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

February 3, 1984

The Hockey News February 3, 1984

BOSTON&mdash;Kluzak 7,8, O&rsquo;Connell 13,14,15, B. Crowder 6, Hillier 1, MacTavish 17, Middleton 29,30, Johnston 1. Winning goals-Kluzak, Johnston, O&rsquo;Connell.BUFFALO&mdash;Seiling 11, Hamel 10, 11, Cloutier 18, 19, Perreault 23, Arjdreychuk 18, 19, Ramsay 4, Foligno 18, Korab 1. Winning goals-Hamel, Cloutier, Ramsay.CALGARY&mdash;Maclnnis 4, Peplinski 8, Loob 20,21, Beers 23, Baxter 7, McDonald 21, Jackson 5, Kromm 4. Winning goals-Baxter, Kromm.CHICAGO&mdash;McMurchy 2, Ludzik 8, D. Wilson 9, 10, Lysiak 4, 5, Savard 25, B. Murray 7. Winning goals-none.DETROIT&mdash;Yzerman 28, 29, Ogrodnick 30, 31,32, Boldirev 16, 17, Dunlop 5, Gare 5, 6,7, Duguay 16, 17. Winning goals-none.EDMONTON&mdash;Gretzky 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, Anderson 26, 27, 28, Pouzar 10, Jackson 6, Coffey 23, 24, Hughes 14, 15, 16, Berry 2, Linseman 12, 13, Huddy 5, Hunter 6. Winning goals-Anderson 2, Jackson 1.HARTFORD&mdash;Turgeon 22, Yates 1, Siltanen 6, Malone 10, Crawford 18. Winning goals-none.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Houston 7, Simmer 28,29, 30, Engblom 2, Jarvis 9, Fox 20,21, Anderson 3, Nicholls 26, 27. Winning goals-none.MINNESOTA&mdash;Richter 2, Bellows 25, 26, Levie 3, 4, 5, MacAdam 11, 12, 13, Ciccarelli 26, 27, McCarthy 26, 27, 28, 29, Ferguson 3, Broten 18, 19, 20, Payne 13,14, 15, Maruk 11, 12, Maxwell 15, Acton 14. Winning goals-MacAdam, McCarthy.MONTREAL&mdash;Root 3, Lafleur 18, Naslund 18, Carbonneau 17, Nilan 11, Smith 20, 21, Ludwig 4, Walter 17. Winning goals-Ludwig.NEW JERSEY&mdash;MacMillan 12, Cameron 8, Russell 5, 6, Bridgman 10, Cirella 9. Winning goals-none.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Carroll 3, 4, 5, Bossy 36, 37, 38, Gilbert 18, Jonsson 7, Goring 15, 16. Winning goals-Carroll.NY RANGERS&mdash;Hedberg 19, Larouche 28, 29,30,31,32,33,34, Sundstrom 15,16,17,18, Don Maloney 16,17, Greschner 6,7,8, Allison 5, Richmond 1, Ruotsalainen 13, 14, Dave Maloney 6, Pavelich 13. Winning goals-Don Maloney 2, Allison 1.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Howe 8, Sinisalo 18, 19, Ron Sutter 13,14,15, Sittier 13,14, Poulin 12, 13, 14,15, Fitzpatrick 3, Rich Sutter 11, Crossman 7. Winning goals-Poulin 2, Fitzpatrick 1.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Bullard 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, Flockhart 14, Kehoe 16, Shedden 6, 7, 8, Boutette 9, McSorley 1. Winning goals-Boutette.QUEBEC&mdash;Berglund 12, 13, 14, Hunter 20, 21, Goulet 33,34, 35,36, Paiement 24, Savard 17, P. Stastny 26, 27, Sauve 3. Winning goals-Goulet.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Mullen 20, 21, 22, Reeds 8, Babych 12, Sutter 19, Gilmour 11, Anderson 4. Winning goals-Mullen.TORONTO&mdash;Anderson 24, 25, Vaive 36, 37, 38, Costello 1, 2, Martin 5, 6, Poddubny 3, Benning 10, Gingras 7. Winning goalsMartin.VANCOUVER&mdash;Petit 3, 4, 5, Snepsts 3, Lupul 14, Gradin 7, Tanti 32,33, Nill 9, Lanz 10, 11, Williams 7,8, 9, Neely 6, Smyl 8. Winning goals-none.WASHINGTON&mdash;Murphy 10, 11, Gartner 22, 23, Laughlin 11, 12, Gustafsson 24, 25, Veitch 3, Stevens 7, Christian 18,19,20, Jarvis 9, Currie 8, Haworth 14. Winning goals-Laughlin, Gustafsson, Christian.WINNIPEG&mdash;Young 14, DeBlois 22, 23, 24, Picard 3, MacLean 18, 19, 20, Mantha 10, McBain 7, Boschman 17, 18, Lundholm 4, Arniel 17. Winning goals-MacLean, Arniel.Hat tricks&mdash;Sundstrom (NYR), Goulet (Que), Vaive (Tor), MacLean (Wpg), Bullard (Pit), Larouche (NYR), Gretzky (E0m), Carroll (NYI), Bossy (NYI), Williams (Van), Poulin (Pha), 1 each.Overtime winners&mdash;MacLean (Wpg), Mullen (StL), 1 each. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

NHL SCORERS THIS WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03563/4853009-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg"></div>that the junior hockey teams which have produced the most current NHL players are: &#9632;

f0005-03

Did You Know…

<h2>Here&rsquo;s what was happening 20 years ago this week in hockey:</h2>&bull; Toronto Maple Leafs had their &ldquo;bleakest week,&rdquo; losing 5-4 to New York and 11-0 to Boston and then rebounding with a 2-0 win over Chicago. Don Simmons worked both losses and was to be benched in the Chicago game but an airplane breakdown prevented his replacement from arriving. After the win, Simmons said, &ldquo;A goalie is only as good as his teammates and mine were great (here).&rdquo;&bull; Leaf defenseman Carl Brewer was featured in Sport magazine and speaking of his penchent for holding, he said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all psychological. I lacked affection when I was a child. Now I compensate by hugging other hockey players.&rdquo;.&bull; Canada advanced into the medal round of the 1964 Winter Olympics in Austria after beating Yugoslavia 14-1 in a preliminary round. Meanwhile in Moscow, the touring Eastern Hockey League All-Stars lost 4-3 to Kiev Dynamo and 11-2 to the Soviet Olympic team, which was favored in the Olympics and given a bye in the preliminary round.<h2>Here&rsquo;s what was happening 15 years ago this week in hockey:</h2>&bull; The NHL board of governors agreed to keep Oakland Seals in the San Franciso Bay area despite offers from Buffalo and Vancouver to buy the team and move it.&bull; The NHL&rsquo;s chief referee, Scotty Morrison, was barred from future Toronto Maple Leaf telecasts by Leaf general manager-coach Punch Imlach for defending the work of referee John Ashley. &#9632;

THIS WEEK…20 Years Ago

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Just when the New Jersey Devils thought they had wrapped up the National Hockey League&rsquo;s No. 1 choice in June&rsquo;s entry draft, the Penguins decided to give them a run for their money.The Penguins entered a home-and-home series on consecutive nights with the Devils holding a seven-point lead in the battle for 20th place in the NHL&rsquo;s overall standings. Pittsburgh defeated New Jersey the three previous times the two had met this season and a sweep of the two games would have increased the Penguins&rsquo; lead over the Devils to 11.New Jersey captured the first game in the Byrne Meadowlands Arena 3-1, but the worst was still to come for Pittsburgh. The Penguins entered the third period in the Civic Arena holding a 3-1 lead. However, with a home-ice record of 216-3, Pittsburgh should have expected the worst. It happened. New Jersey scored six goals in the third period and won 7-4.&ldquo;I have no idea what happened in the third period,&rdquo; said beleaguered Penguin coach Lou Angotti. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m about out of answers.&ldquo;We played the kind of second period that we have to play&mdash;we were hitting. We encouraged them to do it at the end of the second period, but no. That obviously wasn&rsquo;t the answer.&rdquo;The first-year Penguin coach was asked if his club had taken the last-place Devils too lightly during the two games.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think so,&rdquo; said Angotti, his face drawn from a team that has staggered to a 9-27-5 record. &ldquo;I like to think that we&rsquo;re not the kind of team that&rsquo;s going to take any team lightly. I don&rsquo;t know. I don&rsquo;t have all the answers, you know.&rdquo;Pittsburgh finished 18-53-9 last season, its worst mark in 16 years in the NHL and last in the overall league standings. However, the Penguins didn&rsquo;t pick first in last June&rsquo;s entry draft. They switched drafting positions with the Minnesota North Stars in an early-season trade.It appears painfully obvious the Penguins will not catch the Washington Capitals for the fourth and final Stanley Cup playoff position in the Patrick Division. The main battle seems to be over which team will finish last in the Patrick and in the league, Pittsburgh or New Jersey, and gains the No. 1 draft position, which many people believe will be used to select center Mario Lemieux from Laval of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.While at a loss to explain the Penguins&rsquo; propensity for losing, Angotti says a lack of concentration and the failure to carry out game plans stick out like the team&rsquo;s record.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a thing that we&rsquo;ve been concerned about.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone into the last few games on the basis that the primary objective that we&rsquo;re trying to accomplish is getting good, solid preparation for the game. It&rsquo;s been a problem, but I don&rsquo;t have the answers for that.&ldquo;Igo into a game preparing myself the best I can. Nobody can prepare me and if I do it right or I do it wrong, 1 think I have to be held responsible for that.&ldquo;We go into a game plan and there are times when we do it for 40 minutes and we haven&rsquo;t done if for 20 minutes. It&rsquo;s like you&rsquo;ve got to believe what you see. What you hear is something else.&ldquo;All I can do is encourage them to do it. I can&rsquo;t get them to do it. You can move players around, shift players around. It&rsquo;s obviously not helping.&rdquo;The Penguins have been getting goals almost exclusively from the Andy Brickley-Mike Bullard-Mark Taylor line in recent games. Angotti says his club needs more balanced scoring if it hopes to turn things around.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the bottom line,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t rely on them to keep getting all the goals for your. Ever since we got Taylor and Brickley back (from injuries), that&rsquo;s been it.&rdquo; &#9632;

Angotti Doesn’t Have The Answers

&ldquo;I learned one rule out of all of this: Not to criticize anyone in public.&rdquo;&mdash;Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky, referring to his return visit to New Jersey after labelling the Devil organization &ldquo;Mickey Mouse.&rdquo; See story on Page 15 and Bluelines, Page 14. &#9632;

Quote Of The Week

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011194/4852765-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="306" height="358"></div><h2>The Hitters Vanish</h2>TO DISLIKE DAN Daoust and the way he plays hockey is very difficult. The Toronto Maple Leaf center is a little guy by today&rsquo;s National Hockey League standards (5-foot-l 1, 160 pounds during his overweight times) but when he goes out on the ice, he&rsquo;s thinking &ldquo;hit.&rdquo;After he joined the Leafs in a trade from the Montreal Canadiens midway through the 1982-83 season, Daoust became the club&rsquo;s sparkplug in an above-.500 finish. The main reason why he rallied the blue-and-white forces was the fact that he made contact with opponents.It wasn&rsquo;t any stick-and-run garbage, either, more than a few NHL players&rsquo; idea that hitting means a slash or a spear and then speed away. Daoust launched his fraillooking body into foes, most of whom out-weighed him by a considerable amount.The other day, Daoust was bemoaning the fact that his hit total was down this season and wondering why?&ldquo;Last season, I just seemed to have more opportunities to throw bodychecks,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When the chance for a hit was there, I would take it. This season, it seems the chances just haven&rsquo;t been there. Or, at least, not as many of them.&ldquo;Maybe the other players know me a little better now and that I&rsquo;m not afraid to make contact so they avoid me a little, moving the puck a little more quickly. Throwing a bodycheck isn&rsquo;t something you can go a long way out of your path to do. If you run around, looking for hits, you&rsquo;re out of position.&rdquo;You got it, kid! Daoust might be a little squirt but in today&rsquo;s NHL, bodychecking is such a foreign, vanished art that the word gets out about a 160-pound terror and foes note and avoid when he comes on the pond.About now, you&rsquo;re probably thinking that another old goat is going to launch into a tirade about the good, old days of six-team NHL play. Not quite! But tell me quickly: How many clean, skillful, open-ice bodychecks with hip and shoulder that included no foul have you seen this year?<h2>No Loitering</h2>A GUY I KNOW recently examined some Stanley Cup films from the late &lsquo;50s and his reaction was predictable to anyone who remembers how it was back then.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe a few things 1 saw in those films,&rdquo; the man said. &ldquo;First of all, there were very few goals scored and not a large number of scoring chances. The teams really played grind-it-out hockey.&ldquo;But the big difference between the games then and now is how tough it was in front of the net back then. Okay, there&rsquo;s some mauling in front now but back in the 1950s you took your life in your hands if you tried to plant yourself in front. Most of the time, you would end up flat on your back. Sure, there was some stick involved in that but, mostly, it was body contact.&rdquo;It was pointed out to the chap that, in the six-team days, the game was played by adult men between the ages of 25 and 35, who had spent a large amount of time learning their craft. Jobs were hard to get in the big leagues and players didn&rsquo;t mind leaving a few chunks of their bodies around the NHL in order to keep them.Now the game is played by apprentice boys between 18 and 24, most of whom haven&rsquo;t paid much of a price to get there and face little serious competition for their jobs. Their skills with the puck, except passing, are good and they are bigger and stronger than any predecessors.However, when they don&rsquo;t have the puck, the majority of the talented kids don&rsquo;t have the faintest idea what to do.<h2>Sticks Up!</h2>TALK TO VETERANS of the NHL wars, especially those who, in the foolish days of their youth, tossed the occasional bodycheck and ask why they don&rsquo;t even try the clean hit any longer. The answers likely will be the same.Try to throw a clean bodycheck these days and you run into a face full of stick.&ldquo;The reflex action of most NHL players now is to bring their stick up to head level if an opposition body comes close, especially one that threatens to make contact with them,&rdquo; said one older NHL defenseman.&ldquo;The key to delivering the no-foul hit is keeping both hands on your stick and the stick on the ice. But if you do that, your head is unprotected and vulnerable and when you try to make the hit, the other guy lifts his stick automatically as protection.&ldquo;Most players now came out of minor hockey where they wore head gear and face masks. That meant there&rsquo;s been no caution to carry their sticks around guys&rsquo; noggins. When I was in. kids&rsquo; hockey, you kept your stick down much more because you didn&rsquo;t want to cut anyone and certainly didn&rsquo;t want to be cut yourself.&ldquo;There are many times when I have a chance to knock a guy flat with a good check but I have to weigh the cost. In most cases, I know that I&rsquo;ll get a stick in the mush if I trv a clean check so 1 back off.&rdquo; &#9632;

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HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011213/4852796-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div><h2>PEOPLE&rsquo;S CHOICE ALL-STARS</h2><h3>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h3>FIRST TEAMGOAL: Grant Fuhr (34.5)DEFENSE: Paul Coffey (32.6)Doug Wilson (15)CENTER: Wayne Gretzky (90.4)RIGHT WING: Jari Kurri (52.2)LEFT WING: Mark Messier (31.2)COACH: Glen Sather (60.9)SECOND TEAMGOAL: Murray Bannerman (15.1)DEFENSE: Dave Babych (8.2)Reed Larson (5.4)CENTER: Denis Savard (3.9)RIGHT WING: Tony Tanti (19.7)LEFT WING: Darcy Rota (11.4)COACH: Orval Tessier (12.3)<h3>WALES CONFERENCE</h3>FIRST TEAMGOAL: Pete Peeters (22.4)DEFENSE: Ray Bourque (31.8)Denis Potvin (20.1)CENTER: Bryan Trottier (37.1)RIGHT WING: Mike Bossy (71.8)LEFT WING: Michel Goulet (38.5)COACH: Al Arbour (44)SECOND TEAMGOAL: Denis Herron (21.4)DEFENSE: Mark Howe (11.1)Rod Langway (9.8)CENTER: Peter Stastny (34)RIGHT WING: Rick Middleton (12)LEFT WING: Brian Propp (11.6)COACH: Herb Brooks (19.7)<h2>PHWA ALL-STARS</h2><h3>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h3>FIRST TEAMGOAL: Murray BannermanDEFENSE: Paul CoffeyRob RamageCENTER: Wayne Gretzky RIGHTWING: Jari Kurri LEFT WING: John Ogrodnick COACH: Glen SatherSECOND TEAMGOAL: Grant FuhrDEFENSE: Doug Wilson Kevin LoweCENTER: Marcel Dionne RIGHT WING: Rick Vaive LEFT WING: Mark Messier<h3>WALES CONFERENCE</h3>FIRST TEAMGOAL: Al JensenDEFENSE: Ray Bourque Denis PotvinCENTER: Bryan TrottierRIGHT WING: Mike BossyLEFT WING: Michel GouletCOACH: Al ArbourSECOND TEAMGOAL: Pete PeetersDEFENSE: Rod Langway Phil HousleyCENTER: Peter StastnyRIGHT WING: Rick MiddletonLEFT WING: Brian ProppEverywhere you turn, you run into Wayne Gretzky. Look at the National Hockey League scoring statistics and you find him rolling merrily along with 148 points, 63 more than his nearest rival. Check on NHL records and the first one that hits you is (as this issue went to press) 49 consecutive games with a point. Pick up Sports Illustrated. He&rsquo;s on the cover. Think of the year&rsquo;s biggest controversey&mdash;New Jersey gets labelled as &ldquo;Mickey Mouse&rsquo; &lsquo;&mdash;and who&rsquo;s in the middle of it? It&rsquo;s the day after the Super Bowl and what are people talking about? Wayne Gretzky getting traded to a U.S.-based NHL team.Heck, it isn&rsquo;t even safe to watch the daily soaps anymore, not since The Great One popped up on one of those in the summer.So it should come as no surprise that the 23-year-old Edmonton Oiler star, who is dominating his sport more thoroughly than any athlete ever has in any discipline, tops everybody&rsquo;s National Hockey League All-Star team.On the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association Campbell Conference team, which will compete against the Wales Conference on Jan. 31 at the Byrne-Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey, the Brantford, Ont., native was a unanimous selection, earning all 30 first-place votes.And on the People&rsquo;s Choice All-star team, the result of 4,200 ballots filled out by HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; readers, Gretzky garnered 90 per cent of the vote, far and away the largest margin (New York Islander Mike Bossy was second most popular with 71.8 per cent of the vote) of victory.Out of 24 player positions being voted on, the two teams&mdash;PHWA and People&rsquo;s Choice&mdash;matched up on an average of one out of every two players. In other words, the People&rsquo;s and Writers&rsquo; teams vary at 12 positions.For example, the People&rsquo;s Choice teams and the PHWA&rsquo;s teams differ very little in the Wales Conference. The People ignored Washington Capital goalie Al Jensen in favor of Boston Bruin Pete Peeters and Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Denis Herron, respectively. The PHWA stuck with Jensen, who earned the honor with a sparkling first half, and Peeters, respectively. Both the People and the Writers opted for Boston&rsquo;s Ray Bourque and Islander Denis Potvin on defense but disagreed on the second-team selections. The People took Philadelphia&rsquo;s Mark Howe and Washington&rsquo;s Rod Langway, respectively, while the Writers took Langway and Buffalo&rsquo;s Phil Housley.At center, the two selecting groups agreed on the tandem of Islander Bryan Trottier and Quebec&rsquo;s Peter Stastny. They were also in accord on right wing with Islander Mike Bossy on the first team and Boston&rsquo;s Rick Middleton on the they second team. No disagreements on the left side either as Quebec&rsquo;s Michel Goulet and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Brian Propp were one-two with both groups.It was in the Campbell Conference where the selectors really varied from each other. The People rated Edmonton&rsquo;s Grant Fuhr and Chicago&rsquo;s Murray Bannerman as one-two; the Writers&rsquo; had that reversed. The People chose Edmonton&rsquo;s Paul Coffey, Chicago&rsquo;s Doug Wilson, Winnipeg&rsquo;s David Babych and Detroit&rsquo;s Reed Larson as the top four defenseman, respectively; the Writers&rsquo; saw it as Coffey, St. Louis&rsquo; Rob Ramage, Wilson and Edmonton&rsquo;s Kevin Lowe.Both groups, of course, chose Gretzky at center, but the Writers backed him up with Los Angeles&rsquo; Marcel Dionne while the People took Chicago&rsquo;s Denis Savard. On right wing, the Writers and People agreed Gretzky&rsquo;s sidekick. Jari Kurri, should be No. 1, but the Writers made Toronto&rsquo;s Rick Vaive No. 2 while the People took Vancouver rookie Tony Tanti. On left wing, the Writers took Detroit&rsquo;s John Ogrodnick and Edmonton&rsquo;s Mark Messier one-two, while the People made it Messier and Vancouver&rsquo;s Darcy Rota, respectively, ignoring the hard-shooting Red Wing.The Writers didn&rsquo;t have to vote on coaches&mdash;they are determined by the previous season&rsquo;s Stanley Cup final&mdash;but the People did and they confirmed the NHL&rsquo;s practice as Edmonton&rsquo;s Glen Sather and the Islanders&rsquo; Al Arbour were the most popular, followed by Chicago&rsquo;s Orval Tessier and New York Rangers&rsquo; Herb Brooks, respectively.As for the actual game in New Jersey on Jan. 31, Sather and Arbour, who must have a representative from every team, rounded out their All-Star rosters with the following players:CAMPBELL: Chicago&rsquo;s Denis Savard. Detroit rookie Steve Yzerman, Minnesota&rsquo;s Brian Bellows, Vancouver&rsquo;s Tony Tanti. Calgary&rsquo;s Lanny McDonald and Edmonton&rsquo;s Glenn Anderson up front and Minnesota&rsquo;s Brad Maxwell and Winnipeg&rsquo;s David Babych on defense.WALES: Boston&rsquo;s Barry Pederson, Buffalo&rsquo;s Gilbert Perreault, Hartford&rsquo;s Mark Johnson. Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mike Bullard, Rangers&rsquo; Don Maloney and Montreal&rsquo;s Mats Naslund up front and Boston&rsquo;s Mike O&rsquo;Connell and New Jersey&rsquo;s Joe Cirella on defense.As far as analyzing and trying to make some sense out of the discrepancies between the Writers&rsquo; and People&rsquo;s teams, it&rsquo;s difficult.A good example would be Rick Vaive. Vaive, who is having a great season, was virtually ignored by the People, despite the fact that THE HOCKEY NEWS has a high degree of readership in Ontario, specifically in Toronto, where Vaive&rsquo;s popularity is great. In fact, Borje Salming was the most popular Maple Leaf in the People&rsquo;s balloting.Other major surprises were the exclusions of Red Wing left winger John Ogrodnick and Caps&rsquo; goalie Al Jensen from the People&rsquo;s team. Really, there were no major omissions on the Writers&rsquo; teams.It should be noted that the deadline for receiving People&rsquo;s Choice ballots was shortly after Christmas and since they were mailed, that means the final decisions had to be made much sooner than the Writers.This year, for the first time, the NHL utilized phone-in ballots as opposed to the mail. This meant the Writers didn&rsquo;t have to make a final decision until Jan. 9 or 10, depending upon the conference.Three designated PHWA members from each of the 21 chapters casted ballots by phone and NHL spokesman Mike Griffin said the system worked well.&ldquo;By using the phone,&rdquo; Griffin said, &ldquo;we allowed the writers an extra couple of weeks to make their decisions. Also, when a writer has to verbally register his vote, I think he puts more time and effort into it than if he has to fill out a ballot and drop it in the mail like we used to do. 1 think it resulted in a little more responsible voting than in the past.&rdquo;At least none of the Writers ignored Gretzky this year. Last year, two writers didn&rsquo;t vote The Great One to the first team. And as for the 420 readers who didn&rsquo;t pick Gretzky No. 1 on the People&rsquo;s Choice balloting, please go sit in the corner and don the dunce cap. After all, is there really any other choice? &#9632;

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THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Bob McCammon says goaltending utopia is to have one guy that&rsquo;s great and another who is not only good, but just happy to be here.Look at the National Hockey League today and name two.Let&rsquo;s take the great one first. If we can find them. How many active goalies have won Stanley Cups? One, Billy Smith. How many have even put strong seasons back-to-back in the last five? Only two&mdash;Pete Peeters and Chico Resch&mdash;for certain. To a lesser degree, you can throw in Smith and Chicago&rsquo;s Murray Bannerman.Now, let&rsquo;s look for the good backup, willing to accept a 20-25 game role. Boston&rsquo;s Doug Keans, claimed off the scrap heap, has done a superlative job filling in for Peeters.Others? They&rsquo;re nowhere.Which brings us to the Flyers. They have the guy, in Pelle Lindbergh, who can be great. And Bob Froese, who, on the whole, is just happy to be here. But their roles have been reversed. Lindbergh, except in flashes, hasn&rsquo;t been wonderful since a Russian skate bent back his wrist last January. And Froese has, for now, taken over the No. 1 job.McCammon nodded at the suggestion that the game with the Islanders on Jan. 21 was a turning point of sorts. Lind-bergh&rsquo;s ineffectiveness since Christmas forced the Flyer coach to abandon his rotation and Froese responded with four straight excellent-to-good efforts. But Froese&rsquo;s early career chart had suggested streaks of brilliance followed by an eventual winding down.Of course, given another game or two Froese might have warmed again, but with a Lindbergh in waiting. McCammon had a reason not to give Froese a chance. Which brought us to the Islander game and the Flyers seeking their first victory over a team with a plus-500 record since Oct. 27.Froese won it clean. The Flyers, flashing their best form of the season, smoked the Stanley Cup champions 7-1, with Froese making several key stops before his team broke it open with four goals in the third period.Of course in this business, you&rsquo;re only as good as your last game. But barring a reversal of form on the forthcoming three-game trip, Froese earned the No. 1 job.&ldquo;He played well and he&rsquo;s concentrating so well right now that you&rsquo;ve got to reward him,&rdquo; McCammon said. &ldquo;Pelle will be back, he&rsquo;ll have his stretches, too. From time to time these things happen to goalies.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just thankful right now that Froesy has come to the front. We were struggling and you can see the difference strong goaltending generates on a hockey team.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Bob Froese is just an adequate backup goalie. He played pretty well in the American League and when he gets hot. like Lindbergh, he can carry a team for a 10-15 game stretch.&ldquo;When he&rsquo;s standing up, he plays well. When he has that concentration, he&rsquo;s tough.&ldquo;Maybe us carrying the three goalies hurt him. Who knows? I mean Bunny Larocque never played, but he was there hanging over the other two if they both went bad. And you only have two nets in a practice, too. They might not have been getting enough work.&rdquo;The prevailing theory is that having Larocque, who was sold to St. Louis on Jan. 5, around, hurt Lindbergh more. Larocque was a workhorse who, knowing he wasn&rsquo;t getting any game action, hoarded the net in practice in an attempt to keep his career alive. Lindbergh, who needs a lot of work to be at his best, is a gentle soul who wouldn&rsquo;t think of reminding Larocque that his time was up.But there&rsquo;s a paradox here, too. Beneath that &ldquo;ya, oh well&rdquo; exterior is a Lindbergh fiercely determined to make it big in the NHL. If he was just happy to take a turn, he could have done that against lesser competition in Sweden. Lindbergh will make the best of this latest setback and not rock the boat. But he badly wants his job back.Froese&rsquo;s personality is different. If he doesn&rsquo;t play every game, he&rsquo;s content to sit at the end of the bench and talk to trainer Dave Settlemyre. If Froese makes his contribution and can sometimes share in the afterglow of a victory, he has his peace.This may be because Froese. unlike Lindbergh, was never the ballyhooed prospect. He was a former l0th-round draft choice by St. Louis, who, not offered a contract by the Blues, battled his way up from the low minors.Because the Flyers never really touted him, his 13-game unbeaten streak and eventual 2.52 goals-against average with four shutouts had a surreal quality about them. The league&rsquo;s consensus had Froese as a flash in the pan. It&rsquo;s becoming increasingly clear that consensus was wrong.He&rsquo;s a bit unconventional and still leaves too many unnecessary rebounds. But in 27 games over two seasons, Froese has five shutouts and an excellent 2.82 goals-against average. The real bottom line, though, is that he wins. In his career 30-11-6 log, 12 of the victories and five of the ties have been on the road. Two of his three victories over the Islanders have come at the Nassau Coliseum, including a brilliant 1-0 shutout last season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m concentrating better now because of all the work we&rsquo;ve been doing with Berner (Flyer goaltending coach Parent),&rdquo; Froese said. &ldquo;The repetition of the drills makes you react, rather than think. When a goalie thinks, he&rsquo;s in trouble.&ldquo;I just want to play when they give me the chance.&rdquo; Froese has said over and over again. He has it now. His prime time may now be upon us.ICEBERGS&mdash;The Flyers&rsquo; record against winning teams is 7-10-4. Although, officially they had not beaten a team with a plus.-500 record since Oct. 27, they had since beaten Washington twice before the Caps climbed over the break-even mark&hellip;The Flyers sent left winger Lindsay Carson to Springfield for two weeks of conditioning. Carson had been out since Oct. 15 with a broken arm&hellip;The Flyers are now 6-4-2 against the Islanders over the last two years but only 4-9 versus the Rangers&hellip;Rookie center Dave Poulin scored his first NHL hat trick in the victory over the Islanders. &#9632;

Lindbergh Froesen On End Of Fiver Bench

THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY Founded in 1947 by Kenneth W. McKenziePUBLISHERDean HeineCONTROLLERTony DobranowskiEDITOR IN CHIEFBob McKenzieEDITORIAL DIRECTORCharlie HalpinASSISTANT EDITORPerry LefkoCONTRIBUTING EDITORSStan Fischler, Frank OrrADVERTISING SALES MANAGERRandy GreenADVERTISING SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVESCanadian Consumer Product Sales:CCMC. Cliff Kivell. 43 Madison Ave.,Toronto. Ontario M5R 2S2(416)961-5141SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES MANAGERPaula HeardNEWSSTAND SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaCIRCULATION DEPARTMENTKathy NiklesRosanne TaninoACCOUNTING DEPARTMENTTom MoffatMary CarubiaSPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGERElaine WatkinsonADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL OFFICES85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100Toronto. Ontario. CanadaM3B 2R2(416) 445-5702EXECUTIVE OFFICE850 Third AvenueNew York, New York10022NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTORDistributed nationally by Disticor101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite L4Don 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. 10022.40 ISSUE SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $22.95 in the U.S.A. $22.95 in Canada. $39.95 in Foreign Countries. Send all Canadian and Foreign subscription orders to THE HOCKEY NEWS, P.O. Box 13055, 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 be 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.Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations &#9632;

