Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 10

The Calgary Herald SATURDAY, MAY 1 2, 1 979 A1 0 of rest day though, won't be a MONTREAL (CP) The annual spring rite of the National Hockey League, the Stanley Cup final, opens Sunday afternoon at the Forum with Montreal Canadiens in a familiar role and New York Rangers savoring a thrill they last experienced in 1972. Canadiens fought their way into the final in- seven tense games against Boston Bruins, culminating with a spine-tingling overtime victory Thursday night. As a result, they delayed the start of the final series, Club spokesmen said they opted for the later No.1 Calgarians win the duet jewel TORONTO (CP) World champion Helen Vanderburg and team-mate Kelly Kryczka of Calgary Aquabelles won the duet finals Friday at the national synchronized swimming championship. Vanderburg and Kryczka scored 185.93 points over-all and 93.71 on their routine. Lynn Carrier and her sister Lena of Quebec City YWCA finished second with 183.85 overall, 92.42 routine.

Penny Dilagos and her sister Vicky of Montreal CAMO were third with 176.31 and 89.42; Raphael Jablonca and Leslie Rin-grose of Calgary Aquabelles were fourth with 175.11 and 88.92; and Nancy Bedard and Martine Simard of Quebec City YWCA finished fifth at 172.75 and 88.14. In sixth were Manon Cote and Carolyn Ellis of Quebec City YWCA with 170.64 and 86.57. Solo finals start this after into pub a unday, 2 p.m. Channel 9 (Cable 6) Crawling MONTREAL (CP) Yvon Lambert's winning overtime goal brought thousands of Montreal 7T 4 Canadiens' hockey fans to their feet Thursday night and, Boston Bruins' fan Alain Laflamme to 1 I fJuiMWK FhrnuAni AP wirephoto TERRY O'REILLY'S IRISH EYES WEREN'T SMILING Bruins' star, with wife Laurdes at Logan Airport arrival 'S' t-. play again to return Ferguson, whose team defeated Edmonton Oilers 3-1 Friday in the opener of their best-of-seven WHA final series, said several months ago he wanted either $750,000 or players worth that much in return for the 40-year-old leftwinger.

Hull was reported to be in southern Alberta on a speaking engagement Friday night and unavailable for comment. The Jets, like the other three WHA teams entering the NHL, can protect only two skaters and two goalies in the June 12 expansion draft. By dealing away rights to Hull -'f i i ini'iilllii inn! "Who would have believed it?" asked team captain Dave Moloney. "I just can't say anything." He said the team has built up an esprit in its upstart charge against Islanders. "Maybe, if we can hold on to that, we can win the whole thing." Don Murdoch, the feisty little winger who has been a power in the comers for Rangers during the playoffs, said he wants to take the Cup from Montreal.

"Montreal has won it so many times, it Would be awful nice to take it away from them," he said. "Everybody says "Montreal' even before the season starts, so I'd like to get in the final against Montreal. And we're in the finals." The two teams have proved that they don't discourage easily, which should make for determined play. Rangers kept coming back from painful defeats in their playoffs against Philadelphia Flyers and the Islanders. '1 guess I'm proudest of the way we hung together," said Ranger veteran Phil Esposito.

"We kept coming back. "We lost the first game in Philly in overtime, but we bounced back and won four straight. We lost two games in overtime against the Islanders, but we came back. I think that's the thing I'm happiest about." Canadiens produced one of the most stunning comebacks of the playoffs Thursday night when they shrugged off a 3-1 deficit to edge the Bruins midway through the first overtime period. Goaltending is extremely important in any playoff, and John Davidson has been hot in the Rangers' net.

Canadiens' seven-game duel with Boston was largely the product of mind-boggling goalmouth antics by Bruins' goalie Gilles Gilbert. Moloney explained the importance of goaltending: "That's the key to the playoffs. I think if you look at it the Conn Smythe Trophy more goaltenders, collectively, have won it than anyone else. That's a big factor, and you can't take that away from us." The Rangers also attributed their success to the way in which the team's lesser lights came through in tight situations. But, Bob Gainey of Montreal said the same thing has been happening for the Canadiens: "You have to get the miles out of your big guns and you have to have everybody else pulling up the rear.

This is what we need." Islanders tried that, but their big guns the line of Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies and Mike Bossy were muffled completely by dogged Rangers' checking, something the Canadiens did not fail to notice. Guy Lafleur, Canadiens' star right-winger, knows Rangers will key on him and regular linemates Steve Shutt and Jacques Lemaire. "I know they're going to use the (Walt) Tkaczuk line, the same line that checked Trottier's line," he said. "But, our other lines are going to be ready. We're going to have to count on other lines." Olympics, with a broken left thumb and a gold medaL He'd broken the thumb in the semi-final, but it hadn't stopped him.

