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.

November 28, 1986

The Hockey News November 28, 1986

<div class="byline">BY JERRY ZGODA</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Curt Giles asked and he received his wish. Bob Brooke received a shock.Giles, upset over a four-game benching, was granted his request for a trade when the Minnesota North Stars sent him, left winger Tony McKegney and a 1988 second-round draft pick to the New York Rangers for Brooke and the 1988 fourth-round pick that they sent to the Rangers in an October deal for the rights to Mark Pavelich.Giles&rsquo; request coincided with the Stars&rsquo; realization that they need bigger. more aggressive forwards. Coach Lome Henning has seen Toronto, Detroit and St. Louis check their way toward the top of the Norris Division while the supposedly more talented Stars and Chicago Blackhawks trail behind. And Henning and general manager Lou Nanne have decided it is time to revive a get-tough policy.&ldquo;We need to change the makeup of the team a little,&rdquo; Henning said. &ldquo;We have a pretty good nucleus, but we need some players who grind a little more, who pay the price a little more. I didn&rsquo;t like what I saw a couple games. I don&rsquo;t want to get into situations where we&rsquo;re losing games in other people&rsquo;s building because we&rsquo;re not tough enough.&rdquo;The trade for Brooke, a 6-foot-2. 205-pound center-winger-defenseman, is part one of the new policy. Part two is, get this, the proposed comeback of former North Star Jack Carlson, who retired from the National Hockey League two years ago. Carlson has agreed to start skating with the North Stars with the thought that he might play after Dec. 1.Giles asked to be traded after he was left off the Stars&rsquo; travel list for a Nov. 5 at Chicago, the first of the four-game benching.<h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01635/5309021-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="174" height="131"></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to it,&rdquo; said Giles who will turn 28 at the end of this month. &ldquo;I was hoping a trade would happen this fast. In this situation, you want to hurry up and get on with the rest of your life. You don&rsquo;t want to be on hold forever. It was a decision I had to make. I wasn&rsquo;t going to play here, so what do I do? Sit around a year and that might be the end of my career.&rdquo;Nanne shopped Giles around the league and came up with Brooke, whom Nanne called &ldquo;a piece of the puzzle we thought we needed.&rdquo;Brooke, a 25-year-old who played at Yale University and with the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, is five inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than any of the Stars&rsquo; top three centers (injured Neal Broten, Keith Acton and Dennis Maruk).&ldquo;He can check, he can kill penalties and he&rsquo;s very big and fast,&rdquo; Nanne said. &ldquo;We paid a big price, but he was one of New York&rsquo;s four most valued players.&rdquo;Nanne named Tomas Sandstrom, James Patrick and Mike Ridley as the other three.Brooke had 24 goals and 44 points and led the Rangers in penalty minutes with 111 in the 1985-86 season. He also had six goals, 15 points in 16 playoff games while helping the Rangers upset Philadelphia and Washington. This season, he had three goals, nine points and 20 PIM in 15 games.Brooke, who has lived almost his entire life in the Northeast, was unprepared for the trade.McKegney, 28, was traded for the third time in three years. He was sent from Buffalo to Quebec in 1983 and from Quebec to Minnesota in 1984. He never regained the form that earned him a spot on the 1985 NHL All-Star Game roster and he spent the first month of this season alternating between sporadic shifts and nights spent in the press box.Part two of the Stars&rsquo; get-tough policy is Carlson, who agreed to an attempted comeback after talking with Henning. He played for the Stars in 1978-79 and 1980-82 but he hasn&rsquo;t played since finishing the 1983-84 season with St. Louis. He has been working for a Bloomington air freight company.&ldquo;I said something to Louie in jest one night about me playing again and it snowballed from there,&rdquo; said Carlson, who had 251 penalty minutes in 116 games with the Stars.Carlson wouldn&rsquo;t play before Dec. 2, if he plays at all. Retired players who return after Dec. 1 don&rsquo;t have to clear league waivers. If Nanne tried to make Carlson eligible before that, either Carlson or another player on the protected list would have to clear waivers.STARDUST&mdash;Left winger Steve Payne is expected to return from a nine-month long knee injury in time for a Nov. 18 game against St. Louis&hellip; Goalie Don Beaupre, who did not dress for four straight games, turned down a Stars&rsquo; request that he go to Springfield for a few games for conditioning purposes&hellip;Center Todd Bergen, who has not played for 18 months, is skating by himself and may start skating with the Stars before the end of November. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Diminutive Giles Goes, Big Brooke Arrives

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>HARTFORD&mdash;This time it took 12 games for the Hartford Whalers to ring Sylvain Cote&rsquo;s number.Maybe Cote&rsquo;s third pro year will turn out to be a charm. Maybe not.No one really knows because so far Cote&rsquo;s career has been stranger than fiction.Scot Kleinendorst, off to his best start in Hartford, suffered a deep charley horse in his left thigh and did not make the team&rsquo;s first Western swing, a three-game affair at Los Angeles, Vancouver and Calgary. The trading of Tim Bothwell (for Dave Barr) already had diminished the defensive corps, so when Kleinendorst went to the sidelines, the call went out for Cote.<h2>HARTFOR WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01168/5311034-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="176" height="130"></div>The 20-year-old defenseman has been through this sort of thing before.Cote&rsquo;s debut in his third pro season came at the Forum, the scene of one of those oddball developments that inexplicably have dogged him since he turned pro.Two years ago in Cote&rsquo;s rookie season, he played 67 games for the Whalers, including one at the Forum in which he lived a fan&rsquo;s dream, rising from the stands at the last minute, dressing and playing. For an 18-year-old player, however, it was something of a nightmare.&ldquo;I got dressed in 10 minutes,&rdquo; he said.Defenseman Risto Siltanen said his back was bothering him after warmups and became a late scratch. That sent coach Jack Evans scurrying into the Forum seats in pursuit of the man they I call &ldquo;Coco.&rdquo; Evans found him in the press box about 25 minutes before the game.&ldquo;The funny thing was that I had just eaten in the press room and my stomach was full,&rdquo; Cote said.From the time he was 15, Cote appeared destined to become a star. He was the first overall player taken in the 1982 Quebec midget draft and the 11th overall player taken in the 1984 NHL draft. As a defenseman at 5-foot-ll and 185 pounds, he wasn&rsquo;t quite big enough, but he had all the skills&mdash;puckhandling, shooting, skating. Plus, he was feisty.He made the Whalers as a rookie and distinguished himself in spots. Last year he only played two games in Hartford before being assigned to the Hull Olympiques of the Quebec League. Cote played for Team Canada, which won a silver medal at the World Jr. Championships where he was named a first-team all-star.Cote only played 26 games with Hull due to his Team Canada commitment, but still managed to be named a first-team QMJHL all-star. He scored 10 goals and 33 assists in helping Hull to a 54-18-0 record.When Cote came to camp this year, he was ready.But the Whalers weren&rsquo;t.Re-signing Bothwell and Mike McEwen had upped the blue-line corps to seven, not including Cote. After training camp, Cote was assigned to Binghamton of the AHL.Cote performed well at Binghamton.When Cote got word of his recall, he was in Fredericton. N.B. Naturally.One coast-to-coast flight later, Cote was in the Whalers&rsquo; lineup. How long he&rsquo;ll stay probably depends on Kleinendorst&rsquo;s injury.&ldquo;I know I can play in the NHL,&rdquo; Cote said.So far, he&rsquo;s had a lot of trouble convincing his bosses.WHALER SCUTTLEBUTT&mdash;Left winger Sylvain Turgeon underwent exploratory surgery on a pulled stomach muscle Nov. 14. Turgeon is expected to be out for at least six weeks&hellip;Scot Kleinendorst did not make the Western swing. &ldquo;1 tried to convince them that a pina colada at poolside would help my recovery, but they wouldn&rsquo;t go for it,&rdquo; Kleinendorst said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that remedy is in the handbook,&rdquo; GM Emile Francis said. &#9632;

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Cote Gets An Opportunity To Prove Himself In NHL

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>GLENS FALLS&mdash;Adirondack Red Wings&rsquo; goaltender Mark Laforest couldn&rsquo;t ask for better reviews.&ldquo;That was as good as I&rsquo;ve seen.&rdquo; said Maine Mariners&rsquo; coach Tom McVie. after Laforest stopped 29 shots&mdash;including 17 in the first period&mdash;to shut out Maine 1-0. &ldquo;There are shots and there are scoring chances. I break them down on the video. I&rsquo;ll bet you there were 15 scoring chances out of the 17 shots. He was outstanding.&rdquo;Binghamton coach Larry Pleau had a similar reaction after Laforest led the Wings to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Whalers. In that game, he made 22 saves and stopped all four shootout tries.&ldquo;In the first two periods we had some real good scoring chances, but Laforest&mdash;he&rsquo;s sharp,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s as hot as I&rsquo;ve seen a goaltender right now. You can see that he&rsquo;s playing with all kinds of confidence. To me, he was the difference in the game. I thought we had a few more pointblank shots. He came up with some great saves.&rdquo;Wing coach Bill Dineen isn&rsquo;t surprised with what he&rsquo;s gotten from Laforest in the first month of the AHL season. He watched the 24-year-old from Welland, Ont., open last season with nine straight victories. He saw Laforest win 12 of 17 starts in the playoffs to help the Wings win the Calder Cup. But Dineen said this year&rsquo;s model is improved.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not much else you can say about him. He&rsquo;s stopping the puck. He&rsquo;s playing with so much confidence, too,&rdquo; Dineen said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a lot better goaltender right now than he was at this time last year. He&rsquo;s not erratic, as he was last year. He&rsquo;s a more consistent goalie.&rdquo;Laforest rolled off another nine straight victories this season, before the Mariners managed to hang a defeat on him Nov. 12 at Glens Falls. Maine won that game, 5-4 in a shootout, but it certainly wasn&rsquo;t Laforest&rsquo;s fault. He made 40 saves.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say enough good things about young Laforest,&rdquo; McVie said, noting that Maine&rsquo;s 44-24 advantage in shots eventually had an impact.&ldquo;Even the ones (shots) that are missing are ones that he&rsquo;s still working on,&rdquo; McVie said. &ldquo;If you figure that 44 hit the net and another 10 or 15 missed, you&rsquo;re talking 55 or 60 shots and it finally wore young Mark down.&rdquo;Through 10 games, Laforest was 70 in games that ended in regulation time and 2-1 in games that went into shootouts. His goals-against average of 2.05 and save percentage of .931 were the best in the league. He has been the key player in Adirondack&rsquo;s fine 10-4 start, and, on a personal level, he&rsquo;s accomplished even more.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d get off to a 9-0 start. I knew I could play well, but I didn&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d get off to 9-0,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was upset that I couldn&rsquo;t skate every day in training camp (because of offseason knee surgery) and I was pretty down when they told me I was coming down (to the AHL from Detroit).<h2>AHL NORTH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01520/5309214-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="172" height="136"></div>&ldquo;I just came down with an attitude that I came here to play well. If this is what they want me to do. I&rsquo;ve got to show them that I can play better and better every year. I think they said it was a fluke last year.&ldquo;Yeah, this is very satisfying. It proves that it wasn&rsquo;t a fluke, that it didn&rsquo;t just happen. I&rsquo;m trying to prove that I can play steady every game. You can&rsquo;t have your peaks and valleys.&rdquo;After winning his nine straight at the start of last season. Laforest was called up by Detroit, where he compiled a 4-21 record for the last-place Red Wings. But Laforest was reassigned to Adirondack in time for the Calder Cup playoffs and Dineen started him in every game. The experience he gained there has spilled over into this season.&ldquo;I think that was a real confidence booster for him. the playoffs,&rdquo; Dineen said. &ldquo;It sort of proved to him that the 9-0 (record) at the start of the season wasn&rsquo;t the puck bouncing the right way.&rdquo;AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;The Wings continued to play remarkably well, despite having only 13 or 14 skaters available each night. Detroit recalled veteran Eddie Johnstone and replaced him with Bob Probert. Adiron dack defenseman Dave Korol broke his right foot and is likely to miss two months&hellip; Moncton climbed into second place with four straight victories. The Golden Flames lost some of their firepower, though, when Brian Bradley, Gary Roberts and Brett Hull were recalled by Calgary. Bradley. the AHL player of the week, suffered a hair-line fracture of his wrist in his first game with Calgary&hellip;Fredericton&rsquo;s rookie goalie, Scott Gordon, has been named the top star in each of his three starts. Two of the Express&rsquo; injured players, Dave Bruce and Jeff Rohlicek, returned to the lineup-&hellip;Maine led the league in penalty killing with an 88.9 percentage. The Mariners allowed only six goals in their first 54 shorthanded situations. &#9632;

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Mark Laforest On Fire In Adirondack Nets

Dino Ciccarelli of the North Stars led the NHL in power-play goals (13) and points (17) through games of Nov. 16. Below are the leading man-advantage producers of goals, assists and points. Included in the bottom listing are the players&rsquo; total points (TP) accumulated so far this season&mdash;both on and off the power play.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011406/5308142-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="714" height="1113"></div> &#9632;

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North Star Scoring Star

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01822/5311468-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Clock photo by Ted Rhodes/CiccareHi photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02504/5311461-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="848" height="876"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY’S TWO-MINUTE DRILL

In next week&rsquo;s Dec. 5th issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, we&rsquo;ll profile one of this National Hockey League season&rsquo;s great matchups&mdash;Lemieux versus Gretzky.Yes, the Penguins&rsquo; Mario Lemieux and the Oilers&rsquo; Wayne Gretzky meet head-to-head for the first time in December and we&rsquo;ll provide all the data that is necessary to determine whether this is really the season when No. 99 will have his No. 1 status challenged by No. 66.That means, of course, that we&rsquo;ll have all their numbers so you can judge the extent of Mario&rsquo;s magnificence and Gretzky&rsquo;s greatness.Plus, we&rsquo;ll have our By The Numbers feature, alternative statistics and data that give you the inside story on the NHL.Don&rsquo;t miss all that, plus much, much more in next week&rsquo;s Dec. 5th issue of THN. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK

Don Murdoch has traded in his hockey gloves for oven mitts.The former National Hockey Leaguer, who gained notoriety in 1978 when he was suspended 40 games for possession of cocaine, is learning a new trade&mdash;the pizza business.Murdoch, 30, is in the midst of a six-week Little Caesar&rsquo;s training course he expects will lead to a position in Detroit Red Wing owner Mike Hitch&rsquo;s pizza empire.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011320/5307973-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="358" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the trainee progam, where they teach you everything from bookwork to making pizza,&rdquo; Murdoch said from his home in St. Clair Shores, Mich. &ldquo;I was never that great of achef but&hellip;&rdquo;The native of Cranbrook, B.C., hopes to land in Little Caesar&rsquo;s marketing department.Red Wing GM Jimmy Devellano, who bought out the right winger&rsquo;s last NHL contract, has been of great help to Murdoch since he concluded his 10-year professional career in the International League at the end of the 198586 season.Devellano put Murdoch on to Hitch, then recommended he get in touch with New York Ranger GM Phil Esposito when he expressed an interest in scouting. Esposito quickly hired Murdoch to scout Michigan-area International League and college games as well as Ontario League action in Southern Ontario.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021076/5307966-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="697" height="1453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gerry McNamara went on a tirade against the Toronto media for their criticism of him and the Maple Leafs.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just great to be able to keep your foot in the door.&rdquo; said Murdoch, who&rsquo;s been married to a St. Clair Shores woman for a year and a half.Murdoch played four of his six NHL seasons for the Rangers, including his rookie campaign when he collected 32 goals and 24 assists in 59 games. He scored 27 goals the following year and 19 the next season after returning from his suspension. He was traded from New York to Edmonton in 1980, but never regained the scoring touch that earned him more than 80 goals a year in back-to-back Western League seasons.<h2>Endean To Regina&mdash;Delayed Trade</h2>Most traded players have hit upon hard times and a change of scenery is deemed necessary. That&rsquo;s what made the Seattle Thunderbirds&rsquo; trading of Craig Endean one of the most un-usual in league history. Not since Tom Martin (now with the Winnipeg Jets) was traded for a bus in 1983, has a trade seemed so unlikely as Seattle&rsquo;s dealing of Endean to the Regina Pats in a five-for-five swap.It came to pass one day after Endean scored six goals and one assist in Seattle&rsquo;s 11-6 win over New Westminster. At least, that&rsquo;s how it appeared when the trade was announced Nov. 3.Actually, the deal had been completed three days before. Both teams, however, had busy weekends ahead of them and needed all available players. They couldn&rsquo;t afford to be missing players in transit. Seattle and Regina are separated by two provinces and the 49th parallel.So they held off long enough for Endean, the WHL scoring leader, to collect 10 goals and five assists in his final three games.Seattle coach-GM Sheldon Ferguson, who picked up highly-rated right winger Brent Fedyk and defenseman Gerald Bzdel among others in return, said a shakeup was needed. It seems curious that Endean was given enough ice time&mdash;he actually missed 10 minutes of the third period sitting out a misconduct&mdash;to score six goals.After all, players are showcased before they&rsquo;re traded, not after. Regina coach-GM Doug Sauter was surprised too: &ldquo;The first thing I did when I was talking to Sheldon was ask who was coaching.&rdquo; But Sauter noted winning is more important to a coach-GM. than worrying about how he&rsquo;s going to look the next day.<h2>The Stastny Factor&mdash;Bell And Brown</h2>High-scoring rookie defenseman Jeff Brown of the Quebec Nordiques doesn&rsquo;t know it, but something he said recently has an eerily familiar ring.Ring, as in Bell&mdash;Bruce Bell, the St. Louis defenseman who was traded to the Blues last season after a strong rookie campaign with the Nordiques.Asked to explain his outstanding early-season point totals&mdash;two goals and 13 assists in 16 games&mdash;the French-speaking Ottawa native had this to say:&ldquo;More often than not I play defense with Peter Stastny&rsquo;s line&mdash;not only on the power play but on my regular shift. Playing with somebody like that, you give him the puck and he&rsquo;s going to put it in the net. I think that&rsquo;s where a lot of my assists have been coming&mdash;giving the puck to Peter, giving the puck to (Michel) Goulet.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03700/5307959-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1451" height="1805"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Murdoch, who retired from hockey after the 1985-86 season, has kept his hand in hockey as a part-time scout for the New York Rangers.</figcaption></div>Now let&rsquo;s go back a year when Bell, struggling to score 20 points for St. Louis after accounting for 37 in Quebec the previous season. had this to say about his first-year success:&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to cut it right down and see how many assists I got from just handing (the puck) to Peter and Anton (Stastny).&rdquo;Forgive us our pessimistic implications. Brown, we hope, will enjoy more continued success than Bell, who had one assist in six games this year. An outstanding shooter, the 20-year-old Brown has occupied the right point on Quebec power plays. The result has been 10 of his 15 points.<h2>A Television Tirade&mdash;McNamara Interview</h2>The passing of Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; vice-president King Clancy, who was a public-relations genius among other things, came less than week after team GM Gerry McNamara, a public-relations disaster among other things, passed in front of much of Ontario during a television interview. McNamara, an avowed Christian filled with hatred for the media, spoke ad nauseam about the fourth estate and its shortcomings during an intermission feature. He made some salient points, but hardly enough to justify the media-bashing blitz and threatening remarks that followed.&ldquo;The media has taken a pretty good run at me&hellip;and I can tell you that I don&rsquo;t take too many things lying down,&rdquo; he told interviewer Ron MacLean. &ldquo;I never have and I never will and I can tell you. I&rsquo;m going to have my day.&rdquo;McNamara, who has borne the brunt of media criticism for Toronto&rsquo;s mediocrity during his five-year stewardship, has come to adopt a seige mentality during his rare dealings with the press. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lack of crows in the air these days.&rdquo; said McNamara after the Leafs got off to an impressive 6-2-3 start.&ldquo;They might even put a limit on how many you can take because there aren&rsquo;t too many in the skies. A lot of people are eating crow.&rdquo;He went on&hellip;and on, despite MacLean&rsquo;s skilful attempts to change the subject. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to get pretty nasty and I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s anybody who can get as nasty as I can&hellip;I know they&rsquo;re going to take runs at me again but I could care less. I&rsquo;ve weathered the storm. Believe me I have&hellip;It&rsquo;s time for me to get my shots in and I can tell you this, nobody knows how to do that better than I can. If they think they&rsquo;ve got a pacifist with them by the tail, they don&rsquo;t.&rdquo;When it was all over, there was only sympathy&mdash;not empathy&mdash;for McNamara, who is scheduled for two more TV appearances. Even his adversaries should have been squirming in their chairs. It was most uncomfortable watching a man so vulnerable. Whatever credibility he had left with the Toronto media was lost.The Leafs, by the way, were winless in three games after his appearance.<h2>&lsquo;He&rsquo;s No Prospect&rsquo;&mdash;Czech Coach</h2>Quote of the week:&ldquo;He might be a prospect for the Sabres, but not for us. He lacks the ambition, strength and termperament needed nowadays to be successful in internaional hockey.&rdquo;&mdash;Czech national team coach Jan Starsi on Jiri Dudacek, former first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, page 13. &#9632;

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Murdoch Making Dough In Pizza

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;It took a few hours short of nine full days, but when the dust and smoke and rumors had cleared, the Boston Bruins unveiled a most unusual coaching setup to succeed the departed Butch Goring.The head coach was Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, who wasn&rsquo;t sure he really wanted to coach at all.The assistant coach was John Cunniff, whose name didn&rsquo;t even reach the level of weak rumor until the last minute.The player-assistant coach was Mike Milbury, who wanted to coach last year, but preferred to be a player this season.That troika will direct the Bruins on the ice for at least the remainder of the season, it was announced with the town still aglow from an unexpected victory over the Edmonton Oilers.<h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011343/5308004-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="173" height="135"></div>O&rsquo;Reilly, as temporary coach, had been behind the bench when the Bruins&rsquo; Paul Boutilier tied the game with a shorthanded goal in the last two minutes. Ken Linseman finished the job with the winning marker in overtime.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a trying time for all of us,&rdquo; general manager Harry Sinden said, as he announced the appointments. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t really make the decision until yesterday. We feel John will provide what we need from an assistant coach and we know he will work well with Terry and Mike&rdquo;Even after the news conference in a Boston Garden restaurant, the roles of the three coaches, and the terms of their agreements, were still a little vague.O&rsquo;Reilly, said Sinden, is &ldquo;head coach for at least the rest of this season.&rdquo; Cunniff said he&rsquo;ll be assistant coach &ldquo;for more than one year.&rdquo; And Milbury, said Sinden, is &ldquo;first and foremost a player, a sort of consultant coach.&rdquo;&ldquo;We need Mike as a player and that&rsquo;s his primary role,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Reilly. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll work on his coaching when we can grab him for lunch.&rdquo;&ldquo;And Mike will pay for the lunch because he&rsquo;s on a player&rsquo;s contract,&rdquo; Cunniff joked.&ldquo;With John&rsquo;s expertise, and my bad temper,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Reilly quipped, &ldquo;we should make a good team.&ldquo;If I made a list of 100 possible occupations, coaching would have! been at the bottom. I wasn&rsquo;t quite sure what my commitment was going to be. The experience is lacking.&ldquo;John knows the game. He&rsquo;s well respected and I need someone with his teaching qualities. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s too many points we disagree on.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;It&rsquo;s been a trying time for all of us.&rsquo; &mdash;Sinden</blockquote>O&rsquo;Reilly played in the Bruins&rsquo; organiztion for 14years, while Milbury has worn the &lsquo;B&rsquo; on his sweater since 1975. Though Cunniff has never played for the Bruins, he is no stranger to Boston hockey.He grew up in South Boston (or Southie, as it is called) and saw his first Bruin game at the age of 14, when he sneaked into the Garden. He wanted to play football at Notre Dame but wound up playing hockey at Boston College, where he was an All-American in 1965 and 1966.He had a tryout with the Bruins in 1966, played left wing on a line with Wayne Cashman in training camp, left to join the U.S. national team, then came back to the pros in the Detroit Red Wing system.Cunniff jumped to the New England Whalers in 1972 when the World Hockey Association was formed, played 62 games in the WHA, then wound up his active career with the Cape Codders of the North American League.He coached the Cape Codders and Binghamton of the AHL, as well as the Whalers on an interim basis in 1982-83. For the past two-and-a-half years, he has been advance scout for the Hartford Whalers.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say I didn&rsquo;t dream of this day,&rdquo; said Cunniff. &ldquo;To have a dream come true is something you can&rsquo;t put in words.&ldquo;Everyone says Terry exemplifies the Boston Bruins, and he does. What he&rsquo;s shown me is their character. Between the two of us, we&rsquo;ll have an intelligent approach to coaching. We just want to help the players to be the best they can be.&ldquo;Last year, Montreal showed what can happen when a team plays with discipline. They were struggling. There was talk of firing the coach. The rookies made mistakes. But by the end. they were a disciplined team&mdash;and look what happened.&rdquo; &#9632;

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O’Reilly, Cunniff Head B’s Coaching Team

I WOULD JUST like to start out by apologizing to all you readers for not answering your letters.Bag after bag of mail pours in every day and I can&rsquo;t keep up with it all. My poor, overworked mailman moves like Tiger Williams, a shadow of the man he used to be. My secretary is beseiged by angry callers who have not yet received those autographed pictures of myself that they requested.Be assured, however, that all the lovely jewelry is being worn and that the rest of those gifts will be rewrapped to make someone else&rsquo;s Christmas a little brighter.See, when you&rsquo;re a busy man, and your public makes demands&hellip;er, hold on, I can&rsquo;t see my keyboard here because my nose is getting so big&hellip;Okay, okay, I admit it. Nobody writes to me. It&rsquo;s been months since I&rsquo;ve even received somebody&rsquo;s plan to redesign the NHL playoffs, or one of those dreaded questionnaires on sports writing from a college student doing a thesis.In fact, it&rsquo;s been almost a year since anyone has complained I write too much about the Philadelphia Flyers. Every time I watch Bob Johnson behind the Flames&rsquo; bench, I keep hoping he is dropping me a note, but nothing comes.I lied about the secretary, too. The only dictating I do is to my dog. I&hellip;wait a minute, here comes the mailman up the walk now. Today&rsquo;s got to be the day. Please hang on a minute.Okay, I&rsquo;m back. Let&rsquo;s see&hellip;here&rsquo;s something from THE HOCKEY NEWS. Maybe they&rsquo;ve forwarded a letter. Nope, it&rsquo;s just a subscription renewal notice. Here&rsquo;s a bill from Doctor Orr, my weekly release from the Minnesota North Stars&hellip;my Air Canuck frequent flier statement&hellip;a sales prospectus for preferred stock in the Cleveland Barons&hellip;the American League stats, hey, what&rsquo;s this in the plain brown wrapper? Oooh, never mind.Nothing. Not a postcard from Todd Bergen. Not a chain letter from Lou Nanne. Or even a subpoena from Harry Ornest. If I want mail, I guess I&rsquo;ll have to make up my own:Dear Mr. Greenberg:You are the greatest writer who ever lived.John Smith,&nbsp;Brandon, MBDear Mr. Smith:You are too kind. I&rsquo;m just a humble slug trying to feed my family, but I appreciate so much you taking the time to write. Bless you.Deer Mr. Greenberg:Eye yam a hi skool senyor who wantz to bee a sportsridder. What advise can U giv me?Billy Jones,&nbsp;Mississauga, ONDear Billy:Keep up the good work. You&rsquo;re doing just fine.Dear Mr. Greenberg:I recently went to an NHL game with my 10-year-old son and a disgusting brawl broke out. It was the final straw. I am trying to teach him good sportsmanship and refuse to expose him to such sorry displays any longer.Sam Taylor, Great Neck, NY<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011224/5308035-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="357" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption></div>Dear Wimp:What do you want me to do? You and your little girl can go watch basketball for all I care.Dear Mr. Greenberg:I am a loyal fan of the Buffalo Sabres who is enclosing a clipping from a 1983 edition of THN in which you predict Buffalo, not Edmonton, would be the NHL&rsquo;s next champion. Why would you break my heart like this?Albert Kostnewski,&nbsp;Amherst, NYDear Sucker:Admit it. You screwed up. You trusted me.Dear Mr. Greenberg:I am upset with the growing trend of violence in the game. The Montreal Canadiens pick on my players and are out of control. Ed Hospodar shows absolutely no discipline in contests against my team. What should I do?M. Bergeron,&nbsp;Quebec City. PQDear Mr. Bergeron:Try sitting out Dale Hunter for a game or two. You might see a difference.Dear Mr. Greenberg:Why won&rsquo;t people come to see my team play?A. Griffiths,&nbsp;Vancouver, BCDear Mr. Griffiths:Because Vancouver, which once sold out the building, has since become a terrible hockey town. These people have no appreciation for the fine product you are offering. My suggestion is to make another trade with Philadelphia and don&rsquo;t take yourself too seriously. Nobody else does.Dear Mr. Greenberg:My problem is unique. I won two playoff series last year, both big upsets. The team&rsquo;s management seemed to imply I had done a good job because they fired the general manager who gave me those players and extended my contract. And yet guys keep saying they don&rsquo;t want to play for me and the press keeps writing my job is still in trouble. What should I do?Ted Sator,New York. NYDear Mr. Sator:Take a bite of the Big Apple, kid, and enjoy it. &#9632;