The Hockey News

<h2>Next Week</h2>Chances are that you won&rsquo;t be going to the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, so we&rsquo;ll provide you with the next best thing to an overseas trip. It&rsquo;s our Olympic preview issue and we&rsquo;ll have a variety of interesting features that are sure to whet your international hockey appetite.For starters, we&rsquo;ll have an excerpt from One Goal, the recently-released book by Arthur Kaminsky and John Powers that relates the behind-the-scenes action on Team USA&rsquo;s gold-medal win in 1980. Then, we&rsquo;ll have Ken Dryden, the acclaimed author, goaltender and ABC Olympic color commentator, handicap the participants and give his insight into the Games. We&rsquo;ll also have features on the Soviet Union, Team Canada, Team USA as well as statistics and schedules.It&rsquo;s a complete Olympic package that you won&rsquo;t want to miss. &#9632;

COMING SOON IN THN

<h2>HALL OF FAMER DIES</h2>SASKATOON&mdash;National Hockey League Hall of Famer Max Bentley died on Jan. 19 at the age of 63.Bentley, known as the Dipsy-Doodle Dandy from Delisle, Sask., played 12 seasons in the NHL and in 646 career games, he totalled 245 goals and 299 assists.He began his career with Chicago, where he played with his brother Doug and Bill Mosienko on the Pony Line. All three are Hall of Famers. In the 1947-48 season, he was dealt to Toronto along with minor-leaguer Cy Thomas for Gaye Stewart, Bud Poile, Gus Bodnar, Bob Goldham and Ernie Dickens.Leaf owner Conn Smythe promised that his team would win the Cup with Bentley and Toronto went on to win it three of the next four years.Bentley won the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the league in 1945-46, the Lady Byng as most gentlemanly in 1942-43 and the league scoring championships in 1944-45 and &lsquo;45-46.He retired after five seasons with Toronto, then he and Doug returned to the NHL with the New York Rangers during the 1953-54 season for 57 games.<h2>HRUDEY NOT WANTED</h2>CALGARY&mdash;Team Canada has dropped its bid to obtain New York Islander goalie Kelly Hrudey.Hrudey, who was the top goalie in the Central Hockey League the last two seasons, was bypassed by the Canadians because the International Olympic Committee allows only two goaltenders on each roster and Team Canada already has Mario Gosselin and Darren Eliot.Meanwhile, the U.S. Olympic Committee is questioning the eligibility of Team Canada players Gosselin, Dan Wood and Mark Morrison, who have contracts with NHL clubs. U.S. officials have indicated they will lodge an official protest with the International Olympic Committee if Canada tries to use any players under professional contract at the Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.Roger Jackson, president of the Canadian Olympic Association, said &ldquo;it&rsquo;s (eligibility) going to be a major issue right up until the Games open. And yes, we are going to fight it.&rdquo;In the latest on-ice confrontations between the U.S. and Canadian teams, Paul Guay scored the game-winning goal and teammate and captain Phil Verchota added an insurance marker as the U.S. won 5-3. In the final exhibition game between the two teams, the USA blitzed Team Canada 8-2.<h2>O&rsquo;NEILL OKAYS MILBURY</h2>MONTREAL&mdash;Boston Bruin defenseman Mike Milbury will be allowed to resume play after NHL executive vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill ruled that a two-game suspension Milbury served for a match penalty against Pittsburgh on Jan. 14 is adequate.In a another matter, Mark Messier of the Edmonton Oilers, remains under indefinite suspension for striking Vancouver&rsquo;s Thomas Gradin on Jan. 18. Messier received a match penalty and it remains up to O&rsquo;Neill to determine what measures should be taken.<h2>SCHEDULE CHANGED</h2>MONTREAL&mdash;The NHL has changed its schedule for three regularseason games.Vancouver at Winnipeg on Jan. 22 has been changed from a night start to the afternoon. New York Islanders at Pittsburgh on March 11 has been changed from afternoon to night and St. Louis at Quebec has been rescheduled from Feb. 1 to 26. &#9632;

SLAPSHOTS

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div>Mike Robitaille sits in a chair in his living room looking at a hockey bubblegum card of himself.The card was from Robitaille&rsquo;s rookie year in the National Hockey League. On the back of the card it read that Robitaille&rsquo;s goals were to play in the NHL and to become a radio broadcaster.Ironically, he did fulfill both of those wishes, playing in the NHL for eight seasons and now working as a color commentator for the Buffalo Sabres radio and cable TV broadcasts.The story of Robitaille&rsquo;s career is one of tragedy. It began as a young 14-year-old boy destined for NHL greatness and ended with a British Columbia Supreme Court awarding him $450,000 for the spinal injury he suffered while playing for the Vancouver Canucks.Besides playing for the Canucks, Robitaille, 36, spent time with the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres.As a defenseman, his forte was bodychecking. He was a hitter and because of his rugged style paid the price with three shoulder separations, a broken wrist, finger, ankle, tom rib cartilage and ripped knee ligaments, among other things.But in the end, he paid a heavier price.&ldquo;Every time I swallowed I would get this tremendous pain down my back, my right side, under my shoulder and into my right arm,&rdquo; Robitalle recalled of the halfway point in the 197677 season with Canucks. &ldquo;It really hurt.&ldquo;I told the coach (Phil Maloney) and the trainers about it. They told me that they really needed me and they would have a doctor look at me later.&rdquo;Following another injury and returning once more, the end came in Vancouver, with the Canucks playing the Pittsburgh Penguins.&ldquo;I had just come out of the penalty box. The fans were yelling and screaming. I thought it was because they wanted me to get moving on a break away or something,&rdquo; Robitaille recalled.&ldquo;Instead, this guy (Dennis Owchar) was making a big U-turn to hit me. I never saw him. He hit me blindside and that was it.&rdquo;The next day Robitaille went to the hospital and learned that he had suffered a contusion to his cervical brain stem, a very severe bruise at the point where the neck attaches to the skull.Meanwhile, according to Robitaille, the Canucks were spreading rumors that he was psychosomatic, a &ldquo;head case.&rdquo;&ldquo;They tried to tag me with that because of some of the anxiety attacks I had during my career,&rdquo; said the Midland, Ont., native, who now lives in a suburb outside of Buffalo. NY. &ldquo;Club doctors would treat it with valium. Any time I would feel a little weary I would get some valium, pop it in my mouth and everything would be fine.&ldquo;Then they (the Canucks) tell me that I&rsquo;m unstable. I couldn&rsquo;t believe it.&ldquo;To top everything else they put me on waivers while I was in the hospital half-paralyzed. By then the Canucks were spreading more rumors saying I had a nervous breakdown.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02814/4852930-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="589" height="818"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Robitaille says winning the legal battle against the Canucks vindicated him.</figcaption></div>In August, 1977, Vancouver terminated Robitaille&rsquo;s contract. Disabled, unable to work and faced with a high amount of medical bills, he decided to sue the Canucks.&ldquo;It was a lonely battle,&rdquo; commented Robitaille.Following weeks in court, the Canucks were found guilty of negligence.&ldquo;With that ruling I got my dignity back,&rdquo; said Robitaille. &ldquo;I proved that all the things that the Vancouver management had said about me were false. They didn&rsquo;t sweep me under he rug.&rdquo;<h2>BEAVER TALES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011114/4852923-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="1683" height="556"></div> &#9632;

f0005-02

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

1. Which is the only NHL team with cousins on its current roster?2. Who won the Memorial Cup last spring?3. Which team has won more All-Star games, the Campbell or Wales Conference?4. Who scored the winning goal in last year&rsquo;s All-Star game?5. Who was the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; rep in that game?6. What was the original format of the All-Star game?7. What format took place in the 1951 and 1952 All-Star games?Who is the only Chicago Black Hawk named to the right wing position on the first All-Star team?9. Who is the only New York Ranger named to the left wing position on the first All-Star team?10. Which team won last year&rsquo;s NCAA hockey championship?<h2>Trivia Answers</h2>1. Boston (Mike Milbury and Dave Silk).2. Portland Winter Hawks.3. The Wales lead the series 5-3.4. Wayne Gretzky.5. Hector Marini.6. Stanley Cup champions versus the All-Stars.7. First All-Star team versus second All-Star team.8. Ken Wharram.9. Lynn Patrick.10. University of Wisconsin Badgers. &#9632;

TRIVIA

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011293/4853040-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="301" height="356"></div><h2>Wayne&rsquo;s Hardware Store</h2>IF WAYNE GRETZKY is really the compassionate, giving and thoughtful person we are led to believe he is, then he will do something compassionate, giving and thoughtful to prove that I am right.So, here&rsquo;s the perfect idea for Wayne.Since he&rsquo;s going to win the Art Ross Trophy as the National Hockey League&rsquo;s scoring champion for the remainder of this century, Gretzky should invest a small amount of money&mdash;say, $50,000&mdash;and have a handsome trophy struck in his honor.The Wayne Gretzky Trophy would be given annually to the runner-up to Wayne Gretzky in the scoring race. If Wayne feels that it would be too immodest to have his name on it, we&rsquo;ll give it another title; perhaps the Not The Art Ross Trophy.<h2>Basking The Blues</h2>EXACTLY A YEAR ago, the pollution hit the fans. Ralston-Purina was ready to dump the St. Louis Blues and Saskatoon was applying for NHL citizenship.It was the darkest day in league history since the Brooklyn Americans went to war and never returned.The NHL&rsquo;s professional handwringers were overcome with despair. St. Louis was vital to league security. The bastion on the Missouri had to be preserved for the good of Zieglerville.Well, it was, thanks to Harry Omest, but one would think that in its desire to bolster the Blues the NHL would treat the team in an evenhanded manner, if not with sensitivity.Unfortunately, this has not been the case.The Blues, among other things, have a schedule that couldn&rsquo;t be worse if John Ziegler had drawn it up while riding on the outside of the Space Shuttle. It is from another world.Already the Blues have played four games in five nights and in February will be compelled to play four games in four-and-a-half days, with three road trips in four days.The inequities of the Blues schedule are innumerable. They play at home one night then travel early the next day to play a game that night and suffer that syndrome no less than 11 times over the season. They play back-to-back road games in different cities six times.The league, which had so desperately prayed to have a team remain in St. Louis, has effectively given the Blues a hosing with the calendar. Which explains why someone once wrote a hit tune: &ldquo;You Always Hurt The One You Love&mdash;The One You Shouldn&rsquo;t Hurt At All.&rdquo;<h2>On Stopping Gretzky</h2>I HAD THE good fortune to sit directly behind the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; bench on Mickey Mouse Night at Byme-Meadowlands Arena.A Gretzky-eye-view of the rink always is beneficial because it convinces a Gretzky-watcher like me that, yes, The Kid can be stopped. But, no, his opponents (with a few exceptions) don&rsquo;t know what they&rsquo;re doing when it comes to planting land-mines in his path.Early in the first period, Gretzky was stopped. He plodded like a Maserati with its emergency brakes on &ldquo;lock.&rdquo; What happened was that Devil defenseman Phil Russell checked him hard along the boards. Dumped him, in fact. The Great One was reduced to grateness. Was he ever peeved.But the Devils didn&rsquo;t follow up. When they had The Kid on the ropes they didn&rsquo;t pursue. Gretzky took four more love taps the rest of the night, produced his usual three assists and tilted the game, a 5-4 win, for Edmonton.My theory is this: Gretzky is neither as invisible nor as elusive as some myth-makers would lead us to believe. Russell proved that and others should do likewise.I mention this to my very special Smythe Division secret agent and wonder why others fail to hit Gretzky.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; my special Smythe Division secret agent snap.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s applesauce,&rdquo; I reply.&ldquo;No, it&rsquo;s not. You can&rsquo;t hit Gretzky for three reasons. One, he intimidates the opposition just because he is Gretzky. Two, they&rsquo;re afraid to hit him because they&rsquo;re scared of getting penalties, which means Edmonton then comes out with that terrific power play. And, three, even when they want to hit him, they get uptight because they&rsquo;re afraid that if they miss, they&rsquo;ll look bad.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s a compelling argument but I don&rsquo;t buy it for a minute. The equation is simple: nobody hits him and Gretzky scores a bundle.So, if you don&rsquo;t want him to score a bundle, hit him!<h2>Chabot To Chabotsky</h2>NEW YORK HOCKEY historians were shocked to read a column in the Toronto Globe and Mail authored by Trent Frayne about former NHL goalie Lome Chabot.A Hall of Famer, Chabot has many footnotes in the NHL archives, mostly because he was a very good goalie. Frayne acknowledges that but then mentions the yam about Chabot&rsquo;s unexpected change-of-name.According to Frayne, Chabot&rsquo;s name was changed to Shabatsky at the behest of the Ranger management in an effort to lure more Jewish sports fans to hockey games.That&rsquo;s where he&rsquo;s wrong. It wasn&rsquo;t Shabatsky, it was Chabotsky. For that we can thank a pair of zany press agents, Bruno and Blythe, who handled publicity for Madison Square Garden.They believed the addition of three little letters to end of Chabot&rsquo;s name would be harmless enough and would, indeed, attract the Jewish clientele. Chabot became Chabotsky overnight.Just to be sure, I checked back issues of the New York Times for the 1926-27 season and there in the box score next to goal is the name Chabotsky.The nom de plume didn&rsquo;t last long. For one thing, Ranger boss Lester Patrick wasn&rsquo;t crazy about the name-juggling and for another, some Canadian writers soon got wind of it and unmasked Chabotsky.Credit for unearthing the Chabot-Chabotsky tale belongs to Stan Saplin, former Ranger press agent and the man who researched and edited the first Ranger press guide. Saplin later won an important jounalistic prize (the Frank Sullivan Award) for the story.The Chabotsky caper was one of the many attempted by the Blueshirts in their rookie year. Madcap Johnny Bruno, of the two publicists, had an even nuttier idea that was halted at the pass by Patrick.Bruno was fearful that the Rangers were not getting enough ink prior to the opening game so he proposed that something drastic be done to cause an impact on New York&rsquo;s papers. He burst into Patrick&rsquo;s office and confronted Lester, the Silver Fox.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got an idea that&rsquo;s sure-fire stuff,&rdquo; said Bruno. &ldquo;Strictly build-up. The first game is just three days away, okay? So tomorrow we get Bill Cook (best player on the Rangers) kidnapped.&rdquo;&ldquo;Out!&rdquo; snapped Lester.&ldquo;But,&rdquo; blurted Bruno, &ldquo;of course we locate him in time for Cook to make it to the game.&rdquo;Patrick showed him to the door, thus ending a puck ploy before it began.<h2>Go Easy On Zebras</h2>WHY? JUST THE other day I conferred with my refereeguru Dick Trimble about my attitude toward zebras. Trimble, who likes officials more than I do, says I&rsquo;ve been too hard on the whistle-mouths.I respect Dick Trimble so I decided to reserve judgment. Then, I went to a game which was being officiated by Bob Hall and linesmen Leon Stickle and Ron Finn.This was the Edmonton-New Jersey match at the Meadowlands, irrelevant to the standings but very important to the teams involved, particularly the struggling Devils.The Oilers led 2-1 early in the second period when Pat Verbeek of the home club crossed the Edmonton blueline. It was a close play and linesman Ron Finn whistled an offside. Fair enough.Sitting at ice level not far from the scene, I could see Verbeek react in anger. Fair enough. If he cursed, it was not very loud nor demonstrative yet Finn immediately slapped him with an &ldquo;unsportsmanlike conduct&rdquo; penalty. Unfair. Enough!It was a lousy call. It would have been a bum call if the victim&rsquo;s name was Dionne, Pavelich, Williams or Verbeek. It was an unnecessary overreaction by an official against a youngster whose nose has been clean ever since he entered the league.Verbeek went to the penalty box. The Oilers scored, opening a 3-1 lead that never would be overcome.I haven&rsquo;t seen my referee-advisor Trimble since then but when I do I&rsquo;m going to remind him that those zebras deserve every rap they get and, furthermore, the Finn failure merely underlines my point.If anyone deserved a penalty on the play it was Finn for &ldquo;unlinesmanlike conduct.&rdquo;<h2>Down With Dryden</h2>FORMER STICKHANDLER BILL Burley of Johnstown, PA, liked Ken Dryden as a goaltender but he objects to the use of Dryden as color commentator for ABC-TV networks Olympic hockey telecasts.&ldquo;In keeping with the Olympic tradition,&rdquo; Burley argues, &ldquo;the choice should have been a former Olympian such as Bill Christian, who played for the United States in 1960 and 1964. Dryden played professional hockey in another country. He should not have been selected for an American telecast when a man like Christian, synonymous with American representation, was bypassed.&rdquo;Interesting point. However, Dryden worked the 1980 Games for ABC and did a creditable job. In the purest sense Burley has a point. But I&rsquo;ll go along with ABC. &#9632;

f0006-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;Murray Bannerman has neither the tempestuous game-day tummy of Glenn Hall nor the game-day scowl of Tony Esposito.Because Bannerman is easy-going, perhaps his task is a littler easier. He has to tend goal, which is one of the most demanding jobs in sports, and he has to do it in the way in which Chicago hockey fans have grown accustomed.Bannerman has become the Black Hawks&rsquo; main man in goal this season and he&rsquo;s proving to be one of their most precious possessions. The fact he&rsquo;s been selected to the Campbell Conference&rsquo;s first team confirms that.In the 25 years since Hall and left winger Ted Lindsay came to Chicago in the big deal with Detroit, fans here have grown accustomed to great goaltending.Hall played 10 years for the Hawks, won the Vezina Trophy three times and was a first-team All-Star on five occasions.After Hall relinquished the No. 1 job to Denis DeJordy in 1966-67, he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues in that summer&rsquo;s expansion draft.Esposito arrived in Chicago in the summer of 1969, drafted off Montreal&rsquo;s unprotected list for $30,000. In his first season, he played in 63 games, set a league record with 15 shutouts, won the Vezina and Calder Trophies and was a first-team All-Star.Twice more Esposito earned a share of the Vezina. He compiled a remarkable goals-against average of 1.76 in 1971-72 and was named to the first or second All-Star teams four more times.Had it not been for the presence of Esposito, the recession the Hawks experienced following the flight of Bobby Hull to the World Hockey Association. probably would have been a great depression.Now, Esposito finds himself in the same position as Hall in 1966-67. For the first time, it is he who is the understudy.&ldquo;Tony is going through a rough time adjusting,&rdquo; concedes Bannerman. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really hard to stay sharp if you&rsquo;re not playing in games. This bit about practising that much harder is well and good but it&rsquo;s not the same as playing in a game. I&rsquo;ve been in the same boat.&ldquo;People have tried to make it out to be we&rsquo;re enemies but Tony did a lot for me when I came into the league. I owe him a lot. Now, I want to help him any way I can.&rdquo;In a year in which the Hawks have been crippled beyond their wildest imagination Bannerman&rsquo;s steady goaltending has kept them afloat.&ldquo;He has been been fantastic the last couple of months,&rdquo; says Tessier, &ldquo;as good as any goaltender in the NHL.&rdquo;There have been a few times during Tessier&rsquo;s two years in Chicago that the 26-year-old Bannerman has been the object of his wrath.&ldquo;Orval expects a lot of his whole team and when somebody doesn&rsquo;t live up to expectations, he lets everyone know,&rdquo; says Bannerman.&ldquo;Unfortunately, a couple of games I messed up. It adds pressure but it&rsquo;s something you have to learn to live with.&ldquo;I just try to let it go in one ear and out the other and keep working as hard as I can.&rdquo;HAWK TALK&mdash;Because of the multitude of injuries and the suspensions to Tom Lysiak. Jack O&rsquo;Callahan, and Behn Wilson, the Hawks have used 33 players this season, a team record. The old record was 32 players in 1978-79. &#9632;

Bannerman Main Man For Crippled Hawks

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;There is no truth to the rumor that Roger Neilson is presently hidden away in his Deep Cove home here writing the book, 99 Ways To Get Find.But he could well be committing to paper a couple of pretty zany ways, what with his return to the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; bench 48 hours after an earlier dismissal and now his midnight sacking from the Canucks.Neilson was setting off to his regular duties grading the film of the previous night&rsquo;s 7-5 loss to Edmonton when Harry Neale, the team&rsquo;s general manager, knocked on his door. After the three&mdash;associate coach Ron Smith was there, too&mdash;had a few minutes discussion, Neale got a call in the room from Arthur Griffiths, the assistant to the chairman of the hockey club. After the call, Neale, who had been waffling somewhat on the timing of when to fire his good friend, decided the time was now and that he would go behind the bench, where he has already spent three-and-a-half seasons in the organization.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I feel the hockey club has been underachieving for the last year and a half.&rsquo;</blockquote>&ldquo;I feel the hockey club has been underachieving for the last year and a half,&rdquo; said Neale while making the move. &ldquo;We want to get things going while there is still time enough to improve our position in the standings.&rdquo;For Neilson, it was the classic case of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?Two years ago he directed the Canucks to the Stanley Cup final with a team that wasn&rsquo;t expected to do much. His famous towel gesture to referee Bob Myers in the second game of the Campbell Conference final in Chicago became a rallying cry for Vancouver fans.But since those days of assuming the coaching duties from Neale when the latter was suspended for 10 games at the end of the season, Neilson&rsquo;s team has played nearly 15 games under. 500 hockey, a record not thought to be good enough by anyone.The move came as a genuine surprise to Neilson, who admitted he may have been a bit naive about the way his situation was developing.&ldquo;When there was no media pressure to speak of and the crowds weren&rsquo;t dropping off, I couldn&rsquo;t understand why they didn&rsquo;t tell me my job was in jeopardy,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;I had no inkling this was coming. The usual reasons why a coach gets canned are lack of communication with the players or questionable strategy. But I didn&rsquo;t think that was a problem at all. It appears the decision was made to shake the team up.&rdquo;The reaction of the players was fairly neutral. With the boss taking over, how could it be anything else?&ldquo;Roger was a hard-working professional guy in every way,&rdquo; said captain Stan Smyl. &ldquo;Nobody worked harder at trying to get things done but we just didn&rsquo;t get them done for him. We did need a little shaking up, that&rsquo;s for sure. There was a little something lacking at the bench and Harry sort of approaches things in a different way. He comes right out and lets you know you&rsquo;re not doing your job.&rdquo;Added goalie Richard Brodeur: &ldquo;Somebody had to take responsibility for this. Some people say it should be me and maybe it will be before long.&rdquo;Neale has a worse coaching record than Neilson in the regular season and Neilson&rsquo;s playoff record is among the best of active, suddenly not-so-active, coaches.&ldquo;He (Neilson) came in to speak to us before we left for Winnipeg at a meeting that was called in the morning,&rdquo; said Smyl. &ldquo;He told us how much he enjoyed coaching us and that we were his kind of team. But, we just hadn&rsquo;t put it together.&rdquo;Neilson admitted that leaving the club when he felt it was so close to success was the most difficult for him.&ldquo;We have so many good, young players coming, I know it&rsquo;s not going to be far off before this is a very decent team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say enough about the captain, Stan Smyl. He&rsquo;s as good as any I&rsquo;ve ever had and I&rsquo;ve had some good ones. &ldquo;Neilson says he has no immediate plans, but a day without working for this workaholic amounts to a day on the rack. &#9632;

Neilson Misses Last Canuck Picture Show

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>Out To Lunch&mdash;Again</h2>IT&rsquo;S BAD ENOUGH that Canada and the United States are at odds over the eligibility requirements for the hockey event at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo this month. But it&rsquo;s even worse that the infernal National Collegiate Athletic Association has once again gotten its grubby fingers into the pie.In case you hadn&rsquo;t heard, the NCAA, which determines athletic eligibility rules and regulations for U.S. colleges, has announced that any member of the Canadian Olympic hockey team who had planned to attend or return to a U.S. college to complete the terms of his hockey scholarship, had better make a new set of plans.That&rsquo;s because the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, agrees with the U.S. Olympic Committee&rsquo;s contention that the Canadian Olympic hockey team has three professionals on its roster. The three&mdash;Mark Morrison, Dan Wood and Mario Gosselin&mdash;have signed contracts with NHL teams. But the Canadian Olympic Committee contends that any player who has played less than 10 games in the NHL is not a professional and, therefore, eligible for the Olympic Games.Whether this is a valid argument or not is a moot point, one which will be more fully explored next week in our Olympic special. The issue, at this point anyway, is the NCAA&rsquo;s holier-than-thou attitude and its high-handed threat of college ineligibility for any member of the Canadian team.Actually, it shouldn&rsquo;t come as any real surprise. For years now, these wise thinkers down at Mission, Kansas, figure to have their own personal handle on how to preserve amateurism.They&rsquo;re very big on the word &ldquo;contamination.&rdquo; They don&rsquo;t want their perfect little amateur world to be &ldquo;contaminated&rdquo; by those evil professionals. If, in the strictest sense, that was true, it wouldn&rsquo;t be so bad. But the NCAA&rsquo;s favorite tactic is that if you play with or against a professional, then you might as well be one.It&rsquo;s guilt by association. That&rsquo;s why any player who plays Canadian major junior hockey is ineligible for a scholarship to any NCAA institution. The NCAA has decided that, since the advent of the NHL underage draft, the major junior leagues have become dotted with professional hockey players, those who have signed contracts and are receiving monies from NHL teams. But the NCAA ruling is that any player who plays with or against those &ldquo;professionals&rdquo; is also contaminated and, therefore, ineligible.Now, the NCAA is applying that same tar-and-feather theory to the Canadian Olympic team. Morrison, Wood and Gosselin are pros so that means Craig Redmond (Denver University) and Pat Flatley (University of Wisconsin), to name two, are pros, too, and won&rsquo;t be allowed to return to college, if they had planned on it.There are two aspects of this situation that are really irksome.First, it&rsquo;s downright hypocritical. An article in the Mar. 13, 1982, Toronto Globe and Mail quotes NCAA director of enforcement David Berst on this precise subject. Berst was asked how a player such as James Patrick, who was attending the University of North Dakota, could maintain his college eligibility after playing for Canada&rsquo;s national junior hockey team with players such as Mike Moffatt and Scott Amiel, who had not only signed NHL contracts with Boston and Winnipeg, respectively, but had also played NHL games with them before attending the world junior tournament.Berst said: &ldquo;The difference is that no player was being paid to play in that tournament (the world junior championships)&hellip;It was a goodwill gesture on the part of the players who wanted to represent their country.&rdquo;In other words, if a player doesn&rsquo;t have a contract that specifically states he&rsquo;s being paid to play in the Olympics or world junior championships, then he&rsquo;s still eligible, or at least he was until the NCAA started backtracking.Second, what about the U.S. Olympic team&rsquo;s college eligibility? Aren&rsquo;t the U.S. Olympians tainted by playing with Pat LaFontaine, the top player in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (a professional league, the NCAA has stated) last season? Hasn&rsquo;t the U.S. Olympic team been contaminated by playing against Gosselin, Wood and Morrison this season?These are questions the NCAA had better answer before it starts threatening members of the Canadian Olympic hockey team. &#9632;

<div class="byline">BY BOB MCKENZIE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011242/4853143-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="333" height="376"></div>You&rsquo;ve really got to feel sorry for the National Football League and its commissioner Pete Rozelle. Oh, as usual. Super Bowl week dominated the airwaves, but it was all tempered with gloom and doom reports.NFL television ratings are down. Regular-season attendance is down. The United States Football League is swiping big-name college grads and some established NFL stars. The renegade Los Angeles Raiders chewed up and spat out the the NFL on the anti-trust case and then had the audacity to win the Super Bowl. Art Schlicter&rsquo;s gambling habit gave the entire game a bad name and then, of course, there are the drugs. Things are really rough, eh?The National Hockey League should be so fortunate. As bad as things seem to be going for the NFL, the NHL would do well to adopt some of the policies and ideas employed by the football moguls.Now, this is not meant to be a slam against the NHL. Pro hockey has come a long way in the last few years, but as the Super Bowl&mdash;another dud, as usual&mdash;fades into obscurity, the headlines are being generated by, who else, Wayne Gretzky. And it happens to be on the subject of promoting the game of hockey.Appearing on CTV&rsquo;s Sports Hot Seat program in Calgary, The Great One admitted the idea of him being traded to a U.S.-based NHL club isn&rsquo;t as far fetched as it may sound. He said a trade to a U.S. team would allow him to be a full-time hockey ambassador in a country where the game could use one.There&rsquo;s no question the move would work. There would, of course, be hoots and hollers from the folks in Edmonton. But could you imagine the hype that Wayne Gretzky could generate if he played for, say, the New York Rangers?The idea is certainly intriguing and shouldn&rsquo;t be ruled out as a possibility. But it is a little drastic, isn&rsquo;t it?Perhaps the NHL should first try to promote the game in the U.S. by altering its overall approach. And this is where the NFL comes in. Now comparing the NFL and NHL may seem a little like comparing apples and oranges. The NFL has a network TV contract and is a slice of Americana, a Sunday afternoon institution. The NHL has no network television deal and hasn&rsquo;t carved its own niche in the U.S. yet.But aside from Al Davis and his glee at making Pete Rozelle&rsquo;s life miserable, the NFL has demonstrated that it has a strong sense of family, something the NHL could use. Davis&rsquo; anti-trust suit to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles seems to emphasize this point, rather than minimize it. Think not?Well, what Al Davis did was to find a loophole, a very large one at that. He had a legal decision to back up his contention that he, and he alone, could do what he wanted with his NFL franchise. If the NFL isn&rsquo;t a family and didn&rsquo;t think of itself as one large corporation instead of 28 individual firms, then other owners would have followed in Davis&rsquo; footsteps.Simply put, the Raider ruling opened the door to anarchy, but no one has excerised the option to go through it. Maybe one day someone will, but for the time being, the NFL deserves kudos for keeping its equilibrium.One has to wonder if, faced with the same situation, the NHL owners would react in similar fashion. Here&rsquo;s one vote that says, No.On Page 6 of this issue, columnist Stan Fischler extracts a pound of flesh from the NHL for its treatment of the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; new ownership. Fischler maintains the league was correct in trying to save the financially-troubled Blues after Ralston Purina Co. baled out, but then it turned around and did everything possible to make survival difficult for them. The Blues&rsquo; schedule is a travelling secretary&rsquo;s nightmare and when the Blues applied for some sort of relief help&mdash;to compensate for the R-P&rsquo;s absence at the entry draft table&mdash;they were denied. Fischler is right.This isn&rsquo;t the only example of how the NHL operates as 21 individuals rather than one big company. The NHL does not have in place anything that can be construed as a meaningful equalization pool for attendance. The NFL, of course, boasts one of the most significant gate equalization programs in pro sports.Some sports entrepreneurs view this equalization stuff as idealistic Robin Hood steal-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-poor mumbo jumbo, but it is essential for any broadbased success.If there was a good NHL gate equalization plan in effect, financially-troubled teams would, of course, benefit. These equalization payments would allow the team to come up with a long-range plan, stick to it and allow the club to escape the trade-away-your-future-for-now syndrome, which effectively killed NHL hockey in Colorado.Of course, weak teams are often weak because of their own mismanagement, especially in the area of trading away first-round draft picks. Which is why it might not be a bad idea to introduce legislation that would protect some of these poor managers from themselves. Maybe when the gate equalization is set up, the NHL board of governors could also approve legislation that would make it illegal to trade away a first-round pick.You can&rsquo;t legislate a general manager to make a wise selection, but if he&rsquo;s picking at the top of the heap, it&rsquo;s pretty difficult to come up with a dud.Anyway, the point of it all is that the NHL teams have to look beyond their own little empires. In some situations, they&rsquo;ve got to share the wealth and come up with intelligent, far-sighted policies that will ensure the growth of the game in the United States. The key to this is financially and phsyically-sound hockey clubs with some degree of parity, which is the NFL&rsquo;s strong suit (On any given Sunday&hellip;)Trading Wayne Gretzky to a U.S. team is certainly a dynamic consideration, but maybe it&rsquo;s best to chip away at promoting hockey by making it more of a family. You can do that without selling your favorite son. Just ask the NFL.And as for our football brethern, we hope they get over all their troubles. Why just think, it only cost $900,000 for a 60-second television commercial on Super Bowl Sunday. Life at the top sure is tough. &#9632;

f0008-01

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

<h2>ALL IN YOUR HEDBERG</h2>In response to Anders Hedberg&rsquo;s remark (Dec. 30) that the Islanders would have never won four Stanley Cups had they played in Madison Square Garden instead of Nassau County Coliseum, I think they would have won no matter where they would have played. The Islanders have won their four Cups because of hard work, talent, discipline, dedication and excellent coaching.Montreal has just as much &ldquo;ambiance&rdquo; (Hedberg&rsquo;s word) as Manhattan (and a lot more pressure for hockey players), but that never stopped the Canadiens. The good teams such as the Islanders and Canadiens don&rsquo;t get distracted. They are made of professionals who are there to play hockey first and foremost and that&rsquo;s what they do. Maybe that&rsquo;s why the Rangers haven&rsquo;t won the Cup in over 40 years: They don&rsquo;t have enough players who are there to play hockey, not worry about social life, commercials, appearances, etc.So, Mr. Hedberg, don&rsquo;t you dare take anything away from the great job Mr. Torrey and the rest of the Islander organization has done to build this one-time laughing stock of the league into four-time Stanley Cup champions. Your remark is pure jealousy.Brenda Brady Bay Shore. NY(But you must admit that with fans such as Carol Alt-Greschner and Cheryl Tiegs, the Rangers lead the league in cover girls.) &#9632;

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;A year ago, Washington Capitals&rsquo; Rod Langway won the Norris Trophy as the outstanding defenseman in the National Hockey League. At midseason this time, he emerged as third best in the voting for the Prince of Wales Conference All-Star team.Lest anyone think Langway is really slipping, a quick perusal of the three-star balloting in the Capitals&rsquo; recent games should be an effective antidote. In six of seven contests, Langway was one of those honored.That list included consecutive road contests at Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Vancouver, in which Langway was a major contributor to Washington victories. His lone miss in the stretch of seven was at Calgary, where the Capitals lost 3-2.&ldquo;Rod is very much in charge back there,&rdquo; said coach Bryan Murray. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s so strong that when he goes back to re-trieve the puck, even if he gets bumped he makes the play. He&rsquo;s one of the best at going back and making something happen.&ldquo;In some of the early games, I think he was probably trying to do too much and it was hurting his overall play a bit. He&rsquo;s the kind of guy who sees that other players aren&rsquo;t doing their job and he tries to do more himself. The last few weeks, though, he has been outstanding.&rdquo;Another reason for Langway&rsquo;s slow start was a series of nagging injuries. Although he did not miss a game, his play was affected by a broken finger, a bruised arm, a charleyhorse and a sprained ankle.&ldquo;I guess after last year, everybody expects me to make a perfect play every time,&rdquo; Langway said. &ldquo;But it won&rsquo;t happen and it didn&rsquo;t really happen last year, either. I was terrible on our West Coast trip, for one example.&ldquo;I blew one game in Vancouver all by myself. We had a 3-1 lead in the third period and I coughed up the puck twice in the last five minutes, when I pride myself in being on the ice and stopping them, and we wound up losing.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had bad games and bad weeks and some games this season I&rsquo;ve been struggling, for a lot of reasons. I won&rsquo;t make excuses, but there were injuries and they do affect your play. The big thing is that now the whole team seems to be coming together and playing pretty well.&rdquo;With added duties on the power play, Langway this season probably has seen more ice time than anyone else in the league. It is not unusual, in difficult situations late in a close game, for Murray to call a timeout so that he can keep Langway on the ice for overlapping shifts.Remarkably, considering his key role, Langway has not been suckered into a major penalty or a misconduct all season. Only once has he been assessed two minor penalties in a game.&ldquo;If I have to protect myself or a teammate and go with somebody, I&rsquo;ll do it,&rdquo; Langway said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t think I take a lot of abuse. Not many people cheap-shot me. I take a lot of good hits maybe, but that&rsquo;s part of the game. I can take a good hit.&rdquo;When Langway wonders whether his performance has been up to his usual standard, he does not read newspapers, check plus-minus statistics or rely on teammates&rsquo; chatter in the dressing room. Instead, he looks in the mirror.&ldquo;There is no sense trying to justify your play,&rdquo; Langway said. &ldquo;If 1 play bad, I play bad. 1 have to look at myself in the mirror. A lot of guys on this club have been doing that to themselves, pointing a finger at themselves rather than somebody else.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s when you&rsquo;re a team, when you recognize your own problems and don&rsquo;t blame things on everybody else. The big thing is effort. If it&rsquo;s there, you&rsquo;ll overcome your mistakes.&ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re on a pretty good swing and we have a pretty good schedule coming up. We could finish second with the same second half we had last year. What we want to do now is build up momentum and peak for the playoffs.&ldquo;This year has been a lot tougher. We&rsquo;ve had a lot of injuries and also a lot of teams are realizing we have a competitive team and they&rsquo;re more ready for us, where last year we surprised them. Other teams look at us and see we have a hell of a club and put more pressure on us.&rdquo;Langway was looking forward to his fourth straight All-Star appearance; although it meant that for one night he would have to adjust his policy of plastering the puck carrier.&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be a little strange for me, because I&rsquo;m usually hitting somebody or pushing him off the puck or crosschecking him. Here you play to win, but the big thing is moving the puck and you don&rsquo;t want anybody to get hurt. I know what it means to get hurt in an All-Star game.&rdquo;During the 1982 game in Washington, Langway suffered a sprained left knee in a freak collision with Prince of Wales teammate Ray Bourque of Boston and Campbell defenseman Doug Wilson of Chicago. He sat out in 14 games as a result, the only ones he has missed in the last four seasons.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011225/4853198-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="584" height="748"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Langway says he&rsquo;ll feel a little strange playing in the all-star game.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

Langway Stock Makes Capital Gain Of Late

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC&mdash;The Nordiques started off the new year undefeated in their first seven games, including six wins, plus they were undefeated in their last 13 games at home, with 10 of those games wins.Is there a reason why? No, there are several, but certainly the play of Michel Goulet must rate as one the most important.Goulet had 35 goals after 46 games and stands a good chance of shattering his season-high total of 57 last season. He&rsquo;ll be the starting left winger on the Wales Conference team at the All-Star game in New Jersey on Jan. 31.&ldquo;He is not only the most underrated player in the NHL, but also the best left winger as far as I am concerned,&rdquo; says Nordique coach Michel Bergeron. &ldquo;Earlier this season he was out for a few games and we certainly felt the loss. He is the kind of player who often makes the difference in a close game.&rdquo;Goulet hails from Peribonqua, a small town north of Quebec City, and is among several current Nordiques who played their junior hockey in Quebec with the Remparts. He was chosen the Nordiques&rsquo; player of the year last season in Quebec and he is now in his fifth NHL campaign. He had one year of seasoning with the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association before joining the Nordiques when they went into the NHL in 197980.Goulet was Quebec&rsquo;s first draft choice. 20th overall, that year, and though he was sought by at least a few teams, including Montreal, he expressed through his lawyer that he was going to play for the Nordiques and that he would take anyone to court who tried to stop him. Goulet saw himself as a free agent when the Bulls folded and the gamble paid off.&ldquo;When you look at players like Michel and Rick Middleton of the Bruins it is very deceiving in some ways,&rdquo; says teammate Andre Savard. &ldquo;They are not flashy players but they have great puck control. Whenever you look at the scoring stats of a game they are there with a few points. You think you have them covered on the ice and suddenly they are gone.&rdquo;Gouet is one of the smoothest skaters in the league, with great acceleration. He is often used to kill penalties. It certainly doesn&rsquo;t hurt playing on the same line as Dale Hunter. Louis Sleigher has been the third member of the line for most of the year.&ldquo;Things have been going very well for me this year, but I am also very happy that we have improved as a team.&rdquo; Goulet said recently after scoring three times to lead Quebec in a 7-3 home triumph over the Bruins. &ldquo;It seems as if I am always getting three or four good scoring chances a game. I am not normally an explosive player but sometimes it really goes well. as in the Boston game.&rdquo;Goulet is looking forward to the AllStar game at the end of January, but is certainly not forgetting the race in the Adams Division.&ldquo;Every time we play a team in our division it is so important that we win,&rdquo; Goulet said. &ldquo;The games against Boston have a particular intensity and it is very frustrating for whoever loses.&ldquo;I had a great time at the All-Star game last year and I am looking forward to this year as well. It is a great experience to play with all the best in the NHL. On the other hand, the All-Star game might be fun but what really matters are the regular games just before it, especially our games against Boston and Hartford. We have to keep winning if we want to catch the Bruins&rsquo;or the Sabres.&rdquo; &#9632;

Goulet Makes Nordique Difference

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;They may be viewed as holding actions, but the Rangers&rsquo; personnel moves of January helped solve one nagging problem: an ineffective power play.So inconsistent earlier in the season, this specialty team had dwindled to the point where it was goalless in its last 14 opportunities and provided just one goal in its last 26 tries going into the Rangers&rsquo; 6-2 home rout of the St. Louis Blues.That night, the power-play was good for two goals, assisting on one of them was Mikko Leinonen, who was brought up from Tulsa for just that purpose.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been struggling on the power play lately,&rdquo; coach Herb Brooks admitted following the Rangers&rsquo; wild 8-5 victory over the Detroit Red Wings two nights earlier. &ldquo;Mikko adds something to the power play. I&rsquo;ve never seen such a selfish power play as ours. Everyone wants to go one-on-four.&rdquo;Leinonen had been a victim of the Rangers&rsquo; seeming overabundance of wealth at the forward positions last fall. With their wingers&rsquo; inconsistent offense and the team&rsquo;s fluctuating output&mdash;four goals in the two games before the Red Wing game&mdash;a trade for a scoring forward seems more and more likely.Leinonen was brought up, along with Dave Barr (obtained from Boston in September in the Dave Silk deal) just days after Robbie Ftorek and Mike Blaisdell were sent down to Tulsa.&ldquo;I would ask to be traded if I wasn&rsquo;t in their plans,&rdquo; said Leinonen. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t intending to spend the whole year there.&rdquo;Ftorek&rsquo;s slowness afoot and Blaisdell&rsquo;s disappointing output since his arrival from Detroit, helped pave the way for Leinonen&rsquo;s return. He had three assists in the St. Louis game.Of the 14 Ranger goals scored against Detroit and St. Louis, six of them came on hat tricks by two members of the Rangers&rsquo; latest hot forward line, comprised of Pierre Larouche and rookie Swedes, Jan Erixon and Peter Sundstrom. Sund-strom scored three times against Detroit, while Larouche scored his 300th career goal that night and had a hat trick two nights later against the Blues.Brooks pointed out that Larouche&rsquo;s third goal that night resulted from a heady setup by Erixon, who freed the puck along the boards as St. Louis goalie Michel Larocque came out of the crease to try to cut down the angle on Larouche.&ldquo;Jan Erixon has done more things and received less credit,&rdquo; said Brooks. &ldquo;When you talk about Pierre, you must talk in the same breath about Jan Erixon and Peter Sundstrom. It takes three people to make that line go.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Jan has done more things and received less credit. When you talk about Pierre, you must talk about Jan and Peter.&rsquo;</blockquote>&ldquo;Jan made a great play,&rsquo;&rdquo; added Larouche. &ldquo;He had the puck, he could have shot it and he got it back to me. It&rsquo;s time to talk about them.&rdquo;That night marked Larouche&rsquo;s 11th career hat trick, a feat he&rsquo;s accomplished with four different teams (four with Pittsburgh, five with Montreal, one with Hartford and now one wtih the Rangers). Most of the Rangers&rsquo; goals that night were scored from close range thanks to a combination of their own recently-regained offensive confidence and mistakes by the young Blues defense.&ldquo;The Rangers beat you in close,&rdquo; said Larocque. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t need a lot of shots, because they work the puck in so well.&rdquo;Brooks said he was not concerned with the Rangers&rsquo; output. From a defensive standpoint, he explained, the club is capable of generating offense.&ldquo;We have enough people who can put the puck away,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and enough foot-speed to be an explosive club.&rdquo;The fact remains, though, that the teams they must beat in the Patrick Division are Philadelphia&mdash;against who they are consistently successful lately&mdash;and the Islanders, who give them more trouble.With Willie Huber still out with knee problems and Reijo Ruotsalainen weakened by the flu, the Rangers were down to four healthy defensemen&mdash;Tom Laidlaw, Scot Kleinendorst, Ron Gres-chner and Berry Beck. So young, tough Steve Richmond was summoned from Tulsa for the St. Louis game.It didn&rsquo;t take long for him to win the hearts of the Garden fans. He took a run at Jorgen Petterson in his first shift&mdash;&rdquo;I figured I&rsquo;d play tough and try and establish myself; then the butterflies went away&rdquo;&mdash;and was given a crosschecking penalty 59 seconds into the game.In the third period, he scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on a slapshot from the point, much to his delight, the crowd&rsquo;s and his teammates.Signed as a free-agent after four years at the University of Michigan, the 24-year-old Richmond, a Chicago native, was recommended to the team by Chuck Grillo, the team&rsquo;s Minnesota-based midwest scout and an old friend of Brooks.&ldquo;He was involved, you can say that about the young man,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;From day one, I liked his intensity. He probably took more bodies in the first period than a lot of our own people in a long time.&rdquo;Although the original plan was to have Richmond up for just one game, Brooks admitted that sending him back to Tulsa was not going to be easy.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be near-impossible to send him down,&rdquo; said Brooks. &ldquo;I can see him saying, &lsquo;What do I have to do?&rdquo;&lsquo;That move presumably would be a joint decision between Brooks, general manager Craig Patrick and defensive coach Carol Vadnais. But in another few weeks, the Rangers&rsquo; defensive picture may change radically with the return of Huber and the expected arrival of James Patrick from the Olympics. Then, they will have extra backliners&mdash;which makes a deal for a forward seem even more of a possibility. &#9632;

Leinonen Aids Ranger Woeful Power Play

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011272/4853277-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="303" height="354"></div><h2>Rangers Perfect Pierre</h2>NAME SOME PLAYER-COACH combinations least likely to succeed, Joe Namath and Tom Landry come to mind&hellip;David Thompson and Bobby Knight, Derek Sanderson and Scott Bowman are others.A current entry ranks with the all-time mismatches: Pierre Larouche and Herb Brooks. Larouche and Brooks-&hellip;just when you think you&rsquo;ve seen it all.Pierre Larouche&mdash;fun-loving, impetuous, one of hockey&rsquo;s outstanding offensive talents., Herb Brooks&mdash;stem, a disciplinarian, it&rsquo;s my way or the highway. The last time Brooks danced was probably at his wedding.At first glance, you might concede that a Larouche-Brooks pairing might work in some hockey outposts such as Calgary or Pittsburgh, where Brooks, the guy who drove those American kids to an Olympic gold medal four years ago, could keep track of Larouche&rsquo;s off-ice schedule. But these guys are together in New York&hellip;Manhattan, the Big Apple. Yasser Arafat could walk down First Avenue and not be noticed. Yannick Noah, a 6-foot-4 tennis star who wears his hair in dreadlocks, fled France for New York so he could have some privacy. If Noah can get lost in New York, imagine what fun a handsome, young French-Canadian can have.Everybody knows one reason the Rangers haven&rsquo;t won a Stanley Cup in our lifetimes is New York&rsquo;s distraction. They don&rsquo;t have Cheryl Tiegs or Carol Alt (the new Mrs. Ron Greschner) hanging around in Winnipeg, do they?<h2>Brooks Clutched Heart</h2>SURELY, WHEN RANGER general manager Craig Patrick discussed Larouche&rsquo;s coming to New York last summer. Brooks&rsquo; first reaction was to clutch his heart and mumble, &ldquo;Whadya tryin&rsquo; to do, croak me? I&rsquo;m still a young coach, Craig. Larouche? Let me live, will ya?&rdquo;Larouche&rsquo;s recent record does prompt the question: Why was Patrick interested in him? A two-time 50-goal scorer, he played on two Stanley Cup champions in Montreal when the Canadiens still ruled the NHL, but then his point production began to slip. When the Canadiens grow disenchanted with a player named Larpuche, it&rsquo;s time to worry.Sentenced to Hartford in December, 1981 for three high future draft choices, Larouche produced, but not enough to satisfy new Whaler commander-in-chief, Emile Francis. When Francis offered Larouche a contract with no salary raise, Larouche decided to skate the free-agent route and wound up with, of all teams, the Rangers. The Rangers, you&rsquo;ll recall, were the team that Francis built into a Stanley Cup contender in the &lsquo;70s.Making Larouche&rsquo;s selection of new employer even worse was the Whalers received nothing&mdash;zero&mdash;for him. There were more than a few grumbles heard around the Hartford Civic Center over this shocker. They said if Larry Pleau, the previous Whaler GM, had made such a deal, children would still be throwing snowballs at him on Hartford&rsquo;s streets.<h2>You Know The Story</h2>BY NOW YOU know how the Larouche story is turning out. All he has done is lead the Rangers in scoring while they clash with the champion Islanders and Philadelphia for the Patrick Division pennant. Meanwhile, there are no stories of Lucky Pierre also leading the Rangers astray off the ice. After all, he is married now. Must be great coaching, eh, Herb?&ldquo;All I asked,&rdquo; Brooks said, &ldquo;was for him to give his best effort without the puck. Too many times, gifted offensive players are criticized for their lack of defensive ability. How many times do you see great checkers criticized for lack of ability with the puck?&rdquo;Brooks knows as well as anyone that, for most young players, defense in hockey of the &lsquo;80s is a word they vaguely recall reading about as youngsters. No one in Edmonton seems to care that the Great Gretzky only occasionally takes care of business in the Oilers&rsquo; zone. Larouche has had the highest minus rating on the Rangers, but as defenseman Dave Maloney says, &ldquo;You can live with the minuses when he&rsquo;s scoring.&rdquo;Dave, brother Don, Barry Beck, Anders Hedberg, Mike Rogers, and Ron Greschner are among the Ranger pros who have to be shown a newcomer wants to be a serious part of the club&rsquo;s long climb towards a Stanley Cup.&ldquo;Skeptical? Of course we were,&rdquo; said Dave Maloney. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sometimes too hard on people. But it started with management&rsquo;s approach toward him. They let him be his own personality. He&rsquo;s such a gregarious, outgoing guy. In certain situations, with losing clubs, that might not work all the time, but here, he&rsquo;s turned out to be a terrific guy.&rdquo;&ldquo;Weall had our doubts,&rdquo; said Don Maloney, asuperb two-way winger.&rdquo;But, at our first practice, he worked real hard. He surprised me&mdash;I thought he&rsquo;d float around. He got off to a slow start, but once he started putting the puck in the net, he really produced.&rdquo;Don points out that Larouche&rsquo;s presence has given the Rangers an ingredient they have lacked: a game-breaker.&ldquo;We really needed a dynamic scorer,&rdquo; Don said. &ldquo;Everyone seemed to have one except us. Someone like a (Mike) Bossy or (Rick) Middleton who can break a game open.&rdquo;People who have known Larouche a long time see the overdue signs of maturity. Sometimes, like Dave Maloney, we&rsquo;re all too hard on people. We see a player with Larouche&rsquo;s talent and we also expect him to be a statesman. Some, like Gretzky, can do it, others can&rsquo;t. Think for a moment, if you were young and single like Larouche, maybe you&rsquo;d also have a good time and take your hockey ability for granted.However, when you&rsquo;ve made your fourth NHL stop and you&rsquo;re only 28, even a Larouche suddenly snaps to attention.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve realized there&rsquo;s things more important in life than what I thought was important before,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen guys score 50 goals on losing teams&mdash;that&rsquo;s no accomplishment.&rdquo;Hmmm&hellip;I wonder who Larouche was thinking about? &#9632;

f0010-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;Two years ago, it appeared that Peter McNab&rsquo;s chances of scoring his 300th National Hockey League goal while wearing the uniform of the Bruins were virtually nonexistent.He was sure that the Bruins were trying to trade him to make way for their youth movement and, indeed, the name of the one-time 40 goal-scorer was being dangled on the trade market, only there were no takers willing to give up anything near his worth.Yet the other day, the 31-year-old McNab was emerging as a key figure as a new generation of Bruins was mounting an assault on the Stanley Cup with an injury list that read like the script of a Dr. Marcus Welby movie.With Steve Kasper sidelined since Nov. 24 with a left shoulder separation that eventually required surgery, Mike Krushelnyski out since Dec. 30 with a right shoulder separation, and Tom Fergus newly added with a sprained left knee, McNab is once again the team&rsquo;s No. 2 center behind Barry Pederson.&ldquo;I have to admit he&rsquo;s been the topic of trade conversation,&rdquo; said Bruin general manager Harry Sinden, &ldquo;but it was like that with Johnny Bucyk for a number of years. That happens with all good goal-scorers. Other teams are always wondering if he is available. It sounds like some guys are always going to be traded, but they never are.&ldquo;When teams inquire about goalscorers, Peter&rsquo;s name has come up often. So far nothing has come up that&rsquo;s attractive enough. You think he&rsquo;s expendable, yet when you get right down to it, you see what he contributes to the Boston Bruins.&ldquo;But we must get production from Peter. His job is to score goals and score points. He must continue to do that. Some centermen do a lot of different things so you can overlook it if they don&rsquo;t produce in big numbers. Peter must produce.&rdquo;McNab, too, has learned to live with the constant talk of a trade that never seems to come off.&ldquo;I never really let it bother me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Oh, maybe it did a couple of times but basically you can&rsquo;t let it get to you. It&rsquo;s a fact of life. There are a lot of great players who have been traded, so I can&rsquo;t worry about it.&ldquo;There is also the possibility that I&rsquo;m a better hockey player. I&rsquo;m concentrating on all aspects of the game. Mentally, I think I&rsquo;m better prepared. There aren&rsquo;t the highs and lows I had before and it&rsquo;s easier getting myself ready for a game. Perhaps that&rsquo;s why there has been less trade talk.&rdquo;McNab, who played two and a fraction seasons and scored 49 goals for the Buffalo Sabres before being traded to the Bruins for Andre Savard in the summer of 1976, scored his 300th career goal Oct. 9 in a 4-1 victory over the Hartford Whalers.&ldquo;It was exciting for me,&rdquo; said McNab. &ldquo;Ricky Middleton is probably going to score 500 goals and Barry Pederson is going to be up there. But 300 for me is the culmination of working with so many great teammates. I&rsquo;ve been lucky to play with some fabulous guys.&rdquo;McNab is no longer surprised to wake up in the morning and find himself still a Bruin.&ldquo;Going into this year,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I thought I would be here because we have a real shot at winning the Stanley Cup. If it were three or four years away, it would probably be better for them to trade for someone who would be available to help them four years down the road.&ldquo;But I can be of help to this team for at least that long. If I stay in shape and keep producing, no way they can keep me out of the lineup.&rdquo;Fergus, the latest Bruin to be sidelined with an injury, suffered what was diagnosed as a sprained ligament in his left knee when he was checked in the midst of a quick turn during the 7-3 loss to the Quebec Nordiques on Jan. 17. The prognosis is that he&rsquo;ll be lost for three weeks.The latest report on the other casualties is that Krushelnyski (separated right shoulder), Terry O&rsquo;Reilly (dislocated right shoulder), Dave Silk (separated left shoulder) and Keith Crowder (right knee sprain) will be back sometime in mid-February.Kasper, who underwent surgery on Jan. 7 when his old shoulder separation refused to heal, is gone indefinitely.And Peter McNab, untraded for these several winters, is carrying on very nicely, thank you. &#9632;

Trade Rumors A Way Of Life For McNab

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;John Ogrodnick is an allstar and it&rsquo;s the first time in a decade that a Red Wing can make that claim.Ogrodnick was selected the Campbell Conference&rsquo;s first team left winger for the National Hockey League All-Star game, receiving 20 of 30 first-place votes. It&rsquo;s the third All-Star game appearance of his career, but on the other two occasions he was a supplemental choice.&ldquo;It means a lot,&rdquo; said the 24-year-old Ogrodnick, who led the Wings with 30 goals and 26 assists for 56 points through 44 games. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know what to say, except that it feels good.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s a rarity for a player from a lastplace team to earn such an honor, especially if he&rsquo;s a Red Wing. Not since Hall of Famers Gordie Howe and Frank Mahovlich in 1970 has a Detroit player been voted to the All-Star team. Mickey Redmond, in 1973 and 1974, was selected to the post-season All-Star squad, but not for the game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m delighted,&rdquo; coach Nick Polano said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t surprise me. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, he&rsquo;s the top left winger in the conference.&ldquo;John is a complete player now, where before he was just a goal-scorer. He&rsquo;s low-key about it but I know he wanted it real bad. He&rsquo;s played extremely hard since training camp and he&rsquo;s being rewarded. The voters recognized his improvement and his ability. When players do the job expected of them, they&rsquo;re rewarded, one way or another.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve mentioned before that John should have been picked for Team Canada last year. But playing on a team like ours, he&rsquo;s never gotten the recognition he deserves until now.&rdquo;It would have been difficult to deprive Ogrodnick of this honor. He&rsquo;s been a standout for the Wings this season, out of the top two three players in the game at his position.Ogrodnick said it was &ldquo;more of an honor to be voted to the team,&rdquo; and, typically, credited his teammates for some of his success. He&rsquo;s already scored 15 power-play goals this season, three times as many as he had in 1982-83 en route to a 41-goal output.&ldquo;Our power play is more controlled this year than in previous years,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s because we&rsquo;ve got betterplayers on it&mdash;Duguay, Yzerman, Brad Park&mdash;guys we didn&rsquo;t have last year.&rdquo;Ogrodnick&rsquo;s offensive talents have never been questioned&mdash;he&rsquo;s scored 35, 28 and 41 goals in his first three NHL seasons and is on his way to 50 goals this season. And, unlike a Mark Messier or an Al Secord or a Charlie Simmer, he&rsquo;s never benefitted from playing with one of the NHL&rsquo;s great centers&mdash;a Wayne Gretzky or Denis Savard or Marcel Dionne.&ldquo;This year he&rsquo;s playing with an 18-year-old center (Yzerman),&rdquo; Polano said.&ldquo;The difference this year is that he&rsquo;s playing with drive and determination and making things happen. He&rsquo;s taking charge on the ice.&rdquo;Ogrodnick got his 31st goal in the Wings&rsquo; seventh straight loss, a 4-2 setback to Calgary at Joe Louis Arena.Danny Gare had the other Detroit goal, ending a 15-game scoring drought for the Wing captain.&ldquo;I thought Calgary played a very intelligent road game,&rdquo; Polano said. &ldquo;They were satisfied to play a closechecking game, waiting for the breaks. The part that bothers me is that we were outfought and outskated. We talked of the importance of the game, how a win would get us right back in the (Norris Division) race.&ldquo;The last two days we tried everything. But it all comes down to that, out on the ice.&rdquo;WING NOTES&mdash;Rookie center Claude Loiselle was suspended for six games for whacking Bobby Clarke on the head&hellip;Joe Paterson sat out a one-game suspension after picking up his third game misconduct in 8-5 loss to New York Rangers&hellip;Corrado Micalef made his second start of the seaon in the Ranger game and the next day was returned to Adirondack of the AHL. Polano said the goalie was &ldquo;rusty&rdquo; and needed work. &#9632;

