The Michigan Daily-Tu esday, May 8, 1979-Pae13.
in Fate'sWay
Moore flying with Philadelphia
By BILLY NEFF
Special to the Daily
NEW HAVEN, Conn.-Fate works in strange and
wonderful ways, for some people that is. For instan-
ce, take former Michigan All-America goaltender
Robbie Moore, sometime goalie for the defeated
Stanley Cup contenders, the Philadelphia Flyers.
Two years ago, he was laboring over books at the
University of Western Ontario Dental School,
distinguishing between molars and bicuspids.
Hockey seemed the furtherest thing from this young
dentist's mind, or did it?
"No, I really wanted to play again. I called him
(former Flyers coach Bob McCammon, who is
presently coaching the Flyers top farm club, the
Maine Mariners) in the summer," said Moore.
That phone call was the first step in an attempt at
rejuvenating a career that had once been wonderous
in Ann Arbor. Next, Moore's hockey had to do the
talking, and it did enough to earn him a spot on
Maine's roster.
Moore toiled in Maine last year and played on a
championship team with the Mariners. After training
camp this year, he was sent down to Maine again as
the Flyers' goaltending was pretty well set with the
once spectacular Bernie Parent and steady Wayne
Stephenson sharing the duties.
But fate was to work in a strange way for Moore
late in the season. Parent was struck down with a
severe eye injury that may end his playing days.
Several other goalies were given a chance to share
the netminding chores with Stephenson and they all
failed.
Finally, the Flyers called on Moore and he didn't
fail. Moore parlayed his first real opportunity into a
stunning success-entering a game with the Flyers
trailing the New York Rangers 4-0, when the game
ended the score was tied at four, and Moore was on
his way.
The Flyers called on Moore three more times
during the drive for second place in their division,
behind the pace-setting New York Islanders, and
three times Moore responded with wins. Two were
shutouts.
"It was a good feeling; you have to put it all in
proportion, though," said the affable netminder.
Those feelings were not the last good ones Moore
had in Philadelphia this year. With the Flyers trailing
1-0 in a best of three playoff series against the Van-
couver Canucks, Philly coach Pat Quinn called on
Moore. Moore responded once again.
With the 5-5 Moore in the nets, the Flyers came
back to take the next two games from the surprising
Canucks, 6-4 and 7-2. In the clinching 7-2 victory,
Flyer fans returned Moore's good feelings with chan-
ts of "Rob-bie, Rob-bie" which ehoed from the rafters
of the Spectrum in Philadelphia. "It (his biggest win
ever) was probably when we finished off Van-
couver," added Moore.
In the quarter finals Moore came up with yet
another win, a 3-2 overtime win against the Rangers.
But the Rangers came out rampaging the rest of the
series and destroyed the Flyers in four straight lop-
sided games. Moore was shelled throughout the
series and could not be faulted for the one sided
defeats.
In the final game of the Ranger series, Quinn opted
for experience in Stephenson instead of the youthful
and enthusiastic Moore. "We didn't know until the
morning of the game (who was going to play)," said
Moore.
"You always like to play, but . .." A shrug of indif-
ference told the story-fate dictated that he would not
play this game and Moore took it all in stride, hap-
pily. He had received his share of good fortune and
was not about to complain.
As most of his Flyer teammates were hanging up
their iceskates for the season, Moore was still plying
his trade for his old team as the Mariners were
driving for the second consecutive American Hockey
League championship. Maine leads two games to
zero over the New Haven Nighthawks.
"I'm just glad I got a second shot at winning the
championship," Moore added, with little respect for
the difference between the two titles. However,
Moore has not been starting for the Mariners. "Pete's
(Pete Peeters) been playing well," noted Moore with
an air of fate about him once more.
Last year the Flyers' goaltending situation was
very settled, but fate worked in strange ways to
change that. What doss fate have in store for Moore's
future? "I've got a good opportunity ( at making the
Flyers). They (the management) let me know that."
Mariner's and former Flyer coach concurred.
"Next year at training camp will tell the story for
him. He's got his foot in the door though."
Many people feel Moore's only drawback is his
diminutive size. In characteristic form the netminder
responded, "It hasn't seemed to hurt so far."
Neither has fate.
Robbie Moore
SPORTS OF THE DAILY
Lattany's leap sparks thinclad win
As Mike Lattany leaps higher and
higher, Michigan meet and varsity
records seem to fall harder.
Lattany cleared 7-3 in the high jump
Saturday, and his fellow Wolverine
tracksters pitched in with stellar efforts
to beat Indiana, 80-57.
"iAT 7-3, I felt really good, but on the
first jump, I didn't attack the bar
aggressively," said Lattany, "I knew I
could do it on the second jump and I just
popped it. I thought I hit the bar, but it
was still up there. I made the jump."
Other key performers were Andrew
Bruce and Steve Elliot. Bruce, from
Trinidad, swept first places in both the
100- and 200-meter sprints. But Elliot
stole the spotlight with a come-from-
behind stretch run to beat Hoosier Jim
Spivel in the 1500-meter event, with a
time of 3:46.69.
"Elliot ran one helluva race," ex-
claimed coach Jack Harvey. "We had
good performances right down the line.
It's a momentum thing. Once a couple
of guys start performing, everyone cat-
ches fire. There's no one more sur-
prised than I am right now. We picked
up some unexpected points in field
events and sprints."
INDIANA COACH Sam Bell summed
up his team's performance simply
saying, "We weren't flat, we were
horrible."
By the end of the meet, Michigan had
claimed 12 of the 17 first places, and
Harvey was looking positively toward
future meets.
"You can never tell about the Big
Tens. Everything is riding onhow a
team does ona particular weekend. But
we are now running on our hom~e track
and if we keep it going for a couple of climaxed last year when he rallied to
weeks, we'll be in pretty good shape." win his third British Open at St. An-
-KEN CHOTINER drews where he had won eight years
before.
Golden Bear(ings)
NEW YORK-Jack Nicklaus, named
yesterday "Athlete of the Decade,"
said there are no more mountains he
aspires to climb-he just wants to build
a bigger mountain. -
"I always have put great emphasis on
major championships," said golf's all-
time winner. "Some day someone will
come along to beat my records. My aim
is to make that job tougher by building
a bigger mountain.
"At 38, I still enjoy the game. I want
to continue playing as long as I feel I
can be competitive. I hope to enlarge on
my list of major championships."
Realistic observers believe Nicklaus
has builtea mountain that no man ever
will scale-17 major pro and amateur
titles and more than $3.4 million in prize
money. No other modern player is close
in either category.
The man they call "The Golden
Bear" became the second winner of the
"Athlete of the Decade" award which
last year went to heavyweight boxing
champion Muhammad Ali.
The decade covered the decade of the
1970s. Same of Nicklaur'dreatet
"I have to count that among my
biggest thrills," Nichlaus told a New
York luncheon gathering by telephone
from Spokane, Wash.
The award is sponsored by the
American Cancer Society, which con-
ducted a nationwide poll of 432 sports
writers, editors and broadcasters.
Formal presentation will be made to
Nicklaus and the finalists at a dinner in
New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel June
7.
-AP
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Mike Lattany
... body up, records down