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.

May 4, 1984

The Hockey News May 4, 1984

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IN THIS ISSUE

An Interview With…

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1655/6592203-1-eng-US/f0032-162.jpg" title="f0032-16" width="537" height="355"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1743/6592196-1-eng-US/f0032-172.jpg" title="f0032-17" width="538" height="326"></div> &#9632;

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Top Rookies In The Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY JOE FALLS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011565/6590967-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="303" height="355"></div><h2>Thinking Out Loud</h2>&bull; I MUST VISIT Olympia Stadium and tell her I miss her.&bull; I hope the readers of the Toronto Star know what a beautiful sportswriter Milt Dunnell is.&bull; I&rsquo;d love to go fishing with Bobby Orr.&bull; I can&rsquo;t believe that craggy-faced Claude Provost is gone. He played as if his pants were always falling down. He was my secret favourite hockey player along with J.C. Tremblay.&bull; Hey, how about an oldtimer game before the next All-Star game?&bull; I always liked Frank Mahovolich. He was such a gentle giant. Too many people did not understand him.&bull; Bob Cole is better than ever in calling the plays on Hockey Night in Canada. He sounds so much like Danny Galli van.&bull; Chris Chelios is so rough he gives me the shivers.&bull; I love saying Tony Tanti&rsquo;s name.&bull; The same with Dino Ciccarelli.&bull; Does anybody remember Tony Demers? He had the hardest shot of any hockey player I&rsquo;ve ever known, Bobby Hull included.&bull; Why does Larry Robinson seem like such a decent man? He seems like the true sportsman, hard-playing and fair.<h2>Triple-O For Cherry</h2>&bull; Hockey players are the friendliest of all athletes.&bull; I give Don Cherry a triple-0 as a colourcaster: Outspoken, Outstanding, Outrageous.&bull; To Bryan Hextall, Bill Cowley and Bucko McDonald: Hi, guys. Think of you often.&bull; I&rsquo;d like to smoke a cigar with Turk Broda.&bull; It&rsquo;s amazing how success hasn&rsquo;t spoiled Al Arbour. He is the same nice man as before the Islanders&rsquo; run ever began.&bull; Basketball seems out of place in May but hockey doesn&rsquo;t. This is a hockey nut speaking.&bull; I&rsquo;m amazed at how they don&rsquo;t play cautiously in overtime like they used to. This way is much more exciting.&bull; A life-long surprise is that more screenshots don&rsquo;t get through.&bull; Even now, when they are only a shadow of their former selves, I root for the Montreal Canadiens.&bull; I did not feel bad when Herb Brooks was sent out of the playoffs.&bull; I actually heard a person say that Jari Kurri is a better player than Wayne Gretzky.&bull; Rod Langway or Paul Coffey? I&rsquo;ll take two lumps of each, please.<h2>Pal Hal Has Chutzpah</h2>&bull; Don&rsquo;t let it get around but I admire Harold Ballard. The man has chutzpah.&bull; Wouldn&rsquo;t it be awful to be called a &ldquo;minor official?&rdquo;&bull; I&rsquo;d like to drink a beer with Gump Worsley.&bull; Make that two beers.&bull; Make that eight beers.&bull; Ever notice how much Bob Nystrom and Kirk Gibson look alike?&bull; How did they know how the puck got in before instant replays?&bull; Do goal-judges take any eye tests? How do you get to be a goal-judge? What a terrible job. Nobody notices you until you make a mistake.&bull; Don&rsquo;t you love these playoff games when it&rsquo;s still light outside at game time? When it&rsquo;s light outside it means the games are important.&bull; I&rsquo;ve never written the name of Sugar Jim Henry in this column and I&rsquo;d like to do it now: Sugar Jim Henry.&bull; I miss Elmer Ferguson and I never knew him.&bull; I still can&rsquo;t believe Steve Yzerman could play that way at the age of 18. You were marvelous, young man.&bull; Everytime I write Ebbie Goodfellow my office makes it Eddie Goodfellow.&bull; I never met Lefty Reid when he wasn&rsquo;t smiling.&bull; Best goalie I ever saw was Glenn Hall. &#9632;

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HOCKEY CORNER

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>LONGUEUIL&mdash;The Chevaliers are making it look easy to ice a successful major junior franchise. Santino Pelligrino&rsquo;s overtime goal against defending league champion Verdun Juniors gave the second-year Chevaliers a 4-3 win to clinch their best-of-seven semi-final in six games and qualify them for their second Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final.Jacques Lemaire, now the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, guided last year&rsquo;s expansion team to the final before falling to Verdun in five games.&ldquo;Going into the final is always a great thing,&rdquo; said Chevalier coach Mario Bazinet, who shifted from Trois-Rivieres Draveurs to take over the position vacated by Lemaire.Bazinet has reached the best-of-seven championship round three of the past four years and knows what he&rsquo;s up against this time. Regular-season champions Laval Voisins, who bolted away with a 54-16 record to finish 25 points ahead of runnerup Verdun and 34 ahead of fourth-place Longueuil, completed their second four-game sweep of the playoffs by dispatching the sixthplace Drumondville Voltigeurs 4-2, 5-4 in overtime, 7-3 and 8-4.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing the strongest (major junior) team in Canada,&rdquo; Bazinet said. &ldquo;Nobody&rsquo;s been able to stop them, but we have a skating team and we intend to skate.&rdquo;Beating the Juniors was particularly satisfying for Bazinet, who was suspended for 25 games last season and two games this year for incidents in games against Verdun.Joe Mercuri and Hilton Ruggles gave Longueuil the jump with goals in the first 50 seconds in the deciding match with the Juniors and Jean-Philippe Lemoine struck again at the four-minute mark. Verdun rallied with three answered goals in the second period.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t play that well in the third,&rdquo; Bazinet said. &ldquo;They outshot us 10-3, but our goalie, Martin Plante, was outstanding. We didn&rsquo;t miss many chances and I think Plante and Daniel Savoie in goal may have been the difference.&rdquo;Pellegrino and teammate Guy Rouleau, also a center, are tied in fourth place in playoff scoring with nine goals and 10 assists and six goals and 13 assists, respectively. Laval&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux (15-12-27) leads, followed by a pair of Verdun players, Jeff Hamilton (11-10-21) and Claude Lemieux (8-1220).&ldquo;I think we played good, sometimes great hockey&hellip;I was very satisfied with their efforts,&rdquo; said Verdun coach Pierre Creamer, who&rsquo;s club won the opener 114, the second game 4-2 and pushed the third into overtime before losing 7-6. Longueil won the others, 9-4 And 6-4.&ldquo;We had a young team with two 17-year-old goalies (Vince Riendeau and Troy Crosby) and the goalie on the other side beat us in the last game. We couldn&rsquo;t put that little black thing in the net.&ldquo;Longueuil is a good skating team with more experience, but if we had have had a few breaks we could have beaten them. We were in a little better condition.&rdquo;Creamer praised 17-year-old right winger Jim Nesich, a 5-foot-9, 160-pounder from Detroit&rsquo;s Compuware Midgets, who had six goals in the series and nearly scored a seventh one on a breakaway in the last five minutes of the final game. Also earning compliments were No. 1 draft choice Richard Little, a left winger, and Randy Muttart, who plays with Little and Nesich.So how are the Chevaliers&rsquo; chances against the Voisins?&ldquo;Their chances are small,&rdquo; Creamer said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they will be able to contain Laval.&rdquo;Laval&rsquo;s Joe Cerone broke a 4-4 tie early in the third of the final game against the Voltigeurs, another second-year club on the move after winning only 11 games last season. Jacques Goyette and Yves Courteau sealed the victory and Lemieux totalled four assists.&ldquo;It was a tight-checking series, but we have six of the league&rsquo;s top scorers and eventually they&rsquo;re going to score,&rdquo; said Claude Fomel, Laval&rsquo;s owner-general manager. &ldquo;Courteau is playing really well and Alain Bisson is playing his best hockey. Our third line of Steve Latour, Sylvain Boutin and Cerone scored a key goal in every game.&ldquo;Tony Haladuick has been outstanding in goal and has played every game. It&rsquo;s a pleasure to see how well the defense is playing, much better than during the regular season.&ldquo;It makes me smile to see Longueuil against us in the final,&rdquo; Foumel added. &ldquo;They eliminated us last year and we owe them something.&rdquo; &#9632;

Longueuil, Laval Will Skate It Out

<div class="image-hero"><img title="cover" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover38/6592970-1-eng-US/cover2.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE GRETZKY (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Here&rsquo;s An Apology To Blue Fans In St. Louis&mdash;Page 8Slick Oilers One Step Away From Cup Final&mdash;Page 4Canadiens Win The Bloody Battle Of Quebec&mdash;Page 11 &#9632;

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AN INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

&ldquo;After practice, you have to hug all your teammates. Now I understand where you want all the guys to be close, but I think that&rsquo;s carrying it a little too far. I&rsquo;ll never make the team. I&rsquo;m not a queer.&rdquo;&mdash;Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; Thomas Gradin, who&rsquo;s not sure he wants to play for Sweden in the Canada Cup because of some of the unorthodox ideas of national coach Leif Boork. See story on Page 22. &#9632;

Quote Of The Week

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011628/6590229-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="307" height="354"></div><h2>Annual Whine Festival</h2>AS AN ANNUAL spring event, it ranks right up there with April showers, daffodils and good work from Billy Smith. The Whine About The Referees And How They Ruin The Game Festival And Spring Gala is perhaps even better attended this year than ever.The participants are National Hockey League general managers, coaches and players, some broadcasters and, if you can believe it, a few writers. The target for their affection is a dandy, sitting out there in the open, all fat and striped, really unable to hit back in an open way.I suppose one should state his biases before commenting on the state of refereeing in the NHL. I&rsquo;ve watched quite a few playoff games this spring and&mdash;this might surprise you&mdash;I haven&rsquo;t seen a single one that was decided by the official. Overall, the calibre of the referee&rsquo;s work is absolutely first-rate and, in some cases, exceptional.In many games I watched, the referee stayed out of it and allowed the teams to settle the issue. In tight situations in the third period, the ref sensing that any fouls were evenly distributed, minded his business.For instance, the fifth game of the New York Ranger-New York Islander series, a dandy set from start to finish, was a magnificent hockey match. To help it be that required a very delicate hand on the controls and referee Dave Newell supplied it. The game was beautifully played but it also was handled magnificently.But that hasn&rsquo;t stopped the ranting, raving, roaring and crying about being jobbed by officials from the hockey people. Luckily, the refs and their supervisors have heard it all before and understand the motivation.Even with the realization that bitching about the ref is as much a part of the game as the slapshot, the whole matter really has become an incredible bore. Do coaches and GMs really think that post-game berating of officials earns them an edge &ldquo;the next time?&rdquo; Do they really feel that the zebras are that dumb?<h2>Better In All Ways</h2>WHAT THE OFFICIALS realize better than anyone is that the top teams earned that ranking because they are better at all areas of the game than other teams. That includes proficiency in the art of the subtle foul. The boundaries of the rules for the Islanders are in a different location than for many other teams simply because they&rsquo;re more efficient in the execution of restraining fouls.Cap coach Bryan Murray seemed to need a couple of games to realize that while his team is excellent defensively, it doesn&rsquo;t have the Isles&rsquo; experience or proficiency in the &ldquo;black arts.&rdquo; Murray blasted the refs, then backed off when he saw that his team was overmatched along the fence and in the comers against the Isles&rsquo; slow-them-up artistry.At that point, Murray suggested that a few larger, stronger players for his team would be a good idea and dropped his campaign to find firing squads for the officials.<h2>A Very Tough Job</h2>IF ALL CUBES had the Isles&rsquo; standards in the game&rsquo;s tricks, the refs&rsquo; lot in life would be a much easier one. When a few carpers run on about the low standard of refereeing, they never bother to mention that the low standard in the dubious &ldquo;skills&rdquo; has made the job very difficult.Back in the time when most old goats feel that he refereeing was better than it is now, the game was easier to officiate. Hockey then was played mostly by men between the ages of 26 and 40, who had served long apprenticeships to learn the craft. They were able to execute the subtleties well and what was a foul was more cut and dried than it is now.The game today is played by apprentice children between 18 and 25, most of whom have half a game at their disposal, the offensive part of it. But many of them don&rsquo;t have any idea how to play defense and, as a result, must employ restraining fouls to get the job done.The result is that the number of judgment calls an official must make has risen dramatically in the past few years. A large part of the responsibility for the competitive factor in many games belongs to the officials.If the refs ever apply the entire rule book in today&rsquo;s hockey and call all the fouls or anything close, the game will disintegrate. Remember that the next time you want to climb on an official&rsquo;s case for seemingly standing back and allowing everything to go on with no calls. &#9632;

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HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021435/6590260-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div><h2>Next Week</h2>In next week&rsquo;s issue, you, the reader, get to voice your opinions on the issues affecting the game of hockey in 1984. It&rsquo;s our first Reader Opinion Poll, an opportunity for you to answer questions on the regular season and playoff formats, fighting and violence, officiating and international hockey, to name just a few of the many topics covered. If you send in your ballot, your answers will be tabulated and the responses will be published in our Aug. 1 issue. Don&rsquo;t miss this opportunity to let the men who run hockey know how you feel about the game today.<h2>May 18</h2>This is the last weekly issue of the 1983-84 season, but it&rsquo;s one of the most entertaining. Aside from previewing the two teams in the Stanley Cup finals, we&rsquo;ll have two special sections. One is on the Memorial Cup, junior hockey&rsquo;s version of the Stanley Cup, and the other is the best NHL entry draft preview THE HOCKEY NEWS has ever put together. We&rsquo;ll be rating this year&rsquo;s top draft prospects and we&rsquo;ll also rate the No. 1 pick overall in the NHL for a 10-year period. Don&rsquo;t miss it. &#9632;

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COMING SOON IN THN

THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY Founded in 1947 by Kenneth W. McKenziePUBLISHERDean HeineCONTROLLERTony DobranowskiEDITOR IN CHIEFBob McKenzieEDITORIAL DIRECTORCharlie HalpinASSISTANT EDITORPerry LefkoCONTRIBUTING EDITORSStan Fischler, Frank OrrADVERTISING SALES MANAGERRandy GreenADVERTISING SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVESCanadian Consumer Product Sales:CCMC, Cliff Ki veil, 287 MacPherson Ave.Toronto, Ontario M4V 1A4(416) 928-2909SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES MANAGERPaula HeardNEWSSTAND SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaCIRCULATION DEPARTMENTKathy Nikies Rosanne TaninoACCOUNTING DEPARTMENTTom MoffatMary CarubiaSPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGERHughes Marketing Hockey News Bookshelf(416) 499-8227ADVERTISING 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 and bimonthly July and August 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. 10022.49 ISSUE SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $22.95 in the U.S.A. $22.95 in Canada. $49.95 in Foreign Countries. Send all Canadian and Foreign subscription orders to THE HOCKEY NEWS. P.O. Box 13055, Postal Station &lsquo;A&rsquo;, Toronto, Ont. M5W 1V7. U.S. subscription requests should be mailed to Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y. 14240. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing.SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Road #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2. Second Class mail Registration No. 1327. All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept., The Hockey News. 85 Scarsdale Road. #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.IN THE UNITED STATES: Second class 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

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>EDMONTON&mdash;Glen Sather called role call about the time Easter Sunday hams were being carved.Gretzky? &ldquo;Yeow!&rdquo;Kurri? &ldquo;la!&rdquo;Coffey? Linseman? And on down the line&hellip;The collection of affirmative responses from previously absent chaps with crudentials added up curtains for the game, but outdistanced Calgary Flames.Perspective, if not complete sanity, finally settled into the series that was posthumously extended into the holiday weekend as the resurrected Oilers arrived en masse for the initial occasion, bouncing the Flames 7-4 and capturing the long-overdue Smythe Division championship 4-3 in games.The Oilers now advance along the Stanley Cup trail against the Minnesota North Stars, 4-3 overtime victors over St. Louis Blues in another seven-game debate.&ldquo;Our team sooner or later had to break out,&rdquo; said Sather, the Oiler general manager-coach, who cringed as his team squandered a 3-1 series lead. &ldquo;I thought it would happen in Calgary when we had plenty of chances, but we just didn&rsquo;t play as we&rsquo;re capable.&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;m glad we saved it for a dramatic ending,&rdquo; he added with a mischievous grin that had been lost somewhere along the way.Then Sather became deadly serious.&lsquo;We learned an awful good lesson out of all of this&mdash;that no matter how much talent you have, you need the collective effort.&rsquo;&ldquo;We learned an awful good lesson out of all of this&mdash;that no matter how much talent you have, you need the collective effort. Every night you have to sweat, grind and even bleed if you&rsquo;re to be successful.&rdquo;The Flames, although burdened with injuries to key personnel in the deciding game, came out of the series a touch longer on experience as well.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a lot better hockey team coming out of this series than we were going in,&rdquo; offered coach Bob Johnson, who lost key defensemen Allan Maclnnis (knee) and Paul Reinhart (back), plus center Mike Eaves (broken thumb) at stages throughout the game. &ldquo;We were milked dry as we went along. We didn&rsquo;t have much left when we lost our top two defensemen. But our guys battled&hellip;&rdquo;The Oilers weren&rsquo;t about to dispute that fact.&ldquo;There is going to be a rivalry now for sure,&rdquo; said Wayne Gretzky, the game&rsquo;s number one star who reverted to a flying form previously not witnessed in the series.&ldquo;I felt good tonight,&rdquo; added Gretzky, who finally got around to admitting he had been hampered by a nasty flu bug during seemingly lacklustre performances in previous games. &ldquo;This was the biggest game of my career and the biggest game in the history of our organization. I spent the whole day thinking about it. All I thought about were the questions. Where was I? Why didn&rsquo;t I perform? I thought about the other series, like the Islanders last year, and I told myself that no way did I want all those questions again this summer.&ldquo;I was sweating Saturday and Sunday. I knew 1 wasn&rsquo;t doing my job. For whatever reasons I wasn&rsquo;t doing my job. I had the flu and a few nagging injuries, but I still wasn&rsquo;t doing my job and I knew I had to make sure I went out there and had the game of my life.&rdquo;Gretzky responded with a goal and two key assists, while sidekick Jari Kurri, who had only accounted for one goal in his previous five games, struck for two goals.&ldquo;We sat down,&rdquo; said Gretzky, &ldquo;and told ourselves we had to answer today.&rdquo;&ldquo;Finally I found the net,&rdquo; said Kurri, the quiet-spoken Finn. &ldquo;We were a little too uptight for this series, I think. Wayne and I talked about having to play a lot better. I think we finally played like we can.&rdquo;Although the Oilers outplayed and badly outshot the Flames, the situation became highly interesting&mdash;not to over-look frightening&mdash;when Calgary pulled into a 4-3 lead midway through the second period.&ldquo;I looked up at the scoreboard and we were outshooting them 39-10, but we were losing 4-3,&rdquo; said Gretzky. &ldquo;I thought, &lsquo;How could we be so unfortunate?&rsquo; &ldquo;Fifty eight seconds later spunky little center Ken Linseman jammed home the puck to put the Oilers ahead to stay.&ldquo;After we tied it, Kenny came through,&rdquo; added Gretzky. &ldquo;I think he scored more big (playoff) goals than anybody on this hockey club.&rdquo;&ldquo;In the heat of a seventh game in a playoff series, it doesn&rsquo;t matter who scores,&rdquo; piped Linseman of his 22nd career playoff goal. &ldquo;Or, how it goes in&hellip;&rdquo;Later the Oilers iced the series with Kurri&rsquo;s second goal of the game and Pat Hughes&rsquo; first playoff marker in 10 games, 33 seconds into the third period.&ldquo;They (Calgary) played with a lot of emotion and heart,&rdquo; said Hughes, &ldquo;but sooner or later with our talent&mdash;and if the desire was there&mdash;it was bound to happen.&rdquo;Just in the nick of time, too. &#9632;

Oilers Answer The Crucial Call

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011550/6590339-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"></div><h2>NHL REQUESTS HEARING</h2>TORONTO&mdash;The National Hockey League is wasting little time trying to resolve the controversial sale of Canadian television rights to Carling O&rsquo;Keefe Breweries by the NHL&rsquo;s U.S. based teams.A story by the Sun&rsquo;s&nbsp;John laboni has the NHL seeking an immediate court hearing to resolve the issue and get on with the planning for next season.The NHL launched proceedings for &ldquo;a declaratory judgment&rdquo; April 23 in Chicago.The Canadian Sports Network (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Molson&rsquo;s and Hockey Night in Canada) have scoffed at the rights sale to Carling O&rsquo;Keefe. CSN says it has the option to renew in June what it claims are exclusive rights.Toronto Maple Leaf president, Harold Ballard, remains opposed to CSN&rsquo;s &ldquo;territory being taken over by a bunch of pirates.&rdquo;&ldquo;I hope the league (NHL) loses this case because it&rsquo;ll teach them a lesson for doing business with only half the teams,&rdquo; Ballard fumed. &ldquo;Anyone who would betray almost all of the Canadian partners isn&rsquo;t worth being partners with.&rdquo;<h2>POTVIN DECIDES TO PLAY</h2>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Armand Potvin, father of Islander captain Denis Potvin, died recently after a lengthly illness at the age of 64, but his son played the day after his death in a 5-2 victory over the Capitals.&ldquo;All I know how to do is play hockey and if I couldn&rsquo;t be with the people I love, I decided to be with the guys I care for,&rdquo; Denis said.Potvin missed the Isles&rsquo; next game which his team won 5-3 to wrap up their series and advance to the Wales Conference finals.<h2>FORMER HAB PASSES AWAY</h2>MIAMI&mdash;Claude Provost, a right winger with Montreal Canadiens for 15 National Hockey League seasons, died recently. He was 50.Regarded as one of the game&rsquo;s top defensive specialists in a career that started in 1955 and ended in 1970, Provost, a Montreal resident who also had a home in Florida, scored 254 goals and added 335 assists in 1,005 games.He gained large recognition for his shadowing of Bobby Hull, the Chicago Blawk Hawk sniper. He was a member of nine Stanley Cup winning teams, including the ones that won five in a row.<h2>VOYAGEURS TO BE SHARED</h2>NOVA SCOTIA&mdash;Montreal Canadiens will be sharing their American Hockey League farm team with another NHL club next season, according to Voyageur general manager-coach John Brophy. Brophy said he was certain an agreement has been reached with Winnipeg Jets.<h2>GOALIE&rsquo;S FINGERS REATTACHED</h2>WINNIPEG&mdash;A 17-year-old hockey player whose two fingers were severed by a skate in a freak accident had them reattached after six hours of microsurgery.Dean Shaw, a goaltender with the junior Selkirk Steelers, was injured when he lost his catching glove during a goalmouth scramble and another player stepped on his left hand with his skate.The tips of Shaw&rsquo;s middle and ring fingers were replanted above the knuckle by a plastic surgeon at St. Boniface Hospital, but the severed tip of a third finger was too small to be reattached.<h2>BEAVER TALES &#9632;</h2>

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SLAPSHOTS

Here&rsquo;s what was happening 20 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Toronto Maple Leafs, backed by Johnny Bower, shutout Detroit Red Wings 4-0 in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals at Maple Leaf Gardens. It was the third successive year the Leafs captured the Stanley Cup,&bull; Toronto&rsquo;s Bob Pulford edged out Detroit&rsquo;s Gordie Howe in voting for the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup finals.&bull; Cleveland Barons captured their ninth Calder Cup in American Hockey League history. The Barons stunned the hockey world by sweeping their best-of-seven final with the pennant winning Quebec Aces.Here&rsquo;s what was happening 15 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Danny Grant of Minnesota won the Calder Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year. Boston&rsquo;s Phil Esposito, who set a record 126 points to win the league scoring championship and the Art Ross Trophy, took the Hart Trophy as the league&rsquo;s most valuable player. Bruin teammate Bobby Orr copped the James Norris Trophy as the best defenseman for the second straight season. Alex Delvecchio of Detroit captured the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play and sportsmanship for the third time.&bull; Montreal bumped off the Bruins to reach the Stanley Cup final for the 20th time in their club history. Their opponent was St. Louis, which added Bill Plager, the youngest Plager brother, to the squad a three-brother act. &#9632;

THIS WEEK…20 Years Ago

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div>Okay trivia buffs, who is the first son of a National Hockey League All-Star to appear in an All-Star game?The answer is Syl Apps, Jr., the son of former Toronto Maple Leaf and Hockey Hall of Famer, Syl Apps, Sr.Apps Jr., who played in the NHL for 10 seasons (1970-80) with the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings, appeared in his first and only All-Star game in 1975, representing the Penguins.&ldquo;It was just an honor to be in it,&rdquo; Apps said. &ldquo;I guess being in the game I wanted to do well, as most first-timers do, so I really gave it everything I had.&ldquo;But I never expected to score two goals and be voted the game&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player. I was just going out there to have some fun and enjoy the game.&rdquo;That was the way Apps always played hockey, both as an amateur and as a pro. Despite the fact he was the son of a legendary hockey star, Syl Jr. never felt the pressure from his father or from the public.&ldquo;I played hockey because I liked the game,&rdquo; said Apps. &ldquo;In fact, if my father ever pressured me to do anything it was to go to college.&ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t even want me to turn pro when 1 did with the Rangers (1968). He wanted me to wait a year.&ldquo;I knew what my father had done. I just played to the best of my ability. I never tried to live up to my father or anybody else. I just wanted to be myself.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021115/6590394-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="587" height="1128"><figcaption class="caption-body">Syl Apps, Jr. says he never felt pressure to play hockey from his legendary father.</figcaption></div>For seven and a half seasons Apps played with the Penguins. After breaking in with the Rangers in 1970-71, he was traded in mid-season to Pittsburgh.&ldquo;I was glad to go to Pittsburgh because the Rangers already had three good centers (Jean Ratelle, Walter Tkaczuk and Pete Stemkowski) and I was just the odd man out,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;I really enjoyed Pittsburgh. We had some pretty good teams with the Penguins. Unfortunately the team was pretty unstable financially.&ldquo;I can remember that things were so bad at one time that it became a battle to even get a second pair of skates during the season.&ldquo;But most of the players understood the situation and tried to toe the line and help the organization as much as we could. We all knew that the money just wasn&rsquo;t there.&rdquo;After being given his outright release from the Kings, Apps retired from hockey in 1980. Today, the 36-year-old Apps who has a Bachelor of Arts in Pshychology, works for a brokerage firm in his native Toronto and lives in nearby Unionville.&ldquo;I would have liked to played in Europe for a year or two but I was too old for that by the time I retired from the NHL (33),&rdquo; said Apps. &ldquo;Fortunately, I was ready for going to work in the real world.&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s one thing that more teams in the NHL should be doing. Teams should take the time when players are still active with them to help them get to know businessmen in their area. In that way a player can plan his future out of hockey while he&rsquo;s still in it. It can ease the transition when the end comes.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-02

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/f0005-03734/6590449-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg"></div>that the NHL players with the most career playoff goals (excluding the 1983-84 playoffs) are: &#9632;

f0005-03

Did You Know…

1. Who was the last rookie to score a Stanley Cup-winning goal?2. Name the only player to score back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning goals?3. Who is the only player to have lost on two different teams to the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup finals?4. Who is the only player on Detroit&rsquo;s current roster who played with that club&rsquo;s last playoff team in 1977-78?5. What player led all playoff scorers in 1967-68, despite the fact that his team was eliminated in the semi-finals?6. Name the current NHL player who shared the scoring lead at the 1984 Olympics?7. Prior to Bob Brooke, who is the only other Ranger to wear No. 13?8. Name the only goaltender to face two penalty shots in Stanley Cup play?9. Bemidji State was unbeaten in NCAA play this year. When did this last happen?10. Which two current NHL teams have lost playoff series to the Penguins?<h2>Trivia Answers</h2>1. Johnny Gagnon, Montreal, 193031.2. Mike Bossy, New York Islanders, 1981-82, 1982-83.3. Ken Linesman, Philadelphia, 1979-80; Edmonton, 1982-83.4. Reed Larson.5. Bill Goldsworthy, Minnesota.6. Raimo Summanen.7. Jack Stoddard.8. Glenn Resch.9. Cornell, 1970.10. Buffalo and St. Louis. &#9632;