Ogrodnick All-Star Berth Makes Red Wing History

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011245/4853356-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Leaf captain Rick Vaive will be heading for the all-star game for the third time in the last three seasons. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;There&rsquo;s a play in this city, I Am Not A Legend, about Green Bay Packers&rsquo; immortal football coach, Vince Lombardi, and in one scene, Lombardi is addressing his players before they attempt to win their third straight championship.&ldquo;Winning this one is more important than the other two,&rdquo; says Lombardi, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ll tell you why: I deserve it!&rdquo;Rick Vaive could play the character of Lombardi and he would not look out of place. In fact, all he&rsquo;d have to do is utter the line, &ldquo;I deserve it&rdquo; and he&rsquo;d be orating straight from the heart&mdash;and back and legs and all the other parts of his body that have taking a beating so lethal he might want to endorse Absorbine Jr.Vaive is the captain of the Leafs and in many ways he is their offensive catalyst. Sure Dan Daoust is the heart; yes Borje Salming is the beauty; and, as has become apparent lately, Gary Nylund is the brawn. But it&rsquo;s Vaive who quarterbacks the offense.A perennial slow starter, Vaive broke quickly from the gate this season with 15 goals in his first 15 games. In his next five games, he couldn&rsquo;t bag a goal, but in 26 games since, he&rsquo;s scored 25 times, including a hat trick in the Leafs&rsquo; spirited 9-4 conquering of the Minnesota North Stars. It was Toronto&rsquo;s first win of the new year and it added more personal pleasure for Vaive, who&rsquo;s become a Campbell Conference all-star for the third year in a row.Vaive&rsquo;s all-star achievement merited but a brief mention in the Toronto papers&mdash;possibly because this is his third trip to the all-star game or maybe because there&rsquo;s been so much off-ice commotion surrounding the team lately that it paled on the excitement scale&mdash;but ask him about it and like the Lombardi character, he&rsquo;ll tell you the third time means a lot more than the other two.&ldquo;I was chosen the last two years as a team representative and not voted on, so being voted on makes a big difference,&rdquo; said Vaive, who scored a goal in his team&rsquo;s 9-6 defeat of the Wales last season. &ldquo;It means that you&rsquo;re being recognized by sportswriters all over the league and I think that&rsquo;s a big thing. I&rsquo;m proud of it and happy to be voted on it.&ldquo;The last two years when the votes were cast, I wasn&rsquo;t exactly doing too well. I didn&rsquo;t have good starts and there were other right wingers in that conference who were doing a lot better. That&rsquo;s the way it should be. The guys that were doing the best when the votes are cast are the guys that should be there. I don&rsquo;t think I should have beaten out anybody the last two years.&rdquo;But this year Vaive does deserve it&mdash;and not only because of his offense. He&rsquo;s displayed a maturity which he first showed last season and which he&rsquo;s polished this season. Despite the Leafs&rsquo; bittersweet season&mdash;they&rsquo;re ahead of last year&rsquo;s pace but were marred in a slump prior to beating Minnesota&mdash;and despite the opposition laying on the muscle, stick and anything it can find to impede him, Vaive has refused to unleash the vicious temper which hampered him in his first few seasons in the league.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve stopped that the last few years, not stopped it completely but it was something I had to do to stay out of the penalty box,&rdquo; Vaive said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way it goes. I have to stay out and stay on the ice to help the hockey club and help myself. I did that and therefore I&rsquo;m not retaliating like I used to.&rdquo;But how can a man who previously blew up at the slightest thing go cold turkey? Heck even a cigarette smoker who&rsquo;s kicked the habit aches to light up once in awhile.&ldquo;Sure, there&rsquo;s been lots of times like that,&rdquo; Vaive said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve learned to control and I&rsquo;ve been able to stop. 1 think a lot of teams when they come in to play us or we play in their building, they say, &bull; &lsquo;We&rsquo;ll get on him and really get on him a lot and he&rsquo;ll lose his cool and end up in the penalty box.&rsquo;&ldquo;But it just doesn&rsquo;t work anymore, perhaps a couple years ago it did but that&rsquo;s not the case now. 1 think eventually it&rsquo;s going to stop&mdash;not stop altogether&mdash;but 1 don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;ll go on forever. I hope not, anyway.&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s got their bumps and bruises, myself included, that&rsquo;s part of the game. Those only hurt for a day and they&rsquo;re gone&hellip;You&rsquo;re padded. Once in a while you&rsquo;ll get a good whack where there&rsquo;s no padding and you&rsquo;ll hurt for a few extra days, but other than that it&rsquo;s not too bad. I&rsquo;m still alive.&rdquo;As any bookie will tell you, an &ldquo;alive&rdquo; Vaive is worth at least a goal a game.LEAFLETS&mdash;Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara and North Star GM Lou Nanne came close to blows during the Leaf-Stars game but John McCauley, the league&rsquo;s head of on-ice officials, intervened. There were no penalties on the play&hellip;Leaf rearguard Gary Nylund and Minnesota tough guy Willi Plett tangled twice and it was Nylund&rsquo;s moxy which ignited the Leafs early&hellip;Walt Poddubny returned to lineup after breaking his ankle on Nov. 11 in practice and scored a goal and assisted on Rich Costello&rsquo;s goal. It was the first goal for Costello, who was playing in his third game since leaving the U.S. Olympic team to turn pro&hellip;Rookie goalie Allan Bester may have established an unofficial Leaf record by using four sticks in the Minnesota game. &#9632;

f0012-01

Third Time Means So Much More For Vaive

<div class="byline">BY DICK BEDDOES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021049/4853387-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="302" height="354"></div><h2>Scatter-Gun Prose</h2>ON A WINTER-PINK Toronto day, let&rsquo;s throw a few snowballs in the fashion of scatter-gun Stanley Fischler:Mine eyes are glazed from reports in recent years how boys of a scientific hockey bent were going to revolutionize coaching in the NHL. Some of this claptrap was perpetrated in even THE HOCKEY NEWS, unfortunately.Thomas Watt came out of the University of Toronto touted as the finest hockey mind this side of a Soviet Einstein. He was fired as a Winnipeg flop.Gary Green graduated to the pros from junior success in Ontario, guaranteed, some dimwits said, to give Washington Capitals a shot of coaching genius. Mr. Green was fired in Washington.Roger Neilson was going to demonstrate how a genuine hockey brain, sharper than a runaway skate blade, could win Stanley Cups. Mr. Neilson has been fired four times from three NHL teams, twice in Toronto.Nedso Harkness left Cornell University to help ruin the Detroit franchise. Robert Johnson jumped from collegiate coaching in Wisconsin and, to this point, has turned the Calgary Flames into wet squibs.Bill Mahoney won coaching honors at McMaster University in the Ontario town of Hamilton, yet can&rsquo;t teach anybody how to spell d-e-f-e-n-s-e in Minnesota.Herb Brooks, in New York, has not made the modern Rangers resemble anything like the commanding 1940 club, the last Rangers to win the Stanley Cup.And so it goes. Those of us who are NHL traditionalists scom the arrogant amateurs and are delighted that the best hockey leaders in the NHL are chaps who&rsquo;ve used up their lives among the pros&mdash;Harry Sinden and Gerald Cheevers in Boston, William Scott Bowman in Buffalo, and especially Alger Arbour bn Long Island.<h2>Can&rsquo;t Forget Fergie</h2>TRADITIONALISTS ARE STILL waiting for some of the semi-windup boys to make us forget the NHL heavyweight champion that was John Ferguson.Willus Plett of Minnesota has had a couple of wars with Gary Nylund, Toronto&rsquo;s white hope, but neither can knock the cover off a rice pudding.Larry Playfair of Buffalo is the modem NHL champ, but Larrv doesn&rsquo;t always play fair. Ferguson would have dropkicked Playfair all the way to Rochester. Or so it says here&hellip;The DeBartolo family is alleged to have more money than most countries, but how long can even they afford to be hockey masochists? The DeBartolos are burdened with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a feeble mimicry of an NHL team. They deserved to play to fewer than 4,000 fans, as they did one recent night.Quote of the winter: Tom Lysiak of Chicago Black Hawks to Bill Houston of the Toronto Goad and Flail re John Ziegler&mdash;&rdquo;He won&rsquo;t take a stand on anything. He wants a centrefold image and that&rsquo;s it. Ziegler doesn&rsquo;t do anything except sit on a fencepost.&rdquo;Delicious.Best new voice in Ontario hockey broadcasting&mdash;Joe Bowen of Toronto&rsquo;s CJCL, 80 lengths superior to his callow telecasting rivals, who have difficulty exhibiting penetrating insights into even the obvious&hellip;<h2>Mean-Minded Messier</h2>ONE HOPES THAT the NHL&rsquo;s top cop, Brian O&rsquo;Neill, looks at televised replays of a mean-minded incident late in a game between Edmonton and Vancouver on Jan. 18.Edmonton&rsquo;s Mark Messier clubbed Vancouver&rsquo;s Tom Gradin across the helmet, stunning the innocent Swede. Messier was assessed a match penalty and, on the visual evidence, deserved more.Vicious, eh, Brian?Mention was made earlier about Harry Sinden, generally in charge of the feisty Boston Bruins. He took some justifiable heat for unretiring the number of Dit Clapper and fitting it to another player.Sinden responded to the criticism by restoring Clapper&rsquo;s number to its retired status, and you&rsquo;ve got to salute a guy for correcting a mistake.Too, Sinden will receive generous plaudits from Derek Sanderson in that hockey heretic&rsquo;s biography, The Truth About All Those Lies.After Sanderson blew his money, a few of his old associates pitched in privately to pay Sanderson&rsquo;s hospital bills. Sinden contributed, Sanderson says, $11,000&hellip; &#9632;

f0012-02

BEDCLOTHES

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;The problem: the Flames&rsquo; defense cannot keep the area in front of its own net clear.The solution: insert a big, strong mean right winger who, despite his rookie status, carries a league-wide reputation.The result: inconclusive. Although Tim Hunter gives the Flames a lot of try on the blueline, whether he is mobile enough to play there regularly still hasn&rsquo;t been decided.For the past three years, the Flames&rsquo; defense stood on par with almost everyone else&rsquo;s in the National Hockey League because Paul Reinhart played 30 minutes or more a game for them.With Reinhart out because of a disc problem that required surgery, the problems were dramatically exposed.Of the six defensemen to play more or less regularly last week, four&mdash;Jamie Macoun, Tony Stiles, Kari Eloranta and Paul Baxter&mdash;were signed as free agents. One, Steve Konroyd, was drafted as a defenseman; the other, Hunter, had played forward exclusively in his short NHL career.That, says Hunter, does not mean he cannot play defense, if given the chance.&ldquo;I played defense most of my career and I think I can play defense in the NHL,&rdquo; said Hunter. &ldquo;I played 40 per cent defense in Denver last year and I figured I was one of their better defensemen when I was down there. I&rsquo;m glad (Keith) Hanson got a chance. I&rsquo;m glad Tony (Stiles) got a chance. Now, I&rsquo;d like a shot.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like when Mike Eaves came here. (Coach) Bob (Johnson) gave him a chance, but he had to carry the ball once he got it. It&rsquo;ll be the same in my case. I&rsquo;ll have to play well and take the man. They&rsquo;re not looking for a rushing defenseman. They want a player to hit some bodies, make sure we don&rsquo;t get scored against and move the puck as quick as he can.&rdquo;Hunter actually played one game on defense earlier this season&mdash;Nov. 9 against the New York Rangers&mdash;and graded out quite high. Then Colin Patterson separated his shoulder and Hunter went back up to right wing.&ldquo;That was a tough game to play, because they freewheel so much, you almost have to give them the blueline,&rdquo; said Hunter. &ldquo;That was the only problem I had that night. At the time though, they had seven or eight defensemen and they needed help at forward.&rdquo;Now, however, the injured players up front are coming back. Patterson and Jim Peplinski both returned from their shoulder injuries. The latest to return is Jamie Hislop.Hislop&rsquo;s weeks of waiting and watching the season go by&mdash;albeit, a little out of focus&mdash;endedJan. 13 against the Hart-ford Whalers when he returned to the Flame lineup for the first time since Anders Kallur&rsquo;s stick accidentally grazed his right eye.Earlier, a knee injury that was thought to be serious, sidelined Hislop for five games. The eye injury, originally thought not to be serious, kept him out 17 games.&ldquo;When it first happened, they said it was just like Jamie Macoun&rsquo;s (eye injury),&rdquo; said Hislop. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be in hospital five days and that would be it. I wasn&rsquo;t worried. Later, after seeing the doctor again, things didn&rsquo;t look good at all. That&rsquo;s when I was scared that I&rsquo;d never see again. I wanted to play, but I was more scared that I&rsquo;d lose the sight in my one eye.&rdquo;The injury kept Hislop from taking part in even the slightest activity.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t bend over to turn on the TV or the Christmas lights,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t read. I could go to the movies. The only exercise I could have was to go for a walk. On the days the weather wasn&rsquo;t bad, I&rsquo;d go for long walks. That was about all I could do.&rdquo;Hislop&rsquo;s excellent physical condition served him in good stead, however. From the time he started to skate until the day he returned, only seven days passed. A less fit player would have been out weeks longer.Hislop will wear a visor on his helmet because the eye hasn&rsquo;t completely healed. Scar tissue built up on the edge of his retina, indicating there was a slight tear there. There is also a small hole in his iris.&ldquo;These are things to keep an eye on,&rdquo; he said.IN BRIEF&mdash;Paul Reinhart chose the chymopapin&mdash;or injection treatment&mdash;to remove the disc. Why? According to Reinhart: &ldquo;You may as well give your body this chance. My goal is to be back sometime before the end of the year. If it works, I could be back skating in six weeks. If it doesn&rsquo;t, well. I&rsquo;m out for the season anyway.&rdquo;., Mike Eaves, the center and catalyst on the team&rsquo;s top line, will miss another week with a hairline fracture in his ankle. Eaves&rsquo; injury gave Steve Tambellini another chance to play regularly, but Johnson again did not like what he saw of Tambellini. Eventually, Doug Risebrough took over at center between Hakan Loob and Eddy Beers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011179/4853418-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="585" height="914"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Hunter played some defense last season with Colorado of the Central League.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Flames Using Hunter On Defense

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;The congestion was awful. The official airline of the National Hockey League couldn&rsquo;t hold all the coats and jackets and hand-held bags in its overhead compartments. Some passengers sat with their clothes in their laps, cooking slowly for two hours.But Mike Veisor was perfectly content. He was back in the NHL.&ldquo;If I can&rsquo;t play here, I don&rsquo;t want to play,&rdquo; said the 31-year-old goaltender, a veteran of the league since 1973. &ldquo;I could have stayed retired, but, deep down, I wanted to give it another shot. I&rsquo;d like to think something can still happen.&rdquo;Winnipeg Jets were gambling. Maybe Veisor could snap them out of the doldrums.But the circumstances were hardly perfect. Veisor hadn&rsquo;t played a game of professional hockey since Dec. 5. On his own volition, he had left the Jets&rsquo; Sherbrooke-based farm club to be with his family in Hartford.The Jets suspended him. For more than a month, he bided his time, skating with his son&rsquo;s peewee team.&ldquo;The door is still open,&rdquo; said general manager John Ferguson. But he meant Sherbrooke&rsquo;s door. Veisor wasn&rsquo;t interested.Finally, Ferguson agreed to call him up to the Jets as his own goaltenders, Doug Soetaert and Brian Hayward, struggled behind a porous defense. But first an aborted effort was made to land Marc Behrend of the U.S. Olympic team. Ferguson was snubbed in his bid to use Behrend for 10 days before the team headed overseas.Promising nothing but a chance to play, Ferguson summoned Veisor from Hartford.Barry Long, the Jets&rsquo; coach, named Veisor as his starter on Jan. 18 as the team arrived by charter in Pittsburgh.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m wary of him,&rdquo; said Eddie Johnston, the Penguins&rsquo; general manager. &ldquo;Mike played for me in Chicago. He could sit for long stretches, then come up with a great performance. He was a valuable backup for Tony Esposito.&rdquo;With the benefit of only two practices, Veisor came up big again. He made several key saves as the Jets, outshooting the Penguins 48-23, surged back in the final seconds of regulation play to gain a tie and eventually win in overtime.Touched for four goals, Veisor was nevertheless effective. Long praised his effort.&ldquo;He stood up and he challenged them,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t have many shots but they (the Penguins) had some awfully good chances.&rdquo;Veisor accepted the win graciously, amidst the high dramatics. The first heroes were Paul MacLean, who started the comeback and capped the win with his third goal of the game in overtime; Moe Mantha, who forced the tie with two seconds to go in regulation time; and Laurie Boschman, who had four assists in his second game since coming off a shoulder dislocation.Until the invitation came along, Veisor was considering a business opportunity in Hartford, his adopted home. But he remained convinced that he could still play in the NHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to think my experience can be of some value to the Jets,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never considered myself a No. 1 goaltender. I&rsquo;ve always been a specialist sort of guy who backs up someone else.&rdquo;He spent six seasons as Esposito&rsquo;s understudy in Chicago. Bom and reared in Toronto, he was Chicago&rsquo;s third-round draft choice from the Peterborough Petes in 1972.&ldquo;To put on a Black Hawks&rsquo; uniform meant a lot to me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The Hawks were one of the original six. That made them something special to me.&rdquo;Strangely enough, Veisor&rsquo;s last NHL shutout was recorded in Winnipeg on Dec. 17, 1982, when the Jets were beaten 2-0 by the Whalers.On Nov. 11, 1983, he was traded to the Jets for another goaltender, Eddie Staniowski, and promptly dispatched to Sherbrooke. The trade didn&rsquo;t crush him. The demotion to the minors did.&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t go back,&rdquo; he insists.BENCH BITS: When the Jets acquired left winger Jordy Douglas from the Minnesota North Stars, he became the first Winnipeg product to play for the team since defenseman Barry Legge, now a city policeman. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t be happier,&rdquo; said Douglas, who marked his arrival by scoring on his first shot in a 7-7 tie with the Los Angeles Kings&hellip;The Jets&rsquo; owners and representatives of the city and provincial governments continue to squabble over a new lease. &#9632;

It’s NHL Or Nothing For Veisor

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>National Hockey League president John Ziegler faces an embarrassing situation if he fails to persuade the Maple Leaf management to stop harassing Toronto Globe and Mail staffers before Feb. 1. The slap at Ziegler would come in the form of a mass exodus of hockey writers from the All-Star banquet. Prestigious Rod Beaton of USA Today is organizing the protest-walkout to take place when Ziegler is called forth to receive The Lester Patrick Trophy. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been far too namby-pamby on this issue,&rdquo; Beaton tells BLUELINES. Meanwhile, the NHL high command remains flummoxed by the Harold Ballard antiGlobe stance, especially as it is directed against reporters Bill Houston and Al Strachan. &ldquo;They (Ballard-general manager Gerry McNamara) are difficult to reason with,&rdquo; one NHL official tells BLUELINES. While the Leafs have been ordered to allow Globe reporters Al Strachan and Bill Houston into the Leaf dressing room, the Leafs have declared the press box off limits. In Toronto&rsquo;s next home game following his physical confrontation with Strachan, coach Mike Nykoluk refused to talk to reporters in the Leaf dressing room&mdash;because of the presence of Houston and Strachan&mdash;but later talked to reporters in 4 screening room across the hall. When Strachan attempted to go in, Nykoluk refused to let him in. Earlier in the game, Houston was refused admission in the press box while Strachan had to buy a ticket for the game. A Smythe Division bigwig says he&rsquo;s amazed that Globe columnist Strachan hasn&rsquo;t sued. Strachan tells BLUELINES that he will not sue but that the Globe has hired powerful attorney Clayton Ruby to handle the Leafs case. &ldquo;He outlined six possible legal options,&rdquo; Strachan tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;and we&rsquo;ll pursue probably three. What has happened most recently has helped our case.&rdquo; Ruby has several options. The Maple Leafs are subject to a $5,000 fine for not providing media access, according to league bylaws. Ruby also could nail the club with a civil suit on &ldquo;restraint of trade.&rdquo; Only total capitulation by Ballard-McNamara will save the league from embarrassment.The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is wrapping up its misapprop-riaton-of-funds probe involving agent Peter Spencer and five NHL players. Danny Gare, Pat Price, Dave Lewis, Ron Low and Dave Semenko are the players (as well as retired Doug Hicks) alleging they were bilked by Spencer. RCMP Sgt. Robert Kelles, handling the investigation, tells BLUELINES he should have his work completed by playoff time. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking at some documents now,&rdquo; says Sgt. Kelles. He hints that some big news may come of it. In an unrelated matter, he adds that Spencer is due in court in June, charged with obtaining credit under false pretences&hellip;Oiler p.r. boss Bill Tuele ridicules the Devil high command for their uptight attitude in failing to promote a Mickey Mouse Night when Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers visited Byrne-Meadowlands Arena. &ldquo;If I was running the show,&rdquo; Tuele tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;I would have had a guy dressed as Mickey Mouse skate on the ice with the club and then have Annette Funicello (from the Mouseketeers TV show) sing the National Anthem. The trouble is there isn&rsquo;t enough fun stuff like that done in the game.&rdquo; Oiler coach Glen Sather says he never worried that the Mickey Mouse routine would backfire on his Oilers when they visited Jersey. &ldquo;Once when I was with Pittsburgh (coach) Red Kelly had us all wear red ear muffs as a psychological stunt against the Blues,&rdquo; Sather recalls. &ldquo;We were down 5-0 after three minutes, which proves those things don&rsquo;t work.&rdquo; The Devils had one of their rare 19,000 crowds when Gretzky visited but some Jersey personnel remain peeved over the Mickey Mouse tag. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to read about them for years to come,&rdquo; says Devil prexy Bob Butera. Stopping Gretzky remains an obsession with many NHL coaches but not Scotty Bowman. Unlike some strategists who assign a specific player to Gretzky, Bowman prefers a mix. &ldquo;We want a general effort,&rdquo; Bowman tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;Look at which clubs have done well against him and you&rsquo;ll see that they use different styles against Gretzky. Like the Islanders have (Bryan) Trottier, (Butch) Goring and (Wayne) Merrick. When I was coaching the Canadiens and we stopped the Flyers in 1976, we did that against Bobby Clarke. I used Doug Risebrough, Doug Jarvis and Jacques Lemaire&rdquo;&hellip;Toronto sportscaster Earl McRae, whose article on Bobby Orr, Poor Bobby, was a source of controversy last season and who claims he lost his radio job because of criticism of the Toronto Maple Leafs, has added more fuel to his fiery career by comments he made about Gretzky in his nightly commentary. McRae satirically suggested that the only way Canadian hockey players could beat the Russians would be if the Great One were put out to stud, like a race horse. Moreover, he said the NHL owners could pay to have their daughters or secretaries impregnated by Wayne and in 16 years, Canada would have the &ldquo;greatest hockey players in the world.&rdquo; McRae was immediately told he could make no more commentaries.Canadian promoters are talking about a Golden Hockey League geared for ex-NHLers who are a year or more out of the bigs. Teams would be established in such cities as Hamilton, London and Kitchener. The NHL is likely to object on the grounds that the GHL will induce stars to prematurely retire, thereby offering an alternative to the NHL&hellip;The Capitals, in association with Digital Equipment System Advertiser, have launched a computer system for their fans. The machine is called Sports Data Center. One is in use in the press room, the other in the press box. &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011226/4853497-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Verbeek was the Devils&rsquo; best player as he scored two goals and added an assist on the final Devil tally. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;The New Jersey Devils played hockey like men. not mice, and Wayne Gretzky seemed anxious to acknowledge that fact in his first visit to the Meadowlands Arena since he a)insulted New Jersey&rsquo;s hockey team, b)Walt Disney or c)all of the above).&ldquo;New Jersey played very well,&rdquo; Gretzky stressed after Edmonton fought off a Devil five-on-three power play in the third period to escape with a 5-4 victory on Jan. 15.&ldquo;We know all about what Tommy McVie can do for a team,&rdquo; Gretzky noted. &ldquo;He has got them playing with enthusiasm and they&rsquo;re working very hard.&rdquo;Since it was the McVie-coached Winnipeg Jets who eliminated Gretzky and the Oilers on the way to a World Hockey Association playoff championship in 1979, the superstar center wasn&rsquo;t just being diplomatic.After collecting three assists to extend his remarkable consecutive-game scoring streak to 46 games (at 49 as this issue went to press), Gretzky did go out of his way to apologize, once again, for the remark he made after a 13-4 rout on Nov. 19 at Edmonton.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve made a few mistakes in my life,&rdquo; Gretzky confessed, &ldquo;and saying that was one of them. Obviously, I&rsquo;ve learned that when I say something it can be blown out of proportion.&ldquo;I just felt sorry for a guy (Ron Low) on their club who is a good friend of mine,&rdquo; Gretzky recalled. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t express it very well. It&rsquo;s unfortunate I said it and I regret saying it.&rdquo;There. Over and done with. And, when Gretzky plays in the All-Star game on Jan. 31 at the Meadowlands Arena, he might even hear a few cheers.Gretzky even went so far as to say that the Devil players &ldquo;showed a lot of class&rdquo; for not taking his comment personally.&ldquo;A lot of things could have been said or done,&rdquo; Gretzky observed, &ldquo;but they (the Devils) just played the game and weren&rsquo;t worried about anything else.&rdquo;While Oiler general manager-coach Glen Sather was not happy with the erratic officiating of Bob Hall, he also praised the Devils and admitted that Gretzky was concerned about what might take place.&ldquo;I think Wayne was nervous about this game because of the comments he made,&rdquo; Sather said, &ldquo;but the fans were good. They didn&rsquo;t overreact. In fact, I would have liked to have seen more fun poked at the whole thing. I mean, they could have had Annette Funicello sing the national anthem.&rdquo;About 200 fans in the sellout throng of 19,023 wore Mickey Mouse ears and many threw them on the ice when Devil winger Pat Verbeek, who had two goals, set up Aaron Broten for his 11th goal of the season to produce a 5-4 count at 4:15 of the third period.A flashcard section spelled out &ldquo;Say Cheese&rdquo; when the Oilers came out for warmups and there were numerous signs, suggesting that Gretzky was &ldquo;The Mouth That Roared,&rdquo; &ldquo;Goofy Gretzky&rdquo; and &ldquo;A Rat, like Linseman.&rdquo; In all, however, the reception was rather mild, partially because the Devil management refused to participate in the spoof.At Montreal the night before, the Devils came up with another strong effort and it brought them a 3-1 victory over the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum.Tim Higgins, obtained from Chicago for Jeff Larmer just two days before, contributed a goal in his debut as a Devil and couldn&rsquo;t have been happier.&ldquo;This is super,&rdquo; Higgins declared. &ldquo;The goals weren&rsquo;t coming regularly for me in Chicago. The whole year has been a struggle. To watch my new team win in the Montreal Forum is a great way to start.&rdquo;<h2>Correction</h2>In the Equipment Sneak Preview of the Jan. 27 issue, it was stated that Daoust has been manufacturing quality footwear since 1981. In fact, Daoust has been manufacturing quality footwear since 1891. THE HOCKEY NEWS regrets the error. &#9632;

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Story Of Mice And Men Exact Opposite For Devils

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011162/4853528-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky expected to be swarmed by the Devil fans because of his earlier remark about the team being &ldquo;Mickey Mouse.&rdquo; But the remark paled in comparison to his point-a-game streak, which the media made the focal point of the game. (Photo by Bruce Bonnetl)</figcaption></div>EDMONTON&mdash;Home, all 7,000 square feet of his penthouse pad, has always looked good to Wayne Gretzky, especially after nine days on the road.But the mere thought of the home fires have never appeared as warm, appealing and relaxing as the recent return from a hectic Eastern swing&mdash;a four-game National Hockey League safari that was compunded by The Streak.Gretzky&rsquo;s consecutive-games point streak sat at 46 as the Edmonton Oilers returned home Jan. 16 and maintaining the string hardly came as easy as some of Gretzky&rsquo;s accomplishments in the past. Make no mistake he felt the heat&mdash;especially with the knowledge the trip wound up in New Jersey, where his Mickey Mouse appraisal of the Devils two months previous had preceded his arrival.Yet. in a further confirmation that the guy lives right, the added side-show attractions turned out to the blessings in disguise, with the exception of Buffalo, that is, where the unconcerned Sabres simply went out and did a masterful job for a deserved 3-1 victory. In the process, the Oilers were handed only their eighth season loss as they had a 13-game un-beaten (12-0-1) string nipped, missing by one, a share of the eight-game National Hockey League record for most consecutive victories on the road (which, coincidentally, the Sabres tied with a 4-0 win over Los Angeles).&ldquo;I admire a guy like Joe DiMaggio for what he must have gone through,&rdquo; said Gretzky of the post-game locker-room circus scenes in Detroit (7-3 victory), Chicago (5-3 win), Buffalo and Jersey (5-4 conquest). &ldquo;The media attention must have been overwhelming (for DiMaggio&rsquo;s 56-game major league baseball hitting spree in 1941). This was the worst I&rsquo;ve ever had it, as far as the number of media people who were around.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to get home and to be able to go on the ice, knowing nobody cares about my streak. If I get a point, well, it&rsquo;ll be a normal clap. Nobody will go out of their way to boo or clap extra special&hellip;&rdquo;The Streak, Gretzky admits, was the creator of the mob scenes of microphones, TV lights and the furious scrambling of Bic pens and steno pads or whatever was handy.&ldquo;I think the streak took away from a lot of what was going on in New Jersey,&rdquo; said Gretzky, who entered the Bryne Meadowlands Arena on Jan. 15 as if he had been walking on eggshells. His apprehensive play of the first 15 minutes certainly backed this theory. &ldquo;If I didn&rsquo;t have the streak going, there would have been a lot more talk of ah, ah&hellip;&rdquo;He trailed off, laughing&hellip;The words Mickey Mouse&mdash;Gretzky&rsquo;s description of the Devils following a 13-4 Oiler romp on Nov. 19&mdash;obviously weren&rsquo;t about to pass those lips again.General manager-coach Glen Sather felt the Jersey management and fans, if anything, blew what should have been a prime promotional gimmick.&ldquo;Wayne was nervous because of the comments he made,&rdquo; explained Sather. &ldquo;But the fans were good. They didn&rsquo;t overreact. In fact, I would have liked to see more fun poked at the whole thing. I mean, they could have had Annette Funicello sing the national anthem.&rdquo;There were scattered sets of Mickey Mouse ears among the 19,023 in attendance and the odd Mickey Mouse T-shirt, along with the occasional sign (example, &ldquo;Gretzky is Goofy&rdquo;). But the ones that drew most of the attention were a three-part effort that three teenaged girls prominently displayed above plexi-glass in the Oilers&rsquo; end during the entire pre-game warmup.&ldquo;Glen Sather Presents Gretzky and the Mousketeers.&rdquo; read the first sign. The second depicted a Devils&rsquo; player throwing a right hand at a Mickey MouseHeaded Oiler: &ldquo;Hey, Mickey!&rdquo; The third asked: &ldquo;Who is the leader of the club? The Great One.&rdquo;The lustily booing fans aside, it was the scrappy play of the Devils that had the Oilers sit up and take notice. When a 5-2 lead shrunk to 5-4 with two goals during the first 4:15 of the third period, the Oilers were hanging on for victory at the conclusion.&ldquo;I learned one rule out of all of this: Not to criticize anyone in public,&rdquo; confessed Gretzky, who drew three assists in the game following an uneasy start.&ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; he admitted, &ldquo;I was kind of feeling my way through the game. Like I&rsquo;ve said before, I regret what I said. I didn&rsquo;t mean to insult anyone personally or any individual.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m 23 years old (as of Jan. 26) and I made a mistake. My father, who I&rsquo;ve learned a tremendous amount from is 43&hellip;and he&rsquo;ll tell you he has made mistakes.&ldquo;It happened and it&rsquo;s something I have to live with. It&rsquo;s over and done with.&rdquo;Gretzky didn&rsquo;t appear to settle down until linemate Jari Kurri&mdash;on assists from Jaroslav Pouzar and No. 99&mdash;strutted in alone to score his 39th goal at 14:12 of the first period, pulling the Oilers into a 1-1 tie. &ldquo;I guess 1 relaxed after the goal,&rdquo; Gretzky went on. &ldquo;I probably was more apprehensive of how their players were going to react. I felt bad about what I said. They could have done an awful lot of things out there, but they were classy about the whole thing.&rdquo;Should The Streak continue next month, Gretzky can look forward to his next trek into oversized media markets. That&rsquo;ll be Feb. 5-12, a five-game swing to Washington, Long Island. Philadelphia, Boston and Hartford&mdash;Games 54 through 58.The thought of it is frightening&hellip; &#9632;

