NOVEMBER 2, 1946
NAHC SEASON PREVIEW
The 1946-47 NAHC season gets underway this evening with the Toronto Dukes heading to New York to face the Shamrocks marking the start of the annual 48 game campaign for the loop's seven clubs. The league scouting service predicts when the ice chips have all landed next April the Chicago Packers will hoist the Challenge Cup for the first time in franchise history. The Packers, reached the finals in 1930-31 for the only time in their history. OSA, the league scouting service feels the Burns brothers -Tommy and Wes- will carry Chicago to the top with Toronto and Boston also in the mix.
The service also pegs Tommy Burns as the league scoring leader with Brooklyn's Quinton Pollack and Wilbur Chandler of Boston in the running while the race for best defenseman will be between New York's Bert McCalley and a pair of Detroit Motors in Shel Harron and newcomer Bryant Williams. Gordie Broadway of Toronto gets the preseason nod as top goaltender with Montreal's Millard Touhey and Tom Brockers of Brooklyn also garnering interest.
TWIFB's 1946-47 predicted order of finish for the NAHC looks like this
1- TORONTO DUKES: The Dukes had the best regular season record in the NAHC a year ago but bowed out in the first round of the playoffs after being swept by fourth place Montreal. Toronto had won the two previous Challenge Cups and will go as far as Gordie Broadway -the best goaltender in the NAHC- will take them. Broadway, won the Juneau Award a year ago as the top netminder and the 32 year old has backstopped the Dukes to three Cups in his career. For those worried he may start to show his age, Broadway posted the lowest goals against average and highest save percentage of his career last season. Toronto also has plenty of offense led by the big line of Bobbie Sauer (22-30-52) between Herb Burdette (13-17-30) and Les Carlson (17-30-47) plus a supporting cast that includes Laurel Albers (15-25-40) and Syl Beam (13-12-25). If there is a weakspot in Toronto it might be on the blueline although towering 25 year old JC Martel, who was acquired from Montreal over the summer, might help fill that gap along with a little more maturity out of second year Duke Frank Featherstone (6-11-17)
2- MONTREAL VALIANTS: The Valians just nosed out Detroit for the final playoff spot before pulling off a major upset of Toronto in the semi-finals. They will now need to prove that was not a fluke and will try to advance one step further in the upcoming season with a goal of claiming their first Challenge Cup since 1928. Montreal may have the best collection of forwards in the NAHC -a balanced unit with depth led by the trio of Clarence Skinner (23-27-50), Doug Lynch (16-24-40) and 23 year old Brett Lanceleve (14-18-32), who won the McLeod Trohy as top newcomer a year ago. The Valiants may well have a second straight rookie of the year winner if Adam Sandford can live up to the potential he showed as a minor leaguer in Pittsburgh a year ago. 30 year old Millard Touhey is a solid, veteran goaltender and he is protected by a pretty decent defense headed by veteran Leo Bernard (6-13-19).
3- CHICAGO PACKERS: The Packers have two outstanding goaltenders and possibly the best player in the league in 26 year old center Tommy Burns (28-29-57), who teams up nicely with his winger and older brother Wes Burns (18-32-50) to make a very dangerous offensive combination. Add in right winger Marty Mahoney (12-23-35) and a pair of promising newcomers in centers Jarrett McGlynn and Ed Delarue and the Packers have address concerns regarding a lack of depth upfront. Jerry Finch (3-10-13) and 22 year old second year man Pete Moreau (8-6-14) are a solid number one D-pair and goaltender Norm Hanson won the job between the pipes in a 3-way battle a year ago but may be pushed by promising rookie Michael Cleghorn, who was signed away from the minor league Philadelphia Rascals.
4- BOSTON BEES: Last season's Challenge Cup win was a bit of a surprise but the city of Boston, with 4 Cups since 1940-41 and 6 overall is used to supporting a winner. The local baseball Minutemen and football Americans certainly add to the winning tradition in New England. The offense has plenty of talent led by reigning NAHC scoring champ Jim Morey (27-34-61), Tommy Hart (10-30-40) and hopefully a full season out of 28 year old Wilbur Chandler (14-12-26). The 3-time winner of the McDaniels Trophy as league MVP missed half of last season with an arm injury. As good as the Boston offense is the defense might be even better with three rearguards expected to be among the top players in the loop. They are veterans Len Bentley (7-13-20) and Willis Beane (9-23-32) and sophomore Conn Cundifff (6-6-12), a 23 year old who made his NAHC debut with the Bees last season. Pierre Melancon (25-11-4, 2.03) returns between the pipes.
