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.

March 13, 1987

The Hockey News March 13, 1987

Let your voice be heard. Send your comments to Fan Forum. THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 2R2. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Departments

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY JEFF Z. KLEIN AND KARL-ERIC REIF</div>In case there&rsquo;s anyone out there who still isn&rsquo;t convinced of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s overwhelming greatness, let&rsquo;s look at yet another series of measuring sticks.One of the popular knocks against Gretzky goes something like this: &ldquo;Sure, he scores a lot of points, but so would a minormidget if he skated on the Oiler power play.&rdquo;Well, folks, it just isn&rsquo;t true. In games through Feb. 15, Gretzky&rsquo;s scoring dominance in even-strength and shorthanded situations was even more pronounced than his lead amongst powerplay scorers.<h2>Power Play Scoring Leaders, 1986-87</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01192/5610786-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="557" height="325"></div><h2>Shorthanded Scoring Leaders, 1986-87</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02131/5610779-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="555" height="356"></div><h2>Even-Strength Scoring Leaders, 1986-87</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0392/5610772-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="560" height="380"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0472/5610765-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="567" height="1122"><figcaption class="caption-body">Russ Courtnall</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0561/5610758-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="559" height="1119"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Ferraro</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0044-01

Gretzky Leader

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011191/5609231-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="369" height="422"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Orr</figcaption></div>TO MANY CHAPS in the National Hockey League, picking the highlight from a dazzling array at Rendez-vous &lsquo;87 was easy. It came at the $350-per-plate, seven-course international dinner. A horse, used to pipe in one of the courses, made a pit stop close to a table full of members of the media and manufactured an allotment of old-fashioned hockey pucks.That inspired one chap seated at the table to remark: &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know Harold Ballard&rsquo;s influence reached this far.&rdquo;Okay, so a horse as media critic is splendid, a new wrinkle, just one of the many parts of R-V &lsquo;87 that was brand new to the NHL. But, what&rsquo;s really novel is that the large array of NHL knockers in the media&mdash;many of whom can&rsquo;t really produce reasons for their rancor&mdash;could find nothing but superlatives to describe the show.The hockey, two matches between the NHL all-stars and the national team of the Soviet Union, was an exceptional display of the game at its very best, the equivalent of watching Allesandra Ferri dance or hearing Oscar Peterson play the piano.And all of the hoopla concocted by Marcel Aubut went off without a hitch. Even the NHL badmouthers who predicted that the whole thing would be a disaster went away raving about the job Aubut had done.There were critics who said the intense week and the two games were too heavy of a load to ask the players to carry, and the lucky ones were the guys not invited who had the chance for a brief holiday in the sun.But there were no complaints from the workers there.If any player had the right to see it as an ordeal, it had to be Ray Bourque, the superb defenseman of the Boston Bruins. Few, if any, NHL workers log as much ice time as he does&mdash;he&rsquo;s as valuable to the Bruin franchise as Wayne Gretzky is to the Edmonton Oilers&mdash;and time away from the rink would have been a welcome respite.Bourque was also nursing an injury that could have been aggravated by playing in Quebec.But he went and played&mdash;oh Ziegler, how he played, the best puckhandler among available NHL defensemen.His excellence demonstrated how much the NHL side missed Paul Coffey and Mark Howe, especially when the Soviets took the tempo of the play so high in the second game and exposed every NHL player who had pebble hands. Not stone hands, but even mitts with a small pebble or two in them.Did Bourque wish he had been somewhere else that week? Well, listen to what this fine athlete had to say about Rendez-vous:&ldquo;It was one of the best weeks I&rsquo;ve ever had in my life. It was a truly great experience and I wouldn&rsquo;t have missed it for anything. There was great hockey, great fun, and I can&rsquo;t say enough good things about it.&ldquo;Sure, it was hard work and pressure. Sure, every guy on the NHL team plays a lot for his own team and could have used a rest. But I guarantee that not one would have wanted to miss it, and there were a lot of guys in the sun that week who wish they had been invited to Quebec.&rdquo;One NHL team owner claims that Rendezvous was successful for another reason.&ldquo;We won&rsquo;t have to read for a while that the NHL can&rsquo;t put on anything to equal the Super Bowl,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0016-01

Columnists

Only The Horse Didn’t Appreciate Rendez-Vous

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02478/5609956-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Just when Joe Murphy&rsquo;s career appeared on track, he was handed a three-game Suspension. (Photo by Steve Somerville)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01660/5609963-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="179" height="139"></div>GLENS FALLS, N.Y.&mdash;After taking several steps forward in February, Joe Murphy closed the month with a giant step backward.A three-game suspension, levied Feb. 27 by Adirondack Red Wings&rsquo; coach Bill Dineen, scratched the 19-year-old center from the lineup for the final two games of a road trip and an important home game against Moncton.The Wings won all three&mdash;6-4 at Springfield, 8-3 at Maine and 6-5 over Moncton in a shootout.Even though the Red Wings were playing with only 15 skaters, Dineen followed through with his plan to suspend Murphy, the first player taken in the 1986 entry draft.Murphy was scheduled to return to the lineup March 4 against Fredericton.Neither side offered much of an explanation for the suspension, which added a sour final note to Murphy&rsquo;s best month as a pro.&ldquo;He just didn&rsquo;t play that well the last couple of games,&rdquo; Dineen said, &ldquo;so I just sat him out. He&rsquo;ll be back at practice tomorrow (March 2).&ldquo;There are other circumstances involved in it, but I really don&rsquo;t want to talk about it. I don&rsquo;t want to make a big issue out of it.&rdquo;Murphy had no comment.Sources with the team said that Murphy repeatedly failed to follow Dineen&rsquo;s instructions during a game-day workout at Springfield on Feb. 27. Dineen told him to leave the ice&mdash;the second time that has happened this season&mdash;and subsequently scratched his name from the lineup.Five months into the season, Murphy had begun to show why the Detroit Red Wings selected him No. I overall. Through most of February, he had scored goals, set up his teammates and turned in the kind of inspired performances that were lacking in the previous three months.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s realized the importance of the whole thing, the significance of the whole thing,&rdquo; Dineen had said, his words later taking on an ironic twist. &ldquo;He comes better prepared every day in practice now. He works harder in practice. He&rsquo;s certainly playing a lot better defensively.&ldquo;For a while he was bearing down defensively and wasn&rsquo;t doing the offensive things. Now he&rsquo;s gotten back to doing both. That&rsquo;s the way it&rsquo;s got to be. I think he was thinking so much about the defense that he was really getting away from his offense, which is really his ace in the hole, his real strength.&rdquo;Murphy began to come of age in mid-month, when he put together a couple of strong games. Points followed and he scored in six of the next seven games. The five goals and 12 points he accumulated during that stretch pushed his season&rsquo;s figures to 13 goals and 43 points in 52 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got my confidence,&rdquo; Murphy had said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing with a lot of confidence and I&rsquo;m just working hard.&rdquo;The Wings are hoping he can rebound from his latest setback, rather than show the form&mdash;or lack of it&mdash;he displayed in his early days as a pro. At times, after arriving in the American League in late October, he was Adirondack&rsquo;s worst player. He didn&rsquo;t check with any consistency, failed to handle his defensive assignments and contributed little offensively.His teammates, particularly the veterans, delivered unsolicited lectures about his work ethic. Dineen set up a weight-training schedule, spent time with him reviewing videotapes of past performances, and occasionally ordered extra on-ice sessions.AROUND THE DIVISION&mdash;Moncton rookie Brett Hull set an AHL record by scoring a goal in 14 consecutive games. During the streak, Hull scored 19 goals. The previous record was 13 games, set by Daryl Evans of New Haven in 1983-84&hellip;Adirondack forward Glenn Merkosky increased his league-leading goal total to 45&hellip;Nova Scotia goaltender Warren Skorodenski was reassigned to Saginaw in the I HL, after he missed curfew in Baltimore. Darren Pang switched places with the veteran Skorodens-ki&hellip;Maine lost a team-record six straight games and fell into fifth place. The Mariners lost six players, including rookie goaltender Kirk McLean, with injuries. Also injured was rookie center Tim Lenardon&hellip;Nova Scotia defenseman Jim Playfair was expected to miss the rest of the season with a bruised liver, an injury he suffered in a game at Sherbrooke&hellip;Fredericton expected to pick up veteran defenseman Claude Julien when he returns from Europe in March. The Express reached a milestone recently when it sold its 2,500th season ticket&hellip;Winger Pierre Aubry has agreed to join Adirondack when he completes his first season in France. &#9632;

f0030-02

The Minors

Murphy’s Rare Good Times Turn To Bad

In next week&rsquo;s March 20 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, we take a look at the renaissance that has engulfed Detroit Red Wings.Last year&rsquo;s worst team has already earned more points this season than it did all of last season. The reasons are many, in-cluding the leadership of coach Jacques Demers and captain Steve Yzerman.And not to worry, we won&rsquo;t be overlooking the inspired role Gerard Gallant has played in the Red Wings&rsquo; rise. Tough and talented, Gallant has given Detroit goals and guts galore.Plus, back again next week is our International Report&mdash;featuring Euronotes, a round-up of hockey personalities and places overseas.Of course, we&rsquo;ll also be offering our standard fare of NHL team stories and statistics that are second to none.Don&rsquo;t miss any of it in the Mar. 20 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

NEXT WEEK

If there is a more superstitious man in hockey than Phil Esposito, the Italian Evil Eye might have him under his gaze but nobody else does.The New York Rangers&rsquo; acting coachgeneral manager is a believer&hellip;in just about anything he thinks can influence his luck.As a player, he surrounded himself with almost as many good luck charms as he did teammates.They were, in part, meant to shield him from the effects of the Italian Evil Eye&mdash;under whose scrutiny he fell while still in Chicago.&ldquo;Someone told me in 1975, before I was traded,&rdquo; says Esposito, &ldquo;that somebody had put the Evil Eye on me.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011393/5608721-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="346" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden</figcaption></div>Not until Esposito was traded to Boston, and a woman conjured something up with one of Esposito&rsquo;s T-shirts did he escape the Evil Eye.Most of his superstitions are the result of success following certain routines. For instance, he began wearing a black T-shirt (and later turtleneck) full-time after scoring a hattrick the night he first wore one for a cold.To this day, nothing bothers Esposito as much as crossed sticks in the dressing room.&ldquo;I hate that,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I remember my first year in the league. One day there were crossed sticks in our dressing room. Wayne Hillman said, &lsquo;Look at the crossed sticks. Somebody&rsquo;s going to get hurt.&rsquo; And somebody broke his leg.&rdquo;Esposito has a lucky suit&mdash;which recently took a beating in Washington, where the Rangers lost&mdash;and a closetful of good luck charms that he plans on breaking out.If the Hall of Fame center has been on a roll since taking over as general manager of the Rangers, it has come as no surprise to him. Shortly after his appointment last summer, Esposito visited two fortune-tellers at a large gathering.He was told, &ldquo;You are very, very lucky. You are going to be on a fantastic roll for a long time,&rsquo;&rdquo; says Esposito. &ldquo;When he told me that, my skin stood up.&rdquo;The first-year executive was modest in his expectations.&ldquo;I thought then, it means maybe we&rsquo;ll have some luck this year. Maybe we&rsquo;ll make the playoffs, because when I first took the job, I thought it would be very, very tough to make the playoffs.&rdquo;After 64 games, the Rangers were in the fourth and final playoff position, five points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.Will Esposito&rsquo;s luck hold up?<h2>Famous Check&mdash;Bill McCreary</h2>Six years later, Bill McCreary continues to field phone calls about the check.It was during the 1980-81 season, in one of his only 12 career National Hockey League games, that McCreary leveled Wayne Gretzky with a resounding check heard around the hockey world.To this day, the echo remains.&ldquo;I still hear quite a bit about it,&rdquo; says McCreary, from the Milwaukee Admirals&rsquo; locker room. He is in his fourth year with the International League team, far removed from his brief tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs.&ldquo;The only thing that made it spectacular was that it was against Wayne Gretzky,&rdquo; says McCreary, now 26, then just 20 years old. &ldquo;If it was against anybody else, it wouldn&rsquo;t have been a big hit.&rdquo;Gretzky, as elusive as anyone in the NHL, rarely gets hit so the sight of him&mdash;crumpled on the ice&mdash;was, indeed, a strange one.&ldquo;He was coming down center ice,&rdquo; recalls McCreary, &ldquo;and I think it was Kurri who was coming down the left wing with the puck. I was the only guy backchecking.&ldquo;I was coming down the righthand boards and I cut across our blue line. Gretzky also cut across the blue line. I was cutting to my left. He was cutting to his right from the left and he was looking over his shoulder for the puck.&ldquo;As soon as he got the puck I hit him.&rdquo; Flatten might be a better description.&ldquo;He was a little upset about it,&rdquo; says McCreary, whose father, Bill Sr., played for four teams in the NHL. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t remember exactly what he said word for word. He muttered a few things. I remember (teammate I an Turnbull) was on the ice at the time and he was laughing.&ldquo;I felt a little bad at first because I wasn&rsquo;t sure how badly he was hurt and you hate to think about ending a guy&rsquo;s career.&rdquo;There were no acts of revenge perpetrated against McCreary. The timing of the hit, late in the game, made sure of that.&ldquo;It was a good clean hit (no penalty was called),&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;(Dave) Semenko was on the bench and he didn&rsquo;t come after me&hellip;It was my last shift of the game, otherwise I might have had Mr. Semenko to deal with.&rdquo;As it is, he&rsquo;s only had to deal with a brush (make that thunderous collision) with fame.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dubious distinction,&rdquo; says McCreary, before adding what is invariably said about him, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a great hockey player but he hit Gretzky,&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021126/5608714-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="2268" height="1420"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Esposito and his lucky charms, above, and below in his trademark black turtleneck sweater.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03723/5608707-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="724" height="1319"></div><h2>Changing Gears&mdash;Ed Kastelic</h2>When Ed Kastelic drives to the net in the American League, with Binghamton, and the NHL, with Washington, his mode of transportation is decidedly different than some of the driving he did last year.The burly right winger, who has spent most of this season in the AHL, left hockey for a time last year.&ldquo;There were a lot of different things going on,&rdquo; says Kastelic, &ldquo;and I sort of got sick of it. I got sent down and I was really down.&rdquo;So, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound tough guy, left the Capitals&rsquo; organization and enrolled at York University in Toronto last February. As a parttime job, he parked cars at a luxurious apart-ment on the city&rsquo;s waterfront.&ldquo;I was working on weekends just to make some pocket money,&rdquo; says Kastelic, who had no points and 35 penalty minutes in 11 games for the Capitals this season. &ldquo;A lot of thoughts go through your mind when you&rsquo;re doing that. I was just a car jockey. 11 was a pretty easy job. &lsquo;&lsquo;And it wasn&rsquo;t all that far removed from the NHL either. The Leafs&rsquo; Russ Courtnall was one of the tenants.&ldquo;I never parked his car,&rdquo; says Kastelic, &ldquo;but I saw him once or twice. I don&rsquo;t know if he knew who I was.&rdquo;Kastelic didn&rsquo;t bother to introduce himself&mdash;&ldquo;I felt a little out of place.&rdquo;Turns out, he didn&rsquo;t have to.&ldquo;I guess he did recognize me,&rdquo; says Kastelic. &ldquo;Actually, I was on the elevator with him once&hellip;I saw him when we were on a road trip in L.A. (this season) and we were talking about it.&rdquo;This year, Kastelic is back in the driver&rsquo;s seat of his hockey career. He says that he never had any intention of not returning. He just needed to get away, to sort out his feelings.That done, he is fully committed to hockey once more and he hopes, on the road to happiness.<h2>&lsquo;He&rsquo;s No Angel&rsquo;&mdash;Jim Kyte</h2>Quote of the week:&ldquo;He&rsquo;s (Jari Kurri) no angel. He does his share. But he&rsquo;s nothing like Anderson and Tikkanen. They are the worst culprits. Messier&rsquo;s honest at least.&rdquo; &mdash;Jim Kyte commenting on stickwork employed by the Edmonton Oilers, page 17. &#9632;

f0003-01

Espo’s Charming Ways

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021291/5608752-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="464" height="708"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011407/5608759-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="179" height="140"></div>QUEBEC&mdash;Fearful for his team&rsquo;s playoff life, Nordiques&rsquo; coach Michel Bergeron laid it on the line to his players&mdash;stop worrying about how much you get taxed and start earning what you make.Bergeron lashed into the players Feb. 21 in St. Louis, with an fiery pre-game speech. The subject: tax structures and the worth of the Canadian dollar.The night before, the Nords had lost 6-3 to the Red Wings in Detroit. It was the first time the Nords had visited Joe Louis Arena since the trade that sent Brent Ashton, Gilbert Delorme and Mark Kumpel to Detroit in return for John Ogrodnick, Doug Shedden and Basil McRae.The three ex-Nordiques, anxious to see their old buddies, paid them a visit before the game.One of the topics of conversation was their &ldquo;new&rdquo; paycheques. With the difference in tax structures and the heftier American dollar, the Nords-tumed-Wings found they had nearly doubled their take-home pay.The revelation stayed with the Nords. They talked about it before the game, turned in a sub-par effort on the ice, and continued the topic on the plane ride between Detroit and St. Louis.Bergeron, eavesdropping, began to fume. But he kept himself under control until the team reached St. Louis Arena.&ldquo;I got straight to the point,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;I told them that I had had enough of hearing about the superiority of Uncle Sam&rsquo;s dollar and the very low tax imposition in the States. I made myself very clear. The next guy who would bring up the subject would be fired. Not fined, fired. He wouldn&rsquo;t set foot in my dressing room again.&rdquo;The Nordiques may have been stirred by Le Petit Tigre&rsquo;s lecture, but they didn&rsquo;t show it on the ice. They battled back from a 3-0 deficit, then let the game slip away 4-3 in overtime, on Greg Paslawski&rsquo;s goal.Taxes and money have always been on the minds of pro athletes in Quebec. The province has the highest tax rates in North America. Teams such as the Montreal Canadiens have had to counter the threat of losing players&mdash;Rod Langway, in fact, demanded a trade over the issue&mdash;by instituting all kinds of tax shelters. The Nordiques have yet to follow suit.Many players on the team would prefer to play in the States, where a paycheque goes a lot further. ExNordique Brad Maxwell, now back with the Minnesota North Stars after pit stops in Toronto, Vancouver, and New York, is a typical case.&ldquo;Quebec is a wonderful hockey town,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s no place to make money. If I hadn&rsquo;t been traded when I was (two summers ago), I would have asked to be sent elsewhere.&rdquo;Michel Bergeron has a keen understanding of the situation.&ldquo;Should they ever start talking (again) about their misfortunes in Quebec City, I&rsquo;ll send them up to Maurice Filion&rsquo;s office so fast they won&rsquo;t have time to blink their eyes. If they are too fed up to be playing with the Nordiques, then they can personally ask Maurice to trade them.&rdquo;NORDIQUE NOTES&mdash;Rightwinger Doug Shedden was sent to Fredericton Express of the American League. Shedden, who was acquired in the six-player deal with Detroit, Jan. 17, was heralded as the ideal linemate for Dale Hunter and Michel Goulet.<h2>Bryan Trottier, 1978-79</h2>Bryan Trottier has been a powerful force in the National Hockey League for so long, it&rsquo;s difficult to believe he&rsquo;s only at the tender age of 30.The New York Islander center made an immediate impact when he joined the league in 1975-76. He scored 95 points that year and was a runaway winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year.But the best years of his outstanding NHL career were still to come.Playing on a line with right winger Mike Bossy and left winger Clark Gillies, Trottier spearheaded the Islanders to four straight Stanley Cups, from 1980 to 1983.Though Trottier has been consistent throughout his career, 1978-79 was generally conceded to be his best season. That year, he scored 47 goals and a leagueleading 87 assists. He won the Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer, the Hart Trophy as MVP, and his second straight berth on the first all-star team.He also won THE HOCKEY NEWS award as NHL Player of the Year.Trottier entered this season as the Islanders&rsquo; career leader in assists (698) and points (1,115). When he plays in his 67th game this season, he will rank second (901) in that team category to Denis Potvin. &#9632;

f0004-02

Nordiques Find Life In Quebec Too Taxing

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011297/5608790-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="343" height="465"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption></div>FOLLOWING THE SHOCK of Pat Quinn&rsquo;s expulsion, normalcy is returning to the Los Angeles hockey scene.Apathy is back, just like old times. There were less than 8,000 persons at the Forum to watch Winnipeg on Feb. 24, at the time the NHL&rsquo;s third-best team.The Kings, with 20 games to go, have already surpassed their point total of last year, but baseball spring training dominates the first page of the sports sections. Hockey is inside. The Kings, after a boost of notoriety that had nothing to do with their performance, are back in the closet.The night after the news broke that Quinn had signed a contract to become president and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks and been banned by NHL president John Ziegler, the Kings were getting bombed by Buffalo. &ldquo;We knew you couldn&rsquo;t trust a Flyer,&rdquo; one patron, noting Quinn&rsquo;s former Philadelphia employment, exclaimed above the hushed mob.That was the only official form of protest. No letters to the editor. Nobody blaming GM Rogie Vachon for three years ago granting Quinn the loophole that allowed him to negotiate with another team in the middle of a season. Nobody, save the diehards, believing that whether it&rsquo;s Quinn, Mike Murphy, Ron Stewart, Bob Berry, Bob Pulford, Red Kelly, or Emmett Kelly behind the Kings&rsquo; bench, that it&rsquo;s going to make a difference.This is, after all, the team of 14 coaches in 20 seasons, only five of those winning year. Whose fault is this?, San Andreas&rsquo;s mostly. Blame it on geography and lifestyle.Of course, there is no logical reason why the Kings cannot become a premier NHL team. But the fact that they haven&rsquo;t in 20 years of mostly-misguided attempts, kind of fits the L.A. mood. Nobody here has taken it too hard and Dr. Jerry Buss hasn&rsquo;t taken the team to Indianapolis, either. Ciao, baby. Los Angeles is not a very passionate kind of place.Maybe some day the Kings will wander into a drugstore on Hollywood Boulevard and Steven Spielberg will be there. &ldquo;That face!&rdquo; he&rsquo;ll exclaim. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to make you a star.&rdquo;&ldquo;Who, me?&rdquo; Dean Kennedy will say.And maybe, too, the Kings will make it on their own.It has forever amazed, baffled and mystified this observer from the mysterious east how Dr. Buss could run a basketball operation that appears to do just about everything right and seem to have no clue about what to do with his hockey team. Buss appeared to have great affection for George Maguire, who was trading the franchise down the toilet all those years. No one who had ever met the old grouch could figure out exactly what Buss saw him in him. Finally, when the owner let Maguire go, he blamed it on public relations, not performance.After a botched half-season fling with Roger Neilson, Buss, predictably, settled for somebody he knew, his old goalie Vachon. No experience was necessary for Rogie to either get the job or to see just how ruinous Maguire&rsquo;s path had become.In his almost three years, Rogie has done one thing wrong. He wanted Quinn so badly that Vachon agreed to the out clause, putting himself in a position where he could get stiffed in the middle of a season. Then Rogie didn&rsquo;t file the contract with the league office, leaving himself without grounds for a tampering claim.But Pat had further ambitions that would have become clear whenever that contract run out. And he was never an L.A. kind of guy, anyway. It did hurt because the Kings were in the middle of a turnaround season&mdash;their second in three years, ho ho&mdash;and the players did appear to like and respect Quinn.One did feel sorry for Marcel Dionne. A few times in his 12 seasons with the team, Dionne has dared to believe the lead surfboard the team was riding had finally caught a wave. Now, here he was, face down in the sand, wiped out again.&ldquo;(Pat) would call players in and ask him about commitment,&rdquo; said Dionne. &ldquo;Where was his commitment?&rdquo;But even Marcel allowed, like most of his teammates, that he didn&rsquo;t see how Quinn could turn the opportunity down. And it turns out the Kings have found the strength to go on. They&rsquo;ve come up with some good looking kids, two of which&mdash;Luc Robitaille and Jimmy Carson&mdash;have chances to be stars, Dionne still eludes the clutches and grabs of age, and Vachon, if he hasn&rsquo;t done anything particularly brilliant as of yet, has at least been patient enough to draft, wait and see.And the new coach? He&rsquo;s done well enough to deserve another turn. &ldquo;We were really lucky to have Mike Murphy,&rdquo; said Vachon. &ldquo;We are negotiating right now for a contract extension.&rdquo;Of course that&rsquo;s what Rogie believed the last time, too.&ldquo;My goal is to get us to the point where we&rsquo;re competitive,&rdquo; said Murphy.The Kings probably are now, although back-to-back winning seasons would legitimize their upward mobility. And we would go on and on about Robitaille, Carson and their surrogate father, Dionne, except that it&rsquo;s in the 70&rsquo;s here and the water looks just great. And if nobody else cares about hockey around here, then why the hell should I? &#9632;

f0005-01

If Nobody Else In L.A. Cares, Why Should I?’

