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.

June 1, 1984

The Hockey News June, 1984

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>HARTFORD&mdash;For 12 years, the length of the Whalers&rsquo; franchise, Howard Baldwin has headed the organization, but for the first seven of those years he was involved in a life-or-death struggle known as the World Hockey Association.When the Edmonton Oilers, one of four WHA teams to join the National Hockey League in a well-chronicled expansion five years ago, part of Baldwin was delighted.&ldquo;On one hand. I feel incredibly good about what Edmonton accomplished,&rdquo; said Baldwin, the chairman and managing general partner of the Whalers. &ldquo;When we joined the NHL, guys like Harry Sinden were widely quoted as saying that there was no way that our teams would even be on a par with the established teams. Now five years later, here&rsquo;s Edmonton holding onto the Stanley Cup. You have to give Glen Sather and that scout of their&rsquo;s, Barry Fraser, a ton of credit. Sather&rsquo;s brash and cocky, but I like him.&ldquo;On the other hand, I felt bad for the Islanders. In five years, you develop new relationships and I&rsquo;ve become very fond of John Pickett (the Islanders&rsquo; chairman). People seem to forget that what the Islanders achieved came during the revolutionary years, and that makes their accomplishment even more incredible. There has never been as much turmoil in the NHL as there was five years ago, and yet the Islanders won four straight Cups. Down the road, people will look back at that and marvel.&rdquo;Baldwin once said that &ldquo;five years is long enough for anybody.&rdquo; His timetable couldn&rsquo;t have been more precise.&ldquo;I meant us, of course, when I said that, but you have to be happy for Edmonton,&rdquo; he said.What Sather and Edmonton did infuriated detractors, but only seemed to make sense. He took the greatest offensive weapon in hockey history and built a great offense around him.&ldquo;It was an incredible coup for them to get Gretzky, but just look at who they drafted&mdash;guys like Messier, Anderson, Kurri, Lowe, Coffey and Fuhr,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Mr. Fraser and the scouts certainly did their part.&rdquo;Leave it to someone such as Baldwin to remember Edmonton&rsquo;s woes upon entering the NHL.&ldquo;You could protect two skaters and two goaltenders and as I recall, Gretzky&rsquo;s the only one who&rsquo;s left,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know the two goaltenders are gone&rdquo;What happened is that the Oilers lost Bengt Gustafsson on a technicality to Washington and hence got to protect just one skater&mdash;Wayne Gretzky. One goaltender, Dave Dryden, quit early in the Oilers&rsquo; first NHL season and the other. Ed Mio, was traded in 1981.&ldquo;Admittedly, starting with Gretzky is a good place to start, but he was right about it,&rdquo; Baldwin said. &ldquo;It only magnifies what they have accomplished.&rdquo;Baldwin said that he&rsquo;s doing &ldquo;just what I&rsquo;ve always done except my name&rsquo;s not in the papers.&rdquo;&ldquo;I like it that way,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care if I ever see my name in print again.&rdquo;Part of Baldwin&rsquo;s work is centered at the league level.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to work out a TV package that literally could put some teams over the top, dollar-wise, including us,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A new network has been created and the 14 American teams stand to make some big dollars. To the outside world, it may be a boring problem, but to insiders, it&rsquo;s extremely important. It&rsquo;s a large problem, maybe the largest we&rsquo;ve had to face, but it could mean some serious dollars for a lot of teams.&rdquo; &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Baldwin Reminded Of Past With Oiler Win

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03609/5141514-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg"></div>that the NHL players with the most goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs are: &#9632;

f0005-03

Did You Know…

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;If youth is not to be wasted on the young, the Flyers still have a lot of work to do. Nobody asked Bobby Clarke, the general manager, how he&rsquo;s going to replace Bobby Clarke, the player. Nor did Mike Keenan, the new coach Clarke introduced, look like a replacement on left wing for Bill Barber.But top-to-bottom now, the Flyers are at least back to being young and promising. They played eight rookies, most of them regularly, last year, and still ran up 98 points. They have only two players left who are over 30, Darryl Sittler and Miro Dvorak. They have a 27-year-old team president, a 34-year-old coach and a 38-year-old assistant.In the space of 31 days, the slate, which in reality had been dirtied more by public relations gaffes than personnel mistakes, has been wiped clean.The fans don&rsquo;t have Bob McCammon to kick around anymore. With Clarke&rsquo;s front-office position finally defined, a coach like McCammon, or now Keenan, can work on winning without looking over his shoulder.And while the oppressive Patrick Division smog may yet choke all this fresh air, one has to give the new regime its marks. The kid, president Jay Snider, who in his first year gave the fans cheering sections and Scoro and the unpalatable McCammon as a general manager, handled McCammon&rsquo;s insistence on staying as both coach and GM quickly and decisively. While the jury on Clarke as a general manager will be hung for at least a year, it is at least already clear that Snider hired not just a hero, but a workaholic.And it was all tied together by confirmation of the hiring of Keenan, the 34-year-old University of Toronto coach. The name Keenan produced no rallies in the streets and he still has to win, but as long as Clarke hired the guy, he&rsquo;s going to get a longer-than-normal honeymoon.Like McCammon, Keenan will be judged on what he does in the playoffs. Maybe, now that McCammon played the kids last year, Keenan&rsquo;s test will be more fair than his predecessor&rsquo;s. The Flyers still need two players, but most of the 20 already here could use a teacher, too.Keenan is that. His credentials, championships with the Peterborough juniors, the American League Rochester Americans and the University of Toronto Blues are impressive. And his profile&mdash;young, innovative, a disciplinarian&mdash;is perfect for the formless, yet not un-talented, mass the Flyers have become.In a league in which its smarter teams are turning away from big names and recycled rejects for coaching positions, Keenan was a very desirable commodity.The Flyers got him because their frontoffice kids handled the search and recruitment almost immaculately.They started by putting out feelers to the top young candidates on the market before Clarke had accepted the general manager&rsquo;s job. &ldquo;They couldn&rsquo;t wait,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;Or they all might be gone.&rdquo; Snider took the recommendations of vice president Keith Allen and assistant general manager Gary Darling&mdash;Dave King, Bill LaForge, Ted Sator and Keenan&mdash;and went to work.While Clarke was in the Virgin Islands pondering his future, Keenan came to Philadelphia for an interview with Snider, Darling and Allen. A lengthy questionnaire, prepared by Snider was then mailed to him in Toronto.The questions on it were so allencompassing that Sator, who also filled one out, said it took the better part of a week to complete his. &ldquo;It had everything,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;from soup to nuts. Coaching philosophy, what the Flyers should stand for, everything.&rdquo;It gave Clarke an excellent starting place for his first meeting with Keenan at the Memorial Cup in Kitchener. &ldquo;You have that in front of you, it was easy to ask the good follow-up questions,&rdquo; the general manager said.&ldquo;It was a helluva questionnaire. The real value of it was that it made a guy really think about himself. I would have had a hard time doing it. The way Mike wrote it was very impressive.&ldquo;Even before that, though, he&rsquo;s the kind of guy that just meeting him the first time, or reading his resume, you had to be impressed.&ldquo;What I found out, both from his answers and talking to other people about him, that Mike&rsquo;s very flexible, willing to learn from anybody. Another thing that kept coming up was how competitive he is.&rdquo;The contract terms, settled with the aid of Keenan&rsquo;s representative, Rob Campbell of Toronto, were, of course, not disclosed. It is either a two- or a three-year deal and is probably in the $85-100,000 range.Clarke clearly handled his first negotiations without a hitch.&rdquo; I really enjoyed the whole thing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;m very comfortable with the decision that I made. I&rsquo;m extremely happy to have both of those guys.&rdquo;Sator, the runner-up, got an extension of his contract and a raise out of the deal. &#9632;

Clarke And Keenan Start With Clean Slate

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="C0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-01184/5143335-1-eng-US/c0004-012.jpg"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The speculation began immediately after the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; season ended.Would Jacques Lemaire be back to coach? Would Guy Lafleur return for another year? Did Steve Shutt play his last game as a Canadien against the New York Islanders?While the Canadiens went much further than anyone expected&mdash;forcing the Islanders to a sixth game in the Prince of Wales Conference final, there is no doubt that some familiar faces will be missing when training camp opens in September.Lemaire will be back behind the bench. That was confirmed the night the Canadiens were sent on vacation by the Islanders. That same night, Lafleur said he had a year plus an option left on his contract and he planned to honor it.Managing director Serge Savard confirmed the Canadiens had no intention of dealing Lafleur and later the club announced that goaltender Steve Penney, the Habs&rsquo; hero of the playoffs, had signed a new two-year deal, plus an option, with the club.&ldquo;Steve will be going into training camp as our No. 1 goaltender,&rdquo; said Savard, who reportedly signed Penney to a one-way contract.With Penney confirmed as No. 1, who is No. 2? That question may not be answered until training camp. Richard Sevigny, who was the back-up for all but one playoff game, will become a free agent this summer. If Savard does not sign Sevigny, then Rick Wamsley would likely be Penney&rsquo;s partner. There has been speculation that the Canadiens might be in a position to make a deal with the Los Angeles Kings, who are looking for a goaltender, for the No. 3 overall draft choice in the 1984 entry draft on June 9 at the Forum.It is possible, but not probable, that both Sevigny and Wamsley could be gone and Greg Moffett, who was the Canadiens&rsquo; No. 3 goaltender when camp ended last fall, would finally get a legitimate shot at the National Hockey League.On defense, Larry Robinson will not be going anywhere and Chris Chelios assured himself of a full-time position with his post-season effort. Craig Ludwig, who has a year and an option left in his contract, should be back but beyond those three, the future of the rest of the defense is questionable.Jean Hamel, who signed a new contract during the 1983-84 season, is expected to be back. Rick Green, who played just seven games during the regular season, is entering the option year on his contract. Savard has a tough decision here&mdash;does he sign Green or does he deal him off? Savard has indicated that Tom Kurvers, who won the Hobey Baker Award as the top performer in U.S. college hockey last season, is likely to be with the Canadiens for 1984-85. Kent Carlson, who didn&rsquo;t see any post-season activity, is going to be back but the future of Bill Root and Ric Nattress is clouded.Up front, the Canadiens definitely feel that a goal-scorer is needed. There have been suggestions that Savard will deal off either Bobby Smith or Perry Turnbull, who were acquired in trades last season, to help meet that need, but don&rsquo;t count on it.Despite the fact there was some dissatisfaction with the way both performed in the playoffs, Savard is confident that both Smith and Turnbull will be useful tools in the Canadiens&rsquo; rebuilding process which will continue next season.Guy Carbonneau and Mark Hunter, both of whom performed well against Boston, Quebec and the Islanders, have their jobs locked up, but then it gets interesting.Smith and Carbonneau are the only two centers whose jobs are certain. The other three&mdash;Pierre Mondou, John Chabot and Alfie Turcotte&mdash;all find themselves in a position with something to prove when they come into training camp and of the three, Turcotte would be the least likely to be dealt because he was Savard&rsquo;s first-ever first-round draft choice.The Canadiens used to be strong on the right side, but that has diminished with the aging of Lafleur and the deal that sent Mark Napier to the Minnesota North Stars. Hunter is a grinder, the type of player which a team needs in the bump-and-grind style of Prince of Wales Cnference. Chris Nilan and Mario Tremblay are both grinders as well, so there seems to be a problem with goal production from the right side.Bob Gainey, who played with two damaged shoulders during the playoffs, was the subject of trade rumors during the winter, but it would be difficult for Savard to trade his team captain after such a show of courage. Ryan Walter, who also played on the right side and center, at times, is likely to return and the Canadiens are not about to part with Mats Naslund, their best winger last season.That leaves Turnbull and Shutt, who had a less-than average season followed by an above-average playoff. Shutt&rsquo;s contract may hamper any efforts Savard makes to deal him, but it seems that while Lafleur will be back, his one-time left winger has been deemed expendable.It is expected that Claude Lemieux, who spent most of the season with the Verdun Juniors, and Sergio Momesso, who was with Shawinigan, will be given opportunities to make the club next fall. Lemieux is a right winger and Momesso plays the left side. From the Voyageur, right winger Larry Landon, Norm Baron, who finished the season with the Canadiens, and defenseman Jocelyn Gauvreau will also be given good look next fall.IN PASSING&mdash;With the folding of the CHL, it looks as though the Canadiens will share the Sherbrooke AHL franchise with Winnipeg&mdash;if the Habs can find an NHL team to take over the Voyageurs in Halifax. &#9632;

C0004-01

Habs Can’t Afford The Luxury Of Security

<div class="image-hero"><img title="cover" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover31/5143366-1-eng-US/cover2.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">EDMONTON CAPTAIN WAYNE GRETZKY WITH THE STANLEY CUP (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Torrey Sees Isles&rsquo; Defeat As A Warning&mdash;Page 7One Last Look At Top NHL Draft Prospects&mdash;Page 13Death Of CHL Puts Minors In State Of Flux&mdash;Page 40 &#9632;

cover

THE OILERS: IS THIS THE BEST FIRST OF MANY TO COME?

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011240/5141095-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="291" height="350"></div><h2>Change Of Kings</h2>BACK IN THE 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs, New York Islanders, on the hunt for their second of four consecutive crowns, found the Edmonton Oilers to be a pesky opponent.The Islanders subdued the Oilers in six games and when the series was completed, Bryan Trottier, the Isles&rsquo; brilliant center, predicted that the young Edmonton team would be big trouble in the future.&ldquo;They have Wayne Gretzky, of course, which makes them a tough out,&rdquo; Trottier said, &ldquo;but I look at guys like Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Paul Coffey and know they&rsquo;re going to be good. They have so much speed plus the ability to make all their moves going flat-out.&rdquo;The Oilers needed three years and two more tries at the Islanders to do it but this spring they disrupted one of hockey&rsquo;s most splendid achievements. The Oilers&rsquo; first Stanley Cup victory meant that the Islanders couldn&rsquo;t equal the National Hockey League&rsquo;s most glittering team performance&mdash;the five consecutive Cups won by the Montreal Canadiens from 1956 to &lsquo;60.What Trottier said was prophetic because the Oilers&rsquo; speed and the ability of many of them to maintain their full repertoire of tricks at full tilt was the club&rsquo;s largest asset.In winning the Cup, the Oilers wiped out an opinion held in many quarters, notably the eastern portion of the NHL, that they were a lightweight pack of front-runners who could never beat a tough, disciplined team and that it was impossible for a team from the puny Smythe Division and Campbell Conference to win the Cup.That&rsquo;s why the Oilers were close to pleased when the Calgary Flames pushed them to seven games in the division final. It was a &ldquo;gut-check&rdquo; series of a type the Oilers never had faced before and most players on the team admitted that it was something they needed.<h2>Well-Coached Team</h2>THERE ALSO HAD been a few rumbles around the NHL that perhaps Glen Sather was a splendid general manager, who assembled a fine cast of talent but lacked the ability to coach. A few hints were heard in 1983 that Islander coach Al Arbour had out-maneuvered Sather in the final.Well, none of that was heard this year. Sather and his assistants, John Muckler and Ted Green, aided in the tape room by Roger Neilson, had the Oilers prepared extremely well with a plan on how to beat the Islanders. The way the Oilers executed it indicates that someone has taught them a great deal about how to play the game.When their game is cranked up and their wheels are turning, the Oilers are an awesome sight, one of the most entertaining, exciting teams the NHL has owned. But they&rsquo;ve been that way for a few seasons. All they needed was a few role players, notably the contribution made by the defense pair of Don Jackson and Randy Gregg plus center Kevin McClelland.The final had two really important points. The Oilers&rsquo; 1-0 win in the first game was about as big a surprise as the playoffs have ever offered. Then, in game three, the Oilers scored two goals in 17 seconds in the final minute of the second period and that started them on their merry way.<h2>They Wear Out</h2>THE CHALLENGE NOW for the Oilers is to cope with success as well as the Islanders have. The Edmonton fans certainly didn&rsquo;t and the pack of banana-brains who jumped on the ice and the dopes who wandered mindlessly and loudly on the downtown-streets were enough to make you wish somebody else had triumphed. The Oilers deserved better. The Islanders lost with class and dignity, just as they had won the same way. They&rsquo;ve been remarkable kings, a splendid group of gentlemen, adults on and off the ice.Maybe the structure of the game today works against any team ever duplicating the Canadiens&rsquo; feat of five Back then, the schedule was 70 games long and, in most playoffs, the team played a maximum of 10 or 11 games in two rounds.The Isles had to face an 80-game schedule and four playoff rounds, a total of 20 more games. In five years, the Islanders played six seasons and this spring, they were just plumb worn out.That much hockey is simply too physically debilitating to be sustained over the long haul. A few Islander players were just ground down completely this spring.Thus, it will be interesting to see how the Oilers sustain their Hold on the throne room in a league growing more competitive. Long reigns could be a thing of the past. &#9632;

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HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

&ldquo;And I said, &lsquo;My friend, within five years Edmonton will have the Cup.&rsquo; He laughed and told me I was nuts.&rdquo;&mdash;Edmonton Oiler owner Peter Pocklington, recalling a five-year old promise he made to TV show host Dick Beddoes, which turned out to be more prophetic than even Pocklington had envisioned. Story on Page 3. &#9632;

Quote Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>Peter Puck called his shot during the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; first National Hockey League season.A Stanley Cup within five years, somewhat apprehensively predicted the Oilers&rsquo; flamboyant owner when backed into a comer a number of years ago.&ldquo;Five years ago, at the end of a Maple Leaf-Oiler game in Toronto, I was asked to go on TV with the guy with the bowler hat.&rdquo; said Pocklington of Dick Beddoes and his Overtime show. &ldquo;He went after my throat and thank gawd. I remained slightly calm and cool. He said to me, &lsquo;You&rsquo;ve got a terrible bloody team there, you&rsquo;re going no where.&rsquo;&ldquo;And I said, &lsquo;My friend, within five years Edmonton will have the Cup.&rsquo; He laughed and told me I was nuts.&rdquo;Well, ever since 8:48 p.m. MDT of May 19, this neck of the woods hasn&rsquo;t been the same. When Dave Lumley slid the puck 160 feet dead center into an empty New York Islander net with 13 seconds remaining, capping a 5-2 Oilers&rsquo; victory and a 4-1 triumph in games in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final, bedlam set in.Pocklington admits that at the time of his prediction, he was &ldquo;a bit naive&hellip;I really didn&rsquo;t know we couldn&rsquo;t win it in five years. 1 came back and told (manager-coach Glen) Sather that this was our plan, our goal. He agreed and said it could be done. We went after the talent and the players told us they thought they could do it&hellip;and that&rsquo;s the story.&rdquo;&ldquo;Winning at home,&rdquo; said Pocklington was &ldquo;so important, so important. It was a thrill of a lifetime. The first one was absolutely necessary to win at home in front of our fans. The fans have supported the WHA club and now the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; NHL club like no other club in history. They deserved it.&rdquo;Pocklington minced no words. He figured this could be the start of a dynasty. &ldquo;No question. I can see we&rsquo;re going to try to keep this Cup in Edmonton. It&rsquo;s going to be awfully tough to get it out of here. We&rsquo;re going to have our ups and downs, but it will be here.&rdquo;When captain Wayne Gretzky, who rose to his regular level of prominence in games four and five, was asked if the Oilers could be the team of the mid-80s, he wasn&rsquo;t quite as certain as the chap who signs his pay cheques.&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t think that far ahead,&rdquo; said Gretzky, who finally solved the mastery Isles&rsquo; goalie Billy Smith had held over him in final series games dating back to last year. The 23-year-old struck for four goals against Smith in Games Four and Five.&ldquo;We just want to be happy with this one right now. I can&rsquo;t tell you the feeling. It&rsquo;s years of work&hellip;and to be on a Stanley Cup champion, there&rsquo;s nothing like it. I&rsquo;ve been fortunate enough to win a lot of individual awards, but it&rsquo;s nothing like this. This is what it is all about.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s exactly what Gretzky told his teammates before taking to the ice for the final game.&ldquo;Wayne stood up in the dressing room before the (final) game,&rdquo; said Mark Messier, who toted the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) around the crowded Oiler dressing room, &ldquo;and said all the individual awards he&rsquo;s won could never compare to winning the Stanley Cup. That got everyone going and made us all realize how much it means to win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;There was no one reason why the Oilers so thoroughly dominated the Islanders. In game one, a 1-0 Oiler win on Long Island, netminder Grant Fuhr was outstanding and utility forward Kevin McClelland scored the key goal. In game three and four. Messier, using his blazing speed and strength to advantage, was the dominant individual player. In games four and five, Gretzky returned to the fore. Meanwhile, players such as Kevin Lowe, Paul Coffey, McClelland, Pat Hughes. Ken Linseman and Dave Semenko consistently got the job done.&ldquo;We were much better prepared this year than we were last year,&rdquo; said Coffey, who added that the coaching staff used the nine-day layoff well to prepare for the Islanders.&ldquo;The coaches (Glen Sather, John Muckier, Ted Green and Roger Neilson) did a great job,&rdquo; added Messier. &ldquo;They took last year&rsquo;s films against the Islanders and broke them down to see how we lost. Then they looked at how the Rangers, Capitals and Canadiens played the Isles this year. We learned something from every series, combined them all and executed it all very well.&rdquo;Sather said there are many reasons for the complete reversal from one year ago. &ldquo;A year ago, neither Grant Fuhr nor Andy Moog were hot in the playoffs. Our defense didn&rsquo;t play well last year. This year, they were solid. We didn&rsquo;t have Kevin McClelland a year ago. Last year, Mark Messier was ineffective because of a shoulder injury. There are a lot of reasons why we&rsquo;re better now than a year ago. You just have to look for them.&rdquo;Aside from winning the Cup, Gretzky felt the Oilers have changed the NHL to a more &ldquo;skating game over the last five years. I hope we influence the game further within the next five years. First of all, we put people in buildings. I think people enjoy the way we play. We are a skating team. People come to watch us play and then go away from the rink feeling excited. I feel we can&rsquo;t do anything but help hockey and I&rsquo;m very excited about that.&rdquo;In mid-June, Gretzky will undergo minor surgery to have a circulatory problem corrected in his left ankle. &ldquo;It comes from tying my skate too tight and cutting off the circulation,&rdquo; said Gretzky, adding the problem first appeared on an Oiler trip to Detroit in early January. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s bothered me for the last two months. I&rsquo;ll just be in there (hospital) one night and get it done.&rdquo;In the meantime, Sather figures to be in a for a busy off-season.Initially, there is his personal situation&mdash;whether to pass along the coaching reins to assistant John Muckier for the 1984-85 season or remain behind the bench for another term. A couple of those on the scene predict Muckier will be elevated to head coach.&ldquo;My feeling is that he is going to let Muckier do it,&rdquo; forecasted Pocklington. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s totally his decision, 100 per cent.&rdquo;Gretzky, not your average be-seen-but-not-heardemployee, was in agreement. &ldquo;If I was abetting man I&rsquo;d say yes, he&rsquo;ll step down. He&rsquo;ll pass along the reins. He&rsquo;s knows Muck can do the job. But Slats (Sather) is Slats. With him, you never know.&rdquo;Muckier has another year to run on his assistant coach&rsquo;s contract but the head job was in his future plans when he initially joined the Oilers in 1982-83 after coaching the farm team. Nothing has changed.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t deny that, although I&rsquo;m very happy with the position I&rsquo;m in now,&rdquo; said Muckier, employing the party line before adding a kicker, &ldquo;For the time being.&rdquo;Well, Slats?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you ever want to stop being successful,&rdquo; he responded when asked if he would like a stab at coaching another champion. &ldquo;And winning the Stanley Cup means you are successful. On the other hand, there has been a lot of time and work involved over the last seven years (two in the WHA). There are plenty of things to consider. It&rsquo;s time consuming and one of the things that bothered me the most was time wasted travelling. But the work has been made easier by having good guys work with me.&rdquo;Sather, the general manager, has plenty of work cut out for him with six free agents, including five regulars, on the Oilers&rsquo; scene.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011280/5141164-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="967" height="1629"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky (99) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Isles&rsquo; goalie Billy Smith.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021043/5141157-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1510" height="1174"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03685/5141150-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1509" height="1008"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky, left, and Mark Messier, right, were two happy Edmonton Oilers after winning the Stanley Cup. Gretzky said the Cup victory was his greatest thrill ever while Messier added that winning the Conn Smythe Trophy was &ldquo;just a kicker&rdquo; to the main event. (Photos by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>The contracts of Norris Trophy candidate Paul Coffey, Glenn Anderson, Pat Hughes, Don Jackson. Jaroslav Pouzar and utility man Rick Chartraw, who did not appear in the final series, will officially expire July 1. All with the possible exception of Pouzar and/or Chartraw will undoubtedly be offered contracts.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to lose anybody off this team because of contract negotiations,&rdquo; said Sather in one breath. A few minutes later, though, he whistled a different tune. &ldquo;If you want to stay good, you have to improve. You can&rsquo;t stay dormant.&rdquo;There is no doubt that the unsigned Oilers want to stay with a champion:&bull; Coffey said his agent, Gus Badali, will talk to Sather in an effort to set up a meeting to coincide with the NHL&rsquo;s awards ceremony June 4 in Toronto or later that week at the entry draft in Montreal. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve started something here with the Stanley Cup. But there&rsquo;s no doubt in my mind that I&rsquo;ll sign&mdash;whether we won the Cup or not,&rdquo; said Coffey, who is seeking a five-year deal. &ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t too many people who get to work in an environment in which they are happy.&rdquo;&bull; &ldquo;It would be awful tough to leave a championship team,&rdquo; said 54-goal man Anderson, who has left negotiations up to his Vancouver-based agent Ron Perrick. &ldquo;I definitely want to go after a second one. We know what it takes now.&rdquo;&bull; &ldquo;No question I&rsquo;d like to finish my career here,&rdquo; said Hughes, who has been negotiating his own deal with Sather. &ldquo;As long as I feel I can continue to contribute, that&rsquo;s the No. 1 thing. I figured I did that this year. It was my best year to date and I&rsquo;m finally getting to a point where I&rsquo;m comfortable and I know what I&rsquo;m capable of doing. But I am 29 and sometimes they like to go with younger guys. Maybe after winning, though, they won&rsquo;t make many changes.&rdquo;&bull; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be back as long as things go right, I don&rsquo;t suspect any problems.&rdquo; predicted Jackson, who admits he&rsquo;s about to start seeking a home in Edmonton after renting a house from Oiler p.r. director Bill Tuele&rsquo;s in-laws in 1983-84. However, Jackson is American bom and the failing Canadian dollar doesn&rsquo;t help his cause. &ldquo;It depends,&rdquo; he shrugged, &ldquo;where your priorities are, I guess.&rdquo;&bull; &ldquo;I would like to come back, but boss is boss,&rdquo; said Pouzar, the big Czech who has had offers from West Germany and Switzerland. &ldquo;The Stanley Cup is a big thing for everybody, especially me.&rdquo; Pouzar will add a Stanley Cup ring to two first-place medals from the world championships, a second-place finish at the 1976 Canada Cup and a silver medal from the 1976 Olympics.&bull; &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know what will happen,&rdquo; said Chartraw. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gotten enough gray hairs worrying about things in the past. I don&rsquo;t need anymore. I might get an indication shortly&mdash;if not I&rsquo;ll find out by July 1.&rdquo;Chartraw failed to qualify to have his name engraved on a Stanley Cup. &ldquo;The guys will have to work awfully hard to get their names on there as many times as mine,&rdquo; grinned Chartraw, whose John Henry is inscribed four times as a Montreal Canadien.Hughes, employed sparingly by the 1979 Habs, is the only other Oiler to have won a Cup.Now, though, the Oilers are going to have their own Stanley Cup rings. Pocklington estimates the rings will cost him about $100,000, a steep figure but it&rsquo;s one expenditure Peter Puck won&rsquo;t mind making. &#9632;

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Peter Puck Called The Shot Five Years Ago

THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY Founded in 1947 by Kenneth W. McKenziePUBLISHERDean HeineCONTROLLERTony DobranowskiEDITOR IN CHIEFBob McKenzieEDITORIAL DIRECTORCharlie HalpinASSISTANT EDITORPerry LefkoCONTRIBUTING EDITORSStan Fischler, Frank OrrADVERTISING SALES MANAGERRandy GreenADVERTISING SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVESCanadian Consumer Product Sales:CCMC. Cliff Kivell, 287 MacPherson Ave.Toronto, Ontario M4V 1A4(416) 928-2909SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES MANAGERPaula HeardNEWSSTAND SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaCIRCULATION DEPARTMENTKathy NiklesRosanne TaninoACCOUNTING OF DEPARTMENTTom MoffatMary CarubiaSPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGERHughes MarketingHockey 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. 10022.40 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 Hockev News. P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y 14240.Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations &#9632;

