;Neill has chosen not to investigate the Propp-Sittler incident any further. He recently said that the furor over the incident has been &ldquo;exclusively a media reaction,&rdquo; and besides that, he suggested, what you see on videotape is not necessarily what you get. &ldquo;You have to consider,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that what actually takes place on the ice is not necessarily what happens on tape.&rdquo; (For more details, see Some Other Views.)</p><p>While that somewhat muddled statement undoubtedly means that sometimes television can make a collision or an altercation between players seem a lot worse than it really is, this was not the case in the Propp-Sittler incident. Sittler was not accidentally nicked by Propp&rsquo;s stick; he was purposely cut by it. And that brings up another question: If the league can discipline two players&mdash;Fotiu and Maloney&mdash;for what it deems inexcusable actions <i>off</i> the ice, why can&rsquo;t it do the same for inexcusable (and vicious and dangerous) actions on the ice?</p><p>Nick Fotiu was suspended for eight games for going into the stands.</p><p>Don Maloney was suspended for two games for throwing a glove at a fan.</p><p>Brian Propp wasn&rsquo;t even <i>questioned,</i> much less disciplined, for purposely cutting Darryl Sittler two inches from Sittier&rsquo;s eyes.</p><p>You figure it out. The NHL certainly can&rsquo;t.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

<h2><b>O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s Opinion: Accidents Do Happen</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><i><span>I</span>n a mid-March game at the Philadelphia Spectrum between the Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Leafs&rsquo; Darryl Sittler and the Flyers&rsquo; Bobby Clarke were involved in a stick jousting confrontation which ultimately saw Sittler get a five-minute major for spearing and Clarke five minutes for slashing.</i></p><p><i>Before the penalties were assessed, however, and the two players were being separated by linesmen, the Flyers&rsquo; Brian Propp interceded, his stick held high. Seconds later, Sittler emerged from the pack, blood streaming from a six-stitch cut, the result of Propp&rsquo;s stick. Propp received no penalty for his actions and, ironically, scored the game-tieing goal for the Flyers moments later.</i></p><p><i>As this issue went to press, the Leafs had not yet filed an official protest over the incident to the league and the league had not taken any action against Propp.</i></p><p><i>Brian O&rsquo;Neill, the executive vice president of the NHL, who is in charge of assessing fines and suspensions, had the following comments on the incident itself and what the NHL may or may not do about it.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011175/4443573-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="418" height="520"></div><p>It is not absolutely necessary for the NHL to receive an official protest from a club before we will investigate a particular incident. No one in that game saw the incident, and I am certainly not about to react to it just because the media raised the issue. I have been away for a few days and I have not heard any direct requests by the Toronto club to review the incident. That does not necessarily close the affair, but it hasn&rsquo;t been our policy to look at every controversial incident where penalties have not been imposed by the referee.</p><p>It may be that nothing will happen to Propp, but it&rsquo;s not impossible that something could happen. All I know is that there has been no complaint whatsoever. We&rsquo;ve had over 700 games so far this season and incidents like the one in Philadelphia do happen; players do get nicked by sticks. There is an element of people who say that Propp&rsquo;s actions on that night were deliberate, based on what they saw on the tapes of the game. But they&rsquo;re not prepared to give the benefit of doubt and concede that it may have been an accidental cut. Even Darryl Sittler hasn&rsquo;t reacted to that particular play. When somebody does what Propp did to Sittler, what usually happens is that there&rsquo;s a reaction against that player. But nothing happened on the ice and there was no mention of it at all until after the game was over.</p><p>The incident certainly can be portrayed as being a very vicious thing, and maybe it was. I don&rsquo;t know. [Referee-in-Chief] Scotty Morrison has the tapes right now and he has not made a full assessment of them. When he does, he&rsquo;ll give it to me.</p><p>It&rsquo;s not the custom of the league to whitewash an incident like this, but it is also not our custom to overreact&mdash;and this has been <i>exclusively</i> a media reaction. It has not been a club issue&mdash;and I have had many situations where clubs will ask me to investigate incidents that have not been penalized and we have done it. In this case, there has been no complaint.</p><p>The NHL can review this situation on its own initiative and assess any penalties or suspensions as we see fit. We do have the power to do that. But how many players have you seen come off the ice with blood streaming down their faces? No one has even suggested that the whole incident may have been an accident or that it was distorted by television. I was at a game a couple of years ago between Toronto and Pittsburgh and an incident took place between the Leafs&rsquo; Tiger Williams [now with Vancouver) and Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Dennis Owchar that was totally distorted by television. Williams and Owchar ran into each other and Williams brought his stick down on Owchar&rsquo;s head and cut him severely. It was <i>completely</i> accidental. But when you saw the incident on television, Williams looked like he was committing a vicious act.</p><p>I watch these incidents all the lime on tapes, and you have to consider the fact that what actually takes place on the ice is not necessarily what happens on tape.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

SOME OTHER VIEWS

<div class="byline">BY EMILE FRANCIS</div><p class="dropcap"><i><span>E</span>mile Francis, the president and general manager of the St. Louis Blues, has done a fair amount of trading throughout his lengthy NHL career, most of it very successful. Although the Blues were not involved in the outbreak of trading which occurred just before the 1981 trade deadline of March 10, Francis is familiar with the thinking that goes on prior to a trade and had these thoughts about this year&rsquo;s exceptional activity.</i></p><p>We knew in the past four to six weeks that a certain number of players would move. General managers at this time of the season are in contact with two or three teams every day. You&rsquo;re always communicating with the other teams so that you can get the pulse of what is going on. You know who&rsquo;s available on every team, or you should know, well in advance of the trading deadline. You know who they&rsquo;re willing to deal and what they&rsquo;re looking for.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021053/4443604-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="420" height="484"></div><p>That so many players were available, then, was no surprise, except that the number that moved reminded me of just prior to the freezing of lists before the original expansion in 1967-68. There was a lot of movement then and there hasn&rsquo;t been that much movement in the trade market since that time until this year, when a total of 21 players counting draft choices were involved.</p><p>It makes you wonder if the deadline had been sooner if the same number of trades would have been made. What caused all of the activity this year was that a lot of teams were looking for goalkeepers; they have been all year and there have been a great number of goalkeepers moving around this year, much more than in the past. There&rsquo;s also so many teams in a dog-fight for playoff positions, so a lot of trades were probably brought about because of the closeness of the race.</p><p>I think everybody was vying for the best position. There was a lot of talk going on and that&rsquo;s why everybody waited right until the end because as you could see by the movement, many of the teams involved were looking for the same things, so everyone waited to make their best deal.</p><p>Last year, the trading all came on the last day as well. The last deal was made about five minutes before the deadline and we were involved in a couple of last-minute swaps. It appeared that we wouldn&rsquo;t be able to make a-deal and then all of a sudden, the guy you&rsquo;re dealing with suddenly swings right around. And then once that deal was made, there were two or three that followed right behind it.</p><p>Often it takes just one deal to get things going and then you get a chain reaction. Take the Islanders, for example; they were talking to Toronto about Robert Picard and Toronto was looking for a goalkeeper and the Islanders had Chico Resch available. But once somebody breaks, that log-jam, everything is opened up.</p><p>At this point in the season, everybody is trying to better themselves for the hist run and if you see a deal that&rsquo;s going to help you, you&rsquo;ll go for it provided that it doesn&rsquo;t hurt you in the future. Last year we had three defensemen hurt at deadline time and we were trying like hell to make a deal because once that deadline goes by, all you&rsquo;ve got to use is what&rsquo;s in your own system.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-02

Flurry Of Trades No Big Surprise

<p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>LOOMINGTON&mdash;General manager Lou Nanne of the North Stars called for the abolishment of fighting in the National Hockey League following the league&rsquo;s assessment of suspensions and fines for the incident between Minnesota and Boston on Feb. 26.</p><p>&ldquo;We feel that fighting is no longer a necessary part of hockey and it should be abolished,&rdquo; Nanne said.</p><p>&ldquo;Any time players like Mike Bossy, Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne, Wayne Gretzky, Darryl Sittler, Bobby Smith, Charlie Simmer or Peter Stastny have a fight, the fans are the ones that get cheated,&rdquo; he continued.</p><p>He called on the NHL&rsquo;s Rules Committee to &ldquo;no longer, in effect, be compelling people to fight in any arena so as to continue to play the game.&rdquo;</p><p>Nanne&rsquo;s statement was in reaction to the decision by NHL Executive Vice President Brian O&rsquo;Neill to suspend and fine Minnesota and Boston players and Minnesota coach Glen Sonmor for their parts in the altercation in Boston.</p><p>Minnesota forward Steve Payne was suspended two games. Boston forward Keith Crowder was suspended two games in addition to the three-game automatic suspension he incurred after the contest. Sonmor was fined $1,000.</p><p>Total fines for Boston players and the team totalled nearly $10,000. Total fines for Minnesota players, Sonmor and the team totalled nearly $6,000.</p><p>Nanne&rsquo;s statement:</p><p><i>&ldquo;We have received the league&rsquo;s judgment regarding the altercation with Boston and wholeheartedly agree that Vice-President Brian O&rsquo;Neill was correct in his assessment of the incident.</i></p><p><i>&ldquo;We support his decision and accept it.</i></p><p><i>&ldquo;We would like to state our feelings on the altercation. In the past we have felt our players should retaliate to any provocation by the opposition so as not to limit their ability to perform on the ice. However, we feel this is the wrong thing to do even though we will encourage them to do so as long as fighting and intimidation can alter the end result of a game. Therefore, we hope that the NHL Rules Committee will take a long and serious look at the cause and effect of fighting in the NHL.</i></p><p><i>&ldquo;Last year we had the ultimate in hockey interest with the U.S. victory at Lake Placid. Now, we have just witnessed another Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament played before approximately 100,000 people. With state-wide television coverage and seeing the intense interest and excitement it created without any major fighting, we feel that fighting is no longer a necessary part of hockey and it should be abolished.</i></p><p><i>&ldquo;The National Hockey League Players&rsquo; Association in the past has asked that fighting be banned, and. it has again indicated that it will ash our consideration to present this proposal before the owners. We, on the Rules Committee, no longer should, in effect, be compelling people to fight in any arena so as to continue to play the game. Any time that players like Bossy, Lafleur, Dionne, Gretzky, Sittler, Smith, Simmer or Stastny, etc. have a fight, the fans are the ones that get cheated. For many years, people believed that fighting was in the best interest of professional hockey&mdash;maybe it was. Seeing as how times have changed in hockey in the last five years more drastically than in the previous 50 years, we feel that now is the time to abolish fighting in hockey. This would lead to more body contact which, along with skating and scoring, make hockey the exciting game that it is.</i></p><p><i>&ldquo;Football is a contact sport, as is hockey. Football players are bigger and stronger than hockey players. However, they are also more disciplined. The NFL and the NBA have begun to penalize fighting heavily and so we feel that the NHL, through discipline, can do the same thing. We admit that we were wrong in condoning and at times encouraging fighting for retaliation by our players. But, we hope because of the ugly incidents, there will be a complete revision of our philosophy.</i></p><p><i>&ldquo;We also would like to see the NHL referees have input with regard to fighting and other rules of the game since they are the ones who control the games themselves. They should have a couple of representatives, as the players do, at the Rules Committee to give us their ideas.&rdquo;</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Minnesota’s Nanne Calls For Abolishment Of Fighting Now

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><p>BLOOMINGTON-&rdquo;Another one bites the dust.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Another one bites the dust.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Another one bites the dust.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Another one bites the dust.&rdquo;</p><p>Sound like a stuck recording? The fans at Minnesota&rsquo;s Met Center are hearing that quite often these, days.</p><p>The organist blares out the tune of the same name everytime th&eacute; Stars score a goal. And Dino Ciccarelli, the 20-year-old late-season recall from Oklahoma City, is doing most of the singing. Since his recall, the Sarnia, Ont. native has scored 15 goals in 21 games.</p><p>That&rsquo;s sweet music to the Stars, who were in an intense battle with Adams Division foe Boston for the eighth and final home-ice berth for the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>Not so sweet is the other hidden meaning of the pop tune. &ldquo;Another one bites the dust&rdquo; could be the appropriate title for the continual injuries the Stars have suffered.</p><p>Al MacAdam was the last North Star to &ldquo;bite the dust.&rdquo; He had played in every game this season&mdash;the only Minnesota player to do so&mdash;until he suffered a broken cheekbone March 14 in Los Angeles.</p><p>At last report, with seven regular season games to play, the Stars had lost more than 300 games from their injured players&mdash;the most in the NHL.</p><p>MacAdam missed only two games and returned to score a goal against Detroit in a 9-4 Minnesota victory. But still out were center Mike Eaves, who is awaiting tests after a series of concussions and left winger Tom McCarthy, a 23-goal scorer who suffered a broken wrist.</p><p>But Steve Payne has returned from his two-game suspension from the brawl with Boston&mdash;a period of rest he needed anyway to heal a charley horse. He had a big game against Detroit, potting two goals.</p><p>Ciccarelli got the most cheers, though, when he became the fourth player in North Star history to score four goals in a game. Teammate Tim Young was the last one to get that many during a five-goal show against the Rangers two years ago. Bill Goldsworthy and Harvey Bennett were the others.</p><p>Ciccarelli, who was up earlier in the season, scoring in five games before his permanent recall, was the first to credit a lot of his success to team scoring leader Bobby Smith, who assisted on each goal.</p><p>&ldquo;When you play on Bobby Smith&rsquo;s line, you know you&rsquo;re going to get your chances.&rdquo; Ciccarelli said. &ldquo;He always gives you the passes you need to put the puck in the net.&rdquo;</p><p>But, as coach Glen Sonmor says, the man in front has to be able to put the puck in that net.</p><p>&ldquo;There are certain people who know how to score goals,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;They know where to be when the opportunities are there. Dino Ciccarelli is one of those players. He&rsquo;s a natural goal scorer&hellip;he has a great knack around the net.&rdquo;</p><p>Two of Dino&rsquo;s goals were on rebounds, two others on deflected shots. &ldquo;The farthest I was away from the net on any of the goals was five feet.&rdquo; For the afternoon, Ciccarelli had eight shots on goal.</p><p>&ldquo;He scores goals because he&rsquo;s got good control of his body around the net, has a good backhand and an excellent shot.&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;He may be scoring most of his goals from five feet now, but he has a heckuva shot from 35 and 40 feet. He&rsquo;s going to score a lot of goals from that distance.&rdquo;</p><p>And that means more of &ldquo;Another one bites the dust.&rdquo;</p><p><b>STAR DUST-</b>After allowing 15 goals in losses to Los Angeles and Edmonton, the Stars rebounded with a 1-1 tie against the Oilers and the rout of Detroit&hellip;Tom and Sherry Younghans are parents of a baby boy, Nicholas Anthony&hellip;Trainer Doc Rose and defenseman Gary Sargent are recuperating from spinal fusions&hellip;The Stars needed seven points the final six games to equal last year&rsquo;s record 88 points, but they likely will not match the sixth-place finish of a year ago&hellip;Smith needed eight points in six games to tie Tim Young&rsquo;s club record of 95 points in a season and five assists to tie Young&rsquo;s record of 66&hellip;Average home attendance of 14,158 is more than 1,000 ahead of last year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Stars’ Ciccarelli Knows The Tune For Scoring

<p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>ORONTO&mdash;Not <i>surprisingly, Lou Nanne didn&rsquo;t get much support from his fellow general managers after he</i> said <i>fighting was not a necessary part of hockey.</i></p><p><i>Jack Saunders of the Toronto</i>&nbsp;<b>Sun</b>&nbsp;<i>contacted several of Nanne&rsquo;s peers, as well as a few owners, and here&rsquo;s what they had to say:</i></p><p>&bull; <b>Harry Sinden, Boston:</b> &ldquo;Other than (Darryl) Sittier, not one of those players he named were in fights this year. Payne is not in that class. He&rsquo;s a tough kid.</p><p>&ldquo;So what happens if we ban fighting and Gretzky gets in one? Then we&rsquo;ve really lost him if he&rsquo;s suspended.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I just saw six games in five days in Sweden and they were the most vicious games I&rsquo;ve ever seen&mdash;but there were no fights. Hockey is very dangerous there. We don&rsquo;t even know what violence is here compared to there.</p><p>&ldquo;Their main worry is the use of the stick. I&rsquo;m totally opposed to the use of the stick in any way, shape or form. And we have rules to cover it.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull; <b>Ray Miron, Colorado:</b> &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you, in Denver when Philadelphia is in we sell out. Even the Islanders drew only 7,000. Philadelphia draws better than any club in the league on the road.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not condoning what happens&mdash;Philadelphia gets a lot of penalties and probably should get more&mdash;but we have to put people in the building.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull; <b>Cliff Fletcher, Calgary:</b> &ldquo;While I&rsquo;m totally opposed to mass brawling&mdash;which the NHL is doing a good job of curtailing&mdash;I find that, in watching leagues like college hockey where fighting is banned, highsticking is up tenfold.</p><p>&ldquo;Where players know that they&rsquo;re not going to drop their sticks and stand toe to toe, they are more liberal to use their sticks.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull; <b>Bill Torrey, Islanders:</b> &ldquo;Lou called me last night and I said, &lsquo;you&rsquo;re over-reacting,&rsquo; I don&rsquo;t like extremes in anything and we&rsquo;ve gone from extreme passiveness to extreme violence. There&rsquo;s no bodychecking in all those 10-8 games.</p><p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s the players&rsquo; election. Mike Bossy doesn&rsquo;t fight anybody; Guy Lafleur doesn&rsquo;t fight anybody. They&rsquo;ve found ways to combat it.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull; <b>Glen Sather, Edmonton:</b> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think fighting should be banned. It&rsquo;s like a baseball pitcher throwing at 100 miles an hour. It&rsquo;s a factor in the way players play; if they&rsquo;re intimidated so much, they shouldn&rsquo;t be in hockey.&rdquo;.</p><p>&bull; <b>Maurice Filion, Quebec:</b> &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have to have a meeting at the end of the season regarding all the 10-minute penalties. Now it&rsquo;s kind of bad, things aren&rsquo;t going well.</p><p>&ldquo;But I haven&rsquo;t seen Lafleur too often in a fight. They&rsquo;re not going after superstars. I&rsquo;m not against a good fight between two guys.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull; <b>Max McNab, Washington:</b> &ldquo;Hockey is a business venture and if there was a decided change to the attraction it would be a gamble with the fans.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t agree there&rsquo;d be more bodychecking, but pretty quickly there&rsquo;d be a European style of hockey. The percentage of injury is pretty small compared to the retaliation in European games with their sly maneuvers.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Other GMs Say: Nothing Wrong With Fighting

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011170/4443707-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="306" height="368"></div><h2>Protection From Above</h2><p><b>IN ITS INFINITE WISDOM</b> the National Hockey League has recognized the right of dive bombers to bomb but not anti-aircraft guns to fire back.</p><p>How else can one explain NHL president John Ziegler&rsquo;s decision to incarcerate Nicholas Evlampios Fotiu for eight games?</p><p>All Nicky did was try to shoot down a bomber. The bomber happened to be raining debris on Fotiu and other members of the New York Rangers who were paying a hospitality call at the Joe Louis Arena.</p><p>Insults, Nicky can take, but cups filled with beer? That&rsquo;s too much.</p><p>While Nick wiped the stale suds off his face the Italian blood in him boiled in equal proportions to his Greek blood. The resulting metabolic explosion sent Nick careening after the bomber.</p><p>Gendarmes intervened and Nicky never got his man, although the cops did. For that, an eight-game suspension?</p><p>Was Fotiu&rsquo;s perfectly human reaction wrong? Was Nick&rsquo;s brief excursion cause for editorialists to get their bunions in an uproar as if they were witnessing the second coming of Pearl Harbor?</p><p>Of course not. If NHL arenas continue to allow their resident simians to hurl all manner of flak at visiting hockey players without severe punishment, then the NHL ought to expect commando raids in the Fotiu tradition.</p><p>Nick had no more business being suspended than did Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Mike Milbury, who led an expedition of Boston Bruins into the wilds of Madison Square Garden&rsquo;s grandstands last season.</p><p>The bottom line is this: Players, no matter how repugnant to the fans, have an inalienable right to be protected from aerial attack. When they are not protected, they protect themselves. That&rsquo;s why someone invented the ack-ack gun.</p><p>Fotiu never would have scaled the heights of the Joe Louis Arena if cops had adequately patrolled the trouble area when the bombing had begun.</p><p>But, then again, security is never what we would like it to be until <i>after</i> such episodes take place. And, when you stop to think about it, these outbursts always have been a product of hockey&rsquo;s peculiarly emotional tone.</p><p>Nicky wasn&rsquo;t the first to lead a charge of the light (beer) brigade and he no doubt won&rsquo;t be the last. Just to be sure, I checked around with some of my infallable sources.</p><p>I asked Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; coach Harry Neale if he had ever gone into the stands after a fan. Of course he had, when Harry was coaching in the World Hockey Association.</p><p>&ldquo;We had a game in Cleveland,&rdquo; Neale recalls, &ldquo;and a guy threw a cup of Schmidt&rsquo;s beer at me. I happen to like Budweiser so I ran up 40 flights of steps to tell him.&rdquo;</p><p>Then there was the Philadelphia beer riot of January 1972, when St. Louis Blues&rsquo; coach Al Arbour chased referee John Ashley down a runway at The Spectrum and, according to Arbour, &ldquo;someone poured beer on me and someone else hit me.&rdquo;</p><p>Fans, who had started the fight by hurling beer and debris at the Blues, soon found themselves under siege as the St. Louis skaters charged into the stands led by platoon leader Bob Plag6r. Before the <i>fooferaw</i> was over some 150 cops were on the scene.</p><p>When the battle was approaching its peak, a newsman who had just arrived for the brawl, asked a policeman what was happening.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the St. Louis Blues against the cops,&rdquo; the policeman replied, &ldquo;and we&rsquo;re winning!&rdquo;</p><p>The most bizarre player-in-the-stands scenario took place in Madison Square Garden on November 21, 1965 during a Rangers-Detroit Red Wings match.</p><p>New York goalie Ed Giacomin had made a save but appeared to have carried the puck over the goal line in his glove. Goal judge Arthur Reichert, proving he was no &ldquo;homer,&rdquo; flashed the red light.</p><p>Rangers&rsquo; GM Emile Francis thought otherwise and charged half way around the arena to. berate Reichert. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got two witnesses here to prove I&rsquo;m right,&rdquo; snapped Reichert.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t give a damn about any witnesses,&rdquo; shouted Francis. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re the guy who makes the decisions and you just made another rotten one.&rdquo;</p><p>Suddenly a burly spectator yelled, &ldquo;Bug off, Francis, that puck was in.&rdquo;</p><p>In a trice, two fans jumped Francis. &ldquo;One of them,&rdquo; the 150-pound Francis recalled, &ldquo;weighed at least 250 pounds.&rdquo;</p><p>The brawl spread rapidly. One fan ripped Francis&rsquo; jacket off his back while the second crawled on top of him, tossing lefts and rights.</p><p>The Rangers on the ice suddenly realized that their leader was lost in a mountain of bodies. Led by Vic Hadfield, the Blueshirts scaled the tall glass barrier above the end boards. A total of ten Rangers went over the top. They surrounded Francis&rsquo; attackers and rescued their boss.</p><p>When the dust had cleared the cops asked Francis if he wanted to press charges. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to press charges,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I just want that goal back!&rdquo;</p><h2>Blues Weak On Defense?</h2><p><b>NOTES:</b> Harry Neale has provided more fodder for the Blues&rsquo; message board. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think St. Louis will win the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; Harry tells me, &ldquo;because they&rsquo;re not experienced enough and they don&rsquo;t have any depth on defense. If the Blues draw three out of the four tough teams, those teams will attack their passive defense.&rdquo;&hellip;I asked the Black Hawks&rsquo; Reggie Kerr how much money he&rsquo;d want to put on the goalie pads at any time and go between the pipes. &ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t enough money around for me to do that. I have too many brains.&rdquo;&hellip;Tiger Williams says under no conditions would he ever take off after fans. He figures they&rsquo;re too lawyer-conscious.&hellip;The Hartford Whalers shot down the Don (Grapes) Cherry-to-Connecticut rumor by re-signing Larry Pleau. Wouldn&rsquo;t Grapes be a natural under John Ferguson in Winnipeg?&hellip;Los Angeles scribes will discover what only insiders around the Buffalo Sabres dressing room knew: That Rick Martin is one of the funniest men in hockey&hellip;Don Luce came this close to becoming a Colorado Rockie. Scotty Bowman okayed the deal as long as he got a draft choice in return. The Rockies would only give cash. So, Luce, a class guy, is an L.A. King.&hellip;Every year the NHL Players Association releases some propaganda about curbing fighting so this year is no exception.&hellip;Why don&rsquo;t they do something worthwhile like figuring out how to restore bodychecking and stickhandling to the game?&hellip;If I owned a club I&rsquo;d give a $25 bonus to every defenseman who handed out a clean hip check in the Bob Plager tradition&hellip;I like Tony (Van7 couver <i>Province)</i> Gallagher&rsquo;s line: &ldquo;Do you think Craig Patrick would be running the Rangers if his name was Joe Smith?&rdquo;&hellip;If Robert Picard doesn&rsquo;t make it in Montreal, then we will know for sure that he&rsquo;s another Pat Price&hellip;Don Maloney of the Rangers and Mike Bossy of the Islanders won the annual Good Guy award presented by the New York-Long Island branches of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Among those who attended the luncheon was Joe Nichols, the ex-New York <i>Times</i> hockey writer, warbler and one of the best guys in captivity. Joe smiled his way through life with this bit of philosophy: &ldquo;Very little matters&mdash;and nothing matters very much!&rdquo;</p><p><b>GRETZKY SPELLED C-L-A-S-S:</b> Say what you will about Wayne Gretzky, he&rsquo;s got an ego and he&rsquo;s got class.</p><p>I found out about his ego when he got good and mad at me for a column I had written here early in the season. Yours truly had the temerity to suggest that Bobby Smith of the Minnesota North Stars was a better player than The Great G.</p><p>I&rsquo;m glad Wayne got mad. That shows me that (a) He reads THE HOCKEY NEWS. (B) He&rsquo;s got emotions and (C) He&rsquo;s got opinions and is not reluctant to state same.</p><p>For my money there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with egomania properly channelled. But The Great G has class, to boot. Which is even better. Here&rsquo;s how I found out:</p><p>The Oilers were coming to town so I phoned the Edmonton propaganda ministry to find out whether Wayne would be available for an interview. No way, they said. The Great G was furious over the Bobby Smith column, not to mention a couple of other opinions cited here; that Wayne should have taken it easy last summer and that one newsman found him inaccessible.</p><p>The propaganda ministry was in error. Gretzky was quite willing to give an interview. He said he found the comparison with Bobby Smith a stimulant.</p><p>&ldquo;It makes me go harder,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;At times being compared with others is good; at other times it&rsquo;s a put-down. As they say, &lsquo;any kind of news is good as long as it&rsquo;s news&rsquo;.&rdquo;</p><p>Gretzky says it&rsquo;s unfair of the writer to say he&rsquo;s inaccessible. He&rsquo;s as cooperative as he can be. (I&rsquo;ll attest to that.) &ldquo;Our policy is that interviews must go through the team. I&rsquo;ve done everything I&rsquo;ve been asked to do. I never turn anyone down. Mr. [Glen] Sather has rules. If the reporter doesn&rsquo;t like them, well, don&rsquo;t talk to me about it.&rdquo;</p><p>As for Wayne&rsquo;s &ldquo;overworking&rdquo; during the summer: &ldquo;It was all done properly so I wouldn&rsquo;t tire myself out but it&rsquo;s hard to turn down charities. I&rsquo;m as much in demand as a George Brett. If he can do it, so can I.&rdquo;</p><p>The proof, of course, is in the arithmetic. Gretzky was so tired, he kept the Oilers afloat, moved to the top of the scoring race and managed to talk to people with whom he disagreed.</p><p>Not every super star can make that statement. So, pardon me while I jump on The Great G&rsquo;s bandwagon.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY BOB KEISSER</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Defensive hockey can be a rewarding experience. Literally, if you happen to be a Los Angeles King.</p><p>Each King is $3,500 richer today, having cashed in on the latest incentive plan handed down by owner Jerry Buss. The program was entitled &ldquo;Tag the Doctor&rdquo;, and the taggee couldn&rsquo;t be happier.</p><p>The Kings&rsquo; owner is big on incentives and bonus plans. He laid out an extensive program at the start of the season that featured a trip to Hawaii if the team should notch 88 points this season and included bonus cash for shutout ($200), one-goal performance ($100) and $500 if the team should limit opponents to 260 goals or less this season.</p><p>The Kings were just two points from Hawaii and had earned $1,100 bonus money for low-goal games at press time. But they had clearly strayed from defensive hockey for a two month, 30-game period of the season stretching from mid-December to mid-February. During that span, the Kings&rsquo; goals-against average was a inflationary 4.43, and the team was playing barely 500 hockey.</p><p><b>They could have tagged Buss for more money if they hadn&rsquo;t been a little cost-conscious versus Chicago.</b></p><p>Enter Dr. Buss. At an informal team gathering on Feb. 15, he laid out a new bonus plan: $1,000 a man if the team should hold the next 10 opponents to 30 goals, and an extra $500 for each goal under 30.</p><p>&ldquo;The incentives sort of brought the whole idea of defensive hockey back home,&rdquo; said team captain Mike Murphy. &ldquo;It served to make everyone in the lockerroom realize what style of hockey works best down the stretch and in the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>Buss, who has a degree in chemistry and made his fortune in real estate, has proven to be a pretty fair psychologist. &ldquo;The key thing is to never set up a goal that someone can&rsquo;t reach,&rdquo; he says now. &ldquo;At the start of the season, I fully expected the team to earn about 94 points this season. But 88 sounded much more realistic.&rdquo;</p><p>Buss was a little less confident that the team could Tag the Doctor heavily, in light of their past defensive play and the wide-open style of hockey being practiced throughout the NHL. But the smell of green helped them rise to the occasion.</p><p>They could have tagged Buss for even more money than they did if they hadn&rsquo;t been a little cost-conscious in the series finale versus Chicago.</p><p>The Kings came out all fired up and as a result played a little too defensively in the first period. The Hawks grabbed a 3-0 lead. The Kings rallied to earn a 4-4 tie but bemoaned the loss of $2,000 bonus cash.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all we talked about in the lockerroom before the game,&rdquo; said Billy Harris. &ldquo;By the way we played, you could tell we let it get in the way of the game.&rdquo;</p><p>Another Tag the Doctor series began for the season&rsquo;s final 11 games, the prescription being: Hold the opponents to 33 goals or less with the same rates applying. The three new Kings will be a part of this bonanza&mdash;center Don Luce, left winger Rick Martin and goalie Jim Rutherford.</p><p>Coach Bob Berry immediately placed Luce in the lineup, killing penalties and taking odd fourth line shifts, and had plans to give Rutherford some work on an upcoming four-game road trip.</p><p>Martin, meanwhile, was placed on a remedial therapy program to build up the strength of the muscles in his right leg while his right knee recuperated.</p><p>&ldquo;It feels as good as it has since the operation,&rdquo; said Martin upon his arrival in town. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t wait to start playing. I&rsquo;ll be able to tell once I get back on skates, and I really think it&rsquo;ll be okay. It&rsquo;s funny how you forget everything else when you want to Play.&rdquo;</p><p>If determination was any factor, Martin would already be back on skates. He knows as well as anyone that the Kings have until April 1 to cancel the deal with Buffalo should his knee not respond. And he doesn&rsquo;t want to go back to the Sabres.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no sense rushing him back,&rdquo; said Kings&rsquo; general manager George Maguire. &ldquo;We want a healthy Rick Martin for the playoffs. So if we have to wait a little longer to see him in a uniform, so be it.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTES</b>&mdash;Goaltender Doug Keans, who was sent to the minors earlier this month, was slated for ankle surgery on March 24&hellip;The Kings became only the third team in NHL history to have three 100-point men in a season when Dave Taylor notched his 100th in a 10-4 win over Minnesota&hellip;Mike Murphy has been filling in for Charlie Simmer on left wing of the Triple Crown Line and playing very well. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t need the most gifted athlete to be successful, just one who&rsquo;s smart,&rdquo; said Marcel Dionne of Murphy&hellip;Steve Jensen, having his best season as a King, scored his 100th NHL goal recently to become only the fifth American to hit the century mark in the NHL.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011117/4443762-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="618" height="885"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>&ldquo;The incentives made us realize what works best down the stretch,&rdquo; said Kings&rsquo; captain Mike Murphy.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0011-01