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02950/5608821-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="183" height="140"></div>CHICAGO&mdash;Doug Wilson finally got the point he needed.After going seven games without an assist, Wilson set up Mark LaVarre&rsquo;s backhand goal at 17:52 of the first period on Feb. 25 in a 3-3 tie against Montreal at Chicago Stadium.It was the 401st assist of Wilson&rsquo;s 10-year career with the Chicago Blackhawks, moving him past Hall of Famer Pierre Pilote to set a club record for career assists by a defenseman.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;The game is changing. There&rsquo;s more offense now. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, Pierre Pilote was one of the greatest who ever played&hellip;&rsquo;&mdash;Wilson</blockquote>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t pay much attention to the records thing,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;When I&rsquo;m finished playing, I know I&rsquo;ll look back and appreciate it.&ldquo;The game is changing. There&rsquo;s more offense now. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, Pierre Pilote was one of the greatest who ever played. Maybe they can mark my record with an asterisk or something.&rdquo;The Chicago Stadium crowd of 17,254 marked it with a standing ovation.Wilson also holds the club marks for defensemen in goals (164) and points (565). He had tied Pilote&rsquo;s assist mark Feb. 7 in a loss at Pittsburgh, then waited through seven games and the week-long break for Rendez-Vous &lsquo;87 before moving to the top of the list.It was a double milestone night. Montreal defenseman Larry Robinson had an assist to record the 800th point of his illustrious National Hockey League career. Robinson made it a point to congratulate Wilson on the Hawk defenseman&rsquo;s record-breaking assist.To Wilson, who grew up in Ottawa watching the Canadiens and Robinson, it was an impressive gesture. Wilson and Robinson also were defense partners for Team Canada&rsquo;s championship squad in the 1984 Canada Cup.&ldquo;When I was growing up, I considered him almost an idol,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;That makes you feel good. I consider him a good friend.&rdquo;But it wasn&rsquo;t an entirely good night for the Hawks. They blew a 3-1 lead and had to settle for a 3-3 overtime tie, their second straight tie at home.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a game we definitely should have won,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We just have to keep getting every point we can. One is better than none.&rdquo;Wilson appreciated the Canadiens&rsquo; style: all three of their goals were scored by defensemen moving up to join the offense. Wilson scored 39 goals that way in 1981-82 and won the Norris Trophy.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to defend against, but we knew to look for it,&rdquo; Wilson said.&ldquo;All teams do it. That&rsquo;s where a large percentage of goals come from now.&rdquo;HAWK TALK&mdash;The Hawks once again ran afoul of NHL executive vicepresident Brian O&rsquo;Neill and were forced to return left winger Everett Sanipass to junior hockey. With Sani-pass being traded from Verdun to Memorial Cup-contender Granby in the Quebec League, the Hawks don&rsquo;t expect to see Sanipass again until next season&hellip;The Hawks were streaking and slumping at the same time, unbeaten in four games (2-0-2) but winless in two (0-0-2). Their two ties came at home, against Norris Divisionleading Detroit and Montreal&hellip;Chicago continued to rest near the bottom in both power-play and penalty-killing percentage. Its special teams power index (47 power-play goals, four shorthanded goals, 69 power-play goals allowed, seven short-handed goals allowed) was minus-25, the worst rating in the NHL. &ldquo;The power play and penalty killing have probably cost us 10 or 12 points this year,&rdquo; Hawks&rsquo; coach-GM Bob Pulford said&hellip;Left winger Bill Watson, out with a separated right shoulder since Jan. 24, was close to returning. But center Steve Ludzik (broken collarbone) and defenseman Behn Wilson (back) remained out indefinitely. &#9632;

f0005-02

Wilson Polite In Passing And Praising Pilote

<div class="byline">BY HOWARD BERGER</div>In recent years, a few general managers have gained notoriety as people to avoid in the National Hockey League marketplace.Most prominent in this group is Boston&rsquo;s veteran wheeler-dealer, Harry Sinden, the general manager who should be doing time over his spectacular heist of last summer. He relieved Vancouver of winger Cam Neely and a 1987 first-round draft pick, in return for Barry Pederson.The deal was truly symbolic of Sinden&rsquo;s 15-year success story in Boston, during which time he has maintained a level of unparalleled managerial competence. Under his direction since 1972, the Bruins have won seven division titles, compiled 100 or more points nine times, and never missed the playoffs.&ldquo;There are several important factors in making good trades,&rdquo; Sinden says, &ldquo;but the underlying quality is having confidence in your convictions. Once decided that a trade will improve your team, you absolutely have to make it. Worrying about consequences, like how your player might do on another team, is a waste of time. If you truly believe you&rsquo;re making the right move, that&rsquo;s enough reason to go ahead.&rdquo;With that in mind, let&rsquo;s review the more prominent trades from the past year.John Anderson, RW, from Quebec to Hartford for Risto Siltanen, D, March 8: With abundant scoring power up front, the Nordiques felt they needed a strong rushing defenseman to enhance their playoff aspirations last spring. This swap, however, was definitely not the answer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011480/5608866-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="715" height="1367"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Pederson cost the Canucks their first pick and Cam Neely.</figcaption></div>Anderson&rsquo;s scoring helped Hartford sweep Quebec from the opening round, and he&rsquo;s on target for 30 goals this year as the Whalers contend for first place in the Adams Division. Siltanen is a mere shadow of his former self, his recent four-point game against Minnesota notwithstanding. He even spent some time in the minors this season, apparently unable (for a time) to contribute to a team that is life-and-death to make the playoffs. Big edge for the Hartford&rsquo;s Emile (Cat) Francis in this deal.Mike O&rsquo;Connell, D, from Boston to Detroit for Reed Larson, D, March 10: Struggling with its power play, Boston acquired Larson for his slapshot and teamed him on the point with Ray Bourque. He was leading all NHL defensemen this season with nine extra-man goals. O&rsquo;Connell&rsquo;s strong leadership has been a factor in Detroit&rsquo;s improvement. He gives them intelligence back of the blue line, if not a great plus-minus (minus-13 after 60 games). Both teams got something they needed, the Bruins maybe a touch more.John Tonelli, LW, from the New York Islanders to Calgary for Rich Kromm, LW, and Steve Konroyd, D, March 11: All three players in this swap are having mediocre seasons. Tonelli &lsquo;s playoff say helped Calgary to the Stanley Cup finals last year, but he has been less than inspiring this term (15 goals in 61 games) and the Flames could finish a disappointing third in the Smythe. Kromm and Konroyd, battling injuries, combined for a grand total of 12 goals in 53 games. It&rsquo;s not the big deal now that it appeared to be last season. The edge goes to New York, given the youth and potential (however untapped) of Kromm and Konroyd.Tom McCarthy, C, from Minnesota to Boston for a third-round draft choice in 1986, May 16: Plagued by personal problems in Minnesota. McCarthy needed a change of scenery&mdash;but the North Stars surely could have done better for this guy. A big (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) forward with natural scoring ability, McCarthy has settled down in Boston and could hit 35 goals this season. Junior defenseman Rob Zettler, whom the Stars selected with Boston&rsquo;s third-round pick, has some catching up to do on behalf of the Stars. Harry is leading on this one, Lou.Barry Pederson, C, from Boston to Vancouver for Cam Neely, RW, and a first-round draft choice in 1987, June 6: The Canucks were forced into making a deal when they signed Pederson, a free agent with compensation. But nobody said they had to give up&mdash;literally&mdash;their first-born. They&rsquo;d have been better off taking a chance on a compensation ruling.Pederson will score 25 goals in Vancouver, but his formerly blazing shot has not regained full power since two delicate arm operations. In Neely, Boston acquired a highly-regarded winger who wallowed through the infant stages of his pro career, not unlike Lanny McDonald in his early years with the Leafs. Neely has suddenly burst into the forefront among NHL flankers, and may pop 40 goals this year. Exactly why the lowly Canucks threw in their &lsquo;87 first-rounder is beyond comprehension. (Trad-er) Jack Gordon must have been asleep at the switch. Look out, Beantown&mdash;here comes Pierre Turgeon.Scott Arniel, C, from Winnipeg to Buffalo for Gilles Hamel, LW, June 21: A prolific goal scorer in junior, Amiel has never applied that golden touch at the pro level, and is a longshot to hit 15 goals this year. Hamel is a smooth skater who is particularly useful on special teams. For a two-week period at Christmas. he was Winnipeg&rsquo;s best all-around performer, and his penalty killing could be a big factor in the playoffs. He&rsquo;s already past his previous career high of 22 goals. This one&rsquo;s all yours, Fergy.Kelly Kisio, C, Jim Leavins, D, Lane Lambert, RW, and a fifth-round draft choice in 1988 from Detroit, to the New York Rangers for Glen Hanlon, G, and third-round picks in 1987 and &lsquo;88, July 29: When the smoke cleared, this was a deal that featured Kisio and Hanlon. Ever since losing Roger Crozier to Buffalo in the 1970 expansion draft, Detroit has been trying to piece together a reliable goaltending tandem. The acquisition of Hanlon has helped the Wings become the most improved team in the NHL. Capably splitting the chores with Greg Stefan, he has kept his goals-against average around 3.35. Kisio, meanwhile, has helped the Rangers&rsquo; modest progression, averaging a point a game. This one&rsquo;s a saw-off. Both teams got what they needed, the Rangers, an 80-point man who plays every night and the Wings, stability in goal.Brian Hayward, G, from Winnipeg to Montreal for Steve Penney, G, Aug. 15: This swap of floundering netminders seemed petty and insignificant at the time, but Montreal has since gained a wide edge. After winning 33 games two years ago, Hayward couldn&rsquo;t stop a balloon last season and the Jets plummeted right along with him. Penney, meanwhile, justified the notion that his splendid playoff showing in 1984 was a fluke. He was so dismal in training camp this year that Winnipeg had to start the season with untested rookies Pokey Reddick and Daniel Berthiaume. Perhaps the best thing you can say about the Winnipeg end of the deal is that injuries and unreliable play by Penney have allowed Pokey and The Bandit to flourish.Hayward, meanwhile, has regained his form in Montreal (2.93 average in 29 games) and teamed with Patrick Roy to brighten the Canadiens&rsquo; hopes for a Cup title defense this spring. A coup for Serge Savard.Walt Poddubny, C, from Toronto to the New York Rangers for Mike Allison, LW-C, Aug. 18: For those who have seen a lot of Walt Poddubny, there is some hesitancy to think he can play again next year like this year. But even if Poddubny weren&rsquo;t to score as much as a point in 1986-87, it would still take Allison more than two years to catch up at his current scoring pace with the Leafs. Sure, Allison is a character player but Poddubny is the character who has all but carried the Rangers at times this year. This deal rivals the Neely trade in onesidedness.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021052/5608859-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="1493" height="2131"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Ridley, above, has played extremely well for the Capitals, while Bobby Carpenter has floundered with the Rangers.</figcaption></div>Brian MacLellan, LW, from Rangers to Minnesota for 3rd- or 4th-round pick in 1987 draft, Sept. 8: MacLellan&rsquo;s value on the power play (eight goals in 55 games) is worth the investment of a third-round pick, even if five aside, he&rsquo;s a defensive liability with the worst plus-minus on the team. The price isn&rsquo;t very high for somebody headed for a 25-plus-goal season. Minnesota&rsquo;s the clear winner here.Dan Quinn, C, from Calgary to Pittsburgh for Mike Bullard, C, Nov. 12: This trade materialized quickly and was bom out of necessity. Bullard made some disparaging remarks to Pens&rsquo; coach Bob Berry in practice and was dealt away shortly afterwards. Averaging 36 goals per season, Bullard is a more explosive scorer than Quinn and is also more temperamental. Both are regarded as selfish players and have comparable numbers with their new teams. Time (age) is on Pittsburgh&rsquo;s side. Quinn is a slick-skating center who nicely complements Mario Lemieux. Bullard can be a game-breaker. Neither was fitting in with their old teams. In the long run, age&mdash;Quinn is 21. Bullard, 25&mdash;will work the deal in Pittsburgh&rsquo;s favor.Curt Giles, D, Tony McKegney, LW, and a second-round pick in 1988 from Minnesota to the New York Rangers, for Bob Brooke, C, and a fourth-round pick in 1988, Nov. 13: Early returns on this trade favor the Rangers. Struggling as a goal-scorer since 1983, the hot-and-cold McKegney has dramatically regained his touch around the net&mdash;popping 27 goals at last count. His confidence is at an all-time high and he also provides the Rangers with a valuable experience factor on left wing.Brooke is a much better all-around player than he&rsquo;s been so far in Minnesota (minus-3). A character player who is an excellent faceoff man, he has played every position but goal in the NHL and will improve once he becomes more accustomed to his new surroundings. Giles has not been a vital cog in the Rangers&rsquo; scheme of things.Dan Hodgson, C, and Jim Benning, D, from Toronto to Vancouver for Rick Lanz, D, Dec. 2: This swap didn&rsquo;t exactly challenge the Iran arms deal for headlines. It was basically a re-arrangement of three underachievers who will never live up to their junior promise. Lanz was acquired to aid the anemic Leaf power play, 21st overall at the time of the deal. Three months later, it remained there. Lanz does, however, possess a good slap shot and it might eventually contribute to better production from the point. Hodgson shows flashes every once in a while and Benning leads the Canucks in plus-minus. Forgive the copout, but let&rsquo;s call it a split-decision for now.Bob Froese, G, from Philadelphia to the New York Rangers for Kjell Samuelsson, D, and a second-round draft choice in 1989, Dec. 18: Espo&rsquo;s second best deal. Froese is a top-flight goalie who has provided able support for overworked John Vanbiesbrouck. There was speculation that Froese was acquired as trade bait, but his outstanding service has given Rangers hope for a second-place finish in the Patrick. Samuelsson is a behemoth of a man (6-foot-6, 225 pounds), whose aggressive style is right up the Flyers&rsquo; alley. He&rsquo;s the fifth defenseman they so desperately needed. But Philly was a Stanley Cup contender before he arrived, and Froese has solidly upgraded New York&rsquo;s chances. Espo wins this one.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011322/5608852-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="724" height="1487"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dan Quinn hasn&rsquo;t disappointed the Penguins with his play in Pittsburgh.</figcaption></div>Bob Carpenter, C, and a second-round pick in 1989 from Washington to the New York Rangers for Mike Ridley, C, Kelly Miller, C-RW, and Bob Crawford, RW, Jan. 1: There is a tendency to write off Carpenter as a one-year wonder after his spectacular 53-goal season two years ago. He has struggled thus far with the Rangers (two goals in 24 games) but, in fairness, he arrived in New York after a one-month layoff and should not be judged until he has a full season under his belt in the Big Apple.Miller, with four goals, had outscored Carpenter and Ridley, with 10, combined for 14 in 24 games. Crawford is strictly farmhand material. Miller has been a capable addition to the Caps&rsquo; checking unit and Ridley remains one of the best and most anonymous finds of 198586. His consistency gives Washington the edge now and will in the future&hellip;unless the Rangers uncover another Tomas Sandstrom with their second-round pick.John Ogrodnick, LW, Doug Shedden, RW, and Basil McRae, LW, from Detroit to Quebec, for Brent Ashton, LW, Gilbert Delorme, D, and Mark Kumpel, RW, Jan. 17: It&rsquo;s still way too early for a definitive answer, but Ashton&rsquo;s solid work (8-12-20, plus-six in 18 games) and Ogrodnick&rsquo;s less-than-inspiring production (5-8-13, minus-2 in 16 games), gives a solid edge to Detroit, especially when you consider McRae is eligible for free agency (without compensation) at season&rsquo;s end and the Wings will have the same chance as everybody else to sign him. &#9632;

f0006-01

The Swap Shop

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011410/5608897-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div>IT IS TIME for the NHL to get serious about the integrity of its game. Something has to be done about the blatant violence in hockey. Aren&rsquo;t hockey officials and fans alike tired of their game continually being laughed at? Hockey is constantly being made fun of in the press, on TV news and in the movies.Fighting in hockey should be viewed the same way car crashes are in auto racing. While they may provide momentary excitement for a few, they should try to be avoided for the sake of the sport. You don&rsquo;t see auto racing officials putting oil on the track so that a few fans can get their crash jollies. A complete attempt to ban fighting would probably be too extreme, as it would change the nature of the game. But that is no excuse for the type of ridiculous goonism that goes on today.Anyone who has ever been to a basketball or baseball game when a fight breaks out knows that the fans in the seats react much the same way fans viewing hockey fights do but league officials in those sports don&rsquo;t see fan reaction as a good reason to condone fighting the way the NHL officials do. Some people in hockey suggest taking fan polls to settle the issue.This is not a very good idea for several reasons. The first problem is that such polls ask the wrong questions, such as: &ldquo;Do you like hockey fights?&rdquo; The question should read read: &ldquo;Would you no longer be a fan if fighting were reduced?&rdquo; I&rsquo;m sure very few fans would completely give up the game. Such polls also do not take into account those potential fans who do not partake of the sport because they either; a) are turned off by the violence, or b) while not turned off by the excessive violence, they see the fighting as a mark of a non-serious sport (e.g. roller derby).The question of fighting in hockey is not one of fan entertainment, but one of sportsmanship, legitimacy, and class&mdash;three attributes that are in short supply in hockey.Robert Grove,&nbsp; Kennett Square. PA<h2>KNOCKING KINGS</h2>It&rsquo;s been interesting reading all the stories and comments about Pat Quinn and the L.A. Kings. He was wrong, regardless of how you look at it, and he deserves the punishment handed down by Mr. Zeigler. It doesn&rsquo;t seem like Quinn has done much for the Kings during his tenure anyway, and Mike Murphy probably won&rsquo;t be any better. How do you explain a team that is third in scoring and first in power-play stats, but 20th in goals against and 19th in penalty killing. Easy&mdash;no defense at all!I think it&rsquo;s safe to say that if any of the Kings&rsquo; goalies played for a good defensive team, their goals-against averages would be a lot lower.David R. Brockie, Lancaster CA<h2>BALLARD RIGHT</h2>This letter is about THN&rsquo;s Feb. 20 article on Toronto Maple Leaf owner Harold Ballard&rsquo;s outburst.I&rsquo;m an aspiring photojournalist. I respect the fact that photographers and journalists want to get their job done. But I don&rsquo;t believe breaking the rules is one way to do it.Harold Ballard, the owner, says he doesn&rsquo;t want the media in the locker room. I can understand that.Why do journalists and photographers and other media members, feel the need to stand in a room full of naked men asking questions?I think the players can answer each question the same way while dressed.In my opinion, I like the idea of a media room. It&rsquo;s equal and it doesn&rsquo;t have the smell of sweat in the atmosphere.After all, I wouldn&rsquo;t like it if I were halfdressed in a locker room, and a whole band of reporters barged in on me.Christina Macias, San Jose. CA &#9632;

f0008-01

Fan Reaction No Reason For Fighting To Go On

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021144/5608952-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="385" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McKenzie</figcaption></div>THERE ARE DAYS when the National Hockey League doesn&rsquo;t deserve to be called major league. There are days when the American League doesn&rsquo;t deserve to be called minor league.Sometimes, those days are one and the same.And will be as long as NHL clubs continue to ignore player suspensions doled out by the AHL.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a potentially dangerous situation,&rdquo; says AHL vice-president Gord Anziano. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very upset about it.&rdquo;And well they should be.Edmonton Oilers send tough-guy forward Marty McSorley to their American League farm team in Nova Scotia for a two-week conditioning stint. With only days remaining before he is to be recalled, he viciously crosschecks Sherbrooke tough guy Joel Baillergeon across the face.McSorley receives a 10-minute match penalty and is subsequently suspended for 10 games.Of which he serves none. Edmonton recalls him and the case, as far as McSorley and the Oilers are concerned, is closed.All because there isn&rsquo;t a specific NHL bylaw that says what is a suspension in the AHL is also a suspension in the NHL. The AHL, incidentally, honors all recognized leagues&rsquo; (major junior, college, minor pro and, yes, even the NHL) suspensions.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say for sure,&rdquo; says Anziano, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s quite possible the whole thing was planned that way. Baillergeon had injured a couple of Nova Scotia players earlier this season. Then, McSorley, knowing he&rsquo;s definitely going back to Edmonton in a couple of days, nails him. It makes you wonder&hellip;&ldquo;Maybe Mr. Baillergeon isn&rsquo;t playing up to ethical standards all the time, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean you can have a whole bunch of Clint Eastwoods running around out there.&rdquo;The first notable incident of this type came more than a year ago, when Springfield Indian defenseman Bill Stewart fired a puck at a linesman. He was suspended for three games, promptly recalled to Minnesota and subsequently returned to the American League, never missing a beat. (If that were to happen now, he would have to serve his suspension upon his return to the AHL.)Since then, there have been other instances. Springfield&rsquo;s Larry DePalma earned a two-game suspension earlier this season. He was promoted to the North Stars and is still with them.&ldquo;I blame Minnesota,&rdquo; says Anziano. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re the ones taking advantage of it.&rdquo;North Star GM Lou Nanne, not surprisingly, disagrees.&ldquo;I would never do a thing like that,&rdquo; says Nanne. &ldquo;Really, I called up Stewart because I needed a defenseman at the time. I called up DePalma because he was ready.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a loophole that should be closed. I&rsquo;m not the guy who&rsquo;s going to lead the charge on that one, but, no, it&rsquo;s not right and something should be done about it.&rdquo;To a limited degree, something has been done. After the Stewart incident, the NHL Officials&rsquo; Association stepped in.NHLOA president Dave Newell said he approached NHL vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill and let him know the officials wouldn&rsquo;t tolerate anybody who abused their minor-league brethren escaping punishment by switching leagues.Lo and behold, the next time an AHL player abused an official, he also was disciplined by the NHL.Dave Gans, a Los Angeles King farmhand who was on loan to Hershey, spit in a linesman&rsquo;s face in the final game of last season&rsquo;s Calder Cup championship. The AHL suspended him for 10 games. Anziano says O&rsquo;Neill followed that up with a five-game NHL suspension. (Gans, demoted during training camp, served all 10 games of the AHL suspension.)Why couldn&rsquo;t the NHL do the same with McSorley?O&rsquo;Neill, who was in Europe on NHL business, couldn&rsquo;t be reached to answer that question.&ldquo;The NHL, in essence, is saying to hell with the American League,&rdquo; says Anziano.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a good situation for hockey. It hurts everyone&rsquo;s credibility. I realize things can&rsquo;t be done sometimes because of anti-trust laws. But you can take that anti-trust bull and stick it in your ear. I&rsquo;m talking about common sense.&rdquo;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

NHL’s Policy On AHL Is Strictly Bush League

<div class="byline">COMPILED BY RICHARD BEALES Copy Editor</div>Veteran New York Islander center Bryan Trottier has been fined $1,000&mdash;the highest amount allowed by National Hockey League by-laws&mdash;for writing a guest column critical of NHL officials in the Feb. 27 edition of THE HOCKEY NEWS.&ldquo;In my meeting with Mr. Trottier,&rdquo; NHL president John Ziegler said, &ldquo;he acknowledged he exercised poor judgement, in expressing publicly his frustrations in the manner in which he did.&ldquo;Despite this recognition of mistake, such conduct must be penalized, so as to make it clear to any other person in the NHL that the NHL&rsquo;s bylaws must be followed and public criticism of the officials will be penalized.&rdquo;Trottier, who met with Ziegler for a 20-minute chat in Ziegler&rsquo;s midtown Manhattan office, came away with mixed feelings about his guest column in THN.&ldquo;If I could do it over again,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d go about it a different way. I don&rsquo;t know if it was worth it or not.&ldquo;He wanted to know the intent. I told him I just thought there was too much hooking and holding. I never meant to hurt or harm the NHL.&ldquo;He said, &lsquo;A guy in your position (president of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association) has to be careful.&rsquo; What I say carries a lot of weight because of the position I hold.&rdquo;<h2>SINDEN DOCKED $2,000</h2>Harry Sinden, thou dost protest too much.The Boston Bruin general manager has been fined $2,000 for suggesting referee Kerry Fraser was either a liar or a cheat, for refusing to call a penalty on Montreal&rsquo;s Chris Chelios in a recent Montreal-Boston game.Sinden stormed the officials&rsquo; dressing room of the Montreal Forum between periods, enraged that Chelios&mdash;who had checked Bruin star Rick Middleton into the boards, causing a concussion&mdash;was not penalized by Fraser. It was originally feared that Middleton had suffered a fractured skull.Fraser said it was a legal check.&ldquo;I said it&rsquo;s one of two things,&rdquo; Sinden said at the time. &ldquo;Either you (Fraser) are lying because you didn&rsquo;t see it, or you&rsquo;re cheating because you saw it and didn&rsquo;t call it.&rdquo;The Bruins were assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the Canadiens scored on the ensuing power play, on the way to a 7-3 victory.NHL vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill investigated the incident and cleared Chelios.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011365/5608983-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="584" height="1020"><figcaption class="caption-body">Boston GM Harry Sinden was fined $2,000 for criticizing a referee between periods.</figcaption></div><h2>TEAMS FINED</h2>The Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks have been fined a combined $ 14,000 for staging a benchclearing brawl, Feb. 3 in Calgary.The teams were also assessed $5,000 in automatic penalties.The Canucks were fined $6,000 for their second bench-clearer of the season, while the Flames were fined $4,000. Head coaches Tom Watt of Vancouver and Bob Johnson of Calgary were hit for $1,000 apiece.Vancouver&rsquo;s Marc Crawford and Dave Richter were each fined $300, as were Calgary&rsquo;s Tim Hunter and Joel Otto. Every player who left the bench was assessed a $ 100 fine in addition to the $100 automatic penalty.<h2>COPS ON ICE?</h2>A bench-clearing brawl that led to nine ejections and 167 penalty minutes had Boston city council president Bruce Bolling once again clamoring for on-ice police crackdowns.The brawl, which occurred Feb. 26 at the Boston Garden in a game between the Bruins and the Quebec Nordiques, came one night after a committee of city council rejected Bolling&rsquo;s proposed ordinance.Bolling&rsquo;s idea, fully supported by Boston mayor Ray Flynn, would see police have the power to arrest athletes for assault in the middle of a game.The proposed ordinance has yet to come up for final approval or rejection, before full city council.<h2>BEARS PAW BRONZE</h2>The University of Alberta Golden Bears, representing Canada, defeated Finland 6-2 to capture the bronze medal in competition at the World University Games in Prague, Czechoslovakia.Dennis LeClair led the Bears with two goals, while singles went to Craig Dill. Brent Severyn. Stacey Wakabayashi and Curtis Brandolini.Czechoslovakia won the gold medal on goal differential, after tying the Soviet Union 3-3 in the title game.The Bears have since returned to Canada to defend their Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union title, in a tournament at Edmonton March 19 to 22.<h2>NEMETH TO KAMLOOPS</h2>Left winger Steve Nemeth has joined the Western League&rsquo;s Kamloops Oilers, after losing his opportunity to play in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.Nemeth, on loan from the Canadian national team to the national junior team, was one of the players affected by the International Ice Hockey Federation&rsquo;s sweeping suspension of almost all players involved in the Jan. 4 brawl between Canada and the Soviet Union at the World Junior Championships.Only the teams&rsquo; back-up goalies will be allowed to play in international competition again before June 30, 1988.<h2>IMPAIRED CHARGE</h2>Toronto Maple Leaf defenseman Todd Gill will appear in Ontario Provincial Court. March 5, to set a date for a preliminary hearing into his April, 1986, impaired driving charge.Gill was charged with impaired driving and driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, after his car struck a guardrail on a Toronto street.<h2>QUEBEC WINS GOLD</h2>Team Quebec weathered a late storm from Team Ontario and won the Canada Winter Games gold medal hockey final, 6-5 at Sydney, N.S.Ontario, which won the overall Games flag, thought it had tied the contest with 20 seconds remaining and its goaltender on the bench, when defenseman Larry Van Hersle&rsquo;s shot from the point entered the net.But referee Charlie Banfield had called an interference penalty on Ontario captain Jeff Shipley, just as Van Hersle wound up.<h2>BABYCH SUSPENDED</h2>The brothers Babych have been broken up again.Right winger Wayne Babych, brother of Hartford Whaler defenseman Dave Babych, has been suspended by the Whalers for failing to report to their American League affiliate in Binghamton, N.Y.The elder brother cleared NHL waivers on Feb. 25 and was asked to report to Binghamton for a Feb. 27 game against Moncton, but did not show up.<h2>AIR SCARE</h2>Former Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; greats Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt were among those who escaped injury when an airplane carrying an NHL oldtimers&rsquo; team made a forced landing near Tisdale, Sask.The airport was fogged in, the pilot reported, so he tried to land his Twin Otter aircraft on a side road. The plane went into a ditch and twisted sideways.The NHL oldtimers travel to various parts of northern Canada to play benefit exhibition games. &#9632;