The Hockey News

<h2>FINAL PLAYOFF STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06449/5141397-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="536" height="505"></div><h2>STANLEY CUP</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-07282/5141390-1-eng-US/f0004-072.jpg" title="f0004-07" width="540" height="88"></div>(Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4-1)Game scores: Edm 1 at NYI0; Edm 1 at NYI6; NYI 2 at Edm 7; NYI 2 at Edm 7; NYI 2 at Edm 5.Top goal scorers: Edm: Gretzky 4, Messier 3, Coffey, McClelland, Lindstrom 2. NYI: Gillies 5, Gilbert 3, Trottier, LaFontaine 2.Game winners: Edm: McClelland, Anderson, Messier, Linseman. NYI: Gilbert.Overtime winners: none.<h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-08193/5141383-1-eng-US/f0004-082.jpg" title="f0004-08" width="530" height="88"></div>(NY Islanders win best-of-seven series 4-2)<h2>ADAMS DIVISION FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-09168/5141376-1-eng-US/f0004-092.jpg" title="f0004-09" width="528" height="87"></div>(Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-10120/5141369-1-eng-US/f0004-102.jpg" title="f0004-10" width="489" height="86"></div>(Montreal wins best-of-five series 3-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-1172/5141362-1-eng-US/f0004-112.jpg" title="f0004-11" width="497" height="93"></div>(Quebec wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h2>PATRICK DIVISION FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-1241/5141355-1-eng-US/f0004-122.jpg" title="f0004-12" width="527" height="90"></div>(NY Islanders win best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>SEMI FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-1323/5141348-1-eng-US/f0004-132.jpg" title="f0004-13" width="491" height="89"></div>(NY Islanders win best-of-five series 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-1510/5141341-1-eng-US/f0004-152.jpg" title="f0004-15" width="489" height="86"></div>(Washington wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-167/5141334-1-eng-US/f0004-162.jpg" title="f0004-16" width="524" height="88"></div>(Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-174/5141327-1-eng-US/f0004-172.jpg" title="f0004-17" width="526" height="91"></div>(Minnesota wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-182/5141320-1-eng-US/f0004-182.jpg" title="f0004-18" width="489" height="92"></div>(Minnesota wins best-of-five series 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-19/5141313-1-eng-US/f0004-192.jpg" title="f0004-19" width="489" height="87"></div>(St. Louis wins best-of-five series 3-1)<h2>SMYTHE DIVISION FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-20/5141306-1-eng-US/f0004-202.jpg" title="f0004-20" width="524" height="88"></div>(Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-21/5141299-1-eng-US/f0004-212.jpg" title="f0004-21" width="489" height="90"></div>(Edmonton wins best-of-five series 3-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-22/5141292-1-eng-US/f0004-222.jpg" title="f0004-22" width="487" height="86"></div>(Calgary wins best-of-five series 3-1)<h2>FINAL PLAYOFF LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-23/5141285-1-eng-US/f0004-232.jpg" title="f0004-23" width="532" height="291"></div> &#9632;

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Stanley Cup Playoff Picture

The following are game-by-game reports of the Stanley Cup final, which the Edmonton Oilers won with surprising ease, four games to one, against the New York Islanders.Game One: The final between two of the NHL&rsquo;s most explosive teams ended with but a solitary goal deciding the outcome.A third-period goal by unheralded Kevin McClelland was all the Edmonton Oilers needed to edge the New York Islanders 1-0 in the start of the best-of-seven championship series.In a classic battle of the defenses, the Oilers terminated a 10-game losing streak at the hands of the Islanders, including a four-game sweep in last year&rsquo;s Cup final.McClelland&rsquo;s goal was the result of an Islander giveaway but it settled a spectacular goaltending duel between Edmonton&rsquo;s Grant Fuhr and New York&rsquo;s veteran, Billy Smith.The Islanders had 34 shots at Fuhr but he came up with some fantastic saves to preserve the Oilers&rsquo; 12th playoff win. Smith faced 38 shots and except for McClelland&rsquo;s goal, he matched Fuhr&rsquo;s performance.The Oilers figured the big win took a tremendous weight off their shoulders. &ldquo;I certainly feel much better than I did last year at this time,&rdquo; said Oiler coach Glen Sather. &ldquo;The biggest change in our team since then is experience. We learned a lot from the Islanders.&rdquo;It was ironic that the game&rsquo;s only goal should be scored by McClelland, a player who lingered between the Pittsburgh Penguins and their American League farm team in Baltimore before being acquired by Edmonton earlier this season. The hard-nosed center took a perfect passout from Pat Hughes at 1:55 of the third period to beat Smith for only his third playoff goal. Islander Duane Sutter had coughed up the puck and Hughes and Dave Hunter pounced on it to set up the Edmonton score.<h2>Thu. May 10 EDMONTON 1, ISLANDERS 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011309/5141230-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="552" height="597"></div>Game Two: The four-time Cup champion Islanders roared back with an overpowering offensive show to bury the Oilers 6-1 and square their best-of-seven final series at a win apiece.Sparked by a rejuvenated Clark Gillies, who scored three times, the Islanders totally dominated the Oilers, out-shooting them 26-23 and beating them to the puck at every opportunity. The Isles scored three power-play goals, two of them by Gillies, as they jumped into a commanding 3-1 first-period lead.For Gillies, who scored only 12 times in a frustrating regular season, it marked his second hat trick of the playoffs and increased his post-season production to 10 goals in 18 games. Bryan Trottier also contributed two goals, his 7th and 8th. while Greg Gilbert added his 5th to round out the New York scoring. Defenseman Randy Gregg counted the lone Edmonton goal.The game was a complete reversal of the series opener when the Oilers shut down the Isles&rsquo; offense.The Islanders frustrated the Oilers and drew them into foolish penalties. Coach Glen Sather wasn&rsquo;t impressed with his team. &ldquo;We showed very little poise tonight,&rdquo; he said.<h2>Sat. May 12 EDMONTON 1, ISLANDERS 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021220/5141223-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="531" height="98"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031042/5141216-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="541" height="976"></div>Game Three: The Oilers broke out of their low-scoring way (two goals in the first two games) and exploded for a 7-2 romp over the Islanders to take a 2-1 series lead.The Oilers, a team that scored 446 goals in 80 games and lost only five times in 40 starts at the Northlands Coliseum, were awesome in this third game of the best-of-seven series. They unleashed all their big guns, except for Wayne Gretzky, who was held without a goal for the third straight game, and managed to drive Isles&rsquo; goalie Billy Smith to cover in the final period. They outshot New York 40-26 and won with considerable ease and poise.Mark Messier led the onslaught with two goals while Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey, Kevin Lowe, Kevin McClelland and big Dave Semenko added singles. After twice trailing the Islanders 1-0 and 2-1, the Oilers struck for two quick goals playing four aside in the final minute of the second period, and the impact took its toll on the Islanders. A three-goal splurge in the final period without reply from the Islanders gave Edmonton the final series lead.Clark Gillies, the Islanders&rsquo; hottest playoff scorer, scored both New York goals, his 11th and 12th. After giving up six of the seven goals, Smith was lifted for backup netminder Roland Melanson in the final period.It took the Oilers the better part of two periods to get untracked but their relentless speed and pressure tactics soon wore the weary Islanders down. In the final 20 minutes, the Oilers outshot the Islanders, 17-8.<h2>Tue. May 15 ISLANDERS 2, EDMONTON 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04911/5141209-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="551" height="1122"></div>Game Four: Wayne Gretzky snapped out of his scoring slump that saw him goalless in three games to spark the Oilers to an overwhelming 7-2 win over the Islanders and put Edmonton in command of the series.Gretzky scored the first and last goals of the game to lead the Oilers with his 10th and 11th of the playoffs.For the second straight game, the Oilers pounded goalie Billy Smith with 38 shots and outplayed the tiring Islanders by a wide margin. A 3-1 first-period lead put the game out of reach of the Isles, who never recovered after the Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead four minutes into the game.Willy Lindstrom also scored twice for the Oilers, with singles going to Mark Messier, Pat Conacher and Paul Coffey. Andy Moog went all the way for his first win in the finals after replacing the injured Grant Fuhr.Brent Sutter and Pat Flatley scored the Islander goals. The turning point of the game came at the end of the first period when Ken Linseman of the Oilers received a major penalty for high sticking Bryan Trottier. The Islanders failed to score with the five-minute advantage and rarely were able to work in close enough to test Moog as the Edmonton defense, led by Kevin Lowe, rose to the occasion and completely frustrated the Islanders.<h2>Thu. May 17 ISLANDERS 2, EDMONTON 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05762/5141202-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="539" height="851"></div>Attendance: 17,498.(Edmonton leads best-of-seven series 3-1)Game Five: Wayne Gretzky was in full flight, scoring twice and setting up another goal, as the Edmonton Oilers captured their first Stanley Cup before a roaring Northlands Coliseum crowd, beating the Islanders 5-2 and winning the best of seven final 4-1.The Islanders, bidding for their fifth straight Cup win, were thwarted by the Oilers at every turn, despite the fact they oushot Edmonton 25-22 and managed to take the play away from the Oilers in a desperate last-period bid to stay alive in the series.Jari Kurri, Ken Linseman and Dave Lumley notched the other Edmonton goals. Gretzky&rsquo;s three points raised his total playoff output to a league-leading 35. Andy Moog turned in an outstanding game in goal, posting his second straight victory as the Oilers avenged their embarrassing 1983 four-game sweep in the Cup finals at the hands of these same Islanders.Facing elimination and a four-goal deficit, the Islanders scored two early third-period goals by rookie Pat LaFontaine. But the Oilers regrouped to nullify the Islanders&rsquo; threat and Lumley scored into an empty net to ice the win and the series for a team that didn&rsquo;t enter the NHL until the 1979-80 season.Gretzky&rsquo;s two first-period goals drove starter Billy Smith from the New York net for the second time in the last three games with the boisterous crowd chanting, &ldquo;Billy, Billy, Billy&hellip;&rdquo;<h2>Sat. May 19 ISLANDERS 2, EDMONTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011290/5141195-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="561" height="736"></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

Isles’ Drive For Five Derailed In Edmonton

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011182/5141428-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"></div><h2>MULVEY, ROBERT SUING</h2>Ex-National Hockey League players Grant Mulvey and Rene Robert recently filed separate lawsuits.Mulvey, formerly with Los Angeles, has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Kings, claiming he was blacklisted for refusing to join a fight during a 1982 game.Robert, the former Buffalo Sabre star, has slapped the NHL with a $1.5 million suit accusing it of failing to prevent him from being victimized by three other teams&mdash;Colorado Rockies, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils&mdash;after he was traded from Buffalo.Mulvey, who played for the Kings in 1981-82, claims in his suit that he was told he could return to the club after spending time in the minors if he &ldquo;kept his nose clean, worked hard and did what the coach told him to do.&rdquo;Mulvey was demoted to the minors a few days after an on-ice brawl in a game against Vancouver Jan. 24, 1982.Mulvey was sitting on the bench at the height of the melee when he was ordered by then-coach Don Perry to fight.However Mulvey refused and claims in the lawsuit that Perry verbally attacked him in front of the players and fans in the intermission.In the lawsuit, Mulvey was sent to the minor-league team in New Haven, CT, where he was told by&rsquo; George Maguire, then the general manager of the Kings, he could return to the Kings if he &ldquo;kept his nose clean.&rdquo;He completed the 1981-82 season with New Haven and signed a contract in 1982 with Edmonton.However, he was demoted again to the minors and was told his contract wasn&rsquo;t being renewed at the end of the season.Robert is accusing the NHL of failing to follow through on its duty to supervise contracts. The legal action also accuses the Leafs and the defunct Colorado Rockies of conspiring to undermine his contract rights.The lawsuit also contends the New Jersey Devils, the franchise which succeeded Colorado, owe him $400,000 in salary and other compensation.The lawsuit seeks $500,000 in combined damages from all the defendants, plus an additional $1 million from APA Sports, Inc.,&mdash;which had owned the Rockies&mdash;and the Maple Leafs.<h2>PARK WINS MASTERTON</h2>DETROIT&mdash;Veteran defenseman Brad Park is the 1984 recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.Park, who caused a stir last season when he signed as a free agent with the Wings after a long tour of duty with Boston, was the anchor Detroit was looking for. He provided leadership to the young Wing defense and for that was given the award which goes to the NHL player who &ldquo;best exemplifies the qualities of perserverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.&rdquo;Masterton played for Minnesota but died following head injuries suffered in a fall during a game in 1968.The five finalists for the award, which is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association, were Park, Dave Langevin of New York Islanders, Mario Marois of Quebec, Rejean Lemelin of Calgary and Doug Jarvis of Washington.The announcement, which was supposed to be made at the NHL Stanley Cup luncheon in Edmonton, was mistakenly released to the media two days early when an NHL club p.r. employee accidentally posted the news in the Stanley Cup media room.<h2>SANDERSON GETS BENEFITS</h2>REVERE, MA&mdash;Former NHL and World Hockey Association player Derek Sanderson is receiving $700 a month in disability benefits.Sanderson, who once lived a live of glory and fame, is now suffering a degenerative disease that prevents blood from reaching nerve ends and causes deterioration of bones and joints, according to Anthony Zizza, whose family Sanderson is living with. Sanderson&rsquo;s disease is so bad he spends most of his time in bed and is unable to bend his knees.<h2>MCTAVISH CANT WORK</h2>SALEM, MA&mdash;Boston Bruin forward Craig McTavish, who has begun serving a one-year sentence for vehicular homicide, has been denied a work release but will be allowed to visit schools to warn youths about the dangers of drunken driving.&ldquo;He can speak to schools about the evils of drunken driving,&rdquo; said a spokesperson from the Essex County sherriff&rsquo;s department. &ldquo;A person of his calibre, that kids look up to, we&rsquo;d welcome him to participate.&rdquo;<h2>PENNEY SIGNS NEW PACT</h2>MONTREAL&mdash;Rookie Hab sensation Steve Penney has inked a new three-year contract.In addition, the Habs have told Penney he will be the team&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie unless he&rsquo;s beaten out of the job when training camp opens next season.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt he&rsquo;s going into camp No. 1,&rdquo; managing director Serge Savard said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to him to keep the job and I&rsquo;m pretty confident he can do it.&rdquo;Penney played in all but 32 minutes of the Canadiens&rsquo; playoff games, recording a 9-6 record, posting two shutouts and sporting a very impressive 2.20 goals-against average.<h2>BEAVER TALES &#9632;</h2>

f0005-01

SLAPSHOTS

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div>The definition of a team player is one who will put team goals ahead of personal goals.Ralph Backstrom, who played professional hockey in the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association for 20 seasons (1956-76), is one of the best examples of a team player.For almost 15 of his 17 seasons in the NHL, Backstrom played for the Montreal Canadiens as a third-line center behind two Hall Of Fame greats, Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard.&ldquo;There were times in my career that I felt I could have played better statistically if I would have played on another team besides the Canadiens,&rdquo; said Backstrom, winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s Rookie of the Year in 1959. &ldquo;1 could have achieved more personal success playing for another team as a first-line center.&ldquo;But there was nothing like the team success that the Canadiens had during the time I played with them. Six Stanley Cup championships certainly made up for a lot of those feelings.&rdquo;But there did come a point in Backstrom&rsquo;s life that he did want a change. The change came in early 1971.&ldquo;I got to a point in my career where I wanted to play somewhere else,&rdquo; said Backstrom, who also played for the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Black Hawks in the NHL and the Chicago Cougars, Ottawa Nationals and New England Whalers in the WHA. &ldquo;1 had nothing against the Canadiens. They had been great to me.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02870/5141459-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="581" height="843"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ralph Backstrom played as a third-line center for Montreal but played on six Cup winners.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;But I felt that I had done everything I could do in Montreal. So I asked management if they could trade me, I would like to go to the West Coast, to either Los Angeles or Vancouver. It turned out to be L.A.&rdquo;A year later, Backstrom was traded to Chicago. After finishing out the 1972-73 season with the Hawks, he jumped to the crosstown Cougars of the WHA.&ldquo;They just made me an offer that I couldn&rsquo;t refuse,&rdquo; said Backstrom, who won the WHA&rsquo;s Most Sportsmanlike Player Award in 1974. &ldquo;But today I&rsquo;m sorry that I jumped from the Black Hawks.&rdquo;One of Backstrom&rsquo;s greatest moments as a player came in 1974 as a member of a WHA All-Star team that played against the Russians. His superior play made Backstrom a star in the series.&ldquo;I think the main reason I played so well is the fact that I played on a line with Mark and Gordie Howe,&rdquo; said Backstrom. &ldquo;I remember growing up idolizing Gordie as one of my heroes.&ldquo;And now here 1 was playing alongside of him. I think that I played so well because I was really motivated to play with Gordie. I didn&rsquo;t want to disappoint him, having to play on the same line. And you have to remember. I was 36 when this happened.&rdquo;Today, Backstrom is the head hockey coach of the University of Denver.&ldquo;I really enjoy coaching at the college level because I feel that college hockey is fast becoming a good breeding ground for the NHL,&rdquo; said the 46-year-old Backstrom, who lives with his wife and family in Denver. &ldquo;The colleges are developing a lot of good players.&ldquo;I also think the game has changed a great deal over the past decade and Edmonton showed us that in the playoffs. They showed you can win without being physical.&ldquo;They showed that winning could happen with just skills and good talent.&rdquo; &#9632;

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

1 Who are two players who played in the NHL this season who have grandfathers in the Hockey Hall of Fame?2. What was the last team to go through the Stanley Cup playoffs unbeaten?3. Who was the first NHL coach to pull his goalie in favor of an extra attacker?4. Who is the only player to be active in the NHL and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame at the same time?5. When was the last seven-game Stanley Cup final?6. When did Boston last win a playoff series from Montreal?7. What was former Maple Leaf goalie Turk Broda&rsquo;s given name?8. Which NHL team drafted former Montreal Canadien goaltender Ken Dryden?9. Who were the first goalies to share the Vezina Trophy?10. Who was the Czechoslovakian defector who played briefly with St. Louis in 1969-70?<h2>Trivia Answers</h2>1. Greg Theberge (Dit Clapper); Mark Taylor (Cyclone Taylor).2. Montreal Canadiens 1959-60.3. Art Ross, Boston.4 Gordie Howe.5. Montreal vs. Chicago, 1971.6 Semi-finals of 19437. Walter.8. Boston.9. Johnny Bower and Terry Saw-chuk, 1964-65.10. Jaroslav Jirik. &#9632;

TRIVIA

Test Your Knowledge Of The Little Known And Win Prizes, TooSo you think you &lsquo;re an expert on hockey trivia, eh? Well, now is your chance to prove it. Just enter the first annual HOCKEY NEWS Terrific Trivia contest. Not only will it give you a chance to test your knowledge of the little known, you &lsquo;ll be eligible for an assortment of cash and prizes which includes: $500 Grand Prize; $250 Second Prize; $100 Third Prize and five consolation prizes of one Trivial Pursuit Master Game.Although the contest is easy to enter, you should read all the rules and regulations listed below to make sure you &lsquo;re eligible and that you fully understand the terms and conditions of the contest.Then, it&rsquo;s just a matter of going through the questions and selecting the answer you believe is correct. Once you have transcribed your answers onto the coupon at the bottom right comer of the page, answered the skill-testing question and filled out the other vital information&mdash;name, address etc.&mdash;all you have to do is drop it into an envelope and mail to:TERRIFIC TRIVIA CONTESTTHE HOCKEY NEWS85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2Only the circled answers on the coupon will be considered.Please note that all entries must be postmarked no later than June 30, 1984 to be eligible for the contest. Entries will be judged on the basis of the number of correct answers submitted. In the event of ties, a random draw will be made for the top three prizes. The consolation prizes will be awarded on the basis of a random draw from all entries received before the deadline date, so even if your knowledge of hockey trivia is a little suspect, you have as good a chance as anybody else to win a consolation prize.Don&rsquo;t delay, enter today. The correct answers and a list of the winners will be published in the Aug. 31, 1984 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS.Good luck!1. Who scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1967?a) Dave Keon b) Bob Pulfordc) Jim Pappin d) Allan Stanley2. Against which team was Minnesota North Star Bill Masterton fatally injured in 1968?a) Los Angeles Kings b) Oakland Sealsc) Pittsburgh Penguins d) Detroit Red Wings3. Which Ontario Hockey League team did Wayne Gretzky first play for?a) Peterborough Petes b) Sault Greyhoundsc) Sudbury Wolves d) London Knights4. Who was the first player to score a hat trick in an NHL All-Star game?a) Wayne Gretzky b) Greg Polisc) Gordie Howe d) Ted Lindsay5. Which player led the Soviet Union in scoring in the 1972 Canada-USSR Summit Series?a) Boris Mikhailov b) Valery Kharlamovc) Alexander Yakushev d) Vladimir Petrov6. Who was the career scoring leader in the history of the World Hockey Association?a) Andre Lacroix b) Bobby Hullc) Gordie Howe d) Marc Tardif7. Who was the last player to score hat tricks in consecutive Stanley Cup final series games?a) Doug Bentley b) Clark Gilliesc) Maurice Richard d) Guy Lafleur8. Against which team did Gordie Howe score his 700th NHL goal?a) New York Rangers b) Philadelphia Flyersc) St. Louis Blues d) Pittsburgh Penguins9. What team did Pierre Pilote play his final NHL game with?a) Chicago Hawks b) Toronto Maple Leafsc) Detroit Red Wings d) New York Rangers10. Who scored Team Canada&rsquo;s first goal in four of the eight games between Canada and the USSR in the 1972 Summit Series?a) Paul Henderson b) Phil Espositoc) Bobby Clarke di Ron Ellis11. Does an empty-net goal count against an NHL goalie&rsquo;s goals-against average?a) yes b) no12. Is THN Editor-in-Chief Bob McKenzie any relation to ex-publisher and founder of THN, Ken McKenzie?a) yes b) no13. What team whipped the Washington Capitals 142 on Dec. 21, 1975 and accumulated an NHL record of 40 scoring points?a) Philadelphia Flyers b) Montreal Canadiensc) Buffalo Sabres d) New York Islanders14. Who was the first NHL player to equal Maurice Richard&rsquo;s standard of 50 goals in 50 games from the start of the season?a) Bernie Geoffrion b) Bobby Hullc) Mike Bossy d) Wayne Gretzky15. Which one of the following men did not coach Team Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup?a) Al MacNeil b) Bobby Krommc) Al Arbour d) Don Cherry16. What New York Islander scored an NHL record four consecutive game-winning playoff goals in 19777a) Bryan Trottier b) Mike Bossyc) Clark Gillies d) Bob Nystrom17. Who was the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers immediately before Glen Sather?a) Ted Green b) Billy Harrisc) Bryan Watson d) John Muckier18. Who scored the first regular season goal in the history of the New York Islanders?a) Billy Harris b) Lome Henningc) Ed Westfall d) Phil Goyette19. What team did Terry Sawchuk record his last NHL shutout with?a) New York Rangers b) Toronto Maple Leafsc) Los Angeles Kings d) Detroit Red Wings20. What team did Bobby Hull play his last NHL game with?a) New York Rangers b) Chicago Black Hawksc) Hartford Whalers d) Winnipeg Jets21. What medal did the Soviet Union win at its first world championship in 1954?a) gold b) silverc) bronze d) none22. What team topped a Gallup poll released Mar. 31, 1983 as Canada&rsquo;s most popular NHL club?a) Toronto Maple Leafs b) Montreal Canadiensc) Edmonton Oilers d) Vancouver Canucks23. Did Montreal Canadien scoring sensation Maurice (Rocket) Richard shoot right or left?a) right b) left24. Before he arrived in Canada, Stan Mikita&rsquo;s name was:a) Stanislas Mikitavic b) Stanislas Gvothc) Stanislas Gvorken d) Stanislas Mikita25. Who portrayed Herb Brooks in the made-for-TV movie about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team?a) Tom Bosley b) Karl Maldenc) Michael Ontkean d) Ed Asner26. Who was in net for the Soviet Union in the final game of the 1979 Challenge Cup series against the NHL All-Stars?a) Vladislav Tretiak b) Vladimir Dzurillac) Vladimir Myshkin di Anatoli Tarasov27. What team won the first World Hockey Association playoff title?a) Winnipeg Jets b) New England Whalersc) Houston Aeros d) Toronto Toros28. How many scoring championships did Bobby Hull win in the NHL?a) none b) onec) two d) three29. What is the rank of Red Army goalie Vladislav Tretiak?a) corporal b) majorc) colonel d) general30. Who was the first defenseman to be voted most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs?a) Pierre Pilote b) Bobby Orrc) Serge Savard d) Denis Potvin31. What Montreal Canadien player became the first NHLer to be assessed a triple minor penalty?a) Doug Harvey b) Lou Fontinatoc) John Ferguson di Gilles Lupien32. What year was the first NHL All-Star Game held?a) 1932 b)1937c) 1947 d) 194933. How many NHL games saw Ken and Dave Dryden face each other in goal?a) zero b) onec) two d) four34. What U.S. network signed a four-year contract in 1972 for TV&rsquo;s Game of the Week in the NHL?a) ABC b) CBSc) NBC d) PBS35. Two teams won the Stanley Cup in 1907. One was the Montreal Wanderers. The other was:a) Toronto St. Pat&rsquo;s b) Montreal Maroonsc) Victoria Cougars d) Kenora Thistles &#9632;

TERRIFIC TRIVIA CONTEST

1. All entries must be on the form printed in THE HOCKEY NEWS. Photographs and replicas will not be accepted. All returns must be postmarked no later than June 30, 1984.2. All entries must include the name, address, phone number and signature of the entrant. Canadian entries must also include the answer to the skill testing question provided on the return form. There may be only one entrant per reply. Only replies which conform to these conditions will be accepted.3. This content is run concurrently in both the U.S.A. and Canada. There will be a total of eight (8) prizes awarded: (a) One Grand Prize of $500 Cdn. (b) One Second Prize of $250 Cdn. (c) One Third Prize of $100 Cdn. (d) Five consolation prizes of one Trivial Pursuit Master Game (app. retail value $30).4. All prizes will be awarded only as stated above by THE HOCKEY NEWS as sponsors of the contest. Only one prize per individual will be awarded.5. Judging of the contest will be conducted by THE HOCKEY NEWS. Entries will be judged on the basis of the number of correct answers submitted. In the event of ties, a random draw will be made for the top three prizes. The consolation prizes will be made on the basis of a random draw from all entries received before the deadline date.6. The contest is open to residents of Canada (except Quebec) and the continental United States (except Florida and where prohibited by law) 18 years of age or over, except employees of THE HOCKEY NEWS, its affiliated companies, agencies, representatives, vendors and their respective families. Contest offer in the United States (excluding Florida and where prohibited by law) is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations, and in Canada (excluding Quebec) to all federal, provincial and municipal laws and regulations.7. All entries become the property of THE HOCKEY NEWS and no correspondence will be entered into except with the prize winners who will be notified by mail.8. By entering the contest, entrants consent to the use of their names and/or photographs in any publicity carried in THE HOCKEY NEWS or elsewhere.9. The odds of winning are dependent on the number of ballots received. Canadian residents only are required to answer correctly a mathematical skill-testing question. The winners of the prizes will be required to release THE HOCKEY NEWS from any liability with respect to the prizes.10. No additional purchase is required to compete in the contest.11. This contest is for the enjoyment and competition of the reading audience of THE HOCKEY NEWS only.12. A list of winners as well as a summary of the correct answers to the contest questions will be published in the August 31,1984 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. &#9632;

RULES AND REGULATIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011364/5141593-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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THE HOCKEY NEWS TERRIFIC TRIVIA CONTEST ENTRY FORM

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Bill Torrey laughed, recalling the incident which occurred four days after the Islanders surrendered the Stanley Cup to the Oilers. He had gone to his favorite golf course on the North Shore of Long Island in late afternoon, hoping to get in a round of golf before dinner.&ldquo;It was the first time I&rsquo;d had a club in my hands all year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I played two holes, then the thunder and lightning came and chased me off the course.&rdquo;He laughed again. &ldquo;It was that kind of a week.&rdquo;At least the Islanders&rsquo; general manager had not lost his sense of humor in the wake of his team&rsquo;s tumble from the top of the hockey world. He and coach Al Arbour accepted defeat with a lot of class.&ldquo;I was telling Al that in five years we had one bad week,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;Unfortunately, it came at the wrong time.&rdquo;He then saluted the new champions. &ldquo;The Oilers were very well prepared. They were fresh, they were young. They had every motivational thing going for them, and when we didn&rsquo;t cash in on our opportunities, they took off. Give them credit for that.&ldquo;I know this much, though. I feel if we had been 100 per cent healthy&hellip;well, I&rsquo;m not going to say the outcome would have been different, but maybe we&rsquo;d still be playing. However, it wasn&rsquo;t meant to be, and maybe that was a bit of a warning.&ldquo;There are some things lacking and that&rsquo;s what we have to look at. There&rsquo;ll be some changes.&rdquo;What kind of changes?&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;re not going to carry 27 players next season,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;I carried them this year because I thought I&rsquo;d need them in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we could have used 30.&ldquo;Obviously, something has to be trimmed. How do we go about it? Only time will tell.&rdquo;The Islanders are five players over the limit they will be allowed to protect in this year&rsquo;s waiver draft. The most likely candidates to be moved are Wayne Merrick, Gord Lane, Mats Hallin, Anders Kallur and Billy Carroll or Butch Goring.Carroll, 25, has been a handy penaltykiller and useful fourth-line center since joining the club in 1981. However, both he and Merrick became expendable when 19-year-old Pat LaFontaine signed with the Islanders after the Olympics. Goring, 34, is a free agent and has hinted he might leave the team in order to become a player-coach in Switzerland.It is worth noting that some of the Islanders&rsquo; best players in the playoffs were their youngest. They included LaFontaine, Pat Flatley (20), Paul Bouti-lier (21), Brent Sutter (21) and Greg Gilbert (22). Defenseman Gerald Diduck, only 19 and a first-round draft pick last year, will be given a good look in training camp.Among the veterans, Clark Gillies&rsquo; future appears secure on the strength of his work in the playoffs; he led the team with 12 goals. Bobby Nystrom has one year left on his contract, then might consider retirement. Denis Potvin has to negotiate a new contract, while Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier are working on long-term deals.However, the most vexing problem facing Torrey concerns his goalies. Only two can be protected in the waiver draft. Will the general manager trade 33-year-old Bill Smith, who sparked the Islanders to four consecutive Cup championships before the Oiles caught up with him? Or will he accept bids for Roland Melanson or Kelly Hrudey, both of whom are 10 years younger than Smith?&ldquo;That&rsquo;S the biggest decision I have facing me over the summer.&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;When the waiver draft comes about in October and I&rsquo;m still sitting with three goaltenders, obviously one will be snapped up.&rdquo;Or one will be traded for a high draft choice?&ldquo;Hmmm,&rdquo; said Torrey. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how else to get rid of them. I&rsquo;m certainly not going to give one of them away. I have to do something. But when, how, with whom, which one? It&rsquo;s going to be a difficult decision.&rdquo;Smith has frequently acknowledged that he will be traded &ldquo;some day.&rdquo; Will it be this year? &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I love the team. I love the organization. But if it happens, there won&rsquo;t be any bitterness from me.&rdquo;Melanson finished the regular season with 20 victories and a 3.27 goals-against average (compared to Smith&rsquo;s 23 victories and a 3.42 average. Now Melanson, who relieved Smith in six of the Islanders&rsquo; 21 playoff games, appears to be running out of patience.&ldquo;I like the organization, but I have to play,&rdquo; Melanson said. &ldquo;I need to start thinking about myself.&rdquo;ON THE ISLE&mdash;Separated shoulders were in vogue during the playoffs. The victims included Stefan Persson. Dave Langevin and Bob Boume, who also suffered a sprained knee that caused him to miss the entire final series&hellip;Bobby Nystrom recovered from a bruised knee in time to play in the final two games&hellip;Denis Potvin was forced to leave game No. 3 against the Oilers because of leg cramps caused by dehydration&hellip;Mike Bossy, weakened by a virus, failed to score against the Oilers and was held without a shot in the final two games&hellip;Al Arbour has a lifetime contract as coach, but he may decide to retire after 11 seasons on the job. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll let you know soon,&rdquo; he said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011214/5141624-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="579" height="814"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Smith says there will be no bitterness on his part if he&rsquo;s traded.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Torrey Sees Isles’ Cup Loss As A ‘Warning’