Tagging Doctor Is Kings’ Bonanza

<div class="byline">BY ARNOLD IRISH</div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>T. LOUIS-They call Eddie Staniowski the &ldquo;Saturday Night Special&rdquo; because most of his starts this season&mdash;when he&rsquo;s played at all&mdash;have come on the last day of the week.</p><p>Many National Hockey League teams could use a Staniowski in goal on a regular basis, but Eddie has perhaps the league&rsquo;s most unpromising job. As the Blues&rsquo; backup goalie, he understudies Mike Liut, a strong candidate for the Hart Trophy as Most Valuable Player.</p><p>&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t easy,&rdquo; admits Staniowski, one of only a handful of Blues on hand for an optional late-afternoon practice a few hours after the team returned from a recent trip. He&rsquo;s wearing Joe Micheletti&rsquo;s skates and using Jack Brownschidle&rsquo;s stick.</p><p>&ldquo;You never know when (as a backup goalie] you&rsquo;re going to be used,&rdquo; Staniowski said. &ldquo;Sometimes you find out the day before a game, sometimes between periods. You have to stay sharp, physically and mentally.</p><p>Staniowski&rsquo;s record speaks for itself. Although he appeared in only one-fourth of the Blues&rsquo; first 68 games, he compiled a record of 10 victories, three losses and two ties.</p><p>&ldquo;The games I&rsquo;ve played in, I&rsquo;ve been satisfied with my performance,&rdquo; Staniowski says. &ldquo;I think I may be playing as well right how as ever before in my career.&rdquo;</p><p>Staniowski is a tireless trainer. If he isn&rsquo;t lifting weights, he&rsquo;s punching the light bag. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been working with weights since junior, and I&rsquo;ve made progress with them,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Some believe that if you use weights, you&rsquo;re not as quick, but you won&rsquo;t lose quickness if you compensate with flexibility exercises and mobility drills.&rdquo;</p><p>The mental load of sitting on the bench far outweighs the physical pressure, Staniowski says.</p><p>&ldquo;The physical part is easier. The weights are there to be lifted, the exercises done, but if you aren&rsquo;t careful you can play mind games with yourself,&rdquo; admits Staniowski, who was viewed as the Blues&rsquo; goalie of the future before Liut came on the scene unexpectedly last season.</p><p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t let those gnawing doubts, anxieties or ambitions get the upper hand. A lot of guys get ulcers worrying about things over which they have no control.</p><p>&ldquo;I try not to let negative thoughts creep in,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s only so much you can concern yourself with, and I try to keep it simple. If you know you&rsquo;re going to play on a given night, prepare to go out and play. Think about the people on that team.&rdquo;</p><p>Staniowski can&rsquo;t help but remember, from time to time, the glory days of his first professional season (1976) when, with only 11 regular-season games under his belt, he limited the high-powered Buffalo Sabres to only seven goals in three playoff games and had observers comparing him with Frankie Brimsek at a similar stage of development.</p><p>&ldquo;I showed myself then what I&rsquo;m capable of doing, and I&rsquo;ve showed myself since that I have capabilities to do it again,&rdquo; Staniowski says.</p><p>&ldquo;No goalkeeper&rsquo;s reflexes improve as he gets older&mdash;they peak when he&rsquo;s 18 or 19, still playing junior&mdash;but he gets the smarts with experience.&rdquo;</p><p>What about his &ldquo;Saturday Night Special&rdquo; sobriquet?</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we laugh and joke about,&rdquo; StaniowskLsmiles. &ldquo;You lose track of the days during the season, so it doesn&rsquo;t have that much impact on me, but the guys kid you about it. As for <i>Saturday Night Fever,</i> I don&rsquo;t even like to disco.&rdquo;</p><p>Is there more than token gratification to be gained from being backup goalie on hockey&rsquo;s No. 1 team?</p><p>&ldquo;I get satisfaction from seeing people who are good friends&mdash;some I&rsquo;ve&rdquo; known since junior&mdash;doing so well individually and the team performing so well as a unit,&rdquo; Staniowski says.</p><p>He wishes he could be more a part of it, of course. &ldquo;But neither [coach] Red Berenson or anybody else in management has given me any reason to think they&rsquo;re displeased with my play,&rdquo; Staniowski says.</p><p>&ldquo;The situation [playing infrequently] is something I&rsquo;ve got to live with. Knowing Liut is the All Star goalie makes it easier.&rdquo;</p><p>What of Staniowski&rsquo;s future? Is it with the Blues or will he wind up with another NHL team next season?</p><p>things right here, too many things important to this team right now, for me to speculate,&rdquo; Staniowski said.</p><p>&ldquo;There will be lots of time in the off-season to worry about things down the road.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011143/4443793-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="608" height="978"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ed Staniowski keeps physically sharp while wrestling with the mental anguish of being a backup goaltender.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-01

Saturday Not Only Day Staniowski’s Special

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02975/4443824-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="322" height="360"></div><h2>Nice Save, USA</h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE FORT WAYNE KOMETS</b> and Milwaukee Admirals were in the final seconds of an International League game when Steve Janaszak yielded the tying goal.</p><p>&ldquo;I had made the save and one of my defensemen kicked it in&mdash;one of those things,&rdquo; said Fort Wayne&rsquo;s Janaszak, the back-up goaltender on the gold-medal winning United States&rsquo; Olympic team who&rsquo;s trying to climb in the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; organization. &ldquo;After the goal, the Milwaukee bench started yelling things like &lsquo;Nice save, USA.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>Is this any way to treat a hero? Why, Janaszak never ever played in the Olympics. Imagine the abuse Jim Craig, the starting Olympic goalie, and others who are trying to establish themselves in the NHL must endure.</p><p>Ahh, sorry, drama fans&hellip;conversations with many of the U.S. Olympians failed to reveal much abuse even though one of them, defenseman Bill Baker, was the first to be traded. Another, Craig, is in limbo after declining an invitation to report to Boston&rsquo;s AHL farm team.</p><p>Another, Islanders&rsquo; defenseman Ken Morrow, has struggled all season after completing an unprecedented sweep last season&mdash;the gold medal and the Stanley Cup. Mike Ramsey, one of Morrow&rsquo;s Olympic defense pals, has had an inconsistent season with Buffalo.</p><p>They&rsquo;re having problems, but complaints are few. Several others, meanwhile, have quickly proven they belong in the NHL. Dave Christian is leading the Winnipeg Kiddie Korps in scoring. Steve Christoff has been a valuable goal scorer for Minnesota and Mark Johnson has shown promise despite fourth-line part-time work with Pittsburgh.</p><p>The attitude of their NHL teammates were summed up in Lindy Ruff, Ramsey&rsquo;s Buffalo roommate. &ldquo;He and Robby [McClanahan] joined the team at a time when we weren&rsquo;t playing that well and seemed to add a lot of spark,&rdquo; said Ruff. &ldquo;Sure, the guys razzed them, but it was fun razzing, like &lsquo;Are you polishing your gold medal?&rsquo; Hey, nobody gave them a hard time because what they did was a great feat.&rdquo;</p><h2>They&rsquo;re Still Rookies</h2><p><b>STILL, ALL THE OLYMPIANS</b> are rookies, a fact Morrow and the others wish people would remember.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard Jim Craig and others say that people don&rsquo;t really look at us like rookies,&rdquo; the congenial 6-4 rearguard said. &ldquo;People expect more from us. But we are rookies and we&rsquo;re making mistakes. I&rsquo;m surprised a lot of us are playing in the NHL now, I thought it would take time. In my case, I thought I&rsquo;d have to play one or two years in the minors first.&rdquo;</p><p>Christoff, a winger with natural scoring instincts, was more confident than Morrow. &ldquo;I was surprised&mdash;I expected it to be really tough,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it turned out to be not quite as tough as I thought, I made sure I was prepared to play.&rdquo;</p><p>Jim Craig thought he was prepared to play, but after a mid-season slump the Bruins thought he should report to Springfield (AHL) and work his way back to NHL form. Craig, one of the few Olympians who&rsquo;s having problems dealing with his fame, huddled with his agent, then told Boston GM Harry Sinden and coach Gerry Cheevers that Springfield may be a nice place to visit, but Craig would rather not play there.</p><p>Janaszak understood Craig&rsquo;s decision, which left the former University of Minnesota goalie in the minority.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been in the spotlight,&rdquo; said Janaszak, &ldquo;and once you get down into the minors, you lose a lot of the notoriety you had. You&rsquo;re another hockey player struggling to make it up. And hockey players are a dime a dozen these days.&rdquo;</p><h2>Place In Our Hearts</h2><p><b>ONE OF CRAIG&rsquo;S PROBLEMS</b> is, he&rsquo;ll never be &ldquo;just another hockey player.&rdquo; Craig won a place in all our hearts for his Olympic performance and for the scene of him asking &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s my father?&rdquo; as he stood on the Lake Placid arena ice, the American flag draped over his shoulder, following the gold-medal clinching. Whether he&rsquo;ll ever be a solid NHL goaltender will require time&mdash;time many observers are wondering if Craig is willing to spend at his trade.</p><p>Hero status is the exalted attitude all the miracle men of Lake Placid must live with. They&rsquo;ll be identified forever with shocking the Soviets and winning the gold medal. Most of the Olympians appear capable of handling it.</p><p>&ldquo;The more you hear you&rsquo;re a hero, the more you feel like one,&rdquo; said Morrow, smiling. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think any of us feels like one. We just went up there and did what we were supposed to do.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;We got letters after the Olympics and maybe half of them were from places that didn&rsquo;t have hockey,&rdquo; said Bill Baker, the defenseman who was traded from Montreal to Colorado. &ldquo;They said it really brought us together. That&rsquo;s the kind of satisfaction I got, bringing a lot of joy to a lot of people.&rdquo;</p><p>It took special people to accomplish what the U.S. Olympic team did. And they&rsquo;ll always be special, whether or not they achieve stardom in the NHL.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-02

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ARTFORD&mdash;Larry Pleau didn&rsquo;t have to wait until the Twelfth of Never for the game of his dreams, only until the 12th game of his professional coaching career.</p><p>Pleau rooted for the Montreal Canadiens as a youngster growing up in Massachusetts. He signed with Montreal as a teenager and spent three years in the Canadiens&rsquo; organization, acquiring the sense of pride and professionalism which he hopes to instill in the Hartford Whalers. Pleau does not hide the fact that he respects, even loves, the Montreal way of doing things.</p><p>&ldquo;The Canadiens have played the same way for a long, long time,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;They skate; they headman the puck, and they work at both ends. They have a lot of pride in their dressing room, the kind I&rsquo;d like to instill here.&rdquo;</p><p>Pleau knew better than to expect his Whalers to beat Montreal, which, at the time, had lost just once in its last 20 games, permitting but 43 goals during that span. He would have taken a one-goal win and laughed all the way to the bank. He would have even settled for a tie.</p><p>Instead, he got a 9-3 victory and a memory for life.</p><p>&ldquo;Our guys want to play, they want to win, they want to work at the game, they want to be proud of themselves,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Beating Montreal is a thrill. Beating them the way we did, well, that&rsquo;s something else.&rdquo;</p><p>The Whalers, in their brief NHL history, had never beaten Montreal in six tries. That changed in the 12th game of Pleau&rsquo;s coaching career.</p><p>Hartford scored four goals on its first five Shots on Denis Herron, led 5-1 after one period, 8-1, after two, and. 9-1. with 12 minutes left. Don Nachbaur and Blaine Stoughton led the way with a pair of goals.</p><p>The dream had come true.</p><p>&ldquo;We are trying to learn how to compete under pressure,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;Some of our players have never been asked to compete under this kind of heat. It is not an easy thing to learn. Any team can have a good game, but learning to sustain this type of effort is what it&rsquo;s all about.&rdquo;</p><p>The Whalers held the Canadiens to three shots in the second period, something other teams do once every decade or so.</p><p>&ldquo;We did it once,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;I guess they can&rsquo;t take that away from us.&rdquo;</p><p>Pleau&rsquo;s first 11 games were something less than productive, and even counting the 12th, the results have been less than, inspiring.</p><p>He&rsquo;ll tell you otherwise. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen a lot of positive things around here in the last month,&rdquo; he said. But the numbers haven&rsquo;t changed much.</p><p>In between Don Blackburn&rsquo;s vote of confidence press luncheon, engineered by head honchos Howard Baldwin and Jack Kelley, and his firing 25&rsquo;days later, engineered by the same duo, the Whalers played 12 games. In that span, they compiled eight points via a 1-5-6 record.</p><p>In Pleau&rsquo;s first 12 games, despite the enthusiasm often generated by a coaching change, the Whalers compiled nine points by going, 4-7-1.</p><p>Blackburn promised vindication when he was fired, but even he didn&rsquo;t expect it to arrive so soon.</p><p>Should the Whalers fail to make the playoffs, it can hardly be construed as the coach&rsquo;s fault, be he Blackburn or Pleau.</p><p>Pleau, however, accomplished something in his 12th game that others in his line of work have only done in their dreams.</p><p>His team beat the team which he&rsquo; most respects, and that has to count for something.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011093/4443855-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="600" height="976"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Don Nachbaur, above, scored two goals in the first period to lead Hartford over Montreal, 9-3.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-01

Hartford Nets Pleau’s Dream Game

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div><p>DENVER&mdash;Il&rsquo;s commonplace in pro sports that a traded player generally performs at a peak level in his debut with his new team.</p><p>That might have been part of the case in Madison Square Garden when the lowly Colorado Rockies completed a sweep of the Rangers on their home ice with a 4-3 victory&mdash;a narrow decision which ended the Rockies&rsquo; longest road losing streak at nine games.</p><p>And it might have figured that all three of the players acquired by the Rockies just before the March 10 trading deadline played key roles in the team&rsquo;s first road win since a New Year&rsquo;s Eve game at the same Madison Square Garden.</p><p>Former Islanders Steve Tambellini and Glenn &ldquo;Chico&rdquo; Resch were men of the hour for the Rockies, as was the other newcomer, defenseman Bill Baker. Tambellini and Resch were acquired from the Islanders for defenseman Mike McEwen and Finnish goalie Jari Kaarela. Baker was acquired from Montreal for future considerations.</p><p>Tambellini rebounded a blocked shot by Lanny McDonald past Ranger goalie Steve Baker with 1:01 left to snap a 3-3 tie and give the Rockies their 20th win&mdash;tying a franchise record established their first season in Denver.</p><p>Resch stopped only 19 shots, but his confidence around the net seemingly inspired a Rockie defense which had not been too steady. And Baker turned in his usual unspectacular, but steady game defensively&mdash;which is all the Rockies and coach Billy MacMillan are asking of him.</p><p>As an Islander for seven years playing against the Rangers, Resch had been booed on every possible occasion by the vocal Ranger fans. On this night, though, he was cheered by the Ranger partisans, who broke into chants of &ldquo;Chi-co, Chi-co, Chi-co&rdquo; several times during the game.</p><p>&ldquo;Wait &lsquo;til he gets home,&rdquo; MacMillan said of Resch&rsquo;s reception in Denver when the team returns from an 11-day road trip. MacMillan is well aware of the usually loyal, sometimes harsh, but always noisy Rocky fans. And he was certain that the former second team All Star goalie would be a big crowd favorite in the Mile High City.</p><p>MacMillan was pleased with the acquisition of all three players, even though it might be too late to do any good as far as a playoff position this year is concerned.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s oozing with confidence,&rdquo; MacMillan said of Resch. &ldquo;He was the leader with the Islanders in the dressing room and that&rsquo;s what he can be in Denver.&rdquo;</p><p>And of the 22-year-old Tambellini. MacMillan said, &ldquo;Now I think we&rsquo;ve got one of the best young centers in the league and he&rsquo;s gonna come on. Steve&rsquo;s only 22 and he&rsquo;s got lots of speed. He can shoot and skate with some of the best in the league.&rdquo;</p><p>Baker, the former U.S. Olympian whom the Rockies have been coveting for more than a month, drew the following appraisal from MacMillan: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s steady. He&rsquo;s a defensive defenseman. He&rsquo;s not going to be as offensive as McEwen was. But he&rsquo;s going to cut down on mistakes in our own end. And I think he&rsquo;s going to work really well with Rob Ramage.&rdquo;</p><p>Resch was his ebullient self after his first win as a Rockie, one which he probably cherished a bit more because of his strong feelings for Madison Square Garden.</p><p>&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t have asked for a better start or a better result.&rdquo; said Resch, who faced only nine shots the first two periods. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a great feeling. I really feel thankful for these guys here because for the first two periods, no team has played harder in front of me.</p><p>&ldquo;Any team holding the Rangers to just nine shots is remarkable. I thought they&rsquo;d get at least 10,&rdquo; Resch winked. &ldquo;They should have had only one goal.&rdquo;</p><p>Tambellini, meanwhile, was ecstatic over his game-winning goal in his debut with Colorado. &ldquo;I sure am tired,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s a good feeling to get the game.&rdquo;</p><p>Tambellini also talked about the sudden turn of events in his NHL career&mdash;going from the defending Stanley Cup champions to the 20th place team. &ldquo;This is a new beginning for me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good break. It hurts that I won&rsquo;t s&pound;e the Stanley Cup final, but it&rsquo;s good for my future.&rdquo;</p><p>The addition of Resch, who will become a free agent June 1, and center Tambellini gives the Rockies as much depth at goalie and center as they have ever had.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Newest Rockies Give Instant Lift

<div class="byline">BY TOM RATSCHUNAS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011124/4443910-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="314" height="372"></div><h2>RUMANIA</h2><p><b>Sixth Title For Dinamo Bucharest</b></p><p>Dinamo Bucharest managed to take sole possession of second place in the all-time standings when they won their sixth national title by a three-point margin over Steaua Bucharest, who have amassed 19 titles so far. The big difference between the two clubs was the play of Dinamo&rsquo;s No. 1 line, which has been together for years: Marian Costea, Doru Tureanu and Dumitru Axinte. Despite his club allowing 32 more goals than local rival Steaua, Gheorghe Hutan was a stalwart in the nets for Dinamo in key games. The Rumanian national team, which has reached the A-Pool level in world hockey, had a very satisfying tournament victory in the traditional Four Nation affair staged at Budapest, Hungary. The Rumanians were tied with the hosts, Hungary, at the end of the round robin with two wins and a loss each but Rumania won. thanks to a 4-2 victory over the Magyars.</p><h2>CZECHOSLOVAKIA</h2><p><b>Novy Nears Milestone</b></p><p>Poldi Kladno center Milan Novy recently scored his 404th league goal, which made him the all-time Czech goal-scoring king. Josef Cerny, who toiled for Plzen and Brno, retired after having reached 403 goals.</p><p>In the pre-season forecasts nobody predicted that Motor Ceske Budejovice and Vitkovice would drop out of the title race, but they have done so and now more interest was being focused on the pride of Slovakia, Slovan Bratislava, the 1979 champions, who were anchored in the cellar. The young team was collecting points at a steady pace since the Christmas break but lost a key game to Plzen in round 35 before upsetting Jihlava in round 36 on a goal scored by Jan Jasko in the 54th minute. Jasko and defenseman Ivan Cerny had the other Slovan tallies in the 3-2 win.</p><h2>DENMARK</h2><p><b>Denmark On Hockey Map</b></p><p>During a visit by a Danish hockey team to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Verner Andersen put Denmark on the hockey map by presenting Hall of Fame curator Lefty Reid with a Danish national team sweater for display at the hall. Because of its location in the southernmost part of Scandinavia, Denmark is not a natural hockey country but it is very serious about improving the standard of hockey, which was accelerated a couple of years ago when Boris Kulagin planted some seeds of Soviet hockey culture while coaching there. This season Kulagin is the mastermind behind the new era of the Moscow Spartak.</p><p>Denmark recently achieved another milestone when they tied (4-4) and then defeated Norway 4-1 in a friendly two-game series. The Norweigans did not have their best possible lineup and their team could best be described as a combination of the A and B squads, but nevertheless it marked a historic first-ever for Denmark over Norwav on the national team level in any category.</p><h2>SWEDEN</h2><p><b>&ldquo;The Fish&rdquo; Is Desperate</b></p><p>The Bjorkloven club received a staggering blow when <b>Lennart Norberg,</b> one of its star players, suffered a broken cheekbone after being butt-ended by Djurgarden&rsquo;s <b>Peter Wallin,</b> who recently signed with the NHL&rsquo;s New York Rangers. The injury could mean that Norberg will miss the upcoming world championships&hellip;Speaking of the world championships, Sweden coach <b>Bengt &ldquo;The Fish&rdquo; Ohlsson</b> is desperately looking for help from across the Atlantic to strengthen his team for the Worlds. The Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; <b>Borje Salming</b> is right at the top of Ohlsson&rsquo;s list, but will only be available if the Leafs don&rsquo;t make the playoffs&mdash;a question that might not be resolved until the very last weekend of the season. <b>Willy Lindstrom,</b> of the lowly Winnipeg Jets, is a likely candidate and <b>Roland Eriksson,</b> who left Sweden for Germany after not being chosen for the Swedish Cup last spring, was recently scouted by Ohlsson.</p><p>Goaltending, meanwhile, is a problem. Behind <b>Peter Lindmark.</b> who plays for Timra in Division One, there is not much depth. <b>Goran Hogosta</b> has completely lost the form that he exhibited last September; as a result, Ohlsson would very much like to get <b>Pelle Lindbergh</b> from the Maine Mariners&mdash;even if a payment of some sort had to be made. NHL president <b>John Ziegler</b> will probably be contacted about the possibility of getting Lindbergh&rsquo;s release, but that&rsquo;s dubious. After all, the Mariners want to win the American Hockey League championship as much as Sweden wants to win the world championship.</p><p>Preparations for the world championships are moving along very well&mdash;over 100,000 tickets have already been sold, and the only country Where there has been a modest response is in Finland. That&rsquo;s too bad, because the Finnish team, which already has a strong roster, could become even more impressive if the Edmonton Oilers don&rsquo;t make the NHL playoffs. That would mean that <b>Jari Kurri, Risto Siltanen</b> and <b>Matti Hagman</b> would be available.</p><p>Facilities for the media covering the tournament will be located at Stockholm&rsquo;s soccer stadium (&ldquo;Soderstadion&rdquo;), which is adjacent to the ice hall and can be reached by a special passageway. At Gotenburg, press facilities will be located in an exhibition center (&ldquo;Svenska Massan&rdquo;) which is adjacent to the arena. Both facilities will provide telefax, camera rooms,&rsquo;telex, telephones, and typewriters, as well&rsquo; as snack bars and restaurants. At Stockholm the press will be housed at the Hotel Carlton and the teams will be at the-Hotel Malmen. In Gotenburg, both the press and players will be staying in various places&mdash;the Europa, Tre Kronor and Scandinavium&rsquo;among them.</p><h2>FINLAND</h2><p><b>The Prez Is A Patron</b></p><p><b>Urho Kekkonen</b>, the president of the Republic of Finland, recently accepted an invitation to become the patron of the 1982 World Tournament, which will be held in Helsinki. Kekkonen agreed to become a patron after he was approached by <b>Goran Stubb,</b> the executive director of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. and <b>Kalervo Kummola,</b> the managing director of SM-Liiga, Finland&rsquo;s 10-club major league.</p><p>Meanwhile, back on the ice, the expected duel between Tappara and Karpat became a three-way battle when TPS, comprised mostly of veterans and coached by Juhani Wahlsten. knocked Karpat out of a place in the semifinals, thanks to a better goals per-game average and a 5-4 win in the final game of the season.</p><p>Although 1FK Helsinki&rsquo;s speedy right winger, Ilkka Sinisalo, has signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, he will stay in Finland for next season so that he can play for his country in the 1982 world tournament&hellip;Karpat&rsquo;s Reijo Ruotsalinen, a defenseman who was drafted by the New York Rangers, had an outstanding season, finishing sixth in overall league scoring, with 28 goals. Behind Ruotsalinen, the second highest scoring defenseman was Seppo Suoraniemi, whose 21 goals and 16 assists put him in 18th place&hellip;Frank Neal, a Canadian who plays on defense for Helsinki IFK, had a good year (10-21-31) but his worth to his team cannot be measured in statistics alone. Neal played double shifts when the team was riddled with injuries and even played center when the injury situation got really bad.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02918/4443941-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="590" height="334"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>o you have an opinion on hockey? Here&lsquo;s your chance to yet it oft your chest. Write the Fan Forum. The Hockey News. 214 King St.. West. Suite 314. Toronto. Ont. M5H 1K4. To facilitate processing, type-written letters arc given preference.</p><h2><b>Rowdiness Seems To Be Taking Over</b></h2><p>Bill Libby&rsquo;s article in THE HOCKEY NEWS issue of March 20, 1981, should be sent to everyone involved in hockey&mdash;management and players alike. He and Dr. Jerry Buss (L.A. Kings&rsquo; owner) are 100 percent on the mark.</p><p>An example of the muddled logic that exists in the thinking of hockey&rsquo;s highest office occured when Peter McNab of Boston vaulted the glass and pummeled a fan for two or three minutes with dozens of punches. He got a suspension of eight games. Nick Fotiu of the Rangers gets drenched with beer and abused. He, too, gets eight games.</p><p>Paul Holmgren of Philadelphia viciously cross-checked Eddie Johnstone of the Rangers to the ice from behind (typical Flyer check) 20 seconds <i>after</i> a whistle. He was suspended for three games. The Zoo director, Pat Quinn (Flyers&rsquo; coach), threatened to quit and the justice dispensor said Holmgren had not been involved in an &lsquo;altercation&rsquo; verdict. Suspension, one game. Wow!!!</p><p>NHL president John Ziegler&rsquo;s remarks should not be &ldquo;enjoyed&rdquo; as Bob Verdi said. Isn&rsquo;t the president of the league supposed to protect a great sport? Ziegler, by his open delight at the muggers&rsquo; success, has invited more of the same. The attitude of the officials on ice must start from the top. If the president delights and encourages the stick-swinging, butt-ending, spearing, kneeing, high-sticking, crosschecking, etc., of super-goon Clarke (Flyers&rsquo; Bobby Clarke) and his clone, Ken Linseman, what are his on-ice representatives supposed to do?</p><p>The Flyers, Ziegler, team owner Ed Snider, GM Keith Allen, Quinn, Clarke and Linseman are super and that&rsquo;s short for superfluous. And the worst part of it all is that the pleas of Mr. Libby, Mr, Bussand myself will be ignored.</p><p><b>Herb Arnavas,</b><br><i>Middleton, N.J.</i></p><p>I am writing about the game between the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers in which the Rangers took exception (and the law in their own hands) to having paper cups and beer doused on them by a few jerks in Detroit&rsquo;s Joe Louis Arena.</p><p>Perhaps the league, courts, should check the tapes of the game. I think they would see the Ranger goalkeeper being scored upon with only seconds to go in the game, turn and break his stick over the net and throw the jagged handle into the group of fans sitting behind the Ranger net. (No penalty). After which a barrage of paper cups rained down on the ice.</p><p>Moments later, after the game was supposed to have finished, a group of Ranger players led by their enforcer. Nick Fotiu, decided to take the hockey game into the stands and settle their differences with sticks and gloves. When ushers and police officers tried to intervene, they were jostled around like any linesman during the nightly brawls that take place during the so-called hockey games.</p><p>I think it&rsquo;s time for the U.S. and Canadian authorities and prosecutors to step in and put both the <i>lawbreaking</i> fans and players behind bars before innocent fans and peacemakers get hurt as bad as the game of hockey already has.</p><p><b>Robert DeSantis,</b><br><i>Hazel Park, MI</i></p><p>After viewing a Red Wing Flyer game in early March, I can now understand why hockey is becoming a farce.</p><p>In that game, the referee (Ron Wicks) was officiating the wrong sport. He let both teams grab and hold so much, they quit skating and started dancing.</p><p>The topper was Wicks&rsquo; refusal to call a penalty on Paul Holmgren&rsquo;s deliberate attempt to injure another player. Holmgren unleasehd a devastating elbow on Paul Woods&rsquo; face, causing a fractured jaw and a concussion.</p><p>If this is what Mr. Ziegler finds so successfully pleasing, he can watch these games without me.</p><p><b>Robert Cox,</b>&nbsp;<br><i>Oxford, Mich.</i></p><h2><b>Putting Expansion Team In Meadowlands A Mistake</b></h2><p>Recently, the hockey talk around New York has centered around the possibility that the Rangers might leave Madison Square Garden in favor of the new Meadowlands arena and lower taxes. Although it hardly seems likely that the city will let the Rangers slip across the Hudson to Jersey, I cherish the thought of the Rangers in the Meadowlands.</p><p>Being an Islander fan right now, I have no great love for the Rangers. However, with this new arena, I intend to support any team which moves into it, <i>except</i> an expansion team. Mr. Ziegler and Co., are you kidding? Expand? Given the improvements in so many NHL clubs today, an expansion team will easily break all the records (?) now held by the first-year Washington Capitals. With two better teams within 50 miles of the arena, would such a team draw large crowds? An expansion team would do well if it drew as many people as the N.J. <i>Nots</i> will (and that won&rsquo;t be many!).</p><p>The Rangers can solve that problem. Moving to the new arena will be a boost for the Rangers, their fans, and therefore, the league. The Rangers would gain about 2,000 more seats (which would be filled), and their fans would undoubtedly gain better seating. Of the six hockey arenas from Boston to Washington, the Garden is the worst from which to watch a game.</p><p>Rangers, as the sign says on Route 3 outside the Lincoln Tunnel, &ldquo;WELCOMETO NEW JERSEY&rdquo;!!!</p><p><b>Michael Bodzioch,</b><br><i>Linden, N.J.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-02

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011077/4443972-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Since he&rsquo;s been skating as the Rangers&rsquo; captain. Barry Beck has been rising to the occasion in a leadership role for the often inconsistent Rangers.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(photo By Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>EW YORK&mdash;&rdquo;It was just one of those nights,&rdquo; said Steve Baker, who had apparently won the Rangers&rsquo; No. 1 goalie slot less than two weeks after being recalled from New Haven. &ldquo;I got the second star, and everybody else got the first.&rdquo;</p><p>Shellshocked after the Rangers&rsquo; 7-7 tie with the Quebec Nordiques at Madison Square Garden, Baker had seen his mates forsake defense for a Shootout-at-the O.K. Corral offense, with the significant exception of captain Barry Beck. Baker had been beaten high and low, on good angles and bad, and he and the Rangers were lucky to escape with a point in the standings.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t get down on the shots and the club bailed me out,&rdquo; Baker admitted. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; he insisted. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel tired mentally.&rdquo;.</p><p>Baker can be excused; it was a game no one would be proud of. The Rangers were seduced into playing the Nordiques&rsquo; wide-open style, and the result was chaos.</p><p>&ldquo;It was like Acme Elecric against Albion Lumber in one of these summer games back home.&rdquo; said Vancouver native Beck. &ldquo;The last shot wins it.</p><p>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have a goaltending problem He has proven he can play,&rdquo; Beck said of Baker. &ldquo;The defensemen and forwards must tighten up. We scored goals well and we can stop them. We can&rsquo;t allow five goals-against in our own building</p><p>&ldquo;We were fortunate to get the tie. The win in Hartford last night gave us the confidence to win on the road.&rdquo;</p><p>The 6-4 victory over the Whalers the night before came three days after the Rangers had beaten the Bruins, 3-2 at home in a game that Beck had dominated.</p><p>&ldquo;When they traded for me they wanted me as a leader, and it&rsquo;s a great honor being captain.&rdquo; Beck explained. &ldquo;When 1 play 40 minutes. I play well. When I don&rsquo;t play and I sit around, 1 get cold, and that&rsquo;s hard for a big guy.&rdquo;</p><p>Coach Craig Patrick praised Beck for his presence both on and off the ice; Beck was on the ice for four of the Rangers&rsquo; goals against Quebec, and for none of the Nordiques&rsquo; goals.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing some damn good hockey.&rdquo; said Patrick. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;ve noticed lately that he&rsquo;s much more serious about his play. Every day that we have an optional practice, he&rsquo;s there and you notice a difference when you see him day-to-day. He&rsquo;s talking more about hockey than in the past and he&rsquo;s taken it upon himself to be a leader. He did it on his own.&rdquo;</p><p>The Rangers needed all the leadership they could get for the last six games of the regular season, which they faced with a tenuous hold on a playoff berth. The homestretch included road games in Buffalo, Montreal, Long Island and Philadelphia and home games against the Flyers and the Black Hawks.</p><p>They entered those six games with Ron Greschner playing effectively on left wing, usually with Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson. With Ron Duguay substituting for Nilsson against the Nordiques, it was Greschner who gave the Rangers the tying goal with 4:51 left.</p><p>Nick Fotiu was due back from his suspension for the last two games of the season, at home against Chicago and the finale in Philadelphia. Don Maloney, who also was banished for the incident with the Red Wings fans in Detroit, returned after two games.</p><p>And finally, their goaltending situation seems to be clarified after a season of revolving doors. Ironically. Baker benefitted from Bruins&rsquo; coach Gerry Cheevers&rsquo; pre-game scouting when the Bruins visited the Rangers. Baker&rsquo;s father. Dr. William Baker, is a dentist in Braintree, Mass, and heard Cheevers say on a radio show that the Bruins would shoot high on his son. He passed the news on to Steve, who made a concerted effort not to flop against the Bruins.</p><p>&ldquo;Baker went down a lot when we played the Rangers in Boston,&rdquo; said the Bruins&rsquo; Rick Middleton. &ldquo;The word is that he goes down, but tonight he stayed up and that made the difference.&rdquo;</p><p>Middleton didn&rsquo;t know it at the time, but he had his own coach to thank for that.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

Rangers Seek Leadership Down Tough Home Stretch

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01928/4444031-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>WINNIPEG JETS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01820/4444024-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="598" height="866"></div><h2><b>GOALTENDING STATISTICS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02684/4444017-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="588" height="2951"></div><h2>Espn</h2><p>NHL, COLLEGES ON U.S. TV</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03523/4444010-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="536" height="658"></div><h2><b>NHL Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04395/4444003-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="546" height="624"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCORING

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05306/4444062-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dave Hutchison isn&rsquo;t exactly reknowned for his puck-handling skills, but he&rsquo;s made contributions to the Black Hawks with his hitting and lockerroom enthusiasm.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(photo By Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>HICAGO&mdash;The Philadelphia Flyers were in the Windy City to play the Black Hawks and there in the radio booth was Dave Hutchison, which was tantamount to a Chicago Irishman being in a dry county in Mississippi on St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day.</p><p>What was a player with Hutchison&rsquo;s zest for playing the slam-bam game doing while his teammates were trouncing the Broad Street Bullies 5-1?</p><p>Cheerleading on the radio.</p><p>&ldquo;Even though I&rsquo;m not playing I&rsquo;m still part of the team,&rdquo; said Hutchison, sidelined for almost six weeks after suffering broken fingers on his left hand when struck by a puck in a Feb. 14 game in Colorado.</p><p>&ldquo;I get uptight and 1 feel some nervous perspiration in my hands and armpits&hellip;When I watch. I get very involved.&rdquo;</p><p>Before the injury interrupted his season Hutchison was having what for him is a typical year&mdash;two goals, eight assists, and 113 penalty minutes in 56 games.</p><p>Yes. Hutchison is a fighter. But he isn&rsquo;t a hit-man. He has his own code of conduct.</p><p>Close friends are off limits and when he takes shots at such stylist superstars as Wavne Gretzky. Guy Lafleur, and Mike Bossy, he&rsquo;s usually shooting blanks. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t catch those guys so how am I going to hit them?&rdquo; asked Hutchison.</p><p>&ldquo;Seriously, though. I don&rsquo;t want to fight with them. The guys I look for are the ones who look for trouble, like Paul Holmgren [of the Flyers]. Yeah, Maggie [Hawk coach Keith Magnuson] and I had a little go-around when I was playing for Los Angeles and Al Secord and I went at it when he was with Boston.</p><p>&ldquo;Now, Maggie is my coach and since Al came to us in December, he has become a great friend of mine.</p><p>Anything that ever happened between us we&rsquo;ve forgetten all about.</p><p>&ldquo;Fighting is part of the game of hockey. Let&rsquo;s face it, the owners want to see it and the fans want to see it.</p><p>&ldquo;If the owners wanted to cut put fighting it would be simple&mdash;all they&rsquo;d have to do is make every fight as automatic game-misconduct penalty and suspend you for the next game as well. I know I wouldn&rsquo;t be a fighter under those kind of rules.</p><p>&ldquo;It probably would eliminate fighting but you&rsquo;d see a lot of high-sticking and dirty stuff like that.</p><p>&lsquo;&lsquo;Do I feel fear? Oh sure, I think every athlete does in his own way. Overcoming fear is one of the things being an athlete is all about. I try to prepare for every team the same way but when it&rsquo;s a team like Philadelphia I get more on edge. I know there are certain things that I&rsquo;m going to have to do.&rdquo;&hellip;</p><p>In deportment, Hutchison ranks as one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s bad boys. But in the fine art of getting along with his teammates he ranks near the top.</p><p>&ldquo;The place We have missed Hutch more than anywhere else is in the locker room,&rdquo; said Magnuson. &ldquo;He has a way of getting on guys without getting on their nerves. He has a knack for making friends.&rdquo;</p><p>It has been that way wherever Hutchison has played&mdash;in Junior hockey in his hometown of London, Ont., with Philadelphia&mdash;Vancouver of the World Hockey Association; and with Los Angeles, Toronto, and Chicago in the NHL. Sometimes a few goals, sometimes none. Usually, a handful of assists, and always a pile of penalty minutes and a lot of good friends.</p><p>&ldquo;Making friends was never a problem for me&mdash;even when I was a wild kid,&rdquo; said Hutchison. &ldquo;But 1 had a lot of growing up to do. I got kicked out of school for getting in a hassle with a teacher. My priorities weren&rsquo;t where they should have been. 1 as a good athlete but having fun was mv top priority.</p><p>&ldquo;Then, when I was 17, my father passed away. We were very close and his death had a great influence on my life. I realized I wasn&rsquo;t playing as hard as I could. I made up my mind to make a career in hockey my objective and I know that meant changing my attitude toward life.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought I was giving up somethng. Little did 1 know what a wonderful life I was going to have as a professional athlete. Through my career, I&rsquo;ve gotten to see so much and meet so many great people in all walks of life along the way.&rdquo;</p><p><b>HAWK TALK&mdash;</b>Although Magnuson isn&rsquo;t Irish, he had cause to celebrate during the week of St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day. The Hawks were 8-2 winners in Winnipeg, scored the 5-1 victory over the Flyers in Chicago, then tied them 4-4 in a Philadelphia rematch&hellip;Captain Terry Ruskowski, who leads Chicago in assists with 51 and penalty minutes with 223. missed the Philadelphia games because of a viral infection. Only rookie left wing Darryl Sutter (38 goals) and defenseman keith Brown have played every game. Tony Esposito has been in goal for 34 of Chicago&rsquo;s last 35 games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-05

Healing Hutchison Helpful As Ever

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;Brian Engblom was surprised and maybe he should have been.</p><p>After four years of anonymity, Engblom finally received some long overdue recognition by being named the Montreal candidate for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded annually to the player best exemplifying the qualities of deducation, perseverance and sportsmanship.</p><p>&ldquo;The thought [of being nominated] had never crossed my mind,&rdquo; said Engblom. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been interesting, the amount of recognition I&rsquo;ve been getting, particularly in the second half.</p><p>&ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t think my game has changed any. I&rsquo;m still playing the same style. If I get farther along in the nominating, it will get nicer all the time. It&rsquo;s just good to be in the company of some of the other players nominated.&rdquo;</p><p>Engblom&rsquo;s name will be.submitted to the Professional Hockey Writers Association selection committee along with the 20 other nominees from NHL cities. He stands a chance of making the final five choices, which will then be submitted to the PHWA body as a whole.</p><p>The reasons for Engblom&rsquo;s selection were fairly obvious. From the beginning of the season to now, he has been ever so steady on the Canadiens&rsquo; blueline and leads the Canadiens&rsquo; plus-minus figures with a plus 56, three points better than defensive partner Rod Langway, who finished second in the Masterton voting in Montreal for the second consecutive year.</p><p>Night in and night out, both Engblom and Langway have carried the Montreal defense, particularly while Larry Robinson was nursing his shoulder separation earlier in the year.</p><p>Engblom is not recognized as a great rushing defenseman, but defensively, he is sound, seldom getting caught up the ice on a two-on-one break.</p><p>&ldquo;Things went well in the first half and they just seemed to carry over to the second,&rdquo; said Engblom. &ldquo;I hoped by the end of last season that people had realized that I was a solid NHL defenseman. It took long enough to get into that picture as it is.&rdquo;</p><p>Engblom&rsquo;s first two seasons with the Canadiens were spent alternately in the stands or riding the bench as a fifth or sixth defenseman.</p><p>&ldquo;All I want is to be recognized as a steady player in the league. That is probably where my potential is. I&rsquo;m not in the class of a Larry Robinson&hellip;I&rsquo;m somewhere in the middle. 1 just want the recognition as being a good solid player that can be relied on.&rdquo;</p><p>Engblom isn&rsquo;t perfect. Like all of the Canadiens, he had a tough night in Hartford when Montreal was drubbed 9-3 by the Whalers, but get him in a big game, such as the 3-3 draw against the Islanders on St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day, and you know he is going to come up with a quality effort.</p><p>While Engblom was winning the Montreal Masterton nomination, the Canadiens began a new string of injuries, starting with Guy Lafleur, who sustained a Charley horse in the first period against the Isles when Denis Potvin kneed him. Lafleur, who has had eight different injuries this season, missed subsequent games against the Whalers, Vancouver and Washington, but was due-to return against the Calgary Flames.</p><p>Pierre Mondou. who was absent the first month of the season with a torn Achilles tendon, wasn&rsquo;t so lucky. He suffered rib cartilage damage in the Islanders&rsquo; game and was told he probably wouldn&rsquo;t be able to play for the remainder of the regular season, joining defenseman Gaston Gingras, who had a similar injury.</p><p>Guy Lapointe was next to go down with a twisted neck picked up somewhere during the feuding, fussing and fighting that went on during the last visit of Tiger Williams and the Vancouver Canucks to the Forum on March 21.</p><p>You may recall that Williams made some disparaging remarks about Francophones in December during the Canadiens&rsquo; last visit of the season to Vancouver. It caused an uproar when the remarks were first published and obviously, the fans and many of the Montreal players had long memories.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01837/4444093-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="607" height="728"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>It has taken four years, but defenseman Brian Engblom is receiving some long-awaited recognition. The Canadiens nominated him for the Masterton Trophy.</b></figcaption></div><p>Lapointe pummelled Williams in the first period after the Vancouver forward knocked goaltender Richard Sevigny into the crossbar while chasing a puck in the Montreal end. Sevigny was so incensed that he was ejected from the game for being the third man in the Lapointe-Williams clash. Lapointe wasn&rsquo;t losing the fight. Sevigny just wanted some shots of his own at Williams.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

Canadiens’ Steady Engblom Finally Recognized

<p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he amazing Wayne Gretzky continues to set a phenomenal pace in his second NHL season with the Edmonton Oilers. It seems every time the Edmonton wonder boy touches the puck, his name becomes associated with a record.</p><p>The 21-year-old Oiler center turned in another fabulous week, scoring 13 points, to push his season total to 145, just seven away from Phil Esposito&rsquo;s NHL record of 152 points in a single season.</p><p>Gretzky set a record of his own as he notched his 90th assist during his prolific scoring week to erase Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s name from the record book. Gretzky is now the highest scoring single-season playmaker among centers in league history.</p><p>The Edmonton star was selected Player of the Week by THE HOCKEY NEWS for the third time this year, also a high for the 1980-81 season. With 52 goals and 93 assists, Gretzky had assumed a commanding 23-point lead over Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings in the individual scoring race.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02665/4444148-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="569" height="783"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WAYNE GRETZKY Edmonton Oilers</b></figcaption></div><p>Gretzky&rsquo;s 13-point splurge raised his two-season totals as an NHLer to 282 points in 152 games, including 103 goals and 179 assists.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-02

NHL Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY JIM MATHESON</div><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>DMONTON&mdash;Playing goal is no place for a nervous person, not when stopping pucks can be hazardous to your health. If you&rsquo;re an Edmonton Oiler netminder, however, it&rsquo;s not the games that give you trouble. It&rsquo;s the practices.</p><p>Just ask Ron Low, or Eddie Mio. Practice doesn&rsquo;t make perfect for them.</p><p>After breaking his thumb in a Dec. 17 game in Washington, Low fractured it again in a pre-game skate with the Oilers&rsquo; farm club in Wichita in early February. He hasn&rsquo;t played since. Mio, who had played in 43 of Oilers first 70 games, accounting for 41 points, fractured his finger in a fluke practice scenario in Bloomington, Minn., March 18. He&rsquo;s gone for the duration of the season, too.</p><p>Mio was minding his business, stopping harmless-looking shots as a prelude to a game with the North Stars, when a 25-foot shot by teammate Peter Driscoll smacked him on his blocker. Actually underneath his blocker. It ripped into the soft webbing and broke the second finger on. his right hand just below the knuckle. &ldquo;I thought the shot was going for my shoulder,&rdquo; said Mio, who&rsquo;s weathered attacks on his head (four or five times) and Adam&rsquo;s Apple (once in practice) before. &ldquo;I put my blocker up to knock the shot down, but the puck dropped on me. It went right underneath the heavy padding.&rdquo;</p><p>While Mio refused to believe he&rsquo;s through for the rest of the season, he can&rsquo;t hold a stick. And goalies don&rsquo;t stop too many pucks without them. &ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s broken but they must be able to do something so I can play,&rdquo; said Mio, who had a 3.89 goals-against average and 16 wins and nine ties to his credit. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve come an awful long way to pull out now&hellip;1 don&rsquo;t care if they shoot it up [freeze it] or put a cast on it. I want to play.&rdquo;</p><p>Oiler coach Glen Sather was shaking his head in disappointment after the latest injury to one of his goalies. &ldquo;1 can&rsquo;t believe the breaks we&rsquo;ve been getting,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;First Low breaks his thumb not once but twice on, his catching hand. Now Eddie breaks his finger on his blocker hand.&rdquo;</p><p>With Mio out, former Minnesota North Star netminder Gary Edwards will have to shoulder the load down the play off stretch. That may be easier said than done. In late February he twisted his shoulder in LA. He aggravated it again in mid-March, to the extent he had trouble raising his arm above his head to order a stoppage in play.</p><p>Edwards, who hadn&rsquo;t played a minute until coming to the Oilers in early February, had a rocky initiation here (four goals allowed in his first seven shots), but he&rsquo;s steadied down. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very fortunate that we&rsquo;ve got one experienced goalie left&hellip;he&rsquo;s a proven NHLer,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re damn lucky to have him.&rdquo;</p><p>The Oilers called up youngster Andy Moog from their minor-league affiliate in Wichita to back-up Edwards for the next few weeks. Moog, a seventhround draft last summer, played four games for the Oilers earlier in the year when Low went down the first time. He beat Boston 7-5 and lost a 2-1 heart-breaker to Philadelphia. Judging by his former lackadaisical attitude in practices, he won&rsquo;t have to worry about getting hurt. He doesn&rsquo;t stop much of anything, following in a long line of other great practice goalies like Gerry Cheevers and Tony Esposito.</p><p><b>OIL SPILLS&mdash;</b>Low had two pins and a cast removed from his thumb the day before Mio was hurt. Doctors have told Low he can&rsquo;t stop any pucks until July, however. Any further damage to the thumb and Low&rsquo;s career may be over&hellip;The Oilers signed U of Denver winger Ken Derry to an eight games amateur try-out just before their trip to Minnesota. Berry was acquired from Vancouver in the trade deadline deal for Blair MacDonald The left-winger had 56 points in 40 games for Denver this past season. Last year he played on a line with current Oiler Glenn Anderson and Minnesota, center Kevin Maxwell on Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team&hellip;Former Pittsburgh Penguin winger Pat Hughes spent most of his first two weeks as an Oiler on the sidelines with a sprained back. He hurt it the day he got traded, in a practice with the Penguins.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Practice Time Is Murder For Edmonton Goaltenders

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><p>CALGARY&mdash;Part of the problem with the Atlanta Flames in the final years was their sometimes whimsical approach to the game of hockey.</p><p>For reasons of climate or contentment or just not caring, the talentrich Flames could never break into the National Hockey League&rsquo;s upper echelon. Their home record was just over the 500 mark. Their playoff record (two wins in nine years) was abysmal.</p><p>The relocation of the franchise to Calgary, a city with a &ldquo;hockey climate&rdquo;, was supposed to change everything. For a change, that preseason premonition has turned out to be entirely accurate.</p><p>Ensconced in the 6.492-seat Stampede Corral, the Flames have lost just one home game since Dec. 19, that to the league-leading St. Louis Blues. In that stretch, they have won 16 and tied five more to move into seventh place overall in the standings and within striking distance of at least three other clubs.</p><p>The Corral ice surface, with its high boards, makes the rink seem smaller than it actually is by leaving them with a closed-in feeling. The dimensions of the building are, in fact, standard NHL length and width (200 feet by 85 feet).</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01800/4444179-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="602" height="1441"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>One of the factors spurring the Flames, according to Phil Russell, is their demanding fans.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p>So far this year, the New York Islanders haven&rsquo;t been able to win in Calgary. Nor have the Buffalo Sabres or Philadelphia Flyers or Los Angeles Kings or the Minnesota North Stars. In fact, the Blues and Montreal Canadiens are the only teams above the Flames in the standings with victories at the Corral.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s an illusion of closeness, a feeling that you&rsquo;re being suffocated by the height of the boards,&rdquo; explained coach AI MacNeil. &ldquo;That has to be intimidating for the clubs coming in here. We have a big hockey club and the high boards makes us look bigger than we are. But that&rsquo;s not the only reason. We&rsquo;re winning hockey games here because we&rsquo;re playing good hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Jamie Hislop, the right winger acquired from the Quebec Nordiques, came to the Corral earlier in the season with his former club. He theorizes that since clubs only make two appearances per season in an opposing building, they cannot adapt to it as easily as they otherwise might.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a hard building to come into and play,&rdquo; said Hislop. &ldquo;It takes a long time to adjust to playing here. I wouldn&rsquo;t say it was a depressing building, but it&rsquo;s not a good feeling to come in here. We have a big team and nobody likes to get hit.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;This building doesn&rsquo;t intimidate the other teams, but a lot of times, the other clubs have had a long haul getting here.&rdquo; offered defenseman Phil Russell. &ldquo;The biggest plus for us is the fans. If we aren&rsquo;t going well, they let us know. They&rsquo;re demanding fans.&rdquo;</p><p>Russell and his partners on the Flames&rsquo; defense&mdash;Paul Reinhart, Pekka Rautakallio. Brad Marsh and Bob Murdoch&mdash;are finally coming around, after a slow start. In the current hot stretch, the Flames have scored a lot of goals, but the overall defensive effort has fallen short of MacNeil&rsquo;s expectations. With the playoffs looming on the horizon, MacNeil wants the team to play tighter hockey on a more consistent basis.</p><p>Asked if his club had peaked, perhaps too soon, MacNeil answered: &ldquo;Not by a long shot. No way. We&rsquo;ve got so far to go as far as defensive improvement goes. We&rsquo;ve got a long way to go. We&rsquo;re not even close to peaking, not even close. I say that very definitely because we&rsquo;ve still got an awful lot of work to do.&rdquo;</p><p>Whether MacNeil&rsquo;s concern is legitimate or a ploy to keep his players on top of their game is in some doubt.</p><p>Most NHL coaches, having seen the Flames in the last two months, feel this is the strongest edition of the team ever.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best I&rsquo;ve ever seen them play, here or in Atlanta,&rdquo; said Hartford coach Larry Pleau, after absorbing a pair of losses a week apart.</p><p>&ldquo;They did to us exactly what everyone told us they&rsquo;d do, storm you in the first 10 minutes with everything they&rsquo;ve got,&rdquo; said Minnesota coach Glen Sonmor, after a tough 6-3 loss. &ldquo;We knew that&rsquo;s what they&rsquo;d try and even knowing didn&rsquo;t help. They did it to us in the first 10 minutes and took the game away.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTES</b>&mdash;Ken Houston, the hard-hitting right winger, is the Flames&rsquo; nomination for the Bill Masterton trophy, awarded annually to the player showing &ldquo;perseverance, dedication and sportsmanship.&rdquo; Houston returned to the Flames&rsquo; line-up at Christmas after an eight month bout with hepatitis and has been one of their most effective wingers since his return&hellip;Goaltender Rejean Lemelin is still undefeated at home since being promoted from the minors in mid-November. In fact, he has only three losses all season and the league&rsquo;s fourth-best goals against average. Lemelin, although 26, is still eligible for the rookie award&hellip;Houston, Lemelin and Hislop all signed multi-year pacts with the Flames recently.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-01

