><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> Here is an interesting article
> about refereeing in the old Soviet days...
><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Very interesting article.

Comment (totally OT): I still think that the ugliest and the dirtiest
Soviet refereeing wasn't in hockey but in soccer. There were games in
the USSR Elite soccer league when teams and officials were bribed by
the opponents. They even had a term - "dogovornye matchy" (game-by-
agreement). In 1972 (or '73), it went further than just a game. Zarya
Voroshilovgrad won the whole USSR Elite Soccer League championship by
bribing officials, teams... Damn, that was one of the most shameful
moments in the history of sports and everybody knew it and kept quiet
about it :-( But, I guess it's an "economic" cheat vs. "political"
cheat in hockey.

Just lurking,

___  Arthur Chidlovski _____________
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the
1972 USSR vs. Canada Summit Series
at http://www.chidlovski.com/p1972.htm

This note does not confirm.  If the Olympics were awarded in 1933,
this statement would still ring true.

Morey

--- In hockhist@y..., "Forever1940" <forever1940@y...> wrote:
> THe Olympics were not awarded until 1981, as this off topic note
from
> the U of Calgary confirms.
>
> <<NEWS
> Dennis Urquhart
> Media Relations
> (403) 220-7722
>
>
> December 13, 2001
>
> 20th Anniversary of world-class research facility
> Human Performance Laboratory
> ...
>
> Nigg, an experienced, senior researcher from Zurich, Switzerland,
> moved to Canada with his wife Nägi on the risk of a lifetime: that
> Jackson could accumulate $80 million for a new facility and
establish
> the graduate program. The risk paid off. In 1981, after Calgary was
> awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics, approval of the new buildings was
> confirmed with Olympic funding.>>
>
>
> --- In hockhist@y..., "Joe Pelletier" <iamjoepelletier@h...> wrote:
> > Thanks Mike. That is an interesting tidbit.
> >
> > >I believe the reason the Calgary Flames kept the Flames name was
> due
> > >to the fact they were getting ready to host the 1988 Winter
> Olympics.
> > >In 1980 when the city got the team, the city was already picked
to
> be
> > >host city. The tie in with the Olympic flame.
> > >Mike Witty
> >

Hi Hockhist people:

Here goes the latest news from Russia:

<><><><><><><><>

August 1, 2002
CSKA and HK CSKA? No more!

Finally, it happened. There will be only one CSKA in Russia. As of
August 1, 2002, the CSKA and HK CSKA merged into one club. Legendary
Russian coach, Viktor Tikhonov became CSKA President and Head
Coach. "What happened in 1996 was a BIG mistake," said Tikhonov at
the press conference when the announcement about the merger was made.

<><><><><><><><>

Just an update for those who remember the mighty Red Army Club from
the past :-)

___ Arthur Chidlovski _____________
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the
1972 USSR vs. Canada Summit Series
at http://www.chidlovski.com/p1972.htm

Lloyd,
     Very interesting story.  Thanks for the link.
Mike

hockhist@yahoogroups.com wrote:

> Message: 4
>    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 08:52:40 -0400
>    From: Lloyd Davis <ldavis2@...>
> Subject: O/T: SLAPSHOT: Oglethorpe
>
> Since David S-C left the list, the _Slap Shot_ quotient has dropped
> considerably, so here I am to stoke it up again. The Globe and Mail ran a
> lengthy profile of Bill "Goldie" Goldthorpe, the model for the Ogie
> Oglethorpe character from _Slap Shot_. Here's the shortened URL:
>
> http://shorl.com/bobehijuvufry

> Read a short piece written by Stan Mikita in whichhe claims that he
invented the curved stick.  I never heard this claim before so I have no
reason to doubt him.  However, I was wondering if anyone could confirm
this...

I heard somewhere (can't remember the source) that Cy Denneny used a curved
stick. Possibly, Mikita is a re-inventer...

