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November 4, 1983

The Hockey News November 4, 1983

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1289/4820027-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="500" height="494"></div><h2>LEADING ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1386/4820020-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="498" height="495"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Top Scorers In The NHL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02391/4819871-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="708" height="613"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01481/4819878-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="152" height="152"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03293/4819864-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="146" height="146"></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/f0034-04201/4819857-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="713" height="647"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05156/4819850-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="167" height="145"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06130/4819843-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="710" height="729"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07120/4819836-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="163" height="137"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08112/4819829-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="708" height="698"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09100/4819822-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="178" height="131"></div><h2>DETROIT REDWINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1097/4819815-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="703" height="174"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1190/4819808-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="710" height="474"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1287/4819801-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="140" height="146"></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/f0034-1378/4819794-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="707" height="645"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1474/4819787-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="148" height="141"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1571/4819780-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="710" height="609"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1671/4819773-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="219" height="135"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1765/4819766-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="707" height="704"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1861/4819759-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="162" height="143"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1958/4819752-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="708" height="557"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2050/4819745-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="713" height="122"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2142/4819738-1-eng-US/f0034-212.jpg" title="f0034-21" width="169" height="124"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2238/4819731-1-eng-US/f0034-222.jpg" title="f0034-22" width="713" height="731"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2336/4819724-1-eng-US/f0034-232.jpg" title="f0034-23" width="129" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2432/4819717-1-eng-US/f0034-242.jpg" title="f0034-24" width="710" height="717"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2524/4819710-1-eng-US/f0034-252.jpg" title="f0034-25" width="157" height="153"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2621/4819703-1-eng-US/f0034-262.jpg" title="f0034-26" width="709" height="674"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2718/4819696-1-eng-US/f0034-272.jpg" title="f0034-27" width="153" height="146"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2812/4819689-1-eng-US/f0034-282.jpg" title="f0034-28" width="707" height="701"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2911/4819682-1-eng-US/f0034-292.jpg" title="f0034-29" width="178" height="126"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-309/4819675-1-eng-US/f0034-302.jpg" title="f0034-30" width="711" height="731"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-316/4819668-1-eng-US/f0034-312.jpg" title="f0034-31" width="172" height="156"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-325/4819661-1-eng-US/f0034-322.jpg" title="f0034-32" width="708" height="588"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-334/4819654-1-eng-US/f0034-332.jpg" title="f0034-33" width="147" height="157"></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/f0034-342/4819647-1-eng-US/f0034-342.jpg" title="f0034-34" width="707" height="678"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-352/4819640-1-eng-US/f0034-352.jpg" title="f0034-35" width="145" height="150"></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/f0034-36/4819633-1-eng-US/f0034-362.jpg" title="f0034-36" width="712" height="673"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01456/4819626-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="112" height="178"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02359/4819619-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="646" height="668"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03279/4819612-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="62" height="128"></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/f0035-04230/4819605-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="643" height="617"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05185/4819598-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="153" height="107"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06166/4819591-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="653" height="645"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07155/4819584-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="95" 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/f0035-08135/4819577-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="660" height="607"></div> &#9632;

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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCORING

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01456/4818953-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BEAVER TALES</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02323/4818946-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="904" height="912"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03239/4818939-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="1058" height="914"></div>LAVAL&mdash;Montreal Canadiens see Laval Voisin center Mario Lemieux as a prime candidate to be the first player selected in June&rsquo;s National Hockey League entry draft.The choice might be their&rsquo;s to make because of a swap of first-round picks with the Hartford Whalers two seasons ago.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got all the talent and potential in the world and he&rsquo;s off to a hell of a start,&rdquo; said the Habs&rsquo; publicity director, Claude Mouton, who is still conscious of the criticism the Canadiens took for letting Denis Savard get away.&ldquo;Some scouts say Lemieux has a tendency to be a little lazy, but sometimes it just looks that way with his men,&rdquo; Mouton said.Lemieux is showing the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League more than potential as he rockets through the hottest takeoff in major junior hockey with 59 points in 15 games.Although it is still early, his four-point-a-game average has earned him 27 goals and 32 assists and would sweep him past Pierre Larouche&rsquo;s league record of 251 points if sustained. Now playing for New York Rangers, Larouche also set the QMJHL mark for assists in the 1973-74 season with 157 and scored 97 goals in 67 games with Sorel.Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s 130-goal standard achieved over 62 games with Quebec Remparts in 1970-71 could be threatened as well if the 6-foot-3, 191-pounder&rsquo;s pace continues. He has been in on almost half of his club&rsquo;s league-leading goals.&ldquo;I think he could be the best player ever to come out of the league,&rdquo; said QMJHL vice-president John Horman of Laval.&ldquo;Players like Mario are great assets for the league,&rdquo; said QMJHL president Paul Dumont. &ldquo;They are exceptionally talented and are good for their clubs, good for gates and good for other players in the league. When Mario is on the ice, he forces both his opponents and teammates to the maximum.&rdquo;The Montreal native turned 18 on Oct. 5., some 20 days too late to be eligible for the 1983 draft, and reports circulated about possible court action to change the Sept. 30 deadline to allow him to play professionally this season.&ldquo;I was a little bit disappointed I didn&rsquo;t have the chance to play in the NHL this year,&rdquo; said Lemieux, after scoring two goals and four assists in an 11-5 win over Longueuil Chevaliers, who possess the lowest goal-against figure in the circuit. &ldquo;But now I can go higher in the draft.&rdquo;&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen anybody as good in so many ways in my 30 years in the game,&rdquo;said Laval owner Claude Foumel. &ldquo;He is our captain this year and his intensity is showing game in, game out.&ldquo;His biggest improvement is in his strength. Now, he is one of the strongest players in the league. And I appreciate his defensive work. His body-checking has improved immensely. He is much better on faceoffs and his skating has improved.&ldquo;He has a tremendous ability to concentrate and when he prepares for a game, he&rsquo;s there two or three hours early.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think people are giving him credit for all of the things he is good at,&rdquo;said the Voisins&rsquo; owner. &ldquo;Sometimes he looks like Gordie Howe, always in second gear. He has to overwork to look like he&rsquo;s working.&rdquo;Lemieux scored 123 points in 48 games for Montreal Concordia AAA midgets to set a record for 15-year-olds, according to Fournel.Central Scouting was unable to decide whether Lemieux or Hartford Whalers&rsquo; rookie winger Sylvain Turgeon was the best player coming out of the Quebec midget ranks, so they shared top billing.Laval had the first pick and took Lemieux, then Hull Olympiques claimed Turgeon and the two continued their intense but friendly rivalry.Lemieux was the QMJHL&rsquo;s top rookie point-setter the following year and led Laval marksmen with 30 goals and 66 assists. Turgeon led rookie goal-scorers with 33.Last season, Lemieux shared the load up the middle with Claude Vilgrain and Michel Lacasse and finished third in league scoring with 84 goals and 100 assists. Turgeon was next with 54 goals and 109 assists.After Hull almost upset regular-season champion Laval in the quarter-finals, Lemieux said he hoped Turgeon would go first in the NHL draft, but Turgeon was second again, this time to Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; Brian Lawton.An introvert off the ice, Laval coach Jean Begin said Lemieux walks to the rink at 6 a.m. for optional practice.&ldquo;Mario knows this is his year,&rdquo; Begin said. &ldquo;But he has six shorthanded goals, kills penalties and never forgets to give credit to others.&rdquo;Linemates Jacques Goyette and&rsquo;Alain Bisson are second and seventh, respectively, in league scoring and five of the circuit&rsquo;s top seven scorers are Voisins.&ldquo;There is always pressure on me but I try not to think about it,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m working on my defense, forechccking, trying to hit a little more. Just playing game by game.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Laval’s Lemieux Makes It Look So Simple

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;At 5-foot-6, 185 pounds, Penguin rookie center Mitch Lamoureux would appear to be a bit small to play with the big boys in the National Hockey League.The 21-year-old Lamoureux broke the American Hockey League record for most goals in a season last year with 57 and he added 50 assists for Baltimore.&ldquo;My size really doesn&rsquo;t enter my mind,&rdquo; says Lamoureux, who was the AHL rookie of the year and a second-team all star. &ldquo;If it does, I think I better stop playing the game.&rdquo;Lamoureux&rsquo;s coach in Pittsburgh is Lou Angotti, the same one he had last season with the Skipjacks.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s small but he&rsquo;s stocky,&rdquo; Angotti says about the Penguin&rsquo;s 1981 eighth-round draft choice from Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a sttong kid, a good checker and handles the puck pretty well.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very strong in their end, strong in the comers, strong around the net&mdash;that&rsquo;s where he gets his goals and his points.&rdquo;While the Penguins were finishing last in the overall league standings last season, almost every player in their organization was promoted to the parent club for at least a few games to see what he could do in the NHL. Everyone except Lamoureux.&ldquo;I was a little perturbed at first when I didn&rsquo;t get called up to Pittsburgh, especially because I was having a good season and I saw all of the other guys going up,&rdquo; admitted Lamoureux. &ldquo;But during the season I got the explanation from Louie that he thought it was in my best interest to stay and finish the season in the American League. I was satisfied with that.&rdquo;In their first year in the AHL, the Skipjacks finished fifth in the Southern Division and failed to make the Calder Cup playoffs by only one point waith a 35-369 record. Lamoureux centered the club&rsquo;s top line of left winger Rod Schutt, who has joined Mitch in Pittsburgh, and right winger Mike Gillis, who is with the Boston Bruins&rsquo; farm team in Hershey.&ldquo;Things went well for me last year, but I can&rsquo;t just rely on that,&rdquo; said Lamoureux. &ldquo;I have to go out there and make things happen so that I can get a chance to play and prove myself.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to keep working hard, playing the body and getting the chances to score. And when I do get the chances, I&rsquo;ve got to put them in the net.&rdquo;Ken Schinkel, the Pens&rsquo; assistant general manager and director of player personnel, was instrumental in Pittsburgh selecting Lamoureux. Schinkel says the Penguins would some day like to have the luxury of allowing all of their draft picks to hone their skills in the minor leagues rather than rush them to the NHL.&ldquo;They should be in the ball park within a couple of years of being drafted and by three years, you should know pretty well,&rdquo; Schinkel said. &ldquo;I think after you see the talent, if they really have talent, then that&rsquo;s the only thing that stops them from making it&mdash;mentally whether they&rsquo;re mature enough and their approach to the game is right. That&rsquo;s the tough part of it because that&rsquo;s the one area you can&rsquo;t see.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why you&rsquo;d like to see them down in the minors for two years or so&mdash;to let them gain their confidence. Once they know they can play at that level and they see the guys coming up and down that have played in the NHL they say, &lsquo;Geez, I can play with that guy anytime.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s the confidence builder.&rdquo;Lamoureux was allowed to play in the minors for a full season rather than being rushed to the NHL. He holds minor-league records to prove that phase of the experiment was a success. Now it&rsquo;s up to him to prove that he can play with the big boys in the NHL.PENGUIN TRACKS&mdash;Doug Shed-den, last season&rsquo;s leading scorer and most valuable player, suffered a broken right wrist in the season opener, but it was not discovered for almost a week. Shedden is expected to be out for several weeks&hellip;The Penguins recalled defenseman Bob Gladney and right winger Rich Sutter from Baltimore and assigned defensemen Randy Boyd, Phil Bourque and Norm Schmidt to the Skipjacks. The young defensemen&rsquo;s demotions followed the Pens&rsquo; acquiring of Bryan Maxwell from Winnipeg on waivers. &#9632;

Lamoureux Has Heart Of Giant

<h2>NHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011186/4817551-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="534" height="1144"></div><h2>The Minors</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02990/4817544-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="534" height="220"></div><h2>The Amateurs</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03734/4817537-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="534" height="164"></div><h2>Columnists</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04506/4817530-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="534" height="232"></div><h2>Departments</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05375/4817523-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="538" height="750"></div> &#9632;

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INDEX

f0002-07

A Reflective, Thought-Provoking Look At Life In Hockey

<div class="byline">BY JIM CHRISTIE</div>East is East and West is West&mdash;but they meet at the edge of the goal crease.&ldquo;All they ever expect from me is good play,&rdquo; said Vladislav Tretiak. &ldquo;Maybe they don&rsquo;t understand that I&rsquo;m human and I make mistakes.&ldquo;If I play bad in Moscow, they don&rsquo;t even mention me. I might as well be dead.&rdquo;A Tass agent shrugged.&ldquo;We know Tretiak is great. When he is only good, it&rsquo;s not good enough, so I keep silent. Goalers are funny people.&rdquo;With few exceptions, most goaltenders walk around with the same kind of persecution complex that the brilliant Soviet netminder displayed when he talked frankly during the last Canada Cup series. It comes with the territory between the goalposts and the pressure on goaltenders can indeed make them funny people.Goalies in the National Hockey League have long been thought of as a breed apart from the rest of the players, largely because of the attention focused upon their position. All their idiosyncrasies of style&mdash;on and off the rink&mdash;show up in glaring detail.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a lot less wingy than I used to be, but I&rsquo;d certainly have to say that we, as goalies, are different people,&rdquo; says Mike Palmateer, now in his second tour of duty with the Toronto Maple Leafs.Palmateer, the bouncy, daring sprite whose trademarks are a bag of popcorn and trying to beat the opposition&rsquo;s breaking forward to a loose puck near the blueline, went for two seasons to the Washington Capitals when Toronto management took exception to his salary demands&mdash;and to his lifestyle.Owner Harold Ballard accused Palmateer of spending too many late nights. Palmateer admitted to at least one of them, when he showed up at a hospital with a deep gash in his arm, weak from loss of blood. He&rsquo;d been hanging curtains and fell through a window, he said.&ldquo;The pressure goalies are under is incredible,&rdquo; says Palmateer. &ldquo;A foward can go out, play like a horseball and not that many people will notice, because there are so many other forwards who might be playing well.&ldquo;A defenseman has a partner who can cover for him. But a goalie? We make a mistake and everybody knows it. And if that&rsquo;s not bad enough, it gets shown all over again in a replay.&rdquo;Whether it is that the job breeds or attracts unusual personalities is moot. The parade of men in bulky pads has always contained some oddballs. If a job description or character profile of a goaltender had to be written, it would go something like this:First and foremost, the job requires one to be a perfectionist. Mistakes mean goal against; goals against mean losses; losses mean unemployment. So there can be an eccentric obsession with stopping people.Secondly, there is a quality of endurance&mdash;specifically in the area of mental toughness. Goalies are subject to embarrassment and ridicule when the inevitable stands, scorning the goalie&rsquo;s scalp. They boo, they jeer, they make the face behind the mask turn red with shame, even when it may have been someone else&rsquo;s mistake or missed assignment which set up the scoring opportunity. The goalie has to be tough enough to take it, complete the game and show up for work the next day.&ldquo;When I was growing up, like everyone else I dreamed of playing in the big leagues,&rdquo; said Minnesota North Star goalie Gilles Meloche. &ldquo;But did anyone ever dream of being an Oakland Seal in an empty arena. Or an unpaid Cleveland Baron?&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011205/4817620-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="986" height="1244"><figcaption class="caption-body">THE GOALIE: He&rsquo;s the last line of defense.</figcaption></div>The whole purpose of the goaltender&rsquo;s job is defiance and many of the people who fit the role tend to be argumentative. Explain that point to Conn Smythe Trophy winner Billy Smith and he&rsquo;ll fight you on it. He&rsquo;ll fight with almost anyone, especially if they try to touch his body. He demands his own space, not only on the ice, but also when being interviewed. He gets irritated by a buddy-buddy hand on the shoulder. Smith would rather not shake hands if he can avoid it.They haven&rsquo;t all been combative, though. When Doug Favell played for the Leafs in 1974, there was a bench-clearing brawl in California. Favell wanted to do his part and grab an opponent for the waltz, but quickly turned around and headed to the bench.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to get hit and I realized that Morris Mott had been sent to the minors that day.&rdquo;Goaltenders are more often worriers than warriors. The great Bill Duman, who won six Vezina Trophies in a seven-year span, admitted when he retired prematurely that worry over the Vezina Trophy had driven him from the game. He couldn&rsquo;t put up with the constant pressure of being the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; last line of defense. He wasn&rsquo;t the only worry wart, of course.Former Detroit Red Wing star Roger Crozier and Chicago Black Hawk Glenn Hall kept butterfly collections in their stomach throughout their careers. They always got to see their pre-game meal twice.Goaltenders can&rsquo;t get away from nerves. Lome (Gump) Worsley, one of the last bare-faced relics to play in the NHL, hated to fly and much was made of his desire to travel by train.But there have been more dramatic departures from normality. When Gilles Gratton was a goalie for John Ferguson&rsquo;s New York Rangers, it was suspected his brain had been cleared of everything it contained. Gratton had acquired a goaler&rsquo;s mask with a lion&rsquo;s face on it, believing that his ferocious visage would have some effect upon the opposition. A cute ploy, if it had gone only that far. But then something even stranger happened.The teams were getting ready for an important faceoff in the New York end and the Garden was quiet. The skaters took up their positions, bearing down, when suddenly they heard this growling sound from behind them. It was Gratton, snarling and getting into the character of his mask.The Rangers on the ice broke up. Boston won the faceoff and scored from the point. Gratton skated to the bench and sat down. Ferguson went to him and asked immediately what he was doing there.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not in the stars, Fergie, it&rsquo;s not in the stars,&rdquo; he said.When Jacques Plante was with the Montreal Canadiens, he disliked staying in the same hotel as the rest of the Habs whenever they visited Toronto. He maintained that there was something in the air in the venerable Royal York that interfered with his breathing and militated against his playing well. He moved to another hotel up the street, closer to Maple Leaf Gardens.When Plante, a prolific knitter, was traded to Toronto, some years later, Conn Smythe&rsquo;s personal secretary had to sublet her suburban apartment and find alternate accommodation, so that Plante wouldn&rsquo;t need to breathe the foul city air.Plante wasn&rsquo;t the only Montreal goalie who had a fetish for fresh air. Ken Dryden, when the Canadiens&rsquo; bus was filled with cigar smokers such as Serge Savard, would hang his nose out the window. on trips to and from the airports out of town.Al Smith tended goal for more than a dozen professional hockey clubs and was used to coming and going. But his most unusual departure came in the season in which Buffalo Sabre netminder Gerry Desjardins suffered an eye injury which effectively ended his career. Smith, the backup, was sorry to see his partner hurt, but felt it afforded him the chance to be No. 1. Yet when the roster was set for the next game, a rookie called up from the minors, Don Edwards, was given the starting goaltending assignment.Smith took on this affront with style. When the national anthem was finished, he skated out on the ice, made a tour of the rink, waving good-bye to all the fans, then clomped off into the dressing room and took off his uniform.The list goes on. There are goalies who are non-stop chatterers amd others who give only one-word answers. Some have sought there amusement in bars, others in a simple light bulb.Each has his own level of eccentricity. As comrade Tretiak explained, they&rsquo;re human. &#9632;

f0003-01

A Look At Sports’ Most Enigmatic Breed Of Characters

<div class="byline">BY BOB McKENZIE</div>They&rsquo;ve been displayed in art exhibitions. They&rsquo;ve been displayed in the Hockey Hall of Fame. They&rsquo;ve been compared to primitive native art and they&rsquo;ve been the subject of books. And now, even they creator admits, they are &ldquo;a dying art form.&rdquo;Yes, the era of the painted, molded fibreglass goalie mask is still clinging to life, but it&rsquo;s fading fast.Instead, we have a generation of young goalies growing up with the cage, yielding an assemblyline look of helmet and screened mask, threatening to bury what has been one of the most colorful, interesting eras in the history of the National Hockey League.&ldquo;I guess you&rsquo;ve got to bend with the times,&rdquo; says Greg Harrison, a 29-year-old from Brampton, Ont., who has designed and made more stylized masks for NHL goalies than anyone else.&ldquo;With all the league restrictions in minor hockey, all the kids today are growing up with the cage. One day, I suppose, there won&rsquo;t be any NHL goalies wearing fibreglass masks.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02998/4817672-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="747" height="945"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gerry Cheevers was known for the &ldquo;stitch&rdquo; marks on his mask.</figcaption></div>When that happens&mdash;and there&rsquo;s little doubt that it eventually will&mdash;it will be an end to Harrison&rsquo;s avocation that started more than 14 years ago. It began when he was 15 and he decided to make a mask for himself&mdash;of course, he was and still is a goalie. He practised and refined his art of mask-making at the Bobby Orr-Mike Walton sports camp in Orillia, Ont., where he worked as a teenage camp counsellor. From there, his reputation grew and so did the concept of adorning masks with colored paint and vivid designs.&ldquo;At first,&rdquo; Harrison says, &ldquo;I was just making fibreglass masks. They weren&rsquo;t being painted or anything like that.&rdquo;But NHL goalies soon began approaching him to have masks made. All was well until the day that Cooper Canada Ltd., which employed Harrison as a pro team service rep, came out with its helmetcage concept for goaltenders.&ldquo;It was a touchy situation,&rdquo; Harrison says. &ldquo;My job with Cooper was to promote the cage but I already had NHL goalies wearing my masks. Yeah, I guess you could call it a conflict of interests.&rdquo;Now, Harrison is a sales rep for a southern Ontario food services company, but if he misses being involved on a daily basis with the hockey world, he can take solace that the food industry doesn&rsquo;t much care what kind of masks he makes in his spare time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03661/4817665-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="749" height="1002"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Gratton earned notoriety for his famous &ldquo;lion&rdquo; mask.</figcaption></div>A glance around the NHL today indicates that Harrison&rsquo;s work isn&rsquo;t finished yet. At least a dozen NHL goalies&mdash;Chico Resch, Dennis Herron, Grant Fuhr, John Garrett and Murray Bannerman (who posed for the cover photograph on this issue), to name a few&mdash;wear masks produced and designed by Harrison. The graphics on the masks today range from a stylized Devils&rsquo; tail (Resch) to gushing oil wells (Fuhr) to tribal war paint (Bannerman).How, Harrison is asked, did this entire trip into the art world begin?&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he responds, &ldquo;I guess the first time anyone had anything drawn on a mask was Gerry Cheevers. Frosty Forristall, who is the Bruins&rsquo; trainer, drew on a couple of stitch marks for a joke once. Cheevers liked it and so they cotinued to do it.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if you can really call that decoration. It didn&rsquo;t require much imagination. Then, when Doug Favell played in Philadelphia, he was wearing an Ernie Higgins mask. At Halloween, for a joke, the old Flyer trainer, Frank Lewis, painted orange sunbursts on the white mask. Favell liked it and kept it that way.&ldquo;The first time I ever did it was with Jim Rutherford. He was wearing a plain red Lefty Wilson mask. Because he was playing with Pittsburgh, I painted it powder blue. When he was traded to Detroit, I repainted it white and put on red leather straps. I was going to give it to him like that, but then I decided to put a couple of wings over each eye hole.&ldquo;I figured that if he didn&rsquo;t like them, I could paint over them. But he liked them and he continued to wear them.&rdquo;Since then, Harrison has lost count on how many different &ldquo;art forms&rdquo; he has created. That&rsquo;s not surprising since one goalie, say John Garrett, for example, has gone through a plethora of designs because he&rsquo;s played for so many different teams, each requiring a different paint job.Some of his more memorable designs include Gilles Gratton&rsquo;s famous &ldquo;lion&rdquo; mask, perhaps the most detailed design ever, Wayne Stephenson&rsquo;s &ldquo;badger&rdquo; mask, Phil Myre&rsquo;s &ldquo;flame&rdquo; mask, Gilles Meloche medieval-flavored Cleveland Barons mask, Rutherford&rsquo;s &ldquo;winged&rdquo; look and Steve Baker&rsquo;s Empire State mask, worn when he played for the New York Rangers.But one of his most famous mask designs has no graphic illustration at all.&ldquo;Maybe the most striking mask I&rsquo;ve ever made is MikeLiut&rsquo;s,&rdquo; says Harrison. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m no&rsquo;t even sure whether he&rsquo;s wearing it now. I know last season he switched to the cage, but his old mask, with the exaggerated and pronounced jawline, is one of the most recognizable masks of all time.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04383/4817658-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="735" height="936"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Rutherford raised a few eyebrows with this mask design.</figcaption></div>Having played net, Harrison understands goalies. He knows them because he is one and that, he says, helps him to serve their needs. He realizes they can be flaky or superstitious and knows what they are looking for when they request graphic illustration on their masks.&ldquo;A goalie is a very individualistic position in a team sport,&rdquo; Harrison says. &ldquo;He feels alone and by wearing a painted mask, he&rsquo;s expressing his individuality. He wants something that sets him apart from other goalies.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll notice that the goalies wearing the cage all look the same. You can&rsquo;t tell them apart. That&rsquo;s one feature of the fibreglass mask that goalies enjoy&mdash;they can still express themselves.&rdquo;Bannerman says he doesn&rsquo;t remember exactly why he opted for a designer mask. &ldquo;I guess I just wanted to be different,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I guess all goalies want to be different. A mask covers up your face so it&rsquo;s some way to express yourself, I guess.&rdquo;It works the other way, too. Harrison notes that Liut, in his World Hockey Association days, wore a mask with a design on it. When he made it to the NHL, though, he told Harrison he didn&rsquo;t need graphic design anymore, that his netminding ability should stand on its own.Over the years, Harrison has gotten to know the idiosyncracies and character quirks of his clients.&ldquo;Take Phil Myre for example,&rdquo; Harrison says. &ldquo;If I make him a new mask, he insists that I put in the foam padding from the old one. I made the Lone Ranger mask for John Davidson. He liked it, wore it a few times but then lost a game. He never wore it again. I can understand their reasoning because I&rsquo;m a goalie, I&rsquo;ve been there. I play in an intermediate league and I do the same thing, switching masks when I lose. It&rsquo;s not unusual&mdash;if you understand goalies.&rdquo;Harrison says he is the first to admit that the fibreglass mask doesn&rsquo;t offer nearly as much protection as the cage. John Garrett may well echo that point, having just received more than 30 stitches on his face, the result of a shot taken on his fibreglass mask.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m working on a combination fibreglass-cage prototype, similar to the kind that Chico Resch is wearing now, and I hope to get it CSA approved. I believe that the fibreglass-cage combo is as safe as the cage. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, goalies weren&rsquo;t made to wear helmets. In a crouch, it puts their head at an unnatural angle. But there&rsquo;s no question, that right now, the cage is very safe.&rdquo;So as the number of goalies wearing his masks declines, Harrison spends his spare time trying to come up with a fibreglass-cage combination that will be safety approved, which means young goalies will be able to wear it.In the meantime, he is thankful for the opportunities he has had, for the friendships and associations he has developed and for the mark he has left on the game.&ldquo;When Dennis Herron first came to me he couldn&rsquo;t even speak English,&rdquo; Harrison says. &ldquo;Now, we&rsquo;re very good friends.&ldquo;The McMichael Art Gallery (in Kleinburg, Ont.,) had a display of my masks along with Indian masks, which was really interesting because they were so similar. I don&rsquo;t mean to toot my own horn, but it was the best attendance they&rsquo;d ever had at a winter showing.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02353/4817651-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="966" height="614"><figcaption class="caption-body">When Phil Myre was with the Atlanta Flames, he had a hot mask.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve really enjoyed doing them (the masks). I&rsquo;ve got to meet a lot of interesting people. At the Hall of Fame dinner in September I met Glenn Hall, which was an honor. And you know what he said to me? He said, &lsquo;I wish to hell that I had known you 25 years ago. I wouldn&rsquo;t have all these (scars).&rsquo;&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;m just happy to have contributed. Maybe it is a dying tradition, but it&rsquo;s sure added a lot of color to the game.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0003-02

