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ayaghmour2 · 02-13-2025, 06:41 PM

FEBRUARY 4, 1963

JANUARY 23, 1963 – LEACH RETAINS WELTERWEIGHT BELT IN A ROMP AFTER A SECOND-ROUND KNOCKOUT

Baltimore Coliseum, Baltimore, Md. – Matt Leach (32-6-2, 4 KO) vs. John Wallace (28-3-1, 14 KO) – Referee: Mark Nelson

Matt Leach is used to going the distance. In 32 professional fights, only an eighth of them ended in a knockout win. Usually, the low number of knockouts mean an inability to put other fighters away, but if one is optimistic, it could mean the boxer is skilled at winning over judges in full-time matches. For Leach, it has been the latter, as the welterweight from New York captured the belt in September with a victory over Lenny Shafto.

A few months later, Leach found himself in the ring with John Wallace in the champion’s first title defense. The fans in Baltimore are not used to title fights with this bout being the fourth in memory held in “The Monumental City”. In an interesting bit of trivia, all four of them have been for the welterweight belt. The most famous of these fights was the clash of undefeated Mac Erickson and Danny Rutledge in 1949, which Erickson won in a unanimous decision.

This fight would not last long, much to the chagrin of the assembled crowd. As the two combatants met after the opening bell, Leach started his opening salvo with a poorly executed punch that he rethought halfway through the offering. This left him open for a well-executed hook to the head, feigned as a body shot, and Wallace was off and running. This was the only punched that Wallace landed that had any consequence.
Leach quickly refocused and started to put together a steady diet of jabs and he mixed in a cross and a hook as the denouement of his assault. Wallace took the punishment but hung in there. His need to defend greatly outweighed his ability to punch back. Leach was a champion with 40 professional fights on his docket, eight more than Wallace.

Before the fight, Wallace said he wanted to start fast, but he could not come up with anything after Leach connected on his first punch. They say a plan is great until someone gets punched in the mouth. Wallace’s plan turned to mush very quickly.

That axiom proved itself again in the second round. Wallace defended a combination and an uppercut, but a jab got through and Wallace started covering up again. Leach snapped the jab and Wallace’s defenses melted away. The uppercut was effective and tactically, Leach was looking for his opening. He noticed Wallace drop his gloves ever so slightly and Leach seized the moment. Leach threw a hook, which landed right on Wallace’s chin.

Wallace struggled to reach his feet, as referee Mark Nelson counted to seven. The challenger’s knees were wobbly. Leach had a killer instinct on this night he has not previously shown in the past. He saw the opportunity to end the fight quickly and while Wallace was still dazed, Leach drilled Wallace with an uppercut and unleashed another hook with nasty intent. Less than thirty seconds after the first knockdown, Wallace was looking up at the ceiling again and this time, he was not going to get up in time.
Nelson counted Wallace out and Leach had an uncharacteristically early night. Leach (33-6-2) was barely touched as by my count, only six punches from Wallace landed. Wallace could not claim he was not ready. After all, he got the first punch in. It was apparent that Wallace (28-4-1) was no match for the champion, at least not at this stage in his career.

BOLOGNA’S BIG BOPPERS
Round 1: Wallace, 1-0 (0:22 hook/head)
Round 2: Leach, 2-0 (1:10 hook/chin/knockdown #1, 1:45 hook/knockdown #2)
TOTAL: Leach 2, Wallace 1

RECENT KEY RESULTS

Bill Mosley, who came up short in a heavyweight tile shot two years ago, won his fifth fight in a row and improved his record to 38-9-2 with a 6th round knockout of Wendell Pace in New Orleans. Pace, a New York City native, has fought some big names in his career including Walt Phillips and Gil Sheffield and has won forty fights but never got a title shot and at age 32 appears to be near the end of the line.
23-year-old Dan Bowden, who looked to be on the rise in the welterweight ranks, stumbled to his second straight loss after the Madison, WI. southpaw was knocked out in the 10th and final round of his bout with Dave Clarke.
West Coast welterweight Roger Lewis continues to impress as the 25-year-old ran his record to 19-2-2 with a unanimous decision over Patrick Graham.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

