The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

February 27, 1987

The Hockey News February 27, 1987

<h2>Sat. Feb. 14</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01221/5429415-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="559" height="2343"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02158/5429408-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="560" height="2395"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03121/5429401-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="542" height="506"></div><h2>Sun. Feb. 15</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0494/5429394-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="547" height="1609"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0576/5429387-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="543" height="510"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0667/5429380-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="540" height="505"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NHL SUMMARIES

SOVIET UNION: Goal, Yevgeny Belosheikin, Sergei Mylnikov, Vitaly Samoilov; defense, Vyacheslav Fetisov, Alexei Gusarov, Igor Stelnov, Vasily Pervukhin, Mikhail Tatarinov, Alexei Kasatonov, Sergei Starikov, Zinetul Bilayletdinov; centers, Igor Larionov, Valery Kamensky, Alexander Semak, Sergei Nemchinov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Anatoly Semenov; r. wings, Vladimir Krutov, Sergei Svetlov, Mikhail Varnakov; left wings Yuri Khmymlov, Vyacheslav Lavrov, Andrei Khomutov, Sergei Priakhin, Sergei Makarov, Sergei Yashin.NHL ALL-STARS: Goal, Grant Fuhr, Clint Malarchuk, Ron Hextall; defense, Mike Ramsey, Rod Langway, Rick Green, Ray Bourque, Ulf Samuelsson, Doug Wilson, Chris Chelios; Normand Rochefort; centers. Dale Hawerchuk, Mark Messier, Dave Poulin, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky; r. wings, Tim Kerr, Kevin Dineen, Jari Kurri, Tomas Sandstrom, Claude Lemieux; I. wings, Glenn Anderson, Esa Tikkanen, Michel Goulet, Kirk Muller.Game One Referee: Morosov (USSR); Linesmen, Ron Finn and John D&rsquo;Amico (NHL).Game Two Referee: Dave Newell (NHL); Linesmen, Ron Finn and Ray Scapinello (NHL)<h2>Wed. Feb. 11</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0760/5429460-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="538" height="262"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0854/5429453-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="538" height="357"></div><h2>Fri. Feb. 13</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0950/5429446-1-eng-US/f0042-092.jpg" title="f0042-09" width="536" height="686"></div> &#9632;

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NHL-SOVIET SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY CLAUDE SCILLEV</div>TORONTO&mdash;For a guy who wasn&rsquo;t sure he&rsquo;d be in university this year, Don McLaughlin has been having himself a pretty fair season with the Toronto Blues.Through 21 games, he led the Ontario Universities Athletic Association in scoring with 57 points. In league play, he had failed to get a point in only one game all season. In the first 10 conference games after Christmas, McLaughlin was party to 37 of his team&rsquo;s 78 goals.McLaughlin needed seven points in three games to break the league standard of 63, set in 1981 by Paul Stothart of Queen&rsquo;s.&ldquo;I think he may be the most dominant forward in this league,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; coach Paul Titanic.McLaughlin graduated last year and Titanic wasn&rsquo;t counting on his return, until the three-time conference all-star enrolled this past September in U of T&rsquo;s education faculty.The highlight of McLaughlin&rsquo;s season offensively was a seven-point game against Laurentian in January. Still, Titanic maintained the impressive thing about McLaughlin was not his scoring prowess, but that &ldquo;he plays well against everybody.&ldquo;Big games, he&rsquo;s there, too,&rdquo; Titanic said. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t get seven points, but he gets one or two points and he plays well every game.&ldquo;This season in particular, I&rsquo;ve been impressed with his consistency. In years gone by I thought that in some games, against the lesser teams, he let up&mdash;as if he didn&rsquo;t want to get too many points or something&mdash;but now he&rsquo;s got more of a killer instinct.&ldquo;He really wants to have a good year. He wants to do a lot for the team. He&rsquo;s just an incredible offensive talent.&rdquo;Mclaughlin agreed he has been more motivated.&ldquo;It could be a killer instinct, sure,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I think it&rsquo;s a different thing. I wanted to be more consistent this year than I have been in other years.&ldquo;If you want to do well in the scoring you have to score against every team and play hard every shift. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s that I&rsquo;m going hard against the lesser teams this year, I think it&rsquo;s just more a desire to play well every shift&mdash;and that&rsquo;s helped me whether I play a team at the top or a team at the bottom.&ldquo;Really, there are no lesser teams this year. There&rsquo;s so much parity in the league, you can&rsquo;t say, for example, &lsquo;Oh, jeez, we&rsquo;re going to play RMC,&rsquo; because RMC is tough this year.&rdquo;McLaughlin&rsquo;s sparkling play has parallelled the resurgence of his team. The Blues have not lost a conference game since Christmas.&ldquo;We had some injuries in the first half of the season that kept us a little off balance,&rdquo; Titanic said. &ldquo;Especially on defense, we never had defense pairs together two games in a row, it seemed. (Since early January) we&rsquo;ve been able to keep the defensive pairs together, and that just makes an enormous difference.&rdquo;Toronto was fourth of five teams entangled in a logjam atop the OUAA standings, as the season entered its second-last weekend. Only four points separated Western and Waterloo, who shared first place, from Wilfrid Laurier, which was fifth. In between were York, ranked No.4 in the country on Feb. 10, and Toronto.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01616/5428874-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="578" height="145"></div><h2>CANADIAN UNIVERSITY</h2>NOTEBOOK&mdash;The conference all-stars dropped both games of a two-game series with the Canadian national team Feb. 2 and 3, by scores of 6-1 and 4-3. &ldquo;The college teams really stretch you,&rdquo; said national team coach Dave King. &ldquo;They work really hard. They haven&rsquo;t got as much finesse as a European team would have, but they hustle and work, and it&rsquo;s a good exercise for our guys. It&rsquo;s still a quality game. They&rsquo;re highly motivated to play well against us and give us a good game.&rdquo;&hellip;Probably the hottest university team in the country had been the Waterloo Warriors, who were unbeaten in their last 14 games overall and lost only once since Nov. 8. Goaltender Mike Bishop recorded back-to-back shutouts over Brock (2-0) and Windsor (3-0) Jan. 30 and 31. A goal by Steve Linseman with 36 seconds to play gave the Warriors a 5-5 tie with Toronto Feb. 6. The Warriors&rsquo; only defeat in the last three months came in a game against York&hellip;Laurentian&rsquo;s Denis Castonguay scored four goals in his team&rsquo;s 8-5 loss to Western, Feb. 7. In 18 games this year, entire teams have been unable to score as many as four goals in a game against the Mustangs. That same day, Rob Harvey of Queen&rsquo;s scored three goals, but the Gaels bowed 8-5 to Guelph&hellip;. Royal Military College Redmen beat Army 4-3 in this year&rsquo;s renewal of their 64-year-old series. Shayne Wisniewski had two third-period goals in the game for RMC, and finished his career with seven goals and 10 points in three games against West Point. &#9632;

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McLaughlin Leaves Netminders Feeling Blue

<h2>TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE&hellip;</h2>1. What former Boston Bruin was nicknamed &lsquo;Pie&rsquo;?2. Which Chicago Blackhawk was top defenseman in the Western League in 1981-82?3. Which Los Angeles King once played in the Houston Astros&rsquo; farm system?4. Which New York Islander is known as the &lsquo;The Colonel&rsquo;?5. Who is the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history?6. Which NHL team has scored at least 300 goals in each of the past 16 seasons?7. Name the Minnesota North Star who suffered a broken neck playing junior hockey.8. Name the Buffalo Sabre whose uncle, Whit, played wide receiver for the CFL&rsquo;s Ottawa Rough Riders.9. Which Edmonton Oiler once played for the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Toronto Toros?10. Name the four Pittsburgh Penguins to have had 50-goal seasons.<h2>ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ</h2>1. John McKenzie. 2. Gary Nylund 3. Bob Bourne. 4. Brian Curran. 5. Reed Larson (577 career points entering the 1986-87 season). 6. Boston Bruins. 7. Brian MacLellan. 8. John Tucker. 9. Mark Napier. 10. Pierre Larouche, Rick Kehoe, Mike Bullard and Jean Pronovost.<h2>BONUS QUESTION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1044/5429491-1-eng-US/f0042-102.jpg" title="f0042-10" width="573" height="900"></div>BONUS: Name the defenseman who won the Norris Trophy in three successive seasons (1963 to 65).BONUS ANSWER: Pierre Pilote. &#9632;

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THN HOCKEY TRIVIA

In next week&rsquo;s March 6th issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, we take a look at the Winnipeg Jets and their dynamite goaltending duo of &lsquo;Pokey and the Bandit&rsquo;&mdash;Eldon Reddick and Daniel Berthiaume.Rare is the team that dares play two rookie netminders but Reddick and Berthiaume have represented the Jets&rsquo; ticket to ride with uncommonly poised work in the Winnipeg goal.Plus, we&rsquo;ll examine Dale Hawerchuk, the talented Jets center who seems destined to be forever overshadowed by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.From the world of international hockey, look for a feature on increasing violence in European leagues and, of course, our regular Euronotes column.And there&rsquo;s more, much more, you won&rsquo;t want to miss in the March 6th issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK

Vladimir Dvortsov determined long ago that there was but one way to accommodate his twin loves of hockey and travel. So, the geography teacher became a hockey journalist.Thirty years later, not much of significance in Soviet hockey escapes the Moscow-based member of TASS news agency.Now 55, he has watched over most of the major international ice confrontations involving the Soviets&mdash;including the recent Rendezvous &rsquo;87 in Quebec City where Dvortsov happily chatted with his North American colleagues.His English is only slightly better than most North Americans&rsquo; Russian, so the help of a translator was necessary.The warmth of his smile and personality, however, needed no translation.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011349/5427317-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="341" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden</figcaption></div>Of principal interest to those who spoke with Dvortsov was his perception of differences in journalistic style. North America versus Soviet Union.He was quick to answer.&ldquo;In North America,&rdquo; said the author of four hockey publications, &ldquo;a journalist knows something and can write something presumably. (He will write) &lsquo;I think so and so will happen.&rsquo;&ldquo;Personally I write exactly about the things I am dead sure about.&rdquo;Speculation, he leaves to others. But not criticism, he insisted.&ldquo;There might be a lot of criticism in my stories,&rdquo; said Dvortsov contradicting the common belief that state-controlled TASS provides homogenized and largely-positive coverage, &ldquo;I am critical about the fact we have the same champion every year.&rdquo;He doesn&rsquo;t agree with the tradition of distributing talented players&mdash;that is, funnelling the best players to Central Red Army, which has won 29 of 40 Soviet National League championships (including every one since 1977).&ldquo;From time to time,&rdquo; said Dvortsov, &ldquo;the players get offended by critical articles in the paper but it doesn&rsquo;t last long.&rdquo;Nor does it happen often, according to Montreal Gazette sports writer David Johnston, who travelled to the Soviet Union before Rendezvous. There, he discovered feature stories on individual players must first be approved by the players, themselves, before they can be published.Dvortsov, whose favorite North American players are Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky, said he incorporates three elements into every story: &ldquo;A smile, sincerity and news.&rdquo;Laughs, he said, make up a large part of his work, which includes a collection of humorous hockey stories.No translation was available for that book&rsquo;s title, but in Montreal and Los Angeles anyway, it would probably be called, &ldquo;A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.&rdquo;<h2>A Job Well Done&mdash;Soviet Referee</h2>An apology, it would seem, is due Nikolai Morozov, the Soviet referee who worked Game One of R-V &rsquo;87.His integrity was called into question regularly and vociferously before his appearance as arbiter between Team NHL and the Soviets.Not that he helped matters by skating, not with the North American officials, but the Soviet national team prior to his crucial assignment.Morozov, stick in hand, skated leisurely around LeColisee while his countrymen busied themselves with preparing for that night&rsquo;s game.After watching Morozov fire the puck for more than 30 minutes (he&rsquo;s got a weak wrist shot), one NHL official was asked to compare the Soviet official with Dave Newell, the Canadian who worked Game Two.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a better stick handler than Newell,&rdquo; snorted the observer.Even a Soviet journalist, asked for a series prediction by the Toronto Star&rsquo;s Jim Proudfoot, said it would end up 1-1, one game for the NHLers and one for Morozov.Proudfoot concluded that Morozov was &ldquo;insanely out of place.&rdquo;He was wrong, as were many others. For at least one game, Morozov did a decent job. He called four hooking penalties against Team NHL. Morozov detected the Soviets doing nothing wrong. (He was right.) Linesman Ron Finn, however, spied the visitors with too many men on the ice and called a penalty. That is an infraction commonly called by linesmen.After the game, Team NHL hero Dave Poulin had no complaints about Morozov&rsquo;s work&mdash;&ldquo;The calls were pretty fair, I thought.&rdquo;In a Soviet club team-North Star game last season, Craig Hartsburg of Minnesota was so incensed by Morozov&rsquo;s apparent favoritism, he shot the puck at the referee&rsquo;s behind.Nobody tried that this time.Morozov, doubtlessly, was grateful for that&mdash;if not for the suspicions cast upon his ability.&ldquo;Of course I feel bad when I hear those things,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But, I think the fans realized I refereed a good game.&rdquo;Asked why he didn&rsquo;t avoid the appearance of favoring the Soviets, by not skating with them, he said, &ldquo;I only skate with the team because I am part of the delegation.&rdquo;The NHL, of course, won Game One but lost Game Two. With Newell refereeing, the Soviets were shorthanded five times to the NHL&rsquo;s once. There were, correctly, no complaints about Newell&rsquo;s work.Those aimed at Morozov were premature.<h2>Holy Makarov-Army Superstar</h2>Viktor Tikhonov, who has become increasingly comfortable in the company of North American scribes, uttered an opinion of some note&hellip;before catching himself, rewinding the tape and trying again.Asked if he considered Soviet left winger Sergei Makarov the best player in the world, the national team coach&rsquo;s translated answer was: &ldquo;I have felt this way for a long time.&rdquo;There followed some obfuscation (deliberate?), and it wasn&rsquo;t clear just what he meant to say.What was clear, however, were Makarov&rsquo;s enormous talents. He didn&rsquo;t score a goal during the series but his skating and puckhandling skills mesmerized spectators. If there&rsquo;s a better skater on this planet, he must work at the Daily Planet.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got tremendous acceleration,&rdquo; offered Canadian national team coach Dave King. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s a very powerful man; you can&rsquo;t knock him off his feet.&rdquo;Valery Kamensky, only 20 years, was chosen top Soviet player in the series, but Makarov still dazzled&mdash;showing some of the stuff that has made him a Soviet League all-star eight straight years.The 27-year-old veteran of Central Red Army has won the league scoring championship six of the last seven years and teams with center Igor Larionov and right winger Vladimir Krutov to form the most feared line in the world. Call it the Party line.On defense, Makarov is joined by fellow two-time top Soviet player Viacheslav Fetisov and Aleksy Kasatonov. It is as a member of this five-man unit that Makarov sees himself.Queried about his personal status in the hockey world, Makarov turned the question into an endorsement of the Soviet hockey philosophy.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s got to be a combination of all five players at the same time&mdash;collectively,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s how I define the best hockey player in the world.&rdquo;NHLer Dave Poulin, who played against the KLM (Krutov, Larionov, Makarov) Line, confirmed the interdependent nature of the trio&rsquo;s chemistry.&ldquo;After the faceoff, you don&rsquo;t ever see him (Makarov) again until the next faceoff,&rdquo; said Poulin. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of three. They relate to each other so well.&rdquo;Makarov, 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds, provides the line with uncommon drive.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got great ability to go to the net,&rdquo; explained King. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s very effective in the comers for a little guy. The thing about him is that he always finds a way to improvise.&ldquo;Whatever you give him, he takes.&rdquo;Those who watched Makarov at Rendezvous were witness to all of that&hellip;and more.<h2>No &lsquo;Funny Stuff&rsquo;&mdash;Bill Torrey</h2>Quote of the week:&ldquo;Are we competitive for the Stanley Cup? I think we are. And I&rsquo;m not smoking funny stuff.&rdquo;&mdash;Islander GM Bill Torrey, page 27.<h2>FOLLOWS SOVIETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021095/5427310-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1485" height="2354"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vladimir Dvortsov, 55, has been covering Soviet hockey for 30 years. He&rsquo;s written four publications on hockey, including one on the late Valery Kharlomov&mdash;who ranks among the greatest of all Soviet skaters. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Soviet Scribe Aims For ‘Smile, Sincerity, News’

<div class="byline">GUEST SHOT Bryan Trottier</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011254/5427369-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Trottier, wrapped up by Bobby Carpenter above, objects to the interference and holding that has become prevalent in the National Hockey League. He thinks referees should be more strict in their enforcement of the rules.</figcaption></div>Bryan Trottier, longtime superstar of the New York Islanders and president of the National Hockey League Players&rsquo; Association, requested the opportunity to speak out on the quality of officiating in the NHL. Representatives of NHL referees have been offered the chance to their feelings known next week, on the issues Trottier raises.I&rsquo;M SPEAKING OUT because I&rsquo;m concerned about our game. The quality and speed of NHL hockey is far worse than it was two years ago.The skilled players are just as skilled, but the less-skilled players are getting away with more because the officials have been less inclined to legislate against the garbage&mdash;the holding, the clutching, the grabbing.Some nights I think the refereeing in the NHL is worse than at any time since I joined the league in 1975.There&rsquo;s just so much interference in the game today, and the refs aren&rsquo;t calling it. By not cracking down, they are helping to slow the game down from where it was two years ago. And it&rsquo;s leading to a lot of frustration from the better-than-average players who have to go through this crap game in and game out. It allows the checkers the ability to close the gap.Although they think they&rsquo;re not, the officials are playing a larger role in the outcome of games because of their relaxed view of some of the interference that goes on. Especially with the stick.When a guy puts his stick in front of your body and you can&rsquo;t even fall down, because the guy&rsquo;s holding you up, that&rsquo;s about as close to wrapping his arms around you as you can get.That&rsquo;s interference. They were calling that in the beginning of the year and now they&rsquo;ve stopped.The officials are the only ones who can call it. I think they should call everything like they did at the beginning of the season. The double-minor high-sticking penalty should be called all the time.I don&rsquo;t know for sure, but I&rsquo;m pretty certain the refs are instructed by the supervisors how to call games. Sometimes too many penalties are being called&hellip;Then not enough penalties are being called&hellip;At one time they were cracking down on delay-of-game calls against goalies&hellip;Last year they were calling every high stick-&hellip;Now they&rsquo;re trying to find an instigator in a fight&hellip;The score and the time determine a lot of penalties. Something that happens in the first period is a penalty. When it happens in the third period of a tie game, it&rsquo;s not.Be consistent.Refs say they see some of the things they don&rsquo;t call. Maybe the NHL is afraid to see a parade to the penalty box. Well, so be it.The inconsistency of the calls and the no-calls adds to the confusion because players don&rsquo;t know what they can get away with and what they can&rsquo;t.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Who&rsquo;s the best ref? They&rsquo;re all bad. Kerry Fraser&rsquo;s the best and even he has some bad nights.&rsquo; &mdash;Trottier</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02924/5427362-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="737" height="1245"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Fournier</figcaption></div>And then there are those players who know. They&rsquo;ll do things all the time knowing they&rsquo;ll get caught just a few times. So they figure the odds are on their side.The supervisors come in every year and tell us they&rsquo;re going to call everything: Be prepared, they say.And it never happens.Who&rsquo;s the best ref? They&rsquo;re all bad. Kerry Fraser&rsquo;s the best and even he has some bad nights.They frustrate players. Sometimes they&rsquo;ll curse and swear back at you. Some of them look dumbfounded, like &lsquo;Why are you arguing with me? You&rsquo;re not going to change my mind.&rsquo; Some pretend they don&rsquo;t hear you and some just act arrogant.You can talk to Fraser, but he gets defensive if you start yelling at him. I don&rsquo;t think Ron Fournier and Denis Morel understand me when I speak to them. Or they pretend they don&rsquo;t understand me.Fraser listens. Terry Gregson and Bob Myers listen. As long as you don&rsquo;t become overly abusive, they&rsquo;ll listen. When you curse they start getting really wild. A lot of it falls on deaf ears, though.It&rsquo;s not that they&rsquo;re incompetent. Most of them have the ability to call a good game. It&rsquo;s just that for some reason they are unwilling to enforce the rules strictly and consistently.Maybe they don&rsquo;t want penalties all night. Maybe they don&rsquo;t want to affect the outcome of games. But in the long run they are affecting the quality of our sport and the mentality of the player.The reason I&rsquo;m writing this is that we&rsquo;re not enemies of the refs out there. We owe it to the fans to work together to provide a good and exciting brand of hockey&mdash;fast and mobile.Stop adding more rules. Leave the game as it is. It&rsquo;s the most exciting in pro sports. Just crack down. Just call the rules as they are.My plea to all referees: Please call everything, no matter what you&rsquo;re told by your bosses.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03643/5427355-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="733" height="798"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kerry Fraser</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04418/5427348-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="730" height="800"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Myers</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Trottier Lashes Out At NHL Officials

American: You know, I&rsquo;ve been watching hockey for a long time.Canadian: How long?American: Since it started. In 1967.Canadian: Oh, man.American: And some people&rsquo;s attitudes towards international hockey bothers me.Canadian: Why&rsquo;s that?American: Well, you guys just take it so seriously, that&rsquo;s all. Like Rendezvous. Here was this great event coming up, two hockey games between two great teams and you guys want to turn it into a holy war or something.Canadian: Eh?American: I love when you guys talk like that. No, really, it&rsquo;s been 16 years since you started playing the Russians. They&rsquo;ve won some. You&rsquo;ve won some. The hockey, win or lose, has been great. Why do you guys have to have a national nervous breakdown before every one of these series. Why are you so embarrassed when you lose?Canadian: Because it&rsquo;s ours.American: What is, hoser?Canadian: Hockey.American: Sure. And we&rsquo;re still pretty good at it.Canadian: We?American: Well, I&rsquo;ll admit that when you guys lost that Challenge Cup thing in 1979, things looked pretty bleak. But our Olympic team came through for you in 1980&hellip;Canadian: How&rsquo;d you like to be dropped, right on this spot.American: And then you lost the the 1981 Canada Cup. But we bounced right back in 1984, didn&rsquo;t we? I mean we&rsquo;re all in this together, right?Canadian: I&rsquo;m going to tie a Maple Leaf flag right around your damn neck.American: Why are you so hostile? We&rsquo;ve made our contributions to hockey, too, you know. We gave you Fred Ahem&hellip;Charles O. Finley.Canadian: Yeah, and acid rain.American: C&rsquo;mon hoser. Don&rsquo;t be such a grump. I&rsquo;ll buy you a beer.Canadian: I&rsquo;ll buy my own, thinks.American: No, no, I insist. My dollar is worth a lot more than yours.Canadian: Grrrr.American: I mean you guys are so possessive. Vic Hadfield came home from Moscow in 1972 because he wasn&rsquo;t playing and they practically tried him for sedition.Canadian: I would have hung him as a spy.American: And Mario Lemieux plays the last 30 games last year with bronchitis and runs out of gas. Then you get mad when he doesn&rsquo;t want to jump on a plane the next day to play in the World Championships?Canadian: I think he should have gone even if they had to carry him over there on a stretcher.American: Why? Canada doesn&rsquo;t pay him, the Penguins do. It would be just like if Bryan Trottier&hellip;Canadian: Don&rsquo;t you ever mention that name to me again.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011436/5427400-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="341" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption></div>American: The point I&rsquo;m trying to make is that what would have been the big deal about losing two straight at Rendez-vous? Everybody understood that the Soviets had a huge advantage coming in. You can&rsquo;t expect a team of NHL stars to come together in a short period of time and then tell them the honor of their league and their country is at stake. A lot of those Russians have been playing together for seven, eight, nine years. What would have been the big disgrace?Canadian: Let me put it to you this way. What if the Russians started playing baseball this year and in 10 years came over and started beating your better amateur teams.American: So what, they&rsquo;d be amateurs. They couldn&rsquo;t beat our major leaguers.Canadian: That&rsquo;s what we thought. Okay, another 10 years pass and the Commies are just cleaning up in the Olympics. So you want a series between Major League all-stars and the Russian stars.American: Haw, we&rsquo;d kill them.Canadian: Okay, first game. Full house at Yankee Stadium. Mattingly and Schmidt hit home runs in the first inning off this guy named Lefty Droznetski and everybody settles back to watch the rout.American: Sounds good.Canadian: And then the Soviets load the bases in the second inning off Gooden. And then this guy, Reggei Jacksonov gets into a 2-2 pitch and hits the thing 700 feet. And then the Russians start bunting the Americans silly and it winds up 11-3.But that&rsquo;s not the worse part. For years afterwards, everybody is saying how much the Soviets are playing pure baseball and how the Americans had better wake up or else you won&rsquo;t be able to compete with them anymore.American: I think I&rsquo;m getting sick.Canadian: And what if they took up football. then, and Super Bowl LVIII wound up with coach Parcelnikov being doused with a vat of borscht.American: What a nightmare. I&rsquo;m sorry, I had no idea you felt that strongly about it.Canadian: Well, what the hell else do we have besides hockey and cold weather?American: You have baseball.Canadian: Ah, love those Blue Jays.American: What happened to them last year?Canadian: They had too many Americans. &#9632;

f0006-01

For Canadian Fans, It’s More Than Just A Game

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN Assistant Editor</div>TORONTO&mdash;A pair of firsts marked Toronto&rsquo;s second debut this season.Russ Courtnail scored a goal&mdash;two of them, in fact&mdash;for the first time in 17 games and Wendel Clark recorded his first-ever three-assist game as the Leafs resumed their post-Rendez-vous schedule with a 5-4 win over Boston Bruins.Both were unexpected occurrences.It seemed that Courtnall, who had 19 goals and was Toronto&rsquo;s best player over the first 39 games of the season, would never score again.Courtnall contributed to that notion himself, misfiring on a pair of break-aways against Boston goalie Bill Ranford before scoring the go-ahead and winning goals.And Clark has hardly made a name for himself as a great playmaker in his one-and-a-half NHL seasons. He had all of 11 last year, and just 11 more in 56 games this year.It was game in No. 57, with him playing both defense and left wing, that Clark enjoyed his finest moments as an accomplice. Two lengthy rushes resulted in scoring rebounds and a pass rocketed through Bruin defenseman Reed Larson&rsquo;s legs to set up Courtnall&rsquo;s winner.The goals came as a great source of relief for Courtnall, who had only that day taken home a telegram of encouragement sent to him by his family.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021028/5427431-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="179" height="150"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2>One of the players who witnessed the drought-ending goals was Geoff Cournall, Russ&rsquo; brother on the Bruins.&ldquo;I was pretty upset after I didn&rsquo;t score on those first two breakaways,&rdquo; said Courtnall. &ldquo;When I got the other two, I was really happy.&rdquo;So, no doubt, was coach John Brophy, who&rsquo;ll need to see more of that if the Leafs are to make the playoffs in the Norris Division.&ldquo;Courtnall had enough chances,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;What did he do? Hit him (Ranford) on the head with one and hit him point-blank trying to put it through the five hole.&rdquo;The speedy center had last tallied against the Red Wings, scoring twice in a 3-1 win on Jan. 6.Courtnall&rsquo;s game-winner at 17:01 of the third period gave the previously-slumping Leafs four wins in five games.It was one of those good news-bad news games for Clark, who was shifted from defense to left winger midway through the third period.&ldquo;We needed a little jump up there and he (Clark) provided it,&rdquo; said Brophy, who just one day earlier had indicated the former Western League defenseman of the year would spend the rest of the season on the blue line despite leading the team in goals with 26.Brophy said Clark seemed more dominant on defense.It was another defenseman&mdash;known to dominate from time to time&mdash;who undressed Clark on the game&rsquo;s first goal early in the first period.Ray Bourque swept around Clark and took a shot at goalie Allan Bester. Geoff Courtnall scored on the rebound.Boston went up 3-2 in the third period, during the second of Clark&rsquo;s three penalties.But on this night, the good outweighed the bad as Clark atoned with two primary assists in the final six minutes.&ldquo;He certainly sparked them when he moved up,&rdquo; admitted Bourque. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what probably got them going.&rdquo;That is Clark&rsquo;s role on the team&mdash;one that he has struggled with at times this year.LEAFLETS&mdash;Toronto was still without its most senior defensemen&mdash;Borje Salming (elbow), Chris Kotsopoulos (groin) and Rick Lanz (ankle)&mdash;but centers Tom Fergus and Dan Daoust returned from injuries for the stretch run. Fergus scored against his former Bruin teammates, in his first game back after missing 23 games with a viral infection. Daoust was absent from 45 games after breaking bones in his left foot during a fight&hellip;Right winger Miro Ihnacak, plus defensemen Jerome Dupont and Terry Johnson were sent to Newmarket of the American League&hellip;Defenseman Al lafrate was on a six-game point-scoring streak&hellip; .Jeff Jackson had four goals in his last five games and points in five of five&hellip;It was 11 years ago Feb. 7 that former Leaf captain Darryl Sittier established an NHL record by scoring 10 points (six goals, four assists) against the Bruins. &#9632;

