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.

October 25, 1985

The Hockey News October 25, 1985

<div class="byline">Frank Orr</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011278/4991334-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="378" height="420"></div>FROM THE TIME the team was founded during the 1920s, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had one of the most lucrative markets in sport to themselves. The big pond was all theirs but now, all of a sudden, the Leafs find themselves in the position of having to share a bathtub with a very large whale.The Toronto Blue Jays, by winning the American League East and having a good chance to be in the World Series, have written the biggest story in Canadian sports, equalled only by the hoopla surrounding Team Canada&rsquo;s first &ldquo;Summit Series&rdquo; in hockey against the Soviet Union in 1972.The Jays have shoved the Leafs aside, simply overwhelmed the sad-sack National Hockey League team with a marketing, public relations and media coverage blitz of incredible proportions. Through their training camp for the &lsquo;85-86 season, the Leafs were on page six (short stories) and relegated to the tag end of the electronic sportscasts.The football Argonauts suffered even more indignities at baseball&rsquo;s hands. They share a park with the Jays and, when the baseball club qualified for post-season play, it meant that the Argos received the ultimate slap in the face. Because of contract rights, the Argos had to change the dates of two games, which seems to pin a minor-league tag on the Canadian Football League team. Of course, there are those who feel that the CFL is as dead as soccer, anyway.In the euphoria of the Jays&rsquo; success, it&rsquo;s been easy to overlook the fact a city that had achieved at least a modicum of sophistication in recent years has reverted to Peoria status&mdash;three good newpapers were turned into parish magazines and the men who read the scores of games on radio and television were inspired to babble even more incoherently than usual.That hockey interest in what has always been a superb puck town is in a decline shows in an assortment of ways. Last season, tickets for most games could be bought at the box office right up to opening faceoff and the best night the scalpers on the streets had was for the reunion game played by Team Canada &lsquo;72.In the past few years, the Leafs played five home games during the exhibition schedule, three of them part of the season ticket package and two available to the general public. Back in 1977, a game against Montreal Canadiens was a sellout in walk-up sales. In 1984, the Edmonton Oilers drew barely a half-filled house.This fall, the Leafs played only three home games in the pre-season, all on the season ticket package, and Maple Leaf Gardens was barely halffilled for the matches, although the seats were paid for by subscribers.These days, a kid wearing a Leaf hat or sweater is as rare as a Doukhobour in the Knights of Columbus. Blue Jay paraphernalia is everywhere.The men who run the Leafs insist that everything is fine, that Blue Jay interest will fade quickly and the hockey team will once more be front and center again. Of course, a climb out of 21st place wouldn&rsquo;t hurt the Leaf cause but the Blue Jay takeover of the market springs from something more than success in the standing. Blue Jay marketing and public and media relations have been impeccable. The Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens do not have a marketing department and, until this season, the club&rsquo;s public relations has made the Ku Klux Klan look like J. Walter Thompson in that area.Many media folks in Toronto see baseball as fun to cover while the Leafs are an ordeal. The Jays&rsquo; locker room is accessible to reporters at almost all times; reporters are permitted in the Leaf room only after games.Female writers and broadcasters have the same access to the Jay quarters as males. The men who run the Leafs reach near hysterics every time a female media person tries to enter the dressing room.Leaf coach Dan Maloney acknowledges that the Blue Jays are a tough act to buck.&ldquo;I think Toronto is still a great hockey town and if our club gives the fans something to cheer about, they&rsquo;ll be cheering for us,&rdquo; Maloney said. &ldquo;The Blue Jay success has been terrific for the city and you can&rsquo;t say that Toronto is a great baseball or hockey or football town. You can say it&rsquo;s a great sports city and any team accomplishing good things will get attention.&ldquo;The Jays&rsquo; success has provided an excellent example for us. The way they&rsquo;ve&rsquo; built a champion team is the way it has to be done. They found some good young players, were very patient with them until they developed into good big leaguers and made good trades to fill in the gaps in the line-up.&rdquo; &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Jays Shove Leafs Into Shadows

<div class="byline">BY bob duff</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03590/4991513-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg"></div>that the longest winless streak from the start of an NHL season is: &#9632;

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Did You Know…

<div class="byline">by bob McKenzie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011243/4991279-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div>Ironic, isn&rsquo;t it?The man is considered by many to be Canada&rsquo;s premier broadcast sports journalist. His integrity, in a profession that all too often opts for style over substance, is beyond reproach. So, after 15 years of proving he&rsquo;s more than just a talking head, after demonstrating how it&rsquo;s possible for a sports broadcaster to be a reporter, writer, entertainer and journalist par excellence, what&rsquo;s Dave Hodge best known for?His hair.&ldquo;One of the first things people almost always ask me,&rdquo; says Don Cherry, the bombastic Hockey Night in Canada alter ego to Hodge, &ldquo;is whether it&rsquo;s real.&rdquo;&ldquo;A lot of guys ask me if he wears a rug,&rdquo; says Ralph Mellanby, the former HNIC executive producer who hired Hodge in 1970.There&rsquo;s no question that when you play the word association game, &ldquo;Dave Hodge&rdquo; and &ldquo;perfect hair&rdquo; follow immediately after &ldquo;George Brett&rdquo; and &ldquo;hemorrhoids.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never quite understood it.&rdquo; says Hodge of the public&rsquo;s fixation with his hair. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t especially want to be known for my hair. Really, I think it&rsquo;s a little bit silly that people talk about it so much.&rdquo;No argument there.For the record, though, the hair on Dave Hodge&rsquo;s head is real. It&rsquo;s much greyer than it appears on television&mdash;he is, after all, 40 years old and celebrating his 15th year with HNIC&mdash;and no, it&rsquo;s not always as neatly groomed as it is between periods of a HNIC broadcast.So much for the salon treatment.But should your appetite for information on Hodge&rsquo;s hair not be satisfied, then you&rsquo;d best switch channels&mdash;maybe back to The Love Boat for more drama on the high seas. Goodness knows, if that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re after then you&rsquo;ve missed the boat on uncovering the real Dave Hodge.Above and beyond all else, Dave Hodge is a journalist, which automatically separates him from the majority of sports broadcasters.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be in it if I couldn&rsquo;t be a journalist,&rdquo; he says of his high-profile career, which is reported to net him well in excess of $100,000 per year. &ldquo;If somebody took over the show and said, &lsquo;We don&rsquo;t consider ourselves journalists and we don&rsquo;t want to be newsworthy,&rsquo; then I wouldn&rsquo;t do the job.&rdquo;His words do not ring hollow. Hodge used to be the voice of the Toronto Argonauts on radio station CFRB. But because he committed one of sports play-by-play&rsquo;s cardinal sins&mdash;telling the truth&mdash;he was given the option of either toning down his criticisms or taking a walk. He walked.And he&rsquo;s never looked back.It&rsquo;s that sense of integrity and drive for perfection that prompted HNIC honchos to hire a 26-year-old with virtually no on-air experience to replace departing intermission host Ward Cornell.&ldquo;His first audition was terrible,&rdquo; recalls Mellanby. &ldquo;His second one was better, but just adequate. Still, you could sense that he had something. He had the most potential of the six guys we auditioned. He came across as very bright. He had no command of the medium whatsoever, but those were skills that could be taught.&rdquo;Today, those skills are second nature to Hodge.&ldquo;To me,&rdquo; says Don Wallace, a HNIC executive producer and Hodge&rsquo;s boss at Canadian Sports Network, &ldquo;he is the consummate professional. He&rsquo;s a scholar. Research. Presentation. You name it, he does it better than anyone in our industry.&rdquo;&ldquo;He thinks like a producer,&rdquo; says Mellanby, who left CSN earlier this year to head up CTV&rsquo;s 1988 Olympic programming. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s certainly much more than an on-air personality. I don&rsquo;t know that I&rsquo;d call him the best sports broadcaster in Canada, but he&rsquo;s in the top two or three.&ldquo;Brian Williams (CBC) is certainly outstanding and there&rsquo;s Don Cherry, though Cherry is, uh, different. But yeah, Hodge and Williams, they&rsquo;re the best, no question.&rdquo;&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s the straight goods on Dave Hodge,&rdquo; says Cherry, whose rantings and ravings on every subject known to man (and some that aren&rsquo;t) contrast sharply with Hodge&rsquo;s cerebral approach and produces an outstanding mix for live television.&ldquo;The guy is absolutely amazing. That&rsquo;s the honest truth. He never misses a word. He&rsquo;s so smooth&hellip;so good. He can go for five minutes off the top of his head. I have trouble with two sentences. The guy is a real pro, the best in the business.&rdquo;Hodge&rsquo;s composure is legendary. Sets have literally come crashing down around him. Lights have been doused. And on he goes, never missing a beat, delivering quality goods time after time after time.He&rsquo;s demonstrated an uncanny ability to present information without sounding like a know-it-all. to voice an opinion without being overbearing and to play the role of the journalist, asking the hard question when it&rsquo;s called for.&ldquo;If I feel strongly about something, you&rsquo;ll know it,&rdquo; says Hodge, who appears to brim with self-confidence but stops short of blatant arrogance. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think people who are known as opinionated can legitimately have such strong opinions on so many subjects. I think you&rsquo;d have to manufacture the opinions. I don&rsquo;t want to do that.&ldquo;I want to be sure I&rsquo;m stating my opinions the right way and that I&rsquo;m not hitting them over the head with something.&rdquo;Which, of course, is exactly what Cherry does.&ldquo;There are times I&rsquo;ll clash with him because he says something I simply disagree with,&rdquo; Hodge says. &ldquo;I could argue with him on every point, but what&rsquo;s the point? Things he goes nuts about don&rsquo;t hit me one way or the other.&rdquo;Do they get along?&ldquo;Oh yeah. I think he&rsquo;s great in terms of showbiz value and will continue to be. If he wants to overstate his case and get people mad or if he wants to be what I consider to be illogical, that ends up being his problem, not mine.&rdquo;As for popping the tough question, experience has taught Hodge the best way to handle it.It&rsquo;s called detachment. Hodge rarely, if ever, gets close to a possible interview subject. He has opted to ignore some standard broacast policies, such as the pre-interview interview, where the inquirer meets the inquiree to become more familiar, a little more at ease.&ldquo;If you give the guy who&rsquo;s being interviewed a chance,&rdquo; Hodge says, &ldquo;he can start putting limitations on where the interview may go. If he&rsquo;s in a slump, he might say, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t ask me about that.&rsquo; So I stopped doing it. You can&rsquo;t force somebody to answer your question, but even &lsquo;no comment&rsquo; is a revealing answer. It&rsquo;s certainly better than nothing and the important thing is that the question was asked, it was put on the record.&ldquo;This may sound a little contrived, but I sit and figure what the viewer would ask if he walked in and could toss out a question.&rdquo;Applying that philosophy to Hodge&mdash;all references to hair excluded&mdash;would likely result in the query: What&rsquo;s Dave Hodge really like?Well, it is by no means an easy question to answer. He&rsquo;s certainly a complex individual and his professional detachment also extends, to a large degree, to his personal life.At work, off camera, he is most often described by colleagues as &ldquo;a perfectionist.&rdquo;Which isn&rsquo;t to say he&rsquo;s a golden boy.&ldquo;He drives me nuts sometimes,&rdquo; says Wallace. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very demanding. He expects perfection from himself and he expects it from us. That can be trying at times, though I think we&rsquo;re all better because of it.&rdquo;He is not, generally speaking, a people person. Colleagues say he operates best in small groups, maybe four or five couples on social occasions and four or five people on business affairs.&ldquo;I had to laugh when I read an article where Dave said he might go into politics one day,&rdquo; Wallace says. &ldquo;He wouldn&rsquo;t go to a tea party if he was paid.&rdquo;&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no point in having him at functions for sponsors,&rdquo; says Mellan-by. &ldquo;He just doesn&rsquo;t mix well in a large group. If you&rsquo;re on the road with him. it&rsquo;s a rarity to see him walk into a hospitality suite or press reception. He definitely goes his own way.&rdquo;He has been dubbed by some coworkers as the &ldquo;King of Cynicism.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s meant as much as a compliment as anything else.&ldquo;This sounds strange,&rdquo; says one co-worker, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s always looking for the negative side, but he&rsquo;s doing it in a constructive way.&ldquo;Like most performers, he&rsquo;s a little bit insecure, which is what leads people to believe he&rsquo;s very aloof or arrogant. You&rsquo;ll rarely see him do anything where he isn&rsquo;t in control of his own destiny. That&rsquo;s why you won&rsquo;t see him play golf or tennis.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s safe to say that, with the exception of his wife, Sharyn, and their two children, eight-year-old Lauryn and six-year-old Dennis, plus a few close friends at CSN, no one knows the real Dave Hodge.&ldquo;No question about that,&rdquo; Wallace says. &ldquo;But I really believe I am one of the few people who know him.&rdquo;&lsquo;I don&rsquo;t go out as much as I might. I almost have a phobia about going in stores to buy things. If I could, I would wear a mask. I prefer to be anonymous.&rsquo;&mdash;Dave HodgeThose in Hodge&rsquo;s inner circle characterize him as a sensitive, caring man who has a sparkling sense of humor&mdash;punctuated by a dry wit and propensity for playing practical jokes on his closest friends.He is an absolute sports fanatic. One colleague will tell you baseball is his favorite sport. Another says it is U.S. college basketball. He works out of an office in the basement of his Mississauga, Ont., home, where he has his own Canadian Press sports wire, running continuously, keeping him abreast of all that is happening in the sporting world, not just hockey.He maintains detailed files, updating individual and team statistics and information every day.&ldquo;I have a great admiration for him,&rdquo; says Wallace, &ldquo;both professionally and personally.&ldquo;The fact of the matter is that he&rsquo;s an outstanding human being. He doesn&rsquo;t show it outwardly often, but he&rsquo;s a great friend. I had a back operation in 1980 during the playoffs. I couldn&rsquo;t walk, spent most of the time in bed and I was getting pretty depressed about missing out on everything.&ldquo;Two guys&mdash;Dave Hodge and Dan Kelly&mdash;made a point of talking to me every day. Every time Dave came back into town, he&rsquo;d come over. Every day for two or three hours, he&rsquo;d sit and tell me what was going on. He made me feel like a million dollars.&rdquo;Doug Beeforth, a HNIC producer who counts himself among Hodge&rsquo;s friends, says the side of Dave most likely to be hidden is his sense of humor.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s really no forum for it on TV, at least not on HNIC,&rdquo; Beeforth says. &ldquo;He is a very, very funny guy with a real sharp wit. The one liners he comes up with&hellip;incredible.&rdquo;How does Hodge see himself?&ldquo;Really, I&rsquo;m a homebody,&rdquo; hesays. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a bit of a loner. I watch a lot of TV&hellip;mostly news and sports. No situation comedies, except Cheers. Political conventions&hellip;I go nuts for them. I like listening to music. I&rsquo;ve got hundreds of records.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m comfortable with the image that I portray professionally. I don&rsquo;t think anybody is exactly the same at work as they are away from it. Some people are radically different.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m slightly different, a little crazier, a little sillier perhaps. I probably laugh more, I&rsquo;ve got funny names formy kids and because I wear a uniform&hellip;the blazer, the crest&hellip;and have to be so nicely groomed at work all the time, I don&rsquo;t get dressed up at home. I&rsquo;m most comfortable in a track suit&hellip;unshaven.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t go out as much as I might. I almost have a phobia about going into stores and buying things. If I could, I&rsquo;d wear a mask. I would prefer to be anonymous, but it doesn&rsquo;t happen. It&rsquo;s a double-edged sword. If no one recognized me, I&rsquo;d be worried no one was watching. Some people, Cherry, for example, might live for that type recognition. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with that. It just doesn&rsquo;t apply to me.&rdquo;Professionally, Dave Hodge says he has but one desire.&ldquo;I would like to think people realize I&rsquo;ve got credibility and I&rsquo;m not in anybody&rsquo;s pocket. Integrity. If I could buy one ingredient, that would be it.&rdquo;And as for the public&rsquo;s preoccupation with his hair, that may be the toughest riddle of all to figure out.Could it be that only his hairdresser knows for sure?&bull;where the inquirer meets &#9632;

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A PROFESSIONAL AT WORK

<div class="byline">BY MICHAEL A. BERGER</div>NEW YORK&mdash;A new broom sweeps clean, so the saying goes, and the New York Ranger high command wielded that broom like an axe in the days before the season opened.The house-cleaning will forever be known as The Purge, the day when six veterans were demoted and the Rangers followed through on changes they had reatened all summer.Gone, stunningly, is goaltender Glen Hanlon. Gone, surprisingly, is center Pierre Larouche. Gone, expectedly, are center Mike Rogers, left winger Nick Fotiu and defensemen Steve Richmond and Rob Whistle. Sent back to junior, defenseman Terry Carkner.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t make these moves as a shock tactic,&rdquo; said coach Ted Sator, &ldquo;and we don&rsquo;t look at these as demotions. Rather they are promotions of our young people.&rdquo;The strong pre-season play of centers Dave Gagner and Raimo Helminen enabled the Rangers to remove both Rogers and Larouche from the scheme of things and Gagner responded with an opening night goal in the Rangers&rsquo; 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m being given the opportunity to show what I can do on a consistent basis,&rdquo; Gagner said. &ldquo;I feel ready and stronger than last year and I always had the confidence.&rdquo;Ranger management obviously agreed with Gagner and banished Rogers to New Haven and Larouche to Hershey, where he became part of the Rangers&rsquo; compensation to the Flyers for the signing of Sator.&ldquo;This certainly wasn&rsquo;t the way I figured this year to go,&rdquo; Larouche said from his Pittsburgh, Pa., home, &ldquo;and playing in Hershey (of the AmericanLeague) obviously means they don&rsquo;t want me around.&ldquo;You never say never, but I&rsquo;m finished in New York.&rdquo;With just eight goals (including one into an empty net) in their first three games&mdash;New York lost to Hartford and New Jersey&mdash;the Rangers have not yet proven the wisdom of their housecleaning ways.While finding scorers to make up for the demotions of Rogers and Larouche (second-and third-leading Ranger scorers last year, respectively) remains a problem, the Blueshirts think that 22-year-old John Vanbiesbrouck is ready to shoulder the goaltending load vacated by Hanlon.Maybe more importantly, Vanbiesbrouck thinks he&rsquo;s ready, too.&ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;m ready for this,&rdquo; said Vanbiesbrouck, who had just 46 games of National Hockey League experience. &ldquo;A goalie waits for this. I&rsquo;ve indicated 1 wanted the responsibility and they&rsquo;ve given it to me. It&rsquo;s the experience that you have rather than age. There&rsquo;s no doubt in my mind. I have the confidence that I&rsquo;m ready.&rdquo;<h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01447/4993719-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="442" height="120"></div>History is on Vanbiesbrouck&rsquo;s side. An Ontario League all-star from Sault Ste. Marie, Vanbiesbrouck went on to be named THE HOCKEY NEWS minor-league Player of the Year and the Central Hockey League MVP in 1983-84. He was one of only two NHLers (Mario Lemieux was the other) to earn all-star honors last spring at the World Championships.&ldquo;I think John&rsquo;s capable of handling the responsibility,&rdquo; said team captain Barry Beck. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a competitor and he seems much older than he is. He handles the pressure well and he&rsquo;s confident. He knows he can be good and he wants to play. He doesn&rsquo;t wait for anyone to tell him to get in the net, he wants to be there.&rdquo;Vanbiesbrouck may not have wanted to be in the nets against the Whalers. After an extremely sharp opening night performance, he was strafed for six goals on 21 shots, leaving the battlefield with 12 minutes remaining in the game.ICE SHAVINGS&mdash;Glen Hanlon was loaned to Adirondack of the American Hockey League while Nick Fotiu. Mike Rogers. Steve Richmond and Rob Whistle went to New Haven. &ldquo;Glen will get a chance to play there and we want him to have that opportunity,&rdquo; said general manager Craig Patrick&hellip; Andre Dore, after being sent to New Haven, was also lent to Hershey to complete the Ted Sator compensation. Rangers must keep two players on the Hershey roster to fullfill compensation requirements. &#9632;

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Six Veterans Demoted In N.Y. Rangers Purge

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011220/4991224-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="555" height="920"><figcaption class="caption-body">THE PURGE Page 39</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021004/4991217-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="554" height="915"><figcaption class="caption-body">MISSING PERSONS Page 8</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03744/4991210-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="557" height="916"><figcaption class="caption-body">BYE-BYE BILLY Page 23</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04516/4991203-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="557" height="918"><figcaption class="caption-body">NHL PREDICTIONS Page 13</figcaption></div><h2>NHL RADIO-TV&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;Page&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;.10</h2>Here&rsquo;s a comprehensive listing of each NHL team&rsquo;s radio and TV schedule for the 1985-86 season, including dates of broadcasts and personnel rundowns, from play-by-play men to hosts to color commentators. And we&rsquo;ve got schedules for the four national outlets&mdash;ESPN in the U.S., Hockey Night in Canada, CTV and TSN in Canada.To subscribe to THE HOCKEY NEWS or make a change of address to an existing subscription, see Page 33<h2>NHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05380/4991196-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="533" height="969"></div><h2>The Minors</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06279/4991189-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="533" height="98"></div><h2>The Juniors</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07183/4991182-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="526" height="138"></div><h2>The Colleges</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0891/4991175-1-eng-US/f0002-082.jpg" title="f0002-08" width="523" height="181"></div><h2>Columnists</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0961/4991168-1-eng-US/f0002-092.jpg" title="f0002-09" width="531" height="276"></div><h2>Departments</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-1035/4991161-1-eng-US/f0002-102.jpg" title="f0002-10" width="535" height="734"></div> &#9632;

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The Hockey News

In next week&rsquo;s Nov. 1st issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, big Barry Beck, known affectionately to New York Ranger fans as Bubba, sounds off in the monthly THN Interview. Beck speaks out on a number of issues, including the NHL&rsquo;s reluctance to ban fighting, his relationship with former New York coach Herb Brooks, who was reported to have called Beck a &ldquo;coward&rdquo;, as well as his often disappointing level of play with the Blueshirts.In addition to that, we&rsquo;ll have a special section on National Hockey League officials. We&rsquo;ll tell you what it&rsquo;s like to be one, how to go about preparing for a career in officiating as well as a rundown of who this season&rsquo;s NHL officials are.Plus, we&rsquo;ll present our usual assortment of news and views from both pro and amateur hockey.Don&rsquo;t miss it!<h2>QUOTE OF THE WEEK</h2>&ldquo;They should have told the fans to show up a half hour earlier. I thought they were going to introduce their ushers, too.&rdquo;&mdash;Disgruntled Black Hawk GM-coach Bob Pulford, after a lengthy pre-game ceremony in Quebec City. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK IN THN

THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded in 1947 by Kenneth W. McKenziePUBLISHERJames A. DavidsonBUSINESS MANAGERTony DobranowskiEDITOR IN CHIEFBob McKenzieEDITORIAL DIRECTORCharlie HalpinASSISTANT EDITORSteve DrydenEDITORIAL ASSISTANTJeff HubbellCONTRIBITING EDITORSStan Fischler, Frank OrrADVERTISING SALES MANAGERRandy GreenADVERTISING SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVESFor Canadian Consumer Advertising Only Call:CCMC, Cliff Kivell, 287 MacPherson Ave.Toronto, Ontario M4V IA4 (416) 928-2909SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES MANAGERPatricia BackNEWSSTAND SERVICES MANAGEREsther SumkaCIRCULATION DEPARTMENTJurate KakneviciusRosanne TaninoACCOUNTING DEPARTMENTTom MoffatMary CarubiaSPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGERHughes Marketing Hockey News Bookshelf (416) 499-8227ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL OFFICES85 Scarsdale Rd. Suite 100 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2(416) 445-5702EXECUTIVE OFFICE 850Third Avenue New York, New York 10022NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTORDistributed Nationally by Disticor 101 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 14 Don Mills, Ont. M3B 1Z3 (416) 449-6430W.C.C. PUBLISHING LTD. PRESIDENTDean HeineTHE HOCKEY NEWS, (ISSN 0018-3016) is published weekly except monthly June and bimonthly July and August by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 85 Scarsdale Road #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2 (416) 445-5702. In U.S. do 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 1V7, U.S. subscription requests should be mailed to Box 904, Buffalo. N.Y. 14240. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing.SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Road #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2. Second Class mail Registration No. 1327. All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept. The Hockey News, 85 Scarsdale Road #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.IN THE UNITED STATES: Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y. and at additional mailing offices. U.S. POSTMASTER send address change to: The Hockey News, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y. 14240.Member of theAudit Bureau of Circulations &#9632;

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div>BUFFALO&mdash;It was opening night for the Buffalo Sabres at the Memorial Auditorium. It marked the official debut of Jim Schoenfeld as coach of the Sabres.By all accounts it should have been his night.The Hartford Whalers, however, weren&rsquo;t of the same opinion&mdash;winning the game 5-4 on a goal by Bob Crawford late in the third period.Earlier in the game, just as the press clippings had predicted, the Sabres came out playing an aggressive style of hockey and jumped to a quick 3-0 lead.But before the first period was over the Whalers had tied the game 3-3 and were on their way to victory.Schoenfeld, as usual, preferred to accent the positive over the negative after the game.&ldquo;I like the way we attacked in the Hartford zone,&rdquo; said Schoenfeld, 33, the youngest coach in the history of the Sabres and the youngest active coach in the NHL. &ldquo;We had a lot of good effort out there.&ldquo;We even had a lot of good scoring chances. But we won&rsquo;t win many games giving up five goals. We have to play better in our own zone.&rdquo;Promised aggressiveness was evident in the opening game.Defensemen have become an important part of the offensive attack. The Sabres&rsquo; blueliners, traditionally defensive-minded, carried the puck frequently and participated largely in the offense.But veteran Sabre defenseman Bill Hajt didn&rsquo;t really see that much of a change at his position or in the teams&rsquo; play.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not really changing a whole lot as far as our style of play goes,&rdquo; said Hajt. &ldquo;We (the defensemen) have been instructed that when we have the opportunity to carry the puck and make a play to do it.<h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021194/4991372-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="389" height="118"></div>&ldquo;It really doesn&rsquo;t change the way we played as compared to last year. We&rsquo;re just trying to be a little more offensive without giving up too much on defense.&ldquo;We are still making some mistakes. Our zone coverage isn&rsquo;t as sharp as it should be. But we&rsquo;ll work on that.&ldquo;But I wouldn&rsquo;t let a game like this (Hartford) get us down. We&rsquo;re a hungry team that wants to go somewhere this season. We want to show the league what we can do.&rdquo;SABRE POINTS&mdash;Right winger Pat Hughes was acquired from Pittsburgh to complete the Oct. 4 deal, which sent Mike Moller and equalization rights to Randy Cunneyworth to the Penguins. Hughes had been traded from Edmonton to Pittsburgh on October 4&hellip;On opening night, Gil Perreault became the 34th player in NHL history to appear in 1,100 games&hellip;The Sabres opened the regular season with three goaltenders&mdash;Tom Barrasso, Bob Sauve and rookie Darren Puppa&hellip;The Sabres lost veteran center Brent Peterson to the VancouverCanucks in the waiver draft&hellip;The team&rsquo;s final cuts were Normand Lacombe. Don Lever and Jim Hofford. All were sent to Rochester&hellip;Left winger Lindy Ruff sat out the opener with an inflammation of his left shoulder. His status is day-to-day&hellip;There are five rookies on the Sabres&rsquo; roster including Puppa, Mikael Anderson, Steve Dykstra. Chris Langevin and Bob Halkidis.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031020/4991365-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="584" height="632"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Hajt says the Buffalo Sabres want to prove something to their NHL foes.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Sabres Blow Lead In Hartford Loss

<div class="byline">By Bruce Hood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011145/4991403-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="367" height="459"></div>Q: In the course of a NHL playoff game last year, a situation arose which in my mind could have been extremely dangerous for all on the ice. One player, in the course of a legal check on another, slipped and collided headfirst (unhelmeted. I might add) with the boards. The player was knocked uncounscious. Play continued for some time before the referee stopped the play. My question is, what are the rules governing stoppage of play in this case like this? Should the referee have moved sooner on this? If not. what&rsquo;s the rationale for allowing play to go on?Liz Craig, Red Deer, Alta.A: The referee is directed to stop play when the team whose player is injured has possession of the puck. However, if it is obvious a player is seriously injured, either the referee or linesmen can stop play immediately. The problem that can exist is that an injury goes unnoticed. Also, I have seen plays where the official has blown the whistle to stop play for an injured player, and that player has had an immediate recovery. This is yet another area of judgment for the official, but he is generally better to stop play immediately where he is not sure of the extent of the injury.Q: I think when a goalie takes a penalty, he should serve it. That would give the advantage to the other team because the penalized goalie&rsquo;s backup would be cold and any shot on the power play could go in.Murray Lamondin, Britt, Ont.A: Nowadays, with the two-goalie systems teams use, it is possible to do something like this. We have to remember that a majority of the rules were put into effect many years ago when the game was played differently. Perhaps this could be done&mdash;especially in the instance where a goalkeeper receives a major or misconduct penalty. The problem is on a time penalty, he couldn&rsquo;t be allowed to return while play was in progress because only one goalie is permitted on the ice at a time.Q: I was informed that on a penalty shot only the goal scorer is credited with a plus. The players on the ice at the time of infraction are not given a plus or minus. Please check and let me know if that information is correct.Shelley Flonite, Long Island, NYA: Thank you for your letter regarding a recent answer I had given. You are right. In checking with the league office they informed me (after they checked their records) that the goal scorer on a penalty shot gets a plus but there are no further pluses or minuses recorded on the goal. This was a change and seems to be a sensible conclusion.If you want your questions answered, write to:ASK THE REFEREE16 Martin StreetMilton, Ont.L9T 2P9All questions will be considered, but only those published will be answered. Personal responses are not possible. &#9632;

