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.
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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.