Calgary ‘Corrals’ Winning Attitude

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01633/4444241-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Goaltender Chico Resch is the center of attraction with his new Colorado Rockies&rsquo; teammates after he defeated the New York Rangers, 4-3, in his first game since being traded from the Islanders. Team captain Lanny McDonald, on right, leads the way in offering congratulations to Resch.</b></figcaption></div><h2>Clarke Hits 1,000</h2><p>PHILADELPHIA-Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers was probably wondering if he&rsquo;d ever get his 1,000th career point.</p><p>The NHL milestone had eluded the former Flyer team captain, who had been stalled at 997 points and later at 999. for the past two weeks. Clarke finally nailed down his historic scoring point when he scored against the Boston Bruins in a 5-3 March 19 win at the Spectrum.</p><p>Clarke became the 15th player in NHL history to score 1,000 points and the third to turn the trick this season. Marcel Dionne reached the plateau first this season in 740 games and then Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur did it in his 720th NHL game. It took Clarke 921 games to reach the mark.</p><p>The goal that enabled Clarke to join-some of hockey&rsquo;s all-time great point scorers was also the 301st of his NHL career. He has 699 career assists as well.</p><h2>Sabres Set Records</h2><p>BUFFALO&mdash;The Buffalo Sabres went on a record-setting spree in a 14-4 blast of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who unwittingly became partners in the history-making game.</p><p>The Sabres overwhelmed the Leafs with a nine-goal barrage in the second period, the most goals ever scored by an NHL team in one period. The old mark was eight, set by Detroit back on Jan. 23, 1944 and matched since by four other teams. At the same time the Leafs chipped in with three scores and the 12-goal total was also a new mark for most goals by two teams in a single period. The previous record was 10, set by the old New York Americans in 1939 and matched on two other occasions.</p><p>The Sabres and Leafs also accumulated 31 scoring points between them and that, too, was an NHL high. The Rangers and old Americans held the previous record of 26,again set in 1939.</p><p>In addition the two teams rifled seven goals into the net in three minutes and 39 seconds and that is the fastest scoring ever done by two league clubs.</p><p>The Sabres tied another mark when they collected 23 scoring points in the wild second period and that equalled the feat of the 1971 Rangers.</p><p>The 14 goals the Sabres scored on the embarrassed Leafs also amounted to the worst loss ever inflicted on a Maple Leaf hockey team.</p><h2>Jets&rsquo; Exec Quits</h2><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;Marc Cloutier and the Winnipeg Jets have parted company.</p><p>The executive director of business operations, for the NHL-team announced his resignation effective at the end of the current 1980-81 season. Cloutier, who joined the Jets in November. 1979 with a mandate from vice-president and general John Ferguson to market the team and help establish an NHL identity in the Manitoba area, has done a tremendous selling job. His NHL colleagues named him chairman of the NHL&rsquo;s Marketing Committee and he will chair the committee&rsquo;s summer hockey meetings in June at Montreal in his final act with the Jets.</p><p>A native Quebecer, Cloutier has not disclosed his future plans.</p><h2>NHL Playoffs Set</h2><p>MONTREAL-The Stanley Cup playoffs will open on eight fronts starting Wednesday, April 8 and could last until May 28 if every series were to go the limit.</p><p>The playoff format, adopted last season, involves the four division winners and the 12 teams with the next highest points total, regardless of division. qualifying for the playoffs.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s how the playoff picture looks: A total of 16 teams will be in the playoffs out of 21. The team with the most points meets the team with the fewest, the second highest meets the second lowest, and so on.</p><p>The first round will be conducted on a best-of-five-basis with the first two games at the home of the higher finisher on April 8 and 9. Subsequent games will be played at the home of the lower finisher on April 11, 12 and 14. The quarterfinal round starts April 16. The semifinals and finals follow. All will be contested in a best-of-seven series.</p><p>In the event of teams tying in points, the order of tie-breaking is based on: 1. most wins. 2. most points earned in games involving the tied teams and 3. most goals.</p><h2>Coaches Named</h2><p>COLORADO SPRINGS-Lou Vairo and Tim Taylor, have been named assistant coaches to Bob Johnson on the U.S. National Team, which is scheduled to compete in the World Championships in Sweden, April 12-26.</p><p>Johnson, head coach at the University of Wisconsin and of the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team, and his staff will make their player selections for the squad late in March The U.S. National Team is open to both amateur and professional players. Among the candidates for the American squad will be members of the five NHL teams who do not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>The National Team will depart for Europe on April 5, after one week&rsquo;s practice, to play two exhibition games before the championships.</p><h2>Gretzky Breaks Mark</h2><p>EDMONTON&mdash;It&rsquo;s just a forerunner of things to come but Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers set another NHL record when he collected his 90th assist of the season in a March 21 game against Los Angeles.</p><p>Gretzky, who is hot in pursuit of Phil Esposito&rsquo;s single-season record of 152 points, picked up assist No. 90 during a five-point performance as the Oilers tied Los Angeles 6-6. The assist enabled Gretzky to erase Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s name from the record book as the NHL center who scored the most assists in one season. Clarke did it in 1975-76.</p><p>Gretzky&rsquo;s five-point night raised his season count to 145 points, just seven behind Esposito, who set the mark in 1970-71 while with the Boston Bruins. Gretzky has seven games in which to. eclipse Espo&rsquo;s mark.</p><h2>Lindsay Sues Wings</h2><p>DETROIT&mdash;Ted Lindsay, former coach and GM of the Detroit Red Wings, is suing the NHL team for $700,000 which he claims the Wings owe him in back wages and severance pay.</p><p>Lindsay was fired 20 games into the current NHL season and replaced by Wayne Maxner. Brian Smith, the lawyer for Lindsay, said he has notified the Red Wings that a lawsuit was filed on behalf of his client in Wayne County Circuit Court to recover the $700,000.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

SLAPSHOTS

<h2><b>NATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>BOSTON-Tom Songin. RW, returned to Springfield of AHL.</p><p>BUFFALO&mdash;Jean-Francois Sauve, C, returned to Rochester of AHL. Gilbert Perreault, C, returned from injury list.</p><p>CALGARY&mdash;Rejean Lemelin, G, returned from injury list.</p><p>CHICAGO-Brian Young, D, returned to New Brunswick of AHL. Alain Daigle. RW, signed to player&rsquo;s contract on return from Europe and assigned to New Brunswick.</p><p>COLORADO&mdash;Mario Giallonardo, D. Jack Hughes, D, and Dave Watson, LW, all recalled from Fort Worth of CHL. Walt McKechnie, C, out indefinitely with torn knee ligaments.</p><p>DETROIT-Dennis Polonich, RW, recalled from Adirondack of AHL and returned. Tom Bladon, D, recalled rom Adirondack and later returned. Paul Woods, LW, on injury list with broken jaw. Mark Kirton, C, returned from injury list.</p><p>EDMONTON&mdash;Tom Roulston, RW, returned to Wichita of CHL. Ray Markham, C, assigned to Wichita of CHL. Ed Mio, G, on injury list.</p><p>HARTFORD&mdash;Tommy Abrahamsson, D, and Jean Savard, C, recalled from Binghamton of AHL.</p><p>MINNESOTA-Ron Friest, LW, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL and later returned. Kevin Maxwell, C, and Roger Melin, RW, recalled from Okla. City. Craig Homola, C, signed to pro trial from University of Vermont.</p><p>MONTREAL-Guy Lafleur, RW, Gaston Gingras, D, and Pierre Mondou, placed on injury list. Lafleur suffered a Charley horse while Mondou has a bruised rib cartilage. Guy Carbonneau, RW, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL.</p><p>PHILADELPHIA-Dave Logan, D, assigned to Maine of AHL.</p><p>QUEBEC-John Smrke, LW, recalled from Binghamton of AHL.</p><p>TORONTO-Rene Robert, RW, and Pat Hickey, LW, returned from injury list.</p><p>VANCOUVER-Ken Ellacott, G, recalled from Dallas of CHL as replacement for Glen Hanlon, G, out for season with shoulder separation. Richard Brodeau, G, Doug Halward, D, and Lars Lindgren, D, also on injury list. Gary Lupul, C, returned to Dallas. Mike Christie, D, recalled from Dallas.</p><p>WASHINGTON-Rolf Edberg, C, and Pat Ribble. D, returned from injury list. Darren Veitch, D, Paul Mulvey, LW, and Errol Rausse, LW, all recalled from Hershey of AHL. Yvon Labre, D, Rick Smith, D, Guy Charron, C, and Bengt Gustafsson, RW, all on injury list. Gary Innes. G, recalled from Hershey as replacement for Mike Palmateer, G, who was injured.</p><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;Kris Manery, RW, and Scott Campbell. D, both recalled from Tulsa of CHL. Jimmy Mann, RW, and Murray Eaves, C, assigned to Tulsa.</p><h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>ADIRONDACK-Al Jensen, G, returned from injury list. Claude Legris, G, returned to Kalamazoo of IHL.</p><p>BINGHAMTON-Jay Palladino, G, returned to Erie of EHL. Vince Magnan. LW, and Mark Kelley, LW, signed as free agents. Jim Hamilton, LW, and John Baby, D, both on injury list.</p><p>MAINE&mdash;Paul Hendricks, D, signed as free agent.</p><p>NEW BRUNSWICK-Benoit Laporte, LW, and Bart Yachimec, RW, assigned to Hampton of EHL. Louis Begin, LW, &auml;nd Bill Riley, RW, returned from injury list.</p><p>NEW HAVEN&mdash;Jim Dorey, D, removed from active roster to resume asst, coaching duties. Dan Clark. D. returned from injury list. Tom Semenchuk. G, returned to Richmond of EHL but later recalled on emergency. Dave Snopek, LW. sent to Richmond. Todd Johnson, C. signed as free agent.</p><p>NOVA SCOTIA&mdash;Jim Lawson, C, and Glen Sorenson. RW, assigned to Flint of IHL. Jim Webster, C, signed as free agent after return from European hockey.</p><p>ROCHESTER-Peter Horachek, LW, returned from injury list. Brent Gogol, C, dropped from active roster.</p><p>SPRINGFIELD-Barry Ryan, D. and Gary MacGregor, C, sent to Erie of EHL.</p><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>OKLAHOMA CITY-Jim Weaver, G, sidelined after suffering concussion. Doug Keans, G, injured ankle that required surgery putting him out for rest of the season.</p><p>TULSA&mdash;Jerry McDonald, D, released after pro tryout terminated.</p><p>WICHITA-Don Murdoch. RW. returned to team after being suspended indefinitely for quitting club.</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>FORT WAYNE-Bruce Gill, D, and Doug Harvey, RW, both assigned to Salem of EHL. Brant Kiessig. LW, and Jeff Carlson, RW, sent to Muskegon of IHL on loan for remainder of season. Dave Norris, LW, released.</p><p>MILWAUKEE&mdash;Dave Aquin, LW, sent to Kalamazoo of IHL on loan for remainder of season. Michel Bergeron, C, returned from injury list.</p><p>MUSKEGON&mdash;Jean Chouinard, LW, and Bruce Guthrie, D, returned from injury list. Jim Pearson, RW, claimed on waivers from Flint. Brian Schnitzler, D, claimed on waivers from Port Huron.</p><p>TOLEDO-Blake Stephen, LW, claimed on waivers from Muskegon. Kim Spencer, D, secured from Baltimore of EHL on loan for rest of season.</p><h2><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>BALTIMORE-MikeCerrone, RW, signed from Swedish Hockey League. Dave Tracey, RW, lost for rest of season with broken jaw and broken nose.</p><p>ERIE&mdash;Stan Gulutzan, C, returned from injury list.</p><p>HAMPTON-Rich Kramp, RW, quit team and returned to his home.</p><p>RICHMOND-Tom Mullen, C, Lawrie Nisker, C, and Paul Conway, RW, all returned from injury list. Tom O&rsquo;Toole, G, Dave Herbst, C, and Mark Friedman, RW, all placed on waivers and released.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Latest Player Movements

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01473/4444303-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mike Milbury has taken plenty of ribbing from teammates over the fact that he hasn&rsquo;t scored a goal all year, but he says it doesn&rsquo;t matter as long as the other team doesn&rsquo;t score.</b></figcaption></div><p>BOSTON&mdash;The Boston Bruins entered the stretch run of the season with two goals in mind.</p><p>One is to wrest eighth place in the overall NHL standings from their old sparring partners, the Minnesota North Stars. This would give them home ice advantage in the odd game in the best three-out-of-five opening series in the playoffs, probably against the North Stars.</p><p>The other goal is to get one for Mike Milbury. A goal, that is.</p><p>The veteran Boston defenseman, who had a personal high of 10 goals last season, went through the first 73 games of the current season without one.</p><p>In fact, he had not put the puck in the net since March 23, 1980, in a 7-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.</p><p>&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t make a damn bit of difference as long as we&rsquo;re keeping them out in our end,&rdquo; said Milbury, which is probably what you would expect from a defenseman who hasn&rsquo;t scored a goal in 78 regular season games.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have any worries about that whatsoever. The only thing that bugs me about it is that 1 take more grief in the locker room than I care to remember. They&rsquo;re on me every day and I&rsquo;d like to get one just to get them off my back.</p><p>&ldquo;As far as putting one into the net, I know it&rsquo;ll go in sooner or later&mdash;whether it&rsquo;s this year, next year or the year after, I&rsquo;m not sure.&rdquo;</p><p>Under ordinary circumstances, his Bruin teammates would be feeding him the puck to help him get the elusive goal, but these are not ordinary circumstances for the Bruins, who are not used to fighting for playoff position like this.</p><p>&ldquo;There have been a couple of occasions where guys have passed off to me,&rdquo; said Milbury. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the kind of a club we have. But we can&rsquo;t afford to do that too often at this stage. We&rsquo;re fighting for every point we can get.&rdquo;</p><p>So it was not to get Milbury his first goal that coach Gerry Cheevers had him playing up front as a forward in a couple of key games during the stretch run.</p><p>&ldquo;He just wanted us to get something going,&rdquo; said Milbury, who plays forward much like he plays defense, which is similar to a runaway locomotive. &ldquo;We had stalled a bit at the time. He wanted me to go out and take the body and dig the puck out to one of my wingers.</p><p>&ldquo;It was fun for me. There was no pressure to score a goal. He wasn&rsquo;t expecting that from me. He just wanted me to create some movement out there and make sure that nothing was scored against us while I was on the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t really look bad, generally speaking, on a goal against as a forward but I wouldn&rsquo;t want to have that pressure for putting the puck in the net game in and game out. I don&rsquo;t think I could handle that.</p><p>&ldquo;You learn to respect guys like Peter McNab and Rick Middleton who can pick up 40 goals in the course of a season. It&rsquo;s certainly an art.&rdquo;</p><p>Actually, Milbury is no stranger to the forward line since he played center in Walpole High School&mdash;drawing against Robbie Ftorek, whose Needham High School played in the same Bay State League&mdash;and at Colage for a year before being switched to defense.</p><p>With seven games remaining in the season, Boston had a one point advantage over the North Stars. The Bruins had five of their games at home while Minnesota had only three. The Stars&rsquo; schedule included a home and home series with front-running St. Louis.</p><p>&ldquo;We firmly believe that we&rsquo;ll finish at least in eighth place before the year is over and get home ice advantage for the playoffs,&rdquo; said Milbury.</p><p>&ldquo;1 think that&rsquo;s important, particularly against Minnesota. If we wind up with home ice advantage, we all know what they do in Boston Garden. They&rsquo;ve never won here as long as they&rsquo;ve been in the league.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;The first series, the three-out-of-five, home ice is pretty big,&rdquo; said Rick Middleton. &ldquo;not just between us and Minnesota but with a lot of clubs.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02298/4444296-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="1212" height="1128"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Milbury had plenty of praise for teammates like Peter McNab, above, and Rick Middleton as players who can stand up to pressure and produce 40-goal season with ease.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo By lan MacAlpine)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;The teams are evening out, that&rsquo;s why the first series of games is going to be tough. It&rsquo;s not like the top teams are going to wipe out the bottom teams right off the bat and go on from there.</p><p>&ldquo;Home ice meant everything to us last year against Pittsburgh and the way Minnesota and Boston have been playing against each other it probably will mean even more this year.&rdquo;</p><p>Last year, the Bruins were pushed to the brink of elimination by the Penguins before winning the odd game in friendly Boston Garden.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

Home Ice Edge First Goal On Bruins’ Minds

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>ITTSBURGH-The Penguins joined a number of National Hockey League clubs and made a couple of roster changes hours before the league&rsquo;s trading deadline.</p><p>The Penguins traded right wing Pat Hughes to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Pat Price. At the same time Pittsburgh signed defenseman Marc Chorney, their six-thround draft choice in 1979 from the University of North Dakota, to a multi-year contract.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01525/4444341-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="599" height="822"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Penguins added Marc Chorney, an offensive-minded defenseman from the University of North Dakota.</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;It was a hell of a deal for us,&rdquo; said Penguin coach Eddie Johnston about acquiring Price. &ldquo;We had to give up somebody good to get the guy we were after, but we needed a lefthanded defenseman because of the injury to Russ Anderson [out for the year after breaking the same finger for the third time this season],</p><p>&ldquo;Price is a better than average puck handler with a good shot and the last two years he has been playing with more confidence and has been playing more aggressively.&rdquo;</p><p>Price, 26, was one of the most highly touted junior players when he was with the Saskatoon Blades, At 18, he signed a million-dollar contract with the Vancouver Blazers of the World Hockey Association.</p><p>A year later in 1975, following a not so successful season with the Blazers, the New York Islanders made Price their No. 1 draft choice and 11th overall in the NHL. He stayed in the Islander organization until Edmonton took him as their third choice in the 1979 expansion draft.</p><p>Price had scored eight goals and 24 assists and led the Oilers in penalty minutes with 193 at the time of the trade.</p><p>Hughes, also 26, came to Pittsburgh in 1979 from the Montreal Canadiens along with goaltender Rob Holland for goaltender Denis Herron and a 1982 second-round draft pick. He had 10 goals and nine assists and was the Penguins most penalized player with 161 minutes this season.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t play a lot and I am disappointed that I didn&rsquo;t have the chance to show the people of Pittsburgh the kind of player Pat Hughes is,&rdquo; said Hughes, who was tagged with the &ldquo;never lived up to his potential label&rdquo; in Pittsburgh.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess Eddie and I never struck it off from the start,&rdquo; the former University of Michigan player said. &ldquo;But I was playing behind three pretty good right wingers [Rick Kehoe, George Ferguson and Peter Lee] and he had to make the decision. It&rsquo;s his job and I&rsquo;m sure he did what he thought was best for the team,&rdquo;</p><p>Chorney scored eight goals and added 34 assists with 72 penalty minutes for North Dakota, Which finished fifth in the 10-team Western Collegiate Hockey Association. He signed with Pittsburgh after the Sioux were eliminated from the WCHA playoffs in two straight games by Michigan Tech.</p><p><b>PENGUIN TRACKS-</b>Paul Gardner is the Pittsburgh Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association candidate for the Bill Masteron Memorial Trophy, which goes to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey&hellip;Gardner was traded to Pittsburgh after starting the season in Toronto&rsquo;s minor league system&hellip;He had 28 goals and 37 assists in his first 49 games for the Penguins&hellip;The Penguins assigned defenseman Pete Scamurra, who signed with them after playing in Europe this season, to Binghamton of the American Hockey League&hellip;Defenseman Randy Carlyle leads all NHL backliners in points and assists&hellip;Carlyle has set club records for points (74), assists (63), power play points (41) and power play assists (36) this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02408/4444334-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="585" height="885"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Penguins picked up Pat Price from Edmonton when Russ Anderson re-injured his finger.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

Pens Gamble Price Was Right In Oiler Deal

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p>GLENS FALLS&mdash;Two losses in three outings put a bit of a damper on the I Adirondack Red Wings&rsquo; drive towards a playoff berth and perhaps as high as second-place in the congested standings of the American League&rsquo;s Southern Division.</p><p>In the midst of a road trip, the Red Wings were shut out 6-0 in New Brunswick, edged Nova Scotia 2-1 and then dropped a 5-1 decision to last-place New Haven. In that game, the Red Wings took an early lead on a goal by Dennis Polonich but were outshot 18-3 in the opening period and quickly fell out of the game.</p><p>The good news for Adirondack was that they had a couple of games in hand over Binghamton, Rochester and New Haven, whom they are battling in their division, and a more favorable home schedule coming into the final weeks of the season.</p><p>Right winger Mike Blaisdell came back from Detroit and goaltender Claude Legris was brought up from Kalamazoo of the International League to fill in for Al Jensen, who missed a few games due to an injury. Former Detroit Red Wing second i round draft pick Mark Osborne was added to Adirondack&rsquo;s roster even though at press time he was finishing up the year with the Niagara Falls Flyers junior team.</p><p><b>NEW BRUNSWICK&mdash;</b>Vincent Tremblay threw a 6-0 whitewash at the Red Wings at the Moncton Coliseum, his second shutout of the year, as the Hawks came closer to wrapping up second place in the Northern Division. The Nova Scotia Voyageurs came to town the next night and won 6-3 at the Coliseum and New Brunswick also dropped a 5-4 home game to Maine. However, unless either Nova Scotia or Springfield rallies late in the season, the Hawks will indeed finish behind Maine in the very tough Northern Division race&hellip;</p><p>A flurry of roster changes were made as the Hawks get ready for post-season play. Left wingers JeanGaston Douville, Benoit Laporte and right winger Bart Yachimec were sent down to Hampton of the Eastern League. Defenseman Dave Shand and center Laurie Boschman were brought up by the Toronto Maple Leafs. I Wingers Bill Riley and Louis Begin came off. the injured list and right winger Alain Daigle was sent to New Brunswick by the co-parent Chicago Black Hawks.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN&mdash;</b>A rousing 5-1 win on home ice before 5,018 victory-starved fans broke a 10-game winless streak for the Nighthawks. The team hustled all night, played excellent defensive hockey, passed well and looked like a professional hockey club for the first time in several weeks.</p><p>For the long-suffering New Haven fans, the victory was especially gratifying since only two nights earlier, the club had looked awful in a 6-3 loss to Binghamton at the Coliseum. Those same Whalers had blasted New Haven by that same score in Binghamton the previous weekend to drop the Nighthawks into the divisional cellar with the season&rsquo;s end approaching rapidly.</p><p>The Nighthawks and their parent club, the New York Rangers, made several last-minute deals in an attempt to shake up both teams. Winger Ray Markham was traded to Edmonton for defenseman John Hughes. Markham reported to Wichita of the CHL and Hughes joined New Haven to help their porous defense. He had a great game in the 5-1 win over Adirondack. The Rangers sent goaltender Doug Soetaert back down to New Haven along with ex-Olympic team winger Dave silk.</p><p>In other moves, the Rangers brought goaltender Steve Weeks up from the Nighthawks, even though Weeks had been shelled in his recent AHL appearances, while New Haven coach Rod Gilbert sent winger Dave Snopek down to Richmond of the EHL and announced that veteran defenseman Jim Dorey was joining the New Haven coaching staff. Dorey, bothered by a bad back, only appeared in 21 games. &ldquo;We now have made our last moves in an attempt to improve our hockey club,&rdquo;&lsquo;said Gilbert. &ldquo;Soetaert gives us experience in goal, while Silk gives us added depth up front. These two additions, as well as John Hughes on defense, should really strengthen the team. We all know what we have to do to make the playoffs and possibly finish second, so we&rsquo;ll see what happens.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOVA SCOTIA&mdash;</b>Many teams geared up for the playoffs by adding veteran players and trying to find skaters where the team may have lacked overall speed or needed help on defense or in the nets. The Voyageurs were no exception. The Vees did lose defenseman Bill Baker when Montreal traded him to Colorado, but they got left winger Dave Orleski back from the injured list. Defenseman Al Luciw was sent to Flint of the IHL along with center Jim Lawson and blueliner Glen Sorenson. Center Jim Webster was also added.</p><p>On the ice, Nova Scotia ended a 12-day and eight game road trip by losing only two of those&rsquo; important contests. Heshey and Binghamton were the only two teams able to derail the Vees. This hard-hitting club will probably set an all-time record for most penalty minutes in a season, thus erasing the image that Montreal-owned players don&rsquo;t know how to hit.</p><p>The Vees won two of five during the week. They lost 6-3 in Binghamton, won 3-2 in Springfield, defeated the New Brunswick Hawks 6-3 in Moncton, lost at home 2-1 against Adirondack in a game which had only three minor penalties called, and dropped a 5-3 contest at the Halifax Metro Centre to Maine.</p><p><b>HERSHEY&mdash;</b>Goaltender Gary In-ness threw a 3-0 shutout at Binghamton as 6,837 fans in Hershey went wild. Washington Capitals&rsquo; GM Max McNab and assistant general manager Roger Crozier saw that contest in which Errol Rausse scored a goal and had an assist. The Bears lost later in the week to Maine and Springfield; however, they have already wrapped up the Southern Division title.</p><p>Washington sent high-scoring Mark Lofthouse back to Hershey during the week, thus giving the Bears added firepower for the playoffs.</p><p><b>MAINE&mdash;</b>Four wins in as many games probably gave the Mariners the Northern Division title. They beat Rochester 4-3 at home, edged Hershey 4-2 in Portland, went over to New Brunswick and defeated the Hawks 5-4 and ended the week in Nova Scotia where they sailed past the Voyageurs 5-3 in Halifax.</p><p>Philadelphia returned defenseman Blake Wesley to the Mariners as well as rearguard Dave Logan. In addition, the Mariners signed defenseman Rick Hendricks.</p><p><b>SPRINGFIELD-</b>The Indians have caught fire at just the right time in the season. They won two of three and are almost certain to make the playoffs unless a late-season collapse occurs, that is precisely what happened last year and the long-suffering Springfield fans don&rsquo;t want a repeat of that sorry performance. Possibly to insure against a tailspin, the Tribe has acquired veteran Andre Peloffy, who was playing in France earlier. Barry Ryan and Gary MacGregor were sent to Erie.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01492/4444372-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="610" height="876"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Springfield Indians have picked up momentum heading down the stretch and the addition of Dean Turner has solidified their defense.</b></figcaption></div><p>Goaltender Gary Carr has been a big plus for the Tribe. Rugged defenseman Dean Turner and the return of right winger Doug Morrison have Modified coach Johnny Wilson&rsquo;s club. Carr has performed exceptionally well for us and Turner makes everybody a little tougher and more aggressive in our own zone,&rdquo; Wilson said &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve needed someone like him all season long and we&rsquo;ve got him at the best possible time. Morrison&rsquo;s return gives us some instant offense plus a hard worker at both ends of the ice.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ROCHESTER&mdash;</b>Tough Mark Wichrowski injured his knee in New Haven and may miss the rest of the season. His 272 penalty minutes led the Amerks and his aggressive style of play often gave the club a lift. Fortunately, left winger Pete Horachek came back from his injury and Buffalo sent center J. F. Sauve back to the Amerks.</p><p>The Amerks lost two of three during the week and held a slim one-point lead over Binghamton in the battle for second place in the Southern Division. A visit to Maine ended in a 4-3 loss to the Mariners even though the Amerks almost overcame a 4-1 deficit in that contest. Back home in Rochester, pringfield came away with a 4-2 upset win over the home team. Bing hamton came into the War Memorial a few nights later and the Amerks got untracked enough to hand the visiting Whalers a 4-3 defeat in a game Rochester simply had to win.</p><p><b>BINGHAMTON&mdash;</b>A late-season surge has propelled the Whalers to 10 wills during a 14-game stretch and a good chance to make the playoffs. They could finish as high as second in the division. After losing 3-0 in Hershey, the Whalers came home and beat New Haven 6-3 before 3,770 at the Arena. Just a few days later, the same two clubs met in New Haven and the Whalers came up with an instant replay win, 6-3 on Tom Colley&rsquo;s hat trick.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-01