f0015-01

Gretzku Streaks Through Devil Mousetrap

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Hobbling around his home on crutches, despite grimacing with each step due to the pain in his severely sprained left ankle, Marcel Dionne felt fortunate.&ldquo;I came very close to breaking it,&rdquo; said the Kings&rsquo; 32-year-old center, who suffered the injury on Jan. 11 during a 4-2 loss to Washington at the Forum.The heart and soul of the Kings&mdash;not to mention their most productive scorer&mdash;was hurt 5:25 into the third period when he was was moving briskly down left wing with the puck and his old friend, Larry Murphy, cut his legs out from under him.Dionne skidded feet first into the hard, plastic boards, sliding 25 feet before impact.&ldquo;I felt something snap. I thought I had fractured it,&rdquo; he said.Fortunately, that was not the case. X-rays proved negative and Dionne was told to use ice to relieve the pain and swelling and hot water to help keep the ankle flexible.Still, the injury prevented the fourthleading scorer in National Hockey League history from making the club&rsquo;s important three-game trip to Winnipeg and Minnesota and no one&mdash;not even Dionne&mdash;was sure how many more games he was likely to miss.Defenseman Jay Wells suffered a similar injury a month before and he missed nine games before finally returning to the lineup&mdash;ironically, the night Dionne went on the shelf.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m walking now, but I&rsquo;m limping quite a bit,&rdquo; said Dionne, who collected 27 goals and 41 assists through 43 games. &ldquo;I really have no idea when I&rsquo;ll be back. Once it&rsquo;s 50 per cent I&rsquo;ll play, otherwise I can&rsquo;t because 1 depend so much on my skating. I&rsquo;ve had sprains before, but never anything like this.&rdquo;Dionne said he probably would have been okay if he hadn&rsquo;t stepped on Murphy&rsquo;s stick, which the former King&mdash;making his first California appearance since being dealt to the Caps in October&mdash;slid along the ice in an attempt to block his shot.&ldquo;When a guy goes around there he&rsquo;s not supposed to put his stick there like that,&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure he didn&rsquo;t mean to do it, but it was like I was skating on one skate.&ldquo;I tried to guide myself, tried to make sure the blades of both of my skates hit the boards at the same time, but my one skate hit first.&ldquo;That was the scary part. That&rsquo;s how (Buffalo&rsquo;s Gilbert) Perreault broke his leg in the Canada Cup series in &lsquo;81. It could have been worse. That&rsquo;s probably the hardest I&rsquo;ve ever hit the boards. I think it&rsquo;s going to take a while before I can play.&rdquo;Every member of the Triple Crown line has now been injured in the past three years, Charlie Simmer with a severly fractured right leg and Dave Taylor with a broken right wrist (which he broke again in the world championships last year).Warren Holmes was called up from New Haven to take Dionne&rsquo;s spot on the roster, but not on the big line. That honor went to 20-year-old Doug Smith, who has been playing the best hockey of his brief NHL career. He responded with a goal and an assist in his first game there in a wild 7-7 tie with the Jets.&ldquo;Certainly it&rsquo;s a big loss,&rdquo; said coach Don Perry, who lost center Wes Jarvis with a sprained knee for at least a week only a few days before.&ldquo;With a sprain, sometimes you can come right back. But there are times when it takes quite awhile, as in Wells&rsquo; case. I can only hope that it brings out the best in our other people, that maybe somebody can take over his role.&ldquo;But if he&rsquo;s out, leadership or not, that&rsquo;s really going to hurt us a lot.&rdquo;Dionne&rsquo;s leadership&mdash;losing that could prove as costly as missing his extraordinary offensive skills. Who&rsquo;s going to take up the slack?Bemie Nicholls, for one, is a dangerous scoring threat, but he hardly showed much in the other department in the Washington game, when he scored what would have been a totally meaningless goal just after the final buzzer sounded.Referee Bruce Hood correctly waved off the goal and Nicholls responded by childlessly splitting his stick over the left post.Would it really have mattered if the Kings had lost 4-2 or 4-3? Nicholls, it seems, is still too engrossed with personal statistics.&ldquo;Marcel is the one player we certainly don&rsquo;t want to lose,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s our leading scorer, he&rsquo;s been our most valuable player for the last several seasons&hellip;I sure hope he comes back soon.&rdquo;KINGNOTES&mdash;Goalie Markus Mattsson has been recalled along with left winger Phil Sykes from New Haven and goalie Mike Blake, left winger Brian MacLellan and center Warren Holmes have been demoted. &#9632;

Dionne Has Painful Reunion With Murphy

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>H&B 100 YEARSLouisville HockeyHARTFORD&mdash;Emile Francis is a difficult man to know. Private and driven, he is capable of both considerable warmth&mdash;especially when retelling stories from the old days&mdash;and a calculated coldness when he suspects that you are trying learn too much about his business.He can turn you on and he can turn you off. Hockey is his game; closeness is not.Francis lives and operates on a higher plane and seems to relish that position. The idea of ruling by fear evidently appeals to him. Everybody, from the coaching staff to the players to the peripheral element, which includes fans and media members, is afraid of him.Earlier in the year, Francis never missed a Whaler game. He made all the road trips and was as much a part of the Whaler story as the development of rookie Sylvain Turgeon. This was The Cat&rsquo;s show and he meant to supervise it closely.Recently, he has been noticeable by his absence. Meetings and other duties provide convenient explanations, but the word in the Whaler locker room is that Francis is looking to deal. Why not? The Whalers clearly could use some help.Francis arrived in Hartford officially in May and since then has been involved in a dozen or so transactions. With the benefit of hindsight, let&rsquo;s take a look back and assess those deals:1. The June draft: The lame duck staff of Larry Pleau, Bill Dineen and John Cunniff, among others, was united in the conviction that Turgeon&mdash;and not Pat LaFontaine&mdash;would turn out to be the best pro player of those available. Francis, who had Turgeon rated highly in St. Louis, supported his new staff. Francis was in a can&rsquo;t-lose position. If Turgeon bombed, he was the staff&rsquo;s choice.A tie.2. Normand Dupont for a 1984 fourth-rounder: A draft pick, even one as low as a fourth, is permitted to surprise. Dupont came exactly as advertised. He&rsquo;s an offensive player who shies away from the rough going and the dirty work. After playing the first 37 games, Dupont sat out eight in a row and then was sent to Binghamton of the AHL.A loss.3. Richie Dunn and Joel Quenneville for Mickey Volcan: Dunn and Quenne ville have played regularly, while Volcan has been sent to the minors by Calgary, which is woefully weak at the blueline. Two-for-none trades always will help.A win.4. Steve Stoyanovich for a 1985 fifthrounder: Central Hockey League all-stars do not necessarily make competent NHL players. After appearing in but 23 of the team&rsquo;s first 44 games, Stoyanovich was shipped to Binghamton.A loss.5. Termination contracts: Francis offered one to Russ Anderson and another to Pierre Larouche and eventually lost both for nothing in return. Anderson has played regularly for L.A., while Larouche is on a 50-goal pace with the Rangers. Francis&rsquo; hardness probably hurt him here as only recently he had expressed any misgivings about losing Larouche for zero. Earlier Francis gave the impression that he was glad to be rid of Larouche. He could have expressed regret sooner&mdash;like when it happened&mdash;but expressing regret is not part of The Cat&rsquo;s act.A loss.6. Greg Malone for a 1985 third-rounder: Malone&rsquo;s wheels are going but even the loss of skating speed cannot detract from what this eight-year pro has to offer. He&rsquo;s a winner, both on and off the ice, and serves as a perfect model for the youngsters in the Whaler locker room.A win.7. Waiver draft: Francis picked up Mike Zuke, who, like Malone, is a winner and a teacher; Mike Crombeen, who conducts himself professionally at all times; and Bobby Crawford, who sits on a line between fair and good when he should be thinking about becoming great. The acquisition of those three outweighs Francis&rsquo; decision to expose Mark Renaud first, instead of Ross Yates, Marty Howe or Fred Arthur, and then Doug Sulliman, who may be excused for thinking that management doesn&rsquo;t have much faith in him. Sulliman has surfaced as an important player, but Francis clearly did not anticipate that, at least not on Oct. 3. Still, Zuke and Crombeen have helped, as has Crawford, who at 24, could tum out to be any sort.A win.8. Torrie Robertson for Greg Adams: In the vernacular, Francis traded a slug for a slug here, but Robertson is the type of slug, an under-skilled player who gets by in another way, who lends courage to a team. Without Robertson in the lineup, the Whalers&rsquo; record was 1-7-3. The numbers reflect his value.A win.9. Ed Staniowski for Mike Veisor: A classic example of a trade that hurt both teams. Veisor only recently has unre-tired, but why Francis unloaded him in the first place remains a mystery. Veisor hardly can be protrayed as a disruptive influence. Staniowski, who was traded by Francis from St. Louis to Winnipeg, has failed to impress in Hartford and that&rsquo;s putting it nicely. One would think that Francis knows goaltenders because he was one himself, but this trade indicates otherwise.A loss.The record of Francis&rsquo; transactions reads, 4-4-1, which isn&rsquo;t bad, but which is nothing to get excited about either. His next move must be a good one because if there&rsquo;s one thing the Whalers need right now, it&rsquo;s a good move. &#9632;

The Cat’s On The Prowl For More Players

<div class="byline">BY RON COBB</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;All things considered, it was rather remarkable that on Jan. 11 the Blues were in second place, only two points behind the Minnesota North Stars in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Norris Division.This was the team that six months earlier was on death row and now was only a victory away from a share of first place. Not that the Blues were tearing up the league&mdash;they had a 19-21-4 record&mdash;but the Chicago Black Hawks were beset with problems and the Toronto Maple Leafs were slumping badly and the Blues were capitalizing.And so it was that the Blues were concentrating heavily on home dates against Boston on Jan. 12 and two days later against Minnesota. The latter shaped up as a battle for first place.As enticing as that prospect was, it disappeared when Boston outclassed the Blues 6-2 while the North Stars were winning at home. When Minnesota came into St. Louis two nights later and squeezed out a 4-2 victory, the Blues suddenly were six points out of first.The back-to-back losses at home were a bit of a jolt, inasmuch as the Blues carried the second-best home record in the league (16-4-1) into the Boston game.Searching for what went wrong, two answers popped up: The Blues had been ranked No. 2 in the league on the power play at home, but in three consecutive home games they were a combined one for 18 with a manpower advantage.But more important, the Blues were being carried offensively by four players&mdash;Bemle Federko, Brian Sutter, Joe Mullen and Jorgen Pettersson. It was only a matter of time before they began to sag under the burden.In a stretch of nine games, those four players accounted for 19 of the Blues&rsquo; 25 goals. In a four-game stretch that ended with the loss to Minnesota, the four of them scored 10 of the team&rsquo;s 11 goals.The Federko-Sutter-Mullen line was getting a lot of ice time, both on power plays and regular shifts, so it was expected to be productive. But it wasn&rsquo;t getting much help from anyone other than Pettersson.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not getting much scoring from the other lines and we&rsquo;re paying for it,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Demers.Disregarding power-play goals and empty-net goals, the Federko line accounted for 11 of 18 goals in the span of nine games. Of the remaining seven goals, Pettersson accounted for three.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get the other guys scoring,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;Other teams come in and check the heck out of the Federko line. If they succeed, we&rsquo;re in trouble.&ldquo;Not to be negative, but if we don&rsquo;t correct it, we could have problems down the line.&rdquo;Among the players in scoring slumps were right winger Wayne Babych and centers Doug Wickenheiser and Doug Gilmour.Babych hadn&rsquo;t scored a goal in 14 games and hadn&rsquo;t scored an evenstrength goal in 19. Wickenheiser had played well in certain areas since the Dec. 21 trade with the Montreal Canadiens, but he still hadn&rsquo;t scored a goal in 12 games with the Blues.Gilmour, a 20-year-old rookie, remained a valuble player because of his two-way hustle, but his scoring had fallen off. Aside from an empty-net goal, he had no goals in his last nine games and only one in his last 17.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as if the other guys aren&rsquo;t working hard,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not condemning them. There are nights when we&rsquo;ve won and everybody got a piece of the action. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I want to see.&ldquo;If other lines are scoring, the Federko line can&rsquo;t be checked as much.&rdquo;BLUENOTES&mdash;Rik Wilson, who has been the odd man out on defense this season, was recalled after two weeks with Montana of the Central League. Jacques Demers said he would play a regular shift upon his return because the club wants to give him a chance to develop. Wilson was the club&rsquo;s No. 1 draft choice in 1980. As Wilson joined the team, defenseman Tim Bothwell was sent to Montana for two weeks&hellip;Goaltender Mike Liut gave up only five goals in four games, including two shutouts. &#9632;

Blues Rely Far Too Much On One Line For Scoring

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01876/4853655-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Hamel, who hadn&rsquo;t scored a goal in 15 games and had been benched for five, scored twice against Vancouver.</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;After going through the first half of the season comparatively free from injuries, the Sabres were hit hard at exactly the wrong time.They lost three key performers before an important western trip, yet they continued to win.The Sabres extended their longest winning steak of the season and, in fact, tied the National Hockey League record for consecutive road victories, when they blanked the Los Angeles Kings 4-0.Tom Barrasso, the Sabres&rsquo; 18-year-old rookie phenom, earned his first NHL shutout in that game. It was the third straight game in which Barrasso blanked the opposition through the first two periods. This time he continued through the final 20 minutes, too, and lowered his goals-against average to 2.77.No question, the Sabres were getting good goaltending. Bob Sauve was in the nets the night before, when Buffalo defeated Vancouver 5-1. That was Sauve&rsquo;s fifth straight goaltending victory and was his second straight one-goal game.Phil Housley, the only Buffalo player voted to the Prince of Wales Conference team for the NHL All-Star game, Hannu Virta, Housley&rsquo;s defense partner, and Lindy Ruff, the big, aggressive, hardworking forward, were all on the injured list.They were back in Buffalo when the Sabres left on the three-game western trip, which ended in St. Louis.Housley and Virta, both second-year pros, are Buffalo&rsquo;s leading offensive defensemen. They man the points on the power play. Housley joined Virta on the sidelines when he suffered a shoulder injury durnig the Sabres &ldquo;best game of the season,&rdquo; a 3-1 victory over Edmonton. Virta strained ligaments in his knee the game before, a 6-2 victory over Phi-ladelphia.The game after Housley was injured, Ruff hurt his shoulder in a 2-1 win in Detroit, a game in which the big left winger scored the winning goal.When the Sabres left for the West Coast, they had three men on the injured list for the first time this season. They often had two, but never three. And these were important members of the club. Housley was the second highest scorer.While the goaltenders were doing outstanding work, lesser scorers came through with goals in the wins that ran the Sabres&rsquo; victory streak to eight games. The win in Los Angeles also extended Buffalo&rsquo;s road winning streak to eight, tying the NHL record shared by six other clubs, including Los Angeles.Gilles Hamel, who hadn&rsquo;t scored a goal in 15 games, scored twice in the 5-1 triumph over Vancouver. He sat out five of those 15. His last goal came on Dec. 10 in a 5-2 win in Boston.Hamel was playing on a line that was put together just before the game. Mike Moller and Real Cloutier, both of whom didn&rsquo;t dress for some games in the last 15, were the other members of the line.Cloutier scored a goal, after being shut out in five games since he had a hat trick against Winnipeg on Jan. 4, and took the shot on which Hamel put in the rebound for Buffalo&rsquo;s fourth goal.&ldquo;Some players who hadn&rsquo;t played much came up big for us tonight,&rdquo; Sabre coach Scotty Bowman said.Ric Seiling, noted more for his defensive and penalty-killing ability than his scoring, got Buffalo&rsquo;s first goal in that game, tipping in a long shot by rookie defenseman Jim Wiemer after the Canucks took a 1-0 lead. Gil Perreault, who&rsquo;s been added to the Wales Conference All-Star team, scored the other Buffalo goal, his 23rd of the season.In Los Angeles, after Barrasso made some spectacular early saves, Dave Andreychuk, another Sabre sophomore, scored his 18th goal to get the Sabres underway. The Kings kept the pressure on until late in the second period, when Craig Ramsay also known as a defensive ace and penalty-killer, put in his fourth goal of the season.After Mike Foligno netted his 18th, veteran Jerry Korab scored to put the game out of reach. It was his first goal since he rejoined the Sabres from the Kings, whom Bowman traded him to in March. 1980.The goal was Korab&rsquo;s first for the Sabres since Dec. 27, 1979.On the eight-game streak, the Sabres shut out the opposition in 15 of 24 periods. &#9632;

f0019-01

Sabres Won’t Let Injuries Ruin Their Western Fling

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01724/4853686-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Minnesota&rsquo;s Neal Broten will be among several hundred National Hockey League players who won&rsquo;t be at the annual All-Star game. But if there is an award for the most deserving player who was overlooked by the voters, Broten is a cinch.You can look upon the Campbell Conference as Edmonton and the Nine Dwarfs if you&rsquo;re a cynic, but the fact remains that Minnesota is leading the Norris Division and has the second best overall record to Edmonton in the Campbell Conference.Neal Broten is not only the leading scorer (20 goals, 40 assists) but also the top plus player (plus-15) on the North Stars.The most incredible thing about the vote by the eligible writers is that Broten didn&rsquo;t get a single vote at center in the conference.That means the three eligible writers in the Twin Cities didn&rsquo;t even vote for Broten. However, it is possible the local voters are still mesmerized by Chicago&rsquo;s Denis Savard&rsquo;s spectacular playoff of a year ago. One of the voters last year voted for Savard ahead of Wayne Gretzky, in fact.But this season it appears that each town backed its own except in the Twin Cities. At center following Gretzky, who swept all 30 first-place votes, was Los Angeles&rsquo; Marcel Dionne with 51 voting points.Savard was next with 46; St. Louis&rsquo; Bernie Federko, 11; Detroit&rsquo;s Steve Yzerman, five; L.A.&rsquo;s Bernie Nicholls, four; and Winnipeg&rsquo;s Laurie Boschman, three.Broten failed to register a single vote even for third place. Strange.At the start of the year, Broten and Bellows were the only things moving on the struggling club and they were line-mates.Coach Bill Mahoney split them up to get two lines going 10 games into the season and it worked. Bellows and Keith Acton hit it off right away and Bellows now has 26 goals and 30 assists. He, too, should have been voted onto the team and general manager Lou Nanne lobbied hard for him.But his versatility was his downfall, as Bellows placed fourth at right wing and fifth at left wing. But at least Bellows was added to the squad as was North Star defenseman Brad Maxwell.Broten, meanwhile, went from that early-season line shift to lift Tom McCarthy and Dino Ciccarelli&mdash;who experienced miserable starts&mdash;to skyrocketing point totals. Although Ciccarelli has recently suffered from being moved away from Broten, he has 27 goals and 25 assists for 53 points and McCarthy, still with Broten. has 29 goals and 23 assists for 52.One of the best attributes to Broten is that he doesn&rsquo;t care that he didn&rsquo;t make it. He appreciates the time off with the same unassuming nature he brought with him from tiny Roseau, MN.He doesn&rsquo;t care that as the center of a first-place team he got snubbed, while six centers who have led teams to below-. 500 records were picked ahead of him. He doesn&rsquo;t mind that in his duel with Savard, for example, they have equal points at 60 but he has led the Stars to first place while Chicago has slumped much of the year even though the offensively-gifted Savard has been playing.&ldquo;I made it last year and got an assist in the All-Star game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was fun. But I&rsquo;d just as soon be home with my wife and kid. It&rsquo;s something I really didn&rsquo;t think about.&rdquo;&ldquo;I think everyone on our team knows that Neal is our best player,&rdquo; said Willi Plett who was recently installed in place of Ciccarelli on Broten&rsquo;s right flank. Ciccarelli got one shift with Broten in Minnesota&rsquo;s 5-1 victory over Detroit. Broten set him up for a neat goal. He also set up McCarthy with a crisp, breakaway pass and scored once himself on a dazzling rush putting a backhander up over Greg Stefan.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m right about where I should be,&rdquo; Broten said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to have twice as many assists as goals.&rdquo;When pressed, Broten will admit this might be his best season ever.&ldquo;I guess from the standpoint of consistency at both ends of the rink,&rdquo; he said.Chauvinistic Americans who are practising their feelings of nationalism for the Winter Olympics can say it&rsquo;s because Broten was discriminated against&mdash;an American finishing without a vote behind seven Canadians&mdash;but there is no doubt that through the first 50 games of the season, a strong case could be made in every game that either Broten or Bellows was the club&rsquo;s top performer. In those rare times when those two were not sensational, they were merely adequate and goaltender Gilles Meloche was probably the best man.Meloche, incidentally, finished fourth behind Murray Bannerman, Grant Fuhr and Mike Liut.Meanwhile, the Stars&rsquo; injury parade continued. With Craig Hartsburg, Curt Giles and Dan Mandich all moving from defense to the sidelines with knee injuries, Lars Lindgren joined them as the fourth regular defenseman out when he was hit on the foot by a shot. Jim Craig, the back-up goalie who played well at Detroit in his first chance since being recalled, tore a hamstring muscle in that game and had to leave. He will be out four to six weeks.Don Beaupre was coming up to join the club that next day by coincidence. Randy Velischek was called up to replace Mandich, and Bob Rouse, a draftee from junior, was called up when Lindgren went out.<h2>Player Of The Week</h2>The New York Rangers have lacked a game-breaking goal scorer in recent years, but Pierre Larouche is fitting the bill quite nicely, thank you.Larouche, the free-agent center whom the Rangers obtained after Hartford Whalers showed little interest in him, scored seven goals and added three assists for the week ending Jan. 22 to earn HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; Player of the Week honors.Larouche scored a hat trick in one game and also hit the 300-goal milestone in three Ranger victories.In 49 games this NHL season, Larouche leads the Rangers in scoring with 34 goals and 26 assists. He is well on his way to becoming the only player in NHL history to score 50 goals with three different clubs. &#9632;

f0020-01

Broten Can Live Without All-Star Invitation

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;The New York Islanders come to expect the unexpected&mdash;such as Billy Carroll scoring three goals in one game. And even when the expected occurs&mdash;like Dave Langevin suffering another knee injury&mdash;teammates shake their heads in disbelief.When Carroll accounted for his first National Hockey League hat trick in the lslanders&rsquo; 9-1 victory over the Black Hawks in Chicago, nobody was more surprised than the 25-year-old reserve center.&ldquo;Usually, I think I&rsquo;d like to get one goal.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Three never occurred to me.&rdquo;Carroll went 69 games without a goal last season, establishing an NHL record for the longest goalless streak by a forward. He finished with a single goal, which came in the next-to-last game of the regular season.This season, Carroll missed 26 games with a deep pulled groin muscle. He came in for some good-natured kidding when he scored against the Black Hawks in the Islanders&rsquo; 42nd game of the season at Nassau Coliseum, then got goal No. 2 against the Canadiens five nights later.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re already two goals ahead of last season&rsquo;s pace,&rdquo; a reporter chided Carroll after the Montreal game. &ldquo;What are you going to do for an encore?&rdquo;Carroll provided the answer at Chicago by converting three of four shots. He launched his spree by converting a pass from Clark Gillies, then beat Tony Esposito with a backhander after a loose puck rolled to Carroll in front of the net. Carroll completed his hat trick with a short rebound.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say they were really great goals,&rdquo; Carroll said. &ldquo;I mean, the last one was two feet, maybe. Put all three together and you might get four feet.&rdquo;Hardly anybody was surprised when Langevin required arthroscopic surgery on his right knee for the second time in eight months. The operation was performed by Dr. Jeffrey Minkoff, the team&rsquo;s orthopedic surgeon, who repaired tom medial cartilage on the inside of the knee.Club officials announced that Langevin should be able to rejoin the Islanders in two weeks. The veteran defenseman missed 11 games after undergoing similar surgery during last spring&rsquo;s playoffs, then returned for the Isles&rsquo; four-game sweep over the Oilers in the final round.Laneevin suffered his latest knee injury during the Islanders&rsquo; 2-0 loss to the Bruins at Boston. He bowled over rookie Nevin Markwart of the Bruins and fell backward to the Boston Garden ice.&ldquo;It was a good check, but I didn&rsquo;t like the ending,&rdquo; Langevin said. &ldquo;My right leg was under me when I fell and I twisted the knee.&rdquo;Langevin admitted he couldn&rsquo;t stand up when he got to the dressing room. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t walk,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t want to give up on myself yet. Give me a couple of weeks and I&rsquo;ll be back.&rdquo;The Islanders obviously miss Langevin, just as they missed Ken Morrow, John Tonelli, Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier while they nursed aching knees recently. The Isles were weakened further by the absence of Brent Sutter (in-fected hand) and Anders Kallur (pulled back muscle).Trottier has dealt with an assortment of aches and pains since the start of the season. First, he had shoulder problems. Then he twisted his left knee against the Canadiens, missed only one game, and suffered a bruised cheekbone when he caught a highstick in Boston.The all-star game center got out of Chicago without a scratch, but was not so fortunate in the Isles&rsquo; next road game in Philadelphia. Trottier was hit in the face with a puck and needed seven stitches to close a gash on his right cheek.The Islanders angered coach Al Arbour with their listless play in their 7-1 loss to the Flyers. In fact, Arbour was so angry that he declined to talk to the media after the game.ON THE ISLE&mdash;Mike Bossy&rsquo;s 19-game point-scoring streak was halted in Boston, where Doug Keans handed the Islanders their first shutout in 57 games &#9632;

Islanders Come To Expect The Unexpected

<div class="byline">BY DAVE KING</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05212/4853762-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="612" height="534"></div>On Jan. 16, all the players returned from two days off with renewed spirit and enthusiasm.At first, the coaches thought the recent 10-game Soviet series might be too taxing, both mentally and physically, for our players, but the spirit today showed that our fears are unfounded and the players, especially captain Dave Tippett, were on the ice like it was the first day of training camp. It is amazing how a couple of days means so much to individuals.<h2>Jan. 17</h2>There is a lot of controversy surrounding the team over the eligibility question. While we have tried to assure our players that they can only worry about what happens on the ice. I&rsquo;m sure it is on some of their minds. The story that we are picking up Kelly Hrudey appears in the paper but, in fact, we are not picking up Kelly Hrudey and are going with the two goaltenders we have, Darren Eliot and Mario Gosselin.<h2>Jan. 18</h2>We concentrate today on getting to play the final two games against Team USA. The coaches realize how important this 12-game series has been to our preparation for the forthcoming Olympic Games. Team USA has had a stable lineup and have improved as the year has gone on. We are anxious to see what the addition of Russ Courtnail and Kirk Muller will mean to our lineup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01612/4853755-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="296" height="363"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave King&rsquo;s Coach&rsquo;s Diary</figcaption></div><h2>Jan. 19</h2>Team USA beat us 5-3 tonight, but overall the coaches were happy with the performance of our team. We were ahead 3-2 in the final period, but were unable to hold onto the lead and some of that might have been due to our travel schedule. After leaving Calgary at 6:30 a.m., we did not arrive in Minneapolis until 4:30 due to mechanical problems on one of the planes.Pleasing to us tonight was the fact we played without five regulars&mdash;Joe Grant, George Servinis and Gord Sherven, out with injuries, and James Patrick and Pat Flatley, whom we rested&mdash;and still came within a goal of Team USA (the last goal was an empty-netter). We were able to get a good look at newcomer Don Dietrach on defense. Don played extremely well and may be the steadying influence that we have lacked on the blueline since the unfortunate injury to Joe Grant.Up front, Kirk Muller and Russ Courtnail continue to impress with their speed and puck sense. The other two newcomers, Vaughn Karpan and Bruce Keller, are industrious, twoway hockey players who never look out of place. The coaches are constantly amazed at the willpower and determination of our captain, Dave Tippett. He is the only player to have played in every game and continues to excel at forechecking and faceoffs. It seems that Tippett&rsquo;s line, regardless of who plays on the wings, always has a good night.<h2>Jan. 20</h2>We practise in Minneapolis before leaving for Milwaukee and note that there are many NHL scouts watching us. It seems that the high school hockey in Minnesota has become an extremely important area for NHL teams to scout. The fact that we are in the area lets them kill two birds with one stone.Although the team is based in Calgary, the most noticeable thing about this trip so far has been the cold weather. Our daily joggers, including the coaching staff, physiotherapist Craig Gattinger and co-ordinator Doug Kelcher, look like mummies from the past as they bundle up for the run. Even the Minnesota natives comment on how unsually cold the weather has been.<h2>Jan. 21</h2>Team USA 8, Team Canada 2. Who could believe it? It was 6-0 after the first period and it seemed like we couldn&rsquo;t do anything right. Our penalty killing was awful (four power-play goals in seven chances) and while our power play scored once in seven times, it also gave up one shorthanded goal.The coaching staff met after the game and while we know it is only one game, it was difficult to find anything positive to think about.<h2>Jan. 22</h2>We travel back to Calgary for our second last practise before leaving for Europe and the Olympics. We are planning on taking 23 players and and must make a decision on which 20 we will select for competition in the Olympics after we play an exhibition game in Germany. It will be extremely difficult to cut anyone at this late date but Olympic rules state that you must declare 18 players and two goaltenders. There are no substitutions for injured players after the Olympics start.<h2>TEAM CANADA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03346/4853748-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="535" height="763"></div><h2>GOALTENDERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04256/4853741-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="553" height="92"></div> &#9632;