TRIVIA

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03730/6590494-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal&rsquo;s rookie goalie sensation Steve Penney stopped Quebec sniper Michel Goulet in close and was a major factor in the Habs&rsquo; surprising humbling of the mighty Nordiques.</figcaption></div>As this issue was going to press, the Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders were about to play the opening game of their best-of-seven Wales Conference final. This series pitted the Islanders, who are attempting to become only the second organization to win five straight Stanley Cups, against the Habs, who are the surprise of the playoffs and are the offspring of the Montreal teams which won five straight Cups (circa 1955-60).Montreal advanced to the conference championship by beating the Quebec Nordiques four games to two in the Adams Division final, heretofore known as the Bloody Battle Of Quebec.The Islanders easily disposed of the Washington Capitals in five games to win the Patrick Division.<h2>MONTREAL VS. QUEBEC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011726/6590508-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="162" height="108"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021174/6590501-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="135" height="134"></div>Game Four: The Nordiques scored three late goals, including the game-winner in overtime, and beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 to deadlock their Adams Division final series at two games apiece.Bo Berglund was the unlikely Quebec hero as he scored the deciding goal after three minutes of the first sudden-death overtime. The Swedish winger was relegated to a spectator&rsquo;s role in game three after a very mediocre performance in the early games of the series.The Nordiques were frustrated by rookie netminder Steve Penney and a stout Montreal defense for the first two periods as Quebec outshot Montreal 22-8 but were down 3-1.The tide turned for the Nordiques when Andre Savard connected in the closing minutes of the second period to cut the margin to 3-2. Defensmen Randy Moller fired a shot from the blueline past Penney at 11:23 and the goal seemed to lift the Nordiques. They came out full of fire in the overtime and were all over the Canadiens, outshooting them 5-1. Berglund connected at the three-minute mark of the overtime when center Bobby Smith failed to clear the puck out of the Montreasl zone. Berglund pounced on the opportunity and drove it past Penney&rsquo;s outstretched hand for the winning goal.First-period goals by Ryan Walter and Guy Carbonneau stacked the Canadiens to a comfortable 2-0 lead. Wilf Paiement got one back for the Nordiques just past the midway mark in the second period. But the Habs again went on top by two as Mario Tremblay broke in alone from the Quebec blueline to score at 17:31. Savard followed with his third playoff goal a minute later and the Nordiques were on their way.Game Five: Like the morning headlines proclaimed after the game, it was &ldquo;Penney&rsquo;s from Heaven&rdquo; for the Montreal Canadiens again as they dominated the Nordiques 4-0 in Quebec City to take a 3-2 series lead in their best-of-seven Adams Division final.Goaltender Steve Penney, the hottest netminder to appear in the post-season Stanley Cup playoffs since Ken Dryden burst on the scene as a rookie in 1971, came up with another flawless performance to register his second shutout as he continued to be the most talked about player of the 1984 post-season round.Penney, who throttled the Boston Bruins in the first round with some fantastic goaltending, was at his best against the Nordiques. He turned aside 26 Quebec shots.Penney&rsquo;s remarkable goaltending and Montreal&rsquo;s close-checking defensive tactics were taking their toll on Quebec&rsquo;s big shooters. Two of them, Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet, were goalless after five games in the series and much of the credit belonged to the rookie Penney.A first-period goal by Pierre Mondou was all the Canadiens needed to stop the Nordiques. Mario Tremblay, with his fifth of the playoffs, Steve Shutt and Mats Naslund collected the other Montreal goals.Quebec coach Michel Bergeron was dumbfounded by the result of the game. The high-powered Nordiques being blanked in their own rink wasn&rsquo;t totally unexpected. &ldquo;We had lots of chances but Penney was the difference,&rdquo; said a frustrated Bergeron. &ldquo;I remember when Ken Dryden came to Montreal many years ago and excelled in the playoffs. Penney&rsquo;s doing the same thing to us.&rdquo;Game Six: The Montreal Canadiens won the much-publicized Battle of Quebec but not without brawling and blood spilling.In one of the most fight-filled games ever seen in Stanley Cup playoff history, the Habs overpowered the Nordiques 5-3 to win their turbulent best-of-seven Adams Division final series 4-2 and advance to the Wales Conference finals against the New York Islanders.The Canadiens, trailing the Nordiques 2-0 for the first 46 minutes of the game, erupted with a five-goal offense that literally blew the Nordiques off the Montreal Forum ice and out of the 1984 playoffs.Veteran Steve Shutt, who experienced his worst season in his NHL career with only 14 regular-season goals, was the playoff hero for the Habs as he scored twice in a span of three minutes in the wild third period to light a fire under the Canadiens. They were his third and fourth of the series.Defenseman Rick Green, John Chabot and Guy Carbonneau picked up the momentum after Shutt&rsquo;s two-goal blast and the Habs sent a partisan crowd of 18,090 into a frenzy as they jumped ahead 5-2. The Nordiques were stunned by the sudden tum of events and offered little resistance in the final six minutes. Wilf Paiement scored at 16:51 to end the nightmare for Quebec.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>A first-period goal by Peter Stastny and another by Michel Goulet at the outset of the third period stacked the Nordiques to a two-goal lead before mass fighting broke out when the teams were leaving the ice at the conclusion of the second period.After a 40-minute delay while officials sorted out the penalties, a total of 12 players were thrown out of the game with misconduct penalties. Referee Bruce Hood and the linesmen had their hands full trying to keep tempers in line as the result of the bad blood that built up between the teams in the series.The Nordiques, who were credited with instigating the donnybrook when hard-nosed Dale Hunter twice ran through the Montreal goal-crease to bump rookie netminder Steve Penney, came out the losers in the donnybrook. They took 26 of the 50 penalties and lost top scorer Peter Stastny for the last period.During the highlight of the second-period intermission melee, Louis Sleigher of the Nordiques sucker-punched defenseman Jean Hamel of Montreal. The incensed Canadiens attempted to get at Sleigher when the teams came out to begin the third period and the brawling erupted once more. Hood tried to stem the battling by thumbing Quebec&rsquo;s Randy Moller out of the game when he re-engaged Chris Nilan of Montreal after Nilan had cut him badly in the intermission fight.Officials couldn&rsquo;t explain why players such as Moller, Sleigher and Nilan among others were allowed back on the ice for the third period when they had been tossed out of the game. Apparently officials failed to notify the respective team coaches about the game misconducts.<h2>ISLANDERS VS. WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04450/6590487-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="152" height="144"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05356/6590480-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="189" height="104"></div>Game Four: The Islanders continued to display too much all round zest for the Washington Capitals as they ground out a 5-2 victory to complete a sweep of the two games in Landover, MD, and took a commanding 3-1 lead in their Patrick Division final series.Putting together their best freewheeling offense of the series, the Islanders relied on their usual bump-and-grind routine and the result was another victory. Everytime the Caps got close, the cagey Islanders simply checked them off the puck.The Caps monopolized the early action but it was the Islanders who jumped off to a 3-0 lead with Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies and Paul Boutilier connecting for New York. Washington moved back into contention briefly in the second period as Bobby Carpenter and Dave Christian found the range with goals 34 seconds apart.The Caps outshot the Islanders 12-5 in the final 20 minutes and appeared to be coming on when the New York offense shifted into high gear. Gillies, with his second of the game, and Mike Bossy scored into an empty net to put the decision on ice.Washington coach Bryan Murray admitted his smaller forwards were taking a pounding from the bigger and heavier Islander checkers. Veterans such as Gillies, Trottier, Denis Potvin and Butch Goring were proving too much for the younger Caps to handle. Billy Smith was in goal for his third win of the series for New York.Game Five: The New York Islanders made it swift and painless for the Washington Capitals as they defeated them 5-3 to win the best-of-seven Patrick Division final series in five games, a verdict that was never in doubt from the start.Driving for their fifth straight Stanley Cup championship, the seasoned Islanders had too much of everything for the inexperienced Caps as they outscored them 20-13 in winning the series 4-1.Despite a series of injuries and the fact they played without defensive stalwart Denis Potvin, who was attending his father&rsquo;s funeral in Ottawa, the Islanders still managed to come up with more than enough offense to eliminate the younger Caps. Even after Washington jumped into a 2-0 first period lead, the Islanders bided their time and finished off the Caps with an explosive four-goal second period.Rookie Pat Flatley led the way for New York scoring twice, including the eventual game winner, as the former member of Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team raised his outstanding playoff porduction to six goals. Bryan Trottier, with his fifth, Anders Kallur and Greg Gilbert also scored singles for the Islanders. Doug Jarvis, Dave Christian and Bobby Carpenter were the marksmen for Washington.The Islanders&rsquo; pattern of victory pretty much followed their earlier playoff success. They layed back, checked the opposition fiendishly and relied on some hot goaltending from reliable Billy Smith to win the series. Smith&rsquo;s victory was his seventh of the post-season round and raised his career total to 80, allowing him to tie Ken Dryden&rsquo;s Stanley Cup playoff record. &#9632;

f0006-03

Islanders, Habs Set For Wales Showdown

CAMPBELL CONFERENCEMINNESOTA vs EDMONTON(Best-of-seven series)Tue. Apr. 25Minnesota at EdmontonThu. Apr. 27Minnesota at EdmontonSat.-Sun. Apr. 29-30Edmonton at MinnesotaTue. May 1Edmonton at MinnesotaThu. May 3Minnesota at EdmontonSat-Sun. May 5-6Edmonton at MinnesotaTue. May 8Minnesota at Edmonton<h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2>NY ISLANDERS vs MONTREAL(Best-of-seven series)Tue. Apr. 25NY Islanders at MontrealThu. Apr. 27NY Islanders at MontrealSat. Apr. 29Montreal at NY IslandersTue. May 1Montreal at NY IslandersThu. May 3NY Islanders at MontrealSat. May 5Montreal at NY IslandersTue. May 8NY Islanders at Montreal &#9632;

Conference Finals

<h2>PLAYOFF STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-06245/6590713-1-eng-US/f0007-062.jpg" title="f0007-06" width="536" height="495"></div><h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><h3>ADAMS DIVISION RNALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-07187/6590706-1-eng-US/f0007-072.jpg" title="f0007-07" width="526" height="115"></div>Games scores: Mtl 2 at Que 4; Mtl 4 at Que 1; Que 1 at Mtl 2; Que 4 at Mtl 3; Mtl 4 at Que 0; Que 3 at Mtl 5.Top goal scorers: Mtl: Shutt 4, Mondou, Naslund, Walter, Carbonneau, Tremblay 2. Que: Paiement 2.Overtime winners: Berglund (Que), game four.<h3>SEMI FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-08152/6590699-1-eng-US/f0007-082.jpg" title="f0007-08" width="486" height="114"></div>Game scores: Mtl 2 at Bos 1; Mtl 3 at Bos 1; Bos 0 at Mtl 5.Top goal scorers: Mtl: Tremblay 3. Bos: Fergus 2.Overtime winners: none.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-09115/6590692-1-eng-US/f0007-092.jpg" title="f0007-09" width="485" height="114"></div>Game scores: Que 3 at Buf 2; Que 6 at Buf 2; Buf 1 at Que 4.Top goal scorers: Que: Hunter, Savard 2. Buf: Foligno 2.Overtime winners: none.<h2>PATRICK DIVISION FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1092/6590685-1-eng-US/f0007-102.jpg" title="f0007-10" width="531" height="113"></div>Games scores: Was 3 at NYI 2; Was 4 at NYI 5; NYI 3 at Was 1; NYI 5 at Was 2; Was 3 at NYI 5.Top goal scorers: NYI: Flatley 5, Trottier 4, Bossy, Kallur, Gillies 2. Was: Christian 3, Gustafsson, Haworth, Carpenter 2.Overtime winners: Kallur (NYI), game two.<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1176/6590678-1-eng-US/f0007-112.jpg" title="f0007-11" width="497" height="117"></div>Game scores: NYR 1 at NYI 4; NYR 3 at NYI 0; NYI 2 at NYR 7; NYR 4 at NYR 1; NYR 2 at NYI 3.Top goal scorers: NYI: Gillies 2. NYR: Larouche 3, Erixon, Pavelich 2.Overtime winners: Morrow (NYI), game five.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1261/6590671-1-eng-US/f0007-122.jpg" title="f0007-12" width="491" height="116"></div>Game scores: Pha 2 at Was 4; Pha 2 at Was 6; Was 5 at Pha 1.Top goal scorers: Was: Laughlin 3, Erickson, Duchesne, Christian, Gartner 2. Pha: Clarke, Sinisalo 2.Overtime winners: none.<h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><h3>NORRIS DIVISION FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1347/6590664-1-eng-US/f0007-132.jpg" title="f0007-13" width="525" height="113"></div>Game scores: StL 1 at Min 2; StL 4 at Min 3; Min 1 at StL 3; Min 3 at StL 2; StL 0 at Min 6; Min 0 at StL 4; StL 3 at Min 4.Top goal scorers: Min: Plett 4, Maruk 3, Acton, Payne, Levie 2. StL: Federko 3, Ganchar, Mullen 2.Overtime winners: Gilmour (StL), game two, Payne (Min), game seven.<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1437/6590657-1-eng-US/f0007-142.jpg" title="f0007-14" width="490" height="115"></div>Game scores: Chi 3 at Min 1; Chi 5 at Min 6; Min 4 at Chi 1; Min 3 at Chi 4; Chi 1 at Min 4. Top goal scorers: Min: Lindgren, Roberts, Acton, Ferguson, Ciccarelli, Maruk 2. Chi: B. Murray, Secord 3, S. Larmer 2.Overtime winners: none.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1532/6590650-1-eng-US/f0007-152.jpg" title="f0007-15" width="488" height="117"></div>StL 4 at Det 3; StL 3 at Det 2. Top goal scorers: StL: Pettersson 5, Reeds 2.Det: Yzerman 3, Duguay, Gare, Larson 2.Overtime winners: Reeds (StL), game three. Pettersson (StL) game four.<h2>SMYTHE DIVISION FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1621/6590643-1-eng-US/f0007-162.jpg" title="f0007-16" width="526" height="114"></div>Game scores: Cal 2 at Edm 5; Cal 6 at Edm 5; Edm 3 at Cal 2; Edm 5 at Cal 3; Cal 5 at Edm 4; Edm 4 at Cal 5; Cal 4 at Edm 7.Top goal scorers: Edm: Kurri, Gretzky 4, Lindstrom, Coffey, Linseman, D. Hunter, Messier, Anderson 3. Cal: McDonald 6, Quinn, Wilson, Reinhart 3.Overtime winners: Wilson (Cal), game two, McDonald (Cal), game six.<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1721/6590636-1-eng-US/f0007-172.jpg" title="f0007-17" width="490" height="112"></div>Game scores: Wpg 2 at Edm 9; Wpg 4 at Edm 5; Edm 4 at Wpg 1.Top goal scorers: Edm: Kurri 4, Gregg, Coffey, Semenko, Linseman 2, Wpg: McBain 2.Overtime winners: Gregg (Edm), game two.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1820/6590629-1-eng-US/f0007-182.jpg" title="f0007-18" width="484" height="116"></div>Game scores: Van 3 at Cal 5; Van 2 at Cal 4; Cal 0 at Van 7; Cal 5 at Van 1.Top goal scorers: Cal: Reinhart 3, Eaves, Loob, Risebrough 2. Van: Halward 3, Neely, Gillis, Smyl 2.Overtime winners: none.<h3>LEADING PLAYOFF SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1919/6590622-1-eng-US/f0007-192.jpg" title="f0007-19" width="530" height="407"></div> &#9632;

f0007-06

Stanley Cup Playoff Picture

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03680/6590577-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="589" height="1413"><figcaption class="caption-body">Willi Plett let loose with his frustration to score the game-tying goal.</figcaption></div>As this issue was going to press, Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota North Stars were set to play the opening game of the best-of-seven Campbell Conference championship.The Oilers came close to missing the conference final as they were taken to the seven-game limit in the Smythe Division championship by a plucky Calgary Flame team. Only a total team effort by the Oilers in the third period kept them alive in the playoffs.Minnesota also had a tough time in the Norris Division final and it took an overtime goal by Mr. April, Steve Payne, to maintain their Stanley Cup aspirations.<h2>EDMONTON VS. CALGARY</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011567/6590591-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="137" height="135"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021054/6590584-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="155" height="135"></div>Game Four: Amid charges and counter charges that each team was out to get the other, the Edmonton Oilers came up with a 5-3 victory over Calgary Flames to stretch their Smythe Division final series lead to 3-1.Jan Kurri and Mark Messier scored timely goals to break out of a 2-2 deadlock and send the powerful Oilers on their way to their sixth win of the 1984 playoffs. The Flames battled back to within a goal of Edmonton after Lanny McDonald counted at 2:43 of the third period. But the Oilers took the play away from the home-town Flames, outshooting them 17-9 in the last period. Just when the Flames threatened to close the gap even more, Dave Hunter settled the verdict when he scored at 19:30 on a pass from Wayne Gretzky to deflate the Flames. It was his second goal of the game.Willy Lindstrom had the other Edmonton score. Gretzky was limited to one assist. Ed Beers and Paul Reinhart scored for Calgary as well as McDonald.Edmonton coach Glen Sather didn&rsquo;t speak too kindly of the Flames. &ldquo;They spent more time trying to maim our hockey team than trying to beat us,&rdquo; commented Sather.The game was bitterly played with Calgary taking 10 of the 17 penalties meted out, including a major to Tim Hunter for fighting with Hunter.Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr went all the way for his third win of the series.Game Five: The Calgary Flames averted elimination from the Stanley Cup playoffs by upsetting the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in the fifth game of their best-of-seven Smythe Division final series.The Oilers, needing only a victory on home ice to wrap up the series, failed to get their act together as the Flames battled furiously to force a sixth game. Three first-period goals wasn&rsquo;t quite enough and Calgary had to come up with two more in the second and then resort to some tough checking to hold off the powerful Oilers, who outshot them 12-8 in the final 20 minutes of play.Calgary held a two-goal advantage on two separate occasions as Jamie Macoun, Dan Quinn and Jim Peplinski scored in the first period before Lanny McDonald and Mike Eaves counted in the second period. Goalie Rejean Lemelin came up big for the Flames as he handled 33 of the 37 shots the Oilers directed at him.Willy Lindstrom, Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier scored for the Oilers. The Flames did another masterful checking job on Wayne Gretzky for the second straight game as they held him not only scoreless, but pointless also.The game failed to produce the predicted fireworks from bad blood exhibited by the teams in earlier games of the series. Only 14 penalties were called and aside from two second-period skirmishes, the teams stuck to hard-hitting hockey.Game Six: The Calgary Flames refused to roll over and play dead for the Edmonton Oilers for the second straight game as they squeaked past the highly-favored Oilers 5-4 to force a seventh and deciding game in their best-of-seven Smythe Division final series.Right winger Lanny McDonald was the hero for the Flames as he scored the game-winning goal after only a minute and four seconds of overtime play. The veteran Flame, who has scored six times in the series against Edmonton, slapped a shot from the outside of the right faceoff circle at a difficult angle. The puck appeared to strike something on the way past Oiler goaltender Grant Fuhr.McDonald, who failed to pick up a point in the Flames&rsquo; first playoff series, scored the first goal of the game to start the Flames&rsquo; offense moving. Calgary held leads of 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 before Mark Messier scored for the Oilers in the final period to send the game into overtime.Besides McDonald&rsquo;s two goals, Jim Peplinski, Dan Quinn and Paul Reinhart, with his sixth of the playoffs, scored for Calgary. Ken Linseman, Glenn Anderson, Dave Semenko and Messier were the marksmen for Edmonton.Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers failed to score for the fourth straight game in the series as the Hames kept up their fiendish checking tactics and hard bumping in ar effort to destroy Gretzky&rsquo;s concentration and scoring effectiveness.Game Seven: The Edmonton Oilers after losing the last two games of their Smythe Division final series, came ou all fired up for the seventh and deciding game as they trounced the pesky Calgary Hames 7-4 to advance into the Campbel Conference finals against Minnesota.The Flames, employing close checking and heavy hitting tactics to slow down the faster Oilers, simply ran out of steam as Edmonton free-wheeled, led by Wayne Gretzky, to score four straight goals after Calgary had grabbed a 4-3 lead. It was Edmonton&rsquo;s finest performance of the elongated series, which had been forecast as ending after four or five games with the Oilers an easy winner. Nothing was farther from the truth.Jari Kurri, with his seventh and eighth playoff goals, led the Oilers to a 4-3 victory in their best-of-seven conference final series. The win advanced Edmonton to the Campbell final with Minnesota providing the opposition.Gretzky took the iniative in the windup game as he scored once and set up two other goals, killed several penalties and played relentlessly to give the Oilers the leadership they needed. Lee Fogolin, Glenn Anderson, Ken Linseman and Pat Hughes scored the other Edmonton goals.The Hames, who kept pace with the powerful Oilers for half the game, finally wilted in the last seven minutes of the second period as the Oilers scored three unanswered goals. Goalie Rejean Lemelin was a standout for the Flames as he handled 43 shots and was constantly under fire from the Oilers.Carey Wilson, Steve Bozek, Allan Maclnnis and Steve Konroyd notched the Calgary goals.<h2>ST. LOUIS VS. MINNESOTA</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-04456/6590570-1-eng-US/f0007-042.jpg" title="f0007-04" width="137" height="138"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-05319/6590563-1-eng-US/f0007-052.jpg" title="f0007-05" width="152" height="132"></div>Game Four: The Minnesota North Stars received a big effort from ailing Brian Bellows to grab the key fourth game of their Norris Division final series on St. Louis ice, winning 3-2.Splitting the games in St. Louis was something the North Stars considered vital if they had any chance to win their best-of-seven series and move into the Campbell Conference finals.Bellows, suffering from a severe case of the flu, suited up for the game and even produced an important shorthanded goal for the North Stars as they deadlocked their series at two games each, giving them the advantage of home ice in two of the final three games of the series. In addition, Bellows assisted on the game&rsquo;s opening goal by Keith Acton.It was also the first goal of the 1984 playoffs for Bellows and his play won the admiration of St. Louis coach Jacques Demers, who said he knew it was simply a matter of time before Bellows played a key role in the series.&ldquo;He scored a big goal and he played well,&rdquo; said Demers, who was unaware Bellows was sick.Minnesota coach Bill Mahoney frankly didn&rsquo;t think Bellows would be able to play in the game because of a high fever. But the plucky Minnesota dressed and turned in a creditable performance to spark the Stars to victory.Tom McCarthy scored what amounted to the game-winning goal for Minnesota&rdquo; at 8:01 of the second period on a power play. Glenn Anderson of St. Louis was in the penalty box when McCarthy combined with Dino Ciccarelli and Dennis Maruk for the North Stars&rsquo; third goal. It was also his first of the playoffs.Greg Paslawski and Bernie Federko were the marksmen for the Blues, who managed to outshoot the Stars 33-26 but not outscore them.Game Five: The Minnesota North Stars put the St. Louis Blues squarely behind the eight ball as they romped to a 6-0 win to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Norris Division final series.Goalie Don Beaupre, posting his first ever NHL shutout, stopped 29 shots as the Blues&rsquo; offense came up empty handed despite outshooting the North Stars.Defense was the key for Minnesota as Beaupre combined with a solid blueline performance from the North Stars to thwart the Blues. St. Louis kept the Stars from getting a shot at goalie Mike Liut for nearly the first 10 minutes of the game. But once Steve Payne connected at 10:50, the flood gates opened and the North Stars took over control of the rest of the game.Defenseman Craig Levie, Keith Acton, Dennis Maruk, with his fifth goal of the playoffs, Willie Plett and Neal Broten were the other Minnesota snipers. Acton was the game&rsquo;s offensive star gamering a goal and two assists.The North Stars scored a seventh goal when Maruk whipped the puck past Beaupre late in the second period but referee Bob Myers disallowed the score when he ruled Dino Ciccarelli was standing in the St. Louis goal crease.Minnesota drew nine of the 17 penalties and scored only one power-play goal in eight attempts. Liut was lifted by the Blues in favor of backup goalie Rick Heinz.Game Six: The St. Louis Blues averted elimination from the playoffs as they blanked the North Stars 4-0 to square their best-of-seven Norris Division final series at 3-3.Goalie Mike Liut, recording his first playoff shutout of his career, turned in a spectacular game as he stopped 32 shots by Minnesota. It was the 38th consecutive appearance in a playoff series for Liut, who stopped North Stars&rsquo; Brent Ashton from point blank range on a power play late in the first period to turn the game in the Blues&rsquo; favor.St. Louis rebounded from a 6-0 whipe-out in the fifth game to square the series. Veteran Bernie Federko scored a first-period goal at 11:21 and it was really all they needed to beat the Stars. Federko&rsquo;s goal was his fourth of the playoffs. Joe Mullen, Wayne Babych and rookie Perry Ganchar added the other goals for the Blues.Game Seven: An overtime goal by Steve Payne, his second game-winner of the playoffs, lifted the Minnesota North Stars into the Campbell Conference finals as they outlasted the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in the deciding seventh game of their Norris Division series.Payne&rsquo;s goal came after six minutes of sudden-death overtime when he stole the puck off St. Louis defenseman Tim Bothwell and ripped a shot past an unsuspecting Mike Liut to break the 3-3 tie. Ironically, it was only Payne&rsquo;s second goal of the playoffs.Minnesota coach Bill Mahoney said, &ldquo;It was fitting for the series to end this way&mdash;right down to the seventh game and overtime. We outplayed and outshot them and deserved to win the game.&rdquo;Liut was bombarded with 43 shots by the Stars as he held the Blues in the game.The series win pushed the North Stars into a best-of-seven showdown in the Campbell Conference final against the Edmonton Oilers in the second to last step to the Stanley Cup finals.Willi Plett emerged as a scoring hero for the North Stars collecting two goals, one in the first period and the second with less than six minutes to play in the final period to force the game into overtime.Gordie Roberts counted the other Minnesota goal. Brian Sutter, Jorgen Pettersen, with his seventh of the playoffs, and Mark Reeds, were the marksmen for St. Louis. &#9632;

f0007-03

Oilers, Stars Advance To Campbell Final

The International Hockey WeeklyFounded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>Hats Off To Harry</h2>&ldquo;A WORD OF advice to the NHL: Don&rsquo;t bother (trying to save the St. Louis Blues). If there is one certainty in this entire St. Louis-to-Saskatoon affair, it is that hockey isn&rsquo;t financially viable in Missouri. Evidence is abundant&hellip;The NHL has to face the fact the Blues are not a viable operation in St. Louis. &ldquo;&mdash;Editorial in the Feb. 4, 1983 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS.&ldquo;Conclusion: Despite being a great hockey city, St. Louis doesn&rsquo;t have the financial wherewithal to sustain a healthy NHL franchise.&rdquo;&mdash;Editorial in the May 6, 1983 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS.&ldquo;Let it suffice to say that the NHL is wasting its time trying to find a buyer who will keep the Blues in St. Louis&hellip;the bottom line is that the Blues are finished in St. Louis. &ldquo;&mdash;Editorial in the July 15th, 1983 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS.&ldquo;(perhaps) the Blues haven&rsquo;t been saved from anything, except maybe death with dignity. &ldquo;&mdash;Editorial in the Sept. 1st, 1983 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS.&ldquo;(Harry Ornest) bought the Blues with mirrors. I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if they come to the league by mid-season asking for another loan.&rdquo;&mdash;Pittsburgh Penguin governor Paul Martha, quoted in the Sept. 1, 1983 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS after the NHL board of governors approved the sale of the Blues to Harry OrnestNEVER LET IT be said that THE HOCKEY NEWS doesn&rsquo;t admit when it was wrong. So what else can we say? You win some, you lose some&hellip;You can&rsquo;t win them all&hellip;What about Paul Martha? He was wrong, too, wasn&rsquo;t he?Forget the excuses. Perhaps it is best summed up in two simple sentences.We are sorry. We were wrong.The apology and the admission are directed at three parties. They are, in no particular order, the hockey fans of St. Louis, St. Louis Blue owner Harry Ornest and the National Hockey League.Now, this is not to say that if we had stock in the New York Islanders, New York Rangers or Quebec Nordiques, we&rsquo;d give it all up for a piece of the action in St. Louis. The Blues are not the strongest team, financially speaking, in the NHL. But, unlike one year ago, they are not on death&rsquo;s doorstep either.We never doubted that there are and always will be a solid core of hockey fans in St. Louis. We did, however, doubt that anyone could pull all the behind-the-scenes financial pieces together to make a go of it there. Heck, even Paul Martha agreed with us&mdash;and so did a lot of other people&mdash;although we always suspected Martha wanted to see the Blues dispersed so the Penguins would get first pick (Brian Sutter perhaps?) in the dispersal draft.So, despite the fact that the Blues are running on a shoestring budget and they haven&rsquo;t completely turned the comer to economic prosperity, it&rsquo;s hats off to Harry Ornest and his staff for the job they have done this past season.Director of player personnel Ron Caron and coach Jacques Demers have managed to put together a hard-working, competitive team that gives the fans good value for their money. The Blues&rsquo; relative playoff success is as good a testament to that as anything else.And we musn&rsquo;t forget the folks at the NHL&rsquo;s head office. John Ziegler and his colleagues were adamant about keeping a team in St. Louis. They are to be congratulated for persisting when it would have been very easy to let the Blues die.And finally, bouquets to the St. Louis fans who stood by their team in the dark days and who were rewarded with some good playoff hockey this season and probably more to come in future years.And you know what? It was easy to admit we were wrong about the Blues because we&rsquo;re delighted they&rsquo;re still around and we hope they will be for many more years to come. &#9632;

