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

November 18, 1983

The Hockey News November 18, 1983

<h2>AT HOME</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-16143/6588487-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="266" height="650"></div><h2>ON THE ROAD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-17135/6588480-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="264" height="642"></div><h2>POINTS RACE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-18127/6588473-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="528" height="642"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

HOW NHL TEAMS RATE

<h2>NHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011457/6585701-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="544" height="1138"></div><h2>The Minors</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021194/6585694-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="536" height="226"></div><h2>The Amateurs</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03879/6585687-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="534" height="164"></div><h2>The Colleges</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04652/6585680-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="539" height="237"></div><h2>Columnists</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05475/6585673-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="538" height="238"></div><h2>Departments</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06356/6585666-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="538" height="702"></div> &#9632;

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<h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Tue. 8 Minnesota at HartfordSt. Louis at Los AngelesNY Rangers at New JerseyPhiladelphia at NY IslandersCalgary at PittsburghEdmonton at QuebecWed. 9 Boston at BuffaloMontreal at ChicagoMinnesota at DetroitCalgary at NY RangersNew Jersey at TorontoEdmonton at WashingtonVancouver at WinnipegThu. 10 St. Louis at Los AngelesFri. 11 Toronto at BuffalNY Islanders at PittsburghVancouver at WinnipegSat. 12 Edmonton at DetroitChicago at HartfordMontreal at Los AngelesSt. Louis at MinnesotaCalgary at New Jersey *Pittsburgh at NY IslandersBoston at QuebecPhiladelphia at TorontoNY Rangers at WashingtonSun. 13 Washington at BostonCalgary at BuffaloEdmonton at ChicagoDetroit at NY RangersMontreal at VancouverPhiladelphia at WinnipegTue. 15 New Jersey at MinnesotaHartford at NY IslandersDetroit at QuebecMontreal at St. LouisWed. 16 St. Louis at ChicagoVancouver at Los AngelesWashington at NY RangersToronto at PittsburghBuffalo at WinnipegThu. 17 Toronto at BostonNew Jersey at CalgaryQuebec at HartfordDetroit at MontrealMinnesota at PhiladelphiaFri. 18 Buffalo at EdmontonLos Angeles at VancouverNY Islanders at WashingtonSat. 19 NY Rangers at BostonBuffalo at CalgaryNew Jersey at EdmontonWinnipeg at MinnesotaChicago at MontrealWashington at NY IslandersSt. Louis at PittsburghHartford at QuebecDetroit at TorontoSun. 20 Minnesota at ChicagoQuebec at NY RangersPittsburgh at PhiladelphiaLos Angeles at VancouverMon. 21 Los Angeles at CalgaryWinnipeg at EdmontonTue. 22 Boston at MontrealQuebec at NY IslandersToronto at St. LouisWed. 23 St. Louis at DetroitMontreal at HartfordEdmonton at Los AngelesToronto at MinnesotaBuffalo at NY RangersNY Islanders at PhiladelphiaNew Jersey at PittsburghChicago at WashingtonVancouver at WinnipegThu. 24 Quebec at BostonWinnipeg at CalgaryFri. 25 Chicago at BuffaloPittsburgh at DetroitEdmonton at MinnesotaNY Rangers at WashingtonSat. 26 New Jersey at Boston *NY Rangers at HartfordCalgary at Los AngelesWashington at MontrealChicago at NY IslandersDetroit at PittsburghBuffalo at QuebecEdmonton at St. LouisMinnesota at TorontoPhiladelphia at VancouverMon. 28 Vancouver at NY RangersTue. 29 Philadelphia at CalgaryWinnipeg at Los AngelesPittsburgh at MinnesotaBuffalo at MontrealChicago at New JerseyWashington at QuebecNY Islanders at St. LouisWed. 30 Toronto at DetroitPhiladelphia at EdmontonVancouver at HartfordChicago at NY Rangers<h2>DECEMBER</h2>Thu. 1 Vancouver at BostonNY Islanders at CalgaryWinnipeg at Los AngelesQuebec at MontrealMinnesota at PittsburghNew Jersey at WashingtonFri. 2 St. Louis at BuffaloWashington at New JerseySat. 3 Minnesota at Boston *NY Rangers at DetroitLos Angeles at EdmontonSt. Louis at HartfordCalgary at MontrealPhiladelphia at PittsburghChicago at QuebecVancouver at TorontoSun. 4 Montreal at BuffaloNY Islanders at EdmontonDetroit at New JerseyMinnesota at NY RangersHartford at PhiladelphiaBoston at WashingtonLos Angeles at WinnipegTue. 6 Hartford at MontrealBoston at PittsburghCalgary at QuebecBuffalo at St. LouisNY Islanders at VancouverWed. 7 Buffalo at ChicagoVancouver at EdmontonNY Islanders at Los AngelesDetroit at MinnesotaWinnipeg at New JerseyWashington at NY RangersSt. Louis at TorontoThu. 8 Montreal at BostonToronto at HartfordChicago at PhiladelphiaCalgary at WashingtonSat. 10 Buffalo at BostonWinnipeg at HartfordQuebec at Los AngelesNY Islanders at MinnesotaPhiladelphia at New JerseyDetroit at St. LouisCalgary at TorontoEdmonton at VancouverMontreal at WashingtonSun. 11 Winnipeg at BostonDetroit at ChicagoBuffalo at PhiladelphiaMontreal at PittsburghMon. 12 New Jersey at NY RangersTue. 13 Los Angeles at DetroitEdmonton at NY IslandersHartford at PittsburghChicago at St. LouisQuebec at VancouverWed. 14 New Jersey at BuffaloQuebec at CalgaryLos Angeles at ChicagoSt. Louis at MinnesotaEdmonton at NY RangersWinnipeg at TorontoThu. 15 Hartford at BostonPittsburgh at MontrealDetroit at NY IslandersWashington at PhiladelphiaFri. 16 Calgary at VancouverNew Jersey at WinnipegSat. 17 Chicago at BostonPhiladelphia at DetroitQuebec at EdmontonBuffalo at HartfordNew Jersey at MinnesotaSt. Louis at MontrealNY Rangers at NY IslandersLos Angeles at PittsburghWashington at TorontoSun. 18 Vancouver at BuffaloBoston at ChicagoDetroit at PhiladelphiaPittsburgh at TorontoLos Angeles at WashingtonEdmonton at Winnipeg &#9632;

NHL GAMES TO COME

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Nov. 8)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01765/6588612-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="536" height="503"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 1Fredericton 5 at St. Catharines 2Wed. Nov. 2Fredericton 4 at Aidrondack 2Binghamton 2 at Hershey 5New Haven 2 at Moncton 6Baltimore 3 at Nova Scotia 3Thu. Nov. 3Binghamton 5 at Rochester 4Fri. Nov. 4Baltimore 5 at Moncton 2New Haven 2 at Nova Scotia 4Adirondack 2 at Sherbrooke 6Fredericton 3 at Springfield 5Sat. Nov. 5Sherbrooke 1 at Adirondack 9St. Catharines 9 at Binghamton 6Rochester 5 at Hershey 1Baltimore 5 at Maine 4Fredericton 5 at Springfield 6Sun. Nov. 6New Haven 4 at Moncton 3Maine 3 at Nova Scotia 3Rochester 2 at St. Catharines 5Fredericton 1 at Sherbrooke 1<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02562/6588605-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="542" height="91"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03452/6588598-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="538" height="302"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Nov. 8)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04353/6588591-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="536" height="181"></div><h2>OLYMPIC TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05269/6588584-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="539" height="92"></div>(Olympic teams play 10 game schedule)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 1Colorado 2 at Team Canada 4Indianapolis 3 at Team USA 9Fri. Nov. 4Tulsa 3 at Montana 4Colorado 3 at Indianapolis 4Team USA 8 at Salt Lake 4Sat. Nov. 5Tulsa 3 at Montana 2Colorado 4 at Indianapolis 6Sun. Nov. 6Tulsa 3 at Team USA 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06227/6588577-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="543" height="357"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Nov. 9)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07208/6588570-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="535" height="242"></div>(Teams get one point for an overtime loss)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Nov. 2Fort Wayne 3 at Milwaukee 1Toledo 7 at Peoria 3Thu. Nov. 3Flint 1 at Peoria 7Fri. Nov. 4Kalamazoo 1 at Fort Wayne 7Toledo 1 at Milwaukee 5Sat. Nov. 5Peoria 2 at Fort Wayne 9Toledo 0 at Muskegon 2Kalamazoo 3 at Flint 3Sun. Nov. 6Muskegon 1 at Kalamazoo 3Milwaukee 1 at Peoria 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-08176/6588563-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="539" height="328"></div><h2>ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Sun. Nov. 6)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-09160/6588556-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="530" height="209"></div>*&mdash;Suspended operations Oct. 28.(Teams get one point for overtime loss)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Oct. 31Carolina 5 at Nashville 4Tue. Nov. 1Erie 2 at Pine Bridge 7Carolina 0 at Nashville 4Wed. Nov. 2Erie 1 at Mohawk Valley 4Thu. Nov. 3Carolina 4 at Erie 2Fri. Nov. 4Carolina 11 at Mohawk Valley 4Sat. Nov. 5Nashville 3 at Pine Bridge 5Carolina 4 at Erie 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-10143/6588549-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="540" height="288"></div> &#9632;

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MINOR SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07232/6585732-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="289" height="344"></div><h2>Genius Denies It</h2>THE YARN IS A fine piece of hockey folklore, often employed to demonstrate the genius of Sam Pollock, when he was managing diector of the Montreal Canadiens. Pollock created the Canadien teams that dominated the National Hockey League in the &rsquo;70s.Sad Sam always was a shrewd man in a horse trade but what most claim was his finest manoeuvre was the swap that earned the Canadiens the first pick in the 1971 entry draft. The Canadiens used that choice to select Guy Lafleur, who became the dominant player of the &rsquo;70s.The deal was completed on May 22, 1970. In it, the Oakland Seals acquired forward Ernie Hicke and the Canadiens&rsquo; first-round pick in the 1970 draft, used to claim center Chris Oddliefson, for defenseman Francois Lacombe, the Seals&rsquo; first pick in the &rsquo;71 draft and some cash.When the Seals finished with the worst record in the NHL in the &rsquo;70-71 season, the Canadiens picked first overall. Who can forget the words of Garry Young, who had been appointed the Seals&rsquo; general manager just prior to the draft meeting in Montreal: &ldquo;Mr. Campbell (NHL president Clarence), California regretfully defers its first choice to the Stanley Cup Montreal Canadiens.&rdquo;The Canadiens picked Lafleur from Quebec Remparts juniors but, it turns out, they had a tough time deciding on The Flower or Marcel Dionne, who had an outstanding junior career in St. Catharines.The story goes that when the Los Angeles Kings showed signs of dropping below the Seals in futility during the &rsquo;70-71 season, Pollock dispatched center Ralph Backstrom to L.A., boosting the Kings up the ladder.Boston Bruins had the Kings&rsquo; first-round pick in &rsquo;71 and, of course, they wouldn&rsquo;t have minded Lafleur at all. As it turned out, Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins all had lower point totals than the Kings.<h2>There&rsquo;s One Flaw</h2>IT&rsquo;S A NIFTY tale, anyway, in which the shrewd Pollock, knowing that Lafleur, with his superstar potential, was draftable in 1971, made a brilliant, forward-thinking trade to land the chance to pick him and then made another swap to guarantee that Guy would be available.However, there&rsquo;s one flaw in using the yam to point out Pollock&rsquo;s brilliance: The man himself denies strongly all aspects of the commonly-repeated version of the Lafleur story.Pollock maintains that the first part of the tale&mdash;the trade with the Seals that included their first draft pick in 1971&mdash;doesn&rsquo;t portray genius because at the time it was made, all indications were that the Oakland or California team would be well up the NHL ladder.&ldquo;In the 1969-70 season, the Seals had finished fourth in their division after a second-place the previous year,&rdquo; Pollock said. &ldquo;They looked to be a team on its way to good things and figured they had a shot at winning the old West Division in &rsquo;70-71.&ldquo;The Canadiens&rsquo; policy in those days was not to trade away draft choices but in the case of the deal with the Seals, we traded a draft choice for another one. We had a couple of first-round picks in &rsquo;70 so we could make the swap with the Seals and not hurt ourselves.&ldquo;Because the Seals appeared to be an improving team when we made the deal, we didn&rsquo;t think there would be a great deal of difference between our pick and their&rsquo;s in &rsquo;71.&ldquo;But &rsquo;70-71 was a very tough season for Oakland. They floundered badly and were fighting to get out of the cellar. The Seals&rsquo; best hockey player was Carol Vadnais, who was playing all-star caliber defense for them.&ldquo;In a game at Oakland, Vadnais and Frank Mahovlich of our team had a collision and Frank fell on top of Vadnais, who hurt his ankle and missed half the season. The Seals just collapsed after that.&ldquo;There was no way that I could have predicted that the Seals would finish absolutely last in NHL and that their draft pick, which we had, would be the No. 1 selection.<h2>Ralph Asked to Go</h2>&ldquo;FICTION, JUST FICTION,&rdquo; is how Pollock describes the stories that he traded Backstrom to the Kings to keep them in front of the Seals.&ldquo;For personal reasons, Ralph Backsttom had wanted to move to a team on the west coast,&rdquo; Pollock said. &ldquo;He said: &lsquo;Sam, send me to Vancouver, L.A. or Oakland, it doesn&rsquo;t matter.&rsquo; L.A. was the only bidder for him.Thus, Pollock, who retired from the Canadiens in 1978 to enter private business but is involved with the Canadian Olympic project this season, laughs at the claims that he was a genius in landing Lafleur. &#9632;

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HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY CRESTON MAPES</div>Most kids in Canada begin skating at ages three or four&mdash;sometimes younger&mdash;but when Brian MacLellan&rsquo;s friends were on the ice, he was in a leg brace, hampered by a disease that doctors said would paralyze him by age 21.Today, MacLellan is a healthy 24-year-old who has not only survived a rare disease, but has skated his way through the youth hockey leagues of Guelph, Ont., to U.S. collegiate hockey at Bowling Green University and now to the pinnacle of the sport as a promising player with the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Los Angeles Kings.And on Nov. 3, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound left winger scored four times and added one assist. Yes, Brian MacLellan has arrived, but it wasn&rsquo;t an easy journey.At age six, he was struck by a disease called Legg Perthes (pronounced Leg Pur-thy), which is a fairly rare disorder that affects the ball of the hip joint. In laymen&rsquo;s terms, the disease can best be described as the ball slipping the connection to the pelvis, causing the loss of normal leg movement. The usual treatment calls for months of traction.When MacLellan contracted the disease, doctors said the cool, damp air of an arena and the extensive exercise involved in skating may actually help his condition.And it did. He fought the battle and strenuously conditioned the muscles in his leg. He worked hard on and off the ice, skating every day for almost a year.When he was seven, it was time to make his move into hockey. Brian&rsquo;s friends, who had a head start on him, encouraged him to join a house league. He did&mdash;without the doctors&rsquo; consent.&ldquo;When I wasn&rsquo;t playing hockey I wore the leg brace that the doctors advised,&rdquo; MacLellan says. &ldquo;But I was on the leg a lot more than any doctor knew about. They said skating would help, but they didn&rsquo;t mean hockey.&rdquo;Since then, MacLellan has never looked back, skating and playing his way back to full health. He&rsquo;s never been bothered by the condition again, the freedom of which allowed him to progress through the youth hockey system of Guelph. As a teenager, he played in a league with George McPhee, who would later become a college teammate and is now a New York Ranger farmhand playing in Tulsa.During MacLellan&rsquo;s high school years, his growing frame and dominance on the ice were scouted by collegiate coaches from Western Michigan, Ohio State. East Clarkson. Michigan Tech and Bowling Green State University, which, of course, he chose to attend.There, in his freshman year under coach Ron Mason, the squad went to the semi-finals of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and repeated that feat again in MacLellan&rsquo;s senior year.Throughout his college career, he chalked up an impressive array of awards, including the 1982 All-America award, the All-Coaches award, first-team all-star in the CCHA and, to top it off, a spot on the AllCountry squad.Despite his achievements. MacLellan had been ignored in previous NHL entry drafts so, in the spring of 1982, his senior year, he was signed as a free agent by the Kings. But after pulling a groin in the following training camp, he was demoted to New Haven of the American League.Last January, he was recalled for eight games to replace an injured John Paul Kelly, but he finished the season in New Haven.With an up-and-down rookie season behind him, he made his way back to the Kings&rsquo; camp and has been an asset ever since, playing on a line with flamboyant center Bemie Nicholls and the diminutive but shifty right winger Jim Fox. The line has been the Kings&rsquo; most dangerous offensive unit thus far in the young NHL season.Now, with his bout of Legg Purthes a distant memory, he can concentrate on one thing and one thing only&mdash;being a King in Los Angeles.Creston Mapes is a reporter with the Herald in Englewood, Fla., and attended BGU with Brian MacLellan. &#9632;

No Looking Back For Kings’ MacLellan

<div class="byline">BY BOB McKENZIE</div>Solving the riddle that is Bernie Nicholls is no easy assignment. Or is it?Is he the good, old country boy with a heart of gold who hails from the tiny hamlet (population 100) of West Guilford, Ont?Or is he the hotshot playboy from Los Angeles who lives in a $400,000 mansion in the hills of Southern California?Or could the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center be one of the fastest rising stars in the National Hockey League?Or is he a flamboyant showoff&mdash;dare we say a hot dog&mdash;who puts as much energy into celebrating goals as he does scoring them?Well, Bernie Nicholls is all those things, yet Bernie Nicholls is none of them. Confused? It&rsquo;s not an unusual condition when you try to hang a label on this seemingly walking contradiction. Let it suffice to say that Bernie Nicholls is Bernie Nicholls.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if people really understand what I&rsquo;m like,&rdquo; says Nicholls, who never really changes as much as his environment does.&ldquo;More than anything else, I like to have a good time, whatever I&rsquo;m doing. I&rsquo;m never serious. Well, I&rsquo;m serious when I&rsquo;m playing, but I like to have fun in life. To me, that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s all about. I&rsquo;m really very easy-going. Maybe a lot of people think I&rsquo;m cocky, too cocky, I guess, because they don&rsquo;t think I treat things seriously enough. But I&rsquo;m just trying to have some fun in life and it&rsquo;s not at somebody else&rsquo;s expense. Some people say I&rsquo;m a hot dog. I don&rsquo;t think I am.&rdquo;But Bernie, how about:&bull; The full-length fur coat and fancy cowboy boots you wore in junior hockey while your teammates and opponents were still at the three-piece suit and white tube sock stage? &bull; The time, in your rookie season, when you went on national television and when asked what your goals for the season were, you said 50 was a nice, round number? &bull; The game last season when you and your line shut down the New York Islanders&rsquo; star duo of Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy and after it was over, you asked them both for their sticks? &bull; The Pumper-Nicholl, your goal-scoring ritual of punching the air with your glove and sometimes irritating your opponents?If those don&rsquo;t brand you as a hot dog with the works, then what does?&ldquo;Those things don&rsquo;t make me a hot dog,&rdquo; Nicholls reasons. &ldquo;The reason I wore the fur coat in junior was simple&mdash;it was a good deal. I got a $4,000 coat for $1,000. It was cold in Kingston. Why not wear a fur coat? I like to be warm.&ldquo;And sure, I said I&rsquo;d like to score 50 goals. Who wouldn&rsquo;t? You&rsquo;ve got to shoot for something and I like to think that I can get 50.&rdquo;But Bernie, wasn&rsquo;t it a little precocious to ask for Trottier&rsquo;s and Bossy&rsquo;s stick right after you&rsquo;d done a job on them?&ldquo;Bryan Trottier has always been my favorite hockey player. Up until I was drafted by the Kings, the Islanders were my favorite team. It was my first game against them and I really was thrilled to get their sticks.&ldquo;And I don&rsquo;t understand why people make a big deal out of the way I celebrate a goal. Hey, I&rsquo;m happy. It feels good to score a goal and that&rsquo;s my way of showing it. I don&rsquo;t see why people should be offended by it. I&rsquo;m not trying to rub it in or anything. Really, I&rsquo;m just happy.&rdquo;Nicholls has reason to be happy these days. Centering a line between nifty little winger Jim Fox and the towering Scott MacLellan, Nicholls has been the Kings&rsquo; dominant player so far this season. In his first 15 games, the 22-year-old has 12 goals and 14 assists and has shown that, barring injuries or a complete breakdown, he could pot 40 or 50 this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011606/6585763-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="969" height="1299"></div>The only reason for hesitancy in proclaiming Nicholls&rsquo; arrival as a top-flight offensive power in the NHL is that a year ago, he was struck down with a knee injury just when he was on a similar roll. In his first 19 games last season, he had 16 goals and eight assists, but after the injury&mdash;suffered in Detroit when Willie Huber hit him&mdash;he lost his effectiveness and struggled for the remainder of the season, finishing with 28 goals and 22 assists.&ldquo;What I&rsquo;m really pleased with,&rdquo; says Kings&rsquo; coach Don Perry, &ldquo;is that I think he matured an awful lot in the off season. He was criticized by a number of people for having a big head and it seems that this year, right from the start of training camp, he&rsquo;s been working hard and he&rsquo;s been our most consistent player to date.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s taken over as a leader on this team. I think he&rsquo;s capable of hanging in there and becoming one of the better players in the NHL for a lot of years, as long as he keeps a good, solid head on his shoulders. He&rsquo;s got the ability, he&rsquo;s got the hockey sense and he isn&rsquo;t afraid of anyone. He&rsquo;s got all the ingredients.&rdquo;Nicholls&rsquo; teammates must think so, too. In practice, when Nicholls scores on a line rush, his mates will bang their sticks on the ice and chant &ldquo;Franchise, Franchise,&rdquo; all of which makes him smile sheepishly and look half-embarrassed, which is no mean feat in itself.During a recent game-day practice, after a particularly nifty move by Nicholls, veteran winger Charlie Simmer fell to his knees, extended both his arms over his head and started bowing at Nicholl&rsquo;s feet, all the while chanting &ldquo;Franchise.&rdquo;&ldquo;By throwing that up to him in a joking way,&rdquo; Perry says of the chanting and theatrics, &ldquo;the guys are saying, &rsquo;Don&rsquo;t go getting a big head.&rsquo;&rdquo;&ldquo;Terry Ruskowski, who I&rsquo;m pretty close to, started that whole thing,&rdquo; says Nicholls. &ldquo;The other guys heard it and now they like to jap me about it. I guess it&rsquo;s because I got off to such a good start.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s also because it&rsquo;s partially true. Marcel Dionne, the real franchise in Los Angeles can&rsquo;t go on forever, although he isn&rsquo;t showing any signs of slowing up yet. When Dionne is ready to retire, it will likely be Nicholls who assumes the mantle of leadership, on and off the ice.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve worked hard this season to be more of a team player,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just that I wake up every morning and feel so good that I want everybody to feel that way. So at practice, I try to be a bit of a leader, to get things going and liven things up a little.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s not as if Nicholls was one of those players who was clearly destined to become a star in the NHL. Of course, it was always his aim and that&rsquo;s why he left his home in West Guilford when he was 15 years old. He went to Toronto and tried out for the North York Rangers Tier Two team, but was cut and played his midget season with the Woodbridge Junior Bs. The following season, he tried out for the Kingston Canadians of the Ontario Hockey League, but was cut and assigned to North York. As an 18-year-old, he played his first major junior season, scoring 36 goals and 43 assists and was subsequently drafted 73rd overall by the Kings in 1980.He made the Kings look good when, in his last year of major junior, he scored 63 goals and 89 assists. But he reported to the Kings&rsquo; training camp out of shape and was demoted to New Haven, where he scored 41 goals in 55 games before being promoted. In 22 games with the Kings, he had 14 goals and 18 assists and helped lead Los Angeles to a preliminary round playoff upset of the Edmonton Oilers.&ldquo;The thing about Bemie is that he&rsquo;s always had a challenge, something to prove,&rdquo; says Bob Tindall, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; scouting coordinator who was also an assistant coach in Kingston while Nicholls was there. &ldquo;When he was cut from North York, he was determined to bounce back. When he was cut by Kingston, he had something to prove.&ldquo;Then when he was sent to New Haven, it was a challenge to get back to the NHL. After things went bad for him last season, he&rsquo;s out to prove he can do it this season. I suspect that once those tests and challenges are gone, then Bemie will impose his own challenges. That&rsquo;s why he says he&rsquo;ll score 50 goals, because by saying it, he feels as though he has to do it.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a real competitor. In Kingston, I wasn&rsquo;t always sure he was much of a team player. Then when we lost out in the division finals in Bernie&rsquo;s last year, he was bawling his eyes out. I was happy to see that. It showed me he cared about losing.&rdquo;Tindall also remembers the other side of Nicholls.&ldquo;Is he a hot dog?&rdquo; Tindall asks rhetorically. &ldquo;Of course, he is. Any guy who wears a full-length fur coat and acts the way he does when he scores a goal is a hot dog. But deep down, he&rsquo;s just a real Country boy. What you see is what you get with Bernie Nicholls.&rdquo;But the folks in Los Angeles see him driving a flashy car, a beautiful girl on his arm and living in a $400,000 mansion in the hills, which is owned by California jockey Kenny Black. Life in the fast lane, as the saying goes.&ldquo;Sure,&rdquo; says Nicholls, who has always had a reputation as quite the ladies&rsquo; man, &ldquo;I like to take advantage of all the things you can do in Los Angeles. It&rsquo;s a great city. You don&rsquo;t get smothered by fans or anything, unless you&rsquo;re black and seven feet tall and can play basketball. But you have to be careful not to go too far because hockey is your No. 1 responsibility.&rdquo;And as for living in the mansion with his jockey friend, it is not all that it seems. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a really great family atmosphere there,&rdquo; Nicholls says. &ldquo;Kenny&rsquo;s mother and sister live there too so it&rsquo;s like a second family to me.&rdquo;It would be safe to say that no NHL player undergoes such a drastic change in environments as Nicholls does once the season is over. In one fell swoop, he goes from the glitz of L.A. to the rural charm of Haliburton, a summer cottage resort area a couple of hours drive north of Toronto.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I could ever live in the city all year,&rdquo; says Nicholls, an accomplished baseball player who enjoys hunting, fishing, trapping and playing golf with his family and friends. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll always be a country boy and that&rsquo;s where I&rsquo;ll retire.&rdquo;David Branch, who is the commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League, sees Nicholls in that environment each summer because he has a cottage less than a mile from the Nicholls&rsquo; home. Branch says that Nicholls is a warm, caring individual with a strong sense of family.&ldquo;I remember, and it had to be 10 years ago, I was working for the Ontario Hockey Association,&rdquo; Branch says. &ldquo;I was at our cottage and a skinny kid came knocking on my door. He had heard that I had some hockey posters and he wanted to know if he could have some.&ldquo;That was the first time I met Bernie Nicholls. I gave him some posters of Brad Park, Orland Kurtenbach and Brad Seiwood. Since then, I&rsquo;ve gotten to know the whole family.&ldquo;To me, it&rsquo;s very hard to visualize Bernie Nicholls as flamboyant. He&rsquo;s so genuine, so much so that it sometimes gets him into trouble. He&rsquo;s so open, he doesn&rsquo;t hide his feelings and he says exactly what he&rsquo;s thinking.&ldquo;Really, it must be a helluva thing to go from Los Angeles to West Guilford and keep your wits about you. I mean. West Guilford is really small and out of the way. It&rsquo;s only a few stores and a few houses, but it&rsquo;s nice because everyone&rsquo;s so down to earth.&ldquo;Last summer, Bernie brought a girlfriend home with him. She&rsquo;s a Playboy bunny from California. You&rsquo;d think that would be a big deal up there, but I think she was more wide-eyed about being there than any of the folks were about seeing her.&ldquo;As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, Bernie really doesn&rsquo;t change at all. He&rsquo;s the same. I think the whole thing about what kind of guy he is has to do with what he says and how he means it as opposed to how other people interpret it.&rdquo;Which is why Bernie Nicholls is a good, old country boy, a West Coast hotshot, a star hockey player and a flamboyant showboat and why he, under certain circumstances, isn&rsquo;t any of those things. Bernie Nicholls is just Bernie Nicholls. He stays the same&mdash;it&rsquo;s his world around him that changes. So fast, in fact, you don&rsquo;t have time to hang a label on him. &#9632;

f0003-01

Country Boy, L.A. Hotshot, Star NHLer, Showboat

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;It looks as though the boy defenseman will be a center for awhile.Phil Housley, drafted by the Buffalo Sabres out of Minnesota high school in June of &rsquo;82 as an 18-year-old defenseman, has been starring at center and, as long as he continues to play as he has, that&rsquo;s where he will work.Jim Roberts, associate coach of the Sabres, recently was discussing the conversion of Housley, who played a bit at center last season in addition to his defense duties.&ldquo;Phil wasn&rsquo;t particularly impressive at center last season,&rdquo; Roberts said. &ldquo;We had seen him play center in the World Junior Tournament (for Team USA in 1982). We knew he could do it.&ldquo;But we weren&rsquo;t thinking of him as a center when training camp began.&rdquo;The Sabres had four returning centers, plus two 18-year-old centers taken in the first two rounds of the &rsquo;83 draft, Adam Creighton and John Tucker.Creighton and Tucker received a thorough look in camp but it was decided to return both to junior.Gil Perreault scored well, in the early stages of the season, but the other two veterans&mdash;Dale McCourt and Brent Peterson&mdash;did not. Nor did second year pro, Dave Andreychuk, after a fast start.The Sabres bought out McCourt&rsquo;s contact and the day of McCourt&rsquo;s release, Housley learned, at the pre-game meal, that he would play center that night against the Penguins in Pittsburgh.He scored Buffalo&rsquo;s first two goals in a 3-1 win. With Paul Cyr and Mike Folig-no on the wings, he continued to play well. In a 3-3 tie with the New York Rangers, Housley sent the game into overtime with a third-period goal. He made a nice maneuver around a defenseman, then beat goalie Glen Hanlon with a shot from about 10 feet inside the blueline.&ldquo;I had been shooting high all night,&rdquo; the versatile 19-year-old mentioned, &ldquo;and this time I shot it low. I think it surprised him.&rdquo;.That was the seventh straight game he played at center. In those seven games he scored five goals and assisted on four. His line had a total of 10 goals and 18 points.&ldquo;We changed Housley to center because we figured we needed speed at that position. They way things have turned out, I don&rsquo;t think we will be moving him back soon,&rdquo; Roberts said.There has been one change, occasionally. Lindy Ruff, who was hurt when the Housley line was put together, sometimes has spelled Cyr at left wing.&ldquo;It depends how things are going and what we want at that position,&rdquo; Roberts explained.Both Ruff and Cyr are tough, aggressive left wingers. Ruff is bigger (6-foot-2,198 pounds) but Cyr has a harder shot.With the Housley line scoring as it has, Buffalo&rsquo;s opposition can&rsquo;t concentrate on stopping Perreault&rsquo;s line, which has Real Cloutier and Gilles Hamel on the wings.That line was put together in the Pittsburgh game. In that game and the six ensuing ones, the Perreault line racked up 14 goals and a total of 35 points as the Sabres went 4-1-2.Perreault had a stteak going in which he picked up at least one point in 11 straight games (seven goals, 13 assists). Hamel scored six goals in the last five of those games and Cloutier had four goals and six assists in the same five.ICE CHIPS&mdash;Jerry Korab, a Sabre from 1973-80, made his return to the lineup against the Rangers. He scored on his first shot but the goal was nullified by an interference penalty to Ric Seiling &hellip;Tom Barrasso, the 18-year-old goaltender who was the Sabres&rsquo; No. 1 draft choice in 1983, was the NHL&rsquo;s Rookie of the Month after going 4-1-2 in his first seven NHL starts. &#9632;