<h2>Next Month</h2>In our July 1 issue, we&rsquo;ll have the complete story on the 1984 National Hockey League entry draft. We&rsquo;ll tell you about all the top picks, who the winners and losers were and we&rsquo;ll also have a complete list of the entire draft.And on top of all that, we&rsquo;ll fill you in on what&rsquo;s happening around the league. Los Angeles is still looking for a coach and by the time the July 1 issue is on the newsstand or in the mail, which will be during the last week of June, we should know who he is.Don&rsquo;t miss it.<h2>July 15</h2>It may be the middle of the summer, but this is an issue you don&rsquo;t want to miss.For starters, we&rsquo;ll publish our annual statistics supplement, which gives you the scoring record for every player in pro hockey, not to mention the juniors or low minors.We&rsquo;ll also publish the transcripts of our annual Newsmakers&rsquo; Roundtable, a blue-ribbon panel of hockey experts who&rsquo;ll be tackling the tough issues of today&rsquo;s hockey scene.<h2>Correction</h2>In the May 18, 1984 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; president Marcel Aubut was quoted as saying, &ldquo;The $3,000 fine was worth it and would help the league clean up its act.&rdquo; In fact, Aubut did not make the comment, which was an editorial statement in a Journal de Quebec story concerning the NHL&rsquo;s disciplinarian action against the Nordiques. THE HOCKEY NEWS regrets any inconvenience our mistake may have caused &bull; &#9632;

COMING SOON IN THN

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>A Tribute</h2>ONLY TIME WILL tell if the 1983-84 Stanley Cup is the beginning of an Edmonton Oiler dynasty. Likewise, we won&rsquo;t know for awhile if the New York Islanders regime is over or if it&rsquo;s only been interrupted. And we&rsquo;re not about to get into the pros and cons of whether the Islanders&mdash;with four consecutive Stanley Cups&mdash;are the greatest team in the history of the National Hockey League (though deep down we feel that four straight Cups in this era requires as much or more effort than five straight Cups in the 1950s).Aside from the fact we&rsquo;re disappointed that the Stanley Cup final didn&rsquo;t go seven games&mdash;it hasn&rsquo;t since 1971 when the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks met&mdash;we couldn&rsquo;t help but be impressed by the level of excellence exhibited continuously by both the Oiler and Islanders.The fact that both clubs are so good obscures the fact that they are relative babes in arms in the NHL.The conclusion of the 1983-84 hockey season marks the end of the Islanders 12th season in the NHL. And the Oilers have just concluded five years in the NHL.So when you consider that the Islanders have won four consecutive Stanley Cups and their heralded Drive for Five was stalled by the young Oilers, you realize how remarkable both club&rsquo;s achievements have been. Especially when you take stock of the original six NHL teams and examine how they&rsquo;ve fared with regard to recent Stanley Cup victories.It&rsquo;s been 44 years since the New York Rangers have won the Cup. It&rsquo;s been 17 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs have won it. It&rsquo;s been 29 for the Detroit Red Wings and 23 for the Chicago Black Hawks. It&rsquo;s been 12 years for the Boston Bruins and five years for the Montreal Canadiens. In other words, only the Canadiens and Bruins have won Stanley Cups in the post-expansion era.The Oilers, who entered the NHL from the World Hockey Association with only Wayne Gretzky, became Cup champions for the same reason as the Islanders&mdash;sound management, a wellthought out plan and outstanding recruiting via the entry draft.And therein lies the lesson for any team in any sport.There is no secret formula for success in the NHL. The Oilers and Islanders&mdash;their respective lineups laced with draft picks which have flourished into quality players&mdash;prove that.So no matter how destitute a franchise may be today, it&rsquo;s conceivable that five years from now, it will be at the top of the heap, the very best in the business.Providing, of course, the owners and managers of these teams are willing to follow the Isles and Oilers lead. Perhaps some of the general managers who have a high pick in this month&rsquo;s NHL entry draft and are considering trading it would do well to look at the lesson of the 1983-84 Stanley Cup final.In the meantime, though, let&rsquo;s salute the Oilers for their tremendous accomplishment. And let us not forget the Islanders, the standard by which all teams have been judged for the past four years. The Islanders were great champions, exuding class throughout their reign.Now, it&rsquo;s up the Oilers to follow in those footsteps.<h2>ourning The CHL</h2>ITS LIFE SPANNED 21 years in 25 cities and now it&rsquo;s dead.The Central Hockey League, regarded as one step away from the National Hockey League, is dead, not likely to ever return&mdash;at least not in the way we knew it.The question facing pro hockey today is whether the death of the CHL is a curse&mdash;a hint of things to come&mdash;or a blessing&mdash;the removal of an awkward roadblock that will allow a smoother system of player development to arrive.Only time and the efforts of hockey people at every level will determine that. But for now, we can deal only with the facts and those are that hockey fans in Salt Lake City, Denver, Indianapolis, Tulsa and Billings are without their game.And that, unfortunately, is the saddest situation of all. Our sympathies are extended to them. &#9632;

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>Hockey journalists have a right to feel both privileged and cursed. The privilege is that they are allowed certain freedoms such as seeing games in person and then having access to dressing rooms. The curse is that sometimes they miss portions of the games&mdash;particularly the latter stages&mdash;because they are committed to deadlines.This is where TV plays an important role.Say, for example, it is late in the game and a journalist is writing a story for the first edition. If a team scores a goal, chances are the journalist will miss the play because he&rsquo;s writing a running story of the game.This is when he&rsquo;s forced to rely on the TV for a replay.This is not to say that the journalist is cheating his reading audience by using TV to report the story; it is simply a case where the job requires him to make certain sacrifices to report the story in a limited time frame.Like many people, I watched the 1984 Stanley Cup final on TV. While I&rsquo;m different than a lot of journalists in that I&rsquo;m writing for a weekly paper and do not have the same restrictions as a daily beat reporter, I do have to concentrate just as much on the action.But away from the rink, watching the series at home with family and friends, not only was I was able to shed my journalistic garb and let loose with my real feelings, I was able to analyze and interpret the game in a way I&rsquo;d never done before.TV, I&rsquo;ve come to the conclusion, can be a valuable working tool.Not that I favor using replays after controversial plays (Winnipeg general manager John Ferguson is lobbying for this), because I feel officials are often more right than they&rsquo;re wrong. Certainly in the final&mdash;when it really mattered&mdash;this was the case.But TV is an omnipresent and omniscient eye, it is a director who sits in a production room and watches the game with numerous monitors. He has educated assistants such as isolation and slomotion directors and along with the analysis of the color man, the viewer is able to see the game more clearly, I believe, than the journalist&mdash;even if he&rsquo;s not there in person.Consider, for example, some of the things I saw on TV in the finals, which I believe some of my colleagues may have missed because they were tuned in to the game on the ice and not on the tube.&bull; Did anyone notice that during the fifth game, Brian Mulroney, the leader of the Canadian Progressive Conservative party and possibly the next prime minister of Canada, was sitting alongside Edmonton owner Peter Pocklington? Mulroney, it should be noted, already has support in eastern Canada&mdash;particulary Quebec&mdash;but even he had to realize that by being in the right place at the right time, he was able to reach a larger audience than had he gone to individual cities and done the tiresome routine&mdash;and phony, may I add&mdash;of shaking hands and smiling for people who really think he means something. Ipso facto, economically and politically Mulroney knew exactly what he was doing when he came to Edmonton for that game and may have even had a hand in getting some free publicity via TV. Who says politics and sports don&rsquo;t mix?&bull; Did anyone notice that Duane Sutter and John Tonelli shaved off their beards for game five? Athletes, I&rsquo;ve come to the conclusion, do not grow beards for cosmetic reasons. They use it as a psychological weapon. In other words, if you look scruffy and dirty, you play that way&mdash;or in the case of the Islanders, you play tough and tenaciously. But the moment 1 noticed the altered complexions of the two Islander players, I thought the Drive For Five was clearly in danger of stalling and shaving was a last-gasp effort to get the engine going again.As a sidenote to this, I&rsquo;m told that immediately after the series, Oiler defenseman Paul Coffey shaved off his beard. I&rsquo;m not sure why he did it, but what&rsquo;s important is that the person who told me that is a journalist. Without being there, I wouldn&rsquo;t have known that. Chalk one up for the print boys.&bull; Did anyone notice how Islander GM Bill Torrey appeared to be almost in tears when he was interviewed on Hockey Night In Canada after game five. Suddenly I felt very sorry for Torrey and realized then that he has the toughest job in hockey. As I see it, the Islanders are standing on shaky, ground and it&rsquo;s up to Torrey to make sure this proud hockey team doesn&rsquo;t collapse.&bull; Did anyone notice that Kevin McClelland never smiled when he was interviewed on HNIC in game two. Only when when he was interviewed in the Oiler dressing room in the post-victory celebration did he display a brief smile. I don&rsquo;t think Kevin McClelland is so serious he&rsquo;s forgotten how to smile&mdash;surely a player who has gone from the lowly Pittsburgh Penguins to the mighty Oilers must have been oozing with excitement inside&mdash;but that&rsquo;s just something I noticed and something I&rsquo;ve been trying to analyze&mdash;without success&mdash;for some time.&bull; Did anyone notice that Wayne Gretzky said something human after the series. Immediately after a teammate doused him with champagne, Gretzky, who some journalists feel spews out nothing but cliches, said something to the effect of, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d always heard this stuff stings when it gets in your eyes and it does.&rdquo;&bull; Did anyone notice Bryan Trottier&rsquo;s reaction after he was high-sticked by Ken Linseman in game three? Trottier really appeared to be hurt and I was suddenly reminded of his vicious check on Bob Gainey in the series with the Canadiens and thought it was a case of just retribution.&bull; Did anyone notice that Billy Smith really disgraced himself in game one when he clearly was faking an injury after Glenn Anderson collided with him? Not only did I surmise Smith would retaliate&mdash;as he did when he took a windmill swing at Anderson behind the net&mdash;but I recalled last year&rsquo;s final when Gretzky, Smith and Anderson&mdash;in separate incidents&mdash;rolled all over the ice with injuries that were nothing more than poor acting jobs.&bull; And lastly, did anyone notice that the first person to hoist the Cup over his head was not Gretzky but Lefty Reid, the curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lefty looked to his right&mdash;no pun intended&mdash;and then raised the Cup as if he was the captain of the winning team. It&rsquo;s a niggling point and perhaps a bit unnecessary, but if you&rsquo;re reading this, Lefty, don&rsquo;t take it offensively. You only did what any true Canadian would have done, given the special occasion. &#9632;

SOME OTHER VIEWS

<h2>SPARE US, BILLY</h2>I am writing this letter in regard to the statements made by Billy Smith on the Hockey Night in Canada telecast May 5. His ignorance with respect to the tradition of shaking hands is overwhelming. Most people, especially young hockey fans, do not wish to be exposed to such ignorance.Quoting Billy Smith: &ldquo;I just hope a few people keep their mouths shut.&rdquo; I feel Billy Smith should &ldquo;keep his mouth shut&rdquo; and spare us his ignorance.Brian Thiel Regina, Sask.<h2>FEEL BLACKED OUT</h2>My cable company&rsquo;s output includes the USA Network. Throughout the season I have been able to watch many excellent hockey games, but during the recent Stanley Cup playoffs I was unable to watch my favorite sport. Why? Because I live within 75 air miles of New York City. How can the NHL have such an agreement with a cable network that allows a blackout of the Stanley Cup finals!The Sports Channel (a New York cable network) carries all the Islanders home games. So why can&rsquo;t the USA network also show the Islander playoff games in areas where the Sports Channel is not available? People who live within one mile of the Nassau Coliseum can watch the playoff games, while I, who live over 60 miles away, can&rsquo;t. Is that fair? How does the NHL expect to gain patronage when its present fans get such shoddy treatment?Deborah Lukachik Trenton, NJ &#9632;

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011340/5141751-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="303" height="357"></div><h2>Greatest Of Them All</h2>I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.&mdash;Booker T. Washington.Booker T. Washington would have loved the New York Islanders.No team in professional sports has overcome more obstacles in less time&mdash;and has been more successful&mdash;than the skaters from Nassau.Now that the Isles have released the Stanley Cup to Edmonton&rsquo;s Oilers, it is ironic that their accomplishments have grown in grandeur despite the defeat. Only now has the Islander four-year hold on the Cup compelled historians to acknowledge the fact, the New Yorkers, circa 1980-84, have emerged as the best hockey team of all time.That, of course, means that they are better than the Montreal Canadiens who won five consecutive Cups in the 1955-60 era. But pure mathematics and good, old common sense enable us to distinguish between great, as in Toe Blake&rsquo;s Canadiens. and greatest, as in Al Arbour&rsquo;s Islanders.So, now that the Cup has been leased to Edmonton, the Islander reign must be put in its proper perspective vis-a-vis the Canadiens. Here are the cogent conclusions:&bull; The Isles won 19 consecutive playoffs series. No other team in big-league sports&mdash;not the Boston Celtics nor the New York Yankees&mdash;can make that statement. Blake&rsquo;s Canadiens, by contrast, won only 10 straight playoff series.&bull; Blake&rsquo;s Habs won a total of 40 games during their five-year reign, a mere pittance compared to the 72 playoff wins the Isles amassed over four years.&bull; Pressure was virtually an unknown quality during the Hab rule. Television was still in its infancy. The U.S. dailies ignored the playoffs. The Cup series was a short and sweet two rounds with minimum attention. For the Isles it has been an incessant media blitz for four years spread over 20 consecutive rounds. They were bombarded with network television on both sides of the border as well as prying journalists from 21 NHL cities, the minors and Europe, not to mention the radio people, all descending on the champs. It took a toll the Canadiens never knew.&bull; Blake&rsquo;s Canadiens had an easy time diagnosing their opponents over the five-year dynasty because there were so few foes&mdash;just the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks. The Islander enemies were more diversified, including the Oilers. Phildelphia Flyers, Minnesota North Stars. Boston Bruins, Quebec Nordiques, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, etc. More than that, the Isles had to wipe out their most determined and emotional enemy, the Rangers, in 1981, &lsquo;82, &lsquo;83 and &lsquo;84. Each time the Isles beat the Blueshirts.&bull; In none of their series were Blake&rsquo;s Canadiens forced to face adversity or display any come-from-behind qualities. They never knew what it was to have their backs to the wall. They never trailed a series; never were pushed to a decisive final game they had to win. By contrast, crises was the Isles&rsquo; middle name. In 1982, virtually dead, they rallied to beat the Penguins. They then fell behind the Rangers and beat them. This year, apparently hopelessly beaten by the Rangers, the Isles came off the ropes, then did it again against the Capitals and Canadiens. In the mastering-of-adversity department the Isles beat the Habs by miles.&bull; The bottom line is this: If the Islanders&rsquo; 19 straight series wins is placed in the context of the old system of a semi-final and final round under which the Canadiens played, the Isles would have won a grand total of 9.5 consecutive Stanley Cups. Thus, the final score is Islanders nine. Canadiens five. The argument is over.<h2>The Isles&rsquo; Loss</h2>PART ONE: THE eventual termination of the Islander dynasty originally was forecast in the year 5312 B.C. during ancient China&rsquo;s golden age. One day the emperor decided he needed a court philosopher. He hired a chap named Joe Confucius and told him to sit in the courtyard and produce wise thoughts. The emperor promised to syndicate Joe&rsquo;s wisdom under the banner &ldquo;Confucius Says.&rdquo;So, Joe sat the in the yard and began flipping a coin (yen) to pass the time while he was thinking. He flipped once and the yen came down heads. He flipped it a second time and it was heads again. Confucius began to believe it would be heads all the time. And, sure enough, it was heads for 19 consecutive flips. But on the 20th toss the yen came down tails and it was then he invented his first wise thought: The Law of Averages. So, he wrote: &ldquo;Confucius Say, if you toss a coin often enough it eventually will come out tails.&rdquo;The Islanders had heads for 19 straight flips. defying The Law of Averages. But the Law caught up with them, bringing injuries and injuries and more injuries. Sooner or later the Law got to the New York Yankees and the Green Bay Packers. For the Islanders it was much later than anyone believed possible.PART TWO: Injuries are as much a part of hockey as offsides but what happened to the champs this spring was beyond comprehension. Their best defensive unit&mdash;Stefan Persson and Dave Langevin&mdash;was crippled early in the playoffs. Bob Nystrom, traditionally one of the best Cup performers, was sidelined with a cracked wrist and tom knee. Bob Bourne, an Edmonton-killer and playoff ace, was out with shoulder and knee damage. Pat LaFontaine never fully recovered from a freak ankle injury suffered in practice before the Canadien series. Bryan Trottier (ribs), Brent Sutter (back), John Tonelli (shoulder) and Bill Smith (groin) gallantly played in the finals though injured. Smith&rsquo;s injury, unreported by the media, occurred the day of the opening game of the Edmonton series.Imagine the Oilers with comparable injuries. For Persson and Langevin, subtract Kevin Lowe and Lee Fogolin. For Nystrom, subtract Kevin McLelland. For Bourne, subtract Mark Messier. And imagine what it would have been like if Wayne Gretzky had been manacled by rib damage that Trottier had. Under those conditions how far would the Oilers have gone? You tell me.PART THREE Playing in the soft Smythe Division and the cushy Campbell Conference gives the Oilers a three-series-to-none advantage before any playoffs begin. Can you imagine Edmonton in the iron-fisted Patrick or Smythe Divisions? How would they have fared after 80 games against the Bruins, Sabres and Nordiques all the time, or the Isles, Rangers, Flyers and Capitals? You tell me.PART FOUR: There is no mystery to the reign&rsquo;s end. Eventually, no matter how many reserves, exhaustion sets in. Ask Toe Blake. In 1961, when his Habs were gunning for a sixth straight Cup, they faced the Black Hawks in the opening round. The series was tied at two games apiece. The Canadiens didn&rsquo;t score another goal. They lost the next two games by scores of 3-0 and the Montreal dynasty ceased to exist. Imagine a team with Jean Beliveau, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Henri Richard, Doug Harvey and Dickie Moore not scoring a single goal in two games.&ldquo;It was hard to figure,&rdquo; said Blake. &ldquo;We were in it one day and out of it the next.&rdquo;And so it was for the Isles. After they had tied the series at one apiece, the hockey world virtually presented them with the Cup. But the fatigue had multiplied to the point of no return and when they went to the well for that last bit of energy, the well had finally run dry. Total exhaustion ultimately had done them in as much as anything. No more, no less.<h2>The Oiler Win</h2>PART ONE: THE Oilers won The Cup because they played as a championship hockey club. They were not finalists two years running by accident. They are well-managed, well-coached and sprinkled with stars who have ripened with time. They won because they got grand goaltending from Grant Fuhr in the critical opening (1-0) game. They won because they didn&rsquo;t quit after losing Game Two and because Mark Messier fulfilled his potential in Game Three and because Gretzky proved the ultimate opportunist in Games Four and Five.PART TWO: BOB Bourne of the Islanders sees things clearly and sees them whole. Here is his analysis of the Oiler triumph:&ldquo;The first game of the final was the biggest. After winning, 1-0, the Oilers then felt they could play with us defensively. That win gave them an awful lot of confidence and incentive. They worked hard in every shift in every game. They wanted it so bad; they really sacrificed in this series.&ldquo;They are the second-best team I&rsquo;ve ever played against. The Canadiens from 1975-79 were the best I&rsquo;ve faced. If we were healthy and could play the series over against the Oilers we&rsquo;d have won the first game but the series would have gone seven games, finally coming back to Long Island for game seven. I can&rsquo;t say who would have won because in a seventh game anything can happen.&rdquo;PART THREE: IT is not the Oilers&rsquo; fault that their foe was woefully wounded or that the absurd playoff system granted them three straight home games in the finals. They exploited the gifts given them and conquered the pressure heaped on them. The boss, Glen Sather, and the prodigy, Gretzky, knew that missing the Cup once more would have opened the flood gates of vilification. A loss and their names would have been worse than mud. Give them credit for answering the bell.The Oilers are a team of style rather than substance. They are top-heavy with their dependence on Gretzky. Now that they&rsquo;re champs every team will be gunning for them&mdash;and Gretzky. Can they take it? Unless the referees use two sets of rulebooks&mdash;one for 20 teams and the other for the Oilers&mdash;a pounding is in store for the Satherites.And don&rsquo;t forget that the Law of Averages has yet to catch up to Gretzky. Ask Confucius.I conclude then that Edmonton should fervently embrace Lord Stanley&rsquo;s mug for the next 11 months because it will reside elsehwere in 1985. &#9632;

f0010-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Harry Neale jumped off the recycling mill and hired a fresh face when he selected Bill LaForge to be the eighth coach of the Vancouver Canucks.But a very great deal rests on the success or failure of that fresh face, not the least of which is the future of Neale in the organization. It&rsquo;s not that the general manager isn&rsquo;t solid, but to bring a man, with just four years coaching experience in junior hockey, directly into the NHL to handle one of the supposedly more promising hockey clubs is a risky proposition.There were candidates such as Pat Quinn and Dave King hanging about, not to mention Bob Berry, Tom Watt and even Red Berenson&mdash;if he had been approached early enough. Clearly, Neale must feel the 32-year-old former Kam-loops Oilers coach is the right man for the job.&ldquo;I hope I enjoy his coaching more than you do,&rdquo; said Neale in making the announcement of a decision that had become known weeks in advance. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s young, enthusiastic and capable and I think he&rsquo;s the right man for our team. We seem to need a motivator.Despite a lack of experience, LaForge comes into the job with no shortage of ideas on how to run his team. He says he wants to take the Canucks a little more to the offensive and take a few more chances than the previous coaches permitted, which should be excellent news for the fans. Further, he intends to practise the team hard.&ldquo;I want my practices to make the games seem like a picnic,&rdquo; said LaForge. &ldquo;I think when the games become a whole lot of extra work, that&rsquo;s when you start losing.&rdquo;Further philosophical approaches include no scrimmaging and frequant-meetings.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had a scrimmage in the four years I&rsquo;ve coached junior because you just practise your mistakes,&rdquo; says LaForge. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re always asking me if they can do a three-on-three or scrimmage but I go off the ice and let them do it by themselves after practice if they really want to.&rdquo;LaForge says he prefers the two-goaltender system to the three the Canucks ended up with last season, which is reasonable. But if he has hard practices in mind, he may as well know that Richard Brodeur has been known to&ldquo;Richard has been around a long time and he has proven he can play and win so I don&rsquo;t expect any problems,&rdquo; said LaForge. &ldquo;But I think the goaltenders should be stopping every shot they possibly can in practice because then the forwards know they can&rsquo;t be serving up poor shots and expect to score. If you can&rsquo;t score in practice with a shot you certainly won&rsquo;t be expecting to score in a game with the same shot.&rdquo;LaForge coached Kamloops to the Memorial Cup final while under contract to the Edmonton Oilers, believing in the saying, &ldquo;Hard work will beat talent if talent doesn&rsquo;t work hard.&rdquo; &#9632;

Canucks Opt For Fresh Face Of LaForge

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011313/5141830-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="297" height="352"></div><h2>Clarke Can Manage</h2>BOBBY CLARKE WASN&rsquo;T ready to end his career as one of hockey&rsquo;s greatest players. And his wife wasn&rsquo;t ready to see her husband stop playing.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s accepting it a lot better already than I am,&rdquo; Sandy Clarke said at the press conference where her husband suddenly switched from captain of the Philadelphia Flyers to their general manager. &ldquo;I still have a lump in my throat.&rdquo;Once the shock of Bobby Clarke, the player, going to Bobby Clarke, the GM, subsided, thousands of Philadelphia fans had lumps in their throats as they realized they won&rsquo;t have another chance to see the heart of the Flyers don the team&rsquo;s uniform anymore. After 15 distinguished seasons, the three-time Hart Trophy winner was stashing away his blue jeans for weekend use only. It&rsquo;s time for the coat-and-tie uniform now.The retirement of the 34-year-old Clarke caught most observers with their notebooks closed and their tape recorders turned off. As everyone knows, Clarke is an intense competitor who in recent years had driven himself in gruelling physical workouts to keep up with the wave of youngsters who are ruling the NHL. Although Clarke wasn&rsquo;t a dominant player anymore, few doubted the NHL&rsquo;s No. 4 all-time assist leader had at least one more decent season left in him.&ldquo;I was in the gym getting ready to play another season,&rdquo; Clarke said as he discussed the offer he couldn&rsquo;t refuse.What changed his mind? First, Jay Snider, the Flyers&rsquo; young president, and Keith Allen, the club&rsquo;s most successful GM who, as executive vice-president was in charge of recommending a new GM, collectively decided that Clarke was the best man for the job. That was nice to hear, Clarke thought. What wasn&rsquo;t so nice was the hint that had he not accepted the job now, it might not be available again until perhaps his children were ready for college. What job Clarke would have performed during that time isn&rsquo;t known but, unless he were coaching the Flyers, his role in the organization wouldn&rsquo;t have been very meaningful.<h2>No Ivy-Leaguer</h2>THE CLOSEST CLARKE ever got to an Ivy League school was when the Flyers practised at the University of Pennsylvania, but he is a bright guy who realized that if he wanted the GM&rsquo;s job, he&rsquo;d better seize it now. End of Hall of Fame playing career&hellip;start of a challenging frontoffice career.While the Sniders (father Ed continues as an influential voice in club matters) and Allen thought Clarke was the man they wanted to replace Bob McCammon, the Sniders and Allen also knew that making Clarke GM would be a public relations plus. Saying the Flyers need a public relations boost is akin to suggesting John McEnroe has thrown a few tantrums on the tennis courts. McCammon was never popular with Flyer fans and the team&rsquo;s third consecutive playoff shutout shoved McCammon&rsquo;s reputation as a coach near the edge. Another p.r. disaster was the between-periods shooting contest that dangled $1 million in front of fans. The public rightly perceived the contest as bush.Since winning a Stanley Cup wasn&rsquo;t possible to soothe the customers, the next best step the Flyers could take was finding a first-class GM and coach. Clarke, of course, has no front-office experience, but Philadelphia fans will surely be more patient with him on the job. You know the fans will stand behind the man who led them to two successive Stanley Cups.As Jay Snider pointed out, Clarke has more &ldquo;management sense&rdquo; than most players through his experience as president of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and as an assistant coach under Pat Quinn. While Clarke was a player, Allen and Ed Snider frequently sought his advice in player personnel decisions. Predictably, this consultant&rsquo;s role caused resentment toward Clarke from teammates, but Clarke lived with it because he cared about the team.While Clarke is adjusting to his new job, he&rsquo;ll benefit from a close association with two excellent advisers: Allen and Gary Darling, who was brought in by McCammon as assistant GM a year ago.<h2>A Lot To Learn</h2>&ldquo;I HAVE A lot to learn,&rdquo; Clarke said, &ldquo;but 1 have good, experienced people around me. Hopefully, they&rsquo;ll help prevent me from making mistakes while I learn.&rdquo;With instincts that only the Orrs, Howes and Gretzkys possess, Clarke barely made mistakes on the ice. As Philadelphia Daily News columnist Ray Didinger wrote, Clarke played every game &ldquo;like a commando crashing through a skylight.&rdquo;Among the Clarke highlights Philadelphia fans will savor are:&bull; Scoring the overtime goal against Boston in the 1974 Stanley Cup finals that tied the series at l.-l. Before the series, the Flyers were dismissed as having little chance of upsetting the Bobby Orr-Phil Esposito machine. But, after that victory, the Flyers said they knew they would win the Cup.&bull; In recent years, there weren&rsquo;t as many highlights. However, people who saw him play this season will never forget a determined Clarke honing in on Chicago defenseman Bob Murray, who was controlling the puck behind the Black Hawks&rsquo; net. Clarke, who was wearing 12 stitches as a souvenir of a frightening skate cut earlier in the game, stunned Murray with an NFL-calibre hit, knocked the puck loose and set up the game-winning goal.&bull; There were many games Clarke simply would riot let the Flyers lose, but the pride of Flin Flon couldn&rsquo;t always work miracles. For example, two years ago the Flyers were trailing the New York Rangers, 6-1, and facing playoff elimination. Suddenly, the Flyers charged back, led by you-know-who. Clarke scored two goals and had two assists. The Flyers lost, 6-5, but it was another classic for the Clarke memory file.It won&rsquo;t be easy for Clarke, the GM. to match his accomplishments as a player. But, if anyone can do it, Clarke can. I have only one tip for him: Don&rsquo;t accept any collect phone calls from your pal Lou Nanne. &#9632;