f0006-02

Finally, Drought Ends For Speedy Courtnall

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>CALGARY&mdash;Two wins on the weekend before the break helped, but they didn&rsquo;t completely turn the season around for the Calgary Flames.The Flames were in a struggle for respectability and an 8-9-1 record in 1987 just barely gave them that.First place, which was three points away on Jan. 10, had been put of reach. Second place, which they held for much of the mid-season, was fading as well.&ldquo;Right now, the chemistry of the club is not as good as I&rsquo;d like,&rdquo; said Flames&rsquo; coach Bob Johnson. &ldquo;You feel like you&rsquo;re handcuffed with your chemistry until you get some of your players back. Even then, they&rsquo;re not going to make a difference overnight. It&rsquo;ll take time to get into game condition.&rdquo;In staggering to a 3-2 win over Vancouver Canucks, the Flames looked like a team in need of a week off. Their 184 man-games lost to injury through 56 games may be the least-known fact in the National Hockey League.With Doug Risebrough, Lanny McDonald, Brian Engblom, Gary Suter, Neil Sheehy, Colin Patterson out for big chunks of the season, the Flames relied heavily on a half-dozen players to carry them.Then the burden started taking its toll. Al Maclnnis and Jamie Macoun, their No. 1 defense pair, reached a plateau. That&rsquo;s Johnson&rsquo;s term. It means they weren&rsquo;t as sharp as they were earlier in the season. Playing 25 minutes a night can do that to a player.Two of the biggest disappointments from a scoring perspective were Carey Wilson and Hakan Loob, players who were linemates until Johnson finally split them up in a bid to get both going again.Loob, especially, was struggling. From Jan. 4 to Feb. 5, he did not score a single goal. When Loob finally scored, counting the winner in a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders, his relief was tangible.&ldquo;I had this much room to shoot at,&rdquo; he said, spreading his arms three feet apart, describing the play. &ldquo;It looked like this much to me,&rdquo; he said, holding his thumb and index finger an inch apart.&ldquo;It is really hard to evaluate our team,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;If everybody were healthy, it would be interesting to see who would sit out. We thought we made a good deal in (Terry) Johnson-for-Engblom. Now Engblom (sidelined with a back injury) can&rsquo;t play.&ldquo;Every time Perry Berezan looks as if he&rsquo;s going to become a good player for us, he gets injured. There were times this year when we rated him as our best forward.&ldquo;Lanny&rsquo;s been in and out of the lineup so much, it&rsquo;s tough for him to get into the rhythm. (Mike) Bullard&rsquo;s been out. When he was healthy, he&rsquo;d scored six goals in the last seven games for us.&ldquo;We expected more out of Loob, Jim Peplinski, Joel Otto and Wilson. Two years ago, Loob and Wilson were tied for our scoring lead. We hope in the last 20 games, they can really get it going.&rdquo;Apart from the injuries, the Flames&rsquo; main shortcoming had been their defensive play. Until a stretch of three games&mdash;in which they gave up just two goals in three consecutive games&mdash;the Flames had dipped as low as 17th in the league in the goals-against department, a shocking number even for them.Even in the best years, the Flames were only a middle-of-the-road team defensively. They won with scoring. But they cannot completely ignore the defensive side of things. That&rsquo;s how you finish third in the Smythe Division and start the playoffs on the road.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011281/5427462-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="183" height="138"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2>&ldquo;The other night, we played with Kevan Guy, Gary Roberts and Brian Bradley in the lineup,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t even with us at the start of the year. Your team is like a jigsaw puzzle. Right now, the pieces aren&rsquo;t all fitting.&rdquo;Johnson found promise in the fact that there was time to regroup for the home stretch.&ldquo;We have three weeks in February and the whole month of March to get it going the way you want it. You need to get real good momentum in March and you need no injuries. The worst thing you could get is three or four key injuries in March.&ldquo;In some ways, maybe the injuries were a blessing in disguise. We used a lot of players in different situations. They all had experience on the power play and killing penalties, which is good because we may need them in the playoffs.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re climbing that mountain, sometimes you hit a plateau. We&rsquo;re in the valley now. We haven&rsquo;t started up yet.&rdquo;IN BRIEF&mdash;Perry Berezan was scheduled to undergo exploratory surgery to determine why his groin injury wasn&rsquo;t healing&hellip;Doug Risebrough&rsquo;s recovery is behind schedule as well. He was expected to resume skating a week after the all-star break. &#9632;

f0007-01

Calgary Earning Failing Grade In Chemistry

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011369/5427493-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div>IT WAS WITH great interest that I read of NHL fight &ldquo;experts&rdquo; rating Garry Howatt as the best fighter, pound for pound, in NHL history (Stan Fischler, Feb. 6). This came as no suprise to me. While Garry&rsquo;s ability to defend himself and his teammates with the Islanders, Whalers, and Devils is beyond argument (I do agree with the rating), I feel it&rsquo;s unfair to constantly focus on this aspect of his career.While never threatening to challenge for scoring titles in the 1970s and &rsquo;80s, his ability to grind it out in the corners and his unflagging enthusiasm were intergral parts of the Islanders&rsquo; success. As a member of the Hartford Whalers and New Jersey Devils he provided veteran leadership and a spark of excitement which both teams desperately needed at the time. He also had a great knowledge of hockey. This aspect of his game went largely unnoticed because as he matured as a player, he was with sub-par teams.I hope Mr. Fischler will reflect back on the total player we know as Garry Howatt and sometime present a more complete profile of this hard-working player. For those who look back at Garry Howatt with fond memories, there is also a bright star in the future. Young Brody Howatt, who now plays hockey at the squirt level, approaches the game with the same dedication and enthusiasm as his father.Andy Allu Jr.,&nbsp; West Paterson, NJ<h2>DEAR JOHN LETTER</h2>Dear John (McMullen, president of the New Jersey Devils):As a New Jersey Devils&rsquo; season ticket holder for the past four seasons you are to be complimented on your success. You have allowed your general manager and coach to give us another boring and losing season. Let me offer a few observations heard at the Meadowlands Arena.&bull; The players on your roster refuse to hit, especially in their own end. They must be coached not to hit. It&rsquo;s conceivable that the entire team would choose to pokecheck instead of bodycheck.<h2>FAN FORUM</h2>&bull; Linemates are never ready to receive a pass. Their sticks are always a foot above the ice. This fundamental concept must be overlooked by the coach.&bull; There is never anyone in front of the net on a power play. They must be coached not to fill the crease.John, make things happen. You can&rsquo;t blame the players. You drafted/traded for the team you have on the ice. Besides, if instructed and encouraged, they could play good, clean, tough hockey. You can&rsquo;t blame injuries&mdash;no two impact players have been out simultaneously for any extended period of time.Kenneth Karpinchik, Belleville, NJ<h2>THE GREAT BOSSY</h2>Barry Meisel&rsquo;s Jan. 30 cover story on Mike Bossy was great. It really nailed down my thoughts on hockey in general and Mike Bossy, in particular. He&rsquo;s a super scorer and a very good defensive player.Mike Bossy has been skating in Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s formidable shadow through his entire career. If Gretzky had never played the game, Bossy would probably have six or seven MVP trophies on his mantle. But the Great One does play and very well. So, Bossy will never receive a Hart Trophy or his proper recognition. At the very worst, he is the second best player of all time. His career happens to coincide with the best of all time.If Mike Bossy retires after the 1987-88 season, it will be premature. He will be missed but not forgotten.Gary Watts, Seguin. TX &#9632;

f0008-01

More To Howatt Story Than Just Fighting Ability

<div class="byline">Bob McKenzie</div>NEWS AND VIEWS while basking in the afterglow of Rendez-vous &rsquo;87:NEWS: The International Ice Hockey Federation comes down hard on participants in the now-infamous Piestany Punch-up between Canada and the Soviet Union at the 1987 World Junior Championships in Czechoslovakia. The Canadian Major Junior Hockey League reacts by vowing never to participate in the event again. (See story on page 12.)VIEWS: You could see this one coming. Why else would CMJHL president Ed Chynoweth join Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Murray Costello on a European mission to lobby the IIHF.It certainly wasn&rsquo;t to boost the mileage on Chynoweth&rsquo;s frequent flyer program. He was there for two reasons. First, to make sure Costello took a hard line against any proposed sanctions and two, to let IIHF president Dr. Gunther Sabetzki know what the consequences of his actions would be.Now, the important question: Should the CMJHL withdraw its support and effectively kill any legitimate world junior program in Canada?My first reaction is to say, no. The temptation is to paint this as another picture of Canada not getting its way in international hockey and deciding to take its puck and go home.Then I read the insightful comments from Team Canada star Brendan Shanahan of the London Knights. He makes numerous good points, especially concerning the players&rsquo; perception of the program and whether they&rsquo;d even be interested in playing under the conditions laid out.Still, the world junior program has been an excellent one for the CMJHL and the country. Decisions now being made by Chynoweth and the CMJHL executive will have a large impact on current and future junior players.My suggestion? It may be unorthodox, but let the CMJHL players vote on the issue. If they agree with Shanahan and think Canada should pull out, then fine. They&rsquo;re the ones making the sacrifices. But if the majority of them say they would participate, then the CMJHL brass owes it to them to go to Leningrad for the 1988 World Junior Championships with the best team it can muster.NEWS: New York Islander superstar Bryan Trottier lashes out at NHL officiating in a guest column in this week&rsquo;s THN (see page 5), rapping their knuckles for inconsistencies and incompetence.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021125/5427524-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="389" height="436"></div>VIEWS: Surely, when someone of Trottier&rsquo;s stature speaks, we should all listen. And as you read through his list of complaints, there probably aren&rsquo;t any of us&mdash;except those who wear striped shirts&mdash;who can&rsquo;t find a point or two with which we agree.Fact is, the all-star center will no doubt receive a great deal of support from the public and other players.Which is fine, since officials wouldn&rsquo;t be in that line of work if they couldn&rsquo;t handle criticism, no matter how blunt it may be.But I&rsquo;ve always had a tough time dumping on officials. I&rsquo;ve always thought of them as just being there and whatever happens, happens&mdash;the notion being that it&rsquo;s up to the players to put all that aside and play the game.Yet I can also sense Trottier&rsquo;s frustration at a situation which he says is getting out of hand. What I cannot understand, though, is when Trottier says some officials get incensed if you swear at them too much.Unbelievable. I can&rsquo;t imagine anyone else getting mad just because someone starts cursing them out in front of 17,000 screaming fans.NEWS: Numerous Team NHL players say they would have liked a series tie-breaking third game in Rendez-vous &rsquo;87.VIEWS: I applaud them for their competitive instincts and, before the series started, I would have agreed with them.But after seeing the result of R-V &rsquo;87 so well accepted by the public and media, how can you argue with the format? Another game, especially if it were a Soviet victory, would have erased all the positives from the first two games.Now, that says more about the Canadian public&rsquo;s inability to deal with defeat than anything else, but it would have cast a damper on the spirit of Rendez-vous.Which was refreshingly simple: Two outstanding teams playing world-class hockey without life and limb being at stake. Two great games. Hockey for hockey&rsquo;s sake.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

Let Players Decide World Junior Boycott Issue

<div class="byline">COMPILED BY RICHARD BEALES Copy Editor</div>It took one hour of deliberation and when the National Hockey League board of governors emerged, its message was quite clear: John Ziegler was within his rights as league president to expel Pat Quinn.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not particularly surprised,&rdquo; said Quinn, who was expelled from the NHL after signing a contract and accepting a $ 100,000 bonus to become general manager of the Vancouver Canucks (at season&rsquo;s end) while still coaching the Los Angeles Kings.&ldquo;All I can say at this point is that I&rsquo;m very disappointed.&rdquo;Quinn&rsquo;s judgment actually reads that he is forbidden to coach the Vancouver Canucks until 1990-91 and cannot assume any managerial duties with the club until June 16, the day after the end of the NHL&rsquo;s 1987 annual meetings.The appeal by Quinn and his legal representatives was in Quebec City on Friday, Feb. 13. Legal representatives for the Canucks, who were fined $310,000 for their part in the Quinn affair, were also supposed to appeal. But the board requested that a member of the Griffiths family, which owns the Canucks, be present. That appeal likely won&rsquo;t be heard until the board&rsquo;s next meeting, March 17 in Toronto.The Los Angeles Kings, fined $130,000, will also appeal but not until June at the annual meeting.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to clear my name,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;At no time did I not act in the best interests of the league and without being fully advised of my legal rights.&rdquo;Quinn is particularly upset with the description of his offense&mdash;&ldquo;acting dishonorably&rdquo;&mdash;in Ziegler&rsquo;s lengthy written dissertation.The battle may not yet be over.With the permission of the L.A. Kings, both Quinn and the Canucks can request re-hearings by Ziegler in June. And there is speculation that Quinn will go to civil court to clear his name.&ldquo;We will pursue every avenue open to us,&rdquo; said Quinn&rsquo;s lawyer, Morris Chucas.<h2>NO SOVIETS IN NHL</h2>When Pat Quinn becomes general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, he won&rsquo;t be able to count on Soviet stars Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov joining his team.The Canucks recently made a pitch to Soviet hockey officials for the release of the two players, but the answer was a resounding &ldquo;Nyet.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011327/5427555-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="590" height="1230"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Quinn says he&rsquo;s disappointed, but not surprised, that his appeal was rejected.</figcaption></div><h2>HOCKEY NOTEBOOK</h2>Soviet sport minister Marat Gramov delivered the news at a Rendezvous press conference, saying the Soviet Union must keep its own hockey program at a high level, something that could not be achieved if its top players were allowed to leave for the NHL.The optimistic Canucks selected Larionov in the 11th round of the 1985 entry draft and Krutov in the 12th round of the 1986 draft.The Canucks will, however, likely have a Soviet assistant coach join them for the entire 1987-88 season. It will be one of four former Soviet national players&mdash;Anatoli Firsov, Alexander Yakushev. Sergei Kapustin or Viktor Shalimov&mdash;if the Canucks and Soviets can strike a deal.As part of the exchange program, the Canucks will send head coach Tom Watt and assistant Jack Mcllhargey to Moscow on May 10 for a two-week observation period.Furthermore, Soviet goaltending hero Vladislav Tretiak will conduct a goaltending school in Vancouver this summer.Anatoli Tarasov, often called the father of Soviet hockey recently concluded a brief period as advisor to the Canucks.<h2>IN THE PINK</h2>Valentine&rsquo;s Day wasn&rsquo;t so rosy for the Kalamazoo Wings of the International League this year, even though the club&rsquo;s Feb. 14 game against the Muskegon Lumberjacks was played on pink ice.The Lumberjacks spoiled the party by downing the Wings 5-4 in overtime. The largest crowd of the season&mdash;4,109&mdash;at Wings Stadium saw Kalamzaoo&rsquo;s previously-unblemished record on colored ice fall to 6-1-0.The ice is not merely tinted, said Wing PR director Stephen Doherty. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a shocking pink&mdash;a bright, bright pink.&rdquo;In addition, all faceoff dots were repainted into red hearts. Two large red hearts adorned the center ice area.The first Valentine&rsquo;s Day pink ice game was played last year, Doherty says, &ldquo;but back in the &rsquo;80-81 season, we first started dying the ice green for the St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day game.&rdquo;On Mar. 14, the Wings will face off on shamrock-shaped dots for the sixth consecutive year. This year&rsquo;s opponents are the Flint Spirit.<h2>OUAA MARK BROKEN</h2>Don McLaughlin of the University of Toronto scored two goals and added three assists in a 10-1 romp over Windsor Feb. 14, giving the Blues&rsquo; sharpshooter enough points to break the Ontario Universities Athletic Association scoring mark.With one game remaining in the season, Mclaughlin had 64 points on 22 goals and 42 assists. The previous standard of 63 (31-32) was registered by Paul Stothart of Queen&rsquo;s in 198081.If McLaughlin records three assists in the last game of the season, versus Ryerson, he&rsquo;ll tie the league mark for assists in a season. Adam Brown of Guelph had 45 in 1973-74.(See related story on page 34.)<h2>PETES PLAN REUNION</h2>The Peterborough Petes are planning a reunion this June, to mark the Ontario League club&rsquo;s 30th year in existence.Some of the more distinguished Petes&rsquo; alumni include coaches Scotty Bowman, Mike Keenan, Roger Neilson and Gary Green, as well as players Larry Murphy. Bob Gainey, Rick MacLeish, Mickey Redmond and Doug Jarvis.Invitations have gone out to more than 500 ex-Petes. Reunion co-chairman Kevin Ready can be reached at 5 Lansdowne St. W., Peterborough, Ont. K9J 1X8.<h2>GLOBAL COPS CUP</h2>The Toronto-based Global Television Network, in co-operation with Carling O&rsquo;Keefe Breweries, has muscled into coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs in Ontario.Global will televise one of two conference championship playoff series and 50 per cent of the Stanley Cup finals. Hockey Night In Canada will televise the remaining conference championship and Stanley Cup final games.HNIC is the only production unit involved in broadcasting games of the first two rounds. &#9632;

f0009-01

Quinn May Launch Civil Suit Against NHL

<div class="byline">BY BOB MCKENZIE Editor-in-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011408/5427586-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Canadian Governor-General Jeanne Sauve puts a bear hug on Soviet captain Viacheslav Fetisov after Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 concluded in Quebec City. Fetisov surprised Sauve with a peck on the cheek, reflecting the goodwill that enveloped the series. (Canapress Photo Service)</figcaption></div>The greatest player in two great games claimed to have mixed emotions and a slight feeling of emptiness.But the blissful look on the face of Wayne Gretzky moments after the second and final game of Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 suggested otherwise.&ldquo;That,&rdquo; said a fatigued but beaming Team NHL captain, &ldquo;was hockey the way it is supposed to be played.&rdquo;Indeed it was. It was a week in which the rest of pro hockey in North America played up to Gretzky-like levels. And those, too, of the supremely-gifted Soviets.Two sparkling performances. A 4-3 Team NHL win on Feb. 11 at the Le Colisee. And a 5-3 triumph by the Soviets two nights later on Friday the 13th.The temperatures in Quebec City were freezing all week, but those who attended the gala celebration of sport and art&mdash;orchestrated to near-perfection by Quebec Nordique president Marcel Aubut&mdash;left with a warm feeling.About the only criticism, if it could be called that, was that no clear-cut winner emerged from the two-game series.&ldquo;A tie is like kissing your sister,&rdquo; said Team NHL sparkplug Kevin Dineen, whose repeated physical confrontations with Soviet strong man Viacheslav Fetisov were classic-clashes. &ldquo;Who wants to kiss your sister?&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got mixed emotions,&rdquo; added Gretzky, &ldquo;because we&rsquo;re disappointed at not having won both games, but we&rsquo;re proud to split. Does that make sense? I think we all would have loved a third game.&rdquo;Maybe so, but the fear exists that had a third game been played and were the Soviets to prevail, North Americans would too quickly forget the beauty and grace of the games, remembering only that Team NHL lost an international challenge.And maybe, in a series such as Rendez-vous, keeping score is not appropriate&mdash;however alien that may be in a sports world that demands winners and losers.&ldquo;I just hope the people (of North America) realize how very good the Soviets are,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;The point is, we&rsquo;re never going to dominate them. They&rsquo;re never going to dominate us.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to play against them because they force you to raise your skill level a notch or two. And I know they like to play us, too. They like the competitive challenge we offer them, which makes them better players, too.&rdquo;And that, in a nutshell, was what Rendezvous &rsquo;87 was all about.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;It&rsquo;s great to play against them because they force you to raise your skill level a notch or two. And I know they like to play us, too. &lsquo; &mdash;Gretzky</blockquote>When Gretzky and Fetisov concluded the post-series handshake ritual by embracing each other and exchanging their jerseys&mdash;Gretzky&rsquo;s 99 for Fetisov&rsquo;s 2&mdash;and the appreciative Soviets raised their sticks in a salute to the many fans who remained on hand, you knew it was no ordinary hockey series.Gretzky then embraced smiling Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov. NHL president John Ziegler and NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Alan Eagleson galloped across the ice at breakneck speed to congratulate Tikhonov. They came, they saw, they hugged, and they got, as is Soviet custom, pecks on the cheek.What Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 lacked in the nailbiting intensity of previous international showdowns&mdash;the Summit Series of 1972 and the 1976 and 1984 Canada Cups, to name a few&mdash;it made up for with a strong spirit of kinship and commitment to fast but clean hockey.Even the most hard-boiled cynics at Rendezvous were wondering if there wasn&rsquo;t something to all this love, peace and happiness stuff after all.Tikhonov thought so.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very important that everybody realize that it&rsquo;s not important that Team NHL didn&rsquo;t win this series or that the Soviet Union didn&rsquo;t win this series,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What is important is that hockey was the winner.&ldquo;It does not matter if we play two games or five games or eight games. Just the opportunity to play against each other is what is significant. And because of how important meetings between our countries such as this are, it is something that should be continued.&rdquo;Soviet right winger Vladimir Krutov, who scored two goals and assumed a dominant role in Game Two, echoed Tikhonov&rsquo;s words.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think of this so much as a series,&rdquo; said the player they call &lsquo;Tank,&rsquo; &ldquo;but just as a meeting of the best players in the world.&rdquo;For players such as Team NHL&rsquo;s Dave Poulin, a Philadelphia Flyer who was selected for his defensive abilities, the entire week was a revelation. It was an experience he&rsquo;ll never forget.&ldquo;You just cannot believe how much I learned about the game of hockey in just one week,&rdquo; said Poulin, who scored the winning goal in Game One.&ldquo;You find out what you are capable of when you are elevated to heights; what you can draw from other star players. I think we answered the challenge quite nicely.&ldquo;All in all, I&rsquo;ve enjoyed this as much as anything I&rsquo;ve ever done. There was pressure, but there was a certain looseness to it. There was a real camaraderie. I&rsquo;m surprised at how quickly we came together as a team.&rdquo;Competitively, that was an advantage for the Soviets, whose five-man units play together for club teams at home. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care what anybody says,&rdquo; added Gretzky, fortunate enough to play with his Oiler linemates Esa Tikkanen and Jari Kurri, &ldquo;that is a really big advantage.&rdquo;The immense overall success of the series served to obscure some of the individual stories of the two games.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;It does not matter if we play two games or five games or eight games. Just the opportunity to play against each other is what is significant. &lsquo; &mdash;Tikhonov</blockquote>Valery Kamensky, a 20-year-old center, showed why he&rsquo;s the rising star in Soviet hockey. The young Soviet, chosen as the top visiting player in the tournament, scored two goals and an assist in Game Two to go along with a strong effort in Game One,Soviet netminder Evgeny Belosheikin was impressive throughout and the vaunted five-man unit of Krutov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov, Alexei Kasatonov and Fetisov rebounded from a mediocre showing in Game One to be a dominant force in Game Two.On Team NHL, arch-rival coaches Jean Perron and Michel Bergeron co-existed peacefully. Defensive stalwarts such as Rod Lang way, Rick Green, Dineen and Poulin shone in Game One. Mark Messier, an offensive force in the NHL, reverted to a primarily defensive role and assumed a mantle of leadership. Netminder Grant Fuhr was equal to all but a few challenges and what can be said of Gretzky, the most dominant individual from either team.He was selected Team NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player and received a new car for his troubles. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my 11th, I think,&rdquo; he said. In fact, said Gretzky&rsquo;s corporate advisor Mike Barnett, it&rsquo;s his 10th. But what&rsquo;s a car here or there.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll give it to my dad,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;I bought him a car before but he said it was too big and he wouldn&rsquo;t drive it. This one, it looks to be just the right size. I think he&rsquo;ll drive this one.&rdquo;Walter Gretzky, then, came away from Rendez-vous with a new car. Everybody else settled for good feelings.&ldquo;I would compare it to a mini-Olympics,&rdquo; said Aubut, the mastermind behind the entire exciting week that emphasized the arts and entertainment to the same degree as the hockey games.There was a feast featuring chefs of the world, a gala variety show that earned rave reviews, a lavish nighttime parade featuring floats representing NHL clubs&mdash;except Toronto, of course, by decree of Harold Ballard&mdash;an international rock show, a businessman&rsquo;s luncheon and fashion extravaganzas galore.&ldquo;We had the best in the world in every category,&rdquo; Aubut said. &ldquo;That, excellence, was the theme of the week. The hockey, so clean, so fast, that was the cherry on the cake.&ldquo;In all modesty, I can&rsquo;t say I would change one single thing about it. Not one.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

A Split Decision!

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Bob McKenzie</div>If the management committee of Team NHL was looking for vindication, they found it in Game One of Rendez-vous &rsquo;87.Second-guessed and criticized for some of their selections&mdash;notably big, lumbering defensemen such as Rod Langway and Rick Green&mdash;Team NHL&rsquo;s 4-3 decision over the Soviets was a triumph of substance over style.&ldquo;Some people call them big and slow, I call them big and smart,&rdquo; said Team NHL captain Wayne Gretzky, after the game Feb. 11.&ldquo;I think the general managers did a very good job in selecting the defensive players to represent Team NHL.&rdquo; said head coach Jean Perron. &ldquo;They made the right decision&hellip;the team played a controlled, disciplined game.&rdquo;In fact, it&rsquo;s difficult to remember an international game when the professional players exhibited so much restraint.Certainly the Soviets were surprised.&ldquo;We always thought they played an aggressive game.&rdquo; said Soviet star Sergei Makarov. &ldquo;The aggression wasn&rsquo;t there tonight. We did not react to that.&rdquo;The Soviets played an extremely tentative first period, rarely going to the attack. When they did, strong Team NHL defense prevailed.&ldquo;We were trying to figure out how the NHL was going to play,&rdquo; Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t get a chance to set up.&rdquo;The lone goal of the first period came when Edmonton Oiler linemates Esa Tikkanen and Gretzky set up Jari Kurri.The tempo increased in the second period, with both teams missing numerous scoring opportunities. Glenn Anderson beat Soviet netminder Evgeny Belosheikin to make it 2-0 but the Soviets came back less than two minutes later on a soft goal by Alexei Kasatonov.<h2>GAME ONE</h2>The big defenseman was deep in the slot and directed a weak rolling puck at Team NHL goalie Grant Fuhr. Fuhr bent down to scoop it up, but missed.The third period was the best-played of the game as the Soviets&rsquo; vaunted attack got into high gear.They tied it early in the third on a goal by Viacheslav Bykov. Kevin Dineen&rsquo;s goal restored the one-goal lead, only to have Anatoli Semenov score on a breakaway a minute later to tie the game again.Team NHL&rsquo;s textbook defensive play began breaking down under the weight of the Soviet attack. The Quebec City fans even booed as starting center Mario Lemieux made a halfhearted effort to pick up a loose puck just outside the Soviet blue line.Thirty seconds later, Lemieux regained possession, skated over the blue line and directed a shot towards linemate Dave Poulin, who tipped it past Belosheikin with 1:15 left in the game.&ldquo;I was just trying to take the two defensemen out of the play,&rdquo; said Poulin, who along with Dineen and center Dale Hawerchuk played a strong two-way game in shutting down the Soviets&rsquo; top line of Igor Larionov, Valdimir Krutov and Makarov.Officiating, which had been a major pregame concern because Soviet Nikolai Morozov was said to be in over his head, was not a problem.Team NHL was assessed four hooking minors&mdash;all of them justified. The Soviets received only a bench minor for too many men on the ice, called by linesman Ron Finn.Mark Messier&mdash;whose major contribution was in a defensive role&mdash;was named Team NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player, but it probably should have gone to Langway, Green or Poulin.Makarov was the Soviets&rsquo; MVP.&ldquo;This team has come together very fast,&rdquo; Messier said of Team NHL. &ldquo;We showed tonight that we can adjust to just about any kind of situation. We took our time. We didn&rsquo;t panic over their reputation. It paid off.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02958/5427617-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="719" height="1398"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Gusarov rubs it in to Claude Lemieux of Team NHL. (Canapress Photo Service)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-02