Eugene

Hi all,
I had a chance to look at the section on Mikita in Dowbiggin's book "The
Stick", and in it he interviews journeyman Andy Bathgate (Rangers, Leafs,
etc) who claims he was curving his stick as early as 1940 in Winnipeg. He
also claims that when he broke into the NHL, coach Alf Pike of the Rangers
would break blades that had a curve, and banned them. He says Mikita
borrowed his stick and got the idea from him, but just  took it to the
extreme "banana" curve.

James
www.losthockey.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Eugene Karolinsky [mailto:karol@...]
Sent: August 2, 2002 4:49 PM
To: hockhist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [hockhist] Re: Innovations




> Read a short piece written by Stan Mikita in whichhe claims that he
invented the curved stick.  I never heard this claim before so I have no
reason to doubt him.  However, I was wondering if anyone could confirm
this...

I heard somewhere (can't remember the source) that Cy Denneny used a curved
stick. Possibly, Mikita is a re-inventer...

Eugene



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hockhist-unsubscribe@onelist.com

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

A minor correction, James.

Andy Bathgate was hardly a journeyman.  In an era dominated by Gordie
Howe and Maurice Richard on the right wing, Bathgate still picked up
two first all-star and two second all-star nominations.  He won the
Hart in 58-59, beating out Howe, Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion,
amongst others.

Morey

--- In hockhist@y..., "James Milks" <jamesm@v...> wrote:
> Hi all,
> I had a chance to look at the section on Mikita in Dowbiggin's
book "The
> Stick", and in it he interviews journeyman Andy Bathgate (Rangers,
Leafs,
> etc) who claims he was curving his stick as early as 1940 in
Winnipeg. He
> also claims that when he broke into the NHL, coach Alf Pike of the
Rangers
> would break blades that had a curve, and banned them. He says Mikita
> borrowed his stick and got the idea from him, but just  took it to
the
> extreme "banana" curve.
>
> James
> www.losthockey.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eugene Karolinsky [mailto:karol@s...]
> Sent: August 2, 2002 4:49 PM
> To: hockhist@y...
> Subject: [hockhist] Re: Innovations
>
>
>
>
> > Read a short piece written by Stan Mikita in whichhe claims that
he
> invented the curved stick.  I never heard this claim before so I
have no
> reason to doubt him.  However, I was wondering if anyone could
confirm
> this...
>
> I heard somewhere (can't remember the source) that Cy Denneny used
a curved
> stick. Possibly, Mikita is a re-inventer...
>
> Eugene
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this mail list, send a blank message to
> hockhist-unsubscribe@o...
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Also, Andy Bathgate is in the Hall of Fame, and deservedly so.  He was
captain of the New York Rangers in the late '50's and early '60's and scored
973 points in 1069 NHL games. In his era, those were tremendous numbers.

He led the NHL in assists in '61-62 (56) and '63-64 (58) and tied Hull for
the scoring title in '61-62 with 84 points. He was inducted into the HOF in
1978.

--Dave Soutter


> A minor correction, James.
>
> Andy Bathgate was hardly a journeyman.  In an era dominated by Gordie
> Howe and Maurice Richard on the right wing, Bathgate still picked up
> two first all-star and two second all-star nominations.  He won the
> Hart in 58-59, beating out Howe, Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion,
> amongst others.
>
> Morey

Oops. Sorry, poor choice of words. Not sure why I typed that. However, right
or wrong, it's irrelevant to the issue of curved sticks... Has anyone else
ever heard about Bathgate as the originator of the curved stick?

James

-----Original Message-----
From: DAVE SOUTTER [mailto:dsoutter@...]
Sent: August 2, 2002 8:01 PM
To: hockhist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [hockhist] Bathgate a "journeyman"?


Also, Andy Bathgate is in the Hall of Fame, and deservedly so.  He was
captain of the New York Rangers in the late '50's and early '60's and scored
973 points in 1069 NHL games. In his era, those were tremendous numbers.

He led the NHL in assists in '61-62 (56) and '63-64 (58) and tied Hull for
the scoring title in '61-62 with 84 points. He was inducted into the HOF in
1978.