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ASK THE REFEREE

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02841/4991434-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Reid&rsquo;s strength was defensive excellence, not scoring&mdash;he accounted for 17 goals and 113 assists in 702 games.</figcaption></div>The Gunk. No, it&rsquo;s not the name of a grade Z science fiction movie. But it did have terrifying effects that could be compared to a living nightmare.Tom Reid is an expert on &ldquo;The Gunk&rdquo;, an affliction of the skin.&ldquo;It is the worst thing that you could ever have,&rdquo; said Reid, who played 11 seasons (1967-78) in the NHL for the Chicago Black Hawks and Minnesota North Stars before he retired because of the disease. &ldquo;What it boiled down to was being allergic to the hockey equipment I wore.&ldquo;When I would wear the uniform and perspire, the perspiration would go into the uniform. Then after it soaked into the fabric and the dye in the uniform it came back out onto my skin.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s when the irritation would begin. I would itch and scratch until I couldn&rsquo;t stand it any longer. This stuff was so bad that it would take your skin right off your body.&rdquo;Approximately 40 other players have had the same problem. But unlike most of the other cases, which improved, Reid&rsquo;s &ldquo;Gunk&rdquo; became worse.&ldquo;For me, it had started around 1975 with a small patch or rash on my arm,&rdquo; said the former defenseman, a native of Fort Erie, Ont. &ldquo;From then on, it just got worse and worse.&ldquo;I had open wounds that would have a yellowish fluid coming out. It became very painful. It got so bad that I couldn&rsquo;t even sleep in bed. I ended up sleeping in a straight back wooden chair. That was the only thing that was comfortable for me to sleep on.&ldquo;&lsquo;The last thing they tried to give me were cortisone shots. But I had to keep taking stronger and stronger injections.&rdquo;&ldquo;Finally I couldn&rsquo;t take any more shots because doctors told me I risked the chance of being dead by 40 if I continued taking the injections.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s when I decided I had had enough. I knew it was time to retire.&rdquo;Despite having to retire at 31, Reid had no regrets about his playing career.&ldquo;I had no depression because I realized that I had played 11 seasons in the NHL, which was longer than some guys played,&rdquo; reflected Reid. &ldquo;And 1 had some good times and some great thrills to back up those years I played in hockey.&rdquo;One incident remembered by Reid, who scored just 17 goals over his playing career, was a successful penalty shot he once took as a member of the North Stars.&ldquo;The most unbelievable thing is that I scored it against Ken Dryden of the Montreal Canadiens,&rdquo; said Reid, who today works as a salesman for the Anderberg Lund printing company in Minneapolis, Minn. &ldquo;Bruce Hood was the ref who called for the penalty shot.&ldquo;When Hood came over and told our coach Jack Gordon that I had to take the shot, Gordon asked if I really had to take the shot.&ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t want to. I tried everything to get out of doing it. I even faked an injury. But I still ended up having to take it.&ldquo;Once I got passed the blue line I didn&rsquo;t know what to expect. All I know is that Dryden came out to meet me and I just went in on him and shot it between the pads.&rdquo;Reid is still connected with hockey as a radio commentator for the North Star home games and television commentator for the Minnesota Gophers in college hockey. He also owns a sporting goods store with his brother in Fort Erie.&bull;<h2>WHERE ARE THEY NOW</h2><h2>THIS WEEK&hellip; 20 Years Ago</h2>Here&rsquo;s what was happening 20 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Due to a salary dispute, Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; stalwart defenseman Bob Baun refused to join the club in a series of exhibition games. Other players with contract difficulties were Red Kelly, Dave Keon, Bob Pulford, Carl Brewer and the late Tim Horton.&bull; The Eastern Hockey League allowed clubs to keep 15 players on their rosters this season, an increase of two. &#9632;

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‘Gunk’ Junked Reid’s Career With Minnesota North Stars

1. Boston. 2. Andre Lacroix, Bobby Hull, Tom Webster, Danny Lawson, Ron Ward. 3. Bert Olmstead. 4. Gerry Cheevers. 5. Norm Dennis. 6. Kevin Lowe. 7. Glen Hanlon. 8. John Anderson. 9. Bob Manno. 10. Wayne Babych.<h2>Last Week&rsquo;s Trivia Answers</h2>1. Dick Duff. 2. Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, Rod Gilbert. 3. Goal A Game.4. Minnesota. 5. None. 6. Pete Stemkowski. 7. Mike McEwen. Clark Gillies, Mark Napier. 8. Ray Allison, Brad McCrimmon, Brian Propp. 9. Keith Brown. 10. Eddie Johnston, Boston, 1963-64. &#9632;

This Week’s Trivia Answers

1. What NHL team originally drafted Toronto&rsquo;s Jeff Brubaker?2. Name the first five 50-goal scorers in the WHA? 3. What Hall of Fame forward played in 11 Stanley Cup finals in 14 seasons?4. What former NHL head coach was recently named promotions director at Rockingham Raceway in Salem, N.H.?5. Who was the all-time career scoring leader in the now-defunct CHL? 6. Who scored the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; first NHL goal?7. Who did Wayne Gretzky score his first NHL goal on?8. What current NHLer was the CHL playoff MVP in 1977-78?9. What member of the 1984-85 Detroit Red Wings recently signed a contract to play hockey in Italy?10. What Pittsburgh Penguin player had an offer from the Montreal Expos to play pro baseball?Answers in next week&rsquo;s issue. &#9632;

TRIVIA

<div class="byline">Stan Fischler&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011325/4991544-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="329" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body">ON THE CONTRARY</figcaption></div>Who the devil does this Don Cherry think he is, calling Pelle Lindbergh a quitter, putting words in Ted Sator&rsquo;s mouth (without permission), and relegating his wife, Rose, below his dog, Blue, on the Cherry hierarchy?Don Cherry thinks he&rsquo;s hot stuff and he is. If you don&rsquo;t believe it, just listen to this wise guy.STAN: You&rsquo;re quoted in Canada&rsquo;s MVP magazine as saying Pat Riggin is the best goalie in the NHL. You&rsquo;re either kidding or I&rsquo;m sending you a shrink for Christmas.GRAPES: For the team I would coach, he&rsquo;s the best, absolutely dynamite because he plays with emotion. He fires up the players. Once he got so mad when the coach pulled him out of a game, he threw his stick and gloves at the coach, he was so mad. Then, when the other goalie, Rejean Lemelin, got hurt, Riggin wouldn&rsquo;t go back in. So you have a very, very emotional-guy.STAN: Grant Fuhr and the guy you&rsquo;ve been kicking in the seat of his Swedish pants, Pele Lindbergh, are a damn sight better than Riggin.GRAPES: I hate to say this but on pure ability I would say Lindberg&rsquo;s the best, but I still want to see him play a few more years. He&rsquo;ll probably sign a big contract. Then, let&rsquo;s see how he acts.STAN: You received a lot of negative mail in THE HOCKEY NEWS after you said Lindbergh quit on the Flyers in the last game of the playoffs.GRAPES: I winced when I picked up THE HOCKEY NEWS. I said to my wife, Rose, what&rsquo;s going on with these letters putting me down? On the Lindbergh thing, they got the wrong guy. Glen Sather was the guy who said it first about Lindbergh bailing out on his team. I just said, &ldquo;Yeah, I believe he did, too.&rsquo;&rsquo; But none of the letters were to Sather, they were all on me. I have no idea why.STAN: What do you think would happen in terms of injuries if hardly any players wore helmets, like on your old Bruin team?GRAPES: Fewer guys would get hit in the head with sticks. With all the helmets now, there are more cracks on the head, more cracks in the face than ever before. I played 18 years of professional hockey without a helmet and I&rsquo;m reasonably sane.STAN: So, what&rsquo;s the problem now?GRAPES: The players figure everyone&rsquo;s protected so they don&rsquo;t think twice about bringing the stick up. If one guy sees another try to bodycheck him. the first thing the guy does is bring the stick up in the guy&rsquo;s face. There&rsquo;s 10 times more of that now than there was 10 years ago.STAN: Are there any advantages to not wearing a helmet these days?GRAPES: For one thing, a guy will get more invitations to banquets. The most popular guys on any team are the ones without helmets. Rick Middleton, Barry Beck, Willi Plett. Peter McNab, Nick Fotiu, Bob Nystrom. They&rsquo;re recognizable. Nobody knows the guys with helmets; not even the reporters. I&rsquo;ve seen newspaper guys completely fooled by the players. A reporter will want to interview a Jimmy Jones but he can&rsquo;t recognize him on account of the helmet. Another player pretends to be Jimmy Jones, does the whole interview and the reporter doesn&rsquo;t even know one from the other.STAN: How come Ray Bourque never wins the Norris Trophy? Is Paul Coffey that much better?GRAPES: Bourque&rsquo;s problem is that he&rsquo;s lost down in Boston. A guy who plays for Edmonton or Montreal or in New York is going to get more publicity than someone in Boston. Except for Bobby Orr, very few all-stars come from Boston. Bourque handles the puck as good as Coffey. He&rsquo;s got just as good a shot, although I don&rsquo;t think he skates as good as Coffey but I do think Bourque&rsquo;s going to win the Norris some day.STAN: If you were coaching against Gretzky, what would you do to stop him?GRAPES: Other than using a machine gun, the trick is not to go into a game saying &ldquo;We&rsquo;re gonna shut out Gretzky!&rdquo; Nobody stops Gretzky. What you try to do is limit his good opportunities as much as you can. Steve Kasper does that. He sticks with him. But even that doesn&rsquo;t work because they move Coffey up. And when a guy is on him, Gretzky takes the guy with him and just dumps to Jari Kurri. If you&rsquo;ve got players like Coffey and Kurri on the ice with Gretzky against you, you&rsquo;re a dead man.STAN: How many Stanley Cups in a row will Edmonton win?GRAPES: At least four or five. One basic reason is Sather. He&rsquo;s a very ruthless man as general managing goes. If his brother was on the Oilers and wasn&rsquo;t doing the job, he&rsquo;d be gone in a second. Look how he landed Craig MacTavish. You can&rsquo;t tell me that teams that finished last in their division weren&rsquo;t sharp enough to get MacTavish. Sather never hangs on to a guy too long. Thanks a lot. See you later!STAN: Isn&rsquo;t it time the NHL put a quota on foreign imports?GRAPES: They can&rsquo;t.STAN: That doesn&rsquo;t sound like Don Cherry.GRAPES: Don&rsquo;t get me wrong: I don&rsquo;t like foreign hockey players because some of them are only as good as the Canadians but once the foreigners get here, they&rsquo;re signed to a big contract and they stay no matter what. Then, you have to play them. NHL teams get these foreigners just for the sake of getting them and that&rsquo;s what bugs me.STAN: Does that mean you wouldn&rsquo;t want any on you team?GRAPES: Offer me a Kurri or a Kent Nilsson and I&rsquo;ll take &lsquo;em because they&rsquo;re good hockey players. It&rsquo;s like baseball. If a guy from the Dominican Republic is better than a guy from the States, then he should play.STAN: You seem to dislike something else about the Swedes.GRAPES: I&rsquo;m the only guy who says this but other (Canadian) hockey players feel the same way and they tell me this when we&rsquo;re havin&rsquo; a beer. And that is some of these foreigners like to stick guys but then when the retaliation comes, the Canadian players have to rush to their rescue and wind up being the third man in, which means getting thrown out of the game. But a hockey player with Swedes on his team isn&rsquo;t going to come out and say that. The general manager and the coach would be right on his case. It&rsquo;s a touchy subject in the NHL.STAN: Name the top six players you&rsquo;d want on your team.GRAPES: Grant Fuhr in goal, Paul Coffey and Rod Langway on defense. Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Al Secord up front.STAN: How do you feel about your old buddy, Mike Milbury, becoming an assistant coach of the Bruins?GRAPES: Mike&rsquo;s been wanting to coach for the last 10 years. Same with Butch Goring. He&rsquo;s been grooming himself to coach for a while but they&rsquo;re both going to find it very difficult at the start. When the puck drops, they&rsquo;ll get that tight feeling.STAN: I&rsquo;m sure you agree that the Patrick Division is the toughest in the NHL.GRAPES: Don&rsquo;t be ridiculous. There&rsquo;s no doubt that it&rsquo;s the Adams. There are no New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins in the Adams. When they play in the Adams, it&rsquo;s war. There are two sections&mdash;one is the National Hockey League and the other is the Adams Division. They&rsquo;ve got their own little league within the league and when Montreal plays Boston or Quebec plays Montreal, it&rsquo;s like no other game. It&rsquo;s war!STAN: Be a man and admit you were dead wrong when you dumped on Mario Lemieux last season and called him a floater.GRAPES: Are you kidding? Sure, I called Lemieux a floater and everyone in the league knows he floated. And he still got 40 goals and 50 assists (actually 43 and 57) I don&rsquo;t blame (Penguins&rsquo; GM) Eddie Johnston. He&rsquo;s like a baseball manager with nothing but a big home run hitter as an attraction. The manager says, &ldquo;Hit all the home runs you can; never mind about striking out&rdquo;. Get the glamor thing. That&rsquo;s what they did with Mario. He scored goals but he also floated. I know because I talked to the players on Pittsburgh.STAN: Do you have any other gripes against Lemieux?GRAPES: Yeah. I didn&rsquo;t like the way he acted when his team got beat bad by Quebec and he said it was (coach) Bob Berry&rsquo;s fault. And I don&rsquo;t like the idea of a guy up from the minors to protect him. Al Secord gets a pile of goals and he doesn&rsquo;t ask anybody to protect him but he still gets 50 goals. My comment to Lemieux is, &ldquo;See you later!&rdquo;STAN: Everyone knows you&rsquo;re the smartest man in hockey. Is there anything left that still mystifies you about the NHL?GRAPES: The Minnesota North Stars. They get terrific hockey players and when they arrive in Bloomington, something happens to them. They don&rsquo;t perform like they did on other clubs and that&rsquo;s one thing I could never figure out. There&rsquo;s no doubt there&rsquo;s been unrest there and a lot of people blame Lou Nanne; they say he interferes too much with the coaching but I think it&rsquo;s all going to change this year. I have a good feeling about the North Stars.STAN: As the acknowledged world expert on hockey pugilism, tell me who is the best fighter in the NHL today?GRAPES: Jim Kyte of Winnipeg. He has arms about 10 feet long and he&rsquo;s like Secord&mdash;he likes to fight; the kid is ready to go at any time. He gets hit with the other guy&rsquo;s best shot and he smiles at him. I&rsquo;d put Kyte against anybody. This Marty McSorley kid in Edmonton is not bad and Larry Playfair&rsquo;s good but Playfair doesn&rsquo;t seem to have enough natural aggression-&hellip;like a Kyte.STAN: Are there any geniuses in the NHL today?GRAPES: Outside of Gretzky, I&rsquo;d have to think a little. Sather makes the right moves but I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;d call him a genius. The guy who gets more out of his players than anyone is Jacques Demers in St. Louis. But since I left the NHL, there are no geniuses left.STAN: How come Scott Bowman won four Cups in Montreal and none in Buffalo?GRAPES: He spent more time in Buffalo being a general manager and not enough being a coach. The owners wanted him to coach but he had to spend an awful lot of time getting players. Now he&rsquo;s doing the right thing, just managing.STAN: The NHL is going to spend half-a-million dollars to improve officiating. How would you improve it?GRAPES: I&rsquo;d like to see more John McCauleys in the game.STAN: And I&rsquo;d like to see more Don Cherry&rsquo;s in the NHL. What are the odds on you coming back and coaching?GRAPES: Ninety against and 10 for. And the only reason for the 10 is that Blue would like to see me get back into it again because she&rsquo;s sick and tired of all this &ldquo;retirement&rdquo; B.S. &#9632;

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Mario Still Not So Marvelous To Cherry

<div class="byline">HOCKEY NOTEBOOK</div>Edmonton-bashing is no longer limited to National Hockey League circles.Mordecai Richler, author of Joshua Then And Now, took several well-aimed shots at the Alberta city and its most famous citizen, Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers.In an article first published in the New York Times, Richler called No. 99 a &ldquo;curiously bland 24-year-oId&rdquo; who &ldquo;seems incapable of genuine wit or irreverence.&rdquo;The Quebec novelist didn&rsquo;t have kind words for Edmonton either, commenting on what he said was an absence of trees and first-class restaurants in the city.Among the offended were Edmonton mayor Laurence Decore who labeled Richler &ldquo;a haughty easterner making some rather foolish, fraudulent statements.&rdquo;Richler, undaunted, replied &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to dignify that kind of bombast with a comment.&rdquo;Mark Messier of the Edmonton Oilers has been fined $250 for leaving the scene of an accident after a Sept. 6 incident in which he lost control of his car and slammed into a parked car.Messier did not appear in court, preferring to have his lawyer enter a guilty plea on his behalf.The 24-year-old center had already pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving and been fined $75.Hartford Whalers&rsquo; defenseman Marty Howe, son of NHL legend Gordie Howe, has retired at the age of 31.The oldest of the Howe boys, Marty turned professional with his brother Mark in 1973 to play on the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Houston Aeros with their father who came out of retirement to play on the same team as his two sons.After four seasons with Houston, the Howe family joined the New England Whalers who two years later became a member of the NHL.Since then, Howe had played just two complete NHL seasons&mdash;one with the Boston Bruins (1982-83) and another with the Whalers (1983-84).The other four seasons were split between Hartford and the minor leagues. When he was assigned to the Binghamton Whalers this year. Howe decided to end his playing career.Mark, 30, is a star defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers. &#9632;

Gretzky Too ‘Bland’ For Richler’s Liking

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;The last time Morris Lukowich faced serious competition for a job in training camp was nine years ago in Houston when he was 20 years old and the Texas city had a team in the World Hockey Association.&ldquo;I was a first-year pro,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and it was a real battle.&ldquo;One day a reporter actually came to me and said 1 was going to get sent down. Bill Dineen (the coach) hadn&rsquo;t told me I was going to go down.&ldquo;I actually had the reporter by the scruff of the neck and I was dragging him over to Bill to ask him if this was true. Bill saw this and he said, &lsquo;No. No.&rsquo; and that was all.&rdquo;The next time Lukowich faced serious competition for a job in training camp it was three hockey writers (there being safety in numbers) who brought him word that he had not only made the Boston Bruins, but he was pencilled in for their top line with Rick Middleton and Barry Pederson.&ldquo;I was really going and the doggone puck wouldn&rsquo;t go in and then that first goal against Philly, that just broke the ice.&rdquo;&mdash;Lukowich&ldquo;Lukowich has had a great camp,&rdquo; said coach Butch Goring. &ldquo;He came to camp ready to play, knowing his career was really on the line and he responded well. To me he deserves the opportunity with those two players.&ldquo;He was working hard, he was skating, he was taking the man. He has pretty much done everything we asked him to, do. I would rate him the second best left winger in camp, right behind Charlie Simmer.&rdquo;So there he was, alongside Pederson and Middleton as the Bruins opened the season at home with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.Lukowich came to the Bruins from the Winnipeg Jets last Feb. 2 in exchange for Jim Nill after he fell into disfavor with coach Barry Long. He didn&rsquo;t exactly burn up the ice, scoring only five goals in 22 games.&ldquo;I buggered up my ankle pretty bad and I had a lot of trouble skating,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;One thing I hope is that I&rsquo;m able to use my skating to the best of my ability with Barry and Rick. We can really make things happen.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of a give-and-take situation. If I&rsquo;m just stapled on the boards I don&rsquo;t know how good it will be. I&rsquo;m going to have to be able to freewheel a bit.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to have to learn how these guys play a little better and then we&rsquo;ll really go for it.&rdquo;Like his coach. Lukowich has had a good feeling about his first training camp with the Bruins&mdash;especially since scoring his first goal.&ldquo;I was really going and the doggone puck wouldn&rsquo;t go in and then that first goal against Philly, that just broke the ice.&ldquo;In the next day there were three or four in scrimmage, the next day another couple and the next day another couple.All of a sudden the puck has been going in pretty good.&rdquo;<h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011179/4991599-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="363" height="118"></div>Lukowich, who once scored 65 goals in a season in the WHA and had 43 for Winnipeg only four years ago, said he is looking forward to the coming season more than he has in a long time.&ldquo;In Winnipeg,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;sometimes it was&hellip; I don&rsquo;t even know if I&rsquo;m going to talk about that. Forget about that. It&rsquo;s in the past.&ldquo;This team. I think, has the ability to win the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s got experience on defense. Last year there were some rookies but now there&rsquo;s more experience.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s got a good set of forwards. I think now it&rsquo;s a good combination of scorers and checkers. There&rsquo;s a great penalty-killer in Steve Kasper, probably the best in the league, I think.&ldquo;As long as we get great goaltending, I think we&rsquo;ll be ready.&rdquo;Lukowich is high on Goring as a coach, too.&ldquo;The game has definitely gone beyond the point where you can just open the door and say, &lsquo;Go get &lsquo;em, boy!&rsquo; Butch has got the experience to make the changes,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s had a real chance to introduce his system yet. He&rsquo;s just introduced a couple of things. I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;s got a whole book of things that are going to have to be taught and shown.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got 80 games to get prepared for another season&mdash;the playoffs. By that time I&rsquo;m sure we&rsquo;ll be really rolling.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN&mdash;The injury jinx just won&rsquo;t leave the Bruins alone. Swedish defenseman Mats Thelin broke his right foot in practice two days before the season opened.&bull; &#9632;

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Lukowich Fits In With Pederson, Middleton

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C C Publishing Ltd85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>All-Star Head Start</h2>WHERE HAVE YOU gone Gilbert Perreault, Borje Salming, Kent Nilsson and Lanny McDonald?To oblivion, according to the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association, which determined the slate of nominees for the first-ever fan all-star ballot.Those four players are among the missing on the lists of Campbell Conference and Wales nominees, which will be turned over to the masses for perusal during November and December.Together the quartet represents a portion of the game&rsquo;s finest talent over the past 10 years. None of them&mdash;save, possibly, Nilsson&mdash;is in their prime but all are well-known and highly-revered by most fans who won&rsquo;t get a chance to vote for them, unless they write in the aging stars&rsquo; names.Were the scribblers casting aspersion by not casting their votes? Yes. And no, in two of the cases.Both Nilsson and Perreault, we are told by PHWA president Rod Beaton, would have been nominated had their votes not been split between two positions. Nilsson garnered attention at both right wing and center, Perreault at center and left wing.Both could also be in the all-star game. Coaches Mike Keenan and Glen Sather are free to choose whomever they wish beyond the starters chosen by the fans.Twelve members of the PHWA took part in a vote to determine a slate of nominees. It was direct democracy at work. Those players to accumulate the most votes were included on the ballot.There were but two stipulations imposed on the voters&mdash;each NHL team had to be represented by at least one player and no rookies were to be included.Beaton, a conscientious sort who was asked by the NHL to come up with a ballot on short notice, calls the Nilsson-Perreault problem a first-year &ldquo;glitch&rdquo; in the system which will be corrected.But he makes no apologies for a most unbaseball-like ballot that focuses on today&rsquo;s potential stars, not those whose stars are on the decline. Apparently, many of his peers agree.On the whole they chose the present over the past, opting for relative newcomers over several past all-stars still in the league.Unlike baseball balloting, which is mostly an exercise in nostalgia, hockey fans will be asked to vote with their heads&mdash;and not their hearts.That premise marks a sensible start to something new for North American hockey fans. &#9632;

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011264/4991654-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div>I HAVE TO disagree with Jay Greenberg&rsquo;s opinion as expressed in his Oct. 4 column in THE HOCKEY NEWS.Although Mr. Greenberg is entirely correct in stating that it matters not a damn whether hockey games are played against the Soviets or who wins, he is mistaken in assuming that nothing is gained by refusing to play.To begin with, not only does the host hockey team make money from these international shinny confrontations, but so does the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. And, no matter how indirectly, the money raised through hockey exhibitions goes toward the manufacture of weapons similar to the ones used to shoot down (Korean Air Lines) Flight 007.Furthermore, the sacrifice of giving up &ldquo;Great hockey. Gripping entertainment,&rdquo; pales when compared to the everyday sacrifices of Afghani nationalists. A regular season game between playoff pretenders may lack the excitement of a 3-2 overtime thriller between &ldquo;us&rdquo; and &ldquo;them&rdquo;, but it does not involve a donation to the wrong side of an ongoing war.The Sniders and Mr. Ballard may make strange bedfellows, but they can share the satisfaction of knowing that they are not contributing to Russian arsenals. For Mr. Greenberg to say that taking a &ldquo;small stand&rdquo; against Soviet-styled oppression is an argument involving apples and oranges ignores the fact that it is a comparison of dollars and dollars.Ordinary citizens rarely get the opportunity to take any kind of a stand against Russian philosophies and methods and to pass up the chance by refusing to sacrifice great, gripping hockey is truly a cause for sadness.J.C. Walton,&rsquo; Calgary, Alta.<h2>KEEP SOVIETS OUT</h2>The editorial &ldquo;Select a Soviet&rdquo; in Oct. 4&rsquo;s edition of THN makes me fume.A while back, your two writers (Jeff Z. Klein) Klein and (Karl-Eric) Reif were crying about putting Soviets in the Hall of Fame and now here it is again in editorial form.I don&rsquo;t want them in our Hall of Fame. I&rsquo;m not saying that they&rsquo;re not good hockey players but let&rsquo;s face it, the Soviets are the biggest rip-off artists in sport.They only come over here if hundreds of thousands of dollars are placed up front. They also cry like babies when things aren&rsquo;t set up in their favor.If they are so deserving of a place in our shrine, let some of their stars participate in an NHL season with all the bumping, grinding and strenuous travel. At least let them prove themselves under NHL conditions before you induct them for winning wimpy world championships and watered-down tournaments.Here&rsquo;s a strong nyet from me. How many NHL stars are members of Russia&rsquo;s honored sports masters select group.Michael J. Laflamme, Nepean, Ont.<h2>FAN FORUM</h2>Let your voice be heard! Send your comments to Fan Forum, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2. THN reserves the right to edit all submissions.<h2>JAY MAKES HIS DAY</h2>Just a note to say how much I appreciate the Jay Greenberg by-lines in THE HOCKEY NEWS. Here in the newspaper-starved Philly area, the one thing I miss most is Greenberg&rsquo;s column in the Philadelphia Daily News. Philly has been without papers since Sept. 7.But hey Jay, take Eddie Hospodar with you and get this strike settled. Then I can enjoy THE HOCKEY NEWS, the Flyers and the Daily News. Can&rsquo;t beat that.Scott Ducellier, Quakertown, Pa.<h2>STOP KNOCKING WINGS</h2>I know why the NHL grapevine and Stan Fischler are chopping the Detroit Red Wing free agents. They&rsquo;re afraid of not seeing the team lose like they have year after year. The thought of no more trading of young potential stars for over-the-hill veterans must scare the Klima out of them.So, Mr. Fischler, you should worry more about the New Jersey Devils overtaking the Washington Capitals than Adam Oates and Ray Staszak.Jeff Pinto, Livonia. Mich. &#9632;

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Fan Says Nyet To Soviet Hockey Showdowns