Defense Never Rested

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Bob McKenzie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011285/5427648-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mikhail Tatarinov is on the receiving end of a jolting check from Dave Poulin, who scored the winning goal for Team NHL in Game One. Poulin, captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, joined Dale Hawerchuk and Kevin Dineen on the NHL checking unit assigned to cover Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov.</figcaption></div>It was a game in which the Soviet Union provided proof. Proof that:&bull; The Big Red Machine can still fire on all cylinders&mdash;despite evidence of it coughing and sputtering from time to time.&bull; Center Igor Larionov, left winger Sergei Makarov, right winger Vladimir Krutov and defensemen Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov are the best five-man unit in all of hockey.&bull; Twenty-year-old Valery Kamensky is the rising young star of the Soviet hockey program.It all came in the form of an impressive 5-3 win over Team NHL in Game Two of Rendezvous &rsquo;87, Feb. 13 in Quebec City, evening the series at 1-1 and leaving the two teams, fittingly, co-champions.&ldquo;After the first game we had to strengthen our attack and make sure we took a lot more shots on goal,&rdquo; said Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov. &ldquo;The first game made us realize that we had to have a much quicker tempo and pace,&rdquo;Considering that Team NHL captain Wayne Gretzky had called Game One the &ldquo;fastest&rdquo; he had ever played in, Tikhonov&rsquo;s aim was high.But on the mark, too.&ldquo;It was a very big surprise to me that two games back-to-back in this fashion were played at such a high level of quality without any deterioration of play at all,&rdquo; Tikhonov added. &ldquo;There was a remarkable continuation of great hockey throughout both games. These two games are some of the greatest hockey you will ever see. Both of these games were played with great discipline&mdash;much more so than in previous meetings.&rdquo;With Dave Newell refereeing, the Soviets were shorthanded five times to Team NHL&rsquo;s once.Though two of the NHL&rsquo;s three goals came on power plays, the Soviets&rsquo; penalty killing, notably that of Makarov and Krutov, was inspirational.It didn&rsquo;t take long for Team NHL to capitalize on its first power play. Ten seconds into the Soviets&rsquo; first minor, Mark Messier beat netminder Evgeny Belosheikin.Team NHL controlled play for the first half of the first period, but the Soviets came on strongly in the second half.That surge carried into the second period, when, at 3:13, Kamensky scored the first of his two goals. Two minutes later, the Soviets&rsquo; fearsome fivesome went to work with a slick play that netted Krutov a goal.By the middle of the period, though, another dramatic shift occurred. Team NHL took complete control, especially when Gretzky was on the ice. But the pros were unable to finish against Belosheikin.<h2>GAME TWO</h2>With just 19 seconds left in a period dominated by Team NHL, Kamensky illustrated his phenomenal offensive skills with an effort that left defensemen Rick Green and Rod Langway and netminder Grant Fuhr flat on the ice&hellip;and the puck in the net.&ldquo;That third goal was the turning point,&rdquo; said NHL coach Jean Perron. &ldquo;All the guys thought we had the puck (off the faceoff). We won (most of the) faceoffs, but one-on-one they were so good.&rdquo;Both teams had excellent chances to open the final period. Gretzky set up Normand Rochefort, whose shot hit Belosheikin and then the crossbar. Moments later, Fuhr made an outstanding save on Kamensky, who had a clearcut breakaway from the blue line in.Finally, on a power play, defenseman Doug Wilson brought the NHL to within one goal. But less than two minutes later, Krutov scored his second goal of the game.Andrei Khomutov made it 5-2 with 3:01 to play. Although Team NHL rallied to get many more good scoring chances. Ray Bourque&rsquo;s marker at 19:23 was all they could manage. &#9632;

f0011-01

Shining Soviets Earn Series Split

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011383/5427679-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Shanahan brandishes gold medal given Team Jr. Canada members by a British Columbia radio station. Shanahan advises the CAHA to strongly oppose the IIHF suspensions. (Photo by Sam McLeod)</figcaption></div>Canadian Major Junior Hockey League president Ed Chynoweth has vowed his group will not participate in the next World Junior Championship, saying it won&rsquo;t be bullied by the International Ice Hockey Federation.The pullout is in protest of a series of 18month suspensions, levied by the 11HF to all but two of the players involved in the Canada-Soviet Union bench-clearing brawl during the last game of the 1987 tournament in Czechoslovakia.&ldquo;You could have knocked me off the chair with a feather when they gave the announcement,&rdquo; said Chynoweth, who attended the IIHF disciplinary committee meeting Jan. 9 in Vienna as an observer.The five-man committee has recommended that all but goaltenders Jimmy Waite of Canada and Valery Ivannikov of the Soviet Union be banned from international competition, including the Olympic Games, until June 30, 1988, and that coaches Bert Templeton and Pat Burns of Canada, and Vladimir Vasiliev and Valentin Gureev of the Soviet Union, be barred until Dec. 31,1989.IIHF president Gunther Sabetzki said the suspensions aren&rsquo;t just a recommendation but a certainty, and will be approved by the general congress in April during the World Championships in Vienna.Both countries plan to appeal the suspensions and have the backing of their governments.&ldquo;Mr. Sabetzki has to realize that he is dealing with two of the world&rsquo;s hockey superpowers,&rdquo; said Canadian sports minister Otto Jelinek. &ldquo;The Soviet Union and Canada are in total agreement on this.&rdquo;The Amateur Hockey Association of the United States also supports a review of the suspensions. AHAUS president Walter Bush said the debate is far from over.The disciplinary committee consisted of Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Murray Costello, IIHF general secretary Jan-Ake Edvinsson of Sweden, Ernst Eichler of West Germany, Jan Wycisk of Poland and Hans Dobida of Austria. Dobida was chairman and did not vote. Costello cast the only dissenting vote, saying the penalties were far too harsh.Sabetzki ordered the Jan. 4 concluding game abandoned, the two teams expelled from the tournament, and all evidence of their participation stricken from the record, after they engaged in a bench-clearing brawl midway through the second period. Sabetzki admitted he ignored the IIHF rule book in doing so.Although referee Hans Roenning of Norway indicated two Soviet players were the first to leave the bench, initiating the charge by the Canadians, there was no reference or allowance for that in the committee&rsquo;s report.Chynoweth attended on behalf of the CMJHL, which supplied 17 of 20 players on the Canadian team, the two coaches and the two trainers.Chynoweth said he and Costello met with Sabetzki in Dusseldorf prior to the Vienna meeting &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t think there is any doubt in the world that before we got there the decision had been reached. But it&rsquo;s a good thing we were there or our guys would have got life.&rdquo;CAHA executive director Hal Lewis said it&rsquo;s his understanding that Sabetzki sought four-year suspensions for all concerned, as well as prohibition of Canada and the Soviet Union from any international events for four years. The 1988 World Junior Championships is scheduled for Leningrad.&ldquo;The IIHF leaves a hell of a lot to be desired,&rdquo; Lewis said. &ldquo;If you attend any of the meetings, you&rsquo;d see it&rsquo;s too much of a dictatorship and there&rsquo;s not much chance of this being overturned.&rdquo;Ontario League commissioner Dave Branch suggested withdrawal the day the suspensions were announced.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m flabbergasted by the suspensions, but actually not very shocked,&rdquo; Branch said, &ldquo;when you consider that Sabetzki made his own rules and the committee, by this response, is supporting him. I can&rsquo;t believe there will be much of an avenue of appeal given the obvious lack of democracy at that level.&ldquo;Sabetzki over-reacted, his emotions got the better of him. He put himself in a corner and he&rsquo;s not about to say he erred. But I really feel we in Canadian hockey have a very large obligation to protect the integrity of the players and coaches on that team. We must show our displeasure and if that means not going to next year&rsquo;s World Championship, I would certainly support that.&rdquo;London Knights&rsquo; owner Howard Darwin, who also co-owns Ottawa 67&rsquo;s, has already pledged that neither OHL team will supply players to next year&rsquo;s national junior squad.&ldquo;I would tell the IIHF to go (deleted) themselves,&rdquo; Darwin said. &ldquo;Why go through all this hassle? If the CAHA has any guts at all, they&rsquo;d say we&rsquo;re out right now&mdash;and the timing is beautiful, with the 1987 championship in Leningrad.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I&rsquo;m flabbergasted by the suspensions, but actually not very shocked, when you consider that Sabetzki made his own rules and the committee, by this response, is supporting him.&rsquo; &mdash;Branch</blockquote>&ldquo;The only thing Sabetzki and those people over there understand is money. If we&rsquo;d told them we weren&rsquo;t coming and they could shove their tournament, they&rsquo;d damn well look at this in a different light. That&rsquo;s been proven before.&rdquo;National junior team member Brendan Shanahan, captain of the Knights, said the CAHA stands to lose the confidence of young Canadian players if it doesn&rsquo;t act quickly and firmly in protest against the IIHF decision.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think this program is going to be too attractive to up-and-coming young players who see that in time of crisis we are not supported by our own people,&rdquo; said Shanahan, 18.&ldquo;If the CAHA doesn&rsquo;t take a stand on this, the suspension will be irrelevant to all the players who are affected, because I don&rsquo;t think they would want to represent the CAHA again. I&rsquo;d love to play for my country again and I think it&rsquo;s important that the CAHA know that, but if they&rsquo;re not going to fight for us, why should we be bothered with their program?&ldquo;Through the first crisis (the initial decision in Czechoslovakia), they just backed right off. The IIHF made a decision and we went home. Two weeks later, the CAHA said it wasn&rsquo;t prepared for what happened. Now all of a sudden there&rsquo;s another crisis&mdash;and the CAHA had better get their mitts on for this one because there&rsquo;s going to be a big fight. What it comes down to is, how badly does the CAHA want its players?&rdquo;CAHA technical director Dennis McDonald, also director of operations for the national junior team, compared dealing with the IIHF to walking up a &ldquo;down&rdquo; escalator.&ldquo;Our goal has always been to get the kids off,&rdquo; McDonald said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve paid the supreme penalty already&mdash;losing their medals.&ldquo;We appreciate any assurances you can give the kids because I&rsquo;m sure they see this great big organization sitting on its thumbs. But I know there has been no rest for any of us and there isn&rsquo;t a day that goes by that we&rsquo;re not thinking about what we could have done and what we can still do. We just don&rsquo;t want to reveal our entire game plan.&rdquo;According to Chynoweth, the game might already be over.<h2>GIFT OF GOLD &#9632;</h2>

f0012-01

Outrage Greets IIHF Ruling

<div class="byline">Stan Fischler</div>Sigmund Freud, where are you now that the Philadelphia Flyers need you?Ho, boy, are the Broad Street Bullies in deep soot.It&rsquo;s almost March and, already, the media memory bank is recalling how lionlike the Flyers were, exactly a year ago, and how they went &ldquo;Bah-bah&rdquo; like black sheep, when the Rangers got through with them in April.&ldquo;Prediction,&rdquo; opines Helene Elliott in Newsday, &ldquo;it will be another long summer in Philadelphia, despite the Flyers&rsquo; regular-season runaway in the Patrick Division.&rdquo;Others, such as Craig Wolff of the New York Times, skewered Mike Keenan&rsquo;s sextet for their love affair with brutality. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the style of hockey that is played here (Philadelphia), and apparently encouraged. During the intermissions the fans watch a promotional tape shown on six enlarged screens of the Flyers literally in battle and in conquest. The film only served to reinforce the point made on the ice: fighting is a valued art here.&rdquo;Stuff like that makes the Flyers paranoid. They get the feeling that the whole NHL is against them, and that&rsquo;s why they need a Freud. They need a good psychologist who can assure them that a little headbopping is quite all right in a violent game like hockey.But wait a minute; the Bullies do have such a shrink. His name is Steven Rosenberg, and he&rsquo;s been faithfully servicing the Flyers for the last few years. He helped them surmount the Pelle Lindbergh tragedy, and is available to treat traumas and assorted puck-related mental tribulations like being bounced out of the playoffs in the first round.&ldquo;Almost every Flyer has come to me at one time or another,&rdquo; Dr. Rosenberg reveals. &ldquo;Sometimes they just come up to me and say, I need a session.&rsquo; I remember a rookie, Glen Seabrooke, was so nervous before a pre-season game, that he just needed someone to talk to. I gave him a relaxation tape and he went out and scored a goal.&rdquo;The good doctor has a wonderful explanation of the Flyers&rsquo; playoff defeat. You see, it wasn&rsquo;t so much that the Rangers were better, as it was that the Flyers had been through a hellish season.&ldquo;There was definitely a burnout factor,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;and the Pelle Lindberg incident was difficult to remove. This year is different. The pressure is off and there&rsquo;s a very positive attitude. On top of that, we have a new program: heart late control.&rdquo;Heart what?&ldquo;E.J. McGuire (assistant coach) and I have worked it out. Players can effectively teach themselves to control their heart rates by slowing down during the course of a game, when on the bench. We use a bio-feedback device. Some players have used it this year and really excelled.&rdquo;Who are they?&ldquo;Sorry, that&rsquo;s top secret.&rdquo;Negative has been the kind of press the Flyers have been getting for their schoolyard stomp-on-you tactics, A few weeks ago goalie Ron Hextall was reamed by New York Post reporter Hugh Delano for a &ldquo;sneak attack&rdquo; on Devils&rsquo; goalie Alain Chevrier.The Times withers the Flyers for producing a highlight film in which one Flyer flips an opposing player on his back and another Philly player sends an opponent sprawling with one punch. This, when the NHL supposedly is curbing violence.What about that, Dr. Rosenberg?&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t see ourselves as a brute of a team,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Everyone looks out for everyone else on the team. That explains why the Flyers have been involved in some fights.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011304/5427710-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="332" height="439"></div>And the bloodthirsty film?&ldquo;The fans like fighting, so it&rsquo;s used as a promotion, but that may be wrong. For years the Flyers have had the Broad Street Bullies image and it has stuck. Maybe it&rsquo;s the fault of the media and the PR department. We should be promoted as nice guys who do not always finish last.&rdquo;Then, afterapause: &ldquo;After all, Mike Keenan was once a member of a rock group in college called &lsquo;The Nice Guys.&rsquo; &ldquo;<h2>30-SECOND THIRD DEGREE</h2>St. Louis Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin, please take the stand.Q: The backstabbers were saying that you&rsquo;d fail because you had so little coaching experience.MARTIN: This is my first year in the NHL, but my 11th as a coach (at all levels). Hockey has changed. NHL teams are looking for career coaches. I&rsquo;m no different than Mike Keenan. Bryan Murray, Tom Webster, Ted Sator, Jean Perron and Bob Johnson. All coached for several years on lower levels. My drawback was coming into the NHL as a head coach, though. I didn&rsquo;t know the league very well. But my assistant coaches and others have helped me.Q: Would you dare ask rival NHL coaches to help you?MARTIN: I did. I know Keenan very well, Roger Neilson and I have worked together for the past five summers and I lived in his place in Peterborough for two years, so I didn&rsquo;t mind talking to him. Also Murray. I had questions and discussed things with them.Q: You appear to be without emotion.MARTIN: My predecessor. Jacques Demers, got very emotionally involved and that&rsquo;s been a very effective style for him. You are what you are. Me, I&rsquo;m low key&mdash;organized and stable&mdash;as far as the emotional part goes. I feel I can deal with controversy, upsets and adversity. Maybe I&rsquo;m low-key, but I&rsquo;m also enthusiastic. At game time I get emotionally involved. But as an individual, I&rsquo;ve always been stable.Q: What about the controversy about Brian Sutter not being on the Blues&rsquo; bench with you although he had been injured? He was on the bench last year with Demers.MARTIN: I don&rsquo;t know if there was controversy or not, but I do know that Brian is the best captain in the NHL, an outstanding individual who&rsquo;s been very supportive. When he got injured, I didn&rsquo;t come forward and ask him to come on the bench, and he didn&rsquo;t come and ask. The way I look at it is this: We have an assistant coach on the bench and Brian is upstairs in the pressbox, providing the coaching staff with feedback. And he helps in the dressing room. This all stemmed from his brother, Darryl, being on the Blackhawks&rsquo; bench. But what people forget is that the assistant coach, Cliff Koroll, had been out with a bleeding ulcer, so Darryl was able to fit in well.Q: You had been a goalie and now you&rsquo;re a coach. Who are&mdash;or were&mdash;your idols in both departments?MARTIN: As goalies, Glenn Hall was my first idol, then Tony Esposito and Ken Dryden. As coaches, Al Arbour and Scotty Bowman. They were two of the greatest in the game. &#9632;

f0013-01

Flyers Getting To Heart Of The Matter

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;From A to Z Tor Zombo), there is no shortage of reasons for the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; remarkable improvement this season.They were first in the Norris Division at the break for Rendez-vous, a point ahead of Minnesota after sweeping the North Stars for the second time this season.Gerard Gallant continued to score big goals&mdash;he got the winner as the Wings rallied for three third-period goals in the 5-3 victory at Bloomington.Steve Yzerman continued to pile up the points&mdash;64 at last count&mdash;and was within striking distance of his first 100-point season.Greg Stefan continued to frustrate the North Stars, rolling up his fourth straight victory against them.And Rick Zombo continued to do what he has done for the past month or so, with very little attention or fanfare.Zombo, 23, has filled in so well on defense that he&rsquo;s no longer just a fillin. He&rsquo;s earned his stripes as a regular.&ldquo;I was told before the season started that he was very questionable,&rdquo; coach Jacques Demers said. &ldquo;But I liked him. He was close to making the team in training camp. He was one of the last players we cut, with the thinking that if he worked on a few things at Adirondack (American League) he&rsquo;d be back.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02950/5427748-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="594" height="789"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gerard Gallant has continued to provide the Red Wings with important goals.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a credit to Billy Dineen (the Adirondack coach). He&rsquo;s an invaluable guy to have in our organization. I&rsquo;ll give you an example: If we could send (underager) Steve Chiasson to the American Hockey League, I&rsquo;d prefer to have him there for a while, with Dineen, in a learning league.&rdquo;&ldquo;The reason we traded Randy Ladouceur to Hartford (for Dave Ban) is because we felt Zombo was ready to play. We had extra defensemen. When we gave him a chance to play, he played well.&rdquo;Zombo is a native of the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines. He left home at the age of 16 to play youth hockey in the Toronto area. It&rsquo;s not unusual for a Canadian boy to leave home at that age to pursue a hockey career, but it&rsquo;s quite uncommon among Americans.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03751/5427741-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="182" height="136"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2>&ldquo;It was a point in my life when I had to make a decision,&rdquo; Zombo said. &ldquo;If I had stayed in Chicago, I would not have improved. Due to peer pressure and everything else, Chicago wasn&rsquo;t the place to be if you wanted a career in hockey.&rdquo;He passed up a chance to play major junior with the Cornwall Royals because, &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t figure the Quebec League was the place for me to go,&rdquo; and eventually wound up at the University of North Dakota. He was drafted by the Wings before his freshman season and turned pro after three years, with a year of collegiate eligibility remaining.In his third professional season, he is finally getting a chance to play regularly in the National Hockey League and, with each game, his confidence has swelled and his performance improved.&ldquo;All I wanted was an opportunity to play,&rdquo; Zombo said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting more and more ice time. I feel comfortable. I feel part of the team. When you first get called up, you don&rsquo;t want to make a mistake. It&rsquo;s a difficult to play that way.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always room for improvement but at this point it&rsquo;s all mental.&rdquo;Demers has been impressed.&ldquo;He very seldom makes a bad mistake,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;Like everybody else, he makes mistakes but they&rsquo;re not costly mistakes.&rdquo;WINGS WIRE&mdash;The Wings had only six games left in the final 25 against Norris Division opponents. Good or bad? &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in the basement and looking for points, you could really suffer,&rdquo; Jacques Demers said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t control your own destiny. When you&rsquo;re ahead, you can control it.&rdquo;&hellip;When all else fails, the owners take over. Mike Hitch and Michael Shanahan, owner of the Blues, will meet in an effort to resolve the Demers compensation matter. &#9632;

f0013-02

Zombo Making Good On Chance To Play

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>The parade of Phil Esposito&rsquo;s buddies back to Broadway&mdash;Ron Duguay is the latest&mdash;will continue when Nick Fotiu is finished with the Flames. Fotiu, the most popular Blueshirt of the decade, has a PR job waiting for him at Madison Square Garden the minute he forsakes stickhandling for gladhanding&hellip;The Penguins&rsquo; first GM, Jack Riley, picks a 12-man all-time Pitt NHL team: goalies Les Binkley and Jim Rutherford; defensemen Tim Horton, Dave Burrows. Ron Stackhouse and Randy Carlyle; and forwards Jean Pronovost, Rick Kehoe, Mario Lemieux. Syl Apps Jr. Lowell MacDonald and Vic Hadfield. Riley admits he&rsquo;s tempted to add third-year rearguard Doug Bodger &ldquo;but I haven&rsquo;t seen enough of him.&rdquo;Given a choice of all NHL players for the &ldquo;perfect NHL power play,&rdquo; Jacques Demers picks &ldquo;Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey at the points with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Jari Kurri up front.&rdquo;&hellip;Chris Nilan rates the Bruins&rsquo; Jay Miller the best NHL fighter&mdash;after the Habs&rsquo; own John Kordic. He picks Jim Kyte, Dave Brown and Kevin McClelland third to fifth best. Asked if he thinks he&rsquo;s the best with his dukes, Kordic merely shrugs his shoulders and says, &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have to ask Chris.&rdquo; Nilan doesn&rsquo;t rate Torrie Robertson among the best, but adds, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s got more guts than anybody.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011360/5427786-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="364" height="514"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Kordic</figcaption></div>Reverberations of the Blues&rsquo; sale from Harry Ornest to Mike Shanahan are still being felt. Shanahan reveals he nearly broke off negotiations at a meeting involving Ornest and Harry&rsquo;s lawyer, Joel McCabe Smith. Shanahan says he resented Smith sitting across the table chewing tobacco. &ldquo;If this had been a normal business deal, I probably would have walked away,&rdquo; says Shanahan. Ornest sizzles in return: &ldquo;Shanahan is such a prude,&rdquo; he tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;Sure, Joel occasionally has a little snuff in his bottom cheek. So what? It happened in his own office! And we took Shanahan to lunch. What kind of BS is that? Here&rsquo;s a guy who&rsquo;s got less than $300,000 cash of his own invested in the hockey club.&rdquo;&hellip;Brent Ashton&rsquo;s arrival in Detroit reminds defenseman Dave Lewis that Brent, now 26, was the stickboy on Dave&rsquo;s junior team in Saskatoon. Ashton was traded from New Jersey to Minnesota in 1983 for Lewis, who is 33 and in his 14th NHL season.Short Memory Dep&rsquo;t.: When Herb Brooks led the U.S. Olympic team to its 1980 gold medal, American Express was one of the corporations that promoted the club after the miracle. Brooks laments, &ldquo;American Express cancelled my card a couple of months ago for a late payment. Now they&rsquo;re sending letters, wanting me back as a customer!&rdquo;&hellip;Ex-Bruin Normand Leveille continues his rehabilitation from his career-ending cerebral hemorrhage which occurred on Oct. 23, 1982. Leveille receives a monthly $1,650 workman&rsquo;s compensation check and $900 a month from social security. His major challenge is improving his speech, which has been a problem since the attack four and a half year ago&hellip;Lanny McDonald&rsquo;s autobiography, ghosted by Steve Simmons, is almost finished. Reports indicate it will make for juicy reading.Ted Sator&rsquo;s Buffalo renaissance reminds Washington broadcaster Mike Fornes of the time Sator was coaching an inferior college team against a heavily-favored foe. &ldquo;The other coach promised Sator he&rsquo;d keep the score down,&rdquo; says Fornes. &ldquo;Sator&rsquo;s club won it 6-0, and after the game Ted went over and thanked the guy for I &lsquo;keeping the score down.&rdquo;&hellip;Tiger Williams opines that one of the Penguins&rsquo; problems is that too many Pitt players &ldquo;spend too much time looking for (Mario) Lemieux&mdash;on the road.&rdquo;&hellip;Minnesota insiders say Frantisek Musil&rsquo;s failure to live up to his pre-season billing has been his inability to adjust to the NHL&rsquo;s continually-rapid pace.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021063/5427779-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="371" height="576"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ted Sator</figcaption></div>Mikko Makela is the &ldquo;mystery guest&rdquo; on a &ldquo;To Tell The Truth&rdquo;-type commercial the Islanders are airing. The three contestants speak, trying to persuade the announcer each is the Finnish forward. The Isles&rsquo; Duane Sutter got a tape of it and loaned it to brother Ron of the Flyers. When the clubs next met, Makela and Sutter lined up for the face-off. Ron disarmed Mikko just as the puck was dropped, with the compliment, &ldquo;that was a nice commercial you did.&rdquo;&hellip;Don&rsquo;t be surprised if the NHL governors are urged, at the June meetings, to consider a proposal to make players more visible to the fans. Jacques Demers, among the league&rsquo;s most colorful coaches, has been campaigning to have the skaters remove their helmets when they leave the ice at the end of a game&hellip;A Nordiques&rsquo; fan club is flourishing in, of all places, Montreal. At last count it numbered more than 1,000 members. &#9632;

f0014-01

Ex-Ranger Favorite Expected To Return

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div>BUFFALO&mdash;It&rsquo;s been a long time since Mike Ramsey first lined up to face Soviet competition.But it&rsquo;s rarely been a long time between meetings for the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; defenseman.Ramsey, who represented Team USA in the memorable 1980 Olympics, turned pro that same season.It&rsquo;s sterns he&rsquo;s been playing against the Soviets ever since.&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;ve seen them a lot since then, but this isn&rsquo;t at all like the Olympics,&rdquo; Ramsey said in discussing his participation in the two-game Soviet series at Rendez-vous &rsquo;87.&ldquo;I look at these things now as NHL players vs. Soviet players. I don&rsquo;t make a big deal about country vs. country.&rdquo;Ramsey, Buffalo&rsquo;s first pick in the 1979 entry draft, played a regular shift in the USA&rsquo;s 4-3 triumph over the Soviets in 1980. He also scored Team USA&rsquo;s only goal in a 2-1 loss to them during the 1984 Canada Cup Series. He was on the ice in Buffalo when the Moscow Dynamo team defeated the Sabres during a Soviet tour in January of 1986.He even played against some of the most famous names in Soviet hockey&mdash;Aleksey Kasatonov, Vladimir Krutov and Igor Larionov&mdash;when they were not so well known, at the 1979 Junior World Championships.&ldquo;This (Rendez-vous) is totally different than the Olympics,&rdquo; said Ramsey. &ldquo;The Olympics are something that you prepare all year for. Here we&rsquo;ve just come together for a couple of games, but it&rsquo;s still a good shot in the arm for the NHL.&rdquo;Ramsey said playing the Soviets in any forum is still a test of personal achivement but much of the mystery of the Soviet game is gone.&ldquo;I told Glenn Anderson (of the Edmonton Oilers) that playing against them is the same as when we play against the Oilers.&ldquo;You have to be prepared for anything. In a regular NHL game you expect the forwards to dump the puck in from time to time, but against these guys you have to work yourself into position to defend against their passes. You have to be aware all the time that they are trying to get the puck past you in order to make a play.&ldquo;It keeps you on your toes all the time.&rdquo;Ramsey lately had not only been on his toes, but he&rsquo;d climbed back on top of his game.Earlier this season his plus-minus figure reached a woeful minus-13, but in recent weeks the slide not only had been halted. but Ramsey had moved to a plus-three, a remarkable turnaround.Part of that has come about because the Sabres are, as a team, playing better than they were earlier in the season. They were 11-9-2 since Ted Sator took over and won four of their five starts heading into the all-star break.Another plus on Ramsey&rsquo;s behalf had been the introduction of former Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; defenseman Tom Kurvers into the lineup.Kurvers, obtained earlier this season for a second-round draft pick in 1988, played with several Sabres in the beginning, but lately had settled alongside Ramsey and the two have been the team&rsquo;s most effective defensive pairing.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03746/5427817-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="182" height="137"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2>A third factor is one that has been both a plus and a problem for Ramsey&mdash;a stronger second half.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why and I certainly don&rsquo;t want it to be this way, but I always seem to be a slow starter. You look at my record and it seems I&rsquo;m not as effective in the begining of the year as I am in the end.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m stronger as the season goes on, but I&rsquo;d like to be able to be that way right from the start.&rdquo;Given the hit Ramsey put on Soviet all-world defenseman Vyacheslav Fetisov in game one of the Rendezvous series, it&rsquo;s likely me Russians would prefer to catch Ramsey when he&rsquo;s not at his best too.SABREPOINTS&mdash;Goaltender Tom Barrasso was in the net for five straight starts leading up to the break. Barrasso compiled a 4-1 record and at one point had a streak of three straight one-goal games. The one loss in the series was crucial, however. The Quebec Nordiques. the one team the Sabres have a chance of overtaking for a playoff spot this season, defeated the Sabres in Quebec. &#9632;

f0014-03

Meeting The Soviet Stars Familiar Test For Ramsey

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>EDMONTON&mdash;The room is the MASH unit and emergency ward at St. Elsewhere all wrapped up in a tiny area of 300 square feet.It&rsquo;s only slightly more off-limits than the Pentagon and is presided over by Peter Millar, who would allow prying media members access only over his dead body. Entrance requirements are a jock and bona fide limp.It&rsquo;s the Oilers&rsquo; trainers&rsquo; room, the only site of National Hockey League activity in Edmonton during the Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 break.The place was bustling.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure there&rsquo;s a defenseman on this team who isn&rsquo;t hurt right now,&rdquo; muttered Craig Muni, on hand for therapy to two bad knees.The Oilers were downright tired heading into the six-day break and had a nagging injury list that had never been longer in their NHL history.Even the healthy ones were feeling the effects of a rigorous schedule.&ldquo;Since I&rsquo;ve been playing hockey, I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve seen a tougher schedule than this one so far,&rdquo; said Mark Messier, one of six Oilers who participated in Rendez-vous. &ldquo;But, I enjoyed playing in this thing. I&rsquo;m glad I got picked. We&rsquo;ll just have to get our rest a little differently.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I think we&rsquo;ve had a 90-game schedule this season.&rsquo; &mdash;Lowe</blockquote>Wayne Gretzky has maintained the NHL should have stayed with its conference-vs.-conference all-star format since Rendez-vous was announced last year. He hadn&rsquo;t changed his tune.&ldquo;This is even harder,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather continue with the schedule than this. It&rsquo;s tough, it&rsquo;s a grind. It showed against the Islanders (a labored 3-3 tie) that we were tired.&rdquo;Muni seconded the motion: &ldquo;I was talking to my wife and she said she heard on the radio that we&rsquo;ve played 20 games in 38 (actually 41) days&mdash;and half of those days off were spent travelling. We were looking forward to the break.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s been worse lately. As of their last road trip, the Oilers had played 17 games in 31 days.Besides Muni, those checking in for therapy were defensemen Lee Fogolin (bruised back), Charlie Huddy (bruised knee), Paul Coffey (back spasms) and Steve Smith (hip-flexor); forwards Kevin McClelland (bruised tailbone), Marty McSorley (strained knee) and Stu Kulak (slight shoulder separation).According to team physican Dr. Gordon Cameron, Coffey would be ready to return to the lineup after Rendez-vous. The two-time Norris Trophy winner had missed 20 games this season.McSorley and Kulak, the other two Oilers who have been sidelined for extended periods, were also set to return.Jeff Beukeboom (pulled groin), Kevin Lowe (knee) and Glenn Anderson (shoulder) were far from completely healthy, but remained in the lineup.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve had a 90-game schedule this season,&rdquo; sighed Lowe, whose right knee swells up periodically when the grind becomes difficult, the result of an off-season boating accident.Beukeboom missed two games at the end of January with a slight groin pull that hadn&rsquo;t completely healed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011271/5427848-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="179" height="135"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2>&ldquo;It seems everybody was tired,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The break should have helped everybody, especially the guys with nagging little injuries here and there.&rdquo;The man cast in a strange situation was Fogolin. The veteran defenseman bit the bullet in simmering silence while only playing four games in two months. Yet prior to the break he participated in two games because there were only six members of the Blue Cross blue line who were healthy.&ldquo;If somebody else was healthy, I don&rsquo;t think I would have played,&rdquo; said Fogolin, who was hurt hitting the ice in a skirmish with Minnesota&rsquo;s Dino Ciccarelli.Ironically, Randy Gregg&mdash;Dr. Randy Gregg&mdash;was the Oilers&rsquo; only healthy rearguard. &#9632;