Feb 9 - George Galleshaw (35-2-1), back as heavyweight champion after scoring a TKO win over Walt Phillips last fall, will make a title defense in Cleveland against Will Flowers. Galleshaw,a 27-year-old native of Syracuse, NY, was world champ previously for nearly two years before falling to Bert Parks in December of 1961. Flowers (26-4-1), who hails from Phoenix, AZ., and is 26 years of age, is getting his first title shot.
Feb 27- The highly anticipated rematch between World Middleweight champion Lyman King and former champ George Quinsenberry is set for February 27 at New York's Bigsby Garden. The pair met in Los Angeles in early December and fought to a majority draw, prompting the call for a rematch. King, a 26 year old Oakland, CA., native is unbeaten with a 41-0-1 record and has held the title since he took it from Quisenberry in January of last year in a bout also held at Bigsby Garden. Quisenberry, a 28-year-old Toronto native, has held the world title twice previously and now will look to gain it a third time in his third meeting with King. Quisenberry is 39-2-4 entering the bout.

AFA Award Winners Announced, Sova Named MVP

Along with being a champion, Boston Americans running back Kevin Sova also took home the MVP award. A ten year veteran, Sova led the champions in regular season rush yards (1,538) and touchdowns (9), averaging 5.3 yards per game. The 27-year-old Carolina Poly graduate effectively shared the backfield with Bob Callender, rushing for 900+ yards in five of the last six seasons.

There was some belief that Dick Drum would take home the award, as the LA back was named Offensive Player of the Year. Missing out on three games might have cost him the MVP award, as he had an extra touchdown over Drum, and was about 100 yards shy of Sova's rushing yards. The team's record might have worked against him too, as at 6-8 the Titans were never really in the playoff race.

Full List Found Here:
MVP: RB Kevin Sova (BOS): 291 rushes, 1,538 yards, 9 TDs, 2 receptions, 31 yards
OPY: RB Dick Drum (LA): 328 rushes, 1,412 yards, 10 TDs, 2 receptions, 56 yards
DPY: DE John Padgett (HOU): 46 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 FF, 3 FR, 19 sacks
ORY: G Don Drummonds (LA): 69 pancakes, 2 sacks allowed, 6 missed blocks
DRY: DE Matt Fowble (BUF): 34 tackles, 9 TFL, FF, 9 sacks, safety
Playoff MVP: RB Bob Callender (BOS): 31 rushes, 218 yards, TD

Shamrocks Winless Streak up to 14, Still Seeking First 1963 Victory

It's hard to ask for a much worse start to the season, as the already struggling New York Shamrocks have not been able to get into the win column so far. After a tight 4-3 loss to the rival Bees in Boston, the Shamrocks have dropped 11 of their last 14 contests, with half of those 14 games decided by three or more goals. To find their last win, you have to go all the way back to December 30th, and they've only one three game since December 1st.

A lot of the struggles can be blamed on the defense legendary goalie Alex Sorrell fighting for his life in the net. Despite an impressive 11.05 goals saved above average and a .915 save percentage, the Shamrocks have allowed a league high 164 goals with a league worst -62 goal differential. Sorrell has nearly 300 more saves then the next closest goalie, and the guy in second has played just one fewer game then him. Sorrell's save percentage still ranks 3rd among NAHC netminders despite having the highest GAA among goalies who have played more then 5 games.

New York's blue line isn't without talent, there's some solid players, but compared to the other six teams they have more backliners then front. Captain Fred Gallatin (5, 13, 18) is still effective approaching 30, and youngsters Chris LaFontaine (9, 8, 17) and Victor Klenk (2, 8, 10) could be a dependable 2nd line combo, but they're without a real bruiser tandem who can give 20+ minutes a game. 1963 is already a lost season, and if the Shamrocks want to poke their way back into the four team playoff space, they will need to tighten up their defense as they look to build around young wingers Johnny Hawker (1, 4, 5) and Alex Kalamakoff (8, 12, 20).

