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 24, 1986

The Hockey News January 24, 1986

<div class="byline">BY JEFF HUBBELL</div>You&rsquo;re only as old as you feel.Reverend Bob Burgess of the New York Apple Core makes Gordie Howe look like a stripling.Granted. Burgess never played in the National Hockey League, but on the other hand. Mr. Hockey isn&rsquo;t 79. either.An evangelical minister in Queens, N.Y., Burgess toils on the left wing for the Apple Core, and between sermons, manages to go on the occasional road trip.This past summer saw him in Toronto for the Kodak Masters Games, a sort of Olympiad for older people, and he may be off to Moncton, N.B., in February if his secular duties allow him the time.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been playing hockey all my life.&rdquo; says Burgess.&ldquo;Originally I came from Scotland, and moved to Hamilton, where I first learned the game when I was about 14.&ldquo;From there. I made preparation for the ministry, and lived in the Ottawa Valley area, and played a lot of hockey. Then I played in the army before we went overseas, and played again when we went back.&ldquo;From there,&rsquo;&rsquo; continues Burgess, &ldquo;I played in a senior church league in Montreal.&ldquo;I came down to New York 23 years ago. A crowd of us got together and played every Monday night. Out of that, a number of years ago we chose the oldest fellows for the New York Apple Core, and began to enter these tournaments. The crowd on the Apple Core have been together for a good 10 to 20 years.&rdquo;The Masters Games were a celebration of &ldquo;fitness for life.&rdquo; But like any player. Burgess may have lost a step or two after 65 years on the ice.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t find it hard to play,&rdquo; says Burgess. &ldquo;Apart from the fact that you don&rsquo;t go as fast as you used to. Let&rsquo;s face it. you just don&rsquo;t go as fast, but if you&rsquo;re in shape, you can do a good job.&rdquo;Burgess (nicknamed &ldquo;Pops&rdquo; by the other players on the Apple Core) is easily the senior member of the team. The next oldest player on the team&mdash;captain Bob Santini, who Burgess calls &ldquo;the sparkplug on the team.&rdquo;&mdash;is in his 50s.When he&rsquo;s not ministering to his congregation. Burgess is on the road with the team.&ldquo;The last number of years we&rsquo;ve been going to tournaments,&rdquo; says Burgess. &ldquo;About the last four years we&rsquo;ve gone down to play at Charlie Schultz&rsquo;s (of Peanuts fame) tournament down in California, and we&rsquo;re going there again, if everything goes well.&ldquo;I was officially noted as the oldest player there, and the first time down I was voted rookie of the year.&ldquo;We played a tournament in Hawaii last year,&rdquo; says Burgess. &ldquo;Then we came up to Toronto and played in the Masters tourney.&rdquo;Burgess has shown that age needn&rsquo;t be a handicap if you&rsquo;re in shape. Being the elder statesman on the team gives him something of an incentive to play hard.&ldquo;Because I&rsquo;m the oldest one I like to see if I&rsquo;m doing all right. We get together every Monday night to play hockey in the Bronx. We&rsquo;ve played 12 weeks now&mdash;we started in October and we play until April&mdash;and so far. I&rsquo;ve got about 18 goals.&rdquo;His veteran status has made Burgess into something of a celebrity. In Toronto he was interviewed by a local television station, and in New York, his team was filmed in action against another oldtimer team, and excerpts were shown on a television show called Prime of Your Life.Pictures from the game made their way into several medical journals, promoting continued fitness. Recently, there was an interview in Goal magazine, the NHL&rsquo;s official journal and last summer Burgess was elected to the International Oldtimers Sports Hall of Fame in Peterborough, Ont.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01118/5241804-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="571" height="994"><figcaption class="caption-body">Left winger Pops Burgess had scored 18 goals after 12 weeks of action this season. (Photo courtesy of Kodak)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Still Playing Hockey At Age 79, Reverend Burgess Keeps Active

<div class="byline">By Bob Duff</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011390/5240087-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="447" height="453"></div>Q: Could you please list all the trophies won by Wayne Gretzky, along with the years he won them. Also, could you tell me all of the NHL records he holds, and which season he set them?Tuyet Morris, Brantford. ONA: Gretzky has won just about every award the NHL doles out over his six-season career. He has won the Hart Trophy six times (1979-80 through 1984-85), the Lady Byng Trophy once (1979-80), the Art Ross Trophy five times (1980-81 through 1984-85), the Conn Smythe Trophy once (1984-85) and the Lester B. Pearson Award four times (1982 through 1985). He was also named rookie of the year during his only season in the World Hockey Association, 1978-79.As for records, he has set a number of them as well. It might be easier to list the ones he doesn&rsquo;t hold. He set the record for goals in a single season by scoring 92 in 1981-82. He also holds the record for assists in a season (135 in 1984-85) and points (212 in 1981-82). As well, he holds singleseason playoff records for assists (30 in &lsquo;84-85) and points (47 in &lsquo;84-85).Other records held or shared by the Great One include highest career goals-per-game average in a season (1.69), highest points-per-game average (2.37), most games scoring three or more goals (35), most consecutive 100-point seasons, (six), most three-or-more goal games in a season (10 in &lsquo;81-82 and &lsquo;83-84), highest assists-per-game average in a season (1.69), highest points-per-game average in a season (2.77), most goals one season including playoffs (100 in &lsquo;83-84), most assists one season including playoffs (165 in &lsquo;84-85), most points one season including playoffs (240 in &lsquo;83-84), most shorthanded goals in a season (12 in 1983-84), most goals 50 games from the start of season (61 in 1981-82), longest consecutive point-scoring streak (51 games in 1983-84), longest consecutive-assist scoring streak (17 games in 1983-84), most assists, one game (seven vs. Washington on Feb. 15, 1980) and most points, one game, by a player in his first NHL season (seven).Turning to the playoffs, Gretzky shares the record for most career shorthanded goals in Stanley Cup action (eight), most assists in a series other than a final (14 vs. Chicago in last year&rsquo;s Campbell Conference final), most points in a game (seven) vs. Calgary on April 17, 1983 and again vs. Winnipeg on April 25, 1985 and shares the record formost assists in a period (three).He hasn&rsquo;t been held out of the record books when it comes to all-star play, either. Gretzky holds the record for most goals in a game (four in 1983), shares the record for points in a game (also four) and most goals and points in a period (again four.)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;

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Departments

ASK THE DUFFER

<h2>Mon. Jan. 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0146/5243095-1-eng-US/f0072-012.jpg" title="f0072-01" width="548" height="1469"></div><h2>Tue. Jan. 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0218/5243088-1-eng-US/f0072-022.jpg" title="f0072-02" width="546" height="2099"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-038/5243081-1-eng-US/f0072-032.jpg" title="f0072-03" width="555" height="1701"></div><h2>Wed. Jan. 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-045/5243074-1-eng-US/f0072-042.jpg" title="f0072-04" width="541" height="704"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-05/5243067-1-eng-US/f0072-052.jpg" title="f0072-05" width="554" height="2430"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-06/5243060-1-eng-US/f0072-062.jpg" title="f0072-06" width="541" height="357"></div><h2>Thu. Jan. 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-07/5243053-1-eng-US/f0072-072.jpg" title="f0072-07" width="548" height="1551"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-08/5243046-1-eng-US/f0072-082.jpg" title="f0072-08" width="546" height="1493"></div><h2>Fri. Jan. 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-09/5243039-1-eng-US/f0072-092.jpg" title="f0072-09" width="545" height="409"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0158/5243032-1-eng-US/f0073-012.jpg" title="f0073-01" width="551" height="3639"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0231/5243025-1-eng-US/f0073-022.jpg" title="f0073-02" width="547" height="855"></div><h2>Sat. Jan. 11</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0316/5243018-1-eng-US/f0073-032.jpg" title="f0073-03" width="547" height="2753"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-049/5243011-1-eng-US/f0073-042.jpg" title="f0073-04" width="560" height="2924"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-0216/5243004-1-eng-US/f0074-022.jpg" title="f0074-02" width="532" height="508"></div><h2>Sun. Jan. 12</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-036/5242997-1-eng-US/f0074-032.jpg" title="f0074-03" width="546" height="1903"></div> &#9632;

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THN STATISTICS NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011305/5239918-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="585" height="1116"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY SUTER</figcaption></div>Before you go thinking that the folks from Viking, Alta., have produced another puck prodigy, check the spelling. The name is Suter, not Sutter.But to look at the play of 22-year-old Gary Suter, the Calgary Flames probably couldn&rsquo;t care less how he spells his name.Because the rookie defenseman, who so impressed the Flames at last year&rsquo;s World Championships where he play-, ed for Team USA, has continued to do the same in the NHL.The 6-foot, 190-pound rearguard has relied on speedy skating and his ability to clear the puck to earn a place on the Calgary blue line. Although he is a defenseman, Suter has been among the leading rookie scorers this season, and a significant contributor on Calgary&rsquo;s power play.Suter, a native of Madison, Wisc., was Calgary&rsquo;s 10th draft pick (180th overall) in the 1984 entry draft.Before turning professional Suter played for the University of Wisconsin Badgers in the WCHA. In his two seasons there, Suter scored 16 goals and 73 points in 74 games.His poise on the blue line has delighted Calgary general manager Cliff Fletcher.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very steady player,&rdquo; says Fletcher. &ldquo;He moves the puck well. He shoots the puck very well from the point. He&rsquo;s been an extremely valuable addition to our team.&ldquo;We were encouraged when we saw him play for the United States over Czechoslovakia at the World Championships (last year). He played better than most of the NHL defensemen&hellip;.he hasn&rsquo;t disappointed us one bit.&rdquo; &#9632;

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QUAKER STATE ROOKIE PROFILES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01818/5243457-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>INSIDE:A Complete Guide To Hockey Schools And Camps/23Penguins Sign Superstar Mario Lemieux To Long-Term, $3.2-Million Contract/67PLUS:&bull; Flyers Doling Out Cap Punishment/18&bull; Why NHL&rsquo;s Guilty Of Child Abuse/22&bull; Gretzky&rsquo;s Roomie Tears Up AHL/60&bull; Flocky Hockey&rsquo;s Found A Home/66&bull; NHL Team-By-Team Scoring Stats/70 &#9632;

Cover-01

MARK HOWE GORDIE’S BOY A BIG PLUS FOR THE FLYERS

<h2>THE COVER STORY&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;Page 5</h2>Gordie&rsquo;s boy is doing just fine, thank you. Actually, Philadelphia Flyer Mark Howe is doing better than &ldquo;fine.&rdquo; He&rsquo;s the defensive anchor on the Stanley Cup-contending Flyers and will undoubtedly be headed to the NHL All-Star Game this year. Take that, Hartford Whalers.To subscribe to THE HOCKEY NEWS or make a change of address to an existing subscription, see Page 73.<h3>NHL</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011246/5239839-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="539" height="970"></div><h3>The Minors</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021017/5239832-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="528" height="99"></div><h3>The Juniors</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03755/5239825-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="533" height="140"></div><h3>The Colleges</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04527/5239818-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="537" height="277"></div><h3>Columnists</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05390/5239811-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="537" height="283"></div><h3>Departments</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06287/5239804-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="539" height="779"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07189/5239797-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="1178" height="2009"></div>TROTTIER SCORES NO. 400.Story on Page 55. &#9632;

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The Hockey News

In next week&rsquo;s Jan. 31st issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, we&rsquo;ll present a special preview section of the annual National Hockey League All-Star game, scheduled for Feb. 4 in Hartford.Included in this special preview will be the starting lineups for both the Campbell and Wales Conferences, as selected in the league&rsquo;s first-ever fan balloting, as well as the results of THN&rsquo;s All-Star referendum. Way back in October, we asked you to vote on a number of options to improve the annual mid-season classic and now we&rsquo;ve tabulated your responses for this provocative feature.Plus, we&rsquo;ll take a look at the city of Hartford and how it has taken to pro hockey, first during the era of the World Hockey Association and, since 1979, the NHL.All that, plus much, much more in the Jan. 31 st issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK IN THN

&ldquo;It was like to be in Siberia. It was a bit of punishment to me.&rdquo;&mdash;Maple Leaf Marian Stastny on last season&rsquo;s exile in Quebec City. Story on Page 34. &#9632;

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011329/5239973-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="376" height="420"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Orr</figcaption></div>EVERYWHERE YOU LOOKED during the past month, a hockey team from the Soviet Union was on the scene. Two club teams. Central Red Army and Moscow Dynamo, played 10 games against National Hockey League teams. The USSR side won the very successful world junior championship tournament, based in Hamilton, and Soviet teams won the Spengler Cup and beat U.S. college clubs.As always, the Soviets created great controversy just by being there. Any exchange between North America and the USSR in any field of endeavor produces polarized viewpoints. One group always claims that we should ignore the comrades completely and have no cultural, sports or economic exchanges. The other side counters that the approach to take is to have as much contact as possible with the Soviets as a way of breaking down the suspicion and animosity between the two camps.North American hockey folks are precisely that way. A few NHL owners&mdash;Jay Snider of the Philadelphia Flyers and Harold Ballard of the Toronto Maple Leafs lead the way&mdash;won&rsquo;t have USSR teams in their buildings, although the hockey fans in the two cities would pack the house to see a Soviet team play the local heroes. Many others welcome the Soviet visitors as a chance to draw a full house, something any bankroll can use. They don&rsquo;t mind if the USSR side extracts a share of the gate.The Soviets seem to have their hockey program back in high gear after a time in the doldrums. They lost the 1984 Canada Cup crown to Team Canada and finished third at the 1985 World Championships. Canada won the 1985 world junior title and the USSR was third, behind Czechoslovakia and Canada.This time, though, their No. 1 club. Red Army, was loaded, talented, motivated and hungry. That always augers well for their national team, which means the visitors to Moscow for this year&rsquo;s world tournament will not find the hosts hospitable.The USSR junior team was a dandy, beating a good Canadian club impressively for the world crown. Any notion that the Soviet hockey factory&rsquo;s production line had stalled was scuttled and in the near future, goalie Evgeny Belosheikin, defenseman Mikhail Tatarinov and forwards Igor Viazmy-kin, Alexander Semak and Valery Kamensky will be names of prominence on the national team.The two schools of thought on the Soviets are summed up best by a couple of television analysts&mdash;Howie Meeker and Don Cherry.The gist of Cherry&rsquo;s assessment of exhibition games with the Soviets seems to be: Who needs it? All they do is come over here, grab the money and run? NHL players don&rsquo;t want to play them very much, television isn&rsquo;t very interested in the games and NHL teams have enough to worry about as it is.Meeker takes a somewhat different view: &ldquo;Any time you have the chance to see great skill at anything, you want to be there. It&rsquo;s a treat to watch the Soviets play because they play the game so well.&rdquo;In many of their games against North American opponents, the Soviets demonstrated a distinct edge in the game&rsquo;s fundamentals, notably passing the puck. And any notion that big, tough Canadian players can frighten the comrades by playing physical hockey, an approach that should have vanished completely at least 10 years ago, should be gone for good now. The Soviets use big, bellicose players at all levels and muscle tactics simply make them laugh.The Soviets&rsquo; ability to pass the puck&mdash;they&rsquo;re superb both at making the pass and receiving it&mdash;allows them to take advantage of a large percentage of the truly good scoring chances. There are a few levels of opportunities to count goals&mdash;shots on goal (never confuse them with scoring chances), scoring chances (a goal can be produced from them with a little good fortune) and the truly good chance (one where a goal results if the execution is right). When the Soviets have one of the latter, their skill, especially the deadly accurate pass to set it up, allows them to cash in a big majority.The Canadian junior team played a physical game throughout the tournament, an aggressive, dog-the-puck approach. But as Canuck teams have done so often, they tried it on the Soviets. A waste of energy! They also took retaliation penalties in a wonderful display of macho, settle-it-on-the-spot baloney, allowed the Soviets&rsquo; &ldquo;dead-fish&rdquo; act to get under their skin and forgot about driving for the net.Really, Canadian junior teams look better on big European ice surfaces than local ponds. On the big sheets, they have more to worry about than trying to send comrades to the promised land. &#9632;

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Columnists

Soviet Ice Squads Loaded For Bear

<div class="byline">BY JEFF Z. KLEIN AND KARL-ERIC REIF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021235/5240011-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div>Panic! Skepticism! Hundreds frightened!What&rsquo;s the cause of all this early-season consternation from Minneapolis to Manhattan?It&rsquo;s the presence of rookie coaches in Boston, Buffalo. Montreal, Minnesota, and New York. Who knows what to expect from a team when the guy in charge has never run a National Hockey League club?We checked to see just how coaches without major-league experience have done when appointed to positions in the NHL. (Our examination here is limited to coaches who have begun their NHL careers at the start of a season, not as mid-season replacements, and without the benefit of experience in rival major leagues&mdash;the WHA, or the several rival leagues which flourished until the late 1920s).We turned up 99 coaches who got their NHL start under those circumstances, and the reviews are decidedly mixed. Of the 99, 37 recorded winning records in their inaugural outings, 58 registered losing seasons, and four finished at.500.Those figures are misleading, however, unless you take into account that of the 99 teams they commanded, only 36 had been winning teams the previous season, while 52 had been losers, and eleven teams were new to the NHL.Of the 10 best records by rookie coaches, nine were chalked up by coaches who took over what already had been winning teams&mdash;three of the Stanley Cup champions.What is important is whether or not these brand new bench bosses sustained a winning team or improved a loser.The results under this criterion?Of the 88 teams which competed in the NHL the preceding year, 46 posted improved records with their rookie coach, 41 deteriorated, and one&mdash;Leo Dandur-and&rsquo;s 1920-21 Canadiens&mdash;stayed exactly the same. The accompanying tables list the NHL neophyte coaches who have had the winningest seasons, and those which have had the most success in terms of the club&rsquo;s improvement under their leadership.Obviously, a losing team is more likely to make a coaching change, and more willing to take a chance on a coach untried at the NHL level. The teams that have entrusted their fates to rookie coaches had a combined winning percen-tage of.460 the season prior to making that coaching change. Their combined record improved to.480 under their new coaches.The most dramatic improvement was effected by Tom Watt, who took over an abominable Winnipeg Jet team that had won just nine of its 80 games the year before and brought them to a.500 record in 1981-82.Watt, who had been enormously successful through 17 years as head coach at the University of Toronto, was an assistantcoach with Vancouver before joining Winnipeg. Two fine rookie forwards&mdash;Dale Hawerchuk and Paul MacLean, who combined for 81 goals&mdash;and an ancient defense star. Serge Savard, who came over from Montreal&mdash;were instrumental in turning around the team&rsquo;s fortunes, but Watt also elicited fine years from the likes of Morris Lukowich, Willy Lindstrom, and Lucien DeBlois, and a kindergarten full of first- and second year players&mdash;Tim Watters, Dave Babych. Bengt Lundholm, Thomas Steen, Doug Smail.Watt earned the Jack Adams Award as the NHL&rsquo;s best coach that season, but was fired midway through 1983-84. He took over the Canucks&rsquo; bench at the start of the present season.If that shows success is not a guarantee of job security in the coaching profession. Tom Shaughnessy is an even more extreme case in point.Shaughnessy was given charge of a Chicago side which in 1928-29 had won only seven of 44 games. Adding only the big veteran defenseman Taffy Abel, and a pair of rookie forwards&mdash;Tom Cook and Art Somers&mdash;to the roster, Shaughnessy also got improved production from young winger Johnny Gottselig, and led Chicago to a 10-8-3 mark&mdash;when he and the Hawks parted company.It&rsquo;s not surprising, then, that 15 of the 42 rookie coaches whose teams&rsquo; records declined after they took the helm were dismissed before the season was over.FUN FACTS TO KNOW AND TELL&mdash;Eleven rookie coaches have won the Stanley Cup. Besides the seven indicated on the list of best records, Dick Carroll (Toronto, 1918). Eddie Powers (Toronto, 1922), Cy Denneny (Boston, 1929), and Bill Stewart (Chicago. 1938) led their clubs to the Cup in their freshman terms&hellip;Jacques Demers, now coaching St. Louis, improved the WHA&rsquo;s woeful Indianpolis Racers from a.250 team in 1974-75 to a divisionleading 35-39-6 side in his first year in the bigs&mdash;a jump of.225&hellip;Jim Skinner is the only one of five rookie coaches to be handed the reins of a Stanley Cup champ&mdash;in his case the &lsquo;54 Red Wings&mdash;and retain the Cup&hellip;The 99 rookie coaches have a cumulative record of 2,139-2,476-827.<h2>NHL ROOKIE COACHES&rsquo; BEST RECORDS</h2><h2>NHL ROOKIE COACHES&rsquo; BEST IMPROVEMENTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031055/5240004-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="1073" height="496"></div> &#9632;

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The Best Of The Rookie Coaches

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011208/5240056-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Philadelphia Flyer Mark Howe&rsquo;s first priority is to play strong defense, shutting down opposition forwards such as Islander Duane Sutter.</figcaption></div>Bothered by a bad shoulder, Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; defenseman Mark Howe was a late scratch from the All-Star Game in Calgary last season.This season, it&rsquo;s going to take more than a bad shoulder, or even two bad shoulders to keep Howe away from the game. The reason is simple: The 1986 All-Star Game will be played next month in Hartford.And Mark Howe has a lot to prove to the people of Hartford.&ldquo;I really want to make the team this year,&rdquo; said Howe, revealing a rare glimpse of the competitive spirit he usually manages to keep well hidden. &ldquo;I especially want to go, because it&rsquo;s in Hartford.&rdquo;With the remark, he offers only a little smile. He&rsquo;s not about to make a big issue out of it, but he leaves no doubt that he&rsquo;d like to prove the Hartford organization wrong.The Whalers not only gave up on Howe when they traded him to the Flyers in the summer of 1982, but they parted with one of those &lsquo;&lsquo;good-bye and good-riddance&rdquo; attitudes which make for hard feelings.Before he&rsquo;s done in the National Hockey League. Mark Howe wants to prove to them that he&rsquo;s not a whiner, but a winner.He certainly doesn&rsquo;t have to prove it in Philadelphia, which is exactly why he shouldn&rsquo;t be fretting about a spot on the all-star roster. Even if he does finish behind Boston&rsquo;s Ray Bourque and Washington&rsquo;s Rod Langway in the fan balloting&mdash;he trailed No. 2 Langway by about 9,000 votes as the voting deadline approached&mdash;it&rsquo;s a certainty that he&rsquo;ll be added to the club by Flyers&rsquo; coach Mike Keenan, who will coach the Wales Conference team.After all, all Howe has done is lead the Flyers through the first half of the season, and lead the NHL with a plus-45 rating after 40 games&mdash;the same figure earned by his defensive partner Brad McCrimmon.Last year he was plus-51 for the season.Yet, even with that kind of season, Howe finished woefully short in voting for the Norris Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman last season. Despite his defensive and offensive (18 goals and 39 assists) proficiency, he finished sixth in the voting, with just one first-place vote, one second-, and four third-place votes.&ldquo;That stuff doesn&rsquo;t bother me,&rdquo; said Howe. &ldquo;It&rsquo;d be nice, yes, but we don&rsquo;t emphasize individual things here, and I like it better that way.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather play in a system like the Flyers, and win. It&rsquo;s better than the individual approach.&rdquo;Thus, what Howe has turned into is a &ldquo;player&rsquo;s player&rdquo;, with his talents being most appreciated by the people who really matter to him&mdash;the guys on the ice.A simple example of Howe&rsquo;s approach to the game occurred on the night of Nov. 29th in Minnesota, where he assisted on a goal by Derrick Smith against the North Stars. There was no fanfare about the assist, but Howe made sure he got the puck.He didn&rsquo;t even bother to make a big deal about it afterwards, and it wasn&rsquo;t until a week later, when he scored his 500th NHL point, that he brought up the puck in Minnesota&mdash;a puck which represented his 900th career point, in-cluding his days in the World Hockey Association with Houston and New England.&ldquo;I know some people don&rsquo;t like to consider the WHA,&rdquo; said Howe, &ldquo;but those of us who played in it, know it was a pro league. And if nobody else is, I&rsquo;m counting those points.&ldquo;I figure I should reach 1,000 sometime next season.&rdquo;See, even though Howe does a decent job of hiding his emotions, he&rsquo;s as obsessed with the game as his father, the legendary Gordie Howe. Then again, you have to remember that Howe has been a star in the game since he was 16 years old when he starred with the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team.At that time, he was playing left wing, as he did through his days in the WHA, and some soothsayers had him chosen to fill the role which Wayne Gretzky now fills as the NHL&rsquo;s top attraction.It didn&rsquo;t exactly work out that way, but he&rsquo;s certainly turned into one of the NHL&rsquo;s premier defensemen.&ldquo;When you talk about the best defensemen in the league,&rdquo; said teammate Brad Marsh, &ldquo;Mark Howe should be ranked right up there with Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque. He carries the puck out of the zone as well as them.&ldquo;And because I see him play 80 games, I think he plays better defensively than them. Just because he&rsquo;s a fast skater, stickhandles well, and can carry the puck into the other team&rsquo;s zone, there&rsquo;s a tendency to think he&rsquo;s not a good defensive player.&ldquo;It all started with Bobby Orr, I guess. Now, if a guy skates the puck out, people wonder if he&rsquo;s cheating defensively.&rdquo;And that&rsquo;s the most amazing part of Howe&rsquo;s performance with the Flyers. He&rsquo;s played so well defensively, that he&rsquo;s given up some of the big offensive numbers which might earn him a bigger reputation around the NHL.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the darndest thing,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; vice president Keith Allen, who traded Ken Linse-than in the three-way deal that landed Howe in Philadelphia. &ldquo;We got him for his offense, and he turned into a great defensive player.&rdquo;It appears that Mark Howe will be staying put in Philly. Early this season he signed a multi-year contract with the club, and at 30 years old, it will probably be his last.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how long I&rsquo;ll play,&rdquo; said Howe, who already has more than a dozen pro seasons on his legs. &ldquo;Already, there are days when I feel like I&rsquo;m dragging a little. But there are also days I feel like I can skate as well as ever.&ldquo;And on those days. I&rsquo;d like to think I can skate with anybody in the league.&rdquo;Unlike Coffey or Bourque, who use their powerful thighs to push off with explosive bursts, Howe sort of flits around the ice, seemingly conserving energy.The Flyers have never had a problem with Howe&rsquo;s work ethic, and the coaching staff considers him a good &ldquo;locker room&rdquo; player, meaning he keeps the team prepared. However, that work ethic and attitude were always questioned in Hartford, where he was a parttime hero, and fulltime scapegoat.&ldquo;My last season, I knew the Hartford management didn&rsquo;t like me,&rdquo; said Howe, &ldquo;and I knew they were trying to get rid of me. I figured if I worked my tail off. I&rsquo;d end up with a good team.&rdquo;Howe placed the Flyers at the top of his list&mdash;and when the Flyers put Howe on the top of theirs, a deal was struck.&ldquo;Right from the first day he put on a Flyers&rsquo; uniform, he used the strong supporting cast we have and improved his game,&rdquo; said Marsh. &ldquo;And he didn&rsquo;t have to pick up the newspapers here like he did in Hartford. 1 guess every time the Whalers lost, they kind of blamed it on Mark. Like, Howe didn&rsquo;t score on the power play, or Mark didn&rsquo;t do this or that.&rdquo;In fact, Howe doesn&rsquo;t pick up the papers anymore at all. After his treatment in Hartford, he swore off the sports pages&mdash;or at least the hockey stories.&ldquo;It got pretty bad in Hartford,&rdquo; said Howe, &ldquo;they not only got after me, but they got after my brother Marty, and the last straw was when they ripped my mother.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how they figured she could have lost us a game, but she got blamed. That was it for me. I haven&rsquo;t read a sports section since. I only turn to it if the crossword puzzle happens to be in the same section.&ldquo;It actually got pretty funny in Hartford. I&rsquo;d call to cancel the paper, and my wife would call to get it delivered. I&rsquo;d cancel, she&rsquo;d get it back. I&rsquo;d cancel again, and she&rsquo;d order it again.&ldquo;Finally, we reached a compromise. We&rsquo;d get the paper, but all I&rsquo;d ever see of it was the crossword puzzles.&rdquo;Well, when he goes back to Hartford next month he might just sneak a peak at the sports section&mdash;at least at the all-star lineups.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02888/5240049-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="1554" height="958"><figcaption class="caption-body">As a member of the Hartford Whalers, Mark Howe&rsquo;s efforts were rarely recognized and it got to the point where he and his family were dumped on.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03622/5240042-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="713" height="985"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad McCrimmon, above, and Howe team up to form a solid defensive duo.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Howe’s A Big Plus For Flyers

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03649/5240118-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Sullivan collected 346 points&mdash;among them 107 goals&mdash;in 10 National Hockey League years with three teams.</figcaption></div>George (Red) Sullivan wears a Stanley Cup championship ring on his left hand. And although he never played on any championship teams in the National Hockey League, Sullivan considers the ring a treasured possession.&ldquo;I got the ring as chief scout for the Boston Bruins the year they won their last Stanley Cup championship (1972),&rdquo; said Sullivan, who played in all or parts of 10 seasons (1949-50, 1951-53, 1954-61) with the Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers. &ldquo;There are really no words (to explain) how I felt when we won the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;All I know is that there is no feeling like it. And being a part of that Bruins&rsquo; team helped fill a void that 1 had as a player, never playing for a Stanley Cup team.&rdquo;Although he came close once as a player, Sullivan spent most of his career with teams that barely qualified for the playoffs, if they did at all.Despite that, Sullivan had his share of fun, both on and off the ice.&ldquo;I guess the most fun I had was when 1 was playing in New York,&rdquo; recalled Sullivan, a native of Peterborough, Ont., who coached the Rangers for more than two seasons during the 1960s. &ldquo;I was a night person and New York had lots of action at night.&ldquo;And I liked the action. And I was known as a guy that broke a few curfews now and then. But I always made sure that I was ready for the next game we had to play.&ldquo;I never abused myself in that way. I was always in good shape.&rdquo;But hockey is not all fun and games, as Sullivan discovered late in his career.&ldquo;We were playing against the Montreal Canadiens and Doug Harvey, a man who I still like and have a great deal of respect for, speared me,&rdquo; recalled Sullivan.&ldquo;I suffered an injury to my spleen. It didn&rsquo;t end my career that night. But 1 think it had something to do with the fact that I retired a short time thereafter.&ldquo;It was one of those situations where Harvey was paying me back for something 1 had done to him the night before.&ldquo;The Canadiens and Rangers, like many other teams back in the old six-team league, used to play a lot of back-to-back games with each other.&ldquo;On this particular occasion, 1 had given it to him the night before when I kicked the skates right out from under him during a game. That&rsquo;s something you don&rsquo;t do.&ldquo;So 1 knew I was going to get it the next night. I just didn&rsquo;t expect to be speared, which is something you don&rsquo;t do either.&ldquo;And to this day I can&rsquo;t say if Harvey did it to me on purpose or not. I&rsquo;ll never be able to really prove it.&rdquo;Today, Sullivan is a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers. It is his job to help build Stanley Cup winners.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s harder for one team to keep winning the Stanley Cup than it was when I played,&rdquo; said Sullivan. 55, who still lives in Peterborough. &ldquo;I think that parity is very close in the NHL today.<h2>WHERE ARE THEY NOW</h2>&ldquo;I think the Islanders may have been the last team to really ever dominate the League like they did for four years. I don&rsquo;t think a team like Edmonton will be able to win the Cup four or five years in a row.&ldquo;There is a lot of good, young talent out there and it is finally getting spread around a little.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Sullivan Proud To Be A Part Of Cup Championship Club

Here&rsquo;s what was happening 20 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Chicago left winger Bobby Hull became the seventh and youngest player ever to reach the 300-goal mark. Hull, 27, took only eight and a half seasons to reach the plateau.&bull; Len Thomson of the International League&rsquo;s Fort Wayne Komets became the first player in the league to reach the 1,000-point plateau.Here&rsquo;s what was happening 15 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Doug Barkley was named the new coach of the Detroit Red Wings. Barkley replaced former coach Ned Harkness in an internal dispute that earlier caused the resignation of GM Sid Abel.&bull; The Loyala College Warriors won four games to capture the first annual Hockey Canada inter-university invitational tournament.&bull; The International League&rsquo;s Dayton Gems welcomed their 1-millionth fan after six years of operation. &#9632;

THIS WEEK… 20 Years Ago

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021000/5240173-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"></div>that the top save percentages among NHL goaltenders last season were: &#9632;

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Did You Know…

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011239/5240204-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="332" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Fischler&rsquo;s</figcaption></div>What the National Hockey League really needs&mdash;apart from a dozen Gretzkys&mdash;is a new anniversary to celebrate and I have just the event you&rsquo;ve been waiting for.Close your eyes now, and think for a moment about what monumental event took place 10 years ago that&rsquo;s worth celebrating today.Yessiree, Bob, you are looking at the The First California Golden Seals Memorial column because a whole decade has passed since Oakland&rsquo;s lamented franchise played their last NHL campaign (before carpetbagging it to Cleveland.)Why honor the Seals, you may ask. The answers, as you will see, are many but the sum total of them comes to this: the Seals were supremely silly. There was, for example:&bull; MORRIS (Apple Juice) MOTT: How do you like this guy? Here&rsquo;s a right winger who played three full NHL seasons, scored a grand total of 18 goals and had fan clubs in Oakland. Manhattan and Long Island. The Seals&rsquo; media guide, now a collector&rsquo;s item, reminds us that Morris was the only NHL player toasted by thousands of fans. Better yet, the Morrismaniacs who raised their glasses had filled them to the brim with Mott&rsquo;s Apple Juice. (Morris, by the way, now holds a Ph. D in history and teaches at the University of Manitoba.)&bull; GERR Y (The Hook) ODROWSKI: The Hook was so nicknamed by Rangers&rsquo; superstatman Art (the Dart) Friedman, who detected a distinct resemblance between Odrowski&rsquo;s proboscis and the tip of a construction crane. The best chapter in Tales of the Hook took place in New York. After suffering an injury at Madison Square Garden, Odrowski was taken to St. Clare&rsquo;s Hospital for repairs. Which was well and good, except that the the Seals had forgotten they had left the Hook in the hospital. They exited New York, leaving Gerry to vegetate, forgotten among the doctors and nurses of St. Clare&rsquo;s. The Hook might still be there today were it not for an enterprising UP1 hockey writer named Dick Couch, who visited Odrowski and then checked the Hook out of the hospital. (Gerry is now the mayor of Trout Creek, Ont.)&bull; CHARLIE (Don&rsquo;t Call Me a Mule) FINLEY: This erstwhile baseball entrepreneur bought the Oakland Seals in 1970 and&mdash;poof! just like that&mdash;rechristened them the California Golden Seals. Although the Seals lacked a superstar, Finley made sure they were hockey&rsquo;s most colorful team by dressing them up in white skates. (Charlie will not be heard from but Bill Torrey, who worked for him, will. Mmmm, I can&rsquo;t wait.)&bull; BOBBY (Kid Lightning) SHEEHAN: He was so nicknamed because of his sheer speed as well as the rapidity with which he moved from team to team&mdash;10 clubsin l0 years. Seals&rsquo; teammates swear that he once took a dim view of roommate Walt McKechnie&rsquo;s lack of neatness during a road trip. As punishment, Sheehan hung McKechnie out of their hotel window by the ankles until the alleged messy one cleaned up his act. (Craig Patrick, who vaguely remembers the incident, will be heard from in due time.)&bull; THE MYSTERY ROLLS-ROYCE ROBBERS: Since these chaps might still be arrested if named, they will remain anonymous here. The story is hardly fiction as Craig Patrick remembers it. A few Golden Seals detected a gleaming Rolls-Royce parked in front of their hotel. &ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; remarked one Seal to another, whereupon they climbed in, drove off and did a tour of old St. Lou. &ldquo;When they got back,&rdquo; says Patrick, &ldquo;it was not the same Rolls-Royce as it was when they took off!&rdquo;&bull; THESHOTS-ON-GOAL WISE GUY: On yet another visit to St. Louis, the Seals were being clobbered by the Blues. At the end of the first period the public address announcer blared: &ldquo;SHOTS ON GOAL: THE BLUES 20 AND THE GOLDEN SEALS ONE!&rdquo; Hearing that. Seals&rsquo; left winger and resident joker Stan Gilbertson turned to his teammates and snapped: &ldquo;Okay, who&rsquo;s the wise guy!&rdquo;Don&rsquo;t get the mistaken impression that the above episodes are fiction. Far from it. There are a number of sane members of the Seals&rsquo; Alumni Association who are alive, well and remember their favorite NHL team like they played in Oakland only two minutes ago. One of them is Washington Capitals&rsquo; assistant coach Terry Murray, a Seals&rsquo; defenseman during the halcyon Finley era.&ldquo;Charlie was something else,&rdquo; Murray recalls. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;d win a game (the Seals didn&rsquo;t make a habit of it), he&rsquo;d walk into the dressing room and buy everone on the team a new pair of shoes or a sports jacket or a new piece of luggage.&ldquo;He was the one who got the idea for us to wear white skates, which was a first in the NHL. It was bad enough that we felt like going out and buying ballet tutus to go with them, but those skates actually slowed us down.&ldquo;You see the skates would get marked up in practice or in the games so the trainers&mdash;after every practice and every game&mdash;had to get the shoe polish out and touch up the skates. By the last half of the season, our skates felt like they were two tons heavier than they were at the start of the season with all that extra paint sitting on there. It was unbelievable.&rdquo;According to Murray, the Seals would have been better named had Finley had dubbed them the Unbelievables. Whatever was normal happened to other clubs, not them.&ldquo;One time we were going through a terrible slump and a couple of coaches (Garry Young and Fred &ldquo;No Kid&rdquo; Glover) so Finley decided to to meet with us and find out what he could do to help,&rdquo; Murray recalls. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re all sitting there and Charlie says: is there anything I can do to help you guys make the playoffs?&rsquo;&ldquo;Stan Gilbertson, who was sitting in the first row, started rubbing his chin very thoughtfully, like maybe he&rsquo;s going to come up with a brilliant strategic idea. All of a sudden, Stan shoots his hand up into the air and says, &lsquo;Mister Finley, there is something you can do to help us.&rsquo; Now everyone is breathlessly waiting for his plan; like maybe a new power play.&ldquo;Finally, Stan announces; &lsquo;Mister Finley, this team deserves to fly first-class&rsquo;. Charlie just stood there blinking in disbelief. You should have seen the expression on his face. But once he digested it, Finley says, &lsquo;All right. Mister Gilbertson, from now on you and your teammates will fly first-class.&rsquo; So here we were, the worst team in the league. Everybody else is flying &lsquo;coach&rsquo; and we&rsquo;re flying first-class. Whatta&rsquo; man. that Charlie Finley.&rdquo;Bill Torrey, president-GM of the Islanders, will second that motion. He was a Seals&rsquo; executive when Finley bid for the team.&ldquo;We were at an NHL meeting in a hotel near LaGuardia Airport,&rdquo; Torrey recalls. &ldquo;Charlie was up against a couple of other guys but he won the franchise. For about three hours after that he was fielding questions from the media, telling everyone how much he loved California and how he&rsquo;d move his family from their farm in Indiana and how tickled he was to be in Oakland.&ldquo;Finally, the last of the dozens of interviews is over and all the reporters are gone. Charlie turns to me and says: &lsquo;Bill, I want you to figure out how fast we can get this team out of Oakland. &lsquo;&rdquo;When Terry Murray says the Seals were bad, he isn&rsquo;t telling lies. Ask Penguins&rsquo; goalie Gilles Meloche, one of the last members of an almost extinct species, A Seal Still Playing In The NHL. (Charlie Simmer of the Bruins is another.) As a Seals&rsquo; rookie, Meloche was bombed for 12 goals by the Rangers one night at Madison Square Garden.&ldquo;I remember that game like it was yesterday,&rdquo; says Meloche. &ldquo;I thought that was my last game in the National League. I came back to the room and cried I was so scared.&rdquo;The Morris Mott Fan Club, by the way, is still in existence.Art (the Dart) Friedman, curator of the Morris Mott Fan Club, is maintaining the MMFC and all its archives in his New York office. Friedman remembers how it started.&ldquo;When I was doing the stats,&rdquo; says Friedman, &ldquo;I was looking at names like Phil Esposito and Yvan Coumoyer, the top guys. But I always wanted to know who were the guys at the other end so I decided to start a &lsquo;Bottom 10 List&rsquo;.&ldquo;I also decided to figure out who the most anonymous guy in the league was and I concluded if anybody needed recognition, it was Morris Mott. Particularly on a team like the Seals.&rdquo;One night, as a lark, Friedman told the Rangers&rsquo; TV director that Mott would score in the third period. The announcer suggested that Morris was &ldquo;a third-period player&rdquo; and to watch him. Lo and behold, Morris got a goal and an assist in the third period.&ldquo;Morris Mott,&rdquo; says Friedman, &ldquo;became a living legend.&rdquo;It was then that Friedman went to work on Odrowski and, for starters, named him The Hook. Taking time off from his civic duties in Trout Creek, Odrowski had a minute to tell us that one memory among many stands out in his mind about the Seals&mdash;and it involves coach Bert Olmstead.&ldquo;You wouldn&rsquo;t know what a tough coach was until you played for Olmstead,&rdquo; Odrowski remembers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;d put us through a hard practice and then we&rsquo;d change into our street clothes but he wouldn&rsquo;t let us go home. He&rsquo;e keep us in the dressing room for four hours&mdash;even on Thanksgiving Day when the turkey was waiting.&rdquo;That story sounded a bit far-out so I double-checked it with former Seals&rsquo; publicist Len Shapiro, now the co-owner of Roundtable Pizza (with Seals&rsquo; goalie Gary Simmons) in Oakland. Shapiro confirms The Hook&rsquo;s story.&ldquo;Olmstead made two practices a day the norm,&rdquo; says Shapiro. &ldquo;Even on Thanksgiving. But Olmstead was smart enough to realize that he couldn&rsquo;t get the players to come back for the second practice on Thanksgiving, so he padlocked them in the locker room after the first session. Olmstead then went home, ate his Thanksgiving dinner, returned to the Coliseum and conducted the second practice.&rdquo;The Coliseum usually was dominated by more empty seats than the other kind. One afternoon a woman phoned to check on the starting time for the evening&rsquo;s match. Torrey answered the phone.&ldquo;What time is the game tonight?&rdquo; the lady inquired.Torrey mulled it over for a moment and shot back: &ldquo;What time can you get here?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-01

In Laughing Memory Of Oakland Seals

A pair of bomb scares marred the conclusion of the 10-game series between National Hockey League and Soviet club teams.A bomb was uncovered at the Boston Garden and bomb threat made at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium preceding games featuring Moscow Dynamo.In neither case was there an explosion.Acting on a telephoned threat, police discovered a &ldquo;grenade-like&rdquo; device 20 minutes before the arrival of Soviet players at the Garden on Jan. 6.&ldquo;It was found during a routine sweep we had planned to do anyway prior to the &ldquo;game,&rdquo; said a police spokesman. The device was removed for defusal on Moon Island in Boston Harbour.Later, it was discovered the device, described as a practice bomb, contained no explosive material.The threat was called into the Associated Press. A male caller said, &ldquo;Dynamos must die. Bomb. Trash can. Public garden. Call police.&rdquo;Dynamo went on to win the game 6-4.Two nights later, another bomb threat call was placed to Buffalo police. This one claimed a bomb had been planted in the basement of the Auditorium.A search uncovered no explosives and Dynamo once again provided its own fireworks, downing the Buffalo Sabres 7-4.That brought to an end the two-week tour.Thankfully, the only team to get bombed on the tour was the Montreal Canadiens, and even then it was only in the figurative sense.The two most ballyhooed games were flops but the other eight were generally good pieces of entertainment.Soviet Red Army won five of its six games. Dynamo two of four. The NHL winners were Quebec, 5-1 over Red Army, and Calgary, 4-3 over Dynamo. Pittsburgh played to a 3-3 tie with Dynamo.Most disappointing among the games were those featuring Edmonton and Montreal against the Red Army. The contest between the Oilers, North America&rsquo;s best club team, against Red Army, the Soviet Union&rsquo;s best, promised to be a marvelous game&mdash;but it wasn&rsquo;t, with the Red Army winning easily 6-3.On the 10th anniversary of the superb 3-3 tie between Montreal and Red Army in 1975, the two clubs met again at the Forum. Some were hoping for another classic. No chance. It was, instead, a blowout with Red Army humiliating the Canadiens 6-1.If these type of sporting exchanges are supposed to help East-West relations, it&rsquo;s unlikely this series of games did.St. Louis Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Demers, for instance, had a confession to make after meeting the Red Army.It concerned his request that referee Ron Wicks measure the stick of a Soviet player in the Blues&rsquo; tightly-played 4-2 loss to the Soviets on Jan. 2 at The Arena.Forward Nikolai Drozdetski, the game&rsquo;s first star, was caught Red-handed with a blade that was too wide. He drew a two-minute penalty with 2:16 to play.The Blues did not capitalize. But Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov was a little testy about the incident in his post-game press conference.Here&rsquo;s why Tikhonov was peeved.&ldquo;Before the game, I asked them for three sticks for souvenirs,&rdquo; Demers told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.&ldquo;When 1 looked at the stick of No. 13 (Drozdetski), I said. &lsquo;Hey, it&rsquo;s too big,&rdquo;&rsquo; reported Demers. &ldquo;So when it got to the end of the game. 1 asked for the measurement.&rdquo;The moral?&ldquo;Once the game starts,&rdquo; said Demers, laughing, &ldquo;friendship is over.&rdquo;Craig Hartsburg would probably agree with that.The Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; captain was handed a game misconduct for hitting Soviet referee Nicolay Morosov in the back with a shot late in the second period of Minnesota&rsquo;s 4-3 loss to Red Army on Jan. 4.&ldquo;I understand the feeling of the people that they would criticize the referee from another country but when a person shoots a puck at a referee, well, if that had happened in my league I would make sure that player would be punished,&rdquo; Tikhonov told the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. &ldquo;The game itself was above the level of the referee because he did not have the experience to referee in an NHL situation.&rdquo;Morosov called eight penalties against the Stars and just one against Red Army in the game. Three of the four Soviet goals were scored on the power play including the winner at 3:55 of overtime.There&rsquo;s been more talk of St. Louis Blues moving to Hamilton.This time, it&rsquo;s the result of a Globe and Mail story which says a Toronto group made an offer to purchase the Norris Division team from Harry Ornest and relocate it in Southern Ontario.The group, headed by former Winnipeg Jet governor Michael Gobuty, is said to include financier Edward Cogan and Amstel Breweries plus Toronto rock promoters Michael Cohl and Bill Bal-Flard, according to the Toronto news-paper.Ballard is the son of Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard whose territory a Hamilton franchise would in-fringe. It would also enter the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; market area.Ornest confirmed receiving the offer from the Blues but would not elaborate.The Globe and Mail noted that the transfer of franchises now requires only a simple majority in a vote of the governors. &#9632;

Soviet-NHL Series Target Of Bomb Threats

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011324/5240259-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div>The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W C.C. Publishing Ltd85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>A Plan With Vision</h2>TWO WEEKS AGO in this space, we suggested that in light of the increasing number of eye and facial injuries in the game today, the National Hockey League should make facial protection (visors) mandatory equipment.Nothing has happened since then to alter that opinion, but perhaps we are being naive to think that&rsquo;s all there is to the problem.In other words, making facial protection mandatory is all very well and fine, but it&rsquo;s only a treatment of the problem, not a cure.No, what&rsquo;s required is a complete overhaul in the way we approach the game of hockey. The time has come to treat stick fouls in the same fashion that, say, society now deals with drinking and driving. That is, to make them totally unacceptable.And that requires a much more comprehensive plan of attack than simply demanding on-ice officials crack down on players who fail to control their sticks.Like the massive anti-drinking and driving campaign that has swept over North America in the past couple of years, it will require extra effort at every level.First and foremost, coaches and players at every level of hockey, from the five- and six-year-olds right up to the professionals in the NHL, must develop an attitude that treats any stick infraction with utter contempt.Players must be conditioned to know that if they commit a stick foul, they will be severely punished.The next step in this program has to be aimed at hockey executives, the men and women who have the power to bring about rule changes, again at every level of the game.There should be no such thing as a high-sticking minor. Every stick infraction should result in a major penalty. If there&rsquo;s any intent to injure, an automatic suspension, say of 20 games, should be automatically applied. No subjectiveness at all, thank you. Repeat offenders&mdash;Chris Nilan, are you listening?&mdash;should have their sentences automatically doubled.And then on-ice officials must call stick infractions to the letter of the law. No leniency, no breaks or exceptions.With a determined three-level approach such as this, stick infractions can&rsquo;t help but decline. And then, the game will be played as it was meant to be&mdash;with the sticks on the ice, not in the eyes. &#9632;

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(The following is a reply to a column written by Rod Beaten which appeared in the Jan. 17th edition of THE HOCKEY NEWS. Larry Sicinski is a columnist for the Hamilton Spectator.)ROD BEATON&mdash;an authority on the granting of franchises in the National Hockey League? Heaven help the NHL.Fortunately, the NHL and anyone who has met Beaton recognizes he isn&rsquo;t much of an authority on anything. His knowledge of hockey consists of the same brief, frivolous hockey dispatches carried by his newspaper, USA Today.Every once in awhile, THE HOCKEY NEWS gives him the opportunity to wax eloquent. To tell the truth, I never thought he was much of a writer, but always gave him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he&rsquo;s still learning.It&rsquo;s in the area of reporting that I&rsquo;ve always thought he would never make the grade. After his Hamilton report. I&rsquo;m convinced.First of all, Beaton came to Hamilton to do a number on the city before he even set foot inside Copps Coliseum. He spent his idle time, cramped by commitments to cover some U.S. games, gathering information to support his idea for a column. If the facts didn&rsquo;t fit, well, he&rsquo;d take care of that. He&rsquo;d simply ignore them.He came up to me at the tournament on Friday, for example, hoping to prove the point that one couldn&rsquo;t find an open baron Sunday in this city where one could view the Calgary Flames-Moscow Dynamo game on TSN. Hamilton Spectator hockey writer Tony FitzGerald suggested Don Cherry&rsquo;s Grapevine. Out goes another fact.Secondly, Beaton spent only four days in this city, hardly enough time to gather even the pointed facts he was seeking. He wasn&rsquo;t even around for the final key U.S. bronze-medal game.I saw him just before he left for Oshawa to see the Finland-USA game, the last stop on his world junior calendar. In fact, he agreed to buy, through me, a Russian doll from a Soviet hockey player for $25. 1 remember that because, as he dug into his wallet, he wondered when he&rsquo;d be able to pick it up.I suggested on the final day of the toumament. He agreed, then left to write his scathing account of Hamilton, its hockey fans and Copps Coliseum.A good columnist, I&rsquo;ve found in my 16 years in newspapers, five of them as sports editor, behaves much like a good reporter. He seeks out the advice of as many credible people as possible before he places his name behind an opinion.Every hockey person I casually spoke with, from Calgary Flames&rsquo; GM Cliff Fletcher to former Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; captain and NHL scout George Armstrong, was high in his praise of the facility. Major league for sure.Did Beaton talk to any of them? Funny, many other members of the media offered unsolicited commendations.Blinded by his exuberance, Beaton belittled my naming Soviet coach Vladimir Vasiliev &ldquo;Vlad baby.&rdquo; The reference, most readers seemed to grasp, was designed to hit at the pomposity and self-aggrandizement with which the Soviet coach had surrounded himself.I was impressed by Beaton&rsquo;s one witty comment, though. The part about Hamilton Steelhawk coach Bill LaForge&rsquo;s name being a great name for a steeltown caught my fancy.Beyond that, the tirade, however much written tongue-in-cheek, was a waste of space both in THE HOCKEY NEWS and my newspaper which chose to re-print it on Tuesday, Jan. 7. His mentioning of Saskatoon and Hamilton in the same sentence is much like talking about Beaton and good reporters in the same phrase.If &ldquo;Rod baby&rdquo; can&rsquo;t quite grasp the analogy, perhaps he ought to consult Encyclopedia Canadiana. But then again, that might also be too much like work.Larry Sicinski,&nbsp; Hamilton. ON(THN does not consider the fruits of Mr. Beaton&rsquo;s labors a waste of space any more than it does Mr. Sicinski&rsquo;s. At any rate, let&rsquo;s call it the The Battle of Beaton and Sicinski or perhaps, the Battle of BS. P.S. Does this mean &ldquo;Rod Baby&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t going to get his Russian doll?) &#9632;

FAN FORUM

It&rsquo;s almost time for the Canadian Sporting Goods Association&rsquo;s annual trade show Montreal, Feb. 2-5, so that means it&rsquo;s time for THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; annual Equipment Sneak Preview.Since the CSGA show isn&rsquo;t open to the general public and even if it was, most of you wouldn&rsquo;t be able to attend since it&rsquo;s in Montreal, THN, as a public service to our readers, offers the Equipment Sneak Preview as an alternative.At the CSGA show, hockey equipment manufacturers will be displaying their wares in an attempt to get retailers, such as your local sporting goods store or hockey specialty shop, to stock their goods this summer for the pre-1986-87 season equipmentbuying rush.It is at this show that manufacturers unveil or launch new product lines or display the new wrinkles to their existing inventory.Our Equipment Sneak Preview works in much the same fashion.Hockey equipment manufacturers have an opportunity to impart a message directly to you, the consumer, and give you a &ldquo;hint&rdquo; of things to come.Much of what they reveal now will be at your local sporting goods retailer in the summer. Be on the lookout.In the meantime, browse through the section and acquaint yourself with what is happening in this ever-changing industry.It&rsquo;s never too early to start doing some comparison shopping to make sure you get the best quality and value for your hard-earned hockey dollar. &#9632;

’86 CSGA Show Launches The New Lines

TORONTO&mdash;THE HOCKEY NEWS is pleased to announce winners of the Christmas Equipment Contest, which appeared in the Nov. 22nd issue of THN. They are:1. S.J. Lilburn, Elkford, B.C. 2. Sean Haggerty, Bayport, NY. 3. Barry Cherpaki, Birds Hill, MB. 4. Chet Zurawik, Milwaukee, Wl. 5. Henry Zabloski, Kenora, ON. 6. Pat Antonelli, Livingston, NJ 7. Greg Kinch, Eastend, SK. 8. Ray Lanctot, Toronto, ON. 9. David Huff, Willowdale, ON. 10. Edward Kelly, Bayville, NJ. 11. Neil Tagle, Hockessin, DE. 12. Michael Blair, Milford, CT. 13. Howard Schwach, Far Rockaway, NY. 14. Paul Franco, Whittier, CA. 15. Eddie Chestolowski, Green Bay, Wl.THN compiled all entries with perfect scores on the contest questionnaire and selected the above winners from a random draw. The No. 1 winner will have his choice of the 15 prizes, and No. 2 will select next and so on down the line.THN would like to thank the readers from across Canada and the U.S. who took the time to enter this unique contest. We look forward to your participation next year.THN would also like to thank the following companies for supplying the products to make this contest possible: BAUER, MICRON, DAOUST, REIDELL, COOPER, KOHO, TACKLA, LOUISVILLE, JOFA, TORS-PO, ITECH, FLETCHER, CHRISTIAN, STIX SAK and WAT-SON SALES.<h2>EQUIPMENT INDEX</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011296/5240338-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="533" height="451"></div> &#9632;

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THN Equipment Contest Winners

SPORT MAGIC was developed by Tedd&rsquo;s Sports Repairs of Edmonton as a defense against bacteria breakdown and rot in sports equipment.Perspiration and body acids are the major cause of the offensive odour which develops in sports equipment utilized for the areas of the feet, hands, head and genitals.These body areas perspire heavier than the rest and this heavy perspiration penetrates and coats both synthetic- and material fibre-constructed equipment. From these perspiration coatings exude the offensive odours now commonly accepted in sports equipment. This odour is a direct result of the rapid growth of bacteria, which breeds and proliferates on the perspiration-coated surfaces.Equipment such as helmets, face masks, skates, gloves, goalie accessories cannot be normally washed or dry-cleaned and these are the major targets for SPORT MAGIC.SPORT MAGIC fights bacterial growth and eliminates offensive odours and results in cleaner smelling equipment, equipment bags and dressing rooms. In terms of a bacteria-free dressing room environment, SPORT MAGIC offers more than just a fair advantage; in bacteria war-fare it offers an unfair advantage to the user.SPORT MAGIC is distributed by Space Age Sports, 127 Sack-ville Dr. S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2W OW4. &#9632;

SPORT MAGIC

With Bauer&rsquo;s continued leadership in the skate industry and its commitment to always being technologically superior to its competitors, 1986 will be highlighted with many unique and exciting innovations.Bauer is proud to introduce a new top-end skate, the Supreme Custom 1000, which has been designed to complete a fitting philosophy referred to as the &ldquo;Fit Triangle&rdquo;.In 1981 skate technology took a significant step forward with the introduction of the first two elements in the Fit Triangle, Flolite (R) ankle pads and the Superfeet (R) anatomic footbed. Now the science of fit takes another leap into tomorrow with the final element in the Fit Triangle, the revolutionary new Formfit (R) tongue.The exclusive new Formfit tongue is anatomically designed in three sections which will provide the skater with the ultimate in fit and comfort. Together the three Formfit sections ensure natural alignment of the foot, and are designed so the tongue remains centered on the foot even after prolonged wear. New tongue cosmetics highlight the off-centered anatomical design and add an exciting look.Other new features in the 1000 include a molded insole for increased strength and durability which will ensure a secure blade rivet bond and an anatomically-designed molded ankle support for increased support in the critical ankle area.Another top-end Supreme evolving from the 100 as the counterpart to the 1000, is the new Supreme 101. The skate features new Memory (R) foam ankle pads for increased ease in fitting and a reduced breaking-in period. The 101 also contains the molded insole and anatomically-designed ankle support for optimal durability and strength.Introduced as Special Editions into the Supreme 92 family is a catchy silver nylon skate trimmed with rich black leather and named the &lsquo;Silver Bullet&rsquo; and an exciting white leather trimmed 92, referred to as &lsquo;White Lightning.&rsquo;With continued leadership and commitment to the Supreme line, it is not surprising that more professional hockey players wear Bauer Supremes than any other brand of skates in the world. As supplied by the independent Canadian Gallup Poll, for November 1985, the skate used by brand for the National Hockey League was Bauer 48 per cent, CCM, 24, Daoust, 11, and Micron, 10.To support the Supreme line and the launch of these new top-end skates Bauer has developed the most extensive advertising and promotional program in the history of the industry.Two audio-visual presentations have been completed for the introduction of the 1000 and 101. New point of purchase has been developed along with hockey player action posters and new packaging throughout the entire hockey and figure skate line. A video is being prepared on the history of Bauer, the skate line and how to properly fit skates. Along with a new print ad, Bauer has completed a new television commercial to be aired beginning with the NHL playoffs and continuing right through to early Fall.The low- and mid-range skates will offer increased value through the utilization of improved material throughout the line. To be featured in certain models is the molded insole, the anatomically-designed moulded ankle support, a stitched ankle padding system, a new Bauer Skatethotic (R) footbed and an exclusive ProTuff (R) leathertrimfor a scuff and water-resistant finish.The successfully redesigned 1985 figure skate program will now feature ProTuff (R) leather uppers, new ankle pads and the world famous Wilson blades.Bauer-branded accessories will complement the hockey line. These include a full selection 9 equipment bags and an expanded clothing line featuring hockey underwear and a full line of sports-related leisure clothing.Thus, with many new and exciting innovations, increased emphasis on providing the best product quality and value along with continued strong support programs, Bauer anticipates steady growth in 1986. &#9632;

Bauer®

Since its founding in 1977, Micron has been an industry leader in the use of modern materials and manufacturing techniques.For 1986 Micron will introduce the Gold Pro Medalic, a skate used by Pro, Junior and College players for the past two seasons.The Pro Gold is designed to eliminate the traditional discomforts of breaking in a pair of skates.The traditional leather lining has been replaced with a new lining material called Clarino 2100. This new polyurethane-based material is 30 per cent lighter than leather and will not harden or crack after continuous use like traditional leather. It dries much quicker and its initial suppleness makes it more comfortable when first worn.Some players prefer their skates to be more flexible than others, and therefore Micron has designed the &ldquo;Medafit Flex Control&rdquo; system, a system that lets the skater adjust his own skate flexibility. Recent tests have proven the Pro Golds are the most flexible &ldquo;Top of the Line&rdquo; skates on the market today. This has been done to eliminate initial &ldquo;break-in&rdquo; discomfort and give part of the skating market the very flexible skate they prefer.For those players that prefer their skates stiffer, the Pro Gold has a series of &ldquo;inserts&rdquo;, that the player adds to the ankle region to increase the skate&rsquo;s rigidity.There are also a series of foam inserts for those who require a tighter fit in the ankle region than the regular model. These inserts and instructions are included with each pair of 1986 Medalic Pro Golds.Micron will offer the Silver Medalic and the new Medalic 200 for 1986. The new 200 is designed for the recreational hockey players. It has Cambrelle (R) lining which gives good moisture absorption properties. The tendon and ankle region is made with urethane-coated abrasionresistant leather. It is available in Junior and Senior sizing.The Quadraflex Model provided by Micron is the ultimate development of the two-piece molded concept first introduced some 10 years ago. This skate does not bear much resemblance, however, to those original models and anyone who has not tried a pair of molded skates in a number of years has a real treat in store once a pair of Micron Quadraflex are laced on.These skates are super light, offer outstanding protection, and are extremely flexible.They have a removable inner lining of foam and brushed nylon so they can be dried out between uses. The Quadraflex is currently being worn by a dozen pros who either are not aware of or don&rsquo;t care that it is considered a medium-priced skate with a typical retail price of just over $100.In addition to designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art products for all levels of forwards and defensemen, the Micron company has developed a line of goalie skates that virtually dominates professional ranks. Over 80 per cent of all goalies in the professional leagues find the Micron Master Goalie Skate gives them tremendous protection as well as the comfort and performance they demand. Micron also makes an M-1 Goalie Skate&mdash;both models being available in a full range of sizes.<h2>MEDAFIT (R) SYSTEM</h2>In recent years modern technology and new materials have revolutionized the sport of hockey.Molded blade supports and skates, synthetic hockey sticks and recently the introduction of the Micron Medafit (R) system are some of these.The Medafit (R) system is a method of fitting skates to the exact size and shape of an individual&rsquo;s feet. &ldquo;Custom-fit&rdquo; skates used to be a luxury only available to the elite hockey players.In 1986, Micron has selected 200 specialty hockey dealers throughout North America to introduce the Medafit (R) system.People&rsquo;s feet often do not conform to the standard sizing of today&rsquo;s skates. Wide feet, flat feet and feet with other differences such as bunions and bone spurs, etc., can now be fitted in the store using the Medafit (R) system. The system can be used on any Micron or Lange model skates for men and women. &#9632;

MICRON

Nobody, but nobody enjoys the confidence of National Hockey League players like SherWood.The stick manufacturer, celebrating its 40th anniversary in 1986, is the overwhelming choice of North America&rsquo;s best skaters.A study completed Jan. 7 of this year revealed nearly 50 per cent of NHL players prefer Sher-Woods to all other brands.Of 535 players surveyed, 261 or 48.9 per cent were using the stick first introduced by founder Leo Drolet. Koho was a distant second at 86. Canadien was the only other stick to boast more than 50 players in its fold.Clearly, Sher-Wood has become a tradition in the NHL and a legend in the trade.More than 120,000 dozen sticks are made each year by Sher-Wood, 70,000 dozen of them the popular PMP model.Among those NHLers who, through the use of Sher-Wood, aren&rsquo;t getting the short end of the stick are superstar defensemen Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque.The have become the standard by which others are measured and last year were one-two in voting for the Norris Trophy.Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers, the closest thing to Bobby Orr since the king himself, was named the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman after a season of 37 goals and 84 assists.A record-breaker (12 goals, 25 assists) during the playoffs, he was a strong candidate for post-season most valuable player honors.Bourque, in the meantime, collected 86 points on 20 goals and 66 assists for the Boston Bruins.Coffey and Bourque shared the blue line on the first all-star team.There are, of course, other very talented players who are sticklers for Sher-Woods.Among them are the pride of Viking, Alta.&mdash;the six Sutter brothers.Captains Brian (St. Louis) and Darryl (Chicago), twins Rich and Ron (Philadelphia) plus Brent and Duane (Islan-ders) have all opted for Sher Woods and will soon be part of a new advertising campaign.Just having the Sutters, the: NHL&rsquo;s first family, means Sher Wood boasts more players than four other stick turers with their products in the NHL.But the No. 1 stick manufacturer is not just the choice of NHL players. Sher-Wood is higly popular amongst those who hope one day to play in the big leagues.Seventy-five per cent of all American Hockey League teams use Sher-Woods. Which is most appropriate because Sher-Wood has long supported the AHL, more than ever this. season during the league&rsquo;s 50th anniversary.And at the junior level, SherWood works closely with teams which produce tomorrow&rsquo;s NHLers.Not content to rest on its substantial laurels, Sher-Wood will be introducing a brand new model&mdash;the PTS&mdash;at the Canadian Sporting Goods Association show in Montreal in February.Developed by Denis Drolet, senior vice-president of SherWood, PTS features a profusion injected handle to en-sure both lightness and rigidity.Drolet was also responsible for the development of the PMP 7030, 9030 and 7000 models which have been received enthusiastically by professional players.The PTS is but the latest example of leadership provided by Sher-Wood within the industry.It is also &ldquo;Sher&rdquo; to be another winner. &#9632;

SHER-WOOD®

On February 2nd, at the CSGA Trade Show in Montreal, Christian Bros, will unveil its new 1986 hockey stick line featuring the new BLACK MAGIC Stick.The program will be introduced by Jelinek Sports who, beginning January 1, 1986, became Christian Bros.&rsquo; Canadian marketing vehicle.Jelinek Sports and Christian Brothers share the same philosophy, which stresses a grass-roots approach to the market, supported by a top quality stick line. There is a growing concern in the Canadian market that escalating Equipment and hockey stick costs will drastically reduce the youth&rsquo;s entrance to the sport.We see an even greater need for manufacturers&rsquo; participation at the grass-roots level to encourage continued growth and participation by the youth of North America. We recognize the necessity of keeping the hockey specialty shop competitive in a highly-saturated market.It is the hockey specialty outlet that has the knowledge and experience to properly outfit their clientele. Jelinek Sports and Christian Bros, are making this renewed commitment to the Canadian hockey market because we have the confidence that current market conditions are not a future trend but merely a reminder that growth has presently peaked and that we can only wedge so much product into the market place.For Canadian Dealer Inquiries Contact:Neil HamJelinek Sports,2281 Wyecroft Rd.,Oakville, Ont.L6L 5L7Exclusive Canadian Distributor. &#9632;

CHRISTIAN

STIX SAK, a personal hockey stick bag which carries up to three hockey sticks, is fast becoming the trend of the eighties for hockey players of all ages.The individual hockey stick bag gives hockey players the convenience of carrying their hockey sticks in a hassle-free manner. More importantly, it gives the hockey player a professional well-groomed image. It is the enhanced image that the young hockey player wants to be associated with&mdash;explaining the sudden demand for the STIX SAK bags.The sleek form of the STIX SAK bag is achieved by the use of a high quality denier nylon fabric which provides not only an attractive appearance, but also lasting durability. Parents of hockey players enjoy the protection the bag offers to both home and vehicular interiors.STIX SAK was designed in two sizes. The small size is for players under five feet in height and the large size is for players five feet or taller. Both sizes use durable nylon fasteners at the blade end for easy removal of hockey sticks. The shaft of the STIX SAK is designed to adjust to the personal size of the hockey player&rsquo;s stick. STIX SAK comes in three attractive colors: Black, red, and royal blue.A Goalie bag is also available only in black and in one universal size. &#9632;

STIX SAK

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011314/5240520-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="399" height="118"></div>CALGARY&mdash;The complete and utterly unexpected collapse of the Calgary Flames was beginning to take on history-making and career-destroying proportions.By dropping a 9-1 decision to Hartford Whalers on Jan. 7, their 11 th consecutive defeat, the Flames carved an unwelcome niche for themselves in the National Hockey League record book.Eleven losses in a row gave them a share of the eighth longest losing streak ever. Washington Capitals once lost 17 in a row. Philadelphia Quakers once lost 15. Two teams lost 14 in a row and three lost 12 straight. Then comes Calgary Flames. 1985-86.Only a victory over Vancouver Canucks in overtime on Jan. 9 spared Calgary the indignity of becoming the fourth team in NHL history to lose 12 consecutive contests.And that one win in a row was a struggle, with the Flames needing an overtime goal by Jim Peplinski to secure a 5-4 triumph.Earlier, even always-optimistic coach Bob Johnson could not find a single silver lining in the decisive loss to the Whalers.&ldquo;It was our worst performance in the four years I&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; said Johnson quietly. &ldquo;We had absolutely nothing going for us. We keep telling the players and they keep reading that they&rsquo;re in a slump and all of a sudden, they feel sorry for themselves.&ldquo;Usually, as a coach, you try to find the positive aspects of a game. Against Hartford, there were no positive aspects. None. Period. We had absolutely so excuses. All we want now are solutions. And we&rsquo;ll find solutions.&rdquo;The immediate remedies concentated on recalling three players from the minor leagues, goaltender Mike Vernon, defenseman Neil Sheehy and center Mark Lamb. Only eight days earlier, the Flames demoted Vernon and Sheehy, theorizing that the team&rsquo;s surplus of bodies was causing some anxiety in the team&rsquo;s dressing room.However, Vernon won the only game for the Flames during the current bad spell&mdash;a 4-3 exhibition victory over touring Moscow Dynamo&mdash;and Sheehy provides a physical presence in front of the goal. No one was exactly sure why the Flames sent Sheehy down in the first place. He hadn&rsquo;t been playing that bad. When things were going good, he was one of the top players.Vernon&rsquo;s return paid immediate dividends&mdash;he was the winning goalie against Vancouver in a game the Flames were outshot 36-31.Analyzing the slump proved to be something that Johnson and others found difficult to do. Following their seventh loss, Johnson insisted the team wasn&rsquo;t even in a slump. They had simply lost an edge.Even when the losses just kept on coming, Johnson showed a distaste for the word &ldquo;slump&rdquo; Its constant repetition in the newspapers, said Johnson, convinced the team that it was. indeed, happening.As is usually the case when a team&rsquo;s collapse is so decisive, no one single factor could be isolated. Reggie Leme-lin&rsquo;s goaltending made him player of the month for November and resulted in all kinds of hand-wringing locally because he was lagging so far behind in the allstar voting.No one was talking about the all-star game anymore.Lemelin&rsquo;s goals-against average inched over 4.00 a game, mainly because he was giving up one bad goal a game, usually early in the game when the team needed a lift and wasn&rsquo;t getting it.He wasn&rsquo;t the only culprit, however. Much of the scoring was coming from the defensemen, which was only fair since their defensive play was nothing special. The forwards simply stopped scoring. Lanny McDonald was the leader with 33 points&mdash;good for 61 st overall in the scoring race.As the Flames continued to pile up loss after loss, Johnson was also coming under fire for his work behind the bench. In some people&rsquo;s minds, Johnson kept tinkering and tampering with a winning lineup until it didn&rsquo;t win anymore. Eventually, the constant changes caught up to the Flames.Johnson, however, vehemently denied his changes made a difference. On the contrary, he says two-thirds of most lines had been together for most of the season.The line shuffling, says Johnson, was precipitated mainly by injuries or combinations that proved to be ineffective.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021030/5240513-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="584" height="812"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Vernon, called up from Moncton, was in goal for Calgary&rsquo;s streak-ending victory.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;You say to yourself, let&rsquo;s go back to the time when we were successful,&rdquo; commented Johnson. &ldquo;What did we do differently? For six weeks, we lost only two games (three actually), we were getting some breaks, we were getting some timely goals and our goaltending was outstanding.&ldquo;Now all of a sudden, we&rsquo;re not getting any goals, our defense is too tentative and we&rsquo;re not getting good goaltending. We&rsquo;re in a slump because people keep telling us we&rsquo;re in a slump. People tell you you&rsquo;re playing badly and after a while, you start to believe it. People tell you you&rsquo;re playing great and you believe that.&ldquo;What do we need now? We need to recapture the winning feeling. The only way to do that is to win a game.&rdquo;That much, at last, had finally been accomplished. &#9632;

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Flickering Flames Finally Record Triumph

