NEXT WEEK

In next week’s May 8 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, we will take a look at the National Hockey League awards up for grabs and who the leading contenders for each of them are. There are a number of interesting races shaping up, not the least of which is for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) and the Vezina Trophy (top goaltender). In rookie balloting, no fewer than three players—Los Angeles Kings Luc Robitaille and Jimmy Carson and Philadelphia Flyer goalie Ron Hextall—are legitimate candidates. And as for the Vezina, the experts see it coming down to a two-man race, involving Hextall and Hartford Whaler netminder Mike Liut. Plus, we’ll have complete updates on the Stanley Cup playoffs as well as first-rate coverage of the World Championships in Vienna.…

Beauty In ‘I’ Of Beholder

There’s not a lot wrong with the International League that a name change wouldn’t rectify. Not that commissioner Bud Poile is contemplating one. It’s just that for years, the league has been associated more with mayhem than magic on ice. Casual fans have cast a wary eye towards the ‘I’. Even aspiring professionals, have considered with dread the possibility of playing in professional hockey’s lowest minor league. Well, the times have changed. Sure, the league remains firmly fixed below the American League, and sure the league has its share of hitmen, but its status is definitely on the rise. In the opinion of the National Hockey League, anyway. The IHL is expected to play a larger and larger role in player development, helping to fill the void left behind by the Central League’s demise several…

Coping With The Cruel Kiss Of The Playoffs

EVERY SPRING, AS the drama of each playoff series is played to its conclusion, we could just congratulate the winners, note that they did a fine job of converting the breaks they received and eagerly look forward to the next round. But noooooooo. Not in any paper I’ve ever worked for. Or not in too many I’ve ever read, either. Nobody gets off that easily, pal. As many as four members of the losing team, but preferably only one, had to… CHOKE. ARRRRRRRGGGH Yes sir, CHOKE. Dry-mouth, sweaty-palmed, gonna-throw-up, somebody-else-has-gotta-do-it-because-I-have-to-go-the-bathroom choke. Give ‘em the Heimlich maneuver. Cut through their tracheas to remove that apple. And while you’re at it, do a heart transplant, too. Here in Philadelphia, we used to wait a series or two before noting that Brian Propp was not challenging…

Isles Outlast Capitals In Marathon Decider

UNIONDALE, N.Y.—Stanley Cup history will never forget 73 saves by a goaltending machine named Kelly Hrudey. It will forever remember 128 minutes, 47 seconds of hockey by a giddy band of New York Islanders and a terribly depressed group of Washington Capitals. At 1:55 a. m. on Easter Sunday at the Capital Centre, six hours and 15 minutes after the Islanders and Washington Capitals faced off in game seven of their wonderful Patrick Division semifinal series on Saturday night, Pat LaFontaine banked a 45-foot slap shot off the left goal post and into Bob Mason’s net, ending the longest National Hockey League game in 44 years. LaFontaine’s goal, on assists from Gord Dineen and Ken Leiter at 8:47 of the fourth 20-minute sudden-death overtime period, advanced the Islanders to the Patrick Division…

Long Night’s Journey Into Mourning

LANDOVER, Md.—Few who saw it will ever forget. Try as they may, the 20 members of the Washington Capitals will never push the memory of the longest game in 44 years from their minds. When Pat LaFontaine scored for the New York Islanders after 68 minutes and 47 seconds of sudden-death overtime early Easter Sunday, he was ending the longest Stanley Cup playoff game since Toronto downed Detroit 3-2 in a 1942-43 semi-final game. He also was finishing the Capitals’ 13th season, yet another cruel blow in the improbable history of a luckless franchise. The Capitals fired 75 shots at New York’s Kelly Hrudey and put only two past him. Yet they never trailed until the end. First Mike Gartner and then Grant Martin gave Washington leads in the seventh and decisive…

AT LAST!

Badaboum boogied at center ice at Le Colisee, while in a corridor behind Quebec’s dressing room, team president Marcel Aubut and general manager Maurice Filion did the same. If it had been a dance contest, Badaboum, the team’s mascot, would have lost. “This is great, this is great,” Aubut yelled. And so it was, for the Nordiques and the province. Not only would a Quebec-Montreal series rekindle old competitive fires, it was sure to generate enough dollars to keep the breweries that control the respective teams from crying in their beer. The Nordiques, who finished fourth in the Adams Division with 72 points, eliminated the Hartford Whalers, who finished first with 93, by rallying from a 2-0 deficit to win four straight games. The series had a little bit of everything: a controversial ending to…

‘Mac’ Attacks Most Unfair To Leaf GM

I have never met Gerry McNamara, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It may be too late, but suddenly I feel a terrific urge to help him preserve his job. Nothing personal, mind you; just the nagging feeling that this man is getting the short end of the stick—if any end at all—from the piranhas in the Toronto newspapers. Few hockey executives in recent memory have suffered the indignities heaped upon him by the media as McNamara has in the past two months. That includes Herb Brooks, Ted Sator and Craig Patrick, who absorbed some heavy flak from the Manhattan branch of the Professional Hockey “Routers” Association. In Toronto, the heavy artillery began firing in earnest at McNamara last month. The assault guns, disguised” as typewriters, were manned by Jim Hunt of…

Flyers Clear Their First (And Worst) Hurdle

PHILADELPHIA—No matter what happens in the coming weeks, the Philadelphia Flyers have assured themselves that they don’t have to go through another summer of answering questions about why they can’t beat the New York Rangers in the playoffs. And at least for one spring, they aren’t going to have to check the TV news and newspapers to see what’s going on in the playoffs. Because the Flyers are still in them. That’s right. All those people who were so sure Philadelphia couldn’t undo the so-called Ranger jinx got an eyeful at Madison Square Garden in the final game of the series where the Flyers crushed New York 5-0. Thus, they advanced to the second round of the playoffs against the New York Islanders—the same second step they needed in 1985 when they beat the…