Housley Stays Sabres’ Middle Man

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021434/6585818-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="566" height="684"></div>DETROIT&mdash;It was an hour before the start of the hockey game and Black Hawk center Tom Lysiak, clad in street clothes, was pacing nervously in front of a pay phone in the basement of Detroit&rsquo;s Joe Louis Arena.The phone rang.Lysiak answered, spoke briefly, broke into a smile, then made a break for the dressing room to change into his uniform and play against the Red Wings.The call was to inform Lysiak that he had been granted a temporary restraining order in Chicago&rsquo;s Cook County Circuit Court delaying a 20-game suspension handed down by the National Hockey League.His offense, under category one of Rule 67, was tripping linseman Ron Foyt immediately after a faceoff late in the second period of a 6-1 Black Hawk victory over Hartford in Chicago Stadium on Oct. 30.The rule reads: &ldquo;Any player who deliberately strikes an official or who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official shall be suspended for 20 games.&rdquo;The referee, in this case Dave Newell, is empowered with the authority to interpret the rule after consultation with the linsemen, in this instance Foyt and Gord Broseker.Lysiak&rsquo;s restraining order expires at 10a.m. on Nov. 14. Then, judge George Higgins can extend it for another 19 days or conduct a hearing concerning the legality of the rule under which the NHL is trying to suspend Lysiak.In the event of a hearing, Lysiak&rsquo;s lawyer, William Martin of Chicago, probably would seek a preliminary injunction to continue blocking the suspension. The next stage would be a request for a permanent injunction, preventing Rule 67 from ever being invoked.The issue now before the courts is not the offense itself but rather the rule and the NHL Players&rsquo; Association has joined Lysiak in a lawsuit.They are contending:&bull; There are no provisions in Rule 67 for an appeal and a request for one has been denied. &bull; The plaintiff, (Foyt) in effect, is acting as the judge and jury of the accused. &bull; The rule is in violation of the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players&rsquo; Association. &ldquo;The rule under which Lysiak was suspended was never a subject of collective bargaining,&rdquo; said Alan Eagleson, executive director of the Players&rsquo; Association. &ldquo;It was arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed (in the summer of 1982) by the NHL.&rdquo;&ldquo;The next move is up to the league,&rdquo; said Lysiak&rsquo;s lawyer. &ldquo;The restraining order has prevented irreparable harm to Tom&rsquo;s career&hellip;He could never get back the game&rsquo;s he missed (without pay) while we were waiting to go to court.&rdquo;On the advice of his lawyer, Lysiak has declined to discuss the issue: &ldquo;lam sorry to use the cliche, but I&rsquo;ve got no comment.&rdquo; he said after the 7-4 loss in Detroit.The NHL Officials&rsquo; Association, which is disturbed over the recent turn of events, has plenty to say. In their first statement since the restraining order was issued, referee Dave Newell, the president of the NHLOA and the man who suspended Lysiak, said retaliatory action is being considered.&ldquo;We appreciate the league&rsquo;s full support in this matter,&rdquo; Newell said. &ldquo;However, our concern was whether the league has the power to ensure safety of the officials on the ice.&ldquo;Ourcounsel, Jim Beatty, is considering several alternatives. One of which is in the case of a fight between two opposing players, a linesman would be instructed to back off.&rdquo;That, of course, would create havoc and constitutionally, the officials could probably do it since breaking up fights isn&rsquo;t written in as one of their specific job descriptions.Meanwhile, NHL Players&rsquo; Association chief Alan Eagleson created a furor when, on a Toronto radio show, he said that if a player is going to get a 20-game suspension for pulling down a referee, &ldquo;he might as well shoot the bundle and punch him.&rdquo;Beatty called the remarks &ldquo;inflammatory and irresponsible.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe Eagleson would say that&hellip;We&rsquo;re not picking on Lysiak, but unless the players realize the prohibitive penalty involved for abusing an official, they won&rsquo;t condition themselves to back away. There&rsquo;s no other sport where officials are abused as much as they in hockey and we want it stopped.&rdquo;Two veteran Hawks, defenseman Greg Fox and right winger Tim Higgins, had a lot to say about coach Orval Tessier after the team ended this three-game trip with a 6-3 defeat in New Jersey.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011627/6585825-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="63" height="64"></div>Black Hawk Tom Lysiak returned to the lineup after receiving a court injunction.It was the Hawks&rsquo; sixth straight defeat in as many games on the road this season. Neither Fox nor Higgins played a part of a shakeup by Tessier that saw five players recalled from Springfield of the American League in the wake of a 10-5 rout in Minnesota the night before.The Springfield contingent consisted of left winger Florent Robidoux, right winger Dan Frawley and defensemen Darrell Anholt, all of whom played, and right winger Tom McMurchy and defenseman Don Dietrach, who were observers.Absent from the entire trip was left winger Al Secord, a 54-goal scorer last season, who suffered a recurrence of pulled abdominal muscles. Left winger Curt Fraser suffered strained ligaments in his left knee in Minnesota and sidelined indefinitely.Fox saw Tessier&rsquo;s shakeup as a charade.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s ridiculous,&rdquo; said Fox, who was benched for the second time this season. &ldquo;If he doesn&rsquo;t want me, he can get rid of me. If he&rsquo;s trying to embarrass me, he can sit me on the bench. He said he was going to make a major shakeup. Is it a major shakeup when he brings a bunch of people from Springrield for one night and hardly plays them?&ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t want to protray my situation and make it appear that he&rsquo;s only on me. If it was just me then we&rsquo;d probably still be playing last year when we had 104 points.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just me. And, because things are going well, instead of looking himself in the mirror, going back to the basics and going with the guys who got him those 104 points, he&rsquo;s looking for alibis. He&rsquo;s panicking.&rdquo;Higgins, who was a regular on the third line last year but sat out his fifth game in a row, said he wants out if his situation doesn&rsquo;t change quickly.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going on,&rdquo; Higgins said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t change a winner and I was part of a winning team last year. To help the team, I&rsquo;ve got to play regularly. I can&rsquo;t help by being on the fifth line doing nothing the way I am now.&ldquo;If it&rsquo;s going to happen I hope it&rsquo;s soon, not in the middle of the season. I&rsquo;d hate to leave this team and this city, but maybe it would be good for me.&rdquo;After the Minnesota massacre, Tessier sounded off about the goaltending on the road and expressed the opinion that Hawks had granted the North Stars virtual immunity at important check points.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to recommend to Bob Pulford (Hawk general manager) that we go to the farm and get rid of the dead wood,&rdquo; he calmly denounced, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to recommend that we bring up one or both of our goaltenders. Bob Janecyk in Springfield and Warren Skorodenski in Sherbrooke. I&rsquo;m disturbed. We win our games at home and lose them all on the road.&rdquo;Tessier was asked if he contemplain ousting goalie Murray Bannerman white the North Stars were scoring all those goals, but Tessier said &ldquo;it never crossed my mind. I didn&rsquo;t pull Tony Esposito when he let 10 in in Toronto, either.&rdquo;The Hockey NewsTHE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded in 1947 by Kenneth W. McKenziePUBLISHER Dean HeineCONTROLLER Tony DobranowskiEDITOR IN CHIEF Bob McKenzieEDITORIAL DIRECTOR Charlie HalpinASSISTANT EDITOR Perry LefkoCONTRIBUTING EDITORS Stan Fischler, Frank OrrADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Randy GreenADVERTISING SERVICES MANAGER Esther SumkaADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVESCanadian Consumer Product Sales: CCMC, Kim Locke, 43 Madison Ave., Toronto. Ontari M5R 2S2 (416)961-5141SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES MANAGER Paula HeardNEWSSTAND SERVICES MANAGER Esther SumkaCIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Kathy Nikles Rosanne TaninoACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT Tom Moffat Mary CarubiaSPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER Elaine WatkinsonADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL OFFICES85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2 (416) 445-5702EXECUTIVE OFFICE 850 Third Avenue New York, New York 10022DISTRIBUTORDistributed nationally by Disticor101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite L4 Don Mills, Ont., M3B 1Z3 (416) 449-6430THE HOCKEY NEWS, (ISSN 0018-3016) is published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 85 Scarsdale Road # 100, Toronto, Ontario. Canada M3B 2R2 (416) 445-5702. In U.S. c/o W.C.C. Publishing Corp., 850 Third Ave., New York. N.Y. 10022.37-ISSUE SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $19.95 in the U.S.A. $19.95 in Canada. $34.95 in Foreign Countries. Send all Canadian and Foreign subscription orders to THE HOCKEY NEWS, P.O. Box 13035, Postal Station &lsquo;A&rsquo;. Toronto. Ont. M5W 1V7. U.S. subscription requests should be mailed to Box 904, Buffalo. N.Y. 14240. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing.SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Road #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2. Second Class mail Registration No. 1327. All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should oe addressed to Subscription Dept., The Hockey News. 85 Scarsdale Road. #100. Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.IN THE UNITED STATES: Second class post age paid at New York, N.Y. and at additional mailing offices, U.S. POSTMASTER send address change to: The Hockey News. P.O. Box 904, Buffalo. N.Y. 14240.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations &#9632;

f0004-02

Lysiak Fuss Coincides With Hawk Strife

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011549/6585880-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="289" height="338"></div><h2>In Support Of Sinden</h2>The sky is falling.&mdash;Chicken LittleTHE SKY FELL on Harry Sinden because he wasn&rsquo;t chicken.Would you believe that a good portion of the western world is at war with Harry all because of a number? A small number-five.Would you believe that Harry is having trouble managing the Boston Bruins because a bunch of yahoos and pecksniffs are after his ash because he tried to be Mr. Nice Guy?I mean it.Harry hired this sweet, old defenseman named Guy Lapointe. He wanted to make Guy feel at home in Boston, which was reasonable enough.So, he went out and ordered a No. 5 put on Guy&rsquo;s jersey because Lapointe wore that numeral for most of his endless career.It was a nice gesture&mdash;until the sky began falling on Harry.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been shaken,&rdquo; Harry tells me as more pieces keep falling about him. &ldquo;I feel a little bad.&rdquo;The &ldquo;bad&rdquo; part is that eons ago a broth of a lad named Aubrey (Dit) Clapper wore No. 5 for the Bruins. He was a dam good hockey player, whom I watched for many years on the Boston backline. As a matter of fact, Clapper was the first NHL player to last in the majors for 20 full seasons, all of them with the Bruins. He started his career on right wing in 1927 and finished on defense in 1947. They called him &ldquo;the Jean Beliveau of his day.&rdquo;Clapper was knighted several times over. He was a three-time first team all-star and is in The Hockey Hall of Fame. Before his death in January of &rsquo;78, he received every honor available.The Bruins, in one of those overly sentimental moves made by sports teams, went so far as to retire Dit&rsquo;s No. 5. Lots of sports teams do the same thing, as if Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe, Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig need further deification.They don&rsquo;t and that&rsquo;s the point. In fact, that&rsquo;s the Guy Lapointe. He has every right to wear Dit Clapper&rsquo;s No. 5 just as somebody ought to wear Bobby On&rsquo;s No. 4 or Rocket Richard&rsquo;s No. 9 on the Canadiens.<h2>Schmaltzy Sinden Syndrome</h2>I MUST ADMIT that, at first, I too was tied up in this schmaltzy What&rsquo;s Harry Doing? syndrome, but then I got to thinking about it. I remembered when Syl Apps was my absolutely favorite Toronto Maple Leaf and he retired in 1948. I couldn&rsquo;t wait to see who would wear Syl&rsquo;s honored No. 10 and whether the heir would be able to uphold the Apps tradition. Turned out that a dogged right winger, George Armstrong, inherited the 10 and did a dam good job wearing it.Same thing happened with the Rangers. Frank Boucher made the No. 7 famous but then it was given to Phil Watson, who was equally brilliant at center, and later some other glorious forwards including Don (Bones) Raleigh and Rod Gilbert did justice by the number.The more I think about it, the more I&rsquo;m convinced that this number retirement business is downright stupid. And this dumping on Sinden fuss is even more stupid, if that&rsquo;s possible.&ldquo;I figured,&rdquo; says Sinden. &ldquo;that Guy&rsquo;s career has been good enough to put him on a level with Clapper. Lapointe was one of the best of his era.&rdquo;Furthermore, the fact that Clapper&rsquo;s No. 5 is unretired does not in any way subtract from his eternal stardom. Is there anybody dumb enough in this world to think that Gordie Howe&rsquo;s hallowed heritage would diminish in any way if another Red Wing wore No. 9? Is there a nitwit available in this universe who will stand up and say that Bobby Orr will be any less revered if his No. 4 were bestowed upon Ray Bourque?Besides, low numbers in their own way always have been a part of hockey tradition. I&rsquo;d much rather watch Denis Potvin and Bubba Beck wear a five than a 55. So does Harry, but he has been shaken.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really expect the kind of letters I&rsquo;ve gotten,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Mostly they&rsquo;re from oldtimers. And some of the other things that have been written have been rough.&rdquo;One Boston area writer said taking Clapper&rsquo;s No. 5 out of mothballs was &ldquo;ghoulish.&rdquo; Can you believe such idiocy?&ldquo;I do give a damn about the Bruin tradition,&rdquo; says Sinden. &ldquo;And I didn&rsquo;t mean to be disrespectful to one of our great players.&rdquo;You weren&rsquo;t, Harry, you weren&rsquo;t. You did the right thing. And don&rsquo;t change your mind about it either. In a week or two the sky will stop falling.<h2>A Compromise Solution</h2>&ldquo;MY WIFE CAME up with a compromise solution,&rdquo; he chuckles. &ldquo;She says keep the five on Lapointe but just stick a dot in front of the number. That way nobody can complain. He&rsquo;d become just a half instead of five.&rdquo;If Dit Clapper were around today he certainly wouldn&rsquo;t have objected to Sinden&rsquo;s decision. Dit was a gentle man who preferred the role of pacifist on ice, although occasionally his temper boiled out of proportion to his character. His most notorious eruption took place during a game with the Montreal Maroons.Dave Trottier of the Maroons jammed the butt end of his stick into Clapper&rsquo;s face. Normally this would have resulted in a penalty but referee Clarence Campbell (who eventually became League president) failed to detect the foul play.Clapper took the law into his own hands and jumped Trottier, whereupon Campbell skated to the scene of the crime. &ldquo;Clapper,&rdquo; said the referee, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re a dirty sonofabitch.&rdquo;The accusation was doubly surprising to Clapper because everyone in the NHL knew that the distinguished Campbell was a Rhodes Scholar and not given to profanity.&ldquo;What did you say?&rdquo; demanded Clapper.&ldquo;I said you&rsquo;re a dirty sonofabitch,&rdquo; he repeated. Instead of leaving bad enough alone, Clapper followed up his tirade with a right cross to Campbell&rsquo;s head, sending the referee staggering back into the arms of the pleased players.The act of punching out a referee was considered severe enough to warrant a long-term suspension. Instead, League president Frank Calder slapped a $100 fine on Clapper and a mild tongue-lashing.Pressed as to why the punishment was so light, Calder revealed that he had received a report from referee Campbell which tended to shift the blame away from Clapper.&ldquo;I was talking loud,&rdquo; Campbell admitted, &ldquo;when I should have been throwing them into the penalty box.&rdquo;<h2>A Line On Linesmen</h2>TOM LYSIAK&rsquo;S INDELICATE depth-charging of linesman Ron Foyt was not exactly cricket and he will not be sanctified in this space for it. On the other hand it&rsquo;s time those officious linesmen queue up for a wrist-slapping right here and now. Like their brethren in the referee corps, linesmen have lost sight of their job. Some have the mistaken impression that 15,000 people turn out to watch them drop pucks. Some have the mistaken impression that 17,000 people turn out to watch them fake players out with hesitant puck-dropping so they can have the pleasure of tossing the chaps out of the circle. Some of them ought to grow up and shape up.<h2>Nicking Steve</h2>NICK POLANO WAS was fired in THE HOCKEY NEWS on Sept. 23 and yet he persists in coaching the Detroit Red Wings.To be precise, that Calgary curmudgeon, Steve Simmons, told us on these very pages that Polano would be the first to go.I am a great believer in Steve Simmons, but I&rsquo;m also a great believer in Nick Polano, so this presents a problem.In order to get a resolution I phone Polano to find out when he plans on leaving. He doesn&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;m talking about.&ldquo;Well, don&rsquo;t you read THE HOCKEY NEWS?&rdquo; I ask.&ldquo;Only BLUELINES.&rdquo;&ldquo;Well, you&rsquo;ve been fired, as of Sept. 23rd. Get yourself aday job. I&rsquo;m calling your boss, Jimmy Devellano, right this minute.&rdquo;I phone Devellano.&ldquo;Why are you wasting your time with Polano? You saw what Simmons wrote?&rdquo;&ldquo;What does Steve Simmons know about Detroit from where he lives in Calgary?&rdquo; snaps Jimmy D.&ldquo;You got me there.&rdquo;&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t hire Nick for him to be a scapegoat. There was enough of that with the Red Wings before I got here.&rdquo;Well, that&rsquo;s just great. Devellano is sticking by his coach and I&rsquo;ve got to wonder whether I should stick by Simmons. Steve, what&rsquo;s the story?&ldquo;The story is this,&rdquo; says Steve. &ldquo;Five teams don&rsquo;t make the playoffs and Detroit was one of them last year. Now let&rsquo;s look at the coaches this year and the teams that didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs last year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a great Don Perry fan. I think he does a terrific job and it&rsquo;s too bad he doesn&rsquo;t have a manager who can get him a decent goalie. Can&rsquo;t fire him. Can&rsquo;t fire Angotti in Pittsburgh because he&rsquo;s too new.&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t fire Jack Evans in Hartford for the same reason&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t fire Billy MacMillan in New Jersey for a very good, reason.&rdquo;&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that?&rdquo; I ask.&ldquo;Billy MacMillan is also the manager. Do you know any managers who like to fire themselves? So that leaves us with Nick Polano.&rdquo;&ldquo;Weren&rsquo;t you being a little hasty firing Nick in September?&rdquo; I suggest.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t help it&mdash;I was under great pressure.&rdquo;&ldquo;From whom?&rdquo;&ldquo;Our local office pool on which coaches will get canned first.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;When the Washington Capitals were 0-7 and gasping for breath, coach Bryan Murray totally revamped his lines. The result, while it might have appeared to have been drawn from a hat, produced four balanced units that helped the Capitals run off five straight victories.The line that raised the most questioning eyebrows put right winger Mike Gartner, Washington&rsquo;s best offensive player, with two of the club&rsquo;s strongest defensive forwards, Doug Jarvis and Gaetan Duchesne.That represented a philosophical about-face. Last year Gartner had teamed with offensive-minded Bob Carpenter and Bengt Gustafsson, while earlier this season he had played on the No. 1 line with Gustafsson and Dave Christian.But if the presence of a couple of checking linemates and reduced ice time because of the four-line concept threatened to limit Gartner&rsquo;s scoring chances, it did not materialize.Gartner scored the first goal of the game as the Capitals whipped Philadelphia, 4-1, to end the seven-game slide. Then he scored the only goal of a1-0 victory at Pittsburgh. And, when the Capitals whipped Winnipeg, 7-3, for their fifth straight success, Gartner reeled off a pure hat trick to turn a 1-0 Jet lead into a 3-1 margin for Washington.That effort gave Gartner seven goals in 12 games, just about on target for the 50-goal campaign that has been expected of him since he netted 48 as a Ryan Walter linemate three years ago.Gartner&rsquo;s goal production of 35 and 38 the last two seasons was not insignificant, but neither was it quite what everyone expected of a man who possesses great speed and one of the NHL&rsquo;s hardest shots.Some observers had attributed Gartner&rsquo;s scoring slide to Murray&rsquo;s defensive system, a charge that Gartner repeatedly dismissed. However, he did offer some thoughts on his sudden return to the scoring column.&ldquo;Doug Jarvis has been cast in a defensive role all his life, but I think he&rsquo;s a good offensive player,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s totally unselfish and I&rsquo;m getting the puck all the time from Doug and Gaetan working the comers.&ldquo;They are so responsible that it allows me to do a little more offensively. I can take a little more freedom in the offensive zone knowing that Doug and Gaetan will be back.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really working out good and know they&rsquo;ll play the same way easy game. We knew where each other is the ice after just a few games, which rare. It usually takes awhile to reach the stage. I hope we can stay together for long time.&rdquo;Gartner made it clear that he had complaints with his previous partner He did, however, note an obvious fat that only one player can have the puck a time.&ldquo;When I was playing with Bobl Carpenter, we played well at times and we liked playing with each other,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;But probably we both need the puck to be effective.&ldquo;I think Bryan split us up with the idea of putting people with Bobby who could get him the puck and putting people with me who could get me the puck.&rdquo;Gartner believes that 50-to-60 goal seasons are within his grasp, assuming no further injuries like the puck in the eye that so scared him and the rest of the hockey world last February.&ldquo;I like to think, with the God-given talent I have, that I&rsquo;m capable of something like that,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;Even though our system is designed to prevent the other team from scoring goals, the system gives a little bit of mobility to someone like myself.&ldquo;With our 2-1-2 forechecking system, I have a lot of freedom to do what I want in the offensive zone. And if you play most of the game in the offensive zone, you don&rsquo;t have to worry about the rest of it anyway.&rdquo;When the Capitals&rsquo; bubble burst in an 11-3 loss at Edmonton, Gartner and his linemates could still hold their heads high. They were burned for only one Oiler goal and it took some nimble moves by Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr to keep Gartner and Jarvis off the board. &#9632;

Gartner Not Defensive About Scoring Goals

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;The Nordiques had a celebration for Marc Tardif in early November, a first-class affair, complete with congratulatory elegrams, spotlights galore, special guests and live music.The Quebec management wanted to show everyone that if Tardif&rsquo;s retirement was indeed a last-minute event, coming 30 minutes before the National Hockey League waiver draft in early October, hen at least the festivities celebrating the retirement of his No. 8 sweater would be first class all the way.The guests included J.C. Tremblay, who flew in from Switzerland, Jean Beliveau, Nordique president Marcel Aubut, dignitaries, personal friends and Tardif&rsquo;s family. Everything went off without a hitch, contrasting Tardif&rsquo;s turbulent relationships with coaches and general managers over the years.Tardif is best described as stoic and introverted when it comes to expressing his emotions, but all this was put aside on this night, where he humbly accepted the praise and gifts and took special care to thank the fans who had been so good to him through the years.The ceremonies honoring Tardif lasted about 35 minutes, delaying the start of the Quebec-Los Angeles game. Telegrams were read from Canadian Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau and Quebec Premier Rene Levesque and Tardif was the recipient of a $20,000 sailboat. After Tardifs farewell speech to his fans, it was finally time to play hockey.Nordique coach Michel Bergeron expected the long delay to affect the start of the game, although the Nords won 8-4.&ldquo;I asked the officials if the teams could at least warm up the goaltenders because an hour had passed since the pre-game skate, but they said it was against the rules,&rdquo; commented Bergeron. &ldquo;It was not a classic game by any means, but we worked hard, we won and we gave Marc Tardif a going-away present as well with our victory.&rdquo;The uneven play referred to by Bergeron was the nine goals scored in the opening period, with Quebec on top 6-3. The Nordiques have been awesome on offense since the start of the season, averaging 5.5 goals per game in 14 starts. All four lines are producing with regularity.&ldquo;That was a strange start, what with all the scoring in the first period,&rdquo; said Peter Stastny, who scored twice and added one assist. &ldquo;Someone told me there were nine goals in the first 15 shots on goal, which means something was wrong somewhere.&rdquo;&ldquo;All four of our lines contributed in the first period, as we were able to take a big lead. We got ahead and we were able to stay ahead, even if the Kings usually always play well against us in Quebec.&rdquo;Clint Malarchuk started his first game in front of his home fans and despite a shaky beginning, he settled down and surrendered only one goal in the last 50 minutes of play.&ldquo;I know the Kings got three on me quickly, but whenever something like that happens, you just have to hang in there and have the character to come back,&rdquo; he said.Bergeron made a few changes for the game, perhaps necessitated by three straight Quebec losses. Malarchuk finally started a game at home, J.F. Sauve played after a lengthy stay on the injury list and Peter Stastny was double-shifted again throughout much of the game.&ldquo;I have been used a lot on two lines since the start of the year,&rdquo; said Peter. &ldquo;That is the coach&rsquo;s decision. He tells me what to do and I just follow orders.&rdquo; &#9632;

Nordiques Give Tardif Touching Send-Off

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Early in his Ranger eer, Steve Weeks gave the goalies&rsquo; e-view on preventing goals: &ldquo;It esn&rsquo;t matter how well the statistics ok. Everything stops with the goal-der,&rdquo;Whether the puck does or doesn&rsquo;t stop re is a function of the support a netminder receives from the men in front of. In turn, the effectiveness of the defense, hinges on the help they receive the forwards. Early in the Rangers&rsquo; reason, when they ran up a 9-1 record, defense did a magnificent job of proting the goalies, keeping the slot clear and giving them the view they needed of it vital first shot on net.But as the Rangers proceeded to lose their next three games, all at home&mdash;to innipeg, Toronto and Edmonton&mdash;one serious deficiency was the lack of suport the defense received from the for-words.With those losses, Weeks&rsquo; record ummetted from 5-0 to 5-3. He entered Leaf game with the score tied at three, er Glen Hanlon was injured, gave up is game-winner and watched as the Leafs scored an empty-netter.Weeks was a 12th-round draft pick in 78 after he led Northern Michigan to be National Collegiate Athletic Association finals. Once he finally arrived in New York from the Rangers&rsquo; farm club, en in New Haven, his Ranger career sembled a roller coaster.In the 1981-82 season, Weeks filled in Ranger goalies John Davidson and eve Baker and led the Rangers through first half of the season with a winning cord, only to see Ed Mio, acquired at id-season, take over the starting job rough the playoffs.In 1982-83, Davidson again was side-ned and with Mio struggling, Weeks led Rangers through the first half. Then, st January, on the day Hanlon was aclired from St. Louis, Weeks was de-noted to Tulsa.&ldquo;We sent him down,&rdquo; said Ranger balie coach Wayne Thomas, &ldquo;not because he was playing poorly, but because the wanted Steve to get some experience, wasn&rsquo;t a negative demotion.&rdquo;Thomas said Weeks made the most of the trip to Oklahoma, circumstances that buld easily have been discouraging.&ldquo;His confidence has improved emendously,&rdquo; added Thomas. &ldquo;He oved to himself that he was too good to ay in the minor leagues.&rdquo;Weeks did not take the demotion in ride.&ldquo;Initially, I was surprised, disappointed and frustrated,&rdquo; Weeks recalled. &ldquo;I realized that New York is where I wanted to be. When I think of playing hockey, the Central Hockey League is not what I think about. I was upset, but after talking to people, I realized that shouting about it wouldn&rsquo;t do me any good.&rdquo;Weeks credits Thomas and Tulsa coach Tom Webster with improving his game. Forward George McPhee, who was in Tulsa with Weeks last year, said Weeks&rsquo; attitude was his best weapon.&ldquo;He was always in a good mood, always smiling and always playing hard,&rdquo; said McPhee. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great guy, but when it comes time to work, he works.&rdquo;Ranger defenseman Tom Laidlaw played in front of Weeks at Northern Michigan and has seen Weeks&rsquo; confidence grow as he became more outgoing.&ldquo;When he first came to college, he was quiet,&rdquo; Laidlaw recalled. &ldquo;He was a great skater and he could have proably played forward but he stayed in the nets and he stayed to himself. Now he&rsquo;s just full of confidence. He stands up in the nets and directs all the rebounds. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of faith in him and he&rsquo;s got faith in us.&rdquo;Weeks has received a boost from the support of the tall Ranger rearguards.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big help when you know that you only have to make the first save,&rdquo; said Weeks. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re able to see the puck it makes a big difference. When the defenseman are there for the rebounds, it makes a big difference, too. There haven&rsquo;t been to many screen shots and the way they&rsquo;re moving the guys out of there, there haven&rsquo;t been too many deflections. There&rsquo;s a lot of size on defense.&rdquo;Coming into the season with Mio traded to Detroit, the biggest question mark about the Rangers was their goaltending, particulary in view of Hanlon&rsquo;s lack of playing time the past year because of injuries and Weeks&rsquo; lack of NHL experience. The play of both in the first month of the season, coupled with the support they received from the defense and forwards, dispelled some of those doubts.A trade rumor that surfaced here late in October raised questions concerning Weeks&rsquo; and Hanlon&rsquo;s place in the Rangers&rsquo; goaltending plans. The rumor had Glenn Resch coming to the Rangers from the New Jersey Devils in a three-way trade, which also involved the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets would purportedly send forward Brian Mullen, a former Ranger stick boy who would be to the Devils what New York-born Nick Fotiu is to the Rangers, and a draft choice to Jersey, for Ranger forwards Kent-Erik Andersson and Rob McClanahan (now in Tulsa) and defenseman Rick Chartraw.Those rumors were fueled by Jet GM John Ferguson&rsquo;s presence at the RangerLeaf game late in October and his intense discussions that night with Devil vice-president Max McNab. Chartaw reportedly was being showcased for Fergie that night. If so, it was like checking out a used car and watching it suffer a head-on collision. Chartraw had a dreadful night and the following week was demoted to Tulsa with McPhee at a time when the Rangers were hurting on defense.No matter what his place in the Rangers&rsquo; long-range picture, it&rsquo;s clear that Weeks finally is finding his game.Weeks feels that stickhandling is the part of his game that needs the most work. Asked whether there was a special area of the net he&rsquo;d prefer to have a shooter aim at, he replied: &ldquo;Well, if they shot wide all the time, that&rsquo;d be just great!&rdquo; &#9632;

Confidence Keys Weeks’ Tending The Rangers’ Net

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>EDMONTON&mdash;Trick or treat?That was the obvious question. Was the Oilers&rsquo; 9-2-1 record in Octobera lofty mark in a genuine bag full of treats? Or was it a clever bit of trickery, accumulated for the most part, at the expense of inferior opponets?Arriving home from the eastern front in time to be confronted by the ghost and goblins of Halloween, it must be said that the two most recent notches in the Oilers&rsquo; win column could hardly be considered a masquerade&mdash;even if the 3-1 triumph over Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 29 came at the expense of a once mighty outfit in another stage of a slow and painful decline.New York Rangers, on the other hand, represent a crew definitely on the upswing, one of the top six in the National Hockey League. Three of the most visible Rangers on view as the Oilers prevailed for a 5-4 overtime triumph the next night, in a highly-even affair, were offseason acquisitions from the Detroit Red Wings&mdash;forwards Mike Blaisdell and Mark Osborne and defenseman Willie Huber.But, back to the matter at hand&hellip;The Oilers&rsquo; brass approached the performance of the hired hands with a cautious optimism. They rose closer to expectations than at any point during the 7-0 break from the gate that was interrupted with three games without a win (0-2-1). But there&rsquo;s still plenty of room for improvement.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still not playing as well as we&rsquo;re capable,&rdquo; said Oiler general manager-coach Glen Sather. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to do less standing around and less missing the open man&mdash;both offensively and defensively. We&rsquo;re not getting the puck to our open guy and we&rsquo;re not picking up an opponent in our end.&rdquo;The one-word summation from assistant coach John Muckier was &ldquo;improving.&rdquo;&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting good goaltending from Grant (Fuhr),&rdquo; said Muckler. &ldquo;The defense is starting to play well. The forwards are playing well&mdash;most of them. Then, I guess we can&rsquo;t expect to have them all going all the time.&rdquo;Probably the biggest individual item of relief to come out of the Oilers&rsquo; safari was Mark Messier lifting a large load off his sturdy shoulders. The all-star left winger went nine games without a goal, but he snapped a drought with a go-ahead marker in New York.There was a look of glee on the four other skaters (Kenny Linesman, Glenn Anderson, Randy Gregg and Don Jackson) on the ice for the occasion, suggesting this was far from an ordinary goal.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the bubble,&rdquo; grinned assistant coach Ted Green afterwards, stuffing a meaty paw into Messier&rsquo;s right hand.After 12 games in 1982-83, Messier had six goals and 11 points, en route to seasonal figures of 48 and 106 and a second consecutive all-star nomination. This time he&rsquo;s two and 13, which is to say the cause for alarm may not be that urgent after all.Cutting down on a horrible goals against was of more concern to the coaching staff than individual accomplishments, which is why Sather made a deal with his troops that he would buy a late dinner in the Apple if they surrendred less than an average of three goals an outing.They did, he bought.&ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; confessed Sather, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re playing better now than at any time when we won seven in a row (to open the season).&ldquo;The best game in that bunch was beating Minnesota (4-3 in overtime). I think that&rsquo;s the best team we beat. But you&rsquo;d never know it by their record.&rdquo;A scan of the standings prompted the defensive-minded Linseman to clip: &ldquo;At least we&rsquo;ve shut down our goals against (52 in 12 games).&rdquo;Then a frown crossed his cantankerous puss: &ldquo;Yuk&hellip;it&rsquo;s still not very good, 4.33 (actually, 4.27).&rdquo;The next true test of where the Oilers are at will probably come Nov. 30 home to Philadelphia, followed matches with New York Islanders Dec. 4 (home) and 13 (away) and home to Boston on Dec. 30.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011566/6585983-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="513" height="831"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Messier scored a go against the Rangers to snap nine-game goal drought.</figcaption></div>Circle those dates. Let&rsquo;s face facts, won&rsquo;t be able to get a true reading ft many of the others.IN THE CREASE&mdash; The Oilers st moned former Ranger Pat Conac from their Moncton affiliate. The spui center responded by drawing two ass (including one on Pat Hughes&rsquo; overt: winner) in his triumphant return to M son Square Garden. Conacher a scored his first-ever NHL goal to give Oilers a go-ahead 2-1 lead as they turned home to whip the Washing Capitals 11-3. &#9632;

f0007-01

Oilers Have Yet To Face True Test

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Mark Hunter was a concerned young man.His left knee was puffed up and sore. Some speculated that the Canadiens&rsquo; first pick and seventh overall in the 1981 draft may have played his final game in a Montreal uniform.&ldquo;The knee is not right,&rdquo; said Hunter. &ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been for a week. I hurt it in Toronto&hellip;twisted it a bit.&rdquo;Then, in a Saturday night game against the Edmonton Oilers in Montreal, Hunter banged the knee into the boards in the first period after partially hitting Oiler defenseman Kevin Lowe. With five minutes remaining in the third period of the game, Hunter collided with Edmonton&rsquo;s Paul Coffey and left the ice right away.&ldquo;It scares you,&rdquo; Hunter admitted. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen. The collision with Coffey just put the finishing touches on the thing.&rdquo;The injury came at the most inopportune time for Hunter, who missed the last half of the 1982-83 season after undergoing surgery to the same knee. With the deal which sent Mark Napier to Minnesota along with Keith Acton, a starting right wing spot was to be had and Hunter could have grabbed it.Instead, Hunter had to watch as Greg Paslawski moved in alongside Doug Wickenheiser and Steve Shutt and Chris Nilan took the job on the checking line with Guy Charbonneau and Bob Gainey.&ldquo;It makes me mad,&rdquo; Hunter admitted, &ldquo;but what can you do when you can&rsquo;t turn. You can play with only so much pain.&rdquo;The official diagnosis was a bruised knee, although a report in the Journal de Montreal suggested that Hunter, with the blessing of managing director Serge Savard, had seen another doctor.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t comment on that,&rdquo; Hunter said.Hunter skated with apparent difficulty five days after suffering the injury. It was obvious by the look on his face that there was still some pain.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t as good as I thought it would be,&rdquo; he said, with a trace of disappointment in his voice.Meanwhile, the Canadiens atoned for their back-to-back losses to Edmonton and Buffalo by recording home-ice victories over Hartford and Quebec.In a battle for fourth place in the Adams Division, the Canadiens moved ahead of Hartford with a 6-2 victory as Bobby Smith, Guy Lafleur and Ryan Walter led the charge with Lafleur notching two goals and getting the game&rsquo;s No. 1 star. Steve Shutt and Smith scored 22 seconds apart in the second period to lead the Canadiens to their second home-ice triumph of the season.Lafleur, who is happy for the time being with Smith as his center, was complimentary towards the rangy center.&ldquo;Bobby&rsquo;s size (6-foot-4) is an advantage for him,&rdquo; Lafleur said. &ldquo;I have to take strides to keep up to this one. We&rsquo;re going to get better. We have just been put together and we are already looking for each other in the other team&rsquo;s end.&ldquo;It takes time to adapt,&rdquo; Lafleur admitted. &ldquo;It is easier when you are playing with someone who has good hockey sense.&rdquo;In a 3-2 victory over Quebec, the line was not as much in evidence, even though Smith and Lafleur both scored. Lafleur&rsquo;s goal, set up on a breakaway pass from former regular linemate Steve Shutt, came with 5:26 remaining in regulation time. It was the second victory in as many games for the Canadiens over the Nordiques.IN PASSING&mdash;Robert Picard was traded to Winnipeg for a third-round draft choice in 1984&hellip; Larry Robinson is back in the lineup after being sidelined with a pulled hamstring&hellip;Alfie Turcotte, the Canadiens&rsquo; No. 1 draft selection last summer, had nine goals and 11 assists in his first nine games with the Portland Winter Hawks&hellip;No one is really sure when defenseman Rick Green is going to be able to make his first appearance of the 1983-84 season for the Canadiens. His broken wrist is slow to heal&hellip; Pierre Mondou&rsquo;s first six goals were all scored away from the Forum this season&hellip;Shutt&rsquo;s goal against Quebec was his 396th career effort, tying him for 20th place on the all-time NHL list with Dave Keon&hellip;Defenseman Bill Root leads the Canadiens&rsquo; plus-minus figures with a plus 9. Doug Wickenheiser is second with a plus five&hellip;The Canadiens embarked on their second long road trip of the season after finishing a suing of three consecutive games at the Forum. &#9632;