Dukes Go Into February Not In A Playoff Spot

Toronto's hockey fans are dismayed as the team starts the last two months of the season one point behind Boston for the final post season berth. After a hot start to 1963 the team garnered only two points in the last six games of the month. After losing to the Motors on the 20th the team hosted Montreal on Wednesday in a game where the Dukes had no jump. The team showed a little spirit in the second period after falling behind by 2 goals by Jamieson, Williams brought the game back to even. Less than a minute after William's goal Mark Moggy restored the Vals lead that seemed to take all the wind out of the Dukes' sails. Down one with 20 minutes left the Dukes could not get out of their own way managing only 3 shots on Tim Burrows in the period. Montreal skated to an easy 5-2 win on third period goals by Pepe, Del Vecchio.

The next night the team was in Boston to start back to back games with the Bs. Again the team came out flat falling behind the rejuvenated Boston club who struggled early in the season. Toronto was down 2-0 after one, 4-2 after two periods. In a game in which the Dukes were never in; Boston skated to a simple 6-2 win. The line of Quinn, Amesbury, Williams had a particularly bad night going -4 for the game. The two teams met again on Saturday night in the Gardens for a game that many fans were calling a "must win" for the Dukes. Knackstedt's early goal in the first gave the crowd some hope although it proved to be the only time the red light went on behind James on this night. jake Stockman's 13th tied the game in the first, then he added his second of the night at 12:43 of the second stanza. That would prove to be the game winner. Pierre Paquette made it 3-1 before the third period was a minute old. There was no push back from the home team, much to the disappointment of those in the stands, Drolet added an empty netter to give Boston all 4 points in the two games.

With the losing streak now at 4 Toronto went into Bigsby Gardens on Sunday. The team seemed to skate better during the game which came down to a duel between netminders MacPhee, Alex Sorrell. The first two periods failed to see any goal scoring which each goaltender turning aside 20 shots. Miles DiGiuseppe who has only dressed for 8 Shamrocks games gave NY the lead with his first goal, point of the season at 6:21 of the third after Sorrell had robbed Toronto shooters time and again early in the third. Dukes must be given some credit for not letting up, they finally solved the Sorrell riddle with 3:57 left in the game went Brochu converted passes from Pollack, Brooks to escape with a tie.

Dukes ran their winless streak to six with the team's last game in January. In this game each team scored in the first period. Jack Adamle brought the 15490 in attendance to their feet when he deflected a pass from Tremblay behind Connelly at 11:30. Just over two minutes late Lou Turner, who is up from Cleveland, scored his 2nd NAHC goal of the year on the power play from Williams, Amesbury. This proved to be the only goals of the game as it settled into low offense event dump, chase game. The only excitement after the first period in a game that ended in 1-1 draw was when John McDonald, Turner dropped the mitts to engaged in spirited battle with both landing haymakers.

The six games without a win came to end at home against NY on the team's first game in February. Toronto was all over the Shamrocks for all 60 minutes after the puck drop. Jimmy Cooper opened the scoring at 0:22, a sign of things to come in the game. Turner, again on while up a man, along with Pollack made 3-0 after one. Turner, who has recently been a sparkplug, made 4-0 with a shorthanded goal early in the second followed by Amesbury to stretch the lead to 5 after 40 minutes of play. Pollack completed the scoring in the third for a 6-0 final in a game that the Dukes had 50 shots on Sorrell. Connelly registered second shutout of the year by making 22 saves.

Hoping to build on the win the teams was off to thew Windy City to face a team they had beaten in their last four meetings. The Packers had other ideas, A goal by Noel staked the Packers to a lead before Pollack, who seems to regained his scoring touch in '63, tied the game just into the second half of the first. The game was tied at 1 until Conn Maguire was found by Connaughton left alone in front Connelly with just over six minutes left in the game. Dukes pressed to get the equalizer to no avail, after Poulin was assessed a hooking minor Lavigne put the game out of reach at 17:53 on the power play, Packers break their losing streak to Toronto winning 3-1.