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;The Red Wings have selected defensemen on the first round of the National Hockey League entry draft only twice since 1971. They could complete the hat trick in 1984.Jimmy Devellano, the Red Wing GM, is making a determined bid to move up in the draft. The Red Wings have the seventh pick and if Devellano can&rsquo;t improve on that, the best player available then will probably be a defenseman.And Jimmy D. knows that the way to go is to grab the best player available.The Red Wings&rsquo; first preference is to draft a forward but the cream of that crop&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Kirk Muller and Ed Olczyk&mdash;will be off the board in a hurry, maybe even 1-2-3.The next half-dozen or so best players are defensemen&mdash;Craig Redmond, Al la-frate, J.J. Daigneault, Doug Bodger, Sylvain Cote&mdash;and the Wings&rsquo; pick probably will come from that group.Unless, of course, there&rsquo;s a trade.&ldquo;My talks with Los Angeles and New Jersey have been in terms of finding a way to switch picks,&rdquo; said Devellano. &ldquo;I have not met with good success&hellip;but there are still other ways to approach it.&ldquo;History has taught us a lesson. General managers have learned that you shouldn&rsquo;t trade draft choices. A lot of people have been stung by doing that. And that makes what I&rsquo;m trying to do now almost impossible.&ldquo;My pitch is that I&rsquo;m not asking you to give up a No. 1. I&rsquo;m prepared to give you mine, which is a pretty good one. I&rsquo;ll also provide you with two or three players who can play on your club.&rdquo;Undoubtedly, one of those players would come from the Red Wings&rsquo; stockpile of goaltenders, presumably Ed Mio or Corrado Micalef, with Greg Stefan an untouchable. The package would include a young defenseman with NHL credentials and a forward.If Devellano is convincing enough, the Red Wings may find an Olczyk or a Muller available to them.The Red Wings last drafted a defenseman in 1976 when they selected Willie Huber ninth overall in the first round. In 1975, they picked Rick LaPointe fifth overall. Both were eventually traded away. Before LaPointe, it&rsquo;s necessary to go all the way back to 1970 and Serge Lajeunesse to find a defenseman drafted in the first round by the Red Wings.Meanwhile, Devellano wasn&rsquo;t sitting idly by waiting for the draft.He acquired Rob McClanahan from the New York Rangers for future considerations.McClanahan, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound winger, is a player the Wings had an immediate interest in once the Rangers began to entertain bids. He&rsquo;s a speedster with good goal-scoring instincts who could fit in nicely in Detroit. He scored six goals and added eight assists in 41 games with the Rangers in 1983-84.The Wings feel he is capable of equalling and perhaps even surpassing his 1982-83 totals of 22 goals and 26 assists in 78 NHL games. He&rsquo;ll get a chance to do that in Detroit.The Red Wings will be McClanahan&rsquo;s fourth NHL team. He was drafted by Buffalo (third choice, 49th overall in 1978), claimed by Hartford in the waiver draft in 1981 and traded later that season to the Rangers for a l0th-round draft pick.Devellano denied rumors that a trade with either the Philadalphia Flyers or the Rangers for Nick Fotiu is imminent.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t even talked to the Flyers about any deal since I made a pitch to get Paul Holmgren last season,&rdquo; Devellano said. &ldquo;But I couldn&rsquo;t give up what they wanted.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had so many talks with Craig Patrick that the name (Fotiu) certainly has been bandied about. We&rsquo;d like to add toughness but I&rsquo;m not sure Joe Paterson can&rsquo;t handle that role for us.&rdquo; &#9632;

Jimmy D. Wants To Draft Higher

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>TORONTO&mdash;When the Leafs chose Dan Maloney as the successor to deposed coach Mike Nykoluk, they opted for a guy who knew the players and had their respect. The big question, though, is can a guy with limited coaching experience in the National Hockey League lead a team with obvious deficiencies back on the road to respectability?Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara, for one, thinks so and openly admits he doesn&rsquo;t consider Maloney&rsquo;s in-experience an issue.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s inexperience?&rdquo; McNamara says rhetorically. &ldquo;My belief is it&rsquo;s a word that is overused. A guy that has been in hockey all his life, where&rsquo;s the inexperience? He&rsquo;s been captain of his team, where&rsquo;s the inexperience? What&rsquo;s the inexperience that everyone is passing around?&ldquo;Some 14-year-old protege who doesn&rsquo;t have any experience can bring people to their feet at Carnegie Hall He&rsquo;s a brilliant musician but where&rsquo;s the experience?&ldquo;He&rsquo;s (Maloney&rsquo;s) head coach and let&rsquo;s see what happens.&rdquo;By showing his support for the 33-year-old Maloney, McNamara is leaving himself open for criticism. But he admits he really doesn&rsquo;t care what others think. He&rsquo;s a man who lives by his convictions&mdash;right or wrong&mdash;and in this case, he&rsquo;s just following the &ldquo;blueprint&rdquo; which he made up when he took over from Punch Imlach two and a half seasons ago.McNamara won&rsquo;t divulge how long he&rsquo;s given Maloney to turn things around but will admit that Maloney &ldquo;knows what we went through last season and that he knows the personnel better than anyone. He keeps the stability going and that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re trying for.&rdquo;While Maloney was the assistant coach in title last season, there came a point where his chores increased to the point where it appeared as though he was coaching the team. He worked the practices, analyzed and broke down the videotapes of the games, and had a big say in the coaching behind the bench.While Maloney could not be reached by THE HOCKEY NEWS to comment on his appointment (there was no official press conference and it was left up to a Leaf spokesman to leak the news), the Toronto Star was able to contact him and he spoke of how the Leafs needed to make many improvements to move up from last season&rsquo;s 18th-place overall standing.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to go into specifics, but play in our own end is the starting point,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have a fair amount of scoring potential and we have the talent to be much better than the 1982-83 Leafs were when everyone is healthy.&rdquo;LEAFLETS&mdash;Dan Maloney becomes the second youngest head coach in the league. Bill LaForge, who takes over in Vancouver, is the youngest at 32&hellip;A rumor going around is that John Brophy, the head coach of the Nova Scotia Voyageurs will join the Leafs as an assistant coach but Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara won&rsquo;t comment on it. McNamara is also tight-lipped on which player the team is courting in the June 9 entry draft, suffice to say &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll take the best one available.&rdquo; In making a general overview of the team, McNamara says the only position he feels confident about is goal, which will likely be occupied by youngsters Allan Bester and Ken Wregget Claire Alexander, the former Maple Leaf and Vancouver Canuck defenseman, has taken over as head coach of the St. Catharines Saints farm team after Doug Carpenter was not rehired. &ldquo;He (Alexander) came up the hard way and I think he can empathize with the young kids,&rdquo; McNamara says. &ldquo;I certainly feel he can do the job&hellip;Contract negotiations for Leaf captain Rick Vaive should begin soon and Vaive says he isn&rsquo;t expecting any problems. &#9632;

Leafs To Overlook Maloney’s Inexperience

<div class="byline">BY BOB MCKENZIE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011239/5141885-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div>Attempting to paint a picture of how the 1984 National Hockey League entry draft will unfold is especially difficult this year since so many teams are trying to trade their first-round picks.At the top end, for example, the Los Angeles Kings, picking third overall, are a good bet to swap that selection for a No. 1 goalie (the Islanders and Buffalo Sabres are the two strongest suitors). At the bottom end of the scale, the Boston Bruins are reported to be shopping around their pick (19th overall) as part of a package to acquire a proven NHL goal scorer. And in between those two, the Detroit Red Wings are trying to move up from their No. 7 slot and the Chicago Black Hawks wouldn&rsquo;t mind jumping from No. 6 to No. 2 or 3 so they can get a shot at hometown boy Ed Olczyk.When you consider that Pittsburgh Penguin general manager Eddie Johnston is talking about getting rid of his No. 9 and 16 picks in an effort to get another pick in the top three or four&mdash;the Pens already have No. 1 overall and are expected to take Laval scoring machine Mario Lemieux&mdash;you come to the realization that any forecast of what will happen on June 9 at the Montreal Forum goes with an oversized disclaimer.Okay, it&rsquo;s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.So here one man&rsquo;s scenario of what will happen at the draft:1. The Penguins will take Mario Lemieux.2. The New Jersey Devils have a choice between Guelph center Kirk Muller or U.S. Olympic left wing-center Ed Olczyk. They&rsquo;ll take Olczyk.3. If the Kings have their way, they won&rsquo;t be picking here and they&rsquo;ll have a No. 1 goalie (Billy Smith or Bob Sauve?). But if they are still picking, then they&rsquo;ll take Muller, who some hockey people feel will be as good or better an NHLer than Lemieux.4. The Toronto Maple Leafs want either Olczyk or U.S. Olympic defenseman Al lafrate. Olczyk will be gone, so lafrate will be going to Toronto.5. Now things get interesting. Craig Redmond is the top-rated player who hasn&rsquo;t been taken but the Habs will take Brantford&rsquo;s hard-nosed center Shayne Corson.6. The Chicago Black Hawks, knowing a good thing when they see it, will pick Redmond, the offensive-minded defenseman from the Canadian Olympic team. Still, they would rather move up to No. 2 to get Olczyk.7. The Detroit Red Wings, who would rather move up and be in a position to get either Olczyk or Muller, will take defenseman J.J. Daigneault.8. The St. Louis Blues would prefer a forward but will take the best player available&mdash;Kamloops&rsquo; defenseman Doug Bodger.9. If the Penguins don&rsquo;t deal this pick, they&rsquo;ll be deciding between Kitchener&rsquo;s Shawn Burr, the OHL rookie of the year, and Ottawa&rsquo;s Gary Roberts, a good twoway winger whose stock shot up at the Memorial Cup. Give the edge to Burr.10. The Vancouver Canucks want Burr, but they&rsquo;ll be almost as happy to get Roberts.11. The Hartford Whalers want Roberts, so they&rsquo;ll opt for Regina defenseman Selmar Odelein. However, it is at this point this year that the forecasting of the draft relies more on guesswork than homework.12. The Calgary Flames rate North Bay defenseman Kevin Hatcher highly but even if he&rsquo;s available, they&rsquo;ll go for Petr Svoboda, an 18-year Czechoslovak defector (6-foot-l, 161 pounds) who played left defense for the Litvinov club in Czechoslovakia.13. The Minnesota North Stars will try to move up so they can get a shot at Svoboda. If they stay at No. 13, though, they&rsquo;ll take Hatcher.14. The New York Rangers will take a forward, either Kitchener&rsquo;s Brian Wilks or Prince Albert&rsquo;s Dave Pasin, both good goal scorers.15. The Quebec Nordiques will look to a defenseman, so if Quebec junior Sylvain Cote is still around, you would think he&rsquo;d be a natural. Maybe, but don&rsquo;t be too surprised if the Nordiques take Portland&rsquo;s Brian Benning or Windsor&rsquo;s Todd Gill.16. The Penguins will try to deal away this pick but if unsuccessful, they&rsquo;ll take Peterborough defenseman Terry Carkner.17. The Washington Capitals will take Saskatoon defenseman Trent Yawney, although if, by chance, Roberts, Hatcher or Carkner are still around, they&rsquo;ll pick one of those three.18. The last place the Buffalo Sabres want to be in is this one. If Scotty Bowman gets his way, he&rsquo;ll be picking No. 3 and the L.A. Kings will be deciding who the 18th best player in the draft is. But if he&rsquo;s stuck at No. 18,don&rsquo;tbe surprised if Bowman goes for either a European or a U.S. high schooler, perhaps David Quinn, an intelligent defenseman from Kent School in Connecticut.19. Like Bowman, Harry Sinden doesn&rsquo;t want to be here. He&rsquo;s eyeing established NHL scoring stars and is re-portedly ready to give up Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Mike Krushelnyksi and this draft pick to get one. If he can&rsquo;t do that, then the Bruins may go for a high-scoring junior such as Kingston&rsquo;s Roger Belanger, Pasin or Guelph&rsquo;s Trevor Stienburg.20. Bill Torrey is in the same boat as Bowman and Sinden. He wants the No. 3 pick and will try hard to get it. If he fails, then the Islanders would like to get Kent&rsquo;s Quinn. But since he&rsquo;ll likely be gone to Buffalo, the Isles will take either hard-shooting left winger Toby Duculon from Bellows Free Academy in Vermont or Sudbury defenseman Jeff Brown.21. Who knows what the Edmonton Oilers will do? They don&rsquo;t need any immediate help so they may go the high school or European route because they won&rsquo;t have to make any decisions (on awarding a contract) for a couple of years. One report has them taking Kamloops Oiler goalie Darryl Reaugh or Mt. St. Charles high school goalie Alan Perry. It&rsquo;s possible they could go for Henry Carr Jr. B winger Scott Mellanby, who will attend the University of Wisconsin next fall and wants to play for Canada&rsquo;s 1988 Olympic team.So there you have it, the 1984 draft exactly as it will unfold on June 9 at the Montreal Forum.Well, would you believe almost exactly?Perhaps you had better watch it yourself (it&rsquo;s being televised in Canada by the CBC, 3 p.m. EDT) or check back in our July 1, 1984 issue to see exactly what happened.<h2>CENTRAL SCOUTING&rsquo;S TOP 21</h2>The following list is how the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau rates the top 21 prospects available for the 1984 entry draft: &#9632;

f0013-01

Spectre Of Trades Looms Over Entry Draft

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Passions are running high between American and Canadian National Hockey League owners over the proposed second (Carling-O&rsquo;Keefe) national hockey TV network which would compete with the established Hockey Night In Canada. One Wales Conference owner tells BLUELINES that the battle has reached a much more intense political and emotional level than has been reported in the daily media. A major concern has been Harold Ballard&rsquo;s opposition to the new network which would reap considerable profits for U.S.-based teams. &ldquo;When Bob Sedgewick was counselling Harold in Toronto,&rdquo; says the owner, &ldquo;you could count on him for bringing Ballard to a level of reason. But since Sedgewick died, nobody has been able to get through to Harold.&rdquo; A league source says that some of the &ldquo;nay&rdquo; votes against the new network are linked to behind-the-scenes deals&mdash;one being a loan&mdash;made as far back as the NHL-World Hockey Association merger&hellip;Speculation continues that the Penguins will make a deal, unloading top draft choice Mario Lemieux for a massive collection of solid, experienced players. &ldquo;The Penguins,&rdquo; one NHL boss tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;have to look at the short-term because they may not survive past next season. With that in mind, they need instant success and they can best get it by getting a bunch of first-rate players rather than banking on Lemieux in the long run.&rdquo;&hellip;Sports Illustrated&rsquo;s long-delayed (one year) investigative look at power broker Al Eagleson is slated to appear momentarily after many rewrites, edits and the hiring of an investigative reporter to probe more deeply than the original job. Some who talked freely about The Eagle ducked an SI photographer who was anxious to snap them for use with the story. A couple of NHL biggies are concerned about contents of the piece.NHL insiders whisper that Oiler owner Peter Pocklington reaped a hefty $3.5 million-plus from home playoff dates, biggest in NHL history. The Oilers grossed $15 million-plus from pre-season through the finals. However, a financier tuned in to the Oilers suggests that Pocklington might choose to sell his profitable Stanley Cup-winning franchise to alleviate other fiscal headaches&hellip;Islander captain Denis Potvin marries former fashion model Valerie Cates in late June on Long Island. A big Manhattan reception is planned in the fall&hellip;It was hush-hush for a while but now talk is filtering out that the Devil team party was a rancorous affair replete with such non-niceties as a &ldquo;Brown Nose Award&rdquo; (won by a defenseman) and considerable quarreling. Among the unfriendlies, according to a source close to the team, were Phil Russell and Dave Cameron&hellip;Mike O&rsquo;Con-nell of the Bruins is being touted in some quarters as next prexy of the NHL Players&rsquo; Assocation to succeed Tony Esposito. The feeling among a few players is that Tony O is too docile at player-owner meetings&hellip;The Pat Quinn coaching offer from the Kings is said to be a three-year deal with a guarantee that he&rsquo;s general manager by then and, if not, he gets a $750,000 buy-out. These are the same demands he made last summer in other negotiations but was rejected.Joe Nichols, whose hockey coverage spanned three decades with the New York Times, is a serious candidate for the Hockey Hall of Fame&hellip;Fred Shero expressed surprise at a story that Nick Fotiu had taken a punch at Pierre Larouche during a late-season Ranger practice. Shero says Fotiu isn&rsquo;t the type and mentions that when John Ferguson was running the Rangers, Fergie told Fotiu to &ldquo;get&rdquo; Rod Gilbert but Nicky refused&hellip;One of the most intriguing aspects of the imminent publication of Harold Ballard&rsquo;s biography (by Bill Houston) will cover Pal Hal&rsquo;s dealings with agents. A recurrent theme is that the GM at Maple Leaf Gardens is irrelevant as long as Ballard is around&hellip;When NHL governors convene at the Glenpointe Hotel in New Jersey on June 20-21, a move may be launched to have the site of annual draft shifted from Montreal. One proposal is to have it rotate between Chicago, Philadelphia and New York&hellip;Among the more prominent hockey fans are rock stars Alice Cooper, Greg Lake, Glenn Frey, Neil Young and Billy Joel&hellip;Ex-NHLer Murray Wilson, Doug&rsquo;s older brother, won a $200,000 settlement after a long legal hassle involving injuries sustained while a big-leaguer. The Kings had suspended him without pay for almost two years after Wilson had refused to report to the minors. Now working for an auto dealership in Ottawa, Wilson looks back in disappointment over the affair. &ldquo;It cost me five years and legal expenses,&rdquo; says Wilson, &ldquo;and I got no representation from the (NHL) Players&rsquo; Association. I couldn&rsquo;t get (Al) Eagleson or the Association to go to bat for me. But I&rsquo;m not bitter with The Eagle.&rdquo; Wilson says the settlement left him with &ldquo;far from a profit&rdquo;&hellip;Reports that Sabre rookie Tom Barrasso has a feud going with New York-area female writers is rebutted by Newsday&rsquo;s&nbsp;Helene Elliott. &ldquo;He was a delightful interview when I talked with him,&rdquo; Elliott tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;and, later, he sent me a two-page letter saying how much he appreciated the story.&rdquo;Stung by negative publicity engendered by the banning of Toronto Globe and Mail reporters by the Maple Leafs last season, the NHL is rewriting legislation to improve relations with the print media. BLUELINES has learned that the league will rewrite its bylaws so that, as a league source put it, a team &ldquo;can&rsquo;t ban an entire news organization as happened in Toronto.&rdquo; &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;One of the most spirited players in the history of the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; franchise feels the team needs a &ldquo;new spirit&rdquo; to become competitive next season.Veteran goaltender Chico Resch, who may be entering his final season with the Devils, believes that spirit must come from the club&rsquo;s new players.Resch, of course, is among those players the Devils would be willing to trade before next season. He&rsquo;s already been on the market since early last season.Resch, who turns 36 in July, would like to finish his career with a team capable of making some noise in the Stanley Cup playoffs but he&rsquo;s not about to press the issue.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m coming back next year. I just didn&rsquo;t have such a super season last year,&rdquo; admitted Resch, who finished with a 9-31-1 record and 4.18 goals-against average. &ldquo;Mentally, I just wasn&rsquo;t into it like I should&rsquo;ve been last year. I worry about that a little bit because I don&rsquo;t want to repeat that. I don&rsquo;t care how hard you work physically, your spirit has got to be in the same kind of condition.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s really what we need, a new attitude and a new spirit on the team. You keep hoping that some of the new kids that come back are going to be a spark and ignite things and start changing that attitude.&rdquo;Reading between the lines, Resch&rsquo;s comments summed up New Jersey&rsquo;s season in which the team was in chaos because of the coaching situation. The Devils floundered under Billy MacMillan, a general manager-coach whom the players liked, and then went through the difficult transition under Tom McVie.When the season ended, however, the players weren&rsquo;t even sure McVie would be back. Several players privately expressed hopes that McVie would not be rehired while others thought he deserved to be retained.The one change Resch said was essential was the Devils&rsquo; overall attitude.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to put pressure on the kids, but a guy like Kenny Daneyko can bring a new spirit,&rdquo; Resch said of the 20-year-old Kamloops Oiler who is expected to crack the Devils&rsquo; lineup this season. &ldquo;Coming off a good year at Kamloops he should be ready. And our draft pick this year should be good.&rdquo;What about Chico&rsquo;s future? While he had his moments during the season (a dramatic 2-0 shutout victory over the North Stars in Minnesota Dec. 17 and an All-Star game appearance), he failed to achieve one of his career goals&mdash;200 victories. He stands at 199.Resch enters the option year of his contract and he remains both a drawing card, fan favorite and solid goalie for the Devils as well as a tradeable commodity to the front office. GM Max McNab would not mention names but he indicated &ldquo;several trades are in the works, but most deals depend on what people get in the draft.&rdquo; That could determine Resch&rsquo;s future.HOT STUFF&mdash;The Devils signed 190-pound West German defenseman Ullrich Hiemer to a multi-year contract&hellip;Chico Resch would like to play for Team USA in the Canada Cup, which opens Sept. I. Tryouts begin Aug. 6. He is undergoing a leg weight program during the summer&hellip;Tom McVie, who returned home to Portland, OR, to await word of his future, commented on Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s GM job with Flyers: &ldquo;When I started in the non-playing hockey business you were supposed to go down to the lowest league and work your way back. Well, I guess maybe that isn&rsquo;t necessary. Clarke might just be exactly what the Flyers need. He&rsquo;s a winner. When you talk about the Philadelphia Flyers and their championships you talk about Bobby Clarke when he became a captain and a leader of men. He&rsquo;s got a lot to learn in the managing end of it, but he&rsquo;s got one of the best teachers in Keith Allen. I don&rsquo;t see how he can go wrong. Just his leadership qualities, like Jerry West (of the basketball Lakers) in L.A., are great for the Flyers.&rdquo;&hellip;Devil president Bob Butera said deposed Flyer GM-coach Bob McCammon was never contacted about the Devils&rsquo; plans. &ldquo;There will be no one-man show here. Not by me. not by the general manager or the coach. Even the owners (John McMullen and John Whitehead) work in tandem. The organizations that don&rsquo;t make it are the ones that have a lot of in-fighting, jealousies and people on ego trips. That&rsquo;s what we are going to avoid. &ldquo; &#9632;

Resch Feels A New Spirit Will Act As Devil Catalyst

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;One of these days the Kings will get around to the business of naming a new head coach. Pat Quinn remains the frontrunner for the position, but he hasn&rsquo;t been signed, sealed and delivered just yet.&ldquo;All I can say is that the negotiations are getting very close,&rdquo; general manager Rogie Vachon said just two weeks before the June 9 entry draft. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see any major problems.&rdquo;For the first time since the search for Roger Neilson&rsquo;s successor began back in mid-April, Vachon admitted that Quinn &ldquo;is among my top two candidates.&rdquo;&ldquo;We have never denied we were talking to Quinn,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It seems like almost everybody knew it. We just couldn&rsquo;t announce it and we still can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Vachon also said that he had received a telephone call from Gerry Petrie, Bob Berry&rsquo;s agent, &ldquo;and he wanted to know if we were interested in Bob. He was, of course, interested, but I was already committed to the one guy.&rdquo;Vachon later &ldquo;said hello&rdquo; to Berry during the Memorial Cup in Kitchener, &ldquo;but we didn&rsquo;t discuss the job.&rdquo;Vachon said Berry &ldquo;would be considered if the one guy I have in mind decides not to take it.&rdquo;Quinn, the former Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; coach, acknowledged he has talked to the Kings about the job, but hasn&rsquo;t said a whole lot more about it than that. He has completed his second of three years at Delaware Law School, however, and said &ldquo;the intent which I have approached any discussions I&rsquo;ve had with teams is that 1 would like to coach next season.&rdquo;Quinn said he &ldquo;had negotiations with one other team&rdquo; but denied he had ever talked about head coaching positions in either Toronto or Vancouver, the latter of which has now been filled by Bill LaForge.In the meantime, Vachon has been a very busy man. He&rsquo;s been scouting all over the place for the entry draft (the Kings own the No. 3 pick overall). In addition, he announced that former King coach Don Perry has been signed as a &ldquo;special assistant&rdquo; to the GM. Perry will be present at the draft and training camp next season and will handle all pro scouting and pre-trade scouting throughout the NHL, using his upstate New York home as his base.&ldquo;Don has a lot to offer and we&rsquo;re quite pleased to keep him in the organization,&rdquo; Vachon said.It&rsquo;s believed Perry signed a two-year contract.Vachon said he has had &ldquo;a lot of serious talks&rdquo; with &ldquo;about a half-dozen teams&rdquo; about trading down in the draft.He wouldn&rsquo;t get specific, but said &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a possibility. It&rsquo;s something we can do and still get a top player if the choice is not too far down. Teams that draft anywhere from first through seventh or eighth will definitely get a top player, but after that it&rsquo;s a bit of a gamble.&ldquo;A lot of teams have approached me with some very good offers, but the final decision won&rsquo;t be made until the night before the draft. I&rsquo;ll sit down with all the scouts at that time and we&rsquo;ll go over our options.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s known that Minnesota, Chicago and Pittsburgh have discussed a deal with the Kings and something seems possible now that New Jersey&mdash;which has the No. 2 pick&mdash;has signed defenseman Ullrich Hiemer off the West German national team.The Devils had figured to draft a defenseman on the first round, but now can take center Kirk Muller, who would have been too good for the Kings to pass up even though they need a defenseman.If the Kings can&rsquo;t get their hands on Muller, they may be willing to trade down as far as the No. 8 pick and then hope one of either Al lafrate or J. J. Daigneault&mdash;both Olympian defensemen&mdash;is available.&ldquo;It certainly would help to know what New Jersey is going to do,&rdquo; Vachon said. &#9632;

Rogie Finally Reveals He’s High On Quinn

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;There won&rsquo;t be any big shakeup by the Black Hawks this summer and there won&rsquo;t be any showdown between disgruntled goalie Tony Esposito and coach Orval Tessier.That&rsquo;s the word from Hawk president Bill Wirtz&mdash;and his word is law around here.&ldquo;We want to preserve and maintain the nucleus of our club and look for help on the wings at training camp,&rdquo; emphasized Wirtz. &ldquo;We know what our talent is when our players are healthy. I still feel the same way I did going into training camp last year, that we&rsquo;re one or two years away from being top contenders for the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;We know what kind of players Al Secord and Curt Fraser are. We know what Darryl Sutter and Doug Wilson are capable of when they aren&rsquo;t playing under extreme physical handicaps.&ldquo;The suspension of Tom Lysiak (for 20 games for tripping linesman Ron Foyt) had a devastating effect on the club. It cost Tommy $55,000, it affected him adversely and it also affected an awful lot of other players on our club.&ldquo;I feel esprit de corps is vital, right from the start of training camp. When players like Lysiak, Secord, Sutter and Fraser are injured they can&rsquo;t participate in that esprit de corps in the dressing room. They couldn&rsquo;t interject themselves.&rdquo;Wirtz believes the Esposito-Tessier conflict also was a blow to the team&rsquo;s emotional equilibrium and he blames the 41-year-old goaltender.&ldquo;Orval has two more years remaining on his contract and there will be no showdown,&rdquo; said Wirtz. &ldquo;Orval did not call up Bob Janecyk in February. Bob Pulford (Hawk general manager) was told that we (the Wirtz family) wanted to see our young goaltenders play so we all could make a judgment concerning which of them is the best prospect.&ldquo;I had that in mind from the start of the season. Janecyk was an American League All-Star for two years in a row and Warren Skorodenski was outstanding during training camp.&ldquo;When we got off to our good start but weren&rsquo;t winning on the road, I suggested that we bring Skorodenski up, throw him in for two or three games, and bring the club out of it. We had planned to do that but then came the Lysiak suspension and all the injuries and we decided we had to rely on our experienced players.&ldquo;Then, when we brought Janecyk in late in the season, it created a problem with Tony. There shouldn&rsquo;t have been a problem because we never had an agreement with him that we&rsquo;d only have two goal tenders.&rdquo;Esposito had a different perception of the situation.&ldquo;The only reason I was signed last summer was because of Bill Wirtz and then they (Pulford and Tessier) got together and decided to phase me out,&rdquo; he said.Wirtz disagreed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve read what Tony said and I feel it&rsquo;s unfair to Bob Pulford,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I asked Bob, &lsquo;What about Tony?&rsquo; and Bob said, &lsquo;He had a good year (in 1982-83) and I think we should sign him because he can help us.&rsquo;&rdquo;&ldquo;If Bob had told me we didn&rsquo;t need Tony anymore, I would have taken his recommendation and there would have been no contract offer.&ldquo;I likeTony very much personally and I understand the anxieties he might have. But I&rsquo;m not going to apologize for taking a look at Janecyk. I never thought it would lead to a situation where Tony wouldn&rsquo;t be ready for the playoffs. I indicated that he was in our plans for the playoffs when I turned down his request to be released and become a free-agent on March 6.&ldquo;But then when Orval wanted to get Tony ready by using him on the final day of the regular season, he said he couldn&rsquo;t play because he wasn&rsquo;t prepared. I don&rsquo;t know what that accomplished.&ldquo;In the Minnesota series, the natural thing would have been to rest Murray Bannerman in the third game and play Tony. By not playing in the last game of the season, he more or less shut the door on that.&rdquo;The Hawks lost Game Three and then they dropped the best-of-five series three games to one. Thus, the 4-3 defeat by Hartford on Feb. 5 in Chicago Stadium probably will go down as the last game of Esposito&rsquo;s stellar Black Hawk career. When his contract expires next month he again will be a free-agent without compensation, and when the Hawk hierarchy meets to make plans for next season, the feud with Tessier is expected to exclude Esposito.Had Esposito succeeded in becoming a free agent in March he&rsquo;d have been signed by Minnesota GM Lou Nanne, an old pal going back to their boyhood days in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. But now the circumstances have changed.&ldquo;Tony is one of the highest-paid players in the National Hockey League,&rdquo; Wirtz said. &ldquo;Salaries are based on a six-month season, which means if the North Stars had signed him then they&rsquo;d have had to pay one-sixth of his salary. 1 have to wonder if their payroll will permit them to pay him that kind of money for an entire season.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t get me wrong, because Tony Esposito has earned every cent he has ever received from the Chicago Black Hawks. But he cannot expect to stay on his present salary level until he&rsquo;s 65. I&rsquo;m more interested in what Tony wants to do when he decided it&rsquo;s time to retire than whether or not he&rsquo;s capable of playing X number of years in the NHL.&ldquo;Stan Mikita knew it was time to quit and go on to something else even though he could still play. Does Tony want to do something away from hockey as Stan did or stay in the game and go through the routine of starting over again?&ldquo;As I see it, starting over (as a GM or coach) would basically entail going with a farm club and eventually moving back to the parent club. You may want to do that when you retire, but your family may not.&ldquo;What Tony has to decide is what&rsquo;s best for him and his family. Because I like him and his wife, Marilyn, so much, personally I hope that his choice turns out to be the right one.&rdquo; &#9632;