Knee Injuries Nag Hunter At The Worst Of Times

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>Black Thursday</h2>TAKE OUT YOUR calendar, circle Nov. 3 and forever remember it as Black Thursday in the National Hockey League. Remember it as the day that Tom Lysiak, who dumped a defenseless linseman on his back with a juvenile outburst of frustration, was permitted by a U.S. court to be reinstated to honorable status in the NHL when he should have been on the sidelines serving a 20-game suspension.Remember it as the day that the Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; management, from team president William Wirtz to general manager Bob Pulford, put themselves and their hockey club above the rules of the game, rules that they had all agreed to abide by.Remember it as the day that the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, led by Alan Eagleson, put the interests of one of its union members ahead of an entire league.And most of all, remember it as the day that the NHL lost its right to govern its own affairs, the day that the precedent was set for going to the courts to fight in-house league rules that should not and cannot be held up to the scrutiny of the laws of the land.Yes, the situation involving Lysiak&mdash;the veteran Black Hawk center who was ejected from a faceoff circle by linesman Ron Foyt in a game against the Hartford Whalers at Chicago Stadium on Oct. 30 and subsequently pulled Foyt&rsquo;s skates out from under him&mdash;demonstrates that the big names in hockey such as Eagleson and Wirtz, in this instance anyway, don&rsquo;t give a damn about the good of the game.If they were really concerned with it, then they&rsquo;d realize Rule 67, Category One, which says that any player who physically abuses a game official shall receive an automatic 20-game suspension without right of appeal, is a splendid piece of legislation.It was imposed as a direct result of several nasty incidents&mdash;Paul Holmgren and Terry O&rsquo;Reilly took separate swipes at referee Andy van Hellemond during the 1981-82 season. That&rsquo;s why the NHL&rsquo;s Blue Ribbon committee, comprised of representatives from the league office, the owners, the general managers, coaches and Players&rsquo; Association, suggested the rule. Now Eagleson is whining that the rule isn&rsquo;t what the NHLPA thought it was.The aim of the rule was two-fold and very basic. First and foremost, it would serve as an excellent deterrent to players who might consider physically abusing an official. Second, it would take the pressure off NHL vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill, who would not have to subjectively assess an incident, regardless of whether it was Wayne Gretzky or Tiger Williams who committed the offense; they&rsquo;d both get the same punishment and it would be meted out immediately.We cannot stress that protecting game officials is a must; the referees and linesmen cannot work under conditions that physically threaten them.The distasteful side effect of this protest is that the NHL laws are suddenly being declared &ldquo;unconstitutional.&rdquo; Well, how would the Black Hawks like it if their No. 1 draft pick in 1984 was signed by another team which, in spite of the havoc it would create, decided to test the legality of a draft that says a player must play where he is told? Or what if Hawk star Denis Savard decided to challenge the NHL definition of a free agent and won his case.Wirtz, chairman of the NHL board of govemers, and Eagleson, head of the players&rsquo; union, should know better to have gone outside the NHL circle with their gripes, especially since Wirtz gave his seal of approval to Rule 67. Their actions and their comments&mdash;especially Eagleson&rsquo;s inflammatory remark that if 20 games is the punishment, the player should shoot the bundle and punch the official&mdash;proves that they&rsquo;re putting themselves above the game.At this point, the ball is in the NHL&rsquo;s court&mdash;no pun intended. If Lysiak doesn&rsquo;t sit out 20 games or if Rule 67 is boiled down to some ineffecutal, toothless legislation that was in place before, then the league has lost its power and its clout. Rules won&rsquo;t mean anything.And then, of course, there are the officials. How are they going to take this? Not very well. Who would blame them if they refused to step onto the ice again unless they are assured of safe working conditions? We certainly wouldn&rsquo;t.Just one question: If we&rsquo;re afraid to give abusers of the officials tough penalties, do we really want to stop them? &#9632;

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">BOB VERDI&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011626/6586062-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="288" height="343"></div>Besides leadership, national TV, a sane playoff format and someone who can keep up with Wayne Gretzky other than his girlfriend, the National Hockey League hasn&rsquo;t been missing much lately except law and order.Nothing has kept professional hockey from attaining its potential more than the recurring instances of players whaling on each other, then closing the argument by nibbling on a referee&rsquo;s earlobe.So what happens? After years of laboring under the misconception that tantrums sell tickets, NHL nabobs try to clean up the game by tackling the issue of unnecessary&rsquo; roughness. And where do they wind up? In a Chicago courtroom for being too strict. As ever, the NHL is a league named Sue.The intent here is not to try the case. Tom Lysiak, a God-fearing center for the Black Hawks, probably doesn&rsquo;t deserve a 20-game suspension for tripping linseman Ron Foyt (Oct. 30 at Chicago Stadium). And Dave Newell, the referee who immediately banished Lysiak from the arena, doesn&rsquo;t deserve to be reprimanded for doing his job.<blockquote class="pullQuote">When the NHL made Rule 67, they didn&rsquo;t leave any grey areas and that is the problem right now.</blockquote>If there is a problem, it&rsquo;s the NHL rulebook. And for a league that has just begun to grow up, such a problem is predictable. When legislators left the dark ages and saw the light, they didn&rsquo;t leave any grey areas&mdash;specifically, in Rule 67.Category One states that any player who strikes or applies physical force to an official shall be suspended for 20 games. Category Two states that any player who physically demeans an official shall be suspended for three games. It&rsquo;s all there in black and white, with no grey in between.&ldquo;The lesser penalty would apply to a player spitting at an official,&rdquo; said NHL supervisor of officials Scotty Morrison. &ldquo;At one point, there was a third category proposed for Rule 67. But it was voted out by everybody, including the NHL Players Association, so a rule is a rule is a rule.&rdquo;What&rsquo;s missing here is a middle ground for compromise. The NHL could then look at Lysiak&rsquo;s record, which is good, and balance it with his treatment of Foyt, which was definitely punishable. They could also consider other cicumstances, such as the reluctance by NHL linsemen to drop the puck on faceoffs&mdash;a habit that annoys many players.&ldquo;If Tom had come out of this with a more reasonable suspension&mdash;even five or seven games&mdash;that might have been the end of it,&rdquo; said Hawk general manager Bob Pulford. &ldquo;But 20 is ridiculous.&rdquo;Howk president Bill Wirtz, the NHL&rsquo;s most powerful owner, just happens to be a pal of Al Eagleson, who is not only Pulford&rsquo;s advisor, but the executive director of the NHL Players Association. He sort of had a hunch they might agree on this matter.<blockquote class="pullQuote">The time to change the rule-book is not in the middle of the winter. Summer would be preferable.</blockquote>Unfortunately, the time to change the NHL rulebook is the middle of the summer, not the middle of the winter. Before the 1982-83 season, Rule 67 was adopted. It survived 840 regular season and 68 playoff games last year. The Black Hawk-Hartford game of Oct. 30 was the 116th on this year&rsquo;s schedule.If Rule 67 escaped everybody else&rsquo;s notice, how could the Black Hawks forget it? Last season, their own Peter Marsh was suspended for three games for a Category One violation&mdash;spitting on Bob Luther. That was the first time Rule 67 was used; Oct. 30 was the second.The Black Hawks blasted it as &ldquo;unconstitutional&rdquo; and &ldquo;contrary to the laws of the land.&rdquo; That has a nice ring to it, but the NHL should govern the NHL, not the nation&rsquo;s already cluttered courtrooms. John Ziegler, the league&rsquo;s president, handled the drug case of Don Murdoch on his own&mdash;40 games&mdash;firm but fair. So it should be.Going to court to challenge an in-house game-related rule could establish a bizarre precedent. Hockey gave Dave Newell the right to be judge and jury on Oct. 30. He and his lodge brothers have been punched and shoved and upended too often. Now, they have Rule 67 to protect them.Lysiak&rsquo;s suspension will send a positive message to the public about the NHL. a league that is growing up at long last. The growing pains in this case are being felt by the Black Hawks, their fans, and Lysiak, who stands to lose a quarter of his salary.Lysiak, a gentleman who let his stick get away from him, is a test case for Rule 67. In all fairness, maybe he deserved only a five-game suspension, followed by dinner with his good pal, coach Orval Tessier.However, if Tom Lysiak ever trips another linseman, he should get a five-game suspension and two dinners with Orval Tessier. &#9632;

f0008-01

GUEST SHOT

<h2>We&rsquo;re Adding Three More Issues A Year</h2>Effective with the Nov. 25th, 1983, issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, the terms and subscription rates will increase. The one-season term increases from 37 issues to 40 issues each year.This increase in term is the direct result of an expressed desire of our readers who want more coverage of the sport.In 1984, issues will be added in August and September and the second July issue&mdash;the statistical wrap-up&mdash;will again be included in the annual subscription package.On a per copy basis, the rate increase for the one-year term is less than six per cent or about three cents per copy. The current subscription rate of $19.95 for 37 issues will increase to $22.95 for 40 issues.The newsstand price of the paper will remain at $1.50 per copy ($60 for 40 issues).Two and three-year subscription rates will still be discounted significantly.The term and rate increases will take effect in the next issue of the paper in conjunction with THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; People&rsquo;s Choice All-Star ballot, a chance for our readers to not only pick their own version of the two Conference all-star teams, but also an opportunity to win an all-expense paid trip to the 1984 NHL All-Star game in East Rutherford, N.J., on Jan. 31.Subscribers currently being renewed will be protected at the lower rates until Dec. 31, 1983.We thank you for your continued support and cooperation. &#9632;

A MESSAGE TO OUR READERS

<div class="byline">BY RON COBB</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Back in August, when he was scrambling to piece together the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; new organization, owner Harry Omest arranged a series Of rapid-fire press conferences.The announcements began with the naming of Ron Caron as vice-president and director of player personnel and four days later came the news that Jacques Demers would be the new coach.The Blues were working fast to make up for lost time. When they called yet another press conference two days after naming Demers the coach, they were hoping to make up for lost opportunity.Reporters were assembled one more time to chronicle the signing of Doug Gilmour, a 20-year-old center who was coming off a banner season with the Cornwall Royals of the Ontario Hockey League. He&rsquo;d been named MVP after leading the league in scoring with 70 goals and 107 assists.The addition of Gilmour was significant because the Blues didn&rsquo;t participate in the entry draft in June due to the uncertainty of the franchise&rsquo;s future.Gilmour, the Blues&rsquo; fourth pick and 134th overall in the 1982 draft, was billed as the equivalent of a first-round selection. He was a young man who could put the puck in the net.Gilmour did turn out to be a valuable addition to the Blues, but for reasons never imagined back in August.Gilmour, despite taking a regular shift, failed to score a point in his first nine National Hockey League games, yet he was considered one of the bright spots for the Blues as they won five of their first six games.He may yet develop into a scorer, but Gilmour earned a berth on the team by becoming a defense-minded player who centered the Blues&rsquo; checking line.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011548/6586117-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="561" height="801"><figcaption class="caption-body">St. Louis rookie Doug Gilmour is learning to play defensively on a checking line.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just breaking into the league,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;so I&rsquo;m not worried about setting the league on fire this year, I&rsquo;d just like to do the job here, win some games and get some experience for a few years down the line.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t really been much of an exciting player as far as moves and carrying the puck go. But sometimes I press too much when we get into the offensive zone.&ldquo;The more I shoot, the more I&rsquo;m going to score. Lately I&rsquo;ve been trying to set the play up too much and pass instead of shoot. But I&rsquo;m starting to get confidence in carrying the puck.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll still do all the checking I can, plus try to get a few points.&rdquo;Gilmour picked up his first point of the season on an assist in the Blues&rsquo; 10th game, a 5-4 loss to the Flames in Calgary and he added another assist the next game in a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in St. Louis.Going goalless for so long had been a bit unsettling for Gilmour, although Demers had eased his mind by assuring him that he needn&rsquo;t worry about scoring.&ldquo;If he hadn&rsquo;t said that, I&rsquo;d be thinking, &rsquo;I&rsquo;ve got to get points, I&rsquo;ve got to get points,&rsquo;&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t really say to play defensively, but play against your line and stay with your man and have a guy back all the time&mdash;maybe even two guys.&rdquo;For the time being, that&rsquo;s all that is expected of the rookie from Kingston, Ont.&ldquo;The people back home probably don&rsquo;t know that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re probably wondering why I&rsquo;m not getting any points.&rdquo;BLUENOTES&mdash;After a third straigl loss dropped the Blues&rsquo; record to 6-5 coach Jacques Demers broke up his to line of left winger Brian Sutter, centt Bemie Federko and right winger Jo Mullen. The idea was to get more balanced scoring by putting Mullen on line with left winger Jack Carlson an center Blake Dunlop and by puttin Mark Reeds with Sutter and Federkc Demers said he planned to play backu goaltender Rick Heinz in 20 to 25 game this season, but Mike Liut started I straight games after missing the season opener because of the flu. &#9632;

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Blues’ Rookie Learns To Play Defensively

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011606/6586148-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="562" height="756"><figcaption class="caption-body">Calgary winger Eddy Beers had consecutive hat tricks against Winnipeg and Vancouver.</figcaption></div>CALGARY&mdash;Everything that&rsquo;s happened to Eddy Beers in his short National Hockey League career reads like something out of a Grimm&rsquo;s fairytale&mdash;you know, the ones that begin, &ldquo;Once upon a time,&rdquo; and end with the prince getting the girl.Beers, a highly-regarded free agent from Denver University, signed with the Flames late in 1982, broke into the lineup immediately and scored a goal on his first National Hockey League shift.Two months into the next season, after paying some minor-league dues, the Flames promoted Beers to the first team and the first line, alongside Lanny McDonald and Doug Risebrough. Beers started scoring immediately and didn&rsquo;t stop until a serious head injury in March sent him to the sidelines.Even the injury worked out for the charming left winger.Beers, originally thought to have suffered a skull fracture or major concussion, came back 10 days later. Although he didn&rsquo;t play particularly well the rest of the way, Beers conceded he was lucky to be alive.The miracles continue.Beers put together his finest 72 hours as a pro in consecutive games against Calgary&rsquo;s Smythe Division rivals, the Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks. Beers recorded hat tricks in both games. Against the Canucks, Beers scored his second goal in the final minute to get the Flames even and his third in the final minute of overtime to give the Flames the decision.After his first three-goal performance, Beers&rsquo; comment was: &ldquo;Me scoring three goals, somebody call That&rsquo;s Incredible.&rdquo; Two nights later, after duplicating the feat, he said: &ldquo;Better call them again.&rdquo;&ldquo;I put Beers on the ice in the last minute because I knew if someone was going to get a goal, he would,&rdquo; said coach Bob Johnson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got that magic touch right now.&rdquo;Ironically, this was the second time that Beers has beaten the Canucks in overtime. The first came in Game One of last season&rsquo;s Smythe Division semifinals, when Beers scored from a goalmouth scramble to give the Flames a one-game lead in the series.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure what it is about us and them,&rdquo; said Beers. &ldquo;In terms of talent, we&rsquo;re ahead of them, I think. The way we play against them may go back to the playoff loss two years ago. Nobody was too happy about losing that series. There&rsquo;s a good chance we&rsquo;ll run into them in the playoffs. We have to set a tempo, a pattern in case that happens.&rdquo;Beers started to click the day Johnson put him at left wing on a line with Mike Eaves and Hakan Loob. Johnson, missing a Clark Gillies-type of winger to play with the Smurfs, Eaves and Loob, inserted Beers in that position because he&rsquo;s the closest thing to Gillies the Flames have got.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like comparing myself to other players,&rdquo; said Beers, &ldquo;but I know what my role on the line is. I&rsquo;m not a finesse player. I&rsquo;ve got to muck. I just try to score some garbage goals.&rdquo;Beers said his late-season problems last year were the result of trying to do too much too soon after his injury.&ldquo;In retrospect, I think I came back too early. I played so tentatively when I first came back. Each time I got hit, I could feel it in my head. I started to shy away from the tough going and pretty soon the bottom fell out of my game.&rdquo;The Flames, after starting with eight of nine games (2-6-1) on the road, came home and promptly won three straight.&ldquo;In order to have a successful season, you&rsquo;ve got to put together five or six in a row,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t do it last year. We&rsquo;ve got the perfect opportunity to do it now.&rdquo;IN BRIEF&mdash;After suffering a number of minor, but potentially dangerous facial injuries in the early season, defenseman Paul Reinhart adopted the clear, plastic visor that three of his teammates&mdash;Kent Nilsson, Hakan Loob and Kari Jalonen&mdash;already wear. Why? &ldquo;Because of this reason and that reason and that reason and that reason,&rdquo; said Reinhart, pointing to his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. &ldquo;My whole career, I&rsquo;ve been getting shots in the face and I&rsquo;m fed up with it. I tried the visor, I liked it and I&rsquo;m going to keep playing with it. &ldquo;&hellip; Nilsson returned to the lineup against the Jets after missing eight games with a back injury and scored a goal in his first game back. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a threat out there,&rdquo; said coach Bob Johnson. &ldquo;They have to play him cautiously. They&rsquo;ve got to put two guys on him all the time and that means there&rsquo;s always someone open to pass to.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Johnson Prefers His Beers On Ice

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021194/6586179-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="288" height="336"></div><h2>Early-Season Wondering</h2>THE SEASON IS only a few weeks old and already I&rsquo;m wondering about things&hellip;&bull; I&rsquo;m wondering about the new overtime rule. I like it, but some people such as Gerry Cheevers aren&rsquo;t dropping John Ziegler notes thanking him for adding a new dimension to regular-season games.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like it,&rdquo; said Cheevers. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a different game. The fans love it, if there&rsquo;s a great goal by the home team. But I don&rsquo;t think teams will play the same. We come here (Philadelphia&rsquo;s Spectrum) and prepare to play a Boston-Philadelphia game. But we wind up playing a different game. Overtime is survival.&rdquo;Maybe the Boston Bruins&rsquo; coach is just old-fashioned. Give him half a season and maybe he&rsquo;ll love overtime, especially if the Bruins win a few times.Rick Middleton, Boston&rsquo;s all-star caliber right winger, looks at overtime from a player&rsquo;s viewpoint.&ldquo;You feel great if you win, lousy if you lose,&rdquo; Middleton said. &ldquo;You play it like the last 10 minutes of the third period&mdash;you can&rsquo;t make any mistakes. I&rsquo;ll tell you this, it (overtime) goes fast.&rdquo;&bull; Overheard in the Spectrum press box: Eddie Johnston, the former Boston goaltender who&rsquo;s in his first season as Pittsburgh general manager, was scouting the Flyers prior to completing the deal which sent Rich Sutter to Philly for Ron Flockhart, Mark Taylor and Andy Brickley. Johnston heard Tom Johnson, Boston&rsquo;s assistant GM, say he counted 21 Bruins. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got an extra man,&rdquo; Johnson said.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll take him,&rdquo; snapped EJ.One man&rsquo;s opinion on the Pittsburgh-Philly deal: it should be a trade that helps both teams. Rich Sutter is already thriving by playing on the same line with twin brother, Ron. Flockhart will provide some much-needed excitement for the dreary Penguins and Taylor will turn out to be a solid NHL player. Brickley can be a good NHL player&mdash;if he wants to be.<h2>Flocky Hockey</h2>ANOTHER OPINION: UNTIL &ldquo;Flocky Hockey&rdquo; arrived on the banks of the Monongahela River, the toughest job in hockey had to be promotions director for the Penguins.&bull; I&rsquo;m wondering why the Stastnys aren&rsquo;t a bigger draw in the NHL. In most NHL cities, fans just don&rsquo;t seem to get excited when the Stastnys come to town even though the brothers and the Nordiques can be explosive. If the Nordiques ever find a steady defense corps they&rsquo;ll be one of the NHL&rsquo;s class teams.&bull; I&rsquo;m wondering what Ron Duguay is thinking about when he poses for a poster-sized three column-by-12 inch photo in the Detroit Free Press. Shirtless and smiling, Duguay is seen reclining under a headline that reads &ldquo;Le Hunk.&rdquo; We are then treated to a &ldquo;vital statistics&rdquo; box &hellip; Hair: blond-tipped brown, from the sun&hellip;Eyes: Hazel, with golden centers. Their color changes, he says, &ldquo;depending on what kind of mood I&rsquo;m in. &ldquo;&hellip;Chest measurement: &ldquo;Mine?&rdquo; he laughs. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with having some fun in hockey and in life, but you&rsquo;d think Duguay would reject such interviews until after he proves he can help his new team. Duguay&rsquo;s dedication to hockey was questioned in New York. How do you think Detroit fans reacted after they read the latest on &ldquo;Le Hunk?&rdquo; Which reminds me of John Ferguson&rsquo;s line when Doogie was rumored going to Winnipeg. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d let Duguay down by taking him,&rdquo; said the Jets&rsquo; GM. &ldquo;Our streets in Winnipeg aren&rsquo;t wide enough for his white convertible.&rdquo; Once you get a reputation, it&rsquo;s tough to live it down. But one of the best ways I know is to work like hell to prove you want to be a good hockey player.<h2>Player Agent Problems</h2>&bull; ONE OF THE most chilling tales I&rsquo;ve read lately was the story by Sam McManis in the Los Angeles Times detailing Dave Lewis&rsquo;s financial problems. After you read it, you&rsquo;d like to introduce alleged agent Peter Spencer to Barry Beck, Clark Gillies, Behn Wilson and Glen Cochrane. According to Lewis, Spencer took the veteran defenseman for his life&rsquo;s savings. Lewis, Danny Gare, Doug Hicks, Dave Semenko, Ron Lowe and Pat Price have filed a $1.3 million suit against Spencer, accusing him of embezzlement, mismanagement of funds and fraud.That Lewis, who&rsquo;s now with the New Jersey Devils, would discuss his problem proves again what a solid citizen he is. The story also reminds me of one of my crusades: why can&rsquo;t the NHL, and all professional leagues, investigate agents before they are allowed to represent players? A few creeps would still slip through, but at least the players would be offered protection.On a more positive note, Ed Kea&rsquo;s recuperation from the head injury he suffered last season is one of the most inspirational sports stories of our time. Kea&rsquo;s speech is slowly returning to normal.&ldquo;People hear me talk and they say, &rsquo;What&rsquo;s wrong with him?&rsquo;&rdquo; the former defenseman said. &ldquo;Butlcouldbe dead and I&rsquo;m still alive, so I just say, &rsquo;Thank you, Lord.&rdquo;&rsquo;Kea&rsquo;s wife, Jennifer, says doctors told her Ed had only a 50-50 chance of living through the surgery. &ldquo;When I was sitting next to Ed in church,&rdquo; she said recently, &ldquo;I thought to myself that I was sitting next to a miracle.&rdquo;George McPhee, the player who checked Kea into the boards during the Central League game last season, deserves credit for visiting Kea. It was a clean check, but surely McPhee feels terrible about what happened. McPhee&rsquo;s concern is just another example of what makes most hockey players special&mdash;they care about each other and their game. &#9632;

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HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;The next time Tiger Williams plays against Calgary, he&rsquo;ll think twice about getting into a fracas with Flame defenseman Paul Baxter.The National Hockey League has suspended the pugnacious Williams for eight games for a &ldquo;potentially dangerous&rdquo; attempt to injure Baxter in a game at the Saddledome on Oct. 30.NHL vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill said the incident marked the third time in two years that Williams had been given a match penalty.&ldquo;After considering the facts of this incident, it is my judgement that the actions of player Williams were unacceptable and potentially dangerous,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neill said. &ldquo;It was evident that the player made no effort to restrain himself and had to be removed by other players and officials from Baxter, who was completely defenseless at the time.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">Neither Williams nor Baxter have impeccable records and both have been in previous altercations.</blockquote>Williams, who&rsquo;s already served one-game of the eight-game sentence, will serve the rest of his penalty beginning Nov. 11.Neither Williams nor Baxter have impeccable records, as both have been in numerous altercations before. Baxter, in particular, has an infamous history of scrapping with opposing players and somehow managing to avoid the referees&rsquo; censure. In an exhibition game last season between the Hartford Whalers and Pittsburgh Penguins, Blaine Stoughton viciously swung his stick against Baxter, who was playing for the Penguins at the time, and received an eight-game suspension. The mild-mannered Stoughton insisted he was provoked by Baxter.Other players who&rsquo;ve had incidents with Baxter and have been suspended include Philadelphia&rsquo;s Paul Holmgren, Montreal&rsquo;s Chris Nilan and New York Rangers&rsquo; Nick Fotiu and Barry Beck.When Baxter was acquired in the offseason by the Flames as a free agent without compensation, one of his attributes which the Flames were keen on was his toughness.In 1980-81, he led the league with 409 penalty minutes, the second highest in history.Williams is no angel by any means, as he entered the season with 2,700 penalty minutes in eight seasons. That&rsquo;s first overall on the all-time penalty minute list, more than 400 minutes ahead of his former bad-boy rival, Dave (The Hammer) Schultz, who&rsquo;s long since retired.Some of Williams&rsquo; more memorable confrontations include a stick-swinging affair with Dave Hutchinson of the Kings, when Williams was playing for the Leafs several seasons ago. Both Williams and Hutchinson later teamed together on the Leaf team which was coahed by Roger Neilson and beat the Islanders in the quarter-finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1978.Williams has also had run-ins with many of the league&rsquo;s enforcers such as Fotiu, Holmgren, Boston&rsquo;s Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Chicago&rsquo;s Al Secord and Behn Wilson (when he played with the Flyers) and even some of his former teammates. Williams fought with Lanny MacDonald in the Calgary game, though the two were once linemates in their heyday with the Leafs.Ironically, Williams formed an inte ral part on the Canucks&rsquo; second lir featuring Patrik Sundstrom and To Tanti, the high-scoring right wing whom the Canucks acquired from Chic go midway through last season. T Canucks entered the season worried a out having only one scoring line, but wi the emergence of the Sundstrom-Tan Williams troika, they were given an unexpected offensive force.Williams played against the Capital in a 5-4 loss against Washington at the Capital Center on Nov. 4 and got assist on a goal by Sundstrom. &#9632;

Hefty Suspension Puts Hold On Tiger

<div class="byline">BY DICK BEDDOES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011564/6586265-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="282" height="338"></div><h2>The Inmates Squeal</h2>THE TOM LYSIAK affair indicates that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing in the National Hockey League, even when the hands are attached to the same person.You know Lysiak, eh?A competent center for the Chicago Black Hawks who has never quite endorsed his junior precocity among the mercenaries.The most NHL notoriety Lysiak has achieved occurred on Oct. 30 in Chicago when, in an act of bush-league boobishness, he shoved the skates from under a harmless linesman, Ronald Foyt.For that red-necked impulsiveness, Lysiak was suspended 20 games under a NHL rule more than a year old.Naturally, all hell and inmates from several other precincts broke loose in a tirade of lawsuits and loonishness. Now none of us can detach Lysiak&rsquo;s comely brain from the rest of him with a fish fork and probe to find what he actually intended in abusing Foyt for ordering him out of a faceoff situation.But television replays of the event, in slow motion, show that after the puck was dropped, Lysiak skated near Foyt and dumped the official on his black britches.&ldquo;Foul!&rdquo; cried referee David Newell, an observant bystander. &ldquo;Abuse most heinous!&rdquo;Mr. Newell then invoked the NHL edict regarding officials, and a clear, stark paragraph it is:<h2>The Final Decision</h2>&ldquo;THE REFEREE SHALL have general supervision of the game and shall have full control of all game officials and players during the game, including stoppages; and, in case of any dispute, his decision shall be final.&rdquo;Immediately, if not sooner, an assortment of NHL characters deemed that referee Newell&rsquo;s decision would not be final.R. Alan Eagleson popped off relentlessly, as is his chatty habit. Eagleson&rsquo;s longtime great friend, Robert Pulford, was heard from. Words came out of Harry Sinden. Lawyers torted and retorted.Mr. Eagleson, as the Jimmy Hoffa or George Meany of the NHL Players Union, declared on a Toronto radio station, &ldquo;Fora 20-game suspension, Lysiak should have shot the bundle and punched the linesman.&rdquo;Irresponsible and inflammatory, right? Just the sort of calm, reasoned comment one likes to hear from the counsellor of boyish men. Nuts.Mr. Pulford, Eagleson&rsquo;s buddy and general manager of the Black Hawks, whom I&rsquo;ve always regarded as the sanest of NHL executives, chimed in, &ldquo;The suspension should have been closer to three games than 20.&rdquo;Mr. Sinden, who generally manages the Boston Bruins, explained: &ldquo;I proposed a plan that would have provided for an appeal of the rule, but the NHL players on the panel discussing the rule didn&rsquo;t want an appeal. They wanted to make the players more aware of the rule.&rdquo;Well, they&rsquo;re aware of it now, all right. Mr. Lysiak will be painfully aware of it if his protest against his penalty is scrubbed by the courts. If he is suspended for 20 games without pay, Thomas will lose roughly $46,000.About the left hand not knowing what the right hand is about, Clyde, Mr. Eagleson&rsquo;s position on this score is not strong in the eyes of Providence, which sees all.<h2>R. Alan Squeals</h2>WHERE DOES HE get off squealing now, after the hairy Hessians he represents approved the rule? Except that R. Alan squeals constantly, just for practice.The rule is there, approved by owners, managers and unionists, and the 20-game suspension is mandatory. If Eagleson did not approve of the rule&rsquo;s wording, he should have yelled about it in 1982 when the wording was processed. Where was he then? Playing tennis with Bobby Orr?One suspects that the rule indeed will be modified after this name-calling hiatus.But the NHL authorities, as this deathless prose was squeezed from its cocoon, held firm. Donald McSweeney, an NHL lawyer said, &ldquo;If the NHL was prevented from suspending players for infractions involving game officials, there would be bedlam.&rdquo;Of course. The rule was installed in the NHL code because there is frequent bedlam as mouthy players insult officials with profanity, &ldquo;You effing this! You effing that!&rdquo;By going to court, NHL chaps such as Eagleson are admitting that the league and its trade unionists cannot manage their own affairs.If the NHL doesn&rsquo;t back the game officials on this one, referee-in-chief Scotty Morrison has only one recourse. That is to take all the officials&rsquo; whistles and offer them to Eagleson and NHL president John Ziegler with a pungent suggestion for their disposal. &#9632;

