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.

January 10, 1986

The Hockey News January 10, 1986

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03598/5223292-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sheldon Kannegiesser played for the L.A. Kings and is now a California businessman.</figcaption></div>What&rsquo;s in a name? Plenty if your handle happens to be Sheldon Kannegiesser.The name is as unspellable as it is unforgettable&mdash;and that&rsquo;s why the former National Hockey Leaguer is known simply as Sheldon Kane these days.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s for business purposes only,&rdquo; said Kannegiesser, who owns and operates a marketing company in Los Angeles named Kane-Runner. &ldquo;I just got tired of having to spell my name every time I was talking to a customer over the phone.&ldquo;It was obvious that there wasn&rsquo;t anyone out there besides my family who could spell my last name.&rdquo;Them and, perhaps, some trivia buffs who know Kannegiesser played eight seasons in the NHL (1970-78) with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks.&ldquo;The game was not my life,&rdquo; said Kannegiesser, a former defenseman. &ldquo;It was just a job to me. And I think because of that kind of attitude, I created problems between me and my coaches sometimes.&ldquo;I realized deep down that my career would be short-lived. It seemed like I was always looking ahead for something else. But I think that&rsquo;s the way a lot of us marginal players thought.&ldquo;I began thinking about my business career way before I retired from hockey. I can remember being on road trips and instead of always picking up a sports magazine or something like that, I would read a book or magazine about things like Macro Economics.&ldquo;I know that that may sound strange. But I knew I always had my head screwed on straight.&rdquo;Kannegiesser also looked at the game of hockey in another light as well.&ldquo;I look at it as a disappointment,&rdquo; said the North Bay, Ont., native. &ldquo;Maybe if I had been in a different place at at different time things would have been different.<h2>WHERE ARE THEY NOW</h2>&ldquo;Granted, I don&rsquo;t think I would have been another Bobby Orr (a player that Kannegiesser idolized). But I think I could have done better than I did. And I think I would have lasted longer than I did.&rdquo;Playing on the same ice surface as Orr represented the greatest thrills of Kannegiesser&rsquo;s career.&ldquo;Just watching him was a thrill for me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He had so much talent, it was unbelievable. He was in a league all by himself.&ldquo;It was just an honor to play against him and to even sit on the bench and watch him. There will never be another one like him again.&rdquo;Today, at 38, Kannegiesser is a successful marketer of investment products, raises dollars for various investment opportunities, has an Arabian horse business and also operates the Kane-Runner limousine service in L.A. and in several other major cities throughout the United States.In short, he is working his way to the top.&ldquo;I guess I had some good business sense when I was a player,&rdquo; said Kannegiesser, who lives with his family in Westlake Village just ouside Los Angeles. &ldquo;I found out early in life that the best asset I had was myself.&ldquo;After I got out of hockey I beat the streets, took some lumps, but found that I was able to survive in those streets.&ldquo;I learned some things the hard way. I did a lot of things myself. But I also consider myself lucky and very fortunate.&rdquo;Kannegiesser did take one philosophy from hockey and adapted it to the business world.&ldquo;There used to be an old saying around the locker room,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Some of the older veterans used to tell me not to be in awe of some of the game&rsquo;s superstars or in awe over the fact that all of us were in the NHL.&ldquo;The fact remained that, the other guy put his pants on the same way I did. One leg at a time. It&rsquo;s the same in the business world.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-03

Departments

Playing Against Bruins’ Orr Represented Hockey Thrills

<h2>Mon. Dec. 16</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01180/5225538-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="537" height="724"></div><h2>Tue. Dec. 17</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02110/5225531-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="542" height="2515"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0378/5225524-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="531" height="178"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0464/5225517-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="534" height="178"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0553/5225510-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="543" height="172"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0647/5225503-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="533" height="127"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01187/5225496-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="543" height="1320"></div><h2>Wed. Dec. 18</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02125/5225489-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="553" height="2234"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0392/5225482-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="558" height="2276"></div><h2>Thu. Dec. 19</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0469/5225475-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="554" height="1307"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0557/5225468-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="564" height="3611"></div><h2>Fri. Dec. 20</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0650/5225461-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="545" height="2029"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0745/5225454-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="554" height="1552"></div><h2>Sat. Dec. 21</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0838/5225447-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="557" height="2037"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0935/5225440-1-eng-US/f0042-092.jpg" title="f0042-09" width="557" height="3345"></div><h2>Sun. Dec. 22</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1030/5225433-1-eng-US/f0042-102.jpg" title="f0042-10" width="540" height="236"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01186/5225426-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="564" height="3619"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02134/5225419-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="539" height="920"></div><h2>Mon. Dec. 23</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03110/5225412-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="552" height="2638"></div><h2>Thu. Dec. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0485/5225405-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="571" height="3571"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0574/5225398-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="536" height="735"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0661/5225391-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="545" height="731"></div> &#9632;

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NHL Summaries

<div class="byline">BY TOM WHEATLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011106/5223781-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="416" height="115"></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;There are no sure-fire, can&rsquo;t-miss, superstar phenoms bubbling under the surface in the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; system.But that doesn&rsquo;t mean the cupboard is bare.In fact, the Blues are well-protected in goal and on defense.And the forwards of the immediate future appear to be wingers Herb Raglan of Kingston and Philippe Bozon of St. Jean, and center Cliff Ronning of the Canadian National Team team.The top young goalie is Alan Perry of Windsor.On defense, there is a competitive glut of up-and-coming pros&mdash;Shawn Evans, Graham Herring and Mike Posavad at Peoria; Brian Benning, signed by the Blues and then lent to the Canadian Olympic team; unsigned amateur Michael Dark at Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute, last season&rsquo;s NCAA champ; and junior Robert Dirk at Regina.None of those 10 are former first-round picks from an entry draft.The only second-rounders were Benning in &lsquo;83, Raglan in &lsquo;85 and Evans in &lsquo;83 (by New Jersey, which sent him and a fifth-round choice to St. Louis for Mark Johnson).Posavad was a third rounder in &lsquo;82.Dirk and Perry were third rounders in &lsquo;84, followed that year by Herring in the fourth round and Ronning in the seventh.Dark was Montreal&rsquo;s 10th rounder in &lsquo;82, coming with Mark Hunter to St. Louis for the Blues&rsquo; No. I pick in &lsquo;85.Bozon, from Chamoix, France, was a free-agent nugget unearthed by Blues&rsquo; scouts Ted Hampson and Jack Evans.The lone first rounder in the system is forward Marty Ruff (&lsquo;81) of Peoria. Ruff, 22, has never played an NHL game in his injury-riddled career. And he probably won&rsquo;t, at least not for the Blues.In an hour-long dissertation on each Blues&rsquo; prospect of note, director of hockey operations Ron Caron never mentioned Ruff.But the hard-luck youngster will be on the payroll again next season. His original four-year contract had a clause that automatically extended it for a fifth year if he was not in the NHL.Here are the vital statistics, plus Caron&rsquo;s comments, on the the Blues&rsquo; future Top 10;<h2>FORWARDS</h2>&bull; Bozon (19, 5-foot-10, 175 pounds): &ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting enthused by the reports we get from our scouts. They all wonder why he was not drafted. Maybe his ancestral background plays against him. being from France.&ldquo;In training camp, he played on right wing with (Bernie) Federko in the intrasquad game. He scored two sensational goals on execution that Jean Beliveau would have selected as two of his Top 25.&rdquo;&bull; Raglan (18, 6-0, 205, played seven games with Blues, no points, before returning to Kingston Dec. 6): &ldquo;He had no goals, but I knew he would have no goals. He can&rsquo;t handle the puck well enough yet. But the game&rsquo;s changing. Guys are bigger and stronger. And that&rsquo;s the reason we kept Raglan (for two months)&mdash;his play away from the puck. He can do that at the National League level.&rdquo;&bull; Ronning (20, 5-8, 157): &ldquo;He&rsquo;s dominating the (Canadian) National Team in scoring by about 10 points. He&rsquo;s been averaging two or three points every time he plays.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big (Mats) Naslund, at least an inch-and-a-half taller and 15 pounds heavier. And no one refers to Naslund as being small.&rdquo;<h2>GOAL</h2>&bull; Perry (age 19, 5-feet-8, 175 pounds): &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very, very pleased with the great steady improvement of our 19-year-old playing in Windsor. He&rsquo;s really matured.&rdquo;<h2>DEFENSE</h2>&bull; Evans (20, 6-2, 195); Herring (20. 6-0, 170); Posavad (22, 5-11, 200): &ldquo;With (them) in Peoria, we feel that if we need some help, we could be provided immediately with almost as good help as any team. I don&rsquo;t think there are too many teams with players like these who could come in and contribute.&rdquo;&bull; Benning (19, 6-0, 185, played 4 games with Blues last season, no goals and 2 assists): &ldquo;We loaned Brian Benning to the (Canadian) National Team to give him a chance to recover from his recent injuries (broken leg last season, broken wrist the previous season) and to compete against a higher echelon.&rdquo;&bull; Dark (22, 6-5, 228) &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of our 19 college and high school guys. At RPI, he&rsquo;s the co-captain&hellip;He&rsquo;s the closest to making our team, because of his age.&rdquo;&bull; Dirk (19, 6-4. 207): &ldquo;He&rsquo;s basically the only junior defenseman we have. He&rsquo;s unsigned, but he will be signed. He&rsquo;s had two excellent training camps, but we don&rsquo;t want a junior to challenge defensively our first seven or eight.&rdquo;Caron, by the way, has a pet prospect: 18-year-old Nelson Emerson, a 5-foot-11, 165-pounder from Hamilton, Ont.&ldquo;We took him 44th in the draft last year,&rdquo; said Caron. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s terminating his high school and already committed to one college, Bowling Green. He&rsquo;s playing Junior B at Stratford, Ont. He&rsquo;s a heckuva centerman. I saw him play twice, and he did some things&hellip;you&rsquo;d have to see them to believe.&ldquo;I saw him score six goals in five periods of hockey. He has great, great natural ability. He has the tools to dominate his trade.&rdquo;Another prospect Caron is watching is 5-foot-11, 165-pound center Tony Hrkac, who is currently with the Canadian National team, and was a second-round pick in the 1984 entry draft.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02881/5223774-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="584" height="757"><figcaption class="caption-body">Exciting Philippe Bozon has shown some dazzling offensive skills to the Blues.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

Blues Like Looks Of France Native

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011301/5222930-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal&rsquo;s Kjell Dahlin has emerged as one of top first-year forwards and Calgary&rsquo;s Gary Suter, inset, one of the top rookie rearguards.</figcaption></div>Thirty games do not a career make.&rdquo; Nor do 40 for that matter but that&rsquo;s all there is to measure the progress of this year&rsquo;s collection of National Hockey League rookies.So, despite the warning issued by Washington Capitals&rsquo; general manager David Poile, we offer this assessment of first-year players and their performances up to the Christmas break.It is a sound group, this rookie class of 198586. There is no franchise player of Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s stripe but there is uncommon depth.Most teams have at least one capable rookie and several have more&mdash;led by the Montreal Canadiens, who for the second straight year have cultivated an outstanding crop of first-year players. These days, they are less The Flying Frenchmen than The Flying Freshmen.They have a military-trained sharpshooter, the makings of a majestic center, a Jesse Jack-son-style forward and a promising netminder.Within this quartet is the leading candidate for the Calder Trophy.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can vote for anybody but Kjell Dahlin right now,&rdquo; said Montreal center Bobby Smith just before Christmas. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s really given us another outstanding goal scorer and when you have a player like that it makes another whole line an offensive threat.&rdquo;Dahlin, 22, a left winger from Timra, Sweden who grew up on the same street as star teammate Mats Naslund, earned 17 goals, 19 assists and the respect of both his peers and longtime NHL watchers over the first 32 games.&ldquo;The rookie of the year, right now, is unquestionably Dahlin,&rdquo; offered Montreal Gazette sports editor Red Fisher. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the points and he&rsquo;s made an impression on the power play. Even when he&rsquo;s not on the power play he plays extremely well.&rdquo;His accomplishments have surprised not only those who know Dahlin wasn&rsquo;t even selected for the Swedish national &lsquo;B&rsquo; team last year but the player himself.&ldquo;I thought it would be difficult but so far it&rsquo;s been easy,&rdquo; said Dahlin, who has been helped along by the presence of Naslund both on and off the ice.Favoring a wrist shot, the swift 6-footer who was trained in sharpshooting by the Swedish military, has been the most prominent&mdash;and most fortunate&mdash;in an extraordinary group of Montreal rookies.The others are center Stephane Richer, 19, left winger Sergio Momesso, 20, and goalie Patrick Roy, 20.Richer (22-10-10-20), whose elegance and number&mdash;44&mdash;are remindful of Canadiens&rsquo; legend Jean Beliveau, was tied with Dahlin in scoring before a sprained ankle sidelined him for 10 games. He is both a gifted playmaker and scorer and while comparisons to Beliveau are about 17 years premature, he does have all the markings of a good&mdash;maybe&mdash;great one.And Momesso (24-8-7-15), a Rainbow Coalition all himself&mdash;the trilinqual young man&rsquo;s constituency includes English-, French-and Italian-speaking Montrealers&mdash;was among the top 10 rookie scorers when a nasty knee injury forced him out of action for the rest of his rookie season.Roy (926 minutes, 3.30 goals-against average) had played more and better than supposed first-stringer Steve Penney through the first one-third of the season. Doug Soetaert, the third member of the three-goalie system, had a better average but had played less than half as much as Roy.The Montrealers represent but the tip of the ice rink in first-year players.Among the other rookie forwards who have acquitted themselves well are Petr Klima of Detroit, Wendel Clark and Steve Thomas of Toronto, Pelle Eklund of Philadelphia, Perry Berezan of Calgary. Mike Ridley of the New York Rangers and Randy Cunney worth of Pittsburgh.Defensemen who have come to the forefront include Calgary&rsquo;s Gary Suter, Quebec&rsquo;s David Shaw, Edmonton&rsquo;s Steve Smith and a trio of terrific teenagers&mdash;Kevin Hatcher of Washington. Craig Wolanin of New Jersey and Dana Murzyn of Hartford&mdash;and Boston&rsquo;s Michael Thelven.Finally, among the goaltending newcomers are Alain Chevrier and Craig Billington of New Jersey. Darren Jensen of Philadelphia and Mark Laforest of Detroit.Other than Dahlin, the man most often mentioned as a Calder candidate is Klima (30-12-15-27)&mdash;the flashy Red Wing left winger who defected from Czechoslovakia this past summer.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to vote for the guy I scouted,&rdquo; said Nick Polano, the former Detroit coach who now assists general manager Jim Devellano. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had a chance to see all of them yet but 1 do like Dahlin. I&rsquo;m a little prejudiced but I&rsquo;d have to go with Klima.&rdquo;Klima, 21, has been the object of high expectations since leaving the Czech national team during August in West Germany. For the most part he has delivered with creative play and led the team in scoring after 32 games.There have been criticisms for inferior work on the road and a high minus rating (minus-14) but Polano defends the young Czech&mdash;noting the period of adjustment Klima has gone through as well as the low standing of the Red Wings.Clark, 19, the first player chosen in the 1985 NHL entry draft, was emerging as a key candidate for the Calder when felled by a fractured foot.His 10 goals and four assists in 21 games tells only part of the story. The Saskatchewan native also gives the Leafs strength and courage with his fierce play.Clark, for the first time a fulltime left winger after spending all of his hockey life on defense, was adapting well before the injury. His minus-12 rating wasn&rsquo;t all that impressive but nobody seemed to care in Toronto, so why should they in Detroit about Klima. After all, wasn&rsquo;t Lemieux minus-35 during his Calder-winning first year.&ldquo;Clark is as good a rookie as I&rsquo;ve seen,&rdquo; said St. Louis Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron. &ldquo;Not only does he have NHL talent and execution, he has maturity. His composure on the ice is not of a 19-year-old. He plays with the assurance of a 23- or 24-year-old.&rdquo;The Leafs were not without a first-rate rookie during Clark&rsquo;s absence. Thomas, last year&rsquo;s top freshman in the American League, has performed superbly since being brought back from St. Catharines. He started the season with the Leafs but was sent down after collecting just one goal and two assists in seven games.At the holiday break, Thomas, 22, had 19 points in 17 games, largely on the strength of seven goals and nine assists in 10 games after his recall.&ldquo;I saw him in St. Catharines and I had a tough time understanding why he was not upstairs,&rdquo; said Caron. &ldquo;He is very quick, deceptive and strong for his size and he has a super shot.&rdquo;Eklund (31-7-17-24), 22, has been brought along slowly by the Flyers, who like the Canadiens once did with Yvan Cournoyer, have used him largely as a powr-play specialist during his first year. He has teamed superbly with Tim Kerr, the league&rsquo;s leading power-play producer who is scoring goals at a record pace.Eklund and Thomas, both 5-foot-10, could well be the rookies most likely to mount serious challenges to Calder-favorites Dahlin and Klima over the remainder of the season.The least-celebrated of all the top-producing rookies are Ridley of the Rangers and Cunneyworth of the Penguins. Style (both are decidedly unspectacular) and background (Ridley is from University of Manitoba, Cunneyworth, a cast-off from the Sabres&rsquo; farm system) mitigate against much fuss being made about this pair.But the fact remains, numbers speak well on each&rsquo;s behalf. Ridley&rsquo;s point total (34-10-1626) was better than all but Dhalin&rsquo;s at Christmastime and Cunneyworth&rsquo;s plus-15 was second only to similarly under-publicized Berezan&rsquo;s plus-17 among rookies.Berezan (30-8-13-21), who turned 21 on Christmas Day, is a typical Flame&mdash;the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder combines strength with good all-around play. He joined the Flames for the final nine games of the 1984-85 season after leaving the University of North Dakota.Defensemen, as Calgary GM Cliff Fletcher notes, are rarely named rookies of the year but you&rsquo;ll hear few complaints from the organizations which have Suter, Shaw, Hatcher, Wolanin, Murzyn, Smith and Thelven.&ldquo;Generally defensemen don&rsquo;t win the Calder,&rdquo; said Fletcher, &ldquo;unless they&rsquo;re Potvins and Orrs and get a lot of points but insofar as being the best defenseman in the voting 1 would have to think that if he (Suter) keeps improving the way he has in the first half, that he&rsquo;d be a legitimate candidate.&rdquo;Suter (33-4-17-21), 21, has brought poise and puck skills to the Calgary blue line.Size and age are on the sides of Suter, a 6-footer, and the other young defensemen playing well this season. Shaw (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) is 21, Hatcher (6-foot-3 and 185 pounds) and Murzyn (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) are 19and Wolanin(6-foot-2, 185 pounds) is 18.Shaw (29-2-8-10), who apprenticed in Fredericton for one season while the Nordiques wondered if he would ever be the first-round calibre player they envisioned in 1982, flourished this season before a wrist injury sidelined him.How good was he? Well, he was named the Nordiques&rsquo; player of the month for November. And don&rsquo;t forget, Peter Stastny is on Quebec&rsquo;s roster.Hatcher (32-3-6-9) has joined one of the NHL&rsquo;s best defenses and not looked out of place.&ldquo;I think for a rookie, he&rsquo;s been steady like a veteran,&rdquo; appraised Poile. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s played a very conservative style. He hasn&rsquo;t tried to do much offensively which we know he&rsquo;s capable of.&rdquo;Teamed with one of Rod Langway or Scott Stevens, both established stars, Hatcher had compiled a plus-11, second only to the 22-year-old Smith (plus-12) among rookie defensemen.If it sometimes seems that Smith has an advantage over opponents&mdash;the ability to be three places at once&mdash;it has a little to do with his strong play this year and even more to do with his name.There are three Steve Smiths in professional hockey, all of them defenseman. The Oilers&rsquo; is the best. After two years in the American League, Smith has blossomed this year and according to assistant coach Bob McCammon in late November, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been our best back there (on defense) for quite awhile.&rdquo;Max McNab, the Devils&rsquo; GM, thinks the world of Wolanin (27-1-9-10), the third overall selection in the 1985 entry draft.Hartford GM Emile Francis has similar feelings about Murzyn (31-1-10-11), the fifth choice last summer: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing very well, he&rsquo;s playing on a regular basis and living up to all expectations.&rdquo;The play of Thelven (32-2-10-12), a 25-year-old Swede, has met with a warm welcome in Beantown.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody thought he was going to be as good as he&rsquo;s been,&rdquo; said coach Butch Goring. &ldquo;Harry (Sinden, the Bruins&rsquo; GM) said he thought Michael had a pretty good chance of making our team but he&rsquo;s been great&mdash;certainly our most consistent defenseman.&ldquo;You keep waiting for him to have a bad game. He may keep us waiting all year.&rdquo;Beyond Roy, and he is a longshot, there are no Calder candidates among the goalies but some teams have come to rely on them. Chevrier has twice beaten the Flyers, Billington has star potential, Jensen has filled the hole left by the loss of Pelle Lindbergh and Laforest has survived&mdash;an accomplishment in itself&mdash;behind what passes for defense in Detroit.Buffalo&rsquo;s Daren Puppa made his NHL debut with a shutout of the Edmonton Oilers and appeared to be set for a big rookie season but fell on hard times and was sent down to Rochester of the AHL.Other newcomers to watch are forwards Kraig Nienhuis (27-114-15), who slowed down after a fast start with Boston, Dave Pasin (24-9-5-14), also of Boston, big Joel Otto (32-6-14-20) of Calgary, Toronto&rsquo;s Dan Hodgson (23-8-7-15) and Hartford&rsquo;s Dean Evason, who collected 11 points in his first seven games with the Whalers after being called up from the American League.Among those who have made less of an impact than expected are forwards Craig Simpson of Pittsburgh (31-5-9-14) and the injured Esa Tikkanen of Edmonton (18-2-3-5), Jim Sandlak of Vancouver (18-1-2-3) plus, of course, Detroit&rsquo;s million-dollar collegiate bonus babies Ray Staszak (4-0-1-1) and Adam Oates (17-1-1-2).Their careers, however as Poile would point out, have only just begun. And 30, 40 games or even a full year, good, bad or indifferent, do not careers make. &#9632;

f0003-01

Habs Discover ‘How Swede It Is’

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01816/5225655-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photos by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>STEPHANE RICHER&rsquo;S ONE OF THE HASS&rsquo; FLYING FRESHMEN<h2>WHO HAS WHAT &lsquo;IN THE SYSTEM&rsquo;</h2>An Insightful And In-Depth Interview With N.Y. Islander Denis Potvin/10<h2>PLUS:</h2>&bull; Marcel Dionne: King Of Consistency/6&bull; Editorial: Make Pros Save Their Eyes/8&bull; NHL Attendance: Not A Pretty Picture/21&bull; Meet Joe Murphy, No. 1 Pick In &lsquo;86/33&bull; College Free Agents: The 1986 Crop/3335 &#9632;

Cover-01

IN THIS ISSUE

RATING THE ROOKIES

In next week&rsquo;s Jan. 17, 1986 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, we&rsquo;ll gaze into the crystal ball and come up with an exact forecast of what&rsquo;s going to happen in 1986. We&rsquo;ll leave absolutely nothing to chance as we lay out the entire scenario. Really.In addition to that feature, we&rsquo;ll have a complete wrap-up of the 1986 World Junior Championships in Hamilton, Ont., including game summaries, reports and background pieces on why the winners were winners and the losers were losers.Plus, we&rsquo;ll be reporting on the Soviets club team&mdash;Red Army and Dynamo&mdash;tour of National Hockey League cities, as well as a full report on the Spengler Cup.In addition to all that, we&rsquo;ll have all the news and views from each of the 21 NHL cities as well as the minor pro leagues, college hockey and major junior, too.Don&rsquo;t miss all that, plus much, much more in the Jan. 17,1986 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS.<h2>QUOTE OF THE WEEK</h2>&ldquo;/just told him to drop the %&$%& puck. I didn&rsquo;t suggest his mother swam after troop ships or anything.&rdquo;&mdash;Oiler Mark Messier, on what got him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. See Page 6. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK IN THN

Should the Soviet Union&rsquo;s entry in the 1986 World Junior Championships in Hamilton. Ont., not go home to Mother Russia with a gold medal in tow, heaven only knows what the reaction will be.If the past year or so&mdash;the 1984 Canada Cup, 1985 World Junior Championships, 1985 Spengler Cup, 1985 World Championships&mdash;has been golden for Canada (winning all the aforementioned events with the exception of the &lsquo;85 World Championships, where they finished second to the gold-medal Czechoslovaks), it&rsquo;s been scrap metal for the Soviets.In fact, the Soviets&rsquo; Big Red Machine is coughing and sputtering.The latest example of it misfiring came on its home turf, at the Izvestia tournament in Moscow. Dec. 21.That was the night when Czechoslovakia, a team supposedly weakened by defections of key players to North America, scored a 3-1 victory over the Soviets to claim the gold medal.To put it into perspective, the Soviets had won 15 of 18 previous Izvestia titles. And, given the Soviets&rsquo; overwhelming lack of success in the international arena, where they were once all but invincible, and the wave of critcism coach Viktor Tikhonov has been subjected to, changes may well be on the way.That&rsquo;s something Tikhonov, a man on the hot seat if ever there was one, conceded.&ldquo;This match enabled us to see many negative points in the performance of the team and individual players and our drawbacks in the lineup,&rdquo; he said after the loss to Czechoslovakia. &ldquo;There is still time to prepare for the World Championships and we shall try and prepare in a due way.&rdquo;There is some speculation that the entire Soviet national team will be overhauled, though Tikhonov, earlier in the tournament, said the best players in the nation have already been assembled and that any disappointing performances to date do not necessarily signal a great decline in the Soviet program.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011325/5222961-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="584" height="847"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shawn Anderson abandoned the Maine Black Bears for Canada&rsquo;s NationalTeam.</figcaption></div>Now, if those Soviet juniors come home empty-handed or hanging their heads to cover a mere bronze medal-&hellip;well, that might be a different story.Meanwhile, Canada&rsquo;s National Team, coached by Dave King, eked out a 5-4 victory over Finland on the final night of the tournament to avoid finishing in last place of the five-nation (Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Finland and Canada) tournament.In three previous outings, King&rsquo;s pre-Olympic team was winless, being outscored by a 13-7 margin.Meanwhile, two newcomers signed on with King&rsquo;s Hockey Canada program.Shawn Anderson, a 17-year-old defenseman, left the Maine Black Bears of Hockey East, to joing the program, while another 17-year-old rearguard, Zarley Zalapski, left a tier two team in Alberta to do the same.Zalapski, a native of Edmonton, and Anderson, a native of Montreal, headed overseas immediately to team up with King&rsquo;s team before the Spengler Cup, which started Dec. 26 in Davos, Switzerland.Anderson, a graduate the Lac St. Louis Lions midget program in Montreal, is expected to be a first-round pick in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s 1986 entry draft. He was in his freshman year at Maine, where he was on a scholarship. &#9632;

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Soviets Stung By Izvestia Loss To Czechs

<div class="byline">BY MORRIS DALLA COSTA</div>HAMILTON&mdash;The 1986 version of Canada&rsquo;s junior hockey team will not be noted for its sleekness.But then sleekness is not necessarily what the architects of the defending global junior champions are seeking.Because if sleekness was what coach Terry Simpson and director of player personnel Sherry Bassin were looking for, players such as Belleville Bulls&rsquo; Jason Lafreniere and Ottawa 67&rsquo;s Dan Gratton, who was a member of last year&rsquo;s team, and Tony Hrkac of Canada&rsquo;s National Team would not have been among the players cut.What the builders of Canada&rsquo;s 1985 team were looking to construct was a team of players who would quickly become compatible with each other, realize what their &ldquo;roles&rdquo; on the team were and who would leave their individualism behind for the sake of the team.&ldquo;When you have the elite players from all the junior leagues in one place, it&rsquo;s difficult to ask any player who is a star in his own right to become a role player&mdash;a checker, penalty killer, comer man,&rdquo; said Bassin.&ldquo;So you have to select players who have done that, who are players who you know can learn to do that.&rdquo;&ldquo;The selection process is tough and you&rsquo;re going to make mistakes,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;It was tough selecting out of individual leagues. Then, when you come to camp, you aren&rsquo;t totally familiar with every player. We made mistakes and probably will continue to make mistakes. After we got down to the final 25 players it became the personal likes and dislikes of those selecting.&rdquo;It didn&rsquo;t look like Canada had made any mistakes after its first game of the tournament.Mind you, it was only Switzerland, who had compiled a record of 0-26, against the other teams in the tournament. But Canada&rsquo;s 12-1 win showed that there was talent. Whether it&rsquo;s enough to take on the Soviets and Czechs is something that won&rsquo;t be answered until the teams meet later in the tournament.The win was sparked by Canadian captain Jim Sandlak, one of four who played on last year&rsquo;s world championship team. Sandlak is on loan from the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Vancouver Canucks. He scored on his first three shots against the Swiss.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011204/5222992-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="988" height="921"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hartford Whaler defenseman Sylvain Cote is on loan, playing for Canada&rsquo;s entry in the World Junior Championships.</figcaption></div>Michigan State Spartan Joe Murphy, the 67&rsquo;s Gary Roberts and the University of Wisconsin&rsquo;s Scott Mellanby had two goals each while Peter Douris of Canada&rsquo;s National Team, Shayne Corson from the Hamilton Steelhawks and Al Conroy of Medicine Hat Tigers scored once each.Corson and Selmar Odelein of Regina Pats are two others who were on the gold medal-winning team in Helsinki. The final member of last year&rsquo;s club who is in this year&rsquo;s lineup is goalie Craig Billington, on loan from the New Jersey Devils.He was in goal for the win against Switzerland, facing only 14 shots, none in the third period. Billington&rsquo;s goaltending partner is Toronto Marlboro Sean Burke.Among the final cuts from the junior camp were David Manson of the Prince Albert Raiders, Steve Finn of the Laval Titans, Lafreniere, Gratton and Graeme Bonar of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.Going early in camp was Kitchener Ranger Shawn Burr, the second time he&rsquo;s been cut from the national club plus goaltenders Troy Gamble of the Medicine Hat Tigers and Kay Whitmore of the Peterborough Petes.if anything was obvious before the tournament began, it was that the Canadian team&rsquo;s weak spot would be on the blue line. But the Canadians received a Christmas present before the tournament began when Alain Cote of the Boston Bruins was added to the roster.&ldquo;The defense is always going to look the worst of the lot,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;Especially early when the pairs don&rsquo;t know each other and the forwards aren&rsquo;t playing in the system.&ldquo;The key is to find players who are going to be compatible with each other&hellip;quickly.&rdquo;Simpson paired the Petes&rsquo; Terry Carkner with Sylvain Cote, the Raiders&rsquo; Emmanuel Viveiros with Odelein and Sudbury Wolves&rsquo; Dave Moylan with Alain Cote.Forward lines were made up of Cornell University&rsquo;s Joe Nieuwendyk, perhaps the most impressive player in the opening game, with Sandlak and Corson; Conroy between Roberts and Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; Derek Laxdal; Murphy between Jeff Greenlaw of the National Team and Douris; and Cornwall Royals&rsquo; Mike Stapleton, one of the role players, between Hull Olympiquc Luc Robataille and Mellanby.&ldquo;Because we weren&rsquo;t as familiar with all the players as we would have liked to have been, we took them at face value,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;The players who are here are the ones who are the best players in camp. Politics played no concern in the selection.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve got as much talent as we did last year, but it&rsquo;s distributed differently. There&rsquo;s no question it&rsquo;s tough replacing players like Adam Creighton, Stephane Richer and Dan Hodgson, and where are you going to get a role player like Wendel Clark? It will all be a question of how quickly we come together.&rdquo;&ldquo;All I know is they kept us in the dark all the way through camp,&rdquo; said Moylan, one of those who earned a spot with his play at camp. &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t tell me who was doing well or anything like that, which was fine with me. That told me everyone had an equal chance.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Team Canada Juniors ‘Play The Role’

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>LONDON&mdash;Coach Dave Peterson wasn&rsquo;t quite ready to throw up the white flag after the nine-time champion Soviet Union downed his United States junior team 7-3 in the opening game of the World Junior Championships on Boxing Day.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ll play better as the tournament goes along,&rdquo; said the optimistic 54-year-old U.S. coach. &ldquo;It was a good hockey game. All in all, we played fairly well. The score belies the game a little bit.&ldquo;But, that&rsquo;s also a very strong hockey club. There&rsquo;s no doubt they&rsquo;ll be one of the teams playing for a medal.&rdquo;Peterson was hoping things would get better almost overnight because waiting in line after the Soviets were the Czechs, Canada and Sweden&mdash;all before Dec. 30. The difficult schedule also meant even if Peterson wasn&rsquo;t happy (which he wasn&rsquo;t) there wouldn&rsquo;t be time for reflection or regrouping.Sergie Gapeenko, with two, Alexandre Semak, Mikhail Tatarinov, Valery Kamensky, Sergej Osipov and Ravil Khajdarov scored for the Soviet Union.Mike Kelfer, Scott Young and Steve Leach scored for the United States, which were sixth last year and have never finished higher than fifth in the world tourney.They&rsquo;ve also never beaten the Soviets&hellip;The U.S. had the Soviets where they wanted them in London&mdash;trailing 1-0&mdash;but that advantage lasted for only a few minutes as the explosive Russians, with 10 players who played in last year&rsquo;s tourney in Helsinki, took the lead with a pair of goals before the seven-minute mark. The go-ahead goal came on a Soviet power play, one of the 14 minors (eight to the U.S.) called by Sweden&rsquo;s Dag Olsson.The Soviets never lost the lead and added to it in the second period.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there was enough emotion on our part after we scored the first goal of the game,&rdquo; said Art Berglund, the U.S. team&rsquo;s general manager. &ldquo;We should have taken it to them. Maybe we were a little nervous. These are kids 17, 18 and 19 years old and playing before a big, sellout crowd like this there&rsquo;s pressure.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve been to a lot of Russian games and been down 5-0 at the end of the first period. Then you just wonder how badly they are going to beat you. In a game like this, you don&rsquo;t want to get too emotionally high by winning or too emotionally down by losing because it&rsquo;s a seven-game tournament.&rdquo;The Soviets dazzled everyone among the standing room-only crowd, including Peterson with their special teams, North American grinding style, shot blocking, great goaltending, puck control and dominance on the boards.Well&hellip;almost everyone.U.S. captain Steve Leach, chosen the U.S. player of the game, was not as impressed. As a matter of fact, he thinks, somewhere along the line, the Soviet team is going to get beat before the last puck is fired.&ldquo;I think they can be beaten. Oh sure. I definitely think so,&rdquo; said the University of New Hampshire right winger competing in his third straight world junior tourney. &ldquo;They may be put up to be great but, believe me, they&rsquo;re no different than us. They tie their shoes the same way we do.&rdquo;Maybe Leach noticed that the Soviet machine was a little rusty, what with it being their first game in North America (they didn&rsquo;t play any exhibition games) and the first time on the smaller ice surfaces for most of their players.&ldquo;It was only natural there were a lot of mistakes on both sides,&rdquo; Soviet coach Yuri Korolev said through his interpreter Igor Lebedev. &ldquo;It was our first game and our team is not used to such a small rink. The feeling of the rink (the small ice) and the boards was confusing.&ldquo;As for the Americans&hellip;they lacked teamwork.&rdquo;The U.S. team is being closely watched by National Hockey League teams, the main reason being six of seven draft-eligible players on the U.S. team have been called potential first-round picks in the June draft. They include Brian Leetch, Greg Brown, Craig Janney, Jim Carson, Scott Young and Mike Wolak. &#9632;

