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.

December 14, 1984

The Hockey News December 14, 1984

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1495/4945584-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="574" height="358"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01458/4945591-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="192" height="190"></div><h2>National League Rookie Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1594/4945577-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="570" height="360"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

CHRYSLER SCOREBOARD

1. What New York Ranger forward is known as &ldquo;Old Mississippi?&rdquo;2. Against what goaltender did Bobby Orr score his last NHL goal?3. Who recorded the Washington Capitals&rsquo; first league shutout?4. What former Vezina Trophy winner was the top goalie in the AHL in 1968-69 and 1969-70?5. What two teams played the first regular-season overtime game in 198384?6. Which Plager brother was an original Atlanta Flame?7. What NHL goaltender recorded the first shutout of the &rsquo;84-85 season?8. What NHL team was in existence for only one season, yet had the scoring champ that year?9. What two current NHL coaches played together with the 1968-69 Montreal Canadiens?10. What current NHL player led the USA in scoring at the 1979 World Hockey Championships?Answers in next week&rsquo;s issue.<h2>Last Week&rsquo;s Trivia Answers</h2>1. Greg Terrion. 2. Peter McNab. 3. John Chabot. 4. New Jersey, 11 in 12 years. 5. Rejean Houle. 6. New Jersey. 7. Bronco Horvath. 8. Mike Christie. 9. Mel Bridgman. 9. Los Angeles Kings. &#9632;

TRIVIA

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Rod Langway</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011293/4943463-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur harvested the Hart, Ross and Smythe trophies in 1977.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021003/4943456-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="1836" height="1339"><figcaption class="caption-body">Serge Savard, left, and Yvan Cournoyer, right, make it clear who the champion is.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03664/4943449-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="1204" height="1849"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Flower poses with one of his five Stanley Cups.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04484/4943442-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="752" height="1112"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05369/4943435-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="750" height="1116"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-06280/4943428-1-eng-US/f0010-062.jpg" title="f0010-06" width="746" height="1112"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-07205/4943421-1-eng-US/f0010-072.jpg" title="f0010-07" width="748" height="1112"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Damien Lafleur was a sight to behold, whether it was unleashing one of his patented slapshots, being upended by New York Islander defenseman Denis Potvin, teaming up with long-time linemate Steve Shutt or scoring his 500th goal against the New Jersey Devils last season.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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FLOWER

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01567/4944261-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Denis Herron has reason to believe the Penguins will be better this season, especially in clearing the front of the net.</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;In his 13th season in the National Hockey League, Denis Herron has run the gamut of emotions from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat.Having played eight of those years for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 32-year-old goaltender mostly has experienced the defeats. But he is optimistic about the future.&ldquo;We started with the youth movement no or three years ago,&rdquo; said Herron about the team&rsquo;s move to younger players. &ldquo;The young guys that were here are just starting to produce now because they gave more experience, and we&rsquo;re still picking up some young guys. That way they have to do it.&rdquo;Herron was drafted by Pittsburgh in the third round of the 1972 draft from Trois Rivieres of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He played parts of three seasons for the Penguins before he was traded to the Kansas City Scouts January, 1975.Herron has had the thrill of victory and agony of defeat.Herron signed with the Penguins as a free agent in August, 1976 and played three more seasons for Pittsburgh before he was dealt to Montreal in August, 1979. He returned to Pittsburgh a third me in a trade from the Canadiens in September, 1982.He shared the Vezina Trophy with Michel Larocque and Richard Sevigny in 1981 as the NHL&rsquo;s best goaltending team. One year later, Herron led the league in shutouts with three, posted a goals-against average of 2.64 and shared the William Jennings Trophy with Rick Wamsley for the combined lowest goals-against average.Herron played in Montreal for Bob Berry, who now coaches the Penguins.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very disciplined guy,&rdquo; Herton said about Berry. &ldquo;If you want to Jilay for him, you have to work. That&rsquo;s me only way Bob Berry works. Either in a practice or a game, you have to work very, very hard and listen to what he has to say.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way a coach is supposed to be. He&rsquo;s disciplined off the ice and on the ice. The guys have found that out this year. I think we play a better system because we have discipline a little more than last year.&rdquo;The native of Chambly, Que., likes the way Berry has his defensemen moving the opposition players away from the net this season.&ldquo;The system is a little bit better than last year,&rdquo; said Herron. &ldquo;The defensemen play the front of the net better. If there&rsquo;s a rebound, they&rsquo;re there to pick it up, and that can make a big, big difference. It&rsquo;s easier on me, because if you make a save and you&rsquo;re down, you know the defenseman&rsquo;s going to be there and pick up the puck.&rdquo;Herron probably has seen more rubber over the years than an employee in a tire factory, but he prefers a lot of shots to too few.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have a chance to fall asleep,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And you don&rsquo;t have a chance to lose your concentration because the shots are corning all the time.&rdquo;Pittsburgh had the worst goals-against average in the NHL last season at 4.83, but Herron&rsquo;s 4.08 average wasn&rsquo;t too bad when you consider he was playing for the worst team in the league. In his first 10 games this year, he registered a 4.21 mark.Berry had Herron and Michel Dion rotate on a game-by-game basis early in the season, but Herron started two consecutive games after he stopped 46 out of 49 shots in a 3-3 tie with Washington, including a club record-tying 21 saves in the second period.&ldquo;The rotation system is not bad,&rdquo; said Herron. &ldquo;When you receive 50 shots you like to rest the next day. I like it and Michel likes it, and we&rsquo;ll just go like that until he (Berry) changes his mind.&rdquo;Despite the adversities of playing for a last-place team the last two seasons, Herron maintains his optimism.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to take maybe one or two more years to really be a top contender,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But you never know. We could surprise lots of people. We&rsquo;re playing very well.&rdquo;PENGUIN TRACKS&mdash;Center Mario Lemieux, the NHL&rsquo;s No. 1 draft choice, suffered a sprained left knee during a collision with Washington&rsquo;s Darren Veitch. The injury is similar to one Lemieux suffered in training camp, after which he was fitted for a protective brace. He was not wearing the brace when he was injured against the Capitals because he said it inhibited him. Center Mitch Lamoureux was recalled from Baltimore of the American League to take Lemieux&rsquo;s place. &#9632;

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Penguin Goalie Hasn’t Lost His Confidence

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01801/4946100-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Lafleur&rsquo;s Gone, But Dionne&rsquo;s Still Going Strong&mdash;Page 7A Tale Of Two Goalies In Calgary&mdash;Page 18Red Wings Have A Winner In Steve Yzerman&mdash;Page 22 &#9632;

Cover-01

FAREWELL To The FLOWER

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011214/4942864-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="552" height="915"><figcaption class="caption-body">KING MARCEL Page 7</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02999/4942857-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="556" height="911"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOUNCING BACK Page 30</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03740/4942850-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="554" height="917"><figcaption class="caption-body">MUM&rsquo;S THE WORD? Page 6</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04512/4942843-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="554" height="910"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAPITAL OFFENSE Page 9</figcaption></div><h2>THE COVER STORY&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;. Page 3</h2>Flower Power is no more. Guy Lafleur, one of the most exciting and talented hockey players ever to play the game, announced his retirement on Nov. 26. The proud man they call Demon Blond could no longer accept the fact that his game had slipped, but Canadien fans fear not&mdash;Guy is a Hab for life.<h2>WORLD JR. TOURNEY&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;. Page 11</h2>Team Canada has visions of gold dancing in its head. Team USA would be happy to see a medal of any color. It&rsquo;s almost time for the world junior championships in Finland and the two North American entries are approaching the tourney with different attitudes. But optimism is one quality that they share. &#9632;

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The Hockey News

In next week&rsquo;s issue, we&rsquo;ll profile the Hartford Whalers and their trek to respectability in the always-tough Adams Division.It used to be that the Whalers were considered an easy two points, but no more. With a nucleus including Greg Millen, Mark Johnson, Ronnie Francis and Sylvain Turgeon and a rapidly-improving supporting cast, they are a team to be taken seriously.And we&rsquo;ll also have the Year in Review, a retrospective on 1984 as it draws to a close. Check out the highs, lows and everything in between as we reflect on the year that was.Plus, we&rsquo;ll have all our regular columns, features and statistics.Don&rsquo;t miss it. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK IN THN

&ldquo;The problem was all from the neck up, physically he&rsquo;s still better than the majority of players in the NHL today.&rdquo;&mdash;Montreal Canadien captain Bob Gainey, commenting on the retirement of teammate Guy Lafleur. See story on Page 3. &#9632;

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>When the Montreal Canadiens played their first post-Guy Lafleur era game in Detroit&rsquo;s Joe Louis Arena, they all felt a little strange.During the morning practice, railbirds at the Detroit rink were asking all and sundry how the Montreal franchise could function without its all-time point scoring leader.One man even offered to sell a framed portrait of Lafleur to coach Jacques Lemaire as he was coming off the ice after practice.&ldquo;It felt really strange not to have Flower around.&rdquo; said third-year defenseman Craig Ludwig. &ldquo;You got to expect him to be walking around the dressing room, banging his stick on the wall to get you going. We have guys trying to take his place and say some of the things he did, but it&rsquo;s not the same without Flower. There is nothing you can do about it. All we can do is remember the good times with him and keep on going.&rdquo;There is no doubt that Lafleur&rsquo;s sudden retirement caught his teammates off guard, but from rookies Petr Svoboda and Tom Kurvers to veterans Bob Gainey and Larry Robinson, all were on hand for his retirement announcement. Even some former Canadiens such as Rejean Houle, who had retired 15 months earlier, were there for Lafleur&rsquo;s final farewell.&ldquo;He never had full credit for what he did in the league,&rdquo; said Houle. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know why, 1 really think that during our great years, considering the seasons he had, he wasn&rsquo;t well recognized.&ldquo;I know this season worried him when things weren&rsquo;t going his way and he was probably very hurt inside. That&rsquo;s probably why he decided to retire.&rdquo;Gainey, the team captain, insisted that there was nothing wrong with Lafleur physically and hoped that his long-time teammate had not rushed his decision.&ldquo;The problem was all from the neck up, physically he&rsquo;s still better than the majority of players in the NHL today,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;Perhaps he knows himself well enough he couldn&rsquo;t overcome those things which were holding him back. He made a decision that makes him happy and if it makes him happy, then I&rsquo;m happy for him.&rdquo;&ldquo;Guy was too proud to accept the type of frustration he was having,&rdquo; said one-time roommate Pierre Mondou. &ldquo;I am sure he is relieved now that he has made the decision. He always wanted to be the best and to have a slump like this was very tough on him.&rdquo; &#9632;

Flower Too Proud To Accept Frustration Of Not Being Best

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011234/4942943-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div>Guy Latleur had spent a long time pondering one of the most difficult decisions of his 33 years.The confidence in his abilities diminishing, Lafleur knew the day was fast approaching when he would have to step out of the limelight of playing for the Montreal Canadiens.In the late afternoon of Nov. 26, Lafleur made one thing perfectly clear&mdash;he was retiring from the National Hockey League.&ldquo;I thought about this during the summer,&rdquo; said Lafleur, one of the greatest players to have ever played the game and a folk hero in the province of Quebec.&ldquo;After we did so well in the playoffs. 1 wanted to come back and try again.&ldquo;Nobody pushed me to make this decision. I took it on my own. The opportunity to work with the organization will be a great thing for me. I have always been involved with the Canadiens&rsquo; organization.&rdquo;Lafleur, who left for a two-week vacation after his retirement was revealed, will sit down with team president Ronald Corey to determine exactly what his responsibilities will be in the coming years. He will be paid in full for the remaining two seasons of his current contract, which is estimated to be worth $350,000 a year.One thing appears certain, though. Guy Lafleur will be a Hab for life.Like other past Montreal greats such as Howie Morenz, Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau, Lafleur leaves hockey fans with many memories. He played on five Stanley Cup championship teams after joining the Canadiens from the Quebec Remparts following the 1971 amateur draft. The Canadiens, using a pick acquired from the California Golden Seals, made Lafleur the first choice overall in the 1971 proceedings to the delight of the fans who were looking for a new superstar following the retirement of Beliveau the same year.And the Demon Blond didn&rsquo;t disappoint. He emerged as the most exciting player of the &rsquo;70s, playing the game with a flair and joie de vivre that hasn&rsquo;t been seen since. Even this season, when much of his magic appeared to have deserted him, the Forum faithful still chanted, &ldquo;Guy, Guy, Guy&rdquo; when he led a rush.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to leave my teammates,&rdquo; a teary-eyed Lafleur said. &ldquo;I was fortunate to play with guys like Larry (Robinson), Bob (Gainey), Mario (Tremblay). I played with Jacques Lemaire, the best center I ever had. Steve Shutt, who is finishing his career in Los Angeles, was my left winger during my best years.&rdquo;In 961 games, Lafleur scored 518 goals, just 26 shy of the Canadien team record of 544 set by Maurice Richard. It was a team record Lafleur wanted, but will never have. He will be listed in the Canadien record books as the all-time points leader with 1,246, and the all-time assists leader with 728.Lafleur&rsquo;s verdict on his career came just two days after he had played in the Canadiens&rsquo; 6-4 win over Detroit. He had skated well, fired four shots on goal, but, as has happened so many nights in past seasons, the puck would not go in for him. He was distraught in the team&rsquo;s weight-training room after the game. He was working, yet nothing was happening.&ldquo;I was surprised he made the decision,&rdquo; said Lemaire, who was told after the Detroit game that Lafleur was suffering from a pulled groin muscle and would not accompany the team to Boston for a Sunday night date against the Bruins. &ldquo;Having seen Lafleur at his best, all that he did for hockey in Montreal, the goals that he scored, the excitement that he gave not only to the fans but also the players he played with&hellip;it&rsquo;s always sad to see a guy like that leave.&ldquo;There is another side to it. If Guy really wants it (the retirement), then I&rsquo;m happy for him because I know he&rsquo;ll be relieved after making the decision. The guy has been under a lot of pressure lately. He played so well, and then getting the pressure that he had on him recently, 1 don&rsquo;t think he deserved it.&rdquo;Lafleur was coming under close scrutiny from the always-watchful Montreal media as his goalless nights continued to amass. In 19 games, he had just a pair of goals and three assists with his last goal coming on Oct. 25 against the Buffalo Sabres, coached by his mentor for eight seasons, Scotty Bowman.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t always agree,&rdquo; Lafleur said of Bowman. &ldquo;But I enjoyed my best years under him. 1 might have been tough on Claude Ruel, but maybe thanks to him I was a 50-goal scorer. Bob Berry was always a good friend. He did what he thought was good for the team.&rdquo;Lafleur&rsquo;s criticisms against his post-Bowman coaches became almost as legendary as some of the goals he scored during his career. Earlier this season, Lemaire left Lafleur on the bench when the Canadiens mounted a come-from-behind 3-3 tie against Los Angeles.&ldquo;Before putting a Guy Lafleur on the bench, you have to think about it,&rdquo; Lemaire said. &ldquo;When I did it, it was for the good of the team. I was also trying to motivate Guy a little more, and I know when 1 did it, he came back and played one of his best games. It was a spark of the Guy Lafleur everybody knows.&rdquo;Lafleur never seemed to be the same player after Pat Boutette kneed him in a 1980 preliminary playoff game in Hartford. During the 197980 season. Lafleur and Canadien fans enjoyed his last 50-goal season. Then it was three consecutive 27-goal campaigns, followed by 30 last season.Lafleur was still the most sought after Canadien player in road rinks, as young and old fans pressed the ever-obliging veteran for an autograph. The chants of &ldquo;Guy, Guy, Guy&rdquo; not only reverberated in the Forum when Lafleur touched the puck, but they were also chanted in Vancouver, Edmonton and Detroit.&ldquo;He could still play,&rdquo; offered defenseman Craig Ludwig, who played with Lafleur for two seasons and part of this one. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s faster than half of the guys in the NHL yet, and he has got a great shot. Maybe things weren&rsquo;t going for him right away. It&rsquo;s his perogative to do whatever he wants.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a great career. There is not much more you can say about Guy Lafleur, because he is going to be on everybody&rsquo;s mind that knows anything about hockey for the rest of their lives.&rdquo;Ludwig is right. Lafleur will be remembered among the NHL&rsquo;s greatest players. Three NHL scoring titles, six all-star selections, two Have trophies as the NHL&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player and five Stanley Cup championships.They are all memories for Guy Lafleur and his many fans.&ldquo;If it wasn&rsquo;t for that guy (Lafleur), I&rsquo;d have a couple of Stanley Cup rings to wear,&rdquo; said former Boston Bruin coach Don Cherry, whose team lost three playoff series to the Lafleurled Habs.Besides his enormous ability and great desire. Guy had extraordinary charisma, the ability to bring spectators to the rinks and then show them something unusual,&rdquo; said Bowman, who wondered if Lafleur could have benefitted from a change of scenery.&ldquo;Perhaps it&rsquo;s unfortunate that Guy didn&rsquo;t get the chance to try it with another team, because losing a player of his stature is a loss for the league,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;He was still skating very well, but seemed to have lost his touch with the puck. Maybe a new team would have helped him relax and find it again.&rdquo;Shutt, Lafleur&rsquo;s long-time teammate who is looking for a renaissance of his own in Los Angeles, echoed Bowman&rsquo;s sentiments.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t an easy load to carry, being a god who was expected to act that way on and off the ice,&rdquo; Shutt said. &ldquo;He was a very shy man who just wanted to play his game with no fuss or bother and it was tough for him to live with the load of people&rsquo;s expectations always on his shoulders.&ldquo;I felt some of the same pressures, certainly not to the degree that he did, and I&rsquo;ll always be grateful to the Canadiens for allowing me to move to L.A. Maybe the Flower could have got going again with another team. He and I were from another time, when the style of the team was to forecheck and gamble a little. Now it&rsquo;s a conservative approach.&rdquo;Perhaps Rod Langway, the Washington Capital captain who was a Hab during Lafleur&rsquo;s finest days, summed it up for everyone when he said:&ldquo;Did you ever notice that Guy didn&rsquo;t sweat? He seems to walk on a red carpet all the time. No. 10, The Flower, that&rsquo;s it! He&rsquo;s in the garden all by himself.&rdquo; &#9632;

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DEMON BLOND

THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY Founded in 1947 by Kenneth W. McKenziePUBLISHERDean HeineBUSINESS MANAGERTony DobranowskiEDITOR IN CHIEFBob McKenzieEDITORIAL DIRECTORCharlie HalpinASSISTANT EDITORPerry LefkoCONTRIBUTING EDITORSStan Fischler, Frank OrrDIRECTOR ADVERTISING SALESDanny LewickiADVERTISING SALES MANAGERRanch GreenADVERTISING SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVESFor Canadian Consumer Advertising Only Call:CCMC, Cliff Kivell, 287 Macpherson AveToronto. Ontario M4V IA4(416) 928 2909SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES MANAGERPatricia BackNEWSSTAND SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaCIRCULATION DEPARTMENTJudy HartmanRosanne TaninoACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT Tom MoffatMary CarubiaSPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGERHughes MarketingHockey News Bookshelf(416) 499-8227ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL OFF1CES85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100Toronto. Ontario. CanadaM3B 2R2(416)-445-5702EXECUTIVE: OFFICE850 Third AvenueNew York, New York10022NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTORDistributed nationally by Disticor101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 1.4Don Mills. Ont., M3B IZ3(416) 449-6430THE HOCKEY NEWS, (ISSN 0018-34I6) is published weekly except monthly June and bi-monthly 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 $24.95 in the U.S.A. $24.95 in Canada $54.95 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 IV7. 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 NEW&rsquo;S, 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 STATE&rsquo;S: Second class postage paid at New York. N.Y and at additional mailing offices. U.S. POSTMASTER send address change to: The Hockey News. P.O. Box 904. Buffak., N.Y. 14240.Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations &#9632;

<div class="byline">Frank Orr</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011269/4943022-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="382" height="452"></div>MANY OF THOSE who compile lists of milestone players in the history of the National Hockey League tend to make a fairly serious mistake. Such a list contains the names of the very few players who truly qualified for the title &ldquo;superstar,&rdquo; a much misused word. Overused, too.These are the players by whom various eras of NHL history are identified. Too often, the lists read this way in the post-war period: Gordie Howe and Rocket Richard, Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.The blunder is the omission of Guy Lafleur between Orr and No. 99. Sure, there were other factors during The Flower&rsquo;s days of glory from 197480 that folks remember strongly about the time&mdash;the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Broad Street Bullies act, the birth and ascent of the World Hockey Association.But for those five or six seasons, Lafleur picked up the NHL and shook it. He was the league&rsquo;s best player at a time when the NHL and the game badly needed a man in the limelight for something other than 2,879 penalty minutes and 111 fights in a season, or jumping from one league to another for more money than they were worth.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s absolutely no doubt about it, Lafleur was the best player in the league for about five years,&rdquo; said Bob Clarke, who wasn&rsquo;t exactly shabby himself at that time with the Flyers.Clarke retired at the end of the 1983-84 season to become the Philly team&rsquo;s general manager. Lafleur&rsquo;s exit was a bit more sudden and dramatic, a press conference late on a Monday afternoon to announce that he was retiring from the Canadiens.Lafleur scored two goals in 19 games this season. Starting last March 1, he had a streak of 30 games in which he didn&rsquo;t turn on a single red light, a time of enormous frustration for a proud, sensitive man.The unusual part of The Flower&rsquo;s wilting was that he was still skating well, but that seemed to be the only part of his skill tower that had not crumbled. He seemed in fine physical condition and moved with the oldtime flair. He would rush over a sizeable patch of ice with the puck but when he got there, nothing happened. His feet were good, but the magic was gone from his hands.&ldquo;That was the unusual part of it with Guy, the fact that he was skating quite well in the games I saw this season,&rdquo; said Don Cherry, the TV star who coached the Boston Bruins in three dramatic playoff confrontations with The Flower and the Canadiens in the &rsquo;70s.&ldquo;But he just didn&rsquo;t seem to have the confidence in his hands to finish off what his feet had gained for him,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;I felt a little pang in my gut when I heard he was leaving because he was perhaps the last of the guys who could take the puck and go all the way with it.&rdquo;There have been an assortment of theories about Lafleur&rsquo;s decline, including some about his lifestyle, and quite a few of them undoubtedly have some truth in them. However, Cherry and Steve Shutt, Lafleur&rsquo;s long-time linemate who&rsquo;s now with the Los Angeles Kings, offered some interesting suggestions as to why the Lafleur comet seemed to bum out quickly.&ldquo;Many of the players who dominated the game, guys like Howe, Richard, Hull and Orr, were big men, large-boned guys,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;Lafleur was small compared to them, a fine-boned, thin guy who had to wear down much more quickly than the big ones.&rdquo;Shutt feels that &ldquo;being a Canadien&rdquo; takes its toll on players, and it certainly did on Lafleur. He points to the heavy load that all that playoff action inflicts on bodies and the psychological pressure of playing in Montreal.&ldquo;The crowd still cheered for him every time he touched the puck and that made it tough for Guy,&rdquo; Shutt said. &ldquo;I wish they could have left him alone and let him just play. It was more pressure for him. He was a very shy man who wanted no fuss or bother, and being a god who was expected to act like one, on the ice and off, was a heavy load on his shoulders.&ldquo;Canadien players don&rsquo;t tend to have long careers, not the 20-year-old kind, anyway, and that&rsquo;s the price that&rsquo;s paid for winning all the Stanley Cups. Playoffs are a heavy stress time and that contributed to the draining of The Flower.&rdquo; &#9632;

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It Was Hardly A Flowery Ending

<div class="byline">BY JEFF Z. KLEIN AND KARL-ERIC REIF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021184/4943060-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div>Every year, your hear some coach somewhere vow his club&rsquo;s record will improve if their offense or defense can better its total of the previous season by X number of goals. This quantitative approach sounds good in theory, but is this really a sound approach or just specious optimism?Does a dramatic improvement in goals-for or goals-against really guarantee a corresponding rise in the standings?The accompanying chart displays the teams which have added the most to their offense or most tightened their defenses as compared to their averages of the preceding year. The ratings are compiled as percentages, not as raw totals. For example, if a team scores 150 goals in a 60-game schedule (2.50 goals per game), and the following year scores 180 goals (3.00 gpg), it has increased its offensive production by 20 per cent. We&rsquo;ve limited these rankings to teams from the relatively stable period in the NHL since the Second World War.In charting the offensive and defensive performance of every team in the NHL since that time, certain patterns begin to emerge. The handful of teams at the very top of these two lists, however, don&rsquo;t really typify the pattern described by a more complete index.Taking the list out to include the top 20 or 30 teams in each category, it gradually becomes apparent that it is a weaker team that most often is able to generate an offensive explosion and is best able to benefit from it; stronger teams are better able to hone their defenses and move further up in the standings. This two-step approach has often been the formula for success, so general managers, take note: Bad teams ought to obtain scoring punch, and then should concentrate on repairing their defense to produce a contending side&mdash;as Pittsburgh and Hartford have done early this year&mdash;once they&rsquo;ve reached the .500 plateau.A major increase in a team&rsquo;s offense is obviously easier to effect than a drastic reformation of its defense&mdash;common sense tells us this&mdash;and it is borne out by the fact that more teams have achieved significant levels of offensive growth than have significantly fortified their defense in one season, and by the fact that the greatest one-season offensive advances are significantly larger than the best defensive recoveries. Let&rsquo;s see how this breaks down.Twenty-two teams have added more than 25 per cent to their offense, vis-a-vis their output of the prior year; 13 have improved by more than 30 per cent. Only nine teams have cut their goals-against average by more than 25 per cent, however, and only two have reduced the figure by over 30 per cent.The 20 teams with the most improved attacks had an average winning percentage of just .398 the season before their goal-scoring renaissance, augmenting their offense by an average 34.17 per cent and arriving at a wining percentage of .545.The 20 teams which best improved their defense began with an average record of .443, cutting opponents&rsquo; scoring by an average of 25.21 percent to achieve an average winning percentage of .574.Of the top 30 offensive improvements, 20 were made by clubs whose record the previous year was .425 or below. Their newly-charged offense added an average of .137 to their winning percentage. The other 10 teams all started with a record of better than .460, and added an average of .088. Only seven clubs finished the preceding season with a record higher than .530, and their freshened attack added just .038 to their record. Three of those teams actually finished with worse records than they had the year before.In other words, really bad teams have often profited greatly by powerfully invigorating their offense; middling and winning clubs have less often been able to radically expand their attack, and have had much less to show for it in the standings.Of the top 20 defensive improvements, 13 were achieved by clubs whose record the previous year was .450 or better; their reinforced defense added an average of .120 to their winning percentage. Eight of those teams started at .500 or better, and added an average of .109. Just seven of the 20 finished the preceding season with a record of worse than .400, and on the average, their mended defense added .151 to their record.So what we see here is a large number of good teams frequently making good gains in their records via major defensive development. Mediocre teams gain a great deal, and bad clubs gain a very great deal, but only rarely are either able to suddenly awaken their defenses in the first place.Let&rsquo;s single out some teams which appear on each list in successive seasons and put some flesh on the dry bones of that statistical framework.Washington, demonstrably the worst team in NHL history (see the column in THE HOCKEY NEWS, Oct. 5, 1984) in its fledging season of &rsquo;74-75, scored the 25th best offensive improvement and the 17th largest defensive improvement to achieve re spectability by &rsquo;76-77; Montreal&rsquo;s offensive growth in &rsquo;74-75 was the modem era&rsquo;s best, and their 15th-ranked defensive refinement the next year won them the first of four straight Stanley Cups.Chicago&rsquo;s attack produced 28.59 per cent more goals (15th best) in &rsquo;68-69 than it had a year earlier, while sacrificing little in defense. But, oddly, the Hawks&rsquo; record dropped from fourth place in the division, at .540, to the cellar, a mere game over .500. One of five teams among the top 32 in this category whose record showed no gain or even slid backward in spite of dazzling offensive enrichment, they demonstrate that quantitative success is certainly no guarantee of a commensurate boost to a team&rsquo;s record. Their defensive total was sliced by 30.89 per cent the next season, though, and the Black Hawks skated to the Cup finals.The New York Islanders replaced their entire defense corps in &rsquo;73-74 and slashed a full 100 goals off the total given up by their hapless first-year edition, the only team in history to accomplish that feat. Their offense mushroomed in &rsquo;74-75, and the Isles were suddenly an NHL power.But this ran contrary to the more frequent process of a weak team first igniting its offense to rise to mediocrity, then bolstering its defense to become a winner.<h2>Success Formula&hellip;</h2><h3>5 BEST OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS</h3><h3>5 BEST DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS</h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031016/4943053-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="1698" height="348"></div> &#9632;

f0004-02

Weak Teams Need Offense; Strong Ones Need Defense

<div class="byline">By Bob Duff</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011134/4943091-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="403" height="448"></div>Q: Can you please settle a bet for me? I say there are more than 20 NHL players who do not wear helmets. My friend says the number is less than 20. Who&rsquo;s right?Tom Perrone&nbsp; Gibsonia, PAA: It&rsquo;s always hard to determine how many players do not wear helmets, because you don&rsquo;t get to see all the clubs very often, and the number is constantly changing from season to season. However, there can be no doubt that the number far exceeds 20. So, to the best of my knowledge, here&rsquo;s an unofficial list of NHL players who do not wear helmets.BOSTON&mdash;Mike Milbury, Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Rick Middleton; BUFFALO&mdash;None; CALGARY&mdash;None; CHICAGO&mdash;Tom Lysiak, Doug Wilson, Bob MacMillan, Al Secord; DETROIT&mdash;Brad Park, Dwight Foster, Ron Duguay; EDMONTON&mdash;Dave Semenko; HARTFORD&mdash;Dave Lumley, Pat Boutette; LOS ANGELES&mdash;None; MINNESOTA&mdash;Willi Plett, Harold Snepsts; Montreal&mdash;None (with the retirement of Guy Lafleur); NEW JERSEY&mdash;None; NEW YORK ISLANDERS&mdash;Clark Gillies, Bob Nystrom; NEW YORK RANGERS&mdash;Barry Beck, Nick Fotiu; PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Bill Barber (although he&rsquo;s presently inactive), Brad Marsh; PITTSBURGH&mdash;Bruce Crowder; QUEBEC&mdash;None; ST. LOUIS&mdash;None; TORONTO&mdash;Jeff Brubaker; VANCOUVER&mdash;Peter McNab; WASHINGTON&mdash;Rod Langway; WINNIPEG&mdash;Randy Carlyle.That totals 27, so it looks like you win your bet.Q: Of the six expansion teams that joined the NHL in 1967, which was the first to have a 50-goal scorer? Which was the first to have a Vezina trophy winner? And thirdly, which was the first to fire its coach?Vinny Losino Brooklyn, NYA: The Philadelphia Flyers were the first expansion club to have a player register 50 goals in one season. Rick MacLeish bagged an even 50 during the 1972-73 season, netting his 50th against the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; Cam Newton on April 1, 1973.Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante of the St. Louis Blues posted a collective goals-against average of 2.03 to capture the Vezina Trophy in 1968-69, the Blues&rsquo; second season of existence. Hall was also named to the NHL first all-star team, becoming the first expansion player to accomplish such a feat.As for firing coaches, the California Seals ensured themselves of that honor when they axed Rudy Pilous before they had played their first league game. He was replaced by Bert Olmstead. In retrospect, it was probably a lucky break for Pilous, because the Seals floundered, winning only 15 times in 1967-68.If you want your question answered, write to:ASK THE DUFFER115 3rd Avenue South, 316Saskatoon, Sask.Canada, S7K 1L7All letters will be read, but only those published will be answered. Personal responses are not possible. &#9632;

