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

February 5, 1982

The Hockey News February 5, 1982

(Standings on Mon. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-169/4516681-1-eng-US/f0043-162.jpg" title="f0043-16" width="528" height="787"></div><h2>POINTS RACE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-177/4516674-1-eng-US/f0043-172.jpg" title="f0043-17" width="528" height="597"></div><h3>AT HOME</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-185/4516667-1-eng-US/f0043-182.jpg" title="f0043-18" width="259" height="597"></div><h3>ON THE ROAD</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-195/4516660-1-eng-US/f0043-192.jpg" title="f0043-19" width="260" height="598"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Jan. 18Rangers 2 at Toronto 6Tue. Jan. 19Buffalo 2 at Montreal 2Philadelphia 2 at Quebec 2St. Louis 5 at Vancouver 4Colorado 4 at Los Angeles 4Wed. Jan. 20Boston 4 at Pittsburgh 5Quebec 2 at Hartford 4Islanders 2 at Rangers 3Washington 0 at Winnipeg 3Calgary 4 at Toronto 4Detroit 5 at Chicago 4St. Louis 6 at Edmonton 8Minnesota 3 at Colorado 1Thu. Jan. 21Montreal 4 at Philadelphia 2Pittsburgh 1 at Islanders 6Calgary 7 at Detroit 4Minnesota 3 at Los Angeles 3Toronto 2 at Boston 4Fri. Jan. 22Quebec 3 at Buffalo 5Chicago 5 at Winnipeg 6Edmonton 4 at Vancouver 3Sat. Jan. 23Washington 1 at Boston 3Hartford 2 at Detroit 2Buffalo 3 at Quebec 2Calgary 2 at Montreal 6Rangers 1 at Islanders 6Philadelphia 5 at Pittsburgh 5Toronto 2 at St. Louis 6Chicago 4 at Minnesota 8Los Angeles 3 at Colorado 3Sun. Jan. 24Washington 4 at Rangers 4Colorado 4 at Edmonton 7Los Angeles 5 at Vancouver 5 &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NHL SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07168/4514010-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="294" height="349"></div><h2>Another One Bites The Dust</h2>IF ALL THE FACTS of the Darryl Sittler caper were known, it would be much easier to understand the reasons why Sittler is a Philadelphia Flyer, instead of playing out his National Hockey League career with the Toronto Maple Leafs as the No. 1 scorer in the history of most NHL clubs tend to do.Sittler plans to reveal the whole story on his decision to ask for a trade away from the Leafs in the near future. Until he does, we&rsquo;re stuck with Leaf owner Harold Ballard&rsquo;s claim that his refusal to renegotiate Sittler&rsquo;s contract upwards is the motivation for the club captain&rsquo;s decision to waive the no-trade clause in his pact.About the only thing that is certain in the entire mess is that another great Leaf player has departed from the team and the organization under bad circumstances. Oh, yes! You can throw in, too, the fact that the Leafs have attracted a great deal of attention from something other than their success on the hockey rink. An old story, too.Sittler was well-prepared for his eventual end as a Leaf, especially because he was a wearer of the team&rsquo;s C. From the time he joined the team back in 1970, Sittler has seen three former captains, Bob Davidson, George Armstrong and Dave Keon plus such stalwarts as Norm Ullman and Ron Ellis, move out of Maple Leaf Gardens with a nasty taste in their mouths.Then there were guys with a Maple Leaf tattooed on their backsides &mdash; Lanny McDonald and Tiger Williams, for example &mdash; who were traded away from the team they loved.Sittler was an extremely popular athlete in Toronto and Canada, a good family man, a fine citizen and a player who worked his buns off to achieve success.Somehow, there should have been a more honorable end to his decade in Toronto than an escape &mdash; there&rsquo;s no other word for it &mdash; after three weeks in limbo with &ldquo;mental fatigue&rdquo;, a condition that was questioned by some members of the team&rsquo;s administration.Sittler deserved something better than three years of being a spectator to a war involving the people around him &mdash; his agent Alan Eagleson, Ballard and Punch Imlach, the club&rsquo;s general manager, more or less, for much of that time.But then, Imlach was hoisted on a petard similar to the one on which he tried to hoist Sittler. Just when Punch survived a quadruple heart bypass operation and regained good health, he was canned by Ballard.<h2>Change To Long Pants</h2>ANYWAY, Sittler no longer wears the blue-and-white. At least, the move to Philly got him out of short pants and into the trick or treat long-panted Flyer suit. In many ways, that&rsquo;s approximately the difference in the two organizations.Maybe the big winner in the entire fiasco is Sittler&rsquo;s eight-year-old son Ryan, who&rsquo;s been forced to defend his father with his fists in the schoolyard when the other kids taunted him.Back in 1980, the Flyers made a big pitch for Sittler at a time when Imlach was trying to get the Leaf captain to yield on the no-trade clause in his contract. That was a season in which the Flyers finished in first place in the overall standing and rang up a 35-game unbeaten streak.The team figured that Sittler would have guaranteed a Stanley Cup victory. He could have been what the Flyers needed to push them past the New York Islanders, who won the Cup in a six-game final.Once again, the Flyers feel that they can make a run at another championship and Sittler won&rsquo;t hurt their cause. Sure, he&rsquo;s 31, an advanced age by today&rsquo;s standards, but no player works harder at a conditioning program.&ldquo;If a player wants to stay in the league into his 30s, he has to be involved in a heavy off-season program,&rdquo; Sittler said last summer. &ldquo;If you aren&rsquo;t, then it&rsquo;s tough keeping up to all the kids with the young legs.&rdquo;<h2>The All-Daffy Scene</h2>IT&rsquo;S INDICATIVE, I suppose, of the Toronto hockey scene that the most vivid memories of Sittler&rsquo;s excellent time with the team aren&rsquo;t his superb achievements &mdash; a ten-point game, five goals (against the Flyers) in a playoff match and the winning goal in the 1976 Canada Cup.Instead, the ones that stand out are his unplanned participation in the lunacy that trademarks the Leaf organization. Sittler always seemed to be dodging bullets in someone else&rsquo;s war with Eagleson, Ballard and Imlach and, in the final farce, Leaf coach Mike Nykoluk manning the guns.There was the Showdown mess, the removal of the C from Sittler&rsquo;s sweater, the cancellation of the charity game between the Leafs and the Canadian Olympic team and a few minor ones.But the event that really stands out in Sittler&rsquo;s Leaf career was the press conference in the summer of 1980, arranged by Ballard. It was called for a rather unusual reason &mdash; to announce that Sittler, who wasn&rsquo;t going anywhere, anyway, because of the no-trade clause, would be staying with the Leafs.It came just after Ballard claimed that Sittler was &ldquo;a cancer&rdquo; on the team and would never play another game for the Leafs.Wearing a near-white suit and with his orange hair freshly coiffed &mdash; it glowed in the dark that day &mdash; Ballard claimed he was &ldquo;just kidding&rdquo; when he said all those nasty things about the team&rsquo;s No. 1 star.Somehow, I don&rsquo;t think Flyer owner Ed Snider will ever call such a press conference. &#9632;

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HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02279/4515705-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="528" height="392"></div> &#9632;

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Leading U.S. College Teams

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG &mdash; Tom Watt must feel like Public Enemy No. 1 these days.First, Pittsburgh coach Eddie Johnston said Watt had lived in an ivory tower in Toronto too long and doesn&rsquo;t know how to conduct himself or his team in the National Hockey League because he&rsquo;s never played there.Then, to make matters worse, Herb Brooks of the New York Rangers challenges him to a fight. &ldquo;Anywhere, anytime,&rdquo; said Brooks, saying he would gladly wait until the draft meeting in Montreal next June.Watt, the scholarly coach of the Winnipeg Jets, was facing flak from all sides as a result of his handling of resident tough guy, Jimmy Mann.Johnston&rsquo;s charges stemmed from a less-than-subtle incident in which Mann, seeking retribution following a vicious cross-check by Pittsburgh center Paul Gardner, skated onto the ice and cold-cocked Gardner, breaking his jaw in two places.Understandably, the Penguins were irate. Their leading scorer would be out from six to eight weeks.&ldquo;That guy [Watt] never played a game in this league,&rdquo; said Johnston. &ldquo;All he ever did was sit in his ivory tower in Toronto. What Mann did was a disgrace, but I blame the guy behind the bench because he sent him.&rdquo;Watt vehemently denied sending Mann out to deliberately injure Gardner.&ldquo;I feel badly for Gardner,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But when he pulled that stunt by breaking his stick over Doug Smail&rsquo;s face, I can&rsquo;t blame anyone for wanting to gain some sort of revenge.&ldquo;Do you think even one member of the Winnipeg Jets would let a player deliberately injure one of his teammates without retaliating?&rdquo;The Jets are particularly sensitive about Smail&rsquo;s well being.A year ago, the 167-pound left winger missed 50 games when his jaw was broken on two occasions. The second fracture was particularly senseless.Like Mann, Jack Mcllhargey of the Hartford Whalers suckered his victim.The Penguins demanded that Mann be suspended for as long as Gardner is out of their lineup. Mcllhargey, incidentally, never received so much as a warning from the NHL.General manager John Ferguson, one of the game&rsquo;s most violent players in his time, said Mann&rsquo;s act was merely restitution for Gardner&rsquo;s action.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a thing called respect,&rdquo; said Ferguson. &ldquo;A year ago, not one member of the Jets would have lifted a finger. That&rsquo;s the difference this year.&rdquo;Smail, in this case, suffered no more than bruises to his jaw and cheek. &ldquo;Thank God for his helmet and shoulder pads,&rdquo; said his trainer Chuck Badcock. &ldquo;Otherwise, he could have had a broken neck.&rdquo;Gardner received a two-minute minor for roughing.Present at the game was referee-in-chief Scotty Morrison whose report, undoubtedly, will have a bearing on the outcome when vice-president Brian F. O&rsquo;Neill reviews the incident.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so upset, I can&rsquo;t believe what happened,&rdquo; said Paul Baxter, a Pittsburgh defenseman who leads the league in penalty minutes. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen anything like this in three years of junior and eight years of pro.&ldquo;Usually, guys fight face to face. But not Mann. He came up from behind Gardner and let fly with all of his 200 pounds. It was like hitting a guy with a baseball bat.&rdquo;In Pittsburgh, the Penguins considered laying criminal charges. In Winnipeg, Roland Penner, the attorney general of Manitoba, said he would look into the matter.Two nights later, Mann was involved in another incident, though infinitely milder. He cuffed Mike Allison of the Rangers with his glove. Mann received a major, Allison a minor.After the game, Brooks was beside himself. &ldquo;If Watt is going to live by the sword, he&rsquo;ll die by it,&rdquo; he warned. &ldquo;That man has no class. Anybody can send out a goon squad. But if he&rsquo;s going to do that, tell him to come and see me. We&rsquo;ll settle the issue ourselves.&rdquo;Watt&rsquo;s so-called &ldquo;goon squad&rdquo; consisted of Scott Amiel, Smail, Serge Savard, Bryan Maxwell and Mann.&ldquo;What a joke &mdash; the Winnipeg Jets a goon squad,&rdquo; said Watt. &ldquo;Maybe he was reading reports of the other game. Am I not supposed to play Jimmy Mann? What does Nick Fotiu add to their lineup? I&rsquo;d say the same thing. There is no difference at all.&rdquo;The twice-suspended Barry Beck of the Rangers took a more philosophical approach to the affair.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t blame Watt,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Obviously, it&rsquo;s Mann&rsquo;s job to try to stir things up. But I didn&rsquo;t think that happened in the NHL anymore.&rdquo;Apparently, it does.BENCH BITS - The Jets and the Arena landlords &mdash; Winnipeg Enterprises &mdash; have introduced two new systems for the distribution of tickets. They can now be reserved by telephone or, in the case of rural locations, fans can approach their nearest outlet and purchase the best ticket unsold for up to four games. They will be presented a copy of the ticket on the spot. &#9632;

Winnipeg’s Watt, Feisty Mann On The Spot

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>BLOOMINGTON &mdash; Brad Maxwell has suffered from something of an identity crisis throughout his five-year career with the Minnesota North Stars.He started out as a smooth puck-mover and scorer, tried being a fighter &mdash; with considerable success &mdash; then served terms as team orator, self-appointed critic and dressing-room insurrectionist.His role as team policeman was one he was not comfortable with, although his occasional moody outbursts and cross-checks in practice left some teammates wondering why he didn&rsquo;t play as ferociously in games as he did in practices.But that is all in the past. At the start of this season, Maxwell looked at young teammate Craig Hartsburg, and how Hartsburg gained All Star and Team Canada berths as a stick-handler without being particularly tough. This season, Maxwell decided to emulate Hartsburg.Another mistake.Finally, at midseason, Maxwell&rsquo;s swirling attempts to find himself came home to roost. He has decided that instead of fitting into what he guessed was a favorable role for himself, he would simply try to be Brad Maxwell.Turns out, that may be the key to true NHL stardom.As the North Stars righted their listing ship from a dismal mid-winter slump, Brad Maxwell was playing the best hockey of his life. Instead of trying to be somebody else&rsquo;s stick-handler, shooter, body-checker and tough guy, Maxwell proved he could relax and be himself, and in the process do all of those things in better concert than he had ever done.Ironically, Maxwell came back from two layoffs because of a groin injury that wasn&rsquo;t fully healed just before Christmas. The Stars were in the depths of a miserable slump, but Maxwell stepped in and played brilliantly.The team snapped out of its slump under assistant coach Murray Oliver&rsquo;s guidance, beating Quebec, Chicago and Colorado and tying Los Angeles. Head coach Glen Sonmor took over again after a 10-day self-imposed exile and the Stars thrashed Chicago 8-4.Maxwell, who doesn&rsquo;t want any more time off, bruised his shoulder in Los Angeles and missed the Chicago game. But his continued strong play was a beacon for the rest of the club to look to in its climb back to respectability.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve quit worrying about what other guys were like or how other guys were playing,&rdquo; Maxwell said. &ldquo;Maybe I pitied myself & or felt overlooked, but now everything seems to fit together. It&rsquo;s taken some time. Every athlete goes through a learning process, and I understand now what they want of me.&ldquo;By taking the body, maybe other guys pick it up. But everybody&rsquo;s got to pitch in and pull together.&ldquo;The team wasn&rsquo;t going very good, but I knew what I had to do and felt comfortable doing it. Now I feel like I can do anything I want, whether it&rsquo;s having fun in practice or what, as long as I work hard and do what I can.&rdquo;In his fifth year, Maxwell has seen the North Stars rise from the coccoon of the NHL&rsquo;s depths to achieve the, heights of the Stanley Cup finals. His first year, Maxwell had 18 goals and 47 points. But the team won only 18 games for the worst record in the whole NHL.The club quit, with considerable reason perhaps, long before the season did that year. Numerous players popped off, but Maxwell, a rookie, held his cool long into the season. Finally he popped. He said a lot things, most of them true, about what the team had to do to pull together and work for a common cause.Maxwell was right on, but he was branded as a disturber with a bad attitude. That was possible, but more likely he was an intense competitor who simply would answer honestly when asked a controversial question.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been one to say things,&rdquo; he acknowledged. &ldquo;When things go wrong, sometimes people seem to be afraid to get it out into the open. I&rsquo;ve always thought the opposite, that by saying what&rsquo;s on your mind, maybe things will change with everything cleared up.&rdquo;In his NHL career. Maxwell&rsquo;s hard, low shot from the point accounted for a decreasing number of goals every year, surprisingly. He went from 18 as a rookie to nine, then to seven, and to three last year, although he played in only 27 games because of injuries.This season, however, Maxwell has already scored nine goals and appears headed for new team heights as a defenseman-scorer. However, he is also determined to be as astute in all phases of the game. He hits with jarring effectiveness, is a stunning, dangerous fighter when challenged, and can pass or carry the puck as well as any defenseman in the league.Maybe, because he&rsquo;s stopped groping for the way to impress his coaches, he has become comfortable with his own identity. At the age of 24, Brad Maxwell portraying Brad Maxwell is a formidible sight.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011130/4514041-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="583" height="1188"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Maxwell stopped trying to emulate others and is now playing the game as well as he can.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Maxwell Became Star Just By Being Himself

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO &mdash; it was more than a recession that the Black Hawks found themselves caught up in when they entered the final week of January. This slump had all the earmarks of The Great Depression.The crash acceleratd when the Hawks headed north for back-to-back games in Winnipeg and Minnesota.They were beaten both nights, extending their losing streak to six straight and stretching their string of successive defeats on the road to nine games.In the process, they have fallen to fourth place by the Norris Division and now are closer to sixth place Detroit than to first place Minnesota and runnerup St. Louis.The danger is clear and present that the Hawks may fail to make the playoffs for the first time since 1968-69, the year before goaltender Tony Esposito, now the team&rsquo;s senior citizen, and coach Keith Magnuson, then a defenseman, joined the team.Esposito was in goal for both the 6-5 defeat inflicted by the Jets and the 8-4 whipping administered by the North Stars.For Winnipeg, the victory was dramatic &hellip; the winning goal was scored by Serge Savard on a screen shot from the right point with 43 seconds to Play.And, for Magnuson, the defeat was traumatic &hellip; so traumatic that he climbed into the stands to confront a taunting fan.Only words were exchanged when the taut Magnuson went after the heckler. Then, after a policeman separated the men, Magnuson grabbed his overcoat and strode from Winnipeg Arena without speaking to reporters.Afterward, in the hotel, he said, &ldquo;I guess you shouldn&rsquo;t lose control that way, but when you hear abusive things after a loss like that it&rsquo;s hard.&rdquo;On the ice, the Hawks continually lost control during the course of the week, much to the dismay of Esposito and his goaltending partner, Murray Bannerman.Bannerman was in the nets when they began the week by taking a 7-5 beating in Minnesota and also when they lost to Detroit 5-4 in Chicago Stadium before heading back north.&bull; In the first loss to the North Stars the Hawks went into the third period leading 4-3 after making a vigorous comeback. But then they caved in and gave up three goals in a span of 47 seconds.&bull; In the Detroit game, Chicago tied the score on two occasions. However, the first time it took the Red Wings only 32 seconds to regain the lead and in the second instance they shot back in 24 seconds.&bull; The Winnipeg game, a see-saw affair, probably was the Hawks&rsquo; best performance of the week, but the Jets&rsquo; 39 shots-on-goal reflect the disheveled state of Chicago&rsquo;s team defense.&bull; In the second Minnesota game, Magnuson&rsquo;s team fell, behind in the first period, rallied to snarl the score at 3-3 and 4-4, then let the North Stars guzzle four unanswered goals.HAWK TALK &mdash; Doug Wilson scored his 21st goal in the second Minnesota game on a power play, leaving him one short of the team record for a defenseman, set by Dick Redmond in 1976-77 &hellip; Left wing Al Secord, in the midst of the best season of his four-year career, scored his 30th goal in the same game &hellip; Denis Savard played brilliantly in Winnipeg, scoring two goals and setting up another by Secord &hellip; Center Tom Lysiak, just off the injured list, performed admirably in all four of the losses, collecting two goals and five assists. &#9632;

Tailspin Has Black Hawks In Great Depression

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02954/4514072-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="562" height="1235"><figcaption class="caption-body">Just when Boston&rsquo;s Mike Milbury was &ldquo;playing the best hockey of his career,&rdquo; he suffered an injury.</figcaption></div>BOSTON &mdash; The prognosis on Mike Milbury, the defenseman who has gone unappreciated in his own home town, is both good and bad.He&rsquo;ll be out from six to eight weeks with partially tom ligaments in his right knee suffered when he was mowed down by a stiff but clean check by Ron Stackhouse of the Pittsburgh Penguins.But he&rsquo;ll not need surgery.&ldquo;If there was to be surgery, the season would be over for me,&rdquo; said Milbury. &ldquo;The way it looks now I should be back in time for the last half dozen games before the playoffs. That&rsquo;s not a lot but it gives me time to get ready.&ldquo;Surgery would have meant the season. It would be tough to wait until September before J could lace up the skates again. Right now it&rsquo;ll probably be four to six weeks before I can start skating.&rdquo;But the bigger problem now is that small but highly vocal scattering of fans who apparently buy their season&rsquo;s tickets just to boo Mike Milbury, the local boy who was bom in Boston and grew up in suburban Walpole. What are they going to do for diversion now?Bruins&rsquo; teammates can&rsquo;t understand the abuse that Milbury has taken from Boston fans, which includes a nomination by Boston Magazine last summer as &ldquo;the worst professional athlete&rdquo; in town. The magazine also spelled his name &ldquo;Millbury.&rdquo;&ldquo;Just before he got hurt,&rdquo; said coach Gerry Cheevers, &ldquo;I think Mike was playing the best hockey of his career. He was rushing the puck. He was playing very solid defense. He was playing as good as I&rsquo;ve seen him Play.&rdquo;But still the boos and catcalls went on.Carlton Fisk, the New Hampshire boy who once caught for the Boston Red Sox, explained his own occasional periods of unpopularity with Boston fans to Joe Fitzgerald, the Herald American columnist, like this:&ldquo;There are demands placed on you as the head of a family, and as a member of your community. But the demands placed on you as a supposed doer of great deeds can be absolutely incredible.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re playing in front of your own people, they expect so much from you, and are so easily disappointed in you, that there&rsquo;s just no way you can ever give them everything they want.&rdquo;Certainly Milbury has tried.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t explain what goes on in the minds of fans,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Obviously, most of them live vicariously through their athletes and that certainly has to be the case if you happen to be a local athlete.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s never been easy for me here and I&rsquo;m at a loss to explain that. Bitter? No. That&rsquo;s not the right word. Maybe I&rsquo;m resentful of the fact that I don&rsquo;t seem to get a normal opportunity to make an occasional mistake.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost as if, the fans have too intense a desire to see their local boy make good and it ends up backfiring on him.&ldquo;The fans here are generally pretty good. They demand a lot. Part of the reason we get paid so much is you know there&rsquo;s a lot of pressure to do well and you have to put up with the loudmouths. But the paycheck more than makes up for it.&ldquo;The fans have a right to expect a high level of performance but at no time have I felt I&rsquo;ve given less than 100 per cent. It&rsquo;s something you&rsquo;ve got to live with, but it doesn&rsquo;t mean you like it. I guess it&rsquo;s their problem, though, not mine.&rdquo;The partially tom ligaments in the knee is the second serious injury for the 29-year-old Milbury in less than a year. He suffered a broken left ankle in the playoffs last spring.The loss of Milbury reduces the Bruins` corps of defensemen to five &mdash; Brad Park, Ray Bourque, Brad McCrimmon, Mike O&rsquo;Connell and rookie Larry Melnyk &mdash; and leaves an opening for veteran Dick Redmond just at the time he needs it most.Redmond, one of the few Bruins over 30, has been troubled all season (he&rsquo;s played in only 15 games) with an elbow ailment and most recently has been playing himself back into game shape down on the farm in Erie.WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN &mdash; Barry Pederson entered the weekend games against Washington and Calgary needing only one more goal to tie the Bruins&rsquo; rookie record of 26 set by Roy Conacher way back in the 1938-39 season.Goals come a lot easier now than they did in Conacher&rsquo;s day but Conacher had one advantage that Pederson has never had. He played on a line with centerman Bill Cowley, one of the great playmakers of all time.It was the late John Gillooly, the Boston Record columnist, who said of Cowley, &ldquo;He made more wings than Boeing.&rdquo;Strangely, Pederson has done most of his scoring without playing on a regular line. He&rsquo;s been more valuable to the club killing penalties, playing the power play and taking the odd shift. &#9632;

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Fans’ Favorite Target On The Shelf

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO &mdash; The Sabres now are into the tough part of their schedule. And they got off to a fine start.At the beginning of this week, the Sabres had 31 games left, 19 of them on the road, opening with a three-game western trip. After that trip, 15 of their remaining 28 are against rivals in the rugged Adams Division, the most competitive division in the National Hockey League.The go against Adams foes began last week and the Sabres came through with five of a possible six points, with two games on the road, against Adams opponents. By week&rsquo;s end, Buffalo had a five-point lead in the division and were tied with Edmonton for the NHL lead. They had an unbeaten streak of ten games.The Sabres started last week by tying the Canadiens in Montreal, 2-2, then they scored victories over Quebec on successive nights, home and away, 5-3 and 3-2. The Saturday night win in Quebec City opened an 11-point margin over the Nordiques.Quebec natives did most of the damage for the Sabres against the Noridques, ironically.The line of J.F. Sauve, from Ste. Genevieve, and Yvon Lambert and Alan Haworth, both from Drummond-ville, scored three goals in the first victory in Buffalo, then added two in the return win in Quebec.Gil Perreault, from Victoriaville, scored one of the two other goals in the first win and Andre Savard, from Temiscamingue, scored the winner in the rematch.Jacques Cloutier, the Sabres&rsquo; backup goaltender, from Noranda, turned into some sort of hero both nights.Midway through the second period of the first Quebec game, Don Edwards, who does most of the Buffalo netminding, suffered a pulled muscle in his side while making a save and had to leave the game.Cloutier took over and did an outstanding job the rest of the way. He gave up only one goal, to Peter Stastny, who scored twice that night and once the next night.Edwards&rsquo; injury was not as serious as feared at first and the slender goaltender was ready to go in Quebec City.He had been fighting the flu all week, however, and it really hit him between the second and third periods. He was forced to leave the game again, with the score 2-1, and Cloutier took over.The youngster, who started the season with Rochester in the American League, made some spectacular stops in the third period, twice pokechecking the puck away from Nordiques who skated all the way in on goal.Another irony of the situation was that Cloutier and Sauve both played for Michel Bergeron, the Nordiques&rsquo; coach, when he coached Trois Rivieres in junior hockey.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m the guy who sent Sauve to the Sabres,&rdquo; Bergeron said, between games. &ldquo;Scotty Bowman called me and asked if he should take a chance on Sauve and I said he should. It&rsquo;s too bad for us.&rdquo;That was in Sauve&rsquo;s final season of junior. Bowman, the Sabres&rsquo; general manager, signed the stocky little center as a free agent. Sauve, one of the smallest players in the National Hockey League, did not get taken in the underage draft of that year, mainly because of his size. He is 5-6. 6 inches tall.After six Buffalo games against Quebec this season, Sauve was the top scorer among the Sabres with three goals and seven assists.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good feeling to play against your ex-coach and to beat his team,&rdquo; Sauve said, after the second Quebec game. &ldquo;The Nordiques have some players from my junior team, too.&rdquo; Edwards was the hero in the tie in Montreal earlier in the week, as he had been when the Sabres beat the Canadiens in Buffalo in the previous meeting of the clubs.The Buffalo goaltender blocked 38 shots in the tie, including one on a breakaway by Guy Lafleur. He robbed Pierre Mondou at the goalmouth in the closing minute.ICE CHIPS &mdash; The Sabres have a home winning streak of 10 games going &hellip; When Dale McCourt was shut out in Saturday&rsquo;s Quebec game, it ended a scoring streak of a dozen games in which he had picked up at least one point. &#9632;

Sabres Look Sharp In Strengthening Divisional Bulge

<div class="byline">BY DOUG GOULD</div>LONG ISLAND &mdash; New York Rivalries: The Dodgers and the Giants abandoned the town 24 years ago, the football Giants and Jets meet only twice a decade, the Mets vs. the Yankees is strictly an exhibition show and almost nobody gets excited when the Knicks bounce a basketball against the Nets.While all other rivalries have either disappeared or inspire nothing but yawns, there is one that seems to grow not only yearly, but weekly. The Islanders vs. the Rangers has become the biggest sports event in the Big Apple.Thanks to the unbalanced schedule, that magic moment that transforms an otherwise lackluster 80-game regular season into non-stop excitement happens eight times a year. It happened twice in a three-day period in late January, providing lots of heat in the frigid winter regimen.The Islanders had taken the first three meetings before the Rangers finally got satisfaction in the last game of 1981. The teams met for the fifth time Jan. 20 at the Garden with the Rangers coming away with a 3-2 victory, beginning a week full of questions &mdash; and answers.The Rangers scored first on a delayed penalty call against John Tonelli for tripping Ron Duguay when Pat Hickey picked up a rebound of Duguay&rsquo;s 20-foot slap and banged it over a prone Bill Smith midway through the second period. The Isles answered on a slot shot from Clark Gillies less than a minute later and the teams went into the third period tied at one.But the final 20 minutes that night seemed like hours to the Isles, who were burned on goals by Andre Dore and Nick Fotiu before Brent Sutter made it close only on the scoreboard. It marked the eighth time this season that the Islanders had gone into the last period either tied or in the lead and lost the game.Understandably, the question was raised: Are the Islanders losing games late becuase they are out of shape?&ldquo;Our conditioning is not as good now as it was in the playoffs the last two years,&rdquo; coach Al Arbour admitted. &ldquo;But we don&rsquo;t expect it to be. I promise you this. It will be. We had a lot of guys in that tournament [11 in the Canada Cup Series] and we&rsquo;ve had to work out our training program around that, but we&rsquo;re not in March, yet. We&rsquo;ll be ready.&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the problem is totally physical,&rdquo; Gillies said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re losing games in the third period because we&rsquo;re making a lot of mental mistakes. As for our conditioning, we don&rsquo;t seem to go too slow in practice and I don&rsquo;t see-anybody hanging back.&rdquo;If the Islanders weren&rsquo;t that concerned with the whispers about conditioning, they were displeased with the second consecutive loss to the Rangers. As had been said many times, the Islanders own the Stanley Cup but the Rangers own New York.A chance to avenge the loss was 72 hours in the future, but there was other business to attend to, first. Another division rival, the Penguins, visited Nassau Coliseum the next night, hoping to take advantage of the Isles&rsquo; third-period doldrums and the chance that the New Yorkers were looking ahead to their return encounter with the Rangers.It didn&rsquo;t happen. Not only did the Islanders beat Pittsburgh 6-1, they outscored the visitors 4-0 in the final period.&ldquo;I guess that blows that theory,&rdquo; Dave Langevin said after the Islanders had ended a three-game winless skein (0-2-1). &ldquo;We were talking about it after the second period, seeing what we could put together.&rdquo;That was only part of the reason for one of the best Islander performances of the season. Perhaps rumors also played a role.No one knows who started circulating a story that a trade involving one or more Islanders would take place after the game. All that was certain is that the Islanders heard the whispers and responded.Bob Bourne scored a pair of goals and Brent Sutter, Bryan Trottier, Gillies and Billy Carroll each added scores while Roland Melanson stopped 23 shots. But the key to the game came on a seemingly inconsequential double-minor penalty call against both Denis Potvin, (who returned after missing two games with a stomach ailment) and Pat Boutette.That meant the teams, tied at one with less than two minutes remaining in the second period, would skate four a side for the next four minutes extending into the third period. That opened it up on the ice and on the scoreboard.Within a period of 3:27, the Isles built a 4-1 lead and coasted the rest of the way.&ldquo;I really like skating four-on-four,&rdquo; Bourne said after getting his 18th and 19th goals. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t go into the comers very often and come out with the puck. I score most of my goals on two-on-one or three-on-one situations and skating with that extra room makes it a somewhat similar situation. I just tell the defense to give me or Andy [Anders Kallur] the puck in our own end and we wheel out from there.&rdquo;In the meantime, general manager Bill Torrey denied he had been wheeling or had any impending trades in mind.&ldquo;I speak to seven or eight general managers every day,&rdquo; Torrey said that night. &ldquo;Sometimes they call me only to inquire about my health, sometimes to see what&rsquo;s been going on at the meetings. But I can assure you, I am not planning anything at the moment. Unless, of course, Glen Sather calls me tonight and offers me Wayne Gretzky.&rdquo;With the rumors momentarily squashed, the Islanders were able to fully concentrate on their most immediate task &mdash; beating the Rangers in their return meeting.They got down to business early. Bobby Nystrom, benched the previous two games, celebrated his return to the lineup with an over-powering shift before backpassing to defenseman Tomas Jonsson for a 30-foot slap at 4:21. Trottier scored a shorthanded goal early in the second period and, after Mark Pavelich countered with a goal on the same power play, the Isles just ran away.Brian Sutter scored for the third straight game, Mike Bossy contributed No. 35, Duane Sutter broke a 13-game goal-scoring drought with another at the end of the second period and Gillies flipped in No. 20 past Ed Mio to hand the Ranger goaltender his first loss since coming to New York (5-1-2). And it was the ninth game in the last 10 in which Gillies had scored at least one goal.&ldquo;I like to think we&rsquo;ve got the best team in the league, but from what you hear after we lose a game or two to the Rangers, people wonder if we&rsquo;re even the best team in New York,&rdquo; Gillies said. &ldquo;I think we showed a lot of people the answer this time.&rdquo;<h2>The Hockey News</h2>THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded in 1947 by Kenneth W. McKenzieDONALD R. WALLChairman and PublisherTOM MURRAY&nbsp;Editor in ChiefAdvertising and Editorial Offices214 King Street West &mdash; Suite 314 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 1K4 (416)598-1753Executive Office850 Third Ave. New York, New York, 10022 (212)593-2100EDITORIAL STAFF Charlie Halpin Editorial DirectorMike Dennis, Assistant EditorContributing Editors Stan Fischler, Frank OrrTOM WORSLEY&nbsp;Business ManagerADVERTISING SALES OFFICESToronto:Randy Green214 King Street West - Suite 314 Toronto. Ontario. Canada M5H 1K4 (416) 598-1753New York:Bob Bassinette Bassinette/White 50 East 42nd Street New York. N.Y. 10017 Tel. (212) 986-6210Boston:Steve GanakSteve Ganak Ad Reps51 Church Street Boston, Mass. 02116 (617)542-6913Quebec City:Gaston DubeGaston Dube & Associates. 75D St. Ursule St., Quebec City. Que., G1R 4E7 (418)692-5130Minneapolis-St. Paul:Chuck Grillo & Herb Brooks 1289 Dory Ave Apple Valley, MN 55124 (612) 423-2447Esther Sumka.Advertising Service Manager (416) 598-1753THE HOCKEY HEWS. 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 1K4. (416) 598-1753. In U.S. c/o W.C.C. Publishing Corp., 850 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $16.95 in the U.S.A. $16.95 in Canada. $20.95 in Foreign Countries. Send all Canadian and Foreign subscription orders to THE HOCKEY NEWS, P.O. Box 13035, Postal Station &lsquo;A&rsquo;, Toronto, Ont. M5W 1V7. U.S. subscription requests should be mailed to Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y. 14240. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing.SEHD AODRESS CHAN6ES TO THE HOCKEY HEWS, 214 King St. W.. Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4. Second Class mail Registration No. 1327. All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept., The Hockey News. 214 King St. W, Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4, Canada.IN THE UNITED STATES: Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y. and at additional mailing offices U.S. POSTMASTER send address changes to: The Hockey News, 214 King St. W.. Suite 314, Toronto, Ont M5H 1K4<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011177/4514127-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="74" height="66"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations &#9632;

Islanders-Rangers Rivalry Big Apple’s Top Attraction

<div class="byline">BY GORDON EDES</div>LOS ANGELES &mdash; Forget that business about a tie being the equivalent of kissing your sister. For the Kings, it&rsquo;s more like punching your neighbor&rsquo;s lights out.Their five straight ties, a club record, under new coach Don Perry were becoming repetitious, yes. But boring? Not quite.For even though the Kings still aren&rsquo;t winning &mdash; their streak without a win has lasted now for more than a month and 15 games, including seven under Perry &mdash; they&rsquo;re becoming belligerent about it.Their idea of fighting back from a 3-0 deficit to Minnesota, for example, was literally to fight back. The Kings engaged the North Stars in three, third-period bouts, one of which resulted in a one-game suspension for Paul Mulvey, who was tagged with his third game misconduct. Between punches, the Kings also scored three goals to catch the North Stars, 3-3, Larry Murphy scoring a power play goal with 1:31 left.That turn of events so enraged Minnesota general manager Lou Nanne, a pressbox spectator, that he had to be restrained by ushers from going after referee Bob Hall following the game. Nanne says the ushers overreacted when they jumped on his back.But that scene merely was a preliminary to the main event &mdash; a bench-clearing brawl in Vancouver that broke out with 1:11 left to play in the second period of a 5-5 tie.Mark Hardy of the Kings was the first to leave the L.A. bench after Ron Delorme of the Canucks leaped out of the penalty box to resume hostilities with Jay Wells, who had dallied on his way to the box.Then everybody got into the act, and it took referee Hall (yes, him) and his linesmen so long to restore order that they finally decided to end the period right there and send both teams to the dressing room to cool off.Five players were given game misconducts &mdash; Hardy, Wells and Rick Chartraw of the Kings, leaving them with just three defensemen for the duration, and Delorme and Stan Smyl of the Canucks. In addition, Hardy received a match penalty for having tape on his right hand, which Hall said cut Darcy Rota. &ldquo;But I hit him with a left,&rdquo; said Hardy, who was wearing the tape because of a sore wrist.The free-for-all started innocently enough in the corner to the left of Kings goalie Doug Keans, where several players were battling for the puck. Then Vancouver defenseman Kevin McCarthy took a whack at Marcel Dionne, according to Wells, who took exception to the action. Delorme then intervened on McCarthy&rsquo;s behalf, which triggered what followed.Wells and Delorme then squared off, Wells missing with a roundhouse left (&ldquo;I wanted to hurt him, that&rsquo;s for sure&rdquo;) before absorbing a few blows from the Vancouver winger.When that bout finally ended, Delorme headed to the penalty box; Wells, however, lingered, and when some pushing and shoving turned earnest &mdash; Tiger Williams in the middle of it all &mdash; Delorme rushed back.Then Hardy, closely followed by Chartraw, raced onto the ice, soon to be followed by everyone else in a uniform (not counting ushers). It made for a bizarre sight, even for a couple of guys who might have figured they&rsquo;d seen it all &mdash; the astronauts from the space shuttle Columbia, who were honored before the game.&ldquo;Sometimes things like this can bring a team together,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; scout Joe Watson, who, of course, may be a little biased. He played for the Flyers when they were still the Broad Street Bullies.Perry freely admits he sent Hardy out into the fray. He said another player refused to go, whom he refused to name. But Paul Mulvey sat on the bench for the third period.&ldquo;You could see that something was going to break out,&rdquo; Perry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Hall had very good control of the game.&rdquo;Two prominent Kings were absent from the fray &mdash; captain Dave Lewis, who pulled a calf muscle and was left home in L.A., and All Star right wing Dave Taylor, who sprained the Achilles tendon on his left foot the night before in Colorado and was sent home the next day. &#9632;

