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.

February 7, 1986

The Hockey News February 7, 1986

HOCKEY NOTEBOOKMichigan State Spartan star Joe Murphy is the best player available to National Hockey League teams in this summer&rsquo;s entry draft, according to a midseason ratings list compiled by the Central Scouting Bureau.Murphy, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound freshman, had 16 goals and 26 assists in his first 25 games with the Spartans this year.The center also shared the tournament scoring championship with teammate Shayne Corson at the recent World Junior Championships in Hamilton.Murphy scored four goals and 10 assists in seven games for the silver medal-winning Canadian entry.Completing the top five were: (2)Scott Young, RW, Boston University (3)Pat Elynuik, C, Prince Albert (4)Neil Brady, C, Medicine Hat and (5)Jim Carson, C, Verdun.Others listed as first-round candidates are: (6)Shawn Anderson, D, Canadian Olympic Team (7)Dan Woodley, RW, Portland (8)Greg Brown, D, Boston St. Mark&rsquo;s High School (9)Jeff Greenlaw, LW, Canadian Olympic Team (10)Craig Janney, C, Boston College (11)Mark Pederson, LW, Medicine Hat (12)Ken McRae, C, Sudbury (13)Brian Leetch, D, Avon Old Farms High School (Connecticut) (14)Adam Graves, C, Windsor (15)Marc Laniel, D, Oshawa (16)Vincent Damphousse, LW, Laval (17)Zarley Zalapski, D, Canadian Olympic Team (18)Kim Issel, LW, Prince Albert (19)Steve Bisson, D, Sault Ste. Marie (20)Lyle Odelein, C-D, Moose Jaw (21)Kent Hulst, C, Belleville.The scouting bureau will release only one more ratings list to NHL general managers before the draft.Brad Park&rsquo;s admission of guilt has resulted in a six-game suspension.The Detroit Red Wing coach has been set down for sending his team over the boards&mdash;igniting a bench-clearing brawl&mdash;in a Jan. 13 game against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.Park, who took over from Harry Neale as the Wings&rsquo; coach on Dec. 30, later admitted to reporters that it was at his insistence that the Red Wings left the bench.Under National Hockey League rules, Park had seven days to begin the suspension. He was to begin serving his sentence Jan. 31 and return Feb. 16 for a game against the Rangers in New York.Assistant coach Dan Belisle was to coach the team in his absence. Belisle, formerly the head coach of the Washington Capitals, is in his fourth season with the Wings.The Wings were also fined $5,000 over the incident and had two other players suspended.Lane Lambert received an automatic three-game suspension for being the first player off the bench and Bob Probert picked up a four-game sentence for head-butting Maple Leaf defenseman Bob McGill.The winner of this year&rsquo;s Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which is presented annually to U.S. college hockey&rsquo;s best player, will be named April 7 at a dinner in Bloomington.Mark Fusco of Harvard is the only one of five past winners not currently playing in the NHL. Fusco, a defenseman and 1983 recipient, retired earlier this year rather than report to Hartford Whalers&rsquo; American League affiliate in Binghamton.The others are Bill Watson of Chicago (Minnesota-Duluth, 1985), Tom Kurvers of Montreal (Minnesota-Duluth, 1984). George McPhee of New York Rangers (Bowling Green, 1982) and Neal Broten of Minnesota (Minnesota, 1981).The Soviets netted $250,000 (U.S.)&mdash;$25,000 per game&mdash;from their recent 10-city tour of the NHL. An additional $500,000 to $750,000 is earmarked for the the NHL Players&rsquo; Association pension fund.That&rsquo;s all according to NHLPA president Alan Eagleson, who helped organize the tour of Red Army and Dynamo club teams. The Soviets won seven of 10 games. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Murphy Rated Tops In Draft Class Of ’86

In next week&rsquo;s Feb. 14th issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, we&rsquo;ll take you to the Windy City. Never mind The Refrigerator, Jim (Sunglasses) McMahon or the rest of the Bears. You're going to meet the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; new center of attention, Troy Murray.There&rsquo;s no question that little Denis Savard is still the straw that stirs&rsquo; the Hawks drink, but the robust Murray has developed into one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s best two-way centers, so much so that he&rsquo;s being called the Blackhawk version of Bryan Trottier.It may be too early for the Hawks to record the Stanley Cup Shuffle, but with Savard and Murray at the top of their games they&rsquo;re certainly moving in the right direction.Also, we&rsquo;ll take a look at the newly-released film Youngblodd, starring teen hearthrob Rob Lowe as a hockey player trying to battle his way into the pro ranks.Don&rsquo;t miss all that plus much, much more in the Feb. 14th issue of THN. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK IN THN

<h2>CCHA</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. JAN. 31)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01521/5006142-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="292" height="162"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>FRI. JAN. 24ILL-CHICAGO 5 AT FERRIS STATE 3MIAMI 2 AT LAKE SUPERIOR 6MICHIGAN 5 AT MICH STATE 7OHIO STATE 5 AT W. MICHIGAN 7BOWLING GREEN 2 AT ST. LAWRENCE 5SAT. JAN. 25ILL-CHICAGO 8 AT FERRIS STATE 3MIAMI 5 AT LAKE SUPERIOR 6MICH STATE 3 AT MICHIGAN 5OHIO STATE 6 AT W. MICHIGAN 4BOWLING GREEN 5 AT ST. LAWRENCE 8<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02406/5006135-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="291" height="176"></div><h2>WCHA</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. JAN. 31)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03308/5006128-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="294" height="146"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>SAT. JAN. 18LOWELL 6 AT COLORADO COLL 10NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 AT DENVER 8N. MICHIGAN 7 AT BOSTON UNIV. 8NORTHEASTERN 5 AT MICH TECH 4MINNESOTA 4 AT BOSTON COLL 8WISCONSIN 4 AT NO. DAKOTA 6MIN-DULUTH 6 AT PROVIDENCE 0TUE. JAN. 21AIR FORCE 2 AT DENVER 5FRI. JAN. 24DENVER 4 AT N. MICHIGAN 5MICH. TECH 3 AT BOSTON COLL. 6PROVIDENCE 1 AT MINNESOTA 4NO. DAKOTA 7 AT BOSTON UNIV. 4WISCONSIN 7 AT COLO. COLL 5NORTHEASTERN 3 AT MIN-DULUTH 4SAT. JAN. 25DENVER 4 AT N. MICHIGAN 2MICH. TECH 3 AT BOSTON COLL. 5PROVIDENCE 3 AT MINNESOTA 5NO. DAKOTA 8 AT BOSTON UNIV. 3WISCONSIN 2 AT COLO. COLL 1NORTHEASTERN 2 AT MIN-DULUTH 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04213/5006121-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="289" height="176"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. JAN. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05167/5006114-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="296" height="131"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. JAN. 21MAINE 6 AT BOWDOIN 4N. HAMPSHIRE 1 AT BOSTON UNIV 9BOSTON COLLEGE 9 AT LOWELL 6FRI. JAN. 24MICH. TECH 3 AT BOSTON COLL 6NO. DAKOTA 7 AT BOSTON UNIV 4MAINE 2 AT LOWELL 4NORTHEASTERN 3 AT MIN-DULUTH 4PROVIDENCE 1 AT MINNESOTA 4SAT. JAN. 25PROVIDENCE 3 AT MINNESOTA 5NO. DAKOTA 8 AT BOSTON UNIV 3MAINE 2 AT LOWELL 3NORTHEASTERN 2 AT MIN-DULUTH 5SUN. JAN. 26MICH TECH 3 AT BOSTON COLL 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06141/5006107-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="290" height="178"></div><h2>ECAC</h2>(STANDINGS ON TUE. JAN. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07130/5006100-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="292" height="212"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED. JAN. 22BROWN 5 AT YALE 8FRI. JAN. 24DARTMOUTH 3 AT CORNELL 7VERMONT 0 AT RPI 3BOWLING GREEN 2AT ST. LAWRENCE 5SAT. JAN. 25YALE 9 AT BROWN 2RPI 7 AT VERMONT 6ARMY 9 AT RMC 7TEAM CANADA 4 AT CLARKSON 2BOWLING GREEN 5 AT ST. LAWRENCE 8SUN. JAN. 26DARTMOUTH 7 AT COLGATE 3TEAM CANADA 6 AT CORNELL 2MERRIMACK 1 AT PRINCETON 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08122/5006093-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="289" height="165"></div><h2>GREAT WEST CONFERENCE</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. JAN. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09110/5006086-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="290" height="82"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>U.S. INTL 4, AIR FORCE 2U.S. INTL 7, AIR FORCE 3U.S. INTL 4, MERRIMACK 1U.S. INTL 6, MERRIMACK 5LOWELL 5, U.S. INTL 2CONCORDIA 9, NO. ARIZONA 4McGILL 10, NO. ARIZONA 7LA-FAIRBANKS 9, ALA-ANCHORAGE 5ALA-ANCHORAGE 9, ALA-FAIRBANKS 6ALA-ANCHORAGE 9, PRINCETON 7PRINCETON 10, ALA-ANCHORAGE 7NO. DAKOTA 11, ALA-ANCHORAGE 7NO. DAKOTA 12, ALA-ANCHORAGE 7<h2>OUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON WED. JAN. 29)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10107/5006079-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="295" height="225"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED. JAN. 22BROCK 1 AT TORONTO 9THU. JAN. 23WESTERN 2 AT YORK 3FRI. JAN. 24GUELPH 2 AT TORONTO 10WINDSOR 5 AT WATERLOO 5SAT. JAN. 25BROCK 6 AT LAURENTIAN 9WINDSOR 4 AT GUELPH 7YORK 6, TORONTO 3 (Exhib)LAURIER 10 AT MCMASTER 2SUN. JAN. 26BROCK 9 AT LAURENTIAN 11RYERSON 4 AT WATERLOO 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11100/5006072-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="290" height="223"></div><h2>CWUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. JAN. 31)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1296/5006065-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="292" height="145"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>FRI. JAN. 24REGINA 2 AT ALBERTA 5SASKATCHEWAN 5 AT CALGARY 8LETHBRIDGE 1 AT MANITOBA 7UBC 5 AT BRANDON 11SAT. JAN. 25REGINA 1 AT ALBERTA 7SASKATCHEWAN 2 AT CALGARY 5LETHBRIDGE 4 AT MANITOBA 7UBC 4 AT BRANDON 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1387/5006058-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="286" height="254"></div><h2>AUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON WED. JAN. 29)<h3>MACADAM DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1483/5006051-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="294" height="97"></div><h3>KELLY DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1579/5006044-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="287" height="79"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED. JAN. 22ST. F. XAVIER 14 AT ST. MARY&rsquo;S 5FRI. JAN. 24UPEI 1 AT MONCTON 5DALHOUSIE X AT ACADIA XSAT. JAN. 25ST. MARY&rsquo;S 3 AT ACADIA 8UNB 6 AT MT. ALLISON 3SUN. JAN. 26ST. THOMAS 5 AT MT. ALLISON 4UNB 2 AT MONCTON 11<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1678/5006037-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="286" height="158"></div><h2>QUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON TUE. JAN. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1771/5006030-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="289" height="96"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>THU. JAN. 23OTTAWA 2 AT CONCORDIA 3FRI. JAN. 24CONCORDIA 3 AT T-RIVIERES 10SUN. JAN. 26CHICOUTIMI 6 AT T-RIVIERES 4NON-CONFERENCE GAMESMcGILL 6, QUEEN&rsquo;S 1McGILL 6, WESTERN 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1867/5006023-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="288" height="206"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1964/5006016-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="584" height="384"></div><h2>TOP GOALTENDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2056/5006009-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="587" height="131"></div> &#9632;

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The Colleges

BAUER COLLEGE SCOREBOARD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1910/5006939-1-eng-US/f0040-192.jpg" title="f0040-19" width="304" height="1093"></div> &#9632;

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NHL GAMES TO COME

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN</div>Some like it hot. Others don&rsquo;t have that luxury.But between them they represent the good and bad of National Hockey League extremes&mdash;those hot enough to melt the icy reserve of Bob Pulford and the others cold enough to send even warm-hearted Max McNab into a deep freeze.It all has to do with the fickle business of who&rsquo;s hot and who&rsquo;s not in the NHL.The names can change from month to month, week to week or day to day as players struggle to maintain high levels of consistency over lengthy periods of time. Precious few succeed.And even these superstars who do&mdash;for example defenseman Larry Robinson of the Montreal Canadiens&mdash;often suffer through down periods. Some suddenly emerge&mdash;i.e. center Alan Haworth of the Washington Capitals&mdash;after years of relative obscurity. And still others&mdash;goalie John Vanbiesbrouck of the New York Rangers comes to mind&mdash;quickly establish themselves in a flash of glory.On the minus side of the zero-sum game that is the NHL are those who rapidly lose what once was theirs. Often, the sometimes-precipitous fall from grace is temporary.Or so Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; center Steve Yzerman, center Bobby Carpenter of the Capitals and Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; goalie Brian Hayward have hoped this season.These six players have covered the spectrum of highs and lows this season. They are not alone but they are representative of the &ldquo;hot-not&rdquo; syndrome in the NHL. Three have surpassed expectations and three have delivered less than expected.None has defied the fates so completely as Robinson, the five-time all-star and two-time winner of the Norris Trophy.At 34, it seemed the native of Marvelville, Ont. had settled into the twilight of his career&mdash;Jonly occasionally capable of reaching the heights he once scaled regularly.Turnovers had become a major problem and his offensive output had dropped over the past two years. But now, in his 14th NHL season, Robinson has recaptured the spirit of years gone by&mdash;running second only to Paul Coffey in scoring among defensemen with 14 goals and 44 assists in 49 games and leading the Canadiens&rsquo; power play, the league&rsquo;s best.&ldquo;I guess the difference between this year and last year,&rdquo; says Habs&rsquo; coach Jean Perron, &ldquo;is playing time. He has some shaky starts to games (but) he comes back strongly. He gets to play on the power play. His shot is tremendous. It&rsquo;s always on the net.&rdquo;Nine of Robinson&rsquo;s goals have been the result of power-play service. Indeed, most of his increased production can be attributed to the extra-man unit. Improved production has had a spillover effect for Robinson, who counts his good play in the 1984 Canada Cup as a turning point in his seemingly-slowing career.&ldquo;When you are having a good offensive season you want to play better on defense too,&rdquo; says Perron. &ldquo;You want to prove you&rsquo;re a good two-way player.&rdquo;Robinson, on pace to record his highest-point season ever, is doing all of that. The 34-year-old veteran, as Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette is fond of saying, is playing like the Robinson of old, not an old Robinson.Vanbiesbrouck, 22, is the closest thing to a one-man goaltending system as there is in the NHL, but not so much because of playing time as results. Forty-eight games into the season, the second-year player was the goaltender of record in 21 of the Rangers&rsquo; 22 victories to join Clint Malarchuk of the Quebec Nordiques as the most surprising of goaltenders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011246/5004308-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="826" height="865"><figcaption class="caption-body">Netminder Brian Hayward&rsquo;s numbers make him cringe, but he doesn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s played all that badly, except maybe for a four-or five-game stretch earlier this year.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just emerged, we think, as one of the premier young goaltenders in the National Hockey League,&rdquo; says Ted Sator, first-year coach of the Rangers. &ldquo;The talent&rsquo;s there, he&rsquo;s a smart player, he&rsquo;s a student of the game, he&rsquo;s a good athlete&mdash;very quick&mdash;and he&rsquo;s got the right amount of abrasiveness and cockiness that makes a team play hard in front of him.&rdquo;In his rookie season, Johnny V. Good posted a 12-24-3 record plus 4.22 goals-against average. This season he had lopped a full goal off his average and led in wins among goaltenders.The roots of Haworth&rsquo;s excellent work this year can be traced to a single event&mdash;his switch from right wing to center on Oct. 25 in Winnipeg.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s obvious that the biggest reason (for his improvement) is a change of positions,&rdquo; says David Poile, the Capitals&rsquo; general manager. &ldquo;And the second reason is the two people he&rsquo;s playing with&mdash;Greg Adams and Craig Laughlin. All three of them are having as good a year as they&rsquo;ve had in the National Hockey League.&rdquo;Haworth, a speedy 25-year-old native of Drummondville, Que., tied his previous career high of 24 goals in just 44 games this season. He also had 24 assists and, you guessed it, a plus-minus rating of plus-24, second only to Laughlin on the Caps.Along with Scott Bjugstad of the Minnesota North Stars (27 goals) and Mark Hunter (29 goals) of the St. Louis Blues, Haworth has been one of the league&rsquo;s surprise scorers this season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting a lot more goals because his shooting has improved quite a bit,&rdquo; notes Poile, who obtained the six-year veteran in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres four seasons ago. &ldquo;I think that what kept him from being a 30-or-more goal scorer is that he missed the net more times than he should.&rdquo;A couple of players who&rsquo;ve been missing the net a lot more than they should this year are Yzerman and Carpenter&mdash;both of whom are thought to be superstars-in-waiting.Neither has played well this season.Yzerman, 20, had seasons of 87 and 89 points during his freshman and sophomore years. As an 18-year-old he was runner-up to rookie-of-the-year Tom Barrasso and the following season played for the host team in the 1984 Canada Cup.This was to be the year both Yzerman and the Red Wings came of age. Neither has come to pass. The gifted centerman had just 39 points after 49 games, less-than-ordinary numbers for no ordinary player, and the Wings were dead last in the NHL.&ldquo;Sometimes as a player gets into his second and third year, sometimes it gets a little tougher,&rdquo; says Detroit GM Jimmy Devellano, who is reluctant to criticize the man he rewarded with a big contract earlier this season. &ldquo;The other teams know him a little bit better. They know his moves.&rdquo;Perhaps familiarity has bred both contempt and respect among rivals for his accomplishments.&ldquo;Obviously, Steve has to adjust and he&rsquo;s a good enough player that he will,&rdquo; continues Devellano. &ldquo;The team as a whole hasn&rsquo;t done well, which makes it a little difficult.&rdquo;Harry Neale, speaking about Yzerman before his dismissal on Dec. 30, suggested the center was overhandling the puck.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s trying to fool too many people. He&rsquo;s trying to stickhandle and beat too many guys by himself,&rdquo; Neale said to Vartan Kupelian of the Detroit News.So determined were the Wings to help Yzerman break out of his slump that assistant coach Colin Campbell compiled a highlight film of past heroics by the former Peterborough Pete.In the meantime, Carpenter (14-18-32) had shown signs of emerging from a season-long brush with mediocrity.Carpenter, who established a record for goals (53) by an American-born player last year, had just 14 goals in 32 games. He had scored, however, six goals and five assists in his last 10 games.A free agent with compensation after playing out his option last season, Carpenter endured lengthy and difficult contract negotiations during the summer. That unpleasant business affected both Carpenter&rsquo;s mental and physical preparation for the 1985-86 season.&ldquo;When a season starts off downhill it&rsquo;s hard to turn around. 1 wasn&rsquo;t prepared for the start of the season,&rdquo; Carpenter admitted to Bob Fachet of the Washington Post. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know where I&rsquo;d be. My mind was everywhere else but prepared to play.&rdquo;Bothersome injuries haven&rsquo;t helped matters for Carpenter who played through them, keeping intact his 367-game ironman streak, but didn&rsquo;t play well with them.&ldquo;1 think we&rsquo;re just starting to see now, as we enter the second half. Carpenter getting back to the form that made him a 50-goal scorer,&rdquo; says Poile. &ldquo;A lot of intangibles have added up to a less-than-expected start for him.&rdquo;Jets&rsquo; goalie Hayward shares with Yzerman the misfortune of playing for a team that has been most disappointing this year.Winnipeg, which progressed by 23 points last year, has regressed profoundly this season. That circumstance is reflected in Hayward&rsquo;s vital statistics&mdash;his lifeline to the NHL.Hayward, the busiest goalie in the league last season, led the NHL in wins (33) and had a 3.86 goals-against average. After 35 games this season he had but eight wins and a GAA of 5.05.&ldquo;There was a period this season when 1 struggled and 1&rsquo;11 be the first to admit that,&rdquo; says Hayward, 25. &ldquo;I do kind of cringe when 1 look at my record and goals-against average. I feel there are a lot of team factors involved. We just haven&rsquo;t played close to the way our team played last season.&rdquo;Winnipeg GM John Ferguson believes goaltending has been a major shortcoming.&ldquo;Seventy-five per cent of a team&rsquo;s success is based on its goaltending,&rdquo; Ferguson told Reyn Davis of the Winnipeg Free Press. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t get the big save. We have to stop that problem of giving up five goals on 22 shots a game. But that&rsquo;s the way it&rsquo;s been.&rdquo;Hayward, who gave up seven goals on 26 shots in a loss to Hartford on Jan. 25, is in only partial agreement with Ferguson.&ldquo;Any time a team is losing consistently there are going to be fingers pointed at the goaltender and like I said. I&rsquo;ll take some of the responsibility for our club not winning as often as last year. But by no means do I feel that&rsquo;s the major reason.&rdquo;Two reasons, in Hayward&rsquo;s defense, is reduced firepower (the Jets were averaging just 3.5 goals per game as opposed to nearly 4.5 last year) and defensive breakdowns in front of him.The Jets sent him down to Sherbrooke in December for five days in a bid to rebuild his confidence. Hayward responded by compiling a 1.69 GAA in three games and earning player-of-the-week honors.&ldquo;I think since then I&rsquo;ve played well,&rdquo; said Hayward. &ldquo;This season 1 had a period of four or five games where I just didn&rsquo;t play well at all but as far as I&rsquo;m concerned that&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;Hayward, a fourth-year pro out of Cornell, recently abandoned his new goalie pads in favor of those he wore last year. Perhaps he was hoping the more things change, the more they&rsquo;ll remain the same (as last year). &#9632;

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Departments

UP And DOWN In The NHL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021195/5004363-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="206" height="235"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Orr</figcaption></div>GRANTED, A LONG, strong memory is needed to remember when the Toronto&rdquo; Maple Leafs last ruled the National Hockey League, but it really did happen back there in the 1960s. Under the benevolent dictatorship of George (Punch) 1mlach, the Leafs won the Stanley Cup four times in six years between 1960 and &lsquo;67.Imlach was the general manger and coach of those teams&mdash;there was no need to use &ldquo;head coach&rdquo; because NHL clubs had only one back then&mdash;and the man in complete control of the Leaf franchise.When the Leafs were on that roll, Imlach was asked if he considered hiring a coach for the team and restricting his duties to the GM&rsquo;s role.&ldquo;No way!&rdquo; replied El Puncho. &ldquo;First of all, coaching is the part of it all I like best. But the big reason why I&rsquo;ll keep both jobs is that it wouldn&rsquo;t be fair for me to hire anyone to coach the team. I call all the shots in this organization and everyone knows that. No coach 1 hired would have any clout with the players because of that. They would figure it was an Edger Bergen and Charlie McCarthy set-up.&rdquo;Imlach was forced to give up the coaching segment of his portfolio after he moved on from Toronto to mastermind the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; entry into the NHL and had his first of several heart attacks during the &lsquo;71-72 season. Oh, Punch still had a high old time in the game after that but it&rsquo;s doubtful if the game were ever quite as much pure fun for him as when he did both jobs.The statements Imlach made long ago were recalled the other day when Scott Bowman, director of hockey operations and GM of the Sabres, sacked Jim Schoenfeld after a half-season as coach and returned to the job himself.The Sabres were perched at.500 under Schoenfeld&rsquo;s guidance, not a bad mark because eight NHL teams were below the break-even point. But in the Adams Division, the NHL&rsquo;s most competitive, a.500 record very likely will rule out playoff participation. That the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; ascent is real complicates the division for both the Sabres and Boston Bruins, if not the Montreal Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques, who have opened slight leads &lsquo;on the field.An assortment of reasons were offered for Bowman&rsquo;s return to the coaching post for the third time since he joined the Sabres from the Canadiens in 1979. That list included philosophical differences with Schoenfeld over discipline of players and the rookie coach&rsquo;s reluctance to give the team&rsquo;s young players a heavy enough workload.But the bottom line in the ouster of Schoenfeld, just as it was when Bowman replaced Roger Neilson and Jim Roberts earlier, was the one Imlach used back in the &lsquo;60s. Bowman runs the Sabre hockey organization and calls all the shots at every level. It&rsquo;s just about impossible for any man to develop clout in the coaching job as long as Bowman is there, no matter to what ends Scott goes to make it appear as if he isn&rsquo;t meddling in that part of it.Bowman finds himself in the same spot as Bob Pulford is in now with the Chicago Black Hawks and the one Harry Sinden has worked himself into with the Bruins and that which Emile Francis once occupied in earlier days with the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. Pulford, Sinden and Francis all ran good organizations from top to bottom and not only were excellent in the front office but on the ice and behind the bench as well.Pulford and Sinden have replaced coaches with themselves twice each and Pully continues in the two jobs. Francis did it five times, thrice with the Rangers and twice with the Blues before moving to the Whalers, where Jack Evans is solid in the coaching post.Pulford, given his druthers, would limit his workload to the GM job. But he does have a problem: Where does he find a coach who is as good at the job as he is? In Bowman&rsquo;s case, to ask the same question is a little silly. He is the best at the job, if the number of career wins can be used as a measuring stick.When he took the head coaching job with the Detroit Red Wings last summer, Harry Neale claimed that it was appealing because the team&rsquo;s GM, Jim Devellano, couldn&rsquo;t skate. Harry had replaced a coach or two himself during his days as GM with Vancouver Canucks and figured that Jimmy D&rsquo;s lack of expertise on the blades made the coaching post in Detroit a little safer.It didn&rsquo;t work that way. &#9632;

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Columnists

You Just Can’t Coach For Some Men

Wendel Clark is sure to be starry-eyed when he plays in the All-Star Game on Feb. 4 but it may be others who are seeing stars if the Toronto Maple Leaf rookie plays true to form.The left winger, who has already established himself as one of the game&rsquo;s best open-ice bodycheckers, was one of only two rookies named to play in Hartford at the annual gathering of the game&rsquo;s best and brightest stars.Gary Suter, a Calgary Flame defenseman, was the other first-year player chosen by Campbell Conference coach Glen Sather.There were no rookies added by Wales Conference coach Mike Keenan.Both men, who met in the Stanley Cup final last year, named 14 additions to starting lineups already chosen by fans in league-wide balloting.Others chosen by Sather included four members of his own team, the champion Edmonton Oilers. They are left winger Mark Messier, defensemen Kevin Lowe and Lee Fogolin and goalie Andy Moog.Their selection brings to nine the number of Edmonton players who will be participating in the game. Center Wayne Gretzky, right winger Jari Kurri, left winger Glenn Anderson and goalie Grant Fuhr were all fan favorites for the Campbell team.The only non-Oiler chosen in voting was Chicago defenseman Doug Wilson.Others named by Sather were left winger John Ogrodnick of Detroit, centers Denis Savard of Chicago, Dale Hawerchuk of Winnipeg and Neal Broten of Minnesota, right wingers Mark Hunter of St. Louis, Tony Tanti of Vancouver and Dave Taylor of Los Angeles plus defenseman Rob Ramage of St. Louis.Among the additions to Keenan&rsquo;s Wales team were three all-star veterans, right winger Mike Bossy and center Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders and defenseman Larry Robinson of Montreal.They&rsquo;ll join a starting lineup comprised of goalie Mario Gosselin of Quebec, defensemen Ray Bourque of Boston and Rod Langway of Washington, center Mario Lemieux of Pittsburgh, left winger Michel Goulet of Quebec and right winger Tim Kerr of Philadelphia.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031021/5004394-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="302" height="356"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wendel Clark&rsquo;s fierce play earned him an invitation to the All-Star Game.</figcaption></div>Like Sather, Keenan named four players from his own team&mdash;the Philadelphia Flyers&mdash;as additions. They were goalie Bob Froese, defenseman Mark Howe, center Dave Poulin and left winger Brian Propp.The others named were defensemen Mike Ramsey of Buffalo and Reijo Ruotsalainen of the New York Rangers, centers Peter Stastny of Quebec and Ron Francis of Hartford, left wingers Kirk Muller of New Jersey and Mats Naslund of Montreal and right winger Mike Gartner of Washington.Francis, out eight weeks with a broken ankle, is being replaced by left winger Sylvain Turgeon.Meanwhile, there was good news for Canadian hockey fans who will have the opportunity to see the all-star confrontation, after all.Neither national&rdquo; network, CTV nor CBC, will be carrying it but an arrangement has been made with TSN, Canada&rsquo;s pay-TV sports network.Ordinarily, only subscribers would be able to see the game on TSN but the signal is being unscrambled during a preview week for the channel.Viewers must, however, have converters to see the game.ESPN, the American cable network, will be the host broadcaster but TSN plans to add three cameras. There will also be a wireless camera mounted on one of the goals. &#9632;

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The Stars Will Be Out In Hartford

A story in the Jan. 10, 1986 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS mistakenly lists Hartford Whalers&rsquo; attendance as 100,146 after their first 10 home games of the season.That figure should have read 124,032, which represents an increase of 7,352, not a decrease of 16,534 as listed, over the same period last year. Only Winnipeg (plus-10,568) and Montreal (plus-8,994) have more improved attendance than Hartford.Hartford ranked 15th in league attendance after 10 games.The THN regrets any inconvenience this error may have caused the Whalers. &#9632;

CORRECTION

<div class="byline">By Bob Duff</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011148/5004449-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="242" height="243"></div>Q: I have a question about the Stanley Cup. Every time I see a picture of the famous mug. 1 see it is almost completely full of names of Stanley Cup winners. How long before the Cup will be full of names? Will the Cup be expanded?Ray Holmberg Brandon. Man.A: Actually, the Cup has expanded many times as the league added bands at different times over the years. But the current trophy in its present state will be completely full after 1992, and will actually be 100 years old in 1993. It is likely that all of the bands will be removed and put on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and they&rsquo;ll start all over again.Q: Where is the Avco Cup? When was it first awarded? What teams held it, and in what seasons?Larry Chase, West Bend. WIA: The Avco Cup was donated by the Avco Finance Co. to the World Hockey Association during that league&rsquo;s inaugural season, 1972-73. It was to be presented to the WHA&rsquo;s annual playoff champion.Its winners were as follows: 1972-73&mdash;New England Whalers; 1973-74 and 1974-75&mdash;Houston Aeros; 1975-76&mdash;Winnipeg Jets; 1976-77&mdash;Quebec Nordiques; 1977-78 and 1978-79&mdash;Winnipeg Jets.Today, seven years after the demise of the WHA, the Avco Cup has found its final resting place in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.Q: Could you please list the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; top five draft choices in their initial NHL season?Andrew Holland Fredericton, N.B.A: The Nordiques joined the NHL for the 1979-80 season, and didn&rsquo;t do too badly in their first visit to the draft table in the spring of 1979.Their first pick (20th overall) was Michel Goulet from the Quebec Remparts, via Birmingham of the WHA. The Nordiques followed up that astute pick by selecting Dale Hunter of the Sudbury Wolves 41st. Defenseman Lee Norwood of the Oshawa Generals was 62nd, and Czechoslovak Anton Stastny was 83rd. Rounding out the top five was defenseman Pierre Lacroix of Trois-Rivieres, who was selected 104th.Quebec made only one other pick in &lsquo;79, taking Toronto Marlboros&rsquo; defenseman Scott McGcown 125th. McGeown was the only one of the six who never saw action in a Nordiques&rsquo; uniform.It&rsquo;s not difficult to see the Nords started to assemble a fine hockey club in that initial season. Although Quebec missed the playoffs in &lsquo;79-80, players such as Goulet, Hunter and Stastny are key elements on today&rsquo;s Nordiques squad, which is undoubtedly a Stanley Cup contender.If you want your question answered in the Ask the Duffercolumn, 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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ASK THE DUFFER