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ASK THE DUFFER

Here&rsquo;s what was happening 20 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Winger Frank Mahovlich rejoined the Toronto Maple Leafs after being hospitalized and tested for extreme fatigue.&bull; Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; attempt to send Bobby Hull&rsquo;s brother, Dennis, to their Central Pro League farm club, St. Louis Braves, was blocked by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who tried to claim the 20-year-old forward on waivers.&bull; The Montreal Canadiens accepted a challenge to play the Soviet national hockey team (using international rules) at the Forum. The Canadien team was the Junior Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey Association but with six added pros.Here&rsquo;s what was happening 15 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Montreal Canadien center Ralph Backstrom scored to end a 10-game goalless streak and reach the 200-goal mark. Teammate John Ferguson was given a six-game suspension by NHL president Clarence Campbell for stick-swinging. &#9632;

THIS WEEK…20 Years Ago

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02830/4943177-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="391" height="448"></div>Bill Gadsby relaxes in his office in Farmington Hills, MI, and looks at the Stanley Cup that sits on a shelf.An inscription on it reads, &ldquo;The Stanley Cup, Presented to Bill Gadsby.&rdquo;Unfortunately for Gadsby, it is not the real thing. This Stanley Cup was awarded to Gadsby and a group of Detroit Red Wing oldtimers for winning the championship of a tournament called Reach For the Stars, recently held in Lake Placid, New York.Gadsby played for 20 seasons (1946-66) in the National Hockey League for the Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks and the New York Rangers, was a member of the first-team All-Stars in 1956, 1958 and 1959, the second-team All-Stars in 1953 and 1954, and later was elected to the Hall of Fame. But for all his accomplishments, he never won a real Stanley Cup.&ldquo;This is the closest I&rsquo;ll ever come to winning a Stanley Cup,&rdquo; joked Gadsby. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really disappointed that 1 never got to play on a Cup winner during my 20 years in the NHL.&ldquo;I came close a couple of times with Detroit towards the end of my career, but it just wasn&rsquo;t meant to be. It wasn&rsquo;t in the books.&rdquo;Gadsby was actually fortunate to have as long a career as he did. At age 25, he developed polio, which was a serious disease at the time.&ldquo;There were a lot of people who had polio in the area I was living (Edmonton, Alta.) the year (1952) I had it,&rdquo; Gadsby said. &ldquo;I was with the Black Hawks at the time, and the team had just gone to their training camp in North Bay when I began to come down with some of polio&rsquo;s symptoms.&ldquo;It was when my neck became sore that clinched it. I was sent immediately to a hospital in Ottawa where I was put in isolation for 10 days.&ldquo;Fortunately, the symptoms went away. I really lucked out. But the whole thing was pretty scary for awhile.&rdquo;Following his retirement in 1966, Gadsby returned two years later to coach the Red Wings. After one season and two games into his second, Gadsby was mysteriously fired.&ldquo;To this day, nobody has ever told me why I was fired,&rdquo; Gadsby said.&ldquo;Bruce Norris (owner of the Red Wings at the time) was the guy who fired me. He told me that he thought he should make a change.&ldquo;Ironically, we had beaten the Black Hawks the night before. He was there and had come down after the game, put his arm around me and told me what a good job the team was doing. The team was undefeated in two games at the time.&ldquo;The next afternoon he fired me. At first I thought he was joking. But then I realized he wasn&rsquo;t.&ldquo;It was the biggest shock of my life. It was a very strange situation and I still don&rsquo;t know why it happened.&rdquo;Today, Gadsby owns a company called Autometrics in Farmington Hills. The company produces fasteners used in the auto business and machine shops, among other places.&ldquo;It was a thrill coming into the league the same time Gordie Howe did and playing almost as long as he did,&rdquo; said Gadsby, who lives with his family in Southfield. ML &ldquo;I could have continued to play after the NHL expanded in &rsquo;67.&ldquo;Even Detroit wanted me to come back. They offered me a huge amount of money to play again. But I had enough hockey.&ldquo;I knew it was time when I had a tough time just trying to lift my legs out of bed in the morning after a game. I knew it was just my body&rsquo;s way of telling me, &lsquo;Gadsby, you&rsquo;ve played enough.&rsquo;&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03579/4943170-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="584" height="1252"><figcaption class="caption-body">The career of former Detroit great was almost threatened when he developed polio.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-02

It Took Gadsby A While To Finally Win The Cup

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04388/4943208-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg"></div>that, as of the beginning of this season, the oldest NHL teams by players&rsquo; age are: &#9632;

f0005-04

Did You Know…

<div class="byline">Stan Fischler&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011315/4943239-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="375" height="444"></div><h2>ON THE CONTRARY</h2>I&rsquo;m worried&mdash;maybe concerned is the better word&mdash;about Tom Barrasso.This young man, in his own goalkeeping way, is as gifted as a Wayne Gretzky or a Mike Bossy, and he should be heard from as often as possible.But Tom Barrasso, right or wrong, has slipped into a cocoon. The Buffalo Sabre goaltender believes he has been wronged by the media, and he&rsquo;s right.His response has been a virtual boycott of the press, radio and TV, even with those who empathize with his position. This is not good, and will boomerang on Barrasso and cause him even more hurt.Right now one of the few people with whom Barrasso will confide is Matt Sullivan, a freelancer whom he befriended in Buffalo last season and one of the few journalists he trusts.In a recent interview, Barrasso dealt candidly with some of the issues that have grated his nerves. They&rsquo;re presented here in the hopes that Barrasso gets a fair shake from the stilletto-throwers who&rsquo;ve been out to nail him for the past year.Let us examine some of the knives and consider Barrasso&rsquo;s replies.KNIFE ONE&mdash;Barrasso stiffed Team USA by leaving the ice midway through a Canada Cup game against Sweden.BARRASSO REBUTTAL&mdash;&ldquo;I have no respect for someone who says it was wrong for me to take myself out of that game. I was doing what I felt was best for the team. If I had thought I could have helped the team, I would&rsquo;ve stayed in, but I didn&rsquo;t. So, I got myself out and maybe got someone in there who could (help the team). I thought I was doing what was best for the team, and if someone disagrees with that, they&rsquo;re wrong.&rdquo;KNIFE TWO&mdash;One paper reported that Barrasso and Team USA coach Bob Johnson had a heated argument under the stands when the goalie said he wouldn&rsquo;t be playing the second period.BARRASSO REBUTTAL&mdash;&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a total fallacy. It never happened. Nothing like that at all. The coach never said a word to me about it. When someone prints something like that it makes so that you don&rsquo;t have a lot of respect for them. When somebody is that irresponsible, it reflects on the whole (media) group in general and not just the person who did it. I think they should take some responsibility and know what they&rsquo;re writing before they do it.&rdquo;KNIFE THREE&mdash;A story circulated that Bengt Gustafsson was involved in an office shoving match with Barrasso during the Canada Cup.BARRASSO REBUTTAL&mdash;&ldquo;I heard about that, too. Bengt Gustafsson would say it didn&rsquo;t happen, so I don&rsquo;t know what the big deal is there. People write what sells papers and makes news whether it&rsquo;s true or false. I think they should really take a hard look at themselves before they go ahead and do it. What they&rsquo;ve been doing, it&rsquo;s not really very ethical.KNIFE FOUR&mdash;A Sports Illustrated story indicated that Barrasso said he was not surprised to have won both the Calder and Vezina Trophies.BARRASSO REBUTTAL&mdash;&ldquo;When I was in Toronto (for the awards ceremony) in every interview I ever did&mdash;and I&rsquo;ve got all kinds of reporters to back me up on this&mdash;they all say I would have been surprised if I had won both awards. The TV stations have file tape (of me saying that I&rsquo;d be surprised if I won both) and then they (Sports Illustrated) come off half-cooked and say I would have been surprised if I didn&rsquo;t win both. They screwed up. They&rsquo;re going to pay for it. It (SI) is an awfully big magazine. Lots of people read it. When somebody picks it up and reads one quote from me and says, &lsquo;Boy, what a jerk this guy is,&rsquo; as far as I&rsquo;m concerned, that&rsquo;s pretty damaging and they&rsquo;re gonna pay for it, like I said.&rdquo;If Tom Barrasso is wrong, I&rsquo;d like somebody to come forth and show me definitive evidence, otherwise, I buy his argument.But I&rsquo;m concerned for him. What the NHL doesn&rsquo;t need is a hockey version of Steve Carlton&mdash;a brilliant athlete who so fervently distrusts the media that he ignores them altogether.Will Tom Barrasso become hockey&rsquo;s Steve Carlton?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a possibility,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It might just come to that in the near future. Public relations is one thing&mdash;I&rsquo;ll do appearances anytime&mdash;but dealing with the press is another.&rdquo;Is Tom Barrasso overwhelmed by or burned out by the press?&ldquo;No, but there are a lot of times when I&rsquo;d say, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m going to bother talking anymore&rsquo; because I get so many negative things written about me&mdash;a lot of positive things, too. But there&rsquo;s always the negative.&ldquo;When someone meets me once and writes an article aboqt me that says I&rsquo;m a lousy person, I feel like telling him to go bleep himself. What does he know? He meets me once. Because of that I sometimes just wanna say, &lsquo;Forget it!&rsquo; I don&rsquo;t need it. But if I do that I just open myself up to more (negative attention).&rdquo;It happens not only to Tom Barrasso but to Wayne Gretzky too, and Barrasso cringes at the thought of it.&ldquo;How can anyone say anything about the best player in the game?&rdquo; Barrasso asked. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s absolutely ludicrous. It&rsquo;s that simple. He&rsquo;s the best player in the game right now. There shouldn&rsquo;t be any debate. No question about it. Simple fact. People should just give him credit for that and respect him for that and not always look for something to badger him about. If they can do it to Wayne Gretzky, they can do it to Tom Barrasso.&rdquo;There is, however, an important distinction between the two, and Barrasso had better pay attention to it.Gretzky has never stonewalled the media. He has taken the best shots of Dick Beddoes and other critics without heading for the nearest fallout shelter.If Barrasso follows the Wayne Gretzky lead, he will do right by the Buffalo Sabres and the National Hockey League.But mostly, he&rsquo;ll be doing right by himself, which is what really counts, and then I won&rsquo;t be concerned about him any-more.<h2>OPEN LETTER TO HARRY NEALE:</h2>Dear Harry:I always figured you for being one of the funniest (and smartest) blokes in hockey, but now I&rsquo;m not so sure about your smarts.No, I&rsquo;m not going to pick on you over the Bill LaForge affair. You gambled. You lost. And who&rsquo;s to say he wouldn&rsquo;t have been a winner had he not run into injuries that would have had a Glen Sather sobbing.But I am going to pick on you if you don&rsquo;t get the heck off the bench and, this time, hire a coach with proven NHL experience.To make it simple, I&rsquo;m giving you two choices. The first one is so obvious you&rsquo;ll wonder (justifiably) why you didn&rsquo;t think of him yourself. The second you wouldn&rsquo;t think of because he&rsquo;s some 3,000 miles away from Vancouver and he doesn&rsquo;t have a good press agent. Are you ready for this, Harry?Phone Don Cherry. Tell Grapes you&rsquo;re sorry you didn&rsquo;t offer him the job in the first place last summer. He&rsquo;ll understand. Give him a three-year deal and tell him you won&rsquo;t mind if he upstages you five out of seven days a week. What do you care, you got yourself a helluva long-term deal, so security is no problem.Face it, Harry, you&rsquo;ve got Team Sominex in Vancouver and the only cure for that is a man who was vaccinated with a phonograph needle. Cherry is your man. A proven winner in Boston. A proven gate attraction in Denver. A proven hockey salesman wherever he goes.Sorry, Harry, but chances are Cherry will tell you, &ldquo;Thanks, but no thanks.&rdquo; Can&rsquo;t blame him. He&rsquo;s busy getting rich with tire commercials, Hockey Night In Canada, and arguing with Blue.So, don&rsquo;t fret if Grapes tells you to shove it. Phone Tommy McVie. He&rsquo;s in Maine, coaching the Mariners, but he should be in the NHL. Oh, I know he&rsquo;s got the image of having coached too many losing teams, but you show me the coach who can tum chicken feathers into chicken salad and I&rsquo;ll show you Dick Beddoes.McVie is a solid hockey man, sparkling with wit and able to take a depressed team and liven it up to a competitive level. He did it with the dismal Devils last year and would be doing a damn good job with them this year if he didn&rsquo;t (underservedly) get the hook from that multi-headed organization.The choice is your&rsquo;s Harry. Make the move before your boss makes his. See ya, around, I hope.<h2>OPEN LETTER TO DON CHERRY:</h2>Dear Don:Am I ever wrong? Take the damn job! Then, we can write another book.<h2>OPEN LETTER TO ALLAN BESTER:</h2>Dear Al:Thanks for the lovely autographed picture postcard of yourself in goalie pads and handsome Leaf jersey I received today. It was particularly thoughtful since I never actually requested one, a though you have been on my mind during my last two goalie dreams.Seriously, Al, next time you send a card, do write something on the message half. Like, &ldquo;Dear Stan, please get me outta here!&rdquo; Or, &ldquo;Dear Stan, how do I get to be like Dan Bouchard?&rdquo; Or, &ldquo;Dear Stan, why can&rsquo;t you write like Dick Beddoes?&rdquo; Or, &ldquo;Dear Stan, how much of that stuff in BLUELINES is really true?&rdquo;But, please, no more blank cards. (Or. am I supposed to dip the card in a mixture of lemon juice and water to get the secret message?)Well, if the kid is looking for ink, give him credit, he just got it.<h2>OPEN LETTER TO GUY LAFLEUR:</h2>Dear Guy:You made a mistake, but it&rsquo;s not fatal. I mean that retirement business. Don&rsquo;t be silly, Guy, there&rsquo;s plenty of hockey in those legs of yours, and if you don&rsquo;t believe me ask Michel Bergeron or Scotty Bowman. They&rsquo;ll grab you in a minute.Think about it, Guy. Wouldn&rsquo;t you like to play on a line with Gil Perreault or Peter Stastny? Of course you would and, furthermore. you&rsquo;d be a damn sight better than you were in Montreal for the past few years.Even if it means waiting out the end of the season so your Canadiens&rsquo; contract expires, say it ain&rsquo;t so. Take my word for it, a couple of weeks from now you&rsquo;ll miss the cheering and the crunch of the ice. Come back, Guy, while you&rsquo;ve still got it! &#9632;

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Will Barrasso Be Hockey’s Steve Carlton?

A coach has quit following the death of one of his hockey players.Larry Lapointe, coach of the Montreal junior AA Repentigny Olympiques, said he&rsquo;s quitting hockey following the death of Stephane Saint-Aubin, 18, during a game against Longueuil Sieurs, Nov. 28. Saint-Aubin, selected as one of the top midget players in Montreal two years ago, had an artery in his neck sliced when he collided with a Longueuil player.Lapointe, who had another player die several years ago when he was struck in the ear by a puck, said he no longer feels he can coach.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s too much,&rdquo; Lapointe said. &ldquo;As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, my career as a hockey coach is over.&rdquo;Raymond Legare, president of the Olympiques, said several of his team&rsquo;s players are &ldquo;badly shaken&rdquo; by the incident.Last December, James Lechman, 15, died after receiving an injury similar to Saint-Aubin&rsquo;s. Five amateur players have died in the past four years in Quebec, which has 300,000 athletes registered with the Quebec Hockey Federation.The Nanaimo Clipper defenseman who was accused of attacking a 78-year-old man in Prague probably will spend Christmas in a Czechoslovakia jail.Allan Chatlain, arrested Nov. 18, may have to wait up to two months before his trial, although the Canadian Embassy in Prague is trying to speeds things up.&ldquo;We are continuing to encourage the authorities to expedite it as much as possible, but we understand the process must tick along, gathering facts and interviewing witnesses,&rdquo; said Howard Balloch, a Canadian Embassy spokesman.National Hockey League executive vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill has levied fines totalling $6,500 following a bench-clearing brawl during a game between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames on Nov. 15.O&rsquo;Neill assessed each club $3,000 for not restraining its players from leaving the bench. Oiler winger Dave Semenko was fined for incurring a match penalty.Carling O&rsquo;Keefe Breweries Ltd. will have to wait a little while longer before knowing whether it will be allowed to televise home games of the NHL&rsquo;s U.S. based teams in Canada.That&rsquo;s the word of Chicago judge Irving Norman, who is making a decision on the legality of the sale of U.S. team&rsquo;s Canadian television rights to Carling O&rsquo;Keefe. The five-year deal is being challenged by Hockey Night In Canada and the six Canadian teams other than the Carling-owned Quebec Nordiques. They claim to have the right to match any rival offer under terms of the NHL&rsquo;s Trans-Border agreement.A man who U.S. federal lawyers said planned to kill two people and threaten Detroit Red Wing owner Mike Hitch with the same fate to extort $l-million. has been convicted of firearms charges.Leland John Mossiman was indicted as a felon in possession of a firearm and for illegally acquiring a silencer.New York Islander coach Al Arbour missed two National Hockey League games due to the death of his mother, Malvina Arbour of North Bay. Mrs. Arbour, 88, died on Nov. 26.Islander assistant coach Brian Kilrea took over for Arbour who returned the Bay for the funeral. Kilrea surftered a 5-2 loss in Calgary on Nov. 28, but the Isles rebounded for a 5-2 win in Winnipeg on Nov. 30. &#9632;

Junior Coach Quits After Death Of Player

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;The Los Angeles Kings had moved over the .500 mark for the first time in over two years, with a seven-game winning streak and 10 victories in a 12-game stretch, but Marcel Dionne had reason to be sad. Guy Lafleur, Dionne&rsquo;s long-time buddy, had retired.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a shock, a little bit of me has died,&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;I was expecting it to happen eventually, but not now, not in the middle of the season. I don&rsquo;t like to see great athletes go out like this.&rdquo;The Dionne-Lafleur rivalry began three decades ago in Quebec. Dionne grew up in Drummondville, Lafleur in Thurso, more than 100 miles apart, but news of each other&rsquo;s outrageous scoring exploits spread quickly.&ldquo;There were constant arguments in the papers, and the parents and friends got involved, too,&rdquo; Dionne remembered. &lsquo;&ldquo;Who&rsquo;s the better one?&rsquo; they&rsquo;d ask. I was husky and quick, more of a playmaker. He was taller and slim, and he had that big slap shot.&ldquo;We were nine years old and I remember the kids were petrified by that slap shot. No kidding, some of them would put on extra padding to protect themselves.&ldquo;Except for the big tournaments, though, we didn&rsquo;t play against each other much. He played in a Class C league, I think, because in those days they went by the population of the town you lived in. I was in a Class A league.&rdquo;Lafleur and Dionne climbed the ladder to the NHL at the same time, through bantam, midget, junior B and junior A, going first and second, respectively, in the 1971 draft.Lafleur, of course, went to Montreal, Dionne to Detroit.&ldquo;It never bothered me that he went first,&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;He was the logical choice. But it was funny the way some of my friends would talk. They&rsquo;d go see him play in a tournament, and the way they talked&hellip;&ldquo;I loved Guy Lafleur, but I started to hate him. No, I always liked the guy. I never considered myself in his class.&rdquo;The statistics tell a different story. Lafleur owns five Stanley Cup rings, Dionne none.But while The Flower&rsquo;s career was ending at the age of 33, Dionne&rsquo;s&mdash;he&rsquo;s also 33&mdash;is still flourishing. And despite playing in only 63 more games during his career, he has collected 76 more goals (594), 85 more assists (813) and 161 more points (1,407).He showed no signs of slowing down, either, with 11 goals and 17 assists in the Kings&rsquo; first 21 games.&ldquo;All I know,&rdquo; Dionne said, &ldquo;is that I&rsquo;ve always sat on the bench and just marvelled at that guy. He was something to watch. The only thing I regret is that we&rsquo;d always have to play against their checking line. It would have been fun to play against him more often.&rdquo;Dionne did play alongside Lafleur once, as a member of Team Canada in 1976, but he skated mostly with Phil Esposito and Bobby Hull&ldquo;When we were in Montreal, earlier in the season, they were still yelling, &lsquo;Guy, Guy.&rsquo;&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;People were still hoping he could do it. Me, too.&rdquo;The newest member of the Kings, left winger Steve Shutt, had played with Lafleur when the two were at their very best in the &rsquo;70s.&ldquo;Guy was a 100 per cent instinct player,&rdquo; Shutt recalled of the good old days. &ldquo;We never had any set plays, even on the power play. I would have to try and figure out what he was going to do before he did. I&rsquo;d try and find a hole, skate for it, then look for the puck.&ldquo;You just didn&rsquo;t give him a set play because he couldn&rsquo;t do it. He wasn&rsquo;t being rebellious; he just wasn&rsquo;t the kind of player who could go up and down his wing all night. For that reason, we were one of the first lines to start crossing over the ice, the way a lot of teams do now.&ldquo;It was a lot of fun because it was less restrictive. And it was a high-speed game. We had the legs, and we used it to our advantage.&ldquo;Hey, we won four Cups in a row, and he played a large part in that. Our whole line did. But those teams had a lot of great players. We had as perfect a team as I&rsquo;ve ever been on.&rdquo;KING NOTEBOOK&mdash;The Kings missed tying their 12-year-old club record of eight consecutive wins when they were flattened 9-5 on Nov. 27, but they were confident of putting another streak together. &ldquo;Good teams don&rsquo;t stay down, and I consider us a good team,&rdquo; defenseman Jay Wells said. &ldquo;We just have to keep our winning attitude.&rdquo;&hellip; Marcel Dionne, with six goals and seven assists during a five-game hot streak, tied John Bucyk for sixth place on the all-time list with his 813th assist, but was more pleased with the Kings&rsquo; big turnaround. &#9632;

Dionne In ‘Shock’ After Rival’s Retirement

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011253/4943318-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div>The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W C.C. Publishing Ltd.85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>Flower Power</h2>HE EMERGED FROM an era in the National Hockey League that some would consider the dark ages, a time when intimidation was king and, as a rule, brawn won out over finesse.So it was for Guy Damien Lafleur, a renaissance man whose flair, charisma and dazzling array of offensive skills helped to alter the way the game was played, to put it on another level.Now, the Demon Blond, as he is often called in his home province of Quebec, has decided to pack it in. In a late afternoon press conference on Nov. 26, Lafleur announced that despite his efforts and deep, deep concern, his game was not coming around, witnessed by his meagre output of two goals.But his troubles this season, and those of the past few, cannot by any means diminish a glorious 14-year NHL career that is rivalled by only a select few.Six first-team all-star selections (1975-80); three Art Ross Trophies (1976-78); two Hart Trophies (1977-78); one Conn Smythe Trophy (1977) and five Stanley Cups (1973, 1976-1979).Regular-season career marks of 518 goals (ninth on the all-time list); 728 assists (10th on all-time list) and 1,246 points (eighth on all-time list). Playoff career marks of 57 goals (11th on all-time list); 76 assists (10th on all-time list) and 133 points (ninth on all-time list.)The numbers surely speak for themselves, but neither words nor numbers can adequately describe the Flower in full flight, his hair blowing back, preparing to unleash one of the most feared shots.Lafleur was to the &rsquo;70s was what Maurice (Rocket) Richard was to the &rsquo;50s, Bobby Orr to the late &rsquo;60s and now, Wayne Gretzky to the &rsquo;80s.In short, he was the dominant player of his time and his mark on the game is indelibly etched.In Quebec, he was more than a hockey star. He was a folk hero.If there is a sad aspect to the end of Lafleur&rsquo;s brilliant career, it is that his star burned too briefly, that he couldn&rsquo;t stay at the top of the game longer.There are reasons&mdash;some blame his jet-setting lifestyle, others his small-boned physique&mdash;but, really, there is no point in dwelling on what has passed.Let it suffice to say that when his star shone. Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s shone brighter than anyone else&rsquo;s.We&rsquo;ll miss The Flower. &#9632;

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Let your voice be heard! Send your comments to Fan Forum, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont., Canada M3B 2R2.I WOULD LIKE to take this opportunity to thank the National Hockey League for disrupting junior hockey so much that the sport at this level is pathetic.My home team, the Kingston Canadians, is presently rumored to be for sale. In all probability the reason for this is low attendance. The reason for such low attendance has to do with the lack of competition at this level. But that lack of competition can be attributed to the fact the NHL is drafting not only underaged talent, but also underdeveloped talent.Two or three years ago. Kingston had a budding young defenseman named Rick (now Rik) Wilson, who obviously had the tools to be a very good defenseman in the NHL. All of a sudden the talent-deprived St. Louis organization decided that Wilson was an above-average player who could contribute immensely in their favor. The point here is that Rik Wilson has not stuck out on a team that has mediocre talent to begin with. In fact, the most newsprint Wilson has ever received was when he changed his name from Rick to Rik.With a couple of more OHL seasons to his credit, Wilson would have, in all likelihood, turned into an outstanding defenseman, and we the fans would have enjoyed observing his development. As it stands, we are now paying to see junior hockey players who have insufficient talent to be in the OHL, let alone have any aspirations of making the NHL. This is by no means a knock against Rik Wilson; it is definitely a rap against the NHL for their destruction of hockey at the junior level.I, for one, am tired of paying to support a team with minimal talent while realizing what little talent it does possess will be prematurely scooped up by the NHL.John Ziegler, give us junior hockey fans a break. With a little luck Kingston will retain their junior team.Terrence A. Cloutier Kingston. Ont.<h2>CHEEVERS FOR HALL OF FAME</h2>With regard to Bernie Parent&rsquo;s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, I am wondering why the same honor has not yet been awarded to Gerry Cheevers.Their career statistics are very similar, (2.552.89) regular season, and (2.43-2.69) playoffs, and both were in the nets for the same amount of Stanley Cups, two.Having witnessed many of Gerry Cheevers games with the World Hockey Association Cleveland Crusaders and the Boston Bruins of the NHL, I hope this oversight will be corrected.J. Enouen Lake wood, OH<h2>DON&rsquo;T JINX THE KINGS</h2>A HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; jinx seems to be developing like Sports Illustrated&rsquo;s famous one. Just ask Mr. Bester and Mr. Wregget of Toronto, who went winless in nine consecutive games, and Al Maclnnis of the Calgary Flames, who were defeated by the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 19.So, be kind to the Kings and their fans and leave them off the cover.Lee Stratford Van Nuys, CAEd. Note: Don&rsquo;t forget Tom Barrasso, and sorry, but the Kings are coming soon.<h2>CREDIT W.C. FIELDS</h2>I would like to direct this letter to Mr. Frank Orr. I&rsquo;m sorry but I could not let this one slide by without comment.In his column in the Nov. 9, issue, he made a remark which he credits to Dune Wilson. He says Wilson awoke with a hangover one day and said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have a Bromo, but I couldn&rsquo;t stand the noise.&rdquo;Well I can&rsquo;t tell him whether Dune ever said that or not, but I can tell him he was not the first. The great W.C. Fields, who had the good sense to leave Philadelphia long before the Flyers showed up, beat him by several decades. Fields, who could probably out-drink and juggle most hockey players, though perhaps not out-skate many, uttered the line in his 1941 film, &ldquo;Never give a sucker an even break.&rdquo;The film was a classic farce which Fields wrote himself under the pseudonym Otis Crib-lecoblis, a name which I&rsquo;d love to hear Gary Green try to pronounce on the USA Network.Anyway, I otherwise enjoyed Frank Orr&rsquo;s column as I usually do.Richard Mann Arcata, CA &#9632;

