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 17, 1984

The Hockey News February 17, 1984

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Alfie Turcotte had heard all the rumors.Speculation was that the 18-year-old from Gary. IN. was going to be heading back to his junior hockey home in Portland for the balance of the 1983-84 hockey season.Turcotte, brought up to the Canadiens after playing in the junior world championships. did not know whether he was going to play his 10th NHL game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and if he did, he wasn&rsquo;t sure if he would play another this season.In a crowd of media. Turcotte waited and wondered as he saw Montreal&rsquo;s managing director Serge Savard enter the Canadiens&rsquo; dressing room. Turcotte had just scored his first National Hockey League goal against the Penguins but he wasn&rsquo;t being asked questions about the power-play effort set up by Ryan Walter.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011180/4862067-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="582" height="1161"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal rookie Alfie Turcotte is elated not to be going back to Portland. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Savard stepped into the crowd and simply told Turcotte: &ldquo;You&rsquo;re staying.&rdquo;&ldquo;I was lost for words for the first time in my life.&rdquo; Turcotte said later. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t say a whole lot. They (the reporters) were all surprised too because they were asking questions like, &lsquo;Have they told you anything yet?&rsquo;&ldquo;Right now, I am taking things day by day and we&rsquo;ll just see what happens.&rdquo;Turcotte, who scored his second goal the next afternoon in Boston, was quite prepared to return to the Portland juniors although he had not started packing his belongings in his room in a downtown hotel.&ldquo;I was thinking the same way as most people.&rdquo; Turcotte admitted. &ldquo;I had that sense of hope and I didn&rsquo;t start packing. I had to come up with a big game and I said to myself. Go for it.&rsquo; I was the most relaxed I have been since I have been here.&rdquo;Turcotte is part of the Canadiens&rsquo; future and Savard has made it clear to coach Bob Berry that he wants to see Turcotte and rookie defenseman Kent Carlson on the ice more. There were stages during Turcotte&rsquo;s first nine games where he would get on for a shift or two and not much more.&ldquo;I have been satisfied with most of the games I played in except the one in Buffalo where I felt I wasn&rsquo;t progressing and I wasn&rsquo;t feeling strong out there,&rdquo; Turcotte said. &ldquo;All in all&hellip;I felt I played halfway decent considering the calibre I&rsquo;m in and my age.&rdquo;Turcotte, drafted 17th overall last summer, played a little alongside John Chabot and Mark Hunter against both Pittsburgh and the Bruins. How much he will play in the last two months of the season will depend on several things, including injuries and his own performance.While the junior operators in Portland are understandably miffed that the most valuable player in last spring&rsquo;s Memorial Cup won&rsquo;t be returning to them. Turcotte doesn&rsquo;t mind at all. He feels there was very little he could learn back in the Western Hockey League.&ldquo;I was playing 25 to 30 minutes a game there and that&rsquo;s valuable experience just playing.&rdquo; Turcotte said. &ldquo;Fundamentally. I think I could have moved up.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great feeling to be told I&rsquo;m staying. Scoring the goal took a lot of pressure off my shoulders, pressure I had put on myself. I scored that goal and everything seemed to open up for me.&ldquo;I got to play a little bit more. When I was out there, I tried to make things happen and that was a good sign.&rdquo;Then came the word from the managing director and Alfie Turcotte was officially a Canadien.IN PASSING&mdash;Mark Hunter was forced to leave the Canadiens&rsquo; 7-2 victory in Boston when he was accidentally high sticked by Mike Milbury. Milbury&rsquo;s stick dislodged Hunter&rsquo;s contact lens in his left eye and for a few moments the right winger was worried major damage had been done&hellip;Larry Robinson scored his fifth goal of the season against the Bruins in Boston, snapping a scoring slump dating back to Nov. 26 when he recorded his fourth against Washington&hellip;Managing director Serge Savard says left winger Mike McPhee may be called up from the Nova Scotia Voyageurs before the year is out. McPhee has improved 50 per cent since training camp, according to team officials. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Alfie’s Going To Find Out What Habs Are All About

<h2>At HOME</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-195/4863890-1-eng-US/f0040-192.jpg" title="f0040-19" width="261" height="639"></div><h2>ON THE ROAD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-205/4863883-1-eng-US/f0040-202.jpg" title="f0040-20" width="259" height="637"></div><h2>POINTS RACE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-215/4863876-1-eng-US/f0040-212.jpg" title="f0040-21" width="529" height="643"></div><h2>WHAT THEY DID IN THEIR LAST 10 GAME</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-225/4863869-1-eng-US/f0040-222.jpg" title="f0040-22" width="193" height="144"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-234/4863862-1-eng-US/f0040-232.jpg" title="f0040-23" width="191" height="144"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-244/4863855-1-eng-US/f0040-242.jpg" title="f0040-24" width="192" height="144"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-253/4863848-1-eng-US/f0040-252.jpg" title="f0040-25" width="192" height="145"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-263/4863841-1-eng-US/f0040-262.jpg" title="f0040-26" width="190" height="171"></div> &#9632;

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HOW NHL TEAMS RATE

<h2>Tue. Jan. 31 WALES 7, CAMPBELLS 6</h2><h3>WALES CONFERENCE ALL-STARS</h3>Goal&mdash;Pete Peeters, Chico Resch; defense&mdash;Joe Cirella, Rod Langway, Denis Potvin, Phil Housley, Ray Bourque, Mike O&rsquo;Connell; forwards&mdash;Barry Pederson, Gilbert Perreault, Mike Bullard, Peter Stastny, Pierre Larouche, Rick Middleton, Tim Kerr, Don Maloney, Mark Johnson, Michel Goulet, Mats Naslund, Brian Propp. Named but unable to play because of injuries were goalie Al Jensen, forwards Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier.<h3>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE ALL-STARS</h3>Goal&mdash;Murray Bannerman, Grant Fuhr; defense&mdash;Kevin Lowe, Rob Ramage, Brad Maxwell, Doug Wilson, Paul Coffey, David Babych; forwards&mdash;Denis Savard, Steve Yzerman, Wayne Gretzky, Bernie Nicholls, Glenn Anderson, Lanny McDonald, Rick Vaive, Brian Bellows, Mark Messier, John Ogrodnick, Darcy Rota, Charlie Simmer. Named but unable to play because of injuries were forwards Jari Kurri, Marcel Dionne, Tony Tanti.Team captains&mdash;Gretzky (Campbells), Potvin (Wales).Referee&mdash;Bruce Hood; linesmen, John D&rsquo;Amico, Ray Scapinello.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011155/4861723-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="539" height="914"></div> &#9632;

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NHL All-Star Summary

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Hockey Hall of Fame Committee will not have to figure out how Darryl Sittler did it. When he retires with more than 500 goals and close to 700 assists, the numbers will speak and the doors will open.Watch him, though, and his success is not easily explained. To be sure. Sittler has a good, hard shot and a reasonably quick release, but not a Reijo Ruotsa-lainen gun ora Mike Bossy pair of wrists. Wayne Gretzky is a symphony, Maurice Richard was 76 trombones. Bobby Hull a booming bass drum.Sittler has scaled to 13th on the alltime goal-scoring list without the one extraordinary skill that would seem to be a requirement of the company he keeps. He is strong, and that certainly helps, but his skating speed always has been merely adequate and his style considerably less than fluid. He admits he rarely sharpshoots for spots and yet the light has gone on 463 times in 14 seasons. How?Like the way he did it on Feb. 2. Oh. there will be more spectacular footage available when the time comes to put together Sittler&rsquo;s Greatest Sports Legends episode. He had 10 points in a 1976 game against Boston and once scored five goals in a playoff game against the Flyers.But the quintessential Sittier was demonstrated just as effectively when he saved the Flyers from what would have been a frustrating Spectrum loss to the Canadiens. Sittler&rsquo;s second goal of the night with only 5:06 left created a 2-2 tie that stood up through a hair-raising overtime.It was an excellent checking game, one that unfortunately is too rare in today&rsquo;s National Hockey League. It was also the kind that Sittler used to decide regularly during his days in Toronto. Montreal, looking like an entirely different club than the one the Flyers beat three weeks ago at the Forum, grabbed a 2-1 lead late in the second period on a goal by another oldie-but-goodie, Larry Robinson. The Habs then settled into a checking rhythm that for most of the third period was every bit as good as the classics of their Cup years.The difference is that in those days, the next goal scored was inevitably into the empty net. This time the inexperienced Canadien defense parted just long enough for Ilkka Sinisalo to go wide of rookie defenseman Kent Carlson and slip the puck inside to Sittler.You want to know how Sittler did it? He took the pass, took no time to look and put a backhander low and hard to the far corner.Because he never, ever hesitated. Sittler never had been last. Ditto on the first-period goal, off a behind-the-net feed from Sinisalo that opened the scoring.Guy Lafleur got that one back on a power play and then Robinson, fed by Ryan Walter from the wing, put Montreal ahead. And now here were the Flyers being frustrated by goalie Richard Sevigny&rsquo;s hot glove hand. The lesson here, kiddies, is that Sittler scored twice and saved a point by keeping his shots along the ice. Neither, on either goal, did he give the goalie an opportunity to set.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve scored an awful lot of goals like that,&rdquo; Sittler said. &ldquo;Just by shooting before the goalie has a chance to get set.&ldquo;After a while, you develop a sense for where everybody is around you and exactly how much time you have.&rdquo;It is about one part gift and four parts hard work. Sittler beats almost all his teammates onto the ice before the start of practice and most of them have already showered while he is shooting upward of 100 pucks a day.This is exactly why, at age 33. with 1,010 games behind him. Sittler is still going strong. Only Bobby Clarke. Tony Esposito and Brad Park have been in the NHL longer. And when you watch this immaculately conditioned athlete night after night and realize how little has been lost, there is reason to believe that Sittier will outlast them all.&ldquo;The retirement age is 60,&rdquo; cracked Flyer general manager-coach Bob McCammon. &ldquo;Darryl is only 34 (actually, he doesn&rsquo;t turn 34 until September).&rdquo;Since his fourth season. Sittler has never scored less than 30 goals. McCammon has Sittler back at center, after two tours on wing. If he stays there, he&rsquo;ll probably turn his current 17 into 30 again.&ldquo;Everybody likes to score goals and I think I&rsquo;m definitely a more effective player at center.&rdquo; Sittler said. &ldquo;But the organization is breaking in some kids at center (Dave Poulin, Ron Sutter) and I understand.&rdquo;&ldquo;If you look at it (left wing) as a different role, you don&rsquo;t get frustrated by it. I kind of look at myself as fortunate being able to play two positions.&rdquo;McCammon has used this flexibility well.&ldquo;Montreal doesn&rsquo;t have the speed it used to, so he&rsquo;s effective at center,&rdquo; McCammon said. &ldquo;Against quicker teams like the Rangers, I like Darryl better on the wing.&rdquo;Two different scoring spurts centering Bill Barber and Sinisalo in the last two years ended when McCammon became concerned about the line&rsquo;s goals against. But now, with Ron Sutter having progressed to the point where the coach feels that Sittler&rsquo;s experience is no longer so essential, McCammon is trying it again.The Flyers&rsquo; defensive game has settled somewhat (23 goals in the last nine games). This team now requires some goals. They also need a fresher Sittler and Clarke for the playoffs than the ones they had last April.McCammon, having learned the hard way, already has started cutting back on his veterans&rsquo; practice load. For instance, with a recent practice the only respite from a typical three-games-in-four nights weekend, Clarke, Sittler and Miro Dvorak were excused.Of course Clarke, miserable with his one point in the last 11 games until breaking out with three points in a 7-0 romp over Toronto, was tempted to either head to the gym or flood his backyard. Sittler, with a more firm grip on his own mortality, sets a good example for Clarke. &#9632;

Venerable Sittler Still Going Strong At 33

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01789/4864200-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RED WING ROOKIE STEVE YZERMAN (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Maloney Shines Brightest At All-Star Classic&mdash;Page 7Reinhart Wows Doctors With Recovery&mdash;Page 20One Goal: Reliving Team USA Miracle&mdash;Page 6 &#9632;

Cover-01

HOWE SWEET IT IS…

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011196/4861396-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="308" height="364"></div><h2>The Doctor Is In</h2>&ldquo;OH, DR. ORR, learned physician of the puck and noted healer of hockey ailments, such a relief it is to find you in your luxurious suite. There are many problems in the grand old game of shinny that need explanation and so much fuzzification in the sport that needs clarification.&rdquo;&ldquo;Ah. dear soul! Always happy to be of service to a victim of puck fatigue or too many Wayne Gretzky stories. Pull up a genuine Gilles Bilodeau or Steve Durbano autographed chair and perch upon it. What seems to be your problem?&rdquo;&ldquo;Doc. I find that the game contains a large amount of poppycock, claptrap, bull-cookies, horse-feathers and things that sound as if they are the creation of Harold Ballard. It&rsquo;s difficult to know what really is going on!&rdquo;&ldquo;Your woe sounds woeful. Can you be more specific?&rdquo;&ldquo;find it very upsetting that Scotty Morrison, the NHL&rsquo;s little big man of whistle-tooters. wants the referees to use videotapes to verify disputed goals. Is he serious?&rdquo;&ldquo;Yes, he is! Mr. Morrison is a very serious fellow. The videochecks are just the start of his master plan, too. TV directors and producers now decide how long the game will be and when the players must stand around on the ice like a batch of dummies. Morrison figures the league could cut down on expenses by having the TV people call offsides, icings and serve as goal judges.&rdquo;&ldquo;That&rsquo;s dreadful. The man should be placed in a home.&rdquo;&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just the start of it. Science is coming to officiating in a big way. I&rsquo;ve learned that a robot in the image of Bruce Hood is being built in a lab in Quebec and that some cells from Frank Udvari&rsquo;s body are in Brazil, where new refs are being cloned.&rdquo;&ldquo;Won&rsquo;t the use of electronics take all the fun out of the game?&rdquo;&ldquo;Of course! Who will want to cheer when a robot gets hit by the puck or knocked down by a player? Is there any fun yelling, &lsquo;You stink, you Commodore 1400 computer!&rdquo;<h2>Longer Games</h2>&ldquo;GAMES ARE LONG enough now. don&rsquo;t you think, without the refs running to check videotapes all the time like a batch of berserk Roger Neilsons?&rdquo;&ldquo;If they start checking on disputed goals, where will it end? The officials will be going to check the replays to see if they&rsquo;re skating properly or if their hair is parted straight.&rdquo;&ldquo;Doc, I&rsquo;m really concerned about Harold Ballard, who&rsquo;s been very quiet this season even though the Maple Leafs are playing badly. Usually, when the Leafs are lousy, the interesting part of it is watching Ballard get rid of people without firing anyone. But this year, he hasn&rsquo;t &lsquo;t been saying a word.&rdquo;&ldquo;Your concern is a very real one, not only in Toronto, but all around the NHL and in Ottawa and Washington government circles. The worry is that Harold has had no little explosions to blow off steam and that if he allows it to build up for one big pop, there&rsquo;s a great risk that he might blow up an arena, flatten a city or threaten an entire country with a fallout of beige hair. In fact, there&rsquo;s a committee being formed in the NHL to try to induce a small pop-off from Ballard, a safety valve sort of move.&rdquo;&ldquo;How do they propose to do that?&rdquo;&ldquo;Well. John Ziegler could threaten to fine Ballard for some obscure reason or they could have Ed Snider, owner of Philadelphia Flyers, say what a great guy 0l&rsquo; Hal really is. Either of those would cause him to blow at least part of a gasket.&rdquo;<h2>No Upper For Stars</h2>&ldquo;DOC, THE ALL-STAR game was played I can&rsquo;t get enthused about it at all. Is that the sign of an usual ailment?&rdquo;&ldquo;Well, what you have has reached epidemic proportions? After all, a game between teams representing the Prince of Campbell and the Clarence Wales conferences isn&rsquo;t really a biggie?&rdquo;&ldquo;What would you suggest to make the game more interesting?&rdquo;&ldquo;Why not have Wayne Gretzky play against the NHL all-stars by himself? Or if they think that&rsquo;s silly, he can have his buddies, Alan Thicke and Andy Warhol, on the team with him.&rdquo;&ldquo;Doctor. I&rsquo;m certainly glad we&rsquo;ve had this chat. Things are clear now for the stretch run.&rdquo;&ldquo;Always happy to make a contribution to lucidity or even Lucy Ewing. Have to rush you out of the office, though, because John Ziegler has an appointment to have things cleared up. too.&rdquo; &#9632;

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HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY BOB McKENZIE</div>It was about a year ago and Detroit Red Wing general manager Jimmy Devellano was on a post-game television show in Toronto, having watched his team lose yet another game to the Maple Leafs.Clearly, he was not happy. His team was struggling badly and, while he knew he hadn&rsquo;t taken on an easy job when he became GM of the Red Wings in the summer of the 1982, he never expected things to be this bad. But they were and Jimmy D. was asked when he expected the Red Wings to put it all together.&ldquo;About 1990,&rdquo; snapped Devellano, who then proceeded to blatantly describe his team&rsquo;s shortcomings. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have enough players who can play in the NHL. We lack talent. This is basically an expansion team.&rdquo;To most viewers, Devellano&rsquo;s outburst was merely a product of his frustration but, in light of the reference to 1990, it seemed as though he was saying the Red Wings might never be competitive again. After all, 1990 might as well be 2001, which is why not too many general managers worry about an eight-year game plan. Job security just isn&rsquo;t that great.But Devellano does.&ldquo;When I made that 1990 remark,&rdquo; Devellano says, &ldquo;people laughed at me. They said I was frustrated, that I couldn&rsquo;t handle the losing. Well, I said it because I meant it.&rdquo;And Devellano is still saying it. &ldquo;The Detroit Red Wings will win the Stanley Cup in 1990.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s all part of Devellano&rsquo;s master plan, an eight-year schedule that he claims will build the Red Wing franchise from the &ldquo;expansion&rdquo; club of 1982 to a Stanley Cup team worthy of mention in the same breath as the New York Islanders.&ldquo;It took the Islanders eight years to win the Cup,&rdquo; says Devellano, who played an important role in scouting much of the Isles&rsquo; top talent. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where I got 1990 from. There&rsquo;s no reason why we can&rsquo;t do the same thing in Detroit.&rdquo;Steve Yzerman is just 18 years old (he&rsquo;ll be 19 on May 9). He&rsquo;s a good-looking kid with confidence and maturity far beyond his years, which explains why he scored his 30th goal of the season on Feb. 5 and. along with Buffalo Sabre goalie Tom Barrasso, is considered a leading candidate for NHL rookie-of-the-year honors. It also has something to do with the fact he is the youngest player ever to have played in an NHL All-Star game&mdash;he picked up an assist in the Jan. 31 game at New Jersey.Steve Yzerman is more than a good, young hockey player. He represents something Detroit hockey fans haven&rsquo;t had since the Gordie Howe era&mdash;hope. Oh, sure, the Red Wings have had some stars&mdash;Marcel Dionne and Mickey Redmond&mdash;in the lineup since 1970-71, Howe&rsquo;s last year as a Red Wing.But they&rsquo;ve also had 12 different men behind the bench. They&rsquo;ve missed the playoffs 12 of the past 13 seasons and what was once considered one of the finest franchises in pro sports literally fell apart, punctuated by lousy drafting, hideous trading, outlandish management policies and an absentee owner, Bruce Norris.Steve Yzerman is the first sign that the new Red Wing regime&mdash;owner Mike Hitch, GM Devellano and coach Nick Polano&mdash;is on the right track, ready to right the wrongs of the past decade. Yzerman is, aside from the center on the Wings&rsquo; top line with Ron Duguay and John Ogrodnick and the team&rsquo;s second leading scorer (30 goals and 29 assists in 54 games), Devellano&rsquo;s safety valve. When the wolves are at his door. Devellano can look down the bench and point to an 18-year-old with star qualities and say, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s more where he came from.&rdquo;On the other hand, Devellano is grateful that the Wings had the opportunity to make the kid from Nepean, Ont., the fourth player taken in last summer&rsquo;s entry draft. The script could have easily developed differently.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011215/4861441-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="914" height="1672"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021005/4861434-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="586" height="816"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03664/4861427-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="583" height="780"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Wing owner Mike Hitch, top right, is being patient with GM Jimmy Devellano, bottom right, so the team can stock up on young talent such as Steve Yzerman, left.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Every night when I go to bed,&rdquo; Devellano says, &ldquo;I say a prayer and thank God for (Peter-boro Petes coach) Dick Todd. Thank God for Dick Todd and the fact he only used Steve Yzerman on every fourth shift and only sometimes on power plays.&rdquo;For those unfamiliar with the Peterboro Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, it is a team that stays competitive each year because of its workmanlike approach to the game. A list of the Petes&rsquo; top alumni illuminates the picture&mdash;Scotty Bowman, Roger Neilson, Bob Gainey and Doug Jarvis, to name a few. The theme is teamwork, which explains why coach Dick Todd uses four lines on a regular basis and has more than one power-play unit. It&rsquo;s a concept that is at odds with many junior hockey operations, which are founded on the star system&mdash;get a top line and turn &lsquo;em loose.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m convinced that if Steve Yzerman played for a team other than the Petes and was double shifted, killed penalties and played on every power play, he would have shown that he deserved to be picked No. 1 overall in the draft. We picked No. 4. That&rsquo;s why I thank God for Dick Todd.&ldquo;The only reason we got Yzerman is because he was more difficult to get a scouting handle on than the other top picks. I watched him a lot. but I still had a tough time comparing him because he didn&rsquo;t play as much as the others (Brian Lawton, Sylvain Turgeon and Pat LaFontaine). Everybody knew he was an intelligent kid with good offensive skills and a good attitude. But there was some question as to whether he was strong enough to play in the NHL.&rdquo;As it turned out, concerns for Yzerman&rsquo;s physical well-being were blown out of proportion. He&rsquo;s not real big&mdash;5-foot-11, 170 pounds&mdash;but he&rsquo;s strong on his skates and he certainly doesn&rsquo;t look out of place. His ability to handle the physical aspects of the game has not been a factor.&ldquo;I guess you could say I&rsquo;m surprised at how well he&rsquo;s done,&rdquo; says John Ogrodnick, Yzerman&rsquo;s left winger and the Wings&rsquo; leading scorer. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got so much composure for an 18-year-old. He never panics out there. He&rsquo;s just one smooth hockey player.&rdquo;Yzerman&rsquo;s agent, Gus Badali, figures his client&rsquo;s success was unavoidable.&ldquo;Would you think I&rsquo;m a liar if I said I wasn&rsquo;t the least bit surprised at how well Stevie is doing,&rdquo; Badali says, reiterating Devellano&rsquo;s contention that Yzerman would have been much more highly accclaimed had he received more ice time in Peterboro. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s not a criticism of Dick Todd, of course. Stevie never once complained about ice time and I know a lot of kids with his talent would have in the same situation.&ldquo;Really, he&rsquo;s the type of kid that&rsquo;s almost too good to be true. He has a lot of the same qualities I&rsquo;ve seen in Wayne (Gretzky, another Badali client of some note). When I first saw Stevie, he looked more like a rock star than a hockey player: He had really long hair and and it stuck way out at the sides, too. But there&rsquo;s no question he&rsquo;s a hockey player.&rdquo;Yzerman came to the Red Wing training camp aiming to make the team, but had he been returned to Peterboro he wouldn&rsquo;t have been shattered. As far as the Red Wings were concerned, he had to play himself off the team and, given the lack of quality players, that would have been tough.&ldquo;It was a really great situation,&rdquo; says Yzerman, who will still be eligible for junior hockey next season. &ldquo;There was no real pressure put on me. It&rsquo;s been a game-to-game thing all season. When I came here they didn&rsquo;t expect me to tear up the league.&rdquo;It became apparent early that Yzerman had all the physical requirements to play in the NHL. The question, and this is asked of all 18-year-olds playing in the NHL, is whether he was emotionally prepared. He is.&ldquo;I think when you&rsquo;re 18 and faced with playing in the NHL. it requires a lot more selfdiscipline off the ice.&rdquo; says Yzerman, who shares a house with teammates Claude Loiselle and Lane Lambert. &ldquo;You have to take care of yourself, use your head, don&rsquo;t do anything that&rsquo;s counter productive. You see a lot of 18-year-olds who have the talent to play, but they can&rsquo;t take care of themselves.&ldquo;I like living on my own. I like my freedom and I feel very independent.&rdquo;On the ice, each game that passes gives Yzerman more confidence. Playing with Ogrodnick and Duguay doesn&rsquo;t hinder the development process either.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been great,&rdquo; Yzerman says of his linemates. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve helped me out a lot. They&rsquo;re patient with me and because they&rsquo;re such talented players, it brings up my skill level, too.&ldquo;Early in the season, I didn&rsquo;t try to beat too many guys one on one. I just wanted to get the puck to my wingers but they told me to start carrying it more.&rdquo;As a result, Yzerman has shown off some pretty slick moves. In the All-Star game, he split the defense on a one-on-two and only a rolling puck that got too far ahead of him spoiled what could have been the prettiest play of the game.He&rsquo;s slick off the ice. too. During a Hockey Night in Canada between-periods interview at the All-Star game, host Briar. McFarlane suggested Yzerman take advice from linemate Ron Duguay. Yzerman said, &ldquo;Yeah, and then I&rsquo;ll score all the time.&rdquo;Red Wing fans, who have supported the club extremely well this season&mdash;they&rsquo;re averaging close to 17,000&mdash;despite a few bad stretches, realize Yzerman is something special. It hasn&rsquo;t taken him long to see the flip side of that.&ldquo;I love playing here,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The fans have been great. They&rsquo;ve been so supportive and there&rsquo;s such an optimistic attitude with everyone. This is a great hockey city, a great place to play. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re discussing the rebuilding of the Red Wings, you can&rsquo;t overlook the man at the top. Mike llitch, who turned a dream into a million-dollar pizza business, has given the Wings something they needed badly&mdash;an injection of enthusiasm, drive and stability.&ldquo;The owner cares, we care and the people care,&rdquo; explains Ogrodnick. &ldquo;Even when we hit rough spots on the ice. which we do from time to time, nobody gets too down. Everyone has the feeling that the team is going in a good direction.&rdquo;&ldquo;The real strength of this team,&rdquo; Devellano says, &ldquo;is its ownership.&rdquo;In other words, llitch, unlike many men in his position, is going to give Jimmy D. his chance. If the Wings show a little improvement each season, then Devellano can build toward his goal of 1990. If the Wings regress or get badly bogged down, then Hitch will do what is required to turn his business around. But for the time being, Devellano operates with security afforded to few general managers of low-level NHL teams.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to be patient, but the only way to build this team is through the draft.&rdquo; Jimmy D. says. &ldquo;We just won&rsquo;t trade a draft pick, any draft pick. We&rsquo;ve got to come up with another Steve Yzerman next year and the year after that.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve only been here for one draft and we&rsquo;ve got Yzerman and Lane Lambert from it. That&rsquo;s good. You need at least two guys from each draft to step in and play. That&rsquo;s what we did with the Islanders. It works.&rdquo;So in the meantime, Devellano will patch up his lineup with aging free agents&mdash;Brad Park, Bob Manno, Rick MacLeish et al&mdash;and wait for the kids to arrive..&rdquo;I&rsquo;m not a cocky guy. but I do believe in myself,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve shown a lot of patience and I&rsquo;m not scared to make a move. I&rsquo;ve made two significant trades since I came here. I traded Mark Kirton to Vancouver for Ivan Boldirev. This will be the 10th season that Ivan has scored 20 goals. Kirton is in the minors. I traded Mark Osborne, Mike Blaisdell and Willie Huber to New York for Eddie Mio, Ron Duguay and Eddie Johnstone. Everybody said then that I got skinned. Well, I never got skinned.&ldquo;Mio and Johnstone have had injuries, but so has Huber and Blaisdell is in Tulsa. So if you want, you can call it Duguay for Osborne. I think that&rsquo;s a good deal for us. I&rsquo;d make it again.&rdquo;If Devellano ever had any second thoughts about trading a draft choice, they were dispelled at the All-Star game when Yzerman lined up between Ogrodnick and Minnesota North Star winger Brian Bellows.&ldquo;I looked at that line and realized it could have been here in Detroit,&rdquo; Devellano says. &ldquo;The Wings gave up the right to pick Bellows in the Don Murdoch-Greg Smith trade with Minnesota. That&rsquo;ll never happen again as long as I&rsquo;m here.&ldquo;This could be the best franchise in hockey. It&rsquo;s 58 years old and right on the Canadian-U.S. border where hockey interest is high.&rdquo;Devellano&rsquo;s reasoning is tough to argue. Everybody knows the best way to build a team is through the draft, but a general manager&rsquo;s resolve must be strong. The Hartford Whalers, for example, have but one pick in the first five rounds of this summer&rsquo;s entry draft. They will continue to apply band-aids and magic potions where a long recuperative period is the only answer. Therefore, their future would appear bleak, though they&rsquo;re at about the same level as the Wings are right now. But with the the Red Wings, there is at least hope.&ldquo;One or two more guys like Yzerman,&rdquo; says Red Wing captain Danny Gare, &ldquo;and this team is on its way. And if anybody can get them, it&rsquo;s Jimmy D.&rdquo;No one is happier about the Red Wings&rsquo; new stability than NHL president John Ziegler, a former Red Wing employee who lives in Ortonville, 45 miles north of Detroit.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always pleased to see the Red Wings do well,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But what really impresses me is that the media and the fans are demonstrating a great deal of patience and understanding with the new ownership.&ldquo;Looking back, a lot of the Red Wings&rsquo; problems were caused by reacting to impatience. I&rsquo;m impressed with the tremendous marketing and customer relations Mr. Hitch has implemented, which has resulted in increased attendance.&rdquo;Off the ice, the organization is sound. It&rsquo;s run first class in every respect and it&rsquo;s simply a matter of waiting for the on-ice product to significantly improve. If Devellano acquires talent in the draft, his plan should work. If the Wings don&rsquo;t win the Cup in 1990, they should at least be a lot more competitive than they are now.Even Ziegler must be happy that one of the low-level NHL clubs is attempting to use the entry draft as it was meant to be used, as the great equalizer.&ldquo;Absolutely,&rdquo; says the president. &ldquo;People forget that. Really, it&rsquo;s nothing new. It&rsquo;s been like that since 1967. Then when someone comes along and decides to build a team through the draft, it&rsquo;s like they&rsquo;ve discovered the wheel. Those who have deviated from it, though, have had to pay the price.&rdquo;So what better place to rediscover the wheel than in Detroit? &#9632;

f0003-01

…TO HAVE STEVE YZERMAN IN DETROIT

THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded 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 Ki veil, 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 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 ADDRESSCHANGES TO THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Road #10Q, 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.IN THE UNITED STATES: Second class postage 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>In next week&rsquo;s issue, we&rsquo;ll take a look at the Edmonton Oilers and whether general manager and coach Glen Sather figures he has a team that can go all the way. In other words, with the NHL trade deadline approaching, will the Oilers be making any significant deals? We&rsquo;ll also take a look at how the Oilers were built and where the players came from.On top of that, we&rsquo;ll have a rundown on the first week of action at the hockey event of the Sarajevo Winter Games and reaction to the United States' successful protest against Team Canada and its so-called &ldquo;professionals.&rdquo;<h2>March 2</h2>Who is the best left winger in the National Hockey League? Is it Edmonton Oiler Mark Messier. Is it Quebec Nordique Michel Goulet? Or is it injured Chicago Black Hawk left winger Al Secord.A purely subjective answer will be found in this issue and it&rsquo;s bound to generate a lot of mail from Edmonton and Chicago. We will, of course, be profiling Michel Goulet, a World Hockey Association refugee who has become one of the NHL&rsquo;s brightest stars.Don&rsquo;t miss it. &#9632;