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div>that the NHL teams with the most European-born players on their rosters are:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02844/5004480-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="596" height="413"></div> &#9632;

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Did You Know…

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div>One goal&mdash;that&rsquo;s all it took to change Paul Henderson&rsquo;s life, forever.The former National Hockey League and World Association player scored 388 goals as a professional but to most of the hockey world there was but one&mdash;the deciding tally in the monumental 1972 summit series between Canada and the USSR.His goal with 34 seconds remaining in the eighth game of the eight-game series provided Canada with more than a 6-5 single-game victory and 4-3-1 series win.It also saved face for a country more wrapped up in a sporting event than ever before or since.&ldquo;There was no doubt that by scoring that goal I became an instant national hero in Canada,&rdquo; recalled Henderson, a native of Kincardine, Ont., who played in the NHL over 13 seasons (1962-74. 1979-80) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Flames and five seasons (1974-79) in the WHA with the Toronto Toros and Birmingham Bulls.&ldquo;But people sometimes forget that I had a real good series against the Soviets. I finished the eight-game series as the second highest scorer for Team Canada (seven goals and three assists for 10 points) behind Phil Esposito.&ldquo;Although scoring the goal in the eighth game was my greatest thrill, I would also have to say that the winning goal I scored in the seventh game was very satisfying.&ldquo;Not only did it tie the series for us. I can also remember having to beat two Soviet defensemen to score the goal.&rdquo;.He also scored the winning goal in game six, giving him three winners in a row. It could have been four straight had Canada not collapsed in game five when the Soviets stormed back from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4.Remarkable achievements, one and all, for somebody who didn&rsquo;t expect much when he reported to Team Canada&rsquo;s training camp in August of 1972.&ldquo;I remember talking with Bobby Clarke and Ronnie Ellis about all of our chances of making the team,&rdquo; said Henderson, a left winger. &ldquo;We were all there with the attitude that we would do the best we could.&ldquo;I can still remember one night talking with Clarke and Ronnie and telling them that 1 expected to be playing on the fourth line at best.&ldquo;Little did I expect that I would become such a central figure in the whole series.&rdquo;Last year, members of Team Canada got together for a reunion game against a group of former NHLers in Toronto. As he stepped on the ice Henderson received a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 16,000. Twelve years have gone by but the fans have not forgotten Henderson&rsquo;s heroics.&ldquo;Coming back here to this was great,&rdquo; remarked Henderson, who at 42 is a devout Christian, lives with his family in Toronto and works with Campus Crusades For Christ and Athletes in Action. &ldquo;Nothing in my professional hockey career will ever be able to compare with what happened with Team Canada.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03593/5004511-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="533" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">After leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1974, Paul Henderson scored 30 goals in his first season with the Toronto Toros.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;By doing what I did with Team Canada. I think I expected too much of myself when I went back to playing in the NHL.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I ever measured up to what I expected from myself. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform those heroics like I did with Team Canada.&ldquo;Maybe I shouldn&rsquo;t have. I know that now. But I don&rsquo;t regret how things happened either by becoming a national hero.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Henderson Man Of Moment In 1972 ‘Summit Showdown’

Here&rsquo;s what was happening 20 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; New York Rangers&rsquo; left winger Reg Fleming was fined $200 by NHL president Clarence Campbell for a stick-swinging incident in a game against the Boston Bruins. While in the penalty box. Fleming took a swipe at Boston&rsquo;s Ted Green. Although he missed his intended target, Fleming&rsquo;s stick connected with linesman Brian Sopp, clipping him over the eye, for five stitches.&bull; In mid-season Hart Trophy voting. Bobby Hull led all other players in the NHL, by better than a 3-1 margin. Jacques Laperriere led all Norris candidates, Brit Selby of the Maple Leafs led the rookie field and Detroit&rsquo;s Alex Delvecchio led the Lady Byng candidates.Here&rsquo;s what was happening 15 years ago this week in hockey:&bull; Before a sellout crowd at Boston Garden. Bobby Hull led the West Division All-Stars in a 2-1 victory over the East Division All-Stars, in the 24th annual NHL All-Star game. &#9632;

20 Years Ago

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011328/5004566-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="185" height="247"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Fischler&rsquo;sON THE CONTRARY</figcaption></div>In plain English, the best hockey story this year isn&rsquo;t Wayne Gretzky gobbling up another scoring championship or Tim Kerr collecting a plethora of power-play goals or even John Ziegler keeping his job.The best story can be found any night behind the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; bench, where 44-year-old Barclay Plager, without saying a word, delivers a message about life.That message is simplicity itself&mdash;get every second&rsquo;s worth you can.Bare Plager has been doing just that for the past 17 months&mdash;ever since being informed that he had two inoperable brain tumors.&ldquo;The worst time,&rdquo; Plager recalls, &ldquo;was when I found out that I had it. For a couple of hours I was really down. The words &lsquo;tumor&rsquo; and &lsquo;cancer&rsquo; are a little bit scary. My wife and I were a little down.&rdquo;You&rsquo;ll notice the words, &ldquo;a little down.&rdquo; Conservatively, I&rsquo;d say 99 per cent of our population would have been wasted by the words, but not Barclay Plager. He looked adversity in the eye and decided to meet it, greet it and then beat it.&ldquo;After that (initial discovery) it was nothing hard,&rdquo; he argues. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to the Lord&mdash;and he&rsquo;s gonna get a lot of help from me. I&rsquo;ll fight it and I&rsquo;ll live the same way I did before.&rdquo;Which means that Barclay Plager, though he has suffered through the chemotherapy and radiation treatments, takes his spot behind the Blues&rsquo; bench with coach Jacques Demers, working every game as if he were in mint condition.&ldquo;After two weeks of radiation,&rdquo; he goes on, &ldquo;my hair had fallen out. It took about two days for it to be all out. That was strange. It hasn&rsquo;t grown back yet. The chemo wasn&rsquo;t exactly pleasant, but, hell, people go through a lot worse than I do.&rdquo;Friends who haven&rsquo;t seen Barclay for some time are surprised when they see him. The onetime robust defenseman has the frail look of one who has been through the cancer wars.&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m skinny,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I can get into a size 32. I don&rsquo;t think I ever wore a size 32. About the only thing they say to me when I see them (doctors) is try to get your weight up. I&rsquo;ve also got to watch getting colds and infections because of the chemo. I guess it kills good cells as well as the bad ones.&rdquo;Plager has finished the radiation and a year of chemotherapy. Now he&rsquo;s undergoing a different form of chemo. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not bad,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;just pills.&rdquo;Meanwhile, he tutors the Blues&rsquo; defensemen, plots strategy with the forwards and makes every road trip as Demers&rsquo; faithful aide-de-camp.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m doing everything I did before,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but I get a little bit tired. I never considered not working. When I was undergoing all the treatments, they wouldn&rsquo;t let me go back behind the bench. I could hardly wait until they were over just so I could get back behind the bench.&rdquo;Before he got the bad medical news, Plager had been as much a St. Louis fixture as The Arch and the Cardinals. Barclay was an original Blue in 1967, remaining with them as a tough defenseman for a decade. Then he turned to coaching in the Central League.&ldquo;I was lucky,&rdquo; he remembers. &ldquo;The first time I coached, I played, too. You can&rsquo;t do it in the NHL but in the minors you can be a player-coach. That made it easier for me to break in than just plain coaching right off the bat. You get to appreciate the players more when you&rsquo;re playing with them than just coaching them.&rdquo;Eventually he made it back to the Blues as a member of the coaching staff, but then the medical miseries hit. First, a seizure, then the discovery of scar tissue on the brain, then headaches and loss of memory. The tumors were found in 1984. After the initial shock, Barclay and his wife, Helen, decided to take on the challenge without flinching.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be lying if I said it&rsquo;s been hard,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;For some reason it hasn&rsquo;t been hard. I&rsquo;ve got a good wife who understands everything and I have good doctors. What&rsquo;s gonna happen is gonna happen.&rdquo;Nobody is quite sure what&rsquo;s going to happen&mdash;isn&rsquo;t that the story of the St. Louis Blues as well?&mdash;but Barclay deflects any sympathy as unnecessary.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t feel too sorry for yourself,&rdquo; he goes on. &ldquo;Not when you walk though the hospital and see so many kids there who have what you have. They seem to take it pretty good, too. &ldquo;At the expense of disagreeing with Barclay Plager, I will go on record saying that he is as inspirational as any hockey person who ever has come down the pike. But being Barclay Plager, who has played with a passion all his life, he doesn&rsquo;t see it that way.&ldquo;Inspiration,&rdquo; he says mulling over the idea. &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t think so. I don&rsquo;t know why people would say that because I think they&rsquo;d be the same way.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s nice of him to say that, but the facts are different. There is, truth be known, only one Barclay Plager. One helluva story, one very special man.<h2>TEN-SECOND THIRD DEGREE</h2>Mike Milbury, please take the stand.Q: As a player, you criticized management. Now that you&rsquo;re with management, how do you feel about free agency and a possible strike?MILBURY: Now I understand some of the problems that come with management but I can&rsquo;t dissolve all my past ties with the Players&rsquo; Association. My heart, I suppose, is still with the players; at least for now.Q: Is the threat of a strike next September real?MILBURY: I think it is and should be. That&rsquo;s the bottom line of leverage for the players. There should be some understanding of the issues and wants of the players before they go out on strike. There should be some ability (for players) to move from one team to another. That restriction shouldn&rsquo;t be; there should be a little more of an open market; certainly not total free agency but the compensation systems as they exist now are pretty stringent. The owners realize that there&rsquo;s going to have to be a change.<h2>LAUGHING TO THE BANK</h2>For a guy who&rsquo;s been fired twice in the past year (Canuck GM-Red Wing coach), Harry Neale has to be chuckling out of both corners of his mouth.Reason No. 1: He&rsquo;s pulling in an estimated 300 grand from both his Vancouver and Detroit contracts. That&rsquo;s good for a couple of California condominiums.Reason No. 2: Harry was righter than he was wrong. He&rsquo;s gone from Vancouver but what wonderful improvements have the Canucks wrought under GM Jack Gordon? Zilch. And he&rsquo;s gone from Detroit and there has been minimal magic from Brad Park&rsquo;s brain.So Neale has learned Article I from the Gump Worsley Book of Quotations: &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t make chicken salad out of chicken bleep.&rdquo;If nothing else, it is something Harry can enjoy contemplating while counting his money.<h2>20-SECOND THIRD DEGREE</h2>Mike Ridley, please take the stand.Q: All summer we heard about the big-money free agents Adam Oates and Ray Staszak and nothing about you. They&rsquo;re down and you&rsquo;re hot.RIDLEY: I expected to go back to the University of Manitoba after training camp. But as camp went along my chances got better. Still, I was enrolled in school. Next thing I knew I was playing in exhibition games and I made the team.Q: Let&rsquo;s have a hard-nosed comparison of Canadian college hockey, where you played, and the American collegiate game.RIDLEY: The American teams have a lot more money to support them and the players, themselves, are younger. They&rsquo;re pro prospects as they go into college. They try to improve and then go from there. The Canadian college players are older and Canadian college hockey is underrated. I&rsquo;ve played against some pretty good men who have never gotten a tryout. Our team was third rated in Canada and we played the University of North Dakota and they had gone to the (U.S.) Final Four. We beat them 5-0.Q: Have you been surprised by the media attention you get in New York?RIDLEY: I couldn&rsquo;t believe all the stuff that goes on. One night I went to a dinner and couldn&rsquo;t believe that the people treated us like gods. They were all over me for autographs like I was the best thing in the world. That took me aback.<h2>RACING RAYNER</h2>A recounting here of the exploits of Chuck Rayner, greatest skating goalie of all time, produced a phone call from his former teammate Pentti Lund.Rayner, who tended net for the New York Americans and then the Rangers, thought nothing of skating past his blue line to field pucks and was a master stickhandler.&ldquo;To be honest.&rdquo; says Lund, who went to the 1950 Stanley Cup finals with Rayner and the Rangers, &ldquo;Chuck was the second-best stickhandler on the club&mdash;after Edger Laprade. And some said that Edgar was the best stickhandler in the NHL at the time.&rdquo;Lund, now sports editor of Thunder Bay (Ont.) Times, tells a new and wonderful Rayner story.&ldquo;Our coach. Frank Boucher, loved to see Rayner stickhandle and &lsquo;Boosh&rsquo; always had this dream about Rayner playing up front. So one night we played an exhibition game in Quebec against the Aces. That was when Punch Imlach was playercoach back in the early 1950s.&ldquo;The Aces were in the Quebec Senior League at the time and they had a helluva team, but we were much better and were beating them by a lot. Now, it&rsquo;s late in the game and the face-off is in deep Quebec zone. Boucher calls Rayner to the bench and then sends him over to take the face-off. Can you imagine a goalie taking the face-off? But Chuck did and handled it well. We controlled the puck and they never scored.&rdquo;The conclusion to the story, played out later in a hotel lobby, was not as funny.&ldquo;Imlach walked in, saw the bunch of us and told Boucher he&rsquo;d never let the Rangers play another game in Quebec as long as he ran the Aces.&rdquo;(A couple of years later. Imlach was in Toronto, running the Leafs, so the Rangers had nothing to worry about.) &#9632;

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Barclay Plager—An Inspiration To Us All

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011182/5004621-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="67" height="64"></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Brian Kilrea, the New York Islanders&rsquo; assistant coach, was discussing one of his favorite players the other day.&ldquo;Bryan Trottier is the complete hockey player,&rdquo; Kilrea said. &ldquo;In his own end, he&rsquo;s better than most centers in the league. He&rsquo;s strong and so good with the puck.&rdquo;Kilrea paused, then smiled and added: &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s so good in tight games.&rdquo;Never was that more evident than in the Islanders&rsquo; game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum on Jan. 17. It was Trottier&rsquo;s goal with one second left to play that earned the Islanders a dramatic 4-3 comeback victory.Oddly. Trottier said he wasn&rsquo;t aware that time was running out when he took a pass from Mike Bossy and hoisted the puck behind goalie Bob Froese from the edge of the crease.&ldquo;I had no idea how much time was left,&rdquo; Trottier said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t look at the clock in a situation like that. I look at the puck.&ldquo;The thing that surprised me, though, was that I was so open that late in the game. The Flyers usually play me much tighter. But when Boss wound up with the puck, everybody seemed to veer toward him and I was all alone in front.&rdquo;Four nights later, Trottier and Bossy went on a rampage against the Flyers, totaling five points each in the Islanders&rsquo; 7-3 victory at Nassau Coliseum. Trottier had a goal and four assists while Bossy added two goals and three assists.It was the same day that Trottier and Bossy were added to the Wales Conference team for the All-Star Game at Hartford. However, the Flyers&rsquo; Mike Keenan, who will coach the team, ignored Denis Potvin. Ironically, Potvin used that game against the Flyers to match Bobby Orr&rsquo;s record 270 goals fora defenseman.And guess who set up Potvin&rsquo;s record-equalling goal? Bryan Trottier. He came up with the puck behind the Flyers&rsquo; net and whipped it to Potvin in the left faceoff circle.&ldquo;It was a perfect pass from Bryan,&rdquo; Potvin said.Though Trottier won&rsquo;t concede the point, this is a comeback season for him. He was hampered by injuries last season and settled for 28 goals and 59 points, both career lows. His five-point splurge against the Flyers raised his season totals to 22 goals and 53 points.&ldquo;Bryan&rsquo;s been so dominant offensively,&rdquo; Kilrea said. &ldquo;Last season he was fighting those injuries. He&rsquo;s healthy now and we&rsquo;ve been the happy recipients.&rdquo;Trottier missed only one game during the first half of the season. He sat out a game against the Nordiques in early December with an aching right knee, but was back in action three nights later.&ldquo;This is the best I&rsquo;ve felt in three years,&rdquo; he confided. &ldquo;The weight training program I went through last summer has helped me a lot. But I think the offseason skating 1 did at my rink also has been a factor.&rdquo;Trottier opened an ice skating academy on Long Island last summer. It features Glice, a revolutionary plastic ice surface, which is considered ideal for the training of young hockey prospects&mdash;and veterans, too. In fact, John Tonelli of the Islanders skated at Trottier&rsquo;s rink every day during his salary holdout last September.When Trottier isn&rsquo;t busy at his rink, he spends his spare time helping others. He is reluctant to discuss this part of his life, but his wife, Nickie, disclosed that the 29-year-old center involves himself in charity work and hospital visits.&ldquo;Bryan used to make a lot of paid appearances at supermarkets and auto agencies, but he limits that now,&rdquo; Nickie Trottier said. &ldquo;He does tons of charities. He prefers helping out in drug rehabilitation programs on the Island.&rdquo;Trottier also spends a lot of time with his children&mdash;Bryan Jr., 7, and Lindsy Ann. 4.&ldquo;Bryan is very good with the kids,&rdquo; his wife said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not easy to get up in the morning, but when the team is home he drives the children to school every morning. Then he goes right to practice. He&rsquo;s always the first player there.&rdquo;During off-days at home. Trottier also spends some time in his basement workshop.&ldquo;He recently built some wooden cabinets and cubicles at the top of our closets for the storage of sweaters and stuff,&rdquo; Nickie Trottier said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very handy guy.&rdquo;Anybody who has played with or against Bryan Trottier would agree on that. &#9632;</div>

Isles’ Superstar Trottier Back In Fine Form

The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd85 Scarsdale Road, #100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2.<h2>Bricks And Bouquets</h2>IF THE PLAYERS get to take a break, of the all-star variety, from the rigors of everyday life in the National Hockey League, then there&rsquo;s no reason why THN&rsquo;s editorial writers don&rsquo;t get to engage in a little fun and frivolity, too.That is, rather than launch into our regular tirade on one specific topic, we&rsquo;ll resort to a little hit-and-run action. Yes, it&rsquo;s time for another installment of Bricks and Bouquets.A BRICK to the National Hockey League for bungling the All-Star Game telecast in Canada.The NHL would like to have us believe that networks in Canada&mdash;CBC and CTV&mdash;pulled the rug out from underneath them.Well, that&rsquo;s not exactly true. CTV, which was supposed to show the game, opted for the Joan Collins&rsquo; mini-series Sins. Who can blame CTV for making a sound ratings decision? Joan Collins vs. Wayne Gretzky. It&rsquo;s no contest on prime-time TV.And then when the NHL went back to the CBC, whose All-Star bid was earlier rejected, there was no longer any interest.Now, the game is being shown on The Sports Network, which will unscramble its signal for all viewers with a converter. If nothing else, this little episode should make the NHL realize how attractive its All-Star format is.A BOUQUET to the Ontario League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for coming up with an all-star format that is both intriguing and significant.For the first time ever, the two leagues&rsquo; all-star teams faced off against each other in a two-game series. Given the age-old rivalries that exist between the two and the underlying current of chauvinism&mdash;the English Canada vs. French Canada variety&mdash;it should make for an exciting showdown.A TENTATIVE BRICK to the OHL and QMJHL if they allow that chauvinism to exceed an acceptable limit and turn the two-game series into something more an athletic event.A BRICK to Detroit Red Wing coach Brad Park. When Park, a supposedly astute hockey man, took over as coach, he said he was going to get the Wings playing &ldquo;intelligent hockey.&rdquo;Are we to assume that Bob Probert&rsquo;s sickening cheap shot (head butt) of Maple Leaf Bob McGill was &ldquo;intelligent&rdquo;? Or that Park admitting to sending his players off the bench, for which he was suspended six games and the Wings fined $5,000 by the league, falls into the same category?For the sake of the Red Wings, and for that matter the entire game, let&rsquo;s hope not. &#9632;

The Hockey News

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011267/5004676-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="906" height="843"><figcaption class="caption-body"><custom name="underline">Directions</custom>1. Cut along dotted line.2. Tope to T.V screen.3. You are now able to watch any Montreal &mdash; Quebec game ever played.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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INSTANT VIDEO TAPE COLLECTION

I believe it is time the NHL amends the system for awarding points for overtime games.In my view the team which loses an overtime game should still be awarded one point. I think a team which has worked hard through three periods but then loses in five minutes of sudden-death overtime has earned a point.This would certainly add to the excitement of overtime play as it would encourage teams to be more offensive-minded in the hope they can score a goal to break a tie and earn another point.All too often, a team, particularly on the road, will be very happy to gain a tie and earn one point. The result is quite often an unexciting and uninspired five minutes of hockey&mdash;with all effort generated towards preserving a tie.Allan Tholl,Creston. BC(A sensible idea whose time has come.)<h2>GETTING FACTS STRAIGHT</h2>In THN&rsquo;s Western Hockey League story Jan. 10 regarding &ldquo;small fries&rdquo;, you refer to Greg Hawgood and Craig Endean. Attached please find the stats on these players from the WHL magazine.Craig Endean is 6-feet tall and started the season at 180 pounds. And he has been 6 feet since he was 16 years old. (Hawgood is listed at 5-foot-9, 174 pounds).Just thought I would correct your stats on him in case some scout uses your magazine as the gospel when and if he might send in his report on Craig to his pro team.Tom Endean,Prince George, BC(You&rsquo;re correct in noting pro scouts attach a great deal of weight to vital statistics.)<h2>POST-CHRISTMAS WISHES</h2>I would like to take this time to congratulate Jay Greenberg and Bob McKenzie on a warm and witty set of season&rsquo;s greetings. By far the best I&rsquo;ve read. It not only made me laugh but gave me food for thought and reflection.Thanks especially for the words on Pelle Lindbergh. It reminds us that.we should remember a man for how he lived, rather than how he died. This, in particular, should apply to Pelle&mdash;a man who&rsquo;ll be remembered for his warm sense of humor, courageous spirit and, of course, unparalleled excellence on the ice.Also, a few post-Christmas wishes for:Stan Fischler and Don Cherry: Continued color and controversy without which we would all be that much poorer.Frank Orr: Thanks for a great book (Puck Is A Four-Letter Word). I heartily recommend it to anyone who loves the game of hockey.To all NHL players: Lower sticks and a higher percentage of face shields.Erik Baadsgaard,Fort Nelson, BC(And to Erik Baadsgaard: Our undying gratitude. Keep those flattering letters coming.)<h2>GETTING STUFFED</h2>Wasn&rsquo;t it just a few years ago that critics north of the border were proclaiming that Washington wouldn&rsquo;t support an NHL team and that the Capitals should move to Saskatoon or other points north where they would be appreciated?In light of that sort of criticism, it&rsquo;s noteworthy that the NHL city with the highest number of fan votes for this year&rsquo;s All-Star Game throughout most of the voting period was Washington. In fact, it&rsquo;s amusing to hear some of the critics now accusing the Capitals&rsquo; fans of &ldquo;stuffing&rdquo; the ballot box.How times change.Steve Mehlman,Crofton, MD(Such criticism is a Capital offense to Washington fans.)<h2>NO PAT ON THE BACK</h2>I&rsquo;ve always disliked the use of the term &lsquo;franchise&rsquo;. Granted, some players are (for example, Nos. 99 and 66), but it remains a terribly over-used cliche.John Ferguson, for instance, should be slapped with a glove that has &lsquo;Franchise&rsquo; written on it. But you guys have really beaten it to death.The Islanders have slipped, sure, but on a team that still has the four corners of its recent &lsquo;dynasty&rsquo; intact (Potvin, Trottier, Bossy and Smith) you label Pat LaFontaine as &lsquo;The Franchise&rsquo;. Don&rsquo;t be ridiculous.D.L. Cameron,Pickle Lake, ON(Pat LaFontaine, by the way, went seven games without a goal after the story in question. Call it the &lsquo;THN Cover Story Jinx&rsquo;.)<div class="sidebar"><h2>FAN FORUM</h2>Let your voice be heard! Send your comments to Fan Forum, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 2R2. THN reserves the right to edit all submissions. &#9632;</div>

Overtime Losses Should Be Worth One Point

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02941/5004762-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="60" height="60"></div>BOSTON&mdash;Individually, they were hardly filled with promise but a short time ago. Together, however, they have suddenly emerged as a scoring threat for the Boston Bruins.By description they are a 32-year-old right winger who was thought by some to be over the hill, a centerman whose career could have been ended on the operating table, and a left winger who nobody wanted only a month ago.By name, they are Rick Middleton, Barry Pederson and Geoff Courtnall.&ldquo;That line has really come alive,&rdquo; said coach Butch Goring after the line, together for six games, had accounted for two goals and four assists in an 8-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re starting to get a good feeling for each other out there. It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ve been looking for, especially with Rick and Barry, something to really get going.&ldquo;I said earlier in the year the flow wasn&rsquo;t really working for those two guys. Geoff Courtnall on left wing seems to be good for them. That extra speed on the left side seems to help them out.&rdquo;The mystery man of the trio is Middleton, who averaged nearly 45 goals a season for six years, then slumped to only 30 goals last season and had only six in the first 40 games this year.Middleton himself has difficulty explaining what happened last season.&ldquo;It was a very confusing season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was always trying to figure out what to do. It started poor and when you have a bad start it snowballs. That&rsquo;s what happened and I couldn&rsquo;t pull out of it.&ldquo;There were a hundred reasons and you can blame everyone of them. It&rsquo;s just something that happened. If I could have stopped it I would have but I couldn&rsquo;t and it kept getting more confusing.&rdquo;Perhaps it was the loss of his longtime linemate, Pederson, who underwent massive surgery for removal of a non-malignant growth on his right arm and missed all but 22 games of the season.&ldquo;Sure,&rdquo; said Middleton, &ldquo;it was a factor that Barry was out. We were the top line for the last few years. Also I didn&rsquo;t have a consistent left wing. I was thinking, &lsquo;Here I am, out here by myself in no man&rsquo;s land.&rsquo;&rdquo;Goring started Middleton and Pederson together for the first 10 games of the current season, then broke them up when they weren&rsquo;t producing.&ldquo;He put me on sort of a checking line with Stevie Kasper or Billy Derlago,&rdquo; said Middleton. &ldquo;He was hoping to get some offense out of the checking line while checking some of the bigger lines.&ldquo;Needless to say, you don&rsquo;t get on the power plays and you&rsquo;re not necessarily always going to the net. You have to be aware of the other line on the ice. It takes away from your offensive abilities.&ldquo;I was finding I&rsquo;d get maybe one or two good chances a game. I used to get one good chance a shift or a couple a period. It seems to be flowing back right now.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind playing a checking role but through my whole career I&rsquo;ve been an offensive player and I was missing all those chances. It was a bit of a culture shock.&ldquo;It feels good to be playing with Barry again and getting some of those offensive chances every shift and making things happen out there. I&rsquo;d like to get the feeling around the net again.&rdquo;Courtnall, who scored seven goals in seven straight games, only two behind Phil Esposito&rsquo;s team record, while playing with Middleton and Pederson has benefited as much from them as they from him.&ldquo;I try to hit and muck it out in the comers a little more than they do,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I try to come from behind and pick up the loose puck in front of the net.&ldquo;A lot of times both defensemen and the forward ail go in on them and if I come in from behind the puck will squirt out. I&rsquo;ve been successful doing that.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN&mdash;Charlie Simmer, wearing a clear plastic face shield, returned to the Bruins&rsquo; lineup after missing six games with an eye injury and scored his 18th of the season, in a 6-5 loss over Detroit. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say it was as good as it was before,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I can see clearly through the visor and there&rsquo;s no double vision.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

Courtnall Sparks B’s Dozing Duo

<div class="byline">BY DAVID BOOTH</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011248/5004731-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="59" height="61"></div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;It should come as no surprise that since the beginning of his National Hockey League career in 1980, Jean-Francois Sauve has never really stood out in a crowd.At 5-foot-6, Sauve shares the distinction of being the shortest player in the circuit along with Pittsburgh netminder Roberto Romano.But if Sauve has never been physically imposing, his playmaking skills and intensity have often been just that. In the past three months, for instance, the diminutive centerman has transformed the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; power play from one of the league&rsquo;s worst to one of the best.Statistically, the Quebec power play has graduated from the depths of the league standings to a position among the elite thanks largely to Sauve&rsquo;s expertise as a point man.After sputtering in the early season, the Nords went on a tear of 43 goals in 131 attempts, an efficiency rating of 32.8 per cent.How does Sauve explain the transition in the Nordiques&rsquo; power play?&ldquo;Success breeds success and when a unit gains confidence it becomes more aggressive and less prone to making errors,&rdquo; suggested Sauve. &ldquo;Other teams have become aware of the potency of our power play attack and we try to keep them off balance by using a variety of different plays and strategies.&ldquo;I personally am working harder than 11 ever have and the cohesion that has been created by the five players on the power play-unit has added up to our scoring goals at a furious clip. It&rsquo;s important to have other teams respect your power play. The opposition knows it can&rsquo;t afford foolish penalties.&rdquo;While perseverance has a lot to do with Sauve&rsquo;s success, another factor has been the acceptance of his role on the team.From November to the third week of January. 39 of his 40 points were registered during manpower advantages. After Sauve had netted two power-play goals while seeing limited ice time in a vital 3-2 victory over Montreal on Jan. 20, coach Michel Bergeron said, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s my top relief pitcher, my clutch field goal kicker. He just comes off the bench and does the job. After three straight losses we needed someone to get us back on track.&rdquo;It was in Buffalo during the 1981-82 season when he pivoted a line with Alan Haworth and Yvon Lambert that Sauve last saw service as a regular centerman.Since then, he has been a role player. In 69 games that year, he amassed a career-high 55 points. Well on his way to surpassing that mark in &lsquo;85-86, with 43 points in 42 outings, Sauve is philosophical.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a regular now, a power-play regular. With centermen like Peter Stastny, Dale Hunter and Paul Gillis on our squad, I know what the team expects of me,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;From the first day I arrived at Quebec in 1983. Michel Bergeron played straight with me so I knew immediately what management intentions were. If being a power-play specialist will prolong my NHL career, I certainly won&rsquo;t complain.&rdquo;While proud of his personal achievements the appropriately-named &ldquo;Tatoo&rdquo; has remained level-headed and realistic. Though he is going through the most productive phase of his professional career, the two-time Quebec League scoring champ is not clamoring for more ice time.&ldquo;I relish every minute I&rsquo;m out on the ice. I&rsquo;m just trying to do whatever is required of me to help this team in the ferocious Adams Division.&rdquo;Through Jan. 20, Sauve had notched 11 power-play goals which tied him for second place on the team with Peter Stastny. Michel Goulet led the squad with 20 manpower-advantage tallies.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing how many points you can generate with a well-synchronized power play. Look at the Gretzkys, the Bossys, the Kerrs. They consistently pick up more than half their points during manpower situations.&rdquo;The trend in the NHL in the past several years has been to build teams around the big men. If some challenge the resliency of smaller players and their capacity for withstanding the rigors of an 80-game schedule, Sauve is making a point.A smaller player can carry more than his own weight.Brent Ashton, the overtime hero in the Jan. 20 3-2 victory over Montreal which catapulted the Nordiques into a first-place tie with the Canadiens, realizes the importance of special teams.&ldquo;Once again tonight our special units turned things around for us. Twice we held the league&rsquo;s best power play off the board, and twice J.F. countered on our power-play opportunities,&rdquo; said Ashton.Michel Bergeron echoed the views of his players.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing how often the performance of a power-play or penalty-killing unit at key intervals in a game will set the tone for the entire match. A team that consistently outperforms its opponents on special teams will be constantly adding to its win column.&rdquo;NORDIQUE NOTES&mdash;Newly-acquired Greg Malone picked up assists in his first games as a Nordique. The points came in consecutive losses of 116 and 5-2 to his former mates, the Hartford Whalers. Michel Bergeron was using Malone as a fourth-line centerman and occasionally spotting him on the left side with the two Stastny brothers&hellip;As he did earlier in the year. Alain Cote took a few turns at the blue line to assist the overworked defensive regulars&hellip; Returning from a hand injury suffered Nov. 14. Richard Sevigny played 18 minutes in Quebec&rsquo;s 11-6 loss to Hartford on Jan. 17, giving up four goals. He later agreed to be sent down to Fredericton for two weeks to regain his game form&hellip;Bergeron did not appreciate comments by Canadiens&rsquo; coach Jean Perron prior to the Jan. 20 confrontation. Perron claimed the Nordiques were much less disciplined than his troops. &#9632;</div>

J.F. Sauve A Short Superman On Power Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011306/5004793-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="196" height="253"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption></div>OBSERVATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, RESERVATIONS, commendations and denunciations:You wouldn&rsquo;t catch me out there without a visor. The number of eye accidents in the last two years is largely a terrible coincidence, but there is truth to the theory that the helmet factor leads to carelessness.So fine, greater enforcement of high-sticking penalties, which the NHL has promised, is necessary. But that still won&rsquo;t save any eyes from pucks. Players today shoot the puck harder and and often higher, and the extra glass around the boards adds one more factor to a dangerous equation.The visors tend to fog and distort a certain amount of vision and it&rsquo;s tough to teach old dogs new tricks. I wonder how many of the players who have recently decided to wear face protection are going to stay with it. The visors do require some adjustment.But remember when goalies complained about masks hampering their peripheral vision and when helmets were too hot?Hopefully, the new generation of players, required to wear face protection in college and junior, will suffer no peer pressure to take the things off when they turn pro. And year-by-year, the game will become safer. There are some good arguments against the cage&mdash;like neck injuries from frustrated players tugging on them&mdash;but none against the plastic shield.It&rsquo;s time for the NHL to appoint a committee to come up with ideas to spruce up the All-Star Game. It is neither competitive, nor very entertaining in its present form, but the league doesn&rsquo;t seem to care.Maybe the Canadian Sports Network&rsquo;s refusal to come up with the dough the league feels the game is worth will turn out to be mandate for reform. If it were a good show, CSN would be paying more.The point, I am often told, is that while Wales vs. Campbells may not get your blood boiling, the game is supposed to be a showcase of individual skills. All right, then name some great individual performances from the last five or six games. What are your favorite all-star memories? Wayne Gretzky scoring four goals in Uniondale in 1983? Good. Let&rsquo;s hear another one.The stone silence that falls over the crowd year after year as the game progresses is an absolute indictment. In noisy rinks like the Nassau Coliseum, or quiet ones like the Saddledome, the reaction is always the same&mdash;no reaction at all.Okay, if the fear of getting players hurt still dictates a gentle, no-check, contest, there are still things that could be done.The NBA has included an oldtimers game in its all-star package. The possibilities for one-on-one contests, races, and shooting duels are endless. Would somebody please take the time to plan some fun? Every year I feel sorry for the hosts, who always try to make such a good impression. They deserve a better game.Again this year, there are six games scheduled for Sunday night, which means players and writers will be arriving in Hartford later on Monday and the league will be missing out opportunities for hype. Why can&rsquo;t the NHL allow an extra day for travel, have everybody there for Tuesday and then play the game on Wednesday?The fans&rsquo; vote was a good idea. The concept was to create interest, and the response was good. The selection of a player, Mario Gosselin, who is no longer Quebec&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie, was probably inevitable. There&rsquo;s only so much room on the ballots, and it was July guesswork to decide which names should go on them.But the coaches, who have to work within the rule that each team must be represented, should be given more flexibility to right the wrongs. And get all the game&rsquo;s big names into the game.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why we have to be limited to squads of 20,&rdquo; Wales&rsquo; coach Mike Keenan said. &ldquo;If each team has to be represented, then there&rsquo;s just not enough room to name veteran stars who should, off their past contributions, be invited.&ldquo;I expect a certain amount of criticism (for his selections). But the emphasis should be on the league to name a real all-star team.&rdquo;If you aren&rsquo;t going to do it right, why do it at all?There were a lot of subplots invoved in the Jim Schoenfeld firing in Buffalo. Was it strictly Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s decision or was he pressured by Sabre owners Seymour and Northrop Knox? Did the revolving door between Buffalo and Rochester leave Schoenfeld the players he wanted?Did the Roger Neilson and Jimmy Roberts experiences make Schoenfeld overreact in trying to guarantee his autonomy and miss out on Bowman&rsquo;s valuable advice?But the bottom line is that none of these things would even have come up if the Sabres&rsquo; young players were developing as hoped. And I remember writing three years ago that people looking to Edmonton as the league&rsquo;s next champion could be searching in the wrong place. Shows you what I know. &#9632;

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Face The Facts, Players Should Wear Visors

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021008/5004824-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="82" height="45"></div>LANDOVER&mdash;It has taken 12 years, but the city of Washington finally has turned a substantial share of its sports attention to hockey, specifically the Capitals.Recent sellouts of 18,130 for visits by the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders pushed the season attendance average to 13,839. With the Washington Redskins long gone from the football playoff scene and with the Patrick Division race heating up, the Capitals were certain to top last year&rsquo;s record high of 14,008.The signs are there for a future breakthrough.A Feb. 8 contest against Edmonton was sold out without a public sale, as the 7,000 season ticket holders and 6.500 subscribers to partial plans exercised their option for additional tickets.The season-ticket figure is the highest in the club&rsquo;s history, topping the 6,800 mark of the first year, 1974-75, when the team&rsquo;s pitiful on-ice performance quickly eroded the base.Although the Capitals&rsquo; ticket prices are the NHL&rsquo;s lowest at $17, $15 and $9.50, they were kept low by the early years of struggle for respectability. During the first season, prices were $8.50, $6.50 and $4, and it was difficult to raise them in the face of public ridicule or, at best, indifference.Since the team moved into the NHL&rsquo;s elite three years ago, ticket prices have been moving steadily higher. At the same time, the Capitals eliminated freebies and greatly reduced their previous penchant for cut-rate tickets.&ldquo;The town is turned on to the Capitals more and more,&rdquo; said owner Abe Pollin. &ldquo;If we do what we&rsquo;re capable of doing in the playoffs, we&rsquo;ll take a major step forward. I&rsquo;d like to see all the seats full now, but we have made strides every year in the last four, and significant strides as far as paid attendance.&ldquo;Three or four years ago, if somebody told me the paid attendance we&rsquo;d projected for this year, I&rsquo;d have said they were nuts.&rdquo;Pollin himself was joining the rush to the hockey bandwagon. A lifetime basketball aficionado. Pollin sought an NHL franchise simply to fill enough dates to make construction of Capital Centre a viable proposition as a showcase for his basketball Bullets. His lack of hockey knowledge was one factor in the club&rsquo;s early woes.&ldquo;I poured many, many millions into this team (losses topped $22.8 million by June 1984, according to testimony at a Prince George&rsquo;s County Council tax hearing), but in the early years I never had the right combination,&rdquo; Pollin said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a quitter and I started learning about hockey myself and learned the right people to choose.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very much satisfied with our progress. We have a very, very professional organization, starting with Dick Patrick as the president. (General manager) David Poile, (coach) Bryan Murray and (marketing director) Lew Strudler have done outstanding jobs and the team has been great.&ldquo;Basketball was always my first love and 1 knew little about hockey. But I enjoy watching hockey. It&rsquo;s an exciting, fast and beautiful sport.&rdquo;Although all concerned realize that it took on-ice success to put people in the Centre&rsquo;s seats, the aggressiveness of Strudler in pushing partial plans and persuading subscribers to upgrade to more games or to full-season tickets has been a key to the increased attendance.&ldquo;Lew Strudler has been a real catalyst as the marketing director and office manager,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy I have to kick out of my office for all the ideas he&rsquo;s constantly presenting, just so I can get other work done. He&rsquo;s as determined as I am to some day get the building sold out for every home game.&rdquo;Strudler feels the inability of the public to purchase tickets to watch Edmonton will spur sales of season tickets and partial plans, as well as create a spillover effect, with fans attending less desirable games when they are shut out of the big ones.To push things a bit, Strudler has invited all holders of partial plans to attend a practice at Capital Centre Feb. 1. At that time, all seats available for season tickets will be labeled and fans will be encouraged to meet others for the purpose of splitting season tickets.&ldquo;I think we can get the season-ticket sale up to 7,500 by the end of the season,&rdquo; Strudler said. &ldquo;The next big jump will be commensurate with progress in the playoffs.&rdquo;Playing in the Patrick Division, the Capitals face some formidable obstacles. They have been eliminated from the playoffs three straight times by the Islanders and over the last two seasons have&rsquo; won only two of 10 games from the Flyers. Pollin thinks it is time for a big leap forward. &#9632;</div>

f0010-02

Caps Aim To Improve Season-Ticket Base

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011194/5004855-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="71" height="48"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The announcement that Randy Bucyk was coming was simple.There was no fanfare heralding the arrival of the man, who at the time of recall, was leading the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; farm team at Sherbrooke in scoring.Coach Jean Perron needed a forward and Bucyk filled the bill.&ldquo;He knows the game well,&rdquo; said Perron, impressed by Bucyk&rsquo;s work upon his arrival in mid-January. &ldquo;He knows what to do with the puck. He knows what to do when he doesn&rsquo;t have the puck.&rdquo;Bucyk, a 23-year-old native of Edmonton, was signed as a free agent by the Canadiens and made his professional debut last season with Sherbrooke.The nephew of former National Hockey Leaguer John Bucyk, now a Boston Bruins&rsquo; broadcaster, had been pursuing a civil engineering degree at Boston&rsquo;s ^Northeastern University. He now plans &lsquo;to finish the degree upon completion of his hockey career.Last season in Sherbrooke, Bucyk was playing well until a thumb injury put him out of action midway through the season.So when training camp came around this season, he was automatically tick&lsquo;eted for Sherbrooke while people such as Mike Lalor and Brian Skrudland, members of the American League championship club, graduated to the NHL.All Bucyk did in Sherbrooke was score 18 goals&mdash;including five shorthanded efforts&mdash;and 31 assists in 43 games.As Alfie Turcotte, Claude Lemieux. John Kordic and Kent Carlson were called up and subsequently sent down. Bucyk waited for his chance. He arrived just as his Sherbrooke roommate Carlson was returned.Playing on a line with Skrudland and Lucien DeBlois, Bucyk fit in just fine.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a basic system that we have here,&rdquo; said Bucyk. &ldquo;If you have a chance you force a play, if you don&rsquo;t then you sit back and take care of your wingers. So it&rsquo;s been very simple to adjust.&rdquo;Bucyk scored his first NHL goal Jan. 18 at the Forum against the New York Islanders, steering the puck by Kelly Hrudey while lying on his side. He enjoyed a two-goal effort in Minnesota five nights later as the Canadiens beat the North Stars 5-2.&ldquo;Things have gone well for me,&rdquo; Bucyk said. &ldquo;In fact, they have gone better than expected. I&rsquo;m getting a chance to play a lot and working on a line with Brian and Lucien is great. They arc two buzz-saws out there and our styles complement each other. I&rsquo;m sure if our line continues to produce, we&rsquo;ll stay together.&rdquo;The graduation of Lalor and Skrudland and the in-season promotion of Bucyk and defenseman Gaston Gingras should serve as a message for the minor leaguers in Sherbrooke with NHL aspirations.&ldquo;In Sherbrooke, everyone is working hard with the hope of being called up,&rdquo; Bucyk said. &ldquo;You have to come up here with some confidence and be ready to play.&rdquo;There is little doubt that Bucyk has applied that philosophy. At six feet. 190 pounds, he doesn&rsquo;t overwhelm opponents with his size, but like Skrudland, he can keep them off balance with savvy.Bucyk is the second Northeastern student in the Montreal organization. Chris Nilan, who was studying criminal law at the Boston university, is in his sixth year with the Canadiens.IN PASSING&mdash;Chris Chelios came back and played in Quebec Jan. 20, but reinjured his ailing left knee on his first shift. He is not expected back in the lineup until after the All-Star Game&hellip;Tom Kurvers missed just one game with tonisillitis, but did not play much in Chicago, Minnesota or against Toronto in Montreal as coach Jean Perron preferred to go with Gaston Gingras, who is 100 per cent healthy. Kurvers had dropped about seven pounds from the start of the year&hellip;Bobby Smith had his 18-game, point-scoring streak snapped in Minnesota on Jan. 23. During the streak, he had 12 goals and 17 assists&hellip;Mats Naslund broke a three-game pointless streak with a goal in Chicago&hellip;The Canadiens received a jolt on their charter flight to Chicago from Quebec. After an unscheduled refuelling stop in London, Ont., the Canadiens arrived over Chicago only to be told that the hydraulic system on the Air Ontario Convair 580 was not working and that the plane would return to London. As the plane touched down, the travelling entourage saw a couple of fire trucks on the runway&mdash;just in case. The Canadiens finally arrived at their hotel in Chicago nine hours after leaving Quebec.It&rsquo;s a basic system here. If you have a chance, you force the play&hellip;&rsquo; &#9632;</div>

Bucyk Fills The Bill For Hab Coach Perron

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021073/5004886-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="301" height="475"><figcaption class="caption-body">Warren Young&rsquo;s overtime goal ended a 10-game winless streak at home for Detroit.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011279/5004893-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="76" height="48"></div>DETROIT&mdash;At last count, 30 seconds ago (the figure changes every minute or so), the Detroit Red Wings had eight regulars sidelined with injuries, including stars John Ogrodnick and Petr Klima.Losing hurts.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very depressing,&rdquo; veteran Ron Duguay said. &ldquo;As much as you try to think positive and talk to yourself, you still go home and think about it. No one wants to think of himself as a loser.&rdquo;The Red Wings escaped a suffocating 10-game winless home streak, longest in the club&rsquo;s 60-year history, with a 6-5 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins.Warren Young&rsquo;s second goal of the game, at 1:32 of overtime, gave the Wings their first victory at Joe Louis Arena in more than six weeks.With Klima. Ogrodnick, Greg Stefan, Danny Gare, Dwight Foster, Gerard Gallant. Billy Carroll and Harold Snepsts all sidelined, coach Brad Park&rsquo;s makeshift lineup (one skater under the limit) managed to survive a Bruin rally. The Wings twice led by three goals in the first period only to have the Bruins take a 5-4 lead.Duguay sent it into overtime with his second goal of the game and Young won it.&ldquo;Steve (Yzerman) saw me breaking on my wing and he made a heads-up play,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;Then I just turned on the jets and away I went.&rdquo;Even Young, who isn&rsquo;t noted for his speed, had to smile at that line. That&rsquo;s the kind of evening it was. A few smiles, a few laughs and a lot of relieved hockey players, for a change, to say nothing of a relieved coach.&ldquo;We were getting down to our last pint of blood,&rdquo; Park said. &ldquo;Are you kidding? This is a transfusion.&ldquo;It lifts the spirits. It means maybe all our work is not in vain.&rdquo;Eddie Mio, the Wings&rsquo; much-maligned goalie, posted his first victory of the season. In the previous game in Chicago. Mio was carried off the ice on a stretcher after being knocked unconscious when a Steve Larmer shot caught him on the chin.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long time,&rdquo; Mio said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just nice to see the guys afterwards. We&rsquo;ve been getting dumped on so much, with the injuries and everything. We played for each other. Especially when we were ahead 4-1 and fell behind. We didn&rsquo;t quit. Normally we would have said, &lsquo;Here we go again.&rsquo; But we didn&rsquo;t. We didn&rsquo;t stop.&rdquo;When the Bruins tied it at 4-4, Young said. Park called the players over to the bench.&ldquo;He settled us down,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;He said if we don&rsquo;t believe in ourselves, nobody else will believe in us.&rdquo;Park called the 6-4 loss in Chicago, &ldquo;the best road game we&rsquo;ve played in three years. &ldquo;Four times the Blackhawks took the lead and four times the Red Wings got the next goal before defenseman Behn Wilson snapped a 4-4 tie midway through the second period. His shot caromed into the Detroit goal off rookie defenseman Jim Leavins&rsquo; leg. The Wings had 45 shots in the game but Chicago goaltender Bob Sauve was outstanding.&ldquo;The last few games we&rsquo;ve been working hard,&rdquo; said center Claude Loiselle after the Boston game. &ldquo;We should have won in Chicago&hellip;it&rsquo;s bound to happen, if we keep playing like we have been. A lot of teams are going to come in here and be surprised. This is a big lift.&rdquo;.Klima suffered a hip flexer injury in a 7-4 loss to Calgary and was out indefinitely. As a result, his spot on the Campbell Conference All-Star team went to Ogrodnick instead&hellip;before Ogrodnick suffered an ankle sprain that was to keep him out of at least three games.WING WIRE&mdash;Ray Staszak, the college free agent, spent a week in Detroit having his groin injury examined and working on rehabilitation. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s still limited,&rdquo; Staszak said as he left to return to Glens Falls, N.Y., home of the Adirondack club. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go back and continue rehab and see how it goes. It&rsquo;s a timeconsuming process. I rushed it last time and I ended up taking two steps forward and 20 steps backwards. I&rsquo;ll be smarter this time.&rdquo;&hellip;A much-rumored blockbuster between the Red Wings and Flames didn&rsquo;t materialize and both general managers denied they were ever close.</div><div style="clear: both;"> &#9632;</div>

f0012-02

What A Relief! Wings End Winless Streak

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03723/5004924-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="171" height="243"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Falls</figcaption></div>DID I EVER tell you that we have the worst seat in the house at Joe Louis Arena?They put the press in the very last row&mdash;squeeze us in on bar stools so we can see over the top of the crowd&mdash;where the game is but a rumor to us. What are the Red Wings hiding anyway (as if we didn&rsquo;t know)?The puck is a black dot from up there and many times it disappearsfrom sight. Not just behind Eddy Mio&rsquo;s back, either.Nobody cares, though, because we don&rsquo;t pay to get into the games.So, it is TV for me as much as possible because even if the puck does disappear from view, you can always pick it up on the replay.I happen to like hockey on TV.It is my second favorite pasttime in the winter. The first is turning up the heating blankets to 10.But it takes care&mdash;plenty of preparation&mdash;to correctly watch a hockey game on TV.We&rsquo;re lucky in Detroit. We get all kinds of hockey off the tube&mdash;the Red Wings, &ldquo;Hockey Night in Canada&rdquo; and, now, some games off ESPN, the American sports network.I have been known to arrange an entire day so I&rsquo;m completely set up for the opening faceoff at 7:30 p.m. First, there is Mary Jane to consider. She&rsquo;s the boss of the house, and a very pretty boss she is. She is also very understanding. She can&rsquo;t see the puck either, but she doesn&rsquo;t care. She is a replay wife. She only comes into my den when she hears: &ldquo;Hurry, hon, quick! Take a look at this play!&rdquo;She&rsquo;ll saunter into the edge of the room, usually holding a dish towel in her hands, and when Michel Goulet stands on his head and whirls in a backhander while being checked from both sides, she&rsquo;ll say: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s nice&hellip;did you remember to take out the trash?&rdquo;What you must do is find ways to entertain Mary Jane.I buy magazines, home movies and a lot of cake mix. She loves to make cakes. She loves to make them almost as much as I love to eat them.Usually, the evening line goes something like this: &ldquo;I see where there&rsquo;s a great movie on channel 50 at 7:30&rdquo; or, &ldquo;Have you read Sidney Sheldon&rsquo;s latest book&mdash;it&rsquo;s a sizzler. Lots of sex.&rdquo;She&rsquo;ll say: &ldquo;Did you remember to bring home your galoshes?&rdquo;I always take a shower before a game. That&rsquo;s so I can put on clean pyjamas. I also wear my robe and my bunny rabbit slippers and turn out all the lights. I have a clicker at my side so that when Don Cherry&rsquo; starts talking, I can turn down the sound.I like to put my feet up on the coffee table when I watch a hockey game. In fact, it is mandatory that I put my feet up on the coffee table when I watch a hockey game. That&rsquo;s to make room for my family&mdash;Ame, Kash. Mutchka, Mena, Noah, Boomer, Kugel and Kiki. Two puppies and six cats. What a marvelous feeling it is to have your family gather around you during the game. Sometimes, Mutchka asks me to turn off the sound completely when Don Cherry is talking.My lap looks like the penalty box in a Philadelphia-Boston game.I can&rsquo;t watch an NBA game from start to finish without getting the wiggles. But when the Nordiques are flashing in on the net, or Denis Savard is working his way out of a comer, or Tom Barrasso is batting the puck away&mdash;these are the finest moments in my life. On those winter nights, when my wife brings in the hot coffee and lemon cake, it is the closest I can get to heaven.&ldquo;Hurry hon&hellip;Mats Naslund just put one upstairs&hellip;&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-03

Watching Hockey On TV The Best

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011204/5004955-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="60" height="58"></div>HARTFORD&mdash;This was the year that it would all come together for Ronnie Francis, a fifth-year pro who turns 23 on March I.The Hartford Whalers would make the playoffs after five straight misses in his first, full season as captain. Francis would play in the All-Star Game before the home folks in Hartford and receive the kind of ovation generally reserved for kings and presidents and hockey players who do it right.Like Francis.He would score 100 points, and probably surpass Mike Rogers&rsquo; club record of 105. He would take the final step from the near-great to the great. Recognition, appreciation and self-fulfillment all would be his.This was the happy ending that Francis had been working for, waiting for and praying for.Next year was here, finally.Enter the hockey gods, who clearly aren&rsquo;t members of the Whalers Booster Club. In the past, the gods have messed with the Whalers&rsquo; win-loss record, sentenced them to life in the Adams Division, and won&rsquo;t even consider, for heaven&rsquo;s sake, tinkering with the existing playoff structure. Now they&rsquo;ve claimed Francis, the unkindest cut of all.Francis was checked by the Nordiques&rsquo; Mike Eagles in a game at Le Colisee, and when Francis&rsquo; skate, which may have been stuck in a rut, didn&rsquo;t move, the ligaments in his left ankle did. Projected absence: six to eight weeks.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll admit I&rsquo;m a little sour,&rdquo; said Francis, who had played in 138 straight games over three seasons. &ldquo;I keep thinking that I was here during the bad times, that maybe I had paid my dues, that some of the good things in the game were going to start coming my way. But 1 guess it just wasn&rsquo;t meant to be.&rdquo;Compounding the loss of Francis was a trade completed just one day before his injury. The Whalers sent Greg Malone, a trusted centerman, to Quebec for right winger Wayne Babych, defenseman Dave&rsquo;s older brother. Talk of bad timing. Without Francis and Malone, the Whalers were left with four, smallish centermen&mdash;Ray Ferraro, Dean Evason, Doug Jarvis and Dave Tippett&mdash;who are sure to be tested.Give the hockey gods two minutes for interference. No, make it five. They drew blood. His. Theirs.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bad morning,&rdquo; said Doug Jarvis upon hearing the news.&ldquo;A crippling blow,&rdquo; Mike Liut said.&ldquo;If a grown man could cry, I would,&rdquo; coach Jack Evans said.The sentiment&mdash;not Ronnie, anyone but Ronnie&mdash;was unanimous.The forced inactivity will frustrate Francis, who has wanted&mdash;and needed&mdash;an opportunity to strut his stuff since he arrived in Hartford five bleak winters ago. Now he is out of the hand, at least until mid-March. If he is to carry the banner, as he seemed perfectly qualified, even destined, to do, Francis will have to snatch it sometime late in the season and lead the charge into the playoffs.Assuming, of course, that the Whalers can get there&mdash;or stay close enough to get there&mdash;without him.&ldquo;All I ask is that we still have a shot when I get back,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;Realistically, we&rsquo;re talking somewhere between March 10 and March 20, but I&rsquo;m hoping for March 1. I want to be part of this.&rdquo;The real shame of it all is that Francis was on his way to a big season, just the sort that once accomplished could become routine for several years to come. Through 44 games, Francis had 19 goals and 60 points without playing exceptionally well. Don&rsquo;t misunderstand. He played well many times, but Francis never had a spectacular scoring streak and seemingly never did much out of the ordinary. For him, the numbers (19-60) and the pace (34-109) looked like par for the course.In short, this was the beginning of Ronnie Francis&rsquo; prime.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a cruel blow,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I gained a lot of confidence this year. I think I&rsquo;ll be able to pick up where I left off next year. But I don&rsquo;t want to think about next year. I don&rsquo;t want to wait until then.&rdquo;Francis already is plotting his comeback. Target date: March 1, his birthday.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had this baby elevated for the last three days.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The swelling&rsquo;s gone down a lot. I&rsquo;m going to change casts tomorrow and I&rsquo;ll continue to change them as many times as I have to. I want to keep it as tight as possible.&rdquo;Francis visits the weight room daily to work on his upper body strength. Otherwise, he reads, watches TV, answers his mail and &ldquo;maybe will get my taxes done on time for the first time ever.&rdquo;He planned to attend the All-Star Game with his family.&ldquo;Being named definitely picks you up a little bit, but all I can do is go and watch,&rdquo; he said.And wonder.&ldquo;Of all the sad wordsOf tongue or pen.The saddest are these:&lsquo;It might have been.&rsquo; &#9632;</div>

Whalers Suffer The ‘Unkindest Cut Of All’

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>A surprising story in the New York Daily News about Glenn (Chico) Resch has sparked charges and countercharges among the Big Apple&rsquo;s hockey writing fraternity. The uproar began with a major Resch feature written by News reporter Jim Poris. Accompanied by a grotesque photo of Resch, the piece centered on an alleged &ldquo;drinking problem&rdquo; Chico had early in his NHL career. However, a follow-up story in the rival New York Post by Hugh Delano challenged the veracity of Poris&rsquo; piece while a Devils&rsquo; official tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;Poris got it wrong.&rdquo; Although the News story generally suggested that a younger Resch had alcohol difficulties, a furious Resch charged that the feature was &ldquo;misleading&rdquo; and &ldquo;misinterpreted.&rdquo; A Devils&rsquo; official explains: &ldquo;What Chico was trying to say is that he didn&rsquo;t have a drinking problem. He had a personality problem, using drinking when he went out with the guys. The News made it a drinking problem and the headlines were very misleading.&rdquo; In an attempt to shoot down the News piece, Delano added: &ldquo;Anyone who knows Resch knows that he has a welldocumented reputation as a clean-living &lsquo;straight-arrow&rsquo;, a devout family man with strong religious convictions who doesn&rsquo;t smoke or, in the rough-and-tumble world of sports, swear.&rdquo; Poris, in turn, refuses to back down from his story.&ldquo;It was not misleading or misinterpreted,&rdquo; Poris tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t make up the quotes he gave me. The story stated clearly that it was a problem Resch perceived; a perception on his part.&rdquo; Admitting that the story&rsquo;s backlash &ldquo;has been upsetting to me,&rdquo; Poris nevertheless says he stands by his material. Adding more fuel to the controversy was still another Resch drinking story&mdash;this more subdued than the others&mdash;by Newsday&rsquo;s&nbsp;Pat Calabria, who has known Resch for a decade. &ldquo;In 10 years,&rdquo; Calabria tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;I never saw Chico drunk.&rdquo; However, Calabria supports the News reporter. &ldquo;Chico did give those quotes to Poris but the News headline (ADMITS PAST BOOZE BOUT) was misleading,&rdquo; says Calabria. Resch&rsquo;s many friends conclude that Chico&rsquo;s biggest problem was never liquor but loquaciousness and still is. &ldquo;I told Chico he&rsquo;s got a big bleeping mouth,&rdquo; says Calabria.The other war between newspapermen&mdash;this one over Hamilton&rsquo;s credentials as a potential NHL city&mdash;continues between Hamilton Spectator columnist Larry Sicinski and THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; Rod Beaton. The pair not only collided in print but also faced-off in a brief but pungent airwaves debate. Sicinski continues to sizzle over Beaton&rsquo;s &ldquo;It&rsquo;s bushleague&rdquo; attitude toward Hamilton. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be darned if 1&rsquo;11 sit idly by while some journalist from Nowhere, New Jersey makes comments like that,&rdquo; Sicinski tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;He has done a poor journalistic job, basing his views of Hamilton on three short days and a couple of nights in a few local bars.&rdquo; Beaton shoots back: &ldquo;Sicinski over-reacted to a light-hearted poke at Hamilton&rsquo;s apparent lack of culture. The fact is it doesn&rsquo;t take three days but rather three hours to tell that Hamilton is not an interesting and vibrant city. Besides, it was smalltown of Sicinski to knock me personally and impugn my credentials. &ldquo;&hellip;John Sop, a marketing man for the Ontario League, was surprised to find himself on stage alongside funnyman Billy Crystal at a recent show in Toronto. Crystal picked &lsquo;Soppy&rsquo; out of the audience to help him out.Canadiens insiders can&rsquo;t figure why Montreal&rsquo;s beat writers fail to give rookie coach Jean Perron more credit. One insider suggests that Montreal media vultures, who were swooping over Perron early in the season, just won&rsquo;t admit how wrong they were about him. The strong efforts by vets Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey are credited to Perron&hellip;An agent close to the scene says he won&rsquo;t be surprised to see Gordie Lane return to the NHL next season with the Red Wings&hellip;Ron Greschner&rsquo;s wife, supermodel Carol Alt, has been on 375 magazine covers. The pair recently appeared on Dr. Ruth Westheimer&rsquo;s (sex therapy) show&hellip;Ref supervisor Frank Udvari, now semi-retired, commutes to NHL games from his Florida home&hellip;A turn-off for teams interested in Ron Duguay is his $320,000 salary&hellip;Chris Nilan will eschew a return to Boston for summer work and remain in Montreal. The negative fallout from his clash with Rick Middleton has bothered the Beantown native.While&rsquo;Doug Wickenheiser is significantly ahead of his recuperation schedule, the Blues aren&rsquo;t counting on him for extensive work this season. Anything they get out of Wick in the homestretch will be viewed as a bonus&hellip;Although the subject of crooked agents often surfaces, no formal means has been devised to certify hockey reps. Players&rsquo; union head Al Eagleson says his unit can give advice if a player has any doubts. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; The Eagle tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re not in a position to certify anybody. That could be libelous.&rdquo;&hellip;Now that Mike Milbury has moved to a management position, Eagleson doesn&rsquo;t face a vocal critic among the players. The Eagle admits that, despite his differences with Milbury, he enjoyed their exchange. &ldquo;I liked the way he was up-front with his criticism,&rdquo; says Eagleson, &ldquo;but his head was confused. Nothing personal. I have no ill-feelings for Mike.&rdquo; Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck downs a chocolate bar before every game and has been doing so since peewee hockey in Detroit&hellip;Soviet hockey analysts report that more and more Russian instructors are showing young players the more robust aspects of NHL play at the expense of artistry. &#9632;