Road Trip Delays Red Wings’ Rise; Hershey, Maine Set To Clinch First

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p>INDIANAPOLIS-The surging Checkers moved into second place by taking Oklahoma City twice, 6-2 and 4-3, the latter in overtime. That gave Bert Marshall&rsquo;s men 10 straight victories in Market Square Arena, and 18 victories in their last 21 starts.</p><p>Newcomer Rob Holland was elevated into the No. 1 goalkeeping assignment when the parent New York Islanders recalled rookie Roland Melanson, who was leading the league with a 2.57 average. Jari Kaarela, the Finnish import who had been at Fort Worth, came to the Checkers as a part of a trade between the Islanders and the Colorado Rockies.</p><p>Two goals by Shane Turner, the second one shorthanded, highlighted the first victory over OC. The Checkers had four goals in the first period before the Stars knew what hit them. Charlie Skjodt scored just 30 seconds into the game, followed by. Neil Hawryliw on a power play at 2:08, Glen Duncan at 3:27, and Turner at 8:32.</p><p>Rob Flockhart scored a shorthanded goal off Oke City late in the first period. Turner got his shorthanded marker just 45 seconds into the final session. Flockhart scored again on an OC power play, and Kevin Devine got the last Checker goal in the final minute of play.</p><p>Garth MacGuigan had two goals, including the winner after 2:04 of overtime, in the rematch. Oklahoma City unveiled new center Craig Homola from Vermont University, and he got the only goal of the opening period. Kelly Davis, Devine and MacGuigan (on a power play) put the Checkers in front in the second, but Homola scored again for the Stars in the third, and Robbie Laird tied it up with 2:21 left in regulation time. OC&rsquo;s Tony White drew a penalty, and Mac-Guigan&rsquo;s overtime goal was his second power play tally of the night.</p><p>Left wing Lorne Stamler returned to duty after a layoff with a bruised knee.</p><p>While the Checkers pulled ahead of Salt Lake, 84 points to 83, in the battle for second place, no one was threatening first-place Dallas, which had 102. Oklahoma City, with 71, and Tulsa, with 66, were still fighting for fourth place, while Wichita and Fort Worth had 52 and 44 points, respectively.</p><p>For the first time in its 18-year history, the CHL is admitting all surviving clubs into the Adams Cup playoffs. That decision was reached after Houston folded in early January. An attempt was made to reduce the playoff field when Birmingham&rsquo;s collapse in February left the league with only seven teams, but the league voted to go with the original setup.</p><p>The first-place team will draw a first-round bye. with No. 2 playing No. 7, No. 3 playing No. 6, and No. 4 playing No. 5 in best-of-five quarterfinal sets.</p><p>In the best-of-seven semifinals, the first-place team will meet the club with the worst season record of the three first-round winners. Home ice advantage in al! series, including the best-of-seven finals, will go to the team with the higher regular-season finish.</p><p><b>WICHITA&mdash;</b>General manager Larry Gordon assured the fans the Wind will be back next season, as the hockey club hosted a press conference, hoping to quiet some rumors that had arisen.</p><p>On the ice, Ace Bailey&rsquo;s men turned giant-killers by routing Salt Lake, 6-1, in Kansas Coliseum. That avenged a 6-4 home loss to the Eagles the previous night.</p><p>Don Murdoch scored twice in the loss, with Guy Lash and Tom Roulston getting the other goals, but the Wind never led. It was a different story the next night. The Wind spotted the visitors the first goal (Joey Mullen&rsquo;s 51st), but then blitzed the Birds with two goals each from Don Ashby and Walt Poddubny, singletons by Cal Roadhouse and Roy Sommer.</p><p>Bill Bennett, who was suspended indefinitely for injuring Oklahoma City goalie Jim Weaver in the March 4 game at Wichita, was returned to active duty after missing one game. Weaver returned to duty the previous night, prompting CHL president Bud Eoile to lift Bennett&rsquo;s suspension.</p><p>The Wind lost defenseman John Hughes, who was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the New York Rangers, but acquired center-right wing Ray Markham, a former Ranger farmhand who had been at New Haven in the American League.</p><p><b>SALT LAKE-</b>Golden Eagle right wing Joey Mullen was getting to the point where he could tie or break records with almost every goal or point scored. With an even 100 points, he was leaving the rest of the CHL far behind in the individual scoring race. Rick Blight of Dallas and Joe Contini of Oklahoma City were tied for runner-up honors at 84. With 51 goals, the former Boston College standout had broken the Salt Lake franchise record, as well as the single-season record for any U.S.-born professional hockey player. Both those marks were set by Eagle teammate Doug Palazzari (now on the injured list) with 48 a year ago.</p><p>Splitting a pair of games in Wichita left the Eagles with a 1-3 record on what would be a seven-game road trip, keeping them out of the Salt Palace for two weeks.</p><p>Mullen had a goal in each game. His opening goal was the only one the Birds could get off Wichita goalie Andy Moog in the Sunday game, a 6-1 setback. Saturday they kept ahead of the Wind for a 6-4 victory on goals by Richie Hansen in the first period. Mullen and Steve Harrison in the second; Bobby Crawford. Denis Houle and Ken Federko in the third.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY-</b>Three weeks away from home were proving costly to Ted Hampson&rsquo;s Stars. After going 2-5 on the gruelling road string, the fourth-place Stars were looking over their shoulder at challenging Tulsa, which had whittled the OC advantage from 11 points to five. The two state rivals had three showdown games remaining, with two of them to be played in the Oklahoma City Myriad.</p><p>Actually, the Stars had the most favorable finishing schedule of any team in the CHL&mdash;seven games at home and only two on the road.</p><p>The last two reversals on the long road grind were in Indianapolis by 6-2 and 4-3 (in overtime) margins. Rob Flockhart got both OC goals in the Friday loss, one on a power play and one shorthanded. Jim Weaver returned to netminding duty, having missed two games after suffering a concussion in Wichita.</p><p><b>DALLAS&mdash;</b>The Hawks ran their home ice streak to seven straight victories by handling Tulsa, 4-1, on Friday, and Fort Worth, 3-2, on Saturday. But Tulsa scissored the string with a 4-2 upset on Sunday. That kept Danny Belisle&rsquo;s men from tying the CHL record of 49 victories, posted by Salt Lake last season, but the Hawks still had 10 games left. They were within two victories of clinching the Emory Jones Cup, awarded to the first-place finisher in the regular schedule.</p><p>Hawk goalie Paul Harrison shut out Tulsa until 5:29 of the third period Friday night. Rick Blight got a pair of tallies in the second period, but the goals by Chris Oddleifson and Tim Coulis in the first were enough.</p><p>Coulis got the winning goal in the second period against Fort Worth, after Drew Callander and Art Rutland had scored in the first. But in the first period the Sunday rematch with Tulsa, Coulis and Oiler Jimmy Mann drew match penalties for a stickswinging incident off the ice. (Mann was on the Tulsa bench, and Coulis, with teammate Rob Tudor, climbed from their bench into the adjoining photographers&rsquo; box.)</p><p>The unusual skirmish happened while Hawk Greg Hubick and Oiler Lyle Moffat were tangling in a wrestling match on the boards in front of the Tulsa bench. All the other eight skaters on the ice crowded around to observe, and each drew a 10-minute misconduct. What with majors to the two wrestlers, two match penalties, eight misconducts and two bench penalties, each coach was. left with only seven skaters available for a while. Blight and Mike Kaszycki scored Dallas goals in the loss.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01511/4444403-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="606" height="776"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Finnish goalie Jari Kaarela wound up in Indianapolis after the Islanders obtained him from Colorado.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>FORT WORTH&mdash;</b>The Texans played only one game for the week, and that was a 3-2 loss in Dallas. It was the eighth straight road loss. 10th game without a victory for Ron Ullyot&rsquo;s club.</p><p>The Texans rallied to tie twice, on Bobby Gould&rsquo;s goal in the first period, Gary Dillon&rsquo;s shorthanded score in the second. but couldn&rsquo;t answer Tim coulis late Dallas goal in that period.</p><p><b>TULSA&mdash;</b>The Oilers didn&rsquo;t figure it was much of a break when the collapse of the Houston and Birmingham franchises, and the subsequent rewriting of the CHL schedule, gave them four additional games with the front-running Dallas Black Hawks. But they salvaged a split in the Hawks&rsquo; own rink, giving Tulsa two wins and a tie in their last four clashes with the league leaders.</p><p>Swedish-born Anders Steen got the lone Oiler tally ina 4-1 Friday loss. But the Oilers prevailed. 4-2. two nights later. Steen and Ben Gosselin provided a 2-0 lead in the second period. Dallas caught up midway of the third, but Greg Meredith won it for the Oilers with 2:36 to play, and Ben Gosselin added insurance 59 seconds later. Lindsay Middlebrook was brilliant in the Oiler nets, as the Hawks outshot them. 38-25.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

Red Hot Indianapolis Roars Into Second Spot

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p>WINDSOR&mdash;There was more movement off the ice than on as the International Hockey League teams looked for improvement down the stretch and beyond&mdash;to the playoffs.</p><p>A schedule quirk called for just 20 games, with Saginaw sitting out a complete weekend. A rare Tuesday date in Milwaukee kept the Gears from being shut out.</p><p>But while the games were few, a lot of action was going on between cities via the phone lines. With just a month of the regular season remaining, playoff positions were still pretty much up for grabs. Kalamazoo would appear in the best position of all, entering the final weeks with a nine-point hold on first place.</p><p>Toledo was at the opposite end of the pole. The Diggers were not out mathematically, but the odds were long. Toledo was seven points behind seventh-place Muskegon. And that represents the final starting post for the Turner Cup playoffs. Seven of the eight teams get invitations.</p><p>Fort Wayne and Saginaw were waging a stiff battle for second place overall. The Komets ended the week with a two-point edge over the Gears who were the front-runners of the East Division.</p><p>Between the Komet-Saginaw feud and struggling Toledo was the rest of the field, separated by just four points. The standings can change game-bygame.</p><p>At press time.-Port Huron was skating fourth with 67 points, followed by Milwaukee, Flint and Muskegon. Port Huron had one edge&mdash;games in hand. The Flags had played less games than any other club. Milwaukee may have a better edge. The Admirals were to play nine of their final 11 games at home.</p><p>In the forefront in the recent player deals was Port Huron. General manager Morris Snider had promised a &ldquo;shakeup&rdquo; and it came.</p><p>The Flags sent IHL veteran defenseman Jim Bannatyne to Flint for center Bob Sauve and defenseman Kevin MacDona|d. Bannatyne has been in the IHL for 13 seasons (including the current campaign) and has served Port Huron as captain. Other stops in the IHL for Bannatyne were Muskegon and Dayton.</p><p>Flag coach Doug Hinton singled out Sauve as the key. &ldquo;We needed a center. I didn&rsquo;t think Sauve would be marketable but when his name came up. I told Morris to get him if he could. The only way we would deal Bannatyne is two-for-one.&rdquo;</p><p>Toledo sent Jean Chouinard to Muskegon for the waiver price. Muskegon placed Stu Irving, who retired earlier at Saginaw, on its active list.</p><p>Fort Wayne released veteran left winger Dave Norris and obtained a couple of wingers from Muskegon. The new Komets are Brant Kiessig and Jeff Carlson. Komet coach Moose Lallo indicated the two wingers would form a line with veteran Terry McDougall.</p><p>As the deadline approached, teams had to get down to 16 players, 14 skaters and two goalies and Lallo was forced to make a decision on versatile Pete Crawford. Crawford, who has won Turner Cups in both Toledo and Kalamazoo, suffered a knee injury three weeks ago and required surgery, but Lallo decided to gamble that Crawford would be ready for the playoffs and included him on his 16-man roster.</p><p>&ldquo;The knee brace we have been waiting for has arrived and Pete can now start skating,&rdquo; Lallo said. &ldquo;It was a gamble. I know, but one we had to take. Crawford is very valuable. Hey can play either defense or up front. We need him.&rdquo;</p><p>Meanwhile on the ice:</p><p><b>KALAMAZOO-</b>The K-Wings had their undefeated string stopped at Flint, 2-1. The streak reach 13&mdash;longest of the season for the defending league and playoff champions, in an 8-4 win over Milwaukee.</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE-</b>The Komets didn&rsquo;t lose in three tries. But they only won once. Following a 6-4 triumph over Flint at home (Barry Scully scored his sixth hat trick of the season in the victory), the K&rsquo;s tied at Muskegon, 4-4. and at home to Port Huron, 2-2. Scully got two goals in the game at Muskegon to boost his season total to 62. He won the goal-scoring title last season with 60. The league record is 72, set by former Komet Merv Dubchak during the 1965-66 season. Dubchak scored his 72 goals in just 70 games, however.</p><p><b>MILWAUKEE&mdash;</b>The Admirals were 0-for-2 during a two-game road trip. They lost at Kalamazoo, 8-4, and at Port Huron, 5-4, before returning home to tie Saginaw, 5-5.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON&mdash;</b>Muskegon got a pair of ties and have lost just once since Ted Garvin took over as coach. The Hawks played a 2-2 tie at Port Huron and rallied to tie Fort Wayne, 4-4, at home.</p><p><b>SAGINAW&mdash;</b>As noted earlier, the Gears played just once during the week, getting the 5-5 tie at Milwaukee.</p><p><b>FLINT&mdash;</b>The Generals travelled from the depths to the heights. After losing at Fort Wayne, 6-4, and a 4-2 decision to lowly Toledo at home, the Generals played one of their best games of the season to nip Kalamazoo at home. 2-1.</p><p><b>PORT HURON-</b>The Flags responded quite positively to the shakeup. They picked up four of a possible six points, including a point on the road in a 2-2 tie at Fort Wayne. At home the Flags tied Muskegon, 2-2, and nipped Milwaukee, 5-4.</p><p><b>TOLEDO&mdash;</b>The Diggers kept their fading playoff hopes flickering with a 4-2 triumph at Flint.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01445/4444441-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="602" height="876"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Thirteen-year veteran Jim Bannatyne was dealt by Port Huron in a late-season shakeup.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02326/4444434-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="606" height="886"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Komets&rsquo; coach Moose Lallo took a chance by keeping injured Pete Crawford on the active list.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0025-01

IHL Clubs Begin Roster Shuffling To Prepare For Upcoming Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>ERIE&mdash;Now that the Erie Blades have their third straight Eastern League regular season championship securely tucked away in their hip pocket, coach Nick Polano has his eye on another John Mitchell Cup.</p><p>The Blades continued their domination of the other four EHL clubs and ran their lead to 21 points at press time in clinching their third consecutive title. A loss by second place Richmond on March 9 handed the Blades the crown, which was the earliest clinching ever by the defending champs. Erie previously earned their titles on March 16, 1979 by topping Johnstown 3-1 and on March 23, 1980 by whipping Utica 8-3.</p><p>&ldquo;Naturally, we have to be happy to win the title again,&rdquo; said Polano. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think we would win it this early because of the problems we&rsquo;ve had on defense. The majority of the year we had to use forwards on defense because of injuries and I thought it was going to hurt us. I think the forwards did a great job in taking the pressure off the defensemen. We forechecked very well and kept most of the play in the opposition end and I think that is probably why we were able to do it again.&rdquo;</p><p>Comparing this year&rsquo;s squad with the past two years, Polano could see some differences. &ldquo;Up front we have more talent, we have more people that can score,&rdquo; said the coach-general manager. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not as strong on defense and that position really suffered this year with the loss of Daniel Poulin. When you compare the goalies, I think this year we&rsquo;re better in goal because with Carey Walker and Rick Knickle it gives us two good, young goalies where in other years we had to go mostly with Walker.&rdquo;</p><p>Polano also felt that winning the title this year was easier than the past two seasons. &ldquo;When you win it as early as we did it has to be a little easier because in the past, we&rsquo;ve really had to work hard to come from behind. It took a lot more work the two previous years to win. Now we just want to make sure that we keep the momentum going, that we don&rsquo;t get lazy. We want to have a lot of drive going into the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>The Blades blasted Salem 9-5 at home, but then lost their chance to clinch the championship before the home crowd when they dropped a 3-2 setback to the Raiders the following night. Stan Gulutzan made his best showing since his recent return to the lineup from shoulder surgery with a four goal performance in the 9-5 win. Linemates Pierre Aubry had two goals and three assists, while Chris Halyk was credited with three assists.</p><p>Aubry pushed his total to 119 points on the season. The 3-2 loss was Knick-Ie&rsquo;s first home loss after he went 13-0-1 in the nets at the Fieldhouse.</p><p>Members of the Blades&rsquo; booster club voted Aubry as the club&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player for his contributions to the club this season and also selected Jim Cowell as the team&rsquo;s Unsung Hero.</p><p>Halyk continues to impress with his 22 goals in 21 games which includes six power play goals and six gamewinning strikes. He also has added 21 assists.</p><p><b>HAMPTON&mdash;</b>The Aces got some much needed assistance when the Toronto Maple Leafs sent three players to the injury riddled club.</p><p>Coming to the Aces were left wing Jean-Gaston Douville, right wing Benoit LaPorte and right wing Bart Yachimec. All players had seen action in New Brunswick of the American League.</p><p>Hampton&rsquo;s player-coach Larry Mickey had been forced to go with just 14 players recently and the new additions brought the team up to the legal limit of 17. The Aces also lost Rich Kramp, who quit the team and returned home.</p><p>The Aces were within four points of being eliminated from the playoff picture for the second straight season after making it to the finals in their first EHL campaign in 1978-79.</p><p>Hampton played Baltimore to a 3-3 tie with Steve Salvucci, George Klassons and Bill MacNaught getting goals before an 8-2 loss in Baltimore.</p><p>Mickey&rsquo;s crew then surprised Richmond by blasting the Rifles 9-4. Kent Reardon had a hat trick, Clavette and Douville nailing down two goals apiece. MacNaught earned three assists.</p><p>Rob Clavette fired home two goals in a 3-2 loss in Salem</p><p><b>SALEM&mdash;</b>The Raiders held slim hopes of overtaking Richmond for second place, but Salem also was keeping an eye on streaking fourth place Baltimore.</p><p>Coach Pat Kelly received some aid when he obtained defenseman-left wing Bruce Gill and right wing Doug Harvey from the IHL&rsquo;s Saginaw Gears.</p><p>Salem fell to the Blades 9-5, but rebounded the following night to snare a 3-2 triumph behind the superior goaltending of Gilles Moffet. Moffet kicked out 38 of 40 Erie shots and Salem came away with the victory despite having only 16 shots on goal the entire night.</p><p>Pierre Lagace, Brian Drumm and co-captain Bruce Greig scored for Salem. Kevin Street had a pair in the 9-5 loss giving him 12 goals in 14 games since coming to Salem from Richmond.</p><p>The Virginians also earned a 3-2 decision over Hampton with Claude LaFontaine showing the way with a two-goal performance. It was LaFontaine&rsquo;s fourth two-goal game in his last eight games and gave him 10 goals over that period.</p><p>Salem was hoping for more sellouts with upcoming T-Shirt Night, Ricky Rudd-Gatorade Night and Media Night. The club has sold out their 4,042 seat building twice this season.</p><p><b>BALTIMORE&mdash;</b>Baltimore&rsquo;s 3-0-1 record during a four-game stretch and 6-2-1 in a nine-game span put them on the heels of third place Salem.</p><p>Following a 3-3 tie with Hampton, the Clippers exploded and blasted the Aces 8-2 behind a hat trick by Peter Hayek. Newcomer Henry Taylor and Norm Stefan had two goals apiece and Dale Yakiwchuk passed off for three assists.</p><p>Yakiwchuk, the former Richmond captain, continued his excellent play in a Baltimore uniform with 20 points in 11 games. He is also fourth in the EHL scoring race with 70 points.</p><p>Gerry Ciarcia moved into a tie with Pierre Aubry for the assist leadership role in the EHL with both players earning 59.</p><p>Mike Cerrone, who played in Sweden this year, was placed on the roster by coach Gene Ubriaco.</p><p><b>RICHMOND-</b>The Rifles solidified their playoff roster with the announcement that Dave Snopek and goalie Tom Semenchuk would join the team.</p><p>Snopek, assigned to Richmond from New Haven, had 24 points for the Nighthawks, while Semenchuk was Richmond&rsquo;s top goaltender before being called up to the American Hockey League.</p><p>To make room for the new players, coach Andre Beaulieu waived goalie Tom O&rsquo;Toole, Dave Herbst and Mark Friedman.</p><p>Richmond is expected to be at full strength for the playoffs as Tom Mullen (pinched nerve), Lawrie Nisker (wrist) and Paul Conway (knee) were on the mend and due back in the lineup.</p><p>The Rifles&rsquo; losing streak was extended to five games with a 7-4 home loss to Baltimore and a 9-4 setback on the road in Hampton.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01459/4444479-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="610" height="794"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Chris Halyk has been averaging better than two points a game for first-place Erie.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02355/4444472-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="602" height="1030"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Since his trade from Richmond, Kevin Street has been a big boost to Salem&rsquo;s offense.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-01

Erie Wraps Up Quickest Title Ever; Hampton Playoff Hopes Fade Away

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01438/4444510-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div><p><b>ENTER Hockey News SWEEPSTAKES NOW&hellip;</b></p><p><b>You may win BIG PRIZES</b></p><p>&hellip; AND A YEAR&rsquo;S SUBSCRIPTION will save more than 50&rsquo; a week from the newstand price</p><h2><b>GRAND PRIZE:</b></h2><p><b>Sony Color Pojection TV System & 50 Screen!</b></p><p>The ultimate in home viewing your &ldquo;Box seat&rdquo; to a world of exciting, king-size TV action.</p><p>(Value; $3.200)</p><h2><b>3rd PRIZE (5 winners):</b></h2><p><b>Brunswick Air Hockey Games!</b></p><p>Challenge your family and friends to a battle of offensive and defensive skills.</p><p><b>(Value: S350 each)</b></p><h2><b>4th PRIZE (10 winners):</b></h2><p><b>Official NHL Team Jerseys!</b></p><p>&hellip;with winner&rsquo;s name imprinted across the back of the team jersey of his or her choice</p><p><b>(Value; $100 each)</b></p><h2><b>OFFICIAL RULES&hellip;No Purchase Necessary</b></h2><p><b>Here&rsquo;s how the Sweepstakes work:</b></p><p>1.Winners will be selected in random drawings conducted under the supervision of the D.L. Blair Corporation, an independent judging organization whose decisions are final Special drawings will be conducted to award the &ldquo;Early Bird Bonus&rdquo;. Prizes. Prizes will be awarded to entries which are returned in accordance with the directions published in this offer.</p><p>2. Entries must be received by December 31, 1981, the final closing date for the sweepstakes. One prize to a family, with the exception of the the &ldquo;Early Bird Bonus&rdquo; Prize! Winners will be notified by mail. No substitution for prizes. Tax on any prize is the sole responsibility of the winner. Value of all prizes is in U.S. currency.</p><p>3. Sweepstakes open to residents of the United States and Canada, except employees of The Hockey News, its affiliates, agencies, and their respective families. Sweepstakes is void wherever prohibited by law and in the U.S. is subject to all Federal, State, and local laws and regulations; in Canada to all Federal, Provincial and Municipal laws and regulations. The odds of winning depend upon the number of entries received.</p><p>4. In order to win a prize, residents of Canada will be required to correctly answer within 30 days of notification a time-limited arithmetical skill-testing question.</p><p>5. A total of 146 prizes will be awarded. The prizes and their approximate values as of August 1.1980 are: Grand Prize: Projection TV system, value: $3,200; 2 Second Prizes: Video-cassette recorder, value: $1,350 each; 5 Third Prizes: Air Hockey game, value:$350 each; 10 Fourth Prizes: NHL team jersey, value: $100 each; 25 Fifth Prizes: Electronic Hockey Game, value: $45 each; 100 Sixth Prices: Toque, value $5 each; 3 Early Bird Bonus Prizes: cash, value $500 each.</p><p>6. Winners of major prizes will be obligated to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility within 30 days of notification. In the event of non-compliance within this time period, alternative winners will be selected. Prizes or prize notifications returned to the sponsor or to D. L. Blair Corporation as undeliverable will be awarded to alternative winners.</p><p>7. For a list of winners send a separate, stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Hockey News &ldquo;Fans Players &lsquo;81 Sweepstakes Winners List. 850 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022.</p><p><b>All prizes will be awarded.</b></p><h2><b>2nd PRIZE (2 winners):</b></h2><p>Sony Betamax! For television viewers who can&rsquo;t always watch what they want and when</p><p><b>(Value: $1,350 each)</b></p><h2><b>5th PRIZE (25 winners):</b></h2><p><b>Head-to-Head Electronic Hockey Game!</b></p><p>Capture all the speed and excitement of ice hockey in your own home.</p><p><b>(Value: $45 each)</b></p><h2><b>6th PRIZE (100 winners):</b></h2><p><b>The Hockey News Toques!</b></p><p>A warm way of saying we&rsquo;d like you to have us on your mind from time to time!</p><p><b>(Value:$5 each)</b></p><p><b>THE HOCKEY NEWS SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY FORM</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

Be a hockey winner…and a hockey saver!

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>ROVIDENCE&mdash;Perhaps it shouldn&rsquo;t be too much of a surprise. After all, there is hardly any home ice advantage in the quarterfinal playoffs of ECAC Division One. Why should we expect that anything would be different for a quarterfinal NCAA playoff, notwithstanding that the visitors from out West were totally unfamiliar with the terrain and that it was two-game, total goals rather than single elimination?</p><p>Yes, for the third straight year, ECAC teams bowed out of the NCAA Championship Tournament as soon as possible. Only this time it was in the weekend quarterfinal series and the home seeded Easterners, Providence and Clarkson, couldn&rsquo;t muster a win against Michigan Tech and Wisconsin, respectively.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02312/4444579-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="598" height="724"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Rick Boehm, above, helped Michigan Tech to build an insurmountable lead in its series win over Providence, while Wisconsin&rsquo;s Pete Johnson, below, scored a goal which tied Clarkson and restored the series lead for Wisconsin.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03237/4444572-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="594" height="730"></div><p>Providence, the East&rsquo;s number two seeded team, bowed to third seed Michigan Tech on Schneider Arena ice by a total goal count of 14-8. The Friars absorbed a 7-3 setback on Friday night and then lost 6-5 on Saturday. It was a good series, however, closely contested and in doubt until a Tech flurry late in the third period on Saturday evening.</p><p>Clarkson, seeded first in the East and acknowledged to be several strides in front of the rest of Division One this season, lost its series 9-8 to the West&rsquo;s fourth seed, Wisconson. In tiny Walker Arena on the Raquette River in Potsdam, N.Y., the Badgers turned aside the Golden Knights 3-2 in the Friday game, then withstood a third period rally to salvage a 6-6 tie on Saturday and capture the matchup on total goals.</p><p>With the series losses by Cornell at Minnesota (for details, see story at top of page), the East was shut out of the NCAA Final Four for the first time since the thourney began in 1940. Indeed, in the eight weekend games, the East managed only one win and one tie to go with six losses. If there&rsquo;s a repeat performance next year, when the Final Four play in the Providence Civic Center instead of Duluth, we&rsquo;ll probably see more fans disguised as empty seats than those who came to the Detroit Olympia in 1979.</p><p>As for the games, on Friday it was pretty much a case of Michigan Tech&rsquo;s quickness, deft passing, and opportunism to score in bunches and outdistance the Friars. Up in Potsdam, Clarkson was throwing its usual fusillade at Mark Behrend in the Badger net, but having the sdame trouble putting it past him that plagued the Knights in their Eastern playoff efforts.</p><p>Tech came out smoking and scored at the 0:32 mark of the opening period when Jeff Wylie deflected a shot past freshman goalie Mario Proulx. Jim Bissett upped the count to 2-0 at the 7:20 mark, and Mike Bolstad and Rick Boehm then traded goals for a 3-1 Tech lead after the first intermission. Tech had outshot the Friars 17-7 in the period; however, both coaches, Lou Lamoriello of the Friars and John McInnes of the Huskies, thought that the period was quite even and that Tech had taken advantage of almost every available PC boo-boo.</p><p>The killing stretch for the game, and for the series, as it turned out, came early in the second period when the normally muscular PC defense let the Huskie forwards into the slot area for scoring chances. Mike Lauen outraced a defender down the center and, stick outstretched, poked home a soft feed from the left wing at 1:17. At 1:38, Per-Ake Johanssonn was unguarded in front of Proulx and batted in a feed from the backboards. Then at 4:16, Boehm kept in a clearing pass at the blue line with his skate and fed up to Tim Watters near the net. Watters deked the defense, stepped in front, and beat Proulx for a hefty 6-1 edge.</p><p>Lamoriello pulled Proulx for Scott Fiske at that point and the pace slowed somewhat. Senior John Sullivan gave PC some hope for the following night when he scored shorthanded with 10 seconds to play.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we played particularly well on defense,&rdquo; offered John Maclnnes. &ldquo;Defense is what got us here. We just capitalized on every opportunity. That was key in the second period when we scored on our first two shots.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t take the body tonight,&rdquo; said Lamoriello.</p><p>Clarkson had to play catchup all night too, starting when Dan Gorowsky tallied at the 0:34 mark of the first period, and Pete Johnson made it 2-0 at 12:40. Clarkson freshman Colin Patterson got one back at 16:20 and the Badgers led by a goal after the first period.</p><p>Lexi Doner scored the critical goal at 9:09 of the second, the only marker of the period, when he beat Don Sylvestri assisted by Brian Mullen and Bruce Driver. Though Steve Cruickshank scored early in the third period, at 3:19, the powerful Golden Knight offense could do no more against Behrend. He finished up with 36 saves to 25 for Sylvestri.</p><p>Still, there was hope both in Schneider and in Walker when the second game rolled around. Providence came out full of fire and controlled play early, but they still fell behind 3-1 after Bill Terry scored at 2:05 of the second period. That made it a six-goal deficit, which against a defensive team like Tech is next to hopeless.</p><p>But Providence dug into its bag of miracles for a final time and scored the next four goals, three on the power play and one on a four-on-four. Zipping the puck through and around the Tech box. the Friars had their fans going slightly bonkers when Mike Toppazzini&rsquo;s slapshot bounced through a screen past Frank Krieber at the 3:29 mark of the third period. It made the score 5-3 PC. and a series tie seemed possible. Maclnnes admitted later that &ldquo;there was a little panic on our bench.&rdquo;</p><p>But that was as far as the PC express would go. Tech regained composure, and clinched things when Al Mickalich finished off a two-on-two rush at 7:58 to raise the series margin to three goals again. Stiles and Ron Zuke completed the scoring later, and Tech was off to face Minnesota on Thursday.</p><p>Friar fans had the last word, however. They remained in the arena, flocked to the ice surface, and chanted for their team, demanding a curtain call with &ldquo;ECAC Champs&rdquo; reverberating through the corridors. An admiring Maclnnes remarked, &ldquo;You&rsquo;d never see that for a losing team out West.&rdquo;</p><p>Meanwhile, Clarkson and Wisconsin were seesawing through a slugfest that was marred by a slow of penalties, many of them matching minors that disrupted the tempo of the game. This time it was Wisconsin&rsquo;s turn to outshoot their opponent, throwing 40 shots at Sylvestri to 34 by the Knights at Behrend.</p><p>Clarkson actually had the game and series lead briefly when Bryan Cleaver and Steve Cruickshank tallied in the first five minutes to give Clarkson a 2-0 lead. It remained that way most of the period until defenseman Theran Welsh got the Badgers onto the board with 1:02 to go. Then at the 0:44 mark, Pete Johnson tied that game&rsquo;s score and the Badgers never lost the series lead, although a lot of hockey followed.</p><p>Cruickshank and John. Newberry traded goals, then Cleaver and Welsh did likewise. At the end of two periods, it was 4-4. Ted Pearson and Scott Lecy had the next two for Wisconsin, at 5:51</p><p>and 9:05 of the third, and things looked bright for the Badgers. Clarkson stormed back a final time, with Patterson netting a 4-on-3 power play score at 11:50, and Steve MacDougall making it 6-6 at 14:36.</p><p>But that was it for the Knights, whose history of rotten playoff luck in the wake of good regular seasons continued. If any Eastern team was conceded to have a shot at the NCAA title, it was the crew from the little engineering school in the boondocks of Northern New York. But all the Knights have to show is a fine 26-7-4 record and memories of what might have been.</p><p>Providence finished up at 17-15-1 overall while Cornell ended at 19-11-1 and Colgate concluded with a 21-12-2 slate. As we heard so many times already&hellip;&ldquo;See Ya Next Year!&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-02