Papa Wirtz Wants Peace In Hawks’ House

<div class="byline">BY DICK BEDDOES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011088/5142036-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="302" height="358"></div>THERE WASN&rsquo;T TIME during Edmonton&rsquo;s exciting rush to the Stanley Cup to properly salute two characters who were elevated to the Hall of Fame during the playoffs.One is John Calverley Milford, known as Jake, genial Jake, always smiling. One reason for the smile is that he has been married a long time to one of the loveliest women ever bom in Texas.Milford, in hockey, has been in more things than salt and pepper: a player, scout, coach, manager and executive at all levels of the game, in Dallas, Cleveland, Buffalo, Omaha, Brandon and Vancouver.He survived four seasons as general manager of the Los Angeles Kings without being fired by then-owner Jack K. Cooke, who had the touchiest trigger finger in the NHL. As a Cooke survivor, Milford merits his selection to the old museum of used hockey meat on the lakefront in Toronto.The other selectee is Punch Imlach, whose square name is George F. Imlach. The F, Rex MacLeod of the Toronto Staronce murmured, stands for Imlach&rsquo;s favorite word.Imlach guided the Toronto Maple Leafs to four Stanley Cups in seven seasons, the last time in 1967, in the last glad days before the NHL expanded from six teams to 12.Subsequently, after being detached from the robes of authority in Toronto in 1969, Imlach was employed by the wealthy Knox brothers of Buffalo to pilot their expansion franchise.By 1975, Imlach had Buffalo in the Stanley Cup final and no Sabre team has since been as sharp. He returned to Toronto to manage for the big orange one, Harold Ballard, but his Second Coming with the Leafs only proved the wisdom of the American author, Thomas Wolfe, that you can&rsquo;t go home again.Now, on the periphery of hockey, Imlach writes the occasional needling column for the Toronto Sun, a tabloid throwaway.He is rich from shrewd investments and. at 66, healthy after triple bypass heart surgery.<h2>The Essential Flavor</h2>THOSE ARE ALL the necessary facts about George F. Imlach, with none of the essential flavor. Flavor the man had, in rich aromatic abundance.Imlach is many-sided, as all humans are, and his many sides are perverse, loyal, profane, mean, generous and cunning.He was, as a coach, often a cussed martinet who refused to accept less from any player than his absolute best every day. There seldom seemed to be any warm camaraderie between Imlach and his players.Yet one recalls the 1967-68 season when one of Imlach&rsquo;s reliables, defenseman Tim Horton, was in a wretched slump.&ldquo;Surely you&rsquo;re going to bench Horton,&rdquo; a reporter told Imlach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing so brutal.&rdquo;&ldquo;Listen,&rdquo; Imlach said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t bench Horton. I&rsquo;ll tell you why, but you can&rsquo;t put it in your bleepin&rsquo; newspaper. Horton&rsquo;s got some personal demons working at him now and I&rsquo;d only make him feel worse by benching him. Besides, he puts out so good for me when he&rsquo;s playing good that he&rsquo;s entitled to have me stick by him when he&rsquo;s going bad.&rdquo;Imlach stuck with Horton then and, a few yean later when Horton was available, hired him to anchor the Buffalo defense. The word is loyalty.And yet one recalls another facet of the Big I. His great friend and assistant manager in Toronto was King Clancy, the NHL&rsquo;s original good-humor man with the built-in public relations of a Francis of Assisi. Imlach never had a warmer, less selfish confidant.When the Leafs fired Imlach, he might have expected Clancy to obediently follow him out the door of Maple Leaf Gardens. Clancy stayed put.<h2>Punch Was Mean</h2>SOME MONTHS LATER, at a Hall of Fame function in Toronto, Clancy and I were seated together at the same table. Imlach came in, spotted us, and walked by.&ldquo;I hope I lose your phone number,&rdquo; he snapped at Clancy. The word, I think, is mean.I treasure some of his locutions, his mangling of the English language. Once, speaking of someone or something, he said, &ldquo;It augments well for the future.&rdquo; Historians believe he meants &ldquo;augurs.&rdquo;Imlach had a chatty appreciation of the pros who played with uncommon competence and didn&rsquo;t talk back.Thus he would say of Johnny Bower in the spring of 1964, after the antique goaler saved a playoff game against the Canadiens by making 18 saves in a frantic third period, &ldquo;Bower is the oldest player in the fastest game with the quickest reflexes. If the NHL wasn&rsquo;t going to pay Bower a pension, I&rsquo;d pay him one!&rdquo;Imlach was a superstitious head-knock who played hunches. Thus, when defenseman Bob Baun suffered a broken bone in one ankle during the 1964 Stanley Cup final against Detroit, Imlach had Baun&rsquo;s ankle frozen when the game went into overtime. Baun, on the broken bone, scored the winning goal.Imlach could and did bar reporters he considered enemy from the Maple Leaf dressing room. He could and did use reporters he considered friendly as conduits to brainwash the public and his players.He could and did win, blessed with players such as Mahovlich, Bower, Horton, Brewer and Baun, Allen Stanley, Bob Pulford, Dave Keon, Kelly, Armstrong, Ron Stewart, Sawchuk and the rest who made him resemble a genius. The only question is: how come the selectors kept him out of the Hall of Fame so long? &#9632;

f0016-01

BEDCLOTHES

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;During the past season, the New York Islanders and Rangers carried taxi squads that contained as many as seven players, though they still had other talent down on the farm.The Washington Capitals may have a taxi squad next year, too, but their farm system is another story.Since Philadelphia replaced Washington in Hershey in April, Capital general manager David Poile has attempted&mdash;without success so far&mdash;to come to an alternative working agreement.The Capitals, who built up their team by trading draft choices in recent years, have little talent to bestow upon a minorleague club, which is why they were kicked out of Hershey in the first place. Now it seems that those few players who do not earn berths on the big club will stay in Washington anyway.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t like it and I hope it doesn&rsquo;t come to be, but it appears we may have to keep all 27 or 28 of our players in Washington (with the extras) on a taxi squad,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;It has its drawbacks, but it could be a positive thing, too. With all those guys around, the players will know they&rsquo;ll be replaced very quickly if they don&rsquo;t produce.&rdquo;Poile did say, however, that he would find spots for goalies Bob Mason and Peter Sidorkiewicz, even if it entailed shipping them to the International League, because of their need for playing time.The situation left a number of fringe players headed for the unemployment line. Twelve Capitals are completing the option years of their contracts and it appears that only defensemen Timo Blomqvist and Darren Veitch will be re-signed.The others are goalie Dave Parro, defensemen Tony Camazzola, Jay Johnston, Paul MacKinnon and Greg Theberge, and forwards Greg Adams. Dan Miele, Wayne Prestage, Lou Fran-ceschetti and Chris Valentine. If Poile can arrange a farm hookup, several of those players would be retained for another year.Any player the Capitals choose in the entry draft will most likely return to his junior team. Washington has the 17th pick overall and Poile felt that only the top five or six would be likely to move right into the NHL.Although the Capitals&rsquo; primary need is a big winger who can score more than once a month, there is such an overall lack of depth that Poile said he would pick the best player available, regardless of position.&ldquo;You can always make trades if you have too many of something,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;Right now, we are far from having too many of anything.&rdquo;Although Poile has earned a reputation as a wheeler-dealer, he said it was unlikely that the Capitals would be involved in any major swaps this summer.&ldquo;I certainly won&rsquo;t close the door, because something could open up that would be too tempting to turn down,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;But making a big trade is not where it&rsquo;s at right now for the Washington Capitals.&ldquo;We have worked very hard as an organization to develop a team concept. We&rsquo;d have to look long and hard before I&rsquo;d make a decision to go into the heart of our hockey club to make a major deal. We need time more than changes.&ldquo;People tend to forget that we&rsquo;re a very young hockey club. A young team gives you a lot of spectacular high moments and low moments. It is not a case for panic or change. These guys are going to get better. &ldquo; &#9632;

Capitals Think Of Using A Taxi

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Once again, Anders Hedberg is facing a big decision.For the second spring in a row, the second off-season of taking &ldquo;one year at a time,&rdquo; the Rangers&rsquo; 33-year-old right winger must decide whether to come back for one more season or hang up his skates for good.Last May, he surprised Ranger watchers by admitting that he was considering retirement, saying &ldquo;my basic feeling is that it&rsquo;s time for me to start paying attention to what direction my life is going.&rdquo;Shortly thereafter, he signed a two-year contract, the second year of it being more or less academic, a device to protect Ranger general manager Craig Patrick. Otherwise, Hedberg could be on the verge of becoming a free agent without compensation, although at his age he says, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to go anywhere.&rdquo;And if he does retire, that second year would surely be academic. For Hedberg, the Rangers&rsquo; opening-round loss to the Islanders was both the best and worst of times. Normally eloquent even in defeat, Hedberg was speechless in the gloom and heartbreak of the losing dressing room at Nassau Coliseum after Ken Morrow&rsquo;s overtime goal gave the Islander a 3-2 overtime and series win.But the fact the Rangers came so close brought Hedberg closer than he had been to a decision to come back for another year. Considering the Islanders, the winner of that series, went all the way to the finals, an argument can be made that under the circumstances the finalists could just as easily have been the Rangers.&ldquo;Right now, I&rsquo;m not leaning either way,&rdquo; said Hedberg late in May, after a week in Florida that was part relaxation and part soul-searching with his Winnipeg-based friend and agent, Don Baizley, and their respective families.&ldquo;Three months ago, I&rsquo;d have said, &lsquo;No way&rsquo; and I&rsquo;m more prepared to play now than I was three months ago. We do have a serious chance to be in there. My feeling was, we deserved to beat the Islanders.&rdquo;After winning two Avco Cup championships with the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Winnipeg Jets, he signed with the Rangers in June, 1978 for a reported $630,000.Hedberg missed virtually all of the 1981-82 season after a knee injury caused him to undergo major reconstructive surgery.That season was gruelling and often painful physical therapy sessions for him and he said at the time it would take him all of the following season to recuperate.He scored 25 goals and 34 assists that season and led the Rangers in scoring in the playoffs with 12 points (four goals and eight assists) as he and his Smurf linemates&mdash;Rob McClanahan and Mark Pavelich&mdash;were instrumental in the Rangers&rsquo; opening-round sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers.This past season, his 32 goals were second on the team behind Pierre Larouche&rsquo;s 48. He finished with 35 assists and 67 points and his plus-18 was tops on the team.The feeling among Ranger fans was that it would be a characteristically classy move for Hedberg to go out on such a high note, but Hedberg is still deciding.&ldquo;We all have different reasons to play and goals in life and ambitions,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You have to go out before you become a cheerleader. I could never handle the situation, that&rsquo;s why I play a year at a time.&rdquo;Hedberg was not surprised by Kent-Erik Anderson&rsquo;s decision to return to Sweden, where a year of hockey and then a job awaited the unheralded, defensivespecialist, but he never quite understood why McClanahan was demoted to the minors at the start of the season and ended up watching the Islander series in civilian clothes.&ldquo;He had a rough time arid he gave his absolute best and he deserves the best,&rdquo; said Hedberg, speaking just days before the Rangers traded McClanahan&mdash;who had played out his option and was about to become a free agent&mdash;to the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations.As for himself, Hedberg has been actively looking into post-hockey opportunities and intends to stay in New York when his playing days are over rather than return to Sweden. &#9632;

Hedberg Undecided About Hockey Future

It remains to be seen whether this will be a toss-up but it is rather appropriate that the leading candidates for the premier trophy in THE HOCKEY NEWS annual awards are on opposite sides of the same coin.Wayne Gretzky, the slim offensive genius with the Edmonton Oilers and Rod Langway, the defensive marvel with the Washington Capitals, are the finalists for THE HOCKEY NEWS/Bridgestone Tires Player of the Year Award. For the first time since the awards were instituted, the winners will be honored at a luncheon in Toronto June 27 at the Sheraton Centre hotel.THE HOCKEY NEWS writers and columnists covering the 21 National Hockey League teams clearly recognized the offensive and defensive aspects of the game in overwhelmingly voting for Gretzky and Langway. Although he missed six games with a shoulder injury and continued to face increasingly vigorous checking, Gretzky managed to swell his remarkable scoring statistics to 87 goals and 118 assists.Defensively, Langway was as overwhelming, turning the Capitals&rsquo; zone into a maze of dead-ends for many a startled opponent. The defensive stalwart led the Caps to their first Jennings Trophy as the club with the league&rsquo;s top defensive record. With a 2.81 goals-against average, the Capitals were the only team in the league to allow an average of fewer than three goals a game, an accomplishment of some depth in an era of ballooning scores.In all, nine awards will be presented at the luncheon, with the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals dominating the finalists in the NHL categories. Buffalo&rsquo;s Scotty Bowman and the Caps&rsquo; David Poile are finalists for Executive of the Year, New York Islanders&rsquo; Al Arbour and the Caps&rsquo; Bryan Murray are Coach-of-the-Year finalists and Buffalo&rsquo;s Tom Barrasso and Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; Steve Yzerman are the Rookie of the Year picks.In the minor leagues, Gene Ubriaco of the American League&rsquo;s Baltimore Skipjacks and Tom Webster of the Central League&rsquo;s Oilers (formerly located in Tulsa) are finalists for Minor League Coach of the Year, while Mal Davis, a left winger with the Rochester Americans, and John Vanbiesbrouck, a goalie with the CHL Oilers, will vie for Minor League Player of the Year honors. Vanbiesbrouck was co-winner of the Central League MVP along with Bruce Affleck of the Indianapolis Checkers and Davis was the leading goal-scorer (55) for the Amerks.THE HOCKEY NEWS/Micron Junior Player of the Year award is between Laval Voisin scoring sensation Mario Lemieux and Brandon Wheat King star Ray Ferraro while THE HOCKEY NEWS/Bauer College Player of the Year has North Dakota&rsquo;s exceptional goaltender, Jon Casey, up against Ohio State&rsquo;s offensive star Paul Pooley.Each of the award winners will be presented with an engraved plaque and a cash donation to be made to the charity of their choice. Some awards carry additional prizes. For example, THE HOCKEY NEWS/Chrysler Rookie of the Year will be given the use of a Dodge Daytona for one year.Finalists for THE HOCKEY NEWS NHL All-Star team are as follows: GOAL&mdash;Tom Barrasso, Buffalo; Pat Riggin, Washington; DEFENSE&mdash;Ray Bourque, Boston; Paul Coffey, Edmonton; Rod Langway, Washington; Denis Potvin, New York Islanders; CENTER&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton; Bryan Trottier, Islanders; RIGHT WING&mdash;Mike Bossy, Islanders; Jari Kurri, Edmonton; LEFT WING&mdash;Michel Goulet, Quebec; Mark Messier, Edmonton. &#9632;

Gretzky, Langway Vie For Top THN Award

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>Louisville HockeyBUFFALO&mdash;What kind of trade will Scotty Bowman make just before the National Hockey League draft this year?Maybe the general manager-coach of the Sabres will pull a surprise and not trade away any of his players to upgrade Buffalo&rsquo;s first-round pick (18th overall).Could be&hellip;but not likely. Bowman has players galore and, it will be remembered, the canny Sabre hockey impress-ario worked deals the last two years that brought the Sabres three first-round picks each year.These picks turned out to be Phil Housley, Paul Cyr and Dave Andreychuk in 1982, all of whom did well for the Sabres last season, and goaltender Tom Barrasso, Adam Creighton and Norman Lacombe in 1983.Barrasso, as an 18-year-old rookie, was one of the best goaltenders in the league last season. Lacombe played for Rochester in the American League, suffering a knee injury that ended his season early.Creighton, whose team, Ottawa 67s, won the recent Memorial Cup, was chosen as the tournament Most-Valuable Player and All-Star center. He totalled five goals and seven assists.John Tucker, a Sabre second-round pick in &lsquo;83, faced Creighton in the Cup final as a member of the Kitchener Rangers. Tucker was MVP in the Ontario Hockey League during the regular season. In 21 games for the Sabres last season, he scored 12 goals and assisted on four others and added two goals in three games during the playoffs.With Creighton and Tucker coming up to bolster the center corps. Bowman has a surplus at that position. Andreychuk, who led the Sabres in goals with 38, is back, along with Gil Perreault, Brent Peterson and Gilles Hamel (who switched from left wing to center late in the season and did well). There&rsquo;s also Claude Verret, a high scorer for Rochester.Bowman could be working a deal for one or more of the centers. Perreault and Hamel both could shift back to left wing, however, where Craig Ramsay, Lindy Ruff and Cyr are stationed. Ruff might be switched back to defense, if there are enough left wingers available.There are more than enough right wingers. Mike Foligno, Ric Seiling, Sean McKenna, Mike Moller and Real Cloutier all are back. Seiling played all three forward positions. Cloutier played both wings and Moller worked at center and right wing.Also on the right side are Steve Patrick, who missed much of last season because of back trouble, and Lacombe, who should be recovered from his knee injury.The Sabres finished the season with six defensemen&mdash;Bill Hajt, Phil Housley, Larry Playfair, Mike Ramsey, Han-nu Virta and Jerry Korab&mdash;but Jim Wiemer played 64 games for the Sabres before being sent down to Rochester.Dave Fenyves, who played in 10 games with the Sabres, filled in during the playoffs when the defense was hit by injuries. There&rsquo;s Timo Jutila, too. He was signed by Bowman after the Finnish league season ended, but the Sabres didn&rsquo;t last long enough in the playoffs for Jutila to get a chance.Anyway, there are enough defensemen for Bowman to deal one or more of them.After the way Barrasso and veteran Bob Sauve played, alternating in goal, there doesn&rsquo;t seem to be much chance for Jacques Cloutier to move up. Cloutier backstopped Rochester to the Calder Cup finals this year after helping the Amerks to the playoff championship a year ago. More than one NHL team probably would like to have him.There have been rumors that Bowman would deal Sauve, with Cloutier moving in to back up Barrasso. Sauve already was traded once, to Detroit, but came back to the Sabres and has done a solid job since.There is another goaltender in the wings, Darren Puppa, one of U.S. college&rsquo;s best netminders, at Rensselaer Polytech. He was only a freshman this season, however, and may stay in college a few more years. &#9632;

Question Is: Will Bowman Do It Again?

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;Bruin general manager Harry Sinden ticked off the names.Pete Peeters. Ray Bourque. Gordie Kluzak. Barry Pederson. Rick Middleton. Terry O&rsquo;Reilly.Those are the untouchables as the Bruins go on the off-season trade market in an effort to add some scoring punch to a lineup that bowed out much too quietly in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.&ldquo;I think we have to try and acquire a proven goal-scorer,&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;Maybe not so much a goal-scorer as a proven producer of goals, whether it be setting them up or scoring them.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to back up Pederson and Middleton with an alternative line that has one or two players on it who is going to score 80 or 90 points in the season.&ldquo;I think our next top forward last season behind Pederson and Middleton was Tom Fergus with 60 points. If you&rsquo;re 45 or 50 points behind with your third forward, that&rsquo;s too much.&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to get something like that we&rsquo;re going to have to put up some names that we&rsquo;ve never put up for trade before. Nothing has cropped up yet but we&rsquo;re exploring it.&rdquo;Crossing out Sinden&rsquo;s six untouchables, that would leave Keith Crowder as probably the best available Bruin. He&rsquo;s a checker in the mold of a Wayne Cashman who scored 35 goals two seasons ago.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going out to trade Keith Crowder,&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;You asked who I wouldn&rsquo;t trade and I gave you those names. That doesn&rsquo;t mean we&rsquo;re going to ship Keith Crowder around.&ldquo;But if somebody said, &lsquo;You can have Mike Bossy for Keith Crowder,&rsquo; well&hellip;&rdquo;Sinden said the Bruins have never considered breaking up the Pederson-Middleton duo and try to form new lines around them separately. They work too well together, accounting for 86 goals and 219 points last season.&ldquo;We might do it for a while and then bring them back together again like the Islanders do with Bossy and Bryan Trottier,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But we would prefer to build a second line offensively.&ldquo;We felt that Tom Fergus&rsquo; point production would really blossom last season but it didn&rsquo;t do quite what we thought it would do. He got 25 goals, but 25 goals in this league isn&rsquo;t much anymore and 50 points is nothing.&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s Mike Krushelnyski. He had 20 assists. That&rsquo;s all he got. That&rsquo;s not the type of offense we need out of forwards in order to back up Pederson and Middleton.&ldquo;Keith Crowder scored some goals after being injured a good part of the season. He could be one member of a second line, along with an 80- or 90-point getter.&ldquo;I thought that if Fergus or Krushelnyski could develop into that, Keith Crowder could complement him with 25 or 35 or even 40 goals and 70 points. He probably could have done that if he hadn&rsquo;t been injured.&rdquo;Sinden indicated that whatever the Bruins need it will not be available to them in the June 9 entry draft&mdash;at least not immediately available. Boston has the 19th pick.&ldquo;When you draft late, and we always seem to do that, you don&rsquo;t have the luxury of picking for position,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We know what position we&rsquo;d like to take and we know what type of player we&rsquo;d like but whether he&rsquo;ll be there or not I don&rsquo;t know.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t feel we&rsquo;ll get a player who can make the team next year in this June&rsquo;s draft.&rdquo; &#9632;

Sinden Lists Six Untouchables

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;The Nordiques had their best season ever last year in the National Hockey League and general manager Maurice Filion, who has yet to sign a new contract, is convinced his team is closer to a Stanley Cup than most people imagine.Being eliminated by Montreal in the second round of the playoffs was certainly disappointing, but there are some positive signs as well.&ldquo;There is so much more balance in the league now,&rdquo; says Filion, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m convinced that we are not all that far from a possible Stanley Cup berth. A small change on a number of teams can get them there.&ldquo;If we are in trouble because of the way we were ousted by Montreal, then what can you say about Boston and Buffalo? They finished third and fourth after 80 games and we were not far behind. No one is saying that they have no chance of going all the way in the near future.&rdquo;While Filion is currently negotiating his own contract with the team, he is also talking with young netminder Clint Malarchuk, defensemen Blake Wesley and Pat Price, as well as forwards Dale Hunter, Louis Sleigher, and power-play specialist J.F. Sauve.Veteran goaltender Dan Bouchard was much criticized for his average work in the playoffs, especially when he let in five goals in one period during the final Montreal game. Despite hints that Bouchard is on the trading block, it is probable that he will remain to help break in Malarchuk and newcomer Mario Gosselin.Filion has been quick to point out that in the playoffs a team is only as good as its consistency in goal. While Bouchard has never gone all the way in the playoffs, he has been consistent overall through the years. His 2.86 average in this year&rsquo;s playoffs was the fourth best overall among the 16 teams involved in post-season play.Gosselin, with his experience from the Winter Olympics, may well represent the future for Quebec, especially in playoffs where teams stay with one netminder. A knee injury kept him out of action this year for the playoffs, but now he will have a whole year to prepare.Malarchuk was impressive last season, especially on the road. Gosselin had a shutout in his first NHL start and has yet to lose in the big league. Bouchard has the experience and now it remains to be seen how much he can help, both in the dressing room and on the ice.If the Nordiques are solid in goal, there is certainly room for improvement on defense and up front. Filion wants to add a mobile defenseman and a little more muscle up front. &#9632;

Nordiques’ Boss Has Cup Dreams

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;A six-month wooing job ended with the announcement that the Jets signed a set of twins, Paul and Perry Pooley, 23-year-old forwards from Exeter, Ont., via Ohio State University.&ldquo;This will be the first set of twins ever to be turned professionally by the same team,&rdquo; said general manager John Ferguson.Ferguson first became enamored with the twins during the Great Lakes Tournament at Christmas.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been getting better and better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We had the two of them rated exactly at the top of our free agents&rsquo; list.&rdquo;At this juncture, Ferguson feels both players will command a place in the lineup when the season begins.Paul is a center who led the entire NCAA in scoring with 32 goals and 64 assists in 41 games. He was named Player of the Year by the coaches in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association as well as an all-star. He is also one of two finalists for THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; College Player of the Year award.Perry is a right winger who compiled 39 points in 41 games, winning selection to the CCHA second all-star team.Both players are 6-foot-l, 175 pounds.&ldquo;You have to be impressed with their overall ability,&rdquo; said Ferguson. &ldquo;They are good skaters, excellent playmakers and superb athletes. And they are intelligent. Both made the University&rsquo;s allscholastic team.&rdquo;Signing a draft choice from NCAA champion Bowling Green has been infinitely harder for the Jets.Defenseman Dave Ellett, a fourthround pick in 1982, has been the object of Ferguson&rsquo;s attention for months.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not happy with the negotiations,&rdquo; said Ferguson. &ldquo;He has an opportunity to make our club and he told me he wants to play pro. He and his agent have agreed to a two-way contract and I think I could pay him the salary he wants, but the up-front money is just too much.&rdquo;His agent, Larry Kelly of Ottawa, believes he should be paid as if he were a first-round pick, according to Ferguson.Ellett could be Moe Mantha&rsquo;s successor on defense, though the spot also interests Bobby Dollas, a first-round choice in 1983. Dollas was the first defenseman selected in the draft. Picked 14th overall, he was taken in Washing-ton&rsquo;s spot when the Jets traded Dave Christian to the Capitals. Dollas spent last season with the Laval Voisins, the Quebec Major Junior champions.BENCH BITS&mdash;The Jets have signed left winger Joel Baillargeon, their sixthround draft choice in 1983. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound native of Charlesbourg, Que., scored 48 goals and added 35 assists with Chicoutimi last season. He also had 184 penalty minutes. Baillargeon hails from an interesting family. His father and uncles performed superhuman feats in fairs across the province. One of his father&rsquo;s favorite stunts is carrying a horse. &#9632;

Jets Make History By Signing Pooley Twins

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01922/5142211-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div><h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2>PLAYERS WANTED PORT-AUX-BASQUES Mariners of the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League require for the 1984/85 season, a player-coach plus other players. We are looking for players with junior, senior or pro experience. Please forward resume and qualifications to: Jack Evans, Box 50 Isle-Aux-Morts, Nfld., AOM 1J0, or call (709) 698-3776.ENTHUSIASTIC HARD WORKER seeks position in sales, publicity or promotions. With any pro or junior club. Write: Ted Kapnick, 797 Twin Rivers Drive N., East Windsor, NJ, 08520 or call collect: (609) 448-7308 anytime.FORMER PROFESSIONAL seeking scouting and/or coaching job. Contact (804) 740-8759 after 6:00 pm EST.<h2>MERCHANDISE</h2>CLOSE-UP PHOTOS, postcards. NHL, CHL players. For sample send SASE. Madeloni, 3501 E. 10, Denver, CO. 80206.<h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2>SEEKING A JOB in the AHL, IHL, WHL or NHL hockey organization. Can type 40-50 wpm. Also have a degree in communications. Will relocate. Call or write: David Dinardo, 2691 Riverton Ave. Hamburg, NY, 14095. (716) 627-2983.WHA-NHL-AHL-IHL-MINOR HOCKEY65 page pricelist of photos, media guides, cards, yearbooks, programs, pennants, pucks, game used Jerseys, equipment and much more Send cheque or m/o for $5.50 with this ad to: CANADA U.S. SPORTS ENTERPRISES99 Katherine Rd. Downavlew, Ont. Canede M3K 1JS&#9733; Free gift valued at $5.00 with this adCOACH, PLAYERS WANTED: Junior B calibre players. Reply Hudson Bay Junior Saints Hockey Club, Box 428, Hudson Bay, Sask., SOE OYO.<h2>MERCHANDISE</h2><h3>SPORTS JERSEYS UNLIMITED</h3>Complete 18 page pricelist of game worn Jerseys. Leagues include Baseball, CFL-NFL-WFL-NHL-WHA-NASL-NBA and more over 1500 satisfied customers For complete list send cheque or m/o for $5.00 payable to:EMPIRE SPORTS. 1947 Avenue Road,Suite 201, Toronto. Ont. M5M 4A2. NCCA Dealer&#9733; Free gift and $2.50 credit on first order.<h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2><h3>DEFUNCT SPORTS PRICELISTS</h3>55 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 (National 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.WIHL FINALISTS: Nelson Senior Maple Leafs require player-coach and other players for 1984-85. Some scholarships and employment available. Apply soon to Nelson Maple Leafs, P.O. Box 311, Nelson, B.C.<h2>BOOKS</h2>HOCKEY BOOKS, GUIDES, programs New, used, scarce. Free list. BOOK, Box 547, Streetsville, Ont., L5M 2C1.<h2>NOVELTIES</h2>BE THE STAR on your own bubble gum cards. Write: Big League Cards, 2424 McDonald St. Regina, Sask. S4N 2Z3.<h2>AUDIO</h2>1980 USA Olympic hockey VHS videotapes (2 tapes, all games). Available for trade for other international hockey cassettes. Barry A. Winiker, 403 8th St., Brooklyn, NY, 11215.<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.SUMMER HOCKEY TOURNAMENT&mdash;August 24, 25, 26. Write Summer Recreational Tourney, Summerside Recreation Center, 511 Notre Dame St., Summerside, P.E.L. Canada C1N 4K4.<h2>NOVELTIES</h2>&ldquo;THE GREAT GRETZKY&rdquo; serio-graph by Leroy Neiman. $4,000 all documentation. Contact D. Teigen, Box 848, Westbank, B.C. V0H 2A0.<h2>NOVELTIES</h2>ENAMEL TRADING PINS&mdash;Baseball caps, banners, buttons, and many other products customized for teams-tournaments, momentos, etc. Catalogue available. Promotional Marketing Services, Box 1124, Fort Erie, Ontario, L2A 5N9. In USA, 81 Mill St., Buffalo, NY 14221.<h2>SCHOOLS</h2>AUDREY BAKEWELL POWER SKATING SCHOOLS EDMONTON-July-August. Minor hockey, junior and professional programs. Attended last summer by 150 junior and pro players including Jim Benning, Cam Neely, Troy Murray, Wade Campbell and Brian Curran. Audrey has been the skating specialist for the Edmonton Oilers and the St. Louis Blues. Phone (403) 465-3914. &#9632;