Trades Fail To End Rangers’ Playoff Famine

NEW YORK—The “Enough Waiting” sign in the New York Ranger dressing room had a piece of tape over it. But the assembled athletes found it very difficult to comply with another message. “Turn Every Negative into a Positive,” as they discussed their April 16 playoff exit. Following their third straight sub-500 season, their fifth straight fourthplace finish and their 47th straight nonStanley Cup-winning playoff, the Rangers didn’t have too many positives to fall back on. Even though the Philadelphia Flyers overwhelmed the Rangers by 3-1 and 5-0 scores in the final two games to capture their first-round series in six games, Ranger general manager and interim coach Phil Esposito saw a closer series. ‘If he (Esposito) tried too hard to make something good happen, then at least he tried.’—Larouche “We were damn close,” he contended,…

Dallas Hockey Deserves Its Moment In The Sun

I NOTICED HAROLD BALLARD asked the question “Why do you want a hockey team in Los Angeles anyway?” in response to the Kings’ desire to switch divisions with the Maple Leafs (THN, April 3). Immediately my anti-Ballard feelings flared to new heights until I realized that this “antiwarmth” feeling is undoubtedly held by a great majority of hockey people today. It seems that all the northerners think they’re the only ones that can have hockey just because their climates allow for natural skating surfaces. Well how many games are played outdoors in Canada? I can’t speak for Los Angeles, but Dallas only has one hockey league and one real ice rink (not counting the other two located in shopping malls) yet we sold out Reunion Arena last Sept. 30th when the Oilers…

FAN FORUM

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.…

A Pro Player’s Image Is Aiways On Thin Ice

BY THE END of April, a crown attorney in Montreal will have decided whether there is sufficient evidence to charge three members of the Montreal Canadiens with sexual improprieties involving minors. Regardless of his findings, the damage has already been done. A Quebec City radio station revealed the names of the three players who have been the subject of an investigation by Montreal police. Their names, while not known to the general public (outside of Quebec City, presumably), are common knowledge within the hockey community. Their reputations, fairly or unfairly, have been besmirched. But then that’s just the way it is. Ask Glen Sather and the Edmonton Oilers. Last spring, a Sports Illustrated article charged that several unnamed Oiler players were linked to cocaine use. The furor became so great that NHL president John Ziegler and NHL…

Habs Face Charges In Teenage Sex Scandal

Quebec crown prosecutor Serge Authier was expected to decide by the end of April whether to press charges against three members of the Montreal Canadiens, who are alleged to have engaged in sexual improprieties with minors. Authier was examining allegations that the players were joined by two girls, aged 14 and 15, for a party following the Canadiens’ final regularseason game in New York. Sources say the girls involved were at Dorval airport at 1:30 a.m., greeting the Canadiens’ charter flight from New York. The three players are alleged to have taken them to a party where they stayed most of the night. The girls’ parents filed complaints with police the next day. The story was broken by a Quebec City radio station, CHRC, three days after the Canadiens finished sweeping the Boston Bruins…

Canadians Eager To Play At World Tournament

VIENNA—STEVE YZERMAN’S CHOICE of a place to spend spring—Detroit over this historic, beautiful Austrian city—might seem a little strange. But there are extenuating circumstances. Yzerman is the splendid Red Wing center and that team is occupied by the Stanley Cup playoffs, which makes it a little difficult for Yzerman to be involved with Team Canada in the World Championships here. But Yzerman was talking about another trip to the worlds, a hasty jaunt to Prague in 1985 to bolster the team after the Wings had been humiliated by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs. “I got the call after we had lost the third game 8-2, and our fans, with some justification, had booed the hell out of us,” Yzerman said. “I had just had it with hockey for…

Kyte Insists Winnipeg Jets ‘Won’t Be Denied’

WINNIPEG—Flexing their newfound muscles, Winnipeg Jets turned their attention to Edmonton Oilers and the Smythe Division final. “It’ll be a fast, physical series,” said Wayne Gretzky, delighted to see the Jets rather than Calgary Flames. “I don’t think it’ll be dirty.” Jim Kyte is not making any promises. “It will be a physically-grinding series,” said the Winnipeg defenseman. “We have so much energy. “We won’t be denied.” This resolve the Jets exhibit has no precedent. Buoyed by their six-game dismissal of the Flames, they advanced to the second round of Stanley Cup playoffs. This is not their first trip to the Smythe Division final. Two years ago, they met the Oilers in the final and bowed out in four games. But, as they are quick to point out, the Jets were missing their Gretzky—notably Dale Hawerchuk, whose broken…

Calgary Crashes And Burns As Edmonton Did Last Year

CALGARY—You didn’t need a college degree to figure out why the Calgary Flames lost to the Winnipeg Jets in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but defenseman Neil Sheehy wrapped his Harvard-educated mind around the question anyway. “The Jets were a team built specifically with the idea of being able to beat us,” he said. “When you think about it, it’s a lot like us a year ago against the Edmonton Oilers.” While some folks around the National Hockey League may have been surprised at the Jets’ 4-2 Smythe Division semi-final series win, Flames’ fans were not. Winnipeg’s 6-1 home-ice win in the sixth and final game only drove home that which had been obvious throughout the 1986-87 regular season—the Jets simply owned the Flames. Winnipeg won six of eight regularseason meetings between the two. outscoring…

Islanders Impose Capital Punishment

It took more than six hours, but Pat LaFontaine finally brought to an end the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the early hours of Easter Sunday. LaFontaine scored on a turnaround slap shot at 8:47 of the fourth overtime period to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals in the seventh and deciding game of their Patrick Division semi-final series. His goal represented a climactic conclusion to more than 68 minutes of overtime—which combined with 60 minutes of regulation time to comprise the fifth-longest game ever played. The game, which began at 7:30 p.m. April 18 and ended just before 2 a.m. April 19, missed by six seconds being the fourth-longest but was more than 50 minutes short of the longest (116:30 of overtime) played…

