The Figment Hockey News - Page 4

Tiger Fan · 07-28-2023, 01:07 PM

DECEMBER 22, 1947

VALIANTS ADD ELITE PAIR OF DEFENDERS

The Montreal Valiants may have just become the clear favourite to claim the Challenge Cup in April after a major trade deadline deal with the struggling Detroit Motors netted a pair of elite defensemen including all-star Shel Herron. The 32-year-old Herron will immediately become the top defenseman on the Vals and combined with 28-year-old Bryant Williams, who joins Herron in the move to Montreal, the duo elevate the Valiants defense to quite possibly the best in the league.

The cost was not light as Detroit, desperate for an improved offense, adds 20-year-old center Francis McKenzie, who was selected second overall by the Vals in the July draft but had been apprenticing in Syracuse with a deep core of forwards ahead of him on the Vals. McKenzie, described by Detroit head scout Frank Yeadon as someone who "has the potential to become an oustanding player in our league," will be joined in Detroit by youthful defenseman Spencer Larocque, a 21-year-old who had 6 points in 21 games as a rookie with Montreal this season. Also heading to the Motor City will be the rights to 22-year-old rearguard Dixon Butler who Yeadon believes could eventually become Herron's equal. It will be a long wait for Butler as the 1945 second round draft pick is under contract to Tacoma of the Great Western Hockey League for four seasons.

The move makes it very difficult to find a hole in the Valiants as there offense is nearly the equal of Chicago's and the defense quickly becomes the envy of the league. Detroit management will be looking fondly to the future but in Montreal the future is clearly now as the Valiants stock up for a bid at their first Challenge Cup win since 1928.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS  GF  GA
Chicago   25 16  8  1  33  98  60
Montreal  25 14  9  2  30  83  79
Boston    25 11 12  2  24  73  71
Toronto   26 11 13  2  24  72  88
New York  24 10 13  1  21  70  70
Detroit   25  8 15  2  18  61  69
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   25 21 15  36
Mahoney, Chi   24 12 21  33
W Burns, Chi   23 10 21  31
Albers, NY     24  7 17  24
Cabbell, NY    23 15  8  23
Pollack, Tor   24 11 12  23
Chandler, Bos  25 10 13  23
Lanceleve, Mon 25 10 13  23
Skinner, Mon   25 10 13  23
Lynch, Mon     20  8 12  20
Gregg, NY      19 10  9  19
Sauer, Tor     22  9 10  19
Hart, Bos      24  9 10  19
Galbraith, Tor 26  8 11  19
Haines, Mon    21  6 13  19
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
James, Bos      9  4  4  1   1  2.56
Hanson, Chi    20 11  8  1   2  2.56
Tremblay, NY   15  7  7  0   1  2.59
Carter, Det     8  1  4  0   0  2.87
Brockers, Bos  16  7  8  1   0  2.94
Broadway, Tor  23  9 11  2   1  3.22
Touhey, Mon    22 13  8  0   1  3.28
Sorrell, NY    11  3  6  1   2  3.31
Chasse, Det    20  7 11  2   1  3.71

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 17

Detroit 0 at 7 Chicago: With plenty of trade talk surrounding the Motors as Saturday's trade deadline nears, including potential rumours of a deal with Chicago, the Detroit Motors delivered what was likely their worst game of the season in being hammered 7-0 in Chicago. The streak Packers ran their record to 11-1-1 in their last 13 games. It started innocently enough with Ed Delarue scoring the opening goal of the period for the Packers, who were playing without veteran Wes Burns -sidelined for a week. Chicago then exploded for 3 goals in each the second and third periods including a pair of the stick of defenseman Pete Moreau and Tommy Burns league-leading 19th of the season.

Boston 2 at 5 New York: Boston's December struggles continue with the Bees suffering their fourth loss in the past six games while the Shamrocks clearly have the Bees number, winning four of their five meetings this season. Right winger Tommy Brescia has had a quiet start to the season for New York, but he did shine in this one with 3 assists to give him 11 points in 24 games after scoring 36 points in 42 contests last season.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 20

Boston 6 at 6 Montreal: All eyes at the Montreal Arena were focused on the two newest Valiants as veteran defenseman Shel Herron and Bryant Williams arrived on the train from Detroit just prior to game time. Each would play a regular shift and Herron scored his first goal of the season while also adding an assist in a high scoring dual. It was not the Valiants finest defensive effort as they settled for a 6-6 draw despite outshooting Boston 39-19. Montreal squandered a 5-2 second period lead and needed a Brett Lanceleve goal with 25 seconds remaining and goaltender Millard Touhey on the bench for an extra attacker just to escape with a single point.

Detroit 4 at 4 Toronto: Detroit had its two newcomers in the lineup following the trade and defenseman Spencer Larocque picked up an assist in the 4-4 tie. Rookie Lou Galbraith scored twice for Toronto while Arnold Singleton and Nick Tardiff led the Motors with a goal and an assist each.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 21

Detroit 4 at 0 Boston: Henri Chasse made 21 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Motors blanked Boston 4-0 at Denny Arena. Newcomer Spencer Larocque scored the opening goal of the game while Ben Witt, Joe Todd and Nick Tardiff added second period markers for the Motors who fired 35 shots on Boston netminder Oscar James.

Toronto 0 at 6 Chicago: The surging Packers won their fourth in a row and Norm Hanson posted his second straight shutout in a 6-0 lambasting of Toronto. Tommy Burns scored twice and added two helpers while defenseman Mark Brooks had 2 goals and an assist as Chicago moved 3 points clear of Montreal atop the NAHC standings.

Montreal 3 at 1 New York: The Shamrocks won their third game in a row with a 3-1 victory at Bigsby Gardens over Montreal. Sam Furr snapped a 1-1 tie with the game winner at 18:08 of the third period and Jocko Gregg sealed the win with an empty net goal for his 10th marker of the season.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
TUESDAY DECEMBER 23
New York at Chicago

THURSDAY DECEMBER 25
Chicago at Boston
New York at Detroit
Toronto at Montreal

SATURDAY DECEMBER 27
Chicago at Montreal
Boston at Toronto

SUNDAY DECEMBER 28
Boston at Detroit
Toronto at New York

MOTORS PRESS RELEASE ON DEADLINE TRADE

The deal marks a major shift in approach for the struggling Motors who go from a defense-first club that has struggled in its own end this season to a team that now has some pieces to perhaps one day embrace the same firewagon style of hockey that seems to be a very successful approach in both Montreal and Chicago this season. The key piece for the Motors is young center Francis McKenzie. The 20 year old was selected second overall by the Valiants in the June draft and will go from apprenticing in Syracuse to what is hoped to be a lead role in the Motor City immediately. Long-term, Motors coach Mark Moore sees McKenzie as the first-line playmaking center that can carry a club offensively.

21-year-old Spencer Larocque will fill one of the vacancies on the Motors blueline and hopefully will evolve to the level of Williams in his own end while having a higher ceiling as an offensive contributor. The Motors will have a long wait for Dixon Butler as the 22-year-old is contracted to Tacoma for four seasons but Detroit scouts feel he has the potential to develop into a top pairing defenseman in the league when he does arrive.

The club anticipates perhaps some short term struggles on the blueline but if Larocque can handle increased minutes right away and Mike Schlegel -a player the club was very high on before an off-ice incident caused a rift with teammates, most notably Williams, and led to his expulsion to Buffalo- has gained a level of maturity the club is not ruling out contending for a playoff spot this season.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

From Brett Bing, Toronto Mail & Empire -- The Toronto Dukes, hanging on to a playoff spot by the skin of their collective teeth, have been dealt a further blow. Gordie Broadway was transferred to the injury list before the GM could stop the transaction, now he will be out until the beginning of 1948. This has forced a contract offer to Bruce Taggart to serve as backup in Toronto. Terry Russell will now start at least the next three games over the Christmas season. Russell just let 6 by him on 43 shots in a 6-0 whitewash by the Packers, not a good start.
From Dan Urbanski, Detoit Times --I suppose it is slightly better to be a bad young team than just a bad team. That is the prevailing thought of scribes gathered in the Dominion Gardens press box Saturday night dissecting the news that the Motors had deal their two best defensemen -and arguably two best players- to Montreal for a trio of highly touted, but as of yet unproven prospects. The Motors did look like a more determined club after the deal broke and picked up 3 of 4 points over the weekend. Spencer Larocque may make fans forget about Bryant Williams but it will be tough to replace Shel Herron as well on the Detroit blueline.
There were rumours the Chicago Packers were very interested in adding either Williams or Herron from Detroit but the Packers brass balked at the cost. Judging by the last four games, where the Packers outscored their opponents 23-4 in winning each of them including back to back shutouts this week, there is not much of a need for an upgrade in Chicago.
Not only are the Boston Bees struggling with a 2-5-1 December record, but they are also beat up on the blueline. Veterans Harry Neigbor and Willis Beane are both out for a couple of weeks while 24-year-old Conn Cundiff, who has 12 points already this season, might miss a couple of days with a broken nose. Add in the fact that 32-year-old Frank Yeadon has missed most of the season with a wrist injury and it is slim pickings on the Bees blueline at the moment.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

The Cleveland Finches topped the Washington Wasps 24-17 to win their first American Football Association title since 1932
Woody Stone signed a record smashing contract with the San Francisco Hawks that will pay the 31-year-old catcher nearly $100,000 next season.
A half-million fans are expected to take in the New Year's Day classic games including an expected 100,000 in Santa Ana to witness the East-West Classic between Detroit City College and CC Los Angeles.
Still waiting on Congressional approval for nearly $600 million of emergency aid for European recovery, President Truman asked for $6,800,000,000 to launch the Marshall plan by April 1 and a total commitment of $17 billion to carry through to June 1952. Sharp attacks from both Republicans and Democrats in response forecast rough going for the Marshall plan when Congress resumes January 6.
The House killed the Republican four-point anti-inflation bill with every Democrat and 26 Republicans voting against it. The defeat ends any chance for Congress acted on high prices at this special session.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 07-31-2023, 10:04 PM

DECEMBER 29, 1947

VALIANTS WIN SHOWDOWN WITH PACKERS

The top two clubs in the NAHC met Saturday evening in Montreal with the hometown Valiants scoring a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Packers. Despite the victory, Montreal still trails the front-running Packers by 3 points atop the league standings. Saturday's result evens the season series between the two clubs at 3 wins apiece.

Brett Lanceleve was the star of the show for the Vals on this night as the 24-year-old winger scored twice in the first period, including his 12th of the season putting him just 2 shy of his career high. Chicago got one back on a powerplayer marker from rearguard Jerry Finch at the 15:30 mark of the second period but the Vals restored their 2 goal lead late in the stanza when Nicholas Haines lit the lamp. Isaac Finnson beat Chicago netminder Norm Hanson early in the third and while Jeremey MacLean's 5th of the season brought the Packers back to within two goals that was a close as they would get.

Chicago did play the game without their star center Tommy Burns, as the NAHC's leading scorer missed all three of the Packers games last week with a tender elbow suffered in a collision against Toronto last Sunday. Burns did make news despite not being on the ice last week as the Packers announced the 27-year-old two-time McDaniels Trophy winner had agreed to a 3 year contract extension that will pay him $21,500 a season.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS  GF  GA
Chicago   28 17  9  2  36 106  67
Montreal  27 15  9  3  33  90  84
Boston    28 12 13  3  27  83  76
Toronto   29 12 14  3  27  79  97
New York  27 11 15  1  23  78  81
Detroit   27  9 16  2  18  67  98
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   25 21 15  36
Mahoney, Chi   27 12 23  35
W Burns, Chi   26 10 23  33
Cabbell, NY    26 18  8  26
Lanceleve, Mon 27 12 13  25
Pollack, Tor   27 12 13  25
Chandler, Bos  26 10 15  25
Albers, NY     27  8 17  25
Sauer, Tor     25 11 12  23
Skinner, Mon   27 10 13  23
Gregg, NY      22 10 12  22
Galbraith, Tor 29 10 11  21
Lynch, Mon     22  8 13  21
Haines, Mon    23  8 13  21
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
James, Bos     10  4  5  1   1  2.50
Hanson, Chi    23 12  9  2   2  2.53
Tremblay, NY   18  8  9  0   1  2.73
Brockers, Bos  18  8  8  1   0  2.78
Carter, Det     9  1  4  0   0  2.90
Touhey, Mon    24 14  8  1   1  3.22
Broadway, Tor  23  9 11  2   1  3.22
Sorrell, NY    11  3  6  1   2  3.31
Russell, Tor    8  3  3  1   0  3.48
Chasse, Det    21  8 12  2   1  3.79

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

TUESDAY DECEMBER 23

New York 1 at 4 Chicago: Despite missing league scoring leader Tommy Burns with an elbow injury, the Packers won for the fifth straight time, dropping the visiting Shamrocks 4-1 despite being outshot 39-28. Norm Hanson had a big game in net for the Packers while Jeremy MacLean paced the Chicago offense with 3 assists.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 25

Chicago 2 at 2 Boston: The Bees and Packers skated to a 2-2 draw at Denny Arena on Christmas Day, extending Boston's winless streak to 4 games while the Packers have not lost since falling to Boston 3-1 just over two weeks ago. David Rankin's second goal of the season, early in the third period secured the tie for the visitors, who outshot the Bees 43-33. Wilbur Chandler had 2 assists for the home side while veteran netminder Tom Brockers had a strong evening with 41 saves. Chandler was hurt late in the game and his status was unsure for Saturday's game in Toronto.

New York 2 at 5 Detroit: The Detroit Motors improved to 2-0-1 since their big trade with Montreal after securing a 5-2 victory at Thompson Palladium over the visiting New Yorkers. Dave Bradley led the way with 2 goals and an assist while rookie Ben Witt had 3 helpers for the Motors.

Toronto 3 at 3 Montreal: The Vals are winless in 4 games but have to be happy to escape with the tie after blowing an early 2-0 lead in a 3-3 draw with Toronto. Max Ducharme scored twice in the first period for Montreal but the Dukes responded with 3 straight goals from Lou Galbraith, Bobbie Sauer and Les Carlson to take the lead only to see Nick Haines tie it for the Vals with just over 2 and a half minutes remaining in the third period. Like Montreal, the Dukes are also winless in their last 4 games.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 27

Chicago 4 at 2 Montreal: Playing without star center Tommy Burns for the third straight game the Chicago Packers came out on the short end of a 4-2 decision at the Montreal Arena. Brett Lanceleve paced the Vals with a pair of first period goals while Millard Touhey made 22 saves for the victory.

Boston 1 at 2 Toronto: Quinton Pollack -last year's top rookie- scored once and assisted on rookie Lou Galbraith's 10th goal of the season to lift Toronto to a 2-1 victory over Boston and for the moment at least, lift the Dukes into sole possession of third place.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 28

Boston 7 at 1 Detroit: Detroit's 3-game unbeaten streak and Boston's 5 game winless skid both came crashing down as the Bees scored four times in the first period and went on to crush the Motors 7-1. Robert Walker had the hot hand for the winners as the 23-year-old rookie notched a hat trick, giving him 10 goals on the season. It was another awful outing for up and down Detroit netminder Henri Chasse, who was pulled early in the third period after surrendering 6 goals on just 27 shots.

Toronto 2 at 5 New York: Orval Cabbell scored twice, and defenseman Sid Quirion had 3 assists to pace the Shamrocks to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Toronto Dukes. The normally reserved Quirion, who had just 6 minutes in penalties a year ago and only 2 this season entering the game, also got into a second period scrap with the Dukes Al Cote, who is one of the loop's more combative personalities.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31
Chicago at Detroit
Boston at New York

THURSDAY JANUARY 1
New York at Boston
Detroit at Chicago
Montreal at Toronto

SATURDAY JANUARY 3
Boston at Montreal
New York at Toronto

SUNDAY JANUARY 4
Montreal at Detroit
Chicago at New York

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones, who broke the FABL single season homerun record, was named the first recipient of the TWIFB Sportsman of the Year Award.
Del Thomas of the Boston Americans was named the most valuable player as the American Football Association handed out its year end awards.
Despite top ranked St Blane declining to participate, the New Year's Day schedule of college football Classic Games promises to be an exciting one with Detroit City College and CC Los Angeles taking center stage in the East-West Classic in Santa Ana, Ca.
Two-time collegiate basketball player of the year Long Werth scored 25 points in his first start in the American Basketball Conference, leading the Boston Centurions to a 107-81 win over Richmond.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is planning to ask prominent Americans from all walks of life or their opinions on the four-year, $17 billion Marshall Plan for European recovery.
Just before Christmas, President Truman signed an appropriation bill carrying $522 million emergency aid for France, Italy and Austria after the measure passed in the closing hours of a special session of Congress.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-01-2023, 09:30 PM

JANUARY 5, 1948

INJURIES TAKING THEIR TOLL

Bees beat up, Packers short-staffed and Vals lose goalie

The new expanded NAHC schedule has just crossed its midway point and there are some concerns that the added games crammed into a 60-game slate may just be too much to handle. A number of clubs have been hit hard by injury and illness with the Chicago Packers being front and center among them. Despite losing McDaniels Trophy winning center Tommy Burns for the past two weeks and a pair of defensemen including Ted Stevens long-term the Packers keep on winning and enjoy a 5-point lead on the second place Montreal Valiants. Burns is expected to be back in the Chicago lineup this weekend.

The Vals have some worries of there own suddenly as it was revealed that goaltender Millard Touhey, who leads all NAHC in games played this season, has contracted a virus of some sort and could miss up to two weeks. That will put some pressure on rookie Sam Desjardins, who has just 3 NAHC games under his belt and is the only other goaltender in the organization with big league experience. The Valiants do get a little break for the schedule-maker in that they face the league's bottom two clubs -Detroit and New York- on the weekend and are nearly two weeks away from a first place showdown with the Packers so there is hope Touhey will be healthy enough to return for that contest.

Meanwhile the third place Boston Bees continue to get bang up, particularly on the blue line. Frank Yeadon has been out most of the season with a wrist injury but there is hope the 32-year-old will be back in action before the end of the month. Harry Neighbor is also said to be close to returning from a hamstring issue that has sidelined him the past two weeks. Both are desperately needed on a blueline that is also dealing with nagging injuries to Willis Beane, Len Bentley and David Scarpone. Defense is usually the Bees strong suit and they have persevered through all of the injuries, but the two-time defending Challenge Cup champions find themselves in third place, 9 points back of the pace setting Packers.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS  GF  GA
Chicago   31 19 10  2  40 113  74
Montreal  30 16 11  3  35 100  95
Boston    31 14 14  3  31  98  87
Toronto   31 13 15  3  29  87 105
New York  31 12 18  1  25  91  99
Detroit   30 11 17  2  24  75 104
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
Mahoney, Chi   30 14 25  39
T Burns, Chi   25 21 15  36
W Burns, Chi   29 10 26  36
Cabbell, NY    30 20  9  29
Chandler, Bos  28 13 15  28
Pollack, Tor   29 13 15  28
Skinner, Mon   30 11 17  28
Lanceleve, Mon 30 12 15  27
Albers, NY     31  8 19  27
Sauer, Tor     27 12 14  26
Gregg, NY      26 13 12  25
Hart, Bos      30 12 13  25
McGlynn, Chi   31 14 10  24
Lynch, Mon     25  9 15  24
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    25 13 10  2   2  2.49
James, Bos     11  5  5  1   1  2.55
Brockers, Bos  20  9  9  2   0  2.91
Tremblay, NY   20  9 10  0   1  2.92
Touhey, Mon    27 15 10  1   1  3.23
Broadway, Tor  25 10 12  2   1  3.25
Sorrell, NY    13  3  8  1   2  3.52
Chasse, Det    25 10 13  2   2  3.56

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31

Chicago 0 at 2 Detroit: It was a festive New Year's Eve at Thompson Palladium as the Detroit Motors upset the league leading Chicago Packers 2-0 behind a 34 save performance from Henri Chasse, who displayed the style of play he showed last season when he led the Motors to the playoffs. It has been a much less confident Chasse in the Detroit net this year but he was in rare form on this evening. Garrett Ferrar and Dave Bradley scored first period goals on Chicago's Norm Hanson, who faced 34 shots, while Spencer Larocque had two assists for the Motors.

Boston 5 at 6 New York: The Bees rough December finally came to an end but not before the club dropped a 6-5 decision in the Big Apple to finish the month with a 3-7-2 record. It was a wild night at Bigsby Garden with 5 goals scored in each of the first two periods before things settled down in the third with Jim Macek's 4th of the season the only marker. It came with less than 6 and a half minutes remaining in the game and proved the margin of victory for the Shamrocks, who were led by a 4 point night from Mark Laforme.

THURSDAY JANUARY 1

New York 3 at 6 Boston: The rematch at Denny Arena went much better for the Bees, who doubled New York 6-3 behind the strength of a pair of Wilbur Chandler goals and a 3-point night from Garrett Kauffeldt. Boston defenseman Willis Beane had a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, an assist and a fight.

Detroit 3 at 4 Chicago: he Motors scored twice in the opening two minutes and it looked like a second straight upset was in the cards, but the Packers rallied for three of their own in the opening stanza -two from Marty Mahoney- and went on to edge the Detroit squad 4-3. Chicago continues to play without the injured Tommy Burns but Jarrett McGlynn filled in nicely on the top line with a goal and an assist.

Montreal 6 at 4 Toronto: Clarence Skinner had a goal and 3 assists to lead the Montreal Valiants to a 6-4 victory over the Dukes in Toronto. The victory extended the Vals unbeaten streak to 3 games.

SATURDAY JANUARY 3

Boston 4 at 2 Montreal: The Bees start the new year off with back-to-back victories as Tommy Hart and Jacob Gron each score once and add an assist in a 4-2 Boston triumph. Tom Brockers turns aside 29 of the 31 shots he faced in the Boston net with recently acquired defenseman Bryant Williams accounting for both Montreal markers.

New York 2 at 4 Toronto: The Shamrocks have dropped four of their last six games after falling 4-2 at the Dominion Gardens. Sam Furr score both New York goals to stake the Greenshirts to a 2-0 lead but Toronto roared back with 4 unanswered goals including a controversial one just as time expired in the second period. There was much debate and protest from the Shamrocks bench but Les Carlson's goal at 20:00 of the second period was judged by the officials to have crossed the goal line just before the horn sounded to signal the end of the period. That goal gave Toronto a 3-2 lead and would prove the difference in the game.

SUNDAY JANUARY 4

Montreal 2 at 3 Detroit: The Motors improve to 4-2-1 since their big trade with Montreal by trimming the Valiants 3-2 and leaving the Vals pointless from their two weekend contests. Dave Bradley, Graham Comeau and veteran Doug Yeadon scored for the Motors with Glen Whitely and Wayne Augustin responding for Montreal, which outshot the Motors 39-27.

Chicago 3 at 2 New York: Another tight game for Chicago, who's offensive remains without reigning scoring champ Tommy Burns. Jarrett McGlynn had two points while Norm Hanson made 36 saves to lead the Packers past the Shamrocks 3-2 despite a pair of goals from New York's Jocko Gregg. The Greenshirts have dropped 3 straight and five of their last seven.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7
New York at Detroit

THURSDAY JANUARY 8
Detroit at Montreal

SATURDAY JANUARY 10
Boston at Detroit
New York at Montreal
Chicago at Toronto

SUNDAY JANUARY 11
Boston at Chicago
Toronto at Detroit
Montreal at New York

NAHC PLAYER POLL RELEASED

The annual newspaper poll of NAHC players was published today. Players were asked to vote for who they felt was the best in a number of categories and here are the winners.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Detroit City College completed a perfect season with a 24-17 victory over CC Los Angeles in the East-West Classic. Travis College also ended up with an blemish-free record following a convincing 30-3 victory over Alabama Baptist in the Cajun Classic.
The Washington Eagles won the FABL draft later and will pick first in the 1948 selection of top amatuer talent. Coastal State shortstop Tom Miller, the Christian Trophy winner, is considered the top prospect.
Congress raises the curtain on a critical session tomorrow in which the top issues will be the Marshall plan for European recovery and how best to stablize economic conditions at home.
Former Vice President Henry A. Wallace has confirmed he intends to run as an independent for the so-called "peace party" in the 1948 Presidential election. In a Chicago speech Wallace denounced both the Democratic administration and the Reublican Party as war parties.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-02-2023, 01:20 PM

JANUARY 12, 1948

QUICK JANUARY START EXTENDS PACKERS LEAD

The Chicago packers have opened up a 6-point lead on the second place Montreal Valiants atop the North American Hockey Confederation standings. The Packers have not lost in 1948 after wins over Toronto and Boston on the weekend improved their record to 4-0 since the calendar flipped. News on the injury front was mixed for the Packers, who are eyeing a playoff bid for their first-ever Challenge Cup win. Tommy Burns, the McDaniels Trophy winner as league most valuable player each of the past two years, returned to the lineup after a 6-game absence and quickly regained the loop's goal scoring lead with a goal in a 3-2 win over Toronto Saturday and two more in last night's 4-1 victory over Boston. On the season Burns has 24 goals in 27 games -just 6 shy of the 30 he potted in 48 games a year ago.

The bad news is the big line of the Burns brothers along with Marty Mahoney managed to last less than a full game together but Mahoney was forced out of the Toronto game with a foot injury. The hope is Mahoney will be able to return to the lineup next weekend, perhaps in time for the showdown with the Valiants in Montreal Saturday night.

The New York Shamrocks are making a charge at fourth place after Etienne Tremblay had a pair of shutouts last week and the Shamrocks earned 5 of a possible six points. Just 2 points separate third place Boston from the fifth place Shamrocks with the Toronto Dukes wedged in between the two rivals.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS  GF  GA
Chicago   33 21 10  2  44 120  77
Montreal  33 17 12  4  38 111 107
Boston    33 14 15  4  32 102  94
Toronto   33 14 16  3  31  96 111
New York  34 14 18  2  30 101 102
Detroit   34 11 20  3  25  85 124
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
Mahoney, Chi   31 14 26  40
T Burns, Chi   27 24 15  39
W Burns, Chi   31 10 26  36
Cabbell, NY    33 23 10  33
Albers, NY     34 10 21  31
Chandler, Bos  29 14 16  30
Pollack, Tor   31 13 16  29
Sauer, Tor     29 12 17  29
Lanceleve, Mon 33 12 17  29
Skinner, Mon   33 12 17  29
Haines, Mon    29  9 19  28
Gregg, NY      29 13 14  27
Galbraith, Tor 33 11 16  27
Lynch, Mon     28  9 18  27
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    27 15 10  2   2  2.42
Tremblay, NY   23 11 10  1   3  2.65
James, Bos     12  5  6  1   1  2.67
Brockers, Bos  21  9  9  3   0  2.91
Touhey, Mon    27 15 10  1   1  3.23
Broadway, Tor  26 10 13  2   1  3.24
Carter, Det    11  1  5  0   0  3.40
Sorrell, NY    13  3  8  1   2  3.52
Chasse, Det    29 10 15  3   2  3.66

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7

New York 2 at 0 Detroit: Etienne Tremblay stopped all 29 shots he faced to lead the New York Shamrocks to a 2-0 victory in Detroit, snapping the Greenshirts three game losing streak. Tommy Brescia opened the scoring in the second period and Sam Coates add an insurance marker early in the third for New York.

THURSDAY JANUARY 8

Detroit 4 at 8 Montreal: A busy week for the Motors continues to go badly with an 8-4 loss in Montreal that saw backup Detroit netminder Brad Carter have a rough night. The Valiants also were forced to use their backup with rookie Sam Desjardins filling in for Millard Touhey, who is sidelined with a viral infection. Ian Doyle and John McDonald each scored twice for the Vals with one of the few bright spots for Detroit was second overall draft pick Franics McKenzie scoring his first NAHC goal.

SATURDAY JANUARY 10

Boston 3 at 3 Detroit: Tommy Hart's 13th goal of the season, midway through the third period, allowed the Boston Bees to salvage a point in a 3-3 tie at Thompson Palladium despite being outshot 36-26. Adam Vanderbilt had two assists for the Motors while Wilbur Chandler had 2 points to pace the Boston offense.

New York 5 at 0 Montreal: A second straight shutout for Etienne Tremblay as the Shamrocks goaltender was only called on to make 16 saves in a lobsided win for the visitors. The Valiants, playing with backup Sam Desjardins in net, were outshot 35-16. Orval Cabbell led the New York offense with a hat trick,giving him 23 goals on the season -tops in the league.

Chicago 3 at 2 Toronto: Tommy Burns returned to the Packers lineup after missing two weeks with an injury and scored his 22nd goal of the year in helping the Packers win their third straight game. Goals by Les Carlson and Dick Zimmerman gave the Dukes a 2-0 lead but Burns got Chicago on the board midway through the second period and the Packers completed the comeback with third period markers from Jesse Santoro and Moose Vezina.

SUNDAY JANUARY 11

Boston 1 at 4 Chicago: A fourth straight win for the Packers following a 4-1 triumph over Boston. Tommy Burns scored two more goals to regain the NAHC lead in that department. David Scarpone broke Norm Hanson's shutout bid with less than 3 minutes remaining in the contest. The Packers played the game without leading scorer Marty Mahoney as the 26-year-old right winger suffered a foot injury against Toronto the night before.

Toronto 7 at 3 Detroit: The Dukes win a laugher in Detroit, as the struggling Motors have just 1 win in 6 January outings. The Motors seemed to be well on the way to a strong game when a pair of Doug Yeadon goals helped the Motors take a 3-1 lead early in the second period but the Dukes took over from there with 5 unanswered goals including two each off the sticks of Kurt Walz and Al Cote to rally for a 7-3 win. Detroit outshot Toronto 12-7 in the opening period but over the final two the Dukes dominated the possession and outshot the Motors 30-15 as perhaps the busy stretch of 4 games in 5 nights caught up to the Motors.

Montreal 3 at 3 New York: With Millard Touhey still sidelined the Valiants elected to give third string goaltender Pat Beliveau, recently promoted from Syracuse, his first NAHC start. The 23-year-old made 24 saves as Montreal ended the Shamrocks two-game winning streak with a 3-3 tie. Max Ducharme ended Shamrocks netminder Etienne Tremblay's bid for a third straight shutout early by notching his 10th of the season late in the first period. The game was knotted at 2 after 40 minutes and Jim Macek gave New York an early lead in the third period but Montreal defenseman Leo Bernard tied the game with less than 4 minutes remaining.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 14
Detroit at Boston
Chicago at New York

THURSDAY JANUARY 15
Toronto at Montreal

SATURDAY JANUARY 17
Chicago at Montreal
Boston at Toronto

SUNDAY JANUARY 18
Montreal at Boston
Chicago at Detroit
Toronto at New York

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Hector Sawyer successfully defended his world heavyweight title before the largest crowd ever to witness a pro boxing match. Well over 90,000 packed Santa Ana Stadium to see Sawyer score an 8th round TKO win over Dan Miller.
Despite not playing in a New Year's Classic game, St Blane held on to the number one ranking in college football, making the Fighting Saints national champion for the second consecutive year.
The last of the unbeatens in college basketball fell this week when defending champion Whitney College was upset 49-47 by Holland University
In his message to start the new session of Congress, Prsident Truman called for an immediate $40 "cost-of-living" income tax cut for every taxpayer and dependent, and an offsetting levy of $3.2 billion on corporations to pay for it. Republican leaders say there is no change it would be passed.
Talks of heavily reducing the amount of aid given to Europe prompted Secretary of State Marshall to warn that an inadequate program would only waste American resources. "Either undertake to meet the requirements of the problem or don't undertake it at all," Marshall told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Jiggs McGee · 08-03-2023, 09:12 PM

JANUARY 19, 1948

DUKES CLOSING IN ON SECOND PLACE

The Toronto Dukes are suddenly the hottest team in the NAHC after they reeled off four straight victories to close within two points of second place Montreal. The Dukes, despite allowing 9 more goals against then they have scored this season, are 17-16-3 as new head coach Jack Barrell has the club very much back in the playoff picture after a disastrous season a year ago that saw the Toronto club sink to the bottom of the league.

The Dukes have made a number of changes this season and not just behind the bench. Quinton Pollack, who was rookie of the year last season, came over from the defunct Brooklyn squad and is leading the club in scoring with 32 points, including a team best 14 goals in 34 games. Pollack is 25 and hardly a youngster after a number of years in the Great Western Hockey League including time spent under the tuteledge of Jack Barrell in Tacoma, but he is centering a young line with 24-year old Les Carlson (11-14-25) on his right and fresh-faced 20-year Lou Galbraith (12-18-30) on his left. Galbraith, a Winnipeg native selected first overall in last July's draft, has had no issues at all adjusting to the pace of the NAHC and appears to be the favourite to follow in Pollack's footsteps as the winner of the McLeod Trophy, presented annually to the loop's top newcomer. With both Pollock and Carlson hailing from Saskatchewan the Toronto papers have dubbed the trio "The Prairie Line".

That high scoring trio has eased the pressure on captain Bobbie Sauer (12-18-30) and the 33-year-old has moved to the second line, although Barrell is quick to point out he has three lines of equal value. Sauer has been spending his time recently with fellow greybeard Herb Burdette (8-13-21) and another newcomer in 21 year old Dick Zimmerman (9-15-24), who was the club's 1945 first round selection.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS  GF  GA
Chicago   36 21 12  3  45 128  88
Montreal  36 17 14  5  39 118 116
Toronto   36 17 16  3  37 105 114
Boston    36 16 16  4  36 111  99
New York  36 15 19  2  32 107 109
Detroit   36 12 21  3  27  87 130
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   30 24 15  40
Mahoney, Chi   31 14 26  40
W Burns, Chi   34 11 26  37
Cabbell, NY    35 24 10  34
Chandler, Bos  31 14 18  32
Pollack, Tor   34 14 18  32
Skinner, Mon   36 13 19  32
Albers, NY     36 11 21  32
Lanceleve, Mon 36 13 18  31
Sauer, Tor     32 12 18  30
Galbraith, Tor 36 12 18  30
McGlynn, Chi   36 15 13  28
Gregg, NY      31 13 15  28
Hart, Bos      35 13 15  28
Lynch, Mon     31 10 18  28
Haines, Mon    32  9 19  28
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    30 15 12  3   2  2.51
James, Bos     13  6  6  1   1  2.62
Tremblay, NY   25 12 11  1   3  2.72
Brockers, Bos  23 10 10  3   0  2.79
Broadway, Tor  29 13 13  2   1  3.00
Touhey, Mon    27 15 10  1   1  3.23
Carter, Det    11  1  5  0   0  3.40
Sorrell, NY    13  3  8  1   2  3.52
Chasse, Det    31 11 16  3   2  3.62

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 14

Detroit 0 at 5 Boston: Joe Morey scored twice and added an assist while Tom Brockers turned aside all 24 shots he faced to lead the Boston Bees to a 5-0 victory on home ice over last place Detroit. Jacob Gron, Craig Simpson and Conn Cundiff also scored for the Bees, who handed the sputtering Motors their 4th loss in the last five games.

Chicago 3 at 5 New York: Chicago's 4-game winning streak came to an end while the Shamrocks are unbeaten in four after taking a 5-3 decision at Bigsby Garden. Gil Corbeil paced the Greenshirts attack with a goal and two assists including a helper on Jim Macek's game winner with just 52 seconds remaining to snap a 3-3 tie. Orval Cabbell added an empty-net marker in the closing seconds for his league leading 24th goal of the season.

THURSDAY JANUARY 15

Toronto 2 at 1 Montreal: It is always a special night when these two hook up but the Valiants were forced to play without starting goaltender Millard Touhey, who remains sidelined with a virus. Rookie Sam Desjardins played very well as the substitute in the Montreal cage, turning aside 38 shots as Toronto dominated the contest. All the scoring came in the first period with Frank Featherstone and Les Carlson providing the Dukes offense while Shel Herron replied with a short-handed marker for the Vals.

SATURDAY JANUARY 17

Chicago 4 at 4 Montreal: A showdown between the top two teams in the NAHC was unable to produce a winner. Isaac Finnson scored the only goal of the final stanza to allow the Vals to claim a single point with rookie Sam Desjardins once more handling the Montreal goaltending duties. The Packers were short-staffed as well as Marty Mahoney missed the game with an injury. Jeremy MacLean scored twice for the visitors while Clarence Skinner had a goal and two helpers for Montreal.

Boston 1 at 3 Toronto: The Dukes, who finished dead last in the NAHC a year ago, leaped over Boston and into third place with a 3-1 victory on Dominion Gardens ice. Dick Zimmerman and Quinton Pollack scored just over a minute apart late in the third period to lift Toronto to the victory.

SUNDAY JANUARY 18

Montreal 2 at 3 Boston: The Valiants are now winless in 5 games after falling 3-2 at Denny Arena. Boston rearguard Len Bentley scored the only goal of the third period to provide the margin of victory for the Bees, who close to within 3 points of Montreal for second place.

Chicago 1 at 2 Detroit: Goals from Joe Todd and Miles Barfield along with a 31 save outing from goaltender Henri Chasse lifted the Detroit Motors to a 2-1 upset win over the first place Chicago Packers. The Packers are in what has to be considered a slump by their standards with 2 losses and a tie in their last three games.

Toronto 4 at 1 New York: The surging Dukes cooled off New York with a 4-1 victory to move Toronto to within 2 points of second place Montreal. The Dukes have now won 4 straight while the Shamrocks four game unbeaten streak is snapped. Toronto broke open a scoreless battle with 3 second period goals, all assisted by Al Cote, and only Chris Broeke's tally with less than 3 minutes away ruined Gordie Broadway's shutout bid.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21
Toronto at Boston
Montreal at Chicago
Detroit at New York

SATURDAY JANUARY 24
Detroit at Montreal
Chicago at Toronto

SUNDAY JANUARY 25
New York at Boston
Toronto at Chicago
Montreal at Detroit

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Good and bad news on the injury front for the Montreal Valiants. The Vals will get goaltender Millard Touhey back for Wednesday's game in Chicago but they suffered a tough blow with news that Ian Doyle will miss at least two months with a broken bone in his hand. It marks the second straight season and third time in 4 years, counting the minors, that the 23-year-old has missed substantial time with a serious injury. Doyle had 12 goals and 24 points through 31 games with the Valiants this season after scoring 19 points in 23 games with Brooklyn last year before suffering a season ending injury.
Montreal will likely be without depth winger Adam Sandford for the showdown in Chicago Wednesday as the 24-year-old is still recovering from a rib injury. On the Chicago side, Marty Mahoney -who shares the NAHC scoring lead with teammate Tommy Burns, is also expected to miss the game. Mahoney has been out since January 10 when he hurt his foot.
Shamrocks defenseman Bert McCalley has a bee in his bonnet this season. After the veteran club captain lowered his penalty minute total to just 13 a year ago, he is leading the NAHC in sin-bin time with 77 minutes so far this season.

TACOMA CLASS OF THE WEST

The Tacoma Lions are tearing up the competition in the Great Western Hockey League once again this season. The Lions went 39-5-4 a year ago and won their third straight Yeadon Cup and they have not slowed down at all this season despite the fact that last year's head coach Jack Barrell moved on to Toronto and his now behind the bench of the NAHC Dukes.

