Ties by identical 2-2 scores were the order of the day in the National Hockey League Wednesday. At Madison Square Garden in New York the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers skated to a draw, while in Chicago the Boston Bruins held Bobby Hull off the scoreboard and that was enough to garner the Bruins a point against the high-flying Hawks.
Giacomin Shuts the Door
At New York, the Maple Leafs managed to withstand a furious third-period rally by the Rangers to salvage a point. After holding the edge in play over the first two frames, the Rangers took over the game in the final 20 minutes, out shooting the visitors 12-3 and scoring the game tying goal.
Leafs Led Early
The Leafs came out of the first period with a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by Bob Pulford and George Armstrong. Pulford beat Ranger rookie goalie Ed Giacomin with a screened shot from about 20 feet at 10:44. Armstrong made it 2-0 about three minutes later when he tipped in a shot by Kent Douglas from well out. Despite the two goals Giacomin held the Rangers in the game as Toronto dominated.
The second stanza was more evenly played, but Giacomin had already decided no more pucks would get past him on this night. Jean Ratelle scored the period’s only goal, set up by line mates Doug Robinson and Rod Gilbert. Ratelle’s goal was not the result of the usual tic-tac-toe sort of work of which that unit is capable. In a wild scramble in front of Leaf goalie Johnny Bower, Marcel Pronovost snagged a loose puck. Somehow, the puck was knocked off his stick and Ratelle, lying prone on the ice, took a wild swipe at it. The disk managed to elude the grasp of Bower and entered the net.
That set the stage for the all-Ranger third.
Gilbert Ties It
New York came out flying to start the final session. From the faceoff the Rangers were on a power play thanks to a Tim Horton penalty late in the second. They immediately went to the attack and the strategy paid off. Gilbert tipped a Harry Howell slap shot from the point past a helpless Bower to tie the score at 2-2.
The rest of the final period was a story of the Rangers applying relentless pressure while the veteran Bower held them off. Try as they might, outshooting the Leafs 12-3, the Broadway Blueshirts were unable to get the go-ahead goal past Toronto’s China Wall.
Referee Art Skov handed out 10 minor penalties during the game, with eight of them going to Toronto.
Rookie Goalie Shines for Bruins
Twenty-year-old Bernie Parent made his first NHL game a memorable one as he made 40 saves to almost single-handedly preserve a 2-2 tie for the Boston Bruins against the Black Hawks in Chicago.
Parent, who a year ago was playing junior hockey in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is in his first pro season and was called up to the Bruins from Oklahoma City of the Central Professional Hockey League. With regular goaltenders Ed Johnston and Gerry Cheevers on the shelf with injuries, it was left to Parent to face the a powerful, undefeated Chicago club at the top of its game.
The tie gave the Bruins their first point of the season after starting off with three successive losses. Chicago, winners of their first four contests, remains undefeated and their first-place lead over Montreal is now two points.
The teams battled through a wide-open but scoreless first period, highlighted by stellar goalkeeping by Parent and Chicago’s Glenn Hall.
Wharram Opens Scoring in Second
The Black Hawks drew first blood early in the second on a goal by Kenny Wharram. Bruins Ron Stewart tied it up at 1-1 with his third of the season with just one second left on the clock in the middle frame.
It looked like the third period would see the Hawks run the Bruins right out of Chicago Stadium. Only 14 seconds into the frame, Doug Mohns put Chicago up with his sixth of the year. But Murray Oliver came right back for Boston only 38 seconds later to knot the score once again, and that is how it finished, but only due to the fine work of Parent.
The Hawks continued to come at the Bruins and their young goalkeeper, but Parent was equal to the task time after time, finishing the night with 40 saves. It seemed that Chicago simply would not tire, attacking the Bruins goal with wave after wave. Parent was unflappable and withstood the pressure with great aplomb.
Perhaps the greatest testament to the game Parent had is the fact that Bobby Hull, with eight goals in his first four games, was held off the score sheet for the first time this season.
Vancouver Canucks To Be Sold
A syndicate made up of 11 prominent Vancouver business men is expected to complete the purchase of the Vancouver Canucks hockey club of the Western Hockey League. Present Canucks owner Fred Hume will, along with his wife, retain a 10% stake in the Canucks ownership.
Cyrus McLean says that the group will pay the Humes $500,000 for 90% ownership of the team. He also said that the group has already made an application to the National Hockey League for an expansion franchise. The NHL is expected to award six franchises, to begin play as soon as the 1967-68 season in a division which will be separate from the present six NHL members.
On October 20 the league’s Board of Governors voted to include Vancouver in their expansion plans, provided the city can build an arena that meets the NHL’s standards.
Big Bomber Suffers Heart Attack
Former National Hockey League star Charlie Conacher, known as “The Big Bomber” has been taken to hospital after suffering a heart attack at his Toronto home yesterday.
Officials at the Toronto General Hospital said last night that Conacher, 55, was in fair condition upon his arrival and shortly afterwards he underwent an operation. They said that last night his condition had improved.
Conacher is one of the legendary figures in Toronto Maple Leafs history. He played 10 years with Toronto, and twice was the NHL’s leading scorer. He scored 225 goals during his big league career.
Following his retirement from playing, Conacher coached junior hockey until joining the Chicago Black Hawks as coach in 1947. He coached the sad-sack Hawks for two and a half seasons, but didn’t manage to guide them into the playoffs.
In recent days, Conacher has been linked to a possible NHL expansion franchise for San Francisco. He had as his guest last week entertainer Bing Crosby, who is pursuing a team for the west coast city. During the visit, Conacher took Crosby to a Maple Leaf game, as well as a pheasant hunting trip at Trenton and a horse race at the local Woodbine race track.
Quebec Slashes Blades
The Quebec Aces of the American Hockey League made short work of the Western Hockey League’s Los Angeles Blades Tuesday night. The Aces blasted the Blades 9-1 at Quebec City.
Terry Gray and Leon Rochefort scored two goals each to lead the Quebec attack. Other goal-getter for the home side were Jim Morrison, Ed Hoekstra, Don Blackburn, Cleland Mortson and Bill Sutherland. Willie O’Ree was the only Los Angeles player to beat Aces goalie Gary Bauman.
Braves Bomb Blazers
The St. Louis Braves got three-goal performances from Oscar Gaudet and Dick Meissner en route to a 10-0 pasting of the Oklahoma City Blazers in Central Professional Hockey League play last night.
Notes:
- Buffalo Bisons of the AHL have purchased F Pat Hannigan from the Pittsburgh Hornets for 15,000. Hannigan had been drafted by Detroit from Buffalo in June, but the winger refused to play for Pittsburgh when he was unable to make the Red Wings.
- Boston Bruins called up rookie D Gilles Marotte from Oklahoma City of the CPHL for last night’s game against Chicago.
- Detroit Red Wings have sent D Bob McCord to Pittsburgh of the AHL. McCord was acquired from Boston this summer in a seven-player trade. Taking McCord’s spot on the Red Wing roster is D Pete Goegan.
- F Art Stratton, who went AWOL from the St. Louis Braves last week, has returned to the team after missing three games.
- Los Angeles Blades of the WHL have acquired D Ray Larose from the Quebec Aces of the AHL.