Kings Bring New Meaning To Ties

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011030/4514206-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darryl Sittler began a new career with the Philadelphia Flyers in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, with a new number, 9, and the Flyers&rsquo; long pants. (CP Laser Photo)</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA &mdash; In 48 hours it was too much to grasp. A loss to Montreal which could have been demoralizing flitted past almost unnoticed and Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s broken foot was almost an afterthought. Darryl Sittler for one night in a Flyers&rsquo; uniform was a fantasy come true, and if he disappeared back to Toronto the next day, well, it had been fun.But there he was, the next day, too, at the Flyers&rsquo; practice. All the Toronto and Montreal writers had gone home, the TV talking heads had packed up and moved on to other things. What was left was one writer, leaning over the boards, watching, along with general manager Keith Allen.&ldquo;You know,&rdquo; said the writer, pointing to Sittler. &ldquo;I still can&rsquo;t believe I&rsquo;m seeing him.&rdquo;&ldquo;Neither,&rdquo; smiled Keith, &ldquo;can I.&rdquo;Go through the entire National Hockey League for men whom you would rather have to fill what is probably the Flyers&rsquo; last hole and if you find 10, you&rsquo;re cheating. Darryl Sittler is 31 years old, barely past his peak, experienced, tough, talented, the very model Allen and coach Pat Quinn would order for their team at this time.&ldquo;You only have so many good years that you don&rsquo;t win the Cup,&rdquo; said the 32-year-old Clarke when news of Sittler&rsquo;s availability first broke on December 12, &ldquo;and then they don&rsquo;t seem like good years anymore. I want to win another one and I can&rsquo;t see how Darryl wouldn&rsquo;t help.&rdquo;He will in numerous ways. Sittler gives the Flyers one more offensive gun, which, stripping away all the intangibles that come in his package, they probably needed the most. He balances out a roster a little bit short of good defensive forwards. He brings badly-needed experience. The Flyers have few motivation problems, but Sittler is so sick of losing that one more coal or two on their fire cannot hurt.At their best, he makes the Flyers as strong as any team in the league. When they are something less, he will make them that much more slump-or-upset-proof.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still a team that beats ourselves,&rdquo; said Pat Quinn. &ldquo;The mental skills are the ones that win hockey games for you. And now we&rsquo;re getting one more leader, in addition to a helluva hockey player.&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can have enough players like Darryl around,&rdquo; said Clarke. &ldquo;Whenever you get a chance to acquire a guy like that, you&rsquo;ve got to get him. He&rsquo;s a quality person in addition to being a quality hockey player.&rdquo;The price, modest portions of the Flyers&rsquo; future, was entirely affordable. Allen gave Toronto Rich Costello, the Flyers&rsquo; No. 2 pick last summer; a high No. 2 pick which they acquired from Hartford a year ago, plus future considerations. We can only speculate that the Leafs will have their choice of a list of fringe Flyers when the season ends. And marvel that a certain future Hall of Famer could be so devalued because he is 31 years old.&ldquo;What did they [the Leafs] get?&rdquo; said stewing Lou Nanne, the Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; general manager. &ldquo;Two second-rounders. I offered them three. Then I offered a second-round pick and one player. If the guy wasn&rsquo;t still playing for us, I&rsquo;d tell you who it was. It would raise a few eyebrows.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m convinced the Flyers got him because the Leafs didn&rsquo;t want to trade him to a team in their own division.&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think so,&rdquo; countered Allen. &ldquo;We really attracted their interest with Costello. And we had a higher No. 2 pick than Louie had to offer.&rdquo;Last summer Nanne had four second-round picks before the Flyers took Costello with the 37th selection. Hindsight suggests Louie should have used one of them differently. All four may turn out to be players, but none of them could be turned into a Sittler at this time.Which brought up another irony. Had the Whalers grabbed a Flyer offer of all ten of their picks for the Whalers&rsquo; No. 1 in either 1981 or 1982, the Flyers wouldn&rsquo;t have had Costello either. Hartford mulled it over last June, came back asking for even more, and a month later accepted Rick MacLeish in a package that brought Philadelphia the Whalers&rsquo; No. 1 in 1982, Fred Arthur and Ray Allison.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t comfortable with that offer of all our picks,&rdquo; said Ed Snider the Flyers&rsquo; owner. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad Hartford didn&rsquo;t take it. You wipe out one whole draft and you leave yourself too short of depth.&rdquo;So the Flyers were lucky, too. But they were a lot more persistent and resourceful. When Allen was sure he couldn&rsquo;t live with Gerry McNamara&rsquo;s asking price of one of four young Flyers &mdash; Brian Propp, Behn Wilson, Tim Kerr or Ken Linseman &mdash; he continued to throw ideas at the Leafs&rsquo; general manager. The Hartford No. 1 is under lock and key, but various combinations of No. 2&rsquo;s kept the Flyers in the heat along with the North Stars and Islanders. Bill Torrey&rsquo;s offer has never been confirmed, but both Allen and Nanne said the Islanders&rsquo; were pitching up until the last day.&ldquo;We outmaneuvered the maneuverer [Nanne],&rdquo; smiled Snider, who said he was never concerned that the years of rancor between he and Toronto owner Harold Ballard might cause Ballard to deliver Sittle elsewhere out of spite. &ldquo;Despite our differences,&rdquo; said Snider, &ldquo;Harold and I are both hockey men. We&rsquo;d trade our own mothers if we thought it would help our hockey clubs.&rdquo;A new contract for Sittler, an Alan Eagleson prerequisite before the four teams on Sittler&rsquo;s list could even begin discussions with the Leafs, was no problem. Darryl, who had next year, plus an option, to run on his old $195,000 contract, was given a four-year deal at $250,000 per. The only option comes up in June when the Flyers can decide on a three-year $300,000 package instead. If it solidifies the Flyers for a run at the Cup, it&rsquo;s a bargain. Nothing in this sporting life is certain. Who knows how many more metatarsal bones like Clarke&rsquo;s could break before April? Who knows whether the Islanders are just temporarily bored or truly vulnerable?If the opportunity presents itself this year, the Flyers will take that Cup, but if it doesn&rsquo;t, there are probably at least three more good ones left in Sittler for another try. Clarke&rsquo;s performance until suffering the broken foot bone allayed the worst of last year&rsquo;s fears for him, but if Darryl outlasts Bobby, the Flyers just bought themselves an insurance policy to bridge a coming gap.And not only did the Flyers get Sittler, but the Islanders, the team the Flyers have to get past in the quarterfinals, didn&rsquo;t. They also showed that they were willing to pay a reasonable price for what may be a once-in-a lifetime opportunity. There are only so many next years. And now maybe this one, or the next, won&rsquo;t get away from them.ICEBERGS: Clarke played on what he thought was only a badly-bruised foot for 10 days before a second x-ray showed the fracture. He went out typically, killing 1:35 of a two-minute penalty in the dying minutes of a game in Quebec to preserve a 2-2 tie. The cast will remain on for at least two weeks. Clarke was holding out some hope of being able to play at that point, but a realistic prognosis is likely a month. It will be the longest period Clarke has ever been missing from the Flyers&rsquo; lineup. A broken thumb forced him out of nine games in 1978. Pat Quinn said Sittler would play center until Clarke&rsquo;s return. He will likely be a winger after that &hellip; The Spectrum was rising to a standing ovation as Sittler approached center to take the opening faceoff in his Flyer debut when Andy van Hellemond cut it short by dropping the puck. &ldquo;I got chills up and down my spine,&rdquo; said Darryl, &ldquo;I realized I was exactly where I wanted to be.&rdquo; He played an impressive first period mostly on adrenalin, but his 18-day layoff showed up in the second and third periods. &ldquo;All the attention is on Darryl,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;Actually, it was the rest of our team that stunk tonight.&rdquo; The Canadiens avenged a Flyer Forum victory five days earlier by the same 4-2 score &hellip; Al Hill, out 32 games with a broken clavicle, returned to the lineup &hellip; The Flyers will also be missing Paul Holmgren for three weeks. Paul strained left knee ligaments in attempting to check Ray Bourque last week. &#9632;

f0005-01

Flyers Feeling Fortunate To Have Sittler On Board

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011212/4514237-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="283" height="339"></div><h2>Goaltenders&rsquo; Rights</h2>Writer Joe Fitzgerald to Sylvie Baron, wife of goalie Marco Baron: &ldquo;What advice have you for a woman who wants to marry a hockey player?&rdquo; Sylvie Baron: &ldquo;Marry a forward. It&rsquo;ll be easier!&rdquo;This was at Madison Square Garden. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers. The puck skittered beyond the visitors&rsquo; net. Paul Harrison of the Penguins did what goaltenders have done 590,847 times since Jacques Plante got the brilliant idea 25 or so years ago that he could wander behind his goal and save the puck for one of his defenders.Smash-bam-alacazam! Like a Red Ball Express gone out of control, Nick Fotiu inhospitably made a good case for collision insurance. Harrison went flying in the direction of Pennsylvania Station and yet another argument for goalie rights was brought before the public.Penguins&rsquo; coach Eddie Johnston, who knows something about goalie rights because he nearly got killed from a puck in the head when he played goal for the Boston Bruins, denounced Fotiu as a menace to the masked breed. What piqued Johnston more than anything was referee Wally Harris&rsquo; failure to call even a minor penalty on the play. Johnston argued that it should have been a major.Fotiu didn&rsquo;t buy that. He pointed out that the goalies have a mortgage on a rectangular plot of ice called a crease and heaven help them if they get the wanderlust.History is on Fotiu&rsquo;s side. Until Plante got his brainstorm, goalies figured that whatever happened behind the net was none of their damn business. Let the defensemen worry about it.Plante had this notion that goalies got special dispensation wherever they went As a result his excursions usually were taken without incident but for one nasty troublemaker named George (Red) Sullivan.An Irishman of extremely orange hair, Sullivan was a scrawny Rangers&rsquo; center whose hobby was the pursuit of trouble. The sight of a goaltender conducting expeditions from his crease was to Sullivan what a roach is to a cleaning lady: It must be crunched.When Plante drifted from his rectangular universe Sullivan would zero in like a heat missile and render (Frere) Jacques horizontal. Plante, a spirited competitor, rose to the challenge and the pair did their bull and red flag routine for several seasons.My feeling is that goalies are fair game when they decide to do their defenseman imitations. What bugs me &mdash; and several goaltenders as well &mdash; is the relentless erosion of goalie rights over the years.Implausible as it may seem to any reader under 50 years old, there once was a time when goalies didn&rsquo;t have to wear masks. There was no such animal as the screened shot and that notorious netminder-killer, the slapshot, didn&rsquo;t exist. The curved stick, a plague if ever there was one, was unknown prior to 1960.Hockey historian Don O&rsquo;Hanley of Middletown, Rhode Island recalls that the NHL once had a rule clearly protecting the right of a goaltender to see the hockey puck. In the 1932-33 NHL Guide and Record Book, Rule 12 A, INTERFERENCE WITH GOALKEEPER, read as follows:&ldquo;If a player of the attacking side, not in possession of the puck, takes up any position at or near the goal of the defending side in such a way as to obscure or interfere with the vision or movements of a goalkeeper while the latter is in his nets the referee shall at once stop play and order a face-off at a point five feet beyond the line marking the defense zone of the defending team.&ldquo;A goal scored while the vision or movements of a goalkeeper in his net are being interfered with by a player of the attacking side shall not be allowed.&rdquo;We should have that rule today. Unfortunately, by the 1950s those philanthropic gestures were long forgotten and screened shots became de rigueur. By the 1960s banana blades were driving members of the Goaltenders Union to the Funny Farm.If that wasn&rsquo;t peril enough for the men between the pipes, coaches devised a variation on the Red Sullivan strategy. Instead of waiting for goalies to venture out of their preserve, behemoths like Gary Dornhoefer impudently invaded the crease, pushing, shoving, tripping and generally distracting the poor goalies.&ldquo;Scotty Bowman was the culprit,&rdquo; says Islanders&rsquo; goalie Bill Smith. &ldquo;He made it a part of strategy to have guys push in the crease. It&rsquo;s so obvious it&rsquo;s sickening.&rdquo;Some of the more temperate netminders relied on referees to defuse the Domhoefers with penalties. Smith argues that that&rsquo;s like believing in Santa Claus. He speaks from experience.&ldquo;I used to complain to the referees,&rdquo; he explains, &ldquo;point out how these guys were abusing the crease but they ignored me. Now I tell the referee I&rsquo;m not going to complain anymore &mdash; it&rsquo;s useless &mdash; I&rsquo;ll take care of it my own way.&rdquo;Smith&rsquo;s fraternity brothers agree that goalie abuse has gone beyond tolerable limits and that referees have forced goaltenders to become machete-wielders.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go as far as I have to to protect myself,&rdquo; says Rangers&rsquo; goalie Steve Weeks. &ldquo;Interference in the crease is not called enough.&rdquo;During a recent Rangers-Bruins game the ubiquitous Fotiu camped in front of Boston goalie Marco Baron. As quick as you can say &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s the ref?&rdquo; the pair were grappling on the ice.&ldquo;Nick was blocking me,&rdquo; Baron explains, &ldquo;so I just pushed him with both hands. He thought that I had sticked him &mdash; which I didn&rsquo;t &mdash; so he came back at me.&rdquo;Goaltenders to a man agree that the situation has gotten out of the referees&rsquo; hands. &ldquo;We get hit in the ribs,&rdquo; says Michel Dion of the Penguins. &ldquo;We get hit in the backs of our legs, we get slashed and we get screened. I&rsquo;ve got to do something so I hack at guys and push them. There are a lot of penalties that should be called and aren&rsquo;t and a lot of goals that should be disallowed and aren&rsquo;t.&rdquo;What to do? Smith has a reasonable solution which he has proposed to NHL president John Ziegler &mdash; enlargen the crease and, thereby, give the goalies more protection.&ldquo;What they should do is make the crease bigger,&rdquo; says Smith, &ldquo;and circular, a half-moon design. That would give us a little more room to maneuver.&rdquo;Some of the lads with pads believe that they can handle the obstructionists with that large wooden paddle they hold. &ldquo;A good whack in the ankles,&rdquo; says Grant Fuhr of the Edmonton Oilers, &ldquo;will move them from the crease.&rdquo;Perhaps, but it would be much better for the goalies &mdash; and The Game &mdash; if they were afforded the protection from the rulebook and from the referees that they deserve.As Gilles Gilbert of the Detroit Red Wings points out: &ldquo;You can hit a guy 25 times a year but he&rsquo;s apt to come back once and spear you in the throat.&rdquo;<h2>Only Five Frenchmen</h2>NOTES: Through the years Les Canadiens have been known as the hockey symbol of French Canada. And, at one point, the NHL had a rule stipulating that the Habs had first crack at any French-speaking youngster moving into the league. But this is no longer the case. Rejean Tremblay of Montreal&rsquo;s La Presse notes that recently the Canadiens had only five Frenchmen &mdash; Guy Lafleur, Pierre Mondou, Mario Tremblay, Gilles Delorme and Robert Picard &mdash; in uniform &hellip; Nordiques-watchers say the difference between Jacques Richard&rsquo;s goal production this year and last is that he got all the breaks in 1980-81. Nordiques&rsquo; front office remains pleased with Richard&rsquo;s attitude &hellip; You have to wonder what kind of thinker Darryl Sittler must be when he listed Philadelphia and Minnesota as his choice of places to Play for &hellip; Someone ought to straighten our Canadiens&rsquo; v.p. Jean Beliveau who seems to be suffering from tunnel vision. Beliveau says the NHL lacks &ldquo;those big rivalries that came with those back-to-back games&rdquo; he played in. &ldquo;The only one similar to that now,&rdquo; he adds, &ldquo;is the Canadiens and Quebec.&rdquo; Nonsense. He ought to drop over to a Rangers-Islanders or Flyers-Islanders or Calgary-Edmonton game some night &hellip; Former Canadiens coach Toe Blake has the most sensible view of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s &ldquo;greatness&rdquo; I&rsquo;ve heard yet. Toe has a &ldquo;ten-year rule.&rdquo; A player has to survive a decade in the bigs before Blake will affix the &ldquo;great&rdquo; label. So, how does he rate Gretzky? He told Tim Burke of The Montreal Gazette: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best player this year.&rdquo; &hellip; You think you&rsquo;ve got troubles. Bruins&rsquo; goalie Marco Baron had a doorknob superstition. He told Joe Fitzgerald of The Boston Herald-American: &ldquo;I got into this thing where I had to touch a doorknob the exact same way every time. If I missed, then I had to start all over. I could be there for hours! People would look at me and think I was nuts because I didn&rsquo;t just do it at home &mdash; I did it everywhere I went.&rdquo; If that wasn&rsquo;t bad enough, he later developed a light switch fetish. Luckily his coach, Gerry Cheevers, is an ex-goalie and understands.MEMO TO AL EAGLESON: One of the headache-inducing bromides of our business is hearing about all the wonderful things you have done for hockey players. While you&rsquo;re at it, Al, you might stop and think about a reaction your recent Darryl Sittler crusade produced from Dick Young of the New York Daily News.Young couldn&rsquo;t figure out why Sittler was depressed, especially when he was coining some $185,000 a year. &ldquo;Eagleson says Sittler&rsquo;s doctors have advised him to take a rest,&rdquo; wrote Young. &ldquo;It seems any athlete not making half a million becomes depressed. I&rsquo;ll tell you about depressed. Visit the city room of the Daily News and see loyal employees who have been told by an absentee owner that the place may be shut down after many of them have put in a lifetime of loyal service. This is the real world, you spoiled brats.&rdquo;Alan, don&rsquo;t be misled into thinking that Young is a voice in the wilderness. Many are the folks who are concerned (and/or disgusted) with the attitude of many of the union members. Jean Beliveau put it another way: &ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t the pride in putting on the Montreal Red or the Toronto Blue. The attitude now is, &lsquo;If I don&rsquo;t play here, I&rsquo;ll Play somewhere else.&rsquo; &ldquo;One of these days, public opinion may catch up with you and your&rsquo;s. &#9632;

f0006-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETIL</div>DENVER &mdash; Ron Delorme made a good point shortly before he left the Colorado Rockies &mdash; via the waiver draft &mdash; last fall.&ldquo;That team is going to make money this year,&rdquo; Delorme said. &ldquo;You know why? Because the fans won&rsquo;t know any of the players without a program and the program sales will be great.&rdquo;Delorme was bitter at the time and remains bitter about the treatment he received in training camp after five seasons of devoted service &mdash; a bodysacrificing service much of the time. So you take some of those statements with a grain of salt &mdash; recognizing that a player is upset and may not always mean what he says.Delorme&rsquo;s statement, though, had a great deal of truth to it &mdash; provided a franchise could live off what it takes in on program sales. The sale of programs is one of the few means of revenue the Rockies enjoy al McNichois Sports Arena because the City of Denver gets all the parking and concessions. And when a team is drawing between 7,000 and 8,000 a game, minimal program sale revenue is not enough to keep the franchise going.But Delorme&rsquo;s point was well taken. Due to the influx of Europeans (only one of whom, Veli Pekka-Ketola was on the roster at the end of January) and other personnel, familiar faces were few and far between when the Rockies&rsquo; season started.Familiar faces are still few and far between. Players come and go through the Rockies&rsquo; franchise like they go through a revolving door. As of mid-January, 20 new players donned Colorado uniforms this season for the first time &mdash; bringing to 122 the staggering total which has gone through the franchise in its six-year existence.At one point around the first of the New Year, the Rockies had 25 healthy players on hand for what looked like a training-camp session. &ldquo;We use Velcro on the backs of jerseys,&rdquo; cracked trainer Toby Wilson. &ldquo;We rip &lsquo;em [names] on and rip &lsquo;em off.&rdquo;But that situation was remedied quickly. Left winger Paul Gagne suffered a serious shoulder separation when crunched into the boards by Detroit&rsquo;s mammoth Willie Huber and two days later defenseman Joel Quenneville suffered a badly sprained ankle, twisted knee and facial cuts when he crashed into the end boards at the conclusion of a leg of a relay race in practice. Both Gagne and Quenneville, having disappointing seasons anyway, were sidelined for at least a month.As the season passed the halfway point, the Rockies had but six of their original draft choices still on their roster. The rest were acquired by trade, purchase or free-agent signing.And that lack of developing draft choices had general manager Billy MacMillan convinced that the team&rsquo;s approach to the draft had been all wrong. He gathered his scouting staff together in an effort to determine a direction for the 1982 Entry Draft, one in which the Rockies will not have a selection until the third round.The lack of a first-round or second-round choice in 1982 and the ineffectiveness of past drafts was one of the reasons behind the team&rsquo;s acquisition of 21-year-old forwards Kevin Maxwell and Jim Dobson from Minnesota for cash. &ldquo;That will help us because of our draft situation, past and future,&rdquo; MacMillan said.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had bad drafts in the past, but it&rsquo;s not going to happen anymore,&rdquo; MacMillan insisted. &ldquo;Bert [Marshall] talked to [Minnesota GM] Lou Nanne about his scouting system in Minnesota and that&rsquo;s the way I think we&rsquo;d like to go.&ldquo;As far as getting Maxwell and Dobson from Minnesota, Maxwell&rsquo;s going to help, no question about it. And with Dobson, if we can get a guy that can play, somewhere along the way, all well and good. And when you don&rsquo;t have to give up draft picks to get &lsquo;em, all the better,&rdquo; MacMillan said.All of which is fine, but it does little for the fan who has to keep buying programs to remain informed of all the changing faces.Delorme was right &mdash; to a degree. In the Mile High City, you can&rsquo;t tell the Rockies from one game to the next without a program. &#9632;

Scorecard Is Essential To Identify Rockies

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH &mdash; Penguin coach Eddie Johnston calls the incident in which he lost leading scorer Paul Gardner for at least six weeks &ldquo;the most vicious thing I&rsquo;ve seen in all my years in hockey.&rdquo;Gardner&rsquo;s jaw was broken in two places when Winnipeg Jet.right wing Jimmy Mann sucker punched him late in the second period of a Jan. 13 game. The punch apparently was in retaliation for a cross-check Gardner had given the Jets&rsquo; Doug Smail a couple of minutes earlier.Gardner received a minor penalty from referee Dave Newell for the infraction in which his stick hit Smail&rsquo;s jaw and broke in half.&ldquo;Both guys bumped at the blueline,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;The other guy went down and unfortunately got hurt. Gardner got a penalty for what he did. It wasn&rsquo;t as if he went unpunished. Regardless of what happened, you don&rsquo;t send a guy off the bench like that.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt in my mind that their coach sent him off the bench after our guy,&rdquo; Johnston said in reference to Jet coach Tom Watt. &ldquo;He had his gloves off before he got there.&ldquo;For a coach to send a guy off the bench like that is disgraceful. That&rsquo;s the kind of stuff we&rsquo;re trying to get out of our league. He sits in his ivory tower and is a textbook coach. He never had to take a bump or get hurt in this league, or any league for that matter.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;What Mann did was a deliberate attempt to injure,&rdquo; said Eddie Johnston, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m 10 times madder at Watt&hellip;&rdquo;</blockquote>Watt is in his first year at the helm of the Jets after being an assistant last season at Vancouver, and following 14 seasons as coach of the University of Toronto.The incident occurred during a stoppage in play. Gardner was standing in front of the Winnipeg goal waiting for the Jets to make a line change. Mann came off the bench, went after Gardner from behind, and connected with a round-house right.&ldquo;Gardner had no chance to face the guy and no opportunity to retaliate,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;The guy came up from behind and sucker punched him.&rdquo;Johnston was also upset that Newell gave Mann only fighting major and game misconduct penalties.&ldquo;That was a match penalty if I ever saw one,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;What he did was a deliberate attempt to injure, but as angry as I am at Mann, I&rsquo;m 10 times madder at Watt for sending him out in the first place. There&rsquo;s no place for stuff like that in our league. Our game doesn&rsquo;t need jerks like that.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011079/4514299-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="572" height="718"><figcaption class="caption-body">Penguins&rsquo; leading scorer Paul Gardner will be cut six weeks with a broken jaw.</figcaption></div>Gardner&rsquo;s jaw was broken on the right side of his face and near his chin. He flew back to Pittsburgh, underwent surgery, and will be out of action for at least six weeks.Since being obtained from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a November 1980 trade, Gardner had played in 105 consecutive games and scored 60 goals and 67 assists at the time he was injured. This season he led the Penguins in goals (26), points (53) and power play goals (12).He had centered the Penguins&rsquo; top line with Rick Kehoe on the right wing and Pat Boutette on the left. In an effort to get more balanced scoring, Johnston recently placed Bobby Simpson on Gardner&rsquo;s left side, but would reunite the trio for power play opportunities.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll keep Boutette and Kehoe together on the power play,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll probably try Greg Malone or Mike Bullard between them. If that doesn&rsquo;t work, I&rsquo;ll use regular lines on the power play.&ldquo;Malone will probably center the line with Simpson and Kehoe. This will be his chance to turn his season around. It will also mean a lot of playing time for Mark Johnson. Neither have done much lately. They&rsquo;ve been non-productive, but now we&rsquo;re going to need them and they know that.&rdquo;Malone&rsquo;s name had been mentioned prominently in trade rumors recently. Johnston had said he would like to obtain a right-handed defenseman, but Gardner&rsquo;s injury may have voided any chance of a deal.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have a surplus at center any more,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;That could certainly change our trading situation.&rdquo;The Penguins filed a formal protest over the incident with the National Hockey League. NHL referee-in-chief and vice president Scotty Morrison was in attendance at the game.PENGUIN TRACKS &mdash; Left wing Gary Rissling, who Johnston calls the best 20th man in the NHL, was recalled from Erie of the American Hockey League. Rookie left wing Pat Graham was sent down to Erie to get more playing time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02812/4514292-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="577" height="841"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eddie Johnston charged Tom Watt with sending Jimmy Mann to &ldquo;get&rdquo; Paul Gardner.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

Deliberate Injury Enrages Johnston

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.214 King St West, Suite 314, Toronto. Ont M5H 1K4UNTIL THE EDMONTON OILERS&rsquo; Wayne Gretzky burst into the scene several years ago, it would be fairly safe to say that the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; Darryl Sittler was certainly not only the most recognizable athlete in Canada, but also one of that country&rsquo;s most recognizable and well known public figures &mdash; a category which encompasses everyone from politicians to axe murderers. While some may snort that that is no great feat, considering the competition &mdash; after Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the much maligned Joe Clark is Canada&rsquo;s best known living politician, although some wouldn&rsquo;t use that adjective when describing Clark &mdash; the fact remains that in a country of well over 25 million people, just about everyone had at least heard of Sittler.Lately, however, young Gretzky has been stealing a lot of Sitiler&rsquo;s thunder. And while most of Gretzky&rsquo;s recent publicity has come as the result of what he&rsquo;s accomplished on the ice, the majority of the news concerning Mr. Sittler has revolved around his accomplishments &mdash; or lack of same &mdash; off the ice. While Gretzky has spent most of the current National Hockey League campaign rewriting every scoring record in the books, Sittler had spent the same amount of tirrie doing his damndest to get out of Toronto, away from the clutches of Leaf owner Harold Ballard.Recently, within 48 hours of each other, both Gretzky and Sittler were rewarded for their efforts.Sittler, at long last, received his wish &mdash; after not playing for the Leafs for three weeks because of &ldquo;mental fatigue&rdquo; &mdash; and was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, which, along with the Minnesota North Stars, was one of the teams Sittler had expressed an interest in playing for when this silly charade started earlier this season. The Flyers welcomed their newest acquisition with open arms, kind words and warm smiles: Flyers&rsquo; owner Ed Snider boldly stated that Sittler was the one ingredient the Flyers needed to win the Stanley Cup, promptly gave him a raise (from $195,000 Canadian to $250,000 U.S.) and promised Sittler what every hockey player dreams of getting when his playing days are over, a &ldquo;job in the organization&rdquo; (pronounced organ-eye-zation, north of the border).Then Sittler, as unaccustomed to such kindness and charity from an owner as he was to the long underwear the Flyers wear to their games this season, went out and made an unremarkable debut in his new uniform. Who knows? Maybe if Snider had called Sittler, who left Toronto as the Leafs&rsquo; alltime scoring leader, a &ldquo;cancer&rdquo; (one of Ballard&rsquo;s many nicknames for Sittler) instead of &ldquo;the kind of player this organization can always use,&rdquo; Darryl would have gotten a hat trick.Two days after Sittler was rewarded for what he has accomplished in the last decade plus, Wayne Gretzky was rewarded for what Oilers&rsquo; owner Peter Pocklington hopes Gretzky will accomplish in the next decade plus: The Kid, then a few days shy of his 21st birthday, received a contract worth $20 million over the next 15 years.In the wake of these auspicious occasions, both Gretzky and Sittler received their share of criticism &mdash; Sittler for petulantly abandoning his teammates in Toronto and Gretzky for simply making as much money as the contract calls for. Hard as it may seem to believe, there are a few whizzes out there who don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s worth all that bread.Both arguments are nonsense.For nearly 12 years, Sittler was a loyal, hard working and invaluable player for the Leafs. Even during all the unpleasantness that occurred after the return of Punch Imlach to the team as general manager, Sittler&rsquo;s actions and attitude, although far from perfect, were much better than they might have been had another player been in his shoes. Throughout the whole mess, Sittler handled himself and the whole situation admirably. While a schism with the Leafs was inevitable, the happy ending to this story was not. And we&rsquo;re glad for Sittler that things turned out for him as well as they did.And Gretzky?Well, let&rsquo;s just say that with inflation and everything else factored in, Pocklington and everyone who&rsquo;ll be watching The Kid for the next 15 years are getting bargain.Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine that Gretzky will be 36 when the pact expires, isn&rsquo;t it? &#9632;

Just Rewards

<div class="byline">BY DAVE BRANCH</div>As this issue went to press, one of the more controversial topics of discussion concerned the possible revamping of Canada&rsquo;s Major Junior hockey system and the formation of something called the National Development League.Here&rsquo;s how it would work:The Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, currently comprised of 35 teams in three leagues &mdash; the Quebec (9) Ontario (14) and Western (12) &mdash; would be replaced by a semi-pro league that would be made up of teams closely supervised by parent clubs in the National Hockey League. The Nhis annual entry draft would still take place each June but instead of sending 18-year-old draftees, who weren&rsquo;t yet ready for the NHL, back to their junior teams, they would instead go to whatever development league team was owned or controlled by the NHL team that drafted them. The league would be open to players aged 18 to 22, although any player younger than 18 who was qualified to play in the development league could do so.While the idea has naturally received support from various NHL general managers and executives, the same cannot be said for some of the officials in the CMJHL. In the space below, Dave Branch, the executive director of the CMJHL and the commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League, discusses why he would oppose such a plan.In this space next week, Ed Chynoweth, the chairman of the board of the CMJHL and the president of the Western Hockey League will give his opinions of the concept and why the study of proposals for this type of league has merit.I&rsquo;m very limited in what I can say at this point about the concept of a development league. We have not had a league meeting since this first came up and as such there has been no real league position formed.That said, based on what I have seen about this idea, I have to ask myself, why? Why this particular type of league? The one statement I keep seeing is that it would develop the players better [than we are] and that they&rsquo;d be older and more experienced. Well, if they&rsquo;re worried about older and more experienced players, why have an 18-year-old draft?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011189/4514354-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="410" height="526"></div>We have produced players such as Wayne Gretzky, Denis Potvin, Bobby Orr, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Darryl Sittler, Guy Lafleur &hellip; you can go through the whole list of superstars. And there&rsquo;s been a number of other solid NHLers which we have produced. Team Canada won a gold medal recently at the World Junior Championships, which certainly suggests that this particular crop of junior players represents the best in the world. That&rsquo;s debatable, I suppose, but the suggestion is there.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;We feel the OHL and the CMJHL as a whole are very successful at doing what we have been asked to do &mdash; produce hockey players for the NHL&rdquo;</blockquote>All told, what I&rsquo;m trying to say is that we feel the OHL and the CMJHL as a whole are very successful at doing what we have been asked to do &mdash; produce hockey players for the NHL. If there are any problems in the NHL or in hockey in general, maybe we should identify what those problems are. What are the real issues? If one of them is in fact the large cost of operating minor professional teams, as has been suggested, do you change the Junior structure in order to diminish your losses in operating a minor professional team? Given that that seems to be the main motivation behind starting this league, I&rsquo;m not so sure that&rsquo;s the answer.The other thing, of course, is education, an area we&rsquo;re very proud of. We&rsquo;ve just finished a survey of the semester ending in December and the overall grade average of OHL players attending school is 83.85 percent. We&rsquo;ve got 13 16-year-old players in our league right now and all of them are going to school. We&rsquo;ve got 89 17-year-olds and all of them are going to school. We have 101 18-year-olds and 91 of them attend school. We have 78 19-year-olds, 49 of whom go to school. And we have 10 20-year-olds, two of whom attend school.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;What happens when you turn 22, graduate from this league without an education and then don&rsquo;t make the NHL&rsquo;s Where do you go?&rdquo;</blockquote>Given those statistics and keeping in mind the fact that once a player finished high school he may choose not to go to university if he has the option of playing in a development league, what player would really want to play in this league if he couldn&rsquo;t get an education? I&rsquo;m not suggesting that he couldn&rsquo;t get an education in a development league, but it seems to me that if you&rsquo;re going to go into a semi-professional environment, you are committing yourself to hockey as a possible vocation. And what happens when you turn 22, graduate from this league without an education and then don&rsquo;t make the NHL&rsquo;s Where do you go? That&rsquo;s a concern that I have, given the fact that I don&rsquo;t think this league would create an environment that would foster or promote education.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;No matter what anyone tries to tell me, what the NHL is really trying to do is cut back on costs&rdquo;</blockquote>No matter what anyone tries to tell me, what they [the NHL] are really trying to do is cut back on costs. It&rsquo;s been suggested to me, for example, that last year it cost the Montreal Canadiens $700,000 to run their Nova Scotia team [in the American League]. What do they get for that $700,000? Not very much. When you look at the NHL rosters, I would suggest &mdash; without doing any research &mdash; that 90 percent of the players that are on those rosters jumped right from Junior or college to the NHL. Very seldom, unfortunately, do we see a player go from Junior to minor pro to the NHL. And if he spends anymore than a year in a minor pro setting, I don&rsquo;t like his chances of getting out of it.So, they&rsquo;ve got a situation where it&rsquo;s costing them big bucks to run a minor pro team. And they say, &ldquo;how can we reduce our costs? Well, let&rsquo;s do away with the junior teams, start this development league and put the teams in Canada, in those Junior cities, and keep the costs right down.&rdquo;Meanwhile, though, what are they doing in Junior hockey? Where are those players going to play before they turn 18? Are they telling me that Brian Bellows [everyone&rsquo;s pick as the No. 1 choice in the 1982 draft] shouldn&rsquo;t be playing in this league? Or Tony Tanti? [picked last year as an 18-year-old by Chicago.] Or Wayne Gretzky when he was 15? Or Bobby Orr when he was 14?I can&rsquo;t for the life of me believe that what they&rsquo;re suggesting here is anymore than a way to cut back &mdash; at the expense of what&rsquo;s best for the game. I&rsquo;ve talked to some people who told me that I&rsquo;m getting too excited, that all the NHL wants to do is discuss whether I want to pursue this idea. But then a few days later I talked to some scouts and GMs from the NHL and they were all referring to this league for next year, as if it has already been decided. So I don&rsquo;t know who to believe. There are a lot of unanswered questions and I hope to sit down with these people and get them resolved as soon as possible. &#9632;