The Lions did not miss a beat in replacing Barrell with another former skating star of the past. Victor Raberge is the new bench boss in Tacoma and that name should be very familiar to old time fans of the sports. Raberge got his start playing for Jack Connelly Sr.'s New Leiskard Silver Skates in the very first season of pro hockey back in 1909-10. A Montreal native, he bounced around several pro and semi-pro leagues before beginning his coaching career in British Columbia with several junior clubs. His son Victor Jr. was also a once prominent hockey prospect but was wounded in North Africa during the war which ended his playing days.

As for the Lions they are 21-4-4 on the season and 16 points ahead of second place Seattle. They have developed some solid NAHC players in the past, including last year's rookie of the year Quinton Pollack, so hockey fans in the east might want to remember the names of Ben Sabot and Johnny Canaday. The duo are tied for the GWHL scoring lead with 47 points each. Sabot, 25, is in his fourth season with the Lions after never being drafted by an NAHC club while Canaday was a 4th round selection of the New York Shamrocks in 1943. The 23-year-old's rights are still owned by the Shamrocks but the Ontario native seems quite comfortable on the west coast in the second year of a three year deal with the Lions.

Code:


GREAT WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE STANDINGS
                   W  L  T  PTS
Tacoma Lions      21  4  4  46
Seattle Emeralds  14 13  2  30
Portland Ports    10 14  4  24
Vancouver Bears    6 20  4  16

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Harold Stephens defends his World Welterweight boxing title this Saturday in Cleveland against former Marine Ira Mitchell.
Conference play is underway as the AIAA basketball season shifts in to high gear. The Western Iowa Canaries. at 12-1, continue to hold down the top spot in the polls
President Truman has asked Congress for a record peacetime budget of just under $40 billion to run the Government in the fiscal year starting July 1. It is an increase of $1.9 billion over the current rate of expenditure.
British and American officials are studying a reported Communist scheme -identified as "protocol M"- for smashing the Marshall Plan and crippling industrial Germany.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-04-2023, 10:13 PM

JANUARY 26, 1948

MOTORS WIN FOUR STRAIGHT, ESCAPE CELLAR

This has not been a season the Detroit Motors want to remember as a club with high hopes entering the campaign after a third place finish a year ago, quickly sank to the depths of the NAHC standings. Detroit has spent nearly the entire season -which crosses the two-thirds complete mark this week- in last place prompting the club to deal its two veteran defensemen in Shel Herron and Bryant Williams to Montreal last month.

Since then, the club has gone 8-6-2 after beginning the season with just 7 wins in their first 23 games and is currently riding a 4-game winning streak. The team is clearly not more talented without Herron and Williams but the addition of 21-year-old Spencer Larocque, who came over from the Valiants in the deal, and the decision to move veteran forward Garrett Ferrar back to the blueline, seems to have energized the Motors. A playoff spot is still quite a reach with the Motors trailing both Boston and Montreal by six points, but suddenly there is some hope in the Motor City.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS  GF  GA
Chicago   39 23 13  3  49 139  98
Toronto   39 18 17  4  40 114 123
Boston    38 17 16  5  39 118 105
Montreal  39 17 17  5  39 123 129
Detroit   39 15 21  3  33 100 133
New York  38 15 21  2  32 112 118
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   33 27 17  44
Mahoney, Chi   31 14 26  40
W Burns, Chi   37 11 27  38
Albers, NY     38 12 24  36
Pollack, Tor   36 15 20  35
Skinner, Mon   39 15 20  35
Cabbell, NY    37 24 10  34
Chandler, Bos  33 15 18  33
Galbraith, Tor 39 13 20  33
Lanceleve, Mon 39 13 20  33
Sauer, Tor     35 12 20  32
Hart, Bos      37 15 15  30
Gregg, NY      33 14 16  30
McGlynn, Chi   39 15 14  29
Lynch, Mon     34 11 18  29
MacLean, Chi   35 10 19  29
Haines, Mon    35  9 20  29
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
James, Bos     14  6  6  2   1  2.57
Hanson, Chi    33 17 13  3   2  2.59
Tremblay, NY   27 12 13  1   3  2.83
Brockers, Bos  24 11 10  3   1  2.84
Broadway, Tor  32 14 14  3   1  3.00
Carter, Det    12  2  5  0   0  3.12
Touhey, Mon    30 15 13  1   1  3.34
Chasse, Det    33 13 16  3   2  3.44
Sorrell, NY    13  3  8  1   2  3.52

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21

Toronto 2 at 2 Boston: The Dukes 4-game winning streak came to an end, but they remained unbeaten thanks to a pair of second period goals from Trevor Parker and Quinton Pollack enabling Toronto to earn a 2-2 tie at Denny Arena with the Boston Bees. Tommy Hart had both of the Bees markers.

Montreal 3 at 4 Chicago: A first place showdown saw the return of Millard Touhey to the Valiants net after missing nearly two weeks with a virus. Touhey was a bit rusty in taking a 4-2 loss with Ed Delarue leading the Packers offense with a pair of goals. It ended the Packers 3-game winless skid.

Detroit 4 at 1 New York: Detroit won this battle between the bottom two clubs in the league as Henri Chasse made 28 saves in the Motors net while 3 first period goals by his club made his evening much easier.

SATURDAY JANUARY 24

Detroit 5 at 1 Montreal: The Motors won for the third straight game, leaving the slumping Valiants winless in their last 7 outings. Rookie Nick Tardif led the way for the visitiors with a goal and 3 assists while Henri Chasse had another strong night in the Detroit cage. The same could not be said for Montreal's Millard Touhey, who may still be feeling the effects of the virus that sidelined him for nearly two weeks. Touhey allowed 5 goals on just 24 Detroit shots.

Chicago 2 at 5 Toronto : The Dukes entered the game just 1-5 this season against the front-running Packers but a pair of third period goals, and 2 assists, from Dick Zimmerman lifted Toronto to victory and extended their unbeaten streak to 6 games. Chicago is just 1-3-1 in its last five games, all played without first line winger Marty Mahoney. The win, coupled with Montreal's loss to Detroit, moved the Dukes ahead of the Valiants and into second place, 7 points back of the Packers.

SUNDAY JANUARY 25

New York 4 at 5 Boston: Joe Morey scored twice, and Jacob Gron had a goal and two helpers as the Bees held off a late charge by New York to trim the Shamrocks 5-4. It was the third straight loss for the streaky Greenshirts after a stretch in which they went 3-0-1.

Toronto 2 at 5 Chicago: Back to back 5-2 results between the two clubs with Chicago prevailing on home ice on this night. Marsh Mansfield scored his first two goals of the season while Tommy Burns also had a pair to raise his league-leading total to 27 in the win which extended the Packers lead on second place Toronto to 9 points. Toronto's leading scorer Quinton Pollack did not make the trip to the Windy City after tweaking his back in Saturday's contest. He is expected to be sidelined for about a week.

Montreal 1 at 4 Detroit: The Valiants troubles continue as they lost their fourth in a row and are winless in 8. Detroit, on the other hand, is suddenly hot with a 4-game winning streak lifting the club out of last place. Dave Bradley scored twice for the winners with Garrett Ferrar adding two assists and adjusting nicely to his shift to defense after the Motors big trade with Montreal.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28
Detroit at Boston
New York at Chicago
Montreal at Toronto

SATURDAY JANUARY 31
Chicago at Boston
New York at Montreal
Detroit at Toronto

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 1
Montreal at Boston
Toronto at Detroit
Chicago at New York

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Last January 7, the Montreal Valiants were in third place, just 5 points out of first with a 9-6-3 record but then proceeded to drop 13 of their next 14 games to end any hopes of a playoff berth. It is not quite as bad yet this season but seems to be trending in the same direction as since January 3 the Vals are 1-8-2 and have fallen 10 points back of Chicago.
The December 20th deal that brought veteran defenders Shel Herron and Bryant Williams to Montreal was supposed to allow the team to make a push for first place, but the club is just 3-9-4 with the newcomers in the line-up. Detroit, on the other hand, has gone 8-6-2 since the deal after a dreadful 7-15-1 start. There is no way anyone can think Montreal is a worse team with those two in the lineup and Detroit is an improved club but for some reason the fortunes of both have altered dramatically since that deal.
You can add Derek Gubb's name to the list of Chicago Packers with long-term injuries. Already missing defensemen Ted Stevens and Ian Groening for long stretches, the Packers learned that the 24-year-old Gubb will miss three months after being carted off the ice in the game against Montreal last week. The rookie winger from Sudbury, Ont., had 10 goals and 21 points in 28 games this season.
courtesty Archie Irwin, Chicago Daily News --2 more win, 2 more injuries for the Packers who now hold a 9 point lead atop the NAHC. The big injury is to Derek Gubb, who will miss 2-3 months with a broken pelvis. He will be replaced by the now healthy Marty Mahoney who still ranks 2nd in points (40) despite appearing in just 31 of the Packers 39 games. He sits between linemen Tommy (44) and Wes Burns (38) as the Packers feature 1-2-3 in the points race despite Wes' 37 appearances the highest of the three skaters.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

The 16 FABL baseball teams continue their amateur draft. Among the names called in middle rounds were the sons of former FABL stars Al Wheeler and Tom Bird. Wheeler's son Steve was selected by Detroit in the fourth round while the Chicago Cougars tabbed Sam Bird in round 8.
At 17-5 the defending league champion Chicago Panthers continue to lead the way in the Federal Basketball League.
As debate over the Marshall Plan continued, President Truman said he is not at all in accord with former President Herbert Hoover's views that European recovery commitments should be limited to 15 months and cut below $6.8 billion.
Foreign Secretary Bevin announced plans for a union of the states of Western Europe to face a "ruthless" drive by Soviet Russia to control the continent, noting the "time is ripe for the consolidation of Western Europe."
Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill concurred, telling the House of Commons that Western Europe must unite quickly and demand a showdown with the Soviet Union before the Russians develop atomic weapons, possibly in a year or so.

Tiger Fan · 08-07-2023, 02:15 PM

FEBRUARY 2, 1948

PACKERS RUNNING AWAY FROM PACK

The Chicago Packers extended their unbeaten streak to 4-games with a 2-0-1 week and have increased their lead on second place Montreal atop the North American Hockey Confederation standings to a full 10 points. The Packers are simply dominant in all facets of the game. Their 153 goals scored are 19 more than any other NAHC club and their big line of the Burns brothers, Tommy and Wes, along with Marty Mahoney is 1-2-3 in the league scoring parade. The Packers have alloweed just 107 goals against this season -fewest in the NAHC and their goal differential of +46 is 33 better than any other club in the league. There are still 18 games remaining in the season but it certainly appears like the Packers will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs and seem well positioned to claim the first Challenge Cup in franchise history.

Toronto finally slowed down the Detroit Motors, snapping the Motors winning streak at 6 games with a lobsided 7-2 victory at Thompson Palladium yesterday. That slows the Motos momentum as they were desperately trying to claw in to the playoff picture, which is very crowded with just 1 point separating 2nd place Montreal from both Toronto and Boston. The Motors are 5 points behid the Dukes and Bees.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS   GF  GA
Chicago   42 24 13  5  53  153 107
Montreal  42 19 18  5  43  134 138
Toronto   42 19 19  4  42  123 132
Boston    41 18 17  6  42  129 116
Detroit   42 17 22  5  37  111 144
New York  41 15 23  3  33  121 134
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   36 29 18  47
Mahoney, Chi   34 14 31  45
W Burns, Chi   40 12 30  42
Albers, NY     41 15 25  40
Cabbell, NY    40 26 12  38
Chandler, Bos  36 18 20  38
Skinner, Mon   42 17 21  38
Pollack, Tor   38 17 20  37
Lanceleve, Mon 42 13 24  37
Galbraith, Tor 42 16 20  36
Sauer, Tor     38 14 22  36
McGlynn, Chi   42 19 15  34
MacLean, Chi   38 10 23  33
Hart, Bos      40 16 16  32
Gregg, NY      36 15 17  32
Lynch, Mon     36 12 19  31
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    36 18 13  5   2  2.62
Brockers, Bos  25 11 10  4   1  2.80
James, Bos     16  7  7  2   1  2.82
Tremblay, NY   30 12 14  2   3  2.95
Broadway, Tor  35 15 16  3   1  3.00
Touhey, Mon    33 17 14  1   1  3.31
Chasse, Det    36 15 17  3   2  3.46
Sorrell, NY    14  3  9  1   2  3.83

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28

Detroit 5 at 3 Boston: The suddenly red-hot Detroit Motors won their fifth straight game, topping Boston 5-3 thanks to a two goal, one assist effort from Dave Bradley while defenseman Alex Leveille chipped in with three assists.

New York 3 at 3 Chicago: The visiting New York Shamrocks snapped a 3-game losing skid by earning a point from their visit to Chicago's Lakeside Auditorium. Chris Broeke and Laurel Albers gave the visitors a 2-0 first period lead but Jarrett McGlynn replied with two for the Packers in the second period to tie the game. Albers, with his second of the game, and Packers defenseman Jesse Santoro traded third period tallies.

Montreal 3 at 1 Toronto: The visiting Valiants snapped an 8-game winless streak as Claude LeClerc's goal and assist helped Montreal to a 3-1 win over the Dukes. Clarence Skinner and Glen Whitley also scored for Montreal while Bobbie Sauer's third period marker accounted for all of the Toronto offense.

SATURDAY JANUARY 31

Chicago 2 at 2 Boston: Another tight game between the two Challenge Cup finalists from last year. Boston is 3-2-3 in meetings between the two as this one ended in a draw after the hosts rallied for two goals in the final six minutes of the contest. Mo Masters and Moose Vezina had staked the Packers to a 2-0 first period lead but Wilbur Chandler cut the deficit in half with a goal at 14:35 of the third period and just under two minutes late Aelx Gagnon netted the equalizer for the Bees, who were outshot 32-24 in the game.

New York 2 at 4 Montreal: The Valiants win their second in a row, doubling the Shamrocks 4-2 thanks to a pair of first period goals from Glen Whitley. Doug Lynch and Max Ducharme also scored for the Vals, with Jocke Gregg and Chris Broeke replying for the Shamrocks, who are winless in 5.

Detroit 4 at 1 Toronto: The Motors continue to roll with their 6th straight victory while Toronto falls for the third consecutive game. Joe Todd and Miles Barfield gave the visitors a 2-0 first period lead with Dave Bradley and Adam Vanderbilt rounding out the scoring for the visitors. One of the few bright spots for the Dukes was Quinton Pollack scored the Toronto goal in his return to the line-up after a week's absence.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 1

Montreal 4 at 6 Boston: Wilbur Chandler had 2 goals and 2 assists to pace Boston to a 6-4 victory at Denny Arena, ending Montreal's modest two game winning streak. The victory moves the Bees back to within a point of the second place Vals. Monrtreal will be without forward Brett Lanceleve for 3 games after he was suspended following a second period incident.

Toronto 7 at 2 Detroit: The clock struck midnight on the Motors as their six-game winning streak came crashing down as Toronto clubbed the Detroiters 7-2 behind a hat trick from rookie Lou Galbraith. Les Carlson had 3 assists for the winners who are tied with Boston for third place, just 1 point back of second place Montreal.

Chicago 9 at 4 New York: The league's best team faced the league's worst club and the result was to be expected, a 9-4 win for the visiting Packers. The big line had been quiet the past couple of days but exploded for 10 points in this one including 4 assists for Marty Mahoney. Tommy Burns scored twice and added a helper to retain his lead over Mahoney in the scoring race while Wes Burns had a goal and 2 assists. Chicago made it a rout early with a 5-goal outburst in the opening period to chase Alex Sorrell from the Greenshirts cage.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3
Detroit at Chicago

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4
Toronto at Boston
New York at Detroit

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5
Chicago at Montreal

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7
Detroit at Montreal
New York at Toronto

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8
New York at Chicago
Boston at Detroit

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Detroit owner Jack Connelly Jr. gave his staff a vote of confidence after the club's recent six game winning streak, but did caution management that the fans are still not convinced and a prolonged losing streak may not be good for head coach Mark Moore's future. Despite Connelly's comments, the club General Manager reinforced his confidence in his coaching staff, noting Moore has done a fantastic job turning the club around after a dreadful start.
The Motors are the only NAHC averaging less than 10,000 fans a game as barely 9,200 are showing up to see the club at Thompson Palladium. Conversely both Montreal and Chicago are averaging over 16,000 fans per game and the Valiants have sold out 25 straight games going back to last season.
Toronto's Lou Galbraith continues to impress. The 20-year-old was the first overall pick in the amateur draft and made the Dukes roster out of camp. He had his first career hat trick against Detroit yesterday and leads all rookies in scoring with 16 goals and 36 points.
Finn LeBec of the Boston Globe reports some good news for the Bees in that Mickey Bedard will not face any supplemental discipline for an illegal check to the head of Montreal's Doug Lynch on Sunday night. The same cannot be said for the Vals Brett Lancelove, who was ejected for a vicious second period hit and will be suspended for 3 games. Lancelove is second on the Valiants in scoring with 37 points thru 42 games.

The Toronto Dukes closed out January with two home losses 3-1 to Montreal then particularly galling a 4-1 shellacking by the Motors. Barrell's bunch somewhat redeem themselves in the second half of the Detroit back to back pummeling the opposition 7-2 at Thompson Palladium led by Galbraith's hat trick.

The week ahead sees the team heading to Boston for a Wednesday encounter with the Bees before hosting the Shamrocks on Saturday night. Bees are currently tied in the standings with Toronto while New York is beginning to feel a sense of desperation currently 9 points out of the a playoff spot with 19 to play. After the Saturday contest the Dukes have a week to prepare for Montreal in what is becoming a Saturday night tradition matching up the two Canadian teams.

Injuries are become an issue in Toronto as it appears that 3 guys on the back end Martel, Gunner, Lumsen will miss the 2 games this week due to minor, nagging, injuries. Second round pick from this past summer's draft, Tom Atchinson, has been summoned from Cleveland to shore up the blue line.
*** A TALK WITH JACK BARRELL ***

Brett arranged a sit-down interview with Dukes headman Jack Barrell after his trip to Cuba to take in games with Wolves prospects in the Cuban Winter League. It was a long, wide ranging interview with the coach some of which is now ready for the Dukes faithful.

Mail & Empire: With the NAHC season almost 2/3 complete the Dukes are in a playoff position. What are your initial impressions of the your return to Toronto after a few years away?
Barrell: My return to the Dukes organization has been everything I thought it would be and more, Toronto is a hockey hotbed, the fans are extremely passionate, knowledgeable. They deserve a team in the thick of the NAHC race every year. I cannot begin to count the times I have been stopped on the street with questions, comments, suggestions about the Dukes. I listen intently to the comments because of the depth of the knowledge in the fan base. After these chance meetings I often find myself thinking "Should I try that...?" In Toronto you know every game, every in-game move will be endlessly debated with both positive, negative comments. There is no hiding in this market, the winter is dominated by the Dukes fortunes although I constantly hear talk about the Wolves, Titans. Fans live and die with their team in Toronto.

Mail & Empire: After a 1946-47 season of disappointment at Dominion Gardens you seem to quickly turned the fortunes of the Dukes. At the end of January you have already amassed 5 more points in 39 games than the team tallied last season.
Barrell: The credit for the turnaround all goes to the players. The staff has given the players a system, it is the player's job to follow the system that the staff believes will lead to wins. From the day I took over the position of head coach I saw that for the Dukes to be successful we would have be sound in our own zone. From Day One in our Northern Ontario training camp the stress has been on keeping the puck out of our net. We have the perfect man between the pipes in Broadway to make that a winning strategy. The players are probably sick of our stressing defense, tight checking first but there will be no change in the message in the near future.

Mail & Empire: The system seems to be working.
Barrell: Yes and No, I still believe we are giving far too many goals. At 123 the Dukes have given up the third most goals in the league. Granted some of those goals were given up early in the season when there were breakdowns, if we get caught looking down at the puck, running around in our zone the result is generally the red light going on behind our net. We constantly stress to the players to just do their own job in coverage no more, no less, defensive play is hard work with very little glory, everyone has to buy into the system. Fans generally do not notice a stellar defensive play, it is usually very subtle but it gives the Dukes puck possession. Be assured the coaches notice the play then give the player or unit kudos for the effort. The first thing discussed after a shift or between periods is the play in our end. We have been getting better but there is still a long way to go, if we make the playoffs the team will have to be better in preventing goals to advance, checking is much tighter in the post season.

Mail & Empire: Any other comments?
Barrell: Yes, I would like to tell the fans that this just the first step in a multi season progression. It will continue to be built around defensive soundness. I do not see the Dukes becoming an offensive juggernaut in the short term. We cannot match the Packers at their game. One mistake against them the faceoff is at center after the ref pulls the puck out of the net. I ask the fans to recognize our team for what it is, pay attention to work the players are putting in to keep the puck out of our net along with celebrating the goals. With 21 games left we can improve in all areas of the game then enter the playoffs on a hot streak. The Dukes will continue to celebrate team victories not individual accomplishments. The longer season has led to more injuries, there are two guys who have been out all season, Roy, Beam, hopefully we will healthy when the 60-game concludes towards the end of March.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Detroit Maroons and Mustangs owner Rollie Barrell is under fire from both the Continental Football Conference and American Basketball Conference for comments he made in a Life Magazine feature.
The Chicago Wildcats, at 20-5 are running away with the Federal Basketball League West Division lead while the Philadelphia Phantoms are posting similar gains in the East Division.
Ward Messer of Liberty College and Charles Cleary of Central Kentucky continue to battle it out for the college cage scoring lead. Cleary led the nation last year as a junior. Messer, who is the younger brother of New York Gothams outfielder Walt Messer, is also in the running for the rebound lead in the entire AIAA.
After shortages and delays in getting fuel to most of the northeast, the House Interstate Commerce Committee has recommended a ban on the export of all petroleum products.
Declaring that the present grain shortage "jeopardizes the national security," President Truman asked Congress to extend for 10 months the Government authority to limit the use of grain for making whisky and other alcohol products.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Jiggs McGee · 08-08-2023, 08:01 PM

FEBRUARY 9, 1948

ROUGH WEEK FOR VALIANTS

The Montreal Valiants were thumped 7-1 by Chicago on Thursday night before recovering to tie Detroit Saturday but the bigger loss for the Vals came on the injury front with two top-tier defensemen and a centerman all suffering injuries. The largest blow was the news that Shel Herron will miss at least a month with a shoulder injury while Bryant Williams, who came over from Detroit with Herron in a December trade, will also miss a few days with a shin injury. To make matters worse the short-staffed Valiants were forced to play without 31-point scorer Max Ducharme on Saturday against Detroit and winger Rey Sclisizzi will also miss a couple of weeks with an elbow issue. Then there is Bert Lanceleve, who has 37 points in 42 games but missed both of last week's outings due to a suspension from an incident in Boston last week and still has one more game to serve.

The week also saw Montreal drop to third, a point behind the Boston Bees, who also enjoy a game in hand on the Valiants. The Bees picked up 3 of a possible 4 points over the course of the week but are 14 points back of first place Chicago after the Packers won all three of their games last week and are 5-0-2 over their last seven contests.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS   GF  GA
Chicago   45 27 13  5  59  170 112
Boston    43 19 17  7  45  135 119
Montreal  44 19 19  6  44  138 148
Toronto   44 19 21  4  42  126 142
Detroit   46 17 24  5  39  120 160
New York  44 17 24  3  37  137 145
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   39 34 20  54
Mahoney, Chi   37 16 34  50
W Burns, Chi   43 12 33  45
Cabbell, NY    43 30 14  44
Albers, NY     44 16 27  43
Chandler, Bos  38 19 21  40
Pollack, Tor   40 18 20  38
Skinner, Mon   44 17 21  38
McGlynn, Chi   45 20 17  37
Galbraith, Tor 44 16 21  37
Sauer, Tor     40 14 23  37
Lanceleve, Mon 42 13 24  37
Hart, Bos      42 18 18  36
Gregg, NY      39 16 19  35
MacLean, Chi   41 12 23  35
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    38 20 13  5   2  2.59
Brockers, Bos  27 12 10  5   1  2.71
James, Bos     16  7  7  2   1  2.82
Tremblay, NY   33 14 15  2   3  3.02
Broadway, Tor  37 15 18  3   1  3.08
Touhey, Mon    35 17 15  2   1  3.39
Chasse, Det    38 15 18  4   2  3.44

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3

Detroit 1 at 4 Chicago : Chicago is unbeaten in five games after a 4-1 victory in a rare Tuesday NAHC contest. Tommy Burns scored his 30th and 31st goals of the season to equal and surpass his league leading total of a year ago.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4

Toronto 1 at 4 Boston: The Dukes have just 1 win in their last five games after falling 4-1 in Boston. Tommy Hart had the hot hand for the winners as he was involved in all 4 Bees goals, scoring twice while assisting on markers from Wilbur Chandler and Craig Simpson.

New York 7 at 3 Detroit : Detroit lost for the second time in as many nights as the Motors, who had a late train ride in from Chicago overnight, led 2-0 after twenty minutes before running out of gas and falling 7-3. Orval Cabbell paced the Shamrocks attack with 3 goals and an assist while Jim Macek and Sam Coates each enjoyed 3 point evenings. The victory snaps a 6-game winless streak for New York.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5

Chicago 7 at 1 Montreal : A dominant victory on the road for the high flying Packers who were led once more by Tommy Burns with 2 goals. Jeremy MacLean also scored twice for the Packers, who are now unbeaten in their last six games, while Jarrett McGlynn had a goal and two helpers. Montreal netminder Mahlon Touhey did not survive the first period, being pulled after allowing 4 Chicago goals on just 12 shots.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7

Detroit 3 at 3 Montreal : Detroit ended a 3-game losing streak while Montreal rallied for a 3-3 tie two nights after being embarrassed on home ice by Chicago. The Vals needed two third period goals including Adam Sandford's 7th of the season with less than 5 minutes remaining to salvage a point out of the game.

New York 6 at 2 Toronto : The Shamrocks won for the second game in a row while the Dukes lost for the 5th time in their last six games. Six different Shamrocks found the back of the net including Orval Cabbell, who scored his 30th of the season.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8

New York 3 at 6 Chicago : The Packers improved to 4-0 in February by doubling the visiting New York Shamrocks 6-3. Tommy Burns and Marty Mahoney each had a goal and two assists as the home side exploded for four answered goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to pull out the victory.

Boston 2 at 2 Detroit : Spencer Larocque's fifth goal of the season early in the third period allowed to Detroit to claim a tie for the second night in a row. Adam Vanderbilt had given the Motors an early lead but Joe Morey scored twice for Boston in a game that the Motors outshot the Bees 31-14.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 11
Chicago at Boston

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 14
New York at Boston
Montreal at Toronto

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 15
Detroit at Boston
Montreal at Chicago
Toronto at New York

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Rumours are circulating that Detroit Motors coach Mark Moore is on thin ice with speculation rampant that the 53-year-old will be fired this week. The club denies the rumours but it was hardly a resounding vote of confidence as when asked about the status of his coach Motors owner Jack Connelly Jr. would only say that he does not "like firing coaches in mid-season." When pressed to confirm that meant Moore's job was safe Connelly's two word response was "for now." Moore, who led the Motors to a third place finish last season, is in his third year behind the bench in Detroit.

Toronto shows how fragile their system is giving up 10 goals in 2 games this week with 3 D-men out due to injury. Both games the Dukes got behind early, as Coach Jack Barrell has said over and over this season the team has to win with defense. They do not have the firepower to run and gun with other teams in NAHC. At Denny Arena mid-week the after a scoreless first frame, Tommy Hart put the Bees ahead at 6:52 into the second. The Dukes then created a major miscue giving up two goals in 8 seconds at the with less than two and half minutes left in the period. Barrell said "Our message is always to play really tight defense the first and last 5 minutes of each period so the opponent gets no momentum at the start of a period or going into the dressing room between periods. Quinton's goal late in the second gave us hope but those two quick ones really took the wind out our sails, cannot give teams a 3 goal lead." The Bees netted an empty netter to win 4-1.

More telling was the loss at home on Saturday night to the Shamrocks. Hoping to put further doubt in minds of the New York squad chasing a playoff berth, the Dukes instead were again victimized with 2 goals in last 5 minutes in both the first and second periods. An unflattering 6-2 loss had Barrell close the dressing room to reporters but the assembled scribes could hear, but not make out all the words, in the post game tirade by the staff.

Netminder Gordie Broadway had two substandard games allowing 10 goals on 53 shots. Going into 6 days off before hosting Montreal at home on Saturday the team will probably be put through their paces in tough daily practices in preparation for what seems to be a critical game. On the injury front it appears that Gunner will be back although Martel and Lumsen remain, at best, questionable. At the moment the Toronto Dukes continue to hang on to the last playoff spot but must shake themselves out of their February funk.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Each of the two pro basketball loops played their all-star game over the weekend, as the cage seasons reach their traditional midway mark.
The Senate put the Republican tax cutting bill on ice, and it may stay unresolved for two months or more.
A Senate subcommittee voted against authorizing the Government to prepare for meat rationing.
British Prime Minister Attlee has proposed voluntary freeze on pay, profits and items like rent for the sake of combating inflation and rebuilding the struggling British economy.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-10-2023, 03:06 PM

FEBRUARY 16, 1948

PLAYOFF RACE SUDDENLY HEATS UP

Motors, Shamrocks Closing In

The Detroit Motors and New York Shamrocks are both climbing back into the playoff race as each has taken advantage of slumps by the NAHC's two Canadian clubs. The Motors, who started the season with 8 losses in their first 10 games, have moved to within 3 points of both Montreal and Toronto in a fight for third and fourth in the standings. Detroit has had a huge turnaround since seemingly throwing in the towel on the season by dealing veteran defenseman Shel Herron and Bryant Williams to Montreal in late December and over the last dozen games the Motors have posted a 7-3-2 record.

At the same time both Toronto and Montreal have fallen on hard times with the Valiants especially hard hit. The Vals are just 3-12-3 since January 3rd including a 0-4-1 mark in February. When Montreal made the big deadline trade they were just 3 points back of the front-running Chicago Packers. Now the Vals are 19 points off the pace and fearing for their playoff lives. Toronto has also struggled as Jack Barrell's crew has dropped 6 of its last 8 games.

It is not just Detroit which is threatening to crash the playoff party after a dreadful start. The New York Shamrocks have 3 wins and a tie in their last 5 games and are just 4 points back of the Dukes and Vals. With 14 games remaining in the season (13 for Detroit) time is becoming a factor but both the Motors and Shamrocks are suddenly very much in the playoff mix.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS   GF  GA
Chicago   47 29 13  5  63  182 117
Boston    46 19 19  8  46  146 133
Toronto   46 20 22  4  44  132 147
Montreal  46 19 21  6  44  139 158
Detroit   47 18 24  5  41  124 162
New York  46 18 24  4  40  145 151
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   41 39 21  60
Mahoney, Chi   38 16 34  50
W Burns, Chi   45 12 37  49
Cabbell, NY    45 34 14  48
Chandler, Bos  41 21 23  44
Albers, NY     46 16 27  43
Hart, Bos      45 21 19  40
Galbraith, Tor 46 16 24  40
Pollack, Tor   42 19 20  39
Skinner, Mon   46 18 21  39
Sauer, Tor     42 15 24  39
McGlynn, Chi   47 20 18  38
MacLean, Chi   43 12 26  38
Gregg, NY      42 16 21  37
Lanceleve, Mon 43 13 24  37
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    40 22 13  5   3  2.58
Brockers, Bos  29 12 11  6   1  2.87
James, Bos     17  7  8  2   1  2.89
Tremblay, NY   35 15 15  3   3  3.02
Broadway, Tor  38 16 18  3   1  3.03
Chasse, Det    39 16 18  4   2  3.40
Touhey, Mon    37 17 17  2   1  3.47

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 11

Chicago 6 at 5 Boston :The visiting Packers improved to 5-0-0 in February and extended their unbeaten streak to 8 games by coming back from a 5-2 deficit to nip Boston 6-5. Tommy Burns had 2 goals and an assist with Mark Brooks scoring twice to lead Chicago to victory. Garrett Kauffeldt's 9th goal of the season put the Bees up 5-2 just before the midway mark of the game but the Packers closed the gap on second period goals from Brooks and Ed Delarue and then added two more in the third to complete the comeback. Chicago outshot Boston 52-37 in the game. There was bad news for the Packers as Marty Mahoney left with a back injury and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks. Mahoney, with 50 points in 38 games, sits second behind Tommy Burns in the league scoring race.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 14

New York 4 at 4 Boston :Following a 5 day break the Shamrocks were back in action and skated to a 4-4 draw with the Bees at Denny Arena. Orval Cabbell's second of the game -with 1:25 remaining in the third period- allowed the Greenshirts to leave Boston with a point. Tommy Hart had 2 goals and an assist to pace the Bees.

Montreal 1 at 4 Toronto :A week off to work on Coach Jack Barrell's gameplan paid off for the Dukes, who skated to a 4-1 victory at the Dominion Gardens. After a scoreless 20 minutes, Bobbie Sauer scored the only goal of the second period before the teams combined for 4 goals in the final 13 minutes of the game. The slumping Vals are 3-11-3 since January 3.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 15

Detroit 4 at 2 Boston :Boston is winless in 4 games after falling 4-2 on home ice to Detroit while the Motors have a win and two ties in their last three outings and are now just 3 points back of both Montreal and Toronto in the battle for third place. Vince Arsenault had a goal and an assist to lead the Motors while Hank Walsh added two helpers.

Montreal 0 at 6 Chicago :Montreal's woes continued as the Packers Norm Hanson made 22 saves in a 6-0 shutout victory keyed by a Tommy Burns hat trick. Burns now has 39 goals on the season and moved past Harvey McLeod into sole possession third place for the highst single season goal total. The record is 47 set by Boston's Bert Gordier in 1929-30. Burns, with 60 points and 13 games remaining on the Packers schedule, may also have a chance of catching Gordier's points mark of 80 set in the same season as his goal total.

Toronto 2 at 4 New York :The Shamrocks doubled the Dukes 4-2 and with 7 points in their last 5 games are suddenly very much alive in the playoff race as New York's 40 points is just 4 back of both Montreal and Toronto and 6 behind second place Boston. New York netminder Etienne Tremblay had a big game, stopping 38 of the 40 shots he faced with Orval Cabbell scored his 33rd and 34th goals of the season to lead the Shamrocks.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18
Boston at Chicago
Detroit at New York

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19
Toronto at Montreal

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21
Boston at Montreal
Detroit at Toronto

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22
Toronto at Chicago
Montreal at Detroit
Boston at New York

NAHCleaguenewsHeader
AROUND THE LEAGUE

Archie Irwin, Chicago Daily News --The Packers continue to pull away, nearly twenty points ahead of the defending champion Bees. Tommy Burns' six game goal streak has helped the Packers win each of their February games, and they haven't lost since dropping their January 24th contest 5-2 to the Dukes. A hat-trick against the Valiants on Sunday pushed his goal and points total to a league leading 39 and 60. Packers litter the top 5 for goals, assists, and points, with Burns' backup Jarred McGlynn 5th with 20 goals, Marty Mahoney (50) and Wes Burns (49) second and third in points, and three other Packers (Mahoney, 2nd/34; Jeremy MacLean, 4th/26, Moose Veniza, 5th/25) trailing Wes Burns and his league leading 37 assists.
Spencer Larocque has had an huge impact on the Detroit blueline since coming over in the deadline deal with Montreal. The 21-year-old has more than filled in as the replacement for Shel Herron with 17 points in 24 games with the Motors since the deal while posting a +5 on a team with only 4 players showing a positive plus/minus. Meanwhile 35-year-old center Doug Yeadon has Motors brass rethinking their original plan to offer him a contract extension. The Motors assistant captain provides plenty of leadership and has even chipped in offensively with 2 goals and 5 points in his last 6 games.

The Dukes partially turn the corner after a week of hard practices which Jack Barrell termed "Back to basics, we have gotten into some bad habits that have to be eliminated." In a fast paced game Saturday evening in Toronto the Valiants, Dukes played a thoroughly entertained game. After the teams failed to score during the first period Sauer opening the scoring with less than 4 minutes left in the second stanza on a nice setup from Zimmerman and Burdette. Toronto upped the lead to 3-0 before Skinner spoiled Broadway's shutout bid at 13:03 of the third, Lavalliere potted his 5th into an empty cage to salt away a 4-1 Dukes victory. The game featured some top level goaltending by both Touhey, Broadway who both repeated robbed opposing shooters.

An overnight train trip into the Big Apple where Barrell's bunch had another chance to put a dagger into the Shamrocks. Dukes came out flat giving up 2 before the game was 6 minutes old on goals by Cabbell, Corbeil. Toronto rallied to tie the game before the first intermission on markers from Painchaud, Carlson. After a scoreless, quick paced, penalty free second the Dukes penchant for giving up goals early in periods came back to haunt them, yet again, when Cabbell, Broeke beat Broadway before the third period was 4 minutes old. The Dukes mounted sustained pressure but could not solve Tremblay in the Shamrocks cage. Tremblay made 38 stops during the game to secure the NY victory. Barrell was heard muttering "Defense, defense, defense, tough when we cannot score more than 2 on 40 shots."

The good news is that both Martel, Lumsen will return this week for 3 games, in Montreal mid-week, at home to the Motors Saturday, before heading into Lakeside Auditorium Sunday afternoon to face the high scoring , high flying Packers. All games are taking on a playoff atmosphere as only 6 points separate second from sixth with teams having either 13 or 14 games left on their schedule.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

FABL's Hall of Fame has opened balloting for its 1948 class to be inducted in the baseball museum at Boone County, Il.
Number one ranked Western Iowa was upended 60-55 by St. Ignatius in Great Lakes Alliance conference action on the weekend.
Commodities prices tumbled as the week began, pulling the stock market down with it as price breaks on many food products were implemented. A study indicated prices of 48 cost of living food items had shown an average drop of more than 8 per cent in the past month.
37 British trae unions defied the Labor government's wage-freezing policy and voted to demand higher pay for their 3 million members.
Senator Taft said the $5.3 million outlay which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved for the first 12 months of the European Recovery Program is "too large."

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-10-2023, 03:07 PM

FEBRUARY 23, 1948

BURNS ON RECRD PACE FOR PACKERS

Tommy Burns continues to race towards the NAHC single season goal scoring record. The Chicago Packers 28-year-old center has 42 goals in 43 games this season and is now within 5 goals of tying Bert Gordier's 1929-30 record of 47. Only Gordier and his Boston teammate that season George Tremaine had ever reached the 40-goal mark until Burns raced by the milestone last Wednesday with his 40th against Boston.

Sure purists will point to the fact teams only played 44 games that season, compared to the 60 the Packers will eventually compete in this year, but Gordier and Tremaine also were the beneficiaries of an offensive explosion as teams scrambled to adjust to a rule change that opened up game and resulted in a record setting number of goals. Things quickly adjust the following year and no one had scored more than 34 goals in a season since. Until this year when Burns, following up on a league leading 30 goal season (tied with Boston's Tommy Hart and Quinton Pollack, then of Brooklyn), has exploded.

Despite missing his long-time winger Marty Mahoney for the past 3 games, Burns has scored 6 goals in that span and has an 8-game goal scoring streak on the go, during which time he amassed 15 goals and 19 points. As a whole the Packers offense has been dominant and averaged 3.8 goals per game. Chicago has 186 goals in 49 games with the last place Shamrocks second in that category but with 33 less than the Packers.