Coach Bear- "Remember the hole I talked about? It is now deeper. We have 19 games left to fight our way into the playoffs. It is simple, we just have to play better hockey shift in, shift out, game in, game out."

Full Court Press: January 21-February 3, 1963

The injury list is a cavalcade of stars this week. The Rockets Bill Melton is out for a week with a sprained ankle. St. Louis will miss his 20.5 points per game, which is tied for second in the league. The man Melton is tied with, Philadelphia’s Howie Farrell has already been out for two weeks and will miss another 1-2 weeks with a sprained ankle as well. Toronto’s number two man, Bill Spangler has missed the last three weeks with a broken foot and he should return in about a week. Boston has a huge 10-game lead in the Eastern Division, but a couple of impactful Centurions are on the injured list. Steve Barrell is in the middle of a month-long injury prognosis, as he suffered a stress fracture in his foot. Teammate George Stevens has another couple of weeks to recover from a torn abdominal muscle suffered in mid-January.
While the personnel might be a bit different on the court these days, the standings are not. Boston still is the prohibitive favorite to earn the Divisional Semifinal bye in the East, while Philadelphia and New York will battle for the next couple of months to see which team will hold the home-court advantage. The Phantoms (24-22) are 10 games out and the Knights (24-23) are 10-1/2 games back.
Toronto still leads Detroit and St. Louis and the gap has not changed much at all. The Falcons (28-18) are 3-1/2 games in front of Detroit (24-21), as both teams are 6-4 in their last 10 contests. St. Louis (23-21) is in third place, four games behind Toronto and a half-game in arrears of the Mustangs.

Releases continued, this time with the Cleveland Foresters responsible for most of them. Among the 12 Foresters cut, all but one were position players, and none played for the Foresters this season. Among the notable cuts was former Cougar 1st Rounder Biff Tiner, who was 1-for-5 with a walk at 23 in 1954.
Kansas City made a cut too, ending their two season run with John Wells (.230, 2, 23, 2). Wells, the 1st pick of the 1949 draft, was once expected to be an inner-circle Hall-of-Famer, his struggles after being rushed to Toronto hampered his development. Acquired in the 1960 offseason for outfielder Frank Hardin (.239, 1, 8), Wells got into 187 games with the Kings, hitting .262/.343/.375 (89 OPS+). This was similar to his line in Toronto, where he hit .262/.325/.381 (95 OPS+) from 1950 to 1960. In his 1,393 game FABL career, Wells owns 182 doubles, 42 triples, 92 homers, 477 RBIs, and 45 steals.
Free agent infielder Del Gaines is reportedly weighting offers from two FABL organizations. The 25-year-old was recently released by the Eagles, and has been panned by some as an off the bench slugger with upside for baserunning and defense.
The Chicago Cougars have announced they are looking to trade from their pitching depth, with veteran hurlers Andy Logue (11-17, 4.11, 126) and Hank Walker (10-9, 4.39, 107) available for trade. Chicago finished 2nd in runs against and 3rd in starter's ERA, and are looking to use their pitching depth to make room for younger members or upgrade the offense.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 02/03/1963

The U.S. State Department reports that North Vietnamese forces are increasingly active in South Vietnam, signaling deeper American involvement in the region.
Canada's cabinet fell apart as Defense Minister Douglas Harkness, an advocate of nuclear weapons for Canada, resigned and indicated that dissolution of Parliament is near. Harkness says he quit over differences with Prime Minister Diefenbaker. Harkness strongly feels Canada should add nuclear warheads to the four weapons systems that the country has acquired.
US Defense Secretary McNamara had told Canada that Soviet bomber threat is "quite limited" but declined to justify his refusal of nuclear weapons to be provided to Canada from the United States.
US Undersecretary of State George Ball has called for a ban on all foreign contributions to American political campaigns. Ball notes the State Department has not found these activities to present any serious problems but worries they might become such in the future.
The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by Congress, prohibiting poll taxes in federal elections.
Charles de Gaulle has vetoed the United Kingdom’s entry into the European Economic Community (EEC), dealing a blow to British diplomatic efforts.
The first successful test flight of the Boeing 727 takes place, marking a major advancement in commercial aviation.