f0019-01

The Classified

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>If there was any doubt about the popularity of the Molson-NHL Slo-Pitch tournament, then let the facts speak for themselves:&bull; Four years ago, 40 volunteers working on six different committees organized the first tournament. This year&rsquo;s tournament, June 22-24 in the Niagara Peninsula region of Niagara Falls, Welland and St. Catharines, has been put together by more than 400 volunteers working on 20 separate committees.&bull; Twelve teams participated in the first toumey (10 NHL teams, plus one comprised of referees and officials and one oldtimers) and four years later it has expanded to 22 (New York Rangers are the only NHL team not competing, plus referees and officials and oldtimers).&bull; Total attendance the first year was about 12,000. This year (with that old familiar cliche, &ldquo;weather permitting,&rdquo; looming as largely as ever&mdash;organizers are hoping for a turnout of about 75,000.&bull; What was once billed as a tournament designed for people in the Niagara Peninsula has expanded to the point where ticket requests have come from as far away as England.&bull; For the second year in a row, the tournament is being filmed for commercial use on TV,&bull; And, once again, several bigname sponsors have become involved, obviously realizing the value of the tournament.But enough with the facts. The message is obvious: In four years, the Molson-NHL Slo-Pitch Tournament has come a long way.&ldquo;The most amazing and gratifying thing has been the growth,&rdquo; says tournament director Bob Lavelle, who founded the idea for the tournament when he was working as special events director for the city of Niagara Falls. With the help of his brothers-in-law Don Lever, the veteran NHLer who plays for the New Jersey Devils, and Ricky Ley, who retired two years ago after playing in the NHL and World Hockey Association, Lavelle has made the tournament the &ldquo;talk of the NHL.&rdquo;It would be only too easy to heap praise on Lavelle for the outstanding job he&rsquo;s done, but Lavelle isn&rsquo;t the type to wear his laurels. He heads a staff of volunteers whom he&rsquo;s more than willing to compliment.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s (the tournament) has expanded in numbers, but the nucleus (of volunteers) is still there,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Everyone understands the nature of it, the professionalism involved. It&rsquo;s very important to the volunteers.&rdquo;The volunteers include people from various professions, but Lavelle says they collectively understand the economic value of the tournament to their region.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a $3.5 million spinoff to the city, depending on the weather,&rdquo; Lavelle says, taking into account revenues such as housing, food and entertainment and adding that many families use the three-day tournament as a springboard for a longer vacation.For that reason alone, you can easily understand and appreciate why Lavelle and his staff are working on the tournament six months in advance.Beginning the first week of January, the committees have weekly meetings. Lavelle figures the committee supervisors spend about 300-400 hours on the tournament and their staff about 70-150.Ask anyone who&rsquo;s ever been to the tournament and you&rsquo;ll likely hear nothing but good words about it. To the fans, it&rsquo;s purely fun and games. But no mistake about it, several factors have to be checked and double-checked so everything runs smoothly.From the time the tournament begins with a reception on Thursday until it&rsquo;s all over on Sunday, Lavelle says it&rsquo;s a &ldquo;96-hour time frame.&rdquo;Aside from accommodating the fans, the tournament organizers have a responsibility to the players. Because their season extends from September to April (and even longer depending on how they fare in the playoffs), the players could not be faulted if they chose to bypass the tournament. But they keep coming back.The first year the number of competitors (this also includes trainers, p.r. people and management) totalled about 140. This year it&rsquo;s expected to swell to about 300.&ldquo;For the players, this is their party,&rdquo; Lavelle says. &ldquo;All we try to do is co-ordinate and provide people with as professional event as possible. We give players a weekend of relaxation.&rdquo;Lavelle says only one player, Wayne Gretzky, proposes a serious security problem, because everyone wants a piece of his time. Gretzky has been at the tournament two of the past three years but ankles surgery may prevent him from attending this year&rsquo;s toumey. If he shows, though, Lavelle and his staff will be ready.Even if Gretzky can&rsquo;t make it, there will be plenty of stars at the tournament who will be more than willing to scribble their name on a sheet of paper. Rick Vaive, the popular Maple Leaf captain, has been spending quite a bit of time this summer signing autographs and he admits it&rsquo;s a task he doesn&rsquo;t mind doing. He grew up in Prince Edward Island, a province on the east coast of Canada, and he can easily identify with the fans.&ldquo;I can understand exactly how they feel,&rdquo; Vaive says. &ldquo;I was living in P.E.I, so I never had a chance. As a kid growing up, I would have been ecstatic to get that opportunity. It&rsquo;s something they identify with watching on TV.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re probably their hero. To come up and get an autograph, it&rsquo;s a thrill.&rdquo;And the players are also realize that while they come to have fun, they&rsquo;re also there to help raise money for charity organizations in the area.Aside from the action on the field, there&rsquo;s a lot of other events to keep the fans thrilled until it&rsquo;s time to go home. The day before the tournament, there&rsquo;s a reception. On Friday, there&rsquo;s a big luncheon and a dance at night. The next night, several articles belonging to the players will be auctioned.And how can you overlook the games themselves? Sure, these are hockey players, but they can play ball, too. There&rsquo;s several tournament &ldquo;stars&rdquo; such as Toronto&rsquo;s Bill Derlago, Los Angeles&rsquo; Bernie Nicholls and Jay Wells, Washington&rsquo;s Rod Langway, Boston&rsquo;s Ray Bourque and Winnipeg&rsquo;s Dale Hawerchuk.And while the players come to have fun, they&rsquo;d also like to win.As Dave Settlemyre, the trainer for the Philadelphia Flyers and the coach of their slo-pitch team says, the players are &ldquo;pros. They&rsquo;ve got pride even when they play softball.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s a few awards available to spur the players&rsquo; interest. The big one is the Molson Cup for the tournament champion, which last year was Toronto; the Maple Leaf Village Most-Valuable Player Award goes to the MVP of the All-Star Game; the Panasonic Play of the Game Award is for the outstanding play in the All-Star Game; the Jelinek (Bombat-DeBeers) Award is given to the leading hitter and the Minolta Award goes to the tournament MVP.In addition, this year there&rsquo;s a homerun derby contest, with one player from each team attempting to hit as many homers as he can off a pitching machine. This competition will take place between the semi-final and final game on Sunday.Add to that the 90-minute TV special which Canadian Sports Network is producing for later use and it&rsquo;s obvious why the Molson-NHL Slo-Pitch tournament is a hit. &#9632;

Tournament A Real Hit With Players, Fans

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01669/5142290-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"></div>Every year Bill Derlago comes to the Molson-NHL Slo-Pitch Tournament and every year fans walk away shaking their heads in amazement. It&rsquo;s obvious if you follow the Leafs during the hockey season that Billy D. can score goals, but not that many people know he also happens to be an outstanding ball player.In fact, he&rsquo;s so good, his longtime friend and teammate, Rick Vaive, believes Billy D. could easily have been making his living on a diamond instead of on the ice had he grown up in the United States.But Derlago grew up in Birtle, Man., a part of the great Canadian west, and he reached a point in his life where he decided that scoring goals was something he wanted to do more than hitting home runs.Still, every time he returns to the tournament, which this year is June 22-24 in Niagara Falls, Welland and St. Catharines, he brings with him a hefty bat and vacuum glove.Derlago took a month off after the hockey season to vacation in Hawaii and was unavailable for comment, but Vaive, who&rsquo;s been sticking around Toronto playing golf and other leisurely activities, took a few minutes to act as team spokesman.Vaive was asked what it would take for the Leafs to repeat as champions and, just as in hockey, the answer was good defense.&ldquo;We have to play well defensively, which we did last year,&rdquo; Vaive says. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t do anything about home runs, but you have to worry about balls played in the infield. We can&rsquo;t commit errors or leave guys on base.&ldquo;We are going to rely on Billy, after all he hit 12 home runs in six games last year. But everyone has to contribute to a certain point.&rdquo;When Vaive looks at the strength of the team, he points to the infield.&ldquo;Our infield is excellent,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Walter (Poddubny) plays third, Dave Gardner plays short, Billy plays second, and I play first. Maybe that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s a great infield. If 1 wasn&rsquo;t in the infield, maybe I wouldn&rsquo;t say that.&rdquo;Vaive, you should know, has developed a knack for one-liners as rapidly as he has a newfound wrist shot. But in the context of this tournament, he knows he can be loose. It&rsquo;s a lot different playing ball in the summer than it is hockey (for a living) in the winter.While Vaive admits he wouldn&rsquo;t be devastated if the Leafs had to surrender their crown, he doesn&rsquo;t intend to roll over and die either.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be a little mad, I hate to lose at anything,&rdquo; Vaive says.As is usually the case, the Leafs will face stiff competition from Detroit and Los Angeles. As a matter of fact, Vaive said at the tournament&rsquo;s press conference that the reason these three teams are perennial powerhouses in the tourney is because they start practising immediately after the NHL&rsquo;s regular season.The Red Wings, who won the tournament the first year, will feel the loss of big Willie Huber who was traded last summer to New York. But they still have solid players in Paul Woods, John Barrett, Brad Smith and Greg Stefan.The Kings are blessed with the likes of Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer, Dave Taylor, Bernie Nicholls and Jay Wells.&ldquo;Every year, it&rsquo;s mostly Detroit, L.A., and us,&rdquo; Vaive says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure other teams have improved.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Leafs Look To Derlago To Lead The Way

MOLSON-NHL SLO-PITCH CHALLENGE<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01605/5142342-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="362" height="322"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2>BLUM, JohnBOURQUE, RayCONSIDINE, PatCROWDER, BruceCROWDER, KeithFERGUS, TomGILLIS, MikeKEANS, DougKLUZAK, GordMARKWART, NevinMIDDLETON, RickPEDERSON, BarrySCHOENFELD, Jim<h2>BUFFALO</h2>ANDREYCHUK, DaveBARRASSO, TomCYR, PaulFOLIGNO, MikeHOUSLEY, PhilKORAB, JerryPETERSON, BrentPLAYFAIR, LarryRAMSAY, CraigRAMSEY, MikeRUFF, LindySAUVE, BobSEILING, RicTUCKER, John<h2>CALGARY</h2>BOURGEOIS, CharlieCOATES, Al (coach)EDWARDS, DonJACKSON, JimKONROYD, SteveKROMM, RichardMacINNIS, AllanMCDONALD, LannyMURRAY, Jim (trainer)PATTERSON, ColinPEPLINSKI, JimREINHART, PaulRISEBROUGH, DougSHEEHY, NeilQUINN, DanWILSON, Carey<h2>CHICAGO</h2>FOLEY, Pat (coach)GARDNER, BillyLARMER, JeffLUDZIK, SteveWILSON, DougRoster to be completed at later date.<h2>DETROIT</h2>BARRETT, JohnCAMPBELL, ColinGODIN, Bert (trainer)HEUSING, TedLADOUCEUR, RandyLAMBERT, LaneLATIN, Steve (coach)MANNO, BobMIO, EddiePATERSON, JoeSMITH, GregSTEFAN, GregTRADER, LarryYZERMAN, Steve<h2>EDMONTON</h2>COFFEY, PaulFUHR, GrantGREGG, RandyHUDDY, CharlieHUNTER, DaveLOWE, KevinLUMLEY, DaveMcClelland, KevinMESSIER, MarkMOOG, AndyPLAYFAIR, JimSEMENKO, DaveSMITH, SteveTUELE, Bill (coach)ZANIER, Mike<h2>HARTFORD</h2>BOURBONNAIS, DanBROWNSCHIDLE, JackFABRA, DanteFRANCIS, RonCRAWFORD, BobCUNNINGHAM, S. (trainer)CURRIE, TonyDUNN, RichieKAITON, Chuck (coach)KOTSOPOULOS, ChrisMILLEN, GregNEUFELD, RayPIERCE, RandyQUENNEVILLE, JoelSULLIMAN, DougWOODCOCK, Tom (trainer)ZUKE, Mike<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>BLAKE, MikeCARMICHAEL, S. (coach)DEMERS, Peter (trainer)DIONNE, MarcelFOX, JimmyHARDY, MarkJARVIS, WesKENNEDY, DeanMacLELLAN, BrianNICHOLLS, BernieO&rsquo;NEILL, Mark (trainer)RUSKOWSKI, TerrySIMMER, CharlieWELLS, Jay<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>ACTON, KeithASHTON, BrentBARIBAU, Mark (trainer)BEAUPRE, DonBELLOWS, BrianCICCARELLI, DinoFIREST, Don (trainer)HARTSBURG, CraigHIRSCH, TomLAWTON, BrianMARUK, DennisMAXWELL, BradMcCarthy, TomPLETT, WilliRICHTER, DaveROBERTS, Gord<h2>MONTREAL</h2>CARBONNEAU, GuyCARLSON, KentCHABOT, JohnGAINEY, BobHAMEL, JeanHUNTER, MarkLEVEILLE, Frank (coach)LUDWIG, CraigMOUTON, Claude (coach)NATTRESS, RicPENNEY, SteveROBINSON, LarryROOT, BillSEVIGNY, RichardSMITH, BobbyTURCOTTE, AlfieTURNBULL, PerryWALTER, RyanWAMSLEY, Rick<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2>ANTONOVICH, MikeBROTEN, AaronBRUMWELL, MurrayCAMERON, DaveCIRELLA, JoeFREED, Dave (coach)GAGNE, PaulHIGGINS, TimHOFFMEYER, BobHOWATT, GarryKITCHEN, MikeLEVER, DonLOW, RonLUDVIG, JanMacLEAN, JohnMacMILLAN, BobMcADAM, GaryMEAGHER, RickPALMER, RobPARKER, Keith (trainer)SMITH, Craig (trainer)VAUTOUR, YvonVERBEEK, Pat<h2>NY ISLANDERS</h2>BOUTILIER, PaulCOULTER, NealDEVINE, KevinDIDUCK, GerryDINEEN, GordGILBERT, GregHANDY, RonMacGUIGAN, GarthSIMPSON, Dave<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>BROWN, DaveCOATES, SteveCROCE, PatFROESE, BobHACHBORN, LenKERR, TimMARSH, BradMcCRIMMON, BradPROPP, BrianSETTLEMEYRE, D. (coach)TSUJIURA, Steve<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2>BRICKLEY, AndyBULLARD, MikeDAGO, JimERREY, BobFLOCKHART, RonGARDNER, PaulGATZOS, SteveFOX, GregHARROLD, JohnHOTHAM, GregHRYNEWICH, TimMAGGS, JimMAXWELL, BryanMcCarthy, KevinMcSORLEY, MartyO&rsquo;REGAN, TomSAGANIUK, RockyTAYLOR, MarkTEBBUTT, GregTHORNBURY, Tom<h2>QUEBEC</h2>COTE, AlainGILLIS, PaulHUNTER, DaleLACASSE, ReneLAVIGERRE, ReneLAVERNE, JacquesMAROIS, MarioMcKEGNEY, TonyMOLLER, RandyPAIEMENT, WilfROCHEFORT, NormandSAVARD, Ar.dreSHAW, DaveSLEIGHER, LouisVAN BOXMEER, JohnWEIR, Wally<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2>BABYCH, WayneBOTHWELL, TimCHOUINARD, GuyDELORME, GilbertDEMERS, Jacques (coach)HEINZ, RickHICKEY, PatKEHN, Jim (asst, coach)UUT, MikeMULLEN, JoeyPASLAWSKI, GregRAMAGE, RobREEDS, MarkSCHOFIELD, DwightSMITH, Dave (trainer)WICKENHEISER, DougWILSON, Rik<h2>TORONTO</h2>ANDERSON, JohnBOUDREAU, BruceDAOUST, DanDERLAGO, BillEVANS, ChrisGARDNER, DaveGAVIN, StewartHUTCHISON, DaveLEEMAN, GaryMARTIN, TerryMcCOURT, DaleNYLUND, GaryPODDUBNY, WaltSALMING, BorjeSTEWART, BillSUTCLIFFE, Rick (coach)TERRION, GregVAIVE, Rick<h2>VANCOUVER</h2>BOHMER, Frank (coach)CAPRICE, FrankGILLIS, JereHALWARD, DougJEWISON, Norm (coach)LEMAY, MoeLUPUL, GaryMcNAB, PeterNEELY, CamPETIT, MichelROTA, DarcySCHLIEBENER, AndySNEPSTS, HaroldTANTI, Tony<h2>WASHINGTON</h2>ADAMS, GregCORLETTO, Lou (coach)CURRIE, GlenGOULD, BobbyHIDI, AndreJENSEN, AlLANGWAY, RodLAUGHLIN, CraigMURPHY, LarryRIGGIN, PatSHAND, DaveSHEARER, Doug (trainer)STEVENS, Scott<h2>WINNIPEG</h2>BABCOCK, Chuck (trainer)BINKLEY, LesDeBLOIS, LucienHAWERCHUK, DaleKYTE, JimLEWIS, DonMANN, DaveMcBAIN, AndrewMOFFAT, LyleMULLEN, BrianPICARD, RobertSOETAERT, DougWATTERS, TimWILSON, Ron<h2>NHL OLDTIMERS</h2>ANDERSON, JohnBEDARD, JimFAVELL, DougHULL, BobbyHULL, DennisLUCE, DonMcDonough, aiMEEHAN, GerryROBERTO, PhilROMBOUGH, DougSTANFIELD, FredWEBSTER, Tom<h2>NHL OFFICIALS</h2>ASSELSTINE, RonBONNEY, WayneCOURNOYER, DanD&rsquo;AMICO, JohnFINN, RonFRASER, KerryGAUTHIER, GerryGREGSON, TerryHODGES, BobHOGGARTH, RonHOOD, BruceLEWIS, Bryan (coach)McCreary, BinMcCOURT, DannyMYERS, BobNEWELL, DaveNORRIS, WillPARE, MarkPATEMAN, JerrySCAPINELLO, RaySTICKLE, LeonVAN HELLEMOND, AndyWICKS, RonSPECIAL EVENTS: Sat. 23rd 10:00. All Star Game: Team Canada vs. Team USA.Sun. 24th 3:15 p.m. Home run hitting derby.Sun. 24th 4:30 p.m. HNIC vs. Team to be announced.All events to be staged at Niagara Falls.Players listed have tentatively indicated their intention of appearing in the tournament.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02414/5142335-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="1063" height="832"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toronto&rsquo;s Rick Vaive hopes to win the Molson Cup again.</figcaption></div><h2>SCHEDULES &bull; TIMES &bull; SITES FOR TOURNAMENT</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03301/5142328-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="1622" height="753"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04223/5142321-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="1250" height="767"></div> &#9632;

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TEAM ROSTERS FOR

<div class="byline">BY HOWARD BERGER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01647/5142373-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"></div>If Suzanne Hollaczek of Prince Albert, Sask., suddenly packs up and moves to Winnipeg in the fall, her family and friends can blame one of several contributing factors.Thanks to the CTV Network&rsquo;s Thrill of a Lifetime program and the cooperation of the Molson NHL Slo-Pitch Tournament, Hollaczek will live out a dream she has harbored for the past several years. As she wrote in her letter to the CTV: &ldquo;My thrill of a lifetime would be to play with or watch the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; squad play ball at the Molson Slo-Pitch Classic.&rdquo;Well, she&rsquo;ll be doing that and a whole lot more.The 15-year-old student, who claims to be &ldquo;a good fastball player,&rdquo;&rsquo; will virtually be a part of the Jets&rsquo; entry in the Slo-Pitch Toumey and she&rsquo;ll spend some very special moments with her all-time favorite hockey star: Dale Hawerchuk. The entire experience will be videotaped and then televised on the CTV&rsquo;s popular 30-minute show in the fall.&ldquo;We fell in love with Suzanne&rsquo;s idea from the moment we received her letter,&rdquo; admits CTV story editor Terry Saltsman. &ldquo;Basically, we&rsquo;ll break this story down into a four-part shoot beginning with the kick-off luncheon for the tournament on Friday (June 22). Suzanne will meet all the Winnipeg players and she&rsquo;ll sit at their table during the luncheon&mdash;right beside Hawerchuk.&ldquo;After the lunch, there will be a little ceremony during which she&rsquo;ll be presented with a Jets&rsquo; number 10 jersey (Hawerchuk&rsquo;s number) with her name on the back.&ldquo;The shoot will continue with the gala dance that night at the Niagara Falls Arena. We&rsquo;ll get some footage of Suzanne dancing with Hawerchuk and several other members of the Jets. The main part of the shoot, however, will take place the following afternoon.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get some of Suzanne warming up with the Winnipeg players prior to their game at Oaks Park against the Calgary Flames. Then, during the game, we&rsquo;ll stop the proceedings and give Suzanne a chance to bat. All in all, we think this has the potential to be a great story.&rdquo;Hollaczek is a sports-minded young lady who, among other things, plays, coaches and referees the game of ringette. She is also involved with basketball and softball in Saskatchewan. She has never seen the Jets play a hockey game in person but she emphasizes that whenever they&rsquo;re on television, she must not be disturbed.She has basically fallen in love with Hawerchuk&mdash;the Jets&rsquo; 21-year-old sensation and the No. 1 selection in the 1981 NHL draft. As a result, the CTV crew hopes to satisfy her wishes on the weekend of the toumey.Thrill of a Lifetime is shown across Canada every Monday evening and is viewed, according to the CTV, by more than two million people each week. In situations such as this, the network finances the entire deal, flying the young girl and her mother to Niagara Falls; paying for hotel accommodations and meals, as well as issuing a daily per diem.&ldquo;The ratings for this show have been fabulous and we&rsquo;re always looking for this type of an angle,&rdquo; says Saltsman. &ldquo;But, it takes the cooperation of many people in order for something of this nature to work. In this case, Molson&rsquo;s, the tournament organizing committee and the Winnipeg Jets have been just fabulous.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re really looking forward to attending the event and, especially, to putting together our feature on Suzanne. It&rsquo;s going to be a fun weekend.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-01

Ultimate Thrill Will Be Meeting Hawerchuk

<div class="byline">BY HOWARD BERGER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01565/5142404-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"></div>By winning the Stanley Cup this spring, the Edmonton Oilers may have inadvertently cast a pall over the Molson Slo-Pitch Classic. During last year&rsquo;s event, Oiler captain Wayne Gretzky participated for the Edmonton entry and his presence contributed immeasurably to the tournament allure.At the time, however, Gretzky was merely the best player on a team that had its ears boxed by the Islanders in the Cup final.This summer is a different story altogether. Added to Gretzky&rsquo;s infinite list of record-breaking accomplishments is hockey&rsquo;s ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup, and a summer during which he may not have time to sleep.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re hoping Wayne shows up&mdash;he&rsquo;s always invited to the tournament&mdash;but we realize he&rsquo;s going to busy as heck this summer,&rdquo; says SloPitch co-ordinator Bob Lavelle. &ldquo;Now that he&rsquo;s the captain of the Stanley Cup champions, he&rsquo;s going to be in greater demand than ever before and he may not have the time to show up. But, we&rsquo;re obviously hoping he does.&rdquo;Gretzky&rsquo;s appearance in last year&rsquo;s event helped swell gate receipts to a record high and contributed greatly to the success of a two-hour TV special on the tourney last September (viewed by close to half a million fans). The Canadian Sports Network (producers of Hockey Night In Canada) will put together a package this summer but HNIC executive producer Ralph Mellanby doesn&rsquo;t feel its success will hinge on Gretzky&rsquo;s presence.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s important, don&rsquo;t get me wrong, but not essential to the outcome of the TV show,&rdquo; Mellanby says. &ldquo;Any time you can include a celebrity of Gretzky&rsquo;s stature in an event like this it will attract greater interest. But we think the format itself, and the number of great names already confirmed, will be sufficient entertainment for the fans who come out and for those who later watch our TV special.&rdquo;The TV package will center on a Team Canada vs. Team USA All-Star game to be played the second day of the tournament. It will also include highlights of the tournament final&mdash;won last year by Toronto Maple Leafs. The announcing crew is expected to include HNIC&rsquo;s crew of Dick Irvin and Danny Gallivan and roaming the field from dugout to dugout will be the unpredictable Don Cherry.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll give Don a field mike and he&rsquo;ll run around interviewing many of the players and officials involved,&rdquo; says Mellanby &ldquo;It should add quite a bit of color and humor to our telecast.&rdquo;This year, the outfield fences have been moved back and the players will be hitting a heavier baseball.&ldquo;In past year&rsquo;s it&rsquo;s been a little too easy to hit home runs and the scores have been very high,&rdquo; Mellanby says. &ldquo;With these two changes, there will be an opportunity for some nice defensive plays this year and that&rsquo;s an element we didn&rsquo;t have in last year&rsquo;s telecast. The fans enjoy seeing things like a running catch and it should enhance the competition level.&rdquo;Lavelle is sure the TV show will be a success again this year.&ldquo;Anytime you get this many outstanding athletes together for a weekend of competition, it&rsquo;s going to draw abundant interest,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If Wayne Gretzky is included, the program will be even more interesting. But, with players like Lanny McDonald, Larry Robinson, Paul Coffey and Dale Hawerchuk, we&rsquo;re confident we have enough talent to compensate for Wayne&rsquo;s absence.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;At an introductory luncheon for the tournament, Toronto captain Rick Vaive said why Toronto and Los Angeles&mdash;two of the NHL&rsquo;s weak links&mdash;are perennially strong in the Slo-Pitch tournament. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really very simple,&rdquo; Vaive mused. &ldquo;We start practising around the second of April.&rdquo;&hellip;Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; radio voice Rick Jeanerett emceed the luncheon and, upon introducing NHL referee Bryan Lewis jibed, &ldquo;Officials are more important than anyone else in hockey, except maybe for the players&hellip;and fans&hellip;owners&hellip;trainers-&hellip;stick boys&hellip;Zamboni drivers&hellip;announcers.&rdquo; To which Lewis replied: &ldquo;I like you better on radio, Jeanerett. That way I can turn you off.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Gretzkv Presence Would Swell Attendance

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY&mdash;No one was happy about how it turned out.Doug Risebrough wasn&rsquo;t. He was suspended for six games by the National Hockey League as a result of a major penalty he received for high-sticking Edmonton Oiler left winger Glenn Anderson in an April 12 playoff game. Risebrough thought that the suspension would alter his previously spotless reputation around the league.The Oilers weren&rsquo;t happy because Risebrough&rsquo;s suspension wasn&rsquo;t handed out until after Edmonton eliminated the Flames from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Risebrough will serve the suspension beginning with the first game of the 198384 season.Flame general manager Cliff Fletcher wasn&rsquo;t happy because he thought the suspension was too severe.The incident in question began when Anderson verbally threatened Risebrough and then waved his stick in Risebrough&rsquo;s face. Risebrough retaliated by swinging his stick, cutting Anderson for six stitches above the eyebrow.&ldquo;To me, the penalty is a little excessive,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;We were also advised that next year, suspensions will be even more severe. The league says it is alarmed by the increase in stick work and they intend to eliminate it.&rdquo;In his statement, league executive vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill noted that although the offense was Risebrough&rsquo;s first in a stick-swinging incident, &ldquo;there can be no mitigating circumstances.&rdquo;Risebrough wondered if the suspension would have its desired effect and act as a deterrent to future incidents.&ldquo;It is a deterrent to me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if it is to him (Anderson). If they wanted to stop it (stick swinging), maybe they could have given me a few games and him one&mdash;or me just one and him just a warning. There were two guys involved. If you send a message, that&rsquo;s the kind of message you want to send.&rdquo;&ldquo;The question is, what recourse do we have?&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;It was not an altercation even detected by an official. It was an afterthought by the coach (Glen Sather) of an opposing team.&rdquo;Fletcher agreed that Sather&rsquo;s complaint was probably motivated less by a concern over Anderson&rsquo;s health than by a desire to get Risebrough out of the Smythe Division final, which the Oilers won in seven games.&ldquo;Of course that&rsquo;s it,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s so bothersome about it.&rdquo;Meanwhile, as the majority of Flame players adjourned to the golf course, center Mike Eaves had to adjourn to the operating room. Eaves, one of the team&rsquo;s top playoff performers, required surgery to fix his left thumb, broken in two places by Mark Messier in the team&rsquo;s seasonending loss to the Oilers.&ldquo;They had to put some wires in,&rdquo; said Eaves. &ldquo;If it healed the way it was, there&rsquo;d be no flexibility in the joint.&rdquo;Eaves&rsquo; injury came to light just before the Flames broke up for the summer.In a 50-minute address, coach Bob Johnson, who was rewarded with a new contract in May, told the team, in so many words, he was expecting an even better performance next season.Each player received an off-season conditioning program and some were advised to enrol in power-skating schools.Looking ahead to next season, Johnson expressed concern over two players&mdash;defensemen Kari Eloranta and Paul Baxter. Eloranta, Johnson thought, may decide to stay in Europe rather than return for another season. Baxter has a chronic knee problem that will be examined.Of all Calgary&rsquo;s injured players, only Eaves had to undergo surgery immediately.Tests confirmed that defenseman Allan Maclnnis has a slight knee ligament tear. Had the Hames advanced to the semi-finals, it would have kept him out of the lineup. As it was, he has all summer to recover.&ldquo;This is the third time it&rsquo;s happened,&rdquo; said Maclnnis. &ldquo;I asked what I could do to prevent it from happening again. The doctors told me it wasn&rsquo;t bad enongh for an operation. They said to work on my quads and hamstrings and that would build up the area around the knee.&ldquo;It actually feels pretty good.&rdquo;As for Paul Reinhart, who suffered a charleyhorse in the final series, he isn&rsquo;t sure what the summer will bring.Asked whether his back would require further treatment, Reinhart said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too early to tell. It needs some rest. I may see my doctor in Toronto, but first I&rsquo;m going to take it easy for a couple of weeks.&ldquo;I hope I don&rsquo;t need more treatment. I hope the rest takes care of it. Hopefully, the charleyhorse is the reason my back is sore.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a lot of hoping, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo; &#9632;

