St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 22

spills ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Jan. 31, 1974 Winning Blues Get 2 To Remember: No. 200 And No. 1 .1 Tik Hals Off To Unger rjuck back to Unger, who blasted a shot that was In the net before Meloche could move.

Unger completed his hat trick with 23 remaining in the game, making the score 6-3 ter California's Walt McKechnie I .1 nr tf.IJr II (9 It; II v'. Mm 1 ItYffffftii 13u-yrl fll 4, i (WW By Gary Mueller Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Last' night's National Hockey League game at The Arena will remembered as the night Garry Unger got goal No. 200 of his NHL career. The game will be remembered also as the night that Unger recorded his seventh NHL hat trick and third this season. And, of course, the game will be recorded as a 64 victory by the Blues over the sad California Golden Seals, who now have loft 26 of their 27 road games this season.

All of those things were memorable for the less-than-sellout crowd of 17,918. But to John Wright, last night's game always will be remembered as the one in which he scored his first goal lor the Blues. Wright, acquired from the Vancouver Canucks five weeks ago for Mike Lampman, hadn't had much chance to score any goals. He had been given playing time only once in the Blues' last 13 games, seeing most of them from the press box. Last night, he took a regular shift at center, replacing Lou Angotti, who was resting a sore shoulder.

"I feel like I'm part of the team now," said Wright, his freckled face lighting 'up in a big smile as he accepted congratulations on his goal. 'It's tough not playing, but I know I'm supposed to be ready when Lou's not and I'm' just happy I was able to help us win." Wright's goal, after only 2 mintues 56 seconds of play, meant that he did something that not even Unger could do in the first period beat California goalie Gilles Meloche. Despite outshooting the Seals 21-6 in the opening period, the Blues managed only Wright's goal, for a 1-0 lead. CALIFORNIA BLURS FIRST PERIOD 1 Blues. Wrltht 1 (Hartmruk, Bare Plaer) Penalties Mott (C) Thomson (B), double minor, Ptante (IB) M.

Johnston (C) Otlbertson (C) Merrick (B) Cummins (C) BBCOND PERIOD 2. California i a' Croteau 9 (unassisted) 3. uainomia, Patrick (Boldlrev, (BoWirev Blues, unger joonmonj 4. 22 (Evans. Watson) 18:96.

Pen attlee Plante (B) lAfrarn-' tlse (C) Bare Plaeer (B) 13:08. THIRD PERIOD 6. Blues, Plant 16 (Polls, Awrey) 8. Unger 23 (Polls) 7. Call fornta, McKechnle 18 (Murray) 8.

Blues, Merrick ia (Satheri Williams) 9. Bhies, Unger 24 (Harbaruk, Thomson) dO. California, Patrick 10 (Boldlrev, Croteau) 19:30. Penalties M. Johnston (C) Will lams (B) 19:50.

SHOTS ON GOAL CALIFORNIA 8 8 8 23 BLUES 21 14 144 Ooaltenders California, Meloche (5-17-2); Blues, Davidson (13-11). Attendances 17,918. "We kept the pressure on them, and I knew the shots were bound to start going in," said Blues coach Jean Guy Talbot. Five of the Blues' first-period shots were taken by Unger. Before the game was over, Unger had fired 10 shots at Meloche and the Blues had outshot the Seals 49-22.

But the Blues actually were trailing late in the second period. After Gary Croteau and Craig Patrick had scored to give the Seals a 2-1 lead, Unger tied the game with only 64 seconds remaining in the second period. Then Pierre Plante put the Blues ahead to stay when he scored from the goal crease on a perfect pass from Greg Polis at 2:05 of the third period. At the 5:09 mark Unger made it 4-2 with his second goal of the night and No. 200 of his career.

Unger and California's Ivan Boldirev were taking afaceoff to the left of Meloche. Neither of the centers controlled the in and managed to nudge the I Diues injnenremw A A tnl.i 1A wu.uanBci uaii viiij. seconds apart midway through the period. Patrick finished the scoring 2 1 his second goal of the night, only 30 seconds before the end of the gairie. For his third goal, Unger needed a little help from Wright.

The seldom-used player was tiring and cut short his regular turn on the tee, waving Unger on in his place. Unger joined the wingers who had been with Wright-Floyd Thomson and Nick Harbamk. Thomson fed Harbaruk at the 'eft faceoff circle, but Harba-n k's hard shot was blocked by the California defense. Unger picked up the loose puck and blasted home a 30-foot drive, becoming the first Blues player to register three hat tricks in one season. "After the All-Star Game (in which Unger was selected die most valuable player on Tuesday), 1 was really fired up," said Unger.