f0022-05

Tippett Typifies Renewed Spirit After Break

<div class="byline">BY LOU VAIRO</div>We played five games in seven days as our long, demanding preparatory schedule winds down. While two players, John Harrington and Corey Millen, returned to the lineup after long absences, two others have left the team.After our home game against the Montana Magic (a 4-3 overtime loss during which Marc Behrend was excellent in goal), I met with Kurt Kleinendorst and Rich Costello about something that had been bothering me for some time. They are both super kids who worked as hard as they could, but things just didn&rsquo;t go right for them.We had an amiable meeting and I told them that the coaches thought they had not performed up to the levels we expected of them. Costello had some injuries and important off-ice decisions to make&mdash;-he got married in December&mdash;and Kurt was also bothered by a shoulder separation. Athletes have tough years sometimes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02441/4853793-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="298" height="359"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lou Vairo&rsquo;s Coach&rsquo;s Corner</figcaption></div>Both players were among those we had given commitments to about being named to the final 20-man Olympic roster. I told them we would honor our commitments and do our best to prepare them for the Games if that&rsquo;s what they wanted, but that they would be taking the place of two players who deserved to be on the team based on their season&rsquo;s performance.We wanted to give Kurt and Rich an opportunity to look at other options available to them. Neither was sure the Olympic team was what they really wanted to do. Both knew they wanted to play pro hockey. So by mutual agreement, out of conscience for all concerned, they left the team. Rich immediately signed with Toronto and played against the North Stars the very next night. Kurt reported to Tulsa and hopes to make it with the New York Rangers. We wish both of them the best of luck in their pro careers.Our next game was in front of a packed house in Tulsa. The team played with good intensity and Bob Mason played very well in that game that was goalless until Tulsa got a deflection goal with less than two minutes left in the game. An empty netter and John Vanbiesbrouck&rsquo;s 40 saves made it a 2-0 game, Tulsa&rsquo;s second win over us this season. Though we were without Pat LaFontaine, Chris Chelios and Tom Hirsch for the game, we were satisfied with the effect but not the result.LaFontaine returned from the flu in our Salt Lake City home game (a 6-2 win), as did Chelios and Millen, who is back from mononucleosis. While he must get in shape for the Olympics, Millen must avoid a relapse and we are concerned with exhausting him.Harrington returned from his broken wrist in our game at Michigan State (another 6-2 win). He scored a goal in the game but his wrist is still sore and not as flexible as he&rsquo;d like. He needs to play now and get his timing and conditioning back. Michigan State is as fine a college team as we&rsquo;ve faced and appears to be one of the top teams in the nation. They have a nice program.From East Lansing we bused to Kalamazoo for the International Hockey League&rsquo;s all-star luncheon. They put on a great show, honoring both teams and the IHL. In front of a packed K-Wing Stadium crowd, the IHL allstars showed that league has excellent quality players as they deserved their 6-4 win. We were disappointed with our inconsistent defensive play but the night was a great one for the IHL and hockey in general.Over 100 media people met us in East Lansing and Kalamazoo, as has been the case most of the places we have gone. We have had a hard time saying &ldquo;no&rdquo; to them because we realize the importance of the positive exposure hockey is receiving, but it gets to be something of a distraction to the team.It&rsquo;s almost over, though! &#9632;

f0022-02

Costello, Kleinendorst Wanted To Turn Pro

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01556/4853824-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal coach Bob Berry was smoking after back-to-back home losses, in which the Habs failed to give a 60-minute effort.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Bob Berry has delivered the message to his struggling team: Mr. Nice Guy is taking a hiatus.But will his players understand?The Canadiens, who are floundering at or under. 500, drew the ire of their coach and their fans following back-to-back home-ice losses to New Jersey and Philadelphia.&ldquo;We wait until the game is lost before we get mad,&rdquo; Berry stormed at a postpractice press briefing after the Philadelphia debacle. &ldquo;What the hell good does it do to get mad in the last minute or two? Why aren&rsquo;t we mad all along? Why do we allow ourselves to get pushed around?&rdquo;Berry ran his team through a tough 90-minute drill on the eve of a trip to Hartford, where the Canadiens overcame the Whalers 3-2. He warned his boys that if they didn&rsquo;t start producing, the workouts will become longer and rougher.&ldquo;We vary the drills we do to make things interesting,&rdquo; Berry added. &ldquo;What we ask in return is a 100 per cent effort during the games.&rdquo;But Berry and assistant coaches Jacques Lemaire and Jacques Laperriere are not getting the full effort. Against Phi-ladelphia, the Canadiens held a 2-0 lead before the game was barely four minutes old. Then the Flyers took over and went on to record their second victory in as many starts over Montreal this season, both at the Forum.&ldquo;We played about 10 minutes tonight,&rdquo; snorted one veteran player. &ldquo;How can we expect to win games by playing 10 minutes?&rdquo;Berry isn&rsquo;t blaming all of his players. On some nights, though, it seems as though 10 or 11 players are doing the job and the next night it will be a different group. No consistency.Berry and his coaches make certain that videotapes are available for his players to go over the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. In other words, the coaches are doing about all they can do.Lemaire says that&rsquo;s 25 per cent of the preparation; the players have to provide the other 75 per cent.&ldquo;On game days, they are out shopping or running errands, but not preparing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t become winners with hour-a-day players.&rdquo;The Canadiens may have received a stay of Berry&rsquo;s plan to execute longer workouts by defeating Hartford for the fifth time in as many meetings this season. Once again, it wasn&rsquo;t easy because the Canadiens were not totally involved for 60 minutes.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s been our problem all year,&rdquo; said defenseman Craig Ludwig, who popped the game-winning goal in the second period. &ldquo;We tried to do the best we could against Hartford and we knew that it would be a tough game. Every time we have played them, it has been getting tougher and tougher all the time.&ldquo;We had something to prove to ourselves, especially after losing three in a row. We had to prove that we could play 60 minutes and played maybe 50 or 55. You can&rsquo;t say that&rsquo;s great, but it was better than the last three games we played. If we can get some consistency, maybe we will start to peak at the right time of the season.&rdquo;The five victories over the Whalers are basically the difference between the Canadiens being a fourth-place instead of a fifth-place team. Last season the Whalers were able to defeat Montreal in three of the four games at the Civic Center, but this season, all the losses at home have been by a goal.Rick Wamsley was in the Montreal goal for the loss to Philadelphia and the victory over Hartford. What happened to the plan to use Steve Penney?Penny was recalled from the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, where he was 6-8 with a 9.73 goals-against average. All he did in the games against Philadelphia and Hartford was put on uniform No. 37 and sit at the end of the bench and watch Wamsley in action while Richard Sevigny was relegated to a press-box seat. Penney returned to Halifax to replace Greg Moffett, who suffered a dislocated shoulder, without playing a game.That doesn&rsquo;t make a whole lot of sense, does it?IN PASSING&mdash;Bobby Smith snapped a 14-game goalless drought with his 20th of the season in Hartford&hellip;Perry Turnbull suffered a charley horse in a collision with Hartford&rsquo;s Joel Quenneville in the first period&hellip;Mark Hunter hopes to be playing some time after the All-Star game. The third-year right winger hasn&rsquo;t played since Oct. 29&hellip;Managing director Serge Savard missed the Philadelphia loss while scouting U.S. college players in the U.S. midwest. There was speculation by some that he was really in Moscow, trying to negotiate the release of goaltender Vladislav Tretiak&hellip;Mario Tremblay was admitted to hospital after a rash on his foot became infected. Tremblay was forced to miss the game in Hartford and a Saturday night home game against the Calgary Flames&hellip;The Canadiens fans were not surprised with the lack of attention given their heros in the Prince of Wales Conference All-Star voting. Larry Robinson finished 13th in the voting on defense while Bill Root received a third-place vote. Mats Naslund and Ryan Walter received minimal consideration at left wing. &#9632;

f0023-01

Berry Delivers Message: No More Mr. Nice Guy

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>H&B 100 YEARSLouisville HockeyMONCTON&mdash;His fortunes have changed dramatically and Alpine goalie Mike Zanier is trying to make the most of an opportunity he worked hard to get.Zanier is living proof that perseverance and dedication to an objective can pay off. A year ago, he was tending goal for the senior league team in his hometown of Trail, B.C., and wondering what was in store for him in the future. Now, he&rsquo;s the top-ranked rookie goaltender in the American League with a legitimate chance to have a career in professional hockey. His foot is in the door that previously had been closed to him.&ldquo;Last year I worked on a lot of things and I had a pretty good year,&rdquo; Zanier said. &ldquo;I decided to give it one more shot, just so I wasn&rsquo;t kicking myself in 10 years about whether maybe I could have or maybe I couldn&rsquo;t have.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Last year I worked on a lot of things and I had a pretty good year. I decided to give it one more shot just so I wasn&rsquo;t kicking myself in 10 years about whether maybe I could have or maybe 1 couldn&rsquo;t have.&rsquo;</blockquote>Taking that final shot involved writing to all 21 National Hockey League teams asking for a tryout. Many teams re-sponded thanking him for his interest, but only the Edmonton Oilers offered him a chance to attend their training camp last fall.John Blackwell, the Oilers&rsquo; director of junior operations, remembered Zanier from the days in the Western Hockey League, and checked to see how he fared in senior play. Blackwell saw a 4.01 goals-against average, received some favorable reports and took the necessary steps to invite Zanier to camp.&ldquo;I was fortunate enough to get a tryout with Edmonton,&rdquo; Zanier said. &ldquo;I went in good shape, had a good camp and things have gone from there.&rdquo;While it hasn&rsquo;t exactly been a smooth rise since training camp, Zanier has managed to hang on to his spot on the Moncton roster and sports a 3.27 GAA and a 6-7-0 record. Along the way he&rsquo;s had to deal with being part of Moncton&rsquo;s three-goalie system and having to sit out a six-game suspension handed out by AHL president Jack Butterfield for spearing Remi Gagne in a game against Nova Scotia.On the brighter side, Zanier was impressive enough in training camp to stick with Edmonton far longer than might be expected and he was recalled to the NHL team for 10 days in December to serve as a backup to Grant Fuhr. He didn&rsquo;t play a minute for Edmonton, but gained an appreciation for major league play, something he feels is beneficial.The rise and fall of goalie Marco Baron&rsquo;s fortunes this season have had a direct impact on Zanier&rsquo;s progress, Moncton coach Doug Messier said. With Baron, who was on loan from the Boston Bruins, and Chris Smith handling the goaltending, Zanier saw very little action in the early part of the season and was very nearly sent to International League to get some work.&ldquo;Just about the time we were considering sending Mike to Milwaukee, Marco Baron had a groin injury and that gave Mike an opportunity to get into some games,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;He proved that he was pretty capable of stopping pucks in this league. That was a start. And when Marco was traded to Los Angeles we were trying to decide what to do without three goaltenders. I guess sometimes it&rsquo;s where you&rsquo;re at that counts.&rdquo;During the last few years, Zanier has been made a number of stops. His junior career was marked by movement to teams around the WHL. He finished with coach Doug Sauter, now the Springfield Indians&rsquo; coach, at Calgary. Zanier credits Sauter with helping him with his standup style and giving him confidence. Despite that strong finish, Zanier was undrafted and unwanted in 1982.He went home, played with the senior team, got some coaching from his father, Remo Zanier, who once was a goaltender in the 1HL with Fort Wayne, and started writing letters. The combination of those factors have given him a shot in the pros and silenced some doubters.&ldquo;I heard that a lot of people said behind my back, &lsquo;Oh, he&rsquo;ll never make it,&rsquo;&rdquo; Zanier said. &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t bother me because I&rsquo;ve had that said all along and there are a few other friends of mine that are playing in the NHL or in junior and having good years and people said that about them. It just might give you that something to shoot for, maybe that little extra to work for. Like, I showed them.&ldquo;For me, it&rsquo;s something I always wanted to do, so I&rsquo;m just enjoying it and hoping the best will come.&rdquo;AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;The player moves between Detroit and Adirondack continue, with Ted Nolan, Brad Smith being sent down. The Wings also swapped goalies with their AHL affiliates, sending Corrado Micalef to Adir-ondack and calling up veteran Ken Holland. Adirondack bounced back from a loss to Springfield at home that brought to an end a 10-game home unbeaten streak with back-to-back wins over Sherbrooke. Adirondack lost a road game at Rochester, a place they haven&rsquo;t won at in two seasons, but opened a swing through the Maritimes with a 4-4 tie at Moncton., The Alpines have been slowed by the loss of three top forwards, Ray Cote, Tom Gorence and Tom Rowe. Cote and Gorence remain with Edmonton, while Rowe is still out with a neck injury&hellip;Sherbrooke has added Kevin Primeau and Luc Bachand to the roster. Both players are left wingers. Primeau has been out since November with a back injury. Bachand, who played his junior hockey in Sherbrooke, signed an amateur tryout contract&hellip;Fredericton continued to roll along with three consecutive wins over slumping Nova Scotia. The Vees, who are 3-14-1 since Dec. 11, have had problems generating a consistent offense.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01517/4853855-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="588" height="1124"><figcaption class="caption-body">A year ago Mike Zanier was tending goal for the senior team in his hometown.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Perseverance, Dedication Pays Off For Moncton Rookie Goalie Zanier

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;The Chicago Black Hawks and Philadelphia Flyers started running regular airline flights out of Springfield earlier this month and the Indians have looked like Southern Division contenders ever since.So on the day after the Indians tied a 22-year-old team record by going nine games without a loss (7-0-2). the Canadian Olympic Hockey team decided to take a chunk out of the Tribe.A few more call-ups and the American Hockey League might just award coach Doug Sauter&rsquo;s team the Calder Cup.The Indians announced that defenseman Don Dietrich, 22, would join the Canadian team, pending the Canadian committee&rsquo;s eligibility ruling on minor-league pros. If Dietrich sticks, he won&rsquo;t be returned until Feb. 21 or 22.&ldquo;Being selfish, I want him to stay,&rdquo; Sauter said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s a great opportunity for him and frankly, I&rsquo;m a little envious.&rdquo;The AHL South is starting to view Sauter with envy. Despite the string of player movements, the third-place Indians have entered into a fight for second with the Rochester Amerks.Philadelphia promoted Len Hach-born and Ross Fitzpatrick. Then Chicago called up Dietrich and Tom McMurchy, the latter of whom is still on recall.Through it all, the Indians kept winning. They built their unbeaten streak by nipping Southern Division-leading Baltimore 5-4 at home, tying Moncton 3-3 at home, tying 3-3 in in Maine and winning 7-6 in Hershey.&ldquo;Everyone has beared down a little harder,&rdquo; Sauter said. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t changed our style of play, but we&rsquo;ve played much better defensively in the last month or so. We&rsquo;ve gotten real strong goaltending from Bob Janecyk and Gil Hudon.&rdquo;The recalling of key players from a minor-league team often provides a lift to those on the second rung of the depth chart. When Dietrich was promoted to Chicago, Steve Blyth filled in with six superb games.AROUND THE SOUTH&mdash;Rochester, which has won four of its last five games to stay ahead of Springfield, are 3-1 in coach Joe Crozier&rsquo;s absence. Crozier was released from Strong Memorial Hospital on Jan. 17 and will be recuperating from bouts of dizziness and fatigue at home until Jan. 25, when he is expected to return behind the bench when the Amerks host New Haven at the War Memorial.Left wing-assistant coach Yvon Lambert and goalie-assistant coach Phil Myre split the four games behind the bench, but there was little doubt Lambert was left in charge of the team. Buffalo Sabre assistant general manager Bucky Kane was assigned by GM Scotty Bowman to oversee the running of the minor-league affiliate in Crozier&rsquo;s absence, but Lambert ran the show while in uniform.Right winger Mai Davis, who was leading the league in goals and points, and defenseman Dave Fenyves were summoned to Buffalo under emergency conditions. Rookie right winger Normand Lacombe, 18, one of Buffalo&rsquo;s three first-round draft picks, became the fifth Amerk on the injury list (Geordie Robertson. Chris Langevin, Randy Cunneyworth and Tom St. James are the others) when his knee locked in the game with the Whalers. Lacombe, who suffered tom cartilage in his left knee, will be on crutches a minimum of eight weeks and may be lost for the season. The Amerks have signed defenseman Rick Hampton, 27, who played last year in Switzerland, and left winger Rick Goodfellow. 21, to amateur tryouts. They recalled center Clint Fehr and wing Lee Keller from the International Hockey League.Binghamton&rsquo;s Ross Yates&mdash;who saw his 20-game scoring streak stopped by Hershey&mdash;made his fourth trip of the season to Hartford as a replacement for injured Whaler center Ron Francis. The AHL Whalers have added left wingers Steve Stoyanovich and Norm Dupont on assignment by Hartford. Binghamton set a record last week when 9,290 fans visited the Broome County Arena for two straight dates with the Famous San Diego Chicken. Before a sellout 4,855, the Whalers knocked off Rochester 5-2. The next afternoon, 4,345 saw Binghamton and Hershey skate to a 2-2 tie.New Haven thumped Moncton twice at home, 6-1 and 6-2, then lost 6-2 to visiting Rochester. The parent Los Angeles Kings recalled goalie Markus Mattsson. who had won six of his last eight games for coach Nick Beverley, and left winger Phil Sykes. Demoted from Los Angeles were goalie Mike Blake, left winger Brian MacLellan and center Warren Holmes. Right winger Brock Tredway was named the AHL player of the week after averaging two points per game in the Hawks&rsquo; last four contests. Tredway&rsquo;s goal and three assists sparked the 6-1 win over the Alpines.Hershey went 2-0-1 against rivals Binghamton and St. Catharines to move past the Saints and into fifth place. Washington summoned Pat Riggin and returned goalie Dave Par-ro. Goalie Mike Moffat returned from Boston.St. Catharines center Mike Kas-zycki and defenseman Garry Lariviere each missed two games with hamstring pulls, but were expected to return to the lineup soon. Defenseman Craig Muni will be out another two weeks with a partially separated shoulder.Baltimore, which has won three of their last four on the road, signed center Dan McCarthy after the completion of his 25-game amateur tryout. The division leaders&rsquo; only loss was 5-4 at Springfield. &#9632;

Another Indian May Be Leaving The Tribe

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>KALAMAZOO&mdash;The International Hockey League wanted to prove a point&mdash;and it did.&ldquo;I think we showed the IHL can play hockey,&rdquo; said Toledo&rsquo;s Bill Inglis, shortly after the IHL all-stars outlasted Team USA 6-4 in Wing Stadium.&ldquo;The IHL has lived under a stigma for a long time and unjustly so,&rdquo; said Inglis, who coached the IHL all-stars along with Kalamazoo&rsquo;s J.P. Leblanc. &ldquo;We wanted to prove something tonight and I think we did.&rdquo;Asked if the &ldquo;stigma&rdquo; was the reputation of a hatchet league, Inglis answered, &ldquo;Yes. But I know it&rsquo;s not&mdash;at least not now.&rdquo;The all-stars, who played the 1980 gold medal-winning USA team to a 4-4 tie. never trailed and twice led by two goals. The Olympians trailed 5-4 after two periods and could never pull even and the all-stars put the game away with an empty-net goal with one second of playing time remaining.Scott Gruhl, one of two Muskegon players named to the all-star squad, was the star of the game with a pair of goals, including the winner. Neil Hawryliw, Gruhl&rsquo;s teammate, scored the empty-net goal.The league general managers selected the first 12 all-stars by vote and Inglis and Leblanc selected the other eight to complete a 20-player team.Pat LaFontaine was the Olympians&rsquo; star with two goals and was named his team&rsquo;s most valuable player. Gruhl was the all-stars&rsquo; MVP.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty difficult for a team to play at its peak when each opposing team you play plays at its emotional peak,&rdquo; said Olympic coach Lou Vairo. &ldquo;This was a good hockey game. The other team played very well and deserved to win. It was a treat for us to play before a crowd like this (5,284, a sellout) and it was another learning experience for us.&rdquo;As the league returns to regular competition, Milwaukee continues atop but Fort Wayne is becoming a definite threat to second-place Toledo. Currently the hottest team in the league. Fort Wayne has pulled to within one point of the Goaldiggers. Kalamazoo, also on a hot streak, has also become a strong contender.Prior to the all-star break, Fort Wayne won five straight, including three on the road. One of the road victories was a 4-3 triumph in Toledo, which cut the Diggers&rsquo; lead over third-place Fort Wayne to a single point.All the news wasn&rsquo;t good, however, as center Ron Leef suffered a fractured finger in the game at Toledo and will be out for about 10 days. The injury prevented Leef from playing in the all-star game.The Komets have been playing so well that Ullyot put veteran right winger Barry Scully on waivers and he was claimed by Muskegon. The 27-year-old Scully led the league in goals scored three consecutive years, scoring 60 or more. When Scully injured his knee in the first game of the season and missed 20 games. Since his return, Scully has played in 19 games and has eight goals, below what Ullyot believes is his potential.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Barry seems to have lost a step and he doesn&rsquo;t ge his shot away like he used to. We have three lines and I just didn&rsquo;t feel we could use him.&rsquo;</blockquote>&ldquo;Barry seems to have lost a step and he doesn&rsquo;t get his shot away like he used to,&rdquo; said Ullyot. &ldquo;We have three lines working well and 1 just didn&rsquo;t feel we could use him. He played very well for us and I wish him well. &ldquo;KALAMAZOO&mdash;The K-Wings have also won five straight and have slipped ahead of Flint in fourth place. Included among the games during the week, was a 6-2 win in Peoria. At home, the Wings whipped Milwaukee 6-1 and Flint 10-4. Mike Clarke, obtained from Fort Wayne in a trade, has added instant offense to the Wing attack. Clarke scored a pair of goals and picked up two assists in his first two games in a Wing uniform.MILWAUKEE&mdash;The Admirals continued to struggle winning only once in three games. All three games were on the road, however. The Ads lost 6-1 at Kalamazoo and 5-4 at Peoria. The one win was a 6-5 thriller at Muskegon.TOLEDO&mdash;The Goaldiggers played twice at home and lost 3-0 to Flint and Fort Wayne followed with a 4-3 triumph.FLINT&mdash;The Generals split a pair with the highlight being a 3-0 shutout in Toledo. Rick Knickle recorded the shutout while Pete Horachek scored twice and Jeff Pyle added the other. In Flint&rsquo;s other game, Kalamazoo won 10-4.PEORIA&mdash;The Prancers slipped to sixth place while splitting a pair&mdash;6-2 at home against Kalamazoo, but rebounding to edge first place Milwaukee 5-4.MUSKEGON&mdash;The Mohawks still trail the field and are hoping the addition of Scully will add enough punch offensively to turn things around. The Hawks lost two more at home during the week, 5-2 to Fort Wayne and 6-5 to Milwaukee. &#9632;

International League Proves Point

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>H&B 100 YEARSLouisville HockeyDENVER&mdash;Expansion was the chief topic of discussion during the recent semi-annual meeting of Central Hockey League governors and, according to president Bud Poile, &ldquo;For the first time in at least eight years the board is serious about that.&rdquo;&bull; So serious, in fact, that the league&rsquo;s board of governors have approved an operating budget for the four members selected to the expansion committee.In addition to Poile, committee members are Larry Gordon, owner of the Montana Magic; Dean Acord, co-owner at Salt Lake City; and Ron Pietrafeso, Colorado Flames&rsquo; executive vicepresident.The league governors are determined to field an eight-team format for the 1984-85 season, Poile reported, and they want two divisions&mdash;an East and a West.&ldquo;They have given us (the committee) amandate,&rdquo; Poile continued. &ldquo;That is to get four cities in the East and four in the West. That would help our travel planning and would establish rivalries within divisions.&rdquo;Several cities were represented&mdash;directly or indirectly&mdash;during the conference, with Louisville, KY. and Omaha considered the prime candidates to join the league.Both those cities have been mentioned by St. Louis Blues&rsquo; owner Harry Omest as possible sites for his team&rsquo;s top minorleague club. The Blues presently have a working arrangement with Gordon&rsquo;s Magic at Billings, MT, but Omest wants his own franchise and he wants it in &ldquo;the East.&rdquo;In addition to Louisville and Omaha, Ornest reportedly was considering Kansas City and Cincinnati. The latter, however, was rather quickly dismissed by Poile as a possible expansion site.&ldquo;We definitely are not interested in Cincinnati,&rdquo; he stated.Cincinnati, of course, had a team in the former World Hockey Association and it has had two shots at the CHL without success. The CHL Stingers were aligned with Hartford during the 1979-80 season as part of a nine-team lineup. But the franchise folded after 33 games.The league went along with a Toronto-backed Cincinnati franchise during the 1981-82 season, which also had nine teams competing. Despite the competitiveness of the team&mdash;it finished one point behind North Division winner Salt Lake&mdash;the Tigers played mostly in front of concession vendors and the organ player.As a result, Toronto shut down the operation at the end of that season and the league&rsquo;s governors don&rsquo;t appear too an-xious to gamble on Cincinnati again.That would seem to put Louisville in the driver&rsquo;s seat. Situated some 100 miles south of Indianapolis, it would add a natural rivalry for the Checkers. The two cities have a long history of basketball rivalry and, only recently, a spirited baseball competition. Both cities have teams in the Triple-A American Association. Louisville, incidentally, is a farm team for baseball&rsquo;s St. Louis Cardinals.A Blues move to Louisville would seem natural.That leaves Omaha, where two sites have been mentioned as possible playing areas: Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum and the older facility in downtown Omaha.Omaha also has a CHL background. The old Knights were associated with Montreal, the New York Rangers and Atlanta between 1963 and 1975.An East Division next season, then, could include two current franchises (Indianapolis and Tulsa) and Louisville and Omaha. And when Poile mentions &ldquo;West,&rdquo; he&rsquo;s talking way out west.Salt Lake and Montana could be joined by Spokane and Anchorage.&ldquo;I know it (Alaska) sounds farfetched,&rdquo; Poile admitted, &ldquo;but Larry (Gordon) was there last month during a college tournament and they draw about 8,000 fans a game. He thinks it would be a good location.&rdquo;Other cities have also been mentioned, including Colorado Springs, CO, which would set up a natural competition between that city and the Denver-based Colorado Flames. That is a longshot, Poile admits, perhaps even more farfetched than Anchorage.The league has also directed Poile to look into Milwaukee as a possible expansion site. Milwaukee, of course, is a member of the International League, of which Poile is commissioner. That would be another longshot, he explained, &ldquo;but they want me to investigate the possibility.&rdquo;Ostensibly, the four NHL teams sponsoring franchises in the CHL would continue&mdash;the Islanders and Rangers out of New York, Minnesota and Calgary&mdash;and would be joined by St. Louis. Poile then would hope such teams in the Midwest or West (Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver or Chicago, for example) might be interested in moving their development teams closer to home.The committee is to report to the league with its recommendations before the Adams Cup playoffs begin (around April 1) and decisions will be made before the playoffs end, Poile noted.Concerning the playoffs, the board approved a best-of-seven semi-final playoff round pairing the No. 1 and No. 4 and Nos. 2 and 3. The championship round also will be a best-of-seven format.CHL CHAT&mdash;The Indianapolis Checkers, who ended the 1983 portion of the season with an embarrassing 1-13-1 road mark, climbed above the. 500 level for the first time this season by capturing four straight road contests&mdash;three of them in three different cities inside of 68 hours&hellip;Tulsa had some major lineup changes. Top scorers Dave Barr and Mikko Leinonen were recalled by the Rangers and Mike Blaisdell and veteran center Robbie Ftorek joined the Oilers., Montana&rsquo;s John Markell is having his best pro season. His game-winning overtime goal Jan. 11 completed his third hat trick of the season and it gave the Magic a victory over the U.S. Olympic team.At Montana, meanwhile, Cary Eades underwent successful surgery to correct a dislocated vertebrae but will be out for the remainder of the season. Doctors say he may be back next year&hellip;Forward Rob Tudor, who began the season in Cologne. West Germany, has returned to the U.S. and is back at Salt Lake where, a season ago, he was the Eagles&rsquo; most valuable player as well as the team&rsquo;s most popular player. &#9632;

Poile Outlines Plans For Future Expansion

<div class="byline">BY PAT LYON</div>ERIE&mdash;With this city in danger of losing its hockey club, North Penn Sports came to the rescue to keep the Golden Blades in town.Erie physician Dr. John Caruso and Long Island businessman Ben Kasper told Atlantic Coast Hockey League commissioner Ray Miron they were no longer interested in keeping the Blades going and the search went on for new investors.In stepped former Blade coach Jim Mikol and Erie businessman Steve Stroul, who purchased the club from Caruso and Kasper. The deal was put together quickly with the new owners taking control in principle just in time for Erie&rsquo;s Dec. 22nd home game against Pine Bridge.Following the Christmas holidays the deal was confirmed and the new group, which called itself North Penn Sports, officially assumed ownership of the team.Mikol is an Erie golf professional who coached the Blades to a second-place finish in the ACHL last season while Stroul is involved in business in the Erie area.The sale of the club finished the long relationship that Cruso and Kasper enjoyed as owners of the Blades. Caruso first became involved in Erie hockey when he purchased the club in March, 1977 when they were a member of the North American Hockey League. He had been the owner while the Blades were members of four different hockey leagues including the North Eastern, Eastern, American and Atlantic Coast Hockey circuits.The change in ownership does not affect the status of general managercoach Bill Horton who will continue in his duties, but the group was in the process of hiring new front-office personnel.Mikol is enjoying going from coaching to owning a hockey team.&ldquo;It feels great, it&rsquo;s a lot of excitement, but it&rsquo;s a hell of a lot of work also,&rdquo; said the new owner. &ldquo;Things are working pretty good right now, I&rsquo;m running the hockey part of it and Steve is running the financial part of it.&rdquo;Despite previous losses by the hockey team, Mikol feels the club will be a suc-ceess.&ldquo;I think Erie has a definite future in hockey,&rdquo; stressed Mikol. &ldquo;If we didn&rsquo;t think there was a hockey future in Erie we wouldn&rsquo;t have taken over.&rdquo;In an effort to increase attendance, Stroul and Mikol chopped the price of tickets for children and senior citizens and also planned several promotion nights including a pro-college hockey doubleheader.LEAGUE WRAPUP&mdash;Erie&rsquo;s Michel Cote continues to tear up the league after returning to the lineup from a shoulder injury. In his first nine games back, Cote was hitting nearly three points per outing with 16 goals and nine assists. In other Erie player news, Dave Herbst returned to the Blades after leaving the club for 13 games and Sylvain Cote was suspended for 20 games by commissioner Ray Miron after an altercation with referee Al Goodman&hellip;Mohawk Valley playing assistant coach Rich Suwek made his head coaching debut a success with a 6-5 victory over the Blades. Suwek guided the team after coach Rick Ley was suspended for one game after pulling his team off the ice in a game at Erie. The Stars played an exhibition game with the Connecticut Riggers in Bridgeport earning a 10-4 victory. Bridgeport is expected to be a top contender for an expansion team for the 198485 season&hellip;Despite the loss of three of their top players, Carolina Thunderbirds continue to hold the top spot in the league. Dave Watson, Greg Squires and Jerry Ingram are all nursing injuries and have been lost to the club. Ben Laporte. Kim Elliott and Peter Dunk-ley have performed well in their absence. The T-Birds lost Michel Lanouette as he became a member of Sherbrooke in the American League and Rick Dudley returned to the team after getting the Virginia Lancers off on the right foot. Jim Warden will continue as coach, Dudley working as general manager&hellip;Virginia&rsquo;s Stan Gulutzan was named the league&rsquo;s player of the week after getting consecutive hat tricks. Virginia has solidified its goaltending with the acquisition of Gilles Heroux, who is under contract to Mon-treal and played earlier with Nova Scotia in the AHL&hellip;Pine Bridge&rsquo;s Ken Latta was another player wielding a hot hockey stick wth back-to-back hat tricks. After a slow start, new coach Frank Perkins has the Bucks playing more consistently as their 3-3 record in the last six games shows. Perkins got some help in net as Montreal sent Dan Burrows to the Bucks. Burrows, who played in Nova Scotia and Flint, had yet to play a game since the Bucks were going mainly with netminder Steve Haittola. The Bucks waived goalie Dave Jamieson and forward Dave Dziedzic. &#9632;