<h2>CSN</h2>Hockey Night In Canada is back&mdash;finally, after an enforced period of summer hibernation.One of the country&rsquo;s most popular shows returns to the air again this season, as it has every year since 1952, to provide a nationwide hockey fix for the addicted in Canada&rsquo;s 10 provinces and two territories.Canadian Sports Network, owned by Molson&rsquo;s Breweries, will be broadcasting home games from six of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s seven Canadian rinks.Only the Carling O&rsquo;Keefe-owned Quebec Nordiques won&rsquo;t have regular-season home games telecast by CSN.The others, however, are sure to provide plenty of excitement&mdash;the kind first broadcast by radio and TV hockey pioneer Foster Hewitt.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re the leader,&rdquo; says Don Wallace, executive producer of CSN. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve got the credibility and we&rsquo;ve got the tradition.&rdquo;Today, the tradition established by Hewitt and carried on by the now-retired Danny Gallivan, among others, is upheld by the likes of Bob Cole, Dick Irvin, Dave Hodge, Don Cherry and John Davidson.They are some of the key on-air personalities whose job it is to keep CSN at the forefront of hockey broadcasting.But there&rsquo;s more to HNIC than style. And in recognition of that, CSN is working towards improving substance this season with the introduction of an intermission feature that will focus on one hockey issue each week.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to improve intermission content so it won&rsquo;t be one of those tune-out times but one of those tune-in times,&rdquo; says Wallace, who succeeds longtime executive producer Ralph Mellanby.Channel changing is never a concern when Cherry is on camera.The opinionated former coach of the Boston Bruins and Colorado Rockies often provides just as many highlights as the games themselves with provocative analysis.Fans are as likely to replay favorite &ldquo;Cherryisms&rdquo; as they are to replay favorite goals from a previous night&rsquo;s game.But then again, he&rsquo;s part of the show and as CSN has been proving for 34 years, the show must go on.GAMES&mdash;All Saturdays: Oct. 12: Chicago at Montreal, Quebec at Toronto, St. Louis at Vancouver. Oct. 19: Winnipeg at Toronto. Oct. 26: Hartford at Montreal, Minnesota at Toronto. Nov. 2: Pittsburgh at Montreal, Toronto at Calgary, Buffalo at Vancouver. Nov. 9: St. Louis at Toronto, Vancouver at Winnipeg. Nov. 16: New York Rangers at Montreal, Chicago at Toronto. Nov. 23: Calgary at Montreal, Detroit at Toronto, New Jersey at Edmonton. Nov. 30: Detroit at Montreal, Buffalo at Toronto, New York Islanders at Calgary. Dec. 7: Montreal at Toronto, Minnesota at Edmonton. Dec. 14: Chicago at Montreal, Calgary at Vancouver. Dec. 21: Buffalo at Montreal. Dec. 28: New Jersey at Montreal, Hartford at Toronto, Philadelphia at Calgary. Jan. 4: Los Angeles at Toronto, Montreal at Calgary. Jan. 11: Edmonton at Montreal, Quebec at Toronto. Jan. 18: New York Islanders at Montreal, Minnesota at Toronto, New York Rangers at Edmonton. Jan. 25: Toronto at Montreal, Los Angeles at Edmonton. Feb. 1: Boston at Montreal, Chicago at Toronto, Los Angeles at Winnipeg, Edmonton at Calgary. Feb. 8: St. Louis at Toronto. Feb. 15: Philadelphia at Montreal, Chicago at Toronto. Feb. 22: Hartford at Montreal, Boston at Edmonton. Mar. 1: Detroit at Toronto, Vancouver at Calgary. Mar. 8: Boston at Montreal, Chicago at Toronto Mar. 15: Calgary at Montreal, Philadelphia at Toronto. Mar. 22: New Jersey at Toronto, Minnesota at Vancouver. Mar. 29: Pittsburgh at Montreal, St. Louis at Toronto. Apr. 5: Buffalo at Montreal.<h2>ESPN</h2>After a two-year hiatus, ESPN is back in the professional hockey broadcasting business.ESPN, a national U.S. cable network, and the National Hockey League reached a three-year agreement this past summer for exclusive national cable television rights to NHL games beginning this season.That means ESPN will deliver up to 33 regular season games, the All-Star game, slated this season for early February in Hartford, as well as a full schedule of Stanley Cup playoff action for the next three seasons.&ldquo;The agreement calls for ESPN to televise more NHL playoff games than have ever before been seen in the United States, and we are certain our viewers, affiliates and sponsors are equally excited about his announcement,&rdquo; said ESPN president J. William Grimes.In total, more than 60 NHL games are expected to be televised this season.Games will be televised each Sunday night, with additional games to be presented from time to time on weeknights.There&rsquo;s no question that ESPN has put together a first-rate broadcast team, headed by play-by-play man Dan Kelly, considered by many industry observers to be the best in the business.Kelly, who will also handle play-by-play for all games for the CTV network package of NHL hockey, is in his 21st year of covering the league. Sam Rosen, who handled the play-by-play for ESPN&rsquo;s first-ever broadcast of an NHL game in 1980, will take share play-by-play duties with Kelly.Analysts include Brad Park, the recently-retired ex-Detroit Red Wing, Boston Bruin and New York Ranger, and Mickey Redmond, another ex-NHL star who&rsquo;s being doing color commentary for the past six years.Both Park and Redmond will continue to be part of other NHL broadcasting packages. Park&rsquo;s part of the CTV team while Redmond has done work with CSN and the Detroit Red Wings.Jim Kelly, who has covered the NFL and NBA for CBS Sports, will be the intermission host of all ESPN-broadcast games. And Tom Mees, ESPN&rsquo;s SportsCenter&rsquo;s hockey expert, will provide news updates from around the league.&ldquo;We wanted to establish immediate credibility with our viewers and the hockey world,&rdquo; said ESPN executive vice-president Scotty Connal, a hockey afficionado who once played in the New York Rangers&rsquo; farm system.&ldquo;We felt the best people available are those already working on NHL telecasts. These people will provide the insight, and very importantly, the variety of styles necessary over 65 games.&rdquo;Connal also served as executive producer of NBC Sports&rsquo; NHL coverage in the 1960s and &lsquo;70s.ESPN is the United States&rsquo; largest cable network, reaching more than 36.5 million homes nationwide.GAMES&mdash;Thursday, Oct. 10: Washington at New York Rangers; Sunday, Oct. 13: Philadelphia at Washington; Wednesday, Oct. 16: New York Islanders at Edmonton; Sunday Oct. 20: Philadelphia at Chicago; Sunday, Oct. 27: Minnesota at Buffalo; Friday, Nov. 1: New York Islanders at Washington; Sunday, Nov. 3, Los Angeles at Philadelphia; Sunday Nov. 10: Minnesota at Boston; Sunday, Nov. 17: Edmonton at New York Rangers; Sunday, Nov. 24: Los Angeles at Chicago. Remainder of games TBA.<h2>CTV</h2>The NHL on CTV is back for its sophomore season and one thing is certain: the Carling O&rsquo;Keefe-sponsored slate of games will be produced under a lot more favorable conditions than last season.A year ago, the NHL was still embittered in a nasty legal battle, dealing with the sale of television rights to competing breweries. Things got so tense at one point, that some hockey observers were predicting an end to the NHL as we know it today.But cooler heads prevailed and peace was restored, which granted CTV the right to broadcast games nationally for the first time. Ultimately, it was the start of a new era in hockey broadcasting.But the delays didn&rsquo;t allow CTV to get its hockey programming aired until the second half of the season and even then, it was on awfully short notice.This year, CTV&rsquo;s first game won&rsquo;t be broadcast until Nov. 8, but it has nothing to do with legal wrangles.&ldquo;Actually, we&rsquo;ve got commitments to air the World Series and American League championships.&rdquo; said CTV&rsquo;s David Grigg, part of the production team.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re eager to get started on it, but with the success of the (Toronto) Blue Jays this year, there&rsquo;s no question we&rsquo;re happy to have the baseball.&rdquo;Still, the CTV people are hard at work, putting together this season&rsquo;s game package.Dan Kelly is back to handle the play-byplay.Dan Matheson will return as the intermission host while Brad Park and Ron Reusch will supply color commentary.&ldquo;Our ratings for last year&rsquo;s Friday night games were very favorable,&rdquo; Grigg said. &ldquo;In fact, they were a total success.&rdquo;Last year, CTV premiered two new features: Two Minutes in the Press Box, a commentary by journalists, and a Minor Hockey Report, featuring a grass roots look at a specific Canadian city&rsquo;s youth hockey program.The commentary is back, the minor hockey report isn&rsquo;t.In its place will be a film feature looking at Hockey Hall of Fame inductees.&ldquo;We were quite happy with the Two Minutes feature,&rdquo; Grigg said. &ldquo;Some were better than others. This year, we&rsquo;ll put more time and effort into the production of them.&ldquo;This year, we&rsquo;ll introduce more visuals to them. Rather than just have a guy talk into the camera for two minutes, we&rsquo;ll cut away to film clips that illustrate a point he is trying to make.&ldquo;Also, because we&rsquo;ve got more time this year, we&rsquo;ll screen the individuals a little more closely. They&rsquo;ll have more time to do it so they&rsquo;ll be more relaxed.&rdquo;In addition to the regular Friday night games, CTV will also present Sunday afternoon games once the NFL season is over.GAMES&mdash;All Friday nights unless otherwise noted. Nov. 8: St. Louis at Buffalo; Nov. 15: Vancouver at Washington; Nov. 22: Winnipeg at Pittsburgh; Nov. 29: Montreal at Buffalo; Dec. 6: New York Islanders at Quebec; Dec. 13: Hartford at Buffalo; Dec. 20: New York Islanders at New York Rangers; Dec. 27: Montreal at New Jersey; Jan. 3: Washington at New Jersey; Jan. 10: Edmonton at Quebec; Jan. 17 Quebec at Hartford; Jan. 24 New York Islanders at Washington; Jan. 31: New York Rangers at Buffalo; Sunday Feb. 2: Toronto at Chicago; Feb. 7: Montreal at Washington; Sunday Feb. 9: Quebec at Boston; Feb. 14: New York Rangers at Detroit; Feb. 21: Quebec at Minnesota; Sunday Feb. 23: Toronto at Minnesota; Feb. 28: Toronto at Detroit; Mar. 7, Hartford at Buffalo; Sunday Mar. 9: Calgary at Detroit; Mar. 14, Calgary at Quebec; Mar. 21: Winnipeg at Washington; Mar. 28: Edmonton at NY Rangers; April 4: Toronto at Buffalo.<h2>TSN</h2>Legal battles have clouded what is meant to be a bright addition to programming offered by The Sports Network.Canada&rsquo;s national pay-TV channel was still in the courts as game time of their first scheduled game approached Monday, Oct. 14.TSN was slated to telecast the game between the New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks at the Pacific Coliseum but litigation threatened to stand in the way of B.C. residents seeing the contest.Both the National Hockey League and Vancouver Canucks have been at loggerheads with TSN over the package first announced last month.The NHL raised questions over the agreement which one TSN spokesperson has called the continuation of a five-year deal first negotiated by the ill-fated Super channel network with Molson&rsquo;s Breweries.And then the Canucks wanted the Vancouver area blacked out for the Oct. 14 game. A B.C. Supreme Court ruling allowed TSN to show the game in the Vancouver area but a Canucks&rsquo; spokesman said the matter still hadn&rsquo;t been resolved on game day.&ldquo;Molson&rsquo;s position is that the consumer in Vancouver should, indeed, be able to see the game,&rdquo; said Hal Moran, Molson&rsquo;s vice president of marketing, sports and entertainment, in a prepared statement.&ldquo;Our broadcast agreement should allow all TSN subscribers to have access to the telecast.&rdquo;The package, as originally outlined, is to include a minimum of 28 games during the 1984-85 season.TSN expressed optimism the series of games, which is to feature the Montreal Canadiens eight times and Edmonton Oilers in seven games, would contribute to an increase in the subsriber base of 630,000 people.&ldquo;I think it will help us considerbly,&rdquo; said president Gordon Craig. &ldquo;Hockey is the sport our viewers have been looking forward to seeing on the network.&rdquo;TSN&rsquo;s John Wells is the play-by-play announcer and Jim Van Horne, the host. Howie Meeker will serve as color commentator and former Boston Bruins&rsquo; superstar Bobby Orr, as an occasional guest commentator.Meeker, of course, was one of the first analysts to grab the public&rsquo;s attention. A golly-gee-whiz style combined with deep knowledge of the game has long captivated viewers. His enthusiasm can transform even the dullest game into an entertaining spectacle.Orr brings to the small screen memories of a hockey legend who revolutionized the game with uniquely offensive skills while playing for the Boston Bruins.GAMES&mdash;Monday, Oct. 14: New York Islanders at Vancouver; Monday, Oct. 21: Quebec at Montreal; Sunday, Oct. 27: Detroit at Winnipeg; Monday, Nov. 11: Detroit at Vancouver; Monday, Nov. 18: Boston at Montreal; Sunday, Dec. 1: Calgary at Edmonton; Sunday, Dec. 8: Chicago at Edmonton; Monday, Dec. 16: Hartford at Montreal; Sunday, Dec. 22: Winnipeg at Edmonton; Monday, Dec. 23: Winnipeg at Vancouver; Thursday, Dec. 26: Minnesota at Winnipeg; Sunday, Dec. 29: Edmonton at Vancouver; Monday, Jan. 6: St. Louis at Montreal; Monday, Jan. 13: Detroit at Toronto; Sunday, Jan. 19: Calgary at Toronto; Sunday, Feb. 2: Los Angeles at Winnipeg; Monday, Feb. 10: Minnesota at Montreal; Monday, Feb. 17: Los Angeles at Montreal; Sunday, Feb. 23: Boston at Vancouver; Monday, Feb. 24: Montreal at Edmonton; Sunday, Mar. 2: Philadelphia at Edmonton; Monday, Mar. 10: Hartford and Montreal; Sunday Mar. 16 Detroit at Winnipeg; Monday, Mar. 24: Vancouver at Winnipeg; Sunday, Mar. 30: Calgary at Vancouver; Sunday, Apr. 6: Edmonton at Vancouver. &#9632;

NHL RADIO-TV DIRECTORY

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Unanimity among National Hockey League writers is as rare as a Stan Fischler column without mention of Wayne Gretzky on all matters&mdash;except those related to the Edmonton Oilers.A blue-ribbon panel of 21 THN contributors plus editor-in-chief Bob McKenzie agreed on just three predictions when asked to gaze into the future.&bull; Edmonton Oilers will win the Smythe Division.&bull; Edmonton Oilers will win the Campbell Conference.&bull; Edmonton Oilers will win their third straight Stanley Cup.The Winnipeg Jets are expected to finish second and Calgary Flames, third. Los Angeles Kings will be firmly entrenched in fourth place according to our writers and the Vancouver Canucks, even more firmly rooted in last&mdash;21 of the brazen 22 picked Vancouver to finish fifth in the five-team division.Chicago Black Hawks are far and away the favorites in the Norris Division. Nineteen of the clairvoyants are counting on Chicago to win the division. St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars and Detroit Red Wings are rated to finish 2-3-4 behind the Hawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs have overwhelming (Canuck-type) support to finish fifth and out of the playoffs again this year.Agreement on matters in the Wales wasn&rsquo;t as easy to come by.Opinion on who stands to finish first in the Patrick Division is roughly split between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals.They were the only two teams to get the nod as division champions. New York Islanders received strong support for a mid-pack finish, New York Rangers are rated fourth, and the terrible twosome of Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils tied for dead last.The Adams Division was quarter-sectioned between the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Quebec Nordiques and Boston Bruins. All four teams received at least three first-place votes. The Canadiens were the most popular choice with nine writers supporting their bid for a repeat performance as division leader.Writers were more certain about the back-end, picking the Hartford Whalers to place last on all but four of 22 ballots despite encouraging signs of emergence in Connecticut.A variety of opinions on who will face (and lose to) the Oilers in the Stanley Cup showcase gives reason to play out a regular season.The Capitals were the choice of seven panel members, Montreal, five, Quebec, four, Philadelphia, three, Buffalo, two and the Islanders, one.So, there you have it&mdash;our look into the future.And you thought Jeanne Dixon was the only person capable of precise predictions. &#9632;

Surprise, Surprise! Oilers The Favorites

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011201/4991792-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div><h2>CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><h3>Smythe Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02890/4991785-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="702" height="252"></div><h3>Norris Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03728/4991778-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="693" height="252"></div><h2>WALES CONFERENCE</h2><h3>Adams Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04639/4991771-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="706" height="252"></div><h3>Patrick Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05521/4991764-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="775" height="294"></div> &#9632;

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How The Writers Foresee The NHL Races

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Anew NHL history, authorized by the league itself, has enraged some loop bosses for whom it was designed to please. Packaged by Torontonian Dan Diamond. Hockey: The Illustrated History was passed around to NHL moguls for their approval. When Devils&rsquo; head John McMullen examined the text, he went bananas as did St. Louis Blues&rsquo; owner Harry Ornest because of almost non-existent coverage of their teams along with some other expansion franchises. The piqued McMullen, who is paying off some $30 million for the Jersey franchise, snapped to Ornest after looking at the book. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m not in the league, why didn&rsquo;t someone tell me?&rdquo; To which Devils&rsquo; prexy. Bob Butera, tells BLUELINES: &ldquo;How can they have a history and not include the Devils?&rdquo; Ornest calls the manuscript &ldquo;an insult to the Devils, the Blues, and other franchises.&rdquo; Author Diamond, who recently has become a fair-haired boy in NHL publishing circles, explains that his work &ldquo;is not a comprehensive, year-by-year statistics book.&rdquo; In his defense, Diamond notes that his work &ldquo;describes the forces that shaped modern hockey&rdquo; and since the Devils are shaped by those forces &ldquo;the book tells their story, too.&rdquo; But McMullen doesn&rsquo;t buy that storyline, and, as Butera says, &ldquo;he has expressed his feelings to the League.&rdquo;Some of the most intense Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; hating is centered in Moncton, N.B., home of the Oilers&rsquo; former farm team, the Alpines. Supporters of Moncton&rsquo;s AHL team claim that the booster club donated an organ to the club and when the Oilers moved out, the Oilers took the organ with them. Moncton Golden Flames Booster Club claims it has dispatched protests to the Oilers and the AHL with no success&hellip;A couple of NHL black sheep Chris Kotsopoulos and Alfie Turcotte, are coming out of training camp with mixed reviews. Kotsopoulos enraged Whalers&rsquo; Emile Francis one time too many and was shipped off to the Toronto Maple Leafs (for Stew Gavin). Hartford insiders tell BLUELINES that Chris K turned off management with his selfishness and the bosses weren&rsquo;t too crazy about his bullying rookies, as one Harford reporter notes. By contrast, Turcotte says he&rsquo;s reformed after displaying more hustle off the ice than on. Alfie tells Montreal scribes that, at age 20, he&rsquo;s over his youthful exuberance and is ready for hockey. As it turns out, he&rsquo;ll be playing it in the American League. Turcotte has been dropped to the Sherbrooke Canadiens.Word from inside the Whale is that Mike Liut has taken over the Hartford dressing room and that if he plays as well as he&rsquo;s commanding the Whalers, they&rsquo;ll swallow a few Adams Division foes&hellip;Calgary Sun columnist Eric Bishop warns that if the Jets pass the Flames this year, coach Bob Johnson &ldquo;might be offered up as a sacrificial lamb by Cliff Fletcher.&rdquo;&hellip; Although Oilers&rsquo; honcho Glen Sather says he has &ldquo;a running feud,&rdquo; with Edmonton Sun columnist Terry Jones. Jones tells BLUELINES there&rsquo;s &ldquo;no feud&rdquo; from his end. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not bosom buddies,&rdquo; says Jones, &ldquo;I take shots at him and he enjoys giving them back. He&rsquo;s an outstanding GM but I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s a great coach.&rdquo;&hellip;Western League clubs are encouraging teams to use the half-shield face guard.If there&rsquo;s any doubt about Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s hold on Pittsburgh fans, skeptics should have seen him at a suburban shopping mall, signing autographs. &ldquo;He had a bigger crowd than the Beatles,&rdquo; says GM Eddie Johnston&hellip;Kent Nilsson continues to bad-mouth the Calgary media. He says Flames reporters &ldquo;can find something wrong in anything.&rdquo;&hellip;Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s exit from the Canadiens will be given more than a chapter&rsquo;s worth of treatment in The Lions of Winter to be published next September by Prentice-Hall Canada. Author Al Turowetz, who will be writing the segment, tells BLUELINES that both the Habs and Lafleur regret that &ldquo;L&rsquo; Affair Guy&rdquo; erupted from a brushfire to a firestorm. &ldquo;Lafleur,&rdquo; says Turowetz, &ldquo;is sorry he opened his trap.&rdquo; Friends of Lafleur doubt he ever intended playing for the Penguins, despite Pittsburgh reports to the contrary. &ldquo;If anything,&rdquo; says one close to Guy, &ldquo;he wants to belt Bob Berry for the way Berry treated him.&rdquo; Lafleur has ruled out a return to playing.Although Dave (Hammer) Schultz has made a positive impact since taking over as coach-GM of the Staten Island (NY) Slapshots of the Atlantic Coast League, the club faces several scheduling problems since work has yet to begin on the S I. rink that supposedly would be ready by 1986&hellip;An upcoming major magazine article will closely examine a devastating feud between two Campbell Conference coaches. When it makes print the pair likely won&rsquo;t talk to each other until the 21st century&hellip;Red Wing insiders already are telling Harry Neale classics. Latest to go around is about the time he was coaching in Vancouver and the Canucks were in a deep slump. Neale was approached to allow four players to participate in a &ldquo;Celebrity Raft Race&rdquo; through dangerous rapids. &ldquo;Fine,&rdquo; snapped Neale. &ldquo;Let me pick the players!&rdquo;&hellip;NJ Devils came close to obtaining Nick Fotiu but ultimately nixed Nick on the grounds that they want to spend their dollars on offense.One of Herb Brooks&rsquo; former U.S. Olympians tells BLUELINES he expects HB to be back coaching in the NHL before the season is up. &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY&mdash;The word on Dan Quinn prior to training camp was that this would be his year.Quinn, his Calgary Flames&rsquo; teammates reported, was looking good in the players&rsquo; informal scrimmages. He looked fit, he looked strong and he looked primed for a big season.By the start of the season, the first verdicts had been proved substantially correct. Quinn was fit, Quinn was stronger and Quinn did look ready to blossom into an NHL star.Now going into his third season, the 20-year-old center is poised on the edge of a breakthrough. He survived his first year on freshman adrenaline. He suffered through a difficult sophomore year, especially in the early stages, but he recovered to finish with 58 points.This year?&ldquo;I want to make a really big stride forward,&rdquo; said Quinn, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer in the exhibition season. &ldquo;I prepared myself in the off-season with that in mind. 1 thought the best way to do that was to come in and have a good camp.&ldquo;1 didn&rsquo;t have a good camp last year, things didn&rsquo;t go as well as I expected them to and I didn&rsquo;t react the right way. This year, I wanted to make sure I got off to a good start and be ready to play the opener.&rdquo;Physically, Quinn is a touch heavier this season, having added eight pounds through an off-season weight program. Perhaps more importantly, Quinn is no longer a teenager. Emotionally, his mood changes may occur less frequently as he grows and grows up.&ldquo;1 weighed in around 180 and I hope to play around 178, give or take a few pounds,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;1 feel quicker and I feel stronger and I think the extra weight will help me on faceoffs. Don&rsquo;t forget, I just turned 20. I&rsquo;m still growing. I think I will get stronger naturally as well as by working on my program.<h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011255/4991854-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="392" height="113"></div>&ldquo;As far as my attitude goes, it&rsquo;s easy to say I&rsquo;ve changed because things are going good now. I&rsquo;m the kind of guy, I like to contribute. If I&rsquo;m not contributing, I&rsquo;m not happy just going along for the ride. If that&rsquo;s good or bad or selfish or whatever, I don&rsquo;t know.&ldquo;I like to have a say in the way a game turns out. Sometimes last year, I was going out for two or three shifts in the first two periods and then not playing in the third. Things like that are frustrating. Even if you win, you&rsquo;re not personally satisfied. I think every body wants to be able to say they helped the team win on a given night.&rdquo;In coach Bob Johnson&rsquo;s mind, Quinn may be in line for more than just regular duty this season. Johnson has used Quinn on the left point of the power play and decided he liked the way his young center handled the assignment.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m seriously thinking about putting him in there if our other guys don&rsquo;t come around,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s played well so far. He&rsquo;s playing with confidence. He&rsquo;s still a young kid, physically and sometimes mentally, but I think the maturing process will make him a better player. It&rsquo;s hard to tell, but I also think he&rsquo;s skating a little better, a little stronger. I think he&rsquo;s improved one notch this year.&rdquo;Commenting on the coming season, Quinn said he would &ldquo;like to be able to play against every center in the league on any given night, in his building or my building, and come out even or maybe plus one.&ldquo;If he (Johnson) wants me to play against Bobby Carpenter or Steve Yzer-man or Bernie Nicholls or any of the good centers in the league. I&rsquo;d like to play them even or go one better.&ldquo;When I&rsquo;m playing with Eddy (Beers) and Lanny (McDonald), they feel the same way. They hate to lose. Everybody on our team is very competitive.&rdquo;The Flames went right to the wire before paring their roster for the new season. Four rookies made the team: Centers Perry Berezan and Joel Otto, defenseman Gary Suter and goaltender Marc D&rsquo;Amour.D&rsquo;Amour was perhaps the biggest winner. Going into camp, he was the longest shot&mdash;behind Mike Vernon and free agent Rick Kosti&mdash;to win the job backing up Reggie Lemelin.However, D&rsquo;Amour impressed the team with his composure between the pipes. In the end, D&rsquo;Amour and Vernon were rated exactly even by Johnson. D&rsquo; Amour got the nod on the strength of his play in the minors last season where he, not Vernon, was the No. I man.IN BRIEF&mdash;Injuries, last season&rsquo;s major bugaboo, forced the Flames to start the season with 25 players on the roster. Mike Eaves was out with a concussion and both Hakan Loob and Paul Reinhart were troubled by back injuries.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02989/4991847-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="585" height="879"><figcaption class="caption-body">Calgary&rsquo;s Dan Quinn hopes to improve upon his 58-point sophomore performance.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Quinn Aims Mighty High, This Could Be His Season

<div class="byline">Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011184/4991885-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="338" height="463"></div>IT&rsquo;S BEEN 39 DAYS since my newspaper went on strike. In the interim I have survived two mortgage payments, a letter which suggests that unless I pay up soon I will never leave home with my American Express card again, and one hurricane, which passed about 50 miles from my front door.Life goes on. The morning Gloria raged outside, THE HOCKEY NEWS called with a question about my column. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have to hold on a minute, I begged. I think my wife just blew across the street.&rdquo;My checking account is bloodied, but I am unbowed. I have only a vague idea of what we are holding out for. My real concern, which is getting stuck without a cab in January in Winnipeg, has gone unaddressed in the negotiations.People who know me well suspected at first that this was all an elaborate plot to get out of covering boring exhibition games. They know otherwise now.My kids have that mean, lean, look that Mike Keenan could appreciate and the dog&rsquo;s daily ration is down to whatever he can take out of my mailman&rsquo;s leg. The evil man keeps bringing me bills. I figure he deserves all the aggravation I can give him.Personally, I&rsquo;m getting a little tired of spaghetti. But the union tells me we&rsquo;re going to win, even though management has effectively raised its offer $3 in five weeks time. Inside I scream how totally stupid this is and how we&rsquo;ll never make up for the money lost. But some of those teamsters look like Dave Semenko so I&rsquo;m going to keep my mouth shut.My link to the outside world is the computer terminal I am now writing on. It&rsquo;s my only hope, so the message in this week&rsquo;s column will be brief and to the point: SEND MONEY.Aw, it&rsquo;s not that bad. At least not yet. Even now, I hear a plane overhead and&hellip;yep. it&rsquo;s Bob McKenzie, the editor-in-chief of THE HOCKEY NEWS, airlifting in story ideas. Bob says he is planning a concert and record album benefiting Philadelphia newspaper relief for Al Morganti, Bill Fleischman and I. Frank Orr and Rod Beaton have agreed to do a duet of &ldquo;Born to be Wild&rdquo;. Terry Jones and Steve Simmons will breakdance while Al Strachan plays &ldquo;Lady of Spain&rdquo; on the accordian. Alas, it&rsquo;s just another record Wayne Gretzky will probably break.The worst part of it is that except for the days USA Today condescends to print six to eight paragraphs on hockey, there&rsquo;s nothing, save THE HOCKEY NEWS, to read. And God bless my patron saint McKenzie, a couple of weeks ago he let me write half of it.Both papers here&mdash;the Daily News and Journal Inquirer&mdash;are under the same ownership, and the suburban dailies don&rsquo;t do much more than the minimum on hockey, so there is dearth of dirt in print. Unlike in Canada, the TV stations here don&rsquo;t give much time to the sport in September. Hell, Todd Bergen was missing from the Flyers&rsquo; camp for a week before anyone realized.What&rsquo;s more. Gene Hart, the Flyers&rsquo; broadcaster since Day One of the franchise, will miss at least a couple of weeks of the season while recovering from bypass surgery. Gene&rsquo;s doing fine, but for now it can&rsquo;t be hockey season without him. And get this: The Flyers&rsquo; new TV station doesn&rsquo;t go on the air until November 1. To watch the October road games, the fans here will have to unhook their cable while the still non-existent station unscrambles a signal from a pay outlet. It is all very confusing. And even more depressing.Hockey season is starting here and nobody knows it. Alas, I know it, and can&rsquo;t do anything about it.That&rsquo;s what really hurts. They&rsquo;re messing with organized labor here, opening an NHL season without me. Pardon me while I lay a little Joe Falls on you, but I&rsquo;m thinking about all the things I like about this stupid game and wishing I had my job back.Hockey TV ratings, traditionally stronger after January, would argue otherwise, but this is usually the very best time of year for me. The game is new again and fresh. The pressure on players and coaches that slams dressing-room doors in reporters&rsquo; faces in April is months away.Winning is nice, but not absolutely necessary. Every team has somebody new that you&rsquo;re anxious to see. Even the Canucks really think they&rsquo;re going to be improved.And it&rsquo;s lonely out here on the bricks. I can watch, but I can&rsquo;t touch.The Devil came to me during my sleep last night and offered me my job back if I either walked barefoot across Glen Sather&rsquo;s sarcasm, covered the Leafs for an entire season, or agreed to spend another January night in Winnipeg&rsquo;s Viscount Gort motel. Before waking up. I walked all the way there. &#9632;

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Mailman Will Be Pleased When Strike Settled

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;If the Washington Capitals are ever to fulfill the promise of recent years, they must receive a performance from Bengt Gustafsson commensurate with the Swede&rsquo;s limitless potential.Gustafsson displayed his skills in convincing fashion during the Capitals&rsquo; 4-2 opening night loss to the New York Rangers. He scored both Washington goals, made a brilliant defensive move to break up a goal-mouth pass and generally directed linemates Alan Haworth and Craig Laughlin with decisiveness and confidence.Still, one can only wonder how long the injury-prone Swede will continue to fight the National Hockey League wars. He seriously considered staying home this season, after six NHL campaigns filled with more injuries than heroic deeds.It took considerable persuasion by general manager David Poile, plus a generous new contract, to bring Gustafsson back.&ldquo;Yes, there was a problem,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;His wife has a business in Sweden and that was of obvious concern and interest to them. I was able to convince him that he could play here and she could run her business there.&rdquo;Gustafsson said, however, that his reluctance to return had a more fundamental basis than wife Ewa&rsquo;s work. Asked how close he was to ending his NHL career, Gustafsson held his right thumb and index finger virtually together and said, &ldquo;Very close. My wife was part of it, but I just don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s fun any more. I get bored.&ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s fun again (after his opening-night effort), but let&rsquo;s see how long it lasts&mdash;maybe a week, maybe a month. We&rsquo;ll see what happens.&rdquo;Despite the new long-term contract, Gustafsson can call it quits and play in Sweden at the end of any season.&ldquo;1 have an understanding with him that at the end of each season, if he so desires, we will let him out of the remaining part of his contract,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;Of course, he could not play for another NHL team.&rdquo;It has been apparent since Gustafsson arrived in North America in 1979 that he possessed special skills. But he had difficulty exploiting them in the NHL as opponents whacked him without impunity.One night he skated through the entire Toronto team to score. Instead of congratulating him. the Washington coach at the time, Danny Belisle, warned him that he would pay a price for showing up the opposition in such a manner.Another night Gustafsson was asked on a radio talk show about the extracurricular attention shown to Swedes by less-skilled North Americans. He used a four-letter word to emphasize the way he felt about opponents&rsquo; dirty play.Another factor that restrained Gustafsson&rsquo;s talent was his assignment to left wing most of the time in his first six years in Washington. Now, at center, he enjoys more freedom to create offensive maneuvers.&ldquo;I can get involved in the game now,&rdquo; Gustafsson said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have to waitalong the boards for somebody else to do something. I have more freedom to take off with the puck, to jump in the holes and make things happen. And I don&rsquo;t have defensemen running into me all the time, so maybe I won&rsquo;t be hurt so often.&rdquo;<h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02863/4991923-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="552" height="111"></div>As he said those words, however, Gustafsson had an icepack wrapped around his left wrist. He had jammed it into the boards in the first period of the opener and, while he said it was not serious, it seemed like one more bucket of cold water dousing the &ldquo;fun&rdquo; of the game.With Bob Carpenter hampered by a sore back and Mike Gartner struggling, coach Bryan Murray was hoping that Gustafsson would keep a positive outlook.&ldquo;Gus had a great training camp and it carried over,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Gus getting off the mark like that hopefully will be a real factor as we head into the heavier part of our schedule and Bobby and Mike get going, too.&rdquo;A year ago, Gustafsson suffered a hamstring pull during the Canada Cup and never got untracked His 14 goals in 51 games marked his first sub-20 season and no doubt contributed to his negative feelings during the summer.The previous year. Gustafsson had enjoyed his most productive NHL season, with 32 goals and 75 points. But many NHL people are convinced those figures can be 40 goals and 100 points every season.NOTES&mdash;The Caps, utilizing the waiver draft for the first time since 1978. plucked versatile tough guy Dwight Schofield from St. Louis. They plan to use him as a seventh defenseman and occasional winger&hellip;Left winger Yvon Corriveau was the last cut in camp. He was returned to the Toronto Marlboros of the OHL&hellip;Left winger Andre Hidi and defenseman Timo Blomqvist were assigned to Binghamton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03657/4991916-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="586" height="864"><figcaption class="caption-body">Washington Capitals&rsquo; talented Swede Bengt Gustafsson is happy, for now anyway.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Cap Experiences Swede And Sour Of NHL

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;Coach Michel Bergeron thinks he may have found someone to replace Marian Stastny on the line with his two brothers.Brent Ashton, who missed all the exhibition season with a hip pointer injury, joined Peter and Anton Statsny on opening night and helped the Quebec Nordiques coast to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Black Hawks.&ldquo;What really impressed me the most was how Brent played such a solid twoway game.&rdquo; said Bergeron. &ldquo;He was able to turn it around from offense to defense with such ease throughout the game, and I think he fit in well playing with Peter and Anton. Even though he missed all our pre-season games he is in excellent shape because he has been working hard on his own.&rdquo;Following his best season ever&mdash;a year of 31 goals and 31 assists&mdash;Ashton went to arbitration in his contract dispute with general manager. Maurice Filion.A decision in the arbitration case was rendered on the same day Ashton opened the regular season on a line with the Stastny brothers.Ashton was not particularly happy with the arbitrator&rsquo;s decision and the contract which links him to Quebec for the next two seasons, but he was happy to be playing once again.He helped set up two goals in his first game, once by digging the puck out from along the boards before Anton tipped in his shot from the blue line and later he provided a perfect screen for Peter Stastny on another goal.Ashton says it will take him a little time to really feel at ease with his new linemates.&ldquo;We have been talking a lot about what we want to do on the ice since the coach put us together as a line,&rdquo; saidAshton. &ldquo;It is different for me because now I must hold back a little and wait and see what Peter and Anton are doing while they attack. I am confident that after a few games everything will fall into place, that we will have success on the line.&rdquo;The Nordiques started the regular season without injured Wilf Paiement and holdout Michel Goulet in the lineup.Bergeron said that the Montreal Canadiens will once again be the team to beat in the Adams Division, the same claim he made at this time last year.When Le Petit Tigre said as much last year, he surprised many people. This time, however, he did add that with a full lineup (including Paiement and Goulet, naturally) available from the start of the season, Quebec could well surpass archrival Montreal.<h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04490/4991954-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="454" height="117"></div>The absence of those two regular players forced Bergeron to try out new combinations on his power play. One game does not make a whole season, but the Nordiques were still only one-for-eight on the power play during their opening night victory over the Hawks.Gilbert Delorme, a newcomer, scored the Nordiques&rsquo; only extra-man goal from his defense position.In Goulet&rsquo;s absence, rookie center Mike Eagles was moved to left wing to help out and he was looking better with each game.NORDIQUE NOTES&mdash;The Nords sent rookies Jason Lafreniere (Hamilton) and David Latta (Kitchener) back to their junior teams without 10-game tryouts. This has been the standard practice with 18-year-old players since Michel Bergeron has been coaching in Quebec. &#9632;

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The Stastnys Have New ‘Brother’

<div class="byline">Joe Falls</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02846/4992016-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="334" height="449"></div><h2>WHAT IS CHARISMA?</h2>I guess you can say it is a lot of things. It is personal appeal. Magnetism. Even magic. Some athletes have it and they have it without even trying; others never get it.Boom-Boom Geoffrion had charisma; Bert Olmstead didn&rsquo;t. This is no knock at old Bert. He was a hard worker, a man who played for his team, and it was proper that they put him into the Hall of Fame.But his work was done in the ditches and his coaches and his teammates always appreciated him more than the fans. The fans are like sports writers. They&rsquo;re always looking for the colored lights. Boom-Boom Geoffrion gave this to them with those awesome shots from the blue line on the Montreal power-play. He was a blinding performer. He probably won no more games for the Canadiens than Olmstead did, but he was the one they went home talking about.So, now, here in Detroit, we have a young man who has as much charisma as any we&rsquo;ve had for a long while.He can&rsquo;t speak a word of English but that doesn&rsquo;t matter. When he steps onto the ice, he speaks the universal language, the way he cuts and turns and goes to where the puck is. You can&rsquo;t take your eyes off him. You have it or you don&rsquo;t. Petr Klima, the young man who defected from Czechoslovakia, has it and the Red Wings may consider themselves very fortunate. They have needed some bright lights on this dreary team and now they have one who may shine for years.On opening night, management of the Red Wings had floodlights bouncing off the sides, of Joe Louis Arena and lighting up the skies over Detroit.Hollywood never did it better and it was all for Petr Klima. He is going to stir them in downtown Detroit the way Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons&rsquo; basketball team stirs them in Pontiac. You get this kind only a few times in a lifetime. They welcomed Klima, body and soul, even before the referee dropped the puck for the opening faceoff.No player in memory caused the commotion that Klima did in his debut with the Red Wings. The way they shook the stadium with their roars for him, you&rsquo;d have thought they brought back Gordie Howe for one more bow.Klima contributed an unassisted goal with a quick thrust on the net. He didn&rsquo;t play all that well but it didn&rsquo;t matter. He was out there flying around, with his uniform shirt tucked into his pants like a kid from the peewee ranks, and they were all turned on by him because he represented the hope of the future&mdash;a hope that never seems to die with the hockey fans of Detroit.These people want so badly to have a winner that they&rsquo;ll pay $15 a ticket to see this 15th-place team perform. On opening night, they were willing to forgive, if not forget, all the past problems. A crowd of 19,955 turned out and it was the largest opening-night turnout in Detroit history and the largest in NHL history.Before the game the players were introduced one by one and they skated onto the ice and lined up along the blue line. Klima was last to come out because he was wearing the highest number&mdash;85, representing the year he gained his freedom from Czechoslovakia.When the 20-year-old Czech was introduced, the fans shook the walls of the arena. Not Steve Yzerman, not John Ogrodnick, not Reed Larson ever received such an ovation. When Klima scored his goal, the fans gave out with an even louder roar, one that could have penetrated the Iron Curtain half a world away.It was a euphoric moment for these fans. It seemed to tell them that this could be the start of something big&mdash;the beginning of a new era in Detroit. &#9632;

f0016-02

Klima Bears Hopes Of All Wings’ Fans

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The 1985-86 Flyers made their debut at the Spectrum amid lofty expectations and loaded with a few surprises.The biggest surprise of all was the presence of right winger Tim Kerr in the lineup. The burly forward had suffered through a bout with aseptic meningitis, and the resulting headaches were supposed to keep him out of the lineup for a couple of weeks.Well, for awhile, it looked as if the only headaches to be suffered in the opening game would be those of the New Jersey Devils as Kerr pumped in a couple of goals.But another cranial ailment&mdash;swelled heads&mdash;seemed to afflict the Flyers before game&rsquo;s end as the defending Wales Conference champions squandered a 3-0 lead en route to a 6-5 loss.Some start, eh?In addition to being the Flyers&rsquo; first opening night loss in years, it also ended a regular-season home winning streak of 14 games (15-game unbeaten streak), and put an end to their 13-game regularseason winning streak against Patrick Division clubs.The loss also marked the first time Mike Keenan&rsquo;s team had been below .500 since he took over last season.&ldquo;What this did,&rdquo; said Keenan after the game, &ldquo;was help to get our feet on the ground real quick.&rdquo;As it turned out, he was quite right as the Flyers rebounded for weekend wins on the road within the Patrick Division. In Pittsburgh, Bob Froese was the winning goalie as Philadelphia beat the Penguins 4-2. And one night later, Pelle Lindbergh recorded the victory as his teammates Capsized winless Washington 4-2.Certainly, a glance at the early Patrick Division standings&mdash;which saw the Devils at 3-0-0 and the Caps at 0-3-0&mdash;was enough to prove it&rsquo;s too early to tell anything, but the Flyers hope a couple of trends continue.One is the exciting play of their noteworthy newcomer, Swedish center Pelle Eklund, who scored his first NHL goal against the Devils, and the other was the play of Brian Propp.<h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03660/4992047-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="528" height="113"></div>Propp, the Flyers&rsquo; steady all star left wing, scored one goal in each of the first two games, and added two more in the win over Washington. All told, Propp scored four goals and three assists for seven points, best in the NHL after only three games.&ldquo;You have to depend on your top goal scorers,&rdquo; said Keenan. &ldquo;You expect it from a player like Brian. He showed the consistency he&rsquo;s been able to maintain over the years.&rdquo;In fact, Propp figured in seven of the Flyers first 13 goals. Last season he scored nine goals and four assists during the first 10 games.NOTES&mdash;Flyers&rsquo; goalie Pelle Lindbergh, who would have been entering his option year, signed a multi-year contract on the morning of the opening game. The contract is guessed to be a three-year deal worth more than $250,000 per season&hellip;Center Ron Sutter missed the first three games of the season due to a pulled hip muscle&hellip;Sophomore wing Derrick Smith missed the opening game with a sprained wrist&hellip;Flyers play-by-play announcer Gene Hart underwent nonemergency double by-pass heart surgery the week before the opening game and consequently missed his first game in the club&rsquo;s history. Hart was awarded a lengthy &ldquo;good-luck&rdquo; ovation by the Spectrum crowd before the game. &#9632;

f0016-03

Kerr, Propp Make Their Marks Early For Flyers

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>EDMONTON&mdash;Never mind the usually reliable Farmers&rsquo; Almanac, there are iron-clad signs of a stormy Alberta winner on the horizon.We take you to the infancy of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s 1985-86 campaign&hellip;Five fights uncharacteristically broke out as the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers raised the banner on the new season Oct. 10. Pitting the Jets against the Oilers would normally call for dragstrip hockey&mdash;speed and finesse&mdash;not back-alley muggings.The following night in Calgary, thebenches cleared when the Flames&rsquo; palooka Tim Hunter ventured through Brian Hayward&rsquo;s crease, offering the diminutive Winnipeg goaler his shillelagh as a toothpick.When peace was restored, five players and Jets&rsquo; assistant coach Rick Bowness were ejected, 122 minutes in penalties were called and play in the second period was suspended.Sweathog hockey returns to the Smythe Division?&ldquo;I hope it doesn&rsquo;t resort to that,&rdquo; said Oilers&rsquo; co-coach John Muckier. &ldquo;You hope it&rsquo;s just the enthusiasm of a new season&mdash;that teams are trying to lay the groundwork. After all, the NHL&rsquo;s been out to clean up violence and sell hockey.&rdquo;<h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011055/4991985-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="474" height="114"></div>Following in the skateprints of their championship predecessors&mdash;the Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders&mdash;the Oilers are the league&rsquo;s most marketable commodity in this regard.&ldquo;Our success of the last two years has come from talented, skilled hockey,&rdquo; said Muckier of the Oilers&rsquo; back-to-back Stanley Cup conquests. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t win through intimidation. You&rsquo;d think other people would be trying to live up to our standards.&rdquo;To each his own, however.&ldquo;We have no control over other teams,&rdquo; conceded Muckier, &ldquo;but we hope it doesn&rsquo;t get back to the old Broad Street Bully days of the Philadelphia Flyers. That&rsquo;s going backwards.&rdquo;Yet, if such is the pattern, then so be it.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt in our minds that Calgary&rsquo;s been doing that for two years now,&rdquo; said Muckier, glancing south with a frown. &ldquo;Winnipeg came in here and tried it, but it didn&rsquo;t work. How many times have we been through this?&rsquo; &lsquo;Muckier listed Mark Messier thumping Winnipeg&rsquo;s Jim Nill with one punch as an example of the Oilers&rsquo; toughness. Nill struck the ice with sufficient impact to separate his shoulder and was ticketed for three weeks on the sideline.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re sitting in a great position, we can do anything,&rdquo; said Muckier. &ldquo;In a way, it&rsquo;s good. It turns our club on. When others teams stick to goonery, that means they&rsquo;re straying from the finer points of the game. And they&rsquo;re certainly not going to bother our team. Our club&rsquo;s as tough as anybody in the league, if not tougher. We&rsquo;re capable of playing any game the opposition wants.&rdquo;With willing sparring partners such as Messier, Kevin McClelland, Don Jackson and Dave Semenko already in the lineup, the Oilers added boyish ogres Marty McSorley (239 penalty minutes in 87 career NHL games prior to this season) and 6-foot-4, 210-pound rookie Jeff Beukeboom.McSorley was involved in the Oilers&rsquo; first scrap of the season, decisioning Winnipeg&rsquo;s hulking Jim Kyte.&ldquo;The more physical the games are, the more it&rsquo;s my type of hockey,&rdquo; said McSorley, who was involved in the trade that sent veteran goalie Gilles Meloche to the Pittsburgh Penguins. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got great scorers on this team. If somebody starts getting tough with them, that&rsquo;s when I expect to show up and make my presence felt. I have to give the guys on our team confidence that they can play their game (without disturbances).&rdquo;If the pre-season was any indication, quite often the likes of McSorley and linemate McClelland&mdash;another player rescued from Pittsburgh&rsquo;s minor league system&mdash;perform their mercenary duties without engraved invitations.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a part of the game that won&rsquo;t change no matter what boardroom decisions come down,&rdquo; said Oilers&rsquo; assistant coach Bob McCammon.&ldquo;The league&rsquo;s trying to take brawling out of the game.&rdquo; said the former Philadelphia coach-general manager. &ldquo;But if you rely on the referees to do it, you&rsquo;re in big trouble. You&rsquo;ve got to have guys who neutralize people. You can talk about Montreal&rsquo;s finesse teams in the past, but they always had the (John) Fergusons and the (Rick) Chartraws.&rdquo;The Oilers indeed have their own ATeam of enforcement officers.But trust Wayne Gretzky to place it all in perspective.&ldquo;The bottom line,&rdquo; offered No. 99, &ldquo;is who scores more goals.&rdquo;IN THE CREASE&mdash;Oilers&rsquo; coach-GM Glen Sather was disgruntled over losing Willy Lindstrom to the Penguins in the waiver draft. &ldquo;1 thought I had all the bases covered,&rdquo; muttered Sather, who attempted to swing a deal to have the 34-year-old right winger return to Edmonton. No dice, countered Pens&rsquo; GM Eddie Johnston. Lindstrom, incidentally, suffered a broken big toe in the final exhibition game and was to be out two weeks&hellip;The Oilers picked up right winger Mike Moller as the &ldquo;future considerations&rdquo; in the pre-waiver-draft deal that saw Pat Hughes go to Pittsburgh. Hughes wound up with the Buffalo Sabres and the Pens received Randy Cunneyworth from Buffalo for safeguarding Hughes and Moller during the annual welfare draft. &#9632;

f0016-01

Oilers Can Play It Good…And Tough, Too

<div class="byline">BY JEFF HUBBELL</div>When you&rsquo;re a teenager who loves to play hockey, few things can be worse than to climb your way through all the minor hockey levels, hit your stride and then find out that there is no longer a ladder on which to climb.Or a league in which to play.In the past, it seems that once you reached the end of Grade 11, you ran out of hockey rungs, and unless you had the skill to play junior, finding an organized league could be more difficult than seeking out the Holy Grail.This, however, has changed. In order to accommodate those who want to participate in hockey longer, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States have both advanced their age limits by one year throughout their systems.For instance, midget players are now aged 16 and 17 rather than 15 and 16, bantam, 14 and 15 (instead of 13 and 14) and peewee, 12 and 13 (rather than 11 and 12).&ldquo;Primarily,&rdquo; says Hal Lewis, executive director of CAHA, &ldquo;the motion was put forward by a couple of the western branches to accomodate players being allowed to remain in minor hockey while finishing their high school education.&ldquo;The way it was last year, if a player could play midget at 15 and 16, usually when he was finished his midget eligibility at 16, he was only in grade 11.&ldquo;A lot of communities did not have juvenile hockey or junior hockey and so in his last year of high school he was left without any hockey to play. And so they felt for small-town Canada, particularly the rural areas, that this would accommodate that gap that existed in a teenager&rsquo;s hockey life.&rdquo;Although the issue of player convenience was an issue, it was not the only reason the change took place. International competition between North American and European teams was complicated by age differences between opposing teams.Generally, the European contingents had a few older, more experienced players than the American and Canadian squads, which led to awkward requests by CAHA and AHAUS for the Europeans to leave their older players at home.&ldquo;It was more coincidental with an international situation as far as age groupings go,&rdquo; says Mike Schroeder, a spokesman from AHAUS. &ldquo;I believe we&rsquo;re in line now.&rdquo;Lewis adds, &ldquo;It would be difficult for those teams with a different age level coming from Europe to have to drop maybe three or four players or pick up three or four players to accommodate our age requirements, which were different from theirs last year. Now they&rsquo;re the same, and there isn&rsquo;t going to be that particular concern.&rdquo;The age group transition has not been flawless. Bumping up divisional age limits by a year has created problems.Age divisions were split. Alterations made to keep players in the system longer create a period of limbo for some players, who have to spend an extra year in their particular division.Also, among the younger players, playing circumstances have changed.For instance, children playing hockey at the peewee age must now learn bodychecking a year earlier than before, because checking was previously introduced at the bantam level.The age change also affected the status of girls who play on boys&rsquo; teams. In Canada, the rule was that girls up to age of 12 were allowed to play on boys&rsquo; teams provided there were no area girls&rsquo; teams and they had the ability to compete. Before the change there had been no problem, because peewee level hockey was comprised of players who were 11 and 12 years old.&ldquo;Now, peewee is 12 and 13,&rdquo; Lewissays, &ldquo;and the girls, by the regulation, are not allowed to play in the second year of peewee on a boys&rsquo; team, regardless of whether there&rsquo;s a girls&rsquo; team for them to play on or not.&rdquo;But despite the real and potential problems, both AHAUS and CAHA are confident that there is nothing that can&rsquo;t be overcome.&ldquo;I think that it&rsquo;ll take this year for the adjustment,&rdquo; says Schroeder, &ldquo;because you&rsquo;ll have many kids who would have advanced out of their division staying in the division for another year. It may be a bit difficult or a bit awkward this year.&ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t see problems after that. 1 think the adjustment will be made in years to follow.&rdquo; &#9632;

Why CAHA, AHAUS Altered Age Groups

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01929/4992102-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">&lsquo;I WAS THINKING OF QUITTING HOCKEY AND MAYBE TRYING ANOTHER SPORT&rsquo;</figcaption></div>If you would like to nominate a player for THN-JOFA Minor Showcase Player of the Week, please send a photograph along with a note outlining the following pertinent information:Name; age, birthplace, current hometown, position, size, weight, team name, coach&rsquo;s name, favorite hockey team; favorite hockey player; statistics and any other interesting information.Please send all entries to: JOFA SHOWCASE, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2Please note that photographs cannot be returned. &#9632;

f0017-01

The Snowbirds

<div class="byline">JOFA</div>Russell Wood is a 10-year-old, playing in his sixth year of organized hockey with Kingsville of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association.This season is his fourth as an atom and his third with the travel team.Russell played this past spring and summer in the Windsor Intermediate Summer Hockey League, as well as on a winning Canadian entry in the Detroit Compuware Summer Hockey League.A &lsquo;B&rsquo; student at the Jack Miner Public School, Russell also plays soccer for the under-12 team.His favorite hockey player is Gretzky, as in Keith Gretzky of the Windsor Compuware Spitfires.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02753/4992133-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="561" height="1018"><figcaption class="caption-body">Russell Wood played a lot of summer hockey in the DetroitWindsor area.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-02

PLAYER OF WEEK

<div class="byline">JOFA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03582/4992164-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="711" height="1042"><figcaption class="caption-body">The big thrill of Wendel Clark&rsquo;s career came when he was chosen first in the NHL entry draft last June.</figcaption></div><h2>Toronto Maple Leaf Wendel Clark</h2>Wendel Clark may be a National Hockey League rookie but that doesn&rsquo;t mean he lacks experience&mdash;after all, he&rsquo;s been skating for most of his 19 years.&ldquo;I started skating when I was one and a half years old,&rdquo; says the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; rookie, &ldquo;and I started playing organized hockey when I was three.&rdquo;Needless to say, there weren&rsquo;t many other three-year-olds playing alongside him.&ldquo;You just had to play with guys who were older than you were if you wanted to play,&rdquo; he recalls.Clark played much of his minor hockey in Kelvington, Sask., his hometown, and a few miles down the roard in Yorkton, under coaches Willie Mark, and Ken Van Oss.&ldquo;My father was a big influence, too,&rdquo; says Clark. &ldquo;I played a lot of hockey indoors and outdoors. It was for fun. We got on the ice whenever we could get, and I was always playing.&rdquo;Clark played midget hockey for two years at Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask., for the well-known Hounds, under coaches Terry O&rsquo;Malley and Barry McKenzie.As a left winger during training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Clark joined Gary Leeman and Russ Courtnall on what was dubbed the &ldquo;The Hound Line&rdquo;. All three players are graduates of the Notre Dame program.Although he agrees protection is a must in minor hockey, Clark differs with amateur sports officials on at least one subject.&ldquo;Take the masks out. They provoke high sticking. I can&rsquo;t ever remember getting hit in the face badly. Maybe they should have halfmasks, enough to block a stick or puck, but those full-face masks are awful heavy.&ldquo;They make the kids skate with their heads down,&rdquo; said Clark. &ldquo;A kid skates in with his face down, hits the boards and breaks his neck. You never used to hear about neck injuries, and now they happen all the time.&rdquo;Armed with a big, solid frame he developed while living on his family&rsquo;s grain farm, Clark plays a rough and rugged style of hockey&mdash;dishing out crunching bodychecks.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m an aggressive player. I always was that way. I used to get a lot of penalties (in minor hockey),&rdquo; said Clark, who continued that style with the Western League&rsquo;s Saskatoon Blades.In a sparkling two-year term with the Blades, Clark accumulated 478 penalty minutes in addition to 55 goals and 100 assists while playing defense. He was named the WHL&rsquo;s top rearguard last year.He was also a key player with the Canadian junior national team earlier this year when they won the world junior championship in Helsinki, Finland.He scored one of Canada&rsquo;s two goals in the gold medal-clinching tie with Czechoslovakia.Then came the summer and the most significant day of Clark&rsquo;s life. On June 13 he was selected No. 1 overall by the Maple Leafs.&ldquo;The thought (to be first draft pick) is always in your mind.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You always strive to be the best but I really didn&rsquo;t expect this. I&rsquo;d say this is the biggest accomplishment of my life.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-03

MINOR HOCKEY FLASHBACK

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;It was a week of decisions.Some were expected, others were astounding.For Stephane Richer, Brian Skrudland, Patrick Roy, Steve Rooney, Shayne Corson, Mike Lalor, Sergio Momesso and Kjell Dahlin the news was excellent.All eight rookies got the word they had made the 1985-86 edition of the Montreal Canadiens.For Alfie Turcotte, Claude Lemieux, Dom Campedelli, John Kordic and Graeme Bonar, the words were not as positive. Bonar was returned to his junior team in Sault Ste. Marie while the other four were dispatched to the Shebrooke Canadiens of the American League.Meanwhile, Pierre Mondou announced he was retiring from hockey because of an eye injury suffered last March 9. Mondou is now an assistantcoach with the Verdun Junior Canadiens of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.And the final word on Guy Lafleur? He is not coming back as an active player. The former superstar has decided to go into business.Perhaps the happiest man among the rookies was Skrudland, who was captain of the AHL Calder Cup championship team at Sherbrooke last season.Signed as a free agent by the Canadiens in September, 1983, Skrudland&rsquo;s chances of making the NHL this season were rated about 50-50 before camp got under way.But Skrudland displayed a strong work ethic and did everything coach Jean Perron expected of him. A tenacious checker. Skrudland may find himself playing against the other team&rsquo;s top line, thus freeing Guy Carbonneau of the full burden as the club&rsquo;s defensive center.&ldquo;When Jean Perron told me to find a house I was probably the happiest man on the face of the earth,&rdquo; said Skrudland,who played three years of junior hockey in Saskatoon. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to work my butt off to make sure I stay.<h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01956/4992195-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="476" height="109"></div>&ldquo;If I play well and I play hard, hopefully that will put them in a position where they will want to play me. I want them to feel that they can rely on me and not question whether they can put me out in the last minute for a faceoff. I want to establish right off that I&rsquo;m a hard worker and hopefully the goals will come in the offensive end.&rdquo;There has been criticism of Skrudland over his skating ability. While he is not comparable to Mats Naslund, Skrudland can get from points A to B in NHL-accepted time.&ldquo;I feel my skating is good enough,&rdquo; Skrudland noted. &ldquo;We had a test here a little while ago and I scored 100 per cent in NHL ratings. That gives me more confidence in my skating.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a style that throws a lot of people off. 1 have a different style of skating and people think I am slow because of that style.&ldquo;They have knocked my skating in the past but in the last two seasons I won awards in Nova Scotia and Sherbrooke, so my skating can&rsquo;t hurt me too much.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s quicker up here and I&rsquo;m going to have to find out some tricks early. Watching some of these guys in the past has certainly helped me.&rdquo;Skrudland&rsquo;s performance in the preseason likely spelled the end of Turcotte&rsquo;s stay in Montreal. With Mondou&rsquo;s future in doubt when camp began, there were three center jobs open and in the opinion of Perron and the Canadiens&rsquo; hierarchy, Skrudland, the flashy Richer and Corson ranked ahead of Turcotte, the Canadiens&rsquo; first choice and 17th overall in the 1983 draft.Just two days before he was demoted, Turcotte had said he felt that he was the No. 3 center on the team.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll give it my best shot,&rdquo; said Turcotte, who scored a goal in Sherbrooke&rsquo;s opening night loss to Nova Scotia. &ldquo;I have to prove to the Canadiens that I belong in the NHL. &ldquo;Lemieux&rsquo;s trip to Sherbrooke came as no surprise after his poor performance in training camp and the pre-season games. He was most demonstrative in showing his displeasure, however, breaking a window in his car shortly after he got the news.Campedelli&rsquo;s first tour of duty in Sherbrooke lasted all of a week. The Cohasset, Mass., native, acquired in a deal with Toronto, was recalled after injuries sidelined Petr Svoboda and Rick Green.Svoboda suffered a bruised shoulder when Randy Hillier of the Penguins boarded him in the Canadiens&rsquo; 5-3 opening night triumph in Pittsburgh.Two nights later, Green suffered a sprained ankle after a collision with Steve Larmer of the Black Hawks in Montreal&rsquo;s home-opening 6-3 victory over Chicago. Richer got his first NHL goal that night and Dahlin had three assists and was picked second star.Campedelli had a rough night in his debut in Boston, but then again, so did the rest of the Canadiens as they dropped a 7-2 verdict. Three of the Boston goals came while Montreal was trying to kill off a 10-minute match penalty that referee Kerry Fraser assessed Chris Nilan for butt-ending Rick Middleton in the mouth.Nilan will meet with Brian O&rsquo;Neill, the NHL executive vice-president, to discuss the incident. &#9632;

f0018-01

Skrudland Makes The Grade With The Habs

<div class="byline">Steve Simmons</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02722/4992226-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="477" height="452"></div>THE 10TH CONCUSSION in eight seasons of professional hockey has a man named Mike Eaves thinking of retiring, but not quitting.&ldquo;Retiring? You think about retiring. But the thought of quitting hasn&rsquo;t entered my mind,&rdquo; said the Calgary Flames&rsquo; forward, who has missed one game for every three he has played in a snake-bit, yet somewhat successful, NHL career.The distinction between retiring and quitting is delicate, and surprisingly cerebral for a man who has had so many head examinations.Eaves will retire, if he must, but he will not quit. It is just that attitude which has kept an undersized, nonphysical, ordinarily-talented but lion-hearted individual in the NHL so long.The 10th concussion, not surprisingly, came on his first shift of the Flames&rsquo; first pre-season game. What appeared to be a harmless collision with Quebec&rsquo;s Pat Price ended up with Eaves&rsquo; athletic future in doubt.And as the rest of the NHL began another season, Eaves took his familiar seat in the Saddledome press box. He is the Craig Ramsay of the injured, an ironman of the unfortunates.Eaves has spent more time watching from up top than some NHL scouts.&ldquo;Have you seen Eaves?&rdquo; one player was asked before a game.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s supposed to be here,&rdquo; the player said. &ldquo;But I hope he finds his way to the rink.&rdquo;Joking aside, a concussion is never a laughing matter. When the injury belongs to Eaves, it&rsquo;s a matter of even greater concern.Recently, Eaves saw a neurologist, a neurosurgeon and a team psychologist. He&rsquo;s gone through a CAT scan and had his brain waves tested. He has seen and consulted with several other physicians. He has gone through more tests than most high school students do in an entire semester.There is no word now on when Eaves will return, if he&rsquo;ll ever be ready.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s scary every time you go through it,&rdquo; said Eaves, 29. &ldquo;You have to make sure you talk to all the right people and listen well.&ldquo;Every time it happens, you get cheesed off. There&rsquo;s a whole process you go through. First, you resent it. Then you accept it. Then you have to deal with it.&ldquo;When I was in Minnesota, Jordy Douglas and I wrote a song called the Fifth-Line Blues. The guys who weren&rsquo;t playing wore blue in practice. I think the expression, Fifth-Line Blues, best describes this feeling.&rdquo;The feeling within Eaves now is he wants to play. He doesn&rsquo;t know when. He doesn&rsquo;t know how. He just knows.Those of his ilk always want to play. They rarely appear on all-star teams or win league awards, but every team has a Mike Eaves and every team is better because of it.This job of playing NHL hockey has given him a bigger headache than any man deserves, and yet he wants more of it. He has gambled and signed on for the final year of his contract, knowing there might not be another contract. Knowing this might be his last.And quietly, he lives with a concern. A concern he hides well&mdash;the possibility that damage of a more serious nature will come to him because of all the head problems.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like the story of the straw and the camel,&rdquo; said Eaves, who&rsquo;s averaged 13 goals and 22 missed games per season.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know which concussion is the straw that will break the camel&rsquo;s back.&ldquo;Now, I just have to wait for the headaches to disappear. Some people say I&rsquo;ve been dealt a bad hand, but I don&rsquo;t know if that&rsquo;s true. Sometimes, I think someone is trying to tell me something. But I&rsquo;ve learned from each concussion. I&rsquo;ve grown as a person because of it.&rdquo;A new NHL season has begun, and much has been made of the retirements of Hedberg and Park and Sittler and O&rsquo;Reilly. But rarely is much made when a Jamie Hislop or Ken Houston or Dave Hindmarch is forced from the game they love. Eaves is one of them, and he doesn&rsquo;t want to be forced out.He will retire&mdash;not quit&mdash;if told to. But he doesn&rsquo;t believe it&rsquo;s that simple a matter. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe it will be that black and white. I believe there will be some choice involved.&rdquo;And when the time comes, the choice will be made by Mike, and by his wife, Beth.His hockey existence now is practice to practice, headache to headache. A concussion is unlike so many other injuries. Progress cannot be monitored so easily. Answers are not so simple.When stationary, Eaves feels fine. In motion, the dizziness begins again.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s day to day now,&rdquo; said Eaves, whose whole career, really, is now day to day. &ldquo;Hopefully it will clear up.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not ready to retire.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-02