<div class="byline">BY TRENT FRAYNE</div>Everyone is terribly upset over the brawl in Montreal. Two unrestrained outbursts, one as the second period ended and the other as the third period was about to begin, accounted for 248 minutes in penalties. That&rsquo;s more than four hours. Grotesque.The outraged public talked of little else during the peace of Easter weekend.&ldquo;Did you see the Canadiens and the Nordiques?&rdquo; guys would ask at the squash clubs and the ballpark and some of the golf courses that opened. &ldquo;Wasn&rsquo;t it a disgrace?&rdquo;&ldquo;Disgusting,&rdquo; was usually the reply. Then, after an appropriate pause, &ldquo;Hey, the series between the Canadiens and the Islanders ought to be a classic.&rdquo;&ldquo;Right, the old regime and the new. Who do you like?&rdquo;So much for the revolting brawl in Montreal. Disgusting may have been the word for it&mdash;even abhorrent&mdash;but not quite so disgusting or abhorrent that the fans picketed the rink or the National Hockey League called an emergency meeting to ban fights or season-ticket holders cancelled their subscriptions.After a hockey fight, the headlines are usually predictable. Brawl Mars Bruin win, they&rsquo;ll read But brawls don&rsquo;t always mar wins; sometimes, they&rsquo;re the highlight Ask anybody who was there. &ldquo;Wow, what a fight!&rdquo; the fans cry. Their eyes grow bright. Then, responding to their conditioning, they add, &ldquo;Those guys are sick.&rdquo;Likewise, why are the pundits crying out against the current playoff policy? When were the playoffs more exciting? The Ranger-Islander series was a classic. Interest this spring was so high in Washington that, for the first time in the 10-year history of the Capitals, there were two successive sellouts&mdash;36,260 fans for Sunday and Monday games against the Isles.&ldquo;People really got charged up during our first-round series with Philadelphia,&rdquo; reported David Poile, the Caps&rsquo; young general manager. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;d been playing under the old playoff system, the top teams against the bottom, our first-round opponent would have been Vancouver. 1 don&rsquo;t think Vancouver would have half-filled our rink and I doubt that we&rsquo;d have been a draw in theirs.&rdquo;Similarly, the Boston-Montreal series was a knockout; the Montreal-Quebec war was spellbinding (though with an obligatory Brawl Mars Hab win, of course) and how can anyone disparage the Flames and the Oilers in seven games for the championship of Alberta? When has there been so many engrossing matchups&mdash;and this includes the seven-game series between the Blues and the North Stars? Though it didn&rsquo;t attract wide interest in Canada, there were no reports of empty seats in St. Louis or Minnesota.Meantime, back in the land of Brawl Mars Hab win, it is often forgotten that hockey was never intended to be basketball on skates. It is really only since a U.S. magazine, Sports Illustrated, began throwing up its hands in horror whenever one of its tweedy scribes went to the fights and a hockey game broke out that Canadians have taken to tut-tutting over what used to be called donny-brooks.Hockey is a robust game with no place for goons but room for unseemly outbursts now and then (nobody needs too much of anything). The rule-makers have done a good job of imposing restrictions commensurate with the nature of the game. This latter, by the way, reflects the kind of people we are, as Montreal&rsquo;s acclaimed novelist, Hugh McLennan, recognized years ago.It is 30 years since McLennan spelled it out in a piece for the old Holiday magazine. &ldquo;To spectator and player alike, hockey gives the release that strong liquor gives to a repressed man,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;It is the counterpoint of the Canadian self-restraint. It takes us back to the fiery blood of Gallic and Celtic ancestors who found themselves minorities in a cold, new environment and had to discipline themselves as all minorities must.&ldquo;But Canadians take the ferocity of their national game so much for granted that, when an American visitor makes polite mention of it, they look at him in astonishment. Hockey violent? Well, perhaps it is a little. But hockey was always like that.&rdquo;Amen. McLennan logic goes unmarred.This column originally appeared in the April 23 edition of the Toronto Globe and Mail. &#9632;

What’s All The Fuss About The Fighting?

Want to voice your opinion on an issue? Send your letters to: FAN FORUM, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills. Ont., M3B 2R2.<h2>CHANGE FOR THE BEST</h2>Your editorial, An Image Problem (April 13), made no sense at all. Changing to a responsible, effective playoff format would be anything but &ldquo;shortsighted.&rdquo; In fact, it is exactly because &ldquo;those balances of power shift like the wind&rdquo; that an equitable format, like seeding teams based on their records and having No. 1 play No. 16, etc., is absolutely necessary. Only then will the best two teams meet in the finals and THE HOCKEY NEWS should admit it.The integrity of the NHL can not withstand year after year of undeserving teams advancing in the playoffs (or deserving teams facing no competition until the semifinals round, if then), regardless of which division or conference is the beneficiary of that imbalance. I fear hat THE HOCKEY NEWS advocates keeping the present format because, as a mouthpiece for the hockey establishment, it favours Canadian franchises over American ones and Wayne Gretzky over the best interests of the game.Face it, the present format virtually guarantees that a Canadian club (and not just Edmonton) will have a shot at the Cup&mdash;regardless of merit. If this is the NHL&rsquo;s aim, why not legitimize it by splitting the conferences along national lines?I also fear that the day after Gretzky&rsquo;s name is etched on the Cup (if ever), THE HOCKEY NEWS will miraculously see the error of its ways and call for a fair playoff format.Comparisons with other sport&rsquo;s playoff systems fall flat: the NFL seeds its teams in playoff competition and Major League baseball plays a balanced regular-season schedule.Hockey&rsquo;s image problem can only be exacerbated by THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; unconscionable position on this matter.Alex Carswell Chicago, IL<h2>BIG ON BANNERMAN</h2>I am a HOCKEY NEWS subscriber serving in the U.S. Air Force, currently stationed in Florida and an avid fan. Since there is no hockey here, I look forward to my weekly issue to keep me up on the world of hockey.I was reading the Feb. 24 issue when I came across Steve Simmons&rsquo; column and was appalled at what I read. The article concerned Rejean Lemelin, goaltender for the Calgary Flames. While you spoke highly of Lemelin, you also mentioned Chicago Blackhawk goaltender Murray Bannerman (but) your opinions about this great goaltender were very unflattering. Being a Chicago native and an avid Black Hawk fan, I could not let these unrighteous opinions go unanswered.You talked of Lemelin as an &ldquo;All-World&rdquo; goalie. Just because he had a hot streak before the All-Star break does not mean he should be &ldquo;All-World.&rdquo; I have nothing against Lemelin or Calgary. I am impressed with Calgary this year, as well as Lemelin&rsquo;s statistics, but to refer to the goalie with the best goals-against average in the Campbell Conference as a &ldquo;so-called&rdquo; All-Star is LUDICROUS! You&rsquo;re telling all these great hockey fans that the goalie with the best GAA in the Conference should not be an All-Star? Holy Cow! Come on, Steve, wake up and smell the coffeeIf you bother reading THE HOCKEY NEWS statistics section, you will notice that Calgary has allowed fewer goals and has a better record than does Chicago. Yet, Bannerman had a better GAA than did Lemelin through the first half of the season. I believe this is one of the main determining factors in the selection of All-Star goaltenders. You should know that you are a &ldquo;so-called&rdquo; sports writer.Kenneth E. Shuksta&nbsp; Mary Esther, FL &#9632;

FAN FORUM

For those hockey fans who are familiar with the THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; annual awards, they may expect to see the winners announced in this issue.After all, announcing THN award winners in the first issue each May has become something of a tradition.But it&rsquo;s time for a change.Beginning this year, we&rsquo;ll announce the award winners at a special luncheon banquet in Toronto in June. The final details of the luncheon have yet to worked out, but we will be announcing finalists in each of the award categories in the May 18th and June issues of THN.Then, in our July 15th issue, we&rsquo;ll have complete coverage of the banquet, including photos of the winners picking up their awards.In total, eight individual awards are up for grabs. On top of those, we&rsquo;ll also have a THN All-Star team. All award winners will be selected by the correspondents and editorial staff of THN.Here, then, is a rundown of what awards are available and who are the leading candidates in each category:THN Player of the Year: Edmonton Oiler superstar Wayne Gretzky has won it the past four years and we&rsquo;re not about to suggest that he&rsquo;s anything less than a heavy favorite to win it again. But, as is the case with any award that is consistently won by one individual, the day may soon arrive when the voters start taking the phenom for granted. Will it be this year? That&rsquo;s difficult to say, but players, other than Gretzky, who deserve consideration include: Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Rick Middleton, Michel Goulet, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Peter Stastny, Rod Langway, Al Jensen and Pat Riggin.THN Coach of the Year: One thing is for sure, last year&rsquo;s winner, Orval Tessier, is not in the running. The Black Hawks did not have a great year and there are plenty of rumors that Tessier will be fired. However, the Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders and Quebec Nordiques did have good seasons and that&rsquo;s why men such as Bryan Murray, Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour and Michel Bergeron are among the leading candidates for this award.THN Executive of the Year: Again, the Caps, Sabres, Islanders and Nordiques had good seasons. Therefore, David Poile, Scotty Bowman, Bill Torrey and Maurice Filion are possibilities. But voters could opt for one of the men who are rebuilding the weak sisters, such as Jimmy Devellano. And then there are those would suggest Harry Ornest, owner of the St. Louis Blues, deserves consideration for his bold move to save pro hockey in St. Louis.THN-CHRYSLER Rookie of the Year: Competition is stiff in this category. For most of the season, it was pretty much a three-man race between Buffalo Sabre goalie Tom Barrasso, Detroit Red Wing center Steve Yzerman and Hartford Whaler winger Sylvain Turgeon. All are quality players, but others will merit consideration such as Philadelphia&rsquo;s Dave Poulin and Ron Sutter, Calgary&rsquo;s Danny Quinn and Hakan Loob and St. Louis&rsquo; Doug Gilmour.THN-MICRON Junior Player of the Year: Without question, Laval Voisin scoring sensation Mario Lemieux is the No. 1 candidate to win this honor. But as talented as he is, there is some consideration given to the fact that the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is not recognized by some hockey observers as strong as the Ontario and Western Leagues. Which is why Kitchener Ranger John Tucker, who looked so good with the Buffalo Sabres late in the NHL season, and Brandon Wheat King scoring ace Ray Ferraro, who set a WHL record for goals this season, will be in the running.THN-BAUER College Player of the Year: This is one of the most competitive categories. The long list of candidates includes Minnesota-Duluth defenseman Tom Kurvers, North Dakota goalie Jon Casey, Ohio State center Paul Pooley, Western Michigan winger Dan Dorion, Boston University goalie Cleon Daskalakis and Colgate&rsquo;s Steve Smith, among others. Each of these players played vital roles for their respective team&rsquo;s this past season.THN Minor League Player of the Year: Again, a very competitive field. In the Central League, Oiler goalie John Vanbiesbrouck and Indianapolis defenseman Bruce Affleck, have to merit high consideration. In the American League, Sherbrooke&rsquo;s Claude Larose and Murray Eaves, one-two in the scoring race, are possibilities as are Rochester scoring ace Mal Davis, St. Catharines&rsquo; defenseman Garry Lariviere and Baltimore goalie Roberto Romano.THN Minor League Coach of the Year: A number of coaches performed impressively this past season. Included in that group are Fredericton Express coach Earl Jessiman, Adirondack&rsquo;s Bill Dineen and Baltimore&rsquo;s Gene Ubriaco, all of the American League. In the Central League, Tom Webster did a fine job with the homeless Oilers, ex of Tulsa, and Pierre Page of the Colorado Flames is another possibility.We won&rsquo;t speculate as to who are the leading candidates for our All-Star team. Let it suffice to say the competition to place on the six-man unit will be stiff.Stay tuned to see who are the two finalists in each of the eight categories. &#9632;

Introducing A New Format For THN Awards

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011607/6590840-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="305" height="355"></div><h2>Shero Recalls The Years</h2>EXACTLY 10 YEARS ago a remarkable hockey event took place: Fred Shero orchestrated the Philadelphia Flyers to the first Stanley Cup championship ever accomplished by an expansion team.Since then Shero has become a Flyer-in-exile, first coaching then managing the New York Rangers and, more recently, broadcasting for the New Jersey Devils.There are those who believe that Shero&rsquo;s insights into the game qualify him as a major-league coach today and that may be true. Only a superior hockey mind could have directed the Flyers to a Cup win in 1974&mdash;and again in 1975.That Shero mind just as sharp today and his perception of hockey is more relevant than ever on the 10th anniversary of the day that champagne was swilled on Broad Street. The following are some of Fred&rsquo;s more cogent observations on hockey then, now and tomorrow.Q. You minimized the star system, which was prevalent at the time.SHERO: I drove the star syndrome out of their heads. It was team first, individual second. For example Bobby Clarke gave up 20 points a year to help others. If a guy was struggling (with points), Clarke would help him. What I did for the club was get players to sacrifice themselves for the team, not for themselves.Q. Yet the star syndrome continues.SHERO: In North America everyone wants to score goals, but if the Russians beat Canada 12-0 and Kharmalov scored five goals and you asked the Russian coach, &ldquo;What did you think of Kharmalov?&rdquo; he&rsquo;d say, &ldquo;Our offense produced today&mdash;next question!&rdquo; He&rsquo;d never mention the individual. I hardly ever mentioned the individual when I talked after a game.Q. Did you really say, &ldquo;If they want to see fancy skating, let them go to the Ice Capades?&rdquo;SHERO: That is a fact. Ask any coach. That&rsquo;s what the fans want: they want somebody to get hit, bodychecked.Q. Don Cherry says that Rangers fans are frustrated because they want to see teams who hit, like your old Flyers or the Bruins, instead of Herb Brooks&rsquo; fancy skaters.SHERO: The Rangers have too many &ldquo;twirlers.&rdquo; You see, I love the European game, too, but if Herbie Brooks wins with it, I will consider it a miracle. And the reason you can&rsquo;t win with it in the NHL is that our rinks ar smaller than the European rinks. European hockey is beautiful to watch because it creates more openings but you can&rsquo;t do it well here because of the small rinks.Q. In order to win the first Stanley Cup for the Flyers you had to stop the great Bobby Orr. How did you do it?SHERO: We proved that hockey is not a one-man game. I wrote on the blackboard: &ldquo;One man can not beat 17.&rdquo; And we decided to give Orr the puck all night and eventually he was going to die. Make him handle it and then get in his way, you can&rsquo;t be penalized for that. He can&rsquo;t skate over you, unless he&rsquo;s a helluva high jumper. 1 figured that if one man was good enough to beat us we had no right to be playing. I believed that Orr could be stopped. They thought I was crazy but, game by game, they came to believe. They saw that On was tiring and that he was getting nowhere and they saw that the other players (Bruins) were doing nothing.Q. Bernie Parent&rsquo;s goaltending was considered superior in 1974 and 1975 and vital to your Cup wins. Was it really that good?SHERO: I don&rsquo;t think Parent played any better than any other goalie in the playoffs. We got big-league goaltending like we were supposed to. I think that discipline is the thing that won. I&rsquo;ll give you an example: In the final game (which the Flyers won) against Boston, Orr got a penalty late in the game. We were leading 1-0 and here&rsquo;s where I wanted to prove that one goal is as good as 10. We controlled the puck for two minutes, moved it around and around. We didn&rsquo;t want to score unless we were 100 percent certain, so we killed the puck and then Orr came out and he was so nervous, so tired that he just iced it. That was the discipline we had.Q. Do you really believe that it doesn&rsquo;t matter if a team gets a shot on its power play?SHERO: Yes! Outwork them. Make them look bad. You should only have one good shot. If you get one good shot, a good scoring shot, what more do you want? Shots from the point are giveaways. I don&rsquo;t care if the goalie is screened by five players, he should still stop that puck. But if the shot&rsquo;s in the circle and you get a good shot and you&rsquo;re in motion, a good shot should be able to beat a goalie. The trouble is North American fans demand more shots. They don&rsquo;t know that you&rsquo;re giving the puck away. Then, if the goalie stops those easy shots, the goalie gets confidence.Q. After you won the Stanley Cup in 1974and 1975 you lost it to Montreal in 1976. What happened?SHERO: I might have been outcoached (by Scotty Bowman) a little bit. Also, we had a few guys who had to be moved. They couldn&rsquo;t stand success. They weren&rsquo;t as diligent as they used to be. Management hurt them, too, by favoring certain people openly and resentment set in on the team. It got to the point where the players actually thought that Clarke was running the team and whenever the game was over the owner (Ed Snider) would run over to him and the manager (Keith Allen) would jump over to him.Q. What happened?SHERO: If I made changes the players thought, well, maybe it was Clarke&rsquo;s idea, but it wasn&rsquo;t. Clarke never opened his mouth. But dissension started to creep in. The feeling was that Clarke was the one responsible for Dave Schultz getting traded but Clarke had nothing to do with it. That was my doing. 1 tried to dispel the feeling that it was Clarke. I had open meetings on the subject but they still wouldn&rsquo;t believe it.Q. What&rsquo;s the difference between coaching in the NHL and coaching in Russia?SHERO: I once discussed the problem with two Russian coaches. They said: &ldquo;Freddie, you know what&rsquo;s wrong with you? You&rsquo;re like a bird with its wings clipped.&rdquo; I said: &ldquo;I know that and (with an owner looking over your shoulder) you&rsquo;d be in the same position in this country.&rdquo; I&rsquo;d like to coach in Europe where I&rsquo;m the boss. In North America you&rsquo;re not the boss when you&rsquo;re the coach. If I benched Bobby Orr in the seventh game of the finals, some guy (owner) would shoot me. I mean it. And maybe some guy on my own team would do it. Or my wife might.Q. Why did you leave the Flyers?SHERO: I should have assumed full control and I did not. Over the years when I fought management and became the boss, I won. When 1 did not become the boss, 1 lost. That&rsquo;s one of the reasons I left the Flyers. They started to say play this guy over that guy and bench this guy and trade that guy&mdash;without my approval. And I said, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s it!&rdquo; Once you&rsquo;re not the boss, the athletes can sense it. Then, they say, &ldquo;I got you!&rdquo;Q. Who were your favorite players on the Flyers?SHERO: I liked (Orest) Kindrachuk. He wasn&rsquo;t very big and he took a lot of punishment to make the play. A lot of players won&rsquo;t take the punishment to make the play but he won the championship (in 1975). He suckered over that big (Jerry) Korab to the boards and the whole ice was open, 80 feet for Billy Clement to score. Kindrachuk knew he was going to get creamed. Not many hockey players would do that, but he knew that it would win the Cup. I also liked Moose Dupont. He was really a team player. He wanted to win and he&rsquo;s proven he&rsquo;s a winner. He was one of the few players who came to me constantly for advice on hockey so he could study the game. I liked him as a person, his dedication and his willingness to get hurt to win. And, of course, there was Clarke. You&rsquo;ve got to like him.Q. What kind of trouble did you have with Rick MacLeish?SHERO: It was hard to motivate him to the team concept. Some players can only work as an individual. Because he has the puck he never knows what he&rsquo;s going to do. It comes by instinct alone. I think I would have done a better job if I had left him alone more often because every team has a player who really can&rsquo;t follow the team concept.Q. What was Dave Schultz&rsquo;s role on the Flyers?SHERO: Actually, we didn&rsquo;t expect him to be a tough guy when he joined the team. We felt that he had enough talent to play. It so happened that the first time we played against Chicago, (Keith) Magnuson jumped him from behind and Schultz almost killed him. Everybody on the team said, &ldquo;Hey, this guy can fight.&rsquo; So, everybody said: &ldquo;Hey, he better do the fighting for us.&rdquo; Schultz got whipped now and then but he kept coming back. He was unusual. Not everybody can face 15,000 fans and their friends and lose, even though the guy jumped you.Q. When you left the Flyers and signed with the Rangers it was reported that Bobby Clarke was upset with you. Have you reconciled?SHERO: He didn&rsquo;t know the truth. Now he accepts why I left. He said, &ldquo;I made a mistake.&rdquo; The original stories had said that I had quit and accepted an offer from the Rangers a week later. In other words, that I had dealt with them before. They were lying. I had quit a month before and I sent a letter of resignation. And they said, &ldquo;Please Freddie, don&rsquo;t publish it, because we need time to think.&rdquo; I said, fine. And then they published it and the Rangers called and I said I had resigned a month before, but Bobby didn&rsquo;t know that.Q. If you had your coaching career to do over again, what would you do differently?SHERO: Only one thing. I would never let management take over at anytime on a subject concerning the players. You know, saying, &ldquo;Play this guy, play that guy.&rdquo; I&rsquo;d cut that out immediately.Q. A lot has been said about how your Flyers beat the Rangers in 1974 after Schultz beat up the big Ranger defenseman Dale Rolfe and no Rangers stepped in to help.SHERO: The Rangers didn&rsquo;t deserve to win after what happened to Rolfe. But what got me angry was that (Vic) Hadfield. He took a penalty with two minutes left with us up 4-3 and 1 was told later that he was laughing in the penalty box. He could have waited until after the game.Q. You&rsquo;ve played with and coached a lot of remarkable players, yet the one you often laud is a fellow who is often overlooked, Charlie Rayner.SHERO: Charley was not only the best goalie I ever saw, he was the toughest player in hockey. He was so tough he might have been able to handle (Gordie) Howe. He needed no protection in front of that net. In fact he once took on the toughest guy in hockey&mdash;Kenny Reardon, a defenseman with the Canadiens&mdash;at center ice and kicked the crap out of him. Chuck was the fastest skater on our team and he could shoot the puck. He scored a lot of goals when we played in exhibition games&mdash;a goalie scoring goals&mdash;in the American League.Q. Will you ever coach again?SHERO: Definitely. I don&rsquo;t know in what capacity or what league but I don&rsquo;t think I can live without it. It&rsquo;s the only thing that would make me happy. If you give me a job for a million dollars a year I&rsquo;m not interested in it if it isn&rsquo;t hockey.Q. You&rsquo;re Flyers had a goon reputation?SHERO: If you can find one player I&rsquo;ve ever coached who can claim I ever asked him to fight. I&rsquo;ll give you a million dollars. I would say at the start of every season: &lsquo;If I ever ask you to fight, I want you to break that stick over my head.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC&mdash;There were several strange things said the night Montreal eliminated the Nordiques in the Adams Division final, but Nordique coach Michel Bergeron stunned several journalists when he threw the National Hockey League rule book into the trash can in disgust over a mistake by the officials.&ldquo;Why should I bother with a rule book that no one wishes to enforce?&rdquo; Bergeron fumed after the 5-3 Hab victory, which gave Montreal a 4-2 series triumph &ldquo;There are things that hannen out on the ice that really makes one wonder how certain decisions are made in this league.&rdquo;General manager Maurice Filion picked up right were his coach left off.&ldquo;I went to the officials for an explanation and all I got were apologies,&rdquo; Filion said. &ldquo;Once again, all they can tell me is they blew it and they are sorry but now we are eliminated from the playoffs.&rdquo;After both teams returned to their dressing rooms following a bench-clearing brawl at the 20-minute mark of the second period, referee Bruce Hood and supervisory official John McCauley huddled together to assess the penalties. However, once the penalties had been determined, Hood waited for a representative from both teams to meet with him to determine which players were ejected. When neither team sent someone, Hood assumed they had already been notified and both teams returned in full for the start of the third.The result was that two Montreal players (Chris Nilan and Richard Sevigny) who had already been ejected went after two Nordique players (Dale Hunter and Randy Moller) who were not and the Nord players were subsequently thrown out. The Nordiques had already lost center Peter Stastny with a broken nose after Mario Tremblay punched him out in the melee at the end of the second period.Minus the Nords&rsquo; top three players in the game, Montreal rebounded from a 2-0 deficit and won the game 5-2.&ldquo;McCauley could not tell me why Peter Stastny was thrown out in the first place,&rdquo; Filion said. &ldquo;He could not tell me why Montreal defenseman Craig Ludwig was not ejected after coming out from his dressing room to join in the fighting. He could not tell me why Hood gave five straight minors in a row to Quebec or why they let Ludwig clearly glove the puck for five seconds when he was caught without his stick.&rdquo;McCauley later shouldered the blame, saying it was &ldquo;the worst mistake I have ever made.&rdquo;Montreal coach Jacques Lemaire accused Bergeron of starting the whole mess in the first place and of sending Dale Hunter after Steve Penney, the Habs&rsquo; goalie.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny how I am the one who is always accused of using goon tactics,&rdquo; Bergeron said. &ldquo;But I forgive all the Montreal players who did the dirty work because I know full well who is responsible and who put them up to it.&rdquo;Lemaire said he has &ldquo;no control over his players.&rdquo;&ldquo;They said they had to eject Peter Stastny but also said they didn&rsquo;t see the fight start,&rdquo; Filion said. &ldquo;They played right into Montreal&rsquo;s hands, letting Sevigny and Tremblay get Hunter out of the game. They admit their mistakes but we have to pay the price. It really makes one wonder.&rdquo; &#9632;