f0015-01

Oilers Needed Rest To Lick Their Wounds

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02921/5427879-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gord Kluzak looks like &ldquo;a big Greek God&rdquo; in the words of coach Terry O&rsquo;Reillv but the troubled defenseman still isn&rsquo;t ready to play.</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;There are times when Louis Sleigher feels that his hockey career may be over.&ldquo;Never playing again has crossed my mind,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t want to think about it. I want to do everything I can to get back. I&rsquo;m not a surgeon, but I know it (injured groin) is not good enough to play right now.&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t give up though. I&rsquo;m still hopeful.&rdquo;Sleigher hasn&rsquo;t played a National Hockey League game for the Boston Bruins since Apr. 9, 1986, the first game of the playoffs against Montreal, when his second of two attempted comebacks from the groin injury ended in failure.He was injured Oct. 16, 1985, in a game with Vancouver, the fourth game of that season. He came back for two games in December and seven over March and April, each time aggravating the condition.He underwent major surgery last May 17 to have a muscle re-attached to the pelvic bone. He had further surgery Feb. 7 to clean up some scar tissue and check to see if the tendons had reattached successfully to the bone.&ldquo;The muscle is one of the biggest you have,&rdquo; said Sleigher. &ldquo;It takes a long time for it to heal, especially to play hockey. The muscle was torn right off the bone. You can&rsquo;t rush something like that.&ldquo;I thought I was going well at the start, but when I started pushing it early in training camp, it got bad again. The pain came back. I should have gone earlier. Instead of progressing, I was going down.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011151/5427886-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="180" height="142"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2>Sleigher was reluctant to undergo surgery for a second time.&ldquo;I really tried to avoid it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s in a pretty sensitive area, one that the doctors don&rsquo;t like to go into. The first time you do it, you have the best shot at correcting the problem. But we&rsquo;ve tried everything and it&rsquo;s still very painful&mdash;even just walking around.&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll put me out for the rest of the season, but I&rsquo;ll have three or months off to rest it completely, do some skating in the summer and come back next training camp. I think I got back on the ice too soon at the last camp.&rdquo;Realistically, what are his chances of coming back in the 1987-88 season?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s tough to answer,&rdquo; said Sleigher, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be 29 next season and it&rsquo;s not easy coming back after an injury like that. I know it won&rsquo;t be easy breaking into the lineup, but I&rsquo;ve always worked hard, so I&rsquo;m not worried about that. I just want to get the leg in shape and go on from there.&ldquo;I know this&mdash;I&rsquo;m not going to give up something I&rsquo;ve been doing for 10 years. It&rsquo;s a decision that will affect the rest of my life. I don&rsquo;t want to retire and go home and then, in two or three years, ask myself if I should have come back.&rdquo;Another Bruin whose immediate future is in doubt is Gord Kluzak, the big defenseman who has missed the entire season after two arthroscopic procedures on his left knee since last August.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s still struggling,&rdquo; said coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly. &ldquo;He still has pain in a certain area in a particular range of motion. It&rsquo;s frustrating, because when you watch him skate, he looks like a big Greek God, yet he can&rsquo;t play.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN&mdash;The Bruins traded goalie Pat Riggin, who was playing in Moncton, to the Pittsburgh Penguins for goalie Roberto Romano, who was playing in Baltimore&hellip; Michael Thelven, who missed 40 games with shoulder surgery, scored two goals in an 8-5 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had a hattrick until after the game, when his third goal was credited to Keith Crowder&hellip;Goalie Bill Ranford had two reasons for regretting a goal by Quebec&rsquo;s Randy Moller. It gave the Nordiques a 2-1 victory and both Ranford and Moller are from the same hometown, Red Deer, Alta. &#9632;

f0016-02

‘I Won’t Give Up,’ Says Hopeful Sleigher

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02795/5427917-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="595" height="1138"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goalie Frank Caprice wants everybody to know, &lsquo;I never said I was perfect.&rsquo;</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;When Richard Brodeur and Wendell Young started the season with the Vancouver Canucks, it looked as though Frank Caprice would never escape the Fredericton Express.As always around the Canucks, though, you can expect the universe to unfold as it shouldn&rsquo;t.Caprice found himself trying to muscle in on the No. 1 goaltending job after the death of Brodeur&rsquo;s father kept the team&rsquo;s 34-year-old goaltender away from the team&mdash;and practice.Coach Tom Watt was reluctant to use Brodeur without first getting him back into the swing of things. Young, in the meantime, wasn&rsquo;t even able to get playing time in the American League.Caprice has had chances before, but he&rsquo;s never been able to relegate Brodeur to 50-50 status, much less take over the job. Now he&rsquo;s got another shot&mdash;he played five consecutive games and was expected to continue playing after the Rendez-vous break.&ldquo;I do feel more confident, more mature and more sure of myself,&rdquo; said Caprice, who was outstanding in games against St. Louis and Calgary just before the all-star break. &ldquo;My five years here have been a rollercoaster, up and down from day one. I made a promise to myself this year I wouldn&rsquo;t let anything bother me. I would just do my very best and forget about the little things.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011008/5427924-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="180" height="136"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2>&ldquo;I admit a lot of little things used to get to me. I&rsquo;m a sensitive person, I can&rsquo;t help it. But even that got exaggerated after a while. Any time something happened and I opened my mouth, everyone would say, &lsquo;Oh, he&rsquo;s so sensitive.&rsquo; Well I&rsquo;m not so sensitive anymore. Maybe it&rsquo;s age or maturity. But I do feel better about myself and the guys around me.&rdquo;&ldquo;Frank&rsquo;s come a long way,&rdquo; said defenseman Garth Butcher. &ldquo;It used to be his confidence wouldn&rsquo;t be there and we&rsquo;d have to pump him up. But now, he&rsquo;s confident and he&rsquo;s letting it flow out to us. It&rsquo;s changed directions. He&rsquo;s maturing. It&rsquo;s just a natural process. But I&rsquo;ve always known he can handle the pressure. I saw him on Team Canada (in 1982, when Canada won the World Junior Championships) and that&rsquo;s about as much pressure as there is. He handled it fine. I always felt he would emerge.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Frank&rsquo;s come a long way, It used to be his confidence wouldn&rsquo;t be there and we&rsquo;d have to pump him up.&rsquo; &mdash;Butcher</blockquote>What&rsquo;s always happened in the past is a bad goal or two would shatter the Hamilton native, completely shredding the coach&rsquo;s faith in him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m challenging more and positioning myself better, but that comes with playing more,&rdquo; said Caprice, who nearly played out his option this year before signing a one-year contract. &ldquo;Things come naturally when you play. When I was playing once every two weeks, I was worried about all the technical things instead of having them come naturally.&rdquo;Caprice had the tying goal poked out from under his glove by Jocelyn Lemieux in the third period of a 2-2 tie with St. Louis recently, but he wasn&rsquo;t down.&ldquo;The fans can boo the crap out of me if they want, but I never said I was perfect. If you want to throw me under the guillotine for it, go ahead. But those things will always happen. They shouldn&rsquo;t but they do. You can&rsquo;t worry about them. Any time you hold a team to two goals, you have to feel good about the game.&rdquo;VAN LINES&mdash;Petri Skriko was having trouble scoring. He had 17 goals at the end of November but just 21 at the break, a fearful drought for a player of his calibre&hellip;Soviet coach Anatoly Tarasov said goodbye to all the players and left after nine days working in Vancouver. It was suggested that he may return at training camp where a more intensive effort may be made to change the fortunes of the team. &#9632;

f0017-02

Goaltender’s Work Becoming Less Capricious

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Philadelphia Flyers were hoping that the mid-winter all-star break helped mend some lingering injuries and revitalized some weakened spirits.While captain Dave Poulin went off to Quebec City, where he became a hero with his winning goal in the first game of the Rendez-vous series against the Soviets, other Flyers took off in different directions to try and gear up for the last part of the 1986-87 regular season.It was a much-needed week of rest and relaxation for players such as Mark Howe, who continued to be hampered by a sore back, and the remainder of the Flyers&rsquo; injured and wounded. However, when the club regrouped for a journey to St. Louis where it would try to snap a seemingly ancient four-game losing streak, it found another couple of injuries.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Poulin&rsquo;s performance might have raised a few eyebrows across Canada but he didn&rsquo;t do anything that hocFlyers were hoping that key fans in Philadelphia haven&rsquo;t become accustomed to in the last few seasons.</blockquote>Leading scorer Tim Kerr had returned earlier than expected from Rendez-vous due to a pulled groin muscle. Upon his return to Philadelphia, he was sent to the Flyers&rsquo; physician for an examination.Early indications suggested that Kerr had suffered only a slight muscle pull and would likely only miss one or two games. But the club was keeping its fingers crossed that the problem didn&rsquo;t become an ongoing situation such as the troublesome groin injury which plagued Poulin during the playoffs two years ago.The club also disclosed that winger Derrick Smith would miss at least three games due to an infected right elbow.Also, the all-star break was still not enough time to enable Ulka Sinisalo (knee surgery) and Ron Sutter (back problem) to get back into the lineup. Sinisalo, however, was expected back shortly. As for Sutter, it will probably be early March before he can put any stress on the damaged disc in his back.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011050/5427962-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="596" height="1253"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Kerr couldn&rsquo;t play at Rendezvous because he suffered a pulled groin muscle.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02795/5427955-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="181" height="138"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2>Still, all in all, the Flyers were hoping that the all-star break proved to be just the sort of elixir they needed to help get their act back together. After all they went into the break with consecutive losses to the Rangers, Leafs, Jets and Devils.&ldquo;The break should help freshen everybody&rsquo;s mind and body,&rdquo; said Poulin after the last loss to the Devils.After scoring his game-winning goal against the Soviets. Poulin should have no trouble getting into the right frame of mind for the Flyers&rsquo; final push toward first place overall in the National Hockey League.Poulin&rsquo;s performance might have raised a few eyebrows across Canada but he didn&rsquo;t do anything that hockey fans in Philadelphia haven&rsquo;t become accustomed to in the last few seasons. And the Flyers&rsquo; captain will surely keep the memory of that goal as one of his most treasured moments.International competition might be old hat to some NHL stars, but Poulin was all pumped up for his first try. He even admitted that he was a little surprised at being picked for the squad.He had just 15 goals at the break, which hardly placed him in the superstar category.&ldquo;Generally,&rdquo; said Poulin, &ldquo;when you look at the top scoring list, you see eight, 10 or 12 centers among the top 20. And scoring is what is often looked at. But they took a little different approach for these games.&rdquo;Poulin was told he&rsquo;d be used primarily in a defensive role with a little bit of offense thrown in. That little bit of offense turned into one of the biggest goals of his career.&ldquo;I never visualized what it would be like to play against the Russians,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Hey, I never even visualized playing in the NHL.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;The four-game losing streak equalled the longest losing streak since Mike Keenan took over as coach in 1984&hellip;After missing a half-dozen games due to an ankle injury, Flyer forward/defenseman Daryl Stanley was expected back in the lineup. &#9632;

f0018-01

Flyers Hope The Break Had Effect Of Elixir

<div class="byline">Frank Orr</div>A FEW MID-SEASON notes, quotes and observations on a National Hockey League season that&rsquo;s been a good one and promises to be dandier from here to the end.&bull; I&rsquo;ve seen some splendid hockey this season&mdash;grinding, well-played games with a high level of skill. Undoubtedly, it&rsquo;s partly the result of all the teenagers who were rushed into the league in the past few years growing up into good ones.&bull; Encouraging to see some players who actually can perform on their backhands, both in passing and shooting the puck. The swing to curved sticks and big, booming slap and snap shots took away the backhand part of the game. Don&rsquo;t really know why but work done on the backhand always seems more artful. Probably because it is.&bull; A couple of interesting observations on the Soviet style of hockey from Harry Sinden, a man with vast international experience. Sinden says he&rsquo;s been trying to spot one of the sophisticated drills in a Soviet workout that hockey thinkers always are talking about but has found that scrimmages make up a big portion of their workouts. Sinden also claims that the comrades made two major contributions to North American hockey&mdash;increased attention to physical conditioning and the use of interference as a tactic.&bull; Some traditions die hard. Far too many Canadians called the NHL all-stars &ldquo;Canada&rdquo; when they faced the Soviets in Rendez-vous &rsquo;87. The NHL team had players from the U.S., Finland and Sweden on it but Canadians still think of the NHL as their own.&bull; It would be nice if the International League expands in the U.S. but many NHL teams want to place their farm teams in Canada. The reason? The big difference in value of the Canadian and U.S. buck.&bull; There&rsquo;s a high price for being a Sutter. Brian, Darryl and Ron all have bodies that are achin&rsquo; and racked with pain because of the way they play the game. The Sutters all figure they weigh 30 pounds more than they do and play accordingly.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01840/5427993-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="376" height="420"></div>&bull; Jacques Demers, of course, rates as a top candidate for coach of the year for his effort with the Detroit Red Wings. But equally impressive work has been done by Dan Maloney with Winnipeg Jets, and Jack Evans with Hartford Whalers. Because Evans is such a quiet man, he perhaps gets overlooked but does any club play with better discipline or a stronger game plan. Both qualities represent evidence a team is being well coached.&bull; Come to think of it, coaching throughout the NHL now is at a very high level, perhaps as good as it&rsquo;s been. There&rsquo;s a good combination of old-school approaches to hard work and physical play plus the new ideas on preparation, specialty teams and conditioning programs.&bull; Give many coaches their pick of any NHL player in the &ldquo;second level,&rdquo; just below the stars, and many of them will grab Kevin Dineen, the adrenalin kid of the Whalers.&bull; A GM said it in jest but the more you think about his idea, the better it sounds. He suggested that the NHL have rules that every club must make deals involving four of their top 22 skaters each season and if they don&rsquo;t they lose their first-round draft pick. The trading action would add to interest in the NHL.&bull; Toronto Maple Leaf coach John Brophy doesn&rsquo;t want to use Wendel Clark as a full-time defenseman, figuring that the tough, hard-shooting Clark is such an asset on left wing. However, backline shortages could force a switch for Clark because good ones at that position are tough to find.&bull; Some NHL GMs feel that the closeness of the races for playoff spots will open up the trade market, figuring the plethora of legitimate Stanley Cup contenders will be anxious to add depth. &#9632;

f0020-01

Dineen’s Impact Just Like A Shot Of Adrenalin

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Dave Langevin looked around his new dressing room, spotted a pair of familiar faces, and smiled.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny how these things turn out,&rdquo; the newest Los Angeles King defenseman said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;d be nice to get some of those memories back.&rdquo;Langevin, signed as a free agent on Feb. 4 to shore up the Kings&rsquo; injury-depleted defense corps, had been reunited with former New York Islander teammates Bob Bourne and Rollie Melanson.&ldquo;I think I can help,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t dazzle anyone with my speed or point total, but I have some experience to offer. I&rsquo;ll stay in our end and try to do the job.&ldquo;I think I can still play competently, but it took me a long time to find a team that would give me the chance to prove it.&rdquo;Langevin, 32, spent his first six National Hockey League seasons as a member of the Islanders and helped the team win all four of its Stanley Cup championships between 1980 and 1983.Plagued by shoulder and knee problems, he was claimed in the 1985 waiver draft by Minnesota and played in all of the North Stars&rsquo; regular-season and playoff games last season.Released in training camp, the native of St. Paul, Minn., returned home and worked as an assistant coach at Apple Valley High School. He had a six-day tryout with the Hartford Whalers after Christmas, and then was told his services weren&rsquo;t needed.&ldquo;I feel that NHL teams all need a little course in how to tell players that they aren&rsquo;t needed,&rdquo; Langevin said. &ldquo;I just wanted them to be up-front and tell me exactly why they were letting me go.&rdquo;The minor-league New Haven Nighthawks, who had contacted Langevin in the fall, called him again and this time he accepted the invitation.It was a difficult decision for Langevin, who spent his first three professional seasons with the Edmonton Oilers in the old World Hockey Association. He had never been in the minors.As he stood in line at the airport, where he would take a flight to the American League team, Langevin turned around and walked out.Fortunately, his wife, Debbie, was waiting for him.&ldquo;I went back to the car,&rdquo; Langevin said. &ldquo;But my wife said, &lsquo;Go. It&rsquo;s what you want, so make the most of it. Give hockey another chance.&rsquo; &ldquo;He played in 10 games for the Nighthawk franchise, which is owned by the Kings and shared with the New York Rangers, then signed by the Kings, who were missing defensemen Larry Playfair (knee), Craig Redmond (knee) and Jay Wells (eye).&ldquo;Other teams were starting to approach me, but I felt I wanted to go up and help the Kings,&rdquo; said Langevin, who had been playing under an AHL contract. &ldquo;After all, they were the ones who made it possible for me to go to New Haven.&rdquo;The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder, known as &ldquo;Bam-Bam&rdquo; for his jarring body-checks, arrived in Toronto in time for the Kings&rsquo; game that night&mdash;but not in time for a practice. He struggled a bit early on, but settled down. Two nights later in Winnipeg, Langevin was by far the Kings&rsquo; best defenseman.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02567/5428024-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="184" height="134"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2>&ldquo;We wanted to bring in an experienced player who could help us kill penalties and who could handle sitting once everyone else is healthy,&rdquo; coach Mike Murphy said.Langevin, as it turns out, probably won&rsquo;t be sitting much because it appeared that Playfair might need his third operation in less than a year, after re-injuring his left knee in Montreal.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t look good with Larry,&rdquo; general manager Rogie Vachon said.The Kings gave up nine goals in losing two straight to Winnipeg, and Langevin was on the ice for only one of them, the last, in a 6-1 defeat.&ldquo;I was a little nervous at first,&rdquo; said Langevin, who hadn&rsquo;t played an NHL game since last year&rsquo;s playoffs. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve been moving the puck better and getting more involved. I&rsquo;ll get stronger the more I play. I think I can help these guys.&rdquo;FROM THE THRONE&mdash;The Kings&rsquo; appeal of their $130,000 fine for their role in the Pat Quinn affair won&rsquo;t be heard by the NHL Board of Governors until the June 12-15 meetings. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t feel any urgency to have our appeal heard at these meetings,&rdquo; said Forum spokesman Bob Steiner, referring to the Rendez-vous sessions in Quebec. &ldquo;It can&rsquo;t hurt us to have additional time and whatever knowledge transpires from those meetings.&rdquo;&hellip;Quinn&rsquo;s appeal of his expulsion and suspension, and the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; appeal of their $310,000 fine were heard by the governors on Feb. 13&hellip;Bernie Nicholls&rsquo; eight-game point-scoring streak was the longest for a King this season. He had five goals and eight assists during the streak&hellip;Captain Dave Taylor missed four consecutive games with a sprained knee&hellip;With 25 games to go, the Kings had 70 power-play goals, one more than they had all last season. They were on pace to score 102, three more than the league record co-held by Pittsburgh and Quebec&hellip;Jimmy Carson had an &ldquo;R&rdquo; shaved on his chest as part of his rookie initiation. &#9632;

f0020-02

‘Bam-Bam’ Back, Playing Well For Kings

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div>HARTFORD&mdash;Acting not unlike the steady and reliable defenseman he was in his younger days, Jack Evans accepted the 200th victory of his National Hockey League coaching career in stride.&ldquo;The 200 wins never really dawned on me until tonight,&rdquo; Evans said in the wake of the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; 5-2 win at Washington Feb. 6. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice, but I&rsquo;d like to go out with a .500 winning percentage. Not 500 wins. I&rsquo;d have to stay around until I was 103 to get that.&rdquo;Evans, who previously coached the defunct California Golden Seals and Cleveland Barons, had a 201-269-66 NHL career record at the all-star break. The numbers, however, don&rsquo;t tell the real story.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01628/5428055-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="179" height="133"></div><h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2>The Seals and Barons were reclamation projects when he assumed control, and so were the Whalers when he arrived in Hartford four seasons ago.&ldquo;The thing I&rsquo;m most pleased about is that we&rsquo;re winning with more regularity than in my first year or two years here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m enjoying the fact that we&rsquo;re playing very well.&rdquo;Only five other active NHL coaches have as many as 200 career victories&mdash;Glen Sather, Bob Pulford, Bob Berry, Michel Bergeron and Bryan Murray.Moreover, since a dastardly 2-13-1 slump last February that severely tested Evans&rsquo; inner resolve, the Whalers have looked the part of emerging divisional champions. Since then, they had gone 41-24-8 in 73 regular-season games, including 29-21-6 at the all-star break this year.With 14 of their last 21 games scheduled for Hartford, the Whalers&mdash;not Montreal or Boston&mdash;are the team to beat in the Adams Division this time around.&ldquo;Everything is good,&rdquo; Evans said with a smile. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got no complaints.&rdquo;Evans didn&rsquo;t smile much in his first 2-&frac12; years in Hartford as the Whalers struggled.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a saying in the coaching profession that no coach wins without good players,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve built our team, filled some rather big holes. We have the players now.&rdquo;There is little flash and dash to Evans, who believes that slow and steady wins the race.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t think of anything I&rsquo;m doing differently,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m doing what I&rsquo;ve always done since I started coaching. My philosophy is exactly the same as it&rsquo;s always been. I demand full effort from my players and I try to get my team to play to its strengths, which here is speed.&rdquo;Goaltending and defense are top priorities, too, in Evans&rsquo; view.&ldquo;I still emphasize the defensive aspects because it&rsquo;s the part you can control,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Forechecking, backchecking, man-for-man coverage are things I&rsquo;ve always stressed and believe in very strongly. The offensive part of the game is played more by ear.&rdquo;Pressed on how the game has changed since his playing days, Evans said, &ldquo;The hard-nosed coach has disappeared. You can&rsquo;t coach by fear anymore like when I was playing. You have to encourage your players now, make them feel like part of the team, make them feel like men.&rdquo;Evans is surprised by those who say he lacks emotion.&ldquo;I react,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I cheer along with everyone else when we score. But I don&rsquo;t try and attract attention to myself. I&rsquo;ve found that shouting at a referee doesn&rsquo;t do any good. All it does is raise your blood pressure, and I haven&rsquo;t seen a referee change a call yet. &ldquo;Evans, who turns 59 in April, realizes that he is closer to the end than the beginning, but with a collection of young and emerging talent in Hartford, his glory days may lie just ahead.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have a timetable,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even think about it. No one can predict how long he&rsquo;ll keep coaching. It&rsquo;s a very hazardous profession.&rdquo;WHALER SCUTTLEBUTT&mdash;Several Whalers were on target to reach individual milestones: Ronnie Francis, 400 NHL games as a Whaler, the most in the team&rsquo;s eight-year history; Stewart Gavin, 400 career games; Mike McEwen (398) and Doug Jarvis (395), 400 career points&hellip;Dave Babych (hip) and Paul Lawless (knee) were ready to return after the all-star break&hellip;Joel Quenneville (shoulder) is targeting his return for mid-March&hellip;Sylvain Turgeon had nine goals in his last 14 games&hellip;In games where Kevin Dineen had scored, the Whalers were 15-2-L. &#9632;

f0021-01

Evans Disputes Image As Emotionless Coach

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;The Washington Capitals were hoping Rod Langway&rsquo;s outstanding performance in Rendezvous &rsquo;87 was a portent of better things to come for the team captain.It has been a frustrating season for Langway and the Capitals, who reached the all-star break five games under .500. at 22-27-8.Since Langway came to Washington from Montreal in 1982, the Capitals have only once finished a season with fewer than 100 points. That was in 1982-83, his first year as a Capital, when Washington finished with 94.Now, with the Capitals so far off their usual pace, Langway can only shrug and sum up the season as &ldquo;up and down, inconsistent&mdash;me and the whole team.&ldquo;Look at the record. I&rsquo;m not very proud of it. The team and me, we&rsquo;ll play good for a month and then go through a two-week slump.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been a consistent player. My confidence is still pretty good, but it&rsquo;s been tough. I&rsquo;ve been through this once before in Montreal. But in Montreal we could play badly and still win. Now if I play badly, we (the Capitals) lose.&rdquo;Langway is not over-estimating his importance to the team. In November, he suffered a stretch where he was on the ice for at least one equal-strength opposition goal in nine straight games. The Capitals did not win any of the nine.In January, Langway was plus-nine over a seven-game period in which he was not victimized by any opposition scores. Washington&rsquo;s record was 4-2-1.When Langway was selected for the National Hockey League all-star team, he expressed surprise and said he felt teammate Scott Stevens was more deserving. Earlier, he had speculated that the NHL would be more inclined to pick offensive-minded defensemen, but he was sufficiently interested in Rendez-vous to say that he hoped to attend one game as a spectator.In the NHL&rsquo;s 4-3 victory in Game One, Langway was far more than a spectator. Teamed with Montreal&rsquo;s Rick Green, who went the other way in that 1982 trade, Langway turned in a remarkable defensive job. He was plus-three and was a key figure in neutralizing the Soviets&rsquo; potent KLM Line and allowing only one shot in four Soviet power plays.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01730/5428086-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="180" height="138"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t realize we could play that good defensively,&rdquo; Langway said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the first time I&rsquo;ve played against the Russians where they didn&rsquo;t outskate us. Our forwards had the speed to skate with them and all we had to do was get the puck to our forwards and let them carry it.&ldquo;With all that talent on the ice, there was no reason for us to try to carry the puck. We had a simple job and we did it. The big thing, other than getting the puck out of our zone quickly, was to keep them to the outside.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re uncomfortable along the boards and we&rsquo;ve had some success against them before on smaller rinks, which they&rsquo;re not accustomed to.&rdquo;Langway kept the Soviets uncomfortable with some thumping bodychecks, especially against Sergei Makarov and Mikhail Varnakov. He felt the hits had a lot to do with containing the Soviets&rsquo; power play.&ldquo;We reacted to the puck and the next pass,&rdquo; Langway said. &ldquo;The player who received the puck didn&rsquo;t have time to get his head up. When you know you&rsquo;ll get hit, you won&rsquo;t make a great play.&rdquo;Langway saw an inordinate amount of ice time, more than his usual quota with Washington, and he proved that at 29 he is a long way from retirement.&ldquo;There was one time on a power play where Rick and I were caught out for a minute and 45 seconds,&rdquo; Langway said. &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t move, and our legs were cramping up. I was tired, but when you&rsquo;re playing in a game that big, you just put it behind you.&rdquo;If Langway&rsquo;s performance in Game Two did not match his earlier effort, he had nothing to be ashamed of, even though he and Green were beaten twice on remarkable individual efforts by Soviets Vladimir Krutov and Valeri Kamensky.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not upset,&rdquo; Langway said. &ldquo;Rick and I made two mistakes that cost us, but overall I thought we played extremely well. It was great hockey and very, very fast.&rdquo;Now the Capitals are waiting to see how much they can expect from Langway down the stretch, in games that are important in a different way.Langway feels the comedown from Rendez-vous won&rsquo;t deflect him from his true goal. &ldquo;I hope not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m fighting for a playoff spot.&rdquo;CAPSULES&mdash;Veteran goaltender Al Jensen, who had spent most of the season in Binghamton, was traded to Los Angeles for defenseman Garry Galley&hellip;The Capitals lost three straight games before the all-star break, two to the Rangers and another to Hartford&hellip;When the Rangers&rsquo; Tomas Sandstrom scored with 40 seconds left in overtime for a 5-4 decision on Feb. 7, it ended Washington&rsquo;s streak of 35 straight regular-season overtime games without a loss. Boston set the NHL record of 37 from 1934 to 1938. &#9632;

f0022-01

Langway In Top Form Essential To Capitals

<div class="byline">AI Strachan</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03389/5428117-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="392" height="444"></div>NOW THAT RENDEZ-VOUS &rsquo;87 is history, there can be no doubt that the whole thing was a first-rate extravaganza, a spectacular combination of hockey and entertainment.There was a bit of criticism&mdash;probably inevitable in any large-scale endeavour these days&mdash;but it&rsquo;s worth noting that very little of that criticism came from people who were actually in Quebec.And there was no criticism at all of the people who were, without a doubt, the biggest stars of all&mdash;the people that we&rsquo;ve come to expect it from&mdash;the National Hockey League players.This has nothing to do with what they did on the ice. There, they proved once again that even with minimal time for preparation, they&rsquo;re as good as any players in the world.But in addition, by their actions before, during and after Rendez-vous, they also proved that they&rsquo;re the world&rsquo;s best in another way. Nowhere is there a group of professional athletes that is as friendly, as accommodating or as classy as the NHL players.Without exception, the stars who played in Quebec willingly gave up a week in Hawaii, Florida, or some other sun spot to brave the frigid winds of Quebec City in February.Some even had to overcome injury to do it. Despite having spent the Sunday night in hospital, Tomas Sandstrom got to Quebec in time for Monday&rsquo;s practice. Raymond Bourque, who wasn&rsquo;t sure whether he&rsquo;d be physically able to play, showed up anyway, just in case his groin pull eased sufficiently. When it did, he gladly joined the lineup.The players who didn&rsquo;t make it&mdash;Mark Howe, Paul Coffey and Mike Bossy&mdash;were genuinely injured, and in each case, expressed sincere regrets about letting down the fans.There was no whining from the players in Quebec about lost vacation time, poor pay ($1,000 Cdn., approximately $740 U.S., per game, considerably less than they make during the regular season) or the hectic schedule that left them with hardly a moment to themselves.The only time they were unavailable to the media was when the league, with its typical flair for incompetence, turned a smooth operation into a botch-up.The players, for example, showed up at a Monday &ldquo;press conference&rdquo; only to find out after an hour of boredom that it wasn&rsquo;t really a press conference but a marketing spiel. Even so, despite being told to ignore the media and rush to practice, the players ignored the orders and answered as many questions as they reasonably could.They did so because they passionately care about their sport and its fans. They know that reporters don&rsquo;t ask questions just to exercise their vocal chords but because they represent fans who are curious.None of the seasoned reporters present were surprised by what happened on that occasion and on other similar occasions throughout the week. To those of us who cover a number of sports beats, hockey players have consistently been the best with which to deal.But the aspect of this attitude that is sometimes overlooked is that the players act the way they do not out of a desire to see their names in the paper but because of a sense of responsibility to the sport and to its fans.That&rsquo;s why there were no complaints when the NHL all-stars were told they were to have a practice that was open to the public. This same attitude has been responsible for hockey players staying on the job while athletes in other sports have said, &ldquo;To hell with the fans,&rdquo; and gone on strike.The NHL&rsquo;s best players went to Quebec not because they wanted to, but because they knew that&rsquo;s what their fans wanted. For the same reason, they agreed to a high-pressure, high-profile series rather than a relaxed no-hitting, all-star game. And that&rsquo;s also why they played their best and gave everything they had in a relatively meaningless series.They got a bit of money themselves and about $500,000 went into the pension plan, only a tiny fraction of which will actually go to the players who participated.Those players in Quebec didn&rsquo;t do what they did for money; they did it because they care about their fans in a way that is unmatched in other sports.It&rsquo;s not easy for fans to get close to players and consequently, it&rsquo;s difficult to find a way to thank them for what they did. But if the opportunity should arise, do so. It&rsquo;s what they deserve. &#9632;

f0022-03

NHLers Deserve Gratitude For Their Part In R-V ’87

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div>CHICAGO&mdash;The National Hockey League took a break. The Chicago Blackhawks had a breakdown.A pointless trip to Pittsburgh and Buffalo left the Hawks with a two-game losing streak to ponder over the Rendez-vous hiatus. It also left them last in the Norris Division.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t realize that,&rdquo; Al Secord said the morning after, while the Hawks waited to escape snowbound Buffalo. &ldquo;I wish you hadn&rsquo;t told me.&rdquo;The Hawks eventually did get out of Buffalo, and hoped for similar luck getting out of the cellar.&ldquo;Thanks goodness we&rsquo;re in this division,&rdquo; Hawk general manager-coach Bob Pulford said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been up and down like this all year.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;&hellip;if I&rsquo;m not playing I&rsquo;ll cheer from the bench.&rsquo; &mdash;Stapleton</blockquote>The latest losing streak just about wiped out the Hawks&rsquo; most successful stretch of the season, a three-game unbeaten string.&ldquo;It would have been a good time to put a real streak together,&rdquo; said Doug Wilson, the only Hawk invited to play for the NHL against the Soviets at Rendez-vous. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never been ones for doing things the smart way or the easy way.&rdquo;Earning their way into last place, the Hawks failed to take a point from two teams that were last in their divisions when the Hawks played them.&ldquo;It is discouraging,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;Maybe this break is a good thing for us right now.&rdquo;The Hawks&rsquo; shortcomings were showing up game after game.Against Buffalo, goaltender Murray Bannerman faced 47 shots. At that point the Hawks had given up a league-high 1,932 shots on goal, an average of 34.1 per game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02513/5428148-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="180" height="141"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2>Heading into the break, the Hawks&rsquo; goals-against average (4.00) ranked 19th in the league, ahead of only Los Angeles and New Jersey.The Hawks had a minus-21 special teams rating, the worst in the league. They had scored 45 power-play goals, their opponents 63.Their winning percentage (.429) ranked 19th in the league, ahead of only Buffalo and Vancouver.About the only bright spot was the first NHL goal of rookie center Mike Stapleton in the 7-4 loss at Buffalo. Stapleton also earned an assist.But there was even a damper on his celebration.&ldquo;My folks were supposed to drive in from the farm in Sarnia, Ont., for the game, but they got snowed in,&rdquo; said Stapleton, whose father, Pat, was a Hawk defenseman for eight seasons.Pulford said Stapleton&rsquo;s peformance might represent a breakthrough for him.&ldquo;I just want to help the team as much as I can,&rdquo; Stapleton said. &ldquo;And if I&rsquo;m not playing, I&rsquo;ll cheer from the bench.&rdquo;Finding something to cheer about might not be easy.HAWK TALK&mdash;Doug Wilson&rsquo;s assist at Buffalo Feb. 8 was the 400th of his career. He tied Pierre Pilote for the all-time lead among Hawk defensemen. Wilson already holds the club records for goals (163) and points (563) by a defenseman. WiIson is sixth on the Hawks&rsquo; all-time scoring list, behind Stan Mikita (1,467), Bobby Hull (1,153), Denis Savard (689), Dennis Hull (640), and Pit Martin (627). &#9632;

f0022-02

Hawks Fortunate They’re In Norris

<div class="byline">BY JERRY ZGODA</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;The idea was to finish strongly in the week before the all-star break, build their three-point lead in the Norris Division and then to finish the rest of the division off with another burst in the remaining seven weeks of the season.Instead, when the Minnesota North Stars tucked away their skates for a few days and headed for Florida or other points south, they found themselves right back in another mess, one point behind the leading Detroit Red Wings.They had landed there courtesy of a 6-5 overtime loss to Edmonton and back-to-back losses to Detroit in a home-and-home series. In all three games, the Stars lost leads.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;&hellip;we could have put some distance between ourselves and the rest of the division&hellip; &mdash;Henning</blockquote>&ldquo;We had the chance to make things a little easier for ourselves,&rdquo; coach Lome Henning said. &ldquo;This was the time we could have put a little distance between ourselves and the rest of the division, but we didn&rsquo;t do it. Those were the type of games we have to play well in.&rdquo;The losses to Detroit illustrated how much things have changed in one season. A year ago, the Stars were 6-1-1 against the Wings, then the worst team in hockey. This year, with Jacques Demers behind the bench, the Wings can&rsquo;t lose to the Stars. Their 6-4 victory at Detroit and 5-3 win at Met Center stretched their record to 5-0-1 over Minnesota this season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious that they have our number,&rdquo; Henning said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a confidence thing. Toronto has it over Chicago, we have it over Toronto. We used to have it over the Detroit, but they&rsquo;ve turned the tables on us. We&rsquo;ve got to find somewhere to start to turn it around again. The longer this goes, obviously the worse it gets.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01656/5428193-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="594" height="1082"><figcaption class="caption-body">Coach Lorne Henning&rsquo;s North Stars couldn&rsquo;t hold a lead in three straight losses.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02438/5428186-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="597" height="1067"><figcaption class="caption-body">The North Stars have been guilty of lifelessness, said goaltender Kari Takko.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03313/5428179-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="182" height="140"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2>The Stars had the chance to stop that streak in a Friday night game at Detroit. They led 2-0 after one period, but the Wings came back on consecutive goals by Petr Klima, Gerard Gallant and Steve Yzerman in the second. And every time the Stars pulled close in the third, when Larry DePalma tied it at 3-3 or Steve Payne pulled the Stars within 5-4, the Wings always answered with the next goal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a mental thing,&rdquo; goalie Kari Takko said. &ldquo;They got those goals in the second period and everybody&rsquo;s head just dropped. Between the second and third periods, our dressing room should have been pumped up. But there was no life at all.&rdquo;The next night the Stars seemingly had the Wings right where they wanted them. The Stars led 3-2 going into the third period, and the Wings were 0-184 in games they trailed after two periods this season.&ldquo;But we seem to bring out the best in everybody,&rdquo; Henning said.Indeed. The Wings came back in the third for the first time all year, blowing the Stars away with three goals in the first seven minutes of the period.But despite the three straight losses, goalie Don Beaupre said not to worry. After all, this is the Norris Division.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re only one point out of first,&rdquo; Beaupre said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no reason to panic. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of time left. It&rsquo;d be nicer to be up by seven points or three points, but it could be worse, too.&rdquo;STARDUST&mdash;Center Neal Broten had not scored a goal in the past 13 regular-season games against a Jacques Demers-coached team. This year he did not have a point in five games. Linemate Dino Ciccarelli had two goals and two assists in six games. &#9632;

f0023-01

Stars Blow Chance To Make Some Headway

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>QUEBEC&mdash;The National Hockey League had a grand time in Quebec City during Rendez-vous &rsquo;87, enjoying Marcel Aubut&rsquo;s vision of peace, love and cultural understanding.But now that Rendez-vous is a thing of the past and the Soviets are back home, it may be time to promote peace within the NHL itself.The Broad Street Bully era isn&rsquo;t back yet, but toughness is once again on the upswing among contending teams.Quebec Nordique general manager Maurice Filion, long a champion of clean play, seems to have adopted a new philosophy.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s happening elsewhere doesn&rsquo;t influence me whatsoever,&rdquo; Filion said early this season. &ldquo;We already have a few guys who can take care of our smaller players.&rdquo;The loss of Gord Donnelly and Dale Hunter changed his mind. Without these two combatants, the Nords&mdash;especially Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny&mdash;were everyone&rsquo;s targets.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1456/5428224-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="177" height="137"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2>&ldquo;Michel Goulet was abused so many times when Dale and Gord were out of action that I lost count,&rdquo; said Filion. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s incredible what the other teams dished out at him.&ldquo;But have you noticed how much room he now has on the ice since Gord Donnelly has returned, and since we got Basil McRae from the Red Wings? No one will ever threaten us in front of our own bench anymore.&rdquo;Early in January, Buffalo&rsquo;s Steve Dykstra stood in front of the Nordiques&rsquo; bench and made signs that he wanted to take on the whole Quebec team. No one answered the threats.After the game, coach Michel Bergeron was enraged. The next time the Sabres were in Buffalo, he said, they &lsquo;d have the players to do the job.Bergeron kept his promise. The next time the Nords were in Memorial Auditorium, their lineup included Donnelly, McRae and Richard Zemlak.&ldquo;I prefer being criticized because I have three or four enforcers on the ice,&rdquo; Filion said, &ldquo;than being criticized because my players are getting slapped around the ice.&rdquo;Another tough guy, Boston University defenseman Scott Shaunessy, will be offered a job when his college season is finished.Shaunessy was the Nordiques&rsquo; ninth pick in the 1983 amateur draft, 200th overall. He is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds. Filion will also make an offer to 6-foot-2, 212-pound right winger Mike Natyshak, a senior at Bowling Green University. &#9632;

f0024-14

Nordiques Beef Up Squad With Muscle Men

<h2>FEB.</h2><h3>THU. 19</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01710/5428339-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="395" height="92"></div><h3>FRI. 20</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02498/5428332-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="393" height="150"></div><h3>SAT. 21</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03334/5428325-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="402" height="181"></div><h3>SUN. 22</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04207/5428318-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="394" height="207"></div><h3>MON. 23</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05155/5428311-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="372" height="37"></div><h3>TUE. 24</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06129/5428304-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="397" height="209"></div><h3>WED. 25</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07109/5428297-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="392" height="119"></div><h3>THU. 26</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-08102/5428290-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="400" height="178"></div><h3>FRI. 27</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0995/5428283-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="395" height="34"></div><h3>SAT. 28</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1087/5428276-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="405" height="267"></div><h2>MARCH</h2><h3>SUN. 1</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1185/5428269-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="416" height="212"></div><h3>MON. 2</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1277/5428262-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="342" height="31"></div><h3>TUE. 3</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1365/5428255-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="404" height="239"></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

NHL Games To Come

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03269/5428370-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="557" height="801"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE GRETZKY</figcaption></div>Wayne Gretzky selected this week&rsquo;s Chrysler-Dodge NHL Player of the WeekDodge-Plymouth is the official sponsor of NHL All-Star Fan Balloting<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01623/5428384-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="188" height="175"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02411/5428377-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="152" height="158"></div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;Wayne Gretzky collected four assists in two games against the Soviet Union at Rendez-vous &rsquo;87, leading to his selection as Team NHL&rsquo;s Player of the Series.The 26-year-old superstar Edmonton Oiler center was presented with a Chrysler LeBaron Coupe in recognition of his achievement.Chrysler-Dodge also sponsors the NHL Player of the Week, Player of the Month and Player of the Year awards. The winner of the latter honor receives the Chrysler-Dodge vehicle of his choice.Gretzky picked up an assist in the Rendez-vous series&rsquo; opening game, a 4-3 victory over the Soviets Feb. 11, then set up all three Team NHL goals in the second game, a 5-3 Soviet win.Gretzky entered Rendez-vous well on the way to winning his unprecedented seventh straight NHL scoring title. After 57 games, he had 52 goals and 90 assists for 142 points. All three totals were best in the league, as was his plus-minus rating of plus-69.Gretzky has been awarded the Hart Trophy as league MVP the last seven consecutive seasons. &#9632;

f0025-03

THE CHRYSLER-DODGE REPORT

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;The next time Claude Loiselle breaks his nose or suffers a similar injury, it will be straight to the intensive care unit for the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; left winger.General manager Max McNab will see to it personally.McNab was angered by comments from Loiselle&rsquo;s agent, Larry Rauch, which appeared in a column written by Al Strachan in the Toronto Globe and Mail on Jan. 31.Strachan quoted Rauch as being upset that Loiselle was asked to drive himself to a New Jersey hospital after suffering a broken nose in a fight with Vancouver&rsquo;s Brad Maxwell, Jan. 10 at the Meadowlands Arena.In the story Rauch was quoted as saying: &ldquo;He (Loiselle) had a broken nose. It was flattened. You know how it is when that happens. He was all clogged up and woozy. I couldn&rsquo;t believe that someone from the team wasn&rsquo;t taking him.&rdquo;Rauch, who attended the game, said he found Loiselle as he was heading for his car during the third period of the game. The agent said a major lawsuit might have occurred had Loiselle been involved in an accident on his way to the hospital and said he would discuss the matter with Devils&rsquo; management and the league.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01661/5428415-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="180" height="137"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2>McNab, who read the story while accompanying the Devils on a trip to Calgary, was furious when he saw Rauch quoted as saying an ambulance should always be in attendance at NHL games because of the dangerous nature of the sport.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really disappointed in Larry Rauch for trying to get some cheap publicity,&rdquo; McNab said, &ldquo;but it was also bad reporting. We have the best medical care around at the Meadowlands. We have three full-time doctors and a dentist available. The article made it sound like he (Loiselle) was found crawling to his car in a daze. He got hurt in the first period and didn&rsquo;t leave until the game was over.&rdquo;&ldquo;Basically I thought a mistake was made for allowing a player to drive to the hospital with a head injury,&rdquo; Rauch told THE HOCKEY NEWS. &ldquo;I took the ride with Claude during the third period and we got back for the overtime. I said nothing about the doctor. Somebody should&rsquo;ve gone with the fellow, whether it was my client or not. It just so happens it was a player I represent.&rdquo;&ldquo;I was fine,&rdquo; Loiselle said. &ldquo;I told everyone I was okay to drive. If there had been a problem I&rsquo;d have said something.&rdquo;Rauch eventually spoke to McNab and said he felt the incident had been &ldquo;overblown&rdquo; and that he hoped it was forgotten.&ldquo;Max and I had a very healthy conversation of 15 or 20 minutes on the phone and I had the impression that the thing was over when we hung up the phone,&rdquo; said Rauch. &ldquo;A mountain was made out of a molehill. Max and I have known each other for a long time. He accused me of seeking cheap publicity and I have no intention of taking any shot back at him. This had nothing to do with publicity. Certainly if I was looking for publicity I wouldn&rsquo;t have called Al Strachan.&rdquo;Loiselle, enjoying a quiet but solid season for the Devils since coming from the Red Wings in an off-season trade for Tim Higgins, immediately became a target for teammates.Mark Johnson said that he didn&rsquo;t think McNab was upset with Loiselle. He added, however, that &ldquo;Portland (Maine, where the Devils&rsquo; American League farm team is based) has a lot of snow this time of year, but at least the lobster is good.&rdquo;Also a target of kidding was Devils&rsquo; trainer Chris Ipson, who was taunted for letting a &ldquo;badly injured&rdquo; player leave the arena by himself. Assistant equipment manager Peter Henderson stumbled around the Devils&rsquo; dressing room with white tape covering his nose and a set of car keys dangling from his hand.In fairness, the Devils have always had adequate medical attention at the Meadowlands Arena. In fact, they delayed the Jan. 22 snowstorm game against Calgary until a doctor had arrived. McNab said they would not have played the game without a physician in the building.HOT STUFF&mdash;Timo Blomqvist was hit in the face with a shot during practice and suffered a fractured nose and left eye orbit, requiring surgery. He may be lost for the season. &#9632;

f0026-01

New Jersey’s Nose Out Of Joint Over Report

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01613/5428453-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alan Kerr is one of the players New York Islander general manager Bill Torrey hopes will start producing more goals.</figcaption></div>UNIONDALE&mdash;From the gallerie level at Le Colisee, general manager Bill Torrey watched the collection of all-stars named Team NHL preparing for the Soviet nationals.Not one New York Islander was on the ice, although Mike Bossy would have been were he not suffering from a strained lower back.&ldquo;Yes, it&rsquo;s a disappointment,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;I think there were players of ours who could play here and help. There were more good players than slots. Obviously, it was another message to us. In the minds of many, we aren&rsquo;t good enough.&rdquo;Not in Torrey&rsquo;s mind, though.With 25 games to go in the regular season, and the Islanders trying to claim second place in the Patrick Division, the bowtied architect believed the puzzle contains the proper pieces.He&rsquo;s ready for the pieces to come together.&ldquo;I thought we&rsquo;d progress,&rdquo; he said in a private state-of-the-Islanders assessment, his second this season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not happy that we haven&rsquo;t been able to. I thought after 30, 40 games, it was time for everybody to start being a little more consistent.&rdquo;The Islanders&rsquo; lineup has six first- or second-year players. Under rookie coach Terry Simpson and rookie assistant Bob Nystrom, the Islanders were permitted time to jell. Torrey has made no call-ups from the minors, with the exception of emergency reasons due to injury.&ldquo;But we&rsquo;re at a certain point in the season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Enough is enough. You&rsquo;ll know how happy I am by what I may or may not do. And I may not do anything, but not because I&rsquo;m happy. But because I have nothing better to do.&rdquo;What he means is he&rsquo;d love to improve his club through trades, but is there anybody out there who wants to deal him a goal-scorer, or a physical forward?Bossy, the only Islander who is normally a lock to score, is a question mark because of his back problems.Kelly Hrudey and Billy Smith are fine in goal and the defense&mdash;without Tomas Jonsson (broken jaw, out until April)&mdash;is better than average. If the Islanders find ways to score, if players such as Mikko Makela(14goals), Rich Kromm (just eight) and Greg Gilbert (five) begin to score more, then Torrey might be right when he says:&ldquo;Are we competitive for the Stanley Cup? I think we are. And I&rsquo;m not smoking funny stuff. We&rsquo;ve played our best hockey against the strongest teams&mdash;Philly, Edmonton. What that does is, it makes me not throw in the sponge and throw away the year.&rdquo;The Islanders&rsquo; glass is half-empty. The team lacks strength, toughness and goal-scorers.Torry sees it as half-full. He believes he has forwards who could play tougher and should score more than they have.&ldquo;Alan Kerr has scored goals wherever he&rsquo;s played,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;He should have more than three. Greg Gilbert should score 20 to 25, Kromm should score 20 to 25. And it&rsquo;s not only those guys. It&rsquo;s across the board. We have a number of players who are not at their norms.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02404/5428446-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="182" height="139"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2>And then came a warning.&ldquo;The picture had better get clearer in everybody&rsquo;s minds,&rdquo; he stated. &ldquo;No more excuses that there&rsquo;s time left. We&rsquo;re at crunch time.&rdquo;ON THE ISLE&mdash;&ldquo;Crunch time&rdquo; began with a 5-1 loss at Nassau Coliseum to the Buffalo Sabres, when the season resumed after Rendezvous&hellip;Thirteen of the Isles&rsquo; last 24 games are on the road&hellip;Only 11 of those 24 are against divisional opponents&hellip; Bill Torrey says if Terry Simpson wants Bob Nystrom (who&rsquo;s on a one-year contract) back as his assistant next year, so does Torrey. &ldquo;I had discussions with Bobby. Now the two of them have to discuss it,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;Terry picked his assistant (Nystrom) when he was hired and he retains that right.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0027-01

Torrey Expects Islanders To Improve…Now

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02449/5428484-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;I&rsquo;M BEGINNING TO &ldquo;REALLY LIKE FIGURE SKATING.</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The Pittsburgh Penguins limped toward the all-star break with one skate teetering over the edge and the other planted firmly in airspace.The season that began with the unbounded promise inherent to seven consecutive victories had deteriorated into little more than a daily dalliance with disaster.Injuries were coming more often than goals and, consequently, during one agonizing stretch, the Penguins won all but 18 of 22 games.It seemed the only mid-season Rendez-vous the Penguins would have would be with disappointment and defeat.But two victories on the final weekend before the all-star break lifted them out of last place in the Patrick Division, and above the cloud of pessimism which had begun to settle over the locker room.It did not matter that neither of those victories&mdash;4-1 over Chicago and 2-1 in overtime in New Jersey&mdash;generated more than a few inches of footage for the team&rsquo;s highlight film.Hey, nobody complained when the Chicago White Sox pioneered the concept of Winning Ugly a few years ago. Besides, there&rsquo;s nothing pretty about defeat.The Penguins&rsquo; surge was led by several unlikely figures. Like right winger Dan Frawley, who used his mouth&mdash;however inadvertently&mdash;to put in the Penguins&rsquo; final goal against Chicago.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01634/5428491-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="182" height="139"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2>And center Chris Kontos, who&rsquo;d had a nominal impact on the Penguins after being acquired from the New York Rangers for Ron Duguay&mdash;until he scored both goals in New Jersey.But no individual contributed so mightily to that most rewarding weekend as goalie Gilles Meloche.In the preceding weeks, he would have had difficulty keeping a basketball out of a gopher hole, but he stopped 50 of 52 shots against the Blackhawks and Devils.<blockquote class="pullQuote">The Penguins had been experiencing a daily dalliance with disaster.</blockquote>&ldquo;The last two games, Gilles Meloche has just been unreal,&rdquo; Penguin coach Bob Berry said. &ldquo;He has responded unbelievably.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been struggling for the last couple of weeks, just like the rest of the guys,&rdquo; Meloche said. &ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;m back in the groove.&rdquo;It is a matter of conjecture whether the rest of the Penguins are. Neither of their victories suggested the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; grip on the Patrick Division championship is in even the slightest peril.Against Chicago, the Penguins merely capitalized on the opportunities given them by a seemingly uninspired opponent.In New Jersey, the Penguins managed to win only because Devils&rsquo; right winger Pat Verbeek was unable to take full advantage of two superb, late scoring chances&mdash;one with 1:20 left in regulation, the other 1:45 into overtime&mdash;before New Jersey&rsquo;s Doug Sulliman made a most grievous error.Sulliman was deep in his own end, facing no particular pressure, when he all but handed the puck to Kontos, who took a few strides toward Devil goalie Alain Chevrier and snapped in the game-winner.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just one of those things that happens,&rdquo; Kontos said. &ldquo;I was in the right place at the right time.&rdquo;&ldquo;When you lose a game on a good goal, something they manufacture, you can accept it,&rdquo; Devil coach Doug Carpenter said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s pretty hard to take on a play like that.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;The DeBartolo Corp., which owns the Penguins, chartered a plane to take center Mario Lemieux home immediately after the second game of the Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 series against the Soviets. The Penguins played Vancouver at the Civic Arena the next night&hellip;Rookie right winger Lee Giffin, who earned his first NHL point with an assist on Kontos&rsquo; first goal against New Jersey, was returned to Oshawa after that game.<h2>The Snowbirds &#9632;</h2>

f0028-02

Nothing Pretty About Penguins’ Triumphs

Ben Smith is an 11-year-old in his fourth year of organized hockey.The Grade 5 student at Monty Street School in Plattsburgh, N.Y., plays for the Plattsburgh Youth Hockey Flyers in the Champlain Valley Hockey League. He came to the Flyers after three years in the Young American League of Colorado Springs, Colo.The 4-foot-8, 75-pounder is a versatile hockey player&mdash;he&rsquo;s skated on defense and at all three forward positions. This season, coach Rockey Giroux has been playing him on left wing, where he&rsquo;s been averaging a point a game.Ben&rsquo;s favorite National Hockey League team is the Montreal Canadiens, and his favorite player is the Habs&rsquo; strapping center, Bobby Smith.Ben also enjoys baseball and soccer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03322/5428522-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="568" height="1140"><figcaption class="caption-body">BEN SMITH</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0028-03

PLAYER OF WEEK JOFA

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04230/5428553-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="719" height="1045"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defenseman Gary Nylund advanced quickly in minor hockey because of his height.</figcaption></div>Gary Nylund has come a long way since the days when, as a three-year-old, he would skate all day on the frozen ponds of Prince George, B.C.For one thing, he&rsquo;s not little any more. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, the 23-year-old Chicago Blackhawk defenseman is one of the more imposing figures in the National Hockey League.Nylund&rsquo;s early love of skating helped him break on to an all-star team in his first year of organized hockey. His family had moved to North Delta, a Vancouver suburb, when he was six.&ldquo;They were just building their first &lsquo;rec&rsquo; center in North Delta,&rdquo; he recalls. &ldquo;I played for the rep team my first year.&rdquo;Nylund has fond memories of his minor hockey days.&ldquo;In my Delta years,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;there were two coaches who really made hockey fun, and that was the most important thing then. One was Bob Gallant, who coached us for two or three years, and the other was John Vassos. They started coaching us when we were pups (youngest age division) and moved up with the age groups.&ldquo;The bottom line with those two coaches was to have fun.&rdquo;But not at the expense of learning the game. Nylund took his hockey seriously. Every year, from the age of six to about 10, he worked on his fundamentals at the University of British Columbia Hockey School.There, he learned to skate backwards, stickhandle, and turn left and right. Still, however, he feels maturity is the most important part of learning in hockey.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you really learn your skills until you&rsquo;re in junior and you get good coaching,&rdquo; he says.Nylund got a break there, because of his size. Even though his physique was not nearly as developed as it is today, he was still tall and skilled. As a 13-year-old, playing in the Kamloops International Bantam Tournament, he caught the eye of junior scout Wayne Meier.The following year, Meier persuaded the Portland Winter Hawks to protect Nylund&mdash;so, as a 14-year-old, he apprenticed for the Hawks by playing Tier II junior with the Delta Suns.It was there he began to dream about a pro career.&ldquo;When I was 14, I thought maybe I might have a chance,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Then, as soon as I turned 16 (with Portland), I knew I might have a chance.&rdquo;Portland has built a reputation as a breeding ground for future NHLers. Nylund is one of their best. After three successful years with the Winter Hawks, he was picked third overall, by Toronto, in the 1982 entry draft. He played four years with the Maple Leafs, then signed with Chicago last summer, as a free agent. &#9632;

f0028-04

Nylund’s Bottom Line Was ‘Fun’

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02457/5428584-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="589" height="1117"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal&rsquo;s Claude Lemieux was honored to be among Team NHL&rsquo;s players at Rendez-vous.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;It was a few moments after the final siren had terminated Rendez-vous &rsquo;87.Claude Lemieux was trying to quietly slip out of the crowded National Hockey League dressing room to dash for a chartered flight that would take him back to Montreal and the reality of the NHL.But he paused for a moment to chat and savor the end of his dream of playing with the best in the NHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m satisfied with the way I played,&rdquo; said the usually-confident Lemieux. &ldquo;I tried to go out and do my best and play my style. I think I was able to do that.&rdquo;There were a few eyebrows raised when Lemieux was added to the NHL all-star team by the NHL management team, headed by Canadiens&rsquo; managing director Serge Savard.There was, however, a reason for what some thought to be madness.Lemieux, like his younger brother Jocelyn of the St. Louis Blues, doesn&rsquo;t mind who he hits or when and how he hits. It was decided that a player like him would be useful against the disciplined Soviet Union stars.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01626/5428591-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="180" height="137"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2>In Game One of the two-game series, Lemieux left his calling card near the doorstep of Soviet goalie Evgeny Belosheikin.There were a couple of other Soviets who were also made aware of No. 32&rsquo;s presence as the series progressed.&ldquo;It was an excellent experience for me,&rdquo; said Lemieux, who at this time last year was toiling for Sherbrooke of the American League. &ldquo;You can learn a lot from playing against a team like that.&rdquo;While Lemieux was not a star for Team NHL, he didn&rsquo;t embarrass himself. Gradually, he is getting grudging respect from opponents in the league, just as Dale Hunter of Quebec and Ken Linseman of Boston did early in their careers.Lemieux is the disturber that every team hates to play against but loves to have.Regardless of Team NHL management&rsquo;s feelings about Lemieux and the esteem with which he&rsquo;s held by Montreal coach Jean Perron, the selection of Lemieux was dimly viewed by many in the NHL, particularly Minnesota&rsquo;s Dino Ciccarelli, who was omitted despite glowing scoring statistics.&ldquo;How does Lemieux get on there?&rdquo; bristled Ciccarelli. &ldquo;I wish you hadn&rsquo;t told me that. That&rsquo;s irritating.&rdquo;When finally apprised of Ciccarelli&rsquo;s comments, Lemieux was more than a little miffed.&ldquo;When do we play Minnesota again,&rdquo; Lemieux asked a Montreal reporter. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to show Dino Ciccarelli why I was picked to the Rendezvous &rsquo;87 team.&rdquo;That next meeting is Feb. 23 in Montreal.So, Lemieux has another mission in mind&mdash;just as he did when he returned to the NHL last March, to join the Canadiens in their late-season push for second place in the Adams Division.It is unlikely Lemieux will ever have a bundle of friends throughout the NHL. Even some of his teammates don&rsquo;t rank high on his list of admirers because there are those who object to his personality.However, the fact is when Lemieux does his thing he can be an effective force.Just ask the Hartford Whalers and the New York Rangers about what he did to them during the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring.Now, he has another goal in mind&mdash;to prove to those who doubted his worthiness on Team NHL that he is one of the league&rsquo;s better young players.He has received Ciccarelli&rsquo;s message and now it appears he will try to deliver one of his own.IN PASSING&mdash;Craig Ludwig was involved in another trade rumor. Phil Esposito, the Rangers&rsquo; GM, expressed interest between games of Rendezvous &rsquo;87 but was told by Serge Savard that Ludwig is not available&hellip;Canadiens went into the all-star break with a 2-7-1 in their last 10 road games&hellip;Kjell Dhalin returned to the ice two days after Rendez-vous for a light skate, the first time he&rsquo;d skated since suffering knee ligament damage Jan. 7&hellip;Chris Chelios was benched for a good part of Game One of Rendez-vous but was not mad at defensive coach Michel Bergeron. &ldquo;There were seven good defensemen dressed for the game,&rdquo; said Chelios. &ldquo;I think I handled myself okay when I was out there but I wasn&rsquo;t upset when I was benched.&rdquo; Chelios took a regular turn in Game Two and looked less nervous than he did in the opener&hellip;Among those attending a birthday party for Chris Nilan just before the all-star break was former Canadien Rod Langway, who was passing through Montreal en route from Washington to Quebec&hellip;Mats Naslund (18-36-54) was 34 points off his pace of last season after 58 games. While Naslund was the scoring leader at the break, only four of his goals had come on the road&hellip;Shayne Corson, who suffered a broken jaw Jan. 24 against Chicago, spent most of his recuperation time at his parents&rsquo; home in Barrie, Opt. before returning to Montreal for resumption of the league schedule. &#9632;

f0030-02

Lemieux Has Score To Settle With Ciccarelli

<div class="byline">By Bruce Hood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03312/5428622-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="370" height="448"></div>Q: I have some questions concerning the Calgary Cup. Was the series being played under international rules? If so, under international rules, are players who fight not ejected from the game automatically? In the game between the USSR and USA on Dec. 30, several players from both teams were definitely fighting and yet the referee assessed only minor penalties. Why?Doug Race, Kingston, ONA: Because the Calgary Cup series was held as a forerunner to the Olympics which will be held next year&mdash;basically all of the requirements of the Olympic tournament were met. The rules, ice time allocations, etc. were all the same.International rules forbid fighting and in the two instances mentioned the rules were not applied properly. Fighting is still a judgment call and different referees have different standards, based on their experiences. There is a hesitancy to call the game evictions, in general, and referees will give out double roughing penalties a lot of the time. The game at that level needs a better, more consistent standard from country to country. Only experienced officials should work the big games, no matter what country they are from.Q: In Maple Leaf Gardens on Dec. 31, in a game between Toronto and the Winnipeg Jets, Al lafrate lost his stick. He took Dale Hawerchuk&rsquo;s stick and completed that shift with the Winnipeg player&rsquo;s stick. Was the referee correct in not assessing Iafrate a penalty? If Winnipeg had asked for a stick measurement and the stick was found to be illegal, which team would have received the penalty?Ray M. Halko, Bolton, ONA: I remember a game in Springfield in the American League when a player lost his stick, and grabbed hold of an opposing player&rsquo;s stick to try and pull it out of his hands.I was watching the play, somewhat bemused, thinking that I wouldn&rsquo;t know what to call if the player had been successful. Actually though, the call would have to be interference. It&rsquo;s the same thing as a player pulling an opposing player&rsquo;s stick away while holding his own.If the referee misses the interference call, however, the player using his opponent&rsquo;s stick is subject to the same rules as if he were using his own. So, the opposing team can request a measurement. If the stick is found to be illegal, he receives a minor penalty. If it&rsquo;s found to be legal, the opposing team gets two minutes for delay of game.Q: A team is on the ice playing with five skaters and one goaltender. All five players are thrown out of a faceoff circle. Would the goaltender have to take the faceoff?Brian Okieg, Kenmore, NYA: Well, to tell you the truth, under the present faceoff structure, that problem should never exist. The linsemen are now allowing the players to set up before the puck is dropped. This causes less movement and therefore less people thrown out. But if it did happen, the rotation would start over and go back to the first player who attempted to take the faceoff.It you want your questions answered, write to:ASK THE REFEREE16 Martin StreetMilton, Ont.L9T 2P9All questions will be considered, but only those published will be answered. Personal responses are not possible. &#9632;

f0030-03

ASK THE REFEREE

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02399/5428653-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="597" height="1147"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former Pittsburgh Penguin Randy Boyd can be superb when he&rsquo;s fully dedicated.</figcaption></div>SPRINGFIELD, Mass.&mdash;Randy Boyd and his coach, Fred Creighton, agree&mdash;Randy Boyd is the Springfield Indians&rsquo; best defenseman, and one of the dominant players in the American League&hellip;when he wants to be.&ldquo;For me to play well, I have to be into it,&rdquo; said Boyd, a sixth-year pro picked up by the New York Islanders in last year&rsquo;s National Hockey League waiver draft. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m not into it, I&rsquo;m a mediocre hockey player.&ldquo;But when I&rsquo;m into the game and I want to play, I know I&rsquo;m one of the best out there.&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m not into it with my head I play a lazy game and I don&rsquo;t do the things I do best. It might not be as obvious to the fans, but to me and Freddie it is.&rdquo;It was particularly noticeable after Christmas, when Boyd returned from a two-week stay in New York.&ldquo;I played badly for about two weeks when I came back,&rdquo; Boyd said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not physical. It&rsquo;s going to the rink, getting on the ice and being there with your head, not just your body.&rdquo;Boyd felt he played well during his brief stay and was unhappy when the Islanders sent him down.How unhappy? Well, it took him almost two weeks to get over the demotion and start doing things that could lead to another promotion.&ldquo;You try to get involved and find out exactly what&rsquo;s the matter,&rdquo; said Creighton. &ldquo;You try and point out that a player has got to concentrate on what he has control over, which is how he plays, and not dwell on the things he doesn&rsquo;t have any control over, such as whose making the decisions up top.&rdquo;Except for player/assistant coach Gord Lane, Boyd is the Indians&rsquo; only defenseman with considerable experience. Despite his brief period of brooding, Boyd has contributed significantly to the Indians&rsquo; quest for a playoff spot, something the team failed to achieve last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01572/5428660-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="183" height="138"></div><h2>AHL SOUTH</h2>He&rsquo;s been the anchor on a young defense, and the quarterback on the power play. In 43 games, he had 36 points (8-28) and led the team with a plus-minus rating of plus-11.A better indication of how valuable he&rsquo;s been to the Indians comes when one checks the Tribe&rsquo;s record without Boyd in the lineup&mdash;five wins in 14 games.Boyd was in Springfield for less than a month when the Islanders called again. They needed a defenseman after losing two, Brian Curran and Tomas Jonsson, in a Jan. 22 car accident in Detroit.This time Boyd was prepared to be disappointed&mdash;so he wasn&rsquo;t hurt when the Islanders sent him back a week later.This time, there was no period of adjustment. The demotion was not met with a rebellious attitude.Why the change?&ldquo;My background is in hockey,&rdquo; Creighton said, &ldquo;not psychiatry.&rdquo;Boyd had the answer, though.&ldquo;When I was younger and got sent down it would stay with me for a while,&rdquo; said Boyd, 25. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;ve matured a lot.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going to do me any good to stay bitter and to blame this and to blame that. The only way out is to bear down and work harder and prove them wrong, that they made a mistake and you should be up there.&rdquo;If the Islanders aren&rsquo;t interested, Boyd has two options. The trading deadline is approaching and he&rsquo;s hoping his play impresses a team needing a defenseman. If that doesn&rsquo;t work out, he&rsquo;ll become a free agent after his contract expires this season.&ldquo;He can serve his own purpose in two ways,&rdquo; Creighton said. &ldquo;He can help us in our fight for a playoff spot and he can help himself get back in the National League.&rdquo;And these days, Boyd is in the right frame of mind to help himself.AROUND THE SOUTH&mdash;Springfield&rsquo;s Tim Coulis was suspended five games, after kicking Maine&rsquo;s Rich Chernomaz in the head in the final minute of a Feb. 6 game at Springfield&hellip;Alain Lemieux scored five goals in two wins for the Baltimore Skipjacks, who were attempting to climb to a playoff spot in the South. They&rsquo;d been competitive&mdash;34 of their 55 games had been decided by one goal&mdash;but they&rsquo;d won just 14 of them&hellip;Rochester&rsquo;s Claude Verret has gone to play in Switzerland for four to six weeks, in order to get more ice time. He&rsquo;s expected to return to the Amerks after Kloten&rsquo;s season is completed. In 33 games with Rochester, Verret had 11 goals and 12 assists, but was a minus-13&hellip;Former Rochester center Brian McKinnon was on a five-game tryout with the Hershey Bears, who expect Len Hachborn to join the team once he returns from Europe. &#9632;

f0031-02

Boyd Still Plugging For Another NHL Shot

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>PORTLAND, Maine&mdash;Last season, the American League&rsquo;s top rookie was a goaltender named Ron Hextall. This year, the award could go to another tall rookie goalie with good puckhandling skills.He is Kirk McLean of the Maine Mariners.Hextall spent last season as a member of the powerful Hershey Bears, a team that ran away with the Southern Division title and reached the Calder Cup finals. He was an important player in the Bears&rsquo; success and used that experience to make an impressive leap into the NHL with Philadelphia Flyers this season.McLean, 20, is in the midst of a spectacular rookie season and is the single most important player in the Mariners&rsquo; rise from the Northern Division cellar to a playoff position. In the process, McLean has made a name for himself in the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; organization, which seems to have cornered the market on talented young goaltenders.The Devils also have former Providence College All-America selection Chris Terreri, 22, and Team Canada&rsquo;s Sean Burke, 20, as well as NHL starters Alain Chevrier, 25, and Craig Billington, 20.Both McLean and Hextall were chosen in the sixth round of the NHL entry draft.&ldquo;He (McLean) wasn&rsquo;t as heralded as some of the other people,&rdquo; Maine coach Tom McVie said, &ldquo;but I think this guy could become the best goaltender in the organization.&ldquo;When a bad goal beats him, he doesn&rsquo;t dwell on it. He doesn&rsquo;t blame the other players, he just goes back to work. He&rsquo;s got the perfect temperament and attitude. He&rsquo;s a hard worker in practice and he&rsquo;s improved so much with all the things we&rsquo;ve done with him. His puckhandling ability has really improved. Hextall is as good as I&rsquo;ve seen and this guy is right on his tail. He&rsquo;s really something.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03294/5428691-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="177" height="138"></div><h2>AHL NORTH</h2>McLean started the season with the Mariners and split the work with Billington. His numbers were pretty good, considering that he was playing for what was then the worst team in the league.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;He has the same kind of demeanor as Bernie Parent. The more he plays the better he is.&rsquo; &mdash;McVic</blockquote>Just before Christmas, when the Mariners were beginning to win with some regularity, McLean was recalled to New Jersey because Terreri was ill. Terreri was sent to Maine, Billington was called up and, two weeks later, McLean was returned to the AHL team.It was the best thing that could have happened to him. McLean won his first few starts for the Mariners and McVie quickly scrapped his rotation. McLean didn&rsquo;t disappoint. From Jan. 5 to the NHL all-star break, he started 17 of Maine&rsquo;s 20 games and compiled a 14-3 record with a goals-against average of 2.50. Coincidentally, the 14th victory moved the Mariners into a tie for second place in the division.Overall, McLean was 18-15 with a goals-against average of 3.11. His average ranked him fifth in the league.McLean, a Toronto native who played his junior hockey in Oshawa, felt the two-game stint in the NHL had an impact on his performance in January and February.&ldquo;I had played well up there and I just kept her going,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I felt really good when I came down and things have just worked out.&ldquo;Before I went up, the team was starting to come around. When I was up there the team was winning, so when I came down I came into a good situation. I guess that going up built my confidence up a little bit. It really helps, I think.&rdquo;McLean said his technique has improved in the pros. He stays on his feet longer than he did as a junior, and he has shown an ability to get stronger the more he plays.&ldquo;He has the same kind of demeanor as Bernie Parent,&rdquo; McVie said. &ldquo;The more he plays, the better he is. If he sits for a week he&rsquo;s not as effective. If there are five games in six nights, that&rsquo;s when he really gets tough. That&rsquo;s a good indication of what you&rsquo;ve got.&rdquo;AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;Thirty ex&mdash;Maine Mariners attended the team&rsquo;s alumni game Feb. 16, celebrating the franchise&rsquo;s 10th anniversary. As part of the festivities, the Mariners retired Bud Stefanski&rsquo;s number, 77. Stefanski was recently forced to retire because of a chronic neck injury&hellip;Adirondack&rsquo;s Glenn Merkosky scored his 39th and 40th goals of the season in the Wings&rsquo; 51st game. He tied Jody Gage&rsquo;s team record for goals in a season, and was on a pace to challenge Paul Gardner&rsquo;s league record of 61 goals in a season&hellip;Brian Noonan has emerged as one of Nova Scotia&rsquo;s better goal scorers&hellip;Moncton&rsquo;s Brett Hull extended his goal-scoring streak to eight games&hellip;Taylor Hall and Bret McDonald returned to the Fredericton roster after missing time with knee injuries. &#9632;

f0031-03

McLean Could Be ‘The Best’ Of All The Devils’ Stoppers

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>SAGINAW, Mich.&mdash;Players like Jeff Pyle are expected to show leadership both on and off the ice, but this goes beyond the call of duty.Not only did Pyle score his 28th goal of the season in the first period of a 5-3 victory by the Saginaw Generals over Indianapolis, he also spent the last 40 minutes coaching the team while taking a regular shift.Pyle replaced coach Dennis Desrosiers, who got the thumb from referee Jim Norquay for &ldquo;profane and abusive language&rdquo; between the first and second period.Pyle is listed twice on the International League club&rsquo;s roster&mdash;once at his left wing position and again as assistant coach. So Desrosiers had no particular worries when he was forced to watch the remainder of the Feb. 6 game from the sidelines.&ldquo;Pyle and Peter Horachek handled things the rest of the way,&rdquo; Desrosiers said. &ldquo;They have the respect of the other players and they share the duties of running practices at home if I am busy on the general manager&rsquo;s duties. Jeff does a good job.&rdquo;Pyle did an exceptional job in Indy. He assisted on two of three second-period Saginaw goals, including Michel Caron&rsquo;s game-winner.His three points for the night boosted him to 78 points for the season, second to the Checkers&rsquo; Ron Handy in 1HL scoring.The 28-year-old was the leading scorer at Saginaw last year with 109 points, including 39 goals. At his present pace, Pyle could better last season&rsquo;s totals.The victory over Indianapolis came after a string of four losses in five outings, the poorest stretch of the season for the Generals. They also dropped three straight games at home for the first time, though their record at home (19-5) was the best in the league.&ldquo;We started fast this season,&rdquo; explained Pyle, &ldquo;then had a little up-and-down period&mdash;but we&rsquo;ve been doing well lately. We have a lot of young guys, we knew we had good goaltending and we got some help from Chicago and Montreal.&rdquo;As a result, the Generals have led the East Division for most of the season, and have battled West Division leader Fort Wayne for the overall top spot.Saginaw picked up its 30th victory of the season at Indianapolis; last year the club won 41 while finishing third in the East.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01603/5428729-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="592" height="1064"><figcaption class="caption-body">Left winger Jeff Pyle coached the Saginaw Generals for two periods recently.</figcaption></div>The difference this year, according to Pyle, is depth at the forward positions.&ldquo;The last couple of years we had one really good line,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This year we have three. And our &lsquo;MGM&rsquo; rookie line (Michel Mongeau, Glenn Greenough and Dave Mackey) really puts some heat on the other teams.&ldquo;The opposition can&rsquo;t key on just one of our lines this year. We&rsquo;re getting production from everyone and the better the team is all-around, the more opportunities I get.&rdquo;The Generals have had to overcome injuries to key players. Greenough, Mongeau and veteran Tom St. James have missed nearly 40 games between them. But, said Pyle, &ldquo;someone comes through every night for us.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02443/5428722-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="157" height="137"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>In many cases it has been veteran defenseman Greg Tebbutt, selected to the IHL&rsquo;s mid-season first all-star team. Tebbutt&rsquo;s nine power-play goals placed him second on the team to Mongeau&rsquo;s 12, and his six game-winning assists put him right behind Pyle&rsquo;s eight.Bernie Gallant had four game-winning goals among his 20, while team captain Horachek and Guy Jacob had three each. There is a lot of balance.The team was the league&rsquo;s third-best on both offense and defense. Darren Pang picked up his 20th victory of the season at Indianapolis and had an average of about 3.50 goals against per game. Rick Knickle had six wins and a 4.31 average.&ldquo;Things have come together for us,&rdquo; Pyle said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve set our roster and the jockeying for position is over. Both divisions are really tight races this year and any team can come back and win it.&rdquo;I-LITES&mdash;Denver has been invited to join the IHL next season, and a group of Toledo investors may bring that city back to the league as well. The IHL board of governors approved Denver&rsquo;s bid during its semi-annual meeting Feb. 9-10 at Peoria. Kansas City also has expressed interest in acquiring a franchise and commissioner Bud Poile indicated that city could join the league by Apr. 1&hellip;The Denver franchise, expected to play in the 8,100-seat Coliseum, is headed by Dennis Champine, a real estate broker and mayor of nearby Aurora for eight years, and Michael Hitch Jr., son of Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Hitch Sr. The Denver franchise would join Salt Lake City in subsidizing the travel and per diem for the other IHL teams heading west&hellip;If Toledo and Kansas City join the league, Poile said the Fort Wayne Komets would be moved to the East Division with Toledo, Saginaw, Flint, Kalamazoo and Muskegon. The West Division would then include Denver, Salt Lake, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Peoria and Milwaukee. &#9632;

f0032-01

Pyle Drives Generals As Player And Coach

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>BOSTON&mdash;Amid the crush of reporters at Boston Garden, scant minutes after he became the winningest coach in United States college hockey history, Len Ceglarski made a weary but typically unselfish observation.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s over with, finally, for the kids&rsquo; sake,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been playing like ourselves for three games now.&rdquo;Ceglarski&rsquo;s Boston Colege team had just defeated Harvard 7-6 in overtime, ending a memorable consolation game in the 35th annual Beanpot Tournament. The victory boosted the 29-year veteran mentor&rsquo;s lifetime total to 556, one more than the previous National Collegiate Athletic Association record of 555 registered by Michigan Tech&rsquo;s great John Maclnnes.Ceglarski still has a way to go, however, before he captures the North American college hockey record. At the University of Alberta, 26-year-veteran coach Clare Drake was at 615 wins and counting, as of Feb. 11.BC had twice tried and failed to get Ceglarski win No. 556, losing at Lowell in Hockey East league play and 6-3 to Boston University in the Beanpot opener.This time, however, junior center Ken Hodge took control. He scored BC&rsquo;s final three goals, including the sudden-death winner a split-second before time expired.Hodge blasted a rolling puck from just outside the blue line, and the disc broke sharply around Harvard goalie Dick McEvoy and into the cage.Harvard argued that time had expired, but to no avail. Still, the game was perhaps the best consolation tilt ever played in the venerable Beanpot.Harvard, top-rated in the Eastern Colleges Athletic Conference, entered Beanpot as co-favorite with BC. The Crimson took a 5-3 lead early in the third period, but shorthanded goals by Hodge and Tim Sweeney, sandwiched around an even-strength goal by Hodge, gave BC a 6-5 lead. But Harvard, for the second week in a row, scored a tying marker with the goalie pulled. This time, Tim Barakett was the triggerman.In the championship contest, Boston University and Northeastern started off slowly but finished in similar Chinese fire drill fashion. The Terriers came away with a 4-3 overtime win to successfully defend their 1986 Beanpot crown.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01539/5428760-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="181" height="136"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>Sophomore center Mike Kelfer&mdash;named the Beanpot MVP&mdash;wristed the winner past Bruce Racine, at 5:28 of the extra frame.But the night still belonged to Ceglarski, the soft-spoken gentleman from Walpole, Mass.Ceglarski is the last of his generation. Among his NCAA Division I colleagues, only Femie Flaman, the former Boston Bruin who now coaches at Northeastern, is old enough not to have himself played for the 57-year-old Ceglarski. Ceglarski&rsquo;s peers include the likes of MacInnes, Charlie Holt, George Menard, Jack Riley and Jack Kelley. They&rsquo;ve all left the game, but Len continues to stay and prosper.Barring a major collapse, BC will capture its third consecutive Hockey East pennant; the Eagles have already won more than 20 games for the fifth straight season. This year was to have been a rebuilding campaign, but the Eagles just kept improving.&ldquo;The amazing thing about Lenny,&rdquo; said Steve Cedorchuk, his assistant of 12 seasons at BC, &ldquo;is that he&rsquo;s always about two years ahead of the rest of us when it comes to hockey.&rdquo;In 14 years at Clarkson, Ceglarski compiled a 254-97-10 record. The Golden Knights were twice NCAA runner-up, never missed the playoffs, and earned their mentor the Spencer Penrose Coach of the Year Award.This is Ceglarski&rsquo;s 16th season at BC, where his record is 302-168-16, including an NCAA runner-up finish. Ceglarski played his college hockey at BC, too. He was a sophomore on the Eagles&rsquo; 1949 NCAA championship team, and played on the 1952 U.S. Olympic team.The only goal left for Ceglarski is the NCAA title. This year&rsquo;s BC outfit stands a good chance to earn that final crown for him.HOCKEY EAST NOTES&mdash;Maine senior Jay Mazur set Hockey East and school records with a five-goal performance in UMO&rsquo;s 9-2 drubbing of Lowell, the evening after the Chiefs won 3-2 in overtime. Four of Mazur&rsquo;s goals came on the power play, and one was a shorthanded tally. &#9632;

f0033-01

Ceglarski Sets New NCAA Coaching Mark

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>POTSDAM, N.Y.&mdash;Clarkson University coach Cap Raeder can&rsquo;t understand why his team keeps winning&mdash;but as long as it does, he&rsquo;s not worrying.About the only constant for the Golden Knights this season has been their inconsistency. Yet, with six games left, there they were, battling for home-ice advantage in the opening round of the Eastern Colleges Athletic Association playoffs.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a pretty hard team to figure out,&rdquo; said Raeder. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve stopped trying. We&rsquo;ve had some good games and we&rsquo;ve had some awful games. Heck, we haven&rsquo;t even been that tough up here (at Walker Arena). We&rsquo;ve won nine games (in-conference) and half of those have been on the road.&rdquo;The latest two road wins came at the expense of Cornell and Colgate. Freshman goalie John Fletcher, emerging as the top candidate for rookie of the year honors, chalked up the shutout in a 5-0 decision over the Big Red.The next night, Clarkson put its defense to rest and outslugged Colgate 7-6 with junior Steve Williams&mdash;undoubtedly one of the most improved players in the league&mdash;getting three goals and an assist.Fletcher&rsquo;s third shutout, combined with two whitewashes recorded by sophomore Jason Poirier, left Clarkson two away from tying the school record of seven set by the 1961-62 NCAA runner-up team.Williams has been the big surprise. The 5-foot-10,171-pound right winger from Winthrop, N.Y., began his junior year with 50 career points (23 goals, 27 assists). He could match that total this year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02383/5428791-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="180" height="129"></div><h2>EASTERN COLLEGE</h2>His third hat trick of the season gave him 24 goals for the year, along with 10 assists. Ten of his goals had come on the power play and he&rsquo;d had three game-winners.The key to Williams&rsquo; success has been junior center Luciano Borsato, one of the most underrated pivots in the country.Borsato, with five assists against Colgate, added to his team-leading points total (12-31-43). In less than three years, he has piled up 113 career points (44-69) and is well on his way to becoming just the third 200-point scorer in Clarkson history.ECAC NOTES&mdash;Yale swept road games against RPI and Vermont to get a firm hold on second place, behind Harvard. Meanwhile, Harvard ran its unbeaten streak at Bright Arena in Cambridge to 26 games, with a 3-1 win over Princeton&hellip;Dartmouth broke its 18-game winless streak (0-17-1) with a 3-2 decision over Army. Freshman Dave Williams figured in all three goals for the Big Green, with a goal and two assists&hellip;Division II powerhouse Plattsburgh tied the ECAC record for consecutive wins (20) with a 7-5 decision over Geneseo State. &#9632;

f0033-02

Knights In Hunt Despite Inconsistency

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03278/5428843-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="417" height="522"></div>DAN SHEABoston CollegeHOCKEY EASTThe pace-setting Boston College Eagles swept two from the Maine Black Bears as junior left winger Dan Shea showed the way with five points in the two games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04218/5428836-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="416" height="520"></div>LANE MacDONALDHarvardECACTop-ranked Harvard ran its record to 17-1 by beating both Colgate and Cornell with Lane MacDonald scoring four to give him 20 goals for the season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05179/5428829-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="422" height="528"></div>MARK VERMETTELSSCCCHARight winger Mark Vermette counted four points, including a game-winning goal as Lake Superior knocked Michigan State out of first place.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06149/5428822-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="412" height="523"></div>DEREK PIZZEYColo. CollegeWCHAThe Colorado College Tigers surprised Northern Michigan, winning 3-2 and 6-3, as goalie Derek Pizzey came up hot with 96 saves in the two games.Bauer FIT FOR PERFORMANCE &#9632;

f0033-03

BAUER’S COLLEGE PERFORMER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BILL CRAWFORD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02458/5428905-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="593" height="950"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Jones&rsquo; strong play has made him a candidate for AllAmerica status.</figcaption></div>ANN ARBOR, Mich.&mdash;Just who are these guys in maize and blue, anyway?They&rsquo;d been booting backsides since early January, and finishing sixth in the Central Collegiate Association was not out of the question.The University of Michigan hockey team, you say?Baloney. Michigan hasn&rsquo;t done anything since Dave Debol departed. The Wolverines have been toothless for years.Well, not anymore, folks. Red Berenson&rsquo;s Wolverines are a force to be reckoned with this season.His rebuilding scheme is right on schedule. He said it would take time when he took the job and he&rsquo;s now in the third year of a five-year deal. Nobody should be looking forward to playing Michigan in the playoffs.The Wolverines had not done much since the days of Debol and, before him, Berenson, who was an All-American at U-M before his successful playing and coaching career in the National Hockey League. But they&rsquo;ve got seven national titles to fall back on, more than any other U.S. college team.Michigan, which has finished way back in the playoff pack for years, hauled itself up to respectability in the second half.They had surged of late, beating powerful Michigan State 8-2 on MSU&rsquo;s home ice and recording impressive wins over Western Michigan (9-4) and Lake Superior State (9-5).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01581/5428912-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="183" height="140"></div><h2>CENTRAL COLLEGIATE</h2>The playoffs were on the Wolverines&rsquo; minds.&ldquo;Some of our guys are leaning toward Michigan State (for playoff preference),&rdquo; said Michigan&rsquo;s Brad Jones, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer and a genuine All-America candidate. &ldquo;We really don&rsquo;t fear going anywhere or playing anybody right now. Our defensive game is so much improved that the rest of it has just sort of fallen into place. We really are a much-improved team.&rdquo;Jones scored six goals and had nine points as Michigan grabbed three of a possible four points at Lake Superior.He was the CCHA&rsquo;s leading scorer, with 26 goals, 64 points and two league games left.A Sterling Heights, Mich, native, Jones is a 1984 draft choice of the Winnipeg Jets. He has one eye on the NHL and the other on options such as the U.S. Olympic team.Berenson credits team defense and the inspirational play of Jones as two keys to recent success.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen Brad play like he has in road games,&rdquo; said Berenson. &ldquo;He has been a legitimate AllAmerican this season.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen Brad play like he has in road games.&rsquo; &mdash;Berenson</blockquote>Michigan started its surge by making it to the finals of the Great Lakes Invitational, before losing to Western Michigan.The 10 freshmen Michigan started with last fall are among the better recruits in college hockey and they have matured accordingly. Kids such as highly-touted Todd Copeland (New Jersey&rsquo;s second choice in the 1986 entry draft), Brad Turner and Alex Roberts are solidifying the defense.Defensemen Jeff Norton and Myles O&rsquo;Connor are just coming into their own. Warren Sharpies has been very steady in goal.Jones leads the way up front, with 5-foot-8 center Todd Brost, a sophomore, providing steady offense (16 goals), and Brad McCaughey (23 goals), Bryan Deasley (13 goals) and Billy Powers (12 goals) maturing rapidly.It is these Wolverines, in particular, who have rekindled the old fire.CCHATTER&mdash;Brad Jones joined spare WMU goalie Bill Horn and Michigan State&rsquo;s Bill Shibicky as players of the week in the CCHA for the Feb. 6-7 weekend. Jones had six goals and nine points in the win and tie with Lake Superior, while Horn stopped 90 shots in two wins at Ohio State. Shibicky scored four times in a Friday win over Bowling Green (6-3) and had four goals on the weekend in which State took three of a possible four points from arch-rival BG&hellip;Shibicky and Ferris State&rsquo;s Paul Lowden passed the 200-point plateau in their college careers. Shibicky had 201 points following the BG series, while Lowden reached 204 after scoring four goals in one game and one in the other in twin wins against non-conference foe Michigan-Dearborn. &#9632;

f0035-02

It’s Not Easy Keening Up With This Jones

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>DENVER&mdash;Remind Ralph Backstrom to never again schedule his Denver Pioneers for Michigan Tech&rsquo;s Winter Carnival weekend.Until the Pioneers were melted by Tech at the annual winter celebration, Denver was one of the hottest teams in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, boasting a 15-5-2 record in its previous 22 games.But the Huskies, in a late bid to escape the WCHA cellar, stunned Denver twice, continuing Tech&rsquo;s fine tradition on Winter Carnival weekend, the Houghton school&rsquo;s wintertime version of homecoming.The Huskies have won the Maclnnes Memorial Cup, which goes to the total-goals winner of the Winter Carnival weekend, 25 of the last 28 years.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03364/5428943-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="574" height="139"></div><h2>WESTERN COLLEGIATE</h2>Michigan Tech won 13-7 on 6-1 and 7-6 victories.Other than that. Denver has been one of the WCHA&rsquo;s most surprising teams, considering the graduation losses and defections to the pros the Pioneers suffered after winning the conference and placing fourth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament last year.Denver was picked to finish sixth in the WCHA, but is in a battle with Wisconsin and Northern Michigan for third. There are some who think that Backstrom, the WCHA&rsquo;s coach of the year last season, has done even a better job this year.The Pioneers have no superstars, unlike last year when players such as Dwight Mathiasen and Dallas Gaume carried the potent attack.This year, the offense is so balanced that 17 players have 10 or more points. And the offense has been led by a freshman, David Shields, who last played for the Penticton Knights&mdash;the British Columbia team that has been a constant producer of top players for U.S. colleges.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have one guy who is running away with the scoring, unlike some of our past teams,&rdquo; said Backstrom. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;re still a young team. We lack a lot of experience but we make up for it with a lot of hard work.&rdquo;What has helped Denver stay near the top has been the play of goalies Chris Gillies and Chris Olson. Gillies, who was red-shirted last season to save a year of eligibility, sparked the Pioneers early but it was Olson who&rsquo;d been playing well of late.During one seven-game stretch he posted a 6-0-1 record.Denver&rsquo;s 7-6 loss to Michigan Tech resulted from one of the strangest calls ever in college hockey.With Denver leading 6-5 in the closing minutes, a linesman called a five-minute major on Denver&rsquo;s Dave Hanson for butt-ending the Michigan Tech student manager.Tech promptly scored one powerplay goal to tie the game, then scored again on the same power play in overtime to win the contest.WCHA NOTES&mdash;Northern Michigan&rsquo;s Joe West, who teamed with Gary Emmons to form a dynamite scoring combo, has quit the Wildcat hockey team over a disagreement with coach Rick Comley&hellip;Also quitting was Rob Pallin of Minnesota-Duluth, a sophomore defenseman who had seen action in just nine games&hellip;Michigan Tech goalie Dave Roach recently became the school&rsquo;s all-time save leader with 2,866 in four years&hellip;Minnesota goalie John Blue set a school record for career wins with 59. Blue, who led the WCHA in goals-against average the last two years, has ranked second this year to North Dakota rookie Ed Belfour. &#9632;

