| HARTFORD,
Conn. - The second half of the World Hockey Association season begins tonight, but outside
of Cincinnati and a few similar depression areas, probably nobody cares very much. A new
playoff system established in a WHA trustees' meeting Tuesday removed nearly all the drama
in the business. The trustees, after shifting the Ottawa franchise (formerly the Denver
franchise), out of the West Division and into the Canadian Division decided 10 teams ought
to be allowed into the playoffs. There are only 14 teams to begin with; there will be 13
if Minnesota collapses and even fewer if some others can't turn around exalting financial
troubles. An 80-game season seems like a lot of trouble to go
to just to eliminate four teams, or three teams. Of the six Canadian clubs, the top four
will playoff to determine a champion of Canada. Of the eight US teams, six will compete
for the American Title. The two national champs will then compete for the Avco Cup. The
six US contenders will be composed of the top two finishers in each of the two American
divisions plus two wild card teams - those with the best overall records.
The absurdity is apparent. As the standings are right now, for
example, the entire West Division would go into the playoffs, first to last, and the
80-game season would be a joke. It seems that in the WHA, like in 500-miles auto races,
one need only endure and not excel to finish in the money. Stingers coach Terry Slater
says the system goes against his nature, but he will reserve judgement. "I'm from the
old school and I believe there should be winners and losers," he says."But if
you look back, the NHL was the first league to use a big playoff like this and it worked
for them. If it generates more interest in some of the weaker cities around where the
teams aren't doing very well, it will be a good thing."
And the new arrangement will have little effect on the Cincinnati
team anyway, or any of the other East Division teams. This is because the division is so
bad. "It's not likely any of the wild card teams would come out of the East Division,
Slater observes, "so we're all still competing for those top two places just like
before." The Stingers are currently second, six points behind New England who they
play tonight. They are three points ahead of Cleveland and Indianapolis.
"Its a new season for us now and that's the way we're going to
look at it," the coach says. "We've made a lot of mistakes and you can never
correct mistakes perfectly, so we're just going to try to pull together and stay abreast
if we can. We're going to keep our eyes on Cleveland and Indianapolis and try to win as
much as they do. That will get us into the playoffs. Of course we'd like to win the
division, that's our goal, but New England has a three game lead and that's a lot to make
up. Realistically, we have to look behind us, at Cleveland and Indianapolis.
Tonight's game will be the debut for Frank Beaton, a rough and
tumble left winger just called up from Hampton. Beaton has over 200 minutes in penalties
already in the Southern Hockey League. Bruce Abbey, a defenseman sent down earlier in the
season will also be back for the game. After tonight's game, the team goes on to another
divisional test at Indianapolis on Saturday, and Slater says "together, they may be
the most important games we've played so far. The first one is the biggest one because
winning it would get us the momentum and get us out of this slump. Win them both and we
secure ourselves in second."
* * *
Young Cluade Larose, the Cincinnati Stingers' only
representative in Tuesday night's WHA all-star game, was very pleased with his
performance, although his US team lost 6-1. "I must have had about 10 shots," he
said happily. "They just had good goal tending. I hit them high; I hit them low;
nothing would go in for me. But I was happy to have the chances. I feel good. It was a lot
of fun." |