f0009-01

Trottier Fined $1,000 For Column On Refs

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011451/5609014-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="329" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Fischler</figcaption></div>Bruce Hood&rsquo;s column in THE HOCKEY NEWS says &ldquo;Ask The Referee.&rdquo; For months I&rsquo;ve been waiting for the perfect question and now the time has come. I phone the NHL referee of 21 seasons and let him have it. &ldquo;Is Bryan Trottier right?&rdquo;&ldquo;About what?&rdquo; asks Hood, who not only writes a column in THN, but currently is authoring a book about life as a zebra in the NHL zoo.The rest of the conversation went something like this:STAN: Trottier filled a whole HOCKEY NEWS page telling us that the refereeing system needs a good enema. Is it as bad as all that?BRUCE: There are problems.STAN: Like&hellip;BRUCE: The system is different&mdash;certainly not the way it was when I started in 1963. There&rsquo;s so much supervision; too many ratings of the referees. Everywhere you turn the NHL has someone making a judgment about the job they&rsquo;re doing. It&rsquo;s tough to build up confidence that way.STAN: Some people think supervision is good for the refs.BRUCE: It&rsquo;s bad because it&rsquo;s like the referees today are plugged into a computer. So many people are telling them how to do their job that they can&rsquo;t do their job.STAN: Let&rsquo;s get back to Trottier: do you or don&rsquo;t you agree with what he says?BRUCE: I do and I don&rsquo;t. When he singles out individual referees for criticism, he&rsquo;s out of his league; but when he gets to other specifics, he&rsquo;s got some good points.STAN: For instance&hellip;BRUCE: He&rsquo;s right about the interference. There&rsquo;s plenty of it that&rsquo;s not called, but should be called. The thing is the referees come to accept the league standard for interference and the players sense it. Once they sense it, they know what they can get away with. The in-terference should be called, and the calls made standard operating procedure. Once the players know they can&rsquo;t get away with it, the interference will stop.STAN: So you&rsquo;re saying that the refs are at fault; that all the clutching and grabbing Trottier talks about must go.BRUCE: Sure it should, but you can&rsquo;t pin all the blame on the referees.STAN: Then, whom do you fault?BRUCE: It&rsquo;s all part of some mistaken standards that have been set in hockey. It reminds me of a game between the Bruins and Sabres recently. When it was all over, the players started going at each other as they left the ice. Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Jim Korn started having words. Next thing you know, everyone wants to get into the act. That&rsquo;s what I mean by mistaken standards. They think that&rsquo;s the thing to do. It&rsquo;s part of the &lsquo;system,&rsquo; and they&rsquo;ve come to believe that&rsquo;s what they&rsquo;re supposed to do. If two players have words, the others feel that everybody else has got to get into it. That&rsquo;s why they have the bench-clearing brawls. The kids grow up learning this standard of &lsquo;getting involved.&rsquo; They grow up believing that&rsquo;s what they&rsquo;re supposed to do. It&rsquo;s the same with the clutching and grabbing. The referees are stuck with a &lsquo;system&rsquo; that allows clutching and grabbing.STAN: Trottier says the score and time determine a lot of penalties. An infraction will be called in the first period, but not in the third.BRUCE: There obviously are times when a referee will call a &lsquo;control penalty&rsquo; early in the game, to let players know they have to stay in line and play properly. On the other side of that is the &lsquo;non-call,&rsquo; which says the same thing: it&rsquo;s got to be a &lsquo;good&rsquo; penalty. By that I mean that late in a very close game the referee will make sure that if he calls a penalty it&rsquo;s a &lsquo;good&rsquo; penalty.STAN: Trottier also argued that the less-skilled players are getting away with more, because the officials are less inclined to legislate against the garbage.BRUCE: It&rsquo;s only logical that less-talented players will attempt more infractions and that better players get grabbed. Take the Flyers of the mid-1970s: they got called for some penalties, but not all. They created 35 infractions and got called for 18 to 20 of them, which is what angered the opposition. A lot of teams function on that premise.STAN: If you were a referee today and you read the Trottier blast, would you be tougher on him on the ice?BRUCE: I reffed at a time when I didn&rsquo;t like the standards, especially fighting. I called those types of fouls and was not a well-liked official because of the teams that resorted to that type of play. My reaction is, &lsquo;Good for you, Bryan.&rsquo; But I certainly wouldn&rsquo;t have been tougher on him. There must be a better way for Trottier to have gotten his point across than by being a martyr. Maybe he should have used the avenue of the Players&rsquo; Association.STAN: You make it seem like there&rsquo;s no hope for improvement. Trottier&rsquo;s at least trying to move them into action.BRUCE: The league also has to take a firm&mdash;and I mean really firm&mdash;stand and make damn sure that once it says it&rsquo;s going to crack down on interference and what-not, that it follows through.STAN: Is that possible?BRUCE: Sure. They showed that when they want to make positive change it can work. This year they decided to crack down on goalies freezing the puck. The league says, &lsquo;move it!&rsquo; and they&rsquo;re moving it. Same with the puck stuck along the boards. All season long they&rsquo;ve told the players they won&rsquo;t stand for freezing the puck along the boards and everyone knows by now that they mean business. And the goalies all know that if they shoot the puck over the boards, they&rsquo;ll get hit with a delay-of-game penalty. That tells me something: it shows that if the league wants to set standards and eliminate some of the crap, that it can.<h2>REVOLUTIONARY RAYNER</h2>Freddie Shero has long held that Chuck (Bonnie Prince Charlie) Rayner ranked with the greatest goaltenders of all time, so it was heartening to see the Rangers&rsquo; Alumni Association honor him recently.Rayner&rsquo;s career began with the New York Americans in 1940 and ended with the Rangers in 1953. Not only was he a superb goalie, he also was a revolutionary. Can you imagine a goalie participating in his team&rsquo;s power play?&ldquo;This was in the late 1940s,&rdquo; Rayner recalls, &ldquo;before they had restrictions against goaltenders skating all over the ice. My original pro coach, Eddie Shore, had encouraged me to do a lot of skating, so by the time I got to the NHL, I was better-than-average.&ldquo;My boss on the Rangers, Frank Boucher, was very innovative and he said I could move up the ice when we had a man advantage. I never got to actually play the point on the power play, but I sure did move around a lot, like a sixth skater.&rdquo;Rayner vividly remembers being a part of another NHL first, the two-goalie system.&ldquo;Boucher had two first-rate goalies, &lsquo;Sugar&rsquo; Jim Henry, who was a dear friend of mine, and myself. He wanted to decide which of us was the best, so he got this idea: why not change goalies during a game, the way he changed lines? The first time he did it was in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. Conn Smythe, who ran the Leafs then, thought it was an insult to hockey and he did a lot of screaming, but we changed, just as Boucher planned.&ldquo;Trouble was, we only had one set of gloves, so we&rsquo;d stop at center ice after every change, and exchange the equipment. Smythe wanted to have the Rangers thrown out of the league after that. Little did he realize that this was the start of the two-goalie system that everybody uses today&mdash;although a little more conservatively!&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

Too Much Supervision Hurts Refs: Hood

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021103/5609045-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="179" height="135"></div>DETROIT&mdash;The spectre of a long road trip no longer terrifies the Red Wings. They have earned their points away from Joe Louis Arena this season on a consistent basis.It took them only two months to equal last season&rsquo;s road win total of seven, and they didn&rsquo;t stop there.Coach Jacques Demers&rsquo; tight-checking philosophy is perfectly suited for the road and it was never better applied than in a 2-2 tie against the Blackhawks in Chicago Stadium. It was the Wings&rsquo; first point this season in four games at Chicago Stadium&mdash;another breakthrough for a team knocking down one barrier after another.Steve Yzerman, one of the league&rsquo;s hottest scorers, staked the Wings to a 2-0 lead with his 23rd and 24th goals.The game was a perfect example of how and why the Wings, who had lost only once in seven games, were atop the Norris Division. They checked the Blackhawks, always formidable at home, into the ice until the hectic third period. Then goalie Greg Stefan took over with a series of enormous saves.&ldquo;I said to myself after the second period they hadn&rsquo;t done much,&rdquo; Stefan said. &ldquo;I expected them to get a few more shots than they had the first couple of periods.&rdquo;The Wings were hardly discouraged at letting a two-goal lead slip away.&ldquo;We got a big point out of it,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what counts on the road. It was a tie, not a loss. We can build on this.&rdquo;With a busy road schedule coming up in March, there&rsquo;s no such thing as a bad point. Demers will take them all.&ldquo;Stef is healthy and strong and he&rsquo;s playing great down the stretch,&rdquo; Demers said.That&rsquo;s the beauty of the Wings&rsquo; play. Nowadays when most NHL teams pick their spots, the Wings are succeeding because they&rsquo;re playing the same way all the time&mdash;whether it&rsquo;s at home or on the road, from behind or with the lead. They&rsquo;re playing hard and they&rsquo;re playing tight. The mistakes have been minimized, and hence the respectable goals-against average of about 3.50 (best in the division).And as soon as you say that, what happens? An 8-2 blowout loss to the Capitals at Landover. But Demers and crew were willing to call it an aberration and leave it at that.The Caps scored four goals in the first period and three more in the second for a 7-0 lead before Tim Higgins and Brent Ashton finally scored for Detroit. The six-goal margin equalled the Wings&rsquo; worst defeat this season. They were beaten 6-0 by Toronto on Nov. 15.Of the Wings&rsquo; 26 losses, seven were by one goal, nine others by two goals.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t fault the players,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;We had a bad game, our worst by far of the season.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a question of being flat. We were brutal&hellip;It won&rsquo;t get us down.&rdquo;Demers said he was embarrassed, until he realized something.&ldquo;I told Don Mac Adam (assistant coach) on the bench these guys had 30 of these last year,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;Imagine what that must have felt like.&rdquo;WING WIRE&mdash;The Wings filed a letter of protest with the NHL over a slashing incident in the Chicago game. Gary Nylund slashed Steve Yzerman, broke his stick on the Detroit center, and kept hacking with the broken stick. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not a team that is always protesting something,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;But we can&rsquo;t let this go.&rdquo; Yzerman said, at the very least, Nylund should have been penalized for playing with a broken stick. The incident came in overtime&hellip;The Wings were fined $3,000 in a game against Quebec for failing to comply with Rule 54E which calls for players not engaged in an altercation to clear the area. It was the Wings&rsquo; second offense&hellip;Harry Neale, a Hockey Night In Canada commentator, had this to say about the Red Wings&rsquo; coaching alumni during a telecast: &ldquo;When we have our annual golf tournament during the summer, we need two golf courses.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-02

Detroit Unafraid To Take Show On Road

<div class="byline">BY BOB MCKENZIE Editor-in-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011322/5609076-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toronto-based Don Meehan, one of the most influential agents in hockey, has been reluctant to commit to an association.</figcaption></div>A group of agents, who represent the majority of players in the National Hockey League, will meet for the third time in the past 16 months and the biggest issue that&rsquo;s likely to be tackled is whether they&rsquo;ll ever meet again.While the agents don&rsquo;t seem willing to come right out and say it, the March 7 meeting in Toronto will ultimately decide whether the group has any reason to continue.&ldquo;In all fairness, I can&rsquo;t say a heck-uva lot,&rdquo; says Ron Roberts, a Dallasbased player rep who has been asked by his peers to be the group&rsquo;s coordinator. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to be pre-sumptuous and say something now that might not be the case later.&rdquo;But more than one of the agents who are expected to attend the meeting wonder what, if anything, the future holds.&ldquo;With the collective bargaining agreement signed, sealed and delivered,&rdquo; says one agent, &ldquo;I have to wonder about the point of continuing any formal association.&rdquo;And sources indicate that Bill Watters, president of Branada Sports Management, which represents more NHLers than any other firm, has no interest whatsoever in being a member of the group.He would not confirm those reports, saying only, &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t be at the meeting because I have other commitments that day. Anton Thun (a lawyer and agent at Branada) will be there representing the company.&rdquo;Don Meehan, president of Newport Sports Management in Toronto and the fastest-growing firm in the business, says he&rsquo;ll likely attend the meeting, but adds that shouldn&rsquo;t be construed as a sign of commitment.&ldquo;Before I make a commitment to it,&rdquo; Meehan says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to get a more definite picture of what exactly the purpose and direction of the group is going to be. We&rsquo;ll see&hellip;&rdquo;Without the support and participation of Watters and Meehan, the agents&rsquo; association would lack credibility within the hockey community. Even with them, there&rsquo;s some question what, if any, punch it may pack. Or so the experiences of the past 16 months would seem to indicate.The impetus for the association&mdash;something of a revolutionary concept considering the vigor with which the player reps compete with each other&mdash;was born out of the agents&rsquo; desire to contribute to the most recent collective bargaining negotiations between the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association.The agents, 15 of whom met in Toronto for the first time on Nov. 13, 1985, had hoped that their unity would help the players to gain a better deal and also address issues of common concern.Representatives of the group, armed with a position paper outlining their concerns, met with NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Alan Eagleson a year ago at Hartford (during the all-star break). The agents let their position be known and then met again in June in Montreal to discuss it further.Before the summer was over, however, the NHL and NHLPA reached a surprisingly quick accord. What was supposed to be a long, hot summer of labor strife&mdash;strike had been whispered a few times&mdash;became a period of quiet contentment.Eagleson, who pioneered the agent business in hockey but has since minimized his involvement at that level, couldn&rsquo;t resist taking a shot at the agents&rsquo; group.&ldquo;This (acceptance of the CBA) just goes to show that the players, not their agents, make the decisions,&rdquo; Eagleson says.But then there is some question whether the agents&rsquo; association, assuming it continues to exist, should be judged on its merit as a powerful lobby group.&ldquo;If they decide, they&rsquo;re serious about it,&rdquo; says Roberts, &ldquo;there are really a lot of issues that could be looked at. There are a lot of things where, with some co-operation, they can help each other to be better player representatives.&rdquo;Certainly, few would argue that point, although some of the more experienced agents might feel they&rsquo;re being used to help groom younger agents in smaller firms.And the agent business is nothing if not ultra-competitive. Some of the established agents may not be so willing to exchange information and expertise.What the bottom line would appear to be is whether there are enough issues and potential gains to make it a project worthy of their time.&ldquo;The feedback so far has been pretty positive and unanimous,&rdquo; maintains Roberts. &ldquo;But agents are very busy men and that is something that is going to have to be looked at.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

Future Of Agents’ Association Unclear

In the past, THE HOCKEY NEWS has offered a brief guide on how to select a player agent&mdash;but before getting to that stage, it&rsquo;s most important to ask yourself whether you really need an agent.With the advent of the 18-year-old draft and its subsequent ramifications&mdash;restrictive eligibility requirements at NCAA schools, for example&mdash;both young players and their parents have been forced into making important career decisions on matters with which they may not be familiar.As a result, many turn to agents to obtain advice or answers.Unfortunately, along the way, many 15- and 16-year-old players and their parents become obsessed with the idea of having an agent. It becomes more than a convenience; it becomes a status symbol, an ego trip.Not only can this have a detrimental effect on the player&rsquo;s performance, but the trend has created far too many illusions for young men trying to determine what their future in hockey may be.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Generally speaking, though, a player who has been drafted by a National Hockey League team&mdash;and has been contacted by that club with regards to signing a contract&mdash;would do well to consider representation. Exercise some common sense.</blockquote>In many cases, all that a parent or player requires is some sound advice on what direction he should be taking. Often a simple phone call to a reputable agent or advisor will clarify any immediate concerns or questions they may have.There are no sure-fire criteria by which to judge the necessity of retaining an agent. Generally speaking, though, a player who has been drafted by a National Hockey League team&mdash;and has been contacted by that club with regards to signing a contract&mdash;would do well to consider obtaining representation.Exercise some common sense. If you&rsquo;re swimming in uncharted waters, entering into conversations and potential commitments with which you&rsquo;re totally unfamiliar, then it&rsquo;s a good idea to get advice and perhaps a representative.You would also do well to be aware of what obtaining an agent can mean. For example, NCAA rules prohibit a player from obtaining representation at anytime, with one exception. A player who has been directly contacted and pursued by a professional team may engage the services of a lawyer to act on his behalf. Any player guilty of acquiring an agent, in contravention of the NCAA rules, can be declared ineligible for U.S. college hockey.That&rsquo;s a stiff price to pay. And, by the way, ignorance is not an excuse.On the flip side, when you finally get around to picking an agent, he need not necessarily be a lawyer. Some of the most successful agents in the business do not have law degrees.So, if you&rsquo;ve decided that you do require representation, by all means read on and refer to this step-by-step THN Guide To Selecting A Player Agent.Remember at all times the motto, &ldquo;Let the Buyer Beware.&rdquo; Most player agents are honest, but history shows that unscrupulous ones do exist. There are no guarantees, but if you follow this guide, chances are you&rsquo;re going to head off trouble before it happens.&bull; Find out who the agents are. Ask your parents for help. Talk to teammates and opposing players who have had contact with agents. Talk to coaches, general managers or anyone else who is involved in the game and get them to recommend several agents.&bull; Contact these agents. Let them know you are interested in obtaining representation. Set up interview appointments&mdash;preferably in your own home or someplace that you are comfortable&mdash;with any agents interested in representing you.&bull; Be sure that your parents&mdash;or any others whose opinion and judgment you value&mdash;are present when the interviews take place. The primary function of the first interview is to get to know the agent. If you don&rsquo;t feel comfortable with the agent, if there is something you don&rsquo;t like about him, then he&rsquo;s not the one for you.&bull; Ask lots of questions. Find out what services the agent provides. Find out how much he charges for these services. Find out about his background, what education he has and what professional experience he has. Ask for references. Ask specific, to-the-point questions. Have your parents take notes. Don&rsquo;t be shy. When the agent finishes supplying all this in-formation verbally to you, ask him to put it all in writing, including specifics about fees and services and what he expects from you in terms of commitment.&bull; You should now have in your possession written proposals from the agents you have spoken to. Check out their references. You and your parents should also have impressions of them from the interviews. It&rsquo;s time to compare. Compare their personalities. Make a short list of the two or three agents you and your parents are most interested in obtaining as a representative. Contact the finalists and ask for an appointment at their place of work.&bull; Use this appointment to see their place of work. Meet the staff there. If you have any other questions or concerns, voice them at this time. Tell the agent you have narrowed your selec-tion down to two or three finalists. Use this interview to decide if you are completely comfortable with the person who will be looking out for your best interests.&bull; It&rsquo;s time to make a decision. This doesn&rsquo;t have to be made overnight. If you&rsquo;re not sure, take your time. The agents aren&rsquo;t going anywhere. Sit down with your parents. Respect their opinions. Parents should also respect their son&rsquo;s opinions. Pick one and hope everything will work out the way you expect it to.&bull; Inform the agent that he&rsquo; 11 be representing you. Send a letter to all other agents you contacted. Thank them for their time and effort; tell them you opted for John Doe. If they follow that up with a phone call asking the specifics of why they lost out, simply say that after weighing everything, it was felt John Doe would best serve your interests. If an agent continues to bother you about it, you know you made a wise choice in not picking him.&bull; Do not sign a legally-binding contract with your agent until he has negotiated a pro hockey contract for you. In the months preceding the negotiation or signing of that hockey contract, it is okay to sign a letter that states John Doe is your representative until you advise otherwise. This acts as insurance against unscrupulous agents who may claim to be working on your behalf; it can be used to let the hockey community know who represents you and it also lets your agent know you have made a commitment to him. He&rsquo;ll do the same for you.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Inform the agent that he&rsquo;ll be representing you. Send a letter to all other agents you contacted. If they follow that up with a phone call, simply say that after weighing everything, it was felt John Doe was best for you.</blockquote>Aside from these steps, there are a few other things players and parents should remember at all times:&bull; Obtaining the services of an agent does not guarantee you success as a hockey player. Beware of agents who say they can influence how high you are drafted. They&rsquo;re not only lying, they&rsquo;re insulting the intelligence of NHL general managers.&bull; Agents cannot skate, stickhandle or score, even if they say they can. So before you blame the agent for a career that isn&rsquo;t panning out, take a look in the mirror or at the circumstances.&bull; Agents who devote most of their sales pitch to running down their competition obviously don&rsquo;t have much worthwhile to say about themselves and their own company. Beware.&bull; The agent-player relationship is founded on trust. If another agent approaches you and says your agent isn&rsquo;t doing a good job for you, don&rsquo;t jump to conclusions until you&rsquo;ve checked it out with your agent. Also, don&rsquo;t mislead an agent into thinking you&rsquo;re committed to him when you&rsquo;re not. Tell him you will give him written notification of when he may begin acting on your behalf. &#9632;

Player Agents: Decide If You Need One……Then Pick The One Who’s Best For You

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Don (Grapes) Cherry is furious over former NHLer Don Saleski&rsquo;s putdown of him in THE HOCKEY NEWS. &ldquo;When I went to coach the Rockies in Colorado,&rdquo; Cherry tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;I was told that we had one tough guy&mdash;Don Saleski, but I learned the truth. Once Saleski left Dave Schultz and the ratpack in Philadelphia he became an absolute coward. The trouble with the Rockies was that we had too many players like Saleski. I remember taking a look at him and saying, &lsquo;Anyone who perms his hair has got to go.&rsquo; So we sent him to Fort Worth!&rdquo; Replies Saleski, who denies having a perm then, &ldquo;His response sounds a bit like sour grapes. That kind of thinking parallels the way he coached his team. It&rsquo;s why he had no success as our coach and it&rsquo;s why he hasn&rsquo;t been able to hook up with a team ever since.&rdquo;Ulf Samuelsson is now regarded one-two&mdash;along with Tomas Sandstrom&mdash;among the NHL&rsquo;s toughest Swedes. Asked to name the player he fears most, Samuelsson says it&rsquo;s teammate Paul MacDermid&hellip;Jacques Demers has been taking considerable needling since his glasses-throwing episode at Buffalo&rsquo;s Aud. In jest, the Wings have suggested a few alternatives to their volcanic coach. To wit: he should get contact lenses; he should get frames but with no lenses installed; he should tie the glasses to his head with a rubber band, so they will return when he tosses them again&hellip;Friends of North Star asst. GM Johnny Mariucci have closed ranks behind the U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer since his recent cancer relapse.According to one NHL insider, a ref-rating wire came over the NHL Telex. Andy van Hellemond got the highest mark, Kerry Fraser was picked fourth and Ron Fournier was near the bottom&hellip;Ron Duguay&rsquo;s return to New York has meant an influx of celebrities in the Rangers&rsquo; room. John McEnroe was a recent entry&hellip;At 6-foot-5, Adam Creighton is causing problems for TV when he does stand-up interviews with short broadcasters. In skates, Creighton is 6-foot-7 and one TV producer suggests that, next time, his announcer ask the questions from a step ladder!&hellip;High-profile collegiate coaches Brad Buetow (U.S. International in San Diego) and Gino Gasparini (North Dakota) deny a St. Paul DispatchPioneer Press story that Gasparini unilaterally cancelled a return series between the universities following a split this season. &ldquo;The story is a complete lie,&rdquo; Gasparini tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where they got the information. It has nothing to do with San Diego defeating us. North Dakota has always played San Diego. We always give them a helping hand.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The Red Wings&rsquo; Rick Zombo talking about the Leafs&rsquo; Brad Smith: &ldquo;If I was the author of his book and told about some of the things he&rsquo;s done, I&rsquo;d have a best-seller!&rdquo;&hellip;A comedy of errors afflicted Ted Sator on his first return to Manhattan after being fired as Ranger coach. The club&rsquo;s hotel (Penta) had no rooms for the team when the Sabres arrived, and after Sator finally got a room for himself, neither of his keys could open the door. &ldquo;I wonder if Phil Esposito had anything to do with this,&rdquo; chuckled Sator. After Ted and his GM, Gerry Meehan, finally assured the hotel manager they were for real, Sator quipped, &ldquo;They must think the Buffalo Sabres are a cutlery company!&rdquo;Former Bruin Wayne Cashman fumes over B&rsquo;s GM Harry Sinden suggestion that Ray Bourque has been in Hall of Famer Bobby Orr&rsquo;s class. Cashman, who played for Sinden and teamed with Orr, tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;Harry is trying to sell tickets. And, remember, when Bobby was in his prime, Sinden wasn&rsquo;t even in Boston. He was selling homes in Rochester!&rdquo;&hellip;Former netminding ace Gerry Cheevers, now a Whalers&rsquo; TV broadcaster, tells BLUELINES that his ex-teammate, Phil Esposito (now Ranger GM), pulled a steal in getting Bob Froese for Kjell Samuelsson. &ldquo;When Phil was with the Bruins, he learned the value of having two great goalies (Cheevers and Ed Johnston).&rdquo;The rash of back ailments afflicting hockey players&mdash;some call it an epidemic&mdash;has puzzled medics. One theory being advanced is that the back woes were virtually non-existent during the era of tube skates. The high-tech blades, etc., have changed the back pressures&hellip;Bryan Trot-tier&rsquo;s anti-officiating column in THE HOCKEY NEWS&mdash;ghosted by Barry Meisel&mdash;was not endorsed by the NHL Players&rsquo; Ass&rsquo;n. boss, Al Eagleson. &ldquo;Bryan did not write it as president of the NHLPA,&rdquo; Eagleson tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;The opinions expressed were his own.&rdquo; However, The Eagle allows that the union has brought up the officiating subject at league meetings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011403/5609138-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="369" height="622"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jacques Demers</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021090/5609131-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="366" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Orr</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