There are 11 games remaining in the season and the Packers, 15 points up on second place Boston, seem a lock to finish in first place for the first time in franchise history. Tommy Burns also seems to be a lock to win his third straight McDaniels Trophy as the NAHC's most valuable player and may just have a record-setting season.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS   GF  GA
Chicago   49 29 14  6  64  186 122
Boston    49 20 20  9  49  149 137
Toronto   49 22 23  4  48  141 154
Montreal  49 20 23  6  46  141 162
Detroit   50 19 25  6  44  132 170
New York  48 19 24  5  43  153 157
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   43 42 21  63
W Burns, Chi   47 12 39  51
Cabbell, NY    47 35 15  50
Mahoney, Chi   38 16 34  50
Albers, NY     48 16 31  47
Chandler, Bos  44 21 23  44
Pollack, Tor   42 19 20  39
Galbraith, Tor 49 17 25  42
Hart, Bos      48 22 19  41
Sauer, Tor     45 16 25  41
Skinner, Mon   49 18 21  39
Gregg, NY      42 17 22  39
McGlynn, Chi   49 20 18  38
Lanceleve, Mon 46 13 25  38
MacLean, Chi   45 12 26  38
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    42 22 14  6   3  2.58
Brockers, Bos  32 13 12  7   2  2.72
James, Bos     17  7  8  2   1  2.89
Broadway, Tor  41 18 19  3   1  2.98
Tremblay, NY   37 16 15  4   3  3.02
Cartr, Det     15  2  7  1   0  3.18
Touhey, Mon    40 18 19  2   2  3.28
Chasse, Det    41 17 18  5   2  3.40

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18

Boston 1 at 1 Chicago : The Packers extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games but fail to win for the first time this month after skating to a 1-1 draw against Boston. Tommy Burns, with his league leading 40th, and Tommy Hart traded second period goals in a game that saw the host Packers outshoot the visitors 33-21.

Detroit 5 at 5 New York : The two clubs trying desperately to get into playoff position had to settle for a 5-5 tie at Bigsby Garden. The visiting Motors scored three times in the third period, including a pair from Nick Tardif, to erase a 4-2 deficit byt a late goal from Paul Tetreault salvaged the tie for the Shamrocks.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19

Toronto 3 at 1 Montreal : Montreal's struggles continue after the Valiants fell 3-1 on home ice to the Toronto Dukes. Bobbie Sauer, Herb Burdette and rookie Lou Galbraith with a late empty-netter provided the Toronto score while Leo Bernard was the lone Montrel marksmaen. The Vals are winless in their last 6 games. To make matters worse, Bernard left the game with a shoulder injury and will be sidelined at least a month.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21

Boston 1 at 0 Montreal: Tom Brockers turned aside 22 Montreal shots for his second shutout of the season, making Craig Simpson's first period goal stand up in a 1-0 road win for the Bees at the Montreal Arena. The Vals are 0-6-1 in February and just 2-12-3 since the second week of January.

Detroit 3 at 2 Toronto : Dave Bradley's powerplay goal with 2:03 remaining in the game lifted the Motors to a 3-2 victory and pulled Detroit even with Montreal for the fourth and final playoff spot in the NAHC. The Motors are 2-0-3 in their last five games.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22

Toronto 4 at 3 Chicago :The Packers 10-game unbeaten streak came to an end with a 4-3 loss to Toronto. It was the first loss for the Packers since January 24 when they also were beaten by the Dukes. Quinton Pollack had 2 goals and an assist to pace the Toronto attack. Tommy Burns scored twice for the Packers and now has scored at least one goal in 8 consecutive games. It was Chicago's 3rd straight game without Marty Mahoney as the winger continues to recover from a back injury.

Montreal 1 at 0 Detroit : The Valiants regained sole possession of the final playoff spot and halted a 7-game winless streak with a 1-0 vicotry at Thompson Palladium. Adam Sandford scored the game's only goal, shorthanded, midway through the opening period despite the fact the Valiants, clearly an inspired bunch, fired 50 shots on Detroit goaltender Brad Carter. Millard Touhey only had to contend with 26 shots in the Montreal net, and he stopped them all for his second shutout of the season and 7th of his career.

Boston 1 at 3 New York : The Shamrocks remain within 3 points of fourth place with a 3-1 win at home over Boston to extend their unbeaten streak to 4 games. Laurel Albers had 2 assists while Orval Cabbell scored his 35th goal of the season to pace the Shamrocks.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 25
Chicago at New York
Boston at Toronto

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 28
Detroit at Montreal
Chicago at Toronto

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 29
Boston at Chicago
Montreal at New York

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Courtesy of Finn LeBec, Boston Globe : "In the old 48-game schedule, we'd be done already. Bees fans would have been happy with a second place regular season finish considering the wolves at the door. But, the final 20 or so games will determine the last three spots among five teams. The league definitely did the right thing by extending the schedule."
Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News notes it was a rare winless week at home for the Packers with a tie against the Bees and a loss to the Dukes. Chicago also lost three more players to minor injuries, with star forward Marty Mahoney, veteran defender Mo Masters, and backup goalie Michael Cleghorn all expected to miss the week.
The Detroit Motors missed a big opportunity in falling 1-0 to Montreal yesterday. A win would have put us alone in 4th place but instead we are 2 points back of the Vals and they have a game in hand.

It was a good week for the Dukes with 2 wins in 3 games. Things got started on a positive note Thursday evening in Montreal where the team put together what coach Barrell termed "One of, if not our best, overall games of the season at both ends of the ice."

Finally the Dukes were the predators not the prey early in a period when Bobbie Sauer potted his 16th before the game was 5 minutes old from Herb Burdette and Philippe Dubois. Burdette also scored on the power play in the last 5 minutes of the period putting Toronto up two at intermission. Despite being outshot 16-7 in the second Leo Bernard put the Vals back in the game with his 5th tally of the season. The third again had the home team badly outshot, but Montreal netminder Millard Touhey held the fort. Rookie Lou Galbraith's 17th into an empty cage with 2 seconds remaining secured a 3-1 win.

A huge crowd, 15,688, packed Dominion Gardens for a Saturday night encounter with the Motors who of late are making a determined playoff push. J.C. Martel put the home side up notching his 5th before Ben Witt tied the score before the end of the first period. With Arnold Singleton for the Motors and the Dukes Quinton Pollock, with his 20th, exchanging goals the second period ended knotted at 2 despite the Dukes holding a 25-18 advantage in shots on goal. The home squad continued to press for the winner in the third but Motors netminder Henri Chasse continued to shut the door. The game remained deadlocked until Dick Zimmerman took a questionable slashing call in the last 3 minutes. After a relatively lengthy delay to clean the ice debris rained down from the stands after the penalty call the Motors setup their powerplay that allowed Dave Bradley to convert on a tic-tack-toe passing play from Doug Yeadon and Witt at 17:57 causing the another delay to clear the ice of refuse. The 3-2 win by Detroit had many fans irate with the referee with the common refrain being "He called that slash late after letting it go all game? Stupid!"

After that heart breaking loss the team was faced with the daunting task of facing the league leading Packers in Chicago on a quick turnaround. The Dukes came out flying with Leo Carlson opening the scoring just 24 seconds into the game when his shot eluded Norm Hanson in the Chicago cage. The fast start had the visitors leading 3-0 at the end of one thanks to goals by Pollock and Alex Lavalliere before the game was 15 minutes old. Toronto laid siege to the Packers net firing 26 shot at Hanson.

The Packers score twice in the second on markers by Tommy Burns and David Rankin but Pollock's second of the game allowed the Dukes to maintain a 2 goal lead. Burns, his 42nd, at 11:13 of the third setup for a wild finish in which the Dukes hung on for the 4-3 victory. Coach Barrell: "We will take that victory any day, the first period was exceptional, as we caught the Packers flat footed. We cannot get into a shootout with teams like that, we tightened up enough in the third period to hang on when the players went back to our defensive system. The third was winning playoff type hockey, we have to make that style a habit as the season winds down."

Toronto has a tough upcoming week with two home dates, Bees on Wednesday, Packers Saturday, the two teams ahead of them in the standings. The Dukes are in third only 2 points ahead of the Vals, 4 up on the Motors, 5 ahead of the Shamrocks. It will be a wild finish to the season.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Gus Goulding shocked the baseball world when the 34-year-old told the Chicago Chiefs yesterday he is walking away from the game.
Harold Stephens, the World Welterweight champ will be back in the ring in April as his camp has confirmed the champ will take on undefeated Mac Erickson in Boston on April 24.
The Federal Basketball League leading Chicago Panthers lost back to back games for the first time this season while in the ABC the Washington Statesmen saw their 15-game winning streak come to an end in Richmond.
A high ranking American official says a Russian puppet government has been established in North Korea, adding it has an army, a flag and a constitution -in open defiance of international agreements.
President Truman notified Congress that he intends to ask for more money for military aid for Greece and Turkey. Truman also plans to request $570 million to finance a Chinese aid program until June 30, 1949.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-11-2023, 01:16 PM

MARCH 1, 1948

BATTLE HEATING UP FOR FINAL PLAYOFF SPOT

The New York Shamrocks are suddenly the hottest team in the NAHC and have worked their way into a playoff position with 10 games remaining in their season. The Shamrocks struggled most of the year but since February 3 have gone 6-1-2 and overtaken both Detroit and Montreal for the final playoff spot. New York also has a game in hand on their two challengers and is just 3 points back of the Toronto Dukes for third place.

The news is not all good for the Shamrocks, who will be without their captain and top defenseman Bert McCalley for the next week to ten days after McCalley was injured in a 4-2 win over the first place Chicago Packers on Wednesday. The Packers are suddenly in a slump with 4 straight losses but they should have no trouble hanging on to top spot as their lead on second place Boston is still 11 points even after dropping a 5-3 decision to the Bees last night.

The big battle with three weeks remaining in the season is for the final playoff spot, or perhaps two of them. Toronto is presently in third place, but the Dukes are just 3 points up on the surging Shamrocks with a pair of games on the docket between the two next week. Detroit, which has lost just once in its last 7 games, also has a pair against the Shamrocks next week with the Motors just a point behind the Greenshirts in the standings. Montreal is also one point back as the second half of the season continues to be dreadful for a Valiants club that at Christmas still had hopes of catching the Packers for first place. The Valiants must be relieved to be done with February, after going 1-8-1 during the month.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS   GF  GA
Chicago   52 29 17  6  64  193 134
Boston    51 22 20  9  53  160 143
Toronto   51 23 24  4  50  147 162
New York  50 21 24  5  47  163 160
Montreal  51 20 25  6  46  145 172
Detroit   51 20 25  6  46  136 173
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   46 44 23  67
Cabbell, NY    49 37 18  55
W Burns, Chi   50 12 40  52
Mahoney, Chi   38 16 34  50
Chandler, Bos  46 25 24  49
Albers, NY     50 16 33  49
Hart, Bos      50 24 22  46
Pollack, Tor   47 23 21  44
Sauer, Tor     47 18 25  43
Galbraith, Tor 50 17 25  42
Skinner, Mon   51 20 21  41
McGlynn, Chi   52 21 19  40
Gregg, NY      44 18 22  40
Lanceleve, Mon 48 13 27  40
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    45 22 17  6   3  2.63
Brockers, Bos  33 14 12  7   2  2.73
James, Bos     18  8  8  2   1  2.89
Tremblay, NY   39 18 15  4   3  2.93
Broadway, Tor  43 19 20  3   1  3.02
Touhey, Mon    42 18 21  2   2  3.37
Chasse, Det    42 18 18  5   2  3.39

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 25

Chicago 2 at 4 New York : The Shamrocks moved past Detroit into fifth place, just a point back of Montreal for the final playoff spot after extending their unbeaten streak to 5 games with a 4-2 win at Bigsby Garden over Chicago. It was the second straight loss for the Packers but Tommy Burns kept his goal scoring streak alive with a first period shorthanded goal. Burns has scored in each of the last 9 games. Chicago led 2-0 after 40 minutes before the Greenshirts exploded for four in the third period including a pair from Orval Cabbell.

Boston 6 at 3 Toronto : Wilbur Chandler had a hat trick as second place Boston increased its lead on third place Toronto to three points.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 28

Detroit 4 at 3 Montreal: The Motors moved into a 4th place tie with slumping Montreal after a 4-3 road win. Detroit, which has gone 3-3-1 in its last seven games, was led by defenseman Joe Todd with a goal and two assists. The Valiants are 3-13-3 since the second week of January.

Chicago 2 at 3 Toronto : Second period goals from Herb Burdette, Les Carlson and Quinton Pollack held up as the Dukes handed the Chicago Packers their third straight loss. Toronto is back to within a point of second place Boston in the battle for home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Tommy Burns did pick up an assist but his streak of scoring in 9 consecutive games came to an end.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 29

Boston 5 at 3 Chicago : Should they be worried in Chicago after the Packers lost their fourth in a row? Tommy Burns opened the scoring with his league leading 44th goal of the season but it was not enough as Tommy Hart scored twice and added an assist while Mickey Bedard had 3 assists to power the Bees to a 5-3 victory. First place is still likely out of the question for the Bees, who still trail the Packers by 11 points but this is the first time all season the Packers have dropped more than 2 in a row. The good news for Chicago is Marty Mahoney looks ready to return after being sidelined since February 11.

Montreal 1 at 6 New York : The Shamrocks moved into the final playoff spot with a dominant 6-1 victory over the sinking Montreal Valiants. New York is on a tear with 6 wins and 2 ties in their last 9 games. They broke this one open with 4 goals in just over a 7 minute span late in the second period. Paul Tetreault and Chris Broeke led the way for the Shamrocks with a goal and two helpers each while Etienne Tremblay turned aside 29 of the 30 Montreal shots he faced.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
TUESDAY MARCH 2
Toronto at New York

WEDNESDAY MARCH 3
Chicago at Boston
New York at Detroit
Montreal at Toronto

THURSDAY MARCH 4
Boston at Montreal

SATURDAY MARCH 6
Montreal at Detroit
New York at Toronto

SUNDAY MARCH 7
Toronto at Boston
Montreal at Chicago
Detroit at New York

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Sam Fincher of the New York World-Telegram notes that the "Shamrocks moving up. Two more wins and the Shamrocks have moved into the 4th playoff position. And they still have 3rd place in sight. They will have to deal with star defenseman Bert McCalley out with a wrist injury for the next week. On a positive note C Adam Greenham has begun training and may be back before the end of the season."
Dan Urbanski of the Detroit Times points out that the Motors are 13-10-5 since they made the big trade with Montreal sending veteran defenseman Shel Herron and Bryant Williams to the Valiants. They were 7-15-1 before the deal.

Here is how the 6 NAHC club's fared in the month of Febrauay:

Code:

          W-L-T PTS
New York  6-2-2  14
Chicago   6-4-1  13
Boston    5-3-3  13
Toronto   5-5-0  10
Detroit   3-4-3   9
Montreal  1-8-1   3

The Toronto skaters managed to split the two this week against the two teams ahead of them in the NAHC standings to remain in 3rd place. That is not the big news, the big news is bad for the club. Early in the first period of the Wednesday game in the Gardens against the Bees, Dukes Rookie of the Year candidate Lou Galbraith was lost for the season to a knee injury suffered after taking a stiff check from Bees rearguard Conn Cundiff while trying to cut across the middle. Galbraith went down in a heap writhing in pain, it was evident to all 12,163 present that the injury was serious. The 20-year-old, who was selected first overall in the July draft, was third in team scoring with 17 goals and 42 points in 50 games.

As the training staff helped Galbraith to the dressing room a hushed silence fell over the crowd. Concerns about their injured teammate may have had something to do with the Dukes trailing 2-1 after the first while allowing only 2 shots. The Dukes seemed to rally early in the second on goals by Dick Zimmerman and Bobbie Sauer, his second of the game, to take a 3-2 before the game had reached the halfway mark. As has become far too common lately the walls collapsed around the Dukes when the Bees stormed back with 3 goals in the last 7 minutes of the second to take a 5-3 lead.

Alex Lavalliere tried to inject a little life back into the team by dropping the mitts at center ice to square off with Jacob Gron while the game was still tied at 3. It had the opposite effect as it was the Bees who got a jolt from the battle and cruised to an relatively easy 6-3 victory. Coach Barrell's post game remarks were "Everyone knew immediately that Lou's injury was serious, most players could not seem to get their heads back in the game after Boston tied it up in the second. Gordie (goltender Broadway) seemed to be most effected, allowing 6 on only 23 shots. I considered pulling him after the first, in hindsight I probably should have as I knew his mind wasn't in the game. We now know Lou is gone for the season, he is going to have surgery to repair his knee tomorrow at Toronto General, time to move on."

Move on is exactly what the team did on Saturday night with Chicago in town looking for revenge after the Dukes halted their winning streak the past Sunday. The Packers poured everything at the Dukes in the first trying to replicate the fast start Toronto got off to in Chicago. Broadway stood his ground making 10 saves in the first, many of the difficult variety. The Dukes withstood the Packers onslaught to put 3 by Chicago keeper Norm Hanson in the second with Herb Burdette figuring in on all three goals. The up tempo continued for the high scoring Packers in the third, after Ed Delarue broke up the shutout with the 11 minutes gone in the third the Chicago team continued to come in waves and their persistance was rewarded with a second goal by Moose Vezina with just over a minute remaining in the game. With the Packers cage vacated the Dukes managed to hang on to a 3-2 win. Barrell : "That win was important especially to Gordie after Wednesday night. Still lots of work to do before 3 games this week in NY then home to the Valiants, Shamrocks."

Galbraith was the worst but not he only injury news in Toronto. It appears that both J.C. Martel and Frank Featherstone will miss all 3 games this week with arm and back injuries leaving the D Corps scrambling yet again this season. A positive is that Chad Roy has been back on the ice for the first time time since his back injury in the preseason.

STRONG FINISH TO BEES ROAD TREK

by Finn LeBec, Boston Globe

The Boston Bees had a very 3-1-1 successful road trip, recovering from a 3-1 loss to the Shamrocks last Sunday with wins in Toronto (6-3) and Chicago (5-3). The Toronto win saw five multi-point performances by the Bees, headlined by Wilbur Chandler's hat trick. Chandler offensively took control of the game, scoring twice in a three-minute span to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead, sandwiching the Lavalliere-Gron tête-à-tête. Chandler added his hat trick goal - his 24th of the season - as the only goal in a third period where the Bees clamped down and led on the shot clock, 14-6.

The Chicago win even more impressive, handing the Packers only their fifth loss at Lakeside Auditorium. The top line accounted for another three goals, but it was Tommy Hart who was the star of this one, scoring an early goal and adding an empty-netter in the final seconds. Oscar James drew the somewhat surprising assignment, considering it was his third start in February and first in two weeks. But, James stood strong, turning away 27 of 30 Packer shots. Rookie Mickey Bedard was firing away at the net (13 shots attempted, 6 shots on goal), but earned first star honors because of his three helpers, two of them primary assists.

VANCE WELL DESERVING OF PLACE IN BOONE COUNTY

Word came this week that former Dynamos legend Frank Vance has been granted membership in the exclusive club that is baseball's Hall of Fame. The third baseman becomes the fourth player who will have his likeness displayed in the Boone County baseball museum donning a Dynamos cap, following in the footsteps of Jim Golden, Jim Jones and Bill Temple.

A well deserved honour for Vance, who is the franchise leader in games played, hits and homeruns despite spending 4 years of his prime in Brooklyn. The Minnesota native made his Detroit debut in 1927 at the age of 25 and would enjoy one of the greatest seasons in Dynamos history two years later when he won both the Whitney Award and the World Championship Series MVP. He led the Fed in batting that year -the only time it happened in his career- but Vance was always a talented hitter. He finished just 30 hits shy of the magical 3,000 mark with a career .317 batting average and was selected to baseball's all-star game 9 times.

The only number the franchise has ever retired is Roy Calfee's #1 but I expect there will be a push to add Vance's #8 to the outfield wall at Thompson Field. It will be a well-deserved and long overdue recognition for the Detroit sporting legend who we can now officially call a "Hall of Famer."
*** Knights With Big Cage Win To Stop Slide ***

The Detroit City College cage squad has struggled in section play, going just 6-6 vs Great Lakes Alliance opponents including mix results last week. The losing streak reached 3 games on Thursday with a disappointing loss on campus at Knights area to Minnesota Tech. The 9-17 Lakers played persistant defense and shut down any sort of secondary scoring for the Knights in a 42-33 loss. Charlie Orland had 16 points but could not do it all himself as none of his teammates scored more than 4. It was a different story in Gary, In. Saturday afternoon as the Knights played possibly their best game of the season, dumping the 10th ranked Whitney College Engineers 66-63. That victory allowed the Knights to retain their spot in the top 20, slotting in at 18th for the second week in a row with a 17-8 mark on the season.
*** Moore Ignores Critics ***

To everyone who has been calling for Mark Moore's head, myself included for a brief spell early in the season, you also have to give the Motors coach credit for a job well done. He has turned around his club and it will be an incredible achievement if he can somehow guide to Motors to the playoffs for the second year in a row despite having his two best defenseman dealt away shortly before Christmas.

The Motors banded together after that deal and are now just a point out of the final playoff spot with 9 games remaining. They have a lot of company as just 1 point separates three teams trying to grab that final spot and the New York Shamrocks, who are in fourth at the moment, look just as determined as the Motors do. Not sure there will be a bigger week this season than the one coming up which sees Detroit play twice against the Shamrocks with a Saturday home date with Montreal sandwiched in between. A nice three-game winning streak would go a long ways towards securing a playoff spot.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Rabbit Day, Dave Trowbridge and Frank Vance highlight the 1948 class of inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Boone County, IL.
World Middleweight Champion Frank Melanson has set his sights on a rematch with the formidable European champ, Edouard Desmarais. It will take place July 4th at Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia.
American and United Nations policy regarding strife-torn Palestine enters a crucial week with a series of top level conferences aimed at determining whether American troops may be asked to help police the Holy Land and enforce the UN plan to split it between Jews and Arabs.
Communists bidding for supreme power in Czechoslovakia, had put their security police before all Czech government buildings and foreign embassies. Headquarters of the Czech National Socialist Party, with withdrew Friday from the government coalition, was seized by police armed with submachine guns.
By week's end the western Czech border was sealed off and the communist party seized power under what American sources termed a "disguised dictatorship."

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-14-2023, 08:23 PM

MARCH 8, 1948

TWO PLAYOFF BERTHS VERY MUCH UP FOR GRABS WITH TWO WEEKS REMAINING

The final two weeks of the season should provide plenty of playoff excitement as there are four teams separated by just 4 points in the race for the final two playoff berths. If the season was to end today the Toronto Dukes would claim third place and face the Boston Bees in the opening round of the playoffs. The Dukes are a single point ahead of the New York Shamrocks, who would meet first place Chicago.

However there are two weeks remaining in the season and the Montreal Valiants are just a point back of New York while the Detroit Motors are not out of the race either with the Motors 3 behind the fourth place Shamrocks. Detroit and New York each have six games remaining while the two Canadian entries have 5 games apiece.

Among the key upcoming contests are two between Montreal and New York next weekend while Toronto visits Montreal this week and finishes off the season with a home and home series against the Motors. The Shamrocks might have the toughest road to travel as four of their final six games are with either Boston or Chicago.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS   GF  GA
Chicago   54 30 18  6  66  198 141
Boston    54 25 20  9  59  172 149
Toronto   55 24 27  4  52  155 177
New York  54 23 26  5  51  175 171
Montreal  55 22 27  6  50  160 181
Detroit   54 21 27  6  48  146 187
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   48 45 24  69
Cabbell, NY    53 40 19  59
Albers, NY     54 20 35  55
W Burns, Chi   52 12 41  53
Chandler, Bos  49 25 25  50
Mahoney, Chi   40 16 34  50
Hart, Bos      53 24 24  48
Pollack, Tor   51 25 22  47
Skinner, Mon   55 24 22  46
Sauer, Tor     49 18 26  44
Gregg, NY      48 19 24  43
Lanceleve, Mon 52 13 30  43
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    47 23 18  6   3  2.65
Brockers, Bos  34 15 12  7   2  2.71
James, Bos     20 10  8  2   1  2.80
Tremblay, NY   42 19 17  4   4  2.87
Broadway, Tor  47 20 22  3   1  3.04
Touhey, Mon    46 20 23  2   2  3.27
Chasse, Det    44 19 19  5   2  3.46

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

TUESDAY MARCH 2

Toronto 0 at 3 New York : The surging Shamrocks stretch their unbeaten streak to 7 games as Etienne Tremblay notches his league leading 4th shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over Toronto. Laurel Albers scored twice while Tommy Brescia had a pair of assists as New York moved to within a point of the Dukes for third place.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 3

Chicago 2 at 5 Boston : The Bees moved to within 9 points of the first place Packers with a 5-2 victory. It was Boston's third straight victory, including back to back wins over the slumping Packers who have lost 5 in a row. Joe Morey scored twice to lead the Boston attack while Tommy Burns had his league leading 45th goal for the Packers.

New York 3 at 5 Detroit : The Motors slowed down the Shamrocks, handing New York's its first loss in 8 games while Detroit has lost just once in its last eight outings. The victory moves the Motors back to within 1 point of New York for the final playoff spot. Rookie Ben Witt had a goal and two assists while Arnold Singleton scored twice to lead the Motors attack in a game Detroit won despite being outshot 53-34.

Montreal 6 at 2 Toronto : A big win for the Valiants as it keeps them tied with Detroit and more importantly just one poing behind New York for the fourth and final playoff spot. Adam Sandford had 3 assists to lead the Montreal offense while Clarence Skinner scored a pair of goals.

THURSDAY MARCH 4

Boston 2 at 1 Montreal : All the scoring came in the opening twenty minutes as goals by Garrett Kuaffeldt and Waldemar Rupp lifted Boston to victory. Glen Whitley had the long Montreal marker.

SATURDAY MARCH 6

Montreal 6 at 2 Detroit : The Motors have only lost twice in their last 9 games, but both were to Montreal after absorbing a 6-2 defeat at the Thompson Palladium. The win allows the Valiants to move a point ahead of the New York Shamrocks for fourth place. Clarence Skinner paced the Montreal attack with 2 goals and an assist in a game that the Valiants outshot Detroit 45-23.

New York 1 at 3 Toronto : A big win for Toronto to keep the Dukes in third place while the Shamrocks loss drops them behind Montreal in the battle for fourth. A pair of third period goals by Herb Burdette -the second one into an empty net- proved the difference in the contest.

SUNDAY MARCH 7

Toronto 3 at 5 Boston : The Bees stretched their winning streak to 5 games and seem to be peaking at the right time with the playoffs fast approaching. The game was tied at 1 after two periods but the teams combined for 6 goals in the final 14 minutes of a wild third period.

Montreal 2 at 3 Chicago : The Packers snapped a 6-game losing streak by beating Montreal 3-2 and knocking the Valiants out of the final playoff spot. Ed Delarue's unassisted third period goal proved the difference in a game in which the Packers big line of the Burns brothers and Marty Mahoney was held off the scoresheet.

Detroit 3 at 5 New York : The Shamrocks ended their two game losing skid with a 5-3 win on home ice over Detroit. The win, coupled with Montreal's loss in Chicago, moves New York back into fourth place a point ahead of the Valiants and 3 up on the Motors in the battle for the final playoff spot. Laurel Albers led the way for the Shamrocks with a goal and two assists while Joe Martin chipped in with 3 helpers.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
TUESDAY MARCH 9
Detroit at Chicago

WEDNESDAY MARCH 10
New York at Boston
Chicago at Detroit

THURSDAY MARCH 11
Toronto at Montreal

SATURDAY MARCH 13
New York at Montreal
Boston at Toronto

SUNDAY MARCH 14
Toronto at Chicago
Boston at Detroit
Montreal at New York

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Brett Bing of the Toronto Mail & Empire notes that the Dukes are hanging on to a playoff spot by the skin of their teeth. Five games left Shamrocks are a point behind with a game in hand, Valiants. Motors just behind NY. Last two weeks will be full of drama. Dukes season may come down to a home and home with Detroit the last weekend of the regular schedule.
Chicago's 3-2 win over Montreal yesterday ended Tommy Burns 12 game point scoring streak. Both Burns brothers and Marty Mahoney were held off the scoresheet. Might just be the first time the Packers won this season without any of the big three contributing a point.
Montreal will be without Nick Haines the rest of this season and perhaps even some of next season after the 26-year-old suffered a serious back injury against Boston this week. Haines had 11 goals and 33 points in 49 games for the Valiants this season, his 5th in the NAHC.
Sam Fincher of the New York World-Telegram: "Shamrocks hanging on to that last playoff spot, but a tough closing schedule, with 4 of last 6 against the top 2 teams. Hopefully we can get our Captain back soon."
New York captain Bert McCalley has not patrolled the Shamrocks blueline since February 25 as he is battling a wrist injury. The 30-year-old has 24 points and 102 penalty minutes in 49 games this season.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

FABL's 16 major league clubs begin their spring slate of games in Florida starting later today. The Great Western League opened it's tune-up contests in Arizona and Mexico last week.
It has been confirmed that June 12 at Gothams Stadium in New York will be the site of Hector Sawyer's next title defense. He will be heavily favoured against challenger Steve Case.
Chairman Vandenberg of the Senate Foreign Relations committee opened Senate debate on the European Recovery Program with a call to stop World War III before it can start and protect the United States, noting that "Aggressive communism threatens all freedom and security in the Old World or the New when it puts free people anywhere in chains." The Senate ignored standard protocols against demonstrations and rose to give Vanderberg a standing ovation at the completion of his speech.
Secretary of State Marshall told Congress there is "grave danger" Greece and Turkey cannot remain free unless they get more military aid from the United States.
Lt. General Albert Wedemyer warned that China is also in need of military aid, stating "We are going to pay in blood" if proper steps are not taken by America to stop the spread of Communism.
Five nations -Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg- are meeting in Brussels to discuss plans for a Western European union to stem Communist expansion.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-15-2023, 07:19 PM

MARCH 15, 1948

DOWN TO THE WIRE!

Shamrocks Hold Inside Track on Final Playoff Berth

There will be plenty of excitement as the longest NAHC season ever contested will need to go right down to the wire before its four playoff participants can be determined. First and second place are long since spoken for with the Chicago Packer and Boston Bees holding down the top two spots and home ice advantage for the opening round of the playoffs. The Toronto Dukes are not completely safe yet but they have a 3-point cushion on New York and are four up on both Montreal and Toronto so should feel pretty comfortable of booking a trip to Boston to open the post-season.

It is fourth place that is very much the focus with the New York Shamrocks holding a slim 1 point lead on both the Montreal Valiants and Detroit Motors. New York and Detroit each have 3 games remaining while the Vals have just two left. It won't be an easy road for the Greenshirts, who host Boston Tuesday before finishing with a home and home against the league-leading Packers. Detroit is in Boston Wednesday before a season-ending weekend home-and-home with the Toronto Dukes. Montreal is off until Saturday when they host the Packers Saturday before finishing in Boston on Sunday.

BIG BLOW FOR BEES CUP HOPES

The Boston Bees road to a third straight Challenge Cup title just became a little more difficult with word that veteran winger Tommy Hart will miss the rest of the regular season and the playoffs after suffering a groin injury over the weekend. The 30-year-old, who has scored more goals and more points in the modern era (1940 to present) than any other player, including Chicago's Tommy Burns, was 7th in league scoring with 49 points this season at the time of his injury. Hart is also the all-time leader in modern-era playoff points with 59.

Hart is not the only recent casualty who will miss some playoff action. 29-year-old defenseman Willis Beane is expected to miss most, if not all of the opening round. Leading scorer Wilbur Chandler has also been hurt but he is expected to be back in the lineup on the weekend as the regular season comes to an end. The Bees are already playing without young center Robert Walker, who saw his season come to an end a week ago when he suffered a hip injury. Walker had 29 points in 47 games but it is Hart's absence that will be most greatly felt and is such a rare occurrence for the veteran who has missed only 3 games in the last seven seasons.

Code:

   NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS   GF  GA
Chicago   57 32 19  6  70  208 149
Boston    57 26 22  9  61  184 161
Toronto   58 26 28  4  56  164 182
New York  57 24 28  5  53  182 182
Montreal  58 23 29  6  52  165 189
Detroit   57 23 28  6  52  158 198
 
     SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   51 46 26  72
Cabbell, NY    56 40 20  60
Albers, NY     57 20 38  58
W Burns, Chi   55 12 42  54
Chandler, Bos  52 26 26  52
Mahoney, Chi   43 17 35  52
Hart, Bos      55 24 25  49
Sauer, Tor     52 20 29  49
Morey, Bos     50 21 27  48
Pollack, Tor   52 25 22  47
Skinner, Mon   55 24 22  46
Gregg, NY      51 21 25  46
Simpson, Bos   56 19 27  46
Carlson, Tor   55 17 27  44
Gron, Bos      49 13 31  44
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    50 25 19  6   3  2.63
Brockers, Bos  35 15 13  7   2  2.75
James, Bos     22 11  9  2   1  2.87
Broadway, Tor  50 22 23  3   2  2.95
Tremblay, NY   44 19 19  4   4  2.98
Touhey, Mon    49 21 25  2   2  3.19
Carter, Det    18  2  9  1   0  3.33
Chasse, Det    46 21 19  5   2  3.44
Sorrell, NY    17  5  9  1   3  3.45

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

TUESDAY MARCH 9

Detroit 4 at 2 Chicago : A huge road win for the Motors moves them to within a point of fourth place New York. Henri Chasse made 42 saves while rookie Adam Vanderbilt scored twice to lead the Detroit attack.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 10

New York 2 at 6 Boston : Joe Morey had a goal and 3 assists while rookie goaltender Oscar James made 36 saves as Boston won for the sixth straight game.

Chicago 5 at 2 Detroit : After winning on the road in Chicago the Motors miss a chance to move into fourth place with a 5-2 loss to the Packers in the rematch at the Thompson Palladium. Ed Delarue led the visitors with 3 assists while Tommy Burns scored his league leading 46th goal of the season.

THURSDAY MARCH 11

Toronto 3 at 0 Montreal : The visiting Dukes blank the Valiants 3-0 with Gordie Broadway turning aside all 18 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season. It could not have come at a worse time for the Valiants as they remain tied with Detroit, one point back of the New York Shamrocks for the fourth and final playoff berth. Bobbie Sauer and Dick Zimmerman paced the Toronto offense with a goal and an assist each.

SATURDAY MARCH 13

New York 2 at 5 Montreal : The Valiants leap New York and move up to fourth place with a 5-2 win at the Montreal Arena. Glen Whitley scored twice for the winners while Max Ducharme had 3 assists. After Alex MacDonald gave the Vals a 1-0 lead with the only goal of the first period, Montreal blew the game open with 3 goals in a 9 minute span in the second stanza. The Shamrocks, who were red-hot in February, have lost four of their last five games.

Boston 2 at 4 Toronto : The Dukes move a long ways towards securing third place with a 4-2 win at the Dominion Gardens over Boston. The loss was very costly for the Bees as their second leading scoreer Tommy Hart (24-25-49) saw his season come to an end when he left with what was later diagnosed as a torn groin. The Dukes also lost a player for the playoffs as defenseman Frank Featherstone left with an injury that will sideline him for a couple of months.

SUNDAY MARCH 14

Toronto 2 at 3 Chicago : Toronto's modest two-game winning streak came to an end as Ed Delarue's third period goal lifted the Packers to a 3-2 victory. Marty Mahoney and Jarrett McGlynn also scored for the Packers, who outshot Toronto 40-36, while Bobbie Sauer, with his 20th, and Alex Lavalliere were the Dukes marksmen.

Boston 4 at 6 Detroit: A crucial win for the Motors, keeping them within a point of the fourth and final playoff sport. Detroit rallied with the final four goals of the game including 3 in the third period to pull out the victory. Mike Narand had just one goal on the season entering the game but scored twice to lead the Motors attack.

Montreal 0 at 3 New York : Winner takes over fourth place and thanks to Etienne Tremblay stopping all 25 Montreal shots he faced that team is the New York Shamrocks, who have a 1 point lead on both Detroit and Montreal for the final playoff spot entering the final week of the season. Sam Furr scored twice while Ryan Kennedy also bulged the twine for the Shamrocks who, like Detroit, have 3 games remaining while the Valiants have just two on their docket.

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES
TUESDAY MARCH 16
Boston at New York

WEDNESDAY MARCH 17
Detroit at Boston
New York at Chicago

SATURDAY MARCH 20
Chicago at Montreal
Detroit at Toronto

SUNDAY MARCH 21
Montreal at Boston
Toronto at Detroit
Chicago at New York
end of regular season

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Entering the final weekend of the season, Packers star Tommy Burns needs one goal to tie Bert Cordier's 1929-30 record of 47 goals in a season. Cordier, who accomplished the feat with the Boston Bees, played a much shorter season back then but it was the year of a major rule change that greatly opened the game up as team's adjusted. Burns scored once last week to give him 46 goals and 72 points. He is 8 points shy of Cordier's record 80 in that category.
Tommy's brother Wes Burns is also chasing a record. Wes has 42 assists on the season, three shy of the mark for helpers set by Wilbur Chandler of Boston in 1944-45.
Disappointed with their goaltending this season the Detroit Motors have put a waiver claim in on Andy Backlund. The 25-year-old looked good in a 10 game stint with Montreal last season and was signed by Chicago over the summer but has spent the entire season either in the press box or on the bench as the Packers carried 4 goalies for much of the season. With 22-year-old minor league netminder Lou Goupil refusing to resign with the Motors organization they are in the market for a third netminder for next season.
The Seattle Emeralds are one win away from a major upset in the Great Western Hockey League. The Emeralds beat Tacoma 5-2 yesterday behind a 3 point night from veteran minor leaguer Albert Crouch and now lead the best-of-five Yeadon Cup Final two games to one. Tacoma dominated the regular season of the 4-team loop, finish with a 33-8-7 record for 73 points while second place Seattle had just 43 points. The Tacoma Lions have won each of the previous 3 league titles.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

The field of 32 teams has been announced as the AIAA prepares to tip-off it's 39th annual championship basketball tournament. The top seeds in the four regions include defending champion Whitney College, Mississippi A&M, number one overall Central Ohio and second ranked ranked Rainier College
FABL began spring training play in Florida in preparation for opening day to the baseball season April 19.
The Senate passed the Marshall Plan bill, 69 to 17, with the full $5.3 billion after a prolonged debate.
The Brussels Conference on a Western European union to fight the spread of Communism approved 7 articles including a plan to have its defensive stature backed by the military might of the United States. It ended with with the 5-nations adopting a 50-year treaty for a political, economic and military union of Western Europe intended to check the march of communism.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-16-2023, 01:30 PM

MARCH 22, 1948

PLAYOFF MATCHUPS SET

Chicago vs New York While Boston Plays Toronto

It went down to the final day of the regular season to determine the final playoff participant, but the matchups are set for the Challenge Cup semi-finals. It has long been known that the Chicago Packers and Boston Bees would finish first and second with the Packers ending up with an 11-point cushion on second place Boston. The Bees, riddled by injury of late, were only 4 points ahead of third place Toronto but the margin was 8 points entering the final weekend when the Dukes dashed Detroit's playoff hopes with a sweep in a weekend home-and-home series with the Motors.