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;Dave Christian joined the Washington Capitals 18 months ago, found himself on a line with tricky Bengt Gustafsson and went on to enjoy his most productive National Hockey League season with 29 goals and 52 assists.There was reason to believe Christian would be even more outstanding this time around. He was a solid performer for Team USA in the Canada Cup, and figured to be sharp right from the start of the regular season.Given a breather in the early exhibition games, he suited up for a contest at Minnesota and recorded a hat trick to rein-force the impression that he was at the top of his game. He went off to Eveleth to speak at his father&rsquo;s induction into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, then came back and pulled the curtain on the regular season. He bombed.In the first 19 games, Christian managed only three goals and nine assists. With Gustafsson nursing a severe hamstring pull, Christian was shuffled from line to line, but nothing could seem to get him untracked.The Capitals struggled, too, at a below. 500 pace, and coach Bryan Murray, citing the effect of Gustafsson&rsquo;s absence, pointed to Christian&rsquo;s problems and said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping that when Gus comes back, I&rsquo;ll actually be getting two players back.&rdquo;Gustafsson is not due to return until Christmas, but the real Christian put in his appearance ahead of that schedule. Over a three-game period in which the surging Capitals defeated Chicago, Quebec and the New York Rangers, Christian recorded three goals and three assists. He was deprived of star status in all three only because the Rangers can&rsquo;t be bothered choosing three stars.In a 5-0 rout of the Black Hawks, Christian made a quick move through traffic to control the puck and set up Craig Laughlin for the eventual game winner. Then, early in the third period, he scored himself to begin a four-goal barrage that padded the margin.Christian had a three-point game in a 9-2 romp at Quebec as the newly formed line of him, Laughlin and Alan Haworth accounted for four goals.Then, in the third period at New York, Christian deflected a Rod Langway shot past Glen Hanlon for the winner in a 2-1 decision.&ldquo;Before I didn&rsquo;t feel I was shooting very well,&rdquo; Christian said. &ldquo;I have to go to the net to be effective. I also have to play one game at a time and get mentally prepared for it.&ldquo;Physically, I&rsquo;ve been in good shape, but I haven&rsquo;t been mentally sharp. I think the Canada Cup took a lot out of me. It was a pretty intense month of hockey, and then it was a pretty abrupt ending. That game we lost to Sweden was hard to forget.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question I&rsquo;ve missed playing with Gus. We complement each other&rsquo;s game so well. It&rsquo;s not hard playing with someone else, it&rsquo;s just that we play so well together it has to hurt.&ldquo;Locker and Howie and I are starting to get a feel for each other You have to learn what each guy does in certain situations and that takes a little time. We&rsquo;ve been scrambling a bit, but we just have to work hard and get together better.&rdquo;Since Mike Gartner and Bob Carpenter had carried the team offensively through the first quarter of the season, Murray was delighted to get some production from Christian&rsquo;s line.&ldquo;Dave has played very well the last few games,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;When he gets a goal, it seems to give him a lift. He&rsquo;s one of our key players, and we need him on a roll for the team to get moving, too.&rdquo;CAPPING IF OFF&mdash;Defenseman Mike McEwen, center Dean Evason and winger Greg Adams were called up from Binghamton&hellip;McEwan was on the ice for six Washington goals in his debut at Quebec&hellip;Sent to Binghamton were goalie Al Jensen (one week), center Glen Currie (two weeks) and center Paul Gardner (indefinitely)&hellip;Strong men Scott Stevens of Washington and Barry Beck of the New York Rangers struggled to a draw in a battle at the close of the first period that saw them surrounded by the other 38 players. Neither could throw the other down. &ldquo;I was dead for the rest of the game and I guess he was, too,&rdquo; Stevens said. &#9632;

Caps Come Out Of Slump With Help From Christian

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;The New York Rangers lost 2-1 to the Washington Capitals for their seventh defeat in eight games, and there was a feeling of frustration and anxiety among the players.And it was a disconsolate Mike Rogers who stood in a knot of reporters in the Ranger dressing room, explaining what had happened to himself and his teammates&ldquo;Total frustration has set in,&rdquo; said Rogers. &ldquo;It scares me because we&rsquo;ve been doing very little the last few games. Management isn&rsquo;t going to sit still very long, and I don&rsquo;t want to be the one to go.&rdquo;Ironically, it was Rogers&rsquo; assertive and effective play&mdash;after two seasons in which he has struggled offensively&mdash;that might well have made him trade material.It is not definite that Ranger general manager Craig Patrick is about to make a deal, but it is obvious that the team needs help&mdash;either an infusion of fresh personnel, revived confidence or effectiveness instead of futility. Preferably all three.It has been a time of tension. The previous week, after the second period of what was to be a 6-0 loss to the Devils, Ranger coach Herb Brooks confronted his Devil counterpart, Doug Carpenter. With the Devils ahead 5-0 and a faceoff deep in the Ranger zone with two seconds left in the period, Carpenter pulled his goalie, Ron Low, for an extra attacker.Lest Carpenter be accused of trying to run up the score or avenge his team&rsquo;s earlier 11-2 slaughter at the hands of the Rangers in the Meadowlands, remember that New York had recently overcome a 4-0 deficit against the Islanders and won 5-4 in overtime.The weekend after the loss to the Devils, the Rangers had held a long, closed-door team meeting in Quebec following their 8-3 loss to the Nordiques&mdash;a sit-down to clear the air initiated by Robbie Ftorek, who had been brought up just days earlier from New Haven after Don Maloney had broken his leg in the Devil game.The next night, the Rangers lost 3-2 in overtime to Quebec at the Garden.There was a lot to talk about this stretch being the test of the Rangers&rsquo; depth in the wake of injuries to key players. But depth refers to replacing quality with similar quality, whereas the players sidelined are practically irreplaceable in terms of the role they play on the club.The loss of Mark Osborne with a hip injury robs them of a large physical forward. Don Maloney knows few peers in the NHL in terms of his effectiveness in the comers. Mark Pavelich, also out with a broken leg, is the team&rsquo;s most consistent offensive player, and without defenseman Ron Greschner, sidelined with a shoulder injury on Nov. 3, the power play is almost non-existent.And it must be pointed out that the loss of these players has a ripple effect as well, both on line combinations and in the play of others. Pierre Larouche, for instance, has been struggling offensively and his linemates, Peter Sundstrom and Jan Erixon, are playmakers but not scorers. Osborne or Maloney, who broke his leg shortly after being placed on a line with Larouche, could be a help there. The Pavelich injury put an end to the experiment that had Reijo Routsalainen converted from defenseman to left wing, and also robbed the speedy Finn and Anders Hedberg of the one center capable of playing with them. And Mike Allison&rsquo;s adjustment after a knee injury would have helped had Maloney been available to him as a linemate.And then, after the team gave up a flock of goals in their losing streak. Brooks had them go into what he calls a &ldquo;counterpunching&rdquo; mode, which meant that the forwards were coming back to help the defensemen and the offense was generated from an even more defensive posture. As a result, there were even less scoring chances for a team that Brooks had already admitted can&rsquo;t get into a shootout with anyone.The result, which was especially obvious early in the Capital game, was a team whose members&mdash;many of them, including those whose ability is now being wasted&mdash;are afraid to touch the puck, afraid to make mistakes, especially in front of an increasingly short-tempered Garden crowd.Their timidity was especially apparent on the power play, where they were more willing to pass the puck then to shoot. And with nobody going to the net, the opposition was able to employ a wide box.They especially missed Greschner&rsquo;s stickhandling and Maloney&rsquo;s screening of the goalie.&ldquo;Teams shouldn&rsquo;t be collapsing around the net because we&rsquo;re not going there,&rdquo; Rogers admitted. &ldquo;Our whole power play lately has been to get the puck to Rexy (Ruotsalainen) to shoot. And he can&rsquo;t get the shot if they&rsquo;re playing so far out.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to start going to the net and just shooting the puck and taking some lumps and going for rebounds.&rdquo;Brooks sounded more satisfied than you might expect after the Capital game.&ldquo;The effort is the important thing, not just the results,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

‘Frustrated’ Rangers Worried About Future

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>The way coach Terry Simpson and director of player personnel Sherry Bassin see it, the 46 players invited to try out for Canada&rsquo;s national junior hockey team have a golden opportunity.The unit, including eight U.S. college players, five first-round National Hockey League draft picks and 10 others chosen in the second round last June, will assemble in Belleville on Dec. 10 for a mini-tryout camp to pick the best 20 for the world junior championships. Dec. 23 to Jan. I in Finland.The objective is clear&mdash;winning a gold.&ldquo;I came back from the last year&rsquo;s tournament impressed by Canada&rsquo;s hockey players,&rdquo; said Simpson, who was the assistant to Brian Kilrea on last year&rsquo;s team, which finished fourth with a 4-2-1 record in Sweden after a devastating opening loss to the Finns. &ldquo;I went over expecting the worst and came back feeling we had a pretty good chance to win.&rdquo;This year, he hopes it can be done.Bassin was general manager when Canada last won a gold, in the 1981-82 tournament in Rochester, MN. He returns to the team after a one-year absence. and his motivational ability could play a very important role in Canada&rsquo;s success.That final night in Rochester, Bassin got his hands on one of the gold medals to be awarded to the champions, dangling it as bait in front of the impressionable Canadian juniors and screaming: &ldquo;You can look at it but you can&rsquo;t touch. You&rsquo;ve got to go out and earn it.&rdquo;They did, with a 4-4 tie against the Czechs to finish the tourney 6-0-1.&ldquo;Sometimes in the past, we&rsquo;ve been in the habit of making excuses to lose instead of making excuses to win,&rdquo; Bassin said.The list of prospective players includes six goaltenders, 12 defensemen and 28 forwards.Defenseman Selmar Odelein of the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League and Jeff Beukeboom of Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL are both first-round draft picks of the Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers the last two years. The other first-rounders include Peterborough Petes&rsquo; defensemen Terry Carkner (New York Rangers) and Hamilton Steelhawks&rsquo; forward Shayne Corson (Montreal Canadiens).Several additions to the junior national&rsquo;s selection camp may be forthcoming pending negotiations with several NHL teams.Twenty of the players are from the OHL. led by five members of the London Knights, including center Brian Bradley, who almost cracked the lineup of the Calgary Flames this season.Other top names selected from the OHL include: Knight defenseman Bob Halkidis; Kitchener center Shawn Burr, a first-round pick of Detroit who was just recently returned to junior; Sudbury winger Craig Duncanson and the Soo&rsquo;s Graeme Bonar. the leading scorer in the OHLAnother candidate could be Jeff Jackson. returned by the Toronto Maple Leafs to Hamilton after the selections were announced.For Bradley, the invitation is the starting point for a goal he set at the beginning of the season.&ldquo;I wanted a chance at the junior team, and I think I&rsquo;ve got a good chance for it.&rdquo; Bradley said. &ldquo;It will be a terrific experience for me. and it will help me as a hockey player.&rdquo;A very good skater, puck handler and playmaker, the international game is suited to Bradley.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s my game, and I will get a good chance at showing it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really exciting.&rdquo;Among Western players selected were defenseman Brian Benning of the Portland Winter Hawks and Wendell Clarke of Saskatoon. Other top WHL players chosen were Doug Trapp of Regina and Dan Hodgson of Prince Albert. Among those selected from the Quebec League were Claude Lemieux of Verdun and Claude Gosselin of Quebec.Several NCAA players have been invited, including Michigan State&rsquo;s top scorer Craig Simpson and Scott Mellan-by of Wisconsin. First indications were Simpson, regarded to be the best prospect for the NHL draft, had rejected the invitation because the Spartans were playing in the Great Lakes tourney, Dec. 28-29.Terry Simpson approached camp with three priorities.&ldquo;The first thing is to get proper people in Belleville, but the list will change even at the last minute.&rdquo; Simpson said. &ldquo;We have to stay flexible if a player from an NHL team becomes available, or a player in the junior leagues we missed starts to play well.&ldquo;Then we have to select the right people and mold a team concept very quickly. When the tournament starts, it starts. It doesn&rsquo;t start two days later. We have to be prepared. Those are the critical areas.&rdquo;Last year. Simpson saw the Canadians tie the Russians 3-3. That outcome, obviously, gives him reason to believe Canada can win.&ldquo;In my mind, I felt we should have won.&rdquo; he said.Bassin said the players who will ultimately be chosen will be those who can handle the usual frustrations of international hockey.&ldquo;The real issue is ability,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care where you play, you have to have skill and ability to play the game. The refereeing is different. Playing at this level requires a different type of discipline, and you have to have players who act and don&rsquo;t react.&rdquo;Added Simpson: &ldquo;We have adequate personnel on paper right now, but the game&rsquo;s played on ice. not paper.&rdquo; &#9632;

Team Canada Eyes Golden Opportunity

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011182/4943542-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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World Jr. Schedule

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02906/4943573-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg"></div>Tony MacDonald, newly appointed Promotional Service Representative for Micron Sports Products Inc., and his new promotional services van will be taking to the road in the new year.Tony will be visiting arenas throughout Ontario to demonstrate the performance attributes of Micron&rsquo;s Quadraflex and Medalic skates. Whether you are a junior or college level player, or just play hockey for fun, watch for Tony at your local arena. Coaches and trainers are also invited to participate in the on ice product testing, and Tony will be pleased to answer any questions about Micron skates.Tony will also be demonstrating the revolutionary &ldquo;Medafit&rdquo; custom fitting system. Bring him new or old Micron skates and by the application of heat to strategic areas of the skates they can be custom fitted to solve just about any fit problem.Watch for Tony&rsquo;s arrival at your local hockey arena or contact him by writing Micron Sports Products Inc., 5790 Ferrier St., Montreal, Quebec H4P 1M7 or by calling the toll free number 1-800-361-6211. Quebec players too! Keep watch for a promotional Service Representative soon to arrive in your province. &#9632;

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INTRODUCING THE MICRON ROAD SHOW

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE JEPSON</div>Perhaps Team USA has no tangible right to carry optimism into the World Junior Championships later this month in Finland, but don&rsquo;t tell that to coach Doug Woog.&ldquo;Realistically, our goal is a medal.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s optimism. Anything beyond a medal is a plus.&rdquo;Woog&rsquo;s talk isn&rsquo;t hype, but simply a belief in the U.S. juniors. And the fact that Team USA finished sixth in the 1984 tournament with a 2-5-0 record doesn&rsquo;t dampen his spirits. This is a new year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to it. because our people are positive,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have real strength in personalities. Our kids really want to play. The chemistry has been very good. The relationship between players and staff has been excellent. We have good quality players.&rdquo;Until late November, U.S. team officials were encouraged by the blend of older, experienced players and younger skaters whom they hoped would make up the roster. Al lafrate, a 1984 Olympian now playing defense for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal Canadien center Alfie Turcotte were good bets to play:On Nov. 26. Toronto withdrew lafrate from consideration.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve had injuries and he&rsquo;s in the regular lineup,&rdquo; Woog said. &ldquo;I understand. If it would have been an advantage (for Toronto) to have him playing (for the U.S.), he would have been playing. You have to be realistic about that.&rdquo;Uncertainty surrounds Turcotte&rsquo;s availability as a result of Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s unexpected retirement, which opened a spot in the Montreal lineup. Turcotte has been used sparingly early in the National Hockey League season.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re dealing with that kind of situation, you&rsquo;re dealing with the advantages and disadvantages for the pro team,&rdquo; Woog said. &ldquo;I imagine the (decision on Turcotte) will go down to the end, so that puts us in a little bit of a pickle.&rdquo;Another American loss was Brad Jones, a talented center for the University of Michigan who is recovering from a knee injury. And defenseman Paul Ames, a returning U.S. junior from Lowell University, is battling a bout of mononucleosis, making him doubtful for the tournament.Optimism, eh? Who is this Woog? Well. Team USA would be stronger with lafrate and Jones in the lineup. And Turcotte and Ames are big question marks. On the brighter side, the Americans have three experienced forwards returning from the last junior team.Harvard&rsquo;s Allen Bourbeau, the top scorer a year ago with three goals and three assists, will likely center a line between left winger Clarke Donatelli from Boston University and right winger Steve Leach from the University of New Hampshire.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident Allen Bourbeau will play very, very well.&rdquo; Woog said. &ldquo;He shows intelligence. It&rsquo;s his second year. He really wants to play. We&rsquo;re hoping that Donatelli and Leach will be strong in there, too. They&rsquo;re talented players and they&rsquo;ve been there. They&rsquo;ll be comfortable.&rdquo;Other first-year forwards for Team USA include center Greg Dornbach (Miami of Ohio), right winger Brian Hannon (Michigan Tech), center Craig Janney (Deerfield Academy), left winger Bill Kopecky (Boston College), center Jeff Rohlicek (Kelowna Wings) and left winger Doug Wieck (Colorado College).Defensively the U.S. is &ldquo;going to end up being pretty young&rdquo; Woog said.&ldquo;That makes it difficult.&rdquo; Woog added. &ldquo;We could have four out of our six defensemen who are not out of high school yet.&rdquo;Only Brian Johnson from the University of Minnesota-Duluth&mdash;and possibly Ames&mdash;return from the 1984 U.S. squad. The defensive roster lists Brian Leetch from Avon Old Farms School, Eric Weinrich from Gardner Maine High School and Jay Octeau from Boston University. With lafrate scratched and if Ames is not able to play, two additional defensemen may be added.&ldquo;The next three top candidates are Dave Espe from White Bear Lake. Minnesota, Perry Florio from Kent Prep School and Chris Biotti from Belmont Hill School,&rdquo; Woog said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re all young kids.&rdquo;Alan Perry, the tournament&rsquo;s most valuable goalkeeper last year, gives the U.S. strength in net, as he&rsquo;s &ldquo;playing quite well right now&rdquo; for the Windsor Compuware Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League, Woog said.Mike Richter from Northwood Prep School is the other U.S. goalkeeper.Team USA will be younger than expected, something Woog accepts, but he&rsquo;s quick to add, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some good kids. We had a good training camp (last summer). We had a chance to be together for a week and put in a system which seemed to be accepted by the players.&rdquo;Keith Blase, Team USA&rsquo;s general manager, puts the American program in perspective.&ldquo;We would like to go in and win a medal,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but the tournament really gives us an opportunity to expose some of our better junior-age players to international competition. Remember, this is the first year of the next quadrennial in preparation for the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team.&rdquo;Turku is the site for Team USA&rsquo;s tournament games, which begin on Dec. 23 against Czechoslovakia. The U.S. then plays Finland, Russia, Canada, West Germany, Poland and Sweden in succession.&ldquo;We could be in the first three or four contests,&rdquo; Blase said. &ldquo;And if we win one or two, who knows? We could be right in the thick of things.&rdquo; &#9632;

Team USA Aiming For A Medal Of Any Color

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;&ldquo;My buddies back home call me up after we play Montreal and they sort of get on my case,&rdquo; said Steve Kasper. &ldquo;They say. &lsquo;When&rsquo;s it going to go in the net?&rsquo; Maybe I&rsquo;ll make a few calls tonight and bug them.&rdquo;The occasion was Kasper&rsquo;s first National Hockey League hat trick, in a 7-4 win over Montreal on Nov. 25. Not only that, but it was his first goal ever against the Canadiens, the team from the city in which he grew up. This is his fifth year in the NHL.&ldquo;Goals just happen,&rdquo; said Kasper, who won the Selke Trophy three years ago as the best defensive forward in the NHL. &ldquo;I try to play the same every night.&ldquo;You go out there and sometimes you have a lot of chances but the goalie is there to make the big save. Another time you hit a skate and it goes in for you. Tonight was one of those nights where everything I touched seemed to go in the net.&rdquo;The hat trick was particularly satisfying to Kasper because his playing time has been cut drastically over the past two years by injuries.He missed 56 games during the 198283 season after he underwent surgery twice. Tom shoulder cartilege was removed Nov. 9 and, even before he had a chance to get back into action, he underwent a second operation for a tom muscle in his left shoulder on Dec. 7.Last season, he sat out 53 games after he suffered a left shoulder separation in a Thanksgiving game against Quebec. The separation finally was repaired by surgery on Jan. 7 only to be reinjured in February.&ldquo;My shoulder feels good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve kept myself in good shape. Maybe mentally right now, after the last two years, I feel better than I ever have. I&rsquo;ve played 20 games now and I still feel healthy. That&rsquo;s a big boost for me.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I was pressing to score against Montreal tonight. I&rsquo;ve had a lot of assists against them. I had a lot of opportunities, but somehow the goal eluded me.&ldquo;It was a big thrill to beat Montreal. I grew up a Montreal fan and watched them win the Cup. But actually once the game starts it&rsquo;s just like playing any other team. Two points are two points.&rdquo;For one terrifying moment, Kasper thought he was going to be deprived of his First goal.&ldquo;I was a little worried about the first one,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Keith Crowder made the play to me beside the net and I came out and stuffed it.&ldquo;I saw it go right in but, with the new nets, there&rsquo;s a pad that goes along the bottom and there&rsquo;s about two inches between the pad and the goal line. The puck was wedged in there and no one could really see it.&ldquo;I was standing right there and I could see it and I was yelling, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s in! It&rsquo;s in!&rsquo; But nobody seemed to be paying any attention. Finally the referee came over and he saw it too and he called it a goal.&rdquo;The win was also significant to the Bruins because it ended the Steve Penney jinx. Kasper&rsquo;s three goals in one game was one more than the entire Bruin team got on the Canadien rookie goalie in three playoff games last spring.&ldquo;No one was talking about it before the game,&rdquo; said Kasper, &ldquo;but when you&rsquo;re always getting beat 2-1 or 3-1 you start to say, &lsquo;Gee, has this guy got our number? Are we not going to be able to get one by him?&rsquo; Tonight we got seven. Hopefully, it will be easier for us next time.&rdquo;Kasper reminisced about growing up in Montreal in the shadow of the great Canadien teams.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t a rink rat,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t really at the Forum a lot because I was always off somewhere playing hockey. Naturally, like any other kid in Montreal, I liked Guy Lafleur. But I was never really one to pick favorites.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011266/4943604-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="576" height="719"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal-born Steve Kasper scored a hat trick for the Bruins against the Canadiens.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;That team was just so good. It was a pleasure to watch three defensemen like Larry Robinson and (Guy) Lapointe and (Serge) Savard in their prime.&ldquo;But when the draft came around 1 can honestly say I was hoping to be drafted elsewhere. 1 was thinking, &lsquo;Gee, a team like that, I&rsquo;ve seen so many guys never get the opportunity to show their stuff with Montreal.&rsquo; I didn&rsquo;t really want to go there.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Kasper Helps Bruins Beat The Penney Jinx

<div class="byline">Bill Fleischman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021062/4943635-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="404" height="457"></div>THE SUTTERS AND the Stastnys&hellip;Tiger Williams and Kent Nilsson&hellip;Ken Linseman and Charlie Simmer. We&rsquo;re talking about opposite on-ice personalities here, folks.Ken Linseman&mdash;a pest, a guy who receives an A-plus in irritation and starting brawls; Charlie Simmer&mdash;a guy who never bothers anyone, except rival goaltenders.Linseman and Simmer are teammates for the first time, wearing the Boston Bruin black and gold. That both are off to good starts with one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s most prestigious teams is one of the nicer stories of the new season.Both are two of the most appealing players in hockey. For one thing, they haven&rsquo;t just started shaving, like most of the league&rsquo;s players. Linseman, 26. and Simmer, 30, have a few miles and bruises on them from visiting NHL arenas from Quebec to Vancouver. Having this experience makes each one appreciate playing for the Bruins in a place such as Boston, which takes its hockey as seriously as any NHL city.As a 30-year-old making big bucks. Simmer realizes Boston is probably his last stop. Boston is Linseman&rsquo;s third team. He would like it to be his last.I&rsquo;ve never heard anyone say a bad word about Charlie Simmer. Of course, I wasn&rsquo;t invited to the chats he had with Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; general manager Rogie Vachon before the trade was made with Boston. It&rsquo;s likely that through the smoke of one of Rogie&rsquo;s baseball-bat cigars, an unkind word or two was exchanged.If that happened. Simmer isn&rsquo;t saying. Simmer has nothing but compliments for Vachon and Pat Quinn, the new King coach.&ldquo;They (the Kings) made the right step in hiring Pat Quinn and Rogie,&rdquo; Simmer said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re getting capable people in there to run it. Pat treated me fairly. He understood the problem. I didn&rsquo;t want to jeapordize his career there. I think the best thing happened.&rdquo;Gerry Cheevers and the Bruins will hoist a few to that remark. Simmer can score goals, as he proved in Los Angeles when he twice hit the 56-goal mark. A severly broken leg slammed Simmer&rsquo;s career against the wall for a while, but he was back in form last season, scoring 44 goals.&ldquo;His major impact is as a sniper,&rdquo; said Lineman, who has had the pressure of centering for Simmer. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s real good around the net, he really helps the power play. With (Ray) Bourque and (Mike) O&rsquo;Connell, we got two of the best point men shooting. With someone like Charlie in front of the net, we just have to move it around and we should get some goals.&rdquo;When Harry Sinden made the trade, with Los Angeles in the unique position of receiving a first-round draft choice for a change. Simmer said he regarded the move to Boston as a challenge. Recently, he said the adjustment has been as smooth as he expected. Of course, he and his family haven&rsquo;t experienced Boston&rsquo;s winters yet. After Los Angeles, that&rsquo;s another chilling story.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve basically played their style of game my whole career,&rdquo; Simmer said. &ldquo;And, starting on the road and winning a few games really helped the adjustment.&ldquo;Coming to a good hockey town like Boston picks you up a little bit. You really have to go out every night (and play hard). It&rsquo;s not pressure as much as motivation. I didn&rsquo;t have any problem in L.A. motivating myself. But it was more of an individual thing. Here, when you walk in the dressing room or downtown, it&rsquo;s Bruins and Celtics. You think hockey more often.&rdquo;Linseman has been accused of a lot of things, but not thinking enough about hockey&mdash;at least during games&mdash;isn&rsquo;t one of the charges. Perhaps it illustrates Linseman&rsquo;s revived spirit that he could be heard discussing the Bruins&rsquo; offense with a teammate in the shower before meeting the press the other night (how&rsquo;s that for eavesdropping in the line of duty, boss?)When Linseman was traded from Edmonton to Boston for Mike Krushelnyski, my first reaction was: if Kenny plays the way he is capable of, they&rsquo;ll love him in Boston. When Linseman is on his game, he is one of the NHL&rsquo;s most exciting players. If he plays for your team, you want to hug him. If he is playing against your team, you want to squash him.After Philadelphia made him a first-round draft choice in 1978, Linseman was proclaimed &ldquo;the next Bobby Clarke.&rdquo; This, obviously, was a mistake, but you can&rsquo;t blame this propoganda entirely on the press. Even the Flyer front-office people saw Linseman as a Clarke-type leader and worker.Unfortunately for the Flyers and Linseman, his only outstanding season in Philadelphia was his last, 1981-82, when he rang up 24-68-92 scoring figures to lead the Flyers. A few months later, however, he was gone to Edmonton where he turned in two respectable seasons. As a farewell to the frozen north, Linseman scored 10 goals in the playoffs as he helped the Oilers dethrone the Stanley Cup-champion Islanders.&ldquo;When they moved Mark (Messier) that took away my job,&rdquo; Linseman said. &ldquo;I would have been like a rover, killing penalties and playing on a fourth line.&ldquo;Here, I get to play a lot. I take a lot of draws and I have a lot more responsibility. I&rsquo;m more comfortable, now that I&rsquo;ve been around a lot.&rdquo;With players such as Bourque, Rick Middleton, Barry Pederson and Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, the Bruins are serious Stanley Cup contenders. If they win a Cup, Linseman will play a larger role than he did in Edmonton. And, if they win a Cup, Simmer&rsquo;s goal-scoring will be a major contribution. &#9632;

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Bruin Opposites Attract Definite Cup Possibilities

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011192/4943666-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

BookShelf

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Canadien insiders pinpoint an incident last season that marked the beginning of the end of Guy Lafleurs playing relationship with coach Jacques Lemaire and the team. Lemaire dressed down Lafleur in a Los Angeles hotel lobby. According to those in the know, after Jacques gave Guy grief, Lafleur called his ex-teammate a hypocrite and their rapport moved from sad to subterranean from then on&hellip;Until now, no one has bothered to talk to the one player-eyewitness to the Herb Brooks-Doug Carpenter near fight in the bowels of Madison Square Garden. The Rangers&rsquo; Nick Fotiu, the chap who separated the pair, gives BLUELINES the exclusive account. &ldquo;It was,&rdquo; says Fotiu, &ldquo;a shouting match. At the end of the second period we were going into the dressing room when I saw them come together. I wanted to stop what I thought might happen (a fight). I stepped in front of Carpenter and told them both to calm down. Then, it really looked like they were going to get together (and fight), so I grabbed Carpenter and brought him to his dressing room. I was just being a good boy.&rdquo; Brooks&rsquo; explanation inexplicably was never printed in the New York papers. &ldquo;It wasreally nothing,&rdquo; Brookstells BLUELINES. &ldquo;It was just something that arose out of a game situation. There was no pushing or shoving, and as far as I&rsquo;m concerned it&rsquo;s over.&rdquo; But not as far as Devil fans are concerned. The next Brooks-Carpenter confrontation will be Dec. 22 at the Meadowlands. The 19,023-seat Byrne Arena figures to be sold out&hellip;A barometer of the NHL&rsquo;s promotional problems is evident in current issues of Sport and Inside Sports magazines. Neither national monthly carries a hockey feature in its current edition&hellip;Gordie Howe, who says he can&rsquo;t imagine Boston without Boston Garden, worries that the venerable building will go the way of old Madison Square Garden. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just afraid someone&rsquo;s going to walk in here (Boston Garden) someday and blow it up.&rdquo;&hellip;One NHL boss tells BLUELINES he hears that Madison Square Garden may be up for sale.King coach Pat Quinn still talks bitterly about his dismissal by the Flyers. &ldquo;I took a bad knock when I was let go,&rdquo; Quinn tells Angelo Cataldi of the Philadelphia Inquirer, &ldquo;because they said I was autonomous and dangerous.&rdquo; Quinn says that as far back as 1980 the Flyers had him and Bobby Clarke targeted to take over the team as coach and general manager, respectively. He says he&rsquo;d have had no trouble working with Clarke, but adds that (deposed Flyer GM-coach) Bob McCammon felt otherwise. &ldquo;McCammon on the other hand,&rdquo; says Quinn, &ldquo;saw him (Clarke) as a threat. Not to knock (McCammon), but his idea about success was a personal success.&rdquo;&hellip;At the core of the Ranger disagreement over who should or shouldn&rsquo;t be on the varsity is the feeling among many regulars that defenseman Steve Richmond belongs on Broadway and not in the sticks. The pro-Richmond contingent began beefing as far back as October when Simo Saarinen got the nod over Richmond on the Blueshirts&rsquo; backline&hellip;An NHL coach offers a wager to BLUELINES: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll bet that Mario Lemieux has a higher &lsquo;minus&rsquo; than Kirk Muller.&rdquo; The mentor adds that Lemieux eventually will become a superstar, but that Muller, in his own two-way way, will prove just as effective, if not as prolific&hellip;The buzz on Broadway is that the Rangers would do what once was regarded as unthinkable: trade captain Barry Beck. BLUELINES&rsquo; source says coach Herb Brooks has suffered a lessening affection toward Bubba&hellip;Another trade rumor, Behn Wilson for Mario Tremblay&hellip;The talk among the Bruins is that Tom Fergus has all-star potential, but is too lazy.When the Rangers held an 80-minute closed door meeting after losing to Quebec on Nov. 25, they violated a league by-law requiring them to open doors to the media within 10 minutes of the game&rsquo;s conclusion. NHL PR poobah John Halligan tells BLUELINES that the league would have probed the matter &ldquo;if we received a formal complaint.&rdquo; But nobody beefed. Although the press often finds itself barred from dressing room access, there has been little NHL response. &ldquo;Nobody,&rdquo; adds Halligan, &ldquo;takes the time to complain.&rdquo;&hellip;Boston fans who used to chant &ldquo;Loo-ie, Loo-ie&rdquo; for former Red Sox Luis Tiant now do likewise when Louis Sleigher scores a Bruin goal&hellip;The Bruins reportedly are in pursuit of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Doug Shedden. A guesstimate is that Shedden would be good for 40 goals if he skated on a line with a solid center. The Pens&rsquo; placing defenseman Kevin McCarthy on right wing is seen as a signal that his Pitt days are numbered&hellip;Hollywood comic Harris Peet greeted King coach Pat Quinn with a pair of Cuban cigars. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see Pat smoking a pipe anymore,&rdquo; chortles Peet&hellip;Washington general manager Dave Poile says he has clues to the rash of injuries plaguing the NHL. &ldquo;Training camps are too short and we play exhibition games right away and we play our best players.&rdquo; Poile figures lighter equipment may also be a factor&hellip;The last Harry Neale-Bill LaForge behind-closed-doors yell was so loud that it was picked up by outsiders. LaForge&rsquo;s squelch was: &ldquo;Why blame the whole bleeping thing on me?&rdquo;&hellip;Although her husband was traded to Minnesota, Janice (Mrs. Rollie) Melanson still visits the Islanders&rsquo; wives room and sits with her old friends at Isles&rsquo; home games. Mrs. M is still living on the Island&hellip;Not since Don Cherry began talking up his pet canine, Blue, has an NHL coach boasted about his dog. But now the Bruins&rsquo; Gerry Cheevers is telling stories about his Lhasa Apso pooch, Brandy. &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;The eyes said it was a happy ending. The ears begged to differ.The Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; pilgrimage, consisting of 14 of 16 games on the road, ended when they scored a narrow 5-3 victory in New Jersey on Dec. 1.But you&rsquo;d never have guessed the outcome after hearing the post-game exchange that took place between Hawk coach Orval Teasier and Frank Udvari, a National Hockey League supervisor of officials.Tessier was opening the door of the Chicago dressing room when he spotted Udvari talking to general manager Bob Pulford.&ldquo;Five-on-threes!&rdquo; Tessier shouted contemptuously at Udvari, protesting the fact that referees have given Chicago adversaries eight such power-play advantages this season.Udvari exploded.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re the biggest cry-baby in the league!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re the dumbest in the league!&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not dumb enough to be a referee,&rdquo; Tessier retorted.&ldquo;Two years in the league and you know everything,&rdquo; Udvari stormed back. &ldquo;You know more than any coach or manager or referee, and you&rsquo;re the dumbest we&rsquo;ve got. Why don&rsquo;t you just quit?&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m making too much money to quit,&rdquo; sneered Tessier.In the dressing room, Mt. Orval also had the last word, only now he was chuckling.&ldquo;I think there was an earthquake out in the Meadowlands,&rdquo; he told New Jersey reporters when asked what all the com-motion was about.&ldquo;That must have been what you heard.&rdquo;Then, he added, one for the road: &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather be a sour winner than a great loser.&rdquo;Even without the tumult and the shouting afterward, the game provided an exciting ending to the second of the Hawks&rsquo; two extended trips, the first of which began Oct. 30. Since then, Tessier&rsquo;s team has managed to stay atop the Norris Division by compiling a record of 7-8-2 on the road and a record of 5-3-0 in its two Chicago pit stops.Taking only four shots-on-goal, the Hawks scored three times in the second period, and carried a 4-2 lead into the final 20 minutes.With 10:15 left in the game, referee Terry Gregson blew the whistle on Tessier for having too many men on the ice. Then, with 35 seconds remaining on that penalty, Gregson again went to his whistle, this time penalizing Doug Wilson for holding.Fourteen seconds later, Mel Bridgman scored, slicing the Devils&rsquo; deficit to 4-3.It was Bridgman&rsquo;s second goal of the game and he almost came back for an encore in the form of a hat trick. It took a splendid clutch save by Hawk goalie Murray Bannerman to keep him from tying the score with 2:01 to play.New Jersey coach Doug Carpenter pulled goalie Chico Resch in the final minute, trying to tie the score. Instead, Steve Larmer scored his 14th goal of the season&mdash;this time an easy empty-netter&mdash;to seal the Hawks&rsquo; second consecutive victory.&ldquo;I have no words to express how we feel,&rdquo; said Tessier. &ldquo;This could have been a disastrous month. Our players turned it into a great month. Now, we have nine extra games at home. If we win the majority, we&rsquo;re in good shape.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011244/4943721-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="582" height="722"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chicago coach Orval Tessier was livid after the New Jersey game even though the Hawks won.</figcaption></div>HAWK TALK&mdash;The Hawks have sent right winger Bob MacMillan to Milwaukee of the International League, and defenseman Dave Feamster to the hospital for tests. Feamster probably also is destined to report to the Admirals. MacMillan, once a big scorer in the NHL, was obtained from New Jersey for fellow winger Rich Preston in the maneuvering that enabled the Hawks to draft Ed Olczyk. &ldquo;MacMillan gave us a great effort in every game but the results weren&rsquo;t there,&rdquo; said coach Orval Tessier. MacMillan had only two goals to show for his 23 games with Chicago and was a minus-12 on the plus-minus scale. Feamster was a plus-5 for 16 games, and scored one goal and three assists. &#9632;

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Hawks’ Road Trip Closes With Mt. Orval Eruption

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011175/4943752-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Aaron Broten&rsquo;s play has been sporadic, but he made good with two goals in the surprising win against Philadephia.</figcaption></div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;His coaches have called him a tease. Billy MacMillan, Tom McVie and Doug Carpenter have all devised plans to tap Aaron Broten&rsquo;s wealth of talent on the ice.There was a period of success when Broten centered the Kid Line with Paul Gagne and former teammate Jeff Larmer, but that dried up. There was the strong start this season when Broten came directly from the Canada Cup series, but his quick start turned into a 12-game, goal-scoring drought.Now Broten has made another about-face. His two third-period goals against Philadelphia on Nov. 29 gave the Devils a stunning 2-1 victory, their third in a row. They also gave Broten five goals and six points in four games, and extended his franchise record of consecutive-games played (151 and counting). But will his success last?&ldquo;I hope so,&rdquo; said Carpenter. &ldquo;Aaron is a very, very talented person, and he&rsquo;s a very important person for us. He has great offensive skills and great skills overall. He was probably ahead of everyone at the start of the season because of the Canada Cup, but then he fell off for a few games. I hope he&rsquo;s back on target.&rdquo;Broten, now 24 and in his fifth NHL season, has never seemed to satisfy the critics. He has been haunted by the declarations that he probably possesses more talent than his older brother, Neal, but he has neither the good fortune of playing on a good team, nor the desire to turn his talent into big goal-scoring numbers.He is among the league&rsquo;s best stickhandlers and playmakers, but he has been accused of lacking motivation, not to mention having an attitude problem. These charges don&rsquo;t bother Broten any more.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have to satisfy those people who say those things,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just out to help this team. I can&rsquo;t play all-out offensively and expect to help the team as much. I&rsquo;d rather have a better plus-minus rating than have a lot of points.&rdquo;Following New Jersey&rsquo;s 2-1 upset victory in Philadelphia on Nov. 29, Broten had seven goals and five assists and a plus-minus rating of minus three.Last season the Roseau, MN native scored only 13 goals in 80 games. Some people attributed it to a lack of motivation after New Jersey&rsquo;s dismal 2-20 start, and later trouble relating to McVie.But Broten feels it was unreasonable to expect big numbers from a forward on a struggling team.&ldquo;This is my fifth year playing for this franchise and no one has scored much more than 60 points (Brent Ashton had 60 points for Colorado in 1981-82 and Mel Bridgman scored 61 last season),&rdquo; said Broten. &ldquo;This is not a high-scoring team so I&rsquo;ve got to do other things. 1 don&rsquo;t think they expect a bunch of goals from me. I&rsquo;d just like to be more consistent.&rdquo;Consistency is the key. He must avoid scoring slumps such as the one he just shook.&ldquo;I was getting the shots on net,&rdquo; said Broten, &ldquo;but the puck just wouldn&rsquo;t go in the net. It was starting to get to me. I hadn&rsquo;t scored a goal in 12 games (before beating Roland Melanson in Minnesota on Nov. 23 and scoring twice in Pittsburgh the next night) and it goes by so fast. First it&rsquo;s five games without a goal, then before you know it, it&rsquo;s lOgames. If you just keep shooting the puck it&rsquo;ll go in, although sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t seem like it&rsquo;s going to happen.&rdquo;If Broten can score consistently and better his best season totals of 16-39-55 of 1982-83 with the Devils, he may be able to silence the critics forever.HOT STUFF&mdash;Rich Chernomaz set up Aaron Broten&rsquo;s two goals in Pittsburgh while on a 24-hour emergency recall. He returned to Maine to play with the Mariners in Sherbrooke the following night before getting recalled again by the Devils. In his second game, however, he sprained a knee&hellip;Goalie Hannu Kamppuri (3-0-0, 2,54 in four games with Maine) was recalled with Chemomaz-&hellip;The Devils and North Stars waged a bench-clearing brawl at Meadowlands Arena on Nov. 27, which saw Ron Low and Don Lever ejected with game misconduct penalties&hellip;With their defeat of the Flyers, the Devils ended a 25-game winless streak by franchise at the Spectrum. &#9632;

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Broten Keeps Making It Difficult For Devils

<div class="byline">Al Strachan</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02859/4943783-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="393" height="457"></div>SOME OF THE great unanswered questions about hockey:&bull; Why are there organists in hockey rinks? If you&rsquo;ve ever met a fan who likes organ music at hockey games, let me know. Every fan I&rsquo;ve ever met&mdash;yes, every one&mdash;sees no need for the organ. Some fans dislike the organ &ldquo;music&rdquo; intensely and get sick of the mind-jarring, staccato bursts that accompany the stoppages in play. Others simply find them to be an annoyance, like Muzak.And these recent attempts to play tunes fans might recognize don&rsquo;t make the noise more acceptable. &ldquo;Thriller&rdquo; is bad enough in its original form without having to hear a rendition on an organ.&bull; Why can&rsquo;t the officials crack down on players who move the nets? For years, there were moans from hockey players that the nets were moored in a dangerous fashion and that the moguls who rule the sport should consider the safety of those who play it.So the league introduces magnetic nets and now the players are shoving the net off its moorings whenever they feel they need a stoppage in play. As a result, fans get upset, officials get berated, and the game is turned into a travesty. Either penalize the offending players, or bring back the nets with posts.&bull; Why don&rsquo;t the Calgary Flames release an injury list? Every other team in the NHL co-operates with the public relations staff and releases a weekly list of the injured players and the nature of the injury.But the Flames lose the likes of Lanny McDonald, Doug Risebrough and Jim Jackson (among others), then tell the league they have no injuries. And every week, fans pick up the Tuesday newspaper, read about all the other teams&rsquo; problems and see that the Flames have, &ldquo;No changes or injuries reported.&rdquo;As a result, the efforts of 20 teams to keep the fans informed is held up to public ridicule. If the Flames can&rsquo;t be believed, fans say, can any other team?&bull; Why can&rsquo;t games start on time? If a game is supposed to start at 8 p.m., why does it start at 8:03 (on a normal night), 8:08 (if it&rsquo;s being televised), 8:15 (if there is a presentation) or 8:20 (if it&rsquo;s a game in the Stanley Cup finals). Many people who attend hockey games have to go to work early the next day. As a result, those extra minutes are important to them.The National Football League solved the problem by getting the hoopla out of the way before game time and then having the kick-off at the appointed hour. There&rsquo;s no reason hockey couldn&rsquo;t do the same thing.&bull; Why should players have to wear helmets? As long as a player signs a waiver saying the team will not be held responsible for head injuries, it should be his own business whether he wears a helmet or not.Many players have found they become better known and can make more money from endorsements, by not wearing a helmet. Ron Duguay is the perfect example. Would he be as big a star if he had a brushcut and wore a helmet? Conversely, if a player feels he wants to wear a helmet, no one should force him to take it off.&bull; Why can&rsquo;t the home teams decide which uniform they want to wear? In some cases, a team&rsquo;s road uniform is more attractive than its home uniform. In other cases, the road uniform evokes the team&rsquo;s history more than the home uniform. Perhaps there are acceptable reasons for maintaining the present system during the regular season (it&rsquo;s more work for the trainers to carry two sets of uniforms, fan confusion, etc.), but why not let the home team choose its uniform style for the playoffs?For instance, if the Boston Bruins decide that the black unforms are more intimidating or if the Montreal Canadiens feel the red uniforms are more likely to bring out the players&rsquo; pride, why not let them use those uniforms? &#9632;

f0015-02

Here Are Some Questions, How About Some Answers?

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Philadelphia Flyers pulled a goalie named Froese out of cold storage after a month in the deep freeze, and there were more than a few people who thought he was going to melt.After all, before Bob Froese started against the Chicago Black Hawks on Nov.27 at the Spectrum, he hadn&rsquo;t played in nine consecutive games. Heck, he&rsquo;d only played a total of two periods from the time the Flyers moved into first place in the Patrick Division on Oct. 25th until 33 days later when he got the start against the Hawks.&ldquo;Yeah, I was a little nervous,&rdquo; said Froese. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to make a complete fool of myself, you know. Sure. I thought I had been keeping sharp in practice. but it&rsquo;s a lot different.&ldquo;It was the scariest start I think I&rsquo;ve ever had in this league.&rdquo;As it turned out, he did all right for a guy scared of being made the fool. He made 20 saves, and let in only two goals as the Flyers ran their unbeaten string to 10 games (8-0-2).Then, after the Flyers&rsquo; other goalie, Pelle Lindbergh, lost his first game in over a month&mdash;a 2-1 defeat to the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 29&mdash;Froese found himself back in goal for a Saturday afternoon game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After going more than a month without a start, Froese now had two in five days.Once again, he came through, making 30 saves and shutting out the Penguins through two periods in a 3-1 win for the Flyers. With the win, the Flyers raised their record to 15-4-6, and Froese brought his personal record to 5-1-0 with a goals-against average of 2.25.This is a backup goalie?In addition to his fairly impressive season statistics, the win was the 50th in Froese&rsquo;s three-year career (50-18-9) with an average of 2.90. And, if you look back to just last season, you will see that Froese was the Flyers&rsquo; regular goalie over the last half of the year when he compiled a 21-7-4 record.There was much speculation that Froese would come into this season ordained as the Flyers&rsquo; number one guy, but new coach Mike Keenan came in with his &ldquo;clean slate&rdquo; program. Not that Froese&rsquo;s slate is besmirched, but just look at what Lindbergh did over the first quarter of the season and you can see why Froese got only six starts in the first 23 games.Lindbergh put together a 12-game (90-3) unbeaten streak, kept the Flyers in big wins over Boston (twice), Edmonton and a tie with the New York Islanders with big saves, and generally positioned himself at the head of the two-man goalie class.Thus, it wasn&rsquo;t so much what Froese did wrong as what Lindbergh was doing right, so Froese did not kick and scream about the rotation situation which seems to be passing him by.&ldquo;Those aren&rsquo;t my decisions to make,&rdquo; said Froese after his win against the Penguins. &ldquo;I get paid to be ready and play goal when they tell me to play goal. I don&rsquo;t decide when I&rsquo;m going to play.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see how I could be mad at Mike (Keenan). Look what Pelle has done. He&rsquo;s playing great, and the team is winning. If the team&rsquo;s not winning, then maybe it would be different.&ldquo;But, tell me? How can 1 squawk when the team is going so good. I admit, it&rsquo;s tough not to play for such a long period of time, but I try to stay in game condition during the practices.&ldquo;I was real worried about the start just before the game with Chicago, but the coaches called me in the office beforehand and told me not to think that my whole season was going to be judged on just one game. That really helped to relax me.&rdquo;Unlike Lindbergh, who is almost a pure reflex goalie. Froese is more a technical goalie. He plays the angles, clears the puck very well from around his net, and plays the percentages.One of the percentages he&rsquo;s playing right now is keeping his patience while Keenan and the Flyers figure out a goalie program. Just because Froese didn&rsquo;t play the bulk of the games early doesn&rsquo;t mean he won&rsquo;t get a fair share (if not more) as the season progresses.NOTES&mdash;The Flyers have been getting a very good effort out of veteran center Tim Young, whom they promoted from their Hershey farm club to help alleviate the problems of having three injured centers. The new problem they will soon face is what to do with the extra players. With Dave Poulin back from a six-game absence because of a groin pull, Len Hachborn recovered from a wrist injury, and Peter Zezel (broken hand) only a week away, they will have to send somebody down to the minors&hellip;Ed Hospodar scored his first goal as a Flyers in the 3-1 win over Pittsburgh. By his own count, it was his first goal in over 100 games&hellip;Brad McCrimmon had a 12-game point scoring streak snapped in the loss to the Devils. &#9632;

Flyers Dust Off Froese From Cold Storage

Dale McTavish has been playing hockey for Eganville, Ont., for the past seven years. This is his final year of pee wee.Dale has been an excellent goal scorer and puck handler for the various teams he has played on. In his final year of tyke, he had 70 goals and 29 assists in 24 games. In his 1982-83 season in atom, he had 47 goals and 21 assists in 29 games. In his first year of pee wee, he produced 50 goals and 31 assists in 43 games. This year, in his first six games, he has had 16 goals and 15 assists.Dale&rsquo;s team has been competitive while playing against much larger centers. Two years ago his team finished in second place, and made it to the finals. Last year they won a bronze medal in the pee wee C division of the Ottawa District Minor Hockey Association.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02747/4943869-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="562" height="667"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dale McTavish</figcaption></div>Dale is a team player and demonstrates good leadership on and off the ice. The grade seven student also enjoys track and field, baseball and football, and would someday like to be an NHL hockey player with a good education. &#9632;

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JOFA

You can submit a player for consideration for the JOFA Minor Player Showcase. Just enclose a photograph, along with all the pertinent information and mail to: JOFA SHOWCASE. 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2. &#9632;

JOFA Entries

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03579/4943924-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="718" height="1002"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky says it&rsquo;s important to give 100 per cent because if you don&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;re cheating your parents.</figcaption></div>Wayne Gretzky does not need a calling card. With his famous looks and outstanding ability, he will never have to appear on a commercial which asks, &ldquo;Do you know who 1 am.&rdquo;In fact, Gretzky was a much-heralded player going as far back as his minor hockey days, when he was terrorizing opposition teams with his amazing scoring exploits.He was a phenom, one of the few people in any category to earn such a vaunted label, and in later years he would be nicknamed. The Great Gretzky.Today, if you ask him about his minor hockey moments, he might just hand you a book and say, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all in here.&rdquo;While he&rsquo;s only 23 (though he&rsquo;ll soon celebrate his 24th birthday on Jan. 26), the story of his life has already been written. It&rsquo;s titled, Gretzky: From Backyard Rink To The Stanley Cup. and it was penned by the Great One&rsquo;s dad, Walter.Walter Gretzky (with no apologies to Mrs. Gretzky. Phyllis) is widely respected for molding his son&rsquo;s career. He taught him the importance of working hard and many other important values, and he never put too much pressure on his son to succeed. Wayne, as it&rsquo;s been pointed out in the book, loved to play hockey and couldn&rsquo;t get enough of it.While Wayne says some parents put too much pressure on their children to succeed in hockey, he believes they all mean well.&ldquo;Sometimes parents put a lot of pressure on their kids, but they just want to see them do well,&rdquo; says Gretzky, an author in his own right, having rewritten just about every record in the National Hockey League. &ldquo;People are all different. I think the majority of parents support their kids and hope that they do the best they can.&rdquo;In fact, Gretzky says the best advice he could give to youngsters is to work hard to show their parents that all their time and effort was not for naught.&ldquo;The biggest thing that I could say is, if you&rsquo;re going to play, parents put a lot of money into minor hockey, and there&rsquo;s no sense going through the motions,&rdquo; says Gretzky, who last year captained the Edmonton Oilers to their first Stanley Cup victory. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re gonna play, do your best and work your hardest and dedicate yourself to it. But enjoy, enjoy it an awful lol, because your parents are putting a lot of time, money and effort into it.&rdquo;Looking back on his minor hockey days as a whole, Gretzky, whose brother, Keith, will be eligible for the National Hockey League entry draft this year, says he has several fond memories.&ldquo;The tournaments we played in, travelling from city to city, and getting a chance to stay at other people&rsquo;s houses on the weekends and meeting people was the fun I had in minor hockey,&rdquo; he says. &#9632;

f0017-03

Minor Hockey Flashback: Wayne Gretzky

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01921/4943838-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"></div>EDMONTON&mdash;Most hockey fans, it would be safe to assume, would give their eye teeth to walk a mile in Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s shoes.Allow them to spend a day in the life of The Great Gretzky and they&rsquo;ll probably throw in a month&rsquo;s pay, along with their first male born.But, mention a 24-hour period, Nov. 25-26, and anyone in his right mind would avoid the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; center of National Hockey League attention as if he had been stricken with a highly communicable disease.As it was, Gretzky and a small travelling troupe spent much of the time period journeying from Edmonton to Toronto as if they were quarantined&mdash;aboard an Air Canada 767.The 23-year-old had planned to get an early start on a busy day of corporate, charitable and athletic work in Toronto on the 26th, the day before the Oilers were to meet the Leafs in NHL activity.Instead, Gretzky wound up adding the longest trip from Edmonton to Toronto&mdash;airport to airport&mdash;to the 35-NHL records he already owns or shares. Originally scheduled as a direct flight, the tour went via Clagary, Cleveland and Montreal, covering 22 hours.Here&rsquo;s how he established the aviation record&hellip;3:30 MST (mountain standard) Nov. 25&mdash;Gretzky, who has long possessed a fear of flying, arrived at the Edmonton International for a 4:40 flight to Toronto. He was accompanied by his father, Walter, and Vancouver columnist, Jim Taylor, (co-authors of the Gretzky book. From Backyard Rink To The Stanley Cup), plus Oiler p.r. director. Bill Tuele, and Mike Barnett, of Gretzky&rsquo;s handling firm, Corpsport. The next day, Gretzky was to attend a nine a.m. breakfast meeting and press conference for the unveiling of ProStars, his official breakfast cereal, plus a $60-a-plate Big Brothers&rsquo; luncheon. A number of underprivileged youngsters from across Canada were to have their pictures taken with Gretzky at the luncheon.4:00 p.m.&mdash;After being initially informed the flight would be delayed because of fog, they were told it would be cancelled. There were two alternatives: (1) await the red-eye departing Edmonton at one a.m., or (2) be bused to Calgary to catch a 7:30 flight, arriving in Toronto at 12:20 (EST).&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to practise in Toronto, I&rsquo;ll need sleep,&rdquo; said Gretzky, looking beyond his social commitments. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go to Calgary.&rdquo;7:30 p.m.&mdash;The group arrived in Calgary, only to be informed the pilots couldn&rsquo;t be located. And, 767s don&rsquo;t wing it on their own.8:30 p.m.&mdash;They were informed the flight was cancelled due to a noise pollution bylaw in Toronto (where the airport is closed from one a.m. to 7 a.m.). Doggone those pilots.8:35 p.m.&mdash;The group treked off to dinner at a hotel adjacent to the Calgary airport.1:40 a.m.&mdash;The group departed Calgary via the red-eye flight due to arrive in Toronto at 7 a.m. EST. The plane circled Toronto International for 45 minutes, unable to land due to visibility problems created by, yes, fog. With fuel running short, the alternate was Cleveland.8:30 a.m.&mdash;The plane landed in Cleveland, but the aircraft was in custom&rsquo;s bond, so no one was allowed on or off.&ldquo;Where is Ken Taylor when we really need him?&rdquo; quipped Gretzky of Canada&rsquo;s heroic ambassador to Iran during the U.S. Embassy hostage ordeal. Passengers held signs to windows&mdash;&ldquo;Hi, mom,&rdquo; or, &ldquo;Help!&rdquo;Having a nicotine fit, Walter Gretzky lit up, pleading: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care, I&rsquo;m having a smoke. Go ahead and take me off the plane if you have to&hellip;Puuullease!&rdquo;11 a.m.&mdash;Jim Taylor decided to write his column on remote computer, only to discover the batteries were dead.11:30 a.m.&mdash;The crew had already put in a 15-hour day, and a decision had to be made pronto. But, Toronto was still fogged in. The passengers started a pool as to the next destination. The heavy betting was Boston, but&hellip;1 p.m.&mdash;The plane arrived in Montreal.1:05 p.m.&mdash;An elderly couple who hadn&rsquo;t said a word during the entire experience despite sitting near the group, was by then becoming raunchy, got to leave. &ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;re home,&rdquo; announced the lady, a sarcastic grin on her face.2:30 p.m.&mdash;The plane departed for Toronto.3:30 p.m.&mdash;The plane arrived in Toronto.&ldquo;Are we here already?&rdquo; chirped Gretzky.3:45 p.m.&mdash;One peace of luggage was lost. Yes, it belonged to Gretzky.4:30 p.m.&mdash;The Oilers, who had arrived at 2 p.m. after leaving at 8 a.m., ^re concluding a practice at Maple Leaf Wardens, about the time Gretzky wearily checked into the team&rsquo;s hotel. He booked into a room incognito, hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and slept through until 9 a.m., with the exception of an hour to eat.&ldquo;The trip got a little frustrating, but there was nothing anyone can do,&rdquo; he said the next day, before scoring three goals and two assists in the first 27 minutes to power the Oilers past Toronto, 7-1. &ldquo;So we just enjoyed ourselves.&rdquo;It could only happen to Gretzky, Remember March. 1982? Gretzky was scheduled to fly from Toronto to Los Angeles for the taping of the Tonight Show, while the Oilers travelled to Denver the following night.Gretzky never made it to L.A. Due to weather problems, he and companion Kevin Lowe were rerouted to Edmonton, not arriving in Denver until the next day.&ldquo;This time,&rdquo; he grinned, stroking a chin that produces nothing more than peach fuzz when neglected by a razor, have guy&rsquo;s were saying that even I&rsquo;d have to shave. We were on the plane so long.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

This Record Gretzky Would Like To Forget

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01946/4943955-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Hayward silenced some of his critics by recording four consecutive wins and allowing only 12 goals in 145 shots.</figcaption></div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyWINNIPEG&mdash;The last time Brian Hayward came home from Los Angeles his forehead was being held together by 17 stitches&hellip;a &ldquo;zipper,&rdquo; to use the vernacular of hockey players.This time, when he arrived back from Tinsel Town, he was using a zipper of another variety to seal the lips of those who have doubted him for 21 years.Holding the hottest hand he&rsquo;s ever held. Hayward had set the Winnipeg Jets abuzz, rearing off four wins, all on the road, while giving up only 12 goals on 145 shots.&ldquo;I feel confident,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Even more important. I&rsquo;ve never felt as relaxed as I do since turning pro. That&rsquo;s the biggest factor of all.&rdquo;Thanks to Hayward&rsquo;s goaltending, and the timely scoring of his teammates, the Jets matched a modest club record of three consecutive road victories, sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the process to take over third place in the Smythe Division.While there is a temptation to refer to Hayward as the Jets&rsquo; No. 1 goaltender, coach Barry Long insists that such a title does not exist on the team.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have such a creature,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Hayward just happens to be playing a few more games lately. Marc Behrend still has the best record (6-4-0). Now Hayward (5-4-2) is up there, too. I don&rsquo;t consider one better than the other. They are a team within a team. Ultimately, they&rsquo;ll receive an equal amount of ice time.&rdquo;If Hayward, 24, ever felt important in the Jets&rsquo; scheme of things, he does now.&ldquo;Up until this year, my pro career has been a big roller coaster,&rdquo; he said, recalling his long stints in Sherbrooke of the American League. &ldquo;But this season has been different, thankfully. When Doug (Soetaert) was traded away, it became obvious to me they wanted to go with the two young guys. That changed the outlook for me. For once, I was in a situation where a third NHL goaltender wasn&rsquo;t looking over my shoulder.&rdquo;General manager John Ferguson has often lamented the team&rsquo;s goaltending, frequently maintaining that he has never enjoyed the luxury of a true artist between the pipes.This time, however, he could be lavish in his praise of Hayward who withstood a seige of 45 shots to deliver a 5-3 win over Los Angeles, extending the Jets&rsquo; unbeaten streak to 11 games in the Fabulous Forum.&ldquo;I thought he was brilliant,&rdquo; said Ferguson. &ldquo;Brian was a confident goaltender who stood up to them. He was very solid.&rdquo;Not one to dwell on himself, Hayward feels the biggest difference in the team as a whole is its improved defense following the addition of a veteran, Randy Carlyle, and a rookie, Dave Ellett.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t thank them enough,&rdquo; said Hayward. &ldquo;Randy, especially, is unbelievable. People don&rsquo;t realize the impact he has had on us. Apart from the contributions he&rsquo;s made on the ice is the way he motivates guys in the dressing room. He gets you up and makes you stay up.&rdquo;Last summer he worked out with several other pros who live near his home in Georgetown, Ont., a half-hour drive from Toronto.&ldquo;Some of the Pittsburgh guys told me what a super leader Randy is,&rdquo; said Hayward. &ldquo;I believe them now. I am really made to wonder how anyone could part with him.&rdquo;Never drafted, Hayward was signed as a free agent by the Jets in 1982. He was an all-American at Cornell, the university assistant manager Mike Doran had attended.Doran liked his poise, his intelligence (he was on the prestigious Dean&rsquo;s List at Cornell) and his living habits. He seemed too organized to fail at anything he attempted.&ldquo;Things could not have worked out better for me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I received my education and, at the same time, I received first-rate coaching from Lou Reycroft, now the head coach at Cornell. His coaching is what put myself and Darren Eliot (Los Angeles) into the NHL today. We had four practices a week, and at every one of them he stressed fundamentals and drills especially designed for goaltenders. It helped immensely.&rdquo;Today, the Jets are committed to the college route. Twenty-six of their draft choices are currently attending U.S. colleges.And streaks, such as the one the team and Hayward have been enjoying, are ample proof that the system is working.BENCH BITS&mdash;Captain Dale Hawerchuk is off to his best start ever. At the 20-game mark, he had 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points. His previous starts, in order, were 12-9-21, 12-14-26 and 6-8-14&hellip;Coach Barry Long completed his first full season behind the bench with an overall record of 36-33-11&hellip;Laurie Boschman had his most productive night ever, scoring three goals&mdash;his first NHL hat trick&mdash;and assisting on another in a 9-5 win that opened the Los Angeles series. &#9632;

f0018-01

Hayward Comes Home To Silence Critics

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY&mdash;One is a former Vezina Trophy winner, the other is last year&rsquo;s runner-up. One played for Team Canada in 1981, the other played in 1984.One is a controlled Hopper, the other is a classic stand-up goaltender.Together, Reggie Lemelin and Don Edwards form one of the better goaltending combinations in the National Hockey League.The problem&mdash;if indeed it can be called a problem&mdash;is that both are used to being the No. 1 goaltender. Ideally, both would like to play 60 games.Because the season lasts just 80, however, that&rsquo;s impossible. Therein lies the problem: How does coach Bob Johnson balance their talents and egos and desire for playing time so that they can make optimum contributions to the Calgary Flames?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m convinced that with our schedule and our travel, you need two goaltenders going,&rdquo; said Johnson.The competition between them is &ldquo;healthy and it&rsquo;s normal,&rdquo; said Lemelin.&ldquo;Both of us have been in the position where we&rsquo;ve been No. 1 and both of us have played well when we&rsquo;ve played a lot,&rdquo; Lemelin said. &ldquo;But you&rsquo;ve got to earn the right to play and sometimes it&rsquo;s tough.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just like being a center. You play the power play all the time and, suddenly, you&rsquo;re not on the power play anymore. Your points start to drop off very quickly.&rdquo;Lemelin was on a personal seven-game (6-0-1) undefeated streak as of Nov. 28. It doesn&rsquo;t compare to last year&rsquo;s 19-game undefeated streak, but it does signal one thing&mdash;Lemelin has found his form after struggling a bit in the early season.&ldquo;Technically, I&rsquo;m standing better now,&rdquo; said Lemelin, describing the changes in his game. &ldquo;I used to find myself at different angles wondering if I&rsquo;m in the right position, wondering if 1 should challenge. Now, I don&rsquo;t think about it anymore, I know I&rsquo;m in the right place.&rdquo;Lemelin&rsquo;s problems began when he returned from the Canada Cup and wasn&rsquo;t sharp. With the revived Edwards receiving the bulk of the work, Lemelin played in only four of the Flames&rsquo; first 11 games.Recently, though, his workload has increased to the point where the two are virtually alternating now.Perhaps for the first time since Edwards&rsquo; arrival from Buffalo, Johnson can look down the bench and know he will receive consistent play from both his goaltenders.&ldquo;Reggie was great against Vancouver,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;You know how you tell? He wasn&rsquo;t all over the place. The other guy was reaching and grabbing for shots that weren&rsquo;t even on the net. Reggie just stood there and let them hit him.&rdquo;&ldquo;For me to be effective, I have to stand and wait for the shot,&rdquo; said Lemelin. &ldquo;I have to let the player beat me. Some guys like to go after it. but that&rsquo;s not my style. The less effort I appear to be putting into it, the better.&rdquo;Lemelin&rsquo;s carly-season slump bottomed out at the end of the last road trip after Johnson arranged for a session with the team&rsquo;s goaltending coach, Glenn Hall. Unlike Edwards, who treats Hall with guru-like respect, Lemelin does not discuss his technique with Hall.&ldquo;What he told me was, &lsquo;Stop listening to everybody in the outside world and do your thing.&rsquo;&rdquo;One can trace Edwards&rsquo; renaissance almost exactly to the day Hall joined the Flames as an assistant coach.In the past, Edwards&mdash;who relied on goaltending coach Ed Chadwick in his years with the Sabres&mdash;had been what Johnson calls an &ldquo;underachiever.&rdquo;&ldquo;It had to be a big year for Donnie,&rdquo; said Johnson, &ldquo;because he had two kind of disappointing seasons here. If we&rsquo;re going to make a move, we need good goaltending. We can&rsquo;t have average goaltending. I think back to some of our early games last year where our goaltending was average or below average and we didn&rsquo;t do much.&ldquo;Then we had that two-month stretch where we were undefeated at home. I look at Donnie, he&rsquo;s got a big smile on his face. He&rsquo;s got great confidence now. He didn&rsquo;t always have that before.&rdquo;Edwards admits that Hall&rsquo;s experience has helped.&ldquo;Glenn understands things that a goaltender goes through&mdash;the experience of winning and losing and not playing,&rdquo; said Edwards. &ldquo;Unless you&rsquo;ve been in that position, you don&rsquo;t really understand it. He gave me food for thought.&rdquo;In Edwards&rsquo; case, the change in his game is clear to even the untrained eye. Instead of lunging left and right, his movements are more precise. He stays on his feet longer. He look more controlled.&ldquo;We changed a few things,&rdquo; admitted Edwards. &ldquo;One big thing is my positioning, another thing we decided in our talk was to try a lower crouch. I&rsquo;m also trying to play higher in the net. As you get older, you start to look for more experience edges. Not cheating exactly, but you try to find the easy around things. I found I was doing some of the finer things, the basic things, quite right.&rdquo; &#9632;

Flame Coach Needs Time To Satisfy Both Goalies

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;It took almost a season and a half, but the Quebec Nordiques finally beat the overtime jinx.Quebec was 0-5-10 in 15 overtime games last season, and things kept going the same way this year with a loss and a draw in two overtime performances.All that changed when the Nordiques pulled off not only one, but two overtime victories in less than a week. Ironically, both came in doubleheaders with Chicago and the New York Rangers. After beating the Hawks 5-3 on Nov. 18, the Nords won the rematch 3-2 in overtime two days later. Against the Rangers, the Nords won the first game 8-3 on Nov. 24 and took the second game the next night 3-2 in OT.Michel Goulet, who scored the overtime winner against the Hawks, spoke for his whole team when he said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad we finally won one, and I&rsquo;m even happier that it happened in a home game.&rdquo;The winner by Goulet was set up by Dale Hunter, who stood out himself a few days later when he scored against the New York Rangers in overtime. Hunter&rsquo;s goal was only his third of the season, although he does have 18 assists.Hunter is the newest addition to the Nords&rsquo; power play, taking a beating and trying to cause interference in the front of the opposition goal.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind all the rough stuff in front of the net, and even if my winning goal in New York was satisfying, what really pleases me is that it kept our winning streak alive,&rdquo; said the Quebec center.Unfortunately, the Nords&rsquo; streak was snapped at four games, when they lost 9-2 to Washington on Nov. 27 at the Colisee. The Caps even chased goaltender Dan Bouchard from the game, as he surrendered seven goals in 45 minutes of play, before taking an early shower.Bouchard took the loss in stride.&ldquo;Just one of those days,&rdquo; he said after the loss. &ldquo;All it does is make me a little more humble for my next start.&rdquo;Bouchard has an impressive goals-against, just over 3.00, but that was before being bombed by Washington. And the fans&rsquo; booing did little to support either him or his teammates.&ldquo;The fans realize that they can help us a lot if they adopt a positive attitude when we play,&rdquo; says Bouchard. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t do any good for them to get on the back of any one player in a game.&rdquo;Captain Mario Marois is another player who&rsquo;s been feeling heat from the fans.&ldquo;We were winning 1-0 and I hear boos because I iced the puck,&rdquo; said Marois.&ldquo;Sometimes they have to realize that that&rsquo;s the best thing for me to do.&rdquo;However, coach Michel Bergeron did not defend his players.&ldquo;The fans pay the big dollar for their tickets and they have the right to express themselves as they wish,&rdquo; Bergeron said. &#9632;

Nordiques Break Long Overtime Drought

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>HARTFORD&mdash;Cleanup detail is a curse for many of hockey&rsquo;s third lines. They must score a little, check a lot, and if they break even they&rsquo;ve done the job. Satisfaction must come from within. Headlines seldom trumpet their efforts.It&rsquo;s a sort of purgatory, the third line, a meeting place for those who have done it and those who want to do it. To discover the real value of a third line, try to win without one.The Hartford Whalers, the handbills say, only will climb as high as players such as Ronnie Francis, Greg Millen, Mark Johnson and Sylvain Turgeon can lift them. In reality, though, much of the Whalers&rsquo; success or failure hinges on the performances of the team&rsquo;s third line&mdash;center Greg Malone, right winger Bobby Crawford and left winger Torrie Robertson. When those three play well, the Whalers don&rsquo;t always win, but when they play poorly, they almost never win.&ldquo;When teams say they have to watch us, it&rsquo;s flattering,&rdquo; said Malone, a 28-year-old veteran currently in his ninth National Hockey League season. &ldquo;Mark&rsquo;s line and Ronnie&rsquo;s line have to play well for us to win, but so do we. Breaking us up sort of jarred us. I think we had become complacent.&rdquo;Separated for only a handful of games, the Malone line was put back together with immediate results. Malone tied a club record with five points in a 9-3 win over Pittsburgh, while Crawford and Robertson each added four.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re communicating on the ice and we&rsquo;re getting our confidence back,&rdquo; Malone said.Malone thinks the line has the right mix.&ldquo;Torrie is a player,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;In fact, he&rsquo;s probably the most underrated player on our team. When we got him, everybody knew about his toughness, but he has some skills. He&rsquo;s capable of doing it. Don&rsquo;t forget, he&rsquo;s just starting to mature.&rdquo;Robertson had four goals and 11 points in the Whalers&rsquo; first 20 games, and the best part is he&rsquo;s only 23.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting the room he needs this year,&rdquo; said Crawford, who surprised a lot of people when he scored 36 goals last season. &ldquo;All that fighting Torrie did last year is paying off.&rdquo;The bullets, however, belong to Crawford. On the line, he owns the gun.&ldquo;Bobby has to put the puck in the net, it&rsquo;s not a secret,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Torrie and I can do all the banging and all the digging we want, but if Bobby doesn&rsquo;t find the net, it doesn&rsquo;t do as much good.&rdquo;Crawford had a respectable total of seven goals in the Whalers&rsquo; first 20 games, but six of those came in the first nine outings.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think of myself as a great goal scorer,&rdquo; Crawford said.Others do.&ldquo;Every line needs a scorer,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Bobby&rsquo;s ours.&rdquo;At 25, Crawford figures only to get better.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s only one way to break out of a slump, and that&rsquo;s to keep working,&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;Lately our line has been playing better. We must work to be effective. Greg is a proven player who keeps on doing it. When Torrie got here, nobody knew who he was. Now everybody knows him.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s put it this way, I&rsquo;ve got two very good linemates.&rdquo;Coach Jack Evans has promised to keep his lines intact. Shuffling, he discovered, was not the answer. While Crawford and Robertson must fill their roles, Malone holds the key. If he plays well, so does the line. If he doesn&rsquo;t, forget it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s that way with all centermen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A good center can make a line. People think I&rsquo;m older than I am because I&rsquo;ve been around so long. I&rsquo;m only 28. Mark Johnson turns 28 next year. I wonder if they&rsquo;ll call him old.&ldquo;Seriously, though, I&rsquo;ve got a few good games left. I like our line&rsquo;s role on this team. I think we can do the job.&rdquo;On some teams, the role of the third line somehow gets lost. On the Whalers, the third line can&rsquo;t get lost. Too much is riding on the performance of Malone, Crawford and Robertson.Cleanup work in Hartford is serious stuff. &#9632;

Whaler Trio Enjoys Cleanup Role

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div>TORONTO&mdash;The Toronto Maple Leafs have resurrected the old television show. The Untouchables, only now it&rsquo;s called, No Untouchables.Who are the No Untouchables? All of the Leaf players.For the right price, a National Hockey League general manager can land three-time, 50-plus goal-scorer. Rick Vaive, or veteran defenseman Borje Salming, or Bill Derlago. a 40-goal scorer last season. And these are the more marketable players. It&rsquo;s possible any of the other Leaf players can be headed elsewhere, if&mdash;and it&rsquo;s a big if&mdash;other teams want them.Having gone winless in their last 17 outings, including a week which saw them lose 7-1 to Edmonton, tie the New York Rangers 3-3 and lose 4-1 to them in a rematch the next night, the Leafs appear destined to reach new heights for lowliness.As one player put it after the Ranger loss: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing brutal. It&rsquo;s not even fun anymore.&rdquo;Remember coach Dan Maloney&rsquo;s dream about gaining a playoff spot? Well, if things keep going the way they are the only post-season reward the Leafs can expect is first choice in the 1984 NHL entry draft.But back to the trade talks, or make that rumors. How does Vaive for Ranger captain Barry Beck sound? Vaive to Montreal for Craig Ludwig and Mark Hunter? Salming to Calgary for a first-round pick and Paul Baxter? Salming to the Quebec Nordiques for a first rounder? Derlago to the Rangers for Dave Maloney?Speculation? Sure. Possibilities? Yes. What are the Leafs saying? Very little.Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara, who refuses to talk to the press even at the best of times&mdash;and there haven&rsquo;t been many of those since he took over from Punch Imlach in 1981&mdash;is putting up a stiff front.After the loss to the Oilers, McNamara sent left winger Jeff Jackson to the Hamilton Steelhawks of the Ontario Hockey League. Whether Jackson was ready for the NHL is a debatable point. McNamara, however, didn&rsquo;t even inform the media of his decision. Jackson, a hard-working kid who was upset with his fate, relayed news of his demotion to the trainer, who was left to do the briefing.It was a totally bush move by McNamara, as Jim O&rsquo;Leary of the Toronto Sun wrote the next day. All McNamara had to do was explain that he thought Jackson would benefit more playing every day in junior than only seeing spot duty with the Leafs and he could have saved himself a lot of bad press. But the press, and public relations for that matter, is something with which McNamara has no time for.Maloney, who was a little more accommodating, explained that he didn&rsquo;t feel Jackson was ready at this time, and even said there are a few other youngsters on the team who could benefit from some seasoning in the minors, were it not for the rules which govern against it.Trade rumors run rampant in Toronto as the Leafs continue to struggle.Maloney was also quite upset with the rumors which triggered the trade talks. A local reporter said on a television sports talk show that he wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if Vaive were traded in the next few weeks. That put the Leafs on the spot, and the next day Maloney said taking the captaincy away from Vaive wouldn&rsquo;t be out of the question and added that there are &ldquo;no untouchables&rdquo; on the team.If that doesn&rsquo;t sound as though Vaive will be traded&mdash;and it&rsquo;s no secret that he and Maloney are not on the best of terms&mdash;then perhaps the Toronto media owes the Leaf coach an apology for trying to do more than tip toe around the Leafs&rsquo; inadequacies.Given the sad state of Leaf affairs these days, it&rsquo;s surprising how tolerant the Toronto media has been. Perhaps it&rsquo;s not a question of whether the captain should be fired. Rather, the blame should be directed up the ladder.LEAFLETS&mdash;Oiler captain Wayne Gretzky had a field day in the win against the Leafs, with three goals and two assists. The Maple Leaf Gardens&rsquo; supporters, who have booed The Great One in the past, gave him a standing ovation. Leaf coach Dan Maloney said Gretzky was a &ldquo;credit&rdquo; to the National Hockey League&hellip;Gordie Howe was at the Oiler game, although he had to stand in the crowded press box because of the overflow, and presented the Emery Edge Award trophy to last season&rsquo;s Leaf winner, Jim Benning&hellip;Gaston Gingras, who was an outcast for most of last season and at the beginning of this season, was promoted from St. Catharines to help the ailing power play. Gingras has one of the hardest shots in the league, but he&rsquo;s been unimpressive in other aspects since coming over from Montreal in 1982. &#9632;

Leaf Management Says No ‘Untouchables’

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01744/4944082-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div>The Washington Capitals are supposed to have problems scoring goals, but you wouldn&rsquo;t know it from the way they played for the week ending Dec. 2.The Caps chalked up four victories&mdash;9-2 over Quebec, 2-1 over the Rangers, 5-4 over the Bruins and 9-1 over Pittsburgh&mdash;and Dave Christian led the way, scoring four goals, including two gamewinners, and two assists.That effort made Christian THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; Player of the Week. &#9632;

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Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Gilles Meloche who began the season as the forgotten man of the Minnesota North Stars, started December as the man of the hour.Deposed coach Bill Mahoney opened the season with Don Beaupre and Mike Sands sharing the netminding, and Mecoche scarcely played.When Glen Sonmor took over, the turnmoil of the club was focused on the goal because of incidents such as Beaupre&rsquo;s six-game suspension and the acquisition of Roland Melanson from the New York Islanders.Incidentally, while the Twin Cities media has been eager to find praise for the Melanson deal and the club, nobody has spelled out the exact intricacies of the trade.General manager Lou Nanne explained it simply: &ldquo;If we fail to make the playoffs, we keep our first-round draft choice for 1985, and the Islanders get our first pick in &rsquo;86. If we do make the playoffs, the Islanders get their choice of our first pick in either &rsquo;85 or &rsquo;86.&rdquo;But there isn&rsquo;t much question about making the playoffs, certainly not in the Norris Division, where Detroit and Toronto still reside below the Stars. St. Louis pulled ahead of the Stars to challenge Chicago. Ironically, the Stars have already played Toronto five times (going 4-1) but don&rsquo;t play St. Louis for the first time until Dec. 19.The Stars record in Sonmor&rsquo;s first 11 games back was 5-3-3, a pretty heady improvement. Much of that, however, is due to the vagaries of the schedule. In those 11 games, the only so-called powers the Stars faced were Washington, the Islanders and Calgary.They tied Washington but got thumped 6-1 by the Islanders and were blown out 8-4 at home by Calgary.Melanson was the victim in the Calgary game. He let in a weird, behind-the-net job and a couple of other soft goals. While some may have expected Melanson to be the savior, so to speak, it is interesting that his goals against with the Islanders was 4.94 before the trade.In three games since coming to the Stars, Melanson gave up exactly 15 goals.So the spotlight swings to Meloche. When the club needed him to come through, the veteran goaltender posted a 3-0-1 mark, tying Detroit, and beating Toronto twice and Hartford once.&ldquo;In fairness to Melanson and Meloche, neither had played much early in the season,&rdquo; said Sonmor. &ldquo;Our plan is to alternate the two until they have played a fair amount.&rdquo;Sonmor reiterated that he will not rotate three goalies, which means that even while Beaupre&rsquo;s suspension is over, he cannot expect to step right back in.&ldquo;Donnie&rsquo;s attitude has been fine, and to his credit he has worked extremely hard in practice,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;He just has to be patient.&rdquo;It may be unfair to put so much pressure on the goaltenders, however. Under Mahoney, Brian Lawton hadn&rsquo;t played a great deal. No question Nanne wants him to play more, and Sonmor came in committed to playing him more.But in Sonmor&rsquo;s first 11 games, Lawton scored one goal and had no assists. And in the first eight of those, he played regular shifts and power plays.Ken Solheim has also not approached his hot-scoring pace in the exhibition season, with only five goals and two assists in 23 games regular-season.The hottest hands have belonged to Dennis Maruk, who scored 6-10-16 in his last 17 games, and Keith Acton, who had nine points in the six games before being blanked against Calgary. &#9632;

Spotlight Swings To Meloche In Minnesota

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Tiger Williams, hockey player and author, has been around quite a while. He&rsquo;s seen a lot of players come and go in the past decade. But he&rsquo;s never seen anybody such as Steve Yzerman.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s better than anybody I&rsquo;ve ever played with,&rdquo; Williams said after another of Yzerman&rsquo;s dazzling early-season performances.&ldquo;Offensively, nobody I&rsquo;ve every played with can do the things he can. Nobody.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant career ahead of him,&rdquo; Williams continued, turning the superlative into a hat trick. &ldquo;He does stuff, like spin and turn, that only (figure skating champion) Dorothy Hamill can do.&rdquo;Ordinarily, a hockey player might take exception to such a comparison. But, in Yzerman&rsquo;s case, it happens to be true. The Kid is blossoming into a dominating player, an enormous talent already at age 19 who is adding experience to his repertoire of skills.&lsquo;He does stuff, like spin and turn, that only Dorothy Hamill can do.&rsquo;Yzerman scored his 10th goal in a 3-3 tie with Montreal on Nov. 28 at Joe Louis Arena, and also had 19 assists for 29 points in 21 games. And there have been times when he almost singlehandedly has lifted the Wings to victory this season.If there was concern that Yzerman&rsquo;s splended rookie season was a fluke, he dispelled it quickly&mdash;even before the 1984-85 season began&mdash;with an impressive showing at the Team Canada training camp that earned him a spot on the squad.&ldquo;I know that helped me a lot of ways,&rdquo; Yzerman said. &ldquo;I became aware of some things playing at that level.&ldquo;This year I find that one of the biggest things is I can&rsquo;t carry the puck as much. We get a lot of attention. I can&rsquo;t beat a man one-to-one.&ldquo;With Team Canada nobody ever carried the puck. You got it, bang, you gave it up. That&rsquo;s how the Europeans play, and that&rsquo;s the style the Edmonton Oilers use.&rdquo;Yzerman began the season playing with John Ogrodnick and Ron Duguay, his wingers through most of last season, but found new linemates when coach Nick Polano switched things around, mostly out of necessity created by injuries. Regardless of who he played with, Yzerman was a threat virtually every time on the ice.&ldquo;No doubt about it, Steve&rsquo;s the quarterback out there,&rdquo; Ogrodnick said. &ldquo;He controls things extremely well.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s moving the puck a lot better now, and he realizes it, too. A year of experience and the Canada Cup exposure, playing that Edmonton system&mdash;all that&rsquo;s helped.&ldquo;Last year he was trying to do more of the one-on-one stuff, and he&rsquo;d get away with it now and then. But he&rsquo;s so good with the puck that when he starts moving it, like he is now, it opens everything up for the whole line.&ldquo;It makes it easier to play the game that way instead of trying to do it alone and making it harder.&rdquo;The Red Wings certainly showed a knack of making things hard for themselves on the road where they were winless (0-9-1) through 10 games, a quarter of the road schedule.But they kept afloat by posting a respectable 6-3-2 record at home, including a 2-0-1 streak with a 6-5 victory over Toronto on Nov. 23 and the tie against Montreal.Danny Gare had two goals against the Canadiens, including the game-tying score midway through the second period.It was against the Wings in Montreal that Guy Lafleur played his last NHL game. The great right winger retired two days later and the Canadiens began the post-Lafleur era with a rematch in Detroit. Alfie Turcotte, the 19-year-old from Milford, Ml, acommunity about 40 miles northwest of Detroit, scored twice for Montreal in front of family and friends.&ldquo;It was a good point for us, a good, strong game both offensively and defensively,&rdquo; Gare said. &ldquo;It was physical, with a lot of shouting and yapping, one of those real intense games.&rdquo;General manager Jimmy Devellano, who suffers more than anyone when the Wings lose, agreed that it was an important point for the Wings.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the first time in my three years here that we&rsquo;ve been able to split a season series with Montreal,&rdquo; Devellano said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s encouraging.&ldquo;And it keeps our home record very good.&rdquo; &#9632;

Yzerman Playing Like A Champion

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01627/4944175-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="629" height="527"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02446/4944168-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="472" height="523"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03349/4944161-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="649" height="526"></div> &#9632;

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BEAVER TALES

<div class="byline">BY RON COBB</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The first of December was a day that the St. Louis Blues had circled last summer as they looked ahead to the 1984-85 season.It was to be a day when they would take a body count, lick their wounds and try to begin a climb back into the Norris Division race.On Dec. 1, the Blues would be returning from a 12-day, five-game trip, having played 14 of their first 21 games on the road. As Ron Caron, the Blues&rsquo; director of hockey operations, eyed the schedule last summer, he set a goal. He hoped that his team would be no worse off than three points behind the division&rsquo;s fourth-place team.He said he didn&rsquo;t convey that message to coach Jacques Demers, &ldquo;but that&rsquo;s what has been in my mind.&rdquo;But on Nov. 30, when the Blues were in Detroit for a game against the Red Wings, they were in second place in the division, breathing down the necks of frontrunning Chicago. The Blues were above .500 at 10-9-1 and sported a 6-6-1 away record, including 3-1-1 in their last five games on the road.Less than a week earlier, they had beaten the Flames for the second time this season in Calgary to complete a sweep of their three-game season series.When November fumed to December last year, the Blues were still looking for their first road victory. It came Dec. 7 in Toronto, after they had been 0-11-2 in their first 13 away games.&ldquo;If we started like we did last season, we&rsquo;d be history by December,&rdquo; Demers said.The Blues won in Calgary behind an exceptional performance by goaltender Rick Wamsley to improve his career record against the Flames to 7-1. The Blues took a 3-1 lead after two periods on goals by Doug Wickenheiser, Doug Gilmour and Brian Sutter and then frustrated Calgary by going into a defensive shell in a goalless third period.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04259/4944206-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="590" height="890"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Caron thought the Blues would be in last place by the beginning of December.</figcaption></div>The Flames, who were playing without Paul Reinhart, Carey Wilson, Doug Risebrough and Lanny McDonald, weren&rsquo;t especially impressed.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll never win the Stanley Cup that way,&rdquo; said Kent Nilsson.&ldquo;How did they expect us to play with a 3-1 lead, wide open?&rdquo; Wamsley said.The Blues made a bid for a fourth consecutive victory one night later but fell short in a 7-6 loss at Edmonton. Tile defeat was hard to swallow because the goal that broke the 6-6 tie with 7:54 leff the third period came when Mike Krushelnyski kicked the puck past goaltender Mike Liut. Referee Bryan Lewis, however, judged that the puck wasn&rsquo;t kicked intentionally.&ldquo;As hard as the players worked, it&rsquo;s heartbreaking to lose on a goal that was kicked in,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;But Bryan Lewis is an established referee, so you can&rsquo;t dispute it.&rdquo;Three nights later, the Blues won for the second time in eight days at Vancouver against the struggling Canucks. The hero in a 6-1 victory was center Alan Lemieux, who scored three goals for his first NHL hat trick. He had just scored his first goal of the season in a loss to Edmonton.Lemieux&rsquo;s hat trick was the third the Blues in five games and their sixth of the season&mdash;the others were scored by Mark Reeds, Joe Mullen, Jorgen Pettersson, Dave Barr and Kevin LaVallee.The only other Blues&rsquo; team to have as many as six hat tricks in a season was the 1980-81 club, which had eight.BLUENOTES&mdash;AH seven goal scored by center Doug Wickenheist this season have been the first of the game for the Blues. His first six were the first of the game for either team&hellip;When Greg Paslawski suffered a charleyhorse against Calgary, defenseman Craig Levie was moved up to right wing for two games&hellip;After 20 games, defenseman Rob Ramage was still looking for his first goal. Coach Jacques Demers reduced Ramage&rsquo;s playing time for several games to take some pressure off him. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t pout,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;His attitude was, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re the coach. Put whoever out there you think is going to help the team win.&rsquo; I was very impressed.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-04