BLUELINES

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02992/5005010-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="307" height="669"><figcaption class="caption-body">Murray Bannerman, above, and Bob Sauve have been critical to the Hawks&rsquo; resurgence.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011258/5005017-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="58" height="59"></div>CHICAGO&mdash;The Chicago Black Hawks had to climb up from the lower reaches of the National Hockey League to get here, but they like the view.From a low point of9-15-4, the Hawks went on an 18-game surge that put them into sixth place in the overall standings and second behind Edmonton in the Campbell Conference, with a six-point lead in their own Norris Division.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re striving for first place in our division,&rdquo; said Hawks&rsquo; center Troy Murray. &ldquo;We want to insure we have home-ice advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs against our division.&rdquo;The Hawks made themselves look like first raters with a 13-3-2 record in those 18 games, including a four-game winning streak, a five-game winning streak and a four-game unbeaten streak.They reached 50 points for the season (22-18-6 record) with a 3-3 tie against Montreal at Chicago Stadium, overcoming a two-goal deficit in the first period.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t hear much about Montreal, but they&rsquo;re a really good team,&rdquo; said all-star defenseman Doug Wilson. &ldquo;We have to be able to come back against good teams like them. They&rsquo;re very disciplined, it was like a playoff game. A game like this one is a good sign.&rdquo;The Hawks showed plenty of good signs during their five-week surge beginning in mid-December, following a 12-9 loss to Edmonton and another loss at Montreal. A team meeting after the Edmonton game might have played a major role in the turnaround.&ldquo;We had that meeting and we all decided just to try to do our own jobs,&rdquo; said goaltender Bob Sauve. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re a checker, you check. If you&rsquo;re a muscle man, you hit. If you&rsquo;re a goal scorer, you score goals.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the key on a team. You have to do the little things right, you have to play as a whole. When we were struggling, everybody tried to do everything instead of just doing their own jobs.&rdquo;The goaltending of Sauve and Murray Bannerman was a major factor in the surge. Bannerman started 10 games and Sauve, eight, including an outstanding performance to beat his former Buffalo Sabres teammates for the first time in Chicago.&ldquo;We have two experienced goaltenders, and we want to keep them both sharp,&rdquo; said co-coach Roger Neilson. &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t think there will be any point where either will play eight games in a row. Right now we&rsquo;re very comfortable with either one, and that&rsquo;s the way we hoped it would be.&rdquo;The Hawks gave up 69 goals in the 18-game surge, but scored 89 goals. One of the major factors was the pace of Denis Savard, who had a 19-game point streak ended in a loss at Winnipeg but bounced back for five points in the next two games. That gave him 42 points in a 22-game span.There were several individual milestones during the surge. Savard, who was added to the Campbell all-star team passed the 200-goal mark for his career. Murray reached 29 goals, passing his career high of 26 set last year.Defenseman Bob Murray scored his 400th career point, and two nights later tried to give away his 401st point.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>It was an assist on the Hawks&rsquo; lone goal at Winnipeg. Murray tried to switch it to Savard, to maintain Savard&rsquo;s point streak and get him closer to Bobby Hull&rsquo;s club record of 21 straight. When Savard heard about the switch, he declined.&ldquo;We all wanted to see him get it,&rdquo; said Murray. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been working his butt off out there. This might be his best year as a hockey player. When the streak ended, he said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll just start another one.&rsquo;That&rsquo;s a great attitude.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-02

Hawks Aim For First Place And Home-Ice Advantage

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02866/5005079-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="48" height="51"></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;There were times in his few National Hockey League appearances when Jim Sandlak looked comfortable.But when the Vancouver Canucks sent him back to the Ontario League&rsquo;s London Knights, it appeared they were making the right decision&mdash;even though he hadn&rsquo;t really been given every opportunity to make the club.A hulking right winger. Sandlak found himself trying to make the club at the one position where the team has some depth and quality.He almost always found himself playing with Brent Peterson as his center, which tends to get you thinking defensively. Rarely did he hit the ice with either Thomas Gradin or Patrik Sundstrom, which would normally help a young winger get some offense going and boost his confidence.The way the two Swedes have played much of this season, however, that move on the part of Canuck coach Tom Watt may have been a blessing, though certainly it would have been worth a try.The Canucks&rsquo; problem with their forwards is simple. Their strengths are complicated. And Sandlak got caught in the middle. With Stan Smyl, Cam Neely and Tony Tanti at right wing, there was hardly enough ice time to work up a sweat, let alone get comfortable.Add to that the fact that Petri Skriko&rsquo;s best position is probably right wing, even though he&rsquo;s always forced to play left, and that the center-ice situation is painfully weak. It is then you come to the conclusion that Sandlak didn&rsquo;t really have a chance.Finally, there&rsquo;s the impression that the 209-pounder seemed timid for a man his size and you basically have the reasons why the Knights&rsquo; playoff hopes in the OHL have suddenly risen a touch.&ldquo;(General manager) Jack Gordon, (assistant coach) Jack Mcllhargey and I talked it over and we just felt at this stage it was better to get Jimmy playing every day rather than sitting here in Vancouver,&rdquo; said Watt.&ldquo;We just think it&rsquo;s better for his development. We might have done it sooner except we had injuries to Moe Lemay (hip bruise) and we tried switching Tanti to left wing and that didn&rsquo;t work out so well.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want to make a hasty judgment on him either, especially after he played so well in the world junior tournament in Hamilton. But there is a world of difference between the NHL and the world juniors. In fact, of all the players at that tournament who were owned by NHL teams, he was the only one that came back (Devils&rsquo; Craig Billington also returned). Perhaps he has played more in the NHL than any of those players.&rdquo;There is some unrest in Vancouver over the fact the Canucks had Dana Murzyn rated higher than Sandlak going into the draft. But Gordon, deciding the club couldn&rsquo;t take, another defenseman, ignored the ratings and took Sandlak, who was described as &ldquo;shy&rdquo; by two former Canuck scouting employees.Sandlak used a helmet and full facial shield in the junior championships and said he was planning to use a visor in the NHL, but when he returned he never did use one for reasons unknown.But the fellow is a good hard worker and appears likely to flourish in the league at a later date. He seems to have overcome the biggest knock against him&mdash;skating. But whether it was confidence, lack of a playmaking center or speed, he was unable to get off his shot often.Sandlak expressed regret at not getting more ice time after the world junior championships, where he was on top of his game.&ldquo;I had a strong tournament and my confidence was really strong at the time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;1 wondered at first why I hadn&rsquo;t gone in there but that&rsquo;s his (Watt&rsquo;s) game plan.&rdquo;Meanwhile, there is continuing pressure on Gordon to make a move, if not to strengthen the team, to at least change the chemistry by bringing in some new faces. The Vancouver Province is staging a write-in campaign, urging the readers to put themselves in Gordon&rsquo;s shoes and make hypothetical moves.NOTES&mdash;With the rash of minor injuries, the Canucks recalled right winger David Bruce, center Gary Lupul and defenseman Dale Dunbar to augment the sagging club. Dunbar and Bruce were returned after one and two games, respectively. &#9632;</div>

Sandlak Sent Back To The Knights

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011187/5005048-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="59" height="60"></div>BUFFALO&mdash;As rookies go, Peter Douris is more gifted than most.But, for all his accumulated knowledge, natural talent and accrued maturity, he knows that he could be as upsetting to the Winnipeg Jets as helpful.&ldquo;Just my being here will maybe cause a little dissension,&rdquo; said Douris, whose signing was announced Jan. 18. &ldquo;1 know the team is set. The last thing they need is &ldquo;a rookie.&rdquo;Teammates have not welcomed him with open arms, let alone open minds. But they aren&rsquo;t treading on his toes, either.His coaches would like to think Douris is capable of pushing certain members of the team into greater efforts. Nothing seems to work better than motivation from within.&ldquo;Maybe I can add some younger legs,&rdquo; said Douris, 19. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m more up and down than most players, so maybe I can help defensively in our own zone.&rdquo;His defensive skills have been honed under the tutelage of Dave King, coach of the Canadian pre-Olympic team over the last six months.&ldquo;Since I was 16, I haven&rsquo;t had the big numbers,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m more concerned now with watching my man and waiting for the chance.&ldquo;If you know what to do defensively, you might have an edge. There are many players who are not particularly strong at their end of the ice.&rdquo;Douris had two practices with the Jets before leaving on a three-game road trip.He skated on the fourth line with Jim Nill and Ron Wilson.Five shifts were uneventful in Buffalo in the course of a 6-3 loss, extending the Jets&rsquo; woeful record in Memorial Auditorium to 0-11-1.The following night he played even less as the Jets tried to catch up in a game they should have been winning. Eventually, they were beaten 7-5 in Boston as the Bruins completed a three-game, 12-day sweep of them.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to have to see more of him before I pass comment.&rdquo; said coach Barry Long, despondent over the mounting losses and frittered-away points.The inclusion of Douris in the Jets&rsquo; lineup has been more of an expression of confidence in the team&rsquo;s scouts than anything else.&ldquo;We are going by what the scouts are saying,&rdquo; said Long. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have the luxury Of a 15-point lead. If I put him on the ice and the other coach notices and sends out his top line and we get burned, it&rsquo;ll hurt. But, at the same time, if he should handle himself well, then everyone will see he&rsquo;s helping the team and he&rsquo;ll be readily accepted.&rdquo;Douris has been anxiously awaited since the day in June of 1984 when the Jets drafted him first (30th overall).Bound for the University of New Hampshire at the time, he was former assistant general manager Mike Doran&rsquo;s last prize draft choice. While Central Scouting rated him 70th and Edmonton Oilers 91st, Doran ranked him seventh.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad he wasn&rsquo;t brought in with a lot of fanfare,&rdquo; said Long. &ldquo;There are no great expectations. Everyone knows this is going to be a large jump.&rdquo;If the Olympics had been a year sooner, rather than 1988, Douris would have probably stayed in the Olympic program.&ldquo;But it was a concern of mine that nobody was being promised a place on the Olympic team in &lsquo;88,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was entirely possible to play for two and a half years and not be given a spot. Not many of the players there now will be around in &lsquo;88. Maybe none.&rdquo;Of the 40 games Douris played with the Olympic team, 38 were on the road. Only three of the 70 games scheduled by the 1985-86 team were slated for it home base in Calgary.&ldquo;During one stretch we flew to Toronto six weekends in a row,&rdquo; he said.As a member of the team, he experienced the benefits of King&rsquo;s coaching.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great coach,&rdquo; said Douris, who played for Canada&rsquo;s silver medal-winning entry at the World Junior Championships over the Christmas holidays.&ldquo;His practices were like clinics. He worked with you on a one-on-one basis.&ldquo;I think I learned more in those six months than I did in my previous two years in university.&rdquo;BENCH BITS&mdash;Left winger Perry Turnbull played his 500th NHL game in Buffalo. The following night he spent the last half of his 501st riding the bench&hellip;Brian Hayward reeled off four strong appearances in a row, winning one&mdash;a 5-1 decision over Chicago Black Hawks&hellip;Dan Bouchard reacted bitterly when Barry Long lifted him after Boston&rsquo;s fifth goal on Jan. 23. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not taking the blame for this one,&rdquo; said Bouchard. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re either a team or not a team. Let&rsquo;s be realistic. A goalie only looks as good as those in front of him&ldquo;&hellip;Paul MacLean had eight shots on goal in Boston but he couldn&rsquo;t beat Pat Riggin. &#9632;</div>

Defensive-Minded Douris Joins Winnipeg

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02848/5005141-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="225" height="253"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Simmons</figcaption></div>FROM HERE, there and everywhere, just between you and I&hellip;&bull; Montreal Canadiens weren&rsquo;t wrong when they decided not to give their general manager&rsquo;s job to Scotty Bowman when Sam Pollock retired several years ago. That&rsquo;s been proven by Bowman&rsquo;s actions in Buffalo. It seems Scotty has a little Punch Imlach in him: He won&rsquo;t let his coaches coach.&bull; How does the worst team in hockey solve its problems? It hires a man who has never coached before, that&rsquo;s how. Makes sense, doesn&rsquo;t it?The real winners in the Brad Park-to-Detroit maneuver were the television networks, CTV and ESPN, which no longer have to put Park on the air. As an announcer, he made a good coach, and vice versa.&bull; And while we&rsquo;re on the subject, please, no more Gerry Cheevers, it&rsquo;s painful.&bull; I wish John Davidson did color commentary on every hockey game I watched. Big John is the John Madden of hockey.&bull; Remember all the guff about the NHL teams willing to cooperate with the Olympic programs. Well, that&rsquo;s all it was, guff. The Flyers went out and signed Dave King&rsquo;s goaltender, John Kemp, and just days later Team Canada lost another player when the Winnipeg Jets signed Peter Douris. With three national team members&mdash;Shawn Anderson, Jeff Greenlaw and Zarley Zalapski&mdash;rated as first-round picks, are more signings imminent?&bull; At a time when the Pittsburgh Pirates are fighting for their financial lives, the Penguins are drawing well. How times have changed.&bull; The NHL is now the only major league that doesn&rsquo;t have its all-star game televised on network television. Did I say major?&bull; Poor Glen Sather. He couldn&rsquo;t please all the people all the time. How could he when he had to pick three centers from among Dale Hawerchuk. Denis Savard, Troy Murray, Bernie Nicholls, Marcel Dionne, Neal Broten and Bernie Federko?Heading the department of snubbed from the Wales Conference are centers Bobby Smith and Alan Haworth, both of whom should have been picked ahead of Dave Poulin by coach Mike Keenan. Patronage, I believe it is called.&bull; Replays don&rsquo;t lie. Bob Froese shouldn&rsquo;t be an all-star either. He lets in far too many weak goals.&bull; Department of amazing statistics: Larry Robinson is outscoring Ray Bourque.Department of amazing statistics, part two: Playing for the league&rsquo;s highest scoring team, Kevin Lowe failed to score a goal in the first half of the season. It&rsquo;s been longer than a year since he last scored.&bull; I&rsquo;ll give Larry Sicinski the edge over Rod Beaton in the Hamilton argument. Copps Coliseum is a terrific facility and the people of Hamilton did an excellent job of putting on the World Junior Championships.P. S. Larry: You lost me in your letter when you referred to Cliff Fletcher as credible.&bull; I have a favorite player again, now that Brad Smith is back playing in the NHL. No one works harder than Smitty. (Ed. Note: Sorry, Steve, as soon as Smitty&rsquo;s pulled thigh muscle is healed, he&rsquo;s headed down the QEW from Toronto to St. Catharines. You&rsquo;ll have to find another favorite player.)&bull; Just when you think the Hartford Whalers are headed the right way, Kevin Dineen and Ron Francis go down with injuries a few days apart. And in between, the Whalers trade center Greg Malone for winger Wayne Babych. Someone has got it in for this team.&bull; Memo to Emile Francis: There are still some former St. Louis Blues available. Act accordingly. Maybe Garry Unger or Blake Dunlop can help.&bull; Joe Paterson is the latest to prove my theory. The best job in hockey is playing left wing on a line with Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor.&bull; Has Barry Pederson not fully recovered from his serious injury, or is he merely suffering from weak wingers? The Rick Middleton playing with him today isn&rsquo;t the same &lsquo;Nifty&rsquo; Middleton we saw two seasons back.&bull; Nobody asked me, but if I was voting for the all-rookie team, I&rsquo;d have Stephane Richer at center, Kjell Dahlin at right-wing, Petr Klima at left wing and Dana Murzyn and Gary Suter on defense. The goaltender would be Patrick Roy. Just missing out would be Kevin Hatcher on defense, Pelle Eklund and Steve Thomas at forward and Jon Casey in goal. The rookie coaches: Jean Perron and Lome Henning, tied.&bull; A Calgary pizza maker named Gord Coleman offered to send his successful recipe to Mike Ilitch if Ilitch would send John Ogrodnick to the Flames. The deal, you might say, was nearly palatable.&bull; Have you been reading Barry Meisel&rsquo;s column in THE HOCKEY NEWS? If you haven&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;ve been missing the best addition to THN since Jay Greenberg was given a column to make the rest of us look bad. Quick, turn the page to Meisel&rsquo;s column (page 18). Now! &#9632;

f0016-02

Viewers Spared Brad Park After Move To Red Wings

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SCHULTZ</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011057/5005110-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="59" height="59"></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Phil Housley has finally gone home. No, not back to his native St. Paul, Minn.Back to defense, the position he was drafted to play by the Buffalo Sabres in 1982.He played there for most of his first two National Hockey League seasons&mdash;apart from occasional flings at center.Then came last season when he was yo-yoed back and forth between center and defense. This season he began at defense as an experiment. But that apparently failed and he was shifted to center.That change was hardly permanent&hellip; because now he&rsquo;s back at defense. And he wants to stay there awhile if that&rsquo;s at all possible.Housley would like to give blossoming confidence a chance.&ldquo;Playing a lot has a lot to do with it,&rdquo; said Housley, 21.&rdquo; You have to play one position a lot to gam the experience you need to be good at it.&ldquo;I have always been willing to help the team in any way I could. And if that meant playing defense, I would play defense. If it meant playing center, 1 would play center. 1 just wanted to contribute.&ldquo;But you really need to play one position if you expect to be good at one position.&rdquo;Housley, along with Sabre coaches and teammates, are working together to help shape Housley into a capabale rearguard.And it seems to be working. Housley had points in six of seven games (one goal and nine assists for 10 points) and he recently had five multiple-points games during a 14-game span.&ldquo;I have to give a lot of credit to Mike Ramsey and Bill Hajt, who have been helping me as much as they can to teach me and show me what I&rsquo;m doing right and wrong on defense.&rdquo; said Housley. &ldquo;(Assistant coach) Craig Ramsay and Scotty (Bowman, the head coach) have been helping me by pointing out different things about my game.&ldquo;I want to learn. I&rsquo;m in my fourth year and I can&rsquo;t make the mistakes I did as a rookie. Mistakes were accepted as a rookie but not now.&rdquo;Housley pointed out important evidence of new-found confidence.&ldquo;You can tell when I didn&rsquo;t have confidence because I would throw the puck away when I was carrying it and an opponent would be trying to check me,&rdquo; said Housley. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m hanging onto the puck until the last minute and not letting the opponents bother me.&rdquo;Ramsey, who has teamed with Housley periodically, also sees improvement in Housley&rsquo;s play.&ldquo;You can see how he&rsquo;s changed over the last three or four weeks,&rdquo; said Ramsey. &ldquo;He is carrying the puck more and rushing it a little more than he did at the beginning of the season. And he&rsquo;s even getting more shots on goal, which is important for a defenseman who plays the style Phil does.&ldquo;Howie is a very talented and skilled hockey player. I think some people have forgotten that. You have to remember that he never played college hockey, or in the juniors or even in the Olympics. He came directly from high school into the NHL. That&rsquo;s quite a jump for anyone to make.&ldquo;And you have to remember that most great NHL defensemen don&rsquo;t fully develop until they are around 24 or 25. So Phil still has awhile to develop yet.&ldquo;He&rsquo;sgotail the tools to do it. Now he just has to get the chance.&rdquo;Hajt agrees.&ldquo;All we can do with Howie is to work with him on his defensive play,&rdquo; said Hajt. &ldquo;We help him with the fundamentals of that part of his game.&ldquo;As far as his offensive skills go, he&rsquo;s on his own. He&rsquo;s good at that and will only get better.&rdquo;Bowman has also seen a turnaround in Housley&rsquo;s play since the beginning of the season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been playing very well together with (rookie) Bob Halkidis,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;Being two young guys you don&rsquo;t know how that will work out sometimes.&ldquo;But for now it seems to be working out very well.&rdquo;SABRE POINTS&mdash;Center Don Lever and goaltender Jacques Cloutier were recalled by the Sabres and netminder Daren Puppa and left winger Mikael Andersson loaned to the AHL&rsquo;s Rochester Americans&hellip;Mike Foligno scored his 200th NHL goal in the game against the Devils in New Jersey on Jan. 19. Foligno played in his 500th NHL game against the Winnipeg Jets here on Jan. 22&hellip;In the Jets&rsquo; game Bill Hajt returned to the lineup after missing 19 games with a pulled groin. The return also marked Hajt&rsquo;s 800th NHL game, all with the Sabres&hellip; Defenseman Dave Fenyves was out of the lineup with a sprained ankle. He was on a day-to-day basis. Since taking over as coach, Scott Bowman has indicated that he will be turning over most of his GM duties to assistant GM Gerry Meehan. &#9632;</div>

Housley Happy To Be Back On Blue Line

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01931/5005172-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="168" height="160"></div>EDMONTON&mdash;As the Edmonton Oilers were preparing to leave Hartford two weeks back, Lee Fogolin asked a reporter if he was covering the All-Star Game.&ldquo;Yeah. I&rsquo;ll be back here,&rdquo; replied your intrepid correspondent, &ldquo;and don&rsquo;t be surprised if you are either.&rdquo;&ldquo;Ah, no way,&rdquo; replied the blushing veteran defenseman, putting his head down and shuffling off to catch the team bus.He was told not to bet against it.Not unexpectedly, a week later manager-coach Glen Sather added four more members of the Oilers to the Campbell Conference team he will tutor at the 38th All-Star Game Feb. 4 in Hartford.The defensive tandem of Kevin Lowe and, yes, 12-year National Hockey League veteran Lee Fogolin, goalie Andy Moog and center Mark Messier were hand-picked by Sather. The foursome joined goalie Grant Fuhr, defense man Paul Coffey, plus forwards Glenn Anderson, Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri&mdash;all of whom were voted to the No. I team in fan balloting.Of the 20 Campbell players, nine are from the Oilers. Eight played last year in Calgary, much to the dismay of the Saddledome multitude that roundly booed the Edmonton contingent.&ldquo;I think when a team plays as hard as these guys do for us,&rdquo; explained Sather. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to take them all. But I had to compromise. It&rsquo;s not as if any of these guys don&rsquo;t deserve to be there.&rdquo;He went through his choices one at a time: &ldquo;As far as Fogie&rsquo;s concerned, it&rsquo;s some long overdue recognition. He&rsquo;s an all-star, he&rsquo;s plus-26, has been on two Stanley Cup champions and is a leader on our team. Kevin&rsquo;s one of the best defensemen in the game. He blocks shots, works hard and was third in the popularity contest (fan balloting), although that doesn&rsquo;t mean anything to me.&ldquo;Andy has played great for us, especially when Grant was hurt,&rdquo; said Sather of Moog. &ldquo;A misleading point among our goalies is their average. We play differently. The important stat to us is the difference between goals for and against. If we only scored 300 goals, we&rsquo;d give up 200. But we score 400 so we give up 300.&rdquo;Which brought him to Messier, who has missed 17 games with a broken foot this season.&ldquo;Mess is the second best forward in the world,&rdquo; deadpanned Sather. &ldquo;How can you keep him out of the All-Star Game?&rdquo;Lowe figures there&rsquo;s method to Sather&rsquo;s madness.&ldquo;I think Slats (Sather) really wants to win, so he&rsquo;s going with his guys,&rdquo; offered Lowe, pointing out the Wales Conference posted 7-6 (in New Jersey in 1984) and 6-4 (in Calgary) triumphs over the Sather-coached Campbells in the last two matches. &ldquo;I guess he&rsquo;s thinking, &lsquo;Enough of this Wales domination!&rsquo; Although the Wales team looked pretty good when 1 had a peak at it.&rdquo;The popular choice among the Oilers was Fogolin, who will be making his first appearance in the mid-season match since joining the NHL in 1974.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nice honor for me to go, but the most exciting thing for me is being able to play with Fogie,&rdquo; said Lowe, who will be making his third straight appearance. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been together so long (seven seasons), it&rsquo;s tough to play with anyone else. People recognize us as a pair, 1 think. Finally we get a chance&hellip;&rdquo;&ldquo;I think he (Fogolin) is pretty excited,&rdquo; said Messier, who will play in his fourth All-Star Game despite missing last season after spraining a knee and sitting out 10 other games through suspension. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been steady for a lot of years. When guys like Fogie get recognition, it gives a lot of guys around the league a boost. They&rsquo;re like offensive linemen in football. They do the job for a long time without fanfare, but the guys around the league really understand how valuable they are.&rdquo;How did Fogolin view the selection?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a grand honor for them to think I&rsquo;ve played well enough to go,&rdquo; replied the 6-foot, 203-pounder who&rsquo;ll turn 31 three days after the showcase game. &ldquo;I try to be as consistent as possible.&rdquo;Rest assured. Fogolin&rsquo;s been the Oilers&rsquo; most consistent defenseman. That particular quality, however, doesn&rsquo;t necessarily make him the best. For when Coffey excels, the fluid-skating Norris Trophy winner is unmatched in the Free World.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played 12 years and I guess there was a couple of times it has crossed my mind.&rdquo; said Fogolin, admitting to past all-star thoughts.He spoke of his third season with the Buffalo Sabres when &ldquo;1 had a 13or 14-game point streak.&rdquo; There was also his second year with the Oilers when he had 13 goals and 30 points.Moog was tickled with having three Oiler defensemen in front of he and Fuhr.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no surprises with those three guys.&rdquo; said the 25-year-old Penticton. B.C. native. &ldquo;The other players selected are quality defenseman and should provide support, but the fact you&rsquo;re familiar with three guys really helps.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

Fogolin Popular Addition To All-Star Game

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01959/5005203-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="70" height="72"></div>TORONTO&mdash;Borje Salming&rsquo;s back&hellip;finally.After missing 34 games with back and throat ailments, the Swedish defenseman returned to the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; lineup against the Montreal Canadiens on Super Bowl Sunday Eve.Salming was outstanding in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Habs.He assisted on the game&rsquo;s first goal by Tom Fergus and then scored only his second of the season at 19:09 of the final period to send the game into overtime.Bobby Smith, a candidate for comeback player of the year in the National Hockey League, spoiled Salming&rsquo;s return by scoring at 3:38 of the extra period.The loss was the sixth in a row and 10th in 12 games for the Leafs who had scored just one or two goals in five of its last six games.Salming, 34, who had one goal and played poorly in his only 11 games of the season, sparked the Leafs&rsquo; best effort since beating Detroit on Jan. 13.The Leaf-Hab confrontation, matching oldtime rivals, was a thing of the past.There was but one reminder of the present&mdash;Smith being left all alone in front of the net to tap an oh-so-slow shot past Leafs&rsquo; goalie Tim Bernhardt.Bernhardt, who cleared waivers the previous week, was superb in goal most of the way, although permitting a softie by Ryan Walter in the third.He stopped Montreal sniper Mats Naslund on 10 separate occasions.Salming helped bring organization to the Leafs&rsquo; end, something that had been decidedly missing for some time. Coach Dan Maloney and the six-time all-star defenseman had hoped for just those results with his return.&ldquo;Hopefully, I can help out,&rdquo; Salming said before making his long-awaited reappearance. &ldquo;Right now I just want to come out and help them (Leafs) make the playoffs.&rdquo;After 47 games, Toronto was four points up on last-place Detroit in the Norris Division. The Leafs had played two less games.Salming was ready to return Dec. 26 but only made it as far as the airport before being turned back by Maloney, who wouldn&rsquo;t let the raspy-voiced veteran board the plane.He ended up spending a week in hospital to clear up a throat infection.Salming had been practising regularly with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario League to get back in game shape prior to his throat problems.His working out with the Marlies coincided with a nine-game winning streak for the junior club.A similar impact on the Leafs&rsquo; fortunes would go a long way towards ensuring the future of Maloney, whose job once again appeared to be in jeopardy.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a far better hockey team with Borje in the lineup,&rdquo; said Maloney. &ldquo;He held up well on a regular shift. I can&rsquo;t say enough about the way he played.&rdquo;The jackals were back out snapping at Maloney&rsquo;s heels&mdash;just as they were earlier this season when the Leafs lost 11 of their first 12 games.Dodging the latest bullet could prove difficult for Maloney as the Leafs faced the New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Chicago Black Hawks twice before the all-star break.Leaf general manager Gerry McNamara, when asked by Jim O&rsquo;Leary of the Toronto Sun. declined to give a full vote of confidence to Maloney.Maloney&rsquo;s record after 127 games as Leaf coach was 32-82-13.In the meantime. Leaf owner and principle decision-maker Harold Ballard, a diabetic, was in hospital with circulation and prostate problems.NOTES&mdash;Captain Rick Vaive didn&rsquo;t score in his first three games back from a hand injury&hellip;Reporters weren&rsquo;t allowed in the Leafs&rsquo; dressing room after a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Jan. 22. In anticipation of Newsday reporter Helene Elliott&rsquo;s appearance, management had decided no media types would be permitted to enter the inner room. The Leafs don&rsquo;t allow women in their dressing room so to circumvent a league rule which demands equal access for male and female reporters, they limited the access of males covering the team. No women cover the Maple Leafs&hellip;ExCzechoslovakian scoring champion Miroslav Ihnacak continued to struggle with just one goal and three assists in nine games. His limited production prompted a playful line from Don Cherry. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not Ihnacak,&rdquo; Cherry told Rex McLeod of the Toronto Star. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t look like (brother) Peter Ihnacak. He&rsquo;s got to be a hitch-hiker Gerry (McNamara) picked up over in Vienna.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