The Changing Faces of NHL Goaltenders

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021177/4817734-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div>that the National Hockey League goaltenders with the most scoring points are: &#9632;

f0004-02

Did You Know…

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011285/4817765-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="291" height="340"></div><h2>Off And Running</h2>A FEW NOTES, observations and extraneous fooferaw on a hockey season that&rsquo;s started with some different twists.&bull; A big surprise of the early going in the National Hockey League is the seven consecutive losses to open the campaign by the Washington Capitals.In the pre-season, the Caps looked as tight and disciplined as any NHL club, a bit thin on attack but seemingly capable of generating enough offense for a sound defense to parlay into positive results. It just hasn&rsquo;t worked that way.&bull; Delay-of-game penalties, especially for unnecessary freezing of the puck along the boards, have cluttered up some early games. Hopefully, the crackdown will pay off in the long haul with more flow in the games and less needless jam-ups along the fence.&bull; Interesting, isn&rsquo;t it, all the comings and goings of old-dog defensemen, especially by some teams that lopped off elderly backliners and then made other ancients their first acquisitions of the season.It started in Boston where Brad Park bolted the Bruins to join the Detroit Red Wings and the Bruins immediately signed two oldsters, Guy Lapointe and Jim Schoenfeld.Los Angeles Kings disposed of Jerry Korab and Dave Lewis, then traded for Fred Barrett from the Minnesota North Stars. Barrett decided to retire. Then the Kings got the vet they needed for the back end by landing Brian Engblom from the Caps with Ken Houston, for Larry Murphy.The North Stars signed Korab briefly to fill their old-hound gap, then lost him to the Buffalo Sabres on waivers. The Stars then grabbed vet Lars Lindgren from the Vancouver Canucks.&bull; Murphy, who had a brilliant first season on the King defense in &rsquo;80-81, seemed to be leading water in California. The fans in L.A. were on his case and a change of scene was needed. In Murphy and Scott Stevens, the Caps now have two splendid youngsters on their backline.&bull; A strange, unusual, bizarre&mdash;whatever you want to call it&mdash;move is the Boston Bruins&rsquo; decision to give the No. 5 sweater to Guy Lapointe. That&rsquo;s the retired number of the late Dit Clapper.Two points: Why would the Bruins want the bad ink for such a petty move and what difference does it make if a player wears No. 276?<h2>Leave It To Wally</h2>THE MOST NOTICEABLE absentee in the NHL this season? Referee Wally Harris, one of the very best who retred this year. The league has some good young officials but there&rsquo;s no way Harris&rsquo; savvy can be replaced.&bull; A man who knows was discussing the attendance problems of the International League. For years, the IHL was the soundest of all hockey leagues but small houses produced a shaky foundation last season.&ldquo;Cities the size of those in the IHL, often one major industry towns, are the ones hardest hit by the economic recession,&rdquo; the man said. &ldquo;When the layoffs start at the main plant in town, there&rsquo;s no alternative employer and the economy really suffers, especially the entertainment business.&rdquo;&bull; The annual whining that the NHL&rsquo;s waiver draft is useless because no talent is available is a bit of a chuckle. Name a business in which one company offers solid assets to its competitors for a nominal price.The annual laughing at the names of those who aren&rsquo;t protected is a bore now. What do people expect?&bull; An NHL man figures the waiver draft did supply one useful bit of information&mdash;an indicator of how far the Montreal Canadiens have slid down the NHL ladder. The Canadiens claimed defensman Jean Hamel from the Quebec Nordiques.&ldquo;Sure, the Canadiens had some injuries and needed an experienced defenseman,&rdquo; the NHL guy said, &ldquo;but can you remember the last time the Canadiens claimed a player in the waiver draft? It&rsquo;s the same as Jackie Onassis buying clothes at a rummage sale.&rdquo;<h2>The Russians Are Coming</h2>&bull; The 1984 Canada Cup tournament appears likely to proceed without a hitch, although there&rsquo;s a large amount of scorn still to be heaped on the Soviet Union over the Korean airliner incident.Tournament organizer Alan Eagleson feels that if the USSR participates in the &lsquo;84 Olympics in Los Angeles, there will be no problems with the Canada Cup.Eagleson hints that some games in the tournament could be held in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto but none involving the Soviets. However, any ticket package that doesn&rsquo;t include the USSR won&rsquo;t sell in Toronto. &#9632;

f0006-01

HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY&mdash;The Steve Tambellini experiment is on.Tambellini, having spent a lifetime playing center, now finds himself trying to leant a new position for the Calgary Flames: right wing.Why? For the simplest of reasons, really.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t liked him at center,&rdquo; said coach Bob Johnson. &ldquo;I want to look at him there.&rdquo;The opening on the right side was created when Kent Nilsson, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer last season, came down with a mysterious back ailment in Calgary&rsquo;s 7-5 loss to the Minnesota North Stars. Nilsson woke up with a bad back and then aggravated it trying to avoid a Curt Giles bodycheck. No one knows exactly when Nilsson will be ready to return.That means Tambellini will get a chance to play in an unfamiliar position, one that he prefers to the other unfamiliar position he found himself in earlier&mdash;on the bench. Perhaps the team&rsquo;s highest-profile, off-season acquisition, Tambellini found himself missing a lot of third periods when Johnson usually goes to three lines.Compare that to last season when, as the top center on New Jersey, Tambellini&rsquo;s ice time would increase, not fall off, as the game went on.&ldquo;He (Johnson) explained to us that that could happen&mdash;depending on how the game is going,&rdquo; said Tambellini. &ldquo;That decision&rsquo;s understandable.&rdquo;Tambellini, hampered by a groin injury in training camp, has been a bit of a disappointment so far. While the other newcomers up front&mdash;especially Hakan Loob and Mike Eaves&mdash;have had relatively little trouble adjusting to Johnson&rsquo;s system, Tambellini has struggled.Tambellini was acquired to add a scoring center to a team that possessed three defensive centers&mdash;Eaves, Doug Riseb-rough and Jim Peplinski&mdash;but so far, it hasn&rsquo;t worked out that way. He scored twice in the exhibition season and once in the first five games and that&rsquo;s been it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02947/4817796-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="561" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Tambellini was having trouble exploiting his speed at center.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good skater and he has a good shot,&rdquo; said Johnson, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s not using his speed and he&rsquo;s not getting enough shots. I&rsquo;d like to see him get more involved. He has good skills. I&rsquo;d like to see him use them more.&rdquo;&ldquo;The last little while, I felt that things were starting to work a lot better for us,&rdquo; said Tambellini. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re new, it takes that little extra time, but it&rsquo;s coming now.&rdquo;The early indications are that the Flames will have to rely on last season&rsquo;s nucleus again if they intend to move up in the standings. Mickey Volcan, acquired from Hartford, is the team&rsquo;s seventh defenseman. In Volcan&rsquo;s only start, he replaced Paul Baxter, the free-agent acquisition who was having trouble staying out of the penalty box. &ldquo;Billy Martin syndrome,&rdquo; explained Baxter. Steve Bozek has not found a regular line yet. Eaves and Loob have been the best of the newcomers, but neither is scoring the way Johnson would like them to.IN BRIEF&mdash;Pekka Rautakalio. the former Flames&rsquo; defenseman, will join the team March 27, if the Flames want him, general manager Cliff Fletcher says. The Flames lost Rautakalio a little over a year ago when the 28-year-old defenseman decided to return to his native Finland. However, they protected him in the waiver draft in case their defense falls short come playoff time. Rautakalio would be here in time to play the final three games of the regular season and all of Calgary&rsquo;s playoff games&hellip;Greg Meredith&rsquo;s knee injury could be more serious than originally expected and he may have to undergo surgery to have it corrected&hellip;Rookie Keith Hanson had a rough NHL initiation in a pair of back-to-back games against Edmonton Oilers, the Flames&rsquo; arch-rivals. Hanson played about 14 minutes before getting ejected from the first game for jumping Ken Linseman. He played about seven minutes in the second before he was ejected for getting jumped by Dave Semenko. One more game misconduct and Hanson will receive an automatic one-game suspension&hellip; The Flames lost their Olympic Saddledome debut to the Oilers, but Lanny MacDonald saw some positive signs, nevertheless. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say we&rsquo;ve definitely closed the gap,&rdquo; said MacDonald. &ldquo;I think we competed with them in all areas, in puck control and also the physical end. I don&rsquo;t think any of the boys backed off. I think we&rsquo;ve made good strides in that area.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-02

Johnson Shifts Tambellini From Center To Wing

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;Like many of the players populating the National Hockey League, Bill Gardner grew up in Toronto. Yet the 23-year-old Black Hawk forward is unique because once upon a time he was considered greater than The Great Gretzky.For two years of Junior B hockey in the Ontario metropolis, Gardner and Gretzky were teammates.The second year their team won the league championship and Gretzky was the leading scorer. But Gardner&mdash;not Gretzky&mdash;was honored as the Most Valuable Player.&ldquo;We all had heard of this sensational kid from Brantford when he came to stay in Toronto and play for our team, the Young Nationals, but we didn&rsquo;t know how good he&rsquo;d be,&rdquo; Gardner said.&ldquo;He was only 14 and some of the guys we played against were 21. He was always a center. I was a defenseman. There were about five of us who were considered on the same level.&ldquo;Wayne had that uncanny puck sense and the ability to set up and score goals. But he wasn&rsquo;t a good skater. Today, he&rsquo;s a great skater. It&rsquo;s hard for me to explain how he improved compared with the rest of us.&ldquo;In his first year in Metro Junior B, Wayne was the Rookie of the Year. The next year he had improved 100 per cent and it seemed like he just kept on improving 100 per cent every single year.&ldquo;We both started out in Junior A in Peterborough. The next year he went to Sault Ste. Marie and I played against him. The following season he was in the World Hockey Association. By the time I was in my last year of junior hockey, Edmonton had gotten into the NHL and Wayne was the best player in the league.&rdquo;Because he isn&rsquo;t big physically (5-10 and 170 pounds), Gardner was converted from defense to center at Peterborough to enhance his chances of making the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011149/4817827-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="558" height="642"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chicago&rsquo;s Bill Gardner can&rsquo;t believe how fast Wayne Gretzky advanced.</figcaption></div>Drafted in the third round by Chicago in 1979, he is in his third season in the Windy City. But it&rsquo;s hard for him to make himself at home when there are five other splendid centers residing on the roster.Before this season Gardner&rsquo;s name flitted hither and thither on the tradewinds. He is an excellent skater and skilful defensive player and undoubtedly his scoring statistics would be much more gaudy if he had a steady job.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot harder going from center to wing that it was from defense to center,&rdquo; he said, referring to the time he&rsquo;s spent this season on the left flank. &ldquo;Defense to center was easy because I was a puck-carrying defenseman.&ldquo;A left wing doesn&rsquo;t get the puck nearly as much. It&rsquo;s also tough to adjust to the stopping and starting from standstill. As a center, you&rsquo;re always moving and circling. As a wing, you have to always be conscious of checking the other team&rsquo;s winger.&ldquo;Another thing I have to work on is getting the puck out when it comes around the boards. I know the defenseman will be there but I have to be the one who comes up with the puck.Tessier understands. &ldquo;Gardner has played well whatever we&rsquo;ve asked him to do,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;His natural position is center, and last year he did a fine job taking Tom Lysiak&rsquo;s place (on the line with Darryl Sutter and Rich Preston) during the month he was injured.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m giving some thought to giving (center) Steve Ludzik a shot at left wing because he&rsquo;s tougher along the boards and using Gardner to center for Ludzik and Rick Paterson.&rdquo;HAWK TALK&mdash;With 54-goal left wing Al Secord and Paterson on the injured list, and Tessier dissatisfied with the way the Hawks were playing, the lines were shuffled for the Oct. 19 game with New Jersey. Denis Savard centered for Denis Cyr and Steve Larmer; Tom Lysiak for Darryl Sutter and rookie Ken Yaremchuk; Troy Murray for Curt Fraser and Rich Preston; and Gardner for Ludzik and Tim Higgins. The Hawks won 6-3. Savard scored two goals. Larmer tallied his seventh of the season, and Yaremchuk assisted on a goal by Behn Wilson to pick up a point in his NHL debut. Secord had a pulled stomach muscle and Paterson was sidelined with a groin injury. The victory gave the Hawks a 5-2 record, tying them with St. Louis for first place in the Norris Division. &#9632;

f0007-01

Gardner Recalls Days With The Great One

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd. 85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>Rank Amateurs</h2>SOMETIMES, THINGS IN the world of hockey do not make a whole lot of sense. Take the word, amateur, for instance.One would suppose that the meaning of the word is quite simple. If you do not get paid to play or do not make it your every day occupation, then you&rsquo;re an amateur. Seems easy enough to comprehend, right?Wrong. It turns out that defining an amateur, and trying to make any sense in the process, is this week&rsquo;s brain teaser.Of course, this consternation is prompted by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association&rsquo;s recent announcement that any player who hasn&rsquo;t played more than 10 games in the National Hockey League is an amateur and, therefore, is eligible to play for Canada in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.What this basically means is that any player in the American or Central Hockey Leagues is an amateur, so long as he wasn&rsquo;t good enough to be promoted to the NHL for 10 games.Well, that&rsquo;s news to us because as near as we can tell, the guys down there are making anywhere between $20,000 and $30,000 a year to play hockey. Doesn&rsquo;t that tend to imply a player is professional?But, hey, who are we to argue with the gang that runs Olympic hockey? Those who would have you believe that minor leaguers are amateurs are quick to point to the Soviets and Czechs, or for that matter, the Swedes and Finns, too, whose Olympic team players are paid to play for various club teams. Of course, behind the Iron Curtain, the payment comes via a better standard of living than your average proleteriat receives.And they have a point. Calling the Olympics an amateur event is a joke no matter how you slice it. If the Soviet national hockey team is amateur, then so is Wayne Gretzky. Therefore, you can see why the Canadian officials are looking to improve their lot by redefining who and what is an amateur.Except there&rsquo;s one problem we just can&rsquo;t seem to ignore. It&rsquo;s the National Collegiate Athletic Association&rsquo;s (NCAA) definition of amateur.It seems those wise thinkers who head up U.S. college hockey have a completely different idea of amateurism. They believe that any young hockey player who plays with or against another player who has signed a contract with a professional team&mdash;any professional team&mdash;is not an amateur and, therefore, ineligible to receive a college scholarship at their fine institutions of higher learning.The Martin Maglay situation of two years ago perfectly illustrates the NCAA&rsquo;s concern for preserving true amateurism. Mag-lay, a 20-year-old Czechoslovak goalie who the Toronto Maple Leafs signed to a pro contract, didn&rsquo;t have a place to play, what with all the Leafs&rsquo; minor-league spots being filled. So they placed him with the Markham Waxers, a tier two junior team, one step below Canadian major junior hockey.When the NCAA learned of this, they made it clear that any player in the Ontario Provincial Junior A league who played with or against Maglay would lose his amateur status and be declared ineligible for a scholarship. This sent shock waves throughout the league, which is filled with young players aiming for just that&mdash;a scholarship to a U.S. college.That also explains why any player who plays with a major junior team&mdash;even if he never signs a professional contract&mdash;is deemed as a non-amateur by the NCAA.Now, we&rsquo;re a little confused. The CAHA and the Canadian Olympic Association say an amateur is anyone who hasn&rsquo;t played 10 NHL games. And the NCAA says an amateur is anyone who hasn&rsquo;t played with or against a player who is signed to a professional hockey contract.Who is right? Who is an amateur and who isn&rsquo;t?From here, it looks as though an amateur falls somewhere in between the two extremes advanced by the CAHA and the NCAA, who have both missed the mark on this one. But if a cynic were pressed for a definition of a true amateur, he would be apt to say the only real amateurs are the ones trying to bend the definition to suit their own narrow needs. &#9632;

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">JIM KERNAGHAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011236/4817882-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="290" height="376"></div>There it was, a respectable little hockey convention respectfully minding its own business, scrupulously going about its duties, when it was cast into ignominious disrepute.It is the tie, a plain-faced but fastidious fellow whose honesty over the years is unquestioned, whose sheer fairmindedness in the face of all onslaughts is a time-tempered model for life itself.And what happens after all these years of faithful service? The National Hockey League comes along with the chilling decree: a slow death to deadlocks via a five-minute, sudden-death overtime set.Hey, what&rsquo;s wrong with a draw in the first place? It has served well since Nov. 21, 1942, when it was abandoned by the NHL because of a wartime cutback in train schedules. There must be a compelling reason why it was not cast out at war&rsquo;s end and the world was back to normal.There is nothing wrong with ties, of course. Never has been. What is wrong is people&rsquo;s perceptions of them.The tie used to be out there, quietly going about its unappreciated work in all sports when the gambling fraternity began besmirching its honor for all the wrong reasons. The gamblers must have results other than draws so the tie was banished from football and basketball and soccer. And now, hockey.Trouble is, the perception among younger sports fans is that unless there is a winner and loser, a game somehow is left hanging. Ludicrous, of course. Look at the poor old North American Soccer League, which slavishly followed the trend by instituting that ridiculous shootout after overtime.Some of the greatest hockey games in history have come to draws. I defy anyone to declare a New Year&rsquo;s Eve game in Montreal between the Canadiens and the Soviet Red Army team a few years ago anything but absolutely lyrical.Veteran hockey observers have installed that 3-3 game in their private hall of fame hockey memories.There have been similar sparklers over the years, even 1-1 results (okay, that&rsquo;s a while ago) that have left onlookers breathless. No, the poor old tie doesn&rsquo;t deserve this treatment at all.Quite aside from other considerations, ties promote parity which, if you are to believe the folks who run leagues, is the nirvana they seek to attain. It seems reasonable to suggest the better teams take an advantage from extra time, thereby deflecting the league from its avowed purpose.I mean, how would you like to be, say, the Hartford Whalers entering overtime against the Edmonton Oilers with the likes of Wayne Gretzky coming over the boards at you? If you&rsquo;d managed a draw after 60 minutes, you certainly deserve a point. Conversely, if the Oilers cannot outgun you in 60 minutes, they do not deserve another five-minute shot at you.Proponents suggest the lesser teams tend to sit on a draw against a superior opponent. So what? That&rsquo;s just strategy. If the opponent is superior, the onus falls on that team to arrange a victory through its superiority. And in a high-speed game such as hockey, it is exceedingly difficult to plant yourself atop a deadlock for very long.Those who contend a tie is like kissing your sister certainly haven&rsquo;t done much dating.There were 127 ties in the NHL last season and, at the current rate of games being settled in overtime, there probably will be about half that this term. One of them was between the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs when they wound up at 4-4 after 65 minutes of play.That game served as an excellent counterpoint to a game between the Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks three nights later. In that one, the teams plundered each other&rsquo;s goals for a total of 18 goals and almost as many scoring records. Unless you get off on truly bizarre stuff, the drawn game was much superior than the 10-8 Toronto win.In regular-season play, the overtime feature is relatively new but there is a timeless feature to it. Goalies hate it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m certainly not big on it,&rdquo; says Toronto goalie Mike Palmateer. &ldquo;In the last five minutes of a game that&rsquo;s tied, you feel the pressure. But even if you get scored on, you can always hope your guys will even it again. In sudden-death, one goes in and the party&rsquo;s over.&rdquo;A goalie can hardly look good in overtime no matter what he does in a winning cause. It&rsquo;s the guy who shoots the winner who gets the public recognition. The goalie victimized on the tie-breaker, no matter how flukey the goal, is certain to be second-guessed in some quarters.The shooters, particularly the big shooters, don&rsquo;t mind it at all. It&rsquo;s another possible five-minutes opportunity to enhance their stats.&ldquo;But five minutes is enough,&rdquo; says Rick Vaive, no stranger to regular-season overtime, having participated in about 10 extra-time games his first pro season with the Birmingham Bulls when it was a feature of the World Hockey Association.I have a suggestion for a rule change that sends fans, players, reporters, television crews, ushers and everybody else into overtime.OT go home. &#9632;

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GUEST SHOT

<h2>TOUCH OF CLASS</h2>After reading Joe Falls in the Oct. 14th issue, concerning &ldquo;Dinner with Wayne,&rdquo; I second the motion!While holidaying in the sleepy little town of Gannano-que, Ont., two summers ago, I met Wayne, who was uptown shopping with a friend. He obligingly signed an autograph and could have been the boy next door. I was struck by his youthful poise, good looks and complete lack of conceit. We are fortunate to have such a great Canadian goodwill ambassador.Jeannette WarrenToronto, Ont.<h2>RAT NEEDS RECOGNITION</h2>In my opinion the Philadelphia Flyers made a terrible mistake in trading Kenny &ldquo;The Rat&rdquo; Linsemen to the Edmonton Oilers.He is an exciting hockey player with explosive speed and tremendous skating and stickhandling skills. He is a definite key in the Oilers&rsquo; future.Most critics think different of this because of Linse-men&rsquo;s over-aggressive style of play. They (the critics) constantly ridicule him and say he&rsquo;s a dirty hockey player and that he hurts the Edmonton Oilers, but they overlook his impressive stats.James BarleCleveland Hts., OH<h2>SMOOTH AS SILK</h2>Dave Silk now joins the long list of bad trades that the New York Rangers&rsquo; management has made. They gave up a very talented and important player for an unproven unknown (Dave Barr).Silk came into training camp and had one of the best pre-seasons of any Ranger. Once again the Rangers prove that a good performance on the ice does not please the management. I hope the Boston Bruins realize his potential and give him the chance that he deserves.Dawn MadeiraSouth River. NJ<h2>SHARE THE WEALTH</h2>As a hockey fan stuck far away from the action, I have only THE HOCKEY NEWS and USA cable to keep me in touch. Both do a great job.However, as good a job as the USA network does, it shows only one or two games a week. We want more.The real question I have is: Why does the NHL award only one exclusive nationwide cable TV franchise? Why cannot ESPN show games as well as USA? Other pro sports are often covered by several national networks. There are plenty of games to go around. It seems unfair that the NHL would limit coverage in this way.E.T. Van BureaSullivan&rsquo;s Island, SC &#9632;

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011221/4817937-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Murphy admitted that his defensive shortcomings couldn&rsquo;t be afforded by the Los Angeles Kings.</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;George Maguire was smiling after putting the finishing touches to a trade that looks very promising for the Kings.If all goes well, Maguire may have gotten his struggling team right back into the playoff hunt.The date was Oct. 18 and it may be worth jotting down for future references. It&rsquo;s the day the Kings dealt erratic Larry Murphy, once an untouchable, to the Washington Capitals in exchange for defenseman Brian Engblom and right winger Ken Houston.&ldquo;Certainly this has to be classified in the major category,&rdquo; coach Don Perry said, &ldquo;the kind of trade we didn&rsquo;t make during the summer. I&rsquo;m extremely pleased. I think it&rsquo;ll give the team a boost and the players a boost.&ldquo;You always hate to see anybody go, but you have to improve your club whenever you can and I think that&rsquo;s what George did.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt the 22-year-old Murphy, the Kings&rsquo; No. 1 pick in the 1980 draft, is talented. At times, he is brilliant. But his defensive shortcomings, particularly the past two seasons, far overshadowed his offensive contributions and he almost had go.The Kings acquired a totally different type of defenseman in Engblom, a 28-year-old, seven-year veteran who knows how to play defense and who knows how to win; he helped Montreal capture its last three Stanley Cups and was instrumental in helping Washington make the playoffs for the first time in its history last season.Houston, who&rsquo;s 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame is built along the lines of Engblom, fills another need: a physical forward who can score. The 30-year-old, eight-year veteran, has scored 20 or more goals in six of the last seven seasons, collecting a career-high 25 last year.The Kings practised the morning of the deal and Marcel Dionne said it was more spirited than usual, possibly because the trade was a sign that management really is attempting to make improvements after a summer of ho-hum transactions.&ldquo;Maybe that was our motivation for today,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Is this going to happen every time there is a trade? The guys were really into it at practice.&rdquo;This was not meant as a knock on Murphy, you understand.&ldquo;Larry was very well liked by all the guys,&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;We got two high-caliber people, but Larry is high caliber, too. I really hope he does well.&rdquo;The trade apparently had been in the works for some time, but Murphy played a vital role in his own departure. Feeling &ldquo;miserable&rdquo; because he felt he was &ldquo;hurting the team,&rdquo; and unhappy with the result of his recent contract arbitration case, he met with Maguire the day before the deal was made.&ldquo;The arbitration didn&rsquo;t come out too well,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;The contract had a lot to do with it. I figured I had meant more to the team. George and I discussed it and we both felt the best thing to do would be to make the deal.&rdquo;Murphy said he had already agreed to a new four-year contract with Washington (three plus an option) for a lot more money than he would have been making for the Kings, which obviously pleased him.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice what they&rsquo;ve shown me so far,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy. I wanted to stay in the U.S. and I&rsquo;m going to a very promising team. I&rsquo;m getting a chance to start over again.&rdquo;Murphy began his career with a flourish in 1980-81, scoring 16 goals and setting National Hockey League records for a rookie defenseman with 60 assists and 76 points. He broke his own club record for goals by a defenseman with 22 and added 44 assists in his sophomore season. After a slow start he finished with 14 goals and 48 assists last year.Still, despite his size (6-foot-1, 215 pounds), speed and agility, Murphy never seemed to be able to straighten out his defensive game. Even he admits he was far too inconsistent, a puzzle the Kings were never able to solve.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t playing well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was letting people down on the team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to answer to yourself when that happens. That&rsquo;s why I was so miserable. I guess this (the trade) is the answer.&ldquo;The team&rsquo;s not doing well and it&rsquo;s been tough on everybody. I&rsquo;m the type of player the Kings can&rsquo;t afford to have&mdash;I&rsquo;m too weak on defense.&rdquo;Give Murphy credit. He was criticized often in the media, yet he was always available, always willing to talk when he could have hidden from his biggest tormentors.Maybe he didn&rsquo;t always play up to all those high expectations, but the guy left with a lot of class. &#9632;

f0009-01

Murphy Exits The Kings Getting Better Contract

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;Nobody was expecting Larry Murphy to be a savior for a team that lost its first seven games, but the Washington Capitals at least hoped their newest defenseman could open up an offense that managed only 15 goals in those seven defeats.Murphy was delighted to find himself paired with Rod Lang way, the Norris Trophy winner who has had a tough time getting untracked because forecheckers have been able to key on him.&ldquo;Rod Langway is a quality defensive defenseman and he should help Larry Murphy is that area,&rdquo; said coach Bryan Murray. &ldquo;Rod is willing to talk and help the younger guys and if Larry needs help in that part of his game, he&rsquo;ll get it.&ldquo;On the other hand, Larry Murphy is very creative offensively and he will help Rod Langway. He should give him an easy out more often. The way Hartford was able to forecheck Rod, he never got the puck back. That shouldn&rsquo;t happen now.&rdquo;Murphy, 22, was acquired from Los Angeles for defenseman Brian Engblom, 28, and winger Ken Houston, 30. The age factor was one of the reasons general manager David Poile was willing to make the deal.&ldquo;This was not an easy trade to make,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;Brian Engblom is not the kind of player you give up without some qualms. But Houston is 30 and Brian is almost 29 and the potential of Murphy outweighs the potential of what we&rsquo;ve traded.&ldquo;Making the playoffs was our goal last year and we achieved it. Now we want to move up in our division and to do it we need more improvement. We would not have been able to make the trade for Larry Murphy a year from now.&rdquo;Engblom was a standout during the first half of the 1982-83 season, after coming here from Montreal with Langway, Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin. However, after he was struck in the eye March 2, he returned wearing a face shield and did not display his earlier aggressiveness.Although Houston enjoyed his best NHL season a year ago with 25 goals, he had not scored a point this year and was considered the team&rsquo;s 12th or 13th forward.In three seasons at Los Angeles, Murphy rolled up 52 goals and 204 points to become that club&rsquo;s highest-scoring defenseman ever. Nevertheless, he was criticized for ineffectual defensive play, a deficiency he readily recognized when he arrived here.&ldquo;I hear that from a lot of people,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m young and I do have to improve on playing the man. It will take a while. A lot of guys have blossomed defensively later in their careers. I&rsquo;m certainly going to put attention to it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to start off with a player like Rod Langway. The practices here are well organized and I learned a lot my first day. There was a lot to take in in one day, but in time I&rsquo;ll fit in.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy coming here. Washington is an oncoming team with a lot of young guys and a good future. They&rsquo;ve had a slow start, but if you had asked anybody in the league whether Washington would be 0-7, they&rsquo;d have told you you were crazy.&rdquo;The trade was no surprise to Murphy, who had learned a few days before it was consummated that Washington was trying to get him.&ldquo;I had talked to the (Kings&rsquo;) general manager (George Maguire) and we decided it would be the best thing for us to move,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;The team was scrambling and there wasn&rsquo;t a lot of direction. They seemed to be trying to make as many changes as possible, just for the sake of making changes.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a distraction playing out there and it&rsquo;s nice to get back into a hockey town. In L.A., nobody knows hockey exists. It&rsquo;s an advantage to play in a hockey town and I can feel it here. These guys really want to win.&rdquo;Murphy&rsquo;s arrival gave the Capitals four defensemen who were junior standouts at Peterborough, the others being David Shand, Paul MacKinnon and Greg Theberge.Theberge suffered a bruised knee in the 3-0 loss at Hartford that marked Washington&rsquo;s seventh defeat. He was the fifth defenseman to be injured this fall, along with Peter Andersson, Timo Blomqvist, Scott Stevens and Darren Veitch. Both Stevens and Veitch were back in the lineup after short absences.With Houston&rsquo;s departure, right winger Bryan Erickson was recalled from Hershey, where he had scored a goal in each of his three appearances. &#9632;