Oilers’ Perfect Record On Line Against Jets

EDMONTON—To the Edmonton Oilers, a “perfect 10” referred not to Bo Derek but to their own unblemished 10-0 Stanley Cup playoff record against the Winnipeg Jets. But three successive series sweeps meant little to general manager-head coach Glen Sather as the Oilers and Jets prepared for a collision in the best-of-seven Smythe Division final. “There’s no pyschological edge anywhere.” Sather stressed, after the Oilers dispatched the Los Angeles Kings in five games and the Jets took one more match to dispose of the Calgary Flames. “These are two very good teams getting ready to play each other in the playoffs…and the less said about it the better. That’s my attitude.” While the normally loquacious Sather disappeared, another key member of the Oilers was scheduled to resurface for the Winnipeg series. Paul Coffey was expected to…

And The Lunacy Continues In The World Of Coaching

BOB BERRY IS unemployed. Eddie Johnston isn’t. Lome Henning is unemployed. Lou Nanne isn’t. Terry O’Reilly isn’t sure he wants to continue as coach of the Boston Bruins. Harry Sinden isn’t sure he wants him. Bob Pulford won’t be coaching the Blackhawks next season. He will be managing them. The Vancouver Canucks are suing the league they are a part of to allow their general manager, who is quietly acting as their general manager, to act as their GM without the act. Get it? Neither does anyone else. And when last I heard, old Tom Watt was saying he’d be coaching the Canucks next season. Imagine that. He said it had something to do with a contract. Letter to Tom Watt: Please talk to Messrs. Henning and Berry. Soon. And in New Jersey, that fine-tuned team of Max…

Kings’ Goal To Avoid The Oilers Next Year

LOS ANGELES—In the end, right up until the bitter end, the Los Angeles Kings simply weren’t good enough, weren’t deep enough. In the end, the Kings paid the piper for finishing in fourth place and drawing this most distasteful first-round assignment. The Edmonton Oilers are obsessed with recapturing the Stanley Cup and, based on their performance in this series, look like they can do it. “They’re going to be awfully difficult to beat,” King coach Mike Murphy said. Any other opponent and there’d be no need to lug the sand wedges out of storage. The Kings would be practising somewhere today and playing somewhere tomorrow. On the ice. Just getting into the playoffs isn’t good enough anymore, not in the Smythe Division where the Oilers still rule. “If we had been playing anybody else…our goal right now…

O’Reilly Suffering As An NHL Coach

Several of Terry O’Reilly’s friends would not be shocked if he gave up the Bruins’ coaching job. “The thing that made him so great as a player is going to kill him behind the bench,” says one pal. “He’s so emotionally involved that the losses tear him apart. I just can’t see him coaching very long.”…An attempt to speed up NHL games will come from an unexpected source when league officials soon receive a “time-out” plan from ESPN exec Bruce Connal, who handles the network’s game of the week. What Connal proposes is that the current mandated six to seven 30-second TV timeouts be changed to only three one-minute breaks. “The current system is ridiculous,” Connal tells BLUELINES, “because it disrupts the flow of the game. By having only three…

Sinden One Of Few Bruins Certain To Return In ‘87-88

BOSTON—What’s black and yellow and plays golf in April? Why, the Boston Bruins, of course. (See editorial cartoon, pg. 8.) That’s the kind of joke making the rounds that general manager Harry Sinden does not appreciate. For the fourth straight year, his Bruins teed off in April after losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now it’s Sinden’s turn to tee off. Predictions are that there will be wholesale changes in the club that has made the playoffs 20 years in a row-one short of the record held by the Canadiens—but has not won the Cup in 15 years and hasn’t been a real contender for eight. One who will be back, for another season at least, is Sinden himself. He has a year left on the contract…

Canadians Pass First Test

VIENNA—On the day before Team Canada opened the World Championships against Team USA, coach Dave King put his team’s prospects squarely in perspective. “There’s an unknown quality about this team,” said King. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know how they’re going to come together, how they’re going to play together. So it’s not the opponent that you’re uncertain about, it’s the uncertainty of your own team. “I have no idea how we’re going to play. You can’t anticipate that. It just comes together.” Three games into the tournament, King had received his answer: The team was coming together just fine, thanks. Canada opened with a 3-1 win over the U.S. and followed up with a 1-1 tie against Czechoslovakia and 6-1 victory over Switzerland, all but clinching a place in…

Americans In Hole After Three Losses

VIENNA—The way coach Dave Peterson saw it, all was not lost for the United States—even though his team lost its two games on the first weekend of play at the World Championships. “There are five games to go and 10 points at stake,” said Peterson. “Ten points would get you into the medal round. Sometimes, eight points will get you in the medal round.” Ten or eight? Team USA had no choice. It would have to be the latter after the Americans dropped an 11-2 decision to the Soviet Union in their third outing. The U.S. lost its opener to Canada 3-1, then followed with a penalty-filled 5-2 defeat to Sweden. Against the Swedes, Soviet referee Nikolai Morozov handed the Americans the majority of the penalties, something that prevented them from getting or sustaining…

Canadiens’ No. 24 In Hunt For Cup No. 24

MONTREAL—If there had been an award for the most valuable player in the Adams Division semi-final series between the Canadiens and the Boston Bruins, it likely would have gone to Chris Chelios. While there is no one on this Canadiens’ team who is capable of being a one-man show, the 25-year-old native of Chicago came mighty close. Playing aggressively and confidently, Chelios enjoyed some of the finest moments of his career in the third and fourth games of the series at the Boston Garden. “I got some lucky shots and some breaks,” said Chelios, a member of Team NHL at Rendez-vous ‘87. “When the team is going well and playing the way we are, it’s a lot more fun playing out there.” Chelios scored a shorthanded goal and added two assists in game three.…