02-13-2025, 06:41 PM	#1078
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,010	February 4th, 1963 FEBRUARY 4, 1963 JANUARY 23, 1963 – LEACH RETAINS WELTERWEIGHT BELT IN A ROMP AFTER A SECOND-ROUND KNOCKOUT Baltimore Coliseum, Baltimore, Md. – Matt Leach (32-6-2, 4 KO) vs. John Wallace (28-3-1, 14 KO) – Referee: Mark Nelson Matt Leach is used to going the distance. In 32 professional fights, only an eighth of them ended in a knockout win. Usually, the low number of knockouts mean an inability to put other fighters away, but if one is optimistic, it could mean the boxer is skilled at winning over judges in full-time matches. For Leach, it has been the latter, as the welterweight from New York captured the belt in September with a victory over Lenny Shafto. A few months later, Leach found himself in the ring with John Wallace in the champion’s first title defense. The fans in Baltimore are not used to title fights with this bout being the fourth in memory held in “The Monumental City”. In an interesting bit of trivia, all four of them have been for the welterweight belt. The most famous of these fights was the clash of undefeated Mac Erickson and Danny Rutledge in 1949, which Erickson won in a unanimous decision. This fight would not last long, much to the chagrin of the assembled crowd. As the two combatants met after the opening bell, Leach started his opening salvo with a poorly executed punch that he rethought halfway through the offering. This left him open for a well-executed hook to the head, feigned as a body shot, and Wallace was off and running. This was the only punched that Wallace landed that had any consequence. Leach quickly refocused and started to put together a steady diet of jabs and he mixed in a cross and a hook as the denouement of his assault. Wallace took the punishment but hung in there. His need to defend greatly outweighed his ability to punch back. Leach was a champion with 40 professional fights on his docket, eight more than Wallace. Before the fight, Wallace said he wanted to start fast, but he could not come up with anything after Leach connected on his first punch. They say a plan is great until someone gets punched in the mouth. Wallace’s plan turned to mush very quickly. That axiom proved itself again in the second round. Wallace defended a combination and an uppercut, but a jab got through and Wallace started covering up again. Leach snapped the jab and Wallace’s defenses melted away. The uppercut was effective and tactically, Leach was looking for his opening. He noticed Wallace drop his gloves ever so slightly and Leach seized the moment. Leach threw a hook, which landed right on Wallace’s chin. Wallace struggled to reach his feet, as referee Mark Nelson counted to seven. The challenger’s knees were wobbly. Leach had a killer instinct on this night he has not previously shown in the past. He saw the opportunity to end the fight quickly and while Wallace was still dazed, Leach drilled Wallace with an uppercut and unleashed another hook with nasty intent. Less than thirty seconds after the first knockdown, Wallace was looking up at the ceiling again and this time, he was not going to get up in time. Nelson counted Wallace out and Leach had an uncharacteristically early night. Leach (33-6-2) was barely touched as by my count, only six punches from Wallace landed. Wallace could not claim he was not ready. After all, he got the first punch in. It was apparent that Wallace (28-4-1) was no match for the champion, at least not at this stage in his career. BOLOGNA’S BIG BOPPERS Round 1: Wallace, 1-0 (0:22 hook/head) Round 2: Leach, 2-0 (1:10 hook/chin/knockdown #1, 1:45 hook/knockdown #2) TOTAL: Leach 2, Wallace 1 RECENT KEY RESULTS Bill Mosley, who came up short in a heavyweight tile shot two years ago, won his fifth fight in a row and improved his record to 38-9-2 with a 6th round knockout of Wendell Pace in New Orleans. Pace, a New York City native, has fought some big names in his career including Walt Phillips and Gil Sheffield and has won forty fights but never got a title shot and at age 32 appears to be near the end of the line. 23-year-old Dan Bowden, who looked to be on the rise in the welterweight ranks, stumbled to his second straight loss after the Madison, WI. southpaw was knocked out in the 10th and final round of his bout with Dave Clarke. West Coast welterweight Roger Lewis continues to impress as the 25-year-old ran his record to 19-2-2 with a unanimous decision over Patrick