f0012-01

BEDCLOTHES

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Doug Smith has been two-way player for the Kings this season: he&rsquo;s either performed at right wing he&rsquo;s sat in the stands.On the night of Oct. 25 he sat again &mdash; third straight game he had been watched from the lineup by coach Don berry&mdash;and watched his teammates drop dreadful 8-5 decision to the Hartford whalers at the Forum.Moments later, dressed in the three-since suit he has grown accustomed to earing on game nights. Smith joined he troops in the Kings&rsquo; dressing room. It was a ritual that figured to end in the at-too-distant future because the 20-year-old native of Ottawa, the highest ift pick in club history, revealed short-after that he had asked general manar George Maguire to trade him.Believing he has &ldquo;wasted&rdquo; his two-is years with the Kings since being cked second overall in the 1981 draft and unhappy because he had been switched from his natural center position to right wing, Smith saw no other recourse.The Kings later reported they would try to accommodate the youngster, but they also emphasized they had no intention of giving him away.Ironically, Smith met with Maguire only two days after Larry Murphy, a close friend, had been dealt to Washington for Brian Engblom and Ken Houston.&ldquo;Larry and I are very good friends,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;We were roommates and we used to discuss our situations quite a bit. Is it working? Is it not? We used to ask each other those questions all the time.&ldquo;It was the same for Larry as me. They tried to change his game and it clashed with what the coaches wanted. Well, things worked out well for him. Washington was looking for an offensive defenseman and they got one and the Kings were looking for a defensive defenseman and they got one.&rdquo;Now, Smith was saying, he hoped the Kings were looking for a team that would prefer a center&mdash;not a right winger.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a combination of things,&rdquo; Smith said, &ldquo;but mostly it&rsquo;s the fact that I&rsquo;m not playing my position. I worked my butt off and I think I had a good camp and I tried to play right wing.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m starting to lose my confidence. I feel in the last two years I&rsquo;ve lost almost everything I had in junior. When I get the puck on the ice my hands shake. I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;m doing.&rdquo;Smith collected 45 goals and 56 assists in 54 games with the Ottawa 67s in 1980-81 and was selected by the Kings in the ensuing draft right after Winnipeg chose Dale Hawerchuk.He was the only King to play in all 80 games his rookie year, collecting 16 goals and 16 assists. He fractured his wrist in Winnipeg on Oct. 27 last year and missed 24 games, finishing with 11 goals and 11 assists in 42 appearances.He worked in the Kings&rsquo; first six games this year&mdash;at right wing&mdash;then was benched for the next three. He hadn&rsquo;t scored a point and looked totally uncomfortable.&ldquo;I came here as an 18-year-old, played approximately one or two shifts the first 30 games (under Parker MacDonald) and sat back and watched as all these other young guys came in and got all kinds of playing time&mdash;time to build their confidence.&ldquo;That seems like such a long time ago. Then the rest of the season I played right wing. Then they put me at center for the playoffs (under Perry, after MacDonald had been fired) and I thought I did pretty well.&ldquo;I came to camp last year maybe not as prepared as I should have been, but after I came back from my broken wrist I was back at right wing again. Then this year&hellip;I was back at right wing again.&rdquo;He looks around the league and sees people such as Hawerchuk, Bobby Carpenter and Ron Francis&mdash;all drafted in the same year&mdash;emerging as stars at center and it does not make him happy.&ldquo;I feel my career has been a waste,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gotten along with everybody on the team&mdash;that includes George and Don&mdash;but personally I wouldn&rsquo;t have the confidence to go back to junior right now.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021264/6586234-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="562" height="770"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Smith has lost his confidence playing right wing and has asked to be traded.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;This (right wing) is not the position that got me here.&rdquo;Perry insists Smith is capable of playing right wing and was moved there partly because he was weak defensively.&ldquo;I tried him at center in camp and he didn&rsquo;t do very well,&rdquo; Perry said. &ldquo;He played 14 straight games there last year before he hurt his wrist and he didn&rsquo;t play that well then. He played well there in junior, but that was a long time ago. There are a lot of guys who come out of junior hockey who don&rsquo;t do that well in this league. It&rsquo;s not that uncommon.&ldquo;Our centers have to do a lot of things defensively in our own end and he had a hard time picking these things up. Maybe we didn&rsquo;t give him enough time to do it, but we don&rsquo;t have that luxury. If we were on a roll, if we were winning, we could give him more time, but we can&rsquo;t go on losing games while we&rsquo;re waiting.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve seen him play some games well at right wing. I think he can do fine there. The important thing is he doesn&rsquo;t think so and so we&rsquo;re trying to accomodate him.&rdquo;For a price, however.&ldquo;We feel we have to get a good player in return based on where he was drafted,&rdquo; Perry said. &ldquo;We want a quality player in return. We don&rsquo;t want two or three average players; we want one good player. Whether it be a defenseman or a winger or whatever, we want one good player.&rdquo;The sooner the better, as far as Smith is concerned.&ldquo;I think everybody would benefit by it, the Kings and myself,&rdquo; he said.KING NOTEBOOK&mdash;Doug Smith joined the Kings on the road and played in Buffalo&mdash;at right wing&hellip;With two victories and a tie in his last three starts, goaltender Mike Blake evened his record at 2-2-2 and lowered his goals-against average to 3.24 &hellip; Bernie Nicholls was on a tear, collecting seven goals and six assists in three games&hellip; Marcel Dionne scored his 1,300th career point. &#9632;

f0012-02

Smith Makes Himself Center Of Attention

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;With youth comes inconsistency and the youngest team in the National Hockey League is totally perplexing.&ldquo;Some nights we can do it all,&rdquo; said Tom Watt, coach of the Winnipeg Jets. &ldquo;Other nights it looks like we don&rsquo;t know what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;The Jets are giving up more goals than all their 20 peers. At one point, no fewer than 17 of their regulars were minus players.And Watt claims he knows why.&ldquo;Most young players, when they come into the NHL, are drafted high because of their offensive talents, &rsquo; &rsquo; he said. &ldquo;Now you must prepare these players to play in the league and that means they must improve their defensive skills. It doesn&rsquo;t happen overnight.&rdquo;Selling defensive hockey to players who have starred offensively in junior ranks is not an easy task. Frustration is a problem.&ldquo;It is difficult to convince someone who has been drafted, someone who has been great, has a contract and has been successful wherever he has played, that it&rsquo;s important to play good defense as well,&rdquo; said Watt.&ldquo;But the perfect example is Edmonton. Last year the Oilers scored more goals than any team in NHL history. But they didn&rsquo;t win the Stanly Cup. The team that did, the Islanders, won the Jennings Trophy with the lowest goals-against.&rdquo;On three occasions, the Jets used a lineup with an average of 23.1 years. Of the 20 players who dressed, only three were rookies. They were defensemen Jyrki Seppa and Jim Kyte and right winger Andrew McBain. The oldest player was 27-year-old Morris Lukowich.After a pair of heady wins in New York, beating the Islanders 4-2 and the Rangers 7-5, the Jets were bounced 7-1 in Calgary and 7-3 by Washington.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s so puzzling,&rdquo; said Watt, &ldquo;is the fact I know we are capable of playing well against all teams, the strong and the weak.&rdquo;While the coaches lament the lack of defensive hockey, compounding their misery is the severe drop in offensive production of key players such as Dale Hawerchuk, Paul MacLean, Bengt Lundholm, Brian Mullen, Lukowich and Tim Young. But. in fairness to him, Young has been used but sparingly.&ldquo;In Dale&rsquo;s case, much of the problem is confidence,&rdquo; said Watt. &ldquo;To Dale, the goaltender looks 10 feet tall and six feet wide, standing in front of a mini-net.&rdquo;He has grown so frustrated he has begun to vent his wrath on referees. In Calgary, he was thrown out of the game by Ron Fournier.Even Hawerchuk&rsquo;s father, Ed, of Oshawa, Ont., has noticed a difference in his son. He worries about him. But one goal in 12 games is undoubtedly the root of his worries.Lundholm is not expected to produce with the same frequency as Hawerchuk or MacLean or Mullen. However, he has not scored a goal since the opening of training camp in Sherbrooke. He has been goalless in nine pre-season games and 12 league starts. Still, he seems to fall heir to one or two ideal scoring chances every game.On the other hand, Dave Babych is playing like an all-star on defense, despite his minus-10. He is handling 30 minutes of ice-time every game with ease.Defensively, he is breaking up rushes, throwing some stiff checks, blocking shots and moving people from in front of the net. He is also the team&rsquo;s scoring leader.&ldquo;We have lots of unsung heroes but Dave is the first,&rdquo; said Watt. &ldquo;He is the best-kept all-star in the NHL. He is one of the top half dozen, for sure.&rdquo;Meanwhile, Babych is firm in his belief that the Jets have the talent and experience to win consistently.&ldquo;Maybe we are young but we are also experienced,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is my fourth year. Donnie (Spring) has been here four, too. Muddy (Tim Watters) has been around for three and so has Moe (Mantha). This is the second year for Wade (Campbell). The only rookie is Jim Kyte. Inexperience is no excuse.&rdquo; &#9632;

Defensive Woes Grounding Jets

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>For the second year in a row, the Maple Leafs have banned Globe and Mail reporter Bill Houston from the Leafs&rsquo; dressing room. NHL veep Steve Ryan flew to Toronto and discussed the matter with Leaf officials. No immediate lifting of the ban is expected, although the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association is involved. &ldquo;It will be a ow process,&rsquo;&rsquo; another high NHL official tells Houston. Leaf GM Gerry cNamara has been approached by other Toronto writers to rescind the n, but McNamara has remained adamant. Houston rankled the Leafs last season when he wrote a story about enforcer Paul Higgins, whom Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; coach Nick Polano labelled &ldquo;a goon&rdquo; in the story. The ban doesn&rsquo;t apply to other Globe beat writers, but the Leafs make a point of not Hing them about press conferences or other media announcements nceming the team&hellip;Tom Lysiak&rsquo;s anger at linesmen received sympathy Tom one former referee who tells BLUELINES: &ldquo;The problem is that me of those linesmen want a feeling of power. They get their chance to ercise it by acting like big shots over the faceoff. &rsquo;&rsquo; One who has watched siak for some time notes that he has not been overly friendly with lesmen over the years. An NHL official adds: &ldquo;I agree that they (the lesmen) fool around too much.&rdquo;Broadcasters around the National Hockey League have reacted with iger, amazement and, in some cases, ignorance over the league&rsquo;s don&rsquo;t-up-the-refs guidelines. Veteran Flyer broadcaster Gene Hart tells LUELINES he is incensed over the directive, circulated annually to ay-by-play and color commentators, which suggests discretion in discusing the officiating. Hart insists there&rsquo;s a disparity, because the league doesn&rsquo;t make any provision for newspaper commentary on officiating. We know the NHL wouldn&rsquo;t dare try something like that on the writers,&rdquo; art says. Some media types were astonished to read in BLUELINES that ich an official league memo vis-a-vis officiating exists. &rsquo;&rsquo;I haven&rsquo;t heard thing about it,&rdquo; says Mike Fomes, the Whalers&rsquo; play-by-play man. Criticizing referees is part of the game. An official&rsquo;s performance is like player&rsquo;s performance.&rdquo; Advised of the NHL&rsquo;s guidelines. Bruin TV commentator Fred Cusick opines: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s ridiculous. If a referee is inteligligent I come right out and say so. What the NHL&rsquo;s doing is suppresing freedom of expression, of our rights as broadcasters.&rdquo; Bruin radio ay-by-play vet Bob Wilson says: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had no communication from the ague and if did, I&rsquo;d ignore it.&rdquo; Dan Kelly, who handles the USA network and Blues&rsquo; telecasts, comments: &ldquo;You can drive a listener crazy constantly harping on bad officiating. But the league&rsquo;s not going to tell he when I can or can&rsquo;t!&rdquo;Berry Beck says he had no plans to take up saxaphone playing until he appeared at Xenon&rsquo;s club with John McEnroe who was playing sax. Then,&rdquo; says Beck, &ldquo;someone wrote in the papers that I was really playing so I decided to take lessons.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The Montreal buzz has Bunny arocque wishing to leave his third-string Philadelphia job for second-ring work on the Blues&hellip;NHL officiating veep John McCauley tells BLUELINES there is nothing to reports of a tiff between ref supervisor latt Pavelich and linesman John D&rsquo;Amico&hellip; When Jacques Lemaire gned on as the Canadiens&rsquo; assistant coach he unloaded his job as players&rsquo; gent. Lemaire&rsquo;s stable, including Michel Goulet. Real Cloutier. Louis leigher and Wally Weir, is being handled by Quebec City agent Marc-indre Isabelle.Harold Ballard recently re-affirmed his longstanding feud with the riters of the Toronto Star. Following the Leafs&rsquo; 5-3 win over the Rangers a New York. Ballard voiced his displeasure with the Star reporters, who id not report about the game because of a strike at the newspaper. In a hone interview on Dick Beddoes&rsquo; post-game show, Jock Talk, Ballard lid he was glad the Star was on strike, because &ldquo;they (the Star reporters) would have written that we were lucky to win the game&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The Devils oped to steal some fans from the Rangers this season but wound up with 0 conflicting home dates with the Blueshirts and a terrible start to oot&hellip;Two Met Area tabloids hinted at possible changes in the Devil ierarchy but insiders insist that GM-coach Billy MacMillan will stay at he helm through the end of the season no matter how desperate the club&rsquo;s erformance&hellip;Ron Duguay returns to Madison Square Garden for the irst time as a Red Wing on Nov. 13. As a gag. a friend sent Herb Brooks a ill-length Doogie poster with the inscription: &ldquo;Dear Herb: I&rsquo;ll be on time, love Ron! &rsquo; &rsquo; Brooks, who says his wife is a Duguay fan, laughed&hellip; Referee oss Ian (Scotty) Morrison is unaccustomed to being addressed by his correct monicker. &ldquo;When people call me Ian,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s my arents and I turn in a hurry! &ldquo;&hellip;The Blues filed an official protest against le Oilers and Flames for allegedly reneging on exhibition dates. The NHL till has not reached a verdict on the matter.Yvan Coumoyer has been named to the exec board of the Phil Esposito foundation&hellip;Penguin GM Eddie Johnston and Bruin assistant GMTom Johnson both figure the NHL will be comprised of 50 per cent American-born players by the turn of the century&hellip;Brian Lawton&rsquo;s unusual hairstyle prompted an admirer to wonder whether the mop was a punk rock cut. &rsquo;No,&rdquo; says Lawton, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s just the result of my initiation into the North Stars.&rdquo; &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011554/6586344-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Boston coach Gerry Cheevers had reason to be happy after his Bruins returned home after a successful road trip.</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;The first long road trip of the season has always been a significant event for the Boston Bruins.For the Bruins, who rely on togetherness perhaps more than any other team in the National Hockey League, it is a time for the new kids to get to know the old and for the veterans to reacquaint themselves with each other and the Bruin tradition without the distraction of wives, families, storm windows and the supermarket.In a way, you can tell what kind of a season it&rsquo;s going to be by the results of that first long trip together on the road.Three years ago, Gerry Cheevers&rsquo; first year as coach, the Bruins returned from the western provinces with an 0-5-1 record and thoroughly unable to comprehend exactly what had happened to them. It escalated into the Bruins&rsquo; worse season in 13 years and a quick exit from the playoffs.Two years ago, with some key players a year older and wiser, they came back with a 4-1-1 record and ready to resume their accustomed spot as one of the top teams in the NHL.Last year, the Bruins were 2-0-0 when Normand Leveille was felled by a cerebral hemorrhage and they lost three in a row before bailing themselves out with a tie in Montreal and a win in Buffalo. The trip could easily have been 5-1-1. They went on to win first place overall.&ldquo;This was a successful trip,&rdquo; ruled Cheevers after the Bruins returned to Boston from a 3-2-1 journey. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s seven of a possible 12 points.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t set goals in terms of points on a road trip,&rdquo; said the Boston coach. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t say we&rsquo;re after 10 of a possible 22 points or something like that. I measure success or failure by the standings.&rdquo;The Bruins returned from the hinterlands tied for first place in the Adams division with Quebec at 15 points apiece and they had two games in hand.But even more important than points or standing, the Bruins discovered themselves on the road trip. They played their worst game of the young season in Chicago on Oct. 25, losing 5-1. The played their best game in Minnesota on Oct. 27, winning 8-1. In between, there was a good deal of soul searching.&ldquo;When we don&rsquo;t get beat our way, that&rsquo;s wrong,&rdquo; said a grim Cheevers after the Chicago debacle. &ldquo;We win by playing 100 per cent, which is forechecking, taking the body, skating. If you get beat your way, you can walk out with your head high. If not, you walk out with your tail between your legs.&ldquo;If I benched all the forwards who didn&rsquo;t work hard,&rdquo; he added ominously, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have no one playing.&rdquo;&ldquo;Certainly I&rsquo;m concerned.&rdquo; said Bruin general manager Harry Sinden. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re basically the same personnel as last season but we certainly haven&rsquo;t played like the same team.&ldquo;The play of our forward lines has not been what we&rsquo;ve become accustomed to for many years. They haven&rsquo;t shown the forechecking ability that many people identify with our team and until we do that I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;ll be in the swing of things.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of concentration. Sometimes you have to reintroduce your players to certain aspects of the game. We look upon good forechecking as a strong defensive measure. If we do a good job in the other team&rsquo;s zone we can hold the goals against down.&ldquo;We have to do that because we don&rsquo;t really have the number of good goalscoring forwards to compensate on the nights we don&rsquo;t forecheck. We need a lot of opportunities to score goals.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s just a matter of reemphasizing to our players who have been around here for awhile just how much stock we put in that part of the game.&rdquo;The turnaround came that very night in Minnesota. It was as if everyone discovered forechecking at the same time. Eight different Bruins scored goals, including Nevin Markwart, with his first NHL tally. Markwart made it all sound easy.&ldquo;We had a good team meeting,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We skated for an hour without a puck. Tonight we put it all together. It&rsquo;s great to be able to do that on the road. We looked like the home team tonight.&rdquo;&ldquo;Everything we talked about, everything we wanted to do, we did tonight,&rdquo; said Cheevers. &ldquo;We faced the truth and we reacted to it. Chicago was a very emphatic loss. Minnesota was a very emphatic win. You have to give the players credit. They dug down.&rdquo;The Bruins followed up the Minnesota victory with a 3-2 decision in St. Louis, ending the Blues&rsquo; home win streak at six straight games.It was indeed a successful road trip. &#9632;

f0014-01

Bruins Put It All Together On Successful Road Trip

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>TORONTO&mdash;The Maple Leafs boarded the plane for a flight to Minnesota, where they would play a game against the Stars, then move on to Winnipeg for a date with the Jets and finish up the road trip in Calgary against the red-hot Hames in their spanking-new Saddledome.Travelling with the team was a young Toronto freelance writer who was documenting the Leafs on the road, a story which would give the Leaf fans the real scoop on their heroes away from home.Three days before the flight, the reporter sat in the press box at Maple Leaf Gardens as the Leafs entertained the Los Angeles Kings. The reporter admitted he was a little upset that injuries to the Leaf squad would hamper his Kerouac piece. Among those who wouldn&rsquo;t be travelling were Gary Nylund (knee), Peter Ihnacak (tom knee ligaments) and Walt Poddubny (broken ankle). The reporter lamented that Poddubny&rsquo;s injury, in particular, was a personal blow as he was looking forward to spending much of the trip talking to the Leaf forward about a similar passion: The Three Stooges.By the time the Leafs were through with the Kings, the reporter had reason to believe the great publisher in the sky wanted to test his creative juices. The Leafs finished that game with a 5-5 overtime tie, but enlisted some new faces in the infirmary. Frank Nigro broke his wrist, Rick St. Croix suffered a slight knee sprain, Jim Benning required stiches to close an eye cut, Jim Korn was felled by a rib injury and Terry Martin left the game at the end of the first period with stomach sickness. Greg Terrion didn&rsquo;t even suit up, as he, too, was nauseous.The reporter just shrugged and said, &ldquo;Who&rsquo;ll be left to write about, the St. Catharines Saints?&rdquo;Yes, at it turned out. Two members of the Saints, Greg Britz and Basil McRae, were summoned from the minors to join the Leafs on their road trek.In addition to Nylund, Ihnacak and Poddubny, Martin stayed at home, as did Miroslav Frycer, who had an infected tooth. Frycer&rsquo;s&rsquo;absence meant the Leafs&rsquo; entire second line was on the disabled list.As Leaf coach Mike Nykoluk sadly commented: &ldquo;Who would believe the entire second line would be injured at the same time?&rdquo;In Minnesota, the Leafs had reason to believe they would emerge from the game with two points&mdash;but that wasn&rsquo;t the case. With the fans pointing a &ldquo;loaded gun&rdquo; at North Star coach Bill Mahoney, with Keith Acton still adjusting to his new uniform, with Dino Ciccarelli reeling from his treatment by Mahoney, the Stars won 8-5. It was not a pretty game, as a mild donnybrook occurred after Leaf captain Rick Vaive claimed he was speared by Neal Broten. Vaive, who&rsquo;s learned to control his acidic temper, blew a fuse enroute to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and both benches cleared. Leaf defenseman Bill Stewart broke his knuckle in a fight against Dave Richter.On to Winnipeg. On paper, an almost certain win, as Jet coach Tom Watt, like Mahoney, is feeling the heat and super-star center Dale Hawerchuk is playing like Dale Who? The result: Jets 8, Leaf 2. Former Leaf Laurie Boschman score twice and adds a couple of assists to add salt to the wounded Leafs.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Leaf coach Mike Nykoluk says it&rsquo;s too early in the season to worry about a three-game losing streak.</blockquote>On to Calgary. The Flames are unbeaten in four games in the Saddledome but the Leafs hold a 2-1 lead in the second-period. In the third period, the score intied at three, but a a screen-shot goal by Flame rearguard Mickey Volcan and at empty-net marker send the Leafs home without a point on their road trip.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s too early in the year to be worrier about a three-game losing streak, especially when we played pretty well in two of the games,&rdquo; said Leaf coach Mike Nykoluk after the Flame game. &ldquo;We had a bad game in Winnipeg, but were mucl better in the game in Minnesota and the one here.&rdquo;Poor Leafs. Poor reporter.LEAFLETS&mdash;The Leafs returned Basil McRae and Greg Britz to St. Catharines Saints&hellip; Mike Palmateer has won his salary arbitration case with the Leafs. &#9632;

Leafs’ Road Trip Is A Pointless Experience

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;It wasn&rsquo;t that Bill Mahoney was capitulating to a critical media or to the boos of the Met Center fans, dwindling in numbers though they were.In fact, Bill Mahoney is just as certain as ever that a team that is capable of stopping its opponents from scoring stands a better chance of winning at playoff time, than a team that can score with reckless abandon and not stop its opponents.That latter style can fill buildings and provide some exciting hockey through a long, 80-game season. But when the tight-checking of playoff time arrives, the high-scoring games usually evaporate and the survivor is the team that is capable of, and maybe comfortable with, a grinding, checking style.But Mahoney had to back off his plans of turning the Minnesota North Stars into an immediate success by stopping the other team&rsquo;s scoring. What had happened was a disaster on the scoreboards around the league. They lost five of six games and surrendered the most goals in the league.Not only that, they were in last place in the Norris Division, which is unanimously acclaimed as the weakest of the four NHL brackets. And, while all the talk had been about the lack of success of the defensive style, the Minnesota offense had apparently gone into hibernation.So Mahoney called off the dogs. After spending some hours trying to motivate his men and bolster their confidence, he decided to unwrap the dormant offense, even if it meant abandoning the stress he had placed on defense.&ldquo;I still can&rsquo;t believe that players who are good enough to play in the NHL can&rsquo;t check as well as score,&rdquo; he said. But he decided that the best way was to regroup, to turn the North Stars loose and look down the road a ways to when the club started producing goals and victories and then implement a few defensive touches along the way.Mahoney boldly predicted that the North Stars would come out snorting against Toronto in the first game of the new venture. He was right.They fired 40 shots and took a 3-1 lead after a period, enroute to an 8-5 victory. &ldquo;Old-time hockey&rdquo; for the North Stars, although Eddie Shore might hand in his playbook at such a score.The offense was triggered by the recently united line of Neal Broten centering Tom McCarthy and Dino Ciccarelli. Ciccarelli had two goals, McCarthy had two and Broten one, and each team had 40 shots. It was exciting and freewheeling. Everybody was happy, even Mahoney, although maybe not at the thought of letting Toronto come into the Met Center and leave with five goals and 40 shots.The next game was Chicago and that was to be the true test. It looked as if the Stars passed with flying colors when they won 10-5. But Al Secord, who has a history of terrorizing the North Stars, was out with an injury. Denis Savard, whose wizardry with the puck mesmerizes the Stars, as well as most other NHL teams, went out in the first period.Minnesota, knowing nobody sympathized with their injuries, jumped off to a 4-1 lead in the first period and led 8-3 after two. Ciccarelli scored three goals, his eighth hat trick in the NHL, and McCarthy added one to give the line nine goals in two games.And Brian Lawton, the forgotten man on the bench, not only played but scored two goals 19 seconds apart, earning a matching pair of standing ovations from the overflow crowd. Dennis Maruk got things started, scoring at 2:36 and setting up Brent Ashton for a 2-0 lead. The Stars got 43 shots, Chicago 37.And all was happy at Met Center.What escaped scrutiny was the fact that the Stars had given up 10 goals in two games and had yielded 70 goals in 13 games. At that point, the only NHL teams who had given up more goals were Toronto, with 79, and Winnipeg, with 78. And the Leafs and Jets had both played 15 games. &#9632;

Mahoney Devises New Game Plan

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>Louisville Hockey&reg;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011232/6586423-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="315" height="213"></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Lou Angotti was mad is hell and he wasn&rsquo;t going to take it anymore.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m humiliated, bleeping humilited,&rdquo; said the first-year Penguin coach after watching his club lose a team-record tying fifth consecutive home frame and seventh in eight games overall. We&rsquo;ve got some guys here that think we we them a job. What do we owe them?&ldquo;We have very, very few players on his hockey team who have character and that&rsquo;s a fact. I know who the players are. It&rsquo;s my job to do something about it and I&rsquo;m going to do something about it, too. If you made the kind of money some of these guys make and you didn&rsquo;t do your job, you&rsquo;d get fired. There are some guys who are going to get fired. I don&rsquo;t like to be embarrassed.&rdquo;The next day the Penguins sent right winger Rich Sutter to Philadelphia for forwards Ron Flockhart, Mark Taylor and Andy Brickley and the Ryer&rsquo;s first-round pick next year. The two teams will also switch drafting positions in the third round.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re very confident that it&rsquo;s a good deal for our organization,&rdquo; said Angotti. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that we&rsquo;re finished making any moves we feel can help our hockey team, but we are certainly very high on the fact that this deal has sort of put us on the upswing.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re very happy with the three players we got from Philadelphia.&rdquo;The Penguins then sent Andre St. Laurent to Detroit for future considerations, which will be determined by the 30-year-old center&rsquo;s performance for the Red Wings.Sutter, 19, was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s first selection in 1982. He joins twin brother, Ron, with the Flyers and four other brothers in the NHL.&ldquo;We were reluctant to get involved in the deal until we saw how the progress of Sutter came along,&rdquo; Angotti said. &ldquo;We all got to the point that, not only on the opinion of Sutter but the overall performance of the team, we had to make a move.&ldquo;I know how some of the other people in our organization feel, but I also know how I feel,&rdquo; said Angotti about speculation the Penguins may have given up on Sutter prematurely. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very confident in saying that after watching him two years ago in training camp when we had to send him back to the junior ranks and after watching him this year in practice and in the games he played, I am convinced he&rsquo;ll just be an average hockey player.&ldquo;We were all very strong on the opinion that now was the time to make the decision when there were a number of teams that were high on him. We didn&rsquo;t want to risk his market value going down.&ldquo;If our team probably was playing a lot better and we were getting better results, maybe we would have shown a little more patience in this situation. The way the team was going, we couldn&rsquo;t afford to pass up this opportunity.&rdquo;The Penguins are hoping &ldquo;Flocky Hockey&rdquo; will put people back into vacant Civic Arena seats.&ldquo;We feel we&rsquo;re getting one of the most exciting players in the game in Flockhart,&rdquo; said general manager Eddie Johnston, who worked out the deal. &ldquo;He brings a dimension to the fans that they&rsquo;ve never seen here. He&rsquo;s an exciting player.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the type of player that when he gets the puck, everybody goes up the ice with him. We felt we needed something in our franchise to get the fans excited and that&rsquo;s the kind of player we got here. This is a trade that we&rsquo;re very excited about.&rdquo;Angotti immediately inserted all three players into the lineup, but the Penguins lost again, 1-0 to Washington.&ldquo;Flockhart&rsquo;s a proven National Leaguer,&rdquo; Angotti said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got great speed and he can score goals. He can make a lot of things happen that certainly not only help him, but I think the players on our team will open up the offense a little bit better.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very familiar with both Taylor and Brickley. I saw Taylor play two years ago when I was in Erie (of the AHL) and he was in Maine, and Brickley last year. I like both players very well. Taylor is also a good all-around player&mdash;he plays all three forward positions.&ldquo;Brickley is just a young kid. We&rsquo;re probably going to play him on left wing. He&rsquo;s a big kid, doesn&rsquo;t have as great speed as the other two, but he&rsquo;s the kind of guy who&rsquo;s not going to get knocked off the puck. Our forwards unfortunately are getting knocked off the puck continuously and it&rsquo;s affecting our defensive and offensive play.&rdquo;PENGUIN TRACKS&mdash;Center and power-play specialist Paul Gardner returned to the lineup after missing eight games&hellip;Center Mitch Lamoureux was demoted to Baltimore of the AHL. &#9632;

f0018-01

Humuliation Is The Final Straw For Angotti

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>HARTFORD&mdash;Greg Malone could be excused for thinking that the National Hockey League featured only one-stop shopping. He came out of Oshawa to Pittsburgh in the fall of 1976 and stayed there.Until Sept. 30.Malone, who is ranked fourth in goals and fifth in points on the Penguins&rsquo; all-time list, was sent to Hartford for a 1985 third-round draft pick on that date. When the regular season opened, he was wearing a new uniform.&ldquo;I had a good camp in Pittsburgh,&rdquo; said Malone, a 27-year-old center, &ldquo;but when I saw I wasn&rsquo;t playing (in exhibition games), I figured I was on my way out. I have no hard feelings toward Pittsburgh. In fact, I think they did me a favor. Instead of sitting around for them, I think I can help the Whalers win.&rdquo;Malone&rsquo;s experience&mdash;seven years in the NHL&mdash;is sure to prove beneficial to Hartford.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s such a heady hockey player,&rdquo; center Ronnie Francis said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s good to have him here. He can settle us down in tight situations and that&rsquo;s important. I know he&rsquo;ll make things easier for me.&rdquo;With the additions of Malone and Mike Zuke, plus young Francis and Mark Johnson, the Whalers&rsquo; center ice situation appears solid.&ldquo;We have four good centermen now,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;The other teams won&rsquo;t be able to key on any one guy or any one line. That&rsquo;s good to have.&rdquo;Malone is centering a three-man melting pot that includes right winger Bob Crawford, acquired from St. Louis in the waiver draft, and left winger Torrie Robertson, obtained from Washington for Greg Adams. The line has played well almost from the moment it was formed.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty easy playing with these guys, a lot easier than I expected because we all play the same way,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;We all muck and we all grind and it&rsquo;s easier to play with guys who are always working. So far it&rsquo;s been a lot of firn.&rdquo;The acquisition of Malone didn&rsquo;t go unnoticed. Scotty Bowman, Buffalo&rsquo;s head honcho, said that he thought the Whalers made a sound pick in Malone.&ldquo;Getting him for a third is a bit of a steal,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always liked him. Maybe it had come time for him to get out of Pittsburgh. His experience should help Hartford.&rdquo;Malone doesn&rsquo;t see himself as the only experienced center on the team.&ldquo;You look at a kid like Ronnie Francis,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s played only two years, but he certainly doesn&rsquo;t play like a kid. He plays like a veteran. I think he&rsquo;s capable of a 100-point season. And Mark Johnson went through the U.S. Olympic experience and has played in the NHL for a while now. You can&rsquo;t say he&rsquo;s inexperienced. I think we have some top-shelf centermen on this team.&rdquo;Which came as a bit of a shock to Malone.&ldquo;The biggest surprise for me so far is there&rsquo;s a lot more talent on this team than I thought there was,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I guess the reason for it are the 10 or 11 new players that Emile Francis brought in. They&rsquo;ve made a big difference. You have guys like Mike Zuke and Mike Crombeen who can kill penalties as well as anyone in the league. There are more all-around players here than I thought there&rsquo;d be.&rdquo;The defensive system stressed by Francis and coach Jack Evans suits Malone&rsquo;s style well. The Whalers are much more defensive-minded, he says, than the teams Malone used to play against when he was a Penguin.&ldquo;When I was with Pittsburgh, it was fun to play the Whalers because it would always be a shootout,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not the case anymore. I think as the years go by, we&rsquo;ll be allowing less and less goals. Coach Evans puts a lot of emphasis on the defensive end and that&rsquo;s a plus.&rdquo; &#9632;