f0008-01

NHL Cutting Costs—At The Expense Of Junior Hockey

<div class="byline">BY JACQUES JUSTICE</div>The buzz from Denver has it that boss Peter Gilbert is down on GM Billy MacMillan&rsquo;s defense orientation. It&rsquo;s said that Gilbert would rather his Rockies lost 7-5 than play a 1-1 tie &hellip; Almost to the day that Oui magazine hit the stands with its Don Murdoch chapter excerpt from Thin Ice, the Red Wings put Murdoch on waivers. Detroit insiders insist that Donny has been minding his manners but has lost his touch &hellip; A rumor trickling out of Washington suggests that coach Bryan Murray and sometimes whiz-kid Bobby Carpenter are less than lovey-dovey. A hard-to-believe tag to this one is that there&rsquo;s a Canadian-American prejudice involved. An even wilder report indicates that NHL prexy John Ziegler is concerned about Carpenter and is considering subtle but firm intervention on the kid&rsquo;s behalf. NHL New York office would love to have Carpenter emerge as the American Gretzky &hellip; Jere Gillis says he never got a true chance either with the Canucks or Rangers &hellip; Ma Bell bumped Gretzky off the cover of Newsweek. The Kid was supposed to be featured in color on the front but lost out when AT&T&rsquo;s anti-trust story broke &hellip; It&rsquo;s beginning to look as if John Ziegler will hammer out a deal with the Soviets so that the European champs (Russians or whomever) meet the Stanley Cup champions every February. The All Star Game will either be scrapped or played at another time. Games will be played in New York &hellip; Both the New York Post and Daily News have gone into the Denis Potvin-might-be-traded business &hellip; Bjorn Borg fueled rumors that he will switch to hockey by turning up at a Rangers-Islanders game.A photographer overheard a bit of Gretzky nastiness during an Oilers-Flyers game at The Spectrum. A second after The Kid scored referee Kerry Fraser retrieved the puck and, in a kind gesture, gave it to Gretzky. Instead of thanking the ref, The Kid snapped: &ldquo;What the ---- do I want to do with this?&rdquo;. The embarrassed official muttered, &ldquo;And I thought he was saving them&rdquo; &hellip; Scuttlebut on Seventh Avenue is that the Rangers&rsquo; high command is disgusted over Ulf Nilsson&rsquo;s non-retum to action from his injured knee. One verbal stiletto carried the message that Ulf, who enters the option year on his contract next season, has been jaking it at the Rangers&rsquo; expense &hellip; Seattle-Tacoma area could make a big-league hockey pitch next year when the 18,000-seat Tacoma Dome opens &hellip; One of Marcel Dionne&rsquo;s pals explains the tightlipped philosophy for 1981-82. &ldquo;He could have become the Magic Johnson of hockey,&rdquo; says the pal. Dionne has been so disgusted with the Kings&rsquo; front office operation he decided mum Was the better part of valor. A source close to the L.A. club says GM George Maguire has owner Jerry Buss hypnotized. Buss has no interest in pouring more dollars into the Kings, the tipster tells &hellip; The most revealing magazine piece about a superficially nice hockey personality is now in the works. When it hits the stands, the tremors will be felt on both sides of the border &hellip; Fred Shero says he wants to see Dave Schultz the next time The Hammer visits Manhattan. The Fog remains holed up in Hartsdale, N.Y. but follows the NHL scene on the tube. He deplores the no-defense game and kids who gradute to the NHL without any minor league training. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no way a kid can learn defense without a few years in the minors,&rdquo; says Shero.An NHL club official wonders why Bob Hope was picked to m.c. the All Star dinner since Hope bombed the last time he was invited. &ldquo;Why, even ex-NYC [mayor] John Lindsay was better,&rdquo; the man says &hellip; Neither management not players believe there will be a hockey strike next season. One NHL player rep says, &ldquo;The hockey players don&rsquo;t have a strike mentality. Besides, hockey isn&rsquo;t baseball. There&rsquo;s no pot-of-gold for them.&rdquo; Another notes that the NHL Players&rsquo; Association is living in the 18th century in relation to baseball and football players&rsquo; unions. Although Al Eagieson is supposed to agree to take on the job of union boss as a full-time job or step down, his foes believe he will make a power-play to keep his present part-time role. &ldquo;Only a political move can unseat The Eagle,&rdquo; one of his enemies says &hellip; Phil Esposito told a pal that his telecasting job is not as much fun as he thought it would be. I&ldquo;m not sure I&rsquo;ll be doing it next year,&rdquo; he added &hellip; The TomWatt-Herb Brooks feud has its roots in another year &hellip; Someone asked a cosmopolitan NHL person how he felt about a move of the Rockies to Ottawa. &ldquo;If we can be in Hartford, we sure as hell can be in Ottawa!&rdquo;. But an owner puts it this way when asked about a franchise in Canada&rsquo;s capital city: &ldquo;Why should there be?&rdquo;. Another owner defends Denver; &ldquo;How can you call it a bad hockey city if it never had a good hockey team?&rdquo; &hellip; The Red Wings can be bought but the Norris clan would not relinquish its super deal with the city of Detroit &hellip; They would keep the concessions and other lucrative aspects of their tie-in with Joe Louis Arena. Bruce Norris refuses to specifically tell Detroit reporters whether Jimmy Skinner and Wayne Maxner will retain their jobs through the end of the season. Says one Red Wing scribe about Maxner: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a nice guy but I wonder about his hockey knowledge.&rdquo;Someone asked Islanders&rsquo; Swedish-born defenseman Tomas Jonsson what he planned to do as part of the team&rsquo;s talent contest. Jonsson replied: &ldquo;Speak English.&rdquo; &hellip; Former Islander-turned-broadcaster Jean Potvin says the Darryl Sittler deal could benefit the Stanley Cup Champions. &ldquo;Sittler makes Philly stronger,&rdquo; says Potvin, &ldquo;which puts the Islanders&rsquo; backs against the wall. And that&rsquo;s when they&rsquo;re at their best.&rdquo; &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011154/4514409-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Normand Aubin came up from the minors to take Darryl Sittler&rsquo;s spot in the Leafs&rsquo; lineup and his excellent play allowed the Leafs to trade Sittler for future help.</figcaption></div>TORONTO &mdash; Unlike the little Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dike to save his city from the rising flood waters, the Maple Leafs have been faced with a series of leaks throughout the 1981-82 season and have found on occasion that there have been too many holes for fingers.With a third consecutive four-game week matching them against three divisional opponents, the Leafs found themselves in fifth place of the Norris Division with two streaks, both of them unusual for this club, and a final settlement of the Darryl Sittler saga.The Leafs chalked up their fourth consecutive home ice victory to open the week as Rene Robert had his biggest game in a Maple Leaf uniform, contributing four assists to a 6-2 decision over the New York Rangers. Bill Derlago became the third 20-goal scorer on the club following Rick Vaive and John Anderson as he notched a pair of scores, while Michel (Bunny) Larocque started his eighth consecutive game in goal and played well.While awaiting another home start against the Calgary Flames, the Sittler deal was finally consummated sending the ex-captain to Philadelphia in exchange for Providence College freshman Rich Costello [&ldquo;Gerry McNamara is very high on him,&rdquo; said coach Mike Nykoluk], a second round 1982 draft choice obtained from Philadelphia from Hartford and future considerations, believed to be a choice of a minor league player from a list of 15 names submitted by the Flyers.The trade brought a close to Sittler&rsquo;s career as a Leaf during which he set club records for goals, 389, assists, 527, points, 916, as well as most 30-goal seasons, eight, and most 40-goal seasons, four, not to mention some of his outstanding single game feats such as six goals and 10 points in a game and five goals in a playoff game against, ironically, Philadelphia.At the same time, it lifted some of the burden on the Leafs&rsquo; players who felt sorry for Sittler who was finally forced to sit out three weeks due to &ldquo;mental duress&rdquo; but who also missed his leadership.&ldquo;In a way we knew he wasn&rsquo;t coming back,&rdquo; said Borje Salming. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too bad to lose a super player like Darryl. I wish him all the luck in the world.&rdquo;On the bright side, Sittler&rsquo;s sit-out and departure led to rookie Normand Aubin being given a shot in the lineup and he has performed well and proven thus far to be the kind of deadly scorer in the NHL that he has shown at each level of hockey. In his first 11 games with the Leafs, Aubin had 12 points including seven goals.Coach Nykoluk saw another beneficial effect as well.&ldquo;Everybody put too much of a load on Sittler,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everybody wanted one guy to be the leader. Now some of the guys are coming forward to be the leaders &mdash; Terry Martin, Borje Salming, Rick Vaive &mdash; the guys seem closer together.&rdquo;Vaive, who became the acting captain shortly after Sittler went out of the lineup, continued in that role, one which Nykoluk seemed reluctant to change.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got five or six leaders on this team,&rdquo; Vaive said after collecting two goals to spurt the Leafs into a 4-4 tie with the Flames after trailing by three goals. &ldquo;I figure I&rsquo;m just doing what I&rsquo;ve done all year.&ldquo;It is a little different to have the &ldquo;C&rdquo; on out on the ice, but I&rsquo;m just trying to stay out of the penalty box and help our team on the ice.&rdquo;The tie against the Flames boosted the Leafs&rsquo; undefeated string at Maple Leaf Gardens to five games, but then they suddenly began to spring leaks on the road.They went into Boston the next night and despite one of their better games there in years and the fact that they were tied 2-2 after two periods, they lost a 4-2 decision to the Bruins. Vince Tremblay got the start in goal for the Leafs after nine straight by Larocque and he played well but the Leafs didn&rsquo;t have it in the third period and stretched a road winless streak to five games when they were unable to stick with the Bruins.Two nights later in St. Louis, the Leafs played one of their far too frequent dull first periods and were down 3-0 to the Blues. Terry Martin and Bob Manno scored in the middle frame but later, when the Leafs had a power play they not only lost a chance to tie the game but surrendered a shorthanded goal to Mike Zuke to put the game out of reach. That made them 0-4-2 in the last half dozen road games.Just when one problem is solved, another one crops up.LOOSE LEAFS &mdash; Salming missed both the road contests with the flu, Fred Boimistruck also missed the St. Louis game and Terry Martin missed the Boston game after being struck in the leg with a puck &hellip; Center Laurie Boschman was benched for the St. Louis game and the possibilities of Boschman being sent to the minors increased when Gary Yaremchuk was called up from Cincinnati for the St. Louis game and played a strong match. Boschman has but five goals and 15 assists for the Leafs and was benched earlier in the season for several games. &#9632;

f0009-01

Leafs Solve Some Problems But Lose Magic On The Road

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY &mdash; On the surface, the two players have nothing in common.One, Guy Chouinard is a center. His contribution to the Calgary Flames is almost exclusively offensive, he quarterbacks the power Play from the right point and for two years, he was the No. 1 center on the team&rsquo;s No. 1 line.At 5-11, Chouinard leaves the physical part of the game to other members of the team.The other, Paul Reinhart, is a defenseman. He contributes on offense as well, but is most effective as a twoway player. He is no taller than Chouinard, but considerably wider and stronger. When he knocks a player down, he leaves a lasting impression on that player.A closer look reveals a lot of similarities in the kind of years the two are having.It has not been the best of times for either player in the 1981-82 season. Both have been injured, Chouinard on two separate occasions, and the club struggled.Now, though, past the season&rsquo;s halfway mark, the two are showing signs of returning to form, good news for all concerned with the Flames hockey team.Reinhart recently played an outstanding two-way game in a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. He set up three goals at one end of the rink, kept the Oilers from scoring at the other and overshadowed his close friend and all-star candidate Paul Coffey.On top of that, he used his body like he rarely has in a Calgary uniform. Chouinard, for his part, scored a goal in that game, giving him at least one goal in each of four games.&ldquo;If I want to play to my potential, I definitely have to start using my weight,&rdquo; said Reinhart. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m 205 pounds, I should be able to use my weight to my advantage. Plus, when you hit someone, especially early on, you get into the game more.&rdquo;Reinhart missed the first 13 games of the season with a recurring ankle injury which was aggravated in the Canada Cup Tournament. Qualifying for one of the seven defense spots on the Canadian entry stamped him as one of the league&rsquo;s premier defenseman.Sometimes, as in the game against the Oilers for example, one can understand why coach Scotty Bowman selected Reinhart for the team above half-dozen of the league&rsquo;s top defensemen. Other times Reinhart can look quite ordinary.&ldquo;Sometimes, I don&rsquo;t do bad things necessarily,&rdquo; said Reinhart. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t do the good things that would make me a better player. Sometimes, it&rsquo;s important to get mad before a game. I&rsquo;d probably be twice the hockey player I am if I did that every night.&rdquo;As for Chouinard, the other anchor on the club&rsquo;s power Play, he missed 12 games with a severe groin injury and then another four because of a scratched cornea.His totals for the season &mdash; 32 games, 13 goals and 35 points &mdash; do not illustrate the extent of his slump; the slump that he now hopes is over.&ldquo;The two injuries I had, I couldn&rsquo;t get on the ice for long periods of time,&rdquo; said Chouinard. &ldquo;At least, last year when I separated my shoulder, I could skate even when I couldn&rsquo;t Play. This year, I didn&rsquo;t have the drive in my legs, I still don&rsquo;t have it yet. And I&rsquo;m not one of the better skaters in the league to start with.&ldquo;Usually, I&rsquo;m better in the second half than in the first half. Maybe, that&rsquo;ll be the case again.&rdquo;Coach Al MacNeil, in searching for successful line combinations, has tried virtually every left and right-winger on the club with Chouinard. That can disrupt his play.Chouinard&rsquo;s game &mdash; essentially play-making &mdash; requires at least one winger with a touch around the net. Against the Oilers, MacNeil had him with Dan Labraaten and Lanny McDonald, two men with &ldquo;good hands&rdquo; as hockey players like to say.&ldquo;Anytime I Play with a good skater, it&rsquo;s easier for me,&rdquo; says Chouinard. &ldquo;My game is to hit the opening and give the guys the puck. It wasn&rsquo;t happening there for awhile.&rdquo;IN BRIEF &mdash; Flames finally put an end to the Kari Eloranta experiment. Eloranta, a 25-year-old rookie from Lahti, Finland, was sent to the minors for the second time this season and it&rsquo;s doubtful if he&rsquo;ll be back. The Flames out-bid a number of NHL teams to sign Eloranta as a free agent in the summer. However, Eloranta had trouble adapting to the North American game, especially the physical end. General manager Cliff Fletcher said a decision on whether Eloranta&rsquo;s contract will be bought out would not be made until training camp next year &hellip; When injuries sidelined first Bob Murdoch, then rookie Charles Bourgeois, the Flames recalled Gord Wappel, not Eloranta, from their minor-league affiliate in Oklahoma City. &#9632;

Flames’ Stalwarts Finally Starting To Catch Fire

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011187/4514464-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="295" height="331"></div><h2>Couple Of Characters</h2>AS WILL ROGERS, or someone, once said, travel long enough and you&rsquo;ll meet good people.Will Rogers never met Nate Greenberg or Frankie Vona, but if he had, ol&rsquo; Will would have kept his streak alive. &ldquo;I never met a man I didn&rsquo;t like,&rdquo; Will said in, of all places, Boston. Hmmm, Boston &hellip; since Will made his famous remark in Boston, in 1930, maybe he did meet Frankie Vona. Of course, Frankie was just a toddler then.Nate Greenberg and Frankie Vona &mdash; sounds like a couple characters from &ldquo;Guys and Dolls.&rdquo; These guys are characters, all right, but mainly, they are two of hockey&rsquo;s good people. Unfortunately, unless you&rsquo;ve travelled to Boston for a hockey game, you&rsquo;ve probably never heard of Nate and Frankie. But those of us who do drop in to sample the unique cuisine in the Boston Garden press room know both these gentlemen, and it&rsquo;s been our pleasure.Nate, the Bruins award-winning public relations director, is the taller and younger of the two, but Frank will tell you he&rsquo;s better looking than Nate. By day Frank is a Newton, Mass., fireman. By game nights, he&rsquo;s Nate&rsquo;s right-hand man in the press room, press box and dressing room. Frank also helps out at Celtics&rsquo; games, which means he&rsquo;s a familiar face to both Boston snow-season pro teams and countless visiting players and sports writers.There are more efficient public relations directors and aides in the NHL than ever, but what makes Nate and Frank special is they are among the few who are never too busy to help. Need an interview? They&rsquo;ll try like hell to arrange it. When a Boston player is on the request list after a game and Frank sees impatient writers checking their watches as deadline time approaches, he&rsquo;ll try to &ldquo;lean&rdquo; on the player.Both Nate and Frank know what&rsquo;s going on, with the Bruins and throughout the league. Within the limitations of their jobs, they&rsquo;re willing to discuss what&rsquo;s happening, which separates them from some PR men who still consider the visiting press the enemy.<h2>Enjoys Media&rsquo;s Company</h2>ANOTHER TRAIT media people like about Nate and Frank is they seem to enjoy being with us. The media mob isn&rsquo;t always easy to live with &mdash; just ask our wives. We can be demanding, nosey and grumpy, just to name a few of our better characteristics. In one of his many candid moments, Nate has said too many sportswriters and broadcasters want to be babied, and he&rsquo;s right. &ldquo;Some of those guys want everything done for them,&rdquo; a weary Nate once told me. &ldquo;They won&rsquo;t even keep their own stats. Some day I expect one of them to ask me to do the interview for him.&rdquo;Generally, however, Nate&rsquo;s mood is positive. People like being with him. After buying a map at North Station, sportswriters follow the arrows to Nate&rsquo;s second-floor office at the Garden. The aroma of pipe tobacco or cigar smoke means you&rsquo;ve got the scent. Once you&rsquo;ve arrived, said hello to secretary Angela Daddico, it&rsquo;s fun to spend an hour or so talking and reminiscing. Harry Sinden&rsquo;s office is nearby, which means the Bruins&rsquo; shrewd GM or his assistant, Tom Johnson, usually stop by to chat.After games, Nate and Frank often join the visiting press for refreshments and perhaps a late snack. The Moon Villa, which features Chinese cuisine, is one of Nate&rsquo;s favorite places. To find it, a tourist would need a map, or a guide &mdash; preferably one who hasn&rsquo;t been drinking. Nate, of course, wheels his car through Boston&rsquo;s tricky, cramped, snow-covered streets as if he were in radar contact with the Moon Villa&rsquo;s kitchen.Until recently, another favorite hangout was a saloon across the street from Boston Garden. During the Orr-Esposito era, many Bruins made a pit stop at the place after games before heading home. Later, the place, which wasn&rsquo;t exactly the Ritz to begin with, lost some of its charm. Once, I&rsquo;m told, someone tried to ride a motorcycle through the front door.<h2>Quite A Family</h2>WHILE YOU&rsquo;RE ENJOYING the ambiance of such places, discussions will frequently turn to the Nhis public and press relations problems, Frank&rsquo;s family or Nate&rsquo;s social life. Conversations on the last topic are usually brief. Frank&rsquo;s family is another story. He is justifiably proud of his clan, which includes son Dave. One of Massachusetts&rsquo; top runners, Dave is attending Boston University on a track scholarship. Evenings out with Nate and Frank end with one of them driving the visiting writers back to their hotel, a gesture that is sincerely appreciated when it&rsquo;s 3 a.m. and bone-chilling cold.My friendly relationship with Nate and Frank began during the years when the Bruins and Philadelphia were holding their angry May playoff meetings. Nate has never forgiven the Flyers for upsetting the Orr and Esposito-led Bruins for the 1974 Stanley Cup.On my last visit to Boston, I brought along a Chicago Tribune column by Bob Verdi, the former HOCKEY NEWS columnist. Verdi&rsquo;s piece complimented the Flyers&rsquo; organization and concluded by suggesting that other NHL teams should try to copy the Flyers&rsquo; dedication to excellence. That night, Nate never joined us. When I checked on him the next day, he said he hadn&rsquo;t been feeling well. &ldquo;I think Verdi&rsquo;s column did it to me,&rdquo; said Nate, only half-kidding. &#9632;

f0010-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY GARY MUELLER</div>ST. LOUIS &mdash; The Norris Division of the National Hockey League is beginning to look more and more like the National Football Conference&rsquo;s Central Division. You know, the black-and-blue division.They might not have the best records in the NHL&rsquo;s overall standings, but the Minnesota North Stars, Chicago Black Hawks and St. Louis Blues have a torrid, three-way race going and all three are trying to keep going in the face of serious injury problems.Minnesota was hit with injuries right from the start of the season and only recently has been at anything resembling full strength; Chicago was hit hard by injuries a couple of months into the season, and now St. Louis has felt the effects of serious injuries to key players.Within recent weeks, the Blues have had to get along without the services of Bernie Federko, Wayne Babych, Larry Patey, Jim Nill, Jim Pavese and Gerry Hart for varying lengths of time. Earlier, Blair Chapman underwent back surgery and wasn&rsquo;t expected back until the final week of the season.Of the other injuries, the most serious have been to Hart, Babych and Federko. Hart, injured originally in the fourth game of the season, had been trying to rebuild his damaged knee through exercise and therapy before finally deciding to undergo arthroscopic surgery. He was expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks.&ldquo;Five years ago, I had a knee injury and they talked about surgery at the time, but decided to see whether I could keep on playing and just strengthen the knee,&rdquo; Hart said. &ldquo;That was five years ago and I never had the surgery. So I thought it was worth trying to put it off again.&ldquo;But it got to the point where I couldn&rsquo;t Play more than one or two games without having to sit out the next one. I wasn&rsquo;t helping myself or the team, but at least I feel I was able to make a contribution to the resurgence of the team over the last couple of months and I&rsquo;ll be back for the stretch run.&rdquo;With Hart sidelined, exactly half of the Blues&rsquo; defense was virtually inexperienced, with 19-year-olds Rik Wilson and Jim Pavese, along with former U.S. Olympian Bill Baker, playing key roles along with veterans Jack Brownschidle, Ed Kea and Rick LaPointe.Babych, whose NHL career has been marked by injuries, had missed the first 12 games of the season after suffering a shoulder injury during training camp and then continued to aggravate the injury after returning to the lineup.The Blues were hoping a process known as manipulation, administered under anesthesia, could solve Babych&rsquo;s problem, along with continuing therapy.&ldquo;If it works, I might not be out for that long,&rdquo; said Babych, who set a Blues&rsquo; record with 54 goals last season. &ldquo;If it doesn&rsquo;t, we could be in trouble. But I couldn&rsquo;t go on the way it is now. The shoulder is so bad that I can&rsquo;t shoot the puck and it&rsquo;s just getting worse and worse.&rdquo;In Babych&rsquo;s absence, right winger Joey Mullen was summoned from Salt Lake City and responded by setting a Blues record with two goals &mdash; his first two in the NHL &mdash; only eight seconds apart.Federko was forced to miss six games after suffering some tom rib cartilage when he was hit while attempting to come out from behind the net and stuff a shot past Hartford goalie Greg Millen.&ldquo;I thought I&rsquo;d had a heart attack,&rdquo; said Federko, who last season had become the first 100-point scorer in the history of the Blues.In Federko&rsquo;s absence, Richie Hansen was called up from Salt Lake and picked up a pair of assists as he helped left winger Brian Sutter become the first St. Louis player to enjoy a three-goal game this season.BLUENOTES &mdash; The injury wave seemed to be taking its toll as the Blues, after enjoying a 6-0-0 record at home in December, lost two of their first four home games in January &hellip; Sutter&rsquo;s three goals against Washington marked the fourth time in his career that he had scored three goals in a game. &#9632;

Blues In Battle With Injury Bug

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER &mdash; Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s first visit of the season to Capital Centre proved memorable, if not great.The Edmonton club arrived two days before the game and Gretzky consented to help the struggling Capitals sell some tickets.After practicing in a heatless government-owned rink, Gretzky sat outside on the steps and answered questions from a large media contingent that included several Toronto writers and a television crew from the Atlanta-based Cable News Network. He also signed autographs for members of the hockey team from Gallaudet, a Washington university for the deaf.Afterward, Gretzky was driven by limousine to all four major Washington television stations, where he was interviewed for late-night sports programs on the eve of the game. En route, he spoke on the limousine phone to a radio talk-show host.<blockquote class="pullQuote">The day included a six-inch snowfall, an airplane crash that killed 78 persons and a subway derailment that took three more lives, so the crowd totaled only 3,284 for the Edmonton game</blockquote>Unfortunately for Washington hockey fans, game day included a six-inch snowfall, an airplane crash that killed 78 persons and a subway derailment that took three more lives. Persons who needed six hours to get home from work did not venture to Capital Centre, which lacks public transportation, so the crowd totaled only 3,284, smallest in the Centre&rsquo;s history.Those who arrived late missed the best of Gretzky, as he scored a goal and two assists in the first 10 minutes, then was neutralized by Bengt Gustafsson&rsquo;s outstanding defensive effort. All of Gretzky&rsquo;s points came after Gustafsson, forced to skate short shifts by an ankle injury, had left the ice.With 14 seconds left and Edmonton leading 6-5, the Oilers called a timeout. On the ensuing faceoff in the Edmonton end, Dennis Maruk out-drew Gretzky, took a return pass from Gustafsson and beat Grant Fuhr for the tying goal with 10 seconds left on the clock.At game&rsquo;s end, Gretzky shoved past a public-relations assistant who tried to stop him for the three-star introductions. It was an understandable reaction, since the Centre&rsquo;s three stars are frequently ridiculous and Gretzky knew he did not deserve the No. 1 selection, after a minus night, while his tormentor, plus-three Gustafsson, went unrecognized.In the dressing room, Gretzky slowly took off his uniform, head down, and then he said, &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re winning, 6-5, and you finish like that, it&rsquo;s just awful. I lost the draw and the next thing I know it&rsquo;s in the net. It was nobody&rsquo;s fault but mine.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not so bad when you lose the faceoff, but when your man scores &hellip; Everybody makes mistakes, but when you make a mistake like that, it hurts the hockey club. It shouldn&rsquo;t have happened. But he [Maruk] deserved it. It was a nice shot.&rdquo;Gretzky was hooked to the ice several times by Gustafsson and twice slashed the Swede in retaliation, although no penalties were called on either player by referee Kerry Fraser. Despite the obvious effect on his play, Gretzky offered no alibi.&ldquo;I get it every game and it doesn&rsquo;t really bother me at all,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;Give him [Gustafsson] credit. He worked hard out there.&rdquo;Gretzky&rsquo;s performance, pregame and postgame as well as on the ice, was deserving of full credit. For one more touch of class, after his goal (No. 55) he handed the puck to one of the players from Gallaudet.The Capitals continued to juggle players, with Glen Currie the latest to be summoned from the Hershey farm club &hellip; Todd Bidner, recovered from a broken leg suffered Nov. 4, was assigned to Hershey to play his way back into shape &hellip; Defenseman Tony Camazzola was sent back to Brandon after playing in three games &hellip; Defenseman Terry Murray, who had scored one goal in 267 NHL games, connected twice, 1:41 apart, during a 7-4 loss at St. Louis &hellip; Defenseman Jim McTaggart, who became a father Jan. 6, celebrated with his third NHL goal the next night, in a 3-3 tie against Los Angeles. &#9632;

Capitals Find Way To Neutralize Gretzky

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02991/4514868-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="684" height="572"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011162/4514875-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="140" height="140"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03702/4514861-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="136" height="150"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04444/4514854-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="688" height="574"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05324/4514847-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="158" height="137"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-06268/4514840-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg" title="f0012-06" width="685" height="623"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-07232/4514833-1-eng-US/f0012-072.jpg" title="f0012-07" width="142" height="139"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-08204/4514826-1-eng-US/f0012-082.jpg" title="f0012-08" width="683" height="646"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-09168/4514819-1-eng-US/f0012-092.jpg" title="f0012-09" width="156" height="153"></div><h2>COLORADO ROCKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-10152/4514812-1-eng-US/f0012-102.jpg" title="f0012-10" width="684" height="623"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-11140/4514805-1-eng-US/f0012-112.jpg" title="f0012-11" width="175" height="114"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-12120/4514798-1-eng-US/f0012-122.jpg" title="f0012-12" width="683" height="517"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-13108/4514791-1-eng-US/f0012-132.jpg" title="f0012-13" width="144" height="141"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-14101/4514784-1-eng-US/f0012-142.jpg" title="f0012-14" width="679" height="622"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-1594/4514777-1-eng-US/f0012-152.jpg" title="f0012-15" width="157" height="141"></div><h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-1684/4514770-1-eng-US/f0012-162.jpg" title="f0012-16" width="681" height="650"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-1770/4514763-1-eng-US/f0012-172.jpg" title="f0012-17" width="205" height="141"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-1859/4514756-1-eng-US/f0012-182.jpg" title="f0012-18" width="685" height="683"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-1952/4514749-1-eng-US/f0012-192.jpg" title="f0012-19" width="158" height="135"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2048/4514742-1-eng-US/f0012-202.jpg" title="f0012-20" width="682" height="598"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2136/4514735-1-eng-US/f0012-212.jpg" title="f0012-21" width="164" height="111"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2223/4514728-1-eng-US/f0012-222.jpg" title="f0012-22" width="685" height="619"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2318/4514721-1-eng-US/f0012-232.jpg" title="f0012-23" width="156" height="151"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2413/4514714-1-eng-US/f0012-242.jpg" title="f0012-24" width="686" height="593"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2512/4514707-1-eng-US/f0012-252.jpg" title="f0012-25" width="146" height="146"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2611/4514700-1-eng-US/f0012-262.jpg" title="f0012-26" width="682" height="622"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2711/4514693-1-eng-US/f0012-272.jpg" title="f0012-27" width="167" height="125"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-2810/4514686-1-eng-US/f0012-282.jpg" title="f0012-28" width="684" height="647"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-299/4514679-1-eng-US/f0012-292.jpg" title="f0012-29" width="165" height="159"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-309/4514672-1-eng-US/f0012-302.jpg" title="f0012-30" width="680" height="566"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-319/4514665-1-eng-US/f0012-312.jpg" title="f0012-31" width="138" height="141"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-329/4514658-1-eng-US/f0012-322.jpg" title="f0012-32" width="682" height="599"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-339/4514651-1-eng-US/f0012-332.jpg" title="f0012-33" width="140" height="146"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-348/4514644-1-eng-US/f0012-342.jpg" title="f0012-34" width="685" height="599"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-358/4514637-1-eng-US/f0012-352.jpg" title="f0012-35" width="166" height="171"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-366/4514630-1-eng-US/f0012-362.jpg" title="f0012-36" width="686" height="622"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-376/4514623-1-eng-US/f0012-372.jpg" title="f0012-37" width="121" height="120"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-386/4514616-1-eng-US/f0012-382.jpg" title="f0012-38" width="683" height="629"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-394/4514609-1-eng-US/f0012-392.jpg" title="f0012-39" width="192" height="108"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-404/4514602-1-eng-US/f0012-402.jpg" title="f0012-40" width="682" height="627"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011110/4514595-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="147" height="145"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02863/4514588-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="582" height="733"></div>Shorthanded Goals: Christian. Smail, 1.Game-Winning Goals: Lukowich 5. Christian. Babych, Lindstrom, Dupont, 2; Smail, Hopkins, Levie, Savard. 1.<h2>GOALTENDING STATISTICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03718/4514581-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="550" height="165"></div>* (Herron & Sevigny shared shutout)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04632/4514574-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="565" height="2252"></div><h2>NHL LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05516/4514567-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="527" height="296"></div> &#9632;

f0012-02

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCORING

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD FRIEDMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-06435/4514906-1-eng-US/f0013-062.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Hickey has emerged from a couple of months in the doldrums with some solid play for the Rangers &mdash; and five goals in eight games. (Photo By Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>NEW YORK &mdash; It was not a performance you&rsquo;d call &ldquo;one for the road.&rdquo;The Rangers were facing an eight-game road-trip, one that would take them away from Madison Square Garden for three weeks. It would be the team&rsquo;s longest road-trip swing since a nine-game swing during the 1955-56 season, and the first stop would be Landover, Md. where the Washington Capitals, with the second-worst record in the NHL, lay in wait.The Rangers hit the road with egg on their faces, thanks to a 4-4 tie at Madison Square Garden with the Capitals, a team that had become, oddly enough, their nemesis in the Patrick Division and had posted a 2-1-2 record against the New Yorkers.Sleepwalking through the first two periods, the Rangers gave Washington a 2-0 lead after 7:56 of the first and a 3-2 lead going into the third period.Then Pat Hickey scored his fifth goal in eight games to tie the score on a pretty one-on-one, and Eddie Johnstone scored his second goal of the game to put the Rangers ahead, 4-3. But with just 2:45 left and the Rangers disintegrating in their end of the ice, defenseman Darren Veitch tied the game, 4-4, on a 50-footer.Moments later, Herb Brooks, the Rangers&rsquo; beseiged coach, was asked if his team&rsquo;s lack-lustre performance might have knocked the NFL&rsquo;s Super Bowl, played that day, off Page One.&ldquo;Maybe we might move Little Orphan Annie off the funny pages,&rdquo; Brooks replied.The Rangers&rsquo; showing was not a joking matter, not against a team that trailed them by 17 points in the standings. New York&rsquo;s forechecking was nonexistent, they wasted scoring opportunities deep in the Washington zone, and in a word were lulled to sleep by a mediocre, colorless and supposedly inferior club.&ldquo;They put us asleep,&rdquo; said Johnstone. &ldquo;They just don&rsquo;t do anything. They send one guy in, and line up four guys at the blueline. Then, all of a sudden, we&rsquo;re down two goals.&rdquo;The tie left the Capitals at 0-4-5 in their last nine games; their last victory was a 4-3 win over the Rangers at the Garden on January 3rd; they are 2-0-1 on Seventh Avenue this season.&ldquo;We come in here, and we know we&rsquo;ve done reasonably well in the past,&rdquo; explained Capitals&rsquo; coach Bryan Murray, &ldquo;and we maybe know we&rsquo;re capable of beating the Rangers.&ldquo;Hey, if we could play the Rangers on a regular basis, we&rsquo;d have a chance to make the playoffs.&rdquo;Murray&rsquo;s counterpart, Brooks, had some homework to do before the teams&rsquo; next meeting.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not very pleased tonight,&rdquo; said Brooks. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to be a little bit more mentally ready. It&rsquo;s not just the players; it&rsquo;s my responsibility. The next eight games are the toughest part of our schedule.&rdquo;There was an ironic twist to the game&rsquo;s outcome. Johnstone&rsquo;s second goal, the temporary go-ahead goal, was set up by Nick Fotiu&rsquo;s muscle. Fotiu took a pass from Mark Pavelich at the Rangers&rsquo; blueline and as he entered the Washington zone Randy Holt, the Capitals&rsquo; defenseman, draped himself all over Fotiu, who nonetheless got off a backhand and then followed the wide shot behind the net. From there, he shoveled the puck out to Johnstone, all the while holding off Holt, and Johnstone had a clear shot from 15 feet out.But it was Fotiu who lost the puck in the Rangers&rsquo; zone, leading to Washington&rsquo;s tying goal little more than ten minutes later.The tie against Washington ended a week that highlighted the best and the worst aspects of the Rangers&rsquo; play of late. Six days earlier, they had been tied in knots by the Toronto Maple Leafs and a 6-2 loss at Maple Leaf Gardens was the result. That game followed two days of killing time in a midtown Toronto hotel at the end of a short road-trip.But two nights later, the Rangers beat the Stanley Cup champion Islanders, 3-2 at the Garden, with Fotiu scoring the game-winner at 7:54 of the third period, just 63 seconds after defenseman Andre Dore had put the Rangers ahead 2-1.Fotiu&rsquo;s game-winner was again the result of muscle. After Islanders&rsquo; defenseman Ken Morrow had lost the puck to Ron Greschner at center-ice, Fotiu muscled Morrow into the boards, and swept into the slot in time to knock in Greschner&rsquo;s rebound.That victory was little more than a build-up to a let-down. Three nights later, the Rangers and Islanders played a return-match at Nassau Coliseum that was as one-sided as a game can be. The result: Islanders 6, Rangers 1.&ldquo;The Islanders started fast, and won the battles for the loose pucks,&rdquo; Rangers captain Barry Beck explained. &ldquo;Tonight it was tough for us to get into the flow of the game; the Islanders checked very solidly and controlled the play. We weren&rsquo;t thinking without the puck and against the Islanders it&rsquo;s not good to do that.&rdquo;Ed Mio faced the Islanders in the Rangers&rsquo; goal for the second consecutive game, and saw his nine-game unbeaten streak (seven as a Ranger since joining them from Edmonton) come to an end. Mio is now 3-1-2 in his career against the Islanders &#9632;

f0013-06

Rangers Show Best And Worst Sides

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT &mdash; The thought must have crossed owner Bruce Norris&rsquo; mind, certainly. That of his most trusted lieutenants, too.Here it was, perhaps the coldest night in what is being described as the coldest winter in a century. The high in Detroit was 0 degrees. No, don&rsquo;t look again. There&rsquo;s no digit before the 0. That&rsquo;s it. Zero degrees. That was the high. It dipped to minus 10 degrees and the wind chill factor knocked it down even further.Enough to discourage anyone from leaving the house &hellip; but not hockey fans in Detroit. A record crowd of 20,682 turned out to watch Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers vs. the last-place Detroit Red Wings. They were there to see Gretzky, naturally, not the Wings, but they were there nonetheless and that tells you something about the hockey fans of Detroit and, indeed, their knowledge of the game and its times. The chance to see Gretzky, a legend in the making, was simply too great a lure for the city&rsquo;s long-suffering hockey fans.And through it all, Bruce Norris must have wondered what it would be like if he had a hockey team for these loyal followers to support.The crowd topped the National Hockey League regular season mark of 20,339 set last February in the Joe Louis Arena against Philadelphia. It was clear from the beginning that they came to see &mdash; and cheer &mdash; Gretzky, who was held to one shot on goal and two assists.The result, a 4-4 tie, hardly provided the Wings with a source of cheer, however. For the second straight night, both at home, Detroit blew a 4-1 lead.A night before the Oilers arrived, Washington wiped out a 4-1 deficit with four straight third period goals to take a 5-4 lead before Mark Kirton salvaged a tie for Detroit with a late goal. That left coach Wayne Maxner grinding his teeth.Against the Oilers, a team without a victory in a five-game road trip, the Wings again jumped off to a 4-1 lead on a pair of goals by Don Murdoch, his seventh and eighth. However, Gretzky&rsquo;s first assist of the game, on Paul Coffey&rsquo;s goal, cut the lead to 4-2 late in the second period. At the 50-second mark of the final period, Gretzky set up Pat Hughes&rsquo; 18th goal before Mark Messier tied it at 14:06 with his 32nd of the season.The first-place Oilers finished a five-game eastern swing with an 0-3-2 record.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t played the best hockey of my life in the past five games,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re only as good as your team and we haven&rsquo;t been playing well as a team on this road trip. We&rsquo;ve learned we just can&rsquo;t throw our sticks on the ice and think we can win games.&rdquo;And it&rsquo;s true that the Wings can&rsquo;t throw their sticks out in the final 20 minutes and expect to hold on to two- and three-goal leads.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to learn to keep that lead,&rdquo; said Kirton, who shadowed Gretzky.The Wings have gotten into the habit of collapsing in the third period. The Capitals scored four goals in a little more than five minutes, starting with Denis Maruk&rsquo;s goal at 7:37 of the third period. By the time Chris Valentine scored the fourth goal of the Washington comeback, the Wings were standing still, watching as jeers echoed through the building.The Wings&rsquo; five-game homestand ended with a 2-1-2 record for six out of a possible 10 points, or better than .500. But it wasn&rsquo;t what Maxner or his players were looking for. This was supposed to be the stretch that bolstered their playoff chances.WING WIRE &mdash; Defenseman Willie Huber, the player Maxner calls his most consistent throughout the season, suffered a slight shoulder separation and missed the Washington and Edmonton games &hellip; Center Walt McKechnie also missed the Edmonton contest with a. bruised leg &hellip; Meanwhile, goaltender Gilles Gilbert returned to active duty following a hand injury. &#9632;