Graham. UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS Feb 9 - George Galleshaw (35-2-1), back as heavyweight champion after scoring a TKO win over Walt Phillips last fall, will make a title defense in Cleveland against Will Flowers. Galleshaw,a 27-year-old native of Syracuse, NY, was world champ previously for nearly two years before falling to Bert Parks in December of 1961. Flowers (26-4-1), who hails from Phoenix, AZ., and is 26 years of age, is getting his first title shot. Feb 27- The highly anticipated rematch between World Middleweight champion Lyman King and former champ George Quinsenberry is set for February 27 at New York's Bigsby Garden. The pair met in Los Angeles in early December and fought to a majority draw, prompting the call for a rematch. King, a 26 year old Oakland, CA., native is unbeaten with a 41-0-1 record and has held the title since he took it from Quisenberry in January of last year in a bout also held at Bigsby Garden. Quisenberry, a 28-year-old Toronto native, has held the world title twice previously and now will look to gain it a third time in his third meeting with King. Quisenberry is 39-2-4 entering the bout. AFA Award Winners Announced, Sova Named MVP Along with being a champion, Boston Americans running back Kevin Sova also took home the MVP award. A ten year veteran, Sova led the champions in regular season rush yards (1,538) and touchdowns (9), averaging 5.3 yards per game. The 27-year-old Carolina Poly graduate effectively shared the backfield with Bob Callender, rushing for 900+ yards in five of the last six seasons. There was some belief that Dick Drum would take home the award, as the LA back was named Offensive Player of the Year. Missing out on three games might have cost him the MVP award, as he had an extra touchdown over Drum, and was about 100 yards shy of Sova's rushing yards. The team's record might have worked against him too, as at 6-8 the Titans were never really in the playoff race. Full List Found Here: MVP: RB Kevin Sova (BOS): 291 rushes, 1,538 yards, 9 TDs, 2 receptions, 31 yards OPY: RB Dick Drum (LA): 328 rushes, 1,412 yards, 10 TDs, 2 receptions, 56 yards DPY: DE John Padgett (HOU): 46 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 FF, 3 FR, 19 sacks ORY: G Don Drummonds (LA): 69 pancakes, 2 sacks allowed, 6 missed blocks DRY: DE Matt Fowble (BUF): 34 tackles, 9 TFL, FF, 9 sacks, safety Playoff MVP: RB Bob Callender (BOS): 31 rushes, 218 yards, TD Shamrocks Winless Streak up to 14, Still Seeking First 1963 Victory It's hard to ask for a much worse start to the season, as the already struggling New York Shamrocks have not been able to get into the win column so far. After a tight 4-3 loss to the rival Bees in Boston, the Shamrocks have dropped 11 of their last 14 contests, with half of those 14 games decided by three or more goals. To find their last win, you have to go all the way back to December 30th, and they've only one three game since December 1st. A lot of the struggles can be blamed on the defense legendary goalie Alex Sorrell fighting for his life in the net. Despite an impressive 11.05 goals saved above average and a .915 save percentage, the Shamrocks have allowed a league high 164 goals with a league worst -62 goal differential. Sorrell has nearly 300 more saves then the next closest goalie, and the guy in second has played just one fewer game then him. Sorrell's save percentage still ranks 3rd among NAHC netminders despite having the highest GAA among goalies who have played more then 5 games. New York's blue line isn't without talent, there's some solid players, but compared to the other six teams they have more backliners then front. Captain Fred Gallatin (5, 13, 18) is still effective approaching 30, and youngsters Chris LaFontaine (9, 8, 17) and Victor Klenk (2, 8, 10) could be a dependable 2nd line combo, but they're without a real bruiser tandem who can give 20+ minutes a game. 1963 is already a lost season, and if the Shamrocks want to poke their way back into the four team playoff space, they will need to tighten up their defense as they look to build around young wingers Johnny Hawker (1, 4, 5) and Alex Kalamakoff (8, 12, 20). Dukes Go Into February Not In A Playoff Spot Toronto's hockey fans are dismayed as the team starts the last two months of the season one point behind Boston for the final post season berth. After a hot start to 1963 the team garnered only two points in the last six games of the month. After losing to the Motors on the 20th the team hosted