Poile Admits Trade Wasn’t Easy

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011264/4817992-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="293" height="337"></div><h2>Beck On Beck</h2>THERE ARE SEVERAL reasons why the very honorable Barry (Bubba) Beck, a budding saxaphone player, should be the best defenseman in the National Hockey League.&bull; He shoots the puck harder than Doug Wilson, who won the Norris Trophy in 1982. &bull; He hits bodies harder than Randy Carlyle, who won the Norris Trophy in 1981. &bull; He is as smart as Rod Langway, who won the Norris Trophy last spring.A show-cause order is being served upon Barry Beck for him to explain why his fashionable East Side apartment sparkles with art work, prints and exquisite furniture but conspicuously lacks the Norris Trophy.Explain, Bubba, explain.&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he says, removing his sneakers but wearing his cap proclaiming Divers Do It Deeper. &ldquo;There are reasons.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been hurt a lot. Some reporters say I can&rsquo;t stand up to an 80-game schedule. But the reason I get hurt is because I go out and play hard every game.&ldquo;I play it tough and when I hit, you know, I hit hard and I&rsquo;m going to be susceptible to injuries when I play like that. Another reason is that teams I&rsquo;ve always played on have been inconsistent and we&rsquo;ve never had a really great season.&ldquo;And when I was named captain I tried to take care of all the players, make sure that everything is going all right. I played with a lot of different types of players and I tried to break them into the league. That might have affected my play and restricted me somewhat. I think I&rsquo;m a much better player than a lot of people have given me credit for.&rdquo;Curling on the sofa in his faded blue jeans, the massive man about Manhattan insists that he couldn&rsquo;t care less about trophies. All he wants is his name on the Stanley Cup. But a thick vein of pride courses through that cast iron body and it betrays his dismay with some not-too-smart hockey writers who go to the National Hockey League ballot box.<h2>Snubbed As All-Star</h2>&ldquo;I&rsquo;VE LOOKED (at the all-star tallies),&rdquo; he goes on, &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t even get a vote. Then I look at these guys who are getting all those votes and I know that I&rsquo;m a better defenseman than they are. There&rsquo;s something wrong.&ldquo;Last year I wasn&rsquo;t even on the all-star team. I had been injured a little bit at the beginning of the year and that hurt my chances as an all-star, but I know what kind of defenseman I am.&rdquo;If management doesn&rsquo;t know, the accountants who run Madison Square Garden Corp. do. They just approved a contract that makes Beck the highest-paid Ranger ever. And that includes Anders Hedberg, Phil Esposito, Brad Park, Bryan Hextall, Ching Johnson, Ott Heller, Frank Boucher and Lester Patrick.&ldquo;Right now,&rdquo; Bubba says, while his housekeeper waters the plants in the next room, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m living like a king. I&rsquo;ve got a nice apartment. I&rsquo;ve got a nice contract. I&rsquo;ve got everything a guy my age would want. I don&rsquo;t have to worry about money, so I&rsquo;m just enjoying life. It&rsquo;s a great position to be in.&rdquo; lmost.There is one thing that all of Gulf and Western Corporation&rsquo;s money can&rsquo;t buy&mdash;not that they haven&rsquo;t tried&mdash;and that is the Stanley Cup. The mortgage on the Cup is being held by that team at Nassau Coliseum, a club that Bubba views with realism, if not optimism.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think any team will beat us,&rdquo; says Bubba, sipping a glass of water, &ldquo;except the Islanders. They&rsquo;re the team to beat and if they falter, then they&rsquo;ll get beat. We&rsquo;ve improved enough so that if the Islanders falter, we&rsquo;ll beat them.&rdquo;Beck&rsquo;s counterpart on the Islanders is captain Denis Potvin, who has three Norris trophies to complement his four Stanley Cup rings. On silver content alone, Potvin carries infinitely more weight around the NHL than Beck.<h2>Denis Has The Tools</h2>&ldquo;AS FAR AS raw talent goes, Denis has the tools. But he and I have different jobs. He has to provide offense; that&rsquo;s a big key to his game. But as he gets older, that kind of offensive play tapers off a bit and he might find it better to play a bit more defensively. But he&rsquo;s been one of the best defenseman around for a long time.&rdquo;Bubba may not be the best player in the Metropolitan area but he certainly ranks as one of the sexiest. And if you don&rsquo;t believe me, you can look it up. Anyone reading Thin Ice, Larry (Ratso) Sloman&rsquo;s behind-the-jeans look at off-ice life with the Rangers, gets the impression that Beck has more trouble stickhandling past the adoring women than he does through the Flyers&rsquo; defense. Bubba remembers how Sloman researched the X-rated book.&ldquo;Ratso would be sitting around with us, having a couple of beers and a nice-looking girl would walk by and one of the guys (the Rangers) would say something to Ratso&mdash;not to her, of course&mdash;that would be rude. So, then Ratso, of course, would write it down. But our guys didn&rsquo;t know that this would be coming out in a book.&ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t careful about what they were saying at all. And when the book came out, a lot of them looked foolish. I actually thought the book was quite funny. As far as some of the language was concerned, it was atrocious. You know when you&rsquo;re in the locker room that kind of language flows around. And when we&rsquo;re having a couple of beers it&rsquo;s going to flow again. And Ratso would write about it. I laughed quite a bit at parts of the books.&rdquo;Bubba stopped laughing when he realized that not everyone of the 17,500 who people Madison Square Garden was madly in love with him. At age 22 and only on his third NHL year, Bubba was submerged in his first wave of boos.<h2>The Booing Hurt</h2>&ldquo;THAT HURT ME a lot,&rdquo; he says running his fingers through the hedgerow of red hair. &ldquo;It was the first point in my career when I found out that there was going to be pressure on me playing in New York. I was going to have to either cope with it or, eventually, it would run me out of the city.&ldquo;I sort of freaked out. Then, Walt Tzaczuk and Phil Esposito talked to me. They said just about everybody who&rsquo;s played in New York has been booed, so not to worry. They pointed out I was young and I&rsquo;d overcome it and get myself in a position where it won&rsquo;t happen again.&rdquo;It is a fact of life that booing New York fans may not move mountains but they have pushed the Rangers into new uniforms. Allan Stanley, the Bubba Beck of his day, once was so ruthlessly ridiculed by guardians of the gallery, the Rangers reluctantly traded him to Chicago. In time, Stanley became a Hall of Famer.&ldquo;When you get booed,&rdquo; says Bubba, &ldquo;you just have to try harder. You&rsquo;ve got to do something different. You&rsquo;ve got to stick your nose in there.&rdquo;It has been said that Beck could beat up Godzilla, king of the monsters, if he is so inclined. But, considering Beck&rsquo;s size, he&rsquo;s taken a pacifist view of fighting.&ldquo;It seems silly to me that hockey is the only professional sport that allows fighting. It seems ridiculous; somebody comes in and watches hockey and says, &lsquo;These people are allowed to fight? The don&rsquo;t get kicked out of the game? What&rsquo;s going on here?&rsquo;&rdquo;A small but significant block of fans will never be content unless Beck extracts a pound of flesh from every attacking forward. But Bubba, to his everlasting credit, has employed his Samsonian strength with discretion, although Paul Baxter might argue the point. Paul Boutilier, the Islanders&rsquo; young defense prospect who&rsquo;s presently paying his dues in the minors, wouldn&rsquo;t argue it at all. He and Beck grappled during an exhibition game.<h2>Held Back On Boutilier</h2>&ldquo;BOUTILIER IS SMALLER and if I&rsquo;m battling with someone who isn&rsquo;t as big I&rsquo;ll hold back. I had him in a bear hug and I was ready to give him an undercut, just ready to hit him, but I didn&rsquo;t because he was down. So, I just sort of grabbed him and pulled him in. It seemed senseless for me to hurt him. He was defenseless. It would be like shooting somebody in the back.&rdquo;If Bubba sounds like he&rsquo;s blowing his own horn, it is almost true&mdash;but not quite. A horn, no. A saxaphone, yes.&ldquo;I bought a sax,&rdquo; he revels, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m trying to get some lessons.&rdquo;A lesson he has already learned is that Manhattan, as they say in the song, is the isle of joy.&ldquo;The first thing you have to do is get yourself an answering service and the next thing you have to do is have a doorman you can trust. There are a lot of distractions here, but they&rsquo;re good distractions.&rdquo;Bubba was distracted last summer when his buddies, Ed Mio, Eddie Johnstone and Ron Duguay were deported to Detroit.&ldquo;Eddie (Mio) was my roommate and best friend. It was too bad for him because I don&rsquo;t think the trade would have been made without him. He was great.&ldquo;It was good for Ronnie to leave New York. He&rsquo;s got to find out a little about himself; mature a little bit. I don&rsquo;t think he would ever fit into a Herb Brooks team; he&rsquo;s not disciplined enough. Ronnie stretched the rules once too often.&rdquo;There are those who believe that Bubba was stretching things this fall when he showed up at training camp with a shock of hair that ranged in hue from orange to tangerine. It looked as phony as a three-dollar bill, but Beck insists that it is perfectly natural, the result of 33 summer days in the sun.What bugs Bubba is that his hair has made such waves in the public press and continues to be a major topic of discussion in Rangerville.Bubba allows that he will, however, do something about his hair if something that hasn&rsquo;t happened in 44 years happens next spring.&ldquo;If we win the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; Bubba Beck promises, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll streak my hair red, white and blue!&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;When the Edmonton Oilers treked to Pacific Coliseum to play the Canucks, it was billed as Mr. T vs. Mr. G.&mdash;Tony Tanti versus Wayne Gretzky.Everybody knew about Gretzky&rsquo;s greatness, but Tanti jumped quickly out of the National Hockey League goalscoring gate and the Canuck fans were suddenly beset with the fever that has stricken them two seasons ago during the Great White Towel Caper.On this night. however, the G-men prevailed as Edmonton won 10-8 in yet another NHL version of last-shot-winsit. Gretzky scored two goals, while Tanti aided the Canuck attack with two goals and an assist.Tanti admits that being on par with Gretzky in the goal-scoring department is nice, but he&rsquo;d just as soon sacrifice some of his own offense if it could improve the Canucks&rsquo; dismal record.Tanti is a little embarassed by the sobriquet his teammates have given him, but because he&rsquo;s a sophomore he&rsquo;s been spared the shaved-head look.You can&rsquo;t help but marvel at Tanti&rsquo;s early-season success, especially when you consider the fans weren&rsquo;t exactly jumping in line for his autograph when it was annouced the Canucks had acquired him from Chicago. The Canucks traded bruising winger Curt Fraser for the right winger and the fact that Tanti didn&rsquo;t have an auspicious season did little to pacify their unhappiness.Now they&rsquo;re happy, however, as Tanti continues to impress. The reasons for the drastic change in Tanti&rsquo;s game is twofold: skating and diet.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my skating mainly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I went to power skating school two weeks before training camp started and that has really helped me.&ldquo;Also, I lost about 12 pounds over last year and the loss in weight has made feel a little quicker on the ice. I&rsquo;m playing at the same weight as my last year of junior (178) and I feel very comfortable at that weight.&ldquo;I thought that I would get knocked around a lot playing this light, but that hasn&rsquo;t happened.&rdquo;Tanti is being centered by Patrik Sund-strom, the bashful Swede who has no inhibitions on the ice. The two have jelled together, despite having a plethora of left wingers.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a European-type player because I like to hold the puck and weave around and look for openings,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Patrik plays the same way and we seem to play well together. He&rsquo;s been a big help to me because he&rsquo;s played so well at the same time.&ldquo;I think the fact we have had so many wingers and still had success is a tribute to the rest of the guys on the team. Everyone who comes on our line is working hard and doing their best to make it go.&rdquo;While the trade to Vancouver has given him a chance to prove that the 81 goals he produced in 67 games for the Oshawa Generals in 1980-81 was no fluke, Tanti still has some bitter feelings for the Black Hawk brass.&ldquo;When they sent me down to junior for the second time, I had hardly played,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They told me that they had kept me around to boost my confidence and make me feel good, like I belonged in the NHL. But they didn&rsquo;t play me at all.&ldquo;I lost my respect for them (Hawk management) when they sent me down and to this day, I still haven&rsquo;t been told about the trade from Bob (Pulford, Hawk general manager).&ldquo;I heard it on the radio, while I was driving to my junior game and then Harry (Neale, Canuck GM) called that night after the game. But I still haven&rsquo;t heard from Chicago.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t hold any grudges against them, but you have to wonder sometimes.&rdquo; &#9632;

Canuck Fans Catching The Fever Of Mr. T

<div class="byline">BY RON COBB</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Terry Johnson and Dwight Schofield are the Blues&rsquo; way of saying there is peace through strength.Johnson, who was acquired from Quebec, and Schofield, picked up from Montreal, are aggressiveness. Johnson is 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and played for coach Jacques Demers at Fredericton of the American Hockey League the last two seasons. Last season, he accumulated 177 penalty minutes in 76 games, while he incurred 132 penalty minutes in 43 games the previous season.Schofield, playing for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the AHL, piled up 248 penalty minutes last season and 335 the season before.&ldquo;I think we got some respect when we acquired them,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;They bring a new dimension to the team.&rdquo;Ron Caron, the Blues&rsquo; director of player personnel, said the two players won&rsquo;t be &ldquo;goons, but they&rsquo;ll certainly command respect.&rdquo;Caron, former chief scout and director of player personnel for the Canadiens, was familiar with Schofield. At 27, the 6-foot, 187-pound Schofield has seven seasons of professional experience, compared to four for the 24-year-old Johnson, but neither has much NHL playing time behind them. Johnson has played in 27 NHL games and Schofield has played in only five.The Blues had been talking about acquiring a veteran to lend some experience to their young corps of defensemen, but they settled on Johnson and Schofield with the belief, or hope, that they can make the transition to the National League.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been knocking at the door and now they&rsquo;re getting their chance,&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;With their strength, size and toughness, they will help our other hockey players perform as they should. The other players won&rsquo;t hesitate as much to penetrate and play the game as it should be played, knowing that these guys will come to their help if needed.&ldquo;We need physical help. We don&rsquo;t want to get pushed around and neither of those two guys lets that happen.&rdquo;Johnson, who is known as a defensive defenseman, wasn&rsquo;t altogether surprised when the news came that he&rsquo;d been taken by St. Louis in the league&rsquo;s waiver draft. The way he sized up his situation in the Nordiques&rsquo; situation, &ldquo;things didn&rsquo;t look too bright for me.&rdquo;Schofield, however, was caught by surprise.&ldquo;At my age, you have wonder,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was thinking maybe Hartford might grab me, but when I did get picked it was a surprise. I kind of expected to be back in the minors with Nova Scotia again.&rdquo;Schofield arrived in St. Louis the night of the waiver draft and contributed a goal the next night as the Blues opened the season with a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The goal was his first in the NHL since 1967-77 and his second in the league overall.After coaching Baltimore of the AHL last season, Penguin coach Lou Angotti had seen quite a bit of the Blues&rsquo; new defensemen.&ldquo;They held their own at that level,&rdquo; Angotti said. &ldquo;Whether they can do the same in the NHL is something that time will determine.&rdquo; &#9632;

Johnson, Schofield Keep The Blues’ Peace

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011237/4818095-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="286" height="330"></div><h2>The Would-Be Stars?</h2>ANOTHER HOCKEY SEASON and the Minnesota North Stars are right where they should be among the contenders for the Stanley Cup&hellip;right up there battling for the Norris Division lead.Oh, the North Stars aren&rsquo;t atop the division? I know it&rsquo;s early but isn&rsquo;t the Norris always a two-team tussle between Minnesota and Chicago? Aren&rsquo;t they the only strong teams in the division? By now, St. Louis was supposed to be either out of business or in Regina, which some say, would be the same thing. The best that is expected from Toronto and Detroit, the other Norris neighbors, is a tag-team scuffle to avoid the division cellar.No one in Bloomington, Minneapolis, St. Paul or Edina is panicking. Especially not Lou Nanne, one of the sharpest general managers this side of the Soo. But Nanne, as well as everyone else, is aware that the North Stars soon have to deliver on their promise from the spring of 1981 when they skated into the Stanley Cup finals. Losing to the Islanders in &rsquo;81 was no disgrace&mdash;everybody loses to the Islanders in the playoffs&mdash;but reaching the finals suggests to a team&rsquo;s fans that it should be strong enough to show up again&mdash;often. Since they bowed to the Islanders in the finals, the North Stars haven&rsquo;t trudged past the second round of the playoffs.Since &rsquo;81, Nanne has cornered the market on quality young players named Brian&mdash;Bellows and Lawton. They are two players every National Hockey League team would love to call their own. However, the North Stars still have developed an unflattering reputation. Forget &rsquo;81: it&rsquo;s what have you done for us lately?In case you missed it, the North Stars were one of two teams (Edmonton was the other) listed under &ldquo;Gut Checks This Season For&rdquo; in Sports Illustrated&rsquo;s hockey preview. &ldquo;This club has considerable talent, but lacks the pride and mental toughness of teams like the Islanders and Bruins. In Canada, the North Stars are known as hockey&rsquo;s equivalent of the Montreal Expos: all talent, no heart.&rdquo; Whew&hellip;take that Lou Nanne.<h2>Victimized By Goaltending</h2>&ldquo;AH, THEY HAVE to say something,&rdquo; replied Nanne, who has previously been featured as one of STs favorite hockey people. &ldquo;Our problem in the playoffs the last two years is we&rsquo;ve run into very good goaltending with Chicago twice and our power play let us down. That&rsquo;s why we got (Dennis) Maruk and Lawton&mdash;we needed more scoring punch.&rdquo;If Chicago&rsquo;s goaltending was superb, the question might be asked: Why wasn&rsquo;t Minnesota&rsquo;s as good or better?&ldquo;We have to produce as a team,&rdquo; Nanne said diplomatically, emphasizing &ldquo;team.&rdquo;To complete target practice on the North Stars, we had a potshot by Tim Young at his former teammates in a recent HOCKEY NEWS edition.&ldquo;In Minnesota,&rdquo; said Young, &ldquo;we had a bunch of individuals out for themselves. Here, it seems to be the team comes first.&rdquo;If Young&rsquo;s charge is true, lack of player leadership would be one reason for such single-minded thinking. On teams such as Boston, the Islanders or Philadelphia you don&rsquo;t find players thinking about themselves first. If they dare, people named O&rsquo;Reilly, Trottier and Clarke stop by their lockers for a little chat. One familiar criticism of the North Stars is they don&rsquo;t have a veteran leader such as one of the aforementioned.&ldquo;We have a leader,&rdquo; said Nanne, nodding in the direction of 19-year-old Brian Bellows. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the most remarkable athlete I&rsquo;ve ever come in contact with at that age.&rdquo;<h2>Mahoney&rsquo;s Responsible</h2>WITH NANNE SWEARING on a stack of HOCKEY NEWS that he isn&rsquo;t interfering, the responsibility to polish all the green-clad talent has been given to Bill Mahoney. You won&rsquo;t find Mahoney&rsquo;s name in the NHL guide under retired players. Mahoney, 43. is another NHL coach with a college background&mdash;16 years at McMaster University. He then joined Gary Green in Washington as an assistant before settling in as Adirondack&rsquo;s coach in the AHL last season.One of Mahoney&rsquo;s assignments was to have the North Stars occasionally flip to section &lsquo;C&rsquo; in their playbooks&mdash;that is &lsquo;C&rsquo; for checking. To get this message through, Mahoney is running tough practices. This attitude is one reason Nanne chose Mahoney over several other qualified candidates.&ldquo;I asked him because he&rsquo;s a teacher,&rdquo; Nanne said. &ldquo;He has good ideas about the game. He&rsquo;s a strong person, he&rsquo;s organized and a hard worker. I also wanted someone who had no knowledge of our team. I wanted him to have his own opinions of the team.&rdquo;Naturally, Nanne has his own opinions on the North Stars.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve played very well this season,&rdquo; he says as the listener glanced suspiciously at the club&rsquo;s record. &ldquo;We could have won every game. But, again, we&rsquo;ve run into very good goaltending.&rdquo;Except, of course, for that 10-9 loss to Vancouver. Hopefully for Nanne&rsquo;s good health, he found the same humor in that mess of a game that Vancouver goalie John Garrett did.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s sort of like the good news, bad news joke,&rdquo; Garrett said. &ldquo;The good news is we won; the bad news is that my goals-against average is 9.00.&rdquo;Nanne finds humor in almost everything, which is the only way for most GMs to preserve their sanity.&ldquo;The last two seasons we were wonderdogs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now, we&rsquo;re underdogs.&rdquo; But, in the next breath, a concerned Nanne said, &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t produced the way we should.&rdquo;The North Stars are loaded with young talent and they&rsquo;re fun to watch. But one more season of sliding down the early exit chute and the good folks of Minnesota won&rsquo;t be easy to appease. Imagine if this was happening in New York. &#9632;

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HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD FRIEDMAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Between the lines, when the Rangers&rsquo; deceptive 7-1 start was carefully considered, there were signs that this vastly-improved team had yet to click, to really get their game together.In that sense, their first loss of the season, 6-5 in St. Louis, was a blessing in disguise. Finally, the Rangers had fallen to earth after the best start in the history of the franchise.The other streak that ended in St. Louis was the 33 consecutive powerplays they had killed off.&ldquo;Maybe it was a blessing that we lost to the Blues,&rdquo; said a rejuvenated Pierre Larouche after a four-goal weekend and the Rangers&rsquo; impressive 5-4 victory over Philadelphia the next night. &ldquo;I think it got us more ready. I know it&rsquo;s early in the season but it was a big victory because Philly hadn&rsquo;t lost. We showed a lot of character this weekend. We showed everyone in the league that nobody on the Rangers is going to quit.&rdquo;That night, the Rangers held four different one-goal leads and the Flyers tied the score three times before Peter Sundstrom&rsquo;s game-winner in the third period Defenseman Tom Laidlaw called the game the best the Rangers had played all season, while Larouche called it &ldquo;a typical Flyer-Ranger game.&rdquo;It also happened to be Larouche&rsquo;s first, but for Larouche it was a night for flowery prose. After explaining that &ldquo;playing with Don Maloney and Peter Sundstrom makes things a lot easier,&rdquo; Larouche called Maloney &ldquo;one of the top three wings in the league.&rdquo;When pressed, Larouche failed to name the other two, but Maloney had the most sensible rejoinder:&ldquo;Keep giving him the puck and Pierre will say anything about you.&rdquo;The loss to St. Louis saw the Rangers more completely dominated than they had been in any other game to date, but there had been danger signs in previous victories over the Kings and Capitals. In those games, the Rangers had stretches of exceptional play alternated with other flat spells. As one Ranger said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been playing well for five minutes at a time.&rdquo;But as they escaped the pressure imposed upon them by their early winning streak when they lost to the Blues, the Rangers did not go without a fight.&ldquo;We showed a lot of character in St. Louis,&rdquo; said Laidlaw. &ldquo;We could have just packed it in when it was 6-3 and gone back to New York, but we came back and almost pulled it out.&rdquo;Character was what the Rangers needed as they prepared for their stiffest test of the young season, a home-and-home weekend with the Islanders. The prelude to that was their 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames, a game in which the tired Hames slowed the Rangers down to their pace and waited for the mistake that never came.But, as Ranger coach Herb Brooks admitted, &ldquo;we just couldn&rsquo;t push them over the edge.&rdquo;Larouche had his sixth goal in that game, Dave Maloney his fifth, and the game-winner was scored by Mike Blaisdell on a disputed play at 19:59 of the first period. The green light flashed behind the goal, signifying the end of the period, before the goal-judge had a chance to ignite the red. But rookie referee Mike Noeth ruled that Blaisdell had his first goal as a Ranger.One reason the Rangers could not push the Flames to the wall was that their offense had not yet come together. As a result, many opportunities deep in the Calgary zone were lost.The most hopeful signs in the first half-dozen games were found at the other end of the ice. Not only is the Rangers&rsquo; defense large but the backliners, under the tutelage of assistant coach Carol Vadnais, scrupulously cleared the slot in front of goalies Glen Hanlon and Steve Weeks.&ldquo;The goalies are seeing the first shot a lot better,&rdquo; said Brooks, adding that in that case all they had to worry about were the ABC&rsquo;s of their trade: standing up, cutting down the angles and controlling the rebounds.&ldquo;More important, though, the defensemen were giving their goalies the time to develop confidence. Among the most-frequently-voiced doubts about this team after Ed Mio was traded to Detroit was whether the Rangers had a proven NHL goaltender.In all fairness, it must be said that neither Hanlon, because of trades and injuries, nor Weeks, having shuttled between the Rangers and the minors, have had the opportunity to prove themselves. &#9632;

Cinderella Rangers Given Dose Of Reality

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Some NHL insiders believe the Washington Capitals will win the two-for-one deal with Los Angeles Kings&mdash;if the Caps last that long. One general manager says, &ldquo;Washington wins on the age factor, but he (Larry Murphy) can be lazy and the question is whether Bryan Murray can get him to work hard.&rdquo; However, a random Madison Square Garden press box poll has the Kings as the clear victor. &ldquo;It was a panic move by the Caps,&rdquo; says Doug Gould of the New York Post. &ldquo;Los Angeles got the better part of the deal by far,&rdquo; adds Ranger defenseman Tom Laidlaw. &ldquo;Brian Engblom is better than Larry Murphy and Ken Houston comes to play every night&rdquo;&hellip;One of the main reasons Murphy was fraded relates to contractual problems. Murphy went to arbitration seeking $200,000 per year. The Kings were offering $115,000. Moments before arbitrator Gary Schreider entered the room, Kings&rsquo; GM George Maguire offered Murphy&rsquo;s agent, Norm Caplan, $135,000 to settle it then. Caplan refused and Schreider ruled in favor of the $115,000 figure. Murphy will get much more than that with the Caps.Much of the Kirk Muller -to-the Olympics talk is predicated on the fact he isn&rsquo;t crazy about playing in Guelph, a second-year Ontario League franchise. The potential 1984 No. 1 NHL draft pick wouldn&rsquo;t be entertaining thoughts of leaving the OHL if he was with an established franchise such as Ottawa or Kitchener, an insider says. In fact, sources say the Belleville Bulls offered to make a deal to get Muller and that if they did, he wouldn&rsquo;t be going to the Olympics. But Guelph owner Joe Holody nixed the deal&hellip;Look for Detroit to win out over Niagara Falls in a bid for an OHL expansion franchise. Former NHL goalie Jim Rutherford is a member of the Detroit contingent&hellip;Ill-wishers, who at first wanted the St. Louis Blues to die last summer and now are predicting only another year of life for the team, will be disappointed. Insiders report that owner Harry Ornest has a long-range commitment to the Blues and has already demonstrated that by substantial arena investments. One of Omest&rsquo;s full-fledged partners is August Busch of the Anheuser-Busch clan. In answer to zingers claiming he hasn&rsquo;t hired a GM because he is the manager, Ornest says, &ldquo;When it comes to working out a player&rsquo;s contract&mdash;the money, the longevity&mdash;I am very much involved. But I&rsquo;m not the GM and let&rsquo;s get that straight!&rdquo; Ornest has taken an active part in selling season tickets to corporations such as McDonnell-Douglas. &ldquo;When an owner like me phones the head of a corporation, I get right through,&rdquo; chuckles Omest-&hellip;Ken Dryden, who&rsquo;ll be handling Olympic hockey commentating for ABC, has already nixed America&rsquo;s chances for another gold medal. &ldquo;I suspect there will be no miracle on ice in 1984,&rdquo; says Dryden. His pessimism is rooted in a trip to Russia, where he watched the Soviet Olympic prospects in action&hellip;Now that the Tacoma Dome played host to its first hockey game, no one is taking it seriously as a future NHL site. The sightlines are beyond atrocious&hellip;Brad Park gets needled by Red Wing buddies over two pizza parlor perks allegedly built into his contract by owner Mike Hitch. When Reed Larson signed a new contract, word went out that Larson got four pizza parlors as part of his deal. &ldquo;Brad,&rdquo; snapped one of the Wings, &ldquo;you&rsquo;d better renegotiate!&rdquo;. Park left his family in Boston to accommodate his son, Robbie, who attends a special school in Beantown.Sources close to the Kings report that defenseman Dave Lewis&rsquo; fate was sealed by coach Don Perry in Los Angeles before training camp even started. The former team captain had spent most of training camp with the New Haven farm team and never got a serious shot with the Kings. Lewis is tickled with his situation in Jersey. &ldquo;The Devils,&rdquo; says Lewis, &ldquo;have one of the best facilities I&rsquo;ve ever seen&hellip;Jacques Demers is winning raves wherever he goes. A surprise on the Blues has been the play of veteran Pat Hickey. &ldquo;The question is why he got buried in the minors last year?&rdquo; asks a friend&hellip;Charlie Simmer says he enjoys parenthood. &ldquo;I especially like disposable diapers,&rdquo; chuckles Charlie&hellip; Barry Beck&rsquo;s very red hair has a couple of scribes labelling him Orange Crush and Creamsicle behind his back&hellip; Scotty Bowman was told that a friend thought he was crazy starting 18-year-old Tom Barrasso in the Sabres&rsquo; opener and then giving him so much work. &ldquo;I thought it would be better to put him right in rather than wait,&rdquo; Bowman says. &ldquo;If I had kept him on the sidelines it would have been more difficult for him when I finally did put him in.&rdquo; Comparing Barrasso and Ken Dryden, Bowman points out that Barrasso is five years younger than Dryden was when Ken made his NHL debut. &ldquo;Another thing,&rdquo; adds Bowman, &ldquo;Dryden already had finished a college career and had much more experience. But Tom is confident, has a lot of maturity and is not your average high school graduate.&rdquo;Red Wing goalie Ed Mio continues to berate his old bosses. &ldquo;The Rangers still say the reason I was traded was because I was asking for too much money,&rdquo; says Mio. &ldquo;I want the fans to know that this is not true. Money was not a problem, just like it wasn&rsquo;t a problem here when I signed.&rdquo; Ranger GM Craig Patrick challenges Mio. &ldquo;He (Mio) is the only one who ever mentioned money,&rdquo; Patrick says. &ldquo;He keeps beating a dead horse&rdquo;&hellip;Freelancer Debbie Klein notes that the appearance of a player&rsquo;s photo on the Washington Caps&rsquo; guide virtually guarantees a trade. Two years ago it was Mike Palmateer, last year Dennis Maruk. This year&mdash;Rod Langway. &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Flop. Lemon. Failure.Doug Wickenheiser has read and heard those words and more in his stint with the Montreal Canadiens. They are harmless looking enough words, yet they sting like javel water in a wound when you are hearing them used to describe you.Wickenheiser has not been a smash hit since the Canadiens picked him first overall in the 1980 draft. He hasn&rsquo;t been a flop, lemon or failure either.However, Wickenheiser knows that time is running out. He now has a chance to produce or find himself buried in some other organization or out of hockey completely.&ldquo;It would solve a lot of problems and save a lot of controversy if I could keep going like this,&rdquo; said Wickenheiser after two solid performances against Winnipeg and Minnesota. In the Minnesota game, Wickenheiser scored the winning goal at 1:35 of the overtime period in the Canadiens&rsquo; 5-4 come-from-behind victory.&ldquo;For one thing, the press could stop talking about it,&rdquo; added Wickenheiser, referring to the speculation about his future. &ldquo;I want to stay in Montteal. I want to continue playing here. I have made a lot of friends on this team and it would be difficult to leave.&rdquo;It was obvious that Wick has made nothing but friends among his teammates. They mobbed him after he wristed a 20-footer into the top of the net to beat Minnesota. In the dressing room, many of them talked about how much of a confidence booster the young center&rsquo;s first goal of the season would be.Rumors, plenty of them, floated around like polluted air throughout the Canadiens&rsquo; training camp. Some had Wickenheiser off to Los Angeles as part of a multi-player deal for malcontent Marcel Dionne. Others had Wick ticketed for St. Louis, Buffalo, Washington. To this point, none have turned out to be true.Yet there were times when Wickenheiser legitimately wondered what his future in Montreal was. Coach Bob Berry didn&rsquo;t seem to have an abundance of confidence in the 22-year-old from Regina. He played the first two games with fellow Saskatchewan native Greg Paslawski and ex-roommate Mark Hunter. The line performed well against the Islanders, even though the Canadiens lost 7-4. Two nights later against the Flyers, there wasn&rsquo;t one Canadien who played well, yet Wickenheiser was one of the few to pay the price as he sat out the next three games.Berry returned Wickenheiser to the lineup in the Canadiens&rsquo; 12-2 victory in Winnipeg and with his parents in the stands, Wickenheiser combined with linemates Ryan Walter and Mark Napier for a pair of first-period goals.&ldquo;We had all had our troubles at the start of the year,&rdquo; Walter noted. &ldquo;We all said it was time that we contributed to this team. I&rsquo;m glad to see Wick got that goal in Minnesota. It&rsquo;s going to help him a lot.&rdquo;Wickenheiser deserves a good deal of credit for handling the situation maturely. He has not popped off in the papers or through the electronic media. He has always been approachable in good or bad times.&ldquo;This is my fourth year,&rdquo; he noted. &ldquo;I know what I have to do. I know what they expect from me.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011177/4818174-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="562" height="662"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Wickenheiser scored a crucial overtime goal against the North Stars.</figcaption></div>According to Berry, he will be &ldquo;satisfied if Doug Wickenheiser performs like Doug Wickenheiser.&rdquo;Napier, another occupant in the coach&rsquo;s doghouse, suffered a partially severed tendon in his left foot when he bumped with Minnesota&rsquo;s Dan Mandich in the third period and the two-time 40-goal man for Montreal is expected to be absent for about two to three weeks.Berry moved Guy Lafleur to Napier&rsquo;s spot and replaced him with Hunter alongside Keith Acton and Steve Shutt in a game against Toronto, which the Habs lost 5-3. Hunter, who had been a designated sitter for three consecutive games, responded with two goals.The Canadiens also lost the services of goaltender Rick Wamsley following the Minnesota game. He suffered a twisted ankle when he made a save in the second period. While Wamsley finished the game, he could not skate the following day so the Canadiens recalled Greg Moffett from the Voyageurs to back up Richard Sevigny.IN PASSING&mdash;Doug Wickenheiser&rsquo;s goal was the first overtime effort in regular-season play for the Canadiens since March 7, 1982&hellip;Defenseman Craig Ludwig snapped an 85-game goalless drought with his first NHL goal in Winnipeg. Quipped one teammate: &ldquo;Now they&rsquo;ll expect you to score a goal a season&rdquo;&hellip;Larry Robinson is on the injured list after suffering a pulled hamstring in the loss to Toronto&hellip;John Chabot and Greg Paslawski could be on their way to the minors, having watched the last few games from the press box&hellip;The 12 goals scored in Winnipeg were the most on the road by the Canadiens since March 3, 1920, when they defeated the Quebec Bulldogs 16-3. &#9632;

