THE MICHIGAN DAILY )undcy, April 7, 1974 THE ICHIAN AILY~unav. nri 7. 9-, ... . , . - . . rogr .. . over and out ROGER ROSSITER - Stanley Cup... it's Boston HE REIGN OF THE Montreal Canadiens as perennial Stanley Cup favorites ends this year. Contract hassles with super goaltender Ken 'Dryden cost the Canadiens his services, and Montreal General Manager Sam Pollock's trio of replacements (Wayne Thomas, Michel Plasse and Michel "Bunny" Larocque) have not given the Canadiens anywhere near the service Dryden did. Although Montreal can never be counted out, the odds on favorite for Lord Stanley's Cup this year has to be talent-laden Boston. Led by spectacular Phil Esposito and gimpy-kneed Bobby Orr, the Bruins have cake walked to the East Division. title and the accompanying Prince of Wales Trophy. The biggest surprise in Beantown has been the stellar goaltending of Gilles Gilbert, acquired from Minnesota last summer. Though he's not In the same class as Philadelphia's Bernie Parent and Chicago's Tony Esposito, Gilbert's play brings a new dimension to the high scoring Bruins. Vastly improved Toronto will be Boston's first round ppo- nent. The Maple Leafs sport a bevy of talented rookies that includes Swedish import defenseman Borje Salming, a leading candidate for the Calder Cup rookie award. The key to the series for Toronto will be to stop the high scoring Esposito, and the man who will get most of that re- sponsibility, Dave Keon, should have his hands full. With Keon shadowing Espo, the brunt of the Maple Leafs' scoring will fall on the shoulders of Darryl Sittler, Norm Ullman, Paul Hender- son and Ron Ellis. Only Sittler has had a really good season, and it looks like the other three may be getting a little too old. The other East quarterfinal series finds the Canadiens battl- ing the resurgent New York Rangers. The Rangers languished in the lower depths of the division early in the season until General Manager Emile "The Cat" Francis relieved Larry Popien in back of the bench. WITH FRANCIS IN command, New York came on strong, but the Rangers could not overtake the slumping Canadiens for second place. Montreal has also been disappointing. The Mahovlich brothers (Frank and Pete) and mini-mite Yvan Cournoyer notched most of Montreal's goals, whereas in the past the Canadiens showed much better balance. This series is the most evenly matched of all the quarter- finals. The Canadiens get the edge solely on the home ice advantage, but whoever wins will merely become a sacri- ficial lamb for Philadephia's "Broad Street Bullies." The Flyers have emerged under coach Fred Shero as the first expansion team to have a legitimate chance of capturing the Stanley Cup. Philadelphia proved a year ago that it could score goals, and the off-season acquisition of goalie Parent gave the Flyers just what they needed to cop the Clarence Campbell Trophy. Shero has put together the best balanced team in hockey with Bobby Clarke, Rick MacLeish, Bill Barber, et al scoring goals and Dave Schultz and Andre Dupont dishing out punish- ment as Philly's policemen. BERNIE "BOOM BOOM" Geoffrion has done a masterful job of coaching the fledging Atlanta Flames to a fourth place finish in the West and their first Stanley Cup appearance. The Flames' happiest surprise has been the play of rookie center- man Tom Lysiak, the club's leading scorer and another Calder hopeful. Dan Bouchard and Canadien outcast Phil Myre man the Flame net very adequately. Nevertheless, Philadelphia should have little trouble disposing of the Flames en route to a showdown with Boston's Bruins. The final quarterfinal pairing finds Chicago engaging the Los Angeles Kings. The Black Hawks spent the entire second half of the season In a vain attempt to overtake the roughhousing Flyers, and Esposito waged war with Parent for the Vezina Trophy, which goes to the league's best goal- tender. Though the Flyers copped first place, the Vezina race will go down to the season's final games. The knock against the -Black Hawks has been that since they could not win the Cup with Bobby Hull, why should anyone believe they can do it now. That theory overlooks the new style of play Billy Reay has the Hawks playing. Chicago now sports a much more balanced scoring attack, punctuated with solid defense and goaltending. Chicago's MPH line (Pitt Martin, Jim Pappin and Dennis Hull) lead the scoring parade, while stalwart veteran Bill White and youngster Phil Russell anchor the defense. gFJIE KINGS' LINEUP has a cosmopolitan flavor with "ex- everyhere's" all over the place. The Kings leading scorer, Butch Goring, also will be in the running for the Lady Byng Trophy. Regatien Vachon, another Montreal castoff, played some of the best goal in the league. Chicago will not have to extend itself to topple this lineup but from then on things will get a little tougher. The semifinal matchups would then be Boston-Chicago and Montreal-Philadelphia. The old Canadien pride just has not been apparent this season, much to the chagrin of Montreal captain Henri Richard. The Flyers,, meanwhile, have taken the old Boston Bruin "play dirty and win" credo and worked it to near perfection. Philadephia will take the series and move on to the finals. The Bruins-Hawks series should be the most exciting of the playoffs with the Bruins ruling the roost in a series that could go the full seven games. That would set up a classic match of two big, rough, tough clubs in the finals, Boston against Philadelphia. The Bruins are one of the few teams who have been unaffected by the Flyers intimidation tactics. Philly did not defeat Boston once in the regular season. The Bruins claim four of the league's six top scorers: Esposito (1st), Orr (2nd), Ken Hodge (3rd), and Wayne Cashman (6th). Esposito and Orr will seem to own the ice as they have all year. Shero will counteract them with Clarke and checking specialist Terry Crisp in hopes of neutralizing Espo. The Flyers have come a long way, but for this year the Cup seems out of their reach. The Bruins should capture their third title in five years, with Esposito copping the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' Most Valuable Player. JMichigan gets 1 run in doubleheader split By BILL CRANE1 The Michigan baseball team's home opener against Eastern Mich- igan broke cool and crisp which usually means great pitching wea- ther and the pitchers from both sides did do well. But even though pitching is the Wolverine forte, the Maize and Blue could only manage a split with Eastern, win- ning the opener 1-0 but dropping the nightcap 2-0 in two games that saw very little hitting. In the first baseball action of the season at Ray Fisher Stadium, the Wolverines only needed the first inning at the plate in the first game. Eastern's Bob Owchinko had the first inning jitters, walking the Wolverine's lead-off hitter Dick Walterhouse. Walterhouse prompt- ly stole second and Owchinko fol- lowed through by giving Chris Burak a base-on-balls. But the left-handed hurlerseem- ed to revive and he rallied to whiff Ted Mahan and Mike DeCou. The fire had not been extinguished however and Michigan's star catch er John Lonchar rifled a single past the third-baseman's out- stretched glove. Walterhouse scor- ed and Lonchar collected the only Wolverine hit of the entire game. Clutch the hit was - plentiful the hits were not. ACE ADAMS who pitched a beautiful game for Michigan faced only one serious threat and can 'thank the fielding of teammates Lonchar and third baseman Ed Clegg for getting him out of the jam. Lonchar had earlier delivered the go-ahead hit. Now it was time for the big catcher to ensure the lead in the field. With runners on first and sec- ond in the fifth inning, Eastern's Mike Lauerman laid down a bunt which did not get away from home plate. Lonchar grabbed the ball and threw a strike to third nailing the lead runner. The next batter stepped up and sent a screaming line drive to- wards left field. But Michigan's Clegg made a fantastic diving catch and just failed in doubling the runner off second. Lonchar however didn't like the idea of missing the double play, and on the subsequent pitch to the next slugger, gunned down the Eastern man on second base with a tre- Imendous throw. The defense was terrific. Besides the Michigan first inning and the fifth for Eastern the game was all pitch and catch. The line scores reveal all. One run,, one hit and one error for the Maize and Blue. No runs, three hits and one error for the Ypsilanti bunch. IN THE SECOND game' of the twinbill, Michigan's defensive wor- ry - the infield - fell apart. Freshman Larry Sorenson pitched well even though he