Concussions Don’t Permit Eaves Any Peace Of Mind

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;The Los Angeles Kings had one plan in mind as they opened their 19th National Hockey League season: Getting off to the kind of start that wouldn&rsquo;t hinder their chances of finishing second.&ldquo;We wanted to leave the message in training camp that we have to come out of the gate in good shape,&rdquo; said Quinn who waited 10 games for his first victory as new coach of the Kings last year.With or without an 0-6-3 start this season, however, Los Angeles will be hard-pressed to finish second&mdash;ahead of Winnipeg and Calgary&mdash;in the Smythe Division.&ldquo;We had an excellent camp from the standpoint of conditioning and effort,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;I like to think my teams have always been in good shape, but after last year&rsquo;s start we made this camp even tougher than usual.&rdquo;Aside from the usual assortment of bumps and bruises&mdash;and center Glen Currie&rsquo;s lingering back ailment&mdash;the Kings began the season in good health, though they failed to open on a winning note, dropping a 6-5 decision to the Vancouver Canucks.Not counting Currie, who didn&rsquo;t play in any exhibition games and barely practised, the Kings still had a 24-man roster, among them five rookies:The players were:Left wing (5)&mdash;Brian MacLellan, Tiger Williams, J.P. Kelly and rookies Lyle Phair and Dan Brennan.Right wing (4)&mdash;Dave Taylor, Jim Fox, Phil Sykes and Anders Hakansson.Centers (5)&mdash;Marcel Dionne, Bernie Nicholls, Doug Smith and rookies Dave Gans and Brian Wilks.Defensemen (8)&mdash;Brian Engblom, Garry Galley, Mark Hardy, Craig Redmond, Jay Wells, Dean Kennedy, Rick LaPointe and rookie Ken Hammond.Goaltenders (2)&mdash;Bob Janecyk and Darren Eliot.General manager Rogie Vachon was expected to send either Kennedy, who was a big surprise in pre-season, or LaPointe to New Haven of the American League within 10 days of the Oct. 10 opener with Vancouver.<h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03517/4992257-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="558" height="115"></div>The competition between Gans and Wilks, who still has a year of junior eligibility remaining, was too close to call. The 19-year-old Wilks can be sent back to Kitchener after playing in eight more NHL games.Like last year, when they set a club record by scoring 339 goals, the Kings expect to generate an explosive offense. But they won&rsquo;t improve on their 34-3214 record unless the defense is better.The Kings allowed 326 goals last season, a 50-goal improvement from the previous year, and Quinn would like to see them slice that by at least 27.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m beginning to feel more comfortable with our defense,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;We have some guys now who are in the &lsquo;new breed&rsquo; category of defensemen, guys who can carry the puck and catch up with the offense. I expect great improvement this year.&ldquo;We have to lower the number of goals allowed; 326 is not acceptable to someone like me who feels he can teach defensive play a little bit. We made progress last year, but we want to get below 300 while still maintaining our offense. We want to make the discrepancy between goals for and goals against larger.&rdquo;The Kings expect improvement from second-year pros Redmond and Galley. They had relatively solid seasons as rookies, but, as Vachon said, &ldquo;They aren&rsquo;t rookies anymore. They should play steadier, make fewer mistakes.&rdquo; Hammond, who was most impressive after being signed off RPI&rsquo;s NCAA-championship team last spring, is the lone rookie on defense. The 6-foot-l, 190-pounder should benefit from his six-game NHL experience of last season, which included all three playoff contests against Edmonton.There are still some folks who don&rsquo;t think Janecyk and Eliot are enough in goal, but the Kings do. Janecyk struggled during the pre-season, but Eliot was 2-0 with a 2.88 average in his last two starts, king 54 saves in wins over Vancouver and Winnipeg.One problem is the lack of a checking center.Currie, acquired from Washington just before camp, was expected to fill that role, but his status is still &ldquo;day-to-day&rdquo;. The Kings coveted Buffalo&rsquo;s Brent Peterson, but lost a shot at him when Vancouver nabbed him in the waiver draft.&ldquo;It is a concern of ours,&rdquo; Vachon said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re going to start the season like this. I don&rsquo;t see making any deals. We&rsquo;ll wait to see if what we have is chough.&rdquo;The early schedule is favorable in that the Kings play six of their first seven games at home. But it included Forum dates with Edmonton, Boston, Calgary, the Islanders and Rangers&mdash;none of them pushovers.A six-game eastern swing in late October and early November involving clubs from the Patrick and Adams Divisions will provide a major test.&ldquo;We want to prove that the bad times behind us,&rdquo; Taylor said, &ldquo;that we&rsquo;re becoming a solid team, a contending team. I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re going to slide back the way we have in the past.&rdquo;KINGS NOTES&mdash;Three more players were trimmed four days before the opener. Left wing Craig Duncanson, the Kings&rsquo; first of two No. 1 draft picks, was returned to Sudbury of the Ontario League. Defenseman Steve Duchesne right wing Mark Lofthouse were sent to New Haven. &ldquo;We think Duncanson is going to be another Dave Taylor,&rdquo; Rogie Vachon said. &ldquo;And Duchesne is very, very close right now. But he has to play a lot and we didn&rsquo;t have that luxury here. &ldquo;&hellip;Defenseman Rick LaPointe was the lone King left unprotected in the waiver draft and the club was pleased no one took him. The Kings like his experience, attitude, and ability to work with kids&hellip;Kings finished the pre-season with a 3-6 record after starting 0-5. &#9632;

f0018-03

L.A. Kings Look For A Fast Break

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01892/4992288-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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BookShelf

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;In his first National Hockey League season, Doug Carpenter preferred to keep eight defensemen on hand rather than make an emergency call to Tom McVie&rsquo;s Maine Mariners, but Carpenter may soon be forced to cut back on his growing list of capable blueliners.At the conclusion of training camp. 11 of New Jersey&rsquo;s 28 players were defensemen.In addition to No. 1 draft choice Craig Wolanin, who enjoyed a strong training camp, the Devils did not lose 33-year-old veteran Phil Russell despite exposing him in the Oct. 7 waiver draft.They also drafted 23-year-old defenseman Randy Velischek from the Minnesota North Stars, acquiring the former Providence College all-American for the top waiver price of $35,000.&ldquo;When you set up our defensive corps by age there is a gap which Velischek fills. We like his age, his character and his ability,&rdquo; said general manager Max McNab. &ldquo;We believe he&rsquo;ll help us, whether it&rsquo;s this year or in the future. He&rsquo;s going to make the competition for jobs tougher here right away and adding another defenseman could also pave the way for a follow-up deal.&ldquo;In selecting Velischek, who scored four goals and nine assists in 52 games for Minnesota last season, the Devilsexposed Bob Hoffmeyer.But the 30-year-old Hoffmeyer was not claimed, leaving 11 defensemen. Wolanin, Ken Daneyko, Joe Cirella. Bruce Driver, Uli Hiemer and Velischek are all 23 or younger. Dave Pichette, Hoffmeyer, Russell, Bob Lorimer and Dave Lewis round out the experienced group.<h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02507/4992350-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="476" height="109"></div>It&rsquo;s looking as though Wolanin may get an early-season opportunity in the NHL before a decision is made whether to send him back to junior.&ldquo;I feel comfortable competing against NHL players so far but I&rsquo;m trying not to think about the decision,&rdquo; said Wolanin. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s up to them. I&rsquo;m just trying to do my best. I&rsquo;ve only had one year of junior.&rdquo;One teammate who feels Wolanin has a legitimate shot at succeeding immediately is Lewis.&ldquo;I remember when Denis Potvin and I were rookies, the way he could make those tremendous checks,&rdquo; said Lewis, recalling the Islanders&rsquo; 1973 training camp. &ldquo;Craig reminds me of Denis that way. He doesn&rsquo;t control the game yet the way Denis could, but Craig has just turned 18 and has played a whole lot less junior hockey (Lewis was well past his 20th birthday and Potvin turned 20 on Oct. 29 back in &lsquo;73).&ldquo;Craig likes to take charge of the defensive part of the game and you don&rsquo;t see that in a lot of young players. He is very mature and very serious about hockey, so&hellip;&ldquo;These kind of decisions are more critical for goalies and defensemen because they&rsquo;re right there in win-or-lose situations and their confidence can be affected. It&rsquo;s really a tremendously difficult and important decision. Management really earns its money trying to figure out these kinds of things.&rdquo;Carpenter opened the season with three goaltenders in Chico Resch, Alain Chevrier and 19-year-old Craig Billington. Chevrier was in net for the Devils&rsquo; season opener, a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia Flyer at the Spectrum.Paul Gagne, with three third-period goals, and Greg Adams, with five, assists led the way for the Devils.HOT STUFF&mdash;Kirk Muller was signed to a new three-year plus option contract. Muller has also changed his number to No. 9 (Don Lever&rsquo;s former number) and Randy Velischek will wear Kirk&rsquo;s old No. 27&hellip;Pat Conacher, Luc Dufour and goalie Karl Friesen were sent to Maine. To make room for Friesen on the Mariners&rsquo; roster, Shawn MacKenzie was sent to Ft. Wayne of the 1HL&hellip;Consensus is that Devils made a wise move in not selecting Nick Fotiu (&ldquo;If I can&rsquo;t play for the Rangers, I&rsquo;d love to play in Jersey,&rdquo; said Fotiu) in the waiver draft&hellip;Bob Hoffmeyer and Phil Russell are still bothered by strained left knees while Perry Anderson has a brusied left shoulder. Ken Daneyko enjoyed a great camp, which is likely to cost Hoffmeyer a spot on the N.J. roster-&hellip;Craig Billington: &ldquo;If I remain (with the Devils) I&rsquo;m not going to play as much as I would if I went back to juniors but the learning here is going to be far superior. I&rsquo;ve already had two good years at Belleville so how much more can another year of playing there benefit me? There&rsquo;s not even a goalie coach there and here I have the best teacher I can imagine in Glenn Resch. I follow him around all the time and he has so much insight on goaltending and hockey in general, and a great ability to express it.&rdquo;&bull; &#9632;

f0020-02

Devil Blue Line Crowded As New NHL Year Opens

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03354/4992381-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg"></div>If the Montreal Canadiens are to be successful this season, they&rsquo;ll require an outstanding offensive effort from Swedish left winger Mats Naslund.And that&rsquo;s what they got from him to open the 1985-86 season. Naslund scored five goals, including a game winner, and added two assists to earn THE HOCKEY NEWS NHL Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 13.The Habs won two of their first three games. &#9632;

f0020-03

Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Bam-Bam has come home.The Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; trainer says Dave Langevin could probably join the circus with the entertainment value of his knee. And the New York Islanders obviously decided he was expendable.So Langevin, who grew up in St. Paul, played high school hockey at Hill-Murray and college at Minnesota-Duluth, returned to his home state. And he couldn&rsquo;t be happier.&ldquo;If I had to go anywhere, I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s to Minnesota,&rdquo; said Langevin. The tall, rangy defenseman went from UMD to Edmonton of the World Hockey Association before going to Long Island, where his firm hand fit into four Stanley Cup rings.Lome Henning, the rookie North Star coach who still has Islander blood in his veins, was happy with the usually inert waiver draft.The draft, like the first two games of the season, had its ups and downs for Minnesota. First, Randy Velischek was lost to New Jersey. Velischek, 23, seemed to come into his own when called up last season. Paired with Curt Giles, Velischek wound up a plus-7 on a team where consistency was best measured by who had the smallest minus figure.&ldquo;But with all our guys healthy, it didn&rsquo;t look like Randy would play as much as he should.&rdquo; said Henning. That&rsquo;s because Giles, Craig Hartsburg and Gordie Roberts are all left-handed defensemen, as is Velischek.<h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01751/4992319-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="519" height="116"></div>So Velischek was cast adrift from the 16-skater protected list. Amazingly, Toronto passed him up but Jersey didn&rsquo;t.When the Islanders took Randy Boyd from Chicago, they uncovered Langevin, who had wanted more icetime than Al Arbour was willing to grant him. The Stars grabbed him.&ldquo;Langevin will provide stability for our defense,&rdquo; Henning said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s strong and has great leadership ability. Physically, he&rsquo;s fine.&rdquo;Doc Rose, the Stars&rsquo; trainer, qualified that after examining Langevin&rsquo;s shoulder and knee, which have been disected, bisected and patched up surgically. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve looked at his knee,&rdquo; said Rose, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s about as loose a knee as you&rsquo;ll find. He could probably join the circus with that knee.&rdquo;Rose declined to add that Langevin had, indeed, joined a circus by coming to the North Stars. Rose was also pleased to find Craig Levie had rejoined the Stars following an intricate bit of waiver byplay.It seems that Calgary took Levie (whom the Stars had lost to St. Louis in the waiver draft a year ago) after the Blues made him available in the fourth round.Calgary general manager Cliff Fletcher obviously had big plans for Levie, because immediately after the draft he asked waivers on Levie as if planning to send him to the minors.Because the North Stars had that woeful season last year, they had an early crack at him and Nanne pounced. Now, just because Nanne and Fletcher are good buddies, St. Louis general manager Ron Caron seemed upset at the possible collusion. NHL general managers would never do such a thing, would they?Nanne fought back a fiendish grin.A hustling, popular defenseman, and a right-handed shooter as well, Levie seems like the kind of player that is always an asset, but never quite solid enough to avoid the waiver list. The North Stars could have him every other year of his career, if this keeps up.STAR DUST&mdash;Minus Randy Velischek but plus Dave Langevin and Craig Levie, and minus the injured Steve Payne, Tom Hirsch, Dan Mandich, Willi Plett and Tom McCarthy, Minnesota opened their season at Detroit. But wait. Gord Sherven went down with the flu just before the game, and Bo Berglund, who was supposed to sit, played instead. Berglund&rsquo;s second goal of the third period, on a penalty shot with 1:16 to play, brought the Stars a 6-6 tie after they had trailed 6-2. The officials mistook Berglund for Hartsburg, who was the man with the puck when Reed Larson threw his stick on the play. So Berglund got the penalty shot by mistake&hellip;Back home, the Stars also fell behind Buffalo 6-2, but couldn&rsquo;t repeat their comeback performance before an opening-night record crowd of 15,710&hellip;Payne, incidentally, had a disc in his neck removed and a bone spur also removed. He could be back by Christmas&hellip; Hirsch only had calcium deposits removed from his shoulder and may try rehabilitation rather than surgery, which would sideline him for the year.&bull; &#9632;

f0020-01

Bam-Bam And His Trick Knee Come Home

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01551/4992412-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="539" height="981"></div>Unlike any other time in their 13-year history, the New York Islanders are looking to Finnish off the competition this season&mdash;importing two players, Mikko Makela and Ari Erik Haanpaa, from Tampere, Finland.Haanpaa, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound who can play either right or left wing, this year attended his second New York Islanders&rsquo; camp and looked impressive. The 19-year-old is smooth and versatile, possesses considerable speed and agility, and is armed with a quick, accurate shot.Haanpaa had a disappointing season last year with the Ilves Tampere club in Finland. He missed a good portion of 198485 action with a knee injury, and scored only five goals in 13 games.Nevertheless, he won a position on Finland&rsquo;s national team last year and has impressed the Islanders this year. In the team&rsquo;s first exhibition game, Haanpaa scored once in a 4-3 victory over the Quebec Nordiques.&ldquo;Haanpaa is a strong winger who is adapting easier than most and should be able to play North American-style hockey,&rdquo; says Gerry Ehman, the Islanders&rsquo; director of scouting.One of the first Finnish players to wear the Islanders&rsquo; crest on his sweater, Haanpaa is almost certainly going to be a regular on the team.He speaks some English and acts as an interpreter for his Finnish teammate Makela.If the Islanders are to regain their Stanley-Cup winning form, they must avoid the spate of injuries that plagued them last year. And although Haanpaa is a strong player, he will also have to avoid getting hurt if he wants to improve upon last season. &#9632;

f0021-01

QUAKER STATE ROOKIE PROFILES

<h2>MERCHANDISE</h2>STREET HOCKEY PLAYERS &ldquo;THE SKIPPER&rdquo;Worlds Greatest Street/Floor Hockey Ball.Hand Made/Scientific &ldquo;NO BOUNCE&rdquo; Design.True Puck Action Guaranteed. $4.00 + $1.00 for postage and handling (U.S. Funds).Send Name, Address, Check or Money Order to:The SkipperP.O. Box 190 Chelsea, MA 02150FOR SALE 1982-83 L.A. Kings gold and purple knit game used jerseys. Send SASE to: Bruce Gatjen, 822 Pershing Ave., San Jose, CA, 95126 or call (408) 293-4161 (Pacific Time).<h2>RARE WHA AND NHL SALE OF JERSEYS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01635/4992471-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="581" height="509"></div><h2>PERSONALIZED NHL (CCM)</h2>Jerseys and Hershey Bears pro jerseys. Full line of equipment. Price lists. The Sharp Edge, Main St., Mount Joy, PA, 17552. Phone: (717) 653-5051.<h2>HOCKEY POOLS</h2><h3>HOCKEY POOLS!</h3>Challenging method drafts by position and uses 3 way scoring system: Points, plusminus & goalies&rsquo; goals against.Full details $5.00 U.S. refunded if you use our computer services.COMPUTER HOCKEY SYSTEMS P.O. Box 114 Webster, N.Y. 14580<h3>JOIN A POOL!</h3>It&rsquo;s not too late! Our computer will match your draft list in a league and keep scoring statistics with our challenging system.Full details $5.00 U.S. refunded if you join.COMPUTER HOCKEY SYSTEMS P.O. Box 114 Webster, NY, 14580<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02453/4992464-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="250" height="82"></div><h2>HOCKEY IN BRITAIN</h2>What influence do North Americans have on ice hockey in Britain? How big is the sport on the other side of the Atlantic? For the answers to these questions and all the info on the British ice hockey scene, read the: ICE HOCKEY NEWS REVIEW. Britain&rsquo;s Premier Ice Hockey Publication, with 32 pages and full colour pictures. Published fortnightly, September through to April (14 issues). Have your copy on subscription sent by Air Mail for just, &pound;48.00 (sterling). Send orders to:Ice Hockey News Review,6 Elm Grove, Chaddesden, Derby, DE2 6SF England.<h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYER MAGAZINE</h2>Official game publication, now available via home subscription. Save 25% off cover price!Send $32.50 ($40.00 Canadian) for 20 issues or $59.50 ($70.00 Canadian) for 40 issues to: FLYER MAGAZINE The Spectrum Philadelphia, PA.19148Subscribers for 40 issues receive all playoff editions FREE!<h2>VIDEO</h2>HAVE 130 HOURS of good quality hockey fights. Looking for someone to tape games from all levels. Sandy Vigilante Jr., 94 Passaic Ave., Nutley, NJ, 07110. Or call (201) 661-3341 or 661-0652.HOCKEY&rsquo;S BLOODIEST FIGHTS and knockouts. VHS & Beta. For information write: M. Brudy, 413 Hawkins Ave Pittsburgh, PA, 15214.NEW YORK ISLANDER SALE Yearbooks-78-79, 79-80, 80-81, 81-82, 82-83, 84-85, 85-86 @ $5.00 each or all $32.00Media Guides-80-81, 81-82, 8283, 83-84, 84-85 @ $4.75 each. U.S. FUNDS.ALL-STAR SPORTS, 10 PLANCHET-UNIT 4, CONCORD, ONTARIO, L4K 2C8 CANADA, (416) 669-4378ATTENTION: Ranger, Isles & Devils&rsquo; fans! Updated news, stats on your teams every week in METRO-PUCK. For info: Rich Kronish, P.O. Box 2183, New York, NY, 10009.<h2>BRITISH HOCKEY ANNUAL</h2>News, statistics, club directory of the fast growing British scene, 170 pages, &pound;5. Money order (sterling only) to: British Hockey Annual, 50 Surrenden Lodge, Surrenden Road, Brighton, BN1 6QB, England.More Classified items on page 23.<h2>MISCELLANEOUS</h2>SPORTS COLLECTORS SHOW: Sunday, Oct. 20, Ramada Inn 400/401 at 1677 Wilson Ave. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dealers from Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Detroit, Chicago, N.Y. etc. First 100 people get free gifts valued at $7.00. For table reservations or info call All Star Sports, (416) 669-4378.WANTED: All pre-1967 hockey sweaters, especially Maple Leaf sweaters. Write for information to: G. Mauro, 14 Ollerton Road, Downsview, ON, M3J 1X8.<h2>COLLECTIONS</h2>VALUABLE COLLECTION of hockey cards coins, programs for sale. Plus other fasci nating sports memorabilia and books Write: Roy McDuff, 373 Place d&rsquo;Youville Suite 204, Montreal, PQ. H2Y 2B7<h2>TOURNAMENTS</h2>8TH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENTDecember 27-30 Bantam and Midget age A and B divisions. Call or write: Spokane Youth Hockey,P.O. Box 1956, Spokane, WA, 99210(509) 327-2106-Larry Snider<h2>OPPORTUNITIES</h2>PLAYERS WANTED: Looking for Canadian. or American hockey players with Swiss passport or resident of Switzerland for National League team in A division in Switzerland. Please contact J. J. Pichette at Voyages du Vallon, 2452 Blvd Laurier Place, Ste. Foy, PQ G1V 2L1 or call (418) 653-1882.<h2>SPORTACATURES!</h2>Attention Sports Associations, Clubs and Sports Lovers everywhere! A great gift idea for Christmas, Birthdays, Banquets: 8&frac34;Black & White Caricatures! Send good snapshot of subject, name, age, favorite sport, team, jersey number. Include name/address for remailing. Price: $20 per caricature. Allow 3-6 weeks for delivery. Send cheque or money order to: Roy McDuff,373 Place D&rsquo;Youville, Suite 204, Montreal, PQ H2Y 2B7<h2>TOURNAMENTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04260/4992457-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="1200" height="1300"></div><h2>HOCKEY POOL FANS&rsquo;!</h2>Are you running a pool this season?Remember last year? The countless hours you spent every week compiling statistics for your League?WE CAN ELIMINATE THIS HEADACHE FOR YOU!!Let us enter your league into our computer! Every week we will compile, compute and mail directly to you a detailed breakdown of every player and every team in your League. The entire regular season statistics are yours for less than $13.00 Cdn&hellip;$10.00 U.S. perteam. That&rsquo;sall! 24 Weekly issues for the price of one ticket to a pro hockey game!!! Photocopy the computer print-outs and distribute them among other team owners, or simply pin up the data sheet for everyone to see! If you are presently not in a pool, we also have the game for you!! Match hockey wits against our MASTER MINDED COMPUTER!! We dare you!! If you defeat HIM you will receive a 1986 HOCKEY NEWS YEARBOOK!!FREE BONUS: With subscription to either of the above you will be entitled to select your own All Star team. We&rsquo;ll rate your team against entrants throughout North America. Win a year&rsquo;s subscription to THE HOCKEY NEWS!!For detailed information please send $5.00 (money refunded if service is bought) to:<h2>HOCKEY POOL DATA SERVICES</h2>7468 Burris St. Burnaby, BC Canada CC 1Y8637 Crystal Beach Rd Point Roberts, WA U.S.A.98281<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03352/4992450-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="243" height="165"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05213/4992443-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="1818" height="1138"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

THE HOCKEY NEWS CLASSIFIED

<h2>NOVELTIES</h2><h3>CLEVLAND CRUSADERS BARONS SALE</h3>Guides, programs, pennants, pucks, jerseys, pins, buttons, more. Send $2.50 for catalog.YORKVILLE SPORTS,10212 Plymouth, Cleveland, OH, 44125<h2>WHA BUTTONS</h2>Calgary, Toronto, Cleveland, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, Saints, Racers, Bulls, Blades, Stingers, Oilers, Nationals, Mariners, Stags, Whalers, Phoenix, L.A. Sharks, Raiders, $2.25 each or all 20 for $40.00.YORKVILLE SPORTS 10212 Plymouth, Cleveland, OH, 44125<h2>PHILADELPHIA BLAZERS WHA</h2>Puck $20.00, Lapel Pin (Replica) $4.00, 72-73 guide $35.00, assorted programs @ $7.50 each, 3 game jerseys all orange by Pearsons @ $375.00 U.S. Funds.SPORT ENTERPRISES,P.O. Box 15743,Philadelphia, PA, 19103-0743*Visa & Mastercard acceptedFOR SALE: Bee-Hive photos from 1950 to 1965. Very good to mint. List available $1.00. Daniel Pelletier, C.P. 39 Anse, Ste Anne des Monts, PQ, GOE 180.<h2>VIDEO</h2>WANTED: FIGHTS-GAMES before 1980 (NHL-WHA). Tony Blanda, 123 Webb Ave., Patchogue, NY, 11772.JEAN CLAUDE FRANCOIS please call Tony Blanda (516) 867-7247.FIGHTS AND BRAWLS on VHS. Suite 132, 31238 Palos Verdes Drive West, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90274. &#9632;

