Terry Slater welcomed the Avco Cup Champion Winnipeg Jets to Riverfront
Coliseum in front of the second largest crowd in the teams short history. In the previous
season Cincinnati was winless against Winnipeg. The Jets even went as far as declaring in
the media that the Stingers were a bunch of goons. Bobby Hull actually sat out a game in
protest against the apparent violence the Stingers inflicted on his team in the previous
season. Needless to say, the Stingers did not forget.
|
© Courtesy of Cincinnati
Public Library. |
Stingers Richie Leduc is pictured
maneuvering around Winnipeg's Perry Miller. |
During the first period
Cincinnati dominated however only managed to skate away with one goal. The goal came from
Richie Leduc at 15:18 in the period.
The Stingers seemed to slow down in the
second period and wound up giving away to goals. One goal came from Ulf Nilsson and the
second coming from Peter Sullivan. It would be the only time the Jets were in control.
Cincinnati managed to lay on the
offense once again in the third period after head coach Terry Slater told them to "go
after the Jets defense in their own end". The Stingers certainly did that. The club
took 20 shots on goal to the Jets 4 shots. Dennis Abgrall scored the tying goal at 3:15.
Abgralls goal came after teammate Dennis Sobchuk took a shot at the Jets net from the left
circle only to have it blocked. Abgrall was in position to score on the rebound. The
Stingers John Hughes gave Cincinnati the lead after he scored on a rebound from his own
shot. After his first initial shot was blocked, he managed to nab the puck for a second
try at the net. Hughes managed to slap the puck past Daley for the score.
Jacques Locas would explode in the
third period, scoring three goals to seal the victory for Cincinnati. His first goal came
at 10:57 when he took a shot from the slot after a pass from teammate Ron Plumb. His
second goal came after teammate Peter Marsh took a shot from the corner. His shot was
blocked and Locas deflected it in the net.
The Jets however, answered with a goal
by forward Peter Sullivan at 16:50. Peter Sullivan's Nova Scotia Voyageurs were defeated
in the Calder Cup Championship in 1973 by Rick Dudleys Cincinnati
Swords. Well, Dudley responded to Sullivans goal with a score of his own. The goal
came after Dudley nabbed the puck in the Jets zone, skated over three lines and moved
tight up onto Daley. Dudley then impaired Daley and slipped the puck past him for the
score.
Locas would score again with less then
twenty seconds left in the game. The goal would complete his hat-trick and the Cincinnati
win. |