Flames Burn Over Risebrough Suspension

<div class="byline">BY RON COBB</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01562/5142459-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The Blues say that they have their preferences, but they won&rsquo;t be picky when it comes time to select their No. 1 choice in the entry draft.&ldquo;We seem to have more immediate needs up front than on defense,&rdquo; said Ron Caron, the Blues&rsquo; director of player personnel, &ldquo;but we won&rsquo;t let that affect our decision. We&rsquo;ll take the best prospect available, whether he&rsquo;s a forward, defenseman or goaltender.&rdquo;Caron said that by the time the Blues pick in the first round (eighth overall), most of the best players available will be defensemen. But no matter whom the Blues draft with their first pick, Caron said he wasn&rsquo;t counting on him being a regular contributor for a year or two.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not writing him off,&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been surprised before in training camp, but it&rsquo;s very unlikely that whomever we select at No. 8 will be ready to play for the St. Louis Blues.&rdquo;If the Blues hadn&rsquo;t finished on such a high note, they might be tempted for marketing reasons to bring along a No. 1 draft choice a bit faster. But a strong stretch run in March and a gutsy performance in the playoffs&mdash;taking the North Stars to overtime of the Norris Division final&mdash;have left the Blues and their fans optimistic.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve got a pretty good team right now,&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;The age factor is good. We know where we are and where we want to be.&rdquo;The Blues&rsquo; strong finish was all the more encouraging in light of their midseason commitment to youth. As they released and traded veterans, the Blues opened spots for several young players. Gilbert Delorme, 21, came on strong late in the season and has nailed down a job on right defense; Rik Wilson, 21, was solid at right defense in the second half of the season; and. after a slow start, left defenseman Terry Johnson, 25, developed to the extent that the Blues were raving about him in March.For a long time, it had been believed that the Blues&rsquo; most pressing need in the draft would be a left defenseman. But a strong finish by veteran Tim Bothwell and the improvement of Johnson lessened the urgency. The third left defenseman, Dave Pichette, 24, was a disappointment after a February trade with Quebec for Andre Dore, but the Blues still are hoping that he will realize his considerable potential.Jim Pavese, a big, rugged left defenseman who played most of the season with Montana of the Central League, will get a chance to win a job. Wingers Greg Pas-lawski and Perry Ganchar and center Dave Barr are expected to be in the running for spots up front.The Blues aren&rsquo;t what you&rsquo;d call a deep team, thanks in part to having missed last year&rsquo;s draft, but they expect to have enough players on hand to be able to send out the draft choices for more seasoning.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have to be ready to go without those players,&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;You can hurt somebody by playing him too early unless he is mature and ready to contribute.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll draft the most talented player with the best chance of being ready in two years.&rdquo;In other words, Caron said, the Blues probably would bypass a player who may be close to being ready to play in the NHL in favor of someone who is projected as being the better player in the long run.The Blues, meanwhile, still are hoping that the league Board of Governors would grant their request for some sort of compensation for having missed last year&rsquo;s draft.<h2>WANTED</h2>North American trained players who have Italian citizenship and a desire to play first division hockey in Italy. Players must have a minimum of Junior B hockey experience.Reply giving full personal and hockey background to:Hockey Coach,132 King St. W., Guelph, Ontario, N1E4P8. &#9632;

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Blues Won’t Be Pickv At The Draft Table

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;The superstars command the most money at contract time, but there is a small cluster of players who get something of far greater importance&mdash;the respect of their teammates.Al MacAdam of the Minnesota North Stars is one of those rare creatures. He is a smart, hard working player who will fulfill any role given him. He scored 42 goals one year, but more than anything else, that obscured his true talent.Unceasing teamwork is his main attribute. Quiet, totally dedicated to team success, MacAdam can play with skill on offense or with tenacity on defense. Usually, he offers both to every shift on the ice.He would be the ideal captain for a team, except that he tried that as a young player in Cleveland and found that he worried about his teammates so much that his personal contribution to the team suffered. So he declined subsequent attempts to wear the &ldquo;C.&rdquo;When Bill Mahoney came in to coach the North Stars, he wanted dedicated team defense from all his skaters. He had some players who never had taken part in that, others who tried to adapt. But MacAdam seemed his prototype.And yet, Mahoney may have been guilty of taking MacAdam for granted. He had trouble spots, as every coach does, and he focused in on them. But he failed to communicate his regard for some of those players who were the most solid.MacAdam is one, Lars Lindgren is another and Curt Giles is a third.Lindgren is gone for sure. He got a good deal from a company in Sweden, which will allow him to play hockey as well.Giles has played out his option and is a free agent with compensation. General manager Lou Nanne says he won&rsquo;t lose Giles, that the compensation will be too stiff. And he sent Giles a modest contract offer to meet his end of the free agency bargain.MacAdam, meanwhile, has demanded to be traded. He has one year left on his contract. If the 32-year-old veteran is not traded, he says he will retire from hockey.Typically, MacAdam said he preferred to remain non-controversial. But he has had enough with being taken for granted. He actually enjoyed being placed in a defensive-only role, but was fed up when a defensive situation would arise and he would be kept on the bench.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a few years since I felt fulfilled as a player,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And it&rsquo;s gotten worse every year.&rdquo;MacAdam&rsquo;s age is immaterial. At the start of the year, the team made a big point of physical conditioning tests. MacAdam and Steve Christoff were the best. Christoff got traded to Los Angeles and MacAdam was relegated to fourthline status. Yet he was the only player on the team to play all 60 games.&ldquo;Al&rsquo;s demands came as a complete shock to me,&rdquo; said Nanne. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the classiest guy there is. I hate to lose him.&rdquo; &#9632;

Mac Adam Tells The Stars He Wants To Be Traded

BOSTON&mdash;Doug Keans, G, signed to new contract.BUFFALO&mdash;Timo Jutila, D, inked NHL contract from Finnish Hockey League. Bob Mongrain, C, quit Sabres to sign with Kloten team in Switzerland.DETROIT&mdash;Chris Pusey, G, a 1983 draft pick, signed to NHL contract from Brantford of OHL.MONTREAL&mdash;Steve Penney, G, signed to multi-year contract.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Ullrich Hiemer, D, inked to multi-year contract from West German National team. Allan Stewart, LW, a 9th-round draft pick in 1983, signed to NHL contract from Prince Albert of WHL.NY RANGERS&mdash;Rob McClanahan, RW, traded to Detroit for future considerations. Kent-Erik Andersson, RW, quit Rangers to return to Sweden.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Dave Poulin, C, signed to multi year NHL contract. Rick Tocchet, RW, 5th-draft pick in 1983 from S.S. Marie of OHL, Peter Zezel, C, 1 st-draft pick in 1983 from Toronto of OHL, and Todd Bergen, C, 5th-draft pick in 1982 from Prince Albert of WHL, all signed to multi-year NHL contracts.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Mike Posavad, D, 1 st-draft pick in 1982, signed to NHL contract from Peterborough of OHL.TORONTO&mdash;Mike Kaszycki, C, quit Leafs to sign with Langnau team in Switzerland for next season.WINNIPEG&mdash;Joel Baillargeon, LW, a 6th-round draft choice in 1983, signed to NHL contract from Trois-Rivieres of QHL. Tom Martin, LW, 2nd-draft pick in 1982, signed to NHL contract from Victoria of WHL. Paul Pooley, C, and Perry Pooley, RW, signed to NHL contracts as free agents from Ohio State of CCHA.<h2>COACHING CHANGES</h2>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Don Perry, former coach of the Kings, signed as special assistant to general manager Rogie Vachon. Roger Neilson, who replaced Perry as coach, fired from job at the conclusion of season.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Mike Keenan from Univ, of Toronto named to succeed Bob McCammon as coach of Flyers. Bobby Clarke retired as player after being appointed GM, also to replace McCammon.TORONTO&mdash;Dan Maloney named new head coach, replacing Mike Nykoluk. Claire Alexander appointed coach of Leafs&rsquo; St. Catharines team in AHL, replacing Doug Carpenter.VANCOUVER&mdash;Bill LaForge from Kamloops of WHL named new head coach, filling void created when GM Harry Neale filled in as interim coach after Canucks ousted Roger Neilson.TEAM CANADA&mdash;Dave King signed new contract as GM-coach extending through to 1988 Olympic Games at Calgary. &#9632;

PLAYER TRANSACTIONS

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>Louisville HockeyINDIANAPOLIS&mdash;The Central Hockey League, which had been supported for 21 years by 32 franchises in 25 different cities at various times, has suspended operations for the 1984-85 season.The announcement was made by CHL president Bud Poile, who cited a lack of interest by National Hockey League clubs to sponsor teams in the CHL. He mentioned high travel costs and the disparity of the Canadian and U.S. dollars as major contributing factors.His statement May 21 confirmed what had been expected, especially in the wake of the departure of the New York Rangers from the fold. The Rangers had operated a franchise in Tulsa until local ownership could not continue earlier this year.The pullout of the Rangers&mdash;ostensibly to share a team in New Haven with Los Angeles&mdash;left the CHL with three healthy franchises. They were the Indianapolis Checkers (owned by the New York Islanders), the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles (Minnesota) and the Colorado Flames (located in Denver and backed by the Calgary Flames).<blockquote class="pullQuote">The league hasn&rsquo;t been dissolved but hockey operations are suspended.</blockquote>&ldquo;The league&rsquo;s Board of Governors decided if we could not go with six teams next season, then we would not operate,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;We have not dissolved the league, but we have suspended hockey operations.&rdquo;Poile, who has been president of the league since 1976, pointed out the league could resurface for the 1985-86 season if solid commitment could be received from at least six NHL teams, which would seem almost impossible.&ldquo;We could not consider a league made up of less that that,&rdquo; he stated.The CHL operated the 1983-84 season with five teams, which included franchises in Tulsa and Billings. Both those teams experienced financial difficulties but the latter was bailed out late in the season when new owners took over. Tulsa, the Rangers&rsquo; affiliate, finished the season on the road after departing Tulsa in February and won the Adams Cup in spite of its situation.The league also had five teams in its inaugural season but went with four in 1972-73. During the latter campaign, the CHL played an interlocking schedule with the Western League.There were nine teams plus the U.S. Olympic team in the league during the 1979-80 season. The U.S. squad played 18 games&mdash;two against each of the CHL teams&mdash;which counted in the standings.Cincinnati, however, went under after but 33 games that year and the league finished with eight teams.The suspension of league operations, of course, caused a flurry of activity among the remaining franchises and the American Hockey League seemed to the beneficiary.The New York Islanders announced, through Indianapolis general managercoach Fred Creighton, they would not &ldquo;continue their No. 1 development team (the Checkers) in Indianapolis because of the demise of the CHL and the refusal of the AHL to add an Indianapolis franchise.&rdquo;Creighton said the Islanders&rsquo; minorleague team &ldquo;will be in the AHL next season but a city is not definite at this time.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s a poorly kept secret that the Islanders have had talks with local ownership in Springfield. MA. They are expected to share a team there with another NHL squad, very likely Minnesota or possibly St. Louis.At Salt Lake City, a spokesman said their options were (a) to try to join the AHL or (2) get into the Western Junior League. Public relations director Chuck Schell said the Golden Eagles and the Colorado Flames were both interested in the AHL and were willing to subsidize travel expenses for those teams travelling west, though that interest is certain to be a one-way street. The last thing the AHL wants is two teams in the western U.S.It also was reported that Calgary had rejected a proposition to go into Nova Scotia.The CHL situation will be reviewed during the NHL meetings in Montreal in early June, but few people expect the league to lift its suspension and renew operations in the near future.The move of the Islanders from Indianapolis, incidentally, has opened that city up to the International League. Al Savill Sr., former Board Chairman for the Pittsburgh Penguins and one-time owner of IHL teams in Columbus, OH, and Grand Rapids, MI, confirmed he has &ldquo;an option on the Fairgrounds Coliseum,&rdquo; where the Checkers played their home games the last few seasons.According to Bill Beagan, chairman of the IHL expansion committee, chances are Savill will be granted a franchise in Indianapolis for the 1984-85 season. Chicago, meanwhile, also was reported to be ready to support an IHL team in Milwaukee.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01561/5142562-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="570" height="832"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHL president Bud Poile announced the league was suspending its operations.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Lack Of Interest And Rising Costs Snell Death For Central League

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div>Louisville Hockey&hellip;so after Philly said good-bye to Springfield, the Indians told Chicago to get lost because they had the Islanders in mind, although the Indians refused to admit it. The Islanders and Minnesota were thinking of getting together, but that had to wait until the CHL folded. Once it did, Calgary wanted to know what Halifax planned to do, and learned that Montreal was busy talking to Winnipeg, which was thinking about leaving Sherbrooke&hellip;Fade to commercial. Stay tuned. We&rsquo;ll return to What&rsquo;s My Affiliation after these messages.SPRINGFIELD&mdash;One can only hope American Hockey League president Jack Butterfield and vice president Gordie Anziano enjoy daytime soap operas, because the AHL&rsquo;s off-season has been one long melodrama played to the tune of musical chairs.With the Central Hockey League&rsquo;s demise, farmhands belonging to the New York Islanders, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames were without homes. So, too, were minorleague operations belonging to the Washington Capitals (evicted by Hershey) and the Chicago Black Hawks (booted out by Springfield).A number of AHL franchises with a single NHL affiliate last season&mdash;Binghamton, Moncton, New Haven and Nova Scotia&mdash;actively sought a second affiliate and a dual working agreement for 1984-85.For a few weeks, while the Edmonton Oilers wrestled the Stanley Cup from the Islanders and the Ottawa 67s won the Memorial Cup in Kitchener, Butterfield and Anziano waited&hellip;and waited&hellip;and waited.&ldquo;How do I know what the Central League is going to do?&rdquo; Anziano asked before that league officially folded. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t even get answers from our own teams.&rdquo;Weeks later, the AHL isn&rsquo;t settled yet. But the music is softening. The soap opera is nearing its conclusion.Hershey decided first, signing a sweet three-year deal with Philadelphia. The Bears also retained Boston and re-hired coach Gary Inness for one year. According to Hershey general manager Frank Mathers, ticket sales have doubled since the Flyers were introduced.The Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets announced they were coupling in Nova Scotia, dashing rumors that Calgary would invade Halifax.Winnipeg&rsquo;s jump from Sherbrooke left the AHL Jets&rsquo; franchise without an affiliate. Since Winnipeg owns Sher-brooke, the AHL was waiting to hear what the NHL Jets planned to do with that franchise.&ldquo;We expect them to suspend the franchise, but we haven&rsquo;t heard from them yet,&rdquo; Anziano said last week. If Sherbrooke does not operate next season, Springfield is the logical candidate to move to the Northern Division of a 12-team AHL.Early last month, Indians owner Peter Cooney informed the Black Hawks he didn&rsquo;t like the terms of their new working agreement proposal and was seeking a new affiliate.&ldquo;He put cash ahead of class, and that&rsquo;s a quote,&rdquo; said an angry Jack Davison, the Black Hawks&rsquo; assistant general manager.&ldquo;It was strictly a business decision,&rdquo; Cooney countered. &ldquo;If we would have had to accept their proposal, it could mean doom as a business, as a hockey franchise, within two years.&rdquo;Cooney said he was talking to five NHL teams, but refused to confirm what everybody else seemed to know&mdash;that he and Islanders general manager Bill Torrey were about to sign an agreement. Once that happened, it was expected Minnesota would enter into a dual affiliation with the Islanders.&ldquo;We have nothing yet,&rdquo; Springfield GM Bruce Landon said. &ldquo;But we expect something soon.&rdquo;The New York Rangers, who dropped out of the CHL before it folded, have been the subject of repeated reports that they&rsquo;ll team with the Los Angeles Kings in New Haven.Edmonton, which lost a bundle last season in Moncton, considered leaving that city. But at last look, it appeared as if the Oilers would return. With Calgary, another Canadian franchise, looking for a place to play, that may make a nice marriage.Any rumors left? One had Calgary interested in hooking up with Buffalo in Rochester, another had Chicago asking New Jersey if it wanted a partner in Maine, although New Jersey Devils president Bob Butera told the Black Hawks the Mariners weren&rsquo;t interested.Chicago and the St. Louis Blues, another CHL orphan who talked about a taxi squad of minor-leaguers for the 1984-85 season, were talking to International Hockey League cities.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re led to believe Chicago is going to Milwaukee and St. Louis to Peoria,&rdquo; Anziano said. &ldquo;Most of the people I talked to said, &ldquo;Oh, my God. They&rsquo;ll kill everybody in the league.&rdquo;As the rumors grew weirder and more confusing each day last month, governors and owners around the league reacted with surprise.Nothing should have surprised them. Doesn&rsquo;t anybody watch soap operas?AHL PEOPLE&mdash;Doug Carpenter was released by Toronto as coach of the St. Catharines Saints and replaced by former Maple Leaf Claire Alexander., Nova Scotia coach John Brophy, rumored to be in line for an assistant&rsquo;s job with the NHL Leafs, may be replaced in Halifax by Jean Perron, an assistant coach with the 1984 Canadian Olympic team&hellip;Larry Kish, an Edmonton special assignment scout, is a leading candidate for the job as Moncton head coach&mdash;if the Oilers return to New Brunswick&hellip;St. Catharines center Mike Kaszycki signed to play in Switzerland&hellip;Rochester center Bob Mongrain is also considering a move to Switzerland&hellip;Binghamton left winger Bob Sullivan is close to accepting a contract offer in West Germany. &#9632;

AHL Plays ‘What’s My Affiliation?’ Game

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>PORTLAND&mdash;With motivational help from an unexpected source and a couple of critical overtime goals off the stick of Bud Stefanski, the Maine Mariners secured their third Calder Cup championship, a feat that took even their most ardent supporters by surprise.The Mariners completed their upset-studded ride through the playoffs by knocking off the defending-champion Rochester Americans in five games. Not only did the victory return the cup to Portland for the third time in the team&rsquo;s seven-year history, but it allowed the Mariners to wipe away the memories of being swept in the finals last year and of a disappointing regular-season performance that very nearly kept the club out of the playoffs altogether.A late-season surge, fueled by the addition of some veteran players to the lineup, took care of the problem of the elusive playoff berth and sent the Mariners into the tournament against the Adirondack Red Wings. Although Maine had finished in third place in the Northern Division, well behind the second-place Wings, it knocked off Adirondack in seven games and then disposed of Nova Scotia in the next round in five games.Tht set up a return match in the finals against the Amerks, the second-place team in the Southern Division. Rochester reached the finals by defeating St. Catharines and Baltimore.When the Mariners arrived in Rochester they were greeted by press reports and analysis that called the Amerks the overwhelming favorites. The Mariners conceded that despite their success thus far they had to be the underdogs, but found the position-by-position comparisons to be particularly galling. In retrospect, they say the articles served to motivate them to succeed.Maine coach John Paddock feels that the writers erred when making their analysis.&ldquo;I said that they were better at every position and I don&rsquo;t know how they can say it,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like it was the team that we had all year. Look at the players. We felt that we were just as good. We didn&rsquo;t expect to win it that easy, you know, in five games, but we thought we were just as good.&rdquo;The Americans made the forecasts look quite accurate in the opening game at home when they rallied to an early 5-2 lead. The Mariners rallied later to close the gap; but the Amerks used Yvon Lambert&rsquo;s goal midway through the final period to post a 6-5 victory. Three days later, the Mariners evened the series with a 6-5 double overtime decision that silenced the record crowd of 7,373 at the Rochester War Memorial. Stefanski produced the game-winner at 9:55 of the second overtime.Maine took the lead in the series with a 7-4 win in the third game and put the Amerks on the ropes by scoring a 3-2 victory in triple overtime. Stefanski, who was later named the winner of the first Jack Butterfield Trophy as the playoff MVP, comfortably handled the hero&rsquo;s duties again. He scored a goal late in the third period to force the overtime and picked up the game-winner at 2:43 of the third overtime.&ldquo;The second game gave us the split there that we needed and wanted,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;But in the fourth game here, if they had won it when it went into the third overtime, it would have put us back to all even again. Both those overtime games were keys. If the shot goes in the other way, we&rsquo;re the team down, 3-1, going into the game five. Those two games were certainly the biggest.&rdquo;Maine struck early in the fifth game and waltzed off with a 5-2 win at Rochester that clinched the championship and returned the playoff hardware to New England for the first time since 1979.Paddock, who traded in his uniform for the coaching duties in late November when Tom McVie was promoted to New Jersey, pointed to the personnel changes as the most important factor in the Mariners&rsquo; run to the championship.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a certain amount of satisfaction coming from where we did, but we were a different team, player-wise. We got some good players later in the year. We added (Mike) Antonovich and (Rob) Palmer at the deadline and (Bruce) Driver and (Mike) Busniuk at about the same time, and (Murray) Brumwell at the end of the year,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;You always win with defense in any sport in any league. We added Palmer, Busniuk, Driver and Brumwell and that was four of our six defensemen in the playoffs. We got them in March when we needed them the most and that&rsquo;s as good a reason as any why we won.&ldquo;We had forwards who played great in the playoffs, (Glenn) Merkosky, Stefanski, (Al) Hill and (Kevin) Maxwell, but you win with defense, and if we didn&rsquo;t have that calibre of defense we wouldn&rsquo;t have won.&rdquo;PLAYOFF NOTES&mdash;Bud Stefanski and Glenn Merkosky each scored 21 points in 17 playoff games to lead the Mariners. The playoff scoring leader was Paul Gardner of Baltimore, who picked up 10 goals and 22 points in just 10 games. Bob Mongrain and Yvon Lambert paced the Amerks with 20 and 19 points, respectively&hellip;Goaltender Sam St. Laurent again played a major role in the Mariners&rsquo; success. He played in 12 games and compiled a 9-2-0 record and a 2.71 goals against average. &#9632;

Maine Surprises With Cup Win

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>FLINT&mdash;General coach Dennis Desrosiers watched patiently as Toledo, Fort Wayne and Milwaukee took turns winning in bunches during the International Hockey League season. As he watched, the longest winning streak he could coax out of his team was four.But Desrosiers was patient. He felt that once he got his team together, it could play with anybody.And how they did play when it counted.The Generals, who finished third in the regular season, swept both Milwaukee and Toledo on the way to winning their first playoff championship in the 15-year history of the franchise.By winning the title in a minimum eight games, Flint became the first team to complete a sweep since Dayton went 9-0 in 1969. But it wasn&rsquo;t as easy as it looked.&ldquo;Ten years from now when somebody looks at the record book and sees that Flint won in eight straight, they&rsquo;re gonna say, &lsquo;That was easy.&rsquo; But it wasn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Desrosiers said after Flint clinched the championship with a 4-1 victory over Toledo, who were shooting for a third straight title. &ldquo;Every game was tough. We just played hard, very hard.&ldquo;Three of our games with Milwaukee were one-goal games (all scores were 4-3) and the third game went into overtime.&rdquo;Desrosiers made a couple of personnel changes to help forge the championship.&ldquo;I think one of the keys was when we got (Mel) Hewitt and (Wade) Dawson in December,&rdquo; Desrosiers said of the two players who were obtained in a trade with Peoria.&ldquo;Hewitt is the kind of guy who comes to play. He gives you 100 per cent all the time. And that&rsquo;s the kind of team we had. We played hard to win.&rdquo;George Kotsopoulos, acquired via the waiver route from Fort Wayne, and overage junior Dave Nichols provided additional spark during the playoffs. Nichols, a burly left winger, scored 12 goals in the final 12 games of the season and added four more in the playoffs.Kotsopoulos scored just three goals during the regular season and only two in the playoffs&mdash;his second was an empty-netter in the final game&mdash;but he did his job.&ldquo;George was a plus-14 in the playoffs. He was very important for us even though he didn&rsquo;t score a lot of goals,&rdquo; Desrosiers said. &ldquo;I think he was on the ice for only four goals-against during the eight playoff games.&rdquo;Kostopoulos played a key role in the championship game when high-scoring Lawrie Nisker was given a game misconduct in the first period. Kotsopoulos got more ice time than any other General. He had to skate a double shift at center and he was also used to kill penalties.&ldquo;I just wanted to prove I could still play,&rdquo; Kotsopoulos said after the final game.He owns a carpet cleaning business in Fort Wayne and hinted he may retire now since he has been part of a championship team.NOTES&mdash;Bud Poile is resigning as IHL commissioner, coinciding with the demise of the Central League, for which he also served as commissioner. Poile said he would remain in his position with the IHL through June 15. The IHL meets on June 7 in Montreal at which time discussion about a replacement will head the agenda. &#9632;

Generals March To A Clean Sweep In Cup

KITCHENER&mdash;Ottawa 67s were simply too much for the Rangers this season and the Ontario Hockey League was too much for the West and Quebec.The 67s beat the Rangers in the finals of the Ontario Hockey Leeague and earned a right to play in the Memorial Cup, which the Rangers were host to after winning the OHL regular-season title. And when it came to the final of the Memorial Cup, the 67s and Rangers were pitted against each other again.And again Ottawa proved superior, winning 7-2 for the first Cup championship in their 17-year history.Ottawa finished off its season in a flurry, capturing 22 of its last 24 regularseason games, allowing the fewest goals in the league, suffering only one playoff loss in 18 contests&mdash;an identical 7-2 score to the Rangers. Kitchener edged out Ottawa for the pennant by four points.The Rangers had a bye into the tournament final after 8-2,9-7 and 7-2 wins for a record 24 goals against Ottawa, Laval Voisins of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Kamloops Oilers of the Western League.Ottawa and Kitchener played 10 games against each other going into the Cup final, with each team winning four and tying two.The star centers for each club, Kitchener&rsquo;s John Tucker and Ottawa&rsquo;s 6-foot-6 Adam Creighton, traded power-play goals six minutes apart in the first period of the final confrontation before a sellout crowd of 7,241.Tucker scored 100 points in only 39 games with the Rangers and was Creighton&rsquo;s roommate during one of two stints with the Buffalo Sabres.Then Ottawa scored a couple of unusual goals and never looked back.Kitchener goaltender Ray Leblanc came out to clear the puck with less than three minutes left in the period, but backtracked after being pressured by Creighton and cleared it off the boards. Phil Patterson intercepted and banged the puck past Leblanc.Then, with only five seconds left, Ottawa defenseman Bruce Cassidy rifled the puck into the Ranger end to finish off the period and it bounced off the glass where two sections connected and into an empty net, which LaBIanc had vacated to play the puck off the boards.Cassidy notched the only goal of the second period and Kitchener&rsquo;s Greg Puhalski replied early in the third before 67 captain Brad Shaw, Patterson and Gary Roberts put the game away.&ldquo;I told them before the third period this final 20 minutes would go a long way towards deciding their futures and it would be the last chance I would have to be in the dressing room with a lot of them,&rdquo; said Brian Kilrea, Ottawa&rsquo;s general manager-coach.Creighton was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament and shared top scoring honors with Cassidy. Creighton produced five goals and seven assists while Cassidy, a first-round pick of Chicago, had seven goals and five assists.Ottawa&rsquo;s 5-foot-5 goaltender Darren Pang stood tall in the 67 net and was selected the tournament&rsquo;s best. Along with Creighton, Cassidy and right winger Don McLaren, formed two-thirds of the all-star team. Kamloops captain Dean Evason, last season&rsquo;s WHL Player of the Year who had 137 points in 57 games this season, said he had never encountered a club with such a large and mobile defense as the 67s, anchored by Shaw, Cassidy and Mark Paterson. Ottawa allowed the Oilers only 18 shots in a 5-1 setback.&ldquo;First of all, they make it very difficult to penetrate the offensive zone. They keep the front of the net clean and it&rsquo;s almost impossible to get at a rebound,&rdquo; he said.The young Kamloops squad eliminated Laval, 4-3, to advance to the semis against Ottawa, but lost, 7-2.&ldquo;We played well. Ottawa is bigger and more experienced,&rdquo; said Oiler coach Bill LaForge, who took over as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks immediately after the tournament.Paterson played with a sprained ankle he described as &ldquo;the size of a hardball. &ldquo;&ldquo;I was just hoping I was not going to hurt us more than help us,&rdquo; said Paterson, who saw action with the Hartford Whalers this season. &ldquo;I told Panger he was going to have to play the puck and he even went into the comers and took a few hits.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t turn left and I had to knock the puck around the boards to Shaw&rsquo;s side because I didn&rsquo;t have enough time to make a play in the comers.&rdquo;The Cup triumph was the pinnacle of 10 seasons behind the 67s bench for Kilrea, whose roster listed nine Ottawa area players.It was the second national title for the Ottawa region. The Ottawa-Hull Canadiens grabbed the trophy from Red Berenson, Bill Hicke and the rest of the Regina Pats back in 1958. Sam Pollock was general manager-coach, Scotty Bowman was assistant GM-coach, Ralph Backstrom was captain and the roster included Bobby Rousseau and Gilles and J.C. Tremblay.Another member of that squad was Claude Foumel, owner and general manager of the Laval Voisins who bowed out of the tournament after three consecutive losses.Six-foot-four, 200-pound center, Mario Lemieux, selected the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League Player of the Year at the tournament after piling up 133 goals, 149 assists for 282 points during the regular-season schedule, was limited to a goal and two assists.One of the meaningful telegrams addressed to Kilrea on his return to Ottawa was from Kitchener coach Tom Bar-rett.&ldquo;To your players, who reflect your coaching and style, go my sincere congratulations and to you, your class act is a target I and my organization will strive to meet.&rdquo; &#9632;