CLASSIFIED

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN</div>TORONTO&mdash;One never reached his potential with the Toronto Maple Leafs. And the other did (or didn&rsquo;t) the same with the Boston Bruins.So the two centers were traded even-up for one another. Tom Fergus, 23, has joined the Leafs, Bill Derlago, 27, the Bruins.Fergus is in his fifth National Hockey League season and Derlago, his seventh. Both are considered under-achievers by hockey insiders. Derlago&rsquo;s attitude with the Leafs was, well, laid-back and Fergus has been accused of placing individual goals before team objectives.Each of them has above-average talent. But their self-motivation has been questioned.So Billy D., the western junior hotshot who was traded from the Vancouver Canucks to Toronto in 1980, rides east to join the B&rsquo;s and Fergus, the hard-shooting Chicago native, becomes the ninth new player on the Leafs&rsquo; roster.&ldquo;Billy did a pretty good job for us,&rdquo; said Toronto general manager Gerry McNamara, who earlier in the week added the eighth when he dealt forward Stew Gavin to the Hartford Whalers for disgruntled defenseman Chris Kotsopoulos.&ldquo;We just felt that we haven&rsquo;t won&mdash;not to cast any aspersions on Billy&mdash;it&rsquo;s just that we have to make changes on the team.&rdquo;Derlago&rsquo;s progression and commitment has long been the subject of speculation&mdash;none of which McNamara would take part in publicly.<h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01573/4992502-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="511" height="141"></div>Asked if he felt the former Western League scoring champion reached his potential in Toronto, McNamara said only, &ldquo;Billy Derlago&rsquo;s a pretty talented hockey player, only Bill can tell you that.&rdquo;Bruins&rsquo; assistant coach Mike Milbury was more direct when asked for a similar comment about Fergus.&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s best to say that Tom didn&rsquo;t live up to expectations of people around here,&rdquo; he told James Christie of the Globe and Mail: &ldquo;And he did know how to check. He just didn&rsquo;t choose to do it very often. He thought a good game was scoring two goals and getting two assists. That&rsquo;s not necessarily true. A good game is when you win.&rdquo;Fergus, who had contract difficulties with the Bruins and eventually went public with trade demands, admitted he might not have reached his potential in Boston but didn&rsquo;t accept all the blame for that shortcoming.&ldquo;There are two ways to look at that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I did (reach my potential) either but I don&rsquo;t think I was given the opportunity to.&rdquo;Despite moving from a contending club to the Leafs, Fergus professed happiness.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad they made it (the trade). It gives me a new start&hellip;Boston seemed a little stale. I had no regular position. I was shuffled around.&rdquo;Derlago scored 31 goals and 31 assists in 62 games last season, Fergus, 30 and 43 in 79 games. Fergus had never done better but still didn&rsquo;t fit in with the Bruins. Derlago had (34-50 in 1981-82) and faced criticism for the Leafs&rsquo; worst-ever record.Fergus was the 60th overall draft choice of the Bruins in 1980 and Derlago, fourth overall of the Canucks in 1978.With the trade Toronto general manager McNamara has disassembled his perennial No. I scoring unit. Only captain Rick Vaive remains from the troika of Vaive, Derlago and John Anderson.Anderson, dealt to the Quebec Nordiques, has made himself difficult to forget. He scored the winning goal in Quebec&rsquo;s exhibition victory over the Leafs and then did the same to the Leafs as Quebec prevailed 4-0 in the Toronto home opener.The Leafs also lost their season opener to Boston 3-1 but beat the Chicago BlackHawks 5-1 in game three.New players were prominent in the first victory as top draft choice Wendel Clark scored twice (his first two NHL goals), Fergus once, and Steve Thomas, once. Fergus, who played on a line with Thomas and Vaive, also earned an assist.Goalie Tim Bernhardt was superb after watching newcomer Don Edwards perform in the first two losses.NOTES&mdash;Rugged winger Jim Korn could be out for the season after surgery to repair ligament damage in his right knee. Korn was injured during a practice when checked into the boards by Wendel Clark&hellip;Under the heading of &ldquo;Nobody ever gets hurt in a hockey fight&rdquo; comes news that sophomore defenseman Al lafrate has been sidelined for at least two weeks after sustaining a beating from Sean McKenna of the Buffalo Sabres, lafrate needed surgery to repair a fractured cheekbone&hellip;Borje Salming and newcomer Brad Maxwell have been named assistant captains. Rick Vaive remains captain.&bull; &#9632;

f0023-01

Leafs Ship Billy D. To Boston For Fergus

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div>CHICAGO&mdash;A broken finger compounded some fractured hopes and feelings when the Black Hawks closed down training camp for the regular season.And the pain continued through the Hawks&rsquo; regular-season opener in Quebec. The broken finger was the left index finger of defenseman Keith Brown, who dropped a weight on it during a post-practice conditioning session on the final Friday of training camp.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s broken in three places,&rdquo; said Brown. &ldquo;But it should be okay in a couple of weeks.&rdquo;Brown had been a bit unhappy about his tryout on right wing, which coach general manager Bob Pulford indicated would have continued.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how Brown feels,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;He might not like it right now. But one thing about Keith Brown, he&rsquo;s a great team man. You can bet your butt he&rsquo;ll work hard out there.&rdquo;And what of Brown&rsquo;s feelings?&ldquo;Should I say what I really feel, or should I say something like a team man?&rdquo; Brown asked with a laugh.There were no laughing matters as the Hawks began their 60th NHL season witthout any depth. It&rsquo;s simply disappeared over the course of a few days.First came the Brown injury. Then came the NHL waiver draft, when theHawks lost right winger Dan Frawley to Pittsburgh and defenseman Randy Boyd to the New York Islanders.<h2>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01614/4992557-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="529" height="109"></div>The same day, rookie right winger Bill Watson ended up in the hospital with a shoulder sprain.Watson has had nothing but hard times since joining the Hawks from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.He caught a severe flu, dropped weight, and sort of dropped out of camp for a few days when the Hawks gave him a &ldquo;leave of absence.&rdquo; Watson did make a splash in his only exhibition appearances, with a goal and two assists in two games against Detroit. Then he was knocked down again.Since defenseman Bruce Cassidy&rsquo;s knee is still being treated gingerly, the Hawks&rsquo; began the season without two highly-touted rookies.Also without Boyd and Frawley.Boyd played well in the playoffs against Edmonton last year and might have been their best defenseman through training camp. Frawley was able to step in at a position where the Hawks were thin.&ldquo;Right now, I&rsquo;m not very happy about what happened,&rdquo; Pulford said after the draft. &ldquo;They were in our plans. We were hurt today. It hurt us in the depth factor.&rdquo;Boyd, 23, rejoins his old Ottawa junior coach, Brian Kilrea, now the Islanders&rsquo; assistant coach.&ldquo;I was sitting in the hotel room when the phone rang,&rdquo; Boyd said. &ldquo;I thought it was Frawls (Frawley). We were supposed to do some shopping. But the girl on the phone said she was from the NewYork Islanders and Al Arbour wanted to talk to me.&ldquo;My first thought was &lsquo;Holy macker-al!&rsquo; I&rsquo;m sure Kilrea being the assistant coach there was a factor. It&rsquo;s a big break for me, now I have to make the best of it.&rdquo;The opening night 6-2 loss at Quebec left the Hawks feeling even worse.&ldquo;Not many guys were sharp out there,&rdquo; Pulford said after coaching his first opener since 1978. &ldquo;We have to start working now.&rdquo;There was no doubt about that. The Hawks did some of their best team work before the game started.Impatiently declining individual introductions, the Hawks skated out together and stood at the blue line during the tag end of interminable opening ceremonies at the Colisee, which delayed the starting time a half-hour.&ldquo;They should have told the fans to show up a half-hour earlier,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;I thought they were going to introduce their ushers, too.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-01

Lack Of Depth Fingered As Hawk Problem

<div class="byline">Barry Meisel</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02433/4992588-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="370" height="463"></div>THE NHL PAID for Bell Telephone&rsquo;s divestiture on Oct. 7, when it held its annual waiver draft via conference call to its 21 cities. If you&rsquo;ve ever tried to make a cheap long distance call on one of those $9.95 telephones they sell these days, the ones that sound like a canary when they ring and an upset stomach when you speak, then you know what I&rsquo;m talking about.Each team was equipped with a telephone and an amplified voice box that permitted everyone in the room to hear. Each phone had a button on it. When you wanted to speak, you pushed it. Sort of like a walkie-talkie. When one GM pushed his button, only he could transmit. When two or more tried to speak at once, it got crazy.Sample conversation:NHL VP Brian O &lsquo;Neill, emcee of this international communications network: &ldquo;New (static) Jersey?&rdquo; (crackle)Devils&rsquo; GM Max McNab, in his Meadowlands Arena office: Inaudible.O&rsquo;Neill: &ldquo;Max?&rdquo;McNab: Barely audible.O&rsquo;Neill: &ldquo;Max?&rdquo;McNab: &ldquo;Hello?&rdquo;O&rsquo;Neill: &ldquo;Yes. Max?&rdquo;McNab: &ldquo;Brian? I can hear you, but you can&rsquo;t hear me?&rdquo;O&rsquo;Neill (his voice rising): &ldquo;I can hear you, Max.&rdquo; The GMs roared.O&rsquo;Neill: &ldquo;OK. you guys, stop your cackling. &ldquo;And another time:O&rsquo;Neill: &ldquo;Did you say pass, Harry?&rdquo;Boston GM Sinden: &ldquo;No, Brian. &ldquo;This was precious stuff. The league wants a network television contract? Forget hockey. Take the waiver draft, write a pilot and peddle the script to ABC. They could do much worse.My favorite character was the syrupy operator who monitored the conference call. Her name was Sue Ellen or Sue Allen, I&rsquo;m not sure. A clap of thunder belched from the voice box at the New York Rangers&rsquo; Madison Square Garden office just as she identified herself.Anyway, Sue Ellen might have saved the Calgary Flames from missing half the draft.O&lsquo;Neill (to Calgary GM Cliff Fletcher):&rsquo;&rsquo;Cliff, are you there?&rdquo;No answer.O&rsquo;Neill: &ldquo;Hello. Calgary?&rdquo;No answer.O&lsquo;Neill to Sue Ellen: &ldquo;Operator, is Calgary still on the line?&rdquo;Sue Ellen: &ldquo;No, sir. They&rsquo;ve dropped off. &ldquo;O&rsquo;Neill (obviously harried): &ldquo;Will you please try to get them back?&rdquo;Sue Ellen: &ldquo;Thanks. &ldquo;Fletcher probably forgot that in certain cities, the media was in a separate room listening to this telephonic opera. Maybe he did know.Fletcher (as clearly as can be): &ldquo;Brian. I hope this system is saving the league a lot of money because it leaves a lot to be desired. &ldquo;O&rsquo;Neill: &ldquo;Cliff, I think you should save your comments for the proper forum. &ldquo;Whenever a player was taken, the selecting team had to drop one name from its protected list. The team that lost the player had the option of taking the other player or a designated, amount of money. The NHL Central Registry stood ready at its telephones with salary and contractual information.Being the 95th caller on WPLJ-FM&rsquo;s call-in contest was far easier than reaching Central Registry.Washington GM David Poile, concerned that his five minutes was about to expire: &ldquo;Brian?&rdquo;O&rsquo;Neill: &ldquo;Yes, David.&rdquo;Poile: &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t get through to your office. &ldquo;To nobody&rsquo;s surprise, everybody took the cash. The scavenger hunt saw nine bodies stuffed into new uniforms. Pittsburgh took three right wingers, New Jersey took a defenseman, Vancouver chose a center, the New York Islanders took a defenseman, Washington took a left winger, Minnesota took a defenseman and Calgary selected defenseman Craig Levie, the third time in five years Levie was selected.Next year, let&rsquo;s call it the Levie Draft.But let&rsquo;s hope there is no next year. Like its broadcast, the system stinks. They say the draft is supposed to help the weaker teams, but why did Toronto pass on all five rounds? Why did Washington, the Islanders and Calgary find players worth taking?Bill Torrey hadn&rsquo;t made a waiver move since he picked up Bert Marshall in 1973, but the Islanders had their eyes on Chicago&rsquo;s Randy Boyd and when their turn came 13th, they grabbed the 23-year-old defenseman for $20,000 and surrendered 31-year-old Dave Langevin.&ldquo;Frankly, I don&rsquo;t like the draft,&rdquo; Torrey admitted. &ldquo;But there&rsquo;s a reason for it.&rdquo;The NHL Players&rsquo; Association bargained for it. The union felt it unfair that a decent player could waste away on a farm club of a powerhouse when that player could probably skate regularly for an NHL weakling. In the next collective bargaining agreement, the players will probably seek to push the draft back to June.&ldquo;This is a draft that&rsquo;s supposed to help the weaker teams,&rdquo; Torrey said, about to play straight man to his own punch line. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;re one of the weaker teams.&rdquo;&ldquo;I hate the system,&rdquo; said Minnesota GM Lou Nanne. &ldquo;You go out to spend money to develop players and we get $35 grand for Randy Velischek. We spend a lot of money to develop a player like Velischeck and then we go and lose him. We probably lost $35 or $40 grand on him. Every year it seems we lose a player.&rdquo;And what does that tell you, Louie?&ldquo;Maybe we don&rsquo;t know who to protect.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-02

Telephonic Opera Comedy At Its Worst In The NHL

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Bob Berry&rsquo;s friends accused him of spending too much time in the sun or, perhaps of, being senile when he agreed to become coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins.But the new coach was realistic last year when he took over a team that had finished last in the overall NHL standings the two previous years and 55 points out of a playoff position the season before.Berry didn&rsquo;t expect miracles, just solid improvement.<h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03295/4992619-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="483" height="119"></div>And that&rsquo;s what transpired as he led the Penguins to a 24-51-5 record (a 15-point improvement) and only nine points from a playoff spot.So, Berry is again being cautious in his expectations for the Penguins in the tough Patrick Divison. Berry&rsquo;s club dropped its season opener at home, 5-3, to the Montreal Canadiens.&ldquo;Percentage-wise last year we had a marked improvement, especially in the first half,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;If we just hadn&rsquo;t faltered so badly in the second half, the improvement would have been tremendous.&ldquo;We have to improve on last year. How many points that is right now, whether that would put us in the playoffs or not, I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;Berry believes his year at the helm of the Penguins will help him to evaluate those who played for him last season.&ldquo;I think in some cases I expected too much from some of the players last year, and maybe too little from some others,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;With the 80 games last year. I&rsquo;ve got a pretty good handle on the personnel.&rdquo;Center will be one of the key positions for the Penguins who have Mario Lemieux, last season&rsquo;s rookie of the year, Mike Bullard, a former 50-goal scorer, Craig Simpson, the club&rsquo;s No. I draft choice and John Chabot at the pivot position.&ldquo;Mike Bullard last year, before he got hurt, showed us what he&rsquo;s capable of doing,&rdquo; said Berry. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re counting on a big one-two punch from Mario and Mike.&rdquo;Chabot was one of the team&rsquo;s best players in the first half of last season after being obtained from the Montreal Canadiens for Ron Flockhart. Chabot, however, slacked off considerably in the second half and finished with nine goals and 51 assists.&ldquo;John came and I think he played extremely well for us,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got to be able to play the way he played the first 20, 25 games for us last year. There&rsquo;s no question about that.&ldquo;The end of the year, John did not play well at all. He was playing on the power play, he was killing penalties, he was taking a regular shift, and I was using him on big faceoffs in our end. There&rsquo;s a possibility that he just wasn&rsquo;t used to that amount of icetime. It might have burned him out a little.&rdquo;Berry does not discount the possibility that one or more of his centers also may play some wing.&ldquo;If the situation arises, depending on how our third and fourth spots on center work out, Craig Simpson could play right wing,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;I have intentions of trying him on the right wing. There&rsquo;s another possibility of letting him stay at center and moving Mike Bullard over to the left side.&rdquo;Bullard played some left wing on the power play and also played right wing on occasion last season.&ldquo;When you have people like Greg Fox and Kevin McCarthy playing on the point on your power play, it&rsquo;s pretty difficult to make it work,&rdquo; Berry said about two defensemen who were released during the summer. &ldquo;And I don&rsquo;t say that in a mean way for Fox or McCarthy. They were forced into a situation where Moe Mantha or Joe McDonnell were dead tired, and we would have to back with people, who probably never played on a power play in their life.&ldquo;The power play has got to be successful for you to win hockey games.&rdquo;PENGUIN TRACKS&mdash;The Penguins reduced their roster to 27 players for the opening game. The Penguins traded right winger Pat Hughes to Buffalo and defenseman Mike Moller to Edmonton. Hughes was sent to the Sabres to complete an earlier deal for Moller and the rights to left winger Randy Cunneyworth. Moller was sent to the Oilers to complete the earlier trade for Hughes. In effect, the Penguins hid Hughes and Moller on their roster for Buffalo and Edmonton during the waiver draft for the rights to Cunneyworth and left winger Ted Nolan of the Sabres. The Penguins picked up right wingers Willie Lindstrom from Edmonton, Mike Blaisdell from the New York Rangers and Dan Frawley from Chicago in the waiver draft. Pittsburgh also assigned defenseman Phil Bourque and Joe McDonnell and right wingers Dean Defazio and Roger Belanger to Baltimore of the American Hockey League and right wing Mark Teevens to Peterborough of the Ontario League.&bull; &#9632;

f0024-03

Pittsburgh Aims For Consistency

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01538/4992650-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="456" height="122"></div>It wasn&rsquo;t the first time an Islander skipped part of the training camp regimen. Potvin missed two weeks of the Islanders&rsquo; training camp two years ago in a salary dispute and Bob Bourne sat out almost the entire pre-season schedule in 1981 before signing. Both were free agents at the time.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t come back until a week before the end of training camp,&rdquo; Bourne recollected. He laughed and added, &ldquo;1 still played in the season opener at Los Angeles and scored a short-handed goal.&rdquo;The Islanders launched their 14th season with four rookies in their lineup, and two of them figured prominently in the victory over the Kings.Mikko Makela, the Finnish winger, broke a 2-2 tie with a pretty goal late in the second period. He used one of his skates to kick the puck onto his stick while stationed in the slot, then beat Los Angeles goalie Darren Eliot with a quick wrist shot. &ldquo;Bing, bang, just like in soccer,&rdquo; Makela said of his first NHL goal.Dale Henry, who appeared in 15 games with the Islanders last season but is still considered a rookie, broke a 3-3 tie with a goal early in the third period. The Kings, though, sent the game into overtime when Jim Fox scored his third goal of the game with 32 seconds left in regulation time.Bob Bassen, another Islanders&rsquo; rookie, will remember his NHL debut for a different reason. He opened at left wing on a line with Trottier and Mike Bossy, was slammed into the boards by Los Angeles defenseman Dean Kennedy on his first shift and had to be helped from the ice. Bassen suffered a concussion and stretched ligaments in his right knee.ON THE ISLE&mdash;Veteran defenseman Dave Langevin, claimed by the Minnesota North Stars in the waiver draft, said goodbye to the Islanders on the same day that John Tonelli rejoined the team. Langevin shook hands with Tonelli and said, &ldquo;Out goes the old and in comes the new.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The Islanders opened the season with eight defensemen, including Randy Boyd, who was claimed from the Chicago Black Hawks&hellip;Bob Bourne missed the opening three-game road trip because of tom rib cartilage.&bull; &#9632;

f0025-01

Tonelli Ends Holdout, Rejoins Islanders

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Something became clear to the Winnipeg Jets following their first game of the season.If the Edmonton Oilers are the best team in the National Hockey League, and one has to believe they are, then the Jets are not that far away.&ldquo;I think you just saw the two best teams in the league,&rdquo; said Glen Sather, coach, general manager and vice president of the Oilers.His team had just beaten the Jets 4-3 on a lucky goal by Craig MacTavish in the Oilers&rsquo; home opener&mdash;all of which was precluded by a pageant of laser light, swirling smoke and the music of Steve Spielberg heralding the arrival of a silver being carrying the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;Pity the team they are going to play,&rdquo; said one wag, watching the ceremonial raising of the flag commemorating the Oilers&rsquo; second NHL championship.But the battle was a furious one, involving three fights, spectacular goaltending and scoring chances galore.<h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01568/4992681-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="415" height="115"></div>&ldquo;Had we been facing any other team we would have won that game,&rdquo; said Barry Long, the Winnipeg coach. &ldquo;The Oilers found a way to win&hellip;just the way champions do.&ldquo;But we are no longer in awe of them. We know we can beat that hockey team.&rdquo;All told, the Jets had 38 shots on goal, nine of them by Paul MacLean.&ldquo;And that doesn&rsquo;t include the two times I missed an empty net,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I should have had at least three goals.&rdquo;Grant Fuhr was uncanny, stopping the Jets repeatedly from close range.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great goaltender, especially inside,&rdquo; said Sather.Unimpressed was Dale Hawerchuk, the Jets&rsquo; captain.&ldquo;We got in tight and we didn&rsquo;t get it upstairs,&rdquo; said Hawerchuk.&ldquo;We kept shooting into his pads.&rdquo;Rebounds were left all over the place, but Fuhr kept making the saves.&ldquo;If Edmonton doesn&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re going to be chasing them all year, they&rsquo;ve got another thing coming,&rdquo; said Hawerchuk.If the Jets are on their tails, one man who won&rsquo;t be surprised Wayne Gretzky.&ldquo;We see Winnipeg as our main challenger,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is the team to beat. They are among the top three clubs in the league, in my opinion, and they are going to get better.&rdquo;Sather said he was not surprised by the speed or intensity of the game.&ldquo;Both teams know they have to play at their peak against each other,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;ll be blown away.&rdquo;While the accolades soothed the pain of a hard-fought loss, the Jets left Edmonton itching for their next crack at the Stanley Cup champions.The gap, they feel, is closing fast.BENCH BITS&mdash;Right winger Jim Nill suffered a dislocated shoulder and defenseman Robert Picard received a concussion in separate incidents during the Edmonton game&hellip;Goaltender Brian Hayward showed the same stuff that produced 33 wins last season&hellip; Defensemen Peter Taglianetti and Bobby Dollas were shipped to Sherbrooke as was center Murray Eaves while goaltender Mark Holden went to Fort Wayne of the International League. &bull; &#9632;

f0026-01

Jets Vow To Chase Edmonton All Season Long

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>HARTFORD&mdash;The Whalers&rsquo; inflatable crystal ball, buoyed to record heights by a fast finish last year and an undefeated pre-season, appeared ready to be shattered in their opener at Buffalo.After nine minutes, they had been outshot, 11-3. and trailed the Sabres, 3-0.Wise guys were thinking, here they go again.In Hartford, you see, management annually sells playoffs in October and patience in March. One of these years, it might occur to the brass to try it the other way around, but not this year. After a 9-3-2 finish and a near-perfect 6-0-1 preseason, optimism and&mdash;yes&mdash;more talk of playoffs abounded. The crystal ball never looked so huge or shiny as when the Whalers rode into Buffalo to start their seventh NHL season.After nine minutes, however, the whole act looked to be nothing more than a charade.Again.For the most part, the Whalers left goaltender Mike Liut on his own. and the big guy was losing. Goals by John Tucker, Phil Housley and Gilbert Perreault had put the goaltender and the Whalers far behind.A test of character was in the making, and lo and behold, if you can believe, the Whalers passed with flying colors.The seemingly irrepressible Kevin Dineen pocketed a pair of power-play goals sandwiched around a Dave Tippett strike, and the Whalers left after one period tied. 3-3.<h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02398/4992712-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="457" height="120"></div>Dineen&rsquo;s goals, in many cases, are an extension of his uncompromising will. He had 27 in his first 58 NHL games, an indication that he possesses a modicum of talent to go along with a massive heart. His first-period explosion literally turned the game around.Greg Malone&rsquo;s second-period goal gave the Whalers a 4-3 lead, and after Dave Andreychuk swatted in an unlikely goal from somewhere around Liut&rsquo;s feet, Bobby Crawford nailed the game-winner just 1:11 from the end.And this year&rsquo;s Whalers waltzed into the record books. The team had never won a regular-season opener before, going 0-5-1 in six previous tries. But more importantly, they had come from behind to beat an Adams Division rival&mdash;which had whipped them, 5-0-3, last year&mdash;on the road, something they must do if the crystal ball is to remain perfectly formed.Teams that rally to win from a three-goal deficit in Buffalo, a club that traditionally protects leads like mothers do daughters, might be excused for thinking grand things.As far as opening statements go, from the Whalers&rsquo; perspective, maybe it wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;Fourscore and seven years ago,&rdquo; but it was close, something like, &ldquo;Big score, seven years later.&rdquo;The crystal ball hangs high.WHALER SCUTTLEBUTT&mdash;Four new faces were in the opening-night lineup&mdash;defensemen Tim Bothwell, who was acquired from St. Louis for a low-round draft pick and cash, and No. 1 draft pick Dana Murzyn. and wingers Jorgen Pettersson and Stewart Gavin Gavin was obtained from Toronto for disgruntled defenseman Chris Kotsopoulos, whose farewell address in Hartford ended with &ldquo;Who&rsquo;s laughing now?&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Cat (general manager Emile Francis) butchered me in print and painted the wall black with me. but the one good thing that happened to me in Hartford is that 1 was traded to where I wanted to go,&rdquo; Kotsopoulos said. &ldquo;I owe the Cat for that. &ldquo;&hellip; A fifth new face, winger Paul Lawless, watched from the press box. as did last year&rsquo;s top draft pick Sylvain Cote, a defenseman. How Cote&rsquo;s game will improve hanging around with scribes is anybody&rsquo;s guess&hellip; Decision on defenseman Mark Fusco, who was sidelined for a week with a mild concussion, will be forthcoming. In all likelihood, he&rsquo;ll be asked to report to Binghamton even though he has made it perfectly clear that he&rsquo;d rather pursue a business career than play minor-league hockey. Fusco has a business degree from Harvard.&bull; &#9632;

f0026-02

Whalers’ Pass 1st Test With Flying Colors

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;The Vancouver Canucks were delighted to get Brent Peterson from the Buffalo Sabres in the waiver draft.They just didn&rsquo;t know how delighted until his first game in the new black road uniforms.The 27-year-old native of Calgary was outstanding in the Canucks&rsquo; 6-5 opening night victory over the Los Angeles Kings. His prowess on the draws gave the Smythe Division hockey club a force in the faceoff circle they haven&rsquo;t enjoyed since Chris Oddleifson called it a career.And he wasn&rsquo;t just a pretty face on faceoffs either. He contributed the first Vancouver goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 in the first period and led the club to its best penalty killing performance in more than 70 games when they killed off seven straight against Marcel Dionne and the crew.&ldquo;I was a little tired after the game because I didn&rsquo;t expect to get so much icetime,&rdquo; said Peterson. &ldquo;I let the guys down a little bit there in the last couple of minutes and lost a couple of draws, but on the whole it was a pretty good evening.&rdquo;Peterson came out time and again to take the important faceoffs in the Vancouver end, particularly when the team was shorthanded.&ldquo;Penalty killing is mostly confidence as well as good defense and outstanding goaltending,&rdquo; said Peterson. &ldquo;There were better guys&mdash;guys with more talent&mdash;than Craig Ramsay and myself, but we were confident against every power play in the league every time we went out.&ldquo;You have to develop that feeling you&rsquo;re going to succeed every time you go out and that&rsquo;s what we all had. That&rsquo;s what this team has to develop.&rdquo;Clearly, when you finish 21st overall in penalty-killing, you have significant room for improvement. But Peterson&rsquo;s role may not be limited to penalty killing, if coach Tom Watt can be believed.<h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02347/4992774-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="501" height="115"></div>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to pigeon-hole him,&rdquo; said Watt, whose mature way of dealing with people seems to have had a positive effect. &ldquo;Of course, he&rsquo;s had success as a role-player and as a penalty killer and he&rsquo;ll be used in that role. But whose to say he can&rsquo;t do more.&rdquo;Peterson most certainly accepts that theory. Especially in light of the fact he&rsquo;s looking at the Canucks as a way to lengthen his career.&ldquo;I look around this room and I basically see just as much young talent as there is in Buffalo. It&rsquo;s just that it&rsquo;s a team game and teams need to develop the feeling in themselves that they can win.&rdquo;Peterson, who lives in Portland in the off-season and hopes one day to become involved in the junior scheme of things in that city, was sad to leave the Sabres.&ldquo;I felt we were very close there and that this could be the break-through year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I didn&rsquo;t play in the first five exhibition games so the writing was pretty much on the wall. I just hope we can have a good year here and make the playoffs.&rdquo;The arrival of Peterson did nothing good for Mark Kirton&mdash;it got him a ticket to Fredericton, along with others including left wingers Jere Gillis and Al Mac Adam.The latter has taken a job offered him by general manager Jack Gordon as a playing coach. Earlier MacAdam had said that he wouldn&rsquo;t play in the minors but Watt and Gordon basically talked him into it because they wanted him active in case anything happens with young wingers Jim Sandlak and Dave Lowry.Watt delayed any serious decisions on his defense because of Jiri Bubla&rsquo;s sore ribs, which will have him out a week to 10 days and the continuing saga of Glen Cochrane&rsquo;s knee, which still gives him trouble. Michel Petit, however, sat out the opening game. &#9632;

f0027-02

Canucks’ Center Quick On Draw

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;In a dramatic overhaul, the Red Wings opened the 1985-86 NHL season with a dozen new faces, including eight rookies.Granted, that was on a roster of 26 players, not 18 (skaters) and two (goaltenders), but it still represents a massive restructuring of the club.Coach Harry Neale, the 13th newcomer, said more whittling would be necessary in time but he was content to wait place couple of weeks into the season.And in the Wings&rsquo; season opener at Joe Louis Arena, before a crowd of 19,995, they skated to a 6-6 tie with the North Stars. It was a game for the new Wings to strut their stuff. Rookie Chris Cichocki scored a pair of goals; rookie Adam Oates had a goal and an assist and Czechoslovak defector Petr Klima added a goal in what would have been a much re encouraging game had the Wings surrendered four unanswered third-period goals.The final cuts before the opener saw right winger Lane Lambert, a regular the past two seasons; center Claude Loiselle; and rookie left winger Bob Probert exit for Adirondack of the American League.<h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03229/4992805-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="461" height="111"></div>&ldquo;At the forward position, where we&rsquo;re starting to put together a team, we&rsquo;re concerned about having some specialists,&rdquo; Neale said. &ldquo;The decisions were based more on that than how they stacked up on the ability scale.&ldquo;We have six, seven forwards who are going to give us all the offensive production we&rsquo;re going to need. Guys like the three we let go got lost in the shuffle because they were not able to play the roles we need.&rdquo;The biggest surprise, of course, was Lambert, 21, a second-round draft choice in 1983.&ldquo;One thing you&rsquo;ve got to remember is that we&rsquo;re not sending them to Siberia,&rdquo; Neale said. &ldquo;If we make a mistake, we own up to it and get &lsquo;em back with one phone call.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s the Red Wings&rsquo; roster going into the season:Goaltenders&mdash;Greg Stefan (who will sit out an eight-game suspension at the start), Corrado Micalef and Ed Mio.Defense&mdash;Reed Larson, John Barrett,Randy Ladouceur, Greg Smith, Larry Trader, Doug Houda, Tim Friday, Harold Snepsts, Mike McEwen.Center&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Adam Oates, Kelly Kisio, Dwight Foster, Shawn Burr.Right Wing&mdash;Ron Duguay, Danny Gare, Ray Staszak, Chris Cichocki, Joe Kocur.Left Wing&mdash;John Ogrodnick, Petr Klima, Warren Young, Gerard Gallant.Veterans Snepsts and McEwen were recovering from injuries and their availability was on a day-to-day basis, forcing Neale to keep extra defensemen.The rookies are Burr, Houda, Staszak, Oates, Cichocki, Friday, Klima and Kocur.Burr and Houda still have junior eligibility. Once they are returned, they can only be summoned in emergency situations so Neale was going to take a long look before making those decisions. And as long as they stayed, the coach said, they were going to play.&ldquo;The test for Houda will come when he plays against NHL teams where every game is a must for us,&rdquo; Neale said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to get 110 points, so we need every point.&ldquo;Burr has shown he can play on a checking line, and I didn&rsquo;t know that before. He&rsquo;s shown he can kill penalties, and I didn&rsquo;t know that before. And he can do some things offensively. He could become a useful center on this team.&rdquo;Neale said all along the decisions on roster cuts would get easier as time went on.&ldquo;It usually gets easier,&rdquo; Neale said, amending his position. &ldquo;But not this time. It&rsquo;s getting harder.&rdquo;Still, more reductions were inevitable once the season got underway.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty tough now not to carry extra.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll probably go this way until the first of November, and after that get down to 20. If we run into injuries, we can bring people up.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;d like to get down. We ask players to be decisive on the ice and we have to be decisive, too. If we&rsquo;re wrong, we change it.&ldquo;As I look at it now, if we get two lines we like, we can do things with the others.&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;Another line could be all centers, or all right wingers, or all kids. Sometimes a line like that can give you a lift. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a good idea, with the forwards on our team, to use four lines. Our ninth, 10th, 11th or 12th forwards may not be on regular lines.&rdquo;WING TIPS&mdash;GM Jimmy Devella-no said he is &ldquo;pleased&hellip;although I can&rsquo;t say I&rsquo;m totally surprised&rdquo; that the NHL dropped an investigation against the Red Wings on tampering charges. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased that I have been exonerated,&rdquo; Devellano said. &ldquo;I was ipnocent but anytime three people make charges you have to be concerned.&rdquo;&bull; &#9632;