Detroit was in the running until the final day when the Motors could have claimed fourth place with a Sunday victory at home over Toronto after the Shamrocks were beaten by Chicago but the Motors lost and ended up 1 point back of the Shamrocks for the final playoff berth. Montreal was also a point back and officially 5th as they won the season series with the Motors, who finish last for the first time since 1936-37. For the Valiants it marks the second straight season when a terrible second half cost the club a playoff spot.

The Packers have never won a Challenge Cup but have to be the favourites even with defensemen Ian Groening and Ted Stevens as well as depth winger Derek Gubb all likely to miss at least the first round. Assuming the Boston Bees can get past Toronto they will have their work cut out for them in the finals. The Bees will be without front-line winger Tommy Hart and solid centerman Robert Walker for the entire playoff. Veteran defenseman Willis Beane will likely miss the entire semi-final series. The Dukes have some injuries of their own to contend with.

TWIFB PREDICTIONS

Chicago Packers over New York Shamrocks in 5 games
Boston Bees over Toronto Dukes in 6 games
Challenge Cup final will be a reverse of last season with Chicago prevailing over Boston in 6 games.

Code:

   FINAL NAHC Standings
TEAM      GP  W  L  T PTS   GF  GA
Chicago   60 34 20  6  74  216 156
Boston    60 27 24  9  63  194 173
Toronto   60 28 28  4  60  173 184
New York  60 25 30  5  55  189 191
Montreal  60 24 30  6  54  171 195
Detroit   60 24 30  6  54  166 210
 
  FINAL SCORING LEADERS
NAME           GP  G  A PTS
T Burns, Chi   56 47 28  75
Cabbell, NY    59 40 21  61
Albers, NY     60 20 39  59
W Burns, Chi   58 14 43  57
Mahoney, Chi   46 18 35  53
Chandler, Bos  52 26 26  52
Morey, Bos     53 22 28  50
Hart, Bos      55 24 25  49
Gregg, NY      54 23 26  49
Sauer, Tor     52 20 29  49
Pollack, Tor   54 26 22  48
Simpson, Bos   59 19 29  48
Gron, Bos      52 14 33  47
Skinner, Mon   55 24 22  46
Carlson, Tor   57 17 28  47
   FINAL GOALIE LEADERS
NAME           GP  W  L  T  ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi    53 27 20  6   3  2.61
Brockers, Bos  37 16 14  7   2  2.76
Broadway, Tor  51 22 23  3   2  2.94
Tremblay, NY   46 20 20  4   4  2.94
James, Bos     23 11 10  2   1  2.96
Touhey, Mon    51 22 26  2   2  3.18
Carter, Det    19  2 10  1   0  3.37
Chasse, Det    48 22 20  5   2  3.47
Sorrell, NY    18  5 10  1   3  3.55

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

TUESDAY MARCH 16

Boston 5 at 2 New York : The New York Shamrocks missed an opportunity to put some ground between themselves and Montreal and Detroit. The 5-2 loss to Boston means the Valiants and Motors remain just 1 point back of the Shamrocks for fourth place. With a number of key Boston players out with injury rookie Nick Prentiss scored his first two NAHC goals while George Anderson had a goal and 2 assists to pace the Boston attack.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 17

Detroit 6 at 3 Boston : The Motors kept their playoff hopes alive with an inspired 6-3 doubling of the short-staffed Bees. Nick Tardif scored twice for the winners, who outshot the Bees 43-24. It was Detroit's third win in its last four games and keeps them within a point of the New York Shamrocks for fourth place.

New York 4 at 1 Chicago :New York rebounded from yesterday's loss to beat Chicago 4-1 and hang on to fourth place, by a single point over the Detroit Motors. Gil Corbeil scored twice to led the New York attack. Chicago's lone goal came off the stick of Tommy Burns. It was his 47th goal of the season, allowing him to tie Bert Cordier's 1929-30 record for goals in a season.

SATURDAY MARCH 20

Chicago 4 at 2 Montreal : A must-win game for the Valiants ended in disappointment with a 4-2 loss on home ice ending their playoff hopes and being the final crushing blow in a terrible collapse after the Vals were in sight of first place at Christmas. Wes Burns had 2 goals and an assist while Tommy Burns added two helpers for the first place Packers.

Detroit 2 at 5 Toronto : Detroit missed an opportunity to move into fourth place as former Motors coach Jack Barrell got revenge on his own team while clinching third place for the Dukes at the same time. Gordie Broadway had an outstanding game in the Toronto net while Quinton Pollack scored his 26th goal of the season to lead Toronto. The Motors must win tomorrow at home against Detroit and have the Shamrocks tie or lose in their finale against Chicago for Detroit to claim fourth place.

SUNDAY MARCH 21

Montreal 4 at 2 Boston : Montreal finished the season on a positive with a 4-2 win in Boston, ending a stretch of 4 losses in 5 games that cost the Valiants a playoff berth. Rey Sclisizzi and Doug Lynch each had 3 point nights for the Vals. Wilbur Chandler returned to the Boston lineup after missing more than a week with an injury.

Toronto 4 at 0 Detroit : Detroit came up flat in a must-win game, seeing their playoff hopes snuffed out with a 4-0 loss on home ice to the Toronto Dukes. Alex Cameron, Kurt Walz and Dick Zimmerman blew out a scoreless game with 3 second period goals and Trevor Parker added one in the third while Dukes backup goaltender Terry Russell made 23 saves for his first shutout of the season.

Chicago 3 at 1 New York : The Shamrocks fell 3-1 on home ice but still clinched a playoff spot because the Motors lost to Toronto. The New York club will face the Packers in the semi-finals. Marty Mahoney, Mike Van Tol and Jarrett McGlynn scored for Chicago while Adam Greenham, with his first of the season after missing most of the campaign with a fractured hip, scored the lone Shamrock goal.

After a rough, of course, only by his standards, month for Tommy Burns, there will not be a new goals scored record in the NAHC. Bert Cordier will be able to hold onto that title, now sharing a 47-goal season with the Packers star center. Entering the final month with 44 goals, Burns scored just three goals in March with just two goals in his last seven games. It was the worst stretch all season for Burns, who average nearly a goal per game in his eighth professional season. Along with the all-time high of 47 goals, Burns recorded 75 points, 14 clear of the Shamrocks Orval Cabbell who posted a 40-goal season of his own.

Burns and the Packers will be facing Cabbell and the Shamrocks, who were the team that Burns got the historic goal against. It was the only Packer goal in a 4-1 loss, and a relatively healthy Packers squad will now look for some revenge in the opening round of the playoffs. The series seems to favor the Packers, who finished 34-20-6 with 74 points -- nearly 20 more then the fourth place Shamrocks. They will be without winger Jeremey MacLean (13, 26, 29), who had an excellent rookie season in Chicago while he deals with a bruised hand. There is optimism he could return if the Packers advance, but there is plenty of offense even with his absence. Wes Burns (14, 43, 57) assisted on a league high 43 goals while Marty Mahoney (18, 35, 53), Leon Seguin (7, 28, 35), Jarrett McGlynn (23, 21, 44), Ed Delarue (15, 16, 31), and Moose Vezina (11, 31, 42) frequently find themselves on the scoresheet with Tommy (47, 28, 75). Dave Rankin (6, 16, 22) is back from injury, giving the Packers another offensive threat, but you can't discount the defense.

Norm Hanson (27-20-3, .911) faced the most shots (1,560) of any goalie this season, and came home with the best GAA (2.61) and save percentage (.911), as the additions of 1st Rounders Jesse Santoro (6, 17, 23) and Mike Van Tol (7, 7, 14) have really strengthened the blue line, supplement incumbents Jerry Finch (6, 16, 22), Pete Moreau (4, 24, 39), and Mo Masters (7, 9, 13). The Packers don't want to take anything for granted, but they seem to be the clear favorite both in the round and for the championship. It would be the first championship for the Packers, who are looking to snap a run of disappointment from Chicago sports teams

BARRELL BOUNCE BACK LEADS DUKES TO PLAYOFFS

Toronto Dukes make it back into the NAHC tournament for the championship by winning their final two games of the season, 5-2 then 4-0 against Detroit. Jack Barrell, in his first season back in Toronto, led the team to a .500 record after the disastrous 1946-47 season when the team finished 13 games under an even record. The team will now face Boston in the semi-final with NY taking on Chicago in the other semi-final matchup. Dukes had a 4-7-1 record against the Bs this season.

Brett had a short talk with Barrell as the team prepares for their post season. Barrell said "The coaching staff is proud of the way the team performed this season but now that is all in the past. Our focus is on the upcoming Boston series, we have to up our game. When you play a team 12 times in the regular season there should be no surprises, shutting down Chandler, Morey has to be top the list. We go into the series probably in the best health, overall, the team has been all season, Boston losing Tommy Hart last week takes 24 goals out of their lineup, but Kauffeldt is good second option on their top line. I believe the series will come down to battle between Gordie Broadway, Tom Brockers. The team that gets the key saves will probably emerge victorious. I gave the team Monday off to recover, we will begin implementing our plan for the Bs on Tuesday stressing defensive play, we need to control the puck. If we have the biscuit they cannot score I expect to see many 2-1 or 3-2 games."

When pressed for details Barrell would not expand saying "Fans should listen to the games in Boston then come to the rink, I am sure they will be entertained, time to go to put the finishing details on the plan."

AROUND THE LEAGUE

The Detroit Motors are on the clock. Based on a losing head to head record with Montreal, the Motos should claim the first overall pick in the July draft.
One of a trio of wingers is expected to be the first overall selection. They include Lou Barber, a Tillsonburg, On. native who scored 4 goals and 15 points in 32 games with the HAA's Toledo Tigers. The other two are Carl Loon, who is playing junior hockey in his hometown of Edmonton and Ottawa junior player Davey Mosset. The Motors have given no indication as to which player they may be leaning towards.
It was an awful sports week for the city of Detroit as not only were the Motors eliminated from the playoffs but Detroit City College's basketball team fell in the opening round of the AIAA tournament and the Detroit Mustangs pro basketball entry has slipped from second to third in the Federal League's West Division and is in danger of missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
It will be interesting to see if Norb Hickey gets a second season as Montreal's coach. Fired in Toronto last year after a dreadful season for the now playoff-bound Dukes, Hickey returned to his hometown to coach the Vals and had the club within 3 points of first place Chicago shortly before Christmas, but since the calendar flipped to 1948 the team went 9-21-3.
The Valiants General Manager moved quickly to quell any rumours about his coach, stating "He'll be back. It was very frustrating season, and one to be quickly forgotten. We will need to cut down on goals allowed next season."
No word on whether or not Montreal owner Charles LeClerc feels the same way about Hickey.
We feel Boston still has enough to get by Toronto in the opening round but without Tommy Hart the Bees have to be considered longshots to lift the Challenge Cup for the third consecutive season.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Several upsets in the opening round of the AIAA basketball tournament with the biggest being 8th seed Tempe College knocking off top seed Rainier College 52-47 in the West Region.
The New York Knights continue to be one of the hottest teams of late in pro basketball and are closing in on the Boston Centurions for second place in the American Basketball Conference's East Division.
Nearly half of the nation's 400,000 soft-coal mine workers laid down their picks in support of John L. Lewis' demand for pensions for the miners.
Pickets formed at the nation's meat-packing plants as 100,000 employees went on strike despite a last minute effort by President Truman to settle the wage dispute. The nation's meat supply could face a 50% cut due to the walkout.
In his address on Europe, President Truman asked Congress to pass a temporary draft law as one of three "urgent steps toward securing peace and preventing war." He also called once more for passage of the Marshall Plan and described the situation in Europe as "critical."

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-17-2023, 01:43 PM

MARCH 29, 1948

PACKERS HAVE LITTLE TROUBLE IN SERIES OPENER

Dukes Upset Bees on Road

The NAHC Challenge Cup playoffs got underway with the two series opening games on Friday evening. There was little surprise with the result in Chicago as the Packers, armed with the best regular season record in the loop, blanked the fourth place New York Shamrocks 4-0 in game one of their semi-final series. Second place Boston on the other hand, immediately surrendered its home ice advantage over Toronto in the other series as the Dukes pulled out a 2-1 victory in front of a hostile crowd over more than 16,000 at Denny Arena. Both of the best-of-five semi-final series will continue tonight.

Norm Hanson, who led the NAHC in wins by a goaltender and lowest goals against average, turned aside all 23 shots he faced to lead the Packers past the visiting New York Shamrocks. Wes Burns had 2 goals and an assist while his brother Tommy, who led the NAHC in both goals and points during ther regular season, also scored for Chicago.

It took less than 6 minutes for the Packers to open the scoring when Norm Fraser, who scored just once in 7 regular season games with the big club, beat Shamrocks goaltender Etienne Tremblay with David Ranking and Jerry Finch drawing the assists. It would stay 1-0 until Wes Burns and Ed Delarue combined to set up Tommy Burns with 4 minutes remaining in the second period. Wes would get his first of the game two and a half minutes later, assisted by Marty Mahoney and Pete Moreau, to make the score 3-0 after 40 minutes. Three minutes into the third Wes Burns would score again, from Mo Masters and Mike Van Tol, ending any hopes the Shamrocks might have of mounting a comeback. The Packers outshot the visitors 31-23 in a clean, fast-paced game that saw just one penalty called all evening.

In Boston it came as quite a suprise when Toronto coach Jack Barrell elected to start Terry Russell in net over veteran Gordie Broadway. The 31-year-old Russell played in just 12 regular season games for the Dukes this season and had only 4 career playoff games under his belt -all with Chicago in 1944-45. Some might have been questioning Barrell's decision when it took just over 4 minutes for the Bees to opening the scoring. Veteran center Wilbur Chandler, who scored 8 playoff goals in the Bees successful Cup run a year ago, was perched on the edge of the crease and jammed a rebound past Russell to open the scoring. Garrett Kauffledt and Joe Morey drew the assists. Toronto tied it up just under six minutes later when rookie Alex Cameron, who had spent most of the season in Cleveland and owns just 1 NAHC career goal, added his first playoff goal on a nifty solo effort.

The game would be remained knotted at one through the second period as both Russell and veteran Boston netminder Tom Brockers stood tall. That would change just shy of the midway mark of the third period when Dukes captain Bobbie Sauer would be the hero, snapping the tie with goal from the slot, setup by Maurice Charette and Dick Zimmerman. Russell and his Toronto teammates made it stand up, hanging on for the 2-1 victory in the series opener.

NOMINEES FOR NAHC TROPHIES REVEALED

Tommy Burns of the Chicago Packers looks like he is on his way to his third consecutive McDaniels Trophy as the most valuable player in the NAHC. The star center, who led the NAHC in points and tied an 18-year-old record for goals in a season with 47, heads the list of three nominees for the trophy. Burns is joined by Orval Cabbell of the New York Shamrocks and Wilbur Chandler of the Boston Bees. Cabbell finished second to Burns in both goals and points with a 40-21-61 campaign while Chandler, who missed 8 games due to injury, averaged a point a game (26-26-52) to lead Boston in scoring.

The nominees for the Juneau Memorial Trophy, presented to the top goaltender, are Gordie Broadway of Toronto, Boston's Tom Brockers and Norm Hanson of the Chicago Packers. Broadway won the award two seasons ago while Brockers won the Juneau 5 times during his first stint with the Bees.

Finally the nominees for the Harvey McLeod Trophy, presented to the top rookie are Mickey Bedard of the Boston Bees and a pair of Detroit Motors in Adam Vanderbilt and Nick Tardif. The 22-year-old Tardif led all rookies with 19 goals and 43 assists while appearing in all 60 games for the Motors. Vanderbilt had 16 goals and 41 points and together with Tardif were one-two in scoring for the Detroit club. Bedard, a 23-year-old native of Thetford Mines, Quebec finished second in the NAHC in scoring by a defenseman with 38 points including 12 goals. Surprisingly Toronto's Lou Galbraith -the 20-year-old first overall pick who's seeason came to an end in February with an injury- was not among the nominees. Galbraith was among the league scoring leaders at the time of his injury, finishing with 17 goals and 42 points in 50 games.

DUKES STRIKE FIRST AGAINST BEES

In a surprising game, in more ways than one, the Dukes opening up their playoff series with a 2-1 victory before a packed house of over 16000 at Denny Arena. The game was opposite of what Jack Barrell was preparing for, instead of tight checking the game was fast paced, up and down the ice with a combined total of 64 shots on goal. Boston opened the scoring less than 5 minutes in with Chandler converting a nice three-way passing play from Kauffeldt, Morey. This probably sent chills down Barrell's spine as the key for the Dukes was to limit the Bs top line. The Dukes tied the game 6 minutes later when Cameron scored after stealing the puck on a sloppy turnover by the Boston D. The teams remained deadlocked at 1 after a frantic second stanza which saw numerous high caliber chances for both teams. Tom Brockers, Terry Russell, who was the surprise starting goaltender for the Dukes, were both equal to the task shutting the door before a fever pitched crowd. The game settled in, somewhat, in the third, it was almost like the players on were both teams afraid to make to the critical mistake. The Dukes finally dented the twine just past the halfway point when Captain Bobby Sauer tipped one past Brockers on passes from Charette, Zimmerman. Terry Russell then kept the home team off the score sheet for the 2-1 victory. Brockers made 34 saves while Russell turned away 27 pucks.

When ask about why Russell was between the pipes rather than Broadway Coach Barrell offered a terse "No Comment!" leaving fans wondering Broadway is nursing an undisclosed injury or the coaching staff was playing hunch. The big question in Toronto is "Who will be between the pipes on Monday night for Game Two in Boston?"

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

The Chicago Chiefs will be without ace Al Miller until at least June after the 32-year-old suffered a spring training back injury. Miller was 17-14 for the Chiefs last season.
The National Semi-Finals are set in the AIAA cage championship. CC Los Angeles, Alabama Baptist, Redwood University and Texas Gulf Coast have combined for 4 previous National Championships and 9 appearances in the AIAA tournament. However, all four of those previous titles and all 9 April trips to the semi-finals belong to the CCLA Coyotes as the other three schools entered this season with a combined tournament record of 8-27.
President Truman called for an immediate truce between warring Jews and Arabs to avoid open warfare in the Holy Land when the British pull out May 15.
Secretary of State Marshall made it clear that the US will stay in Berlin despite Russia efforts to break up the Allied control machinery there.
The Yugoslav government protested "vigorously" to western powers after they proposed that Trieste be returned to Italy, but Yugoslavia did not reject the proposal itself.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-18-2023, 12:02 PM

April 5, 1948

SHAMROCKS WIN GAME FIVE, DUKES SWEEP IN SHOCKING SEMIS

The Challenge Cup playoffs were thrown for a bit of a loop when the third place Toronto Dukes swept the second place Boston Bees in their semi-final series, but it came as a complete shock that the Dukes will face the New York Shamrocks in the finals after the Shamrocks rallied to knock off the mighty Chicago Packers in five games.

This final will mark the first time that the Dukes and Shamrocks have met with the Challenge Cup on the line. Toronto has won 6 Cups and been to the finals three times in the previous 5 years but the Shamrocks had not reached the finals since 1935-36 and had not won a Cup since 1932.

The Dukes had little trouble in their series with a short-staffed Boston Bees squad. Toronto took the series opener 2-1 a little over a week ago and followed that up with a second straight road win in doubling Boston 4-2 last Monday. The Dukes broke the game open with three third period goals to make a winner for the second straight game out of backup goaltender Terry Russell. Russell, filling in for Gordie Broadway who it was later revealed is battling a flu virus, completed the sweep with a 4-1 win on Dominion Gardens ice Wednesday. Bobbie Sauer continued his hot play with a goal and an assist as the Toronto captain scored in each game and had 4 goals in the series.

The Toronto win was a mild upset, perhaps even less so when you consider one of Boston's best players in first line winger Tommy Hart missed the series, as did center Robert Walker and defenseman Willis Beane although the Dukes were missing players as well including goaltender Broadway and rookie scoring sensation Lou Galbraith.

The big upset was New York's surprising victory over the Chicago Packers - a team that finished the regular season with 19 more points than the Shamrocks and was led by the most dangerous first line in the league. The series opener was a 4-0 Packers victory and it looked like they would have an easy time of things but New York shocked a Lakeside Auditorium crowd of 17,329 with a 4-3 victory in game two to even the series. Orval Cabbell scored twice to pace the New York attack as the Shamrocks put 4 goals past Packer goaltender Norm Hanson despite doubled in shots by a 32-16 margin.

The series shifted to New York for the third game and the Packers regained control with a convincing 5-2 victory behind a solid performance from their big line. Marty Mahoney and Tommy Burns each had a goal and an assist while Wes Burns earned a pair of helpers. Despite being on the brink of elimination the Shamrocks did not fold as Etienne Tremblay and Norm Hanson hooked up in a goaltender's duel. Scoreless at the end of regulation with Chicago outshooting New York 28-24, it took just 2:08 of overtime for the Shamrocks to prolong their season and force a decisive 5th game. Laurel Albers was the hero, scoring the game's only goal with assists to Orval Cabbell and Jocko Gregg to send the series back to the Windy City.

The visting Shamrocks, clearly on a high to have pushed Chicago to the brink, came out blazing in the opening period of game five. The visitors outshot Chicago 15-8 in the opening stanza but neither side could score. Midway through the second period Orval Cabbell staked the Shamrocks to the lead and 8 minutes into the third Jocko Gregg made it 2-0. Chicago, showing no quit, finally beat Tremblay when Moose Vezina lit the lamp just over two minutes later but late goals from Cabbell and Tommy Brescia completed the shocking series upset with a 4-1 New York win. A capacity crowd of 17,329 filed quietly out of Lakeside Auditorium in complete shock, as their Packers took a page out of the Chicago Cougars playbook and fell short despite lofty expectations of the city claiming its first-ever Challenge Cup victory. That will have to wait at least another year as the surprising final will pit the 4th place Shamrocks against the third place Toronto Dukes.

DUKES ADVANCE TO NAHC FINAL

The Toronto Dukes advanced to league final in a surprising sweep of the Boston Bees. After taking the Saturday night 2-1 the Dukes took the second game at Denny Arena 4-2 on Monday night. The game entered the third period with the visitors down 2-1 thanks to 2 goals by Waldemar Rupp in another fast paced game. Captain Bobby Sauer's second goal of the game, third of the series knotted the score less than a half minute into the period. To that point the Bs had outshot the Dukes 30-18 but again Russell was outstanding in the Dukes crease. After Sauer's marker the Dukes seemed to find another gear both offensively along with in their own zone. Kurt Walz gave Toronto the lead at the 6:04 mark of the third followed by Alex Lavalliere at 10:06. Then it was "Kitty bar the door" as the Dukes checked the Bs into submission to take the game 4-2. Terry Russell turned away 34 in the Dukes net.

Two nights later at Dominion Gardens the Dukes completed the improbable sweep of Boston in front of 14972 onlookers. After a scoreless first the home squad erupted for 3 in the second by Lumsen, Pollack, Sauer with only one reply from Boston's Simpson. Sauer's 4th of the series seem to deflate the Bs as it was scored with just 3 seconds remaining in the stanza. Boston tried to mount a comeback in the third but again Terry Russell stood tall in the Toronto cage for the third straight game. Russell made 28 saves in the game for a total of 89 in the series. Les Carlson scored an empty netter to salt away the series with a 4-1 score.

Toronto fans are in a state of semi-shock at the upset over Boston. Jack Barrell is already devising a plan to shut down the Shamrocks 3-head monster Cabell, Albers, Gregg. after going 5-6-1 against NY in the regular season. Sid Beam is ready to return after missing the season due an eye injury but will not dress in the final. Lou Galbraith is recovery amazing quickly from knee surgery, there is a chance he could be back late in the series.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

The AIAA basketball championship game will be a California affair as the CC Los Angeles Coyotes and Redwood University Mammoths each advanced to tonight's final at Bigsby Gardens in New York City.
Coal Union boss John Lewis ignored a subpoena to appear before President Truman's Board of Inquiry into the coal strike. He eventually agreed but so far has not responded to a Court Order demanding the striking miners return to work.
The House added Spain to the list of countries eligible for the European Recovery Program -the first major change in the $6.2 billion foreign aid bill. Two days later Spain was removed after President Truman "utterly opposed" the inclusion of Sapin.
As the week came to an end the House approved the foreign aid bill with the Senate expected to approve it quickly.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-21-2023, 01:31 PM

APRIL 12, 1948

SHAMROCKS CLOSING IN ON CUP

Lead Toronto 2-1 in Pursuit of First Title Since 1932

The Toronto Dukes drew first blood with a 2-1 victory over New York in the opening game of their best-of-seven Challenge Cup Final series, but the Shamrocks followed up with a pair of wins to take a two games to one series lead in advance of tomorrow's game four at Bigsby Garden. The Shamrocks are closing in on what they hope will be their first Challenge Cup win in 16 years as they won the last of their three titles in 1931-32. The Dukes have hoisted the Cup six times -only Boston has won more- with the most recent being three years ago.

The two clubs, both surprise winners after knocking off first place Chicago and second place Boston in the semi-finals, continued their Cup chase last Wednesday evening in Toronto. It took just 15 seconds for Lee Carlson to open the scoring when he beat Shamrocks netminder Etienne Tremblay before many of the 15,483 in attendance at Dominion Gardens had even settled into their seats. Late in the first period Adam Greenham, who missed most of the regular season with an injury, evened the score for the New Yorkers. The only other goal would come early in the second period when Phillipe Dubois point shot found its way past Tremblay. New York would outshoot the Dukes 14-3 in the final twenty minutes and 40-26 overall but Terry Russell, who continues to guard the Toronto cage in the absence of Gordie Broadway, was outstanding and helped the Dukes hang on for the 2-1 victory.

Russell did not enjoy the same success two nights later as the Shamrocks scored three times in the first period and won by a 6-3 score to even the series. Six different New York players, including former Duke Laurel Albers accounted for the scoring with rookie Jim Macek contributing 3 assists.

The series shifted to New York for game three last night and it was all Shamrocks. Orval Cabbell and Adam Greenham -with his third of the series- scored in the first period to stake the Shamrocks to an early 2-0 lead. Joe Martin and Laurel Albers notched second period markers to double that lead and Jocko Gregg and Jim Macek completed the 6-0 rout with third period tallys. Etienee Tremblay stopped all 26 shots he faced in the New York net for his second shutout of the playoffs while Terry Russell was beaten six times for the second game in a row. The series continues tomorrow with game four in New York and the big question in Toronto is will Gordie Broadway be significantly recovered from the virus he is battling to get his first playoff start?

Jim Macek, a 20-year-old selected third overall by the Shamrocks last July is the surprise scoring leader this playoff. The Toronto-born youngster has points in each of the last 4 games including 6 points in the 3 games against Toronto. He had 8 goals and 29 points in 45 regular season games and has added 10 points in 8 playoff contests.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

ROCHESTER WINS HAA TITLE

The Rochester Robins won a hard-fought series with the Pittsburgh Rovers to claim the Hockey Association of America playoff title 3 games to one. Each of the final three games of the series were decided by a single goal with the Robins clinching the Cup with a 5-4 victory on home ice in game four. Rochester, which is not affiliated with an NAHC club, finished with the top record in the East Division at 63 points while the Rovers, who are the farm team of the Chicago Packers, led the West and the entire HAA with 70 points in 48 games. 28-year-old Tom Mansfield, a career minor league who has had stops in Syracuse, Buffalo and Cleveland before joining the Robins in 1946, led all playoff scorers with 6 points in the four games.

In the Great Western Hockey League the Seattle Emeralds upset first place Tacoma in the finals to end the Lions three-year hold on the Yeadon Cup.

DUKES TRAIL 2-1 IN LEAGUE FINAL

Toronto has dug themselves a hole in the series with the NY Shamrocks by dropping 2 of the first 3 games. Things started well for the team at Dominion Gardens on Wednesday night before a crowd of 15,483. The crowd has barely settled into their seats when Les Carlson lit the lamp 15 seconds into the game from Quinton Pollock and Hubert Burdette. New York rallied to tie the game with less than 3 minutes remaining the first on a marker by Adam Greenham assisted by Jim Macek and Ryan Kennedy. The second period was a wide open affair with a total of 31 shots on goal, 18 by the Shamrocks, but even with that amount of offense the score remained knotted at 1 going into the third. Netminders Etienee Tremblay and Terry Russell made a number of acrobatic saves during the period. Early in the third Philippe Dubois put the Dukes up on passes from Bobbie Sauer with Alex Lavalliere also drawing an assist. It was one of only three times Tremblay was tested in the period. The last 18 and a half minutes the Dukes withstood a furious onslaught from the Shamrocks. The puck seemed to never leave the Dukes end but Terry Russell again shut the door securing the 2-1 win.

The Friday night game in Toronto had the Dukes chasing from the start, before the game was 12 minutes old New York had put 3 behind Russell. Toronto rallied in the second with Zimmerman and Hofford beating Tremblay to narrow the margin to 3-2 at the end of two. Bert McCalley put the Shamrocks up 4-2 8 minutes into the third then Pollack scored a shorthanded marker to again pull the home side within one with 11 minutes remaining in regulation but Orval Cabell put the game away at 16:25 from Laforme and Macek. Greenham's empty netter made the final 6-3 New York and evened the series.

Having lost home ice advantage the Dukes travelled into NYC for a Sunday afternoon encounter in front of 12,950 hostile fans in Bigsby Gardens. Orval Cabbell, who has been a thorn in the Dukes side all season, opened the scoring from Sam Coates and Ryan Kennedy just past the 7 minute mark. Things went from bad to worse less than 2 minutes later when Greenham converted from Macek and Laforme. Any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when Joe Martin tallied just past the 2 minute mark of the second from ex-Duke Laurel Albers and Sharpley. The Dukes mounted sporadic periods of offense throughout the game but were never able to solve Tremblay. The Shamrocks were finishing every check, shrinking the ice on the Dukes at every opportunity. Every broken up rush or turnover by Toronto seemed to yield a good scoring chance for New York as the Shamrocks put 3 more past Russell who is starting to show signs of fatigue for a 6-0 victory.

Coach Barrell's comments after the game were "We have dug ourselves a deep hole, now it is time to dig ourselves out of it. I told the players after the first game, which we were fortunate to win, that we cannot play a run and gun game. It did not seem to sink in, maybe now the guys will realize we have to get back to what got us here." Toronto fan's spirits were boosted somewhat when news was released that Gordie Broadway has finally recovered from his extended bout of influenza after missing all 6 post season games. The question is, will Barrell go to him in Game 4 after not having played for 2 weeks? Russell has been the major reason the Dukes are in the final, is it time for a change?

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Redwood University won the 1947-48 AIAA collegiate basketball tournament, beating West Coast Athletic Association rival CC Los Angeles 62-47 in the title game last Monday at New York's Bigsby Garden.
The Washington Statesmen won 3 times last week to improve their American Basketball Conference record to 43-11 and smash their own record for most victories in a season by a professional basketball team.
The Chicago Cougars went 7-0 last week in Citrus play and lead all of FABL with a 26-7 mark as spring games come to an end later this week.
Britain ordered fighter escorts for all planes coming into Berlin until it receives assurances that Soviet planes "will not again endanger British flights" after a Russian plane and an airliner collided over the German city.
20 were killed including 7 policemen as Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, has been terrorized by looting mobs that set more than 100 buildings ablaze.
A revolt in Columbia forced the hasty removal of US personnel in the American Embassy in riot-wrecked Bogota and left more than 100 dead. Meanwhile the government in Paraguay has reported scotched an attempted Communist coup.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-22-2023, 02:25 PM

APRIL 19, 1948

DUKES WIN THREE STRAIGHT TO CLAIM CUP

The Toronto Dukes capped a Cinderella season going from the worst record in the league a year ago to Challenge Cup champions after they rallied with 3 straight victories to top the New York Shamrocks 4 games to two in the Cup final. The Cup win ends a two-year Boston hold on the chalice and is the third title in 5 years for the Dukes, who now have won the Cup 7 times -tied with Boston for the most all-time.

It was a most improbable Cup final as few, if any, expected Toronto and New York to be dueling after they duo upset the Boston Bees and Chicago Packers in the semi-finals. The Packers, who led pretty much wire to wire during the regular season, somehow were knocked off in 5 games by a Shamrocks team that finished fourth. The Dukes upset was only slightly less surprising as despite the Bees being without one of their top players in Tommy Hart, Toronto swept them with veteran backup goaltender Terry Russell filling in for Gordie Broadway who missed the entire playoffs with a viral infection.

Things looked bleak for new coach Jack Barrell and his charges after the Dukes fell behind the Shamrocks 2 games to one with a 6-0 shellacking in game three but Toronto quickly regrouped and evened the series with a 5-2 victory on Bigsby Garden ice in game four. Russell, who had surrendered 6 goals in each of the two previous losses and had many thinking he might not win another game, was outstanding and made 40 saves in a key bounce-back game. 32-year-old veteran Herb Burdette, who missed most of last season with an injury, continued to prove his worth to the Dukes with a goal and two assists to lead the offense.

Back in Toronto for game five it was Burdette who once more led the way, scoring twice and adding two helpers to key a 7-2 Toronto rout. Quinton Pollack, the top rookie a year ago in Brooklyn, also played a key role with a goal and 3 assists while Les Carlson scored twice in the Toronto victory.

With New York on the ropes the Dukes pulled out all the stops in game six and it took just 22 seconds for Alex Lavalliere to open the scoring with goal after a nifty three way passing play involving Pollack and Phillippe Dubois. Tommy Brescia evened the score for the Shamrocks early in the second period but Burdette was once more up to the challenge and restord the Dukes lead only 3 minutes later. Trevor Paker's shorthanded goal 6 minutes into the third period delivered a dagger to the hearts of Shamrock fans and made the score 3-1. Joe Martin got one back for the Greenshirts but Toronto dominated play in the final stanza and held on for a 3-2 victory before parading around the Bigsby Garden ice with the Challenge Cup.

More coverage of the Dukes Challenge Cup win can be found here in the latest edition of the Ballad of the Barrell Brothers.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

At 27-9 the Chicago Cougars finished with the best spring record in baseball. The season gets underway tomorrow with action on 4 fronts including Washington's Columbia Stadium where President Truman will be on hand to throw the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Eagles game with the Philadelphia Keystones.
Ward Messer of Liberty College -younger brother of New York Gothams outfielder Walt Messer- was named the winner of the Art Barrette Trophy as the top player in collegiate basketball this season.
After 29-days the coal strike was settled after John Lewis won $100 monthly pensions for the members of the United Mine Workers but failed to save hmself from an order to stand trial for contempt of court in defying return to work orders.
The House has approved more than $2 billion in additional funding to expand the Air Force.
President Truman renewed his demand for immediate enactment of anti-inflation controls, declaring that "the strength and vitality of our economy are being undermined by inflation."

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-24-2023, 12:38 PM

Note- There won't be a lot of hockey news posted here for a bit as it will be a quiet period for the NAHC with only the hardware to be handed out before things heat up in July with the draft. A reminder the NAHC is an online league and part of Legendsport's Figment universe, so we advance one week a day (Monday thru Friday) in all 3 of our current online sports: baseball, hockey and basketball with college basketball and pro football likely going from solo leagues to online in the coming seasons.

April 26, 1948

PHILADELPHIA AND ROCHESTER MAKE HAA DEAL

The Philadelphia Rascals of the minor league Hockey Association of America have added some veteran leadership with NAHC experience in a three player deal with the Toledo Tigers. Winger Dick Klein and defenseman Elmer Jernigan both join the Rascals, who finished third in the HAA's West Division this past season. Klein is a 34-year-old who had spent a number of years with the Toronto Dukes and played a big role in their 1944 Challenge Cup win before being let go by the club prior to last season. He had 7 goals and 23 points for the Tigers this year. Jernigan is a former captain of the Chicago Packers who also won a pair of Challenge Cups during a 3-year stint with Boston. The Bees elected not to resign the 35-year-old last year and he took his talents to Toledo, notching 7 goals and 15 points in 32 games although he was far better known during his time in the NAHC for his crease clearing work as a strong defensive defenseman.

The cost for Philadelphia was heavy in that the Rascals had to part with 24-year-old puck moving defenseman Pete Garneau. The Quebec City native was a third round pick of the Detroit Motors in 1943 and his NAHC rights are still held by the Motors although Garneau, who had spent the past four years on the Rascals blueline, is under contract for three more years. He had 3 goals and 16 points in 38 games last season and joins a Toledo club that finished second in the West Division of the HAA, two points ahead of the third place Rascals.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

The 1948 Continental and Federal Association baseball seasons got underway this week with the defending CA champion Philadelphia Sailors off to a quick 7-1 start.
St Paul, Mn. native Mac Erickson is the new World Welterweight Champion after scoring a unanimous decision over Harold Stephens at Boston's Denny Arena over the weekend. Erickson is now 17-0 as a professional.
The playoffs are underway in both of the professional basketball loops.
John L Lewis was fined $20,000 and the United Mine Workers $1.4 million for contempt of court in the mine strike. Court delayed any jail sentence for Lewis to ward off a potential new coal strike.
Final results in Italy's crucial elections indicate a smashing anti-Communist victory.
Congress was told that Britian is due for a $1 billion slice of the $5.3 billion dollar European Recovery Program.
The United States said today it would provide troops for Palestine if other countries to be selected by the United Nations would join them.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

Tiger Fan · 08-25-2023, 01:05 PM

MAY , 1948

BURNS WINS THIRD STRAIGHT MCDANIELS TROPHY

For the third year in a row Tommy Burns of the Chicago Packers was named the most valuable player in the NAHC. The 28-year-old center tied a long-standing NAHC record with 47 goals this season while leading the league in scoring for the second consecutive season and was rewarded with his third McDaniels Trophy. He joins Wilbur Chandler of the Boston Bees as the only three-time winners of the McDaniels Trophy, which has been presented annually since the 1924-25 campaign. Chandler and New York Shamrocks center Orval Cabbell were the other nominees for the award.

Burns' Chicago teammate Norm Hanson was named the winner of the Al Juneau Trophy, awarded annually to the top goaltender, after beating out fellow finalists Gordie Broadway of Toronto and Boston's Tom Brockers. Hanson's 2.61 goals against average was lowest in the league this season and his 27-20-6 record helped the Packers to a first place finish in the regular season. He had 2 shutouts in the playoffs but his Packers were uspet in 5 games by the New York Shamrocks in the semi-finals.

The rookie of the year award, the Harvey McLeod Trophy, went to Nick Tardif of the Detroit Motors, who outpointed teammate Adam Vanderbilt and Boston's Mickey Bedard for the honour. The 22-year-old had 19 goals and 43 points while suiting up for all 60 of Detroit's games this season. Tardif becomes the third Motors player to win the award in its 12 year history, following Alexander Viens four years ago and Edgar Mount in 1939-40.

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Sig Stofer of the Washington Eagles and Red Bond of the Chicago Cougars have each hit 7 homeruns after just two weeks of play in big league baseball.
The two pro cage leagues are on to the semi-finals as the playoffs continue.
Heavyweight Scott "The Chef" Baker, the pride of Philadelphia, may just have his career back on track after knocking out Chris Sullivan at the Keystone Arena.
Egyptian troops are heading to Palestine as the battle for the Holy Land heats up. The Jewish Agency demanded firm action by the United Nations to halt the invasion.
Marshall law was declared in Athens after violent protests ignited by communists escalated.
Stating the opening face of any future war would be determined in the air, and warning the US was at risk of being attacked without warning, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 16 to 1 in favor of building up the Air Force from 55 to 70 group strength.