was a little wild. But Eastern was able to manage two unearned runs off the Maize and Blue. In the third inning Eastern had men on first and second. Jim Luckhardt dribbled adball into the second base hole- and Michigan's Jess James had to come a long way for it. He dove and bobbled it slightly but still had time to make the play at first. First baseman Pete Ross mishandled the throw and allowed the runner from sec- ond to score. What would have been the third out became a one- run deficit for Benedict's bunch. An error on James in the sixth inning also cost the Wolverines whenthe next Eastern batter sing- led home a run. THE ENTIRE INFIELD was shaky in the second game. Burak had trouble making throws from the hole at shortstop, and fielders were not covering the bases. What Coach Benedict thought was a problem turned out to be just that. However he was platooning and the infield was solid in the Mich- igan win. Even though Jay Traver blanked the Wolverines and the hitting was weak, Benedict was not worried. "It was the first game we've play- ed in 27 days," he said and added that mainly it was a chance to play in a season that so far hasn't of- fered much time to do so. p lay straight singles and Reggie Smith and Ken Reitz rapped run-scoring doubles for the Cards, who whip- ped the Pirates for the second straight time. Daily Photo by STUART HOLLANDER Mike DeCo draws a bead . -l- - - - '1iers win;* Aaron told to By The Associated Press BALTIMORE - Jim Northrup doubled with two out in the 10th inning and scored on a single by designated hitter Al Kaline, lift- ing the Detroit Tigers to a 3-2 victory yesterday over the Balti- more Orioles. It was Detroit's first triumph in two games under new Manager Ralph Houk and pinned the set- back on Dave McNally, who went all the way for Baltimore. The Tigers pulled even at 2-2 in the sixth iningn when Micke the Atlanta Braves 7-5 in ally televised game. a nation-E The Braves, as in the opener, squandered early leads .The Reds rallied from 3-1 and 5-3 deficits. Atlanta manager MathewsI hadsaid earlier Aaron would not start another game until tomor- row night's nationally-televised home opener in Atlanta. But Mathews said last night that Hank Aaron will start today against Cincinnati after Commissioner SUNDAY SPORTS NIGHT EDITOR:. FRED UPTON Bosox brewed g0B;wIe MIKun ordered the Braves to Stanley doubled and scored on Bill have the superstar in the lineup. Milwaukee - Pedro Garcia's Freehan's hard ground smash off two-run homer capped afour-run the leg of third base umpire Nestor; "It's the ' first time the Coin-tw-uhoecapdafrrn Chylg k. r missioner ordered me to directly seventh inning, propelling the Mi!- C etroit whstart Aaron," Mathews told a pack- waukee Brewers to a 5-4 victory Detroit, which stranded six ed news conference in the teams' over the Boston Red Sox yester- runners in the first four innings, hotel. day. scored an unearned run in the third on a walk to Aurelio Rodri- Mathews said, "For the first Milwaukee starter Jim Slaton guez, pitcher Dave McNally's field- time I realized there could not was tagged for four runs in the ing error and a single by Kaline. only be fines and suspensions, first inning, but settled down and Bobby Grich knocked in both but threats to the franchise it- blanked the Red Sox on five hits Baltimore runs. His fifth-inning self. until being relieved by Eduardo home run put the Orioles in front "Because of these threats," Mat- Rodriguez with one out in the 2-1 and his bloop single in the third hews continued, "I intend to start ninth. scored Mark Belanger, who had Hank Aaron." * * walked and moved all the way to third on a passed ball by Freehan. Roallu*e Detroitastarter Joe Coleman was lifted in the seventh after Al Bum- Perry spittooned KANSAS CITY - Designated hit- brv walked and stole second. John Hiller, who set a major league re- NEW YORK - Mel Stottlemyre ter Hal McRae slammed a home cord of 38'saves last season, walk- scattered seven hits and Graig Net- run, double and single and figured ed Grich intentionally and then I tIes belted a two-run homer yes- in seven-run and six-run innings, worked out of the jam. Designated terday to lead the New York Yan- helping power the Kansas City hitter Tommy Davis, who had three kees to a 6-1 victory over the previous hits, forced Grich