THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, January 23, 1969 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, January 23, 1969 WCHA By CHRIS TERAS Before the 68-69 Western Col- legiate Hockey Association cam- paign, Michigan coach Al Ren- frew felt that "all the teams in the league will be tough." And tough they have been. The usual mid-seaso scramble has found North Dak a, Michigan, Michigan Tech, and Denver with the best chance for the league crown at season's end. North Dakota is leading the league with a 10-2 record includ- ing a split at Michigan Tech last weekend. Coach Ruben Bjorkman said he is pleased with his team's play so far. He is, however, concerned about the two-week exam layoff begin- ning this week. As Michigan fans well know, the Wolverines played in Detroit's Great Lakes Invitational Tourna- ment last December' following a similar period of inactivity. They looked, rusty in losing to Michigan Tech and Michigan State. Bjorkman maintains that the Sioux have good overall balance yet the Nodaks have four ,men among the top six WCHA scorers. ,The squad is averaging slightly under five goals a game. Wing Dave Kartio and Center Bob Mun- ro are first-and third respectively in the individual scoring statistics. The defense has only two ex- perienced men out of five, yet has given up a respectable average of three goals per game. Goal is the biggest defensive question mark as netminded Brian Blanchard, has been bothered with a bad back, and there is no experienced man to take his place. Michigan Tech is a hotbed of hotbeds in college hockey. One icers scramble for top spot among top ten WCHA scorers. The pioneers are led by wingman George Morrison. But, it is Den- ver's defense that enables the re- lentless pressure to be applied to! opposing defenses. Goalie Gerry Powers is good, but All-American defensemen like Keith Magnuson,1 rarely permit any clear shots on goal. Michigan defeated State for the1 Big Ten Hockey Tournament title last December by an 8-3 score. Thus far, the Spartans are 2-5-1 in WCHA play. Following State, Michigan hosts! Minnesota in the first half of a' four-game home-and-away set. A weekend at Michigan Tech is in between. The Wolverines have al-t ready beaten Minnesota this sea-t son in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tourney. Five goals in the final period resulted in a 6-4 win. In the conference, Minnesota is 4-5-1, and in fifth place. Minne- sota's leading goal scorer is Wing Bill Klatt with 16 points. Two teammates, center Pete Fichuk and wing Rick Yurich, have ten or more points. Although Coloraao College does have one of the WCHA's top point producers in center Bob Collyard,1 the entire team has only averagedr 2.4 scores a game. The defense is7 even worse at its goals permittedl average of 5.8 is second in medio- crity only to lowly Duluth. 1 The Bull-dogs are currently in the league's cellar with a 1-11 record. The inexperienced defenseE has given up nearly six goals per game. Star defensemen Rick New- ell has been plagued with shoulder trouble, and scoring production has been just half of the number of red lights allowed. NHL STANDINGS East Division j WI L T Pts. GF GA Pistoiis thwart Lakers, 116-115, while SuperSonics upset Bullets By The Associated Press its field shots in the first half, feat the New York Knicks 140- DETROIT-The Detroit Pistons pulled to within 90-87 with 1:23 137 in a double overtime National fought off a desperate rally by remaining. Basketball Association game last the Los Angeles Lakers last night Wilkens scored 22 as Seattle night. to gain a 116-115 NationalBas-won for only the third time in 21 The 76ers trailed 69-52 in the ketball Association victory, games. Loughery paced Baltimore third period and finally caught Trailing by as many as 23 with 27. the Knicks on an eight-foot jump points in the second quarter the * * * shot by Hal Greer with two see- Lakers rolled back to within 15 PHILADELPHIA - The Phila- onds to play. at intermission, 11 after three delphia 76ers overcame a 17-point Willis Reed scored a free throw quarters and finally within a second-half deficit with a field with 24 seconds left to send the point of a tie when rookie B ill goal with two seconds remaining game into a second five-minute Hewitt hit a jumped with 54 se- in regulation, and went on to de- overtime period at 128-all. conds to go. During the remaining time there was. no further scoring but with 25 seconds left Fred Crawford missed three free throws and then, with a second to go, Elgin Baylor's driving layup missed and Walt Bellamy rebounded to save the game for Detroit. Eddie Miles with 25 points, Bellamy with 24, Dave Bing with 21 and Happy Hairston with 20 led Detroit, while Jerry West had 28, Wilt Chamberlain 25 and Baylor 22 for the losers. Pistons' coach Paul Seymour was ejected in the third period when he suffered his second technical foul of the game, which was marked by a fight between V Detroit's Jimmy Walker and the Lakers' Keith Erickson. Erickson .