f0005-01

Mail? Not Even A Postcard From Todd Bergen

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Daniel Berthiaume has done something no other member of the Winnipeg Jets could manage all of last season.The rookie netminder was named runner-up as the National Hockey League&rsquo;s player of the week, an award that has escaped the Jets since Brian Hayward captured the prize during March, 1985.Berthiaume drew raves as he won his initial start and added two more victories, giving up only four goals and recording a shutout in his first week of NHL play.The week&rsquo;s winner was goaltender Mike Vernon of the Calgary Flames, whose four wins included back-to-back pearls over Edmonton Oilers, still the team to beat in the NHL.&ldquo;The important thing is we&rsquo;re winning,&rdquo; said Berthiaume, dismissing any notion that he might be upset at being No. 2 behind another rookie, Pokey Reddick.French is Berthiaume&rsquo;s first language, but he does exceedingly well in English. Home is the Montreal suburb of Longueuil.Despite a yearning to play forward as a boy, he soon realized his lack of size would present a severe handicap unless he switched positions.By his 15th birthday, he was playing in the Montreal Forum at the AAA midget all-star tournament. In back-to-back years he was named MVP in the tourney.His fifth-round selection in the Quebec midget draft caused some disillusionment in the Berthiaume household, but he dutifully went to Drummondville and spent what he describes as a wasted winter.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t play,&rdquo; he sighed. &ldquo;But the next year I went to Chicoutimi. It was better there.&rdquo;The Quebec League is known as a goal-scorers&rsquo; haven. &ldquo;A goalie in the Quebec League sees 50 shots a game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A good goalie has a goals-against average of 3.80.&rdquo;Berthiaume won the Jacques Plante Trophy as the Quebec League&rsquo;s outstanding goaltender with a 3.75 average in 58 games with Chicoutimi.Impressed, the Jets took him in the third round of the 1984 entry draft in Toronto.Berthiaume is described by coach Dan Maloney as &ldquo;a reflex goaltender. But for a small man, he cuts his angles well.&rdquo;His leg-work is especially outstanding. &ldquo;I skip a lot, wearing Kodiak (work) boots,&rdquo; he said.Maloney is delighted with the play of Reddick and Berthiaume, two rookies who have delivered all of the Jets&rsquo; eight wins.It was four years ago that Maloney, as an assistant coach of Toronto Maple Leafs, saw Mike Nykoluk elect to go with two rookies&mdash;Ken Wregget and Allan Bester&mdash;in goal.The Leafs lost 45 games and missed the playoffs, though both are back in Toronto after minor-pro seasoning.&ldquo;This is different,&rdquo; Maloney said. &ldquo;Pokey is a rookie, but he&rsquo;s not a kid. This is his third year of professional hockey. He&rsquo;s 22 years old.&ldquo;While Daniel is young, you have to appreciate the tremendous confidence he has in himself and his abilities.&rdquo;According to Rick Bowness, an assistant coach, the most distinguishing quality of Berthiaume&rsquo;s character is his competitive nature.<h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02903/5308066-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="174" height="132"></div>&ldquo;He loves to work and he hates to give up a goal, even in practice,&rdquo; said Bowness. &ldquo;His quickness is his best quality.&rdquo;Bowness likes the contrasting personalties of the young netminders.&ldquo;Pokey is so cool,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Daniel is so exuberant.&rdquo;BENCH BITS&mdash;The worst blizzard in 20 years did not stop 5,000 people from showing up for a game between the Jets and New Jersey Devils. The city of Winnipeg was virtually brought to a standstill, but hundreds of people went to the game on foot, skis and snowshoes. Four-wheel drives and snowmobiles were abundant, too&hellip;It didn&rsquo;t bother Thomas Steen, who picked up three goals and two assists in an 8-1 win over the Devils. &#9632;

f0005-02

Berthiaume Makes Splashy Start In Jet Net

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021007/5308111-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Making good on power-play opportunities is one reason Dino Ciccarelli is off to the best start of all NHL goal scorers. The decades, although the number of techniques has multiplied.</figcaption></div>All of a sudden, the power play has become The Power Play! Hockey&rsquo;s traditional stratagem for exploiting the man advantage has never been more prominent than it is today.Players such as Pat Verbeek of the New Jersey Devils, who had never been known for their scoring proficiency, have emerged as power-play specialists. Teams are treating the power play with more and more sophistication; and the revised rules for 1986-87 have magnified the importance of the power play, not to mention the role of power-play &ldquo;gunner.&rdquo;Ask the Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; Dino Ciccarelli. After I6games, he had scored 20goals, 13 of which had been delivered on the power play. Likewise, after 17 games, Verbeek had scored 12 goals&mdash;nine on the power play.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re at a point now where the power play is more important than it ever was,&rdquo; says Devil general manager Max McNab, a teammate of Gordie Howe on the Stanley Cup-winning Detroit Red Wings in 1950. &ldquo;And there are a lot of reasons why.&rdquo;The &ldquo;instigator&rdquo; penalty is just one of those reasons. Others range from high-tech sticks that deliver faster-than-ever shots, to use of video in dissecting enemy defenses, to superior coaching.In hockey&rsquo;s more primitive era, there was no thought of running to a VCR to examine power plays and devise new attacks. Now clubs employ specialists, such as the New York Islanders&rsquo; Darcy Regier, to pore over videos and report to the high command.&ldquo;There are any number of plays you can work on the power play,&rdquo; Regier explains, &ldquo;but there are three basics that are necessary to make it work. First, you want to create a two-on-one situation in front of the net. Secondly, you have to train your power-play team to execute properly. Third, you have to have the trigger man.&rdquo;There are countless triggermen in the NHL, but the little man in Bloomington has recently emerged to share some of the luster with Gretzky and Co.&ldquo;Dino Ciccarelli is the most dangerous man in the league on the power play,&rdquo; insists Red Wings&rsquo; coach Jacques Demers. &ldquo;No question.&rdquo;What makes a specialist such as Ciccarelli so effective on the power play? His coach, Lorne Henning, says he gets by with a little help from his friends.-&ldquo;We have big Brian MacLellan in front of the net, which frees Dino a bit,&rdquo; Henning says. &ldquo;On top of that, Dino is opportunistic. He moves in and out and positions himself well and, of course, he has the shot. And Ronnie Wilson has been setting Dino up nicely from the point.&rdquo;Opinions vary as to which team employs the most effective power play although the stats favor Minnesota and Edmonton. (See page 37.) Many experts say they don&rsquo;t even need the stats to prove it.&ldquo;The Oilers simply have such extraordinary personnel,&rdquo; says Red Wing GM Jimmy Devellano. &ldquo;How can you top a power play that has Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier?&rdquo; Former NHL coach Harry Neale, now a television commentator. goes a step further. He suggests that the Oilers&rsquo; power play is virtually indefensible.&ldquo;When you defend against the Oilers&rsquo; power play,&rdquo; Neale explains, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re in a Catch-22 situation because they get you coming and going. For starters, they have great players&mdash;Gretzky, Kurri, Anderson&mdash;up front, and they have a great point man in Coffey.&ldquo;If the defenders commit themselves to the point, they give up the inside play and yield a three-on-two, which can be devastating against Gretzky, On the other hand, if the defenders play a tight box, they yield the point, where Coffey can kill you with his shot. As a unit, they pass the puck too quick and too well for a penalty-killing unit to adjust.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03655/5308104-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="684" height="1764"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean Beliveau was a member of the Canadiens&rsquo; power play that forced a change in the NHL rulebook.</figcaption></div>Neale says a team defending against the Oilers is better off &ldquo;giving up the point shot than giving up the top.&rdquo;Ranger veteran Ron Greschner, himself a long-time power-play specialist, also calls the Edmonton power play the best in the league. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of Gretzky, the other firepower and strategy,&rdquo; says Greschner. &ldquo;What they try to do is move Gretzky off to the side to confuse the defense. He can do so much, but you have to be careful of his passes. The best defense is to let Wayne have the puck and you cover your position.&rdquo;The Oilers were not highest-rated by everyone. Demers, for one, puts the Stanley Cup-champion Canadiens on top.&ldquo;I like the way Bobby Smith, Mats Naslund and Larry Robinson read each other.&rdquo; says Demers. &ldquo;Naslund is excellent along the boards and at making a pass. Smith works the slot very well and can one-time the puck from Naslund&rsquo;s pass. On the point, Robinson has the good shot, or uses the option of setting up the slot area.&rdquo;Because he scored 58 goals last season&mdash;a record 34 on the power play&mdash;the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Tim Kerr has become notorious for his skills around the crease. The Flyers&rsquo; man-advantage unit is also feared for agile Mark Howe at the point.&ldquo;The Flyers began to realize that with Kerr the major focus, their power play was becoming predictable,&rdquo; says Regier. &ldquo;Recently, they&rsquo;ve tried to diversify by looking for other players instead of Kerr&mdash;like Howe up top in the slot, or Brian Propp on the point.&rdquo;Flyer ex-coach Fred Shero, the author of three hockey books, points out that the basic power-play philosophy has not changed in four&ldquo;The objective,&rdquo; Shero says, &ldquo;is to break up the (defensive) box, to entice a man to leave the box.&rdquo;When Shero broke into the NHL during the late 1940s, the power play was considerably less significant to the game than it is today.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even remember hearing the expression &lsquo;power play&rsquo; until the early 1950s.&rdquo; says McNab. There was good reason. Although penalties have been part of hockey&rsquo;s fabric since the NHL&rsquo;s birth, the power play as we know it did not take form until after World War II.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Max (Bentley) was the best point man ever. What the Leafs would do is move the puck to Bentley. Since Max was a great stickhandler, he could draw a defender, go around the guy, then walk in on the goalie and shoot.&rsquo; &mdash;Shero</blockquote>The first team to develop a league-renowned power play (though the term was not in general use at the time) was the Toronto Maple Leafs. Conn Smythe, head of the Leafs, dealt five players (Bud Poile, Gaye Stewart, Gus Bodnar&mdash;an entire forward line&mdash;plus defensemen Ernie Dickens and Bob Goldham) for Chicago Blackhawk center Max Bentley, arguably the greatest wrist-shooter in NHL history.&ldquo;When Toronto got Bentley,&rdquo; Shero says, &ldquo;they put together the &lsquo;pre-modern&rsquo; power play&rdquo;The Leafs employed Hall-of-Fame center Syl Apps at center, left winger Harry Watson and right winger Wild Bill Ezinicki, and Gus Mortson and Bentley at the points.&ldquo;Max was the best point man ever,&rdquo; Shero enthuses. &ldquo;What the Leafs would do is try to move the puck to Bentley. Since Max was a great stickhandler, he could draw a defender to him, go around the guy, then walk in on the goalie and shoot. Since he had such a fine shot, he&rsquo;d often score.&rdquo;What made the Leaf power play distinctly different from the contemporary version was the absence of a slapshot. In the late 1940s all players used pure, flat-bladed hockey sticks and nobody&mdash;but nobody&mdash;used the slapshot.&ldquo;The first guy to really use the slapshot on the power play was Bernie Geoffrion,&rdquo; says Hall-of-Famer Maurice Richard, a cornerstone of the Canadien team that won five straight Stanley Cups (1956-60). &ldquo;He came to us in 1950. and played the right point. Doug Harvey was on the other side.&rdquo;Since Geoffrion was the first to slap the puck effectively from the point, he became the focus of the Canadiens&rsquo; power play.&ldquo;The trick was to get one good shot,&rdquo; Shero says. &ldquo;They&rsquo;d move it to the point, let him shoot and simultaneously have a guy cruising to the net.&rdquo;It wasn&rsquo;t merely Geoffrion&rsquo;s presence that lent an awesome quality to the Canadiens&rsquo; power play. Richard&rsquo;s shot was inimitable, and Harvey was the quintessential playmaker at the point, while left winger Dickie Moore worked the boards as well as anyone. Center Jean Beliveau, the master of the face-off, could shoot as well as anyone and was, of course, a slick passer.The results were devastating. Opponents who found themselves shorthanded against the Canadiens often gave up two or even three goals during the power play. In those days a player had to remain in the penalty box for the entire two minutes of a minor penalty.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011254/5308097-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="1456" height="2220"><figcaption class="caption-body">Fair&hellip;and foul means have been used to stop New Jersey Devil power-play specialist Pat Verbeek this season.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Our power play was so strong,&rdquo; recalls Richard, &ldquo;the NHL changed the rules because of us.&rdquo;Sure enough, in 1956-57, a new rule was written into the books. From then on, when a power-play goal was scored on a minor penalty, the player was let out of the penalty box.The success of Geoffrion&rsquo;s slapshot inspired other players to perfect the hard-shooting techpique. Soon, the New York Rangers&rsquo; Andy Bathgate, the Blackhawks&rsquo; Bobby Hull and others were aping Geoffrion&rsquo;s point blasts. The serious evolution of the power play was in motion.&ldquo;The best I&rsquo;ve ever seen at working the power play was that Montreal team with Geoffrion, Moore, Harvey and the Rocket,&rdquo; says Phil Esposito, now GM of the Rangers.Esposito played alongside Bobby Hull when the Blackhawk power play was at its peak, then emerged as top gun on the Boston Bruins, working with Bobby Orr. Wayne Cashman. Ken Hodge and Dallas Smith.&ldquo;Our Boston team in the early 1970s had as good a power play as anyone,&rdquo; says Esposito. &ldquo;I would compare ours to the present-day Oilers&rsquo;.&rdquo;Esposito was one of a select few NHLers exposed to the radar-like puck control of the Soviets when he played against them for Team Canada in the 1972 eight-game series.It was the very same Soviet system which became the inspiration for Shero&rsquo;s upgraded power play, employed when he coached the Philadelphia Flyers to a pair of Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975.&ldquo;After watching the Soviet teams play in Russia,&rdquo; Shero says, &ldquo;I originated the one-three-one system in the NHL.&rdquo;The one-three-one is a departure from the traditional strategy of placing point men on the left and right, and keeping them there with few exceptions.By contrast, the one-three-one employs (after the face-off) a player in front of the net, three across the ice from circle-to-circle, and a point man behind the high slot.According to Shero, his opponents had no legitimate response to the Soviet-inspired power play for about two years.&ldquo;Tom Bladon,&rdquo; Shero recalls, &ldquo;was my point man on the one-three-one. We called it The Shotgun&rsquo;.&rdquo;As more North Americans were exposed to European hockey, NHL clubs began including more of the foreign techniques into their power plays. For example, the Soviets developed the sideboard-to-sideboard scheme, with three men on the strong side and two on the weak side. The stress is on lateral passing and player movement, eventually freeing the off-side for ward to receive the puck and release a clean shot.While point men still unload shots, they have been used more and more as decoys to trap defenders high in the zone and create a three-on-two&mdash;and ultimately, a two-on-one&mdash;up front. The lateral passing keeps the goalie moving from post to post, making it difficult to set himself for a shot.&ldquo;One aspect of the power play that certainly is different,&rdquo; McNab says, &ldquo;is the amount of practice that goes into it today. That, and the fact that most teams have a good secondary unit to back up the first power-play team. It wasn&rsquo;t that way when I played.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;One aspect of the power play that certainly is different is the amount of practice that goes into it today. That, and the fact that most teams have a good secondary unit to back up the first powerplay team.&rsquo; &mdash;McNab</blockquote>Nor did the NHLers look to the Soviets for inspiration. Now, the Fetisovs and Kasatonovs are demonstrating that they&rsquo;re the equal of the Coffeys and Potvins.Armed with Peter and Anton Stastny. the Nordiques have been proponents of the Euro-Soviet. one-three-one style.Despite all the accent on video, chalkboards and other sophisticated modes, there are those who believe that all the power-play fuss is just as much fluff. One-time 50-goal scorer Mickey Redmond is one of them.&ldquo;Strategy,&rdquo; says Redmond, &ldquo;matters less than personnel. If you&rsquo;ve got Gretzky, Coffey, Anderson, Kurri and Messier, brother, you&rsquo;ve got one helluva power play!&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-02

The NHL’s Power Surge

<div class="byline">BY MURRAY TOWNSEND&#x2019;</div>One of the most dependable means of winning games in the National Hockey League is to outscore your opposition on the power play.Statistics compiled through Nov. 11 clearly show that if one team has an advantage with the man advantage, it is likely to win. The chart below shows the records of all 21 teams when they&rsquo;ve &ldquo;out power-played&rdquo; the opposition. Also included is what percentage each team&rsquo;s power-play output is of total output in all games up to the cut-off date.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02883/5308173-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="712" height="885"></div> &#9632;

f0007-02

Advantage Power Play

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011339/5308204-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div>IN REGARDS TO the article discussing expansion (THN, Oct. 31), it seems there was not a full examination of all possibilities for future franchises.As &ldquo;broadcast voice&rdquo; of the International League&rsquo;s Indianapolis Checkers, I have had a chance to evaluate this city as a possible site for a National Hockey League franchise. For the following reasons, I feel Indianapolis has just as much (or more) justification as the other cities mentioned for gaining an expansion bid:1. Geography: The location of this city makes it an excellent site, especially if added to the Norris Division.2. Arena: Market Square Arena is a tremendous facility&mdash;possibly the best in North America. It already houses an NBA franchise. Not only is the building complete but it seats 16,000 for hockey.3. Demographics: The city has a population of more than one million and is among the Top 23 U.S. television markets. Attendance for the two local major-league franchises (Colts, Pacers) is far above what would be expected for teams whose records have been continual!) under .500. The Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association averaged 11,00C per game for several seasons and 17,000 fans witnessed a semi-final WHA playoff game in the mid-1970s.Perhaps the strongest justification for NHL hockey in Indianapolis is the Checkers&rsquo; attend ance and ticket sales this year in the team&rsquo;s third season in the IHL. The Checkers drew over 8,000 fans for each of its first two league games this year.Mike Barack&nbsp;Indianapolis, lb<h2>OVERSIGHT CITED</h2>Having been a subscriber for many years, I was impressed with your current focus on updating and improving your publication which I already think is excellent. Unfortunately, yot have taken a dreadful step backwards with your non-coverage of each team&rsquo;s 1986-87 television schedule.Last year&rsquo;s coverage was excellent, listing invividual team TV dates of all games shown This year we are told to &ldquo;check our local listings.&rdquo; Is this supposed to be an improvement? I certainly don&rsquo;t think so. To get a truly informative listing I would have to write all 21 teams. I thought THE HOCKEY NEWS was in the information-gathering business.FAN FORUMRon Walker,&nbsp;Seattle. WA<h2>CHERRY PICKING</h2>The game of hockey will survive without Don Cherry and the Pittsburgh Penguins will move forward without him as well.And we look forward to his disappearance from Hockey Night in Canada when Mario Lemieux wins the scoring title over Wayne Gretzky (Cherry on HNIC on Nov. 1, 1986: &ldquo;I will quit Hockey Night in Canada if Lemieux beats Gretzky.&rdquo;)J. K. Mazurek,&nbsp;Orchard Lake, MI<h2>WINGS WILL GROW</h2>This is a response to C.T. Bartlett who wrote in the Oct. 31 issue about Jimmy Devellano and the job he has done in Detroit.If Mr. Bartlett would like to know, it was Jimmy D. who was instrumental in forming the backbone of the New York Islanders by scouting and then urging Bill Torrey to select certain players in the entry drafts. Mr. Devellano has proven he has the ability to draft players of exceptional calibre in the National Hockey League.Mr. Devellano inherited an extremely weak team in Detroit and we will, in the future, see the Red Wings become a premier team as they were in past years.D. Spinks,&nbsp;Guelph, ONLet your voice be heard. Send your comments to Fan Forum, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 2R2. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

f0008-01

What About Indianapolis? It Has NHL Potential Too

AS IT DRAWS nearer, Rendez-vouz &rsquo;87 will no doubt stir some excitement.You can count on it.An expense-paid week in Quebec City during the height of the Winter Carnival should take care of that.But in the meantime, it&rsquo;s been tough sledding getting into the spirit of the clash between the National Hockey League all-stars and the Soviet Union national team Feb. 11 and 13.Sorry, Marcel. Sorry, Alan. Sorry, John.Hockey&rsquo;s three wise men&mdash;Aubut, Eagleson and Ziegler&mdash;teamed up in Toronto on Nov. 14 to unveil the latest news on the extravaganza that is replacing this year&rsquo;s NHL all-star game.NHL president Ziegler announced the all star club&rsquo;s management committee&mdash;Bob Pulford. Scott Bowman, Serge Savard, Cliff Fletcher, Tommy Ivan, Bill Torrey, Keith Allen and Glen Sather. Players&rsquo; Association boss Eagleson then announced who would coach the team&mdash;Montreal&rsquo;s Jean Perron, with help from Calgary&rsquo;s Bob Johnson and Quebec&rsquo;s Michel Bergeron. He added, en francais no less, that the appointment of Bergeron was something more than political expediency to keep the Nordiques and their fans appeased.Nordique president Aubut. the mastermind behind the whole spectacle, then advised us this will be more than a mere hockey series, that will be &ldquo;a celebration of sport and art.&rdquo;He backed that up with a slate of impressive events and celebrity guests. Among the scheduled events:&bull; Chrysler&rsquo;s Lee laccoca will be addressing a luncheon for business people.&bull; A feast prepared by chefs from around the world.&bull; Mila Mulroney, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, will play hostess to a brunch with Pierre Cardin.&bull; An international fashion show.&bull; A nighttime parade featuring a float&mdash;not floater&mdash;from every NHL club.&bull; The Hockey Hall of Fame will be moved lock, stock and barrel&mdash;yes, every single artifact&mdash;to a temporary home in Quebec City.Little wonder I&rsquo;m finding it difficult to get enthused about Rendezvous &rsquo;87.1 get tired just listening and watching Aubut in action.Having never attended &ldquo;a celebration of sport and art,&rdquo; it could be that I don&rsquo;t know where to start.Maybe that&rsquo;s the problem.laccoca, Cardin, Mulroney and Bonhomme Carnival notwithstanding, the focal point of Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 should be the two-game series against the Soviets<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021102/5308235-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="401" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McKenzie</figcaption></div>Us against Them.That&rsquo;s the way these matches are usually billed and it was no exception in Toronto on Nov. 14. Ziegler said so. So did Eagleson and Aubut.But it was almost as if it were an obligation. With the initial first reference to Us against Them out of the way, the tone was decidedly soft sell.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t put this (Rendez-vouz) on the same level as the Canada Cup,&rdquo; said Eagleson. &ldquo;And ever since 1972 (the historic Canada-Soviet summit series) we&rsquo;ve been trying to catch lightning twice. It&rsquo;s not going to happen. Everything will always pale in comparison to &rsquo;72.&rdquo;And he&rsquo;s quite correct, of course.But doesn&rsquo;t it seem just a little curious that the format for the two-game series is still undecided? Ziegler didn&rsquo;t think it was a problem and, when pressed, said, &ldquo;We just named our management committee.&rdquo;Eagleson talked of the appeal of a two-game series versus a three-game series. &ldquo;If one team wins the first two games, the third game means nothing,&rdquo; he said.He hastily added, &ldquo;maybe this (format) will be just two games. Maybe there won&rsquo;t be a (series) winner or loser.&rdquo;Friendly matches. A nice touch, to be sure. One which suggests the NHL learned its 1979 Challenge Cup lesson well and that the Eagle is doing everything humanly possible to reduce the pressure players will face in February. Minimize the risk, put a lid on the pressure and sell laccoca, Cardin et al.But Us against Them with no winners and losers?Two exhibition games with sport for sport&rsquo;s sake as the raison d&rsquo;etre?Clearly, this &ldquo;a celebration of sport and art&rdquo; is going to take some getting used to.You can hear THN Editor-in-Chief Bob McKenzie on mid-week Toronto Maple Leaf broadcasts on the Telemedia Maple Leaf radio network. &#9632;

f0008-02

Coming To Grips With A Sport-Art Celebration

<div class="byline">BY JIM O&#x2019;LEARY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011308/5308266-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pallbearers for King Clancy included, left to right, Toronto Maple Leaf owner Harold Ballard, ex-Leafs Red Kelly and Johnny Bower and current Toronto Leaf GM Gerry McNamara. (Photo by Canapress Photo Service)</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;The crowd at St. Michael&rsquo;s Cathedral was already spilling into the aisles when a middle-aged man wearing a blue Toronto Maple Leaf hockey jacket stepped through the heavy wooden doors.He stopped at the back of the church for a moment, appraised a crowd comprised largely of dignitaries and sports personalities, then strode boldy to a seat near the front.With his every step, it became easier to remember the infectious smile of Francis Michael (King) Clancy, and imagine how quickly it would have grown at the sight of this man of obviously simple means, shedding his inhibitions to mix freely with the rich and famous.Clancy, of course, spent 83 years walking joyously through life&rsquo;s corridors; sharing his charm, his anecdotes, his compassion equally. That is why 1,200 people packed the cathedral for Clancy&rsquo;s funeral Nov. 13, and why the mourners came from all walks of life. They had one thing in common, a soft spot in the heart, placed there indelibly, by Clancy.Clancy died Monday, Nov. 10, in a Toronto hospital, of complications brought on by the removal of his gall bladder. Like pilgrims, his friends came from afar to pay their respects.&ldquo;This King, this all-star, is very precious in our eyes; an inspiration and an encouragement,&rdquo; eulogized Monsignor Kenneth Robitaille. &ldquo;Persons like Francis Michael Clancy are not very common, so when we find them let us not neglect to honour them.&rdquo;Among those honoring Clancy, on a day of record-low temperatures in Toronto, were the entire Maple Leaf hockey club. Mayor Art Eggleton, Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Lincoln Alexander. Punch Imlach, Jean Beliveau, Ted Kennedy, Allen Stanley, Toe Blake, Lanny McDonald, Bill Chadwick, Paul Henderson, Scott Bowman, Bill Torrey, NHL president John Ziegler, Keith Allen and Cliff Fletcher.The pallbearers all had Leaf connections: Club owner and long-time friend Harold Ballard, GM Gerry McNamara, former GM Jim Gregory, and former Leaf players Dick Duff, Johnny Bower and Red Kelly.For three hours earlier in the day, Clancy&rsquo;s body lay in state in the directors&rsquo; lounge at Maple Leaf Gardens, so the public could pay its final respects. Hundreds of people filed through, many typical of Chris Ferencz, a 21-year-old grocery store clerk who exchanged light-hearted conversation with Clancy twice a week at the checkout counter. Dennis Lawlor never knew Clancy, but he came to the Gardens out of respect for Clancy&rsquo;s contribution to the rich history of the Maple Leafs.&ldquo;He was tradition, a part of hockey life here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He brought life to the game.&rdquo;That was Clancy&rsquo;s gift, bringing life&mdash;an invigorating love of life&mdash;to everyone he touched. He lived the message of Christianity, said Monsignor Robitaille, to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith.&ldquo;He fought the good fight, stick-handling on and off the ice; and in the game of life, he knew what it was to experience a few bodychecks and unexpected elbows,&rdquo; Robitaille said.After the funeral mass, the procession of hearse and limousines swung past the Gardens one last time and paused momentarily in front of the main entrance. The Gardens&rsquo; staff stood along the curb at attention. A solitary elderly figure wearing a wollen beret stepped off the sidewalk to salute.At Mount Hope Cemetery. Ballard, wrapped in a shaggy fur coat, waited until most of the mourners had gone before moving forward for a personal last goodbye to his dearest friend. It had been a trying week for the usually unpertable Ballard, and he made no effort to hide his grief.&ldquo;Goodbye, pal.&rdquo; he said, knocking twice on the lid of the coffin. Then, trembling, he slapped the coffin twice more, turned and shuffled away.As the crowd dispersed, a man put a harmonica to his lips and sent upon the frigid winds a deliberate rendition of &ldquo;When The Saints Go Marching In.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-01

