The Stingers return home in what has become a touch year on the road. But
Cincinnati's inability to win on the road seems as if it is a trend throughout out the
WHA. A league that has been nicknamed a "homer league". Many other teams up to
this point seem to have trouble on the road. As for the Stingers, scheduling certainly had
been a part in the contrast between road and home victories. Following the last game
against the Fighting Saints, the Stingers were up bright and early to travel half the day
to Edmonton. Four hours later they were on the ice against the Oilers and their slow play
early in the game was a result of that. But be that as it may, the Stingers were glad to
home again.
|
© Courtesy of Cincinnati
Public Library. |
The Stingers goalie Norm LaPointe blocks a
Birmingham shot in the first period.. However, the Bulls Peter Marrin
scored moments later on the rebound. |
The Bulls came into Cincinnati
and tore into the club in the first period. The Bulls scored three unanswered goals by
Dale Hoganson, Paul Henderson and Peter Marrin.
Before the second period, Terry Slater
replaced Stingers goalie Norm LaPointe with Paul Hoganson. And Cincinnati finally got on
the board early in the second period with a goal by Dennis Sobchuk. The goal was
unassisted which saw him fake a long shot to pull Bulls goalie John Garret out of the
goal. Dennis then skated in to make the score. However, in the last two minutes of the
period, Vaclav Nedomansky slipped a shot past Hoganson to keep the Bulls ahead by three
goals.
Team captain Rick Dudley scored a goal
for the Stingers at 6:55 after hitting a wrist shot from the slot on a pass taken from
Richie Leduc. But the Bulls answered with two more goals. The goals coming from Dave
Gorman and Mark Napier. Gormans goal was an unassisted effort. While Napier's goal came
after he simply picked the puck up on a Cincinnati mix up and then he knocked it in for
the final score.
Rick Dudley didn't want to make excuses
but he felt that his club didn't play up to speed because of the amount of travel time the
club sustained prior to the game. 'You can't get over a fifteen hour travel day". The
Stingers returned Monday from Alberta, including a foul up in Chicago which had the club
miss their scheduled flight. Dudley added, "What can you say. We played a bad
game". |