Soviets Open Up With Impressive Showing

<h2>WORLD JUNIORS</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. DEC. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02885/5223082-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="536" height="241"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>THU. DEC. 26CANADA 12, SWITZERLAND 1SOVIET UNION 7, USA 3CZECHOSLOVAKIA 9, W. GERMANY 3SWEDEN 2, FINLAND 0<h2>IZVESTIA TOURNAMENT</h2>(FINAL STANDINGS)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03619/5223075-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="533" height="163"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>MON. DEC. 16SOVIETS 8, CANADA 2CZECHOSLOVAKIA 3, SWEDEN 3TUE. DEC. 17SWEDEN 6, CANADA 1SOVIETS 4, FINLAND 1WED. DEC. 18CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1, FINLAND 1THU. DEC. 19CZECHOSLOVAKIA 7, CANADA 2SOVIETS 10, SWEDEN 1FRI. DEC. 20SWEDEN 3, FINLAND 1SAT. DEC. 21CANADA 5, FINLAND 4CZECHOSLOVAKIA 3, SOVIETS 1(CZECHS WIN TOURNAMENT)<h2>SPENGLER CUP</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. DEC. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04411/5223068-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="531" height="163"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>THU. DEC. 26CANADA 2, CZECHOSLOVAKIA 2SWITZERLAND 4, W. GERMANY 3SOVIET TOUR<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>THU. DEC. 26RED ARMY 5, LOS ANGELES 2GAMES TO COMEFRI. DEC. 27RED ARMY AT EDMONTONSUN. DEC. 29RED ARMY AT QUEBECMOSCOW DYNAMO AT CALGARYTUE. DEC. 31RED ARMY AT MONTREALTHU. JAN. 2RED ARMY AT ST. LOUISSAT. JAN. 4RED ARMY AT MINNESOTAMOSCOW DYNAMO AT PITTSBURGHMON. JAN. 6MOSCOW DYNAMO AT BOSTONWED. JAN. 8MOSCOW DYNAMO AT BUFFALO<h2>Thu. Dec. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05263/5223061-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="535" height="379"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03746/5223054-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="544" height="497"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04454/5223047-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="531" height="556"></div> &#9632;

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INTERNATIONAL SCOREBOARD, SUMMARIES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011386/5223113-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="377" height="419"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Orr</figcaption></div><h2>TALK! TALK! TALK!</h2>There&rsquo;s lots of it in the National Hockey League. Some of it is noteworthy. Some is silly. Occasionally, the chit-chat can be funny.Here are a few of the things hockey guys have been saying on a variety of subjects this season.&bull; Mark Messier of the Edmonton Oilers after he was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by linesman Gerard Gauthier for words during a faceoff in a game at Philadelphia: &lsquo;&lsquo;I just told him to drop the %&$%& puck. I didn&rsquo;t suggest that his mother had swam after troop ships or anything.&rdquo;&bull; Jimmy Devellano&rsquo;s great line about the Norris Division of the NHL has been used before, but it bears repeating. The Detroit Red Wing general manager said: &ldquo;The Norris Division is a bit like puppy love. It only matters much to the puppies.&rdquo;&bull; Steve Richmond, a defenseman recalled from the minors by the New York Rangers early this season; &ldquo;You&rsquo;re probably a piece of meat everywhere you play, but at least in the NHL, you&rsquo;re prime rib.&rdquo;&bull; Goalie Dan Bouchard on his first game with the Winnipeg Jets after a trade from Quebec Nordiques: &ldquo;I was so excited, I would have made coffee nervous.&rdquo;&bull; Jack Parker, coach of Boston University, on the so-called &ldquo;code&rdquo; of protecting a goalie from the opposition&rsquo;s cheap shots: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a batch of baloney, a bunch of macho stuff from Canada. The referees should handle it. That&rsquo;s what they are there to do.&rdquo;&bull; Pete Peeters on the goalie exchange (Peeters for Pat Riggin) between the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals: &ldquo;It was strictly a business deal for the Bruins because I make more money than Riggin.&rdquo;&bull; Ray Bourque, the fine Bruin defenseman, on his status in the NHL: &ldquo;Until my team wins the Stanley Cup or gets to that kind of level, I&rsquo;ll just be a good defenseman. You&rsquo;re never great until you win big.&rdquo;&bull; Neil Sheehy, Calgary Flame defenseman, on taking ballet lessons at coach Bob Johnson&rsquo;s suggestion: &ldquo;One of the things you&rsquo;re supposed to do is go above and beyond what&rsquo;s expected of you. That&rsquo;s how I looked at ballet. It was something that&rsquo;s above and beyond what&rsquo;s required.&rdquo;&bull; Don Cherry, former coach, now electronic babbler: &ldquo;Michel Bergeron (Nordiques) is one of my favorite coaches. I think he&rsquo;s a French Don Cherry.&rdquo;&bull; Chris Nilan, the tough Canadien who was criticized strongly by Harry Sinden: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a Boston guy, so where does Harry think I developed my style? 1 got it from watching his teams play.&rdquo;&bull; Bob Plager, former defenseman, now a St. Louis Blues&rsquo; scout, had a skating race with center Doug Wickenheiser, who is skating again after suffering a dreadful knee injury last winter: &ldquo;We raced and it wasn&rsquo;t a photo finish. It was an oil painting.&rdquo;&bull; Two airline pilots in Chicago&rsquo;s O&rsquo;Hare airport on spotting Wayne Gretzky walking through on a plane change: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s Gretzky. He has enough money to buy this airport.&rdquo;&bull; Gretzky, on hearing the remark: &ldquo;if I had enough money, I would buy every airport and close them all.&rdquo; No. 99 is a noted white-knuckled flier.&bull; Nordique defenseman Pat Price on the rivalry with Montreal Canadiens: &ldquo;Somebody could get hurt. We hate red, they hate blue and it goes from there.&rdquo;&bull; Larry Rauch, agent for Blues&rsquo; winger Joey Mullen, who had a long, tough negotiation on a new contract and has been the subject of many trade rumors: &ldquo;In trade discussions, they (the Blues) talk about him like he&rsquo;s filet mignon. But, in contract talks, he&rsquo;s veal chops.&rdquo;&bull; Brian Lawton, 21, of the Minnesota North Stars on trying to add weight: &ldquo;I lifted weights and ran and skated the past few summers but didn&rsquo;t add any weight until this year. I guess my body just wasn&rsquo;t ready when I was 18 or 19.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Columnists

Talk Is Cheap And Plentiful In NHL

<div class="byline">BY JEFF Z. KLEIN AND KARL-ERIC REIF</div>Imagine what it would be like for Marcel Dionne were he playing in the the north&mdash;say, in Montreal or New York or Calgary or Chicago. Everywhere he&rsquo;d go, there&rsquo;d be camera crews and hordes of adoring fans.But Dionne plays in Los Angeles, where hockey is a curiosity to all but a relatively small following. No one pays that much attention to him; he&rsquo;s tucked away in a remote corner of the continent, playing for a team that never makes much of a splash, except in the ocean.Dionne is one of the best ever to play the game. Even today, at the age of 34 and after 14 years in the NHL, he may well be the second-best center in the league. Yet, even as he continues to shatter records in this, the twilight of his glorious career, people shrug their shoulders and say, &ldquo;Gretzky&rsquo;s going to break all these records within five years anyway, so who cares?&rdquo;To see just how great the Little Beaver is, take a look at the accompanying table. It lists the 11 players who have led their teams in scoring the most consecutive seasons. Dionne led the Red Wings in scoring in l973-74and &lsquo;74-75, then went to the Kings and led them in scoring every year from &lsquo;75-76 up through &lsquo;8283. In each of the 10 straight seasons, he outscored every one of his teammates&mdash;a feat no other player in the 68-year history of the NHL has ever matched.True, this statistic is not the ultimate measure of a player&rsquo;s worth. A forward doesn&rsquo;t have to be the top point-scorer on his club in order to be a great player, and of course, injury or the excellent play of a teammate can easily interrupt a team scoring-title reign. But to appear on this list, remember that a player must not only prove to be a very good scorer over a prolonged period of time, he must also be durable enough not to miss too many games.Remember, too, that an injury was what snapped Dionne&rsquo;s streak. The Drummondville native went down after 66 games of the &lsquo;83-84 season. Naturally, he was far and away the Kings&rsquo; top scorerat the time. Bernie Nicholls, who ended up playing 12 more games, finished with just three more points than did Dionne. The Beaver bounced back last season, leading L A. once again, and winding up fourth in the league scoring race.And while you&rsquo;re at it, remember that Dionne is always way up there in the plus-minus ratings on a team that is usually deep into the minus column.One final amazing stat on Dionne: He has missed only 31 regular-season games over his 1,083-game, 14-year career.Speaking of players who are unjustly obscured by playing in a city remote from the nerve centers of hockey, note Bernie Federko&rsquo;s position on the chart. Though he&rsquo;s not nearly as excellent a two-way performer as is Dionne, Federko&rsquo;s prowess on offense is unquestioned.Writers have been singing the praises of Brian Sutter and Joey Mullen for years. But it has been Federko quietly turning in some remarkable numbers, leading the Blues in scoring seven straight years. Despite his impressive offensive ability, his consistency, and his pivotal role in the St. Louis attack, Federko has yet to win a post-season honor in his eight-and-a-half years in the NHLFederko and Wayne Gretzky are the only players on this chart whose streaks are still alive. The only other active player on the honor roll besides them and Dionne is Tom Lysiak of Chicago. Lysiak. Gretzky, and Nels Stewart, the incomparable Montreal Maroon, are the only players to have started their streaks as team scoring leaders in their rookie seasons.Gordie Howe and Andy Bathgate share second place on the list, both having begun nine-year sojourns at the top in 1954-55. Howe would have had a longer string of team scoring titles were it not for his linemate, Ted Lindsay, whose big seasons were aided immeasurably by Howe himself. As for Bathgate, during the 50s and 60s, he was recognized as one of the game&rsquo;s top stars. But the Rangers&rsquo; poor showing over those years&mdash;as well as the larger-than-life legends of Howe, Hull, Beliveau and Mikita&mdash;have caused today&rsquo;s fans to forget how good a player Bathgate really was. It is unfortunate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02999/5223144-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="585" height="871"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marcel Dionne has been a model of consistency since entering the NHL.</figcaption></div>Two Canadien icons are here: Howie Morenz and Guy Lafleur, as well as the heart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Bobby Clarke. Paul Thompson, one of the very best left wingers of his era, is also here.The linchpin of the Chicago attack during the 30s, Thompson is best remembered&mdash;when people remember him at all&mdash;as the brother of the Boston goaltending great Tiny Thompson. But Paul was a very good player in his own right, and without him, the Black Hawks almost certainly wouldn&rsquo;t have won the two Stanley Cups they captured during his eight years in Chicago.Some players are conspicuous by their absence from this list. Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, for instance, spent their careers exchanging team scoring titles. Phil Esposito&rsquo;s string of team championships was interrupted a couple of times by Bobby Orr. Toe Blake, Elmer Lach and Rocket Richard spent several seasons passing the Montreal crown around. Injuries kept Gil Perreault from putting together more than five consecutive years as team scoring leader, a fate suffered by many other great players. &#9632;

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Day After Day, Dionne’s Dynamic

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03648/5223199-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg"></div>TEAM SCORING LEADER(Active players in capital letters) &#9632;

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MOST CONSECUTIVE YEARS AS

<div class="byline">By Bob Duff</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011235/5223230-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="452" height="452"></div>Q: I was wondering if you could run a list of all of the players who have had their sweater numbers retired by NHL teams?Edward Leslie, Edmonton. Alta.A: Thirty-six uniform numbers have beenjetired by the various National Hockey League clubs. Thirty-five players have been so honored with Gordie Howe owning the distinction of having his sweater retired by both Hartford and Detroit.Here&rsquo;s a complete list:Boston: Eddie Shore (2); Lionel Hitchman (3); Bobby Orr (4); Dit Clapper (5); John Bucyk (9); Milt Schmidt (15); Buffalo: Tim Horton (2); Chicago: Bobby Hull (9); Stan Mikita (21); Detroit: Larry Aurie (6); Gordie Howe (9); Edmonton: Al Hamilton (3); Hartford: Rick Ley (2); Gordie Howe (9); John McKenzie (19); Los Angeles: Rogatien Vachon (30); Minnesota: Bill Masterton (19); Montreal: Doug Harvey (2); Jean Beliveau (4); Howie Morenz (7); Maurice Richard (9); Guy Lafleur (10); Henri Richard (16); New York Rangers: Rod Gilbert (7); Philadelphia: Bernie Parent (1); Barry Ashbee (4); Bobby Clarke (16); Pittsburgh: Michel Briere (21); Quebec: J.C. Tremblay (3); Marc Tardif (8); St. Louis: Bob Gassoff (3); Barclay Plager (8); Toronto: Bill Barilko (5); Vancouver: Wayne Maki (11); Washington: Yvon Labre (7).Another name will be added to this list at the end of the 1985-86 season, when the Philadelphia Flyers will officially retire sweater No. 31 in memory of the late Pelle Lindbergh.Q: What prize does the Stanley Cup losing finalist receive?Kenneth Levin,&nbsp; Williamsville. NYA: The losers of the Stanley Cup final this year won&rsquo;t get their names inscribed on the Stanley Cup, but will be compensated nonetheless.The defeated finalists will receive $15,000 each. Besides Lord Stanley&rsquo;s mug, the winners also earn $20,000 apiece.Q: Has the record Eddie Bush set in the 1942 Stanley Cup finals for points by a defenseman been broken?Buck Jones,&nbsp; Tampa. FL.A: Bush&rsquo;s record stood the test of time for 43 years, but it finally fell in last season&rsquo;s playoffs when Edmonton&rsquo;s Paul Coffey topped it. Bush had registered a goal and four assists in a 5-2 win over Toronto on April 9, 1942.The record was equalled by Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bob Dailey in 1980 and New York Islanders&rsquo; Denis Potvin in 1981, but was not shattered until Coffey registered a goal and five assists last May 14 in a 10-5 Campbell Conference final victory over the Chicago Black Hawks.If you want your question answered in the Ask the Duffer column, send the query to:ASK THE DUFFER,125 5th Ave. North, Apt. 1510Saskatoon, Sask.S7K 6A5Personal replies to letters are not possible. &#9632;

f0007-01

ASK THE DUFFER

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02872/5223261-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg"></div>that the players with the most hat-tricks in the NHL last season were: &#9632;

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Did You Know…

1. Name the two current NHL head coaches who were first-round draft choices.2. What player was with the first-place finisher in the Norris Division in each of the last two seasons?3. What NHL referee has officiated the most league games?4. Name the five current NHL head coaches who once played for the L. A. Kings.5. Which Minnesota North Star rearguard played for the U.S. at the &lsquo;78 world junior tourney?6. When was the last NHL season in which there were no trades during the actual season?7. Which current NHL player scored his first goal on a penalty shot?8. Which L.A. King player is nicknamed Lou?9. Which Vancouver Canuck was born in Karlovyvary, Czechoslovakia?10. What former WHA tough guy was nicknamed &ldquo;Seldom&rdquo;?<h2>This Week&rsquo;s Trivia Answers</h2>1. Jim Schoenfeld and Dan Maloney. 2. Craig Levie (Minnesota 1983-84; St. Louis 1984-85). 3. Ron Wicks. 4. Bob Pulford, Dan Maloney, Butch Goring, Bob Berry, Barry Long. 5. Ed Hospodar. 6. 1966-67. 7. Ilkka Sinisalo. 8. Marcel Dionne. 9. Rick Lanz. 10. Frank Beaton. &#9632;

TRIVIA

Here&rsquo;s what was happening 20 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; NHL president Clarence Campbell, hearing that the Soviets might make their players available for professional hockey, scoffed, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be realistic. (The Soviets) are not good enough to play in the NHL.&rdquo;&bull; Billy Dea of the American League&rsquo;s Buffalo Bisons, became the new Iron Man of the league, after playing his 526th straight career game.&bull; Sixteen-year NHL veteran Norm Ullman scored his 400th career goal.&bull; The Minnesota North Stars became the most &lsquo;helmeted&rsquo; team in the NHL, with four players having donned the protective headgear. The latest wasMurray Oliver, who decided to wear one after suffering a nasty forehead cut that caused him to miss a game. &#9632;

THIS WEEK…20 Years Ago

The International Hockey WeeklyFounded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>The Eyes Have It</h2>FROM TIME TO time in professional hockey, you hear about players who had close calls, players who, because of an errant high stick or puck, came within an eyelash of losing their sight.There have been many over the years&mdash;Ryan Walter of the Montreal Canadiens is but the most recent example of one who was fortunate enough to narrowly avert personal disaster. But every so often, hockey is forced to deal with the tragedy of career-ending eye injuries such as the one involving Hector Marini.Marini, a former National League player with the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, was playing with the Fort Wayne Komets of the International League in December when he was struck directly in the eye by a puck. Doctors were forced to remove the damaged eye.Incidents such as those involving Marini and Walter, which happened within weeks of each other, have sparked cries from some quarters for legislation to make eye protection mandatory at the NHL level.Which is understandable.A number of NHL players&mdash;Pat LaFontaine, Mats Naslund and Ronnie Francis are three good ones who come immediately to mind&mdash;already wear the clear plexiglass visor that covers the upper part of the face. All three Canadian major junior leagues, as well as all U.S. college leagues, make some sort of facial protection mandatory.So, given the fact that every non-professional player is already wearing facial protection, is it not unreasonable to expect them to continue wearing it at the pro level? In other words, is it not time to once again save hockey players from themselves and force them to wear eye protection, the same as they were forced to don protective headgear?In fact, what difference is there between the two? If a player wears a helmet, why not a visor? In today&rsquo;s hockey world, it seems totally incongruous to have one without the other.Therefore, if you&rsquo;re opposed to mandatory facial protection, then you&rsquo;d better be against the helmet rule, too.But the bottom line is that graduating juniors and collegians, who have been wearing facial protection for all or most of their young hockey lives, should be forced to continue wearing it at the pro level.That way, the day will soon arrive when all players at all levels will be properly equipped with both head and eye protection.Just call it legislation with vision. &#9632;

The Hockey News

It&rsquo;s time for the NHL to adopt the European (and minor hockey) rule for icing the puck.First of all, if play were stopped as soon as the puck crossed the goal line, injuries could be avoided. Many players are boarded or checked severely into the end boards. Two careers that ended on icing calls were those of Joe Watson (broken leg) and Bob Dailey (damaged knee). Last year, Brad McCrimmon (separated shoulder) and Tim Kerr (knee-inury) were also hurt hustling for iced pucks. And these are only Philadelphia players affected.Another result of the clashes on icing calls can be fights. Often, major altercations occur, resulting in long delays, player ejections, numerous penalties and a general cheapening of the game.Icing the puck is the lazy man&rsquo;s way out of a pressure situation. As a matter of fact, the other team&rsquo;s players are penalized by being forced to skate the length of the ice to touch the puck. If play stops as soon as the puck crosses the goal line, little time is lost off the clock and this is important&mdash;especially near the end of games.It&rsquo;s time for a change in the icing rule.Gregg Lorenz, Levittown, PA(For Mr. Lorenz, a rule change would be the perfect icing on his cake.)<h2>LOGIC QUESTIONED</h2>I believe the NHL has a problem in vicepresident Brian O&rsquo;Neill. I am amazed at his logic, or lack thereof, in handling the suspensions of Chris Nilan and Bob Janecyk.In Janecyk&rsquo;s case, Peter Zezel takes a run at him and he retaliates by slashing Zezel on the arm. The two fought and received penalties, By no means do I condone stick swinging but this was a provoked attack. Also, Bob Janecyk (yes, ESPN&rsquo;s Tom Mees, that&rsquo;s Bob Janecyk, not Steve), is not notorious for this type of behaviour and yet he receives a five-game suspension for protecting himself.Nilan, on the other hand, butt-ends Rick Middleton in the mouth for no apparent reason. He wasn&rsquo;t provoked. He didn&rsquo;t even know who it was standing next to him. Nilan, a notorious goon, did some serious damage to Middleton&rsquo;s mouth and received only an eight-game suspension.There is no parallel to these incidents but one might think so by comparing the suspensions. If Janecyk deserved five games, and maybe he did, then Nilan should have been banned for the season.Mike Oravets,&nbsp; Riverside, CA(Perhaps, suspended animation would be the best suspension for Chris Nilan whenever he feels the need to throw a puck or butt-end a player.)<h2>MOMENTS OF DESPAIR</h2>Jay Snider&rsquo;s letter to THE HOCKEY NEWS (Nov: 15, 1985) was extremely enlightening for someone as politically naive as myself.I now realize that as I have watched all of those international matches over the last 10 years I have slowly been going morally bankrupt. And by paying money to attend these matches, I have been sanctioning &ldquo;the bloodiest dictatorship in the history of the world.&rdquo; I&rsquo;m mortified.However, in my darkest moments of despair, I do wonder if Mr. Snider has ever heard of South Africa. Where does it rank among his &ldquo;all-time worst&rdquo;? Did he ever consider how responsible his own country, &ldquo;the freest country in the history of the world&rdquo;, is for the system of apartheid that still holds sway there? Or would that kind of question lead Mr. Snider into making a list of &ldquo;the most repressive rightwing dictatorships supported by the U.S. in the history of the world?&rdquo;Maybe then, he&rsquo;d be better off boycotting games played against the Washington Capitals.But these areas are probably too gray for Mr. Snider. At the very least, however, we now know the answer to the question of what he wants to be when he grows up&mdash;Harold Ballard.Michael Tarantino,&nbsp; Somerville, MA(Boycotting the Capitals would not be wise for the Flyers who won five and tied another in seven against Washington last year.) &#9632;

FAN FORUM

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011320/5223419-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0008-01

HIBERNATE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011292/5223450-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="350" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Fischler&rsquo;s</figcaption></div>The first people to spark my interest in hockey nearly 50 years ago were goaltenders, and. to this day. I get my biggest thrills watching the padded men doing their business.What knocks me out more than anything is seeing a seemingly hopeless goaltender step into the bigs, get himself good and ridiculed only to turn the tables on his carping critics somewhere down the line.That is why Clint Malarchuk of Grande Prarie, Alta., is far and away my favorite goalie of 1986.The first time I ever saw Clint Malarchuk play an NHL game I was convinced that Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; coach Michel Bergeron had just hauled him in from a floating iceberg off Baffin Island.&ldquo;He was pretty stiff,&rdquo; Bergeron recalls.Stiff is about the kindest description of the Malarchuk malaise.He covered the crease that night in 1981-82 at Nassau Coliseum like a herniated kangaroo and by the time the New York Islanders had finished with him. Malarchuk had allowed 10 goals, going on 100.&ldquo;I was nervous,&rdquo; he remembers. &ldquo;And inexperienced.&rdquo;Not only that, but, dammit, he didn&rsquo;t even look like a goalie. There was an awkwardness about Malarchuk&rsquo;s moves that suggested an aptitude for hockey journalism. Anything, but not goaltending.&ldquo;It was much too early to give up on him.&rdquo; Bergeron says, &ldquo;so we sent him to Fredericton and hoped for the best.&rdquo;The first season of hope produced a 5.10 goals-against average in Fredericton. A year later it was 3.11 and Bergeron was itchy for another look.&ldquo;1 got two looks over two years (1982-83, 1983-84) but we had better (goalies),&rdquo; Bergeron says.Les Nordiques opened the new season with Mario Gosselin, Richard Sevigny and Dan Bouchard alternating in goal. Malarchuk was in the boonies again.&ldquo;The difference,&rdquo; he insists, &ldquo;is that I felt good about myself and about my goalkeeping.&rdquo;The other difference was the way that fate would intervene on his behalf this year. Bouchard was dispatched to Winnipeg, Sevigny got hurt and Malarchuk got the call. When I heard the news, I thought of the 10-1 debacle and chuckled to myself.I stopped chuckling a couple of nights later. Malarchuk shut out the usually un-shutoutable Bruins at Boston Garden on Nov. 28 and at Le Colisee on Nov. 30.&ldquo;This year,&rdquo; says the mustachioed Malarchuk, &ldquo;I feel like I belong.&rdquo;A week later he started at Nassau Coliseum and 1 watched him as closely as I&rsquo;ve ever watched a goaltender.Very early in the game, he waved good-bye to a goal by Denis Potvin but his team got that back soon enough. From then on he was the reincarnation of Bernie Parent. He rarely went to the ice and played his angles with Parentian perfection. I didn&rsquo;t have to wait for the final buzzer to realize that this was a big-league goaltender.We met for the first time after his win and 1 reminded Clint of his traumatic debut four years ago. How vivid was it today?&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t forget nights like that,&rdquo; he chortled.This is a man who chortles easily, a naturally upbeat athlete.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s funny,&rdquo; says Bergeron, &ldquo;and good for the team.&rdquo; His mates call him Mallard. I asked Clint why.&ldquo;You have two choices, I&rsquo;m Mallard on account of Malarchuk, Or, I&rsquo;m Mallard for the way I walk. Watch.&rdquo;He got up&mdash;all 5-foot-l1, 180 pounds of him&mdash;and walked down the hall. A duck couldn&rsquo;t have done a better imitation of a mallard than Malarchuk.&ldquo;You gotta be kidding?&rdquo; I said.&ldquo;No.&rdquo; he chuckled again, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not.&rdquo;Apparently he&rsquo;s not kidding about his goaltending either. At last count, he was 5-4-2 and chuckling.Now I&rsquo;ll tell you the last reason I like him. Last summer, when Nordiques&rsquo; publicist Bernard Brisset was writing thumbnail sketches for the club&rsquo;s media directory, he inserted a new category entitled: &ldquo;Person In The World Who Impressed Him The Most.&rdquo;Dale Hunter answered John Wayne, and Dan Bouchard said it was Billy Graham.Clint Malarchuk said it was his mother. And just to prove he meant it, he flew her in from Alberta to see him beat the Bruins.This is a guy who&rsquo;s hard to dislike.<h2>THE HEAT IS ON PATRICK</h2>The Patrick Dilemma: Exactly one year ago. Rangers&rsquo; general manager Craig Patrick began turning the screws that ultimately sprung his once-favorite coach Herb Brooks out of a job.Since then, a number of New York writers have been turning the screws on Craig Patrick.The first was Mark Everson of the New York Post, who consumed an entire page offering everyone from Scotty Bowman to Phil Esposito as a candidate to replace Patrick.The last was Newsday&rsquo;s Helene Elliott, who spent a few hundred words dissecting Hall of Famer Lester Patrick&rsquo;s grandson. The headlines said it all, PATRICK&rsquo;S BEEN NO SAVIOR. ON A TREADMILL TO NOWHERE. RANGER GM HASN&rsquo;T BEEN ABLE TO END 45-YEAR CUP DROUGHT.In between the Daily News&rsquo;s Frank Brown delivered a lively three-part series on the Rangers&rsquo; chronic inability to deliver the silverware which was less an indictment of Patrick and more an overview of the team&rsquo;s frustrating four decades.Although Patrick is a diffident, likable man who shuns the limelight as avidly as Lou Nanne seeks it, Craig cannot avoid close inspection because his team is one of the most important in the league. The question is, does Patrick deserve to be dumped on as Elliott has done or should he be granted more patience?For the answer I went to a man who has watched, studied and criticized the Rangers since before Elliot was bom, a man who has as much an emotional investment in the Blueshirts as Patrick, himself.Author, player, hockey manager Ira Gitler tells me that Patrick has been &ldquo;unnecessarily&rdquo; criticized by the Fourth Estate. His reasoning is interesting.&ldquo;Craig has a quiet personality,&rdquo; Gitler explains, &ldquo;and he doesn&rsquo;t say much for the media, so they turn on him because he doesn&rsquo;t supply fodder for their mills.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s part of it. The Brooks affair is another element. The press&mdash;me included&mdash;loved Herbie, warts and all. Brooks was one of the most entertaining hockey personalities ever to grace the Apple and I&rsquo;m convinced the majority of the media resents Patrick for the manner in which he gave Herbie the hook. No less important is the repsonse to the question, what has he done for us lately?Patrick made a splendid coaching choice in Ted Sator, who, if nothing else, has provided an energetic team that, at times, has betrayed signs of brilliance. Sator&rsquo;s aides&mdash;Jack Birch and Reg Higgs&mdash;are no less sharp.What Craig has not done&mdash;and nobody knows it better than Craig&mdash;is do what his Patrick Division neighbors have done.The Islanders won four Stanley Cups before they were 12 years old and the Flyers have turned an average team into a Stanley Cup finalist faster than you can say Peter Zezel.But is that cause enough for him to be replaced?His critics notwithstanding, the answer is no. He has made mistakes and could have been more flamboyant in the trade department but his deals certainly have been neither wimpy nor washouts.Patrick&rsquo;s most publicized trade (Ron Duguay, Ed Mio, Ed Johnstone to Detroit for Mike Blaisdell, Willie Huber and Mark Osborne) at worst was a draw. Mio and Johnstone were instant busts, Duguay, an instant hero with the Red Wings. But Patrick still has two regulars in Huber and Osborne, the latter of whom could still be a gem.Overall, his mark on the market cannot be less than a C-plus. His reluctance to sign free agents turned out to be a virtue. He bypassed Adam Oates and Ray Staszak despite some heavy lobbying from the press and came up with an unknown but effective Mike Ridley. His European selections, especially Tomas Sandstom, are better than average, although his North American picks have come under legitimate criticism.If nothing else. Patrick is on the spot. His contract runs out this season and if he does not deliver a club that has a rousing finish Craig, himself, could be finished.Were he in Bloomington, the demands would be less emphatic but on Broadway the I.Q. (Impatience Quotient) is extremely high. And nobody has a higher I.Q. than the New York hockey writers.<h2>30-SECOND THIRD DEGREE</h2>Wendel Clark of the Toronto Maple Leafs, please take the stand.Q: Do you think your old stomping grounds. Saskatoon, could support an NHL team?CLARK: For three or four years, yes. After that, I don&rsquo;t know. It&rsquo;s a great hockey area but if an NHL team came in it would hurt the junior hockey. Let&rsquo;s face it, the junior and other minor hockey there is what supplies players to the NHL.Q: What are your impressions of Harold Ballard?CLARK: I see him often because he comes on the road trips with us. So far he&rsquo;s been a great guy, treats everybody real well, talks to us, encourages us.Q: How about your personal goals?CLARK: I&rsquo;d like to be one player out of 20 that makes the Toronto Maple Leafs into a winning hockey club.Q: Has the NHL been what you expected it to be?CLARK: 1 came here with an open mind, willing to accept anything that came along, have a good time and play hard. I&rsquo;ve found that the biggest difference between the NHL and the WHL is the timing. Here, I have to think a whole lot faster and the checking is closer. There&rsquo;s more team play. In junior there was a lot of free-wheeling and guys who could carry the puck from one end to the other.Q: Now that you&rsquo;ve been through the United States as well as Canada, compare American fans with the Canadians.CLARK: Canadian fans are quieter. They&rsquo;re into watching and deciphering the game. Americans are a lot more vocal&mdash;more rah-rah. In the U.S., they get behind their team and just root them on whereas the Canadians have more appreciation and knowledge of hockey.Q: What about the work you used to do on the farm out west?CLARK: We&rsquo;re grain farmers&mdash;wheat and barley. The thing is, I&rsquo;m playing hockey when the work has to be done. &#9632;

f0009-01

ON THE CONTRARY

Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; Dave Hunter has been sentenced to four months in jail following conviction on a third impaired-driving charge.Hunter, 27, was also given a three-month concurrent sentence for refusing to provide a breath sample and a $750 fine for driving withtout a valid license.His lawyer, Ed Molstad, immediately filed an appeal on the sentencing and convictions Dec. 17. Hunter is free to play for the Oilers until the appeal process is complete.The seven-year NHL veteran was charged Jan. 17 after being stopped twice the same night by Edmonton police officers. The first policeman let him off with a warning.Hunter was found guilty on the three charges June 18.Glenn Anderson has finally been stopped&mdash;but not by National Hockey League goalies whom he&rsquo;s terrorized all year.The high-flying Edmonton Oiler was suspended eight games for a stickswinging incident involving Dave Silk of the Winnipeg Jets.Silk was banned from six games for his part in the Dec. 13 altercation.Following another incident one day later, Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; Greg Stefan was handed a six-game suspension for swinging his stick at Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; forward Dan Frawley.Anderson, who had 24 goals and 26 assists at the time of the suspension, was cited under Rule 49 for &ldquo;deliberate injury of opponents&rdquo; during the game while Silk was penalized under Rule 44 for &ldquo;attempt to injure&rdquo;.&ldquo;In reviewing the facts of this incident,&rdquo; said NHL vicpresident Brian O&rsquo;Neill, &ldquo;it is clear that both players deliberately swung their sticks in a menacing manner and contact was made in both cases.&ldquo;It is also clear that although Anderson was initially shoved by Silk, he was the aggressor in the stick-swinging incident and caused injury to the Winnipeg player. There are, however, no mitigating circumstances that warranted Silk&rsquo;s retaliation with his stick.&rdquo;Stefan&rsquo;s suspension is his second of the season. He missed the first eight games of the season as the result of a stick-swinging incident during last year&rsquo;s playoffs.Denis Potvin has surpassed Bobby Orr as the all-team leading scorer among National Hockey League defensemen.The 13-year veteran earned the 916th point of his career Dec. 20 when teammate Mike Bossy converted a pass to give the New York Islanders a 1-0 lead over the New York Rangers on Dec. 20.&ldquo;I really couldn&rsquo;t believe it when Boss scored,&rdquo; said Potvin, who set the record with a combination of 265 goals and 651 assists. &ldquo;I made the pass and watched Boss. My intention was to get the puck to him and I was actually kind of going off the ice. I had finished my shift.&rdquo;After tying Orr, the Boston Bruin legend who compiled 915 points on 270 goals and 645 assists in 657 games, on Dec. 7 against the Quebec Nordiques, Potvin had a longer-than-anticipated wait to establish the new mark.For nearly two full weeks, Potvin was frustrated in his bid to top Orr.&ldquo;This four-game drought really started causing some crazy emotions inside of me,&rdquo; said Potvin, who needed 883 games to set the record.The historic game between the New York rivals ended in a 2-2 tie.A flurry of trades came in and around Christmastime in the NHL.Among them was the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; dealing of defenseman Mike McEwen, 29, to the New York Rangers for blueliner Steve Richmond. 26. Richmond was assigned to Adirondack of the American League while McEwen reported directly to the Rangers.The Edmonton Oilers were involved in two trades, sending five minor-leaguers on their way&mdash;including two who wouldn&rsquo;t play for Edmonton&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Nova Scotia.Center Marc Habscheid. 22, who had left the team, left winger Don Barber, 21, of Bowling Green University and Prince Albert junior defenseman Emmanuel Viveiros, 20, were dealt to the Minnesota North Stars in exchange for centers Gord Sherven, 22, and Don Biggs. 20. Sherven was with Minnesota and Biggs with Springfield in the AHL at the time of the trade.In another trade, Edmonton sent defenseman Larry Melnyk, 25, who had also left the Oilers&rsquo; farm team, and left winger Todd Strueby, 22, to the New York Rangers for veteran center Mike Rogers, 31, who had been playing for New Haven in the AHL.Meanwhile, left winger Joe Paterson, 25, was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for future considerations.Paterson was playing for the Hershey Bears, Philadelphia&rsquo;s AHL affiliate, at the time of the trade.The two NHL teams also hooked up in another deal as the Kings bought the contract of Hershey center Len Hachbom.Not even Guy Lafleur could help an overmatched French team avoid disaster against Riga Dynamo of the Soviet Union in a Paris holiday hockey tournament.Lafleur, the former Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; superstar who retired more than a year ago, didn&rsquo;t figure in the scoring or penalties as Riga bombed Francais Volants (Flying Frenchmen) 16-1.The 34-year-old denied that he accepted a large sum of money to play for the French team.&ldquo;All 1 asked from the Francais Volants was to pay the air fare for me, my wife and my sons. That&rsquo;s what I got,&rdquo; said Lafleur.Wayne Gretzky has been named the Canadian Press male athlete of the year.Gretzky, who led the Edmonton Oilers to their second straight Stanley Cup last May, won the award for an unprecedented fifth time.The Brantford, Ont., native was also presented with the Lionel Conacher Trophy in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.Edmonton Oiler players occupied the lead in five of the six Campbell Conference starting positions in fan all-star balloting released Dec. 18.Among them were superstar defenseman Paul Coffey, who led all vote-getters with a tally of 164,870. Center Wayne Gretzky (145,872), right winger Jan Kurri (125,647), left winger Glenn Anderson (57,875) and goalie Grant Fuhr (78,889) were the other Oiler leaders.Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; defenseman Doug Wilson (64,455) was the only non-Oiler with a starting position for the game Feb. 4 in Hartford.Voting for the Wales team was as follows: center Mario Lemieux. Pittsburgh, 53,200; right winger Mike Bossy, New York Islanders, 59,373; left winger Brian Propp. Philadelphia Flyers, 45,229; defensemen Ray Bourque. Boston, 73,358 and Rod Langway, Washington, 67, 452; and goalie, the late Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia. 50.266. &#9632;

HOCKEY NOTEBOOK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011361/5223512-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The death of Armand Potvin, left, had a deep effect on Denis, right, pictured here during happy times together.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011241/5223505-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="1520" height="1176"><figcaption class="caption-body">A young and emotional Denis Potvin, left, with a baby-faced Bryan Trottier, right, celebrates a playoff goal.</figcaption></div>In the summner of 1984, Denis Potvin was given up for lost as a functioning top-rated NHL defenseman. Disabled by an ailment that limited his effectiveness in the Stanley Cup finals, Potvin was the subject of quiet rumors that he might never play bigleague hockey again. The loss of his beloved father, Armand, was still another blow that traumatized the New York Islanders&rsquo; captain and braked his career.The obstacles notwithstanding, Denis got his life and his hockey back on track. He remarried, returned to the Islanders and resumed his role on the blue line. More than that, he continued to develop goals and score some as well until, finally, at age 32, he surpassed Bobby Orr&rsquo;s seemingly unattainable 915-point career scoring record for defensemen.A certain Hall of Famer, Potvin appears to have found peace with himself and the hockey world around him. Following an Islanders&rsquo; practice at Nassau Coliseum, Denis graciously held court on a couch in the &ldquo;Wives&rsquo; Room&rdquo; adjacent to the stands. Wearing a blue Islanders &lsquo;sweatsuit and sneakers, his hair still dishevelled from the workout, Potvin patiently evaluated himself, his friends and his future with HOCKEY NEWS contributing editor Stan Fischler.THN: You&rsquo;re now in your 13th NHL season. As a rookie, how long did you figure you&rsquo;d play?POTVIN: About 10 years&mdash;and I&rsquo;m not sure why. Ten years seemed like a long time and I thought if I could last that long it would really be something. Looking back on the 13 years, I find that it feels shorter than I thought it would be. I remember when I was 25. People told me the years go bye-bye from now on. They were right. Now I can&rsquo;t even keep my years straight. I can&rsquo;t remember what we did in 1978 as opposed to 1977. It bunches up into one big career, but the enjoyment is still there.THN: When has hockey not been fun?POTVIN: In the late 1970s, we (the Islanders) weren&rsquo;t doing as well as people expected. Because of the success we had in 1975&mdash;upsetting the Rangers in the first round, then winning four in a row from the Penguins after we had lost the first three&mdash;we and everyone around us expected us to win championships a lot earlier than we did. There were a lot of hard times when things were not going well on or off the ice and I kind of wanted to get away.THN: What was the scariest, or closest to a career-ending injury you ever had?POTVIN: We were playing the Canucks in Vancouver early in my career. Jocelyn Guevremont, a Canucks&rsquo; defenseman who had a hard shot, wound up at the blue line and drove one at our net. I was in front of the crease at the time, wrestling with one of their players. Fortunately, I had my eye on the puck asnd saw it coming at a spot directly between my eyes. At the last split second, I turned my head and the puck smacked into my head right above the ear. That puck was shot so hard it split the helmet from my ear right to the top of my head. Although I wasn&rsquo;t knocked out I was really dazed and then shock and fear set in because I realized what had happened; that in a split-second that my career&mdash;maybe my life&mdash;could be over playing this sport. As it happened, they checked me out and I was able to play in our next game.THN: During your early NHL years there were rumblings that you didn&rsquo;t get along with your teammates, that you had a big ego.POTVIN: In the beginning people mistakenly intrepreted what I did as setting myself apart from the rest of the players. I never thought of it that way at all. What I did was fulfill my interests. It&rsquo;s just that there were a lot of guys on the team with families and young guys who were not married but not interested in what I was doing. That was no problem. People would say, &lsquo;What are you doing today, Denis?&rsquo; and I would say, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m going into New York,&rsquo; (Manhattan) and other people misinterpreted it as &lsquo;Oh, well, you think you&rsquo;re better than the rest of us.&rsquo; Which was totally ridiculous.&rdquo;THN: What effect did your first marriage and divorce have on your career?POTVIN: It&rsquo;s just something I wouldn&rsquo;t wish on any man or woman. It&rsquo;s the kind of thing you think happens to other people and not you and it just wouldn&rsquo;t go away. The judicial system is such that no one can stand up and say. &lsquo;Alright, this is settled, you guys can go your separate ways and forget about it. &lsquo;It was tough because it consumed my whole life&mdash;and apart from hockey&mdash;that&rsquo;s all there was: court actions and trying to resolve the whole situation in my own mind.It was an awfully humbling experience and more difficult because of the media attention. As much as I wanted to keep it out of the media, the statements made by my ex (-wife) were obviously directed and planned at having the most negative effect on me and using the media so that it could berate me in the worst way. My only comfort was that the court rejected everything she said and I was able to walk away from there feeling some kind of reprieve.THN: Did you ever stop to think what life would have been like&mdash;on and off the ice&mdash;if you had not endured that trauma?POTVIN: I wonder if things had been rosy through all those years, whether things would have been any different. That question will never be answered. During the dark periods when I stepped on the ice, things really brightened up for me. In many ways it was a godsend that I was healthy and able to play. I had a lot of support from my teammates and management was patient with me through the really hard times.THN: How did you meet your present wife, Valerie?POTVIN: Mutual friends who knew us both invited us to a party, although we didn&rsquo;t know each other at the time. When I first saw her I experienced a special feeling that I had never had in my life&mdash;and I don&rsquo;t expect I&rsquo;ll ever have again. Valerie was modeling quite a bit in Europe and travelling quite a bit and in the first six months I didn&rsquo;t see much of her. It just made the attraction that much greater having the relationship via telegram and telephone.THN: How has marriage and fatherhood affected your hockey career?POTVIN: I&rsquo;d never known that marriage could be as good as this or a family as good as this. I&rsquo;ve seen my teammates, year after year, having more and more kids and it seemed that there was more and more joy in their lives. I knew that having kids was something I wanted to happen to me sooner or later. Now that it&rsquo;s here I can&rsquo;t believe how much joy it&rsquo;s bringing me. Now hockey is not all-consuming. When I&rsquo;m playing, I&rsquo;m able to enjoy it more and perform better. I dedicate more time to hockey now, train harder for it. I&rsquo;ve taken on more responsibilities and enjoy each and every one of them.THN: Now that you&rsquo;ve beaten Bobby Orr&rsquo;s record, how do you feel about comparisons with him?POTVIN: Being compared with Orr has been one of the greatest motivations in my career. I&rsquo;ve had something to go for and, let&rsquo;s face it, I couldn&rsquo;t set my ideals any higher. I like the responsibilities and I wanted to be as good as I could be. I&rsquo;m the first to admit that Orr is probably the greatest player to ever play the game, even more so than a Wayne Gretzky. Orr came to the NHL at a time when it really needed a boost. He came to a poor team (the Bruins) and changed the whole hockey game.All of a sudden he made a defenseman more a part of the offense than anyone before him. His skating ability was so spectacular that he was a pleasure to watch, I also think it&rsquo;s unfair to say Denis is better than Orr,&rsquo; or &lsquo;Orr is better than Denis&rsquo;. I give the man all the respect he deserves because I spent a career watching him and being awed by his play. The fact is it took me five years of junior hockey to break the records he established in two. It took me 13 to reach the NHL record he established in eight.The only things that can be attributed to me are good health, good luck and longevity.THN: Are you saying that Orr was a better defenseman than Potvin?POTVIN: I&rsquo;m saying overall, he was more spectacular. There were areas where I was doing things that he could not do. I played a much more physical game than he did. I scored from much farther out than he did. He&rsquo;d be able to carry the puck to the net. I can&rsquo;t do that. I never prided myself on beating anybody one on one. My passing was my greatest asset.It&rsquo;s hard to make comparisons because his game was a lot different than mine. The only thing that&rsquo;s comparable is the end result.THN: How do the defensemen of the late 1970s and early 1980s compare with the comtemporary aces like Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque?POTVIN: There were more good defensemen then. Now you&rsquo;ve got a handful of guys who are really good but one team, the Canadiens in the late 1970s, had three of the best defensemen who ever played the game&mdash;Serge Savard, Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe. Now you&rsquo;ve got a lot of guys who aren&rsquo;t sure what they do. Should I be offensive? Should I be defensive? The roles were more defined then.THN: Your role never seemed to be clearly defined.POTVIN: One of the problems I might have had when I came in was that I always wanted to be more offensive than defensive and that&rsquo;s been a struggle for me throughout my career. Al&rsquo;s (coach Al Arbour) great line was &lsquo;Denis, if you&rsquo;re in good position defensively, you&rsquo;ll be in good position offensively.&rsquo; It took me years to figure that one out, but it works out fine.THN: What effect did Arbour have on your career?POTVIN: He was determined to make sure I understood the importance of defensive play. My skills offensively were going to develop by instinct. That&rsquo;s something he felt he had to harness and he did.THN: Are you saying that Arbour hurt you?POTVIN: He molded me into a more complete defenseman than I would have become simply because he kept whipping me and stressing defense. Now I take pride in making a strong defensive play and over the years a lot of defensive plays have been worth a lot of goals for our team.I don&rsquo;t think it could have been better for me anywhere else. The one thing I&rsquo;m happy about is that I&rsquo;ve had only one coach in the NHL. I look at a guy like Barry Beck (of the Rangers.) He was a young player who came into the league with tremendous potential. In his first two pro years he had about five coaches. That, to me, could hurt a career much more than Al could ever hurt mine.THN: Speaking of the Rangers, imagine for a moment that you were traded to them. How would you like to play in Manhattan?POTVIN: I&rsquo;d like to suit up for one game just to see what the reaction would be. It would be intriguing&mdash;but I don&rsquo;t think it would ever happen and I don&rsquo;t think I would be interested at this time. I hear (Rangers fans) cut a (Potvin) record and it&rsquo;s in some jukeboxes around New York. I think it&rsquo;s getting to be a lot of fun now and I don&rsquo;t think anybody&rsquo;s doing it maliciously. When the (Rangers) fans chant, it&rsquo;s like a high school chant. Rather than yell out &ldquo;V-I-C-T-O-R-Y. Victory, Victory Is Our Cry,&rdquo; they yell out &ldquo;Potvin Sucks,&rdquo; and they feel that that&rsquo;s what motivates the team, or at least gets the fans riled up.THN: Compare the Islanders&rsquo; championship teams to the Canadiens who won five straight Cups and the current Oilers.POTVIN: We&rsquo;re often asked &lsquo;How do you feel about not winning the fifth Stanley Cup?&rsquo; but that doesn&rsquo;t even concern me in the least. What 1 look at is 19 consecutive playoff series that we won from 1980 through 1984. When the Canadiens won five Stanley Cups in a row they only had to beat ten teams over those years. Our team had more character than I can imagine any other team having and there was always a different hero.Every single guy believed that he could be the hero&mdash;Tonelli, Bourne, Nystrom, Gillies. All the overtime goals&mdash;Trottier, Bossy, Ken Morrow. Actually believing we could win any time. I&rsquo;ll never see anything like that again. When you consider that sports are getting stronger and better every year and that we won 19 straight playoff series, that tells me we had the greatest team that ever hit the ice. No question about it.THN: What were the three high points in your hockey life?POTVIN: The first (1980) Stanley Cup was the best. Winning the Calder (Rookie of the Year) Trophy meant a lot because it gave me so much confidence. I was in a man&rsquo;s game: it was the real thing. I remember (Islanders&rsquo; GM) Bill Torrey phoning me and saying, &ldquo;Denis, I&rsquo;d like you to come meet me in Montreal to pick up your silverware.&rdquo; I&rsquo;ll never forget the feeling I had. 1 went outside and screamed. Feeling as good as I do right now is about the third best thing that ever happened and I&rsquo;m not saying that lightly. 1 really feel tremendous this year, happy in every way. I got more attention with this record thing than I ever believed would have happened. I can&rsquo;t believe how great this is, crowning a complete career for me.THN: What about the three low points?POTVIN: The 1979 playoff series we lost to the Rangers because we had so many high hopes. I knew they were going to key on me&mdash;it had been well-publicized&mdash;and I just felt I didn&rsquo;t come up to the level of play to overcome what the Rangers threw at me.Another low point was the press reaction after the 1976 Canada Cup when the media criticized me (for suggesting that he, not Orr, deserved the MVP award). When it (the reaction) hit me I wanted to take it all back and start all over again. That was really a blow because what I had done was done in an innocent way but it came out differently. I felt terrible about that and almost ashamed.Then, there was the 1984 Stanley Cup final against the Oilers. That whole playoff. My father was sick and he died. I&rsquo;ve always thought that was probably the worst I ever felt in my entire life. I couldn&rsquo;t shake what I had to do: I had to go out and play. I sat in hotel rooms through the playoffs and it absolutely drained me of all emotion.THN: Let&rsquo;s have the Potvin All-Time, AllStar team.POTVIN: I&rsquo;ll give you the players I&rsquo;d hate to play against.I&rsquo;d hate to have Wayne Gretzky behind the net and Mike Bossy on right wing. As far as left wing goes, Johnny Bucyk was the guy. He was so damned strong. On the point I&rsquo;d have to put Bobby Orr. The other defenseman will be a surprise&mdash;Doug Jarrett&mdash;and I&rsquo;ll tell you why: I was hit one time by Doug Jarrett and I thought all the bones in my body were crushed. For that reason I&rsquo;ll take Doug Jarrett. In goal I&rsquo;ll pick Gump Worsley. I always loved the Gumper.THN: Apart from your Islanders, who would you name as the six best players in the NHL today?POTVIN: On defense I&rsquo;d take Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque, in that order. Coffey deserves the Norris Trophy although Bourque is as good defensively as anyone in the NHL. I think Bourque should have won the Norris a couple of years back. At center I have to have Gretzky and on the left wing Brian Propp. Right wing would be Tim Kerr. He&rsquo;s as dangerous for a defenseman as anybody. Kerr has so much physical strength, for me to play against him cuts my game down from 45 to 35 minutes. Picking a goalie is tough because there are so many good ones. Maybe Al Jensen from Washington. I can&rsquo;t score against him.THN: If you had to bounce Gretzky from your team, who would you have as center among the non-Islanders?POTVIN: Mario Lemieux. Maybe next year at this time Mario will be my first center. He&rsquo;s going to walk past everybody and eventually become the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player.THN: Would you ever consider playing for a team other than the Islanders?POTVIN: I wouldn&rsquo;t consider going anywhere else. Whether Al stays as coach or not doesn&rsquo;t matter anymore. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned I would still want to play for this team. This is where I grew up, this is where I spent my adolescence and this is where I&rsquo;ve spent most of my adult years and I plan on retiring here.THN: How does Denis Potvin feel about Denis Potvin?POTVIN: I&rsquo;ve had some tough times over the years and I&rsquo;ve been on the down side but now I feel like I&rsquo;m living on the upswing and I&rsquo;m cherishing these moments. My life is perfect now. &#9632;

f0010-01

HEALTHY, WEALTHY……AND CONTENTED

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011335/5223543-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="343" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption></div>THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS, who recently left the Spectrum for the 32nd consecutive time without winning, had repealed the law of averages.Certainly the penal code for 18 seasons of poor drafting and bad trading says nothing about any statute of limitations on losing. In fact, one could argue that this is nature&mdash;the process of natural selection&mdash;at work. The Penguins were bom weak and have fully deserved to be devoured by the Flyers time after time after time.Truth be told, however, while the Flyers were selecting Bernie Parent in the 1967 expansion draft, the Penguins took a guy named Murphy. They have tried many times to put Murphy on waivers, but nobody claims him. Unseen and unwanted, he hovers over this team like a ghost. His Law is inviolate.So it was that the Penguins, who had received superb goaltending from Gilles Meloche and a break when Mark Howe accidentally put the puck in his own net for the tying goal, lost again. So it was that Doug Bodger gave the puck away at center and the Penguins got caught on a line change and Murray Craven scored 2:12 into overtime and the Flyers beat Pittsburgh for the second time in two nights, this time 3-2.&ldquo;We really wanted to end this,&rdquo; Penguin center Mike Bullard said. &ldquo;There was a time a few years ago when we really didn&rsquo;t have a shot coming in here. It was a blowout every time. But we&rsquo;re getting better. It&rsquo;s time for us to get one here. And it&rsquo;s really discouraging to lose like that.&rdquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s not time yet. Maybe it was about eight Pittsburgh guys against 18 from Philadelphia and the Penguins still need to find a few more. Maybe they are snakebitten and still have to learn how to bite back. And maybe, too, they only lost one game in Philadelphia&mdash;an occurrence that bears no relation to years of ineptitude.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been here that long, but I don&rsquo;t look at it like that,&rdquo; Mario Lemieux said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a Penguin and a streak this long is a black mark on the organization. I&rsquo;m very disappointed. We really thought we could win.&rdquo;Wait. Hold it right there. Did Mario actually say they thought they could win? And mean it?What do we make of this? It could mean that the stupid kid hasn&rsquo;t been in Pittsburgh long enough to figure out how the Penguins work. Or could it mean&mdash;now could it mean&mdash;that things are actually changing. The Penguins thinking they can win? That&rsquo;s an intriguing thought.Bad idea, hockey in Pittsburgh. Stupid name for a team. Stupid team, too. From Day One they took the short route with veterans and never built a base. Owner after owner, manager after manager kept patching, year-to-year.Jack Button put together a team one season and the Penguins were one game away from the semi-finals with four chances to get there. You know what happened. What if&hellip; aw, the money was about to run out, anyway. What difference would it have made?The Penguins were rescued from the IRS, made some more trades, won some games, lost more. A few guys like Jean Pronovost and Dave Burrows always honored the uniform but except for a few years with a young Pierre Larouche, and one brilliant season from Randy Carlyle, they never really had anyone who you&rsquo;d actually pay to see play.Somehow, just before the bottom really dropped out, the Penguins scared the Islanders out of their wits all the way to a fifth-game overtime. What if&hellip; aw, the jig was just about up anyway. The cupboard was bare of all but about three better-than-marginal NHL talents.Finally, they were bad enough to finish last and get a stud, but they had traded away their pick in 1983 for a bunch of Lou Nanne junk and had to wait one more horrible year.It was worth it. His name is Mario. He&rsquo;s good and even more importantly, he cares. At 20, he has Tim Kerr hands, nearWayne Gretzky presence, anticipation, and as a wild card, an incredible reach. Though a mere child, he is increasingly making men playing against him look like boys.Eddie Johnston did some smart things before the season started. He went out and found some older guys&mdash;Terry Rus-kowski, Gilles Meloche, Willy Lindstrom&mdash;who had won a few games. They aren&rsquo;t the long-term answer, but they are professionals added to a locker room that was short of them.Now Bullard is playing hard again. With Bodger, Moe Mantha and a college free agent, Jim Johnson, the Penguins are no longer just praying in their own end. A kid goalie, Roberto Romano, looks like he might be around for a while.The Penguins have not lost a game by more than three goals this season. They&rsquo;ve scored more goals than they&rsquo;ve given up. The Rangers don&rsquo;t look so far out of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s league that a playoff spot is an impossibility. If the Pens are hanging close going into March, Lemieux may find them a way.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s an obviously-improved team,&rdquo; the Flyers&rsquo; Dave Poulin said. &ldquo;And the key is they know they&rsquo;re improved.&rdquo;Enthusiasm is up. Mario is pure magic, worth the price of admission, himself. He&rsquo;s more than the Penguins have had for 18 years. Now, finally, they have a chance. &#9632;

f0012-01

At Last. There Is Hone For Pittsburgh Penguins

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021113/5223574-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="550" height="115"></div>LANDOVER&mdash;Two years ago, general manager David Poile earned full marks for honesty by admitting that the Washington Capitals had no sure-fire prospects in their system.Last year, Poile extolled the virtues of defenseman Kevin Hatcher, who repaid the praise by earning a regular role with the Capitals.Now, Hatcher is a candidate for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.Asked to evaluate the Capitals&rsquo; young talent this time around, Poile had difficulty restraining himself. Washington had a number of promising youngsters in training camp and many of them have continued to impress in development leagues.&ldquo;We do have a lot more to talk about,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;We have a lot of good young players who need experience and in some cases must get stronger physically. Obviously, some are a long way away, but the potential is there.&rdquo;Starting in net, Poile praised Alain Raymond, who had recorded three shutouts and a 3.83 goals-against average in more than 1,000 minutes as the No. 1 goaltender for the Canadian National Team.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a terrific development program and anyone who can succeed in it should be ready to play in the NHL when it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;Obviously, we&rsquo;d prefer to have someone like Raymond with us before 1988, but the commitment in this case should pay dividends.&rdquo;On defense, Poile cited another Canadian Olympic prospect, Paul Cavallini, as well as Binghamton farmhands Yves Beaudoin, Grant Jennings and Bruce Shoebottom, and juniors Larry Shaw and Dallas Eakins of Peterborough and Bill Houlder of North Bay.&ldquo;Somebody&rsquo;s going to make it out of that group.&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re all prospects and we&rsquo;re waiting to see who comes out of the pot and develops into a true NHL player.&rdquo;Cavallini, who played at Providence College, has been one of the top defenders for the Canadian team. Beaudoin, currently recovering from a knee injury, was not out of place during a four-game stretch as an emergency replacement in Washington.Jennings, the defensive partner of Toronto&rsquo;s Wendel Clark at Saskatoon last year, has been slowed by a knee injury. Shoebottom had amassed an incredible 147 penalty minutes in 16 games with Binghamton. Shaw. Eakins and Houlder have been solid defensemen with contending OHL teams.Up front, the list of prospects includes Yvon Corriveau of the Toronto Marlboros, John Druce and Rob Murray of Peterborough, Steve Hollett of Sault Ste. Marie, Claude Dumas of Granby, Dwaine Hutton of Spokane and Steve Leach of the University of New Hampshire.Corriveau, the Capitals&rsquo; No. 1 pick in June, had collected 14 goals in 21 games for the Marlies. Druce, the second-round selection, suffered a broken thumb in the Capitals&rsquo; training camp and started slowly. Murray rolled up 86 penalty minutes and eight goals in 32 games.Hollett, chosen in the ninth round, had 18 goals and 25 assists in 29 games for the Greyhounds. Dumas, signed after a superb training camp with Washington, had 18 goals and 21 assists in 27 Quebec League games.Hutton, a late starter because of injuries, rolled up 22 points in his first 10 WHL contests. Leach, a second-round pick in 1984, scored 15 goals in 12 games for New Hampshire before joining the U.S. national junior team.Just in case that list fails to impress, I add in left winger Daryl Evans, who had 20 goals in his first 30 games for Binghamton; left winger Frank DiMuzio, the 250th pick in the June draft who recorded 18 goals in 32 games for Belleville, and center Martin Bouliane, with 10 goals in his first 30 games for the Canadian National Team. &#9632;

f0012-02

Cap Farm System Bursting At The Seams

<div class="byline">BY CON GRIWKOWSKY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011260/5223612-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Oilers&rsquo; coach-general manager Glen Sather, left, may soon have an NHL-ready Jeff Beukeboom to call upon.</figcaption></div>EDMONTON&mdash;Glen Sather doesn&rsquo;t have far to travel from his office for a minor-league progress report.A lot of the better prospects are just an elevator ride down to the Northlands Coliseum dressing room.The worst rash of injuries since the Edmonton Oilers joined the National Hockey League has kept as many as six big leaguers out of the lineup at one time. And that has given the coach-general manager a firsthand look at a few of his farmhands.Last year, Edmonton stocked most of the Nova Scotia Oilers&rsquo; roster. This year, the organization is sharing responsibility with the Chicago Black Hawks and has about a dozen players signed to minorleague contracts.All the recalls have left Nova Scotia starved for players, which forced the Oilers to bring up Simon Wheeldon from the Victoria Cougars.Defensively, it&rsquo;s been a bit tougher for the minor leaguers to break into a Stanley-Cup winner&rsquo;s lineup. Even though the Oilers have drafted five defensemen in the first round during seven NHL seasons, Paul Coffey (1980) was the last rearguard to crack the lineup on a regular basis.That was until Steve Smith, a sixthround choice in 1981, was recalled early in the season.&ldquo;I think the reason he didn&rsquo;t stick at the start of the year is he came to camp a bit tense,&rdquo; said Oilers&rsquo; director of player personnel Barry Fraser. &ldquo;When we sent him back to Nova Scotia, into a familiar environment, he continued to play like he was late last year.&rdquo;Jeff Beukeboom, the 20-year-old, 6-foot-4, 210-pounder is getting plenty of ice time in Nova Scotia and could very well be the next defender up when a spot becomes available.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02923/5223605-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="469" height="114"></div>&ldquo;The big thing we want to do with Jeff,&rdquo; Fraser said about the 1983 first-rounder, &ldquo;is to have him play&mdash;and play a lot. If he makes the transition from junior to pro well, he&rsquo;ll be ready when we need him. The last time I saw him, he played quite a bit. He&rsquo;s always had a good shot and gets the puck to the net.&rdquo; John Miner, another hard-nosed 20-year-old, had an impressive training camp.&ldquo;The biggest things he has to improve on are his positional play and moving the puck quicker when the play starts developing,&rdquo; said Fraser.One of the biggest mysteries in the Oiler system has been 1982 first rounder Larry Playfair. He ran into injury problems last year, but Fraser said the 6-foot-3. 200-pounder is starting to play better as he gains confidence.Steve Graves is ranked among the top forwards remaining at Nova Scotia.&ldquo;One thing we know about him is that he&rsquo;s a major-league skater,&rdquo; Fraser said of the 5-foot-10, 180-pound center. &ldquo;We know he&rsquo;s a good penalty killer.&rdquo;But where the Oilers have the most wealth is between the pipes. Daryl Reaugh, a 6-foot-4, 200-pounder from Kamloops has been nothing short of sensational, according to Fraser.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been phenomenal down there,&rdquo; said Fraser. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been exceptional. Overall, on reports from Nova Scotia, he&rsquo;s coming in with some of the highest marks. Right now, we just want him to play a lot.&rdquo;Fraser has made his annual European scouting trip, checking on the progress of Finnish forward Risto Jalo and checking out recommendations from European scout Matti Vaisanen in Finland.Several Oilers&rsquo; draft choices are still playing junior or college hockey.Among those Fraser mentioned were defensemen Selmar Odelein (Regina), defenseman Todd Carnelly (Kamloops), defenseman Grant Dion (Denver U) and, of course, 1985 first-rounder Scott Metcalfe, a forward with the Kingston Canadians of the OHL. &#9632;

f0013-01

Oilers Happy With Play Of Goalie Reaugh

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Ever since ESPN caused a commotion by forking over $24 million for the NHL TV rights, the network&rsquo;s handling of hockey has come under scrutiny. The latest flap occurred when New York Daily News&rsquo; columnist Michael Katz scared the hockey world with an item charging that ESPN&mdash;because of allegedly lousy ratings&mdash;will drop hockey telecasts after this season. However, the network tells BLUELINES that Katz errs. &ldquo;He made a mistake,&rdquo; charges an ESPN spokesman. &ldquo;We have a three-year contract and cannot give up the NHL after a year even if we want to. But the fact is we don&rsquo;t wan&rsquo;t to.&rdquo;&hellip;ESPN should be red-faced after running what it claimed to be a &ldquo;recent&rdquo; interview-feature on Andy van Hellemond. Trouble was the veteran ref, who hasn&rsquo;t gone helmetless for two seasons, was shown throughout without headguard. The &ldquo;recent&rdquo; interview had to be three years old. In response, an ESPN spokesman replies to BLUELINES: &ldquo;It was meant to be an officiating piece but he (intermission host Tom Mees) made a mistake saying &lsquo;recently&rsquo;&rdquo;&hellip;NHL broadcasting veep Joel Nixon tells BLUELINES that the ESPN ratings, which have been consistently below a market share of one since the start of the season, are what the league expected. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re still on target,&rdquo; says Nixon. Another NHL source tells BLUELINES that the league will be happy if the ESPN ratings climb to two after the football season.Following letters of protest from the likes of Sports Illustrated managing editor Mark Mulvoy and other media heavyweights, the NHL governors have reversed their stand demanding that all rinks be completely glass-enclosed. The ruling severely curbed photographers and limited the number of high-quality hockey photos. The rule reversal will permit individual clubs to lift the glass to permit photograper&rsquo;s &ldquo;shooting&rdquo; access or make some other kind of arrangement. Few can recall league owners doing such a quick flip-flop on an issue&hellip;Central Collegiate Hockey Association commish Bill Beagan&rsquo;s league successfully completed tests with video cameras for the NHL on disputed goals. According to Beagan, the time consumed by his refs on the two calls brought up for video study was less than the time ordinarily taken by NHL clubs to argue with refs over the video-less call. &ldquo;In one experiment,&rdquo; Beagan tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;the dispute was resolved by video in 75 seconds and in the other it took only 44 seconds. So, when you come down to it, using video cameras to settle disputed goals will save time.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The Flames&rsquo; Jim Peplinski authored a one-shot guest column in the Calgary Sun and twitted a number of teammates for their on-the-road eating habits, particularly Charlie Bourgeois. &ldquo;Charlie,&rdquo; writes Peplinski, &ldquo;is proudest about being a professional buffet eater. Various Flames have witnessed first intrigue and then fright and finally panic on the faces of hotel owners as Charlie prepares himself to assault the buffet table. Paul Baxter, Tim Hunter and Gino Cavallini are also world-class buffet eaters.&rdquo;The background on Bryan Hayward&rsquo;s &ldquo;Jets-Will-Revolt-lf-Dave Babych-Is-Traded&rdquo; line is as follows: When Babych was dealt to Hartford, reporters discovered the &ldquo;revolt&rdquo; line under Hayward&rsquo;s bio in the Jet&rsquo;s media guide and exploited it across the continent. But how it gpt into the directory was uncertain. Jets&rsquo; publicist Ralph Carter says nobody ever bothered to ask. &ldquo;It came from a line Reyn Davis wrote quite a while ago in the Winnipeg Free Press,&rdquo; Carter tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;And, furthermore, Hayward&rsquo;s quote about a revolt, on the Jets was meant figuratively, not literally.&rdquo; Acknowledging the embarrassment caused by the Hayward quote, Carter says he&rsquo;ll exercise greater editorial judgment over the Jets&rsquo; player blurbs in the media guide next season. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t have anyone else do it again,&rdquo; Carter tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t take that risk-&rdquo;&hellip;Stateside NHL owners are breathing easier now that the U.S. Congress has shot down President Reagan&rsquo;s tax reform program. The NHL had lobbied vigorously against the tax plan because it had a clause calling for an end of deductions for corporate purchases of luxury boxes to entertain clients and 20 percent reduction in the amount that could be written off for purchase of game tickets for the same purpose. A club like the Rangers, which reportedly sells more than 13,000 of its season tix to corporations, would have taken a beating if the Reagan bill had passed.Blackhawks&rsquo; publicist Jim DeMaria tells BLUELINES that the club name has long been mistakenly spelled Black Hawks when, in fact, it should be Blackhawks since the team was named after indian chief Blackhawk&hellip; Chico Resch goes against the grain and claims the current crop of young goalies is comparable to those in 1975. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re as good and may even be better,&rdquo; Resch says. &ldquo;You have to be more active now, and there&rsquo;s no room for mistakes.&rdquo;&hellip;Although Whalers&rsquo; rookie Dana Murzyn stands over six feet and is 200-plus pounds, he doesn&rsquo;t consider himself a fighter, but handled himself commendably in his first couple of bouts against Dave Richter and Willi Plett. &ldquo;He stood up to two tough guys,&rdquo; said Whalers&rsquo; coach Jack Evans. &ldquo;Dana didn&rsquo;t embarrass himself.&rdquo;&hellip;Evans defends his sphinx-like demeanor behind the Hartford bench. &ldquo;Things go bad,&rdquo; Evans explained, &ldquo;I feel I must be careful not to get carried away. You can make a situation even more difficult with a caustic remark.&rdquo; &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011310/5223681-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="590" height="762"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021026/5223674-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="585" height="767"><figcaption class="caption-body">Forward Craig Duncanson, left, and defenseman Ken Hammond, figure in the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; future plans.</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;The days of rushing prospects into the National Hockey League are over for the Los Angeles Kings.So. too, are the quick-fix schemes that, more often than not, did more damage than good. The practice of dealing high draft choices in exchange for NHL veterans has ended.The Kings, under general manager Rogie Vachon and coach Pat Quinn, aren&rsquo;t interested in mortgaging the future but rather replenishing a minor-league system that had become a final stopping ground for washed-up veterans and career journeymen.The Kings haven&rsquo;t completed the construction yet. but at least the foundation is in place. Unfortunately, the old house first had to be razed before building could begin.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question we&rsquo;re in better shape today as an organization than we were a year ago.&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;ll be in even better shape a year from now.&rsquo;&rsquo;Believe it or not. the Kings actually have some prospects down on the farm, which in this case is the New Haven Nighthawks of the American League.It isn&rsquo;t a wasteland anymore, but rather a learning ground for young players not quite ready for the rigors of the NHL.There are junior and college prospects as well.&ldquo;We said at the start that we were committed to building through the draft.&rdquo; Vachon said.The Kings are now in their 19th NHL season, yet when unhappy Charlie Simmer was traded to the Boston Bruins a year ago, they received a No. I draft pick in a deal for the first time in club history.The times, they are a-changing.&ldquo;A good example of what is happening around the league is Pittsburgh.&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re finally getting some dividends from their draft picks.&rdquo;When Vachon replaced George Maguire as GM Jan. 30, 1984, there were only three former first-round picks in the entire organization: defenseman Jay Wells (1979), right winger Jim Fox (1980) and center Doug Smith (1981).He&rsquo;s doubled that in two drafts, getting defenseman Craig Redmond in 1984 and left winger Craig Duncanson and left wing/center Dan Gratton last June. Red-, mond made the Kings as a 19-year-old, but Duncanson and Gratton were returned to junior during training camp.&ldquo;Because this franchise hasn&rsquo;t been real strong.&rdquo; said Quinn, &ldquo;in the past young players who normally would be in junior or in the minors developing their skills were thrown right into the NHL. You can ruin kids&rsquo; confidence that way.&rdquo;So patience has become the key word for the Kings. They&rsquo;re willing to wait for prospects such as Duncanson and Gratton to develop.The club is high on both although both have had troubles this season. Neither one is with the team on which he started the Ontario League season. Duncanson has gone from Sudbury to Cornwall and Gratton, from Oshawa to Ottawa.The six-foot Duncanson has leadership qualities in addition to good skills.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s in the Terry Ruskowski mold.&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;He has future captain written all over him. He&rsquo;s very unselfish, the kind of player who will take a hit and muck it up to make a play.&rdquo;Gratton (6 feet, 190 pounds) is the flashier of the two and is beginning to get his game together after being traded from Oshawa.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03721/5223667-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="557" height="113"></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s showing the kind of stickhandling and skating skills that made him a first rounder.&rdquo; Quinn said. Gratton shocked the Kings by reporting to camp well over his weight of the year before, but has since slimmed down.Quinn also likes defenseman John English (6-foot-2. 190 pounds) of Hamilton. a third-round pick in 1984.&ldquo;He has a bit of a mean streak.&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;He definitely has some promise and playing with toughness is definitely an ingredient we could improve on here. He&rsquo;s big and rangy and not a bad skater.&rdquo;The Kings are high on several youngsters in New Haven, including defensemen Steve Duchesne, Ken Hammond and Steve Tuite.Duchesne, signed as a free agent out of Drummondville of the Quebec League after impressing in the 1984 camp, nearly made the team this. year.&ldquo;He showed some real skills, passing and skating.&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;He could be a little more physical, but he was a big surprise.&rdquo;Hammond was, too, but the other way. Signed out of RP1 late last season, he looked exceptional in three regularseason and three playoff games, but was a major disappointment in camp. But the Kings still like his size, mobility and smarts.Tuite was signed out of St. Lawrence as a free agent last summer and is a defensive-type defenseman.Others still in the picture include center Dave Gans, who made the team in camp, then was sent to New Haven, and left wing Luc Robitaille, who is having another big scoring year with Hull in the Quebec League. &#9632;

f0014-01

L.A. No Longer Wasteland For Young Hockey Players

<div class="byline">BY MICHAEL A. BERGER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02886/5223743-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="440" height="120"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;The strength of any organization lies in its foundation. For National Hockey League&rsquo; teams, that foundation is comprised of prospects&mdash;those youngsters developing in college, junior or international hockey circles.For the New York Rangers, all three of those areas are serving as development arenas for Blueshirt prospects.In no particular order (mostly because the Rangers won&rsquo;t pinpoint their prospects in a ranked order), here&rsquo;s a look at some of New York&rsquo;s top prospects:TONY GRANATO&nbsp;(center, drafted fifth round 1982. junior at the University of Wisconsin): &ldquo;Tony&rsquo;s got some tremendous skills and is a great scorer,&rdquo; says Ranger general manager Craig Patrick. &ldquo;We will have to watch him closely for the rest of the season.&rdquo;In the 1985 World Championships, Granato scored two key goals for surprising Team USA, the first the game-tying goal in a 4-3 win over Canada and the second the game winner against eventual-world champion Czechoslovakia.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good skating, crafty forward, a Mark Pavelich type,&rdquo; says Jeff Sauer, Granato&rsquo;s coach at Wisconsin. &ldquo;Tony is an excellent goal scorer (after 28 games he led Wisconsin with 17 markers) and he&rsquo;s matured as a player. Used to be, when he got hit, he would retaliate and end up in the box. He just didn&rsquo;t use his head.&ldquo;But that&rsquo;s been his biggest progress and he&rsquo;s become more complete. Tony is definitely a world-class player.&rdquo;CLARK DONATELLI&nbsp;(left wing, drafted fourth round 1984. sophomore at Boston University): &ldquo;Clark&rsquo;s our first-line left wing, he plays on the power play and he&rsquo;s our third leading scorer,&rdquo; says Jack Parker, Donatelli&rsquo;s coach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not pressing as much as last year and he&rsquo;s playing with a lot more confidence.&rdquo;He&rsquo;s not, according to Parker, a &ldquo;real finesse player. He can bump with people and work hard becuse he has an extraordinary amount of enthusiasm.&rsquo;&rsquo; Donatelli played on a line with Granato and current Ranger Kelly Miller at the World Championships.&ldquo;If Clark were three inches taller (Donatelli is 5-foot-8),&rdquo; says Parker, &ldquo;he&rsquo;d be in the NHL right now.&rdquo;TERRY CARKNER&nbsp;(defense, drafted first round 1984, final-year junior in Peterborough): Carkner was very close to sticking with New York after training camp this year, but the 6-foot-3, 200-pound 19-year-old is still developing his game and his body.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big boy, but when Terry was drafted he was not mentally or physically mature,&rdquo; says Dick Todd, Peterborough&rsquo;s coach. &ldquo;Terry&rsquo;s legs are not compatible to the size of the rest of his body, so he&rsquo;s catching up the lower part of his body to the upper part.&ldquo;He gets 27 to 32 minutes a game now and he&rsquo;s out there in stressful situations, developing his confidence. I most definitely agree that it was best he be brought along slowly and my contention is Terry will be an above-average NHLer by the time he&rsquo;s 22 or 23.&rdquo;ULF DAHLEN&nbsp;(center, drafted first round 1985, Bjorkloven of the Swedish Elite League):A future player if ever there were one, because the Rangers don&rsquo;t plan on Dahlen, 19, arriving in North America for another season. He&rsquo;ll be at the World Junior Championships in Hamilton, demonstrating the form that made him the highest Elite Division (Sweden) scorer last season.There is little doubt among NHL personnel of Dahlen&rsquo;s qualifications&mdash;many called him the best player available in last year&rsquo;s draft.BEST OF THE REST: Patrick cites Paul Broten, Kevin Miller and Tom Lorentz (all centers) and goaltender Scott Brower (all 1984 picks) as players the Rangers have their eyes on. All four are college players (UMinn., Mich. State, UMinn. and UND, respectively). Miller is the brother of the Rangers&rsquo; Kelly Miller.Corey Millen and Chris Jensen (1982 choices) both centers (UMinn and UND, respectively) also bear watching.From the 1985 draft, Patrick feels confident about defenseman Stephane Brochu and center/left winger Steve Nemeth, both of whom showed well at training camp, as well as goaltender Mike Richter and forwards Brian McReynolds and Robert Burakovski. &#9632;

f0015-02

Rangers Willingly Wait For Dahlen

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011229/5223712-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="454" height="123"></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;The New York Islanders are staking their future on book worms. College book worms.The former Stanley Cup champions have 18 draftees in college hockey.The best of the lot would appear to be Jeff Norton, a 20-year-old defenseman from Cambridge. Mass&hellip;who is a sophomore at the University of Michigan.Norton&rsquo;s coach at Michigan is Red Berenson. who spent 16 years in the National Hockey League as a center with the Canadiens. Rangers. Red Wings and Blues. Berenson is slightly prejudiced, but he feels Norton will one day be wearing the Islanders&rsquo; blue, orange and white.&ldquo;I felt at the end of last season that Jeff was our best defenseman and possibly our best player,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s definitely our top defenseman this season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big kid (6-foot-2 and 195 pounds). He&rsquo;s a tough kid. And he&rsquo;s the type who will benefit from the chance to play college hockey. He&rsquo;s a definite pro prospect.&rdquo;Norton was a third-round pick (62nd overall) in the 1984 entry draft. As a prep school player at Cushing Academy in Massachusetts, he totaled 22 goals and 55 points in 21 games.&ldquo;Jeff is a Bobby Nystrom-type playing defense, but he could develop into a forward.&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;In fact. I&rsquo;ve used him at left wing on the power play and he&rsquo;s already picked up seven powerplay goals this season.&rdquo;Berenson has two other Islander draftees on his squad. They are senior defenseman Pat Goff and junior center Hank Bjorkman. Goff was an 11th-round pick in 1982 and Bjorkman was picked in the same round the following year. Both are products of the Minnesota high school system.The Islanders are represented by a strong hopeful at the University of Minnesota&mdash;junior right wing Todd Okerlund, who was an eighth-round pick in 1982. During his high school days in Minnesota. Okerlund starred in football as an all-state quarterback.&ldquo;But Todd&rsquo;s concentrating on hockey now and he&rsquo;s a good one.&rdquo; said Gerry (Tex) Ehman. the Islanders&rsquo; director of scouting. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s strong and aggressive.&rdquo;Ehman is also high on Doug Wieck. a sophomore left winger at Colorado College who was a fourth-round pick in 1982, and John Tiano, a junior center at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (RPI), last season&rsquo;s NCAA champions. Tiano. a seventh-round pick in 1982, totaled 10 points in his first 11 games this season.Other Islander draftees who are mixing books with hockey at U.S. universities are: Peter McGeough and Hank Lammens, both of St. Lawrence University; Kelly Murphy. Russ Becker and Real Arsenault. Michigan Tech; Darin Ilkainen and Jim Sprenger. MinnesotaDuluth; Eric Faust. Wisconsin; Allister Brown. New Hampshire; Bob Caulfield, Miami of Ohio; Jeff Sveen, Boston University; and Jim Wilharm. Providence College.Ehman turned in glowing reports on some Islander draftees who are learning their P&rsquo;s and Q&rsquo;s in Canadian junior leagues. They include right wing Brad Dalgarno (Hamilton) and left winger Derek King (Sault Ste. Marie), both first-round picks in last June&rsquo;s draft, and defenseman Duncan MacPherson (Saskatoon), a first rounder in 1984.&ldquo;Dalgarno is strong along the boards and in the corners.&rdquo; Ehman said. &ldquo;He has to learn to pace himself a little better, but we&rsquo;re happy with his progress.&ldquo;King got off to a slow start this season because of the knee injury he suffered at the Islanders&rsquo; training camp. He&rsquo;s rounding into shape now and is getting some points. We expect a strong finish from him.&ldquo;MacPherson? Well, there are two pleasant things to report on him. First, he&rsquo;s a solid bodychecker, and you don&rsquo;t always sec that kind of bodychecking in junior hockey. Secondly, he&rsquo;s moving the puck better and scoring, too. He had 33 points (8 goals, 25 assists) when he left for the tryouts for the world juniors in Hamilton.&rdquo;MacPherson and Dalgarno, who also tried out, didn&rsquo;t make the Canadian team.Defenseman Tom Warden (North Bay), center Mike Murray (Guelph), defenseman Jeff Finley (Portland) and right winger Brad Lauer (Regina) were considered capable junior players when they were drafted by the Islanders. They haven&rsquo;t done anything to alter that assessment, according to Ehman.&ldquo;But we have to remember that they are still young and sometimes we expect too much from the young,&rdquo; Ehman said.Fred Creighton, who is coaching some promising Islander farmhands at Springfield of the American League, offered a similar warning.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got at least a half dozen major-league prospects, but they need time to develop and that&rsquo;s why they&rsquo;re here,&rdquo; Creighton said. &ldquo;Some of them have been up with the Islanders on emergency recalls already.&rdquo;Bob Bassen, Roger Kortko, Alan Kerr, Ken Leiter, Neal Coulter, Glenn Johannesen, Dale Henry and Scott How son are among those players who have been commuting between Springfield and Long Island this season. &#9632;

f0015-01

Colleges Chock-Full Of Islander Prospects

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03683/5223812-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="523" height="119"></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Lou Nanne would love to see the United States and Czechoslovakia work out an agreement on cultural exchanges.If that were to happen, and Frantisek Musil were to someday become a part of it, Nanne feels his Minnesota North Stars would be instantly and significantly improved.The North Star general manager, whose managerial career began amidst much praise as a hockey wizard, has fallen off that pedestal in recent years&mdash;just as his team has fallen from the ranks of the NHL&rsquo;s elite.Undaunted, Nanne has drafted for long-range success. And even though some of his present-day prospects have failed to fulfill their potential, Nanne is optimistic about the future.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot of kids in college who have a good chance to play,&rdquo; said Nanne. &ldquo;But 1 think we&rsquo;ve got three who can&rsquo;t miss. Three who could play and play well any time in the next year or two, or whenever they&rsquo;re able to sign. Those three are Frantisek Musil, Ken Hodge and Stephane Roy.&ldquo;Musil is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound defenseman,&rdquo; said Nanne. &ldquo;He just turned 21, and he&rsquo;s been on the Czech world teams since he was 18. Glen Sonmor went over to Finland where all the European teams were playing to get ready for the Izvestia Cup, and he said Musil was head and shoulders above the rest.. &ldquo;He could step into the NHL and be one of the best. Style-wise, he plays a lot like Rod Langway.&rdquo;Nanne, however, also knows that Musil is in the Czech army, and that imagining him in a North Star sweater might only be pie-in-the-sky dreaming. Still, Nanne took him in the second round of the 1983 draft, the same one in which he took Brian Lawton first overall.Hodge, Nanne&rsquo;s third-round choice in 1984, is a sophomore center at Boston College. He missed the first half of this season with academic deficiencies but recently joined the Eagles.&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll have a heck of a shot at stepping right into our lineup, whenever he leaves school,&rdquo; said Nanne of former Boston Bruin Ken Hodge&rsquo;s son.Roy was the Stars&rsquo; first pick last summer when they didn&rsquo;t have a choice until the third round. The Stars were pleasantly surprised when Roy came to training camp as an 18-year-old and played well.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s having a good year back at Granby (Quebec),&rdquo; Nanne said of the 5-foot-l 1 winger. &ldquo;If we had known about all the injuries we&rsquo;d have, we would have kept him. And we would have recalled him, but because of the new rule, no junior sent back can be called up until the third emergency recall.&ldquo;For us, that would be about the sixth, because we have extra players with the team, and we couldn&rsquo;t call up minorleaguers on emergency recall until after you use all the existing players on the big roster.&rdquo;Nanne is also high on David Quinn, a sophomore at Boston University who was his first-round pick in 1984.&ldquo;Their coach (Jackie Parker) says he&rsquo;s been BU&rsquo;s best player,&rdquo; said Nanne of Quinn, who is on the U.S. national junior team.Among the other prospects, Pat Micheletti is a senior at the University of Minnesota, where he scored 48 goals last season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got to move more to make it in the pros,&rdquo; said Nanne. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a great head, great hands, but he&rsquo;ll have to move better.&rdquo;Wally Chapman was, like Micheletti, a Minnesota college player drafted by the Stars in 1982. &ldquo;Chapman also has a ways to go,&rdquo; Nanne said.Another promising collegian is Wisconsin captain Marty Wiitala. Drafted in 1982, Wiitala played forward until late last season, but has come on impressively at defense this season. In a recent series at Minnesota, Wiitala had three goals and two assists out of six goals Wisconsin scored in the two games.Nanne has shown great patience in waiting for graduation ceremonies to provide him with some choice prospects. Now if he could just implement that cultural exchange with Czechoslovakia. &#9632;

f0016-03

Will Defenseman Ever ‘Czech’ In?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02778/5223874-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="340" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Falls</figcaption></div>YOU CAN CALL me a 75percent hockey observer. 1 see about 75 per cent of the goals.This is not a bad figure. I know some people who are less than 50percent observers. They usually sit next to me in the press box and on every other goal, they sit up and exclaim: &ldquo;What happened! How did it go in!&rdquo;I am married to a two-percenter. She sees almost none of the goals, but it doesn&rsquo;t matter. She never cheers at sports events, except for the Canadian national anthem.A lot of people&mdash;more than anyone in the game cares to admit&mdash;don&rsquo;t cheer until the red light goes on. Then they let loose. They&rsquo;re not exactly sure what they&rsquo;re cheering except that somebody has knocked the puck into the net and it counts one for their side.I&rsquo;ve been following hockey for 45 years and I&rsquo;m amazed at how many goals I miss.At Chicago Stadium, for instance, they put us in a press box at one end of the arena. When the play is in your end, fine. You can see it all. Sometimes you can even see into the eyes of the players&mdash;the pain and the pleasure&mdash;and the game is never more marvelous.When they go down to the other end, forget it. You are never quite sure where the puck is, especially when it gets into a tangle of players in front of the net. Nobody is supposed to smoke, and the whole place is smoky. I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve seen half the goals scored at the other end of Chicago Stadium&mdash;including Henri Richard&rsquo;s Stanley Cup winner in 1971.I wrote that I did, but 1 never saw it. All 1 saw was Henri flash in front, and the light go on.What we do in the press box is tum around and look up at the TV monitor, and now the game is never better. We have some idea of how the play develops but aren&rsquo;t fully sure of what happened and now here it is in all of its glory.Replays are a beautiful part of hockey, whether you&rsquo;re at home watching on TV or in the press box covering the game.But we have to treat these replays with respect&mdash;not use them to distort this fine game.I&rsquo;ve caught the Red Wings doing just this in Detroit and they ought to stop it. They&rsquo;re deceiving their fans.Early in the season, the Wings were beaten 10-1 in Minnesota. It was a terrible night for them. They could do almost nothing right. Yet, when it was over, Dave Strader, who was calling the plays for the Wings&rsquo; telecast, said to his color man, Mickey Redmond: &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have many highlights tonight, but let&rsquo;s show the fans that goal by Ron Duguay again.&rdquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe what I was hearing.The replay appeared on the screen and, sure enough, here was Duguay scoring the goal. It wasn&rsquo;t a very good goal. The puck kind of squirted over the goal line and didn&rsquo;t hit the back of the net. I think it died of malnutrition.But this is what they chose to show&mdash;the one goal in a losing 10-1 effort.Redmond, who is a fine commentator, was caught short and mumbled something about maybe this goal would get Duguay turned around and maybe his line would get going and that would wake up the Red Wings. I felt sorry for Mickey.As they were rolling the credits, here came another replay. It showed an unidentified player of the Red Wings swooping behind the net with the puck and sending it out to the blue line, where another unidentified player put a thunderous shot on the net&hellip;and here was the Minnesota goalie straining to make a tremendous save.We were left with the impression it wasn&rsquo;t that bad a night for the Red Wings.Later on, the Red Wings were beaten at home by a 7-4 score and one TV station in Detroit chose to show all four Red Wing goals and only one by the opposition. Another station won it 4-3 for the Red Wings.Whatever became of truth in advertising? &#9632;

f0017-02

Replays Godsend For Hockey Fans

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01971/5223843-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="409" height="115"></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Two goaltenders are among the eight brightest prospects in the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; system.And a third netminder is close to making it nine.Tom Draper of the University of Vermont wasn&rsquo;t considered among the members of the select group when the latest evaluations were done.But he has a 1.96 goals-against average with an unspectacular team that has gone from the bottom of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference to the very top.&ldquo;If there is one player in the system who shows signs of being in the top group when the season is over, it would be Draper,&rdquo; said Mike Smith, the Jets&rsquo; assistant general manager.Draper was an eighth-round choice (165th overall) in the 1985 entry draft.The goaltenders in the select group who are most highly regarded are Daniel Berthiaume of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Bob Essensa of Michigan State.Berthiaume is small but he made a big impression in training camp, giving every indication he&rsquo;ll be ready to challenge for a starting role next fall.The 5-foot-9, 145-pound Berthiaume was a third-round choice (60th overall) in 1985.Essensa is not expected to tum pro until the spring or fall of 1987. A fourthround choice (71st overall) in 1983, he will probably graduate from Michigan State.Among the eight best prospects are two right wingers, Ryan Stewart and Peter Douris; three defensemen, Brad Berry, Sean Clement and Frederick Olausson; and a center, Roger Ohman.Stewart was the Jets&rsquo; first-round choice (18th overall) in the most recent draft. He came to camp for the experience and left looking as if he belonged.Now a member of the Prince Albert Raiders, he is playing under the national junior coach, Terry Simpson.&lsquo;&lsquo;Prince Albert has one of the top programs in junior hockey&mdash;on and off the ice,&rdquo; said Smith.Stewart, 18, has a chance to crack the Jets&rsquo; lineup next fall.Douris, 19, is committed to the Canadian National Team for the current season.&ldquo;He could conceivably play for the Jets next year,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;His work habits are exceptional. He is a very intelligent player.&rdquo;The Jets selected Douris in the second round (30th overall) in 1984.Berry and Olausson may be ready to tum pro next fall, and the Jets would welcome them.Leif Boork, the Jets&rsquo; top scout overseas, considers Olausson one of the top three juniors in Europe.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good, solid two-way defenseman,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;This is his second year at Farjestad in the Elite League. He has played exceptionally well against men for the past two seasons.&rdquo;Olausson was a fourth-round choice (81st overall) in 1985. Berry, 20, was a second-round choice (29th overall) in 1983.Berry is a member of the Fighting Sioux at the University of North Dakota. A 6-foot-3, 205-pound product of St. Albert, Alta., he is a defensive-minded defenseman.Clement, 19, is not expected to tum pro for at least two more seasons, at least. At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, he is a rugged sort at Michigan State.He was selected in the fourth round (72nd overall) in 1984.Ohman, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound Swedish center, was a second-round choice (39th overall) in 1985.He is a rookie with Vastra Frolunda of the Elite League. His coach is Thommie Bergman, a former member of two Avco Cup championship teams in Winnipeg. Smith feels Ohman may be two or three years away, but he sees him as a future starter with the Jets.&ldquo;Out of the group of eight of our top prospects, I would thoroughly expect to see five or six in the Jets&rsquo; lineup in the coming years,&rdquo; said Smith.&ldquo;But left wingers will be our priority in the next draft.&rdquo;BENCH BITS&mdash;Center Murray Eaves and goaltender Marc Behrend have been returned to Sherbrooke Canadiens. Jim Kyte suffered a broken thumb in a fight with Marty McSorely. To soothe his feelings, he saw an interesting sign in Chicago Stadium. &ldquo;Jim Kyte, Please Marry Me&rdquo;, it said. He knows the signmaker well, but he returned to Winnipeg a single man&hellip;Back-to-back wins over the Washington Capitals and Edmonton Oilers flattered the Jets, who promptly dropped their next two decisions to Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota North Stars&hellip;Coach Barry Long has been heard to say he wonders if his team is, indeed, any better than its record. &#9632;

f0017-01

Jets Eyeing Eight, Maybe Nine, Prospects

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011006/5223912-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="589" height="694"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brett Hull has been impressive with the University of Minnesota-Duluth this year.</figcaption></div>CALGARY&mdash;Sometime in the next three years. Calgary Flames will need a name player to replace a name player, namely. 32-year-old Lanny McDonald.McDonald is still going strong, but eventually the end will come. What better way to replace the popular McDonald&mdash;on the ice and at the box office&mdash;than with the name Hull?Brett Hull, that is. Son of Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet. Right now, he is one of the most promising prospects in the Flames&rsquo; organization.Playing for the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Hull was leading the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in scoring through mid-December, averaging better than two points a game for the first 12 games of the season.General manager Cliff Fletcher, anxious to get a look at the team&rsquo;s sixthround draft choice in the 1984 draft, took in a couple of Hull&rsquo;s early games this year and came away impressed.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to follow him closely this year.&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s only had two really good years in hockey, the last two. We&rsquo;re watching to see if he&rsquo;s for real. If he can repeat what he did last year, we may be offering him a contract in April.&rdquo;Other than their respective scoring abilities, Fletcher said the younger Hull had little in common with his dad.&ldquo;He (Brett) doesn&rsquo;t skate as well,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;Bobby was a tremendous skater, coming down the left side like he did. He played more physically than Brett does, plus he intimidated goaltenders with his slapshot.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02757/5223905-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="391" height="113"></div>&ldquo;However, Brett can finesse the puck into the net in many more ways than Bobby could. He&rsquo;s a good offensive player who needs to work on his defense before he&rsquo;s ready to play in the NHL.&rdquo;Not surprisingly, the Flames&mdash;a team with 10 U.S. college alumni in the lineup&mdash;find many of their better prospects playing college hockey south of the 49th parallel.Defenseman Chris Biotti, says Calgary scouting co-ordinator Ian McKenzie, is the player with the best chance of stepping into the NHL and playing effectively.Biotti, the Flames&rsquo; first choice in the 1985 draft, plays for Harvard, one of three Harvard men in the system. The others, forward Lane McDonald and goaltender Grant Blair, are also rated highly by the Flames.&ldquo;To jump from high school and take a regular turn on a college defense is a big thing,&rdquo; said McKenzie, discussing Biotti. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not head and shoulders above anyone else on the team, but for a freshman. he&rsquo;s playing well. His big test will come in the World Junior Tournament.&ldquo;Blair is considered one of the best, if not the best, goaltender in U.S. college now. McDonald is a Richard Kromm-type, an up-and-down winger, with a better scoring touch.&rdquo;One other prospect the Flames are watching closely this season is Cornell center Joe Nieuwendyk. Nieuwendyk was rookie of the year in his conference last season and is a fine all-around athlete. Some say he is the finest lacrosse player in Canada today.However, the Flames are trying hard not to expect unrealistic things from Nieuwendyk, knowing full well the difficult position they put him in.The Flames drafted him with one of the two second-round picks they received from Minnesota North Stars as conpensation for Kent Nilsson. For now, he is all they have to show for a 99-point scorer.Nieuwendyk may end up in the Canadian Olympic program before the Flames turn him pro, in part because they possess a surplus of young centers.Indeed, the Flames are currently carrying surplus players at every position, making it difficult for minor-pro prospects like center Brian Bradley, defensemen Robin Bartel and Kevan Guy and goaltender Mike Vernon to crack the lineup.The same could be said for left winger Gary Roberts, a member of the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s and a first-round choice in the 1984 draft. &#9632;

f0018-01

Golden Jet’s Son Is One Hull Of Prospect

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;With the youngest team in professional sports, the Philadelphia Flyers reached the Stanley Cup finals last season.Thus, you&rsquo;d think everything is set for at least the next half decade, right?It might very well turn out that the nucleus of this season&rsquo;s club will be around another five years or so, but the Flyers aren&rsquo;t going to get caught standing still. In the business of pro sports, you&rsquo;re never standing still&mdash;you&rsquo;re either getting better or you&rsquo;re getting worse.And the Flyers think they&rsquo;ve got enough young talent in their system to keep getting better.It would be difficult to rank them in order of one-two-three because much of their value will be determined by the club&rsquo;s future needs.Also. Flyers&rsquo; general manager Bob Clarke wanted to guard against either end of the &lsquo;&lsquo;prospect&rsquo;&rsquo; situation&mdash;he didn&rsquo;t want to build up anybody too much, nor did he want to dismiss any potential candidates.The Flyers will likely take a long look at right winger Michael Hjalm of Sweden next year.&ldquo;We like what we&rsquo;ve got.&rsquo;&rsquo; said Clarke. &ldquo;We drafted them all, because they&rsquo;e got something we like. And it&rsquo;s always been our contention that you make our team at training camp.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01937/5223943-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="524" height="118"></div>However, it would be safe to say that the Flyers are very high on three forwards&mdash;right winger Scott Mellanby. 19. of the University of Wisconsin; right winger Michael Hjalm. 21. of Sweden&rsquo;s first-division club. Modo; and this year&rsquo;s first-round draft pick, center Glen Seab-rooke. presently out of action with the Peterborough Petes.Clarke has already made numerous trips to see Mellanby (6-foot-l, 195 pounds) play during the college season, and he likes what he&rsquo;s seen.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s built like a big pro winger,&rdquo; said Clarke, &ldquo;and he&rsquo;s got good hands.&rsquo;&rsquo;Also, while Clarke was in Sweden for Pelle Lindbergh&rsquo;s funeral, he stayed a few extra days to check in on Hjalm, way up in northern Sweden.Hjalm is quite the opposite of Mellanby&mdash;a finesse player who doesn&rsquo;t play physically, but Clarke doesn&rsquo;t think that will hurt his chances.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very clever player who doesn&rsquo;t play tough.&rdquo; said Clarke, &ldquo;but I think the thinking that Swedes are not tough enough is long gone. If he&rsquo;s skilled enough, he can play in the NHL.&ldquo;Swede or Canadian, the NHL has always made room for skilled players who weren&rsquo;t hitters; just like there will always be room for hitters who aren&rsquo;t blessed with great skills, there will always be a mix.&rdquo;The Flyers will likely take a long look at Hjalm next fall, and then decide if he&rsquo;s ready. They will probably follow the same route they did with Pelle Eklund, choosing to break him in slowly, rather than throw him right in.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t think it speaks negatively of a player to have to spend more time in juniors, or even the American Hockey League.&rdquo; said Clarke. &ldquo;In fact, we think the AHL is a good training area. It&rsquo;s a good, tough league.&rdquo;As for Seabrooke. the Flyers were jolted when they learned that he had to undergo surgery for a non-malignent tumor on his hip in November, and he wouldn&rsquo;t be back until later this month.Among other forwards to their liking are Brian Dobbin of the London Knights and Allen Bourbeau of Harvard University.Of course, in addition to the Flyers&rsquo; roster, there is also a well stockpiled arsenal at their AHL affiliate in Hershey, where they can always call upon the likes of Ross Fitzpatrick.At defense, the Flyers really liked what they saw of Jeff Chychrun, 19. during training camp. The big (6-foot-4. 185 pounds) defenseman has continued to impress them with his play at Kingston in the Ontario League.They are also impressed with Greg Smyth. 19. of the London Knights, and they&rsquo;ve got big prospects named Ian Armstrong (6-foot-4. 200 pounds) and Paul Marshall (6-foot-2, 180 pounds).More and more, size is becoming a determining factor with defensemen. and six feet will soon be the low-water mark.In the goal department, the death of Lindbergh forced the Flyers to use Darren Jensen quicker than anticipated. However, they always thought Jensen a capable NHL player, and they feel the same way of their other prospect in Hershey. Ron Hextail. They are also pleased with Darryl Gilmour, 18. in Moose Jaw. &#9632;

f0019-01

Three Forwards Best Of Fivers’ Prospects

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01798/5223988-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="452" height="114"></div>DETROIT&mdash;It hasn&rsquo;t been a good year for newcomers to the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; organization.The top three picks in the 1985 entry draft&mdash;right winger Brent Fedyk and defensemen Jeff Sharpies and Steve Chiasson&mdash;all have suffered injuries which have kept them out of the lineup of their respective junior teams.Ray Staszak and Adam Oates, the two high-priced college free agents, have suffered the indignity of being farmed out after slow starts.Those five players and center Shawn Burr and defenseman Doug Houda&mdash;the first two picks in 1984&mdash;top the Red Wings&rsquo; list of National Hockey League prospects.Dale Krentz, another college free agent from Michigan State, is in Adirondack of the American League, along with Staszak and Oates. The two other college free agents, defenseman Tim Friday and right wing Chris Cichocki, made the jump directly to the NHL.Among the prospects, Staszak, Burr and Houda are closest to getting to the NHL. But for the rule that prohibits their return from junior except on an emergency basis, Burr and Houda might well be in the NHL right now.Burr and Houda, both 19. stayed around at the beginning of the season to give new coach Harry Neale a more complete look. He was sufficiently impressed by their talents to keep them on the roster but finally decided since they didn&rsquo;t figure to play on a regular basis, they were better off getting plenty of ice time back in junior hockey.Burr, a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder. is enjoying an excellent season with Kitchener.Fedyk is considered a &ldquo;can&rsquo;t-miss&rdquo; prospect.&ldquo;I had one scout from another team tell me he&rsquo;s going to be a big goal scorer in the NHL,&rdquo; said Ken Holland, the Wings&rsquo; Western Canada scout.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s hope he&rsquo;s right.&rdquo; general manager Jimmy Devellano said.Except for a bit of bad luck, Staszak, the $1.3-million free agent from the University of Illinois-Chicago, would already be back in Detroit for a second chance.He was called up from Adirondack of the AHL in mid-December. only to have Devellano belatedly discover that Staszak was suffering from a groin injury.In nine games before the aborted callup, Staszak had nine goals.&ldquo;You should have seen him the first couple of weeks here,&rdquo; said Ed Johnstone, the veteran right winger who plays at Adirondack. &ldquo;Every day there were reporters, television cameras&hellip;it was ridiculous. Everybody felt sorry for him.&rdquo;Then came what, thus far. has been the turning point in Staszak&rsquo;s professional career. He got whacked in the face. He suffered a broken nose and concussion and was out two weeks.&ldquo;When he came back, you could see the difference,&rdquo; Johnstone said. &ldquo;He looked relieved and relaxed.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing well. I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;ll ever fill the net. He&rsquo;s an up-and-down grinder who works hard. It was just unfortunate he was in the situation he was in Detroit, especially with a team going the way it was.&rdquo;Staszak said the early-season demotion &ldquo;was a disappointment, but I realized it was Detroit&rsquo;s decision to make and they did what they thought they had to.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t get down on the organization or myself. It&rsquo;s something I have to live with. That&rsquo;s life.&ldquo;The big thing is that I can relax. 1 can practise, work on my game, without always worrying about everything. I&rsquo;m more comfortable and I&rsquo;m doing more with the puck. I&rsquo;m playing my game. I&rsquo;m starting to do the things I&rsquo;m used to doing. The game is starting to come easier now.&rdquo;&lsquo;I&rsquo;m more comfortable and I&rsquo;m doing more with the puck. I&rsquo;m playing my game.&rsquo;&mdash;StaszakDevellano was disappointed that the groin injury denied Staszak another opportunity.&ldquo;It would have been perfect,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We wanted to give him another look and we had Philadelphia and Chicago next. Ray is from Philadelphia and played his college hockey in Chicago.&rdquo;When he&rsquo;ll get another chance. Staszak said, is &ldquo;something I don&rsquo;t worry about.&ldquo;When my turn comes, it comes. If 1 start thinking about it, it affects my play.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been my goal all my life to play with the best hockey players in the world. It&rsquo;s really important (to me) but 1 can&rsquo;t let it bother me. I just have to keep playing hard and hope they notice. As long as I play well, that&rsquo;s all I can ask of myself.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02540/5223981-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="601" height="925"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Staszak scored nine goals in one nine-game stretch for Adirondack.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03376/5223974-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="586" height="923"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Oates hasn&rsquo;t worked out as expected since signing with the Red Wings.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

Staszak Anxious For Second Debut

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04246/5224019-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="394" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Simmons</figcaption></div>THIS HAS NORMALLY been the time of season for writer abuse, but the National Hockey League&rsquo;s marketing moguls did us a favor this year.They took away our all-star ballots.They gave them to the fans.Now, it&rsquo;s our turn. To be abusive, I mean. Who says revenge isn&rsquo;t sweet?Voting, of course, is no easy task. When fans pick the all-star team, the writers complain. When the writers pick the team, the coaches complain. When the coaches pick the team, the players complain.There is no equitable solution. So the NHL compromised. They, instead, came up with a marketing agreement. And some money.Some of the fan voting this season has been more laughable than the writer who chose Clark Gillies as a defenseman a few seasons back. (I still believe the ballot must have read Curt Giles with some spelling mistakes. But I believe in defending writers.)It&rsquo;s not that the fans have blown the obvious choices&mdash;Gretzky and Coffey are leading where they should be&mdash;it&rsquo;s the distribution of votes that is questionable.Part of the problem is the ballot, which should be altered in the future or devised at a later date to ensure that viable all-star candidates are not left off.Two Chicago Black Hawk left wingers have received more votes than all-star candidate Curt Fraser for only one reason. Their names are on the ballot. Fraser&rsquo;s was left off.Neal Broten, one of the only North Stars worthy of all-star consideration, is virtually voteless because his name was not included among the league&rsquo;s best. But Detroit&rsquo;s Steve Yzerman has managed more than 15,000 votes. He must have a lot of relatives.If the fans have their way, a deceased goaltender will be starting for the Wales Conference, which brings up an even sillier all-star point. Because of NHL rules, if the top vote-getter at a position is unable to play, he will be replaced, not by the second-place vote-getter but by a member of his team. In other words, every vote for the late Pelle Lindbergh is a vote for Bob Froese. And how do you like that, Tom Barrasso?Which in the long run also hurts goaltenders who are having all-star seasons, but have been overlooked for one reason or another. The way Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Roberto Romano has played this season, an all-star appearance wouldn&rsquo;t be out of the question, but he will be legislated out of the game.Among the problems of fan voting is that some cities draw better than others, and some fans believe in ballot stuffing while others do not.Washington fans seem to be either stuffing ballots or have strange vision when it comes to watching hockey games.Somehow&mdash;you figure it out&mdash;Bengt Gustafsson had outpolled Mats Naslund at last glance. Somehow&mdash;you figure it out&mdash;Naslund was fourth among the left wingers in the Wales Conference.A Naslund-Brian Propp-Michel Goulet debate would be a splendid one involving hockey&rsquo;s greatest minds, but Gustafsson has no place among them.The same way Bobby Carpenter has no place ahead of Peter Stastny in the voting for centers.The same way, based on this season anyhow, that Rod Langway has no place ahead of Mark Howe in the defensemen voting.if Calgary fans had the Washington touch, Reggie Lemelin wouldn&rsquo;t be sitting so far back in the goaltender&rsquo;s race on the Campbell side.Grant Fuhr is leading the voting here and even with the little sense of humor Fuhr has, he himself would admit this is a joke. Either Lemelin or Fuhr&rsquo;s teammate, Andy Moog, deserve this spot.There is one area I feel for the fans.It&rsquo;s in voting for Campbell Conference defenseman. There&rsquo;s a problem. There aren&rsquo;t many.In fact, after Paul Coffey, it&rsquo;s difficult to find another all-star.Doug Wilson is second in the voting but the times I&rsquo;ve seen him this year he hasn&rsquo;t looked the all-star type. Kevin Lowe is a steady guy, but I&rsquo;m not sure he&rsquo;s an all-star. Randy Carlyle sure isn&rsquo;t having the kind of season he had last year. And on and on it goes.Hell, Paul Reinhart had garnered thousands of votes before he had even taken a shift this season.That&rsquo;s what happens when fans vote. That&rsquo;s what happens when a ballot is planned in the summertime, instead of early in the season.This time around, we in the writing business won&rsquo;t take the blame for bad voting. After all, I wasn&rsquo;t one of the 15,455 to vote for Eddy Beers.I&rsquo;m smarter than that. I&rsquo;ve seen him play this season. &#9632;

f0020-04

The Folly Of Letting Fans Pick The All-Star Lineups

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01592/5224050-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div>TORONTO&mdash;What goes up must come down.Well, that&rsquo;s not necessarily true all the time, but it may well be the posture adopted by National Hockey League moguls. Because for the first time since the opening quarter of the 1982-83 season, the NHL is faced with declining attendance.Even the usual box-office biggies, Edmonton and Toronto, declined.The league&rsquo;s first 210 games this season attracted a total of 2,902,437 fans, compared with last year&rsquo;s glowing first quarter of 3,003,195. That&rsquo;s a total deficit of 100,758 fans, though it should noted that last year&rsquo;s first-quarter figures were the best in league history.The biggest declines, compared to last season&rsquo;s first-quarter figures, were recorded in Los Angeles, New Jersey, St. Louis, Buffalo, Boston, Vancouver and Hartford, with deficits ranging from 12,103 in Vancouver to more than 16,000 in both Hartford and the Meadowlands.The revelation was not the kind of report the NHL was expecting after their record 12,307,913 season in 1984-85. There were the usual early-season rationalizations, such as competition with the National Football League and Major League baseball, unseasonable weather in the western U.S. and Canada and the tight economy. Regardless, the league will require a big attendance boost in the final three quarters to come close to duplicating last season&rsquo;s record mark.The NHL&rsquo;s usual box-office biggies, the teams with the constant rink sellouts that have propelled the league to higher attendance each year, were not exempt from the slump. Even the dominant Edmonton Oilers didn&rsquo;t draw as well, dropping by a count of 3,203.&bull; In the first of four unofficial quarterly reports compiled by THE HOCKEY NEWS (the completion of the first 10 home games of each of the 21 teams), the Oilers surrendered their league-leading attendance to the New York Rangers, finishing third overall, behind the resurgent Montreal Canadiens.And the Toronto Maple Leafs, losers on the ice much of the time, also lost at the box office, recording a decline of more than 10,000 fans.With three-quarters of the league games running below capacity, the NHL played to only 70 sellouts, compared to 88 last year in the same time frame.Also, only five of the 21 teams&mdash;Montreal, Philadelphia, Calgary, Minnesota and Winnipeg&mdash;recorded an increase. Montreal, with a plus-8,994, and Philadelphia, with a plus-3,747, were among the top 10 leagues draws.The Penguins and L.A. Kings failed to average even 10,000 fans per game.Two teams, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, failed to attain the generally accepted level of respectability&mdash;100,000 fans or an average of 10,000 per game.The Penguins, despite their improved on-ice performance, were a disappointment with only 98,190 fans and one sellout. The dismal Kings drew 97,228 and also had only one full house out of 10 home games.And finally, the league overall average dropped from 14,295 last season to 13,821 per game.<h2>NHL ATTENDANCE AT A GLANCE &#9632;</h2>

f0021-01

NHL Attendance Dips By More Than 100,000

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02334/5224088-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="587" height="804"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Manson isn&rsquo;t yet ready for the NHL but the betting is he soon will be.</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;Dave Manson, the Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; top pick last year, also appears to be the top pick to make his mark in two years.Not that they are casting aside Bruce Cassidy. They just have to wait until Cassidy puts his own cast aside.Cassidy, now 20, was the Hawks&rsquo; top pick in 1983 from Ottawa of the Ontario League.He is recovering from a second operation on his left knee. It was performed Nov. 20 in Toronto by Dr. David Hastings, who performed a similar operation two years ago on another young defenseman, the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; Gary Nylund.&ldquo;The operation was a success, but the rehabilitation is the real hard thing about if,&rdquo; said Hawks&rsquo; general manager-coach Bob Pulford. &ldquo;If he can rehabilitate himself. he certainly has all the skills. He moves the puck and has that good shot.&rdquo;Manson, just 18. was picked from Prince Albert in the Western League, last year&rsquo;s Memorial Cup winner. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds and still growing, he is a diamond in the rough with the emphasis on &ldquo;rough&rdquo;&mdash;which is one of the things the Hawks like about him.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03188/5224081-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="530" height="112"></div>&ldquo;We think he&rsquo;ll play.&rdquo; Pulford said simply. &ldquo;We really think he&rsquo;s got great character. He&rsquo;s physical. His skating has to improve a bit.&rdquo;In his first 30 games at Prince Albert this year. Manson had nine goals, 22 points and 73 penalty minutes.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a winner,&rdquo; said Pulford. &ldquo;He comes to play every night. The other skills will improve. His character alone will make him a good NHL player.&rdquo;If Manson comes through and Cassidy comes back, the Hawks&rsquo; defense could look very different in two years. They have a few other top prospects on defense as well: Trent Yawney, with the Canadian National Team; and Jonas Heed, now back in Sweden with Sodertalje.The Hawks, reluctant to draft European players in the past, were impressed with the 18-year-old Heed in training camp. He was a sixth-round pick last year.&ldquo;We&rsquo;d rate him behind those two (Manson and Cassidy), but he certainly showed potential.&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;He moved the puck extremely well. He seemed to take the body well. He&rsquo;s an excellent skater. You&rsquo;ve got to consider him. If we&rsquo;re talking about two years from now. he fits right in.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s the same for the 6-foot-3. 20-year-old Yawney, since two years from now encompasses the 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s right there, too,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked to their coach (Dave King) and the people there, and Yawney is probably one of their best defensemen. We think he&rsquo;ll make the Olympic team, and certainly he&rsquo;ll turn pro right after that.&rdquo;The Hawks also feel they have solid prospects at forward. They&rsquo;re keeping close watch on a couple of left wingers drafted last year, Dan Vincelette and Victor Posa.With Drummondville in the Quebec League, the 6-foot-l. 202-pound Vincelette had 16 goals, 41 points and 107 penalty minutes in his first 35 games this season.&ldquo;Cliff Fletcher (Calgary GM) told me just last week that Vincelette is probably the most improved junior player this year.&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;He has good size, and he&rsquo;s physical.&rdquo;Posa left the University of Wisconsin for the Toronto Marlboros. where the 6-foot-3, 193-pound winger had 15 goals and 26 points with 70 penalty minutes in his first 20 games.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tough kid. he&rsquo;s not afraid, and it looks like he can score goals.&rdquo; Pulford said.There are some familiar names on the Hawks&rsquo; horizon as well. Right winger Wayne Presley, their second-round pick in 1983. has been recalled from Nova Scotia in the AHL.And a name with some Hawk memories attached could reappear in a couple of years. Mike Stapleton. son of former Hawk defenseman Pat Stapleton. was a seventh-round pick in 1984.Stapleton had a good training camp this year, and had good numbers with Cornwall in the OHL&mdash;17 goals. 45 points in 26 games&mdash;before going to the Canadian national junior team&rsquo;s tryout camp.&ldquo;He could be a player, too, like a Doug Gilmour (of the St. Louis Blues)or along those lines.&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good checker and he played well here in training camp. He could come along.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0021-02

Dave Manson: A Diamond In The ‘Rough’

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01686/5224126-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="591" height="759"><figcaption class="caption-body">Whaler prospect Mike Millar is currently playing with Canada&rsquo;s National Team.</figcaption></div>HARTFORD&mdash;The &ldquo;two top prospects&rdquo; in the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; system are goaltenders, according to general manager Emile Francis.&ldquo;Sidorkiewicz and Whitmore, they&rsquo;re our two best kids,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think any team has the kind of depth in net that we have right now.&rdquo;Peter Sidorkiewicz, who was acquired along with Dean Evason for David A. Jensen in a trade with Washington last March, toils for Binghamton, the Whalers&rsquo; American League affiliate, while Kay Whitmore, the Whalers&rsquo; No. 2 pick, and 26th overall, in last June&rsquo;s draft, plays for Peterborough in the Ontario League.&ldquo;Sidorkiewicz is a standup goaltender who plays his angles well and has good work habits,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;Plus he has an ideal attitude for a goaltender. He shows a lot of poise.&rdquo;Whitmore, meanwhile, is playing &ldquo;excellent hockey&rdquo; on an &ldquo;excellent team&rdquo; said Francis.Two Binghamton defensemen, Mark Paterson and Brad Shaw, could land in Hartford some day, Francis said.&ldquo;Paterson has to learn to do every-thing a little quicker.&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all. He plays the body well and he&rsquo;s a hitter.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02487/5224119-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="441" height="122"></div>Shaw was a teammate of Paterson&rsquo;s at Ottawa when the 67&rsquo;s won the Memorial Cup two years ago. He was obtained from Detroit in May, 1984, for an eighthround draft pick.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re very pleased with the way Shaw is progressing,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a little like Risto Siltanen. He&rsquo;s good with the puck and he&rsquo;s the key on their power play.&rdquo;Mike Velucci, a defenseman, and Gary Callaghan, a center, are playing for Belleville. Velucci&rsquo;s career was temporarily put on hold after he was injured in a car crash that involved Toronto Maple Leaf defenseman Al lafrate.&ldquo;Velucci is just coming back from an injury, so we&rsquo;ll have to wait until the end of the year to judge him,&rdquo; Francis said.Dave MacLean, a Belleville graduate, was given an outside shot of making the Whalers this season, considering the team&rsquo;s need for right wingers. But MacLean was injured in camp, struggled in Binghamton and was recently shipped to Salt Lake City of the International League.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a bit of a disappointment,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;We were thinking that Maclean would be the next guy. He&rsquo;s got good talent. What he needs most is to play and develop. Don&rsquo;t forget, Salt Lake City did wonders for Mr. Lawless.&rdquo;Paul Lawless, a fourth-year pro, went from Salt Lake to Hartford in one rather prodigious leap this fall, and through 21 games with the Whalers, had 10 goals and 19 points.Mike Millar is currently playing for the Canadian National team and should benefit from the experience, according to Francis.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a forward who can skate,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the necessary skills. If he can build up his strength, he can be an NHL player.&rdquo;Bruce Hill, at Denver University, can play either left or right wing, Francis said, and after watching him recently in Maine, Francis was impressed.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be a pro some day,&rdquo; Francis said.Chris Brant and Shane Churla, both at Binghamton, possess the necessary toughness to handle the rigors of the NHL, Francis said, and are the type that will never hurt a program.&ldquo;Both are tough and willing,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll both go through walls for you, and that&rsquo;s the kind of attitude you&rsquo;re looking for.&rdquo;Evason, a heady centerman, quickly made his presence felt in Hartford after Ray Ferraro was injured. In his first four games in Hartford after being called up from Binghamton, Evason had three goals, eight points and was plus-7.&ldquo;He could use a little more strength, but he&rsquo;s a hard worker and has an excellent attitude,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the kind of player you can build with and around.&rdquo;Scott Fusco, a centerman at Harvard, is &ldquo;one of very top college players,&rdquo; Francis said. He is the younger brother of Mark Fusco, who retired from Hartford earlier this year under testy circumstances, so there&rsquo;s some question if Scott will report to Hartford&rsquo;s camp in the fall.The best prospect of all could turn out to be none other than Sylvain Cote, last year&rsquo;s No. 1 draft pick who had been seeing little ice in Hartford this year. Cote, a free-wheeling defenseman. reported to Hamilton for the World Junior Championships and a spot on the Canadian blue line.&ldquo;Last year he got ice time in Hartford, but this year we&rsquo;re better, so he had to accept a smaller role.&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;I expect that he&rsquo;ll stand out against the juniors. What he needs is more experience. He&rsquo;s got a lot of skills and plenty of speed. Judging from the phone calls I&rsquo;ve been getting, many teams are aware of it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-01

Hartford Delighted With Goaltending Depth

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03375/5224157-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg"></div>Montreal Canadien defenseman Larry Robinson, left, scored his first career hat-trick and added four assists for seven points to be named THN-NHL player of the week for the period ending Dec. 21.The two-time Norris Trophy winner is off to the best offensive start of his career with eight goals and 30 assists for 38 points in 33 games. &#9632;

f0022-03

Player Of The Week

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01621/5224188-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="583" height="1126"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEPHANE RICHER</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s been 15 years now since Jean Beliveau graced the ice surface of the Montreal Forum.But the Montreal Canadiens have high hopes that one day rookie Stephane Richer can be mentioned in the same paragraph as Le Gros Bill&mdash;if not the same breath.The 6-foot-2,&rsquo; 200-pound graduate of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Granby Bisons and Chicoutimi Sagueneens has made a good first impression in the National Hockey League.A swift skater with long, easy strides and a nifty stickhandler, the 19-year-old Richer has displayed superb scoring and playmaking abilities.And, as if his physical and playing similarities don&rsquo;t already bring to mind Beliveau, the Canadiens outfitted Richer with sweater No. 44. Beliveau&rsquo;s No. 4 ascended to the Forum&rsquo;s rafters shortly after his retirement following the 1971 season.Often centering dimunitive Swedish star Mats Naslund, Richer sparkled from the start of the season, leading all rookies in scoring (9-10-19 in 18 games) until a sprained right ankle forced him out of the lineup for 10 games.In his first game back (Dec. 14) Richer served notice of his return by scoring a goal against the Chicago Black Hawks.Richer scored 100 goals and 196 points in 124 games over two seasons with Granby and Chicoutimi, and was Montreal&rsquo;s third pick (29th overall) in the 1984 NHL entry draft. &#9632;

f0023-01

QUAKER STATE ROOKIE PROFILES

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01667/5224219-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="500" height="138"></div>TORONTO&mdash;The Toronto Maple Leafs learned last year that it&rsquo;s best not to look back. But not because, as Satchell Paige used to say, somebody might be gaining on them.There was, after all, no place to go beyond 21st place in the National Hockey League.Instead, they learned it&rsquo;s just too painful to dwell on the past. So, they&rsquo;ve set their sights firmly on the future.And that means, in no small part, closely monitoring the progress of those who will one day be part of a new era in Maple Leaf history.Preferably, a winning one.A large part of the Leafs&rsquo; future has already been assembled in the persons of goalie Ken Wregget, left wingers Steve Thomas and Wendel Clark and center Dan Hodgson.All have made big contributions this season. And all&mdash;save Wregget&mdash;are rookies.The Leafs are hoping the next Gang of Four&mdash;comprised of defensemen Todd Gill and Ken Spangler, left winger Jeff Jackson and right winger Derek Lax-dal&mdash;is as impressive.This quartet, says Gord Stellick, assistant to general manager Gerry McNamara, represents the players most likely to succeed in the near future.Those prospects for the more distant future include a handful of top-notch Czechs in addition to others now playing prep school, junior and college hockey.Gill and Jackson, both 20, were given outside chances of playing with the Leafs this season but they ended up with St. Catharines of the American League after training camp.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of them getting experience,&rdquo; says Floyd Smith, the Leafs&rsquo; chief scout. &ldquo;I think Jackson will become a grinder-type winger and Gill will be a steady defenseman, good at both ends of the ice.&rdquo;Jackson had 19 points in his first 35 games with the Saints this season and the rugged Gill accumulated 21 points and 66 penalty minutes in 35 games.Laxdal, 19, and Spangler, 18, are playing for Brandon and Calgary, respectively, in the Western League.Both are highly regarded&mdash;Laxdal for his offensive skills and Spangler for determined toughness.Each of them was invited to the Canadian national junior team&rsquo;s summer training camp. Only Laxdal, a 61-goal scorer last season, was asked back in December.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of our better prospects, says Smith of Laxdal, who had a strong training camp with the Leafs before returning to Brandon for whom he had 28 goals and 27 assists in 30 games.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;The player we need most is in Czechoslovakia.&rsquo; &mdash;Smith</blockquote>Over-aggressiveness kept Spangler from making a second debut with the national team.&ldquo;He has been taking a lot of penalties and they (club officials) were afraid he would get into a game and cost them,&rdquo; explains Smith.Spangler&rsquo;s numbers were 10 goals, 16 assists and 98 penalty minutes in 27 games.The Leafs are looking for all four players&mdash;even Spangler, who has this year and another of junior eligibility remaining&mdash;to challenge seriously for jobs next year.Joining Gill and Jackson in St. Catharines is Allan Bester, the goalie who at age 19 was the darling of Maple Leaf fans when he played 32 games during the 1983-84 season.But he fell from grace last season and is now strictly second banana to Wregget in the pecking order of young goalies.Toronto also owns the rights to Jejfl Reese of London in the Ontario League He is in his final year of junior eligibility.Another junior of note is Brandon&rsquo;s Dave Thomlinson, a hard-luck left winger who has been held back by shoulder problems. Thomlinson&rsquo;s skating is weak but his heart is strong.The only collegian on the brink of graduation is Cliff Albrecht, a senior defenseman for Princeton.Among the others are defensemain Jack Capuano (Maine) and centers and Donahue (Dartmouth) and Bobby Reynolds (Michigan State).Two more long-term prospects are center Todd Whittemore and defenseman Jeff Serowik. Both are attending American prep schools.The Leafs, if nothing else, have been league leaders in one department&mdash;Czeching.They currently have three Czechoslovaks on their roster&mdash;Peter Ihnacak, Marian Stastny and Mirko Frycer&mdash;and could have as many as five more.The Leafs own the rights to highly-talented defensemen Eduord Uvira, Jiri Latal and Peter Slanina in addition to super-scorers Miroslav Ihnacak and Vladimir Ruzicka.Ihnacak, Peter&rsquo;s brother, isn&rsquo;t on the national team but should be, according to Smith. He says Miroslav has been blacklisted because the Czechs don&rsquo;t want to gift-wrap an opportunity for him to defect.Three other family members&mdash;Peter among them&mdash;have done just that.&ldquo;The player we need most is probably sitting down in Czechoslovakia. He&rsquo;s (national team-member) Ruzicka,&rdquo; says Smith. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the big centerman, the 100-point centerman that we really need badly and we can&rsquo;t get him.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Peter Ihnacak scored with three seconds left in regulation time to complete a remarkable comeback and give the Leafs a 5-4 win over Detroit on Boxing Day. Toronto trailed 4-0 at one point. The win moved the Leafs five points up on last-place Detroit in the Norris Division&hellip; Rick Vaive cracked a bone in his hand during practice and was to be sidelined for two weeks. &#9632;

f0024-01

Leafs Hope Players Will Move To Fourfront

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02469/5224250-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="407" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Meisel</figcaption></div>I&rsquo;M NOT SAYING he&rsquo;s cautious, but the joke is that if you offered Max McNab your first-round draft pick for his second-rounder, he&rsquo;d mumble into the telephone for a couple of seconds and promise to get back to you.Let &lsquo;em laugh, Max.They used to laugh at the New Jersey Devils, too, but those days are over. McNab, at 61 the oldest general manager in the National Hockey League, has built an honest, young, aggressive and hungry team that has the New York Rangers and New York Islanders sweating just a wee bit these days. Nobody works any harder than the guys in the Christmas-wrap green, red and white uniforms. The Patrick Division is suddenly not so comfortable an address.Sure, McNab talks funny. But if you&rsquo;ve been listening to what has boomed from that baritone gravel ever since it became the voice of the Devils in the middle of a disastrous 1983-84 season, you&rsquo;d understand how he efficiently has built his team, piece by piece. Deliberately. With a blueprint that doesn&rsquo;t change day by day, criticism by criticism.Sure, he&rsquo;s slow. But look at the roadrunner GMs around the league and then take a look at the list of Stanley Cup winners since 1975-76: Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers. There aren&rsquo;t too many geniuses out there, are there?Okay, McNab hasn&rsquo;t made the playoffs yet. But why do they take this man for granted? When he replaced the fired Billy MacMillan on Nov. 22, 1983, the Devils were 2-18-0. They finished 17-56-7. Over the summer of &lsquo;84, he hired Doug Carpenter, who thought the NHL had changed his middle name to &ldquo;Who?&rdquo; They laughed at McNab and Doug Who, who simply lifted the Devils&rsquo; record a couple of notches to 22-48-10 and lifted the quality of their play a mile.McNab installed Marshall Johnston as his director of player personel. He hired scout David Conte away from the Washington Capitals, where McNab spent six seasons as their first GM. He allowed these two talented talent hounds to do their thing. Last summer, he promoted Conte to assistant director of player personnel.Everybody says they have to build with young players, but McNab takes that seriously. Pure Devils, he likes to call his players. Early last season he could have had Charlie Simmer for Joe Cirella, a first-round draft pick in 1981 when the team was known as the Colorado Rockies. He passed.And he never even bothered to get back to the scavengers who were looking for the Devils&rsquo; second overall pick in &lsquo;84 or the third overall choice in &lsquo;85.The only trade of his first season as general manager brought right winger Tim Higgins, 27, from Chicago for Jeff Larmer. Higgins is a regular. Larmer&rsquo;s in the minors.Not so fast, Max.Picking second in the 1984 draft, McNab had his choice of Kirk Muller or Ed Olczyk. McNab, Johnston and Conte were sold on Muller, but they had everyone&mdash;Black Hawks&rsquo; GM Bob Pulford included&mdash;believing they were unsure. So on the morning of the draft, the Black Hawks (picking third) and Devils announced a trade that they insisted had nothing to do with the Devils choosing Muller over the Chicago-born Olczyk.The Devils got Muller (the guv they wanted all along). Chicago&rsquo;s 1985 second-round draft pick and Rich Preston. The Hawks got Olczyk (the guy they would have gotten anyway), New Jersey&rsquo;s 1985 fifth-rounder and Bob MacMillan (Billy&rsquo;s brother).Preston, one of the league&rsquo;s unsung defensive forwards, is among the Devils&rsquo; leading goal scorers. MacMillan&rsquo;s out of hockey.Don&rsquo;t let them take advantage, Max.Before this season, the Blues wanted to unload Mark Johnson&rsquo;s contract. So the Devils sent Shawn Evans, a rookie defenseman with no pro experience, and a late-round draft pick. Evans didn&rsquo;t make St. Louis. Johnson&rsquo;s a regular.Slow down, Max.All last summer, while the media speculated over Jim Sandlak and Dana Murzyn as the Devils&rsquo; 1985 first-round draft choice, McNab mumbled something about not being sure and then fooled the New York-New Jersey media by selecting Craig Wolanin, who&rsquo;s already a regular. Even on draft day, McNab kept a straight face. Johnston and Conte loved it.The only trade that hasn&rsquo;t been a clear victory for McNab was the Perry Anderson-Rick Meagher deal with the Blues in August, but hey, nobody&rsquo;s perfect.Two summers ago, McNab&rsquo;s scouts found Greg Adams, a free agent from that college hockey factory, Northern Arizona. Adams, in his second pro year, added pounds and inches to his 6-foot-3 frame and has developed into a bona fide NHL center faster than you can say Adam Oates.While the league giggled about the Devils&rsquo; elderly goaltenders, Chico Resch continued to fool time and McNab began stockpiling goalies. Among others, he&rsquo;s added Craig Billington (the first goalie selected in the &lsquo;84 draft) and Sean Burke (the first goalie selected in the &lsquo;85 draft).What he has done, and not all that slowly, either, is upgrade the quality of his 12th through 20th players, take advantage of plum draft positions to grab blue-chippers like Muller and Wolanin, and infuse an aura of good feeling in the dressing room.McNab is as personable a man as you&rsquo;d want to meet. He&rsquo;s warm, sincere and funny. He broke up the audience at the New Jersey hockey writers&rsquo; luncheon last spring with a monologue the networks would have killed for.The Devils are the Mom &lsquo;n&rsquo; Pop shop of the NHL. Where else can you drop in uninvited on the GM, pluck a piece of sucking candy out of the jar on his desk, and still be talking hockey long after the last sliver of candy is stuck between your teeth? &#9632;

f0024-02

Sure, Go Ahead And Laugh, But McNab Is Devs’ Saviour

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01616/5224288-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="382" height="113"></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Scott Bowman, director of hockey operations for the Buffalo Sabres, has certainly had his share of problems lately.Although he has enough to worry about with the day-to-day operations of the Sabres, he has had to concern himself with the team&rsquo;s ability, or lack theref. to win and score goals.But despite all of that, Bowman always keeps an eye to the future, especially on the talent the Sabres possess in the minor leagues, junior ranks and across the Atlantic in Europe.&ldquo;We picked up a lot of good talent in last summer&rsquo;s NHL draft that is going to help us in the future,&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;Our first five picks of that draft all have possibilities of eventually making to the NHL.&rdquo;They were, in order of selection, defenseman Carl Johansson of Sweden; center Benoit Hogue. St. Jean; center Keith Gretzky, Windsor; defenseman David Moylan, Sudbury; and center Ken Priestlay, Victoria.&ldquo;Johansson is still a least a year away from playing for us.&rdquo; Bowman said about the Sabres&rsquo; No. I pick in the 1985 draft. &ldquo;He still has a commitment to his team in Sweden and he will honor that.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good, big (5-foot-ll. 198 pounds) defenseman who is tough to knock off his feet.&rdquo;Bowman feels quite fortunate to have had the chance to pick Hogue.&ldquo;I think he could have gone late in the first pick and was surprised to see him still available when our second pick came.&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;He has a lot of talent and is very quick, along with being a good puck handler.&rdquo;If Bowman was surprised that Hogue was still available in the second round, he must have been in shock when he found that Gretzky was available when the Sabres&rsquo; third pick came around.&ldquo;We were very pleased with what we saw of Keith in training camp,&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s working very hard in the juniors and seems to have learned a great deal from the camp.&ldquo;We know that he has some things he still has to work on. We just want him to develop.&rdquo;Bowman said that just because Moylan and Priestlay were lower-round picks, that doesn&rsquo;t mean they won&rsquo;t develop into NHL-calibre players.&ldquo;We feel that given time, these two players, just like the others, can develop their talent to make this team.&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;In fact, every one of these players, plus James Gasseau (sixthround pick in the 1984 draft) and Darcy Wakaluk (seventh rounder in 1984) could play in the World Junior Championships coming up.&rdquo;Bowman said there are also some hopefuls just down the road in Rochester.&ldquo;We are still giving time and hope that Adam Creighton and Norman Lacombe will develop into the players we hoped they would be when we drafted them (in 1983),&rdquo; offered Bowman. &ldquo;They are doing very well right now contributing to Rochester&rsquo;s success so far this season.&rdquo;SABRE POINTS&mdash;Lindy Ruff scored four goals on Dec. 15, leading the Sabres to a 6-2 win over the Quebec Nordiques here. The four-goal performance by Ruff tied a club record held by former Sabre left winger Rick Martin&hellip;In that same game Pat Hughes played in his 500th NHL contest&hellip;The Sabres recalled player/assistant coach Paul Gardner and goalie Jacques Cloutier from Rochester and sent down rookie goalie Daren Puppa. Gardner played a couple of games and was returned&hellip; Ric Seiling was out indefinitely with a groin pull&hellip; Richie Dunn was recalled from Rochester to replace Hannu. Virta, who suffered a groin pull in the Dec. 17th game against the Islanders.<h2>The Snowbirds</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02429/5224281-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="1188" height="1212"><figcaption class="caption-body">WELL, AT LEAST YOU DON&rsquo;T HAVE TO CUT THE GRASS AFTER HOCKEY GAMES.&rsquo;</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

Bowman Pleased With Outcome Of ‘85 Draft

If you would like to nominate a player for THN-JOFA Minor Showcase Player of the Week, please send a photo, along with a note outlining pertinent information&mdash;name, age, birthplace, current hometown, position, height, weight, team and league name, coach&rsquo;s name, favorite hockey team and player, statistics plus school grade and school name&mdash;to JOFA SHOWCASE, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2.At the end of the season, all entries will be eligible for THN-JOFA Minor Player of the Year, which includes a trip to Toronto for THN awards banquet, a plaque plus a complete line of JOFA hockey equipment. &#9632;

JOFA Entries

Samuel E. Thorp is an eightyear-old who is in third season in the Dallas Junior Hockey Association, having played the past two years for the Mite Travel Team, coached by Billy Evans.The 4-foot-3, 71-pound left winger, who is a native of Dallas, Texas, but now lives in Mesquite, Texas, was voted by his coaches as most valuable player last season.He has also received AHAUS awards for hat tricks and playmaking.His favorite National Hockey League team is the Detroit Red Wings and his favorite NHL player is Red Wing forward Kelly Kisio, who Samuel watched when Kisio played minor pro hockey in Dallas.Samuel, who attends Han-by Elementary School, also enjoys playing football and baseball when it isn&rsquo;t hockey season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03352/5224343-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="561" height="979"><figcaption class="caption-body">SAMUEL E. THORP</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-03

PLAYER OF WEEK JOFA

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04264/5224374-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="701" height="1051"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defenseman Doug Wilson&rsquo;s favorite NHL player while growing up was Murray Wilson, his brother.</figcaption></div>Only two defensemen in National Hockey League history have scored more goals than Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; Doug Wilson in a single season.Not too shabby for a guy who began his hockey career as a goaltender.&ldquo;1 started playing hockey when I was five or six years old,&rdquo; says Wilson, who tallied 39 times during the 1981-82 season. &ldquo;I was a goaltender for about four or five years.&rdquo;But his career took a significant turn when he decided a change was in order for one very good reason&mdash;self preservation.&ldquo;I played goal until some of the guys on the other teams started shooting the pucks too hard. It was then I decided &lsquo;Whoa, time to become a defenseman!&rdquo;&lsquo;Ironically, Wilson now has one of the best shots in the NHL.While other youngsters in Ottawa grew up admiring stars such as Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull or Bobby Orr, Doug looked up to another NHL player&mdash;his older brother Murray, who played left wing with the Montreal Canadiens from 1972 to 1978, and in Los Angeles for the 1978-79 season.There were certain advantages to having an older brother in the pros.&ldquo;1 developed my more offensive style of play from him,&rdquo; says Wilson. &ldquo;We used to stand in the driveway and shoot pucks against the side of house. In that way I developed my shot.&ldquo;When I was around 14 or 16, I used to play a lot of golf, and 1 really loved the game. But I had a couple of years of junior eligibility left, and, with my brother having played on three Stanley Cup teams, I thought 1 wanted to follow in his footsteps. So 1 stayed with hockey.&rdquo;The 1981-82 Norris Trophy winner and twotime all-star recalls a hockey tournament as being the most memorable point in his minor hockey career.&ldquo;Winning the Silver Stick Tournament was one of the best things I remember about those days, it was a peewee tournament held in Port Huron, Mich. We had a good team that year. Bobby Smith (Montreal Canadiens) was on it, and so was Timmy Higgins (New Jersey Devils).&ldquo;We went in as the underdogs. No one really expected us to win. but we won. They had this big silver stick there, and the winning team got to carry the stick around the ice after the tournament.&rdquo;Wilson attributes much of his success to the coaching he received while growing up.&ldquo;I had so many really super coaches,&rdquo; says Wilson. &ldquo;There were Ron Palmer, Ernie Leighton, Claude McKenny (ex-Toronto Maple Leaf Jim McKenny&rsquo;s father), Rod Dacker and Brian Kilrea (who is now the New York Islanders&rsquo; assistant coach.)&rdquo;Wilson played some junior hockey in Winnipeg before he joined the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s, for whom he scored 51 goals and 177 points in 101 games.&ldquo;The other big moment in my pre-NHL life was the Memorial Cup final in Vancouver (1977). We lost to New Westminster in the last couple of seconds in the game, but it was something how the team just sort of came together.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-04

Goaltending Was His First Calling

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01579/5224405-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="359" height="117"></div>BOSTON&mdash;Part of the Boston Bruins&rsquo; future is now.Alain Cote, one of the three best future prospects&mdash;goalie Bill Ranford and center Ray Podloski are the others&mdash;listed by general manager Harry Sinden is already on the Bruins&rsquo; roster and playing well in spots.&ldquo;He is here but he has not been playing much, filling in for injuries here and there.&rdquo; said Sinden of the 18-year-old Cote, who was Boston&rsquo;s first choice in the second round of the 1985 draft.Cote sparkled in the Bruins&rsquo; training camp but he was sent back to Granby of the Quebec League for more polishing and experience.Then Mats Thelin broke his foot at the tail end of the training period and Cote was signed, brought up to the big club and paired with Ray Bourque on defense in the season&rsquo;s opener.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing extremely well,&rdquo; said Poach Butch Goring. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing like a person who has been in the league for a long time. He&rsquo;s very confident. Nothing seems to rattle him. He makes the plays he&rsquo;s supposed to make.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;He&rsquo;s (Ranford) an excellent prospect with a lot of natural talent. He&rsquo;s one of the best goalies in junior hockey.&rsquo; &mdash;Sinden</blockquote>Podloski, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound center who turns 20 this month (January), was the Bruins&rsquo; second-round selection in the 1984 draft from the Portland Winter Hawks.He attended the 1984 training camp but went back to Portland, where he scored 63 goals and 138 points in 67 games last season. He was at camp again this year and again was sent back to Portland.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the top scorers in the Western League this season,&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;He is definitely our best forward prospect. It looks like we&rsquo;ll have to make room for him next year.&rdquo;Ranford, who just turned 19 in December, was selected by the Bruins in the third round of the 1985 entry draft.He too was at the Boston camp last fall and raised eyebrows in his first exhibition game when he contributed 23:33 minutes of scoreless hockey to a 3-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Flyers.Ranford was sent back to New Westminster for more junior experience and, according to Sinden. he is getting all he needs.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s with a very weak team and he gets a lot of shots so the goals against doesn&rsquo;t mean much,&rdquo; said the Boston general manager. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an excellent prospect with a lot of natural talent. He&rsquo;s one of the best goal ies in junior hockey.&rsquo;&rsquo;Right winger Greg Johnston, who turns 21 this month, is another top prospect who has been up and down with the big club over the past two years. He&rsquo;s back on the Moncton farm right now.&ldquo;He is doing very well,&rdquo; said Sinden of Johnston, who was scoreless in six games for the Bruins last season and had one assist in five games this year. &ldquo;He had to bring him up for an emergency and he didn&rsquo;t see a lot of ice time.&rdquo;The best prospect outside of North America is Tom Lebman, a center playing for the Stockhom AIK team in Sweden. He is almost certain to have a shot at Boston next year.&ldquo;He has developed quickly,&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;He has just made the National B team in Sweden, which is an accomplishment when you consider all the politics that goes into the A team. I&rsquo;m going over in February specifically to watch him.&rdquo;The Bruins, who have two Swedes, Mats Thelin and Michael Thelven, on their roster, have been slow in signing Scandinavian hockey players.It costs 500,000 kroner (about $60,000) in indemnity fees to the Swedish hockey federation just to sign them and put them on the ice for 40 games.&ldquo;Some of our best prospects are in college with time remaining,&rdquo; said Sinden.The top collegian is Bob Joyce, a sophomore winger from Winnipeg who is playing at North Dakota. He has made his college reputation along the boards.&ldquo;He is our most immediate college prospect,&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big. good skating left wing who is leading the team in scoring. I&rsquo;d call him our top collegian.&rdquo;Two other top collegians are goalie Norm Foster at Michigan State and Bob Sweeney, a senior center at Boston College. &#9632;

f0027-01

Bruins High On Cote, Podloski And Ranford

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01587/5224436-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="468" height="110"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;There are those who feel the future is now with the Montreal Canadiens.On their National Hockey League roster at the start of the season were four sophomores and on some nights, as many as eight rookies were dressed by coach Jean Perron.But while the sophomores, such as defensemen Chris Chelios, Petr Svoboda and Tom Kurvers, have already made their favorable impressions, as has goaltender Steve Penney, this season&rsquo;s rookie goaltender Patrick Roy, first-year defenseman Michael Lalor and forwards Brian Skrudland, Stephane Richer, Kjell Dahlin and Sergio Momesso are in the procees of trying to secure permanent spots in the NHL.And in the foreseeable future, there will be others who will be vying for jobs, trying to push some of the aforementioned players out or chasing some of the established veterans away.The Canadiens&rsquo; scouts have spent a good deal of time this year watching Jose Charbonneau, their first-round pick in the 1985 entry draft. Charbonneau, who plays for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec League, showed little at training camp this fall and left camp without a signed contract. That situation was rectified recently, just before Charbonneau was sidelined with a shoulder injury.Montreal also recently signed two other Quebec League players&mdash;Martin Desjardins and Donald Dufresne, both of Trois-Rivieres Draveurs.Desjardins, a center, was Montreal&rsquo;s fifth pick, 75th overall, in last summer&rsquo;s draft while Dufresne, a defenseman, was Montreal&rsquo;s eighth pick, 117th overall, in the 1985 proceedings.Both players were given three-year contracts, plus a one-year option.In the Ontario League, the Canadiens are keeping close tabs on Graeme Bonar, a sharp-shooting right winger from Sault Ste. Marie, and Shayne Corson, the tough guy from Hamilton.Bonar did not have a good training camp this season as he failed to score a goal in any of the exhibition games he played. He has gone back and played well with the Greyhounds and is certainly enjoying a better year than Corson.When Corson appeared at a Montreal practice in Toronto in early December, he admitted that his season had only been fair to that point.Corson survived the last cuts at the Canadiens&rsquo; camp but did little in the three games in which he played and the decision was made to return him to Hamilton on Oct. 22.It appears some of Montreal&rsquo;s best prospects are playing in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, among them defenseman Scott Sandelin of the University of North Dakota and winger David Maley from the University of Wisconsin.Sandelin, the 40th overall choice in the 1982 draft, is expected to report to the Canadiens once the NCAA season is through in late March. He had four goals and 15 assists in his first 16 games this season.Maley, who played for Edina High School before going on to Wisconsin, was chosen 33rd overall in the 1982 draft, just behind Kent Carlson, who is currently playing with the Canadiens&rsquo; American League farm team at Sherbrooke. In his first 16 games this season, Maley had 10 goals and 15 assists.There are other WCHA players Montreal is watching closely. Left winger Tom Chorske was their second choice, 16th overall, in the 1985 draft and has gone from Minneapolis high school to the University of Minnesota, where he had only one goal in 10 games. Chorske&rsquo;s ice time has apparently been limited in his freshman year, but the feeling is he has a good deal of talent which will develop in the Gophers&rsquo; program.Defenseman Todd Richards has impressed in his freshman year at Minnesota and along with Chorske was scheduled to play for the U.S. national junior team in the world championships.Closer to home, the Canadiens do have some people on their Sherbrooke team who may get a shot at the NHL. The graduation of Skrudland and Lalor to the parent club from last year&rsquo;s AHL championship team proves it can be done if the player is willing to put in the work.Alfie Turcotte, the Canadiens&rsquo; No. I choice and 17th overall in the 1983 draft, hopes he can get another full-fledged shot. He played parts of two seasons with the Canadiens before the decision was made to send him to Sherbrooke.&ldquo;Jacques Lemaire (Canadiens&rsquo; director of player personnel) has seen me play and told me to keep on working hard,&rdquo; said Turcotte, who was recalled for a recent game against Buffalo when juries to Ryan Walter and Stephane Richer left the Canadiens short a couple of forwards.Carlson, who was a defenseman at St Lawrence University, has been used both up front and on the blue line this year al Sherbrooke. Coming off back surgery last spring, Carlson has been at times the best Sherbrooke player, but it is tough fot him to find a spot on defense.The same holds true for John Kordii and Dominic Campedelli, although Ko die recently finished a tour of duty in Montreal before Christmas as a forward.Right winger Claude Lemieux, who was pegged as an automatic NHLer before training camp got underway, is among the rookie scoring leaders in the AHL this season, but his chances of immediate promotion are being blocked by the glut of right wingers in Montreal.IN PASSING&mdash;Ryan Walter, struck by an errant stick near his left eye Dec. 18 in a game against Quebec, has been rel leased from hospital and should be able to return to active duty just after the new year. Craig Ludwig has recovered from his broken hand and played in the Canadiens&rsquo; first post-Christmas game against New Jersey. &#9632;

f0028-01

Canadien Prospects Abound At All Levels

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02413/5224467-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg"></div><h2>NOVELTIES</h2>12&rdquo; &times; 30&rdquo; DEFUNCT PENNANTSCleveland Barons, K.C. Scouts, Sparky Seals, Oakland Seals. All originals $10.00 each or all 4 for $33.00.Defunct Sports,89 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 182, Boston, MA. 02115<h3>WHA LAPEL PINS</h3>Chicago, Indy, Cleveland, Whalers, Aeros, LA, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Calgary, Toronto, Cincinnati, Vancouver, Saints, Michigan, San Diego, Phoenix, Miami, Denver, WHA League, NY Raiders. $6.50 each or 3 for $17.00 or 6 for $30.00.Sports 5, 3808 Rosecrans St., Suite 256, San Diego, CA, 92110<h3>1985-86 HOCKEY SETS</h3>OPC-$10.95; Topps-$13.95. Write:LWN Sports,PO Box 6387,Station C,Victoria, BC, V8P 5M3<h3>WHA & NHL SALE</h3>WHA Pucks, NHL Pucks, pennants, lapel pins, caps, jerseys, decals, bumper stickers, buttons, etc. For a catalog, send $2.00 to:PJG Sports, 238 Davenport Rd., Suite 157, Toronto, ON, M5R 1J6Send S.A.S.E. for want list.<h3>OAKLAND AND CALIFORNIA SEALS</h3>Oakland button $2.00, pennant 12&rdquo; &times; 30&rdquo;&mdash;$10.00, puck $10.00, converse puck $50.00, lapel pin&mdash;$6.50, keychain $4.50, California puck&mdash;$8.50, 12&rdquo; &times; 30&rdquo; Sparky Seal pennant (RARE) $10.00&mdash;12&rdquo; &times; 30&rdquo;, send all orders toAll Sports,333 E. 17th St.,Suite 3, Costa Mesa, CA, 92627 Special LA Sharks WHA Puck&mdash;$15,00<h2>NOVELTIES</h2><h3>WHA-NHL CAPS</h3>Clevelant Crusaders, New York Golden Blades, Toronto, Cougars, Indy Racers, Vancouver Blazers, Houston Aeros, LA Sharks, Saint WHA, Atlanta Flames, Rockies, California Seals, NHL $8.50 each or all 12 for $85.00. US funds only.All-Star Sports,10 Planchet Unit 4, Concord, ON, L4K 2C8 14161 669-4378<h3>WHA BUTTONS</h3>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, 44125HOCKEY-BASEBALL-FOOTBALL COLLECTIBLES (1967 TO 1985) Card Sets/Single Cards/Photos Unopened Gum Packs/Wrappers All new Expanded price List&mdash;$1.00 Contact: Rich Unruh, P.O. Box 509, Faro, Yukon YOB 1K0 (403) 994-2564<h3>PINS OF THE PROS</h3>Licensed Mfg. to Team Canada, Major League baseball, NFL, CMJHL, Hockey pins, CN Tower, & Grand Prix. Dealers, distributors & agents invited to contact: Sportspins, Box 9100, Don Mills, Ont. M3C 2T9 (416) 474-9101.<h2>OPPORTUNITIES</h2><h3>INVESTMENT OFFERED</h3>Junior A Tier II franchise in CJHL. Excellent potential. Financial and talent portfolio submitted upon request.Massena Jr. Hockey Inc.PO Box, 5002<h2>NOVELTIES</h2>HOCKEY CARD PRICELIST: OPC sets, Bruce Higgins, Box 100, Metcalfe, ON, KOA 2P0.<h2>FILMS/PICTURES/SLIDES</h2><h3>EXCITING PHOTOS</h3>Of your favorite players only 80*. Box 533, 2640 E. 12th, Dever, CO 80206. (303) 744-7226.<h2>TOURNAMENTS</h2><h3>OTTAWA CAPITALS SUMMER HOCKEY TOURNAMENT</h3>Super Tyke (novice) to Midget. Triple AAA. Five games guaranteed. Canada Day Weekend. June 27 to July 1, 1986. Contact: Ottawa Capitals Tournament, 57 Hackett Street, Ottawa, ON, K1V 0N6. (613) 731-9345.<h2>VIDEO</h2>HOCKEY&rsquo;S GREATEST FIGHTS and brawls on VHS or BETA tape. Information write: Andy Boemer, PO Box 40069, St. Paul, MN, 55104.<h2>UPBLICATONS</h2><h3>ATTENTION TORONTO MAPLE LEAF FANS!</h3>A Trivia Book on the team is now available.A complete history 1927-1985 (over 400 questions and answers)(For Prompt Delivery)Please send Certified Cheque or Money Order to:MS Sports Trivia Books, P.O. Box 1303, Station B Weston, ON, M9L 2W9 Cost: $8.00 (+ $2.00 Postage and Handling)<h3>NEW YORK ISLANDER SALE</h3>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) 669-4378<h2>MERCHANDISE</h2><h3>CUSTOM EMBROIDERED EMBLEMS</h3>Enameled pins, your design, free booklet. A.T. Patch Company, Department 124, Littleton, NH, 03561.<h3>PERSONALIZED NHL (CCM)</h3>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.<h3>DYNA-WEIGHT TRAINING AIDS</h3>Hockey Stick weights $16.95 each including instructions. How to develop a super hard shot. Skate weights $27.95 per set plus $3.75 postage. Please send money order or check to:DYNA-WEIGHT COMPANY, 59 Maryland St., Winnipeg, MB,R3G 1K6or call: (204) 783-3364. &#9632;

f0028-02

THE HOCKEY NEWS CLASSIFIED

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02347/5224529-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="486" height="123"></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The Baltimore Skipjacks, Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; top farm club, went to the American League championship last season before losing the Calder Cup to the Sherbrooke Canadiens.But that wasn&rsquo;t necessarily a sign of National Hockey League-calibre talent blossoming just one step below the majors.Instead, it was due in large part to performances turned in by veterans who had never played in the NHL&mdash;and never would.So. Penguin general manager Eddie Johnston cleaned house during the summer and brought in collegiate and junior prospects.&ldquo;We succeeded in what we wanted to do in getting rid of a lot of the old guys in Baltimore, guys with no future,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got two young goalkeepers (Brian Ford and Jeff Cooper). On our defense, our oldest guy is 22.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we wanted to do. We were looking to develop some prospects. Last year, we had maybe 12 guys down there that were never going to play here again You&rsquo;re not developing anything that way.&rdquo;Johnston signed Cooper, center Colin Chin, and defensemen Chris Dahlquist and. Jim Johnson as collegiate free agents. Johnson is playing a regular shift in Pittsburgh, while the other three are in Baltimore.Chin was a linemate of highly-coveted right winger Ray Staszak at Illinois-Chicago. Johnston signed the 5-foot-8, 155-pound Chin in hopes of luring Staszak to Pittsburgh. Staszak opted for Detroit.The small forward has led Baltimore in scoring most of the year but isn&rsquo;t considered an NHL prospect by Johnston.&ldquo;Chin&rsquo;s a good American Leaguer,&rdquo; said Johnston, &ldquo;To be honest with you, I&rsquo;d like him to surprise me, but I really don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s big and strong enough to play up here.&rdquo;Two years ago, the Penguins had three first-round picks in the NHL entry draft. They chose center Mario Lemieux, the 1984-85 rookie of the year; defenseman Doug Bodger, who stepped into the lineup as an 18-year-old and is playing regurarly; and center Roger Belanger, who has battled injuries during his first two pro seasons and is now playing right wing in Baltimore.&ldquo;Belanger was hurt in camp with the lower part of his back,&rdquo; said Johnston. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want to put him in and out of the lineup again like last season. The guys down the middle and on the right side had a better camp than him.&ldquo;Last year, when we were thinking of sending him to the World Junior Tournament he got hurt for six or seven weeks. He missed II or 12 weeks last year. He was getting some goals the earlier part of the year, and hopefully he&rsquo;ll come on and get stronger every game and start to play well.&rdquo;This season&rsquo;s No. 1 draft choice was center Craig Simpson, who also is playing some right wing for the Penguins. Second-round pick Lee Giffin, a right winger from Oshawa of the Ontario League, dislocated his thumb during a junior exhibition game and did not attend training camp with the Penguins.&ldquo;Giffin has been the first star two weeks in a row,&rdquo; said Johnston. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s only been back about 12 games, and he&rsquo;s just been fantastic lately.&rdquo;Johnston said among this year&rsquo;s other draft choices, Northeastern University goaltender Bruce Racine, a fourth-round pick, defenseman Jim Paek, a ninthrounder from Oshawa, and fourth-round selection Steve Gotaas, a center with Prince Albert of the Western League, have been playing well.Other prospects playing at Baltimore include center Tom O&rsquo;Regan and defenseman Mike Rowe.One player thought to have a good chance to make this year&rsquo;s club but sent back to junior in training camp was right winger Mark Teevens of Peterborough of the OHL. The 1984 fourth-rounder scored 43 goals and 90 assists last year.&ldquo;Teevens has been in and out,&rdquo; said Johnston. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d like him to play a little more aggressive. He&rsquo;s going to get his 140 points in junior because he&rsquo;s a very skilled guy. We&rsquo;d like to see him get involved a little more in his play. If he does that, he can definitely step in here and play.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0029-02

Pittsburgh Builds From Baltimore

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01503/5224498-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="477" height="113"></div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;Are the Devils cornering the market on hockey&rsquo;s talented young goaltenders?A year ago, Alain Chevrier was considered the No. 1 prospect in the New Jersey organization while still playing at Fort Wayne of the International League. Chevrier, of course, has made the jump national Hockey League goalie in one.If this year&rsquo;s top prospect list proves equally accurate, the name Sean Burke will soon be heard.Burke, the Devils&rsquo; second draft choice behind top pick Craig Wolanin, is currently earning high marks for the Toronto Marlboros. As Christmas approached the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder from Windsor, Ont. was 9-13-2 with a 4.65 goals-against average.But those figures don&rsquo;t tell the entire story.&ldquo;Burke does not have a good goals-against average but that doesn&rsquo;t bother me at all,&rdquo; said Devils&rsquo; general manager Max McNab. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting anywhere from 42 to 49 shots a game. We don&rsquo;t care about his average, he&rsquo;s getting an awful lot of work and he&rsquo;s proving to everybody that he is an MVP prospect with a bottom club. His 9-13-2 record is quite outstanding in everyone&rsquo;s estimation.&ldquo;They (Marlies) are fighting their way into a playoff spot and if they make it it&rsquo;s solely on his ability and say-so. He&rsquo;s a big, rangy goalie that we&rsquo;d like to see coming.&rdquo;Both Burke, 18, and Devils&rsquo; rookie netminder Craig Billington are on Team Canada&rsquo;s roster for the World Junior Tournament.Right behind Burke is 21-year-old defenseman Gordon Mark, a 6-foot-4, 208-pound bruiser who could someday join the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Wolanin and give the Devils a fearsome defensive corps.Mark, a fourth-round selection from the Kamloops Oilers in the 1983 draft, is currently opening some eyes with Maine of the American League.&ldquo;All along he looked ticketed for Fort Wayne,&rdquo; said Maine coach Tom McVie. &ldquo;But they had 12 defensemen and we had nine so I kept him and he&rsquo;s become the most improved player on the team. He just refused to let me kick him off this team.&ldquo;Now he&rsquo;s playing regularly, logging a lot of ice time and getting better. And he&rsquo;s just starting. I like to think of Gordie Lane when I think of Mark. This kid is further along at his age than Lane was.&rdquo;&ldquo;His strong desire to be here (New jersey) is one of his biggest assets,&rdquo; added McNab. &ldquo;His size and strength are some others. He&rsquo;s not real quick but Tommie gave him real good marks as far as improving is concerned and that&rsquo;s all you can go on with young guys.&rdquo;Mark&rsquo;s progress was delayed last season at Kamloops when he hurt his knee and required an operation in the first month of the season. He did not get back into form until February and played in only 32 games (11-23-34). In three seasons with the Oilers, Mark racked up 405 penalty minutes.This season the Edmonton-bom prospect, a right-handed shooter, had accounted for 81 penalty minutes, two goals and four assists in 27 games.While goaltending and defense appear to be the Devils&rsquo; strong areas for the future, the brightest young forward could be center Dan Dorion.He is also a long shot, considering he was chosen in the 12th round (232d overall) from the Austin Mavericks back in 1982. That was the draft in which New Jersey made Rocky Trottier, Ken Daneyko and Pat Verbeek their first three picks.Dorion is playing well for Western Michigan in the CCHA with 20 goals and 30 assists in 20 games.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know about Dan as a pro yet,&rdquo; offered McNab, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s playing very well. Every time we&rsquo;ve seen him he&rsquo;s been impressive and all the reports are all good.&rdquo;Paul Ysebaert (fourth round, 1984), also a center, is playing well for Bowling Green University and ranks close to Dorion. &ldquo;If Ysebaert&rsquo;s quickness is there, he&rsquo;ll certainly make it,&rdquo; said McNab. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s certainly a hard-nosed competitor.&rdquo;McNab points to defensemen Daneyko and Randy Velischek as the two players closest to earning places on the Devils&rsquo; roster. Both players have NHL experience and are playing under McVie at Maine. But goaltending remains the area of greatest depth and promise in the organization.That comes as no accident.&ldquo;Right from Day One in this organization it had to be considered a critical category,&rdquo; explained McNab. &ldquo;Chico (Resch) takes great care of himself and he&rsquo;s so amazing at age 37 that I&rsquo;d place him in a category all by himself.&ldquo;But the last couple of years we still went into the draft and made goalies a priority in our drafting. We drafted Billington, Kirk McLean (of the Oshawa Generals) and Burke. We also made sure we had respectable guys like Chevrier coming in as free agents.&ldquo;We may have missed on a second-round defenseman or forward, but you can patch a hole there. If you don&rsquo;t have goaltending you have to trade a top draft choice to get it. We may have a lot of goaltenders but the alternative is frightening. If they can all play we&rsquo;re in a tradeable position. In a few years hopefully we can forget about the position for a couple of years.&rdquo;HOT STUFF&mdash;Doug Sulliman (bruised buttocks) was the only injured player. &#9632;

f0029-01

Devils Well Stocked With Young Goalies

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01578/5224560-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="490" height="116"></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;When the Vancouver Canucks think of their future, they look to the man they loaned to Canada&rsquo;s national junior team, competing in the World Junior Championships.That&rsquo;s Jim Sandlak, the fourth pick in last year&rsquo;s entry draft. The burly 6-foot-3 right winger came to camp and made the team in a strange sort of way. While he earned enough points to hang around and not be sent back to junior, he didn&rsquo;t produce enough to get decent ice time.Of course, it&rsquo;s catch-22 time. No ice time, no play well. No play well, no ice time.But certainly the biggest relief the Canucks have is that skating doesn&rsquo;t look like it&rsquo;s going to be a big problem with the former London Knight.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve really come a long way in my skating.&rdquo; Sandlak said just before getting the ticket to the World Junior Championships in Hamilton. &ldquo;The biggest adjustment for me has been the physical aspect of the game. I don&rsquo;t know when to go in to make a hit and when not to. I&rsquo;m playing far too cautiously, I think. I&rsquo;m too afraid to get caught out of position and give up a goal when my line is on the ice.&rdquo;Sandlak was set back somewhat on the night he scored his first NHL goal against Buffalo. After the goal he made a pass coming out of his own end and while admiring it was levelled by Sabres&rsquo; defender Steve Dykstra.He suffered a whiplash injury to his neck and was out about 10 days. As a result, he couldn&rsquo;t feed off the success of his first goal and it seemed he had to start all over again upon his return.&ldquo;The Road Warriors (Sandlak and his London teammate of last year Dave Lowry) are going to be alright,&rdquo; says Tom Watt, the coach of the Canucks. &lsquo;&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get them both playing a bit more and the (national) junior team will certainly do that for Sandlak. And we&rsquo;re not sending him back to junior. We are taking him back after the tournament. They&rsquo;re both good kids with great attitudes. They&rsquo;re boarding with a family and things have worked out well there. It&rsquo;s going to take a little time.&rdquo;The Canucks are also eying Dale Dunbar. the free-agent defenseman signed out of Boston University by former general manager Harry Neale. Dunbar was doing well in training camp when he was hit in the head during the warm-up of a pre-season game against Los Angeles Kings.He suffered a bad concussion and missed two months. He came back and was sent to Fredericton. He played one game, in which he was said to be the best defenseman on the ice, but then suffered a knee injury in the next game. If he stays healthy, the defensive-type blueliner will probably be given a look by the Canucks some time after Christmas.The rave notices being accorded defenseman Doug Clarke from Colorado College and now the Canadian Olympic team have died down somewhat, but the Canucks are still high on him. And another defensemen who turned their head somewhat at training camp was Jim Agnew, who is playing for the Portland Winter Hawks in the Western League.And certainly no outlook on the Canucks&rsquo; prospects for the future would be complete without reference to the player management thinks will be heir apparent to Richard Brodeur&rsquo;s throne&mdash;goaltender Troy Gamble of Medicine Hat.After shining in training camp and two pre-season games, the Canucks have sent goaltending consultant John Garrett in to see him a couple of times and Jack Gordon&rsquo;s assistant. Darcy Rota, confers with him when the Tigers play in New. West minster and Victoria.Gamble was taken in the second round of last year&rsquo;s draft and he is being coached by Doug Sauter, himself a former goaltender. While Brodeur is unlikely to retire for a couple of years yet, the Canucks are hoping Gamble will be ready when he does. &#9632;

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Canucks Willing To Gamble On Their Future

<div class="byline">BY BOB DONNELLY</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02420/5224591-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="112" height="115"></div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;In recent years, the Quebec Nordiques have developed a reputation for bringing their young prospects along slowly but surely.They have never kept an 18-year-old draft choice with them in the National Hockey League and Martin Madden, the person most responsible for keeping an eye on future prospects, says they are not prepared to break with a winning formula.&ldquo;We think it has worked well for us in the past and that is why we have continued to return junior-age players to their teams or send them to Fredericton in the AHL. when they reach 20. to get more experience,&rdquo; Madden said.&ldquo;The players get a lot more ice time with their junior teams or with Fredericton than they would get breaking into the NHL.&ldquo;Bringing along a player too quickly can be dangerous for his confidence if things don&rsquo;t work out well at the start. They can usually benefit fromn the experience they get by delaying their start in the NHL.&rdquo;There are seven players in the Nordiques&rsquo; system who have been impressive lately.One is Alain Lemieux, an NHL veteran who is with the Express in Fredericton because the Nordiques are deep in centermen. Any chance Lemieux might have had to come back to Quebec were shattered when Jean-Francois Sauve went on a power-play tear that still hadn&rsquo;t ended at Christmas.Lemieux, in the meantime, was scoring 13 goals and 11 assists in 20 games with Fredericton.Quebec&rsquo;s first choice in 1984, Trevor Stienburg, was plagued by two serious injuries last season while playing with Guelph and London in the Ontario League.And his problems continued this year with a knee injury that required surgery during Quebec&rsquo;s training camp.Stienburg started playing once again in December.&ldquo;He continues to be aggressive and that&rsquo;s why we drafted him in. the first place,&rdquo; said Madden. &ldquo;He has been working on his defensive game and we just hope he will stay healthy for the remainder of the season.&ldquo;You can tell a player to take it easy and to avoid the brawls but when he is in the heat of the action he will usually do what comes naturally. At least the helmets and visors will cut down a little on the hand injuries during fights because players will think twice before swinging.&rdquo;Defenseman Steve Finn skated a few games with Fredericton at the end of the last season and stayed with the Nordiques for a few months at the start of this season.After not dressing for a few weeks, the Nordiques decided to return him to Laval of the Quebec League. After only a few games there, he was chosen to try out for Canada&rsquo;s entry in the World Junior Championships.&ldquo;We thought he could be our seventh defenseman at the start of the year and things went well as we won seven straight,&rdquo; said Madden. &ldquo;But then Normand Rochefort was injured and the team went into a little tailspin. His confidence was hurting a little when the going got tough, but now he will have ample ice time and a chance to get going again. We just couldn&rsquo;t afford him all the ice time he needed in Quebec, but he will be back again.&rdquo;Finn was not the only Quebec prospect in Hamilton over the Christmas holidays. Right winger Max Middendorf of Sudbury (U.S.) and center Jason Lafreniere of Belleville (Canada), Quebec&rsquo;s second and third choices in the 1985 entry draft, were two others.Middendorf was a late addition.&ldquo;He was not an original choice for the American team but he has played so well of late that they decided to invite him.&rdquo; said Madden.Lafreniere, traded from Hamilton to Belleville earlier this season, had been sensational for his new team.&ldquo;Jason picked up eight points in one game recently. He is among the top scorers in the OHL and he has been doing really well after starting the season in Hamilton,&rdquo; said Madden.Dave Latta of Kitchener, Quebec&rsquo;s first pick last summer, had a slow start due to a shoulder seperation he picked up&mdash;and then covered up&mdash;in training camp.&ldquo;He was out for a few weeks but is now playing regularly again.&rdquo; says Madden. &ldquo;He impressed us earlier this year. He got six points in one game recently and we are really satisfied with his scoring for the number of games he has played.&rdquo;Every team has a dark horse or two in the running and the Nordiques-are no exception.Daniel Poudrier, Quebec&rsquo;s sixth choice in 1982, is Quebec&rsquo;s long-shot candidate, according to Madden.&ldquo;Daniel played in six exhibition games with us back in the autumn and we liked what we saw. We are trying to do what we did with David Shaw and we will be patient.&ldquo;He is big at 6-foot-3 but we want him to put on a little weight. He remains an excellent prospect, a good puck handler, and we think he can make it to the NHL one day.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

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Nordiques Highly Patient With Their Pro Prospects

<div class="byline">BY DICK BAKER</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeySPRINGFIELD&mdash;The scoring parade in 4K American League&rsquo;s Southern Division may be dominated by veterans, but slipping up the ranks are some sizzling newcomers to the professional game.Oh sure, veteran Wes Jarvis of St. Catharines led the league and Paul Gardner. before his recall to Buffalo was second. Daryl Evans, banging home goals for Binghamton at a pace of two goals for every three games, was third in scoring. Jody Gage of Rochester followed in fourth.But look here old men, the AHL is still development league and there are quite new red-hot rookies who warrant some attention.Take Adam Creighton for example. Creighton did play 30 games for Buffalo last year, but only appeared in six games for the Amerks (scoring five goals). In 28 games, Creighton had scored 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points, eighth in the league in scoring and first among newcomers.Springfield&rsquo;s leading scorer was Don (Little Big Man) Biggs at 15-16-31 in 28 games. Biggs was not a first-round draft pick like Creighton. In fact, he was taken by the Minnesota North Stars in the eighth round of the June, 1983 entry draft, the 156th pick overall. And now, he&rsquo;s a Nova Scotia Oiler, having been part of a trade between the North Stars and Edmonton Oilers.Although only 5-foot-8. Biggs is a tough character. Each year of junior with the Oshawa Generals, he compiled more than 100 minutes in penalties. Earlier in the year when Springfield was struggling, it was an all-rookie line of Biggs. Garry Lacey and George Servinis that stood out as Springfield&rsquo;s best unit.New Haven may not have the top scoring rookies, but the Nighthawks do have an overwhelming supply of new talent. In only 19 games, winger Gordie Walker had seven goals and nine assists.&ldquo;He reminds me of Don Maloney when I had him here as a rookie,&rdquo; said New Haven general manager Roy Mlaker. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a non-stop machine. He has all the skills and then some.&rdquo;New Haven limped during the early going, but coach Robbie Ftorek had been able to move the Nighthawks back into the playoff chase. Much of the improvement is courtesy of a promising defense. One of the top prospects is Finland&rsquo;s Simmo Saarinen who tore ligaments in his left knee a year ago. His professional career spanned only eight games entering this season.&ldquo;Simo Saarinen is going to be a quality NHL player,&rdquo; remarked Mlaker. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one European who loves to hit. He&rsquo;s not a fighter, he&rsquo;s a hitter.&rdquo;Mlaker also likes what he sees of Kjell Samuelsson, the Swedish giant. Samueisson (6-foot-6, 227 pounds) is a &ldquo;very intelligent defenseman who rarely loses control.&rdquo; according to Mlaker. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an excellent pokechecker.&rdquo;Then there&rsquo;s former RPI captain Ken Hammond, who has shown steady improvement. In addition, Steve Duchesne is an offensive defenseman who is looking to put on some weight.Up front, rookie Steve Moria (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) passed the challenge of playing on a line with the prolific-scoring Mike Rogers and Paul Guay before Rogers&rsquo; trade to the Edmonton Oilers. Moria, now at wing, had been the Nighthawks&rsquo; fifth center.Baltimore, despite a horrendous 14-game losing streak, found reason for hope with the play of rookie defenseman Chris Dahlquist. Dahlquist was named the Skipjacks&rsquo; co-player of the month in November along with blueline partner Greg Hotham. Dahlquist, from Lake Superior State College, has been the Skipjacks&rsquo; most improved player since the start of training camp. And the &lsquo;Jacks third-leading scorer is rookie Colin Chin.Hershey, mostly a veteran squad, has been getting some good defensive play from Ian Armstrong while Binghamton&rsquo;s best new man may be Jim Thomson, the ex-Toronto Marlboro winger. Other Whaler first-year pros are Bruce Shoebottom, Yves Beaudoin and Chris Brant.St. Catharines&rsquo; playmaking defenseman Todd Gill was the Saints&rsquo; fourthleading scorer, with the help of 16 assists in 33 games.In addition to Creighton, the Amerks boast several other NHL prospects. Richard Hajdu was 8-14-22 in 28 games while left winger Doug Trapp, a second-round pick out of Regina, was 7-12-19 in 27 games. There are four rookie defensemen&mdash;Mark Ferner. Jason Meyer, Joe Reekie and Tim Hoover&mdash;on the club.Springfield goaltender Karl Takko, a Minnesota-owned prospect, was 8-5-2 with a 3.71 goals-against average and Hershey&rsquo;s Ron Hextali, 9-6-2, with a 3.89 GAA to highlight the top rookie netminders. Jeff Cooper of Colgate had appeared in 15 games for Baltimore (4.24,4-9-0) and owned one of only four Southern Division shutouts as the Christmas break approached. &#9632;

The Minors

AHL’s ‘Little Biggs Man’ Is Measuring Up

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>GLENS FALLS&mdash;From free-agent walk-on Dune MacIntyre of Fredericton to Nova Scotia&rsquo;s much-touted Jeff Beukeboom to the high-priced duo of Adam Oates and Ray Staszak in Adirondack, the rookie class in the American League&rsquo;s Northern Division features size, skill and&mdash;most of ail&mdash;variety.The group numbers nearly four dozen, from a high of 10 with the defending Calder Cup-champion Sherbrooke Canadian to a low of four with the Maine Mariners.Some play a lot while others are still awaiting an opportunity for regular work in the AHL.Most are graduates of Canadian junior leagues, many come from U.S. colleges, and one, Maine&rsquo;s 27-year-old goaltender Karl Friesen, is playing in his first pro season in North America after a long stint in West Germany.In Fredericton, coach Andre Savard often uses an effective all-rookie line of MacIntyre, Scott Tottle and Ken Quinfly. MacIntyre, who earned a contract some Vancouver in training camp after a fine career in the Ontario League, has been a pleasant surprise. Savard has been particularly impressed with the play of defenseman Daniel Poudrier, who jumped to the AHL after a season with Muskegon in the International League.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been our best rookie and our steadiest defenseman,&rdquo; Savard said. &ldquo;He plays with Claude Julien and they have been our best pair. He has very good jockey sense, talent and he&rsquo;s steady.&rdquo; Other first-year players with the Express are Luc Guenette, Tom Karalis, Mike Stevens and Dale Dunbar.Sherbrooke coach Pierre Creamer likes what he&rsquo;s seen of winger Perry Gan-char, who is making his debut in the AHL after seasons in the Central League and the IHL. Montreal acquired the Saskatoon native in a deal with St. Louis last summer.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been with us since the start and he&rsquo;s really been playing very well,&rdquo; Creamer said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s scored 13 of his goals on the road. He&rsquo;s a good team player.&rdquo;Creamer&rsquo;s most productive first-year pro is Claude Lemieux, a 58-goal scorer at Verdun last year. Through 17 games with Sherbrooke, Lemieux had six goals and 20 points. Gilles Thibaudeau, a hotshot in the IHL last season, was next with six goals and 15 points.Sherbrooke has thrust its young defensemen into action from the start and Creamer sees improvement from the likes of John Kordic, Peter Taglianetti, Dominic Campedelli and Dan McFall.Sherbrooke&rsquo;s rookie crop also includes Tom Anastos, Joel Biallargeon and Yves Lavoie.Moncton&rsquo;s top young gun is center Brian Bradley, who potted 10 goals and 32 points in his first 27 games with the Golden Flames. But a broken thumb, suffered in a game Dec. 14 will keep him out of the lineup for a month.Coach Terry Crisp has also received good work from forwards Benoit Doucet, Peter Bakovic and Greg Johnston. Doucet, a star at powerful University of Moncton, scored eight goals and 21 points in his first 27 games with the Golden Flames. Bakovic and Johnston each had 10 goals and 17 points through the first two months of the season. Bakovic also tossed in a little muscle&mdash;to the tune of 121 penalty minutes in 28 games&mdash;while Johnston did his scoring in the 17 games he played with Moncton between trips to Boston.Defensemen Kevan Guy and Al Pederson and forwards Jim Buettgen and Rob Kiveil are getting lots of ice time with Moncton. Kiveil is coming back from a knee injury.Maine coach Tom McVie is high on the prospects of defenseman Gord Mark, a 6-foot-3 bruiser drafted by the New Jersey Devils from Kamloops.McVie said that Mark continues to beat the odds in the defense-heavy Devils&rsquo; organization.&ldquo;He does everything that Tom McVie, the coach, is wanting in a hockey player,&rdquo; McVie said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to do anything he can to help the team win. Now he&rsquo;s starting to play regularly and he&rsquo;s starting to improve. Other defensemen are falling by the wayside and he&rsquo;s still in the lineup and going like hell.&ldquo;Every phase of his game has improved. He needs more work, there&rsquo;s no doubt about that, but he&rsquo;s playing regularly now and I use him in important situations.&rdquo;Center Tim Army, drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 1981, right wing Greg Evtushevski and Friesen complete the small Mariner rookie group. Friesen is having some trouble with consistency, and Evtushevski has only seen spot duty thus far on a Maine team that is deep at right wing. Army, a four-year starter at Providence College, has a regular role and plays on Maine&rsquo;s good power-play unit.&ldquo;He makes the nice soft passes,&rdquo; McVie said about Army. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re hard enough to get there and soft enough to handle.&rdquo;Big Daryl Reaugh, Nova Scotia&rsquo;s 6-foot-4 goaltender, has carried the bulk of the workload for the Oilers this season. In 17 games, he compiled a 9-7-1 record and a 4.06 goals-against average. Reaugh, a second-round draft pick in 1984, apparently likes Halifax&rsquo;s Metro Centre&mdash;he&rsquo;s 7-2 at home this season.Beukeboom, Edmonton&rsquo;s top pick in 1983, is proving to be a solid performer.He had contributed four goals and 12 points to the Nova Scotia offense in 27 games. Fellow defenseman John Miner, a big point producer in junior, had six goals and 18 points in his first 31 AHL games.Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; forwards Wayne Presley, Darin Sceviour and Mark LaVarre are regulars. Presley and LaVarre have played for the Black Hawks this season.Adirondack has been at the top of the Northern Division standings since the start of the season, thanks in part to the strong play of its seven rookies.Goalie Chris Pusey has been used sparingly by coach Bill Dineen, but defensemen Dave Korol and Jim Leavins and forwards Staszak, Oates, Dale Krentz and Bob Probert have provided steady work.After failing to make the grade with Detroit in the early part of the season, both Oates and Staszak have flourished on a line with Adirondack. Staszak put together a string of nine goals in seven games before suffering a groin injury in mid-December, and Oates was averaging a point a game. &#9632;

Variety Is A Spice Of Life In Rookie Class Of ‘85-86

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyINDIANAPOLIS&mdash;When you talk rookies in the International League this season, the conversation tends to be somewhat more brief than in past seasons.That&rsquo;s not because the first-year players don&rsquo;t have the talent. It&rsquo;s due more to the fact that there just aren&rsquo;t that many of them.Choosing the most prominent is easy.He is John Vecchiarelli, a 2l-year-old centerman who was more or less an early Christmas present to Flint Spirit coach Doug McKay from Hartford Whaler general manager Emile Francis.&ldquo;Emile pointed him my way,&rdquo; explained McKay. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t feel John was ready to play in the NHL and Salt Lake City had lots of proven forwards. So Emile called me and asked me if I could use him.&rdquo;Certainly Flint, this year&rsquo;s &ldquo;expansion team,&rdquo; could use the former Peterborough Pete. And if Francis has any more like him, the last-place Spirits could use them as well.The free agent led the IHL in scoring for several weeks earlier in the year but teams starting keying on Flint&rsquo;s only productive line. As a result, the output of both Vecchiarelli and linemate Jim Egerton dwindled.Vecchiarelli, with 14 goals and 19 assists in 25 games, was still in the top 10 as 1985 drew to a close, though.Mario Belanger of Milwaukee was close to Vecchiarelli in collecting goals. Belanger, a 20-year-old who scored 44 goals last season at Shawinigan, picked up 13 in his first 18 games with the Admirals.Milwaukee coach-general manager Phil Witliff was also impressed with the play of forward Marc Damphousse, who was a teammate of Belanger at Shawinigan in the Quebec League last year.Damphousse was that team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 65 goals and 160 points in 68 games. Belanger had 44 goals. Damphousse, also 20, had five goals and seven assists in his first 14 games with Milwaukee.Muskegon Lumberjacks, who have occupied first place in the East Divison for most of the season, were aided by the efforts of one rookie in particular. Yves Heroux, a 20-year-old right winger who had 42 goals in 66 games with Chicoutimi last season, picked up a pair of hat tricks early in the IHL season and had 10 goals in 25 games.Toledo Goaldiggers may be lagging in ninth place overall in the IHL, but it&rsquo;s not the fault of Guy Benoit, another 20-year-old. The leading scorer at Drummondville last season, with 56 goals and 135 points, was off to a 20-point start in 15 games (including 11 goals).The Goaldiggers were hurt early in the season by the loss of center Kurt Kalweit, who suffered a fractured left ankle Nov. 6. At the time, the native of Massachus-setts was leading the team in scoring with seven goals and 11 points in 11 games. Kalweit played in Sweden last season. Coach Peter Mahovlich hopes to have him back in action early in the new year.Saginaw&rsquo;s outstanding rookie is right winger Brian Noonan, who had 12 goals and four assists in his first 23 games with the Generals. He had 50 goals at New Westminster last season.Center Bill Terry, Michigan Tech&rsquo;s MVP in 1983-84. played in Germany last year and was signed as a free agent by coach-GM Bill Inglis at Kalamazoo. He contributed nine goals and 19 assists in his first 25 IHL games and was tied for the Wings&rsquo; scoring lead with Wayne Crawford.Fort Wayne, leading the West Division, is largely stocked with veterans. First-year coach Robbie Laird, however, singled out right winger Paul Kobylarz from the University of Michigan as his top prospect. In 23 games, the 22-year-old had six goals.Coach-GM Ron Ullyot of Indianapolis has a couple of good young blueliners. He is highest on Phil DeGaetano.&ldquo;He probably is the guy who has the greatest potential to move up. He&rsquo;s got good strength and handles the puck well. He&rsquo;s pretty mobile for a big guy,&rdquo; Ullyot said of the 6-foot-l, 205-pound rookie out of Northern Michigan.Mike Nepi is another rookie defenseman who shows promise. He played at Michigan Tech the last few seasons and both he and DeGaetano had scored four goals in the early going for the Checkers. Both were signed as free agents.Defenseman Shawn Evans of Peoria played at Peterborough last season and collected 99 points on 16 goals and 83 assists. He was signed by St. Louis and sent to Peoria, where he had picked up 14 points in 24 games with the Rivermen.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01556/5224670-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="575" height="814"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Belanger had 13 goals in his first 18 games with the MN waukee Admirals.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IHL Rookie Crop A Quality Group

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>GRAND FORKS&mdash;There are few young players in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association of any quality who haven&rsquo;t already been snapped up in the National Hockey League draft.So, when the &lsquo;86 draft rolls around, don&rsquo;t look for the WCHA to provide many players.But what the WCHA does have is a wealth of players&mdash;quality players&mdash;who somehow never got picked in previous drafts.That means some of the WCHA&rsquo;s top players could become wealthy men if such NHL clubs as Detroit continue to shell out $1 million for college free agents as they did for RPI&rsquo;s Adam Oates and Illinois-Chicago&rsquo;s Ray Staszak last summer.With that in mind, here&rsquo;s one man&rsquo;s list of 10 WCHA players available to the highest bidder.Only four of them are seniors. The rest are juniors, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean they won&rsquo;t leave college for the education of balancing a checkbook with the help of big money.In no particular order, they are:Dallas Gaume, 5-foot-IO, 180 pounds, senior center, Denver University. DU&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer, whom Hartford Whaler scout Dave McNab calls one of the best players to ever play college hockey. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t had the recognition he deserves. He gets it from players, but doesn&rsquo;t get it nationally,&rdquo; said McNab. Gaume shares the WCHA scoring lead with Duluth&rsquo;s Brett Hull and two other free agents, teammate Dwight Mathiasen and Northern Michigan&rsquo;s Gary Emmons.Dwight Mathiasen, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, junior winger, Denver. You&rsquo;ve got to like his size and consistency. He averaged 25 goals his first two seasons and has 15 already this year. Like other Denver players, he will benefit from the great team success the Pioneers are having, because that catches the attention of scouts.John McMillan, 5-foot-8, 160 pounds, junior center, Denver. His size may work against him. but he plays with great heart. He contributed 103 points his first two seasons at DU, but has been sidelined after surgery to remove a blood clot from his leg.Jeff Lamb, 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, junior center, Denver. Has come on like gangbusters. Didn&rsquo;t score a goal as a freshman, picked up 14 as a sophomore and has 12 already this year.Norm Maciver, 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, senior defenseman. Minnesota-Duluth. Could be the cream of the crop. A first-team all-league pick a year ago and maybe the guy with the most skills on the list. Sound defensively and polished offensively, too. He was Duluth&rsquo;s third-leading scorer with four goals and 17 assists through 16 games. Should be the subject of a bidding war.Gary Emmons, 5-foot-9, 168 pounds, junior center. Northern Michigan. Had 25 points in his last eight games and set a WCHA record with six goals in a single game earlier this year. Like McMillan, lack of size is his only shortcoming.Rob Doyle, 5-foot-11 185 pounds, junior defenseman. Colorado College. A second-team all-league pick a year ago. An offensive-minded defenseman in the mold of ex-CC defensemen Dave Feamster and Doug Lidster.Marty Wakelyn, 6-feet, 160 pounds, senior goalie, Colorado College. Could be a wise signing by any NHL club looking for goaltending help. Has a career save percentage of .884 and has four times won WCHA Player-of-the-Week honors. WCHA players showed their respect by voting him to their second team a year ago.Glen Klotz, 5-foot-10, 177 pounds, senior defenseman. North Dakota. A smooth offensive player who moves the puck well and is very consistent. His only drawback is a lack of size, but he is not afraid to hit.Tim Thomas, 5-foot-l 1, 180 pounds, junior defenseman, Wisconsin. A second team All-American pick a year ago and a member of the WCHA&rsquo;s first all-star team. An extremely versatile player who has played forward for the Badgers as well. Ranked as the nation&rsquo;s highest-scoring defenseman a year ago. A walk-on at Wisconsin who has developed rapidly.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01498/5224701-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="576" height="928"><figcaption class="caption-body">High-scoring Dallas Gaume leads a list of impressive Denver free agents.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

The Colleges

WCHA Players Might Inspire Bidding Wars

<div class="byline">BY BILL CRAWFORD</div>SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich.&mdash;When talk turns to prospects for the 1986 National Hockey League draft, Joe Murphy&rsquo;s name invariably comes up&mdash;and quickly.In the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, there are few likely draftees but among them is Murphy, the Michigan State freshman who is almost guaranteed to be selected first overall in June.Murphy, 18, had 15 goals and 29 points in 18 games with the Spartans, making him the top-scoring freshman in college hockey.Only teammate, and sometimes linemate, Mike Donnelly, North America&rsquo;s No. 1 free agent, was off to a better start, with a whopping 24 goals and 12 assists in 18 games.As you might expect, Murphy is a mature 18-year-old. He was actually too good for the British Columbia Tier II league, in which he scored 68 goals for the Penticton Knights in 1984-85.Michigan State won the war for his services, knowing full well that he would likely be a Spartan for but one season.&ldquo;Offensively, he is the best hockey player I&rsquo;ve ever had,&rdquo; Ron Mason, MSU coach said earlier this season. &ldquo;He is a strong and fast skater with great individual skill. He has great hands and good hockey sense.&rdquo;Murphy likes the challenge of Division I college hockey.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s so much faster and the players are so much stronger,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I chose college hockey because I figured 1 could work more on my skills and because I wanted the educational aspect.&rdquo;Murphy says he plans to be back at State next hockey season, but that&rsquo;s unrealistic. If there&rsquo;s an NHL scout who&rsquo;s picking someone other than Murphy to go No. 1 overall, he hasn&rsquo;t stepped forward.And with next season ushering in an Olympic year, Murphy will have all avenues&mdash;return to State, join Dave King&rsquo;s Olympic team or jump to the NHL&mdash;open to him.Donnelly is playing in Murphy&rsquo;s shadow but he is having a banner season. He is said to be college hockey&rsquo;s top free agent right now. Donnelly had a five-goal game among 14 goals in the last four games prior to the holiday break.Sixteen Spartans are already drafted, so only freshman winger Geir Hoff, a speedster from Oslo, Norway, remains a free-agent possibility.Around the rest of the league:LAKE SUPERIOR STATE&mdash;The second-place Lakers boast Mark Vermette, a big winger with only one point in nine games. Mike deCarle is another draft-eligible Laker with four goals and nine assists in 15 games, while Rene Chapdelaine, a big, mobile defenseman has one goal and two points in 17 games. Winger Scott Johnson, with 12 goals and 25 points, is the top free agent here. Defenseman Ken Martel, 20, another.BOWLING GREEN&mdash;The first-place Falcons list Jamie Wansbrough, their high-scoring winger, as a first-rate free agent, which he is.Through 16 games, Wansbrough was second in CCHA scoring to Western Michigan&rsquo;s Dan Dorion. He had 16 goals in 18 games, counting a non-conference series against Clarkson. BG has defenseman Brian McKee as another free-agent possibility and center Greg Parks as a draft-eligible freshman.WESTERN MICHIGAN&mdash;Goalie Bill Horn and freshman forward Ron Hoover are the two draft-eligible players, with high-scoring Stu Bumie, who had 17 goals in 16 games, and center Troy Thrun, who had 12 goals in 18 games, the top free agents. Hoover had eight goals in 18 games.FERRIS STATE&mdash;Almost everybody in the lineup is a free-agent possibility. but 22-year-old Gary Sweetnam leads the Bulldogs with three goals and 25 assists in 18 games as a forward-turned-defenseman. Murray Winnicki, 21, had seven goals in 18 games and twin brothers, Peter and Paul Lowden. 22, are among the league leaders, too. Paul had 14 goals and Peter, 13, in 18 and 17 games, respectively.OHIO STATE&mdash;Right winger Dave Doyon and defenseman Sean Clifford are the only first-year eligibles, but the Buckeyes have a handful of free-agent possibilities, including leading scorer Jeff Madill, who had 14 goals in 18 games, Rick Brebant, with 13 goals in 16 games, Darcy Gryba, Joe Tracy, Mark Shortt, who&rsquo;s 23, Dave Beaudin and goalie Bob Krautsak.MICHIGAN&mdash;Diminutive Todd Brost is the top draft-eligible player, but he&rsquo;s 5-foot-8 and 169 pounds. However, he has good wheels and five goals, including three game winners and two power-play markers. Free-agent possibilities with the Wolverines include hardnosed Chris Seychel, who&rsquo;s having his best season in four with nine goals in 17 games and Tom Stiles, with seven goals in 14 games and 23 points.ILLINOIS-CHICAGO&mdash;Freshmen Trent Rees and Henry Reimer are eligible, but the best bets are free agents Shawn Cronin, a huge defenseman. Mike Rucinski, a speedy winger with nine goals in 20 games, and centerwinger Sheldon Gorski, the Flames&rsquo; 20-year-old freshman.MIAMI&mdash;Big defenseman Ron Renner, who&rsquo;s 6-foot-4 and 220, winger Todd Channell, who had 12 goals in 18 games this season, and center Nate Kondo. a pleasant freshman surprise at Miami, are the most notable free agents. &#9632;

Murphy The Favorite To Be No. 1 Overall

<h2>CCHA</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. DEC. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01569/5224875-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="531" height="299"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>THU. DEC. 12VERMONT 3 AT W. MICHIGAN 12FRI. DEC. 13FERRIS STATE 1 AT BOWLING GREEN 5LAKE SUPERIOR 2 AT ILL-CHICAGO 1MICHIGAN 6 AT MIAMI 5VERMONT 2 AT W. MICHIGAN 3SAT. DEC. 14FERRIS STATE 3 AT BOWLING GREEN 7LAKE SUPERIOR 6 AT ILL-CHICAGO 4MICHIGAN 5 AT MIAMI 4OHIO STATE 5 AT MICH. STATE 6SUN. DEC. 15OHIO STATE 0 AT MICH. STATE 8<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02445/5224868-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="531" height="355"></div><h2>WCHA</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. DEC. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03345/5224861-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="527" height="268"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>THU. DEC. 19N. MICHIGAN 3 AT MICH. STATE 2FRI. DEC. 20MINNESOTA 5 AT NORTHEASTERN 6DENVER 7 AT U.S. INTL 4ALA-ANCHORAGE 0 AT NO. DAKOTA 5SAT. DEC. 21HARVARD 4 AT WISCONSIN 5DENVER 6 AT U.S. INTL 3MINNESOTA 4 AT NORTHEASTERN 5ALA-ANCHORAGE 2 AT NO. DAKOTA 3SUN. DEC. 22HARVARD 4 AT WISCONSIN 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04249/5224854-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="530" height="353"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05192/5224847-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="525" height="239"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. DEC. 3LOWELL 5 AT PROVIDENCE 2DENVER 9 AT BOSTON COLLEGE 3WED. DEC. 4N. HAMP. 5 AT NORTHEASTERN 7VERMONT 2 AT BOSTON UNIV. 1FRI. DEC. 6DENVER 6 AT PROVIDENCE 5MICH. TECH 4 AT MAINE 4NORTH DAKOTA 1 AT LOWELL 3BOSTON COLL 1 AT MIN-DULUTH 10SAT. DEC. 7DENVER 3 AT PROVIDENCE 4MICH. TECH 3 AT MAINE 6NORTH DAKOTA 3 AT LOWELL 2BOSTON COLL. 4 AT MIN-DULUTH 3BOSTON UNIV. 4 AT N. HAMPSHIRE 3TUE. DEC. 10PROVIDENCE 2 AT BOSTON UNIV. 4WED. DEC. 11BOSTON COLL 8 AT N. HAMPSHIRE 4DENVER 5 AT MAINE 2MERRIMACK 9 AT LOWELL 4THU. DEC. 12DENVER 4 AT MAINE 3FRI. DEC. 13PROVIDENCE 4 AT N&rsquo;EASTERN 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06165/5224840-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="527" height="384"></div><h2>ECAC</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. DEC. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07151/5224833-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="532" height="381"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>SUN. DEC. 8VERMONT 1 AT ARMY 0HARVARD 11 AT CORNELL 3MON. DEC. 9COLGATE 9 AT CONNECTICUT 3TUE. DEC. 10ARMY 2 AT PRINCETON 6WED. DEC. 11ST. LAWRENCE 1 AT CLARKSON 10THU. DEC. 12VERMONT 3 AT W. MICHIGAN 12FRI. DEC. 13PRINCETON 6 AT ALASKA-FAIRBANKS 7VERMONT 2 AT W. MICHIGAN 3SAT. DEC. 14DARTMOUTH 2 AT HARVARD 9PRINCETON 4 AT ALASKA-FAIRBANKS 6MON. DEC. 16PRINCETON 2 AT ALA-ANCHORAGE 3TUE. DEC. 17PRINCETON 2 AT ALA-ANCHORAGE 1SAT. DEC. 21HARVARD 4 AT WISCONSIN 5SUN. DEC. 22HARVARD 4 AT WISCONSIN 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08142/5224826-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="531" height="298"></div><h3>GREAT WEST CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09129/5224819-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="521" height="148"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>ALASKA-ANCHORAGE 9, PLATTSBURGH 2LAKE SUPERIOR 5, ALASKA-ANCHORAGE 3U.S. INTL 4, NO. ARIZONA 1RIT 10, ALASKA-ANCHORAGE 5U.S. INTL 8, NO. ARIZONA 2<h2>CWUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. DEC. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10126/5224812-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="531" height="266"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>SWISS TOURFRI. DEC. 20ALBERTA 7 AT ZURICH 9SAT. DEC. 21ALBERTA 6 AT AMBRI 3SUN. DEC. 22ALBERTA 9 AT FRIBOURG-GOTTERON 6(CWAA schedule resumes Fri. Jan. 10)<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11117/5224805-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="523" height="380"></div><h2>OUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12113/5224798-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="530" height="414"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-13104/5224791-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="527" height="324"></div><h2>AUAA</h2><h3>MACADAM DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-14100/5224784-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="527" height="178"></div><h3>KELLY DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1596/5224777-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="526" height="151"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1694/5224770-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="527" height="236"></div><h2>QUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. DEC. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1786/5224763-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="526" height="179"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>FRI. DEC. 13CHICOUTIMI 6 AT T-RIVIERES 11MON. DEC. 16CONCORDIA 2 AT OTTAWA 11<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1882/5224756-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="531" height="328"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

HOW THEY STAND

<h2>GREAT LAKES INVITATIONAL</h2>Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MlFri. Dec. 27Mich. State vs Mich. TechSat. Dec. 28RPI vs MichiganSun. Dec. 29Consolation & championship games<h2>SYRACUSE INVITATIONAL</h2>War Memorial Aud. Syracuse, NYFri. Dec. 27RIT vs W. MichiganColgate vs Notre DameSat. Dec. 28Consolation & championship games<h2>KEY BANK CLASSIC</h2>Olympic Arena, Lake Placid, NYSat. Dec. 28St. Lawrence vs Bowling Green Clarkson vs TorontoSun. Dec. 29 Consolation & championship games<h2>YORK TOURNAMENT</h2>York Ice Palace, Toronto, ONSat. Dec. 28Ohio State vs Western Ontario Acadia vs YorkSun. Dec. 29Consolation & championship games<h2>AULD LANG SYNE CLASIC</h2>Thompson Arena, Hanover, NHMon. Dec. 30Vermont vs Maine Dartmouth vs BowdoinTue. Dec. 31Consolation & championship games<h2>BRITISH COLUMBIA TOURNAMENT</h2>Thunderbird Rink, Vancouver, BC Thu-Sat. Jan. 2-4UBC, Cornell, Yale, Japan, Manitoba, Toronto compete in round-robin.<h2>WESTERN HOLIDAY CLASSIC</h2>Thompson Arena, London, ONFri. Jan. 3 York vs Laurier Alberta vs Western Sat. Jan. 4Consolation & championship games<h2>MICRON INVITATIONAL</h2>Concordia Arena, Montreal, PQSat. Jan. 4Union College vs OttawaMoncton vs McGillNo. Arizona vs ConcordiaSun. Jan. 5Ottawa vs MonctonMcGill vs No. ArizonaConcordia vs Union CollegeMon. Jan. 6 TwoTwo finalists meet for championship.<h2>BEANPOT TOURNAMENT</h2>Boston Garden, Boston, MAMon. Feb. 3Harvard vs Boston CollegeNortheastern vs Boston UniversityMon. Feb. 10Consolation & championship games &#9632;

COLLEGE TOURNAMENTS

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>TROY&mdash;It wasn&rsquo;t that long ago when the outstanding high school seniors and college freshmen were disappointed if their names didn&rsquo;t go up on the board during the National Hockey League entry draft each summer.But with the current state of free agency being what it is. it&rsquo;s become more beneficial to pass through the draft unnoticed.Defending NCAA Division I-champion Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute saw four free agents (Adam Oates. George Servinis. Kraig Nienhuis and Tim Friday), three of them underclassmen, join NHL organizations this season, establishing a trend that could very well continue this season.The most celebrated of last year&rsquo;s free agents were Oates and Ray Staszak of Illinois-Chicago, who both signed for more than $1 million with the Detroit Red Wings.The money probably won&rsquo;t be as big this year but there will still be significant interest.And while there are a number of outstanding freshmen in the ECAC who will likely be drafted, the free agents will be the players making most of the news at the end of the collegiate season.Here&rsquo;s a look at some of the top free agents in the ECAC:John Carter, RPI: The senior left winger with the explosive shot turned down a couple of lucrative offers last year and his stock hasn&rsquo;t dropped a bit since. He&rsquo;s proven he can score at any level. becoming only the fourth 100-goal scorer in RPI history. He isn&rsquo;t big (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) but he can take a hit.Tim Smith. Harvard: Smith, a 5-foot-II, 185-pound senior, is a complete player. He was a defenseman in British Columbia Tier II hockey, but has played forward at Harvard. He showed his true ability when paired with Scott Fusco and Lane MacDonald last season. After scoring just 12 points in his first two years, he erupted for 31 goals and 22 assists last season.Randy Wood, Yale: The best forward to come out of Yale since Bob Brooke. He is big (6 feet, 190 pounds) and has a crushing shot. The right winger is also one of the fastest skaters in the ECAC. He set a Yale record for points in a season as a junior with 25 goals and 28 assists.Charlie Meitner, Clarkson: Best asset is his size (6-foot-2, 205 pounds). Can muck in the comers or patrol the crease. Scored 18 goals and 23 assists as a junior and scored in each of Clarkson&rsquo;s first 12 games this season.Mike Harvey, Clarkson: Another outstanding forward, but has two strikes against him. Harvey is only 5-foot-6, 165 pounds and he suffered a severe knee injury last season. He has come back strongly this year and hasn&rsquo;t let the injury slow him down.Gerard Waslen, Colgate: Could be the steal of the year. One of the most dangerous wingers in the ECAC. Scored at least 20 goals in his first three years and opened the 1985-86 campaign with 16 goals and 16 assists in 12 games.Mark Benning, Harvard: Small (5-foot-8, 160) for a defenseman, but one of the top blueliners in the ECAC. Rarely makes a mistake on the ice. An outstanding puckhandler and penalty killer.Mark Jooris, RPI: Has been overlooked because of RPI&rsquo;s depth at forward. Outstanding stick skills and a bom goal scorer. Listen to how RPI coach Mike Addesa describes Jooris. &ldquo;When the mediocre goal scorers look at the net, they see the goalie. When the great goal scorers look at the goal, they only see the net. Mark sees only the net.&rdquo; He is solid at 5-foot-l 1 and 180 pounds.The pro scouts looking for draft choices have probably been spending a lot of time in Burlington, Vt., where the Catamounts have some of the best, young players in the league.Almost certain to be drafted this season are freshmen defenseman Marc Lebreux and freshman forward Ian Boyce. Lebreux is the dominant defenseman that Vermont has been lacking the past couple of years and Boyce of St. Laurent, Que. has been a big plus on Vermont&rsquo;s attack. Other rookies who are making their mark for the Cats are forward Jim Walsh (5-foot-11, 175 pounds) of Minnetonka, Minn., and Kyle McDonough (5-foot-7. 155 pounds) of Manchester, N.H.The top prospect at RPI is defenseman Ryan Kummu (6-foot-3, 205 pounds) of Kitchener, Ont. While the Engineers&rsquo; other young blueliners have been inconsistent, Kummu has been sturdy as a rock and has rarely made the big mistakes that hurt RPI.Other Engineer freshmen of note are defenseman Rod Brescia (6-foot-4, 207 pounds) of Thunder Bay, Ont. and Steve Tenney of Franklin. Mass., who can play either forward or defense.Other potential draft choices include defensemen Josh Caplan of Harvard and Brad James of Clarkson. Caplan (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) gained valuable experience at the Elite Training Center in Colorado Springs.&bull; &#9632;

Carter, Waslen Among ECAC’s Free Agents

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>ORONO&mdash;Maine Black Bears have lost one of the top-rated players eligible for the 1986 National Hockey League entry draft.Shawn Anderson, a 17-year-old defenseman, left the Black Bears over the Christmas holidays to join the Canadian National Team in Switzerland, where it was participating in the Spengler Cup.The Lasalle, Que., native, who had five goals and eight assists in 16 games during his freshman year, is expected to be among the top selections in next summer&rsquo;s draft.His departure left Maine coach Shawn Walsh disappointed and perplexed.&ldquo;I have to question how he wasn&rsquo;t good enough to play on the national junior team (at the World Junior Championships) but he&rsquo;s good enough to play on the Olympic team,&rdquo; said Walsh.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not bitter because I can understand it from (Canadian coach) Dave King&rsquo;s perspective. I would try to scrape up and steal every available player, too. &lsquo;&lsquo;The Canadian National Team is in the midst of a three-year program aimed towards the 1988 Olympics in Calgary.Maine was 2-13 after its first 15 games of the season. Eight of the losses were by one-goal margins.&ldquo;Shawn dominated some games but he also struggled in some other games,&rdquo; said Walsh, who planned to keep Anderson&rsquo;s scholarship open until the second week of January just in case the 6-foot-l,190-pound defenseman changed his mind and returned to the Orono campus.Despite losing an outstanding prospect, Walsh said he was pleased for Anderson and understood the significance of an opportunity to play for one&rsquo;s country.Anderson, himself, had mixed feelings according to a release issued by the school.&ldquo;On the one hand. I&rsquo;m very excited to be part of the Olympic team,&rdquo; said Anderson. &ldquo;This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity&hellip;But at the same time, I&rsquo;m sad to be leaving the University of Maine&hellip;I wouldn&rsquo;t have had the opportunity to join the Olympic team without Maine.&rdquo;Even with Anderson&rsquo;s departure there remains two blue-chip prospects for the 1986 draft in the Hockey East conference.They are Craig Janney, Boston College&rsquo;s slick center, and Scott Young, Boston University&rsquo;s talented right winger. Both are first-round material.Janney is tall and slim at 6 feet, 175 pounds while Young is a trifle meatier at 6 feet and 185 pounds.Janney is learning his trade between two of the college game&rsquo;s most experienced forwards. Scott Harlow and Doug Brown. He plays for the top team in Hockey East and can absorb hockey wisdom without undue pressure from coach and fans.At the semester break, Janney ranked third in team scoring with 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points.Janney played for Enfield High and prepped a year at Deerfield Academy before coming to BC. Janney played for the U.S. junior national team in Finland in 1984 and was in Hamilton with that group this season.Outstanding offensive skills have been complemented by surpringly strong defensive skills during Janney&rsquo;s first season.&ldquo;He knows what to do in our zone,&rdquo; said BC coach Len Ceglarski. &ldquo;In high school he was able to hang around near the blue line. But in our system, the center has to come back deeper into the zone to help out. He fit right in and he&rsquo;s so unselfish.&ldquo;In fact, he&rsquo;s so good with the puck, sometimes he takes that little extra dribble when he really ought to shoot. But you see him hold it and hold it to the last second, then all of a sudden, he spots an open man and hits him with a perfect pass.&rdquo;Janney could use increased upper body strength to make a go of it in the NHL. Ceglarski says, however, that his ability to avoid checks is partial compensation for his willowy build.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of those wily guys who always seems to get away before anybody can hit him,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a pretty good indicator of athletic ability right there. Playing with linemates like Brown and Harlow helps too, of course.&rdquo;After a sluggish start to his freshman year, Young finished with a flourish before the semester break&mdash;scoring sixgoals and two assists in the final six games. He was 7-5-12 over the first 14 games, good for fourth place in BU&rsquo;s team scoring.&ldquo;(He&rsquo;s) A terrific prospect. He has really settled in pretty well,&rdquo; said coach Jack Parker. &ldquo;He plays a portion of every one of our power plays and kills a portion of every one of our penalties.&rdquo;The Clinton, Mass., native has fit in well with linemates Peter Marshall and Chris Matchett.&ldquo;He passes better than any freshman I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; continued Parker. &ldquo;He snaps passes right through a crowd. But no one realized he was that good a passer.&ldquo;He will be a force in the league by the end of the year.&rdquo;Young, like Janney, spent his Christmas holidays playing for the U.S. at the World Junior Championships.Anderson was doing the same&mdash;representing his country&mdash;but on a different team in a different land.&bull; &#9632;

Anderson Can’t ‘Bear’ To Stay Put

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyLONDON&mdash;When the National Hockey League teams study the Ontario League crop for the June draft they may get the feeling they&rsquo;re headed to a smorgas-board.The house specialty?Who knows?Up until the Christmas break for the World Junior Championships, there was much speculation among the OHL&rsquo;s coaches, scouts and managers on the subject of just who were emerging as the best draftable players this year.The one thing they all seemed to agree on was that there are is no sure-fire big gun. Not for now, anyway.The one name consistently mentioned was center Ken McRae of Sudbury.Centers Adam Graves of Windsor, Darren Turcotte of North Bay, Mike Wolak of Kitchener, Guelph&rsquo;s Lonnie Loach, Hamilton&rsquo;s Kirk Tomlinson, right winger John Purves of Hamilton and Soo left winger Dan Currie are other fine prospects.Others insisted if it&rsquo;s a defenseman you want, there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with Oshawa&rsquo;s Marc Laniel, Guelph&rsquo;s Kerry Huffman, Sault&rsquo;s Steve Bisson, Hamilton&rsquo;s Garth Joy, Windsor&rsquo;s Darryl Shannon or Mark Kurzawski and Belleville&rsquo;s Brian Chapman.The best?Who knows?That&rsquo;s what could make it interesting in June. Unless some of the cream of the crop rise in the second half of the OHL season, the draft figures to be an excellent time for hockey fans to evaluate the strengths and abilities of the NHL scouting staffs.North Bay coach and general manager Bert Templeton says he hasn&rsquo;t seen one dominant draft pick.He&rsquo;s not alone.&ldquo;But, I think our league has as many players this year who will star in the NHL as any other year,&rdquo; Templeton explained. &ldquo;Basically what&rsquo;s happened is they&rsquo;ve (the NHL) put themselves in a gambling position taking them so young. As far as the success or failure rate in the past, judge that for yourself.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a heck of a crop of minors&mdash;that&rsquo;s what throwing everybody off.&ldquo;Our club and a lot of other teams took minor midgets in the midget draft. We took three, and so did Peterborough, in the first five rounds. We don&rsquo;t have a full midget on our team from the first five rounds this year.&rdquo;Minor midgets aren&rsquo;t eligible for the NHL draft until at least next year.Templeton likes Turcotte, who had a great rookie season but has tailed off this year.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best skill players in the draft. There&rsquo;s no question he&rsquo;s got as much skill as anyone. What he&rsquo;s got you can&rsquo;t teach.&ldquo;He started slowly but I think he&rsquo;s started to roll now.&rdquo;Dick Todd, coach and general manager of the very successful Peterborough Petes, had 10 players drafted from his club last June, including Glen Seabrooke in the first round by Philadephia.The Petes, because they took three minors and a strong returning cast, don&rsquo;t have any prospects for the early rounds apart from winger Brad Aitken.Todd&rsquo;s opinions are valuable, if for no other reason, than the Petes&rsquo; outstanding record in drafting midgets and producing NHL players. He thinks the best in the OHL are Graves, McRae and Laniel.London coach and general manager Don Boyd&rsquo;s top five are McRae, Joy and the three Windsor players&mdash;Kurzawski, Shannon and Graves.Aside from Graves, Windsor general manager Jim Rutherford rates McRae, Huffman and Joy.Highly-regarded Kitchener scout Shannon Currie leans to Laniel, Graves and Huffman as the top three and offers this assessment:&ldquo;Laniel plays with intelligence,&rdquo; said the ex-Sault Ste. Marie super scout who worked in Sam McMaster&rsquo;s shadow. &ldquo;He can change flow from offense to defense so quickly. Huffman&rsquo;s probably the most mobile skater in the draft and he&rsquo;s smart on the power play. Graves is just an all-round good player. He can score and goes for the puck in the corners. He&rsquo;s a very complete two-way hockey player.&rdquo;Todd thinks the second half will produce some clear-cut top picks.&ldquo;It certainly is wide open for somebody to establish himself,&rdquo; Todd said. &ldquo;There are going to be some excellent drafts but scouting has to be sophisticated to get those players. They (NHL clubs) better do some careful study and research and they can come up with quality players.&rdquo;Just two seasons ago the Windsor franchise was on the verge of collapsing until it was rescued by Peter Karmanos who operates the well-known and strong Detroit Compuware minor program. To day, the Spits are alive and well and could have three first-round choices&mdash;Graves, Shannon and Kurzawski.&ldquo;When&rsquo;s the last time any team had potentially three first-round picks?&rdquo; wondered Rutherford.Only three years ago, the Portland Winter Hawks did just that, producing Gary Nylund, Ken Yaremchuk and Jim Playfair&mdash;all of whom were chosen among the top 20.Rutherford said injuries and illness have slowed Graves and that NHL clubs might be wise to keep that in mind in June.&ldquo;Graves came to our league highly rated but the unfortunate thing is he hurt his shoulder,&rdquo; Rutherford said of the OHL&rsquo;s No. 1-rated midget a year ago. &ldquo;He just got back and then he got bronchitis so he&rsquo;s struggled with some injuries, sickness and other things. But when he&rsquo;s played, he&rsquo;s played pretty well.&rdquo;The goalies?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01512/5224978-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="580" height="766"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken McRae is rated one of the OHL&rsquo;s top players eligible for the NHL draft.</figcaption></div>There&rsquo;s not much argument there. Most rate Sault&rsquo;s Sean Simpson, a rookie given the starting job by coach and general manager Don MacAdam, the edge over Ron Tugnutt of Peterborough, who works behind Kay Whitmore. Ottawa&rsquo;s target, Darren Beals, also rates consideration in the group of best prospects in goal.&bull; &#9632;

f0036-01

The Juniors

Jury Is Still Out On Top Prospects

BOSTON&mdash;Lyndon Byers, LW, recalled from Moncton of AHL and released as free agent after Bruins bought out his contract. Ken Linseman, C, and Ray Bourque, D, back from injury list. INJURED&mdash;Louis Sleigher, RW, reinjured groin, Charlie Simmer, LW, torn knee ligaments, Frank Simonetti, D, shoulder surgery. Sleigher out on day-to-day basis, Simmer two more weeks, Simonetti indefinitely.BUFFALO&mdash;Jacques Cloutier, G, Normand Lacombe, RW, Adam Creighton, C, Richie Dunn, D, and Paul Gardner, C, recalled from Rochester of AHL. Gardner later returned to Rochester with Darren Puppa, G, and Jim Hofford. D. INJURED&mdash;Ric Seiling, RW, pulled groin, Paul Cyr, RW, pulled groin, Bill Hajt, D, groin injury, Dave Fenyves, D, sprained back, Bob Halkidis, D, dislocated shoulder, Chris Langevin, LW, knee injury. All out on day-to-day basis except Halkidis and Langevin, who are sidelined indefinitely.CALGARY&mdash;Mike Vernon, G, recalled from Moncton of AHL. Marc D&rsquo;Amour, G, sidelined with pulled groin.CHICAGO&mdash;Jeff Larmer, LW, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL. INJURED&mdash;Curt Fraser, LW, sprained shoulder, Steve Ludzik, LW, broken foot, Darryl Sutter, LW, shoulder separation. Ludzik out on day-to-day basis, Fraser sidelined a month and Sutter six more weeks.DETROIT&mdash;Mike McEwen, D, traded to NY Rangers for Steve Richmond, D. Richmond assigned to Adirondack of AHL. Eddie Mio, G, recalled from Adirondack. Ed Johnstone, LW, returned to Adirondack. Harold Snepsts, D, and Kelly Kisio, C, back from injury list. Greg Stefan, G, to miss 6 games after being suspended by the NHL for stick swinging. INJURED&mdash;Claude Loiselle, C, knee injury, Joe Kocur, RW, sprained thumb, Tim Friday. D, shoulder injury. All sidelined on day-to-day basis except Loiselle, who is out for a month.EDMONTON&mdash;Larry Melnyk, D, traded to NY Rangers for Mike Rogers, C. Simon Wheeldon, C, recalled from Victoria of WHL. Marc Habscheid, C, Dan Barber, RW, and draft pick Emanuel Viveiros, RW, of Prince Albert of WHL, traded to Minnesota for Gord Sherven, C, and Don Biggs, C. Glenn Anderson, RW, to miss 8 games after being suspended by NHL for stick-swinging. INJURED&mdash;Craig MacTavish, C, leg injury, Esa Tikkanen, LW, broken foot, Mark Messier, C, bruised foot, Mike Krushelnyski, LW, sprained knee.HARTFORD&mdash;Sylvain Cote, D, released to join Team Canada for Word junior championships. Scot Kleinendorst, D, and Ray Ferraro, C, back from injury list. Joel Quenneville, D, ouy on day-to-day basis with pulled stomach muscle.MONTREAL&mdash;Alfie Turcotte, C, recalled from Sherbrooke of AHL. Steve Rooney, LW, back from injury list. INJURED&mdash;Ryan Walter, LW, eye injury, Chris Chelios, D, bruised thigh, Sergio Momesso, LW, knee surgery, Craig Ludwig, D, broken hand, Stephane Richer, C, reinjured ankle. Chelios out on day-to-day basis, Ludwig one work week, Walter, Richer and Momesso indefinitely.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Craig Billington, G, released to Team Canada for World Junior championships.INJURED&mdash;Perry Anderson, LW, bruised knee, Doug Sulliman, LW, bruised tailbone. Both out on day-to-day basis.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Gerald Diduck, D, recalled from Springfield of AHL. Randy Boyd, D, back from injury list. Ari Haanpaa, LW, out indefinitely with shoulder injury.NY RANGERS&mdash;Mike Rogers, C, traded to Edmonton for future considerations. Tomas Sandstrom, RW, and Jim Patrick, D, back frm injury list. INJURED&mdash;Jan Erixon, LW, bruised leg, George McPhee, LW, hippointer, Barry Beck, D, back problems. Erixon out on day-to-day basis, McPhee and Beck indefinitely.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;.Joe Paterson, LW, recalled from Hershey of AHL and traded to Los Angeles for future consoderations. Don Nachbaur, C, and Carl Mokosak, LW, recalled from Hershey on emergency conditions and later returned. Ilka Sinisalo, LW, back from injury list. Lindsay Carson, LW, out 3 more weeks with broken knuckel.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Jim McGeough, C, back from injury list and assigned to Baltimore of AHL. Randy Hillier, D, sidelined indefinitely with torn knee ligaments.QUEBEC&mdash;Claude Julien, D, recalled from Fredericton of AHL. Anton Stastny, LW, back from injury list.INJURED&mdash;Dave Shaw, D, sprained wrist, Normand Rochefort, D, ankle surgery, John Anderson, RW, sprained back, Richard Sevigny, G, broken hand. Shaw out 7-10 days, Rochefort two more weeks, Anderson and Sevigny indefinitely.TORONTO&mdash;Rick Vaive, RW, sidelined for 2-3 weeks with hand injury. Peter Ihnacak, C, and Borje Salming, D, back from injury list. INJURED&mdash;Ken Wregget, G, strained knee, Greg Terrion, C, strained knee ligaments, Gary Leeman, RW, broken jaw, Wendel Clark, LW, broken foot, Gary McAdam, RW, eye injury, Brad Maxwell, D, pulled hamstring. Clark and McAdam out one more week, Wregget on day-to-day basis, Maxwell three weeks. Terrion and Leeman indefinitely.VANCOUVER&mdash;Jim Sandlak, D, released to Team Canada for World Junior championships. Doug Lidster, D, back from injury list. Jiri Bubla, D, sidelined 3 weeks with sprained knee.WINNIPEG&mdash;Brian Hayward, G, recalled from Sherbrooke of AHL. Marc Behrend, G, and Murray Eaves, C, returned to Sherbrooke. Randy Carlyle, D, back from injury list. Andrew McBain, RW, sidelined indefinitely with knee injury. &#9632;

TRANSACTIONS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02385/5225047-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="552" height="567"><figcaption class="caption-body">J. LAFRENIERE Belleville ONTARIO LEAGUE</figcaption></div>When the Belleville Bulls picked up Jason Lafreniere in a trade from Hamilton Steelhawks, they were looking for some solid offense and they haven&rsquo;t been disappointed.The Bulls&rsquo; center was selected as the OHL Player of the Week after he collected 16 points in three games. The point surge sent Lafreniere, a draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques, to the top of the individual scoring race with a total of 65 points, 22 of them goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03309/5225040-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="389" height="572"><figcaption class="caption-body">RANDY SMITH Saskatoon WESTERN LEAGUE</figcaption></div>The Saskatoon Blades brought Randy Smith back this season as their overage player and the move is paying dividends.Smith, who played 71 games last season with Calgary after starting out with the Blades, was named the WHL Player of the Week after collecting 10 points in three Saskatoon wins.The 6-foot-3, 180-pound center, who scored 34 times for Calgary last year, had 35 (and 73 points) in his first 33 games this year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04227/5225033-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="552" height="573"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL MONGEAU Laval QUEBEC LEAGUE</figcaption></div>Michel Mongeau of Laval is the hottest point scorer in the Quebec League, a fact he hopes will attract the attention of the pros.The 20-year-old center, ignored in the NHL draft, led the league with 95 points and was chosen QMJHL Player of the Week after he counted 10 points in five games.Mongeau was overlooked by the pros despite the fact he had 144 points last season. &#9632;

f0036-02

MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville HockeyKAMLOOPS&mdash;The more things change, the more they remain the same.The Western League could adopt that slogan when sending its cream of the crop to the National Hockey League entry draft.Because although diminutive players stand tall in the junior ranks and sluggish skaters use a deft touch with the puck to get the job done, the bottom line remains that size and speed are the prerequisites for a hockey future.There have been exceptional WHL players who weren&rsquo;t drafted. Kelly Glowa and Mike Nottingham are two examples of gifted scorers who, through a lack of height and weight, didn&rsquo;t measure up in NHL eyes.As usual, some players hope the times are changing.Again this season there are superlative small players who might, or might not, get drafted next June. And there are the can&rsquo;t-miss kids who have the enviable combination of physical presence and quick feet.The small fries who have something to prove in the 1986 draft are Greg Hawgood of the Kamloops Blazers and Craig Endean of the Seattle Thunderbirds.The can&rsquo;t-miss bunch includes Pat Elynuik of the Prince Albert Raiders, Mark Pederson of the Medicine Hat Tigers, Mark Janssens of the Regina Pats and Dan Woodley of the Portland Winter Hawks.There might not be a Wendel Clark or Dana Murzyn in the new crop of WHL draftees, but the consensus is that there are some good prospects. Clark, a Saskatoon defenseman, went first overall last season to the Toronto Maple Leafs while Murzyn, a Calgary rearguard, went fifth to the Hartford Whalers.Although it&rsquo;s too early to grade the top cuts of hockey beef, here&rsquo;s who to look for from the WHL next June:1. Pat Elynuik&mdash;(C) Prince Albert (6 feet, 180 pounds); 2. Mark Pederson&mdash;(LW) Medicine Hat (6-foot-l, 185); 3. Mark Janssens&mdash;(C) Regina (6-foot-3, 185); 4. Neil Brady&mdash;(C) Medicine Hat (6-foot-2, 175); 5. Dan Woodley&mdash;(RW) Portland (6-foot, 185); 6. Kim Issel&mdash;(LW) Prince Albert (6-foot-4, 185); 7. Jamie Nicolls&mdash;(C) Portland (6-foot-l, 185); 8. Troy Arndt&mdash;(D) Portland (6-foot-2, 195); 9. Rob Brown&mdash;(C) Kamloops (5-foot-11 175); 10. Greg Hawgood (RW) Kamloops (5-foot-9, 185).BEST Of THE REST: Doug Hobson (D), Prince Albert; Brian Glynn (D), Saskatoon; Gerald Bzdel (D), Regina; Craig Endean (RW) Seattle; Mike Van Slooten (RW), Calgary.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s more depth than the previous year,&rsquo;&rsquo; said Washington Capitals&rsquo; scout Glen Dirk. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a guy who&rsquo;s going to jump out and play in the NHL but there is a lot of talent.&rdquo;The Raiders&rsquo; Elynuik seems to have everything going for him. The sophomore collected 43 points, including 23 goals in limited ice time, last year with the Memorial Cup champions.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got so many pro things,&rdquo; said Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; chief Western Canada scout Bruce Haralson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a great shot, probably the best release in the league. He&rsquo;s intelligent, and handles the puck well in traffic.&rdquo;Pederson had 82 points last year with Medicine Hat and was a serious Rookie-of-the-Year candidate.&ldquo;He got off to a slow start this year and has to get more involved with the play,&rdquo; said Medicine Hat coach Doug Sauter.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s your typical big, tough leftwinger who can shoot the puck a ton,&rdquo; assessed Haralson.Janssens certainly has the height (6-foot-3) to get noticed. The Surrey, B.C., native saw limited ice time last season but has been an important link in Regina&rsquo;s offensive chain this season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good playmaker and his biggest asset is his size,&rdquo; said Dirk, who also serves as director of player personnel for Regina. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a great skater but he&rsquo;s a balanced skater&mdash;he&rsquo;s hard to knock off the puck. He&rsquo;s an emotional player and he&rsquo;ll do whatever he has to. That goes a long way.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very smart but lacks quickness,&rdquo; assessed Haralson. &ldquo;He reminds me of a big Rob (Brown). He always seems to get the big goal.&rdquo;Brady has matured quickly for Medicine Hat.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the biggest surprise on our team,&rdquo; said Sauter. &ldquo;He can play forward or defense, kill penalties and play the point on the power play. He&rsquo;s put on 10 pounds in a hurry and has good hockey sense.&rdquo;Woodley has been a magic man this season for Portland. After earning 57 points during the 1984-85 season, the forward has improved his touch around the net.&ldquo;He might be our top player,&rdquo; Haralson said. &ldquo;He has more prerequsites to play the game than a lot of other guys. He&rsquo;s a good skater and a good goal scorer. He does a lot of heady things on the ice and has excellent hockey sense.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be a first rounder there&rsquo;s no question about it,&rdquo; said Portland general manager Brian Shaw. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an intense competitor and he&rsquo;s so versatile, he can play forward or defense. He&rsquo;s the guy who&rsquo;s going to score the tying goal with 30 seconds left. He gets the big, big goals.&rdquo;Issel asserted himself last season and fit in well with Prince Albert. He can score in traffic, has good size and isn&rsquo;t afraid of the rough going in the comers.Nicholls isn&rsquo;t a flashy scorer but gets the job done in other ways.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a Bob Gainey type of player,&rdquo; said Shaw. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t make the great plays but contributes in other ways. Teams need those kind of players, too.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a hard worker and has good size but his skating is a question mark,&rdquo; assessed Haralson.Arndt has the size that will turn heads and if he continues to play steadily on the Portland blue line may warrant an early look in the draft.Brown led the league in scoring with 19 goals and 49 assists for 68 points in December. He has played defense but at center is showing off his creative ability.&ldquo;To make the pros he&rsquo;ll have to improve his skating,&rdquo; said Haralson, who is a a past director of player personnel for Kamloops. &ldquo;His hockey sense and offensive ability plus his creativity sets him apart from most players.&ldquo;He has a sixth sense but skating will definitely play a part in where he goes. It is one thing that might hold him back from going in the first round. Up there (NHL) it&rsquo;s a big part of the game.&rdquo;Hawgood is a question mark because of size, not ability.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very versatile and has one of the hardest shots in the league,&rdquo; said Haralson. &ldquo;Considering his size he shoots harder than most big guys. He&rsquo;s pretty durable, too.&rdquo;&ldquo;Size is a part of life but there is hope for the small guy,&rdquo; said Hawgood. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re determined you can make it.&rdquo; &#9632;

Long And Short Of WHL Draft Prospects

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>QUEBEC CITY&#8210;The Quebec League seems to be getting the message.The National Hockey League drafted 59 players from the Ontario League and 46 from the Western League last June. Only 15 QMJHL players were claimed.That placed the QMJHL behind the U.S. colleges (20), Tier II juniors (18) and just ahead of Junior B hockey (II).Flo Potvin, the QMJHL&rsquo;s chief scout, says the league is mounting a concerted effort to develop more and better players.&ldquo;This year is going to be a much better year for the draft,&rdquo; said Potvin. &ldquo;Players are bigger and better and there are a lot of rookies in the league. I&rsquo;d say between 20 and 25 will go.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s still way down from 1977, when 40 players from the league were drafted, but the upward trend should continue.The league-leading Hull Olympiques list seven rookies on their roster. Cam Russell, 16, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound defenseman from Halifax, has already been labeled a sure-fire NHL first rounder for 1987.So has Granby Bisons&rsquo; center Pierre Turgeon, 16, the 6-foot-l, 198-pound kid brother of Hartford Whalers&rsquo; winger Sylvain. Other players rated highly for the 1987 draft are Granby defenseman Stephane Quintal, 6-foot-2 and 199 pounds, and left winger Eric Bedard, 6-feet, 165 pounds, of the Verdun Junior Canadiens.Enough about &lsquo;87, what about this coming draft?&ldquo;I feel there are some good ones,&rdquo; said Andre Boudrias, director of scouting for the Montreal Canadiens. &ldquo;These kids are big this year. Everett Sanipass andJimmy Carson are six-footers. So are Vincent Damphousse, Jean-Marc Routhier and Jocelyn Lemieux.&rdquo;The offerings for the 1986 draft come in pairs and four players are potential first-rounders, Carson and Sanipass from Verdun, Damphousse and Lemieux of the Laval Titans.Junior Canadiens&rsquo; center Carson, 17, is living up to expectations. The 6-foot, 185-pounder, from Detroit&rsquo;s Compuware Midgets was the QMJHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year last season after scoring 44 goals and 72 assists for 116 points.This year, he had 36 goals and 53 assists in 40 games, good for third in league scoring.&ldquo;He is very clever, handles the puck extremely well and has a good shot,&rdquo; Potvin said. &ldquo;His anticipation is better than anyone else and he&rsquo;s a super kid.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s smart with the puck like New York Islanders&rsquo; Pat Lafontaine, but not as explosive,&rdquo; said Gilles Courteau, the QMJHL&rsquo;s administrative director and former general manager of the Quebec Remparts.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best player in the league and with the U.S. national junior team. He&rsquo;s a good attraction for the crowds and he will be ready to play in the NHL.&rdquo;Dumas&rsquo; only reservation is about Carson&rsquo;s toughness.Teammate and sometime linemate Sanipass, 17, from New Brunswick&rsquo;s Big Cove Indian Reserve, can play left wing or center.&ldquo;Everett is more of a two-way player,&rdquo; Boudrias said of the 6-foot-2, 193-pounder. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the size and the power.&rdquo;&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t fool around with Sanipass,&rdquo; said Potvin, of the Clarke Gillies-style player, who had 19 goals, 30 assists and 144 penalty minutes in 34 games.Laval&rsquo;s Damphousse, 17, a left winger and center from Anjou, Que., replaced Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; first rounder Jose Charbonneau on Canada&rsquo;s national junior team tryout roster after the Hab draft pick suffered a shoulder injury.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to surprise a lot of people,&rdquo; Potvin said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s big (6-foot-l, 195 pounds), strong and has a big shot He gets a lot of ice time and has improved his skating.&rdquo;.Damphousse, an accurate passer with a good wrist shot, had 35 goals and 68 assists last season. He was eighth in league scoring after 39 games this year with 21 goals and 57 assists.Lemieux, 18, is a 5-foot-ll, 202-pound right winger from Mount-Laurier, Que., and the brother of Montreal&rsquo;s Claude, a high second-round pick in 1983.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s tougher than his brother, and he has to work on his polish around the net but he&rsquo;s improved,&rdquo; Potvin said. &ldquo;He could be the surprise of the draft,&rdquo; Courteau said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good skater and plays NHL-style hockey.&rdquo;&ldquo;I think his ability is better than his brother&rsquo;s was at the same age,&rdquo; Dumas said. Lemieux had 26 goals and 28 assists for 54 points and 72 penalty minutes in 37 games.The next six players could go in the second or third rounds.Longueuil&rsquo;s Terry MacLean, a6-foot-1,185-pound center from Pointe Claire, Que., hasn&rsquo;t performed up to the promise shown last season with the Remparts. but has good potential.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best puckhandlers in the league but he holds onto the puck too long sometimes,&rdquo; Potvin said.&ldquo;When he doesn&rsquo;t have pressure on him, he doesn&rsquo;t produce,&rdquo; Courteau said. &ldquo;But when I was with the Remparts last year, he came into my office and said he was going to prove he was better than Carson. He scored four goals and Carson was shut out. He scored 66 points last year on a fourth line.&rdquo;MacLean had 13 goals and 13 assists in his first 28 games this season.Hull&rsquo;s second-round right winger Routhier is a6-foot-2,185-pounder, who makes good use of his size. Olympiques&rsquo; coach Pat Bums describes the 17-year-old from Quebec City as &ldquo;a meat-and-potatoes guy who gives everything every game.&rdquo;Routhier had 10 goals and 18 assists in 41 games.Teammate Benoit Brunet, 17, a 5-foot-11,175-pound left winger from Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., has been a bonus for the Olympiques, who selected him in the sixth round. Brunet had 22 goals and 20 assists in 41 games. He had scored four game winners, two of them in overtime.A pair of defensive defensemen with the Shawinigan Cataractes. Miguel Baldris and first rounder Stephane Guerard, are also drawing some attention.&ldquo;Baldris is one of the best young defensive players in the league,&rdquo; Courteau said. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t carry the puck but he&rsquo;s tough, plays his position and can hit well skating backwards.&rdquo;Baldris, 17, a 6-foot, 193-pounder from Montreal, had a goal and 21 assists in 37 games.Guerard, 17, 6-foot-l and 183 pounds from Vaucluse, Que., likes to play tough, is good in front of the net, and is equally effective at home and on the road.He had two goals and seven assists 26 games, but had been out with a shoulder injury.&bull; &#9632;

Carson Leads QMJHL’s Fab Four

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01519/5225133-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01488/5225126-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="3031" height="3788"></div> &#9632;

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January 10, 1986

Playing Against Bruins’ Orr Represented Hockey Thrills

NHL Summaries

Blues Like Looks Of France Native

Habs Discover ‘How Swede It Is’