A STRIKE THAT STRUCK HOME

THE TRI-CITY AMERICANS OF THE Western (junior) Hockey League were
dressing for practice in Kennewick, Wash., (the other two cities are
Pasco and Richland) on | Dec. 29 when Bill LaForge, the new director
of hockey operations for this club of 16-to 20-year-old aspiring
pros, stormed into their locker room. ''The first thing he said was,
'Shut up!' '' recalls goalie Olaf Kolzig. ''The guy I was talking to,
defenseman Steve Jaques, didn't even know who he was, so he kept
smiling. Mr. LaForge said, 'Wipe that silly smile off your face.' ''

Three Americans said LaForge, 38, a onetime Vancouver Canucks
coach who has a history of browbeating his players and encouraging
goon tactics, then prodded and pushed one player with a hockey stick
until he rose quickly enough from the locker room bench upon
command. LaForge denies touching the player. Later, after taking over
coach Rick Kozuback's practice and lecturing the team on his
smash-face philosophy of hockey, LaForge told the trainer to paint
three X's on the team bench to mark seats for those who were playing
poorly, and to hang boxing gloves in the locker room so that
bickering teammates could settle their differences. At a team meeting
after practice, LaForge spoke figuratively of slitting opponents'
throats and compared hockey to being ''dropped in Vietnam.'' Says
Kolzig, ''We just wanted to play hockey.''
Which is why the team refused to do so. Following an overnight
meeting, all but two members of the team did not show for the Dec. 30
game against the Portland Winter Hawks, forcing its cancellation. The
next day, after receiving telephone assurances from WHL president Ed
Chynoweth that he would mediate the dispute, the players bused to
Portland, where they won 8-4.
On Jan. 2, the Americans, who had sought LaForge's dismissal,
settled for a promise from owner Ron Dixon to remove LaForge from the
team's day-to-day operations. According to Dixon, LaForge will keep
his title, but scout from Edmonton. The three players who led the
walkout have accepted Dixon's mandate of 10 hours of community
service, though as Kolzig says, ''I don't think we should be punished
for doing what we think was right.''