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.

07-28-2023, 01:07 PM	#61
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	December 22, 1947 DECEMBER 22, 1947 VALIANTS ADD ELITE PAIR OF DEFENDERS The Montreal Valiants may have just become the clear favourite to claim the Challenge Cup in April after a major trade deadline deal with the struggling Detroit Motors netted a pair of elite defensemen including all-star Shel Herron. The 32-year-old Herron will immediately become the top defenseman on the Vals and combined with 28-year-old Bryant Williams, who joins Herron in the move to Montreal, the duo elevate the Valiants defense to quite possibly the best in the league. The cost was not light as Detroit, desperate for an improved offense, adds 20-year-old center Francis McKenzie, who was selected second overall by the Vals in the July draft but had been apprenticing in Syracuse with a deep core of forwards ahead of him on the Vals. McKenzie, described by Detroit head scout Frank Yeadon as someone who "has the potential to become an oustanding player in our league," will be joined in Detroit by youthful defenseman Spencer Larocque, a 21-year-old who had 6 points in 21 games as a rookie with Montreal this season. Also heading to the Motor City will be the rights to 22-year-old rearguard Dixon Butler who Yeadon believes could eventually become Herron's equal. It will be a long wait for Butler as the 1945 second round draft pick is under contract to Tacoma of the Great Western Hockey League for four seasons. The move makes it very difficult to find a hole in the Valiants as there offense is nearly the equal of Chicago's and the defense quickly becomes the envy of the league. Detroit management will be looking fondly to the future but in Montreal the future is clearly now as the Valiants stock up for a bid at their first Challenge Cup win since 1928. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 25 16 8 1 33 98 60 Montreal 25 14 9 2 30 83 79 Boston 25 11 12 2 24 73 71 Toronto 26 11 13 2 24 72 88 New York 24 10 13 1 21 70 70 Detroit 25 8 15 2 18 61 69 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 25 21 15 36 Mahoney, Chi 24 12 21 33 W Burns, Chi 23 10 21 31 Albers, NY 24 7 17 24 Cabbell, NY 23 15 8 23 Pollack, Tor 24 11 12 23 Chandler, Bos 25 10 13 23 Lanceleve, Mon 25 10 13 23 Skinner, Mon 25 10 13 23 Lynch, Mon 20 8 12 20 Gregg, NY 19 10 9 19 Sauer, Tor 22 9 10 19 Hart, Bos 24 9 10 19 Galbraith, Tor 26 8 11 19 Haines, Mon 21 6 13 19 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA James, Bos 9 4 4 1 1 2.56 Hanson, Chi 20 11 8 1 2 2.56 Tremblay, NY 15 7 7 0 1 2.59 Carter, Det 8 1 4 0 0 2.87 Brockers, Bos 16 7 8 1 0 2.94 Broadway, Tor 23 9 11 2 1 3.22 Touhey, Mon 22 13 8 0 1 3.28 Sorrell, NY 11 3 6 1 2 3.31 Chasse, Det 20 7 11 2 1 3.71 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 17 Detroit 0 at 7 Chicago: With plenty of trade talk surrounding the Motors as Saturday's trade deadline nears, including potential rumours of a deal with Chicago, the Detroit Motors delivered what was likely their worst game of the season in being hammered 7-0 in Chicago. The streak Packers ran their record to 11-1-1 in their last 13 games. It started innocently enough with Ed Delarue scoring the opening goal of the period for the Packers, who were playing without veteran Wes Burns -sidelined for a week. Chicago then exploded for 3 goals in each the second and third periods including a pair of the stick of defenseman Pete Moreau and Tommy Burns league-leading 19th of the season. Boston 2 at 5 New York: Boston's December struggles continue with the Bees suffering their fourth loss in the past six games while the Shamrocks clearly have the Bees number, winning four of their five meetings this season. Right winger Tommy Brescia has had a quiet start to the season for New York, but he did shine in this one with 3 assists to give him 11 points in 24 games after scoring 36 points in 42 contests last season. SATURDAY DECEMBER 20 Boston 6 at 6 Montreal: All eyes at the Montreal Arena were focused on the two newest Valiants as veteran defenseman Shel Herron and Bryant Williams arrived on the train from Detroit just prior to game time. Each would play a regular shift and Herron scored his first goal of the season while also adding an assist in a high scoring dual. It was not the Valiants finest defensive effort as they settled for a 6-6 draw despite outshooting Boston 39-19. Montreal squandered a 5-2 second period lead and needed a Brett Lanceleve goal with 25 seconds remaining and goaltender Millard Touhey on the bench for an extra attacker just to escape with a single point. Detroit 4 at 4 Toronto: Detroit had its two newcomers in the lineup following the trade and defenseman Spencer Larocque picked up an assist in the 4-4 tie. Rookie Lou Galbraith scored twice for Toronto while Arnold Singleton and Nick Tardiff led the Motors with a goal and an assist each. SUNDAY DECEMBER 21 Detroit 4 at 0 Boston: Henri Chasse made 21 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Motors blanked Boston 4-0 at Denny Arena. Newcomer Spencer Larocque scored the opening goal of the game while Ben Witt, Joe Todd and Nick Tardiff added second period markers for the Motors who fired 35 shots on Boston netminder Oscar James. Toronto 0 at 6 Chicago: The surging Packers won their fourth in a row and Norm Hanson posted his second straight shutout in a 6-0 lambasting of Toronto. Tommy Burns scored twice and added two helpers while defenseman Mark Brooks had 2 goals and an assist as Chicago moved 3 points clear of Montreal atop the NAHC standings. Montreal 3 at 1 New York: The Shamrocks won their third game in a row with a 3-1 victory at Bigsby Gardens over Montreal. Sam Furr snapped a 1-1 tie with the game winner at 18:08 of the third period and Jocko Gregg sealed the win with an empty net goal for his 10th marker of the season. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES TUESDAY DECEMBER 23 New York at Chicago THURSDAY DECEMBER 25 Chicago at Boston New York at Detroit Toronto at Montreal SATURDAY DECEMBER 27 Chicago at Montreal Boston at Toronto SUNDAY DECEMBER 28 Boston at Detroit Toronto at New York MOTORS PRESS RELEASE ON DEADLINE TRADE The deal marks a major shift in approach for the struggling Motors who go from a defense-first club that has struggled in its own end this season to a team that now has some pieces to perhaps one day embrace the same firewagon style of hockey that seems to be a very successful approach in both Montreal and Chicago this season. The key piece for the Motors is young center Francis McKenzie. The 20 year old was selected second overall by the Valiants in the June draft and will go from apprenticing in Syracuse to what is hoped to be a lead role in the Motor City immediately. Long-term, Motors coach Mark Moore sees McKenzie as the first-line playmaking center that can carry a club offensively. 21-year-old Spencer Larocque will fill one of the vacancies on the Motors blueline and hopefully will evolve to the level of Williams in his own end while having a higher ceiling as an offensive contributor. The Motors will have a long wait for Dixon Butler as the 22-year-old is contracted to Tacoma for four seasons but Detroit scouts feel he has the potential to develop into a top pairing defenseman in the league when he does arrive. The club anticipates perhaps some short term struggles on the blueline but if Larocque can handle increased minutes right away and Mike Schlegel -a player the club was very high on before an off-ice incident caused a rift with teammates, most notably Williams, and led to his expulsion to Buffalo- has gained a level of maturity the club is not ruling out contending for a playoff spot this season. AROUND THE LEAGUE From Brett Bing, Toronto Mail & Empire -- The Toronto Dukes, hanging on to a playoff spot by the skin of their collective teeth, have been dealt a further blow. Gordie Broadway was transferred to the injury list before the GM could stop the transaction, now he will be out until the beginning of 1948. This has forced a contract offer to Bruce Taggart to serve as backup in Toronto. Terry Russell will now start at least the next three games over the Christmas season. Russell just let 6 by him on 43 shots in a 6-0 whitewash by the Packers, not a good start. From Dan Urbanski, Detoit Times --I suppose it is slightly better to be a bad young team than just a bad team. That is the prevailing thought of scribes gathered in the Dominion Gardens press box Saturday night dissecting the news that the Motors had deal their two best defensemen -and arguably two best players- to Montreal for a trio of highly touted, but as of yet unproven prospects. The Motors did look like a more determined club after the deal broke and picked up 3 of 4 points over the weekend. Spencer Larocque may make fans forget about Bryant Williams but it will be tough to replace Shel Herron as well on the Detroit blueline. There were rumours the Chicago Packers were very interested in adding either Williams or Herron from Detroit but the Packers brass balked at the cost. Judging by the last four games, where the Packers outscored their opponents 23-4 in winning each of them including back to back shutouts this week, there is not much of a need for an upgrade in Chicago. Not only are the Boston Bees struggling with a 2-5-1 December record, but they are also beat up on the blueline. Veterans Harry Neigbor and Willis Beane are both out for a couple of weeks while 24-year-old Conn Cundiff, who has 12 points already this season, might miss a couple of days with a broken nose. Add in the fact that 32-year-old Frank Yeadon has missed most of the season with a wrist injury and it is slim pickings on the Bees blueline at the moment. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK The Cleveland Finches topped the Washington Wasps 24-17 to win their first American Football Association title since 1932 Woody Stone signed a record smashing contract with the San Francisco Hawks that will pay the 31-year-old catcher nearly $100,000 next season. A half-million fans are expected to take in the New Year's Day classic games including an expected 100,000 in Santa Ana to witness the East-West Classic between Detroit City College and CC Los Angeles. Still waiting on Congressional approval for nearly $600 million of emergency aid for European recovery, President Truman asked for $6,800,000,000 to launch the Marshall plan by April 1 and a total commitment of $17 billion to carry through to June 1952. Sharp attacks from both Republicans and Democrats in response forecast rough going for the Marshall plan when Congress resumes January 6. The House killed the Republican four-point anti-inflation bill with every Democrat and 26 Republicans voting against it. The defeat ends any chance for Congress acted on high prices at this special session. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-31-2023, 10:04 PM	#62
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	December 29, 1947 DECEMBER 29, 1947 VALIANTS WIN SHOWDOWN WITH PACKERS The top two clubs in the NAHC met Saturday evening in Montreal with the hometown Valiants scoring a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Packers. Despite the victory, Montreal still trails the front-running Packers by 3 points atop the league standings. Saturday's result evens the season series between the two clubs at 3 wins apiece. Brett Lanceleve was the star of the show for the Vals on this night as the 24-year-old winger scored twice in the first period, including his 12th of the season putting him just 2 shy of his career high. Chicago got one back on a powerplayer marker from rearguard Jerry Finch at the 15:30 mark of the second period but the Vals restored their 2 goal lead late in the stanza when Nicholas Haines lit the lamp. Isaac Finnson beat Chicago netminder Norm Hanson early in the third and while Jeremey MacLean's 5th of the season brought the Packers back to within two goals that was a close as they would get. Chicago did play the game without their star center Tommy Burns, as the NAHC's leading scorer missed all three of the Packers games last week with a tender elbow suffered in a collision against Toronto last Sunday. Burns did make news despite not being on the ice last week as the Packers announced the 27-year-old two-time McDaniels Trophy winner had agreed to a 3 year contract extension that will pay him $21,500 a season. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 28 17 9 2 36 106 67 Montreal 27 15 9 3 33 90 84 Boston 28 12 13 3 27 83 76 Toronto 29 12 14 3 27 79 97 New York 27 11 15 1 23 78 81 Detroit 27 9 16 2 18 67 98 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 25 21 15 36 Mahoney, Chi 27 12 23 35 W Burns, Chi 26 10 23 33 Cabbell, NY 26 18 8 26 Lanceleve, Mon 27 12 13 25 Pollack, Tor 27 12 13 25 Chandler, Bos 26 10 15 25 Albers, NY 27 8 17 25 Sauer, Tor 25 11 12 23 Skinner, Mon 27 10 13 23 Gregg, NY 22 10 12 22 Galbraith, Tor 29 10 11 21 Lynch, Mon 22 8 13 21 Haines, Mon 23 8 13 21 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA James, Bos 10 4 5 1 1 2.50 Hanson, Chi 23 12 9 2 2 2.53 Tremblay, NY 18 8 9 0 1 2.73 Brockers, Bos 18 8 8 1 0 2.78 Carter, Det 9 1 4 0 0 2.90 Touhey, Mon 24 14 8 1 1 3.22 Broadway, Tor 23 9 11 2 1 3.22 Sorrell, NY 11 3 6 1 2 3.31 Russell, Tor 8 3 3 1 0 3.48 Chasse, Det 21 8 12 2 1 3.79 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS TUESDAY DECEMBER 23 New York 1 at 4 Chicago: Despite missing league scoring leader Tommy Burns with an elbow injury, the Packers won for the fifth straight time, dropping the visiting Shamrocks 4-1 despite being outshot 39-28. Norm Hanson had a big game in net for the Packers while Jeremy MacLean paced the Chicago offense with 3 assists. THURSDAY DECEMBER 25 Chicago 2 at 2 Boston: The Bees and Packers skated to a 2-2 draw at Denny Arena on Christmas Day, extending Boston's winless streak to 4 games while the Packers have not lost since falling to Boston 3-1 just over two weeks ago. David Rankin's second goal of the season, early in the third period secured the tie for the visitors, who outshot the Bees 43-33. Wilbur Chandler had 2 assists for the home side while veteran netminder Tom Brockers had a strong evening with 41 saves. Chandler was hurt late in the game and his status was unsure for Saturday's game in Toronto. New York 2 at 5 Detroit: The Detroit Motors improved to 2-0-1 since their big trade with Montreal after securing a 5-2 victory at Thompson Palladium over the visiting New Yorkers. Dave Bradley led the way with 2 goals and an assist while rookie Ben Witt had 3 helpers for the Motors. Toronto 3 at 3 Montreal: The Vals are winless in 4 games but have to be happy to escape with the tie after blowing an early 2-0 lead in a 3-3 draw with Toronto. Max Ducharme scored twice in the first period for Montreal but the Dukes responded with 3 straight goals from Lou Galbraith, Bobbie Sauer and Les Carlson to take the lead only to see Nick Haines tie it for the Vals with just over 2 and a half minutes remaining in the third period. Like Montreal, the Dukes are also winless in their last 4 games. SATURDAY DECEMBER 27 Chicago 4 at 2 Montreal: Playing without star center Tommy Burns for the third straight game the Chicago Packers came out on the short end of a 4-2 decision at the Montreal Arena. Brett Lanceleve paced the Vals with a pair of first period goals while Millard Touhey made 22 saves for the victory. Boston 1 at 2 Toronto: Quinton Pollack -last year's top rookie- scored once and assisted on rookie Lou Galbraith's 10th goal of the season to lift Toronto to a 2-1 victory over Boston and for the moment at least, lift the Dukes into sole possession of third place. SUNDAY DECEMBER 28 Boston 7 at 1 Detroit: Detroit's 3-game unbeaten streak and Boston's 5 game winless skid both came crashing down as the Bees scored four times in the first period and went on to crush the Motors 7-1. Robert Walker had the hot hand for the winners as the 23-year-old rookie notched a hat trick, giving him 10 goals on the season. It was another awful outing for up and down Detroit netminder Henri Chasse, who was pulled early in the third period after surrendering 6 goals on just 27 shots. Toronto 2 at 5 New York: Orval Cabbell scored twice, and defenseman Sid Quirion had 3 assists to pace the Shamrocks to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Toronto Dukes. The normally reserved Quirion, who had just 6 minutes in penalties a year ago and only 2 this season entering the game, also got into a second period scrap with the Dukes Al Cote, who is one of the loop's more combative personalities. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31 Chicago at Detroit Boston at New York THURSDAY JANUARY 1 New York at Boston Detroit at Chicago Montreal at Toronto SATURDAY JANUARY 3 Boston at Montreal New York at Toronto SUNDAY JANUARY 4 Montreal at Detroit Chicago at New York OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones, who broke the FABL single season homerun record, was named the first recipient of the TWIFB Sportsman of the Year Award. Del Thomas of the Boston Americans was named the most valuable player as the American Football Association handed out its year end awards. Despite top ranked St Blane declining to participate, the New Year's Day schedule of college football Classic Games promises to be an exciting one with Detroit City College and CC Los Angeles taking center stage in the East-West Classic in Santa Ana, Ca. Two-time collegiate basketball player of the year Long Werth scored 25 points in his first start in the American Basketball Conference, leading the Boston Centurions to a 107-81 win over Richmond. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is planning to ask prominent Americans from all walks of life or their opinions on the four-year, $17 billion Marshall Plan for European recovery. Just before Christmas, President Truman signed an appropriation bill carrying $522 million emergency aid for France, Italy and Austria after the measure passed in the closing hours of a special session of Congress. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-01-2023, 09:30 PM	#63
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	January 5, 1948 JANUARY 5, 1948 INJURIES TAKING THEIR TOLL Bees beat up, Packers short-staffed and Vals lose goalie The new expanded NAHC schedule has just crossed its midway point and there are some concerns that the added games crammed into a 60-game slate may just be too much to handle. A number of clubs have been hit hard by injury and illness with the Chicago Packers being front and center among them. Despite losing McDaniels Trophy winning center Tommy Burns for the past two weeks and a pair of defensemen including Ted Stevens long-term the Packers keep on winning and enjoy a 5-point lead on the second place Montreal Valiants. Burns is expected to be back in the Chicago lineup this weekend. The Vals have some worries of there own suddenly as it was revealed that goaltender Millard Touhey, who leads all NAHC in games played this season, has contracted a virus of some sort and could miss up to two weeks. That will put some pressure on rookie Sam Desjardins, who has just 3 NAHC games under his belt and is the only other goaltender in the organization with big league experience. The Valiants do get a little break for the schedule-maker in that they face the league's bottom two clubs -Detroit and New York- on the weekend and are nearly two weeks away from a first place showdown with the Packers so there is hope Touhey will be healthy enough to return for that contest. Meanwhile the third place Boston Bees continue to get bang up, particularly on the blue line. Frank Yeadon has been out most of the season with a wrist injury but there is hope the 32-year-old will be back in action before the end of the month. Harry Neighbor is also said to be close to returning from a hamstring issue that has sidelined him the past two weeks. Both are desperately needed on a blueline that is also dealing with nagging injuries to Willis Beane, Len Bentley and David Scarpone. Defense is usually the Bees strong suit and they have persevered through all of the injuries, but the two-time defending Challenge Cup champions find themselves in third place, 9 points back of the pace setting Packers. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 31 19 10 2 40 113 74 Montreal 30 16 11 3 35 100 95 Boston 31 14 14 3 31 98 87 Toronto 31 13 15 3 29 87 105 New York 31 12 18 1 25 91 99 Detroit 30 11 17 2 24 75 104 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS Mahoney, Chi 30 14 25 39 T Burns, Chi 25 21 15 36 W Burns, Chi 29 10 26 36 Cabbell, NY 30 20 9 29 Chandler, Bos 28 13 15 28 Pollack, Tor 29 13 15 28 Skinner, Mon 30 11 17 28 Lanceleve, Mon 30 12 15 27 Albers, NY 31 8 19 27 Sauer, Tor 27 12 14 26 Gregg, NY 26 13 12 25 Hart, Bos 30 12 13 25 McGlynn, Chi 31 14 10 24 Lynch, Mon 25 9 15 24 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 25 13 10 2 2 2.49 James, Bos 11 5 5 1 1 2.55 Brockers, Bos 20 9 9 2 0 2.91 Tremblay, NY 20 9 10 0 1 2.92 Touhey, Mon 27 15 10 1 1 3.23 Broadway, Tor 25 10 12 2 1 3.25 Sorrell, NY 13 3 8 1 2 3.52 Chasse, Det 25 10 13 2 2 3.56 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31 Chicago 0 at 2 Detroit: It was a festive New Year's Eve at Thompson Palladium as the Detroit Motors upset the league leading Chicago Packers 2-0 behind a 34 save performance from Henri Chasse, who displayed the style of play he showed last season when he led the Motors to the playoffs. It has been a much less confident Chasse in the Detroit net this year but he was in rare form on this evening. Garrett Ferrar and Dave Bradley scored first period goals on Chicago's Norm Hanson, who faced 34 shots, while Spencer Larocque had two assists for the Motors. Boston 5 at 6 New York: The Bees rough December finally came to an end but not before the club dropped a 6-5 decision in the Big Apple to finish the month with a 3-7-2 record. It was a wild night at Bigsby Garden with 5 goals scored in each of the first two periods before things settled down in the third with Jim Macek's 4th of the season the only marker. It came with less than 6 and a half minutes remaining in the game and proved the margin of victory for the Shamrocks, who were led by a 4 point night from Mark Laforme. THURSDAY JANUARY 1 New York 3 at 6 Boston: The rematch at Denny Arena went much better for the Bees, who doubled New York 6-3 behind the strength of a pair of Wilbur Chandler goals and a 3-point night from Garrett Kauffeldt. Boston defenseman Willis Beane had a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, an assist and a fight. Detroit 3 at 4 Chicago: he Motors scored twice in the opening two minutes and it looked like a second straight upset was in the cards, but the Packers rallied for three of their own in the opening stanza -two from Marty Mahoney- and went on to edge the Detroit squad 4-3. Chicago continues to play without the injured Tommy Burns but Jarrett McGlynn filled in nicely on the top line with a goal and an assist. Montreal 6 at 4 Toronto: Clarence Skinner had a goal and 3 assists to lead the Montreal Valiants to a 6-4 victory over the Dukes in Toronto. The victory extended the Vals unbeaten streak to 3 games. SATURDAY JANUARY 3 Boston 4 at 2 Montreal: The Bees start the new year off with back-to-back victories as Tommy Hart and Jacob Gron each score once and add an assist in a 4-2 Boston triumph. Tom Brockers turns aside 29 of the 31 shots he faced in the Boston net with recently acquired defenseman Bryant Williams accounting for both Montreal markers. New York 2 at 4 Toronto: The Shamrocks have dropped four of their last six games after falling 4-2 at the Dominion Gardens. Sam Furr score both New York goals to stake the Greenshirts to a 2-0 lead but Toronto roared back with 4 unanswered goals including a controversial one just as time expired in the second period. There was much debate and protest from the Shamrocks bench but Les Carlson's goal at 20:00 of the second period was judged by the officials to have crossed the goal line just before the horn sounded to signal the end of the period. That goal gave Toronto a 3-2 lead and would prove the difference in the game. SUNDAY JANUARY 4 Montreal 2 at 3 Detroit: The Motors improve to 4-2-1 since their big trade with Montreal by trimming the Valiants 3-2 and leaving the Vals pointless from their two weekend contests. Dave Bradley, Graham Comeau and veteran Doug Yeadon scored for the Motors with Glen Whitely and Wayne Augustin responding for Montreal, which outshot the Motors 39-27. Chicago 3 at 2 New York: Another tight game for Chicago, who's offensive remains without reigning scoring champ Tommy Burns. Jarrett McGlynn had two points while Norm Hanson made 36 saves to lead the Packers past the Shamrocks 3-2 despite a pair of goals from New York's Jocko Gregg. The Greenshirts have dropped 3 straight and five of their last seven. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7 New York at Detroit THURSDAY JANUARY 8 Detroit at Montreal SATURDAY JANUARY 10 Boston at Detroit New York at Montreal Chicago at Toronto SUNDAY JANUARY 11 Boston at Chicago Toronto at Detroit Montreal at New York NAHC PLAYER POLL RELEASED The annual newspaper poll of NAHC players was published today. Players were asked to vote for who they felt was the best in a number of categories and here are the winners. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Detroit City College completed a perfect season with a 24-17 victory over CC Los Angeles in the East-West Classic. Travis College also ended up with an blemish-free record following a convincing 30-3 victory over Alabama Baptist in the Cajun Classic. The Washington Eagles won the FABL draft later and will pick first in the 1948 selection of top amatuer talent. Coastal State shortstop Tom Miller, the Christian Trophy winner, is considered the top prospect. Congress raises the curtain on a critical session tomorrow in which the top issues will be the Marshall plan for European recovery and how best to stablize economic conditions at home. Former Vice President Henry A. Wallace has confirmed he intends to run as an independent for the so-called "peace party" in the 1948 Presidential election. In a Chicago speech Wallace denounced both the Democratic administration and the Reublican Party as war parties. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-02-2023, 01:20 PM	#64
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	January 12, 1948 JANUARY 12, 1948 QUICK JANUARY START EXTENDS PACKERS LEAD The Chicago packers have opened up a 6-point lead on the second place Montreal Valiants atop the North American Hockey Confederation standings. The Packers have not lost in 1948 after wins over Toronto and Boston on the weekend improved their record to 4-0 since the calendar flipped. News on the injury front was mixed for the Packers, who are eyeing a playoff bid for their first-ever Challenge Cup win. Tommy Burns, the McDaniels Trophy winner as league most valuable player each of the past two years, returned to the lineup after a 6-game absence and quickly regained the loop's goal scoring lead with a goal in a 3-2 win over Toronto Saturday and two more in last night's 4-1 victory over Boston. On the season Burns has 24 goals in 27 games -just 6 shy of the 30 he potted in 48 games a year ago. The bad news is the big line of the Burns brothers along with Marty Mahoney managed to last less than a full game together but Mahoney was forced out of the Toronto game with a foot injury. The hope is Mahoney will be able to return to the lineup next weekend, perhaps in time for the showdown with the Valiants in Montreal Saturday night. The New York Shamrocks are making a charge at fourth place after Etienne Tremblay had a pair of shutouts last week and the Shamrocks earned 5 of a possible six points. Just 2 points separate third place Boston from the fifth place Shamrocks with the Toronto Dukes wedged in between the two rivals. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 33 21 10 2 44 120 77 Montreal 33 17 12 4 38 111 107 Boston 33 14 15 4 32 102 94 Toronto 33 14 16 3 31 96 111 New York 34 14 18 2 30 101 102 Detroit 34 11 20 3 25 85 124 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS Mahoney, Chi 31 14 26 40 T Burns, Chi 27 24 15 39 W Burns, Chi 31 10 26 36 Cabbell, NY 33 23 10 33 Albers, NY 34 10 21 31 Chandler, Bos 29 14 16 30 Pollack, Tor 31 13 16 29 Sauer, Tor 29 12 17 29 Lanceleve, Mon 33 12 17 29 Skinner, Mon 33 12 17 29 Haines, Mon 29 9 19 28 Gregg, NY 29 13 14 27 Galbraith, Tor 33 11 16 27 Lynch, Mon 28 9 18 27 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 27 15 10 2 2 2.42 Tremblay, NY 23 11 10 1 3 2.65 James, Bos 12 5 6 1 1 2.67 Brockers, Bos 21 9 9 3 0 2.91 Touhey, Mon 27 15 10 1 1 3.23 Broadway, Tor 26 10 13 2 1 3.24 Carter, Det 11 1 5 0 0 3.40 Sorrell, NY 13 3 8 1 2 3.52 Chasse, Det 29 10 15 3 2 3.66 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7 New York 2 at 0 Detroit: Etienne Tremblay stopped all 29 shots he faced to lead the New York Shamrocks to a 2-0 victory in Detroit, snapping the Greenshirts three game losing streak. Tommy Brescia opened the scoring in the second period and Sam Coates add an insurance marker early in the third for New York. THURSDAY JANUARY 8 Detroit 4 at 8 Montreal: A busy week for the Motors continues to go badly with an 8-4 loss in Montreal that saw backup Detroit netminder Brad Carter have a rough night. The Valiants also were forced to use their backup with rookie Sam Desjardins filling in for Millard Touhey, who is sidelined with a viral infection. Ian Doyle and John McDonald each scored twice for the Vals with one of the few bright spots for Detroit was second overall draft pick Franics McKenzie scoring his first NAHC goal. SATURDAY JANUARY 10 Boston 3 at 3 Detroit: Tommy Hart's 13th goal of the season, midway through the third period, allowed the Boston Bees to salvage a point in a 3-3 tie at Thompson Palladium despite being outshot 36-26. Adam Vanderbilt had two assists for the Motors while Wilbur Chandler had 2 points to pace the Boston offense. New York 5 at 0 Montreal: A second straight shutout for Etienne Tremblay as the Shamrocks goaltender was only called on to make 16 saves in a lobsided win for the visitors. The Valiants, playing with backup Sam Desjardins in net, were outshot 35-16. Orval Cabbell led the New York offense with a hat trick,giving him 23 goals on the season -tops in the league. Chicago 3 at 2 Toronto: Tommy Burns returned to the Packers lineup after missing two weeks with an injury and scored his 22nd goal of the year in helping the Packers win their third straight game. Goals by Les Carlson and Dick Zimmerman gave the Dukes a 2-0 lead but Burns got Chicago on the board midway through the second period and the Packers completed the comeback with third period markers from Jesse Santoro and Moose Vezina. SUNDAY JANUARY 11 Boston 1 at 4 Chicago: A fourth straight win for the Packers following a 4-1 triumph over Boston. Tommy Burns scored two more goals to regain the NAHC lead in that department. David Scarpone broke Norm Hanson's shutout bid with less than 3 minutes remaining in the contest. The Packers played the game without leading scorer Marty Mahoney as the 26-year-old right winger suffered a foot injury against Toronto the night before. Toronto 7 at 3 Detroit: The Dukes win a laugher in Detroit, as the struggling Motors have just 1 win in 6 January outings. The Motors seemed to be well on the way to a strong game when a pair of Doug Yeadon goals helped the Motors take a 3-1 lead early in the second period but the Dukes took over from there with 5 unanswered goals including two each off the sticks of Kurt Walz and Al Cote to rally for a 7-3 win. Detroit outshot Toronto 12-7 in the opening period but over the final two the Dukes dominated the possession and outshot the Motors 30-15 as perhaps the busy stretch of 4 games in 5 nights caught up to the Motors. Montreal 3 at 3 New York: With Millard Touhey still sidelined the Valiants elected to give third string goaltender Pat Beliveau, recently promoted from Syracuse, his first NAHC start. The 23-year-old made 24 saves as Montreal ended the Shamrocks two-game winning streak with a 3-3 tie. Max Ducharme ended Shamrocks netminder Etienne Tremblay's bid for a third straight shutout early by notching his 10th of the season late in the first period. The game was knotted at 2 after 40 minutes and Jim Macek gave New York an early lead in the third period but Montreal defenseman Leo Bernard tied the game with less than 4 minutes remaining. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES WEDNESDAY JANUARY 14 Detroit at Boston Chicago at New York THURSDAY JANUARY 15 Toronto at Montreal SATURDAY JANUARY 17 Chicago at Montreal Boston at Toronto SUNDAY JANUARY 18 Montreal at Boston Chicago at Detroit Toronto at New York OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Hector Sawyer successfully defended his world heavyweight title before the largest crowd ever to witness a pro boxing match. Well over 90,000 packed Santa Ana Stadium to see Sawyer score an 8th round TKO win over Dan Miller. Despite not playing in a New Year's Classic game, St Blane held on to the number one ranking in college football, making the Fighting Saints national champion for the second consecutive year. The last of the unbeatens in college basketball fell this week when defending champion Whitney College was upset 49-47 by Holland University In his message to start the new session of Congress, Prsident Truman called for an immediate $40 "cost-of-living" income tax cut for every taxpayer and dependent, and an offsetting levy of $3.2 billion on corporations to pay for it. Republican leaders say there is no change it would be passed. Talks of heavily reducing the amount of aid given to Europe prompted Secretary of State Marshall to warn that an inadequate program would only waste American resources. "Either undertake to meet the requirements of the problem or don't undertake it at all," Marshall told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-03-2023, 09:12 PM	#65
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	January 19, 1948 JANUARY 19, 1948 DUKES CLOSING IN ON SECOND PLACE The Toronto Dukes are suddenly the hottest team in the NAHC after they reeled off four straight victories to close within two points of second place Montreal. The Dukes, despite allowing 9 more goals against then they have scored this season, are 17-16-3 as new head coach Jack Barrell has the club very much back in the playoff picture after a disastrous season a year ago that saw the Toronto club sink to the bottom of the league. The Dukes have made a number of changes this season and not just behind the bench. Quinton Pollack, who was rookie of the year last season, came over from the defunct Brooklyn squad and is leading the club in scoring with 32 points, including a team best 14 goals in 34 games. Pollack is 25 and hardly a youngster after a number of years in the Great Western Hockey League including time spent under the tuteledge of Jack Barrell in Tacoma, but he is centering a young line with 24-year old Les Carlson (11-14-25) on his right and fresh-faced 20-year Lou Galbraith (12-18-30) on his left. Galbraith, a Winnipeg native selected first overall in last July's draft, has had no issues at all adjusting to the pace of the NAHC and appears to be the favourite to follow in Pollack's footsteps as the winner of the McLeod Trophy, presented annually to the loop's top newcomer. With both Pollock and Carlson hailing from Saskatchewan the Toronto papers have dubbed the trio "The Prairie Line". That high scoring trio has eased the pressure on captain Bobbie Sauer (12-18-30) and the 33-year-old has moved to the second line, although Barrell is quick to point out he has three lines of equal value. Sauer has been spending his time recently with fellow greybeard Herb Burdette (8-13-21) and another newcomer in 21 year old Dick Zimmerman (9-15-24), who was the club's 1945 first round selection. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 36 21 12 3 45 128 88 Montreal 36 17 14 5 39 118 116 Toronto 36 17 16 3 37 105 114 Boston 36 16 16 4 36 111 99 New York 36 15 19 2 32 107 109 Detroit 36 12 21 3 27 87 130 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 30 24 15 40 Mahoney, Chi 31 14 26 40 W Burns, Chi 34 11 26 37 Cabbell, NY 35 24 10 34 Chandler, Bos 31 14 18 32 Pollack, Tor 34 14 18 32 Skinner, Mon 36 13 19 32 Albers, NY 36 11 21 32 Lanceleve, Mon 36 13 18 31 Sauer, Tor 32 12 18 30 Galbraith, Tor 36 12 18 30 McGlynn, Chi 36 15 13 28 Gregg, NY 31 13 15 28 Hart, Bos 35 13 15 28 Lynch, Mon 31 10 18 28 Haines, Mon 32 9 19 28 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 30 15 12 3 2 2.51 James, Bos 13 6 6 1 1 2.62 Tremblay, NY 25 12 11 1 3 2.72 Brockers, Bos 23 10 10 3 0 2.79 Broadway, Tor 29 13 13 2 1 3.00 Touhey, Mon 27 15 10 1 1 3.23 Carter, Det 11 1 5 0 0 3.40 Sorrell, NY 13 3 8 1 2 3.52 Chasse, Det 31 11 16 3 2 3.62 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY JANUARY 14 Detroit 0 at 5 Boston: Joe Morey scored twice and added an assist while Tom Brockers turned aside all 24 shots he faced to lead the Boston Bees to a 5-0 victory on home ice over last place Detroit. Jacob Gron, Craig Simpson and Conn Cundiff also scored for the Bees, who handed the sputtering Motors their 4th loss in the last five games. Chicago 3 at 5 New York: Chicago's 4-game winning streak came to an end while the Shamrocks are unbeaten in four after taking a 5-3 decision at Bigsby Garden. Gil Corbeil paced the Greenshirts attack with a goal and two assists including a helper on Jim Macek's game winner with just 52 seconds remaining to snap a 3-3 tie. Orval Cabbell added an empty-net marker in the closing seconds for his league leading 24th goal of the season. THURSDAY JANUARY 15 Toronto 2 at 1 Montreal: It is always a special night when these two hook up but the Valiants were forced to play without starting goaltender Millard Touhey, who remains sidelined with a virus. Rookie Sam Desjardins played very well as the substitute in the Montreal cage, turning aside 38 shots as Toronto dominated the contest. All the scoring came in the first period with Frank Featherstone and Les Carlson providing the Dukes offense while Shel Herron replied with a short-handed marker for the Vals. SATURDAY JANUARY 17 Chicago 4 at 4 Montreal: A showdown between the top two teams in the NAHC was unable to produce a winner. Isaac Finnson scored the only goal of the final stanza to allow the Vals to claim a single point with rookie Sam Desjardins once more handling the Montreal goaltending duties. The Packers were short-staffed as well as Marty Mahoney missed the game with an injury. Jeremy MacLean scored twice for the visitors while Clarence Skinner had a goal and two helpers for Montreal. Boston 1 at 3 Toronto: The Dukes, who finished dead last in the NAHC a year ago, leaped over Boston and into third place with a 3-1 victory on Dominion Gardens ice. Dick Zimmerman and Quinton Pollack scored just over a minute apart late in the third period to lift Toronto to the victory. SUNDAY JANUARY 18 Montreal 2 at 3 Boston: The Valiants are now winless in 5 games after falling 3-2 at Denny Arena. Boston rearguard Len Bentley scored the only goal of the third period to provide the margin of victory for the Bees, who close to within 3 points of Montreal for second place. Chicago 1 at 2 Detroit: Goals from Joe Todd and Miles Barfield along with a 31 save outing from goaltender Henri Chasse lifted the Detroit Motors to a 2-1 upset win over the first place Chicago Packers. The Packers are in what has to be considered a slump by their standards with 2 losses and a tie in their last three games. Toronto 4 at 1 New York: The surging Dukes cooled off New York with a 4-1 victory to move Toronto to within 2 points of second place Montreal. The Dukes have now won 4 straight while the Shamrocks four game unbeaten streak is snapped. Toronto broke open a scoreless battle with 3 second period goals, all assisted by Al Cote, and only Chris Broeke's tally with less than 3 minutes away ruined Gordie Broadway's shutout bid. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21 Toronto at Boston Montreal at Chicago Detroit at New York SATURDAY JANUARY 24 Detroit at Montreal Chicago at Toronto SUNDAY JANUARY 25 New York at Boston Toronto at Chicago Montreal at Detroit AROUND THE LEAGUE Good and bad news on the injury front for the Montreal Valiants. The Vals will get goaltender Millard Touhey back for Wednesday's game in Chicago but they suffered a tough blow with news that Ian Doyle will miss at least two months with a broken bone in his hand. It marks the second straight season and third time in 4 years, counting the minors, that the 23-year-old has missed substantial time with a serious injury. Doyle had 12 goals and 24 points through 31 games with the Valiants this season after scoring 19 points in 23 games with Brooklyn last year before suffering a season ending injury. Montreal will likely be without depth winger Adam Sandford for the showdown in Chicago Wednesday as the 24-year-old is still recovering from a rib injury. On the Chicago side, Marty Mahoney -who shares the NAHC scoring lead with teammate Tommy Burns, is also expected to miss the game. Mahoney has been out since January 10 when he hurt his foot. Shamrocks defenseman Bert McCalley has a bee in his bonnet this season. After the veteran club captain lowered his penalty minute total to just 13 a year ago, he is leading the NAHC in sin-bin time with 77 minutes so far this season. TACOMA CLASS OF THE WEST The Tacoma Lions are tearing up the competition in the Great Western Hockey League once again this season. The Lions went 39-5-4 a year ago and won their third straight Yeadon Cup and they have not slowed down at all this season despite the fact that last year's head coach Jack Barrell moved on to Toronto and his now behind the bench of the NAHC Dukes. The Lions did not miss a beat in replacing Barrell with another former skating star of the past. Victor Raberge is the new bench boss in Tacoma and that name should be very familiar to old time fans of the sports. Raberge got his start playing for Jack Connelly Sr.'s New Leiskard Silver Skates in the very first season of pro hockey back in 1909-10. A Montreal native, he bounced around several pro and semi-pro leagues before beginning his coaching career in British Columbia with several junior clubs. His son Victor Jr. was also a once prominent hockey prospect but was wounded in North Africa during the war which ended his playing days. As for the Lions they are 21-4-4 on the season and 16 points ahead of second place Seattle. They have developed some solid NAHC players in the past, including last year's rookie of the year Quinton Pollack, so hockey fans in the east might want to remember the names of Ben Sabot and Johnny Canaday. The duo are tied for the GWHL scoring lead with 47 points each. Sabot, 25, is in his fourth season with the Lions after never being drafted by an NAHC club while Canaday was a 4th round selection of the New York Shamrocks in 1943. The 23-year-old's rights are still owned by the Shamrocks but the Ontario native seems quite comfortable on the west coast in the second year of a three year deal with the Lions. Code: GREAT WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE STANDINGS W L T PTS Tacoma Lions 21 4 4 46 Seattle Emeralds 14 13 2 30 Portland Ports 10 14 4 24 Vancouver Bears 6 20 4 16 OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Harold Stephens defends his World Welterweight boxing title this Saturday in Cleveland against former Marine Ira Mitchell. Conference play is underway as the AIAA basketball season shifts in to high gear. The Western Iowa Canaries. at 12-1, continue to hold down the top spot in the polls President Truman has asked Congress for a record peacetime budget of just under $40 billion to run the Government in the fiscal year starting July 1. It is an increase of $1.9 billion over the current rate of expenditure. British and American officials are studying a reported Communist scheme -identified as "protocol M"- for smashing the Marshall Plan and crippling industrial Germany. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