f0035-03

Student Manager Took One For Tech At Winter Carnival

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04296/5428988-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="366" height="479"></div>DAVE CARREIROWesternOUAAThe Western Mustangs climbed into the battle for first place with York, Waterloo and Toronto by toppling both Laurier and McMaster as winger Dave Carreiro led the way with four goals in the two wins.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05244/5428981-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="364" height="480"></div>LINDSAY DYCKBrandonCWUAAThe Brandon Bobcats kept their playoff hopes alive with a two-game sweep of the UBC Thunderbirds as right winger Lindsay Dyck counted three times on the power play and added a game winner.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06219/5428974-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="362" height="482"></div>JOHN BEKKERSSt. F. XavierAUAACenter John Bekkers scored four times as the St. Francis Xavier X-Men defeated Acadia and St. Mary&rsquo;s to solidify their hold on second place. Bekkers has 19 goals in 23 games this season. &#9632;

f0035-04

BAUER’S UNIVERSITY PERFORMER OF THE WEEK

<h2>CCHA</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01556/5429152-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="537" height="265"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>FRI. FEB. 13BOWLING GREEN 3 AT W. MICHIGAN 8LAKE SUPERIOR 4 AT MICH. STATE 3MIAMI 7 AT FERRIS STATE 5OHIO STATE 2 AT ILL-CHICAGO 5ALA-FAIRBANKS 2 AT MICHIGAN 8SAT. FEB. 14BOWLING GREEN 6 AT W. MICHIGAN 5LAKE SUPERIOR 4 AT MICH. STATE 1MIAMI 6 AT FERRIS STATE 7OHIO STATE 3 AT ILL-CHICAGO 4ALA-FAIRBANKS 3 AT MICHIGAN 7<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>FRI. FEB. 20ILL-CHICAGO AT FERRIS STATEBOWLING GREEN AT MICHIGANMICH. STATE AT OHIO STATEW. MICHIGAN AT MIAMIMICH-DEARBORN AT LAKE SUPERIORSAT. FEB. 21MICHIGAN AT BOWLING GREENILL-CHICAGO AT FERRIS STATEMICH. STATE AT OHIO STATEW. MICHIGAN AT MIAMIMICH-DEARBORN AT LAKE SUPERIOR(END OF REGULAR SCHEDULE)<h2>CCHA PLAYOFFS</h2>FRI-SAT. FEB. 27-28FIRST ROUND PLAYOFFSSUN. MAR. 1SECOND ROUND PLAYOFFSFRI-SAT. MAR. 6-7CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS(AT JOE LOUIS ARENA IN DETROIT)<h3>LEADINGSCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02414/5429145-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="534" height="293"></div><h2>WCHA</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03334/5429138-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="535" height="240"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. FEB. 10MICH. TECH 3 AT WISCONSIN 4WED. FEB. 11MICH. TECH. 2 AT WISCONSIN 3FRI. FEB. 13DENVER 1 AT NORTH DAKOTA 4MINNESOTA 6 AT MIN-DULUTH 3N. MICHIGAN 2 AT COLORADO COLLEGE 3SAT. FEB. 14DENVER 2 AT NORTH DAKOTA 5MINNESOTA 5 AT MIN-DULUTH 1N. MICHIGAN 3 AT COLORADO COLLEGE 6<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>FRI. FEB. 20DENVER AT COLORADO COLLEGEMIN-DULUTH AT MICH. TECHNO. DAKOTA AT N. MICHIGANWISCONSIN AT MINNESOTASAT. FEB. 21MIN-DULUTH AT MICH. TECHNO. DAKOTA AT N. MICHIGANWISCONSIN AT MINNESOTACOLORADO COLLEGE AT DENVER(END OF REGULAR SCHEDULE)<h2>WCHA PLAYOFFS</h2>FRI-SAT. FEB. 27-28FIRST ROUND PLAYOFFSFRI-SAT. MAR. 6-7SECOND ROUND PLAYOFFSFRI-SAT. MAR. 13-14CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04249/5429131-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="535" height="296"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05199/5429124-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="536" height="217"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. FEB. 10NEW HAMPSHIRE 2 AT VERMONT 5THU. FEB. 12PROVIDENCE 2 AT BOSTON UNIV 3LOWELL 5 AT NORTHEASTERN 4FRI. FEB. 13MAINE 5 AT BOSTON COLLEGE 6SAT. FEB. 14MAINE 3 AT BOSTON COLLEGE 6SUN. FEB. 15BOSTON UNIV 7 AT PROVIDENCE 6NORTHEASTERN 4 AT LOWELL 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06169/5429117-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="533" height="320"></div><h2>BEANPOT TOURNAMENT</h2>PRELIMINARY ROUNDMON. FEB. 2NORTHEASTERN 5, HARVARD 4BOSTON UNIV. 6, BOSTON COLLEGE 3MON. FEB. 9CONSOLATION GAMEBOSTON COLLEGE 7, HARVARD 6CHAMPIONSHIP GAMEBOSTON UNIV. 4, NORTHEASTERN 3(BOSTON UNIV. WINS TOURNAMENT)<h2>ECAC</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07159/5429110-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="529" height="345"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. FEB. 10NEW HAMPSHIRE 2 AT VERMONT 5FRI. FEB. 13BROWN 3 AT ST. LAWRENCE 4COLGATE 3 AT HARVARD 8CORNELL 5 AT DARTMOUTH 4RPI 8 AT ARMY 2VERMONT 2 AT PRINCETON 1YALE 3 AT CLARKSON 0SAT. FEB. 14BROWN 3 AT CLARKSON 7COLGATE 5 AT DARTMOUTH 4CORNELL 0 AT HARVARD 3RPI 3 AT PRINCETON 2VERMONT 3 AT ARMY 1YALE 3 AT ST. LAWRENCE 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08153/5429103-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="535" height="242"></div><h2>GWHC</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09146/5429096-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="528" height="109"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>ALA-ANCHORAGE 5, ALA-FAIRBANKS 4ALA-FAIRBANKS 8, ALA-ANCHORAGE 6<h3>NON-CONFERENCE</h3>US INTL 7, BETHEL 2US INTL 4, BETHEL 1<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10143/5429089-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="533" height="318"></div><h2>WPCHA</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11139/5429082-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="531" height="241"></div><h2>OUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12131/5429075-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="534" height="370"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED. FEB. 11YORK 4 AT TORONTO 2THU. FEB. 12WESTERN 5 AT LAURIER 1FRI. FEB. 13WINDSOR 8 AT BROCK 3RYERSON 2 AT QUEEN&rsquo;S 4SAT. FEB. 14RYERSON 4 AT RMC 7YORK 6 AT LAURENTIAN 4GUELPH 3 AT QUEEN&rsquo;S 3WINDSOR 2 AT TORONTO 10WESTERN 6 AT MCMASTER 3SUN. FEB. 15GUELPH 3 AT RMC 11YORK 5 AT LAURENTIAN 3LAURIER 3 AT WATERLOO 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>THU. FEB. 19MCMASTER AT GUELPHFRI. FEB. 20BROCK AT WESTERNSAT. FEB. 21BROCK AT WINDSORWATERLOO AT YORKWINDSOR AT WESTERNSUN. FEB. 22LAURENTIAN AT LAURIERMCMASTER AT WINDSOR(END OF REGULAR SCHEDULE)<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13127/5429068-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="530" height="291"></div><h2>AUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON FEB. 16)<h3>KELLY DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-14120/5429061-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="533" height="136"></div><h3>MCADAM DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-15119/5429054-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="534" height="162"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED. FEB. 11ST. MARY&rsquo;S 6 AT DALHOUSIE 9MT. ALLISON 3 AT MONCTON 7ST. F. XAVIER8 AT ACADIA 3SAT. FEB. 14MT. ALLISON 4 AT UNB 7DALHOUSIE 6 AT UPEI 5MONCTON 6 AT ST. THOMAS 3SUN. FEB. 15ST. MARY&rsquo;S 5 AT ST. F. XAVIER 9ACADIA 4 AT UPEI 5MONCTON 3 AT UNB 2MT. ALLISON 3 AT ST. THOMAS 6<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>WED. FEB. 18ACADIA AT ST. F. XAVIERDALHOUSIE AT ST. MARY&rsquo;SFRI. FEB. 20UPEI AT MT. ALLISONST. MARY&rsquo;S AT ACADIAST. F. XAVIER AT DALHOUSIESAT. FEB. 21UNB AT MONCTONSUN. FEB. 22MT. ALLISON AT UPEI(END OF REGULAR SCHEDULE)<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-16116/5429047-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="534" height="321"></div><h2>CWUAA</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-17110/5429040-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="533" height="236"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. FEB. 10REGINA 6 AT ALBERTA 4WED. FEB. 11REGINA 2 AT ALBERTA 7FRI. FEB. 13CALGARY 7 AT REGINA 4UBC 3 AT BRANDON 6SAT. FEB. 14CALGARY 9 AT REGINA 6ALBERTA 6 AT MANITOBA 2LETHBRIDGE 4 AT SASKATCHEWAN 9UBC 3 AT BRANDON 5SUN. FEB. 15LETHBRIDGE 2 AT SASKATCHEWAN 8ALBERTA 4 AT MANITOBA 3<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>FRI. FEB. 20MANITOBA AT CALGARYSASKATCHEWAN AT UBCBRANDON AT LETHBRIDGESAT. FEB. 21MANITOBA AT CALGARYSASKATCHEWAN AT UBCBRANDON AT LETHBRIDGE(END OF REGULAR SCHEDULE)<h3>LEADINGSCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-18105/5429033-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="535" height="372"></div><h2>QUAA</h2>(FINAL STANDINGS)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-19103/5429026-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="536" height="137"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED. FEB. 11T-RIVIERES 6 AT OTTAWA 3FRI. FEB. 13McGILL 5 AT OTTAWA 9CONCORDIA 3 AT T-RIVIERES 7SUN. FEB. 15CONCORDIA 3 AT T-RIVIERES 8(END OF REGULAR SCHEDULE)<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>SEMI-FINAL PLAYOFFSTHU. FEB. 19McGILL AT OTTAWAMON. FEB. 23OnAWA AT McGILLWED. FEB. 25McGILL AT OTTAWA(BEST-OF-THREE SERIES)<h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2098/5429019-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="536" height="316"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

Bauer COLLEGE Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY RANDY RUSSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02351/5429183-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="588" height="945"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shane Doyle, who&rsquo;s been traded three times, was suspended by the Oshawa Generals.</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;Graduating midgets, take note: If you play in the Ontario League, there&rsquo;s a 30 per-cent chance you&rsquo;ll be traded.THE HOCKEY NEWS has determined that, of 337 players currently listed on the rosters of the 15 OHL teams, a whopping 101&mdash;or 29.97 per cent&mdash;have been traded at least once.Of that total, 38 have been traded at least twice. Seven of those have been moved three times, and two more have been sent packing four times since being drafted out of midget hockey.The Belleville Bulls. Sudbury Wolves, Hamilton Steelhawks and Kitchener Rangers lead the trade-happy OHL in the moving of players currently in the league.Of the 23 players on Belleville&rsquo;s roster, 12 have been acquired through trades. There are almost as many ex-Bulls&mdash;22&mdash;as current Bulls in the OHL.Sudbury has obtained 12 of its 24 players through trades, and there are 15 former Wolves skating elsewhere in the league. Sudbury has traded seven players and received five in return since early December, when Ken Burgess took over ownership from Joe Drago and partners.By mid-February. the Bulls were fighting to stay out of last place in the Leyden Division, while the Wolves were dead last in the Emms and the entire OHL.Nine members of Hamilton&rsquo;s 22-man roster have come via the trade route, and helped keep the Steelhawks battling for first in the Emms. Meanwhile, 18 ex-Steelhawks are playing in other OHL cities.Of the 23 current members of the sixth-place Rangers, nine were obtained in deals. Another 11 OHLers once called Kitchener home.When informed of the survey&rsquo;s findings, OHL commissioner David Branch said he doesn&rsquo;t view the trading in the league as &ldquo;a serious problem.&rdquo;Insiders, however, say the public-relations-conscious Branch is, in fact, very concerned about over-trading in the OHL.&ldquo;Certainly, it&rsquo;s a situation that has to be constantly monitored, and something we plan to look into at the end of the season,&rdquo; said Branch. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m also aware that there are different reasons why a player is traded.&ldquo;For example, a player may request a trade because of difficulty getting along in his environment. Or a team may trade a player in order to get him more ice time some place else. I can&rsquo;t really comment further on the figures you&rsquo;re quoting me, because I haven&rsquo;t sat down and analyzed them.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01484/5429190-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="180" height="135"></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>Rick Curran, a Toronto-based player agent who has instigated several trades to further the interests of his clients, notes that many trades are carried out with a player&rsquo;s blessings.&ldquo;There are times, for one reason or another from a personality standpoint that it&rsquo;s like oil and water.&rdquo; said Curran of conflicts that can arise. &ldquo;If a boy is there to pursue his hockey career&hellip;sometimes a situation just isn&rsquo;t right so you try to encourage a trade.&rdquo;The most oft-traded players in the league are Hamilton overage winger Brian Martin and Belleville goalie Brian Tessier. Both have been traded four times.Seven others&mdash;Daran Moxam and Warren Rychel of Kitchener Rangers, Shane Doyle of Oshawa Generals, Steve Hedington and Dan Gatenby of Sudbury Wolves, Brad Hyatt of Windsor Spitfires and Brian Hoard of Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds&mdash;have all been traded three times.Of those nine, all but Rychel have played with Belleville. Hoard, in his second year of OHL play, has twice been traded by the Bulls&mdash;to and from Hamilton, and then to the Soo.Of the 22 current OHLers that Belleville coach-general manger Larry Mavety has traded, five have been dealt to Hamilton (though only three remain Steelhawks). Four more have gone to North Bay.In fact, Belleville&rsquo;s top three picks from the 1984 midget draft&mdash;John Purves, Stan Drulia and Doyle&mdash;were all traded to Hamilton, though Doyle has since been sent to Oshawa, via Hamilton and Cornwall.Interestingly, while North Bay has seven players that have played elsewhere, four are ex-Bulls. The four&mdash;forwards Tim Bean, Mike Hartman and Troy Crowder, plus starting goalie John Reid&mdash;have been key players as the Centennials chase the Steelhawks for first place in the Emms.&ldquo;We made a run for the Memorial Cup last year and lost 14 players to graduation, and we had to rebuild this year,&rdquo; Mavety explained of his wheeling and dealing. &ldquo;You just can&rsquo;t build through the draft with a bunch of 17-year-old kids and in order to make the playoffs this year, and compete with Kingston, Toronto, and Cornwall for a playoff spot, I found it necessary to trade in order to ice the best team possible and give the fans a playoff team.&rdquo;Branch refused to criticize the Bulls or the Steelhawks, who between them have transferred 61 current OHL players.&ldquo;Both are good, solid franchises,&rdquo; said Branch, &ldquo;and have never had problems attracting graduating midgets to play for them.&ldquo;Still, as I mentioned, the trade practices of this league bear constant scrutiny. We may institute some new rules and regulations when the matter comes up after the season.&rdquo;One matter of concern is the impact excessive trading can have on the OHL&rsquo;s appeal to potential players, who have the option of playing major junior or college hockey.Everybody who chooses U.S. or Canadian college and university hockey can count on &ldquo;no-trade&rdquo; clauses in agreements with their schools.&ldquo;Certainly one of the tools we use to attract players who are undecided between Division I hockey and major junior is that besides the scholastic education they get, they&rsquo;ll be here for four years,&rdquo; said Frank Anzalone, head coach at Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.&ldquo;&hellip;If something is not working right, we (won&rsquo;t) decide to uproot the boy and trade him to Michigan Sate, Illinois-Chicago or Miami of Ohio. Point is, if a player keeps up his grades, he&rsquo;s here to stay.&rdquo;Disruption in schooling is one unavoidable result of trades.&ldquo;The one thing that suffers is the educational aspect,&rdquo; said Curran. &ldquo;But if a kid is a good student and has put the effort into it, there&rsquo;s no reason to suggest that a trade will hurt his education.&ldquo;If he&rsquo;s not a good student, if he hasn&rsquo;t put the effort into it, then to blame it on a trade is more or less a cop-out.&rdquo;To minimize the impact of trades on a player&rsquo;s education in the Quebec League, an in-season trading period&mdash;in synch with the province&rsquo;s school sessions&mdash;has been instituted.Trading in the OHL is permitted until the first business day of February.&ldquo;I am not one to criticize someone else&rsquo;s program,&rdquo; Branch said of the Division I alternative. &ldquo;Certainly, there are no guarantees in life and there are no guarantees that a player attending a U.S. college will be there for four years.&ldquo;The way I see it, financial aid can be terminated by the schools. I don&rsquo;t know if that&rsquo;s a fair analogy or not, but I will say that the Ontario Hockey League is always open to change and will make changes if it&rsquo;s for the betterment of the players in our league. The players are our most important avenue and we&rsquo;ll do anything to look after their best interests.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK&mdash;Oshawa Generals&rsquo; coach Paul Theriault has suspended 19-year-old defenseman Shane Doyle, who is on his fourth OHL team. Theriault said Doyle &ldquo;has his priorities mixed up. His commitment to the team, by virtue of off-ice activities, has me concerned.&rdquo; Theriault said he would meet with his team and let them decide if they feel Doyle is worthy of another chance. &ldquo;Shane&rsquo;s a talented kid, a really good hockey player&mdash;but this is a team concept that we have here, which requires 100 per-cent commitment on and off the ice,&rdquo; said Theriault. Doyle was a third-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in the 1985 NHL entry draft. &#9632;

f0037-02

Three In 10 OHLers Traded During Career

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03269/5429235-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="361" height="461"></div>RON BERNACCIHamiltonONTARIO LEAGUERon Bernacci has been a big factor in Hamilton Steelhawks&rsquo; battle with North Bay For first place in the Emms Division.The 19-year-old Bernacci was chosen OHL Player of the Week after he counted seven points in three games with the Hawks. He had 71 points in 53 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04222/5429228-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="358" height="459"></div>JOE SAKICSwift CurrentWESTERN LEAGUEHighly-rated NHL prospect Joe Sakic of the Swift Current Broncos has scouts anxiously awaiting the entry draft this summer.Sakic became the first Bronco to be named WHL Player of the Week as he collected 10 points&mdash;including two hat tricks&mdash;in three games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05193/5429221-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="361" height="460"></div>MARC FORTIERChicoutimiQUEBEC LEAGUEIt seems like there&rsquo;s no stopping league scoring leader Marc Fortier of Chicoutimi.The 20-year-old Sagueneens&rsquo; center was named QMJHL Player of the Week for the third time this season after he picked up 11 points, 10 of them assists, in three games. He led the league with 156 points.At the end of the current season, THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0037-03

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/f0038-02440/5429266-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="589" height="936"><figcaption class="caption-body">Injury-plagued Ryan Stewart was obtained in trade by the Portland Winter Hawks.</figcaption></div>KAMLOOPS, B.C.&mdash;The Hatfields and McCoys are at it again.One of the Western League&rsquo;s longest running feuds, between the Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winter Hawks, has taken on a new dimension.Not only have the Western Division rivals been taking their best shots at each other on the ice, they&rsquo;ve been getting in their off-ice licks, too.It was thought defending league-champion Kamloops had gained the upper hand, as the league trading deadline of midnight, Feb. 10 approached.The Blazers, comfortably in first place with a 19-point lead on the Winter Hawks, acquired a pair of veteran New Westminster Bruins&mdash;center Glenn Mulvenna, 19, and defenseman Garth Premak, 18&mdash;in exchange for center Mario Desjardins, 19, left wingers Scott Daniels, 17, and Wayne McDonald, 16, the playing rights to bantam right winger Jason Jennings, 15, and future considerations.Kamloops also traded netminder Rob McKinley, 19, and defenseman Chris Tarnowski, 20, to Regina, for goaltender Stacey Nickel, 20, and the rights to defenseman David Goodall, 15. Goodall&rsquo;s rights were then shipped to Prince Albert, for the rights to Olympic team center Steve Nemeth, 20.Although they&rsquo;re running away with first place, the Blazers have become wary of the pesky Winter Hawks. The rivals have been involved in eight consecutive one-goal games, five of which went into overtime. And the Winter Hawks won the last two tussles.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t take a look at what we needed to beat the East,&rdquo; said Kamloops coach Ken Hitchcock. &ldquo;We looked at what we needed to just get out of our division and be very competitive next year.&ldquo;We know what it takes to beat Portland. Nobody has ever questioned the character on our club. But we felt we needed more skill&mdash;and Mulvenna, Premak and Nemeth give us that.&rdquo;But the Winter Hawks were not about to stand by and watch the Blazers bolster their ranks unchallenged. Portland obtained injury-plagued center Ryan Stewart, 19, from Brandon for future considerations, and center Brent Fedyk, 19, from Seattle for the same price.Stewart, a first-round Winnipeg Jet selection who has also played for Prince Albert and Kamloops, has been recovering from a liver ailment. If he becomes fit enough to play this season, Brandon gets a player&mdash;and if Stewart returns as an overage next season, he will report to Brandon.Kamloops was also trying to land Stewart.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01562/5429273-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="183" height="139"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>Fedyk, an injury-plagued first-round Detroit Red Wing pick, was dealt to Seattle by Regina in the Nov. 4 five-for-five trade which saw highly-touted center Craig Endean go to the Pats.In other WHL trades:&bull; Calgary obtained a pair of right wingers from Regina&mdash;Brent Kilpatrick, 18, and Grant Chomey, 16, for center Mike Van Slooten, 18.&bull; Medicine Hat obtained much-travelled right winger Rod Williams, 20, from Regina for future considerations.&bull; Seattle sent defenseman Jamie Huscroft, 20, to Medicine Hat for center Mike Schwengler, 17.&bull; New Westminster dealt center Mike McWilliam, 19, to Medicine Hat for future considerations.WHL WEEK&mdash;Center Rob Brown of Kamloops broke a WHL record Feb. 10, when he recorded two assists in a 9-0 rout of Victoria. The assists pushed Brown&rsquo;s three-plus-year career total to 307, breaking the mark of 305 held by Dan Hodgson&hellip;Five players were suspended for a total of 11 games, for taking part in a post-game brawl Feb. 8. Graham Garden of Brandon was suspended for three games for leaving the bench, and teammate Kevin Cheveldayoff was suspended a game for his third misconduct of the season. Mark Tinordi of Calgary got two games for receiving a match penalty, while teammates John Heasty and Ken Spangler each received two-game suspensions for their fourth game misconducts of the season. Heasty also picked up a third game for his actions in the brawl. Calgary owner Brian Ekstrom was fined $200 for verbally abusing the referee following the game. &#9632;

f0038-02

Western Heavy weights Preparing For Battle

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>ST-JEAN, Que.&mdash;&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a kid who can say the league doesn&rsquo;t care about education.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the view of Ron Daigle, vice-principal at Montreal&rsquo;s Marymount Academy and pedagogical counsellor for the Quebec League&rsquo;s Verdun Jr. Canadiens.Daigle is particularly proud of a unique education program the 10-team league started last season, tailored to meet the needs of players enrolled in Quebec&rsquo;s junior colleges and high schools.This season, the league limited trading to five specific periods, based on the school calendar&mdash;and the result has been a drop in the number of trades from 91 last season to 50 this year.Trading was allowed only from May 30toJun. 30, Oct. 10 to 13, Nov. I4to 16, Dec. 19 to Jan. 11, and Feb. 13 to 15. The restrictions did not receive universal support.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not the most popular people around in the league,&rdquo; said Daigle. &ldquo;We have the teams&rsquo; governors and coaches on our backs, but (QMJHL president) Gilles Courteau has made them abide by the schedule. Gilles has been visiting the &lsquo;AAA&rsquo; midget teams and explaining the opportunities.&rdquo;Last season, 132 players were registered in the diploma program with the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu CEGEP (junior college), south of Montreal. The CEGEP diploma is a prerequisite for admission to universities in Quebec. A major goal of the project was to convince players to remain in the province.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03356/5429304-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="185" height="141"></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>The league contributed $80,000 ($8,000 from each team) to the $650,000 program, fashioned to help hockey players complete the two-year diploma in three years, while maintaining their rigorous hockey schedules. The provincial government paid the remainder, allowing 40 athletes in other sports&mdash;including skiing, swimming and gymnastics&mdash;to participate.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Another change, added this year, is a course designed to teach English to unilingual French-speaking players.</blockquote>Before that, the school curriculum had players taking a number of courses concurrently and attending classes each day, regardless of late-night bus trips.The new program allows teammates to attend small classes together at CEGEPs in each league center. Instead of attempting to juggle three or four subjects simultaneously, players concentrate on one subject at a time, compressed into a five-week period. They attend class three hours a day, three days a week. Classes are timed to accommodate practice and game schedules.Another new wrinkle, added this year, is a course designed to teach English to unilingual French-speaking players. About 100 players, including top National Hockey League entry draft prospect Pierre Turgeon of the Granby Bisons, are expected to enroll.Special tutoring is also available, as is instruction for anglophones.&ldquo;English-speaking players are enrolled in the mainstream courses at high schools and CEGEPs,&rdquo; Daigle said, &ldquo;and, with few exceptions, have done well.&ldquo;Pat LaFontaine and Jimmy Carson, for example, did very well.&rdquo;The QMJHL also offers five scholarships each year to graduating players headed for universities. Each player receives $1,000 a year for three years.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say we have 15 to 18 players on each team attending school,&rdquo; Courteau said.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re particularly proud of our education programs, because we have some players going to school who wouldn&rsquo;t be going if they weren&rsquo;t playing junior hockey.&rdquo;QUEBEC CACHE&mdash;The final flurry of trading saw last-place Verdun ship Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; first-rounder Everett Sanipass to league-leading Granby. The talented 19-year-old left winger invoked a clause in his contract with the Jr. Habs to veto an earlier trade which would have sent him to the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Verdun obtained right winger Norman Desjardins, 18, and future considerations, believed to be Granby&rsquo;s first-round pick in the 1987 QMJHL draft-&hellip;The Jr. Canadiens also traded goaltender James Blanchard, 18, to Granby, for a seventh-round pick. In other activity, the Jr. Habs sent slick right winger Daniel Marois, 18, and future considerations (believed to be their first-round pick in 1987) to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens for future considerations (believed to be the Sags&rsquo; 1987 first-round selection)&hellip;The Bisons sent defenseman Eric Aubertin, 19, a Montreal fifth-rounder, to Laval Titan for a sixth-round choice in 1987&hellip;The Trois-Rivieres Draveurs were involved in three trades. They obtained Longueuil Chevaliers&rsquo; gunner Terry MacLean, 19, plus the Chevs&rsquo; 1987 second and third picks, for two Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; drafts&mdash;fourth-round center Martin Desjardins, 19, and sixth-round defenseman Donald Dufresne, 19&mdash;and a 1987 seventh-round pick. The Draveurs dealt hard-nosed left winger Mike Gober, 19, and defenseman Daniel Larin, 19, to Laval, for Donald and Serge Theriault, then shipped right winger Francis Breault, 19, to Granby for a 1987 fifth-round choice. &#9632;

f0038-03

Deals Down, Emphasis On School Up

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01531/5429349-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01258/5429342-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="3100" height="3805"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01213/5429335-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="3095" height="3325"></div> &#9632;

f0039-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<h2>AHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01218/5429718-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="538" height="187"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02161/5429711-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="543" height="238"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. FEB. 10HERSHEY 4 AT NEWMARKET 3WED. FEB. 11NOVA SCOTIA 1 AT ADIRONDACK 3ROCHESTER 5 AT BALTIMORE 2FREDERICTON 6 AT HERSHEY 5SPRINGFIELD 3 AT NEW HAVEN 5FRI. FEB. 13FREDERICTON 5 AT BALTIMORE 2NOVA SCOTIA AT BINGHAMTON (PPD)ROCHESTER 1 AT NEW HAVEN 2MAINE AT SHERBROOKE (PPD)ADIRONDACK 6 AT SPRINGFIELD 4SAT. FEB. 14MONCTON 8 AT ADIRONDACK 2NOVA SCOTIA 4 AT HERSHEY 2NEW HAVEN 4 AT MAINE 3BINGHAMTON 4 AT NEWMARKET 1ROCHESTER 4 AT SPRINGFIELD 3SUN. FEB. 15FREDERICTON 0 AT BINGHAMTON 4ROCHESTER 4 AT NEW HAVEN 3MONCTON 2 AT SHERBROOKE 4SPRINGFIELD 0 AT ADIRONDACK 6<h3>LEADINGSCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03136/5429704-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="544" height="471"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04101/5429697-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="564" height="162"></div><h2>ACHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0590/5429690-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="538" height="160"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED. FEB. 11ERIE 7 AT MOHAWK VALLEY 11THU. FEB. 12VIRGINIA 6 AT CAROLINA 5FRI. FEB. 13MOHAWK VALLEY 7 AT ERIE 6VIRGINIA 8 AT CAROLINA 7SAT. FEB. 12VIRGINIA 4 AT ERIE 0SUN. FEB. 15ERIE 4 AT CAROLINA 5VIRGINIA 4 AT MOHAWK VALLEY 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0676/5429683-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="547" height="420"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0772/5429676-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg" title="f0043-07" width="560" height="162"></div><h2>IHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0860/5429669-1-eng-US/f0043-082.jpg" title="f0043-08" width="536" height="134"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0957/5429662-1-eng-US/f0043-092.jpg" title="f0043-09" width="537" height="185"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. FEB. 10MUSKEGON 7 AT PEORIA 2WED. FEB. 11PEORIA 4 AT MILWAUKEE 5SAGINAW 5 AT KALAMAZOO 4INDIANAPOLIS 4 AT SALT LAKE 3THU. FEB. 12KALAMAZOO 1 AT MUSKEGON 4FRI. FEB. 13MUSKEGON 4 AT MILWAUKEE 3FLINT 4 AT PEORIA 5INDIANAPOLIS 2 AT SALT LAKE 6SAT. FEB. 14FORT WAYNE 3 AT SAGINAW 7MILWAUKEE 5 AT KALAMAZOO 4FLINT 3 AT PEORIA 1INDIANAPOLIS 4 AT SALT LAKE 3SUN. FEB. 15FLINT 2 AT KALAMAZOO 7PEORIA 1 AT FORT WAYNE 6MUSKEGON 4 AT SAGINAW 6INDIANAPOLIS 6 AT MILWAUKEE 7<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>THU. FEB. 19KALAMAZOO AT INDIANAPOLISFORT WAYNE AT SALT LAKEFRI. FEB. 20SAGINAW AT MUSKEGONPEORIA AT FLINT<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1051/5429655-1-eng-US/f0043-102.jpg" title="f0043-10" width="538" height="447"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1145/5429648-1-eng-US/f0043-112.jpg" title="f0043-11" width="564" height="164"></div><h2>OHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1242/5429641-1-eng-US/f0043-122.jpg" title="f0043-12" width="536" height="212"></div><h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1339/5429634-1-eng-US/f0043-132.jpg" title="f0043-13" width="540" height="240"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>MON. FEB. 9LONDON 5 AT WINDSOR 2TUE. FEB. 10KINGSTON 5 AT CORNWALL 3BELLEVILLE 3 AT OTTAWA 8KITCHENER 4 AT SUDBURY 3NORTH BAY 9 AT S.S. MARIE 5THU. FEB. 12S.S. MARIE 2 AT GUELPH 3LONDON 1 AT PETERBOROUGH 10SUDBURY 2 AT WINDSOR 5FRI. FEB. 13SUDBURY 0 AT GUELPH 5PETERBOROUGH 4 AT LONDON 0S.S. MARIE 3 AT OSHAWA 6CORNWALL 7 AT OTTAWA 5SAT. FEB. 14LONDON 5 AT BELLEVILLE 7KITCHENER 6 AT KINGSTON 4CORNWALL 10 AT TORONTO 3SUN. FEB. 15HAMILTON 6 AT NORTH BAY 5KINGSTON 1 AT OSHAWA 8KITCHENER 3 AT OTTAWA 10SUDBURY 6 AT S.S. MARIE 4BELLEVILLE 6 AT TORONTO 4PETERBOROUGH 1 AT WINDSOR 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1439/5429627-1-eng-US/f0043-142.jpg" title="f0043-14" width="541" height="288"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1535/5429620-1-eng-US/f0043-152.jpg" title="f0043-15" width="561" height="162"></div><h2>WHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1633/5429613-1-eng-US/f0043-162.jpg" title="f0043-16" width="536" height="237"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1729/5429606-1-eng-US/f0043-172.jpg" title="f0043-17" width="536" height="187"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. FEB. 10BRANDON 5 AT SWIFT CURRENT 3CALGARY 4 AT MEDICINE HAT 5PRINCE ALBERT 3 AT SASKATOON 2VICTORIA 0 AT KAMLOOPS 9WED. FEB. 11SWIFT CURRENT 8 AT PRINCE ALBERT 3SPOKANE 5 AT VICTORIA 4CALGARY 0 AT REGINA 3THU. FEB. 12MEDICINE HAT 5 AT BRANDON 1SPOKANE 4 AT NEW WESTMINSTER 1FRI. FEB. 13SWIFT CURRENT 2 AT CALGARY 5MEDICINE HAT 2 AT REGINA 2KAMLOOPS 12 AT SEATTLE 5SAT. FEB. 14SASKATOON 2 AT MOOSE JAW 3CALGARY 2 AT MEDICINE HAT 8KAMLOOPS 7 AT VICTORIA 4NEW WESTMINSTER 5 AT PORTLAND 6SEATTLE 2 AT SPOKANE 7SUN. FEB. 15REGINA 4 AT BRANDON 5PRINCE ALBERT 6 AT CALGARY 1KAMLOOPS 4 AT NEW WESTMINSTER 1PORTLAND 5 AT SPOKANE 4VICTORIA 7 AT SEATTLE 6MOOSE JAW 2 AT SASKATOON 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1824/5429599-1-eng-US/f0043-182.jpg" title="f0043-18" width="539" height="394"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1923/5429592-1-eng-US/f0043-192.jpg" title="f0043-19" width="562" height="161"></div><h2>QMJHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<h3>DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-2016/5429585-1-eng-US/f0043-202.jpg" title="f0043-20" width="537" height="162"></div><h3>LEBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-2112/5429578-1-eng-US/f0043-212.jpg" title="f0043-21" width="539" height="163"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>MON. FEB. 9RUMMONDVILLE 4 AT LAVAL 7TUE. FEB. 10SHAWINIGAN 6 AT DRUMMONDVILLE 3LONGUEUIL 5 AT HULL 4VERDUN 4 AT T-RIVIERES 9LAVAL 3 AT ST. JEAN 2THU. FEB. 12CHICOUTIMI 3 AT GRANBY 7VERDUN 4 AT LAVAL 8HULL 3 AT LONGUEUIL 7FRI. FEB. 13GRANBY 3 AT SHAWINIGAN 9CHICOUTIMI 1 AT ST. JEAN 5SAT. FEB. 14T-RIVIERES 2 AT DRUMMONVILLE 9SUN. FEB. 14DRUMMONDVILLE 5 AT GRANBY 6LAVAL 5 AT LONGUEUIL 5T-RIVIERES 2 AT SHAWINIGAN 7HULL 5 AT VERDUN 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-2211/5429571-1-eng-US/f0043-222.jpg" title="f0043-22" width="542" height="292"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-2310/5429564-1-eng-US/f0043-232.jpg" title="f0043-23" width="536" height="137"></div><h3>TOP GOALTENDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-249/5429557-1-eng-US/f0043-242.jpg" title="f0043-24" width="562" height="161"></div><h2>USHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-258/5429550-1-eng-US/f0043-252.jpg" title="f0043-25" width="539" height="317"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>FRI. FEB. 13ST. PAUL 3 AT MADISON 8NORTH IOWA 3 AT DES MOINES 7OMAHA 2 AT SIOUX CITY 15SAT. FEB. 14DES MOINES 2 AT ROCHESTER 8ST. PAUL 1 AT SIOUX CITY 5NORTH IOWA 5 AT OMAHA 4DUBUQUE 3 AT WATERLOO 8MADISON 3 AT THUNDER BAY 7SUN. FEB. 15MADISON 2 AT THUNDER BAY 5WATERLOO 5 AT DUBUQUE 6ROCHESTER 4 AT ST. PAUL 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-267/5429543-1-eng-US/f0043-262.jpg" title="f0043-26" width="545" height="268"></div><h2>OSHL</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-277/5429536-1-eng-US/f0043-272.jpg" title="f0043-27" width="537" height="162"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>TUE. FEB. 10BRANTFORD 7 AT CAMBRIDGE 6THU. FEB. 12DUNDAS 4 AT BRANTFORD 5FRI. FEB. 13THUNDER BAY 2 AT DUNDAS 3SAT. FEB. 14THUNDER BAY 4 AT CAMBRIDGE 6SUN. FEB. 15THUNDER BAY 6 AT CAMBRIDGE 9<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-286/5429529-1-eng-US/f0043-282.jpg" title="f0043-28" width="542" height="268"></div><h2>SE MANITOBA LEAGUE</h2>(STANDINGS ON MON. FEB. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-296/5429522-1-eng-US/f0043-292.jpg" title="f0043-29" width="537" height="189"></div> &#9632;

f0043-01

SCOREBOARD

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Roberto Romano, G, recalled from Moncton of AHL. Bob Sweeney, C, and Cleon Daskalakis, G, returned to Moncton. Sweeney later recalled.BUFFALO&mdash;Mikael Andersson, LW, recalled from Rochester of AHL.DETROIT&mdash;Mark Lamb, C, assigned to Adirondack of AHL and later recalled along with Mark LaForest, G, and Dale Krentz, LW.EDMONTON&mdash;Marty McSorley, D, sent to Nova Scotia of AHL.HARTFORD&mdash;Brad Shaw, D, returned to Binghamton of AHL.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Garry Galley, D, traded to Washington for Al Jensen, G. Bob Janecyk, G, recalled from New Haven of AHL.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Rich Chernomaz, RW, Perry Anderson, RW, and Uli Hiemer, D, recalled from Maine of AHLNY RANGERS&mdash;Terry Carkner, D, Chris Jensen, RW, and Lane Lambert, LW, assigned to New Haven of AHL. Jensen later recalled under emergency conditions.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Don Nachbaur, C, Al Hill, LW, Greg Smyth, D, and Kevin McCarthy, D, recalled from Hershey of AHL. Smyth and McCarthy later returned.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Lee Giffin, RW, returned to Oshawa of OHL. Warren Young, LW, recalled from Baltimore of AHL and later returned along with Troy Loney, LW.QUEBEC&mdash;Jean-Marc Gaulin, RW, returned to Fredericton of AHL.TORONTO&mdash;Tom Fergus, C, and Dan Daoust, C, assigned to Newmarket of AHL for conditioning period after coming off injury list and later recalled. Terry Johnson, D, Jerome Dupont, D, and Miro Ihnacak, RW, sent to Newmarket.VANCOUVER&mdash;Wendell Young, G, Jim Agnew, D, and John LeBlanc, LW, returned to Fredericton of AHL.WASHINGTON&mdash;Gary Sampson, LW, and Ed Kastelic, RW, recalled from Binghamton of AHL. Jeff Greenlaw, LW, and Bob Crawford, RW, sent to Binghamton for conditioning period.<h2>INJURY LIST</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Doug Keans, G, strained groin, Lyndon Byers, RW, back injury, Gord Kluzak, knee surgery, and Louis Sleigher, RW, groin surgery. Keans out two weeks, the others indefinitely.BUFFALO&mdash;Lindy Ruff, D, out for season with broken collarbone.CALGARY&mdash;Doug Risebrough, C, twisted knee, Perry Berezan, LW, pulled groin, and Brian Engblom, D, back injury. Risebrough and Berezan out indefinitely, Engblom for rest of season.CHICAGO&mdash;Bill Watson, RW, separated shoulder, and Steve Ludzik, C, broken collar-bone. Watson sidelined 4-5 weeks, Ludzik 6-7 weeks. Behn Wilson, D, sidelined for season while recovering from back surgery.DETROIT&mdash;Doug Halward, D, dislocated kneecap, Gilbert Delorme, D, strained knee, Mark Kumpel, RW, dislocated wrist, and Lee Norwood, D, groin injury. Delorme and Kumpel out 2-3 weeks, Halward eight weeks, Norwood indefinitely.EDMONTON&mdash;Paul Coffey, D, back spasms, and Stu Kulak, RW, separated shoulder. Coffey sidelined day-to-day, Kulak out indefinitely.HARTFORD&mdash;Dave Babych, D, and Paul Lawless, LW, back in lineup. Joel Quenneville, D, shoulder separation, and Torrie Robertson, LW, broken leg. Robertson and Quenneville indefinitely.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Larry Playfair, D, out for season with knee injury. Dave Taylor, RW, sprained knee, and Craig Redmond, D, knee injury. Both out day-to-day.MINNESOTA&mdash;Scott Bjugstad, LW, back in lineup. Tom Hirsch, shoulder surgery, sidelined indefinitely.MONTREAL&mdash;Kjell Dahlin, RW, torn knee ligaments, and Shayne Corson, C, broken jaw. Both sidelined indefinitely.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Greg Adams, C, bruised ribs, and Jan Ludvig, RW, pulled groin muscle, out day-to-day. Timo Blomqvist, D, broken nose and left eye orbit, sidelined for rest of season.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Pat Flatley, RW, knee injury, and Tomas Jonsson, D, broken jaw. Flatley out 2-3 weeks, Jonsson indefinitely.NY RANGERS&mdash;Tomas Sandstrom, RW, broken ankle, and George McPhee, LW, broken hand. McPhee sidelined for 3 weeks, Sandstrom indefinitely.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Tim Kerr, RW, strained leg muscle, Ron Sutter, C, back injury, Darryl Stanley, D, ankle injury, Mark Howe, D, back spasms, Ulka Siniaslo, RW, knee surgery. Howe and Kerr sidelined day-to-day, Stanley one more week, Sinisalo two weeks, Sutter indefinitely.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Dwight Mathiasen, RW, sprained ankle, Dave Hannan, RW, reinjured knee, and Troy Loney, LW, sprained shoulder. Loney out day-to-day, Mathiasen 4-5 weeks, Hannan indefinitely.QUEBEC&mdash;Dale Hunter, C, back in lineup. Jeff Brown, D, back injury, out day-to-day.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Greg Paslawski, RW, back in lineup. Mark Hunter, RW, bruised thigh, Rick Wamsley, G, hospitalized with abcess, Bruce Bell, D, bruised shoulder, Bernie Federko, C, broken jaw, Brian Sutter, LW, severe shoulder injury, Ed Beers, LW, back surgery, and Kent Carlson, LW, spinal surgery. Hunter, Bell and Wamsley out day-to-day, Federko sidelined one more week, Sutter, Beers and Carlson out for rest of season.TORONTO&mdash;Miroslav Frycer, RW, Borje Salming, D, Bill Root, D, and Bob McGill, D, all back in lineup. Rick Lanz, D, injured ankle, Chris Kotsopoulos, D, groin injury, and Ken Yaremchuk, C, broken foot. Lanz out day-to-day, the rest sidelined indefinitely.VANCOUVER--Tony Tanti, RW, injured index finger, Dave Richter, D, elbow injury, Dan Hodgson, C, bruised shoulder and Glen Cochrane, D, out indefinitely after back surgery. Tanti and Richter sidelined day-to-day, Hodgson one more week.WASHINGTON&mdash;Alan Haworth, C, back in lineup. Dave Jensen, C, separated shoulder, out one more week.WINNIPEG&mdash;Hannu Jarvenpaa, RW, severely damaged knee ligaments, sidelined indefinitely.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ADIRONDACK&mdash;Ali Butorac, LW, recalled from Flint of IHL.FREDERICTON&mdash;Dwayne Boettger, D, recalled from Milwaukee of IHL. Al Measures, D, assigned to Kalamazoo of IHL. Yves Heroux, RW, sent to Muskegon of IHL.HERSHEY&mdash;Brian McKinnon, C, recalled from Flint of IHL.MONCTON&mdash;Mike Rucinski, C, sent to Salt Lake of IHL. Landis Chaulk, LW, signed as free agent.NEW HAVEN&mdash;Peter Sawkins, D, and Ron Talakoski, RW, assigned to Flint of IHL.NEWMARKET&mdash;Scott Clements, D, sidelined indefinitely with broken jaw.ROCHESTER&mdash;Claude Verret, C, left team to spend 4-6 weeks playing in Swiss Hockey League. Jay Fraser, RW, sent to Flint of IHL.SPRINGFIELD&mdash;Tim Coulis, C, suspended for 5 games by AHL for kicking an opponent. Colin Chisholm, D, assigned by Minnesota.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>PEORIA&mdash;Wray Brimmer, D, sidelined with face injury. Marc Cupolo, LW, back from injury. &#9632;

TRANSACTIONS

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>NEW YORK&mdash;They call him &lsquo;Timex&rsquo; Tommy Sandstrom because he takes a licking and keeps on ticking. But the mainspring of the New York Rangers&rsquo; offense will not operate again for at least a month, and perhaps longer.Twenty-four hours after Sandstrom returned to New York with what was diagnosed as a sprained right ankle, suffered during the opening game of Rendez-vous &rsquo;87, X-rays also revealed a fracture that will sideline the big Swedish right winger from four to six weeks.&ldquo;This is bad.&rdquo; said Sandstrom by phone from his Westchester, N.Y. apartment, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ll be back before the season ends.&rdquo;A last-second arrival at Quebec City because of a rib injury, Sandstrom said he does not regret his decision to play gainst the Soviets.&ldquo;No, I&rsquo;m not sorry I tried to play,&rdquo; he stressed. &ldquo;This is an accident, an injury; there&rsquo;s no way of knowing when it&rsquo;s going to come.&rdquo;He and Soviet winger Andrei Khomutov slammed into a comer together. Their legs seemed to tangle and Sandstrom said his skates caught in an ice rut.Amazingly, Sandstrom tried two more shifts before acknowledging that something serious was wrong.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very disappointing to have to stop playing when you&rsquo;re helping your team. You don&rsquo;t want to let your friends down,&rdquo; said Sandstrom, who had scored 24 goals in the Rangers&rsquo; last 22 games.Although Sandstrom has been a huge part of the Rangers&rsquo; attack, he claimed that his absence will not drop his teammates out of the five-team battle for the last three playoff spots in the Patrick Division.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01176/5429780-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="596" height="1252"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hot-scoring Ranger Tomas Sandstrom has been sidelined with an ankle injury.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We had won four out of five before the break, we were just coming together as a team,&rdquo; Sandstrom said. &ldquo;Walter (Poddubny), Donnie (Maloney) and Pierre (Larouche) were all hot, along with me, so there&rsquo;s more than enough talent to carry us through.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02121/5429773-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="181" height="142"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2>While most in the Rangers&rsquo; camp were being as optimistic as Sandstrom, assistant coach Wayne Cashman acknowledged the worst-case scenario.&ldquo;It (Sandstrom&rsquo;s absence) could be the difference between us finishing second and us making the playoffs,&rdquo; Cashman told the New York Daily News. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t replace Tomas, you just try to compensate for the loss.&rdquo;Playing in his third National Hockey League season, Sandstrom became the Rangers&rsquo; first 30-goal in three seasons just before the all-star break and his emerging star status was reflected by his selection to Team NHL.Ranger general manager Phil Esposito refused to second-guess the decision to send his best player to Rendezvous.&ldquo;What can you do? It&rsquo;s part of our obligation to the league,&rdquo; the GM said. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;re glad that he was chosen. Sure, there&rsquo;s a risk but the doctors said his initial injury was okay and he really wanted to play.&rdquo;Sandstrom will have his knee-length cast removed after two weeks for a re-evaluation, which gives the GM a little more hope.&ldquo;You hate to see anyone get hurt,&rdquo; said Esposito, &ldquo;and, yes, not having him for three weeks&mdash;I&rsquo;m ever the optimist&mdash;is going to hurt us, but Boston let Ray Bourque play even though he was injured and Edmonton had five or six players in the series, so they took an even bigger risk.&rdquo;In their first practice following the break, veteran left winger Tony McKegney skated in Sandstrom&rsquo;s spot, alongside Poddubny and Jan Erixon.&ldquo;Nothing is set,&rdquo; coach Tom Webster said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s just the way we&rsquo;re starting out. We&rsquo;ll be bringing back two forwards from New Haven (Chris Jensen and Lane Lambert) and our lineup will depend on who fits where.&rdquo;For at least the next month, nothing is going to fit quite as well as it did.BIG APPLESAUCE&mdash;Almost as upset as Tomas Sandstrom over his injury was all-star teammate Ulf Samuelsson, who grew up in the same town in Sweden, Fagersta. Sandstrom&rsquo;s 30 goals this season were a career high. He was a second-round choice (36th overall) in 1982. &ldquo;What we&rsquo;re worried about,&rdquo; Rangers&rsquo; medical trainer Dave Smith said of Sandstrom&rsquo;s chipped fracture, &ldquo;is that it might cause problems within the joint.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0044-01

Mainspring Bent Out Of Shape…For Now

<div class="byline">BY MURRAY TOWNSEND</div>The National Hockey League&rsquo;s best defensive team is not at its best in low-scoring games.Strange&hellip;but true. An analysis of low-scoring and high-scoring games reveals that in games through Feb. 8, in which each team scored three or less goals, the Philadelphia Flyers had the worst record in the league. They were second only to Hartford in games featuring four or more goals by each team.Hartford, a strong Stanley Cup contender this year, ranked second to Calgary in low-scoring games.<h2>Three Or Fewer Goals By Each Team</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01149/5429818-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="570" height="651"></div><h2>Four Or More Goals Scored By Each Team</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02109/5429811-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="563" height="646"></div> &#9632;

f0046-01

Flyers Flops

<div class="byline">BY LARRY HUMBER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0046-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0374/5429849-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Goyette</figcaption></div>&bull; Number of their first 37 road games that the brand-new Washington Capitals failed to win or tie in 1974-75: 37 (They defeated the California Seals 5-3 in their 38th, then dropped their remaining two games that season 8-3 and 10-2).&bull; Of the seven Canadian cities now represented by NHL teams, number that have never had a Stanley Cup winner: 1 (Calgary).&bull; Since the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; Kent Douglas had his name engraved on both the Calder Trophy and the Stanley Cup in 1963, number of other players who have accomplished both feats the same season: 0.&bull; Percentage of USA Today readers who think NHL MVP Wayne Gretzky is worth the money he makes: 81.Percentage who think National League baseball MVP Mike Schmidt is worth the money he makes: 50.&bull; Most games missed by an NHL scoring leader since the formation of the league in 1917-18.&rsquo; 6 (Wayne Gretzky in 1983-84, Bernie Geoffrion in 1960-61 and Charlie Conacher in 1933-34).&bull; Number of penalty minutes amassed by former bad boy&mdash;now Jets&rsquo; general manager&mdash;John Ferguson in his eight NHL seasons with the Montreal Canadiens: 1,214.Number of misconducts served by Ferguson: 0.&bull; Number of the six cities admitted to the NHL in 1967 that previously had an NHL franchise: 3. &#9632;

f0046-03

Disastrous Debut

<div class="byline">BY JEFF Z. KLEIN KARL-ERIC REIF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0046-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0463/5429887-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg"></div>By the end of the season, there could be yet another measure of Marcel Dionne&rsquo;s greatness. If the 36-year-old Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center finishes among the top 10 in scoring, he will become only the eighth man in National Hockey League history aged 36 or older to finish among the league scoring leaders.Bill Cook was the only 36-year-old ever to lead the league in scoring (1932-33 season) and, until 1965, he was the only one ever to finish among the NHL&rsquo;s top 10. Thirteen of the 15 top-10 finishers on the list below played between 1965 and 1973, when NHL expansion and the creation of the World Hockey Association led to an abundance of older players.In order to qualify for the list, a player must be at least 36 years of age as of Jan. 1.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0546/5429880-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="1124" height="1060"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bernie Geoffrion</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0046-04

Cook, Howe Tops Among Older Elite

<div class="byline">BY JEFF GORDON</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Herb Raglan hasn&rsquo;t performed up to expectations this season, but maybe people expected too much from the 19-year-old rookie.Raglan was dazzling in last season&rsquo;s playoffs, frustrating Toronto&rsquo;s Wendel Clark and delivering big defensive hits when called upon.This season he has played, well, like he is 19. He sat out nine of the first 54 games and went 30 straight games without scoring a goal.&ldquo;A lot of older players didn&rsquo;t get a chance to play in this league until they were 22 or 23,&rdquo; said Raglan, who has been the Blues&rsquo; fourth right winger most of the season. &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve been very fortunate. I&rsquo;ve been a lot happier here than I would have been in a junior program. I had in my mind I wanted to stay here this year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been very fortunate to play as much as I have,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My goal was to stay here, to try to uphold my half of the deal, play in half of the games which I have. I have to do more than that to stay here now. Hopefully I will. You have to expect a lot of yourself, but I&rsquo;m still young.&rdquo;Raglan admits he has been pressing, which is doubly damaging to a player moving in and out of the lineup and playing the odd shift.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always put a lot of pressure on myself,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My past coaches have told me I play better when I&rsquo;m relaxed. I have a tough time doing that. I try to get intense when I&rsquo;m out there. It&rsquo;s something I have to work on.&rdquo;Scoring is a secondary skill for Raglan. The Blues want him to be a linebacker on skates, applying the tough body checks that knock opponents off the puck and teams off their offensive stride.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0638/5429918-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="182" height="140"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2>But more often than not, Raglan has struggled to be the hit man. Before the Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 break, Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin was giving Todd Ewen, another rookie, the opportunity to fill that role.&ldquo;There are two ways to hit people,&rdquo; Raglan said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re a physical player, it just happens. Sometimes the hits just aren&rsquo;t there. If you work hard, sooner or later things are going to happen.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t try to do too much when you&rsquo;re struggling,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It sounds real contradictory to say that. As far as making the big hit like Jocelyn, you have to be real careful. You can&rsquo;t go way out of your way to do it. You could end up running around way out of position. The next thing you know, your man is down the boards with the puck.&rdquo;On defense, Raglan needs to dictate a tough tempo. On offense, he needs only to settle into a supplemental role.He snapped a painful goal-scoring slump at 30 games, scoring in the Blues&rsquo; 2-2 tie at Vancouver, Feb. 6.&ldquo;You enjoy the game so much better when you score,&rdquo; Raglan said. &ldquo;You can relax. You don&rsquo;t have to worry about everybody pointing the finger at you. Scoring in practice is so much different. Until you do it in a game, you don&rsquo;t reassure yourself. You haven&rsquo;t lost your confidence, there is a little bit of doubt there.&rdquo;Raglan hopes this season parallels his 1984-85 season in Peterborough, when he finished strongly for 20 goals and 22 assists. He entered the Rendezvous &rsquo;87 break with five goals and five assists.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to score 40 goals like Mark Hunter,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I do, 20 of them will go in off my skates. But I can score 15 or 20 of them.&rdquo;BLUENOTES&mdash;Right wingers Mark Hunter (bruised thigh) and Greg Paslawski (infected ankle) joined goaltender Rick Wamsley (rectal abcess) on the always-long injury list. Bernie Federko&rsquo;s return from a broken jaw was delayed by his weight loss and Eddy Beers was still struggling with his back&hellip;The Blues were threatening Red Wing coach Jacques Demers with another lawsuit as their attempts to gain compensation stalled&hellip;General manager Ron Caron went to Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 hoping to trade for a left winger but several proposed deals were shot down. &#9632;

f0046-06

Raglan Struggles Through Sophomore Year

<div class="byline">BY LARRY HUMBER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01169/5429956-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg"></div><h2>ACROSS:</h2>1. Brent, Brian, Darryl, Duane, Ron and Rich (pictured) (7).4. Hall of Famer Leo Boivin&rsquo;s first NHL club (5).7. Be ahead (4).8. Oiler assistant back with the club after a year&rsquo;s abscence (3,5).10. While with Toros, he became first Toronto player to net 50 goals in a season (3,7).12. University attended by former Ranger blueliner Don Jackson, Dame (5).13. He appeared in all but one game for the Kings in 1981-82, Dan (5).14. Voice of the New York Rangers (4,6).18. Those who begin a game (8).19. Where the Edmonton Mercurys captured Olympic gold in 1952 (4).20. Scrappy Canadien, he&rsquo;s twice led NHL in penalty minutes (5).21. Expands (7).<h2>DOWN:</h2>1. Divide (5).2. Fellow player (8).3. Take a series in consecutive games (5).4. Nickname of Canadien great Jean Beliveau (2,4,4).5. 4 Down was with this Quebec club prior to joining Canadiens (4).6. Hall of Famer Hartland Molson&rsquo;s title (7).9. He topped WHA scorers in 1973-74 (4,6).11. Oiler who&rsquo;s twice netted 54 goals in a season (8).12. North Star nicknamed &lsquo;Magic Man&rsquo; (7).15. Energy, fervor (5).16. Blows whistle (5).17. Only Blue to capture the Conn Smythe Trophy (4).<h2>CROSSWORD SOLUTION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0383/5429949-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="590" height="586"></div> &#9632;

f0047-01

CROSSWORD

<h2>30 YEARS AGO:</h2>&bull; With 11 games still to go in the American League season, the Hershey Bears had two defenseman in the midst of establishing penalty records. Larry Zeidel had spent 152 minutes in the box while his teammate, Don Cherry, had logged 158. Zeidel continued to play aggressively during a five-year stint in the NHL, while Cherry played it the same way as a coach. Today, Cherry is every bit as fiery as a television broadcaster.&bull; Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay of the Detroit Red Wings said that Doug Harvey was the best and toughest player they had ever played against.&bull; As a replacement for the injured Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion, the Montreal Canadiens called up Phil Goyette from the Quebec League&rsquo;s Montreal Royals. Goyette was supposed to have a short stay. But, after centering a line of Andre Pronovost and Claude Provost, it was decided the future Lady Byng Trophy winner would stay with the team the rest of the season.&bull; An injury to Ron Stewart forced the Toronto Maple Leafs to call up Bobby Baun from Rochester of the American League. Baun was in the &ldquo;big leagues&rdquo; to stay, spending 17 seasons in the NHL.<h2>25 YEARS AGO:</h2>&bull; A February blizzard forced the Boston Bruins to take a train instead of flying to Montreal. However, Bruce Gamble, Cliff Pennington. Pat Stapleton, and Andre Pronovost found out about the plans too late. They took a second train to Montreal but only got as far as Canton, N.Y. before a wreck in front of them forced them to turn back. They returned to Boston, dug out Pronovost&rsquo;s car, and drove 325 miles through the mountains to arrive eight hours before the start of the game in Montreal. The Bruins, by the way, lost 9-1.&bull; After 10 years in the NHL, veteran Leo Labine was shipped to the minors by the Detroit Red Wings. The 30-year-old winger never made it back to the NHL.&bull; Larry Regan, who played with Boston and Toronto in the NHL, was fired as coach of the American League&rsquo;s Pittsburgh Hornets. Regan was asked to stay on as a player but he refused. &#9632;

THIS WEEK…

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02116/5430011-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Brimsek, chest pad hanging below his shirt line and stick held high, is hardly picture perfect. But when he sprung into action, few were better than the Hall of Famer nicknamed &lsquo;Mr. Zero.&rsquo; Brimsek had 40 career shutouts in nine years with Boston, and one (1949-50) with Chicago.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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February 27, 1987

NHL SUMMARIES

NHL-SOVIET SUMMARIES

McLaughlin Leaves Netminders Feeling Blue

THN HOCKEY TRIVIA