Salming’s Return Boost To Maloney’s Hopes

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02723/5005234-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="209" height="253"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Meisel</figcaption></div>IT WAS A debate that belonged on a college campus, in some dormitory lounge at 2 a.m. when everybody&rsquo;s too tired to study and too wired to sleep.It was at Cantiague Park on Long Island, though, after a New York Islander practice. The subject was facial shields.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a dummy for not protecting my eyes, but that&rsquo;s my decision,&rdquo; Mike Bossy said in the middle of a lively and timely discussion. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a person who believes in letting an individual decide for himself.&rdquo;Ten years ago, when liberalism overshadowed pragmatism in my mind, so was I. Give me my rights, give Mike Bossy his, live and let live.My views have changed. We live in an interdependent society. If I can be held responsible for hurting you, then I want you to protect yourself from me. If Mike Bossy can be sued by Joe Uniondale for driving his car over a sheet of ice, skidding, rear-ending Joe Uniondale&rsquo;s car in the Nassau Coliseum parking lot, and sending Joe Uniondale through a windshield, then Mike Bossy should be able to insist that Joe Uniondale wear seat belts.We are faced with this issue: The rights of society (the NHL) vs. the rights of the individual (each player).This season, Bryan Trottier has been cut over the nose by Peter Stastny and poked over an eye by Gates Orlando. He wants the NHL to better enforce high-sticking rules, but like Bossy he wants the freedom to not wear a shield.He wants it both ways. He wants the NHL to protect him so he doesn&rsquo;t have to protect himself. He doesn&rsquo;t want to forfeit his right not to wear a shield.Neither does Bossy, who says if he was deliberately hit in the face he&rsquo;d &ldquo;sue the guy until he was in the sewer.&rdquo; Can we always tell what&rsquo;s deliberate and what&rsquo;s accidental? Can we take Bossy at his word when he says that if he were injured by an accidental high stick, he wouldn&rsquo;t sue because &ldquo;it would be my fault for not wearing a shield&rdquo;?I agree with Harry Sinden, who blames the escalation of facial injuries on players who have been weaned on helmets and visors, and who wave their sticks like flags. I agree with John Tonelli, who says, &ldquo;Maybe these guys aren&rsquo;t doing it on purpose, but it&rsquo;s just the way they&rsquo;ve been brought up. Every time I get clipped, it&rsquo;s by some young guy.&rdquo;The NHL must make facial shields mandatory and increase and enforce penalties for high sticking. If it is true that helmeted and visored players are more apt to wield sticks dangerously, then punish&rsquo; them until they learn not to.Trottier remembered throughout his minor hockey career, from peewee to junior, penalties for carrying the stick too high. &ldquo;If your stick came up, you went right to the box,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you got whacked on the legs, it was a penalty. Do you see some of the whacks we take?&rdquo;Pat LaFontaine was the only Islander to wear a shield last season. After eye injuries to Denis Potvin (not serious) and Bob Nystrom (career-threatening), six others have screwed visors onto their helmets. Potvin, Tonelli, Paul Boutilier, Ari Haanpaa, Tomas Jonsson and Roger Kortko made the prudent decision.Must the NHL wait until 20 more eyes, noses and throats are injured before it protects its players from themselves? Will the players&rsquo; association take the narrow-minded view that the miniscule right to not wear facial protection weighs heavier than the possible loss of an eye? What sense does that make?Mike Bossy doesn&rsquo;t want to protect himself. For now, that&rsquo;s his choice. Please, somebody protect him. &#9632;

f0018-02

It’s High Time To Protect NHLers From Themselves

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02509/5005296-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="90" height="53"></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Third place.It was a long, uphill climb to reach the promised land and the Los Angeles Kings appeared determined not to slip up.&ldquo;Finally,&rdquo; Bob Janecyk said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice. I think we&rsquo;ll stay there. The way we&rsquo;re playing now&hellip;the thing is, we&rsquo;ve got to work to be successful. I think we all realize that now. We&rsquo;ve had to work hard to get here and it&rsquo;d be a shame to fall back again.&rdquo;Previously plagued by a weak defense, undependable offense, terrible specialty teams and a series of injuries, the Kings seemed to have put most of their first-half problems behind them.A 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues Jan. 21 at the Forum extended their modest unbeaten streak to a season-long three games and they were on their biggest roll of the year with a 7-3-2 record covering three-and-a-half weeks.Snicker at the Kings&rsquo; 15-24-6 record all you want, but they were a point ahead of the Winnipeg Jets, two ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and had played fewer games than both.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t had too many opportunities after games to say we really enjoyed them, but this is definitely one of them,&rdquo; Marcel Dionne said after a two-goal, two-assist performance.Besides the goaltending of Janecyk, outstanding again with 24 saves against St. Louis and 7-1-2 in his last 10 starts, the big numbers posted by the new Triple Crown Line were a major factor in the team&rsquo;s escape from the Smythe Division cellar.In the last nine games, Dionne, Dave Taylor and Joe Paterson had combined for 20 goals and 49 points.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hungry,&rdquo; said Dionne, who&rsquo;d been devouring goalies with eight goals and 16 points during a six-game point-scoring streak. He led the Kings in scoring for the first time all year with 26 goals and 57 points in 45 games.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re close now and I don&rsquo;t want to lose it. I&rsquo;m 34 years old and I feel like a 20-year-old out there.&rdquo;&ldquo;That line&rsquo;s got a lot of jump,&rdquo; coach Pat Quinn said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve still got a little something to learn with Joe trying to fit in, but I like the look of that line. They&rsquo;re playing good, sound possession offense.&rdquo;Paterson, acquired Dec. 18 from the Philadelphia Flyers, gave Dionne and Taylor the kind of beefy winger (6-foot2, 205 pounds) they&rsquo;d been used to playing with in the past: i.e. Charlie Simmer and Brian MacLellan.Not only was Paterson taking care of physical business&mdash;&rdquo;He&rsquo;s not dirty, but he mixes it up when he has to,&rdquo; Dionne said&mdash;but he was also contributing offensively, picking up a career-high three assists against St. Louis to extend his point-scoring streak to six games (3-1013).Since becoming a King, Paterson had five goals and 11 assists in 14 games.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know who he was when we got him,&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;Tiger Williams knew him from Detroit and he said he&rsquo;d help. The guy is huge, that&rsquo;s for sure.&rsquo; He&rsquo;s doing the kinds of things we expected from Mac.&rdquo;While Taylor was also on a roll, getting seven goals and six assists during his six-game streak, Dionne again was the team&rsquo;s catalyst.In his last 28 games. Dionne collected 22 goals and 44 points and had multiple points in 14 of the last 23 games in which he had scored.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m seeing the game differently now than earlier in the year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;One thing I&rsquo;ve learned over the years is to be patient, don&lsquo;t cheat and wait for opportunities. I&rsquo;m jumping in the holes, getting to the puck and I feel very confident.&ldquo;I mean, there are some nights where I think I understand how Wayne Gretzky feels. It&rsquo;s a lot of fun. I can tell you that.&rdquo;The return to health of defenseman Mark Hardy, who sat out the first 25 games with a damaged wrist, hadn&rsquo;t hurt, either. The Kings missed Hardy&rsquo;s hits and his offense, and his wrist was obviously sound because he was beginning to get more involved offensively.Hardy scored the final two goals against the Blues, his third and fourth of the year, one on a low 50 footer and the other on a 180-foot drive into an empty net.&ldquo;Mark coming back has made a difference,&rdquo; Janecyk said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re all playing pretty well now. They&rsquo;re making my job easier. I know that.&rdquo;KINGS NOTES&mdash;Not all was well. Goalie Rollie Melanson re-aggravated his groin injury in his second start as a King on Jan. 15 against the Rangers and was out again indefinitely. Melanson, acquired Dec. 9, was outstanding against New York, stopping 19 shots and leaving after two periods with the score tied, 1-1. Darren Eliot was summoned from New Haven to take his place on the roster&hellip;Winger Phil Sykes returned after missing four games with a groin ailment, but center Len Hachborn was still out with the same injury&hellip;Defenseman Rick LaPointe, who retired rather than report to New Haven, landed a Midas Muffler franchise in his hometown of Victoria, B.C&hellip;Defenseman Garry Galley, recovering from Dec. 8 knee surgery, was two weeks ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation&hellip;Winger Morris Lukowich ended a 20-game goalless slump with two goals in three games. &#9632;</div>

f0020-02

Rejuvenated L.A. On Roll—Finally

<div class="byline">BY TOM WHEATLEY</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01753/5005265-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="61" height="58"></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;It was a conflicting week of uppity ups and downer downs for the Blues.They lost Brian Sutter, their gritty captain, for at least four weeks to a broken shoulder.But they got Doug Wickenheiser, their gritty center, back for the first time since his career-threatening knee surgery last March 13.They had Joe Mullen chosen player of the week.But they had coach Jacques Demers, in a rare negative outburst, rip &ldquo;four or five&rdquo; unnamed players for lacking what it takes to win.They had acting captain Rob Ramage, enjoying maybe his best all-around season as a, defenseman, and born-again winger Mark Hunter added to the Campbell Conference All-Star team.But they had Bernie Federko, who has carried the club offensively for a month while playing maybe the best hockey of his 10-year career, left off the all-star roster once again.The worst downer, of course, was the injury to Sutter.Sutter slid backwards into the Met Center endboards after a legal and not especially notable shoulder check by the Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; Dino Ciccarelli on Jan. 16.Sutter was playing on a tender ankle that should have kept him off the ice. He was in the faceoff circle, some 20 feet from the boards, when contact was made.But the sore ankle made it impossible for Sutter to brake, and the break in his shoulder was more than just a hairline.He was to have his left arm in a sling for 10 days of total rest. Rehab time was estimated at between four to six weeks.When told of the extent of the injury, &ldquo;I cried,&rdquo; said Sutter. &ldquo;I cracked my pelvis last year and they said I&rsquo;d be out four weeks. I was back in 10 days. The doctors can tell you what it takes a normal person to heal, but I&rsquo;ve been fortunate to get better quicker than most people.&ldquo;Bones can only heal so fast, but sometimes my body heals quicker than God says it should.&rdquo;Sutter had never missed more than two straight games in a slam-bang, 10-year career that has featured cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and the cracked pelvis.He had just returned after missing two games with the sore ankle.The Blues tied Los Angeles and the New York Rangers with Sutter nursing the ankle, then beat Toronto 10-1 when he returned for half the game.The broken shoulder came the next night at the start of the second period in Minnesota, where the Blues lost 4-3.Then came Sutterless, rudderless losses to Pittsburgh (5-2) and Los Angeles (6-3).That three-game losing strealjeft the Blues at 1-3-2 in their last six games and 2-5-2 in their last nine.After the Los Angeles loss on Jan. 21, Demers snapped: &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question there&rsquo;s some guys on my team 1 don&rsquo;t want. I&rsquo;ve never said that before.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re talking about four or five guys right now who don&rsquo;t seem to fit in to the character of a Sutter or a Ramage&mdash;win at all costs.&ldquo;Some of these players are not willing to pay the price. They&rsquo;re not willing to sacrifice themselves. And I have absolutely no respect for a player who doesn&rsquo;t want to come and play. And win.&ldquo;I want to win. I&rsquo;m not frustrated. I just want to win so badly.&rdquo;Demers, as usual, would not brand the culprits publicly. But it was not hard to finger the likely suspects.Especially after the coach sat out center Dave Barr, leftwingers Denis Cyr and Kevin LaVallee plus defenseman Jim Pavese and Lee Norwood in a 4-3 win over Los Angeles on Jan. 23&mdash;the second time in three days the two teams had met.In doing so, Demers voluntarily dressed just 17 players-&mdash;three under the league limit of 20. Furthermore, defenseman Ric Nattress saw limited action.One player who did play and play well was blueliner Rick Wilson, whose attitude has irritated Demers all season long and had played in just five of the Blues&rsquo; last 15 games.Muscle-bound Normand Baron, thought to be on thin ice with Demers, also played and had his first fight in 15 games&mdash;squaring off with Tiger Williams. Previously, he had taken himself out of five games with a mysterious shoulder injury that did not keep him from lifting weights.Nattress and Norwood, standouts in the minor leagues last season, have one or two excellent games sandwiched between four or five poor ones.Cyr, a No. I draft choice of Calgary in 1980, simply does not have the talent.LaVallee never got on track after midseason knee surgery last year. He snoozed through the first 40 games with nine points, then got eight points in his next four games.But his scoring coma ended only when he was returned both to the power play and the inspired Federko-Mullen partnership.Barr&rsquo;s talent comes through in up-and-down cycles that are apparently trying Demers&rsquo; patience.There is no mistaking Demers&rsquo; intent toward his non-winners: &ldquo;The sooner we can eliminate them, the sooner we can be a better hockey club.&rdquo;Demers, however, was cheered by Wickenheiser&rsquo;s return&mdash;52 days ahead of the most optimistic forecast&mdash;for limited duty in the L.A. games.&ldquo;He played very well,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;There was no sign of fear. He had total commitment to what he was doing out there.&rdquo;BLUENOTES&mdash;Bernie Federko, four points away from the 800 mark, will pass the injured Brian Sutter as the team leader in games played. Federko, at age 29, was playing 30 to 40 minutes a game since the holidays. When the all-star picks were announced, Federko had a team-high 53 points despite playing without a proven left winger for more than half the season. &ldquo;It means nothing,&rdquo; said Federko, who has been an all-star twice in his 10-year career. &ldquo;Nothing. Really. There&rsquo;s too many good guys. I&rsquo;m beyond that.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

’Sutterless’ Blues Prove To Be Rudderless

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01553/5005327-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="67" height="62"></div>CALGARY&mdash;From driving a Budweiser truck in Madison to playing in the AllStar Game in Hartford, Gary Suter has come a long way in a short time.Seven months to be exact.In a move that caught everybody a little by surprise, Suter, the Calgary Flames&rsquo; excellent rookie defenseman was added to the Campbell Conference all-star team by Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; coach Glen Sather.&ldquo;It was the farthest thing from my mind.&rdquo; said Suter. &ldquo;I consider it a great honor and I&rsquo;ll be tickled to go.&rdquo;No one in the Flames&rsquo; organization questioned Suter&rsquo;s play or his abilities&mdash;the 20-year-old from Madison, Wise., has done everything the team wanted and more&mdash;but they did wonder why Sather selected Suter ahead of Reggie Lemelin or Lanny McDonald, two of the team&rsquo;s higher-profile players. Lemelin was the league&rsquo;s player of the month in November. McDonald leads the Flames in scoring.&ldquo;My choice was Reggie,&rdquo; said coach Bob Johnson. &ldquo;He carried us in November, he&rsquo;s the third winningest goaltender in the league and the fans voted him No. 2. But they didn&rsquo;t take Reggie so what can you do? He (Sather) is in control. It&rsquo;s his decision. You can&rsquo;t boycott the All-Star Game. The guy&rsquo;s got to show up.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy for Suter, but he&rsquo;s a young rookie. It puts a lot of pressure on the kid.&rdquo;Suter said he didn&rsquo;t know what motivated Sather to select him, but said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll give it my best shot. Sure I&rsquo;ll be nervous, but I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll fold my tent because of one game.&rdquo;Suter, a ninth-round choice in the 1984 draft, signed with the Flames in the summer after starring for Team USA in last April&rsquo;s World Championships. One of only three Flames&rsquo; players to play all 46 games this season, Suter leads all rookie defensemen in scoring.He has been an integral part of the team since day one. Johnson didn&rsquo;t coddle him a bit. Suter plays a regular shift, plays the power play and kills penalties.His poise is sometimes beyond belief.&ldquo;Usually with a young defenseman, it takes two or three years before he has a clue&mdash;by that I mean, before he has an overall perspective of the game,&rdquo; said defenseman Paul Baxter.&ldquo;So far this season. I&rsquo;ve seen him make some brilliant plays you just don&rsquo;t expect to see from a rookie defenseman. The criteria I use are: How does he handle himself in his own end? Is he flustered? I haven&rsquo;t seen him flustered. Does he come out of the comer with the puck? I&rsquo;ve rarely seen anybody take him off the puck in the comer. Finally, is he able to see the whole ice at all times? I think he does.&rdquo;Suter was a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin last year when the Flames convinced him to turn pro. Right now, he looks suspiciously like another one of their shot-in-the-dark finds.Unlike the majority of teenage prospects, Suter was missed by all 21 teams the first two years he was eligible for the draft. Had the Flames not chosen him in the 1984 draft, he would have been a free agent last summer.Considering the money U.S. college free agents were receiving last summer, Johnson shuddered to think what price Suter could have commanded.&ldquo;What did I expect from him? I&rsquo;ll tell you what! I never thought he&rsquo;d be in the All-Star Game,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;I told him: Don&rsquo;t let it all happen at once. He played in the World Championships. He made the team as a rookie. Now he&rsquo;s playing in the All-Star Game.&ldquo;But I also told him that it&rsquo;s a great honor and a great thrill to play against all the good players in the game. He may not get the opportunity again. I hope he uses it as a positive thing. To be on the ice with Wayne Gretzky, maybe he can get a couple of assists. All you have to do is pass the puck to those guys and you can get a couple of assists.&rdquo;As an 18-year-old, Suter played high school hockey for the Culver Military Academy in Plymouth, Ind. As a 19-year-old, he played in the Midwestern Junior League. Only when he came home to Madison and joined Wisconsin as a freshman did his notoriety spread.Suter said he chose the academy because it was a way of getting ice time every day.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like the military part of it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I went down there for the hockey. We had two-and-a half hours a day on the ice. You couldn&rsquo;t always get that in Wisconsin.&rdquo;&ldquo;He is consistent,&rdquo; said Flames&rsquo; assistant coach Pierre Page. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s usually a rare quality in so young a player. The main value of a player is his consistency&mdash;game in, game out, home and on the road, the way he plays in clutch games. Right now, he&rsquo;s been a pleasant surprise.&rdquo;Bob Johnson&rsquo;s choice for team all-star was goaltender Reggie Lemelin. &#9632;</div>

Rookie Suter A Surprise All-Star Addition

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02455/5005358-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="647" height="981"><figcaption class="caption-body">Philadelphia&rsquo;s rookie netminder Darren Jensen was brilliant in a 1-0 shutout of the St. Louis Blues.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01638/5005365-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="70" height="50"></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;To many Philadelphia Flyers fans, and even to some of his teammates, Darren Jensen had been an unknown quantity.Sure, he&rsquo;d stepped in and done an amazing job against the Edmonton Oilers in the wake of Pelle Lindbergh&rsquo;s death. But he&rsquo;d been uneven after that.Okay, there had been a shutout along the way, but the way the Flyers played in front of him a statue might have been able to record the whitewash.Through it all, nobody was quite sure if Jensen would stick. Not quite sure if he was capable of withstanding emotional strain to get the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals again.And then came the proof. It occurred the night before the Super Bowl at The Arena in St. Louis, where Jensen made 48 saves, including 24 in the third period as the Flyers edged the Blues 1-0.St. Louis goalie Greg Millen made 33 saves, and played well enough to win most games, but Jensen was spectacular. It was the NHL&rsquo;s first 1-0 game of the season, and Jensen was its star.&ldquo;He was in control all night,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; coach Mike Keenan. &ldquo;Without question, this was his best game. He was very, very sharp throughout. There was no luck involved in his play.&ldquo;There was one particular rebound shot during the last couple of minutes where, when he first came to us, he would have been down. But he&rsquo;s developed stand up control.&rdquo;Jensen was most sensational during the final frantic minute when he made saves on Bruce Bell, Doug Gilmour and Bernie Federko.&ldquo;The last minute was the longest of my life,&rdquo; said Jensen. &ldquo;Every time I looked up, the clock only moved three seconds.&rdquo;By a long measure, it was the Flyers&rsquo; best goaltending performance of the season. And it reminded some people of a 10 stoning that Bob Froese threw at the New York Islanders in February of 1983.&ldquo;A goalie won a game for us,&rdquo; said Keenan. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long time since that&rsquo;s happened.&rdquo;What Jensen has also developed is a mental toughness to come back from bad starts. Only a week before his masterpiece, he had been burned for two quick goals at the Cap Centre, where the Caps thumped Philadelphia 5-2.After that game, there was much concern that Jensen wasn&rsquo;t the answer to the void created by the loss of Lindbergh.&ldquo;It all relates to experience,&rdquo; said Jensen, 25. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still learning. I don&rsquo;t know how much I&rsquo;ve improved. I just concentrate on playing.&rdquo;Both Jensen and Froese have been cast in the strange positions of shadow and spotlight after Lindergh&rsquo;s death. Each is trying to cope in his own way.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just trying to keep on an even keel,&rdquo; said Jensen. &ldquo;We are winning games, we&rsquo;re doing okay&hellip;Pelle had a great year last year, we&rsquo;re just trying to keep our sanity about this.&ldquo;Look, I know what kind of goaltending we need to beat Edmonton.&rdquo;For one night, anyway, Jensen let the Flyers know that he is capable of giving them that goaltending. And that knowledge serves them on two levels.There is the obvious fact that Jensen&rsquo;s 13-3-0 record wasn&rsquo;t just a mirage. More importantly, if Jensen could get into a groove, the Flyers would feel so much more secure using he and Froese as a one-two punch.&ldquo;I have no question that Darren has the talent to win here,&rsquo; said Keenan. &ldquo;What we have to work on is his concentration.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Before defeating St. Louis, the Flyers beat Detroit 5-2 and suffered a 7-3 loss to the Islanders at Long Island-&hellip;The loss to the Islanders marked the Flyers&rsquo; third consecutive loss within the Patrick Division, the first time they&rsquo;d lost three divisional games in succession since Mike Keenan took over as coach&hellip;The Flyers are now 1-3-0 against the Isles this season, allowing 23 goals, an average of almost six per game&hellip;Forward Pelle Eklund suffered a freak accident when his right pinky finger was caught in the door of his automobile. He missed the game against the Red Wings due to the injury&hellip;Tim Kerr&rsquo;s goal against the Islanders was his first even-strength goal in 12 games.</div><div style="clear: both;"> &#9632;</div>

f0022-02

Flyers Enthused By Rookie Goalie’s Effort

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03291/5005396-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="283" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE BOSSY</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01576/5005410-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="112" height="95"></div>Chrysler-Dodge is also the official sponsor of the first-ever NHL All-Star Fan Balloting</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02399/5005403-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="80" height="85"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Right winger Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders, who became the 20th player in the history of the National Hockey League to score 1,000 points, had four goals and six assists in three games to edge Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; goalie Clint Malarchuk as the Chrysler-Dodge NHL Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 25, 1986.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m certainly happy that I was selected Chrysler-Dodge Player of the Week,&rdquo; said Bossy. &ldquo;I only wish that I could have shared it with Bryan Trottier, who also had an excellent week.&rdquo;Bossy will donate the $500 award contribution from Chrysler Corp, to the youth hockey organization of his choice, the Brian Pleines Scholarship Fund of the Long Island Hockey League.The Chrysler-Dodge sponsorship also includes a Player-of-the-Month and a Player-of-the-Year competition with the Chrysler-Dodge Player of the Year to receive a Chrysler Corp, vehicle of his choice.Bossy led the Isles to a 2-0-1 record in three contests, which included victories over Patrick Divison rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals. In a 7-3 win over the Flyers on Jan. 21 at Nassau Coliseum, the Montreal native had five points on two goals and three assists. At the Captial Centre on Jan. 24, Bossy notched a goal and three assists for four points, including his 1,000th career point, an assist on a goal by Bryan Trottier in the 7-5 win. He concluded the week with a goal in the Isles&rsquo; 3-3 tie with the Chicago Black Hawks (Jan. 25). &#9632;

f0023-03

THE CHRYSLER-DODGE REPORT

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01617/5005441-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="66" height="57"></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Steve Payne thinks the length of the National Hockey League season reduces the intensity of players and recommends cutting back the regular-season schedule to 60 games and the number of teams eligible for the playoffs to 12.&ldquo;That way,&rdquo; the Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; left winger said, &ldquo;each game would be more significant, and all the teams would play with more intensity.&rdquo;Payne, of course, is headed for his shortest season ever. He sat out most of the first half recovering from disc surgery in his neck. It was a period of both recuperation and reflection.In seven previous seasons, Payne was most famous for saying that players can&rsquo;t expect to be pumped up for all 80 games in a season&mdash;sentiments which didn&rsquo;t endear him to those fans paying 17 bucks a crack to watch under-achievers.&lsquo;Tve struggled the last couple of years,&rdquo; Payne said. &ldquo;The game was getting real stale to me. Mentally, it was a burden instead of a game that was fun.&ldquo;Sitting up there in the press box rejuvenated me.&rdquo; said Payne. 27. &ldquo;1 was able to look and see where I want to go from here. I&rsquo;m past the halfway point in my career, and I don&rsquo;t want to end it with a whimper. I want to be remembered for having played well, and there&rsquo;s only one way to do that.&rdquo;Payne backed up his remarks by scoring seven goals and four assists in his first 17 games back, although it took a few games to get sharp, and a stiff neck knocked him out for a couple more games along the way. But he was also playing with more intensity, using his 6-foot-2, 215-pound body more effectively.The Stars continued to be their own worst enemies, however.They had reached the elusive.500 mark with an 18-18-8 record, thanks to a 5-2-1 surge in January, when along came Pittsburgh, Washington, Montreal and Washington again.Thump, thump, thump, thump. Four straight losses, and the.500 record slid to 18-22-8. The Washington games&mdash;two within a week&mdash;served to illustrate the Stars&rsquo; situation.At Washington, the Stars spotted the Caps the first four goals, then roared back to close to 6-5 before losing on an open-net goal. Back home four days later, the Stars fell on their faces and trailed 6-1 before a couple of meaningless late goals closed it to 6-3.&ldquo;Probably our worst game all year,&rdquo; said coach Lome Henning. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had some games where some guys had no jump, but usually at least one line is going. In this one, we didn&rsquo;t have anybody going.&rdquo;STAR DUST&mdash;Neal Broten received teammates&rsquo; best wishes for being selected to the Campbell all-star team but the players were unanimous in their regret over defenseman Curt Giles&rsquo;s omission. Bad as the Washington game was, the Stars also lost Giles with a sprained knee, although he was expected to miss only a game or two&hellip;General manager Lou Nanne brought up Emanuel Viveiros, the junior defenseman obtained in the Gord Sherven trade with Edmonton, for a five-game trial. And he brought up Marc Habsheid, the center obtained in the same deal. Those were the conventional moves. In addition, Nanne called up Bill Stewart for what may be an unprecedented tour of duty. At Springfield, Stewart had been suspended indefinitely on Jan. 18 for shooting a puck toward a linesman in an American League game. But apparently, neither the NHL nor AHL could find a rule that could make the AHL suspension stick in the NHL. So Stewart played for the Stars while under suspension in the AHL. &#9632;</div>

80-Game Schedule Payne To This Player

<div class="byline">BY MICHAEL A. BERGER</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01541/5005472-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="54" height="54"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;The New York Rangers have summoned banished 50-goal scorer Pierre Larouche back into the fold.Larouche (and six other Ranger players) was expelled from New York by rookie coach Ted Sator during the final weeks of training camp.Apparently not even wanting him within the organization, the Rangers assigned Larouche to the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; American League farm team in Hershey (along with defenseman Andre Dore) as compensation for New York&rsquo;s signing of Sator, a former Flyer assistant.On Jan. 25, the Rangers announced Larouche&rsquo;s return and he was to make his debut two days later against the Nordiques in Quebec, the first stop on a sixgame Ranger road swing.Larouche is the fifth of the seven players purged that Sator has been forced to recall; only Dore and the injured Nick Fotiu remain in exile&mdash;and does anyone remember Sator&rsquo;s promise to greet the returnees at the door and apologize for being wrong?The purge was a bold move then, an indication of fresh direction and positive intent by the new coach. The gambles backfired and turned boldness into foolishness as the Rangers&mdash;though they were 5-2-1 before the road game in Quebec&mdash;continued to stumble in mediocrity.Why was Sator forced into recalling Larouche?Returning to Madison Square Garden (rumored again to be for sale by owners Gulf & Western) after winning three straight on the road, the Rangers were blanked by the injury-depleted Hartford Whalers 5-0.Following a 4-2 win in Toronto, the Rangers returned home only to be shutout by the Quebec Nordiques 4-0.Not enough? Okay, how about the fact that, offensively, the Rangers ranked 20th of the 21 National Hockey League teams at the time of Larouche&rsquo;s recall and were in the midst of a fight that might leave them out of the playoffs.Might that have something to do with Larouche&rsquo;s return?&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no magic about the timing,&rdquo; said general manager Craig Patrick. &ldquo;We just decided to see if Pierre is going to be able to help.&rdquo;Larouche, ordinarily a center, had scored 22 goals as a right winger in 32 games at Hershey, numbers that commanded attention even at the national level, as evidenced by a feature on him in this month&rsquo;s Sport magazine.In an amusing bit of irony, Sator, the man who would not give Larouche even a single NHL game to prove himself to the rookie coach, now says, &ldquo;Pierre&rsquo;s going to need some time to be acclimatized to fit into a different team than the one he left. I&rsquo;m sure he wants to do well.&rdquo;Whether Sator gives Larouche that time, or even if he doesn&rsquo;t give Larouche the time of day, the 30-year old who has 344 goals in 701 career regular-season games embraces the opportunity.&ldquo;Sure I&rsquo;m happy to be back,&rdquo; said Larouche, who has had 50-goal seasons with both Montreal and Pittsburgh. &ldquo;I was shocked when they told me. After awhile you think they&rsquo;re never going to call you back. I don&rsquo;t know how long I have to show what I can still do but I hope to make the most of it.&rdquo;Two seasons ago, Larouche had 48 goals for the Rangers, who signed him as a free agent in September, 1983. Last year he had 24.Larouche&rsquo;s return does not bode well for Dave Gagner (nor Steve Patrick, who was demoted to New Haven). Gagner, a sensitive young man, is wrestling with his own performance.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hard on myself,&rdquo; said Gagner after the Hartford loss. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to be able to come off the bench and not think about how I&rsquo;ve been sitting or not effective. I think I&rsquo;ve lost Ted&rsquo;s trust in me and I have to put some pucks in the net.&ldquo;Maybe if I had a big game that would spark my confidence. That&rsquo;s my own responsibility.&rdquo;Gagner took his words to heart, scoring for New York against Toronto&mdash;his first goal since Nov. 6&mdash;and using his quickness to create numerous scoring chances. However, with the return of Larouche, Gagner faces the prospect of becoming a fourth liner again.RANGER RAMBLINGS&mdash;It will be at least a month between Ranger goals scored at home. New York last scored on Jan. 12 and won&rsquo;t be back at MSG until Feb. 12&hellip;Last year&rsquo;s Rangers, a squad that set records for offensive ineptitude, was blanked three times. This year&rsquo;s team had already been shutout five times. &#9632;</div>