08-04-2023, 10:13 PM	#66
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	January 26, 1948 JANUARY 26, 1948 MOTORS WIN FOUR STRAIGHT, ESCAPE CELLAR This has not been a season the Detroit Motors want to remember as a club with high hopes entering the campaign after a third place finish a year ago, quickly sank to the depths of the NAHC standings. Detroit has spent nearly the entire season -which crosses the two-thirds complete mark this week- in last place prompting the club to deal its two veteran defensemen in Shel Herron and Bryant Williams to Montreal last month. Since then, the club has gone 8-6-2 after beginning the season with just 7 wins in their first 23 games and is currently riding a 4-game winning streak. The team is clearly not more talented without Herron and Williams but the addition of 21-year-old Spencer Larocque, who came over from the Valiants in the deal, and the decision to move veteran forward Garrett Ferrar back to the blueline, seems to have energized the Motors. A playoff spot is still quite a reach with the Motors trailing both Boston and Montreal by six points, but suddenly there is some hope in the Motor City. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 39 23 13 3 49 139 98 Toronto 39 18 17 4 40 114 123 Boston 38 17 16 5 39 118 105 Montreal 39 17 17 5 39 123 129 Detroit 39 15 21 3 33 100 133 New York 38 15 21 2 32 112 118 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 33 27 17 44 Mahoney, Chi 31 14 26 40 W Burns, Chi 37 11 27 38 Albers, NY 38 12 24 36 Pollack, Tor 36 15 20 35 Skinner, Mon 39 15 20 35 Cabbell, NY 37 24 10 34 Chandler, Bos 33 15 18 33 Galbraith, Tor 39 13 20 33 Lanceleve, Mon 39 13 20 33 Sauer, Tor 35 12 20 32 Hart, Bos 37 15 15 30 Gregg, NY 33 14 16 30 McGlynn, Chi 39 15 14 29 Lynch, Mon 34 11 18 29 MacLean, Chi 35 10 19 29 Haines, Mon 35 9 20 29 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA James, Bos 14 6 6 2 1 2.57 Hanson, Chi 33 17 13 3 2 2.59 Tremblay, NY 27 12 13 1 3 2.83 Brockers, Bos 24 11 10 3 1 2.84 Broadway, Tor 32 14 14 3 1 3.00 Carter, Det 12 2 5 0 0 3.12 Touhey, Mon 30 15 13 1 1 3.34 Chasse, Det 33 13 16 3 2 3.44 Sorrell, NY 13 3 8 1 2 3.52 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21 Toronto 2 at 2 Boston: The Dukes 4-game winning streak came to an end, but they remained unbeaten thanks to a pair of second period goals from Trevor Parker and Quinton Pollack enabling Toronto to earn a 2-2 tie at Denny Arena with the Boston Bees. Tommy Hart had both of the Bees markers. Montreal 3 at 4 Chicago: A first place showdown saw the return of Millard Touhey to the Valiants net after missing nearly two weeks with a virus. Touhey was a bit rusty in taking a 4-2 loss with Ed Delarue leading the Packers offense with a pair of goals. It ended the Packers 3-game winless skid. Detroit 4 at 1 New York: Detroit won this battle between the bottom two clubs in the league as Henri Chasse made 28 saves in the Motors net while 3 first period goals by his club made his evening much easier. SATURDAY JANUARY 24 Detroit 5 at 1 Montreal: The Motors won for the third straight game, leaving the slumping Valiants winless in their last 7 outings. Rookie Nick Tardif led the way for the visitiors with a goal and 3 assists while Henri Chasse had another strong night in the Detroit cage. The same could not be said for Montreal's Millard Touhey, who may still be feeling the effects of the virus that sidelined him for nearly two weeks. Touhey allowed 5 goals on just 24 Detroit shots. Chicago 2 at 5 Toronto : The Dukes entered the game just 1-5 this season against the front-running Packers but a pair of third period goals, and 2 assists, from Dick Zimmerman lifted Toronto to victory and extended their unbeaten streak to 6 games. Chicago is just 1-3-1 in its last five games, all played without first line winger Marty Mahoney. The win, coupled with Montreal's loss to Detroit, moved the Dukes ahead of the Valiants and into second place, 7 points back of the Packers. SUNDAY JANUARY 25 New York 4 at 5 Boston: Joe Morey scored twice, and Jacob Gron had a goal and two helpers as the Bees held off a late charge by New York to trim the Shamrocks 5-4. It was the third straight loss for the streaky Greenshirts after a stretch in which they went 3-0-1. Toronto 2 at 5 Chicago: Back to back 5-2 results between the two clubs with Chicago prevailing on home ice on this night. Marsh Mansfield scored his first two goals of the season while Tommy Burns also had a pair to raise his league-leading total to 27 in the win which extended the Packers lead on second place Toronto to 9 points. Toronto's leading scorer Quinton Pollack did not make the trip to the Windy City after tweaking his back in Saturday's contest. He is expected to be sidelined for about a week. Montreal 1 at 4 Detroit: The Valiants troubles continue as they lost their fourth in a row and are winless in 8. Detroit, on the other hand, is suddenly hot with a 4-game winning streak lifting the club out of last place. Dave Bradley scored twice for the winners with Garrett Ferrar adding two assists and adjusting nicely to his shift to defense after the Motors big trade with Montreal. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28 Detroit at Boston New York at Chicago Montreal at Toronto SATURDAY JANUARY 31 Chicago at Boston New York at Montreal Detroit at Toronto SUNDAY FEBRUARY 1 Montreal at Boston Toronto at Detroit Chicago at New York AROUND THE LEAGUE Last January 7, the Montreal Valiants were in third place, just 5 points out of first with a 9-6-3 record but then proceeded to drop 13 of their next 14 games to end any hopes of a playoff berth. It is not quite as bad yet this season but seems to be trending in the same direction as since January 3 the Vals are 1-8-2 and have fallen 10 points back of Chicago. The December 20th deal that brought veteran defenders Shel Herron and Bryant Williams to Montreal was supposed to allow the team to make a push for first place, but the club is just 3-9-4 with the newcomers in the line-up. Detroit, on the other hand, has gone 8-6-2 since the deal after a dreadful 7-15-1 start. There is no way anyone can think Montreal is a worse team with those two in the lineup and Detroit is an improved club but for some reason the fortunes of both have altered dramatically since that deal. You can add Derek Gubb's name to the list of Chicago Packers with long-term injuries. Already missing defensemen Ted Stevens and Ian Groening for long stretches, the Packers learned that the 24-year-old Gubb will miss three months after being carted off the ice in the game against Montreal last week. The rookie winger from Sudbury, Ont., had 10 goals and 21 points in 28 games this season. courtesty Archie Irwin, Chicago Daily News --2 more win, 2 more injuries for the Packers who now hold a 9 point lead atop the NAHC. The big injury is to Derek Gubb, who will miss 2-3 months with a broken pelvis. He will be replaced by the now healthy Marty Mahoney who still ranks 2nd in points (40) despite appearing in just 31 of the Packers 39 games. He sits between linemen Tommy (44) and Wes Burns (38) as the Packers feature 1-2-3 in the points race despite Wes' 37 appearances the highest of the three skaters. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK The 16 FABL baseball teams continue their amateur draft. Among the names called in middle rounds were the sons of former FABL stars Al Wheeler and Tom Bird. Wheeler's son Steve was selected by Detroit in the fourth round while the Chicago Cougars tabbed Sam Bird in round 8. At 17-5 the defending league champion Chicago Panthers continue to lead the way in the Federal Basketball League. As debate over the Marshall Plan continued, President Truman said he is not at all in accord with former President Herbert Hoover's views that European recovery commitments should be limited to 15 months and cut below $6.8 billion. Foreign Secretary Bevin announced plans for a union of the states of Western Europe to face a "ruthless" drive by Soviet Russia to control the continent, noting the "time is ripe for the consolidation of Western Europe." Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill concurred, telling the House of Commons that Western Europe must unite quickly and demand a showdown with the Soviet Union before the Russians develop atomic weapons, possibly in a year or so. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-07-2023, 02:15 PM	#67
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	February 2, 1948 FEBRUARY 2, 1948 PACKERS RUNNING AWAY FROM PACK The Chicago Packers extended their unbeaten streak to 4-games with a 2-0-1 week and have increased their lead on second place Montreal atop the North American Hockey Confederation standings to a full 10 points. The Packers are simply dominant in all facets of the game. Their 153 goals scored are 19 more than any other NAHC club and their big line of the Burns brothers, Tommy and Wes, along with Marty Mahoney is 1-2-3 in the league scoring parade. The Packers have alloweed just 107 goals against this season -fewest in the NAHC and their goal differential of +46 is 33 better than any other club in the league. There are still 18 games remaining in the season but it certainly appears like the Packers will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs and seem well positioned to claim the first Challenge Cup in franchise history. Toronto finally slowed down the Detroit Motors, snapping the Motors winning streak at 6 games with a lobsided 7-2 victory at Thompson Palladium yesterday. That slows the Motos momentum as they were desperately trying to claw in to the playoff picture, which is very crowded with just 1 point separating 2nd place Montreal from both Toronto and Boston. The Motors are 5 points behid the Dukes and Bees. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 42 24 13 5 53 153 107 Montreal 42 19 18 5 43 134 138 Toronto 42 19 19 4 42 123 132 Boston 41 18 17 6 42 129 116 Detroit 42 17 22 5 37 111 144 New York 41 15 23 3 33 121 134 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 36 29 18 47 Mahoney, Chi 34 14 31 45 W Burns, Chi 40 12 30 42 Albers, NY 41 15 25 40 Cabbell, NY 40 26 12 38 Chandler, Bos 36 18 20 38 Skinner, Mon 42 17 21 38 Pollack, Tor 38 17 20 37 Lanceleve, Mon 42 13 24 37 Galbraith, Tor 42 16 20 36 Sauer, Tor 38 14 22 36 McGlynn, Chi 42 19 15 34 MacLean, Chi 38 10 23 33 Hart, Bos 40 16 16 32 Gregg, NY 36 15 17 32 Lynch, Mon 36 12 19 31 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 36 18 13 5 2 2.62 Brockers, Bos 25 11 10 4 1 2.80 James, Bos 16 7 7 2 1 2.82 Tremblay, NY 30 12 14 2 3 2.95 Broadway, Tor 35 15 16 3 1 3.00 Touhey, Mon 33 17 14 1 1 3.31 Chasse, Det 36 15 17 3 2 3.46 Sorrell, NY 14 3 9 1 2 3.83 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28 Detroit 5 at 3 Boston: The suddenly red-hot Detroit Motors won their fifth straight game, topping Boston 5-3 thanks to a two goal, one assist effort from Dave Bradley while defenseman Alex Leveille chipped in with three assists. New York 3 at 3 Chicago: The visiting New York Shamrocks snapped a 3-game losing skid by earning a point from their visit to Chicago's Lakeside Auditorium. Chris Broeke and Laurel Albers gave the visitors a 2-0 first period lead but Jarrett McGlynn replied with two for the Packers in the second period to tie the game. Albers, with his second of the game, and Packers defenseman Jesse Santoro traded third period tallies. Montreal 3 at 1 Toronto: The visiting Valiants snapped an 8-game winless streak as Claude LeClerc's goal and assist helped Montreal to a 3-1 win over the Dukes. Clarence Skinner and Glen Whitley also scored for Montreal while Bobbie Sauer's third period marker accounted for all of the Toronto offense. SATURDAY JANUARY 31 Chicago 2 at 2 Boston: Another tight game between the two Challenge Cup finalists from last year. Boston is 3-2-3 in meetings between the two as this one ended in a draw after the hosts rallied for two goals in the final six minutes of the contest. Mo Masters and Moose Vezina had staked the Packers to a 2-0 first period lead but Wilbur Chandler cut the deficit in half with a goal at 14:35 of the third period and just under two minutes late Aelx Gagnon netted the equalizer for the Bees, who were outshot 32-24 in the game. New York 2 at 4 Montreal: The Valiants win their second in a row, doubling the Shamrocks 4-2 thanks to a pair of first period goals from Glen Whitley. Doug Lynch and Max Ducharme also scored for the Vals, with Jocke Gregg and Chris Broeke replying for the Shamrocks, who are winless in 5. Detroit 4 at 1 Toronto: The Motors continue to roll with their 6th straight victory while Toronto falls for the third consecutive game. Joe Todd and Miles Barfield gave the visitors a 2-0 first period lead with Dave Bradley and Adam Vanderbilt rounding out the scoring for the visitors. One of the few bright spots for the Dukes was Quinton Pollack scored the Toronto goal in his return to the line-up after a week's absence. SUNDAY FEBRUARY 1 Montreal 4 at 6 Boston: Wilbur Chandler had 2 goals and 2 assists to pace Boston to a 6-4 victory at Denny Arena, ending Montreal's modest two game winning streak. The victory moves the Bees back to within a point of the second place Vals. Monrtreal will be without forward Brett Lanceleve for 3 games after he was suspended following a second period incident. Toronto 7 at 2 Detroit: The clock struck midnight on the Motors as their six-game winning streak came crashing down as Toronto clubbed the Detroiters 7-2 behind a hat trick from rookie Lou Galbraith. Les Carlson had 3 assists for the winners who are tied with Boston for third place, just 1 point back of second place Montreal. Chicago 9 at 4 New York: The league's best team faced the league's worst club and the result was to be expected, a 9-4 win for the visiting Packers. The big line had been quiet the past couple of days but exploded for 10 points in this one including 4 assists for Marty Mahoney. Tommy Burns scored twice and added a helper to retain his lead over Mahoney in the scoring race while Wes Burns had a goal and 2 assists. Chicago made it a rout early with a 5-goal outburst in the opening period to chase Alex Sorrell from the Greenshirts cage. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3 Detroit at Chicago WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4 Toronto at Boston New York at Detroit THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5 Chicago at Montreal SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7 Detroit at Montreal New York at Toronto SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8 New York at Chicago Boston at Detroit AROUND THE LEAGUE Detroit owner Jack Connelly Jr. gave his staff a vote of confidence after the club's recent six game winning streak, but did caution management that the fans are still not convinced and a prolonged losing streak may not be good for head coach Mark Moore's future. Despite Connelly's comments, the club General Manager reinforced his confidence in his coaching staff, noting Moore has done a fantastic job turning the club around after a dreadful start. The Motors are the only NAHC averaging less than 10,000 fans a game as barely 9,200 are showing up to see the club at Thompson Palladium. Conversely both Montreal and Chicago are averaging over 16,000 fans per game and the Valiants have sold out 25 straight games going back to last season. Toronto's Lou Galbraith continues to impress. The 20-year-old was the first overall pick in the amateur draft and made the Dukes roster out of camp. He had his first career hat trick against Detroit yesterday and leads all rookies in scoring with 16 goals and 36 points. Finn LeBec of the Boston Globe reports some good news for the Bees in that Mickey Bedard will not face any supplemental discipline for an illegal check to the head of Montreal's Doug Lynch on Sunday night. The same cannot be said for the Vals Brett Lancelove, who was ejected for a vicious second period hit and will be suspended for 3 games. Lancelove is second on the Valiants in scoring with 37 points thru 42 games. The Toronto Dukes closed out January with two home losses 3-1 to Montreal then particularly galling a 4-1 shellacking by the Motors. Barrell's bunch somewhat redeem themselves in the second half of the Detroit back to back pummeling the opposition 7-2 at Thompson Palladium led by Galbraith's hat trick. The week ahead sees the team heading to Boston for a Wednesday encounter with the Bees before hosting the Shamrocks on Saturday night. Bees are currently tied in the standings with Toronto while New York is beginning to feel a sense of desperation currently 9 points out of the a playoff spot with 19 to play. After the Saturday contest the Dukes have a week to prepare for Montreal in what is becoming a Saturday night tradition matching up the two Canadian teams. Injuries are become an issue in Toronto as it appears that 3 guys on the back end Martel, Gunner, Lumsen will miss the 2 games this week due to minor, nagging, injuries. Second round pick from this past summer's draft, Tom Atchinson, has been summoned from Cleveland to shore up the blue line. * A TALK WITH JACK BARRELL * Brett arranged a sit-down interview with Dukes headman Jack Barrell after his trip to Cuba to take in games with Wolves prospects in the Cuban Winter League. It was a long, wide ranging interview with the coach some of which is now ready for the Dukes faithful. Mail & Empire: With the NAHC season almost 2/3 complete the Dukes are in a playoff position. What are your initial impressions of the your return to Toronto after a few years away? Barrell: My return to the Dukes organization has been everything I thought it would be and more, Toronto is a hockey hotbed, the fans are extremely passionate, knowledgeable. They deserve a team in the thick of the NAHC race every year. I cannot begin to count the times I have been stopped on the street with questions, comments, suggestions about the Dukes. I listen intently to the comments because of the depth of the knowledge in the fan base. After these chance meetings I often find myself thinking "Should I try that...?" In Toronto you know every game, every in-game move will be endlessly debated with both positive, negative comments. There is no hiding in this market, the winter is dominated by the Dukes fortunes although I constantly hear talk about the Wolves, Titans. Fans live and die with their team in Toronto. Mail & Empire: After a 1946-47 season of disappointment at Dominion Gardens you seem to quickly turned the fortunes of the Dukes. At the end of January you have already amassed 5 more points in 39 games than the team tallied last season. Barrell: The credit for the turnaround all goes to the players. The staff has given the players a system, it is the player's job to follow the system that the staff believes will lead to wins. From the day I took over the position of head coach I saw that for the Dukes to be successful we would have be sound in our own zone. From Day One in our Northern Ontario training camp the stress has been on keeping the puck out of our net. We have the perfect man between the pipes in Broadway to make that a winning strategy. The players are probably sick of our stressing defense, tight checking first but there will be no change in the message in the near future. Mail & Empire: The system seems to be working. Barrell: Yes and No, I still believe we are giving far too many goals. At 123 the Dukes have given up the third most goals in the league. Granted some of those goals were given up early in the season when there were breakdowns, if we get caught looking down at the puck, running around in our zone the result is generally the red light going on behind our net. We constantly stress to the players to just do their own job in coverage no more, no less, defensive play is hard work with very little glory, everyone has to buy into the system. Fans generally do not notice a stellar defensive play, it is usually very subtle but it gives the Dukes puck possession. Be assured the coaches notice the play then give the player or unit kudos for the effort. The first thing discussed after a shift or between periods is the play in our end. We have been getting better but there is still a long way to go, if we make the playoffs the team will have to be better in preventing goals to advance, checking is much tighter in the post season. Mail & Empire: Any other comments? Barrell: Yes, I would like to tell the fans that this just the first step in a multi season progression. It will continue to be built around defensive soundness. I do not see the Dukes becoming an offensive juggernaut in the short term. We cannot match the Packers at their game. One mistake against them the faceoff is at center after the ref pulls the puck out of the net. I ask the fans to recognize our team for what it is, pay attention to work the players are putting in to keep the puck out of our net along with celebrating the goals. With 21 games left we can improve in all areas of the game then enter the playoffs on a hot streak. The Dukes will continue to celebrate team victories not individual accomplishments. The longer season has led to more injuries, there are two guys who have been out all season, Roy, Beam, hopefully we will healthy when the 60-game concludes towards the end of March. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Detroit Maroons and Mustangs owner Rollie Barrell is under fire from both the Continental Football Conference and American Basketball Conference for comments he made in a Life Magazine feature. The Chicago Wildcats, at 20-5 are running away with the Federal Basketball League West Division lead while the Philadelphia Phantoms are posting similar gains in the East Division. Ward Messer of Liberty College and Charles Cleary of Central Kentucky continue to battle it out for the college cage scoring lead. Cleary led the nation last year as a junior. Messer, who is the younger brother of New York Gothams outfielder Walt Messer, is also in the running for the rebound lead in the entire AIAA. After shortages and delays in getting fuel to most of the northeast, the House Interstate Commerce Committee has recommended a ban on the export of all petroleum products. Declaring that the present grain shortage "jeopardizes the national security," President Truman asked Congress to extend for 10 months the Government authority to limit the use of grain for making whisky and other alcohol products. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-08-2023, 08:01 PM	#68
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	February 9, 1948 FEBRUARY 9, 1948 ROUGH WEEK FOR VALIANTS The Montreal Valiants were thumped 7-1 by Chicago on Thursday night before recovering to tie Detroit Saturday but the bigger loss for the Vals came on the injury front with two top-tier defensemen and a centerman all suffering injuries. The largest blow was the news that Shel Herron will miss at least a month with a shoulder injury while Bryant Williams, who came over from Detroit with Herron in a December trade, will also miss a few days with a shin injury. To make matters worse the short-staffed Valiants were forced to play without 31-point scorer Max Ducharme on Saturday against Detroit and winger Rey Sclisizzi will also miss a couple of weeks with an elbow issue. Then there is Bert Lanceleve, who has 37 points in 42 games but missed both of last week's outings due to a suspension from an incident in Boston last week and still has one more game to serve. The week also saw Montreal drop to third, a point behind the Boston Bees, who also enjoy a game in hand on the Valiants. The Bees picked up 3 of a possible 4 points over the course of the week but are 14 points back of first place Chicago after the Packers won all three of their games last week and are 5-0-2 over their last seven contests. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 45 27 13 5 59 170 112 Boston 43 19 17 7 45 135 119 Montreal 44 19 19 6 44 138 148 Toronto 44 19 21 4 42 126 142 Detroit 46 17 24 5 39 120 160 New York 44 17 24 3 37 137 145 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 39 34 20 54 Mahoney, Chi 37 16 34 50 W Burns, Chi 43 12 33 45 Cabbell, NY 43 30 14 44 Albers, NY 44 16 27 43 Chandler, Bos 38 19 21 40 Pollack, Tor 40 18 20 38 Skinner, Mon 44 17 21 38 McGlynn, Chi 45 20 17 37 Galbraith, Tor 44 16 21 37 Sauer, Tor 40 14 23 37 Lanceleve, Mon 42 13 24 37 Hart, Bos 42 18 18 36 Gregg, NY 39 16 19 35 MacLean, Chi 41 12 23 35 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 38 20 13 5 2 2.59 Brockers, Bos 27 12 10 5 1 2.71 James, Bos 16 7 7 2 1 2.82 Tremblay, NY 33 14 15 2 3 3.02 Broadway, Tor 37 15 18 3 1 3.08 Touhey, Mon 35 17 15 2 1 3.39 Chasse, Det 38 15 18 4 2 3.44 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3 Detroit 1 at 4 Chicago : Chicago is unbeaten in five games after a 4-1 victory in a rare Tuesday NAHC contest. Tommy Burns scored his 30th and 31st goals of the season to equal and surpass his league leading total of a year ago. WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4 Toronto 1 at 4 Boston: The Dukes have just 1 win in their last five games after falling 4-1 in Boston. Tommy Hart had the hot hand for the winners as he was involved in all 4 Bees goals, scoring twice while assisting on markers from Wilbur Chandler and Craig Simpson. New York 7 at 3 Detroit : Detroit lost for the second time in as many nights as the Motors, who had a late train ride in from Chicago overnight, led 2-0 after twenty minutes before running out of gas and falling 7-3. Orval Cabbell paced the Shamrocks attack with 3 goals and an assist while Jim Macek and Sam Coates each enjoyed 3 point evenings. The victory snaps a 6-game winless streak for New York. THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5 Chicago 7 at 1 Montreal : A dominant victory on the road for the high flying Packers who were led once more by Tommy Burns with 2 goals. Jeremy MacLean also scored twice for the Packers, who are now unbeaten in their last six games, while Jarrett McGlynn had a goal and two helpers. Montreal netminder Mahlon Touhey did not survive the first period, being pulled after allowing 4 Chicago goals on just 12 shots. SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7 Detroit 3 at 3 Montreal : Detroit ended a 3-game losing streak while Montreal rallied for a 3-3 tie two nights after being embarrassed on home ice by Chicago. The Vals needed two third period goals including Adam Sandford's 7th of the season with less than 5 minutes remaining to salvage a point out of the game. New York 6 at 2 Toronto : The Shamrocks won for the second game in a row while the Dukes lost for the 5th time in their last six games. Six different Shamrocks found the back of the net including Orval Cabbell, who scored his 30th of the season. SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8 New York 3 at 6 Chicago : The Packers improved to 4-0 in February by doubling the visiting New York Shamrocks 6-3. Tommy Burns and Marty Mahoney each had a goal and two assists as the home side exploded for four answered goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to pull out the victory. Boston 2 at 2 Detroit : Spencer Larocque's fifth goal of the season early in the third period allowed to Detroit to claim a tie for the second night in a row. Adam Vanderbilt had given the Motors an early lead but Joe Morey scored twice for Boston in a game that the Motors outshot the Bees 31-14. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 11 Chicago at Boston SATURDAY FEBRUARY 14 New York at Boston Montreal at Toronto SUNDAY FEBRUARY 15 Detroit at Boston Montreal at Chicago Toronto at New York AROUND THE LEAGUE Rumours are circulating that Detroit Motors coach Mark Moore is on thin ice with speculation rampant that the 53-year-old will be fired this week. The club denies the rumours but it was hardly a resounding vote of confidence as when asked about the status of his coach Motors owner Jack Connelly Jr. would only say that he does not "like firing coaches in mid-season." When pressed to confirm that meant Moore's job was safe Connelly's two word response was "for now." Moore, who led the Motors to a third place finish last season, is in his third year behind the bench in Detroit. Toronto shows how fragile their system is giving up 10 goals in 2 games this week with 3 D-men out due to injury. Both games the Dukes got behind early, as Coach Jack Barrell has said over and over this season the team has to win with defense. They do not have the firepower to run and gun with other teams in NAHC. At Denny Arena mid-week the after a scoreless first frame, Tommy Hart put the Bees ahead at 6:52 into the second. The Dukes then created a major miscue giving up two goals in 8 seconds at the with less than two and half minutes left in the period. Barrell said "Our message is always to play really tight defense the first and last 5 minutes of each period so the opponent gets no momentum at the start of a period or going into the dressing room between periods. Quinton's goal late in the second gave us hope but those two quick ones really took the wind out our sails, cannot give teams a 3 goal lead." The Bees netted an empty netter to win 4-1. More telling was the loss at home on Saturday night to the Shamrocks. Hoping to put further doubt in minds of the New York squad chasing a playoff berth, the Dukes instead were again victimized with 2 goals in last 5 minutes in both the first and second periods. An unflattering 6-2 loss had Barrell close the dressing room to reporters but the assembled scribes could hear, but not make out all the words, in the post game tirade by the staff. Netminder Gordie Broadway had two substandard games allowing 10 goals on 53 shots. Going into 6 days off before hosting Montreal at home on Saturday the team will probably be put through their paces in tough daily practices in preparation for what seems to be a critical game. On the injury front it appears that Gunner will be back although Martel and Lumsen remain, at best, questionable. At the moment the Toronto Dukes continue to hang on to the last playoff spot but must shake themselves out of their February funk. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Each of the two pro basketball loops played their all-star game over the weekend, as the cage seasons reach their traditional midway mark. The Senate put the Republican tax cutting bill on ice, and it may stay unresolved for two months or more. A Senate subcommittee voted against authorizing the Government to prepare for meat rationing. British Prime Minister Attlee has proposed voluntary freeze on pay, profits and items like rent for the sake of combating inflation and rebuilding the struggling British economy. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