Friends Bid Farewell To King Of Leafs

Coaches Jean Perron of the Montreal Canadiens and Michel Bergeron of the Quebec Nordiques, bitter rivals during the National Hockey League season, will have to learn to work together for five days in February.That&rsquo;s when the Adams Division foes will join Bob Johnson of the Calgary Flames as co-coaches of the NHL all-star team at Rendez-vous &rsquo;87.Perron will be head coach, while Bergeron and Johnson serve as his assistants, when the NHL tackles the Soviet Union in a two-game set, Feb. 11 and 13 at Quebec City.NHL Players&rsquo; Association rep Alan Eagleson says politics did not enter into the selection of both Perron and Bergeron. &ldquo;Picking the coaches was easy,&rdquo; said Eagleson. &ldquo;We wanted to recognize the performances in the Stanley Cup, so that&rsquo;s why Perron (winning coach) and Johnson (finalist) were selected.&ldquo;As for Michel Bergeron, Quebec City is the host&mdash;and if anyone knows that rink and everything about it, it&rsquo;s him.&rdquo;League president John Ziegler scoffed at suggestions of a house divided. &ldquo;I would be astounded if the Quebec City fans were not to forget the Montreal-Quebec rivalry while Rendez-vous is on. I think the fans are going to be behind the NHL team&mdash;don&rsquo;t you? I certainly don&rsquo;t think they&rsquo;ll be rooting for the Russians.&rdquo;An eight-man managerial staff was also announced. It includes: Bob Pulford of the Chicago Blackhawks; Scott Bowman of the Buffalo Sabres; Serge Savard of Montreal, Cliff Fletcher of Calgary, Tommy Ivan of Chicago, Keith Allen of Philadelphia, Bill Torrey of the New York Islanders, and Glen Sather of Edmonton.<h2>MURPHY BLASTED</h2>The two most ballyhooed off-season acquisitions for the Detroit Red Wings appear to be getting along like fire and gunpowder. Coach Jacques Demers, wooed away from the St. Louis Blues, is dissatisfied with No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Murphy.Murphy was sent to the Wings&rsquo; AHL farm club in Adirondack after failing to impress in the NHL. Now, Demers is unhappy with the forward&rsquo;s deportment in the minor ranks.Consider these comments by Demers, reported in the Nov. 12 issue of the Detroit Free Press: &ldquo;He has not worked hard in practice and he has not worked hard in games,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not playing with the intensity and desire we expect from him. The reason we sent him down was for him to improve on certain parts of his game. And it&rsquo;s important that he take it seriously.<h2>HOCKEY NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02967/5308297-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="570" height="955"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Murphy, above, hasn&rsquo;t pleased Wing coach Jacques Demers with his work habits.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Joe Murphy has given us a few more problems than we have given him, I think. We gave him a good, solid contract, we were careful in not boosting him too high and he goes down and shows us that kind of attitude I think, at this point, we have a right to be upset.&ldquo;(Adirondack bench boss) Bill Dineen is a well-respected coach and the guys like him down there. If you can&rsquo;t play for Bill, you can&rsquo;t play for anybody.&rdquo;Murphy had a goal and five assists in his first three games with Adirondack. He then went three games without a point, and appeared to be expending little effort. The day Demers&rsquo; comments appeared in the Free Press, Murphy played a strong game for Adirondack and had two assists. His total for seven games in Glens Falls was one goal and seven assists.<h2>BOSSY TOPS ROCKET</h2>Mike Bossy&rsquo;s 10th goal of the season moved him into sixth place on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time goal-scoring list, one ahead of Montreal&rsquo;s legendary Maurice (The Rocket) Richard. Bossy&rsquo;s 545th career marker was the only New York Islander goal in a 3-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.The right winger put his own rebound past rookie netminder Eldon (Pokey) Reddick to tie the game 1-1 at 12:13 of the third period. Bossy will likely finish the season as the No. 5 career triggerman, needing only 11 more to tie ex-Bruin Johnny Bucyk with 556. Bobby Hull&rsquo;s fourth-place total of 610 goals looks safely out of reach&mdash;for this season, anyway&hellip;<h2>WHALER COACH CLEARED</h2>Criminal charges against Hartford Whalers&rsquo; coach Jack Evans have been dismissed because of &ldquo;an insufficiency of evidence,&rdquo; by the district attorney&rsquo;s office in Erie County, N.Y. The charges were laid by Randy Smith, sports editor of the Manchester (Conn.) Journal-Inquirer. Smith maintained that Evans struck him after a hockey game last season in Buffalo. &#9632;

f0009-02

Quebec Rivals Part Of Coaching Co-Op

It would not be an overstatement to suggest that Hall of Famer King Clancy, who died recently, was the most likeable hockey character to ever came down the pike.If Clancy&mdash;first a player, then a referee, coach, and most recently, goodwill ambassador&mdash;had an enemy it was not generally known to the civilized world.The King&rsquo;s energy was matched only by his sense of humor and affection for hockey and its people. Clancy was as genuine as a snow crystal and just as unique.As a kid watching Ranger games at the old Madison Square Garden, I first encountered Clancy as an NHL referee. Our last meeting was not long ago at Maple Leaf Gardens. We had become friends over the years and he was, at our last meeting, as bubbly and endearing as ever.The same can be said for King Clancy stories. They are, of course, endless, since Clancy&rsquo;s playing days date back to the 1920s, when the NHL was young.One of my favorite Clancy stories was told to me by Frank Boucher, who grew up with Clancy in Ottawa and later teamed with him on the old Ottawa (NHL) Senators when rinks were bitter cold and players skated for the full 60 minutes.&ldquo;We had four spares,&rdquo; Boucher recalled, &ldquo;me, Clancy, Billy Bell and Leth Graham. We used to freeze sitting on the bench in those old unheated arenas. One night we grew so disenchanted sitting there, shivering, our teeth chattering, and our feet numb, that we asked Tommy Gorman, the club&rsquo;s manager, to let us stay in the dressing room.&ldquo;He said no, he never knew when he might need one of us. Clancy then suggested that Gorman install a system of bells in the dressing room whereby he could signal a player if he needed him&mdash;one ring for Clancy, two for me and so on. This Gorman did. And we sat inside night after night playing a card game called 500. and the bell never rang.&rdquo;Finally, one night there was a clang&mdash;just one loud ring. It meant that coach Pete Green was calling for Clancy on the ice.&ldquo;King didn&rsquo;t appear,&rdquo; Boucher went on. &ldquo;Green signalled again. Still no Clancy. So Green finally rang Leth Graham&rsquo;s signal.&rdquo;When Graham reached the bench, he demanded to know what had happened to Clancy.&ldquo;He couldn&rsquo;t come,&rdquo; Graham said. &ldquo;He took his skates off and has his feet in the furnace!&rdquo;Pound for pound, Clancy could pass for both the funniest and most accomplished little defenseman in NHL history. The King stood about 5-foot-6, and weighed in at anywhere from 126 to 140 pounds, depending on the time of the game or the briskness of the match in which he had just played.But Clancy&rsquo;s small size was never a factor in his decision whether or not to go to battle. He would fight any man, of any size, at any time. And the King is generally believed to have lost more hockey fights than any man who has ever skated in the big leagues, although former Chicago Blackhawk center Stan Mikita has a claim on the record, too.To many observers, Clancy&rsquo;s most famous bout took place in the early 1930s against Montreal Maroon defenseman Harold Starr. At that time. King&rsquo;s Toronto Maple Leafs were the classiest team in the NHL and the Maroons were regarded as one of the toughest sextets in the business.Most players instinctively shied away from the big. burly Starr because of his size, not to mention the fact that he was known to have tried his&rsquo; hand at professional wrestling before joining the Maroons.On this particular night at Maple Leaf Gardens, the Maroons were handing Toronto a healthy pasting and Leaf tempers were becoming more and more edgy. Finally, in the last minute of play, a rather large brawl involving most members of both teams erupted. Normally, these mass hockey fights break into two skirmishes. The instigators fight their separate battles and the other players battle mildly or just hold each other until the main events are over. Somehow, more than a few serious individual fights developed this time and, to everyone&rsquo;s amazement, there was Clancy taking on the huge Harold Starr.The David-and-Goliath-like bout between Clancy and Starr so arrested the attention of the other battlers that they automatically cut short their own fights to see whether the King would come out alive.Some observers had grave doubts about Clancy&rsquo;s ability to survive the clash. Starr embraced the King with octopuslike arms, dropped the little Leaf to the ice, and then pushed him around the rink as if he was playing broomball with Clancy. But that wasn&rsquo;t enough. Next he lifted Clancy over his head as a lumberjack would pick up a rock and hurled King about 40 feet across the rink. And that still wasn&rsquo;t enough.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011379/5308328-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="340" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Fischler</figcaption></div>Starr skated over to his crumpled foe and concluded the bout by sitting on top of Clancy. Bellowing like a bull moose, Clancy demanded that Starr release him, immediately. And, good sport that he was, the Maroon finally rose to his skates and looked down at the King. As a final insult, Starr said, &ldquo;That should just about took care of you tonight, my friend.&rdquo;Surrender never came easy to Clancy. He adjusted his dishevelled jersey, clambered to his feet, and skated directly at his tormentor. King then delivered what many observers believe is the most significant overstatement ever heard in the NHL. &ldquo;Starr, you never saw the day you could lay a hand on me!&rdquo;Another episode in Clancy&rsquo;s perilous career was reminiscent of a Laurel and Hardy act. It occurred after King had retired to become an NHL referee. He was about to start one game when an obnoxious fan in a rinkside seat began berating him far beyond the limits of even a rooter&rsquo;s discretion.Clancy exhibited remarkable restraint until the spectator trespassed into the realm of King&rsquo;s ancestry. That did it! Clancy dashed to the wooden barrier and clambered over it while the frightened little fan fled up the corridor. Instead of leaving well enough alone, Clancy continued, galumphing along the rubber matting in pursuit of the spectator. By this time the fan had reached the end of the corridor and disappeared through the exit.Ten seconds later, Clancy, slowed down by the fact that he was wearing a pair of ice skates, also vanished through the mouth of the exit. A moment later, viewers were greeted with an incredible sight. There, tearing back through the exit at top speed, was our hero, Clancy. Chasing him. with fury in their eyes, were the little fan and two comrades who appeared to weigh well over 250 pounds each.Just when they seemed about to lay their ham-sized hands on King&rsquo;s head, Clancy swerved to the right, hopped over the boards, blew his whistle, and dropped the puck for the opening face-off.Another of the legendary Clancy gags involved his Toronto teammates, Charlie Conacher and Clarence (Hap) Day. The Leafs had moved on to Boston for a game against the Bruins, and Clancy and Day were rooming together. On such trips, the players usually convened for their pregame meal in the afternoon and then retired to their rooms for naps.In those days, Bruin games started at 8:30, so it was customary for Clancy to get up about 6:30, enabling him to get to the rink about an hour before game time. Conacher and Day huddled shortly after the meal and agreed that it was time for another joke on Clancy.When King and Hap retired to their room, Clancy set his alarm and soon fell into a deep sleep. Day remained awake and when persuaded that Clancy was well into slumberland, Hap tiptoed out of the room, met Conacher in the hall, and the two of them took the elevator to the lobby. With the secrecy of an espionage plot, the pair convinced the room clerk to ring Clancy&rsquo;s phone in a few minutes. The hotel employee was advised to inform Clancy that he was working for the Boston Garden, it was game time, and the two teams were on the ice ready for the opening face-off.This accomplsihed, the culprits returned to their floor and huddled outside Clancy&rsquo;s room. They listened as the phone rang and King screamed in horror. A moment later, Clancy ran out the door, dashed downstairs, and sprinted for the nearest taxicab.He found one and advised the astonished driver that he was none other than King Clancy of the Maple Leafs and was late for his hockey game. The driver happened to be a hockey fan and knew very well that the Bruins match wouldn&rsquo;t start for more than two hours. He asked what Clancy&rsquo;s rush was all about, since the time Was only 6 p.m.The truth slowly dawned on King and he ordered the cab stopped. He climbed out and walked back to the hotel, where Day and Conacher awaited him the lobby. There is no official record of what Clancy said to them, but whatever it was, it could not be printed here.Let me just print a few more words of truth. There will never be another like King Clancy Ever. &#9632;

f0010-01

Clancy: The Kino Of Hockev Comedy

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY&mdash;It took the Calgary Flames almost four years of trying to find a place for Dan Quinn. And, finally, they did. Pittsburgh.In a one-for-one trade of unhappy players, the Flames sent Quinn to the Penguins for center Mike Bullard, a former 50-goal scorer.The decision to trade Quinn caught no one by surprise. Perhaps the most surprising development was that Quinn lasted as long as he did with the Flames.Ever since he joined the team as an 18-year-old in December, 1983, Quinn&rsquo;s relationship with coach Bob Johnson steadily deteriorated. Johnson saw Quinn as a specialist. Quinn thought he could play in every situation.&ldquo;I was suffocating here,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t progressing. I&rsquo;m 21 years old and I wasn&rsquo;t progressing.&rdquo;Quinn scored 30 goals for the Flames last season, but 17 came on the power play and three were shorthanded. Essentially, he inherited Kent Nilsson&rsquo;s place in Johnson&rsquo;s doghouse. In a close game, Quinn usually watched the proceedings from the bench. Recently, Johnson wasn&rsquo;t even using Quinn to kill penalties. Carey Wilson took over that job from him.&ldquo;Disappointed? Not at all,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;I love Calgary, I love the players, I love the organization. Whether it&rsquo;s good or bad, I&rsquo;m the type of player&mdash;we can win all we want&mdash;but if I&rsquo;m not contributing. I&rsquo;m not happy. I didn&rsquo;t enjoy coming to the rink. I was becoming frustrated. I wasn&rsquo;t happy with the way I was playing. That&rsquo;s the bottom line. Then you look for excuses.&ldquo;I knew when it got to the third period, hey that was it for me. I found it, tough to motivate myself. It&rsquo;s my fault more than anything. I don&rsquo;t want to turn this into just a job. I want to have fun playing the game of hockey. Right now, it isn&rsquo;t fun. I&rsquo;m not saying it&rsquo;s going to change when I go to Pittsburgh, but when you get a new address, there&rsquo;s always promise.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021056/5308359-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="176" height="137"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2>On a generic team that&rsquo;s succeeded only when it&rsquo;s stressed defense, Quinn was clearly a square peg in a round hole. Johnson&rsquo;s system simply did not accommodate a player of specific abilities.&ldquo;Danny was not a good defensive player,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;You hate to give up a good young player, but we believe we strengthened our club. Joey Mullen helped us. John Tonelli helped us. I think Mike Bullard can help us.&rdquo;&ldquo;Cliff Fletcher has always been a fan of mine, but the coaching staff didn&rsquo;t think I could do the job,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;After the success we had last year, I thought they might try to get someone else for me.&rdquo;By trading Quinn, the Flames opened up a place on the roster for rookie center Brian Bradley. Like Quinn, Bradley is a small center. And the Flames were unwilling to put them both in the lineup at the same time.In the short term, the Flames&rsquo; plans will have to be put on hold. Bradley suffered a hair-line fracture of his right wrist in his season debut, a 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Doctors placed his wrist in a cast and he will miss from a week to 10 days.Bradley joined an ever-lengthening Flames&rsquo; injury list. Of the team&rsquo;s seven injured players, only Mullen and Jamie Macoun were listed as day to day. The others&mdash;Bradley, Doug Risebrough (knee), Lanny McDonald (knee). Perry Berezan (groin), and Neil Sheehy (shoulder)&mdash;are out indefinitely. To replace Bradley, the Flames called up right winger Brett Hull.Defenseman Paul Baxter, who played with Bullard for two seasons in Pittsburgh, describes him as &ldquo;an immensely talented player. He is one of the best one-on-one players I&rsquo;ve ever played with.Bullard didn&rsquo;t have a reputation as an especially hard worker, but the Flames say they were well aware of his history when they made the deal.&ldquo;We made the trade with our eyes open,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s starting with a clean slate. I don&rsquo;t want to hear anything about his reputation. That&rsquo;s our job as a coaching staff; to turn him into a winning player and a contributing member of our team.&rdquo;Fletcher concurred. &ldquo;We investigated his problems and didn&rsquo;t think they were significant enough to dissuade us. He&rsquo;s married now. His wife is pregnant. We investigated all that thoroughly. He&rsquo;s a good friend of Jim Peplinski&rsquo;s. We think that in our environment and on our team, he will be a quality player for us.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Quinn Happy To Leave ‘Suffocating’ Flames

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The turbulent career of Pittsburgh Penguin center Mike Bullard ended 24 hours after it had reached its nadir.Bullard was traded to Calgary for center Dan Quinn just one day after being thrown out of a practice and stripped of his captaincy for what coach Bob Berry deemed to be insufficient exertion.&ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t seem like he wanted to work,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;So he left the ice.&rdquo;&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t leave the ice,&rdquo; Bullard said. &ldquo;He kicked me off the ice. I wasn&rsquo;t skating that hard because I was upset (about his practice linemates). For the first time. I&rsquo;m not at fault.&rdquo;Bullard was replaced as captain by left winger Terry Ruskowski. while the alternate captaincy held by Ruskowski was given to center Mario Lemieux.Bullard said the Penguins were &ldquo;trying to make me a scapegoat,&rdquo; even though the team is enjoying the best start in its 20-year history,Bullard, conversely, spent the entire season in an exasperating slump, scoring just two goals in 14 games before he was traded.It was not Bullard&rsquo;s talent which invited question and criticism, but his tenacity.&ldquo;When things get tough&mdash;I&rsquo;m not going to use the old hackneyed expression&mdash;but when things are not going great, that&rsquo;s the time you have to work a little bit harder,&rdquo; Berry said.&ldquo;When things don&rsquo;t go well, whether it&rsquo;s in hockey or in life, you don&rsquo;t go and take your baseball bat and your glove and your ball and say, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m going home,&rsquo; or &lsquo;get off my property.&rsquo;&ldquo;You buckle down a little harder. It&rsquo;s as simple as that.&rdquo;Ruskowski has been the very embodiment of that credo since he began his professional career with the Houston Aeros of the WHA in 1974.He is, in almost every way, the antithesis of Bullard. Ruskowski has modest abilities&mdash;the 26 goals he scored last year were 10 more than his previous career high&mdash;but also possesses an unyielding refusal to accept failure or defeat.Before joining the Penguins as a free agent in the summer of 1985, Ruskowski served as captain of the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings.&ldquo;Terry&rsquo;s been the captain everywhere he&rsquo;s been,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;And if you ask anyone on the team, as far as leadership qualities are concerned, he&rsquo;s the best guy.&rdquo;Ruskowski&rsquo;s size (5-foot-9, 183 pounds) is marginal and his skill level only slightly more impressive, but Ruskowski has carved out a career which is a monument to overachievement.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011257/5308390-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="178" height="134"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2>He routinely sacrifices his body in pursuit of loose pucks and is not reluctant to trade punches with opponents whose stature and fighting skills dwarf his own.Understandably enough, he has been the Penguins&rsquo; unquestioned, albeit unofficial, leader since they signed him as a free agent from Los Angeles.Ruskowski&rsquo;s promotion signaled the inevitable end of the Pittsburgh chapter of Bullard&rsquo;s career, a perplexing blend of prowess and problems since the Penguins made him a first-round draft choice in 1980.He scored 51 goals in 1983-84, but has accumulated almost as many curfew and rule violations as points in recent seasons.When he was named captain before the 1984-85 season, Penguin officials acknowledged the move was an experiment designed to speed Bullard&rsquo;s maturity, on and off the ice.That he departed under such grim circumstances is ample evidence the experiment will be remembered as an unqualified failure.NOTES&mdash;While Mario Lemieux is the obvious candidate to replace Terry Ruskowski when the latter retires, coach Bob Berry said it would be unfair to burden him with the responsibilities of the captaincy now: &ldquo;Probably, to the untrained eye, Mario would have been the people&rsquo;s choice, but I think Mario&rsquo;s under enough pressure at age 21.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Bullard Buoyed To End Days In Pittsburgh

PERHAPS THE MOST difficult assignment a writer can undertake is trying to place on paper some words that describe accurately such a man as King Clancy.If you try to reproduce the abundant Clancy humor, it doesn&rsquo;t work. Clancy stories were funny only when the King told them in that remarkably zesty, lively way of his. You can type out the words he spoke, but you can&rsquo;t write the Clancy touch.It&rsquo;s the same when you try to describe what Clancy did as vice-president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Or what he did as assistant general manager of the team back in the 1960s. He helped, and was a pal to Harold Ballard and Punch Imlach in those roles. But that doesn&rsquo;t sound like a career.Clancy didn&rsquo;t seem concerned that he didn&rsquo;t have an accurate job description.&ldquo;When people ask me what I did today, I tell them that I sorted and filed what I did yesterday,&rdquo; Clancy said. &ldquo;When they asked what I did yesterday, I tell &rsquo;em I can&rsquo;t remember because I moved on to more important things today.&rdquo;Perhaps the best way to describe Clancy is to say that he was employed to be King Clancy, right up to the day he died at age 83 last week. It was a life so rich and full that grief wasn&rsquo;t long and hard. Sorrow, sure, that this wonderful little man is gone&mdash;but no memory of Francis Michael Clancy can be sad for long. And he wouldn&rsquo;t want it any other way.Clancy was warm, enthusiastic, gregarious, funny, caring, sunny, lively and decent. Think of any positive adjective and he would fit it.He had been around the National Hockey League for 65 years, from the time in 1921 when he joined the Ottawa Senators at the age of 18. That meant he had seen every player and official in NHL history. If you needed to know the quality of a player out of the game&rsquo;s past, Clancy could supply the evaluation, plus a half-dozen anecdotes about him. He did use a little poetic licence on occasion, but it didn&rsquo;t really matter. He was the last of his breed, and there&rsquo;s no one left who had seen the game from its infancy to 21 teams.The King never liked discussing himself as a player. His million or so stories about his career mostly covered his ability as a needier, and all of the pranks he and his teammates pulled on each other. He loved to talk about never winning a fight, or how he challenged tough guys under the protection of big mate Charlie Conacher.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011354/5308421-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="373" height="417"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Orr</figcaption></div>In reality, Clancy was a great player, one of the first rushing defenseman. He played the game at around 140 pounds, which is difficult to imagine in today&rsquo;s era of weightlifthing young giants.Aurel Joliat, the wonderful little forward of the Montreal Canadiens in the &rsquo;20s and &rsquo;30s who played at 120 pounds, confirmed Clancy&rsquo;s greatness. Joliat died earlier this year at 85.&ldquo;Clancy was a very good skater and maybe he wasn&rsquo;t very big, but he was a hard body checker.&rdquo; Joliat said. &ldquo;He was always a damned nuisance, with that never-ending line of Irish bull. He could really get people worked up with that mouth of his. He was a great player.&rdquo;The King was also a fine referee, even though he confessed to not knowing the official rules too well and making up his own legislation as he went along. Players from that time insisted any time a good fight broke out, Clancy would be standing in front of the on-ice spectators to watch it.&ldquo;The 16 years I refereed were great, maybe the most fun I had in hockey,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I always tried to let the players play the game.&rdquo;When he was this paper&rsquo;s first Hall of Fame award recipient last spring, Clancy made a serious speech that made good sense. He suggested that the officials crack down on restraining fouls, and give good players the chance to show what they could do.&ldquo;Let the good guys show their best deke-a-roos,&rdquo; he said later.Clancy gave the old deke-a-roo to life for 83 years. The hole he leaves can never be filled, at least not for another 83 years. &#9632;

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Clancy Gave The Old Deke-A-Roo For 83 Years

<div class="byline">BY JEFF GORDON</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;It seems the St. Louis Blues, who thrive on grinding, defensive hockey, also need a touch of Flocky Hockey now and again.Ron Flockhart, a.k.a Flocky Hockey, has added a valuable offensive dimension to a team that can struggle to score goals.Used as a spot player to spice up the Blues&rsquo; checking lines, Flockhart had 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his first 13 games. With his speed and scoring instincts, he has the knack of getting non-scorers involved offensively.Two examples:&bull;In a 4-4 with the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 9, Flockhart led a two-on-one break with Rick Meagher. He broke in on the right wing, brought Murray Bannerman out of the net with a fake, then gave Meagher the puck and an open net&mdash;and his first goal of the season.&bull;In a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Flockhart made a similar play with Pat Hughes, drawing Ken Wregget out of the net, then handing Hughes his first goal of the season.<h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021129/5308452-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="166" height="129"></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s helped us in an area we had trouble with, scoring,&rdquo; Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s pleased us with that. He&rsquo;s an offensive threat on the ice. He&rsquo;s able to use his speed as an advantage.&rdquo;For Flockhart, earning this role on the Blues was an uphill fight. He came to training camp wondering if he had a future here.&ldquo;I was a little concerned, to be honest,&rdquo; Flockhart said. &ldquo;I thought they might move me. It wouldn&rsquo;t be the first time that happened to me. This was the first year they had a first-round draft pick (Jocelyn Lemieux). They were rebuilding a little bit. I didn&rsquo;t contribute much in the playoffs.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to stay. I came into camp with a good attitude and Jacques had a lot of confidence in me. I liked Jacques Demers very much, he&rsquo;s a good coach. But coming into this camp was a new life for me.&rdquo;When camp opened, Flockhart&rsquo;s left-wing competition included Brian Sutter, Lemieux, Eddy Beers, Gino Cavallini, Doug Wickenheiser, Doug Evans and Philippe Bozon.But Beers needed back surgery, Wickenheiser moved back to center and both Evans and Bozon were shipped to Peoria of the International League.Hughes arrived in the waiver draft and/moved to the right side when the Blues shipped Dave Barr to Hartford for defensemen Tim Bothwell.Flockhart was able to secure a roster spot under pressure though the competition never strained his jovial dressing room demeanor.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t let that stuff get you down,&rdquo; Flockhart said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;tlet that get you down and get yourself in trouble. It won&rsquo;t defeat my game. I go out to work hard and still have fun, too. That&rsquo;s why I started playing hockey in the first place. To take that out of my game, I might as well retire.&rdquo;But will Flockhart, 26, really stick in St. Louis? Perhaps, if the veteran remembers to be a two-way player.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s improved his defense,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;He seems a lot more aware in his end. He&rsquo;s doing a much better job of getting back. We&rsquo;re pleased with that aspect. That&rsquo;s an area we wanted him to improve on.&rdquo;Flockhart has been labeled a one-way player for some time now.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the one thing everybody talks about, my defense,&rdquo; Flockhart said. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve played both ends of the ice. I&rsquo;ve been doing well defensively.&rdquo;More importantly, he&rsquo;s been doing well offensively. With Bernie Federko (one goal in 13 games) and Brian Sutter (one in 10 games) in cool stretches, Flockhart made his mark.BLUENOTES&mdash;Rob Ramage went on the shelf with lingering tendinitis around his left kneecap. Rest, not surgery, was prescribed. Bruce Bell moved to the right side to take his place&hellip;Bernie Federko got another look at left wing. Earlier this season he started there with Cliff Ronning at center. This time he worked with Doug Wickenheiser as his pivot-&hellip;Doug Gilmour, a notoriously slow starter, had 17 points in his first 14 games. &#9632;

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‘Flocky Hockey’ Enjoys Rebirth In St. Louis

<div class="byline">BY HERMAN PEDERGNANA</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011276/5308483-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div>BRATISLAVA&mdash;The Czechoslovakian national team is showing signs there is life after defeat and defections.The defeat, one of disastrous proportions, came last April at the 1986 World Championships in Moscow, where the Czechoslovaks played just well enough to avoid relegation from the &lsquo;A&rsquo; pool. Two defections, the latest in a lengthening line, came in July when Michal Pivonka and Frantisek Musil fled to North America and the National Hockey League.But the signs of life were unmistakable in early November when the Czechoslovaks played host to the Soviet Union in a three-game series.Having to do without such pillars as defenseman Arnold Kadlec (injured early in the first game) and wingers Petr Rosol (concussion) and Igor Liba (ill), the Czechoslovaks lost two of three close decisions against the powerful Soviets, who won 2-1 and 3-2 before losing 3-2.All three were tight-checking games, played at a fast pace, though both teams employed four defensive pairs and four lines in the first two contests.&ldquo;The third game was our biggest test because many people, including the experts, did not believe we are physically strong enough to keep up with the Russians,&rdquo; an elated Czechoslovak coach Jan Starsi said. &ldquo;And in that third game we stuck to the interntational rules and used just 20 players, six of them defensemen.&rdquo;Even Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov conceded that the second game and the series could have gone either way.Despite last spring&rsquo;s debacle in Moscow, Starsi remains as coach. It&rsquo;s the players who have been moved out.Aside from the defections of Pivonka and Musil, Jiri Lala, Peter Slanina and Darius Rusnak were dropped from the national team.Starsi and his assistant, former Czechoslovak captain Frantisek Pospisil, have quickly gone about rebuilding the club.&ldquo;The problem is that 27- or 28-year-olds are too quickly satisfied with themselves and such an attitude cannot bring about success on the international level,&rdquo; Starsi said. &ldquo;Now our average age is between 22 and 23.&rdquo; The infusion of youth has Starsi excited.&ldquo;We have successfully tested a new defense pair of Ludek Cajka and Stanislav Meciar,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They are both 22 and very good.&rdquo;Two teenage wingers, Robert Kron and Jiri Kucera, looked good for the national team. They will rejoin the junior team to play in the World Junior Championships in Czechoslovakia after Christmas.Kucera, a left winger, was among the Czechoslovak&rsquo;s best players against the Soviets.Other rookies in the lineup included defensman Drahomir Kadlec, who filled in for his cousin Arnold, right wingers Obakar Janecky and David Volek as well as two young players with limited national experience, centers Jan Vodila and Rostislav Vlach.It was the line of Dusan Pasek, Janecky and Jiri Sejba which put the lid on the top Soviet unit of defensemen Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexandr Kasatanov and forwards Sergei Makarov, Vladimir Krutov and Viacheslav Bykov. Bykov was filling in for Igor Larionov, the gifted center who, reportedly ill, didn&rsquo;t play in any of the three games.Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is the return of 33-year-old left winger Frantisek Cernik, back on the national squad after a four-year absence.&ldquo;He last played in the World Championships in 1982 and did not really figure in our plans,&rdquo; said Starsi, a University of Bratislava professor. &ldquo;But Igor Liba fell ill, we called up Cemik and he was the biggest surprise of them all. Just imagine how lucky you can be.&rdquo;Cernik. 33, had a brief but unsuccessful stint with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1984-85 season. In 49 games, he had five goals and four assists.Starsi was more than satisfied with his club&rsquo;s effort against the Soviets.&ldquo;The Soviets have an incredible and almost insurmountable advantage,&rdquo; Starsi said, giving a hint of things to come for the National Hockey League all-stars who will meet the Soviets in Rendez-vous &rsquo;87, Feb. 11 and 13 in Quebec City. &ldquo;They had two complete units from their Red Army team and the third from Moscow Dynamo.&ldquo;That means three-quarters of their team is perfectly synchronized. No other team can catch up, there is just not enough time. Our players come from all over the league.&rdquo;Starsi said he&rsquo;s gearing his club to peak at the 1987 World Championships in Austria next April. The Izvestia Cup in Moscow and Calgary Cup are considered important stepping stones.&ldquo;What we are looking for is stability in the season-long effort, but that is the scientific point of view,&rdquo; Starsi said. &ldquo;We had such a (good) season last year&mdash;right up to the World Championships. It took just a bit of bad luck, an accident, to nullify everything. Nobody cared what we did before that.&rdquo;Starsi said he will take 24 players to the Izvestia Cup and 22 to Calgary.&ldquo;We are watching every First Division player closely,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Rusnak and Lala still have a chance to make the team. But they would have to look decidedly better than the eager young players we have on the roster now.&rdquo;Not under consideration is right winger Jiri Dudacek, the former No. I draft choice of the Buffalo Sabres. He is now playing for Kladno in the Second Division.&ldquo;He might be a prospect for the Sabres, but not for us,&rdquo; said Starsi. &ldquo;He lacks the ambition, strength and temperament needed to be successful in international hockey.&rdquo;EURONOTES&mdash;Goaltender Daniel Bouchard, who tore his knee ligaments in the third game he played for Fribourg of the Swiss First Division, left quite an impression during his brief stay. He was replaced by former Detroit Red Wing netminder Corrado Micalef&hellip;West German coach Xavier Unsinn hopes his team&rsquo;s tour of Canada, which started Nov. 21, would cure one ailment. &ldquo;Our players always had too much respect of the Canadians while they were always confident that they could upset the Czechs,&rdquo; Unsinn said&hellip;Some sort of new low was achieved in Soviet hockey when only 390 spectators showed up in Moscow&rsquo;s Sports Palace to witness a First Division game between the league-leading unbeaten Red Army team and lowly Torpedo Gorky&hellip;Former NHL and WHA player Danny Lawson, who, at age 39, made an unsuccessful comeback with the Edmonton Oilers in September, has signed with Munich EHC in the West German Third Division.Herman Pedergnana is the sports editor of Der Landbote in Winterthur, Switz., and will appear regularly in THN&rsquo;s International Report. &#9632;