COMING SOON IN THN

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWKSI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011255/4861472-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="579" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">Roger Neilson hopes to eventually move into Kings front office</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;There will be no more No. 1 draft picks for Jerry Korabs. No more No. 1 draft picks for Rick Martins. No more No. 1 draft picks for anybody&mdash;except for the Kings.&ldquo;We will have a plan and we will stick to it for as long as we are here,&rdquo; said Rogie Vachon, who was elevated from assistant coach to general manager on Jan. 30 in owner Jerry Buss&rsquo; housecleaning. &ldquo;My first priority will be building the team through draft choices. We are going to keep our draft picks.&ldquo;No stone will go unturned. We will sit down and evaluate the entire organization. If changes must be made. I will not hesitate to make them.&ldquo;Personally. I think the more draft choices you have, the better. (Buffalo&rsquo;s) Scotty Bowman had three first-round picks last year (one courtesy of the Kings) and when you have that many, one or two are bound to become superstars.&rdquo;Vachon said he and Roger Neilson, who was hired as coach and assistant GM 11 days after Vancouver fired him as coach, will &ldquo;go into the field&rdquo; at the end of the season to take a first-hand look at prospects for next June&rsquo;s draft, which is being touted as a deep one.And yes, the Kings still own their No. I pick.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to watch these kids play, but we&rsquo;re also going to interview them, to see how they are emotionally and mentally,&rdquo; Vachon said. &ldquo;Sometimes, talent isn&rsquo;t enough. We&rsquo;ve got to find out if they&rsquo;re on drugs, if they&rsquo;re good people.&ldquo;I realize this is a big challenge. There is a lot to be done to get the Kings organization the respect it deserves. We&rsquo;re going to do everything in our power to get that respect.&rdquo;Neilson signed only a one-year contract, but he&rsquo;s planning on staying a lot longer.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t get me wrong. I intend to be here for a long time.&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;We had a disagreement over the length of the contract, but this gives me a chance to keep my options open and get me immediately back into the game.&rdquo;The purge happened only a few days after the firing of Don Perry. George Maguire, the Kings&rsquo; GM for the past seven seasons, lost his post but retained his president of hockey operations job. Mike Murphy, the former King captain and Maguire&rsquo;s special assistant since retiring in training camp, was hired as Neilson&rsquo;s assistant coach.Besides coaching, the 49-year-old Neilson will handle player contracts, the Kings&rsquo; schedule, setting up training camp and the travel schedule.&ldquo;The coaching is very important, but at the same time I want to learn about the other things, too,&rdquo; said Neilson, who eventually hopes to shed his coaching role and move into the front office.Vachon signed a multi-year contract&mdash;terms were not disclosed&mdash;and his duties for next season will be announced later. He said he has been given &ldquo;total control&rdquo; of the operation.To be sure. Buss plans on keeping them around for awhile. He said he intends to assess the success, or lack of it. of both men at the end of the season, &ldquo;after which we will appraise the entire organization and hold further discussions.&rdquo;Translation: a new contract for Neilson and promotions for both are extremely possible.Buss also said Maguire &ldquo;will represent the Kings at all board of governors meetings and will concentrate his duties on the long-range development of the hockey team. We will expand his duties to include economic pursuits, such as negotiations for a pay-TV package.&rdquo;In response to rumors he may step down as an active owner, Buss said. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t really determined what my role will be. I felt I had to make changes at this exact moment and now I will sit back and reflect on my role for the future.&rdquo;Buss and Vachon also hinted that Perry. who wants to stay in the organization, will receive another position at a later date.Buss accomplished basically two things in his skakeup:&bull; Finally, much-needed new blood was being transfused into the operation. Neilson is a creative and innovative coach who is best known for meticulous preparation and for developing the use of videotapes for game analysis. He isn&rsquo;t nicknamed Captain Video for nothing, folks.Neilson also has a rather successful track record, which includes stops in Toronto, Buffalo and Vancouver at the top level and with Peterborough in junior. He brought a career win-loss-tie record of 179-149-71 through parts of seven NHL seasons into his King debut against, ironically, the team that had fired him just over a week before he signed on with Buss.Vachon is 38 and Murphy is 33. Neither has much front-office experience, but the youth movement is a giant step in the right direction for an organization seemingly stuck in the dinosaur age for most of its 17-year existence.&bull; Even more significant is the sensible philosophy Vachon will carry into his new duties. He said the club finally &ldquo;will develop a long-range plan&rdquo; and that he intends to build his team &ldquo;through the draft.&rdquo;Hallelujah!NOTES&mdash;Sources within the Kings&rsquo; organization indicate the work of director of player personnel Wren Blair, chief scout Ted O&rsquo;Connor and all the area scouts will be scrutinized extremely closely or they may be the next to go. &#9632;

f0004-01

Vachon Won’t Squander No. 1 Pick

<h2>GRETZKY ON THE SHELF</h2>EDMONTON&mdash;Wayne Gretzky can be stopped&mdash;and not just by the Los Angeles Kings.A nagging shoulder injury has put the Great One on the sidelines for a week or two in February. Gretzky practised the day before the Oilers&rsquo; home game against the Calgary Flames on Feb. 4, but when the pain became too much, he acted on the advice of team doctor Gord Cameron and decided to give the shoulder time to heal.The injury ended Gretzky&rsquo;s streak of 362 consecutive games played. He had missed only one game in his five-year National Hockey League career.Eight days before, the Los Angeles Kings stopped Gretzky&rsquo;s point-a-game streak at 51 games, the second consecutive year the Kings stopped Gretzky&rsquo;s streak.There had been some concern Gretzky&rsquo;s injury might keep him out of the NHL All-Star game in New Jersey on Jan. 31, but Gretzky withstood the pain and played. He scored a goal for the Campbell Conference in their 7-6 loss to the Wales Conference.The Oilers played well without Gretzky against the Flames as they easily won 10-5. Right winger Pat Hughes came up with a surprise performance as he scored five goals. In the Oilers&rsquo; next game, however, Washington humiliated them 9-2 in Landover, MD.Gretzky joins an injury list which already includes forwards Jari Kurri, Dave Semenko and Dave Lumley. To compensate for the injury toll, the Oilers have called up Marc Habscheid from Moncton Alpines and Tim Molle.Mark Messier returned to the lineup after a six-game suspension for slashing Vancouver&rsquo;s Thomas Gradin.<h2>MAPLE LEAF FOREVER</h2>TORONTO&mdash;Borje Salming will not be traded&hellip;at least not for the entire Quebec Nordique team.Leaf owner Harold Ballard admitted he turned down a deal that would have sent Salming to the Nordiques for Marian and Anton Stastny and Dale Hunter. But Ballard went even further than the trio the Nords were offering.&ldquo;Trade Salming?&rdquo; Ballard asked rhetorically. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t trade him for the entire Quebec team.&rdquo;Ballard&rsquo;s reason can be explained two ways. The first has to do with Salming&rsquo;s effort in his 11 years with the Leafs.&ldquo;Borje is in his 11th season with us now and he&rsquo;s been a loyal and faithful performer,&rdquo; Ballard said. &ldquo;He has played with injuries that would have kept most players out of the lineup.&rdquo;The other reasoning is Ballard&rsquo;s personal displeasure for Carling-O&rsquo;Keefe, which owns the Nordiques. Just over two seasons ago, Carling O&rsquo;Keefe signed away Ralph Sazio from Ballard&rsquo;s Hamilton Tiger-Cat team of the Canadian Football League to work for the arch-rival Toronto Argonauts. Ballard was so incensed he vowed never to sell the company&rsquo;s beer at Maple Leaf Gardens.Ballard&rsquo;s disliking for the brewing company heated up even more when it was disclosed at the All-Star game that Carling O&rsquo;Keefe is negotiating with the NHL to televise games played in the U.S. in Canada. Molson currently owns a monopoly on games televised in Canada and the games primarily include at least one Canadian team.Ballard is quoted in the Toronto Sun as saying he&rsquo;s opposed to this deal, which he claims the 14 U.S. teams have instituted, with help from league president John Ziegler and Chicago Black Hawk owner Bill Wirtz, to increase coverage of the American teams to Canada.&ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t have the decency to make such a decision in the presence of Canadian teams,&rdquo; Ballard said. &#9632;

SLAPSHOTS

Here&rsquo;s what was happening 20 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; The Soviet Union beat Canada 3-2 to win the gold medal in the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Had the Canadians won the game by at least two goals, they would have won the gold medal, but the loss dropped them in a three-way tie for second place, which eventually placed them in fourth based on accumulated goals for and against in games with other teams. The fourth-place finish was the first time in Olympic history that Canada failed to at least win a gold medal&bull; Howie Young, who was dropped by Chicago and bypassed by the other teams in the National Hockey League, signed with Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League, but the Bison players gave the erstwhile NHL bad-boy a very cool reception.Here&rsquo;s what was happening 15 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Carl Brewer, the former Maple Leaf player who was coaching and playing in Finland, vowed not to return to the NHL because of his fear ot flying.&bull; Rhode Island Reds of the American Hockey League gave Alton White a five-game trial. White was with Columbus of the International League.&bull; Art Jones of the Portland Buckeroos of the Western League became the sixth player in professional hockey to score 1,000 points in one league. &#9632;

THIS WEEK…20 Years Ago

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011116/4861606-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"></div>They nicknamed him I he Reverend, because he was a Christian athlete and a nondrinker. Ron Grahame was, and still is, the model athlete.Then how did the former L. A. player graduate to the. ahem, ex-King of Beers in commercials for Budweiser.&ldquo;I just lucked into it.&rdquo; commented Grahame, a former goaltender with the Houston Aeros of the now-defunct World Hockey Association (1973-77) and the Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings and Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League (1977-81). &ldquo;Syl Apps and Murray Wilson (former teammates of Grahame with the Kings) told me about the casting call for the commercial.&ldquo;So we went down to Culver City (CA) and auditioned. A couple of weeks later, I received word that I had gotten the part.&ldquo;And yes, despite the fact that I hardly ever drink, I did have a couple of beers with the Budweiser people when we were shooting the commercial.&ldquo;The funny thing about the whole deal is that I have now gained more notoriety for the commercial than I ever did for my career.&rdquo;Grahame began his pro career with the Aeros following a successful four-year college career with the University of Denver.Following a short stint with the Macon Whoopers of the old Southern League, Grahame joined the Aeros at the end of the 1973-74 season.&ldquo;We had a strong team in Houston.&rdquo; recalled the 33-year-old Grahame, a native of Victoria, B.C., now living in Denver, CO. &ldquo;I signed with Houston the same year that the Howes (Gordie, Mark, and Marty) did.&ldquo;They made the difference for the Aeros. Gordie was unbelievable, despite his age.&rdquo;Led by Grahame&rsquo;s three playoff shutouts, the Aeros won the Avco Cup, symbolic of the WHA championship, in 1974-75.&ldquo;The WHA had a lot of good players in it and was a very competitive league,&rdquo; said Grahame. &ldquo;Houston was very supportive of the team.&ldquo;In fact, it&rsquo;s a shame that the city doesn&rsquo;t have a team today. I believe that they could support an NHL franchise.&ldquo;I went to a reunion of the team last summer and you would be surprised at the number of fans that turned out to see us. There are a lot of knowledgable hockey fans down there.&rdquo;Signed by Boston as a free-agent in 1977, Grahame spent one season as a Bruin before being traded to the Kings for a No. I draft pick, which turned out to be defenseman Ray Bourque.Two and a half seasons and one knee injury later, he was traded to Quebec, finishing out the 1980-81 season, and his career, with Binghamton of the American Hockey League.Today, Grahame is in his second season as assistant hockey coach for the University of Denver and head hockey coach, Ralph Backstrom. a former NHL player who toiled in L. A. for awhile.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02816/4861599-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="587" height="1113"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former NHLgoalie Ron Grahame will now be known as the ex-King of Beers.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;My basic job is to help with recruiting and assist Ralph in any way I can.&rdquo; Grahame said. &ldquo;I basically work with the defensemen and goalies.&ldquo;And now I&rsquo;m learning what the forwards do as well. It all comes with coaching.&ldquo;I would like to become a head coach someday. If I want to do that I have to know everything there is to know about the entire game. That&rsquo;s the way to become successful.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-01

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03565/4861661-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg"></div>that the NHL players with the most goals in one season are: &#9632;

f0005-03

Did You Know…

1. Who captained the Chicago Black Hawks to the Stanley Cup in 1961?2. What Patrick Division defenseman failed to register a single goal last season despite playing all 80 games?3. Who was appointed coach of the Montreal Canadiens in 1939. but drowned before the season started?4. Who is the only player, besides Ken Morrow, who has won an international hockey gold medal and Stanley Cup in the same year?5. Who played on Boston&rsquo;s Uke Line?6. When was the last season in which there were no overtime games in the playoffs?7. Name the only two New York Ranger players to win the NHL scoring title?8. When was the last season in which all of the NHL playoff spots were occupied by Canadian clubs?9. Name the last Toronto Maple Leaf goaltender to register a shutout?10. Who is the only player to score 50 goals in a season in both the NHL and WHA?<h2>Trivia Answers</h2>1. Eddie Litzenberger.2. New York Ranger Tom Laidlaw.3. Albert (Babe) Siebert.4. Connie Broden won a gold medal at the 1958 world championships with Canada and a Stanley Cup with Montreal later that same year.5. Johnny Bucyk, Vic Stasiuk and Bronco Horvath.6. 1962-63.7. Bill Cook (1926-27 and 1932-33).8. 1924-25 (Hamilton Tigers, Toronto St. Patricks and Montreal Canadiens).9. Vincent Tremblay shutout the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 on November 14. 1981.10. Bobby Hull. &#9632;

TRIVIA

<div class="byline">BY JOHN POWERS AND ARTHUR KAMINSKY</div>The 1984 Winter Olympic Games are underway in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, and no matter what happens there, it&rsquo;s doubtful that it will rival the thrill experienced by Americans and the hockey world in general when Team USA won the gold medal at Lake Placid in 1980.It was dubbed the Miracle On Ice and now. Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe reporter John Powers and New York City attorney and player agent Arthur Kaminsky have chronicled the historical event in a book. One Goal, published by Harper and Row in the United States and Fitzhenry and Whiteside Limited in Canada.The following is the second of two excerpts carried in THE HOCKEY NEWS, and it picks up the action just as time is about to expire in Team USA&rsquo;s final game, a 4-2 victory over Finland that guarantees the young Americans their gold medal and a place in hockey history.Everybody had his stick over the dasher now, thumping it against the boards. The crowd, which simply would not hear of anything less than pure gold, was roaring.Then the buzzer, with everybody on the ice, but the tone subtly different from Friday night. Then, the ecstasy had come of shock, of a world turned upside down in fourteen days. This time, it was a whoosh of relief, achievement, emancipation.No more games. No more mortal duels between one way of life and another. No morestrange European faces and stranger European names. No more Herbies. No more Herbie.Brooks had shaken hands quickly, then done his disappearing act again. It would have been completely out of character for him to run. skidding and slipping, across the ice, to embrace his players. Craig Patrick could do that, because Patrick had been one of them.If I did that. Brooks knew, they&rsquo;d say, hey. where were you for eight months? At least they can respect me for being consistent.Again, the moment belonged to the players; and now they belonged to the country. Somebody handed McClanahan an American flag. Then some kid came, careening, across the ice and gave a huge, filthy American flag to Jimmy Craig, who decided he had to wear it.So they spent a free-form twenty minutes out there, all taboos lifted, no tomorrow to be concerned with. Johnson and Bobby Suter, Americans but still Badgers, embraced. Schneider and Eruzione, Americans but also refugees from the &ldquo;I&rdquo;, hugged, too. Eric Strobel handed Harrington a beer, and Harrington washed his face with it.Amid all of them was Craig, still holding the flag and his stick, the mask off now, showing the ritually unshaven face and an anxious expression. &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s my father,&rdquo; he kept asking. His family, and his father, had inspired him for two weeks, driving down each day from Montreal. Now. all Craig could see were thousands of exuberant faces, all the same. One of them had to be his father.They had to leave the ice, finally. The Russians and Swedes had to play for the silver medal in an hour. The dressing room was stocked with champagne and beer; and Walter Mondale, the Vice President, was getting Carter on the phone again.&ldquo;Where are the players from Minnesota?&rdquo; Mondale wondered aloud. Forty eyes rolled simultaneously. Hey, Fritz, don&rsquo;t get regional.&ldquo;We have no players from Minnesota. Mr. Vice President,&rdquo; Brooks informed him. &ldquo;We have only Americans.&rdquo;Brooks was summoned to the phone. Carter wanted to remind him what a terrific thing his boys had done for America.But the line was dead. &ldquo;Yes, sir, Mr. President.&rdquo; Brooks deadpanned. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll come right down tomorrow and register for the draft.&rdquo;Now Carter was on the line. &ldquo;You told me last night you had one more game to win,&rdquo; he told Brooks.&ldquo;Mr. President. I lie a lot,&rdquo; Brooks replied. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know if we were going to do it. It was a great win for everybody in sport and the American people in general. From the things we had to overcome, to the different beliefs, ways of life. It just proves our life is the proper way to continue.&rdquo;Carter wanted to talk to Eruzione now. Then to Craig, to get some sort of a luncheon order. He wanted the whole bunch of them to come down tomorrow and see him.&ldquo;Two lobsters, sir,&rdquo; Craig told him. &ldquo;Oysters. You know, the kind of sea food we get at home, sir.&rdquo;There was a press conference with the whole team, still in uniform, unwinding upon the high school auditorium stage, and the players would dictate the format. Brooks had violated one Olympic rule by bringing no players out after the first game. Now, he violated another. He brought everybody.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the one word you all would use to describe this victory?&rdquo; they were asked.Eruzione. as captain, took the microphone. &ldquo;I guess we&rsquo;re all a bunch of big Doolies now. Phil Verchota will explain what a big Doolie is.&rdquo;Terrific. Verchota thought. Put me right on the spot. &ldquo;As for what a big Doolie is. I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; Verchota said. &ldquo;I won a gold medal today, so I&rsquo;m a big Doolie. It&rsquo;s just a big wheel, a big gun. That&rsquo;s about it.&rdquo;Cheers, halloos, general approbation from his mates.&ldquo;This press conference,&rdquo; Eruzione told himself. &ldquo;This is us.&rdquo; None of the usual false &ldquo;humble&rdquo; attributing it all to luck, thanking Coach Brooks. The Olympians lounged about in Roman-banquet fashion, cavalierly disregarding Brooks, answering what they chose, ignoring what they deemed impertinent.&ldquo;Gong that question.&rdquo; a player would say if somebody from Sioux City happened to ask what all this meant to the people of America. And it was done, brushed aside for good.Now, shuffle-trotting down the corridor along the far wall (&ldquo;Hi. guys&rdquo;) was OCee (Jack O&rsquo;Callahan) himself, brandishing a bottle of Japanese beer, fresh from the doping room.He and Harrington had been the day&rsquo;s chosen few. &ldquo;Seventeen and twenty-eight,&rdquo; someone had said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go.&rdquo; So they&rsquo;d sat there for twenty minutes, drained six beers apiece; then came to the auditorium to enrich the national archives.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m from Charlestown,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Callahan informed the self-styled elite of the nation&rsquo;s sporting press. &ldquo;In the shadow of Bunker Hill. The Americans won at Bunker Hill, the Americans won at Lake Placid.&rdquo;&ldquo;But the Americans didn&rsquo;t win at Bunker Hill,&rdquo; someone protested.&ldquo;Hey. I don&rsquo;t wanna hear that,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Callahan countered. &ldquo;What do you think there&rsquo;s a monument there for? I can see it from my house.&rdquo;Was there a Brooksism that might be relevant to all this? Harrington, as curator, stepped to the mike. &ldquo;Well, ah, you know, we were damned if we did and damned if we didn&rsquo;t. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Well, ah, you know, we looked like a monkey screwing a football out there for two periods and blah, blah. blah. But we walked up to the tiger, we spit in his eye and we shot him. Then we went to the well again and the water was colder, the water was deeper. What else can I say? Well, ah, for lack of a better phrase, that just about wraps it up.&rdquo;They&rsquo;d been reasonably grim Games by most standards. The Taiwanese had been excluded; Carter had been talking about a Summer Games boycott; the bus system had broken down, spectators left freezing in the dark. The Europeans had bitched about living in a prison. Lord Killanin had dropped somebody&rsquo;s medal in a snowbank. the locals had jacked up prices, everybody had grown snappish. But they would always be remembered for one fine moment and twenty college kids who&rsquo;d gone for it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011295/4861692-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="756" height="1004"></div>When they came out for the medals shortly after 4:30 in the afternoon, they&rsquo;d been goofing and giggling and swilling out of random bottles for nearly three hours. &ldquo;They came out drunk as lords.&rdquo; one sports writer observed, &ldquo;to meet the Lord himself.&rdquo;It was hard to tell precisely where the spirits left off and bug-eyed emotion began. Nobody cared. Killanin seemed amused as one American after another swaggered up to receive his medal and variously stared at it, kissed it or chewed on it to determine authenticity.Meanwhile the Russians, who&rsquo;d waxed the Swedes 9-2 just moments before and collected a novelty, their first silver medal, stood by amused. The Swedes, delighted to have a medal of any denomination, were still in uniform, dripping sweat, their hair tousled, almost as pleased as the Americans.Finally, they called Boris Mikhailov. Mats Waltin and Eruzione. the three captains, upto the stand for the anthems. Eruzione. his team behind him in their blue sweats, put his hand over his heart, watched the flag go up and sang the &ldquo;Star Spangled Banner.&rdquo; No prompting needed.Then he turned and motioned to the whole crew. Terriers, Gophers, Badgers. Bulldogs. Falcons and Sioux. &ldquo;C&rsquo;mere,&rdquo; Eruzione called. &ldquo;C&rsquo;mere. Get up on the stage.&rdquo;So they all crowded up there, hip to hip. shoulder to shoulder, index fingers pointed to the roof, chanting U-S-A, U-S-A. The Arena had remained filled; this was star-spangled frosting. Then Eruzione led them in a victory parade around the ice. Had it been the Stanley Cup. he would have skated around, trophy held over his head. Instead, they walked around and displayed their medals to their countrymen.&ldquo;We re twenty guys playing on the Olympic team.&rdquo; Eruzione would explain later. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not from Boston or Minnesota. We live today in the Olympic Village. Our home is in a Burnsville apartment, where most of us still owe some money.&rdquo;Somebody else would settle up that account. There were matters of state to attend to in the morning, a President to see. &ldquo;Get in early.&rdquo; Brooks told his people. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not taking a bunch of tipsy hockey players to see the President of the United States.&rdquo;So they stayed out all night, just wandering and loafing, nothing rowdy. Most of them got back to the Olympic Village as dawn was breaking over the Adirondacks. Bill Baker glanced at a clock&mdash;five minutes to six&mdash;shrugged, and went off to take a qu ick shower and cram his gear in to a bag.Mark Wells had gotten in at a decent hour&mdash;somewhere around four&mdash;and heard a female screaming for help. He came upon a drunken Russian athlete mugging an American girl, &ldquo;trying to get into her private life.&rdquo;The Russian took one look at Wells in his U.S.A, jacket and fled. Wells shook his head. Maybe they were all supermen now. They&rsquo;d won the gold medal, saved the world. The President had asked about their menu preferences. NHL clubs were suddenly panting to get their names on contracts.A couple of hours later, they were at Andrews Air Force Base. Carter had sent an Air Force jet to bring the entire U.S. Olympic Squad, hockey players, skiers, speedskaters, lugers. the works, to the capital. It wasn&rsquo;t until they noticed the traffic blockade, the faces crowded together, flags waving, that the Olympians began to realize the enormity of it. If it&rsquo;s like this here. Mark Johnson wondered, what&rsquo;s it going to be like elsewhere?Back in Lake Placid the mania had been contained. a small pocket of giddiness that could be sampled or avoided at will. There was always the trailer to go back to, another practice to prepare for, another game ahead.Now they&rsquo;d dined at the President&rsquo;s table, been proclaimed magnificent Americans all. Guess it&rsquo;s time to get back on the bus. Jim Craig thought. There had to be another town up ahead, another bunch of Flint Generals waiting to take their heads off.Instead, everybody was shaking hands, see you sometime. I&rsquo;ve gotta catch a plane for Chicago. for Atlanta, for Winnipeg. Got a contract to sign, a team to join.Now Brooks was hugging Craig (&ldquo;Jimmy, you did everything lever asked of you&rdquo;), patting backs, shaking hands, wrapping it up. Players were standing around, conversations trailing off amid awkward leavetakings.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s over Jack.&rdquo; Dave Silk told O&rsquo;Callahan. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s over.&rdquo; And then. Silk began to cry. &#9632;

f0006-01

THE GOLDEN BOYS

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>New York Rangers&rsquo; forward Don Maloney doesn&rsquo;t read tea leaves or tarot cards but it seems he has an ability to look into the future.After all. it was Maloney who said, &ldquo;You just go out. try your best and shoot for the car,&rdquo; when asked how he planned to approach the National Hockey League&rsquo;s 36th annual All-Star game in New Jersey on Jan. 31.After he had scored a goal and three assists to lead the Wales Conference to a 7-6 victory over the Campbell and earn most-valuable-player honors, Maloney walked away&mdash;make that drove away&mdash;with a fancy new sports car.&ldquo;I was just kidding around.&rdquo; Maloney said of his earlier statement, &ldquo;but it just proves miracles can happen.&rdquo;And they happen to those who are in need.&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll come in handy.&rdquo; Maloney said. &ldquo;I drive a Honda now.&rdquo;Only two days before the game, the Rangers beat St. Louis 3-2 to move into first place in the Patrick Division. All added up, Maloney had much to celebrate.&ldquo;Coming in first Sunday, then winning the car, they say things happen in threes. I&rsquo;m hoping,&rdquo; he said.For a guy who&rsquo;d never won at fairs, a self-admitted &ldquo;klutz,&rdquo; Maloney said, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a dream come true, like winning the lottery.&rdquo; He added that he hadn&rsquo;t had any relatives or friends at the game, but &ldquo;I figure I&rsquo;m going to have a lot now.&rdquo;Maloney earned his second consecutive invitation to the All-Star game as a fill-in. Every team must be represented by at least one player and though Pierre Larouche was later added to the team as a replacement for Bryan Trottier of the crosstown Islanders, Al Arbour must have had a feeling about Maloney. He&rsquo;s not the Rangers&rsquo; leading scorer, nor can he realistically be considered their best player, but he&rsquo;s got a knack for scoring goals and in a game of this sort where checking is almost non-existent. Radar Arbour zeroed in on exactly what he wanted.Maloney, who tied a record for most points and assists, could not have played as well as he did without a little help. Larouche and Hartford&rsquo;s Mark Johnson, who tied the assists record along with Toronto&rsquo;s Rick Vaive, worked well with Maloney.While the collective talents of the trio could not be overlooked, neither could the boisterous Ranger fans who inhabited the heavens of the Brendan Byrne Arena and consistently cheered their heroes.While Glenn (Chico) Resch of the Devils drew the loudest support when the players were introduced, Maloney and Larouche were were only a few decibels behind on the ovation scale. The Islanders&rsquo; Denis Potvin and Edmonton&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky, the captains of the Wales and Campbell, respectively, clearly were the MVPs (Most Vile Players) in the Devils and Rangers fans&rsquo; eyes.While Gretzky had long since apologized for his Devil-Mickey Mouse comments, the fans were saving their enmity for the right moment.Inasmuch as the Ranger fans tried to let themselves be known with the, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Go Rangers&rdquo; chant, they were occasionally taunted with &ldquo;Nineteen-Forty&rdquo; taunts, 1940 being the last year the Rangers won the Stanley Cup.It was all in good fun. however, and it provided an interesting diversion.Devil defenseman Joe Cirella broke open the scoring at 8:51 with a hard slapshot from the point that eluded Chicago&rsquo;s Murray Bannerman. The Black Hawk netminder surrendered four more goals in a span of 7:10 to Potvin. Boston&rsquo;s Rick Middleton. Montreal&rsquo;s Mats Naslund and Larouche and the first period ended 5-0.At the start of the second. Campbell coach Glen Sather moved Vaive off the Oiler line of Gretzky and Mark Messier and replaced him with Edmonton&rsquo;s Glenn Anderson, who was playing with Vancouver&rsquo;s Darcy Rota and Chicago&rsquo;s Denis Savard. The move put the Campbells back in contention as Savard and Rota replied with two goals and Detroit&rsquo;s John Ogrodnick reworked a faceoff play with teammate Steve Yzerman to produce the third Campbell goal. Brian Propp of the Flyers scored for the Wales at 17:34 in a loose goalmouth scramble to break the Campbell string and the second period ended 6-3.Maloney beat Edmonton&rsquo;s Grant Fuhr at the 7:24 mark of the third, but while Winnipeg&rsquo;s Dave Babych, Gretzky and Minnesota&rsquo;s Brian Bellows pumped three by Resch, who was a substitute for Washington&rsquo;s Al Jensen, the Campbells failed despite a gutsy effort.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02834/4861754-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="581" height="784"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Maloney won a car for being named the most valuable player in the All-Star game.</figcaption></div>While talk afterward centered on the wide-open play, both coaches stressed that the purpose of the game was to showcase the players&rsquo; talents.&ldquo;They made some moves out there that I got undressed about 10 times just standing behind the bench.&rdquo; Arbour said.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with scoring goals,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t hear any boos tonight. I thought it was an exciting game.&rdquo;There had been some speculation that Gretzky would not play because of an injured shoulder. Gretzky indicated early in the day that if the shoulder caused him too much pain, he would not play. But anybody who knows anything about his dedication, not to mention how much of an impact his absence would have, knew the Oiler superstar would let his adrenalin be the judge.Then again, it&rsquo;s doubtful whether he wanted to fall into another, ahem. Devil mousetrap.While Boston&rsquo;s Pete Peeters made two splendid saves on Gretzky breakaways, the Great One was only the Good One on this night. But a Canadian broadcaster working in New Jersey said it best the next day: &ldquo;Gretzky playing at 85 per cent is still better than most players playing at 100 per cent.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Country and western music superstar Larry Gatlin was among the Wayne Gretzky entourage at the game. Wearing a Mickey Mouse sweater and carrying Gretzky&rsquo;s stick to give to his son, Gatlin admitted he became friends with Gretzky after meeting him two years ago. Not only was he seeing Gretzky play for the first time, he was watching his first-ever hockey game.&ldquo;It seemed like there was no letting up in the intensity of the play,&rdquo; Gatlin said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a beautiful game, the passing, the players&rsquo; reflexes. Geez, my eyes crossed three times.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-02