f0013-01

Wick Hears The Rumors But Wants To Stay A Hab

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>TORONTO&mdash;Just when it appeared Gary Nylund would be the sole Leaf participant in the production of The Hard-Luck Kid, two new players joined the cast.Center Peter Ihnacak and left winger Walt Poddubny will have a hard time snatching the lead role from the injury-plagued Nylund, but the two have the kind of credentials which should at least gamer them supporting roles.Ihnacak suffered stretched knee ligaments in the Leafs&rsquo; 4-1 win over New Jersey and he&rsquo;s on the mend for two weeks.Poddubny broke his ankle in practice and because he&rsquo;s expected to be on the mend for 10 to 12 weeks, he&rsquo;ll have plenty of time to enjoy his favorite pastime&mdash;watching Three Stooges movies.This is all too reminiscent of the latter part of last season when fate took up bowling and used Leaf players as pins. Ironically, Ihnacak wasn&rsquo;t spared that time either, which left a split between Poddubny and right winger Miroslav Frycer, the other Czech on the line.Frycer is feeling the absence of his two linemates, which was all too evident as the high-flying Quebec Nordiques whipped the Leafs 8-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens minus Ihnacak and Poddubny. In the sombre dressing room followng the defeat. Frycer looked like a little kid who had to stay in the city while his best friends went to summer camp.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that we&rsquo;re in bad shape, it seems to be it&rsquo;s all a case of bad luck,&rdquo; said Frycer, who&rsquo;s normally as effervescent as a glass of Eno but who was having a hard time smiling on this occasion.Who could blame him? The way things are going for the Leafs, Frycer had to be thinking he might be the next victim.Frycer missed training camp with a leg injury and in his first game back, he scored two goals as the Leafs scored a crazy 10-8 victory over Chicago. The next night, his line ammassed seven points against the Devils and things looked mighty rosy at that point. And then&hellip;&ldquo;Billy Derlago&rsquo;s a good hockey player, but he&rsquo;s not Peter Ihnacak,&rdquo; said Frycer. &ldquo;But what can I do? I can&rsquo;t play (always) with Peter and Walt, but I really miss them.&rdquo;Frycer won&rsquo;t miss them half as much as Leaf coach Mike Nykoluk. But Nykoluk, ever the optimist, managed to find something positive about the whole situation.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good chance for some players to get some ice time,&rdquo; Nykoluk said. &ldquo;If you want to play in the NHL, there&rsquo;s no better time than now.&rdquo;The obvious reference is to wingers Pat Graham and Frank Nigro, who were only getting occasional shifts before Poddubny and Ihnacak went down. Graham and Nigro were centered by Gary Leeman, the rookie defenseman who&rsquo;s beginning to feel like Phil Housley, in the Quebec game and Nykoluk admitted in his post-game commentary that that line was the only one working against the Nords.Meanwhile, there was an interesting figure offering sympathy to the Leaf players, none other than Gary Nylund.Nylund, who&rsquo;s bounced back after a brief bout of mononucleosis, has begun skating again and his left knee, which was operated on twice in his rookie season last year, is only causing him slight pain. If all goes well. Nylund is expected back in December.When asked if he might make an early return, Nylund scowled and offered a line which he&rsquo;s obviously spent much time rehearsing.&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t need me that badly to come back when I&rsquo;m not ready,&rdquo; he said.LEAFLETS&mdash;The Leafs are listening to upbeat music in their pre-game skate and some of the tunes include The Rolling Stones&rsquo; Start Me Up and Michael Jackson&rsquo;s Beat It.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02981/4818205-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="561" height="660"><figcaption class="caption-body">Walt Poddubny is lost for 10 to 12 weeks after breaking his ankle in practice.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Injuries Befall Maple Leafs—Again

<div class="byline">BY DICK BEDDOES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011218/4818236-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="285" height="341"></div><h2>Defiling Dit Clapper</h2>HARRY SINDEN SAID, in a humble acceptance speech upon his election to the Hall of Fame, that he hoped he would never do anything to demean hockey.He just has, in Boston.The general manager of the Bruins has demeaned the game&rsquo;s heritage, and himself, by retiring No. 5, the number on the jersey worn by a distinguished Bruin of another NHL era, Aubrey (Dit) Clapper.This egregious act of lese majeste was apparently done to satisfy Guy Lapointe, a formerly formidable defenseman who wore No. 5 in Montreal before winding up over the Beacon Hill in Boston.Lapointe may not know who Dit Clapper was, but he has been around the NHL long enough to have absorbed enough class to find out.So has Sinden. It is inexcusable when anybody in the builders category of the Hall of Fame, which Sinden is, decides to tear down rather than build up.One of the charms for a visitor to the old sardine can that is the Boston Garden is to gaze up into rafters and see the sweaters of six Bruins who made the Boston franchise memorable.There is the No. 2, which festooned the manly physique of Eddie Shore, a rushing slam-bang defenseman who dominated NHL rearguards in the halcyon years between 1927 and 1940.<h2>Shore&rsquo;s Silent Partner</h2>THERE IS NO. 3 representing Lionel Hitchman, who was Shore&rsquo;s silent partner on the Boston blueline when the Bruins won their first Stanley Cup in 1928-29.There is No. 4 for Robert Gordon Orr, the best defenseman of his time and, many say, of all time.There is No. 9 for John Bucyk, who skated out of Alberta to play 23 seasons in the NHL and produce 813 goals, more than any other Boston left winger.Then the visitor is delighted to spot No. 15 for a personal favorite, Milton Conrad Schmidt, a combative center who may have been the hardest mercenary of his time, roughly 1939 to 1955.And there is, up under the Garden&rsquo;s roof, No. 5 for Clapper.The admirable idea of previous Boston administrations was that Shore, Hitchman, Orr, Bucyk, Schmidt and Clapper had played with such dedication to the Bruins that, never again, would numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 15 and 5 be worn by any other Bruin. Harry Sinden did not get the message, nor did Lapointe, who seems to believe he should wear wherever he plays.Permit me to relieve Mr. Lapointe of the considerable ignorance he seems to have about Dit Clapper.Clapper left the Ontario town of Newmarket to give much of rangy body to the Bruins for 20 years, on defense and right wing, 1927-47.He played right wing on Boston&rsquo;s explosive Dynamite Line, allied with nimble Cooney Weiland at center and hard-living Dutch Gainor on the left.<h2>All-Star Defenseman</h2>AFTER 10 YEARS as an all-star forward, Clapper switched back to the blueline, where he became an all-star defenseman. He was an integral part of Boston&rsquo;s first three Stanley Cup teams&mdash;in 1928-29, 1938-39, 1940-41.Clapper was voted an all-star on six occasions, compared to Guy Lapointe&rsquo;s four. He was not a fire-eater in Eddie Shore&rsquo;s fashion, but when fires were started that threatened the Bruins, Clapper was the smothering presence who put them out.Yet on three occasions the bushers in the Boston front office tried to unretire Clapper&rsquo;s number. He was asked to give up No. 5 in 1977, when he was dying from the ravages of his last stroke.Clapper, aware of the dignity of himself, said &ldquo;No.&rdquo;After Clapper died, the Bruin management attempted to have his widow unretire No. 5.&ldquo;No,&rdquo; Honey Clapper said.This time Harry Sinden unretired No. 5 without having the civility or manners to contact Clapper&rsquo;s children. One of them, Mrs. Joan Armstrong of Kitchener, Ont., said, &ldquo;I feel humiliated, but if I complained I&rsquo;d be down in the gutter with Sinden.&rdquo;Scorn came out of Harold Ballard, the ebullient Toronto owner.&ldquo;Have they run out of numbers in Boston?&rdquo; asked Ballard. &ldquo;They make enough fuss when they retire one. Are they telling us that retiring Clapper&rsquo;s number didn&rsquo;t mean anything?&rdquo;Pungent dismay was expressed by Leo Monahan, who covered the Bruins for more than 30 years and wrote lively stuff for THE HOCKEY NEWS.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s ghoulish, what Sinden&rsquo;s done to Clapper,&rdquo; Monahan told me. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s robbing the grave. It&rsquo;s defiling a decent man who entered the Hall of Fame through the front door, rather than the side door, like Sinden did.&rdquo; &#9632;

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BEDCLOTHES

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;&ldquo;We have been saying the same thing since the beginning of our training camp. We have made changes and there is a whole new atmosphere on the team. There is a new team spirit that is easily seen in the dressing room. Getting ready to play Boston we knew that everyone would have to be ready to suffer if we were to win. That is exactly what happened.&rdquo; Quebec coach Michel Bergeron said that with a smile following his team&rsquo;s 5-3 victory over the Bruins, the same team that eliminated them in the first round of the Adams Division playoffs last season.Quebec finally has three balanced lines to throw out on the ice. Even better, there are a few extra players not only on the bench, but also in the stands, just waiting for a chance should someone let up a little. There is the Stastny line&mdash;Peter, Anton, Marian&mdash;and a new line composed of Wilf Paiement, Andre Savard and Tony McKegney. Michel Goulet and Dale Hunter are together and both are off to sizzling starts. The third member of that line is either Bo Berglund, a 28-year-old Swedish rookie who has good moves, or Louis Sleigher, a digger along the boards.Bergeron can throw in Alain Cote or Paul Gillis if someone needs a rest. He also has Pierre Aubry, a regular from last season, waiting in the wings. What this all adds up to, of course, is depth up front.All three lines contributed goals in the Bruin victory, with five different playing scoring. McKegney finally got his first of the season, while Paiement has found new life playing with Savard.&ldquo;We knew he was a good player, but I must admit that he has proved to be much more valuable than we ever imagined,&rdquo; Bergeron said of Savard. &ldquo;We gave up a very good player (Real Cloutier) to get him, but really, he is doing everything we wanted him to do defensively. In a key situation I will use him along with Hunter or Peter Stastny in the closing seconds of a game.&ldquo;Savard has great experience and he is becoming a leader through example. I expect that when all the team gets to know him better they will appreciate him even more. He has made it clear to me that he hasn&rsquo;t come to Quebec to coast through his last few years. He will be a great asset for us even three or four years down the road.&rdquo;Goulet, meanwhile, says he feels confident with either Berglund or Sleigher on the opposite wing.&ldquo;They are very different in their styles in that Bo is an excellent puck handler, while Louis is great along the boards and in the comer,&rdquo; Goulet said. &ldquo;But there is no problem adapting to either player, because like the rest of the team, everyone is working so hard on every shift. I know it is early to be thinking about first place in our division, but every victory over Boston is particulary important for us because it is always a four-point game.&rdquo;After a slow start, Berglund had also adapted well to the National Hockey League.&ldquo;It was not easy for him, coming into training camp with 50 players he had never seen before,&rdquo; said Bergeron. &ldquo;I have used him a lot on the road and at home as well. He has proved to me that he can play in a skating game or in a very physical game and that is what I like to see.&rdquo; &#9632;

Nordiques Suffer To Beat Bruins

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>EDMONTON&mdash;Fast starts!Breaking from the gate rapidly may be pretty to watch for an eye-blinking second, but it generally doesn&rsquo;t prevail in too many races. Six-furlong claiming sprints and quarter-mile drag strips naturally excepted.But, despite Edmonton&rsquo;s quickest opening in five trips to the National Hockey League well, sufficient evidence still hasn&rsquo;t been served to remove a cloud of caution that surrounds the normally positive-thinking Oilers&rsquo; braintrust.&ldquo;We need somebody to push us to find out how really good we are.&rdquo; was the word from assistant coach John Muckier, the heir apparent to the head job when Glen Sather ultimately decides to restrict his duties to those of general manager.Roughly translated, the Oilers don&rsquo;t need their egos inflated by constant pats on the back that the Smythe Division happens to be their personal domain. The Campbell Conference, which also embraces the pushover Norris sector, presents justification for realignment, too. But only hypothetically.Engulfed by mediocrity, how do they cope?&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t play in the other conference, so we&rsquo;ve got to overcome by ourselves,&rdquo; explained Muckier, accentuating the theory that defense is the only path to a Stanley Cup. &ldquo;We have to con-centrate on fundamentals. When we play against lesser clubs, we&rsquo;ve got to concentrate on doing the disciplined things that&rsquo;ll make us a better club&mdash;not treat them as blow-out situations. You can run into some awful bad habits with big scores.&rdquo;Throughout a 9-2 pre-season schedule the emphasis of the brass appeared to take hold. The goaltending of Grant Fuhr (2.64 goals-against average) and Andy Moog (3.07) was a highlight of the exhibition grind&mdash;that once again didn&rsquo;t in clude the NHL&rsquo;s heavy-hitters from the east coast.&ldquo;Our team played good defense,&rdquo; testified Fuhr, launching a personal comeback at age 21. &ldquo;They cleared the man from in front of the net and didn&rsquo;t leave rebounds laying around. They didn&rsquo;t give teams a chance to get set. They forced them to take shots from the outside.&rdquo;Then the regular season began&hellip;&bull; Twenty-seven seconds into 198384, the Oilers were down 1-0 to Toronto Maple Leafs as a result of a bad rebound. Less than two minutes later ex-Oiler Walt Poddubny planted himself in front of Fuhr to lift Toronto into a 2-0 margin. &ldquo;We made some elementary mistakes,&rdquo; said Sather after the Oilers outgunned the Leafs 5-2 over the final 40 minutes for a 5-4 triumph. &ldquo;We were nervous, uptight&hellip; I guess trying too much. It probably had something to do with the fact that we weren&rsquo;t pushed hard in exhibition games as far as intensity is concerned.&rdquo;&bull; Two nights later in Winnipeg the Oilers again had their hands full&mdash;this time having to outlast the Jets, whom they bumped out of the preliminary-round last spring in straight games. The final count was 8-6 and, other than the victory, about the only positive aspect was the third period. The Oilers&rsquo; all-star left-winger, Mark Messier, scored the lone goal with 3:45 remaining to ice the conquest.&bull; Back home again on Oct. 9, the Oilers blew leads of 1-0 and 3-1 to wind up in overtime against Minnesota North Stars, who were coming off a 10-9 you-had-to-see-to-believe loss in Vancouver. The Oilers finally prevailed to triumph 4-3 when Wayne Gretzky set up Jari Kurri with 70 seconds remaining in sudden-death overtime.&ldquo;Overtime&rsquo;s great!&rdquo; piped an enthused Sather. &ldquo;It adds a dimension to the game and also makes for a great situation to play under&hellip;added pressure! We need more games like that&hellip;that&rsquo;s ice hockey!&rdquo;&bull; The winless Detroit Red Wings were Edmonton&rsquo;s next opponents and when the Oilers roared into a 4-0 lead early in the second period, things appeared to have fallen into place. But the Wings were allowed to rally (4-3), although the Oilers got their act together in the third period once again to blow Detroit away (8-3). &#9632;

Oilers Wouldn’t Mind Getting Little Push

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011022/4818315-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">New York Islander veteran defenseman Denis Potvin says the defense isn&rsquo;t the sole reason for the team&rsquo;s poor start.</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Nine games into the season, the Islanders were playing below .500 hockey. Three of their five losses were suffered at Nassau Coliseum, where they used to be invincible, and there were signs of some minor bickering among the Stanley Cup champions.&ldquo;I think some of our guys are starting to doubt themselves,&rdquo; Islander coach Al Arbour said. Then he delivered a nifty non sequitur: &ldquo;We have to work harder and relax.&rdquo;That might be difficult to accomplish&mdash;even for the Islanders. In some games, they appeared to be too relaxed.During the Islanders&rsquo; 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames, Mike Eaves scored a goal for the Flames after Mike McEwen coughed up the puck in the Islander&rsquo;s end. On the same play, Islander goalie Roland Melanson left his net in a futile attempt to stop Eaves. It looked like a circus act or something out of an old vaudeville show.Another comical scene developed while the Islanders were losing 3-2 to the Rangers at the Coliseum. Bill Smith sprawled to his left in an attempt to block a shot by Pierre Larouche, but the puck hit Denis Potvin&rsquo;s stick and caromed to Peter Sundstrom near the left comer of the crease. Sundstrom, left unchecked, popped the puck into the empty net for the winning goal.It is paradoxical that the Islanders, who had the stingiest defense in the NHL last season, are having problems in that area (they allowed 40 goals in their first nine games). Who is responsible for the breakdown? Smith and Melanson have complained about the defenseman &ldquo;giving away the front of the net.&rdquo;And what do the defensemen have to say?&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not working together,&rdquo; Stefan Perason said. &ldquo;In some games, the goaltending has not been good. But we defenseman are not playing as a unit. Against Buffalo (when rookie Kelly Hrudey was in goal), I could sense everybody was on the same wave-length. Then against Calgary, we did a lot of circling and gambling and we weren&rsquo;t consistent in our checking.McEwen mentioned a lack of motivation.<blockquote class="pullQuote">McEwen says some players are ready and some aren&rsquo;t and it&rsquo;s to be expected in a long season.</blockquote>&ldquo;Some guys are ready for certain games and some are not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Maybe you have to expect that with such a long season, but you have to fight it off. Hopefully we&rsquo;ll get back into the flow soon.&rdquo;Said Ken Morrow: &ldquo;Because of the injuries, the defensemen haven&rsquo;t played as a unit yet. We&rsquo;ve had to switch partners and that always creates problems. I imagine those problems will continue until everybody is back.&rdquo;Potvin bristled slightly at the suggestion that the defensemen should shoulder most of the blame for the Isles&rsquo; slow start.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been committing too many turnovers at the blueline,&rdquo; the team captain acknowledged. &ldquo;Those are defensive mistakes, but the defensemen haven&rsquo;t been responsible for all the goals we&rsquo;ve allowed. Everybody, including the goalies, has to accept part of the blame.&rdquo;On that note, the defense rests.ON THE ISLE&mdash;Twin losses to the Rangers in their home-and-home weekend series left the Islanders with a 4-5 record. It was the Isles&rsquo; worst start since their second season (1973-74), when they were 1-4-4 after nine games&hellip; Rookie goalie Kelly Hrudey stopped the Sabres 3-2 at Buffalo in his first NHL start. Brent Sutter scored the winning goal with 3:37 left to play&hellip;The Isles regained the services of Tomas Jonsson and Mats Hallin, both of whom missed the first seven games of the season with injuries. Mike Bossy (pulled thigh muscle) and Ken Morrow (fluid on the knees) remain sidelined&hellip;Gordie Lane suffered two chipped teeth and severe lacerations near the right eye when he was struck by a puck during the Isles-Flames game&hellip;Denis Potvin contributed the best line when general manager Bill Torrey was inducted into the Long Island Hall of Fame. Alluding to Torrey&rsquo;s trading ability, Potvin said: &ldquo;If Bill was General Custer he would have won the battle (at Little Big Hom) and made a trade for the two best Indians.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Bickering Among Isles After Home Losses

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>Louisville Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01924/4818353-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="284" height="202"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02709/4818346-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="571" height="646"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dale McCourt&rsquo;s salary was too much for the Sabres to handle so they bought him out.</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Whatever is next in store for Dale McCourt, the Buffalo Sabre chapter of his story is over.Scotty Bowman, general manager-coach of the Sabres, terminated McCourt&rsquo;s contract, which has this season and next to run.According to the league agreement, the Sabres will pay one-third of McCourt&rsquo;s salary for double the number of years remaining on his contract.McCourt was believed to be one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s most highly-paid players at nearly $300,000 a year.The all-time scoring leader in Ontario junior hockey, voted Canada&rsquo;s outstanding junior hockey player in 1976-77, first pick in the entire draft in 1977, McCourt sometimes was a part-timer for Bowman&rsquo;s Sabres.He was left unprotected in this year&rsquo;s waiver draft but no club took him.McCourt sat out the Sabres&rsquo; opener&mdash;a 5-3 win over Hartford&mdash;but winger Lindy Ruff was hurt in that game so McCourt moved into the lineup for the next five games. He scored one goal and assisted on three.Before being traded to Buffalo in December of &rsquo;81, McCourt had 72 points, 71,81 and 86 in four seasons with Detroit after being picked first in the draft.He came to Buffalo with Mike Foligno and Brent Peterson for Jim Schoenfeld, Danny Gare and Derek Smith.McCourt was just not Bowman&rsquo;s type of hockey player. Bowman likes size and speed in his forwards; McCourt is neither big nor fast. He does not show the intensity Bowman likes and his defensive game was not up to Bowman&rsquo;s standards. McCourt had the worst plus-minus rating on the club last season.Offensively, however, he did well. Although Bowman sat him out for 18 games in 1982-83, McCourt was the club&rsquo;s fourth-highest scorer, with 52 points in 62 games.In explaining the decision to let McCourt go. Bowman said, &ldquo;We feel we have enough players in the system that we don&rsquo;t need McCourt. He gave us good service but not good enough.&ldquo;We felt that the way Dave Andreychuk has been playing, we didn&rsquo;t need McCourt. Andreychuk, along with Brent Peterson, a strong defensive player, and Gil Perreault, who has been playing very well, gives us three good centers.&ldquo;We will use Phil Housley there, too, some of the time.&rdquo;Bowman made the announcement of McCourt&rsquo;s release the day the Sabres played in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.That evening, the coach moved Housley from defense to center and sat out Peterson. The versatile 19-year-old scored Buffalo&rsquo;s first two goals in a 3-1 win, after inadvertently contributing to the Penguin goal by giving the puck away.Housley had Paul Cyr and Foligno as his wingers. The line put one more shot on goal, 19, than the entire Pittsburgh team.Asked how he felt about being released, McCourt said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how I feel. It&rsquo;s a peculiar situation.&ldquo;The way it was explained to me, the reason I was let go was mainly money.&ldquo;I have to say the Sabres treated me pretty fair. I suppose I really don&rsquo;t know why they let me go, except for the money.&ldquo;It was tough playing in Buffalo but it was good having the discipline and being on a good team after playing for Detroit.&ldquo;I was very happy to have the chance to play under Scotty Bowman and the whole organization, but at times it was difficult.&ldquo;In the end, I have to say there were some results.&rdquo;Bowman stated he feels his team has to improve at center to beat the likes of Boston and the New York Islanders.He added that the Sabres have two good center prospects in junior hockey in Adam Creighton and John Tucker.Mark Renaud was called up from Rochester to play defense in the Pittsburgh game when Housley went up to center. Two days later, Bowman claimed defenseman Jerry Korab from Minnesota on waivers.Korab, 35, who played for Buffalo from 1973-80, played out his option with the Los Angeles Kings last season and was signed by Minnesota as a free agent.The irony is that the Kings traded a first-round draft pick in 1982 for Korab. The Sabres, in turn, used that pick to draft Housley. &#9632;

f0018-01

McCourt Leaves As Korab Comes

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;A Minnesota goal judge has cost the Winnipeg Jets a valuable point in a continuous wrangle between minor officials in both centers.Enjoying a territorial edge in play, the Jets appeared to have pulled even with the North Stars when Scott Amiel snapped a wrist shot past the ear of Minnesota goaltender Don Beaupre.The puck came back in a hurry as Amiel stood there, his arms in the air. Noticing no indication of a goal by the goal judge, referee Bob Myers waved his arms to signal a continuation of play.Loudly, the Jets protested. Upstairs, a slow-motion replay showed the puck bulging the net behind the crossbar.&ldquo;I was only three feet away,&rdquo; said Arniel. &ldquo;I had the best view. But neither the goal judge, referee or linesman said they saw it. How could all of them miss?&rdquo;Laughing over the incident was Minnesota general manager Lou Nanne. He recalled similar scenes in Winnipeg, where his team was on the receiving end of wrong calls by the goal judges.&ldquo;So it was in&hellip;so what?&rdquo; said Nanne. &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s 3-1 for you guys. That goal judge, I imported him from Winnipeg.&rdquo;What really galled Amiel is that, a minute or so later, the North Stars scored to go ahead 2-0. Rushing down the ice to catch up to a one-on-one break, ex-Jet Craig Levie shrugged off Paul MacLean to bunt Brian Bellows&rsquo; pass behind Brian Hayward.Oddly enough, it was a case of the landlord beating the tenant on the play. MacLean lives in Levie&rsquo;s house in Winnipeg.Winnipeg coach Tom Watt didn&rsquo;t find the goal judge&rsquo;s call amusing, either.&ldquo;It was probably the difference in the game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Lately, we have had to work so hard for our goals. When we score one that isn&rsquo;t counted, it really hurts.&rdquo;Despite outshooting their opponents in five of their six games, the Jets managed only one win and two ties.But, to a large extent, they were responsible for their own shortcomings. Horrific shooting, botched multiple breaks and a lack of opportunistic zeal around the net hurt the team.Thomas Steen had seven of the Jets&rsquo; 35 shots, plus their only goal. Eleven players had two or more shots. Doug Smail was nose-to-nose with Beaupre three times.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have a lot of scorers,&rdquo; said Watt. &ldquo;I mean natural scorers. Look at our defense, the only real scoring threat is Dave Babych. Up front, Dale Hawer-chuk and Paul MacLean have done some scoring. So has Morris Lukowich. But he has fallen off. We don&rsquo;t have many snipers.&rdquo;Smail is a good example. The way he plays is bound to lead to scoring chances, but his high intensity level seems to spill over when the moment of decision arrives.Bengt Lundholm, on the other hand, has a tendency to relax just before he shoots. Split the difference and the Jets would have two accomplished scorers.&ldquo;Scoring is psychological,&rdquo; said Watt. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to dwell on it. The more you talk about it the bigger the problem becomes.&rdquo;The line of Laurie Boschman, Lucien DeBlois and Amiel continues to be the Jets&rsquo; best. Their strict defensive play is a joy to watch. Boschman, unquestionably, is the leader. He is unnerving to play against.In Philadelphia, he constantly confronted Bobby Clarke. His irrascible nature spills over. The Jets have never looked so self assured in The Spectrum.The Flyers picked on second-year pro, Wade Campbell, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound defenseman. All night long he seemed to have two Flyers in his hair.&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t move the puck ultra fast against them, they&rsquo;ll make you pay,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;I always had two guys on me, sometimes three.&rdquo;The Jets lost 4-3, but they left Philadelphia satisfied they could beat the Flyers on another night. It was their only bit of satisfaction but a valuable one just the same.BENCH BITS&mdash;One of the better defensive plays of the young season was made by John Gibson, a recycled 24-year-old signed as a free agent by the Jets. His hip check sent Dave Poulin of the Flyers flying&hellip;Former Jet defenseman, Bryan Maxwell, picked up on waivers by Pittsburgh Penguins, says their is another side to his reported argument with general manager John Ferguson and some of his ex-teammates agree&hellip;Eddie Staniowski was the only player left at home when the team went out on a three-game road trip. &#9632;

Goal That Didn’t Count Has Jet Players Fuming

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Things started unravelling for the Minnesota North Stars in their home rink&mdash;but it did not become totally evident until a couple of days later&hellip;in Quebec.The Stars, struggling under coach Bill Mahoney&rsquo;s new tight-checking plans&mdash;or maybe that should be tight-checking hopes&mdash;looked solid to record their third victory in seven games when they took to the Met Center ice to face Montreal.But the Stars blew a three-goal lead in the third period against Montreal and lost 5-4 in overtime and then absorbed a devastating 11-2 shellacking in Quebec against the Nordiques.In the Montreal game, the Neal Broten-Brian Bellows-Steve Payne line connected for four goals, staking Minnesota to leads of 3-0 and 4-1. Bellows had two goals and two assists, Broten a goal and two assists and Brent Ashton got the other tally, assisted by Bellows and Broten.It was a strange lead, however. Montreal outshot the Stars 23-11 through two periods but trailed 2-0. Montreal continued to get the shots, racking up a final tally of 38-18, and stalking back into the game to ruin a brilliant goaltending job by Gilles Meloche.In Mahoney&rsquo;s scheme, he will go with the lines that are demonstrating the best form needed to pull out a victory in the third period. Against Montreal, his second choice was the Dennis Maruk-Tom McCarthy-Willi Plett unit. All or parts of that line wound up minus-three for the night, including the tying and winning goals.The logical part of that plan is that some offensive-minded players must realize they are required to show great defensive-zone discipline in order to see much duty in the third period.But when Mahoney cut down to two lines in the late going, Bobby Smith, Brian Lawton and Dino Ciccarelli wound up riding the bench. In fact, Ciccarelli didn&rsquo;t play in the third period for the third time in seven games, and he hadn&rsquo;t played once in three overtimes.All of which might still have been a good lesson&mdash;if that was Mahoney&rsquo;s intent&mdash;but for one small item: Down 4-1, Montreal scored on a power play, then scored on Smith&rsquo;s line and tied it against a line of George Ferguson-Plett-McCarthy.In overtime, the Broten line failed to score and the Maruk line followed out, only to get burned by Doug Wickenheis-er&rsquo;s winner.Ciccarelli was obviously not pleased at his lack of opportunities to do what he does best, score goals. Smith, who has had a completely different outlook on the game and himself this year, shrugged off his lack of ice time and said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s early.&rdquo;Lawton, the 18-year-old rookie who was the NHL&rsquo;s first draft pick last June, didn&rsquo;t complain, but he couldn&rsquo;t say he didn&rsquo;t want to play. He got two shifts, but the second was when he served a penalty and snuck into the play after coming out of the box.Mahoney, who has harked and snarled to intimidate some Twin Cities media, said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s one aspect of the game where you could say they were better than us tonight.&rdquo;No one dared say &ldquo;goals&rdquo; or &ldquo;stats,&rdquo; but Mahoney was obviously upset over a two-man power play that set up Montreal&rsquo;s second goal, back when it was 4-1.The Stars were a shaky outfit when they went on the road to Quebec City. They were a lot shakier when they sputtered out of two after tying at least three club records.They gave up 11 goals, equalling the teams&rsquo;s worst ever; they lost by nine, equalling a nine-year old record; and they allowed Marian Stastny and Michel Goulet to score eight seconds apart.&ldquo;It was clearly,&rdquo; Mahoney said, &ldquo;a disgrace.&rdquo;STARS NOTES&mdash;General manager Lou Nanne, in his attempt to save a waiver call, sent Craig Levie back to Salt Lake City, meaning the young defenseman who had scored two goals and currently has the best plus-minus of any defenseman, was not available to help at Quebec. Nanne is still playing cat-and-mouse with Philadelphia over Paul Holmgren. The Flyers want the rights to U.S. Olympian Paul Guay and a high draft pick, but Nanne has continued to dangle the bait and dropped his offer to Guay and a fourth-rounder. Nanne signed defenseman Jerry Korab, but lost him on waivers to Buffalo. Nanne then obtained Lars Lindgren from Vancouver. &#9632;

Stars’ Play Against Nords A ‘Disgrace’

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01716/4818432-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Any time you score nine points in one week and help lift your team to their first two victories of the National Hockey League season, it&rsquo;s reason to rejoice. And that&rsquo;s exactly what Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; sophomore center Bernie Nicholls did for the week ending Oct. 23.Nicholls scored four goals and added two assists to lead the Kings to a 7-2 upset win over the Edmonton Oilers, which was their first loss of the season. He chipped in with another three assists to earn the honor as HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; Player of the Week.After eight games, Nicholls had eight goals and seven assists for 15 points, including two power-play goals, and the Kings are counting on plenty more offense from him this season. &#9632;

f0020-01

Player Of The Week

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02490/4818463-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0020-02

NHL SCHEDULE FOR NOVEMBER

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Mothers everywhere will be touched to know that Grace Sutter cried.She has sent six sons off to hockey wars, enduring the arbitrary nature of the National Hockey League draft with a lump in her throat, yet a stiff upper lip. But the last two, identical twins named Rich and Ron, were the hardest.&ldquo;Right up until the draft we hoped against hope that they could both wind up on the same team,&rdquo; said Grace. &ldquo;That didn&rsquo;t seem possible, but we at least thought maybe the Islanders or Chicago or St. Louis would make a trade and maybe get one of them.&ldquo;Twins, they&rsquo;re so close, they should be together. But at least if both of them could have gotten on teams with Brent and Duane or Brian and Darryl, we would have felt better.&rdquo;The Flyers picked Ron fourth overall in the 1982 entry draft and, to Grace&rsquo;s dismay, Pittsburgh drafted Rich 10th overall.Grace&rsquo;s tears dried, replaced by the Sutter stoicism, by the time Rich called home to Viking, Alta., on the night of Oct. 22. Rich had been unhappy with his playing time, with coach Lou Angotti and with the Penguins&rsquo; desperate lack of competitive players. But Grace and her husband, Lou, reminded Ron he was a Sutter and that his brothers had persevered.&ldquo;We told him that Brian and Brent had to wait and it turned out for the best,&rdquo; said Grace. But now Richie&rsquo;s wait was over.&ldquo;Mom, it happened,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to Philadelphia.&rdquo;Grace broke down again. This time in joy. If, at the same time, Bob McCammon felt like crying at Pittsburgh&rsquo;s price to reunite the 19-year-old twins, he than it really was. The Flyers figure to finish somewhere in the top five or six this year, while the Penguins will be near the bottom. At worst, the Flyers have dropped down from the 15th pick to the 23rd or 24th.Brickley, 22, has some offensive talent, but the Flyers grew tried of waiting for him to display it.In Flockhart, the Flyers relinquished a proven goal-scorer and a drawing card, but Dave Poulin replaces Flockhart&rsquo;s most valuable asset, his speed.Taylor, 25, also had the good wheels, but he became expendable with the return of veteran Rick MacLeish.&ldquo;Flocky is a good player,&rdquo; said Flyer general manager-coach Bob McCammon, &ldquo;but his defense was a factor. He&rsquo;ll play well, but you have to give something to get something.&rdquo;It also must be understood that if the Flyers didn&rsquo;t meet Pittsburgh&rsquo;s price for Rich Sutter, the Islanders might have. When the Penguins, uninspired by Rich&rsquo;s training camp showing, farmed him to Baltimore, he called each of his brothers asking them to alert their GMs.When the Penguins, virtually bank-rukpt of talent, said they would entertain offers, they didn&rsquo;t have to conduct a fire sale.&ldquo;I heard St. Louis offered Wayne Babych and another player,&rdquo; said McCammon.Chicago also reportedly made a strong offer. And you know Islander GM Bill Torrey had every bit as much depth as the Flyers to dangle.&ldquo;He makes things happen and players like that are hard to find,&rdquo; McCammon said of Rich. &ldquo;I expect Richie to contribute now, but I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;ll see the best of him for two or three years.&rdquo; &#9632;

Twins’ Reunion Has Mother Sutter In Tears

<div class="byline">BY DAVE KING</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01606/4818539-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="504" height="484"></div>On Oct. 16, there was lots of excitement as we prepared for our first of 12 games against Team USA. The game was in Duluth, and ended in a 3-3 tie. It was probably one of our best efforts this year. The Americans are as big and fast as the scouting reports indicated. Wendell Young played well in his second game in goal for us.<h2>October 17</h2>We travel to Minneapolis to get ready for the game at the Met Centre in Bloomington. There&rsquo;s lots of hockey interest in this area about Team USA. The fact that they are the defending Olympic gold medal winners probably has a lot to do with it.At our coaches&rsquo; meeting, we rehash the previous night&rsquo;s effort, and welcome back Joe Grant, who returns from a shoulder injury. Grant was a member of the 1980 Olympic team and as a veteran helps to anchor the defense and steadies our younger players.<h2>October 18</h2>Another 3-3 tie. This is going to be an exciting but tough series, as expected. Mario Gosselin plays well in goal, and Bill Stewart, who joins our team courtesy of the Minnesota North Stars (he was a seventh-round pick in 1980), who played the last three years with the University of Denver, scores a goal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02438/4818532-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="284" height="340"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave King&rsquo;s Coach&rsquo;s Diary</figcaption></div><h2>October 19</h2>We travel back to Calgary. Everybody seems to have come out relatively healthy from the two games. It certainly is great, fast-paced hockey and we&rsquo;re looking forward to the next three games in the Team Canada-Team USA series.<h2>October 20</h2>We have a major conference call with Central Scouting (Jim Gregory, who has helped us tremendously with the Olympic porgram, and is one of the Olympic team advisors). Having received confirmation that players who appeared in less than 10 games in the NHL are Olympic eligibles, our player pool really has become expanded. We plan to scour the CHL and AHL teams for additional recruits. It&rsquo;s obviously a little disheartening for some of the players who have been with us since Day One to see new faces arrive, but our bottom line is to field as strong a team as possible come Feb. 7 in Sarajevo.<h2>October 21</h2>Finally, a game that doesn&rsquo;t end in a tie. We won 4-1, and the only disappointment is the apparent lack of public interest in the team in Edmonton at this stage. A small crowd. The players are kidding goalie Darren Eliot that his goals-against average at the Northlands Coliseum has dropped substantially to 6.00 (our only other game in this building was an 11-5 drubbing by the Oilers on Sept. 27.)Another solid team effort, with newcomer Bill Stewart scoring two goals.<h2>October 22</h2>We bus back to Calgary and hold another practice. Warren Anderson, 31, joins the team on a tryout basis. As a defenseman, Anderson was also a member of the 1980 Olympic team. We have a good practice, and now, with our roster at 23 players, we have to sit out some players in each game.<h2>October 23</h2>Another 3-3 tie, our sixth 3-3 tie since Sept. 4, and our third in four games against the USA. This game is the most fast-paced of the four so far. We opened the scoring, lost the lead 2-1, came back to take a 3-2 lead, only to see the USA tie the game in the last two minutes.They forechecked us well, and it&rsquo;s a good test for our boys&mdash;European style games. Although their team has been together longer than we have, and has not undergone the roster changes that we&rsquo;ve been implementing, we&rsquo;re certainly holding our own, and can only get better. This USA series will tell us much about our chances in Sarajevo. The first game of Olympic competition is Team Canada-Team USA on Feb. 7, with the loser likely not making the medal round.We play the USA again in Calgary. Our next six games beginning on Nov. I are against CHL teams before we resume our Canada-USA series Nov. 24 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.<h2>TEAM CANADA</h2>(Games through Oct. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03343/4818525-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="536" height="614"></div><h2>GOALTENDING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04254/4818518-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="557" height="116"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

Series Against Team USA Foreshadows Sarajevo

<div class="byline">BY LOU VAIRO</div>Our disappointing effort against the University of Minnesota Gophers (a 9-5 win) had an effect on Team USA. When we faced off against the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in Eveleth, MN, four days later, we were ready to play. The intensity we lacked against the U of M returned, our passing was once again crisp and our shooting accurate&mdash;at least for the first period.Ahead 8-0 after 20 minutes of play, we were faced with the dilemma of how to approach the rest of the game. UM-Duluth, its coaching staff and athletic director have been good friends of our program over the years. To appear to be trying to run up the score would be a mistake on our part. We have played 20 games and trained for two months, they were playing their first game. On the other hand. how do you ask your players to give anything less than their best?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05211/4818570-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="279" height="333"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lou Vairo&rsquo;s Coach&rsquo;s Corner</figcaption></div>So, in the second and third periods our aim was to make the perfect pass, try to set up the perfect shot. The Bulldogs&rsquo; play improved as the game went on and our&rsquo;s dropped off a bit, but it was good to help Bob Mason get the shutout against the school he played for last year. And it was good to see our players come into the game in the right frame of mind.The game against Duluth was part of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and we were proud to be part of that event. The two inductees, goalie Jack McCartan from the 1960 Olympic gold medal team and Oscar Almquist, the great high school coach from Roseau, MN, met the team and got a great ovation. We, the coaches and players are proud of these two fine men and what they represent.Mr. Almquist&rsquo;s induction stands for youth hockey and the coaches and volunteers at the grass roots level. They are the people who are at the rinks (indoors and outdoors) at all hours of the day and night teaching the game to the kids.Jack McCartan&rsquo;s career shows what can be achieved through hard work and dedication. McCartan and his Olympic teammates showed us that we can succeed at the Olympic Games and that is now the standard we strive for.I, personally, have always enjoyed my visits to Eveleth. The people are down to earth, honest and hard working. Their hockey history and tradition are rich. It was a great experience for all of us to play in the building that has produced so many great American players, at the Olympic and professional levels.From Eveleth, we travelled the 60 miles to Duluth for the first of our 12 meetings with Canada. Playing them that many times is great for us. I wish we could play the Russians a dozen times, too. The series will make both teams better because the competition will be at a very high level. But it will all come down to our opening game against Canada in Sarajevo, and I don&rsquo;t think the pre-Olympic games will affect what happens on that day, aside from preparing both teams for it.The first two games were both well-played and exciting, and the 3-3 scores were fair. They worked hard for their goals and we worked hard for ours.Our team continues to play 40-50 minutes of good hockey a game, suffering mental lapses from time to time. While that is characteristic of young players, it is something we must work to overcome. Against high caliber teams, those lapses can cost you goals and games. The series with Canada should help us in our mental development.Bob Mason again played well in the first Canada game and Marc Behrend was scheduled to play the second game, at our home, the Met Center. But a bad cold forced Mason into action for the third sttaight game. That illustrates why we cannot tell people what our goalie rotation for the Olympic Games will be. Who knows what will happen between now and February?John Harrington (knee strain). Rich Costello (shoulder), Scott Fusco (hip pointer) and Tom Hirsch (shoulder) are presently on the sidelines with injuries that are not considered serious. Injuries, which are a part of hockey, are one reason you have to have more than the required 20 players until the Olympics. &#9632;

f0022-05

U.S. Hall Of Famers Set Good Example For Us

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01554/4818601-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Lapointe has a collection of Stanley Cup rings from his tenure with the Habs, but he&rsquo;s after one as a member of the Bruins.</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;It doesn&rsquo;t really bother Guy Lapointe anymore to play against the Montreal Canadiens, his team for a dozen glorious seasons during which they won the Stanley Cup six times.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not many Canadiens left from my day,&rdquo; said Lapointe after his new team, the Boston Bruins, had methodically dismantled the Canadiens 4-2 in the first meeting of the season of the two ancient rivals on Boston ice.&ldquo;This morning someone was asking the question how I felt playing against Montreal. I said mostly I don&rsquo;t know any guys on the team. Gainey, Robinson, Lafleur, Shutt and that&rsquo;s about it. All the young guys, I don&rsquo;t remember them. They&rsquo;re all rookies so it makes it easier for me.&rdquo;Lapointe has been gone from Montreal for almost two years now. He was dealt to St. Louis for a second-round draft choice on March 9, 1982. The Bruins signed him as a free agent last Aug. 15 at a time when the Blues weren&rsquo;t sure who they had or wanted under contract.&ldquo;I played against Montreal three times when I was in St. Louis,&rdquo; said Lapointe. &ldquo;The first time I had a funny feeling about it. I was very nervous. You always want to prove yourself, prove that you&rsquo;re still valuable, when you&rsquo;re traded. But as soon as the game started, I forgot about it.&ldquo;I felt kind of strange this morning when I see these guys. I had some butterflies in my stomach, but that&rsquo;s normal. As soon as I had my first shift everything is fine. The only thing I had on my mind was to beat them.&rdquo;Not that Lapointe has anything against his old friends and employers from Montreal, even though they dumped him on the eve of his 34th birthday. He&rsquo;s 35 now.&ldquo;It was not a sour ending,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was the best thing for all concerned. I was not getting much icetime. Not as much as I would have liked. Sometimes I was the fifth defenseman. One or two times I didn&rsquo;t dress.&ldquo;I still had a lot of desire. If I had to continue as a spare I would have quit. I felt I was still capable of being a regular. I wanted to go somewhere and play and be happy.&ldquo;I suppose I do have something to prove to Montreal. All the newspapermen in Montreal, they say sometimes a guy is too old so you gotta trade him. I just want to prove one thing&mdash;that there&rsquo;s still a place in the league for a guy like me, 34 or 35 years old.&ldquo;I always hoped that I would finish my career in Montreal but you know the way the game goes today. All the teams, they want young players. We have young players here with the Bruins. They play disciplined hockey in a small rink, the forwards come back and they really want to win. It&rsquo;s just great for me.&rdquo;Lapointe was signed by the Bruins specifically to replace Brad Park, the elder statesman who skated off to join the Detroit Red Wings. So far, no one has missed him. Lapointe has been paired on defense with Gord Kluzak, the 19-year-old future hope.&ldquo;When I first came up J.C. Tremblay was my partner and you know how good J.C. was,&rdquo; said Lapointe. &ldquo;I just had to stand in front of the net and he would control the game in our zone. I learned a lot by watching him handle and pass the puck. J.C. and Jacques Laperriere gave me a lot of help.&ldquo;What they told me was not to look for the breakaway all the time. Get started slowly. Make the easy play. Short passes. Clear the zone. Don&rsquo;t always think offense. It&rsquo;s par for the course to be tight and nervous with the puck when you&rsquo;re a rookie.&ldquo;I can thank J.C. for getting us through those days. Now I try to help Gordie whatever way I can. I talk to him and make sure he takes his time out there and goes behind the net and keeps his head up and makes the easy play. He&rsquo;s got all the talent. It&rsquo;s just a matter of time.&rdquo;One of the reasons Lapointe signed with the Bruins this season is the chance for another Stanley Cup ring. He has six of them now and he cheerfully admits that he is greedy for another.&ldquo;I gave one to my dad,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The rest are in a safety deposit box in a bank. I&rsquo;ll give one to each of my four children when they&rsquo;re older.&ldquo;The one I&rsquo;m going to win this year will be the most important one.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN&mdash;The Bruins and Canadiens played under the worst possible fog conditions on the ice. The air temperature was in the 70s and the humidity was in the 90s. Referee Brian Lewis killed the game nine times in the first period while the players skated around to disperse the fog. Boston goalie Pete Peeters described what it was like: &ldquo;Guy Lafleur broke down his right side. All I saw was his head at the centerline. At the blueline I saw him from the waist up. When he was 10 feet inside the blueline I started to see his stick. Then I saw the puck. Then he shot. &ldquo;I think Richard Sevigny (the Canadiens&rsquo; goalie) and I probably wished they would have called the game off right there. It was very hairy. I was scared they were going to shoot from the other end of the ice. I never would have seen the puck.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0023-01

Lapointe Meets Strangers When Bruins Battle Habs

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>HARTFORD&mdash;The ovation began with 10 seconds left and swelled to thunderous proportions as the Hartford Whalers, milking it just a bit, skated slowly off the ice.This was the clear day that the Whalers have promised their backers since they joined the National Hockey League five seasons back and fans clearly wanted to enjoy their first look at forever.By shutting out the Washington Capitals 3-0 in Game Six, the Whalers extended their home record to 2-0-1 and their overall mark to 3-2-1. It was the first time that the club had climbed over the .500 level since Nov. 1, 1980, a mere 234 games ago.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m encouraged,&rdquo; coach Jack Evans said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve been encouraged ever since training camp opened. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of work to do, but a start like this is good for all concerned. Don&rsquo;t forget that the confidence of a lot of these players has been completely shattered the last two or three years.&rdquo;Many factors have helped the Whalers get on a roll this season. Last year the team didn&rsquo;t post its third win until the 12th game and had never won three before the seventh game.The Whalers&rsquo; fast start is a result of the penalty-killing expertise of Mike Zuke and Mike Crombeen, the work of standup defenseman Chris Kotsopoulos, the puck-carrying skills of blueliner Risto Siltanen, the emergence of rookie Sylvain Turgeon as a bonafide NHL player, the production of Mark Johnson and Ray Neufeld, the all-around excellence of Ronnie Francis and the work of Greg Millen in net.&ldquo;Let me tell you something,&rdquo; Kotsopoulos said. &ldquo;The St. Louis guys already are an integral part of this team.&rdquo;Zuke, Crombeen and right winger Bob Crawford, who showed four goals in the club&rsquo;s first four games, came over to Hartford via the waiver draft, the NHL&rsquo;s answer to the Last Chance Saloon. As a rule, teams don&rsquo;t improve when they pick from the waiver list, but the Whalers clearly have.&ldquo;Zuke and Crombeen know what they&rsquo;re doing,&rdquo; Whaler general manager Emile Francis said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re both honest hockey players.&rdquo;The value of Zuke and Crombeen diminishes if the Whalers fall behind, but if ahead, the St. Louis duo can play.&ldquo;I enjoy contributing,&rdquo; Zuke said. &ldquo;Our guys are doing what they can do and we&rsquo;re doing it with composure.&rdquo;Plus the Whalers are learning, Zuke said.&ldquo;Protecting a lead is important.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;ve been losing, you might say to yourself, &lsquo;Oh, oh, here they come.&rsquo; But once you&rsquo;ve protected a lead, you say, &lsquo;Remember how we did it last time.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s all part of building.&rdquo;The Hartford fans enthusiastically supported the home team with one standing O after another. No one has to be reminded that fans have waited a long time for something like this.&ldquo;Hartford would love a winner and it&rsquo;s our job to give them one,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re the only game in town. Can you say that about any other city?&rdquo;Fans have discovered a new game, too, and play it with as much relish as a youngster plays Pac Man. Whenever Zuke comes on ice, he is greeted with a &ldquo;Zuke, Zuke, Zuke&rdquo; chant that turns the sometimes antiseptic Hartford Civic Center into something of a fraternity house.&ldquo;Fans in St. Louis did that for five years and in college (Michigan Tech) before that,&rdquo; Zuke said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s only because I&rsquo;ve got a short name that&rsquo;s easy to say. You can&rsquo;t expect fant to yell, Stoyano-vich or Kotsopoulos.&rdquo;The skies have parted over Hartford, at least in the early going.&ldquo;You never know,&rdquo; Kotsopoulos said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all I&rsquo;m going to say about this year. You never know.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s not a half-bad slogan.WHALER SCUTTLEBUTT&mdash;Ray Neufeld roared out of the blocks with four goals and five assists to assume the team lead in scoring. &ldquo;You look at Neufy&rsquo;s game and you can&rsquo;t find many holes in it,&rdquo; said Mark Johnson, his linemate. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s scoring, he plays defensively and he hits&rdquo;&hellip;Center Greg Malone and Chris Kotsopoulos were the early leaders in the plus-minus department&hellip;Greg Millen got off to a 3-0-1 start&hellip;Sylvain Turgeon got two goals and three assists in his first six NHL games&hellip;The Fred Arthur story has ended. Arthur, 22, has informed Emile Francis that he won&rsquo;t return to hockey. Instead, he will pursue a medical career at the University of Western Ontario. &ldquo;It was now or never,&rdquo; said Arthur, who sat out last season. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t miss two years and expect to play again. The Whalers made a very fair offer, but I&rsquo;m going to stay in school&rdquo;&hellip;Former Whaler Merlin Malinowski, released just prior to the season, will play in Switzerland.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01511/4818632-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="555" height="1200"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Whalers are off to a good start and Mark Johnson&rsquo;s production has helped.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Blue Players Turn Around Whalers

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>Louisville Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01537/4818670-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="309" height="219"></div>PORTLAND&mdash;The answer, says Maine Mariner captain John Paddock, isn&rsquo;t any different than it was in past seasons. Winning hockey games has made the Mariners one of the most successful minor league teams in the past decade and following that style will insure the team&rsquo;s popularity.Paddock, 29, has returned to the familiar confines of the Cumberland County Civic Center and once again wears the orange, black and white Mariner uniform, a uniform he has donned regularly in six of the last seven seasons. At first glance, it would seem that very little has changed.That initial impression couldn&rsquo;t be more incorrect. Since May, when Paddock and his teammates were swept in the Calder Cup finals, a number of changes have indeed taken place that have had an effect on Paddock and the entire Mariner organization.In a surprising, totally unexpected move in June, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they had sold the Mariners to the New Jersey Devils. Suddenly, the Mariners had gone from being the farm team of one of hockey&rsquo;s strongest teams to one of the weakest.The transition was handled with intelligence and there appears to be general acceptance of the new organization. The Mariners kept the same name, logo, uniforms and almost all of the off-ice personnel. Veteran Mariners Paddock and Bob Hoffmeyer were signed by the Devils and the Flyers agreed to loan three other former Maine players, Sam St. Laurent, Paul Evans and Mike Stothers, if they did not crack the NHL team&rsquo;s lineup. And to further smooth the changeover. New Jersey retained coach Tom McVie, who had guided the Mariners to the finals in his first year on the job.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve kept it pretty much the same,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;Training camp was in New Jersey, but as far as Portland is concerned, it&rsquo;s like it was before. When you walk into the rink, everything is the same. The same people are in the office and Tommy is back as coach. Everything is the same as it was last year.&rdquo;Paddock said that the reaction to the transaction by the Mariners&rsquo; fans has been rather mild.&ldquo;People I know or talk to, I don&rsquo;t think are disgusted,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They asked me, &lsquo;Do you know anything about it?&rsquo; I didn&rsquo;t know it was going to happen. I was as surprised as anyone else. I think that was the general opinion of people in Portland, they were surprised, sort of shocked, that the Flyers pulled out.&rdquo;Continuity&mdash;maintaining that winning tradition&mdash;is what Paddock feels is the most important task the Mariners face this season.&ldquo;I think what&rsquo;s most important is for us to get off to a good start and we did win our first two home games,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;If you had put in 15 of the same players as we had last year and we didn&rsquo;t start good, we wouldn&rsquo;t draw. If we put in 20 new players and start good, we would draw. So winning is the most important.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the fans are upset with New Jersey. I think they are a little upset with Philly for pulling out. As far as a new team coming in, I don&rsquo;t think that upsets them, as long as we win. Everything is good if you win.&rdquo;Maine split its first games and held a share of second place in the division with Adirondack, two points behind pacesetting Nova Scotia. Evans, Mike Antonovich and Murray Brumwell, who&rsquo;s been promoted by the parent Devils and scored a goal in his first game, were the top point producers with four each. Rick Meagher led the way with three goals.The most noticeable change from last season to this has been the composition of the team. The Mariners have loads of experience this season&mdash;a commodity that was at a premium a year ago.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a veteran hockey club with just one rookie and three or four second-year pros. We&rsquo;ve got a veteran team for the American League,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;We may be the oldest team in the American League. Last year we were the youngest.&rdquo;Regardless of the age of the players, or change of affiliation with an NHL team, Paddock is confident that the Mariners will set the same goals as they have in the past.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got such a veteran hockey club that nothing really has changed,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;I guess that it is a challenge to win, but its the same as it is every year in Portland, we go out expecting to win the Calder Cup. That&rsquo;s what we think of every year. Obviously, that can&rsquo;t happen, but we expect to be right in the hunt of it. It&rsquo;s a challenge in that way.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re supplied with a veteran team. Last year, we had a lot of rookies that were outstanding rookies from the Flyers. Paul Evans is back and we have Rick Meagher, Yvon Vautour and a good, veteran defense. We&rsquo;re going to make a real run at it.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ll stack up pretty well. We&rsquo;re lacking a little bit in scoring punch; we don&rsquo;t have a real gunner like a Gordie Williams or a (Andy) Brickley who were sort of natural goal scorers. I think we&rsquo;ll get enough offense, but we&rsquo;ve got such a good defense, one that can move the puck, that we&rsquo;ll keep the goals against down and be right there.&rdquo;AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;Adirondack swept a series from St. Catharines to improve to 3-2, the best start in the five years of the franchise. Joe Paterson and linemates Jody Gage and Wayne Crawford have paced the Wings through the five games with 23 points. Paterson led the way with five goals and nine points&hellip;Alan Hepple, who played in one game with the Devils, was demoted to Maine. Paul Evans returned from the injured list with a goal and three assists in his first three games. Rob Palmer contributed two game-winning goals in his first six appearances with Maine&hellip; Defenseman John Blum was assigned to Moncton by the parent Edmonton Oilers. The Alpines were in need of some defensive help since Steve McKenzie was slowed down by a knee injury and Steve Smith was still sidelined by a hand injury. The Alpines also lost goalie Marco Baron because of a groin injury&hellip;Sherbrooke, which played five of its first seven games on the road, absorbed three one-goal losses and fell to 2-7. The Jets&rsquo; goaltending was strengthened when the Chicago Black Hawks loaned veteran goalie Warren Skorodenski. Bob O&rsquo;Connor, a second-year pro, was sent to Fort Wayne of the IHL. The Jets also regained the services of Tim Trimper, who returned from an injury to score three goals and four points in his first four games. The line of Claude LaRose, Ron Wilson and Rick Bowness paced the club with 23 points. Sherbrooke defenseman John Gibson was recalled to Winnipeg.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02381/4818663-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="563" height="877"><figcaption class="caption-body">Maine Mariners have been given players from Philadelphia, such as veteran Paul Evans.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

Mariners Must Win To Sustain Fan Interest

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div>ROCHESTER&mdash;To many, before he was recalled by the Buffalo Sabres in March, he was last season&rsquo;s leading candidate for the American League&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player award.This season, he has worn the hats of asistant coach, special assignment scout and goaltender coach. But veteran Phil Myre has yet to wear the mask.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just say I&rsquo;m still an active player in case of emergency,&rdquo; Myre said from Rochester, where new coach Joe Crozier was relying exclusively on Jacques Cloutier, who led the Amerks to the Calder Cup last season while Myre backed-up Bob Sauve in Buffalo during the Stanley Cup playoffs.Myre, 34, would like to play, but with 18-year-old rookie Tom Barrasso teaming with Sauve in Buffalo and with 23-year-old Cloutier backed by 22-year-old lookie Bob McNamara, a free agent out of Notie Dame, Myre has, for all intents and purposes, become a full-time coach and probably the AHL&rsquo;s only advance scout.&ldquo;To make matters worse,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I have tendinitis in my right elbow, my stick elbow. I can&rsquo;t practise for a week to 10 days.&rdquo;Although he understands the situation and has accepted it, Myre had other thoughts when he reported to Buffalo&rsquo;s training camp.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have minded playing one more year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I felt strongly about playing another year.&rdquo;Coaching is something Myre also feels strongly about. But he says rumors he was interested in the Amerk job, vacated last season by Mike Keenan, were false.Cloutier, who is rumored to be on the trading block, played every minute of the Amerks&rsquo; first five games. He started the sixth, but was lifted in favor of McNamara after two periods of a 6-3 home-ice loss to Maine.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01509/4818701-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="565" height="771"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Myre is helping teach a youngster who has taken his goaltending job.</figcaption></div>McNamara, the son of Toronto Maple Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara, played well in his first professional period.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a great glove hand,&rdquo; said Myre, offering a quick scouting report. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s quick, intelligent and reads the play very well. Right now we&rsquo;re working on his positioning.&rdquo;How ironic. The success of Myre the coach in McNamara&rsquo;s development may determine how much playing time Myre the goaltender will get.The Amerks dropped two of three games last week to fall into a tie for first with Hershey. Rochester&rsquo;s explosive attack was smothered by the host Nova Scotia Voyageurs in a 3-1 loss, but rookie Claude Verret notched a hat trick two nights later in a 6-5 win at Moncton.Rochester returned to the War Memorial, where they were manhandled by the Maine Mariners, 6-3.&ldquo;We just came out flat.&rdquo; Myre said.ST. CATHARINES&mdash;Rookies Ken Strong and Greg Britz have added early fire to a potent attack. And then there&rsquo;s that familiar name atop the AHL scoring chart, Bruce Boudreau.The Saints dropped a home-and-home series with Adirondack, 9-5 and 8-7 in overtime, despite a hat trick by Normand Aubin in the OT contest. Wayne Crawford beat goalie Bob Parent just 14 seconds into the sudden-death session for the Wings&rsquo; win.Coach Doug Carpenter&rsquo;s team responded by winning two straight one-goal games, including a 5-4 overtime decision over visiting Maine.Boudreau, who notched three goals, brought the Saints back from a 4-1 deficit early in the third period with two goals and Fred Perlini tied it with an unassisted tally at 15:22. Britz won it with 1:17 left in OT, on a Boudreau assist.Two nights later against Hershey, Aubin&rsquo;s late heroics lifted the Saints to a 4-3 victory, when he took feeds from Strong and Perlini to break a 3-3 tie at 19:24 of the third period. Boudreau led the AHL after week two with 12 points. Teammate Ernie Godden was second with 11.BALTIMORE&mdash;The Orioles&rsquo; World Series march left the Skipjacks waiting until Oct. 19 for their home opener. In the meantime, they tied New Haven 4-4 and won their first game for new coach Gene Ubriaco&mdash;6-3 at Binghamton. Dean DeFazio scored twice against the Whalers.As for the home opener, Tim Tookey scored two goals and three assists and Gary Rissling added two goals and an assist as Baltimore walloped Adirondack before 2,224 at the Civic Center.Rookie defenseman Tom Thombury led the team in scoring after six games with three goals and four assists. Ubriaco received some help from the parent Pittsburgh Penguins, who assigned defensemen Phil Bourque and Norm Schmidt.BINGHAMTON&mdash;Coach John Cunniff opened training camp again, drilling his players after a slow 1-3 start. Their only game last week was the 6-3 loss to the Skipjacks, which gave the Whalers a disappointing 0-3 record at the Broome County Arena.Binghamton demoted defenseman Jeff Brownschidle and center Michel Galarneau to the Mohawk Valley Stars of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, but signed goalie Steve Baker to a 25-game pro tryout contract.Baker, 26, a former New York Ranger, attended the Boston Bruins&rsquo; training camp as a free agent but was not offered a contract. The NHL Whalers invited him to Hartford 48 hours before their season began before assigning him to the AHL.NEW HAVEN&mdash;The Nighthawks played three games in three nights, stayed close in each, but went winless (0-2-1).Mike Fidler scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period to salvage a 4-4 tie with visiting Baltimore. The next night in Maine, the &rsquo;Hawks spotted the Mariners an early 3-0 lead and fell 5-3.Against Sherbrooke, New Haven fought back from a 4-1 deficit on goals by Dan Bonar, Carl Mokosak and Phil Sykes, only to lose 6-4 when Claude Larose broke a 4-4&rsquo;tie with 1:27 left and Murray Eaves added an empty-netter.Right wing Mark Lofthouse, the 1980-81 scoring champ, moved into a tie for second in the scoring race with 11 points.Los Angeles, which acquired Ken Houston and Brian Engblom from Washington, demoted rookie defenseman Mike Heidt and rookie forward Bob Laforest.SPRINGFIELD&mdash;The Indians opened their first Canadian Maritimes road trip with a victory, but dropped two straight to fall to 2-2-1.Fredericton, which has allowed only four goals in its first four games, silenced the Tribe 5-1. The following night, Springfield fell behind 4-0 early against Nova Scotia and lost 7-4 to the Vees.Defenseman Don Dietrich, who scored six goals all last year, tallied his team-leading fourth against the Vees. Len Hachborn leads with seven points. &#9632;

f0027-01

Myre Mired In Coaching Position

Tom Fitzgerald, who began covering the Bruins for the Boston Globe in 1940 and wrote about them for 37 years until his retirement in 1977, died recently of cancer in South Shore Hospital, Weymouth.&ldquo;He loved hockey,&rdquo; said Bruin general manager Harry Sinden. &ldquo;Even after his retirement, he kept up with everything we did. There was tremendous respect for him all over the league.&rdquo;&ldquo;His contributions both as a journalist and as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee have been enormous,&rdquo; said National Hockey League president John Ziegler. &ldquo;He was a man whose love for the game and those who played it especially warmed and enriched us all.&rdquo;Fitz&rsquo;s contributions to hockey in the United States were recognized in 1978 when he was selected for the Lester Patrick Trophy along with Phil Esposito and William W. Wirtz, longtime owner of the Chicago Black Hawks.He was one of the founders of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and served as its first president in 1967. He was the first newspaperman to chair the Hall of Fame Selection Committee. &#9632;

Fitz Will Be Missed

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>Louisville Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01509/4818763-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="291" height="210"></div>DENVER&mdash;Colorado Flames&rsquo; coach Pierre Page opened the 1983-84 season with the youngest team in the Centra) Hockey League&mdash;average age 22.5 years&mdash;but his squad has come together early to share the top spot in the standings.The Flames won three of their first four games, two of which were against the defending Adams Cup champion Indianapolis Checkers, and rookie goaltender Mike Vernon gets much of the credit for their quick start.&ldquo;At 150 pounds, the 19-year-old Vernon is the lightest player in the league,&rdquo; said Page. &ldquo;But he has heavy early-season statistics&mdash;he&rsquo;s unbeaten in his first three games and leads the league with a 2.67 goals-against mark.&rdquo;At training camp Page commented that he had the youngest team in the league, but that he had a plethora of good prospects. Vernon is evidence of that, as he was the top junior goalie in Canada last year with Calgary of the Western League.Of his remaining prospects, Page said: &ldquo;Mario Simioni was an outstanding scorer with 62 goals last year with Toronto in the OHL. A couple of players who should add excitement for Denver fans are Colin Patterson, a right winger and former captain of the Clarkson College team, and Dale Degray, a promising young and aggressive defenseman from the Oshawa Generals.&rdquo;But Page had more than rookies. Winger Jim Jackson and defenseman Charles Bourgeois have been instrumental in igniting the Flames. Both spent some time with Calgary last year. In his first four outings, Jackson had five assists and Bourgeois had a pair of goals and three assists.Center Bruce Eakin is off to the fastest start, though. He netted five goals and added an assist as the Flames got off to a 3-1 start. He already has about 20 per cent of his goal output of a year ago when he scored 24 goals in 73 games for Colorado.Right winger Danny Bolduc, sidelined waith cracked ribs, missed his first season-opener in 10 years when the Flames opened against Salt Lake City, but he returned to action the second weekend against Indianapolis. He was Colorado&rsquo;s leading scorer last season with 72 points (two more than Eakin) on 27 goals and 45 assists.The Flames came back from an 0-2 deficit in their second game against Indianapolis, something that was difficult to do a year ago against the team with the best defense in the CHL.Page noted, &ldquo;They taught us how to start a game (with two early goals), and we taught them how to finish (a 5-3 victory).&rdquo;Another Colorado rookie, George White out of University of New Hamp-shire, scored twice in that game, including picking up the game winner. The flamboyant Flames outshot Indianapolis 48-22. Only twice before in the Checkers&rsquo; previous four seasons had the opposition fired that many shots at goal.Page has the Flames off to a flying start. He&rsquo;d like to finish one spot higher than last season, when Colorado was second in the regular season to Indianapolis, and advance a step further in the championship playoffs. The Flames failed to get past the first round last year.TULSA&mdash;The Oilers, who won only 14 games all last season, are 3-1 on foreign ice already this year. They faced six more games away from the Pavilion before their ice was to be ready. The Oilers were scoring at a six-goal-a-game clip and four of the top five individual scorers in the league were Oilers. Rob McClanahan and teammate Dave Ban topped the list with nine points each. McClanahan had three goals and six assists. Bare had a goal and a league-high eight assists. Mikko Leinonen was third with eight points and two of his three goals were gamewinners. Scot Kleinendorst was next on the CHL list wth 3-4-7.INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Fred Creighton may have thought his Checkers had the cart before the horse in their first two weeks of action. So, since one must walk before he can run, he had the squad skating without pucks in their first home practice session after dropping three straight road games. He also has a young squad&mdash;second to Colorado with a 23.3 average age&mdash;and apparently was trying to get across the idea that one skates first, then tries to put the puck in the net. The Checkers&rsquo; 0-4 start is their worst ever. Darcy Regier became the first Indianapolis player to be recalled by the parent N.Y. Islanders. He missed the Checkers two games at Denver.SALT LAKE&mdash;Alain Lemieux and John Markell have helped the Eagles get off to a 3-1 start. Both are among the leaders in the top-10. Lemieux has three goals, four assists and Markell had a goal to go with five assists. Defenseman Dave Richter got off to a rather dubious start at Salt Lake. The Golden Eagle captain was assessed six minor penalties in the second game of the season, beating the former club record of five. His 23 minutes in penalties after the first two weekends were tops in the league. Richter had a brief trip to Minnesota but has been returned by the North Stars to Salt Lake. Jim Craig surrendered five goals in his first start at Salt Lake, but three came during power-play situations. Defenseman Craig Levie was recalled by Minne-sota.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02354/4818756-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="550" height="672"><figcaption class="caption-body">Colorado goalie Mike Vernon is off to a quick start with a 2.67 goals-against average.</figcaption></div>OLYMPIC GAMES&mdash;The U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams swept their first three meetings against CHL competition. Unfortunately for Indianapolis Checkers, each won was against them. &#9632;

f0028-01

Young Flames Are Burning Up The League

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div>WINSTON-SALEM&mdash;Carolina Thun-derbird coach Rick Dudley would like nothing better than to repeat as regularseason and playoff champion in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, but he fully realizes this year the job isn&rsquo;t going to be as easy.The Thunderbirds made a mockery of the regular-season race a year ago as they cruised to the title with a 51-10-7 record and had the regular-season championship wrapped up by Christmas. The playoffs were no different. Dudley&rsquo;s charges won eight straight games to cop the Bob Payne Cup.Dudley greeted 34 players in the T-Birds camp held in Pine Bridge and reduced the number to 20 as the regular season neared. Asked if he was satisfied with the players he had in camp Dudley replied, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m never satisfied, but the guys we have here make me feel that we should be as good as we were a year ago.&rdquo;A trio of returnees were among players from last year&rsquo;s team who were looking good in camp included Brian Carroll, Lynn Jorgenson and Michel Lanouette. Among the new players who caught Dudley&rsquo;s eye were defenseman Dan Ethier of the University of Wisconsin along with Paul Higgins.The T-Birds offered talented goalie Yves Dechene a contract, but last year&rsquo;s all-star goalie nixed the offer. Dechene recorded a 24-3-2 record with a 2.31 goals-against average, but Dudley feels that Pierre Hamel and Dan Olson should be able to do the job for Carolina.&ldquo;Pierre Hamel is very capable,&rdquo; noted Dudley. &ldquo;He played for Sherbrooke last year and also in Germany and he has three years NHL experience.&rdquo;Dudley feels the league should be a far cry from what it was last season.&ldquo;After seeing us last year, everybody in the league knows what they have to be,&rdquo; related the T-Birds mentor. &ldquo;We will have a team equal in ability to last year and whether or not that is good enough to win we will have to wait and see.&rdquo;NASHVILLE&mdash;The South Stars were easily the doormat of the loop in 198283, winning just 11 of 58 games, but coach Nellie LeClair feels no team will walk over Nashville this time around.LeClair got a close look at his charges in a pair of exhibition games, as the Stars split a pair with Pine Bridge.LeClair was impressed with a trio of Pittsburgh Penguin assignees including Ari Vuori, who had two goals in the two pre-season contests, John Liprando, a Pittsburgh native, and Boston College grad Lee Blossom.LeClair was also pleased to welcome back Ron Carter, Wayne Cameron, Kelly Barnett, Bob Hehir and Bob Breen. Other camp standouts were Alan Luciw, Luc Bachand, Joe Paniccia, Ray Cyr and Andy Skop.Denis Auclair, a free agent from Valleyfield in the Quebec Senior League, was sharp in the nets as he dueled returnee Grant McNicholl and Ron Petronella for the goalie positions.PINE BRIDGE&mdash;Coach Don Luce signed six players as the Bucks prepared for their first season in the league.Agreeing to terms were left wingers Bruce Greig and Bruce Aikens, right winger Jeff Wylie, defenseman Darrell Elrich, center Dave Burke and goalie Steve Hiattola.Grieg comes to the Bucks from the Virginia Raiders, while Aikens played last year with Colorado College. Elrich competed in Melbourne, Australia, while Burke saw plenty of action with Harvard.The Bucks dropped three of four exhibition games, as Luce looked over a vast array of talent.ERIE&mdash;The Golden Blades suspended winger Stan Gulutzan after the team could not come to terms with the Erie veteran. Gulutzan finished last season as the eighth-leading scorer in the league with 89 points and was a member of three Blade championship teams in the Eastern Hockey League.Coach Bill Horton welcomed back a host of veterans with the Blades holding their first week of training camp at the nearby Meadville Recreation Complex.Among the returning vets were defensemen Trent Graham and Cam Bolting, forwards Steve Stockman, Paul Mancini and Dave Herbst.Blade veteran Carey Walker received competition in the nets from Darrell May (assigned by Vancouver Canucks) and Mike Bloski (assigned by Philadelphia Hyers).Rookie Brent Sapergia, a high-scoring junior, had two goals in the Blades&rsquo; 4-1 exhibition win over Mohawk Valley.Sylvain Cote, whose brothers Michel and Rocco are also members of the team, will miss three to five weeks of action after he had surgery for an eye infection.MOHAWK VALLEY&mdash;New Star coach Rick Ley was pleased with the fact that the club was able to sign defenseman Marc Marchand, a first team all-star a year ago with Mohawk Valley.There were several standouts among the 32 players that started in training camp including Rob Clavette, Brian Gustafson, Dennis Dore, Dick Popiel, Ron Scales and Mike Jantzi.Guy Lemonde, who played goal for the Stars a year ago, was one of three goalies in camp. Gray Weicker, son of Connecticut senator Lowell Weicker, and Mark Davidner, a graduate of Northeastern, were the other two netminders vying for a job.BIRMINGHAM&mdash;The first-year Bulls opened camp under coach Dave Hanson. The training camp squad included many former players who played for Birmingham in the World Hockey Association, including Jeff Carlson, Jim Turkiewicz, J.C. Stewart, Gilles Bilodeau and Paul O&rsquo;Neil. &#9632;

Dudley Braced For Tough Season

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>Louisville Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01439/4818825-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="272" height="208"></div>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;The International Hockey League is ready for its 39th season with a new home and a new commissioner and based on reports from the various training camps, there will be seven winners this season.At least each club enters the season full of confidence and optimism and one thing is certain: There is more talent available this year than in a number of years as most clubs are strong on veterans.The IHL will operate as a seven-team circuit this time out. The franchises include Kalamazoo, Muskegon and Flint in Michigan; Toledo, OH; Fort Wayne, IN; Peoria, IL; and Milwaukee, WI. All seven were around a year ago, as was Saginaw, MI, but the Gears have been suspended for at least one year.The IHL will play an 84-game schedule this season, split evenly between home and away games. Six of the seven teams will qualify for the post-season playoffs. Toledo is both the defending league and playoff champion. In fact, the Goaldiggers will be shooting for three straight in each category.Peoria, one of the two clubs which did not make the playoffs last season, posted a winning record as the exhibition season drew to a close. The Prancers, who are launching their second season in the IHL, finished with a 5-1-0 record.Three of the victories came over teams from the Continental League, but the Prancers also won two of three from Milwaukee, a finalist in the playoffs last season. The Prancers split two games with the Admirals in Peoria, winning by a 6-4 score and dropping a 4-2 contest. Peoria concluded its pre-season with a 5-4 loss in Milwaukee.Fort Wayne, Muskegon and Kalamazoo were the most active teams in preseason, playing four games each and splitting.Toledo played just three exhibition games and finished 1-2-0. One of the games was with Central League champion Indianapolis, which won 5-1. In the other two games, Toledo lost 8-4 to Kalamazoo and, with rookie Jay Miller&rsquo;s two goals, won 7-2 in the rematch.Fort Wayne, which set a club record with 103 points last season but still finished second to Toledo, split with both Kalamazoo and Muskegon, winning at home and losing on the road. One of the losses was in overtime to the K-Wings. Veteran Barry Scully, a notoriously slow starter, scored three goals in the four games.The Komets beat Muskegon and Kalamazoo by identical 5-3 scores at home while losing 9-1 at Muskegon and 7-6 to Kalamazoo in Battle Creek, MI.Mike Corrigan scored the hat trick for Kalamazoo in its 8-4 win over Toledo. Veteran Kevin Schamehom got the winner in overtime against Fort Wayne. Brent Jarrett gave the Wings a 6-5 lead with a shorthanded goal but Mike Boland tied the score in the final minute of regulation.Jim Egerton got the hat trick as Muskegon opened its pre-season with a 9-1 romp over the Komets in Muskegon. The Hawks also won 4-3 at Flint. In addition to the loss to Fort Wayne, Muskegon dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime to Hint in the final pre-season test.Clint Fehr gave Hint an even split in its two exhibition game, scoring the winning goal in the 4-3 win at Muskegon. The Generals lost 4-3 to Muskegon at home.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02307/4818818-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="556" height="831"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brent Jarrett scored a shorthanded goal in Kalamazoo&rsquo;s overtime win against Toledo.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

International League Starts Season Blessed With Stockpile Of Talent

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>Louisville Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01495/4818863-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="283" height="215"></div>GUELPH&mdash;Kirk Muller, expansion and talks towards reaching a new agreement with the National Hockey League were the hot topics discussed by Ontario Hockey League governors and commissioner Dave Branch as October drew to a close.The most pressing issue was in Guelph, where the owner of the Platers, Joe Holody, was worried about losing his franchise after the Canadian Olympic team asked his star player, 17-year-old Kirk Muller, to leave his junior teammates for a trial with the Calgary-based national team. Holody, who paid a $300,000 expansion fee to come into the league last year, said his club had a chance to make a profit this season&mdash;but realizing full well that Muller&rsquo;s playing in Guelph would be a major determining factor.&ldquo;This kid is the franchise,&rdquo; Holody said. &ldquo;If he goes, I&rsquo;ll be playing to flies.&rdquo;The issue is whether Muller should be loyal to his junior team owner, who says he might lose his franchise, or be patriotic and represent his country in the Olympics (Feb. 7-19 at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia). Holody, Branch and other junior operators counter that Muller will be representing his country at the world junior tournament in December and that is the level, they feel, a 17-year-old can best represent himself.A few weeks earlier, Brantford Alexanders lost their star player, Dave Gagner, to the Olympic team.Branch also says the OHL has never said it won&rsquo;t give up its players and is willing to do so on a give-and-take basis.Branch said the OHL is simply asking for some communication with the Olympic team, so that some policies could be struck between them, such as how many juniors the Canadians want, when they will leave, when they&rsquo;ll be returned and when the players will find out that they&rsquo;ve made the team.The OHL says it has not been getting that communication.As an example, the Olympic team first contacted Muller&rsquo;s agent, Gus Badali of Sierra Sports Group, to ask for the Platers&rsquo; star. A few days later, they contacted Holody.&ldquo;Now, doesn&rsquo;t that tell you something about the Olympic team?&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;They ask his agent first, not the owner of the hockey club?&rdquo;Holody, who envisions the crumbling of his second-year franchise even before it is built, is furious.&ldquo;If I could stop Kirk Muller, I would,&rdquo; Holody said. &ldquo;I told Kirk that. The way the Olympic program is structured right now, it is a waste of taxpayers&rsquo; money. The Olympic program stinks.&ldquo;How long have they been building for the Olympics? Four years? I&rsquo;d like to know what they&rsquo;ve accomplished and how much money they spent doing it and I&rsquo;ll find out if I have to go to my member of Parliament. Now, four months before the tournament they come and ask a 17-year-old boy to play. What&rsquo;s happened? Why now? Is a 17-year-old boy going to win us a medal? Is it going to be up to Kirk?&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t slept in a week. It&rsquo;s hurting his play. He&rsquo;s confused. He&rsquo;s only a boy.&rdquo;Holody also levelled some criticism at Olympic coach Dave King.&ldquo;Last year Dave King said junior hockey players were not as qualified as college players and that was at the junior tournament overseas,&rdquo; Holody said. &ldquo;Now, he&rsquo;s reversed his opinion. Now, he&rsquo;s saying junior hockey players are good enough for the Olympic team. Good enough for the team which is going to play the pros in Yugoslavia (the Soviets and Czechs).&ldquo;Whoever goes to Yugoslavia is playing pros, the same players who come over here and play our NHL teams. I feel Kirk Muller should be going to the world junior tournament, where we at least have a chance to win a medal and where Kirk Muller is playing against players his own caliber and age, not pros.&ldquo;Do the Russians and Czechs ask 17-year-olds to play for their Olympic team?&rdquo;Meanwhile, applications from groups in Niagara Falls and Detroit were being evaluated by the league&rsquo;s expansion committee as possible sights for future franchises.The Niagara Falls group is led by Sam McMaster, the current general manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and the Detroit group is headed by Peter Kar-manos, president of the Detroit Compuware Corp., which operates its own minor hockey program. Both applications were accompanied by $50,000 deposits, A third application may come from a Hamilton group, led by former Hamilton Fincup operator Mario Cupido. Niagara Falls has had a junior A team on two previous occasions but they moved to Sudbury and North Bay because of poor fan support.The league is expected to decide on the bids in November. To be voted into the league, a new franchise must receive three quarters voting support of the governors.McMaster, who broke into the OHL eight years ago as general manager of the Niagara Falls Flyers, thinks a junior team will be successful in Niagara Falls. A franchise appeals to McMaster because he wants to become more involved as a policy-maker in junior hockey as an owner and a governor.&ldquo;I think I have something to add to the league by being more a part of it and being in a more responsible position,&rdquo; McMaster said. &ldquo;I think the Falls is still a good hockey town. Any center in Ontario is a good hockey center as long as you work it properly. People have so many entertainment dollars and you have to encourage them to spend it on your entertainment. There&rsquo;s good co-operation with the city. I just think it can work.&rdquo;In another development, the OHL and its partners in the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League were drawing up plans for an early November meeting with the NHL which they hope could produce some changes in the entry draft and signing practices of the pro clubs.The OHL&rsquo;s top executives and other CMJHL officials will begin bargaining with the NHL for a new three-year agreement, starting Nov. 1 in Toronto.The major issue, both sides seem to agree, is the issue of junior hockey. Both would like to see it eliminated. The OHL is going to propose any player signed to an NHL contract must play NHL and not be returned to junior. The CMJHL is also going to push for a mid-season draft to replace the June entry draft. They will also ask the NHL not to draft players until after their 18th birthday.Under the existing contract, the CMJHL does not see the financial aspects of a new agreement to be of top priority.TRADEMARKS&mdash;Trying to shake up his veteran club, Cornwall coach Jocelyn Guevremont said he was so embarrassed by one of his club&rsquo;s efforts that he felt like wearing a paper bag on his head. Then he traded Scott Bimie to North Bay for Joe Reekie. The results? The Royals won three of four games in the week, two in overtime on goals by rookie Ray Sheppard&hellip;Belleville Bulls, worried over a lack of scoring, sent Kevin MacDonald. Chris McRae, Mike Cassidy, Todd Sepkowski and Darren Moxam to Sudbury for Mike Savage, Grant Robinson, Larry Stevens and Grant Sanders&hellip;Peterborough Petes&rsquo; Doug Evans scored six goals and three assists in three games since being added as the club&rsquo;s overage play er&hellip;Allan Bester&rsquo;s 25-shot, 4-0 shutout of Windsor Spits was the first in the five-year history of the Brantford franchise&hellip;Kitchener Rangers, behind John Tucker&rsquo;s three goals and Dave Bruce&rsquo;s pair, rolled to their ninth win in 10 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02369/4818856-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="555" height="1132"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk Muller is caught in a conflict between the Olympic team and Guelph Platers.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Muller Controversy Is Swelling As Holody Expresses Bitterness