Montreal on Wednesday in a game where the Dukes had no jump. The team showed a little spirit in the second period after falling behind by 2 goals by Jamieson, Williams brought the game back to even. Less than a minute after William's goal Mark Moggy restored the Vals lead that seemed to take all the wind out of the Dukes' sails. Down one with 20 minutes left the Dukes could not get out of their own way managing only 3 shots on Tim Burrows in the period. Montreal skated to an easy 5-2 win on third period goals by Pepe, Del Vecchio. The next night the team was in Boston to start back to back games with the Bs. Again the team came out flat falling behind the rejuvenated Boston club who struggled early in the season. Toronto was down 2-0 after one, 4-2 after two periods. In a game in which the Dukes were never in; Boston skated to a simple 6-2 win. The line of Quinn, Amesbury, Williams had a particularly bad night going -4 for the game. The two teams met again on Saturday night in the Gardens for a game that many fans were calling a "must win" for the Dukes. Knackstedt's early goal in the first gave the crowd some hope although it proved to be the only time the red light went on behind James on this night. jake Stockman's 13th tied the game in the first, then he added his second of the night at 12:43 of the second stanza. That would prove to be the game winner. Pierre Paquette made it 3-1 before the third period was a minute old. There was no push back from the home team, much to the disappointment of those in the stands, Drolet added an empty netter to give Boston all 4 points in the two games. With the losing streak now at 4 Toronto went into Bigsby Gardens on Sunday. The team seemed to skate better during the game which came down to a duel between netminders MacPhee, Alex Sorrell. The first two periods failed to see any goal scoring which each goaltender turning aside 20 shots. Miles DiGiuseppe who has only dressed for 8 Shamrocks games gave NY the lead with his first goal, point of the season at 6:21 of the third after Sorrell had robbed Toronto shooters time and again early in the third. Dukes must be given some credit for not letting up, they finally solved the Sorrell riddle with 3:57 left in the game went Brochu converted passes from Pollack, Brooks to escape with a tie. Dukes ran their winless streak to six with the team's last game in January. In this game each team scored in the first period. Jack Adamle brought the 15490 in attendance to their feet when he deflected a pass from Tremblay behind Connelly at 11:30. Just over two minutes late Lou Turner, who is up from Cleveland, scored his 2nd NAHC goal of the year on the power play from Williams, Amesbury. This proved to be the only goals of the game as it settled into low offense event dump, chase game. The only excitement after the first period in a game that ended in 1-1 draw was when John McDonald, Turner dropped the mitts to engaged in spirited battle with both landing haymakers. The six games without a win came to end at home against NY on the team's first game in February. Toronto was all over the Shamrocks for all 60 minutes after the puck drop. Jimmy Cooper opened the scoring at 0:22, a sign of things to come in the game. Turner, again on while up a man, along with Pollack made 3-0 after one. Turner, who has recently been a sparkplug, made 4-0 with a shorthanded goal early in the second followed by Amesbury to stretch the lead to 5 after 40 minutes of play. Pollack completed the scoring in the third for a 6-0 final in a game that the Dukes had 50 shots on Sorrell. Connelly registered second shutout of the year by making 22 saves. Hoping to build on the win the teams was off to thew Windy City to face a team they had beaten in their last four meetings. The Packers had other ideas, A goal by Noel staked the Packers to a lead before Pollack, who seems to regained his scoring touch in '63, tied the game just into the second half of the first. The game was tied at 1 until Conn Maguire was found by Connaughton left alone in front Connelly with just over six minutes left in the game. Dukes pressed to get the equalizer to no avail, after Poulin was assessed a hooking minor Lavigne put the game out of reach at 17:53 on the power play, Packers break their losing streak to Toronto winning 3-1. Coach Bear- "Remember the hole I talked about? It is now deeper. We have 19 games left to fight our way into the playoffs. It is simple, we just have to play better hockey shift in, shift out, game