JANUARY 27, 1947
CHANGES COMING FOR CANADIAN CLUBS?
It has not been a year to be proud of for fans of the two Canadian NAHC teams. The Toronto Dukes have gone from first to worst after posting the league's best mark a year ago, and the Montreal Valiants -picked to be a Challenge Cup contender this season- have struggled of late.
The Dukes troubles actually began in the playoffs a year ago when they made a hasty exit in the semi-finals courtesy of the fourth place Valiants. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse for head coach Norb Hickey and his Toronto club. There is still time to turn it around and make the playoffs this season, but a 10-2 blowout loss at home to Detroit yesterday brought the problems to the forefront.
There are questions all over the organization with the biggest one perhaps be regarding Hickey himself. It is hard to believe that Toronto would can a coach who won them a pair of Challenge Cups in the past three years but Dukes management has made no secret that big changes may be coming. Another prime scapegoat for the lost season has to be goaltender Gordie Broadway as just a few months removed from a Juneau Trophy the 32 year old is having the worst season of his career and the Dukes have allowed more goals than any other club this season after allowing the fewest -and by a wide margin- a year ago when they went 31-9-8.
While much of the blame lies with Broadway, you have to also consider the fact that the Dukes erred in their decision to allow arguably their two best defensemen in Bryant Williams and Joe Todd, to leave for Detroit over the summer. Frank Featherstone -when healthy- and JC Martel have done a decent job as the top pairing, but Toronto has very little blueline depth beyond those two.
The situation is nowhere near as bad in Montreal with Valiants slumping, but still with a point of the New York Shamrocks and the final playoff spot. We all know what Montreal did a year ago when the finished fourth by just a single point and then went to the finals where they gave Boston a scare before falling in six games. The issue in Montreal is firmly placed on the goaltending of Millard Touhey. The 30-year-old was in Coach Danny McLachlan's doghouse right from the start of camp when he showed up out of shape. He has been terribly inconsistent at times, and downright awful for much of January and there have been rumours out of Montreal saying change is coming.
The trade deadline has come and gone so the Valiants will not be able to add another goaltender to their roster -although there is some speculation an off-season swap of tenders sending Gordie Broadway to the Valiants might be a wise move for both clubs if they each continue to struggle. For now, McLachlan's only choice for a change between the pipes is to give backup Andy Backlund more playing time. The 24-year-old has certainly outplayed Touhey in limited starts this season and has a winning record. Perhaps we will see more of Backlund going forward.
Code:
NAHC STANINGS
TEAM GP W L T PTS
Boston Bees 29 17 9 3 37
Chicago Packers 29 15 9 5 35
Detroit Motors 31 14 12 5 33
New York Shamrocks 31 13 16 2 28
Montreal Valiants 30 12 15 3 27
Brooklyn Eagles 30 10 14 6 26
Toronto Dukes 30 10 16 4 24
SCORING LEADERS
NAME TEAM GP G A PTS
Tommy Burns CHI 29 20 22 42
Orval Cabbell NY 30 18 15 33
Bobbie Sauer TOR 30 15 17 32
Graham Comeau DET 31 12 19 31
Laurel Albers NY 32 7 24 31
Quiton Pollack BKN 30 21 9 30
Tommy Hart BOS 28 17 13 30
Wes Burns CHI 29 16 14 30
Marty Mahoney CHI 29 7 23 30
Claude Skinner MON 29 16 13 29
Joe Morey BOS 29 14 14 28
Ed Delarue CHI 26 12 16 28
Sam Coates BKN 30 9 19 28
GOALIE LEADERS
NAME TEAM W L T ShO GAA
Norm Hanson CHI 15-9-2 3 2.52
Tom Brockers BKN 10-13-6 1 2.66
Henri Chasse DET 14-12-5 4 2.68
Pierre Melancon BOS 12-7-3 2 2.71
Etienne Tremblay NY 11-14-2 2 3.08
Gordie Broadway TOR 8-14-2 0 3.49
Millard Touhey MON 8-12-3 0 3.66
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
Tuesday January 21
The only game on the schedule saw the Boston Bees snap the New York Shamrocks 5-game unbeaten streak with a 4-2 road win at Bigsby Gardens. Tom Brescia lead the Bees attack with a goal and an assist. The Shamrocks also lost their leading scorer Orval Cabbell with an ankle injury. Fortunately the New Yorkers have a light schedule ahead and he will likely just miss one game.