Home Ice Can’t Prevent ECAC Being Shutout

<p><b>College Scoreboard</b></p><h2><b>How The Playoff Races Stand</b></h2><h3><b>NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS</b></h3><p><b>Quarter-Finals</b></p><p>Minnesota 9, Colgate 4</p><p>Minnesota 5. Colgate 4</p><p>(Minnesota wins two-game total-goals 14-4)</p><p>Mich. Tech 7, Providence 3</p><p>Mich. Tech 6, Providence 5</p><p>(Mich Tech wins two-game total-goals 13-8)</p><p>Wisconsin 3. Clarkson 2</p><p>Wisconsin 6. Clarkson 6</p><p>(Wisconsin wins two-game total-goals 9-8)</p><p>N. Michigan 7, Cornell 3</p><p>Cornell 4, N. Michigan 3</p><p>(N. Michigan wins two-game total-goals 10-7)</p><p><b>Semi-Finals</b></p><p>Thu-Fri. Mar. 26-27</p><p>Minnesota vs Mich. Tech</p><p>N. Michigan vs Wisconsin</p><p>(Sudden-death games)</p><p><b>Sat. March 28</b></p><p>Finals and consolation games.</p><p>(All tourney games at Duluth. Minn.)</p><h2><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><p><b>DIVISION I</b></p><h3><b>East Region</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01376/4444764-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="537" height="188"></div><h3><b>West Region</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02281/4444757-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="539" height="164"></div><h3><b>Ivy Region</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03180/4444750-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="536" height="188"></div><h2><b>PLAYOFFS</b></h2><h3><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h3><p><b>DIVISION I</b></p><p><b>Quarter-Finals</b></p><p>Providence 5. Boston College 2</p><p>Clarkson 5. N. Hampshire 2</p><p>Colgate 5, Northeastern 3</p><p>Cornell 7. Maine 4</p><p>(Sudden-death games)</p><p>Semi-Finals</p><p>Providence 4, Clarkson 3</p><p>Cornell 4, Colgate 3</p><p>(Sudden-death games)</p><p>Finals</p><p>Providence 8, Cornell 4</p><p>(Providence wins championship)</p><h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04123/4444743-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="543" height="649"></div><h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05107/4444736-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="540" height="308"></div><h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0685/4444729-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="542" height="600"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><p><b>Quarter-Finals.</b></p><p>Michigan 5, Denver 2</p><p>Michigan 5, Denver 4</p><p>(Michigan wins two-game total-goals series 10-6)</p><p>Minnesota 5, Minn-Duluth 1</p><p>Minn-Duluth 7. Minnesota 5</p><p>(Minnesota wins two-game total-goals series 10-8)</p><p>Mich. Tech 7, North Dakota 4</p><p>Mich. Tech 4. North Dakota 1</p><p>(Mich. Tech wins two-game total-goals series 11-5)</p><p>Wisconsin 8, Colorado Coll 2</p><p>Colorado Coll 11, Wisconsin 4</p><p>(Colorado College wins best two-game total-goals series 13-12)</p><h2>Semi-Finals</h2><p>Minnesota 7, Colorado Coll 1</p><p>Colorado Coll 9, Minnesota 7</p><p>(Minnesota wins two-game total-goals series 14-10)</p><p>Michigan Tech 2, Michigan 1</p><p>Michigan Tech 7. Michigan 1</p><p>(Michigan Tech wins two-game total-goals series 9-2)</p><h2><b>CCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0768/4444722-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="544" height="247"></div><h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0860/4444715-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="540" height="275"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0955/4444708-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="536" height="120"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><p><b>Semi-Finals</b></p><p>Bowling Green 3, No. Michigan</p><p>No. Michigan 10, Bowling Green 2</p><p>(No. Michigan wins two-game total-goals series 13-5)</p><p>Ferris State 3. Ohio State 3</p><p>Ohio State 5, Ferris State 3</p><p>(Ohio State wins two-game total-goals series 8-6)</p><h2>Finals</h2><p>N. Michigan 2, Ohio State 2</p><p>N. Michigan 4, Ohio State 2</p><p>(N. Michigan wins two-game total-goals series 6-4 and championship)</p><h2><b>SCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1047/4444701-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="539" height="220"></div><h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1142/4444694-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="541" height="220"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><p>Tennessee 4. Georgia State 1</p><p>Alabama 9. Georgia Tech 0</p><p>Championship Game</p><p>Alabama 7 Tennessee 6</p><p>Consolation Game</p><p>Georgia State 11. Georgia Tech 0</p><h2><b>CANADIAN COLLEGES</b></h2><p><b>NATIONAL TOURNAMENT</b></p><h2>Pool One</h2><p>Moncton 10, Brandon 3</p><p>Calgary 6, Brandon 3</p><p>Moncton 5. Calgary 2 (Moncton wins round-robin pool)</p><h2>Pool Two</h2><p>Queen&rsquo;s 3, Concordia 2</p><p>Saskatchewan 5, Queen&rsquo;s 4</p><p>Saskatchewan 8, Concordia 3</p><p>(Sask wins round-robin pool)</p><h2>Finals</h2><p>Moncton 4, Saskatchewan 2</p><p>(Moncton wins sudden-death game and thampionship)</p><h2><b>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1238/4444687-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="542" height="362"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1331/4444680-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="542" height="406"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1428/4444673-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="547" height="220"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1524/4444666-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="540" height="357"></div><h2><b>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><p>KELLY DIVISION</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1622/4444659-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="544" height="161"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1720/4444652-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="541" height="273"></div><h2>MACADAM DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1820/4444645-1-eng-US/f0029-182.jpg" title="f0029-18" width="545" height="164"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1915/4444638-1-eng-US/f0029-192.jpg" title="f0029-19" width="543" height="254"></div><h2><b>CANADA WEST CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2013/4444631-1-eng-US/f0029-202.jpg" title="f0029-20" width="549" height="140"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2113/4444624-1-eng-US/f0029-212.jpg" title="f0029-21" width="547" height="169"></div><h2><b>GPAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2213/4444617-1-eng-US/f0029-222.jpg" title="f0029-22" width="548" height="168"></div><h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2312/4444610-1-eng-US/f0029-232.jpg" title="f0029-23" width="540" height="168"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-01

VICTORIAVILLE

<h2><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p>DIVISION II</p><p>Frst Team All Stars</p><h3>Goal</h3><p>BILL PROVENCHER. Bowdoin Defence</p><p>PAUL LOHNES. Lowell JEAN ROY. Bowdoin</p><h3>Forwards</h3><p>TOM LAWLER Merrimack</p><p>JEFF BEANEY. New England</p><p>GERRY CURLEY Holy Cross</p><p>JOHN CORCORAN. Bowdoin</p><h2><b>SCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>First Team All Stars</b></p><h3>Goal</h3><p>JEFF BECK. Tennessee</p><h3>Defense</h3><p>KIRK GAMBRELL. Georgia State</p><p>DENNIS McCURRY. Tennessee</p><p>FUSS SIMONS Alabama</p><h3>Forwards</h3><p>CHRIS CRENSHAW. Alabama</p><p>FICK FARMER. Tennessee</p><p>DAVID RAGLAND. Alabama</p><p>BILL ROBERTS. Alabama</p><p>Second Team All Stars</p><h3>Goal</h3><p>ALLAN BUTLER. Georgia Tech</p><p>BOBBY ZEEK Alabama</p><h3>Defense</h3><p>MIKE DLESK, Emory</p><p>MIKE GRUBER Auburn</p><h3>Forwards</h3><p>RICH BROOKS. Alabama</p><p>RICHIE FIORILLO. Georgia State</p><p>GREG McMURRAY. Tennessee Player Of Year</p><p>CHRIS CRENSHAW Alabama</p><p>CANADIAN COLLEGES</p><p>TOURNAMENT ALL STARS</p><h3>Goal</h3><p>BENOIT FORTIER. Moncton</p><h3>Defense</h3><p>MICHEL BECHARD. Moncton</p><p>MIKE WIRACHOWSKY. Sask</p><h3>Forwards</h3><p>JOHN MclNTYRE. Queen&rsquo;s</p><p>DELL CHAPMAN. Sask</p><p>FRANCOIS BESSETTE. Moncton</p><p>Tourney MVP</p><p>BENOIT FORTIER. Moncton<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

All Star Teams

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ARQUETTE&mdash;All-American forward Steve Bozek earned Central Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Week honors for the fourth time this season and the second time in two weeks as he paced Northern Michigan over Cornell in NCAA regional playoff action in Lakeview Arena.-</p><p>The NMU Wildcats (27-12-3) knocked off Cornell (19-11-1) of the Eastern College Athletic Conference in the opener of the two-game, total-goals series 7-3 and coasted to the series win despite the fact that Cornell took the second game 4-3 behind a 54-save performance by Big Red goalie Brian Havward. NMU won the series 10-7.</p><p>Bozek led the Wildcats with three goals and two assists for his second straight five-point weekend in the playoffs. In fact, in six playoff games this season Bozek has 13 points and he has taken a one-point lead over teammate Jeff Pyle in the overall CCHA scoring race with 88 points. Pyle, CCHA Player of the Year, won the conference scoring race with a record 59 points.</p><p>Pyle opened the scoring in the Cornel I series at 8:16 of the first period and the lead lasted 43 seconds until Roy Kerling knotted the score with a power play goal assisted by Geoff Roeszler.</p><p>NMU grabbed a 2-1 lead before the end of the first period with Bruce Martin scoring a power play tally from Jeff Tascoff and Eric Ponath at 11:26.</p><p>Cornell&rsquo;s Joe Gallant tied the score 2-2 at the 8:10 mark of the second period but Bozek snapped the tie from Keith Hansen and Martin at 14:38 for a 3-2 Wildcat lead after two periods.</p><p>Unheralded Dave Kanigan scored his third goal of the playoffs, and third goal of the season, at 3:52 of the third period, assisted by Dave Mogush and Steve Fisher, to push the NMU lead to 4-2. It also marked the end of Cornell goalie Darren Eliot who was removed following Kenigan&rsquo;s goal after making 21 saves. Hayward made II saves while allowing three NMU goals in the rest of the game.</p><p>Bozek scored his second goal of the game at 8:15 and the Wildcat lead was 5-2 with Hansen and Martin again assisting on the goal.</p><p>Cornell kept fighting back, with Greg Reid scoring a power play goal at 11:35 assisted by Roeszler and Geoff Dervin.</p><p>NMU wrapped up the game and perhaps the series moments later when Pyle and Walt Kyle scored goals on the same shift just 19 seconds apart at 13:29 and 13:48 to push the lead to 7-3. Dave Ikkala assisted on both goals with Pyle and Kyle each assisting also.</p><p>Jeff Poeschl made 31 saves in the win for the Wildcats and he made 31 saves again the second night in the 4-3 loss.</p><p>Hayward was the story for Cornell in the second game as he made 20 saves in the first period. 19 in the second period and 15 more in the third period for a game total of 54 saves.</p><p>Dan Duffy gave Cornell a 1-0 lead at 8:18 of the first period of the second game with Roeszler earning his third assist of the series along with Tim Strawman.</p><p>Martin tied the game for NMU at 16:33.</p><p>Jeff Baikie scored at 13:13 of the second period, assisted by Gallant and Kerling to give Cornell its second lead of the game at 2-1.</p><p>Hansen tied the game for NMU at 15:27 of the second period with Bozek and Fisher assisting. Bozek received a standing ovation for several minutes when the announcement was made to the 3,172 fans that packed Lakeview Arena that the assist was Bozek&rsquo;s 200th career point.</p><p>Bozek added his 201st point with a power play goal at 19:16 of the second period from Pyle and Tascoff for a 3-2&rsquo; NMU lead after two periods. The assist for Pyle extended his scoring streak to 14 games heading into the NCAA championships in Duluth.</p><p>Doug Berk tied the game for Cornell at 9:35 of the third period assisted by John Olds and Baikie and Olds scored the winner on a power play assisted by Gallant and Baikie at 14:18&hellip;</p><p>The Wildcats held a five-goal edge in the series at the start of the final period and were content to hold onto the series lead and head to the Final</p><p>Four for the second year in a row. In fact, NMU is the only team to repeat in the final four and this is the first time that the NCAA championships will be decided by four teams from the same region as NMU, Minnesota, Michigan Tech and Wisconsin all advanced to the finals from the first crossover NCAA regional tournament. With NMU and Michigan Tech in the finals it means the CCHA has &ldquo;two&rdquo; members in the final four as Tech will play its final two games as a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association this upcoming weekend (March 26-28) before joining the CCHA along with Michigan, Michigan State and-Notre Dame for the start of the 1981-82 season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01420/4444819-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="600" height="684"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NMU star Steve Bozek had a five-point weekend as NMU advanced to the NCAA finals.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-01

Wildcats Led Past Cornell By All American

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MURRAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02324/4444850-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Moncton captain Remi Levesque accepted the University cup, symbolic of the Canadian Interuniversities Athletic Union hockey championship, from Dr. Lou Goodwin, chairman of the board of the University of Calgary Physical Education Department.</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>ALGARY&mdash;The only certainty heading into the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Conference Union hockey finals was that the new champions would be wearing a national crown for the first time.</p><p>Two perennial powers, the University of Toronto and the defending national titlists for the past two seasons, the Alberta Golden Bears, did not survive conference playoffs and were unable to attend the finals in Calgary, pitting the five conference champions, plus the host Calgary Dinosaurs in a two-pool round robin series.</p><p>Thus, for only the second time since 1965, when the Waterloo Warriors edged Sir George Williams University of Montreal in overtime in 1974, would a team other than Toronto or Alberta reign as national champs.</p><p>Once the final buzzer had sounded, though, imagine the surprise when the sixth-ranked Moncton Aigles Bleus, the lowest ranked team in the tournament, should bring the Maritimes their first hockey title with a 4-2 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy for the conference,&rdquo; said winning coach Jean Perron, &ldquo;everyone always played down the Atlantic Conference, maybe now we&rsquo;ll receive the credit due to us.&rdquo;</p><p>Even before the tournament began, Perron thought that the Western clubs may have been taking his team a bit too lightly. &ldquo;Obviously the pre-tournament rankings indicated that the rest of the country felt that our conference was the weakest,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Moncton was ranked sixth in the tournament, placing them in a pool with the No. 1 ranked Brandon Bobcats and the No. 3 ranked host team, the Dinosaurs. After disposing of those two opponents, the Aigles Bleus met the No. 2 ranked Huskies for the CIAU championship.</p><p>Moncton was making their third appearance in the finals in the past four years, but had earned the reputation of being a high-flying team which concentrated on offense rather than defense. Their 5.75-goals-against average in their previous two trips, to the nationals had resulted in early exits from the tournaments. However, Perron had transformed his &ldquo;Flying Frenchmen&rdquo; into a tightly-knit unit with a lot more discipline than they had displayed in the past.</p><p>Moncton had to go into overtime in their first game as only the outstanding work of goalie Benoit Fortier kept them in the game. Although outshot, 33-16, Fortier proved the difference and Moncton scored three times in the overtime period for a 5-2 win.</p><p>Brandon found out what it was like to play shorthanded against the Aigles Bleus in game two as they surrendered five power play goals, including three in a span of 2:49 and were blown out of the rink. 10-3. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never been beaten like that,&rdquo; admitted Brandon coach Andy Murray. &ldquo;Intensity is one of our strong points, but we didn&rsquo;t have any in this game.&rdquo; Francois Bessette, who would later score the winning goal in the final game, paced the Moncton attack with three goals and three assists.</p><p>Saskatchewan had advanced through the ranks of their pool with a one-sided 8-3 victory over Concordia University and a thrilling 5-4 triumph over Queen&rsquo;s, which had edged Concordia 3-2 in its opener.</p><p>Del Chapman scored his second game-winner of the tourney for Saskatchewan when he connected with one minute remaining in the game for the victory.</p><p>In the evenly matched final. Fortier was once again the main difference for Moncton as he kicked out 38 shots, while Bessette banked in a shot off Huskies&rsquo; goalie Bob Dougall with nine seconds left to make Moncton No. 1. Bessette then added an empty net goal to tie the tournament record for points, finishing with five goals and four assists.</p><p>Fortier headed the tournament All Star team as the Most Valuable Player of the championship series. In all. he faced 103 shots and yielded only seven goals. Bessette joined him on the All Star squad as did teammate Michel Bechard, selected as one defenseman. Saskatchewan placed two men on the All Star team, forward Chapman and also defenseman Mike Wirachowsky, while John McIntyre of Queen&rsquo;s rounded out the selections.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-02

Moncton Fought For No. 1 Spot

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BROPHY</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p>TORONTO&mdash;There was as much action off the ice as there was on in the final week of the regular season in the Ontario Hockey League.</p><p>On the ice. the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Kitchener Rangers sewed up division titles, not without being pressed, however, and off the ice, league commissioner David Branch handed out a total of 28 games in suspensions and collected $2,000 in fines from brawls the week before.</p><p>The Greyhounds led the Leyden Division from the start of the season but an after Christmas slump and charge by the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s. in the second half left their final standing in doubt. Ottawa pulled ahead of the Soo in the final leg of the season but the Greyhounds pulled themselves back together in the final week and took the title.</p><p>The Greyhounds clinched first place with a 5-2 defeat of their northern rivals. Sudbury Wolves. Until this season, the Hounds had never finished higher than fifth place in the standings since joining the league 10 years ago.</p><p>John Goodwin, who won the league scoring title with 56 goals and 109 assists for 165 points, paced the Hounds with two goals against the Solves while Steve Gatzos, Ron Handy and Tony Butorac scored singles.</p><p>The Soo finished with a 47-19-2 record for 96 points while the 67&rsquo;s were next at 45-20-3 for 93.</p><p>In the Emms Division, things were a lot closer. Kitchener defeated the Peterborough Petes 3-2 at home Sunday afternoon before their largest ever regular season crowd&mdash;7,402&mdash;but had to wait until the evening games were over to see if they still had the top spot.</p><p>That evening, the Oshawa Generals, with the help of two illegal stick penalty calls against the Windsor Spitfires, won 7-6, giving the Rangers first place. A Windsor victory would have given them the division title.</p><p>Barry Tabobondung and Dave Andreychuk had two goals and three assists each for the Generals in that contest while Windsor&rsquo;s Ernie Godden scored his 87th of the season. His goal total is the new Ontario Hockey League record. Tonty Tanti, who had been favored most of the season to establish the new mark, managed 81 goals, tying the old record set by Peter Lee. now with Pittsburgh Penguins. Tanti scored just once in his final five games.</p><p>Kitchener and Sault Ste. Marie&rsquo;s first place finishes gave them byes in the opening round of the playoffs leaving Peterborough and Oshawa to play a best-of-five preliminary round and the Kingston Canadians and Ottawa to play a best-of-seven in the Leyden Division, while the Niagara Falls Fivers, who dropped 17 of their final 18 regular season games and Toronto Marlboros will play a best-of-five series and Windsor and the Brantford Alexanders play a best-of-seven.</p><p>The winner of the Peterborough-Oshawa series faces the Soo in a best-of-seven division semi-final while the winner of the Toronto-Niagara series plays Kitchener in a best-of-seven.</p><p>Highlights of the final week included the league&rsquo;s best player Mike Bullard scoring five goals for Brantford, including the first four of the game, as the Alexanders downed Kingston 7-5; the Sudbury Wolves, long out of the playoff scene, played a super game in whipping the Flyers 8-4; Steve Gatzos of the Soo had three goals (giving him 77) in their 6-3 win over the Flyers and winger Jim Egerton was forced to play goal when London&rsquo;s only netminder Frank Caprice, was injured in the warmup. Windsor beat London 12-5 with Godden scoring four goals.</p><p>&ldquo;This is harder than it looks.&rdquo; said Egerton after the game. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never complain about a goalie again because it&rsquo;s hard to concentrate for an entire 60 minutes.&rdquo;</p><p>On the bleaker side. Branch&rsquo;s suspensions of 11 players and one coach as the result of a series of on ice brawls, left a bad taste in fans mouths who would have preferred to enjoy the tight competition of the final week without the senseless fights.</p><p>Hardest hit were the Oshawa Generals and their goaltender Greg Stefan, who was suspended for six games, five in the regular season and the first playoff game. The Generals were also fined $1,000.</p><p>Stefan, who finished the season with 92 minutes in penalties, had been suspended twice earlier in the year, once for a game and the second time for three games. His third suspension was the result of his actions in a 5-1 loss to Toronto Marlies.</p><p>Stefan was involved in a stick swinging incident with Marlies&rsquo; Bart Wilson (he broke his goal stick over Wilson&rsquo;s shoulder) and later raced across the ice and leaped on to a pile of players involved in a scuffle.</p><p>&ldquo;A six game suspension at this time of year is very severe.&rdquo; said Branch, in response to those who felt Stefan WSs&rsquo;Tet off too light considering his past track record. &ldquo;The actions displayed by Stefan will not be condoned,&rdquo; said Branch, who attended the game.</p><p>Niagara Falls, obviously very frustrated by their late season slump, had four players&mdash;Scott McClellan. David Blackburn. Mike Columbus and Ron Meighan&mdash;as well as coach Paul Gauthier suspended for two games each for their actions in a benchclearing brawl with the London Knights.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01386/4444881-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="612" height="1115"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Kitchener&rsquo;s Mike Moher was suspended for three games after a brawl with Brantford.</b></figcaption></div><p>The Flyers also received a $1,000 fine.</p><p>London&rsquo;s Bob Goodish. Doug Chessell and Alan Wylie were suspended for two games each as well.</p><p>Other suspensions included Flyers&rsquo; Mark Osborne for his actions in a 8-7 loss to Peterborough and Kitchener&rsquo;s Mike Moher. The Flyers cleared the bench twice that game for fights while Moher was suspended for the final two regular season games and first playoff game after the Rangers brawled with Brantford.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-01

Suspensions Cloud Close Of Regular Season

<p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t doesn&rsquo;t happen too often that a player grabs the scoring lead at the start of the season and holds it all the way as John Goodwin of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds did this season.</p><p>The 19-year-old Sault center climaxed a sensational year as he captured the Ontario Hockey League scoring championship with 165 points in 68 games to win the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy. He also led the OHL in assists with 109 and it is fitting that Goodwin should capture the league&rsquo;s final Player of the Week award. Ironically, he was the first to be named when the league launched the weekly player award back in November of 1980.</p><p>The high-scoring Sault Ste. Marie star, who was overlooked by the NHL in the 1980 Entry Draft, registered 11 game-winning goals among his 56 this season to share the OHL lead in that department with Ernie Godden of Windsor. Goodwin played a major role in the Sault&rsquo;s rise to the top of the league as the Greyhounds won the overall league championship in a stretch battle with the Ottawa 67s.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02282/4444912-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="567" height="1100"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN GOODWIN Sault Greyhounds</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0031-02

OHL Player Of The Week

<p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>ORONTO-The Marlies had the team bus chartered to go to Kitchener, but the move may have backfired as the Niagara Falls Flyers scored two victories over the Toronto club, sending the series to a fifth and final game in Niagara Falls.</p><p>The series was one of four which opened in the race for Ontario Hockey League honors. The winner of the Toronto-Niagara Falls series will advance to play against Emms Division champion Kitchener, while Peterborough and Oshawa were playing a similar five-game series in the Leyden Divsion with the survivor matching up against top-rated Sault Ste. Marie. Oshawa held a 2-1 lead at press time.</p><p>Other first-round series matched the second and third-place teams against each other in eight-point series. In the Emms, Brantford led 3-1 in points on the basis of a 4-2 victory and a 7-7 tie with Windsor. In the Leyden. Kingston opened with a pair of 5-4 victories over Ottawa to take a 4-0 lead in points.</p><p>The Marlies, who upset Niagara Falls, 4-3 on the road and then won 7-4 at home, were just one victory away from a trip to the semifinals. They even had the arrangements made for a bus to take them to Kitchener, but the plans may have been a bit too premature. Niagara Falls won the third game of the series, 7-2 at home, and then paced by Steve Ludzik&rsquo;s three goals, evened the series with a 9-5 win in Toronto.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Marlies’ Bus Backfires

<div class="byline">BY GREGG DRINNAN</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p>CALGARY&mdash;Details have yet to be worked out but it appears almost certain that the Western Hockey League will adopt a scholarship plan of some sort before the start of the 1981-82 season.</p><p>&ldquo;Something like this will give young players yet another option,&rdquo; said WHL president Ed Chynoweth. Some WHL teams already have their own scholarship deal, in one form or another, but Chynoweth has been trying, for some time now, to get the entire league involved.</p><p>Although details remain vague. Chynoweth said the plan would be available to every player in the league who meets the qualifications.</p><p>Chynoweth said that under the plan, players would. have the option of taking some classes at a recognized college or university while they were playing in the WHL or they would be able to wait and attend school after their junior career if they were not successful in turning professional.</p><p>A scholarship fund will be set up, financed partially with draft money received from the National Hockey League, which has proposed that $1,000 of the $2,000 draft fee paid by the professionals for players chosen during the first five draft rounds be put towards an educational fund</p><p>As well, each of the 13 WHL teams would contribute a minimum of $2,000 to start the plan.</p><p>Chynoweth said the league also plans to seek corporate support for the plan. He said he expects the plan to be unanimously approved at the WHL&rsquo;s annual meeting in June.</p><p><b>BILLINGS&mdash;</b>Jim McGeough scored twice, giving him 42 goals, and Marc Chartier got his 20th and 21st goals as the Bighorns dumped the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 6-1. Marcel Frere reached the 30-goal plateau during a 7-3 loss in Medicine Hat. McGeough had a goal and two assists as the visiting Bighorns earned a 3-3 draw with the Winnipeg Warriors.</p><p><b>PORTLAND-</b>The Winter Hawks had quite a week as they went record hunting. They started with a 6-1 home-ice win before 7,181 fans, the largest crowd in the WHL this season, over New Westminster, with Peter Derksen scoring twice to raise his total to 20. That made him the 12th 20-goal man on the club, breaking the previous WHL mark of 11 set by the 1978-79 Winter Hawks. One night later, the Hawks dumped the Bruins 9-6 in North Vancouver and set a WHL record for consecutive road wins (11), breaking the mark of 10 set by the 1978-79 Wheat Kings. Defenseman Jim Benning set two individual records as he picked up a goal and two assists. That ran his point-scoring string to 38 games, breaking the record of 37 set by Brandon&rsquo;s Bill Derlago in 1977-78. And, Benning increased his points total to 129. two more than Kevin McCarthy recorded with Winnipeg in 1976-77. Two players&mdash;Brian Shaw and Gary Yaremchuk&mdash;reached the 50-goal plateau in a 5-4 loss to Victoria.</p><p><b>BRANDON&mdash;</b>Center Dave Chartier had his third seven-point night in less than a month, leading the Wheat Kings to a 7-4 home-ice victory over the Regina Pats. That production lifted Chartier&rsquo;s totals to 56 goals and 110 points. Rookie center Kelly Glowa scored twice, giving him 41. and set up two others as the Wheat Kings earned a 5-5 tie in Regina. Chartier lifted his total to 59 goals, scoring twice in a 7-6 home-ice win over Billings. Tom McMurchy got his 20th goal in that game, which was marred by two brawls and 309 minutes in penalties.</p><p><b>CALGARY&mdash;</b>Bill Hobbins had a goal and two assists, giving him 101 points, but the Wranglers were upset 7-5 by the visiting Spokane Flyers. Ray Cote&rsquo;s second goal of the game and 36th of the season, at 3:54 of overtime. gave the hometown Wranglers a 3-2 win over Brandon. Dan Bourbonnais, with two assists, lifted his point total to 101.</p><p><b>LETHBRIDGE&mdash;</b>Sixteen-year-old Rich Sutter scored twice, giving him 21. as the Broncos beat the Blades 6-2 in Saskatoon. Rookie Brent Sutter got to the 50-goal mark, scoring twice in a 7-2 home-ice win over the Spokane Flyers. The three Sutter boys&mdash;Rich, Ron and Brent&mdash;had a goal apiece as the Broncos beat the visiting Saskatoon Blades 7-1.</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT-</b>Damien Steiert notched his 20th goal of the season as the Tigers dumped the Bighorns 4-2 in Billings. Ken Solheim became the league&rsquo;s first 60-goal man this season as he pumped in four leading the Tigers to a 7-3 win over the visiting Bighorns. Solheim scored two goals five seconds apart, tying a WHL record. Mike Lay got his 30th goal in the win. Rod Edmonds&rsquo; fourth and fifth goals of the season helped the Tigers to a 7-2 home-ice win over Spokane.</p><p><b>REGINA&mdash;</b>Center Jock Callander picked up his 56th and 57th goals in a 7-4 loss in Brandon. Dave Michayluk and Brian Varga had a goal and two assists each as the Pats played to a 5-5 home-ice draw with Brandon. The Pats added Jerry Zrymiak, head coach of the University of Regina Cougars of the Great-Plains Athletic Conference, as an assistant to head coach Jack Sangster. Brent Pascal got his 19th and 20th goals as the Pats got past the visiting Winnipeg Warriors 7-4.</p><p><b>SASKATOON-</b>Glen Ganchar&rsquo;s 33rd and 34th goals helped the Blades past the visiting Winnipeg Warriors 5-2.</p><p><b>WINNIPEG-</b>Cam Baldwin&rsquo;s fourth goal of the year gave the hometown Warriors a 4-4 tie with Billings.</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER-</b>The Bruins broke a league record by losing for the 17th consecutive time. That loss, 9-6 to Portland, broke the mark of 16 held by the Bruins of 1979-80 and the 1966-67 Calgary Buffaloes.</p><p><b>SEATTLE&mdash;</b>Ken Ficocelli reached the 20-goal plateau as his three third-period goals helped the Breakers to a 7-3 win over visiting New Westminster, Wayne Van Dorp also got his 20th goal in that win.</p><p><b>SPOKANE&mdash;</b>The Flyers pulled a major upset, dumping the Wranglers 7-5 in Calgary. The win, sparked by Ivan Krook&rsquo;s three goals, moved the Flyers into a tie with New Westminster for the West&rsquo;s fourth and final playoff spot.</p><p><b>VICTORIA&mdash;</b>Rookie left winger Paul Cyr scored two goals for the fourth consecutive game, lifting his total to 34, as the Cougars scored a 5-1 home-ice win over Seattle. The win was the Cougars&rsquo; 11th straight, a team record. Barry Pederson scored twice and set up two others as the Cougars scored an important 5-4 victory over visiting Portland. The win moved the Cougars into a tie with Portland atop the Western Division and Victoria held two games in hand Pederson then scored his 50th goal, as the Cougars whipped New Westminster 9-2. Stu Kulak led the charge with three goals, upping his total to 23.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01397/4444967-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="608" height="868"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Lethbridge rookie Brent Sutter reached the 50-goal plateau in a 7-2 win against Spokane.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-01