Blades Escape A Close Shave

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>BOWLING GREEN&mdash;Sophomore left winger Gino Cavallini scored four goals and added two assists to account for six of the eight goals league-leading Bowling Green scored in sweeping Northern Michigan to highlight Central Collegiate Hockey Association action.Cavallini scored the winning goal and assisted on the insurance goal each night as Bowling Green won both games by the same 4-2 margin. Cavallini earned CCHA player of the week honors while he collected his third hat trick of the season in the opener.Cavallini used a pair of power-play goals in his three-goal performance and gave BG a 3-1 lead after two periods. He then set up linemate Dave Randerson for the fourth goal at 13:11 of the third period.In the rematch, Northern Michigan used goals by Morey Gare and Bob Curtis to take a 2-0 lead, but BG defenseman Dave Ellett&rsquo;s power-play goal at 2:34 of the third period tied the game and Caval-lini&rsquo;s goal from Randerson and John Samanski provided the win. Cavallini passed up an easy empty-net goal to assist Samanski for the final tally of the game.The Falcons will be missing leading scorer Dan Kane in the first game of the showdown series this weekend with Ohio State as Kane and NMU&rsquo;s Ron Brodeur were disqualified for high sticking in the late stages of the game.In other CCHA action, Western Michigan swept Michigan 5-4 in overtime and 7-1 as Dan Dorion collected eight points in the series, while the other three league series ended in splits.Ohio State&rsquo;s Paul Pooley, the leading scorer in the nation with 68 points, had his 41-game scoring streak snapped at Michigan Tech as the host Huskies won the opener 6-5, but Pooley bounced back with two goals in the 6-3 OSU win in the second game.Illinois-Chicago collected its third consecutive Friday night victory beating Ferris State 4-3 behind the hot third period goaltending of freshman Jim Hickey. UIC led 4-2 after two periods and Ferris State held a 25-4 shooting edge in the third period, but Hickey made 24 saves as the Flames held on for the victory. Ferris State took the second game 8-2.Lake Superior topped Miami 3-2 in the opener in Oxford, but the host Redskins won the second game 6-4, while in nonleague play Michigan State blasted Lowell 10-4 and 6-0.Dorion, who jumped into second place in the national scoring race with 59 points, had four goals and four assists in the Michigan series including three goals and three assists in the 7-1 game.In the opener in Kalamazoo, cocaptain Jim McCauley had a goal and three assists to account for all of the Wolverine scoring and he was robbed twice in overtime by Bronco junior Glenn Healy. Ray Dries had two goals for Michigan and Lance Johnston scored two for WMU, but it took a Chris Seychel goal with just 14 seconds left on the clock after Michigan goalie Mark Chiamp had been removed for an extra skater to send the game into overtime.Geordie Hamilton scored three goals for Michigan Tech in the series split against Ohio State, including the powerplay winner in the opener. Perry Pooley had two goals in the opener and Paul Pooley had two in the second game to pace the Buckeyes. MTU&rsquo;s Tiger Pierce made 40 saves in the 6-5 Huskie win with 21 in the third period.Illinois-Chicago scored all four of its goals in the second period of the opener to win 4-3 as Harry Armstrong&rsquo;s goal at 19:39 of the middle stanza provided the winning margin. Scott Seaver and Brent Weller each scored two goals for Ferris State in the second game and senior center Randy Merrifield chipped in with six assists for the weekend. Merrifield set a new Bulldog single season assist record moving his total to 43, breaking Jim Baker&rsquo;s mark of 39 set in 1979-80.Miami freshman center Dan Sojka scored four of his five career goals, two each night, to pace the Redskin offense in the split with Lake Superior. Coach Steve Cady put Sojka on a line with classmate Mike Martinec and senior Dave Wheeldon and Martinec collected five of his six career assists in the series.Allan Butler had three goals and five points to pace the Lakers at Miami.Michigan State scored in every period during the series with Lowell with junior Tom Anastos scoring his sixth shor-thanded goal of the year in the opener and collecting his third career hat trick in the second game. Leading scorer Bill Shi-bicky added six points to his total against the Chiefs.&rdquo;MSU freshman Bob Essensa recorded his second shutout of the season by making 24 saves. He blanked Northeastern 1-0 in his first career start.CCHA NOTES&mdash;While Ohio State&rsquo;s Paul Pooley had his scoring streak snapped at 41 games over the past two seasons, Western Michigan&rsquo;s Dan Dorion moved his streak to 31 games in the sweep over Michigan. Dorion is the only player in the CCHA to have scored a point in every game this season (28)&hellip;Michigan junior Mark Chiamp leads the CCHA in saves in in both league (609) and overall (751) play. Chiamp made 25 saves in the first period of the Saturday night game versus Western Michigan when the Broncos held a 28-8 edge in shots on goal. MSU has scored 18 shorthanded goals in 28 games this season. &#9632;

Cavallini Tips Hat In Bowling Green Sweep

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>MINNEAPOLIS&mdash;It appears they&rsquo;ll crown a new king in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.Defending league champion Minnesota, the favorite to win it again this year, had the opportunity to vault right back into title contention when league-leader North Dakota came calling.North Dakota came into the series with a five-point lead over the third-place Gophers, who swept North Dakota earlier in Minneapolis, taking a pair of one-goal decisions to temporarily move into the WCHA lead.But then the Gophers fell on some hard times and North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth both got hot, dropping the Gophers into the middle of the pack.A standing-room-only crowd of nearly 7,700 jammed Williams Arena in the opener, hoping to see another sweep by the Gophers. Minnesota coach Brad Buetow readily admitted earlier in the week that a sweep was exactly what the Gophers needed to realistically have a shot at the WCHA title.The Gophers may have gotten the sweep had it not been for the great play of a product of the state of Minnesota. North Dakota senior goaltender Jon Casey. Casey, who has posted the lowest goals-against average in the WCHA the past two seasons and is well on his way to repeating this year, turned back 39 of 40 Minnesota shots as North Dakota quickly put an end to any hopes of a sweep by the Gophers with a 3-1 victory in the series opener. Chris Jensen and Brian Williams collected first-period goals for the Sioux and Jim Archibald added the clinched with 2:58 left in the game, more than enough to offset Tom Rothstein&rsquo;s second-period goal for the Gophers.Minnesota remained five points out of first by winning the rematch 7-4 as North Dakota coach Gino Gasparini astounded another standing-room-only crowd by not playing Casey, the first time Casey has been rested in 18 league games.&ldquo;He was tired, more mentally than physically,&rdquo; Gasparini said. &ldquo;With the schedule we have ahead of us, it was time to give him a rest.&rdquo;Freshman Greg Strome performed admirably as Casey&rsquo;s replacement, making 36 saves, but the Gophers broke a 4-4 tie in the last period with three unanswered goals, the last one an open-better from 195 feet away by defenseman Tom Parenteau after Tony Kellin and Todd Okerlund scored two minutes apart early in the period to snap the tie.Gasparini said the play of Strome wasn&rsquo;t the reason the Sioux, who came into the series ranked second nationally, lost.&ldquo;Strome played well,&rdquo; Gasparini said. &ldquo;We were simply inefficient on the power play (the Sioux were one of nine) while Minnesota converted two of their five chances.&rdquo;The combination of North Dakota&rsquo;s split and yet another sweep by the amazing Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth reduced the Sioux&rsquo;s lead in the WCHA to a single point over the Bulldogs.And it turned all eyes in the WCHA on Duluth, where the Sioux and the Bulldogs were to do battle for first place Jan. 27-28 in a rematch of an earlier series in Grand Forks, won by North Dakota 6-4 and 7-2.Since then, nobody has been any hotter than the Bulldogs, who have gotten fine play from freshman goaltender Rick Kosti since he became eligible five games into the season.Duluth stretched its WCHA record to 11 wins in the last 12 games by polishing off Colorado College 4-3 and 8-2 in Colorado Springs, no easy chore this yeat against the improved Tigers, who have been playing much tougher than their 414 league record indicates. Mark Baron&rsquo;s hat trick paced Duluth in the opener.Duluth, which sports the top four scorers in the WCHA, unleashed some of thal firepower in the second game as the balanced Bulldogs got two goals from Tom Herzig and singles from Bruce Fishback. Bob Lakso, Matt Christiansen, Norm Maclver, Jim Johnson and Baron to simply overpower Colorado College, despite playing without WCHA scoring leader Bill Watson, who was held out with a slight concussion.With just four weeks left in the regular season in the WCHA, the battle between North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth could go to the wire with much of that hinging on the results when the two meet in Duluth. Duluth has an edge in scheduling, drawing Wisconsin, Colorado College and North Dakota for a two-game series in Duluth while making a weekend trip to Minnesota, where the Bulldogs swept the last time. North Dakota, besides playing at Duluth, must also play at Colorado College. The Sioux have four games left, meeting Wisconsin and Minnesota in Grand Forks. &#9632;

UND’s Casey Shows Where His Heart Lies,

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>BOSTON&mdash;Everybody&rsquo;s talking about RPI of the ECAC West and about the lively headknocking going on in the ECAC East among Boston College, Boston University, and New Hampshire. Well, they should. All four schools enjoyed superb first halves and. barring some unforseen disaster, will be among the playoff participants in March.But how about them Dawgs from Matthews Arena? Yes, Northeastern didn&rsquo;t fade into oblivion. They won the ECAC two years ago, the first time ever, though missed the playoffs last season. This year&rsquo;s edition of the Huntington Hounds has its problems, to be sure, with an occasionally philanthropic defense and an offense that&rsquo;s about as consistent as New England weather.However, two victories last week against Vermont and Cornell elevated NU to a fine 7-4-1 league record and 11-6-1 overall. It&rsquo;s good for fifth place in the 17 team-league, a somewhat precarious position, but the feeling on St. Botolph Street is that NU has hardly played its best hockey yet.Senior winger Bob Averill, who&rsquo;s been through the good times and some ad ones with this team, thinks that the Huskies need just a bit more consistency back on defense where his brother Jim, a junior, is the best NU defensive player this season. But he doesn&rsquo;t exonerate the offense either.&ldquo;Sometimes we get a few quick goals and everybody thinks it&rsquo;s going to be point night,&rdquo; said Bob Averill, who was the hero of the playoffs two years ago with, three game-winning goals. &ldquo;We forget to cover, the other teams get a goal or two and we start trying so hard that we can&rsquo;t buy a goal.&rdquo;The 7-5 win over Vermont is a case in point, though not as telling as the previous week&rsquo;s 9-8 win over St. Lawrence when a 9-4 NU lead evaporated in the third period. Against UVM, a powerplay goal by Roman Kinal opened the scoring at 4:11 of the first, followed by a pair of scores by Stewart Emerson. NU squandered the cushion giving the Catamounts two goals in less than a minute in the second period. The teams took three scoring pairs of goals thereafter, with Ken Manchurik getting two of NU&rsquo;s.Assistant coach Gary Fay isn&rsquo;t as tough on the defenders as is Bob Averill, saying that the rearguard corps hasn&rsquo;t played too badly in front of goalie Tim Markhall. The forwards need to come back with some consistency, he says, but adds that &ldquo;as Timmy Marshall goes, so goes Northeastern.&rdquo;Marshall, who has played all but a few non-league contests this year, is getting plenty of work. He finally got more help against Cornell as the team yielded a goal by Duanne Moeser at 9:22 of the first frame and stymied the Big Red the rest of the way. Marshall only made 28 stops, a total on the low side for him this year. Freshman Milan Mader&rsquo;s first collegiate goal got that one back later in the period and sophomore Rod Isbister scored twice.It was the first victory ever for Northeastern over Cornell, in the 10th game of a series dating back to 1966.RPI stretched its first-place margin slightly with a little help from upstart Yale. The Elis, floundering in the cellar since September, got a hat trick from sophomore Sean Neely in a 5-3 defeat of Boston College. That same evening, Colgate handed New Hampshire his first league loss of the season, 7-6, in Hamilton. A 43-save effort by Bruce Gillies in the RPI cage went for naught as Colgate rallied from a 4-3 deficit after two periods. Senior Steve Smith had a hat trick for the Red Raiders.Resting all week, RPI then blasted Colgate in a home-and-home weekend, winning 5-1 in Troy and 10-5 in Hamilton. Colgate took the early led the first night, but Terry Butryn tied the game early irr the second period and Mike Robinson, another freshman, got the game winner midway through the frame. Sophomore John Carter added a pair of insurance goals.The following evening at Hamilton, rookie Bob DiFrenio and senior Marty Dallman each had hat tricks in a 10-5 Engineer win that raised RPI&rsquo;s league slate to 8-2. More good news hit Troy as well, as George Servinis, last year&rsquo;s outstanding freshman, left the Canadian Olympic team and came back to school, although an injury will temporarily side-line him.New Hampshire journeyed to Boston College for the game of the week on Friday and the Eagles prevailed 5-4 in one of the fastest-paced, hardest-hitting tilts of the season. The lead seesawed back and forth for two periods and sophomore Jim Herlihy scored the only goal of the third frame, at 16:08, to win the game.Two nights later, Herlihy wore the hero&rsquo;s mantle as he slid a rebound past Vermont goalie Tom Draper at 3:11 of overtime to lift BC to another 5-4 win. Draper, a freshman, also made 44 saves in a losing effort. A bench penalty on UVM for too many men on the ice at 2:55 of overtime led to the game-winning score. BC raised its league mark to 11-3 with the victory, their seventh overtime triumph this year.Boston University and Providence didn&rsquo;t lost ground either. PC edged Maine 3-2 in Providence on defenseman Pete Taglianetti&rsquo;s goal at 12:33 of the second frame. BU took two of three on the road, nipping Dartmouth 5-4 in Hanover on Denis LaGarde&rsquo;s second goal of the game with 9:33 to play.BU then made the North Country swing and downed Clarkson 3-2. Peter Marshall&rsquo;s tally at 18:42 of the second period was the last goal of the game, as Cleon Daskalakis held the Knights goalless the rest of the way. The next night in Canton, BU ran out of gas and were thumped by St. Lawrence 6-2. Senior Dan Vaughan had a pair of goals as the Larries built a 4-0 lead through two periods and held off a rally. It was the first time since 1977 that BU had lost to St. Lawrence. &#9632;

Northeastern Win Blowing Marshall’s Way

&ldquo;Where readers get together to do business&rdquo;<h2>The Classified</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02309/4854082-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="348" height="437"></div><h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2>FREE OUR ALL new 1984 collector&rsquo;s catalog. Baseball & hockey sets, souvenirs & collectibles. Send your name & address (print clearly) to: Phil&rsquo;s Sports Collections, P.O. Box 27, Cheltenham, PA, 19012.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03199/4854075-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="600" height="301"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04136/4854068-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="600" height="317"></div><h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2>NEW HOCKEY CARD & premium price guide, $8.00 pp. Paul Lawrence, 1962 Queen St. E., Toronto, Ont. M4L 1H8.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05118/4854061-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="608" height="301"></div><h2>BOOKS</h2>GOALTENDING BY PROGRESSIONS as taught by Canadian Professional Hockey Schools. Send $5.00 to Box 487, Winnipeg, Man., R3C 2J3.<h2>COLLECTONS</h2>CARD SHOW: Sunday?, Feb. 12 84, Ramada Inn, 111 Carlton Street, Toronto, Ont., 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Contact Queens Comics 416) 698-8757<h2>AUDIO</h2>USA DEFEATS RUSSIA. Previously unreleased play-by-play of greatest Olympic thrill ever. Entire game. 60-minute audio cassettes. $16.99 + $1.00 handling each. Order now. Olympic Gold, 186 E. 75th St., New York, NY 10021.<h2>TOURNAMENTS</h2>FLORIDA HOCKEY: Enjoy a sunshine holiday plus exhibition games arranged with Senior A or Oldtimers teams. For more information contact: Rosaire Paiement, Coral Plaza Hotel, 2701 North Federal Hwy., Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 33306. (305I 565-6658.OTTAWA WEST MINOR bantam AA-AAA tournament. April 6-8, 1984 Contacl Mickie Bertrand, P.O. Box 5191, Station F. Ottawa, Ont., K2C 3H4. (613) 829-1307JOIN US FOR for our 8th annual Santa Barbara Memorial Day senior hockey tournament. For information contact: Frank Schepper, P.O. Box 246, Santa Barbara, CA, 93102.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0780/4854054-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="1854" height="1122"></div> &#9632;

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<h2>Player of the week</h2>The Bowling Green Falcons are once again a contender for the national crown and one reason they&rsquo;re doing so well is sophomore left winger Gino Cavallini.Cavallini, a 6-foot, 215-pounder from North York, Ont., is best known for his hard hits, but against Northern Michigan on the weekend ending Jan. 22, he collected four goals and two assists as the Falcons swept Northern Michigan.Cavallini notched a hat trick in the first game and scored the winning goals in both victories. It was the third time this season he scored a hat trick.Last season in 40 games, he scored eight goals and 16 assists with 52 penalty minutes. This season, after only 26 games, he alreadv has 15 goals and 14 assists<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01444/4854113-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="567" height="657"><figcaption class="caption-body">GINO CAVALLINI Bowling Green</figcaption></div>At the end of the season, THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Bauer College Player of the Year. &#9632;

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Bauer

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02376/4854280-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><h2>LEADING GOALTENDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03258/4854273-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="1107" height="704"></div> &#9632;

f0030-02

COLLEGE LEADERS

<h2>ECAC</h2><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1429/4854346-1-eng-US/f0030-142.jpg" title="f0030-14" width="559" height="646"></div><h2>CCHA</h2><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1529/4854339-1-eng-US/f0030-152.jpg" title="f0030-15" width="554" height="352"></div><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1623/4854332-1-eng-US/f0030-162.jpg" title="f0030-16" width="546" height="62"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1723/4854325-1-eng-US/f0030-172.jpg" title="f0030-17" width="553" height="294"></div><h2>WCHA</h2><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1821/4854318-1-eng-US/f0030-182.jpg" title="f0030-18" width="539" height="179"></div><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1916/4854311-1-eng-US/f0030-192.jpg" title="f0030-19" width="545" height="563"></div> &#9632;

f0030-14

GAMES TO COME

<h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01503/4854242-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="538" height="355"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Team USA 6, Mich State 2Bowling Green 4, N. Michigan 2Bowling Green 4, N. Michigan 2III.-Chicago 4, Ferris State 3Ferris State 8, Ill-Chicago 2Lake Superior 3, Miami 2Miami 6, Lake Superior 4W. Michigan 5, Michigan 4W. Michigan 7, Michigan 1Mich Tech 6, Ohio State 5Ohio State 6, Mich Tech 3Mich State 10, Lowell 4Mich State 6, Lowell 0<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 28)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04174/4854235-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="538" height="205"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05113/4854228-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="538" height="179"></div><h3>IVY DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0687/4854221-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="538" height="206"></div><h3>INDEPENDENTS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0769/4854214-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="534" height="93"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Colgate 7, New Hampshire 5Boston Univ. 5, Dartmouth 4Yale 5, Boston College 3Providence 3, Maine 2Northeastern 7, Vermont 5Boston College 5, N. Hampshire 4Boston Univ. 3, Clarkson 2RPI 5, Colgate 1Providence 4, Salem State 2RPI 10, Colgate 5Maine 6, Brown 0Northeastern 3, Cornell 1St. Lawrence 6, Boston Univ. 2Yale 5, Dartmouth 0Boston College 5, Vermont 4<h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0860/4854207-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="538" height="208"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>North Dakota 3, Minnesota 1Minnesota 7, North Dakota 4Minn-Duluth 6, Colorado Coll. 3Minn-Duluth 8, Colorado Coll. 2Denver 6, Wisconsin 5Wisconsin 10, Denver 4<h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0952/4854200-1-eng-US/f0030-092.jpg" title="f0030-09" width="543" height="411"></div><h2>CANADA WEST CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1044/4854193-1-eng-US/f0030-102.jpg" title="f0030-10" width="535" height="151"></div><h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1138/4854186-1-eng-US/f0030-112.jpg" title="f0030-11" width="534" height="177"></div><h2>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1235/4854179-1-eng-US/f0030-122.jpg" title="f0030-12" width="535" height="293"></div><h2>GREAT PLAINS CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1332/4854172-1-eng-US/f0030-132.jpg" title="f0030-13" width="539" height="186"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>York 8, Ryerson 2Guelph 7, Western 3Laurier 4, Toronto 4McMaster 5, Queen&rsquo;s 2Waterloo 3, Ryerson 1Laurier 9, Queen&rsquo;s 6McMaster 3, Waterloo 3Guelph 11, RMC 3Western 8, Ryerson 6York 4, RMC 1Windsor 9, Laurentian 6<h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2>Ottawa 5, Concordia 1Concordia 7, McGill 5T-Rivieres 7, Ottawa 4Concordia 10, T-Rivieres 0McGill 5, T-Rivieres 3Concordia 12, Ottawa 3Concordia 8, McGill 1T-Rivieres 12, Chicoutimi 9Ottawa 15, Chicoutimi 3<h2>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</h2>Acadia 7, Dalhousie 5UPEI at Moncton (ppd)St. Mary&rsquo;s 5, St. F. Xavier 3N. Brunswick 5, St. F. Xavier 4St. Mary&rsquo;s 9, N. Brunswick 3UPEI 8, Acadia 2Mt. Allison 3, Dalhousie 3St. F. Xavier 7, St. Thomas 2Dalhousie 11, St. Thomas 2UPEI 7, Acadia 6<h2>GREAT PLAINS CONFERENCE</h2>Manitoba 8, Regina 3Manitoba 8, Regina 1Winnipeg 10, Lakehead 7Winnipeg 8, Lakehead 5Regina 16, Winnipeg 1Regina 4, Winnipeg 2Manitoba 5, Brandon 4Brandon 5, Manitoba 4<h2>CANADA WEST CONFERENCE</h2>UBC 7, Saskatchewan 2Saskatchewan 4, UBC 3Alberta 4, Calgary 1Calgary 6, Alberta 3<h3>NON-CONFERENCE GAMES</h3>Moncton 4, Saskatchewan 2Saskatchewan 5, Moncton 4<h3>MICRON TOURNAMENT</h3>McGill 3, Brandon 3Saskatchewan 5, Concordia 4McGill 3, Saskatchewan 3ConsolationConcordia 8, Brandon 3ChampionshipSaskatchewan 3, Concordia 2(Sask, wins tournament)<h3>SCHOONER CUP</h3>Providence 6, N. Brunswick 2Toronto 5, Dalhousie 3ConsolationN. Brunswick 6, Dalhousie 3ChampionshipToronto 6, Providence 5(Toronto wins tournament)<h2>ONTARIO COLLEGES</h2>(Standinqs on Mon. Jan. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1153/4854165-1-eng-US/f0031-112.jpg" title="f0031-11" width="535" height="237"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Seneca 7, Humber 2Conestoga 6, Centennial 5Sheridan 6, Canadore 5Humber 4, Centennial 1Conestoga 5, Canadore 5Canadore 4, Seneca 2St. Clair 8, Sheridan 2<h2>NCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 9)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1233/4854158-1-eng-US/f0031-122.jpg" title="f0031-12" width="536" height="326"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>St. Cloud State 4, Hamline 2Wise (River Falls) 7, St. Scholastica 5Wise (Superior) 8, St. Mary&rsquo;s 4Bemidji State 7, Augsburg 4Wise (Eau Claire) 6, Mankato State 3Wise (River Falls) 7, St. Scholastica 6Wise (Superior) 5, St. Mary&rsquo;s 1Bemidji State 4, Augsburg 1Mankato State 5, Wise (Eau Claire) 3Alaska-Fairbanks 4, St. Cloud State<h2>WEST PENN CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 13)<h3>GREATER PITT DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1327/4854151-1-eng-US/f0031-132.jpg" title="f0031-13" width="535" height="181"></div><h3>WEST PENN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1424/4854144-1-eng-US/f0031-142.jpg" title="f0031-14" width="535" height="181"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

HOW THEY STAND

BOSTON&mdash;Greg Johnston, RW, recalled from Toronto of OHL. Tom Fergus, C, side-lined indefinitely with knee injury. Dave Reid, LW, returned to Peterborough of OHL.BUFFALO&mdash;Lindy Ruff, LW, out of action with shoulder injury.CALGARY&mdash;Jamie Hislop, RW, back from injury list. Mike Eaves, C, sidelined with hairline fracture of ankle.CHICAGO&mdash;Denis Savard, C, back from injury list.DETROIT&mdash;Ken Holland, G, and Bob Manno, LW, recalled from Adirondack of AHL. Ted Nolan, LW, and Corrado Micalef, G, sent to Adirondack.EDMONTON&mdash;Jari Kurri, RW, sidelined with groin pull. Steve Graves, C, returned to Sault Ste. Marie of OHL. Dean Clark, LW, sent back to Kamloops of WHL. Ken Berry, LW, recalled from Moncton of AHL. Rick Chartraw, D, secured from the Rangers for future considerations.HARTFORD&mdash;Ron Francis, C, out indefinitely with knee injury. Ross Yates, C, recalled from Binghamton of AHL as replacement. Normand Dupont, LW, and Steve Stoyanovich, LW, both assigned to Binghamton.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Markus Mattsson, G, and Phil Sykes, LW, recalled from New Haven of AHL. Jay Wells, D, and Wes Jarvis, C, both returned from injury list. Mike Blake, G, Dean Kennedy, D, Warren Holmes, C, and Brian MacLellan, LW, sent to New Haven.MINNESOTA&mdash;Curt Giles, D, Lars Lindgren, D, and Dan Mandich, D, all sidelined indefinitely with injuries. Don Beaupre, G, recalled from Salt Lake of CHL as replacement for Jim Craig, G, who is sidelined with pulled led muscle. Brian Bellows, RW, named interim captain with Craig Hartsburg out for rest of season.MONTREAL&mdash;Steve Penney, G, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL. Sergio Momesso, LW, recalled from Longueuil of OHL. Perry Turnbull, LW, sidelined with injury.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Gary McAdam, RW, reacquired from Washington for future considerations.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Bryan Trottier, C, and John Tonelli, LW, back from injury list. Dave Langevin, D, sidelined indefinitely after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.NY RANGERS&mdash;Steve Richmond, D, recalled from Tulsa of CHL. Barry Beck, D, side-lined indefinitely after suffering concussion. Nick Fotiu, LW, on injury list.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Mark Howe, D, back from injury list. Ray Allison, RW, placed on injury list.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Bob Errey, LW, back from injury list.QUEBEC&mdash;Louis Sleigher, RW, sidelined 6 weeks with sprained knee. Andre Savard, C, out of action for 7-10 weeks with back injury.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Larry Patey, C, returned to lineup for first time this season since being injured in training camp. Rik Wilson, D, recalled from Montana of CHL. Tim Bothwell, D, assigned to Montana as replacement.TORONTO&mdash;Walt Poddubny, LW, and Gary Leeman, D, back from injury list. Mike Pal-mateer, G, returned to team after recovering from pneumonia. Alan Bester, G, sent back to Brantford of OHL. Dave Farrish, Dt on injury list.VANCOUVER&mdash;Jean-Marc Lanthier, RW, recalled from Fredericton of AHL.WASHINGTON&mdash;Pat Riggin, D, recalled from Hershey of AHL. Dave Parro, G, returned to Hershey.WINNIPEG&mdash;Laurie Boschman, C, back from injury list. Mike Veisor, G, recalled from Sherbrooke of AHL. Tim Young, C, sidelined for 3-4 weeks with back injury.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>HERSHEY&mdash;Brian Curran, D, sidelined for rest of season with hairline fracture of ankle.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>MONTANA&mdash;Cary Eades, C, out for season after undergoing surgery for dislocated vertebra. Brad Hammett, LW, and Mike Kouwenhoven, RW, both released after pro tryouts.SALT LAKE&mdash;Len Frig, D, activated from retirement list under emergency conditions. &#9632;