and Cleveland Indians in the American Rnew Dna Pn 11 c ,.ii ,,,,t League opener for both teams.,.y a Royals to a 23-6 rout over the Min- nesota Twins yesterday. Eleven batters went to the plate for the Royals in the first inning, Fred Patek, Jim Wohl- ford and John Mayberry singled in succession before Cookie Ro- jas doubled to score Wohlford and Mayberry. The Royal blitz never let up. All of the Minnesota runs came off starter Steve Busby, who de- parted after five innings. Chisox bedeviled CHICAGO - Mickey Rivers sin- gled home the winning run with two out in the ninth inning yester- day, giving California a 3-2 victory' over Chicago, the Angels' second consecutive American League tri- umph over the White Sox. Chi- cago's two runs came on homers, Buddy Bradford connecting against rookie Frank Tanana in the first inning and Bill Melton hitting one in the sixth. Giants nip SAN FRANCISCO - Rookie Steve Ontiveros' tie-breaking lead- off homer in the fourth inning car- ried the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 National League victory over the Houston Astros yesterday. Ontiveros, who also had knock- ed in the go-ahead run in the Giants' opening-day triumph over the Astros Friday, smacked Tom Griffin's first pitch in the fourth inning to left field for his homer that broke a 2-2 tie. * * * Pirates bucked ST. LOUIS - Veteran right- hander Sonny Siebert, making his first national League start, scatter- ed four singles and delivered a two-run single yesterday helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0. T e d Sizemore rapped four Padres humbled LOS ANGELES - Jimmy Wynn homered and drove in three runs, and Tommy John scattered seven hits yesterday, helping the Los An- geles Dodgers shut out San Diego for the second straight day 8-0. The home run was Wynn's sec- ond in two games, with a sacrifice fly giving his six runs batted in for two games for his new team. Phillies prance PHILADELPHIA--Mike Schmidt, whose wide throw had helped New York score the tie- breaking run in the seventh inn- ing, blasted a two-run homer in the ninth, lifting the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-4 victory over the Mets yesterday in the National League opener for both clubs. Steve Carlton, the NL's Cy Young Award winner in 1972, started for the Phils and worked five innings. He was not involved in the deci- sion. The winner was Mac Scarce. J o o g o w e i s r u c o u . - ' em * *~ * I The game was enlivened by a Csitblln controversy rbetween Aaron ordered and umpire Marty Springstead, CINCNNAT - Wile enry who invoked a new league rule on CINCINNATI - While Henry the right-hander for throwing an il By MICHAEL WILSON though Michigan would run away Aaron rested, John Bench pulled theriht-hanA word to the wise-the game's from Ohio. After a slow first+ an old Babe Ruth trick yester- legal pitch. not over until the final gun sounds. period, in which only one goal day. The Cincinnati Reds' catch- Perry, a reputed spitballer, The Michigan lacrosse team be- was scored by Michigan's Don+ er promised a homer to a grave- was warned by Springstead in came fully aware of the validity of Holman, the Wolverines exploded ly ill youngster and delivered. the sixth inning for allegedly that statement yesterday afternoon for four goals before the first half "I told Phillip Buckingham of throwing a wet one to Nettles. In as they managed to down the stub- ended and found themselves with. Dayton, Ohio, I'd hit one for him. that inning, the Yankees added a born stickmen of Ohio University a 5-0 lead at halftime. He's taken a turn for the worse. He run on singles by Bobby Mercer by a score of 9-6. Steve Bissel accounted for three; has 'leukemia," Bench said after and Bill Sudakis, a walk and of the four goals and assisted on his homer helped the Reds beat Gene Michael's sacrifice fly. THE GAME STARTED out as the fourth. ..r ......::. ...,..~.* ~, r.... .. .::::.".., ,..:'":v q... .........'... V.'