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011233/5240551-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="477" height="115"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;There&rsquo;s no place like home at Christmas.Tom Kurvers did not totally enjoy the first half of this 1985-86 National Hockey League. There were a few nights when he didn&rsquo;t play well, there were some when he did not play a lot and there were others when he didn&rsquo;t play at all.As a result, there were snide remarks being made here and there about a sophomore jinx and questions on whether Kurvers really was as good as his 45-point season of last year suggested.There were times that Kurvers, too, seemed to be having doubts about his own ability to play in the NHL.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t make that headman pass the way I was last year,&rdquo; he told a friend.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that you can&rsquo;t make it,&rdquo; was the reply. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just that you&rsquo;re not making it.&rdquo;It took a couple of games for the former top player in U.S. college hockey to get his act together and it seems that trip back home at Christmas was the needed tonic.&ldquo;It was a spur-of-the-moment trip,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s funny how you can pick something out like that.&ldquo;Maybe that was a good thing for me, getting home and realizing what I had going for me.&ldquo;I may have been thinking before that after a year and a half here, things weren&rsquo;t going very good. It gave me an opportunity to sit down and realize what I have going for me here and that I&rsquo;m play ing on a great team.&rdquo;With a knee injury to Chris Chelios suffered Dec. 19 in Quebec, Kurvers soon found himself thrust into the role as the point man on the power play with Larry Robinson. He enjoyed one of his finest nights in his young career in Montreal on Jan. 8 against Boston, when he scored a goal and two assists on the power play.With Jean Perron electing to go with five defensemen, Kurvers was gradually earning more and more ice time and more confidence from the Canadiens&rsquo; rookie coach.&ldquo;The more you play, the more you have confidence in what you are doing,&rdquo; Kurvers said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not good for the team that Chris is out. I like to feel that we have seven defensemen and 1 think we have seven capable defensemen.&ldquo;Our power play has been going well all year. I&rsquo;m glad I stepped in and it&rsquo;s still going well.&rdquo;The biggest knock against Kurvers at the start of the season was that he was not physical enough. He will never be mistaken for Craig Ludwig, the Canadiens&rsquo; designated hitter on defense, but that has not been Kurvers&rsquo; style nor will it ever be.However, there were times where Kurvers was letting his man get back into the play and that was upsetting coach Perron to the point that Kurvers found himself a surprised designated sitter a few nights while Mike Lalor played ahead of him.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t doing the easy thing out there,&rdquo; Kurvers recalled. &ldquo;I was making it hard on myself. 1 think lately I have been playing with Luds (Ludwig) and with him, you don&rsquo;t try to be too fancy and you don&rsquo;t try to make any spectacular plays. You have to make the easy play and get things looked after in your own zone. That&rsquo;s helped me out a bit.&rdquo;Kurvers admitted that under Perron, the role of the defenseman has changed slightly. The Canadiens&rsquo; first-yearcoach is stressing that the defense cover up a little more in their own end and let the forwards handle the scoring.&ldquo;Larry (Robinson) is having a great year point-wise and so is Chelly,&rdquo; Kurvers added. &ldquo;The rest of us are expected to take care of our own end and let the forwards look after the scoring.&rdquo;Kurvers and the rest of the healthy defense faced a tough month of January as the Canadiens had 16 games scheduled in 31 nights, including several three-game, four-night situations.With Chelios out indefinitely with a sore knee and Perron reluctant to use Kent Carlson, recalled from Sherbrooke, as his sixth defenseman, Kurvers, Lud wig, Lalor, Robinson and Petr Svoboda were getting extra ice time.What Perron asked his defenseman to do was make sure they had short shifts and not get caught up the ice.With every game now meaning so much in the Adams Division playoff race, Kurvers is aware that there are things he must accomplish in the second half of the schedule if he is going to continue in a regular role.IN PASSING&mdash;The Canadiens had their 10-game home-ice unbeaten streak snapped Jan. 11 in a 6-3 loss to Edmonton&hellip;Karel Svoboda, the older brother of Petr, has defected to Canada from Czechoslovakia. The Canadiens&rsquo; management was instrumental in helping him get into the country, but not because he is a great hockey player. &ldquo;It was for humanitarian reasons,&rdquo; said managing director Serge Savard. Svoboda is staying with his brother&hellip;Durable Mike McPhee hurt his right ankle Jan. 10 in New York and was expected to miss two weeks&hellip;The Canadiens&rsquo; three-man goaltender system has come under fire from veteran defenseman Larry Robinson, who says it&rsquo;s unfair to the men involved-&hellip;Mats Naslund&rsquo;s 18-game pointscoring streak came to a halt in New York on Jan. 10. During the streak, he had 13 goals and 23 assists&hellip; Randy Bucyk was called up from Sherbrooke (AHL). Bucyk had 18 goals and 33 assists in 43 games, including five shorthanded goals. &#9632;

f0015-01

Habs’ Kurvers Shows Signs Of Improvement

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>NBC-TV zeroed in on the Pelle Lindbergh story with a hardhitting report by researchers, orchestrated by anchorwoman Connie Chung. Among revelations was a Lindbergh poster Pelle posed for in Sweden, urging motorists not to drink after driving. Equally strong was the response from Lindbergh&rsquo;s girlfriend, Kirsten Pietzch, when asked who she held responsible for her companion&rsquo;s death. &ldquo;No one,&rdquo; she replied; &ldquo;except himself.&rdquo; Litigation over injuries suffered by those who were involved in the crash is expected to continue with particular attention to the alleged responsibility of the two drinking establishments Lindbergh visited before the fatal drive. Interestingly, Flyers&rsquo; defenseman Brad Marsh told NBC &ldquo;other players (on the Flyers) were in worse shape&rdquo; than Lindbergh at the Coliseum bar from where Pelle departed after socializing with his teammates.National Hockey League moguls acknowledge that the 18-year-old draft continues to be a major-league problem but GMs who are studying the dilemma cannot find a solution. &ldquo;Our best legal advice,&rdquo; one GM tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;is that there&rsquo;s no way we can up the age limit to 20 without getting hit with a major law suit.&rdquo; Insiders report that the league will continue to seek ways of circumventing the teen draft but admit that they&rsquo;re currently mired in legal red tape&hellip;Brad Park&rsquo;s leap from the TV booth to the Red Wings&rsquo; front office was considered as far back as last spring when Detroit boss Mike Hitch conferred with him about running the club. When Park opted for CTV and ESPN, the Red Wings&rsquo; job was very much on his mind. &ldquo;Before we hired him,&rdquo; an ESPN spokesman tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;Brad talked about the possibility of coaching. We said that if an offer came up, we wouldn&rsquo;t stand in his way.&rdquo; Once Park gets his feet wet in Detroit, he&rsquo;s expected to bring in some trusted lieutenants. He&rsquo;s already hired Ed Giacomin as a goaltending coach. With Park gone, ESPN has filled his spot with Bill Clement and John Davidson.Park&rsquo;s lack of coaching experience is causing some cynics to predict his failure at Joe Louis Arena but former teammate Mike Milbury argues the opposite. &ldquo;Not many people have studied the game as carefully as Brad,&rdquo; Milbury tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s come into coaching well prepared.&rdquo; Bruins&rsquo; coach Butch Goring sympathizes with fired Harry Neale. &ldquo;If I had the start the Red Wings had,&rdquo; says Goring. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be around (coaching) either.&rdquo; Butch admits he&rsquo;s tiring of jabs at his &ldquo;improved&rdquo; clothes. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been wearing these stylish suits since I was with the Islanders,&rdquo; he tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;I get my threads at a very fashionable Vancouver shop.&rdquo; The campaign promoted by some admirers of Phil Esposito to coerce the Bruins into retiring his No. 7 jersey with a fete at Boston Garden apparently is kaput. Boston sources tell BLUELINES that the club will not waver from its policy and won&rsquo;t ask Ray Bourque to relinquish his No. 7 jersey.Espo is also being snubbed by both the Chicago Blackhawks Alumni and a Legends of Hockey squad which will play Jan. 25th at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. Phil&rsquo;s ex-teammates Bobby and Dennis Hull, Stan Mikita and Pierre Pilote will skate for the Hawks Alumni. Gordie Howe, Norm Ullman and Mike Palmateer are among those on the Legends sextet. A source close to the tourney says Dennis Hull is on the outs with Espo, which is why Phil wasn&rsquo;t asked to play for the &lsquo;Hawks. Part of the reunion weekend will be a youth hockey clinic and coaches clinic presented by the Athletes Helping Athletes organization&hellip;Whisper in some front offices is that the Kings gave up too much to get Rollie Melanson, who wasn&rsquo;t ready to play for weeks after the triple deal was made between L.A., the North Stars and Rangers&hellip;An onlooker swears this happened in the Whalers&rsquo; front office. A secretary opened an executive&rsquo;s door and inquired: &ldquo;Is David Babych in here?&rdquo; To that the exec shot back: &ldquo;No he isn&rsquo;t&mdash;and I suggest you read our fact book!&rdquo; The exec was then reminded that Babych is not in the Whalers&rsquo; fact book, which was printed long before he was dealt to Hartford from Winnipeg.Edmonton Journal&rsquo;s&nbsp;Marc Horton has topped Terry Jones of the Sun when it comes to withering the Cup champs. Writing of the Dave Hunter case, Horton notes: &ldquo;All it takes is enough money to hire a good lawyer like the silver-tongued (Ed) Molstad, who can argue expressively about the hard work and dedication of Dave Hunter, the drunk driver&hellip; it&rsquo;s proof again that poor people go to jail a lot quicker than rich people.&rsquo;&hellip;Devils are making little progress in winning a break in their indemnity payments&hellip;Tennis ace Ivan Lendl will go to the net&mdash;a hockey net&mdash;arch 8 in Greenwich, Conn. He&rsquo;ll play in the third annual celebrity hockey match at the Dorothy Hamill Rink. Lendl and former NHLers will be raising money for the Greenwich Special Olympics.Rangers&rsquo; GM Craig Patrick has taken a beating for his failure to: a) elevate Pierre Larouche or b) deal unlucky Pierre to another club. Sentiment among Ranger players is split on Larouche. The pro-Pierre faction, led by Tom Laidlaw, would like him back for his scoring. The anti-Larouche bloc, articulated by Bob Brooke, sees Larouche damaging to the club&rsquo;s work ethic. The firing of New York Knicks&rsquo; GM Dave DeBusschere by Patrick&rsquo;s Madison Square Garden bosses was putting even greater pressure on Craig as the anniversary (Jan. 21) of Herb Brooks firing approached. Phil Esposito and Anders Hedberg are most often mentioned as potential successors. &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011110/5240606-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="446" height="120"></div>HARTFORD&mdash;The Hartford Whalers called up Dean Evason from the minors for what they thought would be a cup of coffee. Little did they know that the 21-year-old centerman intended on staying for dinner.Evason didn&rsquo;t plan on it turning out this way, but he did dream about it.&ldquo;Every day since I can remember,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Where I grew up, that&rsquo;s all there was to do. Watch Hockey Night in Canada and dream about playing in the NHL one day.&rdquo;Evason was raised in Thompson, Man., approximately 300 miles north of Flin Flon.&ldquo;Then it was the northern-most town in Manitoba,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There was only one road out of Thompson. I think there may be another town north of it now. But we were a long way from everything.&rdquo;Including a starting spot on the Whalers&rsquo; second line, a position Evason has held with distinction since being recalled from Binghamton Dec. 9.&ldquo;I think back now and it&rsquo;s really unbelievable,&rdquo; Evason says. &ldquo;I was no different than any kid growing up in northern Canada. We all had the same dream. For us, there was only one way out&mdash;ake the NHL.&rdquo;Evason took the overland route to reach his goal, with stops in Spokane, Kamloops and Binghamton, along with a brief stint in Washington. He was the third draft choice of the Capitals in 1982, taken in the fifth round, 89th overall.&ldquo;I guess my size was the thing that always worked against me,&rdquo; says Evason, a 5-foot-10, 175 pounder. &ldquo;That was the question mark, 1 guess. It is with a lot of players.&rdquo;Evason went to three training camps with the Caps, but invariably, didn&rsquo;t stick. He appeared in 17 NHL games over two seasons, scoring three goals and seven points, but he played mostly for Binghamton, an AHL club that is shared by Hartford and Washington.There, Evason met Larry Pleau, a former Whaler GM-coach who nows holds a similar dual role in inghamton.&ldquo;Larry helped me a lot,&rdquo; Evason says. &ldquo;1 know he liked me and I liked him. He gave me a lot of ice time and boosted my confidence. He gave me an important role on the team. He&rsquo;s a very good coach, and he&rsquo;s especially good with kids. He&rsquo;ll stay with you. He won&rsquo;t try to break you.&rdquo;Pleau was instrumental in the trade that literally turned Evason&rsquo;s career around. Last March 12th, the Whalers, acting on Pleau&rsquo;s advice, sent David A. Jensen to Washington for goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz and Evason. Because all were minor leaguers in Binghamton at the time, the three remained together in the same locker room. Only their allegiances changed.&ldquo;I had mixed feelings at the time,&rdquo; Evason remembers. &ldquo;In three training camps, 1 had gotten to know the guys in Washington and the staff. It was a tough situation to leave.&ldquo;But the more I thought about it, the more I figured that 1 might get a better shot with Hartford. The Whalers are the same type of team that Washington was three years ago. They&rsquo;re a young, rebuilding team on the way up. All I was hoping is that I could be part of it.&rdquo;A slight shoulder separation to Ray Ferraro gave Evason the opening he needed.&ldquo;They told me when I came up that I was going to take Ray&rsquo;s spot,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;To me, that meant four or five games. All I wanted to do was open management&rsquo;s eyes a bit and stay around a little longer. I got the chance to play with two good wingers in Stewie and Lawly, and we started to put some points on the board.&rdquo;The LEG line of Paul Lawless, Evason and Stewart Gavin provided the Whalers with some unexpected firepower, and stand as a primary reason behind the team&rsquo;s best start, by far, in seven NHL seasons. If the team does makes the playoffs in the unforgiving Adams Division this year, the LEG line will be more than a little responsible.In his first 15 games, Evason hadi seven goals and 18 points, and was plus-6&mdash;flattering totals for an experienced hand, let alone an unproven rookie.&ldquo;People always tell you how tough it is to play in the NHL, but to be honest, I&rsquo;ve found it to be a lot easier,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Everybody does the right things here. You don&rsquo;t get passes in your skates or over your head, like in the minors. Every pass is on your stick.&rdquo;Evason collected his first professional hat trick in a 9-1 Hartford victory over Calgary at the Saddledome. And it was a. natural&mdash;the first three goals of the game.After accomplishing the feat, Evason was given a game misconduct for fighting Calgary&rsquo;s Doug Risebrough. It marked Evason&rsquo;s second game misconduct in the course of four games. Earlier, he fought three times with Quebec&rsquo;s Dale Hunter, thereby earning an automatic heave-ho.&ldquo;I certainly don&rsquo;t want to be known as a fighter, but there are a lot of guys in the league, like Hunter, who try to intimidate you,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always jabbing you with his stick. Risebrough&rsquo;s the captain, and he was trying to motivate his team.&ldquo;Those things happen in the game. I&rsquo;m no fighter, but I&rsquo;ve got to let them know that 1 won&rsquo;t be pushed around.&rdquo;Evason, whose maturity extends beyond his 21 years, was as surprised as. anyone about his hat trick.&ldquo;I got 71 goals in junior one year, and I didn&rsquo;t have more than one or two tricks,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Three assists, maybe. But never three goals. I was very fortunate.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-01

Dean Evason Has LEG Up In Bid To Remain In NHL

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01975/5240644-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="363" height="119"></div>BOSTON&mdash;The question had a little needle in it.&ldquo;Where,&rdquo; coach Butch Goring was asked, &ldquo;does Geoff Courtnail stand now?&rdquo;&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; Goring grinned, &ldquo;that he stands right at the front of the line right now.&rdquo;Courtnall, the third-year left winger that nobody wanted, had scored the first and winning goal in the third period in a 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.It was his third goal in three games and his fourth since Dec. 12, the day he was placed on waivers by the Bruins and none of the 20 other National Hockey League teams showed any interest.He also scored twice against Moscow Dynamo in an exhibition loss Jan. 6 preceded by a bomb scare.&ldquo;Since we told him he might be put on waivers or things may be happening for him,&rdquo; said Goring, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s become a different hockey player.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not making the same mistakes he was making earlier.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s still skating as hard as he always has. He&rsquo;s checking as hard. The mistakes he made were critical mistakes. He&rsquo;s not doing that anymore.&rdquo;Professional hockey has always been an uphill battle for Geoff Courtnall, whose younger brother, Russ, is a key center for the Toronto Maple Leafs.For one thing, he was never drafted by an NHL club, even after he scored 35 goals and 90 points for the Victoria Cougars in his final draft year.He spent an extra year in the Western Hockey League, firing 41 goals and 114 points in Victoria, before the Bruins signed him as a free agent.He played most of his first pro season in Hershey. Then, as the 1984-85 season began, he was ticketed for Hershey again. He talked his way out of it.&ldquo;When Harry (Sinden) told me I was going to Hershey, I had a talk with him,&rdquo; said Courtnall. &ldquo;1 told him I thought I could help the team and deserved a chance to show him I could.&rdquo;&ldquo;We were tom between keeping him and sending him down,&rdquo; said Sinden, the Boston general manager. &ldquo;He was to be our last out. But there was no point in sending him down if we weren&rsquo;t 100 per cent sure. The feeling was that maybe we should keep him and see what happened.&rdquo;What happened was that he scored two goals and four assists in the Bruins&rsquo; first eight games.By Dec. 10, however, he had once again fallen into disfavor and was dispatched to Hershey. This time, he retired to go back to school and run his fledgling construction business back in Victoria. The retirement lasted precisely one week.&ldquo;Some of the players talked to me and told me they thought I had a career ahead of me and that I was throwing a lot out if I didn&rsquo;t go to Hershey. It was tough but I&rsquo;m glad I made the decision,&rdquo; said Courtnall when he returned to the Bruins after a brief stay in the minors.This year he started the season in Moncton, the Bruins&rsquo; new American League farm club, only to return when the big team was struck by a rash of injuries. In order to go down again, he had to clear waivers.The very day he was placed on waivers, he scored the only Boston goal in a 1-1 tie with Quebec.&ldquo;It was almost like coming back playing for a different team, wanting one more chance to prove that 1 could play,&rdquo; said Courtnall. &ldquo;Hopefully, I showed them that I could.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN&mdash;The Bruins&rsquo; exhibition game with Moscow Dynamo (a 6-4 loss) attracted pickets protesting Soviet treatment of Jews and a military practice hand grenade with a timing device attached. The grenade, it was later discovered, did not contain any explosive material. It was found in a trash can at the Boston Garden&hellip;The prognosis for Charlie Simmer is good. The Bruins&rsquo; leading goal scorer, with 17, took a high stick from Buffalo&rsquo;s Gates Orlando in the right eye and went to Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary with &ldquo;bleeding in the front of his eye, swelling of the retina, a hemorrhage behind the eyeball and a laceration of the eyelid.&rdquo; Latest word from Dr. Thadeus Dryja was that Simmer &ldquo;is getting better and better. His vision has improved almost to normal.&rdquo; The sight of Simmer falling to the ice clutching his eye so unnerved some of the Bruins that five of them showed up in the next game wearing plastic visors on their helmets. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s so crazy, man, what can happen,&rdquo; said Dave Pasin. &ldquo;And so innocently. It&rsquo;s just not worth it. Not only for hockey but for the rest of your life.&rdquo;&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02781/5240637-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="584" height="810"><figcaption class="caption-body">Coach Butch Goring, above, has been delighted with Geoff Courtnail&rsquo;s play lately.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Courtnall Proving He Belongs With Bruins

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03599/5240675-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="459" height="115"></div>DETROIT&mdash;&rdquo;I was thinking it would be three weeks from now,&rdquo; said Brad Park. &ldquo;(But) I can see it now.&rdquo;That assessment from the new coach of the improving Detroit Red Wings came after only five games, following a 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals in Landover.The Wings had treated Park to his first coaching victory two nights earlier in Toronto, a 6-5 triumph over the Maple Leafs, the team Detroit is trying to catch in the Norris Division.&ldquo;I feel good,&rdquo; Park said. &ldquo;For me to get my first victory is personally a big thing&hellip; but (a win) is even bigger for that team in there. The momentum was starting to swing and we came back. They worked hard. They worked hard for each other.&rdquo;Park didn&rsquo;t even see the goal, by Petr Klima, that snapped a 5-5 tie after the Leafs twice rallied from two-goal deficits.&ldquo;When Petr broke away, everybody on the bench stood up in front of me,&rdquo; Park said.Klima also had three assists, Steve Yzerman, a goal and two assists and Joe Kocur, two goals and an assist, as the new line accounted for four goals and 10 points.Park juggled his lines for the game. He inserted Klima on the left side, in place of John Ogrodnick, with Yzerman and Kocur. Ogrodnick played with new linemates in Bob Probert and Ron Duguay. Ogrodnick and Probert scored powerplay goals.&ldquo;They made me look like a brain surgeon,&rdquo; Park said.Kocur&rsquo;s goals were his first of the season in 27 games. As the Wings&rsquo; enforcer, he had no points and 182 penalty minutes going into the game.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a nice touch,&rdquo; Park said. &ldquo;He can play the game. Joey&rsquo;s with two guys who create a lot of things out there. He just keeps going to the net, and boom.&ldquo;Joey asked me if he should stay back. I told him, &lsquo;No, Joey, when you get a chance, go ahead.&rsquo;&ldquo;The Wings, 1-3-1 in Park&rsquo;s first five games, continued to show improvement in Washington, but the Caps aren&rsquo;t the Maple Leafs, and it wasn&rsquo;t good enough.Bobby Gould&rsquo;s unassisted shorthanded goal at 15:25 of the third period won it for Washington after the Wings twice tied the game in the final 13 minutes on goals by Billy Carroll and Greg Smith.The tie in Park&rsquo;s reign came against Buffalo (2-2).&ldquo;The people tonight I was most proud of was the defense and the new Troll Line,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Buffalo didn&rsquo;t have that many scoring chances. They had a few but not as many as the other teams have been getting against us.&rdquo;The new Troll Line consists of Dwight Foster, newcomer Carroll and Lane Lambert.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s two games in a row they&rsquo;ve shut down the other team&rsquo;s big line,&rdquo; Park said.WING WIRE&mdash;Eddie Giacomin, 46. who played with the Rangers and Red Wings in a distinguished 13-year NHL career, has been hired as a goaltending coach. He&rsquo;ll work with the goalies at every home practice session&hellip;Defensemen Barry Melrose and Steve Richmond were called up from Adirondack and rookies Tim Friday and Rick Zombo were sent down. Brad Park said Melrose and Richmond would be in Detroit the rest of the season&hellip; Before the Toronto game when he got four points, Petr Klima had a lengthy session with Park to complain about his lack of ice time in the first two games after Park took over as coach. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to think of the team as a whole,&rdquo; Park said. &ldquo;I told everybody there&rsquo;s a clean slate. I&rsquo;ve been using four lines. I want to be fair to everybody and at the same time see what I&rsquo;ve got. get a good feel. I&rsquo;ve got to make some decisions quickly. Petr doesn&rsquo;t understand that.&rdquo; Park has no reservations about Klima&rsquo;s talents. &ldquo;He can break up a game for you.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-03

Park Pleased With Wings’ Progress

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011010/5240706-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="348" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption></div>WHAT PASSES FOR important in January often passes into insignificance. &ldquo;Character builders&rdquo;, they&rsquo;re called by the guys who win these supposed gut checks. Losers refer to them as simply bad nights and regroup for another day.And the Washington Capitals, who came to the Spectrum to prove a point and didn&rsquo;t, have five games left to establish themselves the Flyers&rsquo; equal. And probably another seven in the playoffs, too, to announce that the third-best team in the National Hockey League is not cemented into place.But for now the Caps, a likely semi-finalist if they played in the Adams or Norris Divisions, look like a prisoner of the playoff system and a Philadelphia team that is now 7-1-1 against them over the last two seasons.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why winning the division this year is bigger for us than it is for Philly,&rdquo; Rod Langway said. &ldquo;When they won the division last year, they had accomplished something. I think that confidence enabled them to go on and win three series in the playoffs.&ldquo;Us, we got beat out again by the Islanders. What we have here is an excellent team that has yet to win anything.&rdquo;They didn&rsquo;t come close on this night. The Flyers beat the Caps 4-0 and and it really wasn&rsquo;t that close. The Caps had better not believe that it was final, but they agreed it was discouraging.&ldquo;I could say as long as we get a chance to beat them in the playoffs,&rdquo; coach Bryan Murray said. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not necessarily true. We have to establish not necessarily beating them, but playing well against them.&rdquo;It was only 20 months ago that Washington appeared to have already taken care of that. When Philadelphia was nothing more than a stepping stone to the Islanders, the Caps eliminated Philadelphia in three straight first-round games. Oh, the Capitals weren&rsquo;t so presumptuous as to believe that they had buried the Flyers forever, but Philadelphia was obviously rebuilding. The Caps&rsquo; time figured to come first.They didn&rsquo;t look up at the Islanders for very long. Just enough for the Flyers to blindside them and steal the Capitals&rsquo; 1984-85 season. The next thing Washington knew, the young Flyers were beating them just about every time out.In the season&rsquo;s second game, Pelle Lindbergh stood on his head before a first-period Landover barrage and much to the Flyers&rsquo; surprise, they came back and won. It was a definite key to their confidence-building start. In March, when the Flyers came to the Capital Centre, Washington had opened up an 11-point lead and water appeared to be seeking its own level. But Tim Kerr scored four goals and Brian Propp got the winner with two seconds left and a season changed. The Flyers took over first place by sweeping a home-and-home in early March.&ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t the same team after that,&rdquo; Mike Gartner said.The Islanders, trailing 2-0 to Washington in the first round series, came back from the grave to beat the Caps for the third straight year. That shouldn&rsquo;t happen this year, not the way the Islanders are playing, but they aren&rsquo;t the point anymore. Philadelphia is.&ldquo;Right now, they&rsquo;re better than us,&rdquo; Murray said. And Edmonton is better than Philadelphia and Washington is better than everybody else. Montreal appears to be coming on and Quebec, a final-four team last year, also rises above the mediocre, but the Caps remain that cut above.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re five players better than we were a year ago,&rdquo; Langway said. He didn&rsquo;t mean five new bodies. A few have merely changed positions and responded with more production.The switches of Bengt Gustafsson, Dave Christian, Alan Haworth and Bob Gould and the trade of Doug Jarvis to Hartford have redesigned three of the four center ice positions. Production is up and the Caps have been able to keep winning despite a slow start by Bobby Carpenter.They sacrificed one of their defensive specialists, Jarvis, for an all-offense type, left winger Jorgen Pettersson, to try to close some of the scoring gap. &ldquo;Obviously the Flyers can score more goals than we can,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;So we decided to take a chance on Pettersson.&rdquo;For first-line game-breaking might, Carpenter, assuming he will get going, and Gartner can probably match Brian Propp and Tim Kerr. But the Flyers can drive up a tempo with their second and third lines to a point that the Caps so far haven&rsquo;t been able to counter.Defensively, Washington is unquestionably deeper. Rookie Kevin Hatcher should eventually make the the twin towers of Langway and Stevens into a troika and if the Flyers lose one of the four they are so reliant upon&mdash;ark Howe, Brad McCrimmon, Brad Marsh and Doug Crossman&mdash;all bets of a Flyer march to a rematch with Edmonton could still be off.But on this night the Flyers were so dominant that coach Mike Keenan was able to use Thomas Eriksson and Dave Richter more regularly. And also play rookie Darren Jensen in goal.&ldquo;They were able to play their No. 2 goaltender and all six defensemen and still beat us pretty handily,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Some of our young guys didn&rsquo;t react too well. We weren&rsquo;t very fierce out there.&rdquo;It had been presumed that the death of Lindbergh had closed one gap. &ldquo;I think Lindbergh was playing the best goal in the NHL,&rdquo; Murray had said before the game. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s any secret. And now they don&rsquo;t have that quality of goaltending.&rdquo;Now it remains for the Caps to prove strong enough to take advantage. &#9632;

f0018-01

Flyers Use Capital Punishment on Washington

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02761/5240737-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="387" height="113"></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Gilbert Perreault recently received a videotape copy of The Buffalo Sabres: The First Ten Years.Although the tape had been out for over six years, it was the first time Perreault had viewed the production.Watching scenes of the Sabres&rsquo; famed &ldquo;French Connection&rdquo; line (Rick Martin. Perreault, Rene Robert) brought back many fond memories to Perreault.It also made Perreault realize how far he has come and how little he has to go before achieving yet another career milestone&mdash;goal No. 500.&ldquo;Sure I want 500, I&rsquo;m not going to say I don&rsquo;t want it,&rdquo; said Perreault, who had reached the 495 mark by the midway point of the season. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not going to look ahead and say that I&rsquo;m going to pass this guy and then try and pass the next guy.&ldquo;I just take things one thing at a time. I don&rsquo;t think that I&rsquo;ve ever been the type of player who put personal goals ahead of the team.&rdquo;Perreault has always approached his life&rsquo;s work with that philosophy, all the way back to his rookie season of 1970-71 with the Sabres.&ldquo;When you start a career, scoring 500 goals doesn&rsquo;t mean anything,&rdquo; said Perreault. &lsquo;&lsquo;But then as you move along and score goals it means more.&ldquo;Everybody likes to score goals. But I&rsquo;ve always put scoring records behind team goals like winning and making the playoffs. That&rsquo;s what 1 base a successful career on.&rdquo;Is Perreault satisfied with what he has achieved in the NHL?&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve had a good career for the 16 years I&rsquo;ve played so Tar,&rdquo; answered Perreault, 35. &ldquo;But I think it could have been better.&ldquo;The Sabres have made the playoffs 12 times in the first 15 seasons. That&rsquo;s good. But we have only gone to the finals once during that time. That&rsquo;s not so good.&ldquo;I think that when you start a career your purpose should be to get along with the players on your team and then to get the team a Stanley Cup. Personal goals come third.&ldquo;I think that I&rsquo;ve always gotten along with everybody. But I still haven&rsquo;t gotten the Sabres a Stanley Cup.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why 500 goals doesn&rsquo;t mean as much to me. It&rsquo;s a nice record to have and to look back on. But with no Cup to go along with it, I feel that my career is unfulfilled.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I think it&rsquo;s different for a guy like Mike Bossy. He was going for 500 goals just like me. But he did it in less than 10 years, which is an accomplishment in itself.&ldquo;But he&rsquo;s also got four Stanley Cups to go along with his record as well. That makes a big difference.&rdquo;Because the Sabres have never won the Stanley Cup, does Perreault feel that he has let the team down?&ldquo;I think that I&rsquo;ve done very well for this organization,&rdquo; said Perreault. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve let the team down in any way.&ldquo;You have to remember that the team is made up of 20 players. 1 think that all of the players have always done a good job. I know that I&rsquo;vealwaysdone the best that I could do.&rdquo;Perreault recalled the days of the &ldquo;French Connection&rdquo; from 1974 to 1979 and how well they played together.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have to look at each other. We just anticipated each other so well,&rdquo; Perreault said. &ldquo;We were always concentrating when we were out for our shifts. It was just one of those things where &lsquo;bing, bong&rsquo; and we were putting the puck into the net.&rdquo;But those days are gone forever for Perreault. All he can do now is think of the present Sabre team, all of whom are younger than him, and with the exception of Bill Hajt and Pat Hughes, have never experienced being in the Stanley Cup finals.The question on everyone&rsquo;s mind in Buffalo is: Will this be Perreault&rsquo;s last season in a Sabre uniform?&ldquo;I think it will be up to Sabres&rsquo; management and me to see how 1 fit into the team&rsquo;s plans,&rdquo; said Perreault. &ldquo;Every year they have different plans.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ll want to see where the team is at the end of the year as well. And I&rsquo;ll have to see how I feel after this season is over with.&ldquo;After I take a look at things, then I&rsquo;ll decide if I should play another year or two. We&rsquo;ll just have to see how things go.&rdquo;SABRE POINTS&mdash;Don Leverand Gates Orlando were loaned to the Sabres&rsquo; minor-league team in Rochester on Jan. 7&hellip;On the same day Normand Lacombe and Joe Reekie were called up from Rochester. Reekie made his debut in a Sabres&rsquo; uniform the following night when the Sabres played an exhibition game against Moscow Dynamo. The Sabres lost 7-4&hellip;Gilbert Perreault returned to action Jan. 4 in Boston after missing five games with a bruised foot&hellip;Mikael Andersson returned after. playing for Sweden in the World Junior Tournament&hellip;Paul Cyr and Sean McKenna were both recently placed on recallable waivers and were claimed by Los Angeles and Vancouver, respectively. The Sabres pulled them back&hellip;The entire team practised with face masks for the first time prior to the Moscow Dynamo game. Although the players are not required to wear masks, they were asked to become accustomed to them by GM Scott Bowman and team president Northrup Knox. &#9632;

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Gil Perreault Longs For Stanley Cup Triumph

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01940/5240768-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div>Top quality, official colours, fully licensed, &frac34;&rdquo; to 1&frac12;&rdquo; diameter. Hockey&rsquo;s most popular collectible dealer, concession and tournament inquiries welcome. &#9632;

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LAPEL PIN EXTRAVAGANZA

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01801/5240806-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="552" height="114"></div>LANDOVER&mdash;If balanced scoring is an ideal situation, then the Washington Capitals could do some celebrating when they reached the halfway point of the season with only four points separating their top five scorers.Four of the five, Dave Christian, Alan Haworth, Craig Laughlin and Bengt Gustafsson seemed headed for career seasons. Only the leader, Mike Gartner, had reason to be disappointed.It took a hat trick in a 9-3 victory over New Jersey to put Gartner on top of the pack, with 22 goals and 23 assists. That left him a bit short of last year&rsquo;s pace when he had a breakthrough campaign of 50 goals and 102 points.Coach Bryan Murray, as he had from season&rsquo;s start, maintained full confidence in Gartner, who was working as hard as ever.&ldquo;Mike&rsquo;s speed and work ethic have been there throughout,&rsquo;&rsquo; Murray said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been discouraged in some games, but he&rsquo;s going to score more. We all know that.&rsquo;&rsquo;Christian. after a switch from center to right wing, cruised past the midpoint with 24 goals, 14 on the power play, and 20 assists. In the best of his five previous NHL seasons, he managed only 29 goals and 81 points.&ldquo;Davey has been excellent on the power play,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;sshooting much better and he seems to be working harder. Playing right wing has been an advantage, with more stop and go rather than going with the flow.&rdquo;Haworth was the top point man until he was rocked by a Bob Lorimer elbow in the closing minutes of the New Jersey rout. He suffered a concussion, spent the night in a hospital and missed the next two games when he was unable to eat properly.<blockquote class="pullQuote">This is the best Haworth has ever played. Playing center is an advantage for him.&rsquo; &mdash;Murray</blockquote>With 19 goals and 22 assists, Haworth was closing in on his one-year highs of 24 goals and 55 points, recorded two years ago. The key obviously was his move to center after five NHL campaigns on the wing.&ldquo;This is the best he&rsquo;s ever played.&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Playing center is a tremendous advantage for him. He&rsquo;s physically involved and his shooting is more accurate than before. He feeds off his linemates as they feed off his speed.&rdquo;One of those benefiting from a pairing with Haworth was right winger Craig Laughlin, with 12 goals and 29 assists. In four previous NHL seasons, Laughlin&rsquo;s best point production was a mere 52.&ldquo;We look at Locker at the start of each season and figure him for a third- or fourth-line guy,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;But he has good hands, he&rsquo;s very creative, he shoots the puck a ton and he&rsquo;s willing to pay the price, taking the bumps and slashes in front of the net. He&rsquo;s also a smart player. If we put something in the system, he&rsquo;s one of the first to pick it up.&rdquo;Although Gustafsson is unlikely to match his NHL high of 32 goals, reached two years ago, he should better his 43 assists and 75 points. Setting up many of Christian&rsquo;s goals from his new role at center, the Swede reached the midpoint with 12 goals and 29 assists.&ldquo;This is the best I&rsquo;ve seen Gus play,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Playing center is a definite advantage. He has a chance to do more with the puck and a chance to check more. He&rsquo;s an excellent checker. I just wish he&rsquo;d shoot more.&rdquo;Playing 37 of the first 40 games, Gustafsson had taken only 56 shots, often spuming good chances to feed his teammates.Spreading the scoring over three lines, where last season Gartner and Bob Carpenter were largely a one-line threat, helped Washington pass the 40-game mark with a 25-11-4 record, best in the team&rsquo;s 12-year history.NOTES&mdash;A 4-0 shutout by Darren Jensen in Philadelphia on Jan. 9 marked the first time the Capitals had been blanked since Hartford&rsquo;s Mike Liut did the job on April 4, 1985&hellip; When Bob Gould&rsquo;s shorthanded goal with 4:35 remaining beat Detroit 4-3, it gave Washington 10 shorthanded scores, tying a 9-year-old club record.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02542/5240799-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="581" height="1055"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alan Haworth was the Caps&rsquo; top scorer until sidelined by New Jersey&rsquo;s Bob Lorimer.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

Gartner Slightly Off Pace Of Last Season

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03378/5240837-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="363" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Falls</figcaption></div>WHAT MAKES A good hockey coach? I don&rsquo;t know. 1 guess the best answer is, good players.I think the job of hockey coach is the toughest of all in sport. They seem to have less control over what goes on during the games than in any of the sports which are more stop and start in nature.In football, the coach can map out his strategy and call the plays. In baseball, the manager can set up his pitching staff and do various other things to get an advantage over the opposition. In basketball, a coach can plan his plays and try to get his players to execute them.Hockey is different.It is largely helter-skelter. How can anyone on the bench have a real effect on what happens during the game?What it comes down to are two things:1. The quality of your players.2. Getting the most out of those players with the way you handle them off the ice.What I&rsquo;m saying is that once a coach puts his players on the ice, there is not much else he can do but watch what happens. He might try to work his lines around to get an edge, such as getting the right men out there for critical faceoffs.But let&rsquo;s face it&mdash;if his guys can&rsquo;t cut it, they can&rsquo;t cut it, and no amount of coaching will make them any better. In other words, you can&rsquo;t &ldquo;think&rdquo; your way to victory in hockey, certainly not over the 80-game schedule. You might steal a game here and there but it still gets back to talent.1 look at these coaches and can never be sure who is doing a good job or a bad job. You have to say Scotty Bowman was a good coach because he had a lot of success for a long time. But I also thought Gerry Cheevers&mdash;a guy who understands the game and could talk the language of his players&mdash;was a capable coach, but he&rsquo;s gone.Fred Shero was supposed to be a wizard but he could only win when he had the players.Could Glen Sather win in Vancouver?I&rsquo;ve had guys who know the game of hockey tell me that the best coach in the NHL is Brian Murray of the Washington Capitals. They say he has a rare understanding of the game and what it takes to play the game. I believe them because these are hockey observers whom I respect. I just can&rsquo;t prove it.We&rsquo;ve had a coaching change in Detroit&mdash;-Brad Park for Harry Neale&mdash;and it wasn&rsquo;t very fair.Neale got a bad rap. The Wings played poorly but 1 don&rsquo;t know how that could have been his fault. The players were in place before he got here and so was the philosophy of management. When things didn&rsquo;t work out, he was the only one they could fire, so they fired him. It is the old dodge of ownership&mdash;put it all on the coach.What about Jim Devellano? He was the man in charge of running the hockey operation in Detroit. Why didn&rsquo;t he get it too? He was far more responsible for the way the team was performing than anyone else. Apparently, he knew how to handle his politics and while they took away his authority to run the team and gave it to Park, they also gave Jimmy D the title of vice-president, extended his contract and made him their chief scout. Devellano got off the hook while Neale got it in the neck.Now it is up to Brad Park to get the Red Wings turned around. He is a good man, certainly a knowledgeable hockey man, and his problem will be to convey his wisdom to the players in a way that will make them better. I&rsquo;m sure he can do some of this but I&rsquo;m just as sure that what the Red Wings need are better players.A hockey coach is almost completely beholden to the quality of his players, but you can&rsquo;t fire the players, can you? &#9632;

f0020-03

The Coach Can’t Do It By Himself

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01595/5240868-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="519" height="119"></div>CCM is introducing a 90th anniversary addition to the famous Tack line of skates.This skate, known as the custom-fit Tack, came about as a result of many hours spent in the design room and on the ice. CCM mandated that only the following criteria should be followed:This exciting new skate should carry the legendary Tack name and only the finest leather and protective materials are to be used, a superb ankle-padding system is to be developed that will lessen the break-in period and to cut the ice it will use the high-performance SL5000 dynasteel blade.However, to be the No. 1 state-of-the-art luxury skate, it must offer more comfort than any skate mad&mdash;it must have an exclusive custom arch support.The results of all this was the introduction of a new generation of Tacks, a truly superb skate designed to be the finest obtainable, created for professionals and other serious players who appreciate and demand the very best regardelss of cost.Custom-Fit Tack is the world&rsquo;s only hockey skate with a custom arch support designed and supplied by Scholl, the most famous name in foot comfort and foot care. With this easily-adjusted padded arch support correctly positioned, a player will experience a totally new dimension in skating comfort. The Rubatex &ldquo;Immediate Comfort&rdquo; foam ankle padding provides a protective cushion around the ankle, conforming to bone contours.The only skate with flex zones at the instep and tendon area. Under the third lacing eyelet on each side of the instep, a notch has been cut into the facing to create a flex zone to allow forward flexing without bulging the lacing area. Each side of the tendon protector has also been notched where it meets the boot top. These four (front and rear) flex zones assure easy break in, enhanced performance and prevent undue wear.Another interesting feature of Custon-Fit Tacks is the way in which excess weight was eliminated without loss of protection&mdash;uppers, tongue and tendon protectors are super-tough, cutresistant ballistic nylon and the toe features the CCM Pro-Fort toe protector. And as a touch of complete luxury, the unique leather lining was tanned in England, then treated in Canada to be extra supple and moisture resistant.CCM has done it again, created a skate whose time has come&hellip;another model in the Tacks&rsquo; tradition, to become a legend in its time. &#9632;

f0021-01

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01690/5240906-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="533" height="111"></div>CHICAGO&mdash;Ken Yaremchuk began picking up the pace, and the National Hockey League began picking up on Ken Yaremchuk.All of a sudden, the Chicago Black Hawks seemed to have a shot at life in the fast lane with what coach-general manager Bob Pulford calls his &ldquo;blistering speed&rdquo;.The break for Yaremchuk came Dec. 28 in Washington, where he was switched back to center after several trials at right wing.&ldquo;Center is my natural position,&rdquo; said Yaremchuk, who turned 22 on New Year&rsquo;s Day. &ldquo;I was having trouble playing right wing. I feel I can help the team more at center.&rdquo;It started happening right away. Against Washington, Yaremchuk assisted on two Steve Ludzik goals and scored once himself as the Hawks won at the Capital Centre for the first time in four years.Then Yaremchuk had two goals when the Hawks beat the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum for the first time in nearly 12 years.In his first five games with rookie Wayne Presley on right wing plus Ludzik and then Bill Watson on left wing, Yaremchuk had three goals, six points and a plus-rating. The Hawks won all five games, though their winning streak ended against New Jersey&mdash;when Yaremchuk didn&rsquo;t have a point.Notice of Yaremchuk&rsquo;s arrival came Dec. 29 at Chicago Stadium against Boston. By the third period, Boston rookie center Randy Burridge was assigned to start checking Yaremchuk in the Hawks&rsquo; end to slow him down.&ldquo;Every time I made my turn in our end, that No. 12 (Burridge) was right there,&rdquo; said Yaremchuk. &ldquo;Teams try to do the same thing with fast players like Denis Savard. We try to do it with players like (Edmonton&rsquo;s) Paul Coffey.&rdquo;Yaremchuk attracted so much notice he was also the subject of his first big trade rumor, which turned out to be unfounded.But a TV station in Edmonton, riding a rumor wave that began in Toronto, reported that Edmonton native Yaremchuk was being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for left winger Walt Poddubny and a second-round draft pick. Other rumors had Toronto center Dan Daoust involved.&ldquo;I was getting telephone calls all night,&rdquo; Yaremchuk said. &ldquo;My father called, then some of my friends called.&ldquo;Then the TV station in Edmonton. Then a newspaper in Calgary. I didn&rsquo;t know what was going on. I told everybody there was nothing to it, but then I started thinking, how did it get around to all these people?&rdquo;Not from Pulford, certainly.&ldquo;Ridiculous,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;Absolutely nothing to it. I never even talked to (Leafs&rsquo; GM) Gerry McNamara.&rdquo;Pulford also said &ldquo;if this isn&rsquo;t the best Yaremchuk has played, it&rsquo;s certainly close to it.&rdquo;But it took more than speed to get Yaremchuk to this point after two disappointing seasons. It took watching and listening.&ldquo;That brief stint I played right wing with Troy Murray taught me about playingdefense,&rdquo; Yaremchuk said. &ldquo;Troy is great. His line never does any running around defensively.&ldquo;He never leaves the defensive end until the puck is out, then he&rsquo;s quick enough to beat their wingers out and all of a sudden we have a three-on-two. I always had the tendency of leaving early. Now I want to do exactly what Troy does.&rdquo;Yaremchuk also credited Hawks&rsquo; cocoach Roger Neilson with helping polish his defensive play, and to assistant coach Cliff Koroll for getting him to switch speeds instead of using high gear all the time. And while his line was making a blur on the ice, Yaremchuk himself was having fewer ups-and-downs.&ldquo;Bill Watson and Wayne Presley are playing great,&rdquo; Yaremchuk said. &ldquo;And now I know I&rsquo;m going to be playing every game, they&rsquo;re going to keep putting me out there. It&rsquo;s a completely different thing.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02490/5240899-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="593" height="876"><figcaption class="caption-body">Speedy Ken Yaremchuk has finally found a regular place in the Chicago lineup.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Yaremchuk Enjoying Life In The Fast Lane

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03376/5240937-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="413" height="455"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Simmons</figcaption></div>JUST DAYS AFTER his 20th birthday, a defenseman named Sylvain Cote was back in the National Hockey League.He rejoined the Hartford Whalers after being loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Championships. And he wondered what was to become of himself.He was Canada&rsquo;s best player in the tournament. No less of an expert than coach Terry Simpson said so, and the International Ice Hockey Federation named him to the first all-star team.But now Cote is caught in a maze of rules and regulations the NHL has adopted to deal with underaged draft picks.Cote was the Whalers&rsquo; first draft pick in June of 1984 and he took something of a regular shift in his first NHL season. In his second season, while still eligible for junior play, he had dressed for just two games.Cote, now, is caught in the web of a most inequitable developmental system. The Whalers didn&rsquo;t think he was good enough to play with their club, so they didn&rsquo;t play him. They didn&rsquo;t want to send him back to junior hockey in Quebec, because they felt it would hinder his development. And if they choose to send him back to junior, he could not be recalled without a series of injuries. He&rsquo;s also too young to be sent to the minors.So Hartford loaned him to Team Canada and at the junior tournament he proved he can play with the world&rsquo;s top teenagers.So what does Hartford do now? Not even Cote knew for sure although he had word through his agent that a decision on his future would be made shortly. Cote returned to the Whalers&mdash;and to his regular press box seat.He was not alone in his plight. He is just one of a number of victims of the NHL&rsquo;s lack of developmental foresight.Jim Sandlak, so much a physical presence for Team Canada, is so invisible with the Vancouver Canucks. Craig Billington, the goaltender Team Canada depended on, has lived this entire season in a Holiday Inn hotel room, waiting for New Jersey Devils to make a decision on whether they&rsquo;ll keep him. Alain Cote began the season with Boston Bruins, was loaned to the national junior team, and will soon be returned to Granby in Quebec, to further develop.Hockey is unique in its approach to development. Football players have eight years of high-level play before they turn professional. Baseball players often get five seasons or more of minor-league seasoning before they&rsquo;re ready for the major leagues. Basketball players have a minimum of six years experience before turning pro.The NHL will be drafting midgets this June.The junior operators, realizing there are some legal difficulties, are now attempting to push the draft back one year&mdash;introducing a petition option instead. Any player who wishes to be drafted as an 18-year-old would then have to petition the league to do so.How has the NHL responded thus far to a letter circulated by the juniors? With anger, I&rsquo;ve been told. How dare the juniors tell them how to run their business?AH of which does little for Sly Cote, who may have a future with the Whalers, but certainly no present. And back in Quebec, his rights have been traded from Laval to Hull. In Hull, he could make a difference between Memorial Cup and a cup of coffee.But first, he wants a chance.&ldquo;I was very happy to go to the world tournament,&rdquo; said Cote, who admitted frustration at the Hartford situation.&ldquo;This gave me a chance to show something. I thought I played pretty good here. I have my confidence now. I&rsquo;d like another chance.&rdquo;The Whalers are among the most improved teams in the NHL this season, and the maneuvering of Emile Francis is a major reason why. He added Dave Babych, Tim Bothwell and Dana Murzyn to a team in need of defensive help, but in doing so he left a former first pick, Cote, literally out of the team picture.Some say the Whalers have made attempts to trade Cote, but his world junior play may alter their evaluation.&ldquo;Right now, I would like some information,&rdquo; said Cote. &ldquo;They haven&rsquo;t told me much. I want to know where I stand, what their future plans are for me.&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m young and I know I need work. I have to play, though.&rdquo;The NHL&rsquo;s system of development continues to stomp the playing life out of talented youngsters like Sylvain Cote.&ldquo;The agreement is a problem for a lot of players,&rsquo;&rsquo; said Canada coach Simpson. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re hurting hockey players and we&rsquo;re hurting kids.&ldquo;To be honest, I don&rsquo;t know what the solution is. The only thing I know is, you&rsquo;ve got to stop hurting the kids.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-03

It’s Time To Stop Hurting The Young Hockey Players

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01625/5240968-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"></div>Okay, the snow is on the ground. The wind is howling and you&rsquo;re warming up the car, ready to take your son to his umpteenth hockey game in a season that seems as though it&rsquo;s never going to end. The last thing you need to be worrying about right now is what hockey school or camp you&rsquo;ll be sending the young fella to this summer.Right?Wrong!The days of sun and fun and summer hockey schools and camps may seem a long way off, but now is the time when you should be doing both you and your boy (or girl, for that matter) a favor.In other words, a happy hockey school or camp patron is the prepared hockey school or camp patron.Hockey is an expensive enough sport as it is. Equipment and registration fees, not to mention the miscellaneous related-expenses that continue to pop up all season long, all serve to drain you financially.So when it comes time to pick a school or camp for junior, it&rsquo;s important to know you&rsquo;re getting good value for your money. If it&rsquo;s done properly, selecting a school or camp could be one of the best things you&rsquo;ve ever done for your child.In addition to giving him an opportunity to improve his hockey skill level, and thereby maximize his potential, you may be providing one of the most enjoyable and satisfying holidays your youngster may ever experience.Certainly, it&rsquo;s difficult to beat the camaraderie you&rsquo;ll find at a week or two of summer hockey school or camp.All of which is why THE HOCKEY NEWS provides you, our reader, with this special advertising supplement so early in the new year. It&rsquo;s designed to inform you of the many camps and schools out there that want to play host to your child this summer.Our schools and camps directories, by region, are particularly effective in summarizing the schools and camps and what they have to offer your young hockey player(s).So, never mind that summer&rsquo;s a long way off, take some time now to at least narrow down your choices. Here&rsquo;s a few helpful hints in taking those first steps towards making your child&rsquo;s summer hockey experience both fruitful and enjoyable:&bull; First, decide what price range you can afford and, of course, for how long you&rsquo;ll register your child. This will automatically reduce the number of options open to you.&bull; Next, decide whether your child will attend a day school or camp or a resident school or camp. The differences are obvious. The day-tripper is most often picked up early in the morning and deposited at home just before dinner. Consider the nature of your child before making the decision. Is he ready for a week away from home? Remember, you&rsquo;re choosing a school or camp for the youngster, not yourself.&bull; Give some thought as to the difference between a school or a camp. Sometimes it&rsquo;s negligible, but occasionally a school is just that, a place to learn hockey skills, and a camp is as the name implies, a summer camp that combines hockey with a myriad of other activities. Find out what the emphasis is on and pick the one most suited to your child&rsquo;s wants and needs.&bull; After narrowing down your choices on the basis of the above criterion, check out specific details of the short-list of camps or schools you&rsquo;ve got. Check out references from other hockey-playing youngsters. And do some comparison shopping as to hours on the ice, who exactly provides the instruction, how many in a group and what a routine day consists of. Be sure to check the nonhockey related details, such as sleeping accommodation, meal plan and menu etc.&bull; If at all possible, visit the school or camp site in advance or the offices of the adminstrators. Often, this will give you a clear picture of the type of operation they run.&bull; Request a checklist of items your child will require at a specific school. If the school or camp operator knows his stuff, he&rsquo;ll be able to give you a general idea of how much clothing to pack and what other items are required.&bull; Check on whether the school or camp covers your child with insurance. Find out how much, be specific. Check with your own insurance agent to be sure that your child is safeguarded in this respect. As well, check on the available medical facilities at each school or camp and take time to find out the policy regarding cancellations etc. &#9632;

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Time Is Now To Consider Schools, Camps

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01620/5241013-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div><h2>HOCKEY SCHOOLS&hellip;In Western United States</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01515/5241006-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="3071" height="2141"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02388/5240999-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="3071" height="1360"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY SCHOOLS…In The Province Of Ontario

<h2>ON-ICE TRAINING</h2>CAN/AM&rsquo;s On-Ice Training Program is highly concentrated in the area of individual skill development, allowing the athlete to be challenged, yet progress at his own pace while enjoying his summer camp experience. The program is carefully designed to meet the needs of each age group and provides a continuity of achievement as the athlete progresses through the Freshman-Sophomore-Junior-Varsity levels. The athlete will receive three to four hours each day of on-ice training (depending on program location) which is carefully designed to cover each specific area of skill development.<h2>SKATING DYNAMICS</h2>CAN/AM&rsquo;s skating program is recognized worldwide as the most contemporary in existence. Specially designed drills have been developed by our skating experts to improve the stance, stride, balance and power of the athlete. The various components of skating will be analyzed with videotape during a one-to-one session with the instructor.<h2>INDIVIDUAL FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS</h2>Through a progression of skills the athlete will be trained in the areas of stickhandling, passing, shooting, and checking. Checking will be taught using fun-oriented drills to prepare the player to adapt more easily to body contact. Emphasis will be placed on personalized instruction with a low athleteinstructor ratio to ensure progress.<h2>TEAM PLAY DEVELOPMENT</h2>Daily sessions in the area of team play and strategy will give the athlete a better understanding of the overall game and each individual&rsquo;s role. Break-out patterns, neutral zone technique, offensive zone alignment, checking systems and positioning will be taught using the best strategies from international competition. Emphasis will be placed on the role of the forward, defenseman and goaltender in the overall team concept.<h2>CONTROLLED INSTRUCTIONAL SCRIMMAGE</h2>Instructional scrimmages offer the athlete an opportunity to apply individual and team skills in a game situation. Instruction in the topics discussed during the day will be placed on individual skill development and team play.<h2>LECTURES AND FILMS</h2>Lectures and films are an important part of the total hockey experience. This is an opportunity to question the instructors, learn how to deal with athletic injuries, discuss rule changes and interpretations, get a better understanding of college hockey and analyze different hockey styles from our film library.<h2>STAFF</h2>There are three common threads that unite these people. The first is their love of and knowledge of the game of hockey. The second is their love for the kids, which shows in their desire to translate the skills of the game to &ldquo;THEIR BOYS,&rdquo; and to share their knowledge. The third is their ability to actually do this.<h2>OFFICE PROGRAM</h2>Hockey can be taught effectively off the ice. Every CAN/AM program will be involved with a program concentrated on team development, motivation, fitness understanding, conditioning methods and the dryland teaching of hockey skills.Learning proper position on the breakout pattern by playing soccer, proper checking positions while playing basketball under hockey rules, the give and go in the lacrosse game or offensive zone patterns while playing team handball are all important learning experiences.<h2>CAN/AM PLAYER PROFILE</h2>During the course of the camp stay, each athlete will be tested on his current hockey skill level in areas of skating speed, hockey attitude, individual skill achievement, personal fitness and videotape analysis of his forward skating skills. This comprehensive report will enable him to see his weaknesses and strengths, and to develop a personal plan to achieve the highest level of skill development.This Player Profile will be presented to the athlete, along with a personalized Training Manual at the end of the program. Both are designed to help continue hockey development throughout the year. Midway through the year, another copy will be sent as a reminder about fulfilling his personal goals contract and CAN/AM will keep a copy to refer to in future years as the athlete progresses.<h2>TEAM CHALLENGE</h2>Hockey is not a game of individuals but a game played by a group of individuals molded into a TEAM. The learning of what &lsquo;TEAM&rsquo; means is an important part of a developing hockey player. Depending on the uniqueness of each CAN/AM location you may find yourself as part of a team attempting to solve together various problems that will teach the importance of such critical hockey team skills as desire, co-operation, trust, motivation and just plain hard work towards a common goal. &#9632;

CAN/AM PROGRAM RECOGNIZED WORLDWIDE INSTRUCTIONAL CAMP

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01591/5241075-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01226/5241068-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="3063" height="1220"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY SCHOOLS…In Western Canada

<div class="byline">BY DALE WILSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01507/5241106-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Laura Stamm, NY Rangers Power Skating Coach, seen here teaching full leg extension increases power in your skating stride.</figcaption></div>On June 29, 1986 Okanagan Hockey Schools begin their 22nd year of bringing the best in hockey instruction to aspiring hockey players.Throughout the previous 21 years of operation, Okanagan-Hockey Schools have held true to the commitment of providing quality instruction both on and off the ice while maintaining a positive atmosphere of fun and employment while learning.Okanagan Hockey Schools Penticton location operates eight seven-day sessions beginning on June 29 and concluding on Aug. 23. The Memorial Arena location offers full dormitory facilities with 24-hour adult su-pervision, a modern dining room which serves three (as much as you can eat) meals daily and a schedule of activities away from the ice surface which inludes feature movies, short walks to the beach, trips to the Okanagan Game Farm, Okanagan River Channel rafting as well as a full state of recreational activities.In addition, sessions for those students not wishing to board are available each week with numerous camping and motel facilites available within walking distance to the arena complex and the beautiful Okanagan Lake beach.In 1977, Okanagan Hockey Schools expanded their Penticton operation to the McLaren Park arena complex in a residential section of the city. The Lakeland Okanagan Hockey School has since expanded to offer four seven-day sessions during the month of August. Although this location does not provide boarding facilities, it features a lunch program for all students in attendance.July, 1982 saw a further expansion of Okanagan Hockey Schools in the Edmonton, Alta., area. This school presently operates for three weeks in July (6-26) at the Strathcona Recreation Centre.The program at all locations feature:&bull; Two ice sessions daily&bull; Elite bantam and midget sessions&bull; Off-ice dryland training&bull; Off-ice skills center&bull; Aerobic exercise class&bull; Special power skating program&bull; Ironman-triathalon competition&bull; Written evaluation for players 8-13 years&bull; Notebooks for players 14-17 years&bull; Lectures and seminars&bull; Fitness testing&bull; Athletic awards competitionAt Okanagan Hockey Schools the emphasis is on the improvement of the young hockey player through high quality hockey instruction. In conjunction with this fine hockey program, there is an environment which is conducive to the development of not only athletic ability but also sportsmanship and attitude. They are schools where hard work and fun are coordinated to bring out the best in each participant. &#9632;

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Okanagan In Its 22nd Year Of Operation

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01582/5241144-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01447/5241137-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="3076" height="1695"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY SCHOOLS…In Eastern United States

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01529/5241175-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"></div>The Stars Hockey Camp is a new program to give that extra edge in specific areas. Rather than the normal hockey school curriculum that usually encompasses all areas of the game, Stars offers specialized training programs in skating, shooting, scoring, checking, team play and motivation, goaltending and a special week for defensemen.Each program offers three hours of on-ice instruction per day, as well as two hours of off-ice instruction geared especially at the specific skill. The remainder of the day will involve the excellent facilities of Trent University.Camp director Gary Green, who is also teaming up with Don Cherry to Coach the &ldquo;Team play and Desire&rdquo; week, feels that the program offers an exciting change for those students who have attended other schools and want to spend a week paying special attention to a weakness or improving upon a strong skill even further.Green thinks that one of the best features of the school is that everything will be FUN, even the hard work!&ldquo;The whole idea of this camp is to take some specific areas of the game and teach them in a way that will be highly informative and a heck of a lot of FUN. There is not enough instructional time during the course of a regular hockey season for any player to receive the teaching and to give the attention to areas such as checking, scoring, shooting, etc. There is no question that we can improve those skills drastically in one week.&rdquo;The Stars&mdash;well, their abilities to teach and their knowledge of the game go unquestioned. They will be sup-ported by a teaching staff comprised of highly qualified instructors coming from the Pro, College and Jr. A ranks. Teaching and understanding how to make this game enjoyable are No. I with this staff.The site, Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., is probably one of the prettiest vacation lands this country has to offer. Lakes, rivers, trees, rolling hills and excellent facilities make this school an enjoyable education.Stars offers supervised transportation to and from Toronto International Airport, which is easily accessible from any place in the world.Gary Green will be there all four weeks and will be only too glad to talk to you about it.One last word, call or write now&mdash;because if you leave it too late you may not get in. There are tens of thousands of hockey players out ther&mdash;and only ONE school like this! &#9632;

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STARS SPECIALIZED HOCKEY CAMP

The Adams Private Stock Award, being presented to adult hockey leagues across Southern Ontario this season in recognition of fair play and sportsmanship, is proving to be quite a hit.Brent Ladds, president of the Ontario Hockey Association, has his senior and intermediate leagues involved and he is happy with what he is seeing.&ldquo;The presence of the Adams Private Stock Award in our leagues is a tremendous contribution to our game,&rdquo; says Ladds, &ldquo;and one which is long overdue. It reminds all of us involved in hockey that fair play and sportsmanship is really the name of the game.&rdquo;John Cook and Jim Lavelle manage two of Canada&rsquo;s largest hockey facilities&mdash;Westwood Arenas in Rexdale and Chesswood Arenas in Downsview. Each facility hosts 30 men&rsquo;s hockey leagues involved in the Adams Private Stock Award Program.John Cook gives the program top marks: &ldquo;I must take my hat off to the people at Adams Distillers. They&rsquo;ve come up with a great program to reward the teams that want to stick to playing good clean hockey.&rdquo;Jim Lavelle also likes what he sees: &ldquo;The Adams Private Stock Award Program has definitely had a positive effect on our approximately 150 weekly hockey games. The penalty totals are down 25 per cent from last season.&rdquo;Jarvis West, manager of the privately-owned and operated facilities in Hamilton, Doublerink and Trinity, loves the support he&rsquo;s getting from Adams to promote the Private Stock Award Program.He says, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best program to come along in years and everyone loves it. What I like about the program is that Adams is serious about their contribution to hockey. They provide our leagues with advertising, promotional and administrative support in addition to league awards.&rdquo;<h2>NHL GAMES TO COME</h2><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01559/5241206-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="556" height="2312"></div> &#9632;

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Private Stock Award Big Hit In Adult Hockey

Huron Hockey School offers you the best choice in summer hockey school programs. Featuring programs for players from novice to professional, Huron Hockey School and the National Hockey Institute provide a high calibre of instruction.<h2>HURON HOCKEY SCHOOL</h2>Huron Park, Ont. is the original Huron Hockey School location. Since 1971, Huron has offered instructional programs of high quality to minor hockey youths.Today, Huron is recognized internationally for its success in developing hockey skills.<h2>Advanced Programs (Ages 8-16)</h2>At Huron our programs have been specially designed to meet the needs of the developing minor hockey player. Students are grouped according to their ability level. Each group of students follows a scientifically-designed program of hockey instruction.The program includes three hours of on-ice instruction per day plus daily lectures, films and conditioning sessions. A special feature is the instant replay camera. Students are not simply entertained but rather the video camera is used as a teaching instrument.<h2>Specialized Goaltender (Ages 8-16)</h2>Huron&rsquo;s research indicates goalies require special attention. Therefore, we offer a program which meets the need for individual training. Qualified instructors have developed a unique program that guarantees improvement for student goaltenders.Video analysis is employed to help the student goalie improve his sliding technique, angle coverage etc. Enrollment for goalies is limited to ensure comprehensive instructions.Goalieswill receive at least two hours of ice time per day. These hours will be special goalie sessions without other players. In the remaining 90 minutes, goalies will join groups of their own age for shooting sessions.On ice, our program is designed to develop the full range of goalie skills beginning with balance and mobility and extending to angle play, motivation and mental control.<h2>Off-Ice Instruction</h2>Huron presents a complete office program to complement the on-ice instruction. Hockey skills are taught through gymnasium activity. As well, games such as soccer are used to develop passing and footwork skills, Borden Ball is used to develop positional play and other team concepts. For older boys, a complete program including fitness analysis and seasonal conditioning suggestions are a part of this comprehensive off-ice program.<h2>NATIONAL HOCKEY INSTITUTE</h2>Huron created the National Hockey Institute to meet the needs of the career-oriented hockey player. Players registering for the Institute must be of bantam age and have played on a competitive team this past season. National Hockey Institute programs include Elite, Junior/College and Professional.<h2>Elite Level Program (Ages 14-16)</h2>This program has been specially designed for the minor hockey player who has developed his skill to an advanced level. Most of the students enrolled in this progrm will be bantam- and midget-aged players of competitive-team calibre.It is a highly intense program with a reduced student/instructor ratio. Players will focus on advanced lessons that will prepare them for fall training camps.<h2>Junior/College (Ages 17-19)</h2>This highly intensive program has been designed to assist the player who is seeking to continue his play at the junior or college level. It is a highly competitive program with emphasis on skating and team play skills. Players registering for this program are asked to submit a recommendation from their junior, college or high school (U.S. students) coach. This program will also be of special value and interest to graduation midget category players.<h2>Professional Players Program</h2>&ldquo;The Training Camp Edge.&rdquo; Nothing can compare to the excitement and the competition that a pro training camp provides. At the National Hockey Institute, we want our students to do well. Therefore, you will find that from skating classes to classroom lectures, from fitness sessions to video analysis, we will help give you the training camp edge. We feel that our program is especially beneficial for rookies. The opportunity for a young pro to experience a training camp atmosphere can be a tremendous confidence-builder.<h2>SPECIAL FEATURES Low Student/Instructor Ratio</h2>At Huron, your development is our most important consideration. On ice our student/instructor ratio is approximately seven to one. Off ice, the ratio is 10 to one and in classroom lectures, 15 to one. Our low student/instructor ratio and limited enrollment per program will guarantee you personalized instruction and evaluation.<h2>Personalized Skill Evaluation Forms</h2>At the end of every program week, each player will receive a personalized skill evaluation form outlining the stage of development they are at now and what areas need improvement. Advanced level and juniorcollege players will receive a computerized evaluation form developed for Huron by the University of Waterloo. Huron encourages each player to provide this information to their coach at the beginning of their hockey season and ask them to assist in working on skill weaknesses.<h2>Video-Tape Analysis</h2>Filming of on-ice sessions is followed by an hour of classroom video-tape analysis every day. Staff will assess each player&rsquo;s daily performance on an individual basis and can help identify each player&rsquo;s problem areas. Our staff will then work with each player during on-ice sessions correcting and improving individual skills.<h2>The Huron Staff</h2>&ldquo;Hockey by Professional Instructors.&rdquo;Huron&rsquo;s reputation of being the best hockey school in North America reflects the quality of our teaching staff. All Huron Hockey School staff members are fulltime instructors who combine their teaching experience with their hockey knowledge to provide you with the best possible instruction.Before you select a school we invite you to compare their staff to ours. Then choose either Huron Hockey School or the National Hockey Institute for your best choice in hockey schools this summer. &#9632;

Your Best Choice In Summer Hockey Programs

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01572/5241261-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="507" height="144"></div>TORONTO&mdash;Marian Stastny&rsquo;s year in exile is over&hellip;but not forgotten.Beneath the satisfaction born out of renewed accomplishment lies simmering resentment towards the Quebec Nordiques, who last season decided that Stastny no longer fit the role of a National Hockey League regular.Accordingly, his position was not so much right wing as right bench.Miroslav Ihnacak&rsquo;s years in exile are over&hellip;but fresh in his memory.Beneath the satisfaction born out of accomplishment, lay resentment towards a system that had decided Ihnacak was good enough to lead all of Czechoslovakia in scoring but too high a risk to play on the national team.Accordingly, his position was right wing in a left wing world.Salvation for both Czechoslovak ex-natriates&mdash;Stastnv defected in 1981, Ihnacak. earlier this month&mdash;has come in the form of the Toronto Maple Leafs.Stastny appeared in 50 games last year, but rarely played more than a few shifts per contest. He scored just seven goals and 14 assists.The end to a glorious career seemed imminent for Stastny, who became a free agent over the summer. But the Toronto Maple Leafs rescued the 33-year-old Czech in August, signing him to a one-year termination contract.The minimal investment has had many happy returns.&ldquo;I just want to prove to the people. They (the Nordiques) benched me last year. They thought I was not good enough,&rdquo; said Stastny before Christmas. &ldquo;I want to prove I am still a good hockey player or I can play a couple of more years and score quite a lot of goals.&rdquo;It took him just 24 games&mdash;and 22 points on 11 goals and 11 assists&mdash;of the 1985-86 season to exceed his production of last season.He has been a surprisingly useful acquisition.After a year of relative inactivity, nobody expected much of Stastny but he has teamed well with free-wheeling left winger Mirko Frycer and either Peter Ihnacak or Dan Hodgson at center.The threesome, with Hodgson in the middle, contributed five goals&mdash;four of them by Frycer&mdash;to Toronto&rsquo;s 119 victory over Edmonton on Jan. 7. Stastny earned three assists.Stastny&rsquo;s revitalization is helping to wash away the pain of his final season in Quebec City, where he defected one year after brothers Peter and Anton.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect it (the benching for most of the season) from them because we did a lot for the Nordiques,&rdquo; said Stastny, who had 15 goals after 34 games this year. &ldquo;If they didn&rsquo;t want me, they should tell me.&rdquo;The message came through loud and clear when he dressed for only two of 18 playoff games.&ldquo;To be honest, I didn&rsquo;t know if somebody would pick me up because I didn&rsquo;t play almost all year and I had bad cold all the time because I was dressed and I was sitting close to the ice.&rdquo; he recalled.&ldquo;It was like to be in Siberia. It was a bit of punishment to me.&rdquo;The separation from his brothers was difficult but professionally there was no other choice. Now the only time they are together on the ice is when the two teams play one another as they did Jan. 11 in Toronto.Marian, who had been benched the previous night against Buffalo, scored the Maple Leafs&rsquo; only goal in a 5-1 loss. Anton accounted for two goals and two assists, Peter, three assists, in victory.Ironically, it was Stastny whom Miro Ihnacak replaced in his NHL debut Jan. 10 against the Sabres. The newcomer played alongside Frycer and brother, Peter, most of the way in a wild 9-7 setback.The 23-year-old scored once to mark the occasion but was shut out the following night against the Nordiques in his first home appearance and didn&rsquo;t help matters by playing poor defensively.Leafs&rsquo; coach Dan Maloney, however, expressed satisfaction with Ihnacak&rsquo;s early work, noting that differences in the European and North American games necessitate a period of adjustment.&ldquo;All in all I think the guy has played pretty good for his first two games,&rdquo; said Maloney of Ihnacak, who was the top scorer in the Czechoslovakian elite league last year with 35 goals and 31 assists in 43 games.He was second in league scoring this year before defecting to Austria, where he was met by Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara.Ihnacak, with Peter acting as interpreter, said that the best preparation he had for hockey in Buffalo&rsquo;s small Memorial Auditorium came not on the ice but in the stores of Czechoslovakia.&ldquo;He said it was like going to the butcher shop in Czechoslovakia,&rdquo; relayed Peter. &ldquo;Everyone was squeezed together, elbowing each other.&rdquo;Welcome to the NHL.NOTES&mdash;There was a contract hassle between the Ihnacaks and the Leafs before Miroslav had even played a game. &ldquo;Basically, there was a problem,&rdquo; admitted Gord Stellick, assistant to general manager Gerry McNamara. &ldquo;But we feel it was ironed out. We played it down because it wasn&rsquo;t a big deal.&rdquo; The dispute was over bonus clauses in the contract that was signed in late December. Sources say Miroslav signed a multiyear deal worth about $145,000 per season plus a signing bonus in excess of $100,000&hellip;The 20 goals scored in the Toronto-Edmonton shootout were the most ever in a single at MLG. &#9632;

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Exile Time Over For Stastny And Ihnacak

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02448/5241292-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg"></div>Quebec Nordique goaltender Clint Malarchuk recorded four consecutive victories to earn THN-NHL Player of the Week honors for the period ending Jan. 11.Malarchuk, with a 2.99 goals-against average, two shutouts and a record of 12-7-1 this season, beat New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs during the week to pick up his third Player of the Week award this season. &#9632;

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Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01539/5241323-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="470" height="115"></div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;He has been through hard times in Quebec and St. Louis but last season Dave Pichette seemed to find a home in New Jersey.He was the Devils&rsquo; trigger man on the power play and despite some defensive shortcomings, Pichette was one reason for the team&rsquo;s vast improvement under rookie coach Doug Carpenter.Both Carpenter and Pichette had high hopes this season: Perhaps 20 to 25 goals from the 24-year-old veteran and a spot in the playoffs for the Devils. Both targets were within reach.&ldquo;He made our power play tick last year. No doubt about it,&rdquo; said Carpenter. &ldquo;If he goes, our power play will go. It starts with the point man and last year Dave was our best point man. Nobody else has really surfaced to show me anything.&rdquo;But Pichette (17 goals and 40 assists in 71 games last season) never really resur-faced this season. Right from the start he struggled.When his wife, Sylvie, gave birth to twins early in the season it was a strain on both parents and took its toll on Pichette. With his mind elsewhere he clearly struggled on the ice at various stretches and spent far too many games scratched from the lineup.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Pichette didn&rsquo;t want to be strapped up.&rsquo; &mdash;Cirella</blockquote>Then on Jan. 8 at Chicago Stadium, Pichette nearly saw his career come to an end. In a fierce collision with Chicago&rsquo;s Wayne Presley early in the second period of the Devils&rsquo; 8-7 upset victory, Pichette landed on the ice with a sickening thud and remained unconscious for nearly two minutes.Except for his helmet and a great deal of luck, Pichette might&rsquo;ve suffered a serious head and neck injury. As it turned tout, X-rays on his neck and head were negative and a CAT-scan revealed normal findings. He suffered only a moderate concussion.The Devils, it should be noted, snapped a season-high eight-game losing streak by outlasting the Black Hawks as they fell two losses short of the New Jersey record of 10 in a row (1983).Rookie goalie Craig Billington, back from the World Junior Championships, played well even though he gave up seven goals. But the most important news of the night was that Pichette was I not seriously hurt.The play occurred in the second period as the Devils worked the puck into the Chicago zone and Pichette skated over the blue line to the left point.In what appeared to be an accidental collision, Presley and Pichette were both sent flying. Pichette landed on his back and never got up as play was stopped at 3:26. He lay motionless, except for some twitching in his right arm and left leg, until regaining consciousness almost two minutes later.&ldquo;Right at the start Dave wasn&rsquo;t responding to anything,&rdquo; said Joe Cirella, one of the first Devils to reach Pichette. &ldquo;Finally, when he came to, all the doctors were there and I think he got scared. He didn&rsquo;t want to be all strapped up, which they were doing for precautionary reasons, and he was getting more scared as it went on.&rdquo;It lasted for 10 minutes but if Pichette was scared he doesn&rsquo;t remember.&ldquo;The last thing I remember is Patty Verbeek&rsquo;s fight (against Marc Bergevin at 2:47),&rdquo; said Pichette the following morning. &ldquo;It happened to me right after that fight, but I can&rsquo;t remember how it happened. I can&rsquo;t remember waking up on the ice. I remember waking up in the hospital. I was talking on the ice, I guess, but I don&rsquo;t remember it.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I landed on the helmet or not. I can&rsquo;t remember anything.&rdquo;When he was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital it was feared that Pichette might have suffered a neck injury but X-rays showed differently.&ldquo;When something like that happens it makes you think about all the injuries going on this year,&rdquo; said Paul Gagne. &ldquo;Dave lost consciousness right away and it makes you realize where you&rsquo;re at. It affected everyone.&rdquo;How will it affect Pichette, who was left with a severe headache? That was not yet known but, perhaps, the worst of this difficult season is now past.HOT STUFF&mdash;Goalie Sam St. Laurent, recalled under emergency conditions from Maine when Alain Chevrier suffered a sprained ankle, returned to the Mariners Jan. 9. St. Laurent made his NHL debut with an eight-minute stint against Washington Jan. 4 and allowed two goals on five shots&hellip;Peter McNab injured his left knee on the same night and missed the next three games&hellip;Craig Billington was 3-2 with a 2.80 GAA for the silver medal-winning Canadian junior squad&hellip;Mel Bridgman reached the 600-point plateau for his career on Jan. 4. &#9632;

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Pichette Doesn’t Recall His Frightful Fall

Now in its 15th season, the Exeter Hockey School has trained over 9,500 young hockey players, ranging in age from 10 to 17. The program is sponsored by Phillips Exeter Academy, located in Exeter, NH, 50 miles north of Boston, eight miles southwest of Portsmouth, NH. Phillips Exeter Academy is an independent, coeducational, residential, secondary school. The annual enrolment is 970.The three two-week sessions and two one-week sessions are divided into three divisions, 180 players in addition to 36 goalies. Each division has four teams and plays a nine-game league schedule. The students train on two rinks in a multimillion dollar new gymnasium. Each student has four hours of ice time a day. Games are played in the evenings. Mornings are devoted to fundamentals and individual drills, afternoons to systems and group drills.The professional staff is drawn from high schools and colleges. The player-coach ratio of five-to-one enables each participant to receive a high degree of individual instruction and a comprehensive evaluation and report card at the end of the session.The school has stop-action video facilities for replay of individual and team performance in competition. Activities outside of hockey include swimming, tennis and other supervised recreational games. &#9632;

EXETER HOCKEY SCHOOL

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HOCKEY SCHOOLS…In Quebec & The Maritimes

<div class="byline">BY CATHERINE GRACE</div>There are two Italians, two Scots, and two Newfoundlanders skating&hellip;It sounds like the beginning of another bad joke but this time there is no punch line. These six kids and another 40 or so have all been honing their skating, stick handling, and passing skills at the Stinger Hockey School in Ste.-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que.Paul Arsenault, the head coach of the Concordia Stingers, Bob Philip, former Sir George Williams University coach, former Buffalo Sabre Larry Carriere and Jim Corsi, a Pierrefonds native who is now the Italian national goaltender, oversee skating drills, dryland training, and review videos at Macdonald College.After nine years of running the Stinger Hockey School as a day school in Beaconsfield, Arsenault and Philip have ventured into an overnight school which enables them to attract students from across Canada, the United States, and Europe as well as locally.Gabriele Villa is an 18-year-old goaltender who backs up Corsi in Italy and Vittorio Trani, 19, is the fifth defenseman on the club. They both play for Varese, Italy. To them Canada and the National Hockey League is &ldquo;the top of the world&rdquo;, according to Corsi. They were both anxious to come to Canada and learn from Canadian instructors.&ldquo;Vittorio and Gabriele, last year, did quite well and as a bonus from the team they were sent here,&rdquo; said Corsi who also coaches in Italy.&ldquo;I said come out here and just get a little bit of experience. Get some influences from other coaches and the Canadian aspect of hockey. So they came out for two weeks to the Stinger School.&rdquo;A few years ago the Concordia Stingers went to Scotland to play some hockey games and eight former Stingers have ended up playing professional hockey in Scotland. The Stingers have a solid reputation in Scotland.&ldquo;The Scottish boys were looking to go to a school,&rdquo; said Philip. &ldquo;It was recommended that they come here as soon as they found out we were having an overnight school.&rdquo;National advertising and excellent facilities have brought hockey players from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Western Canada, Ontario, New Jersey, and New York to the school. There are also a great number of Quebecers, including the son of Ronald Corey, the president of the Montreal Canadiens and four girls. &#9632;

STINGER SCHOOL

The HIGH LEVEL TRAINING CAMP is specifically designed for a select group of advanced players who have demonstrated a high level of individual and team skills, and who are committed to advancing their skill level to the maximum.<h2>PROGRAM FEATURES&hellip;</h2>&bull; Four hours of on-ice instruction daily.&bull; First progression of the program is total emphasis on individual skill development. The second progression of the program is exclusively committed to team play with participation in a CAN/AM High Level Tournament.&bull; Everything is designed to duplicate the typical day of a professional hockey team&hellip;morning practice, team meeting and video analysis, pre-game meal and evening game.&bull; Personalized coaching and supervision by college and professional coaches from throughout North America and Europe.&bull; Video tape analysis of performance in individual and team training. Video tape critique and tape given to each player for future review and continued improvement.&bull; Off-ice training with on-ice skill application. Fitness and conditioning testing with a plan for the future.&bull; Motivational testing to determine levels of desire, coachability, determination, assertiveness and drive.&bull; Highest quality of staff that include TIM TAYLOR, B.A., Head Coach, Yale University; MIKE KELLY, M.A., extensive college and international hockey coaching background; PAUL DENNIS, B.A., Coach, Toronto Marlies.<h2>TEAM CAN/AM TRAVEL CAMP:</h2>TEAM CAN/AM is designed as an extension of the Can/Am High Level Camp. The exclusive objective of the Camp is gaining competitive game experience. Learning how to compete in an intensive situation is a key to progressing as a high level hockey player.<h2>PROGRAM FEATURES&hellip;</h2>&bull; Players will be exposed to hockey &ldquo;hotbeds&rdquo; where young players are developed through Junior, College, and ultimately Professional levels.&bull; TEAM CAN/AM assembles in Guelph for two-and-a-half days of on- and off-ice training and team development.&bull; Everything is designed to duplicate the typical day of a professional hockey team&hellip;morning practice, team meeting and video analysis, pre-game meal and evening game.As you travel from site to site you will be introduced to scouts and coaches. A TEAM CAN/AM Scouting Guide will be distributed at each game site.&bull; Specialized top-calibre instruction for forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders with the focus on TEAM.&bull; The road trip begins with games in Hamilton, Kitchener, Burlington, and on to Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y. The 2,000-mile trip continues with games in Lake Placid, Montreal, Kingston, Peterborough, and Toronto. Nine games with team practises and off-ice training.&bull; TEAM CAN/AM will visit the Montreal Forum, Hockey Hall of Fame, Maple Leaf Gardens and have the opportunity to discuss their hockey future with prominent hockey coaches and players.&bull; All under the guidance and supervision of a staff of 10 CAN/AM Staff members and medical trainer. HEAD COACH, JOHN WALLIN, M.Ed, from Kent State University will direct this unique program.If you are looking for a challenging two weeks of competitve hockey-join TEAM CAN/AM.<h2>COLLEGIATE TRAVEL CAMP</h2>Eight-hundred-and-fifty U.S. College Hockey Scholarships&hellip;Is there one for you?Choosing a college can be one of the biggest decisions of your life. If you are hoping to play college hockey, the choice can be even more complicated.THE COLLEGIATE TRAVEL CAMP is custom designed to assist you in making this decision.<h2>PROGRAM FEATURES&hellip;</h2>&bull; Formation of two High Level teams in Lake Placid&hellip;site of the Olympic Training Center and the U.S. Gold Medal victory.&bull; Two-and-a-half days of intense training with emphasis on positional and team play.&bull; Depart on a 2,000-mile road trip playing intra-squad and exhibition games in 10 Division I and Division II colleges in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.&bull; The unique opportunity to be scouted by the Coaching Staff of 10 prominent Colleges. Scouting Guides on all players will be distributed throughout the trip.&bull; Visitations to the campus of each of the 10 colleges and consultation with Admissions and Guidance Counsellors.&bull; Individual athletic and academic assessment with the development of a Goal Oriented Plan for the next 12 months of hockey and academics. Consultation with Parents and Athlete upon returning to Lake Placid.&bull; All under the guidance of 10 CAN/AM Staff members.<h2>MAJOR JUNIOR &ldquo;A&rdquo; TRAVEL CAMP:</h2>Being able to demonstrate your hockey-playing ability to the &ldquo;right&rdquo; people can be a difficult task. This Camp is specifically designed to expose your talents to the Coaching Staff of 10 Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; teams&hellip;a unique opportunity.<h2>PROGRAM FEATURES&hellip;</h2>&bull; Molding of two High Level teams in Guelph, Ontario&hellip;site of the successful Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; Platers Hockey Team.&bull; Two-and-a-half days of training with emphasis on individual and team play.&bull; Departure on a 2,000-mile road trip covering 10 Major Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; Ontario cities. Playing intrasquad or exhibition games at each location.&bull; The opportunity to be scouted and assessed by the Coaching Staff of the Junior franchise or Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; Central Scouting.&bull; Discussions with Coaches on the merits of Junior hockey versus other options and the exploration of the Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; route and the future of Junior hockey and education.&bull; Meetings with NHL Coaches and NHL Players in a candid exploration of the merits of the Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; route.&bull; An individual hockey assessment with the development of a Goal Oriented Plan for the next 12 months of hockey growth. Consultation with Parents and Athlete upon returning to Guelph.This Camp is a must for the Major Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; candidate. &#9632;

CAN/AM

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02147/5241457-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg"></div>THE HOTTEST DEAL ON AND OFF THE ICE IN 1986, Haliburton Hockey Haven proudly presents our 22nd summer of outstanding hockey and summer camp experiences for boys aged seven to 15 and now, girls 10 to 15. We&rsquo;re more than just another hockey school!Our hockey program stresses fundamentals with individual skills as well as team play as part of each day&rsquo;s instruction. Our instructors are especially chosen for their demonstrated ability not only to teach the skills of hockey but also to communicate effectively with our campers.Ouraim is for each camperto leave a stronger player and take back to his or her team an enhanced feeling and confidence for the game and how it is played. There is specialized instruction for our younger skaters and our goalie campers.Our camp program stresses fun through well-structured recreational and learning summer experiences&mdash;swimming, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, field sports, campfires, day and overnight trips, plus much more. There are special guest visits to the camp each week by NHL stars.Haliburton Hockey Haven&mdash;a special and unique experience.&mdash;Box 631, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada L3T 4A5&mdash;tel. (416) 731-6116. &#9632;

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Haliburton Hockey Haven

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01183/5241488-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="230" height="182"></div>The Howie Meeker Hockey School has been in existence for 20 years under the guidance of Howie Meeker, known to millions of hockey fans as the expert analyst on Hockey Night in Canada and British Columbia TV.Howie&rsquo;s hockey background includes winning the NHL Rookie-of-the-Year Award in 1946-47, as well as being a member of four Stanley Cup champions. Howie also served as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is best known, however, as a teacher of hockey skills through his training films, hockey schools and hockey clinics. Howie has taught thousands of youngsters to improve thir basic hockey skills.The Howie Meeker Hockey School offers three two-week sessions beginning June 29 and will make use of all facilities at State University College of Arts and Science, Potsdam, N.Y.These include modern John W. Maxcy Hall physical education complex, one of the finest athletic facilities in the northeast, more than 50 acres of athletic fields and 20 outside tennis courts.The Program includes two on-ice sessions per day, special goaltending instruction, Howie Meeker skill development drills, and a fun hockey game each day. A full-time recreation director supervises a complete activity program including swimming, tennis, soccer, baseball and weight training.For further information write to:Howie MeekerHockey School,State University College at Potsdam, Potsdam, NYTel: (315) 267-2318 &#9632;

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Howie Meeker Hockey School

This is the third year for this unique hockey training camp. It provides boys between the ages of 13 and 17 with the hockey experience of their lives. Participants come from all over North America and the group is limited to 34 boys (30 skaters and four goaltenders).The group leaves on August 1st and returns August 25th. For three weeks, the group trains in the Soviet Union. On-ice training is done in conjunction with Soviet bantams and midgets. We share ice with them.Instruction is given, in part, by Soviet Division I coaches as well as Canadian and American instructors. Scrimmages are mixed for the majority of the camp so in any unit of five you will have at least two Russian boys in your group. To conclude, there is a two-game series against a selected group of Soviet boys.The atmosphere of this sporting environment is quite incredible. The friendliness and friendships created between the Soviet lads and their North American counterparts are evident in the almost complete switch of wardrobes by the conclusion of the camp!Instruction stresses individual skills with special emphasis on skating agility, puckhandling in traffic, shooting while skating, open-ice dekes, checking using angles, passing exchanges and combinations, and the art of the quick counter. Team play concentrates on flow reversals, forechecking by locking the center, and a five-man counter to the attack.In addition to 20 minutes of instruction on each &lsquo;ice day,&rsquo; there is also a one-hour scrimmage with 10 skaters per team.Ice hockey is the focal point for this trip. However, the investment into a venture such as this dictates that the educational experience must have a wider scope. Besides the training camp in Minsk, there are three days in Moscow, two days in Leningrad, two days in Tallinn (the capital of Estonia), and two days in Helsinki, all having a full complement of sightseeing.To conclude, the last two days are spent at the world famous Finnish Sports Institute at Vierumaki, north of Helsinki. This facility accommodates 80 sporting events on 200 acres. The training camp finishes with two ice sessions per day in their Olympic Arena.In July, 1983 and August, 1985, Brian Proctor operated this training camp. Both were a resounding success, gaining high praise not only from the athletes and their parents, but from the Soviets as well.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02113/5241519-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="556" height="418"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY TRAINING CAMP IN THE SOVIET UNION

The Eastern Ontario Jr.A camp is a unique hockey program designed for the elite players who intend to play at the junior or college level.In its eighth year, the camp has progressed from one to six weeks. Also, it now ranges from peewee up through junior.The objective of the camp is to teach the various systems of hockey used today as well as offer goalkeeping and power skating lessons. The systems are those presently in use in North America and Europe.Mac MacLean, originator of the camp, serves as head director. Mac is coach of the Brockville Jr. A team as well as a scout for Kingston (OHL) and the New York Rangers (NHL).This no-nonsense program is a week of gruelling activities. With six hours of ice per day, it is a must that each player follows his Eastern Ontario Jr. A camp off-ice training program during the summer. Goalkeeping and power skating are also vital parts of the camp.All players will stay in a dormitory in Arnprior and their meals will be served buffet style (all you can eat) at the rink.The Eastern Ontario Jr. A camp is proud of its graduates who have gone on to be drafted in the NHL. All agree that Eastern Ontario Jr. A camp was instrumental in their development and preparation for hockey at its highest levels. &#9632;

Eastern Ontario Good For The Elite Players

<div class="byline">BY LAWRENCE McNAB</div>Okanagan Hockey Schools began bringing quality hockey instruction to aspiring athletes in 1963. From that time on, goaltending has become an area of concentration for the directors.In 1963, Larry Lund and Bill Lougheed, then a goaltender with Denver University Pioneers, began developing the initial goaltending program for Okanagan Hockey Schools.Over the past 21 years, the program has grown through the on-ice instruction and the off-ice input of such accomplished goaltenders as Cesare Maniago, Joe Daley, Rogie Vachon, Andy Moog, Steve Abbott and Murray Bannerman.OHS Goaltending Schools will offer their comprehensive program at all three locations. Sessions will begin on June 30 in Penticton, B.C. Sessions at Penticton&rsquo;s Memorial Arena location run June 29 through Aug. 23. Three seven-day sessions begin in Edmonton, Alta., on July 6 and run through July 26 and beginning on Aug. 4, four sessions of seven days in length will be featured at Penticton&rsquo;s McLaren Park complex.The on-ice and off-ice program offered by OHS Goaltending Schools at all locations will feature:&bull; Three on-ice sessions daily&bull; One off-ice flexibility and goaltenders&rsquo; gymnastics session daily&bull; One off-ice session featuring pitching machines along with specific eye-hand coordination drills daily&bull; One lecture session daily on the technical factors involved in successful goaltending&bull; Videotape analysis daily of the goaltenders&rsquo; basic skills&bull; Aerobic exercise classes stressing conditioning and flexibility&bull; Students will be required to compile a log book of their week&rsquo;s activities and complete workbook questions&bull; Written evaluations for all students&bull; Top &lsquo;goalie&rsquo; competitionBoarding facilities are available through July and August at the Penticton Memorial Arena only. Goalies attending OHS Goaltending Schools in Edmonton and Penticton&rsquo;s McLaren Park location will be day students only.Because of the coordination of the Okanagan Hockey Schools and OHS Goaltending Schools, students will have the unique opportunity to be involved in several scrimmage sessions during their week&rsquo;s stay plus a feature game on the last day at OHS Goaltending Schools.Instructors feature NHL goalies Andy Moog, Grant Fuhr, Murray Bannerman, Clint Malarchuk and L.A. Kings G.M. Rogie Vachon along with numerous U.S. college goaltenders under the direction of Doug Cole (U of Wiscon-sin-River Falls) and Steve Abbott (U of Western Michigan) as well as numerous major junior A goaltenders.Okanagan Hockey Schools are committed to bringing the best in hockey instruction for all players involved in the game today. &#9632;

1986 OHS Goaltenders’ School Set To Roll

Now in its 12th season, the Cooper Sports Camp continues its key focus on learning, not on winning at all costs. At Cooper, the belief is that hockey and sports instruction can really benefit the individual, not only as hockey player but as a well-rounded person.The Camp is a unique combination of know-how, experience, facilities and atmosphere with a strong emphasis on coaching and guidance. The Cooper Sports Camp should be a great experience in a boy&rsquo;s life.The programs cater to both the beginner and those with more highly-developed talents with equal concern and attention. Students are grouped with those closest to their skills and abilities, and coached accordingly.Players receive four hours of ice time daily with emphasis on skating plus fundamentals and skills instruction. Goaltenders receive one extra hour of specialized on-ice instruction daily. Extensive use is made of soccer to develop both the team play and individual skills which are transferable to hockey.Video tape analysis improves players&rsquo; hockey skills, especially shooting and skating. For goaltenders, it polishes a variety of specific moves.The Cooper Sports Camp is located on the grounds of Appleby College in Oakville, 25 minutes west of Toronto. Complete on-site facilities include ice rink, weight room, soccer pitch, tennis courts, indoor pool and baseball diamond.The instructional staff is made up of university. Junior A hockey players and sports therapists selected not just for their hockey proficiency, but for their instructional skills.The head instructor is Terry Miller of Queen&rsquo;s University, who has been involved in the administration of hockey skills camps for the past six years.The Cooper Sports Camp operates from July 13 to August 23, with fees of $295 (Cdn.) per week including accommodation, meals and all programs. More information or a free brochure may be obtained by writing to:Cooper Sports Camp501 Alliance Avenue,Toronto, CanadaM6N 2J3or telephoning (416) 763-3801 &#9632;

COOPER

Fifteen years ago, when university hockey coaches Ron Mason of Lake Superior, Bill Mahoney of McMaster and Brian Gilmour of McGill, conceived the Huron Hockey School, they were little known in the wide circles of North American hockey.&ldquo;When I looked at the type of hockey schools existing at that time,&rdquo; recalls Gilmour, &ldquo;most of them were being operated by bigname professional players. Our objective was to create a hockey school where the emphasis would be on quality teaching. We wanted a staff who had a background in hockey, but who could teach skills to young players.&rdquo;Today, that philosophy of sound teaching based on scientific hockey research is the standard.&ldquo;I am amazed how people&rsquo;s perception of hockey schools has changed,&rdquo; says Mason. &ldquo;Parents and players are less impressed with big names and more satisfied when they see that they are receiving quality instruction that will help them improve their game.&rdquo;And what about those no-name instructors?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s an amusing side to our development as a hockey school,&rdquo; says Gilmour. &ldquo;Today, many Huron no-name staff have become pretty well known. Mike Keenan of the Philadelphia Flyers and Ted Sator of the New York Rangers are both from our staff.&rdquo;In addition, Doug Carpenter of the New Jersey Devils and former NHL coaches Orval Tessier (Chicago) and Bill Mahoney, (Minnesota) are part of the Huron staff.Other prominent head coaches among the Huron staff are: Don Boyd, London Knights; Jacques Martin, Guelph Platers; Paul Theriault, Oshawa Generals; Tony Zappia, Cornwall Royals; Bill Wilkinson, Western Michigan; Dick Bertrand, Ferris State; Lou Reycroft, Cornell; Shawn Walsh, University of Maine; Rick Comley, Northern Michigan; Paul Titanic, University of Toronto; and Ken Tyler, McGill.In fact, many young coaches apply to become assistant instructors at the Huron Park School as a way of furthering their own development in hockey.Brian Gilmour, who is Huron&rsquo;s executive director, says that &ldquo;the staff of a school is the key to the learning experience the students will have. If the staff is highly motivated and competent, then the students will benefit. Our guys look forward to summer and the opportunity to exchange ideas. You would be surprised at how much learning takes place with the coaches as well as with the students. This enthusiasm for hockey creates an excellent learning atmosphere for the student.&rdquo;Like all class acts, Huron Hockey School has long wrestled with the nagging show business question, &ldquo;What do we do for an encore?&rdquo;When a healthy percentage of your clientele is repeat business, it&rsquo;s not enough to be good just once. There is the matter of followup programs.&ldquo;We have always felt the need to develop programs and to offer instruction for players who return to the school,&rdquo; says director Ron Mason.They&rsquo;ve done just that in the past with the inception of advanced, junior college and professional programs to keep players coming back for more, year after year.&ldquo;It is fun to watch a player develop his skills from summer to summer,&rdquo; says Mason. &ldquo;Some players like Rick Patterson (Chicago Black Hawks), Dan Daoust (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Pat Ver-beek (New Jersey Devils) attended our school from early in their minor hockey days up to and including when they became professionals. Our staff gets to know them and their needs. I think we all take pride in their success.&rdquo;Success is something with which Huron is familiar. Not only has the Huron Park School maintained its position as the most recognized hockey school, but more than 10(T of its graduates have played pro hockey. Many more have obtained college scholarships.Huron Hockey School hasn&rsquo;t left any corner of the hockey world untouched&hellip;school students, graduates and instructors are moving onward and upward. &#9632;

HURON HOCKEY SCHOOL

Eleven years of hard work and enthusiasm has laid a solid foundation for the success of Sylvan Lake Summer Hockey Camp.&ldquo;The past few years have been excellent,&rdquo; said Graham Parsons, camp director. &ldquo;Enrolment has been at capacity (approximately 1,400 students) and the program has been running very smoothly. Brian de Bruyn, our program coordinator, has done just an outstanding job balancing each week&rsquo;s schedule with a progression of sessions that offer &ldquo;he students the optimum of fundamental instruction.&rdquo;Parsons gives the town its fair share of credit for making the hockey school internationally renowned. Sylvan Lake&rsquo;s popularity as a summer tourist resort in Alberta draws families and budding hockey stars to local attractions&mdash;including the hockey camp.&ldquo;When you think about it, it&rsquo;s ideal. We&rsquo;re centrally located. Sylvan Lake is easy to get to for everybody on the prairies,&rdquo; Parsons said.Students have registered from across Canada as well as Scotland, Sweden, United States and even Saudi Arabia.&ldquo;The facilities are all here to enjoy a hockey holiday.&rdquo;While moms and dads are relaxing on trie beach, sailing, windsurfing, golfing or enjoying the thrills of a waterslide experience, future hockey stars are toiling with two one-and-a-half hour-long ice sessions and robust physical education sessions. Chalk talks and lectures about nutrition and conditioning go hand-in-hand with the rigorous skill workouts.&ldquo;We do stress the combination of hard work and fun,&rdquo; said Parsons.Camp entrants are registered for a five-and-a-half day session, which runs about eight hours each day. Dormitory facilities are available for about 60 players each session. The rest of the players camp for the session at many of the campgrounds and trailer parks in Sylvan Lake.Nine National Hockey League stars provide the backbone for intensive on-ice and dry-land training sessions.The six Sutter brothers are hosts at Sylvan Lake Summer Hockey Camp and are joined regularly by Kelly Kisio of Detroit Red Wings, a successful graduate of the very first year the school operated here, and the brothers Moller, Randy of the Quebec Nordiques and Mike with the Nova Scotia Oilers.&ldquo;The Sutters are a draw,&rdquo; said Parsons. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re professional instructors and they&rsquo;re hard-working instructors. But they enjoy it arid they enjoy the kids.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re putting back what they figure the game has given them.&rdquo;And hockey has been good to the Sutters. Duane and Brent have helped the New York Islanders win four Stanley Cup championships, Darryl is a mainstay with the Chicago Black Hawks, Rich and Ron are twin sparkplugs for the Philadelphia Flyers and the eldest, Brian, is the hard-hitting captain of the St. Louis Blues.An added feather in the Sutter cap and that of the Sylvan Lake Summer Hockey Camp was the selection of Brian and Brent to the Team Canada training camp in 1984. Brent was one of the outstanding performers for Team Canada in its Canada Cup triumph.Instructors stress skating skills and puck control in on-ice sessions. Dry-land training tests strengthen hockey fundamentals using soccer, swimming, football and jogging as the major tools.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard work and good fun and the boys enjoy it,&rdquo; said Parsons. &ldquo;The school is continually growing in numbers and prominence.&rdquo; &#9632;

Hard Work Key To Sylvan Lake’s Success

Based upon an underlying training philosophy of an &ldquo;Educational Approach to Sports,&rdquo; the SVS Hockey School has gained a national reputation for excellence.Since its inception 15 years ago as one of the first boarding hockey schools in the United States, SVS has provided exceptional, dedicated instruction in all phases of the game of hockey to over 20,000 young hockey players. The concept of a &ldquo;total environment for playing and living&rdquo; was designed in 1970 by the founder and director of SVS, Dick Gagliardi.Building upon his experience as an outstanding hockey player at Boston College, Gagliardi established certain goals and objectives for his hockey school, which have been meticulously followed year after year under his personal supervision and direction.First, each boy must be provided with comprehensive and individualized hockey instruction in skating, shooting, passing, checking, offensive and defensive position play, and scrimmages under game conditions. In addition, specialized goaltending sessions are incorporated into the overall program.Second, hockey coaches from leading colleges, high schools and prep schools are carefully selected as fulltime live-in instructors, at a ratio of 1-to-6 skaters.A third and integral aspect of the SVS approach is the site of the hockey school. In order to insure that each youngster has a rewarding and exciting experience by playing and living away from home, SVS has always conducted its hockey school on the campuses of distinguished educational insitutions, such as Taft, Berkshire, St. George&rsquo;s, and Portsmouth Abbey. For the last several years, Brown University in Rhode Island, with its excellent rink and other facilities, has been the home of SVS during July and August.Other important dimensions to the SVS &ldquo;total environment&rdquo; school concern a student&rsquo;s health (multi-menu meals, infirmary), off-ice hockey activities (classroom lectures, videotape reviews, special weight and hockey exercises), recreational opportunities (Olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis, etc.), safety (separate off-ice staff ratio: 1-to-8 students) and comfort (private or double rooms).In sum, SVS offers superior, personalized hockey training for youngsters in the best learning environment and facilities possible. &#9632;

Education Approach Tops At SVS Hockey School

Dear Hockey Player:The Canadian Professional Hockey Schools became 21 years old on Jan. 1,1986. It was on Jan. 1,1965 that a few of us hockey nuts got together and decided that there was a need for a top-calibre hockey school dedicated to producing hockey players, and we are still committed to that end.During the past 21 years, the Canadian Professional Hockey Schools have become recognized as the most progressive hockey schools in the world.C.P.H.S. is well scouted each year by NHL, European, college, major Jr. A and top minor-league representatives. Thirty of our graduates have been drafted by the NHL, five in the first round, including James and Steve Patrick of the New York Rangers.Most of us on staff scout for high school, junior, college and professional teams and we are always on the alert for hockey talent. We have found many hockey opportunities for interested individuals in Canada, USA and Europe as well as on the Canadian and U.S Olympic teams.If you want positive exposure while learning, attend the Canadian Professional Hockey Schools. We are always searching for good young hockey talent with potential to improve.We are the first hockey school to use a Sports Radar Gun, which accurately measures your skating and shooting speeds. We have also introduced a closed-circuit television in our training program. We are always improving and developing a more extensive evaluation program to help you gauge your skill level.We were the first to add innovative advanced programs such as the Accelerated Hockey Development Camp, which is a feature in Winnipeg, Peoria and Detroit Lakes. Along with our girls&rsquo; hockey schools at each location, we have added a Ringette School to our Winnipeg location.We commit ourselves to helping every hockey player improve during his/her stay at Canadian Professional Hockey Schools. In order to accomplish this feat, we need three very important elements present at every hockey school: (a) the player must be willing to work hard; (b) the hockey school instructors must provide intelligent hockey instruction and be very well organized; and (c) the player must receive lots of ice time.These elements are the basis of our guarantee. We guarantee that if you work hard and pay attention, your hockey skills will improve during your stay with us. We will devote all of our time to making you a better hockey player. &#9632;

CPHS

Dear Goaltenders and Parents:Goaltending is the most difficult position to play in hockey, and although the goaltender is the most important player on a team, it is equally true that the amateur goalie is the most instructionally-neglected player on a hockey team.As a former goaltender, coach and clinic instructor with the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association Coaches Division&mdash;recognized these facts and the International Goaltenders School was formed six years ago to provide a program of instruction exclusively for goaltenders.In the past five years, over 3,000 goaltenders have attended our school. We have had goaltenders enrolled from every province in Canada as well as 22 states of the United States.Both the total number of goaltenders attending our school, and our high rate of returnees, attest to the excellence of our program.Our instructors are all present or past goaltenders, some of whom have taken the highest goaltending instruction available in Russia and Canada. Most have graduate degrees in education and teaching, and some have several years experience in the coaching field. The names of our instructors may not be household words, but they combine their teaching experience with goaltending knowledge to provide you with the best possible learning environment.They are dedicated instructors, willing, and able to provide &ldquo;the most imortant player on a hockey team&rdquo; the instruction long neglected. There is a common link that binds our staff&mdash;they are teachers who understand goaltending and can motivate goaltenders to reach their highest potential.Even though the International Goaltenders School is acknowledged as having the finest, most highly personalized and intensive program for goalies, we are continually updating and improving our program, so that we may offer the serious goaltender an opportunity to improve his knowledge and skill.I would like to once again extend my personal invitation to you to join us this year at the International Goaltenders School in Yorkton, Meadow Lake or Drumheller.Signed, Reg Kachanoski Director, IGS &#9632;

INTL GOALTENDERS

The Can-Pro Hockey Academy in Calgary and Okotoks, Alta., is about to start its fourth year (July 28-August 22) and has developed an excellent reputation with respect to its hockey programs. This reputation is due to Can-Pro&rsquo;s philosophy exemplified by their theme: &ldquo;We not only show you, we TEACH you how to play better hockey.&rdquo;The Academy is very selective with respect to its teaching staff and, therefore, possesses extremely qualified instructors. Can-Pro&rsquo;s instructors are professional educators with extensive hockey backgrounds. Their purpose is to help the student learn more about hockey and have more fun doing so now and in the future.Each day Can-Pro&rsquo;s programs feature three hours of on-ice instruction, including an hour of intensive power skating, classroom sessions with video analysis of skating and shooting and one to two hours land training and recreation-oriented activities (eg. swimming).Their programs include:&bull; Adult-Oldtimer Evening Camps for recreational players regardless of skill level (age 20 and over).&bull; Specialized Goaltending Camp&mdash;for goalies serious about increasing their skill level (age 10 and over).&bull; Boys Hockey Camps (ages 10-17).&bull; Youth Power Skating Camp (ages 10 and under).&bull; Women&rsquo;s Evening Camps (age 15 and over).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01121/5241742-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="596" height="667"></div>CAN-PRO HOCKEY ACADEMY 127 SACKVILLE DRIVE S.W. CALGARY, ALBERTA T2W 0W4 Telephone (403) 255-2952 &#9632;

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CAN-PRO HOCKEY ACADEMY

The spring of 1986 will mark Okanagan Hockey School&rsquo;s fourth year of bringing elite athletes from a variety of locations together to compete in a modified instructional hockey league setting.The purpose of these three-day camps is to evaluate aspiring Junior A hockey players in relation to others of comparable skill level and to provide direction for these players.Players 14 through 17 are eligible for these sessions. The locations of these weekend camps are Vancouver (April 2527), Edmonton (May 2-4), Calgary (May 9-11), Los Angeles (May 24-26) and Minneapolis (May 16-18).These sessions are unique:Firstly, players are divided into teams which compete in a three-day tournament setting. In addition, players are assessed prior to each game on basic skills. All players receive written evaluations of their skill level and a conference session to determine what their aspirations should be toward hockey.In addition, players receive a one-hour session on orientation to Junior A hockey, three one-hour seminars dealing with a) college hockey coaches, b) attitude and conditioning, c) professional hockey coaches.Evaluators and seminar leaders include at least two U.S. college coaches at each location, coaches and management of the Penticton Knights Junior A club, NHL representatives at certain locations, as well as a representative from Hockey Canada (locations to be determined).With the calibre of personnel involved in these camps, the aspiring junior hockey player could not ask for a better setting at this time in his career.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01116/5241773-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="590" height="706"><figcaption class="caption-body">Players grouped together to receive instructions from spring camp coaches during one of several skill evaluation ice sessions.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0049-01

Okanagan Joins Together Elite Players

<div class="byline">BY JEFF HUBBELL</div>The Red Baron.&rdquo;For 20 years. Red Berenson was a fixture in the National Hockey League, both as a player and coach.Beginning his career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1961, Berenson played successively with the Habs, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings and the Blues again before retiring and coaching that team for three years.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t play forever,&rdquo; says Berenson, now 46 and head coach at University of Michigan. &ldquo;I guess I miss playing, I think any ex-player does, but I&rsquo;m just too busy coaching now to worry about playing anymore. I put in a lot of time on the ice during practices so I&rsquo;m never far away from the game.&rdquo;A steady center during his NHL days, Berenson got his share of goals and points. But there was one night that stood out far above the others.It was in November, 1968, that &ldquo;The Red Baron&rdquo; scored six goals in an 8-0 St. Louis romp at the Spectrum&mdash;the most goals ever scored by a player in a road game.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t a noted scorer,&rdquo; recounted Berenson, who scored 261 goals and 397 assists (658 points) in 987 regular-season games. &ldquo;It was just one of those evenings where everything I touched went into the net. But it&rsquo;s a record that will be broken. I&rsquo;m sure, with the way the players score goals in the NHL today.&ldquo;There are a lot of memories. Probably my years with Montreal and St. Louis stand out the most in my mind. They were exciting years, winning a Stanley Cup in Montreal. And St. Louis, it was all new, we were an expansion club, but we had some of the greatest players like Doug Harvey, Jacques Plante. Dickie Moore and Glenn Hall.&rdquo;Berenson opted for college coaching after stints in the NHL as both a head coach (St. Louis) and assistant coach (Buffalo).&ldquo;In college coaching, I&rsquo;m a lot more involved than I was in the NHL. I&rsquo;m heavily involved in recruiting and evaluating students.&ldquo;There are considerable differences between college and NHL players to be sure. College players are fulltime students. Often they&rsquo;re less committed to hockey than the pros. A lot of the college kids are more well-rounded, they have a little more perspective.&ldquo;I think the ideal athlete is one committed to both hockey and school, and who can accept the challenge.&ldquo;The travel isn&rsquo;t nearly as extensive. You play 30 games and then there are the playoffs. Travel away from home is much easier. We spend more time practising than playing.&ldquo;I enjoyed coaching in the NHL. I enjoy coaching here. Both are challenging. But here it&rsquo;s more stable.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;d take an NHL coaching position again. You can&rsquo;t say &lsquo;never&rsquo;, but I didn&rsquo;t come here to wait for an NHL job.&rdquo; &#9632;

‘Red Baron’ Happy With New Lifestyle

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01100/5241859-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="470" height="114"></div>EDMONTON&mdash;Following yet another night that defied logic, Glen Sather turned to outer space.&ldquo;The only explanation is Halley&rsquo;s Comet.&rdquo; frowned the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; manager-coach, groping to put a handle on another hockey-pool players&rsquo; delight&hellip;and coaches&rsquo; nightmare.&ldquo;There must have been some cosmic fall-out that&rsquo;s affecting things.&rdquo; added. Sather, whose outfit was outdone 11-9 by the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 8 in an NHL production right out of the Twilight Zone that abruptly snapped the Oilers&rsquo; five-game winning streak.The hilarious part was that both coaching staffs had been advocating defense&mdash;as in DEEE-fense&mdash;heading into the fixture.&ldquo;They were really listening to me. eh?&rdquo; said Leafs&rsquo; coach Dan Maloney, who actually wasn&rsquo;t complaining. &ldquo;Ever since sports was invented, coaches have been trying to figure out nights this.&rdquo;From the viewpoint of the other side:&ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t get the message,&rdquo; spat Oilers&rsquo; assistant coach Bob McCammon, &ldquo;after losing to these guys&hellip;&rdquo;A Maple Leaf Gardens&rsquo; congregation of 16,382 was deprived by one goal of witnessing NHL history. The original mark for total offense (21) was set when the Montreal Canadiens outgunned the Toronto St. Patricks 66 years ago this month. Last month Edmonton and the Chicago Black Hawks tied the standard with the Oilers winning 12-9.After the Chicago shootout, they giggled. This time they cussed.&ldquo;It was bleeping awful,&rdquo; scowled cocoach John Muckier of the Oilers&rsquo; worst defensive showing since an 11-0 loss in Hartford on Feb. 12, 1984. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been giving up a lot of shots (39) and have been expecting our goalkeepers to stop them night after night. Well, it disgusts me. There&rsquo;s no need for a game like this. It&rsquo;s okay to play offense, but you&rsquo;ve got to think defense, too.&rdquo;Wayne Gretzky, who has never played in Toronto without scoring a goal, had a six-point night, including his 37th career hat trick. Jari Kurri had a goal and five assists, while Glenn Anderson, in his second game back following an eightgame suspension, scored twice for the Oilers.Gretzky, however, wasn&rsquo;t into accepting accolades.&ldquo;You can look at anything you want, but it all added up to sheer stupidity on our part, we didn&rsquo;t deserve to win,&rdquo; said No. 99, who apologized on behalf of he and his teammates to goaltenders Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr. &ldquo;If anything they should throw their stuff (equipment) at us. They&rsquo;re two great goaltenders who never complain. They deserved better.&rdquo;Game Two of the five-game eastern swing didn&rsquo;t produce 20 goals, but the Oilers did squander a 3-1 lead with three goals in the final four minutes, losing 5-3 to the Quebec Nordiques. It was their first loss at Le Colisee since March 3, 1982.&ldquo;We missed seven two-on-ones and lost too many faceoffs in our own zone. No one could beat (Peter) Stastny,&rdquo; said Sather, who summoned his best man on the draw to Montreal the following day.Mark Messier, out with a broken foot since Dec. 3, had his cast removed one day, skated for 15 minutes in Edmonton and was in the lineup the following night in Montreal.Messier&rsquo;s name didn&rsquo;t show up in the scoring summary as the Oilers parlayed a five-goal second period to a 6-3 triumph, but his contribution was prominent in the victory. &#9632;

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Oilers Under Influence Of Halley’s Comet?

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0274/5241890-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg" title="f0051-02" width="526" height="114"></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Jon Casey is a winner.Always has been, always expects to be. His attitude led to immediate success tending goal for the Minnesota North Stars&mdash;the kind of success that requires rookie-of-the-year consideration in the National Hockey League.Casey has a quiet confidence, a certainty that he can handle the job, and not a cocky arrogance that can lead to a fall. In his first 10 games up with the North Stars, Casey won seven games. It took 26 games for hard-luck Don Beaupre to reach seven victories.Casey benefited by starting at Springfield while Beaupre shouldered the load during a sputtering start. But while Beaupre was 7-14-5 after 41 games, Casey&rsquo;s 7-3 mark had been greatly responsible for Minnesota&rsquo;s surge to re-spectability<blockquote class="pullQuote">Casey proved his worth so conclusively, Lou Nanne traded away goalie Roland Melanson.</blockquote>The most accurate mark of a goalie&rsquo;s play might be save percentage, and Casey&rsquo;s was.897, fifth best in the NHL among goalies who see regular duty. Coach Lome Henning had found success in alternating Beaupre and Casey in recent weeks.Casey&rsquo;s 5-3 victory over Washington on Jan. 11 gave the Stars a 16-18-7 record. lowered his goals-against mark to 3.41, and helped the Stars to the lowest goals-against mark in the Norris Division.&ldquo;I always believed I could play in this league,&rsquo;&rsquo; said Casey. &ldquo;When I got called up from Springfield Nov. 19, Roland Melanson had gotten hurt. I didn&rsquo;t look at it as my big chance or anything; I thought it was an opportunity to try to do well, to prove to some people that I could play in the NHL.&rdquo;Casey proved it, so conclusively that North Stars&rsquo; general manager Lou Nanne traded Melanson for a couple of future draft picks on Dec. 9.Last season, Casey had a strong camp, but was injured. Because the North Stars shared Springfield with the Islanders, there was no room for Casey on the club&rsquo;s top farm. He was placed on loan to Baltimore, but was far from disappointed.&ldquo;I think that was a fortunate thing for me.&rdquo; Casey said. &ldquo;It might-have been less of a break to go to Springfield, because I got a chance to play a lot in Baltimore.&rdquo;Casey led the American League with a 2.63 goals-against average, and no other goaltender got under the magic 3.00 mark.Playing pro hockey in his home state means Casey has been a familiar figure for a decade. He grew up in Coleraine, on the Iron Range, and showed outstanding credentials playing high school hockey at Greenway as a freshman and sophomore.His father owned a real estate business in Grand Rapids, a town about six miles down the highway, and home of Greenway&rsquo;s biggest rival. The Casey family moved to Grand Rapids for Jon&rsquo;s junior year.&ldquo;It was better for my dad&rsquo;s business to live there,&rdquo; he said, acknowledging that his family was also aware that Grand Rapids was the dominant high school hockey power in the state at the time. &ldquo;Grand Rapids had gone to the state tournament six years in a row when we moved there. We also went in the two years I played there, and we won the state title my senior year.&rdquo;Casey then went to the University of North Dakota, where the Sioux had two goalies one year ahead of Casey, one of whom was Darren Jensen, now with the Philadelphia Flyers. Impatience almost caused Casey to transfer.But he returned to North Dakota and played enough as a sophomore to make the all-Westem Collegiate Hockey Asso ciation first team. As a junior, he was&rdquo; second-team all-WCHA, and as a senior he was not only first-team all-WCHA but all-American as well.Now, he&rsquo;s doing more than &ldquo;allright&rdquo; for the North Stars.STAR DUST&mdash;Kent Nilsson will miss about four weeks with a shoulder separation suffered in a Jan. 7 game at Long Island. The Stars won 3-2, with seldom-used former Islander Mats Hallin getting a deflection goal. &#9632;

f0051-02

Goalie Makes Strong Case For Himself With His Play

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01107/5241921-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="418" height="116"></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Primed and positive, Dan Bouchard seemed to be on top of his game.Swatting shots out of the air with his glove, the blond goaltender smacked of confidence as he posted the 26th shutout of his career, a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 5.For the Winnipeg Jets, the third worst defensive team in the National Hockey League, the shutout meant more than a victory. It marked the welcome return of pinball hockey.Once again, the Jets&rsquo; forwards were forcing turnovers, creating confusion in the neutral zone, a patch of ice that has been virtually ignored by the team this season.For the 35-year-old Bouchard, his first shutout in two years was one of his easiest. He faced only 20 shots and fewer than four were difficult.Two cool nights later. Bouchard was back and busier as he stopped nine Vancouver shots in the first 15 minutes.The game was still goalless when a pileup occurred in front of the Winnipeg net. Suddenly, Brent Peterson rushed into the melee, spilling Jets&rsquo; defenseman Tim Watters into Bouchard.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;He missed me by an inch&hellip;Matter of fact, he nearly kicked his teammate.&rsquo; &mdash;Peterson</blockquote>Dave Silk grabbed Peterson and the two players fell to the ice beside the Jets&rsquo; net.Bouchard leaned over to scold Peterson when he suddenly attempted to kick him.&ldquo;He missed me by an inch,&rdquo; said Peterson, recalling the sight of Bouchard&rsquo;s skate whizzing past his bare face. &ldquo;Our faces were exposed. I&rsquo;m lucky he missed. Matter of fact, he nearly kicked his own teammate.&ldquo;I heard Silk say, &lsquo;Holy cow, he almost got me&rsquo;. He kicked a second time but he hit a stick.&rdquo;Bouchard received a five-minute match penalty, which automatically includes a game misconduct. He wasn&rsquo;t to miss any other games, however, unless the NHL decided to hold a hearing over the matter.Most upset by Bouchard&rsquo;s behavior was Richard Brodeur, the Canucks&rsquo; goaltender.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very disgusted with the way he acted,&rdquo; said Brodeur. &ldquo;He almost got his own teammate with the kick. And he almost got his team beaten by taking the five-minute penalty.&ldquo;Still, I didn&rsquo;t mind seeing him go. He was hot and he looked like he was ready to beat us again. But he got himself tossed out. All I can say is, &lsquo;Thank you very much.&rsquo;&rdquo;Winnipeg and Vancouver ended up playing to a 2-2 overtime draw.Oddly enough, it was Silk who received a five-minute match penalty on Dec. 13 after a stick-swinging incident with Glenn Anderson of the Edmonton Oilers. Silk was subsequently suspended for six games while Anderson received an eight-game suspension.BENCH BITS&mdash;The Jets were making an attempt to sign Peter Douris, a member of Canada&rsquo;s National Team (pre-Olympic). Douris was their first choice (30th overall) in the 1984 draft. The 19-year-old right winger invited the offer of a contract following the World Junior Championships. General manager John Ferguson said the signing of Douris had become prudent because of the uncertain status of Paul MacLean. who continued to suffer from pulled stomach muscles&hellip;Although he continued to be the target of boos by Winnipeg fans, goaltender Brian Hayward said he felt that he had played well over the last two or three weeks&hellip;Jim Kyte collected his first point of the season&mdash;in a shorthanded situation, no less. The big defenseman moved the puck up the ice to Doug Smail, whose pass was converted by Ron Wilson on a two-on-one break. Kyte had been taking a regular shift recently&hellip;Right winger Andrew McBain, first thought to be out for the season after tearing knee ligaments, is now expected back in February&hellip;Anssi Melametsa, the former captain of the Finnish national team, continued to wait for his first NHL goaL. Bengt Lundholm, the Winnipeg right winger loaned to his former team (AIK Stockholm) in Sweden, may be rejoining the Jets in mid-February. &#9632;

f0052-01

Bouchard Gets Kicks In Dangerous Way

FIBRE-SHIELD&rdquo;&mdash;A Blade Breakthrough.For 1986, Louisville Hockey is introducing a revolutionary new blade construction which testing has proven to be stiffer, more durabl&mdash;yet lighter in weight than normal fib-reglas.This new &ldquo;FIBRE-SHIELD&rdquo; blade consists of Kevlar fibres throughout the shooting side for increased strength and durability. The reverse side will be loaded with graphite strands which has proven to increase overall stiffness in the blade.In addition, a solid Kevlar &ldquo;Wear-Bar&rdquo; has been inserted along the entire sole of this blade for increased protection along the ice surface. This Kevlar/Graphite &ldquo;FIBRE-SHIELD&rdquo; blade is sure to add life to the blade and improve the overall playability the advanced player desiresThe &ldquo;FIBRE-SHIELD&rdquo; will be introduced on the new MAGNUM forward stick, T2130 and TXPL custom team sticks, as well as a G125 goal stick.The MAGNUM has a 57&rdquo; slightly-smaller dimension fibreg I as-reinforced solid white handle with bold black graphics. The exciting new cosmetics on the G125 goalie stick consist of a solid white handle and paddle with black and gold lettering in the Optic 3-D print, first introduced in 1985.The blade will be dipped in a clear epoxy allowing the &ldquo;FIBRE-SHIELD&rdquo; blade to show. The G125 (named after the famous 125 Series Louisville Slugger baseball bats) goalie stick is available in both curved and straight models.The Laser, returns with its black fibreglas-reinforced laminated handle with white lettering, with the blade reinforced by 100 per cent graphite fibres for extra strength.The 2130 Custom-Lite (for 1986 the 2130 will have the same cosmetics as the G125 goalstick), the XPL Pro-Lite, and the 2510 Elite intermediate model now feature the new Kevlar &ldquo;Wear-Bar&rdquo; for increased durability. Also new for 1986, the Ultra (with its oversized curve), and the JR (a new junior edition).<h2>TEAM PROGRAM</h2>After a highly successful and well-accepted debut in 1985, Louisville Hockey is once again offering your team or association the chance to custom design their sticks to match their uniforms. Both the 2130 Custom-Lite and the XPL Pro-Lite are available with the addition of the &ldquo;FIBRE-SHIELD&rdquo; blade in the Team Program.The fibreglas-reinforced laminated handle, along with Louisville&rsquo;s exlusive &ldquo;FIBRE-SHIELD&rdquo; blade protection, offers the advanced player une-qualed playability and durabin ity in a team stick&mdash;as well as being the best looking stick on ice.New for 1986 is the availability of a goaler model also in matching team colors. The 2625 goalstick will feature the Kevlar &ldquo;Wear Bar&rdquo; for added strength and durability in a team goal stick. See your nearest dealer and ask about the Louisville Team Program. &#9632;

Louisville—‘A New Blade Breakthrough

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div>Louisville HockeyLouisville Hockey<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01107/5241976-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="471" height="122"></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;The New York Islanders had reached the halfway mark of their season with another ignominious defeat&mdash;this one to the Minnesota North Stars at Nassau Coliseum.In the Islanders&rsquo; dressing room, Mike Bossy shook his head and said, &ldquo;We should be winning games like this. It&rsquo;s disappointing and frustrating.&rdquo;Across the room. Bill Smith stood in front of his locker and criticized some of his teammates for the first time, suggesting they were laggards for not affording him better protection.&ldquo;Nobody comes back&hellip;they&rsquo;re letting Everybody in,&rdquo; said the 35-year-old goalie who is the only Islander who has been with the team since its inception in 1972.Smith&rsquo;s finger-pointing was surprising in some ways. But it did serve to point out how far the Islanders had fallen.They won only 16 of their first 40 games, seven less than their halfway total last season. They hardly looked like the team that won four Stanley Cups from 1980 through 1983. Even their captain admitted that. &ldquo;Most of the time we&rsquo;ve looked lost,&rdquo; Denis Potvin said.Bill Torrey was equally candid in assessing the Islanders&rsquo; mid-season work.&ldquo;Few can look back at those 40 games and feel they contributed the way they should,&rdquo; the general manager said. &ldquo;In fact, you can start and stop with Duane Sutter&hellip;Our goaltending has been inconsistent and our defensemen are not getting involved. In the old days, that was our strength. And now our forwards are not contributing.&rdquo;Then, suddenly, the Islanders woke up. They opened the second half of the season with a 9-0 victory over the Penguins and followed that with an 8-2 triumph over the Red Wings.Seventeen goals in two games! That was some wake-up call.Coach Al Arbour blinked in amazement at the Islanders&rsquo; turnaround.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone from the popgun offense to the shotgun,&rdquo; he said.Kelly Hrudey was the Islanders&rsquo; goalie in both runaway victories. He came close to posting consecutive shutouts, which would have equalled a team record set by Chico Resch in 1975.Hrudey. asked to explain the sudden explosiveness of the Islanders, said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re more relaxed. A week ago, we&rsquo;d be wondering, &lsquo;Well, what are we going to do wrong tonight?&rsquo; We go out there now to have a ton of fun.&rdquo;Bryan Trottier had a ton of fun. He scored a pair of goals, including the Isles&rsquo; first shorthanded goal of the season, against the Penguins, then posted the 400th goal of his NHL career against the Red Wings.Bossy set up Trottier&rsquo;s milestone goal, springing his longtime linemate loose with a neat pass. Trottier broke in alone on Detroit goalie Mark Laforest, faked him to the ice and scored on a backhander.Trottier appeared almost embarrassed by the attention he received after the game. He recalled that his first NHL goal was scored against the Los Angeles Kings and goalie Rogie Vachon in his second game with the Islanders in 1975.The Islanders&rsquo; back-to-back victories gave them a 3-2 record for the five-game home stand, their longest of the season. They then hit the road for three games against the Penguins, the Flyers and the Canadiens in that order.Bossy, who totaled 10 points (five goals and five assists) in five games, warned his teammates against overconfidence.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t proved anything yet,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All we beat is Detroit and Pittsburgh. Those wins are confidence builders and momentum builders, sure, but we have to carry that confidence into our next three road games.&ldquo;Those will be important games for us. Now we have to face the music.&rdquo;But the Islanders and their fans already were dancing with joy.ON THE ISLE&mdash;it was a big week for John Tonelli. The veteran left winger scored his 200th NHL goal and signed a new four-year contract worth an estimated $350,000 a year. Tonelli had been in the option year of his old four-year contract that earned him approximately $200,000 a year. He became the team&rsquo;s first holdout when he failed to report for the opening of training camps last September. He finally reported four days before the start of the season&hellip;The Islanders&rsquo; defense corps was reduced from eight to six men when Tomas Jonsson suffered a bruised hip and Gerald Diduck returned to Springfield of the AHL&hellip;Denis Potvin wore a plastic face shield for the first time Jan. 9 after being struck in the right eye by Clark Gillies&rsquo; stick. &#9632;

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January 24, 1986

Still Playing Hockey At Age 79, Reverend Burgess Keeps Active

ASK THE DUFFER

THN STATISTICS NHL SUMMARIES

QUAKER STATE ROOKIE PROFILES