Saleski vs. Cherry: The Feud Lives On

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03762/5609169-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="180" height="138"></div>BUFFALO&mdash;The Buffalo Sabres went into the All-Star break as one of the &ldquo;hot&rdquo; teams in the National Hockey League.Since then they&rsquo;ve simply been smoking.The Sabres racked up four straight wins after Rendez-vouz &lsquo;87 came to a close Feb 14. Then, they stumbled in a rematch with the New York Rangers, but came right back with a win over St. Louis.Add a 7-4 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks that was recorded just prior to the All-Star break and the Sabres were riding a five-game win streak until the New York loss Feb. 24 at Buffalo. Go back even further and the record shows that in the period between Jan. 30 and Feb. 26 (and counting) the Sabres were among the winningest teams in the NHL with a record of 9-2-0.Included in that run was a split with the Quebec Nordiques, two wins over the Hartford Whalers a triumph over the Islanders at New York a win over the Rangers at New York and a win over the Boston Bruins at Buffalo.Their record went from 14-30-6 to 23-32-6 and point total, from 34 to 52. More importantly for the Sabres, however, is the fact that the surge has carried them from the edge of extinction to within sight of a playoff spot.The Sabres, on Dec. 18, suffered a 7-0 setback at Quebec, a loss that put them 18 points away from a playoff berth. As of Feb. 26 they were just four points away and the pressure would certainly seem to be on the Nordiques.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been chipping away and chipping away one game at a time,&rdquo; acknowledged Sabre winger Mike Foligno. &ldquo;Eventually we&rsquo;re going to be knocking on the playoff door and when we do they&rsquo;re going to have to open it.&rdquo;That would appear to be the case, but for all their success of late, the Sabres suddenly have begun to pay the price.The team lost captain Lindy Ruff to a broken clavicle in the 5-1 win over the Islanders. Later John Tucker, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer for much of the season was felled by a back injury that required surgery for removal of a cervical disk in the lumbar area.Both players are expected to be out for the remainder of the regular season although there is a chance Ruff could return in time for the final week.Though the losses are potentially devastating, Sabre coach Ted Sator maintains the club will carry on.&ldquo;It just means the other guys will have to pull a little harder on the rope,&rdquo; said Sator.Most have been tugging with everything they have and then some.Sabres goaltender Tom Barrasso for example had been in the nets since the steak began. Barrasso was 13-6-1 since the start of the new year and had lowered his goals-against to 3.50.The emergence of Adam Creighton has also figured in the turnabout as has the steady scoring of Dave Andreychuk, Mike Foligno and Phil Housley. The Sabres have also put together a solid checking unit made up of center Doug Smith and wingers Scott Arniel and Paul Cyr and have been able to benefit from the greening of what earlier was a very green defense.Most of the players, however, have directed much of the credit towards Sator.SABREPOINTS&mdash;Mike Foligno had back-to-back three-point nights in games against the Rangers (at New York) and Hartford. His second of two assists against the Whalers provided him with his 500th NHL point. A goal by Foligno in the same game was his 20th of the season. Prior to that game (Feb. 22) the Sabres were the only team in the NHL without a 20-goal scorer&hellip;Wilf Paiement netted his first hat trick as a Sabre, Feb. 26 vs. the Blues, to hit the 20-goal mark&hellip;Sabres recalled Ken Priestlay from Victoria in the Western League after an injury to rookie center Paul Brydges put the Sabres in an emergency situation. Priestlay had a goal against the Rangers (Feb. 24) in his first game back&hellip;Ted Sator&rsquo;s return to New York was a remarkable triumph (a 6-3 victory), but the Rangers turned the table in Buffalo with an identical 6-3 win. &#9632;

f0014-03

Playoffs On The Horizon As Red-Hot Sabres Surge

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011302/5609200-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="180" height="143"></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The biggest obstacle in Ron Hextall&rsquo;s road toward the Calder Trophy is supposed to be Luc Robitaille, the fabulous rookie winger of the Los Angeles Kings.However, an equal obstacle might be the very team for which he plays. The way some people figure it; Helen Keller could play goal for the Flyers and look like a winner.In a recent poll of 21 of the 63 Professional Hockey Writers Association members who vote on the award (one of three voters from each city), the vote came down to 10-10-1, with Robitaille and Hextall splitting down the middle and a solitary writer picking Winnipeg goalie Pokey Reddick.One of the most prevalent reasons offered for choosing Robitaille over Hextall was the goalie&rsquo;s strong collection of teammates. And one voter really did suggest that maybe a blind person could look good in goal for the Flyers.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an argument I don&rsquo;t buy,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; general manager Bob Clarke. &ldquo;People said that about Bob Froese too, and now they&rsquo;re all acting surprised that he&rsquo;s such a good goalie with the Rangers.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Nobody feels that pressure more than a goalie.&rsquo;&mdash;Clarke</blockquote>&ldquo;We knew he was a good goalie, and that should tell you something about Hextall. I think some people might not realize how tough it is to play on a good team. There is not only pressure to play well&mdash;which you can also do when you lose, but there is pressure to win.&ldquo;And nobody feels that pressure more than a goalie.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s one of the toughest position in sports. And look what he&rsquo;s done.&ldquo;Just look at the number of games he&rsquo;s played. Look at the way he handles the puck. Look at the effect he&rsquo;s had on our team.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had an incredible run of injuries this season, and he&rsquo;s gotten us through some rough spots. I&rsquo;ll tell you one thing, we wouldn&rsquo;t be where we are now if it wasn&rsquo;t for Ron Hextall.&ldquo;And I think the general managers recognized that when they put him on the team for Rendez-vous to play the Soviets.&rdquo;Hextall, who played exceptionally well in a win at Los Angeles, 4-2, and a 4-3 loss at Calgary, had already played in 52 games, and led the NHL with 30 victories, and a 2.91 goals-against average.Also working against Hextall&rsquo;s Calder bid is a tradition that decidedly favors skaters over goalies.Since 1972 only two goalies have won the award, Ken Dryden (who won the Conn Smythe Trophy the previous season) in 1971-72, and Buffalo&rsquo;s Tom Barrasso, who played 42 games in 1983-84.As for the &ldquo;team defense,&rdquo; it&rsquo;s just an extension of the &ldquo;team-first&rdquo; concept.The Flyers have built a reputation as a club with a &ldquo;one-for-ail, all-for-one&rdquo; philosophy. They don&rsquo;t allow indivdual bonuses, and individual awards aren&rsquo;t considered nearly as important as team success.Just look at the record: The club has been among the elite since the mid-1970s, but have never had a player win the Norris Trophy, or the Calder Trophy (and certainly not the Lady Byng).Even more amazingly, they&rsquo;ve managed to stay atop the NHL without a 100-point scorer since 1976.Clearly, the name on the front of the jersey means a lot more than the name on the back. And you might even wonder if the Flyers would prefer the players remove their names off the backs of the jerseys and substitute Flyers, the way Team Canada was suited up for the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviets.It&rsquo;s a notion that might work against individual awards, but it suits Hextall just fine.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even think about the individual awards,&rdquo; said Hextall. &ldquo;If I get it, fine it&rsquo;ll be an honor, but I honestly haven&rsquo;t thought about it.&ldquo;And if I don&rsquo;t get it, it will just mean that he (Robitaille) deserved it.&ldquo;For me, the only thing that matters is this team winning.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Flyer center Ron Sutter was still bothered by a back injury and may not return until mid-March. Sutter, hampered by the injury since early January, had missed the past 18 games. He was originally scheduled to come back the week of March 2&hellip;On the subject of another back injury, after missing 10 consecutive games, defenseman Mark Howe made a return against the Kings. Howe has been fitted with a brace, but will not wear it during games&hellip;When the Flyers lost at Calgary, it marked the first time this season they lost a game in which they led after two periods (28-1-2). Overall, since coach Mike Keenan took over in 1984. the Flyers had amassed a record of 112-4-5 in regular-season games which they&rsquo;d led after two periods. &#9632;

f0015-01

Flyers’ Reputation Working Against Hextall

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02949/5609262-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="177" height="135"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The natives are getting restless.But the man in charge is not panicking. Managing director Serge Savard is, however, concerned.Like everyone else in Montreal, Savard is wondering why, on some nights, his team can look like the club which worked so diligently to win an unexpected Stanley Cup championship last spring while on others, it flounders miserably.After two victories immediately following the Rendez-vous all-star break, the Canadiens went winless in their next four&mdash;two ties and two losses.With the trading deadline near, speculation continued that the Canadiens will make a deal. That&rsquo;s fine for the speculators, but in reality, Savard is not in the best position to go bartering.Regardless, one player who won&rsquo;t be traded is Stephane Richer, the talented 20-year-old sophomore who abandoned the club&rsquo;s Sherbrooke farm club on Feb. 20, only to rejoin the organization just two days later.&ldquo;I had a good meeting with Mr. Savard,&rdquo; said Richer, whose return to the American League was delayed a week by minor eye surgery. &ldquo;I want to go back to Sherbrooke and do my best and hopefully soon, I&rsquo;ll be back in Montreal.&rdquo;Richer, even with that rather pronounced indiscretion and inconsistent play, is widely considered an untouchable&mdash;at least, until his enormous talents are given more time to blossom.One player not accorded such exalted status is defenseman Craig Ludwig.His name has come up on numerous occasions. There has been that that Ludwig, who scored a career gamehigh two goals in a 3-3 tie against Chicago (Feb. 25), would be traded to the Blackhawks or Minnesota North Stars. In addition, New York Rangers&rsquo; Phil Esposito indicated to Savard his interest in Ludwig. He was turned down.Clearly, the Canadiens would like to get some goal-scoring help but if you ask the Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals and a few other clubs, they may tell you they want the same thing.The Quebec Nordiques thought they had acquired some scoring help when they picked up John Ogrodnick from Detroit in a deal which cost them a quality character player, Brent Ashton. Ashton continues to score with a fair degree of regularity in Detroit while Ogrodnick goes in fits and starts with the floundering Nordiques.Nordiques&rsquo; GM Maurice Filion is taking a good deal of heat for that deal and Savard has to avoid making a similar mistake.Since taking over the reins of the Canadiens, Savard has made two major deals, both in his first year. Bobby Smith, an intregal part of last year&rsquo;s championship team, came over from Minnesota in October, 1983, for Keith Acton and Mark Napier. Acton, a character player, haunted his former mates with the game-winning goal in a 4-3 Minnesota victory at the Forum, Feb. 23. Napier was dispatched to Edmonton but has never reached the 40-goal level he enjoyed in two seasons at Montreal.-Perry Turnbull was the next Savard acquisition, coming to Montreal from St. Louis four days before Christmas, 1983, in exchange for Doug Wick-eneheiser, Greg Pasklawski and Gil-bert Delorme. The Turnbull deal did not work out nor did the trade in November, 1985, that brought Ron Flockhart to Montreal and sent John Chabot to Pittsburgh.Savard has had better luck trading for goaltenders bringing in, first, Doug Soetaert and then, Brian Hayward from Winnipeg.With the Canadiens on an extended road trip to begin the month of March, Savard was not likely to spend much time in his Montreal office waiting for phone calls.So while the clamor continued that a deal had to be made, Savard waited patiently for the right one to come along.When Ron Corey hired him, he did so because he had confidence in Savard&rsquo;s hockey judgment. While no one&rsquo;s judgment is infallible, Savard did build a Stanley Cup winner three years into his mandate.There is no guarantee of a repeat performance this season, trade or no trade.IN PASSING&mdash;Craig Ludwig&rsquo;s two-goal effort in Chicago was witnessed by 26 friends and relatives from Eagle River, Wise., his summer residence&hellip;Larry Robinson recorded his 800th NHL point in Chicago, assisting on Ludwig&rsquo;s first goal&hellip;The. shoulder injury suffered by Chris Chelios was more serious than first thought. He was only supposed to miss one game but missed three before the Canadiens headed out on their five-game, 12-day road trip. &#9632;

f0016-02

Richer Back. Now Aims For Return To Habs

<div class="byline">BY REYN DAVIS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011042/5609293-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="179" height="137"></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;With or without a visor, Winnipeg Jet Jim Kyte always has on his &lsquo;game face.&rsquo;Still, having to wear facial protection annoys the big defenseman.After all, Kyte donning a visor, someone suggested, is akin to general manager John Ferguson dancing Swan Lake.But he suffered a scratched cornea of his left eye during the Jets&rsquo; 5-2 matinee victory over the Edmonton Oiler on Feb. 22. And doctors, fearing further damage, told him he could play only if he wears the visor.Kyte believes some players hide behind their shields. He&rsquo;s never been shy about accusing opponents of doing so.What really annoyed him was taking a stick in the eye from a player wearing one.Jari Kurri is not regarded as one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s bad boys, so it came as some suprise that the talented Oiler right winger would be the one on the other end of the stick.&ldquo;My stick caught in his sweater,&rdquo; said Kyte. &ldquo;He took exception. I&rsquo;m not saying he did it intentionally. But I wish he would show a little more respect for others&rsquo; eyes when he&rsquo;s so concerned about his own.&rdquo;Kurri drew a major for high sticking and Kyte left the game. He missed one more before returning to the lineup wearing the visor.&ldquo;If the shoe had been on the other foot, what do you suppose the league would have done?&rdquo; said Dan Maloney, the Jets&rsquo; coach, posing a hypothetical situation.At different times, Kyte has been described as the NHL&rsquo;s best fighter. He was also once called one of its worst defensemen.This season he has demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that he is, indeed, a capable player who can take a regular shift every night.He has fought only three times and, on two occasions, suffered hand injuries that knocked him out of the lineup.Kyte&rsquo;s first game wearing the visor was uneventful. He broke up an argument with some of the Los Angeles Kings by throwing Grant Ledyard to the ice.The Jets, feeling infinitely more comfortable with him in their lineup, posted their 34th victory and 14th win on the road&mdash;a 4-3 decision&mdash;on Feb. 26.&ldquo;Jim Kyte is a very important member of our hockey team,&rdquo; said Maloney. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t afford to lose him.&rdquo;In retrospect, did Kurri&rsquo;s act surprise Kyte?&ldquo;He&rsquo;s no angel,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;He does his share. But he&rsquo;s nothing like (Glenn) Anderson and (Esa) Tikkanen. They are the worst culprits.&ldquo;(Mark) Messier&rsquo;s honest, at least.&rdquo;BENCH BITS&mdash;Left winger Brian Mullen had been left out of the Jets&rsquo; lineup for nine of 10 games. Doug Smail had been skating in his spot on Dale Hawerchuk&rsquo;s line with Paul MacLean. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to get a lot of chances playing on that line,&rdquo; said Smail. &ldquo;After all, Dale is one of the best centers in the world. Hawerchuk is not choosing sides. &ldquo;Brian is a good left winger, too,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had some big nights with him.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;According to general manager John Ferguson, the Smythe Division&rsquo;s best defenseman this season has been Mario Marois &#9632;

f0017-01

Jets’ Kyte Sees Red Over The Visor Issue

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02812/5609324-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="179" height="137"></div>CALGARY&mdash;Much has changed in Bob Johnson&rsquo;s five years behind the Calgary Flames&rsquo; bench.The lines in his face are deeper. The bottom line is higher. His philosophical approach concentrates less on idealism and more on realism.Only one constant remains. No matter how well or how poorly the Flames do, Johnson will remain obsessed by the lack of practice time.When he said, &ldquo;We could win more with New Jersey Devils&rsquo; schedule than with our own,&rdquo; he wasn&rsquo;t soliciting a division change, just better geography for the Alberta-based team.Johnson loves to keep practice fun, but these days he has had time only for &lsquo;showdown,&rsquo; a penalty-shot drill. The rest of the collegiate tricks he brought from the University of Wisconsin slowly became mothballed as he adapted to the pros&rsquo; way of thinking.&ldquo;With the length of our schedule and condition of our players,&rdquo; said Johnson, &ldquo;I give the guys a day off more often because they they need a day off more often. We eliminated the fancy capers because it seemed to me the structure of our practices was different. If everybody was healthy, if we had extra guys, we could do those kinds of things.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still a teaching coach. I love to teach. The thing is, you&rsquo;re handcuffed. On the last road trip, we had two real practices in a nine-day period.&rdquo;Johnson said the development of Jamie Macoun and Al Maclnnis came in part because of the coaching staff&rsquo;s work with them in practice. This year, they don&rsquo;t practise much anymore. With injuries knocking Gary Suter and Neil Sheehy out for lengthy periods, Macoun and Maclnnis get enough ice time in the games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to make the progress you&rsquo;d like to make,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;Our theme this year was progress. We&rsquo;re at a plateau now. We have not made a spurt and it bothers me. It&rsquo;s very difficult to make a spurt.&ldquo;The only time I really get frustrated is when I know we can be better. When you play three games in four nights, it&rsquo;s hard to go on the ice and make corrections. It&rsquo;s not like the NFL where you place once a week.&rdquo;FLICKERS&mdash;Behind the shutout goaltending of Rejean Lemelin, the Flames defeated Philadelphia 5-0 on Feb. 16 in the Spectrum&mdash;the first time they&rsquo;d won a regular-season game in that building since the franchise moved from Atlanta. The Calgary Flames were 0-10-0 in Philly before the victory. Lemelin recorded his second shutout in eight days, 2-0 against Vancouver, Feb. 24. Before that pair of whitewashes, Lemelin hadn&rsquo;t shut out a team since he blanked Los Angeles 5-0 on Dec. 12, 1985. Lemelin was unbeaten in his last nine games (8-01), and gone 6-0-1 since he introduced his revolutionary new lightweight leg pads&hellip;Joey Mullen scored the 200th goal of his NHL career against Kari Takko, Feb. 14, in a 3-2 Calgary victory. He didn&rsquo;t pause to reflect on his heroics, scoring the 201st in the same game, on the third penalty shot of his career, and second of the season. Mullen hasn&rsquo;t missed yet in his three penalty-shot attempts&hellip;Surgery to remove bone spurs in Brian Engblom&rsquo;s neck was successful. He&rsquo;ll be lost for the season at best, then will consider a comeback. &#9632;

f0017-02

Practice Time At Premium For Flames

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN Assistant Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02823/5609355-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="587" height="1018"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al lafrate has all the tools to become a first-rate defenseman in the NHL.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011084/5609362-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="179" height="149"></div>TORONTO&mdash;Sometimes, you can&rsquo;t help but wonder if assistant coach Garry Lariviere wouldn&rsquo;t be more valuable to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ice, than off the ice.Were the retired defenseman, for instance, partnered with Al Iafrate, he might just be the one to accelerate a development process the Leafs are so very much counting on.It was Lariviere, the player, who received so much credit from Paul Coffey for helping him become a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman.Most everybody agrees, including Iafrate himself, the potential is there for the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder to also become a dominant defenseman.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the capability to be an all-star,&rdquo; says Lariviere, &ldquo;and hopefully as time goes on, he&rsquo;ll become that.&rdquo;Nobody disputes his enormous talents.The 20-year-old has good hands, shoots very well and doesn&rsquo;t so much skate as gallop on the ice. Few are faster.Yet, now in his third year, the former U.S. Olympian&rsquo;s progress has not been spectacular. After seasons of 21 and 33 points, he had 29 points in 63 games this year.More could be reasonably expected.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s slowly adjusting,&rdquo; says Lariviere. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got lots of talent. Al&rsquo;s biggest fault is mental. And that just comes from being young&hellip;The thing we all don&rsquo;t realize when a kid gets drafted at 18 years of age is they&rsquo;re not mature.&rdquo;Iafrate, too, notes the connection between his head bone and the rest of his game.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve got the ability,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of putting my head and my ability together.&rdquo;That means, first, increased intensity on a consistent basis. When Iafrate is playing at a fever pitch, his contribution is immense-&mdash;as witnessed by three game-winning goals this season, tied with Russ Courtnall for second on the team.&ldquo;When I&rsquo;m skating,&rdquo; relates Iafrate, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s when I&rsquo;m playing the best, because I&rsquo;m taking the man out. When I&rsquo;m not skating, I&rsquo;m just standing around like a big dummy.&rdquo;What hasn&rsquo;t helped Iafrate&rsquo;s progress is playing for a terrible team throughout his NHL career. That has hindered his transition to the pro game.He is supposed to be Toronto&rsquo;s top two-way defenseman of the future, a role filled by six-time all-star Borje Salming in the past, but left lacking in recent years.Iafrate&rsquo;s 33 points last year were the fewest of any team-leading defenseman in the National Hockey League.It is a shortcoming head coach John Brophy would like corrected.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to get the fourth man a little more into the play,&rdquo; says Brophy.That is where Iafrate is supposed to enter the picture.&ldquo;They have never had any reins on me, not even when (former coach Dan) Maloney was here,&rdquo; says Iafrate. who had a six-game point-scoring streak early in February. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always had the green light because that&rsquo;s what they drafted me for&mdash;to get points.&rdquo;Iafrate was the fourth choice overall in 1984, after going from Detroit Compuware midgets as a 16-year-old to the Olympic team as a 17-year-old.A center until his midget year, Iafrate is still in the embryonic stage of his career as a defenseman&mdash;a circumstance recognized by Brophy.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s still just 20 years old,&rdquo; says the coach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got tremendous ability and it shows every game he plays. &ldquo;Iafrate&rsquo;s minus-17 is among the worst on the team, but Brophy insists, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s coming along quite well defensively and he&rsquo;s starting to control the game a lot more.&rdquo;He will be needed to exert much more control in the future.LEAFLETS&mdash;Rick Vaive&rsquo;s three-goal effort paced Toronto to an 8-6 win over Vancouver, ended a four-game losing streak (five-game winless slide) and rejuvenated the last-place Leafs&rsquo; playoff hopes in the Norris Division. The goals were the 301st, 302nd and 303rd of his career. He scored No. 300 in a 4-2 loss against the New York Rangers, Feb. 25&hellip;Dan Daoust scored the winner, his first goal since returning from a 45-game layoff with a broken foot&hellip;Defenseman Ted Fauss, playing in his 14th game, earned his first NHL point on an assist&hellip;Wendel Clark was on an 11-game goalless streak&hellip;Mirko Frycer was out again, this time with a cracked pelvis bone&hellip;Still missing was Chris Kotso-poulos, out for 17 games with a groin injury. No return date had been set&hellip;Rookie Vincent Damphousse had earned assists in eight of his last nine games, but hadn&rsquo;t scored a goal in nine games&hellip;Kevin Maguire, who collected 74 penalty minutes and no points in 17 games, was returned to Newmarket&hellip;Goalie Allan Bester (10-13-3) started six of seven games, but Ken Wregget (14-20-3) got the start against Vancouver. &#9632;

f0018-02

Iafrate Working Towards Fulfilling Potential

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03578/5609393-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="394" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Strachan</figcaption></div>CHANGE COMES SLOWLY in the Soviet Union. It&rsquo;s a structured society and everything has to be done through channels.As Alan Eagleson pointed out when the National Hockey League tried to modify the playing rules during Rendezvous &lsquo;87, the league&rsquo;s chances of getting its way were very slim indeed. The Soviets who signed the original understanding hadn&rsquo;t come to Quebec, and the officials who did simply would not modify an arrangement that had been negotiated by others.Nonetheless, a major change in Soviet hockey is gradually and relentlessly approaching. The Soviets change slowly and ponderously but they do change. As a result, most of us will probably see the day when a Soviet hockey player performs in the NHL with the blessing of his government.NHL executives&mdash;especially general managers who have drafted Soviet players&mdash;would like to see such a development. And so, for that matter, would many Soviet hockey officials.But the Soviets face a major dilemma. Hockey is very much a part of their overall propaganda machine, so they want their best players to stay at home and play for the national team. But on the other hand, there could also be propaganda value in having one of their players excel in the NHL. So, sentiment is split.Sending over players in the twilight of their careers, as the Czechoslovakians did, isn&rsquo;t the answer either. The Soviets don&rsquo;t want anything less than their best to be put on display in North America. Again, the dilemma arises. Any player who is among their best is too valuable to the national team to be released.Eventually, however, it has to happen&mdash;and it would seem that the Soviets not only realize this but are also working towards it.Consider the developments so far. The first direct interaction between the NHL and the Soviets took place in 1972 with an eight-game series. Since then, the exchanges have become increasingly frequent and now follow a longterm timetable&mdash;a Canada Cup every three years, World Championships every year except Olympic years and so on.Then, late last year, an arrangement was reached allowing Soviet coach Anatoly Tarasov to go to Vancouver and work with the Canucks. And for 10 days in February, Tarasov did just that.The next step in the development of the scenario took place while most hockey eyes were on Rendez-vous &lsquo;87. Off in Calgary, Canuck officials agreed to an extensive exchange agreement with Viacheslav Gavrilin, the vicepresident of the USSR Olympic Federation.The Soviets have given the Canucks their choice of four men who will be available as an assistant coach for the team next year. In addition, former Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak will operate a hockey school in Vancouver and work with Canuck prospect Troy Gamble. This summer, Canuck coach Tom Watt and assistant coach Jack Mcllhargey will go to the Soviet Union for two weeks to study their system. (Watt says that no one in the Canucks&rsquo; organization has told him about the plan, but considering the Canucks&rsquo; track record, that&rsquo;s not surprising.)After the 1988 Olympics, the full Soviet hockey program is scheduled for review. Given increased openness in the USSR since Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, and the desire of some Soviet hockey officials for representation in the NHL, an agreement to ship out a player or two could be reached at that time.Certainly there is a very real possibility that the concept will be shot down. But it&rsquo;s also possible that because it would be the next logical step in the progression, the idea would be approved.The Canucks are hoping that the latter will be the case. The reason they&rsquo;re instigating these exchanges is that they have drafted Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov, two of the Soviets&rsquo; brightest stars.But even if the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation did approve player involvement in the NHL, the Canucks couldn&rsquo;t count on those two leading Vancouver to a string of Stanley Cups.Almost certainly, any player who did come to the NHL would still have strong ties to the Soviet Union. He might, for instance, be allowed out for only one season. Or he might be released on the understanding that no matter what his NHL team might do in the playoffs, he must be allowed to play for the Soviet Union at the World Championships in late April.And, of course, there would be the matter of finances. The other European nations get a bundle of cash from the NHL teams who use their players. The Soviets certainly wouldn&rsquo;t be likely to give any bargains to the capitalists.But problems or not, dilemmas or not, the walls between Soviet and North American hockey are gradually crumbling&rsquo;. The arrival of a Soviet player in the NHL is just a matter of time. &#9632;

f0018-03

It’s Just A Matter Of Time Before Soviets Are In NHL

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011003/5609424-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="179" height="140"></div>BOSTON&mdash;Bill Ranford&rsquo;s doubters are becoming fewer and fewer.The 20-year-old rookie&mdash;heralded as the Boston Bruins&rsquo; goalie of the future&mdash;won more converts Feb. 21 in Minnesota, when he stopped 45 shots to blank the North Stars 1-0. He stop-ped pucks with his stick, pads, glove and&mdash;on at least three occasions&mdash;his masked face.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the kind of goaltending you need for playoff hockey,&rdquo; coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly said. &ldquo;Billy made every save that came his way. He was unbelievable.&rdquo;Ranford&rsquo;s performance was the lone highlight of the Bruins&rsquo; post-Rendezvous road trip, which saw them lose five out of six games on foreign rinks.It was the third shutout of his career, and he&rsquo;d had to work hard for all of them. He faced 43 shots in blanking Calgary 6-0 on Oct. 26, and stopped 43 in a 5-0 victory over Philadelphia, Dec. 6.His record after the Minnesota game, however, was a deceiving 1217-2. A more accurate reflection of the job he&rsquo;d done was the 3.05 goals-against average.Ranford, who didn&rsquo;t have a shutout in 118 games with the Western League&rsquo;s New Westminster Bruins, started the season as Boston&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie after a fine performance in last spring&rsquo;s playoffs.He was 2-5-1 with a 4.09 average when O&rsquo;Reilly sent him down to Moncton of the American League, following 7-1 and 8-3 losses to the Buffalo Sabres.&ldquo;I saw two things in those Buffalo games,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Reilly recalled. &ldquo;He really wasn&rsquo;t ready, and his confidence was shot.&rdquo;O&rsquo;Reilly also noticed a mechanical flaw in the young goalie&rsquo;s game. Ranford simply buckled down and corrected it.&ldquo;He was overeacting to passes that went across the goalmouth,&rdquo; the coach said. &ldquo;But someone confronted him with that and it&rsquo;s no longer in his game. What that showed is that he was capable of learning quickly.&rdquo;Ranford won his only three starts at Moncton, allowing just six goals. He celebrated his recall to Boston by blanking Philadelphia, then played in five straight games while Doug Keans nursed a groin injury.&ldquo;A lot of positive things came out of that,&rdquo; Ranford said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t let the pressure get to me when I had the starting role. I worked on my concentration. But it all has to do with having a little bit of confidence. When you&rsquo;re stopping the puck, your confidence starts to build.&rdquo;Like most young goalies, Ranford has relied on his innate quickness to make up for the gaps in his experience. But he learns new moves all the time and is a quick study.Spectators at the Minnesota game noticed he was coming out of the net more than usual, to challenge the shooter. That came as a result of several practice sessions with teammates Mike Milbury and Charlie Simmer.&ldquo;Mike, Charlie, my dad and Harry Sinden have all talked to me about it,&rdquo; Ranford said. &ldquo;I got the picture that I should challenge more.&ldquo;Charlie and Mike sat with me and discussed it at the last practice. They said to move out when the shooter has his head down. I tried it a few times and it worked.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN&mdash;The Bruins have plans to add Phil Esposito&rsquo;s No. 7 to the retired numbers that hang from the ceiling of Boston Garden, even though Ray Bourque wears the same number today. The ceremony will take place sometime in the fall. Other retired numbers belonged to Eddie Shore (2), Lionel Hitchman (3), Bobby Orr (4), Dit Clapper (5), Johnny Bucyk (9) and Milt Schmidt (15). &#9632;

f0019-01

Bruins’ Rookie Goalie Keeps On Improving

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01880/5609455-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="179" height="133"></div>HARTFORD&mdash;The Whale is rising in Hartford and there&rsquo;s nothing, it seems, that Captain Ahab. Harry Sinden or even Raymond Bourque can do about it.The Whale&rsquo;s shadow is threatening to engulf most of New England, and in case you haven&rsquo;t been paying attention for the last 50 years or so, New England is Boston Bruins&rsquo; territory.&ldquo;Hartford&rsquo;s improvement is good for hockey in New England,&rdquo; said Bruins&rsquo; general manager Sinden, diplomatically. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great for us to have two cities so geographically close to become rivals.&rdquo;&ldquo;We&rsquo;d love to be New England&rsquo;s team, but we don&rsquo;t want to settle for that,&rdquo; Whalers&rsquo; managing general partner Howard Baldwin said. &ldquo;We want to be the best team of all.&rdquo;First, New England. Then, the world.&ldquo;To say you&rsquo;re No. 1 in New England is something you have to look at long term,&rdquo; Baldwin said. &ldquo;Yes, we&rsquo;re in first place and five points up on the Bruins, but they have a long tradition of winning. You have to stand the test of time.&rdquo;In the first seven games between the two teams this year, the Whalers won five, including five of the last six. If the whole truth were told, there simply is no love lost between the managements of the two teams.&ldquo;This battle goes beyond the games,&rdquo; Baldwin admitted. &ldquo;Things like competing for cable TV, and we had that vicious battle over the signing of the Howes in the 1970s. I&rsquo;m not going to lie. I get excited about beating the Bruins.&rdquo;For every emerging winner, there is a submerging loser.&ldquo;Before this year, the Whalers were one of the worst draws we had,&rdquo; Sinden said. &ldquo;The fans in Boston considered the Rangers and Montreal as the key rivals. When you live in Boston, you don&rsquo;t think of Hartford. You think of New York, Montreal, even Albany, but not Hartford.&rdquo;The Whalers finishing ahead of the Bruins? Think of the indignation of the proper Bostonian, not to mention his improper buddies.&ldquo;Back in the Bobby Orr days, you couldn&rsquo;t get a ticket to the Bruins,&rdquo; Baldwin said. &ldquo;The Boston Garden has tradition, but it ain&rsquo;t no Civic Center.&rdquo;In 28 dates this year at the Hartford Civic Center, the Whalers averaged 14,010 fans, including nine sellouts of 15,126. The Bruins were averaging 12,066 in the 14,451-seat Garden.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;This battle goes beyond the games.&rsquo;&mdash;Baldwin</blockquote>Where exactly does Bruins&rsquo; country end and Whalers&rsquo; country begin?&ldquo;It depends on the year,&rdquo; Sinden said. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re doing well, we&rsquo;ve got Springfield. If they are, they&rsquo;ve got it.&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Springfield will be theirs anymore,&rdquo; Baldwin said. &ldquo;They can have Providence and Worcester. We&rsquo;ll take Springfield from Boston and New Haven from the Rangers.&rdquo;These are happy days for Baldwin, who suffered during the early WHA years as a tenant of Boston Garden.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t hate the Bruins,&rdquo; Baldwin said with a chuckle. &ldquo;But there were a lot of things I used to be mad at them for and it&rsquo;s an integral part of our past. It was war. Our treatment in the Garden was, well, we had home dates like on Monday afternoon. It was wild.&rdquo;What would it take for the Whalers-Bruins rivalry to hit full maturity, Sinden was asked.&ldquo;A playoff series,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That would cement the rivalry.&rdquo;&ldquo;You bet it would,&rdquo; Baldwin said.WHALER SCUTTLEBUTT&mdash;The rivalry took on a different shape Feb. 18 after a game in Hartford, which the Bruins lost 6-4. As the game ended, the Boston bench was sprayed with a cold drink. Then, as assistant coach John Cunniff was crossing the ice surface he was hit with a crumpled paper cup. Cunniff, a member of the Whalers&rsquo; family before joining the Bruins, went into the stands after the culprit but was held back by security. Boston coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, mean-while, was restrained by referee Don Koharski. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve spent six years with the Whalers and we were continuously frustrated by the Bruins,&rdquo; said Cun-niff. &ldquo;Now that I&rsquo;m with the Bruins, I&rsquo;m being continuously frustrated by the Whalers.&rdquo;&hellip;Wayne Babych, who missed 39 games after knee surgery Sept. 27, played three games and then sat out 18 in a row. When the Whalers assigned him to Binghamton Feb. 25, he balked. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like what&rsquo;s happening,&rdquo; Babych said. GM Emile Francis said Babych would be suspended if he failed to report. Babych, who has never played in the minors in nine pro seasons, said his dispute has &ldquo;everything to do with my injury.&rdquo; Babych has a 20-game grace period to determine whether to go on playing before compromising a possible disability claim&hellip;Defenseman Dana Murzyn missed five games with a strained shoulder&hellip;Mike McEwen&rsquo;s goal against Buffalo, Feb. 15, was the 400th point of his NHL career. He saved the puck. &#9632;

f0020-01

Whalers Winning Battle Of New England

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02593/5609486-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="356" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Molinari</figcaption></div>GEEZ, THE AWFUL things that can happen when you give some guys a third-grade education and a typewriter.Worst thing to go on since they gave broads the right to vote, or maybe even since those frogs and commies were allowed to soil the precious dirt of North America by walking on it.Hey, I don&rsquo;t expect you to take my word. I&rsquo;m just a poor wretch who strings together words because he can&rsquo;t get a real job.But even a tormented soul like me can recognize the purity of truth when I hear it. And I hear lots of it every time Harold Ballard deigns to share his thoughts with the public.The only thing I can&rsquo;t understand is why so many other folks seem unable to appreciate the wisdom of Mr. Ballard.Jealousy, probably, which might explain why Ballard-bashing has become every bit as popular as curling in Canada.(Curling, for those uninformed few in the United States, is a sport which serves as the feeder system for those ultra-competitive shuffleboard leagues at retirement villages across Florida.)Mr. Ballard is a gentle man of conscience, which makes those public assaults on him all the more despicable. Oh, how those unjustifiable attacks must grieve him.I guess you know, Mr. Ballard, how some people talk about your orange hair and call you a clown. I hope it comforts you to know Ronald McDonald has had to put up with the same thing for years.I, for one, admire your courage and insight, especially since a lot of folks have had their perspectives warped over the past few decades.It&rsquo;s gotten so bad that you&rsquo;re the only one with the brains and gumption to call a frog a frog, a broad a broad and a commie a commie.Can you believe this bleeping stuff, Harold?Like those broad reporters who&mdash;God forbid&mdash;actually want to be treated like people. Treat broads like real people? Is this a bad joke, or what?Yeah, I know, I broke down a few years back and married one, but almost everybody&mdash;except you. of course&mdash;makes an error in judgment now and then.At least I had the good sense to stop buying shoes for her a few months ago, and she&rsquo;s a damned sight easier to live with now that I have her chained to the kitchen cabinets.Anyway, you and I know what those broads really want when they walk into a locker room, don&rsquo;t we?Frankly, Hal, I even have my doubts about the motives of some of those guys in the Toronto press corps. Like that four-eyed pervert from the Globe and Mail, right?Are we supposed to believe he&rsquo;s only looking for quotes when he walks into a room full of naked, sweaty athletes? What do you think, Hal?Bet he was disappointed as hell the Soviet locker room was off-limits at Rendez-Vous &lsquo;87&mdash;that was the thing those frogs put on with the commies a few weeks ago, remember?That brings us to yet another point on which you deserve so much credit, Mr. Ballard.You seem to be the only one to realize that Viktor Tikhonov made the decision to shoot down that Korean Air Lines jet a few years ago. You know, the incident you so tactfully reminded us about via the Maple Leaf Gardens scoreboard during a Soviet-Canada midget game a while back.And only you recognize that Viacheslav Fetisov was the first to violate the sovereignty of Afghanistan in 1979, when he marched across the border with Vladimir Krutov a few steps behind.They can&rsquo;t fool you. Let those bleeping commies across the Canadian border and into the bowels of Maple Leaf Gardens and they&rsquo;ll be serving borscht in Ottawa before the week&rsquo;s over.Besides, who in Toronto could possibly want to see those damned commies play hockey when they get to watch Brad Smith and Terry Johnson throughout the winter?Let the commies play the frogs in Montreal or Quebec. Ontario will be just as happy&mdash;and a lot better off&mdash;watching the Leafs and Canucks.By the way, it was great to see you bring that frog, Marcel Aubut, down a peg. He thought he was such a big deal, putting together that bleeping Rendez-Vous, but you put him in his place when you told him you changed your mind about wasting $15,000 on a float.Who cares, anyway? It was just a bleeping parade for a bunch of frogs and commies.Gives me chills, Mr. Ballard, just thinking about your courage.So be proud, sir, and hold your orange head high. It&rsquo;s men like you who made the NHL what it is today&mdash;ready to take on the challenges of the 1920s.And there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with being a fourth-rate operation.God only knows, it&rsquo;s better than being one of those broads, commies or frogs.Thought you might like to know.Dave Molinari, serious visage aside, is a very funny guy and will be appearing once a month. &#9632;

f0020-02

In Praise Of Harold Ballard: A Man Of Infinite Wisdom

<div class="byline">BY JERRY ZGODA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02539/5609517-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="588" height="941"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kari Takko has given Minnesota steady goaltending throughout his rookie season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01766/5609524-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="181" height="138"></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;In the beginning, at the start of this season, all Kari Takko wanted was to play 20 games in the National Hockey League.He had spent his first year in North America apprenticing at the North Stars&rsquo; Springfield, Mass., and the hope was he&rsquo;d win the Stars&rsquo; backup job this season while veteran Don Beaupre carried most of the load.But now in March, Takko has played more than 30 games and he finds himself rotating with Beaupre.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more than I even dreamed about,&rdquo; said Takko, who was bom and raised in Finland. &ldquo;In training camp, I was worried about making the team.&rdquo;He was worried because Jon Casey was coming back for his second NHL season. But Takko won the job with his consistent, stand-up style and Casey was shipped all the way to the International League. Takko has kept up that consistency throughout the season while Beaupre has ridden a variety of hot and cool streaks.With the playoffs little more than a month away, Takko was the man coach Lome Henning called on in a recent tough, three-game stretch against Boston, Montreal and Quebec.He stopped 28 of 29 shots against the Bruins, but the Stars lost 1-0 courtesy of a 45-save performance by rookie Bill Ranford. Takko went into the Forum two nights later and stopped 31 shots, including 14 of 16 in a stunning third period, as he held off the Canadiens 4-3. The next night in Quebec, Takko allowed just one evenstrength goal, but the Nordiques scored four power-play goals in a 5-4 win over the Stars.&ldquo;He has been great all year,&rdquo; Henning said. &ldquo;Some nights we don&rsquo;t give him a lot of help; he has kept us in a lot of games. With him and Donnie, we really have some solid goaltending.&rdquo;Not only has Takko, 24, adjusted easily to the NHL, but he is getting pretty smart, too. Smart enough to know that the Stars&rsquo; performance in the first two periods at Montreal, where they smothered the Canadiens offense while grabbing a 4-1 lead, wouldn&rsquo;t last in the third.That&rsquo;s why he sat down during the second intermission and told himself to prepare for the worst in the third. He was right. The Stars were outshot 16-3 in the final 20 minutes but Takko was near perfect, especially in the final, hectic minutes.&ldquo;It is so much easier to play now, after 30 games, than it was at the start,&rdquo; Takko said. &ldquo;I know what to expect. I know that we sometimes have trouble playing three great periods, so you prepare yourself for that. I was ready to play in the third period because that has happened so many times this season.&rdquo;It helped that Takko had that season in the minors to adjust to North American rinks and the smaller area behind the net. He also had time to adjust to the different lifestyle.&ldquo;I could tell in training camp that it would be a lot easier,&rdquo; Takko said. &ldquo;I knew the language better, my wife and I had friends in the area. Last year, I was so wiped out after the first three days of camp. This year, I felt so comfortable and I knew if I played the way I was able to play, everything would work out fine.&rdquo;STARDUST&mdash;With JariGron-strand out with strained knee ligaments and Craig Hartsburg hurting because of a herniated disc, the Stars knew they needed help on defense. So who did they look to? None other than former Star Brad Maxwell. The Stars acquired him from the New York Rangers for cash on Feb. 21. They wanted to claim him on waivers from Vancouver in January, but the Rangers selected him first. Maxwell, who played for Quebec, Toronto, Vancouver and the Rangers after leaving Minnesota in Dec. 1984, stepped into the lineup the same day and had played a regular shift since. He had two assists in his first three games. Hartsburg missed the Boston, Montreal and Quebec games, but was expected to return the first week of March. &#9632;

f0022-02

Stars Serving Up Takko On Regular Basis

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01688/5609555-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="180" height="139"></div>LANDOVER&mdash;There is an apoc-ryphal story about Larry Murphy that illustrates the low regard in which he has been held by some Capital Centre fans since he joined the Washington Capitals in October, 1983.&ldquo;Is Jesus your real name or a nickname?&rsquo;&rsquo; a young lady supposedly asked Murphy after she had watched him play a number of games, and repeatedly heard fans around her yell &ldquo;Jesus, Murphy&rdquo; whenever he mishandled the puck.Murphy frequently was forced to endure the fans&rsquo; jeers as he learned the basics of defense that had been largely ignored in Los Angeles, where in 1980-81 he collected 76 points, still a National Hockey League record for rookie defensemen.Today at the Capital Centre, expletives connected to Murphy&rsquo;s name are principally inspired by his superb play, with some phenomenal statistics reinforced by solid defensive maneuvers that surely have earned him a place among the elite of NHL defensemen.Since mid-January, the Capitals had returned to respectability, posting a 12-6-1 record and surging into the fight for second place in the Patrick Division.Over those 19 games, Murphy recorded five goals and 20 assists. Far more significant, he was on the ice for 51 of the Capitals&rsquo; 84 goals during that stretch.With only 17 regular-season games remaining, Murphy led the Capitals in both points, with 64, and plus-minus, at plus-19. He had established a club record of 45 assists by a defenseman and with 19 goals and 64 points was closing in on those marks he already shared with ex-Cap Robert Picard (21 goals) and teammate Scott Stevens (65 points).Murphy compiled these figures with a team that stresses defense. In the process, he has managed vast improvement in the defensive area, where he was downgraded by the experts in the past.&ldquo;His defensive game has improved immensely,&rdquo; said coach Bryan Murray. &ldquo;He identifies rushes, he commits to the man and he understands our defensive philosophy. That was the real priority.&ldquo;He sees the game, he passes the puck well and he has a great shot. But we knew he did a lot of positive things in that area when we got him. Now he has picked up the other parts of his game that were liabilities in Los Angeles.&ldquo;His biggest problem was trying to do too much with the puck. He was careless with the puck when he got tired and he was gambling too much at the opposing blue line.&rdquo;The way the Capitals were struggling early this season, it was no accident that Murphy was trying to do more than his share. But as the team improved, with Mike Gartner&rsquo;s resurgence and the addition of Mike Ridley and Kelly Miller, he has been content to once more play his own game.&ldquo;Offensively, I feel I&rsquo;m being counted on to provide a little more,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;Early on, we weren&rsquo;t scoring well and I tried to push harder. But lately I&rsquo;ve been backing off, because other guys are coming on, like Mike Gartner. Everything he shoots goes in the net.&rdquo;Of the fans&rsquo; past penchant for picking on him, Murphy said, &ldquo;When a defenseman makes an obvious mistake, it can be quite glaring and that&rsquo;s always been the biggest rap against me. I&rsquo;ve made a conscious effort to eliminate that. Instead of throwing the puck away, I&rsquo;m taking a quick look and either shooting the puck out of our end or making a pass, instead of giving the puck up.&ldquo;I do feel I&rsquo;ve improved. I&rsquo;m playing with confidence at both ends of the rink and I think it&rsquo;s showing up defensively. I&rsquo;m pleased about the statistics, especially the plus-minus. A lot of people gauge ability by your plusminus.&rdquo;Murray, who along with brother Terry has spent many hours patiently bringing Murphy along, feels that in his seventh NHL season the defenseman, who marked his 26th birthday on March 8, is deserving of recognition from his peers.&ldquo;I felt that Larry deserved consideration for the all-star team that played the Russians and I think he&rsquo;s very close to being one of the best in the league,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;(But) he has to make more of an impact.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see him physically be more demanding on other players, to move the puck sharper on the power play and to overcome the tendency to make mistakes when he&rsquo;s tired. If he does that, finally he should get recognition as one of the top defensemen in this league.&rdquo;CAPSULES&mdash;Defenseman John Barrett was lost for the season when he suffered a broken left kneecap in Vancouver, Feb. 20. Barrett, standing in front of his net, was struck by a shot from the left point with four seconds remaining in the game&hellip;Mike Gartner continued to pour in the goals, collecting 23 over an 18-game stretch and upping his team-record total to six shorthanded goals. Dave Christian&rsquo;s assist streak stayed alive at eight games&hellip;After netting No. 27 in a 5-2 victory over Edmonton. Mike Ridley had goals in seven of his last eight games&hellip;By beating the Oilers, goaltender Pete Peeters ran his personal winning streak to seven games. &#9632;

f0023-01

Murphy’s Romance With Fans A New Thing

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01744/5609586-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="181" height="136"></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Glen Cochrane has the rest of this National Hockey League season to find out whether he did suffer a career-ending injury Oct. 31 against the Edmonton Oilers.The Vancouver Canucks had 17 games remaining and the National Hockey League allows a player 20 to determine whether he&rsquo;s able to keep going before either settling on a disability payment or waiving his right to a claim.While Cochrane has this nice breathing space to see how he&rsquo;s going to feel after back surgery on a disc problem, he&rsquo;s not thinking retirement at all.&ldquo;The thought of retiring came up briefly, but I&rsquo;ve never considered it seriously because I haven&rsquo;t had any problems on the rehabilitation program,&rdquo; the monstrous defenseman said just before playing his first game, in Calgary, since injuring himself three games into the season.&ldquo;The problem at first was we waited so long after the injury to see if it would settle down. It didn&rsquo;t and we didn&rsquo;t get the operation over with until Dec. 7. Since then they gave me a rehabilitation program and I just followed it. I never found anything I couldn&rsquo;t do. It would get sore every now and again and need a day&rsquo;s rest, but for the most part I&rsquo;ve worked hard and found the going smooth.&rdquo;&ldquo;There was a while there when Glen looked like he had no development, there was a natural atrophy of his muscles,&rdquo; said coach Tom Watt. &ldquo;Now he looks like Hercules again he&rsquo;s been pumping so much iron. He&rsquo;s worked hard and he says he&rsquo;s ready. We&rsquo;re going to play him.&rdquo;And play him they did against the Flames. He got a few shifts at left wing and a few on defense.&ldquo;It felt pretty good out there,&rdquo; said Cochrane after the 2-0 loss. &ldquo;I thought it went pretty well for being out nearly four months.&rdquo;While he managed a reasonable debut, long-term prospects as a defenseman are restricted by his mobility, which wasn&rsquo;t great even before his long-standing knee problems which have temporarily abated.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve used him on the wing at times and he hasn&rsquo;t looked bad at all,&rdquo; said assistant coach Jack Mcllhargey, who knows full well his value as a potential intimidator or policeman. &ldquo;We had him up there with Sunny (Patrik Sundstrom) and Tony (Tanti) and even (Marty) McSorley and (Kevin) McClelland on the Oilers never went near them.&rdquo;Cochrane&rsquo;s long-term use in Vancouver would be greatly enhanced if he could embrace the left wing spot, where Dave Lowry, Marc Crawford and Moe Lemay have been struggling all season. Bigger forwards are the club&rsquo;s greatest need.&ldquo;Right now I don&rsquo;t care where they play me,&rdquo; says Cochrane. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d just want some ice time in game situations. I&rsquo;ve been practising with the team but that&rsquo;s not nearly the same as a game where guys are hitting you full bore. I&rsquo;m not 100 per cent. I still get a little stiff and sore out there, but that&rsquo;s always going to be the case. I&rsquo;m ready to play and by that I mean I&rsquo;m ready for anything. If things get a little rough out there. I&rsquo;ll play the way I usually play.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Coach Tom Watt says he has been assured by a third party that new president and general manager Pat Quinn intends to keep him on as the club&rsquo;s coach next season. &#9632;

f0024-01

Officer Cochrane Is Back On Patrol

<h2>MAR.</h2><h3>THU. 5</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02524/5609687-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="395" height="207"></div><h3>FRI. 6</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03345/5609680-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="374" height="62"></div><h3>SAT. 7</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04214/5609673-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="395" height="235"></div><h3>SUN. 8</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05157/5609666-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="418" height="179"></div><h3>MON. 9</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06131/5609659-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="372" height="60"></div><h3>TUE. 10</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07110/5609652-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="370" height="66"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-08103/5609645-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="392" height="60"></div><h3>WED. 11</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0996/5609638-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="398" height="243"></div><h3>THU. 12</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1088/5609631-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="395" height="93"></div><h3>FRI. 13</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1186/5609624-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="393" height="123"></div><h3>SAT. 14</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1278/5609617-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="404" height="269"></div> &#9632;

f0024-02

NHL Games To Come

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03281/5609718-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="565" height="814"><figcaption class="caption-body">DALE HAWERCHUK</figcaption></div>Dale Hawerchuk 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/f0025-01658/5609732-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="189" height="183"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02435/5609725-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="151" height="161"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Winnipeg Jet center Dale Hawerchuk netted a League-high five goals and 10 points in four games to earn the Chrysler-Dodge Player of the Week Award for the period ending March 1. Hawerchuk, who helped his club move to within five points of the Smythe Division lead, edged Washington Capital goalie Pete Peeters, Boston Bruin center Steve Kasper and Minnesota North Star right winger Brian Bellows for the honor.On Hawerchuk&rsquo;s behalf, Chrysler-Dodge will donate $500 to the Oshawa (Ont.) Minor Hockey Association, the youth hockey organization of player&rsquo;s choice. ChryslerDodge also sponsors the Player of the Month and the Player of the Year, for which the latter receives the Chrysler Corporation vehicle of his choice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to win this award,&rdquo; said Hawerchuk. &ldquo;The team is playing well right now, and the two divisional wins should really help us. We have a shot now at first place.&rdquo;Opening the week with consecutive road games in Los Angeles on Feb. 24 and 26, Hawerchuk scored a goal and an assist in the first, an 8-3 loss, and posted a goal and two assists in the second, a 4-3 victory. The Jets then moved on to Calgary, Feb. 28, for the first of a home-and-home series with Flames, losing 5-3 despite Hawerchuk&rsquo;s ninth two-goal performance of the season. Returning to Winnipeg on March 1, Hawerchuk registered a goal and two assists to lead the Jets past the Flames 6-3 and into a second-place tie with Calgary. &#9632;

f0025-03

THE CHRYSLER-DODGE REPORT

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01697/5609763-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="178" height="140"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Phil Esposito keeps insisting that he doesn&rsquo;t care about the details as long as his team keeps winning but the New York Rangers seem to be flashing all kinds of danger signs that trouble may be ahead.Relying heavily on the heroic efforts of goalies Bob Froese and John Van-biesbrouck, the Rangers continue to struggle along near the.500 mark despite a lack of team defensive cohesion which has held them back all season.They are more explosive and more entertaining than any Ranger team in the last three or four seasons but the Rangers&rsquo; team defense, especially from their forwards, pushes them to the edge of the cliff almost every night.They are predictably slow starters, who are often outshot by five or six in the first period and, even though they are not nearly as physical as most of their opponents, they manage to take more penalties most of the time.While, at least outwardly, Esposito refuses to find fault with his team&rsquo;s sloppy defensive play after victories, some of his players may be more realistic.&ldquo;Our goaltending has held us in a lot of games we didn&rsquo;t even deserve to be in,&rdquo; veteran winger Tony McKegney said, &lsquo;&lsquo;and I think our defense has done a good job, too. It&rsquo;s up to the forwards to get our act together, especially when it comes to helping out in our zone.&rdquo;Following a 4-2 fabulous Froese victory at Toronto on Feb. 25, defenseman Curt Giles seemed to second McKegney&rsquo;s warning.&ldquo;I thought we were very fortunate to win,&rdquo; the mini-defenseman admitted. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d make a big mistake to sit back and say we&rsquo;ve played well enough to win some of the games we&rsquo;ve won. There are some things we have to improve on.&rdquo;A few games earlier, defenseman James Patrick was more specific. He suggested, in the most diplomatic of phrasing, that Ranger forwards were rushing the transition game. They were, in fact, counter-attacking before the attack was over.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re kind of aniticipating offense,&rdquo; Patrick explained, following a one-sided loss at Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to take care of defense first. We&rsquo;ve got to do the little extra things that make sure you don&rsquo;t allow so many two-on-ones.&ldquo;I think we have to acknowledge that our goalies have saved us on a lot of nights and they are part of our team, they are our strength but we are leaving too much responsibility on their shoulders.&rdquo;Although he clearly refuses to talk about shortcomings, even when it seems appropriate following a victory, Esposito has done some talking on his telephone which indicates he recognizes the problem.Following a poor Ranger effort Feb. 22, which resulted in a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh, he called up a pair of big, tough wingers, Jay Caufield and Ron Talakowski.&ldquo;I think Phil is sending out a pretty clear message to the rest of us,&rdquo; Ranger captain Ron Greschner observed. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been physical enough, especially in our zone.&ldquo;And, when nobody is hitting, it takes us too long to get going. By the time we get going, the other team usually has 10 more shots than we do and maybe a goal or two. If it wasn&rsquo;t for our excellent goaltending, we&rsquo;d be so far down, we wouldn&rsquo;t have a chance to come back.&rdquo;Everyone seems to acknowledge the problem but, so far, nobody has come up with a solution.With Tomas Sandstrom (fractured ankle) likely to return soon, the Rangers may be able to keep winning if their good goaltending continues but what about their playoff hopes?&ldquo;Unless we get some things straightened out soon,&rdquo; one Ranger warned, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re going to be in trouble in April. You can&rsquo;t just roll the dice in the playoffs; you&rsquo;ve got to play strong team defense.&rdquo;BIG APPLESAUCE&mdash;Phil Esposito expressed frustration over the lack of production by left winger Mark Osborne, of whom Esposito said he had played only one good game out of the previous 20 before being sidelined by a skate cut behind his left knee&hellip;The Rangers&rsquo; GM-interim coach ripped Ron Hoggarth&rsquo;s peculiar officiating at Toronto and many of his players have seconded Bryan Trot-tier&rsquo;s criticism of the NHL&rsquo;s erratic brand of officiating&hellip;Don Jackson returned to the Ranger lineup because of an injury to Tom Laidlaw, playing his best back-to-back games of the season at Buffalo and Toronto, both Ranger victories. &#9632;

f0026-01

Warning Lights Flickering; Trouble Ahead?