Malone Gives Whalers Heads-Up Center

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;The Red Wings, winless in their first five games, put together a four-game winning streak to crash the .500 barrier for the first time in more than two ears.Four straight home victories, the final two in overtime against Buffalo and Quebec, left the Wings at 4-3-2 and in an excellent frame of mind.The Wings opposed the five-minute sudden-death overtime proposal when it frame up before the National Hockey League&rsquo;s board of governors during the off-season. The measure passed by a 13-15 vote and the Wings fretted about the possibilities.&ldquo;We were against it because we felt it favored the elite teams, those with a lot of goal scorers,&rdquo; coach Nick Polano said.Ironically, the Wings&rsquo; overtime triumphs came against a couple of teams with more goal scorers than most&mdash;Buffalo and Quebec, a team which vigorousely pushed for overtime.Rookie Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s power-play goal with 22 seconds left in overtime gave the Wings a 6-5 victory over the Sabres. It was his second goal of the game and Kelly Kisio, the Wings&rsquo; other rookie center, also scored twice.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen them (Yzerman and Kisio) play before but I&rsquo;m impressed already,&rdquo; said veteran center Andre St. Laurent, who returned to the Red Wing lineup and opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal.The Wings reacquired St. Laurent in a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.Three nights later, Bob Manno&rsquo;s second goal of the game just 21 seconds into overtime gave Detroit a 4-3 victory over the Nordiques in the fourth and final game of the homestand. Yzerman and Kisio had the other Detroit goals and 22-year-old Greg Stefan was in goal for the fifth straight game.&ldquo;On the bench the players were talking about going out and winning it on the first shift in the overtime,&rdquo; Polano said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re not afraid of overtime. We&rsquo;re getting confidence&hellip; we&rsquo;ve got six points (out of a possible eight) in overtime.&rdquo;Polano sent out his checking line&mdash;Dwight Foster centering Manno on left wing and Danny Gare on the right side&mdash;to start the overtime against Quebec star Peter Stastny&rsquo;s line.&ldquo;Stastny didn&rsquo;t have a shot the last two periods once we put the Foster line against them,&rdquo; Polano said. &ldquo;I would have been, satisfied if they had just kept him (Stastny) off the scoreboard to start the overtime.&rdquo;&ldquo;Now Manno&rsquo;s going to be after me to get on the power play,&rdquo; the Wing coach cracked.&ldquo;We have more confidence now and pride,&rdquo; said Yzerman, the 18-year-old first-round draft choice. &ldquo;Every game is important to us. We can&rsquo;t afford to let any points slip by. We have to work hard every night.&ldquo;I was lucky to get the goal tonight (against Buffalo) but it could have been anybody.&rdquo;Yzerman converted a rebound of a Brad Park shot for his winning goal. He gloved the puck out of the air and threw it to the ice before lifting it over fallen Buffalo goalie Bob Sauve.St. Laurent said the shorthanded goal &ldquo;was a nice way to come back.&ldquo;I was little nervous before the game,&rdquo; said the 30-year-old center who was the Wings&rsquo; most valuable player in 1977-78, the last time the club qualified for the NHL playoffs.St. Laurent originally came to the Wings in a trade with the New York Islanders for Michel Bergeron on Oct. 20, 1977. Only two Wings remain from that Detroit team&mdash;Paul Woods and Reed Larson, who was St. Laurent&rsquo;s roommate.&ldquo;I told Ace before the game that he&rsquo;s joining the team at the same time in the season,&rdquo; Woods said. &ldquo;Who knows&hellip;it might happen again.&rdquo;St. Laurent noted the similarities.&ldquo;Then, like it is now, there were a lot of new players on the team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But there was a good blend of experience and youth. Look around this room at the players here. There&rsquo;s talent here, youth and experience. I&rsquo;m glad to be here.&rdquo;WING WIRE&mdash;Murray Craven, the 19-year-old forward who was the Wings&rsquo; No. 1 draft pick in 1982, was sent back to Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League after playing four games for Detroit. The Wings want him to benefit from a final year of junior competition&hellip; Defenseman Randy Ladouceur, who spent the second half of last season in Detroit, was summoned from Adirondack to replace Colin Campbell, who was expected to miss from one to three weeks with a shoulder separation. Campbell was injured late in the third period of the Quebec game. He remained in the game but further examination showed the separation&hellip;Lane Lambert, a 19-year-old rookie, was getting a chance as the fourth line right winger alongside St. Laurent and Woods, who also were used to kill penalties.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02907/6586478-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="571" height="873"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Wing coach Nick Polano says his team is not afraid of overtime affairs.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Overtime Working Well For Wings

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011143/6586509-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="562" height="684"><figcaption class="caption-body">Islander goalie Billy Smith threw caution over the team&rsquo;s recent winning streak.</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Al Arbour, normally stoic, put up a brave front while the Islanders were stumbling through October. He even attempted to smile occasionally through gritted teeth&mdash;and that&rsquo;s not easy. The coach obviously was worried.Then the Islanders, after losing four consecutive games, put together a five-game winning streak, and Arbour stopped gritting his teeth. Now his smile was genuine.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very pleased with the way we&rsquo;re progressing,&rdquo; Arbour said after the Islanders blanked the Buffalo 4-0 behind ol&rsquo; faithful, Billy Smith.&ldquo;Smitty played well, no doubt about that, but what pleased me was the big defensive plays we made all night,&rdquo; said Arbour. &ldquo;The forwards were coming back and helping out. They made eight or nine big defensive plays. The guys were there to stop the Sabres every time they tried to move.&rdquo;Two weekends earlier, the Islanders dropped both ends of a home-and-home series to the Rangers. Those twin losses left the Isles 10 points behind their rivals. Then the Rangers hit the skids and their margin over the Islanders was reduced to two.&ldquo;I feel better about things now,&rdquo; defenseman Stefan Persson said. &ldquo;I think everybody feels better.&rdquo;Especially Al Arbour.&ldquo;Yeah, I was a little concerned there for awhile,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was concerned about everybody&mdash;the goalies, the defensemen, everybody.&rdquo;The Isles&rsquo; turnaround could not be attributed to a single factor or a single player. Each game produced different heroes. They included:Tomas Jonsson: The 23-year-old defenseman produced the game-winning goal and two assists in a 6-3 victory over the Canucks. He missed the first seven games of the season with a broken bone in his left foot, then totalled eight points in two weeks.Mike Bossy: He, too, made a sttong recovery after sitting out six games with a hip injury. It is interesting to note that the Isles were 1-5-0 during Bossy&rsquo;s absence, then went on their five-game winning streak. Bossy marked his return with a hat trick against the Devils.Roland Melanson: In his first four starts of the season, he had three losses and one no-decision. He was. worried. Then he regained his best form in a 6-2 victory over the Flyers and came back with a 6-1 effort against the Devils. He has stopped worrying.Denis Potvin: He posted at least one assist in 13 consecutive games and was closing in on the NHL record of 14 games shared by such notables as Stan Mikita, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and former Islander Jude Drouin (Ed. note: The league is questioning the validity of the streak because Potvin missed one game in that stretch). Potvin admitted, &ldquo;there&rsquo;s a lot of luck involved&rdquo; in an record bid, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve been feeling stron lately and maybe this is a little reward for me.&rdquo;Brent Sutter: He scored at least on goal in six consecutive games (7-2-9) an was leading the team with 11 in his first 15 games. He didn&rsquo;t score his 11th goat last season until his 55th game.Bill Smith: He wiped out an old nemc sis when he shut out the Sabres, handlin 25 shots flawlessly. It was the fourt consecutive Saturday night that Smit appeared in goal, thereby giving himself the nickname, &ldquo;Saturday Night Spe cial.&rdquo;Ever the realist, Smith produced word of caution for his teammates.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve won a few games, but there&rsquo; nothing to get excited about,&rdquo; the veter an goalie said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long season We&rsquo;ve got 65 games left and all we wan to do is play hockey. We&rsquo;re not going to win all 65, you know.&rdquo;ON THE ISLE&mdash;Billy Smith&rsquo;s shut out was his first in regular-season play since last season&rsquo;s home opener when he blanked the Penguins 9-0. He shut out the Rangers and the Oilers in last spring&rsquo; playoffs and now owns 17 regular-season shutouts and five in the playoffs&hellip;The Isles suffered two casualties against the Sabres. Anders Kallur sustained a nine stitch out on his chin, which he attribute to being slashed by Jerry Korab. and Bob Bourne limped off with a charle horse after being checked by Mike Ram say. &#9632;

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Arbour Smiling At Islanders’ Wins

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;When a youth movement produces no movement, you have to try something else.The New Jersey Devils, who opened the season with seven rookies, sent two of them (Rich Chernomaz and Larry Floyd) to Maine of the American Hockey League after finishing up their October schedule with a 1-10 record and an eight-game losing streak.For the Devils, the calendar seems to be playing harsh tricks on them. As they staggered into November, it was already a time for pressure, a time for rumors and a time for frustration.In a five-day period, the Devils found it necessary to deny rumors that (a) they had talked to a group from Hamilton, Ont., about a possible sale of the franchise, (b) Chico Resch was going to be traded and (c) general manager-coach Billy MacMillan was going to give up the coaching half of his job description.&ldquo;Ridiculous,&rdquo; said the Devils&rsquo; majority owner John McMullen in response to the suggestion that he would consider selling the team for which he paid $32 million.A few days later, it was learned that the rumor had come from a recent story in the Winnipeg Free Press concerning an inquiry by a Hamilton group. Hamilton, which has a Canadian Football League team owned by Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; president Harold Ballard, is still interested in obtaining a franchise, but the so-called &ldquo;talks&rdquo; were made with members of the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; management three years ago.&ldquo;Nothing, nothing,&rdquo; Devil president Bob Butera said when queried about whispers of a possible coaching change.&ldquo;Absurd,&rdquo; was Butera&rsquo;s reply when asked about trade rumors involving Resch, the Devils&rsquo; most popular player.There was nothing uncertain about the losing skein.When the Devils&rsquo; home record fell to 0-5 and their losing streak hit eight, MacMillan ran out of explanations.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have any comment about tonight&rsquo;s game,&rdquo; he admitted after a 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Oct. 30. &ldquo;You can ask the players, I explained the other 10 games. Maybe they have answers for this. I don&rsquo;t.&ldquo;If they don&rsquo;t realize how important it is to win, especially at home, then I don&rsquo;t know how to get the message across.&rdquo;MacMillan was especially disappointed because the Devils had played a much stronger, much more disciplined game the night before at Long Island, even though they lost to the Islanders by an identical 5-3 count.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t give the Islanders any gift goals,&rdquo; defenseman Bob Lorimer explained, &ldquo;and then we went out and gave Pittsburgh two or three they didn&rsquo;t even have to work for. That&rsquo;s what is so upsetting&rdquo;MacMillan and the Devils heard an assortment of unfriendly feedback from the Meadowlands fans, including chants of &ldquo;Re-fund, Re-fund, &ldquo;Good-bye, Billy&rdquo; and Let&rsquo;s Go Rangers.&rdquo;MacMillan stressed that Floyd and Chernomaz were not being blamed for any of the team&rsquo;s problems and added that he expected both of them to be back. The Devils now have only two rookies (Pat Verbeek and John MacLean), with a third one (Ken Daneyko) on the injured list with a broken leg. Second-year pros, Joe Cirella, Jeff Larmer and Jan Ludvig have yet to play a full season as NHL regulars.Earlier this season, the Devils sent Rocky Trottier back to Medicine Hat for his final year of junior hockey and assigned Alan Hepple to Maine.The Devils added speed and experience by summoning Rick Meagher, Gary McAdam and Mike Antonovich from Maine and MacMillan underscored the impact of the move by benching his own brother. Bob, and the team captain, Don Lever, for the next game.Meagher, who played in 57 games for the Devils last season, was Maine&rsquo;s leading scorer through 10 games. The quick 5-foot-8, 175-pound center collected six goals and four assists in ten games.Antonovich, who will be shifted from center to left wing on the new line, was Maine&rsquo;s second-leading scorer with five goals and four assists in nine games.McAdam, signed as a free agent by New Jersey on Aug. 4, collected four goals and three assists in 10 games after being hampered in training camp with a groin pull. &#9632;

Devils’ Woeful October Results In Player Changes

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;There is no Dramamine for homesickness. Thomas Eriksson took two years to think about it then called the Flyers back in the morning.In November, 1981, a 22-year-old boy quit the Flyers to return home to Sweden. A 24-year-old man has returned in his place. Similar to two seasons ago, Eriksson is not playing, but this time he&rsquo;s not leaving.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m here to do a job,&rdquo; the Flyer defenseman said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m working so that I&rsquo;m ready if they need me.&rdquo;This might take a little time. The Flyers have six defensemen who are playing too well right now to be disturbed. Brad McCrimmon has climbed all the way out of the basket he arrived in from Boston a year ago. Glen Cochrane, smart enough to get rid of the puck at the first opportunity, is vastly improved in almost all areas. And Miro Dvorak is back where he left off in February, after sitting out seven of the first eight games.Eriksson, who had taken Dvorak&rsquo;s place, played well for the first five games, then slumped in the next two. While his talent remains pure, his experience with back-to-back games and muscular forwards is a little slight. So he&rsquo;ll sit for awhile until somebody gets hurt.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no set plan,&rdquo; Flyer general manager-coach Bob McCammon said. &ldquo;We have seven major-league defensemen healthy now. That&rsquo;s an asset, not a problem.&ldquo;Dvorak played too well a year ago to keep him in the press box. When Thomas began to struggle a little bit, the Czech deserved to get back in there.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to Thomas. So has (assistant coach) Ted Sator. Thomas understands. We&rsquo;re not worried about him leaving this time.&rdquo;Eriksson has been taking &ldquo;just-happy-to-be-here&rdquo; lessons from Bill Barber. So far he&rsquo;s earned an A for attitude, another A for skill level, and a C as an NHL defenseman. He has a lot to leant, but he has signed a two-year commitment to do it. Come hell, frozen water or Bryan Trottier into the Flyers&rsquo; zone, he says he&rsquo;s going to stick it out.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m two years older,&rdquo; Eriksson said, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s different now. I&rsquo;m happier with things here off the ice. Last time, I guess I panicked.&rdquo;His announced homesickness was sort of catch-all for his fears, but hardly inaccurate. Former coach Pat Quinn wasn&rsquo;t playing Eriksson much and Thomas suspected he was going to be sent back for another year at Maine.Quinn insisted that wasn&rsquo;t the case at all. His plan was to work Eriksson in slowly, as Islander coach Al Arbour has done with Stefan Persson and Tomas Jonsson. But such was Eriksson&rsquo;s mental state that Quinn could have promised him a Stanley Cup and a first-string all-star berth and it still might not have changed the kid&rsquo;s mind.Even today Eriksson, a nice guy who speaks fine English but remains a painful interview nonetheless, has a hard time explaining his decision. Pelle Lindbergh, a good friend for reasons more than their shared nationality, offered the best perspective.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Thomas really knows why he left,&rdquo; Lindbergh said. &ldquo;But I know he&rsquo;s a lot happier now.&ldquo;Maybe he just had to go back to find out that this was really what he wanted. I get homesick too, although not as much as I did my first year.&ldquo;You have your friends and family in Sweden. You can have everything playing hockey there that you have here, except the money.&ldquo;And something else, too&mdash;the competition. I had done everything I could over there, playing was getting a little boring. Maybe that just happened to me earlier than it did for Thomas.&rdquo;Then too, this time Eriksson has Lindbergh for company. Two years ago Lindbergh had been sent back to Maine at the end of training camp, leaving Eriksson and Finnish winger Ilkka Sinisalo as the only Europeans on the Flyer roster.Last summer, as Thomas weighed the Flyers&rsquo; offer for his return, Lindbergh volunteered lodging with he and his fiancee. Not only is Lindbergh someone from home to talk to, but Lindbergh&rsquo;s fiancee, Kirsten, has a stunning face, which could brighten anybody&rsquo;s outlook.&ldquo;It was only supposed to be for a month or so until he found a place,&rdquo; Lindbergh said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s working out well and he&rsquo;s going to stay.&ldquo;Kirsten&rsquo;s a good cook. And I&rsquo;ve put Thomas to work painting. He&rsquo;s really enjoying himself this time. He drives his car just like an American.&rdquo;His teammates also notice the change. On the ice, McCammon notices the same skills which made Eriksson the Flyers&rsquo; fifth-round selection in the 1979 draft. Plus an upper body more suited to playing in the hugger-mugger of the North American rinks.Provided everyone stays healthy, the Flyers can put out two different defenses, altered for the opposition. McCammon can use more of Eriksson and less of Cochrane and Brad Marsh against the Rangers&rsquo; speed then switch things against the Islanders&rsquo; muscle.&ldquo;I really think our defense is as good as anybody&rsquo;s in the league,&rdquo; McCammon said. &#9632;

Eriksson Seems At Home In Philadelphia

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011023/6586588-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div>that the NHL&rsquo;s longest suspensions prior to the Tom Lysiak ruling were: &#9632;

f0020-01

Did You Know …

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02680/6586619-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Wayne Gretzky is at it again. This time, all the Edmonton Oiler superstar center did was to score six goals and add nine assists in three games. His 15-point-in-three-game spree was good enough to clearly get him the nod as THE HOCKEY NEWS Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 6.Included in his pillage were five power-play goals, three shorthanded efforts and two game winners. In the Oilers&rsquo; 8-5 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 6, Gretzky had four goals and three assists.In 15 games this season, Gretzky scored 19 goals and 23 assists to open up an 11-point lead over his nearest rival and chances are that when the end of the season arrives, it&rsquo;ll be much a greater margin. &#9632;

f0020-02

Player Of The Week

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01796/6586664-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="375" height="336"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02429/6586657-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="393" height="381"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03235/6586650-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="3044" height="240"></div> &#9632;

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THREE-STAR STANDINGS

TORONTO&mdash;There is a definite new look to the first segment of the voting for the 1983-84 Molson Cup.Four of the six National Hockey League cities that participate in the three-star selections have leaders who were not there last season when the final voting closed out.In Winnipeg, transplanted Edmonton Oiler and Toronto Maple Leaf center Laurie Boschman appears to have found a new home with the Jets. He&rsquo;s become the new darling of the Winnipeg fans with his scoring exploits and has taken the early Molson Cup lead among the Jets&rsquo; players.The same situation prevails in Calgary where goalie Rejean Lemelin has supplanted the Hames&rsquo; big names like Lanny McDonald and Kent Nilsson as the cup leader. In Vancouver, newcomer Tony Tanti is making the most of his big break since being traded from Chicago by leading the team in scoring and topping the Molson Cup voting as well.Here&rsquo;s a city-by-city breakdown on the first segment voting:MONTREAL&mdash;Lafleur has moved to the front once more with 25 points, five more than Guy Carbonneau. Pierre Mondou and Goalie Rick Sevigny each have 10.TORONTO&mdash;Vaive&rsquo;s explosive scoring start with the Maple Leafs is reflected in the Molson Cup voting as the rangy right winger picked up 25 points for a 10-point lead over Jim Benning. Greg Terrion and Rick St. Croix each have 10 points.WINNIPEG-With two-time Molson Cup winner Dale Hawerchuk off to a somewhat puzzling slow start, Boschman has seized on the opportunity to move to the top of the three-star voting with 25 points. Goalie Brian Hayward, Lucien DeBlois and David Babych bail Boschman with 10 points each.CALGARY&mdash;Lemelin has taken the lead in the Hames&rsquo; three-star balloting with 30 points but is being closely pursued by another newcomer, left winger Ed Beers, who is on a scoring spree for Calgary in recent weeks. Beers has 20 points. Don Edwards, Mike Eaves and Hakan Loob trail with 10 points each.EDMONTON&mdash;The Wayne Gretzky domination of the Molson award continues as the Oiler superstar moved ahead with 25 points in the early voting. Goalie Grant Fuhr followed Gretzky with 20 points followed by Jari Kurri with 15. Two other Oilers, Glenn Anderson and Dave Lumley, have 10 points each.VANCOUVER&mdash;The emergence of Tanti as the new scoring threat with the Canucks has endeared him to the three-star selectors who have given him 30 points to take over the lead. European star Patrik Sundstrom is close on Tanti&rsquo;s heels with 25 points. Richard Brodeur and Thomas Gradin, the 1982-83 cup winner in Vancouver, are tied with 15 points each. &#9632;

New Faces Grab Lead In Voting

<div class="byline">BY DAVE KING</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01919/6586740-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="510" height="483"></div>On Oct. 31, we gave our players a three-day break and they went home for the first time since mid-August. Living in hotels and eating restaurant food every day can be a difficult adjustment for a young player. I&rsquo;m sure a good home-cooked meal and seeing their families again will be great for the players.Once they are back, we will be into a very important time in our training program as we have have almost a full two-and-a-half weeks of almost pure framing time. We play only two games in this period. Therefore, our two-a-day workouts will allow us to review and add new components to our team play.For the most part, things are on frack. On the ice, we&rsquo;re progressing in good fashion. Off the ice, our offices are set up in the Saddledome. A lot of things are falling into place.We&rsquo;ve overcome a lot and hopefully things will start to move. When we first went to Calgary we were only temporary residents because of the Flames and the University of Calgary team, so we went from rink to rink. We&rsquo;d be in Calgary for a short while and we&rsquo;d be off playing in Europe and in the U.S.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02632/6586733-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="283" height="341"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave King&rsquo;s Coach&rsquo;s Diary</figcaption></div>November 3Coach Jean Perron is on a scouting trip through the American League, looking for prospective players. The rule allowing players who have played less than 10 games in the NHL to play for our team appears to be sound. This rule will definitely help both us and the United States in all future Olympic Games.The coaching staff is very pleased with the improved practice attitude our players are displaying. The concentration and effort in practice is getting better all the time. I&rsquo;m also pleased to see our team becoming more critical in their self assessment after each game. I really believe that once this happens, improvement is definitely on the way.Our team captains were elected today with Dave Tippett being our captain and Joe Grant being the alternate captain. We are very impressed with the choices.November 6We practiced twice today and the attitude of the players continues to be excellent. Pat Flatley and I are going to Toronto tonight to meet some of the Toronto media and we are trying to hype our coming game in Toronto. It is amazing that everybody wants to play in Toronto. There is still a great thing about playing in the Gardens.What we&rsquo;re also trying to do is create some support in 1984 that will be there for 1988, when the Winter Games will be held in Calgary. Things such as strategies and marketing. At this level, you&rsquo;re playing hockey, but it&rsquo;s also a business.The success for the U.S. team in 1980 was a credit to the team and the coaching staff. But they&rsquo;d be the first to admit a lot of it had to do with fan support. It was a constant that brought the whole team together.It&rsquo;s four years until the Olympics in Calgary but you can start to build on that right now.You have to market your product. Newspaper, radio and television are really advantageous to you. In Calgary, there was a lot of publicity and that was helpful.The other thing that has everybody excited is the Saddledome. Our facilities there are great and the building management has told us that they will put the international size ice surface in for our next game. The beauty of the arena is that it can be converted from a standard 200-by-85 foot rink to the Olympic dimensions. Pity the poor Salt Lake City Golden Eagles when they see that expansive ice surface. It will be good for us, though, because that&rsquo;s the size of the surface in Sarajevo.November 7Pat and I spent the entire day in a Toronto hotel, being interviewed by the Toronto media. It was a very tiring day because we had flown in very early in the morning and went at it all day long. But it was worth it because it can only help the team get more recognition.<h2>TEAM CANADA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03451/6586726-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="533" height="613"></div><h3>GOALTENDING RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04304/6586719-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="530" height="94"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

Happy to Have Some Home-Cooked Meals

<div class="byline">BY LOU VAIRO</div>As Team USA returned home to Bloomington, MN after 11 days in Western Canada (1-1-1 record vs. Canada), Billings and Denver (2-0 vs. Central Hockey League clubs), we are victims of the injury bug.John Harrington (knee) continues to make progress, but it&rsquo;s slow. Our medical advisors recommended that he build his leg back to full strength before returning to action. Rich Costello is also recovering from his (shoulder) injury. Tom Hirsch returned to the lineup for our home game with Indianapolis after missing 10 days with a shoulder injury.Replacing Hirsch on the injury list, though, are Gary Haight (shoulder), Mark Fusco (knee), Bob Brooke (shoulder) and Ed Olczyk (knee). Haight was hurt in the Montana Magic game. Brooke and Fusco went out in the Colorado Flames game and Olczyk strained his knee against the Indianapolis Checkers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05238/6586785-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="279" height="330"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lou Vairo&rsquo;s Coach&rsquo;s Corner</figcaption></div>We think the injuries, which are not too serious, can turn out to be a blessing in disguise. They will give the players a rest during a long, hard season. When these players return, we will be able to rest some of the others.The injuries have also given some of our other guys a chance to step in and show what they can do. The thought has occurred to us to call in some new players from colleges, but we will not do that at this time. We don&rsquo;t want our team to think we are not satisfied with them, nor do we want to disrupt college programs. If we need players as the Olympic Games approach, we can add them then.Because of our injuries, we only had 19 healthy players for the Indianapolis game (a 9-2 win). We rotated five defensemen and played four lines until Olczyk got hurt, then we moved Tim Thomas from defense to forward to replace Ed.Despite our injuries, we have been very happy with the team&rsquo;s play in the three CHL games. That is a very good league and the fact that we scored 23 goals in those games is a positive sign. Also, allowing only eight goals was good, especially considering we were without some pretty good defensemen.Our game in Montana was a tough, hard-hitting one. We showed good discipline in the game, getting eight power-play chances and scoring on six of them. Though we didn&rsquo;t produce in the Indianapolis game, we controlled the puck and moved it well with the man advantage. The power play is working very well now.Against Indianapolis, I couldn&rsquo;t get a feel before the game if our team was ready to go or not. The locker room was quiet, the crowd was small and we were trying a new forechecking system. But they really came out and played an excellent overall game. Scott Bjugstad, Tim Thomas, Corey Millen and Al Iafrate all played their best games of the year in that one.Iafrate is only 17 years old and we have been bringing him along slowly. The fact that Al and David A. Jensen and Olczyk are with us is a tribute to the good advise we received from Mike Smith and the other members of our advisory staff.They told us not to be concerned with a player&rsquo;s age. If a 17-year-old is better than a 22-year-old, you better take the 17-year-old. They said that based on the fact that we will play against world-class players, age is not as important as ability.That is how we selected our players and we have been happy with the young players&rsquo; performances.The new forechecking system worked well against Indianapolis. We were not happy with our recent forechecking, it was too conservative. The new system will be more aggressive and utilize our team&rsquo;s quickness.We will continue to experiment to find our capabilities. While we were in Calgary, Bob Johnson watched us play and made some constructive suggestions to the coaching staff. We are still dissatisfied with our overall checking game. We need to continue to spend a serious amount of time in that area.<h2>TEAM USA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06192/6586778-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="536" height="670"></div><h3>GOALTENDERS RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07167/6586771-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="529" height="90"></div> &#9632;

f0022-05

Injury Bug Could Be A Blessing In Disguise

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>Louisville Hockey&reg;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01819/6586823-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="296" height="202"></div>MONCTON&mdash;Talent, direction and a year of experience should make the Moncton Alpines a much more competitive club in 1983-84, coach Doug Messier feels.Last season as an expansion team, the Alpines struggled at the outset, fell far off the pace and despite a spirited stretch run, just missed earning a berth in the Calder Cup playoffs. Messier, who is returning for his second season as general manager-coach of the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; farm team in the American Hockey League, believes the Alpines will be much improved. Although the team got off to a slow start, it has improved and has moved into contention for the lead in the Northern Division.&ldquo;The fact that the Edmonton Oilers got the franchise so late (in the summer of 1982) last year made if difficult for them to sign the kind of leadership-type of veterans that they wanted,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;By the time they got to the middle of August or first of September the key veterans who are really going to lead your team had already been acquired by other teams.&ldquo;The second fact is that because they are a young organization, most of their young, good talent is playing on the Edmonton Oilers. They didn&rsquo;t have many young hockey players that provide the enthusiasm, as well as talent, to go to Moncton last year.&ldquo;This year, they had more time to sign people. Contrary to what I&rsquo;ve read, we feel the veterans we&rsquo;ve got were not free agents who couldn&rsquo;t do the job or who weren&rsquo;t wanted by anyone else. I think Glen Sather (Edmonton GM-coach) did an excellent job acquiring people like Tommy Rowe, who certainly can play for any team in the league, and Bart Yachimec. They are the kind of leaders who provide assistance for the young players as well as play in the game themselves. The young talent we&rsquo;ve got is starting to show some strength in the Oilers&rsquo; system. I think those two things have made us a much better hockey club.&rdquo;Messier felt the Alpines&rsquo; problems last year stemmed from a combination of a lack of talent in some positions and problems with veterans.&ldquo;As soon as the season started last year there were shortcomings,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;We started the season with one center and really only two right wingers. It wasn&rsquo;t until February when we came up with three solid lines. It took us that long before we finally got a team together that possibly had the talent to win, but we still didn&rsquo;t have the kind of leadership that we have this year.&ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t a together team and the veterans were more concerned with themselves than they were about helping the young players. It was just a combination of things. There is an old saying in sports that teams that win generally have a little more than talent, they have a togetherness that sometimes is hard to achieve.&rdquo;The addition of a couple of experienced players just after the start of the current season helped the Alpines become a much stronger team.&ldquo;We had some injuries on defense, but once we got John Blum from Edmonton, it seemed to solidify our defense,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;Then we got Tommy Gorence, which gave us three strong lines, plus the rookie line, and we kind of took off from there.&ldquo;There really isn&rsquo;t a lot of players here from last year, so the leadership is coming, not in total from new players, but in good part from new players and from the enthusiasm of the rookies we&rsquo;ve got.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s just a blend of players who realize that this is their team. They may have ambitions to play in the National Hockey League, as they all do, but for the time they are in Moncton, they are Moncton Alpines and they are going to give the best that they&rsquo;ve got.&rdquo;AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;With goalie Warren Skorodenski leading the way, the Sherbrooke Jets reeled off three straight victories, the longest winning streak in the franchise&rsquo;s history, to improve to 5-7. Skordenski, who was named the AHL&rsquo;s Player of the Week for his efforts, allowed nine goals in victories over Nova Scotia, Hershey and Moncton. In five appearances, the Chicago Black Hawk farmhand has compiled a 3-1-0 record and 3.45 goals-against average. Ron Wilson, Murray Eaves and Claude Larose have been the main offensive threats for the Jets. Wilson scored 18 points in eight games to move into a tie for the top spot in the league scoring race with 21 points. Eaves added four goals and eight points in three games and Larose has contributed nine goals in 12 games this season&hellip;Nova Scotia stayed right behind front-running Adirondack with a win and a tie in the final two games of its road trip. During the swing, rookies Normand Baron and Brian Skrudland notched their first pro goals. Mike McPhee scored the tying goal at Maine and added two goals and two assists in a win at New Haven. Injuries have kept Ted Fauss, Greg Moffett. Dave Stoyanovich and Mike Lalor out of the lineup&hellip;Rookie Marc Habschied has made an immediate impact on the Moncton Alpines&rsquo; offense with a goal and eight assists in four games, including a spectacular six-assist outing in a 9-3 win at Binghamton. Pat Conacher was called up by the parent Edmonton Oilers&hellip;Adirondack strung together five straight wins to improve to to 8-3 and take over first place in the division. The streak allowed the Wings to move more than three games over .500 for the first time in their history. Detroit dealt Adirondack a serious blow when it recalled Randy Ladouceur to replace injured Colin Campbell&hellip; Fredericton continued its strong defensive play in the first three games of its road trip. The Express dropped a 3-1 decision at Rochester but beat St. Catharines 5-2 and Adirondack 4-2. In nine games, Earl Jessiman&rsquo;s club has allowed just 18 goals. Frank Caprice paced the Express with great play in the back-to-back wins.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02516/6586816-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="558" height="888"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Gorence is one of several acquisitions who&rsquo;ve helped turn around Moncton.</figcaption></div>In the first major player transaction of the season, the New Jersey Devils recalled veterans Rick Meagher. Gary McAdam and Mike Antonovich from Maine and sent center Larry Floyd and rookie right winger Rich Chernomaz to the Mariners. Floyd was the Central Hockey League&rsquo;s Rookie of the Year last season when he led Wichita with 40 goals and 83 points. Chernomaz completed his junior career at Victoria with 71 goals and 124 points in 64 games. The Mariners have put together a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1). Goalie Shawn MacKenzie is unbeaten in his last four outings and holds a 2.41 GAA. &#9632;