WHL Planning Scholarship Program; Portland Has Record-Setting Binge

<p>Major junior hockey observers are already singing the praises of a rookie netminder named Todd Lumbard of the Brandon Wheat Kings.</p><p>The 17-year-old Lumbard has been a big figure in the resurgence of the Wheat Kings as they battle for the fifth playoff spot in the Eastern Division race of the Western Hockey League. Thanks to some sharp goalkeeping by the six-foot, 181-pound Lumard, Brandon has now been guaranteed a place in the post-season playoff round.</p><p>Lumbard was named the WHL&rsquo;s Player of the Week after he blanked Saskatoon 5-0, stopping 36 shots, and came up with another spectacular showing when the Wheat Kings turned back Medicine Hat 4-3 in overtime. Lumbard blocked 38 shots in the win.</p><p>With a 4.49 goals-against average in his rookie year, young Lumbard appears headed for a bright future, which augers well for the Wheat Kings in the next few years.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02301/4444998-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="524" height="782"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TODD LUMBARD Brandon Wheat Kings</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-02

WHL Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS</b></p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;Performing well on home ice will determine the Montreal Juniors&rsquo; playoff chances against the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs. The best-of-seven quarter-final&mdash;along with three others&mdash;began on March 20.</p><p>The only problem is the Juniors are without a home base.</p><p>Montreal was forced to shift its playoff games to the Laval Sports Centre, home of the Voisins, because the Paul Sauve Sports Centre was rented out as of March 31 for a charity hockey tournament.</p><p>Last season the Juniors played their playoff games at the Forum when the Sauve Centre had its ice removed in April. A repeat of that move this season would have been ridiculous since Montreal was hard-pressed to attract 1,000 fans for most of their games.</p><p>Although Montreal won only one of four games in Trois-Rivieres, they were not outplayed in the other three, losing twice by two goals and by one in the other game.</p><p>But it was in Montreal where the Juniors encountered difficulties, winning only one of four again, but losing 6-5, 6-2 and 8-6. In four games at Laval&rsquo;s Sports Centre against the Voisins, Montreal lost 3-1 and 6-2, winning twice by identical 5-4 scores.</p><p>So, the Juniors must play well on the Voisins ice if they hope to advance to the semifinals. Should the Juniors catch on fire in Laval, continuing to play in Trois-Rivieres as in the regular season, an upset is possible.</p><p>&ldquo;1 think we have a good chance,&rdquo; said Juniors&rsquo; coach Pierre Creamer, &ldquo;because we always play a good game at Trois-Rivieres and are always in the game there. But we have to be good at home. That was our problem. They beat us badly in our place.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe we don&rsquo;t have a home-ice advantage. But with &agrave; big crowd, we&rsquo;ll still be the home team. The fans will be cheering for us.</p><p>&ldquo;In Laval, I think the atmosphere is better, not because the people at Sauve weren&rsquo;t good for us, but because the Laval arena is smaller. If we get 2,500 in Laval, it will compensate for not playing on our regular ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Draveurs&rsquo; coach Mario Bazinet doesn&rsquo;t feel the Juniors will be affected by playing in Laval. If any thing, Bazinet believes his skaters will have th&eacute; bigger adjustment because of the larger ice surface&mdash;the Laval arena is 200 feet long, compared to 185 in Trois-Rivieres.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re used to small rinks, so we&rsquo;ll have to adjust,&rdquo; said Bazinet, who replaced Remi Gilbert as coach Nov. 20 when the Draveurs had an 11-12 record and led them to a 42-27-3 mark for second place over-all behind Cornwall.</p><p>&ldquo;And I think the crowd will be better for them,&rdquo; Bazinet continued. &ldquo;Laval hasn&rsquo;t seen playoffs for a long time [three years], plus the Juniors will be getting their fans from Sauve.&rdquo;</p><p>The brunt of the Juniors&rsquo; scoring attack&mdash;as was the case all season&mdash;will have to be handled by Francois Lecomte, Constant Priondolo and Denis Cyr. Lecomte led the Juniors with 44 goals and 84 assists for 128 points. Priondolo had 52 goals and 57 assists, while Cyr, in only 57 games, recorded 49 goals and 41 assists. Montreal scored 39 goals in eight games against the Draveurs, with Priondolo (12), Lecomte (five) and Cyr (three) accounting for more than half.</p><p>Defensively, Montreal must get sound efforts from rookie defenseman Bill Campbell (20 goals, 43 assists) and veteran Taras Zytynsky, out for most of the season with torn knee ligaments.</p><p>Jeff Barratt, who had a 4.03 goals-against-average and recorded the Juniors&rsquo; only shutout this season, was expected to see most of the action, although Patrice Pare (5.89 average) was waiting in the wings and was almost certain of playing in the series. When he gets his chance Pare will have to end his hot and cold tendencies.</p><p>Montreal winger Jean-Jacques Vezina was given the task of stopping Draveurs&rsquo; sniper Alain Lemieux, a former Montreal Junior, who led Trois-Rivieres with 67 goals and 98 assists for 165 points.</p><p>Center Claude Verret (39-73-112), winger Normand Lefrancois (52-60-112) and defenseman Pierre Sevigny (99 points) must also be dealt with.</p><p>Prediction: Draveurs in six.</p><p>The Cornwall Royals, who led the league with 90 points, simply have too much offensive power for the Quebec Remparts (64 points) to contend with.</p><p>Dale Hawerchuk led all Quebec scorers with 81 goals and 102 assists for 183 points. But the Royals also have four others with 40 goals or more, including Gilles Crepeau (40), Mark Crawford (41), John Kirk (46) and Scott Arniel (52).</p><p>Defensively, the Royals are led by Fred Boimistruck (22 goals), Eric Calder (nine) and Fred Arthur (three). In goal there&rsquo;s Tom Graovac (4.3 average) who should see most of the action and rookie Joe Mantione (3.96):</p><p>The Remparts have three big gunners themselves&mdash;Dan Rioux (53 goals, 77 assists). Andre Cote (66-63) and Marc Roy (53-54).</p><p>The Remparts&rsquo; strength over the years has been behind the blueline and they just didn&rsquo;t get it this year, allowing 137 goals, sixth worst in the league, although goalie Roberto Romano had a relatively good average of 4.4.</p><p>Although the Remparts won three of the eights games between the two teams, including two in Cornwall, the Royals are playing too well at this stage of the season.</p><p>Prediction: Royals in five.</p><p>The Chicoutimi Sagueneens-Shawinigan Cataracts series could provide the only upset of the quarterfinals. The Cats won two of four in Chicoutimi and three of four at home. But then again, the Cats slumped over the concluding half of the season, winning 15 and tying one of 36 games.</p><p>The Sags have a band of effective snipers, including Robert Millette (48 goals, 60 assists), defenseman Gilbert Delorme (27-79), Normand Laveille (55-46), Luc Dufour (43-53) and Robert Lavoie (35-77). Goalie Yvan Charbonneau had a 4.74 average for a team that had the ninth-worst defensive record in the league.</p><p>Shawinigan is led by Guy Fournier (56 goals, 62 assists), Pierre Rioux (43-57), Michel Cote (38-39) and Denis</p><p>Tremblay (33-38). Defenseman Christian Thellend had 21 goals and 63 assists while goalie Steve Penney had a good 4.24 average.</p><p>The Cats&rsquo; rambunctious coach Ron Racette definitely will have his team in high gear for the series and if Shawinigan can steal a game on the road, they&rsquo;ll be looking good.</p><p>Prediction: Cataracts in seven.</p><p>The Sorel Black Hawks-Sherbrooke Beavers confrontation could develop into a defensive series. Sorel allowed the fewest goals (303) and have the leading goaltender in Michel Dufour (3.64 average). The Beavers allowed 324 goals&mdash;fourth best&mdash;and have goalie Corado Micalef (4.51 average).</p><p>But the Beavers also captured five of the eight games this season and have a more balanced scoring attack.</p><p>Tim Cranston led the team with 46 goals and 63 assists. Not far behind were Sean McKenna (58-47), rookie Gerard Gallant, (52-60), Alain Menard (39-53) and Dennis Martin (31-48). The Beavers also have a veteran defense in Gord Donnelly, Claude Michen and Mario Dore.</p><p>Sorel might have Chris Valentine (67 goals, 77 assists), Andre Chartrain (36-75), Jean-Marc Gaulin (51-40) and two good defensemen in Doug Baran (13-44) and Daniel Naud (17-35), but the Hawks sagged badly over the final half of the season, winning 14 and tying two of 36 games.</p><p>Prediction: Beavers in six.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Juniors Hope To Feel Right At Home In Laval

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01365/4445053-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"></div><p><b>RINK EQUIPMENT</b></p><p><b>PERSONALS</b></p><p><b>FAN CLUBS</b></p><p><b>OPPORTUNITIES</b></p><p><b>POSITIONS WANTED</b></p><p><b>PLAYER EQUIPMENT</b></p><h2>PERSONALS</h2><p><b>HOCKEY BOOKS:</b> New, used out-of-print hockey books, guides, programs. Write for free list. Book, Box 547 Streetsville, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L5M 2C1.</p><p><b>CARDS:</b> 10% off all sets till April 30th. Free price list. Also have comics. Send specific wants: Ab D Cards, Box 103, Station F, 187 Henderson Hwy., Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2L 2A5.</p><p><b>FOR SALE:</b> 3000 crested hockey pucks. For more information contact: Mike Christian, 1336 Aspacia St, North Muskegon, Mich., 49445.</p><p><b>WANTED:</b> WHA memoribilia, especially game programs, yearbooks, media guides, team pictures (any teams). Send list of items and prices to Jeff Humphries, 6780 Friars Road, #257 San Diego, Ca., 92108.</p><p><b>WANTED:</b> Chance to compete in tryout for college hockey participation. Contact: L.D. Horne, 7209 Blue Ridge, Edmond, OK., 73034.</p><h2>TOURNAMENTS</h2><p><b>WANTED:</b> Team located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is looking for teams to challenge them to a series of games. Glorious opportunity for a fun filled weekend or a week of hockey. Fort Lauderdale night life scene and beach hotel accommodations can be obtained through the team. Write: Rosaire Paiement, Coral Plaza Motel, 2701 N. Federal Hwy, Ft Lauderdale, Fla., 33306. Phone (305) 565-6658.</p><p><b>SUMMER CLASSIC:</b> South Jersey Ball Hockey League Inc., presents 5th annual national invitation Garden State summer classic June 6-7.16 teams and Canadian All Stars, trophies galore and free defense of title at next tournament. Contact P.O. Box 84 Audubon, N.J., 08106 for further details.</p><h2>OPPORTUNITIES</h2><p><b>WANTED FOR EUROPE</b>: Non-Import players for the 1981-82 season. If you were born in Europe or if your father held European citizenship at the time of your birth (even if you were born elsewhere) you may qualify as a non-import player for the country in question.</p><p>Good salaries and benefits if you have played for equivalent of junior B or better. An experience of a lifetime All information will be kept in strictest confidence Send details of birth records and hockey resume to</p><p><b>European Co-ordinator</b></p><p>CAN AM Hockey Group PO Box 634 Guelph. Ontario N1H 6L4 (519) 824-3515</p><p><b>WANTED:</b> Native hockey players for Western Canada&rsquo;s first Native Jr. A Hockey Club. Phone or write: Hobbema Hawks Jr. A Hockey Club, Box 68, Hobbema, Alberta. TOC 1 NO. Phone (403) 585-3885.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-01

CLASSIFIED

<p><b>(Including Sun. March 22)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1639/4445468-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="580" height="826"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-16

THE NHL’S POINT RACE

<p><b>(Standings on Mon. March 23)</b></p><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1733/4445520-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="539" height="159"></div><h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1830/4445513-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="542" height="132"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1929/4445506-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="537" height="136"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2028/4445499-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="547" height="162"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Mon. March 16</h3><p>Pittsburgh 6 at Edmonton 7</p><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>Montreal 3 at Islanders 3</p><p>Pittsburgh 3 at Vancouver 4</p><p>Quebec 4 at Detroit 3</p><p>Buffalo 3 at Los Angeles 1</p><h3>Wed. March 18</h3><p>Boston 2 at Rangers 3</p><p>Philadelphia 1 at Chicago 5</p><p>Quebec 6 at Washington 4</p><p>Montreal 3 at Hartford 9</p><p>Colorado 3 at Winnipeg 4</p><p>St. Louis 2 at Toronto 6</p><p>Edmonton 5 at Minnesota 3</p><h3>Thu. March 19</h3><p>Boston 3 at Philadelphia 5</p><p>Calgary 6 at Detroit 2</p><p>Pittsburgh 4 at Los Angeles 4</p><p>Toronto 4 at Buffalo 14</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Islanders 5 at Colorado 3</p><p>Minnesota 1 at Edmonton 1</p><h3>Sat. March 21</h3><p>Chicago 4 at Philadelphia 4</p><p>St. Louis 3 at Washington 3</p><p>Winnipeg 4 at Detroit 5</p><p>Calgary 3 at Boston 4</p><p>Rangers 6 at fiartford 4</p><p>Vancouver 3 at Montreal 5</p><p>Pittsburgh 3 at Colorado 1</p><p>Los Angeles 6 at Edmonton 6</p><p>Buffalo 6 at Toronto 2</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Islanders 6 at Chicago 2</p><p>Detroit 3 at Minnesota 9</p><p>Quebec 7 at Rangers 7</p><p>Calgary 2 at Philadelphia 6</p><p>Montreal 2 at Washington 2</p><p>Toronto 3 at Hartford 3</p><p>Los Angeles 7 at Winnipeg 5</p><p>St. Louis 6 at Buffalo 5<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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NHL SCOREBOARD

<p><b>BOSTON</b>-McNab 34, Bourque 24, 25, Marcotte 16, 17, Middleton 42, Jonathan 13, 14, Crowder 11.</p><p><b>BUFFALO</b>-Smith 19, 20. 21, Gare 38. 39. 40. 41, 42, Ramsay 21, 22, Van Boxmeer 16, Perreault 14, 15, 16. 17. Seiling 25, 26, 27, Savard 25. 26, 27, 28, Hamel 9. Dunn 7, McKegney 31. 32. Patrick 1. Haworth 16.</p><p><b>CALGARY</b>-Labraaten 9, MacMillan 27. 28. Reinhart 14. 15, Houston 15, Chouinard 31, Clement 12, Rautakallio 8, Hislop 22, Nilsson 43.</p><p><b>CHICAGO</b>-Murray 11,12, Wilson 11, Sutter 38, Bulley 18, Secord 12, 13, Higgins 22, Paterson 7, Sharpley 20, Savard 25.</p><p><b>COLORADO</b>-Gagne 19,20, 21, Tambellini 22, 23, DeBlois 24. Malinowski 23.</p><p><b>DETROIT</b>-McCourt 24. 25, 26, 27, Huber 9, 10. 11. Smith 9. McAdam 8. Nedomansky 11, Ingarfield 4, Ogrodnick 33, 34, Hicks 5.</p><p><b>EDMONTON</b>-Messier 18,19, 20. Siltanen 13, Callighen 19. 20, 21, Coffey 8, Hicks 4, Kurri 25, 26, Anderson 21, 22, Hunter 11, Gretzky 51, 52. Lowe 9, Fogolin 11. Hagman 18.</p><p><b>HARTFORD</b>-Nachbaur 12, 13, Fidler 12, Stoughton 37, 38. 39. Rogers 39. 40. Miller 21. Meagher 5, Keon 12, Howe 19. Boutette 26, 27, Sims 15. Debol 12.</p><p><b>LOS ANGELES</b>-Jensen 16. 17, L. Murphy 14, M. Murphy 15, Terrion 9,10, Dionne 54, 55, 56, Fox 15, St. Laurent 6, 7, 8, Taylor 40, 41, 42, Harris 19, 20.</p><p><b>MINNESOTA</b>-Ciccarelli 11,12,13,14,15, Palmer 3, Carlson 5, Young 23. Andersson 15, MacAdam 25, Payne 26, 27, Polich 7.</p><p><b>MONTREAL</b>-Houle 24, 25. Jarvis 15. Gainey 21, Wickenheiser 7. Shutt 35, Picard 7, Robinson 11,12, Napier 31, Nilan 6, 7, Tremblay 25.</p><p><b>N.Y. ISLANDERS</b>-Gillies 29, 30, Kallur 35, 36, Bossy 64,65, 66,67, Bourne 32, 33, Tonelli 19, Carroll 2, D. Potvin 20, Merrick 12.</p><p><b>N.Y. RANGERS</b>-Beck 10, 11, Greschner 24. 25, Nilsson 13. Duguay 13. 14. 15. Johnstone 28, Hedberg 28. 29, 30. Gillis 9, Don Maloney 27. Vickers 19.</p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA</b>-Propp 25. Kerr 19, 20. 21. Clarke 19. Linseman 16. 17, MacLeish 34, 35. 36, Holmgren 18, 19, 20. Leach 34. Gorence 24, Barber 43.</p><p><b>PITTSBURGH</b>-Sheppard 8, 9, 10, 11. Kehoe 50. 51. Gardner 30. 31. 32. Malone 20. Chorney 1, Lee 26, 27, Ferguson 22, 23, Thompson 20.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>-P. Stastny 31, 32, 33. Cloutier 11, Tardif 19. 20, Richard 45, 46, 47, Hunter 16.17. 18. Ftorek 22. 23, 24, A. Stastny 35, 36.</p><p><b>ST. LOUIS</b>-Sutter 30. 31. 32. Patey 20. Babych 51. 52, Turnbull 32, 33, Zuke 24, Brownschidle 5, Pettersson 35.</p><p><b>TORONTO</b>-Derlago 30, 31. 32, 33, Zanussi 7, 8. Boschman 14, Sittier 41.42. 43, Martin 17, 18, Sedlbauer 19, Vaive 29, Maloney 20.</p><p><b>VANCOUVER</b>-Brasar 18,19, Williams 30. Rota 23, Butler 11, Fraser 24, Campbell 1.</p><p><b>WASHINGTON</b>-Kelly 25, 26, Edberg 7, Gartner 40, 41, Maruk 43, 44, Tookey 4. 5.</p><p><b>WINNIPEG</b>-Dupont 27, Dudley 17. Christian 28, Trimper 12,13, Bowness 6, 7, Manery 10. Sullivan 3, Mantha 2, Spring 1, Lukowich 30, Geotfrion 18.</p><p><b>Four</b>-goal games&mdash;Ciccarelli. Minnesota.</p><p><b>Hat tricks</b>-Perreault, Buffalo, Savard, Buffalo, Messier, Edmonton. Kerr, Philadelphia, Sheppard, Pittsburgh, and Ftorek, Quebec, 1 each.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL Scorers This Week

<h2>Sat. March 14 COLORADO 1, MONTREAL 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01397/4445392-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="578" height="496"></div><h2>QUEBEC 3, PITTSBURGH 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02325/4445385-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="573" height="732"></div><h2>DETROIT 3, ST. LOUIS 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03237/4445378-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="578" height="817"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 4, LOS ANGELES 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04153/4445371-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="608" height="1094"></div><h2>BUFFALO 1, VANCOUVER 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05112/4445364-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="602" height="611"></div><h2>Sun. March 15 TORONTO 4. PHILADELPHIA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0686/4445357-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="599" height="1001"></div><h2>EDMONTON 3, CALGARY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0777/4445350-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="600" height="729"></div><h2>HARTFORD 2, BOSTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0870/4445343-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="609" height="749"></div><h2>CHICAGO 8, WINNIPEG 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0960/4445336-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="604" height="686"></div><h2>COLORADO 0, QUEBEC 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1057/4445329-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="599" height="516"></div><h2>Mon. March 16 PITTSBURGH 6, EDMONTON 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1152/4445322-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="594" height="950"></div><h2>Tue. March 17 MONTREAL 3, ISLANDERS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1250/4445315-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="584" height="855"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 3, VANCOUVER 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01375/4445308-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="572" height="976"></div><h2>QUEBEC 4, DETROIT 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02302/4445301-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="572" height="781"></div><h2>BUFFALO 3, LOS ANGELES 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03230/4445294-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="575" height="550"></div><h2>Wed. March 18 BOSTON 2, RANGERS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04185/4445287-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="577" height="653"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA 1, CHICAGO 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05145/4445280-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="578" height="639"></div><h2>QUEBEC 6, WASHINGTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06126/4445273-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="587" height="816"></div><h2>MONTREAL 3, HARTFORD 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07117/4445266-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="592" height="783"></div><h2>COLORADO 3, WINNIPEG 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0898/4445259-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="593" height="668"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 2, TORONTO 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0994/4445252-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="590" height="791"></div><h2>EDMONTON 5, MINNESOTA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1084/4445245-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="596" height="705"></div><h2>Thu. March 19 BOSTON 3, PHILADELPHIA 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1179/4445238-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="594" height="878"></div><h2>CALGARY 6, DETROIT 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1269/4445231-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="603" height="667"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 4, LOS ANGELES 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01312/4445224-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="564" height="808"></div><h2>TORONTO 4, BUFFALO 14</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02216/4445217-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="565" height="1222"></div><h2>Fri. March 20 ISLANDERS 5, COLORADO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03156/4445210-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="574" height="862"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 1, EDMONTON 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04125/4445203-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="561" height="518"></div><h2>Sat. March 21 CHICAGO 4, PHILADELPHIA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05104/4445196-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="581" height="685"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 3, WASHINGTON 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0683/4445189-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="596" height="700"></div><h2>WINNIPEG 4, DETROIT 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0765/4445182-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="586" height="896"></div><h2>CALGARY 3, BOSTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0858/4445175-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="588" height="657"></div><h2>RANGERS 6, HARTFORD 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0948/4445168-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="581" height="1066"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 3, MONTREAL 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1042/4445161-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="587" height="1121"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 3, COLORADO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1131/4445154-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="592" height="516"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 6, EDMONTON 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1227/4445147-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="588" height="965"></div><h2>BUFFALO 6, TORONTO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1325/4445140-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" width="596" height="739"></div><h2>Sun. March 22 ISLANDERS 6, CHICAGO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1425/4445133-1-eng-US/f0037-142.jpg" title="f0037-14" width="594" height="750"></div><h2>DETROIT 3, MINNESOTA 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1524/4445126-1-eng-US/f0037-152.jpg" title="f0037-15" width="585" height="1024"></div><h2>QUEBEC 7, RANGERS 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1620/4445119-1-eng-US/f0037-162.jpg" title="f0037-16" width="578" height="1000"></div><h2>TORONTO 3, HARTFORD 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1717/4445112-1-eng-US/f0037-172.jpg" title="f0037-17" width="581" height="787"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 7, WINNIPEG 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1817/4445105-1-eng-US/f0037-182.jpg" title="f0037-18" width="569" height="932"></div><h2>CALGARY 2, PHILADELPHIA 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1913/4445098-1-eng-US/f0037-192.jpg" title="f0037-19" width="569" height="835"></div><h2>MONTREAL 2, WASHINGTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-2013/4445091-1-eng-US/f0037-202.jpg" title="f0037-20" width="577" height="607"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 6. BUFFALO 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-2113/4445084-1-eng-US/f0037-212.jpg" title="f0037-21" width="580" height="959"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

f0035-13

Starting Rosters For NHL Teams

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. March 24)</b></p><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01355/4445669-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="546" height="140"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02263/4445662-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="556" height="265"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>N. Brunswick 4 at Adirondack 6</p><p>New Haven 4 at Binghamton 2</p><h3>Wed. March 18</h3><p>Binghamton 3 at Hershey 6</p><p>Adirondack 5 at Maine 4</p><p>New Haven 3 at Rochester 3</p><p>N. Brunswick 7 at Springfield 2</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Hershey 2 at Adirondack 4</p><p>Rochester 2 at Binghamton 6</p><p>Maine 0 at New Haven 5</p><p>Springfield 5 at Nova Scotia 8</p><h3>Sat. March 21</h3><p>Adirondack 2 at Hershey 7</p><p>Nova Scotia 7 at Maine 2</p><p>Springfield 7 at N. Brunswick 6</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Adirondack 1 at Binghamton 3</p><p>Nova Scotia 4 at Maine 5</p><p>Springfield 0 at New Haven 4</p><p>Hershey 6 at Rochester 4</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03196/4445655-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="551" height="713"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. March 24)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04126/4445648-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="555" height="381"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>Dallas 4 at Fort Worth 3</p><p>Tulsa 1 at Wichita 7</p><p>Wed March 18</p><p>Salt Lake 3 at Oklahoma City 5</p><h3>Thu. March 19</h3><p>Wichita 4 at Indianapolis 5</p><p>Salt Lake 6 at Tulsa 2</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Salt Lake 7 at Fort Worth 1</p><p>Tulsa 3 at Oklahoma City 6</p><p>Indianapolis 6 at Wichita 4</p><h3>Sat. March 21</h3><p>Fort Worth 0 at Salt Lake 3</p><p>Oklahoma City 3 at Tulsa 4</p><p>Indianpolis 6 at Wichita 6</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p><b>Fort Worth 4 at Dallas 3</b></p><p><b>Indianpolis 2 at Oklahoma City 2</b></p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0591/4445641-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="550" height="301"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. March 24)</b></p><h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0672/4445634-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="546" height="139"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0768/4445627-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="543" height="234"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>Muskegon 3 at Milwaukee 4</p><h3>Wed. March 18</h3><p>Flint 2 at Toledo 3</p><p>Port Huron 7 at Saginaw 5</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Port Huron 3 at Flint 3</p><p>Fort Wayne 0 at Kalamazoo 7</p><p>Milwaukee 4 at Muskegon 5</p><p>Saginaw 4 at Toledo 4</p><h3>Sat. March 21</h3><p>Toledo 3 at Port Huron 2</p><p>Flint 6 at Saginaw 4</p><p>Kalamazoo 4 at Muskegon 1</p><p>Fort Wayne 3 at Milwaukee 9</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Fort Wayne 1 at Flint 3</p><p>Kalamazoo 4 at Saginaw 10</p><p>Port Huron 1 at Milwaukee 10</p><p>Muskegon 5 at Toledo 7</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0863/4445620-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="541" height="296"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><p>(Standings on Mon. March 23)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0957/4445613-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="552" height="230"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>Richmond 4 at Hampton 3</p><p>Erie 4 at Salem 3 Wed March 18</p><p>Erie 4 at Salem 3</p><p>Hampton 9 at Richmond 5</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Baltimore 2 at Erie 6</p><p>Salem 5 at Hampton 2</p><h3>Sat. March 21</h3><p>Baltimore 4 at Erie 6</p><p>Hampton 3 at Richmond 6</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Hampton 3 at Salem 5</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1054/4445606-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="557" height="307"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0036-01