. , . ' .... ., .... .../ . .. ..... .. ..F .r.. ... . . . By BRIAN DEMING scrimmage with a shoulder injury. tailback last fall, is learning the wingback Ahandful of restless Michigan football Starting on the defensive line against spot. The 180-pound junior did not handle enthusiasts came down to catch a glimpse the second-string were Jeff Perlinger, the ball much yesterday, however. Schem- < of the grid potential for this fall as Bo Bill Hoban, Dan Jilek, Larry Banks, and bechier expressed concern about not using Schembechier's warriors held a scrimmage Steve Graves. The linebackers were Steve the speedster more. "We've got to get the .yesterday in the stadium under'the crisp, Stninko and Carl Russ. In the defensive ball more to him." ' October-like sun. backfield were Dave Elliott, Tom Drake, Filling out the first team offensive roster SThe scrimmage opened up with the Don Dufek, and Dave Brown. , were Dave Metz and Jim Armour at guards; second team offense pitted against the The first team offense had some trouble Pat Tumpane and Steve King at tackles; first team defense. With some pin-point getting started but finally broke loose for a DenBoer and George Przygodski at ends; passing by sophomore quarterback Mark 20-yard gain on a pass from Dennis Frank- and Dennis Franks at center. Elzinga and tough running by Jerry lin to Greg DenBoer down the middle. This It is the line that poses the biggest Vogele and Rob Lyttle, the second team was followed up by a 15-yard scamper by problems for Coach Schembechler this moved the ball with relative ease. Soon, Faki nteamiroponpy.Ld spring. With the loss of seniors Mike however, the defense-who had been by runs by Franklin and tailback Gordon Hbn i odadCri ukr V "eXperimenting"-began to bottle up the Bell, the offense continued to roll con- a lot of new faces will have to take up second-stringers. itnl the key line positions. Competing with Lyla freshman tailback from Fre- GodnBl eet h ubroe Metz and Armour at guard are sophomore mtOhio, was by far the most impres- Godo Bel penty tenme n Les Miles and freshman Greg Boik. At sive component for the second offense tailbaCk and feeling the pressure to keep tackle behind Tumpane and King is axainst the first-strinaers. With power and hodo h otcmeiiepsto nte souhoinore Kirk Lewis. ale Ohio rally Ohio University refused to roll over and die. In the third period, Michigan Coach Bob DiGiovanne elected to substitute with players' who seldom see any action. DiGiovanne would later regret the decision. Ohio fought back and scored four goals in the third period to Michigan's three and pulled within a respectable four goals. However at this point, everything still seemed relatively secure for the Wolverines. But the defense continued to sag, as Ohio Univer- sity's Frank Kaplan and Pete Fine found the range early in the fourth period to close within two goals, BY THIS TIME, DiGiovanne had realized his mistake and quickly sent his regulars back into the game to salvage a win. As a result, the defense tightened, Don Holman added an insurance goal, his fourth of the game, and Michigan was able to clinch its fifth win in six starts of the 1974 season. "I'm happy we won," a per- plexed DiGiovanne said after the game. "But I'm also disappointed in our fundamentals." OHIO UNIVERSITY capitalized on the fundamental problems mid- way through the second half, mak- ing the game a bit closer than it really should have been. "We've got our three toughest games yet to play," DiGiovanne added. "The Columbus Lacrosse Club will be our toughest test. We better play better lacrosse next time." Michigan will travel to South Bend, Indiana next Tuesday night, April 9, to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The Wol- verines next home contest will be next Saturday, April 13, against Columbus at 2:00 p.m. at Ferry Field. IS l P I ES iI Yesterday's Results American League Detroit 3, Baltimore 2, 10 innings California 3, Chicago 2 Kansas City 23, Minnesota 6 New York 6, Cleveland 1 Milwaukee 5, Boston 4 Toronto 3, Buffalo 1 Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 2 WHA Playoffs New England 6, Chicago 4 Minnesota 2, Edmonton 1 NBA Playoffs Buffalo 104, Boston 102 ABA Playoffs Indiana 105, San Antonio 100 Kentucky 120, Carolina 110 Buffalo snubs Boston to knot series at 2-all BUFFALO, N.Y. (IP)-Jim Mc- lost the ball and the Celtics scored Millian tipped in Bob McAdoo's on a fast break. missed shot with one second on the It was McAdoo's scoring-44 clock yesterday and gave the Buf- points-and the Braves' rebounding faln nraves a 104-102 victorv over _...---- .. I +IiA C{;iiyr$'r: %Y i:sr :%':a :%i' iir'./li" :{{:;s.":%:'% ra ~:r rtissi:}.;'e';%. y,,