To the medics, it was a fracture. To Smokin' Joe, who needed the gold medal to take that one. giant step from poverty and a job in a slaughterhouse to a life of riches and fame, it was merely a hangnaiL So the lad grew up in a 16-room suburban home with a swimming pooL His life was geared to country clubs, not downtown gyms. And he excelled at basketball wrestling, football and baseball at the age of 13 when his dad yanked him out of junior high because of bad grades and shipped him off to a private school without an athletic program. "He worked hard." Joe recalled, "but he needed an athletic outlet He talked me into letting him work out at the gym.

That's when he de- cided boxing was what he wanted. So, actually, he started three years younger than his old man. "He's a better fighter than I was at 18. I'm just living my life all over again, and he's doing a better job. 'If he wants to fight, let him fight If he wants to quit let him quit It doesn't matter.

He's sail my son. But damn ft if he fights." nobody's gonna beat that kidl" for the 22nd time. But, Rangers have never had that kind of overwhelming success. The banners that hang over the ice at Madison Square Garden attest to the glum fact that the last time the Cup came home with the Rangers, was in 1940. During this season's playoffs, the Garden fans have been adding their own banners, many of which argue that 39 years is a long enough wait.

When they defeated their cross-town rivals earlier in the week -to make the finals, their first reaction was one of astonishment. HATHA I i Homme peu, aw HE I M8ERTlj CP wirephoto DOG'S LIFE. Forced to crawl, wearing Bruins' sweater and dog collar the leash was held by Yvan Plante is Alain Laflamme. BOBBY HULL deal is made But a kid like him doesn't have to fight to be good. He just has to train.

And run. We've run together a lot. When I come into the gym and see him working on the bag I holler, 'go to the road, kid. go to the road'. That's where it's at" To look at their physiques, you wouldn't imagine Joe and Marvis were uncle and nephew, never mind father and son.

As a fighter, Smokin' Joe was a 5-11. 205-pound hulk of a man with enormous shoulders, hips and thighs. He fought like a wildcat in a sleeping bag. like a guy drilling a mine shaft. Eut with his limited reach, the style was a necessity.

By contrast, Marvis is lithe and long-muscled. Defence is his strong suit. Trainer Benson says he has the makings of "a defensive genius, another He looks more like a basketball player now, but at 6-lVi and 192, he's still growing. He strives for a style that's a combination of his dad's and Ali's. "And he has a frame like Ken Norton's, and that's not bad." said Joe, who, at 35.

and a singing weight of 23a still has the bulk but fights the rolls of fat Marvis Frazier was four years old when he went to the airport with his mother to meet the plane from Tokyo. His dad was returning from the a Jr. I start to give the team a litle extra rest. The game couldn't be played Sunday night because it would have clashed with the broadcast of a debate among the three main party leaders in the May 22 federal general election. Rangers have been resting since Tuesday night, when they beat New York Islanders 2-1 to win their semifinal series 4-2.

For Montreal, a berth in the Cup final is nothing new. They are seeking their fourth straight championship. If they win, the engravers will cut the team's name into the trophy switch his knees Friday. "Over a lot of beer" Laflamme had bet $50 or, a street-long crawl that Bruins would beat Montreal in the National Hockey League semi-final series. But, Lambert's goal gave Canadiens the series.

Friday, Laflamme donned a Bruins' sweater and a dog collar, strapped on some homemade kneepads, handed his leash to winner Yvan Plant and crawled away to a pub two-and-a-half blocks from the garage where they both work. Accompanied bv about 30 hooting garage buddies, Laflamme crawled over gravel, potholes and across streets, stopping from time to time to eye the occasional tree and once to "shake a paw" and plant a wet kiss on a female hockey fan. As he neared the pub, Laflamme said: "I feel sort of like Boston felt in overtime tired." Pub patrons didn't know what to make of it as the rowdy escort came in. "What's that? A dog?" one patron asked. "Some beer!" Laflamme barked, as the gang dragged together tables and chairs.

to Hawks on June 6 they do not have to protect a player who retired at the start of this season and has said publicly the only place he will ever play hockey again is Chicago. Ferguson said Hull will be in Chicago on Monday to talk with Black Hawks' owner Bill Wirtz and an announcement may be made then. Hull said earlier Friday he was not sure he wanted to come out of retirement to return to the Hawks, for whom he scored 604 regular-season goals from 1957 until his See BOBBY HULL, Page All Nobody's gonna take advantage of him. He won't have to work his way along like his dad did. He has the height, the reach, the heart, the ability.

And he has special teachin'. All the people workin' with him have been fighters." Marvis, who's unbeaten with 17 knockouts in 30 fights, hopes to be selected to the team bound for the i V-. 4 JOE FRAZIER 'The kid has it S. "Pan-Am Games in July. But his "ultimate goal" is the Moscow Olympics, and the gold medal that'd make the Fraziers the first father- son gold medallists in Games history.