PLAYER TRANSACTIONS

<h2>Mon. Jan. 16 ISLANDERS 0, BOSTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01463/4854790-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="539" height="560"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 3, MINNESOTA 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02327/4854783-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="552" height="1004"></div><h2>DETROIT 5. RANGERS 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03241/4854776-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="548" height="1443"></div><h2>Tue. Jan. 17 NEW JERSEY 3, HARTFORD 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04177/4854769-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="524" height="93"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05145/4854762-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="538" height="652"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06116/4854755-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="530" height="95"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA 6, MONTREAL 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07101/4854748-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="532" height="510"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0891/4854741-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="541" height="331"></div><h2>BOSTON 3, QUEBEC 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0977/4854734-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="535" height="269"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1064/4854727-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="540" height="589"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05192/4854720-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="540" height="120"></div><h2>CALGARY 2, ST. LOUIS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06173/4854713-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="535" height="324"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07162/4854706-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="541" height="412"></div><h2>BUFFALO 5, VANCOUVER 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08142/4854699-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="532" height="148"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09135/4854692-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="542" height="471"></div><h2>WINNIPEG 3, WASHINGTON 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10119/4854685-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="506" height="88"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-11110/4854678-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="543" height="611"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1296/4854671-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="543" height="379"></div><h2>Wed. Jan. 18 ISLANDERS 9, CHICAGO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1382/4854664-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="531" height="90"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01442/4854657-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="544" height="732"></div><h2>CALGARY 4, DETROIT 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02332/4854650-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="546" height="707"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 5, EDMONTON 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03260/4854643-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="537" height="238"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04185/4854636-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="550" height="968"></div><h2>BUFFALO 4, LOS ANGELES 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05146/4854629-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="531" height="293"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06124/4854622-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="542" height="210"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 2, RANGERS 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07116/4854615-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="549" height="944"></div><h2>WINNIPEG 5, PITTSBURGH 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08111/4854608-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="541" height="909"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 4, TORONTO 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09105/4854601-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="539" height="556"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10102/4854594-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="537" height="597"></div><h2>Thu. Jan. 19 QUEBEC 3, BOSTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1199/4854587-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="550" height="876"></div><h2>MONTREAL 3, HARTFORD 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1295/4854580-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="542" height="635"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01391/4854573-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="540" height="176"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY 0, PH I LAD. 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02278/4854566-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="542" height="581"></div><h2>Fri. Jan. 20 MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03209/4854559-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="532" height="87"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04171/4854552-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="510" height="95"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05146/4854545-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="535" height="91"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06123/4854538-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="541" height="92"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07105/4854531-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="534" height="90"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01455/4854524-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="541" height="558"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 5, EDMONTON 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02363/4854517-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="546" height="990"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 4, NEW JERSEY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03287/4854510-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="537" height="294"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04219/4854503-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="549" height="618"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 6, RANGERS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05152/4854496-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="544" height="937"></div><h2>CHICAGO 3, WASHINGTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06114/4854489-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="537" height="348"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07100/4854482-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="543" height="413"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 6, WINNIPEG 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0883/4854475-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="548" height="1191"></div><h2>Sat. Jan. 21 BOSTON 2, HARTFORD 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0973/4854468-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="535" height="238"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1069/4854461-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="539" height="326"></div><h2>EDMONTON 6, LOS ANGELES 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1163/4854454-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="547" height="1022"></div><h2>DETROIT 1, MINNESOTA 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1258/4854447-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="542" height="554"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1349/4854440-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="535" height="152"></div><h2>CALGARY 3, MONTREAL 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1444/4854433-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="542" height="587"></div><h2>ISLANDERS 1, PHILADELPHIA 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1542/4854426-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="546" height="936"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 3, PITTSBURGH 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1638/4854419-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="544" height="644"></div><h2>CHICAGO 4, QUEBEC 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1735/4854412-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="549" height="760"></div><h2>BUFFALO 2, ST. LOUIS 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1832/4854405-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="536" height="240"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-276/4854398-1-eng-US/f0039-272.jpg" title="f0039-27" width="543" height="391"></div><h2>RANGERS 6, TORONTO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-284/4854391-1-eng-US/f0039-282.jpg" title="f0039-28" width="544" height="730"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-294/4854384-1-eng-US/f0039-292.jpg" title="f0039-29" width="540" height="243"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 4, WINNIPEG 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-304/4854377-1-eng-US/f0039-302.jpg" title="f0039-30" width="551" height="936"></div> &#9632;

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NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>H&B 100 YEARSLouisville HockeyTORONTO&mdash;It was a week for the Good, the Bad and the Ugly around the Ontario Hockey League as the good news seemed to get buried by the bad news.First the good:Ontario Hockey League commissioner Dave Branch announced the rosters for the Emms Division versus Leyden Division all-star game in Guelph on Feb. 7, while new Sudbury coach Andy Spruce was settling into the hot seat occupied by 15 other men in the past 11 seasons after the Wolves posted their first shutout in several seasons. In Windsor, the Max Factor or whatever the spell is administered by Wayne Maxner, was taking hold as the Spits ran their winning streak to seven.More of the good:Toronto Marlie left winger Garry Lacey, who has a bone to pick with a Swede who claimed to be a doctor and told him to sit out four games of the world junior because of a broken wrist, had a six-goal game in a 9-6 win over Kingston Canadian while his linemate Peter Zezel had a goal and six assists. Lacey started playing immediately after the Canadian returned home where doctors told him there was nothing wrong with his wrist.And some more:Kingston&rsquo;s Roger Belanger had a five-goal game. The Kitchener line of Wayne Presley (1-7), John Tucker (5-1) and Greg Pulhalski (1-4) combined for 19 points in romp over Cornwall. Belleville Bulls, learning to live and perform minus Danny Quinn, have won 12 of their past 17 and are within range of fourth as they wait for U.S. Olympian Al lafrate to join them after the winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Kingston&rsquo;s Kevin Conway scored his 40th and 41st goals and his center, Tim Salmon, moved back in front in the OHL scoring derby with 99 points on 29 goals and 69 assistsLondon&rsquo;s rookie goalie Jeff Reese, battling back from mononucleosis, regained his confidence and coach Don Boyd&rsquo;s with a pair of sizzling performances against Ottawa and North Bay surrendering two goals in each.Now the bad:Branch handed down suspensions totalling 33 games and fined Kitchener and Sault Ste. Marie $4,000 in the aftermath of brawling before and during a game in the Sault on Jan. 10. The Rangers were also hit with further fines totalling $2,500 for their part in two altercations later the same week during a home-and-home series with Sudbury.After studying tapes of the incidents at Sault Ste. Marie and referee Bill Pris-niak&rsquo;s report. Branch suspended Ranger coach Tom Barrett for three games, fined the club $2,500 and sat down five of his players for a total of 15 games. The Greyhounds were fined $1,500 and lost six players for a total of 15 games.The pre-game brawl started when Kitchener&rsquo;s Wayne Presley crossed the redline, which violates a league regulation.The benches emptied in the second period when Kitchener&rsquo;s Matt Dajia jumped the boards to help a teammate who was in trouble in a fight.Branch did not take action stemming from an incident at the Kitchener bench when police intervened and a scuffle followed. After the game. Kitchener players Mike Stevens, Dave Bruce and Tucker were charged with obstructing justice and will appear in court in Sault Ste.Marie on Feb. 17.&ldquo;The tapes 1 had showed no unreasonable actions by any Kitchener players and the matter is in the hands of the Sault police,&rdquo; Branch said.Branch said it was unfortunate that the brawling in Sault Ste. Marie seemed to draw most of the attention.&ldquo;Once again, we&rsquo;ve played 250 games this year and this is the game which gets the most notoriety,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say 99 per cent of our games go without an incident. There&rsquo;s no question (that) in this game there were two incidents totally uncalled for and the league has once again displayed it does not condone such action.&rdquo;Two nights later in Sudbury, Ranger Dave Shaw and Sudbury rookie Craig Duncanson were involved in periodending scrap and two nights later in Kitchener, the pair went at it again in the warmup, Branch fined the Rangers $2,500 and the Wolves $1,500 for the incident and suspended both players three games.More of the bad:Oshawa lost defenseman Todd Char-alsworth to Pittsburgh Penguins, while injury-plagued Boston recalled Toronto center Greg Johnston after they had returned him following a brief stint with the NHL club. Kitchener&rsquo;s Carmen Vani separated his shoulder again in a fight at Sault Ste. Marie in the warmup. Toronto coach Tom Martin complained of &ldquo;garbage&rdquo; hockey to the Toronto media after a home-and-home series with London. Toronto&rsquo;s Mike Rowe, just back from a two-game suspension, was suspended again (this time for seven games), for his part in a fight with Peterborough&rsquo;s Kevin MacDonald. Rowe was assessed 50 minutes in penalties, including a match penalty, in the game.Now, back to the good news.As for the all-star game selections based on voting by coaches, the rosters were dominated by five teams.In the Emms Divison, first-place Kitchener placed six players while second place Sault Ste. Marie and third-place Brantford placed five and four, respectively. Hound Power showed on the first team as coach Terry Crisp placed four players, including the line of right winger Rick Tocchet, center Wayne Groulx and left winger Steve Graves, who just returned from a fling with Edmonton. Hound defenseman Chris Felix was also named. Other first team choices in the Emms were Kitchener defenseman Dave Shaw and goalie Chris Pusey of Brantford.In the Leyden, Toronto Marlboros placed five players, four of them on the first team. Second-place Ottawa also contributed five players. Toronto players selected were: linemates Lacy and Zezel; defenseman Lou Kiriakou and goalie Dave Meszaros. Other first-team selections were Ottawa defensemen Bruce Cassidy and Dave Shaw and Belleville right winger Dave MacLean. A tie in voting resulted in three defenseman being selected to the first team. Lacey was the only unanimous selection.The coaches voted for Brantford&rsquo;s Dave Draper and Toronto&rsquo;s Tom Martin to coach the game.The only controversy surrounding the all-star selections came out of Kingston. because the league&rsquo;s leading scorer. Salmon, was not chosen on any of the three teams. The coaches opted for Zezel, Dave Gans of Oshawa and Adam Creighton of Ottawa at center. &#9632;

Ontario Leaaue Shows The Good, Bad, Ugly

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01478/4854883-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="563" height="524"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE PRESLEY Kitchener</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>The Kitchener Rangers boast the best offense in the Ontario Hockey League and one of the big reasons they lead the Emms Division race is the high scoring of Wayne Presley.The talented 19-year-old right winger is fourth in league scoring after a 17-point performance in the last three games and won the OHL&rsquo;s. player of week. Presley counted four times in a 13-8 rout of Sudbury and has pushed his season totals to 37 goals and 84 points.The Chicago Black Hawks, who drafted Presley in 1983, are eagerly watching his progress.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02349/4854876-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="565" height="522"><figcaption class="caption-body">TODD BERGEN Prince Albert</figcaption></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>Todd Bergen didn&rsquo;t have a great season in 1982-83 after the Philadelphia Flyers drafted him, but he&rsquo;s more than making up for it this year.The Prince Albert center scored 12 goals in his last four games to become the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s player of the week and upped his total to 35 goals in 24 games. Last season Bergen needed 70 games to score that many.The 20-year-old Bergen, who is 6-foot-2. 181 pounds, is winding down his junior career and he&rsquo;s doing it in spectacular fashion. He counted five goals in an 11-0 romp over Winnipeg and had three more in a 7-5 win.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03228/4854869-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="558" height="524"><figcaption class="caption-body">YVES COURTEAU Laval</figcaption></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>Yves Courteau would probably be the top scorer on his team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League if he was a playing for any club other than the Laval Voisins.The 18-year-old right winger collected 10 points for Laval in three games to become the QHL&rsquo;s player of the week, but despite the point flurry Courteau remained only the fifth highest scorer on the Vosins.Courteau. whose NHL rights are owned by Calgary Flames, has 76 points in 40 games but he&rsquo;s been up staged by four of his higher scoring teammates.who are all in the top six. &#9632;

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MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<h2>EMMS DIVISION</h2><h3>First Team</h3>Coach&mdash;Dave Draper, Brantford.Goal&mdash;Chris Pusey, Brantford.Defense&mdash;Dave Shaw, Kitchener; Chris Felix, Sault Ste. Marie.Center&mdash;Wayne Groulx, Sault.Right Wing&mdash;Rich Tocchet.Left Wing&mdash;Steve Graves, Sault.<h3>Second Team</h3>Goal&mdash;Allan Bester, Brantford.Defense&mdash;Jeff Beukeboom, Sault; Jim Quinn, Kitchener.Center&mdash;Kirk Muller, Guelph.Right Wing&mdash;Wayne Presley, Kitchener.Left Wing&mdash;Paul Lawless, Windsor.<h3>Third Team</h3>Defense&mdash;Bruce Bell, Brantford; Kent Paynter, Kitchener.Center&mdash;John Tucker, Kitchener.Right Wing&mdash;David Bruce, Kitchener.Left Wing&mdash;Bob Probert, Brantford.<h2>LEYDEN DIVISION</h2><h3>First Team</h3>Coach&mdash;Tom Martin, Toronto.Goal&mdash;Dave Meszaros, Toronto.Defense&mdash;Brad Shaw, Ottawa; Lou Kiriakou, Toronto, tied with Bruce Cassidy, Ottawa.Center&mdash;Peter Zezel, Toronto.Right Wing&mdash;Dave MacLean, Belleville.Left Wing&mdash;Garry Lacey, Toronto.<h3>Second Team</h3>Goal&mdash;Greg Coram, Ottawa.Defense&mdash;Todd Charlesworth, Oshawa; Mark Paterson, Ottawa.Center&mdash;Dave Gans, Oshawa.Right Wing&mdash;Greg Johnston, Toronto.Left Winger&mdash;Mike Stern, Oshawa.<h3>Third Team</h3>Defense&mdash;Shawn Evans, Peterborough.Center&mdash;Adam Creighton, Ottawa.Right Wing&mdash;Kevin Conway, Kingston.Left Wing&mdash;Dave Reid, Peterborough. &#9632;

All-Star Game Selections

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>H&B 100 YEARSLouisville HockeyCALGARY&mdash;In physically assessing what has become of Western Hockey League mismatches, it&rsquo;s safe to say the tortoise has finally caught and passed the hare.This season, in an effort to speed up the game and clamp down on those with over-zealous intentions, the Western Hockey League instituted a new rule regarding fighting. What it has done is give the slow punching but quick-thinking combatant an out and the aggressor time to second-guess his actions.If both parties choose to battle, that&rsquo;s okay. But if one elects to pass up the invitation, either through planned action or fear of suffering serious injury, the following is advised:&bull; Check out your partner. If he&rsquo;s bigger, foaming at the mouth or left-handed, quickly let go. Fall to your knees and cover up.&bull; Pretend you&rsquo;ve lost a contact lens but for heavens sake, don&rsquo;t get up because the other guy is likely still using your helmet for a punching bag. Calmly await for the linesmen to intervene.&bull; Skate back to the bench and receive congratulations for providing your team with a seven-minute power play.That what&rsquo;s happening in the WHL.Although designed to curtail fighting and keep the game moving, the legislation has, at times, been abused. Taunting the opposition and then covering up in turtle fashion is being used by some as an effective ploy.Taken to the limit, the aggressor is assessed two minutes for roughing, five for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct. The tortoise gets nothing.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t had a lot of turtling in the Eastern Division,&rdquo; said WHL referee-in-chief Richard Doerksen. &ldquo;The problem occurs when teams try to go for the seven-minute power play on purpose. What disturbs me more than anything is coaches are abusing the rule. Coaches will try to test the rules wherever possible.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve instituted a rule where the referee can assess an automatic 10-minute misconduct to a player taunting and then covering up. Most of our problems have been with Kamloops and Seattle.&rdquo;With the WHL continually cleaning up its act, the latest rule is being looked upon as one of the last hurdles in the ongoing battle to curtail fighting. As of Jan. 16, the league had yet to deal with a bench-clearing incident. In fact, there have been only two bench clearings in the past two seasons.That&rsquo;s quite a departure from the days when junior hockey gained notoriety for fighting instead of finesse.&ldquo;We have no problems with a good one-on-one fight,&rdquo; said Doerksen. &ldquo;I think most people enjoy it. What we don&rsquo;t need are the five-on-fives or the third man in to join a fight.&ldquo;Our legislation has certainly helped but coaches and general managers in the league deserve a lot of credit too. Our game is becoming faster with a lot fewer incidents. I don&rsquo;t think you can sell what we tried to sell three, four or five years ago.&rdquo;In keeping with a progressive approach to league legislation, the WHL has adopted a new rule regarding goaltenders who use equipment in an altercation.On separate occasions this season, netminders Daryl Reaugh of Kamloops Oilers and Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; Ron Hex-tall used their blockers in fights. The league has adopted a rule where a goaltender who uses his blocker in a fight will receive an automatic five-minute match penalty. A netminder who uses his blocker and causes injury will be assessed an automatic 10-minute match penalty plus a minimum two-game suspension.&ldquo;We feel we&rsquo;ve got every situation covered that can occur,&rdquo; said Doerksen. &ldquo;The legislation we have we&rsquo;re happy with.&rdquo;Along the same lines, the WHL added two new rules this season to further curb fighting. They have to do with biting and gouging and they&rsquo;re working.A 10-minute match penalty is how assessed to a player guilty of gouging another in the facial area. The infraction results in a 10-minute power play. It&rsquo;s up to a linesman to report the incident to the referee who must then determine what action is to be taken.A gross misconduct is assessed to a player who bites in the finger area and a 10-minute match penalty is doled out to those biting in the facial area. Enforcement of the legislation follows the same rule and brings with it a 10-minute power play plus suspension.WHL WEEK&mdash;Dan Hodgson of Prince Albert moved back atop the league scoring race as of Jan. 16 with 114 points. Ray Ferraro of Brandon moved back to second place with 110 points including a league-leading 67 goals. Taylor Hall and Dale Derkatch of Regina were next with 96 and 85 points, respectively. Mark Lamb of Medicine Hat was fifth with 77 points while Cam Plante of Brandon had 76 and Cliff Ronning of New Westminster 74 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01437/4854938-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="588" height="923"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brandon&rsquo;s Ron Hextall was one of two goalies who used their blockers in a fight.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Great Western League Coverup: The Tortoise Goes Into His Shell

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;The first allAmerican major junior franchise appears to be only a rubber stamp away.The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League&rsquo;s expansion committee is recommending conditional approval of a 12th franchise in Plattsburgh, NY, stocked exclusively with U.S. players.The committee, consisting of five QMJHL governors, will recommend that a Plattsburgh group headed by Denis Methot of Trois-Rivieres be granted a franchise for the 1983-84 season when the league&rsquo;s board of governors meets here on Jan. 21.Methot, a sports sciences teacher at University of Quebec-Trois-Rivieres, needs only three more votes from the 11-member board to be in business in the northern New York center of 22,000, about an hour&rsquo;s drive south of Montreal.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t expect any major problems,&rdquo; said Methot, who plans to register the team with the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a new dimension that could be a real good marketing point and is good for the league, for sure.&rdquo;An air base and university increase the area&rsquo;s population to about 45,000 and Methot also hopes to draw from Burlington, VT, a city of 40,000, and Quebec.&ldquo;The idea is certainly a good one, it&rsquo;s a good opening into hockey for American kids,&rdquo; said expansion committee chairman Claude Fournel, owner of the league-leading Laval Voisins.The U.S. team will not the be allowed to draft or trade with other QMJHL teams, except for U.S. players on other squads.The league sees the operation as a way of expanding without further diluting Quebec&rsquo;s pool of talent and five teams are within 75 miles of Plattsburgh.The team likely will be allowed to post a 45-player protected list for two seasons, but it will be up against the Ontario and Western Hockey Leagues and U.S. universities for talent and NCAA Division Two power Plattsburgh State College for fans.However, the Ontario Hockey League&rsquo;s rejection of a Detroit bid won&rsquo;t hurt.Methot, who will register a four-man company in New York, said he will recruit in New England, Michigan and Minnesota.Plattsburgh State, Division Two finalist two of the past three years, is off to a slow 9-4 start and has dipped from 3,000 fans a night to between 2,000-2,500.&ldquo;I just hope we can work together so we don&rsquo;t hurt each other at the gate,&rdquo; said Ernie Rangazas, Plattsburgh State&rsquo;s athletic director. &ldquo;I never thought it would get this far, but I think we can live with each other.&rdquo;The school plays a 34-game schedule with most home games on Friday and Saturday nights and Methot wants to play at home Saturday nights.His group must come up with a $110,000 franchise fee, $75,000 in returnable equity and a $10,000 bond by April 30.&ldquo;I was the only one to see the financial statement and I reported there is no problem with financing,&rdquo; said committee member Francois Pichard of Hull. &ldquo;But they must have ice ready Sept. 16 and bring the facility up to par.&rdquo;The team plans to play out of the 10-year-old Crete Memorial Civic Centre in Plattsburgh, described by one resident as a &ldquo;white elephant.&rdquo;&ldquo;We can come up with 1,640 seats now and we expect to bring capacity up to 2,150,&rdquo; said Carl Brancato, Platt-sburgh&rsquo;s director of community development. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have pro-style team rooms and we&rsquo;ll have to upgrade.&ldquo;We have a handle on the structural improvements,&rdquo; Brancato said. &ldquo;But we don&rsquo;t have a handle yet on upgrading the ice-making capacity. It&rsquo;s a tight timeframe, but we think we can do it with the revenues from the lease.&rdquo;Methot said he is negotiating a five-year lease with the city and he will need about 1,600 fans a night to break even. A TV contract with WPTZ, carried by cable to Montreal and Quebec City, is a distinct possibility.&ldquo;Our people are definitely interested,&rdquo; said WPTZ sports director Rick Whitlow. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re also planning a sports talk show and the major junior team could be a large part of it.&rdquo; &#9632;

Quebec League Wants Uncle Sam

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01489/4855014-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div><h2>GOALTENDING STATISTICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01464/4855007-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="556" height="2507"></div><h3>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h3>GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02367/4855000-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="545" height="178"></div><h3>MOST WINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03286/4854993-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="539" height="177"></div> &#9632;

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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCORING

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04237/4855045-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL TEAM ROSTERS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1392/4855083-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="543" height="353"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1486/4855076-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="540" height="356"></div> &#9632;

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Top Rookies In The NHL

<h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><h3>NORRIS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1586/4855135-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="542" height="180"></div><h3>SMYTHE DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1683/4855128-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="543" height="178"></div><h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><h3>ADAMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1777/4855121-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="541" height="178"></div><h3>PATRICK DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1873/4855114-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="543" height="209"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Jan. 16NY Islanders 0 at Boston 2Los Angeles 3 at Minnesota 9Detroit 5 at NY Rangers 8Tue. Jan. 17New Jersey 3 at Hartford 3 (OT)Philadelphia 6 at Montreal 4Boston 3 at Quebec 7Calgary 2 at St. Louis 2 (OT)Buffalo 5 at Vancouver 1Winnipeg 3 at Washington 8Wed. Jan. 18NY Islanders 9 at Chicago 1Calgary 4 at Detroit 2Vancouver 5 at Edmonton 7Buffalo 4 at Los Angeles 0St. Louis 2 at NY Rangers 6Winnipeg 5 at Pittsburgh 4 (OT)Minnesota 4 at Toronto 9Thu. Jan. 19Quebec 3 at Boston 4Montreal 3 at Hartford 2New Jersey 0 at Philadelphia 2Fri. Jan. 20Minnesota 8 at Detroit 5Los Angeles 5 at Edmonton 7St. Louis 4 at New Jersey 3 (OT)Pittsburgh 6 at NY Rangers 3Chicago 3 at Washington 5Vancouver 6 at Winnipeg 6 (OT)Sat. Jan. 21Boston 2 at Hartford 0Edmonton 6 at Los Angeles 3Detroit 1 at Minnesota 5Calgary 3 at Monreal 2NY Islanders 1 at Philadelphia 7Washington 3 at Pittsburgh 2Chicago 4 at Quebec 4 (OT)Buffalo 2 at St. Louis 1NY Rangers 6 at Toronto 3Sun. Jan. 22Vancouver 4 at Winnipeg 6 &#9632;

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THE NHL SCOREBOARD

<h2>POINTS RACE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1971/4855215-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="543" height="645"></div><h2>AT HOME</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2067/4855208-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="269" height="640"></div><h2>ONTHEROAD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2164/4855201-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg" title="f0036-21" width="271" height="643"></div><h2>HOW THEY DID IN THEIR LAST 10 GAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2263/4855194-1-eng-US/f0036-222.jpg" title="f0036-22" width="199" height="147"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2358/4855187-1-eng-US/f0036-232.jpg" title="f0036-23" width="197" height="145"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2454/4855180-1-eng-US/f0036-242.jpg" title="f0036-24" width="198" height="148"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2550/4855173-1-eng-US/f0036-252.jpg" title="f0036-25" width="196" height="146"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2647/4855166-1-eng-US/f0036-262.jpg" title="f0036-26" width="197" height="176"></div> &#9632;

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HOW NHL TEAMS RATE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0889/4855270-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="556" height="974"></div>The Toronto Maple Leafs are undergoing a transformation of sorts, gradually moving talented young players into the lineup. One of those talented youngsters is Gary Leeman, a star defenseman from the Western Hockey League who, if need be, can play forward.Leeman, 19, still has this season&rsquo;s junior eligibility remaining but the Leafs saw fit to keep him with the big team. Aside from helping out the Maple Leafs&rsquo; cause&mdash;he has two goals and five assists in 31 games&mdash;Leeman also played with Canada&rsquo;s national junior team which competed in Sweden at Christmas.A Toronto native, Leeman attended Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask., and went on to star with the Regina Pats of the WHL. The Leafs are hoping it won&rsquo;t be long before he stars with the NHL club. &#9632;

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Chrysler Rookie Award

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 23)<h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01427/4855476-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="545" height="208"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02295/4855469-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="542" height="239"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Jan. 18Springfield 7 at Hershey 6Sherbrooke 4 at Maine 7Adirondack 4 at Moncton 4Rochester 6 at New Haven 2Thu. Jan. 19Adirondack 5 at Fredericton 9Moncton 1 at Nova Scotia 2Baltimore 2 at St. Catharines 5Fri. Jan. 20Maine 3 at Binghamton 4Sherbrooke 3 at New Haven 3Fredericton 6 at Springfield 4Sat. Jan. 21St. Catharines 6 at Binghamton 5Rochester 2 at Hershey 5Fredericton 2 at Maine 6Adirondack 3 at Moncton 5Baltimore 4 at Springfield 3Sun. Jan. 22Adirondack 6 at Nova Scotia 5Binghamton 8 at Sherbrooke 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03207/4855462-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="545" height="383"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04173/4855455-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="536" height="179"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Jan. 16Salt Lake 3 at Tulsa 2Wed. Jan. 18Indianapolis 1 at Montana 6Salt Lake 4 at Colorado 6Thu. Jan. 19Salt Lake 4 at Colorado 5Fri. Jan. 20Colorado 4 at Indianapolis 2Montana 6 at Tulsa 6Sat. Jan. 21Colorado 2 at Indianapolis 1Montana 4 at Tulsa 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05138/4855448-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="543" height="322"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 24)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06116/4855441-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="535" height="237"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 17IHL All Stars 6, Team USA 4Thu. Jan. 19Fort Wayne 4 at Milwaukee 3Fri. Jan. 20Kalamazoo 4 at Muskegon 4Flint 4 at Peoria 4Sat. Jan. 21Kalamazoo 0 at Fort Wayne 3Toledo 5 at Muskegon 4Flint 5 at Peoria 2Sun. Jan. 22Kalamazoo 1 at Milwaukee 11<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07100/4855434-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="541" height="323"></div><h2>ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Sun. Jan. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0890/4855427-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="537" height="206"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 17Mohawk Valley 1 at Pine Bridge 2Carolina 6 at Virginia 10Thu. Jan. 19Pine Bridge 3 at Erie 6Fri. Jan. 20Mohawk Valley 0 at Carolina 10Pine Bridge 6 at Erie 3Sat. Jan. 21Mohawk Valley 4 at Pine Bridge 1Virginia 4 at Carolina 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0978/4855420-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="541" height="327"></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 24)<h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1071/4855413-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="538" height="235"></div><h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1163/4855406-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="532" height="264"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 17Kitchener 5 at Ottawa 4Guelph 5 at Kingston 4North Bay 0 at Sudbury 6Toronto 3 at Windsor 4Wed. Jan. 18Oshawa 2 at Belleville 7Thu. Jan. 19Oshawa 4 at Peterborough 6Kingston 3 at Windsor 8S. Marie 2 at Brantford 4Sudbury 4 at Cornwall 9Fri. Jan. 20Windsor 2 at Kitchener 5Sudbury 5 at Ottawa 8S.S. Marie 2 at London 7Peterborough 3 at Guelph 1North Bay 4 at Toronto 9Sat. Jan. 21Guelph 4 at Belleville 6Cornwall 6 at Toronto 5Ottawa 4 at Peterborough 6Kingston 2 at Kitchener 8S. Marie 2 at Oshawa 5Sun. Jan. 22Oshawa 4 at North Bay 3Kitchener 6 at London 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1255/4855399-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="539" height="321"></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 23)<h3>LEBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1348/4855392-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="535" height="203"></div><h3>DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1444/4855385-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="533" height="176"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Jan. 16Granby 4 at Laval 5Tue. Jan. 17Shawinigan 4 at Longueuil 6Wed. Jan. 18Chicoutimi 6 at Granby 4Drummondville 2 at Hull 5Laval 9 at T-Rivieres 3Quebec 2 at Verdun 8Fri. Jan. 20T-Rivieres 2 at Chicoutimi 6Kongueuil 5 at Drummondville-3Verdun 5 at Quebec 2St. Jean 2 at Shawinigan 5Sun. Jan. 22Quebec 2 at Drummondville 6Granby 3 at Hull 5Laval 8 at St Jean 3Shawinigan 2 at T-Rivieres 5Chicoutimi 5 at Verdun 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1539/4855378-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="541" height="349"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standinas on Tue. Jan. 24)<h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1634/4855371-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="540" height="269"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1729/4855364-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="546" height="210"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 17Kamloops 6 at Winnipeg 3New Westminster 5 at Medicine Hat 8Regina 5 at Prince Albert 7Seattle 2 at Victoria 8Wed. Jan. 18Medicine Hat 5 at Lethbridge 2Prince Albert 5 at Saskatoon 6Kamloops 8 at Brandon 4New Westminster 4 at Calgary 9Fri. Jan. 20New Westminster 2 at Lethbridge 3Portland 5 at Kelowna 7Saskatoon 4 at Prince Albert 8Kamloops 6 at Regina 2Victoria 4 at Seattle 1Sat. Jan. 21Lethbridge 2 at Medicine Hat 1Portland 3 at Seattle 7Kamloops 3 at Saskatoon 6Winnipeg 2 at Victoria 3Calgary 4 at Brandon 6Sun. Jan. 22Winnipeg 11 at Portland 7Calgary 4 at Regina 2Kamloops 5 at Prince Albert 8New Westminster 2 at Kelowna 3Victoria 3 at Portland 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1822/4855357-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="539" height="440"></div><h2>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standinas on Mon. Jan. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1918/4855350-1-eng-US/f0039-192.jpg" title="f0039-19" width="536" height="352"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Petrolia 4, Chatham 2Chatham 6, Woodstock 2Flamboro 8, Barrie 2Petrolia 4, Woodstock 0Cambridge 5, Dundas 2Georgetown 5, Collingwood 3<h2>ALBERTA JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 16)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2017/4855343-1-eng-US/f0039-202.jpg" title="f0039-20" width="535" height="150"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2116/4855336-1-eng-US/f0039-212.jpg" title="f0039-21" width="540" height="156"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2214/4855329-1-eng-US/f0039-222.jpg" title="f0039-22" width="536" height="296"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 13)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2314/4855322-1-eng-US/f0039-232.jpg" title="f0039-23" width="535" height="208"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2411/4855315-1-eng-US/f0039-242.jpg" title="f0039-24" width="538" height="234"></div><h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 18)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2510/4855308-1-eng-US/f0039-252.jpg" title="f0039-25" width="540" height="268"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-267/4855301-1-eng-US/f0039-262.jpg" title="f0039-26" width="536" height="207"></div> &#9632;

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February 3, 1984

NHL SCORERS THIS WEEK

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THIS WEEK…20 Years Ago

Angotti Doesn’t Have The Answers