The Detroit Red Wings won their fifth straight game last night with a convincing 7-3 thrashing of the New York Rangers. The game, played at the Olympia in Detroit, was the only National Hockey League contest on the docket.
Seven Wings Share Goals
Don Simmons was the Ranger goalkeeper for the second straight game. After a standout performance the previous evening against Chicago, Simmons wasn’t quite so lucky against the high-flying Red Wings. Seven different Detroit players beat Simmons on 35 shots.
The Wings took a 2-0 first period lead and were never threatened by the Rangers. Floyd Smith drew first blood with his eighth of the year at 6:44. Doug Barkley made it 2-0 with his third just less than two minutes before the end of the opening frame.
The second started off with Bob Nevin netting an early goal but that was as close as the Rangers would get. Norm Ullman scored just 17 seconds after Nevin’s marker, and Gordie Howe followed with another just over a minute after that to make the score 4-1 Red Wings before three minutes had passed in the second. Jean Ratelle of New York and Detroit’s Ab McDonald swapped goals later in the period to make the score 5-2 after two.
The final 20 minutes was dominated by Detroit and only some good saves by Simmons kept the final tally from reaching double figures. Alex Delvecchio and Andy Bathgate connected for the final two Red Wing goals, just after Garry Peters had notched New York’s third.
The goal for Bathgate was the 299th of his distinguished NHL career. Delvecchio was the offensive star of the night, adding three assists to his goal.
The game was a rough, spirited affair, but the only real ugliness occurred in the middle stanza when Detroit rookie defenseman Bert Marshall and Rangers Johnny McKenzie came together. McKenzie caught Marshall with a solid elbow to the kisser. The Detroit freshman, not afraid to mix it up with a veteran, retaliated with slap to McKenzie’s head with his stick. McKenzie was whistled off with a minor for elbowing, but Marshall was assessed a five-minute major for high-sticking. The Wings killed off the major.
The Red Wings lost defenseman Gary Bergman during that long second period power play when he caught a Ranger shot with his left hand. He was taken to hospital for x-rays.
Leafs Call Up Al Arbour
The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled defenseman Al Arbour from the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. Arbour will replace injured Leaf defender Bobby Baun, who may miss up to six weeks after knee surgery.
For Arbour it will be a reunion of sorts with Marcel Pronovost, the defenseman Toronto acquired from Detroit last May in the deal that sent Andy Bathgate to the Red Wings. Pronovost and Arbour were defense partners for the Red Wings in the 1950’s.
The reunion might not be immediate, however. Pronovost is listed as a doubtful starter for the Leafs’ Saturday contest after he had an operation to remove a cyst from his chest on Monday.
Russians Arrive
The touring Russian national hockey team arrived in Toronto last night and already one controversy is in the books.
The Russians landed in Toronto late in the afternoon. They seemed surprised that they were to spend the night in Toronto before heading to London, Ontario in the morning. They demanded that they be flown immediately to London so that they could spend the night there and work out in the London rink before playing the Canadian nationals there tomorrow night.
A tense negotiation took place between Lloyd Pollock of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and the Russian coaches and an interpreter. Pollock held his ground and the Russians spent the night in Toronto before flying to London this morning.
The Soviets will play eight games during this visit, including games against high-profile junior teams Montreal Junior Canadiens and Toronto Marlboros. Former Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers goalkeeper Jacques Plante, now retired, will play for the Montreal juniors. Plante has kept in shape by playing with the NHL Oldtimers.
Redmond Leads Petes Past Marlies
Right winger Mickey Redmond accounted for half of the Peterborough Petes eight goals as they waltzed to an 8-4 win over the Toronto Marlboros in OHA Junior A play last night.
The second period was the difference in this game. The Petes scored five goals in the middle frame to put this one out of reach.
Redmond’s four goals led the home side’s charge, with Andre Lacroix and John Vanderburg getting two each. Gerry Meehan scored a pair for the Marlboros. Barry Watson and Tom Martin had the other Toronto markers.
Kitchener Ties Hamilton Late
Ken Gratton’s goal with just three seconds left in the game gave the Kitchener Rangers a 3-3 tie with the Hamilton Red Wings in the other OHA match last night, played in Hamilton.
Billy Hway and Bob Jones were the other Kitchener goal-getters. Gary Marsh, Sandy Snow and Rick Morris replied for the Red Wings.
The game saw a spirited battle between Hamilton’s Rick Smith and the Ranger captain Hway. Both earned seven minutes in the sin bin for their troubles.
$2 Million Suit Filed Against Norris
Paul Butler, a millionaire sportsman, has filed a $2,000,000 suit against Bruce Norris, owner of the Detroit Red Wings, for “alienation of affections.”
The suit was filed October 26. In the action, Butler charges Norris and Mrs Butler with adultery in three states and on a yacht off the coast of Florida. The suit asks for the $2,000,000 as damages for Butler and the couple’s two-year-old son.
Norris filed a motion for dismissal in circuit court Wednesday. Norris contends that Butler’s suit is “an instrument for blackmail by unscrupulous persons for their unjust enrichment based upon what those persons considered to be fear on the part of the defendant that exorbitant damages might be assessed against him.”
Norris has been married and divorced three times. The Butlers were married in 1962.