Putting A Swifty Past Chicago

It was a wacky week for all of them—for de Maisonneuve Butch and the Czech with the friable finger, for Le Bras and Lou-Lou, for the Roadrunner and the rookie named Frig, and for the King of the Empty Nets. But as the days dwindled down in the frantic Stanley Cup finals it was becoming increasingly evident that at least one axiom held true: speed kills. Montreal had it, and it was killing the gutty but outmanned Chicago Black Hawks.

In the opening game, remember, the supercharged Canadiens came from behind to rout the Black Hawks 8-3, scoring four goals in the third period. Late in the game Montreal's Jimmy Roberts twice rammed Stan Mikita into the boards, obviously hoping to airmail the remains of that superior center back to his native Czechoslovakia. The middle finger of Mikita's right hand soon was swollen to the size of a dill pickle. It was latticed with stitches, painted an ugly burnt orange and encased in an aluminum splint. "It's not broken," he said, "but I can't bend it or hold my stick."

So Mikita became Chicago's cheerleader when the teams squared off in Game No. 2 at the Forum. His replacement was little Lou-Lou Angotti, a bouncy fourth-line forward who gets his five o'clock shadow at 9 a.m. "People are always ready to condemn you in a spot like this," Angotti said. "Sure, I can't tie Mikita's laces, but neither can a hundred other guys in this league."

Fearful of a game-long blitz similar to the third-period shelling in the opener, Chicago Coach Billy Reay altered his defensive strategy in an attempt to defuse the swifter Canadiens. Rather than continue the aggressive forechecking tactics that had failed so miserably, Reay instructed the Hawks to concentrate primarily on backchecking; in other words, they were supposed to skate side by side with the Canadiens all night.

Sound thinking, perhaps, if the opposition is the New York Rangers. But who can skate alongside Yvan (Roadrunner) Cournoyer or Jacques Lemaire or Guy Lafleur or Frank Mahovlich for more than two or three seconds without getting lost in transit. Rookie John Marks, who was assigned to trail the elusive Cournoyer, contemplated the hopelessness of his job. "One step," he said, "and Cournoyer is gone. I thought I'd be able to skate with him the way I skated with the Rangers, but he's something else. He just disappears on you."

Nevertheless, for half the game Chicago's new approach stifled all the Canadiens except Pierre Bouchard—de Maisonneuve Butch, as the affable bachelor restaurateur is known around Montreal. In his ugliest nightmares Reay never imagined that Bouchard would score against the Black Hawks. Neither did Bouchard. Pressed into regular service when Defenseman Jacques Laperriere broke his nose, Bouchard gave the Canadiens an early 1-0 lead as he moved up from the blue line, took a passout from Claude Larose and fired a 25-foot wrist shot past a bewildered Tony Esposito. "How many goals did you score all year?" Bouchard was asked. He began to count on his fingers, then looked up and said: "That was my very first. And I think it was my 12th shot on goal, but it may have been my 16th."

Angotti, meanwhile, was sparking Chicago's revival. Lou-Lou seems to run, not skate, and the Canadiens were penalized twice for their illegal attempts to stop him. Angotti helped set up Cliff Koroll as the Hawks tied the score midway through the game. But unfortunately for Chicago, the Roadrunner went beep-beep and singlehandedly ruined Reay's strategy. By then Marks had left Cournoyer's vicinity to play defense because Doug Jarrett injured his ribs. Cournoyer, the game's fastest skater, scored twice after disappearing behind the Chicago defense, and later Frank Mahovlich got his fifth empty-net goal of the season as Montreal won 4-1 and took a 2-0 lead in the series.

After the game Reay criticized the officiating of Referee Lloyd Gilmour. "What we could use in this league is one good American referee once in a while," Reay shouted. "All I want is a fair shake." He was particularly incensed over what he described as "a Canadian call" on Chicago's Pit Martin in the closing minutes when the Hawks were pressing a two-man advantage, and the diplomatic immunity Claude Larose seemed to enjoy as he shadowed Dennis Hull around the rink.

Returning home Thursday night, the Black Hawks obviously needed more than a fair shake to stop the Canadiens. "About the only thing we have going for us now,' said Pat Stapleton, "is that the Canadiens usually skate a little slower on the road than they do at home." Then help arrived. Mikita's swollen finger softened considerably, and the doctors rigged it with bandages and sponge rubber. "The only thing they won't do is shoot the finger with pain-killer," Mikita said. He told Reay he could play, and Jarrett, presumed to be lost for the rest of the series, decided he could work, too.

There also was a new face in the lineup: 22-year-old Defenseman Len Frig, up from Dallas and dressing for his first NHL game. "You'll work on our power play," Reay told the nervous rookie.