‘No One To Blame But Ourselves’: Francis

HARTFORD—The Hartford Whalers’ championship season ended not with a whimper, or astonishingly, a whistle, but with a bang. And another bang, and a bang, bang. Four of them in a row. All losses. When Peter Stastny, sent away by a perfect pass from Dale Hunter, broke behind defensemen Dave Babych and Joel Quenneville and beat goaltender Mike Liut with a forehanded shot from the doorstep, the Whalers’ Stanley Cup plans were short-circuited officially. In game six of the opening round. Stastny’s goal at 6:05 of overtime gave the fourth-place Quebec Nordi-ques their fourth straight victory over the first-place Whalers and a 4-2 win in a series that, incredibly, was the most-penalized in National Hockey League history. The Whalers? The least-penalized team in the NHL this year? With a handful of forwards who could ride in…

Who Would Have Believed Caps’ Firing Of Carpenter?

FORTY NHL BITS you would not have believed possible when the season began on Oct. 9: 1) Marcel Dionne becoming a Ranger. 2) The Pat Quinn affair. 3) Bryan Trottier’s guest editorial, a candid critique of the refs that cost him $1,000. 4) Rendez-vous ‘87. The hockey, the city, the week. As good as everybody thought it would be, it was better. 5) Joe Murphy, the NHL’s No. 1 draft pick overall in 1986. playing five games for Detroit. 6) Ted Sator being fired by the Rangers (no, not this part) and becoming a candidate for coach of the year by lifting the Buffalo Sabres back into playoff contention. 7) Brian (Spinner) Spencer charged with murder in West Palm Beach, Fla. 8) Scotty Bowman without a job. 9) David Poile firing Bobby Carpenter. 10) Carpenter becoming a Ranger. 11) Pittsburgh’s 7-0-0…

THN Teams Up With TSN For Annual Awards

THE HOCKEY NEWS is inviting all of Canada to its fourth annual Awards Luncheon, June 18 in Toronto. No, THN did not find the largest banquet room in the world, but it has teamed up with The Sports Network to televise the prestigious event that honors outstanding achievement at all levels of hockey—from the youth leagues right up to the National Hockey League. TSN will produce a one-hour telecast that will be shown in prime time on the day of the banquet. In total, the banquet telecast will be shown three times in a 24-hour period on the all-sports pay-TV channel which boasts more than one million subscribers across Canada. “We felt this was the year we had to do something extra to honor the award winners,” said THN publisher and general manager…

Gretzky MVP Favorite; Rookie Race Open

What can you say about a gifted player whose points total fell off by 32 in one season? That he slumped badly? That he let his team down when it needed him most? Well, if the player you’re talking about is Wayne Gretzky—whose points total did indeed fall by 32, from 215 last year to 183 this season—the usual criteria can be thrown out the window. For a 183-point season is truly incredible. In fact, nobody but Gretzky has ever topped 152. That’s why the Edmonton Oiler superstar, winner of the Art Ross Trophy for the eighth consecutive year, is also the leading candidate to earn his eighth straight selection as THE HOCKEY NEWS NHL Player of the Year. No player has emerged as a clear-cut No. 1 challenger, but several have had decent seasons…

Demers Surges To Head Of Coaching Class

Only five teamsin National Hockey League history registered a greater one-season turnaround than the Detroit Red Wings this year, under coach Jacques Demers. Demers’ Wings picked up 78 points in 80 games, an astounding 38 more than last year. The team led the Norris Division standings for most of the second half of the schedule, until a late-season mini-slump left them one point behind St. Louis. The last time a team rebounded as quickly as this year’s Wings, the coach was named THE HOCKEY NEWS NHL Coach of the Year. That was in 1981-82, when Tom Watt resurrected the Winnipeg Jets from a 32-point campaign the year before to an even 80 points in 80 games. Demers’ achievement in his first year with Detroit ranks him as a top contender for the award.…

Major Efforts Highlight The Minor Pro Race

At the end of the season, they stood like Siamese twins, er, make that triplets—one point apart in the International League scoring race. Ron Handy of Indianapolis, Jock Callander of Muskegon and Jeff Pyle of Saginaw are all contenders for the THN Minor Pro Player of the Year Award. Over in the American League, the candidates are two guys who can really fire the puck—Tim Tookey of Hershey and Brett Hull of Moncton—and one guy who can stop it—Daren Puppa of Rochester. Here’s why each should be considered: JOCK CALLANDER: The Muskegon center registered his third straight 100-plus-point season with the club, turning in career highs in goals (54), assists (82) and points (136). Callander came to life during Muskegon’s amazing stretch drive, which at one point saw them win 13 games in…

Scoring Champions Contend For Award

The scoring champions from each of Canada’s three major junior leagues—Western, Quebec and Ontario—are among the top candidates for the THN-Micron Junior Player of the Year. Rob Brown of the Kamloops Blazers, Marc Fortier of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Scott McCrory of the Oshawa Generals all ran away and hid with the scoring races in their leagues. All would be deserving winners of the award. So would Pierre Turgeon of the Granby Bisons and Joe Sakic of the Swift Current Broncos. Both are eligible for this year’s NHL entry draft, and both are expected to be high first-round selections. The leading candidates for Junior Player of the Year are Rob Brown, Joe Sakic, Scott McCrory, Dave McLIwain, Pierre Turgeon and Marc Fortier. Dave McLIwain of the North Bay Centennials, the Ontario League’s second-place scoring…

