Toronto Maple Leafs

Not so long ago, the Maple Leafs were attempting to build around a five-man nucleus. Their stars were Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, Mike Palmateer, Ian Turnbull and Borje Salming. Today, only Salming is a Leaf and, at age 31, he’s one of only three starters over the age of 30, the oldest in fact with winger Billy Harris and goalie Michel Larocque each at 30. The Leafs are well caught up in the youth movement. Average age for the club this season will be near 23, making the Leafs one of the youngest teams in the league. Two of the starting defensemen are likely to be teenagers with No. 1 draft choice Gary Nylund, 18, joining Jim Benning, a sophomore pro at 19. With Fred Boimistruck and Craig Muni, both 20,…

Quebec Nordiques

The most amazing aspect of the Quebec Nordiques’ playoff success in the spring of 1982 wasn’t the fact that they made believers out of the Canadiens and the Bruins en route to the Adams Division championship, it was the way they did it. It’s spelled D-E-F-E-N-S-E. Yes, the free-wheeling Nordiques, with all those great shooters and skaters, turned their attention towards the checking game and outworked, outhustled and outbumped Montreal and Boston out of the playoffs. It was only too bad that the Islanders had to spoil their fun. But the Nordiques came away with invaluable playoff experience and the championship of the province of Quebec, adding fervor to the momentum generated by their enthusiastic fans. The Nordiques are a young team and bound to improve even more, perhaps along the same lines…

Ontario Hockey League

Boston Bruins

When Bruin general manager Harry Sinden was deliberating about the player that the team would chose with the first pick in the 1982 entry draft, he said he was waiting to see the results of the playoffs to determine whether the Bruins were a good club or not and if they were on the right track towards obtaining another Stanley Cup or two. At that time, Sinden said that Brian Bellows — generally regarded as the top available player — would fit in well, but only if he went to a good club. With that bit of logic established, the Bruins proved to Sinden that they were, indeed, a good club, even though they lost in the Adams Division final to the Quebec Nordiques. Sinden then went out and fooled everyone, including,…