THEY MUST STAY MAD TO WIN
The four furiousfaces below belong to Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Pierre Pilote and MurrayBalfour, whose reliably short tempers put Chicago on top. Coach Billy Reay (infedora) says: "I like aggressive players."
One hazard of thewild, wide-open hockey the Black Hawks have made fashionable is the demand itputs on the goalie to keep up with his fast-moving forwards and defensemen. Atright, Chicago's Glenn Hall, the league's best, leaps up to meet a puckrocketing in from the melee.
Free-for-alls onthe ice have been the keynote of this hockey season, and the Black Hawks havebeen in the middle of most of them. At left, Chicago tangles with thelast-place Bruins, whose Boston-style brawling has helped enliven play eventhough they are in the league basement.
Overzealousattention to his duties as team "policeman" has earned Black Hawk RegFleming (below, center) the distinction of being the most heavily fined playerin the NHL. Since opponents worked over by Fleming often develop symptoms oftimidity. Coach Reay does not disapprove.
In the end, nomatter how many bruises it inflicts or how many goals it shoots, any teamdepends for success on keeping opponents from scoring. So far, along with afurious offense, the Hawks have done better in this respect than any otherteam. The sample of last-ditch defense at right shows Goalie Hall trapped inhis net before a wholesale onslaught by the New York Rangers.
FOUR PHOTOS
TONY TRIOLO
FOUR PHOTOS