08-10-2023, 03:06 PM	#69
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	February 16, 1948 FEBRUARY 16, 1948 PLAYOFF RACE SUDDENLY HEATS UP Motors, Shamrocks Closing In The Detroit Motors and New York Shamrocks are both climbing back into the playoff race as each has taken advantage of slumps by the NAHC's two Canadian clubs. The Motors, who started the season with 8 losses in their first 10 games, have moved to within 3 points of both Montreal and Toronto in a fight for third and fourth in the standings. Detroit has had a huge turnaround since seemingly throwing in the towel on the season by dealing veteran defenseman Shel Herron and Bryant Williams to Montreal in late December and over the last dozen games the Motors have posted a 7-3-2 record. At the same time both Toronto and Montreal have fallen on hard times with the Valiants especially hard hit. The Vals are just 3-12-3 since January 3rd including a 0-4-1 mark in February. When Montreal made the big deadline trade they were just 3 points back of the front-running Chicago Packers. Now the Vals are 19 points off the pace and fearing for their playoff lives. Toronto has also struggled as Jack Barrell's crew has dropped 6 of its last 8 games. It is not just Detroit which is threatening to crash the playoff party after a dreadful start. The New York Shamrocks have 3 wins and a tie in their last 5 games and are just 4 points back of the Dukes and Vals. With 14 games remaining in the season (13 for Detroit) time is becoming a factor but both the Motors and Shamrocks are suddenly very much in the playoff mix. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 47 29 13 5 63 182 117 Boston 46 19 19 8 46 146 133 Toronto 46 20 22 4 44 132 147 Montreal 46 19 21 6 44 139 158 Detroit 47 18 24 5 41 124 162 New York 46 18 24 4 40 145 151 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 41 39 21 60 Mahoney, Chi 38 16 34 50 W Burns, Chi 45 12 37 49 Cabbell, NY 45 34 14 48 Chandler, Bos 41 21 23 44 Albers, NY 46 16 27 43 Hart, Bos 45 21 19 40 Galbraith, Tor 46 16 24 40 Pollack, Tor 42 19 20 39 Skinner, Mon 46 18 21 39 Sauer, Tor 42 15 24 39 McGlynn, Chi 47 20 18 38 MacLean, Chi 43 12 26 38 Gregg, NY 42 16 21 37 Lanceleve, Mon 43 13 24 37 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 40 22 13 5 3 2.58 Brockers, Bos 29 12 11 6 1 2.87 James, Bos 17 7 8 2 1 2.89 Tremblay, NY 35 15 15 3 3 3.02 Broadway, Tor 38 16 18 3 1 3.03 Chasse, Det 39 16 18 4 2 3.40 Touhey, Mon 37 17 17 2 1 3.47 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 11 Chicago 6 at 5 Boston :The visiting Packers improved to 5-0-0 in February and extended their unbeaten streak to 8 games by coming back from a 5-2 deficit to nip Boston 6-5. Tommy Burns had 2 goals and an assist with Mark Brooks scoring twice to lead Chicago to victory. Garrett Kauffeldt's 9th goal of the season put the Bees up 5-2 just before the midway mark of the game but the Packers closed the gap on second period goals from Brooks and Ed Delarue and then added two more in the third to complete the comeback. Chicago outshot Boston 52-37 in the game. There was bad news for the Packers as Marty Mahoney left with a back injury and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks. Mahoney, with 50 points in 38 games, sits second behind Tommy Burns in the league scoring race. SATURDAY FEBRUARY 14 New York 4 at 4 Boston :Following a 5 day break the Shamrocks were back in action and skated to a 4-4 draw with the Bees at Denny Arena. Orval Cabbell's second of the game -with 1:25 remaining in the third period- allowed the Greenshirts to leave Boston with a point. Tommy Hart had 2 goals and an assist to pace the Bees. Montreal 1 at 4 Toronto :A week off to work on Coach Jack Barrell's gameplan paid off for the Dukes, who skated to a 4-1 victory at the Dominion Gardens. After a scoreless 20 minutes, Bobbie Sauer scored the only goal of the second period before the teams combined for 4 goals in the final 13 minutes of the game. The slumping Vals are 3-11-3 since January 3. SUNDAY FEBRUARY 15 Detroit 4 at 2 Boston :Boston is winless in 4 games after falling 4-2 on home ice to Detroit while the Motors have a win and two ties in their last three outings and are now just 3 points back of both Montreal and Toronto in the battle for third place. Vince Arsenault had a goal and an assist to lead the Motors while Hank Walsh added two helpers. Montreal 0 at 6 Chicago :Montreal's woes continued as the Packers Norm Hanson made 22 saves in a 6-0 shutout victory keyed by a Tommy Burns hat trick. Burns now has 39 goals on the season and moved past Harvey McLeod into sole possession third place for the highst single season goal total. The record is 47 set by Boston's Bert Gordier in 1929-30. Burns, with 60 points and 13 games remaining on the Packers schedule, may also have a chance of catching Gordier's points mark of 80 set in the same season as his goal total. Toronto 2 at 4 New York :The Shamrocks doubled the Dukes 4-2 and with 7 points in their last 5 games are suddenly very much alive in the playoff race as New York's 40 points is just 4 back of both Montreal and Toronto and 6 behind second place Boston. New York netminder Etienne Tremblay had a big game, stopping 38 of the 40 shots he faced with Orval Cabbell scored his 33rd and 34th goals of the season to lead the Shamrocks. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18 Boston at Chicago Detroit at New York THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19 Toronto at Montreal SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 Boston at Montreal Detroit at Toronto SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 Toronto at Chicago Montreal at Detroit Boston at New York NAHCleaguenewsHeader AROUND THE LEAGUE Archie Irwin, Chicago Daily News --The Packers continue to pull away, nearly twenty points ahead of the defending champion Bees. Tommy Burns' six game goal streak has helped the Packers win each of their February games, and they haven't lost since dropping their January 24th contest 5-2 to the Dukes. A hat-trick against the Valiants on Sunday pushed his goal and points total to a league leading 39 and 60. Packers litter the top 5 for goals, assists, and points, with Burns' backup Jarred McGlynn 5th with 20 goals, Marty Mahoney (50) and Wes Burns (49) second and third in points, and three other Packers (Mahoney, 2nd/34; Jeremy MacLean, 4th/26, Moose Veniza, 5th/25) trailing Wes Burns and his league leading 37 assists. Spencer Larocque has had an huge impact on the Detroit blueline since coming over in the deadline deal with Montreal. The 21-year-old has more than filled in as the replacement for Shel Herron with 17 points in 24 games with the Motors since the deal while posting a +5 on a team with only 4 players showing a positive plus/minus. Meanwhile 35-year-old center Doug Yeadon has Motors brass rethinking their original plan to offer him a contract extension. The Motors assistant captain provides plenty of leadership and has even chipped in offensively with 2 goals and 5 points in his last 6 games. The Dukes partially turn the corner after a week of hard practices which Jack Barrell termed "Back to basics, we have gotten into some bad habits that have to be eliminated." In a fast paced game Saturday evening in Toronto the Valiants, Dukes played a thoroughly entertained game. After the teams failed to score during the first period Sauer opening the scoring with less than 4 minutes left in the second stanza on a nice setup from Zimmerman and Burdette. Toronto upped the lead to 3-0 before Skinner spoiled Broadway's shutout bid at 13:03 of the third, Lavalliere potted his 5th into an empty cage to salt away a 4-1 Dukes victory. The game featured some top level goaltending by both Touhey, Broadway who both repeated robbed opposing shooters. An overnight train trip into the Big Apple where Barrell's bunch had another chance to put a dagger into the Shamrocks. Dukes came out flat giving up 2 before the game was 6 minutes old on goals by Cabbell, Corbeil. Toronto rallied to tie the game before the first intermission on markers from Painchaud, Carlson. After a scoreless, quick paced, penalty free second the Dukes penchant for giving up goals early in periods came back to haunt them, yet again, when Cabbell, Broeke beat Broadway before the third period was 4 minutes old. The Dukes mounted sustained pressure but could not solve Tremblay in the Shamrocks cage. Tremblay made 38 stops during the game to secure the NY victory. Barrell was heard muttering "Defense, defense, defense, tough when we cannot score more than 2 on 40 shots." The good news is that both Martel, Lumsen will return this week for 3 games, in Montreal mid-week, at home to the Motors Saturday, before heading into Lakeside Auditorium Sunday afternoon to face the high scoring , high flying Packers. All games are taking on a playoff atmosphere as only 6 points separate second from sixth with teams having either 13 or 14 games left on their schedule. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK FABL's Hall of Fame has opened balloting for its 1948 class to be inducted in the baseball museum at Boone County, Il. Number one ranked Western Iowa was upended 60-55 by St. Ignatius in Great Lakes Alliance conference action on the weekend. Commodities prices tumbled as the week began, pulling the stock market down with it as price breaks on many food products were implemented. A study indicated prices of 48 cost of living food items had shown an average drop of more than 8 per cent in the past month. 37 British trae unions defied the Labor government's wage-freezing policy and voted to demand higher pay for their 3 million members. Senator Taft said the $5.3 million outlay which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved for the first 12 months of the European Recovery Program is "too large." Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-10-2023, 03:07 PM	#70
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	February 23, 1948 FEBRUARY 23, 1948 BURNS ON RECRD PACE FOR PACKERS Tommy Burns continues to race towards the NAHC single season goal scoring record. The Chicago Packers 28-year-old center has 42 goals in 43 games this season and is now within 5 goals of tying Bert Gordier's 1929-30 record of 47. Only Gordier and his Boston teammate that season George Tremaine had ever reached the 40-goal mark until Burns raced by the milestone last Wednesday with his 40th against Boston. Sure purists will point to the fact teams only played 44 games that season, compared to the 60 the Packers will eventually compete in this year, but Gordier and Tremaine also were the beneficiaries of an offensive explosion as teams scrambled to adjust to a rule change that opened up game and resulted in a record setting number of goals. Things quickly adjust the following year and no one had scored more than 34 goals in a season since. Until this year when Burns, following up on a league leading 30 goal season (tied with Boston's Tommy Hart and Quinton Pollack, then of Brooklyn), has exploded. Despite missing his long-time winger Marty Mahoney for the past 3 games, Burns has scored 6 goals in that span and has an 8-game goal scoring streak on the go, during which time he amassed 15 goals and 19 points. As a whole the Packers offense has been dominant and averaged 3.8 goals per game. Chicago has 186 goals in 49 games with the last place Shamrocks second in that category but with 33 less than the Packers. There are 11 games remaining in the season and the Packers, 15 points up on second place Boston, seem a lock to finish in first place for the first time in franchise history. Tommy Burns also seems to be a lock to win his third straight McDaniels Trophy as the NAHC's most valuable player and may just have a record-setting season. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 49 29 14 6 64 186 122 Boston 49 20 20 9 49 149 137 Toronto 49 22 23 4 48 141 154 Montreal 49 20 23 6 46 141 162 Detroit 50 19 25 6 44 132 170 New York 48 19 24 5 43 153 157 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 43 42 21 63 W Burns, Chi 47 12 39 51 Cabbell, NY 47 35 15 50 Mahoney, Chi 38 16 34 50 Albers, NY 48 16 31 47 Chandler, Bos 44 21 23 44 Pollack, Tor 42 19 20 39 Galbraith, Tor 49 17 25 42 Hart, Bos 48 22 19 41 Sauer, Tor 45 16 25 41 Skinner, Mon 49 18 21 39 Gregg, NY 42 17 22 39 McGlynn, Chi 49 20 18 38 Lanceleve, Mon 46 13 25 38 MacLean, Chi 45 12 26 38 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 42 22 14 6 3 2.58 Brockers, Bos 32 13 12 7 2 2.72 James, Bos 17 7 8 2 1 2.89 Broadway, Tor 41 18 19 3 1 2.98 Tremblay, NY 37 16 15 4 3 3.02 Cartr, Det 15 2 7 1 0 3.18 Touhey, Mon 40 18 19 2 2 3.28 Chasse, Det 41 17 18 5 2 3.40 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18 Boston 1 at 1 Chicago : The Packers extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games but fail to win for the first time this month after skating to a 1-1 draw against Boston. Tommy Burns, with his league leading 40th, and Tommy Hart traded second period goals in a game that saw the host Packers outshoot the visitors 33-21. Detroit 5 at 5 New York : The two clubs trying desperately to get into playoff position had to settle for a 5-5 tie at Bigsby Garden. The visiting Motors scored three times in the third period, including a pair from Nick Tardif, to erase a 4-2 deficit byt a late goal from Paul Tetreault salvaged the tie for the Shamrocks. THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19 Toronto 3 at 1 Montreal : Montreal's struggles continue after the Valiants fell 3-1 on home ice to the Toronto Dukes. Bobbie Sauer, Herb Burdette and rookie Lou Galbraith with a late empty-netter provided the Toronto score while Leo Bernard was the lone Montrel marksmaen. The Vals are winless in their last 6 games. To make matters worse, Bernard left the game with a shoulder injury and will be sidelined at least a month. SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 Boston 1 at 0 Montreal: Tom Brockers turned aside 22 Montreal shots for his second shutout of the season, making Craig Simpson's first period goal stand up in a 1-0 road win for the Bees at the Montreal Arena. The Vals are 0-6-1 in February and just 2-12-3 since the second week of January. Detroit 3 at 2 Toronto : Dave Bradley's powerplay goal with 2:03 remaining in the game lifted the Motors to a 3-2 victory and pulled Detroit even with Montreal for the fourth and final playoff spot in the NAHC. The Motors are 2-0-3 in their last five games. SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 Toronto 4 at 3 Chicago :The Packers 10-game unbeaten streak came to an end with a 4-3 loss to Toronto. It was the first loss for the Packers since January 24 when they also were beaten by the Dukes. Quinton Pollack had 2 goals and an assist to pace the Toronto attack. Tommy Burns scored twice for the Packers and now has scored at least one goal in 8 consecutive games. It was Chicago's 3rd straight game without Marty Mahoney as the winger continues to recover from a back injury. Montreal 1 at 0 Detroit : The Valiants regained sole possession of the final playoff spot and halted a 7-game winless streak with a 1-0 vicotry at Thompson Palladium. Adam Sandford scored the game's only goal, shorthanded, midway through the opening period despite the fact the Valiants, clearly an inspired bunch, fired 50 shots on Detroit goaltender Brad Carter. Millard Touhey only had to contend with 26 shots in the Montreal net, and he stopped them all for his second shutout of the season and 7th of his career. Boston 1 at 3 New York : The Shamrocks remain within 3 points of fourth place with a 3-1 win at home over Boston to extend their unbeaten streak to 4 games. Laurel Albers had 2 assists while Orval Cabbell scored his 35th goal of the season to pace the Shamrocks. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 25 Chicago at New York Boston at Toronto SATURDAY FEBRUARY 28 Detroit at Montreal Chicago at Toronto SUNDAY FEBRUARY 29 Boston at Chicago Montreal at New York AROUND THE LEAGUE Courtesy of Finn LeBec, Boston Globe : "In the old 48-game schedule, we'd be done already. Bees fans would have been happy with a second place regular season finish considering the wolves at the door. But, the final 20 or so games will determine the last three spots among five teams. The league definitely did the right thing by extending the schedule." Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News notes it was a rare winless week at home for the Packers with a tie against the Bees and a loss to the Dukes. Chicago also lost three more players to minor injuries, with star forward Marty Mahoney, veteran defender Mo Masters, and backup goalie Michael Cleghorn all expected to miss the week. The Detroit Motors missed a big opportunity in falling 1-0 to Montreal yesterday. A win would have put us alone in 4th place but instead we are 2 points back of the Vals and they have a game in hand. It was a good week for the Dukes with 2 wins in 3 games. Things got started on a positive note Thursday evening in Montreal where the team put together what coach Barrell termed "One of, if not our best, overall games of the season at both ends of the ice." Finally the Dukes were the predators not the prey early in a period when Bobbie Sauer potted his 16th before the game was 5 minutes old from Herb Burdette and Philippe Dubois. Burdette also scored on the power play in the last 5 minutes of the period putting Toronto up two at intermission. Despite being outshot 16-7 in the second Leo Bernard put the Vals back in the game with his 5th tally of the season. The third again had the home team badly outshot, but Montreal netminder Millard Touhey held the fort. Rookie Lou Galbraith's 17th into an empty cage with 2 seconds remaining secured a 3-1 win. A huge crowd, 15,688, packed Dominion Gardens for a Saturday night encounter with the Motors who of late are making a determined playoff push. J.C. Martel put the home side up notching his 5th before Ben Witt tied the score before the end of the first period. With Arnold Singleton for the Motors and the Dukes Quinton Pollock, with his 20th, exchanging goals the second period ended knotted at 2 despite the Dukes holding a 25-18 advantage in shots on goal. The home squad continued to press for the winner in the third but Motors netminder Henri Chasse continued to shut the door. The game remained deadlocked until Dick Zimmerman took a questionable slashing call in the last 3 minutes. After a relatively lengthy delay to clean the ice debris rained down from the stands after the penalty call the Motors setup their powerplay that allowed Dave Bradley to convert on a tic-tack-toe passing play from Doug Yeadon and Witt at 17:57 causing the another delay to clear the ice of refuse. The 3-2 win by Detroit had many fans irate with the referee with the common refrain being "He called that slash late after letting it go all game? Stupid!" After that heart breaking loss the team was faced with the daunting task of facing the league leading Packers in Chicago on a quick turnaround. The Dukes came out flying with Leo Carlson opening the scoring just 24 seconds into the game when his shot eluded Norm Hanson in the Chicago cage. The fast start had the visitors leading 3-0 at the end of one thanks to goals by Pollock and Alex Lavalliere before the game was 15 minutes old. Toronto laid siege to the Packers net firing 26 shot at Hanson. The Packers score twice in the second on markers by Tommy Burns and David Rankin but Pollock's second of the game allowed the Dukes to maintain a 2 goal lead. Burns, his 42nd, at 11:13 of the third setup for a wild finish in which the Dukes hung on for the 4-3 victory. Coach Barrell: "We will take that victory any day, the first period was exceptional, as we caught the Packers flat footed. We cannot get into a shootout with teams like that, we tightened up enough in the third period to hang on when the players went back to our defensive system. The third was winning playoff type hockey, we have to make that style a habit as the season winds down." Toronto has a tough upcoming week with two home dates, Bees on Wednesday, Packers Saturday, the two teams ahead of them in the standings. The Dukes are in third only 2 points ahead of the Vals, 4 up on the Motors, 5 ahead of the Shamrocks. It will be a wild finish to the season. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Gus Goulding shocked the baseball world when the 34-year-old told the Chicago Chiefs yesterday he is walking away from the game. Harold Stephens, the World Welterweight champ will be back in the ring in April as his camp has confirmed the champ will take on undefeated Mac Erickson in Boston on April 24. The Federal Basketball League leading Chicago Panthers lost back to back games for the first time this season while in the ABC the Washington Statesmen saw their 15-game winning streak come to an end in Richmond. A high ranking American official says a Russian puppet government has been established in North Korea, adding it has an army, a flag and a constitution -in open defiance of international agreements. President Truman notified Congress that he intends to ask for more money for military aid for Greece and Turkey. Truman also plans to request $570 million to finance a Chinese aid program until June 30, 1949. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-11-2023, 01:16 PM	#71
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	March 1, 1948 MARCH 1, 1948 BATTLE HEATING UP FOR FINAL PLAYOFF SPOT The New York Shamrocks are suddenly the hottest team in the NAHC and have worked their way into a playoff position with 10 games remaining in their season. The Shamrocks struggled most of the year but since February 3 have gone 6-1-2 and overtaken both Detroit and Montreal for the final playoff spot. New York also has a game in hand on their two challengers and is just 3 points back of the Toronto Dukes for third place. The news is not all good for the Shamrocks, who will be without their captain and top defenseman Bert McCalley for the next week to ten days after McCalley was injured in a 4-2 win over the first place Chicago Packers on Wednesday. The Packers are suddenly in a slump with 4 straight losses but they should have no trouble hanging on to top spot as their lead on second place Boston is still 11 points even after dropping a 5-3 decision to the Bees last night. The big battle with three weeks remaining in the season is for the final playoff spot, or perhaps two of them. Toronto is presently in third place, but the Dukes are just 3 points up on the surging Shamrocks with a pair of games on the docket between the two next week. Detroit, which has lost just once in its last 7 games, also has a pair against the Shamrocks next week with the Motors just a point behind the Greenshirts in the standings. Montreal is also one point back as the second half of the season continues to be dreadful for a Valiants club that at Christmas still had hopes of catching the Packers for first place. The Valiants must be relieved to be done with February, after going 1-8-1 during the month. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 52 29 17 6 64 193 134 Boston 51 22 20 9 53 160 143 Toronto 51 23 24 4 50 147 162 New York 50 21 24 5 47 163 160 Montreal 51 20 25 6 46 145 172 Detroit 51 20 25 6 46 136 173 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 46 44 23 67 Cabbell, NY 49 37 18 55 W Burns, Chi 50 12 40 52 Mahoney, Chi 38 16 34 50 Chandler, Bos 46 25 24 49 Albers, NY 50 16 33 49 Hart, Bos 50 24 22 46 Pollack, Tor 47 23 21 44 Sauer, Tor 47 18 25 43 Galbraith, Tor 50 17 25 42 Skinner, Mon 51 20 21 41 McGlynn, Chi 52 21 19 40 Gregg, NY 44 18 22 40 Lanceleve, Mon 48 13 27 40 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 45 22 17 6 3 2.63 Brockers, Bos 33 14 12 7 2 2.73 James, Bos 18 8 8 2 1 2.89 Tremblay, NY 39 18 15 4 3 2.93 Broadway, Tor 43 19 20 3 1 3.02 Touhey, Mon 42 18 21 2 2 3.37 Chasse, Det 42 18 18 5 2 3.39 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 25 Chicago 2 at 4 New York : The Shamrocks moved past Detroit into fifth place, just a point back of Montreal for the final playoff spot after extending their unbeaten streak to 5 games with a 4-2 win at Bigsby Garden over Chicago. It was the second straight loss for the Packers but Tommy Burns kept his goal scoring streak alive with a first period shorthanded goal. Burns has scored in each of the last 9 games. Chicago led 2-0 after 40 minutes before the Greenshirts exploded for four in the third period including a pair from Orval Cabbell. Boston 6 at 3 Toronto : Wilbur Chandler had a hat trick as second place Boston increased its lead on third place Toronto to three points. SATURDAY FEBRUARY 28 Detroit 4 at 3 Montreal: The Motors moved into a 4th place tie with slumping Montreal after a 4-3 road win. Detroit, which has gone 3-3-1 in its last seven games, was led by defenseman Joe Todd with a goal and two assists. The Valiants are 3-13-3 since the second week of January. Chicago 2 at 3 Toronto : Second period goals from Herb Burdette, Les Carlson and Quinton Pollack held up as the Dukes handed the Chicago Packers their third straight loss. Toronto is back to within a point of second place Boston in the battle for home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Tommy Burns did pick up an assist but his streak of scoring in 9 consecutive games came to an end. SUNDAY FEBRUARY 29 Boston 5 at 3 Chicago : Should they be worried in Chicago after the Packers lost their fourth in a row? Tommy Burns opened the scoring with his league leading 44th goal of the season but it was not enough as Tommy Hart scored twice and added an assist while Mickey Bedard had 3 assists to power the Bees to a 5-3 victory. First place is still likely out of the question for the Bees, who still trail the Packers by 11 points but this is the first time all season the Packers have dropped more than 2 in a row. The good news for Chicago is Marty Mahoney looks ready to return after being sidelined since February 11. Montreal 1 at 6 New York : The Shamrocks moved into the final playoff spot with a dominant 6-1 victory over the sinking Montreal Valiants. New York is on a tear with 6 wins and 2 ties in their last 9 games. They broke this one open with 4 goals in just over a 7 minute span late in the second period. Paul Tetreault and Chris Broeke led the way for the Shamrocks with a goal and two helpers each while Etienne Tremblay turned aside 29 of the 30 Montreal shots he faced. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES TUESDAY MARCH 2 Toronto at New York WEDNESDAY MARCH 3 Chicago at Boston New York at Detroit Montreal at Toronto THURSDAY MARCH 4 Boston at Montreal SATURDAY MARCH 6 Montreal at Detroit New York at Toronto SUNDAY MARCH 7 Toronto at Boston Montreal at Chicago Detroit at New York AROUND THE LEAGUE Sam Fincher of the New York World-Telegram notes that the "Shamrocks moving up. Two more wins and the Shamrocks have moved into the 4th playoff position. And they still have 3rd place in sight. They will have to deal with star defenseman Bert McCalley out with a wrist injury for the next week. On a positive note C Adam Greenham has begun training and may be back before the end of the season." Dan Urbanski of the Detroit Times points out that the Motors are 13-10-5 since they made the big trade with Montreal sending veteran defenseman Shel Herron and Bryant Williams to the Valiants. They were 7-15-1 before the deal. Here is how the 6 NAHC club's fared in the month of Febrauay: Code: W-L-T PTS New York 6-2-2 14 Chicago 6-4-1 13 Boston 5-3-3 13 Toronto 5-5-0 10 Detroit 3-4-3 9 Montreal 1-8-1 3 The Toronto skaters managed to split the two this week against the two teams ahead of them in the NAHC standings to remain in 3rd place. That is not the big news, the big news is bad for the club. Early in the first period of the Wednesday game in the Gardens against the Bees, Dukes Rookie of the Year candidate Lou Galbraith was lost for the season to a knee injury suffered after taking a stiff check from Bees rearguard Conn Cundiff while trying to cut across the middle. Galbraith went down in a heap writhing in pain, it was evident to all 12,163 present that the injury was serious. The 20-year-old, who was selected first overall in the July draft, was third in team scoring with 17 goals and 42 points in 50 games. As the training staff helped Galbraith to the dressing room a hushed silence fell over the crowd. Concerns about their injured teammate may have had something to do with the Dukes trailing 2-1 after the first while allowing only 2 shots. The Dukes seemed to rally early in the second on goals by Dick Zimmerman and Bobbie Sauer, his second of the game, to take a 3-2 before the game had reached the halfway mark. As has become far too common lately the walls collapsed around the Dukes when the Bees stormed back with 3 goals in the last 7 minutes of the second to take a 5-3 lead. Alex Lavalliere tried to inject a little life back into the team by dropping the mitts at center ice to square off with Jacob Gron while the game was still tied at 3. It had the opposite effect as it was the Bees who got a jolt from the battle and cruised to an relatively easy 6-3 victory. Coach Barrell's post game remarks were "Everyone knew immediately that Lou's injury was serious, most players could not seem to get their heads back in the game after Boston tied it up in the second. Gordie (goltender Broadway) seemed to be most effected, allowing 6 on only 23 shots. I considered pulling him after the first, in hindsight I probably should have as I knew his mind wasn't in the game. We now know Lou is gone for the season, he is going to have surgery to repair his knee tomorrow at Toronto General, time to move on." Move on is exactly what the team did on Saturday night with Chicago in town looking for revenge after the Dukes halted their winning streak the past Sunday. The Packers poured everything at the Dukes in the first trying to replicate the fast start Toronto got off to in Chicago. Broadway stood his ground making 10 saves in the first, many of the difficult variety. The Dukes withstood the Packers onslaught to put 3 by Chicago keeper Norm Hanson in the second with Herb Burdette figuring in on all three goals. The up tempo continued for the high scoring Packers in the third, after Ed Delarue broke up the shutout with the 11 minutes gone in the third the Chicago team continued to come in waves and their persistance was rewarded with a second goal by Moose Vezina with just over a minute remaining in the game. With the Packers cage vacated the Dukes managed to hang on to a 3-2 win. Barrell : "That win was important especially to Gordie after Wednesday night. Still lots of work to do before 3 games this week in NY then home to the Valiants, Shamrocks." Galbraith was the worst but not he only injury news in Toronto. It appears that both J.C. Martel and Frank Featherstone will miss all 3 games this week with arm and back injuries leaving the D Corps scrambling yet again this season. A positive is that Chad Roy has been back on the ice for the first time time since his back injury in the preseason. STRONG FINISH TO BEES ROAD TREK by Finn LeBec, Boston Globe The Boston Bees had a very 3-1-1 successful road trip, recovering from a 3-1 loss to the Shamrocks last Sunday with wins in Toronto (6-3) and Chicago (5-3). The Toronto win saw five multi-point performances by the Bees, headlined by Wilbur Chandler's hat trick. Chandler offensively took control of the game, scoring twice in a three-minute span to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead, sandwiching the Lavalliere-Gron tête-à-tête. Chandler added his hat trick goal - his 24th of the season - as the only goal in a third period where the Bees clamped down and led on the shot clock, 14-6. The Chicago win even more impressive, handing the Packers only their fifth loss at Lakeside Auditorium. The top line accounted for another three goals, but it was Tommy Hart who was the star of this one, scoring an early goal and adding an empty-netter in the final seconds. Oscar James drew the somewhat surprising assignment, considering it was his third start in February and first in two weeks. But, James stood strong, turning away 27 of 30 Packer shots. Rookie Mickey Bedard was firing away at the net (13 shots attempted, 6 shots on goal), but earned first star honors because of his three helpers, two of them primary assists. VANCE WELL DESERVING OF PLACE IN BOONE COUNTY Word came this week that former Dynamos legend Frank Vance has been granted membership in the exclusive club that is baseball's Hall of Fame. The third baseman becomes the fourth player who will have his likeness displayed in the Boone County baseball museum donning a Dynamos cap, following in the footsteps of Jim Golden, Jim Jones and Bill Temple. A well deserved honour for Vance, who is the franchise leader in games played, hits and homeruns despite spending 4 years of his prime in Brooklyn. The Minnesota native made his Detroit debut in 1927 at the age of 25 and would enjoy one of the greatest seasons in Dynamos history two years later when he won both the Whitney Award and the World Championship Series MVP. He led the Fed in batting that year -the only time it happened in his career- but Vance was always a talented hitter. He finished just 30 hits shy of the magical 3,000 mark with a career .317 batting average and was selected to baseball's all-star game 9 times. The only number the franchise has ever retired is Roy Calfee's #1 but I expect there will be a push to add Vance's #8 to the outfield wall at Thompson Field. It will be a well-deserved and long overdue recognition for the Detroit sporting legend who we can now officially call a "Hall of Famer." * Knights With Big Cage Win To Stop Slide * The Detroit City College cage squad has struggled in section play, going just 6-6 vs Great Lakes Alliance opponents including mix results last week. The losing streak reached 3 games on Thursday with a disappointing loss on campus at Knights area to Minnesota Tech. The 9-17 Lakers played persistant defense and shut down any sort of secondary scoring for the Knights in a 42-33 loss. Charlie Orland had 16 points but could not do it all himself as none of his teammates scored more than 4. It was a different story in Gary, In. Saturday afternoon as the Knights played possibly their best game of the season, dumping the 10th ranked Whitney College Engineers 66-63. That victory allowed the Knights to retain their spot in the top 20, slotting in at 18th for the second week in a row with a 17-8 mark on the season. * Moore Ignores Critics * To everyone who has been calling for Mark Moore's head, myself included for a brief spell early in the season, you also have to give the Motors coach credit for a job well done. He has turned around his club and it will be an incredible achievement if he can somehow guide to Motors to the playoffs for the second year in a row despite having his two best defenseman dealt away shortly before Christmas. The Motors banded together after that deal and are now just a point out of the final playoff spot with 9 games remaining. They have a lot of company as just 1 point separates three teams trying to grab that final spot and the New York Shamrocks, who are in fourth at the moment, look just as determined as the Motors do. Not sure there will be a bigger week this season than the one coming up which sees Detroit play twice against the Shamrocks with a Saturday home date with Montreal sandwiched in between. A nice three-game winning streak would go a long ways towards securing a playoff spot. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Rabbit Day, Dave Trowbridge and Frank Vance highlight the 1948 class of inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Boone County, IL. World Middleweight Champion Frank Melanson has set his sights on a rematch with the formidable European champ, Edouard Desmarais. It will take place July 4th at Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia. American and United Nations policy regarding strife-torn Palestine enters a crucial week with a series of top level conferences aimed at determining whether American troops may be asked to help police the Holy Land and enforce the UN plan to split it between Jews and Arabs. Communists bidding for supreme power in Czechoslovakia, had put their security police before all Czech government buildings and foreign embassies. Headquarters of the Czech National Socialist Party, with withdrew Friday from the government coalition, was seized by police armed with submachine guns. By week's end the western Czech border was sealed off and the communist party seized power under what American sources termed a "disguised dictatorship." Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-14-2023, 08:23 PM	#72
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	March 8, 1948 MARCH 8, 1948 TWO PLAYOFF BERTHS VERY MUCH UP FOR GRABS WITH TWO WEEKS REMAINING The final two weeks of the season should provide plenty of playoff excitement as there are four teams separated by just 4 points in the race for the final two playoff berths. If the season was to end today the Toronto Dukes would claim third place and face the Boston Bees in the opening round of the playoffs. The Dukes are a single point ahead of the New York Shamrocks, who would meet first place Chicago. However there are two weeks remaining in the season and the Montreal Valiants are just a point back of New York while the Detroit Motors are not out of the race either with the Motors 3 behind the fourth place Shamrocks. Detroit and New York each have six games remaining while the two Canadian entries have 5 games apiece. Among the key upcoming contests are two between Montreal and New York next weekend while Toronto visits Montreal this week and finishes off the season with a home and home series against the Motors. The Shamrocks might have the toughest road to travel as four of their final six games are with either Boston or Chicago. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 54 30 18 6 66 198 141 Boston 54 25 20 9 59 172 149 Toronto 55 24 27 4 52 155 177 New York 54 23 26 5 51 175 171 Montreal 55 22 27 6 50 160 181 Detroit 54 21 27 6 48 146 187 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 48 45 24 69 Cabbell, NY 53 40 19 59 Albers, NY 54 20 35 55 W Burns, Chi 52 12 41 53 Chandler, Bos 49 25 25 50 Mahoney, Chi 40 16 34 50 Hart, Bos 53 24 24 48 Pollack, Tor 51 25 22 47 Skinner, Mon 55 24 22 46 Sauer, Tor 49 18 26 44 Gregg, NY 48 19 24 43 Lanceleve, Mon 52 13 30 43 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 47 23 18 6 3 2.65 Brockers, Bos 34 15 12 7 2 2.71 James, Bos 20 10 8 2 1 2.80 Tremblay, NY 42 19 17 4 4 2.87 Broadway, Tor 47 20 22 3 1 3.04 Touhey, Mon 46 20 23 2 2 3.27 Chasse, Det 44 19 19 5 2 3.46 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS TUESDAY MARCH 2 Toronto 0 at 3 New York : The surging Shamrocks stretch their unbeaten streak to 7 games as Etienne Tremblay notches his league leading 4th shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over Toronto. Laurel Albers scored twice while Tommy Brescia had a pair of assists as New York moved to within a point of the Dukes for third place. WEDNESDAY MARCH 3 Chicago 2 at 5 Boston : The Bees moved to within 9 points of the first place Packers with a 5-2 victory. It was Boston's third straight victory, including back to back wins over the slumping Packers who have lost 5 in a row. Joe Morey scored twice to lead the Boston attack while Tommy Burns had his league leading 45th goal for the Packers. New York 3 at 5 Detroit : The Motors slowed down the Shamrocks, handing New York's its first loss in 8 games while Detroit has lost just once in its last eight outings. The victory moves the Motors back to within 1 point of New York for the final playoff spot. Rookie Ben Witt had a goal and two assists while Arnold Singleton scored twice to lead the Motors attack in a game Detroit won despite being outshot 53-34. Montreal 6 at 2 Toronto : A big win for the Valiants as it keeps them tied with Detroit and more importantly just one poing behind New York for the fourth and final playoff spot. Adam Sandford had 3 assists to lead the Montreal offense while Clarence Skinner scored a pair of goals. THURSDAY MARCH 4 Boston 2 at 1 Montreal : All the scoring came in the opening twenty minutes as goals by Garrett Kuaffeldt and Waldemar Rupp lifted Boston to victory. Glen Whitley had the long Montreal marker. SATURDAY MARCH 6 Montreal 6 at 2 Detroit : The Motors have only lost twice in their last 9 games, but both were to Montreal after absorbing a 6-2 defeat at the Thompson Palladium. The win allows the Valiants to move a point ahead of the New York Shamrocks for fourth place. Clarence Skinner paced the Montreal attack with 2 goals and an assist in a game that the Valiants outshot Detroit 45-23. New York 1 at 3 Toronto : A big win for Toronto to keep the Dukes in third place while the Shamrocks loss drops them behind Montreal in the battle for fourth. A pair of third period goals by Herb Burdette -the second one into an empty net- proved the difference in the contest. SUNDAY MARCH 7 Toronto 3 at 5 Boston : The Bees stretched their winning streak to 5 games and seem to be peaking at the right time with the playoffs fast approaching. The game was tied at 1 after two periods but the teams combined for 6 goals in the final 14 minutes of a wild third period. Montreal 2 at 3 Chicago : The Packers snapped a 6-game losing streak by beating Montreal 3-2 and knocking the Valiants out of the final playoff spot. Ed Delarue's unassisted third period goal proved the difference in a game in which the Packers big line of the Burns brothers and Marty Mahoney was held off the scoresheet. Detroit 3 at 5 New York : The Shamrocks ended their two game losing skid with a 5-3 win on home ice over Detroit. The win, coupled with Montreal's loss in Chicago, moves New York back into fourth place a point ahead of the Valiants and 3 up on the Motors in the battle for the final playoff spot. Laurel Albers led the way for the Shamrocks with a goal and two assists while Joe Martin chipped in with 3 helpers. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES TUESDAY MARCH 9 Detroit at Chicago WEDNESDAY MARCH 10 New York at Boston Chicago at Detroit THURSDAY MARCH 11 Toronto at Montreal SATURDAY MARCH 13 New York at Montreal Boston at Toronto SUNDAY MARCH 14 Toronto at Chicago Boston at Detroit Montreal at New York AROUND THE LEAGUE Brett Bing of the Toronto Mail & Empire notes that the Dukes are hanging on to a playoff spot by the skin of their teeth. Five games left Shamrocks are a point behind with a game in hand, Valiants. Motors just behind NY. Last two weeks will be full of drama. Dukes season may come down to a home and home with Detroit the last weekend of the regular schedule. Chicago's 3-2 win over Montreal yesterday ended Tommy Burns 12 game point scoring streak. Both Burns brothers and Marty Mahoney were held off the scoresheet. Might just be the first time the Packers won this season without any of the big three contributing a point. Montreal will be without Nick Haines the rest of this season and perhaps even some of next season after the 26-year-old suffered a serious back injury against Boston this week. Haines had 11 goals and 33 points in 49 games for the Valiants this season, his 5th in the NAHC. Sam Fincher of the New York World-Telegram: "Shamrocks hanging on to that last playoff spot, but a tough closing schedule, with 4 of last 6 against the top 2 teams. Hopefully we can get our Captain back soon." New York captain Bert McCalley has not patrolled the Shamrocks blueline since February 25 as he is battling a wrist injury. The 30-year-old has 24 points and 102 penalty minutes in 49 games this season. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK FABL's 16 major league clubs begin their spring slate of games in Florida starting later today. The Great Western League opened it's tune-up contests in Arizona and Mexico last week. It has been confirmed that June 12 at Gothams Stadium in New York will be the site of Hector Sawyer's next title defense. He will be heavily favoured against challenger Steve Case. Chairman Vandenberg of the Senate Foreign Relations committee opened Senate debate on the European Recovery Program with a call to stop World War III before it can start and protect the United States, noting that "Aggressive communism threatens all freedom and security in the Old World or the New when it puts free people anywhere in chains." The Senate ignored standard protocols against demonstrations and rose to give Vanderberg a standing ovation at the completion of his speech. Secretary of State Marshall told Congress there is "grave danger" Greece and Turkey cannot remain free unless they get more military aid from the United States. Lt. General Albert Wedemyer warned that China is also in need of military aid, stating "We are going to pay in blood" if proper steps are not taken by America to stop the spread of Communism. Five nations -Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg- are meeting in Brussels to discuss plans for a Western European union to stem Communist expansion. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-15-2023, 07:19 PM	#73
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	March 15, 1948 MARCH 15, 1948 DOWN TO THE WIRE! Shamrocks Hold Inside Track on Final Playoff Berth There will be plenty of excitement as the longest NAHC season ever contested will need to go right down to the wire before its four playoff participants can be determined. First and second place are long since spoken for with the Chicago Packer and Boston Bees holding down the top two spots and home ice advantage for the opening round of the playoffs. The Toronto Dukes are not completely safe yet but they have a 3-point cushion on New York and are four up on both Montreal and Toronto so should feel pretty comfortable of booking a trip to Boston to open the post-season. It is fourth place that is very much the focus with the New York Shamrocks holding a slim 1 point lead on both the Montreal Valiants and Detroit Motors. New York and Detroit each have 3 games remaining while the Vals have just two left. It won't be an easy road for the Greenshirts, who host Boston Tuesday before finishing with a home and home against the league-leading Packers. Detroit is in Boston Wednesday before a season-ending weekend home-and-home with the Toronto Dukes. Montreal is off until Saturday when they host the Packers Saturday before finishing in Boston on Sunday. BIG BLOW FOR BEES CUP HOPES The Boston Bees road to a third straight Challenge Cup title just became a little more difficult with word that veteran winger Tommy Hart will miss the rest of the regular season and the playoffs after suffering a groin injury over the weekend. The 30-year-old, who has scored more goals and more points in the modern era (1940 to present) than any other player, including Chicago's Tommy Burns, was 7th in league scoring with 49 points this season at the time of his injury. Hart is also the all-time leader in modern-era playoff points with 59. Hart is not the only recent casualty who will miss some playoff action. 29-year-old defenseman Willis Beane is expected to miss most, if not all of the opening round. Leading scorer Wilbur Chandler has also been hurt but he is expected to be back in the lineup on the weekend as the regular season comes to an end. The Bees are already playing without young center Robert Walker, who saw his season come to an end a week ago when he suffered a hip injury. Walker had 29 points in 47 games but it is Hart's absence that will be most greatly felt and is such a rare occurrence for the veteran who has missed only 3 games in the last seven seasons. Code: NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 57 32 19 6 70 208 149 Boston 57 26 22 9 61 184 161 Toronto 58 26 28 4 56 164 182 New York 57 24 28 5 53 182 182 Montreal 58 23 29 6 52 165 189 Detroit 57 23 28 6 52 158 198 SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 51 46 26 72 Cabbell, NY 56 40 20 60 Albers, NY 57 20 38 58 W Burns, Chi 55 12 42 54 Chandler, Bos 52 26 26 52 Mahoney, Chi 43 17 35 52 Hart, Bos 55 24 25 49 Sauer, Tor 52 20 29 49 Morey, Bos 50 21 27 48 Pollack, Tor 52 25 22 47 Skinner, Mon 55 24 22 46 Gregg, NY 51 21 25 46 Simpson, Bos 56 19 27 46 Carlson, Tor 55 17 27 44 Gron, Bos 49 13 31 44 GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 50 25 19 6 3 2.63 Brockers, Bos 35 15 13 7 2 2.75 James, Bos 22 11 9 2 1 2.87 Broadway, Tor 50 22 23 3 2 2.95 Tremblay, NY 44 19 19 4 4 2.98 Touhey, Mon 49 21 25 2 2 3.19 Carter, Det 18 2 9 1 0 3.33 Chasse, Det 46 21 19 5 2 3.44 Sorrell, NY 17 5 9 1 3 3.45 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS TUESDAY MARCH 9 Detroit 4 at 2 Chicago : A huge road win for the Motors moves them to within a point of fourth place New York. Henri Chasse made 42 saves while rookie Adam Vanderbilt scored twice to lead the Detroit attack. WEDNESDAY MARCH 10 New York 2 at 6 Boston : Joe Morey had a goal and 3 assists while rookie goaltender Oscar James made 36 saves as Boston won for the sixth straight game. Chicago 5 at 2 Detroit : After winning on the road in Chicago the Motors miss a chance to move into fourth place with a 5-2 loss to the Packers in the rematch at the Thompson Palladium. Ed Delarue led the visitors with 3 assists while Tommy Burns scored his league leading 46th goal of the season. THURSDAY MARCH 11 Toronto 3 at 0 Montreal : The visiting Dukes blank the Valiants 3-0 with Gordie Broadway turning aside all 18 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season. It could not have come at a worse time for the Valiants as they remain tied with Detroit, one point back of the New York Shamrocks for the fourth and final playoff berth. Bobbie Sauer and Dick Zimmerman paced the Toronto offense with a goal and an assist each. SATURDAY MARCH 13 New York 2 at 5 Montreal : The Valiants leap New York and move up to fourth place with a 5-2 win at the Montreal Arena. Glen Whitley scored twice for the winners while Max Ducharme had 3 assists. After Alex MacDonald gave the Vals a 1-0 lead with the only goal of the first period, Montreal blew the game open with 3 goals in a 9 minute span in the second stanza. The Shamrocks, who were red-hot in February, have lost four of their last five games. Boston 2 at 4 Toronto : The Dukes move a long ways towards securing third place with a 4-2 win at the Dominion Gardens over Boston. The loss was very costly for the Bees as their second leading scoreer Tommy Hart (24-25-49) saw his season come to an end when he left with what was later diagnosed as a torn groin. The Dukes also lost a player for the playoffs as defenseman Frank Featherstone left with an injury that will sideline him for a couple of months. SUNDAY MARCH 14 Toronto 2 at 3 Chicago : Toronto's modest two-game winning streak came to an end as Ed Delarue's third period goal lifted the Packers to a 3-2 victory. Marty Mahoney and Jarrett McGlynn also scored for the Packers, who outshot Toronto 40-36, while Bobbie Sauer, with his 20th, and Alex Lavalliere were the Dukes marksmen. Boston 4 at 6 Detroit: A crucial win for the Motors, keeping them within a point of the fourth and final playoff sport. Detroit rallied with the final four goals of the game including 3 in the third period to pull out the victory. Mike Narand had just one goal on the season entering the game but scored twice to lead the Motors attack. Montreal 0 at 3 New York : Winner takes over fourth place and thanks to Etienne Tremblay stopping all 25 Montreal shots he faced that team is the New York Shamrocks, who have a 1 point lead on both Detroit and Montreal for the final playoff spot entering the final week of the season. Sam Furr scored twice while Ryan Kennedy also bulged the twine for the Shamrocks who, like Detroit, have 3 games remaining while the Valiants have just two on their docket. UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON GAMES TUESDAY MARCH 16 Boston at New York WEDNESDAY MARCH 17 Detroit at Boston New York at Chicago SATURDAY MARCH 20 Chicago at Montreal Detroit at Toronto SUNDAY MARCH 21 Montreal at Boston Toronto at Detroit Chicago at New York end of regular season AROUND THE LEAGUE Entering the final weekend of the season, Packers star Tommy Burns needs one goal to tie Bert Cordier's 1929-30 record of 47 goals in a season. Cordier, who accomplished the feat with the Boston Bees, played a much shorter season back then but it was the year of a major rule change that greatly opened the game up as team's adjusted. Burns scored once last week to give him 46 goals and 72 points. He is 8 points shy of Cordier's record 80 in that category. Tommy's brother Wes Burns is also chasing a record. Wes has 42 assists on the season, three shy of the mark for helpers set by Wilbur Chandler of Boston in 1944-45. Disappointed with their goaltending this season the Detroit Motors have put a waiver claim in on Andy Backlund. The 25-year-old looked good in a 10 game stint with Montreal last season and was signed by Chicago over the summer but has spent the entire season either in the press box or on the bench as the Packers carried 4 goalies for much of the season. With 22-year-old minor league netminder Lou Goupil refusing to resign with the Motors organization they are in the market for a third netminder for next season. The Seattle Emeralds are one win away from a major upset in the Great Western Hockey League. The Emeralds beat Tacoma 5-2 yesterday behind a 3 point night from veteran minor leaguer Albert Crouch and now lead the best-of-five Yeadon Cup Final two games to one. Tacoma dominated the regular season of the 4-team loop, finish with a 33-8-7 record for 73 points while second place Seattle had just 43 points. The Tacoma Lions have won each of the previous 3 league titles. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK The field of 32 teams has been announced as the AIAA prepares to tip-off it's 39th annual championship basketball tournament. The top seeds in the four regions include defending champion Whitney College, Mississippi A&M, number one overall Central Ohio and second ranked ranked Rainier College FABL began spring training play in Florida in preparation for opening day to the baseball season April 19. The Senate passed the Marshall Plan bill, 69 to 17, with the full $5.3 billion after a prolonged debate. The Brussels Conference on a Western European union to fight the spread of Communism approved 7 articles including a plan to have its defensive stature backed by the military might of the United States. It ended with with the 5-nations adopting a 50-year treaty for a political, economic and military union of Western Europe intended to check the march of communism. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-16-2023, 01:30 PM	#74