5- BROOKLYN EAGLES: It has been an awful time for the Eagles ever since their move from New York City and
a 37-214-37 record over the past six years has not endeared them to Brooklyn fans. The Eagles hit rock bottom a year ago when they won just 2 of 48 games but there is reason for optimism this time around. The Eagles revamped their offense -which was the worst in the league a year ago- with the addition of a pair of rookie pivots in Quinton Pollack and Ian Doyle. Pollack had a tremendous camp scoring 7 goals in 7 games and may step in and be one of the top scorers in the league at age 23 after smashing the Great Western Hockey League points record a season ago with 28 goals and 71 points in 48 games for the Tacoma Lions. The 22 year old Doyle is also an offensive threat with 33 points for Syracuse of the Hockey Association of America a year ago. There is still a shortage of depth with the Eagles but if veteran goaltender Tom Brockers, who won 4 Juneau Awards during his time in Boston, can stand tall and hold them in games the Eagles may just surprise some teams.
6- DETROIT MOTORS: For the second straight season the Motors narrowly missed the playoffs and we have a feeling that trend might continue. 23 year old third-year man Henri Chasse (20-15-2, 2.96) is a solid goaltender and the club has plenty of talent on the blueline but there are worries the Motors will lack offensive punch. Veteran Shel Herron (6-25-31) is one of the best defenders in the league and there are a pair of veteran newcomers who came over from Toronto to join him on the blueline in 27 year old Bryant Williams (3-17-20) and 25 year old Joe Todd (9-11-20). Up front the Motors hope first round draft pick Bobo Davis can eventually become their scoring leader but until then the forward crop looks thin.
7- NEW YORK SHAMROCKS: The Shamrocks may end up battling it out with Detroit (and possibly Brooklyn) for last place so it seems unlikely their 4 year playoff drought will come to an end this March. 28 year old center Orval Cabbell (10-25-35) is as steady as they come and Bert McCalley (5-18-23) provides veteran leadership on the blueline but depth looks like a potential issue. If there is a player to watch for a breakout year it might well be 25 year old winger Tommy Brecia (17-13-30). Last year's breakout star was goaltender Etienne Tremblay (14-22-8, 2.33) and the Shamrocks will need another step forward from the 24 year old this season. Kurt Stone has gone 99-138-51 over the past six seasons as head coach and a slow start this year might cause the Shamrocks to make a change behind the bench.
Here is a look at the top ten players in the game according to the league scouting service.
Code:
TOP TEN NAHC PLAYERS
NAME POS TEAM AGE
1 Tommy Burns C CHI 26
2 Quinton Pollack C BKN 24
3 Wilbur Chandler C BOS 28
4 Bobbie Sauer C TOR 31
5 Gordie Broadway G TOR 32
6 Bert McCalley D NY 29
7 Orval Cabbell C NY 28
8 Tommy Hart LW BOS 29
9 Millard Touhey G MON 30
10 Tom Brockers G BKN 31
Code:
FINAL NAHC PRESEASON STANINGS
TEAM GP W L T PTS
Toronto Dukes 6 3 1 2 8
Brooklyn Eagles 7 3 2 1 7
New York Shamrocks 5 4 1 0 8
Boston Bees 6 2 2 2 6
Montreal Valiants 7 2 4 1 5
Chicago Packers 4 2 2 0 4
Detroit Motors 7 1 5 1 3
PRESEASON SCORING LEADERS
NAME TEAM GP G A PTS
Orval Cabbell NY 5 7 3 10
Quiton Pollack BKN 7 7 1 8
Glen Whitley MON 6 3 5 8
Ian Doyle BKN 7 2 6 8
Alex Viens BKN 6 0 8 8
Clarence Skinner MON 7 4 3 7
Wes Burns CHI 4 3 4 7
Sam Coates BKN 7 2 5 7
OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK
- The Chicago Sportswriters Guild handed out its awards for the top defenders in baseball. The list was headed by Tommy Wilson of the St Louis Pioneers, who has been named the third baseman on the team every year it has been presented.
- The St Louis Pioneers and Cleveland Foresters are both looking for new General Managers after each finished last in their respective associations.
- Rome State will put its 25 game collegiate football winning streak on the line at New York's Bigsby Oval next week when the Centurions face 5-0 St Blane in what is being billed as 'The Game of the Century'
- San Francisco and Kansas City each improved to 8-1 and share the lead atop the Continental Football Conference's West Division.
- Collegiate basketball tipped-off with Redwood University winning the Preseason AIAA Tournament. The Mammoths upset heavily favoured Liberty College 36-35 in the opening round on their way to the tournament title.
- World Heavyweight champ Hector Sawyer will defend his title in Detroit on January 18 against top contender Mark Fountain. That is the word from Chester Conley, Sawyer's long-time manager.
- In world news Egypt, long a contender against British forces within her boundaries, called for the United Nations to guarantee the countries of the strategic Middle East against domination by the great superpowers.
Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of
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