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Injury Forced Stern
To Lose NHL 'Lead'

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46

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1991

here are three Jewish
players in the National
Hockey League this
season and one of them, Ron-
nie Stern of the Vancouver
Canucks, was leading the
NHL in one statistical area
when he was injured in the
10th game of the season.
But his injury and the lead
it cost him were hardly notic-
ed in the press outside of
Vancouver.
That's because Stern, a
Montreal native, was the
league-leader in penalties: 55
minutes (in 10 games) at the
time he and Mike Lawlor of
the Washington Capitals
went crashing into the
boards.
Stern, 23, wound up with a
broken wrist and missed
several weeks of action.
The other two Jewish
hockey players are Detroit
native Mike Hartman of the
Buffalo Sabrea, a "physical"
forward like Stern, and Matt
Schneider, a defenseman in
his first full season with the
Montreal Canadiens.
Hartman also was bothered
with an early-season injury,
and has yet to find the touch
that made him the Sabres'
leading scorer in the pre-
season. In 40 games as of
Monday, he has eight goals,
one assist and 129 penalty
minutes with the team.
Schneider began playing a
regular shift soon after he
was called up from the minors
in December 1989 at the age
of 20. He has seven goals and
17 assists in 49 games this
season.
According to Vancouver
coach Bob McCammon,
" `Sternsie' had been playing
very well before being hurt."
He's a real spirited kid.
"He's an ingredient every
team needs, a 'hard' player, a
`heart and soul' player. He's
being tutored to replace Stan
Smyl, our team leader for the
last 12 years, someplace down
the road."
McCammon said Stern has
improved his offensive skills.
Like Schneider and Hart-
man, Stern passed up college
hockey scholarships to play in
Canada's prestigious Junior
Hockey League. He played at
Longueuil in the Quebec
Junior League, scoring 163
points in 193 games over
three seasons and was chosen

Harlan Abbey is editor of the
Buffalo, N.Y., Jewish Review.

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1

Ronnie Stern:
A "hard" player.

the team captain in his final
year, '86-87.
In his two previous profes-
sional seasons, he spent most
of his time in the Interna-
tional and American Hockey
Leagues, with short shifts up
in the NHL: 66 games with
three goals, three assists and
309 penalty minutes, plus
three play-off games with 17
more penalty minutes and
one assist.

Stern, 23, wound
up with a broken
wrist and missed
several weeks of
action. At six-feet
tall and 195
pounds,
Stern said no
opponent ever has
used anti-Semitic
remarks to throw
him off his game.

At six-feet tall and 195
pounds and with a reputation
as a physical player, Stern
said no opponent ever has us-
ed anti-Semitic remarks to
throw him off his game.
"There may not be that
many who know I'm Jewish.
Those who do don't think of
using it to get you to lose your
temper. I don't think there's
any anti-Semitism in hockey.
"But I think it's rare for
Jewish players to be known as
fighters, too."
Stern's boyhood idol was the
Canadiens' Guy Lafleur, a
scoring star, but now says
he's tried to pattern his play
to the style of Philadelphia's
Rick Tocchet.
His coach admitted, "Ron-
nie had limited skills as a
junior. I think he was drafted

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