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BOUNCING BACK

<div class="byline">BY JAN STARK</div>SOLLENTUNA, Swe&mdash;The whispers started in North America and eventually made th way to Sweden.And it is here that they will end.Bengt Gustafsson, contrary to what the hockey rumor mill may suggest, will not be returning to the Washington Capitals this spring to help them in the stretch drive of the National Hockey League regular season and Stanley Cup playoffs.&ldquo;I am aiming to play (for Sweden) in the World Championships in Austria this April,&rdquo; Gustafsson said. &ldquo;By then, if all goes well, there will be no time left to play in the NHL.&rdquo;Gustafsson, of course, left the Caps at the end of last season after seven seasons there, having established himself as a front-line player.He returned home to play not in Sweden&rsquo;s First Division, but for Boforf, a Second-Division club.One of the factors in his decision to leave North America was because his girlfriend was homesick. She now operates a fashion boutique in their hometown of Karlskoda.SWEDENOTES&mdash;After 11 games of the 36-game schedule, Sodertalje topped the Swedish First Division and that&rsquo;s a surprise. The club lost a number of key players in the off-season, including Anders Carlsson, who signed with the New Jersey Devils. National team defenseman Mats Kihlstrom went back to his native club, Brynas, and 35-year-old Hardy Aastrom. a former NHL and WHA goaltender, retired to become coach of Kiruna, a Second Division club.For the first time in many years, Sweden welcomed back more players from North America than it sent. Joining Carlsson in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets was defenseman Fredrik Olausson from Swedish-champion Farjestad. Olausson, often described here as a young Borje Salming, was Finland&rsquo;s top junior player of the year last season and starred in the World Championships in Moscow last April. Coming home to play for Bjorkleven were Peter Sundstrom (New York Rangers) and Peter Andersson (Quebec Nordiques). They just might be the difference for the club in the run for the Swedish championship. Bengt Gustafsson, of course, was the other big name to return.Bjorkleven, with star sniper Tore Okvist&mdash;178 goals in 350 career games&mdash;will likely challenge for top spot this season. New York Ranger first-round draft choice (1985) Ulf Dahlen is also a factor. Dahlen&rsquo;s military service will finish in the spring&hellip;Despite the loss of veteran Kent-Erik Andersson, who retired, and NHL-bound Olausson, defendingchampion Farjestad will also be in the run for the title&hellip;A dark horse is Djurgarden, with former national team coach Leif Boork back at the helm. He coached Djurgarden in 1983, when they last won the Swedish championship. He also coached the national team in the 1984 Canada Cup. He had been coaching in Finland. Boork will rely on former Philadelphia Flyer defenseman Thomas Eriksson, and national team member Hakan Soderjren, a feisty winger with the biggest hockey heart in the country.Jan Stark is the editor of lshockey, a Swedish hockey yearbook, and will be a regular contributor to THN&rsquo;s International Report. &#9632;

How ‘Swede’ It Is For Ex-Cap Gustafsson

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Blackhawks&rsquo; Bob Pulford, who never has been particularly voluble with the press, is now nicknamed &ldquo;Mute Rockne&rdquo; by his media antagonists&hellip;Ex-Ranger Dave Maloney, whose brother Don is still with the Rangers, describes the situation with the Blueshirts as &ldquo;a rat&rsquo;s nest.&rdquo; Maloney cites a &ldquo;lack of leadership&rdquo; as one of the Rangers&rsquo; problems. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no one to stand up and take charge,&rdquo; he says&hellip;The enemy is not the only source of annoyance to Canadiens&rsquo; needier Claude Lemieux; his own teammates go after him as well. Recently, when Lemieux was unaware, one of his teammates taped his stick from top to bottom. &ldquo;It got a little rise out of him,&rdquo; says Ryan Walter.Red Wings&rsquo; defenseman Dave Lewis is bragging that he beat former NHL 50-goal man Mickey Redmond in a shootout at practice recently with Sam St. Laurent in net. Needled about how this was possible. Redmond (now a Detroit broadcaster) says, &ldquo;St. Laurent must owe Lewie something.&rdquo;&hellip;Oilers can&rsquo;t give away Mike Krushelnyski. Ditto the Flames with Reggie Lemelin&hellip;Word from inside Maple Leaf Gardens is that one stipulation John Brophy made before taking the Toronto coaching job was that GM Gerry McNamara had to unload Walt Poddubny&mdash;which he did, to the Rangers&rsquo; delight. Poddubny is off to a great start in the Big ADDle.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011330/5308545-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="348" height="523"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Brophy</figcaption></div>The inside word is that Mario Lemieux would be a Ranger today, had the Gulf & Western biggies not dawdled for months before firing Craig Patrick as GM and then hiring Phil Esposito. At that time, Lemieux&rsquo;s contract future was in a state of suspension. According to the tip, Madison Square Garden Corp, would have paid Lemieux double what he&rsquo;s receiving from the Penguins today. &ldquo;It would have been a seven-figure-a-year deal,&rdquo; one insider tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;Esposito would have been able to open the bank for Lemieux.&rdquo;&hellip;Eldon (Pokey) Reddick was the target of an embarrassing incident when his Jets recently played the Islanders. Long lines extended outside Nassau Coliseum for Billy Joel concert tickets when Reddick walked through a door, heading for the day-of-game skate. A guard grabbed the goalie and said, &ldquo;If you want tickets, you&rsquo;ll have to wait in line, young man.&rdquo;Winnipeg&rsquo;s Ray Neufeld on the new instigator rules: &ldquo;If two guys are going to fight, they are going to fight. The only time the rule really means anything is when one guy is overmatched. As for the high-sticking calls, it&rsquo;s definitely better to let the linesman call it.&ldquo;&hellip;Bruce McNoll. who soon will own 49 percent of the Kings, has a degree in archeology. McNoll tells BLUELINES that crowds will return in droves to the Forum when his club gets on a positive streak. The 36-year old has several other businesses, including Gladden Entertainment, which produces four feature films a year&hellip;Buzz around the Caps is that Bengt Gustaffson will return to Washington in February. A big reason for his reluctance to leave Sweden this year was his wife&rsquo;s refusal to come to North America, according to a Cap source.Pierre Larouche&rsquo;s mom says, &ldquo;If Pierre had my character he&rsquo;d still be with the Canadiens.&rdquo; &hellip;&rsquo;Tis said that Grant Ledyard would like to be a Ranger again&hellip;Blackhawk defenseman Keith Brown takes a verbal beating from the Chicago Stadium crowd virtually every night out. His Chi days may be numbered if a suitable deal can be arranged&hellip;The North Stars&rsquo; Willi Plett, who had been singled out by ex-Blues&rsquo; owner Harry Ornest as one of the NHL&rsquo;s worst goons, says he resents the charge. &ldquo;I hate it when people say I&rsquo;m an enforcer,&rdquo; says Plett. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a big player who likes to play tough. If I bang someone, maybe there will be a little carry-over. Maybe the next line will bane someone, too.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021041/5308538-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="351" height="571"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pierre Larouche</figcaption></div>Red Wings&rsquo; people believe that Blues&rsquo; ex-boss Harry Ornest would do well to forget about the proposed &ldquo;broken contract&rdquo; suit against Jacques Demers, now set for trial Dec. 1. &ldquo;Harry hasn&rsquo;t a leg to stand on,&rdquo; Demers tells BLUELINES. Ironically, Demers is featured in a film the Blues have made about the history of the hockey club&hellip;Ex-North Star Tom McCarthy had a good line about his feelings upon returning to the Met Center as a Bruin. &ldquo;It was like seeing an old girlfriend,&rdquo; says McCarthy. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t quite know how to handle yourself.&rdquo;&hellip;Red Wings&rsquo; amusing assistant coach Colin Campbell was asked to pick his five favorite funnymen. He rated Bob Newhart first and Colin Campbell fifth. &ldquo;Hey,&rdquo; explains Campbell, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a funny guy.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-01

Pulford’s Nickname Now ‘Mute Rockne’

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div>BUFFALO&mdash;As acquisitions go, the arrival of Wilf Paiement in Buffalo can be viewed along the same lines as the timely toss of a life preserver to a drowning man.It may not do anything more than keep you afloat, but when you consider the alternative&hellip;Paiement, plucked off the New York Rangers&rsquo; unprotected list during the annual waiver draft for $2,500, hasn&rsquo;t exactly led the Buffalo Sabres to the top of the Adams Division, but take away his team-leading 11 goals and then try to imagine how far down in the basement the Sabres would be.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been very happy so far,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; coach Craig Ramsay when asked to measure the impact of the big right winger.&ldquo;We were surprised (he was available), but we weren&rsquo;t sure we would get a shot at him. We knew he was a very effective player for Quebec and we thought it was a good move for us when he was traded out of the division (to the Rangers).&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tough, grinding type of player teams always are aware of when he&rsquo;s on the ice and he scores goals too. That&rsquo;s a big plus for us.&rdquo;No question about that.Through the first 15 games of the season the Sabres scored 55 goals and Paiement had 11 of them.And they&rsquo;d come in bunches. Four times, Paiement had scored two goals in one game. He did it when the Sabres struggled to a 5-5 tie in Toronto. He did it when the won their first game of the season in Washington. He did it when the Sabres scored a 3-1 win in New Jersey and followed that up with another pair in a 7-1 win in Boston.Victories in those last two games probably saved general manager Scott Bowman his job.&ldquo;I always wanted to play in Buffalo.&rdquo; said the 31-year-old who started his NHL career in Kansas City.&ldquo;I used to come here (Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium) whenever I could to watch (Gil) Perreault and (Rick) Martin when I was playing junior (at St. Catharines). I was a big fan.&rdquo;Though Phil Esposito is a contemporary of Perreault and Martin, Paiement isn&rsquo;t exactly a fan of the New York Rangers&rsquo; general manager.Esposito left Paiement exposed to the draft, a fact that rankled many of the Big Apple players and much of its media.Paiement had just bought a house in the New York area and was planing to put down some roots there when he was picked up by Buffalo.&ldquo;I figured since they needed scoring power I was going to fit in,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but when they changed management they decided to make changes.&ldquo;At first I thought it was my age or my contract (it&rsquo;s big and he is in his option year), but it couldn&rsquo;t have been my contract because they had three guys they didn&rsquo;t have to pay any more&mdash;(Barry) Beck, Reijo Ruotsalainen and (Mark) Pavelich. Beck was getting $500,000 and the other two $300,000 and I wasn&rsquo;t close to that. But I&rsquo;m in my option year and they didn&rsquo;t have plans for me.&rdquo;<h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03729/5308576-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="175" height="130"></div>Esposito, whose team is definitely lacking a power offense, doesn&rsquo;t say too much about the Paiement move but he does give a hint of his thinking when he says: &ldquo;I probably did a couple of things too quickly.&rdquo;Pressed to clarify, he insists not protecting Paiement does not fall into that catagory. The move was more or less a calculated risk that backfired.&ldquo;No. I talked with a couple of guys and nobody thought Scotty was going to pick him up,&rdquo; said Esposito. &ldquo;With his age and contract (a reported $260,000) I thought nobody would pick him up. I guess Scotty figured he could help them, and he has. I hope Wilf scores 100 goals, I really do. I can&rsquo;t live my life with if, if, if.&rdquo;When he left Paiement exposed, Espo did protect Lucien Deblois, a move that has generated further criticism in that DeBlois is, at best, a spot player for the Rangers.&ldquo;I was told Vancouver would have taken DeBlois,&rdquo; said Esposito.Whatever Espo&rsquo;s reasons, the Sabres are glad Esposito made the decision to put Paiement up for grabs.Whatever Esposito&rsquo;s reasons, the Sabres are glad he made the decision to put Paiement up for grabs. &#9632;

f0014-03

Paiement Large Payment For A $2,500 Investment

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Coach Jacques Demers knew there would be times like this&mdash;games like the pair in New Jersey and Philadelphia when the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; shortcomings were exploited. The Wings&rsquo; excellent start notwithstanding, there are shortcomings and nobody knows that better than Demers.The Wings lost two straight, and three out of four. It wasn&rsquo;t so much that they lost, but how.The Flyers skated to a 7-5 victory. That represented the most goals scored against the Wings in a game this season. The night before in New Jersey, the Devils held on for a 5-3 win.&ldquo;We lost the last two games with a lot of goals against us,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone away from what we&rsquo;ve been trying to accomplish since Sept. 13.&rdquo;Until the road doubleheader, the Wings&rsquo; total of 38 goals against was second only to Philadelphia.&ldquo;Philly seemed to be up two goals before the game even started,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question, when we settled down we started to play better hockey, but we lost it in the first period. They beat us to every loose puck.&ldquo;They outclassed us. Let&rsquo;s not kid ourselves. They had 51 shots on goal. It&rsquo;s no secret why. We&rsquo;re not in the same league as the Flyers. Yet.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious when you see the Flyers against us, we have a lot of work to do. They are awesome. Everybody on that team is a very good hockey player. I can&rsquo;t blame my team. They tried.&rdquo;This is a new era for the Wings, with a new coach, new enthusiasm, new hopes and dreams. Suddenly, a victory at the Spectrum&mdash;something which has eluded the Wings for 15 years&mdash;didn&rsquo;t seem so unrealistic. Demers tried hard to impress that upon the Wings. He said they were going to end the losing streak and the Wings couldn&rsquo;t doubt him&mdash;he&rsquo;s got them believing.The Wings, despite Demers&rsquo; attempts to the contrary, approached the game tentatively.<h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01952/5308607-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="174" height="130"></div>&ldquo;Even though we were confident at the beginning, we still gave them too much respect,&rdquo; said Wings&rsquo; rookie Shawn Burr, who scored his first NHL hat trick. &ldquo;We were back on our heels and let them get going.&rdquo;Burr, 20, has played two games at the Spectrum during his NHL career and he&rsquo;s scored four goals. He scored his first NHL goal there last season.&ldquo;I like the way the Flyers play, bump-and-grind,&rdquo; said the native of Sarnia. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m going to play in this league, I have to play that way.&rdquo;John Ogrodnick scored twice against New Jersey, but a Detroit rally fell shy as the Devils checked the Wings to a standstill in the third period.&ldquo;The identical thing we&rsquo;ve been doing to other teams, the Devils did to us,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;We saw it all over again tonight, except this time it was on the wrong side.&rdquo;In only five of their first 14 games did the Wings give up as many as three goals&mdash;and only once in the previous eight. The Devils scored that many in the first period.WING WIRE&mdash;Jacques Demers said he may keep three goalies for a while, but &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to give Stef some games.&rdquo; Greg Stefan is the Wings&rsquo; No. 1 goalie, with Glen Hanlon and Sam St. Laurent in back-up roles. All three goaltenders have played well, and that&rsquo;s something of a dilemma for Demers. Coaches don&rsquo;t like to keep three goalies and goalies generally don&rsquo;t care for three-man systems. &#9632;

f0019-01

Red Wings Not Perfect, But Demers Pleased

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div>CHICAGO&mdash;It was time to wake up and get going, but the Chicago Blackhawks found they couldn&rsquo;t quite do it.Instead, they were still sleepwalking in the basement of the Norris Division with one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s worst records and goals-against averages.Through their first 17 games, the Hawks had played only four games against teams finishing above them in last season&rsquo;s overall NHL standings. Yet they had a 4-9-4 record, and ranked 18th in the league defensively.Their power play was in an O-for-22 slump, and their penalty killing ranked in the bottom third of the league.&ldquo;Our power play is as dry as the desert,&rdquo; said Hawk general manager and coach Bob Pulford. &ldquo;Offensively, we haven&rsquo;t been getting things done.&ldquo;The way hockey is right now, if you get your power play and penalty killing going, you&rsquo;re going to win a lot of games just on that. There are so many penalties being called. Sometimes we&rsquo;ve had games where the two teams had close to 20 power plays. You can win and lose games right there.&rdquo;The Hawks haven&rsquo;t won many games, even when they seemed to have them won. They were tied 2-2 by the Washington Capitals at Chicago Stadium when Caps&rsquo; defenseman Larry Murphy scored on a wild scramble with three seconds remaining in regulation time.&ldquo;We got screwed,&rdquo; said Pulford, upset that referee Ron Fournier would allow the goal when it appeared Hawk goaltender Bob Sauve had been shoved and the puck had been batted in by Murphy&rsquo;s hand.<h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02708/5308638-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="175" height="135"></div>&ldquo;I feel we are starting to come together to play better,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;A thing like this can really hurt you.&rdquo;But it was a measure of the Hawks&rsquo; luck.They had lost defenseman Doug Wilson with an infected elbow that sent him to the hospital. In the Washington game, they lost defensemen Bob Murray with a game misconduct and Keith Brown with a groin pull.They lost Al Secord&rsquo;s 11-game point streak, though Secord joined right winger Wayne Presley and center Steve Ludzik to give the Hawks their first effective third line this season.And they were scrambling to make up for lost time in the Norris Division. They had won just two of their first nine division games 2-6-1, and both victories were over Minnesota within a span of five days.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not satisfied with what&rsquo;s going on, and nobody else is, either,&rdquo; Secord said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to start improving if we want to start winning in our division.&rdquo;The Hawks were running out of time, wasting a stretch where they played six of nine games at home. Looming ahead of them was a rigorous road trip of six games in 11 days, including a visit to Edmonton and two games at Calgary.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not kidding ourselves,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not anywhere near having this thing beat.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0019-02

Chihawks Just Can’t Shake Slump

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN</div>TORONTO&mdash;&ldquo;This is starting to be a good rivalry,&rdquo; Harold Snepsts suggested during the calm after the storm.It can safely be said that his was a liberal, rather than literal, interpretation of &ldquo;good.&rdquo;Because everyone was on bad behaviour when the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings met in a battle for first place in the Norris Division.Toronto won handily 6-0 on&rsquo;Allan Bester&rsquo;s second straight shutout of the Red Wings in a disgraceful game that lasted three hours.Nine altercations filled the fight card.&ldquo;We had some tough battles with them last year and I think that carries over,&rdquo; said Bester, who was in St. Catharines of the American League when the Leafs and Wings squared off in a bench-clearing brawl last Jan. 13.Leaf coach John Brophy, too, was in St. Catharines but he has learned quickly about the bitterness between Toronto and Detroit.<h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01815/5308669-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="166" height="139"></div>And he has injected something of a personal nature into it, bringing a strong dislike for new Detroit coach Jacques Demers to the Leafs.Rivals in the World Hockey Association and AHL, they are more the worst of friends than best.Brophy is not against fanning the flames of the feud. He took advantage of the lopsided win at Maple Leaf Gardens to taunt Demers, who responded by opening and closing his hands.&ldquo;He was making fun of me,&rdquo; said Demers, the veteran NHL coach in his first year with Detroit. &ldquo;He was having his fun.&rdquo;Brophy, asked what long-distance thoughts he communicated to Demers, said that he was just &ldquo;passing the time of day&rdquo; and inquiring where Demers &ldquo;was going to have a beer after the game.&rdquo;Had they adjourned for an ale, it would surely have signalled a &lsquo;Beet Wars&rsquo; not unlike that between the Montreal Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques.The victory, and subsequent 7-3 win in Chicago the following night, strengthened Toronto&rsquo;s hold on first place, reaffirmed its commitment to defense and produced significant signs of offense.In breaking a three-game losing streak with two decisive triumphs over Norris rivals, the Leafs improved their division record to an impressive 6-2-1.The win over Chicago was their third of the season and ninth straight, including three in the playoffs last year.Defense, based largely on the solid netminding of Bester and Ken Wregget. has been the hallmark of this Leaf team. Unbelievably after 17 games, Toronto had a goals-against average of exactly 3.00&mdash;which is what Brophy set as his objective at season&rsquo;s start.It seemed an unrealistic hope, especially since the Leafs permitted an average of nearly five goals per game last year. But nearly a quarter of the way through the 1986-87 season, only the Philadelphia Flyers had a better team GAA.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;He (Brophy) was making fun of me.&rsquo; &mdash;Demers</blockquote>Facing the Flyers twice and New York Islanders in their next three games would be formidable tests of Toronto&rsquo;s defensive resolve.Bester, who has picked up Toronto&rsquo;s only three shutouts in the last two-plus seasons despite limited service, lowered his GAA to 1.97 (in five starts) and earned what is lavish praise from Brophy.&ldquo;You put him in there.&rdquo; said the taciturn coach, &ldquo;and he can play.&rdquo;Earlier this season, Bester blanked the Wings 2-0.The most important development to emerge from the weekend was the Leafs&rsquo; improved offense. After scoring just six goals in three games, they scored 13 in two&mdash;including three by rookie Vincent Damphousse.Damphousse had just one before tallying twice against Detroit and once against Chicago. Two of his goals were set up by Ken Yaremchuk who was called up from Newmarket for the weekend set and earned a longer look with strong play.Gary Leeman. an infrequent contributor offensively, earned his first National Hockey League career hat trick against Chicago.LEAFLETS&mdash;Mirko Frycer. the team&rsquo;s leading scorer last year, sat out the Detroit and Chicago games after earning just one goal and seven assists in his first 14 games&hellip;Borje Salming returned from two games off with an eye injury to earn three points in the weekend set&hellip;Toronto said farewell to beloved Leaf vice-president King Clancy, who died Nov. 10, with a moment&rsquo;s silence before the Detroit game. The bunker, from which team owner Harold Ballard and Clancy always watched the home games, was left unoccupied. The message, &ldquo;King Clancy&hellip;Never To Be Forgotten,&rdquo; hung over the observation post. &#9632;

f0020-01

Feud Flares Again As Leafs Hammer Wings

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>EDMONTON&mdash;Longtime coach Tommy McVie once had this to say about a coach&rsquo;s relationship with his goalies: &ldquo;There are 80 days a year you&rsquo;ve always got one mad at you.&rdquo;That was back in the days when McVie was coaching the Winnipeg Jets and National Hockey League teams carried two netminders. Many employ three today, which means two can be grumpy throughout the winter.The Edmonton Oilers carry but two, although now that manager-coach Glen Sather has taken to breaking his regular rotation, it&rsquo;s unlikely he&rsquo;ll be receiving any dinner invitations from Andy Moog.Despite the fact it was Moog&rsquo;s turn, Sather went with Grant Fuhr for three straight games after the Oilers had lost a vital home-and-home series to the Calgary Flames. Edmonton rebounded to top the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 prior to embarking upon a four-game Eastern swing. They split the trip with Fuhr working three of the games.The move initially paid a substantial dividend. Fuhr was outstanding in a first-star role as the Oilers trumped the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime.Sather stuck with Fuhr two nights later in Boston where the Oilers squandered a 3-1 third-period lead and lost 4-3 in overtime on ex-teammate Kenny Linseman&rsquo;s first goal of the year.&ldquo;A little rink like that made for a good situation for Grant to play in,&rdquo; said Sather, referring to Fuhr&rsquo;s puck-handling ability. &ldquo;He was playing pretty sharp at this time with great concentration.&rdquo;Fuhr&rsquo;s record was 7-5 after the Oilers rebounded from a 5-1 deficit to win 8-6 in New York against the Rangers, as his goals-against average remained a respectable 3.05. Moog, on the other hand, was 4-3-1 with an average that had climbed to 4.39, realistically making it difficult to argue with Fuhr drawing the bulk of the workload.The 26-year-old Moog said the goalies are generally left in the dark as far as being informed of their assignments beforehand.&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t tell me diddly,&rdquo; he shrugged. &ldquo;I just play&hellip;or don&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Asked how he feels about not playing, Moog replied tersely: &ldquo;Not good&hellip;It&rsquo;s his (Sather&rsquo;s) decision obviously.&rdquo;What does he do in the meantime?&ldquo;I ride the (stationary) bike, practice and try to keep a sense of humor,&rdquo; frowned the Penticton, B.C. native. &ldquo;And you wait for your turn.&rdquo;Moog&rsquo;s turn came in the third game of the trip in Hartford, against the Whalers against whom he had never previously lost (5-0-1, 3.37). But the Oilers were guilty of numerous giveaways, falling behind 3-0 in the first period and going on to lose 6-2.Moog made a couple of startling saves, but looked anything but sharp on Paul MacDermid&rsquo;s shot that trickled through.In short, he failed to take advantage of his opportunity, although he didn&rsquo;t have much help.The situation is obviously sticky for Moog. He wants Fuhr and the team to succeed, but he also wants to play a part in that success.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just that when you&rsquo;re told you&rsquo;re going to go in a rotation&mdash;and suddenly you&rsquo;re not,&rdquo; said Moog. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of like the play off rotation.&rdquo;Moog&rsquo;s sum-total playoff duty of the last two years has consisted of 80 minutes work&mdash;60 of which were in Game Two against Vancouver last April when Fuhr was mourning the loss of his father.<h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01607/5308700-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="168" height="129"></div>In the meantime, there&rsquo;s some hurting on defense.Randy Gregg has a suspected broken little toe on his right foot, suffered 16 seconds into the game in Boston.&ldquo;The swelling&rsquo;s going down each day,&rdquo; said Gregg, who missed the final two games of the trip although he tried skating in practice. &ldquo;But, I couldn&rsquo;t put much pressure on it.&rdquo;Also hurting, but playing nevertheless, were Lee Fogolin and Kevin Lowe. Fogolin&rsquo;s been wearing a flak jacket to protect his bruised right ribcage, which felt the impact of a Tomas Jonsson slapshot on Long Island.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little sore, but I&rsquo;m okay,&rdquo; shrugged the 31-year-old, who played in his 900th career game to conclude the Eastern swing.X-rays on Lowe&rsquo;s swollen right hand were negative, but there&rsquo;s probably some ligament damage.&ldquo;I may have separated one of those little ligaments,&rdquo; said Lowe, who was hurt Nov. 7 in Calgary. &ldquo;Now that I know what it is, I just have to grin and bear it. Doc (Gregg) had the same thing last year and he said it takes about a month. It&rsquo;s a chronic thing, but one day I&rsquo;ll wake up and it&rsquo;ll be gone.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0021-01

Moog Odd Man Out In Netminder Rotation

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03191/5308745-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02343/5308752-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="169" height="175"></div><h2>Jean Beliveau</h2>For 20 seasons, fans of the Montreal Canadiens thrilled to the grace and style of big Number 4, &ldquo;Les Gros Bill&rdquo;&mdash;Jean Beliveau.Beliveau knew many great years, but none greater than 1955-56. The slick centerman from Trois-Rivieres topped the league in goals (47) and points (88), en route to his selection as winner of the Hart Trophy for most valuable player in the NHL. He was also named to the allstar team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04141/5308738-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="446" height="687"></div>Beliveau&rsquo;s accomplishments continued in the playoffs. He scored an incredible 12 goals and seven assists in 10 games, leading the Canadiens to the first of five consecutive Stanley Cups, a record that has never been broken.He was a clear choice as 1955-56 winner of THE HOCKEY NEWS NHL Player of the Year award, a feat he would repeat for his fine performance in 1967-68. That season, Beliveau&rsquo;s seventh of 10 as Montreal captain, ended in another Stanley Cup victory, one of 10 he would enjoy as a member of the bleu, blanc et rouge.Beliveau was named to the Hall of Fame in 1972, following a career which saw him score 507 goals and 712 assists in 1,125 games, as well as 79 goalsand 97 assists in 162 playoff contests.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05118/5308731-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="110" height="111"></div>TransamencaLife CompaniesTransamerica Life Insurance Company of CanadaTransamerica Occidental Life Insurance Compay &#9632;</div>

f0021-03

The Hockey News NHL Player of the Year AWARD!