"Something like that can really give you a lift" "Just look at what that goal meant for John Wright. He's been down lately because he hasn't been playing, but now he's the happiest guy around." Having 200 goals was nice for Unger. But for Wright, his first with the Blues was something special, too. Lease A Volkswagen! ANY MODEL Wtl PwtkaM Your hunt Carl Mid-AMERICA MOTORS 6041 N. UatjMrth-Hualmc, Ho.

nth mvici mi I A.M. -W rii, a rill THOMSON THE TERRIBLE. A ford check into the boards by Floyd Thomson of the Blues on California's Morris Mott started a fight during last night's game at The Arena. Mott should have taken the check and forgotten about the fight. In the center picture, Thomson is ready to apply a right cross and in the right picture Mott is check with the team doctor about the flow of an abrasion on his cheek.

The Blues won the Photos by Fred Sweets) Glows Over Cam-Smith Coryell By Jeflf Meyers Of The Post-Dispatch Staff Don Coryell bounced up from his chair and began writing furiously on the blackboard in his office. The 0s were stretched out in a line, one of them representing tight end Jackie Smith and another J. V. Cain, the tight end who was the Cardinals' No. 1 choice in the National Football League draft.

"Will we get them on the field together?" asked Coryell, the coach of the Big Red. "You bet we will. We have every intention of playing them at the same time." Coryell's eyes glowed as he diagrammed the possibiliies of said. Coryell's offense, very effective last season, figures to improve this year with Cain and Kindle, both of whom may start. Cain fits into Coryell's offense because of his ability to catch passing IS Coryell's offense.

"Cain is just super," Coryell said. "He catches everything. That's what I like about him. He's a tremendous athlete, nev-e been hurt; When he's not catching passes, he's downfield blocking everything in sight. "You know what 'our scouts say about Kindle? They say that if he's supposed to block a halfback, he'll run over a linebacker to do it.

That's what I like. If a guy's a fighter, I put a damn using two tight ends with the speed of wide receivers and the size of linebackers. "Jackie has the ability to play outside, and so does J.V.," Coryell said, erasing an from one side and writing one in on the other. "Now, if you want single you put Mel (Gray) to the left and Jackie and J.V. over her0 (on the right Then he leaned back, viewed the alignment and sighed, "Now you've really got something going." Coryell seemed especially pleased with the Big Red's draft choices, "particularly our first two." In Cain and offensive tackle Greg Kindle, "we got two people who can play in the league for many years," he shown leaving the ice to blood from his nose and game, 6-4.

(Post-Dispatch Pairing wouldn't have been available. The pick, which didn't come until the eighth round because the Cardinals had traded away their sixth- and seventh-round selections, was soccer-style kicker Sergio Albert of United States 'International. Albert was a four-year soccer letterman for the California school but didn't go out for football until his junior year. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound athlete, who was born in Mexico, is regarded as a powerful kicker, with 50-yard field goals within his range. The Dallas Cowboys tried to sign him as a free agent last year, but the NFL wouldn't allow the move.

The Big Red drafted four running backs yesterday, tapping Reggie Harrison of the University of Cincinnati (ninth round), Jim Poulos of George (thirteenth round), Charles Smith of Yankton (S.D.) State (fourteenth round) and Alonzo Emery of Arizona State (sixteenth round). They picked two defensive backs, both with local ties. Vince Ancell of Arkansas State, who played high school football a O'Fallon, was the fifteenth-round pick, and in the seventeenth and final round, the TURN TO PAGE 6, COL. 1 big star next to his name on the board." course, Cain and Kindle don't solve the Big Red's problem on defense. However, Cor-y 1 1 feels that the Cardinals have five young defensive linemen who were just as good as any defensive lineman the Big Red could have drafted instead of Cain.

Coryell listed Bonnie Sloan, Ron Davis, Council Rudolph, Fred DeBernardi and Bob Crum as having potential at defensive end. In addition, Coryell is planning to move Dave Butz from end to tackle. "Those five people can run five flat or under (in the 40)," the coach said. "They're big, and most of them are under 23." The Cardinals drafted 6-foot-5, 250-pound Steve George, a defensive lineman, on the third round. George played at the University of Houston, but was declared ineligible last season because he played one minute in 1970.

