| In the
World Hockey Association, Bobby Hull is frequently mistaken for the king. He is really
only part of a triumvirate. There is also Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg, two smiley,
fair-skinned Swedes, and they share equally in the power. As individuals, they are all
very good hockey players. Together, they are the best. Last year Hull, the left wing,
scored 77 goals, which no one had ever done in a major league. But also credit Nilsson,
the center, who had 94 assists, and Hedberg, the right wing, who had 100 total points and
was rookie of the year. They are a coalition, and they succeed jointly. "The way we were brought up in Sweden was to worry about your team more
than yourself," points out Nilsson, the line's center." Of course you have to
worry about yourself too, because it's your work, but you still try to help the team most.
We try to give the puck to the guy who's open. We try to help one another. If Bobby's
open, he score. It makes no difference who scores the most. We play together." At the
moment Nilsson is scoring the most, and this should be noticed, although Hull is very
close. Prior to Friday night's game in New England, Nilsson had 75 points, including an
impressive 34 goals. They stand second, thrid and fifth among the league's top scores. The
one line has a total of 215 points.
Tonight they play the Stingers, which is funny timing, since the
Stingers don't have a line at all. Coach Terry Slater has been shuffling players, and what
combinations will appear tonight is still unknown. The Stingers will also be trying to
bust a two game losing streak during which they've given up 15 goals, but it also a funny
time to get stingy. In three previous meetings with the Jets, the Cincinnatians have lost,
7-0, 4-0 and 11-3. And in those three games, the Hull-Nilsson-Hedberg line has contributed
10 goals and 11 assists. The top point man has been Nilsson, again, with two goals and six
assists.
"It's been a very good year for us," declares the
175-pound Swedish center, who grew up in a small village on the Baltic Sea. "I
thought we had played well last year, too, though. We're just keeping it up, playing the
same all the time and not letting down much. This is good. We work hard practicing
together, you know," he says, guessing that people may doubt this. "We have to
work hard. Nothing comes easy, like some think. But when you work hard in practice, it
comes easier in games."
The last time the Jets arrived in Cincinnati, Hull raised a big
stink, swearing the Stingers were unnecessarily crude and violent and blaming Slater for
this. But Nilsson has never shared this view. I think they have a pretty good team,"
he says, "only sometimes they've had some goal tending problems. I don't think
they're rougher than any other teams around." In fact if there's any team, Nilsson
hates to play, he says it is Minnesota, and not Cincinnati.
This visit will be the last of the year by Winnipeg, unless both
teams reach the finals. Before the game, the Stingers will pass out free Bobby Hull
posters, to be used or abused at will. Rick Dudley may be allowed to play, not having
received word on a pending suspension. However, a team spokesman says it is likely a
decision by the league office would be made today or Sunday, so he might yet be
restrained. The Stingers play again Sunday, about 3,000 miles away in Edmonton, and
getting them there on time is like a hat trick for the travel agent. They plan again
Tuesday on Calgary. |