Detroit Fans Crave Winner But Wings Pull Late Folds

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011143/4514961-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="565" height="1122"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adapting to losing has been a painful experience for Greg Millen and the Whalers.</figcaption></div>HARTFORD &mdash; The fear of failure can be a source of motivation for the professional athlete, unless, of course, he does nothing but.The Hartford Whalers are trying to maintain a winning attitude, but, let&rsquo;s face it, without winning, it&rsquo;s difficult.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not dealing with this very well at all,&rdquo; goaltender Greg Millen admitted. &ldquo;Winning is the only way to play the game. I can&rsquo;t stand to lose. You adapt to losing only because you have to.&rdquo;The mercy of mathematics is all that is keeping the Whalers in the playoff picture in the Adams Division. In their first 18 divisional games, they hadn&rsquo;t won, going 0-13-5 during that span. Boston, Buffalo, Montreal and Quebec seem to be taking the divisional race seriously. Even when the Whalers Play well, they don&rsquo;t have enough to win.&ldquo;In the long run, being in the Adams Division is in the best interest of the franchise,&rdquo; said Howard Baldwin, the club&rsquo;s managing general partner. &ldquo;This is not an enjoyable experience. It&rsquo;s painful, but it&rsquo;s something that must be endured if we&rsquo;re to become successful.&rdquo;Baldwin, however, can see the silver lining, even if a host of others can&rsquo;t.&ldquo;At this time last year, the overall feeling was negative,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This year, even though our record might not be as good, the overall feeling is positive. We&rsquo;re in the process of developing a good young team to build from. Judge us not by wins, losses and ties, but by, did we do what we said we were going to do last March. We&rsquo;ve become younger and more competitive. The rewards come thereafter.&rdquo;Larry Pleau, the team&rsquo;s general manager and coach, is not so much the man in the middle as he is the Lone Ranger. This is his show and he knows it.&ldquo;The team&rsquo;s frame of mind has been pretty good,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been difficult, but it&rsquo;s something that we have to cope with. The biggest thing is that we don&rsquo;t have enough discipline. That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ve been so inconsistent. It&rsquo;s not only the players&rsquo; fault, but the coaches&rsquo; fault as well. I really think that discipline begins off the ice.&rdquo;Pleau and his players have set certain goals for the remainder of the season, and, no, making the playoffs isn&rsquo;t one of them. Cutting down the goals against is the primary aim.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some things headed in the right direction,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;If you look around the league, you&rsquo;ll see that about 99 percent of the teams had to go through what we&rsquo;re going through now.&rdquo;Mama said there would be days like this. What she didn&rsquo;t say was just how to handle them.WHALER SCUTTLEBUTT &mdash; Winger George Lyle was clipped on the eye during a practice session, underwent an operation, and will be lost for the season. The operation was successful and Lyle is expected to return next season &hellip; Defenseman Mark Renaud has been recalled from Binghamton for &ldquo;the rest of the year,&rdquo; according to Pleau &hellip; Rick Ley, an assistant coach, will no longer assist, but will work as a scout &hellip; The &ldquo;future considerations&rdquo; involved in the Pierre Larouche deal have begun to surface. To acquire Larouche from Montreal, the Whalers apparently flip-flopped first-round picks with the Canadiens in the 1984 draft and gave Montreal a second-round selection as well. The teams also flip-flopped picks in the 1985 draft, but as far as which round, no one is saying &hellip; Jordy Douglas, sidelined since November with a shoulder separation, will return before the year is out. Douglas, a left winger, had five goals in just 13 games &hellip; Blaine Stoughton had 35 of the team&rsquo;s first 145 goals, nearly one of every four &hellip; Mike Veisor was recalled from Binghamton to fill the void left by the trading of John Garrett to Quebec. Veisor, according to Jacques Caron, Binghamton&rsquo;s assistant coach, was &ldquo;the best goaltender in the AHL by the time he left.&rdquo; &hellip; Youngsters in Binghamton will &ldquo;stay there,&rdquo; according to Pleau. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re winning and they&rsquo;re in a playoff drive,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re probably better off staying there.&rdquo;. &#9632;

f0014-01

Whalers Aim To Reduce Goals-Against Average

<div class="byline">BY DICK BEDDOES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02930/4514992-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="301" height="300"></div><h2>A Real Big Leaguer</h2>EMILE PERCY FRANCIS is, in the narrowest and best and most exacting sense of the term, a big leaguer. He saved the game in St. Louis.Among executives in the National Hockey League, real big leaguers form a small, select company &mdash; among them Bill Torrey on Long Island, Keith Allen in Philadelphia, Jean Beliveau in Montreal.It is gratifying to fans of genuine big leaguers, therefore, to know that Francis has been awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy for contributions to hockey in the United States.He will accept the trophy in Washington on the night of Feb. 8, as president and general manager of the St. Louis Blues.One phrase, his friends are saying, fits Francis&rsquo;s selection for the Patrick prize. The phrase is &ldquo;long overdue.&rdquo;His friends span the challenging trail he has travelled from North Battleford, Sask., where he was born 55 years ago.They range from his playmates on prairie baseball teams to his loyal allies on hockey squads in the NHL.This is a little personal, if you&rsquo;ll pardon it.I met Francis in 1950, when he was managing a North Battleford ball team in a tournament I was covering, as a cub scout, in Lloydminster, Sask.Lloydminster? It is a pleasant farm community out there in Western Canada&rsquo;s covered-wagon country, high up on the Alberta-Saskatchewan frontier.His associates included hairy-legged chaps named Tony Maze, Alex Uffleman and Pete Prediger. They&rsquo;ll be delighted that the little old second-sacker won the Patrick.Francis cut a slightly comic figure in baseball bloomers, the sort I imagined Cap Anson of the Hall of Fame to be &mdash; short, no bigger than a handful of fresh liver, wearing white running shoes.Combative, though.In another Saskatchewan tournament that long-ago summer, Emile tried to ignite the Third World War in a rumble requiring RCMP riot squads.Small or not, Francis always played as though he&rsquo;d been teethed on brass knuckles.<h2>The Scrappy Cat</h2>HE WAS SCRAPPY as a goalkeeper, hustling and clawing through the hockey bushes in Kansas City and New Haven, in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Seattle, Vancouver and Saskatoon, battling for parts of a half dozen seasons in Chicago and New York.Nobody referred to him as Emile or Percy, of course. He was called The Cat, for the incontestable reason that he always jiggled up and down like a mouse was loose in his underwear.In 1952-53, when he was the most valuable mercenary in the old Western League, as goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks, one soggy wit wrote, &ldquo;Francis, is called The Cat because of the way he plays kitty-bar-the-door.&rdquo;Years after, in a lively renaissance of the New York Rangers, he was a general manager whose bristling energy defied sleep.&ldquo;The boss works 27 hours a day,&rdquo; testified Louis Passador, then chief scout for the Rangers.Passador wearily rubbed cobwebs from his eyes. &ldquo;And the hell of it is, he expects the rest of us to work 27 hours a day, too.&rdquo;By the rest of us, Passador meant Dennis Ball, Steve Brklacich and himself.When a confused Ranger hierarchy defrocked Francis, in 1976, the loyalists went with him to St. Louis &mdash; Passador as chief scout, Ball as assistant to the president, Brklachich as director of player personnel.<h2>Devoted To Francis</h2>THEY ARE, in a word, devoted. The St. Louis franchise was impoverished before Francis resurrected it. Passador, Ball and Brklacich took substantial salary cuts to shift to St. Louis because they knew that Francis, in the argot of show business, put his own money where his mouth was.The colloquialism is not misplaced.When St. Louis chose Scott Campbell in the 1977 amateur draft, Francis reached into his wallet for money to sign the overrated defenseman. Campbell opted instead for the World Rocky Association.Francis fought off the Salomon family departed as owners. Some of the bidders were tough characters indeed, with impressive records in police files.Ultimately it came up bingo for Francis and his pals, old pals. There was dog chow to spare when the Ralston Purina people bought the Blues.There is irony in Francis being picked for the Patrick presentation. It is partly sponsored by the Rangers, who fired him. &#9632;

f0014-02

BEDCLOTHES

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>EDMONTON &mdash; The experience, one could say without fear of exaggeration, was humbling.The Edmonton Oilers, once considered a pesky band of adolescents who attempted to make life miserable for haughty opponents during the Stanley Cup playoffs, have been reaching maturity at a young age this season. They scaled first place in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s overall standings in November and, up to this writing at least, failed to relinquish the grip on that No. 1 seeding.Manager-coach Glen Sather&rsquo;s young Oilers also stole a page from the book of their footballing cousins, the powerful Grey Cup champion Edmonton Eskimos, in establishing a policy of not losing two games in succession. The groundrule was laid back on Oct. 14 when they were ambushed at home &mdash; one of only three home-ice losses through the middle of January &mdash; by the upstart Winnipeg Jets to the tune of 4-2.The next time out they doubled the Calgary Flames 8-4 and until a mid-January road trip the young Oilers were the only NHL team not to suffer two losses in a row.Then things have been going pretty well for the Oilers, right?Well, yes and no.Following their most humiliating setback of the season &mdash; a bring-&rsquo;em-back-to-earth 8-2 thrashing at the hands of the Flyers in Philadelphia Jan. 14 &mdash; the Oilers barred the locker-room door and called their first team meeting of the season. A soul-searching session, so to speak.Sather initiated proceedings by huddling briefly with his players and then he departed as team captain Lee Fogolin called a session for the players only. Reporters were kept out of the room for 25 minutes following the game, exceeding by 15 minutes the deadline that has been imposed by the NHL.&ldquo;We needed the meetings,&rdquo; said Sather, whose Oilers opened a lengthy road swing with a 5-1 loss in Calgary and followed by squandering a 4-1 lead as they were forced to settle with a 6-6 tie with the floundering Washington Capitals. Then they were snowed under in Philadelphia.&ldquo;No question, we&rsquo;re in a slump,&rdquo; added Sather, who pointed to a 3-1 loss in Vancouver on New Year&rsquo;s Eve as the night Edmonton&rsquo;s troubles began.Ironically, the loss to the Canucks came the night after Oilers dropped Philadelphia 7-5 and Wayne Gretzky scored five goals to become the fastest player to hit for 50 goals. The 20-year-old Boy Wonder shattered the 50 goals in 50 games mark shared by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy by accomplishing the feat in a mere 39 games.&ldquo;We anticipated a natural letdown the following night,&rdquo; said Sather, &ldquo;but ever since then we&rsquo;ve steadily slipped and slipped. Well, it&rsquo;s time we started getting our act together again and the place to start is by getting the guys together for a meeting.&rdquo;&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been going that well for a couple of weeks,&rdquo; said veteran goalie Ron Low, who actually was the sole reason the Flyers didn&rsquo;t reach double figures in completely outclassing the Oilers on that fateful night in The Spectrum. &ldquo;The best way is to sit down and air our views. We were going to hold a meeting in Toronto [the following day], but after an 8-2 loss, it couldn&rsquo;t wait.&rdquo; Perhaps it should have, but more about that later.The Philadelphia embarrassment was further complicated in the fact that the Flyers struck for two shorthanded goals, while they also missed a couple of others on breakaways. It was suggested that the Oilers begin to decline penalties.&ldquo;Yeah, maybe we should have taken the yards and demanded faceoffs in the other end,&rdquo; quipped Low, at 31 one of the Oilers&rsquo; elder statesmen.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;ve got the best record in the league and you lose 8-2, you&rsquo;re obviously not playing with enthusiasm,&rdquo; reasoned Fogolin after calling the players&rsquo; meeting. &ldquo;We realize when you&rsquo;re on top everybody&rsquo;s trying to knock you off, but we certainly haven&rsquo;t been doing much to prevent teams from coming after us lately either.&rdquo;While the likes of Sather and Low figured Edmonton&rsquo;s problems began the night following Gretzky&rsquo;s memorable evening, the young sensation himself looks even further back in the schedule. &ldquo;We lost a game at home to Calgary [7-5 on Dec. 20] and even though we won a few games after that [three in a row] we really didn&rsquo;t Play all that well as a team,&rdquo; explained Gretzky.&ldquo;I know teams must go through slumps and it&rsquo;s hard to look good for 80 games, but we&rsquo;ve got to get cracking once again.&rdquo;During the Oilers&rsquo; swing east, they were also besieged by an entourage of reporters, including magazine writers and photographers seeking continual interviews with Gretzky. There were so many requests, in fact, the Oilers called a press conference in Toronto where over 100 media people turned out the day prior to a game vs. the Maple Leafs.&ldquo;Certainly it&rsquo;s been a distraction,&rdquo; said Sather, &ldquo;but we can&rsquo;t separate the team from the media. The exposure is good for Canada, it&rsquo;s good for the league and good for Edmonton.&rdquo;Which is why the press conference was called &mdash; to get the media hounds off Gretzky and the Oilers in one swoop.&ldquo;Now we can get back to the business at hand,&rdquo; said Sather as he hustled Gretzky to Maple Leaf Gardens for a practice session, &ldquo;Minus distractions&hellip;.&rdquo;The post-script to the Oilers&rsquo; travails and first team meeting of the season was a distasteful ending to their road trip. If they were embarrassed in Philly, they were dismantled in Toronto when they lost to the upstart Leafs 7-1. Gretzky had the lone goal but was stopped by Michel Larocque on a penalty shot and Grant Fuhr had his unbeaten streak ended at 23 games as he absorbed only his second loss of the season. The Oilers completed the trip with a come-from-behind tie in Detroit before an NHL regular season record crowd of 20,628. Mark Messier&rsquo;s second goal of the match and 32nd of the season gave the Oilers a 4-4 tie as they limped home only a point ahead of Buffalo in the overall standings. &#9632;

Oilers Hit Bottom On Long Road

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER &mdash; Last winter, Canucks&rsquo; coach Harry Neale gained some notoriety around the league when after a bad month he said: &ldquo;We were 0 for February.&rdquo;Fair enough, they were. This year, at least for two weeks, he could have said &lsquo;We&rsquo;re 0 for &lsquo;82&rsquo; if he&rsquo;d wanted to.But this year it isn&rsquo;t so funny. This is Neale&rsquo;s fourth year as coach of this floundering team and as delightful a person as he is socially and intellectually, he hasn&rsquo;t been getting the job done. How they are going to promote him to general manager when Jake Milford takes his leave in the spring is anybody&rsquo;s guess, though owner Frank Griffiths seems to be fairly certain of the move.It has been suggested in Vancouver that the three coaches, including Roger Neilson, who has a contract to be head coach for at least the next two years, and Ron Smith, may play a game of musical chairs. That is, Neale can go upstairs and help out Milford for the rest of the season, turning things over to Neilson immediately.But Neale is having none of it.&ldquo;It was planned that I will coach the hockey club here until the spring and that&rsquo;s the way it&rsquo;s going to be,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If they think coaching is the problem, then they should go ahead and replace me. But I&rsquo;m either coach this year or I&rsquo;m gone.&rdquo;The questions are being asked because the team is once again in its mid-season nose-dive, something which happens every year. It&rsquo;s usually called the Boat Show Blues, which coincide with a road trip east while the show is at the Coliseum, but this year it came during the Ice Capades.The club has set all kinds of new records, not the least of which is most consecutive losses, the mark now II after five straight on the recent road tour.The fans, who are already beginning to show considerable disinterest by not showing up, are just thinking it&rsquo;s the same old story, after 12 years.The biggest single problem is an inability to score goals. Since Ivan Boldirev cooled off, there has been nobody going, save Stan Smyl, who got excited when he was named captain in Kevin McCarthy&rsquo;s absence and scored four goals.Thomas Gradin only scores at home &mdash; 19 of his first 20 goals have been scored at home &mdash; and the rest of the players simply aren&rsquo;t contributing much at all. Dave Williams couldn&rsquo;t score to save his soul. He had great chances on the most recent trip, but either the goalie stops the shot or he hits a defenseman.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Questions are being asked about Harry Neale&rsquo;s coaching because the Canucks are once again into their mid-season nosedive</blockquote>On top of everything, they&rsquo;ve almost completely given up hitting, as though it were a New Year&rsquo;s resolution, and they are putting far too much strain on the defense and goaltending.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t score one or two goals a game and expect to be very successful,&rdquo; says Neale, quite rightly. &ldquo;Our defense and goaltending hasn&rsquo;t been a problem but we simply can&rsquo;t score.&rdquo;The Canucks were 18th in goals-for behind clubs they consider vastly inferior, and 19th on the power play, a statistic that has never been good with the Canucks.Now, on top of their woes, they are starting to get some injuries. Their, right side defensemen had all been wiped out, although McCarthy returned when the Canucks reached home. Jiri Bubla has been out two months with a broken ankle and now Rick Lanz has suffered torn knee ligaments and will be lost to the team for the rest of the season. In their 3-2 loss to the Chicago Black Hawks to end the recent road trip, they also lost Gerry Minor and Lars Molin for an extended period of time and then defenseman Anders Eldebrink was sidelined for six weeks with a dislocated shoulder.Minor, who got a late start to the season because of a skull fracture at training camp, broke his ankle and tore the ligaments in the same knee when he fell into the end boards while killing a penalty. He was forechecking and there was virtually nobody near him. Molin suffered a dislocated shoulder when he got his arm hooked by a Chicago player and he will be gone from between four to six weeks. Minor appears to be gone for the season. The injuries resulted in a call to their No. 1 draft pick, Garth Butcher from Regina, for a 10-game trial. &#9632;

Annual Canuck Swoon Time Caused By Scoring Deficit

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01946/4515078-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="503" height="135"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03624/4515071-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="563" height="913"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Langway played in Philadelphia despite a painful foot injury, from blocking a shot. (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>MONTREAL &mdash; The sick and injured list seemed almost as long as the active roster.Brian Engblom &mdash; flu; Rod Langway &mdash; badly bruised bone in left foot, no fracture as first feared; Larry Robinson &mdash; tom muscle near hip; Steve Shutt &mdash; flu; Craig Laughlin &mdash; bruised bone in lower back; Gilbert Delorme &mdash; dislocated left shoulder; Denis Herron &mdash; concussion; Richard Sevigny &mdash; broken bone, left hand, Rick Wamsley, whiplash.All of a sudden, Canadiens&rsquo; coach Bob Berry didn&rsquo;t have a whole lot of extra bodies.After a lackluster week&rsquo;s effort against Los Angeles and Philadelphia at the Forum, the Canadiens faced three stiff tests &mdash; at home against Buffalo, on the road in Philadelphia and at home to the Calgary Flames, who had beaten them 7-4 earlier this season.Five points out of six isn&rsquo;t all that bad, particularly the two which Montreal earned in a 4-2 victory at Philadelphia, spoiling Darryl Sittler&rsquo;s debut.It was that night when the Canadiens were hurting the most. Engblom had been sick for a couple of days and decided he could not play. With Robinson not on the trip and Delorme freshly injured in the 2-2 home-ice tie against Buffalo, that left the Canadiens with Langway, Robert Picard, Gaston Gingras and Guy Lapointe to play defense. They performed splendidly and the effort is all the most gratifying when you consider that Langway played 2&frac12; periods with a painful foot which would have kept others out of action.&ldquo;I took a shot on it in the first period,&rdquo; Langway said. &ldquo;My skate was on tight, but I knew it was sore. After the game, it swelled up like a balloon. The first thing you fear is a break. Fortunately there wasn&rsquo;t one.&rdquo; Langway was paired with Gingras, playing only his sixth game of the season. Together, they didn&rsquo;t fool around with the puck, getting it up quickly to launch Canadien attacks. Both got power play goals, something of a rarity for the Canadiens in recent weeks.<blockquote class="pullQuote">The Canadiens&rsquo; sick and injured list seemed to be almost as long as the active roster</blockquote>&ldquo;I have a chance to show something now,&rdquo; said Gingras, &ldquo;I am going to make it as difficult as possible for them to take me out&rdquo;Gingras scored his first goal and assisted on Langway&rsquo;s effort in Philadelphia and also garnered an assist in Montreal&rsquo;s 6-2 victory against Calgary.It was in that effort that another one of Berry&rsquo;s players went down. Herron, playing in only his second game since suffering a concussion on Dec. 29 on Long Island, was banged up in goal crease scramble.&ldquo;I got knocked down and I started to feel sick,&rdquo; said Herron, who was replaced by rookie Mark Holden for the third period against the Flames. Holden was backing up because Wamsley had been banged up in a car accident just before the Canadiens were ready to leave for their game in&rdquo; Philadelphia.Wamsley&rsquo;s late model car, which was purchased two days earlier, sustained $1,500 damage. Fortunately, neither Wamsley nor his wife, Laura, who is carrying the couple&rsquo;s first child, was hurt seriously.As for the other cases, Shutt developed the flu after being set out for the game against the Sabres. The veteran left winger was ordered to accompany the team to Philadelphia and sat out that game as well as the following contest against the Flames.Laughlin was injured when he was dumped to the ice during a Canadiens&rsquo; power play against Buffalo. He was healthy enough to play against the Flyers, but the back stiffened up against Calgary and he was replaced by Doug Wickenheiser on the line with Keith Acton and Guy Lafleur.Delorme tripped over a stick and fell into the boards in the first period against Buffalo. His period of con-vaiesence will be anywhere from four to six weeks. And when he does come back, he probably won&rsquo;t play much if Picard and Gingras have anything to say about it.Sevigny had a second cast placed on his broken left hand and now it looks as though he won&rsquo;t be able to play again until early March. That means that Herron and Wamsley will share the load in a two-man system, as long as they both remain healthy.IN PASSING &mdash; The Canadiens recalled tough-man Jeff Brubaker from Nova Scotia for the game in Philadelphia after Chris Nilan pulled his groin in practice the eve of the game &hellip; Brubaker amassed 17 minutes in penalties and is wearing No. 18 worn by former captain Serge Savard. &#9632;

f0016-01

Mounting Injuries Fail To Deter Canadiens

<h2>Gretzky Richer</h2>EDMONTON &mdash; The rich get richer, providing your name&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky.The 20-year-old wonder boy of the Edmonton Oilers agreed to terms on a new contract worth $20 million over the next 15 years.Gretzky, who recently became the fastest 50-goal scorer in NHL history, said he was relieved that the contract negotiations were finally over. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to have to wake up and read about it every morning. I just want to help the club and now that this is out of the way, maybe we can concentrate on hockey,&rdquo; said Gretzky.The new contract will also give Gretzky ownership of a shopping plaza in Western Canada in six years.The actual breakdown of Gretzky&rsquo;s contract was not revealed but it was learned that it contains a nine-year original contract with two six-year options and is believed to include a base salary of between $650,000 and $800,000 a season, making Gretzky the highest paid player in the NHL, surpassing the former high of $600,000 being paid to Marcel Dionne by the Los Angeles Kings.<h2>Penguin May Sue</h2>PITTSBURGH &mdash; Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; center Paul Gardner will decide if he will bring legal action against Winnipeg&rsquo;s Jimmy Mann after Mann broke Gardner&rsquo;s jaw in two places during a fight in an NHL game.Gardner, who was hit during a game in Winnipeg with two sucker puches by Mann which cracked his jaw in two places and sidelned him for the next six weeks, has a week to 10 days to decide whether or not to sue. Gardner&rsquo;s jaw will be wired shut until the end of February.<h2>Honoring The Cat</h2>NEW YORK &mdash; The Cat is going to get an award for hockey excellence.Emile (The Cat) Francis, president, governor and general manager of the St. Louis Blues, has been named the recipient of the 1982 Lester Patrick Trophy. He will be honored on Feb. 8 at the NHL&rsquo;s All Star dinner in Washington.The Patrick Trophy is awarded annually by the NHL and the New York Rangers &ldquo;for outstanding service to hockey in the United States, in fond memory of a great man in the history of a great sport.&rdquo;<h2>Hockey Legends</h2>TORONTO &mdash; Bobby Orr is coming back to hockey in time for the 1982 NHL playoffs.The former NHL defensive great will host a 14-program series of interviews featuring some of hockey&rsquo;s greatest legends. The feature will be shown by Hockey Night in Canada starting at playoff time.The program will be produced by Hockey Legends Inc., and directed by Ralph Mellanby and Dave Thomas for the Planters Nuts company. Officials said the interviews will be completed in time for showing in April and May during the Canadian telecasts of the NHL playoffs. Orr will handle all the interviews.Among the hockey legends who will be interviewed include Phil Esposito, Rod Gilbert, Sam Pollock, Jean Beliveau, Frank Mahovlich, John Bucyk, Bobby Hull, Bernie Parent, Paul Henderson, Red Storey, Harold Ballard, Gordie Howe, Stan Mikita and Lou Nanne.<h2>Borg Turns To Ice</h2>STOCKHOLM &mdash; Tennis great Bjorn Borg is now a certified member of a Swedish hockey team.The Swede, who was the world&rsquo;s No. 1 tennis player before being deposed by John McEnroe, has been training since December with the Malmo IF hockey club and recently received his hockey licence allowing him to play for the team.Should Borg decide to Play in a Malmo IF match, club chairman Lennart Lundberg predicted that &ldquo;Malmo Ice Stadium would be filled to capacity.&rdquo;Borg says he has taken to ice hockey as a means of strengthening himself in his quest to regain the world tennis supremacy he relinquished to McEnroe.<h2>Goalie Injured</h2>MONTREAL &mdash; As if life wasn&rsquo;t tough enough on the ice for Rick Walmsley of Montreal, the rookie goaltender was injured in a minor car accident on a slippery downtown road.Wamsley was involved in the accident after another automobile skidded on the ice and crashed into his car while he was stopped at a red light. Doctors examined the 22-year-old goalkeeper for possible whiplash at the Montreal General Hospital.The Canadiens have had extremely bad luck this season with their goalies. Both regulars Denis Herron and Rich Sevigny were injured, forcing the Canadiens to bring in Wamsley and Mark Holden from Nova Scotia of the AHL as replacements. Herron just returned to the lineup and Holden was preparing to head back to Nova Scotia when Herron was hurt again. Sevigny is out undefinitely with a broken hand. &#9632;

SLAPSHOTS

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON &mdash; Mike Fidler, LW, announced retirement from hockey.CALGARY &mdash; Mark Wells, C, returned from Europe and assigned to Oklahoma City of CHL on tryout. Tim Bernhardt, G, recalled from Oklahoma City and sent to Rochester of AHL on loan.CHICAGO &mdash; Tony Tanti, RW, 1st draft pick in 1981, recalled from Oshawa of OHL and later returned. Rich Preston, RW, Terry Rus-kowski, C, and Tom Lysiak, C, returned from injury list. Dave Feamster, D, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL.COLORADO &mdash; Joel Quenneville, D, out for three weeks with twisted knee and ankle. Paul Gagne, LW, also out three weeks with shoulder injury. Dwight Foster, RW, returned from injury list. Jeff Larmer, LW, 7th draft pick in 1981, recalled from Kitchener of OHL. Jim Dobson, RW, returned to Fort Worth of CHL.DETROIT &mdash; Gilles Gilbert, G, returned from injury list. Corrado Micalef, G, sent back to Kalamazoo of IHL. Jody Gage, LW, recalled from Adirondack of AHL. Eric Vail, LW, sent to Adirondack as replacement.EDMONTON &mdash; Dave Semenko, LW, out for six games with suspension. Curt Brackenbury, RW, recalled from Wichita of CHL as replacement. Lance Nethery, C, and Mike Forbes, D, returned to Wichita. Dave Hunter, LW, back in lineup from injury list. Gary Unger, C, returned from injury list. Brett Callighen, RW, sidelined with shoulder injury.HARTFORD &mdash; John Garrett, G, traded to Quebec in exchange for Michel Plasse, G, and future considerations. Plasse later assigned to Binghamton of AHL. Paul Fricker, G, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL and assigned to Binghamton as replacement for Mike Veisor, G, who was recalled from Binghamton along with Mark Renaud, D. George Lyle, LW, out for season with eye injury.LOS ANGELES &mdash; Mike Murphy, RW, and Andre St. Laurent, C, both returned from injury list. Rick Chartraw, D, recalled from New Haven of AHL.MINNESOTA &mdash; Tom McCarthy, C, Neal Broten, C, and Bill Nyrop, Dall returned from injury list.MONTREAL &mdash; Gilbert Delorme, D, sidelined for five weeks with shoulder separation. Denis Heron, G, and Larry Robinson, D, returned to lineup from injury list. Jeff Brubaker, LW, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL.NY ISLANDERS &mdash; Ken Morrow, D. and Bob Bourne, LW, both returned from injury list.NY RANGERS &mdash; Ron Greschner, D, returned from injury list. Mike Allison, LW, out for 2-3 weeks after knee injury.PHILADELPHIA &mdash; Bobby Clarke, C, sidelined for month with broken hand. Paul Holmgren, RW, out for three weeks with knee injury. Ilka Sinisalo, LW, and Al Hill, LW, back from injury list.PITTSBURGH &mdash; Paul Gardner, C, out of action for six weeks after suffering broken jaw in fight with Winnipeg&rsquo;s Jimmy Mann. Pat Graham, RW, assigned to Erie of AHL. Tony Feltrin, D, recalled from Erie.QUEBEC &mdash; Terry Johnson, D, and Pierre Aubry, C, both recalled from Fredericton of AHL. Anton Stastny, LW, returned from injury list.ST. LOUIS &mdash; Richie Hansen, C, returned to Salt Lake of CHL. Wayne Babych, RW, sidelined for month with shoulder injury. Gerry Hart, D, also out for a month after undergoing knee surgery. Bernie Federko, C, returned from injury list.TORONTO &mdash; Darryl Sittler, C, traded to Philadelphia in return for Rich Costello, C, who was Flyers&rsquo; 2nd draft choice in 1981 from a Boston high school. Costello presently with Providence College of ECAC. Flyers also relinquished 2nd draft pick for 1982 and received future considerations to complete deal. Bill Derlago, C, and Stewart Gavin, LW, both returned from injury list. Paul Marshall, LW, sent back to Cincinnati of CHL. Gary Yaremchuk, C, recalled from Cincinnati.VANCOUVER &mdash; Marc Crawford, LW, and B.J. MacDonald, RW, recalled from Dallas of CHL. Gerry Minor, C, out for season with broken ankle. Lars Molin, RW, and Kevin McCarthy, D, both returned from injury list. Andy Schliebener, 2nd draft pick in 1980, recalled from Niagara Falls of OHL. Colin Campbell, D, out for rest of season with injury and Anders Eldebrink, D, sidelined for six weeks with shoulder separation. Neil Belland, D, also recalled from Dallas.WASHINGTON &mdash; Bengt Gus-tafsson, RW, and Todd Bidner, LW, returned from injury list. Bidner later assigned to Hershey of AHL along with Errol Rausse, LW. Howard Walker, D, recalled from Hershey for one game and returned. Tony Camazzola, D, returned to Brandon of WHL. &#9632;

PLAYER TRANSACTIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01817/4515157-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photos by Jacques Boissinot)</figcaption></div>For anyone who loves to have a good time &mdash; and see a little bit of hockey as well &mdash; there&rsquo;s no better place in the world to be than in beautiful, historic Quebec City at Carnival time. Although the Nordiques, and particularly the Stastny brothers, are always one of Quebec City&rsquo;s main attractions &mdash; that&rsquo;s Marian and Peter in the center photo &mdash; at Carnival time they share the spotlight with Le Bonhomme Carnaval (upper right), a huge Pee-Wee tournament and dozens of spectacular ice castles and parades. &#9632;

f0019-01

L’ESPRIT DE QUEBEC!

<div class="byline">BY CLAUDE BEDARD</div>There are many courageous and determined executives who have been involved in the history of the Quebec Nordiques. But there is one person who has done more than his share to make this team the success it is today. Marcel Aubut didn&rsquo;t waste time in building a competitive team in Quebec, one which reflects the image of Quebec hockey and will surely be a team for the 1980&rsquo;s. Full of youth and talent, he caused major changes on the Quebec sporting scene, and he has nurtured and helped to forge the unique image of the Nordiques&rsquo; hockey organization. With his avant-garde ideas, desire to succeed, and need to show people in the sports capitals of North America that Quebec knew what it really wanted, the dynamic young president of the Nordiques went all out for immediate success &mdash; and he got it.The Quebec franchise has developed into a mature and promising enterprise in only three years. The Nordiques have made their mark in the NHL, both on the ice and at the management levels. But all this has not happened without hard work and pain. By looking at the steps taken by Aubut, we can better see the obstacles he had to overcome to arrive where he is today.Aubut was only 26 when he first appeared on the scene in 1975. A brilliant law student, he drew the attention of Jean Lesage, a former premier of the province of Quebec who was president of the Board of Gorvernors of the Nordiques at that time. Aubut&rsquo;s fighting spirit impressed Lesage, who hired him as legal counsel for the team and put him in charge of the merger discussions taking place.Aubut&rsquo;s first encounters in his attempts to consummate a merger proved fruitless and he was ready to give up. But Lesage got him to continue his initiatives and they eventually brought the Nordiques to the verge of acceptance by the NHL. But more problems surfaced and his plans fell through once again. This time Aubut didn&rsquo;t need Jean Lesage to encourage him; new efforts produced positive results and the WHA-NHL merger soon followed.On March 30, 1979, Aubut returned from New York with an NHL franchise to hundreds of cheering fans in Quebec City. In the meantime, he had also become president of the Nordiques, the youngest team president in the league. A year later he would become the youngest governor in the league as well. All his duties kept him busy for more than 100 hours a week, but nothing could slow him down.Aubut wanted to dispell all the prejudices about Quebec which had surfaced during the WHA-NHL merger talk. A year earlier, Clarence Campbell, then president of the NHL, held very little hope that there would ever be an NHL franchise in Quebec City. Aubut also had to get the Quebec Colis&eacute;e expanded to 15,000 seats before his team would be accepted into the NHL.&ldquo;The merger talks which allowed Quebec to take its place among the great North American sporting cities remains a great moment in our history,&rdquo; says Aubut. &ldquo;But the battle to get the Colis&eacute;e expanded and rebuilt is my most significant accomplishment. The contruction eventually cost $23 million, but today all Quebecers are proud of the Colis&eacute;e, one of the most beautiful arenas in the NHL.&rdquo;Sometimes Aubut thinks that if he had it all to do over again, he wouldn&rsquo;t go through all the merger discussions and the problems involved in the rebuilding of the Colis&eacute;e. &ldquo;It was exhausting work,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but when a man has a chance to do something which will affect his city, his province, and even his country, he simply can&rsquo;t back down.&rdquo;Fortified by that philosophy, Aubut&rsquo;s next move was to stabilize the franchise as best he could. The Nordiques&rsquo; last season in the WHA had been terribly disappointing. The ship was floundering and Aubut knew he had precious little time to get it back to calm waters. He was trying to reorganize the team while talks were continuing over the merger draft, which the NHL teams wanted to use to get back all the players who had jumped to the WHA. The Nordiques were suddenly faced with many new problems they never had to consider while the team was still a member of the WHA.The team emerged better than expected, especially when Quebec did so well in the first half of their initial year in the NHL. But then it all went downhill. The administrative structure of the team was changed after that first season. The management decided to go with youth and drafted that way. With the exception of general manager Maurice Filion, every executive with the team was under 35. This was a bold move considering the fact that the party line was that the team would need experience to build a strong organization. But Aubut impressed everyone with his hard work, and the others followed his example.In the summer of 1980 Aubut continued to shake up things by signing Peter and Anton Stastny. The arrival of these two players added a new dimension to the Nordiques and the Quebec-based team brought a new style of hockey to the NHL. The Nordiques would be like no other team. They were young, full of pride, and distinctive as a franchise.Aubut likes to compare the Nordiques to the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t be satisified with only local support,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We have to go beyond our borders and one day I would like the Nordiques to be as well known in Europe as they are in North America.&rdquo;Aubut&rsquo;s first objectives towards that goal have been attained, and with the help of his management team, the Nordiques play continually before a full house. Now he wants to see a greater variety of fans at the Colis&eacute;e and he is planning for the future. &ldquo;We are not interested in selling 15,000 season tickets,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There must be room for the fans who will arrive in a few years.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01647/4515195-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="574" height="786"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marcel Aubut sees his Nordiques becoming as popular in Europe as in North America.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02452/4515188-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="577" height="792"><figcaption class="caption-body">General manager Maurice Filion is the only top Nordiques official over age 35.</figcaption></div>Aubut remains active in the Quebec community and has also taken on duties at the league level. He serves on several league committees and his influence is spreading. Campbell&rsquo;s successor as president of the NHL, John Ziegler, says he has the greatest respect for Aubut and his ideas. Ziegler has also been astounded by the rapid progress and success of the Nordiques.In 1981 the Nordiques had the best record of the four former WHA teams in the NHL, while Aubut established himself as one of the top executives in the league. He and his team have certainly come a long way in the last few years. &#9632;

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Nordiques A Mirror Image Of Team President Aubut: Young, Feisty And Talented

<div class="byline">BY ALBERT LADOUCEUR</div>&ldquo;It is unthinkable to put an NHL team in Quebec City. The area is not rich enough to support a franchise.&rdquo;That famous statement, made by then National Hockey League president Clarence Campbell, caused quite an uproar in Quebec when the Nordiques were still in the World Hockey Association in the 1970s.Campbell&rsquo;s remarks were made at a time when the Nordiques were drawing small crowds for their home games from an area that is not as populated as it is today. In the last two years, however, the Nordiques can look with pride at how their box office numbers have grown in comparison to larger Canadian and American cities represented in the NHL.The Nordiques began their hockey operations only 150 miles from Montreal, a city which had a wealthy team, the Canadiens, and a winning tradition. But the upstart organization in Quebec City was ready to do battle with the Montreal empire, an empire which had the support of the majority of Quebeckers and many other Canadiens as well.Jean D. Legault, a former journalist and head of a marketing agency, was soon installed as vice-president in charge of marketing for the Nordiques. Working closely with team president Marcel Aubut, he took on this all-important job.&ldquo;I was not really concerned that a limited market of about 550,000 people could support an NHL franchise, in the long run,&rdquo; explains Legault. &ldquo;At first local enthusiasm is enough, but over a long period of time, say 25 years, more extensive support would be needed.&rdquo;Working with this philosophy in mind, the Nordiques decided to use a regional marketing approach and go beyond Quebec City to get fan support. &ldquo;We decided to aim not only for Quebec City and the whole province,&rdquo; says Legault, &ldquo;but for Canada and parts of the United States as well.&rdquo;Much of the territory sought by the Nordiques already belonged to the Montreal Canadiens. But there is evidence today that the Nordiques have made significant headway in what was once Canadiens&rsquo; territory. &ldquo;Right now we have everything to gain and Montreal has everything to lose,&rdquo; explains Legault. &ldquo;But the honeymoon will soon be over. Montreal is preparing to react. In the very near future the battle lines will be drawn.&rdquo;The Nordiques want a unique and special public image. They are trying to structure a team with a French Canadian profile, but at the same time one which includes other nationalities: English Canadians, Americans, and Europeans. &ldquo;We are becoming a strong franchise financially within the NHL,&rdquo; says Legault, &ldquo;and we want to make the Nordiques one of the top five organizations in the whole league.&rdquo;Legault uses the Philadelphia Flyers as an example. &ldquo;No matter how they fare on the ice,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;the Flyers remain a solid organization, well structured and financially stable. All aspects of the franchise are well run, including the team on the ice, the concession stands, box office support, and media relations.&rdquo;The Nordiques have already forced the Canadiens into making changes. The marketing struggle between the two franchises has seen some results. &ldquo;[Montreal defenseman] Larry Robinson&rsquo;s neighbor asked him what number was worn by [the Nordiques&rsquo;] Peter Stastny when he wanted to buy a hockey sweater as a present for his son,&rdquo; Legault says, &ldquo;and the Canadiens suddenly decided to honor [baseball&rsquo;s] Montreal Expos when they noticed that the Nordiques beat them to the punch. These are little victories that take on great importance in marketing strategy.&rdquo;The Nordiques caused quite a ruckus by scheduling press conferences in Montreal to mark the arrival of Peter and Anton Stastny, and then again the following year with Marian. The Quebec City media representatives were not exactly thrilled by this, and neither was the Montreal management, who did not like to see their rivals invading their territory.&ldquo;The Montreal press conferences are part of our regional marketing strategy,&rdquo; explains Legault. &ldquo;There will be others in Montreal, just as there will be some in Trois-Rivi&egrave;res, Rimouski and other Quebec cities. We are perhaps straining our good working relationship with the Quebec media, but if we didn&rsquo;t work this way and expand, we wouldn&rsquo;t be around for very long.&rdquo;The biggest problem the Nordiques have in spreading their image is related to television rights. One of the rules of the WHL-NHL merger states that the Nordiques are limited to a 50-mile radius around Quebec City for television broadcast rights.&ldquo;No team can survive without revenues from television rights,&rdquo; Legault says. &ldquo;We are still very limited for another two and a half years. Television is the true medium through which a team can gain popularity. It is through TV that you get repayment for your investments you make in marketing your team. That was a ridiculous television agreement at the time of the merger, as most people will tell you today.&rdquo;Radio Canada (French television in Canada) has also done little to please the Quebec management. &ldquo;Radio Canada,&rdquo; Legault says, &ldquo;is only interested in six of the seven Canadian teams in the NHL, all of whom have Molsons Brewery as a sponsor. The seventh team, the Nordiques, has been left out in the cold because of our owners, Carling O&rsquo;Keefe. It is not right that a national television network can do this to the Nordiques and their fans, who are taxpayers like everyone else and who help pay the deficits of such a network. Right now the Canadiens are taking advantage of their close rivals in the area of television rights. On the other hand, the Nordiques are clearly making themselves well known in other NHL cities.&ldquo;Last year,&rdquo; Legault continues, &ldquo;five teams wanted to present their games against Quebec back home on local TV. This year that number has tripled; because of our style of play and better record this year, there is a lot of interest in the Nordiques.&rdquo;Although the Nordiques continue to fight Montreal and a poor economy, they don&rsquo;t have to worry about competition from any other major sports team in Quebec City; the Nordiques are the only pro team in town. &ldquo;The absence of a baseball team in Quebec is something we are aware of and using to our advantage,&rdquo; Legault says. &ldquo;We have no one to compete against, so it is hard to tell just how well we are doing. But we know we can fight Montreal in our efforts to be the most popular team with the fans in the province of Quebec.&rdquo;The Canadiens are developing a new marketing strategy these days and this will force the Nordiques to try even harder. While the teams fight it out in the marketing boardrooms, the fans are the real winners. The Montreal-Quebec games create interest in all four comers of the province. And when two teams are fighting for control of the hot-blooded francophone population, a fiery and passionate struggle is the inevitable &mdash; and enjoyable &mdash; result. &#9632;

Marketing Heats Up Quebec-Montreal Rivalry

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01543/4515257-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Christian Bordeleau, left, and J.C. Tremblay embraced the Avco World Trophy as stars of the Nordiques&rsquo; 1976-77 World Hockey Association championship.</figcaption></div>When the Quebec Nordiques fought the former Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers to a fifth and final game in the opening round of the playoffs last spring, the Quebec players proved to everyone that they were a team worth watching in the future. The Nordiques finished in 11th place out of 21 teams in the NHL after only two seasons in the league, but the team was actually nine years old at the time, having started in the World Hockey Association in 1972-1973.On Feb. 11, 1972, a group of men from the Quebec City area with various interests in hockey obtained a WHA franchise from Gary Davidson in California for $215,000. These men, who became known as the &ldquo;group of six,&rdquo; actually bought the San Francisco franchise from the founder of the WHA, who knew very well that he could sell it to some interested party somewhere. The group used some $60,000 obtained from selling the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, a franchise which drew record crowds and made substantial profits during the Guy Lafleur era in Quebec City.Jean Marc Bruneau acted as president of the group, which also included Marius Fortier, eventually general manager and now assistant public relations director with the team, and Marcel Be&rsquo;dard. Also included were Claude Mathieu, L&eacute;o-Paul Beausoleil, and John Dacres, who eventually became president of the team. About 250 local businessmen were also convinced to get involved in the franchise; these included Jean Lessage and Paul Racine, as Fortier played an important role in the structuring of the new organization.The official team name was chosen in a contest organized by &ldquo;les Sportifs du Qu&eacute;bec&rdquo; and the team was launched on May 5, 1972, with about $2 million in capital. Defenseman Jean Claude Tremblay was lured from the Montreal Canadiens and give a five-year contract. He played in all seven years the Nordiques lasted in the WHA. Former Montreal superstar Maurice (Rocket) Richard was hired as coach, although he lasted only two games behind the bench and was replaced by general manager Maurice Filion. The Nordiques had a 33-40-5 record that first year and missed the WHA playoffs by only three points. The team averaged 6,923 fans for each home game, second only in the league to Hartford.In addition to J.C. Tremblay, the &rsquo;72-&rsquo;73 Nordiques included veteran Jean Guy Gendron, who coached the team from 1974 to 1976, defenseman Francois Lacombe, now doing color commentary during the Nordiques&rsquo; television games in Quebec, Michel Parizeau, former public relations director, with Richard Brodeur and Serge Aubry in goal. Marius Fortier replaced Filion as general manager after the latter took over from Richard behind the bench.In their seven years in the WHA the Nordiques won the Avco World Trophy, WHA equivilant to the Stanley Cup, only once and that was in 1976-77. But there were other memorable events during those years. Goaltender Jacques Plante, the first netminder to wear a mask in the NHL, signed a 10-year contract as coach and general manager worth $600,000 in May, 1973. Plante lasted only one year with the team. In &rsquo;74-&rsquo;75 Filion once again became general manager, Gendron began two years as coach, while Real Cloutier and Marc Tardif arrived, much to the delight of the Qu&eacute;bec fans. The Nordiques lost in the WHA finals that season to Houston.Filion, who had worked with the Quebec Remparts, established himself as general manager, and he is still there today. In &rsquo;75-&rsquo;76 the year was ruined when Tardif was struck over the head by Rick Jodzio of the Calgary Cowboys in one of the darkest moments in the short history of the WHA. The Nordiques disappeared from the playoff scene that year after that incident.It was during the summer of 1976 that the team was bought by Carling O&rsquo;Keefe for about $2 million. The players, now with Marc Boileau behind the bench, responded with their first and only Avco Cup championship. Then current team president Marcel Aubut arrived on the scene and convinced Carling O&rsquo;Keefe that the Nordiques could be a strong National Hockey League franchise, although first efforts failed when the NHL backed out of a proposed merger in the summer of 1977.Aubut replaced John Dacres as president and his efforts and hard work finally paid off when a merger between the WHA and NHL was concluded by March, 1979. Quebec, along with Winnipeg, Hartford and Edmonton, became full partners in the senior league. Jacques Demers, who came to Quebec from the Pittsburgh Penguins, coached the last WHA year for Quebec and then the first season for the Nordiques in the NHL. Filion naturally held on to his position as GM.The Nordiques had built a strong franchise during these years. Players who arrived during the WHA years and who are still with the team, apart from Tardif and Cloutier, are Alain Cot&eacute;, Wally Weir, and Dale Hoganson. Others who came, retired, or left once again, include R&eacute;jean Houle, who returned to Montreal after three years in Quebec, Serge Bernier, Christian Bordeleau, Paul Baxter, Jim Dorey, Bob Fitchner, Curt Brackenbury, Gary Lariviere, Danny Geoffrion and Richard David. The last player, David, is someone typifies the trend during the WHA years. Although he was only a marginal player, who was destined to never go anywhere with the team, he received a big, long-term contract and is still playing for the Fredericton Express, the Nordiques&rsquo; American Hockey League team.The merger with the NHL came only after many hard fought battles, with most of the fighting for Quebec done by Aubut. In 1972 the $6 million that was necessary for an NHL franchise was out of the question and in 1974 $4 million was still far too much. But Qu&eacute;bec and Aubut eventually got the financial backing of Carling O&rsquo;Keefe. A new arena was to be built, financial compensation for Cincinnati &mdash; who along with Birmingham were the only WHA teams not to be included in the merger &mdash; was provided, and on March 30, 1979, the merger became a reality. The home opener took place at the Colis&eacute;e against the Atlanta (now Calgary) Flames on Oct. 10, 1979.The Nordiques had a disastrous first year in the NHL after playing so well in the first half of the season. They missed the playoffs; team captain Robbie Ftorek &mdash; since traded to the New York Rangers &mdash; missed much of the year with a knee injury and Cloutier did not score quite as often as he did in the WHA. But the Nordiques did bring Jacques Richard back to Quebec, Michel Goulet proved that he had loads of talent, and Pierre Lacroix showed that he could Play in the NHL.In &rsquo;80-&rsquo;8l it was a different story. The team added nine new regular players: Peter and Anton Stastny, Michel Plasse, Dan Bouchard, Mario Marois, Dave Pichette, Dale Hunter, Andr&eacute; Dupont, recently made team captain after Ftorek&rsquo;s departure and Normand Rochefort. Pichette, Hunter and Rochefort were Quebec draft choices while the Stastny brothers, joined by brother Marian the following year, defected from Czechoslovakia to play hockey in Canada.After a rough start and a nine-game road trip &mdash; while the finishing touches were being put on the expanded Colis&eacute;e &mdash; the Nordiques settled down and finished the year oin 11th place overall. Bouchard had come from Calgary in exchange for Jamie Hislop and the veteran netminder quickly made his presence felt. Richard had a career-high 52 goals and the Stastnys proved that they belonged; meanwhile the team got a new coach and a rebuilt arena.Michel Bergeron, who had made his reputation in the Quebec Hockey League, took over as coach with the Nordiques after Filion handed him the job early in the &rsquo;80-&rsquo;8l season. Bergeron quickly established his reputation in the league. The Colis&eacute;e was rebuilt and a new balcony added at a cost of about $20 million. The arena now seats 15,250 and all of those seats have been filled since the night it was reopened &mdash; Jan. 2, 1981. On the ice, the team expects to do even better in &rsquo;81-&rsquo;82, certainly better than a first round playoff elimination.The Nordiques have built a reputation as having one of the strongest offenses in the NHL. This reputation goes back to the WHA years when Tardif and Cloutier each won scoring championships. Cloutier had 75 goals in 77 games in the &rsquo;78-&rsquo;79 season. Tardif had 154 points in &rsquo;77-&rsquo;78. This tradition has continued with the Stastny brothers and Richard in the NHL. Richard got 52 goals last season, while Peter Stastny was named Rookie of the Year with 109 points. When the Quebec defense matches the offensive experience and power of the team, the Nordiques will be ready to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup.<h2>Quebec Record 1972-1981</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02417/4515250-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="945" height="503"></div> &#9632;

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Group Of Six Brought Pro Hockey To Quebec

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC &mdash; The Nordiques have shown some remarkable improvement on defense through the month of January, as the youth movement is finally starting to show some positive results. The Nordiques ended 1981 and started 1982 by winning five in a row at home. Dan Bouchard played all five games in goal for Quebec and he was scored on only seven times during those five victories.&ldquo;My timing is better but the whole team is playing a better brand of hockey right now,&rdquo; said the netminder, who came to Quebec in a trade with Calgary a year ago. &ldquo;The defensemen are getting accustomed to playing with one another and the forwards are doing a better job coming back to help.&rdquo;Bouchard had a shutout, against Washington, during that streak. &ldquo;It always feels great to get a shutout,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but you must have help from the whole team to do it.&rdquo;There is an old saying that you are not supposed to tamper with success. This apparently does not apply to the Nordiques however, as Michel Plasse was traded to Hartford for John Garrett and Miroslav Frycer and Jean Hamel were sent down to the Fredericton Express of the AHL. Defenseman Terry Johnson was called up from the same Quebec farm club. He is expected to add a little muscle to the Nordiques. Frycer went down and had six goals in seven games with the Express; Hamel and Lee Norwood had joined the Nordiques when defensemen Pierre Lacroix and Dave Pichette came up lame. Hamel stayed in Quebec but Norwood was soon returned to Fredericton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01461/4515288-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="560" height="964"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michel Plasse was not at all pleased by the way the Nordiques &ldquo;took advantage&rdquo; of him.</figcaption></div>The Plasse trade didn&rsquo;t surprise anyone. The real surprise in the deal was that the Nordiques were able to get veteran Garrett in exchange. Garrett is three years younger than Plasse and he had been playing well with the Whalers this season. He was certainly worth more to Quebec than Plasse and a fourth round draft choice.Plasse admitted after the trade that he was told he could finish the season in Quebec, but at the same time he couldn&rsquo;t expect to start another game in goal for the Nordiques. This was a curious deal indeed, and now the Quebec media understands why the team management was mentioning the possibility of bringing up Clint Malarchuk for the next road trip before the trade was completed.Plasse was bitter about his fate: &ldquo;They were not really fair with me. They refused to give me another year on my contract, just as they did with Wally Weir and Moose Dupont. They took advantage of me when they needed me last season, and then again before Bouchard signed this year; now they just dumped me.&rdquo;It should also be noted that the Nordiques helped Plasse to stay two more years in the NHL when no one else wanted him. He has been irregular at best in goal for Quebec since his arrival.Garrett won his first start in goal for Quebec, a 7-5 triumph in Winnipeg at the completion of a three-game road trip. The Nordiques split the first two games on that trip, winning 4-2 in St. Louis, but losing 4-1 in Minnesota. Garrett quickly impressed Quebec coach Michel Bergeron in workouts, and then the Jets in Winnipeg, even though he gave up five goals.About a month ago, Bergeron started using six defensemen with his forwards working with set defensive pairs. Wally Weir got back into the lineup to join Dupont, Lacroix, Pichette, and Normand Rochefort, but the standout on defense for Quebec lately has been Mario Marois. Marois played about 30 minutes in the Winnipeg game, and not only has been a leader defensively, but he also led the Quebec defensemen in scoring after 48 games with eight goals and 21 assists.The Stastny brothers had one of their typical explosions in Winnipeg. The three members of the same line celebrated the return of brother Anton, who had missed two weeks with a knee injury, by getting 11 points in the game. Peter had a goal and three assists, while Marian added a goal and four assists. Peter had been in a bit of a slump lately, but now it seems he is ready to get on track for the oremainder of the season. &#9632;

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Nordiques’ Youthful Defense Is Tightening Up

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02332/4515319-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo By Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers continues his relentless hunt for new NHL records and with each passing week, the brilliant Oiler center is making it look awfully easy.After scoring 50 goals in 39 games for a new NHL record, Gretzky is now launched on a course that could see him end up with 200 scoring points at season&rsquo;s end and probably 77 goals in a lot less than the 78 games it took Phil Esposito to set the single season mark of 76 in 78 games.The Oilers&rsquo; ace produced another 10-point week, scoring four goals to raise his season output to 61 in 51 games, and adding four assists to give him 75 and 136 points to win the honor of NHL Player of the Week. It marked the fourth time this season that THE HOCKEY NEWS has&rsquo;chosen Gretzky as its top weekly performer. &#9632;

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Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY JIM HABERLIN</div>Festivals and popular amusements have always had a special meaning in the hearts of Quebecers: Records confirm that winter carnivals took place some 100 years ago in this historic old city they call &ldquo;La Vielle Capitate.&rdquo;In 1954 a group of innovative Quebec businessmen decided that an annual Winter Carnival would fulfill the desire for some festivities and at the same time stimulate a stagnant winter economy. With the financial help of different sponsors and with funds collected during a &ldquo;candle night&rdquo;, the Winter Carnival would become a world-known attraction.And so, this is why February in Quebec City is no ordinary month. It is not a month when winter cold and greyness has a depressing effect but rather a month of celebration. This year, from the 4th to the 14th of February, the rest of Quebec, Canada and the world can obtain a taste of the overwhelming hospitality and joie de vivre which have become so characteristic of these French Canadians. These entertainment-filled days make Quebec City the undisputed &ldquo;snow capital of the world&rdquo;.An atmosphere of joy and merriment reigns over this city during this time. With an estimated one million people participating, the Quebec Winter Carnival can be put in the same category as those popular festivals in Rio, Nice or even the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.&ldquo;Bonhomme Carnaval,&rdquo; a living version of a snowman, is the carnival&rsquo;s symbol. With a charming entourage of a Queen and six attractive Duchesses, the Bonhomme presides over all the activities, making him the uncontested ruler. The elderly and sick are not forgotten, either, and Bonhomme spends many hours in hospitals and nursing homes leaving an atmosphere of good cheer and hope with everyone.This year&rsquo;s 28th Winter Carnival will include some 200 different activities. These activities, organized by no less than 1,200 volunteers with the help of a permanent staff, are scheduled to take place at seven major locations around the city. Be it at the Bonhomme&rsquo;s snow castle, located in front of Quebec&rsquo;s parliament buildings, or on Quebec&rsquo;s south shore, the Carnival will surely overpower everyone during this time.The most popular activities on this year&rsquo;s program include the opening night ceremonies, two night parades, the international ice-sculpturing competition, the international Pee-Wee hockey tournament and the canoe race.The opening night marks the first of the official activities. On that night Bonhomme crowns his queen in front of his snow castle, where a huge crowd has assembled. After a colorful demonstration of fireworks, the Bonhomme in his white costume, red tuque and knitted scarf sets the pace with his queen at a dance given in their honor.The two night parades take place on consecutive Saturdays during the carnival, the first down town and the second uptown. It is this activity that exemplifies best the tremendous atmosphere of the Carnival. On these nights the people flock to the streets, singing, dancing and indulging in the odd sip of a moonshine called &ldquo;Caribou&rdquo; to keep warm. Made up of clowns, bands and numerous colorful floats, the parade sets a mood of gaiety throughout the city.Introduced three years ago, the international ice-sculpturing contest is one of the newest activities. This year, great artists and craftsmen from about 15 different countries will arrive in Quebec from Feb. 3-7, when their works will be displayed. Last year, Canada and Morocco shared first place honors, the former for a piece called &ldquo;An Indian on A Horse&rdquo; and the latter for a work called &ldquo;Transformation.&rdquo;The international Pee Wee hockey Tournament is the Carnival&rsquo;s best known activity. This tournament, which is played at the Quebec Coliseum, home of the Quebec Nordiques, has hosted many players over the years who have gone on to the National Hockey League and become household names. The Quebecers are very proud to have been involved in the development of players like Wayne Gretzky, Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne, all of whom participated in this international event.Last but not least on the list of main activities is the canoe race on the frozen St. Lawrence river. On Sunday, Feb. 14, 25 teams made up of five courageous members each will attack the icy waters, hoping to reach the shores of Quebec and L&eacute;vis in the shortest time. The race involves the carrying of canoes through hugh ice packs and demands tremendous effort as well as skill just to reach the finish line.Other exciting events which encourage participation and have tremendous popular appeal also contribute immensely to the success of the Winter Carnival. Such events as the dogsled races, alpine and cross-country skiing, snow sculpturing, broomball, a torchlight alpine skiing downhill at beautiful Lac Beauport and many, many more will make Quebec City a most enjoyable place to be from the fourth to 14th of February this year. &#9632;

Quebec City World Snow Capital In February

<div class="byline">BY CLAUDE CADORETTE</div>The rebuilt and enlarged Colisee in Quebec City, a project that cost some $20 million, is perhaps already too small. The way the fans have recently been gobbling up tickets to see such teams as the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and other top-notch contenders clearly demonstrates that the Nordiques would be even more successful than they already are with a few thousand more seats in the Colisee.But when the Colisee was expanded, the executives in charge were embarking upon a new road and prudence was necessary. One must look at the history of hockey in Quebec City to get a better idea of the skepticism which existed as the Nordiques started a new career in the National Hockey League.You don&rsquo;t have to go back to the turn of the century, either, but only to November, 1974, when the Nordiques faced bankruptcy in the now-defunct World Hockey Association. The team had difficulty attracting more than 6,000 fans to home games. And if we go back even further, we can better understand Clarence Campbell, president of the NHL at that time, when he said that Quebec was a city of &ldquo;TV watchers&rdquo; and that the NHL could never be successful there.Quebec had known some glorious hockey years in the late &rsquo;40s and early &rsquo;50s; followed by a dark period which ended only with the success of the Quebec Ramparts many years later. Those golden years in the &rsquo;40s and &rsquo;50s, when the Aces were dominating the Quebec Senior League, bring back happy memories for Paul Dumont, who was very closely involved with Junior Hockey in Quebec City at that time and who recalls, &ldquo;During those times crowd control went out the window and there were often 6,000 fans in the &lsquo;Petit Colisee&rsquo; which then seated only 4,000. The opposition was provided by the Montreal Royals, and teams from Valleyfield, Ottawa, McGill and Chicoutimi.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01454/4515374-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="557" height="1332"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean Beliveau began his legendary career with the Quebec Citadels before joining the Aces.</figcaption></div>Through this era there was also Junior A hockey in the same arena with two teams from Montreal, the Nationals and the Canadiens, as well as Drummondville, Valleyfield, Trois-Rivi&egrave;res and St. Jerome.This was the time, too, of Jean Beliveau and the Quebec Citadels, who along with the Aces played in the Colisee until a fire forced both teams to finish the season and their respective playoffs in Chicoutimi, while in Quebec City the foundation of the present-day Colisee was constructed and its capacity more than doubled.&ldquo;The following year,&rdquo; Dumont remembers, &ldquo;it was not surprising to see 10,000 in the Colisee for an afternoon game involving the Aces and then just as many fans the same night for the Citadels.&rdquo;A good part of the reason for the size of those crowds was Jean Beliveau, who played for the Aces after he left the Citadels and was so revered in the city that it took a tremendous effort on the part of the Montreal Canadiens to lure the young center, who would go on to be a superstar with the Canadiens, away from his beloved Quebec.After Beliveau left Quebec &mdash; there are still fans in Quebec City who have never forgiven the Canadiens &mdash; the Quebec senior league eventually became a professional hockey league. It continued for a few years but interest soon dwindled. The Anglo Paper Mill (now Reed Paper) eventually sold the franchise to Gerald Martineau, who then moved the Aces into the American Hockey League. The team was successful in this league until it was bought by the Philadelphia Flyers, a team just starting in the NHL, after which things went badly and support died.In Junior A hockey the Citadels also had problems after initially prospering. Again the Montreal Canadiens were involved, this time in a dispute over the rights to players, and they eventually won. There was a revolution in Quebec City, the Citadels joined the OHL, then called the OMJHL, in protest, and Emile Couture tried to start a new junior team named the Frontenac, but he got nowhere.Before&rsquo; long, both junior teams in Quebec were on the verge of folding. Conflicts of a political nature were a part of the rivalry between the teams, and not only was junior hockey in bad shape in the Quebec capital, but professional hockey was dead issue as well.Through these times, Quebec certainly seemed to be the city of &ldquo;TV watchers&rdquo; Clarence Campbell had talked about. The Frontenac bought out the Citadels but couldn&rsquo;t make a go of it, and later the Junior Aces were only a limited success, even with Guy Lafleur starting his glorious career.Twenty Quebec businessmen soon formed the Quebec Remparts, a team which became a true success story during and after the Lafleur era. The Remparts had fantastic support, even after Lafleur went to Montreal, and left behind players like Jacques Richard, Andr&eacute; Savard, Guy Chouinard, Jacques Locas and Real Cloutier.The Remparts were so successful that in 1971-72 team executives actually approached Campbell and talked about the possibilities of an NHL franchise for Quebec. Campbell replied that it was out of the question, at least until the 1980&rsquo;s. Meanwhile, at the other end of the continent, a man named Gary Davidson was talking about a new league, called the World Hockey Association, which would compete with the NHL.Six of the owners of the Remparts, led by Marius Fortier, decided to see what Davidson had to offer. Fortier was joined. by John Dacres, Jean-Marc Bernier, Leopold Beausoleil, Marcel Bedard, and Jean-Claude Mathieu. Together they brought a WHA franchise to Quebec.It was a real adventure story. No one knew if the WHA would work, and many still wonder how politicians, businessmen, and a few hundred Quebecers put up the necessary money. They were ruled more by their passion for hockey than their common sense.Maurice (Rocket) Richard, the former Canadien great, was hired as the first coach and Jean-Claude Tremblay, another ex-Canadien, as the first star player. Richard lasted only two games behind the bench but the team survived. In their third year the Nordiques took Real Cloutier from the Quebec Remparts, while Guy Chouinard went to Atlanta in the NHL. This marked the beginning of the end for the Remparts. They never drew the same big crowds after these two departures and today are on the brink of relocating, bringing up the rear in the Quebec Major Junior League.During their first two years in the WHA the Nordiques did not draw as well as the Remparts at the box office. This led even more people to conclude that Quebec just wasn&rsquo;t ready for the NHL and the substantial costs involved. But the arrival of Marc Tardif, again from the Canadiens, and the purchase of the team by Carling O&rsquo;Keefe changed all this.When Marcel Aubut returned from New York in March, 1979, with an NHL franchise for Quebec, few people were really aware of the significance of the battle he had won. Even in Quebec City people were telling him that he was dreaming. It has taken a lot of hard work by the Quebec management to put a talented team on the ice and then market that team and make it the success story it is today. The Nordiques have won over the city of Quebec, and now they are going after the rest of the province as well. &#9632;

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NHL Franchise Overcame City Of Skepticism

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01445/4515412-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Local youngsters who competed in last year&rsquo;s Pee Wee tournament wearing the colors of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Nordiques were honored by the club in a special ceremony. (Photo By Jacques Boissinot)</figcaption></div>My first memories of the Quebec Pee-Wee Tournament go back some 17 years, to 1965, when I was still in high school and I would leave my classes at noon or late in the afternoon to go to the Quebec Colis&eacute;e and watch the games until nine each night. Gordie Howe&rsquo;s two sons, Marty and Mark, were playing with a team from Detroit and the legend himself, number nine of the Red Wings, came to Quebec to see them play. One&rsquo;s interest in watching the games at the Colis&eacute;e begins because of curiosity, but soon you are hooked and you can&rsquo;t stay away.The Quebec International PeeWee Hockey Tournament began in 1960 as a non-profit venture intended to give financial aid to a local sports center, the Patro Roc Amadour, a stone&rsquo;s throw from the Colis&eacute;e. In the last 22 years some $460,500 has been raised for the Patro by the tournament. The founders of this annual event also wanted to give young hockey players of all nationalities a chance to meet and to make friends during a competition where friendship is the main goal.The tournament has attracted more than three million fans in the last 22 years, including a record 204,006 people during the 1978 competitions. The Quebec Colis&eacute;e was expanded from 10,000 to 15,250 seats last year, but crowds in excess of 15,000 pushed their way into the building ten years ago.The man recognized as the founder of the Quebec Pee-Wee Tournament is G&eacute;rard Bolduc, who got the idea after taking a pee-wee team to a tournament in the United States from 1957 through 1959. Teams are now classified by divisions according to the population of the city they represent. The AA class is for cities above 45,000 people, the BB class for 20,000 to 45,000 and the CC division for a city of less than 20,000 inhabitants. In addition to the three classifications mentioned above, there is competition for the International Cup, with eight contending teams in 1982, from Canada, the United States, Finland, and Switzerland. The America Cup will be sought by 10 teams representing NHL cities, and the Quebec Cup will go to the winners in a competition of eight teams representing Quebec Major Junior Hockey League cities.In 1982 there will be 104 teams in the tournament, 88 from Canada, 14 from the United States, and one each from Finland and Switzerland. When your team loses you are eliminated, unless you are in the America Cup, International Cup or Quebec Cup, where you cannot lose after your first game or you are also eliminated. This year there are 28 teams in the AA class, 15 in the BB class, and 35 in the CC class.Local interest in the tournament is tremendous. Crowds have averaged 200,000 for the last three years. This year 11 games will be televised on a delay basis in the Quebec City area and east of the city, as the games start February 11 and the finals are held on February 21. Daytime activities are organized for the many young participants, most of whom stay in homes with Quebec families who volunteer to take in a player or two for the Week. The kids also meet at the Patro near the Colis&eacute;e where they have sports activities to keep them busy when they are not watching other games or have some time to kill.The tournament is organized by volunteers and hundreds of people give freely of their time to help run the show. Alex L&eacute;gar&eacute; has been the president for the past few years, and the tournament has grown from 39 teams in 1960 to almost three times as many teams this year. Many people in the Quebec City area take a week of their vacation time to work for the tournament or simply to take in all the action.There are many players currently in the National Hockey league who made their presence felt in the Quebec Pee-Wee Tour-&rsquo; nament. The Howe brothers came in 1965, Guy Lafleur in 1962, 63, and 64, and Wayne Gretzky in 1974. Other NHL players include former Nordique captain Robbie Ftorek, now with the New York Rangers, GilbertPerreault, Buffalo; Jacques Richard, Dan Bouchard and Real Cloutier, all with Quebec; Rick MacLeish, Pittsburgh; Marcel Dionne, Los Angeles; and Guy Chouinard, Calgary. The sons of Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull and Bernie Geoffrion have also participated in this hockey festival. This year Gretzky&rsquo;s younger brother Glen will attend with a team from Brantford, Ont., and another brother, Keith, was the leading scorer in the 1980 tournament with 10 goals in six games.The teams come to Quebec with gifts for the fans, banners to display as they skate around the arena, mascots to entertain the fans between the periods, and a great desire to win. When you get to play before 15,000 fans it is a great thrill to score and to win, but it is a terrible disappointment to lose. On the other hand, very few players who ever took part in the Quebec Pee-Wee Tournament will ever forget or regret coming to Quebec City to compete.<h2>Quebec Pee-Wee Tournament Schedule</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02319/4515405-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="2904" height="1828"></div> &#9632;

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200,000 Expected For Quebec Pee Wee Tourney

<div class="byline">BY CLAUDE LAROCHELLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01436/4515443-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">When the Quebec Nordiques were granted an NHL franchise in 1979-80, it was an opportunity for a return to his old haunts by veteran left winger Marc Tardif, shown here testing St. Louis netminder Mike Liut. Tardif originally jumped the NHL and Montreal Canadiens in 1973-74 for the WHA, finally landing in Quebec a year later with the Nordiques. (Photo by Jacques Boissinot)</figcaption></div>The Nordiques&rsquo; success story did not really begin until the team was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League nearly three years ago. The man behind delivering the Nordiques from the dying World Hockey Association was team president Marcel Aubut. The following piece details his efforts to achieve that purpose.In November, 1978, a third round of negotiations was taking place concerning the possibility of a merger between the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association. The president of the NHL, John Ziegler, keeping a close watch on the discussions in progress, called all the interested parties to a meeting in New York. He wanted a head-to-head confrontation with one of the parties involved, namely the Quebec Nordiques.This was a difficult time for the president of the Nordiques, Marcel Aubut, a young lawyer who had just turned 30 years old. Aubut had taken control of an organization which had exhausted its executives because of its efforts to keep afloat in the WHA, a league which was going through hard times and which had reduced to seven teams.Full of enthusiasm after his recent appointment as president of the Nordiques, Aubut quickly realized that a substantial barrier remained to be overcome in his efforts to get Quebec into the NHL. The Quebec Colisee would have to be rebuilt into an arena capable of supporting an NHL team, and with only 10,000 seats it was just too small.Despite his great patience and determination, Aubut had encountered only closed doors when he approached City Hall or the Canadian federal government. He especially tried to get financial support through Gilles Lamontagne, a former mayor of Quebec who was now a cabinet minister ip the Trudeau government in Ottawa.But no matter how earnest his efforts or abundant his personal contacts in Ottawa were, Aubut kept coming back empty handed. It was like trying to get blood out of a stone and Aubut found himself all alone when it came to getting support for his efforts to make Quebec an NHL city.Thus having exhausted all possibilities of making arrangements to expand the Colisee to 15,000 seats, Aubut found himself going to New York for his crucial meeting with Ziegler without the one committment he needed to assure his team&rsquo;s admittance to the NHL.Ziegler, after suggesting that the actions taken so far by the Nordiques were getting to be a joke, said to the young lawyer: &ldquo;This mess has gone far enough. It must be settled once and for all. What are you going to do, Aubut? You don&rsquo;t have a building to Play in. I tell you honestly, you are making us lose time and we are running out of patience. You already have more obstacles to overcome than anyone else. Your team is almost in Montreal&rsquo;s back yard, your owners are trying to compete with the Montreal owners, you don&rsquo;t have the population to support an NHL team and your territory is just not rich enough economically. And now you tell us you have no building to play in! You sure have a lot of nerve coming here today!&rdquo;Aubut, fighting feverishly against Montreal&rsquo;s powerful organization and at the same time unable to rely on strong support from his own area, pleaded his case with Ziegler. Showing great determination and using all his argumentative skills as a lawyer, Aubut finally convinced Ziegler to grant him one more extension.&ldquo;Okay, Aubut, we&rsquo;ll give you one last chance&rdquo; said Ziegler. &ldquo;If by the Challenge Cup on February 8, you don&rsquo;t show up in New York with documentation from Quebec City assuring the reconstruction of the Colis&eacute;e, we&rsquo;ll turn down your application for a franchise.&rdquo;This deadline had little significance for the president of the Nordiques, whose head was still spinning from the recent setbacks he had endured. He was almost ready to give up, but because of his fighting spirit, he still believed that there was a ray of hope somewhere. He had been turned down everywhere and by all his contacts, especially at City Hall in Quebec, and also in the federal capital, where he thought he had good political connections.In a final gesture, Aubut decided to try the provincial government in Quebec, where the Parti Quebecois was in power. He went to see Guy Bertrand, an influential Quebec City lawyer who handled the affairs of several professional athletes and who had contacts in the offices of the Premier of Quebec, Ren&eacute; Levesque. What at first seemed like futile efforts would eventually provide positive results. The Quebec government was soon resolved to break the deadlock in the dispute over the financing of a new Colis&eacute;e and, at the same time, help the Nordiques get in the NHL.On Jan. 24, 1979, 15 days before the ultimate deadline set by Ziegler, the Quebec government intervened with $5 million to help in the rebuilding of the Colisee. Aubut was saved by the bell. His back against the wall, he had accomplished the impossible.The after effects of this financial support from the government of Quebec were immediate: From that moment on, those who had stood by and watched suddenly jumped on the bandwagon. Quick responses came from Ottawa and from City Hall. Before long the tide had turned, and in a matter of a few days Jean Pelletier, the mayor of Quebec, had the $19.8 million needed to rebuild and enlarge the Colis&eacute;e.On the night of February 7, 1979, just hours away from Aubut&rsquo;s deadline and the start of the Challenge Cup in New York, Mayor Pelletier signed a 10-year lease with the Quebec Nordiques covering rental of the reconstructed Colisee. Once this was accomplished, the mayor gave Aubut the necessary papers stating that the city of Quebec was completely committed to add some 5,000 seats to the Quebec Colisee.Clutching the document he worked so hard to get, the Quebec lawyer and president of the Nordiques could hardly believe his good luck. Abandoned by everyone and working alone, he had almost been defeated. But on February 8, in New York, just before the deadline set by Ziegler, Aubut gave the NHL president the necessary documents and in return received his ticket to board the NHL-WHA &ldquo;Merger Train.&rdquo;. &#9632;

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Aubut Fought To Wire For NHL Acceptance

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01403/4515481-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="500" height="133"></div>NEW HAVEN &mdash; Nick Beverley has a tough act to follow as the new coach of the New Haven Nighthawks.Beverley succeeded Don Perry behind the bench in New Haven after the parent Los Angeles Kings named Perry as the coach of the struggling California club. The popular Perry replaced Parker MacDonald, who was moved upstairs in the Kings&rsquo; office as assistant general manager.The new Nighthawks&rsquo; mentor inherited a team that Perry had driven to first place in the see-saw AHL Southern Division race before accepting the job to coach the Kings. Before coming to New Haven, Beverley was the assistant to MacDonald in Los Angeles and also coached the Houston Apollos during the 1980-81 campaign before that club folded on January 8, 1981.&ldquo;We feel that Nick is the best possible choice,&rdquo; said Nighthawks&rsquo; president Roy Mlakar. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a dedicated hockey man, a very, very hard worker and he&rsquo;s got all the capabilities you need for the job.&rdquo;Though he was pleased to be getting Beverley, Mlakar still wasn&rsquo;t overjoyed at losing Perry to the NHL. &ldquo;Don is just an outstanding coach,&rdquo; Mlakar noted. &ldquo;He will definitely be a tough act to follow and despite adversity and more injuries than any other club in the AHL, he had us in first place when he left.&rdquo;The 34-year old Beverley was an 11-year NHL veteran defenseman who saw action with six NHL clubs, including Boston, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Colorado and the New York Rangers.Perry coached his final game in Halifax and although the Nighthawks fell to Nova Scotia 6-4, New Haven gave their former coach a nice sendoff as they were unbeaten in six straight road contests at 5-0-1 to tie a team record before losing to the Vees.The Nighthawks also earned a 4-4 tie against Nova Scotia with Scott Gruhl getting two goals and the Connecticut crew slipped past Fredericton 4-3 in overtime. New Haven threw 51 shots at Fredericton goalie Clint Malarchuk and Bernie Nicholls was credited with the game winner with just four seconds remaining in the overtime session.Beverley&rsquo;s debut as the New Haven leader was spoiled as the Nighthawks ended their road trip to Canada on a losing note. Even though they had a 37-20 advantage in shots the Nighthawks fell 5-1 with Al Sims getting a late third period goal to avert the shutout.ROCHESTER &mdash; The Americans showed their comeback ability over the week as they won two and lost two with the pair of victories aided by third period rallies.Down by a 3-1 count to the Blades, the Americans scored five straight goals and beat Erie 6-3, much to the pleasure of 5,321 fans. Bob Mongrain had two goals and Kai Suikkanen and Gilles Hamel each scored three points as the KGB line was instrumental in the win.The Amerks then put on a dazzling show to beat New Brunswick 2-1 in overtime. Behind 1-0 with only ten seconds left, Christ Halyk tied the game at 1-1 and later won the contest for Rochester with his goal at 4:22 of the overtime session.Rochester also lost in Maine 5-3 and in Glens Falls to Adirondack by the same 5-3 score.Goalie Jari Paavola was returned to Cape Cod and Tim Bernhardt was reassigned from Oklahoma City to Rochester.BINGHAMTON &mdash; Nothing could keep Paul Crowley from setting a new record &mdash; not even a broken nose.Outfitted with a special protective mask, Crowley set a new Whaler record by playing in his 247th straight game as Binghamton beat Erie 11-4 to end their Jour-game losing streak. It was a night to remember for Crowley as he also scored two goals, the first of which was the 100th of his AHL career.As a team the Whalers also set marks for their first twin digit game and established a new standard with five goals in the first period.Michel Galarneau&rsquo;s four points, including two goals, played a big part in the win as did Bob Sullivan&rsquo;s two goals.Binghamton also lost to New Brunswick 3-2 at home and absorbed a 6-4 loss to Adirondack on the road. Paul Messier had a pair in the loss in Glens Falls.The Whalers lost their top goalie as Hartford and Quebec swapped goaltenders, prompting the return of Mike Veisor to the NHL. The AHL team received veteran Michel Plasse from Hartford as a replacement.Veisor was 13-8-1 for Binghamton and had a 3.09 goals-against average.HERSHEY &mdash; The biggest crowd of the season at the Hersheypark Arena went home disappointed as the Bears dropped a 7-1 decision to the visiting Hawks in front of 6,712 fans. All they could cheer about was Joe Contini&rsquo;s goal which averted a shutout with some eight minutes left in the game.The Bears lost their second straight before the home fans when Springfield jumped on Hershey for a 5-3 triumph. Jean Pronovost had two goals in a losing cause.Goalie Rollie Boutin was kept busy as he started eight consecutive games before being relieved by Bart Hunter. Boutin&rsquo;s 27 appearances ranked among the leaders for goaltenders.ADIRONDACK &mdash; The red hot Red Wings continued their fine play by claiming six wins in seven games in the Southern Division race that saw the first four teams separated by only a few points when this issue went to press.Coach Doug McKay&rsquo;s Red Wings beat the teams they had to beat &mdash; Binghamton and Rochester &mdash; as the race got even tighter. The Red Wings posted a 6-4 win over Binghamton before 5,468 as they rallied from two goals behind.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03219/4515474-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="573" height="888"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nick Beverley went from an assistant with the Kings to head coach in New Haven.</figcaption></div>Rejean Cloutier had a goal and four assists while Carmine Cirella scored two goals.Adirondack gained their 11th win in 15 games by besting Rochester at home. Pete Mahovlich, Mark Lofthouse and Neil Meadmore each had a goal and one assist. It was the first win over the Amerks for the Wings after two losses and a tie.Lofthouse was averaging a point a game with 41 points in 41 outings, while Mahovlich and Jody Gage each had 36 points in 42 games.ERIE &mdash; The Blades were still looking for the magic ingredient they needed to snap a winless streak that had reached 10 games, including eight losses and two ties. After a fairly decent start in their first year in the American Hockey League, the Blades were a dismal 2-13-2 over a 17-game stretch that saw them hit the bottom of the standings in the SouthErie lost two more games during the week, both of the setbacks coming on the road. The Blades were beaten by Rochester 6-3 after holding a 3-1 lead and Erie was embarrassed in Binghamton by the Whalers 11-4. &#9632;

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Beverley Named Perry’s Replacement After Nighthawk Coach’s Promotion

PORTLAND &mdash; Beating the Mariners at home is an almost impossible task. Coach Bob McCammon&rsquo;s Portland crew recently chalked up two more home ice victories to run their record at the Cumberland County Civic Center to 16-2.Latest to fall in Portland were Rochester and Fredericton with both clubs losing 5-3 decisions to the Mariners. Gordie Clark, who scored 10 points in three games, led the way with two goals and two assists and Paul Evans added four points on three assists in a game played before 6,175. Gordie Williams had a pair in the win over the Express.Clark, the AHL&rsquo;s third most proficient scorer at press time, had just 54 points in 59 games a year ago and was ready to exceed that after getting 52 points in only 40 games this season.Goalie Pelle Lindbergh, last year&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player in the AHL, earned both victories and collected his eighth win in 11 decisions.NEW BRUNSWICK &mdash; The Hawks began pressuring first place Maine thanks to a streak that saw them go 7-1-1 over a nine-game stretch. New Brunswick copped three of four games over a week&rsquo;s time, including two wins and a tie in three road games.New Brunswick started by edging past Binghamton 3-2 and then stopped Hershey 7-1 on the road. Bill Riley led the romp over the Bears with three goals and one assist. Steve Larmer had two goals with Mike Kaszycki passing off for three assists.The Hawks dropped a 2-1 overtime decision in Rochester after holding a 1-0 advantage until just 10 seconds were left in the contest. New Brunswick then returned home to post a 5-1 win over New Haven.Warren Skorodenski and Bob Jane-cyk have become the best 1-2 goalie tandem in the league as they yielded just six goals over the four game span. Janecyk was 11-7-2 with a 2.62 goals-against average while Skorodenski was 12-8-3 with a 2.65 goals-against mark.The Hawks also have the jump on Fredericton and Nova Scotia in the race for supremacy in the Maritimes. New Brunswick is 4-2-2 agairist the Vees and 5-1-1 vs. the Express.NOVA SCOTIA &mdash; After going winless in four games, including three ties, the Vees got back on the winning track with an impressive triumph over the Nighthawks before 6,309.Nova Scotia recorded their first power play goal in 16 attempts with six players collecting goals during the contest.Earlier in the week the Vees tied New Haven 4-4 after squandering a 4-1 lead. It was the third straight tie on home ice for Nova Scotia as Glen Sorenson scored his first goal since joining the club. John Goodwin, Yvon Joly and Mark Hentges also scored.Steve Penney was assigned to the Vees after Mark Holden was recalled by the Canadiens and slick skating centerman Dan Daoust was back after missing several weeks with an injury.SPRINGFIELD &mdash; The Indians continued their success on the road after splitting a pair of home games against the expansion Express.With five different players scoring, Springfield topped Hershey 5-3 to give them two wins and a tie in their last three road encounters.Springfield unleashed a 45-shot attack on the Express in scoring a 5-3 triumph behind Dave Snopek&rsquo;s three points. The Indians outshot the Express 31-20 the following night, but lost 5-4 as their three-game unbeaten streak was ended. It was also the third time Springfield had won the first game in a weekend series with a Canadian team and then dropped the second game of the series.The Indians were the only team in the league to not have a scorer in the top 20 for the first 14 weeks of the season. Claude Larose was the top scorer on the club with 30 points.FREDERICTON &mdash; It took 37 games to do it but the first year Express finally scored their tenth victory with a come from behind win over Springfield.Fredericton&rsquo;s losing streak reached four games with a 4-3 home overtime setback to New Haven and the Express fell to the Indians in the first of a weekend series 5-3 before gaining a 5-4 road win in Springfield.Newcomer Myroslav Frycer sparked the Express to their win with a two-goal performance and Peter Marrin chipped in with three assists. Frycer totaled four goals in three games since donning an Express uniform. &#9632;

Mariners Still Sailing Along At Home

SALT LAKE CITY &mdash; On Tuesday, February 2 the first-ever Central Hockey League All Star contest will be played in the Salt Palace, matching the defending Adams Cup champion Salt Lake Golden Eagles against a team of Central Hockey League All Stars.The All Star game will highlight two days of festive events in Salt Lake City, including the All Star banquet on Monday night February 1. Among the honored guests attending the banquet will be Mike Eruzione, the captain of the 1980 United States Gold Medal winning Olympic Hockey Team, and the recently retired great National Hockey League scoring-machine, Phil Esposito.Voting for the first two All Star teams (12 players) was conducted through a ballot of the members of the media around the Central Hockey League. Following a meeting of the All Star selection committee, which included the coach of the first All Star team, Danny Belisle of the Dallas Black Hawks, the Central Hockey League office announced this outstanding group of 18 players who were selected to compete in the first CHL All Star contest.In the balloting three members of the host team Golden Eagles were selected by the media. Goaltender Paul Skidmore along with right-wingers Bobby Crawford and Joe Mullen were chosen for All Star honors by the media. The All Star committee selected replacements on the team for these three members of the Golden Eagles.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03248/4515574-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="570" height="904"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cincinnati defenseman Greg Hotham was selected with two of his teammates for the All Star game.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04162/4515567-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="544" height="897"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wichita rookie Walt Poddubny made the CHL All Star squad from his left wing position.</figcaption></div><h2>CHL ALL STARS</h2>GOAL:KELLY HRUDEY Indianapolis LINDSAY MIDDLEBROOK NashvilleDEFENSE:MIKE HORDY Indianapolis GREG HOTHAM Cincinnati DAN POULIN Nashville CHARLIE HUDDY Wichita NEIL BELLAND Dallas JOE MCDONNELL DallasCENTER:BRUCE BOUDREAU Cincinati TOM ROULSTON Wichita BOBBY FRANCIS Oklahoma CityLEFTWING:REG THOMAS Cincinnati MIKE ANTONOVICH Nashville WALT PODDUBNY WichitaRIGHT WING:KELLY KISIO Dallas BOB ATTWELL Ft. Worth KRIS MANERY Tulsa RICK BOWNESS Tulsa &#9632;

f0034-03

CHL’s First All Star Game Has League Against Eagles

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01416/4515536-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="500" height="133"></div>CINCINNATI &mdash; Maybe those who thought the Tigers&rsquo; bid for the division championship had ended better take another look! Doug Carpenter&rsquo;s men went into Salt Lake and posted a tie and a victory in the Salt Palace against the front-running Golden Eagles. It was the first time this season the Eagles hadn&rsquo;t salvaged at least one victory out of a two-game invasion by a foe.The Tigers then suffered a 4-3 loss in Indianapolis to wind up their longest road trip of the season &mdash; six games &mdash; with a 2-2-2 record.The 4-4 tie in the Salt Palace enriched the CHL coffers by the amount of $2,025. League president Bud Poile fined Cincinnati $1,300 and Salt Lake $725 as the result of a bench-clearing team brawl at 7:08 of the third period. Hardest hit was Tiger Dave Shand, who was fined $500 and suspended for three games for coming off the bench to get into the fracas. Referee Don Koharski dished out 156 penalty-minutes for the brawl, and a total of 213 minutes for the game.Paul Marshall had a hat trick for Cincinnati, and had apparently won the game with a shorthanded goal with 3:33 on the clock. But Eagle Bobby Crawford tied it with 51 seconds left in regulation, and they played 10 scoreless minutes of overtime.League-leading scorer Bruce Boudreau had a penalty shot in the second period after Eagle defender Neil Labatte closed his hand over the puck in the crease, but goalie Paul Skidmore stopped it.In the 6-4 rematch, Skidmore blanked the Tigers for 34 minutes, and Steve Harrison, Ken Federko and Lemieux built a 3-0 Eagle lead in the first period. Reggie Thomas and Greg Hotham finally got Cincy on the scoreboard, but Lemieux scored again for a 4-2 Salt Lake advantage after two periods. However, two goals by Tiger Frank Nigro, after early third-period catch-up tallies by Gary Yaremchuk and Boudreau, brought the victory.Although upsetting the Eagles in their own rink, the Tigers were still 10 points out of first place (and tied with Indianapolis for second). Nashville was another point back, and first-place Salt Lake had two games in hand on the South Stars, three on the Checkers, and five on the Tigers.With a goal and three assists for the week, Boudreau broke a tie for the CHL scoring lead. His 67 points were two in front of Nashville&rsquo;s Mike Antonovich. The Tigers announced that all remaining games were being broadcast by radio station WSAI (1360 AM), with Frank Mazzocco, formerly a Milwaukee sportscaster, at the mike. Mazzocco also joined the front office staff.NASHVILLE &mdash; Cinderella must have loaned her glass slipper to the South Stars. Steve Carlson and Ken Solheim scored in the last 15 seconds of regulation for a tie in Dallas, and Warren Young won it after 3:20 of overtime with his third goal of the game. Bob Suter scored on a slapshot from the blueline with eight seconds left to beat Salt Lake at home, 6-5.Earlier Gene Ubriaco&rsquo;s men had won in Fort Worth, 4-1, and the triumph in Salt Lake was a record-tying eight straight on the road. The magic slipper was mislaid on a trip to Wichita, however, as the South Stars were blanked by Andy Moog, 4-0, before coming home to trip Salt Lake.Archie Henderson held to his league penalty leadership with 194 minutes, 12 ahead of Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Tim Hunter. Lindsay Middlebrook, with a 3.13 average, was the Chis No. 2 goalie.Defenseman Murray Brum well was recalled by the Minnesota North Stars before of the Salt Lake game, leaving Ubriaco with only three blueliners, since Peter Hayek was out with a bad ankle.After yielding an early goal in Fort Worth, the South Stars roared back to win on markers by Daniel Poulin, Solheim, Carlson and Mike Antonovich. Carlson had two goals in Dallas to back up Young&rsquo;s trio, and Craig Homola and Ron Friest also scored. After the whitewash in Wichita, Homola had two goals against Salt Lake (one shorthanded), with Poulin, Young and Antonovich also getting into the act before Suter&rsquo;s game-winner.SALT LAKE &mdash; After recording their 499th franchise victory (regular season and playoff) the Golden Eagles were foiled by a tie and four losses in their bid for No. 500.The Birds had to rally to get a home tie against Cincinnati, 4-4, then lost a 6-4 rematch before 10,068 fans in the Salt Palace &mdash; a reason record. They lost in the final minute at Nashville, 6-5, then were trounced on Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis, 8-2.Bobby Crawford&rsquo;s goal at 19:09 of the third period gained the tie at Indy, after Alain Lemieux had tallied twice and Doug Palazzari once. In the home loss the Eagles wasted two more Lemieux goals, plus those by Steve Harrison and Ken Federko, as they blew a 3-0 lead.INDIANAPOLIS &mdash; The Checkers rolled up three victories at home, and were about to embark on a five-game road swing. They owned seven straight wins on the road, needing one more to match the CHL record, set by Salt Lake earlier this, season and tied by Nashville the previous week. Kelly Hrudey lowered his league-leading goalie average to 2.86.Latest Checker victims were Fort Worth (3-2), Cincinnati (4-3) and Salt Lake (8-2).TULSA &mdash; Dave McDowalls Oilers were wearing ruts in the Turner Turnpike, traveling to Oklahoma City. An even more pleasant rut, they hadn&rsquo;t lost a game in 1982, as they stretched their winning streak to seven games, three on the road (and all three of those by 6-5 margins in Oklahoma City).After a regulation 6-5 verdict in OC, the Oilers rallied from two goals down to whack the Fort Worth Texans, 9-5, at home, then went back to OC and won 6-5 in overtime.Kris Manery had two goals twice during the week, then scored the hat trick in the 6-5 win. Rick Bowness&rsquo; goal after 5:12 of overtime won that one. Doug Lecuyer and Danny Geoffrion also scored.The win string appeared doomed when Fort Worth took a 2-0 lead in 8&frac12; minutes, and had a 3-1 margin after one period. John Bethel had the lone Oiler goal of that period. But Mark Plantery, Ben Gosselin, Moe Mantha and Manery tallied in the middle period, then Murray Eaves, Tom Gibson, Manery and Lecuyer in the third.WICHITA &mdash; Andy Moog&rsquo;s shutout victory at home, and Lance Nethery&rsquo;s heroics in Dallas gave a good finish to a week that started badly for the Wind. After dropping a 5-1 decision in Oklahoma City, the Wind came home to snap Nashville&rsquo;s winning streak on Moog&rsquo;s first pro shutout, 4-0. Nethery scored two goals, the second after 1:58 of overtime, to win in Dallas, 5-4.The parent Edmonton Oilers sent back forward Walt Poddubny, but recalled Curt Brackenbury. Defender Owen Lloyd was sent to Milwaukee of the International League.In Oke City Peter Driscoll forged a 1-1 tie just 11 seconds before the first period ended, but the Stars scored four in the third period to win.OKLAHOMA CITY &mdash; The Stars played five games in six days, and won only twice, but that was good enough to pull them into a fourth-place tie with Fort Worth. Tommy McVie&rsquo;s men lost a home to Tulsa, 6-5, then beat Wichita, 5-1, but bowed to Dallas. 6-1. The lone road game of the week was a 5-3 win in Fort Worth, but it was followed by a 6-5 overtime loss to Tulsa.Grant Rezansoff had two goals in the loss to Tulsa, with Gord Hampson, Tim Harrer and Alex McKendry joining in. Third-period goals by Bobby Francis, Mike Dwyer, Brad Kempthorne and Harrer beat Wichita.Mike Prestidge scored twice in the victory in Fort Worth, his second goal on a penalty shot, after a defender closed his hand on the puck in the Texans&rsquo; crease.DALLAS &mdash; Breaking even in a 2-2 week left the Black Hawks tied with Tulsa for first place, although the Hawks had three games in hand.Kelly Kisio scored goals in nine straight games, tying the league record. He had two Sunday to open a 6-2 romp in Fort Worth. Earlier Danny Belisle&rsquo;s Hawks had won in Oklahoma City (6-1), but had lost overtime home games to Nashville and Wichita.FORT WORTH &mdash; The slumping Texans suffered their fifth straight loss, their 12th game without a victory. They bowed in Indianapolis (3-2), at home to Nashville (4-1), in Tulsa (9-5), and at home against Oklahoma City (5-3) and Dallas (2-6). &#9632;

f0034-01

Tigers Do Most Of The Roaring Versus Eagles

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01393/4515612-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="505" height="134"></div>TOLEDO &mdash; The Goaldiggers have been a pleasant surprise on the ice to former International Hockey League commissioner Bill Beagan. The Digger fans, though, have been an unpleasant surprise. There hasn&rsquo;t been enough of them.&ldquo;Quite frankly I didn&rsquo;t expect to be in first place at this time,&rdquo; Beagan told the Toledo Blade recently. Beagan helped keep the franchise alive by putting money into it prior to the start of the current campaign.But despite the fact that the Diggers have one of the most exciting teams in the seven-team circuit and are currently skating at the head of the class, Toledo is last in attendance. And if things don&rsquo;t pick up, the franchise may die again.&ldquo;The team was dead and buried,&rdquo; Beagan said, referring to an announcement at the end of the 1980-81 season, &ldquo;but we did a Lazarus-type thing and raised it from the dead. Now it&rsquo;s in better health than any team in the league.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s on a competitive basis on the ice. At the box office, the Diggers are still a close relative of Lazarus.Beagan has estimated it will take an average attendance of 3,000 to keep the Diggers skating. As of now, the average is around 1,881 fans per game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a kamikaze pilot,&rdquo; Beagan said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to blow my brains out. There will come a time when I&rsquo;m going to have to make a decision as tothe viability of the involvement of Bill Beagan in Toledo hockey.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m perplexed. My involvement in Toledo was really predicated on my feeling that if you give the fans a winner, they&rsquo;ll support it.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve given them the most exciting team in the league, no question about it. As a former commissioner of the IHL I know of only one team in 10 years that was as good as the Diggers are now.&ldquo;Our 1,881 average is the lowest paid attendance in the league. Port Huron averaged that well with 35,000 people in the whole town. Muskegon, with a last-place team and 22 percent unemployment is averaging 500 fans more than we are.&ldquo;The situation we have with the team is exactly what I wanted to have when we came to Toledo. Still, we&rsquo;re down about 5,000 from last year, overall, and last year&rsquo;s team was in last place. We&rsquo;ve won 30 games already and last year&rsquo;s team won just 26 all season. I&rsquo;m going to have trouble rationalizing this.&rdquo;Beagan had to endure some on-ice problems recently as well. The Diggers lost the services &mdash; for at least three weeks &mdash; of veteran Paul Tantardini with a broken hand in a 6-4 loss at Milwaukee. Tantardini suffered the injury when he was slashed. It marked the second time this season Tantardini has broken the hand.The loss at Milwaukee snapped an eight-game winning streak, longest in the IHL this season. It grew to eight with a 6-2 romp over slumping Fort Wayne at home. The week ended with a 9-1 whipping in Kalamazoo.Still, the Diggers were on top although Milwaukee stayed right in the chase.Elsewhere in the IHL:MILWAUKEE &mdash; The Admirals Were tested but twice during the week and skated away with an even break. The week started with a road trip to Muskegon and a one-goal loss, 5-4. The Admirals returned home to face first-place Toledo and turned in an impressive 6-4 victory. That pulled Milwaukee to within a point of the lead.KALAMAZOO &mdash; The K-Wings protected their third-place position with a pair of victories during the week and suffered one loss. They started with a 7-4 win at Fort Wayne. Then came a 7-6 loss at Muskegon before the Wings closed out the week with a 9-1 breeze over first-place Toledo.Brent Jarrett, Steve Banonis and Bob Lekun led the attack against the Diggers with two goals each. The impressive triumph was achieved despite the Wings being short-handed because of injuries.Tabbed the &ldquo;Dirty Dozen&rdquo; by Jarrett, the Wings built a 7-0 lead before Toledo broke through for its only goal of the game. Jarrett, who came to the Wings on loan from Saginaw, added additional significance to the undermanned situation by scoring his fifth shorthanded goal of the season.In Muskegon, the Wings overcame a 3-0 first-period deficit to take a 6-5 advantage after two periods but could not score again as the Mohawks pumped in a pair to pick up the one-goal decision.FORT WAYNE &mdash; The Komets continued their downward slide during the week with a 1-3-0 record. Fort Wayne won just twice in eight games and dropped from a brief stay in first to fourth place.The lone victory was a 7-3 win over Flint at home. The Komets also lost, 7-4, at home to Kalamazoo while absorbing a 6-2 loss at Toledo and an 8-3 whipping in Saginaw.Injuries have contributed to coach Ron Ullyot&rsquo;s problems. Key defenseman Gregg Tebbutt has seen little action all season because of a broken wrist which is slow in healing. Also, veteran goalie Jim Park has been below par because of a groin injury.SAGINAW &mdash; A return to basic fundamentals has reaped early dividends for the Gears: A three-game undefeated streak. Player-coach Marcel Comeau scheduled the review after a chat with his team. Some of the questions raised surprised him. &ldquo;We went right back to square No. 1 that day,&rdquo; Comeau related. &ldquo;We walked through all the basics.&rdquo;The result was a pair of victories and a tie in three starts.Gordie Brooks led a 7-1 win over Flint with four goals. Goals by defensemen Don Waddell and Sean Coady netted a 2-2 tie at Flint in a rematch and Brooks, rookie Lawrie Nisker and Steve Salvucci each pumped in a pair of goals as the Gears whipped Fort Wayne, 8-3. The Gears finished the week in a fifth place tie with Flint.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03241/4515605-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="580" height="730"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brent Jarrett didn&rsquo;t let the K-Wings&rsquo; manpower shortage become a disadvantage, scoring twice.</figcaption></div>FLINT &mdash; The Generals managed but one victory during the week but it was good enough to lift them out of the IHL cellar. Mike Clarke&rsquo;s shorthanded goal was the winner in a 4-2 win over Muskegon. It was only the second shorthanded goal of the season by a General. Ron Carter also had a pair of goals.MUSKEGON &mdash; The Mohawks had a winning week with a pair of victories and one loss. The home wins were both one-goal affairs, 5-4 over Milwaukee and 7-6 over Kalamazoo. Rookie Jim Egerton had four goals in the win over Kalamazoo. The loss was at Flint, 4-2. &#9632;

f0035-01

Toledo On Ice Winner But Box Office Loser

<div class="byline">BY BILL HIGDON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04195/4515643-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="506" height="134"></div>BALTIMORE &mdash; There were days when coach Morris &ldquo;Moose&rdquo; Lallo sensed his skaters hated to play, but a little lineup revision, a little more experience and a successful long road trip reversed that attitude.Now the Baltimore Skipjacks &ldquo;can&rsquo;t wait&rdquo; for their next game, and &ldquo;all of them are working their butts off at practice,&rdquo; said the 52-year-old skipper after a particularly savory 8-2 homecoming victory over the leagueleading Mohawk Valley Stars January 19.&ldquo;I feel great about this club now,&rdquo; commented Lallo, who was so upset after one loss to the Stars that he refused post-game interviews with the media, nor would he allow his players to talk to the writers present.&ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re not looking any further ahead than securing third place,&rdquo; continued Lallo, whose club has trailed the Cape Cod Buccaneers most of the season.In head-to-head faceoffs, Lallo&rsquo;s Skipjacks and Jim Troy&rsquo;s Bucs are 4-4, all four of those Baltimore losses inflicted on Cape Cod ice in South Yarmouth.Centermen Gary Conn and Norm Stefan, both of whom joined the Skipjacks well into the first Atlantic Coast Hockey League season, were outstanding scorers (eight goals apiece) during the recent eight-game road swing. But Lallo doesn&rsquo;t single out any one of his players for praise.&ldquo;Our defensemen are playing terrific, all three lines are scoring for us, our goaltending is good and I would say our power plays are working for us,&rdquo; the coach summarized.He was quick to point out the team&rsquo;s inexperience at the start, noting, &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have any pro players, only a few veterans and the rest rookies.&rdquo;During its longest road trek, Baltimore emerged with eight points to climb within one win of overtaking the Bucs.The big disappointment was a 7-5 loss at Mohawk Valley Jan. 17, a game where the Skipjacks let leads of 4-0 and 5-2 slip away as Dennis Martin chalked up a four-goal display for the Uticans. Lallo explained his skaters simply tired in the final period following the long bus trip from Winston-Salem to Utica.&ldquo;We hoped to get off fast with a good lead, and we did,&rdquo; Lallo said. &ldquo;But that trip caught up, and we just couldn&rsquo;t hold a lead.&rdquo;CAPE COD&mdash; New winger Tom Jacobs scored five points in an 8-3 romp over Winston-Salem Jan. 17 &hellip; Mike Cerrone returned to action in the defensive unit &hellip; The Bucs were 4-2 since Jan. 1.MOHAWK VALLEY&mdash; Binghamton&rsquo;s Whalers hired Jeff Pyle, the Stars&rsquo; scoring leader-sparkplug, for the balance of the season just when stellar defenseman Marc Marchand was returned to Mohawk Valley by the Maine Mariners and forward Dave Avery left the injury list &hellip; Rookie Bill Provencher lowered his goals-against average to 3.30, and now leads the league.SALEM&mdash; Coach Pat Kelly removed veteran center Ed Starkey from hockey&rsquo;s rolls of inactive players, and is pleased to acquire the peppery pivot for the last half of the season and playoffs &hellip; Team captain Bruce Greig (shoulder) returned to action, but there was no word regarding Dave MacQueen, the ACHL scoring leader who went to Wichita for a tryout &hellip; Mere days after he announced his retirement to enter a business, Pierre Lagace popped back into the Raider camp anxious to resume skating &hellip; Salem still trailed the Stars by one point, but the Raiders had three games-in-hand. On Jan. 20 both teams boasted 24 wins.WINSTON-SALEM &mdash; Successive home losses to Baltimore, Salem and Cape Cod Jan. 15-17 slowed the Thunderbirds&rsquo; comeback mission, and four W-S skaters wound up wearing casts as a result of an injury rash &mdash; Timbo Lawson, Tim &ldquo;Ace&rdquo; Bailey, Brian Carroll and Mike Knoke &hellip; When his business leave of absence was about to expire, goalie Gerry Armstrong left the hockey club and resumed his offseason job &hellip; Luke Bonneville and Wayne Cameron, out of Junior Canadian hockey ranks, were recruited by new general manager Rick Dudley for five-game tryouts. &#9632;

f0035-04

Lallo Sets Skipjack Sights For Third Place

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>GRAND FORKS &mdash; Before the college hockey season started, experts predicted Wisconsin and North Dakota would battle it out not only for Western Collegiate Hockey Association honors, but perhaps the national championship as well.They might be right. Wisconsin has played championship caliber hockey all season and North Dakota has reached that level in recent weeks, though it may be too late to overhaul Wisconsin&rsquo;s healthy lead in the WCHA.North Dakota took giant steps toward living up to its lofty pre-season ratings by sweeping arch-rival Minnesota twice in Grand Forks to take firm control of second place in the WCHA with sights set on Wisconsin next.North Dakota beat the Gophers 3-1 and 4-1 to drop third place Minnesota eight points out of second, the last home ice playoff spot.Wisconsin, meanwhile, took three games from Colorado College by 6-1, 7-6 and 9-6 margins and Denver split with Minnesota-Duluth, losing 8-5 and then winning 8-6.Sellout crowds braved a raging winter blizzard both nights to watch the Sioux stifle Minnesota, where Minnesota&rsquo;s Paul Ostby was sensational in keeping the Gophers as close as they were both nights.Minnesota scored first both nights, but it was all North Dakota after that. Brian Thoresen gave Minnesota the 1-0 lead after one in the opener, but the Sioux came back with second period goals by James Patrick and Gord Sherven and a third period goal by Rick Zombo to win it. It was the first goal of the season for freshmen defensemen Patrick and Zombo and the 15th for Sherven, a rookie center.Ostby made 34 stops, 25 of them in the last two periods when the Sioux took charge, while Pierre Lamoureux was steady in goal for North Dakota with 25 saves.Ostby was even better the next night, turning back 45 shots and Minnesota again scored first, this time on Scott Bjugstad&rsquo;s power play goal midway through the second period.But Patrick, the Player of the Year in junior hockey while playing for Prince Albert last season, pulled the Sioux even five minutes after Bjugstad&rsquo;s goal on a Sioux power play.Then in the third period, Sherven put the Sioux on top and Troy Murray and Patrick wrapped it up. Murray&rsquo;s 17th goal of the season came on a shorthanded solo breakaway and Patrick blasted a shot off a Gopher defenseman with six minutes left on another Sioux power play.Jon Casey got the win in goal for the Sioux and made 21 saves as a last-minute replacement for Lamoureux, the scheduled starter who pulled a groin muscle in pre-game warmups.Meanwhile, the Chinook winds which swept Colorado might have been caused in part by Wisconsin&rsquo;s toronado-like hockey team, which has blown by 24 opponents in 28 games, by far the best record in college hockey.Three wins over Colorado College gave Wisconsin a sweep of the six-game series with the Tigers, a remarkable accomplishment.It wasn&rsquo;t a piece of cake. Wisconsin came from behind in the last two games, including a 3-0 deficit in the last game, to win the triple header, giving Wisconsin a 5-0 record on its swing into Colorado. A week earlier, Wisconsin won a couple of defensive struggles from Denver, beating the Pioneers 3-2 and 2-1.Minnesota-Duluth moved another step away from the cellar by getting a split at Denver in a couple of shootouts. The Pioneers didn&rsquo;t get the goaltending or defensive play they did in the outstanding effort against Wisconsin, but mustered enough offense to get an 8-6 win the second night after losing 8-5 in the opener.WCHA NOTES &mdash; North Dakota lost junior wing Dean Dachyshyn for six to eight weeks with a broken bone in his hand &hellip; Denver goalie Pat Tierney was named WCHA Player of the Week after making 67 saves in the 3-2 and 2-1 losses to Wisconsin &hellip; Jim Ryan, the University of Minnesota sportswriterbroadcaster who fell 30 feet out of a press box in Duluth recently, is recovering in a Duluth hospital from a broken wrist and elbow, a broken ankle, cracked ribs, a concussion and several severe cuts.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01374/4515674-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="577" height="858"><figcaption class="caption-body">Minnesota&rsquo;s Paul Ostby was brilliant, but he couldn&rsquo;t prevent a sweep by host North Dakota.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

North Dakota Prepping To Challenge Wisconsin

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>NOTRE DAME &mdash; The defense took the weekend off as Bowling Green and Notre Dame traded high-scoring overtime wins to highlight Central Collegiate Hockey Association play.Bowling Green&rsquo;s Peter Wilson earned Player of the Week honors with four goals and nine points as his overtime winner gave BG an 8-7 win and a return to first place after ND&rsquo;s 9-8 win in the opener knocked the Falcons into second place.In other CCHA action, Lake Superior swept defending champ Northern Michigan by scores of 9-5 and 9-3. Miami swept Western Michigan 8-3 and 5-4 while the other two conference series ended in splits.Michigan State, a 5-2 winner over Michigan in a mid-week CCHA game, moved into first place for a night with a 7-3 win at Ohio State, but the Buckeyes knocked MSU out of first with a 4-1 win in the rematch.In the battle for third place Michigan Tech and Ferris State split with FSC winning 4-2 before Tech took the second game 7-5. Tech remained in third, while the Bulldogs stayed in fifth. Michigan remained in fourth place sweeping non-league foe Chicago Circle, 6-2 and 7-3.Bowling Green grabbed a quick 3-0 lead in the opener as Notre Dame with Brian Hills scoring twice and Wilson once in the first 6:19 of play.Notre Dame scored a goal a minute for four minutes to take the lead as Dave Poulin scored at 9:14 followed by Rex Bellamy (10:11), John Schmidt (11:02) and John Deasey (12:25). Hills collected a hat trick goal for BG at 19:27 of the first period for a 4-4 tie.BG&rsquo;s George McPhee scored at 00:57 of the second period for a 5-4 lead, but ND scored three straight for a 7-5 lead mid-way in the third period.Wilson scored at 11:06 and McPhee set up Dan Kane at 17:24 for a 7-7 tie. The final minute was a wild one as Poulin put the lrishb ahead at 19:02 before BG&rsquo;s Dave O&rsquo;Brien tied the game at 8-8 at 19:23 assisted by Wilson and McPhee. McPhee had a goal and five assists in the game to become BG&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer passing Mark Wells and John Markell for the career lead.Brent Chapman scored the winner at 3:50 of the overtime frame.The second game was more of the same after a lull in the first period with a 1-1 score.Five goals were scored in the first six minutes of the second period and the host Irish led 4-2, but Kim Collins, Brian MacLellan and Hills gave BG a 6-4 lead heading into the third period.Wayne Wilson pushed the lead to 7-4 at 1:35 of the third period, but ND scored three power play goals to tie the game as Poulin scored two goals. Poulin has 19 goals in his last 12 games.The overtime was short the second game with Peter Wilson scoring from McPhee and MacLellan after 39 seconds of play. Wilson has nine goals and 16 points in his past four games.Lake Superior ran its unbeaten streak to nine games with the sweep over Northern Michigan. The Soo Lakers used the third period for the win each night outscoring NMU 9-2 in the final frame for the series. NMU has now lost eight straight games.Steve Sherman paced the LSSC offense with five goals in the series helping to offset Bruce Martin&rsquo;s hat trick for NMU in the opener.The sweep pulled the Lakers into a tie for seventh place with Notre Dame.Miami used a four-goal series by David Robinson to sweep Western Michigan and keep the Redskins close to the final playoff position.Miami handled the Broncos easily in the opener, but the second game found WMU ahead 4-2 after two periods on the strength of two goals by Bob Bailey.Miami bounced back quickly in the third period with Rick Kuraly scoring after 23 seconds and Robinson tied the game at 1:1 and scored the winner at 15:21, to give coach Steve Cady his first CCHA sweep.Blizzard conditions hurt the crowds at Ferris State, but the action was hot and heavy as the host FSC Bulldogs skated to a 4-2 win in the opener with a three goal third period as Randy Merrifield scored the winner at 17:40.FSC needed a sweep to exchange places in the standings with the visiting Tech Huskies, but Bill Terry collected two goals and two assists to lead MTU to the 7-5 win. Jim Baker scored the lone goal of the final period at 00:30 to give the Bulldogs a chance, but Darcy Way closed the door in goal for MTU.Michigan State grabbed first place for a night on the strength of Newell Brown&rsquo;s hat trick at Ohio State. Brown had two shorthanded goals and a power play tally for his hat, but the Buckeyes used a two-goal game by Dave Kobryn for the split the next night.Michigan State used a two-goal, two-assist night by Lyle Phair to top Michigan in Ann Arbor.*In the non-league series Michigan used three-goal weekends by defensemen Dave Richter and freshman Mike Neff to pace the sweep of Chicago Circle. Neff&rsquo;s first career goal was a shorthanded blast of about 180 feet as the puck skipped into the net behind Chicago Circle goalie Rich Blakey. &#9632;

Goal-Scorers Feast On CCHA Action

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>BOSTON &mdash; Relatively unheralded in the pre-season despite winning the ECAC pennant in 1979-80 and finishing second in the 1980-81 regular season, Boston College is once again among the leaders of the East&rsquo;s Division One.The Eagles won three games last week to take over first place in the ECAC East and second spot in the overall standings behind front-running Clarkson. Yaleand Providence fell to 3-2 and 5-3 on their own rinks, sandwiching a 6-5 defeat of RPI at BC&rsquo;s McHugh Forum.The close scores are indicative of the performances of Len Ceglarski&rsquo;s outfit all season long. Strong in goal and methodical if unspectacular on defense, BC hasn&rsquo;t over powered anyone offensively but has managed to come up with the key goals when needed.Senior center Bill O&rsquo;Dwyer is the indispensable man for BC. He&rsquo;s led the team in scoring for two seasons and with 31 points in 19 games is on his way to doing it again. He takes all the important faceoffs, pivots the top unit with junior Lee Blossom and freshman Jim Herlihy, and quarterbacks the power Play and penalty killing units.O&rsquo;Dwyer has scored seven power Play goals and one game winner to date, but last week it was his turn to give some of the spotlight to Blossom. Lee, from Concord N.H., had hat tricks against RPI and Providence to raise bis goal scoring total to 13, almost double his output last year when hampered by injury.At Yale, O&rsquo;Dwyer brought the Eagles back from a 2-1 third period deficit with a neat deposit of a Jim Chisholm rebound at 12:24. Freshman center David Livingston, who had put BC up 1-0 at 19:30 of the first period, tallied the game winner at 15:30 of the final frame.&ldquo;The only thing we haven&rsquo;t been is consistent on offense,&rdquo; said Ceglarski, in his tenth year at BC. &ldquo;We are better through four lines than we were a year ago, even though we have no super scorers. O&rsquo;Dwyer has been our most consistent player. Whoever he&rsquo;s played with has played much better. And we&rsquo;ve been doing a good job on penalty killing and power plays.&rdquo;The Eagles had built a 6-1 lead over injury-riddled RPI before letting the scrappy Engineers back into the game. At Providence, Blossom, Tim Mitchell, and Jim Herlihy all scored in the first 3:15 of the game. PC fought back, held an edge in Play through the third period, but Blossom was sent in alone twice for scores by O&rsquo;Dwyer after PC had narrowed the gap to one.The benches cleared for a donnybrook after the final whistle. When things sorted themselves out, BC had lost three players and PC two for the next game. Eagle defensemen Tom Wright and Joe McCarren and goalie Bob O&rsquo;Connor were banished along with Friars Mario Proulx and Steve Taylor. All penalties were for fighting except McCarren&rsquo;s, a spearing violation.Providence had won a penalty-riddled game at Boston University, 5-2, earlier in the week. In all, 21 infractions were whistled, of which 13 were on the Friars. BU couldn&rsquo;t score on three 5-on-3 situations and managed 18 shots on goal. They were all but left for dead in the minds of fans and press, but then journeyed to the North Country to pull out a win and a tie and stay right in the playoff picture.At St. Lawrence the Terriers scored four goals in each of the last two periods to waltz to a 9-6 victory. Bob Darling and Mark Pierog each had a pair of goals and Bob Ba rich stopped 25 shots by the Larries, who are sputtering of late.At Clarkson, a week off didn&rsquo;t help the Golden Knights much. They took a 3-0 lead as of Rich Boprey&rsquo;s goal at 4:52 of the third period, but the Terriers stormed back. Pierog, Chris Mays, and Kevin Mutch all beat Don Sylvestri soon after Boprey&rsquo;s goal, and the teams battled the last 7:13 and then ten minutes of overtime scoreless. The Knights outshot BU 12-1 in the overtime session but couldn&rsquo;t beat Cleon Daskalakis.Northeastern had a peak and valley, crunching Maine 11-2 but then falling 8-3 to Cornell, a team they&rsquo;ve never beaten. Both games were at NU&rsquo;s Arena. Maine didn&rsquo;t get a shot on goal until nine minutes had elapsed and four goals had scooted by Duffy Loney.NU&rsquo;s offense wasn&rsquo;t all that bad against Cornell, but Brian Hayward stifled them often enough to let frustration set in. The Big Red played shorthanded for nearly half the first period but took a 3-0 lead into intermission. Cornell&rsquo;s power Play netted three goals of its own and Jeff Baikie scored a shorthanded one.Cornell is thus showing signs of movement for the stretch run, even though they dropped a midweek decision, 4-3 in overtime, at St. Lawrence. Hayward had 40 saves and Gray Weicker 32. The teams battled through a scoreless third period before Mark Bonneau clicked at 3:49 of OT.Colgate bombed RPI 10-4 in Troy behind Dan Fridgen&rsquo;s hat trick. RPI lost its fine sophomore Eric Magnuson for the season with a fractured right hand, making him the fourth Engineer regular to pack it in for the duration. Mike McPhee, Mike Sadeghpour, and Steve Johnson are already out.Yale rebounded from its defeat by BC to edge Dartmouth 6-4 in New Haven. The Greenies, a fast improving team, tossed 38 shots at Paul Tortorella and weren&rsquo;t beaten until junior Mark Crerar&rsquo;s second goal of the game gave Yale a two-goal cushion with 8:22 to play.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01327/4515760-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="574" height="738"><figcaption class="caption-body">RPI lost super sophomore Eric Magnuson with a broken hand, their fourth starter to be injured.</figcaption></div>Senior Danny Poliziani scored a goal and an assist to lift himself into a tie for Yale&rsquo;s all-time scoring lead. He now has 119 points, as did Jack Morrison, a 1967 Yale grad. There has been only one playoff berth for Yale since Morrison graduated, but they are hanging in there with the lead in the Ivy Division this season. &#9632;

f0037-01

Defense Has BC Eagles On The Rise

<div class="byline">BY B.L. ELFRING</div>POTSDAM &mdash; Just when everything seems to be falling into a neat and logical order in the ECAC&rsquo;s Division Two West and New York College Hockey Association divisions, total chaos becomes the watchward.Oswego State, undefeated at the start of the week and in first place in the NYCHA, stayed in the top spot less than 24 hours as the Great Lakers split four games. In the west, Plattsburgh State fell from the sunspot as the Cardinals split a two-game swing to western New York.Don Unger&rsquo;s Great Lakers ran into the red-hot Potsdam State Bears in Potsdam and came away 8-5 losers, then just nipped Brockport State on the road, 5-4 in overtime. Led by junior Dave Lair, the Lakers pounded Geneseo State, 9-4, at home before losing a 3-1 decision to Elmira on the road.By virtue of Oswego&rsquo;s poor fortune, RIT moved back into the number one spot despite not playing any league games. Brian Mason&rsquo;s Tigers won their only contest, a 6-1 inter-divisional battle with Canisius.Elmira moved into contention in the NYCHA with a 1-0 week in league Play. The Soaring Eagles came up with their best effort of the year to defeat visiting Oswego after splitting a pair of non-league encounters.John Horan&rsquo;s Postdam State Bears won their third straight game by beating Oswego at home. The Bears&rsquo; fourth NYCHA win comes on the heels of back-to-back shutouts by goalie Randy Brown.Norwich moved back into the number one position in the west by winning both ends of its annual home and home battle with Middlebury. Don Cahoon&rsquo;s club won 8-4 at home as three different players contributed two goals apiece, then beat the Panthers, 7-4, in Middlebury.Plattsburgh State&rsquo;s swing through western New York did not prove to be fruitful as the Cardinals were upset by Buffalo, 3-2, the first night away from the shores of Lake Champlain. Herb Hammond&rsquo;s club came back the second night to do a number on Brockport State, 7-4.Williams College traveled to the upper Midwest to Play in the Lake Forest Invitational Tournament. On opening night, the Ephmen nipped Bowdoin College, 3-2, in overtime on a Dave Calabro goal at 1:44 of the extra session. In the finals, Bill McCormick&rsquo;s team used the same script, but lost to Augsburg, 4-3, on Steve Naiman&rsquo;s goal at 5:23 of OT.Hamilton checked in with a 2-1 week to move back to contention for a playoff berth, North Adams State kept hold of the number three spot with a non-league win over Fitchburg State, and Union dipped below .500 in league Play for the first time by losing two games.Things were much more settled in the east as Lowell and Merrimack headed for their annual showdown.Bill Riley&rsquo;s Lowell club put together an awesome week, beating Holy Cross in the first round of the Teapot, 8-2, and St. Anselm&rsquo;s, 9-1, the next night, allowing each only 13 shots on goal. The undefeated Chiefs also beat visiting Union, 9-5, despite a four-goal game by Tod Fobare.Merrimack stayed right behind the Chiefs with three tough wins. Bruce Parker&rsquo;s club exploded for six goals over a nine-minute span to beat Salem State in the Teapot, then hung on for a 2-1 triumph over a rebuilding AIC team, and avoided a possible upset at the hands of Babson, 4-3. &#9632;

Potsdam Scrambles Division II Race

<h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01385/4515997-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="533" height="332"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Notre Dame 9, Bowling Green 8Bowling Green 8, Notre Dame 7Lake Superior 9, No Michigan 5Lake Superior 9, No Michigan 3Miami 8, Western Michigan 3Miami 5, Western Michigan 4Ferris State 4, Michigan Tech 2Michigan Tech 7, Ferris State 5Michigan State 7, Ohio State 3Ohio State 4, Michigan State 1Michigan State 5, Michigan 2Michigan 6, Chicago Circle 2Michigan 7, Chicago Circle 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02305/4515990-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="529" height="299"></div><h3>LEADING GOATENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03233/4515983-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="533" height="218"></div><h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04169/4515976-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="534" height="191"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wisconsin 6, Colorado College 1Wisconsin 7, Colorado College 6Wisconsin 9, Colorado College 6North Dakota 3, Minnesota 1North Dakota 4, Minnesota 1Minnesota-Duluth 8, Denver 5Denver 8, Minnesota-Duluth 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05121/4515969-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="532" height="512"></div><h3>LEADING GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0692/4515962-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="534" height="162"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0779/4515955-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="532" height="89"></div><h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 25)<h3>DIVISION ONE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0862/4515948-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="532" height="685"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Vermont 6, Middlebury 0St. Lawrence 4, Cornell 3Colgate 10, RPI 4Boston College 3, Yale 2Providence 3, Boston Univ. 2Northeastern 11, Maine 2New Hampshire 4, Vermont 3Boston Univ. 9, St. Lawrence 6Boston College 6, RPI 5Vermont 4, Maine 1Colgate 16, Holy Cross 2Clarkson 3, Boston Univ. 3Cornell 8, Northeastern 3Yale 6, Dartmouth 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0954/4515941-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="528" height="327"></div><h3>LEADING GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1051/4515934-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="530" height="166"></div><h3>DIVISION II</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1145/4515927-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="529" height="686"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1240/4515920-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="528" height="279"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1331/4515913-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="533" height="662"></div><h3>DIVISION III</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1427/4515906-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="532" height="625"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1525/4515899-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="533" height="275"></div><h2>PENN CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1621/4515892-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="531" height="407"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Pittsburgh 5, Point Park 1Pittsburgh 10, Point Park 3Camegle 8, Gannon 2Point Park 8, St. Vincent 5Slippery Rock at Allegheny (ppd. snow)<h2>SCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 11)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1718/4515885-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="533" height="248"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Emory 4, Georgia Tech. 4Georgia Tech. 4, Emory 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1816/4515878-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="531" height="249"></div><h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1915/4515871-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="531" height="354"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Waterloo 6, Ryerson 2Guelph 6, Western 5Toronto 15, Ryerson 1York 4, Guelph 2Toronto 9, York 5Western 15, Brock 1Laurier 6, McMaster 5Waterloo 4, Laurentian 1Queen&rsquo;s 11, Ryerson 2Laurentian 9, Waterloo 4Windsor 9, Brock 3Toronto 8, Windsor 3Queen&rsquo;s 7, Guelph 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2013/4515864-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="527" height="353"></div><h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2111/4515857-1-eng-US/f0038-212.jpg" title="f0038-21" width="534" height="219"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2211/4515850-1-eng-US/f0038-222.jpg" title="f0038-22" width="527" height="188"></div><h2>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-239/4515843-1-eng-US/f0038-232.jpg" title="f0038-23" width="532" height="380"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Moncton 7, UNB 4Dalhousie 5, St. F. Xavier 4Mt. Allison 7, UPEI 6St. Mary&rsquo;s at Moncton (ppd. snow)Acadia at UNB (ppd. snow)UPEI 5, St. F. Xavier 3Mt. Allison 13, Memorial 7Dalhousie 8, St. Thomas 3Mt. Allison 9, Memorial 5Dalhousie 10, UNB 2Acadia 8, St. Thomas 1Acadia 4, UNB 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-249/4515836-1-eng-US/f0038-242.jpg" title="f0038-24" width="535" height="635"></div><h2>GPAC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-258/4515829-1-eng-US/f0038-252.jpg" title="f0038-25" width="530" height="167"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Regina 12, Winnipeg 5Regina 11, Winnipeg 0Lakehead 5, Manitoba 4Manitoba 11, Lakehead 1<h2>CANADA WEST CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-266/4515822-1-eng-US/f0038-262.jpg" title="f0038-26" width="532" height="137"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Saskatchewan 5, Alberta 2Alberta 5, Saskatchewan 1UBC 4, Calgary 2Calgary 7, UBC 4<h2>ONTARIO COLLEGES</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-276/4515815-1-eng-US/f0038-272.jpg" title="f0038-27" width="531" height="247"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

How They Stand In College Races

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MURRAY</div>HALIFAX &mdash; The busiest week of the year in the CIAU schedule saw few upsets as the teams headed into the final month of regular season action. In Atlantic Canada, the Dalhousie Tigers have clawed their way to within two points of the front running Moncton club. As hot as the Dalhousie club has been though, they just can&rsquo;t seem to catch the Moncton Aigles Bleu, who have not lost a regular season contest since Nov. 21 when St. Mary&rsquo;s downed them 8-6.Jean Francois Boutin scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season as Moncton disposed of UNB 7-4 to continue in the lead.The Tigers moved from next to last place on Nov. 23 and seven points out of first place, to within striking distance of the Aigles Bleu, on the strength of a seven-game winning streak.Paced by the scoring of Brian Gualazzi and Ken Johnson the Tigers slipped by St. Francis Xavier 5-4 before blasting St. Thomas 8-3 and UNB 10-2.In the MacAdam Division, Jack Drover&rsquo;s Mount Allison Mounties, have taken a stranglehold on first place with a modest winning streak of their own. The Mounties scored an average of 9.2 goals in their three latest games.Kevin Foran is making the people of Sackville, N.S. forget All Canadian Ross Yates, who turned pro last September. Foran had an unbelievable week as he accumulated 13 scoring points, and has now taken over the No. 1 scoring position in the nation.OUAA &mdash; The University of Toronto continues to roll along and no one seems to be able to put a dent in their armor. The Blues made it 10 games without a defeat as they whipped Guelph 7-4 and then clobbered Queen&rsquo;s 9-3.&ldquo;It has been a total team effort.&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; assistant coach Gord Davies. &ldquo;Balance has been a major factor. Our three lines can each be counted upon equally.&rdquo;Davies&rsquo; remarks are borne out by the fact that the Blues do not have a single scorer in the league&rsquo;s top 15. Everyone has been taking their turns being the hero. This past week Mike Todd, a third year student, notched his eighth and ninth goals of the season &mdash; both game winners.With three of the league&rsquo;s top 12 scorers in their lineup, the York Yoe-men have vaulted into third place. Alf Beasley (12-17-29), Claudio Lessio (13-13-26) and Tim Haunn (11-10-21) have provided coach Chris Kosta with an explosive offensive threat.York&rsquo;s 8-4 doubling of Waterloo saw Beasley put on a great show as he scored four, times and set up another goal. Overlooked for most of the time has been the team&rsquo;s fine and steady performance on the blueline. Led by John Campbell, an OUAA All Star, the Yoemen defense has been Kosta&rsquo;s most pleasant surprise.McMaster once again found themselves involved in a couple of old-fashioned shoot outs. Exchanging the lead four times, the Marlins dumped Western 6-4. Two nights later McMaster and Laurentian locked horns in a 9-9 tie.CWUAA&mdash; The four games played in Canada West did nothing to affect the standings as both weekend series resulted in each team winning once.In Edmonton, the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies accomplished exactly what they set out to do; Obtain a split with the rugged Golden Bears. Randy Wiebe scored twice as the Huskies won 5-2.The following night goaltender Dennis Potvin stole the show as he allowed only one goal by the first place Huskies. Potvin kicked out 34 shots and was the game&rsquo;s outstanding player.The UBC Thunderbirds recorded their second victory of the season with a surprising 4-2 win over Calgary. Ron Patterson stopped 28 Dinosaur shots while Bill Holowaty scored his eighth and ninth goals of the year.Calgary regained a portion of first place the following night as they dropped the Thunderbirds 7-4. New comer Ron Gurlitts netted two goals for the Dinosaurs.QUAA &mdash; Freshman Andre Carlos once again provided the Trois Rivieres Patriots with the margin of victory. Tied at three with the Bishop Gaitors, Carlos scored once and set up the winning goal by Henry Sylvain to give his team an important 5-3 victory.The win moved the Patriots two points up on the Concordia Stingers in the race for first place. Earlier in the week the Patriots had little trouble in disposing of the McGill Redmen 7-3. &#9632;

Streaking Tigers Gaining Ground On Moncton

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BROPHY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01176/4516059-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="500" height="133"></div>TORONTO &mdash; The annual Ontario Hockey League All Star game Feb. 2 in Brantford will provide more than the usual opportunity for fans to see the league&rsquo;s best players going head-to-head, it will give Terry Crisp or Brian Kilrea a chance to finally move into the &lsquo;wins&rsquo; column.Kilrea, a unanimous decision to coach the Leyden division team, has yet to record a victory in two trips to the All Star classic while Crisp, the likeable red-head from Sault Ste. Marie, was behind the losing bench last season. A year ago Crisp coached the Leyden side but will be behind the Emms bench this season since Soo changed divisions.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t win with one division so I switched to the other,&rdquo; joked Crisp.Actually, his joke was a half-truth. The Emms division has dominated the previous five outings, winning four. Last season, the Emms side beat the Leyden division 4-3 in Kingston before a sellout crowd of 3,343.Kilrea was the only unanimous choice in the Leyden division, selected by his peers, while two players &mdash; Jeff Larmer and Brian Bellows of the Kitchener Rangers &mdash; were both unanimous picks on the Emms team.Joining Bellows (right wing) and Larmer (left wing) on the Emms division first team are center Dave Simpson of London, the league&rsquo;s leading scorer with 41 goals and 60 assists, Kitchener&rsquo;s Allan Maclnnis and Niagara Falls Flyers&rsquo; Ron Meighan on defense with Marc D&rsquo;Amour from the Greyhounds in goal.Bellows, who is expected to be the first pick in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s 1982 Entry Draft, has supplied Kitchener with 23 goals and 36 assists in just 25 games. He has been hampered by a nagging shoulder injury.Larmer, currently with the Colorado Rockies of the NHL, led the Rangers in scoring with 40 goals and 25 assists for 65 points in 32 games.Both first team defensemen, Maclnnis and Meighan, have seen duty in the NHL this season, and both will receive strong consideration when it comes time to vote for best defenseman in the OHL at the end of the season.Meighan, an offensive defenseman, has scored 24 goals and assisted on 23 others in 36 games while Maclnnis, a stay-at-home type who has a great shot from the point, had 18 goals and 30 assists in 38 games.Goaltender D&rsquo;Amour won 22 games and had lost just nine with one shutout. His goals-against average was 3.30.On the second team, Wendell Young (Kitchener) is in goal; Andy Schliebener (Niagara) and Tony Curtale (Brantford Alexanders) are paired on defense; Grant Martin (Kitchener); Chris McCauley (London) and Rob Motz (Sudbury Wolves) are the forwards.The third team is comprised of Frank Caprice (London) in goal; Dirk Rueter and Steve Smith (both Soo) on defense; Claude Loiselle and Todd Hooey (Windsor Spitfires) plus Phil Drouillard (Niagara) on forward.Curtale is out with a broken wrist and will likely be replaced by Gord Dineen of the Greyhounds. Crisp hadn&rsquo;t made up his mind on his three additions he is allowed but did say he would like Brantford&rsquo;s Len Hachborn to be included.The Oshawa Generals dominate the Leyden division&rsquo;s first team with three players; Norm Schmidt on defense, Tony Tanti at right wing and Mitch Lamoureux at center. Rounding out the team are Mike Posavad of the Peterborough Petes on defense; left winger Moe Lemay of the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s and goalie Mike Moffat of the Kingston Canadians.In these days of high profile offensive defensemen, a player like Schmidt can easily be overlooked. However, the Generals&rsquo; sophomore blueliner has been solid, despite just eight goals and 30 assists.Tanti and Lamoureux were both selected to the first team last season. Tanti, who like Bellows has had injury troubles, had scored 37 goals and 39 assists for 76 points while cutting down on his penalty total from a year ago. Lamoureux, the little scrapper, had 29 goals and 58 assists for 87 points.Lemay and Moffat were both members of Team Canada which won the gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships recently.Lemay is second on Ottawa&rsquo;s scoring parade with 41 goals and 42 assists for 83 points.Moffat, who was a first team selection last season, was the backbone of Team Canada and a great big part of the Canadians. Owned by the Boston Bruins of the NHL, he is being groomed to step into the NHL next season.Posavad played with the Petes as a midget last season and was one of Peterborough&rsquo;s strongest performers against Oshawa in the playoffs. This season, the rugged 18-year-old blueliner is the Petes&rsquo; captain and anchors the blueline. He is expected to be a high draft choice in June.Heading the second team is Ottawa center Jeff Vaive, who with 38 goals and 56 assists leads the 67&rsquo;s in scoring. He will flank right winger Mike Siltala (Kingston) and left winger Greg Gilbert (Toronto). Howie Scruton (Kingston) and Eric Calder (Cornwall Royals) are the defensemen with Jim Ralph (Ottawa) in goal.Cornwall has two forwards on the third team, Doug Gilmour at center and Jeff Eatough on right wing. Ron Handy (Kingston) will play the left side; Allan Hepple (Ottawa) and Scott McKay (Toronto) are on defense and Shawn MacKenzie (Oshawa) is the goalie.Immediately following the announcement of the two teams, Kilrea said Dave Morrison of the Petes would be one of his three additions. Morrison was a second team selection last year and a member of Team Canada this season.Around the OHL, the Peterborough Petes remain the league&rsquo;s hottest club with nine wins, one loss and a tie under coach Dick Todd. The Petes scored their biggest victory of the season, a recent 4-2 decision in Ottawa, and the next night traveled to Belleville where they fell behind 2-0 but scored five unanswered goals, four in the third period, to win.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0365/4516052-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="559" height="864"><figcaption class="caption-body">London&rsquo;s Dave Simpson, the Ohis leading scorer, centers the Emms Division&rsquo;s first All Star line.</figcaption></div>After losing 20 straight, the Windsor Spitfires have returned from the dead and are now chasing after a playoff position. Greg Gravel scored in overtime to give the Spits a 5-4 win over Kingston. George Finn registered two goals in that game.Mike Eagles scored a pair of goals to help the Kitchener Rangers snap a three-game winless streak with a 4-1 decision over Kingston. Brian Bellows had a goal and an assist.Fred Perlini shot three goals while Mario Simioni and Chris Kontos scored two each as Toronto Marlboros topped Cornwall 9-3. The goals gave Simioni 11 in five games.Dave Andreychuk (mysteriously left off the All Star team) scored three goals, giving him 42 in his sophomore season, to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 7-5 win over the Niagara Falls Flyers. Mitch Lamoureux had a goal and four helpers. &#9632;

f0040-01

Kilrea, Crisp Seeking Initial Wins As Coaches For OHL’s All Star Game

While the Belleville Bulls struggle in their first season in the Ontario Hockey League, they have received maximum effort from rookie Jack Woods.The 18-year-old left winger scored 25 goals in his first 46 games with the fledgling Bulls and his performance not only attracted the pro scouts, but won him the nod as the Ohis Player of the Week.The Bulls knocked off the Kitchener Rangers, 5-3 and 6-5, and Woods came up with four goals in the two games, including the game-winner in both contests. After scoring four times in Belleville&rsquo;s double win. Woods pushed his season totals to 25 goals, 14 assists and 39 assists with the Bulls fighting to escape last place.The 5-8, 205-pound frshman won&rsquo;t forget his 25th junior goal in a hurry. It broke up a 5-5 overtime struggle between the Bulls and the Rangers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0443/4516090-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="513" height="838"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACK WOODSBelleville Bulls</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0040-04

OHL Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY GREGG DRINNAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01142/4516128-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="500" height="133"></div>CALGARY &mdash; A year ago, the Wranglers rode the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s fourth-best offense and the third-stingiest defense to within one win of a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament.This time around, the defense remains &mdash; the Wranglers have the best goals-against record in the league &mdash; but the offense is missing in action.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the best goals-against,&rdquo; said coach and general manager Doug Sauter, as his Wranglers floated along in fourth spot in the eight-team Eastern Division. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the best defense and the best goaltenders in probably all the league.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve lost 16 games and nine of those have been by one goal. And, we&rsquo;ve won that many by one goal. Obviously, I&rsquo;m very concerned with our offense.&rdquo;After 42 games, the Wranglers had 24 wins and two ties and only four players with more than 15 goals. Their leading scorers were a pair of rookies &mdash; Rob Hamill and Mike Spencer &mdash; with 54 and 49 points, respectively.The No. 3 man was Dan Bourbonnais, who ended up with the National League&rsquo;s Hartford Whalers where he&rsquo;s skating well on a line with Pierre Larouche and Doug Sulliman.&ldquo;Bourbonnais is not lost for sure,&rdquo; says Sauter, with a note of hope in his voice. &ldquo;But he was definitely a big part of our offense.&rdquo;While the offense has sputtered, the defense has just purred along.Darrell Anholt and John Smyth both played in the WHL&rsquo;s all star game, while Brian Tutt quite likely would have been in the contest had he not missed most of the season&rsquo;s first half with a broken leg. That injury was suffered at the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; training camp.In fact, it was Tutt&rsquo;s first goal of the season, with 3:08 left in the third period, that gave the Wranglers a 6-5 win in Lethbridge over the divisionleading Broncos.And the goaltending! Oh, yes, the goaltending. Other coaches would give their eye teeth to have either Mike Vernon or Mike Craig minding the twine. Sauter&rsquo;s got them both.And both goalies &mdash; the 18-year-old Vernon and the 19-year-old Craig &mdash; have had their goals-against averages well under four all season. Vernon, in his second season, was a third-round selection of the Calgary Flames in last summer&rsquo;s NHL draft, while Craig joined the club this season, moving over from the University of Calgary&rsquo; Dinosaurs.At the same time, the Wranglers have collected a following amongst the hockey fans of Cowtown. They drew 78,069 fans to their first 20 games, for an average of 3,903.BILLINGS &mdash; Darren Bobyk and Harry Mahood had two goals each as the Bighorns dumped visiting Winnipeg 8-3. Russ Farwell made his debut behind the Billings bench with that win. Jim McGeough upped his WHL-leading goal total to 60 as he scored four times in a 9-7 loss in Saskatoon. Mark Lamb got his 29th and 30th goals in that setback, while Harry Mahood got his 20th.BRANDON &mdash; Captain Ken Schneider, Kelly Glowa and Kim Bosch scored two goals each as the Wheat Kings doubled visiting Billings 8-4. After the game, Schneider announced he was leaving the club for the Weybum Red Wings of the Saskatchewan Junior League. Three nights later, the Wheat Kings bounced visiting Billings again, by that same 8-4 score. Glowa had two goals and two assists, Tom McMurchy had a goal and three helpers, Carl Mokosak had three assists and overage Oren Koules, acquired from Portland for future considerations, set up two goals.CALGARY &mdash; Mike Spencer had three goals and Mark Sochatsky had a goal and four assists as the Wranglers dumped visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 7-0. Mike Vernon blocked 32 shots for his third shutout of the season.LETHBRIDGE &mdash; Ron Sutter, Rick Gal, Randy Moller, Mike Moller, Ivan Krook, Vern Smith and Steve Mounkes had a goal each as the Broncos won 7-6 in Regina. Marc Magnan got his 20th goal in a 6-5 home-ice loss to Calgary, the Broncos&rsquo; second setback in 19 home games.MEDICINE HAT &mdash; Murray Craven broke a 2-2 tie with two third-period goals, giving him 20 on the season, that gave the hometown Tigers a 4-2 win over Calgary.REGINA &mdash; Wally Schreiber returned to the Pats&rsquo; lineup after a short illness-caused absence and scored two goals and set up three others in a 7-6 loss to visiting Lethbridge. Dave Michayluk and Dale Derkatch had three goals each in a 12-5 home-ice win over Medicine Hat. Jock Callander, the league&rsquo;s top pointman, had three goals and three assists in a 7-4 win in Winnipeg. Dave Michayluk scored his 40th and 41st goals in that victory.SASKATOON &mdash; Bruce Eakin scored five goals and Marc Habscheid added three as the Blades whipped visiting Brandon 8-3. Brian Skrudland and Dale Henry had a goal and two&rsquo;assists each as the Blades won 5-3 in Medicine Hat. Habscheid had three goals (giving him 42) and two assists in a 9-7 win over visiting Billings.WINNIPEG &mdash; The Warriors suffered yet another serious injury when rookie sensation Darren Boyko went down with tom knee ligaments. Dan Sylvestor&rsquo;s 19th and 20th goals, both in the third period, sparked the Warriors to a 6-4 victory over visiting Billings. That moved the Warriors two points ahead of the Bighorns in the battle for the East&rsquo;s sixth and final playoff spot. John Benns reached the 20-goal plateau in a 7-4 loss to visiting Regina.KAMLOOPS&mdash; Barry Brigley, acquired from Calgary for Mark Sochatsky, had a goal and three assists but the Oilers lost 12-6 in Portland. Steve Bull scored his 20th and 21st goals as the Oilers dumped visiting Seattle 5-3. The win was the Oilers&rsquo; first at home since Nov. 25. Doug Kostynski&rsquo;s 18th goal of the season at 17:26 of the third period gave the Oilers a 5-4 home-ice win over Victoria.PORTLAND&mdash; Doug Saunders&rsquo; goal at 4:17 of overtime gave the Winter Hawks a 5-4 win in Seattle. Playing at home, the Winter Hawks scored the game&rsquo;s first six goals and the last five, ending up with a 12-6 win over Kamloops. Defenseman Gary Nylund had five assists, while Ken Yaremchuk scored three times and set up two others. Defenseman Glen Ostir, who has won a battle with leukemia, suffered a broken wrist and was being fitted with a playing cast. Perry Pelensky had his 25th and 26th goals in a 5-4 win over visiting Victoria. Attendance that night was an even 4,000 and that pushed the Winter Hawks&rsquo; total to 100,574 in 23 home games, or an average of 4,373. Rob Geale had three goals and an assist in a 5-2 win over visiting Seattle that pushed the Hawks&rsquo; winning streak to six.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0358/4516121-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="565" height="804"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Hamill, a rookie, was the leading scorer for the Wranglers at mid-season.</figcaption></div>SEATTLE &mdash; There were 3,552 fans &mdash; the largest crowd ever to watch the Breakers at home &mdash; in the Seattle Centre Ice Arena as Portland won 5-4 in overtime.VICTORIA &mdash; Geoff Courtnall&rsquo;s goal with 31 seconds left in overtime gave the Cougars a 4-3 win over visiting Seattle. The goal was Courtnall&rsquo;s second of the game. Paul Cyr&rsquo;s two goals helped the Cougars dump visiting Kamloops 7-2. &#9632;

f0041-01

Punchless Wranglers Eating Dust Of Leaders

Kelly Glowa of the Brandon Wheat Kings is headed for his best season in the Western Hockey League and if he continues at his present pace, he could conceivably walk off with the league scoring title as well.The 18-year-old center of the Wheat Kings, who was passed over in the 1981 draft by the NHL teams, has been on a tear in recent weeks. Centering the Kings&rsquo; top line, Glowa recorded 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points in his last 10 games to win the nod as the Whis Player of the Week.Glowa, who stands 5-8 and weighs 170, was the sparkplug in Brandon&rsquo;s last 10 games, seven of which the Kings won. Glowa picked up 13 points in four games, including seven goals and a hat trick.The Brandon ace posted his third three-goal performance of the year. Glowa has notched seven two-goal games, a four-goal game, 13 power play goals and three shorthanded goals. At press time, he had 95 scoring points, fifth best in the WHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0445/4516159-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="529" height="786"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kelly GlowaBrandon Wheat Kings</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0041-04

WHL Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01141/4516190-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="504" height="134"></div>LONGUEUIL &mdash; As we reported in last week&rsquo;s issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, Longueuil was awarded an expansion franchise for the 1982-83 season by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.And, as anticipated, Jacques Lemaire, the former Montreal Canadians, is the team&rsquo;s first head coach.But the QMJHL also pulled a fast one, awarding Drummondville an expansion franchise for next season too.That would give the league 11 teams and lead to possible scheduling complications.But as mentioned last week, the Quebec Remparts are in financial trouble. So, it seems, are the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs.It was expected that Drummondville would eventually get a team. But it was thought it would be an existing franchise that was forced to move for economic purposes.Now that Drummondville has an expansion franchise, watch for either Quebec or Trois-Rivieres to fold &mdash; period &mdash; without relocating at the end of this season.The league said it could not decide between the two excellent applications, so awarded franchises to both Longueuil, a Montreal south shore suburb, and Drummondville, approximately 70 miles east of Montreal.Both teams will select players discarded from existing franchises. Each team is allowed to protect 10 players, but cannot lose more than two.And of course, both teams will take part in the annual midget draft.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best thing that could have happened,&rdquo; said Hull Olympics&rsquo; president Yvon Sabourin, representing the league governors, &ldquo;Both presentations were eloquent. Both cities showed that a franchise was viable.&rdquo;THE HOCKEY NEWS will look at each city individually over the upcoming weeks. But for now, here&rsquo;s a look at Jacques Lemaire.Lemaire, 36, is an assistant coach with Plattsburgh State College, located in upstate New York. For this, he is paid the grand sum of $10,000.Sources say he decided to work in the U.S. for one year because of less stringent tax restrictions than are found in Canada.After retiring, Lemaire went to Switzerland to be the player-coach at Sierre of the Swiss B League. He received $100,000 &mdash; tax free &mdash; a house, car, maid and almost everything he and his family desired. He left after two seasons.Lemaire was offered an assistant coaching position with a National Hockey League team this season, but spumed the offer, saying he wanted to learn how to coach first.At the same time, he said he was not interested coaching in the junior ranks because of how rough the game has been at that level.He said he could contribute the most at the U.S. college level because of the number of players it turns out each year to the NHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be lying if I didn&rsquo;t say I&rsquo;m anxious to get back to Quebec,&rdquo; Lemaire said in a Canadian Press article. Lemaire was in Buffalo with the Plattsburgh team when contacted by THE HOCKEY NEWS.&ldquo;I have professional, European and college hockey experience,&rdquo; Lemaire continued. &ldquo;A good blend of the three will give me a competitive edge.&ldquo;I thought about it a while and, because it was a good challenge, I replied in the affirmative.&rdquo;Lemaire agreed to a one-year contract. But if Longueuil and its governor, Georges Touten are smart, they&rsquo;ll lock Lemaire into a long-term pact.If nothing else, Lemaire is a natural drawing card for the league.In 12 seasons with the Canadiens, Lemaire scored 366 regular-season goals and 469 assists for 845 points in 853 games. He retired after the 1978-79 season.Lemaire added a further 139 points in 145 playoff games and played on eight Stanley Cup winning teams.AROUND THE LEAGUE &mdash; After studying videotapes of the incident, Crown Prosecutor Jean Morin has decided not to bring criminal charges against Luc Bachand of the Sherbrooke Beavers.In a Nov. 25 game at Montreal&rsquo;s Paul Sauve Sports Centre between the Beavers and the Juniors, Bachand took a swing with his hockey stick at Montreal&rsquo;s Marc Chamard, breaking his hand.The Crown said it did not see intent to cause bodily injury in the videotape.Juniors&rsquo; president Frederico Cornell told THE HOCKEY NEWS he is considering taking some form of private action against Bachand. &#9632;

f0042-01

Drummondville Also Joins QMJHL Expansion

Pierre Rioux of the Shawinigan Cataracts hopes the pro hockey scouts have had a change of heart since the 1981 NHL draft.The 20-year-old scoring whiz of the Cataracts was crushed last season when he was completely ignored for the second year in succession by the major league teams in the draft. This year he is determined to convince the scouts they made a mistake in not picking him. After 44 games, Rioux led the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in goals with 43 and was the No. 2 scorer behind leader Claude Verret of Trois-Rivieres.Now in his final year of junior hockey, young Rioux continues to glitter for the Cataracts. In two recent Shawinigan wins, he scored four times and assisted on four other goals to capture the QHL&rsquo;s Player of the Week award.With 101 points in his first 44 games, Rioux appears certain to get the call this time around from the pro scouts, who were impressed with his play for Team Canada in their recent triumph of the World Junior Hockey Championship tournament.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0362/4516221-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="534" height="744"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE RIOUXShawinigan Cataracts</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0042-03

QHL Player Of The Week

<h2>Mon. Jan. 18</h2>RANGERS 2, TORONTO 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02102/4516574-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="526" height="860"></div><h2>Tue. Jan. 19</h2>BUFFALO 2, MONTREAL 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0380/4516567-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="527" height="568"></div>PHILADELPHIA 2, QUEBEC 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0460/4516560-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="531" height="618"></div>ST. LOUIS 5, VANCOUVER 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0550/4516553-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="533" height="681"></div>COLORADO 4, LOS ANGELES 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0639/4516546-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="534" height="652"></div><h2>Wed. Jan. 20</h2>BOSTON 4, PITTSBURGH 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0737/4516539-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg" title="f0043-07" width="532" height="836"></div>QUEBEC 2, HARTFORD 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0829/4516532-1-eng-US/f0043-082.jpg" title="f0043-08" width="534" height="729"></div>ISLANDERS 2, RANGERS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0928/4516525-1-eng-US/f0043-092.jpg" title="f0043-09" width="524" height="249"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1023/4516518-1-eng-US/f0043-102.jpg" title="f0043-10" width="531" height="412"></div>WASHINGTON 0, WINNIPEG 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1119/4516511-1-eng-US/f0043-112.jpg" title="f0043-11" width="529" height="515"></div>CALGARY 4, TORONTO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1216/4516504-1-eng-US/f0043-122.jpg" title="f0043-12" width="535" height="677"></div>DETROIT 5, CHICAGO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1313/4516497-1-eng-US/f0043-132.jpg" title="f0043-13" width="531" height="895"></div>ST. LOUIS 6, EDMONTON 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1413/4516490-1-eng-US/f0043-142.jpg" title="f0043-14" width="531" height="709"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1511/4516483-1-eng-US/f0043-152.jpg" title="f0043-15" width="528" height="190"></div>MINNESOTA 3, COLORADO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01133/4516476-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="532" height="263"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0288/4516469-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="527" height="433"></div><h2>Thu. Jan. 21</h2>MONTREAL 4, PHILADELPHIA 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0353/4516462-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="534" height="726"></div>PITTSBURGH 1, ISLANDERS 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0439/4516455-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="532" height="731"></div>CALGARY 7, DETROIT 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0530/4516448-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="524" height="110"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0624/4516441-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="534" height="647"></div>MINNESOTA 3, LOS ANGELES 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0722/4516434-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="535" height="861"></div>TORONTO 2, BOSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0814/4516427-1-eng-US/f0044-082.jpg" title="f0044-08" width="521" height="107"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0914/4516420-1-eng-US/f0044-092.jpg" title="f0044-09" width="528" height="539"></div><h2>Fri. Jan. 22</h2>QUEBEC 3, BUFFALO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1013/4516413-1-eng-US/f0044-102.jpg" title="f0044-10" width="532" height="300"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01111/4516406-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="533" height="383"></div>CHICAGO 5, WINNIPEG 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0274/4516399-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="533" height="788"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0350/4516392-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="533" height="84"></div>EDMONTON 4, VANCOUVER 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0435/4516385-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="535" height="713"></div><h2>Sat. Jan. 23</h2>WASHINGTON 1, BOSTON 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0526/4516378-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="532" height="357"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0620/4516371-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="530" height="328"></div>HARTFORD 2, DETROIT 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0718/4516364-1-eng-US/f0045-072.jpg" title="f0045-07" width="532" height="734"></div>BUFFALO 3, QUEBEC 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0811/4516357-1-eng-US/f0045-082.jpg" title="f0045-08" width="533" height="166"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0910/4516350-1-eng-US/f0045-092.jpg" title="f0045-09" width="531" height="437"></div>CALGARY 2, MONTREAL 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-107/4516343-1-eng-US/f0045-102.jpg" title="f0045-10" width="534" height="709"></div>RANGERS 1, ISLANDERS 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-117/4516336-1-eng-US/f0045-112.jpg" title="f0045-11" width="528" height="82"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-127/4516329-1-eng-US/f0045-122.jpg" title="f0045-12" width="537" height="598"></div>PHILADELPHIA 5. PITTSBURGH 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-136/4516322-1-eng-US/f0045-132.jpg" title="f0045-13" width="529" height="600"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-212/4516315-1-eng-US/f0046-212.jpg" title="f0046-21" width="531" height="300"></div>TORONTO 2, ST. LOUIS 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-222/4516308-1-eng-US/f0046-222.jpg" title="f0046-22" width="532" height="703"></div>CHICAGO 4, MINNESOTA 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-232/4516301-1-eng-US/f0046-232.jpg" title="f0046-23" width="532" height="515"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-242/4516294-1-eng-US/f0046-242.jpg" title="f0046-24" width="529" height="321"></div>LOS ANGELES 3, COLORADO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-252/4516287-1-eng-US/f0046-252.jpg" title="f0046-25" width="535" height="707"></div><h2>Sun. Jan. 24</h2>WASHINGTON 4, RANGERS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-262/4516280-1-eng-US/f0046-262.jpg" title="f0046-26" width="534" height="565"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01126/4516273-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="539" height="196"></div>COLORADO 4, EDMONTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0286/4516266-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="552" height="790"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0359/4516259-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="532" height="90"></div>LOS ANGELES 5, VANCOUVER 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0449/4516252-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="539" height="1062"></div> &#9632;

f0043-02

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<h2>JANUARY</h2>Mon. 25 Calgary at BostonHartford at ChicagoMinnesota at TorontoTue. 26 Montreal at QuebecPittsburgh at IslandersPhiladelphia at ColoradoWinnipeg at DetroitEdmonton at St. LouisWed. 27 Calgary at HartfordBuffalo at VancouverIslanders at PittsburghRangers at WashingtonPhiladelphia at Los AngelesWinnipeg at TorontoDetroit at MinnesotaEdmonton at ChicagoThu. 28 Montreal at BostonMinnesota at St. LouisFri. 29 Buffalo at EdmontonRangers at ColoradoSat. 30 Boston at HartfordBuffalo at CalgaryDetroit at MontrealQuebec at TorontoMinnesota at IslandersPhiladelphia at VancouverWinnipeg at PittsburghChicago at WashingtonSt. Louis at Los AngelesSun. 31 Colorado at BostonQuebec at HartfordRangers at Los AngelesPhiladelphia at EdmontonPittsburgh at WashingtonToronto at Chicago<h2>FEBRUARY</h2>Tue. 2 Hartford at Los AngelesMontreal at CalgaryColorado at QuebecWashington at IslandersRangers at VancouverWinnipeg at St LouisWed. 3 Boston at BuffaloMontreal at EdmontonMinnesota at PittsburghToronto at VancouverSt. Louis at ChicagoThu. 4 Buffalo at BostonIslanders at WashingtonRangers at CalgaryMinnesota at PhiladelphiaChicago at DetroitFri. 5 Hartford at ColoradoCalgary at WinnipegSat. 6 Chicago at BostonHartford at St. LouisMontreal at ColoradoPhiladelphia at QuebecDetroit at IslandersWashington at PittsburghToronto at EdmontonVancouver at Los AngelesSun. 7 Islanders at BuffaloMontreal at Los AngelesQuebec at WashingtonRangers at EdmontonPittsburgh at PhiladelphiaToronto at CalgarySt Louis at DetroitMinnesota at ChicagoTue. 9 All Star game at WashingtonWed. 10 Hartford at PittsburghWinnipeg at BuffaloRangers at St. LouisVancouver at TorontoThu. 11 Boston at MinnesotaBuffalo at PhiladelphiaPittsburgh at MontrealQuebec at Los AngelesIslanders at ChicagoWashington at CalgaryVancouver at Detroit &#9632;

WHERE NHL TEAMS PLAY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01142/4516629-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="577" height="2194"></div> &#9632;

f0043-01

GRETZKY vs ESPO

<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>BARON, MarcoVACHON, Rogie<h3>Defensemen</h3>BOURQUE, RayMcCrimmon, BradMELNYK, LarryO&rsquo; CONNELL. MikePARK, BradREDMOND, Dick<h3>Centers</h3>FERGUS, TomKASPER, SteveMcNAB, PeterPEDERSON, Barry<h3>R. Wings</h3>CROWDER. KeithMIDDLETON. RickO&rsquo; REILLY, Terry<h3>L. Wings</h3>CASHMAN, Wayne - CGILLIS, MikeJONATHAN, StanLEVEILLE, NormMARCOTTE, Don<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>CLOUTIER, JacquesEDWARDS, Don<h3>Defensemen</h3>DUNN, RichieHAJT, BillHESS, BobPLAYFAIR, LarryRAMSEY, MikeRUFF, LindyVAN BOXMEER, J.<h3>Centers</h3>McCOURT, DalePERREAULT, Gil - CPETERSON, BrentSAVARD, AndreSAUVE, J.F.<h3>R. Wings</h3>HAWORTH, AlanFOLIGNO, MikeSEILING, Rick<h3>L. Wings</h3>LAMBERT, YvonMcKEGNEY, TonyRAMSAY, CraigSIMMER, Charlie<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>LEMELIN, RejeanRIGGIN, Pat<h3>Defensemen</h3>BOURGEOIS, CharlesHUNTER, TimKONROYD, SteveMURDOCH, BobRAUTAKALLIO, P.REINHART, PaulRUSSELL, PhilWAPPEL, Gord<h3>Centers</h3>BRIDGMAN, MelCHOUINARD, GuyCLEMENT, BillPEPLINSKI, Jim<h3>R. Wings</h3>HISLOP, JamieHOUSTON, KenMcADAM, GaryMCDONALD, LannyPLETT, Willi<h3>L. Wings</h3>CYR, DenisLABRAATEN, DanLAVALLEE, Kevin<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>BANNERMAN, M.ESPOSITO, Tony<h3>Defensemen</h3>CROSSMAN, DougDUPONT, JeromeFEAMSTER, DaveFOX, GregHUTCHISON, DaveZAHARKO, Miles<h3>Centers</h3>GARDNER, BillKERR, RegLUDZIK, StevePATERSON, RickRUSKOWSKl, Terry - CSAVARD, Denis<h3>R. Wings</h3>HIGGINS, TimMARSH, PeterMULVEY, GrantPRESTON, Rich<h3>L. Wings</h3>BULLEY, TedSECORD, A<h2>COLORADO</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>MYRE, PhilRESCH, Chico<h3>Defensemen</h3>CAMERON, DaveCIRELLA, JoeKITCHEN, MikeLORIMER, BobMICHELETTI, JoeNICOLSON, GraemeRAMAGE, Rob-C<h3>Centers</h3>BROTEN, AaronKETOLA, Veli-PekkaMALINOWSKI, M.MAXWELL, KevinMILLER, BobTAMBELLINI, Steve<h3>R. Wings</h3>FOSTER, DwightLARMER, JeffMacMILLAN, Bob<h3>L. Wings</h3>ASHTON, BrentLEVER, DonWENSINK. John<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>GILBERT, GillesSAUVE, Bob<h3>Defensemen</h3>BARRETT, JohnHUBER, WillieKORN, JimLARSON, Reed - CSCHOENFELD, JimSMITH, Greg<h3>Centers</h3>KIRTON, MarkMcKECHNIE, WaltNEDOMANSKY, V.SMITH, Derek<h3>R. Wings</h3>BLAISDELL, MikeGARE, DannyMURDOCH, DonSMITH, Brad<h3>L. Wings</h3>GAGE, JodyNOLAN, TedOGRODNICK, JohnOSBORNE, MarkWOODS, Pau<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>FUHR, GrantLOW, Ron<h3>Defensemen</h3>COFFEY, PaulFOGOLIN, Lee-CHICKS, DougHUDDY, CharlieLARIVIERE, GarryLOWE, KevinSILTANEN, Risto<h3>Centers</h3>GRETZKY, WayneHAGMAN, MattiROULSTON, TomUNGER, GarryWEIR, Stan<h3>R. Wings</h3>ANDERSON, GlennBRACKENBURY, C.LUMLEY, Dave<h3>L. Wings</h3>HUGHES, PatHUNTER, DaveKURRI, JariMESSIER, MarkSEMENKO, Dave<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>MILLEN, GregVEISOR, Mike<h3>Defensemen</h3>ANDERSON, RussHOWE, MarkKOTSOPOULOS, CMclLHARGEY, JackSHMYR, PaulRENAUD, MarkVOLCAN, MickeyWESLEY, Blake<h3>Centers</h3>FRANCIS, RonKEON, Dave - CLAROUCHE, PierreMcClanahan, RobMEAGHER, Rick<h3>R. Wings</h3>GILLEN, DonMILLER, WarrenSTOUGHTON, B.SULLIMAN, Doug<h3>L. Wings</h3>BOURBONNAIS, DanHOWATT, GarryNACHBAUR, Don<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>KEANS, DougLESSARD, Mario<h3>Defensemen</h3>CHARTRAW, RickHANGSLEBEN, AlHARDY, MarkJOHANSEN, TrevorLEWIS, Dave-CMURPHY, LarryTURNBULL, IanWELLS, Jay<h3>Centers</h3>BONAR, DanDIONNE, MarcelST. LAURENT, AndreSMITH, DougTERRION, Greg<h3>R. Wings</h3>FOX, JimMORRISON, DaveMURPHY, Mike-CTAYLOR, Dave<h3>L. Wings</h3>BOZEK, SteveJENSEN, SteveKELLY John-PaulMULVEY, PaulSIMMER, Charlie<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>BEAUPRE, DonMELOCHE, Gilles<h3>Defensemen</h3>BARRETT, FredGILES, CurtHARTSBURG, CraigMAXWELL, BradNYROP, BillROBERTS, GordSARGENT, Gary<h3>Centers</h3>BROTEN, NealEAVES, MikeMcCarthy, TomSMITH, BobbyYOUNG, Tim - C<h3>R. Wings</h3>ANDERSSON, K.E.CICCARELLI, Dino -Mac AD AM, AlPALMER, Brad<h3>L. Wings</h3>CARLSON, JackCHRISTOFF, SteveFRIEST, RonHAKANSSON, AndersPAYNE, Steve<h2>MONTREA</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>HERRON, DenisHOLDEN, MarkWAMSLEY, Rich<h3>Defensemen</h3>ENGBLOM, BrianGINGRAS, GastonLANGWAY, RodLAPOINTE, GuyPICARD, RobertROBINSON, Larry<h3>Centers</h3>ACTON, KeithJARVIS, DougMONDOU, Pierre<h3>R. Wings</h3>HUNTER, MarkLAFLEUR, GuyLAUGHLIN, CraigNILAN, ChrisTREMBLAY, Mario<h3>L. Wings</h3>BRUBAKER, JeffGAINEY, Bob - CNAPIER, MarkRISEBROUGH, DougSHUTT, SteveWICKENHEISER, D<h2>NY ISLANDERS</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>MELANSON, RolandSMITH, Billy<h3>Defensemen</h3>JONSSON, TomasLANE, GordLANGEVIN, DaveMcEWEN, MikeMORROW, KenPERSSON, StefanPOTVIN, Denis - C<h3>Centers</h3>CARROLL, BillyGORING, ButchMERRICK, WayneSUTTER, BrentTROTTIER, Bryan<h3>R. Wings</h3>BOSSY, MikeKALLUR, AndersMARINI, HectorNYSTROM, BobSUTTER, Duane<h3>L. Wings</h3>BOURNE, BobGILLIES, ClarkTONELI, John<h2>NY RANGERS</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>MIO, EddieWEEKS, Steve<h3>Defensemen</h3>BECK, Barry - CDORE, AndreGRESCHNER, RonHOSPODAR, EdLAIDLAW, TomMALONEY, DaveRUOTSALAINEN, R.VADNAIS, Carol<h3>Centers</h3>FTOREK, RobbieLEINONEN, MikkoMORRISON, MarkPAVELICH, MarkROGERS, Mike<h3>R. Wings</h3>DUGUAY, RonJOHNSTONE, EdSILK, DaveYOUNGHANS, Tom<h3>L. Wings</h3>FOTIU, NickHICKEY, PatMALONEY, DonVICKERS, SteveWALLIN, Pete<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>PEETERS, PeteST. CROIX, Rick<h3>Defensemen</h3>ARTHUR, FredBOTELL, MarkCOCHRANE, GlenHOFFMEYER, BobMARSH, BradWATSON, JimWILSON, Behn<h3>Centers</h3>FLOCKHART, RonKERR, TimLINSEMAN, KenSITTLER, Darryl<h3>R. Wings</h3>ALLISON, RayGORENCE, TomLEACH, Reggie<h3>L. Wings</h3>ADAMS, GregBARBER, Bill - CHILL, AlPROPP, BrianSINISALO, Ilkka<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>DION, MichelHARRISON, Paul<h3>Defensemen</h3>BAXTER, PaulBOYD, RandyCARLYLE, Randy - CCHORNEY, MarcFELTRIN, TonyPRICE, PatSTACKHOUSE, Ron<h3>Centers</h3>JOHNSON, MarkMacLEISH, RickMALONE, GregSHEDDEN, DougSHEPPARD, Gregg<h3>R. Wings</h3>FERGUSON, GeorgeKEHOE, RickLEE, PeterRISSLING, Gary<h3>L. Wings</h3>BOUTETTE, PatBULLARD, MikeSCHUTT, RodSIMPSON, Bobby<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>BOUCHARD, DanGARRETT, John<h3>Defensemen</h3>DUPONT, Andre - CHAMEL, JeanJOHNSON, TerryLACROIX, PierreMAROIS, MarioPICHETTE, DaveROCHEFORT, Norm<h3>Centers</h3>AUBRY. Pierre&rsquo;HUNTER, DaleSTASTNY, PeterTARDIF, Marc<h3>R. Wings</h3>CLOUTIER, RealRICHARD, JacquesSTASTNY, Marian<h3>L. Wings</h3>COTE, AlainGILLIS, JereGOULET, MichelSTASTNY, AntonWEIR, Wally<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>EDWARDS, GaryLIUT, Mike<h3>Defensemen</h3>BAKER, BillBROWNSCHIDLE, J.KEA, EdLAPOINTE, RickPAVESE, JimWILSON, Rick<h3>Centers</h3>DUNLOP, BlakeFEDERKO, BerniePATEY, LarryZUKE, Mike<h3>R. Wings</h3>CROMBEEN, MikeCURRIE, TonyMULLEN, Joe<h3>L. Wings</h3>KLASSEN, RalphNILL, JimPETTERSSON, J.SUTTER, Brian-CTURNBULL, Perry<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>LAROCQUE, MichelTREMBLAY, Vince<h3>Defensemen</h3>BENNING, JimBOIMISTRUCK, FredGIBSON, JohnMANNO, BobMcGILL, BobMELROSE, BarrySALMING, Borje<h3>Centers</h3>AUBIN, NormandBOSCHMAN, LaurieDERLAGO, BillLUCE, DonYAREMCHUK, Gary<h3>R. Wings</h3>PAIEMENT, WilfROBERT, ReneSAGANIUK, RockyVAIVE, Rick - CZANUSSI, Ron<h3>L. Wings</h3>ANDERSON, JohnGAVIN, StewartMALONEY, DanMARTIN, Terry<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>BRODEUR, RichardHANLON, Glen<h3>Defensemen</h3>BELLAND, NeilBUTCHER, GarthHALWARD, DougLINDGREN, LarsSCHLIEBENER, AndyMcCarthy, Kevin - CSNEPSTS. Harold<h3>Centers</h3>BOLDIREV, IvanBRAS AR, Per-OlovGRADIN, ThomasHLINKA, Ivan<h3>R. Wings</h3>LUPUL, GaryMacDONALD, B.J.MOLIN, LarsSMYL, Stan<h3>L. Wings</h3>CRAWFORD, MarkDELORME, RonFRASER, CurtROTA, DarcyWILLIAMS, Dave<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>JENSEN, AiPARRO, Dave<h3>Defensemen</h3>GREEN, RickHOLT, RandyMacKINNON, PaulMcTaggart, JimMURRAY, TerryTHEBERGE, GregVEITCH, Darren<h3>Centers</h3>MARUK, DennisVALENTINE, Chris<h3>R. Wings</h3>CASSOLATO, TonyFRANCESCHETTI, L.GARTNER, MikeGOULD, BobbyGUSTAFSSON, Bengt<h3>L. Wings</h3>CARPENTER, BobDUCHESNE, GaetanROBERTSON, T.WALTER, Ryan-C<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>Goalies</h3>SOETAERT, DougSTANIOWSKI, Ed<h3>Defensemen</h3>BABYCH, DaveLEVIE, CraigMAXWELL, BryanSAVARD, SergeSPRING, DonWATTERS, Tim<h3>Centers</h3>CHRISTIAN, Dave-CHAWERCHUK, DaleSTEEN, Thomas<h3>R. Wings</h3>BOWNESS, RickDEBLOIS, LucienLINDSTROM, WillyMacLEAN, PaulMANN, Jimmy<h3>L. Wings</h3>DUPONT, NormandHOPKINS, LarryLUKOWICH, MorrisLUNDHOLM, BengtSMAIL, DougTRIMPER, Tim<h2>INJURED</h2><h3>Boston</h3>MILBURY, Mike<h3>Calgary</h3>NILSSON, Kent<h3>Chicago</h3>BROWN, KeithMURRAY, BobSHARPLEY, GlenSUTTER, Darryl<h3>Colorado</h3>GAGNE, PaulLEVO, TapioPORVARI, JukkaQUENNEVILLE, JoelVAUTOUR, Yvon<h3>Edmonton</h3>CALLIGHEN, Brett<h3>Hartford</h3>DOUGLAS, JordyLYLE, George<h3>Los Angeles</h3>HOPKINS, DeanKORAB, Jerry<h3>Montreal</h3>DELORME, GilbertSEVIGNY, Rich<h3>NY Rangers</h3>ALLISON, MikeBAKER, SteveBOTHWELL, TimDAVIDSON, JohnHEDBERG, AndersNILSSON, Ulf<h3>Philadelphia</h3>BATHE, FrankCLARKE, BobbyDAILEY, BobHOLMGREN, Paul<h3>Pittsburgh</h3>FAUBERT, MarioGARDNER, Paul<h3>St. Louis</h3>BABYCH, WayneCAMPBELL, ScottCHAPMAN, BlairHART, Gerry<h3>Toronto</h3>HARRIS, Billy<h3>Vancouver</h3>BUBLA, JiriCAMPBELL, ColinELDEBRINK, AnderLANZ, RickMINOR, Gerry<h3>Washington</h3>PALMATEER, Mike &#9632;

NHL TEAM ROSTERS

BOSTON &mdash; Fergus 10, 11,12, Kasper 9, 10, Pederson 24, 25, Leveille 11, Middleton 35, Bourque 10, O&rsquo;Reilly 13. Winning goals &mdash; Bourque, O&rsquo;Reilly.BUFFALO &mdash; Ramsay 12, 13, McCourt 24, Perreault 19, Lambert 20, 21, Haworth 9, 10, Sauve 11, Savard 12, Winning goals &mdash; Ramsay, Savard.CALGARY &mdash; Houston 15, 16, 17, 18, McDonald 19,20, Peplinski 21,22, McAdam 3, Lavallee 18, 19, Bridgman 23, Wappel 1 Winning goals &mdash; Bridgman.CHICAGO &mdash; Lysiak 13, 14, Paterson 4, Savard 22, 23, 24, Wilson 20, 21, Secord 29, 30, Mulvey 16, 17, Fox 1, Winning goals &mdash; none.COLORADO &mdash; Cameron 6, MacMillan 14, 15, Maxwell 2, Broten 3, Tambellini 18, Ramage 9, 10, 11, Ashton 17, Foster 5, Miller 10, Winning goals &mdash; none.DETROIT &mdash; Gare 12, 13, Woods 4, Huber 11, D. Smith 6, G. Smith 6, Nolan 2, Blaisdell 14, 15, Murdoch 9, Nedomansky 5, Winning goals &mdash; G. Smith.EDMONTON &mdash; Huddy 1, Gretzky 58, 59, 60, 61, Roulston 3, 4, Lumley 32, Anderson 20, 21, Lowe 4, 5, Kurri 17, 18, 19, Hughes 19, Semenko 8, Unger 6, Hunter 11, Winning goals &mdash; Gretzky 2, Anderson.HARTFORD &mdash; Larouche 17, Francis 11, Sulliman 19, Stoughton 36, 37, Keon 6, Winning goals &mdash; Sulliman.LOS ANGELES &mdash; Hangsleben 2, L. Murphy 12, 13, 14, Jensen 5, 6, Smith 8, 9, Fox 17, 18, 19, Dionne 29, Kelly 7, St. Laurent 3, Winning goals &mdash; none.MINNESOTA &mdash; Broten 15, 16, McCarthy 3, Payne 19, Smith 26, 27, Christoff 16, 17, Ciccarelli 34, 35, 36, Young 5,6, Nyrop 1, Winning goals &mdash; McCarthy.MONTREAL &mdash; Mondou 20, 21, Napier 19, 20, 21, Langway 3, Acton 23, 24, Laughlin 1, Gingras 1, Risebrough 6, Lafleur 20, Winning goals &mdash; Laughlin, Mondou.NY ISLANDERS &mdash; Gillies 18, 19, 20, B. Sutter 1, 2, 3, Bourne 18, 19, Carroll 4, Trottier 22, 23, Jonsson 5, Bossy 35, D. Sutter 10, Winning goals &mdash; Bourne. Trottier.NY RANGERS &mdash; Greschner 5, Don Maloney 9, Hickey 11,12, Dore 2, Fotiu 5, Pavelich 18, Johnstone 11,12, Rogers 17, Winning goals &mdash; Fotiu.PHILADELPHIA &mdash; Kerr 11, Propp 29, Allison 5, Linseman 13, Barber 29, Leach 21, Flockhart 19,20, Hill 1, Winning goals &mdash; none.PITTSBURGH &mdash; Bullard 15, 16, Stackhouse 2, Kehoe 22, 23, 24, 25, MacLeish 12, Simpson 7, Johnson 10, Malone 9, Winning goals &mdash; Kehoe.QUEBEC &mdash; Tardif 33, Cote 9, Dupont 4, Goulet 26, P. Stastny 28, 29, 30, Hunter 14, Rochefort 2, Winning goals &mdash; none.ST. LOUIS &mdash; Currie 13, 14, Pettersson 18, 19, 20, 21, Patey 12, 13, Turnbull 18, 19, Mullen 6, 7, Zuke 8, 9, 10, Crombeen 10, Dunlop 11, Winning goals &mdash; Turnbull, Patey.TORONTO &mdash; Luce 3, Vaive 30, 31, 32, Martin 18, 19, Derlago 19, 20, Aubin 6, 7, Anderson 26, Gavin 3, Maloney 4, Manno 9, Winning goals &mdash; MartinVANCOUVER &mdash; Molin 12, Gradin 21, 22, 23, 24, Crawford 1, MacDonald 13, Rota 12, Hlinka 10, 11, McCarthy 4, Lupul 1. Winning goals &mdash; none.WASHINGTON &mdash; Gustafsson 12, Gould 10, Currie 2, Maruk 34, Veitch 5, Winning goals &mdash; none.WINNIPEG &mdash; Lukowich 22, 23, Babych 14, DeBlois 13, 14, MacLean 18, Christian 15, Lundholm 11, Savard 2, Winning goals &mdash; Lukowich. Savard.Hat tricks &mdash; Houston, Calgary, Gretzky, Edmonton, and Kehoe. Pittsburgh. &#9632;

NHL’S SCORERS THIS WEEK

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01114/4516809-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="535" height="411"></div>1 &mdash; Nova Scotia 4 &mdash; Springfield 5 &mdash; Adirondack. 7 &mdash; Maine. 8 &mdash; New Haven 14 &mdash; Rochester. 16 &mdash; Hershey 19 &mdash; Binghamton. 20 &mdash; Fredericton. 22 &mdash; New Brunswick 23 &mdash; Erie<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Jan. 18Hershey 6 at Nova Scotia 4Tue. Jan. 19Hershey 4 at Fredericton 8Wed. Jan. 20New Haven 5 at AdirondackSpringfield 5 at Erie 11Binghamton 3 at Maine 2New Brunswick 3 at Nova Scotia 2Thu. Jan. 21Hershey 2 at New Brunswick 11Fri. Jan. 22Maine 9 at New Haven 2Hershey 6 at Nova Scotia 7Fredericton 2 at Rochester 6Adirondack 1 at Springfield 3Sat. Jan. 23Fredericton 1 at Adirondack 3Rochester 2 at Binghamton 3Erie 6 at Maine 5Hershey 1 at New Brunswick 4New Haven at Springfield (ppd. snow)Sun. Jan. 24Nova Scotia 3 at Fredericton 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0283/4516802-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="533" height="298"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0352/4516795-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="534" height="349"></div>6 &mdash; Cincinnati 9 &mdash; Salt Lake. 10 &mdash; Nashville. 12 &mdash; Indianapolis. 13 &mdash; Dallas. 15 &mdash; Oklahoma City. 17 &mdash; Fort Worth 18 &mdash; Wichita. 21 &mdash; Tulsa.<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 19Wichita 0 at Fort Worth 1Salt Lake 3 at Indianapolis 4Tulsa 7 at Oklahoma City 11Thu. Jan. 21Indianapolis 4 at Dallas 7Wichita 6 at Fort Worth 1Fri. Jan. 22Salt Lake 7 at Cincinnati 7Fort Worth 2 at Dallas 5Tulsa 2 at Nashville 6Wichita 2 at Oklahoma City 5Sat. Jan. 23Tulsa 3 at Nashville 4Indianapolis 5 at Oklahoma City 2Fort Worth 2 at Salt Lake 5Dallas 4 at Wichita 7Sun. Jan. 24No games scheduled<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0442/4516788-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="534" height="330"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0529/4516781-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="537" height="226"></div>(*Teams get one point for losing In overtime)5 &mdash; Kalamazoo. 24 &mdash; Saginaw 25 &mdash; Toledo. 26 &mdash; Flint. 27 &mdash; Fort Wayne. 28 &mdash; Milwaukee. 29 &mdash; Muskegon.<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Jan. 22Milwaukee 6 at Muskegon 4Toledo 3 at Saginaw 3Flint 3 at Kalamazoo 2Sat. Jan. 23Milwaukee 1 at Fort Wayne 8Toledo 4 at Muskegon 5Saginaw 3 at Kalamazoo 4Sun. Jan. 24No games scheduled<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0622/4516774-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="532" height="353"></div><h2>ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0718/4516767-1-eng-US/f0046-072.jpg" title="f0046-07" width="530" height="164"></div>30 &mdash; Baltimore. 31 &mdash; Cape Cod. 32 &mdash; Mohawk Valley 33 &mdash; Salem. 8 &mdash; Winston-Salem.<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 19Mohawk Valley 2 at Baltimore 8Cape Cod 1 at Salem 4Wed. Jan. 20Cape Cod 3 at Winston-Salem 4Thu. Jan. 21Cape Cod 1 at Baltimore 3Fri. Jan. 22Salem 4 at Mohawk Valley 8Baltimore 4 at Winston-Salem 3Sat. Jan. 23Winston-Salem 3 at Baltimore 6Salem 2 at Cape Cod 4Sun. Jan. 24No games scheduled<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-088/4516760-1-eng-US/f0046-082.jpg" title="f0046-08" width="533" height="298"></div> &#9632;

f0046-01

MINOR SCOREBOARD

1 &mdash; Montreal2 &mdash; Chicago3 &mdash; Boston4 &mdash; Rangers5 &mdash; Detroit6 &mdash; Toronto7 &mdash; Philadelphia8 &mdash; Los Angeles9 &mdash; St. Louis10 &mdash; Minnesota12 &mdash; Islanders13 &mdash; Vancouver14 &mdash; Buffalo15 &mdash; Calgary16 &mdash; Washington17 &mdash; Colorado18 &mdash; Edmonton19 &mdash; Hartford20 &mdash; Quebec21 &mdash; Winnipeg<h2>OTHER AFFILIATIONS</h2>22 &mdash; Chicago & Toronto23 &mdash; Pittsburgh & Boston24 &mdash; Hartford & Boston & Los Angeles25 &mdash; Minnesota & Philadelphia & Islanders26 &mdash; Montreal & Chicago & Buffalo27 &mdash; Winnipeg & Vancouver & Washington28 &mdash; Quebec & St. Louis & Edmonton29 &mdash; Pittsburgh & Calgary & Colorado30 &mdash; Chicago & Minnesota31 &mdash; Boston & Rangers32 &mdash; Hartford & Philadelphia33 &mdash; Toronto & Quebec &#9632;

Who They’re Affiliated With…

<h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-098/4516941-1-eng-US/f0046-092.jpg" title="f0046-09" width="534" height="509"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Jan. 18Windsor 5 at Ottawa 6Tue. Jan. 19Niagara Falls 6 at Kingston 4Toronto 6 at Oshawa 7Thu. Jan. 21Belleville 1 at Peterborough 3Niagara Falls 4 at Windsor 5Kitchener 5 at Brantford 2Ottawa 7 at Cornwall 4Fri. Jan. 22Brantford 2 at Kitchener 3Cornwall 3 at Ottawa 10Peterborough 6 at London 3Windsor 1 at S.S. Marie 7Oshawa 5 at Sudbury 4Belleville 2 at Kingston 5Toronto 8 at Niagara Falls 3Sat. Jan. 23Kingston 5 at Belleville 4Oshawa 2 at S.S. Marie 3Windsor 4 at Sudbury 4Cornwall 4 at Peterborough 3Niagara Falls 3 at Kitchener 6Sun. Jan. 24Ottawa 5 at Toronto 4London 7 at Niagara Falls 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-106/4516934-1-eng-US/f0046-102.jpg" title="f0046-10" width="532" height="301"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-116/4516927-1-eng-US/f0046-112.jpg" title="f0046-11" width="530" height="190"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-124/4516920-1-eng-US/f0046-122.jpg" title="f0046-12" width="532" height="270"></div>(* &mdash; Franchise terminated.)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 19West AllStars 4, East All Stars 2Wed. Jan. 20Portland 4 at Saskatoon 6Seattle 2 at Lethbridge 5Calgary 3 at Brandon 6Thu. Jan. 21Seattle 4 at Medicine Hat 6Portland 5 at Winnipeg 4Fri. Jan. 22Medicine Hat 3 at Lethbridge 6Calgary 6 at Regina 5Seattle 8 at Billings 7Portland 1 at Brandon 4Sat. Jan. 23Lethbridge 5 at Medicine Hat 4Kamloops 6 at Victoria 6Regina 8 at Saskatoon 6Sun. Jan. 24Portland 5 at Regina 11Seattle at Kamloops (ppd. snow)Calgary 4 at Winnipeg 2)<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-133/4516913-1-eng-US/f0046-132.jpg" title="f0046-13" width="527" height="623"></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-143/4516906-1-eng-US/f0046-142.jpg" title="f0046-14" width="531" height="267"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue.Jan-19Hull 1 at Chicoutimi 5Montreal 2 at T-Rivieres 4Wed. Jan. 20Hull 9 at Granby 2Quebec 4 at Laval 5Fri. Jan. 22Chicoutimi 3 at Montreal 5Laval 6 at Quebec 2Granby 6 at Shawinlgan 8T-Rivieres 3 at Sherbrooke 15Sun. Jan. 24Chicoutimi 5 at Granby 4T-Rivleres 7 at Hull 11Shawinlgan 2 at Montreal 5Sherbrooke 6 at Quebec 2<h2>U.S. METRO JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 8)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-153/4516899-1-eng-US/f0046-152.jpg" title="f0046-15" width="534" height="513"></div>(*Suspended operation)<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-163/4516892-1-eng-US/f0046-162.jpg" title="f0046-16" width="533" height="354"></div><h2>OHA INTERMEDIATE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-173/4516885-1-eng-US/f0046-172.jpg" title="f0046-17" width="528" height="216"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-183/4516878-1-eng-US/f0046-182.jpg" title="f0046-18" width="532" height="247"></div><h2>ONTARIO JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-193/4516871-1-eng-US/f0046-192.jpg" title="f0046-19" width="529" height="193"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-202/4516864-1-eng-US/f0046-202.jpg" title="f0046-20" width="532" height="220"></div> &#9632;

f0046-09

AMATEUR SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0533/4516972-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg"></div>The solution to last week&rsquo;s crossword puzzle.Larry Humher. All Rights Reserved &#9632;

f0047-05

Hockey Crossword Solution

The Nordiques have always prided themselves as being a franchise that was a little bit different from all of the rest in the National Hockey League.French is the way of life in Quebec City; there is no mistaking that. Therefore the Nordiques are proud to promote the aspects of culture and living that are particular to their region, but in doing sb, the club is also very much aware that the players, the players&rsquo; families, the visiting press and league officials are given proper consideration.When the Nordiques entered the National Hockey League, there was some concern expressed when team president Marcel Aubut actively sought to have announcements at the games made almost entirely in French, rather than in the bilingual fashion applied in Montreal. But Aubut and others in the Nordiques&rsquo; organization were able to convince NHL president John Ziegler and the rest of the league teams that the French-only announcements weren&rsquo;t a slight intended for the English-speaking fans and press, but rather an expression of the fact that more than 95 percent of Quebec City is French-speaking and that French was a major part of the unique character that the Nordiques hope to bring to the league.When the European influx of players began in the early 70s (there were some earlier, but the 70s marked the beginning of the flow from Europe to North America) it was only a trickle. Later on it became established that numerous NHL clubs would choose Swedish and Finnish players in the Entry Draft.But the Nordiques took a different perspective. They set about on a long and sometimes dangerous path of negotiations, plans and action which resulted in the defection of Czechoslovakian stars Peter and Anton Stastny. Here was a whole new vein of exceptional hockey players being tapped. Last summer Marian Stastny joined his brothers and the Nordiques also introduced Miroslav Frycer, a young star of the same country, looking for a chance in the NHL.At the same time that they are exhausting all sorts of possibilities for players and improving their organization, the Nordiques remain very attentive to making sure that their players will fit in as well as possible in the predominantly French-speaking environment of Quebec.French courses are offered to the players and their families at the expense of the Nordiques.When a player first comes to Quebec there is an integration committee which has been established to help locate a place to stay and take care of transportation and so on until the arrivals can get used to the city.The club has also prepared a book in French and English listing many of the essentials of the city &mdash; schools&rdquo; shopping centers, where to get a car, a lawyer a doctor and so on, something the players appreciate very much. &#9632;

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February 5, 1982

NHL SCOREBOARD

HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

Leading U.S. College Teams

Winnipeg’s Watt, Feisty Mann On The Spot