Nordiques ‘Pay Price’ For Officials’ Mistake

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;The 1984 Battle Of Quebec ended with the predictable war of words but also a bloody brawl on the Forum ice.The Canadiens wrapped up the best-of-seven Adams Division final series by defeating the favoured Quebec Nordiques 5-2 in the sixth game after splitting contests earlier in the week, losing 4-3 in game four and winning 4-0 in the fifth game.It had been expected all along that the confrontation between the two Quebec provincial rivals would be bitter, however no one expected the scene on Good Friday at the Forum.As the siren sounded to end the second period, Quebec center Dale Hunter elbowed Guy Carbonneau of the Canadiens while the two were on the ice. That brought all the players on the ice over to the scene and then both benches cleared.The most noticeable fight featured Montreal&rsquo;s Chris Nilan and Quebec&rsquo;s Randy Moller, which resulted in Moller suffering a cut near his left eye. While Moller and Nilan were battling, Quebec&rsquo;s Louis Sleigher and former Nordique Jean Hamel were wrestling in the right wing faceoff circle. The two waltzed out to the blueline and then back into the Quebec end before linesman John D&rsquo;Amico and Hamel&rsquo;s teammate Mario Tremblay attempted to intervene. While they were doing so, Sleigher sucker-punched Hamel to the ice and Hamel lay there for several minutes.There was some fear that Hamel had suffered a concussion and a broken nose, but he insisted he was just exhausted from the fight.The next day Hamel&rsquo;s right eye was totally shut and he complained of a sore shoulder but he was expected to be in uniform for the opening of the Prince of Wales Conference final against the New York Islanders.Unfortunately, the brawling didn&rsquo;t stop after the post-second period nonsense. After a 25-minute intermission, the players from both teams returned to the ice just in time to hear which players had been ejected from the game by referee Bruce Hood.Mark Hunter of the Canadiens went looking for Sleigher and then the trouble began again.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t look Jean in the eye if I hadn&rsquo;t gone after him,&rdquo; said Hunter, who received his second game misconduct of the playoffs and an automatic one-game suspension.&ldquo;I have had more bad luck than 10 men. There is nothing I can do about the suspension now. I went through a lot of aggravation during the regular season, so I guess I can stand one more game.&rdquo;Hunter denied he had gone after his brother Dale during the pre-third period melee, but admitted he pulled his brother off Tremblay.&ldquo;There were three guys on top of Mario and I just dove in and pulled him (Dale) off,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everybody tries to make something out of it.&rdquo;The Nordiques were leading 1-0 at the time of the brawling and moved into a 2-0 lead after play resumed in the third period. Montreal rallied for five goals in a span of eight minutes and eight seconds and went on to record their 5-3 victory before 18,090 screaming fans.Instead of concentrating on the excellent hockey that was played in the series, much of the attention was focused on the violence and the work of referee Bruce Hood in game six. Quebec coach Michel Bergeron accused Canadien backup goaltender Richard Sevigny of going after Dale Hunter in the pre-third period brawl to get him ejected from the game.The Canadiens claimed the Nordiques were trying to take advantage of coach Jacques Lemaire dressing only five defensemen with the Quebec players deliberately attempting to take Montreal defensemen off the ice with them in altercations.&ldquo;We were told to stay out of it,&rdquo; said Larry Robinson. &ldquo;It was pretty tough not to get involved, but we knew the situation.&rdquo;Robinson was infuriated with Sleigher&rsquo;s shot at Hamel and wondered aloud if the Quebec right winger really belonged in the National Hockey League.Fortunately for the Canadiens and Nordiques there was no game seven because the bitter feeling was still there two days after the Friday night fighting.&ldquo;Our year was a so-so year, but if we had lost the series to Quebec it would have been the lowest part of our year,&rdquo; offered defenseman Craig Ludwig. &ldquo;We knew there were a lot of people who said the series could go either way. In our minds it could go only one way.&rdquo;Ludwig added that the pressure will not increase on the Canadiens even though they now must face the four-time Stanley Cup champion Islanders who are making their Drive For Five to equal Montreal&rsquo;s championship streak set between 1956 and 1960.&ldquo;Personally, I feel as the success goes on and we keep on winning, it seems that every game we play we do a little bit better,&rdquo; Ludwig said. &ldquo;The pressure seems to go away and the confidence seems to build and that is what this team has needed all year long.&rdquo;Lemaire, who did not shake Quebec coach Michel Bergeron&rsquo;s hand after the Good Friday game, said the Islanders are the best club in the National Hockey League.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re good at all positions, goal-tending, defense and forwards, we have a chance to beat the best. It&rsquo;s a big challenge,&rdquo; he said.Under the new playoff format the Canadiens enjoyed home-ice advantage against the Islanders even though they finished with 29 fewer points in the regular season. The Adams Division finished with a cumulative 47-32-11 record against teams in th Patrick Division, thus earning the Adams Division champion home-ice advantage.The Canadiens were 6-9-2 against Patrick Division foes and 0-3 against the Islanders, who outscored Montreal 21-7 in their three games. &#9632;

Habs Don’t Expect Pressure To Increase

THE HOCKEY NEWS is delighted to announce that JOFA-VOLVO Canada Ltd. has agreed to sponsor the Minor Hockey Player Showcase in THE HOCKEY NEWS throughout the 1984-1985 season.Starting with the October 26,1984 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS and in a total of 22 issues during the season, a JOFA minor hockey player will be featured each week from nominees submitted by minor coaches and others in both the U.S. and Canada.All nominees will be eligible for a draw and the winner will receive a special award to be presented by THE HOCKEY NEWS at its annual awards ceremony to which the winner and his family will be invited to attend with all hotel and transportation expenses paid by JOFA. In addition, the youngster named Minor Hockey Player of 1984-85 will receive a complete set of JOFA hockey equipment.Minor hockey associations in Canada and the United States are invited to submit their nominees for the weekly showcase beginning June 1, 1984. Complete details on the nominees including a black and white photograph and biography with pertinent statistics should be sent to THE HOCKEY NEWS at 85 Scarsdale Road, Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2.THE HOCKEY NEWS prides itself on its involvement in all levels of hockey. We are pleased that this special sponsorship provided by JOFA will permit THE HOCKEY NEWS to take a more direct and active role in the recognition and development of the game at the minor level, which is, it is generally agreed, the most important in terms of sustained future growth for the sport.If you have any questions or if we at THE HOCKEY NEWS can be of help to you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me.All the best,Dean HeinePublisher &#9632;

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;Despite any rumors you may have heard to the contrary, Scotty Bowman will be back managing the Sabres next season. Both he and Seymour H. Knox HI, chairman of the board, say so.Will Scotty coach again? Well, that&rsquo;s another question. Bowman already has quit coaching and returned four times since he signed on as the Sabres&rsquo; director of hockey operations June 11,1979, during the National Hockey League meetings in Montreal.After the Sabres made a hasty exit in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Bowman said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to talk to them (Seymour and Northrup Knox, who run the club) in a few weeks. Until then, nothing is set.&ldquo;I will say, we don&rsquo;t have a contract problem.&rdquo;When Bowman came to the Sabres from the Montreal Canadiens, he reportedly signed a contract for five years. Those five years are up. When asked whether he signed a new contract, Bowman said: &ldquo;I said a long time ago I have signed three different contracts here. I don&rsquo;t have a contract problem, I can tell you that.&rdquo;Knox confirmed that Bowman will return to the Sabres next season but wouldn&rsquo;t talk about his contract or his duties.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t discussed any details as yet,&rdquo; said Knox.Last summer, the club and Bowman put off committing themselves on who would coach the club until just before training camp. Perhaps they will do the same this year.But it seems pretty sure that Bowman will coach.He has said he would like to coach until he holds the NHL all-time victory record for coaches. Dick Irvin with 690 is the only coach with more wins than Bowman. Bowman needs only 21 more to pass Irvin.Bowman once said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m close enough that I think I should try for it (the record). I was a little tired of coaching until we got a bunch of new players. Those young players got me going again.&rdquo;This is Bowman&rsquo;s team, the current Sabres who did so well during the season, then collapsed at the end. It only seems appropriate that Bowman would want to get them back on track and make them into true Stanley Cup contenders.Only seven players remain on the club from die one he took over in 1979 and two of them, Jerry Korab and Bob Sauve, were traded away then reacquired.The 1983-84 team accomplished quite a bit before it blew the division championship in the final week, then lost three straight to the Quebec Nordiques.It won more road games (23) than any Sabre team in history set a league record of 10 road wins in a row. They didn&rsquo;t lose in January, going 13 consecutive games without a loss and set a club record of 10 straight victories.They finished second in the league in goals-against and won more games (48) than they had in any other season but one. They lost only once in 13 overtime games.Bowman received a hail of criticism from media and fans after the Sabres lost three straight to the Nordiques. He didn&rsquo;t show up to speak to the press after the first two games of the playoffs but did appear after the third, in Quebec, and talked until there were no more questions.The man who coached Montreal to five Stanley Cups was bothered by the criticism&mdash;he went into it on his radio talk show after the playoffs, but then he quietly started preparing for next season.Bowman wouldn&rsquo;t say much about what went wrong at the end. All he would say is that he doesn&rsquo;t figure the collapse at the end will hurt his young team next season.&ldquo;They are young guys, they will bounce back,&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;Quite a few of them, Phil Housley, Dave Andreychuk, Paul Cyr&mdash;they would only be turning pro now in the days before the underage draft. They are young.&ldquo;Our defense is solid and I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;ll have trouble scoring. The goaltending is good.&rdquo; &#9632;

Irvin’s Coaching Record May Make Bowman Stay

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011469/6590998-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bruin captain Terry O&rsquo;Reilly spent last summer rehabilitating an injured knee, but this summer he&rsquo;ll work on a damaged shoulder.</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;Take it from Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, the class act of the 1983-84 season was performed by Ryan Walter of the Montreal Canadiens during a brawl March 31 at Boston Garden.It was one of those angry little games where you swing first and ask about it later.&ldquo;We collided,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Reilly, &ldquo;and I think it knocked him off balance and he swung around. His stick caught me in the head. It probably was an accident but at the time I just felt the stick slamming off the back of my head and I went after him. In a game that&rsquo;s that physical, you catch a stick in the head and you don&rsquo;t really want to give him the benefit of the doubt.&ldquo;Anyway, we went down and I felt my shoulder pop and I said, &lsquo;I think my shoulder&rsquo;s out again.&rsquo; He just said, &ldquo;Okay, take it easy,&rsquo; and that was it. A lot of guys would have just grabbed it and given it a little tug.&rdquo;Just a little tug might have, at best, ended the season for O&rsquo;Reilly right then and there. At worst, it might have ended his career.It was common knowledge throughout the last three months of the season that O&rsquo;Reilly&rsquo;s right shoulder was held together by nothing more substantial than muscle and ligaments.It popped out more often than a jack-in-the-box.On the morning of April 14, less than a week after the Bruins&rsquo; season ended so disastrously in Montreal, O&rsquo;Reilly entered Massachusetts General Hospital for surgery to put the shoulder back in place, more or less permanently.It will mean another long summer of recuperation and rehabilitation for the Bruin captain who turns 33 on June 7. Last summer he spent restoring his left knee after surgery to correct massive ligament damage.&lsquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of choice. I&rsquo;ll go with the harness that keeps the arm down and see what happens or I&rsquo;ll go in and have the surgery.&rsquo;O&rsquo;Reilly suffered the right shoulder injury Dec. 30 in a game at Edmonton. He missed six games, came back for four, missed six more when it popped out in Buffalo, came back for six, missed another, came back again and finally had to sit out the season&rsquo;s final game.Why did he play?&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t do any more damage to it,&rdquo; he said after coming back for the second time. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dislocation. It comes out and 1 put it back in. The only way to fix it properly is surgically and the rehabilitation time, I think, is three or four months.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of choice. I&rsquo;ll go with the harness that keeps the arm down and see what happens or I&rsquo;ll go in and have the surgery. If it gets to the point where I can&rsquo;t play, where I can&rsquo;t stay in shape, then I&rsquo;ll have to make a decision.&lsquo;The main problem I have is that it has to be reset by the doctors and it&rsquo;s a question of how much pain there is.&ldquo;When it comes out it stretches all the muscles and ligaments in the whole area and sometimes in resetting it you stretch them even more. If you really stretch them out, then they seize up. The shoulder turns into cement for a day or two. I have no strength or motion.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN&mdash;Rick Middleton won the Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy, given to the Boston player who is most outstanding in home games, for the fourth time in six years. Only Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito (five each) have won it more times. Middleton also won the Bruins&rsquo; radio network three-star award for the sixth straight year.Mike O&rsquo;Connell took the Seventh Player Award, presented by the Bruins&rsquo; TV Network to the player who performed the most beyond expectations. It&rsquo;s voted for by the fans.The Gallery Gods, the fans who have had seats in the uppermost balcony for 50 years in some cases, honored Mike Krushelnyski as their offensive player, backup goalie Doug Keans as their defensive favorite and Mike Milbury just on general principles. &#9632;

f0013-01

O’Reilly To Spend Summer On The Mend

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>A bitter feud is simmering between Whaler boss Emile Francis and St. Louis owner Harry Omest. So far, Francis has done all the talking, twitting the savior of the team from which he ran. Francis&rsquo; subjects have ranged from Omest&rsquo;s fiscal operations to the Blues&rsquo; dealing Bob Brooke to the Rangers. The acrimony has reached a point where St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Ron Cobb wrote a story headlined, Omest-Francis Feud Is Among Hockey&rsquo;s Best. While Francis needles, Omest remains discreetly silent, smiling only long enough to say: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not interested in discussing anything about Mr. Francis formerly of St. Louis-!&rdquo;&hellip;Bryan Lewis has somehow emerged as the favorite of the NHL refereeing high command. One source says the zebra-keepers are down on Bruce Hood&hellip;Flyer Hall of Famer and goalie aide. Bernie Parent, has become disenchanted with general manager-coach Bob McCammon&hellip;A decision on structuring the Devil hierarchy for next season is due momentarily with the odds favoring the return of coach Tom McVie and GM Max McNab&hellip;The Red Wings, one of the biggest grossing teams in the NHL, pulled in about $600,000 for the two playoff games at Joe Louis Arena&hellip;A report circulating at the start of the Cup rounds suggested that Herb Brooks would be gone if the Rangers were knocked out of the first series and Pat Quinn would replace him. But the Rangers performed so well it&rsquo;s doubtful the Madison Square Garden people will make such a move&hellip;Penguin honcho Paul Martha denies that next season is decisive for the team&rsquo;s future in Pittsburgh but other members of the NHL inner circle are not so sure. One important hockey figure believes that the Edward DeBartolo family is considering bailing out after the 1984-85 season. &ldquo;If his club is not competitive next year,&rdquo; says the tipster, &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;ll drop the team.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Appearing on a television show replaying the classic Islander-Ranger fifth game finale, rookie James Patrick was asked to describe the moves made by John Tonelli and Glen Hanlon on Tonelli&rsquo;s missed breakaway in the third period. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry,&rdquo; said Patrick, &ldquo;but I was just like a fan. When Tonelli got free I just put my head down on the bench and closed my eyes &lsquo;til it was over.&rdquo; Hanlon, by the way, made the save&hellip;Mike Krushelnyski&rsquo;s name pops up whenever shake-up-the-Bruins talk is heard.Cap coach Bryan Murray still seethes over the goon tactics he charges that his Flyer counterpart, Bob McCammon, employed in the opening playoff round. Murray singles out Dave Brown, Philly&rsquo;s behemoth, as symbolic of what&rsquo;s wrong with the Flyers. &ldquo;Brown doesn&rsquo;t even belong in the league,&rdquo; Murray tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;There are dozens of players in the minors who could play better than him.&rdquo; Murray says the work of defenseman Larry Murphy has been his biggest and most pleasant surprise of the season&hellip;Although reports have been circulating that the NHL will attempt some video replays for critical officiating decisions in the playoffs next year, John Ferguson insists that it&rsquo;ll never happen. &ldquo;The league is afraid to take that step,&rdquo; Fergie tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;ll never get off the table.&rdquo; Pushing for the ref-video plan, Ferguson recalls that a bad referee&rsquo;s decision last spring cost his Jets a game &ldquo;and $230,000 we lost at the gate.&rdquo; Asked whether he favors video replays to aid the refs, Cap GM David Poile nixes the idea. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more interesting the way we have it now,&rdquo; Poile tells BLUELINES&hellip;A measure of the Blues&rsquo; appeal was the fact that the NHL club was the number one sports page story&mdash;over the Cardinals&mdash;on opening day of the baseball season in St. Louis&hellip;The city of Hamilton continues to be mentioned as the site of any current NHL team that wishes to relocate with Pittsburgh being the most obvious.More and more, an 11-0 Whaler victory over the Oilers last March is being pinpointed as the cause of a grand mistake in the Edmonton planning. Wayne Gretzky had been sidelined at the time with an injured shoulder. The Whaler win, one insider argues, was so stunning to the Oilers that Gretzky was rushed into uniform before his injury had healed&mdash;and, furthermore, it continues to hamper his playoff play. &ldquo;What Edmonton should have done,&rdquo; one Oiler-watcher tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;was to give Wayne another month off to completely recover.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;After being advised that a certain player was a &ldquo;goat&rdquo; on a winning goal that was scored, a veteran NHL official replied: &ldquo;In any playoff game there are 50 plays on which you can say the guy is a goat.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The Rangers, who obtained zilch in return for players who eventually retired, are expected to have difficulty obtaining anything for Ron Greschner, Dave Maloney, Mike Rogers and Blaine Stoughton. At first it was believed the Rangers had obtained Stoughton for playoff goals but he saw no action and now it will be difficult for them to tum and deal him&hellip;The punching of Pierre Larouche by Nick Fotiu during a late season workout was dismissed as a playful act but insiders buzz that there was more than humor involved. A reputable Ranger source tells BLUELINES Fotiu was the target of unnecessarily acidic needling by Larouche and finally reached the erupton point. Fotiu, by far the most popular Ranger and the only New York City-born player on the club, is considered to have less than a 50-50 chance of returning to the Blueshirts. Although he was one of the club&rsquo;s best forwards in the homestretch, Fotiu was inexplicably benched by coach Herb Brooks in the playoffs, this despite his effectiveness against the Islanders all season. If the Rangers decide to unload him, the Devils would Probably out in a bid to acquire him. &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;The heroes were plentiful&mdash;Don Beaupre, Willi Plett, Keith Acton, Gordie Roberts, Paul Holmgren, Dennis Maruk and, finally, Steve Payne&mdash;but the Minnesota North Stars needed it all to get past St. Louis in the Norris Division playoff final.After struggling mightily to get past Chicago in a deciding fifth game, the Stars hoped for an easier time against St. Louis. Instead, it got tougher&mdash;physically, as well as on the scoreboard.When it came to the seventh game, the Stars, who were blitzed 4-0 in game six to square the series in St. Louis, needed two huge goals from Plett, who was set up by Acton, who wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be playing.And all that was just to get to sudden-death overtime where Payne, who had scored only one goal while trying for his annual increase in intensity that earned him the nickname Mr. April, broke through 12 games of frustration with the game-winner.Cliche-masters said they weren&rsquo;t surprised Payne came up with the big goal, but in his struggles in this playoff season he had even been benched once because others were more effective. Payne, however, played one of his greatest games in the seventh battle with the Blues.He knocked people down, hustled and worked and, at the 6:00 mark of overtime, was rewarded by beating Rob Ramage to a loose puck on the boards. Then he cut for the net and jammed a backhander that managed to squeeze through Mike Liut&rsquo;s pads and send the North Stars on to Edmonton for the Stanley Cup semi-finals.However, before Payne could score what he called, &ldquo;the biggest goal I&rsquo;ve ever scored in my life,&rdquo; it was left for Plett and Roberts to get the Stars to overtime.Roberts, whose play all series has been outstanding, staked the Stars to a 2-1 lead early in the third period. He also assisted on both of Plett&rsquo;s goals.Plett, the big right winger who has been forced into a grinder&rsquo;s role that overlooks his scoring ability, blasted one shot past Liut to open the game. The other came after Plett watched the Blues tum a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead with 5:54 left between the North Stars and summer vacation.&ldquo;Our line had been all over &rsquo;em all night,&rdquo; said Plett. &ldquo;It was frustrating to watch from the bench as they took the lead and to think it might all be wasted.&rdquo;But, when Mark Reeds scored a shorthanded goal at 14:06 of the third period, Plett&rsquo;s line, with Dennis Maruk and Brent Ashton, came on. Just 15 seconds after the standing room Met Center crowd had felt the despair of falling behind, Plett took a Roberts outlet pass, crossed the center redline, and cut loose.All that adrenaline and frustration, as well as his huge body, were behind the shot. He admitted if he hadn&rsquo;t been so frustrated, he might have carried the puck in and tried to make a play instead of shooting from 75 feet.But the shot was like a guided missile, a rocket that started to rise and then dipped abruptly, darting under Liut&rsquo;s arm for the 3-3 tie.Meanwhile, the mere presence of Acton and Holmgren in the lineup was amazing. The Stars had lost three ace forwards in three games. Tom McCarthy cracked a vertebrae sliding into the goal post when the Stars won game four in St. Louis to salvage a 2-2 tie in games.In game five, when Beaupre recorded his first National Hockey League shutout with a 6-0 blitzing of the Blues, Holmgren suffered tom knee ligaments. And in game six, badly as the Stars played, it was worse that Acton went out after a Ramage stick chop in front of the net caught him between the glove and elbow pad.Doctors were more than 90 percent sure it was a broken wrist and they x-rayed it until 3:30 a m. before being convinced it wasn&rsquo;t broken. So Acton played and Holmgren found himself a special knee brace and also played.Acton&rsquo;s assist on the Roberts&rsquo; goal gave him four goals and six assists to lead the club. Maruk, who emerged as a two-way standout with points in seven straight games until the shutout in St. Louis, was second with five goals and four assists.Beaupre, meanwhile, played in 10 straight playoff games going into Edmonton.Strangely silent for the Stars has been Brian Bellows, who seems to be trying to do everything singlehandedly, possibly because of the pressure of wearing the captain&rsquo;s insignia and his single goal. And Neal Broten has been coming close without results on numerous setups and has only two goals while Ciccarelli, on his wing, has just three.However, as Payne proved, their time may come. &#9632;

Mr. April Does The Job To Send Stars To Semis

In the May 11th issue you&mdash;the Fans&mdash;will get a chance to voice your opinions on the state of hockey as it exists in the NHL today. We want to give you the chance to tell the NHL what you want to see in the game.You&rsquo;ll be able to answer such provoking questions as:&bull; Should fighting be banned from hockey, punishable by immediate ejection from the game?&bull; Is there parity in the NHL?&bull; Should NHL players and North American amateurs continue to compete against teams from the Soviet Union?The results of the poll will appear in our August issue for the NHL to ponder.REMEMBER&mdash;The May 11th issue of The Hockey News is your chance to speak out, to let the &ldquo;powers that be&rdquo; know what you want.Do it in the May 11th issue.Bob McKenzieEditor &#9632;

LET THE READERS SPEAK-OUT HOCKEY NEWS READERS OPINION POLL

<div class="byline">BY RON COBB</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The Blues put themselves in a difficult position by taking the Minnesota North Stars to overtime before bowing out in the seventh game of the Norris Division finals. Should they laugh or should they cry? Should they rejoice at having gone farther in the playoffs than anyone had a right to expect them to go? Or should they cry at having come so close to a stunning upset that would have advanced them to the National Hockey League semi-finals?When Minnesota winger Steve Payne ended the Blues&rsquo; season by flipping a 12-foot shot through goaltender Mike Liut&rsquo;s pads six minutes into overtime in Bloomington, the Blues were more prone to cry.&ldquo;We took it to the maximum,&rdquo; said winger Mark Reeds, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s still disappointing when you work so hard for something.&rdquo;There was no consolation in losing, agreed defenseman Tim Bothwell.&ldquo;None at all,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s better than going out in four straight, but who wants to go out at all?&rdquo;But, slowly, the disappointment gave way to a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.&ldquo;We gave it the ultimate effort,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Demers.&ldquo;As a coach, I can say that I have the maximum respect for those players.&rdquo;The loss in the seventh game was one of irony and, in a sense, injustice. When the Blues took a 3-2 lead on a shorthanded goal by Reeds with 5:54 left in the third period, it appeared that an upset was at hand.But then, only 15 seconds later, a 75-foot shot by Minnesota winger Willi Plett beat Liut and tied the scored at 3-3.The irony was that Liut had been spectacular up to that point. In fact, he had been spectacular throughout the series.Before Plett scored the tying goal, Liut had stolen goals from Brent Ashton, Brian Bellows and Dino Ciccarelli. Two nights earlier, he blanked the North Stars 4-0 for his first career shutout in the playoffs.&ldquo;That man stood out great in the playoffs,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;It was a Billy Smith type performance. I don&rsquo;t care where Plett&rsquo;s shot came from, even if it was from their blueline, look at the other saves he made. I&rsquo;ll never fault him for that one.&rdquo;In 11 playoff games, Liut had been named one of the three stars eight times (number one three times, number two four times, number three one time), but the goal by Plett was one that he won&rsquo;t forget.Plett carried the puck from inside his own blueline and fired from 15 feet outside the St. Louis blueline.&ldquo;One of our guys was backing in,&rdquo; Reeds said, &ldquo;and he shot it through our guy. I didn&rsquo;t pick it up until late and it just seemed to dip between my wrist and leg as I moved to my left.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the kind of goal you like to let in, but when a guy can shoot that hard, it can go in. But that wasn&rsquo;t the goal that beat us. We lost it in overtime.&rdquo;Payne scored the game-winner after a pass from behind the Blues&rsquo; net by Bothwell eluded teammate Rob Ramage around the boards. Payne held the pass in, skated past Ramage and found an opening between Liut&rsquo;s pads.The victory was a great relief for the North Stars, who hadn&rsquo;t expected such a fight from their division rival. Minnesota took a 3-2 lead in the series with a 6-0 victory in game five in Bloomington but then the Blues bounced back with the 4-0 shutout in St. Louis.&ldquo;To tell you the truth,&rdquo; Payne said, &ldquo;with our lopsided edge in talent and depth, I didn&rsquo;t think it would go the limit. They showed me a lot.&rdquo;Added Plett: &ldquo;They&rsquo;re a hard-working team with a lot of character.&rdquo;Of course, Demers could have told him that.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a remarkable season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;At this time last year, the future of the St. Louis was dark. Right now, it&rsquo;s very bright.&rdquo; &#9632;

Blues Fans Don’t Whether To Laugh, Cry

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>TORONTO&mdash;Bob McGill said it felt &ldquo;kind of nice&rdquo; when he played for the Leafs late in the season and the patrons at Maple Leaf Gardens ignored him.&ldquo;They had a warm welcome, I didn&rsquo;t get booed out of the rink,&rdquo; he says.All of you have to do is go back to the dark days of December in &rsquo;82 to fully comprehend McGill&rsquo;s meaning. The Leafs hat hit rock bottom, last overall in the league, a small throng of fans stood outside the Gardens burning owner Harold Ballard in effigy and inside the venerable building the natives booed the players with more relish than they use on their hot dogs. McGill, then 20, was the target of their criticism and only in a dictionary of coarse language could you locate some of the unpleasantries they voiced his way.Have you ever gone to work and had your boss shout at you? Imagine what it&rsquo;s like to have 16,000-plus people chew you out.&ldquo;When everybody&rsquo;s booing you, you want to crawl into a crack in the ice,&rdquo; McGill says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a terrible feeling. You don&rsquo;t want to touch the puck, you don&rsquo;t want to make any kind of mistake or they&rsquo;re going to jump all over you.&rdquo;Some people could make the claim that it was not McGill who made the &ldquo;mistake&rdquo; but the Leafs for expecting him to perform the role of a man when he was still growing both as a person and as a hockey player. In his rookie season, he and two other teenagers, Jim Benning and Fred Boimistruck, formed one third of a blueline and two years later, only Benning has survived. But it took a lot of understanding by Mike Nykoluk, the Leaf coach who paid the price for his patience when he was fired immediately after the season.McGill and Boimistruck were demoted to the Leafs&rsquo; minor-league farm team in St. Catharines late in &rsquo;82 and you could have been given permanent lodging in a swampland resort in Florida had you suggested that either one of the two youngsters would be brought back.After all, St. Catharines is the Point of No Return as far as Leaf players are concerned. Tickets are usually one-way if you&rsquo;re assigned there, but McGill, who turned 22 on April 27, is attempting to set a precident of being a player who was sent down but came back.It&rsquo;s a good chance he&rsquo;ll back, too, if his performance late in the season is any barometer. Neither Paul Coffey nor Rod Langway about to be given a run for their money by McGill as the best defenseman in the league, but he looks as though he can make a contribution.The reason? He made the most of his sojourn in St. Kitts.&ldquo;(The minors) was the best thing that could have happened to me,&rdquo; McGill said. &ldquo;Two years ago, I was getting booed, my confidence was completely shattered. 1 didn&rsquo;t want to touch the puck.&rdquo;McGill worked with coach Doug Carpenter who taught the youngsters to &ldquo;work with his limitations.&rdquo; Blessed with what appeared to be more of a quick temper and a willingness to fight than hockey talent. Carpenter showed McGill the other side of hockey.And a funny thing happened. He became a fan favorite in St. Catharines.&ldquo;I thought this year playing in St. Catharines, I played a lot of good hockey and hopefully the fans appreciated it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It makes me feel good when the fans are cheering for you, it&rsquo;s always a nice feeling. When the fans want you out there on the ice, it makes you feel really good.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011441/6591125-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="584" height="860"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McGill is hoping for a chance to start his career over with the Leafs.</figcaption></div>McGill is &ldquo;feeling good&rdquo; about his himself and his career. He&rsquo;s engaged to be married and he&rsquo;d like to start all over again in Toronto.&ldquo;I thought 1 played well at the end of the season and hopefully they&rsquo;ll give me a chance to establish myself as a reputable player in the NHL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think I can do the job and hopefully they&rsquo;ll give me the chance.&rdquo;Some critics say the biggest thing standing in his way is his temper. McGill says he plays a physical game and that leads to fighting, but now he&rsquo;s learned to control himself.&ldquo;I feel I&rsquo;ve cooled off a lot because I&rsquo;m learning to bear down and play the game,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to be just a goon. I&rsquo;d like to be a defensive player who plays tough.&rdquo;LEAFLETS&mdash;A story in the Toronto Star suggests assistant coach Dan Maloney will take over as coach and St. Catharines coach Doug Carpenter and former Leaf Claire Alexander will assist him. Johnny Bower will be expected to work with young goalies Allan Bester and Ken Wreggett. &#9632;

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McGill Looks For Second Chance

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY&mdash;Until last week, something looked wrong in the league&rsquo;s scoring statistics.Above the usual first entry&mdash;Gretzky, Edm.&mdash;there was an aberration, an aberration listed as Reinhart, Cal.Under the third entry&mdash;Messier, Edm.&mdash;there was a second aberration, an aberration listed as Maclnnis, Cal.Of all the improbabilities in the Smythe Division final between the Flames and Edmonton Oilers, perhaps the most improbable was the play of the Flames&rsquo; defense pair, Paul Reinhart and Allan Maclnnis.It is ironic&mdash;or maybe appropriate&mdash;that when Reinhart and Maclnnis were injured in the seventh and deciding game, the Flames went down to defeat. They simply could not muster enough offense to stay with the explosive Oilers.Maclnnis strained ligaments in his knee, Reinhart reinjured his back.&ldquo;Maclnnis and Reinhart had been carrying our offense,&rdquo; said coach Bob Johnson. &ldquo;When they went down, we didn&rsquo;t have much left.&rdquo;Reinhart and Maclnnis, two ex-Kitchener Rangers, did what the Oilers&rsquo; top defense pair, Paul Coffey and Charlie Huddy, do&mdash;only better.Reinhart finished the playoffs with six goals and 11 assists; Maclnnis with two goals and 12 assists. One or the other or both were involved in 18 of the 27 goals the Flames scored in the series.Not bad considering Reinhart wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be playing because of his bad back and Maclnnis wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be playing because he can&rsquo;t play defense.&ldquo;The way Reinhart played is far more than we could reasonably expect,&rdquo; conceded general manager Cliff Fletcher.&ldquo;Maclnnis, of all our rookies, is the most improved since he joined our club. He was brought up originally just to play the power play and he has been able to adapt to his increased ice time. He is even having a good series defensively when you consider where he was in November. At that time he was considered almost a liablility. &ldquo;Johnson put Maclnnis and Reinhart together when Steve Konroyd, Reinhart&rsquo;s regular partner, broke two bones in his foot in the first game of the series.Konroyd returned to play in three of the remaining six games anyway&mdash;with his foot frozen&mdash;but with another partner.Reinhart and Maclnnis stayed together.On paper, they were hardly a match made in heaven. Both are mobile and conscious of how much their scoring means to the team. Both have some defensive shortcomings.In a playoff in which the Flames were badly overmatched in terms of goal production, however, Reinhart and Maclnnis helped to even up the score.Maclnnis admitted he had misgivings about the partnership with Reinhart because it went against the conventional wisdom.&ldquo;To tell you the truth, I didn&rsquo;t know how it would work out,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Usually, they try to team one offensive defenseman with one defensive guy, but playing with Reinhart is so easy. As soon as he gets the puck, it&rsquo;s out. We don&rsquo;t seem to get into much trouble.&rdquo;&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re offensive-minded, it helps to have someone else looking for the same openings,&rdquo; continued Reinhart. &ldquo;A defensive defenseman maybe he doesn&rsquo;t move the puck as well. Just look at Huddy and Coffey. You can&rsquo;t tell me Huddy isn&rsquo;t a good offensive defenseman. He is.&rdquo;In terms of Reinhart&rsquo;s play, one thing gradually became clear: The experts were right. It was, or could have been, The Year Of The Rhino. He just didn&rsquo;t get enough playing time to make the realization sink in.Reinhart missed 51 games from Nov. 22 to Mar. 20 recovering from a disc problem that eventually required an operation and countless hours of physiotherapy.Essentially, Reinhart took part in the playoffs even though the healing process was far from completed. In the final game, he took a hit from Dave Hunter, skated slowly towards the bench, stepped into the corridor and then collapsed. They carried him to the Flames&rsquo; dressing room on a stretcher.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021039/6591156-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="581" height="799"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Reinhart collapsed in the seventh game as his legs gave out on him.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;My legs gave out,&rdquo; said Reinhart, simply. &ldquo;I injured it again (in game six) stepping on Ken Linseman&rsquo;s stick and hyper-extended it. It isn&rsquo;t better yet. The doctor told me: &lsquo;It&rsquo;s going good. It Will be fine by September.&rsquo; Well, it&rsquo;s not September yet. You go out every time and hope you haven&rsquo;t screwed it up.&ldquo;There are other guys on this team in the same position too. I guess the back is a little different, but I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m out of the woods yet.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Reinhart, Maclnnis Carried Flames’ Torch

<div class="byline">BY STEVE SIMMONS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011338/6591187-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="303" height="350"></div><h2>Oilers Can Be Had</h2>SOMETIMES I WONDER why people in this business make predictions.It could be to prove how smart we are; usually, it&rsquo;s the opposite. Anyhow, I&rsquo;d like to rescind a prediction that appeared in this space only a few weeks ago.Edmonton Oilers will not win the Stanley Cup. The championship of the Smythe Division proved without a shadow of a doubt they are not a strong enough team.Oh, they&rsquo;re talented enough&mdash;perhaps they&rsquo;re not smart enough, certainly they&rsquo;re brash enough&mdash;but in the end it doesn&rsquo;t appear they have what it takes to win.If Calgary Flames accomplished anything this season besides league respect from their monumentous effort against the Oilers, they Showed the hockey world just how fallible the Oilers are.This was a club ripe to be beaten, only to escape with a super performance in the seventh game of a seven-game series. The Flames scratched and clawed well, were suberbly coached and received excellent goaltending, but they are not the Islanders. There are no John Tonellis or Brent Sutters or Pat Flatleys on the Flames. They did it with Richard Kromms and Colin Pattersons and Doug Risebroughs. It almost worked.Several things became evident in this series.<h2>Took Dumb Penalties</h2>1) THE OILERS ARE undisciplined. At no time throughout the seven-game series did they show they could stay out of the penalty box. This team has a talent for taking penalties behind the play and wondering aloud afterwards how the referee dared call it. It&rsquo;s safer to take those penalties against the Flames, who were missing Kent Nilsson. Such actions won&rsquo;t work against Minnesota or New York.2)In spurts, Wayne Gretzky can be neutralized. The Flames decided not to shadow Gretzky in the series. They had found that strategy unsuccessful in the past. What they did was shadow his winger, Jari Kurri. With Kurri out of the play, Gretzky had no one to tic-tac-toe with. It so frustrated coach Glen Sather that he used three different left wingers on the Gretzky-Kurri line during the series, finally settling on big Dave Semenko. Why? Because Semenko gave Gretzky more room to operate. Kurri can be intimidated. Kromm proved that. Gretzky can&rsquo;t.3) Against quality opposition, the Oilers will be out-coached. In the chess game of the Smythe Division championship, Bob Johnson whipped Glen Sather. He came up with assorted nobodies to deter the great Oiler lines. Sather, after game five, struggled with his choice of goaltenders and made the wrong choice consecutively. Several times in the series, Edmonton had too many men on the ice. It was only called once. Several times in the series&mdash;including overtime in game six&mdash;the Oilers were caught on a line change resulting in a goal. This is not the kind of benchwork championship teams are built on. And everyone&mdash;including myself for some time&mdash;was convinced the Oilers were about to become a champion. (In truth, they are already champions of the Smythe Division and may end up winning the Campbell Conference too.)<h2>Nothing Minus The Puck</h2>4) MOST OF THE Oilers play well with the puck, not so well without it. Perhaps the two most obvious victims here are Glenn Anderson and Norris Trophy candidate Paul Coffey. With the puck, Anderson is one of the league&rsquo;s most dangerous wingers. Without it, he&rsquo;s less than ordinary. He&rsquo;s no factor at all. In defense of Coffey, he plays well without the puck offensively. In his own end, though, he&rsquo;s lost rarely in the right position. Had anyone voted for him to win the Norris, they would have cancelled that vote after watching the series. He was so overshadowed by Calgary&rsquo;s Paul Reinhart, who played at both ends until his back gave out in game seven. Coffey is not the only problem in the Edmonton end. The forwards rarely come back with any vigor and the other defensemen, outside of Kevin Lowe, can be taken advantage of once the play becomes slightly physical.5) Grant Fuhr is a good goalie&mdash;not a great one. He won some games for the Oilers, he may also have lost some. He is an excellent challenging goaltender which sometimes gets him into trouble. He comes out too far and if he doesn&rsquo;t control the rebound, he&rsquo;s often out of position for the second shot.The season is over for the gritty Flames, but they have unmasked an imposter. The Oilers can and will be beaten. Just watch. And remember, I&rsquo;ve been wrong before.<h2>I Told You So Dept.</h2>I like David Poile, but I think he made some mistakes this year. Perhaps those mistakes came out in the Patrick Division series between his Washington Capitals and New York Islanders.The Caps didn&rsquo;t have enough scoring tough. Poile should have made a bid to get Marcel Dionne out of Los Angeles when he had the chance. The Caps didn&rsquo;t have enough size. Would Ken Houston and Randy Holt not given the Caps enough physical presence in the series, not discounting their leadership ability? Just a thought. It could have made the difference in a series closer than the number of games indicate. &#9632;

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THE WESTERN WORD

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Professional athletes are remarkably resilient people. For the Rangers, the bitter pain of a defeat they came so close to averting is now becoming yet another memory.For their fans, talk in the weeks ahead will center on the fate of many players on a team with only a handful of &ldquo;untouchables.&rdquo;Here then, is an insiders&rsquo; look at the players&rsquo; work in a playoff series with the Islanders which will go down in history as one of the best ever. GoaltendingGlen Hanlon showed the ability to perform under pressure and to overcome adversity, bouncing back from a sub-par performance in game one to shut Out the Islanders and anchor the Rangers as they gave the Stanley Cup champs the scare of their lives. In so doing, he finally&mdash;for the first time all season&mdash;purged himself of the ghost of Ed Mio, the Ranger goaltending hero in last year&rsquo;s playoffs who was then traded to Detroit.<h2>Defense</h2>Tom Laidlaw showed the best form of the year, taking the body, moving the puck with authority, clearing out the slot, demonstrating textbook positional play. Barry Beck was an inspiration both on and off the ice until incapacitated by injury in game four. The key to game five, which the Rangers almost won, was that they proved they can survive without Beck, an ability they had never before shown.James Patrick, as coach Herb Brooks said, is the kind of player only a coach can screw up. He moved the puck, guarded the blueline, showed poise despite some rookie mistakes and is a fine playmaker. He&rsquo;ll be truly formidable once he adds some muscle and works on his shot.Reijo Ruotsalainen still has one of the most awesome shots in the game and takes an amazingly physical role for a man so small. Willi Huber finally used his size to advantage. Dave Maloney and Ron Greschner came out of the pressbox to play well in game five and Steve Richmond played with the most intensity since he arrived from the Central Hockey League.<h2>Forwards</h2>Mark Pavelich came alive late in the season. Mark Osborne gave muscle to the first line and Anders Hedberg showed leadership qualities possessed by few athletes. Pierre Larouche, aside from his own offensive contributions, brought out the best in two linemates, Jan Erixon, and Peter Sundstrom, who had been struggling offensively. The two Swedes also showed they can handle the Islanders&rsquo; physical game.Kent-Erik Andersson, Mike Allison and Don Maloney, the checking line, tied the Islanders, but their missed opportunities on offense epitomized the Rangers&rsquo; inability to capitalize in front of the opposition&rsquo;s net and to finish off plays. This was the deficiency of the entire team that made the difference between the Rangers and the Islanders, a championship team with a killer instinct that takes advantage of every opportunity.The Rangers&rsquo; fourth line played well enough for Brooks to play them regularly, especially in key late game situations. Bob Brooke is a real find, a mobile big man with a heavy shot. Larry Patey was the team&rsquo;s only other dependable faceoff man besides Allison and Mikko Leinonen had his share of chances.<h2>Other Factors</h2>The power play was adequate and the penalty killers shut down the Islanders&rsquo; power play. Herb Brooks showed the ability to put the right players on the ice at the right time. He knew who he wanted to bench&mdash;Blaine Stoughton, Mike Rogers, Rob McClanahan, Nick Fotiu, Greschner and Dave Maloney (before Beck was hurt), and backup Steve Weeks.The team&rsquo;s big minus was an apparent lack of mental toughness as the Islanders recovered. The Rangers scored the first goals of each game, but finally it was the Islanders who closed in for the kill. &#9632;

Playoffs Are Only A Memory For Rangers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011233/6591290-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>No one worked harder than Lanny McDonald to get the Calgary Flames past the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup playoffs.The veteran right winger, who missed the last month of the regular season with a broken bone in his foot, came back strongly once the Flames got into the playoffs.After being held in check in the opening series with Vancouver, McDonald broke out with six goals in the seven games with Edmonton, including the overtime winner in game six, to win the nod as THE HOCKEY NEWS Player of the Week. He finished with 13 points in 11 playoff games. &#9632;

f0018-01

Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;After they were eliminated in five games by the New York Islanders, the Washington Capitals brushed aside any consoling statements about the best season in the history of the franchise.The Capitals were disgusted, because they knew they had the Islanders on the ropes with a good chance to win the series and failed to take advantage of the situation.&ldquo;I feel much more disappointed this year than last year (when the Islanders ousted the Capitals in the first round),&rdquo; said winger Mike Gartner. &ldquo;Last year we were happy just to get in the playoffs. This year I honestly thought we should have beat them.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s frustrating. I want the season to start tomorrow. I still think we can beat that hockey club. Maybe it&rsquo;s going to take a year or two to get the confidence or the experience we need. I still believe we can do it.&rdquo;The Capitals had better believe. The way the National Hockey League has structured the playoffs, Washington never will get any farther unless it figures a way to overcome the Islanders. As the Rangers can attest, it can be a difficult assignment.&ldquo;Some people think they carry horseshoes in their gloves, but that&rsquo;s wrong,&rdquo; said winger Craig Laughlin. &ldquo;They make the best of the breaks. We only capitalize on about 20 percent of our breaks. They&rsquo;ve got that killer instinct.&rdquo;A killer instinct is something the Capitals lacked all season. When they got a lead, they seemed to relax instead of going for the jugular. Coach Bryan Murray hopes it was caused by lack of experience, noting that the Capitals are the youngest team in the NHL.&ldquo;There is no question that Bill Smith was a big factor in the series,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;He gave them the big stops while our goaltenders, who made the big stops all season, weren&rsquo;t doing it.&ldquo;But a little bit of it had to do with the quality of the goal-scorers. They had guys who had been there. Our goal-scorers were not in the same category. They were hurrying their shots instead of taking a look and that made it easier for Smith.&rdquo;The teams met 12 times this season and it was not until the final meeting that the Islanders outshot Washington 28-26. Yet New York won eight of the 12.&ldquo;A couple of games, after so-so goals, we didn&rsquo;t respond with great confidence,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Certain individuals made questionable plays and tried to do too much. I thought we scrambled some. We didn&rsquo;t really seem to know what we had to do to win.&ldquo;We beat ourselves a couple of times. They never beat themselves.&rdquo;The only player to enjoy an outstanding series against the Islanders was center Dave Christian. He collected three goals and two assists. Although Bengt Gustafsson and Bob Carpenter had two goals each, neither played up to his potential.Gustafsson&rsquo;s goals came on power plays 48 seconds apart in game two and he obviously was hampered by the knee injury that kept him out of the Philadelphia series. Carpenter repeatedly lost the puck and would up minus-four for the series.A major disappointment was Gartner, the leading scorer during the regular season. He had only one goal, although earning five assists, and drew two costly penalties in the third period of the final game.Defensemen Rod Langway and Scott Stevens, so strong early in the series, seemed weary by the finish and Larry Murphy was victimized at some crucial moments.For all that, it was the inconsistent goaltending that hurt most. Neither Al Jensen, who showed the effects of a two-month layoff with a back injury, nor Pat Riggin, who bruised his left wrist in the Philadelphia series, played with authority and in three of the five games, Murray felt compelled to yank his starter. &#9632;

…Caps Are Disappointed After Falling So Easily

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;The New York Islanders were in the process of dismantling the Washington Capitals in the finals of the Patrick Division playoffs when Al Arbour offered a pithy remark.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to have good balance to [advance in the playoffs,&rdquo; the Isles&rsquo; coach said. &ldquo;Some nights the kids come through for us and some nights it&rsquo;s the vets.&rdquo;On that particular night it was veteran Clark Gillies&rsquo; two goals that powered the Islanders to a 5-2 victory over the Caps. Two nights later, rookie Pat Flatley scored twice as the Isles won 5-3 to wipe out the Caps in five games.The Islanders, who had played 10 games in 15 days, earned a chance to rest their weary bones before facing off against the Montreal Canadiens in the Wales Conference championship series.And what a matchup it promises to be: the Islanders, seeking a record-equalling fifth straight Stanley Cup championship, versus the Canadiens, who set that record almost a quarter of a century ago.Arbour once again was counting on his blend of youth and veterans. Flatley entered the series against Montreal as the team&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer (six) and was tied with Mike Bossy in points (eight).Two months ago, Flatley was playing for Team Canada in the Winter Olympics; now the 20-year-old right winger is sparking the Isles in their Drive for Five campaign.&ldquo;Flats has been a dominant player in all the games we&rsquo;ve played,&rdquo; said Bryan Trottier.So has Clark Gillies, who totalled seven points in the Isles&rsquo; first 10 playoff games.Gillies suffered through the worst regular season of his 10-year career. He scored only 12 goals. He had problems making passes, he had problems taking passes, he had problems shooting the puck. And while all this was going on, he was jeered by Nassau Coliseum fans.&ldquo;There were times when it got so bad that I couldn&rsquo;t help myself,&rdquo; he admitted.So Gillies went to general manager Bill Torrey for help prior to the playoffs. The bearded giant and the GM had a long, soulful conversation.Gillies&rsquo; version of the meeting: &ldquo;Bill told me to forget the season. It was pretty forgettable. He told me to start from scratch in the playoffs. It did get frustrating for me during the season.&ldquo;I felt better after our talk. I felt if I worked hard, I&rsquo;d get rewarded. I know a lot of people in the stands thought I was gone. But I want to stay here.&rdquo;Torrey&rsquo;s version of the meeting: &ldquo;I told Clarkie to take stock of himself. I told him&hellip;not to worry about all the rumours that had him out of here. I told him. he was letting things get to him too much. The fans had been on him and it was getting to him.&ldquo;He needed to handle the puck, which is not easy when people have been booing you. But he needed to try things and not worry about that. He needed to get his confidence back.&rdquo;Gillies did not lack confidence in the Islanders&rsquo; fourth game against the Capitals when he scored his third and fourth goals of the playoffs. His second of the night was the clincher. The Islanders were clinging to a 3-2 lead when Gillies outmuscled Peter Andersson and converted a neat goal-mouth pass from Duane Sutter.&ldquo;I was screaming for the puck,&rdquo; Gillies admitted later. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if Duane heard me, but I was screaming.&rdquo;&ldquo;Boy, did I hear him,&rdquo; Sutter said.It also helped Gillies&rsquo; confidence to be reunited with Sutter and Butch Goring, his linemates when the Islanders won their first Cup in 1980.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always been a lot of pressure on Clark when he&rsquo;s played with Bossy and Trottier,&rdquo; Goring said. &ldquo;With us, not so much is expected of him. Our job is to be grinders and stop the opposition. We just go out and work and there&rsquo;s a lot less pressure to score. With a guy like Clark, who&rsquo;s been a big goal-scorer, that makes life a lot easier.&rdquo;Life has been easier on Clark Gillies this spring.&ldquo;Last year, I didn&rsquo;t have much to do with winning the Cup and that upset me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This year I&rsquo;m getting a chance to get even. It&rsquo;s a nice feeling.&rdquo;ON THE ISLE&mdash;Pat LaFontaine was &ldquo;questionable&rdquo; for the series opener at Montreal because of a twisted ankle. Coach Al Arbour said the injury was suffered during &ldquo;horseplay&rdquo; at practice. The rookie center had a goal in the series opener against the Rangers, but had not scored since&hellip;Dave Langevin (separated shoulder) and Mats Hallin (concussion) remained sidelined, but the Isles regained the services of Bob Bourne and John Tonelli. Bourne had been sidelined since the series opener against Washington with a shoulde separation; Tonelli bruised his left shoulder in game No. 2&hellip;Bill Smith matched Ken Dryden&rsquo;s all-time record of 80 playoff victories in the series clincher against the Capitals. &#9632;

Islanders Keep Their Balance Act Going…

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Bill Barber&rsquo;s right knee, which carried on the fight for two years on the good faith of his quadriceps muscle, has finally surrendered.&ldquo;The only way he was able to keep playing was because his leg muscles are so strong,&rdquo; said Dr. John Gregg, the Flyers&rsquo; orthopedic specialist. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I say if anybody can make it back from this it&rsquo;s Bill Barber.&rdquo;When Dr. Gregg opened the knee up on April 7, the day the Flyers were eliminated from the playoffs by Washington, he didn&rsquo;t find much left. Damage to the cruciate ligament had already been confirmed and the suspected tear in cartilage and the meniscus were also found. But if there was any lingering hope that Barber could make it back for the end of the 1984-85 season it was ended when Gregg found a fracture in the joint.Barber will not play at all next season and possibly never again.&ldquo;Dr. Gregg didn&rsquo;t kid around,&rdquo; Barber said. &ldquo;1 know it&rsquo;s going to be a long, hard road back. &ldquo;If I can&rsquo;t do it, then I&rsquo;ll accept it, but I owe it to myself to give it the best shot I can.&rdquo;Barber will wear a cast that runs from his hip to his foot for three months. Gregg has given him no timetable to begin the active rehabilitation, but his patient did volunteer for a new technique which may reduce the degree of atrophy when the cast comes off.A few hours a day, Barber attaches an electrode to an opening in the cast. The impulses are supposed to stimulate the muscles. Barber may have electrified a few crowds in his 12-year career, but he&rsquo;s never before needed recharging. This is both in the figurative and literal sense. He understandably is fighting depression.&ldquo;Sure you have some down time,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but some of the throbbing is going away now so I&rsquo;m more comfortable. It doesn&rsquo;t feel bad really. I just have to keep myself up.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad I went ahead and did it. It could have been done a year ago, but it always responded to rest. And at this stage of the game (Barber is 31), you do try to avoid major surgery if you can. But from the time it started to go bad again this time, we waited a month. It just wasn&rsquo;t coming around.&ldquo;It had reached the point where I had to have it done not just for hockey, but living. It went out three times last summer just playing in the yard with my kids. Dr. Gregg told me I&rsquo;m going to get a good knee out of this. Whether it will be good enough to play again, we&rsquo;ll just have to wait and see.&rdquo;The Flyers, on the other hand, cannot afford to wait for him. Although he was no longer the first-team all-star of years past. Barber was still one of the best all-around players at his position. His inability to perform at close to his level had a lot to do with the Flyers exiting so meekly in the last two playoffs.Replacements? The Flyers will probably be forced into a trade, but even there another Barber will be impossible to find. After Brian Propp, the current state of their left side looks like a hodgepodge.With the demands of the game now requiring more and more speed up the middle, it looks as though Bobby Clarke and Darryl Sittler will finish their careers at left wing. Clarke, who teamed with Len Hachborn and Ray Allison after returning from his Florida vacation, handled the position well and is more than willing to make it full-time work if it means he can play another year. Sittler is probably up for trade, but he has a heavy contract. The Flyers will find a spot for him if he survives the summer.The Flyers also are counting on a healthy Lindsay Carson for next year. Carson, whose season was effectively ruined when he suffered a broken arm in October, is no great scoring threat, but he checks and works the comers well, llkka Sinisalo, who played both the right and left sides this season, is a streak scorer and there are indications that the Flyers have concluded that what they see of the Finn is all they&rsquo;re going to get. They were all set to deal Sinisalo to Chicago at the training deadline for center Steve Ludzik, but the Hawks backed out.Glen Cochrane, converted from defense after a sour 40 games, did some crashing and scored a few goals, but he too is coming off major knee surgery. He is not the 35-40 goal man the Flyers need.The Flyers will take a good training camp look at Ross Fitzpatrick, who showed some promise in a mid-season trial before falling victim to the numbers game. Fitzpatrick appears reasonably schooled in the defensive aspects of the game and ran up some goals this season on a line with Hachborn at Springfield. &#9632;

Philly Will Have To Live Without Barber

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;When goaltender Tony Esposito turned 41 on April 23 he wasn&rsquo;t drinking a cup of kindness to Black Hawk coach Orval Tessier and the year gone by.Artistically and emotionally, this was the most traumatic season of Esposito&rsquo;s 15-year Chicago career. He would up with a 5-10-3 record and a goals-against average of 4.82, both of which are personal lows.And his distaste for Tessier&rsquo;s coaching methods was exceeded only by his loathing for those pucks that got away.In Esposito&rsquo;s opinion, Tessier &ldquo;doesn&rsquo;t relate with his players and plays favorites.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not crying sour grapes and I&rsquo;m not talking about the goaltending situation,&rdquo; insisted the NHL&rsquo;s oldest player.&ldquo;He (Tessier) shows no mutual respect for people on his team. And, if you don&rsquo;t show it, how do you get it back in return? I never worked for anybody like that before.&ldquo;He can intimidate kids. They play for him out of terror. But this isn&rsquo;t junior hockey and they will not put up with being treated that way. He doesn&rsquo;t relate with his players. Screaming at people isn&rsquo;t the same as communicating with them.&ldquo;The situation here is pretty ragged. The only guys besides me who have talked up to him were Greg Fox and Tim Higgins and Peter Marsh. Greg and Tim got traded and Peter got sent to the minors.&ldquo;Now, all the guys are scared to speak their minds, because they know they&rsquo;ll be gone.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not right for me to say who he should play and who he shouldn&rsquo;t. But if he likes a guy or had him in junior hockey or the minors, you know that guy probably is going to get a chance to play ahead of somebody else. Sure, he plays his favorites.&rdquo;When the Hawks left for Minnesota for the fifth and final game of their best-of-five opening round series with the North Stars, Esposito was left behind to practise with Marsh, who&rsquo;d just returned from the minors.&ldquo;Bob Pulford (the Hawks&rsquo; general manager) told us to get ready for the next series against St. Louis and that was fine with us,&rdquo; explained Esposito. &ldquo;I could get more work in with Peter than I could going to Minnesota just for warmups. All I needed was about three or four days of real hard work.&rdquo;But Minnesota won, so there was no St. Louis series for Chicago. Thus, the 4-3 Chicago Stadium loss to Hartford on Feb. 5 might be Esposito&rsquo;s swan song in a Hawk uniform. It also might turn out to be his final appearance in an NHL career made-to-order for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.&ldquo;Right now I have no idea about next year,&rdquo; said Esposito, who has been the president of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association for the last three years and has been active in the collective bargaining process for several seasons.&ldquo;It will take awhile for me to get my perspective. I&rsquo;ll become a free agent without compensation in June. I want to wait and see what happens here and how things go in the playoffs&mdash;who wins and who might need a goalie.&ldquo;There also are going to be some others jobs (front office or coaching) opening up that I might want to be considered for. But it would have to be somewhere where I&rsquo;d be useful. I&rsquo;m not going to carry somebody&rsquo;s briefcase around.&ldquo;I also don&rsquo;t want to put the cart before the horse. That&rsquo;s why I want to wait until mid-June or July before making a decision. The Canada Cup is out. There are some good young goalies, particularly Tom Barrasso, on the (U.S.) team and Glenn Resch has become an American citizen so I would think he will be their experienced goal.&rdquo;In one area, Esposito and Tessier see eye-to-eye. Both believe the major reason for the Hawks&rsquo; fall from fourth to 16th in the overall standings this season was because of an epidemic of injuries to key players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011024/6591352-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="590" height="1222"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02681/6591345-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="573" height="1223"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran goalie Tony Esposito (left) has criticized coach Orval Tessier (right) for trying to intimidate younger players.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Regardless of what happens to me, the team will be a lot better next year providing there aren&rsquo;t the injuries there were this year,&rdquo; Esposito predicted.&ldquo;On the other hand, we still have a long way to go. We&rsquo;re in a weak division and we just don&rsquo;t have what it takes to beat Edmonton or the New York Islanders in a seven-game series.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-01

