A

The Michigan Daily-Friday, March 23, 1979-Page

Gophers skate into
NCAA finals, 4-3
B BOB EMORY
Special to the Daily
DETROIT-It was a rude welcome, to the Midwest the Minnesota
Gophers gave the New Hampshire Wildcats last night at Olympia, as they
scored two goals in the opening minutes of the game and skated to a 4-3
victory in the first round in the NCAA college hockey playoffs.
Minnesota, which got into the final four by beating Bowling Green in a
qualifier last weekend, advances to the finals tomorrow against the winner
of tonight's.North Dakota-Dartmouth game. As for the Wildcats, well, they'll
play the loser of that game to determine the nation's third best team.
And if New Hampshire-winner of the ECAC hockey crown-is any in-
dication of the East's quality of hockey this year, then it would be an all-West
final for the eighteenth time in the 32 year history of the tournament.
The Gophers, utilizing great speed that New Hampshire coach Charlie
Holt didn't think they had, scored just 35 seconds into the game on Steve
-Christoff's 37th goal of the year. They went ahead 2-0 at the 2:10 mark when
Eric Strobel rifled a shot from just inside the blueline for his first of three.
goals for the night.
The Wildcats never did say die, however, Bruce Crowder notched a
power play goal to make it 2-1 before Strobel turned the light on again with
another blistering slap shot that beat netminder Greg Moffett easily.
"I was very impressed with their speed," said Holt. "They're forwards
were very quick and all I can say is I hope they're a good team 'cause I
thought we played real well."
The Wildcats weren't exactly slow either, but they were no match for-
Minnesota in the checking department. The Gophers are a much bigger
team and they almost checked New Hampshire right out onto Grand River
Avenue before the night was over.
But the Wildcats refusedto break, as they narrowed two goal deficits to
one on three occasions. Ralph Cox made it 3-2 with a shot that beat Min-
nesota netminder Steve Janaszak on the high stick side.
The teams traded goals in the third period with Strobel scoring first for
Minnesota and then Terry Flanagan closing the gap 4-3 with two minutes left
in the game.
The Wildcats came within a hair of sending the game into overtime when
they pulled their goalie and fired a barrage of shots at Janaszak. But
Janaszak, a veteran goalie, came up with the clutch saves to seal the win for
the Gophers.
Blue diver
leads in
NC AA's
CLEVELAND (AP)-Michigan's
Matt Chelich led qualifiers in the one-
meter diving competition as the NCAA
Swimming and Diving Championships
opened yesterday at Cleveland State
University.
Chelich tallied 233.3 points. Kevin
Wright of Ohio State was second with
222.6, followed by Greg Luganis of
Miami (Fla.) with 218.4.

1e3

FOUR NEW TEAMS FOR NHL?

Hockey merger unfolds

CHICAGO (AP) - The National
Hockey League's Board of Governors
yesterday voted in favor of a proposal
offering membership to four cities
currently occupied by World Hockey
Association franchises.
Though they had voted against taking
such action four times in the past,
yesterday's vote presented a 14-3
majority in favor of the expansion-the
first step towards ending the war that
has marred the sport's activities vir-
tually since the WHA's inception seven
years ago.
NHL PRESIDENT John Ziegler, an-
nouncing the outcome of nearly three
hours of debate, said the next step
* .4K
Exhibition Baseball
Detroit7, Houston 5
Boston 7,New york (A) 3
Baltimore 6, Texas 4 (10 inn.)
Atlanta 5, Los Angeles 4
Oakland 7. Milwaukee 5
Minnesota 3, Pittsburgh 1 (10 inn.)
California S, Cleveland 4
Chicago (N) 4, San Diego 3
Seattle 4, San Francisco i
Chicago (A) 4, Cincinnati I
NHL
Pittsburgh 3. Boston 1
New York Islanders 5, Montreal 3

would be to meet with the interested
parties from the WHA. Those would in-
clude representatives of the New
. r........:.. i r ... } { i :ice: s
See more sports, page 11.
England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques,
Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers
along with WHA President Howard
Baldwin.
The expansion would be effective
next season.
It remained to be seen, of course,
whether the WHA clubs would agree to
abide by the tenets of the NHL offer.
Acceptance of the terms would force
the Birmingham Bulls and the Cincin-
nati Stingers out of operation and end
the short-lived history of the WHA,
which began competition in 1972-73
amidst player raids on NHL talent and
shaky financial structure.
ITS COMPLEMENT fluctuated from
as many of 12 clubs to as few as its
current six.
Few details of the expansion setup
could be ascertained. The proposedex-
pansion would permit the incoming
clubs to protect just four players-two
goalies and two skaters-from their
rosters. Of the remaining players, those
drafted by NHL teams who currently
compete in the WHA would become
property of the NHL clubs which have
claimed them.
Then the NHL teams would protect 15
skaters and two goaltenders, leaving all

other players in a pool from' which the
expansion teams would stock their
rosters.
ALONG WITH the awaited reaction of
the WHA to the proposal was the ques-
tion of how the NHL Players Association
would receive the news. NHL franchis-
es, according to reports, would cost $6
million each-representing incoming
revenues of $24 million to the NHL's
oyners.
Alan Eagleson, executive director of
the NHLPA, said last week the players
would insist on having half that-money
donated directly to their treasury. The
NHL's collective bargaining agreement
with its players could be nullified by a
"merger" with the competing WHA.

dpp-

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