"We heard he was going to be ineligible," said Coryell, "so last fall we hustled him up here for a tryout and were going to sign him as a free agent. But the NFL ruled we couldn't sign him." If it hadn't been for a similar league ruling last season, the Big Red's first choice in yesterday's session of the draft Seldom No. 1 Pick A Favorite Present jeff meters Tx 7.35 W.uluukw"A sizes of cur pspster 4-ply HI tor wjr1 STCCK8 I I 11 OUVE ffifflS I 436-1373 TTSiRIKI UMnl UBLET I Free forking I VfMWy WAVy I WBTROADSNfl I 225 N. SOIUUJUI-f AKNSTEI Tll CS. I KIRKWOOD 1041 BRENTWOOD 2800rJaiuMaTYO, RD I 965-3000 725-1626 452-2720 I The No.

1. The mention of rolls off the tongues of pro football scouts, reverently, if you please. The No. 1 brings to mind great hairy-chested semigods whose lowcuts will wind up bronzed and under glass. Naturally, a No.

1 puts on his pants two legs at a time. A No. 1 draft choice, by definition, should step onto the field and attain instant stardom. And why not? No other creature on this planet is ever subjected to such intense scrutiny by men and machines. If he had a major flaw, it surely would surface.

But the No. 1 is expected to be perfect. In theory, a No. 1 draft choice should play for 10 years before stepping onto a pedestal at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With more than $600,000 spent by each National Football League club in the college draft, no mistakes should be made.

Ever. But mistakes are made, and in greater number than most everyone realizes. In the previous 10 drafts, approximately 250 players have been picked on the first round. Incredibly, only 125 are still with their original club. Even worse, only 90 are starters with the club that drafted them a mere 36 per cent.

The true barometer in judging the worthiness of drafting a player No. 1 is whether he has become a star. Discounting the No. Is traded away who became stars with other teams which shows a different lack of judgmentthere are only 29 top picks who have starred with their original dub. Understandably, the teams that have drafted well usually wind up at the top of the standings, and the teams that annually have had the worst drafts are at the bottom.

The draft is a reflection of the quality of an organiza-! tion. There is an The Dallas Cowboys, probably the best organization in the NFL, haven't had as much success with their No. Is as people think. Of their last 10 top picks, only are currently starting for them, and six are no longer on the team. Draft Goes Slow -But Not Allen From Newt Servtm NEW YORK, Jan.

31 All the top prospects were gone and the 26 National Football League clubs were staggering through the seventeenth and final round of their college draft. But George Allen still was going strong. The Washington Redskins' coach, known for his proclivity for swapping away draft choices for proven veterans, didn't just shrug his shoulders and pick some unheralded player on the final round yesterday. He traded the Redskins' No. 17 choice and running back George Nock to the Baltimore Colts for guard Corny Johnson and the Colts' final pick in the 1975 draft The last-gasp swap was the fourth time in the current draft that Allen had traded selections for veteran talent.

On Tuesday, the Redskins swapped three picks to the San Diego Chargers for guard Walt Sweeney. Yesterday, they traded a ninth-round choice to the Los Angeles Rams for wide receiver Joe Sweet, swapped a twelfth-round pick to the Colts for linebacker Ed Mooney and finally unloaded that last-round selection. Allen finished the draft with only 11 picks. Most of the other teams probably wished at the finish that they'd had that few selections to worry about The draft dragged through 22 hours 6 minutes, with 442 players chosen. That was in sharp contrast with the crisp, six-round draft held in under two hours by the new World Foot bail League last week.

Of course, that WFL draft was the big reason for the NFL's TURN TO PAGE (, COL. 1 Not only have the Cowboys made mistakes in evaluation of a player's ability, but they've overestimated a player's character, too. Running back Bill Thomas and defensive end Tody Smith were not qualified No. Is because of ability, and running back Duane Thomas turned out to be a character. The Minnesota Vikings have had the best kick (or skill?) in the last 10 years.

Seven of their previous No. Is are starting for them and four tops in the NFL have become bona fide stars. the No. Is who become stars can turn a team around if they play at key positions. The world champion Miami Dolphins have only three of their No.

Is (Miami has been in existence only eight seasons), but two of them are quarterback Bob Griese and fullback Larry Csonka. Overall, the Pittsburgh Steelers have enjoyed only moderate success with their No. Is five of their last 10 are not with them any more. But three of their No. Is have become stars and form the backbone of the team: quarterback Terry Bradshaw, running back Franco Harris and defensive tackle Joe Greene.

The Green Bay Packers have the best streak going. Their last five No. Is have become starters and two of them running back John Brockington and comerback Willie Buchanan are stars. The team that has displayed the most consistent astute judgement is Cincinnati. The Bengals, around only six seasons, start five TURN TO PAGE COL.

1.