| Terry Ball,
who used to belong to the Cincinnati Swords, and then belonged to the Minnesota Fighting
Saints and the Cleveland Crusaders, now belongs to the Cincinnati Stingers. He was
obtained Tuesday from the Crusaders, who were frightfully overcrowded, in exchange for
some unspecified "future considerations." He will arrive in time to play tonight
against the Clevelanders in Riverfront Coliseum. The Stingers have coveted the miniature,
31 year old defenseman for more than a year and coach Terry Slater declares, "We're
delighted to get him finally. He's the experienced guy we needed to give us a chance to
rest some of our other defenseman sometimes." The
Stingers also announced Tuesday they will play an unscheduled game against Indianapolis
this Friday to fill in for Ottawa, which won't be able to make the game due to not
existing anymore. In fact the Ottawa collapse is indirectly responsible for the Terry Ball
deal, too, since Ball became expendable in Cleveland when the Crusaders purchased
defenseman Barry Legge as well as center Gary MacGregor from the dying Civics.
"The Crusaders already had like seven defensemen on their
roster," Slater points out. "Someone had to go," Ball was the obvious
choice since Cleveland knew the Stingers were already interested. "We've been trying
to get him for a long time," the coach points out. "O watched him play for
Minnesota last year and I thought he was the best defenseman they had. We were going to
get him last spring when they had the intra0league draft but Cleveland picked him up
before we had a chance. Then we tried to trade for him earlier this season but they
wouldn't turn loose of him." Now that the Stingers have him, Slater is sure
"He's going to help us, especially in the stretch drive. He gives us security.
Ball is just 5 foot 8, 165 pounds, but Slater says, "He hits
pretty hard for his size. Anyway, we have enough muscle up front. He's a Ron Plumb type
defenseman. He can pick up the puck and move it out fast and he's got a great shot from
the point." Ball was an American Hockey League All-Star when he played for the Swords
as a teammate of Rick Dudley, during the 1971-72 season. He was called up by the parent
club Buffalo Sabres for 10 games but was convinced the top powers had decided he was too
small to compete in the NHL. He therefore signed a multi-year contract with Minnesota.
Last season he played in 76 games, scoring eight goals and contributing 37 assists. He had
two goals and 15 assists for Cleveland this season.
The Stingers are also shopping for a right win, but Slater says
"No names have been mentioned yet. But with all these Ottawa players being purchased,
some other players should become available from the teams that purchased them. And a right
wing's the one thing we really need now. One more and we'll have for complete lines and a
solid defenseman." Whether any current Stinger players might be sent down or traded
has not been determined, "It's possible we'll carry 19 players instead of 18,"
Slater says, "But I can't say for sure." |
