October 9

Today’s hockey news consists of a National Hockey League trade, some exhibition results, three Ontario Hockey Association Junior A games, and the usual quick hits.

Blues Deal Brenneman to Wings

The St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings continued to tinker with their opening day lineups yesterday. The two teams hooked up for a four-player swap that brought left winger John Brenneman to the Detroit.

In exchange for the 24-year-old Brenneman the Wings sent three players to the Blues. St. Louis will get winger Craig Cameron, defenceman Larry Hornung and former Hamilton Red Wing junior Don Giesebrecht.

Brenneman split last season between the Toronto Maple Leafs and their American Hockey League farm team in Rochester. With Toronto, he played 41 games, netting six goals and four assists. He was picked up by the Blues in last summer’s Expansion Draft.

Brenneman has also played for Chicago and New York, but has never been able to catch on full time in the National Hockey League.

Cameron would appear to be the key to the deal for the Blues. The 22-year-old Edmonton native is a graduate of the Junior A Edmonton Oil Kings and played his first professional season last year with the American Hockey League Pittsburgh Hornets. He compiled nine goals and 11 assists for Pittsburgh in 50 games. He also got into one NHL game with the Red Wings, who thought enough of him to protect him in the Expansion Draft.

Giesebrecht and Hornung were already on loan to St. Louis and will play for the Blues farm team at Kansas City in the Central Professional Hockey League.

Habs Edge Leafs

Ralph Backstrom scored with less than four and a half minutes to play to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Forum in Montreal last night.

Other Montreal scorers were Jean Beliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, Bobby Rousseau and Jacques Lemaire. Leafs got goals from Wayne Carleton, Dave Keon, Allan Stanley and Murray Oliver.

Toronto had come back from a 3-1 first period deficit to take the lead early in the third period on Oliver’s goal. But Montreal took advantage of a couple of bad plays by Toronto defenceman Larry Hillman to come back for the win.

Bruce Gamble went the distance in goal for the Leafs and was not sharp. He misplayed the angles on the Beliveau and Rousseau goals and was flat on his belly when Cournoyer scored.

Rogatien Vachon worked the entire game in goal for Montreal with Gump Worsley on the bench. Worsley is suffering from pulled chest muscles so Habs coach Toe Blake opted to rest the veteran.

Montreal was without defenceman Terry Harper, who has a separated shoulder, and rookie forward Garry Monahan, still out with a sprained ankle.

Marlies, Rangers Win Big

The Toronto Marlboros and Kitchener Rangers both won lopsided games in Ontario Hockey Association Junior A play last night. Toronto thumped the Ottawa 67’s 10-5 at Hull, Quebec while Kitchener lambasted the Oshawa Generals 10-1 right in Oshawa. In the other league contest, St. Catharines scored four times in the final period to down the Hamilton Red Wings 4-1 in St. Catharines.

In Hull, the Marlies once again displayed a balanced attack with only Tom Martin scoring as many as two goals. The other Toronto scorers were Steve King, Frank Hamill, Mike Varga, Ric Jordan, Brian Davies, Sam Gellard, Terry Cafferey and Ross Woodley.

Pierre Jarry led Ottawa with a pair of goals. Steve Ostapyk, Pierre Duguay and Bob Fawcett had the others.

The Rangers completely dominated the Generals in Oshawa, outshooting the Gens 52-26. Jim Krulicki had two goals and three assists to pace the Kitchener attack. Other Rangers goals came off the sticks of Jim Jones, Walter Tkaczuk, Lee Inglis, Jack Buchanan, Cam Crosby and Jarmo Lehtonen.

Bobby Walton had the only Oshawa goal.

Third-period goals by John Fisher, Dave McDowall, Skeeter Teal and Maurice L’Abbe gave the Black Hawks their win over Hamilton in St. Catharines. Cal Russell had given the Red Wings a 1-0 first-period lead.

Quick Hits

• Philadelphia Flyers spotted the Providence Reds a 1-0 first-period lead before coming back to cruise to a 4-1 win over the Reds at Providence. Leon Rochefort, Pat Hannigan, Brit Selby and Don Blackburn handled the scoring for the Flyers. Eddie Kachur replied for the Reds. Doug Favell and Bernie Parent split the goaltending chores for Philly.

  

• Flyers coach Keith Allen still has some decisions to make. He says he is yet to decide who will start in goal for the club when they open their first NHL season this week. Allen previously has said that Doug Favell would be his starter, but Bernie Parent’s recent fine work has gotten Allen thinking. Allen also says no decision has been made on the team captain. He says the team may go with three alternates for the first few games until he gets to know his personnel better.
• Both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Press are reporting that baseball’s Atlanta Braves have purchased a minority interest in the Pittsburgh Penguins. The transaction would mean little change for the on-ice product, but vice-president Peter Block would be promoted to president.
• Los Angeles Kings coach Red Kelly was so upset with his team’s performance against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night in St. Louis, he ordered the team onto the ice as soon as they arrived back on the west coast for a very late-night workout.
• Veteran forward Bob Barlow, who had earlier left the Rochester Americans training camp and returned home to Victoria, B.C., has returned to the Amerks Stamford, Ontario training facility and signed his 1967-68 contract.
• Goalie Don Simmons, who had been holding out from the New York Rangers, has agreed to terms with the team and will report to the AHL Buffalo Bisons. Simmons will share netminding duties in Buffalo with another veteran, Ed Chadwick. Simmons and Chadwick were traded for each other in 1962 when Toronto acquired him from Boston.