Maloney Becomes A Miracle Man

The International Hockey WeeklyFounded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>Bricks And Bouquets</h2>THE NHL ALL-STAR game is history, the Winter Olympics are upon us, and hockey is heading into the stretch drive, so what better time than now for an instalment of Bricks and Bouquets, a forum which allows us to comment on a variety of topics and issues concerning the game. Here goes:A BRICK to those who found anything negative about the NHL All-Star game on Jan. 31 at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the New Jersey Meadowlands.All-star games are supposed to showcase the individual stars and their talents. Never mind that we all still have a tough time figuring out who&rsquo;s who&mdash;the Wales or the Campbells (it&rsquo;s easier if you call them the Oranges and the Whites and remember Wayne Gretzky plays for the Oranges)&mdash;the game was a great example of stars exhibiting a great deal of God-given talent.Considering some of the top players&mdash;Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Jari Kurri, to name a few&mdash;had to cancel due to injuries, there was still plenty of talent on display in the 7-6 win by the Whites (that&rsquo;s the team with Denis Potvin on it).Granted, few, if any, bodychecks were thrown and hockey is a contact game. But the speed at which the players moved, the slick plays they came up with and the amount of desire and hustle they demonstrated more than made up for the lack of contact.All in all, it was a great show.A BOUQUET to Wayne Gretzky for playing in the All-Star game despite a tender shoulder, which eventually sidelined him for a week.For some perverted reason, some fans out there like to find fault with Gretzky. The amount of mail we receive at our office concerning The Great One is split 50-50. Some love him, others loathe him.But how can you criticize a player of his obvious talent who worked so hard in the game when he easily could have pulled the chute and stayed home? Now he&rsquo;s missing games with the Oilers and interrupting a record-setting scoring spree because he played in that game, a game which he felt was worth attending. Obviously the young man understands what he means to the game and what the All-Star game means to the promotion of hockey in the United States.A BRICK to the NHL high command for dragging its feet on the Toronto Maple Leaf-Globe and Mail feud. Globe reporters are still denied access to the press box at Maple Leaf Gardens. For each day they are denied access, the league loses a little more credibility, something it can hardly afford.A BOUQUET to the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association for refusing to sign any further contracts with the NHL until the Leaf-Globe matter is cleared up. It&rsquo;s not much of a threat, but it&rsquo;s all the PHWA has in its arsenal.A BRICK to Stan Fischler and other nabobs of negativism who seem to think the PHWA can call a general strike and shut down hockey over the Leaf-Globe feud. The fact is is that the only clout the PHWA has is that it votes for the all-star teams and awards. The PHWA realizes this and, therefore, understands that you can&rsquo;t threaten someone with a hammer you don&rsquo;t have. All the writers can do is lobby the governors to rewrite a rule guaranteeing equal access to all media at all NHL rinks and/or write in their own papers how poorly the NHL handles its internal affairs.Some radicals are yelling boycott, but hockey writers are obliged to do what their newspapers pay them to do&mdash;cover hockey games.A BRICK to Hull Olympique coach Michel Morin, who is refusing to give his players their spending money because they aren&rsquo;t playing up to their potential. This is junior hockey, not the NHL. These are teenagers, not men and who is to say whether the team is playing below its potential or isn&rsquo;t as talented as the coach thinks it is.A good rule of thumb in junior hockey is not to criticize the ability of the players. Instead, criticisms should be directed to the men who are responsible for bringing those players into the fold in the first place. &#9632;

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div><h2>Change The All-Star Game For Goodness Sake</h2>Does the Prince of Wales know that his team won the National Hockey League&rsquo;s 36th All-Star game? Does he care?The real problem for the NHL isn&rsquo;t winning the Prince of Wales&rsquo; heart and mind; it&rsquo;s capturing the masses of sports fans who follow hockey some of the time. And, like the Prince of Wales, a lot of those people haven&rsquo;t the foggiest notion which players belong to what conference.There has to be a better way than the present Campbell Conference versus Wales Conference format, something that fans can identify with and get excited about.The answer isn&rsquo;t the three-game Challenge Cup series with the Soviet Union that was tried in 1979, then hastily abandoned after the NHL&rsquo;s best got bombed.How about an All-Star tournament involving teams representing the four divisions?&ldquo;You know, I kind of like that idea,&rdquo; Chicago general manager Bob Pulford said when the subject was broached.&ldquo;But, because of the scheduling problems and availability of arena, I think we&rsquo;d have to play all of the games in the same city and maybe have double-headers.&rdquo;Fair enough. Under those circumstances, here&rsquo;s how the tournament might work:&bull; Friday night, Norris All-Stars vs. Smythe All-Stars.&bull; Saturday afternoon, Patrick All-Stars vs. Adams All-Stars.&bull; Sunday afternoon, consolation game.&bull; Sunday night, championship game.For variety&rsquo;s sake, the opening round pairings could be rotated yearly.Hence, in the second year, the Norris Division would play the Patrick and the Smythe would meet the Adams. This cross-pollination process could continue in the third year, this time with the Norris taking on the Adams and the Smythe meeting the Patrick.An important by-product of the revised All-Star format is far more widespread representation by the 21 NHL cities.Many cities had only one representative in this year&rsquo;s game, including the New York Islanders, who have only won four straight Stanley Cups. Last year, after goalie Richard Brodeur was injured, John Garrett was given instant Campbell Conference All-Star status to give Vancouver a rep.Garrett is a nice guy, but at this time last year he also was a journeyman goalie who&rsquo;d just been acquired from Quebec and had spent the season in the Wales Conference.The more players a team has on the All-Star squad the more exposure the game will get in that city. A divisional All-Star format would focus the spotlight on at least two or three players on every team.That&rsquo;s better for the NHL than having a Challenge Cup series co-starring a team of Soviet whose players are indeed outstanding but unknown to the masses of U.S. sports fans the NHL needs to broaden its base.From the players&rsquo; standpoint, the biggest drawback to a divisional tournament is the fatigue factor. But if the league set aside several days, as it did during the Challenge Cup, and put a little of the profits in the pension kitty the players probably would welcome it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great idea, only if we could take a week off from the regular-season schedule,&rdquo; said Chicago defenseman Doug Wilson, who played in his third straight All-Star game in New Jersey.&ldquo;It would be crazy if it meant we had to play another game under the present circumstances. Because we played in the All-Star game, Denis Savard, Murray Bannerman and I had four games in five nights, plus all the travel.&ldquo;We played Saturday night in Minnesota, Sunday back in Chicago. We had to get up at 5:30 Monday morning to fly to New Jersey and take part in the promotional activities for the All-Star game. We played the game on Tuesday night and we came back home for a game Wednesday. On Thursday, we went to Winnipeg.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s actually too much. You&rsquo;re worn out when you get back instead of being rejuvenated.&rdquo;Changing the format might revitalize the fans as well as the players, especially those in the Smythe Division cities of Winnipeg, Vancouver, Calgary, and Los Angeles.For once&mdash;no, make that twice&mdash;they&rsquo;d be sure Wayne Gretzky was on their side. &#9632;

SOME OTHER VIEWS

<h2>THE GLOBE STRIKES BACK</h2>The Globe and Mail would like the opportunity to comment on opinions expressed in the editorial, Open The Doors (Jan. 27 th).In the editorial, THE HOCKEY NEWS says on the one hand, that the Globe had &ldquo;explored every reasonable avenue of appeal&rdquo; in attempting to end the feud being carried on by the Maple Leaf management.On the other hand, the editorial writer attacked the motivation of the Globe with regard to the Jan. 11th incident between Toronto Maple Leaf coach Mike Nykoluk and Globe writer Al Strachan. The confrontation between Nykoluk and Strachan was referred to as being &ldquo;orchestrated&hellip;a little charade&hellip;intentionally set by (by the Globe) hoping that it would explode into a major controversy.&rdquo;The evidence used to arrive at such a conclusion was that Strachan &ldquo;rarely, if ever, attends hockey games at Maple Leaf Gardens&rdquo; and that he was accompanied by a photographer.But was it really a cheap publicity stunt?The facts are that the Globe has three full-time hockey writers&mdash;William Houston, Neil Campbell and Al Strachan. Houston and Campbell are assigned to the Leafs. Strachan covers the National Hockey League in general. All are accredited by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and, therefore, under National Hockey League rules, entitled to equal access to the dressing room. On Jan. 11th, Houston had long been barred from the Leaf dressing room. Campbell had a scheduled day off. The logical next reporter to cover the game was Strachan.What would THE HOCKEY NEWS have said if we had assigned Nora McCabe, Marty York, Caitlin Kelly, Ted Clifford or myself&mdash;all of whom have written controversial stories about the Leafs or Harold Ballard in the past year&mdash;to the game and one of them had been kicked out?We had honestly hoped that the Leaf management had come to its good senses, would abide by the league rules and would allow Strachan to cover the dressing room. We did not invite a confrontation, but were merely trying to test the dressing room ban on Houston to see if it applied to anyone else. Considering our past relationship it would have been naive to expect that trouble would not arise. A photographer was assigned to follow Strachan because we trusted no one but ourselves to cover an incident, should one have occurred.We also cannot ignore the suggestion in the editorial that the provocation for the incident was a critical story written about Nykoluk by Strachan, which was published the day before.In that story, Strachan, one of the foremost hockey analysts in the country, took issue with a statement by Nykoluk that the reason he had lost previous home game against St. Louis was because he couldn&rsquo;t get Rick Vaive free from the Blues&rsquo; checking line? Strachan pointed out, quite appropriately, that the excuse was as lame as the Leaf defense itself, since Nykoluk had the last change.Was THE HOCKEY NEWS suggesting that everytime a reporter writes a critical story he shouldn&rsquo;t show up in the dressing room the next day?There are no winners when such an ugly incident occurs, especially for a newspaper and its reporters, who are often seen not to be worthy of public sympathy.But in the criticisms we have received, a most disturbing aspect is that many members of the media are telling us that we should have accepted the ban and suffered quietly.Is that what modem sports journalism is all about?Paul Palango Toronto Globe and Mail Sports Editor &#9632;

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Mike Bossy lay in a fetus position on the ice at Nassau Coliseum, grabbing his right knee and writhing in pain. Ron Waske was the first one to reach Bossy and offer him comfort.Denis Potvin was in a semiconscious state on the ice at Nassau Coliseum, mumbling about his neck and moaning. Ron Waske was the first man to reach Potvin and offer him comfort.And who is Ron Waske?He is the Islanders&rsquo; trainer and in recent weeks he has been the busiest man on the team. Busier than coach Al Arbour? You bet. Busier than general manager Bill Torrey? Definitely.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been this way all season,&rdquo; Waske said. &ldquo;It seems like we&rsquo;ve had one or two injuries every week. It&rsquo;s hard to understand what&rsquo;s going on.&rdquo;At one point, the Islanders had six players in their infirmary. Four underwent surgery in a span of eight days&mdash;two on the same day.In the Bossy and Potvin incidents, Waske admitted he had a simple role.&ldquo;I had to calm them down first,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In any serious injury, the player knows what&rsquo;s wrong. In Bossy&rsquo;s case, he automatically grabbed his knee when he hit the ice. I didn&rsquo;t examine him then. I asked him what he felt at the time of the collision (with Detroit&rsquo;s Dwight Foster) and got him relaxed.&ldquo;Then I said, &lsquo;Okay, Michael, we&rsquo;ve got to get you in the dressing room and here&rsquo;s how we&rsquo;re going to get you off the ice. Just roll over on all fours and get up slowly.&rsquo; Once he did that, we helped him to the dressing room and that&rsquo;s when we conducted a full-scale examination of the knee.&rdquo;Potvin emerged from a collision with Bryan Trottier with head and neck injuries. The Islander captain was fitted with a surgical collar before being removed from the ice on a stretcher.Waske said extreme caution must be taken when dealing with head and neck injuries.&ldquo;They could be catastrophic in nature,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In Denis&rsquo; case, he shook it off quickly, but you never know. That&rsquo;s why we put that collar on him before taking him to the dressing room.&rdquo;Waske then recalled an incident involving Wayne Merrick at the Coliseum several years ago. The veteran Islander center was skating behind the net when his stick caught the webbing and the butt end was driven into his stomach. Merrick was in convulsions when Waske rushed onto the ice.&ldquo;That was a very scary thing,&rdquo; Waske said. &ldquo;Once a person goes into convuslions. it&rsquo;s self-limiting. The first thing we had to to do was get Wayne breathing again. He finally did it on his own. If he hadn&rsquo;t, we would have faced a serious problem.&rdquo;Waske joined the Islanders in 1974. He is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and received his Masters degree from Bowling Green University in Ohio.Asked who among the Islanders has the highest pain threshold. Waske said: &ldquo;Dave Langevin. He&rsquo;s learned to play with pain. So has Bobby Nystrom. And Bryan Trottier plays with a lot of discomfort.&rdquo;Butch Goring is one of Waske&rsquo;s training-room favorites.&ldquo;Butchie is very conscientious about his health and his conditioning.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In order to keep going, he does everything asked of him. When he had that knee injury earlier this season, he worked very hard on our (weight) program. Butchie is a hard worker.&rdquo;And so is Ron Waske.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011226/4861857-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="561" height="999"><figcaption class="caption-body">Islander trainer Ron Waske has had his hands full this season.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

Islander Trainer A Calming Influence

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div>TORONTO&mdash;The magnetism of the incomparable Wayne Gretzky and his strong supporting cast continues to make the Edmonton Oilers the best draw in the National Hockey League.The Oilers regained the NHL&rsquo;s boxoffice lead in the second quarter and there&rsquo;s little doubt Gretzky&rsquo;s immense crowd appeal and scoring feats have been the contributing factors. Edmonton moved back on top of the attendance race by selling out the 17,498-seat Northlands Coliseum 20 times this season.It came as quite a surprise when the rejuvenated Detroit Red Wings moved in and stole the box-office lead away from Edmonton after the first quarter. The Oilers drew 349,960 fans to regain first place while the Red Wings slipped back to third spot behind the New York Rangers with 335,415 fans at the midway mark in the schedule. The Rangers drew 347,746.Despite the Detroit fans not patronizing the Wings with the same enthusiasm they showed in the first 10 games, the team&rsquo;s box-office success story is a tribute to the masterful marketing effort of the new regime, led by owner Mike Hitch. Even though the Wings drew 15,855 less fans in their second 10 home starts at the Joe Louis Arena, they still managed to show an attendance increase of 86,934 over this time last season, no mean feat for a team that has been struggling in last place most of the season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02932/4861895-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="590" height="996"><figcaption class="caption-body">Thanks to Wayne Gretzky and his exciting teammates, the Oilers top attendance figures.</figcaption></div>The attendance improvement in Detroit, as well as Calgary&rsquo;s new 16,764-seat Saddledome, which has been sold out for all 20 games this season, has enabled the NHL to report a healthy gain of 139,663 at the halfway mark in the schedule.In the second of four unofficial quarterly attendance reports compiled by THE HOCKEY NEWS and covering the first 20 hpme games of the 21 teams, the NHL has managed to draw 5,861,515 fans compared to 5,721,852 last year.Close to 30,000 more fans watched NHL games in December and January than in the previous two months, a figure that will have to improve considerably if the league hopes to exceed the 12-million plateau at the end of the season.. Four franchises continue to drag the NHL&rsquo;s hopes down for a super year at the box office and there is concern the situation may not change.The New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins were rapidly falling behind the other teams. The Penguins were 46,328 below last season, the Caps 47,849 in arrears, the Devils 33,027 off their glorious first-year success in the Meadowlands and the Kings were 18,011 behind but showing some signs of improving.An encouraging note for the NHL was the reported 189 sellouts for the first 420 games, up from the first quarter when only 88 of the 240 were listed at capacity.<h2>How NHL Attendance Looks</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03646/4861888-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="1800" height="719"></div> &#9632;

f0009-02

Edmonton Back On Top As Box-Office Leaders

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011274/4861926-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="306" height="360"></div><h2>Duguay&rsquo;s Revenge</h2>WHEN RON DUGUAY walked into my room I hurriedly looked for my helmet and facemask, but it was too late.I figured I needed the equipment for protective purposes because he had every reason to punch me in the mouth.After all/had punched him in the nose in this space last summer, one of the nastiest columns I&rsquo;ve written since describing Dick Beddoes&rsquo; hat.In case you forgot, the nasty-blasty column was an open letter to Red Wing general manager Jimmy Devellano, pointing out what an oaf he was for dealing for Duguay. I assured Jimmy D in all my wisdom that the D in Ronnie D would be for Dog and. furthermore, he had just signed one.It was not nice, but I meant it. Doogie. I figured, was a squandered talent, washed-up at age 26. A latter-day Don Murdoch.Murdoch, Schmurdoch. My Uncle Willie once told me. when I was a lad, to give discredit when discredit is due. So now&rsquo;s the time for S.F. to give discredit to S.F., face-to-face with Doogie.I invite him to my room and he agrees to come. Already, I&rsquo;m surprised. Worried.Maybe he&rsquo;s a grudge-bearer. Maybe he&rsquo;ll swing from the heels. Maybe I won&rsquo;t duck in time. (I should be worried. Doogie&rsquo;s representative. Bob Thorton, tells me Ron was miffed over the piece.)As he strides in, I search his face for a telltale grimace, but all I find is something better than a frown. What does it mean?Quickly, I produce a cartoon drawn by my pal George Fal-kowski. He has Doogie shoving that HOCKEY NEWS column down my throat with his hockey stick. At first he doesn&rsquo;t seem amused.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you think that&rsquo;s funny?&rdquo; I ask.Finally, the Doogie smile breaks. He&rsquo;s not going to belt me after all. &ldquo;I like it,&rdquo; he says.There is a softness to his voice, almost velvety. It&rsquo;s hard to believe there isn&rsquo;t a touch of sarcasm.I ask him how he feels, going face-to-face with one who so brutally put him down only months earlier. What goes through his mind when he realizes that his production in Detroit has turned the column to ashes and turned S.F. into bull-feathers.&ldquo;Over the years.&rdquo; says Duguay, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned that it&rsquo;s important to try to forget some of the things that were written. The important thing to me, as a professional, is to please myself. No matter what you wrote I knew I was more than a 19-goal scorer (which he was last year with the Rangers) and that I can be valuable to a team.&rdquo;&ldquo;Of all the stuff that&rsquo;s been written about you over the years, what percentage has been fiction?&rdquo; I ask.Now he&rsquo;s laughing, scratching one of his curls that has more hair than my whole mane.&ldquo;Easily 50 percent,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There was all that talk about me being a playboy without people really knowing what I was doing. After awhile. I didn&rsquo;t pay much attention to what was written. I&rsquo;ve learned to trust people the way they trust me.&rdquo;Red Wing coach Nick Polano has come to trust him and entrust Doogie with every assignment from penalty-killing to power-play work short of goaltending. Without being effusive, he endorses the coach.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s fair with the players, doesn&rsquo;t come down hard on us.&rdquo; Doogie says. &ldquo;And when we lose&mdash;which we do from time to time&mdash;he&rsquo;s encouraging to us rather than negative.&rdquo;Duguay is told that National Hockey League president John Ziegler&mdash;a confessed Red Wing fan from the days when he was in their employment&mdash;says that all Detroit rooters needed was a hero and. says Ziegler. Doogie is it.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve done enough yet to be called a hero.&rdquo; he demurs, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ll say this for the Detroit crowds: They&rsquo;re patient and encouraging. And whenever we give them something to cheer about, they get real loud.&rdquo;By contrast. Duguay impresses as exceptionally quiet. A friend tells a story about the time Ron, with no fuss or fanfare, hustled off to visit a terribly sick lad while passing through the New York area. It was a gentle gesture&mdash;delivered with no thought of publicity in mind.Reminded of it, he neither blushes nor glows.&ldquo;The little boy was in the hospital and he asked about me.&rdquo; Doogie relates the story. &ldquo;It was only fair for me to go visit. Why not? Hockey&rsquo;s given so much to me.&rdquo;Before he leaves, I remind Ron that he has hurt many people. Thousands upon thousands of females who are upset because he has trespassed into the land of the marrieds.&ldquo;Why marriage?&rdquo; I wonder out loud.The smile is now medium-rare. The air is warm and comfortable.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t planned,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;I just met the right girl and I&rsquo;m very happy now. Life has changed a little&hellip;but it&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;It must be. Ron Duguay didn&rsquo;t punch me in the mouth.<h2>Mashing The Media</h2>IF THE HOCKEY writers had any doubt about the low esteem in which they are held by the NHL, that uncertainty was eliminated at the All-Star cavalcade.For starters, the league literally put the press in its place at the All-Star dinner. The newshawks were not even permitted in the banquet hall itself; rather, they were pigeonholed in a separate room closed off from the main hall and were forced to watch the festivities on a lousy closed-circuit screen.The next day. the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) got another boot in the butt when it learned that the NHL had not persuaded the Toronto Maple Leafs to end their war against the Toronto Globe and Mail after months of trying. Writers from that esteemed paper are banned from the Maple Leaf Gardens press box. (&ldquo;One thing they can&rsquo;t control is my building,&rdquo; says Leaf boss Harold Ballard. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no way they&rsquo;ll get in the press box.&rdquo;)John Ziegler and his aide-de-camp Steve Ryan have been utterly impotent in their handling of the matter&mdash;and this from a league that needs all the help it can get from the press.But the big laugh of all was delivered by the PHWA itself. Instead of taking a-courageous and firm stand against the Maple Leafs and the NHL&mdash;they never heard of the word boycott&mdash;the PHWA ewes threatened not to renew its contract with the NHL as the voting body for the. All-Star awards unless the league beats down Ballard.What a joke. The NHL couldn&rsquo;t care less. In fact, the league is doing these tartuffes of the typewriter a great big favor by allowing them to vote for the All-Stars. (And, as always, they botch it up. This year, can you believe, not one member of PHWA gave Pierre Larouche a single vote. Not one for the man most responsible for the Rangers turning into a Stanley Cup contender.)<h2>Cockeyed Kings</h2>IS THE APPOINTMENT of Rogie Vachon as GM and Roger Neilson as coach the dumb-move-of-the-decade by the Los Angeles Kings?Can you think of anything more stupid?Vachon had never been a manager; never a head coach. Therefore, by Hollywood standards, he qualifies. Poof! You&rsquo;re a Scotty Bowman.We all know that Neilson has coached; how well is debatable. What isn&rsquo;t debatable is that Roger The Codger is from Dullsville. His teams play relentlessly dull hockey and Neilson, who can get away with it in Toronto and Vancouver, is a walking advertisement for Sominex. Is this the man they want for Lotusland?Obviously, the Vachon-Neilson combination fits the mistake-prone mold that has marked the Los Angeles franchise for too long. But what do you expect from an owner (Jerry Buss) who sees the world as a large basketball and probably figures ice is spelled NBA.<h2>Jim Craig Update</h2>AMONG THE MIRACLES of our time is that goalie Jim Craig, up and down with the North Stars, has kept his sanity during the past four years.This has not been easy. Ever since he grabbed a gold medal and wrapped the Stars and Stripes around his bosom. Craig has had more traumas than Gretzky has money.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be glad when the (Winter Olympic) Games are over,&rdquo; he tells me. &ldquo;Then, maybe, they&rsquo;ll forget about me a little.&rdquo;Like Ron Duguay, Jim Craig eyes the media with jaundiced retinas.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a writer who&rsquo;s quoted me over and over again.&rdquo; Craig despairs, &ldquo;yet I&rsquo;ve never met him; never spoke to the guy. I couldn&rsquo;t care less if my name is never in the paper again.&rdquo; Some Craig-watchers believe that his name will be in headlines if not this season, surely next. They figure once the Olympics become ancient history (next month). Craig will relax enough to become a major-league goaltender.I ask him if he ever thought about going the route of his teammate, Mike Eruzione, who decided back in 1980 that he wanted no part of a shot at the NHL and retired to become a sportscaster.&ldquo;No,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;No matter what happens. I can always look back years from now and say that I played at least one game in the NHL. It was an accomplishment I never wanted to miss.&rdquo;Much as he would like to guarantee a repeat gold medal win for Uncle Sam&rsquo;s skaters, Craig understands that the Soviets have waited four years for revenge and are icing the best team Russia could rally for the occasion.&ldquo;The best chance we (U.S.) have for beating the Russians,&rdquo; Craig concludes with a smile, &ldquo;is to play them a man-up for the whole game!&rdquo;Craig, by the way, looks better than ever and-appears to have developed a very serene philosophy of life.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very simple,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t worry about things you can&rsquo;t change!&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

ON THE CONTRARY

VANCOUVER&mdash;The Canucks said they weren&rsquo;t affected when they faced Los Angeles Kings and Roger Neilson on Feb. 3, but you couldn&rsquo;t blame them if they were. After all, it&rsquo;s not like Roger Neilson was a stranger. He coached them for almost the last two years and guided them to the Stanley Cup finals in 198182.But the Canucks say it was just another game&hellip;even if. ironically, it was Neilson&rsquo;s first since the Canucks fired him on Jan. 20.&ldquo;Maybe we were thinking about it before the game because we had seen him (Neilson) around.&rdquo; said veteran Harold Snepts, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t think it had any bearing on us once the game started.&rdquo;Harry Neale, who augmented his general manager duties with the coaching portfolio when he took over for Neilson, felt the Canucks were playing with a lack of emotion.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t play that way anywhere these days and win.&rdquo; Neale said. &ldquo;I was highly disappointed with our performance. We had been slightly affected with the atmosphere surrounding the game. But I didn&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;d come out that fiat.&rdquo;Said defenseman Andy Schliebener: &ldquo;It was in the back of my mind that, hey, that guy (Neilson) knows everything about us.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">Neilson almost walked into the wrong dressing room at the Forum.</blockquote>Neilson was a little moved facing his old players.&ldquo;It was a little confusing at first,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been down here so many times with the Canucks, I almost went down in the dressing room.&rdquo;However, old feelings aside. Neilson knew he was no longer a Canuck and had an important task at hand.&ldquo;It was two points against a team we&rsquo;d most likely have to beat to reach the playoffs.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In terms of strategy, we tried to take care of the point shots on the power play and we keyed on the (Patrik) Sundstrom line with (Terry) Ruskows-ki&rsquo;s line.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Right winger Jim Nill was traded to Boston the day after the Kings&rsquo; game for veteran center Peter McNab. McNab had 14 goals and 16 assists in 52 games while Nill had nine goals and six assists in 51 games. Nill was acquired by the Canucks in March. 1982 in the deal that sent Glen Hanlon to St. Louis.The 31-year-old McNab had been mentioned in trade talks on more than one occasion, so the swap came as no surprise.Only a couple of weeks earlier, he said. &ldquo;I never really let it bother me.. There are a lot of great players who are traded, so. I can&rsquo;t worry about it.&rdquo; &#9632;

Roger The Dodger Does In The Canucks

<div class="byline">BY RON COBB</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;In a span of three days, the Blues saw the best&mdash;or worst&mdash;of both worlds.On a Friday night in St. Louis, the Blues lost a 10-8 shootout to the Minnesota North Stars.On a Sunday night in New York, they lost a 3-2 defensive struggle to the Rangers. who were held to 16 shots on net.Losing is losing, but captain Brian Sutter knew which way was the best for the Blues. He&rsquo;ll take a 3-2 loss over a 10-8 loss any time.&ldquo;From here on in, it&rsquo;s playoff hockey.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the goal-scoring from here on in, it&rsquo;s what you give up.&ldquo;Eight goals didn&rsquo;t win that hockey game for us the other night, did it? Everybody cried for three weeks and said we weren&rsquo;t scoring goals. I&rsquo;m not belittling Minnesota or anything, but that&rsquo;s not playoff hockey. You never win those games.&ldquo;If we lose 3-2, 2-1 and 4-3 from here on in till the end of the year, we&rsquo;ll go a long way in the playoffs&mdash;guaranteed.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">Jacques Demers&rsquo; game plan against the Rangers was to think defensively and hope for a break.</blockquote>The Blues arrived in New York determined to avoid a fiasco like the one against the North Stars. Coach Jacques Demers&rsquo; game plan against the Rangers was to think defense and hope for a break.When a goal by center Doug Wickenheiser&mdash;his fourth in four games&mdash;tied the score at 2-2 late in the second period, the Blues retreated further into their defensive shell.New York managed only three shots in the third period, but one of them&mdash;a 40-foot shot by Reijo Ruotsalainen&mdash;got past goaltender Mike Liut. The shot came an instant after Liut was knocked off-balance by a Ranger player.&ldquo;Jacques told us 100 times what we were supposed to do and we did it 95 per cent of the time,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;We had two guys back the whole night to help the defensemen. They had 16 shots and you&rsquo;re not going to lose very many when you give up 16 shots.&rdquo;The Blues stepped out of character in the 10-8 loss to Minnesota. Over their previous 10 games, the Blues averaged just under two and a half goals scored and just under three and a half against.The idea of scoring eight but giving up 10 (counting an emtpy-net goal) didn&rsquo;t sit well with the Blues.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been criticized lately to open up the game a little bit,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;Well, we opened up tonight and you see what happens.&rdquo;Each team scored five power-play goals, matching the combined season high set by Minnesota and Vancouver on Oct. 7. In a 10-9 victory, Vancouver scored six power-play goals and the losing North Stars scored four.Minnesota needed only seven chances to score five times against the Blues&rsquo; penalty-killers.&ldquo;You know how proud we&rsquo;ve been of our penalty-killing lately,&rdquo; said Demers, &ldquo;but it was a total breakdown on that, too.&rdquo;Ironically, the Blues&rsquo; penalty-killing had been improving at a time when the power play was struggling. The Blues had gone through a four-for-43 drought with a man advantage and their league ranking had fallen from fourth to 11th overall.The major concern raised by the loss to Minnesota, however, was the performance of goaltender Bunny Larocque and the defense in front of him. In four games with the Blues, Larocque had given up 26 goals.The Blues seemed to be saving their worst defensive games for Larocque, but after four outings that excuse was beginning to wear thin.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not pleased with Bunny&rsquo;s performance. but I&rsquo;m not pleased with anybody&rsquo;s performance,&rdquo; said Demers.The most encouraging development for the Blues was the sudden goalscoring by Wickenheiser. He failed to score in his first 16 games with the Blues, before stringing together four in four games.&ldquo;When I came here, they expected me to score goals,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Even though I was contributing in other ways, I still wasn&rsquo;t helping in the way they wanted most. So it&rsquo;s nice to have them start coming.&rdquo;BLUENOTES&mdash;Jacques Demers called it a &ldquo;total injustice&rdquo; when center Bernie Federko and left winger Brian Sutter were left off the Campbell Conference All-Star team. Federko has been in the top-10 in league scoring all season and had 17 more points (28-45-73) than Detroit rookie Steve Yzerman (29-2756) at the All-Star break. Sutter was 2135-56 despite playing much of the season with shoulder and pelvic injuries&hellip;Defenseman Tim Bothwell was sidelined for seven-to-10 days because of pulled ligaments in his right knee after being, sent to the Montana Magic of the Central League. &#9632;