1 don't know that the Pan-Ams will help him much." Joe said. "I guess he'd get to know some of the other guys, like Stevenson (Cuba's Teofilo, two-time Olympic champ). noon. Calgary skate site in 1980 By Dave Komosky (Herald staff writer) Calgary has developed an international reputation as a hotbed for figure skating, so it comes as no surprise that it has landed another world-class event. It will be announced at a press reception today at the Glencoe Club that Calgary has been awarded the 1980 Skate Canada competition, the third-ranked event in the world.

It will be the third major international figure skating event for Calgary since 1972, when it successfully hosted the World championships. The inaugural Skate Canada competition was also held here the following year, and was another resounding success. At the same time, details of major financial support for the event will also be outlined. Alberta Gas Trunk Line Co. has agreed to back Skate Canada with a $175,000 grant, the first time in its history the event has received sponsorship.

The grant will be made in five installments of $35,000 and will help defray mounting travel costs for competitors and officials. Charles Dover, president of the Canadian Figure Skating Association, revealed Friday night that Calgary was chosen as site for the 1980 event for two reasons: it's history' as a supporter of international figure skating and the financial backing. "Because Calgary is the sponsor's home base, we felt we owed it to them to hold it here," said Dover. It was no secret that the CFSA was also looking to hold the event in a city where it would be supported. Last year's Skate Canada, held in Vancouver, was a financial disaster.

The event also, lost, money in 1977 when it was held in Moncton. N.B. Much of the work in securing the sponsorship was done by George Blundun. who was instrumental in bringing the World championships to the Stampede City. Blundun, director of the CFSA and its former president, originated the Skate Canada concept.

Organizers expect about 60 of the top skaters in the world for the event, which will be held the third week of October at the Corral. Skate Canada, which is ranked behind only the World and European championships in importance, is designed to pit Canadian champions against some of the world's best to give them international exposure and experience. Competition will be in men's and ladies' singles and ice dancing, wifh gold, silver and bronze medals presented in each. In addition, the Alberta Gas Trunk Line Cup will be introduced, and will be awarded to the country with the ighest point total There will be no Skate Canada this year because of the pre-Olym-pics trials which will be held in Lake Placid in September. European skaters make only one trip overseas a year.

Chairman of the 1980 event is Calgary's Bob Smith. Larry Wood The best since the Brown Bomber? Smokin Joe likes to hope so 'Not sure I want to Hull free EDMONTON (CP) A deal has been made to send Bobby Hull back to Chicago Black Hawks in return for players and possibly cash, Winnipeg Jets' general manager John Ferguson said Friday. Ferguson said the arrangement, which has only to receive "the final stamp of approval," will see the National Hockey League team claim Hull on June 6. In return, the World Hockey Association Jets would receive future considerations that Ferguson described only as players the Jets will be happy to have. There are those who claim Joe Frazier is the best fighter Muhammad Ali ever fought.

There also are those who claim Joe Frazier's the only fighter of account Ali has defeated. Smokin' Joe doesn't much care, one way or the other. He says it's all history now; that he's retired, Ali's close to it. and the future's all that counts. But will Ali retire? Officially? And.

if so, when? "Listen, ain't nobody knows what the champ's gonna do before he does it." Smokin' Joe was saying yesterday at the International. "Maybe not even him! And you never know when to believe him, either. When in doubt, you don'tl '1 mean, a team from his boxing club is gonna fight my Philly team in Atlantic City next week So there was this big press conference the other day. We both agreed to be there. And he didn't show.

Left word he had to go to Iran and help solve an oil crisis, or something. With the champ, a lot of wind blows." Smokin' Joe was among the head table celebrities last night at the Brooks sportsmen's dinner. Earlier in the day. he was a guest on the Sports Hot seat TV show. It was a typical business day for the former heavyweight champion of the world.

He hasn't taken a day off since he retired from the ring in 1976, a few months after losing to Ali in the 14th round of the Thrilla In Manila. '1 can't take a vacation," he said. '1 can't stand doing nothin'. You know, I haven't even had my retirement parry yet? No time." When he isn't touring with The Smokin' Joe Frazier Review, his revamped song-and-dance troupe of he's operating his gym in a Philadelphia suburb and putting something back into boxing. "We have 38-40 kids in our program," he said, "and three national amateur champions!" It's one of those to whom Joe refers when he speaks of the future in glowing terms.

Eighteen-year-old Marvis Frazier, winner of the U.S. amateur heavyweight title in Indianapolis last month, is, to Smokin' Joe, "something The kid's trainer, a one-time top-ranked middleweight name of George Benton, predicts Marvis Frazier will be "the greatest heavyweight since Joe How about liar, Smokin' Joe? "WelL he's got somethin' going for him if he wants to be a pro," Joe mused. "And I figure there's no sense in all that workin' for nothin'. But it's up to him. One thing, he has the tools to do it on his own.

I mean, he can do it as Marvis Frazier. not as Joe Frazier's kid. you know?.