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	March 22, 1948 MARCH 22, 1948 PLAYOFF MATCHUPS SET Chicago vs New York While Boston Plays Toronto It went down to the final day of the regular season to determine the final playoff participant, but the matchups are set for the Challenge Cup semi-finals. It has long been known that the Chicago Packers and Boston Bees would finish first and second with the Packers ending up with an 11-point cushion on second place Boston. The Bees, riddled by injury of late, were only 4 points ahead of third place Toronto but the margin was 8 points entering the final weekend when the Dukes dashed Detroit's playoff hopes with a sweep in a weekend home-and-home series with the Motors. Detroit was in the running until the final day when the Motors could have claimed fourth place with a Sunday victory at home over Toronto after the Shamrocks were beaten by Chicago but the Motors lost and ended up 1 point back of the Shamrocks for the final playoff berth. Montreal was also a point back and officially 5th as they won the season series with the Motors, who finish last for the first time since 1936-37. For the Valiants it marks the second straight season when a terrible second half cost the club a playoff spot. The Packers have never won a Challenge Cup but have to be the favourites even with defensemen Ian Groening and Ted Stevens as well as depth winger Derek Gubb all likely to miss at least the first round. Assuming the Boston Bees can get past Toronto they will have their work cut out for them in the finals. The Bees will be without front-line winger Tommy Hart and solid centerman Robert Walker for the entire playoff. Veteran defenseman Willis Beane will likely miss the entire semi-final series. The Dukes have some injuries of their own to contend with. TWIFB PREDICTIONS Chicago Packers over New York Shamrocks in 5 games Boston Bees over Toronto Dukes in 6 games Challenge Cup final will be a reverse of last season with Chicago prevailing over Boston in 6 games. Code: FINAL NAHC Standings TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA Chicago 60 34 20 6 74 216 156 Boston 60 27 24 9 63 194 173 Toronto 60 28 28 4 60 173 184 New York 60 25 30 5 55 189 191 Montreal 60 24 30 6 54 171 195 Detroit 60 24 30 6 54 166 210 FINAL SCORING LEADERS NAME GP G A PTS T Burns, Chi 56 47 28 75 Cabbell, NY 59 40 21 61 Albers, NY 60 20 39 59 W Burns, Chi 58 14 43 57 Mahoney, Chi 46 18 35 53 Chandler, Bos 52 26 26 52 Morey, Bos 53 22 28 50 Hart, Bos 55 24 25 49 Gregg, NY 54 23 26 49 Sauer, Tor 52 20 29 49 Pollack, Tor 54 26 22 48 Simpson, Bos 59 19 29 48 Gron, Bos 52 14 33 47 Skinner, Mon 55 24 22 46 Carlson, Tor 57 17 28 47 FINAL GOALIE LEADERS NAME GP W L T ShO GAA Hanson, Chi 53 27 20 6 3 2.61 Brockers, Bos 37 16 14 7 2 2.76 Broadway, Tor 51 22 23 3 2 2.94 Tremblay, NY 46 20 20 4 4 2.94 James, Bos 23 11 10 2 1 2.96 Touhey, Mon 51 22 26 2 2 3.18 Carter, Det 19 2 10 1 0 3.37 Chasse, Det 48 22 20 5 2 3.47 Sorrell, NY 18 5 10 1 3 3.55 LAST WEEK'S RESULTS TUESDAY MARCH 16 Boston 5 at 2 New York : The New York Shamrocks missed an opportunity to put some ground between themselves and Montreal and Detroit. The 5-2 loss to Boston means the Valiants and Motors remain just 1 point back of the Shamrocks for fourth place. With a number of key Boston players out with injury rookie Nick Prentiss scored his first two NAHC goals while George Anderson had a goal and 2 assists to pace the Boston attack. WEDNESDAY MARCH 17 Detroit 6 at 3 Boston : The Motors kept their playoff hopes alive with an inspired 6-3 doubling of the short-staffed Bees. Nick Tardif scored twice for the winners, who outshot the Bees 43-24. It was Detroit's third win in its last four games and keeps them within a point of the New York Shamrocks for fourth place. New York 4 at 1 Chicago :New York rebounded from yesterday's loss to beat Chicago 4-1 and hang on to fourth place, by a single point over the Detroit Motors. Gil Corbeil scored twice to led the New York attack. Chicago's lone goal came off the stick of Tommy Burns. It was his 47th goal of the season, allowing him to tie Bert Cordier's 1929-30 record for goals in a season. SATURDAY MARCH 20 Chicago 4 at 2 Montreal : A must-win game for the Valiants ended in disappointment with a 4-2 loss on home ice ending their playoff hopes and being the final crushing blow in a terrible collapse after the Vals were in sight of first place at Christmas. Wes Burns had 2 goals and an assist while Tommy Burns added two helpers for the first place Packers. Detroit 2 at 5 Toronto : Detroit missed an opportunity to move into fourth place as former Motors coach Jack Barrell got revenge on his own team while clinching third place for the Dukes at the same time. Gordie Broadway had an outstanding game in the Toronto net while Quinton Pollack scored his 26th goal of the season to lead Toronto. The Motors must win tomorrow at home against Detroit and have the Shamrocks tie or lose in their finale against Chicago for Detroit to claim fourth place. SUNDAY MARCH 21 Montreal 4 at 2 Boston : Montreal finished the season on a positive with a 4-2 win in Boston, ending a stretch of 4 losses in 5 games that cost the Valiants a playoff berth. Rey Sclisizzi and Doug Lynch each had 3 point nights for the Vals. Wilbur Chandler returned to the Boston lineup after missing more than a week with an injury. Toronto 4 at 0 Detroit : Detroit came up flat in a must-win game, seeing their playoff hopes snuffed out with a 4-0 loss on home ice to the Toronto Dukes. Alex Cameron, Kurt Walz and Dick Zimmerman blew out a scoreless game with 3 second period goals and Trevor Parker added one in the third while Dukes backup goaltender Terry Russell made 23 saves for his first shutout of the season. Chicago 3 at 1 New York : The Shamrocks fell 3-1 on home ice but still clinched a playoff spot because the Motors lost to Toronto. The New York club will face the Packers in the semi-finals. Marty Mahoney, Mike Van Tol and Jarrett McGlynn scored for Chicago while Adam Greenham, with his first of the season after missing most of the campaign with a fractured hip, scored the lone Shamrock goal. After a rough, of course, only by his standards, month for Tommy Burns, there will not be a new goals scored record in the NAHC. Bert Cordier will be able to hold onto that title, now sharing a 47-goal season with the Packers star center. Entering the final month with 44 goals, Burns scored just three goals in March with just two goals in his last seven games. It was the worst stretch all season for Burns, who average nearly a goal per game in his eighth professional season. Along with the all-time high of 47 goals, Burns recorded 75 points, 14 clear of the Shamrocks Orval Cabbell who posted a 40-goal season of his own. Burns and the Packers will be facing Cabbell and the Shamrocks, who were the team that Burns got the historic goal against. It was the only Packer goal in a 4-1 loss, and a relatively healthy Packers squad will now look for some revenge in the opening round of the playoffs. The series seems to favor the Packers, who finished 34-20-6 with 74 points -- nearly 20 more then the fourth place Shamrocks. They will be without winger Jeremey MacLean (13, 26, 29), who had an excellent rookie season in Chicago while he deals with a bruised hand. There is optimism he could return if the Packers advance, but there is plenty of offense even with his absence. Wes Burns (14, 43, 57) assisted on a league high 43 goals while Marty Mahoney (18, 35, 53), Leon Seguin (7, 28, 35), Jarrett McGlynn (23, 21, 44), Ed Delarue (15, 16, 31), and Moose Vezina (11, 31, 42) frequently find themselves on the scoresheet with Tommy (47, 28, 75). Dave Rankin (6, 16, 22) is back from injury, giving the Packers another offensive threat, but you can't discount the defense. Norm Hanson (27-20-3, .911) faced the most shots (1,560) of any goalie this season, and came home with the best GAA (2.61) and save percentage (.911), as the additions of 1st Rounders Jesse Santoro (6, 17, 23) and Mike Van Tol (7, 7, 14) have really strengthened the blue line, supplement incumbents Jerry Finch (6, 16, 22), Pete Moreau (4, 24, 39), and Mo Masters (7, 9, 13). The Packers don't want to take anything for granted, but they seem to be the clear favorite both in the round and for the championship. It would be the first championship for the Packers, who are looking to snap a run of disappointment from Chicago sports teams BARRELL BOUNCE BACK LEADS DUKES TO PLAYOFFS Toronto Dukes make it back into the NAHC tournament for the championship by winning their final two games of the season, 5-2 then 4-0 against Detroit. Jack Barrell, in his first season back in Toronto, led the team to a .500 record after the disastrous 1946-47 season when the team finished 13 games under an even record. The team will now face Boston in the semi-final with NY taking on Chicago in the other semi-final matchup. Dukes had a 4-7-1 record against the Bs this season. Brett had a short talk with Barrell as the team prepares for their post season. Barrell said "The coaching staff is proud of the way the team performed this season but now that is all in the past. Our focus is on the upcoming Boston series, we have to up our game. When you play a team 12 times in the regular season there should be no surprises, shutting down Chandler, Morey has to be top the list. We go into the series probably in the best health, overall, the team has been all season, Boston losing Tommy Hart last week takes 24 goals out of their lineup, but Kauffeldt is good second option on their top line. I believe the series will come down to battle between Gordie Broadway, Tom Brockers. The team that gets the key saves will probably emerge victorious. I gave the team Monday off to recover, we will begin implementing our plan for the Bs on Tuesday stressing defensive play, we need to control the puck. If we have the biscuit they cannot score I expect to see many 2-1 or 3-2 games." When pressed for details Barrell would not expand saying "Fans should listen to the games in Boston then come to the rink, I am sure they will be entertained, time to go to put the finishing details on the plan." AROUND THE LEAGUE The Detroit Motors are on the clock. Based on a losing head to head record with Montreal, the Motos should claim the first overall pick in the July draft. One of a trio of wingers is expected to be the first overall selection. They include Lou Barber, a Tillsonburg, On. native who scored 4 goals and 15 points in 32 games with the HAA's Toledo Tigers. The other two are Carl Loon, who is playing junior hockey in his hometown of Edmonton and Ottawa junior player Davey Mosset. The Motors have given no indication as to which player they may be leaning towards. It was an awful sports week for the city of Detroit as not only were the Motors eliminated from the playoffs but Detroit City College's basketball team fell in the opening round of the AIAA tournament and the Detroit Mustangs pro basketball entry has slipped from second to third in the Federal League's West Division and is in danger of missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season. It will be interesting to see if Norb Hickey gets a second season as Montreal's coach. Fired in Toronto last year after a dreadful season for the now playoff-bound Dukes, Hickey returned to his hometown to coach the Vals and had the club within 3 points of first place Chicago shortly before Christmas, but since the calendar flipped to 1948 the team went 9-21-3. The Valiants General Manager moved quickly to quell any rumours about his coach, stating "He'll be back. It was very frustrating season, and one to be quickly forgotten. We will need to cut down on goals allowed next season." No word on whether or not Montreal owner Charles LeClerc feels the same way about Hickey. We feel Boston still has enough to get by Toronto in the opening round but without Tommy Hart the Bees have to be considered longshots to lift the Challenge Cup for the third consecutive season. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Several upsets in the opening round of the AIAA basketball tournament with the biggest being 8th seed Tempe College knocking off top seed Rainier College 52-47 in the West Region. The New York Knights continue to be one of the hottest teams of late in pro basketball and are closing in on the Boston Centurions for second place in the American Basketball Conference's East Division. Nearly half of the nation's 400,000 soft-coal mine workers laid down their picks in support of John L. Lewis' demand for pensions for the miners. Pickets formed at the nation's meat-packing plants as 100,000 employees went on strike despite a last minute effort by President Truman to settle the wage dispute. The nation's meat supply could face a 50% cut due to the walkout. In his address on Europe, President Truman asked Congress to pass a temporary draft law as one of three "urgent steps toward securing peace and preventing war." He also called once more for passage of the Marshall Plan and described the situation in Europe as "critical." Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-17-2023, 01:43 PM	#75
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	March 29, 1948 MARCH 29, 1948 PACKERS HAVE LITTLE TROUBLE IN SERIES OPENER Dukes Upset Bees on Road The NAHC Challenge Cup playoffs got underway with the two series opening games on Friday evening. There was little surprise with the result in Chicago as the Packers, armed with the best regular season record in the loop, blanked the fourth place New York Shamrocks 4-0 in game one of their semi-final series. Second place Boston on the other hand, immediately surrendered its home ice advantage over Toronto in the other series as the Dukes pulled out a 2-1 victory in front of a hostile crowd over more than 16,000 at Denny Arena. Both of the best-of-five semi-final series will continue tonight. Norm Hanson, who led the NAHC in wins by a goaltender and lowest goals against average, turned aside all 23 shots he faced to lead the Packers past the visiting New York Shamrocks. Wes Burns had 2 goals and an assist while his brother Tommy, who led the NAHC in both goals and points during ther regular season, also scored for Chicago. It took less than 6 minutes for the Packers to open the scoring when Norm Fraser, who scored just once in 7 regular season games with the big club, beat Shamrocks goaltender Etienne Tremblay with David Ranking and Jerry Finch drawing the assists. It would stay 1-0 until Wes Burns and Ed Delarue combined to set up Tommy Burns with 4 minutes remaining in the second period. Wes would get his first of the game two and a half minutes later, assisted by Marty Mahoney and Pete Moreau, to make the score 3-0 after 40 minutes. Three minutes into the third Wes Burns would score again, from Mo Masters and Mike Van Tol, ending any hopes the Shamrocks might have of mounting a comeback. The Packers outshot the visitors 31-23 in a clean, fast-paced game that saw just one penalty called all evening. In Boston it came as quite a suprise when Toronto coach Jack Barrell elected to start Terry Russell in net over veteran Gordie Broadway. The 31-year-old Russell played in just 12 regular season games for the Dukes this season and had only 4 career playoff games under his belt -all with Chicago in 1944-45. Some might have been questioning Barrell's decision when it took just over 4 minutes for the Bees to opening the scoring. Veteran center Wilbur Chandler, who scored 8 playoff goals in the Bees successful Cup run a year ago, was perched on the edge of the crease and jammed a rebound past Russell to open the scoring. Garrett Kauffledt and Joe Morey drew the assists. Toronto tied it up just under six minutes later when rookie Alex Cameron, who had spent most of the season in Cleveland and owns just 1 NAHC career goal, added his first playoff goal on a nifty solo effort. The game would be remained knotted at one through the second period as both Russell and veteran Boston netminder Tom Brockers stood tall. That would change just shy of the midway mark of the third period when Dukes captain Bobbie Sauer would be the hero, snapping the tie with goal from the slot, setup by Maurice Charette and Dick Zimmerman. Russell and his Toronto teammates made it stand up, hanging on for the 2-1 victory in the series opener. NOMINEES FOR NAHC TROPHIES REVEALED Tommy Burns of the Chicago Packers looks like he is on his way to his third consecutive McDaniels Trophy as the most valuable player in the NAHC. The star center, who led the NAHC in points and tied an 18-year-old record for goals in a season with 47, heads the list of three nominees for the trophy. Burns is joined by Orval Cabbell of the New York Shamrocks and Wilbur Chandler of the Boston Bees. Cabbell finished second to Burns in both goals and points with a 40-21-61 campaign while Chandler, who missed 8 games due to injury, averaged a point a game (26-26-52) to lead Boston in scoring. The nominees for the Juneau Memorial Trophy, presented to the top goaltender, are Gordie Broadway of Toronto, Boston's Tom Brockers and Norm Hanson of the Chicago Packers. Broadway won the award two seasons ago while Brockers won the Juneau 5 times during his first stint with the Bees. Finally the nominees for the Harvey McLeod Trophy, presented to the top rookie are Mickey Bedard of the Boston Bees and a pair of Detroit Motors in Adam Vanderbilt and Nick Tardif. The 22-year-old Tardif led all rookies with 19 goals and 43 assists while appearing in all 60 games for the Motors. Vanderbilt had 16 goals and 41 points and together with Tardif were one-two in scoring for the Detroit club. Bedard, a 23-year-old native of Thetford Mines, Quebec finished second in the NAHC in scoring by a defenseman with 38 points including 12 goals. Surprisingly Toronto's Lou Galbraith -the 20-year-old first overall pick who's seeason came to an end in February with an injury- was not among the nominees. Galbraith was among the league scoring leaders at the time of his injury, finishing with 17 goals and 42 points in 50 games. DUKES STRIKE FIRST AGAINST BEES In a surprising game, in more ways than one, the Dukes opening up their playoff series with a 2-1 victory before a packed house of over 16000 at Denny Arena. The game was opposite of what Jack Barrell was preparing for, instead of tight checking the game was fast paced, up and down the ice with a combined total of 64 shots on goal. Boston opened the scoring less than 5 minutes in with Chandler converting a nice three-way passing play from Kauffeldt, Morey. This probably sent chills down Barrell's spine as the key for the Dukes was to limit the Bs top line. The Dukes tied the game 6 minutes later when Cameron scored after stealing the puck on a sloppy turnover by the Boston D. The teams remained deadlocked at 1 after a frantic second stanza which saw numerous high caliber chances for both teams. Tom Brockers, Terry Russell, who was the surprise starting goaltender for the Dukes, were both equal to the task shutting the door before a fever pitched crowd. The game settled in, somewhat, in the third, it was almost like the players on were both teams afraid to make to the critical mistake. The Dukes finally dented the twine just past the halfway point when Captain Bobby Sauer tipped one past Brockers on passes from Charette, Zimmerman. Terry Russell then kept the home team off the score sheet for the 2-1 victory. Brockers made 34 saves while Russell turned away 27 pucks. When ask about why Russell was between the pipes rather than Broadway Coach Barrell offered a terse "No Comment!" leaving fans wondering Broadway is nursing an undisclosed injury or the coaching staff was playing hunch. The big question in Toronto is "Who will be between the pipes on Monday night for Game Two in Boston?" OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK The Chicago Chiefs will be without ace Al Miller until at least June after the 32-year-old suffered a spring training back injury. Miller was 17-14 for the Chiefs last season. The National Semi-Finals are set in the AIAA cage championship. CC Los Angeles, Alabama Baptist, Redwood University and Texas Gulf Coast have combined for 4 previous National Championships and 9 appearances in the AIAA tournament. However, all four of those previous titles and all 9 April trips to the semi-finals belong to the CCLA Coyotes as the other three schools entered this season with a combined tournament record of 8-27. President Truman called for an immediate truce between warring Jews and Arabs to avoid open warfare in the Holy Land when the British pull out May 15. Secretary of State Marshall made it clear that the US will stay in Berlin despite Russia efforts to break up the Allied control machinery there. The Yugoslav government protested "vigorously" to western powers after they proposed that Trieste be returned to Italy, but Yugoslavia did not reject the proposal itself. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-18-2023, 12:02 PM	#76
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	April 5, 1948 April 5, 1948 SHAMROCKS WIN GAME FIVE, DUKES SWEEP IN SHOCKING SEMIS The Challenge Cup playoffs were thrown for a bit of a loop when the third place Toronto Dukes swept the second place Boston Bees in their semi-final series, but it came as a complete shock that the Dukes will face the New York Shamrocks in the finals after the Shamrocks rallied to knock off the mighty Chicago Packers in five games. This final will mark the first time that the Dukes and Shamrocks have met with the Challenge Cup on the line. Toronto has won 6 Cups and been to the finals three times in the previous 5 years but the Shamrocks had not reached the finals since 1935-36 and had not won a Cup since 1932. The Dukes had little trouble in their series with a short-staffed Boston Bees squad. Toronto took the series opener 2-1 a little over a week ago and followed that up with a second straight road win in doubling Boston 4-2 last Monday. The Dukes broke the game open with three third period goals to make a winner for the second straight game out of backup goaltender Terry Russell. Russell, filling in for Gordie Broadway who it was later revealed is battling a flu virus, completed the sweep with a 4-1 win on Dominion Gardens ice Wednesday. Bobbie Sauer continued his hot play with a goal and an assist as the Toronto captain scored in each game and had 4 goals in the series. The Toronto win was a mild upset, perhaps even less so when you consider one of Boston's best players in first line winger Tommy Hart missed the series, as did center Robert Walker and defenseman Willis Beane although the Dukes were missing players as well including goaltender Broadway and rookie scoring sensation Lou Galbraith. The big upset was New York's surprising victory over the Chicago Packers - a team that finished the regular season with 19 more points than the Shamrocks and was led by the most dangerous first line in the league. The series opener was a 4-0 Packers victory and it looked like they would have an easy time of things but New York shocked a Lakeside Auditorium crowd of 17,329 with a 4-3 victory in game two to even the series. Orval Cabbell scored twice to pace the New York attack as the Shamrocks put 4 goals past Packer goaltender Norm Hanson despite doubled in shots by a 32-16 margin. The series shifted to New York for the third game and the Packers regained control with a convincing 5-2 victory behind a solid performance from their big line. Marty Mahoney and Tommy Burns each had a goal and an assist while Wes Burns earned a pair of helpers. Despite being on the brink of elimination the Shamrocks did not fold as Etienne Tremblay and Norm Hanson hooked up in a goaltender's duel. Scoreless at the end of regulation with Chicago outshooting New York 28-24, it took just 2:08 of overtime for the Shamrocks to prolong their season and force a decisive 5th game. Laurel Albers was the hero, scoring the game's only goal with assists to Orval Cabbell and Jocko Gregg to send the series back to the Windy City. The visting Shamrocks, clearly on a high to have pushed Chicago to the brink, came out blazing in the opening period of game five. The visitors outshot Chicago 15-8 in the opening stanza but neither side could score. Midway through the second period Orval Cabbell staked the Shamrocks to the lead and 8 minutes into the third Jocko Gregg made it 2-0. Chicago, showing no quit, finally beat Tremblay when Moose Vezina lit the lamp just over two minutes later but late goals from Cabbell and Tommy Brescia completed the shocking series upset with a 4-1 New York win. A capacity crowd of 17,329 filed quietly out of Lakeside Auditorium in complete shock, as their Packers took a page out of the Chicago Cougars playbook and fell short despite lofty expectations of the city claiming its first-ever Challenge Cup victory. That will have to wait at least another year as the surprising final will pit the 4th place Shamrocks against the third place Toronto Dukes. DUKES ADVANCE TO NAHC FINAL The Toronto Dukes advanced to league final in a surprising sweep of the Boston Bees. After taking the Saturday night 2-1 the Dukes took the second game at Denny Arena 4-2 on Monday night. The game entered the third period with the visitors down 2-1 thanks to 2 goals by Waldemar Rupp in another fast paced game. Captain Bobby Sauer's second goal of the game, third of the series knotted the score less than a half minute into the period. To that point the Bs had outshot the Dukes 30-18 but again Russell was outstanding in the Dukes crease. After Sauer's marker the Dukes seemed to find another gear both offensively along with in their own zone. Kurt Walz gave Toronto the lead at the 6:04 mark of the third followed by Alex Lavalliere at 10:06. Then it was "Kitty bar the door" as the Dukes checked the Bs into submission to take the game 4-2. Terry Russell turned away 34 in the Dukes net. Two nights later at Dominion Gardens the Dukes completed the improbable sweep of Boston in front of 14972 onlookers. After a scoreless first the home squad erupted for 3 in the second by Lumsen, Pollack, Sauer with only one reply from Boston's Simpson. Sauer's 4th of the series seem to deflate the Bs as it was scored with just 3 seconds remaining in the stanza. Boston tried to mount a comeback in the third but again Terry Russell stood tall in the Toronto cage for the third straight game. Russell made 28 saves in the game for a total of 89 in the series. Les Carlson scored an empty netter to salt away the series with a 4-1 score. Toronto fans are in a state of semi-shock at the upset over Boston. Jack Barrell is already devising a plan to shut down the Shamrocks 3-head monster Cabell, Albers, Gregg. after going 5-6-1 against NY in the regular season. Sid Beam is ready to return after missing the season due an eye injury but will not dress in the final. Lou Galbraith is recovery amazing quickly from knee surgery, there is a chance he could be back late in the series. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK The AIAA basketball championship game will be a California affair as the CC Los Angeles Coyotes and Redwood University Mammoths each advanced to tonight's final at Bigsby Gardens in New York City. Coal Union boss John Lewis ignored a subpoena to appear before President Truman's Board of Inquiry into the coal strike. He eventually agreed but so far has not responded to a Court Order demanding the striking miners return to work. The House added Spain to the list of countries eligible for the European Recovery Program -the first major change in the $6.2 billion foreign aid bill. Two days later Spain was removed after President Truman "utterly opposed" the inclusion of Sapin. As the week came to an end the House approved the foreign aid bill with the Senate expected to approve it quickly. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-21-2023, 01:31 PM	#77
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	April 12, 1948 APRIL 12, 1948 SHAMROCKS CLOSING IN ON CUP Lead Toronto 2-1 in Pursuit of First Title Since 1932 The Toronto Dukes drew first blood with a 2-1 victory over New York in the opening game of their best-of-seven Challenge Cup Final series, but the Shamrocks followed up with a pair of wins to take a two games to one series lead in advance of tomorrow's game four at Bigsby Garden. The Shamrocks are closing in on what they hope will be their first Challenge Cup win in 16 years as they won the last of their three titles in 1931-32. The Dukes have hoisted the Cup six times -only Boston has won more- with the most recent being three years ago. The two clubs, both surprise winners after knocking off first place Chicago and second place Boston in the semi-finals, continued their Cup chase last Wednesday evening in Toronto. It took just 15 seconds for Lee Carlson to open the scoring when he beat Shamrocks netminder Etienne Tremblay before many of the 15,483 in attendance at Dominion Gardens had even settled into their seats. Late in the first period Adam Greenham, who missed most of the regular season with an injury, evened the score for the New Yorkers. The only other goal would come early in the second period when Phillipe Dubois point shot found its way past Tremblay. New York would outshoot the Dukes 14-3 in the final twenty minutes and 40-26 overall but Terry Russell, who continues to guard the Toronto cage in the absence of Gordie Broadway, was outstanding and helped the Dukes hang on for the 2-1 victory. Russell did not enjoy the same success two nights later as the Shamrocks scored three times in the first period and won by a 6-3 score to even the series. Six different New York players, including former Duke Laurel Albers accounted for the scoring with rookie Jim Macek contributing 3 assists. The series shifted to New York for game three last night and it was all Shamrocks. Orval Cabbell and Adam Greenham -with his third of the series- scored in the first period to stake the Shamrocks to an early 2-0 lead. Joe Martin and Laurel Albers notched second period markers to double that lead and Jocko Gregg and Jim Macek completed the 6-0 rout with third period tallys. Etienee Tremblay stopped all 26 shots he faced in the New York net for his second shutout of the playoffs while Terry Russell was beaten six times for the second game in a row. The series continues tomorrow with game four in New York and the big question in Toronto is will Gordie Broadway be significantly recovered from the virus he is battling to get his first playoff start? Jim Macek, a 20-year-old selected third overall by the Shamrocks last July is the surprise scoring leader this playoff. The Toronto-born youngster has points in each of the last 4 games including 6 points in the 3 games against Toronto. He had 8 goals and 29 points in 45 regular season games and has added 10 points in 8 playoff contests. AROUND THE LEAGUE ROCHESTER WINS HAA TITLE The Rochester Robins won a hard-fought series with the Pittsburgh Rovers to claim the Hockey Association of America playoff title 3 games to one. Each of the final three games of the series were decided by a single goal with the Robins clinching the Cup with a 5-4 victory on home ice in game four. Rochester, which is not affiliated with an NAHC club, finished with the top record in the East Division at 63 points while the Rovers, who are the farm team of the Chicago Packers, led the West and the entire HAA with 70 points in 48 games. 28-year-old Tom Mansfield, a career minor league who has had stops in Syracuse, Buffalo and Cleveland before joining the Robins in 1946, led all playoff scorers with 6 points in the four games. In the Great Western Hockey League the Seattle Emeralds upset first place Tacoma in the finals to end the Lions three-year hold on the Yeadon Cup. DUKES TRAIL 2-1 IN LEAGUE FINAL Toronto has dug themselves a hole in the series with the NY Shamrocks by dropping 2 of the first 3 games. Things started well for the team at Dominion Gardens on Wednesday night before a crowd of 15,483. The crowd has barely settled into their seats when Les Carlson lit the lamp 15 seconds into the game from Quinton Pollock and Hubert Burdette. New York rallied to tie the game with less than 3 minutes remaining the first on a marker by Adam Greenham assisted by Jim Macek and Ryan Kennedy. The second period was a wide open affair with a total of 31 shots on goal, 18 by the Shamrocks, but even with that amount of offense the score remained knotted at 1 going into the third. Netminders Etienee Tremblay and Terry Russell made a number of acrobatic saves during the period. Early in the third Philippe Dubois put the Dukes up on passes from Bobbie Sauer with Alex Lavalliere also drawing an assist. It was one of only three times Tremblay was tested in the period. The last 18 and a half minutes the Dukes withstood a furious onslaught from the Shamrocks. The puck seemed to never leave the Dukes end but Terry Russell again shut the door securing the 2-1 win. The Friday night game in Toronto had the Dukes chasing from the start, before the game was 12 minutes old New York had put 3 behind Russell. Toronto rallied in the second with Zimmerman and Hofford beating Tremblay to narrow the margin to 3-2 at the end of two. Bert McCalley put the Shamrocks up 4-2 8 minutes into the third then Pollack scored a shorthanded marker to again pull the home side within one with 11 minutes remaining in regulation but Orval Cabell put the game away at 16:25 from Laforme and Macek. Greenham's empty netter made the final 6-3 New York and evened the series. Having lost home ice advantage the Dukes travelled into NYC for a Sunday afternoon encounter in front of 12,950 hostile fans in Bigsby Gardens. Orval Cabbell, who has been a thorn in the Dukes side all season, opened the scoring from Sam Coates and Ryan Kennedy just past the 7 minute mark. Things went from bad to worse less than 2 minutes later when Greenham converted from Macek and Laforme. Any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when Joe Martin tallied just past the 2 minute mark of the second from ex-Duke Laurel Albers and Sharpley. The Dukes mounted sporadic periods of offense throughout the game but were never able to solve Tremblay. The Shamrocks were finishing every check, shrinking the ice on the Dukes at every opportunity. Every broken up rush or turnover by Toronto seemed to yield a good scoring chance for New York as the Shamrocks put 3 more past Russell who is starting to show signs of fatigue for a 6-0 victory. Coach Barrell's comments after the game were "We have dug ourselves a deep hole, now it is time to dig ourselves out of it. I told the players after the first game, which we were fortunate to win, that we cannot play a run and gun game. It did not seem to sink in, maybe now the guys will realize we have to get back to what got us here." Toronto fan's spirits were boosted somewhat when news was released that Gordie Broadway has finally recovered from his extended bout of influenza after missing all 6 post season games. The question is, will Barrell go to him in Game 4 after not having played for 2 weeks? Russell has been the major reason the Dukes are in the final, is it time for a change? OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Redwood University won the 1947-48 AIAA collegiate basketball tournament, beating West Coast Athletic Association rival CC Los Angeles 62-47 in the title game last Monday at New York's Bigsby Garden. The Washington Statesmen won 3 times last week to improve their American Basketball Conference record to 43-11 and smash their own record for most victories in a season by a professional basketball team. The Chicago Cougars went 7-0 last week in Citrus play and lead all of FABL with a 26-7 mark as spring games come to an end later this week. Britain ordered fighter escorts for all planes coming into Berlin until it receives assurances that Soviet planes "will not again endanger British flights" after a Russian plane and an airliner collided over the German city. 20 were killed including 7 policemen as Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, has been terrorized by looting mobs that set more than 100 buildings ablaze. A revolt in Columbia forced the hasty removal of US personnel in the American Embassy in riot-wrecked Bogota and left more than 100 dead. Meanwhile the government in Paraguay has reported scotched an attempted Communist coup. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-22-2023, 02:25 PM	#78
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	April 19,1948 APRIL 19, 1948 DUKES WIN THREE STRAIGHT TO CLAIM CUP The Toronto Dukes capped a Cinderella season going from the worst record in the league a year ago to Challenge Cup champions after they rallied with 3 straight victories to top the New York Shamrocks 4 games to two in the Cup final. The Cup win ends a two-year Boston hold on the chalice and is the third title in 5 years for the Dukes, who now have won the Cup 7 times -tied with Boston for the most all-time. It was a most improbable Cup final as few, if any, expected Toronto and New York to be dueling after they duo upset the Boston Bees and Chicago Packers in the semi-finals. The Packers, who led pretty much wire to wire during the regular season, somehow were knocked off in 5 games by a Shamrocks team that finished fourth. The Dukes upset was only slightly less surprising as despite the Bees being without one of their top players in Tommy Hart, Toronto swept them with veteran backup goaltender Terry Russell filling in for Gordie Broadway who missed the entire playoffs with a viral infection. Things looked bleak for new coach Jack Barrell and his charges after the Dukes fell behind the Shamrocks 2 games to one with a 6-0 shellacking in game three but Toronto quickly regrouped and evened the series with a 5-2 victory on Bigsby Garden ice in game four. Russell, who had surrendered 6 goals in each of the two previous losses and had many thinking he might not win another game, was outstanding and made 40 saves in a key bounce-back game. 32-year-old veteran Herb Burdette, who missed most of last season with an injury, continued to prove his worth to the Dukes with a goal and two assists to lead the offense. Back in Toronto for game five it was Burdette who once more led the way, scoring twice and adding two helpers to key a 7-2 Toronto rout. Quinton Pollack, the top rookie a year ago in Brooklyn, also played a key role with a goal and 3 assists while Les Carlson scored twice in the Toronto victory. With New York on the ropes the Dukes pulled out all the stops in game six and it took just 22 seconds for Alex Lavalliere to open the scoring with goal after a nifty three way passing play involving Pollack and Phillippe Dubois. Tommy Brescia evened the score for the Shamrocks early in the second period but Burdette was once more up to the challenge and restord the Dukes lead only 3 minutes later. Trevor Paker's shorthanded goal 6 minutes into the third period delivered a dagger to the hearts of Shamrock fans and made the score 3-1. Joe Martin got one back for the Greenshirts but Toronto dominated play in the final stanza and held on for a 3-2 victory before parading around the Bigsby Garden ice with the Challenge Cup. More coverage of the Dukes Challenge Cup win can be found here in the latest edition of the Ballad of the Barrell Brothers. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK At 27-9 the Chicago Cougars finished with the best spring record in baseball. The season gets underway tomorrow with action on 4 fronts including Washington's Columbia Stadium where President Truman will be on hand to throw the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Eagles game with the Philadelphia Keystones. Ward Messer of Liberty College -younger brother of New York Gothams outfielder Walt Messer- was named the winner of the Art Barrette Trophy as the top player in collegiate basketball this season. After 29-days the coal strike was settled after John Lewis won $100 monthly pensions for the members of the United Mine Workers but failed to save hmself from an order to stand trial for contempt of court in defying return to work orders. The House has approved more than $2 billion in additional funding to expand the Air Force. President Truman renewed his demand for immediate enactment of anti-inflation controls, declaring that "the strength and vitality of our economy are being undermined by inflation." Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-24-2023, 12:38 PM	#79
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	April 26, 1948 Note- There won't be a lot of hockey news posted here for a bit as it will be a quiet period for the NAHC with only the hardware to be handed out before things heat up in July with the draft. A reminder the NAHC is an online league and part of Legendsport's Figment universe, so we advance one week a day (Monday thru Friday) in all 3 of our current online sports: baseball, hockey and basketball with college basketball and pro football likely going from solo leagues to online in the coming seasons. April 26, 1948 PHILADELPHIA AND ROCHESTER MAKE HAA DEAL The Philadelphia Rascals of the minor league Hockey Association of America have added some veteran leadership with NAHC experience in a three player deal with the Toledo Tigers. Winger Dick Klein and defenseman Elmer Jernigan both join the Rascals, who finished third in the HAA's West Division this past season. Klein is a 34-year-old who had spent a number of years with the Toronto Dukes and played a big role in their 1944 Challenge Cup win before being let go by the club prior to last season. He had 7 goals and 23 points for the Tigers this year. Jernigan is a former captain of the Chicago Packers who also won a pair of Challenge Cups during a 3-year stint with Boston. The Bees elected not to resign the 35-year-old last year and he took his talents to Toledo, notching 7 goals and 15 points in 32 games although he was far better known during his time in the NAHC for his crease clearing work as a strong defensive defenseman. The cost for Philadelphia was heavy in that the Rascals had to part with 24-year-old puck moving defenseman Pete Garneau. The Quebec City native was a third round pick of the Detroit Motors in 1943 and his NAHC rights are still held by the Motors although Garneau, who had spent the past four years on the Rascals blueline, is under contract for three more years. He had 3 goals and 16 points in 38 games last season and joins a Toledo club that finished second in the West Division of the HAA, two points ahead of the third place Rascals. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK The 1948 Continental and Federal Association baseball seasons got underway this week with the defending CA champion Philadelphia Sailors off to a quick 7-1 start. St Paul, Mn. native Mac Erickson is the new World Welterweight Champion after scoring a unanimous decision over Harold Stephens at Boston's Denny Arena over the weekend. Erickson is now 17-0 as a professional. The playoffs are underway in both of the professional basketball loops. John L Lewis was fined $20,000 and the United Mine Workers $1.4 million for contempt of court in the mine strike. Court delayed any jail sentence for Lewis to ward off a potential new coal strike. Final results in Italy's crucial elections indicate a smashing anti-Communist victory. Congress was told that Britian is due for a $1 billion slice of the $5.3 billion dollar European Recovery Program. The United States said today it would provide troops for Palestine if other countries to be selected by the United Nations would join them. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-25-2023, 01:05 PM	#80
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,735	May 3, 1948 MAY , 1948 BURNS WINS THIRD STRAIGHT MCDANIELS TROPHY For the third year in a row Tommy Burns of the Chicago Packers was named the most valuable player in the NAHC. The 28-year-old center tied a long-standing NAHC record with 47 goals this season while leading the league in scoring for the second consecutive season and was rewarded with his third McDaniels Trophy. He joins Wilbur Chandler of the Boston Bees as the only three-time winners of the McDaniels Trophy, which has been presented annually since the 1924-25 campaign. Chandler and New York Shamrocks center Orval Cabbell were the other nominees for the award. Burns' Chicago teammate Norm Hanson was named the winner of the Al Juneau Trophy, awarded annually to the top goaltender, after beating out fellow finalists Gordie Broadway of Toronto and Boston's Tom Brockers. Hanson's 2.61 goals against average was lowest in the league this season and his 27-20-6 record helped the Packers to a first place finish in the regular season. He had 2 shutouts in the playoffs but his Packers were uspet in 5 games by the New York Shamrocks in the semi-finals. The rookie of the year award, the Harvey McLeod Trophy, went to Nick Tardif of the Detroit Motors, who outpointed teammate Adam Vanderbilt and Boston's Mickey Bedard for the honour. The 22-year-old had 19 goals and 43 points while suiting up for all 60 of Detroit's games this season. Tardif becomes the third Motors player to win the award in its 12 year history, following Alexander Viens four years ago and Edgar Mount in 1939-40. OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK Sig Stofer of the Washington Eagles and Red Bond of the Chicago Cougars have each hit 7 homeruns after just two weeks of play in big league baseball. The two pro cage leagues are on to the semi-finals as the playoffs continue. Heavyweight Scott "The Chef" Baker, the pride of Philadelphia, may just have his career back on track after knocking out Chris Sullivan at the Keystone Arena. Egyptian troops are heading to Palestine as the battle for the Holy Land heats up. The Jewish Agency demanded firm action by the United Nations to halt the invasion. Marshall law was declared in Athens after violent protests ignited by communists escalated. Stating the opening face of any future war would be determined in the air, and warning the US was at risk of being attacked without warning, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 16 to 1 in favor of building up the Air Force from 55 to 70 group strength. Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles