Wednesday, April 5, 1972 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine k Wednesday, April 5, 1972 THE MICHIGAN DAILY t'age Nine The Texas Wedge The Stanley Cup ... .. this time, Chicago By RICH STUCK IT'S STANLEY CUP playoff time again and the predictions are coming out. Every hockey buff has an opinion. Most favor the Boston Bruins. Others see a repeat win for the Mon- treal Canadiens. However, I will go out on a limb and predict that the 1972 Cup champions will be the Chicago Black Hawks. Anyone who predicted anything but a Boston Bruin sweep of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season was considered a fool. After all, hadn't the men from Beantown smashed virtually every record on the book enroute to their first place standing at the end of the regular season? Hadn't Phil Esposito set the world ablaze with his record shattering 76 goals? The situation going into this year's NHL playoffs is al- most the same. Boston has copped first place and the Prince of Wales trophy that goes with it. Esposito has repeated as the scoring champion, winning his third title in four years. And most people are predicting a certain win for the Bruins because they are out for revenge after the humiliating de- feat at the hands of Montreal last year. There are also those of us however who are still skeptical of the Bruins' ability to win the upcoming series. I am leary because of their recent injury to key players. Superstars Espo- sito and Bobby Orr along with Ken Hodge missed the last few games and can't be expected to return at full strength. And center Derek Sanderson may not even be out of the hospital, after an attack of colitis. More than that, however, the reason the Bruins will not win this year is a team called the Chicago Black Hawks. Anyone 40 who saw Montreal win it all last year must have realized that they won it with defense. Rookie Ken Dryden kept the Cana- diens in every game with outstanding goaltending and that was the key to victory for the Habs. The Black Hawks have the defense to go all the way this year. Their goalies were the best in the league yielding a sparse 2.12 goals per game. Tony Esposito recorded nine shut- outs while his partner Gary Smith had five. There is no reason to believe that- both of them will choke in the playoffs. Com- bine these two and the defensemen and it gives the Hawks an advantage over the other teams in the battle. Pat Stapleton, Bill White, Keith Magnuson and Doug Jarret form a solid line in front of Esposito, probably better than the Bruins put in front of their goalie Gary Cheevers. Boston may have hurt itself when they traded away Rick Smith earlier in the season for Carol Vadnais. With Orr and Vadnais now hurt- ing they may be caught short on defense. Dallas Smith and Ted Green are the only other Boston'reliables. A lot of people are picking the Montreal Canadiens to repeat as champions. I don't think it will happen because I don't believe Dryden can have as brilliant a series as he did the last time around. Montreal should be able to beat New York in the first round, though. The Rangers are not 'a good playoff team and with their star forward Jean Ratelle still out with an ankle injury it is doubtful they can dump the playoff-strong Canadiens. One thing the Rangers have going for themii is the home ice advantage plus the fact that they only lost one of their regular season contests against Montreal. The. surprise team of the playoffs might be the Toronto Maple Leafs, if they can get some hot goaltending from Bernie Parent and Jacques Plante. An upset of Boston in the first round is a possibility but I don't think the Bruins will be beaten in the first round especially after last year's fiasco. The three teams who don't have a prayer in the world of winning the Cup are Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Minnesota. The Penguins, the Cinderella team in the playoffs, will be lucky to win one game from the Black Hawks let alone four. The Blues and the North Stars have playoff experience but there is no way that the winner of that series can beat the Bruins in the semifinals. The semifinals will then probably pit Boston against St. Louis and Montreal versus Chicago. Boston should be rounding back to shape by this time and they will have little trouble beating the Blues. The Canadien-Black Hawks series will be a goodie. The Black Hawks want revenge and so do their fans. Chicago lost only three games at home this year and have a terrific head of steam going, having lost only once in their last 17 contests. Montreal on the other hand will be coming off a tough series with New York. I think the difference in this semifinal action will hinge with the fans. Having witnessed Stanley Cup games at both the Mon- treal Forum and the Chicago Stadium, I must give the Black Hawks a decided home advantage. Chicago fans are real fans, continually raising the roof with their screams. Montreal fans seem to be a different breed. Used to the success of the hometowners, the Canadien loyals just sit politely in their seats and wait for a goal to be scored be- fore bursting into cheers. This may seem like a small difference, but in a series like this which could go down to the last buzzer the home ice crowd might even give the Hawks an edge. Should my form chart hold up, the Stanley Cup finals might be the greatest the game has ever seen. The Bruins, with their high scoring offense and individual stars Esposito and Orr, against the Black Hawks and their array of stars headed by the incomparable Bobby Hull. Both of these teams can smell victory after they finished first in their respective divisions last year and were subsequent- ly eliminated. The Bruins are a muscle team, one that likes to intimidate its opponents; and most of the time it works. Hull, who hit the 50 goal mark for the fifth time this year is the hub of the attack for Chicago. If