--Dave Soutter


> A minor correction, James.
>
> Andy Bathgate was hardly a journeyman.  In an era dominated by Gordie
> Howe and Maurice Richard on the right wing, Bathgate still picked up
> two first all-star and two second all-star nominations.  He won the
> Hart in 58-59, beating out Howe, Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion,
> amongst others.
>
> Morey




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hockhist-unsubscribe@onelist.com

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

What exactly was the Dandurand racing circuit anyway? Horse racing?

James


-----Original Message-----
From: nieforth [mailto:nieforth@...]
Sent: July 29, 2002 9:05 AM
To: hockhist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [hockhist] Player Occupations 1930 - Answers


So, where were these players going to work when the 1929-30 seaon
ended?  According to the London Free Press their occupations were:

Clem Loughlin – ranching in Alberta (as mentioned)
Eddie Rodden – stock salesman in Toronto
John Sorrell – semi-pro baseball in Manitowic, Wisconsin
Gord Brydson – golf pro in Toronto
Tom Filmore – ass't. golf pro in London, Ontario
Dolly Dolson – Canadian National Railways machinist in Stratford,
Ontario
Len Grosvenor – Civil Service Exam Dep't. in Ottawa
Pete Palangio – chocolate dipper in North Bay
Rollie Paulhuis – cashier on the Dandurand racing circuit
Syd Howe – office clerk in Ottawa
Jean Pusie – cashier on the Dandurand racing circuit (and, probably,
some wrestling)
Archie Briden – city electrician in Calgary
Ken Doraty – insurance salesman in Regina
Alfie Moore – clerk in Toronto
Gord McFarlane – hardware salesman in Calgary
Alex Gray – clerk in Port Arthur (birthday given as June 21, 1901)
Happy Emms – electrician
Frank Carson – salesman
Mike Neville – salesman
Jack Arbour – city electrician in Calgary
Stan Brown – dentist in Windsor
Stew Evans – clerk in Ottawa

Joseph




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>Has anyone else
>ever heard about Bathgate as the originator of the curved stick?

I have heard the claim, though I couldn't tell you where I read that.

I haven't been following this thread, but I seem to recall a player back in
the 1930s or so claiming to have tinkered with his blade. I can't recall for
the life of me who it was now, so I guess I'm not helping much!

--------Joe Pelletier----------
http://www.1972summitseries.com

Coming to bookstores in Oct 2002:
     THE WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY
http://www3.telus.net/worldcuphockey


_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

Hey all,
    Thanks again for any and all help on the Hamilton
situation.  Sounds pretty interesting.

Now, I have some questions about some old IHL cities
and teams:
1)Do Muncie (IN), Marion, Akron,  and Troy (OH), and
Lansing (MI) still have arenas?  I also think I asked
this, but does Danville (know they were not IHL, but
hey, same vacinity) also still have an arena?

2) The 1959-1960 Denver Mavericks are noted as
finnishing the season in Minneapolis.  Does anyone
know when and why they moved mid-season, or did they
never even play in Denver?

Many thanks,
nick


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com

I know that Troy still has the old barn, the Hobart Arena.

JstHckCin,
    Thanks for the info.  I also appreciate the name of
thearena mentioned.

Nick

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com

Ok, so just one I get one league straightened out,
another decides to play games.  According to my old
roomie in El Paso, who now resides near Port Huron is
attempting to obtain a job with the Beacons, they were
the Canton/Massillion/Ohio/Saginaw franchise.  Is this
correct?  B/c The Canton Ice Patrol still has a web
site up.  And according to the UHL page on in the
crease, the Beacons are classified as expansion.  So
can anyone clear this up?

Second, what happened to BC, New Haven, and the old
Port Huron franchises, are they suspended or completly
dead?

Side note: Have you all heard that Colorado of the
WCHL is now suspended ops?  So that leave 6 teams,
with anchorage in the air.

Nick

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com

In a message dated 08/02/2002 11:49:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
enlenz50@... writes:

<< JstHckCin,
     Thanks for the info.  I also appreciate the name of
  thearena mentioned >>
Not a problem. The place has a history to it. Back in the early 50's when the
Troy Bruins and Cincinnati Mohawks were in the "I" there was a unique
doubleheader held. The two teams played two games on the same day with one
being held at the Hobart Arena and another at the Cincinnati Gardens.

The Saginaw/Canton franchise was technically suspended until they
found a home and could begin operations. Any suspended team that
reactivates needs an expansion draft so they are an expansion team.
Beacons have a site at http://www.beaconshockey.com
(nice logo btw).

The original Port Huron (BorderCats) franchise is suspended for a
year. I guess Afr will find a buyer to move it on elsewhere. Not sure
if the Beacons now hold the rights to PH or if they are just filling
the void. Maybe 'darby' will know better.

As for the others, they are all suspended awaiting buyers/relocation.

mike
@eurohockey.net

At 08:52 PM 8/2/02 -0700, you wrote:
>Ok, so just one I get one league straightened out,
>another decides to play games.  According to my old
>roomie in El Paso, who now resides near Port Huron is
>attempting to obtain a job with the Beacons, they were
>the Canton/Massillion/Ohio/Saginaw franchise.  Is this
>correct?

No -- the owner who was attempting to buy the franchise and relocate it
from Massilon to Canton was rebuffed by the city, and decided to give up,
pulling out of the arrangements to buy the Canton/Massilon/Ohio/Saginaw
IcePatrol/Xpress/Gears.

He was then awarded an EXPANSION franchise in Port Huron, and that
franchise purchased the territorial rights from the dormant Afr-owned Port
Huron Border Cats franchise.

>Second, what happened to BC, New Haven, and the old
>Port Huron franchises, are they suspended or completly
>dead?

I believe all three are officially "suspended".  BC would have to move to
resurface, and I express skepticism that a suitable location will be
found.  New Haven's fans claim that someone will be building a small arena
locally within a couple years, and that the Knights would return there --
again, I express skepticism.  Port Huron is suspended, and sold their
territorial rights -- who knows what will happen with Afr's
partially-completed rusting shell of an arena in Kimball Township?

>Side note: Have you all heard that Colorado of the
>WCHL is now suspended ops?  So that leave 6 teams,
>with anchorage in the air.

Anchorage is NO LONGER in the air -- they officially transferred ownership
to a local group out of Chapter 7 as of 7/31, and will DEFINITELY be
playing the 2002-03 season.  Which is what made the GK's folding such a
radical surprise, with all eyes on Anchorage.


--
Hans Hornstein (lennier@...)
http://www.byz.org/~lennier/
"Well, you can buy your friends, but I'll hate you for free."

>At 08:52 PM 8/2/02 -0700, you wrote:
>>Ok, so just one I get one league straightened out,
>>another decides to play games.  According to my old
>>roomie in El Paso, who now resides near Port Huron is
>>attempting to obtain a job with the Beacons, they were
>>the Canton/Massillion/Ohio/Saginaw franchise.  Is this
>>correct?
>
>No -- the owner who was attempting to buy the franchise and relocate it
>from Massilon to Canton was rebuffed by the city, and decided to give up,
>pulling out of the arrangements to buy the Canton/Massilon/Ohio/Saginaw
>IcePatrol/Xpress/Gears.
>
>He was then awarded an EXPANSION franchise in Port Huron, and that
>franchise purchased the territorial rights from the dormant Afr-owned Port
>Huron Border Cats franchise.
>

Sort of. The Beacons are an entirely separate entity than the Canton Ice
Patrol. They are two completely separate teams. When the mayor of Canton
decided he did not want hockey, Ken Dixon, who was an investor (but not
owner) in the Canton franchise, purchased an expansion team and put it in
Port Huron. Thus the Beacons are an expansion franchise with NO connection
to Saginaw/Massillon/Canton.

Part of the deal to get the Beacons to PH, included Afr giving up his
territorial rights. I don't know if he still retains the franchise rights
to the Cats or not.

Matt

Hey Lloyd!

Thanks so much for getting this story to us. It was great, any Slapshot fan
has to see it!!

Brian

My question is why on earth would anyone want to bring a team to Port Huron?
They were dead last in attendance last year in all of minor league hockey.

Brian

Hi HockHist_list:

December 31, 1975. Montreal Forum.
Montreal Canadiens 3, CSKA 3...

Do you remember that game? Do you remember the guy who scored the 3rd
goal for CSKA ? That was Boris Alexandrov...

Sad news just came from Russia - he was killed in a car accident
three days ago. He was 46. According to the Russian press, he was
driving to see his son's hockey game and was killed on Ufa-
Cheliabinsk highway.

___  Arthur Chidlovski _____________
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the
1972 USSR vs. Canada Summit Series
at http://www.chidlovski.com/p1972.htm


PS:

Personal Comments/Memories :::

Fearless "tiny" LW Boris Alexandrov played for the Red Army Club on
their famous 2nd line Vikulov-Zhluktov-Alexandrov. With Team USSR, he
won the gold Olympic medal in 1976. For some reason, he was never
honored with the Merited Sports Master Awars (kinda Russian Hockey
Hall of Fame). Many people thought it was strange and unfair because
99% of Olympic Champions get this Award*. After his player's career,
Boris Alexandrov coached Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk and Kazakhstan
national team.

* for those who are interested, you can see the Russian Hall of Fame
List at http://www.chidlovski.com/personal/1972/stats/ruzms.htm

>
>Message: 3
>   Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2002 15:10:26 EDT
>   From: mtlhockey@...
>Subject: Re: PH Beacons
>
>My question is why on earth would anyone want to bring a team to Port Huron?
>They were dead last in attendance last year in all of minor league hockey.
>
>Brian

To put it simply, fans didn't come because of Afr. I know that's hard to
believe, but it's the truth. He screwed the city, the fans, and the
franchise, and many people were just too pissed off to go to the games.
Attendance will be much better for the Beacons. Don't forget Port Huron is
a city with a very rich hockey tradition. The fans are there, just need a
quality product on the ice with quality management. They won't average
3,000 this year, but should have a vast improvement over the 1,200 or so of
last year.

Matt

mrdcool wrote:


> To put it simply, fans didn't come because of Afr. I know that's hard to
> believe, but it's the truth. He screwed the city, the fans, and the
> franchise, and many people were just too pissed off to go to the games.


As one who lives in a "post-Afr" commnunity, no... it isn't that hard to
believe.  But we still averaged 5,500/game during an 18 win season, no
advertising, no replays, no spots, and no nada that could be cut to
shave costs.  For a while I thought we'd have to start bringing our own
   pucks!  Anyway, I can well understand the reluctance to support them.
   Hell...they kept telling us all was well here while they packed up the
office!
--
Bluegrass Hockey: Celebrating hockey in the Commonwealth:
http://mangodance.tripod.com/bgh/bghockey.htm

Mangodance's Volkswagen Toys & Literature:
http://mangodance.tripod.com
Volkswagen Toy Group (& literature):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/volkswagentoygroup
Johnny Lightning Good Traders Directory:
http://mangodance.tripod.com/jltraders.htm

Found this in Scott Young's 1966 book, "The Leafs I Knew".  It might
add a little to the thread about Ed Babiuk, from Wayne Brownhill's
post 19412, and the subsequent replies (19413, 19494, 19498, 19499,
22769):

entry for March 9, 1960:
Leafs had been beaten, 9-4, by the Canadiens and the crowd's boos were
still up there in the rafters somewhere, along with the jeering
applause when John Bower made a save.

Their hero now was standing in his sweaty long underwear.  Before him
on a rubbing table sat the doctor, hat pushed off his forehead, big
scissors probing under the tape covering part of Bower's right hand.

Snipped it and peeled it off.  Took the thumb in two fingers and began
moving it this way and that, occasionally glancing at Bower.  The
doctor said, "How many goals did it cost?"