in, game out." Full Court Press: January 21-February 3, 1963 The injury list is a cavalcade of stars this week. The Rockets Bill Melton is out for a week with a sprained ankle. St. Louis will miss his 20.5 points per game, which is tied for second in the league. The man Melton is tied with, Philadelphia’s Howie Farrell has already been out for two weeks and will miss another 1-2 weeks with a sprained ankle as well. Toronto’s number two man, Bill Spangler has missed the last three weeks with a broken foot and he should return in about a week. Boston has a huge 10-game lead in the Eastern Division, but a couple of impactful Centurions are on the injured list. Steve Barrell is in the middle of a month-long injury prognosis, as he suffered a stress fracture in his foot. Teammate George Stevens has another couple of weeks to recover from a torn abdominal muscle suffered in mid-January. While the personnel might be a bit different on the court these days, the standings are not. Boston still is the prohibitive favorite to earn the Divisional Semifinal bye in the East, while Philadelphia and New York will battle for the next couple of months to see which team will hold the home-court advantage. The Phantoms (24-22) are 10 games out and the Knights (24-23) are 10-1/2 games back. Toronto still leads Detroit and St. Louis and the gap has not changed much at all. The Falcons (28-18) are 3-1/2 games in front of Detroit (24-21), as both teams are 6-4 in their last 10 contests. St. Louis (23-21) is in third place, four games behind Toronto and a half-game in arrears of the Mustangs. Releases continued, this time with the Cleveland Foresters responsible for most of them. Among the 12 Foresters cut, all but one were position players, and none played for the Foresters this season. Among the notable cuts was former Cougar 1st Rounder Biff Tiner, who was 1-for-5 with a walk at 23 in 1954. Kansas City made a cut too, ending their two season run with John Wells (.230, 2, 23, 2). Wells, the 1st pick of the 1949 draft, was once expected to be an inner-circle Hall-of-Famer, his struggles after being rushed to Toronto hampered his development. Acquired in the 1960 offseason for outfielder Frank Hardin (.239, 1, 8), Wells got into 187 games with the Kings, hitting .262/.343/.375 (89 OPS+). This was similar to his line in Toronto, where he hit .262/.325/.381 (95 OPS+) from 1950 to 1960. In his 1,393 game FABL career, Wells owns 182 doubles, 42 triples, 92 homers, 477 RBIs, and 45 steals. Free agent infielder Del Gaines is reportedly weighting offers from two FABL organizations. The 25-year-old was recently released by the Eagles, and has been panned by some as an off the bench slugger with upside for baserunning and defense. The Chicago Cougars have announced they are looking to trade from their pitching depth, with veteran hurlers Andy Logue (11-17, 4.11, 126) and Hank Walker (10-9, 4.39, 107) available for trade. Chicago finished 2nd in runs against and 3rd in starter's ERA, and are looking to use their pitching depth to make room for younger members or upgrade the offense. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 02/03/1963 The U.S. State Department reports that North Vietnamese forces are increasingly active in South Vietnam, signaling deeper American involvement in the region. Canada's cabinet fell apart as Defense Minister Douglas Harkness, an advocate of nuclear weapons for Canada, resigned and indicated that dissolution of Parliament is near. Harkness says he quit over differences with Prime Minister Diefenbaker. Harkness strongly feels Canada should add nuclear warheads to the four weapons systems that the country has acquired. US Defense Secretary McNamara had told Canada that Soviet bomber threat is "quite limited" but declined to justify his refusal of nuclear weapons to be provided to Canada from the United States. US Undersecretary of State George Ball has called for a ban on all foreign contributions to American political campaigns. Ball notes the State Department has not found these activities to present any serious problems but worries they might become such in the future. The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by Congress, prohibiting poll taxes in federal elections. Charles de Gaulle has vetoed the United Kingdom’s entry into the European Economic Community (EEC), dealing a blow to British diplomatic efforts. The first successful test flight of the Boeing 727 takes place, marking a major advancement in commercial aviation.