Esposito Gives Straight Talk On Tessier

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01797/6591383-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Bookshelf

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;A casual remark by a bystander in Montreal raised a little excitement in a city still sulking over such a short playoff life.Robert Picard, one of the truly unique people in the National Hockey League, was merely watching a practice in the Forum when a reporter who covers the Canadiens asked him if the Jets would be interested in one of the Habs&rsquo; two displaced goaltenders&mdash;Richard Sevigny or Rick Wamsley.Picard said he had noticed the team&rsquo;s general managers in a heavy discussion and he wondered aloud if John Ferguson of the Jets and Serge Savard of the Canadiens were making a deal for a goaltender.Ferguson was not upset when he saw the remarks in print.&ldquo;When you are trying to fill nine pages everyday, anything that looks like a story goes,&rdquo; he said.The fact is, the Jets are casually interested in Sevigny, whose contract is up. Wamsley is not going anywhere.But, back in Winnipeg, Ferguson said another goaltender is not a high priority.&ldquo;As far as I&rsquo;m concerned,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;we have Marc Behrend and two others who could make the club.&rdquo;One of the &ldquo;two others&rdquo; is Doug Soetaert, the incumbent who was three games above .500 (18-15-7) for a team that finished seven games (31-38-11) under .500.Soetaert was asked if he ever felt unappreciated.&ldquo;At times, yes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They are very critical of my goaltending when I do play. But I&rsquo;m not going to panic. I feel I delivered for the club when I did play.&rdquo;Equally annoying was Picard&rsquo;s observations.&ldquo;His job isn&rsquo;t exactly safe, either,&rdquo; said Soetaert. &ldquo;This is the fourth team Pick&rsquo;s tried to manage.&rdquo;Another candidate for the No. 2 job in Winnipeg is Brian Hayward. He and Behrend have been described as the Jet goaltenders of the future.&ldquo;For the past two years, they have wanted to go with someone else in the off-season,&rdquo; said Soetaert. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gone to camp knowing I had to win my own job back. I&rsquo;m proud to say I haven&rsquo;t lost one fight yet. Who&rsquo;s the one who ends up playing? Me.&rdquo;Soetaert is entering the option year of his contract. He wants to stay with the Jets. He has sold his farm near Edmonton to make his permanent residence in Winnipeg.His biggest supporter is the Jet coach Barry Long, who made Soetaert his No. 1 goaltender the day he took over behind the bench.But a miserable first period in the opening game of playoffs saw Soetaert beaten five times on the 14 shots in Edmonton.Mike Veisor finished the game, giving up four goals in a 9-2 drubbing. The following night the Jets started Behrend, the big rookie, under Ferguson&rsquo;s orders.Behrend responded brilliantly, exciting his teammates, thrilling the crowds, but he could not prevent the Jets from losing the series in three straight.Now, the No. 1 job is his&hellip;at least for five months.BENCH BITS&mdash;General manager John Ferguson said he has never seen Montreal as excited as it was during the series with the Nordiques. &ldquo;The interest was unreal,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I thought people got excited back in the old days but it was nothing like this.&rdquo;&hellip;Tim Watters has been named the Jets&rsquo; nominee for the Charlie Conacher Award for community service&hellip;Laurie Boschman has undergone surgery to repair the shoulder he dislocated last December&hellip;Ferguson says defenseman Bobby Dollas of Laval Voisins has improved dramatically in the past year. Dollas was selected in the first round last summer when the Jets traded Dave Christian to Washington for the Capitals&rsquo; choice. Dollas, only 18, may still be a year away.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01920/6591414-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="561" height="791"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Soetaert isn&rsquo;t going to panic over losing his job to another goaltender.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

Ferguson Happy With Jet Goalies

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;In the last Canada Cup competition, Thomas Gradin was probably Sweden&rsquo;s best forward.This year, he&rsquo;s not even sure he wants to play.Gradin is worried about the bizarre tales he hears about Sweden&rsquo;s national coach Leif Boork, the unorthodox new-comer who led Djurgardens to the national title this season.Boork apparently has some odd coaching ideas and this seems to have Gradin miffed over and above the normal complaints National Hockey League players have with the Canada Cup.Gradin, 27, is coming off a disappointing season and the thought of tests at the end of May to start the Canada Cup preparations are doing nothing for him.He knows if he were to begin training when Boork would like it, he would be a mental and physical wreck by playoff time next April.&ldquo;Some of the guys aren&rsquo;t pleased with the way things are looking,&rdquo; Gradin said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even know whether he wants me, so I shouldn&rsquo;t say anything. But I understand he wants to start dryland training at the end of May and go on the ice July 23. That makes for a long season.&rdquo;Gradin is also dubious of Boork&rsquo;s plans to unite his players.&ldquo;After practice, you have to hug all your teammates,&rdquo; Gradin said. &ldquo;Now I understand where you want all the guys to be close, but I think that&rsquo;s carrying it a little too far. I&rsquo;ll never make the team. I&rsquo;m not a queer. I mean I don&rsquo;t see what that has to do with what goes on on the ice.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02633/6591445-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="581" height="709"><figcaption class="caption-body">Thomas Gradin has his doubts whether he&rsquo;ll play for Sweden in the Canada Cup.</figcaption></div>Gradin isn&rsquo;t the only Swede playing in the NHL who&rsquo;s slightly leery of Boork. Jorgen Pettersson of the St. Louis Blues is also skeptical.&ldquo;I think I can score goals a little bit, but I&rsquo;m not very good at writing poetry,&rdquo; Pettersson said. &ldquo;Right now I can&rsquo;t even think about the Canada Cup. Maybe later on in the summer. But some of the boys are saying the new coach is a bit weird. I think handwriting analysis and poetry are going to be part of the testing. I haven&rsquo;t been home now for four years and he (Boork) was a Division One coach when I left. So I don&rsquo;t know much about him. I guess I shouldn&rsquo;t make any judgements&hellip;&rdquo;Most Swedish NHL players would love to tell their federation what to do with the Canada Cup, but they dare not for fear of crucifiction in the Swedish press.&ldquo;I suppose I&rsquo;ll have to play,&rdquo; said Patrik Sundstrom, a certain pick for the Swedish team after his 91 points led the Canucks in scoring this season. &ldquo;They (the media) get on you pretty good if you say you don&rsquo;t want to play.&rdquo;In keeping with the Swedish hockey salaries, the Canada Cup is hardly a get-rich-quick scheme for the players. They are expected to participate for love of country, the flag and all that, the same as the Canadians and Americans, but with little monetary compensation.&ldquo;I understand that our NHL players will not be getting any dispensation from the early training,&rdquo; Gradin said. &ldquo;The coach likes to do things his own way and nobody else&rsquo;s, which is the exact opposite of the rest of the coaches in Sweden. The other coaches would check with the players to see if they agreed with a particular way of doing things. But Boork doesn&rsquo;t operate that way. That&rsquo;s fine, except I&rsquo;m not sure he can achieve his goal of winning the Canada Cup without the North American players who have experience over here.&rdquo;Added Pettersson: &ldquo;One of the problems is that 34 guys are being called to the training camp and he will pick only 22, so 12 will have practised all summer for nothing. I don&rsquo;t think anybody in the NHL wants to be put in that situation.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-02

Gradin Skeptical Of Canada Cup

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Ah, the difference.&ldquo;Last year we worked hard but didn&rsquo;t have enough depth to get us through March and into the playoffs,&rdquo; said Red Wing coach Nick Polano. &ldquo;It becomes frustrating during the off-season.&ldquo;Absolutely&hellip;it&rsquo;s a different feeling making the playoffs. Everyone&rsquo;s happy, everyone&rsquo;s able to enjoy the summer.&rdquo;Certainly, there are many Red Wings who will be able to look back at 1983-84 and savor the season.Without stretching the imagination, it&rsquo;s possible to come up with as many as a dozen Wings who can look back on it and say they had their best National Hockey League season. Of course, three of them are rookies and a couple of others are defensemen whose contributions can&rsquo;t be measured by statistics.Ivan Boldirev&mdash;Converted from center to left winger in the first week of the season, the veteran responded with a career-high 83 points, including 35 goals which matched his previous best (197778 with Chicago). His 48 assists also were a personal high. Earned NHL player-of-the-week honors on Feb. 20 following a six-point game (three goals, three assists). Also had a four-goal game vs. Los Angeles. Finished with a plus-3 rating.Ron Duguay&mdash;The right winger had a career-high 80 points and 47 assists to go along with 33 goals (he had 40 for the New York Rangers in 1981-82). An instant favorite with Detroit hockey fans, he proved to be a diligent worker. Had an excellent playoff.John Ogrodnick&mdash;First-team Campbell Conference all-star at left wing, finished with a career-high 42 goals despite missing the final five weeks of the regular season with a broken left wrist. Still finished tied for second in the NHL with 19 power-play goals. Led the Wings in two-goal games with nine and shorthanded goals with three. Emerged as a solid all-around player on the verge of being a superstar.Steve Yzerman, Kelly Kisio, Lane Lambert&mdash;The rookies. Yzerman enjoyed a rookie-of-the-year type season with 39 goals and 87 points. Set Red Wing records (for a rookie) in both categories.Kisio, rescued from Europe, finished fourth in NHL in rookie scoring with 23 goals and 60 points and led the Wings at plus-16. The free agent acquisition finished strong.Lambert, the No. 2 draft choice behind Yzerman, also reached 20-goal plateau with a very fast finish.&ldquo;It was nice to see six forwards with 20 or more goals,&rdquo; Polano said. &ldquo;It was one of the big reasons we made the playoffs. But, more important, was the fact that we had three rookies with 20 goals for the first time in team history. That was the major plus because those kids were three of the question marks we had going into the season.&rdquo;Greg Stefan&mdash;Emerged as the No. 1 goaltender and one of the fast-rising stars of the NHL at the position. Earned player-of-the-week honors on Jan. 23. He was tough in the clutch, posting an 8-1-1 record at a critical stage of the season with a 2.00 goals-against in that span.John Barrett and Randy Ladouceur&mdash;A couple of young defensemen who crossed over the line that separates a NHL team&rsquo;s fifth and sixth defenseman from the top four. Both made large contributions and were used in key situations during the season.Brad Park&mdash;It&rsquo;s true, his best years are behind him but he gave the Red Wings their money&rsquo;s worth. He can&rsquo;t be what he once was&mdash;an all-star&mdash;but he had a better season than anybody would have predicted. With his playoff appearance, he tied Jean Beliveau&rsquo;s NHL record of appearing in post-season competition 16 straight seasons. He led the Wings with 53 assists (a club record for defensemen), set the NHL record for assists by a defensemen (eclipsing Bobby Orr&rsquo;s 645) and appeared in his 1,000th NHL game (plus 46 more). Masterton nominee and has there ever been a more deserving choice?Dwight Foster, Danny Gare and Bob Manno&mdash;The Troll Line. Certainly not their most productive season statistically but it&rsquo;s doubtful that any of them, between injuries, has ever contributed so much to a team. They&rsquo;ll enjoy the summer and deservedly so. &#9632;

Wings Have Dozen Reasons To Be Happy

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01899/6591514-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="428" height="215"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02600/6591507-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="272" height="199"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03388/6591500-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="582" height="828"><figcaption class="caption-body">Whaler coach Jack Evans is serious about winning and his players respect that.</figcaption></div>HARTFORD&mdash;Jack Evans won&rsquo;t win coach-of-the-year honors, but the quiet man did a good job directing the Whalers this year.&ldquo;Jack&rsquo;s an easy guy to play for,&rdquo; Greg Millen said. &ldquo;The players respect him and they like him. He&rsquo;s a good man.&rdquo;&ldquo;No one in this room wants to let Jack down,&rdquo; Chris Kotsopoulos said.&ldquo;He wants to win so badly,&rdquo; Joel Quenneville said. &ldquo;It kills him when we lose.&rdquo;The No. 1 objective of the Whalers was to gain respect around the National Hockey League. Consider it accomplished.Even though the Whalers&rsquo; record was their best since the 1979-80 season, their first in the NHL, the numbers do not accurately reflect what was an end-to-end effort in all but a handful of games. The biggest difference in the Whalers is the way in which they competed. Last year there were 30 or 40 games in which the Whalers played as if they could have cared less about the outcome. This year there were less than 10 of those totally forgettable performances.The no-nonsense approach of general manager Emile Francis explains some of it. Francis continually juggled his roster to entice competition for ice time. Practice became more intense and players remained hungry. An encouraging offshoot of Francis&rsquo; approach was the steady evolution of a no-quit attitude that the Whalers parlayed into consistently competitive hockey, just the sort of stuff that tingles the heart of the paying public.The emergence of Sylvain Turgeon as an authentic star and a force that other teams must reckon with was the year&rsquo;s biggest story. Turgeon, who scored 40 goals as a rookie, figures to be a long-running hit in Hartford.Millen and Mark Johnson have come into their own. No matter one&rsquo;s background or training, it takes a player two or three years in the league to establish himself, to gain the kind of self-confidence needed to match opposition greats on a nightly basis. Self-doubt has a way of lingering until a player proves himself to an unforgiving league. Johnson and Millen, both 26, have done that. Their primes await.The professionalism of Greg Millen and Mike Zuke was not lost on the younger Whaler players, while the development of Kotsopoulos and Quenneville, both 25, as standup defensemen, the kind that can be trusted in tight spots, had added to the team&rsquo;s increased competitiveness. Torrie Robertson, 22, gave the Whalers additional courage, while Ray Neufeld is a bonafide player, at 24. Bobby Crawford, also 24, scored 36 goals after being claimed from the waiver list, Francis&rsquo; best move of the season.Neither Ronnie Francis nor Risto Siltanen, arguably the Whalers&rsquo; best forward and best defenseman, respectively, had good years although their number indicate otherwise. Of Francis&rsquo; 83 points, none came easily. Rotating wingers and the demise of Blaine Stoughton figured prominently in his so-so year. The arrival of David Jensen, recently signed by the Whalers, will be cheered loudest by Francis, who simply needs someone to play with to exhibit his outstanding skills. Siltanen, meanwhile, sparkled on the power play in compiling a 15-38-53 year, but still remains reluctant to shoulder the responsibilities of a No. 1 defenseman.Siltanen, who seems content to be a B player when he possesses A ability, has done little to dispel the notion that Europeans have the curious habit of adjusting their work ethic downward once they discover the comfortable lifestyle on this side of the ocean.Looking at it positively, however, more can be espected from Francis and Siltanen next season. &#9632;

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Whaler Coach Has Earned Players’ Respect

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Defenseman Norm Schmidt is one of the young players the Penguin management is counting on to help the team rebound from two consecutive last-place finishes.&ldquo;If we were starting the season right now, we&rsquo;d like to think Schmidt would be on our hockey team,&rdquo; said coach Lou Angotti.Schmidt began this season here but was sent down to Baltimore of the American Hockey League after four games.&ldquo;When I was sent down I was told to work on my defensive game a bit,&rdquo; Schmidt recalled. &ldquo;Basically what the coaches told me was to take my man and to make sure after I take him out that he has no chance to come back into the play.&ldquo;I worked on that for a couple of months in Baltimore. The coach down there (Gene Ubriaco) helped me improve my game and that&rsquo;s why I was able to get back up here to Pittsburgh. &ldquo;Like many of the 48 players who toiled for Pittsburgh this season, Schmidt experienced the day-and-night atmosphere of playing for the last-place Penguins and the first-place Skipjacks.&ldquo;We did have a very positive attitude,&rdquo; Schmidt said of his time in Baltimore. &ldquo;If somebody happened to make a mistake, you&rsquo;d have a guy backing you up. Once you know that you have backup behind you, you can afford to make a mistake or two and not be penalized by a goal or by a penalty you have to kill for two minutes.&rdquo;The 20-year-old Schmidt was a fourth-round draft choice by the Penguins in 1981 from Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League. An offensive-minded defenseman, Schmidt scored 21 goals and 49 assists in 61 games for the Generals during the final junior season and played in the Memorial Cup playoffs.In 34 games for Pittsburgh, Schmidt registered six goals and 12 assists and a very respectable minus-1 in the plus-minus category on a team that finished last in goals-against in the National Hockey League. Schmidt&rsquo;s offensive-mindedness contributed to his demotion to Baltimore.&lsquo;He was just firing the puck as hard as he could, whether it was high, low, missing the net or whatever,&rdquo; Angotti said about Schmidt&rsquo;s early-season troubles. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very hyper kid and he was overreacting to defensive situations. He was doing a lot of running, running in the comers.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s moving the puck real well and his shot has improved tremendously.&rsquo; He&rsquo;s keeping it low, getting it on the net. I&rsquo;m not looking for him to score a lot of goals, but I know he&rsquo;s capable of adding something to our offense.&rdquo;The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder says he tries to use his skating ability to improve his defensive game.&ldquo;When you have guys like (Wayne) Gretzky and (Denis) Savard coming down on you, you have to be able to almost turn right with them,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You have to stick with them like a blanket in order to play them.&ldquo;I you don&rsquo;t have the ability to skate and recover, then you&rsquo;re pretty well lost. I&rsquo;m only about 6-foot and I try to make up for that strength part of the game through my skating and just keeping myself between the net and the opposing player.&rdquo;Angotti has seen improvement in Schmidt&rsquo;s play but still sees a few flaws.&ldquo;His overall play has improved 40, 50 percent,&rdquo; Angotti said. &ldquo;Normy still has a tendency to look at the puck in the other comer when there&rsquo;s absolutely nothing he can do about it. He&rsquo;s got to turn around and cover somebody.&rdquo;Schmidt&rsquo;s hockey season is over, but he doesn&rsquo;t regret his recall to Pittsbrugh and missing a chance at the Calder Cup while playing for Baltimore.&ldquo;I feel that with the experience I&rsquo;ve gained here, it&rsquo;s going to help me with my game and hopefully with my career,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I try to do a little bit more each game. You can sort of feel your way as to what you can get away with in the league. The thing is you can&rsquo;t get away with the things you get away with in the American League and in the juniors.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m definitely happy to be here. Although we might lose a few close games, I&rsquo;m sure that in the future we&rsquo;re going to make those 3-2 games 4-3 for us.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04244/6591545-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="555" height="1138"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rookie Norm Schmidt divided the season between the Penguins and Baltimore Skipjacks.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0024-04

Schmidt Has Toiled At Both Ends

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Charlie Simmer has just capped off an amazing season and he he&rsquo;s a candidate for the Masterton Trophy, but he admits his priorities changed when he and his wife, Terri, celebrated the birth of their first child, Brittany Ann, last summer.&ldquo;My priorities are a lot different now that I have a family of my own,&rdquo; says Simmer, who grew up with three sisters and one brother. &ldquo;I suppose it makes things a little easier to handle when they aren&rsquo;t going so well.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re married and have a family, the support you receive is more genuine than when you&rsquo;re single. When I was by myself, I could go hide, not face facts. Now it&rsquo;s not just me anymore and I think I&rsquo;m a better person for it.&rdquo;Simmer complemented the birth of his first child with a solid season. He led the Kings in scoring with 44 goals and finished tied for second in team scoring with 92 points, three back of team leader Bernie Nicholls. He also represented the Kings at the All-Star game in New Jersey and assisted on a goal by Wayne Gretzky.And to think only three years ago he suffered a leg injury that nearly ended his career.&ldquo;I think this taught me to appreciate and respect what I have as ability,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It showed me how quickly it can be taken away.Simmer suffered a broken leg in a game in Toronto three years ago, an injury so severe it looked as though he might not play again. Simmer can still vividly recall that first night in the hospital.&ldquo;That first night&hellip;boy that was rough,&rdquo; Simmer says. &ldquo;They had put me in a ward with a bunch of druggies and people were screaming all night. There was another guy in there, he was dying from cancer. I didn&rsquo;t get a whole lot of sleep that night. I was miserable.&rdquo;Simmer smiles now as he recounts the events of that horrible night, perhaps the worst experience of his 30-year-old life. His recovery from the ordeal, after all, following the long and painful weeks of rehabilitation, has been nothing short of extraordinary.Simmer was the best left winger in the business back in 1980-81, the year he injured himself so severely. He teamed with Dionne and Dave Taylor that year to form the Triple Crown Line, the most dangerous unit in the National Hockey League, one that combined for 157 goals and 191 assists.Despite missing the final 15 regular-season games and the playoffs, Simmer finished with 56 goals and 49 assists and had been voted a first team all-star.Simmer missed the first 12 games of the 1981-82 season recovering from his shattered leg, a severe compound fracture which had to be pieced together with a metal plate and eight metal pins.He scored 15 goals and 24 assists in 50 regular-season games and four goals and seven assists in 10 Stanley Cup games, including a pair of goals in the Kings&rsquo; 7-4 first-round upset over Edmonton.A lot of the time he was in pain.&ldquo;But when you work hard, the pain becomes secondary,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Most of the time when I doubted myself it was because the scars in my leg were a constant reminder of what had happened. There was always aching in die leg, though. It hurt just to walk up the stairs. And when the weather was cold, especially back East, it really ached&mdash;mainly because of the metal. It was like a bad toothache that wouldn&rsquo;t go away.&ldquo;Actually, it was more tough mentally than physically. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed working out and training, but it was tough not being able to do the things I had been able to do all my life. That was the worst part.I thought it was a big plus coming back and playing that year. It would have been a lot tougher if I had sat it out. Davey (Taylor) went through that this year. He missed all of training camp (with a fractured wrist) and he found out how difficult it is to get back into the flow of things.&rdquo;Simmer says his wife, a former Playboy playmate of the year, was a big help, though she probably didn&rsquo;t seem too sympathetic at the time.&ldquo;She was a very good motivator,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;She felt sorry for me, but there was no pity. It was more, &lsquo;You broke your leg, now let&rsquo;s get it going.&rsquo; Her favorite line was, &lsquo;I married a 56-goal scorer, so get off your ass.&rdquo;Simmer scored 29 goals and a career-high51 assists in 1982-83, but achieved a minor miracle by playing in all 80 games for the first time in his career. &#9632;

Family Life Changed Simmer’s Priorities

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01802/6591600-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Higgins says it was tough to leave Chicago, but he&rsquo;s happy to be in New Jersey where he has a chance to play.</figcaption></div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;The trade was only hours old and New Jersey Devil officials were being asked by reporters and fans why they would deal a 21-year-old forward with promise for a veteran nearing his 26th birthday with only one goal in 32 games.While general manager Max McNab was deflecting questions about the Jeff Larmer-for-Tim Higgins swap of Jan. 12, coach Tom McVie was greeting Higgins with a warning: &ldquo;You make this trade look bad for me and I&rsquo;ll send you to where even THE HOCKEY NEWS can&rsquo;t find you,&rdquo; McVie told his new right winger.Higgins did not take McVie&rsquo;s words lightly. He had fallen out of favor with Orval Tessier in Chicago and wanted a chance to play regularly somewhere. Anywhere.What the 6-foot-l, 188-pound veteran of six National Hockey League seasons accomplished in 37 games with the Devils was nothing short of amazing. After struggling through an intense training program in New Jersey, Higgins finished the season at a pace that would have made him a 40-goal scorer with the Devils had he played in all 80 games. He scored 18 goals and 10 assists in 37 games, showed a willingness to work hard in the comers and became a favorite with New Jersey fans.Naturally, Higgins is among those players waiting for the news about the team&rsquo;s coach for next season. If it is McVie, who was expected to get an offer to return from owner John J. McMullen, Higgins plans to continue paying him back for the Black Hawk trade.&ldquo;Those last 10 games of the regular season were like our playoffs,&rdquo; explained McVie, who met with McMullen last week. &ldquo;It gave us a good readout on who we can depend on. If you can&rsquo;t depend on them for those 10 games, you can&rsquo;t depend on them anytime.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very proud of what went on in the second half,&rdquo; Higgins said. &ldquo;A big aspect of that is ice time. It&rsquo;s amazing what confidence can do for your production. When I first came here they didn&rsquo;t pressure me. I wasn&rsquo;t in shape when I got here and they just wanted me to get into shape. I didn&rsquo;t really have a goal in mind. I just wanted to have a good second half. I wanted to get in on the scoring.&rdquo;McVie has followed Higgins&rsquo; career closely since he was a junior with Ottawa. In fact, when Higgins skated on a line with Steve Payne and Bobby Smith, it was Higgins who impressed McVie the most.&ldquo;I know more about Tim Higgins than Tim Higgins does,&rdquo; said McVie. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d make the trade in a minute anytime. He just wasted away in Chicago.&rdquo;When Higgins and Tessier battled in out in the Chicago press it was only a matter of time before he was sent else-where. His strong finish with the Devils softened the blow of finishing out of the playoffs.&ldquo;Leaving Chicago was tough because in the last two years we had two shots at going all the way,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You hate to give up that opportunity for a shot at the ring. But I&rsquo;m much happier now than sitting and watching.&rdquo;HOT STUFF&mdash;With Ron Low emerging as the Devils&rsquo; No. 1 goalie under McVie, it will be interesting to see if Chico Resch is traded if the Devils rehire Tom McVie. &#9632;

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Higgins Has Found A Home In New Jersey

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01876/6591645-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="430" height="220"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02574/6591638-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="272" height="199"></div>BALTIMORE&mdash;While the Rochester Amerks tussled with St. Catharines for seven grueling games before eliminating the Saints from the Calder Cup playoffs, the AHL South champion Skipjacks, having trounced Springfield in four straight, enjoyed the good life.First came the Skipjack Classic golf tournament. Then the junket to Atlantic City. Finally, the visits to the children&rsquo;s wards at several Baltimore-area hospitals.By the time Baltimore and Rochester meet in game one of the Southern Division finals, it will be 13 days between games for coach Gene Ubriaco&rsquo;s club.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t bad the first few days,&rdquo; Ubriaco said. &ldquo;Having played six games in eight days, we needed the rest. We were off and played some golf. But the next week, we went to some hospitals to see how people play a serious game. We wanted to show the guys what a real game is. We only have to play an hour a day, but the real game, life, is a lot tougher.&ldquo;We needed it.&rdquo;The excursion to Atlantic City&rsquo;s casinos was another important diversion.&ldquo;We hoped they would lose money, so they&rsquo;d want to make it back in the playoffs,&rdquo; Ubriaco said with a laugh. &ldquo;And they lost. So that was good.&rdquo;Ubriaco prepared for the Amerks with several grueling practices&mdash;training camp revisited, so to speak.&ldquo;The toughest part was not knowing who we were going to play,&rdquo; the coach said. &ldquo;The last few days we&rsquo;ve been able to, prepare for Rochester.&rdquo;As for being rusty, Ubriaco is worried, but he&rsquo;s happy to play the defending Calder Cup winners. For one thing, the Amerks have lost nine straight in the Baltimore Civic Center, where the series opens for games one and two April 20 and 22.For another, Ubriaco feels if his team is to cop the Cup, it should knock off last year&rsquo;s titlist.Three of the four AHL first-round series went the full seven games, a bad omen for Baltimore because a United Methodists Convention invades the Civic Center this month. If this series goes to a seventh game, it will be played in the Hersheypark Arena.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you one thing, we&rsquo;ll take the home team bench with us,&rdquo; Ubriaco, a former Hershey Bear, cracked. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;ll walk around the outside of the building three or four times before the game, like I used when I played there.&ldquo;But seriously, if it goes that far, at that point it doesn&rsquo;t matter where we play, although Joe probably likes it.&rdquo; &ldquo;Joe,&rdquo; as in Rochester coach Crozier, is happy to have escaped St. Catharines. A gritty seven-game series ended when the Amerks posted a 4-2 win in the Rochester War Memorial. Left wing-assistant coach Yvon Lambert scored two goals to key the victory.According to Crozier, goaltender Jacques Cloutier was the main man in Rochester&rsquo;s triumph.&ldquo;He was the big thing, he played extremely well,&rdquo; Crozier said. &ldquo;We only played two games of the seven. We can play a lot better.&rdquo;Rochester did a magnificent job slowing St. Catharines&rsquo; Bruce Boudreau and Mike Kaszycki (who missed two games with an injured foot). Combined, the pair managed a single goal (by Kaszycki) and six assists. Norm Aubin led St. Catharines with five goals and three assists.Geordie Robertson led Rochester with four goals and four assists. Bob Mongrain, Lambert, Daniel Naud and Jim Wiemer each had seven points. Randy Cunneyworth scored two game-winning goals. Cloutier posted a 3.26 goals-against average, stopping 200 of 223 shots.The Skipjacks led the AHL with a 4624-10 regular-season record. Rochester finished second in the South, 46-32-2, but was only 3-7 against Baltimore.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;ll have difficulties with that,&rdquo; Crozier insisted. &ldquo;When I coached in the &rsquo;60s, I couldn&rsquo;t lose there. All the games this season were pretty close.&rdquo;Crozier vividly remembers one night, when he measured goalie Jim Ralph&rsquo;s stick in the final minutes of a close game. When Ralph&rsquo;s stick was ruled to be illegal, the Skipjacks had to summon a taxicab to retrieve a new one.&ldquo;Seventeen minutes we waited,&rdquo; Crozier said disgustedly.No, their teams are not fond of each other. It will make for a rough, tough, exciting and probably controversial series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03456/6591631-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="583" height="782"><figcaption class="caption-body">Skipjack coach Gene Ubriaco had to think of ways to keep his team busy.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

Skipjacks Braced For Tough Time With Defending Champs Amerks

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>GLENS FALLS&mdash;One team that didn&rsquo;t look like it would make it and another that almost didn&rsquo;t have reached the Northern Division finals of the Calder Cup playoffs.Nova Scotia, which qualified for the playoffs by earning the fourth and final berth in overtime on the last day of the season, knocked off division-champion Fredericton in seven games to move into the final against Maine. The Mariners, the third-place team in the division, ousted second-place Adirondack in seven games to continue a remarkable late-winter, early-spring charge.Maine and Nova Scotia move into the best-of-seven Northern Division title round and the winner goes on to play the winner of the Rochester-Baltimore series for the Calder Cup championship.Goaltender Sam St. Laurent, who led the Mariners to the Calder Cup finals a year ago, emerged as the series hero against the Red Wings. Steve Baker started the first three games for Maine, winning one and losing two. St. Laurent came on in game four to blank the Wings 2-0 and give the Mariners the momentum for the first time in the series.He lost a 2-1 decision in the fifth game, but gained revenge for that close loss in the next two games. Kevin Maxwell delivered the back-breaking goal in a 6-2 victory at Portland, ME, in the sixth game, and Roy Sommer and Glenn Merkosky delivered two goals each in the seventh game played as the Mariners grabbed a 5-3 decision in the finals played at the Glens Falls Civic Center.Injuries ripped apart the Adirondack lineup and, combined with St. Laurent&rsquo;s strong play, were enough to oust the Wings in the first round for the fourth time in five years. Derek Smith and Charlie Skjodt went out in the first game, joining Dennis Polonich and Randy MacGregor on the injured list. Leading scorer Jody Gage and defensemen Larry Trader and Rory Cava were injured in the fifth game and did not play in the sixth. Gage (bruised hand), Trader (broken toe) and Skjodt (hamstring) returned for the seventh game, but their presence was not enough to stop the Mariners.&ldquo;We believed the team that we had at the end of the year and at the start of this series had more talent,&rdquo; Maine coach John Paddock said. &ldquo;Talent doesn&rsquo;t always win and since they&rsquo;re such a hardworking team we had worried about that. I don&rsquo;t think after a while it was the best talent. We&rsquo;ve had some injuries, but we had more depth and we didn&rsquo;t have quite as serious injuries.&ldquo;They can put out four pretty good lines when they&rsquo;re all healthy, but I think Andre (St. Laurent) had to play so long, in say game three, four and five, that some of their better players were tired out, especially him, because they had to play so much. That certainly worked to our benefit. We played four lines for at least two periods of every game and I think our guys could be a little bit fresher.&rdquo;In the seventh game, Sommer gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead early in the first period with goals 45 seconds apart. Bruce Driver intercepted a clearing attempt and set up Sommer for a powerplay goal at 5:02. Sommer grabbed Skjodt&rsquo;s pass in the Adirondack zone and fired the puck past goalie Ken Holland for the second goal at 5:47.The Wings came back to mount lots of pressure later in the period but could not score. Wayne Crawford, Trader and Gerard all hit the post and Andre St. Laurent&rsquo;s apparent power-play goal at 14:06 was disallowed by referee Bob Hall, who ruled that the puck was directed in with a high stick.Merkosky and Grant Mulvey added goals in the second period to run the Mariners&rsquo; lead to 4-0, but the Wings answered with goals by Ted Nolan and Ted Spears to stay in the game. Merkosky pretty much sealed things, though, with a power-play goal with 1:49 left in the period.Maine turned in an effective defensive display in the third period that kept the Wings off balance. Nolan managed another goal with 6:41 remaining that was too little, too late.The Vees scored three times in the third period of the seventh game to snatch the series from the Express at Fredericton. Brian Skrudland started the rally with what proved to be the game-winner at 2:02. He swept around the net and tucked the puck past goaltender Michel Dufour.Skrudland set up the first of Larry Landon&rsquo;s two goals 27 seconds later with a pass from behind the net. Landon, who was playing with two broken fingers, deposited the puck in the top comer. Landon added the final goal at 18:11 on a two-on-one break with Dan Bonar.Fredericton took a 1-0 lead at 4:51 of the first period on Mark Kirton&rsquo;s shorthanded goal. Bonar tied the game eight minutes later and Wayne Thompson gave the Vees their first lead 41 seconds into the second period. Remi Gagne made it 3-1 28 seconds later, but the Express came back to tie the score again on goals by Gerry Minor and Jean-Marc Lanthier.Nova Scotia put the Express on the ropes early in the series by sweeping the first two games played at Fredericton. The Express won game three, but the Vees opened up a commanding 3-1 lead in the series with a victory at home in the fourth game. Two straight victories by the Express forced the deciding seventh game in the New Brunswick capital city.AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;Sam St. Laurent allowed just seven goals in the four games he played for a 1.75 goals against average. Of those seven goals, only two were scored on even-strength situations&hellip;After falling behind 2-0 in the seventh game, the Wings failed to convert on five straight power plays. Meanwhile, the Mariners scored on both of their power plays. Overall in the series, the Wings were seven of 29 on the power play, while the Mariners converted 10 of 34 chances. Glenn Merkosky (6-2-8) and Bud Stefanski (3-3-8) finished as the Mariners&rsquo; top scorers. Andre St. Laurent led the Wings with four goals and eight points. St. Laurent scored all three of Adirondack&rsquo;s winning goals. &#9632;

Voyageurs, Mariners Duel In Northern Final

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01869/6591714-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="424" height="214"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02574/6591707-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="273" height="199"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03406/6591700-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="587" height="759"><figcaption class="caption-body">Indy&rsquo;s Red Laurence scored the game-winner to send the Checkers into the finals.</figcaption></div>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;The Checkers are going for their third consecutive Adams Cup, but the Central Hockey League&rsquo;s travelling road team, the Oilers, are attempting to put an end to their reign.The Checkers made it to the final by winning their best-of-seven series with Colorado four games to two. The Oilers advanced by winning their series with Salt Lake four games to one.The Checkers played the sixth game of the series at McNichols Arena, a graveyard for them with only one win in their last 12 games, but 13 proved to be a lucky number, as they eked out a 3-2 win to gain a berth in the final. Veteran Red Laurence scored two goals, including the game-winner.Colorado won the first two games of the series, but the Checkers returned home to the Fairground Coliseum to win the next three, including a 6-5 overtime win in game five.Indy won games four and five, 3-2 and 6-4 respectively.Controversy arose in the fifth game when Indy coach Fred Creighton challenged the legality of the stick used by Pierre Rioux. After an investigation by referee Bill McCreary, the curveture of the stick was ruled illegal and Rioux was sent to the penalty box. Seconds later, Monty Trottier deflected a Red Laurence shot past Mike Vernon to knot the score and force overtime.Checker captain Kevin Devine brought the contest to a close 8:58 into the extra session when he converted a pass from rookie defenseman Gerald Diduck for the winning goal.In the other series, goalie John Vanbiesbrouck returned from the parent New York Rangers and shut down the high-flying&mdash;and high-scoring&mdash;Golden Eagles over the last two outings after Ron Scott held the fort for the first three games.Vanbiesbrouck, the league&rsquo;s co-Most Valuable Player, won game four when he allowed Salt Lake but one goal in a 4-1 triumph, then loosened up just a bit in the 6-3 finale.Right winger Mike Blaisdell, who netted 10 goals in 32 regular-season outings for the Oilers, put the wraps on the deciding victory with three goals and upped his playoff total to six.Vanbiesbrouck knocked aside 38 Salt Lake shots in the game and blanked the Golden Eagles for the last 27 minutes. As Salt Lake&rsquo;s season wound down, goalie Jim Craig and Oiler forward Steve Martinson, the league&rsquo;s leader in penalty minutes during the regular season with 240 in 42 games, got into a stick-swinging duel in front of the Salt Lake net. Referee Dan Marouelli assessed each a match penalty with 50 seconds remaining.The teams, who split 10 regular-season games in the Salt Palace, also split the first two in the playoff round. The Oilers claimed game three on Gary Bums&rsquo; late goal, then eased past the Eagles 4-1 and 6-3 to close out the series.CHL STUFF&mdash;League president Bud Poile says talks are going on between Edmonton and Billings and between the Rangers and Cincinnati concerning franchise operation. Polie said he would not continue the league without the support of six NHL teams. The present teams are Indianapolis, Calgary and Salt Lake. St. Louis is considering sponsoring a team as is Edmonton, which would give the league five teams. &#9632;

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Checkers Looking For One More, But Oilers Honing For An Upset

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04288/6591745-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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IHL All Star Teams

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01760/6591814-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="290" height="380"></div><h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2>USFL &bull; USFL &bull; USFLMedia guides, lapel pins, yearbooks, pennants, buttons, photos, skeds, jerseys, sweat-shirts, decals, programs and more. Get them while they&rsquo;re hot. 10-page price list includes 1983 and 1984 teams. Send $4.50 (includes free defunct Boston Breaker program and 2 skeds) to:Canada U.S. Sports Enterprises, 99 Katherine Road,Downsview, Ont., M3K 1J5, CanadaSend this ad for Free &rsquo;83 SN Guide.WHA*MHL*AHL*IHL*MIHOR HOCKIY65 page pricelist of photos, media guides, cards, yearbooks. programs, pennants, pucks., game used Jersevs, equipment and much more send cheque or m/o for $5.50 with this ad to.CANADA U.S. SPORTS INTIRPRISIS199 Katherine Rd. Downsview, Ont.Canada M3K US&#9733; Free gift valued at $3.00 with this ad.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02488/6591807-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="108" height="139"></div>KITCHENER RANGERS HOCKEY CLUBBox 932, Kitchener, Ont, N2G 4E3. Attention: Business Manager.Ranger Collector Items&bull; Ranger Player Picture sets $6.00/set(additional sets available) $3.00/set&bull; Ranger and OtherO.H.L. Team Pucks $1.60 per setRanger Pennants $2.15 per&bull; 1982-83,83-84 OHL Yearbooks $2.15 per &bull; Ranger Photo buttons(most players) $1.60 per&bull; *Please add $2.00 postage and handling.DEFUNCT SPORTS PRICELISTS35 pages of media guides, yearbooks, photos, programs, pennants, decals, cards, game Jerseys and more, includes WHA (world Hockey Association), WFL (world Football League), ABA (American Basketball), NL (Naxlonai Lacrosse) and more, send cheque or m/o for $4.99 to: EMPIRE SPORTS, 1947 Avenue Road, Suite 201, Toronto. Ont M5M 4A2. NCCA Dealer.&#9733; Free gift and $2.50 credit on first order.STATISTICIAN FOR HIRE. Experienced. Mathematics degree. Hockey fanatic. STATZ, 224 Main St., Binghamton, NY, 13905.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>SPORTS/CAMPS</h2>6 DIFFERENT LEVELS6 DAY PROGRAMLIMITED TO 36 PLAYERS(IN EACH LEVEL)ADVANCED MIDGET & JUNIOR CLASSGOALTENDERS COURSE (USING BONI PUCK MACHINE)3 WEEKS TO CHOOSE CHESSWOOD ARENA(Toronto)AUG. 12-17 BOND LAKE ARENA (Oak Ridges)AUG. 19-24ELGIN BARROW COMPLEX(Richmond Hill)AUG. 26-31FOR FREE BROCHURE WRITE: 625 THE WEST MALL, #1811, ETOBICOKE, ONT., M9C 4W9OR PHONE (416) 621-9148<h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2>RARE WHA PENNANTS 12&rdquo; &times; 30&rdquo; New York Golden Blades and New Jersey Knights. Very RARE WHA teams. $8.75 each or both for $16.00. Send payments to: Canada U.S. Sports Enterprises, 99 Katherine Road, Downsview, Ont., M3K 1J5, CanadaFREE gift with all ordersPROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATOP seeks position as PR officer with hockey organization. July 1,1984. Call (416) 534-6404.<h2>COLLECTIONS</h2>MARKHAM III&ldquo;The Toronto Extravaganza&rdquo; CANADA&rsquo;S LARGEST SPORT COLLECTIBLES show & sale Sunday June 3rd. 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Thornhill Community Centre (Bayview Ave. at John St). SPECIAL GUEST: Darryl Sittler. First 100 people receive 1984 Blue Jay Team card set-Free! Valuable door prizes throughout day. Don&rsquo;t miss the country&rsquo;s finest show. Information: Markham Sport Collectibles, 10063 Yonge St., Unit 2, Richmond Hill, Ont., L4C 1T7 (416) 883-4625.EQUIPMENT1967 OAKLAND SEALS home jersey #5 Carol Vadnais. Best offer. Mark (403) 4873255. Evenings.<h2>TOURNAMENTS</h2>SUMMER MINOR HOCKEY Tournament June 29,30, July 1 (Novice-Mite to Junior) Write: METRO SUMMER HOCKEY LEAGUE, 40 Gerrard St. E. Suite 1505, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2E8 or phone (416) 597-1346.FLORIDA HOCKEY: Enjoy a sunshine holiday plus exhibition games arranged with Senior A or Oldtimers teams. For more information contact: Rosaire Paiement, Coral Plaza Hotel, 2701 North Federal Hwy., Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 33306. I305) 565-6658.<h2>MERCHANDISE</h2>SPORTS JERSEYS UNLIMITEDcomplete 18 page pricelist of game worn Jerseys. Leagues Include Baseball, CFL-NFL-WFL-NHL-WHA-NASL-NBA and more Over 1500satisfied customers For complete list send cheque or m/o for $3.00 payable to.I EMPIRE SPORTS, 1947 Avenue Road, Suita 201, Toronto. Ont. M5M 4A2 NCCA Dealer.&#9733; Free gift and $2.50 credit on first order. JFOR SALE: JERSEYS, pucks, cards, pennants. For list send cheque for $1.00 to: Central Alberta Sales, Box 693, Rimbey, Alta., Canada, TOC 2T0.<h2>NOVELTIES</h2>BE THE STAR on your own bubble gum cards. Write: Big League Cards, 2424 McDonald St. Regina, Sask. S4N 2Z3.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03312/6591800-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="1823" height="1120"></div> &#9632;

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The Classified

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>FORT WAYNE&mdash;Darren Jensen could be the big one the Hartford Whalers let get away. The 23-year-old goalie who led North Dakota University to a pair of NCAA championships was invited to the Hartford training camp last fall but the Whalers didn&rsquo;t think he was a keeper so they threw him back.The Whalers&rsquo; loss was the Komets&rsquo; gain.Playing in 56 of the Komets&rsquo; 82 league games, he led Fort Wayne to the regularseason championship while posting a league-leading 2.92 goals-against average. Sparked by Jensen&rsquo;s play, the Komets set team records for most points (112) and most victories (52).Jensen&rsquo;s outstanding season brought him a sweep of post-season league honors. He was awarded the James Gatschene Trophy as the league&rsquo;s most valuable player, the Gary Longman Trophy as the league&rsquo;s top rookie, and was named to the first All-Star team.Jensen&rsquo;s &ldquo;hat trick&rdquo; duplicated a feat accomplished in 1978 by another Fort Wayne rookie, Dan Boner, who led the Komets in scoring that season with 108 points.Jensen easily outdistanced his nearest competition in the balloting for both trophies. He received 54 votes in the voting for the Gatschene Trophy while teammate Wally Schreiber was a distant second with 18. He also got 54 votes in winning the Longman Trophy. Ian Maclnnis of Peoria was second with 34.Jensen said he decided to try Fort Wayne because, &ldquo;I knew it was a good league for goalies. There are a lot of NHL goalies who got their start in the I. You face a lot of shots and you play a lot of games.&rdquo;Reflecting on his successful season, Jensen said: &ldquo;The most games I played in a season in college was maybe 20. We used three goalies and all three of us played about the same. There were times this season when I got a little tired but I was happy for all the work. And my teammates played very well in front of me.&rdquo;Jensen was a freshman when North Dakota won the NCAA title in 1980. He played in the championship game when North Dakota defeated Northern Michigan. Jensen was also the winning goalie in the 1982 championship game against Wisconsin.Jensen wasn&rsquo;t the only Komet to excel during the season. The all-star selections reflect as much. Jensen is one of four Komets named to the 12-man honor squad. Teammates with Jensen on the first team are Schreiber, the league leading scorer with 113 points, and defenseman Vic Morin. Left winger Rob Motz, who led the IHL with 54 goals, was a second-team selection.Completing the first team are defenseman Kevin Willison of Milwaukee, center Bernie Gallant of Flint and left winger Scott Gruhl of Muskegon.Flint goalie Rick Knickle was named to the second unit. Other second-team selections, in addition to Motz snd Knickle. are Brian Tutt and Mike Greeder of Toledo on defense, and Peoria&rsquo;s Maclnnis and Milwaukee&rsquo;s Christain Tanguay who share the right wing positon.Willison also received the league&rsquo;s Governor&rsquo;s trophy which honors the best defenseman. The Ken McKenzie Trophy, which honors the league&rsquo;s most outstanding American-born rookie, went to Mike Krensing of Muskegon.Honored as the league&rsquo;s coach of the year was Phil Witliff of the runnerup Milwaukee Admirals, who received 40 votes. Dennis Desrosiers of Flint was second with 30. Surprisingly, Komet coach Ron Ullyot finished a distant third with 26 points although his team won 52 games, one short of the league record, and overcame a 13-point Milwaukee lead with a great stretch-run to win the championship.There is one prize Jensen is still looking for. He&rsquo;d like to be part of a playoff champion. Jensen and the Komets are currently trying to unseat defending champion Toledo in the best-of-seven semi-final series. The series is tied at one game each and each team has won on the road. Toledo upset Fort Wayne 3-1 in their series opener at Fort Wayne and the Komets bounced back to square the series in Toledo with a 5-3 win.Home ice has not been a factor in the playoffs thus far. The home team has won just once in seven games. Toledo ousted Kalamazoo in a three-game miniseries by splitting. its home games and winning the only game in Kalamazoo. Flint, the third-place finisher, swept the first two from Milwaukee in Milwaukee by identical 4-3 scores. &#9632;

Komet Goaltender Nets Awards’ Hat Trick

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01862/6591859-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="428" height="218"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02575/6591852-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="271" height="201"></div>TORONTO&mdash;John Tucker wasn&rsquo;t around long but he made his stay with the Kitchener Rangers this season most memorable, collecting the league&rsquo;s two top awards in 1983-84.Tucker, a 19-year-old center from Windsor who produced 40 goals and 60 assists in 39 games with the Rangers, was selected the Ontario Hockey League&rsquo;s player of the year by coaches and also won the Red Tilson Memorial as the most valuable player as chosen by sportswriters and broadcasters.The league&rsquo;s other top divisional award&mdash;the Max Kaminsky Trophy as best defenseman&mdash;has been won by Ottawa 67s&rsquo; Brad Shaw, a native of Kitchener.Tucker was the overwhelming choice of the media in the Tilson balloting, finishing with 90 voting points. Shaw was a distant second with 33. Next in line were scoring champion Tim Salmon of Kingston Canadiens and Wayne Presley of the Rangers, who was second in the scoring race.Statistics tell the story of Tucker&rsquo;s value to the Rangers. In the 39 games he played with them, the Rangers were 38-1-0. But in the 31 games the Rangers played without him while he was on recall to the Buffalo Sabres, Kitchener produced only a 14-15-2 slate. Moreover, the Rangers struggled to a four-game sweep over London Knights in the playoffs while Tucker was competing in the National Hockey League playoffs. But when the Sabres made a quick exit, Tucker rejoined the Rangers for the first two games as Kitchener knocked off Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to take a 2-0 lead in games.As the OHL player of the year. Tucker is automatically the league&rsquo;s nominee for the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League player-of-the-year award to be announced during the Memorial Cup May 12-19 at Kitchener. Coaches chose Tucker their player of the year over Belleville&rsquo;s Dune MacIntyre, Cornwall&rsquo;s Mike Tomlak, Brantford&rsquo;s Jeff Jackson, Guelph&rsquo;s Scott Mosey, Kingston&rsquo;s Kevin Conway, London&rsquo;s Scott Morrison, North Bay&rsquo;s Rob Nichols, Oshawa&rsquo;s Dave Gans, Ottawa&rsquo;s Brad Shaw, Peterborough&rsquo;s Doug Evans, Sault Ste. Marie&rsquo;s Rick Tocchet, Sudbury&rsquo;s Jim Koudys, Toronto&rsquo;s Lou Kiriakou and Windsor&rsquo;s Mike Neill.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been quite a year for me,&rdquo; Tucker said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely been interesting. All I did was go out and work hard every shift and I guess it worked.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s good to come back (to Kitchener). It&rsquo;s a good team to play for. Right now, I feel a little drained but I should be fine for the playoffs and Memorial Cup.&rdquo;Tucker is one of three Rangers who were on the Memorial Cup winning team in 1981-82 at Hull, Que., along with Jim Quinn and Dave Shaw. He rates the teams as &ldquo;totally different.&rdquo;&ldquo;The Memorial Cup team was a lot tougher,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This team is pretty well balanced. We score a lot of goals. There&rsquo;s a good feeling in Kitchener. You are left with a winning feeling that gets passed on.&rdquo;The Greyhounds headed home to Sault Ste. Marie for the third and fourth games in the eight-point division final smarting from the playoff setbacks in Kitchener which followed their impressive victory over Brantford Alexanders.Hound coach Terry Crisp was upset by a major and aggressor call referee Don Goodridge made against Darren Kings for fighting Presley. While King served the major&mdash;Presley was not penalized&mdash;the Rangers scored three goals to take a 4-0 lead en route to a 6-4 win in the series opener.The way Crisp saw the play, Presley &ldquo;ran him into the boards from behind. Kings turned and decked him. Presley turtled and he got nothing for charging.&ldquo;It has to rate with one of the poorer calls I&rsquo;ve seen in my career. It was very, very, very, very one-sided. We killed off the first three minutes then bing, bing, bing.&ldquo;We closed the game to 5-3 but we couldn&rsquo;t get over the hump.&rdquo;The Rangers won the second game 73.Meanwhile, the 67s had an easy time with Toronto Marlboros in the Leyden Division final, winning it four straight and outscoring the Dukes 32-6. The 67s walloped the Marlies 20-2 in the final two games, with 10-2 and 8-0 wins, respectively.Shaw becomes the third Ottawa player to win the Kaminsky Trophy. Denis Potvin won it in 1971-72 and again in 197273. Randy Boyd took the trophy in 198081.For Shaw, whose NHL rights are owned by Detroit, it was the climax of an outstanding career in junior.The ninth-round OHL pick from Kitchener midgets in 1981 and 125th player overall, Shaw was a member of Team Canada in the world junior championships at Christmas in Sweden and was chosen by coaches as the first-team defenseman on the OHL all-star teams. In the all-star voting, Shaw had more voting points than any other player, finishing with 64 of a possible 70.Runnerup in Kaminsky voting was another, unrelated Shaw. Dave Shaw, a defenseman for Kitchener and a first-round pick of Quebec Nordiques, was second in voting followed by Ottawa&rsquo;s Bruce Cassidy and Peterborough Petes&rsquo; Shawn Evans, who tied for third. Brad Shaw had 45 of a possible 70 voting points while Dave Shaw collected 28 to 15 each for Cassidy and Evans. Dave Shaw played junior B for Stratford Cullitons before joining the Rangers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03395/6591845-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="585" height="909"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kitchener Rangers had a hard time winning without star center John Tucker this season.</figcaption></div>Last year&rsquo;s Kaminsky winner was Allan Maclnnis, formerly of the Rangers and now with Calgary Flames. &#9632;

f0030-01

Tucker Takes Ontario League’s Ton Awards

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04280/6591904-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="448" height="509"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN MCKINNON Ottawa</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>The Ottawa 67s are probably headed for a championship showdown with the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League and contributions from players like Brian McKinnon could be a big factor in determining the winner.McKinnon, a six-foot, 190-pound center, turned in a six-point performance as the 67s crushed Toronto Marlboros 9-2 in the start of the Leyden Division finals to get the nod as OHL player of the week.McKinnon, a second-year member of the 67s, has come up hot in the playoffs for a club that is loaded with firepower.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05206/6591897-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="558" height="511"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEAN EVASON Kamloops</figcaption></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>There isn&rsquo;t much doubt that Dean Evason is headed to an NHL career with the Washington Caps and it could be sooner than he expected.The 19-year-old high scoring center continues to play brilliantly for the Kamloops Oilers of the Western Hockey League. Evason, who was drafted by the Caps in 1982, picked up 15 scoring points in the Oilers&rsquo; first four division final playoff wins against Portland and won the selection as WHL player of the week.Evason has done it all this season with 137 scoring points and was picked as All-Star center.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06168/6591890-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="553" height="513"><figcaption class="caption-body">HILTON RUGGLES Longueuil</figcaption></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>Hilton Ruggles of the Longueui Chevaliers is winding down his junior hockey career with the hope some NHL team might consider him good enough to be drafted in 1984.The 5-11, 165-pound right winger is having his best junior year ever and with the Chevaliers facing the powerful Laval Voisins in the championship final, he could become an important figure for Longueuil.Ruggles, one of the few blacks in major junior hockey, was chosen as QHL player of the week after collecting 8 scoring points while leading the ouster of Verdun from the playoffs.At the end of the current season, THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year. &#9632;