Bower said, "Can't blame it on that.  I just had a bad night."

That's his stick hand, his right.  A goalie has to swing that big
stick as if it were part of the arm.  Bower fell on the thumb in
practice.  It was swollen and painful.  He reported for X-rays.  They
showed nothing broken, but a bad sprain.  The thumb is a big part of
making the stick seem like part of the arm, and it just wouldn't grip.
  He looked bad.

In the intermission after the second period Punch Imlach, the coach,
considered taking him out of the game.  Sent someone to find Ed
Babiuk, a junior down from Melville who belongs to Leafs and was in
the rink.  Babiuk turned up, extremely white.  Imlach humanely changed
his mind.

*  *  *

Rob Swiniarski

Montrose BC
francz39@...



--- In hockhist@y..., "Wayne  Brownhill" <brwnhill@t...> wrote:
> Does anyone have any information about a Leaf goaltender that
backed up
> Johnny Bower in the mid-sixties. Apparently he played 4 minutes in
a
> game one night and was with the Leafs for a couple of games. His
name
> was Ed Babiuk.
>
>  Thanks Wayne

How far back does The Hockey News publish every box score for every game?
I'm specifically looking throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but I'd like to
when they started doing this.

Thank you in advance...

--------Joe Pelletier----------
http://www.1972summitseries.com

Coming to bookstores in Oct 2002:
     THE WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY
http://www3.telus.net/worldcuphockey


_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com

I've heard it out of Bathgate's own mouth.  ESPN Classic did a
profile on Jacques Plante, and Bathgate claims that he created the
slapshot, and it was his slapshot that broke Plante's nose that
caused Plante to wear a mask.  This was in the past week, so I'm sure
it will reappear for those of you in the States.

Morey

--- In hockhist@y..., "James Milks" <jamesm@v...> wrote:
> Oops. Sorry, poor choice of words. Not sure why I typed that.
However, right
> or wrong, it's irrelevant to the issue of curved sticks... Has
anyone else
> ever heard about Bathgate as the originator of the curved stick?
>
> James
>

I've been a THN reader since the late 70s.  They published box
scores, but not every single one of them.  They were missing several
WHA boxes during the 78-79 season.  Fortunately, they had all
Gretzky's Racer days.  But their box scores left a lot to be
desired.  Generally, just the scorers and penalties.  Sometimes they
had goalie stats, but rarely if the goaltending was split for the
game.

Hope that helps.

Morey



--- In hockhist@y..., "Joe Pelletier" <iamjoepelletier@h...> wrote:
>
> How far back does The Hockey News publish every box score for every
game?
> I'm specifically looking throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but I'd
like to
> when they started doing this.
>
> Thank you in advance...
>
> --------Joe Pelletier----------
> http://www.1972summitseries.com
>
> Coming to bookstores in Oct 2002:
>     THE WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY
> http://www3.telus.net/worldcuphockey
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device:
http://mobile.msn.com

Don Keenan was one of those Original Six 'spare goalies' who actually
got to play an NHL game when the regular goalie was unable to lace
'em up.

Scott Young fills in some of the details of how the whole arrangement
worked, and the little magic that can happen (again, from 'The Leafs I
Knew'):

March 9, 1959:
Friday evening, on a rattler bound from Boston to Toronto, a large and
apple-cheeked goaltender named Harry Lumley ordered a shrimp salad and
consumed same.  This started a rather remarkable series of events.

The fuses on these shrimps were set to go off early Saturday
afternoon.  This they did, causing a series of painful, exasperating
and uncontrollable emergencies in Mr. Lumley's pipes and tubes.
During one lull he managed to get to his room telephone at the Royal
York.  In the resultant alerting of the management of the Boston
Bruins, to whom Mr. Lumley is indentured, Dr. Hugh Smythe (one of the
Toronto Maple Leafs' club doctors) was called.  For the balance of the
afternoon he administered various potions and powders, pausing only
long enough to say that he doubted his patient would be in shape to
play goal that evening as scheduled, at Maple Leaf Gardens.

This caused a call to be made to Punch Imlach.  In the NHL, the home
club is required to have on hand a spare goaltender for emergencies.
Mr. Imlach took from his pocket a printed sheet containing names and
addresses of goaltenders designated as standbys for Saturday's game.

He phoned the first one, Don Keenan.  Keenan wasn't home.  Imlach left
a message:  Keenan should get to the rink early.  He might be playing.

Keenan, a dark youth of twenty, may not always be as pale as he was on
Saturday.  He is in third-year mechanical engineering at the
University of Toronto.  He had practised this year with St. Michael's
juniors, but had not played since one game in last year's junior
playoffs when he was hoisted into the St. Mike's nets in a similar
emergency.  He was studying at the home of a friend about 5:16 p.m.
when his brother called and passed along Imlach's message.

Keenan airily interpreted the whole thing as a brotherly ruse to get
him home for dinner.  However, in due course, he proceeded to Maple
Leaf Gardens.  About 7 p.m. he idly took a seat in the reds to watch
the ice freeze, and reflect quietly on other aspects of life:  he
still thought the earlier call had been a gag.

At 7:05 p.m. Imlach entered the rink.  Milt Schmidt, the Boston coach,
sought him out in the corridor outside the Leaf dressing-room and said,
"Where is this kid?"

Imlach walked out into the arena near the Leaf playing bench, looked
around, and called, "Who's Keenan?"

Keenan rose in his seat and came down.

Imlach said, "Keenan, I would like you to meet Milt Schmidt."

A minute or two later, Keenan found himself in the Boston
dressing-room taking off his shirt.

Meanwhile, Schmidt proceeded thoughtfully to the press room.  He was
stirring a cup of coffee when the two or three others on hand heard
that Lumley was ill.  Somebody asked, "Who've you got in goal?"

Schmidt thought hard, then smiled wanly.  "I forget his name."

Imlach entered.  He reacts to the troubles of opponents with the
deepest equanimity.  Lynn Patrick, the Boston manager, said to Imlach,
"How old is this kid?"

Imlach (needling):  "About sixteen."

Patrick (very pained):  "I mean, seriously..."

Imlach:  "Seriously, I can only say that I tried the Blind Institute,
but they had no one available."

So Keenan played.  At first, the crowd obviously feared a massacre.
As the game progressed, however, Leaf paritsans began muttering that
maybe this kid was *too* good; this before Ron Stewart got two and
Carl Brewer one, in the third period, to win it.

When Keenan was picked by Wes McKnight of CFRB as one of the game's
three stars (Johnny Bower and Ron Stewart, the others), there was a
mighty cheer as his name was announced, and a standing hand-clapping
ovation as he left the ice.

Keenan said later that he hadn't been nervious.  But he was answering
questions with the passionate interest of a man who hadn't been sure
he would measure up, then had.  His biggest thrill?  "When I beat Dick
Duff."  This was a horizontal smother of a breakaway shot.  In sport
the sweetest victory is when one thwarts an old friend.  Keenan and
Duff had been classmates at St. Mike's.  Duff going on to be a good
pro and Keenan on to university.

The scene I liked was there in the Boston dressing-room after the
game.  All sports writers present were gathered about in the centre of
the room, asking questions.  Around the walls, the gnarled and
battered Boston regulars, a black eye here, an oozing set of new
stitches there, listened carefully and with interest to the
interviewing.  But they also hastily were dressing and making ready
for the road; game number ssixty-three of the hard season behind them,
game number sixty-four less than twenty-five hours away.

*  *  *

Rob Swiniarski

Montrose BC
francz39@...

I started reading THN in the late '60's.  Back then, THN published box
scores for the NHL, AHL, CHL and WHL.  They quit the minor-league box scores
sometime in the mid-'70's.  I'll have to dig thru some of my old issues and
see if my memory is as good as I think!

--Dave Soutter