MINOR HOCKEY SHOWCASE AWARDS TITAN JOFA

One of the minor hockey players pictured on this page or one of the many more who submitted an entry to the TITAN JOFA Minor Hockey Showcase this past season, will be chosen as the THN-TITAN JOFA Minor Hockey Player of the Year for 1986-87. The winner representing youth hockey across North America, will receive an all expense paid trip to attend the fourth annual THN Awards Luncheon, June 18th in Toronto. Plus, the lucky winner chosen from all Showcase entries will receive a complete line of TITAN JOFA hockey equipment, a photoengraved plaque and a $500 donation to the charity of his or her choice. Both TITAN JOFA and THN would like to thank all those who submitted entries, making the Showcase program a resounding success. TITAN JOFA is proud to be associated…

Race Is Wide Open For International Award

It used to be that meaningful and exciting international hockey events were few and far between. Today, though, world-class international competition has been woven into the everyday fabric of hockey. For example, in a 12-month span from February, 1987, to February, 1988, hockey aficionados have already been treated to Rendez-vous ‘87 and the current 1987 World Championships. Coming up on the menu is the 1987 Canada Cup, the 1988 World Junior Championships and, last but certainly not least, the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary. Labatt’s and THN are proud to co-sponsor the International Personality of the Year Award, which goes to the (North American) player, coach or executive who has made a truly significant contribution to hockey at the international level. Last year’s winner was National Hockey League star Marcel Dionne, in recognition…

Introducing The King Clancy Memorial Award

The King is gone, but he’s not forgotten. Which explains why the Hall of Fame Award has been changed to THE HOCKEY NEWS-ITECH King Clancy Memorial Award. And while the name has changed, the intent of the award remains the same as when the fiery little Irishman stole the show at last year’s THN Awards Luncheon in Toronto. It was the first year for the award, which goes to an individual who, long after actually playing or coaching the game, continues to give something to the sport of hockey, day in and day out. Naturally, King Clancy fit that bill. In his life of hockey, King did it all and continued to do so until complications from surgery last November took his life. It was decided immediately by THN and ITECH that it was only fitting…

Varsity Award Candidates Still Going Strong

It’s a testament to the quality of U.S. college hockey this year that three of the four top candidates for the THN-Bauer Player of the Year award were still playing meaningful hockey, long after the Final Four tournament was over. North Dakota’s Tony Hrkac and Cornell’s Joe Nieuwendyk were both playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, while Boston College’s Brian Leetch was in Vienna skating for the U.S.’s World Championship entry. The fourth candidate, Wayne Gagne of Western Michigan, had a stint with the Canadian national team. Here’s a rundown on each of the candidates: WAYNE GAGNE: The Western Michigan Bronco standout is a wheelhorse defenseman. He led all Central Collegiate Hockey Association scorers with 68 points on 12 goals and 56 assists in 32 games for a. 500 Western Michigan team. TONY HRKAC: This…

Sabres Short Of Firepower On The Wings

BUFFALO—The Buffalo Sabres will be selling their future to fans again this summer. That could be promising in that the Sabres, by virtue of their anemic 2844-8 record just did edge out the New Jersey Devils for the No. I pick in the June entry draft. Though no one in the organization has gone on record regarding the pick, it’s believed the Sabres are more than mildly interested in Pierre Turgeon, the talented center from Granby in the Quebec League. Turgeon, of course, would be infinitely more marketable than anything the past two seasons have to offer. For the second time in as many seasons. the Buffalo Sabres finished dead last in the Adams Division and failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Unlike the 1985-86 season when the team finished at. 500 and…

Canucks, Quinn And NHL Are Battling And Tattling

VANCOUVER—The Vancouver Canucks and Pat Quinn won the first battle in their suit against the National Hockey League, but the war had just begun. Mr. Justice Wallace Oppal of the British Columbia Supreme Court rejected NHL arguments that, because the league is not incorporated, the Canucks can’t sue it in hopes of negating their fine of $310,000 and Quinn’s suspension from the league. The fine and suspension came in the aftermath of Quinn signing a contract to be president and general manager of the Canucks and accepting a $ 100,000 signing bonus while still under contract to coach the Los Angeles Kings in late December. NHL president John Ziegler expelled Quinn, had an investigation conducted and after receiving its findings, suspended him from the NHL until after annual league meetings in mid-June and…

NHL Stars Come Out To Play At Molson Slo-Pitch Tourney

The Molson Slo-Pitch Challenge is being staged on the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario for the seventh straight year. Last year’s tournament attracted 20 teams, including 17 National Hockey League clubs, an NHL Alumni team, an NHL scouts team and another featuring referees and linesmen. In the past six years, more than 300,000 people have watched their favourite NHL players trade their sticks for baseball bats during a weekend that provides a great deal of entertainment, along with a high degree of competitiveness. Over 250 NHL players, along with thousands of fans, are expected to visit the Niagara Region June 18-21, to participate in one of the best off-ice events staged in connection with the NHL. Host cities will be Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Welland and Thorold. Proceeds raised from the Slo-Pitch tournament help…

Broncos Buck Junior Trend

HUMBOLDT, Sask.—It is known to some as the prairie hometown of Hall of Fame netminder Glenn Hall. Others recognize it as the home of what may be the world’s most famous hockey pool. The bottom line is that Humboldt, Sask., is hockey crazy—the biggest-thinking little place (pop. 5,200) in Canada. And from May 1-9, the Humboldt Uniplex will play host to the national championship Centennial Cup, emblematic of Canadian Tier II junior supremacy. Agriculture may be the town’s staple, but Tier II hockey has become big business. And that’s why such a small center, relatively speaking, is home to the national championship. The Humboldt Broncos, a 17-year member of the Saskatchewan Junior League, are a community-owned team. Three years ago, it was like any other club that had fallen on hard times. The Broncos finished…

Acts of Wregget Decisive For Maple Leafs

TORONTO—John Brophy had a message for Detroit Red Wings’ coach Jacques Demers within moments of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ finest hour this season. “Tell the man in Detroit with the mustache (Demers) the miracle has just happened,” gloated Brophy after his Leafs eliminated the St. Louis Blues with an impressive 4-0 shutout. The Leaf coach, who has worked hard to maintain a bitter rivalry with Demers all year, was referring to a remark attributed to the Detroit coach late in the regular season. Demers was quoted as saying it would take a “miracle” for the Leafs to make the playoffs. Later, the reporter who recorded the statement called Brophy to tell him Demers wasn’t talking about the Leafs after all. The damage had been done. And more is likely to follow. The Leafs and Red…

First Place Meaningless, Blues Ousted

ST. LOUIS—With a strong 12-6-5 finish in their last 23 games, the St. Louis Blues were able to steal the Norris Division crown from the Detroit Red Wings and salvage an injury-wracked regular season. They went into their first-round playoff series with plenty of confidence. But all they came out with was frustration. Toronto goaltender Ken Wregget and a pesky band of Maple Leaf checkers held the Blues to 12 goals in six games—just two in the last three, all Blues losses. It was fitting Wregget clinched the 4-2 series victory with a 4-0 shutout in the sixth game. He left the Blues ex-asperated and disappointed. “I don’t know what the answer is,” said center Doug Gilmour, who was held to two goals and two assists after a 105-point season. “They shut me out.…

Stars’ Nightmare Yields Dreamy Draft Spot

BLOOMINGTON, Minn—General manager Lou Nanne and his Minnesota North Star scouts never figured they’d be in this position—sitting, watching the playoffs from the outside and trying to figure out who are the best four or five players available in the 1987 entry draft. Throughout the past season, the Stars’ scouts operated on the assumption that they would select somewhere in the middle of the pack. But the Stars’ March collapse dumped them out of the playoffs and now Nanne, while he waits to name a new coach, is scurrying to adjust the team’s draft list. The Stars have the fourth overall pick this year. “We never dreamed we’d end up in this position,” Nanne said. “At least we know we’re going to get a great player and, picking fourth, we’ll get to…

Red Wings’ Confidence Peaking In Playoffs

DETROIT—The Detroit Red Wings are accustomed to having days off in April. But for a different reason. They were off nine days this time for the best of all reasons—they swept their Norris Division semi-final series over the Chicago Blackhawks. “Preferably, five or six days would be better,” veteran defenseman Mike O’Connell said. “But we’ll take it. It’ll give the aches and pains time to go away.” Coach Jacques Demers gave the Wings three days off before reassembling the team to prepare for the Norris Division finals. ‘I think we’ve reached our peak now and we have to keep it going.’—Snepsts “The boys had some time off, a little rest and now it’s time to get back to work,” Demers said. “We’ll work hard and we’ll be ready to play when the time comes. A little…

Chihawk Owner Embarrassed By Loss

CHICAGO—In the wake of the Chicago Blackhawks’ second straight playoff disaster, general manager Bob Pulford says the time for loyalty is past. “I don’t feel I owe anyone anything now,” Pulford said. “If something comes up and we can improve our hockey team, I have no qualms about doing it.” Hawk president William Wirtz went even further. He said the Hawks’ loss to Detroit was “an embarrassment” following the 1986 sweep by Toronto in the first round. Wirtz launched a tirade against unnamed players. “I heard Al Secord say the other day that players expected management to trade them after last year,” Wirtz said. “Maybe they are mistaking niceness for weakness. They’ll get the message very clear. “We know who the players are from that last game against Detroit and from the year before.…

THN HOCKEY TRIVIA

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE… 1. What NHL team won the Djurgardens tournament in Sweden in 1980? 2. Name the last team to lose its first playoff game and still win the Stanley Cup. 3. Who were the first former NHL goaltenders to oppose each other as NHL coaches? 4. What Ontario city will play host to this year’s Memorial Cup? 5. What trophy goes to the senior hockey champions of Canada? 6. When was the Buffalo Sabres’ last losing season prior to 1986-87? 7. Who coached the Sabres that year? 8. When was the Vancouver Canucks’ last winning season.? 9. What NHL team scored only 33 goals in 44 games in 192829? 10. Where did Minnesota’s Keith Acton play his major junior hockey? ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ 1. Washington Captials. 2. Montreal, 1971. 3. Gerry Cheevers and Ed Johnston, Nov. 9,1980. 4. Oshawa. 5. The Allan Cup. 6.…

Crisp Will Answer NHL Bell On His Terms

MONCTON, N.B.—Every time a coach is fired in the National Hockey League, the phone rings at Terry Crisp’s house. If it’s not an NHL general manager, it’s an inquisitive media member. When the Boston Bruins fired Butch Goring earlier this season, Crisp, the Moncton Golden Flames’ coach and general manager, was one of the candidates considered as a replacement. A few weeks later, he was in New York to be interviewed for the Ranger job. It was widely speculated that he was in line for the opening in Buffalo. And when the Pittsburgh Penguins fired Bob Berry the week after the regular season ended, the phone started ringing again. “It was driving us nuts,” Crisp said, his mock seriousness shredded by laughter. “My wife, Sheila, nearly tore that phone off the wall.” Crisp wants an…

Lamoureux Thrives In Second Banana Role

HERSHEY, Pa.—Mitch Lamoureux knows how Jari Kurri and Mark Messier must feel. The Hershey Bear winger’s offensive abilities are almost a secret around the American League, because of the large shadow cast by Lamoureux’s teammate, scoring champion Tim Tookey. Tookey’s linemates, Ross Fitzpatrick and Ray Allison, have also earned a healthy dose of opposition respect. The guy left clutching the American Express card is Lamoureux, who finished as the AHL’s fourth-leading scorer this season with 43 goals and 89 points. ‘I get a fair share of the limelight.’—Lamoureux Consider that Lamoureux finished with more points than Adirondack’s 54-goal scorer Glenn Merkosky, and more than either Fitzpatrick or Allison. Yet when it’s time to cast all-star ballots, Lamoureux will receive few votes, if any. But he doesn’t seem to mind his low profile. “I get a fair share…

IHL Has Glut Of All-Star Goaltenders

INDIANAPOLIS—Goaltending has traditionally been one of the International League’s strengths. The 1986-87 season proved no different as four goalies were named to the regular-season all-star team. Jeff Cooper of Muskegon, the league’s top goaltender with a 3.30 goals-against average, and Peoria’s Darrell May finished in a tie for first-team honors in voting by the league’s coaches. Ray LeBlanc of Flint, second to Rob Holland of Milwaukee in victories with 33, and Darren Pang of Saginaw, tied for second-team honors. There was also a tic at left wing on the first team, with Fort Wayne’s Steve Salvucci and Dave Michayluk of Mus-kegon sharing the position. Jock Callander of Muskegon is the first team center, Flint’s Jim Egerton is at right wing and the coaches named Greg Tebbutt of Saginaw and Jim Burton of Fort Wayne to…

OHL Coaches Bullish On All-Star Hawkins

TORONTO—For a young man who didn’t play organized hockey until he was 13, and failed to make the Ontario League on his first try, Todd Hawkins has come a long way. All the way to the all-star team, in fact. After two years of distinguishing himself more for his fighting than finesse, the Belleville Bulls’ overage right winger emerged as a scoring star this season. Hawkins led the Bulls with 87 points—among them 47 goals, more than twice as many as he scored over his first two seasons. He also earned 187 penalty minutes…and a measure of respect from league coaches who voted him to the second all-star team. The Oshawa Generals, predictably, were heavily represented with three players and coach Paul Theriault named to the first team and single players to the second and…

MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

ONTARIO LEAGUE Scott McCrory won the Ontario League scoring title this season with 150 points and now that the playoffs are under way, he certainly hasn’t lost his touch. The Oshawa Generals’ center, drafted by Washington, was picked OHL Player of the Week after he racked up 10 points in three playoff games. WESTERN LEAGUE The Portland Winter Hawks are the hot team in the Western League playoffs and so is left winger Dave McLay. The 20-year-old McLay, whose NHL rights are owned by Philadelphia, was named WHL Player of the Week after collecting eight points in the division finals against Kamloops. He had 17 playoff points. QUEBEC LEAGUE One of the big reasons for the Laval Titan’s success this season in the Quebec League has been the goaltending of Mario Brunetta. The 20-year-old netminder, who was drafted…

Kamloops Duo Earns Top League Honors

KAMLOOPS, B.C.—There is something to be said for compromise. The emotional waters which run between Kamloops Blazers’ center Rob Brown and coach Ken Hitchcock were not always still, in fact, they were turbulent at the start of the 1985-86 Western League season. But Brown and Hitchcock learned to understand each other, accept each others’ idiosyncracies and get on with the task at hand. The Blazers won the WHL last season with Brown and Hitchcock living in better harmony. And this season, Brown rewrote the record book while Hitchcock guided Kamloops to its fourth consecutive first-place showing in the West Division. For their tolerance and talent, Brown and Hitchcock were rewarded with the league’s most prestigious awards. Brown was named player of the year, Hitchcock coach of the year. ‘Hitch and I are all ways going…

Brunetta Superb In Semi Showdown

LAVAL, Que,—The excellence of Laval Titan goaltender Mario Brunetta had the Longueuil Chevaliers on the verge of elimination in the Quebec League’s LeBel Division final series. “Brunetta has been pretty hot,” said Chevaliers’ coach Guy Chouinard, after his team fell behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven showdown. “We haven’t taken the lead at all in the series and we’ve just about doubled their shots on net. He’s been the key. “I guess he’s peaking at the right time and proving he can play under pressure.” A 6-foot-3, 180-pound native of Quebec City, Brunetta had backstopped his club to 4-3, 3-2 and 4-1 victories over the Chevs. “I started slowly but by the end of the season my reflexes and concentration were better,” said Brunetta, an eighth-round pick of the Quebec Nordiques in 1985. “Now I’m…

The Hockey News NHL PLAYOFF REPORT

GOALTENDING ALL GOALS AGAINST A TEAM IN ANY GAME ARE CHARGED TO THE GOALTENDER OF THAT GAME FOR PURPOSES OF AWARDING THE BILL JENNINGS TROPHY WON-LOST-TIED RECORD IS BASED UPON WHICH GOALTENDER WAS PLAYING WHEN THE WINNING OR TYING GOAL WAS SCORED EMPTY-NET GOALS ARE NOT COUNTED IN PERSONAL AVERAGES BUT ARE INCLUDED IN THE TEAM TOTAL AND THE SHOT(S) IS INCLUDED IN THE GOALTENDER’S SHOTS AGAINST (SA) TOTAL (GP) GAMES PLAYED IN (MIN) MINUTES PLAYED (AVG) 60 MINUTE AVERAGE (GA) GOALS AGAINST (SA) SHOTS AGAINST (PCT) SAVE PERCENTAGE…

SCOREBOARD

NHL SUMMARIES

Tue. Apr. 14 Thu. Apr. 16 Sat. Apr. 18 WORLD TOURNAMENT Fri. Apr. 17 Sat. Apr. 18…

Playoff Opponents’ Records

TORONTO vs DETROIT WINNIPEG vs EDMONTON QUEBEC vs MONTREAL NY ISLANDERS vs PHILADELPHIA…

STANLEY CUP SCOREBOARD

PLAYOFF STANDINGS CAMPBELL CONFERENCE PRELIMINARY ROUND Division Semi-Finals NORRIS DIVISION GAMES COMPLETED WED. APR. 8 TORONTO 1 AT ST. LOUIS 3 THU. APR. 9 TORONTO 3 AT ST. LOUIS 2 SAT. APR. 11 ST. LOUIS 5 AT TORONTO 3 SUN. APR. 12 ST. LOUIS 1 AT TORONTO 2 TUE. APR. 14 TORONTO 2 AT ST. LOUIS 1 THU. APR. 16 ST. LOUIS 0 AT TORONTO 4 GAMES COMPLETED WED. APR. 8 CHICAGO 1 AT DETROIT 3 THU. APR. 9 CHICAGO 1 AT DETROIT 5 SAT. APR. 11 DETROIT 4 AT CHICAGO 3 SUN. APR. 12 DETROIT 3 AT CHICAGO 1 Division Semi-Finals SMYTHE DIVISION GAMES COMPLETED WED. APR. 8 LOS ANGELES 5 AT EDMONTON 2 THU. APR. 9 LOS ANGELES.3 AT EDMONTON 13 SAT. APR. 11 EDMONTON 6 AT LOS ANGELES 5 SUN. APR. 12 EDMONTON 6 AT LOS ANGELES 3 TUE. APR. 14 LOS ANGELES 4 AT EDMONTON 5 GAMES COMPLETED WED. APR. 8 WINNIPEG 4 AT CALGARY 2 THU. APR 9 WINNIPEG 3 AT CALGARY 2 SAT. APR. 11 CALGARY 3 AT WINNIPEG 2 SUN.…

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Fired Berry Had The Support Of His Players

PITTSBURGH—To a man, the Pittsburgh Penguins had been expecting coach Bob Berry and assistant Jim Roberts to be fired. But that does not mean Berry’s former players endorsed the moves. “After three years, this team hasn’t made playoffs and we need changes somewhere,” center Mario Lemieux said. “And when they make changes, it’s always the coaches who get fired. “But they did a good job with players we have. It’s hard to criticize them.” “When a team doesn’t do as well as expected, the first guys to get the axe are the coaches,” captain Terry Rus-kowski said. “That’s the unwritten rule. “It’s too bad those were the circumstances this time around. They’re very good coaches.” “I’ll certainly be sorry to see them go,” left winger Randy Cunneyworth said. “They gave me an opportunity to break into…

ASK THE REFEREE

Q: On March 7, in a game between Montreal and Edmonton, penalties were called against both teams with approximately three minutes left in the game. Montreal received a minor and Edmonton a double minor but Montreal went on a power play right away. I feel they should have played four aside for two minutes at which time the Canadiens would have a power play for the remaining minute or so of the game, unless they scored. Why would this power play start right away? Edmonton ended up scoring a shorthanded goal. Terry Chickness,New Glasgow, NS A: The system you recommend is the way the rule used to be applied before it was changed a number of years ago. The reason for the change was because teams were taking advantage when a team…

Carpenter Can’t Understand Rookie Carlsson’s Criticisms

EAST RUTHERFORD—Throughout his rookie season in the National Hockey League, Anders Carlsson made very little noise both on and off the ice. The left winger scored only two goals in 48 games for the New Jersey Devils and was equally as quiet in the dressing room and on the team bus. It was after the Devils’ season had been completed and Carlsson returned to skate with the Swedish national team at the World Championships that the 26-year-old left winger drew the most attention with statements, reportedly made to a Swedish newspaper, condemning coach Doug Carpenter. “I’m not certain where I’m going to play next season, but one thing is for sure: I will not play for the Devils under the same coach,” Carlsson said in reference to Carpenter. Although Carlsson was not available for…

CROSSWORD

ACROSS: 1. Coach and general manager pictured (6). 4. Hamilton-born netminder (6). 9. He was among the most active NHL netminders with 52 appearances last season (7). 10. Rebound (5). 11. Former Blues’ netminder Wakely (5). 12. Former Swedish national team member who was a first-team NHL all-star in 1976-77 (7). 13. Nickname of Regina’s Western League entry (4). 15. Blueliner taken first by Vancouver in the 1980 draft (4). 18. Veteran North Star who appeared in all 80 games for Hartford in 1979-80 (7). 21. Toronto arena,—Leaf Gardens (5). 23. Former Ranger Vadnais (5). 24. Surprise winner of the 1936 Olympic hockey championships (7). 25. Birthplace of Flames’ Nick Fotiu, Island (6). 26. He was among the WHA’s all-time penalty minute leaders (6). DOWN: 1. Floyd Smith was this club’s first captain (6). 2. How NHL teams travelled before expansion (5). 3. Nickname of late Hall of…

THIS WEEK…

30 YEARS AGO: • Dick Irvin, one of the greatest coaches ever, passed away after a long battle with leukemia. During a brilliant 26-year coaching career, Irvin’s teams won four Stanley Cups—three with the Toronto Maple Leafs and one with the Montreal Canadiens. He was also one of the game’s great innovators. In 1930-31, Irvin introduced the system of rotating three lines. He also experimented with rotating his goalkeepers every seven or eight minutes but that idea wasn’t as successful. • Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player for the third time in his career. He joined the select company of Howie Morenz and Eddie Shore, who won the award three and four times, respectively. The Red Wing superstar also won the…

THE WAY WE WERE

First Game Career Highlight

Larry Cahan survived for 23 years as a professional hockey player, but he never knew a more emotional moment than his first National Hockey League game, in the 1954-55 season. Cahan, a native of Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ont., was lining up on the blue line at Maple Leaf Gardens—the same rink he had heard described, but never seen, countless times on radio by the legendary Foster Hewitt. “I was shocked,” he recalled, “especially since it was my first game in the NHL. There I was, a member of the Maple Leafs, playing with and against some of those same players I had heard about on the radio. “Guys like Gordie Howe, all of a sudden, came to life right in front of me.” Cahan recovered sufficiently from his rookie awe to play…