Blues See The Best, Worst Of Both Worlds

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011247/4862005-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="586" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defenseman Reijo Routsalainen was holding back because he was not in top condition. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;The week of the All-Star break was among the most euphoric of the season for the Rangers. The last game before vacation was a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues in front of an ecstatic Madison Square Garden crowd.That win launched them past the Islanders into first place in the Patrick Division, marking the latest date in the season a Ranger team has occupied first place since Jan. 13, 1972. At game&rsquo;s end, the Garden scoreboard displayed the Patrick Division standings, which showed the Rangers with a 65-64 point edge, and they received a standing ovation.This came three days after a frustrating loss to the Canadiens at the Garden, a night they had the same opportunity to pass the Islanders as the slumping, injury-riddled Stanley Cup champions also lost.&ldquo;Everyone was standing and cheering and clapping,&rdquo; said Don Maloney of the enthusiastic crowd that night. Then, after a sigh and slumping his head forward, he added. &ldquo;Oh boy. we certainly did&mdash;and do&mdash;want to win it. Hopefully, we&rsquo;ll get another chance. I just want to make my contribution to these guys in this room.&rdquo;In the wake of that loss, Don&rsquo;s brother, Dave, pointed out that &ldquo;we don&rsquo;t seem to make it easy on ourselves, but we have to temper our excitement a little. We still have a ways to go. We&rsquo;re still in the hunt.&rdquo;And then, in a reflective tone, the elder Maloney added: &ldquo;When I was younger, I would think that we wouldn&rsquo;t get our chance. Now, I know this team will.&rdquo;They did against the Blues, thanks to three of their European imports. Reijo Ruotsalainen scored a goal and added two assists. Anders Hedberg had a goal and an assist and Mikko Leinonen had two assists.&ldquo;From an historical perspective this is the first time this franchise has been in first place at this point in the season in 12 years,&rdquo; said a proud coach, Herb Brooks. &ldquo;It gives us a sense of accomplishment to be in first place in as good a division as there is in the NHL. It also gives us some momentum going into the big road trip.&rdquo;That trip, just after the All-Star game, would take them to Calgary, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Winnipeg, Minnesota and back to L.A., before they returned for a home-and-home series against the Islanders.Just prior to departure, Don Maloney scored a goal and three assists and won a $14,000 car as most valuable player of the All-Star game and his linemate that night, Pierre Larouche, scored twice. What puzzled Brooks was that Larouche was not voted onto the team&mdash;he was added to it by Wales coach Al Arbour&mdash;and that Ruotsalainen was not in the lineup at all.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the great hockey players in the world today and he&rsquo;s not playing in the All-Star game,&rdquo; said Brooks of his swift defenseman with the bullet shot. &ldquo;If there is someone, anyone, in the NHL who has better technical abilities than Rexy, I&rsquo;d like you to show him to me.&rdquo;There was a look in Ruotsalainen&rsquo;s eyes that night against the Blues that said that he was reaching the point where&mdash;on a good night&mdash;he could do whatever he set out to do, after a slow first half.&ldquo;Maybe the others are just getting tired,&rdquo; said Ruotsalainen. &ldquo;I was staying back a lot more during the first half. I haven&rsquo;t trained very well in the summers and I guess that does it. I couldn&rsquo;t believe it when 20 games had gone by.&rdquo;If someone had told the Rangers they would be in first place at this point of the season&mdash;they last held that spot on Dec. 4&mdash;their reception would have been a cross between skepticism and optimism.Going into the weekend following the All-Star break, only five points separated the Rangers from the fourth-place Washington Capitals. However, there can be a disadvantage to being a first-place club.&ldquo;It creates an aura, like a reputation around a team,&rdquo; said Dave Maloney, &ldquo;and other teams feel that much more uncomfortable playing you.&rdquo;Captain Berry Beck, still sidelined with a shoulder injury but expected back in the lineup during the road trip, predicted that, &ldquo;the next six games will be tough.&rdquo;How right he was. On their first stop in Calgary, the Rangers faced a club that was unbeaten in eight games and got the road trip off to a dreadful start with an 8-1 loss. The forwards did not come back to help out the defensemen. the Rangers committed numerous giveaways and allowed many two-on-one and three-on-two breaks. A besieged Glen Hanlon faced 37 shots and gave up six goals in the first two periods.Then the Rangers got an earlier look than expected at rookie goalie Ron Scott, who was called up from Tulsa and played the third period in Calgary. In Tulsa, he had an 11-10-3 record and a 3.58 average in 24 games after signing as a free agent last May following a fine career at Michigan State University.Although it was widely expected that the Rangers would bring the 23-year-old Scott up for a look, the circumstances of his arrival were a bit of a surprise. Ranger backup goalie Steve Weeks had gone to Tulsa for two weeks of conditioning and ice time&mdash;at his own request, according to the Rangers.Before he relieved Hanlon in Calgary. Scott had been slated to start either in Vancouver or L. A. The yanking of Hanlon was not a reflection on his performance. though, as the Rangers played very poorly in front of him. But the Islanders&rsquo; loss to St. Louis that same night kept the Rangers in first place. &#9632;

f0012-01

Ranger Reputation To Be Tested

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021050/4862036-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="304" height="357"></div><h2>All-Star Retrospect</h2>ALL-STAR GAME leftovers to munch on:The next time a player bails out of an All-Star game, someone should remind him of Gretzky &lsquo;84. Despite&rsquo;a sore shoulder, the NHL&rsquo;s MVT (Most Valuable Ticket) played in the game. If you&rsquo;re gonna spend a couple days in North Jersey in late January. Gretzky figured you might as well play despite the risk of additional injury.Gretzky played all right and wound up damaging the shoulder even more as Edmonton fans&mdash;and fans everywhere&mdash;cringed. Was it worth it to play in a virtually meaningless game? Of course not. unless you are bom with the sense of responsibility that a Gretzky or Lafleur or Orr or Clarke has for the game they love. With several other All-Star selectees forced to skip a date in the Devils&rsquo; den, Gretzky felt he should play if at all possible.Gretzky&rsquo;s frequent on-ice whining annoys me. but he scored points with me and many other observers by playing in this year&rsquo;s All-Star game. As Edmonton general manager-coach Glen Sather said, referring to Tony Tanti of Vancouver phoning in sick after hitting his thumb with a hammer, &ldquo;He cut his thumb, but he played Sunday night in Vancouver (two nights before the All-Star game). If you can play in a league game, you can play in an All-Star game, too.&rdquo;Maybe Tanti and others should listen to Vancouver&rsquo;s Darcy Rota, who was Tanti&rsquo;s replacement. Beaming in the Campbell Conference dressing room after scoring a goal, the personable Rota said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care if I was added. It was great. Five years from now, it&rsquo;ll be, &lsquo;Firstteam All-Star.&rsquo;&rdquo;Perhaps Gretzky&rsquo;s risk would have been worth it if the NHL would decide to make the All-Star game meaningful. Talk with league officials afterward and all you heard was, &lsquo;Great game, wasn&rsquo;t it?&rsquo; These, presumably, are the same officials who think weekly doses of 10-8 hockey games are entertaining.<h2>The Unknown Player</h2>THE TRUTH THE league doesn&rsquo;t care to face is, hardly anyone can remember which team the players are with and fans don&rsquo;t know whom to support. I&rsquo;ve heard complaints that the telecasters continually misidentified players. Well, with the helmets and players wearing orange-and-black Wales and Campbells uniforms, it&rsquo;s easy to understand how people had trouble identifying them. If the league must maintain this Wales vs. Campbells format, at least let the players wear the uniforms of the teams they play for 80 games a year. Then fans could immediately spot an Edmonton Oiler or a New York Islander.Another thing: If the league really cared about putting on a good show, it would move the game to a Wednesday. Club owners would rather vote for Harold Ballard as prime minister than give up a Sunday date. So. make Monday and Tuesday the nights for All-star festivities such as banquets and. taking a tip from the National Basketball Association, old-timers games. This would also give the players a much-needed rest and make their All-Star break more memorable.Parting thought on the All-star format: a publicist for a U.S.-based team who is new to the NHL told me, &ldquo;I had the feeling that no one in the United States knew the game was being played.&rdquo;Don&rsquo;t get the impression that the All-Star gathering is a total waste. Once the weary players arrive and get caught up in the schedule, they usually realize how fortunate they are to be chosen. For us newspaper wretches, it is also an ideal time to chat with players, coaches. GMs and wheeler-dealers like Alan Eagleson. Claim part of a lobby wall to lean against and sooner or later, all of the above pass by. Some of the comments you hear make standing guard duty a pleasure.For example. I overheard Scott Bowman tell. Rod Langway that the Buffalo Sabres have a goaltender in college &ldquo;who&rsquo;s even better than Tom Barrasso.&rdquo; Ulp! Barrasso. the 18-year-old phenom, has been one of the NHL&rsquo;s top goaltenders this season. If the Sabres have a guy who&rsquo;s even better stashed away in college, maybe the rest of the NHL should start stitching a surrender flag.<h2>Bowman&rsquo;s Proud Puppa</h2>ASKED TO EXPLAIN his remark, Bowman proceeded to relate a fascinating tale of how Darrin Puppa was drafted. Puppa, who&rsquo;s now having an outstanding season (16-3 record. 2.85 goals-against average) for RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY), was playing in an intermediate league in northern Ontario. According to Bowman, few scouts bother with such leagues. But a friend called Bowman and said, &ldquo;I guess you know about this goaltender Puppa.&rdquo; There isn&rsquo;t much about hockey the shrewd Buffalo GM doesn&rsquo;t know, but he admitted Puppa&rsquo;s name wasn&rsquo;t familiar. Bowman quickly called some people whose opinions he respects, including former NHLer Wayne Connelly. They all gave Puppa a hearty recommendation.By draft day. Bowman said he knew that several other NHL teams, including Edmonton and Philadelphia, were interested in Puppa. &ldquo;By the fourth round, you&rsquo;re gambling anyway.&rdquo; Bowman said, &ldquo;so we drafted him. I&rsquo;m not saying he&rsquo;s better than Barrasso. but if you watched him. you&rsquo;d think he was Barrasso. They&rsquo;re both about 6-foot-3 and he (Puppa) catches with the same hand.&rdquo;Some final All-Star observations and quotes:&bull; I know naming arenas and stadiums are often political paybacks, but doesn&rsquo;t New Jersey have someone more prestigious than former governor Brendan Byrne to honor with an arena name?&bull; You know things are tough with the Montreal Canadiens when their only All-Star game representative is a Swede.&bull; Referring to recently Tired Los Angeles King coach Don Perry, Scott Bowman said. &ldquo;He lifted goalies more than I change lines.&rdquo;&bull; While Bill Torrey was signing an autograph, the young fan said, &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve lost a lot of weight. Mr. Torrey.&rdquo; Torrey replied: &ldquo;I worry a lot.&rdquo;&bull; Tom Johnson, Boston&rsquo;s assistant GM. on why Harry Sinden didn&rsquo;t attend: &ldquo;Harry has a bad heart. He can&rsquo;t stand all the excitement of these All-Star games.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-02

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>National Hockey League biggies are holding their collective breaths over a proposed new Canadian TV network which would compete with Hockey Night in Canada. Backed by the 14 U.S.-based clubs, who have banded together to sell the video rights and thereby fatten their bankroll, the planned program would feature games involving the American clubs versus various Canadian foes and provide the first competitive bidding situation against the Molson-backed HNIC. Carling-O&rsquo;Keefe Brewery is behind the prospective new network and reports from Toronto indicate they have a signed agreement with the 14 teams, although NHL president John Ziegler says negotiations are not final. Explosion against the plan by Harold Ballard and other Canadian leaders has the NHL brass uptight. When asked about the new proposal, league TV boss Joel Nixon emphatically told BLUELINES. &ldquo;I can make no comment.&rdquo; U.S. clubs, who have taken a beating TV-wise, are likely to make a grand fight of it to get the extra bucks. &ldquo;All competition does is make a better product.&rdquo; says Whaler boss Emile Francis. One owner, who is usually forthcoming, was abnormally fearful about even discussing the new TV proposal. However, he informs BLUELINES that there is keen hostility felt by American club owners toward Ballard over his objections to the plan. &ldquo;For years, the Canadian teams got all the TV money,&rdquo; he tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;and we got nothing. The only reason Ballard is objecting is because of greed. The Canadian teams should be thinking that what&rsquo;s good for the American teams is good for the league. And besides, the more hockey on TV in Canada, the better.&rdquo;The endless battle between agents Al Eagleson of Toronto and Art Kaminsky of New York heated up again with the U.S.-Canadian battle over Olympic eligibility. Eagleson inadvertently played into Kaminsky&rsquo;s hands when he charged that Kaminsky&rsquo;s client. Ken Morrow, joined the 1980 Olympic team with questionable status. Eagleson&rsquo;s assertion was based on a passage from Kaminsky&rsquo;s new book. One Goal (an excerpt of which, appears on Page 6 of this issue). Kaminsky tells BLUELINES that the flak over ex-Olympians Morrow and Mike Eruzione has helped sales of his book. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t thank Alan enough,&rdquo; Kaminsky tells BLUELINES. Asked whether he&rsquo;ll soon do his autobiography, Kaminsky says he won&rsquo;t do that until he retires. &ldquo;But Eagleson should do his right now. His career is about over.&rdquo;&hellip;Remarks by Oiler boss Glen Sather and his publicity man Bill Tuele that the Devils blew it by not exploiting the Mickey Mouse game with the Oilers drew an angry response from the Jersey club. Devil p.r. director Larry Brooks tells BLUELINES that the Oilers find it easy to talk when they&rsquo;re on top. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re real good at telling people what to do.&rdquo; snaps Brooks. He sarcastically suggested that the Oilers have a big promotion when the Islanders play again in Edmonton. &ldquo;They ought to give out free brooms,&rdquo; Brooks suggests, &ldquo;and the fans can chant. &lsquo;Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!.&rdquo;&rsquo;&hellip;U.S. Olympic coach Lou Vairo is expected to land an NHL job next season, at the very least on the assistant-coaching level&hellip;Deposed Flyer aide Marcel Pelletier tells BLUELINES he&rsquo;s received several NHL offers but will wait until next season before returning. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be back.&rdquo; promises Pelletier.While the NHL All-Star game sold out Brendan Byrne Arena and the annual dinner couldn&rsquo;t handle the ticket demand, sour sounds were heard from assorted team publicity directors about the orchestration by the league&rsquo;s p.r. department. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t wait for the day after this was over.&rdquo; says one team publicist. The feeling among some is that the NHL still has much to do before its press-public relations arm is functioning at top level. One example cited by several media types is the fact that the John Ziegler-Steve Ryan combine has allowed half a season to pass without resolving the problem involving the Maple Leafs and Toronto Globe and Mail reporters. &ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t understand why the league didn&rsquo;t tell the Leafs, &lsquo;Get your act together.&rsquo;&rdquo; Larry Brooks of the Devils tells BLUELINES. Another club publicist says Ziegler could quickly have brought the Leafs to their knees by suspending coach Mike Nykoluk until the problem was rectified. If there ever was a Herb Brooks-Lou Vairo feud it was put to rest when Herb dispatched a very thoughtful and sensitive note to the U.S. Olympic coach before he left for Sarajevo&mdash;and tried very hard not to let anyone know it. &ldquo;There never was any problem between Herb and Lou,&rdquo; says Brooks&rsquo; agent Art Kaminsky, &ldquo;but if you want to talk about a feud try Herb and Bob Johnson.&rdquo;&hellip;Red Wing coach Nick Polano tells BLUELINES he got sick to his stomach when he learned that colleague Don Perry got the hook in L.A. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t Don&rsquo;s fault.&rdquo; says Polano. &ldquo;Management screwed up that team. Look at the draft picks they (owner Jerry Buss. GM George Maguire) gave away.&rdquo;Canadian Consul General Ken Taylor attended the NHL All-Star game before leaving his New York post. Exactly four years ago, Taylor, who played hockey in his native Calgary with former NHLer Hank Bassen, smuggled six Americans out of Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis&hellip;Walt Disney&rsquo;s New York p.r. office was called about Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s Mickey Mouse crack. The Disney flak, obviously not a hockey fan, asked, &ldquo;Who is this Wayne Gretzky?&rdquo;&hellip;Gretzky was profiled in Rolling Stone (a first for hockey in that publication) by Vic Ziegel&hellip;Penguin defenseman Randy Carlyle is rumored to be headed to either Calgary or Winnipeg. &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;At the midpoint of the season, goaltender Pat Riggin was burdened with a record of no victories, eight losses and one tie, with a goals-against average of 4.70.That is the kind of performance that leads to employment in the minor leagues and on Jan. 8 that is where the Washington Capitals assigned Riggin to a week&rsquo;s voluntary conditioning at Hershey.After two victories and a tie with the Bears, Riggin returned to Washington, where he finally earned his first triumph in an 8-3 rout of the Winnipeg Jets. That was followed by a weightlifting accident to No. I netminder Al Jensen and suddenly Riggin was in demand.Forced to start five straight games, Riggin responded brilliantly. He permitted only five goals, earning four victories and a tie in Buffalo, and he threw consecutive road shutouts at Toronto and New Jersey.In the process. Riggin shattererd Jensen&rsquo;s club record goalless streak of October by more than a full period, with an unbroken stretch of 204 minutes, 52 seconds and followed Jensen as an NHL player-of-the-week selection.Coach Bryan Murray, who wondered through the dark days of November and December whether Riggin ever would take a regular role again, was delighted with the way the former Calgary Flame responded to the emergency situation.&ldquo;Pat is standing up, he&rsquo;s challenging the shooters and, most important, he&rsquo;s winning,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;The wins feed on each other, building confidence, the same way losses go the other way.&rdquo;For his part, Riggin merely pointed out that during his long dry spell, which saw Jensen start 17 straight games, he never got down on himself.&ldquo;Two weeks ago, I was down and now I&rsquo;m on top,&rdquo; Riggin said. &ldquo;I was down, but I was never out. I never got a bad attitude no matter how badly things were going.&ldquo;A lot of it was a matter of timing. I started four of the first six games, so I have to think Bryan considered me the No. 1 man. But the team was going bad then and it turned out that Al was in there when things turned around.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t complain about Al Jensen starting all those games when he was playing well. I was just looking for a break and it took a long while coming. It&rsquo;s a game of breaks and I didn&rsquo;t make the best of what few breaks I got this year.&ldquo;As long as I keep working hard, I should be all right. I can play. I&rsquo;m a player. I don&rsquo;t doubt myself. I&rsquo;m only 24 and I&rsquo;ve got over 70 wins. That&rsquo;s more than Al Jensen.&ldquo;And one thing, I should be ready for the stretch drive. I&rsquo;ve sure had enough rest.&rdquo;The Capitals&rsquo; 8-0 romp in Toronto made things easy for Riggin as he recorded his first shutout since joining Washington in June, 1982. It was helped by referee Terry Gregson&rsquo;s quick whistle, which cost Dan Daoust a rebound goal, and by Bill Derlago rapping a shot off a post with 80 seconds left.&ldquo;Of course, I&rsquo;m happy with the shutout,&rdquo; Riggin said. &ldquo;Fora while, I&rsquo;d have given my left arm for a win and the shutout is a nice bonus. More important, it&rsquo;s good to help the club. They sure helped me. When you go into the third period with a six-goal lead, it&rsquo;s fun.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny how things go. Tonight they called a goal back; two months ago they probably would have allowed it in a 2-2 game. And I hadn&rsquo;t had a shutout since I was in Calgary. I almost missed this one, but that shot hit the post. You can bet it would have been in in November.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011228/4862122-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="574" height="742"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Caps recalled Pat Riggin from Hershey and he promptly went on a tear.</figcaption></div>After his 14-save shutout in New Jersey, which set a club record for fewest shots against in a road game. Riggin said, &ldquo;Early in the year I was finding ways to lose. They were bouncing in off my back. Now things are going good. Of course, you make your own breaks.&rdquo;Riggin. who said he never enjoyed back-to-back shutouts in his life, did not forget anyone when he thanked the people who had helped him back to prominence.&ldquo;When I was in Hershey, Paul MacKinnon and Greg Theberge worked their tails off for me,&rdquo; Riggin said. &ldquo;I guess I needed the help. But right now I&rsquo;m ready to do things for myself.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-01

Riggin Making The Most Of His Return To Form

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;It has been a long, frustrating road back for Don Beaupre, the Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; one-time goaltending hero.After a brilliant rookie season in which he was immediately granted equal billing with veteran Gilles Meloche, Beaupre appeared headed for superstardom in the National Hockey League.His next year, however, Beaupre had a minor injury in training camp and that led to a downward spiral in which his confidence deteriorated and his play was affected.He went to the minors to get his touch back, but struggled to return to the Stars.This season, when Beaupre hoped to regain the position warranted by his potential, it didn&rsquo;t happen.Meloche, one of the steadiest goaltenders in the league when you consider he&rsquo;s operating behind a team that is still striving for overall consistency at teamdefense, has played well.Rookie coach Bill Mahoney believes in going with the hot hand and that meant Meloche started over and over. He seemed to thrive on the work and the Stars were tightening up when the AllStar break came.It was about then that Beaupre, who had volunteered to go to Salt Lake City to get sharp, returned to the club. As luck would have it, Jim Craig, who had been Beaupre&rsquo;s replacement as Meloche&rsquo;s backup in the interim, played his best game in the NHL that very day.But Craig severely pulled a hamstring muscle in that game and is sidelined indefinitely.When the Stars came back from the All-Star break, they opened with Meloche but Pittsburgh shut them out 4-0.With Buffalo the next opponent, Mahoney decided it was time to try Beaupre. He had not been exactly dazzling at Salt Lake and he had a 7-8 record for the Norris Division-leading Stars, with a bulky 5.31 goals-against mark.The Sabres hadn&rsquo;t lost at home in seven straight games and were 11-0-2 for the month of January, but Beaupre kicked out 35 of Buffalo&rsquo;s 36 shots and the Stars won 4-1. The 22-year-old goalie was quick to point to his team&rsquo;s overall defensive play, calling the victory &ldquo;the easiest I&rsquo;ve had all season.&rdquo;So Mahoney, perhaps figuring Meloche could benefit from the break, stayed with his hot-hand theory and put Beaupre back to work two nights later, in the concluding game of the three-game trip.Minnesota beat New Jersey 3-1 in that one and Beaupre had a shutout until Phil Russell beat him with a shot he didn&rsquo;t see with only five seconds remaining.It would have been the first career shutout for the dejected Beaupre, but after analyzing it, he could settle for making 30 saves, winning two in a row for the first time this season, boosting his personal record above .500 to 9-8 and finally getting that goals-allowed under 5.00.It also gave the North Stars eight victories in their last 12 road games and bolstered their division record to 29-21-4 for 62 points, 13 ahead of second-place St. Louis, which was six games below .500.The Stars, however, lost defenseman Gordie Roberts with an elbow bruise against Buffalo and Curt Giles reinjured his recently recovered right knee, while George Ferguson, who scored the first Minnesota goal against Jersey, went out with a sprained ankle.They joined an injury list which already included Dan Mandich, Brian Lawton and Craig Hartsburg. &#9632;

Beaupre Does It Back-To-Back Like A Star

BOSTON&mdash;Peter McNab, C, traded to Vancouver for Jim Nill, RW. Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, RW, sidelined indefinitely after suffering shoulder separation. Dave Silk, RW, and Mike Krushel-nyski, LW, back from injury list.BUFFALO&mdash;Dave Fenyves, D, and Mal Davis, RW, returned to Rochester of AHL. Davis later recalled under emergency conditions. Hannu Virta, D, back from injury list. Jerry Korab, D, sidelined with elbow injury. Don Keller, LW, signed as free agent and assigned to Rochester. Claude Verret, C, recalled from Rochester.CHICAGO&mdash;Jerome Dupont, D, recalled from Springfield of AHL. Dave Feamster, D, out of action with pulled groin. Keith Brown, D, back from injury list.DETROIT&mdash;Corrado Micalef, G, recalled from Adirondack of AHL. Ken Holland, G, re-turned to Adirondack.EDMONTON&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, C, sidelined with shoulder injury. Marc scheid, C, recalled from Moncton of AHL but later returned. Ken Berry, LW, returned to Moncton.HARTFORD&mdash;Mark Paterson, D, recalled from Ottawa of OHL. Normand Dupont, LW, recalled from Binghamton of AHL. Marty Howe, D, sidelined with neck injury. Chris Kotsopoulos, D, and Doug Sulliman, RW, back from injury list.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Marcel Dionne, C, back from injury list. Daryl Evans, LW, recalled from New Haven of AHL. Wes Jarvis, C, sidelined indefinitely with knee ligament damage..MINNESOTA&mdash;Curt Giles, D, back from injury list. Giles later sidelined with knee injury. Gord Roberts, D, out with elbow injury. George Ferguson, C, sidelined with sprained ankle. Randy Velischek, D, sent to Salt Lake of CHL. Bob Rouse, D, returned to Lethbridge of WHL.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Garth MacGuigan, C, and Paul Boutilier, D, recalled from Indianapolis of CHL.NY RANGERS&mdash;Ron Scott, G, recalled from Tulsa of CHL. Steve Weeks, G, sent to Tulsa as replacement. Barry Beck, D, back from injury list..PITTSBURGH&mdash;Andy Brickley, LW, demoted to Baltimore of AHL for breaking team curfew. Tom Thornbury, D, and Brent Loney, LW, recalled from Baltimore. Denis Herron, G, back from injury list.QUEBEC&mdash;Jean-Marc Gaulin, RW, returned to Fredericton of AHL.TORONTO&mdash;Allan Bester, G, recalled from Brantford of OHL. Pat Graham, LW, retained on roster after Leafs assigned him to St. Catharines of AHL. Dave Farrish, D, sidelined with back injury. Gaston Gingras, D, Walt Poddubny, LW, and Miroslav Frycer, RW, all back from injury list.VANCOUVER&mdash;Frank Caprice, G, returned to Fredericton of AHL. Tony Tanti, RW, back from injury list.WASHINGTON&mdash;Al Jensen, G, back from injury list. Dave Parro, G, returned to Hershey of AHL.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ADIRONDACK&mdash;Mike Corrigan, RW, returned to Kalamazoo of IHL.BINGHAMTON&mdash;Sean Coady, D, assigned to Mohawk Valley of ACHL.NEW HAVEN&mdash;Jim Brown, D, released outright. Dave Ross, G, returned to Kalamazoo of IHL. &#9632;

PLAYER TRANSACTIONS

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>&ldquo;I want to play in the National Hockey League one day, but there&rsquo;s a lot to think about. I&rsquo;m getting good grades and the Olympics are only two years away, so that&rsquo;s something to consider, too. Right now, I have no idea what decision I will make.&rdquo;&mdash;Rich Costello as a college player two years ago.&ldquo;If there&rsquo;s a spot for me when the Olympics are over and everything works out well, then I&rsquo;ll consider joining the Leafs.&rdquo;&mdash;Rich Costello, as a player with the U.S. Olympic hockey team in November, &lsquo;83.&ldquo;This is really what I wanted to do for a long time.&rdquo;&mdash;Rich Costello, upon signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 12.TORONTO&mdash;While his teammates may look upon back-to-back games against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 8 and 9 with indifference. Leaf player Rich Costello, the pride and joy of Natick, MA, has already put the X&rsquo;s on his calender. You better believe that this boy from Beantown is getting psyched up&mdash;particulary, about the rubber match in Boston where he&rsquo;ll get a hero&rsquo;s welcome from a small throng of family and friends.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to have to get a lot of tickets,&rdquo; Costello says with a Boston accent as thick as molasses.Had you asked the 20-year-old Costello a few months ago what he had planned for these two days, he&rsquo;d have probably answered in two words: the Olympics.At the time, Costello was playing for the U.S. Olympic team and their travel plans for the first week of February included a sojourn in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia for the 1984 Winter Olympics.For the 20 players who are representing the U. S., the Olympics are no longer a dream. For Costello, the Olympics are an experience that might have been but are now the furthest thing from his mind.It is not a difference between professional and amateur status, nor is it a difference between playing for medals and playing for pay. Plain and simple, it is happiness.That&rsquo;s right, Lucy and Charlie Brown, happiness.Costello says happiness is being where you want to be and, as far as he&rsquo;s concerned, there&rsquo;s no place finer than being in Toronto and playing for the Leafs.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m at where I want to be; I&rsquo;m at where I wanted to be a long time ago and finally I just made the move,&rdquo; said Costello, who was married in December but remains alone in Toronto, while his wife, Dorothy, is back home. &ldquo;I think finally I just made the decision to do what&rsquo;s right for me, not what&rsquo;s best for someone else. Here&rsquo;s where I&rsquo;m most happy.&rdquo;Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara stated on more than one occasion that Costello wouldn&rsquo;t join the Leafs until the conclusion of the Olympics in the middle of February, that he would be allowed to develop like all the other budding Maple Leafs. The fact that Costello suddenly signed with the Leafs and dressed for their game against Minnesota on Jan. 12 was a surprise, but no sooner had Costello had a chance to explain his reasoning for forsaking his Olympic &ldquo;once-in-a-lifetime shot&rdquo;&mdash;the words he used months before in an exhibition game with Team Canada at Maple Leaf Gardens&mdash;than a story circulated that he bailed out of Team USA before they cut him.For a kid who had a brief taste of what the Toronto media is like after he was part of the Darryl Sittler trade two seasons ago, Costello suddenly found himself bombarded by newshounds who all wanted his side of the story.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t cut, I left on my own,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I had a guaranteed spot on the team. I just felt this was the best thing.&rdquo;Two games later, in a return engagement against Minnesota in Toronto, where Costello scored his first-ever NHL goal with family and friends on hand, he expanded on his final days with the Olympians.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t down to the point that I had lost my confidence,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I knew I could play hockey. The bottom line is this is where I want to be. You can&rsquo;t say you&rsquo;re really happy where you were before and then you come here and you&rsquo;re really happy.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the kind of feeling where maybe I should have been here a long time ago. But I&rsquo;m here now.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to forget about the past and look toward the future.&rdquo;And as far as he&rsquo;s concerned, the future consists of a couple of games against Boston.LEAFLETS&mdash;The Toronto Globe and Mail reports that Tom Watt, canned as coach of the Winnipeg Jets earlier this season, is in line to become the next Leaf coach. However, Watt, who&rsquo;s working as a TV commentator at the Olympics, refused to comment because he&rsquo;s still under contract to the Jets. The story follows comments by Leaf president Harold Ballard that coach Mike Nykoluk will remain behind the bench for the balance of the season. Originally, Ballard indicated that Nykoluk would be given a one-week stay of execution, after back-to-back losses to Washington-&hellip;Goalie Allan Bester, who had a brief stay with the Leafs while Mike Palmateer was sidelined with a mild case of pneumonia, was recalled from Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League at Ballard&rsquo;s behest, but Chicago shelled him 7-2 in his first game back. However, Bester played impressively in his next start, as the Leafs recorded only their second victory of the new year, with a 6-3 win over Detroit, which Toronto is battling for the final playoff position in the Norris Division. The Leafs&rsquo; other victory was a 9-4 win over Minnesota on Jan. 18. Bester was in goal for that game. too&hellip;Jim Korn, who&rsquo;s kept a good attitude throughout the Leafs&rsquo; dismal month of January, scored a goal against his exteam in the Detroit victory.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011029/4862201-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="582" height="827"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rich Costello found he wanted to pursue a professional hockey career more than the Olympics.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

Boy From Beantown Happy As Leaf

<div class="byline">BY DICK BEDDOES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02830/4862232-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="304" height="359"></div><h2>The Rich Russians</h2>YEARS SUCH AS this one, in which (1) Olympic Games are held, (2) Presidents of the U.S.A, are elected and (3) women take advantage of men, can be distinguished from other years, as every HOCKEY NEWS reader knows, by the fact that Olympic Games are held and Presidents of the U.S.A, are elected.Then, there are secondary signs. The American and Canadian hockey team heaved snowballs at each other on the matter of professionals participating in the pristine amateur Olympics.The Americans claim three Canadians are pros as the travelling jocks unpacked in the Yugoslavian spa of Sarajevo.R. Alan Eagleson, a big deal in Hockey Canada, retorts that at least two of the gold-medal winning Americans in 1980 were pros when they won the Olympic prize at Lake Placid, NY.It is naturally appropriate that caterwauling be heard in the vicinity of Sarajevo. It was there, in the summer of 1914, that somebody let the air out of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria with a bullet. It was the opening shot of the First Great War.The Canadian-American dispute is so much carping nonsense, of course, because the country that will win the hockey medals in Sarajevo does not recognize the difference between the words amateur and professional.<h2>Crap-Game Amateurs</h2>WHICH IS TO say that you&rsquo;ll find more amateurs in a crap game than you will on a Soviet Union hockey team.The truth is that the best of Russian hockey players are richer than Wayne Gretzky, due to the Soviet Government paying each its Olympians. I percent of the national income weekly.In Russia, I hear, hockey players are permitted to fish out of season, hunt whenever they like, and drive through stoplights.On retirement, the Russian hockey player is given a pension of 15,000 rubles (equivalent to many U.S. dollars, or $Many.00) a month.On death, he is buried at public expense, and allowed to continue charging for cigarettes and vodka at government department stores.Thanks to their high wages, the Soviets should sweep through the Sarajevo tournament with contemptuous ease. On their return home, each hockey player will be awarded the Order of Gorki (&ldquo;Keep Smiling&rdquo;), the Order of Lenin (&ldquo;Keep Off The Grass&rdquo;) and a bottle of vodka formerly belonging to Boris Spassky, who was disenfranchised by the Soviets when he failed to win the world chess title.Goaltender Vladislav Tretiak and members of the Soviets&rsquo; big forward line&mdash;Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov&mdash;will receive jobs in the Russian Mint and free working equipment, including a canvas bag and a small coal shovel.<h2>Demand Higher Wages</h2>CLEARLY THEN, THE Canadian and American beefers should be beefing about banning the wealthy Russian team or demanding higher wages more in line with the Soviet scale.Clearly, too, the Soviet squad is the best ever assembled for Olympic play. Arthur Berglund, chairman of the U.S. Olympic selection committee, has said that the Soviets have a starting unit equal or superior to any starting six in the National Hockey League.Berglund means the goaler Tretiak, now 31 and in his 14th year with the Soviet national squad. Aleksei Kasatonov, a massive mobile defenseman, probably the single best rearguard on earth, and his partner, Viacheslav Fetisov.And the forward trio of Larionov at center, with Markarov and Krutov on the wings. The 23-year-old Larionov is the Gretzky of the Eastern Hemisphere and, in the Canada Cup final of 1981, outplayed the Edmonton demigod.The measure of Russia&rsquo;s first team was taken six weeks ago when Russia&rsquo;s second team battled the American national team on almost even terms on an exhibition tour. At the same time, Russia&rsquo;s third team humiliated Canada&rsquo;s national squad on a 10-game tour&mdash;7 wins, 2 losses, I tie.It says here that if the Soviets were allowed to send three teams to Sarajevo, Russia No. 1 would win the gold medal, Russia No. 2 the silver and Russia No. 3 the Bronze.One reason for such surpassing dominance is the high standard for living of the hardy Russian millionaires. &#9632;

f0016-02

BEDCLOTHES

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Embarrassed is not the word. Ashamed is more like it.Dale Hawerchuk was eating breakfast in New Jersey when Glen Sather, the coach of the Campbell Conference team, told him to go to a reception room to meet the rest of the all-stars prior to the National Hockey League&rsquo;s 36th annual All-Star game.Flabbergasted, Hawerchuk looked up at the coach of Edmonton Oilers.&ldquo;But, but I&rsquo;m not playing,&rdquo; said Hawerchuk. the star of the Winnipeg Jets and the team&rsquo;s player rep.&ldquo;Sure you are,&rdquo; replied Sather. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re Brian Bellows, aren&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;&ldquo;No. I&rsquo;m Dale Hawerchuk,&rdquo; said the 1982 Calder Trophy winner.Dumbfounded, Sather collapsed in a chair.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry, Dale,&rdquo; he apologized. &ldquo;I thought you were Bellows. You do look alike.&rdquo;&ldquo;No problem,&rdquo; replied Hawerchuk. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s happened before.&rdquo;Upon hearing the story, John Ferguson became so angry he was speechless. He wasn&rsquo;t disappointed in Sather; he was furious.But the message was clear: The Oilers are so wrapped up in themselves, no one else hardly matters.For the second year in a row, the Jets&rsquo; representative in the game was Dave Babych and, once again, he delivered a goal for the Campbell team.This one, however, was infinitely prettier than the first.Bursting down the middle, he took John Ogrodnick&rsquo;s perfectly-timed pass and put a hard wrist shot under Chico Resch&rsquo;s glove to start a third-period comeback that came within a goal of catching the Wales Conference.Babych, a burly defenseman, was satisfied the right man had been chosen the star of the game.&ldquo;When you see a guy that happy, you have to be glad for him.&rdquo; said Babych, referring to Don Maloney of the New York Rangers, a four-point man for the Wales.Only two days before the All-Star Game, there was some doubt that Babych could play. Fourteen members of the Jets were suffering from an intestinal flu when the Bruins put an end to Winnipeg&rsquo;s five-game unbeaten streak with a 5-2 win. Babych was afflicted the worst. He dropped 15 pounds. But he went to New Jersey just the same and he was glad he did.Meanwhile back home, the Jets, with only 12 road games remaining and a cozy month of February ahead of them, were in a position to run for second place in the Smythe Division. Of their 13 scheduled games, only 10 were at home, where the team wasn&rsquo;t beaten in nine (5-0-4).The nine-game unbeaten streak in the Winnipeg Arena matched a club record set in 1982 when the Jets posted seven wins and two ties in a period from Feb. 24-March 2. Their latest stretch began with a 6-3 win over the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 23.Oddly enough, the Jets&rsquo; record after 51 games matched exactly their 46-point output over the first 51 games a year ago. But, on that occasion, 15 of their remaining 29 games were scheduled on the road.Coach Barry Long has been able to ice four effective lines, a sign of the club&rsquo;s improving depth.Productively, the most improved player is team captain Lucien DeBlois. Already, he has established a career high in points while his efficiency has jumped from a plus-minus rating of minus-22 to plus-2. He has been among the league&rsquo;s leading scorers all season.Ferguson was disappointed that DeBlois was not named as an addition to the Campbell All-Star team.&ldquo;I can understand him being left off the ballot,&rdquo; he said, referring to the team picked by writers. &ldquo;But I feel he should have been added ahead of some people. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, he is establishing himself as one of the premier right wingers in our conference.&rdquo;Which is one more reason why Ferguson was hot at Sather during the New Jersey extravaganza.BENCH BITS&mdash;The Jets&rsquo; main man in Europe, Leif Boork, has agreed to coach Sweden&rsquo;s entry in next fall&rsquo;s Canada Cup Series. Boork is the full-time coach of Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Elite League&hellip;John Ferguson is actively pursuing former Norris Trophy winner. Randy Carlyle, of Pittsburgh Penguins&hellip;Since returning from a serious shoulder injury, center Laurie Bosch-man has resumed his scoring feats. In his first six games, he had four goals and seven assists&hellip;Tim Young is almost ready to resume playing after suffering a broken bone in his neck when he crashed into the boards in Pittsburgh.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01911/4862263-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="579" height="908"><figcaption class="caption-body">Winnipeg&rsquo;s Dale Hawerchuk (above) was mistaken for Minnesota&rsquo;s Brian Bellows.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Sather Suffers An Identity Crisis

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02744/4862294-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="583" height="1063"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Messier felt he really didn&rsquo;t deserve to be suspsended for six games.</figcaption></div>EDMONTON&mdash;When the verdict came down, Mark Messier felt unjustly punished.Messier drew a six-game suspension from National Hockey League executive vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill for clubbing Vancouver center Thomas Gradin over the helmet in Edmonton&rsquo;s 7-5 victory on Jan. 18&mdash;ironically, Messier&rsquo;s 23rd birthday.Messier missed three games awaiting sentence and sat out three more at home&mdash;Jan. 27 when the Oilers faced New Jersey Devils, the following night against Los Angeles Kings and Feb. 3 when Calgary visited the Northlands Coliseum. Messier will be a welcome addition to the depleted lineup when the Oilers begin a testy five-game Eastern swing on Feb. 5 in Washington. He was also cleared to play in the Jan. 31 All-Star game in New Jersey.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think I should have gotten six games,&rdquo; said Messier, who accumulated 19 goals and 46 assists in 46 games. He earlier missed a game due to suspension for accumulating three game misconduct penalties.&ldquo;I was just starting to feel good. I had gotten off to a slow start (one goal in his first 11 games),&rdquo; added Messier, an NHL first-team all-star the last two seasons. &ldquo;I was starting to play to my capabilities over the last month and it seems I just started rolling the last little while (six goals in his last five road games).&ldquo;Hopefully when I come back, I can pick it up where I left off.&rdquo;Oiler general manager-coach Glen Sather agreed with Messier.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have anything to say,&rdquo; frowned Sather. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s his (O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s) responsibility to dole out justice. What&rsquo;s the sense in me arguing? I just don&rsquo;t understand why he didn&rsquo;t take the injury report (to Gradin) into consideration.&rdquo;Gradin suffered a mild concussion, but was back playing with the Canucks in Winnipeg two nights later.&ldquo;The film didn&rsquo;t do anything in my favor,&rdquo; said Messier, who had one hand on his hockey stick when he struck Gradin. &ldquo;I know what happened and I didn&rsquo;t think there was much severity to the blow at all. It was a glacing blow. I administered it&hellip;and I know how hard I hit him.&ldquo;But. I am glad I don&rsquo;t make those rules. I realize it&rsquo;s a tough decision to make and. thank God. someone else is in that position.&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;ll just have to watch myself now&hellip;keep the cue (stick) down.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-02

Messier Sits In Sin For Six Games

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div>Louisville HockeyH&B 100 YEARSBUFFALO&mdash;Although comparisons are unfair, some hockey experts around the National Hockey League are comparing Dave Andreychuk of the Sabres to former NHL superstar Phil Esposito.Granted, both were centers and over 6-foot tall. But that&rsquo;s where the comparison ends. At least for now.Over a recent 27-game stretch the 20-year-old Andreychuk has scored 16 goals and 16 assists. Not exactly Esposito scoring stats, but not that bad either.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m flattered by the comparison, but I&rsquo;m no Phil Esposito.&rdquo; said Andreychuk. &ldquo;For one thing. I&rsquo;m not as strong as Phil was in front of the net. I&rsquo;ve got to work on my strength.&ldquo;And I&rsquo;m not that strong a skater either. That has a long way to go. I went to two power skating schools last summer and they helped. But I&rsquo;m still working on it.&rdquo;But the main thing Andreychuk is doing now is scoring goals. Through the team&rsquo;s first 50 games of the season he has scored 21 goals.&ldquo;I think the main reason I&rsquo;m scoring better this season is because I&rsquo;m getting to play more.&rdquo; said the Sabre sophomore. &ldquo;Being a rookie last year. I made a lot of mistakes.&ldquo;I found myself hesitating. This year I&rsquo;m taking more chances and doing some things on the ice I didn&rsquo;t last year.&rdquo;Assistant coach. Red Berenson, a former center himself in the NHL. has seen the difference in Andreychuk this season.&ldquo;First of all. it&rsquo;s a lot to expect a 18- or 19-year-old to step right in and play in the NHL.&rdquo; said Berenson. &ldquo;There arc things they have to work on.&ldquo;With Dave it was his skating. He&rsquo;s worked on it and we&rsquo;ve seen an improvement. But he&rsquo;s gained a lot of confidence and maturity over the two seasons. He moves the puck more with the wingers. He&rsquo;s got a great reach as well with his stick which makes him dangerous around the net.&ldquo;But he&rsquo;s got a long way to go yet.&rdquo; During the Sabres&rsquo; recent 13-game unbeaten streak. Andreychuk scored four goals and five assists in the final six games of the streak.&ldquo;Lately the puck seems to keep coming to me.&rdquo; said the 6-foot-3. 195-pound center. &ldquo;Hopefully, that will continue.&rdquo;SABRE STUFF&mdash;The Sabres had two streaks come to an end with their 5-3 loss in Boston against the Bruins on Feb. 2. Finished was the 10-game winning streak on the road, a new league record, and a 13-game unbeaten streak, one short of the team record. Ironically, the winning streak on the road began in Boston Garden back on Dec. 10&hellip;Rookie goaltending sensation. Tom Barrasso, won January&rsquo;s rookie-of-the-month honors in the NHL for the second time this season. During the month he posted a record of 5-0-1 and a goals-against average of 1.64&hellip;Veteran defenseman Jerry Korab is out indefinitely with an injured elbow suffered in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mal Davis was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League to replace Korab on the roster. &#9632;

Big Dave Not Ready To Fill Espo’s Shoes

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;It&rsquo;s almost certain that the Black Hawks have flunked their mathematics test. Now. the top priority in the final two months of the regular season is getting the chemistry right for the playoffs.Technically, the injury-plagued and suspension-prone Hawks still have a chance of overtaking Minnesota and repeating as Norris Division champions.Realistically, it isn&rsquo;t going to happen. Even if Chicago suddenly turns torrid, it would take a complete collapse by the North Stars to put the Hawks back in the title picture. At the start of the second week in February. Minnesota was 14 points in front of the third-place Hawks.Chicago coach Orval Tessier is looking southward toward St. Louis rather than doing a fcasability study on the North Stars.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m French-Canadian and in the schools there we learned to count 1-2-34-5.&rdquo; said Tessier. &ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re No. 3 and St. Louis is No. 2. If we pass St. Louis and put a I ittlc distance between us and them, then we&rsquo;ll look and sec where Minnesota is.&rdquo;&ldquo;Down the stretch we want to get that consistency back that wc had last year.&rdquo; said Murray Bannerman, the starting goalie for the Campbell Conference in the All-Star game. &ldquo;We want to go into the playoffs with some momentum.&ldquo;Lately, we&rsquo;ve been playing a lot better but we still haven&rsquo;t been able to win consistently.&rdquo;One area in which the Hawks have started to show some improvement is on the road. In the first half of the season they won only three games on alien ice. However, they went into the All-Star break with a three-game road winning streak&mdash;consisting of a tie in Quebec and triumphs in Toronto and Minnesota.Bannerman&rsquo;s 4-2 conquest of the North Stars was the Hawks&rsquo; first victory in the Met Center since last season&rsquo;s Stanley Cup quarter-finals. They had been beaten 10-5 and 6-5 in their two prior visits.&ldquo;Wc already knew wc could win in Chicago but now they know they can win here.&rdquo; observed Minnesota defenseman Brad Maxwell. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re still the ones we&rsquo;ll have to beat if we&rsquo;re going anywhere in the playoffs. Every game with those guys is up for grabs.&rdquo;It now seems certain that the Hawks will have to get along without one of their best players for the duration. Al Secord, who scored 54 goals last year and 44 the season before, has played only nine games after severely injuring abdominal muscles in two fights on opening night against St. Louis.Several doctors have examined him and opinion is unanimous that rest is the only cure. Rather than risk injuring himself again. the Hawk hierarchy probably will keep Secord on the disabled list until training camp.However, the Hawks&rsquo; other two well-regarded left wingers. Darryl Sutter and Curt Fraser, arc due back on the ice in mid February and Tessier hopes to have them primed for the playoffs.Both were seriously hurt in Minnesota. On Nov. 5. Fraser suffered a knee injury requiring surgery and on Jan. 2. Sutter received a broken cheekbone when hit with a ricocheting shot from the stick of Doug Wilson.&ldquo;If we were at full strength and had this kind of season I&rsquo;d be very concerned.&rdquo; said Tessier. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t use injuries as an excuse but we have to be realistic. When you&rsquo;re missing people such as Al Secord. Darryl Sutter. Curt Fraser. Troy Murray. Tom Lysiak and Behn Wilson for prolonged periods it&rsquo;s going to have an effect on your record.&ldquo;In all my years in hockey, as a player and a coach on every level. I&rsquo;ve never had a year like this.&ldquo;But this team has shown me a lot of character in the face of adversity. If we keep playing this way when we get people back. I&rsquo;ll be going into the playoffs with a lot of confidence.&rdquo;HAWK TALK&mdash;Defenseman Don Dietrach was one of two players prevented from competing for the Canadian team in the Olympics, following a ruling by the International Olympic Committee to bar players who had played in the National Hockey League. Dietrach was promoted from Springfield Indians of the American League during the Hawks&rsquo; injury crisis, but was later returned. He was then recruited by the Canadians. &#9632;

Tessier Says It’s As Easy As 1, 2, 3

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;Although there were times when it looked and sounded as though the Rangers had rented out the Meadowlands Arena to throw their own private party, the New Jersey Devils will remember the 36th annual National Hockey League All-Star game as a rousing success.Veteran goalie Glenn Resch, a lastminute replacement for Ai Jensen, registered his first All-Star victory after two losses and received a thunderous ovation from the sellout crowd.Yes, even longer and louder than the cheers for those two popular visitors from across the river, Don Maloney and Pierre Larouche.The Devils&rsquo; 20-year-old defenseman. Joe Cirella, also heard cheers, especially after he scored the first goal of the game on a slapshot from the top of the right circle after only 8:51 of the first period.As Resch would later observe, the interest in the game and the crowd reaction was just one more indication that those who predicted a damaging hockey saturation would occur in the metropolitan area when the Devils joined the Rangers and the Islanders were unduly concerned.&ldquo;The force was with us tonight,&rdquo; a happy, relieved Resch observed after the Wales Conference had hung on for a 7-6 triumph over the Campbell Conference. &ldquo;The metropolitan area force was working; everybody from all three teams had a hand in it.&rdquo;Resch was not at all disappointed that the Ranger players heard cheers every time they stepped on the ice.&ldquo;The fans enjoyed it all the more,&rdquo; Resch said, &ldquo;because the Rangers had such a big night. That&rsquo;s what this game is supposed to be; a good show, a fun show&hellip;and I think it worked out great for our franchise and for hockey.&rdquo;Cirella. meanwhile, admitted that his expectations for the evening had been modest ones.&ldquo;I just didn&rsquo;t want to embarrass myself or my team.&rdquo; he stated. &ldquo;I was honored, especially to have been selected by a man like Al Arbour. I didn&rsquo;t want him leaving here wishing he had picked somebody else.&rdquo;The goal-scoring play took place almost before Cirella had a chance to think about what was happening.&ldquo;I was out of my mind&hellip;on cloud nine,&rdquo; Cirella said after scoring his first All-Star goal. &ldquo;The puck came back to me off the faceoff and it seemed as though I had a lot of time&mdash;which was a surprise. &ldquo;I looked up&mdash;which was something new, too&mdash;and then I moved in a little and just let it go.&rdquo;&ldquo;I think Joey was a little surprised.&rdquo; Resch suggested. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t know quite how he should react. You don&rsquo;t expect to score a goal in an All-Star game when you&rsquo;re a 20-year-old defenseman. On your own team, you&rsquo;re uninhibited when you score a goal but he was out there with Denis Potvin and Peter Stastny&mdash;guys he probably doesn&rsquo;t know very well.&rdquo;Cirella enjoyed the rest of the game a lot more than he might have if he had not scored.&ldquo;When my shot went in,&rdquo; the happy Devil recalled, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s when it finally dawned on me. It was kind of like, &lsquo;Hey, wake up.&rsquo;&rdquo;Cirella also said goalie Pete Peeters helped ease his nervousness when he and Potvin were trapped up ice on a breakaway by Wayne Gretzky and the Boston goalie stopped him cold.Peeters was sharp, but the Jersey crowd began screaming &ldquo;Chico, Chico&rdquo; at 9:45 of the second period in anticipation of Resch&rsquo;s appearance at the midway point. Peeters remained on ice until 10:38, however, and stopped a Paul Coffey breakaway while he was waiting to be relieved.Although Resch played well, considering the wide-open style of the game, he did seem particularly pleased by his degree of sharpness.&ldquo;Any time you play against that much firepower,&rdquo; Resch admitted, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a little scary. You know, if I had lost this one, I was going to be 0-3 as an All-Star. It was nice to win one but I made it a little too close. At the end, I was kind of scrambling around.&rdquo;Resch revealed that he had set a preseason goal&mdash;something he does not normally do&mdash;and it was to play in the AllStar game.&ldquo;I figured it might be my last chance and I wanted my mom and dad to see me play here,&rdquo; Resch said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t play well enough to be voted in, so my old friend, Al Arbour, had to sneak me in the back door.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard players say, after their careers are over, that the thing they remember most about their All-Star experiences are the cheers in the introductions.&rdquo; Resch noted. &ldquo;The fans in this area have been great to me, even sometimes when my play didn&rsquo;t merit it. They made this a special night for me and I thank them.&rdquo;HOT STUFF&mdash;The Devils recalled defenseman Murray Brumwell, who played in their final two games before the All-Star break. Brumwell was not a big fan of former GM Billy MacMillan and was happy to be reunited with coach Tommie McVie. &ldquo;Things will be run a lot more fair for everybody now,&rdquo; Brumwell predicted of the McVie regime&hellip;Former captain Don Lever, meanwhile, was not as happy with the new coach for obvious reasons. Numerous trade rumors and Lever&rsquo;s reduced ice time created a not-so-pleasant atmosphere causing many to speculate on a possible trade. &#9632;

Devil Players Feel The Fans’ Forceful Cheer

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01726/4862397-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Reinhart is progressing better than anyone imagined after surgery to dissolve a disc in his back.</figcaption></div>CALGARY&mdash;Trying to make medical history, defenseman Paul Reinhart started skating with the Flames at the All-Star break&mdash;just 27 days after undergoing surgery to dissolve a disc in his back.The speed of Reinhart&rsquo;s recovery has everyone from his doctor to his teammates to general manager Cliff Fletcher baffled.The newest guess is that Reinhart could be in the lineup for Calgary&rsquo;s Mar. I date against the Philadelphia Flyers.&ldquo;In the last four or five days before my first doctor&rsquo;s appointment, it really improved,&rdquo; said Reinhart. &ldquo;Before then, I didn&rsquo;t think it was working at all. The doctor told me he usually makes the first appointment for his patient six weeks after the operation. This was only three weeks and he said it was coming along great, that it really responded well and there was no reason why I couldn&rsquo;t start skating to get my legs back.&rdquo;Reinhart spent three weeks in Florida and thought the warm climate had a hand in his recovery.Ideally, the Flames would like to get Reinhart back into playing shape in time for the playoffs, which begin Apr. 4.One advantage to Reinhart&rsquo;s long layoff is that he will not suffer from the burnout that inevitably occurs over the 80-game schedule.&ldquo;Physically, I won&rsquo;t be as tired, I won&rsquo;t be as beat up, I won&rsquo;t have the little aches,&rdquo; said Reinhart. &ldquo;Mentally, it&rsquo;ll be like having had another summer. I&rsquo;ve missed two months and it&rsquo;ll be another month before I get back. I don&rsquo;t even take that much time off in the summer.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if the fact that 1&rsquo;11 be fresher is the most important thing. I think my attitude will be so much better. I&rsquo;m just too damn anxious. I miss it.&rdquo;Reinhart&rsquo;s injury brought into focus one of the longest, lingering problems on the Flames&mdash;their defense.The city&rsquo;s on-again, off-again love affair with the talented Reinhart tended to deflect the attention away from the rest of the defense. His absence not only left the Flames without their top rearguard, it also established more clearly the deficiencies of the remaining six. They played more frequently in more critical situations and that led to closer scrutiny.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Kari Eloranta has been affected more than any other defenseman by the injury to Paul Reinhart. He is not playing as well as he did last year, though not as poorly as he did the year before.</blockquote>It particularly affected one player&mdash;third-year defenseman Kari Eloranta, who led the Flames in the plus-minus category a year ago. That he has regressed is clear. He is playing neither as well as he did last year nor as poorly as he did the year before. Just why the local fans have made Eloranta their special whipping boy is not clear, however.He is, after all, not the only player failing to duplicate his 1982-83 succes-ses. The names Lanny MacDonald and Kent Nilsson also come to mind as far as that goes.&ldquo;I know they&rsquo;ve been on my back,&rdquo; said Eloranta. &ldquo;I hearthem. I don&rsquo;t know why. Maybe it&rsquo;s because they want a defenseman who hits someone through the boards. That&rsquo;s not me. I&rsquo;m not that type of player. Maybe it&rsquo;s because of the first year I had in Calgary; maybe they still think of that.&rdquo;&ldquo;I sense Calgary fans like contact.&rdquo; said coach Bob Johnson. &ldquo;They really do. Contact is part of the game. I like to see it too. They only problem is we don&rsquo;t have a lot of thumpers. Maybe we need some more.&rdquo;IN BRIEF&mdash;Jim Peplinski, the Flames&rsquo; center, is the latest among a legion of past and present league players to come down with the gunk, the mysterious skin ailment that plagues hockey players. Peplinski considers himself lucky because he caught it in the early stages. &ldquo;I had Dr. Lanny (McDonald) diagnose it for me,&rdquo; said Peplinski. &ldquo;He.&rsquo;s seen it before. It&rsquo;s awful to have. It itches like crazy.&rdquo; Peplinski saw a dermatologist about the problem, but it didn&rsquo;t seem to be getting any better. He is already using lotions and creams to keep it under control. Former Flame center Bill Clement also offered a tip: mesh underwear, something Clement used when he had the gunk his last year in Calgary. Peplinski was the topic of a hot rumor at the All-Star game when it was mentioned he was headed for Philadelphia in a trade for Bill Barber. While the trade was never consummated. Barber told Philly reporters, &ldquo;You better talk to me, because I&rsquo;m not going to be around for long.&rdquo;&hellip;Cliff Fletcher will scout the Olympics for the Flames. He left with one word of advice from coach Bob Johnson: Bring back Carey Wilson, the 21-year-old center with the Canadian Olympic team. &#9632;

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Reinhart Could Be Back Sooner Than He Expected

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>HARTFORD&mdash;The Whalers hit the 50-game mark mired in an 0-5-4 drought, their longest winless stretch of the season. Earlier they went seven games (0-61) without winning.&ldquo;The important thing is to hold together,&rdquo; goalie Greg Millen said.How the Whalers fare over their last 30 games will go a long way in determining how much progress, if any, has been made in Emile Francis&rsquo; first year here.For 24 games, the Whalers fought the good fight. They won some they shouldn&rsquo;t have and hit their high-water mark at 11-11-2, which tied the latest they&rsquo;ve been at .500 in their five-year history in the league. Since then, they have fallen on hard times.At the 50-game mark, they were 1528-7, 4-17-5 since Dec. 4 when they were a .500 hockey team. What has compounded the Whalers&rsquo; dilemma is the resurgence of the Montreal Canadiens, who led Hartford by 16 points. With absolutely no playoff chance, the Whalers must play for pride and in the past that&rsquo;s always spelled trouble.&ldquo;All we can do is keep working at it,&rdquo; coach Jack Evans said.The Adams Division has brought out the worst in the Whalers and that spells double trouble.Just look at the numbers.Quebec, for example, was 13-7-3, Buffalo was 12-6-0 and Boston was 1210-0. Montreal, which has come under severe criticism, was 10-11-1. And the Whalers, who must play these teams 32 times each season, are 2-15-4. In the Whalers&rsquo; last 20 divisional road games, their record was 1-17-2.The last time Hartford beat Quebec wasJan. 27, 1983, more than a year ago. Since then the teams have played 11 times and the Whalers have lost eight and tied three. In their history, they have won but one game at Le Colisee and none at the Montreal Forum.This is not the stuff of which playoff contenders are made.But compared to last year, the Whalers have made some progress. Of course, compared to last year in which the Whalers went 19-54-7, almost anything could be interpreted as progress.Aside from Sylvain Turgeon, an 18-year-old&rsquo; rookie who topped the team in goals scored at the All-Star break with 26, the Whalers have found no up-and-comers. Turgeon is sure to help, but a close look at the rest of the roster indicates that the Whalers simply have swapped used parts for other used parts.With but one draft pick in the first five rounds in the entry draft in June, Francis&rsquo; skill at picking free-agent talent will be tested.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking all the time,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re out there. We just have to find them.&rdquo;Keep a close eye on the last 30 games. If the Whalers can lose with dignity&mdash;and even win a few&mdash;it would reflect well on next year. If they go south, one has to question how much actual progress has been made.WHALER SCUTTLEBUTT&mdash;Sylvain Turgeon&rsquo;s 17th power-play goal established a club record, while his 26th goal established a club rookie record.. Mark Johnson, the Whalers&rsquo; All-Star representative, had his own explanation for injuries to the Islanders&rsquo; Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy just prior to the game. &ldquo;When those two guys found out that I took Ronnie Francis&rsquo; spot, they high-tailed it out of there as fast as they could,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Left winger Normand Dupont has been recalled from Binghamton. In four games with the American League club, Dupont was 4-6-10. &ldquo;The calibre of the league isn&rsquo;t what it was six years ago,&rdquo; Dupont said&hellip;The Whalers recalled defenseman Mark Paterson from the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League. Paterson, a second-team all-star in the OHL, has six goals and 10 assists in 32 games&hellip;A knee injury sidelined defenseman Chris Kotsopoulos for three games, while a back injury knocked out winger Doug Sulliman for the same period. Marty Howe has been sidelined indefinitely with a neck injury&hellip;In 26 home dates, the Whalers&rsquo; averaged 11,308 fans, including 12,919 on nine Saturday dates&hellip;In a 5-5 tie in Hartford against Quebec. Mike Crombeen was used extensively to check Nordiques&rsquo; ace Michel Goulet, who scored 30 goals in the last 21 games at Hartford. &#9632;

Pride Can Make The Difference For Whalers

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;Doug Keans is only the backup goalie for the Bruins&hellip;but sometimes you forget.When he blanked the Stanley Cupchampion New York Islanders 2-0 on Jan. 16, the first shutout for him in his five-year, 74-game National Hockey League career, he performed like a No. 1 goalie. Six days later, he did it again, by blanking the Hartford Whalers 2-0, giving him a goalless string of 126 minutes, 58 seconds. The Winnipeg Jets finally ended it at 138 minutes, eight seconds.The two games left him with a 2.43 goals-against average and garnered him player-of-the-week honors.Not bad for a 26-year-old goalie who could not crack the lineup of the lowly Los Angeles Kings for any length of time and was picked up by the Bruins between seasons for the $100 waiver price.&ldquo;It rates right up there.&rdquo; said Keans, when asked if the Islander shutout was his biggest thrill in hockey.&ldquo;Ironically, my first win ever in the NHL happened to be against the Islanders in L A. That was a big thrill for me, too. But I think this is a little bit nicer.&rdquo;After 60 more goalless minutes against the Whalers, he was getting a little blase about it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting a lot of help from the guys in front of me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They give me the confidence to bear down and challenge the shooters and hope the puck hits&rsquo;me or maybe hits a post.&rdquo;When Keans credits his teammates with making him the surprise goalie of the 1983-84 season, he is quite serious.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a good goalie on rebounds,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I kinda stand my ground and make the initial save and then look for help. That&rsquo;s the way I&rsquo;ve always played. I play the shooter and then after than I&rsquo;m scrambling.&ldquo;This team doesn&rsquo;t leave many rebounds for me to scramble for. And they keep the shooters away from the slot, the garden spot. They keep the guys outside and it gives me a better chance to stop the puck.&ldquo;Just before I left L A. for Boston. I played a little tennis with Don Perry (the King coach who was recently fired) and he said, &lsquo;Doug, that&rsquo;s the type of team you gotta go to.&rsquo; Boston does play the perfect style for me. They block shots and they clear rebounds.&rdquo;When the Bruins obtained Keans from Los Angeles, Bruin general manager Harry Sinden said he expected him to play about 30 games in relief of Pete Peeters, who was worn to a frazzle after playing 62 regular season and 17 playoff games last year.Keans picked up a lot of ice time when Peeters suffered a concussion in a game Nov. 3 against St. Louis and came down with a bad case of the flu.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I hurt my knees against Hartford when Ronnie Francis took a shot and I put my leg out to stop it. I lost my balance, so I put my leg back to keep from falling and I strained it.&rsquo;</blockquote>But Keans missed nine games himself after he hurt his knee Dec. 15 against Hartford and underwent arthroscopic surgery two days later to determine if it was more serious than the diagnosed strained ligaments.&ldquo;I hurt my knee against Hartford with 30 seconds left,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Ronnie Francis took a shot and I put my leg out to stop it. I lost my balance, so I put my leg back to keep from falling and I just strained it.&rdquo;He was supposed to be out of the lineup longer but when Peeters got the flu and the backup&rsquo;s backup Mike Moffat got shelled 8-3 by the Quebec Nordiques, the Bruins&rsquo; taped up his left knee and threw him out against the New York Rangers. He responded with a 5-2 win.&ldquo;Sure, I favored the knee,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s still not a hundred per cent. But it might have helped me because I had to stand up.&ldquo;I think if I had the type of game where I was giving up rebounds and our defense wasn&rsquo;t clearing the rebounds. I would have been in trouble because I don&rsquo;t think I could have been bouncing around.&ldquo;I had mostly one shot and the rebounds were cleared. That&rsquo;s where this team helps me a lot. I don&rsquo;t know what I would have done if I had to be diving around out there.&rdquo;And the Bruins don&rsquo;t know what they would have done without Keans.&ldquo;He was available for a hundred bucks,&rdquo; said coach Gerry Cheevers. &ldquo;What a stroke of luck! And L.A. is still looking for a goalie.&rdquo; &#9632;

Bruins Find Real Keaner Between The Pipes

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01614/4862476-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Washington Capital goalie Pat Riggin has made a remarkable trip from the outhouse to the penthouse. A couple of weeks ago, he was mired in Hershey, his NHL career in danger of being over.But with a few breaks, he returned to Washington, where, as of the week ending Feb. 5, he was unbeatable, earning HOCKEY NEWS player-of-the-week honors.In seven games, Riggin recorded six wins and a tie, giving up only eight goals in the seven contests, leading the Caps up the Patrick Division ladder. One of those wins included a 9-2 drubbing of the Edmonton Oilers and two shutouts, one against Toronto and the other against New Jersey. &#9632;

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Player Of The Week

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01591/4862538-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="605" height="527"></div>It was a wild and wooly day in Sarajevo on Feb. 6. Not only was it the eve of the ice hockey event at the Winter Olympics, it was Eligibility Day. a 24-hour span when a bunch of warring national hockey factions got together to come up with as many different definitions of who&rsquo;s eligible and who&rsquo;s not.When the smoke had cleared, it looked something like this:&bull;Team Canada, as a result of a protest lodged by the United States and Finland, lost defenseman Don Diet-rach and center Mark Morrison. However, netminder Mario Gosselin and forward Dan Wood were ruled eligible by the International Olympic Committee, the apparent referee in this dispute.&bull; Italy lost netminder Jim Corsi and forward Rich Bragnalo.&bull; Austria lost the services of Greg Holst.The IOC claims the players it ruled ineligible are professionals and handed down this definition of eligibility: &ldquo;&hellip;players are not eligible when they have or have had a contract with the National Hockey League.&rdquo;Great. We finally have a definition, although it still doesn&rsquo;t make any sense. Read on&hellip;For those of you who have been in hiding lately, this entire brouhaha erupted a month or so ago when the United States&rsquo; Olympic Committee vowed to protest Canada&rsquo;s use of players who had played in the NHL or minor pro leagues.From then on, Canada and the U.S. got into daily mudslinging, all leading up to the Feb. 6 ruling, which was announced just as this issue was going to press.Al Eagleson, chief negotiator for Hockey Canada, said the IOC ruling means that the only professional hockey league in the world is the NHL.He made that statement because Austria&rsquo;s Rick Cunningham, a five-season refugee of the now-defunct World Hockey Association, was cleared to play. If that doesn&rsquo;t make any sense then neither does the fact the IOC is letting Gosselin play for Canada. After all, Gosselin has signed a contract with the NHL&rsquo;s Quebec Nordiques.It would appear that the IOC&rsquo;s definition only applied to those players who actually played games in the NHL. Thus, the suspensions of Diet-rach and Morrison, who have played games with Chicago and New York Rangers, respectively. Holst, who played two games with the Rangers in the mid 70s, and Bragnalo, who had a cup of coffee with the Washington Capitals, and the subsequent approval of Gosselin and Wood, who played three seasons in the Central League.Needless to say, Eagleson and the Canadians were a little perturbed with the Americans and Finns.&ldquo;This whole matter was started by an alliance or a misalliance between Finland and the United States and it looks like the U.S. made the snowballs and gave them to the Finns to throw and the Finns found out this morning that 99 per cent of them came back in their faces.&ldquo;So now that we&rsquo;ve been told the CHL, AHL, WHA, Swedish League and West German League are all amateur leagues, we&rsquo;re going to set up a new league, call it the International National Hockey League and we&rsquo;ll come back as amateurs in 1988.&rdquo;However, the Eagle wasn&rsquo;t completely despondent over the ruling. He was encouraged by the fact that Gosselin and Wood would be permitted to play.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a step in the right direction. We feel it&rsquo;s a halfway measure.&rdquo;But he still marvelled at the rationalization of the IOC eligibility committee. &ldquo;It seems to indicate to us that any player who has played in an NHL game is ineligible for the Olympics and some players who have played as many as 300 games in the WHA are eligible&hellip;&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02426/4862531-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="572" height="684"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Eagleson is miffed over the IOC&rsquo;s eligibility ruling at Sarajevo.</figcaption></div>If the whole thing doesn&rsquo;t make any sense whatsoever, go to the head of the class.NOTES: Team Canada coach Dave King has until Feb. 10 to add two more names to his 20-man roster. Defenseman Warren Anderson and forward Kevin Dineen, who have been with the team since the fall but weren&rsquo;t declared on the original roster, are in Sarajevo and available to play, though King didn&rsquo;t say what he planned to do&hellip;Here&rsquo;s a scary thought: any team may make an eligibility claim against any individual player at any time during the tournament. &#9632;

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As The Olympic Eligibility Rules Turn…

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet were the only Nordique players at the All-Star game, but many fans here felt goalie Dan Bouchard deserved an invitation.The Nordiques were fifth overall defensively at the All-Star break, staying among the top six teams in the league on defense the last two months, but Bouchard has received little credit for his contribution from the writers who choose the starting players and the coaches who pick the supporting cast.&ldquo;I have to think that Dan Bouchard is the best in the league right now.&rdquo; said coach Michel Bergeron. &ldquo;Just look at all he has done for the Nordiques so far this season. We are a complete team now. especially in our defensive play. We are perhaps a little less exciting to watch, but we are winning more and we are a better team overall.&rdquo;Bouchard recorded his 25th shutout since entering the league with Atlanta in 1972-73. beating Hartford 3-0 in the first of a weekend home-and-home series just before the break. The following evening, the Nordiques fought the Whalers to a 5-5 draw in Hartford, with Bouchard again tending the nets.The Nordiques have been relying heavily on Bouchard, but Bergeron will let his veteran goalie decide when it&rsquo;s time to take a rest.&ldquo;He has been in the league long enough to know when he is too tired to play and I know he will tell me when the time comes.&rdquo; Bergeron said. &ldquo;We talk strategy and I know he will be ready when I need him.&rdquo;Bouchard&rsquo;s heavy workload is not necessarily a show of non-confidence in backup Clint Malarchuk. The fact is Quebec still has hopes of catching Boston and Buffalo in the Adams Division and if goaltending can help the Nords nail down home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Bergeron will rely heavily on Bouchard.Since a promotion from Fredericton in January after Brian Ford was sent down. Malarchuk has played better than average in a limited amount of duty. He has found his confidence once again and although it is never easy when you must wait a week to 10 days between starts, he has been impressive.Like many others. Malarchuk is probably wondering how long the Nordiques will wait before bringing in Mario Gosselin, the No. 1 netminder with the Canadian Olympic team. All Malarchuk can do is to be ready when needed and Bergeron is satisfied with this right now.Gosselin will be given time to rest after he returns from the the Olympic on Feb. 19. according to general manager Maurice Filion. Of course, that depends on whether Quebec still has a chance of catching the Bruins or Sabres and if they want to get Gosselin ready for the playoffs. There is no question that Bouchard would be expected to start all post-season games and would only be idle due to a serious injury of slump.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01519/4862569-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="576" height="650"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dan Bouchard is a big reason why the Nordiques have made an improvement defensively.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Nords Tout Bouchard As The Best

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;In his first game in goal for the Penguins this season, Roberto Romano lost 6-1 to the Rangers in New York, but stopped 45 shots and was selected as the game&rsquo;s most valuable player by the USA cable network.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m satisfied with the way I played, but I&rsquo;m not satisfied with the outcome,&rdquo; Romano said after the game.He quickly learned that tending goal for the Penguins was much less satisfying than it was for their Baltimore Skipjack farm club in the American Hockey League. He was called up to Pittsburgh on Dec. 21 after Denis Herron aggravated a pinched nerve in his neck.In Baltimore, Romano had a 3.65 goals-against average and a 15-4-1 record in 20 games.&ldquo;I was playing really well in Baltimore,&rdquo; Romano said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know what would happen up here. In the first game I came in and I got bombed 6-1 in New York. I&rsquo;m just going out there, working hard and doing my best.&rdquo;The Montreal native posted a 4.25 average and a 3-6-0 record in his first nine games with the Penguins. On Feb. 1, the day after the All-Star game. Romano picked up a shutout as the Penguins upset the Minnesota North Stars 4-0.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s played exceptionally well,&rdquo; said coach Lou Angotti. &ldquo;You certainly can&rsquo;t fault him.&rdquo;Before Herron&rsquo;s injury, speculation was the Penguins would leave Romano in Baltimore all season rather than subject him to the losing atmosphere in Pittsburgh.&ldquo;I think it all depends,&rdquo; said Angotti about whether Romano would have been better off if he had continued playing in Baltimore, where the Skipjacks are atop Southern Division. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t really know the situation until you bring him up. but it certainly hasn&rsquo;t hurt him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s gained a great deal of experience. He&rsquo;s handled himself with a great deal of composure. He certainly doesn&rsquo;t reflect that he&rsquo;s nervous or anything. He plays with a lot of confidence.&rdquo;Following the 1981-82 season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where Romano had a 3.77 average in 56 games with the Hull Olympiques. Pittsburgh signed the 5-foot-6, 170-pound goaltender.&ldquo;I was really surprised when I didn&rsquo;t get drafted because in the junior league I was on the first all-star team&mdash;the No. 1 goaltender in the league&rsquo;,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was talking to a lot of scouts and they said that I should be going in the early rounds&mdash;from three on. Twelve rounds went by and I didn&rsquo;t get drafted. I was ready to retire from hockey then. I got really depressed.&ldquo;But Pittsburgh decided to give me a chance. I tried out two years ago at training camp. First they gave me a 25-game trial in Baltimore and after that, they signed me. Things did work out eventually.&rdquo;Penguin general manager Eddie Johnston, who had a lifetime 3.25 average and 32 shutouts in 592 NHL games, is impressed by Romano.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a competitor, he&rsquo;s good with the stick and he&rsquo;s got good hands,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;He might go down a little too quick, especially if a guy is coming off the angle. He tries to stick check him before the guy gets to him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got to learn to have a little bit of patience. He&rsquo;s got to hang tough for an extra second or two. That comes with experience.&rdquo;How tough is it for a 21-year-old to come to a team that has won only 28 of its last 117 games during the last two seasons?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s extremely tough, let me put it that way,&rdquo; Romano said. &ldquo;We were playing in Baltimore and I had a 15-4-1 record. You come up here and wins aren&rsquo;t as easy to come by.&ldquo;The team plays well the whole game and then all of sudden, bang. There goes two points and we don&rsquo;t even know what happened. It seems like a black cloud just follows us.&rdquo;PENGUIN TRACKS&mdash;General manager Eddie Johnston laid down the law when he fined the team&rsquo;s leading scorer. Mike Bullard, and demoted Andy Brickley to Baltimore for missing curfew after a game in Buffalo on Jan. 29. Bullard would have been demoted, too, but unlike Brickley, he had to clear waivers and Johnston did not want to risk losing the talented offensive player to another team. &#9632;

Romano Brings Winning Attitude To Pens

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>Louisville HockeyH&B 100 YEARSHALIFAX&mdash;Don&rsquo;t be too surprised if Nova Scotia Voyageur coach John Brophy requests a change in the Vees&rsquo; schedule for next season.A long homestand, usually the point where a team can earn some needed points in the standings, was one of the major reasons why the Vees experienced yet another mid-season slide. During the skid, the Voyageurs saw their comfortable eight-point lead over the other teams in the division wiped out. By the time it was over. Nova Scotia was in fourth place in the division, the final playoff spot.The Voyageurs went back on the road in the last week of January and swept all three games at Maine, Sherbrooke and Adirondack and followed that with a home-ice win over Binghamton to climb right back into contention for first place in the division.Brophy says there were a number of factors that combined to hurt the Vees, but the extended homestand may be the major culprit.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re home so long, hockey becomes kind of secondary,&rdquo; Brophy said. &ldquo;Everybody has got something else to do and the team is not together in the sense that they live in their own homes and have their.own friends. They come to the rink every day and put in their hour and a half and then it&rsquo;s kind of forgotten about until they come back for the game.&rdquo;The Voyageurs won each of their three road games in a different fashion. They went into Portland and dominated the Mariners to grab a 7-3 victory in what was a pivotal game for Maine. Two nights later, they surrendered two shorthanded goals to the Jets, but bounced back to win 4-3. The next evening in Glens Falls, the Vees blew open a close game with four goals in four minutes in the second period to beat the Wings 7-3 and hand them a rare defeat at the Glens Falls Civic Center.The Adirondack-Nova Scotia game was marred by a pre-game brawl that was precipitated by a fight between Adirondack&rsquo;s Rejean Cloutier and Dave Allison of Nova Scotia. Brian Johnson of Adirondack and Nova Scotia rookie Normand Baron also fought. All four players were given gross misconducts and both teams are likely to be fined by league president Jack Butterfield.Nova Scotia, despite fielding an especially young team, was the hottest club in the first two months of the season. Brophy looks back at that success and feels that it had a hand in the failures during December and January.&ldquo;Concentration was some of it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The fact that we got to Christmas in first place, which was a goal, and then everybody slacked off unconsciously. It wasn&rsquo;t good enough to win. The effort was there, but the total concentration wasn&rsquo;t.&ldquo;The offense didn&rsquo;t come and the defense was playing a little lax,&rdquo; Brophy continued. &ldquo;One time we would have the offense and the defense would let down. Everybody was kind of looking for an excuse and that happens when you start losing.&rdquo;Ironically, Brophy sensed a downturn approaching during an interview in midDecember. At the time, he said that his chief concern was avoiding what seemed to be annual problems around the holidays and in January. As it turned out, Brophy was right to worry.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s happened to us before in Halifax,&rdquo; Brophy said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s happened in each of the three years that I&rsquo;ve been there. Before we could probably turn it around earlier because we had a lot of goal-scorers. Last year, we averaged five to six goals a game and you are going to win a lot on scoring alone. If you can&rsquo;t put the puck in the net and you start giving up four or five goals, you aren&rsquo;t going to win. That&rsquo;s what happened to us.&ldquo;The good work has been there for three or four weeks, even though we weren&rsquo;t winning. But everyone is conscious of what we have to do, not just to get into the playoffs but to stay right in the hunt. Even with all of the problems that we had, we didn&rsquo;t slip out of sight, even from first place. That&rsquo;s the plus side of it. We played great on the road trip and I think everybody is now back to understanding what we have to do to win.&rdquo;AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;Former Ranger goaltender Steve Baker is making the Maine Mariners happy they signed him to a contract last month. After a couple of weeks spent on conditioning, Baker debuted with the Mariners at Glens Falls and earned a 3-3 tie with the Red Wings. He followed that outing with a 4-3 victory at Moncton and a 4-1 win at Halifax over the Vees. Yvan Joly, who had some impressive seasons as a Nova Scotia player, scored a goal and assisted on two others in his first game at the Metro Centre as a member of the opposition. Joly returned from Europe and signed as a free agent with Maine in December&hellip;Sherbrooke ended a couple of long winless streaks with a 5-3 victory at Rochester. The win ended an eight-game winless streak (0-6-2), but, more importantly. it snapped the Jets&rsquo; 0-19-1 string of road games without a victory. The Jets hadn&rsquo;t won a road game since mid-October&hellip;Maine&rsquo;s win at Moncton snapped an 0-10-3 winless streak on the road.. Frank Caprice, the hottest goaltender in the league before being recalled by Vancouver, was returned to Fredericton by the Canucks. Caprice won his first game back in the AHL. Jean-Marc Gaulin was returned to Fredericton and the Express are expecting high-scoring center Jean-Francois Sauve to be sent back by Quebec. &#9632;

Voyageurs Sav Let’s Do It On The Road

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;The American Hockey League&rsquo;s board of governors has refused to waive a rule passed in December, which will prevent the Binghamton Whalers from signing and activating veteran defenseman Bob Hess, a 198081 first-team AHL all-star who has played this season in Switzerland.The new bylaw, added to the AHL constitution after the board favored it by a 12-1 vote, prohibits players who played in the AHL last season and joined a European amateur league this season from returning to the AHL for a period of one year.Three-quarters of the governors would have had to grant the Whalers a waiver in order for Hess to be activated. Although the league refused to divulge the vote, significantly more than five teams voted against the Whalers.According to AHL president Jack Butterfield, the new bylaw was designed to prevent a repeat of an incident last spring. The Maine Mariners added five AHL veterans who spent the season in Europe&mdash;Hess, Dave Poulin, Mike Busniuk, Gordie Clark and Bernie Johnston&mdash;for the Calder Cup playoffs and sent four season-long Mariners to the International League.proper, but we wanted to prevent it from happening again.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I was hoping the other teams would understand Hess wasn&rsquo;t brought in to load up for the play-offs.&rsquo;</blockquote>Binghamton was the only team to vote against the new rule in December.&ldquo;We were against it then and we&rsquo;re against it now,&rdquo; said Emile Francis, general manager of Binghamton&rsquo;s parent Hartford Whalers.Hess, 28, was wooed by Francis over a month ago. The Whalers, seventh in the Southern Division and desperate for defensive help, hoped to sign the offensive-minded Hess and bring him back late last month or early this month.&ldquo;They knocked us out of the box,&rdquo; said Francis. &ldquo;I was hoping the other teams in the league would understand Hess wasn&rsquo;t brought in for the purposes of loading up for the playoffs. It wasn&rsquo;t just for Binghamton, it was for the organization.&ldquo;Here we are in the NHL, we can sign a guy up until 26 days before the end of the season. What&rsquo;s your farm club there for? It&rsquo;s there for a reason, to add depth to an organization. I think it should be our choice until the deadline. That&rsquo;s why you have a farm club.&rdquo;Butterfield said the Professional Hockey Players Association insisted before the season that the league do something to prevent another European invasion.&ldquo;When Maine added those five guys and sent four to the International League, they deprived those guys of a split (of the team&rsquo;s playoff money),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The governors felt that was improper. No one accused Maine of doing anything im-Francis, who is combing the seven continents in search for defensive help for Binghamton, can look to players in Europe who spent last season in the Central or International League or the college ranks.&ldquo;We only have jurisdiction over players who played in our league last season.&rdquo; Butterfield confirmed.Francis denied that the Whalers would challenge the ruling&rsquo;s legality and Butterfield said the matter would be picked up again at a future board of governors meeting.&ldquo;Every rule is a great rule,&rdquo; the president said, &ldquo;until it pinches somebody&rsquo;s toes.AROUND THE SOUTH&mdash;An angry exchange of words and a near off-ice fight after the second period between Hershey coach Gary Inness and St. Catharines coach Doug Carpenter punctuated a wild 8-8 overtime tie at Garden City Arena.The trouble began when Hershey forward Luc Dufour, recently assigned by the Boston Bruins, roughed up Saint forward Ernie Godden in the second period. When Saint defenseman Bob McGill fought Dufour late in the period. Inness began screaming across the ice&mdash;the player benches are on opposits sides of the building&mdash;at Carpenter, charging that he assigned McGill to get Dufour.Sources said Inness tried to wind his way through the building&rsquo;s corridor during the second intermission to get at Carpenter outside the Saint dressing room, but couldn&rsquo;t.&ldquo;If I wanted to get to him, I would have,&rdquo; Inness said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got something to settle and it&rsquo;ll be settled. Carpenter knows how I feel.&rdquo;&ldquo;I guess he did (challenge me),&rdquo; Carpenter admitted. &ldquo;He thought I sent McGill out to get Dufour, but I&rsquo;ve never done that and never will. And anyway, if I did I wouldn&rsquo;t have sent McGill. I was down to only three defensemen and McGill&rsquo;s got three game misconducts this year. I couldn&rsquo;t afford to lose him.&ldquo;His rationale was totally wrong. If I wanted to do something, I have (Marc) Magnan or (Leigh) Verstraete. I just think the whole thing&rsquo;s in the heat of the battle. We&rsquo;re in their building two more times.&rdquo;The 8-8 deadlock tied an AHL record for highest tie score. It was a game in which, according to Inness, &ldquo;the last shot won.&rdquo; Dufour and Tony Camazzola scored 45 seconds apart midway through the third period to forge Hershey&rsquo;s tie. The Saints, who surged into fourth place by going 6-0-2 their last eight games, have lost right wing Greg Britz for six to eight weeks with a separated shoulder that needed surgery. Bruce Boudreau was named the league&rsquo;s player of the week after scoring six goals in five games. Hershey fell to within two points of last place after an 0-2-2 stretch.Here&rsquo;s one you probably never saw before: Springfield, being bombed 11-2 at Binghamton, began emptying its bench in the final five minutes of the game. Injured players Daryl Stanley, Rod Willard and Len Dawes were sent to the dressing room by coach Doug Sauter with five minutes left in the game. With 30 seconds remaining, Steve Tsujiura, Dan Frawley and Florent Robi-doux headed off after their last shift. &ldquo;That visiting dressing room is so small,&rdquo; Sauter explained, &ldquo;that I wanted to start getting the guys showered so we could get home.&rdquo; The embarrasssing loss to the last-place Whalers followed by one day a thrilling 4-3 win at divisionleading Baltimore, &ldquo;our best game on the road all year,&rdquo; according to Sauter. Goalie Bob Janecyk, who stopped 37 shots at Baltimore, allowed six goals playing the first and third periods in Binghamton. Gil Hudon allowed five in the second, including a 75-footer from just over the redline by Ross Yates. Yates, who had five points, and Randy Pierce notched hat tricks in the Whalers&rsquo; biggest win in their four-year AHL history. Don Gillen added two goals and three assists. Sean Coady, who had several runing with coach John Cunniff, was demoted to Mohawk Valley of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League.Right winger Mal Davis, who led the league in scoring when he was promoted, and defenseman Dave Fenyves were returned to Rochester by parent Buffalo, but Davis was yo-yo&rsquo;d again several days later under emergency conditions. Rookie center Claude Verret has points in 32 of his last 34 games. Center Geordie Robertson returned to the lineup after missing four weeks with a knee injury. The Amerks are averaging a league-high 5,313 fans per game to the War Memorial.Center Bill O&rsquo;Dwyer was recalled from New Haven by parent Los Angeles under emergency conditions. Left winger Daryl Evans, second in league scoring with 35 goals, had goals in five straight games and was promoted to Los Angeles.Baltimore added left winger Andy Brickley, who was demoted by Pittsburgh after violating a team curfew. Pittsburgh recalled rookie defenseman Tom Thombury on emergency conditions and rookie left winger Troy Loney. &#9632;