f0023-01

Alpines Have A Whole New Complexion

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div>ST. CATHARINES&mdash;The American Hockey League is, after all, a developmental circuit. Although any freshman would rather win a one-way ticket to the National Hockey League than the Red Garrett Memorial Trophy as the AHL&rsquo;s Rookie of the Year, the Southern Division boasts a bevy of candidates for the award.In alphabetical order, here&rsquo;s a look at the early forerunners:GREG BRITZ, St. Catharines&mdash;After graduating from Harvard University as a free agent, the 6-foot, 190-pound right winger wrote to the 21 National Hockey League teams asking for a tryout. Only Toronto Maple Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara replied.The Boston native was so impressive in training camp, he was signed and assigned to St. Catharines. Britz, 22, playing on a line with left winger Ernie Godden and center Bruce Boudreau, grabbed the lead in the race among rookie scorers.After notching 12 points in his first 13 games, the speedy winger was recalled under emergency conditions by the Leafs.BRIAN CURRAN, Hershey&mdash;The 6-foot-3, 195-pound defensive defenseman was Boston&rsquo;s second pick in the 1982 draft after three seasons with Portland of the Western Hockey League. He likes to hit and is willing to enforce. His size and strength alone commands attention behind the blueline. He moves the puck well, although he seldom rushes.RANDY GILHEN, Binghamton&mdash;Hartford&rsquo;s sixth-round draft pick in 1982, the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder can play all three forward positions. Gilhen, 20, scored 57 goals for Winnipeg of the Western Hockey League last season before joining the AHL Whalers for last spring&rsquo;s playoffs.WARREN HARPER, Rochester&mdash;A 12th-round draft pick in &rsquo;81 by Buffalo out of Prince Albert of the WHL, the 6-foot, 180-pound right winger immediately impressed the Amerks two weeks ago by becoming the first rookie this season to be named the AHL&rsquo;s Player of the Week. Harper led all rookies after October with eight goals.MIKE HEIDT, New Haven&mdash;A 1982 second-round pick by Los Angeles, Heidt, 20, started the season on defense for the Kings before being demoted to the AHL. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder played junior for Calgary of the WHL. He notched four points in his first six AHL games.MIKE HOFFMAN, Binghamton&mdash;Hartford&rsquo;s fourth-round pick in &rsquo;81. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound left winger can throw his weight around. He&rsquo;s more a playmaker than a goal scorer. Hoffman, 20, spent three seasons with Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League.NORMAND LACOMBE, Rochester&mdash;The youngest player in American Hockey League at 19, he&rsquo;s eligible for minor-league demotion by Buffalo because he spent last two seasons at the University of New Hampshire. Lacombe is a right winger, who&rsquo;s 6-foot-1, 205 pounds and was the Sabres&rsquo; second first-round pick in the &rsquo;83 draft and the 10th player chosen overall. He did not play regularly the first month of season for Amerks and totalled four assists in his first 12 games.TROY LONEY, Baltimore&mdash;The left winger on Baltimore&rsquo;s Kid Line with rookie center Tom O&rsquo;Regan and sophomore right winger Bob Geale. Loney, 20, is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s third-round draft pick in &rsquo;82 after a junior career with Lethbridge of the WHL. He was seventh among rookie scorers after October with four goals and four assists.JIM MCGEOUGH, Hershey&mdash;Pronounced McGoo, this 5-foot-8, 170-pound center certainly knows where to find the net. He scored 169 goals his last two seasons in the WHL, for Billings and Nanaimo. Washington&rsquo;s sixth-round pick in &rsquo;81, McGeough is speedy, quick and exciting.TOM MCMURCHY, Springfield&mdash;Chicago&rsquo;s third-round pick in &rsquo;82, the 5-foot-9, 165-pound right winger who turns 20 next month, has outstanding speed. He spent the last three seasons with Brandon of the WHL.BOB MCNAMARA, Rochester&mdash;The 22-year-old son of Toronto GM Gerry McNamara, Bob tended goal for Notre Dame before hooking up with the Amerks as a free agent. With Phil Myre injured and concentrating on his duties as assistant to coach Joe Crozier, McNamara has seen full-time duty as a back-up to veteran Jacques Cloutier and is 1-1 with a 4.59 goals-against average.BOB MORMINA, Springfield&mdash;After an all-star season with Longueuil of the QMJHL, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound right winger was acquired by Philadelphia as a free agent. Not only is he the fastest Indian. Mormina, 20, is probably one of the faster skaters in the AHL.TOM O&rsquo;REGAN, Baltimore&mdash;A Cambridge, MA, native who played at Boston University and signed as a free agent with Pittsburgh. The 5-foot-10, 182-pound center made a splash by scoring points in his first nine games, before his streak ended last week. He was second to Britz in the rookie scoring race.MIKE SILT ALA, Hershey&mdash;He scored 53 goals in 50 games for Kingston of the OHL last season after being drafted in the fourth round by Washington in 1981. A right winger with an excellent shot and a nose for the net. He missed the first five games of the season with a broken finger, but has scored three goals in his first five games back. The 5-foot-9, 170-pounder is 20 years old.STEVE SMITH, Springfield&mdash;The Flyers&rsquo; No. 1 draft pick, 16th overall, in 1981. A two-time OHL second-team allstar with Sault. St. Marie, the 5-foot-9, 195 pounder is a hard-hitter who&rsquo;s not afraid to mix it up. Good with the puck, the 20-year-old Smith is excellent with the body.KEN STRONG, St. Catharines&mdash;The 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward was Philadelphia&rsquo;s fourth-round draft pick in 1981 out of Peterborough of the OHL, but was acquired by Toronto in the 1982 deal that saw Darryl Sittler go to the Flyers. With four goals and six assists, Strong, 20, was tied for third with Harper among rookie scorers after the first month of the season.TOM THORNBURY, Baltimore&mdash;A defenseman with a heavy shot from the point, the 5-foot-11, 175 pounder was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s third-round pick in &rsquo;81. Poised at both bluelines, Thornbury, 20, led all rookie defensemen in scoring after October with four goals and four assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01898/6586854-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="552" height="738"><figcaption class="caption-body">New Haven rookie Mike Heidt notched four points in his first six AHL games.</figcaption></div>AL TUER, New Haven&mdash;A rugged defenseman who amassed 486 penalty minutes in his final season of junior with Regina of the WHL. Tuer, 20, was drafted in the ninth round by Los Angeles in 1981. He&rsquo;s 6-foot, 190 pounds.CLAUDE VERRET, Rochester&mdash;The speedy 5-foot-9 165-pound center from Trois-Rivieres of the QHL was Buffalo&rsquo;s 12th pick in 1982. He finished second to Pat LaFontaine in QHL scoring last season. Verret, 20, scored a hat trick in his fifth professional game and finished the month with six goals and three assists.AROUND THE SOUTH&mdash;Chicago assigned goalie Bob Janecyk, a twotime AHL first-team all-star, and left winger Denis Cyr to Springfield&hellip;Pittsburgh sent Mitch Lamoureaux, last season&rsquo;s AHL Rookie of the Year, to Baltimore, but recalled wingers Steve Gatzos and Jim Hamilton and defenseman Tony Feltrin, who was loaned to Salt Lake of the CHL&hellip;New Haven assigned rookie goalie Dave Ross to Fort Wayne of the IHL&hellip; Hershey lost rookie winger Bryan Erickson to Washington, but added veteran defenseman Greg Theberge&hellip;St. Catharines acquired Garry Larivierre, who was picked up by the parent Toronto club and assigned to the Saints. Larivierre, a veteran of the World Hockey Association and NHL, is a St. Catharines native and played his junior hockey with the Black Hawks.Rochester (8-4) won two of three to remain in first place&hellip;Baltimore (4-2-4) climbed into a tie with New Haven for second despite losing in Fredericton and tying Nova Scotia&hellip; The Nighthawks (58-2) played four games, splitting with Nova Scotia at home, winning at Binghamton, and losing at Moncton.Hershey (5-8) finished a dismal 17-day road trip 0-7, but snapped the losing skein with a 5-2 victory over Binghamton at Hersheypark Arena behind Dave Silk&rsquo;s hat trick&hellip;Springfield (4-5-1) tied St. Catharines for fifth after splitting a pair of one-goal games, losing 4-3 at home to Adirondack before outshooting visiting Hershey 9-8&hellip;St. Catharines (49-1) split a home-and-home series with Rochester, but lost to visiting Fredericton&hellip; Binghamton (2-7-1) allowed 21 goals in three straight losses to fall further into the Southern basement.STREAKERS&mdash;Springfield center Len Hachbom has at least one point in each of the Tribe&rsquo;s 10 games. Binghamton left winger Dan Bourbonnais has points in nine straight and Whaler center Ross Yates has points in seven straight. &#9632;

f0024-01

Southern Division Rookies Making Good Impressions Early In Season

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>Louisville Hockey&reg;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01801/6586892-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="292" height="210"></div>TULSA&mdash;Oiler coach Tom Webster&rsquo;s strategy on the road is working according to plan.&ldquo;In other teams&rsquo; buildings we just try to keep the score close. We try to play 0-0.&rdquo; he explained after the Oilers swept a pair of games in Indianapolis.The victories marked the first time a Tulsa team had won more than one game in a season on Indianapolis ice. In each of the four previous Central Hockey League seasons, the Oilers managed but one victory a year when visiting the Checkers.The weekend set against the two-time defending Adams Cup champs went pretty much as Webster had planned. The teams battled to a one-goal decision in the opener, with Chris Renaud providing the game-winner with 44 seconds to play for a 3-2 Oiler win.A night later, Gary Bums scored twice as Tulsa built a 4-0 lead after two periods and hung on to win 4-2. When Tulsa left Indianapolis, its record was a league-leading 6-1&mdash;all on the road&mdash;with the only loss coming in the final 13 seconds of the first game of the season.That&rsquo;s quite a turnaround from a year ago when the Oilers won only 14 games all season on the road.&ldquo;Last year we were a young team.&rdquo; Webster noted. &ldquo;It was a learning year and we made a lot of mistakes. But it has paid off as indicated by our start this year.&rdquo;Admittedly, though, Webster has been given more help this year by the parent New York Rangers. Former Rangers with the Oilers include defenseman Bill Baker, wingers Cam Connor and Rob McClanahan, center Mikko Leinonen and Graeme Nicholson, who spent part of last season in New York.Connor, at 29, is the oldest of that group; McClanahan and Nicholson are the youngest at 25. It appears the combination of young players with at least one CHL season behind them and the veterans are working well for Webster.Working even better, perhaps, is the rookie tandem of John Vanbiesbrouck and Ron Scott in goal for the Oilers.Scott, from Michigan State, upped his record to 4-0 with his victory over Indianapolis, while a night earlier Vanbiesbrouck, who played at Sault Ste. Marie last year, was 2-1 after he shut down Indianapolis on two goals.&ldquo;We have two very young but talented goaltenders,&rdquo; Webster said. &ldquo;It is a real pleasure to see two kids who like to stop rubber.&rdquo; Vanbiesbrouck is 20; Scott 23.Bums, who had 21 goals and 33 assists for the Oilers last year but collected nine goals in his first seven games this year, also had praise for the newcomers in goal.&ldquo;Our goaltenders should have been the No. 1 stars both nights,&rdquo; he proclaimed. &ldquo;We got two solid goaltending jobs in these games. They are good&mdash;even better&mdash;than any other goaltenders in the league.&rdquo;Bums, the star of the game for his two-goal performance in the Oilers&rsquo; 4-2 victory and the CHL Player of the Week, admits Tulsa has &ldquo;quite a few players with NHL experience and they&rsquo;ve been helping the younger guys a lot.&rdquo;For a team that has been practising, as well as playing, away from home because their home-ice facility has not been available, Tulsa has proven near-unbeatable in the early going.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve practised at Oklahoma City and we&rsquo;ve skated without sticks on public rinks while our own building is being completed,&rdquo; Webster pointed out.As if they needed it, the Oilers got additional help, meanwhile, when the Rangers assigned winger George McPhee and defenseman Rick Chartraw to Tulsa.CHL CHAT&mdash;Tony Curtate has been reassigned to Colorado from Peoria (International League) and winger Jeff Brubaker joined the Flames from Calgary. Calgary also reassigned goalie Tim Bernhardt to Salt Lake. Defenseman Pat Rabitt has signed a CHL contract with Montana&hellip;Minnesota recalled defensemen Dave Richter. In addition. Salt Lake picked up defensemen Jeff Brownschidle (from Hartford) and Tony Feltrin (from Pittsburgh). Goalie Chris Trinceri was recalled to Salt Lake from Toledo and won his first CHL start.The Golden Eagles got a shorthanded goal from veteran Walt McKechnie to gain their second road win of the season. But Salt Lake, one of the league&rsquo;s most successful franchises the last six seasons with at least 40 victories in each, is struggling on the home ice. The Golden Eagles dropped five of their first six games in the Salt Palace&hellip;The only bright spot in the Indianapolis Checkers&rsquo; start had been the performance of rookie goaltender Todd Lumbard out of Regina last season. Although he lost two of his first three outings, he had earned the league&rsquo;s only shutout and his 2.33 goals-against mark was tops in the loop. That figure went up, however, in the Checkers&rsquo; 9-3 loss to Team USA in The Met at Bloomington, MN.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02511/6586885-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="564" height="825"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tulsa Oilers are winning on the road with the help of ex-Ranger Rob McClanahan.</figcaption></div>The Canadian and U.S. Olympic teams are a combined 7-0 against CHL competition. Team USA is 4-0; Team Canada unbeaten in three matches. &#9632;

f0025-01

Oilers Are Travelling (Winning) Road Show

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>Louisville Hockey&reg;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01875/6586930-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="284" height="210"></div>PEORIA&mdash;The International Hockey League is entering its third week and it&rsquo;s apparent the Peoria Prancers are tor real. The infant Prancers, embarking on their sophomore season, are still skating at the head of the class, tied with Flint.Peoria did not make the playoffs last season while Flint barely did. And the Generals did not survive the first round. The impressive thing about Flint is that four of their nine points have come on the road. That&rsquo;s the reverse of a traditional Flint trend. The Generals have always struggled on the road.Peoria picked up a pair of victories&mdash;on the road at Muskegon&mdash;to stay in front. The lone loss, Peoria&rsquo;s only reversal thus far, was also on the road. It came at Toledo where Toledo prevailed 4-1.In two home games, Peoria collected three of a possible four points. They whipped Fort Wayne with a three-goal final period and rallied to salvage a 6-6 tie with Flint.Defense has been the key to Peoria&rsquo;s early success. Prior to the 6-6 shootout with Flint, Peoria had allowed just 14 goals. Defense was certainly the key to the 2-1 win at Muskegon. Goalie Jeff Lastiwka kicked out a total of 45 shots. Marc Roy scored the winner in the third period.Flint managed just one victory, but still managed to stay in a tie for the lead. The lone victory was a 6-3 win over Muskegon at home. The Generals lost 5-4 at Milwaukee. The other two games ended in ties and, in each. Flint had what appeared to be a safe lead. Toledo erased a four-goal deficit to tie the Generals 6-6 at home and Kalamazoo came from three goals back for a 6-6 tie in Peoria.The game with Muskegon featured the first brawl of the young season. The brawl erupted midway through the final period. When it was over, a total of 177 minutes in penalties was handed out. Flint received 94, with Mike Klassen earning 34. Muskegon picked up 83 minutes in penalties.MILWAUKEE&mdash;The Admirals were third after a pair of wins in three outings. Milwaukee, the Western Division winner last season and playoff finalist, swept a two-game home series before hitting the road for Toledo where they lost 7-4.The victories came over Flint and Kalamazoo, both by one-goal margins. The Ads nipped Flint 5-4, as Mike Krensing scored a pair of goals in the third period. John Flesch scored the winner in a 3-2 thriller against Kalamazoo.FORT WAYNE&mdash;The Komets snapped a four-game winless streak with their finest overall performance of the season in a 7-1 romp of the Muskegon Mohawks. Seven different players scored the Komet goals, including Rob Motz, who now has five to lead the team.The victory was only the second of the season for the Komets, who finished second to Toledo last season during regular-season competition.The Komets salvaged a 4-4 tie with Kalamazoo at home and lost a 6-3 decision to Peoria on the road.KALAMAZOO&mdash;If the K-Wings ever start winning at home they could make it pretty tough on their rivals. The K-Wings have lost twice at home and have yet to win. But they&rsquo;ve stayed in the race with two wins and a tie on the road. The second home loss came was a 5-4 defeat administered by Doug McKay&rsquo;s Muskegon Mohawks. McKay launched his IHL career at Kalamazoo where he won two Turner Cup championships. In other games, Kalamazoo played a 4-4 tie at Fort Wayne and dropped a 3-2 decision in Milwaukee.TOLEDO&mdash;The Goaldiggers started to turn things around with an unbeaten week. The Diggers picked up a pair of victories at home and rallied for a 6-6 tie at Flint. The victory, Toledo&rsquo;s first of the season, was 4-1 over front-skating Peoria. The Diggers then came from four goals back on third-period goals by Kevin Beaton. Jim Bissett, Ken Latta and Richard Zemlak for the deadlock at Flint. The week ended with a convincing 7-4 triumph over Milwaukee.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02573/6586923-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="572" height="696"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marc Roy scored the winner in the third period as Peoria beat Muskegon 2-1.</figcaption></div>MUSKEGON&mdash;If the Mohawks can survive their early schedule they could be in the race all the way. Seven of Muskegon&rsquo;s first nine games are on the road. So far, the Hawks have been holding their own. They&rsquo;ve won twice on the road, their lone victories thus far. But they have already played four of the seven on the road.The second road win was the 5-4 decision at Kalamazoo, sparked by a pair of goals from high-scoring Neil Hawryliw. In their lone home game, the Hawks dropped a 2-1 decision to Peoria. But McKay wasn&rsquo;t too unhappy. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long time since people here saw a 2-1 hockey game.&rdquo;Also on the road, Muskegon lost 6-3 at Flint and 7-1 at Fort Wayne. But at Fort Wayne, the Mohawks played without Joe Ward and Ed Cooper. &#9632;

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Peoria, Flint Fighting It Out For Top Spot

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;The Atlantic Coast Hockey League became a five-team league when commissioner Ray Miron and the board of governors elected to suspend the Birmingham Bulls&rsquo; franchise.The original Bull owner failed to post the necessary performance bond and league dues and when another owner could not be found it was decided to terminate the franchise.According to Miron, the original owner decided prior to the season that he was no longer interested in being a member of the league. The search went on for another investor and the city of Birmingham helped locate a new owner.The new investor was at first very positive, but changed his mind after meeting with his lawyer. He again reconsidered, but later backed out which left the loop with no alternative but to unanimously suspend the franchise.In addition to not paying the bond or dues, the building lease was the highest in the ACHL.&ldquo;That is a major league building in Birmingham and they had a major league lease, much like we had when I was with the Colorado Rockies,&rdquo; explained Miron.The ACHL has picked up a reputation for teams dropping from the league around mid-season, but Miron stepped in quickly in the matter.&ldquo;We could have let them go on, but they probably would have folded in December,&rdquo; said the ACHL boss. &ldquo;They were ready to go on a road trip, I don&rsquo;t know where they were going to get the money. We wanted to stop this right now before it got any worse.&rdquo;Miron called it an unfortunate situation because, on paper, the Bulls appeared to be a very competitive club.&ldquo;Promises are fine, but we need money, you can&rsquo;t play hockey games on promises,&rdquo; he explained.While failing franchises seem to be an every year occurrence, Miron feels it is something that can be stopped.&ldquo;We have five strong franchises left,&rdquo; he stressed. &ldquo;This is just a problem that this league has to overcome. Suspending their franchise was our doing, not theirs. Instead of waiting to see what happened we acted fast and stopped any problem before it got worse.&rdquo;Miron and the board of governors held a rescheduling meeting in Utica, NY, along with a dispersal draft. Pine Bridge drafted Dave Dziedzic and Paul Evans, Carolina took Darren Switzer, Dave Jamieson, Gilles Bilodeau, Jim Turkiewicz, Reg Aubert and Tony Circelli. Erie grabbed Dwayne Venema and Ernie Boutin, Nashville drafted John Giftopolous, Paul Joswiak, Steve Arnold and Paul O&rsquo;Neil and Mohawk Valley took Tim Jacobs, Paul Higgins and Mike Lay.ERIE&mdash;The Golden Blades opened their new Civic Center home cheered by a crowd of over 4,000, but lost 6-5 in overtime.The Blades also made headlines when they traded popular veteran Stan Gulutzan to the Mohawk Valley Stars for defenseman Dick Popiel and forward Rob Clavette. Gulutzan was the team career leader in goals, assists and total points and was a member of three Erie championship teams in the Eastern Hockey League.Popiel was credited with the gamewinning goal as the Blades defeated the Carolina Thunderbirds 4-3 on the road. The victory was the first for new Erie goalie Darrell May.The Blades beat Nashville 7-3, as Dave Herbst got a hat trick, but dropped a 4-2 decision to the T-Birds at Winstom-Salem.MOHAWK VALLEY&mdash;Rick Ley&rsquo;s team was more than happy to spoil Erie&rsquo;s debut in their new building since the win came against Erie coach Bill Horton, whom many of the Star players performed for when he coached Mohawk Valley the past two seasons. Jay Miller recorded the game winner just 11 seconds into overtime to tip the Blades 6-5.Things went downhill from there, with the Stars suffering four straight losses on the road. After an 8-2 pasting by Carolina, the Stars were defeated 5-1 by Nashville, while Birmingham beat them 8-0 and 7-3, before the Bulls were eliminated from the loop.Rich Suwek hit for a pair of scores in the 7-3 loss to the Bulls.Injuries also took their toll on the Stars&rsquo; defense as Mark Marchand and Ward Gleason were nursing knee injuries, while Ron Scales hobbled around with a ankle problem. Dave Miles received broken ribs in the road trip and goalie Gray Weicker suffered a concussion.The Hartford Whalers demoted defenseman Bill McGuire to the club.NASHVILLE&mdash;What a difference a year has made for the South Stars.Last year they won only 11 games all season, but coach Nellie LeClair and the new owners in Nashville have turned the club around.The South Stars won their first three games before Erie finally slowed the express in handing Nashville their first loss of the campaign.Alain Bouchard put on a two-goal, two-assist performance in Nashville&rsquo;s 52 triumph over Birmingham before 4,518 fans. Dennis Auclair made 36 saves in the nets.LeClair&rsquo;s charges followed that up with a 5-1 win over Mohawk Valley and a 6-5 edging of Pine Bridge before their 7-3 home loss to the Blades.Newly-acquired Stan Gulutzan joins heavy shooters such as Ron Carter (96 points last season). Bob Hehir (90 points) and Bouchard (87 points).CAROLINA&mdash;The Thunderbirds looked as though they were ready to take up where they left off a year ago as champions of the league. Carolina rolled up 16 goals in their first two victories, an 8-3 success over Pine Bridge and an 8-2 triumph over Mohawk Valley.Greg Squires posted five assists and Mike Brisbois got two goals and two assists in the win over the Bucks. Dave Watson recorded the league&rsquo;s first hat trick against the South Stars, with Brian Carroll chipping in with five points, including two goals.After dropping a 4-3 home contest to the Blades, the T-Birds rebounded to top Erie 4-2.PINE BRIDGE&mdash;Don Luce&rsquo;s Bucks were winless in two starts with the club coming up short in their first two road games. &#9632;

Birmingham Bites Dust In ACHL

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01827/6586999-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Beaver tales</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02510/6586992-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="735" height="879"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03328/6586985-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="1107" height="888"></div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;During the glory days of the Quebec Remparts in the early 1970s, 12,000 fans would pack the old 10,400-seat Colisee to watch Guy Lafleur sizzle to a record 130-goal season.Chicago Black Hawk coach Orval Tessier, Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; general manager Maurice Filion and Marc Picard took the Remparts to the Memorial Cup on separate occasions with Filion winning and the team has captured half a dozen league and playoff championships.But all that was left of those huge crowds at some points in the past three seasons, when the club finished out of the playoffs, were 500 diehards listening to the echoes reverberate around the new 15,264-seat building.If not for the purchase of the Remparts by the Quebec Nordiques a few months to one of the proudest names in junior nockey, which also lists Real Cloutier. Michel Goulet and Guy Chouinard as alumni, would have slipped quietly out of sight after 15 years.Now, even the Nordiques are startled at the speed with which the franchise has come around.Linder 12-year NHL veteran and rookie coach Guy Charron, the Remparts have struggled from an eighth and two ninth-place finishes with a .334 winning percentage to lead the Dilio Division this season with a 12-6 record. They drew crowds of 5,160 and 4,800 one weekend against the Laval Voisins and Shawinigan Cataractes and are averaging 3,200 spectators&mdash;the best attendance in the league along with Laval.&ldquo;The Remparts have captured the imagination of the people,&rdquo; said Gilles Leger, the Nordiques&rsquo; director of player personnel and president of the junior club. &ldquo;They seem to have come along quicker than anybody expected and it&rsquo;s a pleasant surprise.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re the only totally French-canadian team in the NHL and the Rem parts will help us develop a French-Canadian staff.&rdquo;Would the team have folded this season without the Nordiques intervention?&ldquo;Definitely,&rdquo; said league president Paul Dumont, who was general manager of the Remparts for the club&rsquo;s first six seasons and who saw the attendance average 10,000 one year.&ldquo;The owners were down $100,000, if not more last season. The people never forgot the Remparts even when there were a few hundred at the games. Now they see the team is better organized and they are going back. It is important to the league to have Quebec involved in the east and although the Nordiques helped out financially for the past two seasons, the purchase was imperative. Quebec is not as big as Montreal and the junior team couldn&rsquo;t live without them.&rdquo;The Remparts now wear the Nordique colors and Charron said the takevover has been a major factor in the team&rsquo;s rejuvenation.&ldquo;The players feel they are constantly being watched by an NHL team and there is a certain pride in that now,&rdquo; he said.Charron&rsquo;s presence is another big factor. The 34-year-old Verdun native has been there.After a Memorial Cup championship with the Montreal Juniors and a 37-goal, 45-assist season debut with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, the Canadiens traded him to the Detroit Red Wings along with Mickey Redmond and Bill Collins for Frank Mahovlich.Four seasons later, he was shipped to Kansas City, where he was the Scouts&rsquo; top socrer and then went onto the Washington Capitals, where he led the team in scoring with 36 goals in his first of five seasons with the Caps. He scored 38 times the following year.He played for Team Canada&rsquo;s world championship entries from 1977 to 1979 in Vienna, Czechoslovakia and Moscow and for the Swiss A League champion Arosa for two seasons.&ldquo;My two years overseas and playing for New Haven Nighthawks in the AHL playoffs last year convinced me more and more that I wanted to pursue something in hockey,&rdquo; Charron said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know what to expect here, but the players responded to me well. From the beginning, we emphasized skating, discipline and developing a warm feeling on the club.&rdquo;The Nordiques&rsquo; influence can be seen in a fine draft. Cenral Scouting rated Guy Ouellette as the No. 1 midget but Quebec was able to claim him in the fifth round because everyone else was convinced he would attend Colgate University.No. 1 pick Alain Cote, a six-foot, 190-pound defenseman. No. 2 Alain Varennes, a 16-year-old left winger, and No. 3 Guy Belisle, a left wing-center, are working out well.The experienced line of Claude Gosselin, Guy Pigeon and Claude Lefebvre accounts for the fourth, seventh and eighth rungs on the Quebec League scoring ladder. And veteran goaltender Luc Guennette has been sharp. &#9632;

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Nordiques Lead Remparts’ Rise From Dead

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>BIG RAPIDS&mdash;Paul Pooley scored two goals and assisted on five others to pace Ohio State to a key early-season sweep of Ferris State in a battle for first place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.Ohio State swept Ferris State 6-3 and 3-1 to knock the Bulldogs from a tie for first place to a tie for fourth in the CCHA.In other league action, defending league champion Bowling Green moved into second place, sweeping defending playoff champion Michigan State 7-4 and 5-3.The sweep dropped Michigan State from first to third in the standings.Sweeps were in order in the CCHA as Michigan Tech took a pair of games (3-2 and 8-2) from Western Michigan, while Northern Michigan was the only team able to sweep a conference series at home beating Miami 6-1 and 9-5.Illinois-Chicago and Lake Superior split a pair of league games with the visiting Flames winning the opener 4-3 in overtime and Lake Superior taking the second game 10-3.Michigan swept a pair of non-league games from eastern power New Hampshire (3-2 in overtime and 5-4). Michigan freshman left winger Bruce McNab converted a Tom Stiles pass for the winner at 4:04 of overtime in the opener and sophomore left winger Chris Seychel netted his sixth goal of the season to snap a 4-4 tie in the third period of the second game. Wolverine co-captain Jim McCauley had two goals and two assists in the 5-4 win over UNH. while Peter Herme had two goals for the Wildcats.OSU&rsquo;s Paul Pooley, the leading scorer in the CCHA, was named Player of the Week for his seven-point performance at Ferris State.Gord Rivington opened the scoring in each game for the Buckeyes and Andy Browne scored the winning goal in each game of the OSU sweep.Ferris State goalie Norm Young made 34 saves in the second game as OSU&rsquo;s John Dougan made 12 saves. Following a goalless first period, Rivington scored at 11:24 of the second period. Browne&rsquo;s goal at 1:10 of the third period made the score 2-0. Scott Beaver scored for the Bulldogs at 4:56 of the third period, but Perry Pooley iced the game with an empty-net goal at 19:54.Bowling Green grabbed early leads against Michigan State in front of 6,530 fans each night in Munn Ice Arena.John Samanski scored two goals in the opener for the Falcons and sophomore Gino Cavallini scored three goals in the second game. Kelly Miller and Lyle Phair split the MSU goals in the opener.Al Radke paced Michigan Tech&rsquo;s offense against Western Michigan, scoring three goals in the series including the game-winner in the 3-2 opening win to offset a two-goal performance by WMU&rsquo;s Rob Bryden.The Michigan Tech specialty teams keyed the sweep, scoring five powerplay goals, two shorthanded goals and holding the Broncos goaless in 17 powerplay attempts.The Northern Michigan power play, held to just five goals in six games, exploded against Miami as the Wildcats scored seven power-play goals in the series.Morey Care and Colin Lundrigan each scored two goals as NMU scored four consecutive power-play goals following a 1-1 first period in the opener.Wildcat freshman Brad Emmons jumped into the record books in the second game scoring goals at 5:28, 7:43 and 10:25 of the first period to give NMU a 3-0 lead. The goals scored in a span of 4:57, broke the team record of three goals in 5:04 set by Bill Joyce in 1977.Lake Superior jumped to a 3-0 lead in the opener against Illinois-Chicago with Dean Dixon scoring goals at 12:36 and 14:53 of the first period. The Flames bounced back as Ray Staszak scored his first goal of the game at 9:14 of the second period and he finished the rally at 2:03 of overtime. UIC captain Joe Patzin tied the game with the lone goal of the third period.The Lakers didn&rsquo;t take any chances in the rematch taking a 6-0 lead with junior defenseman Chris Dahlquist scoring two goals after playing in 54 straight games without a goal. Fred DeVuono had two goals for LSSC in the second game and Dixon added a goal and two assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01868/6587030-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="564" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michigan&rsquo;s Chris Seychel broke a 4-4 tie in an exhibition game with New Hampshire.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Pooley Paces OSU To Sweep Of Bulldogs

<div class="byline">BY ROBERT MacLEOD</div>KINGSTON&mdash;An unlikely team is sharing some of the limelight after the opening two weeks of play in the Ontario Universities Athletic Association.Royal Military College Redmen, who managed only three wins in 24 regular-season games last season, are off to a quick start&mdash;for them, anyway.The Redmen capped off one of their most successful weeks ever when they played the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks&mdash;the defending OUAA champions&mdash;at Laurier and earned a 4-4 tie. In RMC&rsquo;s previous two games, the Redmen topped city-rival Queen&rsquo;s Golden Gaels 5-4 and came back to tie the Waterloo Warriors 4-4.Although their record is a modest 1-2-2, the Redmen&rsquo;s showing has to be encouraging when you consider the team already has four points in the standing, just two points shy of their total output last season.&ldquo;We got off to a horrendous start this year,&rdquo; said third-year coach Wayne Kirk, referring to a 16-2 beating administered by Toronto Blues and 9-7 loss to the Ryerson Rams. &ldquo;But we got back together and put together three good performances since then. At least we feel we belong in this league now. Last year it wasn&rsquo;t always that apparent.&rdquo;Laurier coach Wayne Gowing, whose team leads Toronto atop the OUAA standing with 3-0-1 record, said RMC is a much improved team from a year ago and play a disciplined style of play. &ldquo;After all, it is a military academy,&rdquo; Gowing said. &ldquo;I guess that&rsquo;s a setting where he (Kirk) can get it (discipline).&rdquo;Leading the Redmen are 20-year-old twin brothers Bob and Bill Harris, sons of ex-Toronto Maple Leaf Billy Harris, now coaching in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sudbury Wolves. Bob is RMC&rsquo;s leading scorer with four goals and four assists.In other OUAA play, forward Tim Burton of the 2-2 Guelph Gryphons scored one goal and set up five others in Guelph&rsquo;s 7-5 triumph over Laurentian Voyageurs in Sudbury.<h2>GPAC</h2>Manitoba Bisons posted three big wins&mdash;5-1 and 8-1 over Winnipeg Wesmen and 6-0 over Lakehead NorWesters atop the Great Plains Athletic Conference with a 3-0-1 mark. The one tie was a 6-6 effort against Lakehead.Defending champion Brandon Bobcats are in second at 3-1.Not surprisingly, Manitoba players hold the top three spots in the scoring race, with Mike Ridley leading the way with 12 points. A center who was the most-valuable player last season in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with Saint Boniface Saints, Ridley has eight goals and four assists for 12 points.<h2>QUAA</h2>Home-ice advantage isn&rsquo;t really that much of an advantage in the Quebec Universities Athletic Association so far this season. After a total of 13 league games, the home team has won only three times.Concordia Stingers, shooting for their eighth consecutive QUAA title, are in first place with a 4-1 record, their one loss a 6-5 setback to Chicoutimi Inuk (1-4-2), a high-scoring unit which is stumbling defensively.Chicoutimi&rsquo;s line of Daniel Larouche, Serge Trepanier and Sylvain Ross leads the scoring race with 20, 17 and 12 points, respectively. Trepanier is the leading goal scorer with 12.A revitalized Ottawa Gee-Gees, who finished in the basement last season, hold down second with a 3-1 mark.<h2>AUAA</h2>Moncton Blue Eagles, the defending champions in the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association, are off to a fast start, scoring a 13-3 triumph over St. Francis Xavier X-men, followed by a 7-1 win over Mount Allison Mounties. &#9632;

Redmen Record OUAA Surprise

Ohio State University is riding high atop the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings and much of the credit should go to the line of center Paul Pooley and his wingers, Dave Kobryn and Andy Browne.Pooley, whose twin brother Perry, also plays for the Buckeyes, scored two goals and five assists in OSU&rsquo;s two-game sweep of the Ferris State Bulldogs, a series that was for first place.That effort earned Paul the Bauer College Player of the Week honors for the week ending Nov. 6.So far this season. Pooley leads the CCHA in scoring with nine goals and 19 assists. That&rsquo;s a big reason why the Buckeyes are undefeated in six league games and still maintain a perfect record in nine games, including out-of-conference matches.Pooley, Kobryn and Browne were the one of the country&rsquo;s top offensive units last season and they&rsquo;re showing no signs of letting up in the 1983-84 CCHA campaign.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02573/6587085-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="537" height="843"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Pooley</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0028-02