MINOR SCOREBOARD

<h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1151/4445847-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="563" height="192"></div><h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1247/4445840-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="561" height="201"></div><h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1344/4445833-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="544" height="330"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><p><b>Quarter Finals</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1440/4445826-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="548" height="113"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Tues. March 17</h3><p>Toronto 4 at Niagara Falls 3</p><h3>Thu. March 19</h3><p>Niagara Falls 4 at Toronto 7</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Toronto 2 at Niagara Falls 7</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Niagara Falls 9 at Toronto 5</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>Tue. March 24</h3><p>Toronto at Niagara Falls</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1540/4445819-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="544" height="141"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Windsor 2 at Brantford 4</p><p>Sun. March 22</p><p>Brantford 7 at Windsor 7</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>Tue. March 24</h3><p>Windsor at Brantford</p><h3>Thu. March 26</h3><p>Brantford at Windsor</p><h3>Sun. March 29</h3><p>Windsor at Brantford</p><h3>Tue. March 31</h3><p>Brantford at Windsor</p><h3>Fri. April 3</h3><p>Windsor at Brantford</p><h3>Sun. April 5</h3><p>Brantford at Windsor</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1638/4445812-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="557" height="114"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>Peterborough 2 at Oshawa 5</p><h3>Thu. March 19</h3><p>Oshawa 3 at Peterborough 4</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Peterborough 2 at Oshawa 5</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1734/4445805-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="552" height="141"></div><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>Mon. March 23</h3><p>Oshawa at Peterborough</p><h3>Tue. March 24</h3><p>Peterborough at Oshawa</p><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Kingston 5 at Ottawa 4</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Ottawa 4 at Kingston 5</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>Tue. March 24</h3><p>Kingston at Ottawa</p><h3>Fri. March 27</h3><p>Ottawa at Kingston</p><h3>Sun. March 29</h3><p>Kingston at Ottawa</p><h3>Tue. March 31</h3><p>Ottawa at Kingston</p><h3>Fri. April 3</h3><p>Kingston at Ottawa</p><h3>Mon. April 6</h3><p>Ottawa at Kingston</p><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. March 24)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1832/4445798-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="550" height="245"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1931/4445791-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="551" height="166"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Mon. March 16</h3><p>Seattle 3 at Portland 6</p><p>Saskatoon 5 at Winnipeg 2</p><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>New West 3 at Victoria 6</p><p>Saskatoon 0 at Brandon 5</p><p>Calgary 3 at Billings 2</p><h3>Wed. March 18</h3><p>New West 1 at Portland 6</p><p>Medicine Hat 3 at Spokane 7</p><h3>Thu. March 19</h3><p>Brandon 1 at Winnipeg 4</p><p>Medicine Hat 6 at Seattle 9</p><p>Regina 7 at Saskatoon 2</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Medicine Hat 6 at New West 5</p><p>Saskatoon 3 at Regina 6</p><p>Winnipeg 1 at Lethbridge 4</p><p>Seattle 1 at Spokane 8</p><h3>Sat. March 21</h3><p>Portland 6 at Victoria 9</p><p>Medicine Hat 5 at Seattle 3</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Medicine Hat 5 at New West 2</p><p>Regina 4 at Saskatoon 4</p><p>Calgary 1 at Lethbridge 6</p><p>Victoria 5 at Portland 3</p><p>Winnipeg 2 at Billings 11</p><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><h3>LEBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2030/4445784-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="583" height="167"></div><h3>DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2129/4445777-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg" title="f0036-21" width="578" height="170"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Mon. March 16</h3><p>Cornwall 10 at Laval 6</p><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>Sorel 5 at Hull 3</p><p>Montreal 3 at Shawinigan 8</p><p>Cornwall 5 at T-Rivieres 9 (End of schedule)</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2228/4445770-1-eng-US/f0036-222.jpg" title="f0036-22" width="550" height="300"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><p><b>Quarter Finals</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2327/4445763-1-eng-US/f0036-232.jpg" title="f0036-23" width="558" height="118"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><p>Fri. March 20</p><p>Quebec 5 at Cornwall 4</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Quebec 5 at Cornwall 3</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>Tue. March 24</h3><p>Cornwall at Quebec</p><h3>Fri. March 27</h3><p>Cornwall at Quebec</p><h3>Sun. March 29</h3><p>Quebec at Cornwall</p><p>Mon. March 30</p><p>Cornwall at Quebec</p><h3>Wed. April 1</h3><p>Quebec at Cornwall</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2427/4445756-1-eng-US/f0036-242.jpg" title="f0036-24" width="550" height="120"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Montreal 3 at T-Rivieres 7</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>Mon. March 23</h3><p>T-Rivieres at Montreal</p><p>Tue. March 24</p><p>Montreal at T-Rivieres</p><h3>Fri. March 27</h3><p>T-Rivieres at Montreal</p><h3>Sun. March 29</h3><p>Montreal at T-Rivieres</p><h3>Mon. March 30</h3><p>T-Rivieres at Montreal</p><h3>Tue. March 31</h3><p>Montreal at T-Rivieres</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2523/4445749-1-eng-US/f0036-252.jpg" title="f0036-25" width="556" height="116"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Shawinigan 1 at Chicoutimi 3</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Chicoutimi 5 at Shawinigan 8</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>Wed. March 25</h3><p>Shawinigan at Chicoutimi</p><h3>Fri. March 27</h3><p>Chicoutimi at Shawinigan</p><h3>Sun. March 29</h3><p>Shawinigan at Chicoutimi</p><h3>Tue. March 31</h3><p>Chicoutimi at Shawinigan</p><h3>Wed. April 1</h3><p>Shawinigan at Chicoutimi</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2621/4445742-1-eng-US/f0036-262.jpg" title="f0036-26" width="554" height="122"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Sorel 6 at Sherbrooke 9</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Sherbrooke 2 at Sorel 3</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>Tue. March 24</h3><p>Sorel at Sherbrooke</p><h3>Fri. March 27</h3><p>Sherbrooke at Sorel</p><h3>Sun. March 29</h3><p>Sorel at Sherbrooke</p><p>Tue. March 31</p><p>Sherbrooke at Sorel</p><h3>Wed. April 1</h3><p>Sorel at Sherbrooke</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p><b>Fort Worth 4 at Dallas 3</b></p><p>Indianpolis 2 at Oklahoma City 2</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2720/4445735-1-eng-US/f0036-272.jpg" title="f0036-27" width="534" height="297"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. March 24)</b></p><h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2820/4445728-1-eng-US/f0036-282.jpg" title="f0036-28" width="535" height="145"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2919/4445721-1-eng-US/f0036-292.jpg" title="f0036-29" width="529" height="228"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>Muskegon 3 at Milwaukee 4</p><h3>Wed. March 18</h3><p>Flint 2 at Toledo 3</p><p>Port Huron 7 at Saginaw 5</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Port Huron 3 at Flint 3</p><p>Fort Wayne 0 at Kalamazoo 7</p><p>Milwaukee 4 at Muskegon 5</p><p>Saginaw 4 at Toledo 4</p><h3>Sat. March 21</h3><p>Toledo 3 at Port Huron 2</p><p>Flint 6 at Saginaw 4</p><p>Kalamazoo 4 at Muskegon 1</p><p>Fort Wayne 3 at Milwaukee 9</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Fort Wayne 1 at Flint 3</p><p>Kalamazoo 4 at Saginaw 10</p><p>Port Huron 1 at Milwaukee 10</p><p>Muskegon 5 at Toledo 7</p><p>LEADING SCORERS</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3018/4445714-1-eng-US/f0036-302.jpg" title="f0036-30" width="530" height="295"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. March 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3117/4445707-1-eng-US/f0036-312.jpg" title="f0036-31" width="540" height="309"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><h3>Tue. March 17</h3><p>Richmond 4 at Hampton 3</p><p>Erie 4 at Salem 3</p><h3>Wed March 18</h3><p>Erie 4 at Salem 3</p><p>Hampton 9 at Richmond 5</p><h3>Fri. March 20</h3><p>Baltimore 2 al Erie 6</p><p>Salem 5 at Hampton 2</p><h3>Sat. March 21</h3><p>Baltimore 4 at Erie 6</p><p>Hampton 3 at Richmond 6</p><h3>Sun. March 22</h3><p>Hampton 3 at Salem 5 LEADING SCORERS</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3215/4445700-1-eng-US/f0036-322.jpg" title="f0036-32" width="530" height="231"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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AMATEUR SCOREBOARD

<h2>Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3313/4445969-1-eng-US/f0036-332.jpg" title="f0036-33" width="557" height="115"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><p>Georgetown 9. Owen Sound 4</p><p>Georgetown 7. Owen Sound 2</p><p>Owen Sound 7. Georgetown 3</p><p>Georgetown 5. Owen Sound 2</p><p>Georgetown 10. Owen Sound 3</p><h2>ONTARIO SENIOR</h2><h3>QUARTER-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3411/4445962-1-eng-US/f0036-342.jpg" title="f0036-34" width="562" height="222"></div><h2>Semi-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-356/4445955-1-eng-US/f0036-352.jpg" title="f0036-35" width="545" height="222"></div><h2>QUEBEC SENIOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-366/4445948-1-eng-US/f0036-362.jpg" title="f0036-36" width="554" height="217"></div><h2>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</h2><p>Finals</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-374/4445941-1-eng-US/f0036-372.jpg" title="f0036-37" width="555" height="112"></div><h2>ONTARIO JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p>Finals</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-383/4445934-1-eng-US/f0036-382.jpg" title="f0036-38" width="549" height="112"></div><h2>CENTRAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p>Semi-Finals</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-392/4445927-1-eng-US/f0036-392.jpg" title="f0036-39" width="550" height="116"></div><h2>ALBERTA JUNIOR</h2><p>Semi-Finals</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-402/4445920-1-eng-US/f0036-402.jpg" title="f0036-40" width="555" height="193"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-41/4445913-1-eng-US/f0036-412.jpg" title="f0036-41" width="556" height="498"></div><h2>B.C. JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p>Finals</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-42/4445906-1-eng-US/f0036-422.jpg" title="f0036-42" width="552" height="114"></div><h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2><p>(Final Standings)</p><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-43/4445899-1-eng-US/f0036-432.jpg" title="f0036-43" width="542" height="140"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-44/4445892-1-eng-US/f0036-442.jpg" title="f0036-44" width="545" height="136"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-45/4445885-1-eng-US/f0036-452.jpg" title="f0036-45" width="526" height="417"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><p><b>Round-robin semi finals</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-46/4445878-1-eng-US/f0036-462.jpg" title="f0036-46" width="554" height="256"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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OHA INTERMEDIATE

<p>1&mdash;Montreal</p><p>2&mdash;Chicago</p><p>3&mdash;Boston</p><p>4&mdash;Rangers</p><p>5&mdash;Detroit</p><p>6&mdash;Toronto</p><p>7&mdash;Philadelphia</p><p>8&mdash;Los Angeles</p><p>9&mdash;St. Louis</p><p>10&mdash;Minnesota</p><p>11&mdash;Pittsburgh</p><p>12&mdash;Islanders</p><p>13&mdash;Vancouver</p><p>14&mdash;Buffalo</p><p>15&mdash;Calgary</p><p>16&mdash;Washington</p><p>18&mdash;Edmonton</p><p>17&mdash;Colorado</p><p>19&mdash;Hartford</p><p>20&mdash;Quebec</p><p>21&mdash;Winnipeg</p><h2>OTHER AFFILIATIONS</h2><p>22&mdash;Chicago&mdash;Toronto</p><p>23&mdash;Pittsburgh&mdash;Hartford</p><p>24&mdash;Boston & independent</p><p>25&mdash;Minnesota&mdash;Rangers&mdash;Philadelphia</p><p>26&mdash;Chicago 4 Montreal</p><p>27&mdash;Winnipeg&mdash;Vancouver&mdash;islanders</p><p>28&mdash;Edmonton&mdash;Toronto&mdash;Quebec</p><p>29&mdash;Colorado&mdash;Calgary</p><p>30&mdash;Buffalo&mdash;Washington&mdash;St Louis</p><p>31&mdash;Los Angeles&mdash;Boston&mdash;Hartford</p><p>32&mdash;Quebec&mdash;Buffalo</p><p>33&mdash;Winnipeg&mdash;Rangers</p><p>34&mdash;Boston&mdash;Detroit</p><p>35&mdash;Toronto&mdash;St Louis<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Who They’re Affiliated With.

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01369/4446045-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>New Leader</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Muskegon Mohawks of the International League have introduced a new dimension to their hockey operation by adding a ascot. The mascot, known as &ldquo;Big Mo,&rdquo; leads the Hawks onto the ink before the game and between periods and entertains the fans in the stands while the action goes on. Mohawks&rsquo; GM Gerry Moore aid the imposing club mascot is helping boost hockey in Muskegon, where attendance has risen to a 4,000-per-game average.</p><h2><b>Honoring The Flames</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02291/4446038-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="1811" height="1793"></div><p>Don Wall, left, chairman and publisher of THE HOCKEY NEWS, makes a double presentation of a framed page 1 photo of the publication&rsquo;s special Feb. 27 issue, which was dedicated to the city of Calgary and the Flames. Team captain Brad Marsh accepted for team owner Nelson Skalbania, who was absent, while Stew Hendry of Molson&rsquo;s Alberta, in center, was also the recipient of a presentation from Wall.</p><h2><b>Flyer Veteran Class Guy</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03220/4446031-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="1813" height="1385"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Sam Psoras)</span></figcaption></div><p>Bill Barber of the Philadelphia Flyers won the kind of recognition from the hockey writers that is reserved for a very few. Barber was named the winner of the fifth annual Class Guy Award by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Here he accepts the plaque from Bill Fleischman, right columnist for THE HOCKEY NEWS, assistant sports editor of the Philadelphia <i>Daily News</i> and head of the PHWA branch in Philly. Rev. John Casey, left, was the recipient of the Harry Hoffman Good Guy Award.</p><h2><b>Straight Shooter</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04156/4446024-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="1180" height="1407"></div><p>Rookie defenseman David Babych of the Winnipeg Jets is as popular off the ice as he is on it. Here he participates in a shooting contest during the Jets&rsquo; recent team banquet as a gallery of fans look on. Babych has turned out to be the team&rsquo;s top scoring defenseman in his first NHL season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-01

HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">LARRY SKINNER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01347/4446076-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="370" height="355"></div><h2>Making Canada Competitive</h2><p><b>THERE ARE PLANS AFOOT</b> to make Canada&mdash;if not supreme&mdash;at least more competitive at the World Junior level.</p><p>As has been well documented, the present system of sending the previous year&rsquo;s Memorial Cup winners to compete against the best in Europe just does not give Canada a chance to send its best hockey players.</p><p>The only answer appears to be the formation of a Junior team consisting of the best hockey players possible. And it doesn&rsquo;t matter if these players come out of Major Junior, college or any other area where junior-age players currently compete.</p><p>The long-range plan is the formation of a competitive team for the Olympics.</p><p>The logistics of such an enterprise can be worked out, but there are two stumbling blocks looming on the horizon: Money, of course, is one and cooperation is the other.</p><p>Both Murray Costello, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, and Ed Chynoweth, president of the Canadian Major Junior Leagues, agree there must be a full spirit of cooperation among the CAHA, the Junior Leagues, and the NHL.</p><p>The two men have agreed in preliminary discussions there should be an all-Canada Ail Star team selected and brought together for a training camp before the regular season opens, perhaps another camp at Christmas time it league schedules can be worked out, and other just prior to heading off to Europe.</p><p>&ldquo;The ideal thing is to have a full-time coach,&rdquo; says Costello, &ldquo;but it will take money, and there isn&rsquo;t money for such a project just now.&rdquo; If cooperation among the hockey groups is obviously necessary, it is also necessary for the Government to cooperate with funding for the project.&rdquo;</p><p>Costello has the full agreement of Chynoweth on the scheme.</p><p>&ldquo;But, Chynoweth says, &ldquo;the NHL will have to cooperate by letting the underage players they have signed remain amateur and play for the National team.&rdquo;</p><p>There may be a way these players can retain their amateur status even if they have signed with the professional clubs. Perhaps any money they receive can be placed in a trust fund until the player is ready to join the pros&mdash;in much the way skiers keep their amateur status while competing on the world circuit&hellip;</p><p>But again, the long-range goal is to give Canada a competitive Olympic team.</p><p>Chynoweth and Costello agree that if the program can be put in place as soon as possible, this season&rsquo;s and next season&rsquo;s Midget players are the ones who would be ready by the time the next Olympics roll around.</p><h2>Tournaments Booming</h2><p><b>SPRING MEANS PLAYOFFS</b> to the hockey world. And some of the CAHA&rsquo;s most venerable competitions have a new look, along with an entirely new National Series.</p><p>For the first time, Canada&rsquo;s oldest competition, the Allan Cup, emblematic of Senior hockey supremacy, will go to a tournament format with three regional champions and the host team (Thunder Bay) fighting it out.</p><p>An outstanding Allan Cup committee, which includes the renowed Bones McCormack, himself an Allan Cup winner (with the Port Arthur Bearcats in 1925-26), is all geared up for the series to be played in May.</p><p>Teams representing the Atlantic Provinces, the central region, which comprises Quebec, Ottawa and District and Ontario, along with the western champions, will challenge the host team.</p><p>The Hardy Cup, for intermediate teams, will be played as usual, between the best in the East and the best in the West in the home of the Western winner.</p><p>The Memorial Cup, sponsored by Labatts and CCM, is to be played in Windsor, Ont. The final will be televised nationally on Sunday, May 10 by the CTV network.</p><p>New on the scene this year is the Colonel Sanders Cup, a national juvenile championship scheduled for Calgary April 23-26.</p><p>This competition, which warms the cockles of the hearts of amateur hockey executives, will follow the same format as the Allan Cup except there are four regional winners competing along with the host team.</p><p>The regions in the juvenile competition are unique in the CAHA. Teams representing the Atlantic Provinces, the Central Region (Quebec, Ottawa and District and Ontario), the Western Region (Thunder Bay, Manitoba and Saskatchewan), and the Pacific Region (Alberta and British Columbia), meet in Calgary.</p><p>Understandably, CAHA officials are excited about the juvenile championship.</p><p>&ldquo;We found that players at this level have the highest drop-off rate in hockey,&rdquo; says Costello. &ldquo;But since we instituted this series, the increase in the number of players in this category has been fantastic.&rdquo;</p><h2>Bantam&rsquo;s Challenge Cup</h2><p><b>ALSO NEW ON THE</b> national minor scene is the Purolator Challenge Cup for Bantams in Western Canada. The series will be played in Medicine Hat April 9-12.</p><p>The Loblaw Cup, which has already established itself as one of the most successful tournament competitions in the country and includes three Branches&mdash;ODHA, Thunder Bay and OHA&mdash;to decide the All-Ontafio bantam championship, is scheduled for Cornwall April 9-12.</p><p>But again, there&rsquo;s another long-range plan, hopefully to be instituted next season, which is for other regional Purolator competitions. The CAHA is looking at an allAtlantic championship, and if the details can be worked out with the Quebec Ice Hockey Federation, another series for Quebec.</p><p>Meanwhile, the 12-team Air Canada Cup national midget championship is set for April 13-19 in Halifax.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0039-01

CANADIAN AMATEUR SCENE

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02251/4446107-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Goalie Gary Bromley always performs well in March and April because he says he &ldquo;smells the money.&rdquo;</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>V</span>ANCOUVER&mdash;Now that March is in the air and the thought of playoffs has occurred to a number of NHL coaches, it is time for Gary Bromley to come out of the woodwork.</p><p>He is a man who has been written off so many times his depreciation value is now zero. As early as two weeks before the trading deadline, he failed to clear waivers of $100, which means that nobody wanted him or even considered him a remote prospect.</p><p>The Canucks were ready to kiss him off because they had Glen Hanlon back</p><p>healthy and their newly discovered Richard Brodeur in the stable, plus promising young Ken Ellacott, who one day may be a goaltender in the NHL. Who needed Mr. March and April? He&rsquo;d been a disappointment again to many this year anyway. When Hanlon went down Oct. 18 with stretched knee ligaments, Bromley had something wrong with him and his poor showing in the exhibition season (he was one of the many for the Canucks) prompted general manager Jake Milford to acquire Brodeur in the first place. Bromley was plagued by several other nagging injuries and with Brodeur playing exceptionally well, got into only 13 games.</p><p>But while Milford was trying to get Bromley a chance to play for another NHL team in hopes of earning himself a contract, the trading deadline was approaching. Finally, when Milford acquired Doug Halward from Los Angeles it appeared as though Bromley was part of the deal, going to LA to back up Mario Lessard.</p><p>The snag was Brodeur had hurt his left knee&mdash;bone spurs had to be surgically removed&mdash;and he was unavailable to play. Hence Milford and LA GM George Maguire tried to arrange a deal whereby Bromley could go to LA after the trading deadline, as soon as the Canucks no longer needed him. The league nixed that suggestion so Bromley was not part of the deal and was left rotting in Vancouver.</p><p>Then, in a game against Chicago, Glen Hanlon went down again, this time with nobody near him. 17 seconds into the third period. He went to the ice to stop Terry Ruskowski from close in and dislocated his right shoulder&mdash;his fifth serious injury since becoming a professional.</p><p>Who was sitting on the bench backing him up? Bromley. He went in and held the lead and Canucks beat the Hawks 5-3. The next night, Bromley gave the team the best goaltending it had received since Brodeur was at the height of his glory, stopping 39 of 40 shots in a 2-1 victory over Buffalo.</p><p>&ldquo;You have got to give him credit.&rdquo; said captain Kevin McCarthy after the win over the Sabres. &ldquo;He kept himself in shape and worked hard in practice even though he knew he was history in Vancover. He played a super game for us and I&rsquo;m glad he was able to show what he can do.&rdquo;</p><p>For Bromley, who had been treated like some sort of excess baggage during the Halward controversy, it was something of a sweetener. Again he had proved he can play and Milford is now in a position where he needs him for the duration of the season.</p><p>Further, he may need him for next year as well with the uncertainty of Hanlon&rsquo;s health, so he promptly offered Bromley a chance to earn himself a contract for next year by showing well down the stretch.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not in my nature to be vindictive,&rdquo; said Bromley after his outstanding performance against his old team, Buffalo. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what it is about this time of year. I guess I can smell the dollars around playoff time.&rdquo;</p><p>One thing is sure. With the luck the Canucks have had with their goaltenders this year&mdash;both good and bad&mdash;they are certainly fortunate that nobody claimed Bromley on waivers.</p><p>It would have meant pulling Ellacott out of Dallas and rushing his development, something they have been forced to do with other players.</p><p>Meanwhile, Milford recently returned from Czechoslovakia, where he went in hopes of signing a couple of old Czechs&mdash;over 28 that is&mdash;in accord with the agreement the NHL is hopeful of signing with that country&rsquo;s hockey Federation.</p><p>There are about 10 players who could step right into the National League if they are permitted to leave their country and Milford was over seeing the right people so that he would be in line for one or two of the players should the accord be reached. Having the widely known international coach Tom Watt on the coaching staff probably won&rsquo;t hurt either, as he is well respected in Europe.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0039-02

Canucks Call On Forgotten Goalie Bromley

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="C0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-01145/4446152-1-eng-US/c0004-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mike Bossy of the Islanders is still the NHL&rsquo;s best power play goal scorer. The hard-shooting winger had counted 63 times in 69 games with 26 of his goals coming with the other team shorthanded.</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>ORONTO&mdash;The Philadelphia Flyers may be the most belligerent of the 21 teams in the National Hockey League, but they have to take a back seat to the New York Islanders when it comes to finesse on the power play.</p><p>The modern-day Broad Street rowdies are the NHL&rsquo;s most penalized team, with 2,436. minutes and counting, which constitutes a new league record, and the Flyers rank high in power play goals, power play percentage and penalty killing effectiveness, but they are behind the defending Stanley Cup champions in most of these important categories.</p><p>The Islanders are a truly smooth hockey machine with their overpowering offense and anytime an opposing team is foolhardy enough to take a penalty against them, they rise to the occasion like no other team in the NHL.</p><p>Paced by the imcomparable Mike Bossy, the Islanders were No. 1 in power play goals with 86 after the first 71 games of the 1980-81 league schedule. They also had the best power play percentage, 30.3 and they had scored the most shorthanded goals as well. Bossy ranked as the NHL&rsquo;s top power play scorer with 26 goals.</p><p>As for the Flyers their intimidation tactics appear to be on the increase. Last season, the team led the league with 1,844 penalty minutes in the box. This season they had already logged 2,436 minutes and there was still two weeks remaining on the schedule.</p><p>The New York Rangers are the second most aggressive team in the penalty parade, with 1,817 minutes, followed by Washington, 1,692, Boston. 1,641, Vancouver 1,620 and Toronto 1,606. In contrast, the Buffalo Sabres are the least penalized team, with only 996 minutes in 69 games.</p><p>While the Sabres are not the terrors on the ice the Flyers and Rangers have turned out to be, they are particularly effective at keeping the other team from scoring when they are shorthanded. In fact, the Sabres have the best penalty-killing unit in the NHL, with a 84.3 percentage, just slightly better than the league-leading St. Louis Blues, who boast a PK percentage of 83.3 The Flyers, however, are not exactly pushovers while they&rsquo;re defending against penalties. They rate as the fifth best in the NHL with a mark of 80.1.</p><p>The Islanders are deadly when it comes to scoring on power plays. They lead the NHL with 86 power play goals and boast the highest goal-scoring percentage with 30.3. Defensively, they are equally as tough when they are working the power play. They&rsquo;ve allowed only five shorthanded goals in 70 games, third best in the NHL, which clearly indicates they are generally in complete command of the play with the extra attacker.</p><p>The Islanders&rsquo; high rate of effectiveness on the power play is almost matched by the Blues&rsquo; ability to defend in the shorthanded situation. The Blues are No. 2 in penalty killing effectiveness and their defensive specialists Larry Patey and Mike Crombeen, are among the best in the league. Patey personally tops the NHL with eight shorthanded goals and was aiming at Marcel Dionne&rsquo;s existing league record of 10 in a season.</p><p>The Blues have managed to score 14 shorthanded goals as a team this season, the same number as the Rangers, and one less than the leading Islanders&rsquo; total of 15.</p><p>Individually, Bossy&rsquo;s 26 PP goals are the best but the Islanders ace cannot help but look over his shoulder at Marcel Dionne of the L A. Kings,</p><p>who was in hot pursuit of Bossy with 22 power play goals in his first 70 games. Charlie Simmer, also of the Kings, actually ranks second to Bossy with 23 but the high-scoring left winger has been knocked out of action for the rest of this season after suffering a broken leg. The three had the power-play scoring race virtually cornered with only Rick Kehoe of Pittsburgh, with 19 in 69 games, threatening from a distance. Rick Middleton of the Bruins, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Paul Gardner, Bill Barber of Philadelphia and Quebec&rsquo;s Jacques Richard each had connected for 16 PP goals while the NHL&rsquo;s top scorer, Wayne Gretzky, had 15 along with Boston&rsquo;s Peter McNab and Reg Leach of Philadelphia.</p><p>Patey&rsquo;s eight shorthanded goals make him the current leader in this department, with the Islanders&rsquo; Bob Bourne a close second with seven Oddly, neither player was considered a threat last season. Bourne didn&rsquo;t score a shorthanded goal at all in 1979-80 and Patey had only three.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-0291/4446145-1-eng-US/c0004-022.jpg" title="C0004-02" width="1236" height="1563"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>No one is more effective at scoring while killing penalties than Larry Patey of the St. Louis Blues. Patey tops the NHL in shorthanded goals, with eight this season.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>NHL&rsquo;s Team Penalties</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-0351/4446138-1-eng-US/c0004-032.jpg" title="C0004-03" width="1182" height="814"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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April 3, 1981

Minnesota, Michigan Tech, Wisconsin Strut WCHA Strength In NCAA Finals

Dupont Makes Nordiques Feel Like Winners

Answer To Jets’ Woes: More Tuxedo Nights

WHERE NHL TEAMS PLAY