Hess Mess Means No Player For Whalers

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>Louisville HockeyH&B 100 YEARSINDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Checker defenseman Darcy Regier is now the elder statesman of the the Central Hockey League, having played in more games than in any other player.Regier, who played in his 538th game on Feb. 6, passed Norm Dennis&rsquo; mark of 537, a total which was amassed in more than eight seasons between 1963-64 and 1971-72. Dennis played two seasons at Omaha, two at Houston and the remainder with the now-defunct Kansas City franchise.Regier, who has played in eight CHL seasons, began his CHL career with Salt Lake in 1976-77, played at both Phoenix and Fort Worth during a much-travelled 1977-78 season, at Fort Worth the following campaign and is in his fifth season with Indy.<blockquote class="pullQuote">By the end of this season, Norm Dennis&rsquo; name should be completely wiped out of the record book.</blockquote>Coincidentally. Checker center Garth MacGuigan and Richie Hansen of Salt Lake will also pass Dennis&rsquo; plateau this year. MacGuigan trails Regier by 22 games and Hansen was at 504 at the start of February.Dennis&rsquo; name, by the way, should be wiped completely out of the record book this season. He was the career pace-setter in seasons played, games, goals, assists and total points.Hansen already has replaced Dennis in assists and total points and Salt Lake&rsquo;s Rob Tudor and MacGuigan both will surpass the career goals mark.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that big a deal, getting in the record book,&rdquo; Regier said. &ldquo;What it means, more than anything, is that I&rsquo;ve been a consistent hockey player. I don&rsquo;t think just to have your name in the record book is that important&hellip;I wouldn&rsquo;t trade it for team championships.&rdquo;Regier knows about team championships, too. He picked up his first Adams Cup ring in 1977-78 at Fort Worth and added two more with the Checkers the last two seasons.The 27-year-old defenseman has also had played in the National Hockey League. He was California&rsquo;s fifth choice in the 1976 amateur draft and spent his first pro season at Salt Lake.He might have set an unofficial record the next season by playing for several teams. He started at Phoenix of the CHL, was recalled by Cleveland of the NHL. then went back to Phoenix only to have that franchise fold.From there, he went to Binghamton of the American League, then rejoined Cleveland briefly, at which point he was involved in a trade which brought him to the New York Islanders, who then assigned him to Fort Worth. He has played in nearly 30 NHL contests, half with the parent Islanders.&ldquo;Considering everything. I guess winning the Adams Cup the first time was the biggest thrill,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;I guess the next was the opportunity to play with the Islanders. It was a new challenge after six years in the minors and I had a lot of fun playing there. I was there because of injuries on the team, so it was a no-pressure situation. And I learned a lot up there.&rdquo;A native of Herbert, Sask., Regier was switched from wing to defenseman as a youngster &ldquo;because I could skate backward better than anyone else on the team,&rdquo; he said.Being a veteran of the CHL, he&rsquo;s seen many changes.&ldquo;When I started at Salt Lake, the WHA (World Hockey Association) was still around,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So, players in the minors were pretty young. Then when the WHA went out, the players in the minors got a little older because not as many were needed in the majors.&rdquo;That produced some excellent minorleague teams, Regier said.&ldquo;I think as the players in the CHL got older, their experience made the teams better,&rdquo; he said.Now, Regier said, it looks as if the league is getting younger, due largely in part to the underage draft.&ldquo;The new players sign two-way contracts, come to camp and if the major league teams don&rsquo;t want them, they are more likely to be assigned to the CHL (or AHL) and that means there is less room for older free agents at this level,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If that trend continues, there will be more and more younger players in the minors.&rdquo;&ldquo;The player is about the same. I think last year or a couple of years ago saw the best teams the CHL has had. I think those years were very good for the CHL. Maybe I think that because I was on two super teams with very good players in those seasons.&rdquo;CHL CHAT&mdash;Dave Barr wasn&rsquo;t getting enough ice time at New York, so the Rangers returned him to Tulsa. As far as Indianapolis is concerned. Barr got too much time in a two-game sweep by the Oilers in Indy. He scored a hat trick in the first game, his second goal tying the game in the last minute of regulation and his third winning it one minute into overtime. He started the Tulsa scoring the next night, when the Oilers won 4-2, their fifth game in five nights&hellip;Montana&rsquo;s Alain Lemieux had a hat trick in a 5-4 victory over Salt Lake&hellip;Goalie Mike Sands returned from a suspension but lost his first outing to the Magic. Also for Salt Lake. Bob Bergloff and Jeff Brown-schidle are back in the lineup after injuries&hellip;The Golden Eagles lost J.P. Boutin to suspension&hellip;Chris Kontos was recalled from Tulsa by the Rangers as was netminder Ron Scott. Goalie Steve Weeks was demoted from New York&hellip;Lorne Mollekon joined Indianapolis in goal from Toledo while Todd Lumbard went from the Checkers to the Goaldiggers of the International League. &#9632;

Regier Checks Into League Record Book

<div class="byline">BY PAT LYON</div>WINSTON-SALEM&mdash;The face of Carolina Thunderbird general manager Rick Dudley lights up when he discusses the tandem of Kim Elliott and Ben Laporte.Linemates Elliott and Laporte have been terrorizing enemy goaltenders since the beginning of the season.&ldquo;They are both extremely talented kids,&rdquo; said Dudley of the high-scoring pair. &ldquo;Elliott can play most any forward position and is one of the most talented players in the league and Laporte is one of the purest goal-scorers you&rsquo;ll ever see. If you try to cover one you can&rsquo;t cover the other and that&rsquo;s what makes them such a threat.&rdquo;Elliott had 61 points in 33 games while Laporte was averaging over a goal a game with 34 goals and 58 points in 29 games.Dudley was amazed that the T-Birds remained fighting for first place with the Erie when he considered the rash of injuries his club has suffered.&ldquo;We had some injuries last year when we won the championship, but I&rsquo;ve never seen anything like this in all my years of hockey,&rdquo; explained Dudley. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been blown out of a couple of games because we were so many players short, but the players seem to rise to the occasion and the club has really showed a lot of character.&rdquo;Dave Watson, the league&rsquo;s leading scorer a year ago, has been the biggest loss as he has been sidelined with an ankle injury. Greg Squires has been nursing a knee injury and Bob Dore, Brian Carroll. Jerry Ingram and Pat Ethier have also been hobbled with various ailments. The T-Birds also lost Michel Lanouette when he signed an American League contract.Dudley has also been pleased with the offensive showing of Peter Dunkley, who normally excels as a defensive standout.Goalie Pierre Hamel has emerged as the only league goalie with a goals-against average of under 4.00.AROUND THE LEAGUE&mdash;Dave Herbst had back-to-back hat tricks in a pair of Blade victories. Ron Hansis. a member of three Erie championship teams in the Eastern Hockey League, rejoined the Blades and scored a pure hat trick. Alf Beasley returned from Europe to join the Blades for the stretch run-&hellip;Pine Bridge coach Frank Perkins became player-coach when he joined the roster of the last-place Bucks. The former member of the AHL&rsquo;s Hershey Bears scored 11 points in his first four games, including a four-point performance against the Blades. &#9632;

T-Bird Tandem Real Goalie Terror

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>Louisville HockeyH&B 100 YEARSKALAMAZOO&mdash;There&rsquo;s no place like home for the streaking K-Wings&hellip;at least right now. The Wings haven&rsquo;t lost their last four games at home and have pulled themselves up in the International Hockey League standings.There was a time this season when the K-Wings were better off away from home. They didn&rsquo;t register their first home win until their fourth home game and they managed just five victories in their first 10. But things have been much better lately and, in terms of a playoff berth, the future is also much brighter.Five teams qualify for post-season play and with a fourth-place standing, the K-Wings are sitting pretty.The streak grew to four with victories over Muskegon and third-place Toledo. Kalamazoo beat Muskegon 5-3 and whipped the Goaldiggers 6-1.Lee MacKenzie, noted more for his checking than scoring ability, led the Wings over Muskegon with a hat trick.Jim MacRae scored twice in the Toledo victory. The win was especially pleasing to Wing general manager-coach J.P. LeBlanc, because the offense was spread over three lines.MILWAUKEE&mdash;The Ads found a home away from home in Muskegon, where they snapped a two-game losing streak with an 8-4 romp over the hapless Mohawks. The victory was the Ads second in an extended six-game road swing.Before beating the Hawks, Milwaukee lost 7-4 in Fort Wayne and the week ended with a 7-1 whipping in Flint.FORT WAYNE&mdash;The Komets stretched their winning streak to nine by beating Milwaukee 7-3, but the skein snapped with a 4-3 loss to Peoria. The streak was only one shy of the season-high recorded earlier by Toledo. The Komets bounced back the next night to nip Toledo 4-3 on the road, their fifth straight road win.TOLEDO&mdash;The Diggers&rsquo; chance of winning a third straight league and playoff championship suffered a severe jolt when goalie Lorne Mollekon was assigned to Indianapolis of the Central League by the parent New York Islanders. Mollekon was one of the keys as Toledo won both the league and playoff championship the last two seasons. Mollekon was a first-team all-star selection this season.To replace Mollekon, Indianapolis sent Todd Lumbard to Toledo. Paul Billings, who was Mollekon&rsquo;s backup, takes over as the team&rsquo;s No. 1 netminder.The Diggers weren&rsquo;t lucky with just one victory in four games, nipping Peoria 5-4, a 6-1 loss at Kalamazoo and in Mollekon&rsquo;s last start, the Diggers lost 4-3 at home to Fort Wayne. Billings went into the net the next night and was bombed 10-5 at Flint.FLINT&mdash;Home ice also proved a tonic for the Generals, who celebrated their first home game since Jan. 11 with a 7-1 rout of league-leading Milwaukee. Six different players scored with Tony Fiore scoring twice, his 21st and 22nd of the season.The Generals continued their offensive fireworks against Toledo, as Lawrie Nisker scored a hat trick. The Generals won 10-5.PEORIA&mdash;The Prancers ended a lengthy road trip on a winning note, with a4-3 win in Fort Wayne. Unlike Kalamazoo and Flint, the Prancers did not enjoy a warm homecoming. They were upset 4-1 by Muskegon. Prior to nipping Fort Wayne, the Prancers lost 5-4 decison in Toledo.MUSKEGON&mdash;The Mohawks failed to make any headway during the week, losing two of three to remain in last place. The lone victory was the 4-1 win in Peoria. The Mohawks also lost 5-3 at Kalamazoo and 8-4 at home to Milwaukee. &#9632;

There’s No Place Like Home For The Wings

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>CHICAGO&mdash;A 5-3 win and 5-5 tie against Illinois-Chicago, coupled with key losses by both Michigan State and Ohio State helped Bowling Green clinch its third consecutive Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season title.The Falcons gained their sixth championship in 13 seasons in the CCHA with a third-period rally in the second game against the Flames. In fact, UIC held a 5-2 lead with 10 minutes to play in the game before BG rallied back on goals by Dan Kane, Perry Braun and defenseman Dave Ellett.Bowling Green used a pair of powerplay goals by Ellett and Gino Cavallini just 15 seconds apart to snap a 1-1 tie in the second period of the opener and Dave Randerson scored the winner in the third period.In the second game, the Flames grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first period on goals by Colin Chin, Greg Hooper and Mike Rucinski and the lead was 3-2 after two periods with Jamie Wansbrough and Dan Kane scoring for the Falcons.The Flames added to the lead with early third-period goals by Tom Palkowski and Rucinski, but then the Falcons started their comeback.In other CCHA play, Michigan State ran into an ambush at Michigan Tech, losing to the Huskies 6-4 and 3-1. It marked the 16th time in the last 18 seasons that Michigan Tech had won its Winter Carnival series. The 9-5 total goals victory provided Tech with its first John MacInnes Trophy in the first season the trophy has been given in honor of the former Tech coach, who died last year.Ohio State used its split over Miami to move back into second place, winning the second game 8-3 in Columbus after Miami won the opener 5-3 in Oxford.Northern Michigan and Ferris State split two games with the host Wildcats winning the opener 6-3, before Ferris State took the second game 5-3. The split leaves NMU, FSC and MichiganTech all tied for fourth place.Lake Superior moved into an eighth place tie with Michigan for the final playoff position with less than a month to go in the season. The host Lakers won the opener 5-4 and the second game ended in a 3-3 tie with Michigan co-captain Jim McCauley scoring the tying goal at 8:48 of the third period. The tie was important for Michigan as it gave the Wolverines the season series over Lake Superior 2-1 - 1 in the event of a tie in the standings.In non-league play, Western Michigan blasted Michigan-Dearborn 11-2 and 103 behind an 11-point performance by Dan Dorion.Michigan Tech&rsquo;s Chris Cichocki and WMU&rsquo;s Dorion were named CCHA coplayers of the week. Cichocki collected four goals as the Huskies upset Michigan State and he was named most valuable player of the Winter Carnival series. Dorion scored three goals and added eight assists to move his overall point total to 74, tops in the CCHA. In fact, Dorion set WMU single season records for goals (35) and points (74) during the series. He broke Ross Fitzpatrick&rsquo;s record of 71 points set, in 1980-81.Michigan State had leads of 1-0 and 3-2 in the opener at Michigan Tech, but Cichocki scored his three goals and the Huskies used a three-goal blitz in the final five minutes of the second period to gain the win. MSU&rsquo;s Dan McFall opened the scoring with his 25th career goal tying Ted Huesing&rsquo;s team record for goals by a defenseman.In the rematch. Ron Zuke and Paul Stone gave Tech a 2-0 lead after one period and Cichocki clinched the win after MSU&rsquo;s Kelly Miller scored the lone goal in the second period.Ohio State held a 3-1 lead in the opener at Miami, but Steve Cady&rsquo;s Redskins rallied to score the final four goals of the game with Todd Channell&rsquo;s goal at 2:27 of the third period snapping a 3-3 tie. Andy Cozzi iced the game with an empty-net goal.In the second game, Miami took the early lead with Channell scoring an unassisted goal at 11:35 of the first period to push the Redskins lead to 3-0, but the Buckeyes scored eight consecutive goals for the split to move ahead of Michigan State into second place. Freshman Dave Beaudin sparked the Buckeyes win with a hat trick including a shorthanded goal. Dave Kobryn had two goals and two assists. &#9632;

Falcons Fan Out Flames For Third Title

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>WEST POINT&mdash;The Pinnacle Club will have a new member when the American Hockey Coaches Association meets in a few months. John (Smocks) Kelley (36 years at Boston College, 501 career wins) and John MacInness (25 years at Michigan Tech, 532 victories) have been the only ones elected to the society, but it&rsquo;s time to admit Army coach Jack Riley.Riley&rsquo;s Cadets pummelled U. MassBoston 11-2 in Smith Rink to give Riley career victory number 500 in his 34th year as West Point coach. A few nights later. Army dumped St. Anselm&rsquo;s 7-4 to tie Riley and his old buddy Smocks at 501 and the game raised the Cadet: season record to 23-3-1.Oddly, Army was Smocks Kelley&rsquo;s 501st and final victim 12 seasons ago, just two games before the Boston College mentor was due to retire after 36 years of coaching. Rilev also wants two more seasons, which will equate his years with Kelley&rsquo;s and will probably be enough, barring some sudden downturn in Army hockey fortunes, to make him the winningest college coach of all time.Army is in something of a no-man&rsquo;s land in ECAC hockey. They are officially an ECAC Division One independent, a status they&rsquo;ve held for two years. For the previous decade, Army was a Division Two club after dropping down from ECAC Division One after the 1971-72 season.Army plays most of its current schedule against Division Two teams and is not eligible for the ECAC playoffs. As a Division One team. Army made the quarter-finals three years in a row, from 1962-64. Then the Vietnam War emerged, bringing a slump in popularity for the military academies at the same time many American colleges decided to go big time in hockey. Army recruiting fell off drastically.Army then stepped down to Division Two and fared well, but plans for a new arena on campus to replace the 1930&rsquo;s-vintage Smith Rink were announced and Army was re-classified a Division Two independent. Next year. Army will ally with Ivy-West of ECAC Division One, giving the Cadets many more games against big-time teams than the current schedule&rsquo;s four (against Boston College, Brown, Lowell, and St. Lawrence).&ldquo;I was looking forward to being in the Ivy League,&rdquo; said Riley, &ldquo;but I never expected RP1, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Colgate and Vermont to come in too. They belong in that other league playing BC, BU and the others.&ldquo;Army could never play that kind of schedule. We have Saturday classes here at West Point and my players are up at 6:00 a.m. every day. You know, I looked down the bench at practice not too long ago and saw that one of my kids had fallen asleep. He&rsquo;d been up until four the previous night doing a paper.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if Eastern hockey came back to the way it now is in two years or so. We&rsquo;re making good progress here, but we&rsquo;d still have trouble making playoffs.&rdquo;Riley says that his current teams have more depth than they&rsquo;ve ever had, citing a rebound in popularity of a West Point education among America&rsquo;s youth. The military is once again an appealing career option to many young people and despite the academic and physical rigors and the five-year post-graduation service commitment, Riley says that more applicants than ever&mdash;over 200&mdash;are interested in playing hockey.While Army is not a factor in the ECAC playoff race, the Division One pennant chase is at full-boil with just over three weeks to go until the quarter-finals.RPI, Boston College and Boston University have mathematically clinched playoff slots, while Harvard would have to try very hard to be banished as the Ivy Division&rsquo;s representative even though the Crimson only have a .500 mark in league play.New Hampshire, Providence and Clarkson are virtual certainties, too, unless one of them inexplicably nosedives as Cornell has, losing seven in a row. That makes seven teams and leaves Northeastern, St. Lawrence, and Colgate to tussle for the remaining berth. &#9632;

Riley All Set To Become A New Society Member

The University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs look as though they&rsquo;re on their way to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season title and one big reason is goaltender Rick Kosti.The 20-year-old native of Limerick, Sask., made 44 saves in two games, a 6-0 win and 7-3 win over Colorado College, to earn HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; college player-of-the-week honors for the week ending Feb. 5.The 5-foot-10, 175-pound freshman has played 26 straight games for the Bulldogs and has a 14-1-2 record with a 3.25 goals-against average.He&rsquo;ll be a key figure when the Bulldogs get into post-season action.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01465/4862792-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="559" height="667"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK KOSTI UMD Bulldogs</figcaption></div>At the end of the season, THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Bauer College Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0031-01

Bauer Player of the week

<h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01480/4862949-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="522" height="347"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mich Tech 6, Mich State 4Mich Tech 3, Mich State 1Bowling Green 5, Ill-Chicago 3Bowling Green 5, Ill-Chicago 5N. Michigan 6, Ferris State 3Ferris State 5, N. Michigan 3Lake Superior 5, Michigan 4Lake Superior 3, Michigan 3Miami 5, Ohio State 3Ohio State 8, Miami 3W. Michigan 11, Mich-Dearborn 2W. Michigan 10, Nich-Dearborn 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02350/4862942-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="525" height="321"></div><h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 6)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03229/4862935-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="520" height="208"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04133/4862928-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="522" height="176"></div><h3>IVY DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0581/4862921-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="520" height="202"></div><h3>INDEPENDENTS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0657/4862914-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="519" height="89"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Boston University 4, Brown 3Northeastern 6, Yale 3Princeton 11, Williams 6Colgate 3, Providence 3Harvard 4, Dartmouth 0New Hampshire 7, Vermont 6Army 11, UMass 2Providence 5, Boston College 2Boston University 6, Maine 2Clarkson 6, St. Lawrence 4N. Hampshire 6, Northeastern 5RPI 4, Cornell 3Vermont 10, Princeton 3Brown 5, Dartmouth 3Harvard 2, Yale 1RPI 6, Princeton 3Army 7, St. Anselm&rsquo;s 4 Vermont 6, Cornell 3New Hampshire 5, Maine 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0745/4862907-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="524" height="467"></div><h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2><h3>DIVISION II EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0839/4862900-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="525" height="462"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0929/4862893-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="525" height="433"></div><h3>DIVISION III</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1024/4862886-1-eng-US/f0032-102.jpg" title="f0032-10" width="531" height="782"></div><h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1119/4862879-1-eng-US/f0032-112.jpg" title="f0032-11" width="522" height="205"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Minn-Duluth 6, Colorado College 0Minn-Duluth 7, Colorado College 3North Dakota 3, Wisconsin 3Wisconsin 6, North Dakota 4Minnesota 6, Denver 4Denver 6, Minnesota 4<h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 6)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1218/4862872-1-eng-US/f0032-122.jpg" title="f0032-12" width="525" height="406"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Brock 7, Queen&rsquo;s 4Windsor 7, Waterloo 4Laurier 8, McMaster 5Toronto 5, Guelph 2Laurier 5, Brock 5Toronto 6, Queen&rsquo;s 2Windsor 3, McMaster 2Western 12, RMC 3RMC 3, Western 2Queen&rsquo;s 7, Waterloo 3Windsor 7, Guelph 5Laurentian 8, Ryerson 4Laurentian 6, Ryerson 2York 6, Brock 3<h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1315/4862865-1-eng-US/f0032-132.jpg" title="f0032-13" width="517" height="179"></div><h2>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1413/4862858-1-eng-US/f0032-142.jpg" title="f0032-14" width="523" height="291"></div><h2>GREAT PLAINS CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1512/4862851-1-eng-US/f0032-152.jpg" title="f0032-15" width="518" height="179"></div><h2>CANADA WEST CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1612/4862844-1-eng-US/f0032-162.jpg" title="f0032-16" width="518" height="151"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>QUEBEC CONFERENCEConcordia 3, McGill 3Ottawa 9, T-Rivieres 5Concordia 8, Chicoutimi 3McGill 8, T-Rivieres 6Ottawa 5, Chicoutimi 2ATLANTIC CONFERENCESt. Mary&rsquo;s 5, Acadia 3Dalhousie 8, St. F. Xavier 2Moncton 11, St. Thomas 2Acadia 5, Mt. Allison 0Moncton 7, New Brunswick 4St. Mary&rsquo;s 5, Mt. Allison 2UPEI 6, Dalhousie 4UPEI 5, St. F. Xavier 3St. Mary&rsquo;s 8, St. Thomas 4GREAT PLAINS CONFERENCEBrandon 8, Lakehead 4Lakehead 4, Brandon 3Manitoba 12, Winnipeg 0Manitoba 7, Winnipeg 2CANADA WEST CONFERENCESaskatchewan 4, UBC 1UBC 5, Saskatchewan 2Alberta 4, Calgary 2Alberta 6, Calgary 3<h2>WEST PENN CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 25)<h3>GREATER PITT DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1710/4862837-1-eng-US/f0032-172.jpg" title="f0032-17" width="522" height="177"></div><h3>WEST PENN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-188/4862830-1-eng-US/f0032-182.jpg" title="f0032-18" width="524" height="180"></div><h2>NCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 31)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-196/4862823-1-eng-US/f0032-192.jpg" title="f0032-19" width="526" height="236"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

HOW THEY STAND

<h2>ECAC</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-205/4863008-1-eng-US/f0032-202.jpg" title="f0032-20" width="552" height="925"></div><h2>CCHA</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-215/4863001-1-eng-US/f0032-212.jpg" title="f0032-21" width="538" height="349"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-224/4862994-1-eng-US/f0032-222.jpg" title="f0032-22" width="543" height="669"></div><h3>CCHA Playoffs MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-234/4862987-1-eng-US/f0032-232.jpg" title="f0032-23" width="499" height="257"></div><h2>WCHA</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-244/4862980-1-eng-US/f0032-242.jpg" title="f0032-24" width="526" height="357"></div> &#9632;

f0032-20

GAMES TO COME

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>DENVER&mdash;It seems unlikely Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs will be caught in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association this season. The Bulldogs, who have won 10 straight league games and 16 of their last 17 overall, have opened a comfortable four-point lead over North Dakota with four games to go in the regular season.Defending WCHA champion Minnesota, however, is just as interesting a story. They haven&rsquo;t been as hot as staterival Minnesota-Duluth nor as consistent, but they are battling North Dakota for second place. Finishing second is important, since the top two finishers in the WCHA get byes in the first round of the league playoffs, scheduled for Feb. 2425. So with both teams suffering through injury-plagued seasons, a week of rest this time of year would be welcomed by either club.Minnesota had a golden chance to close North Dakota&rsquo;s three-point gap. North Dakota, playing at home against Wisconsin, a club locked into finishing fourth, had a string of 12 straight home victories stopped when it tied the Badgers 3-3 in overtime the first night. Wisconsin won the rematch 6-4.Minnesota, hoping to gain some ground in Denver against the Pioneers, won 6-4 in the opening game of the weekend series. Freshman Todd Okerlund scored twice and set up a third goal with Steve McSwain. Billy Yon. Jim Malwitz and Gary Shopeck adding a goal apiece. Dave Berry scored twice for Denver.Minnesota failed to win the important rubber match as Denver won 6-4 score to leave Colorado College residing in the basement.Jim Leavins and Dallas Gaume each scored two goals for Denver, while Dwight Mathiasen had a goal and three assists and Dean Hansen contributed three assists.Minnesota is hardly out of the race for second. There&rsquo;s still eight points to play for in the final two weekends of the regular season. There is not much chance the Gophers can overhaul Minnesota-Duluth to win their second consecutive WCHA &lsquo;title, but the Gophers still have a shot at North Dakota as those two clubs close out the regular season with a series in Grand Forks.The Badgers shut down North Dakota in a stunning reversal of an earlier series, when the Sioux won twice in Wisconsin.This time, Wisconsin battled back twice from two-goal deficits to force the tie, created when John Johannson scored one minute into the third period. Neither team could do much in the 10-minute sudden-death session as Terry Kleisinger finished with41 saves for Wisconsin and Jon Casey 30 for North Dakota in a couple of sterling goaltending performances. Jim Archibald. Brian Williams and Dan Brennan supplied North Dakota&rsquo;s goals with Tony Granato and Jim Johannson collecting the other Badger goals.In the rematch, North Dakota never got into the flow of the game, although Brennan&rsquo;s goal did tie it at 2-2 in the second period. But Wisconsin came back with two quick goals by Paul Houck, who finished with the hat trick, to take charge of the contest. Ted Pearson added two goals for Wisconsin and Granato one with Chris Jensen. Steve Palmiscno and Jeff Bredahl joining Brennan in the goal column for the Sioux.The beat went on for the mighty Bulldogs, who are threatening to run away with the league title unless Minnesota and Wisconsin, who face Duluth the last two weekends, can unravel the Bulldogs.But doing the unraveling for the fifth straight weekend in WCHA play was coach Mike Sertich&rsquo;s Bulldogs, who kept Colorado College locked in the league basement.As usual. Duluth called on excellent goaltending from freshman Rick Kosti and some balanced scoring to wipe out the Tigers 6-0 and 7-3 in Duluth.Kosti made 28 saves in posting his first collegiate shutout and six different players&mdash;Mark Baron. Tom Herzig, ban May. Bob Lakso, Matt Christensen and Jim Toninato&mdash;scored goals for Duluth against standout Colorado College goalie Marty Wakelyn, who finished with 30 saves.A familiar name&mdash;WCHA scoring leader Bill Watson&mdash;spearheaded Duluth&rsquo;s offense in the rematch. Watson, who heads the list of four Duluth players who occupy the top spots in the WCHA scoring race, had a goal and three assists in the 7-3 victory.Duluth has never won the WCHA title and hasn&rsquo;t finished higher than third since joining the league for the 1965-66 season. But unless an unexpected total collapse happens to the Bulldogs, there will be a WCHA championship banner finally flying from the rafters of the Duluth Arena. &#9632;

Gophers Makinq WCHA Race Sioux Close

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div>Louisville HockeyH&B 100 YEARS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01491/4863063-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="572" height="796"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cornwall&rsquo;s Mike Stapleton says growing up in a hockey environment has its advantages.</figcaption></div>CORNWALL&mdash;Like father like son is not always an easy task.Just ask any kid whose pop has been successful, whether it be as a doctor, lawyer or National Hockey League star.Should the son decide to enter the same field as his father, he&rsquo;s letting himself in for comparisons for the rest of his life. The pressure of that can be enormous and for some it proves too much.Mike Stapleton is one who is surviving, playing in his rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League with the Cornwall Royals.Anybody who knows hockey will recognize the Stapleton name. Mike&rsquo;s father Pat (or Whitey as he was affectionately nicknamed) was an all-star defenseman with Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League and then with Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association.The younger Stapleton knew from the day he was old enough to accompany his father to practice and sit in the dressing room with all the other former Black Hawk greats that hockey was for him.Pat never once told Mike, or either of his other two sons. Tom and Chris, who also play hockey, that they should take up the sport.Chris had some help in deciding to be a goalie. His godfather is Tony Esposito.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s never been a burden.&rdquo; Mike said of having a famous hockey father. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always said if I didn&rsquo;t want to play, I didn&rsquo;t have to. I remember when he played and I always thought it was neat.&rdquo;Growing up in a professional hockey environment has its advantages. Mike said it helped him adjust to the major junior scene a lot quicker than if he&rsquo;d had a normal childhood.With 17 goals and 33 assists in 46 games. Mike is having a decent season. The Royals made him their No. 4 draft pick last summer after he scored 39 goals and 38 assists in 40 games as with Strathroy Blades of the Western Junior B Hockey League and was voted the league&rsquo;s most valuable player.Royal coach Jocelyn Guevremont has the young Stapleton killing penalties, quite a responsibility for a rookie.&ldquo;Mike has good hockey sense and I guess you could say it runs in the family,&rdquo; said Guevremont, who played against Pat in six seasons in the NHL.Guevremont was aware that Mike would be expected to go straight from midget to junior and be a superstar because of Pat&rsquo;s accomplishments.&ldquo;I get the same problems with my son and he&rsquo;s only eight years old.&rdquo; Guevremont said. &ldquo;The first year is mainly the worst in situations like this. But once people realize your talent, they stop making the comparison.&rdquo;Pat has always been there when his help and advice has been sought by any of his children, but he won&rsquo;t interfere with any of Guevremont&rsquo;s dealings with his son.Mike was wrestling between major junior and U.S. college hockey. A number of American universities were interested in him. but he would have had to play another year of junior B to complete his grade 12 education.He didn&rsquo;t make his decision until September after attending the Royals&rsquo; camp.&ldquo;I had lots of opportunities for scholarships. but it was the year I had to wait to get my Grade 12 that helped me make up my mind,&rdquo; he said.It would have been quite a blow to Cornwall if Stapleton had decided to go the school route as their first two draft selections never reported to camp.First-rounder Jeff Rohlicek of Chicago opted to play for the defending Memorial Cup-champion Portland Winter Hawks of the Western League, while No. 2 pick Sean Clement remained in tier two junior A with Brockville to protect his U.S. scholarship eligibility.The Royals agreed to pay a full, four-year scholarship to Stapleton if he decided to attend university over a hockey career. They&rsquo;re also paying for his schooling while he&rsquo;s in Cornwall.&ldquo;Mike&rsquo;s happy and that&rsquo;s the main thing,&rdquo; said the elder Stapleton. &ldquo;I also think he didn&rsquo;t feel the challenge was there any more in junior B. I just told him you do what you think is right, but once you make up your mind, stick with it.&rdquo; &ldquo;And in this corner&mdash;Peterborough Petes and Oshawa Generals continued their heated rivalry on Jan. 29 in Oshawa and marked it with a bench-clearing brawl in the first period.Referee Murray Darroch assessed 139 penalty minutes. 85 to the Generals and 54 to the Petes.Oshawa&rsquo;s Guy Jacobs, who was handed a double game misconduct. Mike Stern and backup goaltender Peter, Sidorkiewcz and Peterborough&rsquo;s Terry Carkner and Brad Ramsden were all ejected.Peterborough won 5-3.Bragging rights&mdash;The battle for temporary bragging rights as to who&rsquo;s best in the OHL was settled in seven seconds by Kitchener Ranger right winger Wayne Presley on Jan. 29.Presley, who scored four goals on the day, potted two in seven seconds midway through the third period to lift the Rangers to an 8-6 victory over Toronto Marlboros at Maple Leaf Gardens.Goose Egg&mdash;Goaltender Joe Mantione provided Belleville Bulls with the first shutout in team history on Jan. 28 as they downed Windsor Royals 6-0. The Bulls blew open a goalless game with five second-period goals and got nine points from the line of Charlie Moore. Dune MacIntyre and Mario Martini Each counted a goal and two assists. &#9632;

f0034-01

No Burden Being Son Of Stapleton

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02394/4863108-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="543" height="562"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARREN PANG Ottawa</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>The Ottawa 67s have the best goaltending in the Ontario Hockey League this season and it is due in part to the efforts of Darren Pang.The gutsy 20-year-old netminder came up with a remarkable three-game performance in which he allowed only three goals for a 1.41 GAA to win the nod as the OHL player of the week.Pang, who shares the Ottawa goaling with Greg Coram, is one of the smallest netminders in the league at 5-foot-5, 155 pounds, but it hasn&rsquo;t deterred the youngster. He recently stopped Belleville 3-1 and blanked Guelph 7-0.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03296/4863101-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="537" height="563"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE PASIN Prince Albert</figcaption></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Hockey people around the Western League are already singing the praises of Dave Pasin of Prince Albert. They predict a big future for the 17-year-old right winger.Pasin. who startled the league last season by scoring 82 points in 62 games asa 16-year-old. is even more of a threat this year. In a recent four-game stretch, he collected 15 scoring points and was chosen WHL player of the week.The 6-foot-1 180-pound Pasin scored seven times in the four games to raise his season totals to 57 goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04204/4863094-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="539" height="562"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLAUDE GOSSELIN Quebec</figcaption></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>Micron Junior Player of the Year. Claude Gosselin of the Quebec Remparts may be ripe for the 1984 NHL summer draft after being passed over the last few years.The high-scoring left winger is the captain of the Remparts and he&rsquo;s using his role to provide his team with leadership. He ranks No. 2 in the scoring race to Laval&rsquo;s spectacular Mario Lemieux and turned in a 12-point performance in his last three games to win the selection a\the QHL player of the week.Gosselin has 46 goals and 119 scoring points in 52 games this season.At the end of the current season, THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a micron junior player of the Year. &#9632;

f0034-02

MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>LAVAL&mdash;Although no records for shots on goal are kept in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Laval Voisins must have set some kind of mark by crushing Hull Olympiques in a 13-2 debacle.The league-leading Voisins rained 80 shots on Hull goaltender Stephane Fortin while the Olympiques managed only 17 shots.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02369/4863170-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="580" height="1211"><figcaption class="caption-body">Laval&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux says he doesn&rsquo;t care which NHL team drafts him.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I think it was a backlash from our 7-2 loss in Verdun,&rdquo; said Laval owner Claude Fournel, whose team is 41-12 with the best winning percentage in major junior hockey at .733. The Voisins have outscored second-place Verdun Juniors by 118 goals.&ldquo;The score could have been a lot higher. Fortin made some outstanding saves,&rdquo; Fournel said. &ldquo;We played with a lot of intensity and Hull had to pay the price.&rdquo;Literally.Hull coach Michel Morin isn&rsquo;t signing any cheques for players&rsquo; pocket money, usually $30 to $50 a week according to age, until he feels the club is playing up to its potential.The Olympiques are 10th in the overall standings of the 11-team circuit and have lost 10 of their past 13 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure some guys are really mad about it. but most agree they are not playing up to potential.&rdquo; Morin said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to cut them off. I want to put more pressure on them and this is what hurts the most.&ldquo;I can understand the way some fans might feel about this, but if the players deserve it later, they&rsquo;ll get all of the money.&rdquo; Morin said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll get it when they show they deserve to have people pay four or five dollars to watch them play.&rdquo;Only one minor penalty was called in the game&mdash;against Laval&mdash;and Hull scored the opening goal 27 seconds into the contest.&ldquo;It was psychological intimidation.&rdquo; Morin said. &ldquo;The guys on the bench couldn&rsquo;t believe we scored&rdquo;Mario Lemieux led the way for the winners with two goals and three assists. The 6-foot-3. 191-pound center now has 97 goals and 105 assists for 202 points in 53 games.He also extended his consecutive point-scoring streak to 53 games, two short of the major junior record set last season by Doug Gilmour with Cornwall Royals of the Ontario Hockey League.Still a strong bet to be the first player claimed in June&rsquo;s National Hockey League draft, the 18-year-old Lemieux is within range of the QMJHL goal-scoring record of 130. established by Guy Lafleur and the assists and points standards of 157 and 251. respectively, achieved by Pierre Larouche.After 52 games in their peak junior campaigns. Lafleur scored 102 goals while Larouche piled up 119 assists and 194 points.Lemieux said reports that he will refuse to play for weak NHL clubs are not true.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where this came from, but I know it&rsquo;s not true,&rdquo; Fournel said.&ldquo;I just want to play in the NHL,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;I want to play for whoever drafts me.&rdquo;Since the Penguins and the New Jersey Devils are tied for last place, odds are he will be drafted by either team.Lemieux, however, does not relish the thought of spending a season or two in the minor leagues and feels he can contribute as much as former Hull rival Sylvain Turgeon has with the Hartford Whalers.&ldquo;I want to get to the NHL as fast as possible.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play with a team that is very low and get that team up in a few years.&rdquo;Lemieux is confident he can help the struggling Penguins if he is drafted first overall by Pittsburgh in the June entry draft.&ldquo;I saw their last game at the Montreal Forum. They have trouble scoring goals. I score goals and set up my wingers.&rdquo; Lemieux said.That he does. After less than three years in the QMJHL. Lemieux has accumulated a league record of 484 points. &#9632;

f0035-02

Laval Gives The Olympiques Hull

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>SASKATOON&mdash;The game is still in doubt but it&rsquo;s clear the Blades are struggling.The rival Regina Pats are storming to the attack and appear ready to apply a knockout punch. But just when it looks like the Pats will score. Trent Yawney demonstrates in 20 seconds why he&rsquo;s rated second among Western Hockey League draft hopefuls this season.The lanky rearguard blocks a shot and then picks his way through a pile of Pats only to be thwarted by goaltender Jamie Reeve. As the Pats quickly shift from defense to offense. Yawney makes up lost ground and arrives back in time to knock a Pat off the puck on a two-on-one break.That&rsquo;s the kind of stuff top draft picks are made of. And. at least on this night. Yawney looks like he has all the tools, even though the Blades suffer an overtime setback.The knock, if you can call it that, on Yawney is he accepts too much blame when fortunes turn sour. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound native of Hudson Bay. Sask., who had 37 points in 59 games with the Blades last season, wants to win so badly even an early-season loss seemed to apply more pressure.That early pressure was evident when Saskatoon tried desperately to stay out of the Eastern Division cellar, but the Blades rebounded to remain in the thick of a hectic battle for playoff positions.&ldquo;I felt the pressure quite a bit.&rdquo; said Yawaney. &ldquo;Chartier (Dave) and I were the only returning defensemen and we knew pressure would be on our shoulders. There were a lot of cat-calls and the media was on us pretty good. I have to admit when things fell into place it made playing a lot easier.&rdquo;This is the first time Yawney has been thrust into a veteran&rsquo;s role. The experience has been tough.&ldquo;You hit the nail right on the head.&rdquo; said Yawney. &ldquo;This is the first time I&rsquo;ve ever been a veteran&mdash;from bantam hockey and up. It&rsquo;s a learning experience and I&rsquo;m glad I went through it.&rdquo;You would expect being rated the No. 2 defenseman in the league behind Kamloops Oilers&rsquo; Doug Bodger to apply even more pressure on Yawney. Not so.&ldquo;Actually, knowing I&rsquo;m rated that high helps me,&rdquo; said Yawney. &ldquo;I know they (scouts) are out there and they want to watch me. It makes me work that much harder. I hear all the talk and now I want to prove to them that I can do it.&rdquo;Saskatoon coach Daryl Lubiniecki said he&rsquo;s never had to question Yawney&rsquo;s dedication to hockey.&ldquo;I think a lot of kids aren&rsquo;t sure they want to play the game but he does,&rdquo; said Lubiniecki. &ldquo;He took a lot of blame for the way things were going at the start of the season. He didn&rsquo;t really know how to act as a veteran.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a holler guy. He leads by example; he&rsquo;s actually kind of a shy kid who puts extra pressure on himself.&rdquo;Although Yawney has the size, he&rsquo;s more of a finesse defenseman than one who pins forwards to the boards at evcry opportunity. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean Yawney won&rsquo;t deliver a hit when necessary.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not that physical but he&rsquo;s really dedicated,&rdquo; said Lubiniecki. &ldquo;Next year. I&rsquo;d like to sec him come in at around 200 pounds. He&rsquo;s the type of kid who can play 40 minutes. He&rsquo;ll make the right pass at the right time. He&rsquo;s a heady player who uses his head over strength.&rdquo;While Yawney has a lot going for him. it&rsquo;s no secret one aspect of his game needs honing. Playing the man more consistently is a fundamental most defensemen need to work on and Yawney is no different.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t put guys through the end boards but I try to take them out of the play.&rdquo; said&rsquo;Yawncy. &ldquo;I know I have a problem finishing off checks. I have to be a little more aggressive and aware.&rdquo;&ldquo;He has to take guys in the corner and know they&rsquo;re taken.&rdquo; said Lubiniecki. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the biggest weakness. He needs to put on at least 15 pounds.&rdquo;The consensus is it&rsquo;s definitely a lean draft year out west but behind the blueline there could be some real gems.Calgary Wranglers&rsquo; Doug Houda. Sclmar Odclein of Regina Pats. Portland Winter Hawks&rsquo; Bryan Benning and Saskatoon&rsquo;s Duncan MacPherson arc other rearguards rated in the WHL top 10.WHL WEEK&mdash;Statistics released Jan 31 showed Dan Hodgson ot Prince Albert still atop the scoring race with 146 points. Ray Ferraro of Brandon was second with 116. including a leagueleading 69 goals. Taylor Hall of Regina held down third place with 109 points. Ken Wregget of Lethbridge continued to lead all nctminders with a goals-against average of 2.92. Jamie Reeve of Regina was second (3.67).Regina was the top-ranked WHL club in weekly Canadian Major Junior Hockey League rankings. The Pats were rated fourth with a winning percentage of .684. Lethbridge was sixth (.653). Kamloops seventh (.646) and Medicine Hat eighth (.606). Laval of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was first at .769 while Toronto of the Ontario Hockey League ranked second at .745.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01466/4863139-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="577" height="789"><figcaption class="caption-body">Saskatoon Blades&rsquo; Trent Yawney is rated among the top Western League defensemen.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

Lubiniecki Lauds Dear Old Yawney

<h2>Wed. Feb. 1 TORONTO 2, CHICAGO 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01444/4863523-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="528" height="815"></div><h2>HARTFORD 6, DETROIT 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02334/4863516-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="531" height="930"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 0, PITTSBURGH 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03262/4863509-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="535" height="640"></div><h2>Thu. Feb. 2 BUFFALO 3, BOSTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04187/4863502-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="530" height="694"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05147/4863495-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="523" height="94"></div><h2>RANGERS 1, CALGARY 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06125/4863488-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="539" height="926"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 2, L. ANGELES 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07117/4863481-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="529" height="611"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08112/4863474-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="526" height="206"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 2, N. JERSEY 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09106/4863467-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="527" height="580"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 5, ISLANDERS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10103/4863460-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="530" height="738"></div><h2>MONTREAL 2, PHILADELPHIA 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11100/4863453-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="517" height="89"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1296/4863446-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="529" height="463"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1393/4863439-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="524" height="88"></div><h2>Fri. Feb. 3 MINNESOTA 4, BUFFALO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1487/4863432-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="526" height="264"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01191/4863425-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="525" height="495"></div><h2>CALGARY 5, EDMONTON 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02119/4863418-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="538" height="1251"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0377/4863411-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="523" height="146"></div><h2>MONTREAL 1, WASHINGTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0455/4863404-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="533" height="699"></div><h2>CHICAGO 3, WINNIPEG 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0540/4863397-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="528" height="381"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0633/4863390-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="529" height="612"></div><h2>Sat. Feb. 4 PHILADELPHIA 5, BOSTON 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0728/4863383-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="530" height="1017"></div><h2>TORONTO 6, DETROIT 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0824/4863376-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="533" height="840"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 5, ISLANDERS 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0921/4863369-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="517" height="91"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1021/4863362-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg" title="f0040-10" width="539" height="964"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY 5, QUEBEC 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1120/4863355-1-eng-US/f0040-112.jpg" title="f0040-11" width="539" height="817"></div><h2>HARTFORD 7, ST. LOUIS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1218/4863348-1-eng-US/f0040-122.jpg" title="f0040-12" width="533" height="326"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01159/4863341-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="541" height="791"></div><h2>RANGERS 5, VANCOUVER 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0293/4863334-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="503" height="122"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0367/4863327-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="531" height="92"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0453/4863320-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="527" height="94"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0543/4863313-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="526" height="94"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0637/4863306-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="528" height="65"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01156/4863299-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="533" height="530"></div><h2>Sun. Feb. 5 DETROIT 6, BOSTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02114/4863292-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="525" height="150"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0392/4863285-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="537" height="702"></div><h2>QUEBEC 2, BUFFALO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0472/4863278-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="331" height="66"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0562/4863271-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="534" height="535"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 2, CALGARY 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0651/4863264-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="536" height="731"></div><h2>HARTFORD 4, CHICAGO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0749/4863257-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg" title="f0043-07" width="536" height="788"></div><h2>RANGERS 3, LOS ANGELES 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0840/4863250-1-eng-US/f0043-082.jpg" title="f0043-08" width="542" height="847"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 3, NEW JERSEY 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0938/4863243-1-eng-US/f0043-092.jpg" title="f0043-09" width="532" height="496"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1033/4863236-1-eng-US/f0043-102.jpg" title="f0043-10" width="532" height="149"></div><h2>TORONTO 0, PHILADELPHIA 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1128/4863229-1-eng-US/f0043-112.jpg" title="f0043-11" width="535" height="851"></div><h2>ISLANDERS 5, PITTSBURGH 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1225/4863222-1-eng-US/f0043-122.jpg" title="f0043-12" width="542" height="793"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1322/4863215-1-eng-US/f0043-132.jpg" title="f0043-13" width="536" height="147"></div><h2>EDMONTON 2, WASHINGTON 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1422/4863208-1-eng-US/f0043-142.jpg" title="f0043-14" width="540" height="936"></div><h2>MONTREAL 2, WINNIPEG 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1519/4863201-1-eng-US/f0043-152.jpg" title="f0043-15" width="534" height="704"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01393/4863554-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0037-01

The Hockey News BookShelf

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01457/4863606-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div><h2>GOALTENDING STATISTICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01429/4863599-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="543" height="2529"></div><h2>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h2><h3>GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02297/4863592-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="532" height="149"></div><h3>MOST WINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03209/4863585-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="526" height="147"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCORING

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04175/4863637-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0039-04

NHL TEAM ROSTERS

<h2>FEBRUARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05140/4863696-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="497" height="436"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06118/4863689-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="499" height="484"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07102/4863682-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="496" height="482"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0892/4863675-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="520" height="488"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0980/4863668-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="494" height="486"></div> &#9632;

f0039-05

NHL GAMES TO COME

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1316/4863734-1-eng-US/f0040-132.jpg" title="f0040-13" width="495" height="307"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1412/4863727-1-eng-US/f0040-142.jpg" title="f0040-14" width="494" height="306"></div> &#9632;

f0040-13

Top Rookies In The NHL

(Standings on Tue. Feb. 7)<h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><h3>NORRIS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1512/4863786-1-eng-US/f0040-152.jpg" title="f0040-15" width="528" height="177"></div><h3>SMYTHE DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1611/4863779-1-eng-US/f0040-162.jpg" title="f0040-16" width="529" height="179"></div><h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><h3>ADAMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-179/4863772-1-eng-US/f0040-172.jpg" title="f0040-17" width="529" height="178"></div><h3>PATRICK DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-187/4863765-1-eng-US/f0040-182.jpg" title="f0040-18" width="526" height="209"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 31Wales 7, Campbells 6(All-Star game)Wed. Feb. 1Toronto 2 at Chicago 7Hartford 6 at Detroit 6 (OT)Minnesota 0 at Pittsburgh 4Thu. Feb. 2Buffalo 3 at Boston 5NY Rangers 1 at Calgary 8Vancouver 2 at Los Angeles 4Wasington 2 at New Jersey 0St. Louis 5 at NY Islanders 2Montreal 2 at Philadelphia 2 (OT)Fri. Feb. 3Minnesota 4 at Buffalo 1Calgary 5 at Edmonton 10Monreal 1 at Washington 4Chicago 3 at Winnipeg 7Sat. Feb. 4Philadelphia 5 at Boston 8Toronto 6 at Detroit 3Pittsburgh 5 at NY Islanders 6New Jersey 5 at Quebec 3Hartford 7 at St. Louis 3NY Rangers 5 at Vancouver 4Sun. Feb. 5Detroit 6 at Boston 5Quebec 2 at Buffalo 1Vancouver 2 at Calgary 4Hartford 4 at Chicago 3NY Rangers 3 at Los Angeles 3 (OT)Minnesota 3 at New Jersey 1Toronto 0 at Philadelphia 7NY Islanders 5 at Pittsburgh 4Edmonton 2 at Washington 9Montreal 2 at Winnipeg 2 (OT) &#9632;

f0040-15

THE NHL SCOREBOARD

BOSTON&mdash;McNab 14, Silk 7, 8, Kostynski 2, Middleton 34, Pederson 21, 22, Bourque 16, 17, 18, Kluzak 9, Markwart 11, Krushelnyski 17, 18, K. Crowder 14, 15, Johnston 2. Winning goals-Middleton, Markwart.BUFFALO&mdash;Hamel 13, Cyr 12, Perreault 27, Andreychuk 22, Davis 1. Winning goals-none.CALGARY&mdash;McDonald 22, 23, Tambellini 7, Quinn 7, 8, Patterson 6, 7, Beers 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, Nilsson 20, Risebrough 13, Macoun 5, Maclnnis 6, Eaves 8. Winning goals-Tambellini, Maclnnis.CHICAGO&mdash;Cyr 12, Lysiak 7, 8, Savard 28, 29, Gardner 16, 17, T. Murray 17, J. Larmer 9, Paterson 5, Brown 7, 8, S. Larmer 25. Winning goals-Savard.DETROIT&mdash;Foster 3, Lambert 10, 11, Boldirev 20, 21, Larson 14, Dunlop 6, Gare 8, 9, Ogrodnick 35, 36, Yzerman 30, Duguay 20, 21, Loiselle 2. Winning goals-Lambert.EDMONTON&mdash;Hughes 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, Linseman 15, Anderson 30, 31, Pouzar 11, McClelland 5, Messier 20. Winning goals-Anderson.HARTFORD&mdash;Zuke 4, 5, 6, Crawford 20, 21, Neufeld 19, 20, Siltanen8, Francis 13, 14, Currie 5, Turgeon 27, Johnson 25, 26, 27, Crombeen 1, Paterson 1. Winning goals-Neufeld, Johnson.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Fox 22, 23, Smith 10, 11, Nicholls 31, MacLellan 19, Taylor 11. Winning goals-Fox.MINNESOTA&mdash;Ciccarelli 33, Payne 17, Bellows 29, Acton 17, Ferguson 4, McCarthy 33, MacAdam 15. Winning goals-Payne, McCarthy.MONTREAL&mdash;Lafleur 21, Robertson 6, Mondou 14, 15, Hunter 5. Winning goalsnone.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Bridgman 12, Higgins 5, 6, Gagne 9, Meagher 11, Russell 7. Winning goals-Higgins.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Bourne 13, 14, Nystrom 11, Merrick 4, 5, D. Sutter 13, Tonelli 17, 18, Goring 17, 18, Jonsson 8, 9, Potvin 13. Winning goals-Goring, Tonelli.NY RANGERS&mdash;Fotiu 3, Sundstrom 19, Rogers 18, 19, Hedberg 21, 22, Leinonen 1, Larouche 38, Osborne 13. Winning goals-Leinonen.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Sitter 16, 17, 18, Sinisalo 21, 22, 23, Barber 14, Howe 11, 12, Poulin 17, 18, Rich Sutter 12, Clarke 13, Kerr 31. Winning goals-Poulin.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Rissling 2, Shedden 11, Errey 6, Flockhart 16, Bullard 32, 33, 34, Roulston 12, 13, Boutette 10, Taylor 15, 16, McCarthy 3. Winning goals-Rissling.QUEBEC&mdash;P. Stastny 29, McKegney 14, 15, Marois 5, Moller 4. Winning goals-Moller.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Anderson 6, Wilson 2, 3, Ramage 9, 10, Wickenheiser 10, Federko 29, Carlson 6. Winning goals-Ramage.TORONTO&mdash;Gavin 6, Derlago 19, 20, 21, Frycer 9, Korn 1, Daoust 13, Anderson 27. Winning goals-Anderson.VANCOUVER&mdash;Lanz 12, 13, 14, 15, Sundstrom 22, 23, 24, 25. Winning goals-none.WASHINGTON&mdash;Stevens 9, Jarvis 11, Hawerchuk 15, Christian 23, Gartner 24, 25, 26, Carpenter 13, 14, 15, Gould 13, 14, Duchesne 10, 11, Gustafsson 27. Winning goals-Stevens, Christian, Carpenter.WINNIPEG&mdash;Lundholm 5, DeBlois 26, 27, Smail 9, Babych 16, 17, MacLean26, Steen 13, 14. Winning goals-Babych.Five-goal games&mdash;Hughes (Edm).Hat tricks&mdash;Beers (Cal). &#9632;

NHL SCORERS THIS WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0734/4863921-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="553" height="797"></div>Kelly Kisio played in the Detroit Red Wing minor-league system for two seasons and then decided to play for Davos in Switzerland last season, where he was second in goals and total points. When the Swiss league concluded, he came back and finished out the season with the Red Wings and scored four goals and three assists in 15 games.Kisio is a full-time Wing this season and has 13 goals and 20 assists in 45 games. He&rsquo;s in eighth place in rookie scoring, which, along with Steve Yzerman, the league&rsquo;s top freshman scorer, gives the Wings two young players to be proud of.The 24-year-old Kisio, who was a prolific goal-scorer with Calgary Wranglers of the Western Hockey League, plays center and gives the Wings strength up the middle. It appears he&rsquo;s finally found his scoring form and if he can keep it up, you&rsquo;ll certainly be hearing his name quite a bit in the future. &#9632;

f0041-07

Chrysler Rookie Award

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 6)<h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01159/4864169-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="527" height="207"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02105/4864162-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="524" height="233"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 31Springfield 4 at Baltimore 3Maine 2 at Fredericton 5Hershey 8 at St. Catharines 8Wed. Feb. 1Springfield 2 at Binghamton 11Adirondack 6 at Hershey 4Maine 4 at Moncton 3Sherbrooke 5 at Rochester 3Thu. Feb. 2Sherbrooke 2 at Fredericton 8Maine 4 at Nova Scotia 1Fri. Feb. 3Rochester 4 at Baltimore 7Hershey 0 at Binghamton 6Adirondack 6 at New Haven 5St. Catharines 3 at Springfield 5Sat. Feb. 4Springfield 4 at Adirondack 5Nova Scotia 4 at Fredericton 4Baltimore 3 at Hershey 6New Haven 5 at Maine 4Sherbrooke 5 at Moncton 4Binghamton 8 at St. Catharines 5Sun. Feb. 5Hershey 2 at Baltimore 8Springfield 4 at Maine 3Sherbrooke 5 at Nova Scotia 6Binghamton 3 at Rochester 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0375/4864155-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="524" height="350"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 6)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0457/4864148-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="523" height="177"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 31Colorado 5 at Tulsa 4Wed. Feb. 1Montana 5 at Salt Lake 9Thu. Feb. 2Colorado 2 at Tulsa 5Fri. Feb. 3Indianapolis 4 at Coloado 9Montana 5 at Salt Lake 6Sat. Feb. 4Indianapolis 2 at Colorado 6Montana 0 at Tulsa 4Sun. Feb. 5Montana 2 at Tulsa 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0547/4864141-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="525" height="319"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 6)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0641/4864134-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="521" height="261"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Feb. 1Toledo 5 at Flint 10Fri. Feb. 3Fort Wayne 6 at Muskegon 0Sat. Feb. 4Milwaukee 4 at Muskegon 7Flint 5 at Kalamazoo 6Sun. Feb. 5Fort Wayne 4 at Kalamazoo 2Toledo 4 at Peoria 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0737/4864127-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="530" height="323"></div><h2>ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Sun. Feb. 5)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0830/4864120-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="526" height="180"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. Jan. 29Erie 6 at Carolina 8Virginia 5 at Pine Bridge 4Wed. Feb. 1Pine Bridge 7 at Mohawk Valley 5Thu. Feb. 2Erie 6 at Pine Bridge 3Carolina 4 at Virginia 4Fri. Feb. 3Erie 2 at Carolina 4Virginia 7 at Mohawk Valley 3Sat. Feb. 4Erie 4 at Pine Bridge 5Virginia 9 at Mohawk Valley 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0927/4864113-1-eng-US/f0042-092.jpg" title="f0042-09" width="526" height="235"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1023/4864106-1-eng-US/f0042-102.jpg" title="f0042-10" width="524" height="97"></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Thu. Feb. 9)<h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1122/4864099-1-eng-US/f0042-112.jpg" title="f0042-11" width="526" height="239"></div><h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1218/4864092-1-eng-US/f0042-122.jpg" title="f0042-12" width="522" height="268"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 31Ottawa 7 at Cornwall 3Wed. Feb. 1Toronto 3 at Belleville 4Thu. Feb. 2Brantford 2 at Peterborough 6Cornwall 10 at Windsor 3Sudbury 7 at North Bay 5Fri. Feb. 3Toronto 3 at S.S. Marie 5Peterborough 5 at Sudbury 3Oshawa 2 at Kitchener 7Cornwall 7 at London 8Belleville 5 at Kingston 7Ottawa 6 at Guelph 3Sat. Feb. 4Oshawa 4 at Belleville 1Sun. Feb. 5Peterborough 3 at S.S. Marie 3Toronto 7 at Sudbury 6Guelph 2 at Oshawa 9Brantford 3 at North Bay 2Kingston 6 at Cornwall 3Ottawa 3 at Kitchener 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1315/4864085-1-eng-US/f0042-132.jpg" title="f0042-13" width="527" height="323"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 7)<h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1413/4864078-1-eng-US/f0042-142.jpg" title="f0042-14" width="524" height="265"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1513/4864071-1-eng-US/f0042-152.jpg" title="f0042-15" width="525" height="206"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Jan. 31Regina 5 at Brandon 6Prince Albert 3 at Victoria 4Kelowna 3 at Kamloops 6Wed. Feb. 1Calgary 1 at Medicine Hat 7New Westminster 6 at Portland 7Brandon 9 at Saskatoon 6Fri. Feb. 3Calgary 4 at Lethbridge 7Saskatoon 2 at Regina 7Victoria 5 at Seattle 8Kamloops 11 at Kelowna 4Prince Albert 3 at New Westminster 2Sat. Feb. 4Lethbridge 2 at Medicine Hat 5Seattle 7 at Portland 6 Regina at Winnipeg (ppd)New Westminster 6 at Victoria 2Prince Albert 5 at Kamloops 3Sun. Feb. 5Medicine Hat 6 at Lethbridge 5Brandon 6 at Regina 4Victoria 4 at New Westminster 5Kelowna 3 at Kamloops 8Winnipeg 4 at Saskatoon 11<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1613/4864064-1-eng-US/f0042-162.jpg" title="f0042-16" width="522" height="353"></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 6)<h3>LEBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1712/4864057-1-eng-US/f0042-172.jpg" title="f0042-17" width="527" height="208"></div><h3>DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1811/4864050-1-eng-US/f0042-182.jpg" title="f0042-18" width="523" height="178"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Jan. 30Hull 2 at Laval 13Granby 1 at St. Jean 2Tue. Jan. 31Verdun 5 at Longueuil 2Wed. Feb. 1Drummondville 8 at Hull 3Chicoutimi 5 at T-Rivieres 3Quebec 5 at Verdun 3Fri. Feb. 3T-Rivieres 3 at Granby 1Drummondville 7 at Quebec 10Longueuil 1 at Shawinigan 5Chicoutimi 6 at St. Jean 13Sun. Feb. 5Drummondville 5 at Chicoutimi 4Laval 9 at Hull 3St. Jean 2 at Quebrc 2Granby 0 at T-Rivieres 4Shawinigan 1 at Verdun 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1617/4864043-1-eng-US/f0043-162.jpg" title="f0043-16" width="533" height="327"></div><h2>ONTARIO SENIOR LAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 6)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1713/4864036-1-eng-US/f0043-172.jpg" title="f0043-17" width="528" height="295"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Chatham 4, Flamboro 2Woodstock 7, Chatham 4Dundas 7, Flamboro 5Flamboro 7, Dundas 3Georgetown 4, Collingwood 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1810/4864029-1-eng-US/f0043-182.jpg" title="f0043-18" width="531" height="327"></div><h2>CENTRAL SENIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-199/4864022-1-eng-US/f0043-192.jpg" title="f0043-19" width="527" height="208"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-206/4864015-1-eng-US/f0043-202.jpg" title="f0043-20" width="531" height="327"></div><h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-214/4864008-1-eng-US/f0043-212.jpg" title="f0043-21" width="526" height="296"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-223/4864001-1-eng-US/f0043-222.jpg" title="f0043-22" width="536" height="329"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-232/4863994-1-eng-US/f0043-232.jpg" title="f0043-23" width="529" height="210"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-242/4863987-1-eng-US/f0043-242.jpg" title="f0043-24" width="528" height="326"></div><h2>ALBERTA JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan 30)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-25/4863980-1-eng-US/f0043-252.jpg" title="f0043-25" width="523" height="153"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-26/4863973-1-eng-US/f0043-262.jpg" title="f0043-26" width="527" height="148"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-27/4863966-1-eng-US/f0043-272.jpg" title="f0043-27" width="530" height="320"></div><h2>ONTARIO COLLEGES</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 6)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-28/4863959-1-eng-US/f0043-282.jpg" title="f0043-28" width="526" height="237"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>St. Clair 10, Conestoga 9Sheridan 6, Conestoga 3Humber 4, Centennial 1Seneca 5, Canadore 4Canadore 7, Humber 1Centennial 5, Sheridan 1Seneca 3, St. Clair 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-29/4863952-1-eng-US/f0043-292.jpg" title="f0043-29" width="529" height="297"></div> &#9632;

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