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Steve Rooney is in Sherbrooke. So is John Kordic.Tom Kurvers is in limbo.All three players were assigned to the Canadiens&rsquo; American League affiliate Nov. 13 by managing director Serge Savard after seeing limited ice time in Montreal&rsquo;s first 16 games.At first, Rooney balked, but made up his mind to go after a chat with Savard. It is understood that Rooney will be in Sherbrooke for a two-week period. Then a move will be made.Kordic threatened not to report, but the next day was on his way to the AHL and his prospects of returning to the Canadiens this season are marginal at best.Meanwhile, Kurvers stayed in Montreal and waited. He had told friends he would not report to Sherbrooke if assigned and held true to his word.Kurvers walked out of the Forum while Kordic and Rooney dashed upstairs to Savard&rsquo;s second-floor office. Savard already felt that Kurvers would not accept a demotion and the feeling in Montreal is that Savard didn&rsquo;t want to send him down anyway.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very difficult for us when you see a player that played regularly as a rookie and played very well and that was injured last year and this year had only played a little bit,&rdquo; Savard said. &ldquo;I know he can play. I just don&rsquo;t want to carry 25 players and have players in the stands watching the others.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tougher for him. He played regular and played well. In his case it&rsquo;s maybe unfair for him to go down to the minors.&rdquo;Usually when players are sent down and don&rsquo;t report, trouble follows. Trouble in the form of a suspension without pay.Savard, however, made it clear that if the former University of Minnesota-Duluth All-American didn&rsquo;t show up in Sherbrooke, he would make every effort to trade him to another NHL team.&ldquo;I talked to his agent and it was my feeling he would not report,&rdquo; Savard said. &ldquo;I fully understand the situation. It&rsquo;s a different one than the other two. He will not be suspended if he does not report and we will try to trade him.&rdquo;<h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01703/5308783-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="173" height="132"></div>The day after the announcement, Kurvers slipped into the Forum and cleaned out his locker. His former teammates, seeing this, thought a trade had been made and a rumor quickly spread that Kurvers had been dispatched to Los Angeles.The rumor started between two players and once reporters heard it they scrambled around looking for Savard and Kurvers. Neither was available to deny the unfounded speculation.Throughout the following days, there was talk that New Jersey, Chicago. Minnesota and Vancouver were in the bidding. Savard admitted to four clubs being interested but would not say what he was seeking as compensation. One thing was certain, he wasn&rsquo;t going to give Kurvers away.Savard continued to boost Kurvers on a local phone-in radio show. When a caller suggested no great fuss should be made of his departure, Savard replied: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best men on the point on the power-play in the league. He could surprise a lot of people.&rdquo;Savard&rsquo;s coach, Jean Perron, is of a different opinion.Kurvers, meanwhile, remained incommunicado while waiting for something to develop. He was thankful for Savard&rsquo;s support in the matter and knew that he would miss Montreal and particularly former partner Chris Chelios.&ldquo;A lot of guys on the team have close friends, but Chris and I did a lot together while I was here,&rdquo; said Kurvers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s really become a good friend. When I came in here, Chris was the first one to help me adjust to everything.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to thank Serge and all of those in the organization who have supported me during my time here.&rdquo;Rooney, who is married with a young son, was helped by the club as well. They found an apartment for him in Sherbrooke and took care of some other arrangements.One thing has become clear out of this.The decision on these players was made by committee, not by the managing director alone.It is obvious that Savard likes and respects Kurvers and Rooney. Otherwise he would not have gone to some of the trouble he did after the moves were announced.It is baffling that Kurvers could play under the Jacques Lemaire regime when the Canadiens had a better disciplined team, yet Perron won&rsquo;t use him.Rooney came in under Lemaire and performed reasonably in playoff pressure after finishing his college hockey career at Providence College. Yet, his shifts were few and far between in the new regime.Ironically, Kordic played more this season than the other two, but his chances of moving on appear to be a lot slimmer.IN PASSING&mdash;Montreal snapped a two-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over Quebec Nov. 12 in the first part of the eight-part Battle of Quebec. Stephane Richer scored a pair of unassisted goals&hellip;Kjell Dahlin continues to struggle and had been in and out of the lineup recently. &#9632;

f0022-01

Kurvers, Kordic And Rooney Surplus Habs

THE IDEA OF splitting the National Hockey League into two conferences&mdash;one in the United States and the other in Canada&mdash;is far from revolutionary.But when Brian Conacher suggested such a thing in a recent letter to NHL governors, he may have reduced Hamilton&rsquo;s chances of getting an expansion team.Sounds strange? It is.Conacher, who runs the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, wants an NHL team for his building. Since the normal methods weren&rsquo;t producing any results, Conacher decided to push the matter a bit further.He had travelled to an NHL governors meeting; he had repeatedly spoken and written to NHL president John Ziegler and he had lobbied media representatives.Meeting only with rejections and stony stares, and realizing that the NHL currently has no plans to expand, Conacher decided to speed the process along somewhat.Perhaps, he thought, expansion isn&rsquo;t getting much attention because the governors see no good reason to implement it.So Conacher gave them some reasons. He pointed out that last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup finals between two Canadian teams, Montreal and Calgary, was met with massive indifference in most parts of the United States. He also pointed out that a number of American owners reportedly had no great desire to see any more Canadian teams in the league.So he suggested that the league expand to take in Hamilton and then introduce a two-conference system. Under his proposal, there would be annual post-season playdowns that would culminate with the champion of the Canadian conference playing the champion of the American conference for the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;Maybe the Stanley Cup, in real terms, is a North American championship,&rdquo; said Conacher after the story broke. &ldquo;A Canadian team versus an American team would create North American interest.&rdquo;And since Conacher wanted the governors to know of his idea, he did what seems eminently reasonable. He sent them a letter explaining it.Ziegler was not amused. He fired back a scorching letter to Conacher, telling him he was &ldquo;offended by your letter of Oct. 15.&rdquo;Then, after giving Conacher his assurance that in our society, even people from Hamilton are free to express opinions at random, he wrote, &ldquo;for you to advance unverified assertions and to attribute unproven statements to National Hockey League governors for the advancement of a proposal that is contradictory to the spirit of the NHL is counterproductive.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02498/5308814-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="408" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Strachan</figcaption></div>That&rsquo;s legalese for: &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t admit to any friction between American and Canadian owners and until we admit it, you shouldn&rsquo;t say it.&rdquo;Conacher had no idea of the reaction he would generate by his efforts. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not trying to offend John Ziegler or trespass into the machinations of the NHL,&rdquo; he said.All he was trying to do was point out what a number of other people&mdash;including that well-known NHL governor Harold Ballard&mdash;have pointed out. There are a lot of advantages to a two-conference NHL, split geographically.&ldquo;I think these are concepts that have been bandied about but never consolidated,&rdquo; said Conacher.&ldquo;Many of the American owners have said in various publications that they don&rsquo;t really want to see any more Canadian cities in the league. The Americans run the league. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any question about that.&rdquo;Whether Conacher harmed Hamilton&rsquo;s chances of getting an expansion team is hard to say. Certainly, Ziegler&rsquo;s letter was less than friendly but it must be remembered that the governors will decide the issue, not Ziegler.Still, Ziegler does have some influence and when asked if Conacher&rsquo;s letter might affect Hamilton&rsquo;s chances of getting a team, he refused to answer.Conacher, who has never been the kind of person who is easily intimidated, remains philosophical about the whole thing. He asks, &ldquo;What do you have to lose when you&rsquo;re sitting here in a $42.5-million building and people are saying, &lsquo;What are you doing to get the NHL in here?&rsquo;&ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing everything that we can.&rdquo;After all, that&rsquo;s his job, whether he offends Ziegler in the process or not. &ldquo;What I&rsquo;m trying to do is get Hamilton a franchise,&rdquo; Conacher said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t apologize for that.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-02

Conacher’s Expansion Ideas Rub President Wrong Way

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>QUEBEC&mdash;Coach Michel Bergeron and defenseman Pat Price don&rsquo;t see eye-to-eye on the reasons for the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; slow start.Bergeron is laying the blame on his blue-line corps, while the veteran rear-guard has leapt to its defense.&ldquo;When things start going badly, it seems the defensemen are always the first to be blamed,&rdquo; Price said, following verbal blasts by Bergeron. The Nords&rsquo; coach, upset by poor performances against Winnipeg and Boston, went so far as to say that Quebec&rsquo;s 5-1 loss to the Bruins Nov. 8 was its worst game since joining the NHL in 1979.Through all of Bergeron&rsquo;s complaining, it was clear he was blaming his defense for many of the team&rsquo;s problems.So, Price took things into his own hands and explained what he thinks is wrong with the Nordiques.&ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s kind of normal that the ones who look bad when the opposing team scores are the defensemen,&rdquo; Price said. &ldquo;We are the last stand before the other team gets to the our goaltender.&ldquo;But when you really think about it, isn&rsquo;t the ideal defense five players working together to get the puck off the opponent? So why point the finger at specific players to explain a team&rsquo;s lack of success?&rdquo;When Price was told a number of hockey observers thought he was in poor physical condition, the big defensemen was a little startled. He then defended himself with vigor.&ldquo;You can never be satisfied with your performance on the ice at the beginning of a new season. I know I&rsquo;ve had problems in the past few weeks, but they are easy to explain.&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been playing with Randy Moller for three years now, so it was predictable that when Randy got injured, I would have trouble adjusting to a new partner. Gilbert Delorme plays a different kind of game than Randy does,<h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03381/5308845-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="172" height="134"></div>&ldquo;But anyway, I can&rsquo;t understand why there always has to be a scapegoat, when it&rsquo;s the whole team that should be in the doghouse.&rdquo;The Nelson, B.C., native says Quebec&rsquo;s forwards are leaving their defensive zone too quickly and aren&rsquo;t very effective along the boards. To top things off, the defensemen don&rsquo;t seem able to keep the puck in the offensive zone.The Nordiques were far from ready for two important Adams Division games. They were clobbered by the Bruins and then lost 4-3 to Montreal at the Forum Nov. 12.Bergeron&rsquo;s sour mood picked up in between, as the Nords nipped the New York Rangers on two late goals by Anton Stastny.But the Montreal game was the important one, and the Nords couldn&rsquo;t get things going. The 4-3 score was misleading. Quebec was never that close.NOTES&mdash;Rookie Jason Lafreniere scored two goals against the Canadiens, but it&rsquo;s not his finesse around the enemy net that held all the attention in the dressing room. Young Lafreniere refused to talk to reporters, because he felt he had been treated unfairly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve given two interviews this year,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and on both occasions, I&rsquo;ve been badly quoted. That&rsquo;s why I have nothing to say.&rdquo;&hellip;General manager Maurice Filion is in no rush to make a deal. &ldquo;And if I do make a deal,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it will be a blockbuster trade. I won&rsquo;t trade four quarters for a dollar bill. I&rsquo;ve discussed things with a number of my colleagues but there is nothing in the works.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-03

Price Takes Stand For The Blueliners

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02429/5308876-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ITECH president Robin Burns, right, said he&rsquo;ll always treasure the memory of presenting King Clancy with the first and only THN Hall of Fame Award.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01632/5308883-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="146" height="150"></div>As fate would have it, it was his last formal public appearance.And as you would expect, Francis Michael (King) Clancy, who died Nov. 10 of complications arising from gall bladder surgery, did it up right.It was THE HOCKEY NEWS Awards Banquet, June 26 in Toronto. Clancy was there to receive the inaugural THN-1TECH Hall of Fame Award&mdash;an honor established to reward hockey legends who, long after their days as an active player, coach, manager or referee, still continued to give to the game.And it will be, technically speaking, the last THN-ITECH Hall of Fame Award to be presented. In a joint statement made on Nov. 18, THN publisher and general manager Michael A. Lawton of Toronto and ITECH president Robin Burns of Montreal announced that the name of the award would be changed to honor its first and only winner. Hence, the THN-ITECH King Clancy Memorial Award.&ldquo;I think King Clancy epitomized what this award is all about,&rdquo; Lawton said. &ldquo;Therefore, it&rsquo;s only fitting that it bears his name in the years to come.&rdquo;Certainly, no one was more deserving than Clancy, the bubbly little Irishman who was not only a symbol of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the game of hockey itself.Not surprisingly, he was surprised to be honored.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still trying to figure out how they picked me,&rdquo; he told the audience that day. &ldquo;I think they must have gone up to Ottawa, opened the lid on my coffin and here am I today.&rdquo;Burns, a former National Hockey League player, said he&rsquo;ll never forget the day he joined Clancy at the podium to bestow the honor.&ldquo;You know,&rdquo; he said the day after Clancy died, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just sitting here looking at the pictures of him and me together at the banquet.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just happy that I had a chance to pay tribute to the man when he was still with us. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any question that he had to be the first recipient. No one has done so much for so long.&rdquo;While Burns enjoyed Clancy&rsquo;s good-natured cracks and humor at the awards&rsquo; banquet, he said he can&rsquo;t help but think of the serious side of King&rsquo;s speech.&ldquo;There he was,&rdquo; Burns said, &ldquo;83 years old and he&rsquo;s tearing a strip off the powers-that-be in the NHL to get them to clean up their game, get rid of the hooking and holding. He just laid it out all because he knew the hockey world was listening. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, he stole the show that day.&ldquo;What else can you say about the man? He was very special. He was laid in state at in Maple Leaf Gardens. Hockey was his life. For me, presenting the King Clancy Memorial Award in the years to come is going to be a real honor.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"> &#9632;</div>

f0023-02

THN And Itech Institute Award In King’s Honor

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Rollie Melanson, had gone 15 days without a start and was beginning to wonder when he would play again.Bob Janecyk had gone 13 days without a start before reintroducing himself to the net. The layoff didn&rsquo;t seem to affect him as he helped the Los Angeles Kings win two consecutive games for the first time this season.Janecyk turned aside 21 shots in a 4-3 victory over the Hartford Whalers, then made 28 saves less than 48 hours later in a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a winner. He doesn&rsquo;t look pretty, but he gets the job done.&rdquo; coach Pat Quinn said of Janecyk, who was 40-38-12 in little over two seasons as a King.So, at least for now. it appeared Janecyk had won back his No. 1 job.Darren Eliot had started the previous four games and, though he had been particularly sharp in the last three, he hadn&rsquo;t won any of them and figured playing well wasn&rsquo;t good enough.<h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01685/5308914-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="176" height="131"></div>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to win,&rdquo; said Eliot, who was 1-5-1 with a 4.28 average.No one ever said a three-goalie system would work.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m tired of talking about it,&rdquo; Janecyk had said before dusting off his pads. &ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been a major issue. Everybody wants to play, but there are no hard feelings. There&rsquo;s no sense in yelling and hollering. We&rsquo;ll just see how it goes.&rdquo;Then he went out and won two games in a row. The Kings were 4-1 with Janecyk in goal. 1-9-1 without him.Melanson has been through this before. Twice. He competed for time with Billy Smith and Kelly Hrudey with the New York Islanders, then with Don Beaupre and Gilles Meloche with the Minnesota North Stars before becoming a King last December.&ldquo;Being mentally prepared to play is the biggest part for a goalie,&rdquo; Melanson said. &ldquo;&hellip;There are little valleys you can fall into. You can catch your-self pressing. You&rsquo;re not playing much and when you do play, you have a tendency to overreact to certain plays. You have to guard yourself against that. It&rsquo;s frustrating for everybody.&rdquo;Melanson had lost all four of his starts and had a 4.43 average. He figured the Kings had no choice but to go with the hot hand&hellip;if they could find one.&ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re desperate for wins.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If a guy wins some games, you&rsquo;ve got to go with him, even if it&rsquo;s a 6-5 game or something and he&rsquo;s not even a factor.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-01

Janecyk Latest No. 1 Among Trio Of Goalies

<h2>NOV.</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02481/5308945-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="450" height="2632"></div> &#9632;

f0024-02

NHL Games To Come

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01598/5308990-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="576" height="580"></div>Eldon Reddick selected this week&rsquo;s Chrysler-NHL Player of the WeekCHRYSLER IS THE EXCLUSIVE SPONSOR OF THE NHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK, MONTH AND YEAR AWARDS.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02391/5308983-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="169" height="179"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03261/5308976-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="541" height="690"><figcaption class="caption-body">ELDON REDDICK</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Rookie goaltender Eldon (Pokey) Reddick, who posted three consecutive victories and a 2.67 goals-against-average to move the Winnipeg Jets into first place atop the Smythe Division, captured the Chrysler-Dodge Player of the Week Award for the period ending Nov. 16.On behalf of Reddick, Chrysler-Dodge will donate $500 to the Winnipeg Minor Hockey Association, the youth hockey organization of the player&rsquo;s choice. Chrysler-Dodge also sponsors the Player of the Month and the Player of the Year, for which the winner receives the Chrysler Corporation vehicle of his choice.The 22-year-old Reddick started the week with back-to-back road victories over two division rivals. He registered 20 saves and a 6-5 win (Nov. 13) versus the Kings in Los Angeles, followed by a 21-save performance and a 3-2 win (Nov. 14) over the Canucks in Vancouver. The latter moved the Jets into first place in the Smythe Division for the first time in their nine-year NHL history at this point in a season. Preserving that lead, Reddick concluded the week with 26 saves to defeat the New York Islanders 3-1 (Nov. 16) in Winnipeg, raising the team&rsquo;s winning percentage to the third highest in-the League at .639.A native of Halifax, N.S., Reddick signed as a free agent with Winnipeg on Sept. 27,1985. After spending last season with the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL, he has been the Jets&rsquo; top goaltender in 1986-87, compiling an 8-4-0 record, a 3.40 GAA and an .871 save percentage in 12 games. His eight wins currently rank third among all League goaltenders. &#9632;

f0025-01

CHRYSLER NHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

YOU COULD HEAR the whispers and snickers as soon as the announcement was made that Joe Murphy was being assigned to Adirondack Red Wings of the American League.&ldquo;The Red Wings blew it with Murphy,&rdquo; skeptics from Gander, Nfld., to Goodnews Bay, Alaska, said. &ldquo;The kid was the No. 1 pick in the draft and he can&rsquo;t step right in and play for Detroit. The Red Wings goofed up again. They should have taken Jimmy Carson. He&rsquo;s doing great with Los Angeles.&rdquo;Maybe, just maybe, the skeptics are right. Maybe Carson, the second player selected in the 1986 entry draft, will be a star in the National Hockey League. Maybe Murphy will be a disappointment. He has been so far&mdash;-if in attitude only. (See Notebook, page 9.)But one month does not a pro career make. Nor, for that matter, should it kill a career. But we&rsquo;re talking hockey here, and the logic that rules in other sports inexplicably doesn&rsquo;t apply.In the National Hockey League, teenage boys are expected to have the skill, strength and saavy to compete with adult men. As a result, 18-year-old first-round draft picks such as Murphy and Carson, judged to be the best in their classes, must be able to cut it right away or run the risk of being labeled failures.Failures at 18? Sure.That 18- and 19-year-olds can successfully compete makes the NHL unique in North American pro sport. In the other three major-league sports&mdash;baseball, football and basketball&mdash;the level of play is far too high for even the most skilled teenager.With the exception of three basketball players in the past 20 years&mdash;Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby&mdash;high school players must follow the traditional route through college to the NBA. The odd baseball player manages to make it to the majors rather quickly&mdash;remember, Dwight Gooden&rsquo;s arrival at 19 was considered an aberration&mdash;but the other 99 per cent must earn their spurs in the minor leagues. National Football League players never, ever come directly from high schools. Those who don&rsquo;t go to college have to spend time at the semi-pro level.Yet, five first-round picks have made the move directly from junior to professional hockey this year.Something is wrong, though, when young players are expected to be able to move straight to the NHL. If the NHL is such a great league, how can such relatively inexperienced players compete? And why must we rush the best players to the NHL at the risk of ruining them?Some progress was made in this area last summer when the NHL modified its draft rules and limited the selection of 18-year-olds to the first three rounds. By doing that, the 63 most exceptional 18-year-old players will be recognized and allowed to move forward if they are able.<h2>GUEST SHOT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02441/5309052-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="357" height="404"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Kane</figcaption></div>The remainder will stay in the pool and have the opportunity to improve their market value with an outstanding season at 19. Later-developing players will not be penalized.The change also should help NHL scouts and the junior and collegiate teams with drafted players on their rosters. The scouts will have more time to do their work and a better chance to cut down the guesswork involved in making later-round picks. The junior and collegiate teams may benefit from fewer 18-year-olds being drafted and thus having more players intent on making an impression on NHL scouts longer in their amateur careers.Also needed is a change in attitude by the NHL and its fans regarding the minor leagues, the so-called development leagues. All too often, minor-league teams are regarded as places to dump unwanted players. And, as a consequence, the minor-league experience is considered negative rather than positive.The majority of NHL players, including first-round picks, spend some time in the minors at the start of their careers. And many that don&rsquo;t should. Of the 21 players, taken in the first round of the 1984 draft, nine began this year in the American League. Thirteen of the 21 first-rounders from 1983, including Brian Lawton, the No. 1 overall choice, have played in the minors at some point. So have 10 of the first 21 players taken in the 1982 draft, and eight of the 19 players (Europeans Jiri Dudacek and Jan Ingman haven&rsquo;t played here yet) from 1981.Many players who begin their pro careers in the American or International Leagues go on to long and distinguished careers in the NHL. Some, like the late Pelle Lindbergh and Montreal defenseman Larry Robinson, become all-stars. It takes the right environment, patience and willingness to develop what could be a very valuable raw material.No, Joe Murphy isn&rsquo;t a failure. Not yet. Not now. Maybe in five years, but not one month after he started.The Detroit Red Wings did Joe Murphy a favor by sending him to Adirondack. They&rsquo;re giving him a chance to become the player they think he can be. Now, it&rsquo;s up to him to be that player.Mike Kane has been covering the American League for eight years, rive of them for THE HOCKEY NEWS. &#9632;

f0026-02

Minors Aren’t Black Mark On Young Players’ Careers

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Curt Giles and Tony McKegney got an early glimpse of what it&rsquo;s like to ride the runaway rollercoaster of a hockey team known as the New York Rangers.In their first two games as Rangers, the pair of ex-Minnesota North Stars took part in a disciplined, upbeat 2-1 triumph over Philadelphia, then saw a 5-1 lead over Edmonton turn into a disorganized, deflating 8-6 loss.Obtained from Minnesota on Nov. 13, along with a second-round draft choice in 1988&mdash;in exchange for Bob Brooke and a fourth-round pick in &rsquo;88&mdash;Giles and McKegney became part of Phil Esposito&rsquo;s revolving-door rebuilding program.In the deal, the Ranger GM appeared to assert his own priorities over those of defense-minded head coach Ted Sator, who had placed a high value on the rugged Brooke.Quite naturally, Espo and Sator minimized their differences in evaluating Brooke&rsquo;s importance, but there were obvious signs that the GM went his own way on this one.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve improved our team,&rdquo; Esposito said, &ldquo;and that&rsquo;s my job. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of players who are good defensively but I thought we needed some help on the other (offensive) side.&rdquo;Sator stressed that Esposito has &ldquo;kept me advised of all trade talks&rdquo; but he seemed less enthusiastic than his boss about the transaction.Sator used football terminology to describe the departed player: &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re looking at a Bob Brooke, you&rsquo;re looking at an all-purpose back. He was an intricate part of where the Rangers were last year in the playoffs.&rdquo;<h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03360/5309083-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="173" height="132"></div>The Ranger coach declined to make an instant evaluation of Esposito&rsquo;s trade.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s wait to decide whether we should blow the bugles or look for a bridge (to jump off) for at least a few games,&rdquo; Sator advised. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s see how the two new players fit in here.&rdquo;On the surface, the deal seemed one-sided enough in the Rangers&rsquo; favor for McKegney to speculate that there might be more deals to come between Esposito and Nanne, who are longtime buddies.&ldquo;Louie (Nanne) told me he was hesitant to make the deal, but did it because Phil told him he (Espo) owes him one now,&rdquo; McKegney said.The 6-foot-1, 190-pound left winger is playing in his ninth NHL season, and has scored more than 35 goals on two occasions (37 for Buffalo in 1980-81 and 36 for the Sabres in 1982-83). In his second game as a Ranger, McKegney equalled his goaf total at Minnesota this season, by netting a pair.Esposito acknowledged that the Rangers are giving up some youth. Brooke will be 26 in December, while Giles will be 28 later this month and McKegney will be 29 in February. The Ranger GM stressed, however, that the second-round draft choice clinched the deal.&ldquo;I prepared as a player, and it&rsquo;s no different as a manager,&rdquo; the GM insisted. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a game plan in mind and a big part of it is to never get caught short on defense. And, with Ron Greschner coming back, that sure gives us a lot of leeway.&ldquo;But let&rsquo;s hope that Greschner doesn&rsquo;t get hurt again. If he does,&rdquo; Esposito joked, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll kill him.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-03

Espo And Sator Quietly At Odds

<div class="byline">BY DOUG GOULD</div>NEW YORK&mdash;It&rsquo;s rare when judgments can be made the second week in November about a team that was a complete mystery the first week in October.That&rsquo;s the case with the New York Islanders. They were an unknown aggregation on opening night, a myriad of question marks that invited pessimism. Now, just a few weeks later, they&mdash;and the teams they&rsquo;ve played to date&mdash;know the Isles belong among the powers in the National Hockey League.While it seems like just yesterday the Isles were a respected member of that group, it has been a few years since they legitimately belonged. They&rsquo;ve been the epitome of mediocrity since their five-game loss to the Oilers in the 1984 Stanley Cup final round, although they were fifth overall in the league last season and not far from that slot in 1984-85.The Isles appeared to be slowly disintegrating over those two seasons. The veterans were getting older and the draft picks were looking like busts. And the hiatus from the top seemed even longer than two years, given their four Stanley Cups and five straight trips to the final round this decade.They looked a lot like champions when they beat the Red Wings 2-1 with 49 seconds remaining in overtime on Patrick Flatley&rsquo;s goal. That was followed up 24 hours later with their first road victory, a 4-3 decision over the Sabres in Buffalo. The Isles bounced back in that contest from a 3-0 deficit at the midway point.Signs of recovery are showing as much in defeat as in victory. Consider the night they lost a 3-2 overtime decision to the Edmonton Oilers at Nassau Coliseum.If the loss&mdash;on a fluke goal by Glenn Anderson&mdash;had come any time during the previous two seasons, the postgame comments from the Isles would have been along the lines of: &ldquo;We showed we can stay with the best in the NHL.&rdquo; That sentiment isn&rsquo;t good enough for the 1986-87 Islanders.&ldquo;We have to see ourselves as a contender,&rdquo; Denis Potvin said after the loss. &ldquo;At the end of September, no one would have thought we were capable of playing a game like this against the Oilers. But the best thing to come out of this is that we&rsquo;re all disappointed we lost this game. That&rsquo;s an indication that we&rsquo;re not going to settle for this in the future.&rdquo;That is the kind of attitude for which coach Terry Simpson has beer looking.&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t be happy,&rdquo; said Simpson, who has done a remarkable job of inspiring his club. &ldquo;I came to the rink tonight fully expecting to win. And I&rsquo;d be pretty disappointed if anybody in this room was satisfied. I don&rsquo;t think anybody is. We can play better, no question about it. And I&rsquo;m sure we will.&rdquo;&ldquo;We know we belong near the to) of the league and we were anxious to prove it,&rdquo; Ken Morrow said. &ldquo;We die it in losing. We just wanted to do that winning.&rdquo;<h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01591/5309114-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="176" height="135"></div>The loss to the Oilers kept the Isles from closing in on the Patrick Division leaders, the Flyers, and the runner-up Penguins. But the Isles&rsquo; 7-3-1 record in their previous 10 games indicated it was only a matter of time before they moved up. And their lightning-fast return to prominence has not gone unnoticed around the league.&ldquo;This is the first time I&rsquo;ve seen them play, but we got good reports on them out west,&rdquo; Wayne Gretzky said after the Oiler-Islander game. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve developed a pretty good hockey club in a hurry.&rdquo;It would have been more impressive had the Isles tied or beaten the Oilers. But misfortune struck when Edmonton&rsquo;s Kevin Lowe sent a knuckleball 10 feet over the net. It struck the glass and dropped onto Anderson&rsquo;s stick. He tried to jam it inside the right post, but the puck struck goaltender Kelly Hrudey&rsquo;s left pad and flipped into the net, silencing the crowd.ON THE ISLE&mdash;Alan Kerr suffered bruised ribs in the Oilers game and joined Greg Gilbert (broken jaw) as the only sidelined Islanders. Gilbert, who lost 13 pounds while his jaw was wired, was expected back during a three-game road trip with stops in Bloomington, Winnipeg and Quebec City. &#9632;

f0027-01

Isles Are Showing Signs Of Return To Past Glory

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;As the New Jersey Devils filed out of Winnipeg International Airport and walked to the team bus waiting in the blowing drifts of snow and 10-degree temperatures. Karl Friesen was smiling broadly.After a four-year playing career in West Germany and a season in Maine of the American League, Friesen, 28, was home in his native Winnipeg. Not even the city&rsquo;s worst snowstorm in 20 years could dampen his spirits three hours before he started in goal against the Jets.It would indeed be a memorable night for the NHL&rsquo;s oldest rookie, but those memories had more to do with a 14-inch snowfall that paralyzed the city&mdash;with drifts over department store roofs&mdash;than Friesen&rsquo;s performance at Winnipeg Arena. In his second NHL start, he was victimized by seven goals on 29 shots over the first two periods, as the Devils were pelted by the Jets 8-1.&ldquo;It was kind of like a dream at first, coming back to Winnipeg, where I played all my junior hockey,&rdquo; said Friesen, who signed with the Devils as a free agent in 1984. &ldquo;There was even a nice snowstorm to welcome me back. But the dream turned into a nightmare.&rdquo;The entire week was actually an emotional rollercoaster for Friesen, who, with fellow rookie Chris Terreri and sophomore Alain Chevrier. comprises New Jersey&rsquo;s goalie corps.Friesen was called upon to replace Chevrier in goal at the start of the third period on Nov. 6 at the Meadowlands Arena. The Devils trailed Philadelphia 5-1 but Friesen&rsquo;s 12 saves in the third period and his single stop in overtime led the Devils to a 5-5 tie.Frisen&rsquo;s strong performance and Chevrier&rsquo;s fatigue (he was tired and aching after starting seven straight and 11 of the club&rsquo;s first 13 games) led coach Doug Carpenter to break his own policy and start Friesen in his hometown.&ldquo;I usually don&rsquo;t like to do it,&rdquo; explained Carpenter. &ldquo;I like to protect them from that pressure. But he&rsquo;s not a guy that&rsquo;s excited. He&rsquo;s pretty calm, cool and collected and pretty mature.&rdquo;<h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02384/5309145-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="173" height="133"></div>Nervas were not Friesen&rsquo;s problem. Travel might have been. The Devils, forced to, stay the previous night in Minnesota because of the storm, endured 26 hours of travel. That included an hour-long bus ride to Winnipeg Arena from the airport, a trip that usually takes five minutes.Hearty fans&mdash;including Friesen&rsquo;s parents, in-laws and eight other relatives&mdash;slowly raised the attendance from less than 2,000 at game time to about 5.500 (the announced figure of 10.722 included season ticketholders). Jet forward Thomas Steen scored three goals and assisted on two others during Friesen&rsquo;s 40-minute appearance.&ldquo;The weather didn&rsquo;t bother me at all,&rdquo; said Friesen. &ldquo;They just got lucky on a couple of goals, then I let in a few I should have had and it was over. There&rsquo;s certainly room for improvement on my part. I&rsquo;m still learning and adjusting to this league.&rdquo;The Devils are still impressed by his skills and there will be ample time to even up his 0-2-1 record. Unfortunately for Friesen, the Devils do not return to Winnipeg this season.HOT STUFF&mdash;Karl Friesen&rsquo;s first start was a loss in Pittsburgh Oct. 18&hellip;Devils miss Timo Blomqvist, the club&rsquo;s best defenseman before suffering a fractured right foot when he was hit by a shot in practice Nov. 3. Blomqvist required a hard cast, which will delay his return&hellip;Devils finally worked out a cable TV contract (45 dates with SportsChannel) but the delay hurt sponsor sales. Even a playoff berth won&rsquo;t put the team in the black. &ldquo;We won&rsquo;t make money but we&rsquo;ll be very close,&rdquo; said president Bob Butera. &ldquo;If the attendance increases by five per cent this year (it was down an average of 1,162 a game for the first seven home dates) and if we make the playoffs without going deep into them, we&rsquo;ll be very close to breaking even.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0027-02

Friesen Was Freezin’ In His Return Home

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02426/5309176-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="554" height="966"><figcaption class="caption-body">Winger Murray Craven victimized Detroit, his former team, for three goals.</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;When the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; coaching staff sat down and tried to figure out some preseason projections, there were certain question marks.It was understood that players such as Tim Kerr, Brian Propp and Ilkka Sinisalo would knock in their share of goals; and Mark Howe would chip in with his usual numbers.The biggest question marks were the third-year guys&mdash;the guys named Murray Craven, Peter Zezel, Rick Tocchet and Derrick Smith. These were the youngsters of two seasons ago, the guys whose wide-open eyes saw the club reach the Stanley Cup finals.There was some slackening off last season; not a real sophomore jinx, just not a huge leap forward. This would be a telling season.And so far, the tale is good. By the 17th game of the season, all four were ahead of last season&rsquo;s pace, and recently two of the third-year men had big nights.<h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01606/5309183-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="174" height="136"></div>Forward Murray Craven scored the first hat trick of his career, and the Flyers&rsquo; first of the season, during a 7-5 victory over Detroit at the Spectrum. Three nights later, center Peter Zezel knocked in two first-period goals and an assist to lead the Flyers over the Washington Capitals 6-2.&ldquo;These were guys we wanted to get more (goal) production out of,&rdquo; said Flyer coach Mike Keenan. &ldquo;This was an imporant season for them.&rdquo;Craven&rsquo;s hat trick came as the Flyers ran up a 7-2 lead, before coasting to victory. Craven, who had been struggling early, was scratched from the lineup only a few games previously.Making it even better was the fact that Craven scored the hat trick against the Red Wings, the team which traded him away. &ldquo;I guess that makes it sweeter,&rdquo; said Craven, &ldquo;but the big thing is getting some confidence back. I just hope it carries over.&rdquo;It carried over three nights later, when he scored another against the Capitals.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to see Murray get rewarded for his hard work,&rdquo; Keenan said after Craven&rsquo;s hat trick. &ldquo;A lot of times, it looks like Murray isn&rsquo;t working hard, but that is just the nature of his style.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s kind of tall, and he&rsquo;s got such an easy stride, that at times it looks like he&rsquo;s not working very hard, but he is. And it&rsquo;s nice to see it pay off.&rdquo;After 17 games, Craven was the Flyers&rsquo; sixth-leading scorer, with seven goals and six assists for 13 points.Zezel&rsquo;s two goals gave him nine for the year, vaulting him into second place on the team goal-scoring list. He also had six assists.&ldquo;The big difference had been just shooting the puck,&rdquo; Zezel said. &ldquo;The coaches told me they wanted me to shoot the puck more.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve already got 50 shots this season. If you look back, I think it took me almost half a season to get the same number of shots last season.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the big difference. I&rsquo;m more confident and shooting more.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;The Flyers played 11 of their first 17 games at the Spectrum (10-1-0)&hellip;Flyer goalie Chico Resch got his first start of the season in a 2-1 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Resch looked sharp, making 24 saves&hellip;The loss to the Rangers was the second of the season, and only the third regular-season loss to that team since Mike Keenan took over (13-30). However, the Flyers have lost three playoff games to the Rangers in that time&hellip;Goalie Bob Froese has been scratched for five consecutive games, and the hottest rumor had him going to either Chicago for Curt Fraser and a draft pick, or to Los Angeles for Dave Taylor&hellip;Derrick Smith suffered a strained left knee against the Rangers-&hellip;Left winger Ilkka Sinisalo suffered a strained left knee when he was upended by the Rangers&rsquo; Curt Giles, and missed the game against the Caps&hellip;The Flyers were 2-0-0 against the Caps and 4-4-1 against the Patrick Division&hellip;Philadelphia was 95-3-3 in regular-season games which they&rsquo;ve led after two periods since Keenan took over. &#9632;

f0028-02

Flyers Get Production From Third-Year Men

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div>NEWMARKET&mdash;They say new surroundings can help a player have a fresh start.The same is true for a team. Just ask the Saints, the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; top minor-league franchise now in Newmarket, Ont., after four seasons in St. Catharines.&ldquo;The guys like the new surroundings.&rdquo; says coach Paul Gardner, also in a new environment behind the bench. &ldquo;1 think that has made a big difference.&rdquo;Topping the list of improvements is the Saints&rsquo; new home. For four seasons, the team played in dingy Garden City Arena, a dark, ancient relic that was uncomfortable for players and fans.In contrast, the Saints now play their home games in the brightly-lit Newmarket Recreation Complex, which opened last December.&ldquo;Of course, it was only the visiting teams that really didn&rsquo;t like coming into St. Catharines,&rdquo; says Saint goalie Tim Bernhardt. &ldquo;If that was your home rink, you liked it because you knew no one else liked it.&ldquo;But the Newmarket rink is nice. The dressing room facilities in St. Catharines were terrible and now we have a nice facility. It&rsquo;s more of a positive atmosphere, and you look forward to coming to the rink more than that old bam in St. Catharines.&rdquo;A.Saint left winger Daryl Evans say?, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice and bright. St. Camarines&mdash;boy, that place was morbid&rdquo;<h2>AHL SOUTH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02359/5309245-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="172" height="136"></div>The eating capacity for both are similarly low. Newmarket&rsquo;s is 2,642. St. Catharines&rsquo;,-3.095; both are lower than any other AHL rink. Newmarket attendance figures, on the other hand, aren&rsquo;t so bad.Through seven home games, the Saints had averaged 1,643 fans. That&rsquo;s a league low. but it&rsquo;s about 700 more than they drew in St. Catharines for the same time period last season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting twice as many people to our games than we were,&rdquo; says veteran center Wes Jarvis, who played the two previous seasons at St. Catharines.The Saints&rsquo; solid early-season play has a lot to do with the modest box-office success.Newmarket has won seven of its first 14 games, good for third in the South. A lot of the success can be attributed to a carry-over from last season when John Brophy&mdash;now the Leafs&rsquo; coach&mdash;guided the Saints to a respectable second-half finish and a strong showing in the Calder Cup playoffs.The Saints were eventually ousted in the seventh game of the semi-finals by the Hershey Bears.Jarvis has also played a big part in the good start. Despite missing a handful of games with a bad shoulder, the center was tied for the team lead with 12 points (2-10). He has adapted well to the new regulation rink, which is 15 feet longer than the Garden City Arena.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s more room to move,&rdquo; said the playmaking specialist, fifth in league scoring last season.Before Jarvis was hurt, his line with Evans and right winger Miroslav Ihnacak was explosive. In back-to-back games against Baltimore and Hershey, Gardner says, the line had 22 shots in each game.Ihnacak will be out at least a month with a knee injury suffered against the Baltimore Skipjacks on Nov. 7. At the time, Ihnacak was the Saints&rsquo; top scorer with 12 points (5-7).AROUND THE SOUTH&mdash;Third-year Binghamton coach Larry Pleau collected his 100th win when the Whalers beat the Fredericton Express 3-2 in a shootout on Nov. 6&hellip;Whaler right winger Shane Churla pleaded innocent to second-degree reckless endangerment charges in Rochester City Court, the result of his encounter with the fans in the Rochester stands on Oct. 12. A pre-trial conference is set for Dec. 5, the Whalers&rsquo; next trip to Rochester&hellip;Rochester sent right wingers Warren Harper and Andy Ristau, defenseman Jim Burton and goalie Darcy Wakaluk to Flint of the International League. Of the four. Harper&rsquo;s demotion was the most surprising. Over the past three seasons, he has played in all but four games for the Amerks. &ldquo;Supposedly. I wasn&rsquo;t playing with any confidence,&rdquo; says Harper, who had two goals and three assists in 12 games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not bitter with anyone, but being sent down because of a lack of confidence is pretty bogus.&rdquo;&hellip;The AHL board of governors voted in favor of making a change in the shootout system, the league&rsquo;s new tie-breaking format. Home coaches will now have the option of going first, as the teams alternate five penalty shots apiece. In the past, the visiting team went first&hellip; Springfield defenseman Gerald Diduck was suspended for the Indians&rsquo; next two games against New Haven after breaking the jaw of Nighthawk forward Ron Talakoski during a fight on Nov. 1. &#9632;

f0029-02

Saint Players Appreciate New Home

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02436/5309276-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="570" height="921"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hot-scoring Glenn Greenough got off to a great start for the Saginaw Generals.</figcaption></div>SAGINAW&mdash;The long and short of the Saginaw Generals&rsquo; early-season success is more than their goaltenders.Granted, veteran Darren Pang and rookie Jocelyn Perrault have been doing an outstanding job in the nets for coach Dennis Desrosiers, but at the other end of the ice there&rsquo;s a line of rookies building a reputation on offense.As a result, the Generals have spent the early part of the International League season battling the upstart Flint Spirit for the lead in the East Division.The &ldquo;long&rdquo; for Desrosiers has been Perrault, a 20-year-old under contract to the Montreal Canadiens who went 4-0 in his first pro outings for the Generals.&ldquo;He was kind of an unknown quantity coming out of St. Laurent College in Quebec,&rdquo; admits Desrosiers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big kid, about 6-foot-4, 210 pounds and he covers a lot of net.&rdquo;Three of Perrault&rsquo;s victories have been on the road where Saginaw was playing .500 hockey at 4-4 after a last-minute loss at Indianapolis Nov. 12.The short for Desrosiers has been Pang, who played 44 games tor baginaw last season and was signed as a free agent out of Ottawa by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1984.&ldquo;Perrault is quite a contrast to Pang, who goes about 5-foot-5, 150 pounds,&rdquo; Desrosiers says. But aided by some tough defensemen and aggressive checking by their forwards, the Saginaw goaltenders had the lowest goals-against average in the league heading into the fifth week of the season.<blockquote class="pullQuote">The IHL&rsquo;s Saginaw Generals have a Mutt-and-Jeff goaltending combination.</blockquote>Perrault was leading the league with a 2.32 average; Pang had a 2.88 mark.Some of the toughness on defense has been provided by the arrival of Greg Tebbutt. The veteran defenseman was obtained from Milwaukee in the off-season.&ldquo;That deal was intended to bolster one of our weaker areas from last season,&rdquo; Desrosiers says. &ldquo;We anticipated Tebbutt would provide some muscle and experience and would give us scoring punch from the blue line on our power play.&rdquo;<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01597/5309283-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="151" height="134"></div>That deal brought fast results&mdash;the Generals were the league&rsquo;s best defensive team and Tebbutt added some offense in a 6-4 win at Peoria Nov. 11 when he scored a power-play goal en route to a hat trick and five-point night.Perhaps the most pleasant surprise for Desrosiers has been the play of his Kid Line.Of the first 46 goals of the season for the Generals; the Michel Mongeau-Glen Greenough-David Mackey combination had 24 of them. Greenough, a 20-year-old out of Sudbury, was leading the IHL in goals with 11 in his first 11 games.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t expect a guy to do that,&rdquo; Desrosiers says. &ldquo;And I don&rsquo;t expect him to keep up that pace. But he can score goals and I expect that will be a good line all season.&rdquo;Mongeau, a center who played at Laval last season, was the No. 1 scorer in the league after his first 11 games. He had 19 points (eight goals) and was one point ahead of linemate Greenough in the scoring race.Mackey is a tough winger who scored 34 goals for Medicine Hat of the WHL last season.The 1986-87 edition of the Generals is an almost equal blend of experience and youth. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some holdovers,&rdquo; Desrosiers says, checking off Jeff Pyle, Bernie Gallant, Guy Jacob, Bruce Howes, Peter Horachek, Tom St. James and Pang.&ldquo;And we&rsquo;ve got seven pros (under contract to NHL teams), one more than last year,&rdquo; he adds, &ldquo;and we could be getting some more.&rdquo; Desrosiers, in his fourth season with the team, is getting his pro help from Montreal and Chicago.Tebbutt, at 29, and Pyle, 28, are the oldest players on a team that includes five 20-year-olds.NOTES&mdash;Teams in the IHL got down to the 16-skater, two-goaltender limit Nov. 11 and Fort Wayne wasted no time in bolstering its netminding. The Komets claimed Michel Dufour from Muskegon and released Bruce Gillies&hellip;Glenn Greenough and Greg Tebbutt of Saginaw picked up hat tricks, as did Mark Odnokon of Salt Lake City and Bob Lakso of Indianapolis in league action&hellip;Muskegon&rsquo;s 36 start was the worst since the team became the Lumberjacks in 1984. The defending Turner Cup champs were still looking for road win No. 1 after five straight losses. &#9632;

f0030-02

Short And Tall, Gens Stop ’Em All

1. Name the only Montreal Canadien player to have scored six goals in a National Hockey League game.2. Which NHL general manager was the Western League&rsquo;s most valuable player in 1968-69?3. Name the two NHL franchises that have never had a 50-goal or 100-point scorer.4. How many all-star games did Gordie Howe play in?5. Name the three players to have scored five goals in a Stanley Cup playoff game.6. Name the two NHL players who each had four hat-trickslast season.7. Who led the NHL with five shutouts last season?8. What NHLteam drafted former Montreal goalie Ken Dryden in 1964?9. What team set an NHL winless-streak record of 30 games in 1980-81?10. Name the only team not to lose an overtime game during the regular season last year.<h2>ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04202/5309321-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="458" height="86"></div><h2>BONUS QUESTION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03298/5309314-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="532" height="928"><figcaption class="caption-body">BONUS: This former NHLer scored the fastest three goals (21 seconds) in NHLt history.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-04

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE…

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>BURLINGTON, Vt.If the Eastern Colleges Athletic Conference ever starts looking for a cover boy who is the consummate example of its student-athlete image, they need look no further than Burlington.Vermont senior left winger Jeff Capello is the perfect candidate.When the old 17-team ECAC split three years ago, with seven teams forming Hockey East and the rest falling under the ECAC banner, the prime concern of the ECAC was to establish an academic-oriented league, where outstanding athletes could also be outstanding students.Capello fits the mold perfectly.Last season, the Ottawa native finished in a tie for Vermont&rsquo;s scoring lead with freshman Kyle McDonough. But Capello capped off his best season with the Catamounts by being named a first-team Academic All-American. He posted perfect 4.0 grade-point averages in both semesters&mdash;even though he majors in business, one of the toughest curriculums at Vermont.<h2>EASTERN COLLEGES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01544/5309352-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="175" height="127"></div>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s taken advantage of the university,&rdquo; Vermont coach Mike Gilligan says of his senior captain. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s also been involved in a lot of other things since he&rsquo;s been here. He&rsquo;s so far ahead academically that he&rsquo;s going to be involved in a co-op program the second semester this year with General Electric. On the ice, he&rsquo;s become a dominant force.&rdquo;Capello&rsquo;s hockey ability has started to draw notice. He was the fourth pick overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL&rsquo;s supplemental draft (of college free agents) last September.Capello, who has a 3.78 grade-point average during his three years at Vermont. was really playing out of position when he came to Burlington. As a freshman, he played center, the position that won him first-team all-star status in the Tier II Central (Ontario) Junior League.Gilligan found Capello had a tendency to stickhandle too much and overolav the puck, but when he switched to left wing last season, it was a perfect fit.Although the 6-foot Capello only weighed 175 pounds as a freshman, he&rsquo;s put on 20 pounds of muscle in the last three years and has become one of the most rugged wingers in the ECAC.The one thing Capello wants to accomplish during his senior year is prove he can score goals. He broke into Division I as a freshman in grand fashion, scoring an overtime goal to upset St. Lawrence, but since then, he&rsquo;s had to battle for every goal. Last season, he only scored nine times and entered his senior year with 23 goals and 42 assists in 87 games.But he&rsquo;s already shown this is going to be his season. After scoring a goal in the Catamounts&rsquo; season-opening victory over Norwich, Capello exploded for a hat trick against powerful Western Michigan, leading the Cats to an 8-5 victory. Although he was shut out by Broncos&rsquo; goalie Bill Hom the next night, Capello had four goals and two assists after just three games.ECAC NOTES&mdash;RP1 finished a string of three straight non-conference games with a 6-1 win over Union College. Junior transfer Chris Walsh, who had two goals against Union, has been one of the pleasant surprises for coach Mike Addesa&hellip;Army senior Kevin Keenan ran his scoring streak to 18 games with two goals in a 4-2 win over Norwich. The Cadets&rsquo; top line of Keenan, Rob Brenner and Matt Wilson accounted for 11 points in a 6-2 win over St. Anselm&rsquo;s, with Wilson recording a career-high four goals. &#9632;

f0031-01

Cats’ Capello Consummate Student-Athlete

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>BOSTON&mdash;Exciting yes, consistent no.But that&rsquo;s why there will be a lot of fans cruising the streets of Boston this winter, trying to find parking places to get to Boston College games.This year&rsquo;s edition of the Eagles, a classic rebuilding team, promises to be exciting, though anything but consistent.That&rsquo;s because BC, pennant winners of Hockey East in its first two seasons, are skating only two seniors and five juniors this time around, following a spate of graduations that depleted the team at every position.Nevertheless, the coaches of Hockey East picked Boston College to finish second in their pre-season poll, just behind Boston University. Thus far, BC has lived up to that billing, sweeping a pair of games with Northeastern while splitting against Maine and Lowell.<h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02380/5309383-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="171" height="129"></div>The Lowell series, which saw both BC and the Chiefs win 4-3 on the other team&rsquo;s ice, typified what to expect from this year&rsquo;s BC outfit.At Tully Forum, the Chiefs were ahead 3-0 near the midway point of the second period, when a goal by sophomore Shawn Kennedy, little-used last season, ignited BC&rsquo;s comeback bid. Junior Dan Shea, one of the few underclassmen to play regularly durine the past two seasons, then potted a pair of goals en route to the 4-3 win. Shea scored at least once in each of BC&rsquo;s first five games of the season.Three nights later, at Northeastern&rsquo;s Matthews Arena, it was Lowell&rsquo;s turn. Matthews is one of four home sites available to the Eagles this season while their new rink is constructed, making the team both the young and the Rootless.In the rematch, Lowell forged a 3-1 lead but BC tied it up. Chief junior Bill Dohaney poked home an easy winner with 3:33 to play.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re young, and we&rsquo;re going to be inconsistent. It&rsquo;s simple,&rdquo; said BC coach Len Ceglarski. who now has 539 career victories and, with luck, could take over the top spot on the college coaches&rsquo; all-time list this year. The late John Maclnnes of Michigan Tech retired with 555 wins a few years ago.The most ballyhooed players on this team are centers Ken Hodge, a junior, and Craig Janney, a sophomore, along with freshmen defensemen Greg Brown and Brian Leetch.Leetch, the New York Rangers&rsquo; first-round pick in the 1985 entry draft, is the best rookie rearguard in Eastern hockey since BU&rsquo;s Bobby Brown in 1971. Ceglarski knows that Leetch, Brown, a New Jersey second-rounder, and senior defender John McLean will usually turn in good performances. He said the play of his other three defenders&mdash;sophomores Mike Mullowney, Paul Marshall and David Buckley&mdash;is the critical factor.&ldquo;If we get consistent play from our sophomore defensemen, it&rsquo;s going to be a big help,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0031-02

BC Eagles: Young And The Rootless

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03278/5309442-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="730" height="420"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04207/5309435-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="382" height="628"><figcaption class="caption-body">CRAIG JANNEYBost. Colll HOCKEY EAST</figcaption></div>Sophomore center Craig Janney, a 1986 first-round pick of the Boston Bruins, collected seven points as the Boston College Eagles posted wins over Holy Cross, Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05163/5309428-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="387" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROB BRENNERArmy ECAC</figcaption></div>Army registered its first victory as new members of the ECAC, downing Cornell 6-5 with senior right winger Rob Brenner scoring a hat trick to start the Cadets off on the right skate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06131/5309421-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="390" height="597"><figcaption class="caption-body">MITCH MESSIERMich. State CCHA</figcaption></div>The leading Michigan State Spartans continued to roll along with an imposing 11-1 record. They swept Michigan as Minnesota draft choice Mitch Messier scored four times in the two games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07114/5309414-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="389" height="632"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE HILLDenver WCHA</figcaption></div>The Denver Pioneers rolled over Miami 11-7 and 8-3 as junior winger Bruce Hill provided the scoring punch with eight points, including five goals. He scored the winning goal in both games.Bauer FIT FOR PERFORMANCE &#9632;

f0031-03

Bauer’s college perFormer OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02420/5309473-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="558" height="861"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michigan Tech coach Herb Boxer, a former Huskie forward, stresses defense.</figcaption></div>HOUGHTON&mdash;In the uppermost region of Michigan&rsquo;s Upper Peninsula, there&rsquo;s a hockey team slowly making its way up in the college hockey hierarchy.Progress is tough to judge, especially in a program struggling to move higher than the cellar Michigan Tech occupied for the two years since joining the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.But you don&rsquo;t need a microscope to see that there is progress, though no one will run out and declare Michigan Tech to be the next national power.First of all, Michigan Tech is beating some good teams and playing others tough. Among Tech&rsquo;s victims this season are North Dakota, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division I hockey, and Wisconsin, ranked No. 9.Though the Huskies are last in the league in scoring goals, they&rsquo;re hanging in there for two reasons&mdash;goalies Dave Roach and Frank Furlan.<h2>WESTERN COLLEGIATE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01573/5309480-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="174" height="133"></div>Both were outstanding as Tech handed North Dakota its first loss of the season and came within two goals of the Sioux in the second game, when Furlan played brilliantly with 29 stops in a 4-2 loss.Tech coach Herb Boxer, a forward in his playing days at Tech, is building the Huskies through defense. He emphasizes making the plays in the defensive zone first, then making the first pass well and taking it from there, the one-step-at-a-time approach.Admittedly, Michigan Tech has a ways to go. The Huskies haven&rsquo;t been heard from nationally since 1981, when they were third in the national tournament under coach John Maclnnes, who retired a year later and subsequently passed away.Jim Nahrgang, a former Tech player who replaced Maclnnes, lasted just three seasons, his tenure being cut short by the incident in Boston when he pulled his team off the ice to protest the officiating, a move which resulted in the forfeiture of the game.Boxer has brought stability to the program, though not great success.But the work ethic seems to be there to form the foundation of success. Even in the loss to North Dakota, Boxer saw something positive.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed with the loss, but I&rsquo;m satisifed with the team effort,&rdquo; Boxer said. &ldquo;What we want to do here is build a solid defensive system and improve on the offensive game after that.&rdquo;The defensive improvement is more evident than the offensive gains so far. The Huskies are allowing an average of 4.6 goals per game, the norm for the league except for North Dakota, with 3.4, and Minnesota-Duluth, 5.3<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;We don&rsquo;t have to take a backseat to anyone in the country when it comes to goaltending.&rsquo; &mdash;Boxer</blockquote>So Boxer&rsquo;s defensive system is taking form while Roach and Furlan cover up for mistakes.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have to take a backseat to anyone in the country when it comes to goaltending.&rdquo; Boxer said.Sure, Tech is a ways away from the glory years under Maclnnes, when the Huskies won NCAA titles in 1965 and 1968 and finished second in I960, 1974 and 1976.But the Huskies are no longer the doormat of the WCHA and more importantly, they don&rsquo;t believe they are.So there&rsquo;s a good chance that someone else will finish last this year, another sign that Huskie hockey is back on the way up in the U.P.NOTES&mdash;University of Wisconsin sophomore goaltender Dean Anderson was charged with disorderly conduct and battery, following a fight in a Madison, Wise, restaurant. Anderson, 20, of Oshawa, Ont., was ordered released on a signature bond. He was suspended by the team Nov. 10, as a result of an internal investigation by the university. &#9632;

f0032-02

Huskies On The Rise, Technically Speaking

<div class="byline">BY BILL CRAWFORD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03258/5309511-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="555" height="847"><figcaption class="caption-body">Junior Greg Dornbach is one of Miami&rsquo;s key players in the offensive zone.</figcaption></div>OXFORD&mdash;The way this season started, the Miami of Ohio Redskins couldn&rsquo;t be faulted for feeling good about themselves.Perennial doormats, the Skins got off to a great start, splitting at Western Michigan and winning two at home from Michigan. Suddenly Miami was 3-1 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, ranked nationally by at least one poll and on a roll.But the schedulemaker stepped in and slammed the Redskins back to reality. They dropped two games at Michigan State and two tough ones, by a total of three goals, at home to Bowling Green.Then it was on the road to Lake Superior State and two more losses, 5-2 and 9-0.The second game left Miami 3-7 in the CCHA, in a two-way tie with Michigan for sixth spot in the standings and reeling.&ldquo;Things started so well, we really thought this could be a very good year,&rdquo; lamented second-year coach Bill Davidge.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s tough for anybody to win at Michigan State and Bowling Green is very, very tough this year. Even so, we should have won one of those games.&ldquo;We lack the leadership at the top right now that it takes to be a real strong team. It&rsquo;s early yet, though, so it could be we&rsquo;ll bring that out and achieve our goal yet of a .500 season and the playoffs.&rdquo;Miami hasn&rsquo;t been a playoff team in three seasons and most experts pick them for last place again this year.The Redskins aren&rsquo;t without talent. They have already won as many league games as they did all of last season when they finished 3-27-1 and last. With any sort of luck they can still catch a final playoff berth. Any team that can hold down BG, sweep Michigan and split with the defending playoff-champion Broncos, can&rsquo;t be all that bad.&ldquo;We&rsquo;d like to think we&rsquo;re a much-improved team,&rdquo; said Davidge, &ldquo;but we need full effort all the time and we need heart. Last year, we lost a lot of one-goal games (12) and a lot of games got away from us in the third period. But we always worked hard. We didn&rsquo;t get beat because we quit. Miami doesn&rsquo;t get the kind of talent that can carry us with half an effort.&rdquo;The Redskins are led this season by senior Mike Martinec, who had five goals and 12 points through the first 10 games, and juniors Greg Dornbach (39-12) and Mike Om (4-7-11). John Connor is a senior centerman who, while off to a slow start in point production, has the experience to help lead the Skins.<h2>CENTRAL COLLEGIATE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01512/5309518-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="172" height="130"></div>Defensively, Miami has one senior, a junior, a sophomore and three freshmen carrying the bulk of the load and therein lies a problem that only experience in the CCHA can help. Freshmen rearguards Steve McGrinder, Joe Tonello and Greg Island all show promise, but are all prone to freshman mistakes. Mike Macoun is the lone senior on defense.Brent Smith provides some senior leadership in goal, but fresman Steve McKichan has played most of the games, and well. His goals-against is nothing to write home about, but he stopped 51 shots in a 4-3 win over Michigan and played well in most of his outings.CCHATTER&mdash;Lake Superior scored five goals in a span of three minutes and one second during the second period against Miami in the 9-0 second-game win. Mike de Carle scored three of them and had four goals for the game&hellip;Commissioner Bill Beagan spent most of last season simply familiarizing himself with the CCHA and college hockey in general. This year, he&rsquo;s selling the college game all over North America, mostly in the form of TV packages to cable and network outlets. As of week five of the season, more than a million homes in New England, Michigan, the upper Midwest, Arizona and even Florida had access to CCHA games, and Beagan is trying to work a deal with Canada&rsquo;s CTV network to carry games as well&hellip;BG coach Jerry York got his 300th career win against Ohio State&hellip;Wayne Gagne of Western Michigan set a career scoring record for CCHA defensemen when he got two assists during a non-conference series against Vermont. Gagne had 176 career points at that time, breaking the old mark of 172 set by Northern Michigan&rsquo;s Don Waddell in 1980. &#9632;

f0033-03

Tough Schedule Miami’s Undoing

<div class="byline">BY CLAUDE SCILLEY</div>KINGSTON&mdash;They may have stumbled at the start, but the York Yeomen have regained their balance.The Yeomen are defending league champions, but coach Dave Chambers insists they&rsquo;ve had some trouble early in the season. Problems or not, York has managed to march into an early lead in the Ontario Universities Athletic Association.&ldquo;During our exhibition schedule, we kind of stumbled around when we went out west and played a few games,&rdquo; Chambers says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a lot of injuries, too, but we&rsquo;re starting to play better now.&rdquo;The Yeomen weren&rsquo;t successful at the Silverwood Cup tournament in Winnipeg, an October round-robin event that involved university teams from Saskatchewan, Calgary and Manitoba.York ended its preseason on a winning note, however, beating UPEI and Dalhousie&mdash;two of last year&rsquo;s nationally-ranked teams&mdash;at the Lobster Pot tournament in Halifax.The Yeomen started their conference schedule with five wins and a tie in their first six games, though four of those games were against teams that missed last year&rsquo;s playoff cut.The Yeomen are loaded with ex-major junior players such as Brian MacDonald (the early league leader in goals, with 10 in six games), Lou Kiriakou, Brian Gray, Greg Rolston, Rick Morocco and goaltender Scott Mosey, but the team is also getting fine early effort from its lesser lights.When the Yeomen visited Kingston Nov. 7-8, they took no prisoners. They blitzed Queen&rsquo;s and Royal Military College for 20 goals, beating Queen&rsquo;s 10-1 and RMC 10-3 in a span of less than 24 hours.Against Queen&rsquo;s, York successfully killed eight penalties, and was five-for-seven on the power play, as Queen&rsquo;s killed only one two-minute penalty. The following afternoon, the Yeomen scored twice in five power-play chances against RMC.Western Mustangs and Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks were the only other teams that remained undefeated after the season&rsquo;s fourth week. While York swarmed over teams, scoring almost eight goals per game. Western and Laurier were frustrating opponents with defense.In their first four games, the Mustangs allowed seven goals. Tim McCullough surrendered three goals in his two starts while his partner, Chris Jackson, registered a shutout in a Nov. 2 goalless tie Mustangs with Waterloo.Laurier&rsquo;s strong defense comes as no surprise, but two of the players responsible were not expected to lead the way.Laurier coach Wayne Gowing had planned to open the season with John Sheppard, an all-star last year, and Mike Moffat, the former Boston Bruin, in goal. Instead. Chris Lufcombe, who played three of the first four games, and Rob Beatty, who played the other, combined to allow an average of two goals per game.<h2>CANADIAN UNIVERSITY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02359/5309549-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="174" height="132"></div>Sheppard missed the early going with a partially-separated shoulder. Now, with Lufcombe shelved after taking a puck in the throat, Sheppard has returned to action. Moffat, on the other hand, has decided to take a temporary sabbatical from the game. He&rsquo;s concentrating on his studies full-time this year.NOTEBOOK&mdash;A team of OUAA all-stars will play the Canadian national team in a two-game exhibiton series Feb. 2 and 3 at Thompson Arena on the University of Western Ontario campus in London, and at Varsity Arena in Toronto. The collegians will convene for a training camp in Toronto Dec. 19 to 21&hellip; Denis Castonguay of the Laurentian Voyageurs led the league in scoring as the season&rsquo;s first month drew to a close. He had five goals and 15 points in six games&hellip;McMaster, not thought to be much of a threat before the start of the season, dropped its season opener but then won four of six. &#9632;

f0033-02

Yeomen’s Effort Leads To Early Wins

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05166/5309594-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="353" height="537"><figcaption class="caption-body">CARL REPPUBC CWUAA</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04199/5309601-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="179" height="268"></div>University of British Columbia Thunderbirds&rsquo; netminder Carl Repp turned in a sparkling performace, making saves on 68 of the 73 shots directed at him in two UBC victories over Lethbridge.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06140/5309587-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="355" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRANCOIS SILLSMoncton AUAA</figcaption></div>Moncton Blue Eagles remained undefeated after seven games, registering wins over Mt. Allison, UNB and St. Thomas with forward Francois Sills leading the way. Sills had eight points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07126/5309580-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="356" height="533"><figcaption class="caption-body">S. THIVIERGET-Rivieres QUAA</figcaption></div>Right winger Stephane Thivierge scored six times, including one-game winning goal, to lead the Trois-Rivieres Patriotes to wins against McGill and Ottawa. Thivierge had 10 points in four games.Bauer FIT FOR PERFORMANCE &#9632;

f0033-05

Bauer’s university performer of the Week

<h2>CCHA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01586/5309737-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="361" height="194"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDFRI. NOV. 14BOWLING GREEN 5 AT ILL-CHICAGO 3LAKE SUPERIOR 4 AT W. MICHIGAN 5MICH. STATE 7 AT MICHIGAN 6OHIO STATE 1 AT FERRIS STATE 4MIAMI 7 AT DENVER 11SAT. NOV. 15BOWLING GREEN 5 AT ILL-CHICAGO 5LAKE SUPERIOR 5 AT W. MICHIGAN 3MICHIGAN 3 AT MICH. STATE 9OHIO STATE 3 AT FERRIS STATE 2MIAMI 3 AT DENVER 8GAMES TO COMETRI. NOV. 21FERRIS STATE AT BOWLING GREENILL-CHICAGO AT LAKE SUPERIORMIAMI AT OHIO STATEMAINE AT MICHIGAN STATESAT. NOV. 22FERRIS STATE AT BOWLING GREENILL-CHICAGO AT LAKE SUPERIORMICHIGAN AT W. MICHIGANOHIO STATE AT MIAMIMAINE AT MICHIGAN STATESUN. NOV. 23W. MICHIGAN AT MICHIGANWED. NOV. 26MICH. TECH AT MICH. STATEFRI. NOV. 28LAKE SUPERIOR AT MICHIGANMIAMI AT ILL-CHICAGOMICH. STATE AT BOWLINH GREENOHIO STATE AT W. MICHIGANSAT. NOV. 29LAKE SUPERIOR AT MICHIGANOHIO STATE AT W. MICHIGANSUN. NOV. 30BOWLING GREEN AT MICH. STATELEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02456/5309730-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="343" height="206"></div><h2>WCHA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03352/5309723-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="360" height="173"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDFRI. NOV. 14AIR FORCE 1 AT COLORADO COLL. 8MICH. TECH 4 AT BOSTON UNIV. 7MIAMI 7 AT DENVER 11NORTH DAKOTA 4 AT MINNESOTA 1WISCONSIN 1 AT MIN-DULUTH 2SAT. NOV. 15MIAMI 3 AT DENVER 8NORTH DAKOTA 1 AT MINNESOTA 4WISCONSIN 5 AT MIN-DULUTH 2COLORADO COLL. 7 AT AIR FORCE 6MICH. TECH 2 AT BOSTON COLLEGE 9N. MICHIGAN 7 AT BOSTON UNIV. 6SUN. NOV. 16N. MICHIGAN 1 AT BOSTON COLL. 7GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21COLORADO COLL. AT NORTH DAKOTAMINNESOTA AT MICH. TECHN. MICHIGAN AT MIN-DULUTHWISCONSIN AT DENVERSAT. NOV. 22COLORADO COLL. AT NORTH DAKOTAMINNESOTA AT MICH. TECHN. MICHIGAN AT MIN-DULUTHWISCONSIN AT DENVERWED. NOV. 26MICH. TECH AT MICH. STATEFRI. NOV. 28NEW HAMPSHIRE AT NO. DAKOTAYALE AT WISCONSINMICH. TECH AT COLORADO COLLEGESAT. NOV. 29MICH. TECH. AT COLORADO COLLEGEMINNESOTA AT BOSTON COLLEGESUN. NOV. 30NEW HAMPSHIRE AT WISCONSINYALE AT NORTH DAKOTALEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04255/5309716-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="369" height="196"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05198/5309709-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="369" height="153"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDMON. NOV. 10HOLY CROSS 1 AT BOSTON COLL. 3WED. NOV. 12LOWELL 6 AT NORTHEASTERN 4FRI. NOV. 14MICH. TECH 4 AT BOSTON UNIV. 4MAINE 6 AT NEW HAMPSHIRE 5SAT. NOV. 15MICH. TECH 2 AT BOSTON COLL. 9N. MICHIGAN 7 AT BOSTON UNIV. 6NORTHEASTERN 4 AT LOWELL 7MAINE 3 AT NEW HAMPSHIRE 2SUN. NOV. 16N. MICHIGAN 1 AT BOSTON COLL. 6GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21BOSTON COLL. AT PROVIDENCEMAINE AT MICH. STATESAT. NOV. 22BOSTON UNIVERSITY AT LOWELLNEW HAMPSHIRE AT NORTHEASTERNMAINE AT MICH. STATETUE. NOV. 25BROWN AT NEW HAMPSHIREBOSTON UNIV. AT PROVIDENCEFRI. NOV. 28NORTHEASTERN AT MAINENEW HAMPSHIRE AT NO. DAKOTASAT. NOV. 29MINNESOTA AT BOSTON COLLEGEPROVIDENCE AT BOST. UNIVNORTHEASTERN AT MAINELEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06171/5309702-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="369" height="188"></div><h2>ECAC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07157/5309695-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="383" height="236"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDFRI. NOV. 14ARMY 6 AT CORNELL 5BROWN 2 AT HARVARD 5CLARKSON 2 AT RPI 6PRINCETON 2 AT COLGATE 6ST. LAWRENCE 5 AT VERMONT 4YALE 1 AT DARTMOUTH 0SAT. NOV. 15ARMY 2 AT COLGATE 4BROWN 8 AT DARTMOUTH 7CLARKSON 6 AT VERMONT 0PRINCETON 4 AT CORNELL 7ST. LAWRENCE 7 AT RPI 2YALE 1 AT HARVARD 4GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21COLGATE AT CLARKSONCORNELL AT ST. LAWRENCEDARTMOUTH AT ARMYHARVARD AT PRINCETONRPI AT BROWNVERMONT AT YALESAT. NOV. 22COLGATE AT ST. LAWRENCECORNELL AT CLARKSONDARTMOUTH AT PRINCETONHARVARD AT ARMYRPI AT YALEVERMONT AT BROWNLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08148/5309688-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="355" height="144"></div><h2>OUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09135/5309681-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="366" height="261"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDWED. NOV. 12LAURIER 2 AT WESTERN 5QUEEN&rsquo;S 2 AT RMC 5THU. NOV. 13TORONTO 4 AT YORK 5FRI. NOV. 14LAURIER 6 AT QUEEN&rsquo;S 6SAT. NOV. 15LAURIER 11 AT RMC 6WATERLOO 10 AT LAURENTIAN 5BROCK 5 AT YORK 6McMASTER 5 AT QUEEN&rsquo;S 3TORONTO 8 AT GUELPH 3WESTERN 10 AT RYERSON 3SUN. NOV. 16GUELPH 4 AT RYERSON 3McMASTER 3 AT RMC 4WATERLOO 6 AT LAURENTIAN 3GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21GUELPH AT TORONTOQUEEN&rsquo;S AT WATERLOOYORK AT BROCKSAT. NOV. 22LAURENTIAN AT LAURIERQUEEN&rsquo;S AT WINDSORBROCK AT McMASTERRMC AT WESTERNLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10132/5309674-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="370" height="184"></div><h2>CWUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11123/5309667-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="348" height="169"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTUE. NOV. 11MANITOBA 7 AT LETHBRIDGE 0WED. NOV. 12MANITOBA 6 AT LETHBRIDGE 3FRI. NOV. 14ALBERTA 4 AT CALGARY 6REGINA 3 AT MANITOBA 6SASKATCHEWAN 6 AT BRANDON 4SAT. NOV. 15CALGARY 9 AT ALBERTA 6REGINA 2 AT MANITOBA 6SASKATCHEWAN 7 AT BRANDON 1LETHBRIDGE 3 AT UBC 9SUN. NOV. 16LETHBRIDGE 2 AT UBC 4GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21REGINA AT CALGARYMANITOBA AT ALBERTASASKATCHEWAN AT LETHBRIDGEBRANDON AT UBCSAT. NOV. 22REGINA AT CALGARYMANITOBA AT ALBERTASASKATCHEWAN AT LETHBRIDGEBRANDON AT UBCLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12119/5309660-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="353" height="209"></div><h2>AUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-13110/5309653-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="354" height="238"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTUE. NOV. 11MONCTON 6 AT MT. ALLISON 4WED. NOV. 12ST. MARY&rsquo;S 3 AT DALHOUSIE 6ST. F. XAVIER 8 AT ACADIA 1FRI. NOV. 14UNB 5 AT MONCTON 8SAT. NOV. 15MT. ALLISON 5 AT ST. F. XAVIER 11UPEI 8 AT ST. MARY&rsquo;S 2ACADIA 3 AT DALHOUSIE 6SUN. NOV. 16UPEI 6 AT ST. F. XAVIER 5ST. THOMAS 2 AT MONCTON 5MT. ALLISON 4 AT ST. MARY&rsquo;S 6GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21MT. ALLISON AT ST. THOMASSAT. NOV. 22MT. ALLISON AT UNBMONCTON AT ST. F. XAVIERUPEI AT ST. THOMASDALHOUSIE AT ACADIASUN. NOV. 23MONCTON AT ST. MARY&rsquo;SUPEI AT UNBFRI. NOV. 28UPEI AT MONCTONUNB AT MT. ALLISONACADIA AT ST. MARY&rsquo;SST. F. XAVIER AT DALHOUSIESAT. NOV. 29ST. THOMAS AT DALHOUSIESUN. NOV. 30MONCTON AT UNBST. MARY&rsquo;S AT ST. F. XAVIERST. THOMAS AT ACADIAMT. ALLISON AT UPEILEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-14106/5309646-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="354" height="180"></div><h2>QUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-15102/5309639-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="354" height="113"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDWED. NOV. 12T-RIVIERES 9 AT McGILL 8FRI. NOV. 14OTTAWA 5 AT T-RIVIERES 11SAT. NOV. 15McGILL 2 AT CONCORDIA 5SUN. NOV. 16McGILL 8 AT OTTAWA 2GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21CONCORDIA AT McGILLSAT. NOV. 22OTTAWA AT CONCORDIASUN. NOV. 23McGILL AT OTTAWAFRI. NOV. 28McGILL AT T-RIVIERESSUN. NOV. 30T-RIVIERES AT McGILLLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-16100/5309632-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="354" height="224"></div>Bauer FIT FOR PERFORMANCE &reg; &#9632;

f0034-01

Bauer college scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY RANDY RUSSON</div>SUDBURY&mdash;The good news is that the Sudbury Wolves are an offensive hockey club. The bad news is that the Wolves&rsquo; defense is offensive. And, no, that doesn&rsquo;t mean they score a lot of goals.As the Ontario League season approached the one-quarter pole, the Wolves had the fifth-best offense in the 15-team loop. And while their 73 goals in 16 games ranked it third in Emms Division offense, Sudbury found itself in seventh place and fighting to stay out of the cellar.Little wonder. Through 16 games&mdash;12 of which were losses&mdash;the Wolves had surrendered an average of 6.94 goals-against per game, worst in OHL. That, in spite of the fact that the Wolves&rsquo; defense featured five veteran performers, including third-year players Dave Moylan and Brent Daugherty.Goaltending was another soft spot. Heralded 19-year-old Swedish import Anders Hogberg and second-year man Bill White still hadn&rsquo;t cracked the win column. The less-than-dynamic duo was a collective 0-8 with a goals-against average close to 8.00.Which suggests that the Wolves&rsquo; playoff aspirations hinge on the play of rookie goalie Ted Mielczarek and the revamping of the defense corps.Offense aside, the play of Mielczarek, a strapping l0th-round pick out &ldquo;of Chatham, offered hope for the be-leaugered franchise, which last season made the playoffs after a five-year hiatus. The rookie had accounted for all four Sudbury wins and was helping ease Sudbury boss Joe Drago&rsquo;s ongoing hopes of getting overage Sean Evoy back in the Nickel City.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01551/5309782-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="570" height="833"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Drago regrets Sudbury&rsquo;s trading of Sean Evoy, above, and Craiq Duncanson.</figcaption></div>Evoy, now the No. I goalie with the Leyden Division-leading Oshawa Generals, was traded to the Cornwall Royals from Sudbury last season along with star left winger Craig Duncanson. The one-sided deal&mdash;which brought the Wolves three fringe players who are no longer in the OHL&mdash;ultimately cost Wayne Maxner his job as Wolves&rsquo; coach and general manager.<h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02437/5309775-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="175" height="132"></div>Drago still has nightmares.&ldquo;1 feel we&rsquo;re a lot better team that our record.&rdquo; said Drago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got eight veteran forwards who I feel are as good as any other team&rsquo;s eight. But we&rsquo;ve got to do something about that defense.&rdquo;Drago, a Sudbury high school principal who is part-owner, president, governor and director of operations of the Wolves, admitted the play of Moylan&mdash;the team&rsquo;s No. 1 pick in the 1984 draft&mdash;had him concerned.&ldquo;At 19, he should be one of the best in the league,&rdquo; Drago said, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s been struggling. If he could just get it together on the ice and be a leader, our defense would be in a lot better shape.&rdquo;Drago added that Moylan, a fourth-round choice of the Buffalo Sabres in 1985, had a lot going for him and that his sub-par play had him puzzled.&ldquo;You know he can do it all,&rdquo; said Drago. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s big, strong, tough, can skate and fire the puck. He&rsquo;s a great kid and the players look up to him. If he can get it together&hellip;&rdquo;An optimistic individual, Drago is firm in his belief that better days are ahead for the Wolves, an OHL powerhouse in the mid-to-late 1970&rsquo;s.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve drafted some good hockey players the last few years and have a great offensive nucleus,&rdquo; Drago said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of the defense coming together.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03348/5309768-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="562" height="835"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defenseman Dave Moylan has struggled early in the year for the Sudbury Wolves.</figcaption></div>Forwards who rank at or very close to the star category include Max Mid-dendorf, Ken McRae. Mike Hudson. Todd Lalonde and the peppery Mario Chitaroni. Middendorf was taken in the third round of the 1985 NHL draft by the Quebec Nordiques, McRae was the Nords&rsquo; first pick in &rsquo;86 while Hudson is a highly-thought-of Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; prospect. Only a lack of size has prevented the 5-foot-7 (though he&rsquo;s now up to 190 pounds) Chitaroni from being drafted. Lalonde is being projected as a second- or third-round pick at the &rsquo;87 National Hockey League draft.Drago is confident the defense will come around under Guy Blanchard. The rookie head coach and general manager spent the past two years as an assistant with the North Bay Centennials under the defensive-minded Bert Templeton.Blanchard, the Wolves&rsquo; 17th coach in their 15-yearOHL history, has come under fire from the media and the Sudbury fans. Drago remains on his side.&ldquo;Guy is young and inexperienced but he&rsquo;s a hard worker who will get better,&rdquo; Drago said.And, of course, there&rsquo;s Mielczarek, who represents hope for the Wolves.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a .500 team with him in there,&rdquo; said Drago. &ldquo;We might as well hand him the starts and let him run with it. He&rsquo;s our future. And as a team we&rsquo;re going to be alright.&rdquo;AROUND THE OHL&mdash;Toronto Marlboros have a new coach. He&rsquo;s Brian Hough, 48, the father of former Kitchener Ranger left winger Mike Hough, now with Fredericton of the American League. The senior Hough replaces Paul Dennis, who resigned to spend more time with his family&hellip;The Belleville Bulls have made a move to shore up their goaltending, acquiring 19-year-old Dan Gatenby from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in exchange for right winger Brian Hoard. 18. Now in his second OHL season. Hoard has gone from Belleville to Hamilton, back to Belleville and now to the Soo&hellip;Sudbury Wolves have reacquired 19-year-old hometown left winger Dean Guitard from the Cornwall Royals for Bill White, 18. Guitard was. traded by Sudbury to Cornwall last season in the first of two deals made by the clubs. &#9632;

f0035-01

Defense Rests Too Often For Drago’s Liking

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04284/5309827-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="539" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body">GLEN SEABROOKEPeterborough ONTARIO LEAGUE</figcaption></div>Glen Seabrooke is well again after missing most of last season with an injury and the Peterborough Petes are the better for his return.The 6-foot-1,175-pound center, a 1985 draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, was selected OHL Player of the Week after he turned in a six-point game against Belleville to give him 10 points in three games. Seabrooke had 22 points in 13 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05234/5309820-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="538" height="640"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROB BROWNKamloops WESTERN LEAGUE</figcaption></div>Defending league scoring champion Rob Brown still has the magic touch despite the fact he missed eight games while sitting idle in Pittsburgh.Brown, drafted this year by the Penguins, was named WHL Player of the Week after collecting 18 points in three games. Brown had a six-goal game against Spokane and 43 points in 11 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06212/5309813-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="538" height="634"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEAN-MARC RICHARDChicoutimi QUEBEC LEAGUE</figcaption></div>The Chicoutimi Sagueneens have a versatile skater in Jean-Marc Richard.The 20-year-old Richard, who is equally at home on the blue line or forward line, got the nod as QMJHL Player of the Week after he counted six points in two games. He had 23 points in his first 19 games. The talented Richard collected 107 points last season and was named to the first all-star team.At the end of the current season, THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0035-04

MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BEN KUZMA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04236/5309858-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="561" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton choice Ron Shudra is one of Kamloops&rsquo; core of drafted players.</figcaption></div>KAMLOOPS&mdash;In one afternoon, the Kamloops Blazers proved why they are once again the talk of the Western League.It was Remembrance Day, but for the Spokane Chiefs it was a day to forget. The Blazers, sparked by six goals and three assists from center Rob Brown, rolled to a 10-3 Western Division victory.It was the Blazers&rsquo; ninth consecutive victory, improving the defending league champions&rsquo; record to 14-2-2, tops in the nation for major junior teams.One would think the Blazers, who have championed the WHL two of the last three years, have climbed every mountain. What more is there to accomplish?&ldquo;A lot of guys on this team have been to a Memorial Cup but have never won it,&rdquo; said Brown, now in his fourth WHL season. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter what your record was the last few years if you&rsquo;ve never won the Cup.&rdquo;A fourth-round draft choice by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1987 entry draft. Brown signed a four-year NHL contract. With 173 points last year, he became the first 17-year-old to capture the league scoring title in WHL history. Brown started the season with the Penguins. It would be understandable if motivation were lacking, but it&rsquo;s not.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t like to lose,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When we&rsquo;re going and have everything together we&rsquo;re pretty awesome. We&rsquo;re the best team in the division.&rdquo;Brown has been awesome since returning to the WHL. In 11 games, he had 43 points on 18 goals and 25 assists, vaulting him to within a point of top spot in the division scoring race.&ldquo;He is having fun and playing hard,&rdquo; said Kamloops&rsquo; coach Ken Hitchcock. &ldquo;We enjoy challenges. Everybody is kicking hard at us, but our guys don&rsquo;t feel like going through the motions. They have a lot to prove.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t exactly lead the world in No. 1 drafts. We have a lot of guys who have a lot to prove individually.&rdquo;Forwards Ron Shudra, Warren Babe, Doug Pickell and defenseman Greg Hawgood are the only other NHL Blazer drafts. Individual glory is often sacrificed in Kamloops. Yes, there are the stars&mdash;but a popular dressing-room message that &ldquo;the crest on the front is more important than the name on the back&rdquo; rings true.The nine-game winning streak included two decisions over the Portland Winter Hawks, the team many chose to unseat the Blazers this season.&ldquo;In Portland (a 5-4 Blazer victory) that was the hardest we&rsquo;ve been pushed all season,&rdquo; added Hitchcock, whose club failed to win a regular-season game in Portland last year. &ldquo;We went in there and didn&rsquo;t wilt under the pressure they throw at you.&rdquo;Hitchcock also hasn&rsquo;t wilted at the trading table. Although only in his third WHL season, he has pulled off some masterful deals. This season it looks like he&rsquo;s done it again.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03318/5309865-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="174" height="129"></div>The latest timely acquisition is left winger Warren Babe from the Swift Current Broncos. Babe, a first-round pick of the Minnesota North Stars in 1986, was acquired for center Peter Solberlak and rearguard Jason Proulx.Babe has quickly fit in on a line with Robin Bawa and Shudra to add a new dimension to the Blazers&rsquo; attack.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the power left winger we&rsquo;ve needed and he&rsquo;s already won some games for us. He doesn&rsquo;t mind playing in a small rink.&rdquo;Neither does forward Mark Recchi, obtained at the start of the season from the New Westminister Bruins, for forwards Troy Kennedy and Pat Bingham. Recchi responded with 32 points in his first 18 games.&ldquo;The reason we&rsquo;re successful is because there&rsquo;s been a smooth transition in leadership,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone from Dean Evason to Greg Evtushevski to Mark Kachowski to Rob Brown&mdash;four different players with four different qualities, but four hearts in the right place.&rdquo;WHL WEEK&mdash;NHL president John Ziegler has been confirmed as the guest speaker at the WHL all-star banquet Jan. 19 in Regina. The game will be played Jan. 20. &#9632;

f0036-04

Kamloops Blazes An Early Trail In The West

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>ST-JEAN&mdash;Jacques Tremblay had considerable success in his first season coaching St-Jean Castors and he did it without making a single trade.The former French national team coach, depending upon drafted players, guided St-Jean to a respectable 35-33-4 record for a sixth-place finish and the Castors stunned the third-place Verdun Junior Canadiens in the quarter-finals, winning five consecutive games&mdash;four of them in overtime.Tremblay intended to adhere to the same approach this season, but has made three trades in quick succession. The Castors shipped captain and center Mike McCullough, 19, and rugged defenseman Tom Gibbons. 19, to the Hull Olympiques for sixth- and eighth-round draft picks; sent goaltender Francois Gravel to the Shawinigan Cataractes for Buffalo Sabre sixthround pick, defenseman Miguel Baldris; and swapped defenseman Sylvain Mayer, 18, for Verdun defenseman Martin Lauzon. 18.McCullough and Gibbons drew Tremblay&rsquo;s disfavor by breaking curfew the night before a game against Verdun, and Gibbons received a five-game suspension for leaving the penalty box during a game against the Laval Titan.&ldquo;1 liked both guys, and I wanted the team to be as bilingual as possible,&rdquo; Tremblay said. &ldquo;But when you have as many young players as we have, you have to have discipline. I was very disappointed with Mike. He&rsquo;s a good two-way player and a good team man. I wasn&rsquo;t getting along with Tom.&rdquo;McCullough skated on a line with the Castors&rsquo; top scorer, left winger Philippe Bozon. last season, scoring 18 goals and 57 assists. He had five goals and six assists in 14 games this season. Gibbons had seven points and 158 minutes in penalties in 41 games last year.<h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05188/5309896-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="174" height="130"></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting criticized, but I&rsquo;m building for next year,&rdquo; Tremblay said.&ldquo;I had to make a choice between Gravel and Joel Drolet in goal, because both of them wanted to play. I wanted Drolet back as a 20-year-old next year, and we have Stephane Beauregard as a back-up.&ldquo;I also wanted an 18-year-old defenseman who can play my style, a general rather than a quarterback&mdash;because quarterback implies just offense to me.&ldquo;Baldris is astrong, smart Paul Coffey type who hits hard. We are looking to next year, and we&rsquo;ll have 11 19-year-olds who have been here three years.&rdquo;The trades leave St-Jean with only two 19-year-olds, Drolet and defenseman Dominic Lavoie, and 20-year-old left winger Brook Kelly.The Castors lost their leading scorers in Bozon (Peoria) and center Benoit Hogue (Rochester), who had 111 and 106 points, respectively, last year. Also gone are defensive leaders Eric Germain (Flint) and Sylvain Harvey (Fort Wayne).Although St-Jean had six 17-year-old forwards last season, there was a veteran defense consisting of five 19-year-olds and a 20-year-old. The Castors are missing that experience on the blue line, especially with top defenseman Stephane Brochu still rehabilitating his knee after an injury last season.The Castors draft was a good one, with the top six picks and two 16-year-olds skating with the club. Tremblay has made a 17-year-old line out of first-round left winger Steve Cadieux, who had scored 12 goals, third-round center Jan Alston and sixth-round right winger Regis Tremblay (no relation).He did the same with center Robert Ouellet. left winger Stephane Giguere and Serge Richard last season.Second-round defenseman David Bastille. 6-foot-l and 195 pounds, also is working out well.St-Jean was in fourth place in the QMJHL&rsquo;s LeBel Division, three points behind Hull, with a 6-14-1 record.The Castors started with a tough schedule, playing five of their first seven games on the road and opening the season in three league centers. They&rsquo;d played nine of 21 games at home, winning five, tying one and losing two by one goal.But it had been a different story away from home, with only one win on the road.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re disappointed at what&rsquo;s happening on the road, but we have 1.600 more people in our building after nine games and we play four of our next five at home,.&rdquo; Tremblay said. &ldquo;Our goal is to reach .500 by Christmas.&rdquo;QUEBEC CACHE&mdash;The Hull Olympiques have been fined $1,000 and the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs, $500, for a bench-clearing brawl in the first period of a 6-6 overtime tie in Hull Nov. 9. Olympiques&rsquo; coach Pat Burns received a two-game suspension, right winger Sean Wallington, a five-game suspension for being the first player to leave the bench, and defenseman Herbie Hohenberger got one game for intent to injure. A total of 308 minutes in penalties were called in the game. &#9632;

f0036-05

St-Jean Builds For Its Future, With Series Of Player Swaps

<h2>STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01456/5310249-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="998" height="895"></div><h2>RESULTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02330/5310242-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="490" height="922"></div><h2>POINTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03250/5310235-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="472" height="634"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04206/5310228-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="269" height="285"></div><h2>HOME-ROAD RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05180/5310221-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="1002" height="901"></div><h2>DIVISIONAL RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06156/5310214-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="993" height="441"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07134/5310207-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="994" height="419"></div><h2>TEAM POWER PLAY</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-08111/5310200-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="1003" height="706"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTY KILLING</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0996/5310193-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="1002" height="704"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1089/5310186-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="1009" height="553"></div><h2>INDIVIDUAL LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1173/5310179-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="1010" height="744"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1263/5310172-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="1008" height="307"></div><h2>DEFENSEMEN SCORING</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1357/5310165-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" width="1008" height="385"></div><h2>ROOKIE SCORING</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1452/5310158-1-eng-US/f0037-142.jpg" title="f0037-14" width="1009" height="334"></div><h2>ROOKIE LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1547/5310151-1-eng-US/f0037-152.jpg" title="f0037-15" width="1007" height="491"></div><h2>TEAM-BY-TEAM SCORING</h2><h3>BOSTON BRUINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1642/5310144-1-eng-US/f0037-162.jpg" title="f0037-16" width="175" height="134"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1738/5310137-1-eng-US/f0037-172.jpg" title="f0037-17" width="988" height="725"></div><h3>BUFFALO SABRES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1837/5310130-1-eng-US/f0037-182.jpg" title="f0037-18" width="176" height="133"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1933/5310123-1-eng-US/f0037-192.jpg" title="f0037-19" width="991" height="626"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01533/5310116-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="979" height="159"></div><h3>CALGARY FLAMES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02421/5310109-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="173" height="136"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03339/5310102-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="975" height="723"></div><h3>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04260/5310095-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="175" height="135"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05185/5310088-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="974" height="697"></div><h3>DETROIT RED WINGS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06147/5310081-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="174" height="131"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07133/5310074-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="970" height="668"></div><h3>EDMONTON OILERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-08115/5310067-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="175" height="132"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-09104/5310060-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="975" height="636"></div><h3>HARTFORD WHALERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1099/5310053-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="174" height="128"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1193/5310046-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="975" height="98"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1378/5310039-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="977" height="616"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1287/5310032-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="977" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">After 17 games, Philadelphia&rsquo;s Brian Propp, left, led the Flyers&rsquo; scoring while Detroit&rsquo;s Petr Klima, right, was atop the Red Wings&rsquo; list.</figcaption></div><h3>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1471/5310025-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="175" height="132"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1567/5310018-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="981" height="696"></div><h3>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1663/5310011-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="175" height="133"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1758/5310004-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="980" height="695"></div><h3>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1854/5309997-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="173" height="134"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1952/5309990-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="979" height="349"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2047/5309983-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="972" height="357"></div><h3>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2143/5309976-1-eng-US/f0038-212.jpg" title="f0038-21" width="171" height="132"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2241/5309969-1-eng-US/f0038-222.jpg" title="f0038-22" width="970" height="701"></div><h3>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2338/5309962-1-eng-US/f0038-232.jpg" title="f0038-23" width="172" height="135"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2433/5309955-1-eng-US/f0038-242.jpg" title="f0038-24" width="975" height="651"></div><h3>NEW YORK RANGERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2530/5309948-1-eng-US/f0038-252.jpg" title="f0038-25" width="173" height="136"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2625/5309941-1-eng-US/f0038-262.jpg" title="f0038-26" width="974" height="729"></div><h3>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2722/5309934-1-eng-US/f0038-272.jpg" title="f0038-27" width="174" height="135"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-2815/5309927-1-eng-US/f0038-282.jpg" title="f0038-28" width="974" height="664"></div> &#9632;

f0037-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02350/5310385-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="981" height="673"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01503/5310392-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="174" height="136"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03256/5310378-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="174" height="137"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04211/5310371-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="982" height="676"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05170/5310364-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="173" height="133"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06144/5310357-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="982" height="619"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07128/5310350-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="174" height="143"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08116/5310343-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="977" height="670"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-09104/5310336-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="176" height="132"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1091/5310329-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="983" height="670"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1180/5310322-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="175" height="136"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1272/5310315-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="982" height="675"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1364/5310308-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="175" height="136"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1460/5310301-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="976" height="673"></div><h2>GOALTENDING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1553/5310294-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="983" height="586"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1647/5310287-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="1020" height="2168"></div><h2>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1742/5310280-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="982" height="987"></div>&ldquo;THE NAME THAT STANDS FOR QUALITY&rdquo;BROWNJOHN BROWN CUSTOM SPORTING EQUIPMENT LTD. &#9632;

f0039-02

NHL STATISTICS

<h2>AHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01236/5310514-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="352" height="329"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDMON. NOV. 10NEWMARKET 2 AT BINGHAMTON 3TUE. NOV. 11HERSHEY 1 AT NEWMARKET 0WED. NOV. 12MAINE 5 AT ADIRONDACK 4MONCTON 5 AT BALTIMORE 2BINGHAMTON 2 AT HERSHEY 1SHERBROOKE 4 AT NOVA SCOTIA 5THU. NOV. 13ROCHESTER 4 AT FREDERICTON 3FRI. NOV. 14MONCTON 6 AT BINGHAMTON 3NEWMARKET 1 AT NEW HAVEN 4ADIRONDACK 6 AT SHERBROOKE 3MAINE 5 AT SPRINGFIELD 11SAT. NOV. 15NEW HAVEN 5 AT ADIRONDACK 3NEWMARKET 3 AT BALTIMORE 4NOVA SCOTIA 7 AT FREDERICTON 3MONCTON 2 AT HERSHEY 5ROCHESTER 5 AT MAINE 2BINGHAMTON 1 AT SPRINGFIELD 7SUN. NOV. 16ADIRONDACK 5 AT MAINE 4MONCTON 3 AT NEW HAVEN 6SPRINGFIELD 3 AT NEWMARKET 4FREDERICTON 5 AT NOVA SCOTIA 6BINGHAMTON 0 AT SHERBROOKE 6GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21ADIRONDACK AT BINGHAMTONMAINE AT MONCTONNEW HAVEN AT NEWMARKETBALTIMORE AT ROCHESTERNOVA SCOTIA AT SPRINGFIELDSAT. NOV. 22BINGHAMTON AT ADIRONDACKMONCTON AT FREDERICTONROCHESTER AT HERSHEYNOVA SCOTIA AT MAINESHERBROOKE AT SPRINGFIELDLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02157/5310507-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="357" height="370"></div><h2>ACHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03108/5310500-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="335" height="137"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTUE. NOV. 11ERIE 4 AT CAROLINA 6FRI. NOV. 14VIRGINIA 4 AT CAROLINA 6ERIE 5 AT MOHAWK VALLEY 0SAT. NOV. 15TROY 3 AT ERIE 2CAROLINA 5 AT VIRGINIA 7SUN. NOV. 16VIRGINIA 1 AT MOHAWK VALLEY 2GAMES TO COMETHU. NOV. 20VIRGINIA AT TROYFRI. NOV. 21TROY AT CAROLINAERIE AT MOHAWK VALLEYSAT. NOV. 22MOHAWK VALLEY AT ERIETROY AT VIRGINIASUN. NOV. 23VIRGINIA AT CAROLINALEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1333/5310493-1-eng-US/f0040-132.jpg" title="f0040-13" width="360" height="388"></div><h2>IHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1426/5310486-1-eng-US/f0040-142.jpg" title="f0040-14" width="338" height="255"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTUE. NOV. 11SAGINAW 6 AT PEORIA 4WED. NOV. 12MILWAUKEE 2 AT FORT WAYNE 7SAGINAW 4 AT INDIANAPOLIS 5MUSKEGON 5 AT SALT LAKE 4PEORIA 5 AT KALAMAZOO 8FRI. NOV. 14PORT WAYNE 3 AT KALAMAZOO 2PEORIA 3 AT INDIANAPOLIS 11MUSKEGON 3 AT SALT LAKE 2SAGINAW 4 AT FLINT 7SAT. NOV. 15INDIANAPOLIS 6 AT FORT WAYNE 2KALAMAZOO 3 AT MUSKEGON 2FLINT 7 AT SAGINAW 5MILWAUKEE 2 AT PEORIA 5SUN. NOV. 16FORT WAYNE 8 AT SAGINAW 3KALAMAZOO 9 AT MILWAUKEE 6MUSKEGON 2 AT FLINT 4INDIANAPOLIS 4 AT PEORIA 8GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21SAGINAW AT MUSKEGONINDIANAPOLIS AT SALT LAKEFORT WAYNE AT FLINTMILWAUKEE AT PEORIASAT. NOV. 22FLINT AT MUSKEGONKALAMAZOO AT SAGINAWFORT WAYNE AT PEORIASUN. NOV. 23MUSKEGON AT SAGINAWKALAMAZOO AT FLINTLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0482/5310479-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="278" height="274"></div><h2>OHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0565/5310472-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="271" height="256"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDMON. NOV. 10CORNWALL 1 AT WINDSOR 5TUE. NOV. 11CORNWALL 3 AT LONDON 3S.S. MARIE 9 AT SUDBURY 5THU. NOV. 13BELLEVILLE 6 AT CORNWALL 9KITCHENER 3 AT NORTH BAY 2HAMILTON 4 AT OSHAWA 5GUELPH 3 AT PETERBOROUGH 2SUDBURY 4 AT WINDSOR 11FRI. NOV. 14WINDSOR 4 AT GUELPH 7HAMILTON 4 AT KINGSTON 5TORONTO 4 AT KITCHENER 5SUDBURY 6 AT LONDON 7S.S. MARIE 7 AT OTTAWA 6SAT. NOV. 15S.S. MARIE 6 AT BELLEVILLE 4OTTAWA 5 AT PETERBOROUGH 5LONDON 8 AT TORONTO 6SUN. NOV. 16HAMILTON 6 AT CORNWALL 2LONDON 5 AT GUELPH 1BELLEVILLE 1 AT KINGSTON 9SUDBURY 5 AT KITCHENER 8S.S. MARIE 4 AT NORTH BAY 4OTTAWA 2 AT OSHAWA 3PETERBOROUGH 2 AT TORONTO 3GAMES TO COMETHU. NOV. 20NORTH BAY AT HAMILTONCORNWALL AT PETERBOROUGHLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0654/5310465-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="267" height="266"></div><h2>QMJHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0748/5310458-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="275" height="189"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDMON. NOV. 10DRUMMONDVILLE 4 AT LAVAL 8TUE. NOV. 11ST. JEAN 5 AT GRANBY 6LAVAL 1 AT HULL 6VERDUN 7 AT T-RIVIERES 15THU. NOV. 13VERDUN 5 AT DRUMMONDVILLE 6CHICOUTIMI 1 AT LONGUEUIL 6FRI. NOV. 14T-RIVIERES 3 AT GRANBY 9HULL 4 AT LAVAL 6CHICOUTIMI 2 AT SHAWINIGAN 6LONGUEUIL 5 AT ST. JEAN 3SUN. NOV. 16GRANBY 4 AT CHICOUTIMI 10SHAWINIGAN 4 AT LONGUEUIL 4DRUMMONDVILLE 6 AT ST. JEAN 2HULL 6 AT VERDUN 4GAMES TO COMEFRI. NOV. 21T-RIVIERES AT CHICOUTIMIST. JEAN AT DRUMMONDVILLE XHULL AT GRANBYVERDUN AT LONGUEUILLAVAL AT SHAWINIGANSUN. NOV. 23LONGUEUIL AT DRUMMONDVILLEGRANBY AT ST. JEANCHICOUTIMI AT VERDUNLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0842/5310451-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="281" height="283"></div><h2>WHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0938/5310444-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="260" height="238"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDMON. NOV. 10PRINCE ALBERT 3 AT CALGARY 4TUE. NOV. 11SASKATOON 3 AT MOOSE JAW 3REGINA 7 AT SWIFT CURRENT 3PRINCE ALBERT 1 AT MEDICINE HAT 4PORTLAND 9 AT NEW WESTMINSTER 6SPOKANE 3 AT KAMLOOPS 10SEATTLE 2 AT VICTORIA 4WED. NOV. 12VICTORIA 4 AT PORTLAND 8FRI. NOV. 14SASKATOON 3 AT CALGARY 4MOOSE JAW 5 AT REGINA 6NEW WESTMINSTER 4 AT SEATTLE 6SAT. NOV. 15SASKATOON 3 AT MEDICINE HAT 4PRINCE ALBERT 6 AT MOOSE JAW 3SWIFT CURRENT 7 AT BRANDON 4KAMLOOPS 5 AT SPOKANE 3SEATTLE 1 AT VICTORIA 7NEW WESTMINSTER 6 AT PORTLAND 13SUN. NOV. 16BRANDON 3 AT MOOSE JAW 10MEDICINE HAT 4 AT CALGARY 3SWIFT CURRENT 4 AT REGINA 10KAMLOOPS 10 AT SPOKANE 5SEATTLE 4 AT NEW WESTMINSTER 5GAMES TO COMETHU. NOV. 20BRANDON AT MEDICINE HATSPOKANE AT NEW WESTMINSTERFRI. NOV. 21MOOSE JAW AT SASKATOONBRANDON AT SWIFT CURRENTPRINCE ALBERT AT REGINAVICTORIA AT KAMLOOPSPORTLAND AT SEATTLELEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1038/5310437-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg" title="f0040-10" width="270" height="276"></div><h2>USHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1137/5310430-1-eng-US/f0040-112.jpg" title="f0040-11" width="259" height="165"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDWED. NOV. 12SIOUX CITY 10 AT OMAHA 0FRI. NOV. 14THUNDER BAY 10 AT MADISON 4DES MOINES 5 AT ROCHESTER 4SAT. NOV. 15ROCHESTER 8 AT SIOUX CITY 5THUNDER BAY 6 AT MADISON 7ST. PAUL 5 AT OMAHA 2,DUBUQUE 6 AT DES MOINES 4WATERLOO 7 AT NORTH IOWA 4SUN. NOV. 16WATERLOO 12 AT OMAHA 4THUNDER BAY 8 AT ROCHESTER 6DUBUQUE 4 AT ST. PAUL 7LEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1235/5310423-1-eng-US/f0040-122.jpg" title="f0040-12" width="256" height="157"></div> &#9632;

f0040-01

SCOREBOARD

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Frank Simonetti, D, recalled from Moncton of AHL.BUFFALO&mdash;Phil Russell, D, released outright.CALGARY&mdash;Brett Hull, LW, Brian Bradley, C, and Gary Roberts, LW, recalled from Moncton of AHL. Dan Quinn, C, traded to Pittsburgh for Mike Bullard, C.DETROIT&mdash;Jeff Sharpies, D, returned to Portland of WHL.HARTFORD&mdash;Sylvain Cote, D, recalled from Binghamtor. of AHL.MINNESOTA&mdash;Curt Giles, D, and Tony McKegney, LW, traded to NY Rangers for Bob Brooke, RW. Stars also gave up second-round draft pick and Rangers their fourth-round choice, both in 1988. Larry DePalma, LW, returned to Springfield of AHL.MONTREAL&mdash;Tom Kurvers, D, Steve Rooney, LW, and John Kordic, RW, assigned to Sherbrooke of AHL. Kurvers refused to report.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Marty Wakelyn, G, and Dune MacPherson, D, sent to Springfield of AHL.NY RANGERS&mdash;Chris Jensen, RW, recalled from New Haven of AHL. Paul Fenton, RW, and Raimo Helminen, C, sent to New Haven.TORONTO&mdash;Ken Yaremchuk, C, recalled from Newmarket of AHL.VANCOUVER&mdash;Troy Gamble, G, recalled from Mertirine Hat of WHIWASHINGTON&mdash;Grant Jennings, D, recalled from Fort Wayne of IHL. Steve Leach, RW, recalled from Binghamton of AHL. Al Jensen, G, sent to Binghamton.WINNIPEG&mdash;Joel Baillargeon, LW, recalled from Fort Wayne of IHL.<h2>INJURY LIST</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Playing assistant coach Mike Milbury, D, back in lineup. Cam Neely, RW, sprained knee and Keith Crowder, RW, separated shoulder. Both out day-to-day. Michael Thelven, D, shoulder surgery, Gord Kluzak, knee surgery, and Louis Sleigher, RW, groin surgery. All sidelined indefinitely.CALGARY&mdash;Joe Mullen, RW, hip injury, Jamie Macoun, D, bruised ribs, Brian Bradley, C, broken wrist. Perry Berezan, LW, pulled groin, Neil Sheehy, D, dislocated shoulder, Doug Risebrough, C, twisted knee, and Lanny McDonald, RW, strained knee. Mullen and Macoun out day-to-day. Bradley and Berezan 10 days, Sheehy three more weeks, Risebrough and McDonald indefinitely out until Jan. 1 with dislocated shoulder.CHICAGO&mdash;Keith Brown, D, strained groin, and Doug Wilson, D, lacerated elbow. Both out day-to-day. Behn Wilson, D, sidelined indefinitely while recovering from back surgery.DETROIT&mdash;Bill Carroll, C, sidelined day-to-day with sprained knee.HARTFORD&mdash;Scot Kleinendorst, D, out day-to-day with charley horse. Sylvain Turgeon, LW, sidelined indefinitely after undergoing exploratory surgery for abdominal muscle strain. Wayne Babych, RW, out indefinitely with torn knee ligaments.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Craig Redmond, D, out five weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery.MINNESOTA&mdash;Mike Sands, G, dislocated jaw, Neal Broten, C, dislocated shoulder, Steve Payne, LW, recovering from knee surgery, Mats Hallin, LW, knee ligament damage, Todd Bergen, C, abdominal surgery, Tom Hirsch, D, shoulder surgery. Payne out one more week, Broten three, Hallin and Bergen four, Sands and Hirsch indefinitely.MONTREAL&mdash;Bob Gainey, LW, sidelined indefinitely with torn knee ligaments.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Mark Johnson, C, Jan Ludvig, RW, and Chris Terreri, G, back in lineup. Randy Velischek, D, bruised shoulder, out day-to-day, and Timo Blomqvist, D, broken foot, sidelined indefinitely.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Greg Gilbert, LW, back in lineup.NY RANGERS&mdash;Bob Crawford, RW, back in lineup. Lane Lambert, RW, and Tomas Sandstrom, RW, both with hip injuries, Ron Greschner, D, broken foot, and George McPhee, LW, separated shoulder. Sandstrom and Greschner sidelined day-to-day, Lambert and McPhee in definitely.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Derrick Smith, LW, out day-to-day with sprained knee.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Craig Simpson, C, back in lineup. Mike Blaisdell, RW, separated shoulder, and Dwight Schofield, D, arthroscopic knee surgery, Both out indefinitely.QUEBEC&mdash;Randy Moller, D, out indefinitely with broken wrist.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Rob Ramage, D, sidelined day-to-day with tendinitis of the knee. Ed Beers, LW, back surgery, and Kent Carlson, LW, spinal surgery. Beers out indefinitely, Carlson for rest of season.TORONTO&mdash;Borje Salming, D, back in lineup. Dan Daoust, C, out indefinitely with broken foot.VANCOUVER&mdash;Richard Brodeur, G, back in lineup. Brad Maxwell, D, bruised knee, and Glen CochranerD, back injury. Maxwell out day-to-day, Cochrane indefinitely.WASHINGTON&mdash;Lou Franceschetti, LW, back in lineup. Gaetan Duchesne, LW, fractured skull, and Greg Smith, D, pinched nerve in his back. Smith out three to four weeks, and Duchesne indefinitely.WINNIPEG&mdash;Randy Carlyle, D, neck injury, Steve Penney, G, twisted knee, Jim Nill, RW, torn knee ligaments, and Perry Turnbull, LW, shoulder injury. Carlyle and Penney out day-to-day, Nill and Turnbull sidelined indefinitely.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ADIRONDACK&mdash;Dave Korol, D, out for two months with broken foot. Rod Schutt, RW, decided against reporting to team and will remain retired.BALTIMORE&mdash;Marty Dallman, C, retired from hockey.FREDERICTON&mdash;Dave Bruce, RW, and Jeff Rohlicek, C, back from injury list.MONCTON&mdash;Rob Kivell, LW, retired from hockey.NEW HAVEN&mdash;Dave Hainsworth, G, signed to pro tryout.NOVA SCOTIA&mdash;Jeff Brubaker, LW, left team to return to his home in Denver Grant Dion, D, sent to Muskegon of IHL. Tom McMurchy, LW, sidelined indefinitely with broken toe.ROCHESTER&mdash;Jim Burton, D, recalled from Flint of IHL and reassigned to Fort Wayne of IHL.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>FORT WAYNE&mdash;Michel Dufour, G, claimed on waivers from Muskegon of IHL. Bruce Gillies, G, and Dan McFall, D, released.KALAMAZOO&mdash;Morey Gare, RW, sidelined indefinitely with eye injury.PEORIA&mdash;Andrew Fihlay, C, released.SALT LAKE&mdash;Gary DeGrio, RW, torn stomach muscles, Mike Vellucci, D, out with thigh injury, Ken Filbey, C, knee injury, and Randy Turnbull, D, sidelined with knee injury. All on 14-day disabled list. &#9632;

TRANSACTIONS

f0041-01

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0379/5311065-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="569" height="726"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Halward, sent homefrom a road trip for breaking curfew, wants to be traded.</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Doug Halward should soon get his wish.The 31-year-old left-side defenseman has become adamant about his desire to leave the Vancouver Canucks and has asked general manager Jack Gordon to be traded. Just how long the move takes is a matter of how much the Canucks want in return, though their needs obviously point to another defender.&ldquo;We (wife Cindy and himself) really enjoyed our time in Vancouver and we love the city, but we&rsquo;ve made our decision,&rdquo; said Halward, who came here from the Los Angeles Kings six years ago. &ldquo;It all started the summer before last when we had that big contract hassle and it hasn&rsquo;t gotten any better since.&rdquo;Halward has also tired of the unmerciful razzing he receives at the Pacific Coliseum. Whether he is playing well or poorly, he&rsquo;s the recipent of a constant stream of comments which range from &ldquo;get off the ice&rdquo; to more abusive advice.Halward, who asked both Gordon and coach Tom Watt to find a new club for him, found himself having to remind Gordon. Finally, he missed curfew (for the second time this season), along with injured defenseman Brad Maxwell, in Buffalo and was sent home in the middle of a five-game eastern road swing.&ldquo;You can draw your own conclusion,&rdquo; was all Halward would say when asked if he made the move to force Gordon&rsquo;s hand.The delay in making the trade seems to have a couple of causes, not the least of which is Halward&rsquo;s contract situation.He signed a deal at the outset of this year which will allow him to be a free agent without compensation at the end of the season, so the team acquiring his rights may find themselves out of luck if another team makes a better offer next year. Another is the Canucks&rsquo; position of not being able to give him away. He was one of the top three defenders in the organization until Michel Petit began to play well and the recent emergence of Garth Butcher.&ldquo;I guess my contract is a bit of a problem,&rdquo; admitted Halward, who originally wanted the deal to get a better shake either from the Canucks or another team at the beginning of the year.<h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02117/5311072-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="176" height="132"></div>Bill Watters, Halward&rsquo;s longtime Toronto agent, says there are four or five teams interested in the veteran of 12 NHL seasons, though the return to the Canucks varies considerably.&ldquo;It would be in the best interest for everyone concerned if Jack were to make a deal as quickly as possible,&rdquo; said Watters.Captain Stan Smyl says that he understands Halward&rsquo;s desires and his honesty at expresssing them, but also wants him gone.&ldquo;Hawk (Halward) told me he did it (breaking cerfew) on purpose,&rdquo; said Smyl, who is playing valiantly despite a very sore ankle. &ldquo;We appreciate his honesty, but we don&rsquo;t want guys around here who don&rsquo;t want to be here. It&rsquo;s no good for the team and what we&rsquo;re trying to do here. And when somebody tells me he doesn&rsquo;t want to be here, I may understand, but it hurts me. It&rsquo;s best for everyone if they move him.&rdquo;The Canucks, meanwhile, finally were able to score some goals after a ridiculous drought in the first 13 games of the year. A 7-6 shootout win in Buffalo followed by a superb come-from-behind 5-3 victory in Toronto gave the Canucks their first back-to-back road wins since March of &rsquo;85 and the win over the Leafs was their first on the road against a team over .500 since that same time. &#9632;

f0044-03

Vancouver’s ‘Hawk Wants To Fly Coop

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD BEALES Copy Editor</div>Canada&rsquo;s best under-17 hockey players will get a chance to strut their stuff against the Soviet Union in a special cross-country tour arranged for the holiday season.The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association will play host to the Soviets in a nine-game series&mdash;including three games against each of three regional Canadian all-star teams.&ldquo;The idea is to give these players exposure to international hockey competition,&rdquo; says Dave Fitzpatrick, CAHA&rsquo;s co-ordinator of the Esso program of excellence.Final game dates have yet to be announced, but locations have been confirmed. The Ontario team will meet the Soviets in Ottawa, Kitchener and Peterborough, the Western team in Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon and the Pacific squad in Edmonton, Vancouver and Trail, B.C.The exhibition series&mdash;known as the Esso International Tour &rsquo;86&mdash;starts Dec. 26 and runs until Jan. 6. Each team will carry 20 players. Final rosters will be decided Dec. 2.The selection process actually began last summer, when training camps were established in Waterloo, Ont., Wilcox, Sask., and Kimberly, B.C. Forty-four players were invited to each camp. Twenty-six hopefuls remain on the regional rosters.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Young hockey players are getting international experience.</blockquote>Meanwhile, under-17 teams from the Atlantic provinces and Quebec will compete in the international Chicago Cup world midget tournament. That tourney, slated for Dec. 28 to Jan. 3, will pit the two Canadian squads against a pair of U.S. teams, plus squads from West Germany, Denmark, Poland and Switzerland.Players for the Quebec and Atlantic squads are selected in a similar manner to their colleagues in B.C., the Prairies and Ontario.Participants at both the Esso International Tour and the Chicago Cup will be playing for more than medals. Scouts will be present at all games, assessing the players for next year&rsquo;s under-18 international program and, with luck, spots on future Olympic and national teams, not to mention both major junior and college teams, too.The Esso program has been a continuing success story since its inception in 1981, Fitzpatrick says. National under-18 teams have won both of the series they&rsquo;ve played, while the national junior team has taken two gold medals and a silver in five years. Last year&rsquo;s Esso Cup was the program&rsquo;s first under-17 event and Fitzpatrick says that tournament-style format will alternate with tour events in the years to come. &#9632;

Soviets Provide Test For Young Canadians

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01144/5311127-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg"></div>&lsquo;HE CAN&rsquo;T TAKE IT WHEN STEVE GETS FANCY.&rsquo; &#9632;

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The Snowbirds

Ryan Serrais a 10-year-old native of Oshawa, Ont., playing his fourth season on the Oshawa Minor Hockey Association&rsquo;s minor atom AAA all-star team, Checkers Variety.The 4-foot-6, 76-pound center is a good team player and an avid hockey fan. He is coached by his father, Vince Serra.A Grade 5 student at Sunset Heights Public School, Ryan is in his sixth year of organized hockey.Ryan enjoys hockey at all levels. He follows other youth teams in Oshawa, and counts himself as a fan of the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario League.His favorite National Hockey League team is the Toronto Maple Leafs and his favorite player is the Leafs&rsquo; sophomore winger Wendel Clark.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0296/5311158-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="542" height="1110"><figcaption class="caption-body">RYAN SERRA</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PLAYER OF WEEK TITAN JOFA

You or someone you know can be part of the TITAN-JOFA Minor Hockey Showcase. Just send a photograph, along with the player&rsquo;s biographical data: name, age, height, weight, position, team, coach&rsquo;s name, school and grade, as well as favorite pro team and player. Mail to: TITAN-JOFA SHOWCASE, c/o THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2. All entries submitted will be eligible for selection of THN/TITAN-JOFA Minor Hockey Player of the Year. &#9632;

SHOWCASE ENTRIES

Even though his father, Stephen, starred in the Canadian Football League for years, James Patrick preferred sticks and pucks.&ldquo;It was always hockey for me,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We grew up in Winnipeg. It could have been any Canadian city&mdash;it was cold and there was snow out.&rdquo;Patrick recalls playing the game as early as &ldquo;age 3 or 4,&rdquo; following behind older brother Steve as the two trotted off to play on a nearby outdoor ice patch. But the New York Ranger defenseman&rsquo;s career really began in earnest the day he saw six-year-old Steve strap on the equipment for his first minor hockey game.&ldquo;I remember watching him suit up, then going off to the rink to watch him with my mom,&rdquo; Patrick says. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t wait. I was jealous.&rdquo;He didn&rsquo;t have to wait long. The following year, dressed in hand-me-down gear from Steve, Patrick started his career in the Winnipeg minor hockey system. He describes his early years as undistinguished.&ldquo;Really, in our family, Steve was a good player from the time he was nine,&rdquo; Patrick says. &ldquo;I was just an average player for my age. Up until I was 15 or 16,1 was always an average defenseman for an average team.&rdquo;He&rsquo;s average no more.Steve retired this season after six years in the National Hockey League, but James remains&mdash;and is an integral part of the Rangers&rsquo; blue line, giving them both defensive and offensive excellence.Patrick&rsquo;s star began to take shape at Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask., where he played for coach Barry MacKenzie.&ldquo;I really improved my defensive game and learned how to skate quickly,&rdquo; Patrick says. &ldquo;No question&mdash;most of the credit goes to him&hellip;I went there for the education and the hockey coaching. Not only did I improve in hockey, but I also grew up.&rdquo;While Patrick excelled with the Hounds, brother Steve was making his own mark with Brandon of the Western League. Steve introduced James to another pair of hockey-playing brothers. Kelly and Brad McCrimmon. Brad went on to star with Boston and Philadelphia of the NHL, but it was Kelly who provided James with some important advice. James indicated he wanted to play Tier II junior and then go on to college; Kelly suggested the Prince Albert Raiders of the Saskatchewan Junior League.Patrick joined the team and his career blossomed under the guidance of coach Terry Simpson. After the 1980-81 season, he was chosen ninth overall by the Rangers in the entry draft. Simpson, too, would eventually win raves, and is now the bench boss of the New York Islanders.Following his time at Prince Albert. Patrick took the long route to the NHL&mdash;first the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, then the Canadian Olympic team and finally the Rangers, where he was a teammate of brother Steve for more than a year before the latter&rsquo;s trade to Quebec.Patrick is now in his fourth pro season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0370/5311213-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="696" height="1025"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rangers&rsquo; defenseman James Patrick did not follow in his father&rsquo;s athletic footprints.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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November 28, 1986

Diminutive Giles Goes, Big Brooke Arrives

Cote Gets An Opportunity To Prove Himself In NHL

Mark Laforest On Fire In Adirondack Nets

North Star Scoring Star