Hull is in high gear. he will be impossible to stop. That guy is amazing. Al- though he is continually shadowed by opposing wingmen, Hull dominates a hockey game when he is on the ice, scoring goals and setting up his teammates for close-in shots. So there you have it. While Boston is the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup, I'm picking Chicago to take the world championship of hockey on the basis of their su- perior defense and a guy named Hull. BULLETS NIP KNICKS: Lakers sweep by By The Associated Press With West, who averaged 30.31 CHICAGO - Jerry West, held points in the first three games, scoreless the first half, poured in held without a point in 14 minutes 23 points in the final half to help of first-half play, Gail Goodrich rally Los Angeles to a 108-97 vic- kept the Lakers within striking tory over the Chicago Bulls, giv- distance of the hopped-up Bulls ing the Lakers a four-game sweep who held a 50-46 halftime lead. in the National Basketball Asso- In the final quarter, West pro- ciation's Western semifinals last vided most of the Los Angeles night. firepower with six baskets and the jLakers sewed up the game with nine points in the last two minutes BULLETIN while Chicago scored only four. CHICAGO (P) - Major league Goodrich led both teams with 27 baseball owners met for five points while McMillian matched; hours last night and again turn- West's 23-point bag. ed down the players' association Wilt Chamberlain was devastat- daily, sport's NIGHT EDITOR: RICHARD STUCK playoff series, gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinals which re- sume tomorrow in New York. Monroe, who led New York with Bulls The Knicks had one final chance to go ahead, but Tresvant blocked Monroe's shot. Boston beaned ATLANTA - P e t e Maravich scored 36 points last night to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 112-110 triumph over the Boston, Celtics, squaring the National Basketball Association Eastern Division semi- final playoff series at two games apiece. Maravich provided what proved to be the winning margin with two free throws with 22 seconds left. That gave the Hawks a 112- 108 lead, but Maravich then fum- bled the ball and allowed Don Chaney an easy layup which cut the Atlanta lead to two points with .10 seconds left. latest proposal, which might have ended baseball's first strike. Owners'snegotiator John J. Gaherin said there was no sentiment among the owners to accept the players' proposal. ing under the basket, grabbing 31 rebounds. * * *M New Tork nudged BALTIMORE - John Tresvant blocked an Earl Monroe shot with 26 seconds to play and recovered 28 points and scored his team'sI thxe baull topreserve a. 104-103 vic- In m a rc h ing impressively tory for the Baltimore Bullets over through the first four games of the New York Knicks last night in the best-of-seven series, the Lakers the National Basketball Associa- gained the right to face the winner tion playoffs. of the Milwaukee-Golden State The victory, the seventh straight series in the other Western semi- by the Bullets over New York in final. Baltimore during the past three only three field goals in the final three minutes, missed a layup on a fast break with 2:08 remaining {while the Knicks trailed 102-101. Archie Clark, who led the Bul- lets with 35 points, was trailing Monroe on the breakaway and was fouled by Walt. Frazier in the scramble for the ball after Mon- roe's surprising muff. Clark sank two free throws for a 104-101 lead, and teammate Wes Unseld missed two more foul shots before Monroe's field goal cut Baltimore's lead to one point with 1:27 left. WILT CHAMBERLAIN, Los Angeles Laker center, rips down a rebound during the Lakers 108-97 trouncing of the Chicago Bulls last night. Wilt was a big man as the Lakers took four straight from the Bulls to gain the NBA semi-finals. ..F v. ". :{ ...X.3:w .S..::' .. . rr .. . . . . :S : ... ....t.t , tv.:.?:f}}':".n:' .... .. } f r.. ... ... ....' ..... ......... .:.. :. x :. ..::.v ..... .... ... ;".l'!: ~~~~~~~~~~~...,. : r..1 .., .... . . ..-.re... . . .. .. .. . . .. . '......"...... ...v...." ....... .... ....... . . .,.**...*..,,.....,... ..vr . . .. n .r.... .t:n . . . . . n.. ..n .. .. . .,7. :.r :.vw }:i . .."- FINAL CLEARANCE SCORES I it -Associated Press BALTIMORE BULLET guArd Archie Clark stumbles into New York Knick Walt Frazier after losing the basketball during action in last night's 104-103 Baltimore win. Looking on is Frazier's backcourt mate for the Knicks, Earl Monroe. _ - NBA Baltimore 104, New York 103 Atlanta 112, Bostong110 Los Angeles 108, Chicago 97 ABA New York 105, Kent ucky 90 Virginia 118, Miami 113 A PAULIST DOESN'T WAIT TO BE ORDAINED TO GET INVOLVED. that ordination is something like graduation -and the time in between is similar to marking time-then you couldn't be more mistaken. The Paulists were founded with the belief that each man is a member of the community and he contributes his own thing. Each is an individual with his own talents and he is given the freedom to use them in his own way. But not later. Now. For instance, during the no- vitiate, novices work in such diverse areas as hospitals, voca- tional rehabilitation centers and Universities. They serve as assist- ant chaplains, co-retreat masters, student teachers and psychiatric aides. Paulist Seminarians create recreational programs, direct "Days of Recollection" for CCD students, direct film series, ex- periment with the use of media in the liturgy as a preaching tool, originate and edit the Paulist Free Press, coordinate Lenten. lectures and organize Home Masses, to mention just a few. When you commit yourself to the Paulists, it isn't a someday thing. It's now. Today. For more information about the Paulists write to: Rev. Don- ald C. Campbell, C.S.P., Voca- tion Director, Room 300. 415 West 59th Street New York, N.Y. 10019 Fla res$ :Reg. to' $24 .{ ." 44 i;"}