Just a little hockey news as our multi-sport online league works its way through the summer and baseball season but there is more coming as the NAHC rookie draft will be held in the next few days and then preparation for the 1948-49 season.
JULY 5, 1948
MOTORS SAID TO BE LEANING TOWARDS BARBER WITH FIRST PICK
The Detroit Motors will have the first selection in the upcoming North American Hockey Confederation draft and while the club has not confirmed who they will be selecting with the top choice, indications are they are leaning towards Lou Barber. The 19-year-old Tillsonburg, On., native was watched closely last season by Motors head scout Frank Yeadon and the rest of his staff because he spent most of the campaign playing for nearby Toledo of the Hockey Association of America.
As one of the youngest players in the league, Barber had some growing pains but did manage to score 4 goals and tally 15 points to help the Tigers finish second in the HAA's West Division. Detroit scouts feel Barber is very close to being ready to contribute in the NAHC next season and feel his elite playmaking skills give him the potential to become one of the top players in the league as he matures.
If Barber is not the Motors choice, it will still be a winger as the club is also looking closely at Patrick Banning and Carl Loon. Banning is said to have the highest ceiling in the minds of the Detroit staff but is much further away from his potential than Barber while the knock on Loon is a worry that he is not durable enough to withstand the rigors of a full NAHC season.
The Motors, who finished last in the 6-team NAHC and missed the playoffs for the third time in the past four seasons, have holes everywhere but the team's lack of elite offensive talent is likely the most glaring need. There is hope for the future with some talented young players on the rise in 22-year-old winger Nick Tardif, who led the club in scoring and won the McLeod Trophy as rookie of the year, along with a pair of 20-year-old pivots in Ben Witt and Francis McKenzie. The Detroit defense lacks depth but coach Mark Moore feels Jim Todd and 22-year-old Spencer Larocque can develop into a top pairing while goaltender Henri Chasse has demonstrated glimpses of what could be one of the best goaltenders in the league.
OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK
- Frank Melanson is set to defend his world middleweight title in Philadelphia on Saturday. His opponent will European champion Edouard Desmarais, who's only loss as a professional came against Melanson in his first attempt to take the title away from "Frank the Tank."
- Big changes potentially in store for pro basketball as rumours persist that as many as 4 teams may bolt the American Basketball Conference to join Rollie Barrell's Federal loop, which recently completed its second season.
- President Truman declared flatly that he has no idea of stepping aside for another Democratic presidential candidate and expects to be nominated on the first ballot at the party's convention and then beat the Dewey-Warren ticket in November.
- Truman signed the $6 billion dollar foreign aid appropriation bill, including $4 billion earmarked for Europe under the Marshall Plan, describing it as "concrete evidence and assurance to the free people of the world that we stand ready to work side by side with them to preserve free institutions in stability and peace."
- Drafting of men 19 through 25 will begin "very soon" after September 22 at a rate of about 30,000 a month until the following July 1, the Secretary of the Army announced this week.
Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of
THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.