Larouche Recalled To Add Some Offense

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01571/5005503-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="61" height="54"></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;At 25, Moe Mantha is the elder statesman of the Pittsburgh Penguin defense.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m one of the veterans and I&rsquo;m trying to show leadership on the ice,&rdquo; said Mantha, who was named as an alterate captain by coach Bob Berry. &ldquo;Hopefully, they pick up things that I&rsquo;m doing.&rdquo;Mantha came to the Penguins in May, 1984 as the future considerations from Winnipeg in the trade that sent fomer Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Randy Carlyle to the Jets and brought a first-round draft choice to the Penguins, which they used to select defenseman Doug Bodger.Mantha led all Penguin defensemen in scoring last season with 11 goals and 40 assists, but he also had the worst plusminus rating among the blueliners at minus-31. After working with assistant coach Jim Roberts on the defensive aspects of his game. Mantha had eight goals and 31 assists, and was plus-nine through 46 games this season.&ldquo;When I came to Pittsburgh I always had a role as the offensive defenseman,&rdquo; said Mantha. &ldquo;Since 1 came here, Jimmy Roberts has said. &lsquo;Hey, you stay back. You&rsquo;ll get your chances on the power play&rsquo;. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve been trying to do. I&rsquo;ve been trying to take care of my zone when we&rsquo;re even strength.&ldquo;I try to go out and relax and try to get what I can off the power play. If we&rsquo;re playing regular strength. I&rsquo;ll try to move up in the comers if my centerman or my wingers backing me up. I&rsquo;m getting my chances and my breaks. If you&rsquo;re working hard and you&rsquo;re skating, your breaks will come.&ldquo;My plus is better than it&rsquo;s ever been. I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve ever been a plus player in my life. This year I&rsquo;ve been a plus. That helps build my confidence.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting my points on the power play. Overall. I think I&rsquo;m getting to be the two-way player. I&rsquo;m gradually coming into my own. I enjoy the way I&rsquo;m playing now.&rdquo;But Mantha admits the adjustment hasn&rsquo;t been easy.&ldquo;I always wanted to pinch, I always wanted to move up on the play and get involved in it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I thought your offense is your best defense. If you play in their zone all night, it&rsquo;s going to be great.&ldquo;Jimmy Roberts kind of knocked me in the head and said, &lsquo;Hey, you&rsquo;re going to have to wait for your chance. You can&rsquo;t do that because look what 2-on-l&rsquo;s and 3-on-l&rsquo;s you&rsquo;re leaving. You&rsquo;ve got to help your partner out.&rsquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m 25 years old and I think you&rsquo;re supposed to come into your prime when you&rsquo;re 26. I think I&rsquo;m heading that way. With Jimmy&rsquo;s help, hopefully I&rsquo;ll get there.&rdquo;Another person Mantha recieves help from is his father, Maurice Mantha Sr., who played defense in the Montreal Canadiens minor-league system for 10 years and is now a member of the Canadian parliament.&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re down in the dumps, he&rsquo;ll phone and say, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re second-guessing yourself,&rsquo;&rdquo; Mantha said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always been a great second-hand coach for me. He was always giving me all his secret tricks he learned when he played.&rdquo;Mantha, who was born in Lakewood, OH., when his father played for the Cleveland Barons of the American League was the captain of Team USA at the World Hockey Championships last spring in Czechoslovakia. He thinks that helped prepare him for his role as alternate captain of the Penguins.&ldquo;We had a young team there, a lot of college kids,&rdquo; said Mantha, whose teammates included Penguin rookie defenseman Jim Johnson. &ldquo;It was a great experience. It really helped me a lot over there.&ldquo;There are 20 guys in this room and we&rsquo;re all leaders. We&rsquo;re there if there are problems, problems with the coaches on to hold team meetings. I think I&rsquo;m just an ordinary guy in here.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

Pens’ Mantha Becomes Prime-Time Player

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02401/5005534-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="283" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIM ADLAM</figcaption></div>Tim Adlam is a 16-year-old netminder who plays for the Pembroke (Ont.) Midget Kings in the Upper Ottawa Valley Hockey League.The 5-foot-8, 165-pound goalie is in his second season with the Kings, having posted a 3.13 goals-against average last season to earn him most-valuable-player honors on his team.Coached by Ron Griese, Tim attended the Team Ontario under-16 training camp last spring.A native of Oakville, Ont., Tim has resided and played hockey in a number of locations, including Calgary, where he advanced through the Lake Bonavista Community Minor Hockey Program as well as the Southwest Athletic Association Major Bantam AA Royals. He now lives in Petawawa, Ont.His favorite National Hockey League team is the Washington Capitals and his favorite player is Capital winger Mike Gartner. &#9632;

f0026-02

PLAYER OF WEEK

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

JOFA Entries

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03334/5005589-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="376" height="549"><figcaption class="caption-body">Charlie Huddy is glad to be playing with&mdash;and not against&mdash;teammate Wayne Gretzky these days.</figcaption></div>Charlie Huddy is glad the shoe&rsquo;s on the other foot now. Or at least that his and Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s skates share the same dressing room.It wasn&rsquo;t always the case.Huddy recalls when they were adversaries for rival Toronto-area teams.&ldquo;I remember playing against Wayne when 1 played for Markham, he played for Seneca in Junior B. He was as good then as he is now, no doubt,&rdquo; says Huddy of his famous teammate. &ldquo;And I sure was on the wrong side of the goals lots of times.&rdquo;Huddy, 26, was born in Scarborough, Ont., and played his minor hockey there.He began his career not as a defenseman, but as a center. A memory that stands out for Huddy was his first shift on the ice.&ldquo;My very first shift I played center. The faceoff was at center ice, I won the faceoff. I just shot it ahead and it went in right from the faceoff. It was kind of funny really.&ldquo;I played center for a couple of years, then I switched and started to play defense. I preferred defense, but who knows. If I had played at center longer 1 don&rsquo;t know. I think 1 made the right choice. 1 hope I did.&rdquo;One of the biggest pains for both minor hockey player and parents alike is having to rise long before the sun ever thinks of doing so, packing all the gear into the family car, and heading out for the Saturday morning game or practice at a cold arena. Huddy, though, was a bit luckier than many of his counterparts.&ldquo;We were pretty fortunate. We lived in Scarborough, and we seemed to have pretty good ice, that is there was lots of ice available and we never had to wake up too early, so we were lucky,&rdquo; said Huddy, who was the inaugural winner of the Emery Edge Award for having the best plus-minus rating in the National Hockey League three years ago.&ldquo;My parents put a lot of time and effort into driving me around to the rinks. And dad would come home from work, and then he&rsquo;d have to get changed and drive us to the rinks. They put a lot of effort into it.&rdquo;The highlight of Huddy&rsquo;s minor hockey career was his participation in the famous Quebec International 1 peewee tournament during the Winter Carnival in Quebec City.&ldquo;I played in the No. I peewee tournament in Quebec. We won that one for Dorset Park. It was great fun winning that, because at the time, it was a pretty big tournament, and 1 think it still is.&rdquo;Huddy was drafted by the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario League, but didn&rsquo;t make it on the team his first year, and went back to Markham for another year.In two years with the Generals, Huddy scored 37 goals and 93 points in 123 games.Oddly, despite his fine record with the Generals, Huddy wasn&rsquo;t drafted. He was signed as a free agent by Oilers in 1979 and played for Houston and Wichita in the now-defunct Central League before becoming a regular with Edmonton. &#9632;

f0026-03

Tourney Remains Fond Memory

<div class="byline">BY JEFF HUBBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02383/5005620-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="291" height="416"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz is a former winner of the Lester Patrick Trophy.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01543/5005627-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="85" height="88"></div>Good Grief!A hockey tournament in Santa Rosa, California?Yes, and run by none other than Charles M. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts.But that shouldn&rsquo;t be too unusual. Although he lives there now, Schulz is not a native of California, hailing instead from St. Paul, Minn., where skating and hockey are popular pastimes.&ldquo;Almost all kids in Minnesota play hockey, either on rinks or on the street,&rdquo; says Schulz, 63. &ldquo;I never played hockey in high school. Our hockey was backyard hockey, or street hockey.&ldquo;There was a private boys school that had an outdoor rink, and at night, we&rsquo;d sneak over and play hockey by the light of the moon.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;There was a private boys school and we&rsquo;d sneak over and play hockey by the light of the moon.&rsquo; &mdash;Schulz</blockquote>Schulz&rsquo;s interest and involvement with hockey continues to the present day.In his comic strips, it&rsquo;s not unusual to see Snoopy the beagle carrying a hockey stick every bit as neatly as Hound Dog Kelly ever did.And the annual Senior World Hockey Tournament is in its 12th year. It takes place July 15-19 at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa. The tournament began as an extension of the Senior Olympics, but became so &lsquo;Snoopy-oriented&rsquo; that Schulz decided to hold his own tournament.The arena is Schulz&rsquo;s. A beautiful building resembling a Swiss chalet, Schulz had it constructed in 1967 after the community rink in Santa Rosa was condemned.&ldquo;They were forced to close down after some structural difficulties,&rdquo; says Schulz. &ldquo;We thought it was a pity, so we built our own.&rdquo;&ldquo;The place is jammed for the (tournament&rsquo;s) opening ceremonies,&rdquo; says Cecilia Shortt, the tournament&rsquo;s coordinator. &ldquo;The hospitality is very important. We used to have a formal dinner for the 600 participants and their wives, but we had a western barbeque one year and everybody really seemed to enjoy themselves. So now we have a barbeque with entertainment and square dancing. At the barbeque we served 1,239 steaks. That&rsquo;s a lot of steaks.&rdquo;The series is broken down into different age groups, ranging from 40 to over-60. Every team plays three games. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t overplan,&rdquo; says Shortt, &ldquo;but we do like organization. The players like it when they know they will get on the ice when it&rsquo;s their turn.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had games as late as 1:30 a.m. and as early as 5 a.m., but you try not to roll the players out of bed too early.&rdquo;Some of the players are NHL alumni, among them Eric Nesterenko, Pierre Pilote, Jim Pappin, Bill Mosienko and Norm Ullman.Schulz himself is a participant.&ldquo;Sparky (Schulz) plays on the 60 to 65 team, called the Diamond leers, with men from the (San Francisco) Bay area,&rdquo; says Shortt. &ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t enough men in Santa Rosa who play.&rdquo;Rats.The teams come mostly from the United States and Canada, but there have been teams from Finland and even Japan. In fact, last year on the Japanese team, the combined age of three players on one forward line was 210 years.First prize at the tournament? A trophy with a golden Snoopy perched on top, of course. Other players receive gold, silver and bronze medals.Schulz was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1981 for fostering interest in hockey in the United States.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m the first person not involved with, or at least the farthest away from the hockey establishment to win the award,&rdquo; says Schulz. &#9632;

f0028-02

Schulz Of Peanuts Fame: He Is A Good Hockey Man

<div class="byline">BY JEFF HUBBELL</div>He was &lsquo;chosen&rsquo; to play in All-Star Games. He was, however, never on an all-star team.With 24 seasons, three Lady Byng trophies and three Stanley Cup rings, 456 goals and 1,281 points to his credit, Alex Delvecchio was one of the finest players ever to grace the National Hockey League.A smart and snappy center on a powerhouse team that included Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel, Frank Mahovlich and Terry Sawchuk, &lsquo;Fats&rsquo; was almost always hidden from view by his more illustrious teammates.But it never fazed him.&ldquo;I played in a couple of them (All-Star Games), although I was never selected to them. They needed extra players to fill the rosters,&rdquo; laughed the Hall of Famer. &ldquo;It never bothered me one bit. 1 just loved the game. It didn&rsquo;t matter what laurels came my way.&rdquo;Delvecchio, 55, played with the Detroit Red Wings from 1950-51 until his retirement part way through the 1973-74 season, leaving the ice for a place behind the bench as coach of the then-rudderless Wings.Over four years Delvecchio tried to turn the Wings into a contender, but of the 244 games that he worked as coach, only 82 were wins.&ldquo;After 23 years, I was pretty well down the line. I was 42 years old at the time, and I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d have played any more after that year anyway, so they asked me to coach.&rdquo;&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t too successful but it was a great experience. For coaching and managing, you have to be a certain kind of person for that job, and I don&rsquo;t fit that category.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03277/5005658-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="291" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">A young Alex Delvecchio played for the Detroit Red Wings in their heydey.</figcaption></div>Neither a player nor coach now, Delvecchio hasn&rsquo;t strayed from the team. Currently he is the color commentator on Red Wing radio broadcasts, filling in for an ailing Abel. When he gets the chance, he still laces on the skates for occasional charity oldtimers game.&ldquo;I play with the Red Wing alumni team in Detroit. We play about 15 games a year. We practise about twice a week, and I&rsquo;m still pretty active on skates.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to get together. We&rsquo;ve got Bill Gadsby and Normie Ullman, Gary Bergman, Nick Libett. We&rsquo;ve got quite a few guys in the territory.&ldquo;We go to the dressing room after the games, and we reminisce. And it makes it feel like you&rsquo;re young again.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-03

Former Wing Captain Still Plays The Game

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01466/5005689-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

THE HOCKEY NEWS CLASSIFIED

<div class="byline">BY DICK BAKER</div>NEW HAVEN&mdash;They call it the New Haven Chamber of Commerce.The Nighthawks, crippled by injuries and recalls all season, have had to call the local rent-a-player agency just to get by.They&rsquo;ve had Tom Price the plumber. Dan McCarthy the painter and Greg (Hitch) Hickey, who hadn&rsquo;t played a pro game in five years. Although Hickey, an ex-New Haven Nighthawk, doesn&rsquo;t hail from New Haven, he still remembered how to get there and that was good enough for general manager Roy Mlaker.Things were so bad (injuries to Simo Saarinen. Jim Dobson, Bill O&rsquo;Dwyer. Tony Feltrin and Bob Crawford) they had to send for the president of a Vancouver gold mining company just to have enough defense.Yes, Dan Clark, a.k.a. D.M.R. (Dan) Clark&mdash;president, Newfields Minerals Inc.&mdash;was nice enough to help out for a few games during New Haven&rsquo;s days of woe.The timing wasn&rsquo;t that great. Clark was guarding the blue line while gold was having its best run up in years.The question had to be asked. Dan, what were you doing here anyway?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what my partners are asking,&rdquo; laughed Clark. &ldquo;But actually, Roy was very good to me when I was playing in New Haven. I was going to go to Australia for a three-week holiday anyway so I gave that up to do this.&rdquo;But despite this patchwork player roster, the Nighthawks exploded for a 10-3 home victory over Nova Scotia and then traveled to Springfield to upset the Indians 5-3. McCarthy scored on a nifty backhander to ice the contest.&ldquo;Mac played his best game of the year tonight,&rdquo; said coach Robbie Ftorek after McCarthy&rsquo;s 17th game. &ldquo;It was almost like he had his old wheels back. 1 told him if he kept playing like that, 1 was going to have to look at his ugly mug the rest of the year.&rdquo;&ldquo;Yeah, he did say that,&rdquo; confirmed McCarthy, who later signed on for the remainder of the season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really a good looking guy you know. This started out as a one-game thing. But there&rsquo;s a black cloud hanging over New Haven. 1 don&rsquo;t know what it is, but every game there&rsquo;s an injury, and not a minor injury, but a serious one.&rdquo;McCarthy, Once a speedster, had his career cut short last year by knee injuries. Yet, his presence and that of veterans like Clark, added a spirit of purpose to the New Haven locker room.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t win unless you have 10 veterans mixed in with 10 rookies,&rdquo; said McCarthy, a one-time Ranger prospect. &ldquo;Look at Hershey, Maine, Adirondack and Rochester. When you&rsquo;re winning, guys develop. How can you develop a winning attitude if you&rsquo;re not winning?&rdquo;Many National Hockey League teams have been cutting loose borderline player, regardless of experience, just to save money on minor league salaries. McCarthy, who starred at Baltimore before Pittsburgh pulled the plug on the once-potent Skipjacks, thinks teams like the Penguins are making a big mistake.&ldquo;Which way would a rookie defenseman develop faster&mdash;playing alongside a veteran or next to another rookie?&rdquo; asked McCarthy.Enthusiasm was running high as the Nighthawks closed out the victory over Springfield.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s shock this league,&rdquo; shouted out one Nighthawk as the post-game celebration carried on.Sherbrooke prevented a third straight victory by upending the Nighthawks the next afternoon. But then again, maybe the Nighthawks needed another member of the Chamber of Commerce. After all, they had lost one more player the night before against Springfield.Mike Allison went down with a broken arm.DOWN SOUTH&mdash;Rochester&rsquo;s Paul Gardner won player-of-the-week honors with back-to-back hat tricks against Binghamton and Springfield&hellip;An overtime goal by Troy Loney lifted the Baltimore Skipjacks to a heart-pounding 2-1 victory over the Hershey Bears in Hershey. Goaltender Denis Herron, in his second game since being sent down by Pittsburgh, beat Ron Hextali in that one&hellip;Defenseman Bill Stewart and goaltender Mike Sands of Springfield received &ldquo;indefinite&rdquo; suspensions from AHL president Jack Butterfield. Stewart shot the puck in the direction of linesman Dave Butova during the New Haven game while Sands, the next night in Rochester, was so enraged over a call by referee Rob Shick that he threw his blocking glove in the ref&rsquo;s direction. Sands wanted Shick to disallow a goal scored by Rochester&rsquo;s Doug Trapp during a scramble from in front of the cage. After Sands tossed the blocker, Shick handed him a game misconduct. Sands responded by tipping over the net against the boards. &#9632;

The Minors

It’s Rent-A-Player Time For The Nighthawks

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01532/5005768-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="963" height="651"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

CCM HOCKEY TRIVIA

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>GLENS FALLS&mdash;It&rsquo;s been a season of contradictions for Tim Friday.The former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute defenseman wasn&rsquo;t supposed to make the Detroit Red Wings during training camp.Not only did he earn a spot, he was often cited as the team&rsquo;s best defenseman during the early weeks of the season.Observers said it was a fluke that he stuck with Detroit and that he would quickly find himself playing with Adirondack in the American League.But it took nearly half the season, a number of injuries and the general chaos surrounding the inept Detroit Red Wings to dislodge him.Like most other players sent down to Adirondack, it was thought it would take him a while to adjust and get over the disappointment of being sent to the minors.Yet, he handled that assigment effortlessly.With his defensive-oriented style, some said, he wouldn&rsquo;t have much impact on the Adirondack offense that is most effective when its defensemen get involved with the attack.In his four games in the AHL he had seven assists. Twice he had three-assist games when his former RP1 teammate Adam Oates scored hat tricks for the Wings.&ldquo;It has been a strange year. It&rsquo;s been a year of surprises,&rdquo; Friday said. &ldquo;Actually, it&rsquo;s been reversed. 1 thought maybe I&rsquo;d start out in Adirondack and if I played well enough and did pretty well that 1 would get my chance in the NHL. The situation was reversed.&rdquo;As is his manner, Friday says that luck has a lot to do with his recent good fortune.&ldquo;Because I&rsquo;ve been playing on the power play, it gives me a lot more chances to get assists,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Ireally wasn&rsquo;t a big point-getter in college. I got my points here and there, but not a whole lot. It&rsquo;s nice, but 1 don&rsquo;t expect it to continue.&rdquo;Adirondack coach Bill Dineen, who took a liking to Friday&rsquo;s game during training camp, said the Framingham, Mass., native has quickly made his presence felt.&ldquo;He really helps us coming out of our own end. He just takes what is available to him.&rdquo; Dineen said. &ldquo;He moves the puck when it&rsquo;s available to him. He does all the right things.&ldquo;I guess he got good training (in college). That&rsquo;s pretty well their style of play (at RPI), a sit-back type of defensive style where they move the puck and the defenseman do not get too offensive minded. It certainly reflects in his play here.&ldquo;He sizes things up well. He doesn&rsquo;t get rattled. He&rsquo;s really got great composure.&rdquo;Friday&rsquo;s willingness to play the conservative role on defense has allowed his partner, Larry Trader, to carry the puck more, something he does well, and get more involved in the offense.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just really steady,&rdquo; Adirondack forward Ted Speers said. &ldquo;He makes the heads-up play. I can see why you would want a Tim Friday on your team. He makes the smart play. He&rsquo;s a good passer and he&rsquo;s not afraid to shoot it. I think he could carry the puck pretty well but right now he&rsquo;s a little hesitant. He likes to pass it over to Larry and Larry&rsquo;s not afraid to skate with it himself.&ldquo;Tim stays at home and Larry takes off. I think they complement each other well.&rdquo;Knee and shoulder injuries kept him out of the lineup at times, but Friday said that it wasn&rsquo;t physical problems that led to his reassignment.&ldquo;I was struggling a bit there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I understand totally why they sent me down because I was struggling. I was very uptight and nervous every time I got out there. I had lost a lot of confidence. I&rsquo;m starting to regain that with the ice time I&rsquo;m getting-here.&rdquo;Injuries suffered by veterans Harold Snepsts and Mike McEwen in training camp gave Friday an opportunity to jump directly to the major league roster in his first, pro season.&ldquo;I thought I was doing pretty well at the beginning of the year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Then 1 got slowed down a little bit and my ice time was gradually decreasing as the year went on. The whole team was struggling. Then I started losing the confidence. I think the coach and the general manager there realized that and they thought it was best for me to come down. I understand the move totally.&rdquo;With Adirondack, he&rsquo;s an often-used regular again, just like he was during his four seasons with the Engineers. He takes a regular shift, kills penalties and works on the power play. All that extra ice time has had a positive impact on his friend Oates, who was beginning to dominate every game in the AHL before being recalled by Detroit. Friday is optimistic that the same thing will happen to him.&ldquo;This is the perfect place for me to come, into a winning atmosphere,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This team is really together. It&rsquo;s the perfect place for me to come to get my confidence back.&rdquo;AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;Fredericton has been busy playing the personnel changing game. Veteran goalie Richard Sevigny was sent down by Quebec for a two-week conditioning stint. He replaced veteran John Garrett, who returned to Vancouver after posting a 2-1 record with the Express. Jere Gillis and Neil Belland returned from the injured list and Jean-Marc Gaulin, Gord Donnelly, Dale Dunbar and Dave Bruce were reassigned by their NHL clubs&hellip;Rookie Yves Heroux completed his first AHL hat trick with one second left in overtime to lift the Express past Baltimore&hellip;Ted Speers became Adirondack&rsquo;s Iron Man when he played in his 143rd consecutive game, one more than the mark established by former Wing Rejean Cloutier&hellip;Wings were feeling the bite of injuries and suspensions in Detroit. They&rsquo;d been playing with nine forwards and five defensemen&hellip;Adirondack rookie Chris Pusey shut out the Mariners 1-0 at Maine to give the Wings a seven-point lead. It was Pusey&rsquo;s first shutout as a pro&hellip;Dave Reid was assigned to Moncton by Boston&hellip;The Golden Flames were playing without John Newberry, who had a foot injury. &#9632;

Friday Every Day With AHL Wings

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>PEORIA&mdash;Coaches aren&rsquo;t necessarily happy their teams are playing only playing .500 hockey. But in the case of Pat kelly, boss of the defending Turner Cupchampion Peoria Rivermen, it beats losing.For Kelly&rsquo;s Heroes, the climb to the.500 mark was a lengthy one&mdash;lasting almost two months into the 1985-86 International League season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re making our presence known a little bit right now,&rdquo; Kelly said of the Rivermen&rsquo;s 21-21-0 record on Jan. 21.&ldquo;We started a little slow,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;I think some of our guys from last year&rsquo;s championship team thought it would be easier this year, I don&rsquo;t think we worked very hard early in the season.&ldquo;Also,&rdquo; he speculated, &ldquo;the fans were still telling us how great we were and all through training camp the city was still giving us pats on the back for last season.&rdquo;Peoria lost its first two games and struggled though October and November at the bottom of the West Division standings.They warmed up a bit in December and finally, on Dec. 8, they reached.500 for the first time at 12-12-0. The Rivermen even improved to 13-12-0 in their next outing, but then dropped back to.500, where they were as January neared its end.&ldquo;When we started losing at home, the fans let us know how they felt,&rdquo; Kelly continued. &ldquo;We had a couple of meetings and the players got together and we started winning more often.&rdquo;Kelly was still concerned about the way the Rivermen were playing at home.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing better on the road than at home,&rdquo; he pointed out. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve won 11 on the road (against nine losses), but we come home and give those points back. We&rsquo;re only 10-12 at home.&rdquo;Peoria&rsquo;s record reflects its up-and-down performance on the ice. The longest winning streak of the season had been three games, the longest losing streak also three.&ldquo;We did set a team record with four straight wins on the road,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;but we had a home game in between which we lost.&rdquo;Kelly has had manpower problems. He called injuries to center Glen Sharpley and Tony Curtale critical.&ldquo;Glen had 33 points (12 goals) in 22 games but he&rsquo;s been out for 14 games with a hip injury,&rdquo; Kelly said. Sharpley had started to skate with the team again and Kelly was hoping to have him back in action within a week.Curtale, a defenseman, had missed half a dozen games with a rib problem.Left winger Doug Evans was among the IHL&rsquo;s top 10 in scoring and led the Rivermen in spite of missing a few games recently when he was recalled by St. Louis.He had picked up 24 goals and 59 points in 35 games. Another St. Louis prospect, rookie defenseman Shawn Evans, was performing well for Kelly. He&rsquo;d been contributing on offense with five goals and 18 assists in 39 games.Kelly said he was pleased with the play of rookie winger Don Edwardson, who was acquired from Muskegon. The 20-year-old had two goals in his first three games with the Rivermen after scoring 15 in 33 outings at Muskegon. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got good size and he&rsquo;s going to be around for awhile,&rdquo; Kelly predicted.Darrell May had played about two-thirds of the Rivermen&rsquo;s games in goal, sharing duries with Don Einwechter. May&rsquo;s goals-against average was a respectable 3.12 and he had an 11-10-0 record.&ldquo;St. Louis sent Jacques Plante here to work with our goaltenders.&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;And that may help us even more.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Saginaw&rsquo;s Brian Noonan was the IHL&rsquo;s player of the week with seven goals and six assists in four games, including a hat trick and game winner. Other hat tricks went to Bob Lakso of Indianapolis (his third of the season), Kevin Robinson of Saginaw and Scott Gruhl of Muskegon. Goalies Pokey Reddick of Fort Wayne and Darren Pang of Saginaw had shutouts&hellip;New York Islanders recalled goalie Rob Holland from Indy and defenseman Gord Paddock from Muskegon for duty at Springfield of the AHL&hellip;The IHL&rsquo;s mid-season all-star team, voted upon by coaches, was announced. It is as follows:First Team&mdash;Goalie, Rick St. Croix (Fort Wayne), defense, Jim Burton (Fort Wayne) and Don Waddell (Toledo), center, Scott MacLeod (Salt Lake City), right wing, Jim Egerton (Flint) and left wing Dave Michayluk (Muskegon). Second Team&mdash;Goalie, Michel Dufour (Muskegon), defense, Glenn Hicks (Sait Lake City) and Dan Naud (Muskegon), center, Jock Callander (Muskegon), rightwing, Brent Sapergia (Salt Lake City) and left wing, Scott Gruhl (Muskegon). &#9632;

“Kelly’s Heroes’ Play Break-Even Hockey

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>DENVER&mdash;Seven seasons ago, an assistant coach at Denver University named Ralph Backstrom played a small part in a major accomplishment as the Pioneers won 27 Western Collegiate Hockey Association games to establish a league record for wins.Marshall Johnston, who coached the Pioneers then, has moved on and Backstrom has come on to put this year&rsquo;s team in position to break the record set by Johnston&rsquo;s Pioneers.With 10 league games left to play, Denver had 19 wins, a solid shot at its first league title since then and a chance to break the league record for wins established eight years ago by an entirely different Denver team.But to do all that, Backstrom had to find ways to overcome some costly injuries which left the Pioneers with just 17 players, three under the limit, for a recent non-conference game with the Air Force Academy.Senior wing Derek Sheers and sophomore winger Bruce Hill are lost for the season with knee injuries and Dave Hanson, Derek Mayer, Jim Onstad and Kermit Ecklebarger were all in various stages of recovery from injuries, slowing Denver&rsquo;s drive for its ninth WCHA title and the first since that record-setting 1977-78 season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting good performances from the guys we&rsquo;re counting on and we&rsquo;re still getting the good goaltending,&rdquo; Backstrom said.Goalies Tom Allen and Chris Olson both had save percentages close to the.900 mark while veterans Dwight Mathiasen, Dallas Gaume and Jeff Lamb provided much of the offensive punch, scoring 57 of Denver&rsquo;s 129 goals through 25 games.Help had come from freshmen, too, like Scott Mathias, who had seven goals, and Ed Christofoli, who popped in a pair in a recent win over Lowell after struggling with just one goal in his first 23 games.In truth, there&rsquo;s no part of Denver&rsquo;s game which hadn&rsquo;t been solid. The Pioneers continued to be one of the league&rsquo;s highest-scoring teams as well as the league&rsquo;s stingiest defensively, a solid combination at any level of hockey.And Denver, which was in a tight five-way race for first place as short as several weeks ago, was getting unexpected help from the likes of sixth-place North Dakota.The Fighting Sioux bumped off Minnesota-Duluth once, and then Wisconsin twice, to cool off those two contenders at the same time another contender. Northern Michigan, was sliding through a four-game losing streak.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still not making any wild predictions,&rdquo; Backstrom said. &ldquo;All we&rsquo;re trying to do is take one game at a time. It&rsquo;s helped us with what teams like North Dakota have done, but we can only be concerned with ourselves.&rdquo;WCHA NOTES&mdash;Michigan Tech, which had won three of its last four games, all at home, continued to have problems on the road. The Huskies had not won in 24 consecutive road games, posting a 0-21-3 mark during that span, the last win coming Jan. 19, 1985 at Northern Michigan. Tech had been involved in nine overtime games in 28 contests, one shy of the school record, going 2-3-4 in overtime sessions&hellip;Wisconsin has lost one of its top guns in Jim Johannson&mdash;out for up to five weeks with a shoulder injury&hellip;North Dakota will redshirt prize freshman recruit Grant Paranica, who played just six games this season before needing back surgery. &#9632;

Denver On Target For WCHA Victory Mark

<div class="byline">BY BILL CRAWFORD</div>KALAMAZOO&mdash;Okay, fans, it&rsquo;s test time.What Central Collegiate Hockey Association player trails former Ohio State star Paul Pooley as the league&rsquo;s career assists leader by just two? What CCHA player is only 20 points behind former Bowling Green standout Brian Hills in career points?What CCHA player holds his team&rsquo;s all-time point record, already 25 points ahead of the previous leader, with 10 regular-season games yet to play? What CCHA player is averaging 2.35 points a game this season?What college player has been on every United States junior and collegiate select team the past four years and wants nothing more now than a good shot next season at making the roster of the New Jersey Devils, the team that drafted him three, years ago?If you answered Dan Dorion of the Western Michigan Broncos, give yourself a trip to the CCHA playoffs at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit this March.Dorion, 5-foot-8 and 169 pounds, was one of the biggest names in college hockey his first two years at WMU. He set a torrid pace and caught the eye of just about everyone who follows the game.Last year, he dropped off in production and, while the Devils knew who he was, everybody else seemed to have forgotten.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t play well my junior year,&rdquo; says Dorion, a right winger. &ldquo;1 was not in the best physical shape and wasn&rsquo;t happy about that and a few other things. It showed.&rdquo;This season, Dorion is in a different frame of mind and better shape. Again, it shows. He had 61 points overall and 52 in CCHA play with 10 regular-season games to play. His career points total of 250 was within 20 of Hills, who starred at BG, and within two of Pooley&rsquo;s assist mark of 156.He&rsquo;s battling it out with Bowling Green&rsquo;s highly-touted Jamie Wansbrough for the league scoring leadership this season.And Dorion, like Wansbrough, is a solid Hobey Baker candidate as college hockey&rsquo;s best player.The knock on Dorion is that he&rsquo;s too small to play pro and he is a far cry from the big men playing the game today.But Dorion is very strong, very fast, strong on his skates and good with the puck. He can score, he can pass and he can fly.Dorion is a catalyst to the Broncos&rsquo; offense, which was running a close second to BG in total goals and led the CCHA in power-play efficiency with an impressive 39.9 percent conversion rate.Dorion credits the goaltending of freshman Bill Horn and sophomore Kevin McCaffrey with triggering the steady improvement of the Broncos.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve really made a difference because we lost (All-American Glenn) Healy (to graduation) and nobody knew what to expect. But Hom is getting better and Kevin takes it as a challenge and he&rsquo;s playing well too.&rdquo;The confident Broncos had already set a team mark with 10 road wins this season.Outside the CCHA, Dan Dorion is known to only those who follow the game closely. He hasn&rsquo;t been &ldquo;sold&rdquo; as a Hobey Baker candidate much, for a couple of reasons.First, Western Michigan is a growing hockey power, perhaps with a good team the past three seasons, but it is hardly a mecca of college hockey.Secondly, Dorion is having a great senior year, but he&rsquo;s coming off a so-so third year and needs to finish well to be considered a strong Hobey Baker threat.CCHATTER&mdash;Jamie Wansbrough scored four goals in two BG wins over Ohio State, moving him two ahead of Mike Bartley as the Falcons&rsquo; all-time goal-scoring leader and leaving him five shy of St. Louis&rsquo; Rick Kennedy as the CCHA&rsquo;s all-time leader&hellip;BG&rsquo;s Jerry York became his team&rsquo;s winningest coach when the Falcons took those two from OSU. He surpassed Ron Mason, who compiled a 160-63-6 mark in six years there, York is 161-100-12 in seven seasons&hellip;Ferris&rsquo; Gilles Grondin set a league mark for the two fastest goals by one player, scoring a pair 28 seconds apart during the second period of a 9-9 OT tie versus MSU. &#9632;

WMU’s Dorion A Scoring Machine

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01507/5005892-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="196" height="287"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTT HARLOWBoston CollegeHOCKEY EAST</figcaption></div>Boston College rode back into first place in Hockey East with three straight wins as Scott Harlow picked up 11 points, including a hat trick, as the Eagles beat Lowell and swept Michigan Tech. Harlow leads all league scorers with 26 goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02374/5005885-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="196" height="287"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN CARTERRPIECAC</figcaption></div>Senior left winger John Carter of RPI came up with a six-point performance as the Engineers defeated Vermont 3-0 and 7-6. Carter had all three goals in the first game and one in the second, giving him 12 for the season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03249/5005878-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="198" height="290"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAN DORIONW. MichiganCCHA</figcaption></div>Dan Dorion tied two CCHA records in Western Michigan&rsquo;s weekend split against Ohio State. Dorion scored five goals and had two assists in an 11-5 win to tie the mark for most points in one game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04147/5005871-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="197" height="290"><figcaption class="caption-body">M. CHRISTENSENMin-DuluthWCHA</figcaption></div>Senior center Matt Christensen was a one-man wrecking crew for the UMD Bulldogs as he accounted for five of the nine goals in a sweep of Northeastern, 4-3 and 5-2. Christensen raised his career totals to 215 points.BauerFIT FOR PERFORMANCE &#9632;

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Bauer’s College Performer of The Week

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>PRINCETON-&mdash;Jim Higgins may not be pulling rabbits out of his hat, but he&rsquo;s certainly working some wonders with the Princeton hockey team.Last season. Higgins, in his eighth year at the Tigers&rsquo; helm, took Princeton to the Eastern College Athletic Association playoffs for the first time since 1968, thanks to a frantic stretch run. This season, the Tigers are right back in the hunt for a playoff berth, but they want more.&ldquo;This year, we told them we just didn&rsquo;t want to make the playoffs,&rdquo; said Higgins. &ldquo;We set a goal to make home ice, even though that might be a hard goal for us to reach. This team believes it&rsquo;s a playoff team. In the past we would say that, but no one would believe it because no one had been there before. Now, most of these kids have been there, except for two or three of them.&rdquo;The rebuilding process at Princeton hasn&rsquo;t been something that&rsquo;s been achieved overnight. Everyone has suffered through lean years, but they&rsquo;ve stuck it out, and now the Tigers are getting some dividends.The Tigers opened their EC AC season with a win over Cornell and then upset Yale just before the Ivy League broke for exams. That win moved the Tigers into second place, behind Harvard, in the Ivy League standings.The players who have struggled are now the ones who are turning the program around. Players like Cliff Abrecht, Pat Brodeur and Dan Titus have known what it&rsquo;s like to be on the bottom but because of their efforts, future Princeton teams may not have to suffer the same fate.&ldquo;Pat Brodeur and Cliff Abrecht have shown great leadership.&rdquo; said Higgins. &ldquo;The kids look up to them. This is a very close-knit group.&rdquo;Although the Tigers have no superstars. Abrecht is probably one of the most underrated defensemen in the ECAC. He is big (6 feet. 200 pounds) and has been one of Princeton&rsquo;s top scorers for the last three seasons. He currently holds the school record for assists by a defenseman and continues to climb on Princeton&rsquo;s all-time scoring list.&ldquo;Cliff is definitely an offensive defensman,&rdquo; said Higgins of Abrecht, who is the property of the Toronto Maple Leafs. &ldquo;He handles the puck very well and has a great shot. With the way he can move the puck, he can take over a whole game, dominate a game on his own.&rdquo;Although Higgins brought in only two freshmen this season, one is making a run at ECAC rookie-of-the-year honors. John Messuri of Arlington High School in Boston is the link Higgins needed to hold his offensive chain together.&ldquo;John Messuri has really helped us out,&rdquo; said the Princeton coach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s real good with the puck and he sees an awful lot of the ice. He can play on the power play, play a man down, take his regular shift. He has good endurance and can do anything. We need a couple more players like that, who can make the plays and do a lot of different things for us. He&rsquo;s going to be a good player for us for the next three years.&rdquo;The other freshman is Chris Hughes, also out of Massachusetts. The Tigers have received a big lift from the return of both Bill Brady and Todd Ladda. Brady missed the entire 1984-85 season with an injury after leading the team in scoring as a sophomore. Ladda took last season off, but came back in November this year.Every good team needs a good goaltender, and Princeton is no exception. Although junior Dave Marotta hasn&rsquo;t come up with the big games night after night, as he did down the stretch last year, he got some of his confidence back when he beat Yale and then threw two shutout periods at Brown the next night before getting a well-deserved rest.&ldquo;Dave hasn&rsquo;t had as good a year as he did last year.&rdquo; admitted Higgins. &ldquo;But in the last two games, against Yale and Brown, he played very well. We&rsquo;re hoping he gets back to playing like he did last year down the stretch. For the last half of the year, from the end of January, he was very, very tough. He was very hard to beat and his success was one of the reasons we got back into the playoffs.&rdquo;Has Princeton turned the comer? Even if the Tigers get back into the playoffs this season, the real test will come next year, when they have to replace the Abrechts, the Brodeurs, the Tituses, the heart and soul of this team.&ldquo;We need a big recruiting class, no doubt about it,&rdquo; said Higgins. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to lose seven players, six who are playing all the time.&ldquo;This is a very academic school, but we want hockey here,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;They just spent three million dollars to refurbish the rink and now it&rsquo;s a first-class, facility. There&rsquo;s no doubt we need a good recruiting class, but I think the recruiting has gone well so far.&rdquo;ECAC NOTES&mdash;St. Lawrence finally solved Clarkson&rsquo;s jinx and beat the Golden Knights 6-5 for the first time in a regular-season game since March, 1982. Clarkson blew a 4-1 lead, with Tim Lappin getting the winner in overtime for the Saints. It was quite a turnaround for St. Lawrence, which was blown out 10-1 by Clarkson in the previous meeting of the two teams&hellip;What&rsquo;s happened to Yale? The Elis, who won nine of their first 10 games, then proceeded to lose five of their next six and drop to sixth place in the ECAC after being swept by Cornell and Colgate. Randy Wood scored his 50th career goal against the Big Red&hellip;If RPI&rsquo;s Mark Jooris played every game against Michigan, he&rsquo;d be a consensus All-American. He had hat tricks both nights as the Engineers split with the Wolverines, winning 7-6 before losing 11-10 in overtime. In three games against Michigan this season, Jooris has 11 goals and five assists&hellip;Dartmouth, which has straggled in the league this season, went West and took a pair of games from Air Force by scores of 4-2 and 5-1. &#9632;

Princeton Wants More Than A Playoff Berth

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>BOSTON&mdash;If the Hockey East playoffs were to begin tomorrow night, Boston University would be the heavy favorite.The Terriers were on a roll, just at the right time of the season. Since the New-Year they had compiled a sparkling 5-2The two losses were in the home rinks of the least hospitable teams in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, Minnesota and nationally top-ranked Denver. Their three overtime victories in one week catapulted BU to second place in the league, one point ahead of Boston College and three points astern of Northeastern.BU finally defeated the streaking first-place Huskies 5-4 in overtime, after losing a pair of games to NU earlier. That snapped a nine-game unbeaten for Northeastern.Speedy sophomore left winger Clark Donatelli scored the game winner in Matthew&rsquo;s Arena, wheeling around the NU defense to face goalie Bruce Racine, and waiting patiently until the netminder committed himself before lifting a short wrist shot from 10 feet away.Returning home to the unfriendly ice at Walter Brown Arena, the Terriers moved beyond the .500 mark at home for the season, edging Northern Michigan 5-4 and 8-7 also in OT. The wins brought BU&rsquo;s home-ice record to 6-5-1 versus 7-4-1 in enemy rinks.In the first contest against NMU, the lead seesawed through the second and third periods. BU needed a goal by Ed Lowney to tie the count with 4:32 left to play. Freshman Mike Kelfer then beat NMU goalie Mike Jeffrey for the game winner.The rematch was even wilder, and once again BU came from behind to tie. Ten goals were scored in the third period. Kelfer scored at 17:17 to bring the Terriers to within one, and fellow freshman Scott Young tallied exactly one minute later to send the game into OT. Junior defenseman Jay Octeau hit the game winner on a slapshot from the point just 23 seconds into the extra period.BU&rsquo;s surge made the Hockey East pennant race a virtual three-way tie. The Terriers had 11 league games remaining while Northeastern had 10 and BC, 12. BU was playing the best hockey of the three halfway through a stretch of nine games in in 19 days.There are many reasons for the Terriers&rsquo; improvement. Most fans cited the performance of the top line, centered by John Cullen, with Lowney and Donatelli on the wings. Prize rookies Young and Kelfer were contributing more with each passing game. BU was best in power plays and second best in penalty killing in the conference. And Terry Taillefer was 8-2-1 in goal since sitting out a month after a five-goal first period against Michigan Tech back in October.&ldquo;The backbone has been in the goal,&rdquo; said Donatelli. &ldquo;Terry has been just great. I don&rsquo;t know why we&rsquo;ve been better on the road than at home. Maybe there&rsquo;s less pressure on the road. We&rsquo;ve been up and down until now, but we&rsquo;re really going good. I think we&rsquo;re the team to beat.&rdquo;Through 24 games, Donatelli&rsquo;s line topped the BU list. Cullen was 14-29-43, Donatelli, 16-17-33, and Lowney, 11-14-25. Coach Jack Parker thought briefly of breaking them up this season, but quickly abandoned the ideaNOTES&mdash;With just a few games to go, the league&rsquo;s record against WCHA opponents stood at 30-63-7. The Hockey East teams with a chance to end the campaign with winning inter-league records are BU (7-5-2), Northeastern (7-6-1), and BC (6-7-1). One conclusion to be drawn from all this is that the WCHA has much better balance. Another indication of this is the rapidly disappearing playoff chase in the East. Here&rsquo;s why&mdash;Northeastern. BU and BC were battling for first place and a playoff quarter-final bye. But even at that early date, none was in danger of losing home ice. And, barring some minor miracle, Providence will earn the fourth spot in the standings and the final home-ice berth for round one. Lowell, Maine and New Hampshire will travel. It&rsquo;s all but mathematically certain. &#9632;

BU Terriers Start To Roll At Right Time Of Season

Potential. Many athletes have it. But for some it goes unrecognized, undeveloped, and unused. Unfortunately, when this happens the obvious takes place. Nothing.At Michigan Tech Hockey Development Center, our primary goal is to bring a student up to his potential&mdash;first by offering a highly structured on and off-ice hockey curriculum for every age level, then by providing a college atmosphere that makes learning natural.We&rsquo;re proud to say it works &hellip; and has worked for over fourteen years. Making the most of a young player&rsquo;s potential is what makes us a hockey development center&mdash;not just another school or camp.Primary programMites (age 9)Squirt (ages 10 and 11)Pee Wee (ages 12 and 13)Carefully designed to introduce the fundamental skills of hockey to every player, the Squirt and Pee Wee training programs stress shooting, passing and position hockey, both on-ice and office. Scrimmages are also included.Development programBantam (ages 14 and 15)Midget and High School (ages 16 and 17)Designed for more experienced Bantam, Midget, and High School players. Individual and team skills and concepts are stressed. On-ice training focuses on offensive and defensive hockey structures. Off-ice instruction includes videotaped scrimmages and extensive work at the outdoor skill center.Elite training programBantam (ages 14 and 15)Midget, High School (ages 16 and 17)Specifically designed for the already successful hockey player. Intensive on-ice instruction emphasizes advanced skating techniques, individual and team skills and scrimmages. Off-ice training includes extensive dry-land drills, Nautilus weight training, and specialized stretching and warm-up exercises.Goaltender&rsquo;s training program (All age groups)This program allows the goaltender to work individually with specialized instructors both on ice and dry land. Agility, coordination, stance, technique, and concentration are stressed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01459/5005978-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="359" height="287"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02330/5005971-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="152" height="153"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michigan Tech Hockey Development Center</figcaption></div>For more information or a free brochure call: (906) 487-2715 or write: Michigan Tech Hockey Development Center, Michigan Tech University, SDC, Room 219, Houghton, Michigan 49931 &#9632;

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Heavyduty Hockey

<div class="byline">BY HELEN DOLIK</div>CALGARY&mdash;Three years ago, Brandon Bobcats took a look at Tim Lenardon and were not particularly impressed. They almost let him walk away, in fact.But now that walk-on is walking off with the scoring title in the Canada West University Athletic Association.&lsquo;The first time I saw him in practice, I didn&rsquo;t even think he would make the club&mdash;he didn&rsquo;t skate that well,&rdquo; recalled Brandon coach Bob Fitchner. &ldquo;Three days later, I paid a little more attention to him.&ldquo;After 10 days, I told him he&rsquo;d make the team, but as the 13th forward and he&rsquo;d maybe play half a game.&rdquo;Lenardon is having the last laugh.In his first year, the 6-foot-2 center scored 42 points and was third in scoring in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC merged with Canada West this year). Better things were yet to come.Lenardon broke the GPAC scoring record in his second year, totalling 59 points to eclipse the old mark of 55. He accomplished the feat while wearing a playing cast to protect a fractured bone in his wrist.While the fifth-place Bobcats are fighting for one of four playoff spots this season, Lenardon is the clear frontrunner in the scoring race. He was averaging 2.5 points a game, and had 21 goals and 26 assists for 47 points after 18 games.Regina&rsquo;s Rick Nasheim was second with 35 points, while Lenardon&rsquo;s linemate Jim Mollard was third at 31 points.Ten games remained in the schedule, and at the pace he was setting, Lenardon would have no problem topping the Canada West mark of 52 points&mdash;set by British Columbia Thunderbirds&rsquo; Bob McAneeley, who scored 30 goals and 22 assists over 20 games in 1970-71. The league was then known as the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association.Record breaking is nothing new to the 23-year-old Lenardon. He&rsquo;s been doing it since his junior days in Trail, B.C., where he&rsquo;s played most of his hockey. Lenardon&rsquo;s last year in the Kootenay International Junior League with the Trail Junior Smoke Eaters is a prime example.During that year, he scored 172 points (averaging five per game) and had demolished the old mark of 152. He was also aiming to top Ray Ferraro&rsquo;s goal record of 86, and needed eight in four games to tie the mark.For the last two weeks of the season, the local radio station ran a contest, asking people to call in and guess the time and period of the goal that would tie Ferraro&rsquo;s record. The caller with the correct answer would win a steak dinner at the restaurant owned by Lenardon&rsquo;s father. Lenardon tied the record in the last game.Hockey talent runs in the Lenardon family. Lenardon&rsquo;s father, Norman, was a member of the world-champion Trail Smoke Eaters, who won the title in 1961 in Prague, Czechoslovakia.Lenardon enjoyed a brief taste of the National Hockey League last year. He was asked to the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; camp but, without a contract, got caught in the numbers&rsquo; game.&ldquo;It took a lot out of me, I was really down because of what happened.&rdquo; said Lenardon, an education student. &ldquo;But, they really treated you well up there&mdash;treated you like kings. But, there were too many other players with contracts.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfortunate what happened, but I don&rsquo;t think they could have helped it.&rdquo;Lenardon is even more determined to prove himself now. The word is New York Rangers are interested in him.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re (Rangers) monitoring his progress,&rdquo; said Fitchner. &ldquo;Mike Ridley is doing so well that they&rsquo;re kind of looking at the college level to see if there are any other Mike Ridleys around.&rdquo;Ridley played for the University of Manitoba Bisons last year, and as of mid-January, the Rangers&rsquo; rookie was tied for third in points on the team with 13 goals and 20 assists. He may open doors for other Canadian university players.Is Lenardon another Ridley?&ldquo;Mike Ridley has been a surprise and there&rsquo;s the possibility of Tim doing the same thing,&rdquo; Fitchner said. &ldquo;The odds are he won&rsquo;t, but the odds were the same for Mike last year.&rdquo;Power-skating classes and extra time after practice have improved Lenardon&rsquo;s skating, and his shot hasn&rsquo;t needed improvement. It&rsquo;s always been deadly accurate and very hard. He&rsquo;s also blessed with that hard-to-define &ldquo;hockey sense.&rdquo;Lenardon&rsquo;s other option is to play overseas. His father is Italian, and that would allow him to play in Italy as a non-import.NOTES&mdash;In the UBC Centennial Hockey Classic earlier this month, Cornell beat Yale 5-3 in the championship final. UBC nipped Manitoba 7-6 to take third place&hellip;Alberta Golden Bears won seven of nine games during their tour of Switzerland over the holidays&hellip;The Golden Bears are expecting 17,000 people at Edmonton&rsquo;s Northlands Coliseum on Feb. 2 for its second annual benefit game against Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Close to 10,000 tickets had already been sold for Face Off &lsquo;86, which raises money for Ronald McDonald House. &#9632;

Brandon Scoring Star Lenardon Eyes NHL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01494/5006211-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="203" height="287"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE LINSEMANWaterlooOUAA</figcaption></div>Left winger Steve Linseman sparked the Waterloo Warriors to a 5-5 tie with Windsor and a 5-4 win over Ryerson as he garnered six points to keep Waterloo in a fourth-place tie with Windsor, Linseman, who has led the league in scoring all season, had 46 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02392/5006204-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="202" height="287"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM MOLLARDBrandonCWUAA</figcaption></div>Sophomore left winger Jim Mollard collected five goals and added four assists as the Brandon Bobcats earned a split with UBC. In an 11-5 romp over the Thunderbirds, Mollard figured in seven of the goals, scoring three times. He&rsquo;s second in league scoring with 40 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03310/5006197-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="196" height="285"><figcaption class="caption-body">TERRY WICKHAMSt. ThomasAUAA</figcaption></div>Goaltender Terry Wickham has been holding a hot hand for St. Thomas since the season began. He has won all 11 of the Tommies&rsquo; games and in a recent three-game span, he made 102 saves and was chosen player-of-the-game twice.BauerFIT FOR PERFORMANCE &#9632;

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Bauer’s University Performer of The Week

<div class="byline">BY JOHN HERBERT</div>TORONTO&mdash;The winds of change are blowing through the Ontario League draft.A seven-man subcommittee, consisting of general managers, commissioner Dave Branch and OHL chief scout Jack Ferguson, has been studying problems with the draft process since September and will report its findings to the board of governors Feb. 10.When they do, one member of the committee, Hamilton Steelhawks&rsquo; president and governor, Dave Draper, won&rsquo;t be around.He left the Steelhawks on Jan. 20, saying there was no challenge to his job. Draper was moved upstairs by the Steelhawks a year ago last November when Bill LaForge took over as coach and general manager.&ldquo;I felt that the job did not warrant a fulltime position,&rdquo; Draper said. &ldquo;The big misgiving was moving from an active role to an inactive role. Other than for the world junior tournament, I had very little to do and there was no challenge. I want to get back into it (hockey) as long as its into an active role. I just want to be active.&rdquo;Draper has been associated with Hamilton junor clubs since the early 1970s.Also on the committee are North Bay Centennials&rsquo; coach and general manager Bert Templeton. Oshawa Generals&rsquo; general manager Sherry Bassin, his assistant Frank Jay, and Windsor Spitfires&rsquo; general manager Jim Rutherford.The recommendations include:&bull; That midgets be rated alphabetically instead of numerically to reduce pressures on the teams drafting the so-called highest-rated player in the first round.&bull; That a coded, numerical list be supplied on demand in May.&bull; That any team found to have passed the coded list to the media will be fined $5,000.&bull; That if it is proven certain teams offer recruiting inducements, including cash bonuses under the table, they will be fined $10,000. In addition they risk losing a draft position.&bull; That all clubs offer a standard salary of $40 per player a week plus room and board.&bull; That bonuses be paid only on the basis of team performance or for individual player&rsquo;s performance and achievements in school.&bull; That each club have its own scholarship programs but for which details remain confidential in order not to influence players coming into the OHL to play one team&rsquo;s school offer against another&rsquo;s.The governors will discuss the recommendations in depth at their February meeting.The OHL formed the committee following last May&rsquo;s midget draft because of concern that the draft system was not serving its intended purpose of supplying the lower-placed teams with the best new talent.Some of the best midget prospects&mdash;with help from their agents&mdash;were, in effect, selecting the OHL cities where they wanted to play by issuing warnings or letters to that effect.One celebrated case last May involved Toronto midget Adam Graves, who was rated No. 1 by OHL central scouting. Graves told the Kingston Canadians, who drafted first because they finished in last place in the 15-team league, he would not report and might join Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team instead.At the last minute, Kingston decided to take defenseman Brian Fogarty and Graves wound up being selected sixth overall, by the Windsor Spitfires, which is where he had hoped to play all along.Some clubs also offered better educational and fringe benefits packages.Rutherford said the problem is not the draft&mdash;but the teams themselves. He said that feeling was also expressed by others.&ldquo;Basically, it was felt by some teams that the draft was fine the way it was,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;And by some, there was some concern that some things had to be changed, or we&rsquo;d have the same problems every year.&ldquo;The teams that have cleaned up their organizations and, made themselves attractive to players are comfortable with the draft the way it is now. I really feel the teams get out and work harder at recruiting and scouting, that&rsquo;s going to help their problems.&ldquo;People can&rsquo;t say the draft doesn&rsquo;t work because the two bottom-place teams last year in the Emms Division&mdash;Guelph and Sudbury&mdash;have been on top most of this year. Sault Ste. Marie and London were on top last year and this year London and the Sault are at the bottom. In the Leyden Division, Kingston has moved from the bottom to be a contender.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Ray Sheppard of the Cornwall Royals was the hottest scorer in the OHL and, perhaps, all of hockey recently with 20 goals and 10 assists in eight games. Sheppard had back-to-back-to-back hat tricks with 10 goals in three games. He had four in one of those games&hellip;When Vancouver Canucks announced they were returning Jim Sandlak to the struggling London Knights on Jan. 21, his junior coach Don Boyd cautioned: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not Albert.&rdquo; Sandlak, judged the most outstanding! forward at the World Junior Championships, was the Canucks&rsquo; No. 1 draft pick last June and had been with Vancouver all season. Albert is the fictional hockey hero who appeared in Canadian Tire TV commercials. The 6-foot-4, 211-pound Sandlak had one goal and three assists in 22 games with the Canucks after producing 40 goals for London last season. &#9632;

The Juniors

Changes Expected In Midget Draft Format

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01470/5006280-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="295" height="301"><figcaption class="caption-body">RAY SHEPPARDCornwallONTARIO LEAGUE</figcaption></div>Cornwall Royal Ray Sheppard has been tearing up the OHL in recent weeks.The Buffalo Sabre draft pick jumped from 10th to second place in the scoring race with an incredible streak of 30 points in eight games, a feat that earned him the nod as OHL Player of the Week.Sheppard, a 19-year-old right winger, collected 15 of those points in just three games. He had 47 goals, a league high, in 40 games.At the end of the current season, THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02356/5006273-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="297" height="301"><figcaption class="caption-body">KENT HAYESMoose JawWESTERN LEAGUE</figcaption></div>The Moose Jaw Warriors are one of the WHL&rsquo;s lowest-scoring teams, but it hasn&rsquo;t stopped left winger Kent Hayes from streaking.Hayes, an undrafted 20-year-old, scored back-to-back hat tricks to lift Moose Jaw out of last place in the East Division and earn him selection as the WHL Player of the Week.The Warriors&rsquo; overage performer scored 36 times, for 60 points, in 43 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03282/5006266-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="299" height="304"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEFAN LEBEAUShawiniganQUEBEC LEAGUE</figcaption></div>Stefan Lebeau is looking ahead to the 1986 NHL entry draft because this is the year he becomes eligible for selection.The 18-year-old center of the Shawinigan Cataractes was chosen as the QMJHL Player of the Week after he collected eight points in three games to maintain his place among the league&rsquo;s top 10 scorers.Lebeau recorded 90 points, including 42 goals, in the first 46 games this year to surpass his 66game output of last season.At the end of the current season. THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year. &#9632;

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JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div>PORTLAND&mdash;Portland Winter Hawks have a tough act to follow&mdash;their own.The Western League club did an outstanding job of playing host to the 1983 Memorial Cup championship. There was record attendance, enough diversions to keep patrons pumping money into the economy and, most important from a Portland perspective, a first championship for the Winter Hawks.The rave reviews were a feather in the cap of what may very well be Canada&rsquo;s best-run and most financially-successful major junior hockey franchise.Three years later, the script once again calls for Portland to be center stage in determining the 1986 Memorial Cup champion. Since earning the host berth Dec. 15, more staff has been hired and rehearsals have been ongoing to try and top the 1983 show. The three-league playdown goes May 10-17 in the 9,910seat Portland Coliseum.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not resting on our laurels&mdash;it&rsquo;s more the other way,&rdquo; said Portland general manager Brian Shaw. &ldquo;We know more is expected of us. What do you do for an encore?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always a showcase, no matter who&rsquo;s putting it on. Having a big hotel as the headquarters and keeping everybody together really helps.&rdquo;A crowning touch for the Winter Hawks would be another Memorial Cup championship right in their own backyard. But for the WHL, putting on another first-class show comes first. After New Westminster Bruins pulled out of staging the tournament in Vancouver&rsquo;s Pacific Coliseum, the league needs to polish its image. What better place than Portland?What the Winter Hawks have going for them is a fine facility in proximity to major hotels and a fanatical following in the area for junior hockey.Portland, which needs 4,000 fans per game to break even, is averaging nearly 7,000 fans. The Hawks managed to attract 3,200 fans on a Monday night in a 4-3 win over the Western Division all-stars Jan. 20.To better illustrate what&rsquo;s happening south of the border where winning means money in the bank, a struggle with the Kamloops Blazers for Western Division bragging rights is making Shaw grin from ear to ear.In three contests, the Kamloops-Portland clashes attracted 27,000 patrons. That will pay the rent in any hockey rink.&ldquo;We probably have the bottom half of our rink sold out (5,000 seats) for the Memorial Cup and the tickets haven&rsquo;t gone on sale yet,&rdquo; said Shaw, who has had ticket requests from Germany and Australia. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be disappointed if we didn&rsquo;t have 8,000 per game.&rdquo;Those tickets have gone to season ticket holders, competing teams from the WHL. Ontario League and Quebec League as well as requests from National Hockey League scouts and executives. Remaining tickets went on sale Feb. 2. A package sells for $70 and is good for all games.It would appear someone stands to make a lot of money in May. It looks like either ESPN or the USA network will snap up television rights for the week of championship hockey.But Shaw said the only benefits his franchise will receive are spinoffs from the attention a Memorial Cup championship attracts.While the WHL funds the extravaganza, it did cost the Winter Hawks $42,000 to put on the 1983 playdown.&ldquo;If there&rsquo;s any money to be made it&rsquo;s divided between the 14 teams in the league (WHL),&rdquo; said Shaw. &ldquo;We pick up our share of the costs. If we make any money we&rsquo;ll share in the profits. We get the benefit of publicity, the spinoffs are down the road.&ldquo;Because of the Cup in 1983, we sold 500 to 600 extra season tickets ($230 each). We&rsquo;ve sold 160 season tickets in the last two weeks. Hosting the Memorial Cup also makes it easier for us to get advertisers.&rdquo;As positive as everything sounds, Shaw said there are things to be wary of too.&ldquo;We expect a lot more people from out of town and we&rsquo;re expecting anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 more people per game. Everything has to be geared up more. There will be a great influx of cash and once it&rsquo;s turned over the city can expect to generate $7 million. It was $3 to $4 million in 1983.&rdquo;The problem in New Westminster, which successfully bid for the 1986 Memorial Cup before opting out, was high room rates in Vancouver. That hasn&rsquo;t been troublesome in Portland where 700 rooms have been reserved.&ldquo;The big thing is to try and accommodate everyone in the best possible way and to make it (Cup) attractive to people to come here at a reasonable price. We&rsquo;ve had excellent response and some rates have been cut in half. One big hotel has reduced its rate for the Cup to one-third,&rdquo; Shaw said.Aside from the attractions on ice, Portland&rsquo;s Memorial Cup committee is planning excursions to the dog races, golfing, cruises, ocean fishing and skiing.And what&rsquo;s the most gratifying aspect of hosting the Memorial Cup?&ldquo;Winning the right to be in it,&rdquo; said Shaw of the Hawks, who had the best overall record as of Dec. 15 for clubs eligible to be in the hosting hunt.WHL WEEK&mdash;A one-dollar municipal parking fee that former Regina owner Herb Pinder Jr. said forced him to sell the team was dropped Jan. 14, one day after Pinder sold the team to the league. The next night 5,000 fans were on hand in Regina as the Pats handed defending Memorial Cup-champion Prince Albert Raiders a 4-3 setback&hellip; Lethbridge and Seattle traded centers. Brones sent Rich Wiest, 18, to the Thunderbirds for Mario Desjardins, also 18. &#9632;