Bauef Player of the week

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>COLORADO SPRINGS&mdash;Three weeks into the Western Collegiate Hockey Association season, there are two major surprises. One is that North Dakota is in first place, the other that Wisconsin is in fourth.It wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be that way. Defending NCAA champion Wisconsin was the pre-season choice to battle defending WCHA champion Minnesota for league honors. North Dakota was accorded no better than a third-place finish in the pre-season poll of league coaches.North Dakota, which lost four under Classmen to the Canadian Olympic hockey team (James Patrick, Gord Sherven, Dave Donnelly and Dave Tippett) has rattled off six straight league wins to take a one-point edge over Minnesota in the early going.But behind the stout goaltending of senior Jon Casey (2.33 goals-against average), North Dakota has parlayed its usual stingy defensive play into a fast start in the WCHA.Four of North Dakota&rsquo;s six wins have come on the road. Included in that were sweeps over Wisconsin (5-2, 3-2) and Colorado College (5-2,4-2), sandwiched around a pair of wins at home over Minnesota-Duluth (6-4, 7-2).Meanwhile, Minnesota is very much in the hunt. The Gophers have only a 3-3 overtime tie with Minnesota-Duluth to mar their record through six games, setting up an important early-season meeting between the Sioux and the Gophers in Minneapolis on Nov. 18-19.The latest play found the Sioux sweeping Colorado College, Wisconsin winning twice at Denver (6-4,7-4) and Minnesota getting an overtime win over Minnesota-Duluth (5-4) before settling for the 3-3 overtime tie in the rematch.North Dakota&rsquo;s strong start isn&rsquo;t due solely to Casey, who ranks among the best collegiate goaltenders in the country, if not the best. The Sioux have received excellent play from such veterans as Eddie Christian, Jim Archibald, Dan Brennan, Rick Zombo and Bill Whitsitt to go with a good crop of rookies such as Perry Nakonechny, Mickey Krampotich, Perry Berezan, Mai Parks and Brad Berry.Archibald supplied three straight game-winning goals for the Sioux and Brennan got one winning goal as the Sioux rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to beat Colorado College 4-2 to complete the recent series sweep.Minnesota boasts the most potent offense in the WCHA, centered on such snipers at Tom Rothstein, Pat Micheletti, Rick Erdall, Tony Kellin, Steve Orth, Todd Okerlund, Jeff Larson and Wally Chapman, all among the WCHA scoring leaders.It was Chapman&rsquo;s goal eight minutes into the 10-minute sudden-overtime period which gave Minnesota the 5-4 win over Minnesota-Duluth after the Gophers had fallen behind 4-0.Wisconsin, surpisingly enough, has fallen on hard times in the early going. The Badgers dropped their first four league games before rebounding to sweep Denver University in Denver.One reason behind Wisconsin&rsquo;s slow start was the delay of senior goalie Terry Kleisinger, who has not been his usual stingy self early in the season.Then came the news that Kleisinger has mononucleosis, which had a direct bearing on his performances and which will sideline him from an estimated two weeks to two months. While Kleisinger is out, sophomore goalie Gary Baxter, who filled in admirably early last fall when Kleisinger was suspended and goalie Marc Behrend was injured, is being asked to do the job.The Badgers appear to be back on track, though, as evidenced by their 6-4 and 7-4 wins over Denver, in which Wisconsin rallied in both games to win in the third period.Minnesota-Duluth struggled early without goalie Bob Mason to carry the load. Mason, who is playing with the U.S. Olympic team this year, had his place taken by Jon Downing. Downing had some shaky performances early, but should get some relief now that freshman goalie Rick Kosti has gained his eligibility. The NCAA had ruled that Kosti, who has played in five Tier One exhibition games, had to sit out Duluth&rsquo;s first five games.Denver has found some scoring punch in rookie Dwight Mathiasen, who had four goals in one game against Colorado College. But Denver&rsquo;s goaltending, with senior Pat Tierney&rsquo;s GAA above six per game, is still suspect.Like Denver, Colorado College has some newcomers who will help, most noticably Gord Whitaker, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound winger who played for the St. Albert Saints a year ago. Whitaker has supplied both scoring punch and muscle to the Tigers, who are attempting to play a more physical style of hockey this season under second-year coach Mike Bertsch.The Tigers have already won one-half of the league games they did a year ago when they finished in the basement of the WCHA with a 2-24 mark. The often-inspired play of sophomore goalie Marty Wakelyn is the chief reason why the Tigers figure to bump off a few more WCHA opponents this year.NOTES&mdash;Len Marti, the retired athletic director at the University of North Dakota, died unexpectedly on Oct. 27 at age 72. He had been a strong promoter of the WCHA and had served on several NCAA ice hockey committees&hellip;Colorado College captain Pete Lingren, out since pre-season with a broken wrist, returned to limited duty in the pair of losses to North Dakota. CC&rsquo;s other captain, Blake Catterall, has withdrawn from school&hellip;North Dakota lost sophomore defenseman Jay Hess for the year with a knee injury and senior winger Steve Palmiscno for the first semester because of academic reasons. &#9632;

North Dakota, Wisconsin Early Surprises

<h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Nov. 11)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01861/6587175-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="532" height="350"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Ohio State 4, Mich-Dearborn 2Michigan 4, Mich-Dearborn 3Ferris State 8, Windsor 2Ferris State 6, Windsor 1Wisconsin 3, Mich.Tech 0Lake Superior 6, Laurentian 2Ohio State 5, Laurier 2Mich-Dearborn 4, Waterloo 3<h3>CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL</h3>W. Michigan 4, Ferris State 3(W. Michigan wins tournament)Bowling Green 5, Clarkson 2Bowling Green 5, Clarkson 3Mich. Tech 5. N. Michigan 4Mich. Tech 6, N. Michigan 2Mich. State 5, Northeastern 1Mich. State 1, Northeastern 0Minnesota 12, Illinois-Chi 2Minnesota 5, Illinois-Chi 1Ferris State 4, Miami 0Ferris State 6, Miami 4Bowling Green 7, L. Superior 2L. Superior 2, Bowling Green 1Ohio State 9, Michigan 1Ohio State 6, Michigan 4Mich State 5, W. Michigan 2Mich State 5, W. Michigan 2Mich Tech 3, Saskatchewan 2Mich Tech 5, Saskatchewan 5Michigan 4, Miami 3Michigan 6, Miami 3Mich State 7, Illinois-Chicago 1Mich State 5, Illinois-Chicago 3Bowling Green 6, Mich Tech 5Bowling Green 5, Mich Tech 1Ohio State 5, N. Michigan 4Ohio State 8, N. Michigan 1W. Michigan 5, L. Superior 4L. Superior 6, W. Michigan 4Ferris State 4, Mich-Dearborn 3Ferris State 9, Mich-Dearborn 1Ohio State 6, Ferris State 3Ohio State 3, Ferris State 1Bow. Green 7, Mich. State 4Bow. Green 5, Mich. State 3Mich. Tech 3, W. Michigan 2Mich. Tech 8, W. Michigan 2N. Michigan 6, Miami 1N. Michigan 9, Miami 5Illinois-Chi 4, L Superior 3L. Superior 10, Illinois-Chi 3Michigan 3, New Hampshire 2Michigan 5, New Hampshire 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02574/6587168-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="537" height="323"></div><h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Nov. 11)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03394/6587161-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="537" height="210"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wisconsin 3, Mich. Tech 0Team USA 9, Minnesota 5Colorado College 5, Denver 2Team USA 12, Min-Duluth 0Min-Duluth 7, Colorado Coll 0Min-Duluth 6, Colorado Coll 3Minnesota 7, Denver 2Minnesota 8, Denver 4North Dakota 5, Wisconsin 2North Dakota 3, Wisconsin 2Minnesota 5, Wisconsin 3Minnesota 7, Wisconsin 6Denver 8, Colorado College 5Colorado College 5, Denver 3No. Dakota 6, Min-Duluth 4No. Dakoka 7, Min-Duluth 2North Dakota 5, Colorado Coll. 0North Dakota 4, Colorado Coll. 2Minnesota 5, Minn-Duluth 4Minnesota 3, Minn-Duluth 3Wisconsin 6, Denver 4Wisconsin 7, Denver 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04279/6587154-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="540" height="438"></div><h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Nov. 7)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05205/6587147-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="530" height="404"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Guelph 5, York 4McMaster 9, Western 5Laurier 14 at Brock 0McMaster 6, RMC 4Brock 6, Ryerson 1York 10, Waterloo 7RMC 7 at Ryerson 1Western 7, Windsor 5Laurentian 6, Queen&rsquo;s 2Laurentian 7, Queen&rsquo;s 7PEI 4, St. Mary&rsquo;s 1St. F. Xavier 6, St. Mary&rsquo;s 4Acadia 6, Dalhousie 4Alberta 4, Calgary 1Saskatchewan 8, UBC 3<h3>UNIVERSITY CUP INVITATIONAL</h3>Toronto 4, Concordia 1Ottawa 6, T-Rivieres 3Toronto 11, Ottawa 1Chicoutimi 7, Moncton 6<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3>Toronto 5, Concordia 1Moncton 7, Chicoutimi 4<h3>FINALS</h3>Moncton 7, Toronto 4(Moncton wins tournament)<h2>ONTARIO COLLEGES</h2>(Standings on Mon. Nov. 7)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06167/6587140-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="535" height="237"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Humber 3, St. Clair 2Seneca 13, Conestoga 6Canadore 6, Sheridan 5Sheridan 6, Humber 4Conestoga 6, Canadore 3Seneca 7, Centennial 2Sheridan 11, Conestoga 7St. Clair 4, Humber 3Sheridan 5, Canadore 1St. Clair 7, Centennial 2Canadore 9, Conestoga 4 &#9632;

f0030-01

HOW THEY STAND

EMPIRE CUPAt Glens Falls, NYFri. Nov. 25Colgate vs RPICornell vs St. LawrenceSat. Nov. 26Consolation & championship gamesJENO&rsquo;S HOLIDAY CLASSICAt Duluth, MNWed-Fri Dec. 28-30Minn-Duluth, Boston College, Ferris Stateand Lake SuperiorGREAT LAKES INVITATIONALAt Detroit, MlThu-Fri Dec. 29-30Michigan, Mich. State, Mich. Tech and No.MichiganI LOVE NEW YORKAt Lake Placid, NYThu. Dec. 29Bowling Green vs CornellClarkson vs BrownFri. Dec. 30Consolation & championship gamesSYRACUSE INVITATIONALAt Syracuse, NYThu-Fri Dec. 29-30North Dakota, Princeton, St. Lawrence and ColgateSCHOONER CUPAt Halifax, NSThu-Fri Dec. 29-30Colorado College, Dalhousie, Providence,TorontoAULD LANG SYNEAt Hanover, NHFri. Dec. 30New Hampshire vs VermontDartmouth vs MaineSat. Dec. 31CoIsonation & championshop gamesRPI INVITATIONALAt Troy, NYFri. Dec. 30Lowell vs No. ArizonaRPI vs YaleSat. Dec. 31Consolation & championship gamesFIRST INTER-STATE CLASSICAt Anchorage, AlaskaThu-Sun Jan. 5-8North Dakota, Colorado College, Boston College, Univ. British Columbia, AlaskaAnchorage, Northeastern, ProvidenceHARTFORD CIVICAt Hartford, CTFri. Jan. 6Yale vs ColgateVermont vs No. ArizonaSat. Jan. 7Consolation & championship games &#9632;

COLLEGE TOURNAMENTS

<h2>ECAC</h2><h3>NOVEMBER</h3>Tue. 8 Oswego at St. LawrenceProvidence at RPIWed. 9 Plattsburg at VermontThu. 10 Westfield at ArmyFri. 11 Concordia at MaineDalhousie at RPIU.S. Inti. at St. LawrenceSat. 12 Plattsburg at ColgateConcordia at MaineProvidence at NortheasternDalhousie at RPIU.S. Inti. at St. LawrenceMon. 14 Merrimack at ProvidenceTue. 15 Lowell at Bost. CollWed. 16 Merrimack at Bost. Univ.Colgate at ClarksonNortheastern at MaineFri. 18 Bow. Green at New Hamp.Oswego at ArmySat. 19 RPI at Bost. UnivBow. Green at New Hamp.Clarkson at NortheasternBrown at PrincetonSt. Lawrence at VermontLaurier at CornellProvidence at MaineSun. 20 Holy Cross at Bost. CollTeam USA at RPIBrown at ArmyProvidence at LowellTue. 22 Northeastern at Bost. CollHarvard at DartmouthBost. Univ at Team USAMaine at CornellWed. 23 Lowell at New Hamp.Team USA at ProvidenceFri. 25 Yale at LowellUnion at ArmySat. 26 Dartmouth at ClarksonVermont at HarvardPrinceton at New Hamp.Sun. 27 Bost. Univ at Providence<h2>CCHA</h2><h3>NOVEMBER</h3>Fri. 11 Illinois-Chi at Bow. GreenL. Superior at Ferris StateMichigan at Mich TechOhio State at MiamiN. Hampshire at W. MichiganSat. 12 Illinois-Chi at Bow. GreenL. Superior at Ferris StateMichigan at Mich TechOhio State at MiamiN. Hampshire at W. MichiganTue. 15 Wisconsin at Illinois-ChiFri. 18 Ferris State at Mich TechIllinois-Chi at Ohio StateMich State at MichiganN. Michigan at L. SuperiorW. Michigan at MiamiBowling Green at N. HampshireSat. 19 Ferris State at Mich TechIllinois-Chi at Ohio StateMichigan at Mich StateN. Michigan at L. SuperiorW. Michigan at MiamiBowling Green at N. HampshireFri. 25 Miami at Bow. GreenMichigan at N. MichiganMich State at Ferris StateDenver at W. MichiganIllinois-Chi at WisconsinMich Tech at Min-DuluthSat. 26 Miami at Bow. GreenMichigan at N. MichiganMich State at Ferris StateDenver at W. MichiganIllinois-Chi at WisconsinMich Tech at Min-DuluthTue. 29 Ohio State at Miami<h3>DECEMBER</h3>Fri. 2 L. Superior at MichiganMich Tech at Mich StateN. Michigan at Ferris StateBowling Green at Ohio StateW. Michigan at Illinois-Chi<h2>WCHA</h2><h3>NOVEMBER</h3>Fri. 11 Minnesota at WisconsinDenver at No. DakotaN. Arizona at Colo. Coll.Bost. Univ at Min-DuluthSat. 12 Minnesota at WisconsinDenver at No. DakotaN. Arizona at Colo. Coll.Bost. Univ at Min-DuluthTue. 15 Wisconsin at Illinois-ChiFri. 18 Wisconsin at Colo. Coll.No. Dakota at MinnesotaMin-Duluth at DenverSat. 19 Wisconsin at Colo. Coll.No. Dakota at MinnesotaMin-Duluth at DenverFri. 25 Illinois-Chi at WisconsinMinnesota at U.S. Inti.Maine at No. DakotaMich Tech at Min-DuluthDenver at W. MichiganSat. 26 Illinois-Chi at WisconsinMinnesota at U.S. Inti.Maine at No. DakotaMich Tech at Min-DuluthDenver at W. Michigan<h3>DECEMBER</h3>Fri. 2 Min-Duluth at WisconsinColo. Coll. at MinnesotaNo. Dakota at DenverSat. 3 Min-Duluth at WisconsinColo. Coll. at MinnesotaNo. Dakota at DenverFri. 9 Colo. Coll. at No. DakotaOhio State at DenverMin-Duluth at N. MichiganSat. 10 Colo. Coll. at No. DakotaOhio State at DenverMin-Duluth at N. MichiganWed. 14 Colo. Coll. at Air ForceFri. 16 Denver at Min-DuluthU.S. Inti at No. Dakota &#9632;

GAMES TO COME

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>Louisville Hockey&reg;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01796/6587261-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="297" height="216"></div>NIAGARA FALLS&mdash;Play it again, Sam.Although two previous franchises in the Honeymoon capital have failed, Sam McMaster&rsquo;s group of investors and silent partners from Sault Ste. Marie has the inside track over Detroit Compuware Corporation&rsquo;s hockey division as the Ontario Hockey League makes plans to expand to 16 teams.The feeling is the Detroit bid, a good one which excites several governors, requires more study and will probably be tabled.McMaster, the general manager of the Soo Greyhounds, is the reason for the strength of the Niagara Falls&rsquo; bid. Among those who have stepped forward to endorse the Falls&rsquo; franchise are former coach Bill Long and Toronto Marlies&rsquo; GM Frank Bonello, both long-term members of the OHL.Bonello has been associated with junior A dating back to the 1940s when he was a player in Galt.Long was in on the original Niagara Falls Flyer franchise when Hap Emms shifted his Barrie operation in 1960. He stayed until 1967, moving to Ottawa as GM-coach of the expansion 67s. A few years later, Emms sold the Hyers to a Sudbury group and shortly afterwards acquired St. Catharines Black Hawks. Later, Emms sold the Black Hawks (he had renamed them the Flyers) to Toronto businessman Reg Quinn. Quinn, also unable to make the franchise viable in Niagara, transferred it to North Bay.The past two seasons, Niagara Falls has been without a team.&ldquo;Personally, I can&rsquo;t see anything wrong with Niagara Falls and we can use another team,&rdquo; said Long, now vice-president of the London Knights who was the coach in Niagara Falls for seven years when Emms operated the then highly-successful franchise in the early &rsquo;60s.&ldquo;I can only go by when I was there. It was great. We drew well. I guess it did deteriorate and once you move, it&rsquo;s tough to get the customers back. Then they moved again. The only thing which concerns me is how successful it will be. If anybody can make it go, Sam can&hellip;and probably will. It has to be new people coming in who hit it off with the fans. It I can&rsquo;t be anybody with a bad reputation.That&rsquo;s why Sam. He&rsquo;s about the only one who can get away with it.&rdquo;Bonello feels the league requires a team on the Niagara peninsula.&ldquo;As long as there has been a junior hockey group, there always has been a team from Niagara Falls or St. Catharines,&rdquo; Bonello said. &ldquo;I think we lose something as a group when we&rsquo;re not represented there.&ldquo;It&rsquo;d be my opinion we&rsquo;d expand by only one. That would be the natural thing. Certainly, if anybody can make it work in Niagara Falls, it&rsquo;s Sam. He&rsquo;s done a good job everywhere he&rsquo;s been.&rdquo;The Niagara Falls bid, which is endorsed by mayor Wayne Thomson, who was in on the presentation to the OHL expansion committee several weeks ago, hinges completely on McMaster&rsquo;s reputation as a hockey man, promoter and judge of talent. McMaster, a former school teacher who also sold computer time in Toronto for Dataline Systems, has been involved in junior A for the past eight years. He broke in as a scout with Peterborough while running the Toronto Young Nats minor program for seven years.It was McMaster who &ldquo;scouted&rdquo; Wayne Gretzky at a baseball game in Brantford in the summer months and brought him to Toronto the following winter to play junior B for Young Nats.McMaster&rsquo;s first break to get into the OHL came through Quinn, who hired him as GM of the Niagara Falls club in 1978. They parted within six months because of a personality conflict. McMaster moved back to Toronto and helped the Marlboros in scouting and promotions for a year, then moved to Sault Ste. Marie to take over operations four years ago.In the four-year span, the Greyhounds had a profit of $500,000 and erased $400,000 in debts.Why does McMaster want to leave the Sault?Mainly, he wants a strong voice in the affairs of the OHL and an opportunity to be in on policy-making.&ldquo;I believe our league is the best in the country and I&rsquo;d like to become more involved in a responsible position,&rdquo; McMaster said. &ldquo;I also feel it&rsquo;s an advancement to go to part owner-governor. I think the Niagara area is a good area for junior hockey. I know there has been some problems, but if you work hard and put the product on the ice, they&rsquo;ll (the fans) respond.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve made every team work I&rsquo;ve been involved with so far. There&rsquo;s no reason, I feel, I can&rsquo;t make this work. I believe tremendously in the league and the rules of the league. I&rsquo;m a 100 percent believer in the draft and I believe in no protection for equality. I&rsquo;ve worked hard for the league. I think I can be successful as a governor and owner. I think I can add a lot to the league.&rdquo;McMaster said he will sign a five-year contract with his group of investors, whom he won&rsquo;t disclose, to be GM-governor.He also says the franchise group will sign a five-year deal with the city for use of the arena, which the city has announced will undergo additional improvements in lighting and seating. Three years ago, a new $2-million front entrance and lobby was added.McMaster&rsquo;s boss in Sault Ste. Marie, president and governor Jim McAuley, said he will ask for his resignation immediately if the Niagara bid is successful.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not looking forward to losing Sam,&rdquo; McAuley said. &ldquo;This summer when he was looking for the job in Philadelphia (chief scout), I talked to Bob McCammon and endorsed him 100 per cent. I looked upon Sam and Terry (coach Crisp) the same as our hockey players. If they can progress to the NHL, there&rsquo;s a lot of self satisfaction. You don&rsquo;t want to lose them but you don&rsquo;t want to hold them back.Boston scout Gary Darling got the Flyers&rsquo; job ahead of McMaster.&ldquo;Sam and I talked,&rdquo; McAuley said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want our fans and players wondering where his loyalties lie. Terry would assume both roles.&rdquo;As for the Niagara bid, McAuley isn&rsquo;t sure it will work.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still out to lunch on it.&rdquo;But the Compuware bid excites him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very impressed with the situation there,&rdquo; McAuley said. &ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s an awful lot of potential.&rdquo;McMaster dispelled rumors he might be interested in Crisp as the coach in Niagara. Crisp is in the final year of his contract.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not out to ruin the Soo franchise,&rdquo; McMaster said.Committees from the NHL and Canadian Major Junior Hockey League completed two days of meetings in Toronto to discuss a new agreement and find ways for the juniors to keep their best players longer and to rid the leagues of &ldquo;professionalism.&rdquo;The meetings will continue.The juniors have proposed and received strong support from the pros, that players who sign NHL contracts in the future should not be returned to junior clubs. From an NHL standpoint, it is not &ldquo;good business practice&rdquo; to pay a player for services not being rendered. The juniors are also proposing the NHL entry draft date be switched to January, to be held during the NHL all-star game proceedings, from the traditional June date at the meetings in Montreal.The reason for the draft date change is that it would practically assure the junior teams two years service from star players who are 17 years old when they come into the junior leagues. With a new draft date, the star players won&rsquo;t turn 18 (the legal age in Canada) until after the January draft which means they won&rsquo;t be drafted until halfway through their second junior season.&ldquo;The most pressing issue we&rsquo;re facing is professional hockey players playing in our league,&rdquo; OHL commissioner Dave Branch said.New York Islander GM Bill Torrey, a member of the NHL negotiating team, favors the idea of not signing juniors until they are ready for the NHL.&ldquo;Giving (the money) too soon creates false ideas,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;If a kid makes it to the NHL, he&rsquo;ll get it sooner or later.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m opposed to the signings. If a kid is not good enough to play pro he should be back with the juniors. And it&rsquo;s not good to have some signed and some not on the junior teams. It&rsquo;s not a good mix. I can go to junior games and I don&rsquo;t have to open the scorecards. I can tell who is and who isn&rsquo;t under contract.&rdquo;The league had its worst brawl of the season in Belleville when a Bull apparently challenged the Brantford bench. The first to leave was Todd Francis, who fought with Belleville defenseman Scott McMichael and wound up in hospital for four days with an eye injury. The game was delayed 30 minutes as referee Greg Madill sorted out the penalties.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02521/6587254-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="570" height="900"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brantford&rsquo;s Todd Francis spent four days in a hospital after a fight in Brantford.</figcaption></div>Brantford coach Dave Draper said Francis was &ldquo;suckered from behind&rdquo; as he was being held by two Bulls.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t like those things, but you can&rsquo;t back down from a challenge,&rdquo; Draper said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no penalty for that (challenging the bench) but there should be. You don&rsquo;t want your players to go, but you don&rsquo;t want to back down. It was unavoidable from our standpoint.&ldquo;There comes a time when you&rsquo;re not going to back down from asinine intimidation. If you&rsquo;re going to be first off, you&rsquo;re going to be first and you pay the price.&rdquo;The price was a $1,000 fine for Brantford and a six-game suspension for McMichael. In all, 14 players were suspended.Brantford won the rugged affair 2-1.WHISTLESTOPS&mdash;Soo Greyhound center Wayne Groulx, who leads the league in scoring, played on Canada&rsquo;s national junior baseball team and was voted shortstop on the all-world team&hellip;A change of scenery seems to be helping Kingston&rsquo;s Roger Belanger, who was obtained from London Knights. He had three goals and two assists in a win over Belleville, boosting his season total to 11 goals&hellip;Doug Evans, who once received notoriety for an off-ice fight with Oshawa coach Bill Laforge, produced 29 points in his first nine games as Peterborough&rsquo;s overage player&hellip;It was quite a homecoming for Belleville&rsquo;s Craig Billington and Danny Quinn, both former London junior B stars, in a 6-2 win in London. Billington, the No.-1 rated midget goalie, was chosen first star. Quinn, who played 50 minutes and had a goal, was the second star&hellip;Guelph Platers picked up Jim Samec on waivers from Sault to back up already strong goaltending from Steve (Stevie Wonder) Guenette and Scott Mosey. Who will go? &#9632;

f0031-01

Falls May Get Another Marriage?

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>Louisville Hockey &reg;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01857/6587299-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="300" height="210"></div>BRANDON&mdash;A year ago the Brandon Wheat Kings resembled the Titanic.After great expectations, the Western Hockey League club suffered with indecision and was listed on the trading market. The resulting instability saw the Wheat King fortunes sink to near the bottom of the Eastern Division.A 21-51 record and seventh-place showing in the eight-team division last season said it all. Brandon needed somebody to steady the club in hopes of raising it from the depths of despair.Enter Jack Sangster.Sangster, like the good skipper he&rsquo;s proved to be in the WHL, took over coaching duties this season and has the Wheat Kings floating back to the surface. In fact, the resurgent Wheat Kings won nine of their first 16 games. Sangster can afford to grin at those who expected little improvement in the Wheat Kings.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll smile when the season is over&mdash;if I can smile then,&rdquo; said Sangster, who left a coaching post with the Seattle Breakers to guide Brandon. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a little surprised we got out of the gate fast but when you get the guys playing with a lot of confidence that&rsquo;s hard to beat.&rdquo;Sangster, WHL coach of the year with Seattle in 1981-82, sought a move back to Manitoba to be closer to his Thompson home. But contrary to what most would believe, the 37-year-old Sangster was not initially greeted with open arms.A steering committee of the locally-owned franchise wasn&rsquo;t sure Sangster was their man; now, they can&rsquo;t help but believe he is.&ldquo;They (the committee) wanted to go with someone from Brandon because it would be cheaper for them,&rdquo; said Sangster. &ldquo;Les (general manager Jackson) put his job on the line for me and said he wanted his own man. Everything that happened reflects on him.&rdquo;When the red tape was finally cut July 15, Sangster knew he was getting a fair shake.&ldquo;Not only was it a chance to get back to my home province but I knew Les and his philosophy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I knew I could work with him. He knew my track record and I knew he wouldn&rsquo;t interfere.&rdquo;Sangster, who was also looking into coaching opportunities in Calgary and New Westminster, wanted to get his homework done before the season commenced. With that in mind he swung a multi-player deal with the Portland Winter Hawks. Portland received highly-touted 17-year-old center Blaine Chrest in the transaction which sent WHL veterans Ray Ferraro and Brad Duggan to Brandon.Chrest had 103 points in 66 games with the Tier Two Estevan, Bruins last season.What the Wheat Kings gave up was potential; what they got was proven performance.Ferraro, a 19-year-old center and fifth-round draft pick of the Hartford Whalers in 1982, had 90 points last season with the Memorial Cup champion Winter Hawks, yet was deemed expendable. This season he&rsquo;s getting ample ice time in Brandon and has responded with 33 points in his first 16 games.Duggan, an overage defenseman, also receives plenty of ice time and had 26 points in his first 15 games, fifth best in the WHL.&ldquo;We felt to have a half-decent club any trades we had to make should be done before the season started,&rdquo; said Sangster. &ldquo;Last season was like a revolving door with players coming and going&mdash;it just didn&rsquo;t work out.&rdquo;&ldquo;We knew we had some holes to fill and we knew teams like Regina and Portland were interested in Chrest. Brian (Portland GM Shaw) offered the best deal.&rdquo;Sangster had to do a selling job on his new players. After all, it&rsquo;s hard to get excited in going from a Memorial Cup champion to a club which didn&rsquo;t even make the playoffs.&ldquo;With Ferraro, I had to tell him I know you&rsquo;re disappointed but we have something pretty good going here,&rdquo; said Sangster. &ldquo;There was really nowhere else for him to play if he didn&rsquo;t make Hartford.&rdquo;&ldquo;Duggan didn&rsquo;t want to come at first either but we offered him a chance to play in Europe next year.&rdquo;Sangster&rsquo;s biggest hurdle was to get pride and discipline into the Wheat Kings. A losing season did little to make players want to abide by all the rules.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the word I got,&rdquo; said Sangster. &ldquo;But apparently they like the discipline. I didn&rsquo;t have a hell of a lot of talent when I played, but I came to play every night. I got to stick with a lot of hockey teams and I expect the same from my players. I&rsquo;d like each one to compliment the other.&rdquo;Aside from the timely addition of Ferraro and Duggan, getting the most out of 19-year-old netminder Ron Hextall is vital. Hextall, although a capable netminder, is just as well known for a short fuse. So what does Sangster do when there&rsquo;s an explosion?&ldquo;I replace him,&rdquo; said Sangster. &ldquo;I did it twice in the exhibition season because I had to. I can&rsquo;t be buddy-buddy with anybody. I just want Hextall to go out and do his job and that&rsquo;s stopping pucks. As long as we keep the lines of communication open we&rsquo;ll be okay.&rdquo;The Wheat Kings are also doing okay at the gate.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been getting between 2,1002,400 and the fans are enthusiastic,&rdquo; Sangster said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that&rsquo;s because we started out winning or the fact they&rsquo;re now selling beer in the stands.&rdquo;The Wheat Kings also have a diamond in the rough in Switzerland.Twenty-year-old Kelly Glowa, opting to play professionally overseas this season, will return by March. The undrafted Glowa, who finished third in WHL scoring last season with 163 points, could help Brandon in more ways than one.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05208/6587292-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="558" height="958"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brandon coach Jack Sangster did his homework before taking over the Wheat Kings.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to keep our options open on him,&rdquo; said Sangster. &ldquo;Three clubs have talked to us about him and we&rsquo;ll see where we stand and what we need.&rdquo;WHL WEEK&mdash;Dan Hodgson of Prince Albert held the scoring lead heading into the fifth week of league play with 42 points. Ray Ferraro of Brandon was second with 33, while Dale Derkatch of Regina had 29 and Dean Evason of Kamloops was fourth with 27. Barry Bracko of Calgary, Jason Meyer of Regina and Brad Duggan of the Wheat Kings had 26 points each&hellip;Canadian Major Junior League ratings in week five had Portland rated fifth, Regina sixth and Lethbridge seventh. &#9632;

f0032-01

Sangster’s Discipline Makes Big Difference

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02589/6587344-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="350" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE REIDPeterborough</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03407/6587337-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="338" height="596"><figcaption class="caption-body">TODD BERGENPrince Albert</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04282/6587330-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="350" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLAUDE GOSSELINQuebec</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>The Peterborough Petes awaited the return of Dave Reid to junior hockey this season with great trepedation. Their prime concern at the time was that he would stick with the Boston Bruins.As it turned out, Reid returned to the Petes but only after being one of the final cuts at the Bruins&rsquo; training camp. His return has been a big plus for Peterborough and this week he gamers the Ontario Hockey League&rsquo;s Player of the Week after pacing the Petes to three straight wins with seven goals and three assists.The Petes are battling for the lead in the OHL&rsquo;s Leyden Division race thanks to the 19-year-old left winger&rsquo;s 13 goals in his first 11 games.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>After a late start because of a prolonged NHL training camp with the Philadelphia Flyers, Todd Bergen of Prince Albert is more than making up for lost time.The 6-foot-2, 181-pound center was selected as the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s Player of the Week following a 12-point performance (six goals and six assists) in the Raiders&rsquo; 9-8 win over Calgary and 9-7 victory against Regina.Bergen, despite missing the first eight games, has come up with 10 goals and seven assists in the six starts since the Flyers returned him to junior hockey. Among his contributions were five power-play goals and one game winner.<h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>The Quebec Nordiques have more than a passing interest in the progress of Claude Gosselin this season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.Gosselin, who began playing major junior hockey at the age of 16, was invited to the Nordiques&rsquo; training camp this year when he wasn&rsquo;t drafted. The NHL club was impressed by his performance, but now he&rsquo;s back with the Quebec Remparts and picking up points at a rapid rate. Gosselin collected 12 points in three games to get the nod as the QHL&rsquo;s Player of the Week.At 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, Gosselin may lack the size of an NHLer, but he&rsquo;s one of the QMJHL&rsquo;s hardest workers. After 15 games he has 15 goals and 33 assists and is well within range of bettering his 100-point season of a year ago. &#9632;

f0032-02

Players of the Week

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Pete Peeters, G, sidelined for a week after suffering concussion.BUFFALO&mdash;Jerry Korab, D, recalled from Rochester of AHL.CALGARY&mdash;Allan Maclnnis, D, and Kari Jalonen, C, assigned to Colorado of CHL. Tim Bernhardt, D, recalled from Colorado and reassigned to Salt Lake of CHL on loan.CHICAGO&mdash;Jerome Dupont, D, sidelined with groin injury.DETROIT&mdash;Murray Craven, C, returned to Medicine Hat of WHL. Colin Campbell, D, sidelined for three weeks with shoulder separation. Randy Ladouceur, D, recalled from Adirondack of AHL as replacement. Brian Johnson, RW, sent to Adirondack.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Dean Jenkins, RW, assigned to New Haven of AHL. Steve Christoff, RW, sidelined with injury.MINNESOTA&mdash;Craig Levie, D, recalled from Salt Lake of CHL as replacement for Lars Lindgren, D, who is on injury list. Jim Craig, G, assigned to Salt Lake.MONTREAL&mdash;Robert Picard, D, traded to Winnipeg for third round draft pick in 1984. Mark Hunter, RW, out of action indefinitely after reinjuring left knee.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Rick Meagher, C, Mike Antonovich, C, and Gary McAdam, LW, recalled from Maine of AHL. Rich Chernomaz, RW, and Larry Floyd, C, assigned to Maine. Ken Daneyko, D, sidelined indefinitely after suffering broken leg.NY RANGERS&mdash;Rick Chartraw, D, and George McPhee, LW, sent to Tulsa of CHL. Barry Beck, D, sidelined with leg injury.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Jim Hamilton, RW, recalled from Baltimore of AHL. Mitch Lamoureux, C, sent to Baltimore as replacement. Tony Feltrin, D, recalled from Baltimore and reassigned to Salt Lake of CHL on loan.QUEBEC&mdash;Dave Pichette, D, Gord Donnelly, D, Pierre Aubry, C, and J.F. Sauve, C, all assigned to Fredericton of AHL. Pichette and Sauve just returned from injury list.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Perry Anderson, LW, recalled from Montana of CHL. Jim Pavese, D, sent to Montana. Rik Wilson, D, back from injury list. Ralph Klassen, LW, placed on NHL waivers for the purpose of making him a free agent.TORONTO&mdash;Basil McRae, LW, and Greg Britz, LW, both recalled from St. Catharines of AHL. Frank Nigro, RW, sidelined for eight weeks with broken wrist. Terry Martin, LW, hospitalized with stomach illness. Bruce Dowie, G, recalled from St. Catharines of AHL and reassigned to Muskegon of IHL. Garry Larivierre, D, signed as free agent from Edmonton and assigned to St. Catharines.VANCOUVER&mdash;Dave Morrison, RW, signed as free agent from Los Angeles. Wendell Young, G, returned by Canadian Olympic Team and reassigned to Milwaukee of IHL. Michel Petit, D, returned to Canadian Olympic team by Canucks.WASHINGTON&mdash;Greg Thebarge, D, returned from injury list and assigned to Hershey of AHL.WINNIPEG&mdash;Tim Watters, D, back from injury list. Jyrki Seppa, D, returned to Sherbrooke of AHL.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>FREDERICTON&mdash;Christian Tanguay, RW, and Claude Julien, D, sent to Milwaukee of IHL.MONCTON&mdash;Shawn Dineen, D, signed as free agent from New Haven.NEW HAVEN&mdash;Dave Ross, G, sent to Fort Wayne of IHL.NOVA SCOTIA&mdash;Stan Hennigar, D, recalled from Flint of IHL.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>COLORADO&mdash;Tony Curtate, D, recalled from Peoria of IHL.MONTANA&mdash;Pat Rabbitt, D, signed as free agent.SALT LAKE&mdash;Chris Trinceri, G, recalled from Toledo of IHL under emergency conditions and later returned.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>MILWAUKEE&mdash;Alex Belcourt, RW, released outright. Mike Waghorne, D, sent to Peoria of IHL on loan.TOLEDO&mdash;Rob Flockhart, RW, signed as free agent. &#9632;

PLAYER TRANSACTIONS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1484/6587913-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg" title="f0033-14" width="847" height="408"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1393/6587920-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" 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/f0033-1570/6587906-1-eng-US/f0033-152.jpg" title="f0033-15" width="848" height="327"></div><h2>TOP ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1662/6587899-1-eng-US/f0033-162.jpg" title="f0033-16" width="851" height="379"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1759/6587892-1-eng-US/f0033-172.jpg" title="f0033-17" width="850" height="146"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1852/6587885-1-eng-US/f0033-182.jpg" title="f0033-18" width="851" height="153"></div><h2>CALGARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1945/6587878-1-eng-US/f0033-192.jpg" title="f0033-19" width="846" height="152"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2040/6587871-1-eng-US/f0033-202.jpg" title="f0033-20" width="847" height="144"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2137/6587864-1-eng-US/f0033-212.jpg" title="f0033-21" width="850" height="142"></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2230/6587857-1-eng-US/f0033-222.jpg" title="f0033-22" width="851" height="146"></div><h2>HARTFORD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2323/6587850-1-eng-US/f0033-232.jpg" title="f0033-23" width="849" height="144"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2422/6587843-1-eng-US/f0033-242.jpg" title="f0033-24" width="844" height="149"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2518/6587836-1-eng-US/f0033-252.jpg" title="f0033-25" width="845" height="145"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2616/6587829-1-eng-US/f0033-262.jpg" title="f0033-26" width="852" height="144"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2716/6587822-1-eng-US/f0033-272.jpg" title="f0033-27" width="850" height="142"></div><h2>NY ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2814/6587815-1-eng-US/f0033-282.jpg" title="f0033-28" width="850" height="145"></div><h2>NY RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2913/6587808-1-eng-US/f0033-292.jpg" title="f0033-29" width="845" height="146"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-3012/6587801-1-eng-US/f0033-302.jpg" title="f0033-30" width="846" height="149"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-3112/6587794-1-eng-US/f0033-312.jpg" title="f0033-31" width="845" height="144"></div><h2>QUEBEC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-3212/6587787-1-eng-US/f0033-322.jpg" title="f0033-32" width="849" height="147"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-3312/6587780-1-eng-US/f0033-332.jpg" title="f0033-33" width="840" height="146"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-3412/6587773-1-eng-US/f0033-342.jpg" title="f0033-34" width="849" height="146"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-3511/6587766-1-eng-US/f0033-352.jpg" title="f0033-35" width="844" height="152"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-368/6587759-1-eng-US/f0033-362.jpg" title="f0033-36" width="845" height="145"></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-377/6587752-1-eng-US/f0033-372.jpg" title="f0033-37" width="847" height="146"></div> &#9632;

f0033-14

EMERY TROPHY PLUS-MINUS

<h2>Tue. Nov. 1</h2>HARTFORD 2, MONTREAL 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01775/6587721-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="536" height="875"></div>VANCOUVER 3, ISLANDERS 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02527/6587714-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="533" height="727"></div>LOS ANGELES 4, QUEBEC 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03390/6587707-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="527" height="983"></div>DETROIT 3, ST. LOUIS 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04307/6587700-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="526" height="549"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05256/6587693-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="535" height="90"></div><h2>Wed. Nov. 2</h2>RANGERS 3, BUFFALO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06221/6587686-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="533" height="923"></div>WASHINGTON 3, EDMONTON 11<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07201/6587679-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="532" height="1043"></div>NEW JERSEY 4, HARTFORD 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-08166/6587672-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="537" height="930"></div>TORONTO 5, MINNESOTA 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-09146/6587665-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="527" height="143"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-10130/6587658-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="534" height="505"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-11121/6587651-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="531" height="497"></div>PITTSBURGH 6, WINNIPEG 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-12114/6587644-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="534" height="433"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01778/6587637-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="539" height="439"></div><h2>Thu. Nov. 3</h2>ST. LOUIS 5, BOSTON 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02542/6587630-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="539" height="1167"></div>PITTSBURGH 3, CALGARY 3First PeriodCalgary 1 &mdash; Beers 9 (Eaves, Reinhart) 18:33.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03444/6587623-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="545" height="674"></div>CHICAGO 4, DETROIT 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04338/6587616-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="538" height="495"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05283/6587609-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="541" height="499"></div>QUEBEC 2, MONTREAL 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06249/6587602-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="535" height="608"></div>L. ANGELES 6, PHILADELPHIA 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07228/6587595-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="538" height="931"></div><h2>Fri. Nov. 4</h2>ISLANDERS 6, NEW JERSEY 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08208/6587588-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="530" height="382"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09195/6587581-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="533" height="352"></div>VANCOUVER 4, WASHINGTON 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10185/6587574-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="535" height="817"></div>TORONTO 2, WINNIPEG 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11178/6587567-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="539" height="1025"></div><h2>Sat. Nov. 5</h2>TORONTO 3. CALGARY 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01699/6587560-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="542" height="730"></div>VANCOUVER 3, DETROIT 2First PeriodDetroit 1 &mdash; Larson 5 (Duguay, Ogrodnick) 4:462 &mdash; Yzerman 8 (Duguay, Smith) 13:52.Penalties &mdash; Kirton (Van) 4:01; Melrose (Det) 5:37; Delorme (Van) 9:22; Larson (Det), Butcher (Van) double-minors, 10:58; Gare (Det) 16:42.Second PeriodVancouver 3 &mdash; Lanz 4 (Lupul) 1:42.4 &mdash; Williams 3 (Sundstrom, Tanti) 11:40Penalties &mdash; Larson (Det) 1:35; Gare (Det) 3:29.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-12123/6587553-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="535" height="343"></div>PITTSBURGH 3, EDMONTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-13113/6587546-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="543" height="1024"></div>LOS ANGELES 1, HARTFORD 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-14104/6587539-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="544" height="233"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1598/6587532-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="542" height="348"></div>CHICAGO 5, MINNESOTA 10<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1691/6587525-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="537" height="1111"></div>BOSTON 10, MONTREAL 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1783/6587518-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="541" height="149"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1877/6587511-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="548" height="788"></div>BUFFALO 0, ISLANDERS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1972/6587504-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="542" height="560"></div>RANGERS 4, QUEBEC 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2063/6587497-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="541" height="289"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2157/6587490-1-eng-US/f0038-212.jpg" title="f0038-21" width="540" height="612"></div>PHILADELPHIA 6, ST. LOUIS 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2254/6587483-1-eng-US/f0038-222.jpg" title="f0038-22" width="549" height="1085"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2349/6587476-1-eng-US/f0038-232.jpg" title="f0038-23" width="539" height="87"></div><h2>Sun. Nov. 6</h2>LOS ANGELES 3, BOSTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2442/6587469-1-eng-US/f0038-242.jpg" title="f0038-24" width="534" height="820"></div>QUEBEC 7, BUFFALO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2538/6587462-1-eng-US/f0038-252.jpg" title="f0038-25" width="539" height="590"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1488/6587455-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="539" height="292"></div>CHICAGO 3, NEW JERSEY 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1578/6587448-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="536" height="373"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1672/6587441-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="542" height="383"></div>HARTFORD 2, PHILADELPHIA 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1767/6587434-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="537" height="374"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1857/6587427-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="541" height="331"></div>DETROIT 2, WASHINGTON 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1953/6587420-1-eng-US/f0039-192.jpg" title="f0039-19" width="538" height="415"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2048/6587413-1-eng-US/f0039-202.jpg" title="f0039-20" width="535" height="390"></div>EDMONTON 8, WINNIPEG 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2143/6587406-1-eng-US/f0039-212.jpg" title="f0039-21" width="535" height="313"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2238/6587399-1-eng-US/f0039-222.jpg" title="f0039-22" width="540" height="795"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02609/6588287-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="579" height="525"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01864/6588294-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="119" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03478/6588280-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="116" height="120"></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/f0034-04369/6588273-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="581" height="578"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05298/6588266-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="134" height="125"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06264/6588259-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="583" height="573"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07242/6588252-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="131" height="112"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08224/6588245-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="581" height="645"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09201/6588238-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="140" height="103"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10194/6588231-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="577" height="182"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11181/6588224-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="577" height="382"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12175/6588217-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="120" height="124"></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/f0034-13154/6588210-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="580" height="549"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-14147/6588203-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="121" height="113"></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/f0034-15137/6588196-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="582" height="525"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-16135/6588189-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="179" height="116"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-17120/6588182-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="584" height="525"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-18113/6588175-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="134" height="122"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-19105/6588168-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="578" height="602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2091/6588161-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="573" height="696"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gretzky leads the NHL in scoring with 19 goals and 23 assists in 15 games.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2181/6588154-1-eng-US/f0034-212.jpg" title="f0034-21" width="133" height="96"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2273/6588147-1-eng-US/f0034-222.jpg" title="f0034-22" width="581" height="550"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2367/6588140-1-eng-US/f0034-232.jpg" title="f0034-23" width="105" height="102"></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/f0034-2458/6588133-1-eng-US/f0034-242.jpg" title="f0034-24" width="583" height="599"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2547/6588126-1-eng-US/f0034-252.jpg" title="f0034-25" width="131" height="120"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2637/6588119-1-eng-US/f0034-262.jpg" title="f0034-26" width="580" height="548"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2732/6588112-1-eng-US/f0034-272.jpg" title="f0034-27" width="120" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2825/6588105-1-eng-US/f0034-282.jpg" title="f0034-28" width="579" height="121"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2922/6588098-1-eng-US/f0034-292.jpg" title="f0034-29" width="582" height="428"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3019/6588091-1-eng-US/f0034-302.jpg" title="f0034-30" width="142" height="103"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3116/6588084-1-eng-US/f0034-312.jpg" title="f0034-31" width="581" height="574"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3215/6588077-1-eng-US/f0034-322.jpg" title="f0034-32" width="134" height="117"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3314/6588070-1-eng-US/f0034-332.jpg" title="f0034-33" width="586" height="599"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3411/6588063-1-eng-US/f0034-342.jpg" title="f0034-34" width="122" height="120"></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/f0034-3510/6588056-1-eng-US/f0034-352.jpg" title="f0034-35" width="579" height="532"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-368/6588049-1-eng-US/f0034-362.jpg" title="f0034-36" width="124" height="119"></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/f0034-377/6588042-1-eng-US/f0034-372.jpg" title="f0034-37" width="582" height="303"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-387/6588035-1-eng-US/f0034-382.jpg" title="f0034-38" width="583" height="280"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-397/6588028-1-eng-US/f0034-392.jpg" title="f0034-39" width="138" height="140"></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/f0034-407/6588021-1-eng-US/f0034-402.jpg" title="f0034-40" width="585" height="627"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-417/6588014-1-eng-US/f0034-412.jpg" title="f0034-41" width="100" height="99"></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/f0034-427/6588007-1-eng-US/f0034-422.jpg" title="f0034-42" width="578" height="525"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-437/6588000-1-eng-US/f0034-432.jpg" title="f0034-43" width="157" height="87"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-447/6587993-1-eng-US/f0034-442.jpg" title="f0034-44" width="579" height="526"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-456/6587986-1-eng-US/f0034-452.jpg" title="f0034-45" width="119" height="117"></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/f0034-466/6587979-1-eng-US/f0034-462.jpg" title="f0034-46" width="580" height="577"></div><h2>GOALTENDING STATISTICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01823/6587972-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="540" height="2054"></div><h2>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h2><h3>GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02601/6587965-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="533" height="263"></div><h3>MOST WINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03487/6587958-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="540" height="210"></div><h3>SAVE PERCENTAGE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04393/6587951-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="533" height="237"></div> &#9632;

f0034-02

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCORING

<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>31 &mdash; KEANS, Doug30 &mdash; MOFFAT, Mike1 &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, Bill44 &mdash; KORAB, Jerry27 &mdash; PLAYFAIR, Larry5 &mdash; RAMSEY, Mike4 &mdash; RENAUD, Mark3 &mdash; VIRTA, Hannu19 &mdash; WIEMER, Jim<h3>Centers</h3>25 &mdash; ANDREYCHUK, Dav6 &mdash; HOUSLEY, Phil11 &mdash; PERREAULT, Gil - C20 &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>I &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, Mike24 &mdash; PEPLINSKI, Jim8 &mdash; RISEBROUGH, D.-Cpt<h3>R. Wings</h3>19&mdash;HUNTER, Tim17 &mdash; HISLOP, Jamie9 &mdash; McDONALD, L.-Cpt.14 &mdash; NILSSON, KentII &mdash; PATTERSON, Colin15 &mdash; TAMBELLINI, Steve25 &mdash; MEREDITH, Greg<h3>L. Wings</h3>27 &mdash; BEERS, Ed26 &mdash; BOZEK, Steve18 &mdash; HINDMARCH, Dave12 &mdash; LOOB, Hakan<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>Goaltenders</h3>30 &mdash; BANNERMAN, M.35 &mdash; ESPOSITO, Tony<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>14 &mdash; GARDNER, Bill12 &mdash; LYSIAK, Tom19 &mdash; MURRAY, Troy26 &mdash; PATERSON, Rick18 &mdash; SAVARD, Denis<h3>R. Wings</h3>15 &mdash; HIGGINS, Tim28 &mdash; LARMER, Steve16 &mdash; PRESTON, Rich7 &mdash; YAREMCHUK, Ken<h3>L. Wings</h3>8 &mdash; FRASER, Curt29 &mdash; LUDZIK, Steve17 &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, Colin29 &mdash; LADOUCEUR, Randy28 &mdash; LARSON, Reed26 &mdash; MELROSE, Barry22 &mdash; PARK, Brad5 &mdash; SMITH, Greg<h3>Centers</h3>20 &mdash; FOSTER, Dwight16 &mdash; KISIO, Kelly34 &mdash; ST. LAURENT, Andre19 &mdash; YZERMAN, Steve<h3>R. Wings</h3>10 &mdash; DUGUAY, Ron18 &mdash; GARE, Danny-Cpt.17 &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>15 &mdash; CONACHER, Pat99 &mdash; GRETZKY, W. - Cpt.13 &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: Pete Peeters (Bos), Jamie Hislop, Greg Meredith (Cal), Jerome Dupont, Dave Feamster, Curt Fraser, Al Secord (Chi), Colin Campbell (Det), 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, Mark6 &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, Ken17 &mdash; KELLY, John-Paul18 &mdash; TAYLOR, Dave<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>Defencemen</h3>2 &mdash; GILES, Curt4 &mdash; HARTSBURG, C.-Cpt.34 &mdash; LEVIE, Craig13 &mdash; LINDGREN, Lars32 &mdash; MANDICH, Dan5 &mdash; MAXWELL, Brad29 &mdash; RICHTER, Dave10 &mdash; ROBERTS, Gord6 &mdash; VELISCHEK, Randy<h3>Centers</h3>12 &mdash; ACTON, Keith7 &mdash; BROTEN, Neal21 &mdash; FERGUSON, George9 &mdash; MARUK, Dennis<h3>R. Wings</h3>23 &mdash; BELLOWS, Brian20 &mdash; CICCARELLI, Dino25 &mdash; MacADAM, Al11 &mdash; McCARTHY, Tom31 &mdash; NAPIER, MARK<h3>L. Wings</h3>22 &mdash; ASHTON, Brent14 &mdash; DOUGLAS, Jordy98 &mdash; LAWTON, Brian44 &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, Craig19 &mdash; ROBINSON, Larry18 &mdash; ROOT, Bill<h3>Centers</h3>21 &mdash; CARBONNEAU, Guy29 &mdash; CHABOT, John6 &mdash; MONDOU, Pierre15 &mdash; SMITH, Bobby25 &mdash; WICKENHEISER, Doug<h3>R. Wings</h3>20 &mdash; HUNTER, Mark10 &mdash; LAFLEUR, Guy26 &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, Ron1 &mdash; RESCH, Chico Defense25 &mdash; BRUMWELL, Murray2 &mdash; CIRELLA, Joe3 &mdash; DANNEYKO, Ken26 &mdash; KITCHEN, Mike25 &mdash; LEWIS, Dave4 &mdash; LORIMER, Bob5 &mdash; RUSSELL, Phil<h3>Centers</h3>23 &mdash; ANTONOVICH, Mike24 &mdash; BROTEN, Aaron10 &mdash; CAMERON, Dave16 &mdash; MEAGHER, RickI 12 &mdash; VERBEEK, Pat<h3>R. Wings</h3>29 &mdash; LUDVIG, Jan11 &mdash; MacMILLAN, Bob15 &mdash; MacLEAN, John20 &mdash; MARINI, Hector21 &mdash; MULVEY, Grant<h3>L. Wings</h3>18 &mdash; BRIDGMAN, Mel17 &mdash; GAGNE, Paul7 &mdash; LARMER, Jeff9 &mdash; LEVER, Don - Cpt.34 &mdash; McADAM, Gary<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, Stefan5 &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, GlenI 31 &mdash; WEEKS, Steve<h3>Defensemen</h3>5 &mdash; BECK, Barry - Cpt.4 &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, Anders25 &mdash; SUNDSTROM, Pet.<h3>L. Wings</h3>20 &mdash; ERIXON, Jan22 &mdash; FOTIU, Nick12 &mdash; MALONEY, Don19 &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, Bobby14 &mdash; SUTTER, Ronnie<h3>R. Wings</h3>18 &mdash; CARSON, Lindsay17 &mdash; HOLMGREN, Paul12 &mdash; KERR, Tim21 &mdash; MacLEISH, Rick15 &mdash; SUTTER, Rich<h3>L. Wings</h3>7 &mdash; BARBER, Bill-Cpt.20 &mdash; POULIN, Dave26 &mdash; PROPP, Brian23 &mdash; SINISALO, Ilka27 &mdash; SITTLER, DarrylINJURED: Steve Christoff, Dave Taylor (LA), Craig Hartsburg, Lars Lindgren, Mark Napier (Min), Rick Green, Mark Hunter (Mtl), Mike Allison, Barry Beck (NYR), Frank Bathe, 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, Greg3 &mdash; MAXWELL, Bryan4 &mdash; McSORLEY, Marty<h3>Centers</h3>22 &mdash; BULLARD, Mike9 &mdash; FLOCKHART, Ron20 &mdash; GARDNER, Paul19 &mdash; HANNAN, Dave<h3>R. Wings</h3>26 &mdash; GATZOS, Steve13 &mdash; HAMILTON, Jim18 &mdash; McClelland, kevin11 &mdash; SAGANIUK, Rocky17 &mdash; KEHOE, Rick14 &mdash; SHEDDEN, Doug16 &mdash; TAYLOR, Mark<h3>L. Wings</h3>15 &mdash; BOUTETTE, Pat23 &mdash; BRICKEY, Barry24 &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>22 &mdash; MAROIS, M. - Cpt.21 &mdash; MOLLER, Randy7 &mdash; PRICE, Pat5 &mdash; ROCHEFORT, N.4 &mdash; VAN BOXMEER, J.2 &mdash; WEIR, Wally25 &mdash; WESLEY, Blake<h3>Centers</h3>23 &mdash; GILLIS, Paul32 &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, Alain16 &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, Terry5 &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>12 &mdash; ANDERSON, Perry20 &mdash; CARLSON, Jack61 &mdash; HICKEY, Pat22 &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, Mark20 &mdash; MINOR, Gerry17 &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, Paul8 &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>24 &mdash; ERICKSON, Bryan11 &mdash; GARTNER, Mike23 &mdash; GOULD, Bobby<h3>L. Wings</h3>22 &mdash; ADAMS, Greg14 &mdash; DUCHESNE, Gaetan16 &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, Jim2 &mdash; MANTHA, Moe3 &mdash; PICARD, Robert27 &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; DE BLOIS, 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: Larry Patey (StL), Peter Ihnacak, Terry Martin, Frank Nigro, Gary Nylund, Walt Poddubny (Tor), Lars Molin (Van). &#9632;

NHL TEAM ROSTERS

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12168/6588380-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="497" height="498"></div><h2>LEADING ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13160/6588373-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="500" height="498"></div> &#9632;

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Top Scorers In The NHL

BOSTON&mdash;O&rsquo;Connell 5, Middleton 7, 8, Dufour 2, Krushelnyski 6, 7, Bourque 4, 5, 6, 7, B. Crowder 2, 3, O&rsquo;Reilly 4, 5, 6, Markwart 3, 4, Pederson 7, 8, Fergus 6, 7, Lapointe 3, McNab 5, MacTavish 7, Winning goals-Bourque, B. Crowder, Markwart.BUFFALO&mdash;Foligno 4, Hamel 6, Housley 7, Renaud 1, Winning goals-none.CALGARY&mdash;Beers 9, Loob 5, Hindmarch 3, 4, Risebrough 3, Patterson 3, Volcan 1, Eaves 3, Winning goals-Volcan.CHICAGO&mdash;O&rsquo;Callahan 2, Sutter 4, 5, 6, Lysiak 3, Savard 10, 11, 12, B. Wilson 3, Yaremchuk 2, T. Murray 5, Larmer 10, Winning goals-none.DETROIT&mdash;Yzerman 5, 6, 7, 8, Larson 3, 4, 5, Ogrodnick 6, Duguay 3, 4, 5, 6, Manno 3, Johnstone 5, Winning goals-Ogrodnick, Duguay.EDMONTON&mdash;Gretzky 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, Conacher 1, Jackson 1, 2, 3, Anderson 10, 11, Coffey 5, 6, 7, Gregg 1, 2, 3, Roulston 4, Hughes 5, Pouzar 1, Kurri 10, Messier 3, 4, Hunter 4, Lowe 3, Winning goals-Jackson, Anderson, Messier.HARTFORD&mdash;Malone 4, Turgeon 4, 5, 6, Dupont 3, 4, Stoughton 7, Neufeld 5, 6, Francis 3, 4, Winning goals-Turgeon, Neufeld.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Dionne 4, Simmer 7, 8, Fox 7, 8, Kelly 1, MacLellan 4, 5, 6, 7, Ruskowski 1, Nicholls 12, Jarvis 2, Hakansson 2, Winning goals-Turgeon, Neufeld.MINNESOTA&mdash;Ciccareili 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Payne 3, 4, McCarthy 2, 3, 4, Broten 5, MacAdam 2, Bellows 6, Maruk 4, Ashton 3, Lawton 2, 3, Velischek 2, Winning goals-Ciccarelli, Lawton.MONTREAL&mdash;Shutt 3, 4, Smith 5, 6, 7, Lafleur 7, 8,9, Walter 4, Naslund 7, Wickenheiser 3, Tremblay 3, Carlson 1, Winning goals-Lafleur 2.NEW JERSEY&mdash;McAdam 1, 2, Larmer 3, Kitchen 1, Verbeek 4, Broten 4, 5, Bridgman 2, Gagne 2, Cirella 1, Lever 2, Winning goals-Broten.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Kallur 3, Trottier 3, B. Sutter 10, 11, Jonsson 1, Persson 4, Gillies 2, 3, Tonelli 2, 3, D. Sutter 2, Bourne 6, Gilbert 3, 4, Potvin 4, Bossy 10, Winning goals-Jonsson, D. Sutter, Gilbert.NY RANGERS&mdash;Greschner 2, Hedberg 4, Ruotsalainen 1, Larouche 11, 12, Don Maloney 7, Pavelich 6, Winning goals-none.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Rich Sutter 4, 5, Sittler 3, 4, 5, Kerr 8, 9, Barber 5, 6, Crossman 3, Sinisalo 5, 6, Propp 6, 7, Poulin 5, Winning goals-Poulin.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Buskas 1, Gladney 1, Brickley 1, Kehoe 6, Flockhart 2, 3, McClelland 1, Bulley 1, Bullard 8, 9, Taylor 4, Errey 3, Winning goals-Kehoe.QUEBEC&mdash;P. Stastny 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, McKegney 7, 8, Wesley 1, Hunter 8, 9, M. Stastny 6, 7, Savard 5, 6, 7, 8, Van Boxmeer 4, 5, Paiement 8, Sleigher 5, A. Stastny 10, Winning goals Hunter, Savard.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Reeds 3, 4, Gilmour 1, Pettersson 6, Federko 5, 6, Turnbull 4, 5, 6, Sutter 6, Babych 4, Ramage 4, Chouinard 1, Anderson 1, Winning goals-Anderson.TORONTO&mdash;Harris 2, Anderson 7, 8, Graham 2, McCourt 3, 4, Derlago 5, 6, Vaive 15, Frycer 5, Winning goals-none.VANCOUVER&mdash;Rota 10, 11, 12, 13, Tanti 14, 15, 16, Sundstrom 8, Lanz 4, Williams 3, Winning goals-Tanti.WASHINGTON&mdash;Haworth 4, Valentine 1, Stevens 2, Gustafsson 6, 7, Gartner 8, Murphy 2, Veitch 2, Christian 4, Carpenter 2, Langway 3, Winning goals-Gustafsson, Langway.WINNIPEG&mdash;Campbell 2, Boschman 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Hawerchuk 2, Babych 6, DeBlois 5, 6, Arniel 5, Young 1, Steen 4, 5, Picard 1, Mantha 3. Winning goals-DeBlois.Four-goal games&mdash;MacLellan (LA) and Gretzky (Edm), 1 each.Hat tricks&mdash;Duguay (Det), Ciccareili (Min) and Fergus (Bos), 1 each.Overtime winners&mdash;Gustafsson (Was). &#9632;

NHL SCORERS THIS WEEK

(Standings on Tue. Nov. 8)<h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-14150/6588442-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="538" height="443"></div><h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-15146/6588435-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="538" height="432"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 1Hartford 2 at Montreal 6Vancouver 3 at NY Islanders 6Los Angeles 4 at Quebec 8Detroit 3 at St. Louis 2Wed. Nov. 2NY Rangers 3 at Buffalo 3 (OT)Washington 3 at Edmonton 11New Jersey 4 at Hartford 5Toronto 5 at Minnesota 8Pittsburgh 6 at Winnipeg 3Thu, Nov. 3St. Louis 5 at Boston 9Pittsburgh 3 at Calgary 3 (OT)Chicago 4 at Detroit 7Quebec 2 at Montreal 3Los Angeles 6 at Philadelphia 5Fri. Nov. 4NY Islanders 6 at New Jersey 1Vancouver 4 at Washington 5 (OT)Toronto 2 at Winnipeg 8Sat. Nov. 5Toronto 3 at Calgary 5Vancouver 3 at Detroit 2Pittsburgh 3 at Edmonton 7Los Angeles 1 at Hartford 2Chicago 5 at Minnesota 10Boston 10 at Montreal 4Buffalo 0, Islanders 4NY Rangers 4 at Quebec 4 (OT)Philadelphia 6 at St. Louis 7Sun. Nov. 6Los Angeles 3 at Boston 7Quebec 7 at Buffalo 1Chicago 3 at New Jersey 6Hartford 2 at Philadelphia 4Detroit 2 at Washington 3Edmonton 8 at Winnipeg 5 &#9632;

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THE NHL SCOREBOARD

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.This week&rsquo;s profile is of Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; right winger Bo Berglund.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02493/6588518-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="562" height="1032"></div>When you are the 232nd player selected in the 1983 NHL entry draft, not too many people expect much of you, which is why Quebec Nordique right winger Bo Berglund, a 28-year-old NHL rookie who is a veteran of pro hockey in Sweden, has been a pleasant surprise.In his first 17 games, he scored six goals and five assists for 11 points and is one more reason why the Nordiques are off to such a strong start this season. &#9632;

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Chrysler Rookie Award

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-11" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-11132/6588643-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL MINOR LEAGUE AFFILIATIONS

<h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Nov. 8)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01728/6588758-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="542" height="555"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 1Belleville 9 at Kingston 1Thu. Nov. 3Toronto 6 at Cornwall 3S.S. Marie 9 at Windsor 3London 5 at Peterborough 5Guelph 1 at Brantford 8Fri. Nov. 4Toronto 8 at Ottawa 6S.S. Marie 3 at London 4Oshawa 2 at Kitchener 10Sudbury 8 at Kingston 9Brantford 4 at Guelph 1Sat. Nov. 5Sudbury 6 at Belleville 4Cornwall 2 at Peterborough 10Sun. Nov. 6Kingston 2 at Oshawa 4Sudbury 0 at Ottawa 7S.S. Marie 6 at Kitchener 7Toronto 4 at North Bay 8Guelph 2 at Cornwall 3Brantford 5 at Windsor 4Belleville 3 at London 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02493/6588751-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="543" height="351"></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Nov. 7)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03371/6588744-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="536" height="459"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Oct. 31Chicoutimi 3 at Laval 7Tue. Nov. 1Drummondville 4 at Longueuil 6Wed. Nov. 2Quebec 6 at Laval 8Shawinigan 7 at St. Jean 2Granby 2 at T-Rivieres 3Fri. Nov. 4Longueuil 7 at Chicoutimi 4Quebec 2 at Drummondville 5Verdun 9 at Quebec 5T-Rivieres 1 at Shawinigan 3Hull 5 at St. Jean 7Sun. Nov. 6Chicoutimi 8 at Drummondville 5Quebec 7 at Granby 5St. Jean 3 at Hull 6Laval 7 at T-Rivieres 3Shawinigan 8 at Verdun 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04301/6588737-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="542" height="296"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Nov. 8)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05249/6588730-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="537" height="526"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 1Regina 5 at Saskatoon 4New West. 1 at Victoria 9Kelowna 10 at Seattle 4Brandon 3 at Winnipeg 2Wed. Nov. 2Medicine Hat 4 at Calgary 2Kelowna 3 at Portland 9Saskatoon 3 at Regina 5Fri. Nov. 4Lethbridge 3 at Regina 2Portland 7 at Seattle 6Pr. Albert 3 at Calgary 4Kelowna 3 at New West. 3Winnipeg 5 at Brandon 15Sat. Nov. 5Pr. Albert 4 at Medicine Hat 6Seattle 3 at Portland 9Saskatoon 5 at Winnipeg 6Kelowna 0 at Victoria 2Sun. Nov. 6Medicine Hat 3 at Regina 6Pr. Albert 1 at Lethbridge 7Portland 3 at New West. 6Saskatoon 5 at Brandon 4Victoria 4 at Kamloops 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06212/6588723-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="542" height="845"></div><h2>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Nov. 9)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07190/6588716-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="535" height="323"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Collingwood 5, Woodstock 4Cambridge 11, Stratford 0Flamboro 11, Barrie 3Georgetown 6, Woodstock 2Flamboro 10, Barrie 3Cambridge 11, Collingwood 7Chatham 7, Petrolia 4Dundas-Hamilton 10, Stratford 3Cambridge 6, Collingwood 4Barrie 10, Woodstock 6<h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Oct. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08168/6588709-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="539" height="264"></div>(Teams awarded one point for losing in overtime)<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-09146/6588702-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="537" height="320"></div><h2>ALBERTA JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Oct. 31)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-10129/6588695-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="533" height="347"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-11113/6588688-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="535" height="118"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-12104/6588681-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="543" height="266"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Fri. Oct. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1393/6588674-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="542" height="209"></div> &#9632;

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November 18, 1983

HOW NHL TEAMS RATE

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NHL GAMES TO COME

MINOR SCOREBOARD