Hard-Working Blues Give GM Reason To Be Happy

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;When you speak to Vancouver Canuck players, almost all agree it is like April when it comes to their mental attitude towards the game.They seem exhausted, totally fed up with the sport at which they make their living, and it all has to do with losing on a continuous basis.Firing coach Bill LaForge hasn&rsquo;t seemed to help. General manager Harry Neale, who has taken over the coaching duties too, is having difficulty getting the team back on an even keel.Nobody expects the Canucks to play much, if any, over .500, but 10 points out of their first 25 games is not acceptable in any city, let alone one that had been told by the new coach that 50 wins was his goal for the year.What has happened is that all the players seem to be getting discouraged rather than encouraged.&ldquo;If anyone thinks we enjoy or are trying to do this&hellip;it&rsquo;s disgusting for us, too,&rdquo; said veteran center Peter McNab, who has most certainly never been through anything like this with his two previous teams, the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres.&ldquo;I can only speak for myself, but I&rsquo;ve been stuck in a grey area mentally. I&rsquo;m not totally involved or reacting instinctively to situations. I&rsquo;m there, but I&rsquo;m not doing any good. I&rsquo;m a stick away from everything.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been thinking too much about the games, about how we&rsquo;re playing and about how I&rsquo;m playing,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s on my mind so much I&rsquo;m almost weary by the time each game starts. I&rsquo;ve peaked too soon mentally. I&rsquo;m ready to play in the morning and almost down by game time. And when you make a mistake in that state of mind, the puck is invariably in the back of your net. Then you say to yourself, &lsquo;What next,&rsquo; and you&rsquo;re in that grey area.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t think about what to do in hockey. Things have to happen, to flow. The game happens too quickly to allow anyone to consciously think of what to do. You&rsquo;ve got to do things naturally. You&rsquo;ve got to explode into situations.&rdquo;Rick Lanz, with only one goal all season and one assist in his last 10 games, said the tension factor is increasing.&ldquo;There is a lack of mental preparation that seems to be killing us, because the more we work, the more mistakes we seem to make,&rdquo; he said.Neale obviously expected a more positive reaction when he moved behind the bench, but he was winless in his first four games.&ldquo;It has to be some sort of mental fatigue,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been pathetic. We had guys in the right spot to prevent five out of the six goals tonight, but they watched the pucks shot into the net. Something is wrong.&rdquo;Just what will happen with this club remains a matter of speculation, but whether Neale can hang on for the rest of the season is anybody&rsquo;s guess. He has been given a full blessing by owner Frank Griffiths, but it becomes increasingly difficult for the Griffiths family to keep their mitts off as the losses mount.NOTES&mdash;The Canucks have recalled Dave Morrison from Fredericton in an attempt to improve their anemic-penalty killing. &#9632;

Canucks Suffering Mental Fatigue

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02395/4944299-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="292" height="376"></div><h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2>PLAYERS WANTEDMount Allison University would like good young hockey players who are interested in combining their education with an exciting hockey program. For further information, contact: Jack Drover, Coach, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, EOA 3C0.HOCKEY SETS AVAILABLE: Send $1.00 and .50 P&H for hockey price list. 3 Hockey sets, singles in detail and souvenirs of all kinds. 1984 CFL set (110 cards) $17.00. AB D Cards, Dept. HNC-5, 305 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Man., R3B 2B9.<h2>EQUIPMENT</h2>PORTABLE SKATE SHARPENERS for sale. New 37 lb. portable machines with 1/3 hp motor. Complete with 2 diamond dressers and carrying case for $800. (612)482-8932.PUBLICATIONSHOCKEY NEWS BACK ISSUESfrom 1957 to 1984. For a complete list, send $2.00 to:ROY McDUFF373 PLACE D&rsquo;YOUVILLESUITE 204MONTREAL, QUEBECH2Y 2B7<h2>MERCHANDISE</h2>SPORTSWATCHA newsletter that studies trends and provides a different view of all the stats. For a free copy and details write:Sportswatch Inc.,P.O. Box 2000, Toronto, Ont.M6H 4E4.<h2>PUBLICATIONS</h2>ATTENTION COLLECTORSA complete set of THE HOCKEY NEWS (37 issues) for the 1983-84 season is available. ONE SET ONLY. $2.50 per issue. First come, first served. Write: THE HOCKEY NEWS, Dept. MC, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Toronto, Ont. M3B 2R2<h2>PUCK SELLOUT</h2>Largest collection in North America over 2,500 different. All leagues past & present many defunct and very rare. Also includes 1,000 extra traders (3,500 pucks total) $10,000.00. For serious enquiries and a league breakdown please reply to: Michael Reeve, 1222 Homuth Ave., Cambridge, Ont., N3H 2C9. (519) 6530037. All enquiries held confidential.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03288/4944292-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="1852" height="1117"></div> &#9632;

f0023-02

The Classified

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div>BUFFALO&mdash;What&rsquo;s the matter with the Sabres?That seems to be the main question on most Buffalo fans&rsquo; minds these days. And rightly so.Many fans were led to believe that this would be the season that ail those young players that Sabre general manager-coach Scott Bowman had acquired over the past three or four seasons would put it all together and make a run for the Stanley Cup.But just after the quarter point of the season, the Sabres are stuggling in fourth place in the Adams Division.A five-game winless streak included a 3-2 setback to the injury-plagued Rangers in New York, Nov. 21, and a 2-2 tie in Pittsburgh to the Penguins, Nov. 27.So what is the problem? Bowman may have some of the answers.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some problems, there is no doubt about that,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;There are certain times that you&rsquo;ve got to get that timely goal. We haven&rsquo;t been getting them.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a lot of close games that we have won and lost. But there have been no blowouts one way or the other.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased with the defense. That has really come around from the beginning of the season. But I&rsquo;m not pleased with the offense. We need a better balanced scoring attack. We need more scoring from a few more of our players. &ldquo;The majority of the scoring has come from Dave Andreychuk, Gil Perreault, Mal Davis, Mike Foligno and Ric Seiling.But what about all of those players drafted in the last three years who had the potential to score?&ldquo;The team is lacking in maturity from some of the players,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;But I feel that you can&rsquo;t rush maturity.&ldquo;I can get as impatient as I want, but that&rsquo;s not going to help the maturity of these kids.&ldquo;When I first came to Montreal, Guy Lafleur and Larry Robinson were both young and inexperienced in NHL play. It took them three or four years to mature. Look at their records now.&rdquo;But it&rsquo;s the Sabres&rsquo; record that counts now. At home they are nearly unbeatable, losing only once in their first 10 games at Memorial Auditorium.The problem is on the road, where the Sabres have won only once while losing nine and tying two. It is hard to believe that this is the same team that set a National Hockey League record last season with 10 consecutive wins on the road.&ldquo;We want to win on the road, but it takes a little time and confidence,&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;If we can play good, solid games at home it will eventually pay off on the road.&rdquo;And what do the players think?&ldquo;This season we seem to have made the same mistakes over and over again,&rdquo; said Gil Perreault, the 34-year-old veteran. &ldquo;We make too many mistakes sometimes.&ldquo;If you make too many mistakes over and over it&rsquo;s going to catch up with you.&rdquo;Another Sabre veteran, center Brent Peterson, has some different feelings about the team&rsquo;s fortunes so far this season.&ldquo;It really shouldn&rsquo;t matter who scores the goals,&rdquo; Peterson said &ldquo;You have to do it as a team.&ldquo;Craig Ramsay and I have a saying that goes, &lsquo;The tap dancers dance and the singers sing.&rsquo; We have to do sort of the same thing with the team. The goal scorers score and the checkers check.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to put it all together. So far this season there have been breakdowns by everyone. Our teamwork and work as a team isn&rsquo;t there.&ldquo;Hockey is a team game. Most good teams are made up of 20 guys. It&rsquo;s the best team that wins.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just missing something right now. I hope we find it soon.&rdquo;Although the Sabres are not in deep trouble, does Bowman anticipate changes in personnel?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to trade a young player or players for a veteran,&rdquo; said Bowman &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t work from that position.&ldquo;The only changes could come from within the organization. But I don&rsquo;t anticipate that now. This team, as it stands now, has proved in the past that it can win.&ldquo;I think they can win again.&rdquo; &#9632;

Red Light Syndrome Has Sabres Stymied

<div class="byline">BY DICK BAKER</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyT. CATHARINES&mdash;By the dawn&rsquo;s early light, Claire Alexander would be in his day. He&rsquo;d arrive at work at five no and hit the road by six. He had 320 ops to make.For seven years, Alexander, now the coach of the St. Catharines Saints, would art round a truck load of Silverwoods pairy milk bottles. Some days his work could end at noon, sometimes it would me much later, but he still had time for Hockey. Alexander, with a family to super, could always use the extra money lade from manning the blue line with prilla of the Ontario Senior A Hockey League.I as at Orillia where he played on the same team as goaltender Gerry McNalara, who was later the chief scout for be Toronto Maple Leafs and now their general manager.The moonlighting paid off. At age 29, Alexander turned pro in the Toronto chain. He was Rookie of the Year, league All-Star and Most Valuable Player for alias of the Central Hockey League, he next year he was called up by Torono where he played three seasons before no wing on to Vancouver. He finished his career with the Edmonton Oilers of world Hockey Association.&ldquo;It was outdoors and it was what was vailable,&rdquo; said Alexander of his dairy delivery days.After playing the last three years in Europe (two in West Germany and one in switzerland), Alexander, now 39, has managed to complete the international grand slam of hockey. He&rsquo;s gone from full-time milkman and part-time player no the rewarding, but risky, challenge of being a professional coach.It hasn&rsquo;t been easy. The Saints, with only 13 points in their first 21 games, have been shorthanded all season. One night they showed up with only 11 skaters.The injury-riddled Leafs hadn&rsquo;t been able to help much. And with a stint of four games in four nights (ending with a home game against Rochester), one would understand if Alexander chose to phone his old friends at the dairy requesting a new route.&ldquo;Yes, we&rsquo;ve been down as low as 11 players, but that&rsquo;s part of the coaching fraternity,&rdquo; said Alexander. &ldquo;At least the players can&rsquo;t say they haven&rsquo;t had a lot of ice time. But I hope we&rsquo;ll be able to get some more players in the next few weeks.&rdquo;Through it all, the defensively-minded Saints have stayed in most games. Six times they lost by only one goal. Their first five wins were also by one goal. The difference, Alexander said, was the lack of firepower around the net.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had plenty of chances, but we just don&rsquo;t have that scoring touch around the net,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are only three games we couldn&rsquo;t have won out of the 21. But it&rsquo;s still disheartening to play well and then lose by only one goal. But there&rsquo;s only so much gasoline in the tank.&rdquo;The Saints started off this way last year with the same number of points after 21 games, but roared back to play .667 hockey the rest of the way. However, last year&rsquo;s early season of problems of goaltending and defense were rectified with the arrivals of goaltender Tim Bernhardt and defenseman Gary Lariviere. This time it&rsquo;s offense that&rsquo;s needed.&ldquo;There are plenty of games we lost by one goal that we should have won by four or five.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping Larry Landon will help that.&rdquo;Landon, who was playing in Sherbrooke, was loaned to the Saints by the Montreal Canadiens.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have an abundance of scoring,&rdquo; acknowledged Alexander. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve only been averaging two or three goals a game.&rdquo;The few players Alexander does have earn many plaudits from the coach.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t give my players enough praise,&rdquo; he said.DOWN SOUTH&mdash;The New Haven Nighthawks and Nova Scotia Oilers were involved in a four-player swap. The Nighthawks obtained right winger-center Rob Tudor, a veteran of seven Central Hockey League seasons, and center Gerry Minor, who registered 58 points in 66 games last year for Fredricton. In return. New Haven gave up right winger Dean Hopkins and center Mark Morrison. The exchange was worked out by the parent Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers. Hopkins was recalled to L.A. and Morrison to New York, so they could be sent on loan to Nova Scotia. New Haven, through L.A., purchased the American League contracts of Minor and Tudor&hellip;Goaltender Michel Dion, struggling in Pittsburgh, joined the Baltimore Skipjacks, and Roberto Romano moved up to the Pens. Despite a lot of callups, Baltimore started to hit stride, including a shocking team-record 12-0 rout over the Rochester Amerks before nearly 6,000 fans on &ldquo;ski-cap&rdquo; night. They scored seven second-period goals, two within a seven-second span (only two seconds away from a league record). The big crowd also helped Baltimore&rsquo;s gate returns increase 17 per cent over last year&rsquo;s mark, despite a 6-5-3 home record. Defenseman Greg Hotham joined the Skipjacks from Pittsburgh, recovering from a bout with mononucleosis&hellip;The Springfield Indians, winners of four out of five, scored five times on their first 11 shots against Adirondack&rsquo;s Eddie Mio as the Tribe trounced the Red Wings 11-3, Nov. 28.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01532/4944354-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="594" height="1008"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Landon was loaned to St. Catharines by Montreal to bolster the Saints&rsquo; lineup.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Saints Need Divine Player(s) Help

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>FREDERICTON&mdash;A year older and much more at ease, Fredericton Express coach and general manager Earl Jessiman is determined to tear down some of the barriers that existed last season and improve communications with his players.As a rookie coach last season, Jessiman led the Express to the Northern Division title, but he says that some important matters were left unattended&mdash;a situation he intends to correct the second time around.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the guys really knew Earl Jessiman last year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Plus, at the same time, it was my first year as a pro coach and I wanted to do as well as possible because it was a very pivotal year for me to prove that I could coach in the professional ranks. It&rsquo;s a natural reaction when you do pressure yourself to win, but maybe there were times where put winning before individual development.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not to say I don&rsquo;t think I developed a lot of players last year, because I think I did. I think I did a good job at it. I guess the best way to put it is that I don&rsquo;t think I did as good a job as I could have done. But it all comes down to experience. In any business, if you learn from your mistakes, you&rsquo;re going to become a better person. As a coach, if we don&rsquo;t accept our mistakes and learn by them, we don&rsquo;t belong in the business.&rdquo;Jessiman was 28-years-old in the summer of 1983 when the Quebec Nordiques plucked him off the campus of Brandon University to succeed Jacques Demers at Fredericton. Jessiman arrived with absolutely no professional experience, but with a strange belief in a defensive approach to the game, and an even stronger desire to succeed.He did, but not completely. The Express took over the Northern Division lead in January and held on to win the title. However, a shocking first-round loss to Nova Scotia knocked Fredericton out of the playoffs and sent Jessiman looking for answers.&ldquo;My assistant coach, Don McAdam, he&rsquo;s the coach of the University of New Brunswick, and I sat down at the end of the season and went over the positive and negative aspects of the season,&rdquo; Jessiman said. &ldquo;And I think that if there is one thing that we were both in agreement about that I sort of failed in as a requirement as a genera) manager and coach in pro hockey is that I didn&rsquo;t create enough of a good atmosphere with the players. I always had a good rapport with the players, but what I mean is not dealing with the players on a consistent basis.&rdquo;Jessiman believes that he spent too much time attending to the duties of the general manager at the expense of being a complete coach. This season, he&rsquo;s made some adjustments.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m meeting with the players on a very consistent basis,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Meeting with them after every 10 games. I&rsquo;m giving them feedback on their stats, they way I feel that they are playing, what their plus-minus stats are, which 1 feel is extremely important, and what I think they have to work on if they are going to stand a chance to get up. All of those things are talked about and then, of course, asking a guy if he has any personal problems, anything I can deal with, and to emphasize the fact that my door is open 24 hours a day if there is a problem.&rdquo;So far, the approach is working out quite well. The Express completed the November portion of the schedule with a 4-0 win at home over Rochester that extended their unbeaten streak to 9-0-1. The Express moved past the Amerks to become the team with the best record in the league, and they hold a comfortable lead in the Northern Division.&ldquo;I think the guys have reacted to me in a much more positive manner,&rdquo; Jessiman said, &ldquo;I compare it to a rookie. When he comes into professional hockey I treat him the same way; he&rsquo;s got to show me that he belongs here. I think the players were the same way last year. It&rsquo;s sort of a screening process, the players are always testing you to see if you belong there. Now I think they realize that I have experience as a professional coach and they seem to be treating me accordingly.&rdquo;AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;The Express have continued to win games even though Ed Lee and Dave Morrison, two forwards who had been scoring a lot of goals, were called up by Quebec and Vancouver, respectively&hellip;In his first three starts for the Express, veteran goalie Richard Brodeur fashioned a 2-0 I record and a 2.68 goals-against average&hellip;Right-winger Rich Chernomaz was recalled by New Jersey from Maine after scoring nine goals and 22 points in 19 games. Chernomaz was tied for the team&rsquo;s goal-scoring lead with Rocky Trottier, Steve Tsujiura and Greg Adams&hellip;Hannu Kampurri, the Finnish goalie signed by the Devils last summer, replaced injured Sam St. Laurent in the Maine lineup and won all three of his starts while recording a 2.54 goals-against average&hellip;The Montreal Canadiens recalled veteran forward Larry Landon from their Sherbrooke team and loaned him to St. Catharines. Sherbrooke goalie Paul Pageau is sidelined with a broken finger&hellip;Defenseman Dale DeGray and Neil Sheehy have performed well at forward when given duty there by Moncton coach Pierre Page. The Golden Flames are playing without rookie center Joel Otto, who was recalled to Calgary&hellip;Adirondack completed a successful road trip to the Maritimes with a 2-1 record, but the Springfield Indians brought the Wings back to earth in Glens Falls by handing them an 11-3 loss. Ed Mio, who had compiled a 2.15 goals-against average and a 4-2 record in his six previous starts, was burned for five goals on 11 shots in 14 minutes of work.&hellip;Defenseman Stephane Lefebvre signed a contract with the Wings&hellip;Nova Scotia traded center Gerry Minor and right-winger Rob Tudor to New Haven for center Mark Morrison and right-winger Dean Hopkins. &#9632;

Jessiman Thinks Talking Can Cut Down Barriers

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyMILWAUKEE&mdash;Of the nine International Hockey League teams, the Milwaukee Admirals are the only primary developmental club of a National Hockey League team (Chicago Black Hawks). Because of that, many IHL hockey people picked them to be the class of the league.But Cliff Korrol, the former assistant coach at Chicago who was appointed head coach of the Hawks when they moved their farm team from Springfield of the American League to the IHL Ads this summer, never let the high praise give him a swelled head.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m surprised everyone thinks that way,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a developing club, too, just like the rest of them. Our average age is 21.5. We&rsquo;re a very young team. We have two players who are 24 (defenseman Steve Blyth and left winger Florent Dobidoux, both of whom played at Springfield last season), the rest are inexperienced, maybe one or two of them with a year in the pros.&ldquo;And,&rdquo; added Korrel, &ldquo;you can&rsquo;t run away and hide from-everyone with an inexperienced team.&rdquo;It took the Ads six games before they recorded their first victory.&ldquo;It was an adjustment period for everyone,&rdquo; Korrel noted of the 0-4-1 start. &ldquo;Some of the guys were upset about being here; some thought they should be playing in Chicago. It was just a big head case all around.&rdquo;In their last 13 contests, the Admirals have improved to 5-11-2.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of getting the effort from everyone,&rdquo; Korrol said. &ldquo;Some of them thought they just had to put on their equipment and show up. That hurt us in the beginning, but now we&rsquo;re doing better. Since the fifth game of the season I couldn&rsquo;t ask for a better effort.&rdquo;Offensively, the Admirals are holding their own. But after 18 games (as of Nov. 26), Milwaukee had surrendered more goals than any team in the league (85). Toledo had given up 82 in the same number of games and Salt Lake 81 in 19 outings.&ldquo;Our goaltending has been good in spite of the goals against,&rdquo; Korrol said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve faced a lot of shots. (Jim) Ralph has played well, but it&rsquo;s not indicated in the win column.&rdquo;Ralph was 2-8-1 after 11 games, with a 4.57 goals-against average and, as Korrol pointed out, had faced 327 shots in that period, third highest total in the league. Lindsay Middlebrook of Toledo (369 shots in 11 games) and Kalamazoo&rsquo;s Georges Gagnon (329 shots in 10 contests) have faced more attempts.Admiral rookie Darren Pang stopped 52 of 56 shots in a victory over Muskegon, then came back the following afternoon and kicked aside 32 of 35 shots in a tie game against the Lumberjacks in Milwaukee. But in eight games he has faced an average of nearly 36 shots a game.Up front, Korrol is satisfied with the production of John Gibson, Robidoux and Dan Frawley. Frawley and Kevin Robinson were leading the team in goal-scoring with nine each as of Nov. 26, and Robidoux and Frawley were second and third, respectively, in team scoring with 16 and 13 points.Korrol also was pleased with the line of Jeff Larmer and Tom McMurchy. Larmer leads the team in points with 21, while both he and McMurchy have seven goals apiece.&ldquo;Robinson shows signs of being a pretty good player, too,&rdquo; Korrol said of his 20-year-old left winger who played with Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey League last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01558/4944416-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="598" height="870"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02393/4944409-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="588" height="872"><figcaption class="caption-body">The play of Jeff Larmer (left) and Kevin Robinson (right) has helped make an improvement for the slow-starting Admirals.</figcaption></div>The Black Hawks have left the Admirals pretty well alone as far as player moves are concerned. Milwaukee got a bit of a boost recently when Ken Yaremchuk was sent down to get into condition after breaking a toe. In his first four games with the Ads, he had three goals and two assists.Overall, Korrol is bringing things along slowly, much as the Milwaukee fans are doing.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing OK here,&rdquo; said Korrol of the team&rsquo;s first season in Milwaukee. &ldquo;The crowds are up a bit and we have lots of new faces for the fans to adapt to. It&rsquo;s a pretty tough league. No one is going to run off and hide from anyone.&rdquo;The IHL standings as of Nov. 26 gave credence to that. Although split into two divisions, the team with the most points (Flint, 22) had but eight more points than the No. 9 team (Milwaukee).IHL NOTES&mdash;Kalamazoo&rsquo;s Georges Gagnon earned a shutout in his title victories and compiled a 1.00 goals-against mark&hellip;Rob Holland of Indianapolis and Mike Craig of Flint each picked up two wins in goal during the week&hellip;Muskegon&rsquo;s Scott Gruhl topped the week&rsquo;s scorers with four goals and five assists. His goals came in one game against Milwaukee&hellip;Gilles Thibaudeau leads the IHL in goals with 14 and in total points with 26. &#9632;

f0026-01

Admirals Haven’t Lived Up To Expectations

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>MADISON&mdash;For a school which has won four U.S. national championships in the last 12 years and finished second one over time, the 1984-85 season has been a difficult one for the University of Wisconsin to accept.One of the finest collegiate hockey programs in the country is struggling through the kind of start you wouldn&rsquo;t wish on your worst enemy. The Badgers were in last place in the tough Western Collegiate Hockey Association with only three wins in 10 games.That&rsquo;s an extremely unusual position for Wisconsin to be in since it has finished in the second division of the CHA A just twice since moving into major college hockey in 1969.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t have answer,&rdquo; Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer said when asked the cause of the Badgers&rsquo; problems. We&rsquo; re just not winning.&rdquo;A quick look at Wisconsin&rsquo;s statistics reveal part of the problem. Senior winger Paul Houck, who has scored 58 goals in the previous two seasons, was goalless in the first 10 games. And senior center Paul Houston, who collected 46 goals over the last two seasons, has just six to date.&ldquo;The biggest breakdown is that some of our offensive punch are just not putting the puck in the net,&rdquo; Sauer said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not discouraged, but we are concerned that we aren&rsquo;t putting the puck in net.&rdquo;Nor is Wisconsin getting the great goaltending it has been accustomed to in recent years with the likes of Marc Behrend and Terry Kleisinger. Junior Gary Baxter and freshman Dean Anderson have been allowing about five goals a game, way above what it takes to win consistently in the WCHA.&ldquo;Our goaltending hasn&rsquo;t been poor, but it has been average,&rdquo; Sauer said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not the reason we&rsquo;re losing. There&rsquo;s probably just one game we&rsquo;ve lost because of our goaltending. The rest have been through a team effort.&rdquo;Wisconsin, similar to the bulk of the college hockey teams in the country, is playing a lot of freshman, which is another factor in Wisconsin&rsquo;s slow start, especially when combined with a lack of output from some of the veterans.&ldquo;We had nine freshmen in the lineup when we played Yale recently,&rdquo; Sauer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to say that our freshmen are coming along as quickly as expected. If we had more help from some of our upperclassmen, we&rsquo;d be doing better than we are. We are playing fairly well, we&rsquo;re just not scoring as much as we should.&rdquo;The Badgers are getting great production from sophomore center Tony Granato, a former fifth-round draft pick of the New York Rangers. Granato, who played two seasons for Northwood Prep in Lake Placid, NY before going to Wisconsin, has been a bright light for the Badgers with 16 goals in 14 games.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been playing very well,&rdquo; Sauer said. &ldquo;But a lot of goals have come through individual effort. Now we&rsquo;ve put Houck on a line with Tony in hopes of getting Houck going.&rdquo;Wisconsin has also been getting outstanding play from versatile Tim Thomas, the last player cut from the U.S. Olympic team last year. Thomas, who has played both forward and defense for the Badgers, is being used strictly on defense this season, where he&rsquo;s paired with Gary Suter, a combination that logs a lot of ice time. Thomas ranks second for Wisconsin behind Granato with four goals and a team-high 19 assists.The Badgers have also been playing a rough schedule which has seen the them travel to Providence, Northern Michigan and Minnesota-Duluth, resulting in five of Wisconsin&rsquo;s league losses.&ldquo;None of those places are easy to play in,&rdquo; Sauer said. &ldquo;But if we can be .500 by Christmas time, we&rsquo;ll be very pleased. With six of our next eight league games at home, we feel we have a chance to reach that.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01530/4944447-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="593" height="822"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Houck&rsquo;s scoring slump is one of the reasons for Wisconsin&rsquo;s disappointing play.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Basement Badgers Find It Tough

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02343/4944523-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="424" height="519"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN CARTER RPI</figcaption></div><h2>ECAC</h2>John Carter of RPI scored four goals in a 73 RPI win over Yale and followed up with a hat trick, including the game winner in overtime, against Brown in a 4-3 squeaker, to win the nod as the ECAC Performer of the Week.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03225/4944516-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="423" height="523"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL YSEBAERT BGU</figcaption></div><h2>CCHA</h2>Paul Ysebaert, a rookie center who hails from Corunna, Ont., was the big gun as Bowling Green swept past Miami 10-4 and 5-3. He had three power-play goals in the weekend doubleheader, including the game-winning goal in the Falcons&rsquo; second game victory.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04157/4944509-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="422" height="520"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTY WAKELYN Col. College</figcaption></div><h2>WCHA</h2>Colorado College junior goalie Marty Wakelyn made a total of 62 saves in a sweep against Boston University as the Tigers won 4-1 and 7-1 to earn Wakelyn selection as the WCHA Performer of the Week.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05111/4944502-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="419" height="521"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB SWEENEY BC</figcaption></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>Boston College&rsquo;s Bob Sweeney scored five points, including a game-winning goal, to spark the Eagles to a 4-2 and 6-2 sweep over Michigan Tech to become Hockey East Performer of the Week.Boston College is off to an 8-5 start.THE BAUER PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK &#9632;

f0027-02

Bauer FIT FOR PERFORMANCE

<div class="byline">BY BILL CRAWFORD</div>ANN ARBOR&mdash;When Red Berenson addresses a group, whether it&rsquo;s his University of Michigan players on the ice or the team&rsquo;s booster club, he commands respect.After all, Berenson spent 18 seasons in the National Hockey League and coached three seasons at St. Louis. Before he came to the pros, he started at the University of Michigan, where he was a star player for four years&mdash;twice an All-American&mdash;and earned his Masters of Business Administration in 1966.Not only that, the man is so classy. He exudes confidence and he is a polished public speaker&hellip;low-key but very knowledgeable. Again, he commands respect, the sort of respect paid to those who speak from experience.Now, the new gentleman back of Michigan&rsquo;s bench will be the first to admit that the Wolverines are a long way from making a fast turnabout in Division One hockey. But he leaves everybody, his players included, convinced that the glory days aren&rsquo;t far off.He&rsquo;s candid to a fault, but convincing beyond question.&ldquo;This team was not winning when I got here and I know why,&rdquo; he says, matter-of-factly. &ldquo;And let me tell you right now, it was not all the fault of the former coach (John Giordano, who was released after four seasons at Michigan, and whose teams went 68-75-6).&ldquo;I told the players when I took over that I expected them to show me that it was not their shortcomings that caused things to slide. And they are not without fault.&rdquo;Berenson theorizes that with a renewed work ethic and some better recruiting Michigan can be restored to its once lofty position in the world of collegiate hockey.&ldquo;Our future rests with the underclassmen, particularly our freshmen,&rdquo; he continues. &ldquo;We have some good kids, some who haven&rsquo;t been contaminated by the poor work habits of the others yet. There has to be a complete change in attitude if we&rsquo;re to regain the form Michigan had when I played here and before.&ldquo;We now have some people who are playing out a string, finishing here and little else. We have to change that attitude, to find players willing to dedicate themselves to the game and the program here and willing to work hard all the time to achieve those goals. We don&rsquo;t have that right now, not with the whole team.&rdquo;Berenson knows his task won&rsquo;t be easy.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot of work to do,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Our power play is a real problem right now. We&rsquo;ve given up more goals while we&rsquo;ve had the extra man than we&rsquo;ve scored (one more goal as of Nov. 26). That&rsquo;s something coaching can help, but we&rsquo;ve got to have some people who can do what&rsquo;s required too. That&rsquo;s true of all the specialty aspects: power play, killing penalties, faceoffs, whatever. It all takes work. When you play better even up than you do with the extra man, something is very wrong.&rdquo;Berenson figures success will come if freshmen such as Brad McCaughey, highly-touted Jeff Norton, Gary Lorden, Joe Lockwood, Sean Baker and goalie Tim Makris can learn to dedicate themselves, to go the extra it takes to be ready every weekend throughout a college hockey season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some good young people, some others amongst sophomores, juniors and seniors, too,&rdquo; says Berenson. &ldquo;But we need to do some good recruiting, to bring in the kind of kids who want a first-class education and who also want to play the best college hockey possible.&rdquo;Berenson plans to get out and see as many potential Wolverines as possible, but he&rsquo;ll rely heavily on assistant coaches Mark Miller and Gary Morrison to handle the bulk of recruiting chores.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a three-hour drive to the nearest good areas,&rdquo; Berenson says. &ldquo;I make as many trips as possible, but Mark and Gary are both very good at what they do and 1 can trust them to get us what we need.&rdquo;Over the past several seasons, Michigan has relied heavily on the home state for recruits and now carries 11 homegrowns and another seven from Minnesota. Only three Canadians dot Michigan&rsquo;s roster.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think teams from Michigan are going to get the top Minnesota kids,&rdquo; says Berenson. &ldquo;I think we might be better off to go coast-to-coast and get the absolute best players possible. We&rsquo;re making more trips than usual into the southern Ontario areas, but we&rsquo;re going into the East and out West as well. We have a big name. There is no reason why Michigan can&rsquo;t attract the top college prospect. That&rsquo;s what will make us great again. We&rsquo;re going after the best.&rdquo;CCHA CHATTER&mdash;Injuries have felled Michigan&rsquo;s Brad Jones, Michigan State&rsquo;s Bill Shibicky and Ohio State&rsquo;s Don Perkins. Jones hurt a knee against Lake Superior State and is out indefinitely, while Shibicky has a bruised kidney and is out at least until after Christmas. Perkins hurt a shoulder against Ferris State and may require surgery. He could be out most of the rest of the season&hellip;Lake Superior State beat Michigan twice the weekend of Nov. 23-24. marking the Lakers fourth consecutive road win and fifth win in a row, taking them to; the top of the CCHA standings. &#9632;

Berenson Speaks From Experience

<h2>HOCKEY EAST CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 7)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01532/4944652-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="550" height="236"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Nov. 19Boston College 11, Holy Cross 2Tue. Nov. 20Lowell 4, Northeastern 3Fri. Nov. 23Min.-Duluth 6, New Hampshire 2Colorado Coll. 4, Providence 3Minnesota 8, Boston College 2N. Michigan 6, Maine 3Lowell 2, Mich Tech 1Sat. Nov. 24Boston Univ. 3, Northeastern 1Min-Duluth 2, New Hampshire 1Providence 10, Colorado Coll. 1Minnesota 4, Boston College 2N. Michigan 6, Maine 4Mich Tech 3, Lowell 2Tue. Nov. 27New Hampshire 2 at Boston Univ. 3Fri. Nov. 30Boston College 4 at Mich Tech 2Boston Univ. 1 at Colorado College 4Lowell 3 at Minnesota 6Maine 2 at Min-Duluth 6Northeastern 6 at N. Michigan 5Sat. Dec. 1Boston College 6 at Mich Tech 2Boston Univ. 1 at Colorado College 7Lowell 3 at Minnesota 5Maine 2 at Min-Duluth 7Providence 3 at New Hampshire 2Northeastern 2 at N. Michigan 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02373/4944645-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="548" height="292"></div><h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 7)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03271/4944638-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="550" height="294"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Nov. 23Ferris State 6 at Ohio State 3Lake Superior 1 at Michigan 0Mich State 4 at Bowling Green 1W. Michigan 4 at Miami 7Illinois-Chicago 4 at Denver 8Sat. Nov. 24Bowling Green 4 at Mich State 3Ferris State 3 at Ohio State 6Lake Superior 6 at Michigan 3W. Michigan 6 at Miami 3Illinois-Chicago 2 at Denver 5Thu. Nov. 29Mich State 8 at Ill-Chicago 2Fri. Nov. 30Bowling Green 10 at Miami 4Ferris State 2 at W. Michigan 6Mich State 8 at Ill-Chicago 4Ohio State 4 at Michigan 4Sat. Dec. 1Bowling Green 5 at Miami 3Ohio State 4 at Michigan 3W. Michigan 4 at Ferris State 1<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04199/4944631-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="554" height="380"></div><h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 7)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05171/4944624-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="550" height="382"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. Nov. 18Princeton 0 at Colgate 3Army 4 at Cornell 6Yale 7 at Dartmouth 4Brown 2 at Harvard 7Fri. Nov. 23Dartmouth 4 at Princeton 5Harvard 5 at Army 4Sat. Nov. 24Harvard 4 at Princeton 3Dartmouth 4 at Army 3<h3>NON-LEAGUE GAMES</h3>RPI 8, North Dakota 2Wisconsin 7, Yale 6Yale 3, Wisconsin 2North Dakota 7, RPI 6Clarkson 4, RIT 2Holy Cross 4, Brown 2Toronto 7, Cornell 2<h3>EMPIRE CUP TOURNAMENT</h3>St. Lawrence 3, Vermont 2Union 6, Colgate 3Consolation finalVermont 2, Colgate 1Championship finalSt. Lawrence 7, Union 1(St. Lawrence wins tournament)Tue. Nov. 27Princeton 4 at Army 1Yale 4 at Brown 3Fri. Nov. 30RPI 7 at Yale 3Vermont 1 at Brown 4Colgate 5 at St. Lawrence 2Cornell 1 at Clarkson 3Sat. Dec. 1Vermont 0 at Yale 8RPI 4 at Brown 3Cornell 2 at St. Lawrence 4Colgate 1 at Clarkson 4<h3>NON-CONFERENCE GAMES</h3>Harvard 5, Toronto 4Harvard 7, Western 2Princeton 6, Holy Cross 3Army 3, Middlebury 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06149/4944617-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="550" height="266"></div><h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 7)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-07139/4944610-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="542" height="262"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Nov. 23Colo. College 4 at Providence 3Mich. Tech 1 at Lowell 2Min-Duluth 6 at New Hampshire 2Boston College 2 at Minnesota 8N. Michigan 6 at Maine 3Illinois-Chicago 4 at Denver 8RPI 6 at North Dakota 7Yale 6 at Wisconsin 7Sat. Nov. 24Colo. College 1 at Providence 10Mich. Tech 3 at Lowell 2Min-Duluth 2 at New Hampshire 1Boston College 2 at Minnesota 4N. Michigan 6 at Maine 4Illinois-Chicago 4 at Denver 8RPI 8 at North Dakota 2Yale 3 at Wisconsin 2Fri. Nov. 30Boston Univ. 1 at Colorado Coll. 4Boston College 4 at Mich Tech 2Maine 2 at Min-Duluth 6Lowell 3 at Minnesota 6No. Dakota 5 at Wisconsin 6Northeastern 6 at N. Michigan 5Sat. Dec. 1Boston Univ. 1 at Colorado Coll. 7Boston College 6 at Mich Tech 2Maine 2 at Min-Duluth 7Lowell 3 at Minnesota 5No. Dakota 2 at Wisconsin 3Northeastern 2 at N. Michigan 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-08129/4944603-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="550" height="382"></div><h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-09122/4944596-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="554" height="411"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>York 6, Toronto 2Laurier 5, Brock 1Laurentian 6, Ryerson 1Brock 4, Queen&rsquo;s 3Laurentian 7, RMC 5Waterloo 7, Guelph 5Laurentian 6, RMC 1Guelph 5, Western 3Toronto 7, Waterloo 2York 5, Brock 3Windsor 8, Waterloo 6Laurentian 9, McMaster 6Laurier 8, Windsor 2Laurentian 9, McMaster 3Toronto 14, Waterloo 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-10119/4944589-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="544" height="317"></div><h2>CANADA WEST CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-11111/4944582-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="547" height="178"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Alberta 7, Saskatchewan 3Saskatchewan 6, Alberta 3UBC 9, Calgary 5UBC 3, Calgary 1Calgary 8, Lethbridge 3Saskatchewan 6, Calgary 5Calgary 5, Saskatchewan 3Alberta 8, UBC 4Alberta 8, UBC 4UBC 4, Lethbridge 1UBC 7, Lethbridge 2Calgary 3, Alberta 2Alberta 5, Calgary 1Saskatchewan 13, Lethbridge 2Saskatchewan 5, Lethbridge 0Alberta 6, Lethbridge 0Alberta 15, Lethbridge 3Alberta 3, Saskatchewan 1Alberta 7, Saskatchewan 3UBC 6, Calgary 5Calgary 5, UBC 4Alberta 5, UBC 4Alberta 7, UBC 5Lethbridge 7, Calgary 5Calgary 8, Lethbridge 4Calgary 6, Saskatchewan 4Saskatchewan 7, Calgary 3UBC 7, Lethbridge 1UBC 6, Lethbridge 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-12107/4944575-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="547" height="384"></div><h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Nov. 30)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1399/4944568-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="540" height="179"></div><h2>ONTARIO COLLEGES</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1488/4944561-1-eng-US/f0028-142.jpg" title="f0028-14" width="546" height="267"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Seneca 12, Humber 3Sheridan 5, Georgian 3Canadore 7, Sheridan 2St. Clair 6, Seneca 5Humber 5, Canadore 4Centennial 5, Georgian 4St. Clair 13, Conestoga 3Georgian 7, Centennial 6Seneca 9, Canadore 5St. Clair 6, Centennial 5Sheridan 6, St. Clair 1Centennial 5, Canadore 3<h2>Team Canada, Soviet Games</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1584/4944554-1-eng-US/f0028-152.jpg" title="f0028-15" width="434" height="331"></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

HOW THEY STAND

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>YALE&mdash;Although a high-powered offense will fill an arena and keep the face their feet, coaches will always ten you it&rsquo;s defense that wins games, and Yale has quickly proven that point in the early going in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.The Elis, led by transfer goalie Mickey Kappele, have started the 1984-85 season the same way they finished last year&mdash;with a flurry. They came out of the gate with a 4-2 record, which included a 3-2 win over Wisconsin at Madision.&ldquo;I thought we would be strong defensibly,&rdquo; said Yale coach Tim Taylor, spent the 1983-84 season as an assist the coach with the U.S. Olympic Team. &ldquo;My real concern was if we would be able to score goals and generate any offense. We only scored 91 goals last year, and our leading scorer only had 26 points. But I&rsquo;m pleased with our ability to score.&rdquo;After a discouraging 3-1 loss to Harvard (&ldquo;If I could take a game back, I&rsquo;d take that one back,&rdquo; said Taylor), the Elis went with some reservation to Madison. WI, as the offense still hadn&rsquo;t come to life. But Yale erupted for six goals the first night against the Badgers, only to 7-6, and Kappele was sharp the next night, sparking a 3-2 Yale victory.&ldquo;The series was really important to me for a couple of reasons,&rdquo; said Taylor. &ldquo;For one thing, those were only our third and fourth games of the year, and we knew Wisconsin would be ahead of us as far as on-ice poise, penalty-killing and goaltending. But we scored six goals the first night, which is hard to do in their building, and we only gave up two on Saturday night, which is also hard to do in their building. Anytime you go out the and play in an environment like consin, it&rsquo;s a real test of your poise and character. I think we passed with flying colors.&rdquo;Kappele got the highest marks, making 35 saves in the Yale win, in which the Ens were outshot 37-29. With sophonore Mike Schwalb academically in-eligible until the middle of January, Kappele has been a savior.&ldquo;He had been admitted to Yale the year before, but he chose Notre Dame over us, said Taylor of his 5-foot-8, 165-pound netminder. &ldquo;But after his freshman year, they deemphasized the program and he called over here and said he wanted to transfer. He didn&rsquo;t have a hard time because he had already been accepted. Yale doesn&rsquo;t take too many transfers.&rdquo;But Taylor is glad they took this one. Although he hasn&rsquo;t played a lot of goal since high school, Kappele was in goal in Yale&rsquo;s first four wins and seems to be getting better each time he goes out onto the ice.The offense has been scoring just enough goals to keep the Elis on the right side of the ledger, but the goal production should also improve as the year goes on. The scoring has been balanced, as junior Eric Borg, junior Bob Logan and Ken Bielski had the goals against Wisconsin in the 3-2 win, and rookie Tom Walsh scored a pair of third-period goals to carry Yale past Brown in their next start.This year&rsquo;s fast start is in direct contrast to last year, when an early nine-game losing streak put the Elis in a 2-9 hole. But that team finished with a flurry, winning nine and tying one in its last 14 starts.&ldquo;Last year, we finished strong after a terrible start, and it had to say something about the character of the team,&rdquo; Taylor stated. &ldquo;After living through that, it had to make them feel pretty good. I was a little concerned when we lost to Harvard and played so badly, but I think we&rsquo;re back on the right track now.&rdquo;With Kappele at the controls, that track could lead right to the ECAC playoffs.ECAC NOTES&mdash;Things can&rsquo;t get much worse for Army coach Jack Riley. Not only did he lose a pair of one-goal games, 5-4 to Harvard and 4-3 to Dartmouth, but he also lost leading scorer Mike Symes for the rest of the season with a knee injury&hellip;Dartmouth sophomore goalie Jay Samek deserves some overtime pay after his performances against Princeton and Army. He stopped 53 shots against the Tigers, only to lose 5-4 in overtime, and then turned aside 39 more in another overtime game against the Cadets the next night&hellip;Scott Fusco hasn&rsquo;t lost his scoring touch. He was named ECAC Player of the Week as he scored four goals and assisted on two others to lead the Crimson past Army and Princeton. He scored the game-winner against the Cadets with just 26 seconds left&hellip;After three consecutive runner-up finishes, St. Lawrence won its first Empire Cup Tournament crown, beating Union College 7-1 in the championship game. Saint sophomore Bill Gerrie was named the tournament&rsquo;s MVP. Mike O&rsquo;Connor of Vermont had an impressive two nights, assisting on four of his team&rsquo;s five goals to help the Catamounts finish third&hellip;Defending ECAC champion RP1 split its series with North Dakota, losing 7-6 in overtime in the first game, but coming back with an 8-2 win the next night. Junior John Carter had a hat trick to spark the victory&hellip;Adam Oates of RP1 continues to emerge as a top candidate for the Hobey Baker Award. In RPI&rsquo;s first six games, he scored nine goals and seven assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01457/4944683-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="592" height="757"><figcaption class="caption-body">Yale&rsquo;s fast start has given coach Tim Taylor plenty of reason to be happy.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

Yale Goalie Earns Passing Grade

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>LOWELL&mdash;Every now and then, John Shumski drives a dozen miles or so from his dormitory at the University of Lowell to his parents&rsquo; house in Medford, MA.&ldquo;Just to get some sleep,&rdquo; he says.Shumski needs the rest. He has been the workhorse of his team this year and is one of the big reasons that Lowell has put together three impressive wins and a loss to tie Boston College and Northeastern for third place in the tight Hockey East race.A junior, Shumski is playing his first season for the Chiefs. He sat out last year after transferring from RPI after two campaigns. His 22 points in 12 games this season nearly equal his entire production of 25 points in, actually, a season and a half at RPI.At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Shumski is a bonafide right winger. His linemates are freshmen Jon Morris and senior Mike Opre, and the trio ranks fourth, fifth, and ninth, respectively, in league scoring.Despite his size, Shumski had not used it to his advantage until he arrived at Lowell.&ldquo;I used to think only of scoring goals at RPI,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But coach (Bill) Riley told me that I&rsquo;m 6-foot-3 and I&rsquo;ve got to use my body more. I&rsquo;ve been hitting, and it opens up a lot of chances for me.&rdquo;Last year was difficult, but an ultimately rewarding one for Shumski. He could have returned to RPI but had already cast his die for Lowell and had to sit idle for the college season. Lowell had a terrible year, while RPI ran roughshod over everybody in the East. But Shumski managed to learn a lot about the game and about himself, too.He played for the South Shore Braves of the five-team New England Junior Hockey League. Most of the league&rsquo;s players are kids fresh out of high school, looking to hone their skills while trying to find a college. With a couple of years&rsquo; experience on most of his teammates, Shumski became something of a mentor.&ldquo;I found out that I had to think more than ever about the game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Lots of times the other players would come up to me and ask questions like, &lsquo;Why did you do that?&rsquo; or &lsquo;What should I do in this situation?&rsquo;&ldquo;It got my own confidence up, because I scored a couple of goals a game, it seemed. The kids on the team started looking up to me. It really helped.&rdquo;Still, there were times when he second-guessed his decision to leave the up-and-coming RPI program. Practice sessions at 11:30 p.m. and bus trips to places such as Fitchburg, MA. and Milford, CT, don&rsquo;t qualify as aspects of the glamorous sporting life. But now he has no regrets, of course. Both he and Riley are careful to point out that Lowell, which had been one of five teams that recruited him avidly from Boston&rsquo;s powerful Don Bosco Tech, did not see his transfer from RPI.&ldquo;In fact, I came to Lowell and checked around before I even talked with coach Riley,&rdquo; added Shumski, a 10th-round draft choice of the St. Louis Blues in 1982.Shumski has been especially productive in Lowell&rsquo;s current surge.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been a little lucky, I think, but coach Riley really prepares us for every game,&rdquo; Shumski said. &ldquo;He studies the other team&rsquo;s breakout plays, then we work all week on forechecking against them. Sometimes he changes the forechecking strategy right in the middle of a period, too.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;As of Nov. 26, just three points separated the top five teams in the standings. After the third-place jam, there&rsquo;s a gap of eight points to Maine in sixth and another pair to New Hampshire in seventh&hellip;Ace UNH goalie Bruce Gillies injured his knee in the first game of a doubleheader against Minnesota-Duluth, which swept the series&hellip;Boston University held a decisive territorial edge over Northeastern, but Bruce Racine&rsquo;s goaltending kept the Huntington Hounds close when the Terriers won 3-1. It was the first game of the year that Rod Isbister failed to score for NU&hellip;BU freshman Jeff Sveen, meanwhile, scored a point in that game to make it at least one point in six of his team&rsquo;s last seven contests&hellip;Lowell junior Dana Demole earned Player-of-the-Week honors for backstopping the Chiefs to their two wins of the week. &#9632;

Shumski Benifitted From Layoff

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyHAMILTON&mdash;The Hamilton Steelhawks&rsquo; new general manager-coach, Bill LaForge, had hardly taken control of the ship when news arrived a captain was coming on board.Hours after he was appointed by club owner Jack Robillard to take over from Dave Draper in a shakeup, word came that the Toronto Maple Leafs were returning left winger Jeff Jackson to the Steelhawks. Jackson, who captained the Steelhawks when they played in Brantford last season as the Alexanders, had one point in 16 games with the Leafs.The Alexanders were struggling in fifth spot with a 9-14-1 record when the change was made.Draper remains with the Steelhawks in an undisclosed administravtive role. There has been speculation Draper, regarded around the Ontario Hockey League as one of its top managers, will become president and help Robillard in his drive to bring a National Hockey League team to Hamilton. As a bench boss, Draper had trouble motivating his players.The return of Jackson gives the Steelhawks a much needed boost.LaForge, who had declined a job with the Canucks as assistant coach after they fired him as coach on Nov. 21, is guiding his second OHL club. In 1980-81, LaForge left his job as recreation director and hockey coach with the Enoch Indian band in Edmonton to coach the Oshawa Generals through a stormy season. LaForge was suspended for half a season by OHL commissioner Dave Branch after two separate disorderly incidents in a playoff game.But, rather than serve the suspension, LaForge moved to Regina and coached the Pats. Last season, LaForge took the Kamloop Oilers to a Western Hockey League championship and berth in the Memorial Cup at Kitchener.Although the OHL and WHL are under the same umbrella of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, LaForge did not serve a game of the suspension. WHL president Ed Chynoweth said his league was prepared to honor it, but conferred with Branch before allowing the Pats to hire LaForge.Branch said the intent of the suspension was to restrict LaForge from coaching in the OHL.&ldquo;His suspension was not for a certain number of games but for a certain length of time,&rdquo; Branch said.LaForge&rsquo;s problems of the past were just that&mdash;in the past&mdash;and Branch said the ex-Canuck coach returns with a &ldquo;clean slate.&rdquo;&ldquo;I really feel Bill has matured and got more good experience,&rdquo; Branch explained. &ldquo;He is an excellent teacher and will be good for the team and the league.&rdquo;Sherry Bassin, LaForge&rsquo;s last boss in Oshawa, endorsed the Hamilton hiring.&ldquo;By the definition of the suspension, it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; he said.Dick Todd, the coach of the Petes and trainer during the infamous series with the Generals, felt LaForge had paid his dues.&ldquo;He paid a pretty high price at the time,&rdquo; Todd said. &ldquo;From all the reports, he&rsquo;s kind of&rsquo; changed his coaching tactics. The Kamloops team certainly didn&rsquo;t play the same way as his team in Oshawa.&rdquo;Meanwhile, it was an exciting week for the London Knights.The results of GM-coach Don Boyd&rsquo;s rebuilding program began to pay off when a sellout crowd of 5,600 filled the Gardens for a 6-5 win over the Soo Greyhounds, giving the Knights their 16th win in 17 games. Gardens manager Helen Jenner said several hundred fans were turned back at the door, the first time that has happened since the building opened in 1963.All seats were sold three hours before game time.&ldquo;There are no losers this time,&rdquo; Hound coach Terry Crisp said. &ldquo;How can I be mad when there&rsquo;s 5,600 watching? It&rsquo;s a 6-5 game which was close all the way and both teams played well. This is what junior hockey is all about.&ldquo;If we were playing a basement team or we played badly&hellip;well, that might be different.&rdquo;The Greyhounds had some fun, too.In keeping with the spirit of the Knights&rsquo; fans who were waving and chanting, &ldquo;Albert, Albert, Albert,&rdquo; the star of the Canadian Tire commercial, the Hounds&rsquo; players also waved.But, the good times ended quickly for the Knights.Two nights later they were involved in a bench-clearing brawl with the Cornawall Royals that resulted in a $1,000 fine for Boyd and a four-game suspension for captain Dave Lowry, and two-game suspensions for several other Knight players. The Royals won 9-6 despite a five-point outing by the Knights&rsquo; Brian Bradley.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01519/4944745-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="598" height="784"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02386/4944738-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="590" height="782"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill LaForge (left) was given the job as coach and general manager of the Steelhawks, while Jeff Jackson (right) was returned by Toronto.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Kingston and London deserve each other,&rdquo; said Cornwall coach Floyd Crawford. &ldquo;They are playing the same kind of hockey&mdash;the intimidation factor&mdash;only London doesn&rsquo;t have the personnel to be intimidators.&rdquo;The next night in Ottawa, the 67s ended a 10-game winless slump by defeating the Knights 4-3 in overtime for new coach Bob Ellett. It was his first win in eight games since replacing Cliff Stewart.&ldquo;This was the toughest one we&rsquo;ve been in since I took over, and it sure feels great,&rdquo; said Ellett, who was given the job on Nov. 7. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s starting to come around. We&rsquo;re getting near where we should be as far as conditioning goes. I wouldn&rsquo;t say we&rsquo;re there yet, but we&rsquo;re close. We didn&rsquo;t quit.&rdquo;Forward Tim Helmer had a similar feeling.&ldquo;It was a long time coming, but you can see something good starting,&rdquo; he said.Despite the loss in London, the Soo came home from a three-game southern trip with two wins and a loss to strengthen their Emms record to 20-6, while London slipped to 16-6. At the same time, the North Bay Centennials continued to chip away at the leaders, improving their record to 13-9-2 after a 3-1-0 start.There was other good news in north as the Sudbury Wolves seem to be finding the winning groove again after a quick start followed by a tailspin. They rolled to a 7-5 win in Hamilton, as Craig Duncanson scored three goals.Meanwhile, Cornwall Royal Ray Sheppard will be sidelined another month with a knee injury. But Mike Bukowski has helped ease the pain with 18 goals in 17 games, as the Royals continue to play well in the Leyden groupings.NOTES&mdash;Cornwall coach Floyd Crawford has upset some of the league reporters by making his dressing room off limits&hellip;Kingston&rsquo;s Scott Metcalfe began serving an eight-game suspension for his part in an altercation at a game in Oshawa in which both coaches, Paul Theriault of the Generals and Rick Cornacchia of the Canadians, were suspended for one game. &#9632;

f0030-01

Steelhawks Go Through Major Overhaul

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03266/4944790-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="565" height="563"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN BRADLEY London</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>Brian Bradley of the London Knights started the Ontario Hockey League season, but he&rsquo;s rapidly making up for lost time.The 19-year-old center, who was drafted by Calgary in 1983, was a final cut by the NHL team and missed the first seven games. This past week he collected 11 scoring points, five of them goals, to become the OHL Player of the Week as the Knights set their sights on overtaking the leading Sault Greyhounds.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04182/4944783-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="560" height="567"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAN HODGSON Prince Albert</figcaption></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>Dan Hodgson of Prince Albert had a big year in the Western Hockey League last season with 181 points and there&rsquo;s every indication he&rsquo;s going to do it again.Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1983, Hodgson is moving quickly to the top of the scoring race after a 13-point performance in four Raider wins, and earned WHL Player of the Week honors.In his first 22 games, the Prince Albert center has scored 25 times and racked up 57 scoring points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05120/4944776-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="563" height="563"><figcaption class="caption-body">LUC ROBITAILLE Hull</figcaption></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>The Hull Olympics are on the move in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League race, and so is their top left winger, Luc Robitaille.The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Robitaille was selected as the QHL Player of the Week for the second time this season following his nine-point flurry, which included a hat trick and five goals overall, in three Hull games.Robitaille, drafted by Los Angeles in 1983, has raised his season totals to 56 points, good for fifth place among the top 10 scorers.At the end of the current season. THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0030-03

MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyKAMLOOPS&mdash;Gord Walker and Brian Benning went for a roller-coaster ride with the Portland Winter Hawks in the Western Hockey League last season. They both had their share of ups-and-downs, but the lows far outweighted the highs and it wasn&rsquo;t surprising they we-rent invited to the Canadian national junior team camp.Walker, a third-round pick of the New York Rangers, saw limited ice time with Portland while Benning, after a strong start, was gone for the season after suffering a broken bone in his left hand.What a difference a year makes.This season, Walker and Benning find themselves key links in a chain of proficiency with the Kamloops Blazers. Both ex-Winter Hawks have helped the defending league champions get off to a 20-1-5 start and earn a top ranking in the Canadian major junior rankings, heading into December.The speedy Walker was sixth in WHL scoring with 45 points after 23 games, while Benning, a second-round pick of St. Louis in 1984, has proved a steadying influence behind the blue line after the National Hockey League team returned him to Kamloops in November.Not only have Walker and Benning caught Kamlopp coach Ken Hitchcock&rsquo;s eye, they&rsquo;ve also impressed national team head coach, Terry Simpson. He included them in the initial 46-man roster for the national camp, Dec. 10 in Belleville, Ont.The world junior tournament, in which Canada finished fourth last season, is scheduled for Dec. 23 to Jan. I in Helsinki, Finland.&ldquo;Walker has an excellent chance because he is fast and flexible, he plays both wings well,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;His shooting ability doesn&rsquo;t hurt him either.&ldquo;With Benning it depends on what kind of defense Simpson wants to have. Of the 12 he&rsquo;s picked, six are finesse and six aren&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Walker and Benning are two of 10 WHL players at the national camp. The others are: Medicine Hat goalie Gary Johnson; defenseman Wendell Clark of Saskatoon, Selmar Odelein of Regina and Emanuel Viveiros of Prince Albert; center Dan Hodgson of Prince Albert; left wingers Terry Zaporzan of Kelowna and Doug Trapp of Regina; and right winger Bob Bassen of Medicine Hat. Further additions to the camp roster were expected to be made on Dec. 7.Walker, 18, said the confidence the Oilers have shown in him has contributed to his good start.&ldquo;I had ice time in Portland, but it just seemed they didn&rsquo;t have the confidence in me,&rdquo; said Walker, a 6-foot-l, 180 pounder who had 69 points in 59 games last season. &ldquo;They never put me in during key situations. I never really felt comfortable there.&ldquo;I really hope I have a good chance of making the team. I know I have the speed, and hopefully the coach will know that too. Being able to play both sides and center should give me the advantage.&rdquo;Benning was cruising along last season until a freak injury, sustained in trying to break a fall to the ice, ended his season.&ldquo;I was going really good last year, averaging more than a point a game, and up until the injury 1 was rated 11th overall for the draft,&rdquo; said Benning, 18, who&rsquo;s 6-feet, 180 pounds. &ldquo;I think I have a good chance to make the team. International hockey is more my type of game with the big ice and everything. I like to get away from the mucking and grinding style.&rdquo;Johnson is a big reason Medicine Hat got off to a strong start this season. The 19-year-old goalie had a 2.53 goals-against average and two shutouts after 15 games.Clark, Odelein and Viveiros present different approaches to the game.Clark, rated as the top defenseman in the WHL for the 1985 NHL entry draft, can play it both ways. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound rearguard is one of the toughest players in the league, but is also one of the quickest.Odelein, a first-round pick of Edmonton in 1984, is solid behind the blue line, and is no slouch in the offensive zone. The 18-year-old, who is 6-foot-l, 205 pounds, is expected to make the national club.Viverios, 5-feet-ll, 165 pounds, is small but makes up for it with speed. A sixth-round pick of Edmonton, the 18-year-old is one of the WHL&rsquo;s better offensive defenseman.Hodgson, a fifth-round pick of Toronto and second overall in league scoring last season with 181 points, is a slick playmaker with a good touch around the net. Hodgson, 19, is 5-foot-10, 175 pounds and has all the tools to make the national team.Zaporzan and Trapp have two different schools of thought on left wing. Zaporzan, 18, is 5-feet-9, 185 pounds and known for his abilities in neutral ice, where he makes smart passes. Trapp, a second-round pick of Buffalo, is a John Tonelli-type mucker and grinder. The 19-year-old does the dirty work for Regina in the comers.Bassen, 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, is a 19-year-old with good puck sense.WHL WEEK&mdash;Al Conroy of Medicine Hat led the scoring race with 61 points, including a league-high 42 assists. Cliff Ronning of New Westminster and Dan Hodgson of Prince Albert were tied for second with 57 points each, although Ronning leads the league in goals with 28. Greg Evtushevski of Kamloops had 55 points, followed by Ray Podloski of Portland. 46; Gord Walker of Kamloops, 45; Len Nielsen of Regina, 44 points; Byron Lomow of Brandon. 43. Tony Grenier and Ken Morrison of Prince Albert and Doug Trapp of Regina. 41 apiece; Scott Robinson of Seattle and Dean Clark of Kamloops. 38 each; Dwaine Hutton of Kelowna. Derek Laxdal of Brandon, Simon Wheeldon of Victoria, Kurt Wickenheiser of Regina and Mark MacKay of Moose Jaw, all with 36&hellip;In goaltending. Ward Komonosky of Prince Albert led with a 2.50 goals-against average. &#9632;