( suffered a seven-stitch cut over his left eye. 4 WOLVERINE FORWARD Al Brooks lifts the puck past Minnesota goalie Ron Docken on the way to a 6-4 victory over the Gophers in this years Big Ten Tourney. Michigan hot in contention with Denver, North Dakota; and Michigan Tech. for first place in the WCHA needs this weekend as they play Michigan State in away and home contests. only has to talk to, any person from Tech to discover that it is one of the country's few institu- tions where basketball and foot- ball are relatively minor sports. Third-place Tech's WCHA rec- ord this season is 5-2, and are hot on the heels of North Dakota and second place Michigan. The Hus- kies won the Great Lakes Tourna- ment defeating Michigan 3-2 in the process. Coach John MacInnes stresses defense. His team has responded by giving up, an average of just over three goals a game in con- ference play. MacInnes feels his defensemen lack ekperience, and as a result have been "inconsistent yet spec- tacular at times." He feels the defense was tops this season in Detroit, but was again unsteady against North Dakota. Another de- UNION-LEAGUEt MIXER with FRANCIS X and- the BUSHMEN FRIDAYS JANUARY 24 9-12 P.M. Free Admission Union Ballroom fensive weakness is penalty-kill- ing. Overall, Tech has allowed ten goals while shorthanded, com- pared to their opponents' one. Although the Huskies are strong on defense, it is not their style to sit back and rely on it entirely. MacInnes likes his men to go after the puck with hard forechecking. According to MacInnes, Tech has no individual stars. This is' also suggested in the scoring sta- tistics as the team is averaging five goals a game, yet -leading scorer Al Karlander barely makes' it into the top twenty point hus- tlers. Denver's record at 8-4, is good enough for fourth place, but from their play in Ann Arbor two weeks ago, it is hard to see how they; have lost four games. Against the Wolverines, Coach Muray Armstrong's players in- evitably seemed to be in the right place to take possession of the puck. It was only through a despe- ration defensive effort, anchored by Jim Keough's numerous clutch saves, that Michigan was able to stay close enough to take advan- tage of its scorihg opportunities. Denver, after last week's double routs of Duluth, has five men BALTIMORE - Lennie Wilk- ens, playing most of the fourth quarter with five fouls, led the Seattle SuperSonics to a 98-94 National Basketball Association victory over the'Baltimore Bullets yesterday. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for Baltimore, leaders of the Eastern Division, while Seattle snapped a five-game losing streak. Wilkens incurred his fifth foul with 10:52 remaining. But he di- rected the Seattle attack and scored five crucial points during a 22-second span before fouling out with less than 50 seconds to play, Baltimore, which failed 58-41 after hiting only 30 per cent of Bost on Montreal Toronto Chicago Detroit New York St. Louis Oakland Los Angeles Philadelphia Pittsburgh Minnesota 26 8 25 12 20 12 23 18 21 17 22. -18 9 7 10 3 7 4 61 169 112 57 148 119 56 129 112 49 169 135 49 146 132 48 120 112 West Division 22 11 11 16 24 6 15 20 6 11 23 11 10 28 7 9 29 7 -Associated Press DAVE BING slips behind Wilt Chamberlain on his way to. two of his 21 points. Bing along with Walt Bellamy and Happy Hairston fought off a last minute rally to win over the Lakers, 116-115. 55 126 38 111 36 92: 33 95: 27 115 25 101 88 146 118 125 158 155 Yesterday's Results No games scheduled. Today's Games Oakland at Montreal Toronto at St. Louis Los Angeles at New York Boston at Detroit Philadelphia at Chicago Minnesota at Pittsburgh ASTRO-EXPO DEAL: Staub traded for Clendenon, Alon SALE c25% COFF GIFT ITEMS and VARIOUS CLOTHING The Medina Shop 402 Maynard St. 663-4540 HOUSTON, Tex. (MP)-The Hous- ton Astros gave up their top hit- ter yesterday by trading outfielder Rusty Staub to the new Montreal club in the National League for first baseman Donn Clendenon and outfielder Jesus Alou. Staub, former New Orleans schoolboy star who became Hous- ton's first big bonus signee in 1961, led the Astros with a .291 average last season. In 1967, he finished with a .333 mark after having led the NL in batting a good portion of the season. "This has been my toughest decision since I have been in base- ball," said Astro Gen. Mgr. Spec Richardson. "Rusty is a great ball player ATTE THlE, M'ICHIIIA 4TION: T969 N AN rved in the BOWL Week 'ow-11:00 to 3:00 ir Yearbook 'WI College Life South Quad, East Lounge 9:00 P.M., THURSDAY, JAN. 23 Come and see what it's all about Sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ 1 I MEET YOUR MATE at the BACH CLUB TONIGHT! For details see the Organization Notices in the Daily Official Bulletin or posters on campus and we hate to lose him but Mgr. Harry Walker and others on the staff agree in our feeling that the trade will help the club. We now feel we have a chance to chal- lenge for our divisional cham- pionship." Montreal obtained both Clen- denon and Alou in the recent NL expansion draft, C1endenon from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Alou from the San Francisco Giants. Alou hit .263 with.the Giants while Clendenon hit .257 $is last season for the Pirates. Walker also attended a news conference and said he believes Houston now has "its strongest team in history." "We've added speed, power, and defense but have lost one of the finest hitters in baseball," Walker said. "We have balanced our righthanded hitting with our left- handed hitting and have filled one of our outfield spots." p I I 11 HELP CREATE ... STUDENT-FACULTY COOP COFFEE-HOUSE Shares on Sale on the Diagr Now! May be rese RUSTY STAUB TV RENTALS $1O FREE service per month arrd delivery NEJAC TV RENTALS 662-5671 SERVING BIG 10 SCHOOLS SINCE 1961 I DON'T LIKE I I 0* FIShif Fa CONCERTS UNION-LEAGUE Be the first on your block to choose next year's concert! Petition for FALL CONCERT PROGRAM DIRECTOR I This F Today and T omorr Reserve Yoi &in