Portland Gearing Up For The Memorial Cup

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>DRUMMONDVILLE&mdash;Both the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Verdun Junior Canadiens were spinning their wheels in their attempts to catch the Hull Olympiques on top of the Quebec League standings.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very bad stretch for us right now,&rdquo; said Drummondville coach Marcel Parizeau, after his club&rsquo;s fourth consecutive loss, a 2-1 setback to last-place Longueuil Chevaliers.&ldquo;We won three games before that but since the beginning of the second half, we haven&rsquo;t played very well. If you&rsquo;re playing well, 10 or 12 points don&rsquo;t matter. The way I see it, it&rsquo;s going to be very hard to catch Hull. They have the momentum.&rdquo;The Junior Canadiens (29-19-2) had lost five of their past seven games and remained tied with the Voltigeurs (2820-4) for second in the overall standings, 14 points behind the Olympiques (37-14), but had two games in hand.Hull had won seven of its past nine games and was on a 12-game winning streak at home dating back to Dec. 17.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not playing well,&rdquo; said Verdun coach Carol Vadnais. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what it is. We had a system and it was working well and now it isn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Injuries have played a role in both teams&rsquo; recent performances. Drummondville had been without defensive standout James Gasseau, a Buffalo sixth rounder, since Jan. 10 with a shoulder injury. Top scorer Steve Pepin went on a brief Christmas tour of Paris with the Granby Bisons and injured his knee. The 20-year-old center returned to the lineup only to injure his shoulder.Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; first-round right winger Jose Charbonneau returned recently after missing 15 games and the World Junior Championships because of a shoulder injury. Left winger Eric Demers was also out with a shoulder problem.&ldquo;We played very well in the first half, very close-checking, defensive style of game,&rdquo; said Parizeau, whose club enjoyed nine-and 10-game unbeaten streaks and was first in the Dilio Division. &ldquo;But I must say we haven&rsquo;t played well as a team in the second&ldquo;Without Gasseau, all of the defensemen seem to be having trouble making bad mistakes they didn&rsquo;t make before. We&rsquo;re not playing as well defensively and we can&rsquo;t seem to score. We lost 2-1 to Longueuil and they had only six shots in the last two periods, we outshot Shawinigan 50-27 and lost 8-3 and we lost 6-3 in Granby.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very bad timing,&rdquo; said Parizeau, assistant coach of Canada&rsquo;s silver-medal national junior squad. &ldquo;I can understand our third and fourth lines can&rsquo;t win games for us, but other guys don&rsquo;t look like they are playing the way they did before. What I don&rsquo;t like is that some of them can&rsquo;t pick up the slack. I&rsquo;ve been trying to use one guy as a leader to get things going, but there&rsquo;s not a single guy.&ldquo;Charbonneau is playing all right,&rdquo; Parizeau said. &ldquo;He had three goals in his first game back against Hull (8-4 win). But he needs someone to get him the puck. He should be scoring two or three goals a game.&rdquo;Parizeau said left winger Daniel Vincelette, a Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; fourth rounder, had also been somewhat of a disappointment.&ldquo;One of the places we don&rsquo;t have to worry about is in the net. Vincent Riendeau has played well.&rdquo;The Junior Canadiens had been missing 6-foot-6, 215-pound left wing Gerry Fleming, left winger Dan Nowak and defenseman Scott MacTavish with assorted injuries.&ldquo;It helps to be at full strength when you play Hull,&rdquo; said Verdun&rsquo;s star center Jimmy Carson. 17, following the 9-5 loss to the Olympiques in Hull. The league leaders won 6-3 back in Verdun five nights later.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an important game any time you play a first-place team.&rdquo; said the Detroit Compuware grad, who was fourth in league scoring with 45 goals and 65 assists for 110 points in 51 games. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s (Wayne) Gretzky (who owns the Olympiques) and Hull versus the Canadiens and us.&rdquo;Verdun skated to a 3-2 lead in the first period of the 9-5 loss before giving up five consecutive goals in the second.&ldquo;We had them after one, then we let up,&rdquo; said Carson, who scored three goals. &ldquo;Our whole system seems to go good and then we lapse.&rdquo;Verdun lost 13-8 to Longueuil, and was up 4-0 on St-Jean Castors before clinching a 5-4 overtime decision.Yves Lavois returned as an overage player to help the club in goal, where rookies James Blanchard and Eric Pedneault had been carrying the load. &#9632;

Canadiens And Voltigeurs Struggle To Close The Gap

<h2>&mdash;INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS FOR ART ROSS TROPHY&mdash;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01481/5006667-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="542" height="185"></div><h2>&mdash;INDIVIDUAL ROOKIE SCORING LEADERS&mdash;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02380/5006660-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="544" height="173"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03303/5006653-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="70" height="62"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04232/5006646-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="537" height="404"></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05165/5006639-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="66" height="58"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06127/5006632-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="533" height="433"></div><h2>CALGARY</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07113/5006625-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="73" height="57"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0896/5006618-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="538" height="400"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0985/5006611-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="64" height="63"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1081/5006604-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="533" height="392"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1175/5006597-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="76" height="50"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1270/5006590-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="531" height="445"></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1361/5006583-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="62" height="58"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1455/5006576-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="533" height="390"></div><h2>HARTFORD</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1553/5006569-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="69" height="60"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1649/5006562-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="532" height="373"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1745/5006555-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="94" height="57"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1842/5006548-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="532" height="372"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1940/5006541-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="74" height="63"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2037/5006534-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="533" height="417"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2134/5006527-1-eng-US/f0038-212.jpg" title="f0038-21" width="74" height="53"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2232/5006520-1-eng-US/f0038-222.jpg" title="f0038-22" width="537" height="420"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2329/5006513-1-eng-US/f0038-232.jpg" title="f0038-23" width="57" height="53"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2424/5006506-1-eng-US/f0038-242.jpg" title="f0038-24" width="532" height="388"></div><h2>NY ISLANDERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2522/5006499-1-eng-US/f0038-252.jpg" title="f0038-25" width="68" height="63"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2619/5006492-1-eng-US/f0038-262.jpg" title="f0038-26" width="534" height="374"></div><h2>NY RANGERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01450/5006485-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="70" height="64"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02313/5006478-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="543" height="402"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03223/5006471-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="75" height="52"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04189/5006464-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="539" height="358"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05154/5006457-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="67" height="48"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06130/5006450-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="539" height="375"></div><h2>QUEBEC</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07114/5006443-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="65" height="59"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08102/5006436-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="538" height="415"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0990/5006429-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="65" height="59"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1081/5006422-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="539" height="362"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1171/5006415-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="71" height="69"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1263/5006408-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="540" height="448"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1355/5006401-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="55" height="54"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1451/5006394-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="535" height="392"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1545/5006387-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="83" height="50"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1639/5006380-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="537" height="356"></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1734/5006373-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="59" height="56"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1827/5006366-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="535" height="445"></div><h2>NHL GOALTENDING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1923/5006359-1-eng-US/f0039-192.jpg" title="f0039-19" width="548" height="1533"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

NHL SCORING

<h2>Mon. Jan. 20</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01202/5006908-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="293" height="320"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02128/5006901-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="289" height="450"></div><h2>Tue. Jan. 21</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0385/5006894-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="294" height="435"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0462/5006887-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="301" height="497"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0546/5006880-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="293" height="468"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0639/5006873-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="294" height="371"></div><h2>Wed. Jan. 22</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0734/5006866-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="293" height="530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0830/5006859-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="289" height="352"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0926/5006852-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="293" height="382"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1026/5006845-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg" title="f0040-10" width="294" height="364"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1125/5006838-1-eng-US/f0040-112.jpg" title="f0040-11" width="293" height="450"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1223/5006831-1-eng-US/f0040-122.jpg" title="f0040-12" width="291" height="451"></div><h2>Thu. Jan. 23</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1321/5006824-1-eng-US/f0040-132.jpg" title="f0040-13" width="291" height="465"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1417/5006817-1-eng-US/f0040-142.jpg" title="f0040-14" width="296" height="271"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1517/5006810-1-eng-US/f0040-152.jpg" title="f0040-15" width="291" height="338"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1616/5006803-1-eng-US/f0040-162.jpg" title="f0040-16" width="292" height="304"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1714/5006796-1-eng-US/f0040-172.jpg" title="f0040-17" width="297" height="414"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1812/5006789-1-eng-US/f0040-182.jpg" title="f0040-18" width="386" height="505"></div><h2>Fri. Jan. 24</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01166/5006782-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="397" height="408"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02100/5006775-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="392" height="685"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0372/5006768-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="298" height="427"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0458/5006761-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="294" height="350"></div><h2>Sat. Jan. 25</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0548/5006754-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="291" height="516"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0642/5006747-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="293" height="434"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0739/5006740-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="294" height="347"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0830/5006733-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="290" height="363"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01169/5006726-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="293" height="382"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02111/5006719-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="292" height="318"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0381/5006712-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="292" height="416"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0462/5006705-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="290" height="428"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0552/5006698-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="287" height="428"></div> &#9632;

f0040-01

NHL SUMMARIES

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Charlie Simmer, LW, back from injury list. INJURED&mdash;Louis Sleigher, RW, reinjured groin, Michael Thelven, D, facial surgery, Frank Simonetti, D, shoulder surgery. Sleigher out on day-to-day basis, Thelven and Simonetti, three more weeks each.BUFFALO&mdash;Jacques Cloutier, G, and Don Lever, C, recalled from Rochester of AHL. Darren Puppa, G, and Mikael Andersson, LW, assigned to Rochester. Bill Hajt, D, back from injury list. Chris Langevin, LW, sidelined indefinitely with knee injury.CALGARY&mdash;Yves Courteau, LW, recalled from Moncton of AHL. Mike Vernon, G, returned to Moncton. Steve Bozek, LW, out on day-to-day basis with strained knees.CHICAGO&mdash;Curt Fraser, LW, and Darryl Sutter, LW, both sidelined on day-to-day basis with shoulder injuries.DETROIT&mdash;Adam Oates, C, recalled from Adirondack of AHL. Shawn Burr, C, recalled from Kitchener of OHL under emergency conditions, but later returned. Basil McRae, LW, and Ted Speers, C, returned to Adirondack of AHL. John Barrett, D, back from injury list. INJURED&mdash;John Ogrodnick, LW, sprained ankle, Peter Klima, LW, hip injury, Greg Stefan, G, back injury, Dwight Foster, C, knee injury, Harold Snepsts, D, knee injury, Gerard Gallant, LW, broken jaw, Billy Carroll, C, fractured toe, Danny Gare, RW, sprained ankle. Ogrodnick, Klima and Stefan out on day-to-day basis, Foster and Snepsts, one more week each, Gallant, two. Carroll and Gare, three.EDMONTON&mdash;Esa Tikkanen, LW, and Gord Sherven, C, assigned to Nova Scotia of AHL. Mike Krushelnyski, LW, back from injury list. Jeff Brubaker, LW, out on day-to-day basis with sprainked ankle.HARTFORD&mdash;Kevin Dineen, RW, out on day-to-day basis with broken knuckle. Ron Francis, C, sidelined for 8 weeks with broken ankle.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Darren Eliot, G, recalled from New Haven of AHL. Rick LaPointe, D, informed Kings he was retiring from hockey rather than play in the minors. INJURED&mdash;Roland Melanson, G, aggravated groin injury, Len Hachborn, C, groin injury, Garry Galley, D, knee injury. Hachborn out on day-to-day basis, Melanson three weeks, Galley indefinitely.MINNESOTA&mdash;Bill Stewart, D, recalled from Springfield of AHL. Craig Levie, D, returned to Springfield but later recalled. Tom McCarthy, LW, back from injury list. INJURED&mdash;Tony McKegney, LW, shoulder injury, Willi Plett, RW, dislocated shoulder, Craig Hartsburg, D, groin injury, Tom Hirsch, D, shoulder surgery. McKegney out on day-to-day basis, Plett three weeks, Hartsburg and Hirsch indefinitely.MONTREAL&mdash;John Kordic, D, recalled from Sherbrooke of AHL. Petr Svoboda, D, back from injury list. INJURED&mdash;Chris Chelios, D, sprained knee, Mike McPhee, LW, ankle injury, Rick Green, D, broken thumb. Chelios out on day-today basis, McPhee one more week, Green indefinitely.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Sam St. Laurent, G, and Alan Hepple, D, returned to Maine of AHL. Greg Evtushevski, RW, recalled from Maine and reassigned to Kamloops of WHL. Dave Pichette, D, Kirk Muller, LW, Perry Anderson, LW, and Peter McNab, C, all returned from injuries. Bob Lorimer, D, sidelined on day-to-day basis with bruised knee.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Tomas Jonsson, D, back from injury list. Bob Nystrom, RW, underwent eye surgery and is out indefinitely. Ari Haanpaa, RW, back from injury list and assigned to Springfield of AHL for conditioning.NY RANGERS&mdash;Pierre Larouche, C, recalled from loan to Hershey of AHL. Steve Patrick, RW, assigned to New Haven of AHL. Jan Erixon, LW, out five more weeks with fractured tibia. George McPhee, LW, has hip pointer injury, and Barry Beck, D, is recovering from muscle bruises and spasms. Both are sidelined indefinitely.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Don Nachbaur, C, recalled from Hershey of AHL. Dave Richter, D, out on day-to-day basis with sprained knee.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Randy Hillier, D, sidelined day-to-day with torn knee ligaments.QUEBEC&mdash;Mark Kumpel, RW, and Daniel Poudrier, D, recalled from Fredericton of AHL. Richard Sevigny, G, assigned to Frederiction for two-week conditioning period. Claude Julien, D, also returned to Fredericton. J.F. Sauve, C, back from injury list. Mario Gosselin, G, returned from bout with flu. John Anderson, LW, sidelined one more week with shoulder injury. Pat Price, D, also out another week with sprained knee.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Doug Wickenheiser, C, and Normand Baron, LW, returned from injury list. Brian Sutter, LW, sidelined for at least two more weeks with shoulder injury.TORONTO&mdash;Blake Wesley, D, and Brad Smith, RW, assigned to St. Catharines of AHL. Alan Bester, G, recalled from St. Catharines and later returned. Rick Vaive, RW, Borje Salming, D, and Chris Kotsopoulos, D, back from injury list. INJURED&mdash;Miroslav Frycer, RW, bruised knee, Brad Maxwell, D, pulled hamstring, Ken Wregget, G, knee injury. Frycer sidelined one week, Maxwell and Wregget two weeks.VANCOUVER&mdash;Jim Sandlak, RW, returned to London of OHL. John Garrett, G, recalled from Fredericton of AHL. Dale Dunbar, D, ad Dave Bruce, LW, sent back to Fredericton. Moe Lemay, LW, and Thomas Gradin, RW, back from injuries. Glen Cochrane, D, out on day-to-day basis with back spasms. Jiri Bubla, D, sidelined indefinitely with knee injury.WASHINGTON&mdash;Gary Sampson, LW, and Mark Taylor, C, recalled from Binghamton of AHL. Sampson later returned.WINNIPEG&mdash;Mark Holden, G, returned to Fort Wayne of IHL. Andrew McBain, RW, out indefinitely with knee injury.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ADIRONDACK&mdash;Brian Shaw, RW, recalled from Peoria of IHL.FREDERICTON&mdash;Tony Stiles, D, secured on loan from Calgary. Yves Heroux, LW, recalled from Muskegon of IHL. Tim Karalis, D, sent to Muskegon.NEW HAVEN&mdash;Dan Clark, D, signed to tryout as free agent.SPRINGFIELD&mdash;Earl Ingarfield, C, signed to tryout as free agent. Gord Paddock, D, recalled from Muskegon of IHL.NHL Summaries<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0922/5006970-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="558" height="839"></div> &#9632;

f0041-09

TRANSACTIONS

<h2>NHL</h2>&mdash;TEAM STANDINGS&mdash;(PCT) PERCENTAGE OF ACTUAL POINTS VERSUS POSSIBLE POINTSCLARENCE CAMPBELL CONFERENCE<h3>NORRIS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01168/5007253-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="291" height="87"></div><h3>SMYTHE DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02121/5007246-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="291" height="83"></div>PRINCE OF WALES CONFERENCE<h3>ADAMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0399/5007239-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="290" height="89"></div><h3>PATRICK DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0479/5007232-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="289" height="100"></div><h2>POINTS RACE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0569/5007225-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="280" height="318"></div><h3>RESULTS ENDING JAN. 25, 1986</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0656/5007218-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="298" height="473"></div><h2>ACHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON TUE. JAN. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0754/5007211-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg" title="f0043-07" width="293" height="94"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. JAN. 21VIRGINIA 1 AT CAROLINA 8WED. JAN. 22NEW YORK 2 AT ERIE 3THU. JAN. 23NEW YORK 4 AT VIRGINIA 8FRI. JAN. 24CAROLINA 5 AT NEW YORK 3MOHAWK VALLEY 4 AT ERIE 2SAT. JAN. 25CAROLINA 3 AT MOHAWK VALLEY 2SUN. JAN. 26VIRGINIA AT NEW YORK (ppd)<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0845/5007204-1-eng-US/f0043-082.jpg" title="f0043-08" width="290" height="258"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0942/5007197-1-eng-US/f0043-092.jpg" title="f0043-09" width="302" height="98"></div><h2>AHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON TUE. JAN. 28)<h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1036/5007190-1-eng-US/f0043-102.jpg" title="f0043-10" width="291" height="124"></div><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1131/5007183-1-eng-US/f0043-112.jpg" title="f0043-11" width="288" height="109"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. JAN. 21MAINE 2 AT ST. CATHARINES 5WED. JAN. 22SPRINGFIELD 2 AT ADIRONDACK 1BALTIMORE 2 AT HERSHEY 1NEW HAVEN 3 AT MONCTON 5FREDERICTON 3 AT NOVA SCOTIA 6THU. JAN. 23NEW HAVEN 2 AT FREDERICTON 6FRI. JAN. 24ST. CATHARINES 2 AT BINGHAMTON 2NOVA SCOTIA 4 AT MONCTON 5MAINE 6 AT ROCHESTER 3ADIRONDACK 1 AT SHERBROOKE 4HERSHEY 2 AT SPRINGFIELD 3SAT. JAN. 25ROCHESTER 3 AT ADIRONDACK 6ST. CATHARINES 5 AT BALTIMORE 3BINGHAMTON 2 AT HERSHEY 4FREDERICTON 4 AT MAINE 5NEW HAVEN 4 AT MONCTON 5SHERBROOKE 3 AT SPRINGFIELD 6SUN. JAN. 26NEW HAVEN 6 AT NOVA SCOTIA 6HERSHEY 1 AT ROCHESTER 10FREDERICTON 1 AT SHERBROOKE 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1228/5007176-1-eng-US/f0043-122.jpg" title="f0043-12" width="287" height="254"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1325/5007169-1-eng-US/f0043-132.jpg" title="f0043-13" width="300" height="100"></div><h2>IHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON TUE. JAN. 28)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1425/5007162-1-eng-US/f0043-142.jpg" title="f0043-14" width="291" height="94"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1522/5007155-1-eng-US/f0043-152.jpg" title="f0043-15" width="290" height="96"></div>(TEAMS GET POINT FOR A TIE; OVERTIME OR SHOOTOUT WINNER RECEIVES TWO POINTS AND LOSER ONE)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED. JAN. 22KALAMAZOO 5 AT TOLEDO 2MILWAUKEE 3 AT SALT LAKE 2THU. JAN. 23FORT WAYNE 3 AT INDIANAPOLIS 6SAGINAW 4 AT FLINT 5FRI. JAN. 24INDIANAPOLIS 8 AT MUSKEGON 5FORT WAYNE 3 AT KALAMAZOO 0TOLEDO 3 AT PEORIA 4MILWAUKEE 4 AT SALT LAKE 1SAT. JAN. 25SAGINAW 5 AT MUSKEGON 2FLINT 2 AT KALAMAZOO 11TOLEDO 5 AT PEORIA 7MILWAUKEE 6 AT SALT LAKE 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1620/5007148-1-eng-US/f0043-162.jpg" title="f0043-16" width="291" height="255"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1716/5007141-1-eng-US/f0043-172.jpg" title="f0043-17" width="304" height="97"></div><h2>OHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON THU. JAN. 30)<h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1812/5007134-1-eng-US/f0043-182.jpg" title="f0043-18" width="290" height="143"></div><h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1911/5007127-1-eng-US/f0043-192.jpg" title="f0043-19" width="291" height="130"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>SUN. JAN. 19OTTAWA 3 AT CORNWALL 6WINDSOR 3 AT GUELPH 4SUDBURY 7 AT HAMILTON 6LONDON 2 AT KITCHENER 7TORONTO 2 AT NORTH BAY 8PETERBOROUGH 3 AT OSHAWA 2MON. JAN. 20GUELPH 5 AT WINDSOR 3TUE. JAN. 21BELLEVILLE 5 AT KINGSTON 3KITCHENER 4 AT LONDON 3S.S. MARIE 2 AT SUDBURY 4THU. JAN. 23OSHAWA 4 AT CORNWALL 3OTTAWA 2 AT PETERBOROUGH 4HAMILTON 6 AT S.S. MARIE 6LONDON 3 AT WINDSOR 7FRI. JAN. 24PETERBOROUGH 3 AT KINGSTON 1GUELPH 8 AT KITCHENER 1TORONTO 6 AT LONDON 7WINDSOR 3 AT NORTH BAY 4OSHAWA 5 AT OTTAWA 3HAMILTON 5 AT SUDBURY 6SAT. JAN. 25OSHAWA 3 AT BELLEVILLE 2CORNWALL 7 AT TORONTO 6SUDBURY 3 AT NORTH BAY 4SUN. JAN. 26PETERBOROUGH 2 AT CORNWALL 6KINGSTON 1 AT OTTAWA 5WINDSOR 5 AT S.S. MARIE 3BELLEVILLE 7 AT TORONTO 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-208/5007120-1-eng-US/f0043-202.jpg" title="f0043-20" width="297" height="259"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-215/5007113-1-eng-US/f0043-212.jpg" title="f0043-21" width="304" height="92"></div><h2>WHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON TUE. JAN. 28)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-224/5007106-1-eng-US/f0043-222.jpg" title="f0043-22" width="288" height="142"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-233/5007099-1-eng-US/f0043-232.jpg" title="f0043-23" width="290" height="111"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>MON. JAN. 20KAMLOOPS 4 AT VICTORIA 6TUE. JAN. 21PR. ALBERT 6, EAST ALL-STARS 6WED. JAN. 22PORTLAND 4, WEST ALL-STARS 3REGINA 3 AT SASKATOON 6THU. JAN. 23MEDICINE HAT 4 AT BRANDON 6MOOSE JAW 3 AT SPOKANE 1FRI. JAN. 24PRINCE ALBERT 6 AT KAMLOOPS 4CALGARY 3 AT LETHBRIDGE 7MEDICINE HAT 3 AT REQINA 6MOOSE JAW 1 AT SEATTLE 6SAT. JAN. 25REGINA 2 AT MEDICINE HAT 6CAMLOOPS 3 AT NEW WESTMINSTER 3MOOSE JAW 4 AT PORTLAND 7SEATTLE 2 AT SPOKANE 0PRINCE ALBERT 6 AT VICTORIA 5LETHBRIDGE 6 AT CALGARY 2SUN. JAN. 26SEATTLE 3 AT NEW WESTMINSTER 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-243/5007092-1-eng-US/f0043-242.jpg" title="f0043-24" width="289" height="209"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-252/5007085-1-eng-US/f0043-252.jpg" title="f0043-25" width="298" height="74"></div><h2>QMJHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. JAN. 27)<h3>ROBERT LEBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-262/5007078-1-eng-US/f0043-262.jpg" title="f0043-26" width="291" height="92"></div><h3>FRANK DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-272/5007071-1-eng-US/f0043-272.jpg" title="f0043-27" width="288" height="96"></div>(TEAMS GET POINT FOR OVERTIME LOSS)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. JAN. 21SHAWINIGAN 8 AT DRUMMONDVILLE 3VERDUN 5 AT HULL 9GRANBY 5 AT LAVAL 3ST. JEAN 3 AT T-RIVIERES 4THU. JAN. 23CHICOUTIMI 6 AT GRANBY 4FRI. JAN. 24DRUMMONDVILLE 3 AT GRANBY 6HULL 2 AT LONGUEUIL 1. LAVAL 5AT SHAWINIGAN 7 CHICOUTIMI 1 AT ST. JEAN 2SUN. JAN. 26SHAWINIGAN 3 AT CHICOUTIMI 5LONGUEUIL 1 AT DRUMMONDVILLE 2ST. JEAN 3 AT GRANBY 9LAVAL 5 AT T-RIVIERES 3HULL 6 AT VERDUN 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-282/5007064-1-eng-US/f0043-282.jpg" title="f0043-28" width="293" height="189"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-292/5007057-1-eng-US/f0043-292.jpg" title="f0043-29" width="306" height="96"></div><h2>USHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON TUE. JAN. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-30/5007050-1-eng-US/f0043-302.jpg" title="f0043-30" width="291" height="159"></div>(TEAMS GET POINT FOR OVERTIME LOSS)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. JAN. 21ALL STAR GAME SOUTH 6, NORTH 6THU. JAN. 23ROCHESTER 5 AT ST. PAUL 6FRI. JAN. 24WATERLOO 1 AT DUBUQUE 7DES MOINES 3AT SIOUX CITY 13SAT. JAN. 25NORTH IOWA 4 AT MADISON 7ST. PAUL 3 AT SIOUX CITY 5ROCHESTER 8 AT THUNDER BAY 4DUBUQUE 9 AT DES MOINES 3SUN. JAN. 26ROCHESTER 3 AT THUNDER BAY 2WATERLOO 8 AT ST. PAUL 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-31/5007043-1-eng-US/f0043-312.jpg" title="f0043-31" width="290" height="160"></div><h2>OSHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. JAN. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-32/5007036-1-eng-US/f0043-322.jpg" title="f0043-32" width="291" height="120"></div>(x-folded franchise)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>FLAMBORO 4, PETROLIA 3DUNDAS 5, COLLINGWOOD 4FLAMBORO 6, CAMBRIDGE 4PETROLIA 6, DUNDAS 1<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-33/5007029-1-eng-US/f0043-332.jpg" title="f0043-33" width="291" height="161"></div><h2>NEJL</h2>(STANDINGS ON FRI. JAN. 24)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-34/5007022-1-eng-US/f0043-342.jpg" title="f0043-34" width="286" height="84"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-35/5007015-1-eng-US/f0043-352.jpg" title="f0043-35" width="285" height="175"></div><h2>SO. EAST MANITOBA</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. JAN. 20)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-36/5007008-1-eng-US/f0043-362.jpg" title="f0043-36" width="288" height="105"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-37/5007001-1-eng-US/f0043-372.jpg" title="f0043-37" width="289" height="128"></div> &#9632;

f0043-01

Stroh’s The official beer sponsor of the NHL

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01149/5007284-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="49" height="47">EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;Rumors persist that the Devils are moving out of New Jersey to any one of several cities.The team&rsquo;s slumping attendance at the Meadowlands Arena and an always-active owner haven&rsquo;t helped in squashing the rumors.So it is fitting, in a way, that the Devils are a better team and feel more comfortable as a traveling show. By snapping a three-game losing streak with a 6-6 tie in Calgary on Jan. 22, the Devils raised their point total to 17 on the road this season (8-17-1).At home, where most clubs flourish, the Devils had posted a disappointing 7-12-1 mark for 15 points.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind playing on the road because we play a different kind of game and there&rsquo;s a different atmosphere,&rdquo; explained rookie goaltender Alain Chevrier. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not much hockey atmosphere here (Meadowlands Arena).&rdquo;Chevrier&rsquo;s observation is accurate.The Devils, however, are not a bad team due to lack of fan support. The problem is just the opposite. There is dwindling fan support because the Devils are a bad team.&ldquo;Whatever Alain was trying to say was not what came out,&rdquo; insisted Devils&rsquo; president Bob Butera. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re dealing with professionals they like the adrenalin that flows when a place is full and loud.<blockquote class="pullQuote">The Devils are not a bad team due to lack of fan support. There is dwindling fan support because the Devils are a bad team.</blockquote>&ldquo;I used to be a politician and I loved it. I could give a better speech because I felt more secure with all the noise and support. I&rsquo;m sure an athlete feels the same way.&ldquo;However, I don&rsquo;t think the fans have had anything to do with our team&rsquo;s performance. This is a large building and it&rsquo;s never going to sound like Madison Square Garden or the Spectrum. It suppresses noise. What we need is the pipe organ they have in Chicago. We might as well get used to it, we&rsquo;re never going to have that Boston Garden feeling. But there will be a different kind of excitement.&rdquo;New Jersey&rsquo;s attendance has not dropped to the point where the Meadowlands Area has become an empty building, but there has indeed been a drop since last season. The average paid attendance for a Devils&rsquo; game last season was 13,868; through 20 home dates this season the average paid figure was 12,417.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen such patience with the media or the fans,&rdquo; said Butera. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if there are any better hockey fans anywhere in the world than in the whole New York area. That includes Moscow, Toronto. Edmonton and Montreal.&ldquo;When I say the New York area I&rsquo;m talking about New Jersey, Long Island, Manhattan and Westchester. People talk about Philadelphia and those fans are supposed to be great. They are great, but not for hockey. They&rsquo;re great for the Flyers. Here, they&rsquo;re hockey purists.&rdquo;There is, however, no denying that most of the team&rsquo;s players perform better on the road. Despite a long slump whichsaw the Devils lose five of their last seven (1-5-1). 13 of their last 16 (2-13-1) and 16 of their last 20 (3-16-1), some players were doing well on the road:&bull; All-Star Kirk Muller collected six goals and six assists (12 points) in his last 11 road games and 14 points (6-8-14) in his last 13 away games.&bull; Captain Mel Bridgman posted 6-1319 figures over his last 18 games on the road.&bull; In his past 14 road contests Mark Johnson had scored three goals and 12 assists for 15 points.Is there too much pressure for the Devils to perform in front of home fans and management?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not a good enough excuse for me.&rdquo; said Butera. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re professionals. The Islanders have the same problem.&rdquo;Butera is concerned about the attendance drop. He realizes that the casual fan will not pay to see the Devils until they begin to win and improve on their record over last season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very important for us to improve on last year&rsquo;s record because that&rsquo;s the only important yardstick fans have to judge us by,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m talking about the casual fan who comes to five to 10 games a season.&rdquo;So where does that leave second-year coach Doug Carpenter?&ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting nothing but support,&rdquo; said Butera. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say it any clearer. That&rsquo;s what he deserves. He does his work out front. This is not a one-man show and to single out one person now that we&rsquo;ve gone into a slump would be absolutely absurd.&rdquo;HOT STUFF&mdash;Kirk Muller is the first Devil to be selected to back-to-back All-Star Games and the third player in the franchise&rsquo;s history to do so. Wilf Payment made three straight all-star squad (1976-78) and Barry Beck represented the team two years in a row (1978-79). &ldquo;Kirk deserves everything he is getting,&rdquo; said Butera. &ldquo;Sure he&rsquo;s blessed with natural talent but the reason he deserves it is he knows he&rsquo;s not a complete hockey player and he works hard every day. He plays the game as hard as any Sutter, Hunter or Dineen without the use of a stick He&rsquo;s one of those guys who can take a hit and give it back without stick. Some guys can&rsquo;t take a hit without giving a stick back. I call them the cowards in the game.&rdquo; &#9632;

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February 7, 1986

Murphy Rated Tops In Draft Class Of ’86

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BAUER COLLEGE SCOREBOARD

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