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03252/4818908-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="351" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN TUCKERKitchener</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04169/4818901-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="341" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body">JASON MEYERRegina</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05109/4818894-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="342" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARIO LEMIEUXLaval</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>John Tucker of the Kitchener Rangers was delayed returning to the Ontario Hockey League this season because he was trying to make the Buffalo Sabres. Now that he&rsquo;s back, he&rsquo;s making up for lost time.Tucker came up with an eight-point performance to win the nod as the OHL&rsquo;s Player of the Week, scoring five times in two games. Tucker, who was drafted in the second round by the Sabres in 1983, counted two goals and two assists as Kitchener beat Windsor 9-5 and he followed that with a hat trick and one assist in the Rangers&rsquo; 8-3 pounding of Sudbury.Tucker scored 60 goals last season, third best in the OHL, and he appears on his way to another big year with eight goals in his first seven games.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>Jason Meyer is one of those offensive-minded defensemen who prefers to make the plays for the goal scorers.The 18-year-old Meyer, who is already in his third year of major junior hockey, collected 15 assists in his first eight games. He set up nine goals in three games for Regina Pats and was selected as the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s Player of the Week.Also drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 1983, Meyer is the top-scoring defenseman in the WHL with 18 points. The 5-foot-11, 182-pounder earned four assists in both games as the Pats whipped Winnipeg 12-5 and edged Brandon 7-6. He also moved into the league&rsquo;s top 10 scorers while sparking Regina to an imposing 8-2 start.<h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>The controversy as to which hockey player&mdash;Mario Lemieux of Laval or Guelph&rsquo;s Kirk Muller&mdash;is the best junior hockey player in Canada rages on but right now Lemieux is doing everything in his power to swing the odds in his favor.The sensational 18-year-old center was chosen as the Quebec Hockey League&rsquo;s Player of the Week for the second time after another routine 12-point scoring week. After his first 15 games, the 6-foot-3 Lemieux has scored 27 goals and added 32 assists for 59 points.Quebec League statisticians are already looking down the road and wondering how long the league&rsquo;s scoring records can last with Lemieux on his tear. Pierre Larouche holds the present marks in points with 251 and assists with 157. Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s goal record of 130 also still stands. &#9632;

f0030-03

Players of the Week

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>Louisville Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01471/4818991-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="286" height="214"></div>NEW WESTMINSTER&mdash;Al Patterson is a firm believer in keeping his finger off the panic button. Maybe that&rsquo;s why the New Westminster Bruins are reaping so much early success in the Western Hockey League.Patterson, who has taken on triple responsibility of governor-general manager-coach of the transplanted Nanaimo Islanders, had the resurgent Western Division franchise in first place as the league entered its third week of regular-season play.The Bruins won six of their first 10 games, including five on the road, and made believers of teams in both divisions. Not bad for a club which finished fifth in the six-team division last season with a 20-51-1 record.&ldquo;Part of the early success is due to a good nucleus but the kids had such a bad year in Nanaimo that they really want to have a good year,&rdquo; said the 43-year-old Patterson. &ldquo;The work ethic is there.&ldquo;Things have happened so quickly,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;We really didn&rsquo;t have the franchise sale tied down until July. I think this year we&rsquo;ve got to have a short-term goal&mdash;we would like to make the playoffs and play competitive hockey to get fans in the rink.&rdquo;A sterling example of the Bruins&rsquo; willingness to work came in a 10-9 overtime victory over the Oilers in Kamloops. New Westminster trailed 9-3 at one point in the second period but never threw in the towel.Winning is nothing new for Patterson. He coached Burnaby Winter Club to the Air Canada Cup midget championship in 1982 and has a string of provincial and tournament titles to his credit at various coaching levels.As expected, Patterson has given his Bruin roster priority where it counts the most. He knows the best way to get the turnstiles clicking is to have stability from the start. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s not surprising the Bruins have leaned toward older players while slowly bringing along the newcomers.With Pokey Reddick returning in goal to support impressive newcomer Bill Rankford of Red Deer and the return of veteran rearguards Doug Quinn and Vem Smith, the Bruins have some stability behind their blueline.Up front there are familiar and fresh faces.The player who has drawn the most attention is 18-year-old rookie center Cliff Ronning. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound forward fired a record 82 goals last season with the Tier Two New Westminster Royals of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League. Ronning has found the WHL to his liking and was first in scoring heading into week three with 21 points.The little speedster, cast in the mold of other great WHL centers such as Dale Derkatch and Kelly Glowa, is letting his ability do the talking.&ldquo;It seems everywhere I go I hear this stuff about being a small hockey player,&rdquo; said Ronning. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an incentive to outwork and beat the huge guys.&rdquo;Patterson coached the Royals last season and also had Ronning under his tutelage as a midget and bantam. He argues with those who say if Ronning was so great last season, why wasn&rsquo;t he playing Tier One with Kamloops, which owned his rights. Ronning, expressing an interest to play college hockey in the United States, was eventually dealt to Nanaimo late last season in a multiplayer deal which included overage rights to Garth Butcher.&ldquo;A lot of people think I control Cliff but I don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Patterson, who expected Ronning to attend Michigan Tech before fate brought the two back together again. &ldquo;His size has always been a question mark. People tend to knock him for not making the jump to the WHL last year but he&rsquo;s always made a jump one at a time.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s still feeling his way. A year of Tier Two allowed him to develop and to play in increased tempo. This year we&rsquo;re not under any illusions to have him lead the club.&rdquo;&ldquo;The problem was I wanted to go to university and I didn&rsquo;t want to ruin my eligibility,&rdquo; said Ronning. &ldquo;When we found out Nanaimo was moving to New Westminster, I talked it over with my dad. We then talked to Mr. Patterson before we decided where it would be best for me to play. The scouts thought I had a better chance of getting drafted playing in New Westminster.&rdquo;Patterson makes no bones about overcoming a big stigma in New Westminster.Mention the Bruins on the lower mainland and most hockey fans instantly flash their memories back to the glory days when New Westminster won the Memorial Cup in 1977 and 1978. That&rsquo;s why getting off to a fast start is imperative.&ldquo;Everybody is excited about having the league back but it&rsquo;s getting them from &lsquo;it&rsquo;s great to have you back&rsquo; to buying season tickets,&rdquo; said Patterson. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the problem. There is a lot of competition for the sporting dollar and we&rsquo;re fourth in line. It&rsquo;s not a bed of roses. It&rsquo;s tough to sell season tickets until you bring them a winner.&rdquo;The Bruins brought in a winner with the announcement that former Bruin Stan Smyl has entered the ownership picture. Smyl, a member of the Memorial Cup champion Bruins before being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks, is being looked upon as a selling point, too.&ldquo;I thought it was a great natural thing that would help us,&rdquo; said Patterson. &ldquo;He has respect for the media and gets respect from them. Anything to attract people helps.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02342/4818984-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="558" height="842"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran Doug Quinn has been instrumental in stablizing New Westminster&rsquo;s defense.</figcaption></div>WHL WEEK&mdash;While the Bruins have been the talk of the Western Division, the Prince Albert Raiders and Brandon Wheat Kings are off to impressive starts. &#9632;

f0032-01

Bruins’ Spirit Has Been Rekindled With Help From Talented Rookie

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Mike Gillis, LW, assigned to Hershey of AHL.BUFFALO&mdash;Jerry Korab, D, claimed on waivers from Minnesota. Dale McCourt, C, declared free agent after the Sabres buy out his contract. Mark Renaud, D, recalled from Rochester of AHL.CALGARY&mdash;Kent Nilsson, C, sidelined indefinitely with back injury. Dave Hindmarch, LW, returned from injury list. Bruce Eakin, C, and Colin Paterson, RW, recalled from Colorado of CHL&hellip;CHICAGO&mdash;Peter Marsh, LW, returned from injury list. Al Secord, LW, sidelined with pulled stomach muscles. Rick Paterson, C, out of action with groin injury. Warren Skorodenski, G, reassigned to Sherbrooke of AHL on loan.DETROIT&mdash;Ken Solheim, LW, recalled from Adirondack of AHL and traded to Minnesota for Brian Rorabeck, RW. Rorabeck assigned to Adirondack.EDMONTON&mdash;Willy Lindstrom, LW, returned from injury list. John Blum, D, sent to Moncton of AHL.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Larry Murphy, D, traded to Washington for Brian Engblom, D, and Ken Houston, LW. Mike Heidt, D, and Bob LaForest, RW, assigned to New Haven of AHL. Pierre Giroux, C, released outright as free agent. Dave Morrison, RW, suspended by Kings for failing to sign a new contract.MONTREAL&mdash;Larry Robinson, D, sidelined with pulled hamstring muscle. Rick Wamsley, G, placed on injury list. Greg Moffet, G, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL as replacement. Mark Napier, RW, sidelined with crackled ankle bone.MINNESOTA&mdash;Lars Lindgren, D, acquired from Vancouver for third-round draft choice in either 1984 or 1985. Dave Richter, D, recalled for one game from Salt Lake of CHL and later returned. Craig Levie, D, sent to Salt Lake. Stan Weir, C, signed as free agent and assigned to Salt Lake.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Alan Hepple, D, assigned to Maine of AHL. Murray Brumwell, D, recalled from Maine as replacement. Rocky Trottier, RW, returned to Medicine Hat of WHL.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Tomas Jonsson, D, and Mats Hallin, LW, returned from injury list. Ken Morrow, D, sidelined with fluid on both knees. Darcy Regier, D, recalled from Indianapolis of CHL as replacement.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Traded Ron Flockhart, C, Mark Taylor, C, and Barry Brickley, LW, to Pittsburgh along with their 1st round draft pick in 1984 for Ron Sutter, RW, and Penguins&rsquo; 2nd round draft pick in 1984. Teams also agreed to switch their 3rd round draft positions in 1984. Lindsay Carson, C, out for six to eight weeks with broken arm.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Marc Chorney, D, traded to Los Angeles for future considerations. Bryan Maxwell, D, claimed on waivers from Winnipeg. Phil Bourque, D, and Norm Schmidt, D, both assigned to Baltimore of AHL.QUEBEC&mdash;John Van Boxmeer, D, out of action for 10 days with sprained ankle.TORONTO&mdash;Dale McCourt, C, signed as free agent from Buffalo. Peter Ihnacak, C, sidelined for two weeks with stretched knee ligaments. Walt Poddubny, LW, out for three months after suffering broken ankle.VANCOUVER&mdash;Cam Neely, C, returned to Portland of WHL. Mark Kirton, C, sidelined for 10 days with broken bone in his hand.WASHINGTON&mdash;Darren Veitch, D, returns from injury list after recovering from stretched knee ligaments.WINNIPEG&mdash;John Gibson, D, sidelined indefinitely with groin injury. Moe Mantha, D, and Jerki Seppa, D, both recalled from Sherbrooke of AHL. Bob O&rsquo;Connor, G, reassigned from Sherbrooke to Fort Wayne of IHL.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>BINGHAMTON&mdash;Doug Evans, LW, assigned to Flint of IHL. Jeff Brownschidle, D, and Michel Galarneau, C, assigned to Mohawk Valley of the ACHL. Steve Baker, G, signed to 25-game tryout.NOVA SCOTIA&mdash;Dan Burrows, G, sent to Flint of IHL. &#9632;

PLAYER TRANSACTIONS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1539/4819539-1-eng-US/f0033-152.jpg" title="f0033-15" width="860" height="586"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1445/4819546-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg" title="f0033-14" width="192" height="257"></div><h2>OVERALL LEADERS</h2><h2>TOP DEFENSEMEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1633/4819532-1-eng-US/f0033-162.jpg" title="f0033-16" width="848" height="296"></div><h2>TOP ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1733/4819525-1-eng-US/f0033-172.jpg" title="f0033-17" width="851" height="327"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1828/4819518-1-eng-US/f0033-182.jpg" title="f0033-18" width="848" height="152"></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1926/4819511-1-eng-US/f0033-192.jpg" title="f0033-19" width="851" height="151"></div><h2>CALGARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2022/4819504-1-eng-US/f0033-202.jpg" title="f0033-20" width="849" height="145"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2120/4819497-1-eng-US/f0033-212.jpg" title="f0033-21" width="844" height="149"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2216/4819490-1-eng-US/f0033-222.jpg" title="f0033-22" width="849" height="151"></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2310/4819483-1-eng-US/f0033-232.jpg" title="f0033-23" width="852" height="149"></div><h2>HARTFORD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2410/4819476-1-eng-US/f0033-242.jpg" title="f0033-24" width="849" height="149"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-258/4819469-1-eng-US/f0033-252.jpg" title="f0033-25" width="852" height="149"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-267/4819462-1-eng-US/f0033-262.jpg" title="f0033-26" width="855" height="149"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-277/4819455-1-eng-US/f0033-272.jpg" title="f0033-27" width="857" height="151"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-286/4819448-1-eng-US/f0033-282.jpg" title="f0033-28" width="854" height="149"></div><h2>NY ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-295/4819441-1-eng-US/f0033-292.jpg" title="f0033-29" width="854" height="148"></div><h2>NY RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-305/4819434-1-eng-US/f0033-302.jpg" title="f0033-30" width="852" height="150"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-315/4819427-1-eng-US/f0033-312.jpg" title="f0033-31" width="850" height="153"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-325/4819420-1-eng-US/f0033-322.jpg" title="f0033-32" width="853" height="154"></div><h2>QUEBEC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-335/4819413-1-eng-US/f0033-332.jpg" title="f0033-33" width="849" height="150"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-345/4819406-1-eng-US/f0033-342.jpg" title="f0033-34" width="857" height="150"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-355/4819399-1-eng-US/f0033-352.jpg" title="f0033-35" width="848" height="155"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-363/4819392-1-eng-US/f0033-362.jpg" title="f0033-36" width="855" height="151"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-373/4819385-1-eng-US/f0033-372.jpg" title="f0033-37" width="850" height="151"></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-383/4819378-1-eng-US/f0033-382.jpg" title="f0033-38" width="854" height="149"></div> &#9632;

f0033-15

EMERY TROPHY PLUS-MINUS

<h2>Tue. Oct. 18</h2>CALGARY 4, ISLANDERS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01429/4819347-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="536" height="678"></div>BUFFALO 3, PITTSBURGH 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02303/4819340-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="533" height="560"></div>BOSTON 3, QUEBEC 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03213/4819333-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="536" height="821"></div><h2>Wed. Oct. 19</h2>NEW JERSEY 3, CHICAGO 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04160/4819326-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="539" height="983"></div>ST. LOUIS 2, DETROIT 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05129/4819319-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="542" height="672"></div>WASHINGTON 0, HARTFORD 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06105/4819312-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="537" height="585"></div>CALGARY 1, RANGERS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0794/4819305-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="530" height="554"></div>QUEBEC 8, TORONTO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0878/4819298-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="540" height="755"></div>EDMONTON 10, VANCOUVER 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0969/4819291-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="539" height="560"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1064/4819284-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="536" height="522"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1162/4819277-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="533" height="93"></div>MONTREAL 12, WINNIPEG 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1261/4819270-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="533" height="347"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1348/4819263-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="532" height="471"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01435/4819256-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="532" height="178"></div><h2>Thu. Oct. 20</h2>EDMONTON 2, LOS ANGELES 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02325/4819249-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="534" height="754"></div>MONTREAL 5, MINNESOTA 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03253/4819242-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="536" height="813"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04178/4819235-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="532" height="261"></div>BOSTON 3, PHILADELPHIA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05139/4819228-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="530" height="838"></div><h2>Fri. Oct. 21</h2>NEW JERSEY 4, VANCOUVER 5First PeriodNew Jersey 1 &mdash; Cameron 2 (Floyd, Lorimer) 3:25<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06118/4819221-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="527" height="732"></div><h2>Sat. Oct. 22</h2>CALGARY 1, DETROIT 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07110/4819214-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="531" height="662"></div>VANCOUVER 5, EDMONTON 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08105/4819207-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="536" height="956"></div>BUFFALO 5, HARTFORD 2First PeriodBuffalo 1 &mdash; Housley 5 (Hamel) 14:26<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0999/4819200-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="539" height="696"></div>NEW JERSEY 3, L. ANGELES 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1096/4819193-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="540" height="955"></div>RANGERS 3, ISLANDERS 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1193/4819186-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="535" height="530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01384/4819179-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="536" height="268"></div>BOSTON 6, PITTSBURGH 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02271/4819172-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="537" height="643"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03202/4819165-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="536" height="93"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04164/4819158-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="543" height="95"></div>MINNESOTA 2, QUEBEC 11<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05140/4819151-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="515" height="59"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06117/4819144-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="505" height="60"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1535/4819137-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="533" height="903"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1631/4819130-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="530" height="180"></div>CHICAGO 1, ST. LOUIS 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1728/4819123-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="532" height="673"></div>MONTREAL 3, TORONTO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1825/4819116-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="533" height="719"></div>PHILADELPHIA 1, WASH. 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1924/4819109-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="524" height="144"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2021/4819102-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="528" height="604"></div><h2>Sun. Oct. 23</h2>WINNIPEG 2, BUFFALO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2119/4819095-1-eng-US/f0038-212.jpg" title="f0038-21" width="528" height="268"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2217/4819088-1-eng-US/f0038-222.jpg" title="f0038-22" width="524" height="490"></div>CALGARY 4, CHICAGO 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2314/4819081-1-eng-US/f0038-232.jpg" title="f0038-23" width="527" height="349"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01420/4819074-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="539" height="293"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02288/4819067-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="536" height="293"></div>ISLANDERS 5, RANGERS 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03200/4819060-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="539" height="1018"></div>TORONTO 5, PHILADELPHIA 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04166/4819053-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="539" height="1161"></div><h2>GOALTENDING STATISTICS</h2><h3>NHL GOALTENDER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05131/4819046-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="577" height="2010"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>31 &mdash; KEANS, Doug1 &mdash; PEETERS, Pete<h3>Defensemen</h3>7 &mdash; BOURQUE, Ray23 &mdash; HILLIER, Randy6 &mdash; KLUZAK, Gord5 &mdash; LAPOINTE, Guy26 &mdash; MILBURY, Mike20 &mdash; O&rsquo;CONNELL, Mike13 &mdash; SCHOENFELD, Jim<h3>Centers</h3>28 &mdash; FERGUS, Tom11 &mdash; KASPER, Steve8 &mdash; McNAB, Peter10 &mdash; PEDERSON, Barry<h3>R. Wings</h3>32 &mdash; CROWDER, Bruce18 &mdash; CROWDER, Keith16 &mdash; MIDDLETON, Rick24 &mdash; O&rsquo;REILLY, Terry - Cpt.<h3>L. Wings</h3>29 &mdash; DUFOUR, Luc25 &mdash; KRUSHELNYSKI, M.14 &mdash; MacTAVISH, Craig22 &mdash; MARKWART, Nevin<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>30 &mdash; BARRASSO, Tom28 &mdash; SAUVE, Bob<h3>Defensemen</h3>24 &mdash; HAJT, Bill&mdash; KORAB, Jerry27 &mdash; PLAYFAIR, Larry5 &mdash; RAMSEY, Mike4 &mdash; RENAUD, Mark3 &mdash; VIRTA, Hannu19 &mdash; WIEMER, Jim<h3>Centers</h3>25 &mdash; ANDREYCHUK, Dave6 &mdash; HOUSLEY, Phil11 &mdash; PERREAULT, Gil - Cpt.20 &mdash; PETERSON, Brent<h3>R. Wings</h3>8 &mdash; CLOUTIER, Real17 &mdash; FOLIGNO, Mike12 &mdash; McKENNA, Sean14 &mdash; MOLLER, Mike16 &mdash; SEILING, Ric<h3>L. Wings</h3>18 &mdash; CYR, Paul9 &mdash; HAMEL, Gilles10 &mdash; RAMSAY, Craig15 &mdash; LANGEVIN, Chris22 &mdash; RUFF, Lindy<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>1 &mdash; EDWARDS, Don31 &mdash; LEMELIN, Rejean<h3>Defensemen</h3>4 &mdash; BAXTER, Paul20 &mdash; ELORANTA, Kari6 &mdash; HANSON, Keith3 &mdash; KONROYD, Steve34 &mdash; MACOUN, Jamie23 &mdash; REINHART, Paul5 &mdash; VOLCAN, Mickey<h3>Centers</h3>22 &mdash; EAKIN, Bruce7 &mdash; EAVES, Mike21 &mdash; JALONEN, Kari14 &mdash; NILSSON, Kent24 &mdash; PEPLINSKI, Jim8 &mdash; RISEBROUGH, D.-Cpt.15 &mdash; TAMBELLINI, Steve<h3>R. Wings</h3>19 &mdash; HUNTER, Tim17 &mdash; HISLOP, Jamie9 &mdash; McDonald, L.-Cpt.11 &mdash; PATTERSON, Colin<h3>L. Wings</h3>27 &mdash; BEERS, Ed26 &mdash; BOZEK, Steve29 &mdash; BRUBAKER, Jeff18 &mdash; HINDMARCH, Dave12 &mdash; LOOB, Hakan25 &mdash; MEREDITH, Gregg<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>30 &mdash; BANNERMAN, M.35 &mdash; ESPOSITO, Tony36 &mdash; JANECYK, Bob<h3>Defensemen</h3>4 &mdash; BROWN, Keith25 &mdash; DUPONT, Jerome3 &mdash; FEAMSTER, Dave2 &mdash; FOX, Greg6 &mdash; MURRAY, Bob5 &mdash; O&rsquo;CALLAHAN, Jack23 &mdash; WILSON, Behn24 &mdash; WILSON, Doug<h3>Centers</h3>29 &mdash; LUDZIK, Steve12 &mdash; LYSIAK, Tom19 &mdash; MURRAY, Troy26 &mdash; PATERSON, Rick18 &mdash; SAVARD, Denis7 &mdash; YAREMCHUK, Ken<h3>R. Wings</h3>11 &mdash; CYR, Denis15 &mdash; HIGGINS, Tim28 &mdash; LARMER, Steve16 &mdash; PRESTON, Rich<h3>L. Wings</h3>8 &mdash; FRASER, Curt14 &mdash; GARDNER, Bill17 &mdash; MARSH, Peter20 &mdash; SECORD, Al27 &mdash; SUTTER, D. - Cpt.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>41 &mdash; MIO, Eddie30 &mdash; STEFAN, Greg<h3>Defensemen</h3>3 &mdash; BARRETT, John4 &mdash; CAMPBELL, Colin28 &mdash; LARSON, Reed26 &mdash; MELROSE, Barry22 &mdash; PARK, Brad5 &mdash; SMITH, Greg<h3>Centers</h3>11 &mdash; CRAVEN, Murray20 &mdash; FOSTER, Dwight16 &mdash; KISIO, Kelly19 &mdash; YZERMAN, Steve<h3>R. Wings</h3>10 &mdash; DUGUAY, Ron18 &mdash; GARE, Danny - Cpt.24 &mdash; JOHNSON, Brian17 &mdash; JOHNSTONE, Ed14 &mdash; LAMBERT, Lane<h3>L. Wings</h3>12 &mdash; BOLDIREV, Ivan23 &mdash; MANNO, Bob8 &mdash; NOLAN, Ted25 &mdash; OGRODNICK, John15 &mdash; WOODS, Paul<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>31 &mdash; FUHR, Grant35 &mdash; MOOG, Andy<h3>Defensemen</h3>7 &mdash; COFFEY, Paul2 &mdash; FOGOLIN, Lee21 &mdash; GREGG, Randy22 &mdash; HUDDY, Charlie29 &mdash; JACKSON, Don4 &mdash; LOWE, Kevin<h3>Centers</h3>99 &mdash; GRETZKY, W. - Cpt.23 &mdash; HABSCHEID, Marc13 &mdash; LINSEMAN, Ken<h3>R. Wings</h3>9 &mdash; ANDERSON, Glenn16 &mdash; HUGHES, Pat17 &mdash; KURRI, Jari20 &mdash; LUMLEY, Dave24 &mdash; ROULSTON, Tom<h3>L. Wings</h3>18 &mdash; BERRY, Ken12 &mdash; HUNTER, Dave19 &mdash; LINDSTROM, Willy11 &mdash; MESSIER, Mark10 &mdash; POUZAR, Jaroslav27 &mdash; SEMENKO, Dave<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>30 &mdash; MILLEN, Greg31 &mdash; VEISOR, Mike<h3>Defensemen</h3>23 &mdash; HOSPODAR, Ed24 &mdash; KOTSOPOULOS, C.5 &mdash; LACROIX, Pierre8 &mdash; SILTANEN, Risto4 &mdash; DUNN, Richie27 &mdash; HOWE, Marty3 &mdash; QUENNEVILLE, Joel<h3>Centers</h3>10 &mdash; FRANCIS, Ron12 &mdash; JOHNSON, M. - Cpt.14 &mdash; MALONE, Greg34 &mdash; ZUKE, Mike<h3>R. Wings</h3>25 &mdash; CRAWFORD, Bob18 &mdash; CROMBEEN, Mike17 &mdash; NEUFELD, Ray21 &mdash; STOUGHTON, Blaine22 &mdash; SULLIMAN, Doug<h3>L. Wings</h3>15 &mdash; DUPONT, Normand32 &mdash; ROBERTSON, T.7 &mdash; STOYANOVICH, S.16 &mdash; TURGEON, SylvainINJURED: Lindy Ruff (Buf), Allan Maclnnis, Gregg Meredith, Kent Nilsson (Cal), Dave Feamster, Al Secord, Rick Paterson, (Chi), Pierre Lacroix, (Her).<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>30 &mdash; BLAKE, Mike1 &mdash; LESSARD, Mario<h3>Defensemen</h3>4 &mdash; ANDERSON, Russ3 &mdash; CHORNEY, Marc5 &mdash; ENGBLOM, Brian20 &mdash; HARDY, Mark3 &mdash; HELANDER, Peter6 &mdash; KENNEDY, Dean24 &mdash; WELLS, Jay<h3>Centers</h3>16 &mdash; DIONNE, Marcel26 &mdash; JARVIS, Wes9 &mdash; NICHOLLS, Bernie8 &mdash; RUSKOWSKI, T. - Cpt.23 &mdash; SMITH, Doug<h3>R. Wings</h3>12 &mdash; CHRISTOFF, Steve19 &mdash; FOX, Jim21 &mdash; HAKANSSON, Anders25 &mdash; HOUSTON, Ken22 &mdash; JENKINS, Dean18 &mdash; TAYLOR, Dave17 &mdash; KELLY, John-Paul<h3>L. Wings</h3>14 &mdash; LAVALLEE, Kevin27 &mdash; MacLELLAN, Brian11 &mdash; SIMMER, Charlie<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>33 &mdash; BEAUPRE, Don27 &mdash; MELOCHE, Gilles<h3>Defensemen</h3>2 &mdash; GILES, Curt4 &mdash; HARTSBURG, C. - Cpt.13 &mdash; LINDGREN, Lars32 &mdash; MANDICH, Dan5 &mdash; MAXWELL, Brad10 &mdash; ROBERTS, Gord6 &mdash; VELISCHEK, Randy<h3>Centers</h3>7 &mdash; BROTEN, Neal98 &mdash; LAWTON, Brian9 &mdash; MARUK, Dennis15 &mdash; SMITH, Bobby<h3>R. Wings</h3>23 &mdash; BELLOWS, Brian20 &mdash; CICCARELLI, Dino21 &mdash; FERGUSON, George25 &mdash; MacADAM, Al<h3>L. Wings</h3>22 &mdash; ASHTON, Brent14 &mdash; DOUGLAS, Jordy11 &mdash; McCarthy, Tom26 &mdash; PAYNE, Steve24 &mdash; PLETT, Willi<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>33 &mdash; SEVIGNY, Richard1 &mdash; WAMSLEY, Rick<h3>Defensemen</h3>2 &mdash; CARLSON, Kent27 &mdash; DELORME, Gilbert5 &mdash; GREEN, Rick28 &mdash; HAMEL, Jean17 &mdash; LUDWIG, Craig24 &mdash; PICARD, Robert19 &mdash; ROBINSON, Larry18 &mdash; ROOT, Bill<h3>Centers</h3>12 &mdash; ACTON, Keith21 &mdash; CARBONNEAU, Guy29 &mdash; CHABOT, John6 &mdash; MONDOU, Pierre25 &mdash; WICKENHEISER, Doug<h3>R. Wings</h3>20 &mdash; HUNTER, Mark10 &mdash; LAFLEUR, Guy32 &mdash; LEMIEUX, Claude31 &mdash; NAPIER, Mark26 &mdash; NASLUND, Mats30 &mdash; NILAN, Chris14 &mdash; TREMBLAY, Mario<h3>L. Wings</h3>23 &mdash; GAINEY, Bob - Cpt.8 &mdash; PASLAWSKI, Greg22 &mdash; SHUTT, Steve11 &mdash; WALTER, Ryan<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>30 &mdash; LOW, Ron.1 &mdash; RESCH, Chico<h3>Defense</h3>25 &mdash; BRUMWELL, Murray2 &mdash; CIRELLA, Joe3 &mdash; DANNEYKO, Ken26 &mdash; KITCHEN, Mike25 &mdash; LEWIS, Dave4 &mdash; LORIMER, Bob5 &mdash; RUSSELL, Phil<h3>Centers</h3>24 &mdash; BROTEN, Aaron10 &mdash; CAMERON, Dave27 &mdash; FLOYD, Larry12 &mdash; VERBEEK, Pat<h3>R. Wings</h3>14 &mdash; CHERNOMAZ, Rich29 &mdash; LUDVIG, Jan11 &mdash; MacMILLAN, Bob15 &mdash; MacLEAN, John20 &mdash; MARINI, Hector21 &mdash; MULVEY, Grant<h3>L. Wings</h3>17 &mdash; GAGNE, Paul7 &mdash; LARMER, Jeff9 &mdash; LEVER, Don - Cpt.<h2>NY ISLANDERS</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>30 &mdash; HRUDEY, Kelly1 &mdash; MELANSON, Rolland31 &mdash; SMITH, Billy<h3>Defensemen</h3>3 &mdash; JONSSON, Tomas24 &mdash; LANE, Gord26 &mdash; LANGEVIN, Dave2 &mdash; McEWEN, Mike6 &mdash; MORROW, Ken7 &mdash; PERSSON, Stefan8 &mdash; REGIER, Darcy5 &mdash; POTVIN, D. - Cpt.<h3>Centers</h3>25 &mdash; CARROLL, Bill91 &mdash; GORING, Butch11 &mdash; MERRICK, Wayne21 &mdash; SUTTER, Brent19 &mdash; TROTTIER, Bryan<h3>R. Wings</h3>22 &mdash; BOSSY, Mike9 &mdash; GILLIES, Clark23 &mdash; NYSTROM, Bob12 &mdash; SUTTER, Duane<h3>L. Wings</h3>14 &mdash; BOURNE, Bob17 &mdash; GILBERT, Greg20 &mdash; HALLIN, Mats28 &mdash; KALLUR, Anders27 &mdash; TONELLI, John<h2>NY RANGERS</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>1 &mdash; HANLON, Glen31 &mdash; WEEKS, Steve<h3>Defensemen</h3>5 &mdash; BECK, Barry - Cpt.11 &mdash; CHARTRAW, Rick4 &mdash; GRESCHNER, Ron27 &mdash; HUBER, Willie2 &mdash; LAIDLAW, Tom26 &mdash; MALONEY, Dave29 &mdash; RUOTSALAINEN, R.<h3>Centers</h3>14 &mdash; ALLISON, Mike8 &mdash; FTOREK, Robbie10 &mdash; LAROUCHE, Pierre40 &mdash; PAVELICH, Mark17 &mdash; ROGERS, Mike<h3>R. Wings</h3>24 &mdash; ANDERSSON, K.E.21 &mdash; BACKMAN, Mike18 &mdash; BLAISDELL, Mike15 &mdash; HEDBERG, Anders38 &mdash; SUNDSTROM, Pet.<h3>L. Wings</h3>36 &mdash; ERIXON, Jan22 &mdash; FOTIU, Nick12 &mdash; MALONEY, Don37 &mdash; McPHEE, George19 &mdash; OSBORNE, Mark<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>35 &mdash; FROESE, Bob33 &mdash; LAROCQUE, Michel31 &mdash; LINDBERGH, Pelle<h3>Defensemen</h3>5 &mdash; BATHE, Frank29 &mdash; COCHRANE, Glen3 &mdash; CROSSMAN, Doug9 &mdash; DVORAK, Miro6 &mdash; ERIKSSON, Tom24 &mdash; HOLT, Randy2 &mdash; HOWE, Mark10 &mdash; McCRIMMON, Brad8 &mdash; MARSH, Brad<h3>Centers</h3>19 &mdash; ALLISON, Ray16 &mdash; CLARKE, Bobby27 &mdash; SITTLER, Darryl14 &mdash; SUTTER, Ronnie<h3>R. Wings</h3>18 &mdash; CARSON, Lindsay17 &mdash; HOLMGREN, Paul12 &mdash; KERR, Tim21 &mdash; MacLEISH, Rick&mdash; SUTTER, Rich<h3>L. Wings</h3>7 &mdash; BARBER, Bill - Cpt.20 &mdash; POULIN, Dave26 &mdash; PROPP, Brian23 &mdash; SINISALO, IlkaINJURED: Peter Helander, have Yaylor IlaI, traig Hartsburg (Min), Rick Green, Mark Napier, Larry Robinson. Rick Wamsley (Mtl), Mike Bossy, Billy Carroll. (NYI), Mike Allison (NYR), Frank Bathe, Paul Holmgren, Michel Larocque (Pha).<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>29 &mdash; DION, Michel1 &mdash; HERRON, Denis<h3>Defensemen</h3>7 &mdash; BUSKAS, Rod25 &mdash; CARLYLE, R. - Cpt.33 &mdash; GLADNEY, Bob6 &mdash; HOTHAM, Greg16 &mdash; MAXWELL, Bryan4 &mdash; McSORLEY, Marty<h3>Centers</h3>22 &mdash; BULLARD, Mike20 &mdash; GARDNER, Paul19 &mdash; HANNAN, Dave12 &mdash; LAMOUREUX, Mitch34 &mdash; ST. LAURENT, Andre<h3>R. Wings</h3>18 &mdash; McClelland, Kevin11 &mdash; SAGANIUK, Rocky17 &mdash; KEHOE, Rick14 &mdash; SHEDDEN, Doug<h3>L. Wings</h3>15 &mdash; BOUTETTE, Pat24 &mdash; BULLEY, Ted10 &mdash; ERREY, Bob27 &mdash; SCHUTT, Rod<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>35 &mdash; BOUCHARD, Dan30 &mdash; MALARCHUK, C.<h3>Defensemen</h3>28 &mdash; DONNELLY, Gord22 &mdash; MAROIS, M. - Cpt.21 &mdash; MOLLER, Randy29 &mdash; PICHETTE, Dave7 &mdash; PRICE, Pat5 &mdash; ROCHEFORT, N.4 &mdash; VAN BOXMEER, J.2 &mdash; WEIR, Wally25 &mdash; WESLEY, Blake<h3>Centers</h3>14 &mdash; AUBRY, Pierre32 &mdash; HUNTER, Dale9 &mdash; McKEGNEY, Tony11 &mdash; SAVARD, Andre26 &mdash; STASTNY, P.<h3>R. Wings</h3>17 &mdash; BERGLUND, Bo27 &mdash; PAIEMENT, Wilf12 &mdash; SLEIGHER, Louis18 &mdash; STASTNY, Marian<h3>L. Wings</h3>19 &mdash; COTE, Alain23 &mdash; GILLIS, Paul16 &mdash; GOULET, Michel20 &mdash; STASTNY, Anton<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>31 &mdash; HEINZ, Rick1 &mdash; LIUT, Mike<h3>Defensemen</h3>25 &mdash; BOTHWELL, Tim16 &mdash; BROWNSCHILDE, J.2 &mdash; DORE, Andre26 &mdash; JOHNSON, Terry35 &mdash; PAVESE, Jim5 &mdash; RAMAGE, Rob21 &mdash; SCHOFIELD, Dwight34 &mdash; WILSON, Rik<h3>Centers</h3>17 &mdash; CHOUINARD, Guy24 &mdash; FEDERKO, Bernie18 &mdash; GILMOUR, Doug6 &mdash; PATEY, Larry9 &mdash; TURNBULL, Perry<h3>R. Wings</h3>10 &mdash; BABYCH, Wayne19 &mdash; DUNLOP, Blake7 &mdash; MULLEN, Joe15 &mdash; REEDS, Mark<h3>L. Wings</h3>20 &mdash; CARLSON, Jacky61 &mdash; HICKEY, Pat28 &mdash; KLASSEN, Ralph22 &mdash; PETTERSSON, Jorgen11 &mdash; SUTTER, Brian - Cpt.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>29 &mdash; PALMATEER, Mike1 &mdash; ST. CROIX, Rick<h3>Defensemen</h3>3 &mdash; BENNING, Jim28 &mdash; FARRISH, Dave11 &mdash; GINGRAS, Gaston20 &mdash; KORN, Jim21 &mdash; SALMING, Borje4 &mdash; LEEMAN, Gary2 &mdash; NYLUND, Gary17 &mdash; STEWART, Bill<h3>Centers</h3>24 &mdash; DAOUST, Dan19 &mdash; DERLAGO, Bill18 &mdash; IHNACAK, Peter12 &mdash; McCOURT, Dale7 &mdash; TERRION, Greg<h3>R. Wings</h3>14 &mdash; FRYCER, Miroslav9 &mdash; GAVIN, Stewart15 &mdash; HARRIS, Billy32 &mdash; NIGRO, Frank22 &mdash; VAIVE, Rick - Cpt.<h3>L. Wings</h3>10 &mdash; ANDERSON, John23 &mdash; GRAHAM, Pat25 &mdash; MARTIN, Terry8 &mdash; PODDUBNY, Walt<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>35 &mdash; BRODEUR, Richard31 &mdash; GARRETT, John<h3>Defensemen</h3>29 &mdash; BUBLA, Jiri5 &mdash; BUTCHER, Garth2 &mdash; HALWARD, Doug4 &mdash; LANZ, Rick25 &mdash; McCarthy, Kevin27 &mdash; SNEPSTS, Harold<h3>Centers</h3>23 &mdash; GRADIN, Thomas16 &mdash; KIRTON, Mark17 &mdash; SUNDSTROM, Pat.<h3>R. Wings</h3>19 &mdash; DELORME, Ron26 &mdash; MOLIN, Lars8 &mdash; NILL, Jim12 &mdash; SMYL, Stan - Cpt.9 &mdash; TANTI, Tony<h3>L. Wings</h3>28 &mdash; CRAWFORD, Mark14 &mdash; GILLIS, Jere7 &mdash; LUPUL, Gary18 &mdash; ROTA, Darcy22 &mdash; WILLIAMS, Dave<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>35 &mdash; JENSEN, Al1 &mdash; RIGGIN, Pat<h3>Defensemen</h3>2 &mdash; ANDERSSON, Peter17 &mdash; BLOMQVIST, Timo5 &mdash; LANGWAY, R. - Cpt.4 &mdash; MACKINNON, Paul&mdash; MURPHY, Larry26 &mdash; SHAND, Dave3 &mdash; STEVENS, Scott6 &mdash; VEITCH, Darren<h3>Centers</h3>10 &mdash; CARPENTER, Bobby27 &mdash; CHRISTIAN, Dave12 &mdash; CURRIE, Tony15 &mdash; HAWORTH, Alan25 &mdash; JARVIS, Doug28 &mdash; VALENTINE, Chris<h3>R. Wings</h3>11 &mdash; GARTNER, Mike23 &mdash; GOULD, Bobby<h3>L. Wings</h3>22 &mdash; ADAMS, Greg14 &mdash; DUCHESNE, Gaetan24 &mdash; ERICKSON, Bryan16 &mdash; GUSTAFSSON, B.18 &mdash; LAUGHLIN, Craig<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>1 &mdash; HAYWARD, Brian30 &mdash; SOETAERT, Doug31 &mdash; STANIOWSKI, Ed<h3>Defensemen</h3>44 &mdash; BABYCH, Dave4 &mdash; CAMPBELL, Wade14 &mdash; GIBSON, John6 &mdash; KYTE, Jim&mdash; MANTHA, Moe&mdash; SEPPA, Jyrki27 &mdash; SPRING, Don7 &mdash; WATTERS, Tim<h3>Centers</h3>16 &mdash; BOSCHMAN, Laurie10 &mdash; HAWERCHUK, Dale25 &mdash; STEEN, Thomas17 &mdash; YOUNG, Tim<h3>R. Wings</h3>23 &mdash; DEBLOIS, L. - Cpt.22 &mdash; LUNDHOLM, Bengt15 &mdash; MacLEAN, Paul8 &mdash; MANN, Jimmy20 &mdash; McBAIN, Andrew<h3>L. Wings</h3>11 &mdash; ARNIEL, Scott12 &mdash; LUKOWICH, Morris19 &mdash; MULLEN, Brian9 &mdash; SMAIL, DougINJURED: Paul Gardner, Doug Shedden (Pit), Dave Pichette, J.F. Sauve John van (Que), Larry Patey (StL), Peter Ihnacak, Gary Nylund, Watt Poddubny (Tor), Mark Kirton, Lars Molin (Van), Peter Andersson, Scott Stevens, John Gibson (Wpg) &#9632;