f0027-03

Lambert Among Last Cuts As Red Wings Trim Roster

<div class="byline">BY TOM WHEATLEY</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyST. LOUIS&mdash;Coach Jacques Demers meant it as innocent praise.(Lee) Norwood&rsquo;s played like a guy been in the NHL for five years,&rdquo; said Demers.In fact, the 25-year-old defenseman probably should have been. But three years ago, his career and his life were almost slammed shut.Norwood, then a prospect with the Washington Capitals, was nearly beaten to death in a grim case of mistaken identity.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long three years, a very long three years,&rdquo; said Norwood. &ldquo;Not Steven Spielberg would believe my story. I guess I laugh about it now because I don&rsquo;t want to cry about it.&rdquo;Norwood, however, is about to get the last laugh. Last year at Peoria, he was the most valuable defenseman in the International League with 17 goals and 60 assists.This fall, his hard shot and hard-hitting style have won him a job on the Blues, who want more punch offensively and in the clinches from their defensemen.Norwood&rsquo;s setback came after he had played 28 games as a rookie with Quebec and Washington in the 1981-82 season, wl before Washington was to open camp in &lsquo;82, Norwood attended a &ldquo;Save the Caps&rdquo; rally.He then repaired to a bar with some friends. When he left, he was jumped by three youths, underaged at that, who had been thrown out of the bar earlier that evening.&ldquo;They thought I was the bouncer,&rdquo; said the 6-foot, 190-pound Norwood. &ldquo;They did to me what they planned to do to him.&rdquo;Norwood is a robust sort. Counting year&rsquo;s playoffs, he had almost 300 penalty minutes at Peoria.But the thugs caught him off-guard. One pinned Norwood&rsquo;s arms from behind while another kicked him in the groin.When Norwood doubled over, he was kicked in the face.&ldquo;I flipped over backward and hit my head on the pavement, I guess,&rdquo; said Norwood. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what people told me after. I don&rsquo;t remember any of it. I rolled into the fetal position, unconscious and bleeding. The guy just kept jumping on me and kicking me in the head.&ldquo;Some very young kids just overindulged a little.&rdquo;A little. The left side of Norwood&rsquo;s face was shattered. So was his jaw. He lost eight teeth. His skull was cracked. He had a severe concussion and spent 10 days in intensive care.The assault was a double-shock to his wife of one year. First was the news of his injuries. Even worse was the news she got after driving from Toronto, where she had been staying, to the District of Columbia hospital where her husband was taken.<h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01535/4992743-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="422" height="117"></div>When she asked at the hospital desk to see Lee Norwood, she was told he was not there. She insisted that her husband was there.&ldquo;They told her, &lsquo;Either he checked out or he&rsquo;s dead,&rdquo;&lsquo;said Norwood.He had not checked out in either sense of the phrase. He had been admitted under his full name, Leonard Charles Norwood.He missed all of camp and then tried to rush back. &ldquo;They told me they would send me to the minors if I didn&rsquo;t play,&rdquo; said Norwood. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;m the type of guy who will play.&rdquo;He played poorly, of course, and got sent to Hershey anyway. After the season, he was traded to Toronto, which sent him to St. Catharines of the American League.His injuries had long since mended.&ldquo;But mentally, it affected me more than I thought it would,&rdquo; said Norwood, whose style is rough-and-tumble. &ldquo;It took me a long while to get involved and stand in again.&rdquo;He had 59 points in 79 games at St. Catherines in &lsquo;83-84 season, but was let go by Toronto.Unemployed, he Kept busy in St. Catharines during the summer of &lsquo;84 playing on a local softball team. It was sponsored by a bar. The bar owner has an aunt who happens to be married to Pat Kelly, coach of the Blues&rsquo; affiliate in Peoria.Visiting her nephew at the bar one day. Mrs. Kelly was introduced to Norwood.&ldquo;All of a sudden, hockey came up,&rdquo; said Norwood. &ldquo;And she said her husband was the coach at Peoria. I said, jokingly, &lsquo;You should give him my name and number.&rsquo; And she did.&rdquo;Pat Kelly&rsquo;s call to Norwood rescued him from a probable life of factory work in St. Catharines. Norwood was happy to get an 1HL salary, which he said runs from $10,500 to $16,000.Meanwhile he had won his civil suit against the youths who beat him.Although as innocent as a bystander could be, the incident did not help Norwood&rsquo;s reputation as a wild and crazy guy.He finally has shaken that image, thanks to the birth of his first child a year ago.&ldquo;His name is Jacob,&rdquo; said Norwood. &ldquo;He changed my whole life around, just slowly changed it.&rdquo;Norwood, who was bom in California and went to high school in Trenton, Mich., dedicated himself to his job at Peoria. The payoff was a plus-50 plusminus rating, top rookie and top defenseman honors in the IHL, and a league title for the Rivermen.&ldquo;Having a baby, that&rsquo;s a lot of responsibility,&rdquo; said Norwood. &ldquo;Last year, I quit drinking, and did all the right things, and made all the right moves, to get one more shot.&rdquo;He got it. You might even call it a new lease on life.BLUENOTES&mdash;Rob Ramage got the game winner in the opening 4-3 victory at Vancouver, putting him nearly two and a half months ahead of his firstgoal pace from last season. He did not get his first goal then until Dec. 26&hellip;Ramage&rsquo;s goal was initially credited as a deflection by Mark Hunter, whose first words after the game were:&rdquo;How do you get a goal changed? That was Rammer&rsquo;s goal. I never touched it-. &rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Joe Mullen, reunited with center Bernie Federko, had a goal and an assist against Vancouver and two goals the next night in a 6-3 loss at Edmonton. He was continuing a scoring binge that started in the exhibition season after he ended his brief holdout. In six exhibitions, Mullen had nine goals and five assists&hellip; Doug Gilmour missed two games with a sprain. &#9632;

f0027-01

Norwood Hopes Troubled Times Are Past

<div class="byline">BY DICK BAKER</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyNEW HAVEN&mdash;Is it New Haven or New York?One could hardly tell the difference by just looking at the names on the scorecard.With only 24 hours remaining before the New Haven Nighthawks were to entertain the Hershey Bears in the season opener for both clubs on Oct. 11, the proposed participants for the game included National Hockey League veterans Mike Rogers, Nick Fotiu and Steve Richmond.And that was just on the New Haven side.On the Bears&rsquo; roster, ex-NHL superstar Pierre Larouche was pencilled alongside steady blueliner Andre Dore, among others.Larouche? Fotiu? Rogers? All on American League rosters?The Nighthawks and Bears added the services, or at least the names of the established NHLers, courtesy of a preseason purge by the New York Rangers.At press time, however, it wasn&rsquo;t clear if Dore or Larouche would join Hershey. Dore, who would rather play for New Haven if he must play in the AHL, was reportedly balking at the prospect of reporting to Hershey.Larouche could not be contacted but most expected he would stay away.In the meantime, Rogers. Fotiu and Richmond all reported to New Haven and were expected to be in the lineup for the opener.Larouche and Dore were the twin compensation package provided by the Rangers to the Philadelphia Flyers for signing new head coach Ted Sator, a former Flyer assistant.The general feeling was that the Nighthawks would soon have more Rangers. Mike Allison, Ron Greschner, Grant Ledyard, Bill O&rsquo;Dwyer, George McPhee, Steve Patrick and Willie Huber all cleared waivers and some of them were expected to be demoted before Oct. 20.The Bears were hopeful Larouche would report to Hershey rather than risk a contract estimated to be worth $325,000 per year.If Larouche were to show, it would put an end to the Bears&rsquo; problems at center. A training-camp injury to Tim Tookey&mdash;he&rsquo;s expected to be out a month with a rib problem&mdash;left Hershey with only Dan Nachbaur as a bona fide pro pivot.DOWN SOUTH&mdash;St. Catharines Saints&rsquo; Bill Root was having a good camp, rushing the puck well. John Goodwin, who played for Peoria in the International League last year, signed a one-year contract with the Saints. The Saints also added defenseman Bill Kitchen from Toronto. Root, Goodwin and Kitchen were teammates with Nova Scotia, when all three belonged to the Montreal Canadiens&hellip;The Baltimore Skipjacks dropped their season opener to the Adirondack Red Wings 5-2 at home. Bob Errey and Gary Rissling scored power play goals for the &lsquo;Jacks&hellip;The Springfield Indians received a boost with the addition of right winger Alan Kerr from the parent New York Islanders. Kerr was 32-26-58 with the Tribe last season, despite spending 19 games with the Islanders. Springfield also received goaltenders Mike Sands and Jon Cast from the Minnesota North Stars. Islanders, however, will eventually want steady work for one of their prospects. Rookie Gary Johnson is the likely choice but the former Medicine Hat Tiger is sidelined for a month with a groin injury. Rob Holland was also in Springfield but was expected to return to Indianapolis of the International League&hellip;The Nighthawks didn&rsquo;t get Ranger goaltender Glen Hanlon, who wound up in Adirondack, but they did receive Ron Scott. Binghamton received veteran defenseman Jack Brow schidle from Hartford.&bull; &#9632;

Rangers Shake Up AHL With Demotions

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>SHERBROOKE&mdash;Winning championships is nice work if you can get it, but Sherbrooke Canadiens&rsquo;coach Pierre Creamer says he&rsquo;s well aware of his job description.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot of rookies and that&rsquo;s our first job, to develop those rookies and get them ready for the NHL,&rdquo; Creamer said during the final week of his team&rsquo;s training camp.Last year, his first in a pro league. Creamer managed to serve the both masters to whom all coaches in development leagues must answer.Not only did his Sherbrooke team win the Calder Cup title, it produced five players for the parent Montreal Canadiens, who own and operate the Sherbrooke franchise.Two of the players on the championship team now with Montreal are goaltender Patrick Roy and forward Stephane Richer, who had joined Sherbrooke after completing their junior seasons.Veteran Serge Boisvert, one of Sherbrooke&rsquo;s key players during the regular season, played for Montreal late in the year and in the playoffs and remains in the NHL this year.Two others, forward Brian Skrudland and defenseman Mike Lalor, made the jump to Montreal in training camp after playing important roles with Sherbrooke throughout last season.&ldquo;Every year if you could bring up five players it would be really good,&rdquo; Creamer said with a chuckle. &ldquo;Right now Montreal has a lot of good rookies and a few guys like Skrudland and Lalor who have the determination to play up there. They&rsquo;re ready to make all of the sacrifices they can.&rdquo;In their place in Sherbrooke now are highly-touted 20-year-old winger Claude Lemieux; 20-year-old center Alfie Turcotte, a former first-round draft pick who hasn&rsquo;t made a mark in the NHL yet; left wing Joel Baillargeon, a Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; draft pick in 1983; right winger Tom Anastos; and rookie defensemen Bobby Dollas, PeterTaglianetti and Dan McFall from Winnipeg; plus John Kordic snd Dominic Campedelli from Montreal.&ldquo;On defense, we&rsquo;re going with five rookies and we&rsquo;re going to have those guys playing and see how they adjust to the caliber of the league. It&rsquo;s a good caliber,&rdquo; Creamer said. &ldquo;If a guy is playing good here, his chances of going back to the NHL are a lot better.&rdquo;Although youth is being served in a big way in Sherbrooke, the team remains one of the strongest in the Northern Division and figures to be near the top of the standings all season.High-scoring center Murray Eaves and former league scoring champion Claude Larose return as do veteran Remi Gagne and second-year pros Randy Bucyk, Tom Martin and the Pooley twins, Perry and Paul.Creamer also has right winger Perry Ganchar, who was obtained from the St. Louis organization, former University of Maine star Todd Bjorkstrand. who averaged better than two points a game in the Atlantic Coast League last year, and center Gilles Thibaudeau, a 52-goal scorer with Flint in the IHL last season.Veterans Gaston Gingras. Steve Smith and Rejean Cloutier anchor the Canadiens&rsquo; defense. Young Pokey Reddick and Yves Lavoie join Paul Pageau as part of the team&rsquo;s goaltending corps.Eaves, Turcotte, Paul Pooley and Thibaudeau give Creamer the luxury of switching Bucyk, also a center, to left wing. It&rsquo;s a security move that could increase the scoring production from that side of the ice.On the right side. Lemieux. Anastos, Perry Pooley and Ganchar are the top guns.Creamer felt it took him and his players much of the first half of the season to get accustomed to each other and the league. Considering the number of new players this season, he doesn&rsquo;t expect the Canadiens to come charging out of the gate.&ldquo;I think I know where I&rsquo;m going right now,&rdquo; Creamer said. &ldquo;Last year. I hadn&rsquo;t been to places like Baltimore and didn&rsquo;t know much about the league. Preparing the team will be a lot different this year. It&rsquo;s important to know the players better. Today in coaching, there is a lot more communication that is a part of the dealings.&ldquo;This is my second year and the players who were here last year know me better and I know them better. Of rookies, I know a few from Montreal I didn&rsquo;t know the guys from Winnipeg.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my job to develop good communications with those guys and make sure that we work on that. My main objective at the start of the season is to develop these players.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s called keeping your priorities in order.AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;Adirondack picked up veteran goalie Glen Hanlon on loan from the New York Rangers in a surprise move two days before the season opened&hellip;The Wings added forwards Claude Loiselle, Lane Lambert and Bob Probert from Detroit&hellip; Maine&rsquo;s goaltending appears strong again this season with veteran Sam St. Laurent and Karl Friesen&hellip; Boston sent goalie Cleon Daskalakis. defenseman John Meulenbroeks and forward Doug Kostynski to Moncton&hellip;Left winger Dave Michayluk, a 66-goal scorer in the IHL last season, has landed a job with Nova Scotia. The Oilers also have Jeff Larmer and Ken Solheim on the left side&hellip;Rookie centers Dunc MacIntyre and Wayne Groulx opened the season with Andre Savard&rsquo;s Fredericton club. &#9632;

AHL’s Cream(er) Rises To The Top

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>PEORIA&mdash;&rdquo;Any time you can repeat is great,&rdquo; surmised Peoria Rivermen coach Pat Kelly. &ldquo;But in today&rsquo;s hockey it&rsquo;s tough to do.&rdquo;Kelly believes, however, his Rivermen can be &ldquo;very competitive&rdquo; this season in defense of the Turner Cup, which they won last spring by beating the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the championship series.&ldquo;We lost five or six players from last season but we&rsquo;ve got some good people returning,&rdquo; he said after his team&rsquo;s first day at training camp.Kelly had just wrapped up his part in the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; camp, which was staged at Peoria. On this day, he was looking at his own players, some signed by him and, later in the day. some assigned from St. Louis, the Rivermen&rsquo;s only National Hockey League affiliate.Peoria will build this year around a 40-goal scorer and two players who got more than 30 in 1984-85. Center Mike Prestidge (42 goals) and wingers Dave MacQueen (39) and Doug Evans (36) are the key players back.The latter was sent by the Blues, along with defensemen Shawn Evans and Graham Herring and, perhaps most notably, goalie Darrell May.Kelly already had insured the return of 21-goal scorer Don Keller, defensemen Tony Curtate, Mike Posavad and Rick Hendricks, and forward Bob Fleming.Two other Rivermen&mdash;Brian Shaw and defenseman Taras Zytynsky&mdash;could be back in Peoria by the time the-season starts, ateording to Kelly.Shaw, who had nine playoff goals, and Zytynsky were both at camp with American League clubs.May was signed by the Blues and returned to Peoria, for whom he went 6-4 in the Turner Cup playoffs with a 3.22 goals-against average. May played 19 regular-season contests for Peoria, winning 13 and posting a 2.97 goals-against average.Peoria was an enviable 32-6-3 on its home ice last season. The Rivermen were second in scoring (behind Muskegon) but tops in goals against. Kelly has started to build this year&rsquo;s team around the same offensive and defensive players who anchored last season&rsquo;s championship effort.Muskegon&rsquo;s Lumberjacks, though, will try to take things a step farther when next spring rolls around. Rick Ley, THE HOCKEY NEWS minor league Coach of the Year, had 16 free agents at camp, including six who played on last year&rsquo;s IHL runner-up squad.Returnees include Scott Gruhl, who finished in the league&rsquo;s top five in six offensive categories. He led the &lsquo;Jacks in goals and total points and was runner-up to the AHL&rsquo;s Paul Gardner for THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; minor-league Player of the Year award. Also back are defenseman Darren McKay, forwards Pat Rabbitt, Jock Callander and Don Murdoch, and goaltender Michel Dufour.Other free agents are defenseman Dave Allison and forward Dennis Polonich, both of whom played in the AHL last season, and Dan Naud who played at Flint.First-year coach Robbie Laird at Fort Wayne expects many of last year&rsquo;s. players back and the team already has signed Wally Schreiber, Ron Leef, Doug Rigler and Vic Morin. Laird also has hopes former Komets Dale Baldwin, Jay Johnston, Wayne Bishop, Dan Miele, Craig Channel, Scott McMichael and Paul Adey will ma the roster. All were at camp.Salt Lake got good news when the Hartford Whalers signed Rick Heinz and assigned him to the Golden Eagles. Heinz was the IHL&rsquo;s leading goaltender last season at Peoria with a 3.08 goals-against average. This will be the start of his sixth season with Salt Lake.In Indianapolis. Coach Ron Ully welcomed 29 players to training camp and was expecting &ldquo;five or six more&rdquo; from Springfield of the AHL, where the Minnesota North Stars and New York Islanders share the franchise. &#9632;

Prestidge And MacQueen Important Incumbents

<div class="byline">BY BILL CRAWFORD</div>ANN ARBOR&mdash;&rdquo;He shoots, he scoresor did he?&rdquo;Hockey announcing&rsquo;s most prolific bur words are in jeopardy&mdash;sort of.This season, the National Hockey League, with a lot of help from the CenCollegiate Hockey Association, will experiment with instant replays, giving coaches a real option on disputed goals.Picture this: &ldquo;He shoots, he scooooores&hellip;&rdquo; exclaims the excited play-by-play man. And then. &ldquo;Wait a minute, folks, coach Berenson is talking to his captain and the captain is skating over to the referee&hellip;Yes folks, we&rsquo;ve got an appeal. The ref&rsquo;s heading to the penalty box to check the video replay.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll soon have a decision.&ldquo;There it is. The ref&rsquo;s talking to the tains from both teams. We&rsquo;ve got his decision&hellip;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no goal. No goal! The goal has been disallowed. The replay showed it to be scored illegally.&rdquo;The inevitable has arrived in the CCHA.Instant replays have become passe in baseball, though they aren&rsquo;t used to correct umpires. And the NFL has experimented with instant replays to help officials. It was only a matter of time until the NHL gave it a shot.Thanks to NHL assistant director of officiating John McCauley and new HA commissioner Bill Beagan, the time is now. The CCHA will experiment with end-zone cameras and replays this season.That&rsquo;s not to say all games will feature the novelty.&ldquo;We selected four dates and two places so far,&rdquo; said Beagan. &ldquo;We will have three cameras at each end&mdash;one on each blue line, one on each goal line and one behind each net&mdash;at games involving exhibitions between Team Canada and the University of Michigan and Team Canada and Michigan State University. It&rsquo;s all experimental and all the coaches involved are enthusiastic. They think it could be good for hockey.&rdquo;Basically, it works this way: If a coach wants to appeal a goal, he approaches the referee via his captain. The message is relayed and the official then checks the video replay, which will be conveniently located at the penalty bench area.The ref then relays his decision to the coaches via the captains. Each team may appeal a maximum of three times per game. If a team&rsquo;s appeal is upheld, it retains all three appeals. If the appeal is denied, the team requesting it loses one appeal opportunity.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t think it will be abused,&rdquo; said Beagan. &ldquo;The coaches we&rsquo;ve talked to like it as a means of improving the game. The process isn&rsquo;t all that lengthy and it can really add to the accuracy of officiating.&rdquo;Critics of instant replays say it will only drag out what is already close to a three-hour contest.But that&rsquo;s why the CCHA is experimenting. Some regular-seasongames will be scheduled for the project in the near future.While on the subject of experiments, the CCHA, with Beagan spearheading the effort, will use NHL trainees for a certain amount of officiating this season.A total of 15 former CCHA officials were released following the recently-completed officials&rsquo; training camp.Back this season are Brian Hart, Jim Burlew, David Fisher, Bob Henry and Charlie Henstock.&bull; &#9632;

CCHA To Experiment With Instant Replays

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is no longer of the opinion that two heads are better than one.The WCHA, along with the rest of NCAA Division I hockey, will go to the system of one referee and two linesmen, a departure from many years of using two referees and one linesman.Why the change?&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had such a mixed conglomeration of systems nationally that at the national coaches convention and in our league meetings, we felt we should move in the direction of unity in officiating across the country,&rdquo; explained Gino Gasparini, coach of the University of North Dakota.&ldquo;The consensus of the last year was that the officiating was very up and down. I don&rsquo;t mean that in a derogatory sense, but we felt something had to be done. You can go back three to four years ago to the last time most of us were pleased with the officiating.&rdquo;So this year, the WCHA, Central Collegiate Hockey Association, Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and Hockey East will use the traditional one-and-two system.Last season, the CCHA and the ECAC used the one-referee system while Hockey East and the WCHA used two referees and one linesman.Each school will be responsible for hiring the linesmen. They&rsquo;ve already been trained in the new system by NHL linesman Ron Foyt, who visited all eight WCHA schools. Foyt will work some WCHA games as a referee as well.Gasparini is strongly in favor of the new system.&ldquo;I think it is a great step in the right direction.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think you&rsquo;ll find a higher number of calls in a game with one referee instead of two. There is more accountability. Now there&rsquo;s no cop-out, where one referee could say it was the call of the other official.&rdquo;Duane Markus, the man in charge of WCHA officials, has some misgivings.&ldquo;It was a shock when I learned we were going to this system,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But we will make it work. My concern is that the linesmen are hired by the local schools.&rdquo;Markus said that linesmen can call misconducts or bench penalties (i.e. for having too many men on the ice).&ldquo;We&rsquo;re asking that they communicate with the referees and in the final analysis, the referee will call the penalty.&rdquo;Markus also is concerned that more activity may take place behind the play that one referee cannot see.The referee will not step in to break up fights. Instead, the linesmen will do that and the referee will watch the action to assess penalties.&ldquo;Before, you all know we&rsquo;d tend to give double minors rather than toss a player out of a game for fighting,&rdquo; said Markus. &ldquo;Now, we may have to throw players out of a game a little more often.&rdquo;It may not be a smooth transition.&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be difficult at first, to be honest,&rdquo; Gasparini said. &ldquo;But as the referees learn more about the system and positioning themselves on the ice, they can still see in back of them as well as in front.&rdquo;Said Markus. &ldquo;We have a big concern whether the referees can keep up with the game. It&rsquo;s a much faster game than the NHL, which uses one ref, since two-line passes are allowed in college. We&rsquo;re asking for the coaches, players, athletic directors, media and fans to have patience with us.&rdquo;Minnesota first-year coach Doug Woog says the change may speed up games.&ldquo;In the games I&rsquo;ve seen in the past, there were a lot of conversations between players and referees which slowed down the game. Having one referee will eliminate some of that.&rdquo;&bull; &#9632;

Refereeing System Now Uniform

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01463/4992963-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="648" height="665"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM STILES Michigan CCHA</figcaption></div>The Michigan Wolverines jumped off to a fast 2-0 start in the CCHA by overpowering Miami of Ohio twice as Tom Stiles showed the way.The Wolverines&rsquo; left winger picked up seven scoring points in the weekend sweep to win the nod as CCHA Performer of the Week.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02320/4992956-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="642" height="664"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRETT HULL Minn-Duluth WCHA</figcaption></div>Brett Hull is off to a great start at Minnesota-Duluth.Last season&rsquo;s rookie of the year in the WCHA was named Performer of the Week for helping UMD sweep U.S. International University in nonconference action. Hull, son of former superstar Bobby Hull, picked up hattrick as the Bulldogs won 12-4 and 8-7. &#9632;

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Bauer’s COLLEGE PEERFORMER OF THE WEEK

<h2>CCHA</h2>(Standings on Mon. Oct. 14)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01530/4993092-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="522" height="294"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDFri. Oct.11Bowling Green 4 at Ferris State 3Illinois-Chicago 4 at Lake Superior 8Miami 0 at Michigan 6Mich State 6 at Ohio State 2W. Michigan 5 at Wisconsin 4Sat. Oct. 12Bowling Green 5 at Ferris State 2Illinois-Chicago 4 at Lake Superior 5Miami 3 at Michigan 7Mich State 5 at Ohio State 2W. Michigan 6 at Wisconsin 4<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02394/4993085-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="529" height="325"></div><h2>OCTOBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03274/4993078-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="515" height="584"></div><h2>NOVEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04189/4993071-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="506" height="498"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05126/4993064-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="512" height="966"></div><h2>WCHA</h2>GAMES COMPLETEDFri. Oct. 11Mich Tech 2 at N. Michigan 2Denver 7 at Colorado College 2U.S. Inti 4 at Min-Duluth 12W. Michigan 5 at Wisconsin 4Team Canada 4 at North Dakota 6Sat. Oct. 12N. Michigan 10 at Mich Tech 2U.S. Inti 7 at Min-Duluth 8W. Michigan 6 at Wisconsin 4Team Canada 6 at Minnesota 0(All games non-conference)<h2>OCTOBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0697/4993057-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="504" height="583"></div><h2>NOVEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0778/4993050-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="489" height="178"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0869/4993043-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="520" height="1553"></div><h2>DECEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0961/4993036-1-eng-US/f0030-092.jpg" title="f0030-09" width="510" height="674"></div><h2>OUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1053/4993029-1-eng-US/f0030-102.jpg" title="f0030-10" width="537" height="386"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDSun. Oct. 12Western 9 at Ryerson 5Waterloo 10 at RMC 2<h2>OCTOBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1147/4993022-1-eng-US/f0030-112.jpg" title="f0030-11" width="490" height="559"></div><h2>NOVEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1243/4993015-1-eng-US/f0030-122.jpg" title="f0030-12" width="496" height="1061"></div><h2>CWUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1340/4993008-1-eng-US/f0030-132.jpg" title="f0030-13" width="526" height="265"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDFri. Oct. 11Brandon 5 at Regina 4Sat. Oct. 12Brandon 9 at Regina 5(Game under protest)<h2>OCTOBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1437/4993001-1-eng-US/f0030-142.jpg" title="f0030-14" width="495" height="468"></div><h2>NOVEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1537/4992994-1-eng-US/f0030-152.jpg" title="f0030-15" width="502" height="1196"></div> &#9632;

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HOW THEY STAND-GAMES TO COME

<div class="byline">BY HELEN DOLIK</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Dale Derkatch had expected to be enjoying at least another year of la dolce vita in Italy.During the summer spent at home in Manitoba, the flashy 5-foot-5 center antiated returning to Bolzano in northern Italy. A star and scoring champion in the Western League in 1982-83, Derkatch was a star and scoring champion for the Italian First Division team in 1984-85.In Bolzano, he was lavished with an apartment, a car, a salary which kept him smiling, and an announcer that bellowed &ldquo;Dale (Speedy) Derkatch&rdquo; every time he scored.That happened frequently, as Derkatch led his team and Italy in scoring with 40 goals and 60 assists for 100 nts. He was in heaven.He&rsquo;s since gone through hell.Derkatch is still in Winnipeg. He&rsquo;s swapped a Bolzano uniform for a University of Manitoba Bisons&rsquo; sweater, and bitterly recalls the day in late August when the bottom fell out.It appears Derkatch has been shafted. Signed to a two-year contract, he has played only one season.&ldquo;I thought I was going back and then all of sudden my world caves in,&rdquo; said the former Regina Pat who was drafted in the seventh round by the Edmonton Oilas in 1983 after leading the WHL in bring with 179 points.From what Derkatch has been able to learn, a rule change during the summer cut the number of imported players Bolzano was allowed to have from two to one. Bolzano has won the Italian championship the past four years, and the rules are designed to instill parity in the league.Bolzano opted to keep six-foot forward Bob Sullivan, a former Hartford Whaler. That left Derkatch out in the cold, even though Sullivan&rsquo;s one-year deal had expired. He hasn&rsquo;t even been officially told. Bolzano coach Ron Chipperfield just happened to mention it to Derkatch in September before heading overseas.&ldquo;I hear I might not be going, and then sweat for a few days thinking my hockey career is over,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an unbelievable feeling.&rdquo;Derkatch has a lawyer working on the case, while he tends to his first year of general studies at U of M, and scores goals for the Bisons. He had been offered a two-way contract by the Oilers but preferred to check out university instead of checking in to the minor leagues. Realistically, Derkatch knew that&rsquo;s where he&rsquo;d be headed.&ldquo;Something has to be done,&rdquo; said a much wiser Derkatch, who turned 21 on Oct. 17. &ldquo;Not only for me, but some standard has to be set for other players.&rdquo;So, Derkatch continues to wait and has resigned himself to playing for fun as a Bison.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping to play this year (at Manitoba) and then go back to Europe somewhere,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But, 1 don&rsquo;t know, this thing is so messed up.&rdquo;Another point bothers him. He was informed so late in the summer he no longer had a job in Bolzano, that he was unable to pursue offers from other European teams.Europe definitely holds an allure for Derkatch, who loved it in Italy.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d have signed with them for 10 years, but it&rsquo;s a good thing I didn&rsquo;t because then I&rsquo;d be sitting around and wondering what I&rsquo;d be doing for 10 years.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Host Calgary Dinosaurs won their third consecutive Empress Cup the first weekend in October. Dino sophomore Mike Dobberthien fired five goals in the final game as Calgary hammered Regina Cougars 9-1. British Columbia was the other team competing in the pre-season tri-university tournament&hellip;Former Manitoba star Mike Ridley, who recently signed with New York Rangers, scored a goal in the team&rsquo;s NHL season opener.&bull; &#9632;

