After two straight losses heading into the 1977/78 hockey season, head
coach Jacques Demers decided to make a change. "When you lose two in a row, sometimes
a change will make a difference" Demers states. The change was inserting rookie
goaltender Mike Liut between the pipes. Liut however did get plenty of help from his
teammate who went on a scoring frenzy in the first period that saw the Stingers netting
five goals in the first 20 minutes of play.
|
© Courtesy of Cincinnati
Public Library. |
Robbie
Ftorek passes through Whalers Tom Webster in their 6-2 victory
over New England. |
The Stingers struck early in the
game with a goal by Dennis Abgrall at 2:36. the next goal came after Dennis Sobchuk was
sent to the penalty box for tripping. Rich Leduc went broke into the Whalers zone with a
loose puck with Robbie Ftorek right behind him. Leduc fed Ftorek who then knocked the puck
past Whalers goalie Louis Levasseur from the slot. Claude Larose went on to
score the third goal at 16:08 with a pretty play set up by Dennis Abgrall and Rich Leduc.
Team captain Rick Dudley scored an unassisted goal 33 second later after nabbing a loose
puck in the Whalers zone. Ftorek scored the fifth goal of the period at 19:53 from just
inside the blue line.
In the second period, the Whalers
refused to be shut out and scored at 5:13 on a deflection from Greg Carroll. Carroll
actually was sent to New England from Cincinnati for Mike Liut's draft rights. Cincinnati
didn't answer Carroll's goal until the third period when Rick Dudley skipped a puck past
Levasseur at 7:31. The Whalers went on to score a second goal of the game at 9:01 by Tom
Webster, but that would be it from that point on. Despite the Whalers outshooting the
Stingers 34-33, they still lost. |