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MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01797/6591949-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="412" height="207"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02522/6591942-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="265" height="195"></div>KAMLOOPS&mdash;For Bill LaForge the ringmaster, there was no doubt which act would bring his Oiler team rave reviews this Western Hockey League season.LaForge, general manager-coach of a club which can employ a number of game plans, put his faith in the high-wire act. The balance shown by the Oilers carried them to first place overall (50-22) in the regular season and remarkable postseason success.The well-balanced Oilers swept Seattle Breakers in five games in their Western Division semi-final series before taking the first four games of the best-of-nine division final with defending Memorial Cup champion Portland Winter Hawks.LaForge, whose short but impressive performance in major junior hockey has National Hockey League clubs bidding for his services, has iced various shows during previous coaching stops in Regina and Oshawa. He had a rough-and-tumble club in Regina which could fight as well as it filled the net with pucks. That was the 1981-82 season when the Pats lost the league final 4-1 in Portland.In his second season at the helm in Kamloops, LaForge put together a skating team which went with four lines and six defensemen throughout the regular season and the playoffs.&ldquo;I knew there would be a couple of nights where I&rsquo;d hesitate to play everybody especially when we were behind in the third period,&rdquo; said LaForge, who&rsquo;s considered in line to take over head coaching duties of Vancouver Canucks next season. &ldquo;I knew in the long run we would have 22 who could play and play well.&rdquo;&ldquo;I did the same thing last year to a degree. In Oshawa I learned you have to pick the guys early and stay with them so they&rsquo;d be ready to play in the big games. Fred Shero told me the same guys who win for you in October should be winning for you in April.&rdquo;As with any team, there were players who looked to be down the road by the WHL trading deadline of Feb. 10. And while it seemed everybody had certain Oilers destined for other teams, LaForge chose to stick with his lineup.&ldquo;I think we (coaches) spend too much time trying to find out why players can&rsquo;t play,&rdquo; said LaForge. &ldquo;We should be spending the whole year to find out why they can play. I think there&rsquo;s very little room for criticism in this game. Negative breeds negative, positive breeds positive.&rdquo;That positive approach saw Oilers lead the WHL in regular-season scoring with 467 goals. The Oilers did not possess a 50-goal scorer, although Dean Evason finished with 49, rookie Mike Nottingham 48 and Tony Vogel 41. Kamloops did have 10 20-goal scorers, two shy of the league record and the real reason for so much offensive success.The Oilers haven&rsquo;t been slouches behind the blueline either. Goaltender Daryl Reaugh has been outstanding in the playoffs while the blueline corps has been sound.Kamloops, after an 11-day layoff, was rusty in an 8-6 over Portland in first game of the divisional final. It was no contest as Oilers won game two 8-1 and the third game 10-5. The Oilers needed overtime to take game four 5-4.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a low-pressure situation for us in the playoffs,&rdquo; said LaForge. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t felt pressure because I can throw four lines over the boards and know anyone of them can score. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve won nine in a row in the playoffs and I really think that&rsquo;s something.&rdquo;What&rsquo;s been something is the play of the Oilers&rsquo; top line of Evason, Jim Camazzola and Doug Saunders. The trio collected 34 points in first three final series games. Saunders established a new WHL playoff scoring mark for fastest three goals in one period in game three when he potted three of his four goals in a span of 2:39, during the third period. The previous record of 4:13 was set April 7, 1977 by Mike Fynn of Lethbridge Broncos in a 10-5 playoff win over Saskatoon Blades.&ldquo;Our fourth line is just as important as the first,&rdquo; said Evason. &ldquo;You get tired playing two games in a row or riding on the bus all night.&rdquo;&ldquo;They (Oilers) have four good lines and are one of the best balanced junior clubs I&rsquo;ve seen in many years,&rdquo; said Portland general manager Brian Shaw. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re very solid on the blueline and they have those two monsters (6-foot-4 Reaugh and 6-foot-5 Rex Grant) in goal.&rdquo;If the Oilers advance to the league final they&rsquo;ll likely be considered underdogs. That doesn&rsquo;t bother LaForge who knows the road to a Memorial Cup berth leads through some rocky Eastern Division routes.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll find out how good our four lines are,&rdquo; said LaForge. &ldquo;If you can check Dean Evason and beat us I&rsquo;ll be surprised. This is the best balanced team I&rsquo;ve ever had. The funny thing is next year&rsquo;s team might be better than this one.&rdquo;WHL WEEK&mdash;Lyndon Byers scored three goals to pace Regina to a 6-4 win and a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Division best-of-three mini-series with Brandon. The winner meets the Tigers in a best-of-seven division final against Medicine Hat. Medicine Hat went 3-0 in the three-double round-robin series while Regina was 2-1 and Brandon 0-3.&bull; Dale Derkatch of Regina leads playoff scoring with 25 points. Dean Evason of Kamloops is second with Ray Ferraro of Brandon at 24 points. Kelly Glowa of Brandon has 23 points while Jim Camazzola of Kamloops, Cliff Ronning of New Westminster and Jeff Rohlicek of Portland have 21 points apiece.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03376/6591935-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="557" height="906"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kamloops coach Bill LaForge has stuck with his players and now they&rsquo;re winning for him.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

LaForge Has Well-Oiled Machine

<h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><h3>ADAMS DIVISION FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1833/6592311-1-eng-US/f0032-182.jpg" title="f0032-18" width="495" height="118"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 12Montreal 2 at Quebec 4Fri. Apr. 13Montreal 4 at Quebec 1Sun. Apr. 15Quebec 1 at Montreal 2Mon. Apr. 16Quebec 4 at Montreal 3Wed. Apr. 18Montreal 4 at Quebec 0Fri. Apr. 20Quebec 3 at Montreal 5<h3>DIVISION SEMI HNALS</h3>ADAMS DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1929/6592304-1-eng-US/f0032-192.jpg" title="f0032-19" width="530" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Apr. 4Montreal 2 at Boston 1Thu. Apr. 5Montreal 3 at Boston 1Sat. Apr. 7Boston 0 at Montreal 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2026/6592297-1-eng-US/f0032-202.jpg" title="f0032-20" width="529" height="120"></div><h3>PATRICK DIVISION FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2124/6592290-1-eng-US/f0032-212.jpg" title="f0032-21" width="515" height="119"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 12Washington 3 at NY Islanders 2Fri. Apr. 13Washington 4 at NY Islanders 5Sun. Apr. 15NY Islanders 3 at Washington 1Mon. Apr. 16NY Islanders 5 at Washington 2Wed. Apr. 18Washington 3 at NY Islanders 5<h3>DIVISION SEMI-HNALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2222/6592283-1-eng-US/f0032-222.jpg" title="f0032-22" width="496" height="124"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Apr. 4Rangers 1 at Islanders 4Thu. Apr. 5Rangers 3 at Islanders 0Sat. Apr. 7Islanders 2 at Rangers 7Sun. Apr. 8Islanders 4 at Rangers 1Tue. Apr. 10Rangers 2 at Islanders 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2321/6592276-1-eng-US/f0032-232.jpg" title="f0032-23" width="533" height="126"></div><h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><h3>NORRIS DIVISION FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2419/6592269-1-eng-US/f0032-242.jpg" title="f0032-24" width="502" height="119"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 12St. Louis 1 at Minnesota 2Fri. Apr. 13St. Louis 4 at Minnesota 3Sun. Apr. 15Minnesota 1 at St. Louis 3Mon. Apr. 16Minnesota 3 at St. Louis 2Wed. Apr. 18St. Louis 0 at Minnesota 6Fri. Apr. 20Minnesota 0 at St. Louis 4Sun. Apr. 22St. Louis 3 at Minnesota 4<h3>DIVISION SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2516/6592262-1-eng-US/f0032-252.jpg" title="f0032-25" width="493" height="123"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Apr. 4Chicago 3 at Minnesota 1Thu. Apr. 5Chicago 5 at Minnesota 6Sat. Apr. 7Minnesota 4 at Chicago 1Sun. Apr. 8Minnesota 3 at Chicago 4Tue. Apr. 10Chicago 1 at Minnesota 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2615/6592255-1-eng-US/f0032-262.jpg" title="f0032-26" width="534" height="123"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION HNALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2714/6592248-1-eng-US/f0032-272.jpg" title="f0032-27" width="502" height="120"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 12Calgary 2 at Edmonton 5Fri. Apr. 13Calgary 6 at Edmonton 5Sun. Apr. 15Edmonton 3 at Calgary 2Mon. Apr. 16Edmonton 5 at Calgary 3Wed. Apr. 18Calgary 5 at Edmonton 4Fri. Apr. 20Edmonton 4 at Calgary 5Sun. Apr. 22Calgary 4 at Edmonton 7<h2>DIVISION SEMI-FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2811/6592241-1-eng-US/f0032-282.jpg" title="f0032-28" width="534" height="126"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Apr. 4Winnipeg 2 at Edmonton 9Thu. Apr. 5Winnipeg 4 at Edmonton 5 (OT)Sat. Apr. 7Edmonton 4 at Winnipeg 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2910/6592234-1-eng-US/f0032-292.jpg" title="f0032-29" width="535" height="124"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Apr. 4Vancouver 3 at Calgary 5Thu. Apr. 5Vancouver 2 at Calgary 4Sat. Apr. 7Calgary 0 at Vancouver 7Sun. Apr. 8Calgary 5 at Vancouver 1 &#9632;

f0032-18

STANLEY CUP SCOREBOARD

<h2>Mon. Apr. 16 QUEBEC 4, MONTREAL 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01858/6592165-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="537" height="823"></div><h2>ISLANDERS 5, WASHINGTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02590/6592158-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="543" height="822"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 3, ST. LOUIS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03408/6592151-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="542" height="794"></div><h2>EDMONTON 5, CALGARY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04283/6592144-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="538" height="669"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05209/6592137-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="538" height="361"></div><h2>Wed. Apr. 18 MONTREAL 4, QUEBEC 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-06173/6592130-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="544" height="708"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 3, ISLANDERS 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-07146/6592123-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="528" height="150"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-08129/6592116-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="541" height="795"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 0, MINNESOTA 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-09107/6592109-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="530" height="530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1097/6592102-1-eng-US/f0032-102.jpg" title="f0032-10" width="534" height="241"></div><h2>CALGARY 5, EDMONTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1182/6592095-1-eng-US/f0032-112.jpg" title="f0032-11" width="549" height="1029"></div><h2>Fri. Apr. 20 QUEBEC 3, MONTREAL 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1276/6592088-1-eng-US/f0032-122.jpg" title="f0032-12" width="540" height="477"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1371/6592081-1-eng-US/f0032-132.jpg" title="f0032-13" width="548" height="710"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 0, ST. LOUIS 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1464/6592074-1-eng-US/f0032-142.jpg" title="f0032-14" width="541" height="678"></div><h2>EDMONTON 4, CALGARY 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1558/6592067-1-eng-US/f0032-152.jpg" title="f0032-15" width="538" height="357"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02528/6592060-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="539" height="648"></div><h2>Sun. Apr. 22 ST. LOUIS 3, MINNESOTA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03391/6592053-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="528" height="91"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04308/6592046-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="530" height="94"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05257/6592039-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="506" height="96"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06222/6592032-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="536" height="73"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07202/6592025-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="527" height="91"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-3219/6592018-1-eng-US/f0035-322.jpg" title="f0035-32" width="537" height="531"></div><h2>CALGARY 4, EDMONTON 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-3319/6592011-1-eng-US/f0035-332.jpg" title="f0035-33" width="530" height="210"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-3417/6592004-1-eng-US/f0035-342.jpg" title="f0035-34" width="544" height="825"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF SUMMARIES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01776/6592342-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="541" height="1164"></div>Calgary already knew Allan Maclnnis could score goals, but he did a good job on defense, too, as the Flames came within one period of knocking off the Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Division final.Paired with veteran blueliner Paul Reinhart, the 20-year-old Maclnnis finished the playoffs with two goals and 12 assists and has the distinct honor of having scored the Flames&rsquo; last goal of the season.A graduate of Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League, Maclnnis is considered to possess the hardest shot in the league despite his young age. But he proved in the playoffs that he can play at both ends of the rink. &#9632;

f0033-01

Chrysler Rookie Award

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02610/6592667-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="573" height="555"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01865/6592674-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="109" height="113"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03479/6592660-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="111" height="112"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04370/6592653-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="572" height="631"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05299/6592646-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="129" height="116"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06265/6592639-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="570" height="676"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07243/6592632-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="122" height="107"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08225/6592625-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="574" height="572"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09202/6592618-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="152" height="105"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10195/6592611-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="625" height="385"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11182/6592604-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="635" height="310"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12176/6592597-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="125" height="129"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-13155/6592590-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="641" height="719"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-14148/6592583-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="140" height="122"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-15138/6592576-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="630" height="714"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-16136/6592569-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="141" height="97"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-17121/6592562-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="634" height="659"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-18114/6592555-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="133" height="130"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-19106/6592548-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="639" height="741"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2092/6592541-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="601" height="809"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Payne of Minnesota scored only two playoff goals but both were game-winners.</figcaption></div><h2>Top Scorers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2182/6592534-1-eng-US/f0034-212.jpg" title="f0034-21" width="579" height="863"></div><h3>MOST GOALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2274/6592527-1-eng-US/f0034-222.jpg" title="f0034-22" width="585" height="192"></div><h3>MOST ASSISTS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2368/6592520-1-eng-US/f0034-232.jpg" title="f0034-23" width="576" height="193"></div><h3>MOST SHOTS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2459/6592513-1-eng-US/f0034-242.jpg" title="f0034-24" width="575" height="223"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2548/6592506-1-eng-US/f0034-252.jpg" title="f0034-25" width="128" height="125"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2638/6592499-1-eng-US/f0034-262.jpg" title="f0034-26" width="631" height="685"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2733/6592492-1-eng-US/f0034-272.jpg" title="f0034-27" width="147" height="107"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2826/6592485-1-eng-US/f0034-282.jpg" title="f0034-28" width="628" height="165"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2923/6592478-1-eng-US/f0034-292.jpg" title="f0034-29" width="636" height="530"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3020/6592471-1-eng-US/f0034-302.jpg" title="f0034-30" width="121" height="120"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3117/6592464-1-eng-US/f0034-312.jpg" title="f0034-31" width="635" height="717"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3216/6592457-1-eng-US/f0034-322.jpg" title="f0034-32" width="122" height="123"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3315/6592450-1-eng-US/f0034-332.jpg" title="f0034-33" width="634" height="715"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3412/6592443-1-eng-US/f0034-342.jpg" title="f0034-34" width="100" height="105"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-3511/6592436-1-eng-US/f0034-352.jpg" title="f0034-35" width="642" height="696"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-369/6592429-1-eng-US/f0034-362.jpg" title="f0034-36" width="166" height="93"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-378/6592422-1-eng-US/f0034-372.jpg" title="f0034-37" width="630" height="467"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-388/6592415-1-eng-US/f0034-382.jpg" title="f0034-38" width="629" height="250"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-398/6592408-1-eng-US/f0034-392.jpg" title="f0034-39" width="116" height="121"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-408/6592401-1-eng-US/f0034-402.jpg" title="f0034-40" width="628" height="687"></div><h2>GOALTENDING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-418/6592394-1-eng-US/f0034-412.jpg" title="f0034-41" width="593" height="1458"></div><h3>GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-428/6592387-1-eng-US/f0034-422.jpg" title="f0034-42" width="577" height="225"></div><h3>MOST WINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-438/6592380-1-eng-US/f0034-432.jpg" title="f0034-43" width="576" height="258"></div><h3>SAVE PERCENTAGE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-448/6592373-1-eng-US/f0034-442.jpg" title="f0034-44" width="577" height="225"></div> &#9632;

f0034-02

NHL PLAYOFF SCORING

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01824/6592915-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="500" height="120"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. Apr 21Nova Scotia 5 at Maine 7Sun. Apr. 22Nova Scotia 6 at Maine 1<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. Apr. 24Maine at Nova ScotiaWed Apr. 25Maine at Nova ScotiaFri. Apr. 27Maine at Nova ScotiaSun. Apr. 29Nova Scotia at Maine<h2>SOUTHERN DIVISION FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02602/6592908-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="498" height="117"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Apr. 20Rochester 5 at Baltimore 1Sun. Apr. 22Rochester 2 at Baltimore 5<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. Apr. 25Baltimore at RochesterFri. Apr. 27Baltimore at RochesterSun. Apr. 29Rochester at BaltimoreWed. May 2Baltimore at RochesterSat. May 5Rochester vs Baltimore(Game at Hershey, PA)<h2>NORTHERN DIVISION</h2>SEMI-FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03488/6592901-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="527" height="120"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 5Nova Scotia 6 at Fredericton 4Sat. Apr. 7Nova Scotia 5 at Fredericton 4Sun. Apr. 8Fredericton 5 at Nova Scotia 3Wed. Apr. 11Fredericton 1 at Nova Scotia 6Fri. Apr. 13Nova Scotia 1 at Fredericton 6Sun. Apr. 15Fredericton 8 at Nova Scotia 6Wed. Apr. 18Nova Scotia 6 at Fredericton 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04394/6592894-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="495" height="122"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 5Maine 3 at Adirondack 6Sat Apr. 7Maine 4 at Adirondack 3Sun. Apr. 8Adirondack 6 at Maine 4Thu. Apr. 12Adirondack 0 at Maine 2Sat Apr. 14Maine 1 at Adirondack 2Sun. Apr. 15Adirondack 2 at Maine 6Tue. Apr. 17Maine 5 at Adirondack 3<h2>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h2>SEM-FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05332/6592887-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="502" height="122"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 5St Catharines 4 at Rochester 3Fri. Apr. 6Rochester 5 at St. Catharines 3Sun. Apr. 8St Catharines 3 at Rochester 5Wed. Apr. 11Rochester 2 at St. Catharines 3Fri. Apr. 13St Catharines 4 at Rochester 9Mon. Apr. 16Rochester 1 at St. Catharines 4Tue. Apr. 17St. Catharines 2 at Rochester 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06304/6592880-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="534" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Apr. 3Springfield 2 at Baltimore 10Wed. Apr. 4Springfield 3 at Baltimore 5Fri. Apr. 7Baltimore 8 at Springfield 7Sat Apr. 8Baltimore 5 at Springfield 3<h3>LEADING PLAYOFF SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07280/6592873-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="541" height="324"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08250/6592866-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="533" height="123"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 19Oilers 4 at Indianapolis 3Sat. Apr. 21Oilers 7 at Indianapolis 3<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Mon. Apr. 23Oilers at Indianapolis(Other dates undetermined)SEMI-FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09230/6592859-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="535" height="122"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Apr. 6Indianapolis 3 at Colorado 5Sat. Apr. 7Indianapolis 2 at Colorado 3Tue. Apr. 10Colorado 2 at Indianapolis 3Fri. Apr. 13Colorado 3 at Indianapolis 6Sat. Apr. 14Colorado 5 at Indianapolis 6Tue. Apr. 17Indianapolis 3 at Colorado 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10203/6592852-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="529" height="120"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Apr. 6Oilers 7 at Salt Lake 6Sat. Apr. 7Oilers 2 at Salt Lake 8Wed. Apr. 11Oilers 4 at Salt Lake 3Fri. Apr. 13Oilers 4 at Salt Lake 1Sat. Apr. 14Oiler 6 at Salt Lake 3<h3>LEADING PLAYOFF SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-11178/6592845-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="540" height="244"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>SEMI-FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-12157/6592838-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="534" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Apr. 13Flint 4 at Milwaukee 3Sun. Apr. 15Flint 4 at Milwaukee 3Thu. Apr. 19Milwaukee 3 at Flint 4Sat. Apr. 20Milwaukee 2 at Hint 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-13139/6592831-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="533" height="120"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. Apr. 15Toledo 3 at Fort Wayne 1Wed. Apr. 18Fort Wayne 5 at Toledo 3Fri. Apr. 20Toledo 4 at Fort Wane 7Sat. Apr. 21Fort Wayne 4 at Toledo 6<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. Apr. 25Toledo at Fort WayneFri. Apr. 27Fort Wayne at ToledoSat Apr. 28Toledo at Fort Wayne<h3>LEADING PLAYOFF SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-14118/6592824-1-eng-US/f0035-142.jpg" title="f0035-14" width="537" height="237"></div><h2>ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE</h2>FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-15104/6592817-1-eng-US/f0035-152.jpg" title="f0035-15" width="534" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 5Erie 1 at Carolina 2Fri. Apr. 6Erle 6 at Carolina 3Sat Apr. 7Carolina 3 at Erie 4Sun. Apr. 8Carolina 1 at Erie 5Tue. Apr. 10Erie 5 at Carolina 1<h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1697/6592810-1-eng-US/f0035-162.jpg" title="f0035-16" width="536" height="125"></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2><h3>EMMS DIVISION FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1779/6592803-1-eng-US/f0035-172.jpg" title="f0035-17" width="534" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Apr. 13S.S. Marie 4 at Kitchener 6Sun. Apr. 15S.S. Marie 3 at Kitchener 7Thu. Apr. 19Kitchener 4 at S.S. Marie 9Sat. Apr. 21Kitchener 2 at S.S. Marie 1Sun. Apr. 22S.S. Marie 5 at Kitchener 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. Apr. 24Kitchener at S.S. MarieWed. Apr. 25S.S. Marie at KitchenerThu. Apr. 26Kitchener at S.S. Marie<h3>LEYDEN DIVISION FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1871/6592796-1-eng-US/f0035-182.jpg" title="f0035-18" width="536" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Apr. 13Toronto 2 at Ottawa 9Sun. Apr. 15Ottawa 5 at Toronto 2Tue. Apr. 17Toronto 2 at Ottawa 10Thu. Apr. 19Ottawa 4 at Toronto 2<h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>FINALSLONGUEUIL vs LAVAL(Best-of-seven series)Mon. Apr. 23Longueuil at LavalWed. Apr. 25Laval at LongueuilMon. Apr. 30Longueuil at LavalWed. May 2Laval at LongueuilFri. May 4Longueuil at LavalSun. May 6Laval at Longueuil(7th game to be determined)<h2>SEMI-FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1964/6592789-1-eng-US/f0035-192.jpg" title="f0035-19" width="535" height="239"></div><h3>LEADING PLAYOFF SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2059/6592782-1-eng-US/f0035-202.jpg" title="f0035-20" width="541" height="299"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><h3>WEST DIVISION FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2151/6592775-1-eng-US/f0035-212.jpg" title="f0035-21" width="533" height="119"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Apr. 11Portland 6 at Kamloops 8Fri. Apr. 13Portland 1 at Kamloops 8Sat Apr. 14Kamloops 10 at Portland 4Mon. Apr. 16Kamloops 5 at Portland 4Fri. Apr. 20Portland 7 at Kamloops 8<h2>EAST DIVISION FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2242/6592768-1-eng-US/f0035-222.jpg" title="f0035-22" width="534" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Apr. 20Medicine Hat 3 at Regina 4Sat. Apr. 21Medicine Hat 2 at Regina 6<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Mon. Apr. 23Regina at Medicine HatTue. Apr. 24Regina at Medicine HatThu. Apr. 26Medicine Hat at ReginaSat Apr. 28Regina at Medicine HatSun. Apr. 29Medicine Hat at Regina<h3>EAST DIVISION SEMI FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2338/6592761-1-eng-US/f0035-232.jpg" title="f0035-23" width="534" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. Apr. 15Brandon 4 at Regina 6Tue. Apr. 17Regina 2 at Brandon 6Wed. Apr. 18Brandon 2 at Regina 8<h3>LEADING PLAYOFF SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2433/6592754-1-eng-US/f0035-242.jpg" title="f0035-24" width="537" height="268"></div><h2>ALLAN CUP</h2>FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2529/6592747-1-eng-US/f0035-252.jpg" title="f0035-25" width="533" height="119"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thunder Bay 3, Cambridge 2Cambridge 7, Thunder Bay 3<h2>EASTERN CANADA FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2627/6592740-1-eng-US/f0035-262.jpg" title="f0035-26" width="533" height="119"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Cambridge 8, Stephenville 5Cambridge 7, Stephenville 5Stephenville 5, Cambridge 4Cambridge 3, Stephenville 1<h2>CENTENNIAL CUP</h2><h3>WESTERN FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2723/6592733-1-eng-US/f0035-272.jpg" title="f0035-27" width="537" height="238"></div><h3>EASTERN SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2823/6592726-1-eng-US/f0035-282.jpg" title="f0035-28" width="531" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Rayside-Balfour 7, Orillia 6Orillia 4, Rayside-Balfour 3<h2>HARDY CUP</h2>FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2921/6592719-1-eng-US/f0035-292.jpg" title="f0035-29" width="533" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Moose Jaw 5, Charlottetown 4<h2>UNITED STATES JUNIOR</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-3021/6592712-1-eng-US/f0035-302.jpg" title="f0035-30" width="533" height="122"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sioux City 4, St. Paul 1Sioux City 6, St. Paul 3St Paul 3, Sioux City 1Sioux City 5, St Paul 4St. Paul 3, Sioux City 2St. Paul 5, Sioux City 3St Paul 4, Sioux City 2U.S. NATIONAL FINALChicago 5, St Paul 2(Chicago Jots win championship)<h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2>FINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-3121/6592705-1-eng-US/f0035-312.jpg" title="f0035-31" width="534" height="125"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Springfield 8, Fitchburg 0Springfield 4, Fitchburg 3Springfield 7, Fitchburg 1 &#9632;

f0035-01

MINOR SCOREBOARD

<h2>DIVISION FINALS</h2>CALGARY&mdash;Eaves 3,4, McDonald 1,2,3,4, 5,6, Quinn 1,2,3, Beers 1,2, Kromm 1, Wilson 1, 2, 3, Bozek 3, Reinhart 4, 5, 6, Macon 1, Peplinski 2, 3, Konroyd 1, Maclnnis 2. Winning goals-Eaves, McDonald, Wilson.EDMONTON&mdash;Kurri 5, 6, 7, 8, Linseman 3, 4,5, Gretzky 2,3,4,5, Lowe 1,2, McClelland 1, Coffey 3, 4, 5, Hunter 2, 3, 4, Pouzar 1, Lindstrom 1,2,3, Messier 2,3,4, Anderson 2,3,4, Semenko 3, Fogolin 1, Hughes 1. Winning goals-Gretzky, Pouzar, Messier, Linsemen.MINNESOTA&mdash;Napier 1, Ciccarelli 3, Maruk 3, 4, 5, Levie 1, 2, Plett 2, 3, 4, 5, Acton 3, 4, Bellows 1, McCarthy 1, Payne 1, 2, Broten 2, Roberts 3. Winning goals-Payne 2, Ciccarelli, McCarthy.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Hickey 1, Ganchar 2,3, Pettersson 6, Mullen 1,2, Gilmour 2, Pichette 1, Wickenheiser 2, Federko 2, 3, 4, Paslawski 1, Babych 1. Winning goals-Wickenheiser, Federko, Gilmour.MONTREAL&mdash;Nilan 1, Hunter 1, Mondou 2, 3, Naslund 2, 3, Shutt 1, 2, 3, 4, Turnbull 1, Smith 2, Walter 1,2, Carbonneau 2,3, Tremblay 4, 5, Green 1, Chabot 1. Winning goals-Naslund, Walter, Mondou, Qhabot.QUEBEC&mdash;M. Stastny 2, Sauve 2, Wesley 1, Sleigher 1, A. Stastny 2, Price 1, Paiement 2,3, Savard 3, Moller 1, Berglund 2, P. Stastny 2, Goulet 2. Winning goals-Wesley, Berglund.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Flatley 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Bossy 2,3,4, Goring 1, Trottier 2, 3, 4,5, Kallur 1, 2, B. Sutter 2, Gillies 3, 4, Boutilier 1, Gilbert 2. Winning goals-B. Sutter, Boutilier, Kallur, Flatley.WASHINGTON&mdash;Haworth 2, 3, Christian 3, 4, 5, Laughlin 4, Gustafsson 1, 2, Stevens 1, Gartner 3, Carpenter 1, Jarvis 1. Winning goals-Laughlin.Overtime winners&mdash;Wilson (Cal), McDonald (Cal), Payne (Min), Gilmour (StL), Berglund (Que), Kallur (NYI), 1 each. &#9632;

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May 4, 1984

An Interview With…

Top Rookies In The Playoffs

HOCKEY CORNER

Longueuil, Laval Will Skate It Out