Diminutive Dale Gets Short End Of Stick

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01485/4993154-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="564" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS CRANSTON Alberta</figcaption></div><h2>CANADA WEST</h2>The Alberta Golden Bears are ways a threat in Canada West hockey circles and this year will be no exception, judging by their pre-season record.The Bears, sparked by third-year veteran Dennis Cranston, won both the Univ. of Saskatchewan and the Golden Bear Invitational tournaments, with Cranston collecting 13 scoring points six games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02342/4993147-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="566" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK APPLEWAITE York</figcaption></div><h2>OUAA</h2>The York University Yeomen are ready to defend their CIAU and they know in order to turn the trick, they&rsquo;ll need another big season from top goaltender Mark Applewaite.The 5-foot-9, 165-pound goalie will be front and center again this year much as he was last season when he led York to the CIAU title against Alberta. &#9632;

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BAUER’S UNIVERSITY PERFORMER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyBELLEVILLE&mdash;Some Ontario League clubs are once again proving they&rsquo;re too good for their own good.As a result, the Kitchener Rangers start the season without three star players&mdash;Shawn Burr. Brian Wilks and Craig Wolanin&mdash;who are playing for National Hockey League teams.What could be a championship year and a chance for the Rangers to jam the 7,500-capacity Memorial Auditorum could well turn into a frustrating nightmare season for coach-general manager Tom Barrett and his club&rsquo;s very good fans.One side of the coin tells Barrett and the Rangers they&rsquo;re doing what all the coaches agree they&rsquo;re supposed to do in developing players for the NHL. The flip side asks, what good does that do the Kitchener Rangers?Worse yet, three months from now a cradle-rocking NHL coach or general manager is liable to blast junior leagues for not giving these 18-year-olds proper coaching&mdash;the same 18-year-olds they can&rsquo;t keep their hands off long enough to permit development time.Another NHL coach or player will talk about the wonderful U.S. college system where a player can get an education and develop until he&rsquo;s 22 or 23. That&rsquo;s right, 23. Not 18. Besides, how many U.S. college players bring a diploma with them to the NHL?&ldquo;Let us have them until they&rsquo;re 23 and see what we can develop,&rdquo; one OHL coach said.The Rangers have been hit hardest of all the OHL clubs this season as their rebuilding program geared at an OHL title may have been wiped out by the New Jersey Devils (who start the season with Wolanin on their blueline), Detroit Red Wings (who think center Shawn Burr may make the jump on his second try) and Los Angeles Kings (who have retained center Wilks).London Knights, off to a 1-4 start after a second-place finish last season in the Emms group, are paying a stiff penalty.They lost Jim Sandlak to the Vancouver Canucks and Bob Halkidis to the Buffalo Sabres along with a lot of fan support and interest they drummed up last winter. After about a dozen games of 4,000-and-plus audiences last season, the Knights&rsquo; attendance dipped to 2,100 opening night, 1,900 the second home game and 1,200 the third.Other clubs losing players underage to the NHL include North Bay (Kevin Hatcher to Washington), Hamilton (Shayne Corson to Montreal), Sudbury (Jeff Brown to Quebec), Belleville (Craig Billington to New Jersey) and Kingston (Herb Raglan to St. Louis).&ldquo;We&rsquo;re here to develop for NHL,&rdquo; Belleville coach-GM Larry Mavety said.&ldquo;Our job is to develop hockey players,&rdquo; said London&rsquo;s coach-GM Don Boyd.&ldquo;Basically, it&rsquo;s our job to make players available to the National Hockey League,&rdquo; Hamilton coach-GM Bill LaForge said. &ldquo;We do our best to make the NHL want to take the (Brad) Dalgarnos, (Shayne) Corsons and (Jason) Lafrenieres. That&rsquo;s where the kids want to be.&rdquo;LaForge has his own theory for all empty seats around the OHL buildings.&ldquo;Maybe we&rsquo;re not doing a good enough job selling what we&rsquo;ve got rather then what we haven&rsquo;t got. You also have to accept the fact that&rsquo;s where they want to be. It&rsquo;s our job to create new excitement. We believe the Don Pancoes (his first draft pick this season) and others we draft and develop can make fans appreciate them. We have to make new stars.&rdquo;Mavety is a veteran at handling the loss of players to NHL clubs. It&rsquo;s scarey to think how strong his clubs the past few season might have been with AI lafrate, Danny Quinn, Pat LaFontaine and now Billington, the league&rsquo;s all-star goalie last season and the goalie who led Team Canada to the world junior title.With sophomore John Reid, a fine young goalie out of Brantford, the Bulls jumped out of the gate with four straight wins. Just the same, Mavety wouldn&rsquo;t mind taking his chances this season with both Reid and Billington.Billington is one of three goalies the Devils opened the season with but just how much time he&rsquo;ll get back of Chico Resch is a question mark. The Devils might also send him back after a brief orientation period in the NHL.&ldquo;I have no idea,&rdquo; Mavety said. &ldquo;They said it could be two days, 10 days, two weeks, a year. They&rsquo;re not really saying a lot. Any time you lose players of that caliber, it&rsquo;s got an affect on your hockey club. I can&rsquo;t see how it can&rsquo;t.&ldquo;In a way I&rsquo;m surprised they kept Billie because there are not too many underage goalies who have been able to stick. Look into the past. Toronto and Minnesota had young goalies and the following year they didn&rsquo;t have big years again.&ldquo;For goalies (underage), I think its got to be a lot tougher to stay in NHL. For one thing, the shots are a lot harder and there&rsquo;s so many good players. Every team has got top shooters.&ldquo;Put yourself in Kitchener&rsquo;s shoes. They probably could have taken a run at it and who&rsquo;s to say they still won&rsquo;t. He&rsquo;s (Barrett) got to start filling holes if they don&rsquo;t come back. It&rsquo;s tough to build a hockey club. You need the Quinns and lafrates. They can make a club better. They can make the other players better.&rdquo;There are also the financial factors to consider.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s put it this way,&rdquo; Mavety said. &ldquo;The money from the NHL for an underage player isn&rsquo;t going to replace fans you lose or the fans the other team loses when you go on the road. Let&rsquo;s take a guy like Danny Quinn. I had him two and a half years.&ldquo;I could have had him for another year and a half. What could he have meant for our hockey club? Say one place higher? Maybe two. The better your club is, the more fans come. Even with a minimum of 100 fans a game at five bucks a ticket home and away. Figure it out ($500 a game or $33,000 over 66 games)&ldquo;The NHL along with junior hockey are trying to come up with a solution. Lots of better minds than mine are trying to figure it out.&rdquo;The start-up of of the season wasn&rsquo;t all doom and gloom.Some clubs got some of their stars back&mdash;even Kitchener. At the last minute, Quebec sent back winger Dave Latta, their first pick. The Nordiques also farmed out center Jason Lafreniere to Hamilton.The list of players returned to their junior clubs on the eve of the NHL schedule included Greg Smyth to London (by Philadelphia), Keith Gretzky to Windsor (by Buffalo), Gary Roberts to Ottawa (by Calgary), Graeme Bonar to the Greyhounds (by Montreal), Mike Murray to Guelph, Derek King to the Soo Brad Dalgamo to Hamilton (by New York Islanders), Trevor Stienburg to London (by Quebec), Terry Carkner to Peterborough (by New York Rangers) and Craig Duncanson to Sudbury (by Los Angeles).In the meantime, if three straight losses on a trip to southern Ontario&mdash;dropping defending champion Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds&rsquo; record to 1-4&mdash;didn&rsquo;t make them sick, some hamburgers did.Eleven Greyhounds, coach Don MacAdam and his assistant Dave Mancuso came down with food poisoning after a stop somewhere between Kitchener and Sault Ste. Marie for hamburgers. The outbreak forced the &lsquo;Hounds to cancel a game Oct. 8 at home against the Sudbury Wolves.IN THE OHL&mdash;Former Cornwall Royals&rsquo; assistant coach and Windsor native Greg Prymack has been hired to coach Windsor Bulldogs in the Western Jr. B League&hellip;Last season&rsquo;s OHL scoring champion Dave MacLean, from leville, was demoted by the Hartford Whalers to their farm team in Binghamton&hellip;The Petes have lost John Druce for six weeks with tom ligaments in a thumb&hellip;Hamilton has lost winger Mike Ware for about eight weeks with a broken collarbone&hellip;Referee John Willsie of London has been chosen to work in the world junior tournament along with one other Canadian referee.&bull; &#9632;

Underage Problem Puts Teams Under Gun

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01504/4993223-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="565" height="573"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER LISY North Bay</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>Peter Lisy is off to a fast start this season in the Ontario Hockey League and one thing is certain, he&rsquo;ll surpass his 1984-85 production before too long.Lisy, a six-foot, 165-pound right winger, scored only 13 goals in 64 games for the North Bay Centennials. This year he has already counted five for the Centennials and his nine-point output in his first five games made him the choice as OHL Player of the Week.With the Centennials challenging for first place, Lisy&rsquo;s goal-scoring will be a factor.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02371/4993216-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="409" height="573"><figcaption class="caption-body">RANDY SMITH Saskatoon</figcaption></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>The Saskatoon Blades re-acquired Randy Smith from the Calgary Wranglers this season and they&rsquo;re glad they did.Smith, who had 85 points in 71 games for Calgary last year, was hot for the Blades in the first week back with the team he played for two seasons ago. He collected 10 points to get the nod as WHL Player of the Week.The 20-year-old, 6-foot-3 center, had a hat-trick against Regina and ended up scoring five goals over three games in leading the Blades to a 2-1 record.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03247/4993209-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="568" height="579"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOCELYN LEMIEUX Laval</figcaption></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>Jocelyn Lemieux of Laval had to take a back seat to his older brother&mdash;center Claude Lemieux of Verdun&mdash;last season but now that Claude has moved to the pros, the younger Lemieux is starting to flex his muscles.Jocelyn, who was outscored 124-32 by Claude in 1984-85, has begun the new year with a bang, scoring four goals in three games to take QMJHL Player of the Week honors. Two of the goals were game-winners.The six-foot, 185-pound right winger has counted eight points in his first three games.<div class="sidebar">At the end of the current season. THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the year &#9632;</div>

f0032-01

MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyAMLOOPS&mdash;Seven is considered a hockey number. But when you start the western Hockey Legue season with that new faces in the lineup, it can be losing your shirt at the gambling able.Ken Hitchcock doesn&rsquo;t see it that way. The second-year Kamloops Blazers Coach had seven rookies in the lineup hen the defending Western Division lampions started playing for keeps., he is betting they can all play signifiant roles as the Blazers go after their Third consecutive division pennant.There was genuine reason for optimum in Kamloops as regular-season playThe Blazers compiled a 6-1-1 Why during the pre-season, including a second-place showing in the inaugural Continental Cup tournament Sept. 27-29 Medicine Hat.Kamloops went undefeated in round-abin play of the four-team event before cropping a 1-0 decision to the host Tigers the championship final. Brandon Wheat Kings and Lethbridge Broncos also participated in the tourney.Blazers expect big things from their big rookies.On defense, most notable will be Ron Shudra. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound rearguard was rookie of the year last season with Red Deer of the Alberta Tier II league.Shudra, entering his draft year, has looked poised on defense and has also been effective on left wing. &ldquo;He definitely has the potential to be a great help to the hockey club,&rdquo; said Hitchcock. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s pretty skilled and moves the puck well.&rdquo;Also new behind the blueline are 18-year-old Dave Marcinyshyn, who is 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and played Tier II for Fort Saskatchewan in Alberta. He is also in his draft year.Stolk, 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, played Tier II in Taber, Alta., and is still a little rough around the edges but &ldquo;has excellent potential,&rdquo; according to Hitchcock.Up front, the best of the new bunch may be Lonnie Spink. The 18-year-old right winger played Tier II in Sherwood Park, Alta, and &ldquo;is a grinder with good, tight net skills and checking ability,&rdquo; according to Hitchcock. Spink is 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds.Seventeen-year-old Pat Bingham, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound right winger from Vancouver, has also found a home on the club as has 6-foot-2, 175-pound Kamloops midget grad Peter Soberlak.&ldquo;Soberlak is a. very skill-oriented player with excellent on-ice vision,&rdquo; said Hitchcock of the 16-year-old prospect. &ldquo;He has tremendous major league potential but we&rsquo;ll have to spot him early. He doesn&rsquo;t have the confidence yet.&rdquo;In goal, Blazers are high on 16-year-old Pat Nogier from Saskatoon. The major midget grad is six feet. 180 pounds and technically sound.In Portland, the Winter Hawks expect big things from 16-year-old right winger Ron Jones of the Detroit Compuware organization. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Jones &ldquo;has the ability to score goals and is a good up-and-down winger,&rdquo; according to Portland general manager Brian Shaw. The Winter Hawks are also high on 17-year-old right winger Bruce Baskin, a 6-foot-l, 190-pound forward from Tier II in Yorkton, Sask. Overage newcomers from the Ontario League are Tyler Sunday and Dave Waldie of the Cornwall Royals.In Spokane, the Chiefs are looking at center Judson Innes to make an impact in his rookie season. The 16-year-old Powell River, B.C., midget grad is only 5-foot-9, 165 pounds, but &ldquo;is really smart with the puck and really uses his wingers well,&rdquo; according to Spokane coach Ernie Gare.Other newcomers of note are 16-year-old left winger Sean Lebrun and 17-year-old defenseman Jay Stark. Lebrun, 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, played midget in Prince George, B.C. while the 6-foot-l, 200-pound Stark was with Revelstoke of the B.C. Tier II league.In Victoria, the Cougars hope 16-year-old defenseman Peter Schmid and 17-year-old center Bruce Courtnall can step in and play.Schmid, 5-foot-l 1 and 175 pounds, is a Kamloops midget grad while Courtnall, 5-foot-10 and 1-75 pounds, is the latest Tier I prospect from the Courtnail family. Brothers Geoff and Russ also toiled for Victoria and now play in the National Hockey League.The Cougars are also high on overage newcomer Tim Maracle, a 6-foot-l, 195-pound defenseman.In Seattle, the Thunderbirds expect rookie goaltender Wade Flaherty to open some eyes. The 17-year-old Terrace, B.C., midget grad is &ldquo;technically sound,&rdquo; according to Seattle coach Marc Boileau.The Thunderbirds also expect big things from defenseman Chris Joseph. The 16-year-old Vancouver midget grad is 6-foot-l and 185 pounds.In New Westminster, the Bruins are looking to 16-year-old Jamie Leach, son of former Philadelphia Flyer Reggie Leach, to fly in his rookie season. The six-foot, 185-pound right winger impressed in pre-season play, leaving coach Paddy Ginnell to comment &ldquo;he shows a lot of resemblance to his father.&rdquo;The Bruins are also high on 17-year-old rookies Garth Premak and Mark Recchi. Premak, a 6-foot-l, 190-pound graduate rearguard from Tier II in Red Deer Alta., will play regularly. Recchi, a 5-foot-10,175-pound center, played Tier II in Langley, B.C.Another rookie forward to watch is Erin Ginnell, son of the coach.WHL WEEK: Former New Westminster coach Earl Jessiman launched legal action against the Bruins and team owner Ron Dixon. A writ of summons was filed with the B.C. Supreme Court charging Continental Sports Corp., doing business as the New Westminster Bruins Hockey Club and Dixon, with breach of contract and employment. Jessiman signed a contract July 3 to become Bruins&rsquo; head coach and director of hockey operations. He was dismissed Aug. 29&hellip;Kamloops dealt rookie forward Dean Antos to the Moose Jaw Warriors for future considerations. &bull; &#9632;

Blazers Hoping Seven Their Lucky Number

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>HULL&mdash;Guy Rouleau, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey league scoring champion last season with the Longueuil Chevaliers, didn&rsquo;t have much time to dwell on his unsuccessful run at pro hockey this year.&ldquo;I got home at 4:30 after being cut from the Sherbrooke Canadiens and got a call from (Longueuil general manager) Gilles Lupien at 5, saying I&rsquo;d been traded to the Hull Olympiques.&rdquo;Rouleau. 20, and defenseman Stephane Prevost were obtained by Hull for defenseman Michel Thibodeau, center Marc Saumier and second-and fifth-round draft choices.Rouleau, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound center from Pointe-Aux-Trembles, scored 76 goals and added 87 assists for 163 points in 60 games last season but took a beating at times with the lOth-place Chevaliers.Hull&rsquo;s Eric Legros, for one, rode him unmercifully.Not drafted because of this small size, he attended the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; camp as a free agent and then went to Sherbrooke&rsquo;s camp.&ldquo;This is a winning team and I&rsquo;m happy to be here,&rdquo; he said after assisting on two goals by Luc Robitaille in a 5-2 Hull loss to the tenacious Trois-Rivieres Draveurs. &ldquo;Havg somebody to protect me will make it easier to carry the puck.&rdquo;Olympiques&rsquo; coach Pat Bums said he will use Rouleau on the same line with left winger Robitaille, a Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; draft pick who was third in league scoring (55-93148).Verdun Junior Canadiens also were interested in obtaining Rouleau.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad I got traded to Hull instead of Verdun,&rdquo; Rouleau said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like Verdun because they try to control the league.&rdquo;Prevost, 18, a 5-foot-10, 175-pounder from Montreal, d six goals and 23 assists in 61 games with Shawinigan ataractes last season.Thibodeau. 18, was the Olympiques&rsquo; most improved player last year but was off to a slow start. He had eight goals, 14 assists and 81 penalty minutes in 61 games last year.Saumier, 18, a crowd favorite from Hull, had 16 goals and 27 assists and 228 penalty minutes in 61 games.In other news, Drummondville Voltigeurs&rsquo; coach Michel Parizeau beat out Bums and University of Ottawa G-G&rsquo;s coach Michel Boucher for the assistant coaching position with Canada&rsquo;s national junior team.The appointment of Parizeau, a professional player for 11 years who is now in his second season as the Voltigeurs&rsquo; coach, was announced by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League.&ldquo;We went with experience,&rdquo; said Dr. Guy Morissette of Hull, president of the QMJHL and part of the seven-member CAHA-CMJHL committee charged with selecting an assistant for national coach Terry Simpson of the Prince Albert Raiders.Morissette said Drummondville&rsquo;s smooth handling of the 1985 Memorial Cup tournament on short notice helped Parizeau.&ldquo;My feeling is it made the difference,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He was known.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great opportunity to be associated with international hockey and Terry Simpson,&rdquo; said Parizeau, who describes his coaching priorities as discipline and defense.The position came open when Ron Harris, former coach of the St-Jean Castors, became an assistant coach with the Nordiques. Harris had been named to replace last year&rsquo;s national junior assistant Ron Lapointe, who jumped from the Shawinigan Cataractes to an assistant coaching position with the Washington Capitals.Boucher took the G-G&rsquo;s from last place in the Quebec University Athletic Association to last season&rsquo;s Canadian Inter-University Athletic Tournament in two seasons.Burns is in his second season as head coach of the Olympiques. &#9632;

Hull Obtains Scoring Whiz From Longueuil Chevaliers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01518/4993309-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01491/4993302-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="3067" height="3806"></div> &#9632;

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THN STATISTICSNHL SCORING

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01467/4993473-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"></div><h2>NHL</h2>TEAM STANDINGS (PCT) PERCENTAGE OF ACTUAL POINTS VERSUS POSSIBLE POINTSGP W L T GF GA P PCTCLARENCE CAMPBELL CONFERENCE<h3>NORRIS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02353/4993466-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="506" height="132"></div><h3>SMYTHE DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03279/4993459-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="506" height="136"></div><h2>PRINCE OF WALES CONFERENCE ADAMS DIVISION</h2><h3>ADAMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04203/4993452-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="508" height="135"></div><h3>PATRICK DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05162/4993445-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="503" height="162"></div><h3>RESULTS ENDING OCT. 13, 1985</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06140/4993438-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="522" height="109"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07132/4993431-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="452" height="634"></div><h2>AHL</h2>(Standings on Tue. Oct. 15)<h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08127/4993424-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="535" height="242"></div><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09121/4993417-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="531" height="210"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDThu. Oct. 10Adirondack 5 at Baltimore 2Fri. Oct. 11Springfield 4 at Moncton 2Hershey 3 at New Haven 6Binghamton 3 at Rochester 4Nova Scotia 4 at Sherbrooke 3Sat. Oct. 12Springfield 3 at Fredericton 2Nova Scotia 5 at Maine 4Sun. Oct. 13Hershey 3 at Baltimore 9Springfield 3 at Moncton 5Nova Scotia 5 at New Haven 2Binghamton 2 at St. Catharines 5Maine 5 at Sherbrooke 8<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10118/4993410-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="537" height="473"></div><h2>OHL</h2>(Standings on Mon. Oct. 14)<h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11114/4993403-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="532" height="240"></div><h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12110/4993396-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="531" height="267"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTue. Oct. 8Sudbury at S.S. Marie (ppd)Thu. Oct. 10North Bay 1 at Cornwall 3London 3 at Hamilton 7Belleville 1 at Peterborough 7Kitchener 1 at Windsor 6Fri. Oct. 11North Bay 4 at Kingston 2Windsor 1 at London 7Guelph 4 at Sudbury 3Kitchener 6 at S.S. Marie 5Sat. Oct. 12Peterborough 1 at Belleville 2Ottawa 4 at Toronto 6Sun. Oct. 13Ottawa 4 at Hamilton 1Belleville 3 at Kingston 4London 6 at North Bay 3Cornwall 1 at Oshawa 7Kitchenrer 4 at Sudbury 5Guelph 3 at S.S. Marie 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13107/4993389-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="529" height="323"></div><h2>WHL</h2>(Standings on Mon. Oct. 14)<h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-14101/4993382-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="529" height="266"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-15100/4993375-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="533" height="213"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTue. Oct. 8Prince Albert 5 at Brandon 4Wed. Oct. 9Medicine Hat 8 at Calgary 3Brandon 6 at Moose Jaw 3Fri. 11Saskatoon 5 at Brandon 5Moose Jaw 0 at Lethbridge 9Kamloops 2 at Portland 7Medicine Hat 4 at Regina 8Spokane 3 at Seattle 5Sat. Oct. 12Calgary 5 at Kamloops 4Regina 3 at Medicine Hat 6Seattle 5 at Spokane 2Portland 4 at Victoria 8Sun. Oct. 13Calgary 4 at New Westminster 5Brandon 4 at Regina 6Portland 5 at Seattle 2<h2>QMJHL</h2>(Standings on Mon. Oct. 14)<h3>ROBERT LEBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1697/4993368-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="530" height="179"></div><h3>FRANK DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1791/4993361-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="533" height="212"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDMon. Oct. 7Chicoutimi 5 at Laval 7Tue. Oct. 8T-Rivieres 5 at Hull 2Wed. Oct. 9Laval 6 at Granby 5St. Jean 8 at T-Rivieres 5Drummondville 5 at Verdun 1Thu. Oct. 10Hull 3 at Longueuil 2Fri. Oct. 11Shawinigan 4 at Chicoutimi 5Longueuil 3 at Drummondville 8T-Rivieres 5 at Granby 6Verdun 3 at St. Jean 4Sun. Oct. 13Drummondville 6 at Chicoutimi 15Shawinigan 6 at Granby 2St. Jean 4 at Longueuil 3T-Rivieres 3 at Verdun 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1886/4993354-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="536" height="560"></div><h2>USHL</h2>(Standings on Mon. Oct. 14)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1984/4993347-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="526" height="293"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDFri. Oct. 11Thunder Bay 7, Waterloo 6Sioux City 8, Rochester 3Madison 9, North Iowa 3Dubuque 8, St. Paul 7Sat. Oct. 12Rochester 7, Dubuque 3North Iowa 6, Thunder Bay 4Madison 11, Des Moines 5Sioux City 5, Waterloo 4Sun. Oct. 13St. Paul 8, Thunder Bay 4<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2080/4993340-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="531" height="328"></div> &#9632;

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CHRYSLER

BOSTON&mdash;Tom Fergus, C, traded to Toronto for Bill Derlago, C. Cleon Daskalakis, G, John Blum, D, John Meulenbroeks, D, and Doug Kostynski, C, assigned to Moncton of AHL. Alain Cote, D, 1985 draft pick from Quebec of QMJHL, signed to pro contract. Mats Thelin, D, sidelined indefinitely after breaking his foot.CALGARY&mdash;Following players were assigned to Moncton of AHL: Rick Kost Mike Vernon, G, Robin Bartel, D, Google Boudreau, D, Brian Bradley, C, and Yves Courteau, RW. Mike Eaves, LW, sidelined with concussion. Hakan Loob, LW, and Paul Reinhart, D, out with back injuries. Gary Roberts, C, returned to Ottawa of OHL.CHICAGO&mdash;Bill Watson, RW, out of action with shoulder injury. Keith Brown, D, sidelined indefinitely with broken finger.DETROIT&mdash;John Ogrodnick, LW, signed new five-year contract. Larry Trader, D, Joe Kocur, LW, Lane Lambert, RW, Claude Loiselle, C, and Bob Probert, RW, assigned to Adirondack of AHL.HARTFORD&mdash;Many Howe, D, announced retirement from hockey. Jack Brownschidle, D, sent to Binghamton of AHL. Marc Fusco, D, sidelined with concussion.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Steve Duchesne, D Mark Lofthouse, RW, assigned to New of AHL. Craig Duncanson, D, returned to Sudbury of OHL.MINNESOTA&mdash;Jon Casey, G, Mike Sands, G, Chris Pryor, D, Jim Archibald, RW, and Paul Houck, RW, sent to Springfield, of AHL.MONTREAL&mdash;Dominic Campadelli, D, John Kordic, D, Alfie Turcotte, C, and Claude Lemieux, RW, assigned to Sherbrooke of AHL. Graeme Bonar, RW, returned to S.S. Marie of OHL.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Karl Friesen, G, Pat Conacher, C, and Luc Dufour, LW, sent to Maine of AHL. Shawn MacKenzie, G, recalled from Maine and reassigned to Fort Wayne of IHL. David Anderson, LW, sent to Fort Wayne. Perry Anderson, LW, sidelined with should jury.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;John Tonelli, LW, reported after holding out through training camp. Brad Dalgarno, RW, returned to Hamilton of OHL. Alan Kerr, RW, assigned to Springfield of AHL.NY RANGERS&mdash;Andre Dore, D, and Pierre Larouche, C, assigned to Hershey of AHL to complete payment for deal that allowed Rangers to sign Ted Sator of Philadelphia as head coach. Hershey is a Philadelphia farm club. Ron Scott, G, Steve Richmond, D, Rob Whistle, D, Mike Rogers, C, and Nick Fotiu, LW, assigned to New Haven of AHL. Glen Hanlon, G, sent to Adirondack of AHL on loan. Terry Kleisinger, G, from Wisconsin, signed to NHL contract. Terry Carkner, D, returned to Peterborough.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Dave Farrish, D, Kevin McCarthy, D, sent to Hershey of AHL. Greg Smyth, D, returned to London of OHL and Jeff Chychrun, RW, to Kingston of OHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Randy Moller, RW, sent to Edmonton to complete previous deal for goalie Gilles Meloche. Pat Hughes, RW, sent to Buffalo to compensate for signing free agent Randy Cunneyworth. Phil Bourque, D, Joe McDonnell, D, Dean DeFazio, LW, and Roger Belanger, RW, assigned to Baltimore of AHL. Mark Teevens, RW, returned to Peterborough of OHL.QUEBEC&mdash;Wayne Groulx, C, assigned to Fredericton of AHL. Jason Lafreniere, C, returned to Hamilton of OHL. Marc Damphousse, LW, sent back to Shawinigan of. Trevor Stienburg, RW, returned to Lond of OHL, and Dave Latta, LW, to Kitchener of OHL.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Darrell May, G, Graham Herring, D, Shawn Evans, D, Mike Prestidge, RW, and Doug Evans, C, assigned to Peoria of IHL.TORONTO&mdash;Jim Korn, D, sideleined for four months after surgery for torn knee ligaments. Al lafrate, D, out for two weeks after suffering fractured cheekbone. Walt Poddubny, LW, sidelined with infected foot cut. Steve Thomas, LW, recalled from St. Catharines of AHL.VANCOUVER&mdash;Mark Kirton, C, assigned to Fredericton of AHL.WASHINGTON&mdash;Timo Blomqvist, D, and Andre Hidi, LW, sent to Binghamton of AHL. Yvon Corriveau, LW, returned to Toronto of OHL. &#9632;

TRANSACTIONS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2173/4993542-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg" title="f0036-21" width="972" height="869"></div>(ADVI TOTAL ADVANTAGES (PPGF) POWER-PLAY GOALS FOR (PCT) ARRIVED BY DIVIDING NUMBER OF POWER-PLAY GOALS BY TOTAL ADVANTAGES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2270/4993535-1-eng-US/f0036-222.jpg" title="f0036-22" width="992" height="633"></div>(ADVI TOTAL ADVANTAGES (PPGF) POWER-PLAY GOALS FOR (PCT) ARRIVED BY DIVIDING NUMBER OF POWER-PLAY GOALS BY TOTAL ADVANTAGES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2364/4993528-1-eng-US/f0036-232.jpg" title="f0036-23" width="990" height="629"></div> &#9632;

f0036-21

-TEAMS’ HOME-AND-ROADRECORD-

<h2>OCTOBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01411/4993601-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="544" height="1326"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02295/4993594-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="530" height="176"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03224/4993587-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="529" height="178"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04186/4993580-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="536" height="180"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05161/4993573-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="543" height="152"></div> &#9632;

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NHL GAMES TO COME

<h2>Thu. Oct. 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06137/4993688-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="542" height="1726"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01478/4993681-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="572" height="3599"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02378/4993674-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="545" height="1319"></div><h2>Fri. Oct. 11</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03301/4993667-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="547" height="1025"></div><h2>Sat. Oct. 12</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04231/4993660-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="547" height="1224"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05164/4993653-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="579" height="3629"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06126/4993646-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="549" height="2026"></div><h2>Sun. Oct. 13</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07112/4993639-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="549" height="1546"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0895/4993632-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="555" height="3626"></div> &#9632;

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October 25, 1985

Jays Shove Leafs Into Shadows

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A PROFESSIONAL AT WORK

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