Thursday January 23
The other team, besides the Shamrocks, that was on a hot streak saw it cooled off as well as the Chicago Packers saw their 5 game winning streak come to an end with a 5-3 road loss in Brooklyn. Quinton Pollack scored twice for the winners while NAHC scoring leader Tommy Burns had a pair for the Packers. In the other Thursday evening game the Montreal Valiants won a rare road game with Clarence Skinner's second goal of the game coming with just 3:21 left to provide the margin of victory in a 4-3 win over the Toronto Dukes. The Valiants are just 4-10-1 on the road, worst in the loop.
Friday January 24
A big road win for the Detroit Motors who may have turned things around after a terrible start to the month. Detroit went 8 games without a victory before beating Montreal last Saturday. The Motors have won two out of their last three after a 2-1 win in Brooklyn. Dave Bradley assisted on both Detroit goals while Henri Chasse outdueled Tom Brockers in the nets.
Saturday January 25
The last place Toronto Dukes have won two of their last three after holding off the Valiants 3-2 in Montreal. Bobbie Sauer's 15th goal of the season helped the Dukes to a 3-0 lead with Rosie McInnis assisting on all three Toronto goals. Gordie Broadway has struggled at times this season but the veteran Dukes netminder was solid on this night, turning aside 30 Montreal shots.
Sunday January 26
Six teams were in action on a busy Sunday night. The Chicago Packers dumped the New York Shamrocks 5-1 behind two goals from Wes Burns. The victory moves the Packers to within two points of first place Boston after the Bees were trimmed 3-2 by the visiting Brooklyn Eagles. Quinton Pollack notched his league high 21st goal of the season for the Eagles. The final game of the night was a rout as the Detroit Motors drove into Dominion Gardens and hammered the Toronto Dukes 10-2. Bill Woodley, who had just three goals all of last season, scored 3 times in this game and rookie Bobo Davis scored the first two NAHC goals of his career while also adding 2 assists. After the loss the Dukes General Manager was livid, stating emphatically "Out shot 49-17 in a 4-3 loss to Montreal then humiliated by the Motors, winds of change are blowing across Lake Ontario. Too late this season but no one is safe on the staff or roster of the Dukes."
NEXT WEEK'S SCHEDULE
TUESDAY JANUARY 28
Boston at Chicago
THURSDAY JANUARY 30
Brooklyn at Chicago
Toronto at Detroit
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1
Toronto at Chicago
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 2
Boston at Brooklyn
Chicago at Toronto
New York at Montreal
OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK
- The first round of the FABL amateur player draft is complete and only 3 pitchers were selected in the top 16 picks. That is the lowest number of hurlers to go in the opening round since 1923.
- World Middleweight Champion Frank Melanson confirms his next title defense will be against Nick Harris on March 15 at New York's Bigsby Garden.
- Rainier College and Indiana A&M each lost for the first time this season in collegiate cage action, meaning once more no school will go unbeaten. Since AIAA play begin in 1909 no cage squad has ever had a perfect season.
- Herman Talmadge and the Lt. Gov of Georgia M.E.Thompson have both agreed they will abide by whatever the courts decide in the controversy to fill the state's Governor role after Talmadge's father died between being elected Governor and taking over the position.
- General George C. Marshall arrived in Washington to assume the role of President Truman's Secretary of State.
Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of
THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL