North Stars Pay Price For Future Cornerstone

BLOOMINGTON—There are a lot of observers around the National Hockey League who figure the North Stars are on the verge of greatness, that only the maturity that should come naturally with aging is between them and the Stanley Cup. Hardly the type of team that needs a cornerstone from which to build. But the North Stars got a cornerstone indeed, and one that appears to be smooth as marble and solid as granite, when they signed Brian Bellows. Bellows, who didn’t turn 18 until September 1, is the Kitchener Ranger star that Minnesota general manager Lou Nanne snared with the second overall pick in the June draft, after sending Brad Palmer and collegian Dave Donnelly’s rights to Boston for the guarantee the Bruins would not take Bellows first. Nanne, who just shelled out $2.5,…

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Scheduling Enhances AHL Rivalries As Membership Hits All-Time High

H&B Louisville Hockey H&B Louisville Hockey MONCTON—Doug Carpenter, Ron Racette and Doug Messier are the latest to join the fraternity of coaches in the American Hockey League. Messier will be behind the bench for the Edmonton Oilers’ new franchise in Moncton while Racette will guide the first-year team in Sherbrooke. Carpenter will make the switch from the Central League and Cincinnati to coach Toronto’s venture in St. Catharines. After the Board of Governors approved the transfer of the Maple Leafs franchise from Moncton to St. Catharines, Edmonton was quickly granted a franchise to move into Moncton, which will keep hockey in the city that claimed the Calder Cup championship last spring. Those two moves bring the number of teams for the 1982-83 season to 13, which is the most in the history of the…

Rangers Enjoy Summer Sans Major Alterations

NEW YORK—For the first time in years, it was a quiet summer at Madison Square Garden. No major alterations of the Rangers’ front office, no contract squabbles, just the minor adjustments that accompany the sculpting of a hockey team into a smoothly-running machine. The big news here in the off-season of 1978 was the signings of Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson and of general manager and coach Fred Shero. A year later, the Rangers were Stanley Cup finalists. By 1980, the handwriting was on the wall for Shero and Craig Patrick was hired as Director of Operations (later to become coach and GM and finally vice-president.) Last summer marked the dawning of the Herb Brooks’ era on Seventh Avenue. The other big news last summer was the temporary stalemate in negotiations…