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02483/5609794-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="179" height="136"></div>EAST RUTHERFORD&mdash;One week after owner John McMullen explained that financial limitations prevented the New Jersey Devils from competing with the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League trade market, McMullen&rsquo;s team saw its hopes of keeping pace with those two clubs in the race for the final Patrick Division playoff spot dwindle to longshot status.The Devils, losers in four of six games, dropped seven points behind the Rangers and Caps and encountered a rash of injuries which threatened to put a premature end to their fifth season in New Jersey.The only bright spot was a 4-2 win over Edmonton, Feb. 25.Even the team&rsquo;s healthy players were worn out from using hard work and muscle to match the talent and size of other clubs.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re kind of decimated,&rdquo; said coach Doug Carpenter. &ldquo;My hands are tied but they&rsquo;ve got seven players hurt at Maine. No, we don&rsquo;t have the players right now.&rdquo;Andy Brickley, playing the best hockey of his career and one of the Devils&rsquo; most effective forwards over the last few weeks, was lost for the season with a fractured left thumb after being hit by a shot in a 7-0 loss to the Islanders. Timo Blomqvist is expected to miss the rest of the season with a fractured nose and left eye orbit.Mel Bridgman (foot), Jan Ludvig (groin), Ken Daneyko (right wrist), John MacLean (bruised right foot) and Kirk Muller (sore ribs) have either missed time or been slowed by injuries. Even Uli Hiemer, officially on Maine&rsquo;s AHL roster, broke a toe when he dropped weights on his left foot while working out at the Devils&rsquo; training facility.Craig Wolanin was luckier. He avoided a possible career-ending injury when he was hit in the face shield with a Duane Sutter shot that went into the net. That morning Wolanin had considered playing without the shield.Add Steve Richmond&rsquo;s one-game suspension for picking up his third game misconduct penalty of the season and it spells trade. Right? Wrong.&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t use excuses,&rdquo; said goalie Alain Chevrier. &ldquo;Max (McNab), Mr. Butera (Bob, the club president) and Mr. McMullen want to win as much as we do. All they can do is field the best team on the ice. We have to perform. We won with this team early in the year. There&rsquo;s no reason we can&rsquo;t win now. We turned some heads early in the year.&ldquo;Trades are none of my business. If they feel they can make trades to improve the team, I&rsquo;m sure they will, but they&rsquo;re not going to trade Kirk Muller. That&rsquo;s for sure. I&rsquo;m sure if Max can make a trade to improve the team in the short or long run he&rsquo;ll do it.&rdquo;It was learned that the Devils inquired about Walt Poddubny from the Maple Leafs last summer before the Rangers landed the 34-goal scorer for Mike Allison. The Leafs asked for Pat Verbeek, Greg Adams, Craig Wolanin or Muller, meaning Toronto either had an inflated opinion of Allison or tried to take advantage of the Devils.The Devils also had a chance to trade Joe Cirella and a middle-round draft choice to the Flyers for Bob Froese but after one phone call from Bob Clarke the Philly GM was pressured from top brass to quickly deal the unhappy goalie. The Rangers acted first.&ldquo;Our job is to play the game,&rdquo; said Cirella. &ldquo;They could be saying that they think they have the people in the organization who can do the job. If they keep the guys who are here now, it shows confidence in us.&rdquo;That is precisely what McNab says whenever confronted by trade questions. Patience, insists the GM, will benefit the Devils in the long run.At this point the Devils have more patients than a hospital emergency room.HOT STUFF&mdash;Ken Daneyko hurt his wrist in a fight with ex-Devil Mitch Wilson in Pittsburgh&hellip;Andy Brickley tied the New Jersey record for shorthanded goals in a season (3), shared by Mel Bridgman (1984-85) and Don Lever (1982-83)&hellip;Aaron Broten tied Wilf Paiement for the franchise career assist record (183)&hellip;Steve Richmond fought with Greg Gilbert for a major, then broke loose from linesman Jerry Pateman to earn a 10-minute misconduct and then got a game misconduct for going after Pat LaFontaine. His game misconducts came Nov. 23 in Chicago, Jan. 24 against Philadelphia and Feb. 22 against the Isles. &#9632;

f0026-02

New Jersey List Of Patients Exceeded Only By Patience

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01646/5609825-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

BOOK LOCKER

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02476/5609856-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">&hellip;YOU KNOW I&rsquo;M HOT REALLY IN THIS FOR THE MONEY!</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01670/5609863-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="177" height="137"></div>UNIONDALE&mdash;Gerald Diduck doesn&rsquo;t turn 22 until April 6, the day after the regular season ends. Try to remember that the next time you see his imposing 6-foot-2, 207-pound frame aimed at an unsuspecting forward.Diduck was a first-round draft pick of the Islanders in 1983, the 16th player chosen. He spent the 1984-85 season on Long Island, but he&rsquo;s played the majority of his last two seasons at Springfield of the American League.Physically, he&rsquo;s a National Hockey League specimen. He&rsquo;s strong. He can skate, shoot and pass better than most of his NHL peers. Mentally, he&rsquo;s still a risk. Ever since he turned pro he&rsquo;s been cocky, inconsistent and lackadaisical.But with Tomas Jonsson out until April with a broken jaw, Denis Potvin sidelined for another two to five weeks with sprained left knee ligaments, andh Ken Morrow still out day-to-day, the Islanders need Gerald Diduck now.More than they ever have needed him before.It&rsquo;s up to him.Diduck was recalled on Jan. 22, the day Jonsson and Brian Curran were injured in an automobile accident. Diduck scored a goal in his first game. In 12 games he&rsquo;d played well and he&rsquo;d played tough.He&rsquo;d made rookie mistakes, but he&rsquo;d avoided the fits of inconsistency that have haunted his young career.He can be the Islanders&rsquo; best defenseman. He must learn how to believe that, without letting it swell his head.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to put too much pressure on myself,&rdquo; Diduck said. &ldquo;They have expectations, I have expectations. But I don&rsquo;t want to start doing too much.&rdquo;The Islanders have been waiting for Diduck to do more than he has ever since he made the team in October, 1984. That year, former coach Al Arbour prodded Diduck. He told him he could be an all-star if he worked at his game. Arbour kept asking for more than his prodigy was prepared to offer.Diduck heard all-star, but he never digested the responsibility that went with it. &ldquo;My second year, I did come tocampcocky,&rdquo; he admits now. &ldquo;Call it the sophomore curse. My head was swollen, I didn&rsquo;t have the right work attitude. I&rsquo;ll be the first to admit I was lazy in that second camp.&rdquo;In his third camp, last October, he started well for rookie coach Terry Simpson, then slumped. Simpson and GM Bill Torrey agreed to send him back to the minors.&ldquo;The organization was aware of his past,&rdquo; said Simpson, who has been using Diduck on power plays and penalty-killing units, giving him a regular shift and employing him in the final minutes of games since Jonsson and Potvin got hurt. &ldquo;I really believe we&rsquo;ve done the right thing in the way we handled him. When he started playing well in Springfield, we didn&rsquo;t call him up right away. We waited for him to continue playing well. He gained confidence.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s funny, but Diduck&rsquo;s cockiness off the ice is contradicted by his lack of confidence on it.The Islanders want him to be more assertive; he admits he was scared as a rookie because he didn&rsquo;t know how tough he was. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a Mark Messier-type of guy,&rdquo; he says of his personality, although he is one of the Islanders&rsquo; strongest players. &ldquo;I see myself more like a Larry Robinson. Not completely quiet and reserved.&rdquo;The Islanders want him to take his powerful shot more often; he says he&rsquo;s only starting to grow more comfortable at both ends of the ice. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not afraid to make a mistake anymore,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I know they have confidence in me now.&rdquo;ON THE ISLE&mdash;Denis Potvin was injured Feb. 21 in a 6-5 win over Montreal, when checked by Bob Gainey. Surgery won&rsquo;t be necessary, but it&rsquo;s the first knee injury of Potvin&rsquo;s 14-year career&hellip;Alan Kerr broke a 17-game goal-scoring drought with the third-period winner in a crucial 5-4 triumph over Pittsburgh, but hit the post on a penalty shot against Pat Riggin late in the game.<h2>The Snowbirds &#9632;</h2>

f0028-02

New Kind Of Confidence Powering Diduck

Amanda Dawn Godin is a seven-year-old left winger in her first year of organized hockey.The native of Medicine Hat, Alta., plays for the Angels team in the Medicine Hat Girls&rsquo; Hockey Association.The &ldquo;Blonde Bomber&rdquo; comes by her interest in hockey honestly. Her father coaches the local bantam B team, and her two older brothers, John and Darren, also play the sport.Her coach on the Angels is Shelly Wouters.Amanda is one of the youngest female players in Medicine Hat. There are two teams in the association, with players on Amanda&rsquo;s team ranging in age from seven to 16. The Angels play mostly exhibition games and enter the occaisonal tournament.Amanda attends the Grade 2 French immersion class at River Heights School, and is also interested in Brownies, ballet, tapdancing, skipping, roller skating and soccer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03344/5609894-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="567" height="1028"><figcaption class="caption-body">Amanda Dawn Godin</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0028-03

PLAYER OF WEEK JOFA

There&rsquo;s still hope for all of you late-bloomers in the world of hockey.One of the best goaltenders in professional hockey was old enough to drive a car before he managed to crack the roster of an &lsquo;A&rsquo; team.But perseverance, hard work and a little good fortune turned Kelly Hrudey from an also-ran into a member of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s New York Islanders.&ldquo;I started hockey when I was 12,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;and as you know, that&rsquo;s fairly late.&rdquo; Not late on mainland China, perhaps&mdash;but in his hometown of Edmonton, Hrudey was giving his rivals a six- or seven-year head start.By the time he turned 14, Hrudey figured he was good enough to make the jump from community league hockey to the &lsquo;A&rsquo; league brand. Unfortunately for him, the team managers disagreed.&ldquo;I kept trying out for &lsquo;A&rsquo; teams,&rdquo; he recalls, &ldquo;and every year, I would be cut, two or three times. It wasn&rsquo;t until I was 16 before I made my first &lsquo;A&rsquo; team.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04246/5609925-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="704" height="1091"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kelly Hrudey didn&rsquo;t make a quality hockey team until he was 16 years old.</figcaption></div>Hrudey had been cut&mdash;again&mdash;when the Inland Cement Midget AA Canadian Athletic Club invited him to try out.&ldquo;I thought it was just the same old runaround,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I was ready to pack it in at that point; I was really dejected. My brother said, &lsquo;Give it one last try.&rsquo; &ldquo;He made the team&mdash;by default.&ldquo;They had only one goalie and nobody else, so I got the other spot,&rdquo; he says.As the season wore on, Hrudey left the bench and progressively got into more game action. The team won the provincial championships that year, and Hrudey caught the attention of the Medicine Hat Tigers.Hrudey was so used to being cut, however, that he didn&rsquo;t come to the Tigers&rsquo; 1978-79 camp with the utmost of confidence.&ldquo;There were 22 goalies in training camp,&rdquo; he recalls. &ldquo;Camp started on a Friday and lasted until Sunday. I only took two shirts and a pair of jeans with me.&rdquo;He wasn&rsquo;t. He lasted the full season with the dismal Tigers, where he posted a 6.17 goals-against average on a team with swiss-cheese defense.&ldquo;I can remember going on road trips and getting 80 shots in a game,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But it helped me. If I didn&rsquo;t play for a team like that, I wouldn&rsquo;t be in the NHL now.&rdquo;The Tigers improved the next year and so did Hrudey&rsquo;s average. The boy who had learned how to play his position by reading Jacques Plante&rsquo;s book. Goal-tending, was picked by the Islanders in the second round of the 1980 entry draft.After another year in junior and two-and-a-half more in the minor pros, Hrudey was in the NHL to stay. &#9632;

f0028-04

Persistence Paid Off For Hrudey

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03329/5609994-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="180" height="135"></div>BINGHAMTON, N.Y.&mdash;In Binghamton, the defense never rests.Neither do the forwards, for that matter. In the three years since Larry Pleau took over as coach of the American League club, he&rsquo;s pounded home the message: play a good checking game and the victories will take care of themselves.Now, for the first time, the Pleauled Whalers may finally get an award&mdash;the Harry (Hap) Holmes Memorial Trophy&mdash;for their defensive efforts.The Holmes trophy goes annually to the team that surrenders the fewest goals during the season.The Whalers were runners--up to Maine the last two years, but appear in good shape to finish on top this season. With five weeks remaining, the Whalers had surrendered 25 fewer goals than their closest competitors.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t get the lowest goals-against (average) without having a good team effort and a lot of sacrifice,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;I think the goals-against is the most important thing you have. It&rsquo;s the defensive part of the game to which everyone can contribute. Not everyone can contribute to the offensive part of the game.&ldquo;Offense is an individual type of thing and some players can contribute more than others. But on the defensive side of things, unless everyone contributes equally, you&rsquo;re not going to be successful at it.&rdquo;The Whalers&rsquo; defensive success is more notable when you consider they don&rsquo;t have a defenseman with National Hockey League experience, a luxury Pleau enjoyed the past two seasons. In fact, three of their seven defensemen are rookies and two others are second-year pros. Their most experienced defenseman is fourth-year pro John Mokosak and their steadiest is third-year pro Brad Shaw.But the secret to the team&rsquo;s success doesn&rsquo;t stop at the blue line. The Whalers have a relentless crew of forechecking forwards.&ldquo;Ourgoals-against is a tribute to the system,&rdquo; said Tony Kellin, one of the rookie defensemen. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all six guys on the ice, not just the defense. It&rsquo;s the forwards and the goalies.&rdquo;Goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz has benefitted most from the stingy play. In February he won eight straight games, posting shutouts in three of his last five starts.The team is deepest at center, where Pleau is blessed with experienced twoway players Grant Martin, Gary Sampson, Bill Gardner and Mark Taylor.Binghamton has limited opposing teams to three goals or fewer in 38 of its 61 games. Of those 61 games, the Whalers have won 34, despite scoring the third-fewest goals in the league.That illustrates how successful a team can be if it keeps the puck out of its net. Still, the team has to beat the playoff jinx. In 50 years, the team allowing the fewest goals during the regular season has captured the Calder Cup just 15 times.But for now, the Whalers are worrying about one trophy at a time.AROUND THE SOUTH&mdash;Springfield&rsquo;s top scorer, Mark Ham-way, retired to pursue business interests in Detroit. The Indians also lost goaltenders Mike Sands and Marty Wakelyn to ankle injuries, and recalled Jon Casey from Indianapolis of the International League&hellip;Binghamton goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz stopped 24 shots to record his third shutout this season, a 2-0 win over Springfield on Feb. 22. It was Sidorkiewicz&rsquo;s 75th win in his three years with the Whalers&hellip;Springfield&rsquo;s Jim Archibald and Newmarket&rsquo;s Leigh Verstraete tangled in the third period of their game on Feb. 21, and both received match penalties and suspensions. Archibald got a match penalty for choking and picked up a four-game suspension&mdash;two of those for collecting his fourth game misconduct this season. Verstraete got two games for biting. Neither will play when the teams meet for the final time during the regular season on March 28&hellip;Hershey center Mitch Lamoureux was named the league&rsquo;s player of the week. He was on an offensive tear with 15 goals and 26 points in 11-games. &#9632;

f0030-03

Pleau’s Defensive Emphasis Nets Whalers Good Results

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01609/5610025-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="593" height="738"><figcaption class="caption-body">Seven-year pro Frank Perkins died of natural causes Feb. 24, at his home in Flint.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02422/5610032-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="160" height="137"></div>FLINT, Mich.&mdash;The Flint Spirits were numb with shock over the sudden death of Frank Perkins, a player and assistant coach with the International League club, on Feb. 24.He was only 27.Perkins, a seven-year veteran of pro hockey, died at his home.His body was discovered shortly after 6 p.m. by his fiancee, Kathy Stoker. An autopsy determined Perkins died of natural causes a couple of hours earlier that day.The Spirits postponed their Feb. 25 home game against Salt Lake. After a memorial service the following day, Perkins&rsquo; body was transferred to Pueblo, Colo., where his father lives. A funeral service was scheduled for March 2.Perkins, who joined the Flint organization this season after playing last year with Virginia of the Atlantic Coast League, hadn&rsquo;t complained of any health problems.&ldquo;Frank practised with the team that day,&rdquo; said Steve Violetta, the Spirits&rsquo; director of public relations. &ldquo;And afterward, he stopped by the office to see if there were any notes or messages. We sat around a little while just shooting the breeze. Then he got up and headed for the door and said he was going out to get a salad. There didn&rsquo;t appear to be anything wrong.&rdquo;Perkins, born in Spring Township, Pa., had played in 53 games this season. He&rsquo;d scored eight goals and 13 assists.Coach Rick Dudley said Perkins had a back problem but he didn&rsquo;t let it keep him on the bench.&ldquo;He would get bumped and he&rsquo;d come back,&rdquo; Dudley explained. &ldquo;That kind of desire rubbed off on the entire team. That&rsquo;s one of the reasons we&rsquo;ve been successful.&rdquo;Flint, the worst team in the IHL last season, spent much of the early part of this season in first place in the East Division and was in second place on Feb. 23, eight points behind Saginaw.Perkins, who died just 10 days after his 27th birthday, was one of the veterans on a young Flint squad. Center Brian Carroll, four days older, was the senior team member.He was the first player signed when Dudley assumed coaching duties this season.&ldquo;Rick had seen him play at Virginia in the ACHL,&rdquo; Violetta said, &ldquo;and Perkins also was the Virginia coach. Rick just liked the way Perkins played and coached against him in the league.&rdquo;Dudley coached Carolina to two straight ACHL championships before joining Flint. Perkins came to Flint after a year as playing coach of the Virginia Lancers and, before that, a year and a half in the same capacity with the Pinebridge Bucks.Last year, the hard-hitting Perkins earned seven goals, 23 assists and 139 penalty minutes in 41 games for Virginia.Veteran hockey writer Len Hoyes of the Flint Journal, who has been covering the IHL since 1969, said he had immense respect for Perkins.&ldquo;Flint is a close-knit organization this year,&rdquo; Hoyes reflected, &ldquo;and one of the reasons was Perkins. He was a leader, both in the dressing room and on the ice. He led by example.&ldquo;He wouldn&rsquo;t sit out much, even though he had some nagging injuries. And he was a great help to Rick. Perkins had coached and played at Pinebridge and Virginia and also had served as general manager.&rdquo;Perkins was drafted 131 st overall by the Washington Capitals in 1980, after three years with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario League. In 1979-80, his last and best year in the OHL, Perkins, the Wolves&rsquo; team captain, collected 64 points and 204 penalty minutes in 62 games.The next season, he played with Port Huron of the IHL and Hershey of the American League.&ldquo;He was a physical player, but he didn&rsquo;t miss many games,&rdquo; Violetta said. &ldquo;A couple of months ago he hurt his hand in a fight at Kalamazoo and missed one game.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt the younger guys on the team all looked up to him. After practices on Mondays most of the guys would go out for a late lunch together, or go bowling or something, and Perkins was always organizing things. It was a close team.&rdquo;Spirits&rsquo; captain Jayson Meyer, a 21-year-old defenseman, summed it up best for the organization. &ldquo;Hockey just seems pretty insignificant right now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve lost a good friend.&rdquo;A memorial fund has been established in Perkins&rsquo; name. Donationscan be sent to, Frank Perkins Memorial Fund, c/o Flint Spirits, 3501 Lapeer Rd., Flint, Mich., 48503. &#9632;

f0031-01

Flint Player-Assistant Coach Dies At Age 27

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01644/5610063-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="178" height="131"></div>ITHACA, N.Y.&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk&rsquo;s final year at Cornell definitely won&rsquo;t be one to remember.Despite having one of the best offensive seasons of his career. Nieuwen-dyk hasn&rsquo;t been able to carry the Big Red by himself and, as a result, the defending Eastern Colleges Athletic Conference champions need a miracle just to get back into the playoffs this season.After getting swept by Brown and Yale, the Big Red sat in 10th place in the 12-team ECAC with just one week left in the regular season.Nieuwendyk. an All-America center from Whitby, Ont., won&rsquo;t be returning for his senior year next season. The only question remaining is whether he&rsquo;ll turn pro or play in the 1988 Calgary Olympics.&ldquo;We just don&rsquo;t know if he&rsquo;ll go to Calgary (Flames) directly,&rdquo; said Cornell coach Lou Reycroft, &ldquo;or go with the Canadian national team.&rdquo;Nieuwendyk, a second-round choice of the Flames, played with the Canadian national team at the Calgary Cup in January.Because of Cornell&rsquo;s dismal season, Nieuwendyk&rsquo;s chances of winning the Hobey Baker Award are minimal, although he&rsquo;s still one of the best college forwards in the country.&ldquo;The exposure of being on a winning team really helps there,&rdquo; said Reycroft. &ldquo;and I think our season will hurt Joe&rsquo;s chances. But Joe isn&rsquo;t out there to win the Hobey Baker Award. He&rsquo;s out there to win games for Cornell.&ldquo;In the last month, he&rsquo;s been unbelievable. He&rsquo;s absolutely dominated every game we&rsquo;ve played in the last month and we&rsquo;ve played some good people.&rdquo;With two games left in the regular season. Nieuwendyk had already recorded his third straight 20-goal season and had 45 points (20-25), despite missing three games while with the Canadian nats.But Cornell has very little to show for it. The Big Red never recovered after losing nine of their first 10 games.&ldquo;Perhaps we expected too much too soon from a lot of people,&rdquo; Reycroft said. &ldquo;At the beginning, the freshman had to assume a much more significant role than they probably should have. It doesn&rsquo;t do much good to say it now, but we&rsquo;ve played better than our record indicates and in a number of games, we deserved a better fate.&rdquo;When ECAC followers look back at Cornell&rsquo;s year, they&rsquo;ll blame the Big Red&rsquo;s flop on goaltending. Perhaps Doug Dadswell (who signed with the NHL Flames) could have helped, but even that&rsquo;s far from certain.Sophomore Daren McInnis did an adequate job in goal, but was declared academically ineligible for the second semester. Senior Jim Edmands has experience and has filled the No. I position well, but hasn&rsquo;t gotten a lot of help.&ldquo;Seventy-five per cent of the goals we&rsquo;ve given up can be directly attributed to pucks given away in our own end,&rdquo; Reycroft said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not fingering the defense. It could be the forwards, too. When we have the puck, we&rsquo;ve made some poor plays that have given high quality chances to the other team. &ldquo;In the span of a year, the Big Red has made a complete turnaround, in the wrong direction. Last season, no one thought Cornell was good enough to win the ECAC championship, but it did just that. This year, picked to battle Harvard and St. Lawrence for the crown, Cornell never got going.&ldquo;We still feel we&rsquo;re better than any team that&rsquo;s in the playoffs,&rdquo; Reycroft said, &ldquo;but that&rsquo;s blowing smoke in the wind.&rdquo;ECAC NOTES&mdash;Harvard clinched its second straight regular-season championship with a 4-1 win over RPI-&hellip;Colgate goalie Wayne Cowley tied the school record for wins in a season (18), set by Jeff Cooper during the 1983-84 season. With Cowley anchoring the defense, Colgate achieved its third 20-win season ever&hellip;Harvard senior Mark Benning picked up his 100th career assist, nine more than the former school record set by 1983 Hobey Baker Award winner Mark Fusco. &#9632;

f0032-01

The Colleges

Nieuwendyk’s Big Season Lost On Big Red

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02471/5610094-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="180" height="137"></div>BOSTON&mdash;His college hockey career isn&rsquo;t more than a half dozen games from its quiet end, but Roman Kinal is still thinking about getting the chance to prove what he can do for Northeastern University&rsquo;s struggling Huskies.It took a two-game disqualification of freshman center Harry Mews to bring the senior utility man back from purgatory. With his team (9-20-3) teetering on the brink of playoff elimination, coach Fernie Flaman inserted Kinal in Mews&rsquo; spot between Greg Pratt and Dave Buda on Northeastern&rsquo;s first line for a two-game series with nationally-ranked Maine.&ldquo;Panama,&rdquo; as he&rsquo;s come to be called, responded with a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, in a bruising 7-6 Northeastern victory on the second night of the series at Matthews Arena. NU had taken the Friday game 3-2 on a goal by Kevin Heffernan with 35 seconds to play.Kinal&rsquo;s game-winner the next evening came on a turnaround slap shot from high in the slot at 3:33 of OT. He&rsquo;d scored the Huskies&rsquo; second goal of the game in the first period on a solo rush against Maine&rsquo;s Scott King.The tallies against Maine were only the third and fourth of the season for Kinal. They earned him a spot in the lineup two nights later against Boston College and he potted another score in a game that NU lost 10-4.&ldquo;I need a bit more ice time to show what I can do,&rdquo; said Kinal after the loss to BC. &ldquo;When we play five-on-five, I see a lot of ice and get some confidence. When we take a lot of penalties and I sit down, then I don&rsquo;t play as well when I do get out there.&rdquo;&ldquo;Confidence,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;A player&rsquo;s got to have it. Earlier this year when I wasn&rsquo;t playing. I started to doubt myself. I talked with coach Flaman before the Beanpot Tournament, and he said that he was still looking for the right combinations to make the team start winning. He told me to keep working hard in practice.&rdquo;Kinal did keep plugging away, uncomplainingly, but he didn&rsquo;t play in the Beanpot before a packed house at Boston Garden. That was a big disappointment. He had sat out a total of 10 games, but because of Huskie injuries and poor play, Flaman has used him at defense, wing, and center at various times this season.&ldquo;He seems to be a little snake-bit,&rdquo; said NU&rsquo;s assistant coach Bill Berglund. &ldquo;It seems like every time he makes a bad defensive play, the other team scores a goal. He&rsquo;s very good offensively and when he played defense he didn&rsquo;t look out of place. But he&rsquo;s had his trouble with his defensive game when he&rsquo;s playing forward.&rdquo;Kinal did play a fair amount of defense in his last year before college when he skated for Newmarket (Ont.) Flyers junior team. The next season, 1983-84, he arrived on Huntington Avenue, full of promise and confidence&mdash;there&rsquo;s that word again&mdash;and netted eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points. NU was 16-12-1 that year, and won the Beanpot championship.Roman scored 19 points as a sophomore, 23 as a junior, and had a mere nine in this, his swan song.HOCKEY EAST NOTES&mdash;Over a third (seven of 19) of NU&rsquo;s points in the standings had come against Maine&hellip;Junior goalie Dave Delfino is back on duty for Lowell after sitting out nearly a month after a crash and pileup in the net at Michigan Tech in midJanuary. Freshman Ken Stein proved a capable replacement, but coach Bill Riley will go with Delfino in the stretch. &#9632;

f0032-02

Huskie Wants Swan Song To Be Sweet

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03321/5610146-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="408" height="531"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE GOLDEN Maine</figcaption></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>Junior right winger Mike Golden scored three goals, including one game-winner, and set up two other goals as the Maine Black Bears swept Boston University.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04203/5610139-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="409" height="531"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE NIEUWENDYK Cornell</figcaption></div><h2>ECAC</h2>Joe Nieuwendyk, a Calgary draft pick about to turn pro, ended his college career with six goals in his final two games. He also won the scoring title.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05137/5610132-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="413" height="530"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK BREBANT Ohio State</figcaption></div><h2>CCHA</h2>Junior center Rick Brebant collected six goals in three games to spark Ohio State Buckeyes to a 2-1 quarterfinal playoff series win over Lake Superior.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-06106/5610125-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="413" height="522"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB JOYCE North Dakota</figcaption></div><h2>WCHA</h2>The North Dakota Fighting Sioux advanced to the second round of the playoffs as junior left winger Rob Joyce scored five of their 13 goals in a sweep of UMD. &#9632;

f0032-03

Bauer’s College PerFormer OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01572/5610177-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="573" height="137"></div>GRAND FORKS, N.D.&mdash;Barnum&rsquo; and Bailey never had it this good.Tony Hrkac (pronounced Hircus), ringleader of the &ldquo;Hrkac Circus,&rdquo; has dazzled audiences all season with his own special brand of scoring magic.His is, indeed, the greatest show on earth&hellip;or at least the corner of it occupied by University of North Dakota and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.When the regular season came to an end Feb. 21, the top scorer in the nation had established WCHA records for most points (86) and assists (50) in a season, shattering marks set by Michigan State&rsquo;s Tom Ross in the mid-1970&rsquo;s.Junior winger Bob Joyce, Bailey to Hrkac&rsquo;s Barnum, said it best about the 5-foot-11, 165-pound scoring machine.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s magic,&rdquo; said Joyce (39-3069). &ldquo;There just seems to be a special chemistry between us when we&rsquo;re out there together.&rdquo;The two of them are armed and dangerous&mdash;all the time. They had a large hand in North Dakota setting a WCHA record with 16 shorthanded goals in 35 league games.Hrkac&rsquo;s style of play has been likened to that of his hero, Wayne Gretzky. That could mean the St. Louis Blues, who chose him in the second round of the 1984 National Hockey League entry draft, will have a steal on their hands when Hrkac decides to turn pro.Not that he&rsquo;s in any hurry. Hrkac, who left after his freshman to play with Team Canada last season, will be back for a third season with the Sioux.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in no hurry to go anywhere,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I had a taste of that last year (with the Canadian team). It was a lot of fun, but now I&rsquo;m enjoying myself being in college.&rdquo;The 20-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont., has come a long way since his six-game suspension as a freshman for what North Dakota coach Gino Gas-parini then labeled a &ldquo;dormitory in-fraction.&rdquo;Today&rsquo;s Hrkac is a poised young man.&ldquo;I do feel more relaxed now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Part of it is that I know the other players better. My first year here, I kept more to myself.&rdquo;This year, he kept himself on a record pace from the start of league play until the final game, when he broke the points record by three and the assist mark by one, during a 5-0 win on the road over Northern Michigan.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a different guy to coach because he needs some freedom in practice,&rdquo; said Cary Eades, an assistant coach at UND. &ldquo;He likes to have fun, and I think he needs incentive, such as a scoring title to shoot for and the WCHA and NCAA crowns to play for. With Team Canada, basically what he did was play in 50 exhibition games.&rdquo;Some rival coaches maintain they&rsquo;ve never seen a better college hockey player than Hrkac.If they had a vote, Hrkac would be a certainty to become the first sophomore since Minnesota&rsquo;s Neal Broten to win the Hobey Baker Award as the best college hockey player in the United States.WCHA NOTES&mdash;Wisconsin&rsquo;s Tony Granato recently became only the second player in school history to collect both 100 career goals and 100 career assists&hellip;North Dakota freshman Ed Belfour finished as the league&rsquo;s top goalie, unseating Minnesota&rsquo;s John Blue, who won the honor the previous two years. Belfour finished with a goals-against average of 2.37, a save percentage of.916, and a league-high three shutouts&hellip;Northern Michigan drew a school record 4,438 fans for its season finale, which the Wildcats lost 5-0 to Belfour and North Dakota. &#9632;

f0033-01

Tony Ringmaster Of Dazzling ‘Hrkac Circus’

<div class="byline">BY BILL CRAWFORD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02409/5610208-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="181" height="139"></div>DETROIT&mdash;Have you noticed lately how hockey is showing up in many unexpected places, like comic strips, TV commericals and the movies?Even the U.S. all-sports network ESPN has recently been televising highlights from selected Central Collegiate Hockey Association games.The highlights being shown on ESPN are obtained from the Pro-Am Sports Network (PASS) out of Detroit, with which Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Bill Beagan worked out a &ldquo;Game of the Week&rdquo; package for this season.&ldquo;I think, from a marketing standpoint, that NCAA Division I hockey is a sleeping giant,&rdquo; said Beagan, in his second full season as CCHA commissioner. &ldquo;The popularity is there. Inde-pendent networks are picking up on it everywhere, and it really is just a matter of time until it just takes off as a media event.&rsquo;Beagan is justifiably proud of the contract his CCHA has with the PASS network, which now pumps college action into better than 3 million homes in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, New England, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, D C. and Baltimore.The PASS telecasts have been picked up by various independent stations such as those recently added in D.C-. and Baltimore, adding thousands of potential viewers.&ldquo;The potential is astounding,&rdquo; continued Beagan. &ldquo;We figure we reach better than 3 million homes through cable and independents now, but how many untold thousands more are reaching us via satellite? We get notes and calls from people from all over the continent telling us how much they enjoy the telecasts on satellite.&rdquo;Unfortunately for the world of college hockey, ESPN elected to just tease the public with highlights of recent series featuring Western Michigan vs. Bowling Green and Michigan vs. Bowling Green, but didn&rsquo;t bother to provide any other scores from the particular evening&rsquo;s schedule.But, at least the footage was there and, perhaps, that&rsquo;s a foot in the door. A lot will depend on viewer response. And ESPN does carry the NCAA finals each season, including this year&rsquo;s from Joe Louis Arena. The final game of the CCHA Final Four, being played out at JLA (March 6-7), will be shown on the PASS network.In addition, sports channels in New England and New York and Sportvision out of Chicago also carry CCHA action, via PASS, to their audiences.When you figure Michigan State and Bowling Green literally have to turn away people every game and eight of nine CCHA teams have regular radio coverage, and that many other top Division I teams play to full houses every weekend, there is obviously a demand for the product.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s exciting to think about the possibilities,&rdquo; said Beagan. &ldquo;It is such a great, quality product. I had to learn about it by experiencing it myself, and now I&rsquo;m convinced it is just what I&rsquo;ve been calling it for two years now&mdash;college hockey is a sleeping giant as a media product.&rdquo;And for those with access to a dish, the CCHA Final Four is available on West Star 5, teleponder 8.CCHATTER&mdash;Western Michigan&rsquo;s Wayne Gagne set two more NCAA Division I West marks on the season&rsquo;s final weekend, getting a goal and four assists to finish with 13-7386, the most points in a single season by a defenseman and the most career assists by anybody, with 196&hellip;Illinois-Chicago gained home ice for the first time in the team&rsquo;s history with its fourth-place finish-&hellip;Michigan&rsquo;s Brad Jones is now the all-time Michigan&rsquo;s career leader in assists, with 136 in his four years there, breaking the old mark set by Dave Debol&hellip;Scott Paluch of Bowling Green reached the 100-point plateau, finishing his career with 34 goals and 67 assists for 101 points. &#9632;

f0033-02

More Puck Fans Tuning In To College ‘Sleeping Giant’

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01656/5610239-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

Bauer College Scoreboard

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01621/5610270-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="571" height="140"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;For the first time in 40 years, McGill University is in a hockey playoff final.The Redmen, who stumbled through the Quebec University League season with a 4-12-2 mark, upset heavily-favored Ottawa (13-4-1) in a semi-final series to win the right to play the Trois-Rivieres&rsquo; Patriotes.The first-place Patriotes (14-2-2) advanced to the final series on a bye.McGill&rsquo;s last final series action of any kind was in 1946-47, when it lost the national title to Toronto.The Redmen rode the exceptional goaltending of Stephane Fortin to the three-game upset. Fortin stopped 32 of 35 shots in the deciding contest, a 3-2 win, while Benoit Lafleur scored twice and Marc Lajeunnesse notched the winner at 10:34 of the third period.Michel Naud and Jean Poulin replied for the Gee-Gees.&ldquo;The whole team came up big,&rdquo; said McGill&rsquo;s ecstatic coach, Ken Tyler. &ldquo;We played great defense. We used the whole bench, four lines, and that enabled us to keep up the tempo becasue Ottawa is so fast.&ldquo;We shut down what I consider to be the most powerful (university) offense in Canada.&rdquo;Ottawa coach Tony Zappia was stunned but gracious.&ldquo;We are hurt,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;re not disappointed with the way we played. Their team was very well prepared. They came to play, game after game. &lsquo;&lsquo;Especially Fortin. The former allstar netminder of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Hull Olympiques stood the Gee-Gees on their ears in the second game, turning away 38 of 39 drives to pace a surprising 6-1 McGill victory.The game was close&mdash;3-1 for McGill until the final five minutes&mdash;but the Redmen managed to pull away. In a desperation bid, Ottawa called for a measurement of Lafleur&rsquo;s stick in the final two minutes and won a free power play.Zappia pulled goalie Cam Baird, but even at six skaters to four, Fortin held the fort.McGill got goals from Francois Olivier, Mark Reade, Tim Iannone, John Harris, Vesa Surenkin and Mike Babcock, while league scoring champ Jocelyn Bolduc (17-26-43) was the only Gee-Gee to beat Fortin.Ottawa won the first game 3-1, on goals by Jean Gauthier, Maurice Gould and Christian DuPerron. Babcock replied for McGill.The upsets continued in the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association semi-finals. The MacAdam Divisionchampion Moncton Blue Eagles (20-4) were sent packing by the Kelly Division runner-up St. Francis Xavier X-Men (15-10) in three games, including two exciting double-overtime tilts.Pierre Baril scored an unassisted goal at 5:27 of the second extra frame, giving the X-Men a 5-4 victory and berth alongside Prince Edward Island Panthers in the conference final.St. Francis goaltender Paul Kenny was a standout, stopping 47 of 51 Moncton drives.The first game ended 4-3 for Moncton, but St. Francis battled back to win the second 4-2. Peter Dermastja was the offensive hero, scoring two goals in each of the X-Men victories.St. Francis&rsquo; upset was completely unexpected. The X-Men. who were languishing with an 8-10 record as they hit the stretch, turned on the gas at the end of the season and won seven straight before the playoffs.In the other series, MacAdam Division runner-up UPEI (20-4) swept Kelly Division-champ Dalhousie Tigers (19-6) in two straight games.Dalhousie proved tough, however, forcing the first game to double overtime before losing 4-3. The second game ended 4-2.Dalhousie coach Darrell Young took it in stride.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you, this conference is probably the best for competition that it&rsquo;s been in the past six or seven years,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The recruiting has been getting better, and the league is no longer dominated by three or four teams.&rdquo;In Canada West Universities Athletic Association semi-final action, the first-place Calgary Dinosaurs (23-5) downed fifth-place British Columbia (9-17-2) in two straight. Calgary won 5-0 in the opener, but the plucky Thunderbirds forced the Dinos to double overtime in the second game, before Calgary prevailed 4-3.Third-place Manitoba (17-10-1) weakened by injuries, lost a three-game set to Saskatchewan (16-11-1). Saskatchewan won 3-1 and 5-1 and lost 5-2.The second-place Alberta Golden Bears, meanwhile, took advantage of their host team status at the national finals to skip the playoffs and represent Canada at the World University Games in Czechoslovakia, where they placed third.CIAU NOTES&mdash;The Ontario Universities Athletic Association semifinals had Western (20-2-2) meeting Windsor (9-9-6), and York (19-2-3) taking on Laurier (14-6-4). All four teams swept their quarter-final rounds in two games, with Windsor administering the biggest upset&mdash;winning 2-1 and 5-1 over Toronto (17-5-2). York topped McMaster (8-13-3) 2-1 and 5-2, Western defeated Guelph (814-2) 7-0 and 4-1. In the most exciting series, Laurier nipped crosstown rival Waterloo (16-4-4) by scores of 5-4 in overtime, then 4-3 in triple overtime. &#9632;

f0035-01

McGill Redmen Knock Off Favored Ottawa

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02481/5610315-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="359" height="483"><figcaption class="caption-body">GREG PUHALSKI Laurier</figcaption></div><h2>OUAA</h2>The Laurier Golden Hawks moved into the semi-finals as they ousted Waterloo with left winger Greg Puhalski figuring in five goals. Puhalski won the series opener with a game-winning penalty-shot goal in overtime.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03385/5610308-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="363" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROSS McKAY Saskatchewan</figcaption></div><h2>CWUAA</h2>Junior goaltender Ross McKay came up with the hot hand as the Saskatchewan Huskies earned a berth in the conferencefinals by sweeping Manitoba. McKay made 87 saves in the three-game series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04315/5610301-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="357" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE PURCELL St. F. Xavier</figcaption></div><h2>AUAA</h2>Dave Purcell sparked St. Francis Xavier to a major playoff upset scoring three times and figuring in seven goals as the X-Men eliminated Moncton, winning twice on the Blue Eagles&rsquo; home ice. &#9632;

f0035-02

Bauer’s university performer or THE week

<div class="byline">BY RANDY RUSSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01595/5610346-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="178" height="136"></div>HAMILTON, Ont.&mdash;The statistics don&rsquo;t bother Hamilton Steelhawk center Ken McRae.McRae, the first Ontario League player selected in the 1986 National Hockey League draft, had just 17 goals and 43 points in 37 games.Not bad numbers, but more was expected after Quebec Nordiques made him the 18th player chosen last summer. There have, however, been mitigating circumstances.&ldquo;Sure, I&rsquo;d like to have more points, but having my jaw broken didn&rsquo;t help my progress,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and there&rsquo;s always a transition period when you&rsquo;re traded.&rdquo;The 6-foot-1, 197-pound native of Finch, Ont., missed 14 games with a broken jaw, after being levelled in an early January fight with Peterborough Petes&rsquo; overage left winger Kris King. He was just getting used to life with the Steelhawks. McRae was acquired from the Sudbury Wolves in early December, as part of an eight-player trade.&ldquo;Besides,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;when I left Quebec&rsquo;s camp this season, the brass asked me to work on my defense, my skating and to keep playing aggressively. I really don&rsquo;t think Quebec drafted me to be a big scorer anyway. I&rsquo;m looking to become a complete hockey player, not just a one-way flash.&rdquo;McRae, the second player picked at the 1985 OHL midget draft, had 25 goals, 65 points and 127 penalty minutes in 66 games as a Sudbury rookie last season.While McRae said he didn&rsquo;t come out and ask the last-place Wolves to trade him, he admitted letting it be known he wouldn&rsquo;t mind playing on a contending team.&ldquo;There was all this talk in the Sudbury papers and on radio and TV that I was going to be traded,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I asked Guy (Wolves&rsquo; coach and general manager Blanchard) about it and he said if he traded me, he would try and make it to a top team. I told him I wouldn&rsquo;t mind that.&rdquo;Accompanying McRae to Hamilton were defenseman Bob Alexander, 19, and Tier II center Andy Paquette, 17. The Wolves received center Dan Hie and defenseman Jordan Fois, both 18, winger Steve Locke, 17, and Jr. B players Joey Simon and Sean Heaphy in return.Only Hie and Fois are on Sudbury&rsquo;s current roster, though Blanchard said he expects both Locke and Simon to join them on the Wolves next season. Heaphy is on the verge of accepting a scholarship at Michigan State University.The trade is regarded in Sudbury media circles as heavily one-sided in favor of Hamilton. Northern Life sports editor Ken Campbell said McRae was traded because he and Blanchard didn&rsquo;t get along.But while Blanchard denied any personality clash with McRae, the Nordique prospect said, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just say I&rsquo;m happy to be in Hamilton and part of a winning atmosphere.&rdquo;Though the trade and broken jaw interrupted his sophomore OHL season, McRae said he&rsquo;s looking forward to the playoffs.&ldquo;I think the battle for first in our division between us and North Bay will go to the end,&rdquo; said McRae. &lsquo;&lsquo;And whichever team wins is going to have a heck of a series with Oshawa for the right to host the Memorial Cup.&rdquo;Though he was a first-round pick, McRae said he doesn&rsquo;t feel added pressure to make the Nordiques as an underager next fall.&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m ready, I&rsquo;m ready,&rdquo; he reasoned. &ldquo;I know a lot of players have been ruined being rushed up (to the NHL) too soon. That&rsquo;s not to say I wouldn&rsquo;t love to be in Quebec next season&mdash;but if I&rsquo;m not, I&rsquo;ll come back here and keep working on my game.&ldquo;But really, my thoughts are on this season and helping the Steelhawks win. It&rsquo;s a great organization from the owner (Jack Robillard) on down.&ldquo;After the season is over, I&rsquo;ll start thinking about Quebec again.&rdquo;His first training camp with the Nordiques was not entirely uneventful. McRae, for instance, made a deep impression on the Hartford Whalers when he whacked Wayne Babych on the leg with his stick&mdash;sidelining the veteran NHLer for most of the season.Despite his mediocre production this season, Quebec GM Maurice Filion said the Nordiques are satisfied with McRae&rsquo;s progress.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tough, talented kid,&rdquo; said Filion. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a hard worker who&rsquo;s had a few setbacks this season, but we&rsquo;re very happy with Ken.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the good attitude and is going to be a complete hockey player. He&rsquo;s certainly not one-dimensional. He&rsquo;s got a good future in front of him.&rdquo;OHL NOTEBOOK&mdash;Citing uninspired play as the reason, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds&rsquo; coach-GM Don Boyd sent 19-year-old left winger Brad Aitken home to &ldquo;think about his future.&rdquo; The banishment of Aitken, the third-round pick (46th overall) of the Pittsburgh Penguins last year, came the night before the Greyhounds ended a skid of nine consecutive losses&hellip;Life with the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s is agreeing with rookie left winger Denis Chouinard, a second-round pick of the Greyhounds last year. In 13 games with Ottawa, Chouinard had three goals and six assists. He had just one assist to show for 28 games with the Greyhounds. &#9632;

f0036-01

The Juniors

Steelhawk Star Takes Off-Season In Stride

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02438/5610391-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="368" height="473"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL HOULDER North Bay</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>If and when Billy Houlder reaches the NHL with Washington, the big defenseman&rsquo;s playmaking ability is going to come in handy.Houlder, a 1 985 draft pick of the Capitals, was named OHL Player of the Week after the North Bay rearguard collected eight assists to run his total to 51.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03357/5610384-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="366" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER SOBERLAK Swift Current</figcaption></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>The Swift Current Broncos are expecting big things in the days ahead from young Peter Soberlak, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound winger.The 17-year-old, expected to be selected early in the 1987 entry draft, was named WHL Player of the Week after he collected 10 points in three games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04267/5610377-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="366" height="475"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE TURGEON Granby</figcaption></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>They can&rsquo;t say enough about the pro potential of young Pierre Turgeon of Granby. And no wonder.The 17-year-old center, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 203 pounds, got the nod as QMJHL Player of the Week after an 11-point outburst in three games. Turgeon had 126 points.At the end of the current season, THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year.WE PUT THE PROTECTION INTO PERFORMANCE &#9632;

f0036-02

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/f0037-01515/5610422-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="181" height="135"></div>SWIFT CURRENT&mdash;For someone who wasn&rsquo;t sure playing on the prairies would be his cup of tea, Joe Sakic is savoring the satisfying taste of Western League success.Sakic, an impressive rookie center with the Swift Current Broncos, has made a smooth transition from the midget ranks in Burnaby, B.C., to the demanding grind of the WHL&rsquo;s Eastern Division.&ldquo;I thought Swift Current was a bit small, a bit far away,&rdquo; said the 5-foot-11, 185-pounder, whose 52 goals and 66 assists in 58 games ranked him second in division scoring.&ldquo;At first he wasn&rsquo;t sure he wanted to play here,&rdquo; said Swift Current coach Graham James, &ldquo;but we flew him out, showed him around and after that everything was no problem.&rdquo;No problem indeed. Sakic was rated 11th in the latest Central Scouting rankings for the National Hockey League&rsquo;s annual June entry draft. And the consensus is he&rsquo;ll go a lot higher come draft day.The 17-year-old Sakic started fast this season and has never looked back, even in the face of tragedy.The Dec. 30 bus crash, which claimed the lives of teammates Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka, Brent Ruff and Trent Kresse, was hard on the Broncos both psychologically and physically.But Swift Current refused to take the easy out. Instead, the Broncos dug deeply and kept their playoff hopes alive. A 7-4 win Feb. 24 over Calgary Wranglers, before the largest home crowd (2,731) in franchise history, put the Broncos three points up on Calgary&mdash;with three games in hand&mdash;for the sixth and final playoff spot.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing really well after the accident,&rdquo; said Sakic, the Broncos&rsquo; nominee for league MVP honors. &ldquo;We just have a lot of character on the team and everyone is contributing.&rdquo;But it&rsquo;s Sakic who continued to excel as the pressure mounted. A 156-point scorer in his final season of midget hockey, Sakic hasn&rsquo;t missed a beat in the WHL.&ldquo;He had a tremendous start,&rdquo; said James, &ldquo;and we were worried that in the second half, (other teams) would pay more attention to him. But he&rsquo;s performed at even a higher clip.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody had any idea he&rsquo;d turn out to be the player he is. I think he&rsquo;s as good as any player in the league right now, certainly in our division.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s high praise for a player whose best WHL days are still ahead of him (if he doesn&rsquo;t step right into an NHL lineup).&ldquo;I&rsquo;m surprised,&rdquo; Sakic admitted. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d start that fast, but Graham has shown a lot of confidence in me and given me a lot of ice time.He&rsquo;s a great guy off the ice, too, and he&rsquo;s been like a father to us.&ldquo;And my teammates have helped me out a lot.&rdquo;So what is it that makes Sakic such a valuable commodity in the draft? Well, he&rsquo;s big enough but it&rsquo;s his improving skill that has made scouts drool.&ldquo;His biggest improvement is that he&rsquo;s a much stronger skater,&rdquo; said James. &lsquo;&lsquo;Given a chance, he&rsquo;s now pulling away on a breakaway. Around the net to the top of the circle he has a great wrist shot, too.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as hard as (Toronto Maple Leaf) Wendel Clark&rsquo;s, but it&rsquo;s the hardest of any player I&rsquo;ve ever coached. And he releases it in stride. He doesn&rsquo;t have to slow down.&rdquo;WHL WEEK&mdash;Kamloops&rsquo; Rob Brown collected two goals and four assists in Kamloops&rsquo; 10-1 rout of Seattle, breaking a team record for points in a season. The spree gave Brown 64 goals and 111 assists for 175 points, two more than he recorded last season&hellip;Buffalo Sabres recalled forward Ken Priestlay from Victoria. &#9632;

f0037-01

Sakic Makes Hau In First Year On Prairies

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02378/5610453-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="182" height="138"></div>GRANBY&mdash;Everett Sanipass found the quickest way to gain the acceptance of his new Granby Bison teammates.The Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; first-rounder scored five goals, one of them shorthanded, and set up another goal in his first game with the Bisons as Granby downed the Drummondville Voltigeurs 9-6 in Drummondville, Feb. 22.The 6-foot-2, 202-pound winger, from the Micmac Indian Reserve in Big Cove, N.B., was playing on a line with top National Hockey League prospect Pierre Turgeon and Minnesota North Star third-rounder Stephane Roy.&ldquo;He was nervous before the game; he wanted to be accepted by the guys,&rdquo; said Real Paiement, coach of the league-leading Bisons (41-16-3).Granby acquired Sanipass from the last-place Verdun Jr. Canadiens just before the Quebec League trading deadline on Feb. 15.The Bisons obtained Sanipass for right winger Norman Desjardins, 18, and future considerations, after Sanipass implemented a clause in his contract with Verdun, vetoing a trade toDrummondville.&ldquo;That line did a lot of damage with its speed, strength and talent,&rdquo; said Paiement, adding he plans to keep the unit together. &ldquo;Everett seems happy with us. He&rsquo;s a good skater who goes to the net strongly and he has good moves for his size. He&rsquo;s ready to go to war every game from what I&rsquo;ve seen.&rdquo;The win was the Bisons&rsquo; fourth consecutive, after they struggled through a 2-7 slump.Amiable and laidback off the ice, Sanipass was Verdun&rsquo;s second-leading scorer last season (behind the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; Jimmy Carson) with 28 goals, 66 assists and 320 penalty minutes.He was the 14th draft pick overall by Chicago in June and at the time, Sanipass said he always liked the Blackhawks because of their emblem&mdash;an Indian head.Sanipass performed strongly for Canada at the 1987 World Junior Championships in Czechoslovakia, where he was a central figure in the tournament-ending brawl with the Soviet Union.And his absence was noticeable in the second game of the all-star Challenge Series between the Ontario League and QMJHL.&ldquo;We really missed him in the second game (a 5-4 overtime loss) because he demands and gets a lot of respect,&rdquo; said Paiement, co-coach of the Quebec stars.The hard-nosed winger missed the contest Jan. 28 because the Blackhawks called him up for NHL duty. He scored a goal and assisted on another in a 5-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs but was sent back to Verdun after the St. Louis Blues protested that Chicago had not complied with emergency call-up rules.The Blackhawks brought Sanipass up again Feb. 7 for six more games, during which time he scored a goal and three assists. NHL executive vicepresident Brian O&rsquo;Neill ruled Feb. 20 that he had to return to the junior ranks once again.He also played two games at the start of the NHL season and said he was happy to get the experience. He said Chicago coach Bob Pulford brought him up to help spark the team offensively.Pulford said he is considering an appeal to regain Sanipass for the playoffs.Sanipass scored 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points, and had 177 penalty minutes, in 25 games with Verdun this season, before joining Granby.QUEBEC CACHE&mdash;Hull Olympiques&rsquo; left winger Hal Turner received most of referee Michel Lemieux&rsquo;s attention following an altercation between the Olympiques and St-Jean Castors in Hull, Feb. 22. Lemieux gave Turner a double minor and game misconduct for leaving Hull&rsquo;s bench when an incident developed in front of the Castors&rsquo; bench, after the final buzzer endeda3-l win for St-Jean. Turner also picked up two majors and two game misconducts for separate spearing incidents and another game misconduct for collecting more than two in a game. Further disciplinary action from the league was expected. &#9632;

f0037-02

Sanipass Sensation In Bison Debut

<h2>TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE&hellip;</h2>1. What former British Columbia figure skating champ played with the Oakland Seals?2. In 1968-69, Phil Esposito became the first NHL player to have a 100-point season. Was his 100th point a goal or an assist?3. Against which team did Esposito pick up that historic point?4. Who was the first NHL defenseman to score 20 goals in a season?5. Name the first NHL team to play against a Soviet team.6. Name the first NHL team to defeat a Soviet team.7. Who coached the 1971 East Division all-star team, despite the fact he didn&rsquo;t coach in the NHL that season?8. Who held the pre-expansion single-season NHL record for points by a defenseman?9. Who was the first NHL defenseman to record 50 assists in a season?10. How many consecutive all-star game appearances did Gordie Howe make?<h2>ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ</h2>1. Mike Laughton. 2. Esposito&rsquo;s 1OOth point was a goal. 3. Pittsburgh. 4. Bill (Flash) Hollett. 5. New York Rangers. 6. Philadelphia Flyers. 7. Harry Sinden. 8. Pierre Pilote (59 points in 1964-65). 9. Pat Stapleton (1968-69). 10. 22. BONUS ANSWER: Reg Leach.<h2>BONUS QUESTION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03295/5610484-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="569" height="942"><figcaption class="caption-body">BONUS He was the first player to score 80 goals in a single season (including playoffs).</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0037-03

THN HOCKEY TRIVIA

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01601/5610529-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01567/5610522-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="3059" height="3813"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01288/5610515-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="3034" height="3333"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

The Hockey News NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01237/5610560-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0041-01

SCOREBOARD

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Dave Reid, LW, recalled from Moncton of AHL.BUFFALO&mdash;Mike Hartman, RW, recalled from North Bay of OHL, Ken Priestlay, C, from Victoria of WHL, both under emergency recall conditions. Mark Ferner, C, Mikael Andersson, C, recalled from Rochester of AHL.CALGARY&mdash;Gary Roberts, LW, recalled from Moncton of AHL. Kari Eloranta, D, signed as free agent.DETROIT&mdash;Mark Kumpel, RW, back from injury list and assigned to Adirondack of AHL for conditioning period. Dale Krentz, RW, returned to Adirondack.EDMONTON&mdash;Marty McSorley, RW, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL.HARTFORD&mdash;Wayne Babych, RW, suspended by Whalers for refusing to report to Binghamton of AHL.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Lyle Phair, LW, recalled from New Haven of AHL.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Chris Terreri, G, and Jan Ludvig, RW, assigned to Maine of AHL.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Neal Coulter, RW, recalled from Springfield of AHL and later returned.NY RANGERS&mdash;Jay Caufield, RW, recalled from Flint of IHL. Ron Talakoski, RW, recalled from New Haven of AHL. Lane Lambert, RW, sent to New Haven.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Don Nachbaur, C, returned to Hershey of AHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Troy Loney, LW, recalled from Baltimore of AHL. Phil Bourque, LW, returned to Baltimore.QUEBEC&mdash;Bill Derlago, C, recalled from Fredericton of AHL. Doug Shedden, RW, sent to Fredericton. Vojteck Kocera, D, signed as free agent from Czechoslovakia and assigned to Fredericton on 25-game pro tryout.TORONTO&mdash;Kevin Maguire, RW, returned to Newmarket of AHL.VANCOUVER&mdash;Jim Agnew, D, returned to Fredericton of AHL.WASHINGTON&mdash;Gary Sampson, LW, Jeff Greenlaw, LW, and Bob Crawford, RW, recalled from Binghamton of AHL and later returned.<h2>INJURY LIST</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Rick Middleton, RW, back in lineup. Thomas Gradin, C, hip and groin injuries, Tom McCarthy, C, bruised ribs, Lyndon Byers, RW, back injury, Gord Kluzak, D, knee surgery, and Louis Sleigher, RW, groin surgery. McCarthy and Gradin sidelined day-to-day, the others indefinitely.BUFFALO&mdash;Paul Brydges, C, bruised shoulder, out day-to-day, John Tucker, C, back surgery, sidelined indefinitely, and Lindy Ruff, D, out four to six weeks with broken collarbone.CALGARY&mdash;Doug Risebrough, C, twisted knee, Perry Berezan, LW, pulled groin, and Brian Engblom, D, back surgery. Risebrough and Berezan out indefinitely, Engblom for rest of season.CHICAGO&mdash;Bill Watson, RW, separated shoulder, and Steve Ludzik, C, broken collarbone. Watson sidelined day-to-day, Ludzik indefinitely. Behn Wilson, D/out for season while recovering from back surgery.DETROIT&mdash;Bill Carroll, C, back in lineup. Harold Snepsts, D, separated shoulder, Doug Halward, D, dislocated kneecap, and Lee Norwood, D, groin injury. Halward out two to three weeks, Snepsts six to eight weeks, Norwood indefinitely.EDMONTON&mdash;Stu Kulak, RW, back in lineup.HARTFORD&mdash;Dana Murzyn, D, strained shoulder, Joel Quenneville, D, shoulder separation, and Torrie Robertson, LW, broken leg. Murzyn out 10 days, Robertson and Quenneville indefinitely.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Phil Sykes, LW, sprained knee, Sean McKenna, RW, hip pointer, Dean Kennedy, D, hip pointer, Larry Playfair, D, knee surgery, Dave Taylor, RW, sprained knee, and Craig Redmond, D, knee injury. Playfair out for rest of season, the rest sidelined day to day.MINNESOTA&mdash;Scott Bjugstad, LW, abdominal strain, Dirk Graham, RW, bruised ribs, Jari Gronstrand, D, strained knee ligaments, and Tom Hirsch, D, shoulder surgery. Hirsch sidelined indefinitely, the rest out two more weeks.MONTREAL&mdash;Kjell Dahlin, RW, back in lineup. Chris Chelios, D, sprained shoulder, Chris Nilan, RW, strained hip muscles, and Shayne Corson, C, broken jaw. Chelios and Nilan out day to day, Corson indefinitely.NEW JERSEY&mdash;Mel Bridgman, LW, back in lineup. Jan Ludvig, RW, pulled groin muscle, Andy Brickley, LW, broken thumb, and Timo Blomqvist, D, broken nose and left eye orbit. Ludvig out day to day, Brickley indefinitely and Blomqvist sidelined for rest of season.NY ISLANDERS&mdash;Brian Curran, D, back in lineup. Ken Morrow, D, bruised ribs, Denis Potvin, D, sprained knee, Patrick Flatley, RW, knee injury, and Tomas Jonsson, D, broken jaw. Flatley out one more week, Morrow, Jonsson and Potvin indefinitely.NY RANGERS&mdash;Tom Laidlaw, D, bruised foot, Mark Osborne, LW, laceration, Tomas Sandstrom, RW, broken ankle, and George McPhee, LW, broken hand. Sandstrom sidelined one more week, the rest out day to day.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Ilkka Sinisalo, RW, back in lineup. Ron Sutter, C, back injury, Lindsay Carson, LW, sprained knee, and Darryl Stanley, D, ankle injury. Sutter sidelined day to day, Carson one more week, Stanley indefinitely.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Mario Lemieux, C, and Dave Hannan, RW, back in lineup. Terry Ruskowski, LW, contracted the flu, and Kevin LaVallee, LW, shoulder surgery. Ruskowski out day to day, LaVallee indefinitely.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Rick Nattress, D, strained knee, Pat Hughes, RW, strained ankle, Brian Sutter, LW, severe shoulder injury, Ed Beers, LW, back surgery, and Kent Carlson, LW, spinal surgery. Hughes and Nattress out day-to-day, Sutter, Beers and Carlson sidelined for rest of season.TORONTO&mdash;Rick Lanz, D, back in lineup. Bill Root, D, broken hand, Miroslav Frycer, RW, cracked pelvic bone, Chris Kotsopoulos, D, groin injury, and Ken Yaremchuk, C, broken foot. Root out one more week, the others sidelined indefinitely.VANCOUVER&mdash;Glen Cochrane, D. back in lineup. Michel Petit, D, strained knee, and Rich Sutter, RW, back injury. Petit out one more week, Sutter 10 days.WASHINGTON&mdash;John Barrett, D, broken kneecap, and Greg Adams, C, collapsed lung. Adams out two more weeks, Barrett indefinitely.WINNIPEG&mdash;Hannu Jarvenpaa, RW, severely damaged knee ligaments, sidelined indefinitely.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ADIRONDACK&mdash;Randy Hansch, G, assigned to Kalamazoo of IHL. Neil Megannety, LW, signed as free agent.FREDERICTON&mdash;Shawn Kilroy, G, recalled from Kalamazoo of IHL. Jean-Marc Gaulin, RW, assigned to Muskegon of IHL.HERSHEY&mdash;Brian McKinnon, RW, returned to Flint of IHL.MAINE&mdash;Greg Evtushevski, RW, recalled from Kalamazoo of IHL. Kirk McLean, G, sidelined for rest of season with knee injury.MONCTON&mdash;Darren Pang, G, recalled from Saginaw of IHL. Warren Skorodenski, G, sent to Saginaw as replacement.NEW HAVEN&mdash;Dave Nicholls, RW, recalled from Flint of IHL. &#9632;

TRANSACTIONS

<h2>Mon. Feb. 23</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01249/5610727-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="542" height="701"></div><h2>Tue. Feb. 24</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02179/5610720-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="560" height="2866"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03141/5610713-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="554" height="2298"></div><h2>Wed. Feb. 25</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04109/5610706-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="537" height="1301"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0591/5610699-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="539" height="1515"></div><h2>Thu. Feb. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0682/5610692-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="552" height="2086"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0773/5610685-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="558" height="2415"></div><h2>Fri. Feb. 27</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0866/5610678-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="536" height="723"></div><h2>Sat. Feb. 28</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0961/5610671-1-eng-US/f0042-092.jpg" title="f0042-09" width="535" height="433"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1054/5610664-1-eng-US/f0042-102.jpg" title="f0042-10" width="552" height="3631"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01251/5610657-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="548" height="1271"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02186/5610650-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="549" height="891"></div><h2>Sun. Mar. 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03159/5610643-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="545" height="356"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04113/5610636-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="546" height="1271"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-05101/5610629-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="546" height="1273"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0683/5610622-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="549" height="1221"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0937/5610615-1-eng-US/f0044-092.jpg" title="f0044-09" width="540" height="1428"></div> &#9632;

f0042-01

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY MURRAY TOWNSEND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0653/5610824-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg"></div>Most coaches are likely to claim a consistent player is the most valuable team member, but the &ldquo;streakers&rdquo; can be a coach&rsquo;s best friend during a time of need.Listed are those players who have scored at least 15 goals over the first three-quarters of the season, but have netted the majority of them during one segment, discounting those players out with injuries for the greater part of any one quarter. Some of those in the chart might be termed as having been in a prolonged slump over two of the segments rather than getting a hot hand for one, but the fact remains they did not display the consistency evident on the other list of top scorers whose output varied by three or fewer goals in each segment.For those who claim Europeans have difficulty with consistency over an entire NHL season, it should be noted that every nonCanadian or American in the league not playing on Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s line had segments that, pro-rated, would not have netted them more than 20 goals over the course of the season.<h2>STREAKIEST PERFORMERS AMONG 15-GOAL SCORERS</h2><h2>MOST CONSISTENT 15-GOAL SCORERS, IN ORDER OF TOTAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0750/5610817-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="1098" height="492"></div> &#9632;

f0044-06

Paiement Streak Scorer For Sabres

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0839/5610855-1-eng-US/f0044-082.jpg" title="f0044-08" width="180" height="136"></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Jay Wells. Tiger Williams and Ken Hammond were officially credited with assists the night Jimmy Carson broke out of a depressing slump that had gone on for three weeks.Carson figured Mike Murphy&rsquo;s name should have been on that list, too.Murphy, the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; coach, had arranged a meeting with Carson, the splendid rookie center who was having problems coping without injured linemate Dave Taylor.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re 60 games into the season and it was starting to take its toll,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;You have to constantly remind the young guys that it&rsquo;s not going to be easy every night and that you have to push.&ldquo;Jimmy&rsquo;s very mature for a young guy and it was good to see him respond.&rdquo;Carson did in a big way, collecting a pair of goals and an assist in an 8-3 win over Winnipeg. Feb. 24.It was a long time coming. While fellow rookie Luc Robitaille continued on a 45- to 50-goal pace. Carson looked lost. In nine games, seven of which Taylor missed, Carson managed 10 shots, one goal and one assist. It had been over a month since his last evenstrength goal.&ldquo;Mike was pretty tough on me,&rdquo; said Carson, who had 24 goals and 57 points in 60 games. &ldquo;He said I had to work to get out of this thing, that I had to start moving and skating again.&rdquo;Carson&rsquo;s second goal was one for the highlight film. He stickhandled into the Jets&rsquo; zone and fought off a Tim Watters&rsquo; hook. He showed the puck to Randy Carlyle, pulled it back, then maneuvered around the veteran defenseman before cutting toward the net and flicking a forehand shot over goal-tender Steve Penney&rsquo;s right shoulder.They were the kind of flashy moves the 18-year-old was showing earlier in the season.&ldquo;I saw it later on the monitor,&rdquo; Carson said. &ldquo;Those are the kind I dreamed about as a young kid down in the basement after watching Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne.&ldquo;Randy Carlyle&rsquo;s a great defenseman. He&rsquo;s a smart player. I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll be able to do that again.&rdquo;Meanwhile, Robitaille was making mincemeat of the Kings&rsquo; rookie records. With 20 games left, the2l-year-old left winger had 36 goals&mdash;including one in five straight games&mdash;and 67 points.He had already broken Steve Bozek&rsquo;s rookie record of 33 goals in 1981-82 and needed 10 points to break the club record of 76. set by Larry Murphy in 1980-81.KINGS NOTES&mdash;Goalie Al Jensen won his first start as a King, beating the Jets 8-3, after giving up a Dale Hawerchuk goal on the first shot he faced. &ldquo;I was very nervous,&rdquo; said Jensen, who made 18 saves&hellip;With seven players out with injuries, the Kings were forced to call up defenseman Ken Hammond and left winger Lyle Phair from their New Haven farm club. Phair responded with his first NHL goal in his first game. He made the team in camp last season, but was shipped out after getting one assist in 15 games-&hellip;The injured: defensemen Larry Playfair (reconstructive knee surgery), Craig Redmond (tendinitis, inflamed knee) and Dean Kennedy (hip pointer), goalie Bob Janecyk (sprained knee), and forwards Dave Taylor (sprained knee). Phil Sykes (sprained knee) and Sean McKenna (hip pointer)&hellip;The Kings doubled last season&rsquo;s club-record low of nine vic-tories at home and needed four in their remaining 10 home games to match the club-record high of 22&hellip;Goalie Darren Eliot played in only three of 17 games&hellip;Rollie Melanson stopped 36 shots in a 7-4 win over Washington for his 100th career win&hellip;Linemates Bernie Nicholls (17 points in 13 games) and Jim Fox (15 points in 13) were two of the hottest Kings. &#9632;

f0044-08

Carson Emerges From Doldrums

<h2>PRELIMINARY ROUND</h2>(Division Semi-Final, All Eight Series)Game One&mdash;April 8; Game Two&mdash;April 9; Game Three&mdash;April 11; Game Four&mdash;April 12; Game Five&mdash;April 14; Game Six&mdash;April 16; Game Seven&mdash;April 18.<h2>CUP QUARTER-FINALS</h2>(Division Finals, Patrick & Adams)Game One&mdash;April 20; Game Two&mdash;April 22; Game Three&mdash;April 24; Game Four&mdash;April 26; Game Five&mdash;April 28; Game Six&mdash;April 30; Game Seven&mdash;May 2.<h2>CUP QUARTER-FINALS</h2>(Division Finals, Norris & Smythe)Game One&mdash;April 21; Game Two&mdash;April 23; Game Three&mdash;April 25; Game Four&mdash;April 27; Game Five&mdash;April 29; Game Six&mdash;May 1; Game Seven&mdash;May 3.<h2>CUP SEMI-FINALS</h2>(Wales Conf. Final)Game One&mdash;May 4; Game Two&mdash;May 6; Game Three&mdash;May 8; Game Four&mdash;May 10; Game Five&mdash;May 12; Game Six&mdash;May 14; Game Seven&mdash;May 16.<h2>CUP SEMI-FINALS</h2>(Campbell Conf. Final)Game One&mdash;May 5; Game Two&mdash;May 7; Game Three&mdash;May 9; Game Four&mdash;May 11; Game Five&mdash;May 13; Game Six&mdash;May 15; Game Seven&mdash;May 17.<h2>CUP FINAL</h2>If either Conference final goes six or seven games, the Stanley Cup final dates are as follows:Game One&mdash;May 20; Game Two&mdash;May 22; Game Three&mdash;May 24; Game Four&mdash;May 26; Game Five&mdash;May 28; Game Six&mdash;May 30; Game Seven&mdash;June 1.If both Conference finals go only four games, the Stanley Cup final begins on May 14, with ensuing games every other day. If both Conference finals go only five games, the Stanley Cup final begins on May 16, with ensuing games every other day. &#9632;

NHL PLAYOFF DATES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01163/5610910-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="167" height="169"></div>The Canadian national team&rsquo;s recent European tour provided a unique opportunity for coach Dave King.And that was a chance to see his team handle the puck against international competition.Team Canada often finds itself on the defensive, particularly when facing the Czechoslovaks and Soviets.Neither were part of this eightgame tour against Swedish, West German, Polish and Swiss teams. Canada won five, lost two and tied one.&ldquo;We had the puck a lot so it was kind of a neat tour for us because we finally had the&rsquo; puck,&rdquo; said King. &ldquo;You can see who can handle it and who can&rsquo;t.&ldquo;Some of the games you don&rsquo;t know because we don&rsquo;t have the puck enough. It was a good tour in terms of looking at the offensive skills of our guys.&rdquo;So, what did King see?&ldquo;Nobody really stood out,&rdquo; King said candidly.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;You can see who can handle it and who can&rsquo;t.&rsquo;&mdash;King</blockquote>And that, as much as anything, says something about the shortcomings of his team. There isn&rsquo;t a lot of firepower, available to King, although speedy Wally Schreiber did score five goals in the final two games, a 5-1 win and 7-7 tie against the Swiss.After losing the first two games to Swedish opposition, Canada finished off with a six-game undefeated streak. That would imply success, but there&rsquo;s more to it than that.King pointed out the team only really feared losing two of the games, both of which they lost. That would imply failure, but there&rsquo;s also more to it than that.&ldquo;The first one (a 6-2 loss) was a write-off,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;We just arrived and had to play the next day.&rdquo;The second game, a 1-0 loss, could have gone either way, so King wasn&rsquo;t dissatisfied with those results.&ldquo;The one problem we had, other than the games in Sweden,&rdquo; observed King, &ldquo;was that we felt the guys didn&rsquo;t play as well as they could.&rdquo;Hockey coaches the world over have had to contend with the universal problem of teams playing only to the level of their opposition.Obviously, Canada played a notch above that, but&hellip;&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re afraid of losing,&rdquo; related King, &ldquo;those are the games you play well. When you know you&rsquo;re going to win, you don&rsquo;t always play as well.&rdquo;The nats will have to be at their best when they meet the Moscow Selects again. That&rsquo;s coming up at the end of the month, a furious 10-game affair over a two-week period.When last the Canadians played the Selects in December, the Canadians won three of seven games, including three of the last four. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re creeping closer to.500 on these tours,&rdquo; said King. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re tough.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;The Moscow Selects tour dates are as follows; March 25&mdash;Hamilton; March 26&mdash;Ottawa; March 27&mdash;North Bay; March 29&mdash;Sudbury; March 30&mdash;Sault Ste. Marie; Apr. 1&mdash;Thunder Bay; Apr. 2&mdash;Regina; Apr. 4&mdash;Medicine Hat, Alta; Apr. 6&mdash;Lethbridge, Alta.; Apr. 7&mdash;Calgary&hellip;In the meantime, the nats will be travelling to Alaska for games&hellip;Dave King, commenting on Canada&rsquo;s hecticschedules whenever they play overseas, said: &ldquo;If you go over there and you have too many days off, it costs you a lot of money. We try to schedule a large number of games because it helps us financially make the trip a viable operation.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0045-01

Nats Get A Chance To Play With The Puck

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01164/5610941-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="179" height="140"></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;For most teams, qualifying for the National Hockey League&rsquo;s bloated, 16-team playoff field is a given.For the Pittsburgh Penguins, it is a goal&mdash;one they have not realized in the past four seasons.And as the regular season lurched into its final, critical month, it still was not fully apparent whether the Penguins were contenders or pretenders, for they were capable of going from awful to awesome literally overnight.Consider one recent weekend, when the Penguins lost to the New Jersey Devils 6-5. in a game which the final score was grossly distorted by three Pittsburgh goals in the waning minutes of play.It was a lopsided loss&mdash;at home&mdash;to the only team behind them in the Patrick Division standings.Never had the bold promise implicit in the Penguins&rsquo; 7-0 start seemed so distant as on that most distressing evening.Coach Bob Berry called it &ldquo;disgraceful.&rdquo;Left winger Randy Cunneyworth said the Penguins &lsquo;&lsquo;should be ashamed.&rdquo;And center John Chabot captured the essence of the evening when he said simply, &ldquo;We stunk out the joint. &ldquo;But just one night later, in the teeming cauldron that is Madison Square Garden, the Penguins overwhelmed the New York Rangers 4-2, in a Feb. 22 game that effectively resuscitated their playoff prospects.&ldquo;After playing so crummy last night, we realized that if we wanted to stay in the race, this was a game we had to have,&rdquo; said defenseman Randy Hillier.That the Penguins had been compelled to face the Rangers with only 19 players&mdash;center Mario Lemieux had bronchitis, left winger Terry Ruskowski, the flu, and defenseman Rod Buskas, a three-game suspension&mdash;only enhanced the magnitude of the victory.Then, back to the Civic Arena two nights later, came a triumph of immense proportions.The Penguins scored four unanswered goals in the first period and held the Edmonton Oilers to 22 shots in the game en route to a 5-2 victory over the former&mdash;and quite possibly future-champions.It was their most invigorating victory since those intoxicating days of October, a magical night when all their promise was transformed into prowess.Never mind the Oilers were in the midst of a streak in which they played probably their most mediocre hockey of the season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a big believer that when a team plays well, you have to give them credit,&rdquo; said no less an authority than Oiler center Wayne Gretzky. &ldquo;And they played extremely well.&rdquo;&ldquo;A very satisfying victory for us,&rdquo; Berry said.What must be remembered, however, is that victory yielded no more points than the two they would have earned had the Penguins, say, beaten New Jersey two games earlier.&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t get too crazy about this, because it&rsquo;s just one game,&rdquo; said Craig Simpson, who scored the Penguins&rsquo; second goal in the Edmonton game.&ldquo;If we start getting a little too happy and satisfied with ourselves&hellip;we did that earlier in the season, and you saw what happened,&rdquo; Chabot said.If nothing else, however, the victories over New York and Edmonton reaffirmed this team&rsquo;s standing as the most committed in the franchise&rsquo;s largely undistinguished history.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone through so many hard times this year,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been to the well so many times, and come up with a bucket of sand.&ldquo;There were times this year that, if they were ever going to pack it in, they were going to pack it in then.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Mario Lemieux, who missed four games because of bronchitis, and right winger Dave Hannan, out since Jan. 9 with a knee injury, returned to the lineup for the Edmonton game&hellip;Mario Lemieux had missed a total of 17 games this season, during which time the Penguins were 3-9-5&hellip;The Penguins were 15-11-4 in their first 30 home games. &#9632;

f0046-01

The Penguins Go From Agony To Ecstacy

<div class="byline">BY JEFF GORDON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02120/5610972-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="177" height="137"></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Bernie Federko&rsquo;s broken jaw has forced him to lighten up.And the result has been impressive. Playing about 10 pounds below his usual weight, Federko came off the injured list playing better than he has all season.In his first four games back, Federko had a goal and eight assists. Linemate Mark Hunter snapped a five-game scoring drought with six goals in three games.&ldquo;Bernie helps everybody generate offense,&rdquo; Hunter said.So the Blues, who were 4-8-4 and scoring just 2.8 goals a game with Federko out of the lineup, won three of his first four games back.&ldquo;He came back extremely strong,&rdquo; Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin said. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;ve been able to pick it up a little bit. Federko&rsquo;s line has really, really been dominant. &ldquo;Federko worked extremely hard during his layoff, building up his legs in skating drills while subsisting on nutritional drinks. Just a few days after wires were removed from his jaw, which was accidently broken at the chin and along one hinge by Hunter&rsquo;s stick Jan. 7, Federko jumped back into the lineup with a full-time load.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the best way to come back,&rdquo; Federko said. &ldquo;Jacques could have played me two or three shifts a period. At this time of the season, the way to get back into shape is to play the game.&rdquo;Federko&rsquo;s time off from hockey rekindled his enthusiasm.&ldquo;When you sit out and get back in, the game becomes fun,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The excitement is there from not playing. When you play every night, sometimes the fun goes away. You miss the game from not playing.&rdquo;Wearing a full facial visor to protect his jaw, Federko played with reckless abandon&mdash;going hard into the comers and diving in front of enemy shots.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re out there, you don&rsquo;t even think about it,&rdquo; he said of his healing jaw. &ldquo;If you worry about it and it affects your play, then you&rsquo;re still hurt. To get hit in the jaw twice would be like getting shot twice. It just doesn&rsquo;t happen.&rdquo;Federko, who has always been a second-half performer, figures to erase a disastrous first third of the season with a big finish. At one point Federko&rsquo;s minus-25 defensive rating was the worst in the league.After working with assistant coach Barclay Plager, Federko regained his skating jump near the season&rsquo;s halfway mark. &ldquo;Barclay knows what I&rsquo;m doing wrong all the time because he has been with me so long,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I really rely on him. He knows when I&rsquo;m spreading my legs and not skating, when I&rsquo;m making the play, instead of skating and making the play.&rdquo;In the 13 games before Federko was injured, he had 19 points and was regaining his form. Now he is picking up where he left off.BLUENOTES&mdash;Goaltender Rick Wamsley made only two starts in a month-long span, but won them both, 2-1 at Calgary and 4-3 over Quebec. He missed six games with a perirectal abscess&hellip;Defenseman Ric Nattress missed three games with a strained knee, but Charlie Bourgeois picked up his load ably on the right side&hellip;Rookie center Cliff Ronning settled into a line with bangers Gino Cavallini and Herb Raglan&hellip;Doug Wickenheiser was playing some of his best hockey of the season centering a Rick Meagher-Mark Reeds checking line&hellip;General manager Ron Caron&rsquo;s trade efforts continued to be frustrated. With Eddy Beers unable to get back in playing shape after back surgery, Caron continued shopping for help at left wing&hellip;Rookie defenseman Michael Dark remains at Peoria, leaving the door open for Larry Trader to rejoin the team when Team Canada finishes its season&hellip;Center Doug Gilmour finally put on a visor after losing one of his front teeth, suffering two lacerations over his left eye and having his nose broken by high sticks this season. &#9632;

f0046-02

Federko Fantastic On Return From Injury-Enforced Layoff

<div class="byline">By Bruce Hood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0384/5611003-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="370" height="445"></div>Q: In a recent game between the New Jersey Devils and Hartford Whalers, the following play took place: After a scramble behind the Whaler goal, the puck came to Pat Verbeek, who was standing in the slot. A Hartford defenseman raised the rear of the net at least two feet off the ice, but left the front attached to the magnets on the ice. Verbeek shot the puck into the top of the forward-tilted net. Referee Bob Hall allowed the goal. Was this the correct call? What rule applies in this case?Frank Antinarella, Mamaroneck, NYA: First of all, I should explain that if the back of the net was raised two feet off the ice, the magnets would no longer be holding the net, as the circuit would be broken after the first few inches of the net were raised.If the play happened as you said, then it should not have been a goal. The net must be stationary and in its proper position to allow the puck to cross the two-inch goal line. However, I suspect that there was still pushing and shoving taking place by the net after the scramble, and the net was raised after the shot from the slot entered the net.In the case of a deliberate raising of the net, a penalty shot would be awarded.Q: During a recent game between the Rangers and Jets, Ray Neufeld picked up a roughing penalty, thus giving the Rangers a power play. The infraction occurred behind the Rangers&rsquo; net after play had stopped. The ensuing faceoff took place inside the Rangers&rsquo; zone, at the faceoff circle to their goalie&rsquo;s right. Why wasn&rsquo;t the faceoff brought outside the Rangers&rsquo; zone?Paul Debbas, Glen Rock. NJA: The rule clearly states that a stoppage, caused as a result of an infraction by the opposing team, results in the faceoff going outside of the attacking zone. This rule also applies to any stoppage&mdash;and if the attacking player gets a penalty of any sort during the stoppage, then the faceoff also comes outside. Perhaps there were extenuating circumstances in this case.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;

f0046-03

ASK THE REFEREE

<div class="byline">BY LARRY HUMBER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01182/5611041-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg"></div><h2>ACROSS:</h2>1. Late Hall of Famer pictured (6).4. He tended nets for both the Habs and Nords, Michel (6).9. Nickname of Prince Albert&rsquo;s Western League entry (7).10. Fight, fracas (5).11. Ruin (5).12. Red Wings acquired him from Penguins in exchange for Ron Duguay, Doug (7).13. &lsquo;Suitcase&rsquo; Smith (4).15. Abe Pollin&rsquo;s hockey club (4).18. Leaf coach John Brophy toiled as a player in this nowdefunct league (7).21. Wisconsin-born Flame (5).23. Rookie Cap netminder, Bob (5).24. Northern Ontario birthplace of Hall of Famer Frank Mahov-lich (7).25. Throws (6).26. One-time Jet hopeful Kirk McCaskill now pitches for this major-league ball club (6).<h2>DOWN:</h2>1. Bother, pester (6).2. Oilers&rsquo; Summanen (5).3. He succeeded 15 Down as Bruin captain (7).5. Only Cap to have his number retired, Yvon (5).6. Kind of netminder (5,2)7. Swedish-born Flyer (6).8. Nickname of Edmonton&rsquo;s entry in the old Western Canada Hockey League (4).14. Wayne Gretzky was awarded a record 163 last season (7).15. One of several Bruins named to Team Canada &lsquo;72 (7). 16. Protective covering for head (6).17. Holds (6).19. Former Blue netminder Wakely (5).20. Cages (4).22. Number of times Bobby Orr topped NHL scorers (5).<h2>CROSSWORD SOLUTION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0866/5611034-1-eng-US/f0043-082.jpg" title="f0043-08" width="579" height="579"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

March 13, 1987

FAN FORUM

Gretzky Leader

Only The Horse Didn’t Appreciate Rendez-Vous

Murphy’s Rare Good Times Turn To Bad