NHL TEAM ROSTERS

<h2>POWER PLAY GOALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09128/4819989-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="538" height="294"></div><h2>GAME WINNING GOALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10113/4819982-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="535" height="89"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-11105/4819975-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="533" height="205"></div><h2>SHORTHAND GOALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1292/4819968-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="539" height="236"></div><h2>MOST SHOTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1380/4819961-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="531" height="299"></div><h2>BEST SHOOTERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1466/4819954-1-eng-US/f0035-142.jpg" title="f0035-14" width="530" height="116"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1556/4819947-1-eng-US/f0035-152.jpg" title="f0035-15" width="539" height="207"></div><h2>BEST GOALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1650/4819940-1-eng-US/f0035-162.jpg" title="f0035-16" width="531" height="236"></div><h2>MOST WINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1738/4819933-1-eng-US/f0035-172.jpg" title="f0035-17" width="538" height="449"></div> &#9632;

f0035-09

NHL INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

BOSTON&mdash;Bourque 3, Middleton 3, 4, O&rsquo;Connell 3, Krushelnyski 2, 3, MacTavish 4, 5, McNab 3, 4, K. Crowder 2. Winning goals-MacTavish.BUFFALO&mdash;Housley 3, 4, 5, Perreault 5, 6, Foligno 1,2,3, Moller 1, Hamel 1,2,3, Cloutier 5. Winning goals-Housley, Perreault, Cloutier.CALGARY&mdash;Loob 2, 3, Eaves 2, McDonald 4, Peplinski 2, Hunter 1, Reinhart 2, 3, Hindmarch 2, Beers 2. Winning goals-Peplinski.CHICAGO&mdash;Fraser 2, B. Wilson 2, Larmer 7, Savard 5,6, Brown 1,2, Gardner 3, Sutter 2, D. Wilson 3, T. Murray 2, Lysiak 2, Yaremchuk 1, Marsh 1. Winning goals-Savard, Lysiak.DETROIT&mdash;Kisio 2, Larson 1, 2, Ogrodnick 4, 5, Foster 2, Duguay 2. Winning goals-Ogrodnick, Larson.EDMONTON&mdash;Anderson 5,6,7,8, Coffey 3, 4, Kurri 6, Gretzky 9, 10, 11, Semenko 2, 3, Linseman 3, 4, Roulston 2, 3, Hughes 2. Winning goals-Semenko.HARTFORD&mdash;Turgeon 2, Malone 2, Johnson 2, 3, Stoughton 3. Winning goalsTurgeon.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Nicholls 5,6,7,8, Fox 2,3, MacLean 2, Christoff 2, Houston 1, 2, 3, Simmer 3, 4, Dionne 3, Anderson 1. Winning goals-Fox, Dionne.MINNESOTA&mdash;Bellows 4, 5, Ashton 2, Broten 2, Giles 3, Smith 2. Winning goals-none.MONTREAL&mdash;Robinson 1, Walter 2, Mon-dou 3,4,5, Napier 2,3, Ludwig 1, Carbonneau 1, 2, Root 1, Naslund 3, 4, 5, Delorme 1, 2, Lafleur 6, Wickenheiser 1, Hunter 2, 3. Winning goals-Mondou, Wickenheiser.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Brumwell 1, Cameron 1, 2, 3, Larmer 2, Floyd 1, Chernomaz 2, Verbeek 3, Broten 2, Bridgman 1. Winning goals-none.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Merrick 2, B. Sutter 4, 5, Potvin 1, 2, 3, Persson 3, Langevin 1, Trottier 2, Bourne 4. Winning goals-none.NY RANGERS&mdash;Larouche 6, 7, Blaisdell 1, Dave Maloney 5, Rogers 3, 4, Osborne 4, Sundstrom 4,5, Pavelich 4, Hedberg 3, Erixon 3, Winning goals-Sundstrom 2, Blaisdell 1.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Crossman 2, Propp 4, Ron Sutter 3, 4, Sittler 1, Dvorak 1, Cochrane 2, MacLeish 4, Sinisalo 4, Kerr 4, Rich Sutter 1, Barber 4. Winning goals-Ron Sutter.PITTSBURGH&mdash;St. Laurent 2, Schutt 1. Winning goals-none.QUEBEC&mdash;Savard 3, 4, A. Stastny 6, 7, 8, Berglund 3,4, Goulet 7,8,9, McKegney 1,2,3, 4, 5, Paiement 5, 6, P. Stastny 2, 3, Marois 1, Sleigher 2, 3, M. Stastny 4, 5. Winning goals-Goulet, Paiement, M. Stastny.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Reeds 1, 2, Mullen 3, 4. Winning goals-Mullen.TORONTO&mdash;Harris 1, Vaive 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Frycer 3, Terrion 4, Derlago 4, Gingras 2, 3. Winning goals-Terrion.VANCOUVER&mdash;Tanti 9,10,11, Gillis 2, Rota 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Nill 1, Sundstrom 5, 6, Lupul 2, Smyl 4, Lanz 2, Williams 2, McCarthy 1. Winning goals-Lanz.WASHINGTON&mdash;Gartner 3, Haworth 2, Veitch 1, Duchesne 2. Winning goals-Haworth.WINNIPEG&mdash;Babych 2, 3, Arniel 4, Smail 3. Winning goals-none.Four-goal games&mdash;Nicholls (LA).Hat tricks-Houston (LA), Vaive (Tor) and Hamel (Buf), 1 each.Overtime winners&mdash;Wickenheiser (Mtl). &#9632;

NHL SCORERS THIS WEEK

(Standings on Tue. Oct. 25)<h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1480/4820089-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="533" height="438"></div><h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1580/4820082-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="536" height="467"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Oct. 18Calgary 4 at NY islanders 3Buffalo 3 at Pittsburgh 1Boston 3 at Quebec 5Wed. Oct.19New Jersey 3 at Chicago 6St. Louis 2 at Detroit 4Washington 0 at Hartford 3Calgary 1 at NY Rangers 3Quebec 8 at Toronto 1Edmonton 10 at Vancouver 7Montreal 12 at Winnipeg 2Thu. Oct. 20Edmonton 2 at Los Angeles 7Montreal 5 at Minnesota 4 (OT)Boston 3 at Philadelphia 3 (OT)Fri. Oct. 21New Jersey 4 at Vancouver 5Sat. Oct. 22Calgary 1 at Detroit 4Vancouver 5 at Edmonton 5 (OT)Buffalo 5 at Hartford 2New Jersey 3 at Los Angeles 8NY Rangers 3 at NY Islanders 2Boston 6 at Pittsburgh 1Minnesota 2 at Quebec 11Chicago 1 at St. Louis 2Montreal 3 at Toronto 5Philadelphia 1 at Washington 4Sun. Oct. 23Winnipeg 2 at Buffalo 5Calgary 4 at Chicago 7NY Islanders 5 at NY Rangers 6 (OT)Toronto 5 at Philadelphia 8 &#9632;

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THE NHL SCOREBOARD

<h2>AT HOME</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1677/4820134-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="271" height="640"></div><h2>ON THE ROAD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1771/4820127-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="257" height="645"></div><h2>POINTS RACE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1867/4820120-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="545" height="640"></div> &#9632;

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HOW NHL TEAMS RATE

A regular feature of the Chrysler Scoreboard each week will be the Rookie Spotlight, which will lead to a Chrysler Rookie of the Year award at the end of the regular season. The rookie award will be announced with other HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; awards including NHL Player and Coach of the Year.This week&rsquo;s profile is of Buffalo Sabre goalie Tom Barrasso.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0799/4820165-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="517" height="636"></div>Players such as Bobby Carpenter and Phil Housley have proven that is possible to graduate directly from U.S. high school hockey to the NHL, but it&rsquo;s still quite a jump. If you&rsquo;re a goaltender, the jump is even greater, but Tom Barrasso, an 18-year-old native of Stow, MA., looks as though he&rsquo;s fitting in without any problems.The strapping netminder has four victories and one loss after five NHL starts, with a sparkling 2.60 goals-against average. His strong points are his confidence and puckhandling abilities and those are two reasons why he is a top candidate for Rookie of the Year in the NHL. &#9632;

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Chrysler Rookie Award

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Oct. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01448/4820280-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="535" height="506"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Oct. 18Nova Scotia 4 at Moncton 5Hershey 3 at St. Catharines 4Wed. Oct. 19Adirondack 1 at Baltimore 8Maine 6 at Rochester 3Thu. Oct. 20Hershey 1 at Fredericton 6Moncton 4 at Nova Scotia 2Fri. Oct. 21Springfield 3 at Adirondack 6Binghamton 3 at Baltimore 3St. Catharines 4 at Rochester 8New Haven 9 at Sherbrooke 1Sat. Oct 22New Haven 4 at Adirondack 5Rochester 6 at Binghamton 10Nova Scotia 4 at Fredericton 3Sherbrooke 1 at Maine 3Hershey 2 at Moncton 3St. Catharines 3 at Springfield 7Sun. Oct. 23St. Catharines 1 at Baltimore 4Maine 6 at New Haven 3Hershey 5 at Nova Scotia 6Moncton 2 at Rochester 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02356/4820273-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="528" height="329"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Oct. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03280/4820266-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="533" height="182"></div><h2>OLYMPIC TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04212/4820259-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="531" height="93"></div>(Olympic teams play 10 game schedule)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. 18Team Canada 3 at Team USA 3Thu. 20Team Canada 3 at Team USA 3Fri. Oct. 21Montana 6 at Indianpolis 11Colorado 3 at Salt Lake 5Team Canada 4 at Team USA 1Sat. Oct. 22Montana 0 at Indianapolis 9Colorado 6 at Salt Lake 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05145/4820252-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="532" height="237"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Oct. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06107/4820245-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="525" height="244"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Oct. 19Flint 3 at Fort Wayne 3Fri. Oct. 21Muskegon 5 at Kalamazoo 4Peoria 1 at Toledo 4Flint 4 at Milwaukee 5Sat. Oct. 22Kalamazoo 4 at Fort Wayne 4Peoria 2 at Muskegon 1Toledo 6 at Flint 6Sun. Oct. 23Muskegon 3 at Flint 6Kalamazoo 2 at Milwaukee 3Fort Wayne 3 at Peoria 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0793/4820238-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="530" height="295"></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Oct. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0876/4820231-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="525" height="557"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tud. Oct. 18Guelph 4 at Ottawa 4London 7 at Kingston 5Wed. Oct. 19Guelph 7 at Belleville 5Thu. Oct. 20Guelph 3 at Cornwall 6North Bay 4 at Peterborough 12Belleville 6 at Windsor 5Toronto 6 at Brandford 9Fri. Oct. 21Peterborough 3 at Kitchener 6North Bay 3 at Ottawa 4Belleville 5 at London 2S.S. Marie 6 at Sudbury 8Windsor 4 at Oshawa 5Brantford 3 at Kingston 5Sat Oct. 22S.S. Marie 3 at Toronto 5Sudbury 3 at Peterborough 6Sun. Oct. 23Sudbury 3 at Toronto 9Ottawa 4 at Oshawa 2S.S. Marie 7 at Guelph 2Windsor 6 at London 2Kingston 3 at Brantford 8<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0966/4820224-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="527" height="324"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Oct. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1062/4820217-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="528" height="495"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Oct. 18Lethbridge 3 at Kelowna 1Winnipeg 5 at Saskatoon 3Victoria 4 at Seattle 1Wed. Oct. 19Lethbridge 7 at Kamloops 1Kelowna 9 at Victoria 8Brandon 5 at Calgary 2Winnipeg 5 at Prince Albert 4Thu. Oct. 20Kelowna 3 at New Westminster 2Fri. Oct. 21Medicine Hat 2 at Lethbridge 4Prince Albert 4 at Regina 6Brandon 5 at Seattle 3Sat. Oct. 22Prince Albert 4 at Medicine Hat 6Kamloops 4 at Portland 5Brandon 8 at Victoria 5Sun. Oct. 23Brandon 2 at New Westminster 2Medicine Hat 2 at Calgary 3Prince Albert 1 at Lethbridge 3Winnipeg 4 at Regina 8Kamloops 5 at Seattle 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1156/4820210-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="531" height="404"></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Oct. 24)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1251/4820203-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="527" height="434"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Oct. 17Verdun 5 at Laval 11Tue. Oct. 18St Jean 5 at Longueuil 8Wed. Oct. 19Shawinigan 2 at Drummondville 6Longueuil 5 at Laval 11Chicoutimi 3 at Quebec 4Hull 4 at T-Rivieres 3Fri. Oct. 21T-Rivieres 7 at Chicoutimi 8Laval 7 at Drummondville 2Granby 4 at Quebec 7Verdun 4 at Shawinigan 5Hull 5 at St. Jean 6Sun. Oct 23Quebec 5 at Chicoutimi 3Drummondville 7 at Granby 4Verdun 3 at Hull 8St Jean 4 at Shawinigan 6Longueuil 7 at T-Rivieres 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1342/4820196-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="530" height="347"></div> &#9632;

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MINOR SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-14" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1437/4820311-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL MINOR LEAGUE AFFILIATIONS

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Left wing.If you can play it, call Nick Polano.If you have a guy who plays it and you don&rsquo;t want him, call Nick Polano.If, by now, you&rsquo;re beginning to think Nick Polano is looking for a left winger, you&rsquo;ve got the idea.The shortage at left wing is a serious problem for the Red Wings, who were 0-3-2 in their first five starts, with only ties in Winnipeg and Los Angeles to show for their efforts.Polano knows the Wings won&rsquo;t come by a solution easily and he wasn&rsquo;t about to sit around and wait for the rest of the National Hockey League to come to his rescue, so he shuffled his lineup in search of a left winger.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to add some much-needed scoring punch on that side.&rdquo; Polano said. &ldquo;We have to try something. The problem is we have three checkingtype left wingers.&rdquo;On left wing, the Wings started the season with John Ogrodnick, a 41-goal scorer last season and an all-star caliber performer, Paul Woods and rookies Murray Craven and Ted Nolan. Craven, normally a center, was converted to left wing in the great experiment of training camp.When that alignment didn&rsquo;t produce satisfactory results, Polano shifted veteran Ivan Boldirev, a center throughout his 14 National Hockey League seasons, and Bob Manno, normally a defenseman, to left wing.Boldirev scored three goals in his first two games at diet position and Manno also excelled. Boldirev scored a pair of goals in the 3-3 tie in Los Angeles, including the one that tied it with 31 seconds left in the game. The teams were goalless in overtime.Polano said Manno was &ldquo;fantastic&rdquo; against the Kings.&ldquo;Nick asked if I&rsquo;d try and I said I&rsquo;d play anywhere if it would help get going,&rdquo; said Boldirev. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t played there much, only three or four games with Vancouver a couple of years ago&hellip;and before that in peewee.&ldquo;Naturally, I prefer center but left wing is fine. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;ll be a problem on offense. But the thing is, in our end. I&rsquo;m used to hanging in the slot. Now I&rsquo;ll have to get to the points.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s not likely the Wings are going to find relief through trades. The names generally mentioned as being available have been explored.&ldquo;Anytime we talk trade for a left winger, the other teams want Ogrodnick or (Reed) Larson and we&rsquo;re not going to do that,&rdquo; Polano said.Besides, it&rsquo;s hard to imagine how trading Ogrodnick is going to make the Wings stronger at the position.Polano juggled his lines regularly through the first few games.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t generally move players around but right now I&rsquo;m trying to finds the right balance,&rdquo; Polano said. &ldquo;Besides, we haven&rsquo;t won a game yet.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for three lines capable of scoring goals and a fourth line to do the checking.&rdquo;He has rookie Steve Yzerman at center between Ogrodnick and Ron Duguay on what amounts to the No. 1 line. Kelly Kisio is working between Boldirev and Ed Johnstone. Danny Gare and Dwight Foster are back together, with Manno on left wing. &#9632;

Red Wings In Dire Need Of A Left Winger

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;How bad was the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; start?It was soooooooo bad that..&bull; After five games, the Devils were minus-one on their power play, going two-for-30 and giving up three shorthand goals. &bull; After only five games (1-4), Devil general manager-coach Billy MacMillan admitted that his team missed the powerplay artistry of the Finnish defenseman Tapio Levo, who decided to remain in Europe this season. &bull; Defenseman Murray Brumwell, who was Levo&rsquo;s partner on the point for part of last season, was recalled from Maine of the American Hockey League. &bull; The Devils had goals disallowed, at home, in two straight games by rookie referees. &bull; The Devils&rsquo; only &ldquo;hot&rdquo; scorer, Jan Ludvig (four goals in five games), suffered a broken nose and a deep laceration over his right eye and missed a three-game road trip. &bull; Veteran forwards Mel Bridgman, Grant Mulvey, Bob MacMillan and Dave Cameron failed to score a goal over the first five games of the season.A large portion of a sparse crowd of 7,712 left the Meadowlands Arena before the start of the third period of a 4-1 loss to Toronto on Oct. 16.As the Devils prepared to leave on a three-game road trip the next day, MacMillan wondered aloud if it wasn&rsquo;t better to sort out some of the problems in Chicago, Los Angeles and Vancouver rather than at home.&ldquo;Sometimes it&rsquo;s better to be away in a situation like this,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good time for us to come together as a team.&rdquo;The Devils displayed very little cohesiveness over their first five games and the frustration was apparent.Even mild-mannered Bobby MacMillan, Billy&rsquo;s younger brother, got angry enough to pick up nine minutes in penalties&mdash;the former Lady Byng award winner for gentlemanly play had eight minutes in all of last season&mdash;against the Leafs.The veterans who have been with both Colorado and New Jersey were especially hopeful when the season began that some of the gains that have been made through the draft would show up on the ice. It is very difficult to play through three or four rebuilding programs which show no results.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very frustrating,&rdquo; a downcast Bobby MacMillan admitted after his team&rsquo;s inept performance against Toronto. &ldquo;We expected more of ourselves than this.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re supposed to be better and we didn&rsquo;t expect to come up as poorly as we have so far. We all knew our start was important and new we re already down, looking up, again.&rdquo;Veteran goalie Chico Resch expressed similar disappointment after getting off to a personal 0-3 start.&ldquo;We had hoped to get off to a good start to create interest and now we&rsquo;re playing frustrated hockey,&rdquo; Resch observed. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re forgetting that we&rsquo;re a young team and this is a tough league.&rdquo;The Devils are no longer a novelty; they do not have the help of a pro football strike, as they did a year ago, and they are surrounded by superior hockey teams in New York, Long Island and Philadelphia.Billy MacMillan is aware of those factors but he claims that the difficult circumstances and the increased pressures are not going to alter his plan.&ldquo;The rookies are pressing just like Ludvig did last year when he was a rookie,&rdquo; MacMillan pointed out. &ldquo;That is to be expected; they have to take their lumps. I can see frustration being a problem only if we make them feel we expect too much from them. I remember watching Wayne Gretzky at age 18 in the WHA finals and he looked like an ordinary player.&rdquo;When he recalled Brumwell, MacMillan demoted one of his seven rookies. defenseman Alan Hepple, but he seemed determined to suffer with the other six.&ldquo;We can send them down or back to junior hockey now but then we&rsquo;re going to be going through the same thing with them here next season,&rdquo; MacMillan reasoned, &ldquo;I think we should get it done now.&rdquo;MacMillan didn&rsquo;t say so but there is every reason to believe that the alternative to keeping the rookies is not too attractive. Bringing back a group of journeymen and fringe veterans is not likely to appreciably improve the team&rsquo;s record.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a tough season,&rdquo; MacMillan conceded, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;d rather take the lumps now. We&rsquo;re not going to panic.&rdquo;HOT STUFF&mdash;Defenseman Phil Russell, Jan Ludvig and rookie center Pat Verbeek were the only Devils to score more than one goal over the first five games and they had accounted for nine of their team&rsquo;s paltry total of 14 goals. Ludvig took a stick over the eye from Toronto center Dan Daoust and. when he objected, caught a right hand which broke his nose. &#9632;

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November 4, 1983

Top Scorers In The NHL

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCORING

Laval’s Lemieux Makes It Look So Simple

Lamoureux Has Heart Of Giant