Kilrea’s 10-Year Cup Grail Comes To End

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>Louisville HockeyTORONTO&mdash;The midget draft was a howling success for Tillsonburg&rsquo;s Dave Moylan.Moylan joined a select company that includes Dan Quinn, Brian Bellows, Mark Hunter, Kirk Muller, Craig Hart-sburg and Mike Allison as former first picks overall in the Ontario Hockey League&rsquo;s annual midget draft.Sudbury Wolves, the team with the worst record in the OHL this past season, chose Moylan, a 6-foot, 180-pound defenseman from St. Mary&rsquo;s Lincolns of the Western Junior B League to kick off the draft. In all, 270 players from the Ontario and Maritime provinces and the U.S. were chosen by the 15 league members.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a privilege and an honour,&rdquo; said Moylan, who had been considering U.S. college opportunities. &ldquo;What changed my mind was the fact I was rated number two (by the OHL Central Scouting Bureau) and had the possibility to be drafted number one by the Sudbury Wolves. I did my homework. I felt if I was going to go that high, it&rsquo;d be best to go with junior A.&ldquo;Sudbury&rsquo;s a nice hockey town and I&rsquo;m just anxious to go there. The Wolves have a lot of players coming back and I think we&rsquo;re going to have a good team next year. Going to the Wolves is a bit of a challenge but I don&rsquo;t see why we can&rsquo;t turn it around in Sudbury.&rdquo;Sudbury coach Andy Spruce said the club had decided several weeks back that Moylan was the player the struggling franchise required. The past two seasons the Wolves have given up more than 400 goals, the most in the OHL. To help rectify the problem, the Wolves picked 11 defensemen in the draft.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to find four defensemen&mdash;there&rsquo;s one,&rdquo; Spruce said. &ldquo;I needed a defenseman and in our opinion, he was the best available. He has size. He can skate. He has hockey sense. We like his attitude. What else is there?&rdquo;Wolves&rsquo; general manager Joe Drago said he was convinced the club had found someone who can drag his team out of the basement, where it has become a fixture.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a real tough kid, a physical kind of player who&rsquo;ll tend to clear &lsquo;em out from in front of the net and that&rsquo;s the kind of player we&rsquo;ve needed so badly.&rdquo;Guelph Platers had the second pick and used it to choose center Guy Larose from Ottawa Senators Junior A club. Larose broke the rookie points record held by Steve Yzerman, who played in the Central Ontario Junior Hockey League a few seasons ago. Larose had 37 goals and 66 assists as a rookie.His father, Claude, played 16 seasons in the NHL, including 10 for Montreal Canadiens, and played on five Stanley Cup championship teams. The senior Larose was never more proud than he was posing arm-in-arm with his son for pictures. The younger Larose settled on the OHL&mdash;and playing for Guelph&mdash;after weighing offers from U.S. colleges and the Quebec League.&ldquo;We talked all night to decide the best place,&rdquo; Claude Larose said. &ldquo;I put the facts on the table and let him make the choice. It&rsquo;s an extremely good feeling for me and he was really very proud that two leagues wanted him. He has some big shoes to fill in Guelph.&rdquo;Larose is expected to replace Muller as the No. 1 center, as Muller is expected to be chose either second or third in the June 9 NHL entry draft.Kingston Canadians had the third pick and chose Peterborough midget Herb Raglan whose father, Rags, was an NHL player for Detroit Red Wings years ago. Windsor Compuware Spitfires chose fourth and took Kevin Kerr, a hard-nosed little center with a year&rsquo;s experience, having played for North Bay Centennials last season. The Centennials, with the fifth pick, surprised Jeff Greenlaw of St. Catharines Junior Bs, the OHL&rsquo;s No. 1 rated player, by choosing him. Greenlaw did not report to the North Bay table as most first picks usually do.North Bay coach Bert Templeton, obviously, wasn&rsquo;t scared off by warnings from Greenlaw and his lawyer Don Meehan who sent letters to every OHL team advising them that his client was planning to enrol at St. Mike&rsquo;s high school in September and would play only for the Toronto Marlboros.&ldquo;He was rated number one by Central Scouting, myself and other people,&rdquo; Templeton said. &ldquo;We honestly didn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;d be there when we chose. Maybe he&rsquo;s a little disappointed. Once he gets over that and he looks closely at our organization, the city&mdash;and the Air Canada midget tournament proved it&rsquo;s a good hockey city&mdash;hopefully he&rsquo;ll reconsider. When I was coaching in St. Catharines I got along well with people and the team (Fincups) had a good name. I hope the combination of those things will make him change his mind and play for us.&rdquo;London Knights followed by choosing Bruce Rendall, a left winger from Thunder Bay Beavers midgets.The seventh pick was Strathroy Junior B&rsquo;s Jeff Smith, by Cornwall Royals. Smith had 49 goals and 113 points to lead the Western Junior B in scoring this season. In Cornwall, he joins former Strathroy linemate Mike Stapleton who was the Most Valuable Player in the Western Junior B league in 1982-83.Other first round picks were: John Purves, North York Midgets, chosen eighth overall by Belleville; Shane Whe-lan, Kirkland Lake Midgets, ninth by Oshawa; Robert Zettler, Sault Ste. Marie Legion Midgets, 10th by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds; Brad Dalgarno, Markham Junior B&rsquo;s, 11th by Hamilton; Glen Seabrooke, Peterborough, 12th by the hometown Petes; Yvon Corriveau, Welland Midgets, 13th by Toronto; Dave Baseggio, Niagara Falls Junior B&rsquo;s, 14th by Ottawa 67s; and Craig Wolanin, Detroit Compuware Midgets, was picked last in the first round by the regularseason champion Kitchener Rangers.Wolanin was rated higher than his actual selection but several teams were afraid the U.S. player might make financial and education demands they could not match.In other developments as the season closed:&bull; Tom Barrett of Kitchener was voted Coach of the Year by his peers in the OHL.&bull; The Board of Governors has approved a reduction in the schedule from 70 to 66 games, a cutback in interdivision play to a home-and-home to reduce travel and costs, moving the trade deadline for players on major-junior cards back from Jan. 10 to Feb. 1, and altered the playoff structure drastically to eliminate first-round byes and the six-point preliminaries.The top six in each division will again earn playoff spots and play eight-point series, No. 1 against 6, 2 vs. 5 and 3 vs. 4. The three winners in each division will enter into a double-round robin to determine a division champion. The division winners will play an eight-point series for the OHL championship.&bull; The sale of the Spits and transfer of the Brantford Alexanders to Hamilton have been ratified by Governors. The new Hamilton club will select a new name and colors and has hired former Brantford executive Peter Hamm to act as director of marketing. The club will play in the 2,200-capacity Hamilton Mountain Arena until the 19,000-seat new Vic Copp Arena is completed. As part of sale terms, former Spitfire John McHale has reached a contractual settlement with Wayne Maxner, the coach and GM before the change in ownership. Former Bowling Green University player, Mark Craig, who coached Compuware Midgets, will coach the OHL club. &#9632;

Wolves Howl About Defenseman Moylan

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>Louisville HockeyKAMLOOPS&mdash;The Junior Oilers have a number of banners to proudly hang from the rafters. The problem is the Western Hockey League champions, who finished third out of four teams in the 1984 Memorial Cup, aren&rsquo;t sure just where the coveted red pennants will be displayed next season.The Oilers, who in three seasons went from rags to riches, had something to shout about this season. They finished first overall in points, won the Western Division pennant and championship and then outlasted Regina Pats in a tumultuous seven-game WHL final series.But the club&rsquo;s future has been put in limbo. The parent Edmonton Oilers, opting to get out of the junior hockey business, accepted an offer of $360,000 for the club from a Swift Current, Sask, consortium headed by former WHL coach Patty Ginnell. Kamloops shareholders, who own 30 per cent of the club, had until June 2 to match the offer.In simple terms, a fund-raising drive kicked off May 8 needed to generate $252,000 to keep the club in the British Columbia city. As of May 21, more than $100,000 had been raised through society memberships. The remainder of the tab is expected to be picked up by affluent hockey people in the city.&ldquo;I would say the chances of the franchise staying here are 75 per cent,&rdquo; said Kamloops shareholder Harvey Roy, the past president of the hockey club who has a long association with major junior hockey in Western Canada. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve raised a lot of money in a short time and I&rsquo;m sure when it comes down to the crunch the gunners will belly up to the bar unless something drastic happens. And I can&rsquo;t see that now.&rdquo;Roy, a Kamloops businessman, had major junior coaching stops with Swift Current Broncos (two years), Edmonton Oil Kings (one year) and Kamloops Chiefs (three years). He also acted as a general manager in Swift Current for two years and held the same post for two seasons in Kamloops before that franchise moved to Seattle in 1978 to become the Breakers.The Broncos moved to Lethbridge while the Oil Kings are now the Portland Winter Hawks.&ldquo;It (Kamloops) is a hell of a place for a young guy to apprentice,&rdquo; said Roy. &ldquo;It offers a lot and there&rsquo;s no reason why a young fellow who has his head screwed on straight can&rsquo;t take advantage of it.&rdquo;Another concern in Kamloops is renovation of the 2,659-seat Memorial Arena.WHL president Ed Chynoweth said Kamloops is a vital link in the division and league. He doesn&rsquo;t want to see the franchise move but is still concerned.&ldquo;The fears I have as president of the league is how far we can go as a league,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You look at the Al Davis situation (Los Angeles Raiders). Take a look at the guy in Baltimore who picked up his football team and moved it, too.&ldquo;We really aren&rsquo;t in a position to do anything until the local shareholders decide what they want to do. It should be understood the option is there (to buy the club). In terms of moving a team from one division to another, we aren&rsquo;t in favor of that in any way, shape or form unless it&rsquo;s a failing franchise.&rdquo;Portland general manager Brian Shaw, chairman of the WHL, doesn&rsquo;t want to see the Western Division lose a team.&ldquo;As general manager, I will do everything in my power to block the loss of a team from our division,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s ludicrous to expect any franchise to move to a place with less than 20,000 population. That&rsquo;s a population base drop of 40,000.&ldquo;I have confidence the people in Kamloops will keep the club. If money is the stumbling block then the franchise shouldn&rsquo;t be there in the first place. You can&rsquo;t nickel-and-dime it.&rdquo;MEMORIAL CUP RECAP&mdash;Kamloops bowed out of Memorial Cup contention May 17 with a 7-2 semi-final loss to the Ontario Hockey League champion Ottawa 67s, who went on to top host Kitchener Rangers 7-2 in the May 19 national final.&bull; The Oilers posted a 2-1 record in the preliminary four-team round robin. Kamloops dropped its opener 9-7 to Kitchener after an impressive comeback fell short. The Oilers were behind 8-0 before rallying to cut the deficit to 8-7 late in the third period. An empty-net marker settled the issue. Kamloops then lost 5-1 to Ottawa before earning a berth in the semi-final by outlasting Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Laval Voisins, 4-3.&bull; Kamloops left winger Jim Camaz-zola, a l0th-round draft of the Chicago Black Hawks, was named to the Memorial Cup all-star squad. Camazzola had three goals and three assists in four games.&bull; The Oilers were the youngest team in the national tournament, icing 15-year-old players Rob Brown and Greg Hawgood plus a host of 16- and 17-year-old players.&bull; Kamloops&rsquo; general manager and coach Bill LaForge officially announced May 17 that he signed a two-year contract to coach the Vancouver Canucks starting next National Hockey League season.&bull; Bruce Haralson, the Oilers&rsquo; director of player personnel and chief scout, is said to have the inside track on the GM-post in Kamloops if the club remains there. Former Calgary Wranglers&rsquo; coach Doug Sauter, Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; mentor Jack Sangster, Oiler assistant coach Ron Coleman and former Victoria Cougars&rsquo; coach Dave Andrews are said to be in the running for the coaching post in Kamloops. &#9632;

Kamloops Battles To Keep Junior Oilers

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>PLATTSBURGH&mdash;The Pioneers are straggling out of a wilderness of red tape on the last leg of their journey into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.The franchise is the first at the major junior level to be stocked exclusively with American players and that is reflected in the team&rsquo;s name, selected by owner Denis Methot of Trois-Rivieres.&ldquo;We chose the name because of the concept and the area&rsquo;s history,&rdquo; Methot said.Methot&rsquo;s last portage is to get his affiliation with the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS) approved so his squad can skate in September in the Northern New York center, about an hour&rsquo;s drive south of Montreal.&ldquo;Everything is in order with the league,&rdquo; said Paul Dumont, the QMJHL&rsquo;s director-general. &ldquo;We have written acceptance from the New York State Amateur Hockey Association and we hope to hear from AHAUS this month.&ldquo;We would like to be able to submit next season&rsquo;s league schedule to the QMJHL&rsquo;s annual general meeting in Drum-mondville June 15.&rdquo;The league&rsquo;s board of governors voted unanimously to grant Methot the league&rsquo;s 12th franchise Jan. 22 and he has met the financial requirements, including a $110,000 franchise fee, $75,000 in returnable equity and a $10,000 bond.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve always been positive about the team and it has paid off,&rdquo; said Carlton E. Rennell, mayor of Plattsburgh, which has a population of about 45,000. &ldquo;Council has approved $350,000 for renovations to the Crete Memorial Civic Center.&rdquo;Seating in the 10-year-old building will be increased from 1,640 to 2,150. Team rooms, offices, a press box and a social room will be constructed, and the ice-making system will be upgraded.The team has taken out a 10-year lease on the building and the only financial wrinkle remaining concerns the posting of a $250,000 security bond to the city. There have been some language and currency exchange problems between Methot&rsquo;s Canadian and American banks, but they are expected to be worked out in a couple of weeks.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be able to use the (3,000 seat) field house at Plattsburgh State University in August and September and we&rsquo;ve been doing pretty well with players,&rdquo; Methot said. &ldquo;About 15 guys have signed letters of intent and some are pretty well sure of making it. They&rsquo;re a little older than we expected, it looks like they&rsquo;ll be mostly 18 and 19-year-olds.&ldquo;This year has been very difficult for us because a lot of the top-notch kids have already decided to go to college,&rdquo; said Rick Strack, the club&rsquo;s director of marketing and public relations. &ldquo;But I think with the players we have and the ones we&rsquo;re going after, we&rsquo;ll be competitive.&ldquo;We have a really good relationship with Plattsburgh State and we have to help each other&rsquo;s program.&rdquo;Strack, from nearby Lake Placid, was a goaltender for four years at NCAA Division Two powerhouse Plattsburgh State, where Montreal Canadien coach Jacques Lemaire served as an assistant coach before guiding the Longueuil Chevaliers to the QMJHL final last year.Strack signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent and played pro with the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League and Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.&ldquo;I think Denis is going to coach,&rdquo; Strack said. &ldquo;I know he worked with the university team in Trois-Rivieres (Patriotes) and he has a lot of interesting theories he wants to try out. After playing under Herb Brooks in the New York Ranger system, I&rsquo;m anxious to see what they are.&rdquo;&ldquo;The competition for players from the Ontario and Western Leagues and the U.S. universities has been tough,&rdquo; said Methot, who can only draw players from eight Northeastern states under a league ruling. &ldquo;Most have come from the Boston area.&rdquo;The team&rsquo;s other main recruiting areas are Buffalo, New York City, Springfield, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey.Methot is considering affiliating with a proposed Massena, NY, junior A entry in the Ottawa area&rsquo;s Central Junior Hockey League and also with a Boston-area club in the New England Junior Hockey League.Under other league restrictions, the Pioneers will not be allowed to participate in the QMJHL draft or trade with QMJHL teams, except for American players on other squads. &#9632;

Quebec League Pioneering Exclusive American Team

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01154/5142761-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="762" height="588"></div>If the palms of your hockey gloves are worn-out or torn&mdash;don&rsquo;t throw those gloves away! Do what the pro hockey stars do. Send them to us. We&rsquo;ll replace those torn palms with our fabulous FlexPalm.With FlexPalm you&rsquo;re in complete control of the stick. You&rsquo;ll play like you never played before!FlexPalm is so unique, so different, so unusual that it was granted patents by both the Canadian and U.S. governments.It is made of an extremely soft but very tough horsehide that&rsquo;s perspiration and water repellent. So it stays soft, stays flexible. You never have to dunk a FlexPalm in hot water to soften it! This means you don&rsquo;t have to fight stick slippage. You&rsquo;re more comfortable, more relaxed and more in control!Now you know why the big league stars send their gloves to us. Do what they do. We&rsquo;ll replace both your worn-out palms with our FlexPalm for only $49.95. Please enclose check or money order, or BankAmericard, Visa and Master Charge accepted. Please give your card number and expiration date. We&rsquo;ll return your gloves within two weeks. Prepaid.FlexfalmSINCE 1954 &copy; 1980BRUCKER GLOVE CO., INC.6907 La Tijera Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045 &#9632;

f0044-01

Don’t throw away your gloves!

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01132/5142869-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="533" height="90"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. May 6Maine 5 at Rochester 6Wed. May 9Maine 6 at Rochester 5Fri. May 11Rochester 4 at Maine 7Sat. May 12Rochester 2 at Maine 3<h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0288/5142862-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="529" height="328"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0362/5142855-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="522" height="88"></div>(Oilers win best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 19Oilers 4 at Indianapolis 3Sat Apr. 21Oilers 7 at Indianapolis 3Mon. Apr. 23Oilers 6 at Indianapolis 3Fri. Apr. 27Oilers 3 at Indianapolis 2FINAL PLAYOFF LEADERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0445/5142848-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="535" height="322"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0536/5142841-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="531" height="90"></div>(Hint wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. Apr. 29Toledo 4 at Hint 6Tue. May 1Hint 7 at Toledo 5Sat May 5Toledo 3 at Hint 5Wed. May 9Hint 4 at Toledo 1<h2>ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0630/5142834-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="525" height="88"></div>(Erie wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Apr. 5Erie 1 at Carolina 2Fri. Apr. 6Erie 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/f0045-0728/5142827-1-eng-US/f0045-072.jpg" title="f0045-07" width="527" height="242"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0818/5142820-1-eng-US/f0045-082.jpg" title="f0045-08" width="526" height="88"></div>(Kamloops wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. Apr. 29Regina 4 at Kamloops 7Mon Apr 30Regina 2 at Kamloops 8Thu. May 3Kamloops 3 at Regina 7Fri. May 4Kamloops 3 at Regina 4Sun. May 6Kamloops 1 at Regina 4Tue. May 8Regina 3 at Kamloops 4Wed. May 9Regina 3 at Kamloops 4<h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0916/5142813-1-eng-US/f0045-092.jpg" title="f0045-09" width="525" height="325"></div><h2>MEMORIAL CUP</h2><h3>ROUND-ROBIN</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1013/5142806-1-eng-US/f0045-102.jpg" title="f0045-10" width="527" height="146"></div>(Kitchener gets bye into final. Ottawa and Kamloops advance to aemifinala. Laval eliminated)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat May 12Laval 2 at Kitchener 8 Sun. May 13Kitchener 9, Kamloops 7Ottawa 6, Laval 5 Mon. May 14Ottawa 5, Kamloops 1Tue. May 15Kamloops 4, Laval 3Wed. May 16Kitchener 7. Ottawa 2SEMI FINALSThu. May 17Ottawa 7, Kamloops 2<h3>FINALS</h3>Sat May 19Ottawa 7, Kitchener 2 (Ottawa wins Memorial Cup)<h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1113/5142799-1-eng-US/f0045-112.jpg" title="f0045-11" width="525" height="235"></div><h2>CENTENNIAL CUP</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1213/5142792-1-eng-US/f0045-122.jpg" title="f0045-12" width="524" height="89"></div>(Weybum wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Orillia 6, Weybum 5Weybum 6, Orillia 4Weybum 5, Orillia 1Orillia 2, Weybum 1Orillia 8, Weybum 5Weybum 5, Orillia 4Weybum 3, Orillia 0 &#9632;

f0045-01

MINOR SCOREBOARD

1917-18&mdash;Toronto Arenas1918-19&mdash;No decision1919-20&mdash;Ottawa Senators1920-21&mdash;Ottawa Senators1921-22&mdash;Toronto St. Pats1922-23&mdash;Ottawa Senators1923-24&mdash;Montreal Canadians1924-25&mdash;Victoria Cougars1925-26&mdash;Montreal Maroons1926-27&mdash;Ottawa Senators1927-28&mdash;New York Rangers1928-29&mdash;Boston Bruins1929-30&mdash;Montreal Canadians1930-31&mdash;Montreal Canadians1931-32&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1932-33&mdash;New York Rangers1933-34&mdash;Chicago Bieck Hawks1934-35&mdash;Montreal Maroons1935-36&mdash;Detroit Red Wings1936-37&mdash;Detroit Bed Wings1937-38&mdash;Chicago Black Hawks1938-39&mdash;Boston Bruins1939-40&mdash;New York Rangers1940-41&mdash;Boston Bruins1941-42&mdash;Toronto Maple Loafs1942-43&mdash;Detroit Red Wings1943-44&mdash;Montreal Canadians1944-45&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1945-46&mdash;Montreal Canadians1946-47&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1947-48&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1948-49&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1949-50&mdash;Detroit Red Wings1950-51&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1951-52&mdash;Detroit Red Wings1952-53&mdash;Montreal Canadians1953-54&mdash;Detroit Red Wings1954-55&mdash;Detroit Red Wings1955-56&mdash;Montreal Canadians1966-57&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1957-58&mdash;Montreal Canadians1958-59&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1959-60&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1960-61&mdash;Chicago Black Hawks1961-62&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1962-63&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1963-64&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1964-65&mdash;Montreal Canadians1965-66&mdash;Montreal Canadians1966-67&mdash;Toronto Maple Leafs1967-68&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1968-69&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1969-70&mdash;Boston Bruins1970-71&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1971-72&mdash;Boston Bruins1972-73&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1973-74&mdash;Philadelphia Flyers1974-75&mdash;Philadelphia Flyers1975-76&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1976-77&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1977-78&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1978-79&mdash;Montreal Canadiens1979-80&mdash;New York Islanders1980-81&mdash;New York Islanders1981-82&mdash;New York Islanders1982-83&mdash;New York Islanders1983-84&mdash;Edmonton Oilers &#9632;

Stanley Cup Champions

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The Penguins are &ldquo;99.9 percent sure&rdquo; to draft Mario Lemieux first overall in this month&rsquo;s National Hockey League entry draft, according to general manager Eddie Johnston.But equally important is the fact the Penguins also have Winnipeg&rsquo;s first-round pick (ninth overall), following the trade of defensemen Randy Carlyle to the Jets, and Philadelphia&rsquo;s first-rounder (16th overall), after the Rich Sutter trade.&ldquo;Now&rsquo;s a very important time for our franchise,&rdquo; Johnston admitted. &ldquo;We want to make sure we do the best we can and make the right choices. We want to turn this around as soon as possible.&rdquo;Whether the Penguins actually draft in those positions is another story.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to improve myself by trading up to a lower draft position,&rdquo; said Johnston. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s very, very strong in the ballpark. I&rsquo;d be happy to trade number nine and a few players along with it to possibly move up with Los Angeles (third pick overall). L.A. needs a goalkeeper bad.&rdquo;Johnston likely is offering goaltender Michel Dion to the Kings as one of three players in an attempt to have two of the first three selections. Johnston feels his main competition for L.A.&rsquo;s pick is the New York Islanders, who reportedly are offering goaltender Billy Smith as part of a package to the Kings.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just got to keep plugging away and sweetening the pot,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;If we can come up a little higher, whatever it takes to do that, we&rsquo;ll do it. With the 16th we&rsquo;d like to move up also.&ldquo;If we went to third, we&rsquo;d be sitting on two cracketjacks&mdash;two guys who come right in and play and play a long, long time.&rdquo;Johnston wouldn&rsquo;t reveal who he&rsquo;ll select if he has the third pick, but it&rsquo;s believed he covets center-left winger Ed Olczyk.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t want to say anything,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t want to show my hand. That (trade with the Kings) may never happen. Not only that, Jersey&rsquo;s also in our division and they pick second.&rdquo;Johnston also said he would be willing to trade the 16th choice if he was offered the right deal. Such a trade would have to include a No. 1 pick in next year&rsquo;s draft.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s always a possibility if we get the right person at nine,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If something comes along at 16, if we can get a very good young player off them and be able to get another first, we can have two firsts again next year, which will be a strong draft.&rdquo;If he elects not to trade Nos. nine and 16, what position or players would he be looking for?&ldquo;After Lemieux, defense is the primary position to go for on this team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Unless we get somebody extraordinary, we&rsquo;ll take him.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re looking at a guy like (Kevin) Hatcher. That&rsquo;s not saying we&rsquo;re going to take him. There are other players we like better than him. That&rsquo;s one of the names we&rsquo;ve tossed around.&rdquo;The 6-foot-3, 183-pound Hatcher scored 10 goals and 39 assists this season for North Bay of the Ontario Hockey League.&ldquo;If we get the right guy at ninth, if he&rsquo;s a defenseman we&rsquo;ll definitely take him,&rsquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;If there&rsquo;s a defenseman at 16, we&rsquo;ll take another one.&rdquo; &#9632;

Johnston Knows It’s An Important Time

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0046-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01130/5142948-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>The New York Islanders&rsquo; Drive for Five stalled in Edmonton and much of the credit for the Oilers&rsquo; first Stanley Cup victory can go to the guy they call &ldquo;Moose,&rdquo; center Mark Messier.Messier, winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the playoffs, finished post-season play with 26 points, including three key goals in the finals against the Islanders, an accomplishment which earned him HOCKEY NEWS Player of the Week honors.In addition to his strong offensive showing, the strapping center provided the Oilers with a physical presence up front that was absent a year ago, when Messier was hindered by an injured shoulder. &#9632;

f0046-01

Player Of The Week

In four big issues in August and September, THE HOCKEY NEWS will provide extensive coverage of the biggest international hockey event of the 1980&rsquo;s &mdash;THE CANADA CUP SERIES OF 1984Even as the Stanley Cup playoffs wind down towards their own thrilling conclusion, the excitement builds for this bigger-than-life confrontation when the top European and Soviet national teams face-off against the best in North America&mdash;Canada and the United States&mdash;in late summer 1984. These are not just games between the best hockey teams, but something more than that; a global championship that gives the winner the undisputed right to say that it is truly No 1 in the world of hockey.We&rsquo;re planning to print thousands of extra copies of these issues to make certain there are plenty available on newsstands and for collectors to meet the great demand. It&rsquo;s sure to be a great reading experience. These issues also offer a superlative marketing opportunity for companies that want to become involved with this spectacular hockey event.Whether you are a reader or represent a company, be sure to get your special ticket to Canada Cup &lsquo;84 in THE HOCKEY NEWSThe Issues AUG. 31, SEPT. 14, 21 and 28.The Place THE HOCKEY NEWSBE A PART OF THE BIG ONE!The Hockey News &#9632;

CANADA CUP 1984

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0299/5143297-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="567" height="553"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01150/5143304-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="110" height="115"></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/f0047-0367/5143290-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="114" height="114"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0456/5143283-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="568" height="623"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0539/5143276-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="131" height="114"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0629/5143269-1-eng-US/f0047-062.jpg" title="f0047-06" width="572" height="673"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0725/5143262-1-eng-US/f0047-072.jpg" title="f0047-07" width="121" height="110"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0815/5143255-1-eng-US/f0047-082.jpg" title="f0047-08" width="569" height="575"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0913/5143248-1-eng-US/f0047-092.jpg" title="f0047-09" width="136" height="97"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-1010/5143241-1-eng-US/f0047-102.jpg" title="f0047-10" width="565" height="350"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-119/5143234-1-eng-US/f0047-112.jpg" title="f0047-11" width="576" height="286"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-129/5143227-1-eng-US/f0047-122.jpg" title="f0047-12" width="112" height="116"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-139/5143220-1-eng-US/f0047-132.jpg" title="f0047-13" width="571" height="649"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-149/5143213-1-eng-US/f0047-142.jpg" title="f0047-14" width="123" height="110"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-159/5143206-1-eng-US/f0047-152.jpg" title="f0047-15" width="573" height="674"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-168/5143199-1-eng-US/f0047-162.jpg" title="f0047-16" width="131" height="93"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-178/5143192-1-eng-US/f0047-172.jpg" title="f0047-17" width="570" height="623"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-188/5143185-1-eng-US/f0047-182.jpg" title="f0047-18" width="121" height="121"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-198/5143178-1-eng-US/f0047-192.jpg" title="f0047-19" width="575" height="699"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-208/5143171-1-eng-US/f0047-202.jpg" title="f0047-20" width="531" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body">Isles&rsquo; Clark Gillies scored 12 playoff goals, including five in the final.</figcaption></div><h2>Top Scorers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-218/5143164-1-eng-US/f0047-212.jpg" title="f0047-21" width="528" height="968"></div><h2>MOST GOALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-227/5143157-1-eng-US/f0047-222.jpg" title="f0047-22" width="517" height="175"></div><h2>MOST ASSISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-236/5143150-1-eng-US/f0047-232.jpg" title="f0047-23" width="519" height="201"></div><h2>MOST SHOTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-246/5143143-1-eng-US/f0047-242.jpg" title="f0047-24" width="518" height="204"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-256/5143136-1-eng-US/f0047-252.jpg" title="f0047-25" width="118" height="121"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-266/5143129-1-eng-US/f0047-262.jpg" title="f0047-26" width="572" height="626"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-276/5143122-1-eng-US/f0047-272.jpg" title="f0047-27" width="135" height="99"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-286/5143115-1-eng-US/f0047-282.jpg" title="f0047-28" width="566" height="152"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-296/5143108-1-eng-US/f0047-292.jpg" title="f0047-29" width="572" height="482"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-306/5143101-1-eng-US/f0047-302.jpg" title="f0047-30" 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/f0047-315/5143094-1-eng-US/f0047-312.jpg" title="f0047-31" width="569" height="653"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-324/5143087-1-eng-US/f0047-322.jpg" title="f0047-32" width="111" height="114"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-334/5143080-1-eng-US/f0047-332.jpg" title="f0047-33" width="575" height="656"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-344/5143073-1-eng-US/f0047-342.jpg" title="f0047-34" width="95" height="97"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-353/5143066-1-eng-US/f0047-352.jpg" title="f0047-35" width="578" height="631"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-363/5143059-1-eng-US/f0047-362.jpg" title="f0047-36" width="154" height="88"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-373/5143052-1-eng-US/f0047-372.jpg" title="f0047-37" width="572" height="426"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-383/5143045-1-eng-US/f0047-382.jpg" title="f0047-38" width="570" height="232"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-393/5143038-1-eng-US/f0047-392.jpg" title="f0047-39" width="107" height="112"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-403/5143031-1-eng-US/f0047-402.jpg" title="f0047-40" width="567" height="628"></div><h2>GOALTENDING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-413/5143024-1-eng-US/f0047-412.jpg" title="f0047-41" width="557" height="1379"></div><h2>GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-423/5143017-1-eng-US/f0047-422.jpg" title="f0047-42" width="552" height="158"></div><h2>MOST WINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-433/5143010-1-eng-US/f0047-432.jpg" title="f0047-43" width="542" height="293"></div><h2>SAVE PERCENTAGE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-443/5143003-1-eng-US/f0047-442.jpg" title="f0047-44" width="544" height="179"></div> &#9632;

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June 1, 1984

Baldwin Reminded Of Past With Oiler Win

Did You Know…

Clarke And Keenan Start With Clean Slate

Habs Can’t Afford The Luxury Of Security