Blazers Hit It Big With Walker, Benning

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>LONGUEUIL&mdash;The Longueuil Chevaliers are riding in unfamiliar territory in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.League finalists the last two seasons, the Chevaliers are in the basement of the LeBel division, and 10th overall in the 11-team circuit.&ldquo;I think we have the youngest team in the league with an average age of 17.8.&rdquo; said Longueuil coach Roger Picard. &ldquo;Our goal this year is just to make the playoffs and to prepare our players for them. The owner (Georges Touten) knows what we&rsquo;re up against, he just wants us to do the best we can.&rdquo;The club has lost eight of its top 11 scorers from last year, including leading goal scorer Hilton Ruggles (63-50113) and points runner-up Santino Pellegrino (52-72-124). Pellegrino, a center and one of the best skaters in the league, was eligible to return but decided to play in Italy.The club lost quarterbacking defenseman Jean-Jacques Daigneault to the Canadian Olympic Team for all but 10 regular-season games last season, and Vancouver Canucks kept him this season after choosing him in the first round of the 1984 National Hockey League draft.Outstanding defenseman Graham, Herring, a St. Louis Blues&rsquo; fourth-round pick after his rookie year, isn&rsquo;t expected to recover from knee surgery until sometime in January.The Chevaliers&rsquo; main weapon is third-year center Guy Rouleau, a 5-foot-9, 175-pounder who leads the league in scoring with 34 goals and 44 assists in 27 games. He has picked up at least a point in every game he has played.&ldquo;As Rouleau goes, so the team goes.&rdquo; said Claude Carrier, the league&rsquo;s assistant director-general. &ldquo;He is quick, very intelligent, has a good shot and is a good skater.&rdquo;The Montreal native led the Chevaliers in points last season with 133 (60 goals and 73 assists) and finished fifth in the league.&ldquo;If Dale Derketch 45-foot-5, 131-pound center from Regina Pats) can play with the national junior team. I don&rsquo;t see why Rouleau can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Carrier said. &ldquo;Rouleau is faster, a better puckhandler and playmaker, although Derketch was more aggressive. I&rsquo;ll be surprised if Rouleau doesn&rsquo;t make it.&rdquo;Rouleau was one of seven QMJHL players invited to attend the final selection camp for the national junior team in Belleville and Ottawa.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the key guy, he sees the whole ice and makes the big plays.&rdquo; Picard said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not the league&rsquo;s leading scorer for nothing, although he may be a little weak defensively.&rdquo;Being the top-gun has taken its toll on Rouleau.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy with the way the season is going for me, but everybody is out for me and I&rsquo;ve been cut on the face in the last three games,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t go to the final every year. We have a young team and we&rsquo;re progressing game by game. There are 40 games left, and I think we&rsquo;ll finish in the middle. We could use a few bigger players.&rdquo;Longueuil counts on the line of Rouleau, Richard Bourdeau and Mario De Benedictis for most of its production. Bourdeau played 28 regular-season games last year and De Benedictis two. The second line is centered by Peter Kasper, brother of Boston Bruins&rsquo; Steve Kasper, with Andre Carbonneau and Ronnie Stem on the wings.Another key figure on the club&rsquo;s young roster is 20-year-old defenseman Luc Gauthier, the team&rsquo;s captain.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good, tough, two-way player,&rdquo; said Picard, a 24-year-veteran of the Montreal police force.Rookie defenseman Rene Corriveau, the club&rsquo;s third-round midget pick, is off to a surprisingly good start and has the potential to go early in the NHL draft. Marc-Andre Duclos. Mario Lanthier and Stuart Martson are other promising rookies.The Chevaliers obtained shell-shocked goaltender Joel Kiers of Cranston, RI. in the Plattsburgh Pioneerdispersal draft, after the all-American experiment collapsed. Kiers will provide strong support for sophomore Martin Plante.Picard was a 32-year-old rookie when he signed on with Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s St. Louis Blues in 1967-68. The 6-foot. 200-pound right winger was 15 games into a three-year contract when he broke an ankle. He retired after splitting the following season between Denver. Buffalo and Omaha.His younger brother, Noel, played six seasons with Montreal, St. Louis and Atlanta.Picard took the last-place Laval Voisins to the top of the league in 198182. He also coached Granby Bisons for a season and a half.NOTES&mdash;Here are the other QMJHL players invited to the national junior team tryout camp: Granby Bison goaltender Patrick Roy: Shawinigan Cataracte defenseman Yves Beaudoin; Granby center Stephane Richer; Quebec Rempart left winger Claude Gosselin; Shawinigan left winger Sergio Momesso; Verdun Junior Canadien right winger Claude Lemieux. &#9632;

Chevaliers In Unfamiliar Position

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1126/4945390-1-eng-US/f0032-112.jpg" title="f0032-11" width="868" height="356"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1031/4945397-1-eng-US/f0032-102.jpg" title="f0032-10" width="224" height="280"></div><h2>OVERALL LEADERS OFFENSIVE DEFENSIVE</h2><h3>TOP DEFENSEMEN</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1225/4945383-1-eng-US/f0032-122.jpg" title="f0032-12" width="864" height="300"></div><h3>TOP ROOKIES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1322/4945376-1-eng-US/f0032-132.jpg" title="f0032-13" width="868" height="270"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1419/4945369-1-eng-US/f0032-142.jpg" title="f0032-14" width="862" height="152"></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1518/4945362-1-eng-US/f0032-152.jpg" title="f0032-15" width="862" height="156"></div><h2>CALGARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1618/4945355-1-eng-US/f0032-162.jpg" title="f0032-16" width="862" height="149"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1716/4945348-1-eng-US/f0032-172.jpg" title="f0032-17" width="868" height="153"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1814/4945341-1-eng-US/f0032-182.jpg" title="f0032-18" width="866" height="154"></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1912/4945334-1-eng-US/f0032-192.jpg" title="f0032-19" width="868" height="154"></div><h2>HARTFORD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2011/4945327-1-eng-US/f0032-202.jpg" title="f0032-20" width="868" height="154"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2111/4945320-1-eng-US/f0032-212.jpg" title="f0032-21" width="863" height="154"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2210/4945313-1-eng-US/f0032-222.jpg" title="f0032-22" width="874" height="151"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2310/4945306-1-eng-US/f0032-232.jpg" title="f0032-23" width="871" height="151"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-2410/4945299-1-eng-US/f0032-242.jpg" title="f0032-24" width="866" height="147"></div><h2>NY ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-257/4945292-1-eng-US/f0032-252.jpg" title="f0032-25" width="871" height="148"></div><h2>NY RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-266/4945285-1-eng-US/f0032-262.jpg" title="f0032-26" width="869" height="153"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-275/4945278-1-eng-US/f0032-272.jpg" title="f0032-27" width="869" height="147"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-283/4945271-1-eng-US/f0032-282.jpg" title="f0032-28" width="865" height="154"></div><h2>QUEBEC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-293/4945264-1-eng-US/f0032-292.jpg" title="f0032-29" width="871" height="151"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-302/4945257-1-eng-US/f0032-302.jpg" title="f0032-30" width="865" height="152"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-312/4945250-1-eng-US/f0032-312.jpg" title="f0032-31" width="874" height="152"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-322/4945243-1-eng-US/f0032-322.jpg" title="f0032-32" width="868" height="153"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-332/4945236-1-eng-US/f0032-332.jpg" title="f0032-33" width="870" height="150"></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-342/4945229-1-eng-US/f0032-342.jpg" title="f0032-34" width="868" height="155"></div> &#9632;

f0032-11

EMERY TROPHY PLUS-MINUS

<h2>Tue. Nov. 27 BUFFALO 2, PITTSBURGH 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01494/4945198-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="574" height="706"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 9, QUEBEC 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02361/4945191-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="572" height="900"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 2, NEW JERSEY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03239/4945184-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="574" height="181"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04140/4945177-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="604" height="678"></div><h2>CHICAGO 2, PHILADELPHIA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0588/4945170-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="626" height="765"></div><h2>EDMONTON 7, TORONTO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0664/4945163-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="628" height="390"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0752/4945156-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="606" height="428"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 6, VANCOUVER 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0846/4945149-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="598" height="390"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0936/4945142-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="554" height="380"></div><h2>WINNIPEG 5, LOS ANGELES 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01449/4945135-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="600" height="792"></div><h2>Wed. Nov. 28 MINNESOTA 4, HARTFORD 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02321/4945128-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="596" height="644"></div><h2>MONTREAL 3, DETROIT 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03230/4945121-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="586" height="942"></div><h2>ISLANDERS 2, CALGARY 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04175/4945114-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="602" height="588"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 2, RANGERS 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05144/4945107-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="596" height="322"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06119/4945100-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="640" height="356"></div><h2>Thu. Nov. 29 EDMONTON 4, BOSTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07107/4945093-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="632" height="884"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY 2, PHILAD. 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0888/4945086-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="640" height="566"></div><h2>CHICAGO 6, PITTSBURGH 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0978/4945079-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="630" height="328"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1073/4945072-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="636" height="438"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 1, L. ANGELES 12</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1170/4945065-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="617" height="934"></div><h2>Fri. Nov. 30 EDMONTON 4, HARTFORD 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1269/4945058-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="615" height="669"></div><h2>MONTREAL 2, BUFFALO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1355/4945051-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="611" height="103"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1452/4945044-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg" title="f0033-14" width="636" height="730"></div><h2>ISLANDERS 5, WINNIPEG 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1546/4945037-1-eng-US/f0033-152.jpg" title="f0033-15" width="635" height="124"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1640/4945030-1-eng-US/f0033-162.jpg" title="f0033-16" width="606" height="561"></div><h2>TORONTO 3, RANGERS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1740/4945023-1-eng-US/f0033-172.jpg" title="f0033-17" width="604" height="247"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02346/4945016-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="564" height="588"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 5, DETROIT 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03272/4945009-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="574" height="768"></div><h2>Sat. Dec. 1 WASHINGTON 5, BOSTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04197/4945002-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="570" height="412"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05156/4944995-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="594" height="468"></div><h2>HARTFORD 4, QUEBEC 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06134/4944988-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="594" height="986"></div><h2>BUFFALO 2, MONTREAL 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07126/4944981-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="598" height="702"></div><h2>RANGERS 4, TORONTO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08121/4944974-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="602" height="640"></div><h2>CHICAGO 5, NEW JERSEY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09115/4944967-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="602" height="816"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 1, PHILAD. 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10112/4944960-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="596" height="468"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11108/4944953-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="570" height="354"></div><h2>DETROIT 5, ST. LOUIS 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12104/4944946-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="572" height="1164"></div><h2>CALGARY 8, MINNESOTA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13101/4944939-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="570" height="588"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01405/4944932-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="608" height="332"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02290/4944925-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="640" height="92"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 3, L. ANGELES 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03219/4944918-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="638" height="248"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04181/4944911-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="638" height="374"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05156/4944904-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="640" height="370"></div><h2>Sun. Dec. 2 PITTSBURGH 1, WASH. 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06133/4944897-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="564" height="270"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01441/4944890-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="569" height="489"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02307/4944883-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="596" height="184"></div><h2>CALGARY 6, WINNIPEG 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03219/4944876-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="604" height="412"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04185/4944869-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="610" height="650"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01508/4945463-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div><h2>GOALTENDING STATISTICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01481/4945456-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="595" height="2316"></div><h2>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h2><h3>GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02382/4945449-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="570" height="180"></div><h3>MOST WINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03300/4945442-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="566" height="238"></div><h3>SAVE PERCENTAGE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04251/4945435-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="568" height="180"></div><h2>USA Network 1984 NHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06186/4945428-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="556" height="228"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE SCORING

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05205/4945494-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0035-05

NHL TEAM ROSTERS

<h2>DECEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07175/4945546-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="544" height="370"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08155/4945539-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="562" height="416"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09147/4945532-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="566" height="418"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10127/4945525-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="550" height="412"></div> &#9632;

f0035-07

NHL GAMES TO COME

(Standings on Tue. Dec. 4)<h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><h3>NORRIS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1691/4945643-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="537" height="175"></div><h3>SMYTHE DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1785/4945636-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="538" height="176"></div><h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><h3>ADAMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1881/4945629-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="538" height="176"></div><h3>PATRICK DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1979/4945622-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="540" height="204"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 27Buffalo 2 at Pittsburgh 2 (OT)Washington 9 at Quebec 2Minnesota 2 at New Jersey 3Chicago 2 at Philadelphia 4Edmonton 7 at Toronto 1St. Louis 6 at Vancouver 1Winnipeg 5 at Los Angeles 3Wed. Nov. 28Minnesota 4 at Hartford 3Montreal 3 at Detroit 3 (OT)NY Islanders 2 at Calgary 5Washington 2 at NY Rangers 1Thu. Nov. 29Edmonton 4 at Boston 2New Jersey 2 at Philadelphia 1Chicago 6 at Pittsburgh 3Vancouver 1 at Los Angeles 12Fri. Nov. 30Edmonton 4 at Hartford 2Montreal 2 at Buffalo 2 (OT)NY Islanders 5 at Winnipeg 2Toronto 3 at NY Rangers 3 (OT)St. Louis 5 at Detroit 3Sat. Dec. 1Washington 5 at Boston 4 (OT)Hartford 4 at Quebec 8Buffalo 2 at Montreal 3NY Rangers 4 at Toronto 1Chicago 5 at New Jersey 3Pittsburgh 1 at Philadelphia 3Detroit 5 at St. Louis 10Calgary 8 at Minnesota 4Vancouver 3 at Los Angeles 6Sun. Dec. 2Pittsburgh 1 at Washington 9Calgary 6 at Winnipeg 8 &#9632;

f0036-16

THE NHL SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-20" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2075/4945695-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg"></div><h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2171/4945688-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg" title="f0036-21" width="1084" height="178"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2269/4945681-1-eng-US/f0036-222.jpg" title="f0036-22" width="1088" height="182"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2363/4945674-1-eng-US/f0036-232.jpg" title="f0036-23" width="1088" height="220"></div> &#9632;

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How NHL Teams Rate

BOSTON&mdash;Simmer 11, 12, 13, Kasper 5, O&rsquo;Reilly 5, Crowder 6. Winning goals-none.BUFFALO&mdash;Cyr 4, Hajt 4, Wiemer 3, Andreychuk 11, Perreault 11, Ramsay 5. Winning goals-none.CALGARY&mdash;Macoun 1, Hunter 3,4, Peplinski 7, 8, Tambellini 12, Beers 10, 11, 12, Quinn 7, Patterson 13,14,15, Nilsson 11, McDonald 1, Konroyd 1, Eaves 1, Loob 10, Reinhart 12. Winning goals-Hunter, Peplinski.CHICAGO&mdash;Gardner 7, 8, 9, 10, Savard 10, 11, 12, Sutter 9, 10, Olczyk 8, T. Murray 10, Lysiak 4, Larmer 14. Winning goals-Sutter, Lysiak.DETROIT&mdash;Gare 6, 7, Yzerman 10, Duguay 12,13, Manno 3,4, Park 4, Aubry 2, Lambert 3, Boldirev 10. Winning goals-none.EDMONTON&mdash;Gretzky 22, 23, 24, Krushelnyski 9,10,11,12, Sherven 9, Hughes 5, Kurri 23, 24, Anderson 15, 16, Hunter 5, Gregg 1. Winning goals-Krushelnyski, Kurri, Anderson.HARTFORD&mdash;Lumley 3, Currie 3, Francis 7, Weir 2, Kotsopoulos 4, Boutette 3, Johnson 9, Pierce 3. Winning goals-none.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Hakansson 5, 6, Nicholls 16, Fox 8,9, Sykes 7, Hardy 3,4, Dionne 12,13, 14, Redmond 2, Smith 8, 9, Taylor 10, 11, Wells 1, MacLellan 11,12, Shutt 4, Ruskowski 6. Winning goals-Hardy, Ruskowski.MINNESOTA&mdash;Holmgren 2, McCarthy 7, Maxwell 3, Bjugstad 5, Payne 9, Ashton 3, Roberts 1, Maruk 10, Broten 5, Plett 4. Winning goals-Payne.MONTREAL&mdash;Tremblay 5, Turcotte 1, 2, Naslund 12, Kurvers 3, Carbonneau 6, Svoboda 2, Nilan 4. Winning goals-Nilan.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Lever 5, Hiemer 4, Sulliman 9, Broten 6, 7, Pichette 3, Bridgman 4, 5. Winning goals-Sulliman, Broten.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;TonelIi 11, 12, Hallin 4, Flatley 7, 8, Boutilier 8, B. Sutter 17. Winning goals-Flatley.NY RANGERS&mdash;Sundstrom 5, Ruotsa-lainen 6, 7, McPhee 7, Brooke 2, 3, Allison 5, Rogers 5. Winning goals-Brooke.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Kerr 21, 22, 23, McCrimmon 4, Propp 15, Carson 5, Ron Sutter 4, Hospodar 1. Winning goals-Propp, Kerr.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Shedden 8, 9, 10, Young 17, 18, Bullard 10, Loney 1. Winning goals-none.QUEBEC&mdash;A. Stastny 12, 13, 14, Goulet 16, P. Stastny 10, M. Stastny 2, 3, 4, Moller 1, Savard 7. Winning goals-M. Stastny.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Wickenheiser 7, 8, 9, 10, Lemieux 2, 3,4, Sutter 11,12,13,14, LaVallee 6, 7, 8, Federko 7, 8, Mullen 10, 11, Hickey 4, Reeds 6, Wilson 1. Winning goals-Lemieux, Sutter, Reeds.TORONTO&mdash;Poddubny 3, Derlago 8, Benning 4, Vaive 12, Frycer 11. Winning goals-none.VANCOUVER&mdash;Smyl 9, Kirton 2, McNab 9, Neely 5, MacAdam 5. Winning goals-none.WASHINGTON&mdash;Sampson 6, 7, Laughlin 4, 5, Stevens 4, Carpenter 15, 16, 17, 18, Erickson 7, 8, 9, Christian 5, 6, 7, 8, Haworth 8, Evason 1, 2, Duchesne 1, 2, Jarvis 2, Murphy 2, 3, Gartner 14. Winning goals-Christian 2, Stevens, Evason 1 each.WINNIPEG&mdash;Turnbull 3, Smail 9, 10, 11, MacLean 9, 10, 11, Mullen 9, Boschman 10, 11, Hawerchuk 13, 14, Babych 3, Arniel 9, Steen 7. Winning goals-Smail, Mullen.Hat tricks&mdash;Gretzky (Edm), Savard (Chi), Lemieux (StL), M. Stastny (Que), 1 each.Overtime winners&mdash;Christian (Was), 1. &#9632;

NHL SCORERS THIS WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07113/4945750-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="574" height="1364"></div>New York Ranger rookie goalie John Vanbiesbrouck has made it to the National Hockey League, but it wasn&rsquo;t an easy journey.For example, as a 16-year-old, the native of Detroit, Mich., was bypassed by every team in the Ontario Hockey League midget draft. Undaunted, he went to Sault Ste. Marie as a free-agent and not only became a league all-star but was drafted in the third round by the Rangers in 1981.After finishing his junior career, his bid to make the Rangers was foiled and he spent a tumultuous season with the Tulsa Oilers of the now-defunct Central League.This year, however, the 21-year-old earned the No. 2 spot behind starter Glen Hanlon and, while he got off to a slow start, he played spectacularly in a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 1, showing signs of coming around to the form he showed last season as the CHL&rsquo;s top goalie. &#9632;

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Chrysler Rookie Spotlight

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Dec. 5)<h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01470/4945942-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="546" height="239"></div><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02373/4945935-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="544" height="207"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Nov. 26Adirondack 3 at Nova Scotia 2Wed. Nov. 28Springfield 11 at Adirondack 3Binghamton 3 at Hershey 0Fredericton 4 at Moncton 3Rochester 7 at Nova Scotia 4Thu. Nov. 29Rochester 0 at Fredericton 4Baltimore 2 at St. Catharines 3Fri. Nov. 30Maine 2 at Binghamton 4Hershey 5 at New Haven 6Springfield 1 at Sherbrooke 2Sat. Dec. 1St. Catharines 4 at Adirondack 5Nova Scotia 4 at Fredericton 8Baltimore 3 at Hershey 2Sherbrooke 5 at Maine 12New Haven 1 at Springfield 6Sun. Dec. 2Adirondack 2 at Maine 5Rochester 6 at Moncton 5Springfield 7 at New Haven 4Fredericton 3 at Nova Scotia 4Hershey 3 at St. Catharines 4Binghamton 8 at Sherbrooke 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03296/4945928-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="544" height="378"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Dec. 5)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04228/4945921-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="544" height="147"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05161/4945914-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="550" height="206"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Nov. 28Peoria 8 at Fort Wayne 5Indianapolis 0 at Kalamazoo 5Salt Lake 4 at Toledo 2Flint 5 at Milwaukee 4Fri. Nov. 30Kalamazoo 3 at Fort Wayne 5Toledo 2 at Muskegon 7Milwaukee 0 at Flint 6Salt Lake 2 at Indianapolis 1Sat. Dec. 1Milwaukee 4 at Fort Wayne 6Kalamazoo 3 at Muskegon 4Toledo 2 at Peoria 5Salt Lake 5 at Indianapolis 2Sun. Dec. 2Salt Lake 3 at Peoria 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06123/4945907-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="548" height="349"></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 4)<h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07109/4945900-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="542" height="229"></div><h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0892/4945893-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="543" height="263"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Nov. 28Kitchener 6 at Windsor 1Tue. Nov. 27London 3 at Ottawa 4North Bay 5 at Sudbury 2Thu. Nov. 29Kingston 5 at Peterborough 8Oshawa 4 at Windsor 1Toronto 5 at Hamilton 8Cornwall 6 at North Bay 8Kitchener 3 at Guelph 3Fri. Nov 30Oshawa 5 at Kitchener 4Belleville 7 at Ottawa 3Windsor 4 at London 5Hamilton 7 at Sudbury 4Cornwall 3 at S.S. Marie 5Peterborough 10 at Kingston 4Sat. Dec. 1Ottawa 6 at Belleville 4Peterborough 4 at Toronto 7Sun. Dec. 2Belleville 3 at Oshawa 2London 4 at North Bay 1Cornwall 5 at Sudbury 4Hamilton 2 at S.S. Marie 4Ottawa 3 at Kingston 6Windsor 6 at Kitchener 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0982/4945886-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="539" height="321"></div><h2>ATLANTIC COAST LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 4)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1078/4945879-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="542" height="180"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Nov. 28Mohawk Valley 4 at Erie 7Thu. Nov 29Pine Bridge 3 at Virginia 5Fri. Nov. 30Carolina 4 at Erie 5Mohawk Valley 4 at Pine Bridge 5Sat. Dec. 1Erie 1 at Virginia 3Mohawk Valley 2 at Pine Bridge 6Sun. Dec. 2Erie 2 at Carolina 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1172/4945872-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="544" height="323"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 4)<h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1267/4945865-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="542" height="264"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1358/4945858-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="540" height="205"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 27Regina 5 at Victoria 8Portland 2 at Saskatoon 8Seattle 2 at Kamloops 8Calgary 6 at Moose Jaw 3Wed. Nov. 28Medicine Hat 4 at Moose Jaw 5Calgary 3 at Brandon 5Portland 4 at Prince Albert 6Thu. Nov. 29Kamloops 5 at New Westminster 4Victoria 2 at Kelowna 9Fri. Nov. 30Portland 2 at Brandon 8Victoria 3 at Kamloops 6Kelowna 3 at Seattle 4Medicine Hat 3 at Lethbridge 0Sat. Dec. 1Calgary 3 at Saskatoon 6Portland 6 at Moose Jaw 8Kelowna 2 at Victoria 4New Westminster 6 at Seattle 5Sun. Dec. 2Lethbridge 5 at Medicine Hat 2Portland 2 at Regina 6Moose Jaw 5 at Brandon 3Calgary 5 at Prince Albert 9Kelowna 4 at New Westminster 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1452/4945851-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="545" height="702"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1550/4945844-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="538" height="211"></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<h3>LEBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1646/4945837-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="541" height="178"></div><h3>DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1743/4945830-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="547" height="240"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Nov. 26Hull 3 at Chicoutimi 3Quebec 4 at Laval 8Tue. Nov. 27Shawinigan 5 at Longueuil 3Wed. Nov. 28Longueuil 5 at Hull 6St. Jean 7 at Laval 4Drummondville 6 at T-Rivieres 5Fri. Nov 30Chicoutimi 6 at Drummondville 2T-Rivieres 5 at Granby 6Laval 6 at Shawinigan 4Quebec 5 at St. Jean 4Sun. Dec. 2Drummondville 4 at Granby 5Longueuil 4 at Quebec 3Hull 3 at T-Rivieres 5St. Jean 5 at Verdun 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1840/4945823-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="548" height="322"></div><h2>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1938/4945816-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="544" height="264"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Flamboro 11, Chatham 3Collingwood 5, Woodstock 2Flamboro 5, Petrolia 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2035/4945809-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="552" height="438"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Fri. Nov. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2132/4945802-1-eng-US/f0038-212.jpg" title="f0038-21" width="546" height="178"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2230/4945795-1-eng-US/f0038-222.jpg" title="f0038-22" width="550" height="326"></div><h2>CENTRAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2327/4945788-1-eng-US/f0038-232.jpg" title="f0038-23" width="542" height="264"></div><h2>NO. ONTARIO JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2422/4945781-1-eng-US/f0038-242.jpg" title="f0038-24" width="542" height="208"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

MINOR SCOREBOARD

<h2>CAROLINA</h2>GoaltendersPierre HamelDan OlsonDefensemenRory CavaBob HaganRandy IrvingDave WatsonForwardsBrian CarrollEd ChristianJoe CurranKim ElliottMichel LanouetteBill MorrisDon SockwellSteve SzydlowskiJohn TorchettiMatt Winnicki<h2>ERIE</h2>GoaltendersDarrell MayDave MoffittDefensemenRon HansisBarry TabobodungBob VanbiesbrouckScott Willoughby-RayForwardsMike BycinaJim CowellScott HansisDave HerbstPaul ManciniBob MoiseDon Shaw<h2>MOHAWK VALLEY</h2>GoaltendersDoug BailyMike BloskiDefensemenDan GriffinRichard PettitKurt RugeniusForwardsSteve CarlessJohn DepalmaBill GrumDan LaneDave LitzBill LovelandRobert NagyLarry PowerEd RauseoRich SuwekCraig ThomasBo Tucker<h2>PINE BRIDGE</h2>GoaltendersSteve HeittolaRay LeblancDefensemenJohn BaldassariScott LauderTom MadsonFrank PerkinsForwardsSteve AtwellRob ClavettePeter DunkleyJeff EatoughBill HuntGord MacDougallDan PotterScott RobbinsMike Tompkins<h2>VIRGINIA</h2>GoaltendersAndy MarhofferCarey WalkerDefensemenBob DoreKen FargnoliScott GagalisBrian TartForwardsLee BlossomAndy BraunsteinRon CarterDarrell McCloudDon McCoyPaul O&rsquo;NeilDick PopeilMark StepecJohn Tortorella &#9632;

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December 14, 1984

CHRYSLER SCOREBOARD

TRIVIA

FLOWER

Penguin Goalie Hasn’t Lost His Confidence