Monday . . . and Guyle Fielder

If the name Larry Popein means something to you . . . if even today you wonder why Guyle Fielder was never an NHL regular . . . if you remember Art Jones or Sandy Hucul or Don Head or Lou Jankowski or . . .
Get thee to a bookstore because this one is for you.
The title of the book is: Ice Warriors (The Pacific Coast/Western Hockey League 1948-1974). It was written by Jon C. Stott, who is professor emeritus at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
A fan of this league since Jan. 25, 1952, when his father took him to a game in Victoria’s Memorial Arena, Stott would go on to have a relationship with the league that would result in his being given access to a whole lot of league memorabilia and documents. This included minutes taken at league meetings that detailed budgets, intricate information involving the moving of franchises and on and on.
Stott has taken all of that information, along with numerous interviews, and put it into this book.
It is written in a season-by-season format which, admittedly, makes for a tough go at times. Unfortunately, after a bit, one season starts to read like the next.
Still, that is something of a nit-pick when one considers the treasure trove of information between the covers.
Scattered throughout the book, too, are sidebars on many of the names from back then – Eddie Dorohoy, Emile Francis, Len Haley, Jackie McLeod, Bev Bentley et al. Yes, there is one – it’s actually in three parts – on Guyle Fielder.
Most interesting of all, other than the reawakening of so many memories as you are reintroduced to these names, is the fashion in which so many team owners were involved because they, too, were chasing their NHL dreams.
Virtually to a man they were led towards the church and then had the door slammed in their faces by then-NHL president Clarence Campbell and the members of what was then a very select group of NHL owners. It was, after all, the days of the Original Six. Knowing what we know now, it is easy to shake your head and wonder what the owners of these WHL teams that were scattered mostly up and down the West Coast were thinking.
And you won’t want to miss the Appendix, which chronicles the season-by-season standings, individual leaders, all-star teams, awards and playoff results.
Ice Warriors is a valuable addition to the history of the game of hockey and should be part of any fan’s library.
Just make sure you put it on the shelf with the cover facing out.
Oh, that cover . . . it’s pure dynamite – it’s Fielder, No. 7, of the Seattle Totems, no helmet, old leather gloves, black friction tape wrapped around his shins, cutting to his left with the puck on his backhand.
You look at it. The puck is flat but about an inch above the ice. You just know that Fielder is driving down the right wing and is about to deposit a backhand pass on the stick of . . .
(Ice Warriors is published by Heritage House Publishing Company Limited. It is soft cover, with 240 pages, and between 25 and 30 black-and-white photos. It carries a cover price of Cdn$19.95.)
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THE MacBETH REPORT: HC Eppan (italy Serie A) has released D Kevin Seibel (Prince George/
Swift Current/Vancouver). He had five goals and nine assists in 15 games this season. . . . Dresden (Germany 2.Bundesliga) has released D Jason Lundmark (Moose Jaw). Lundmark had two goals and five assists in 17 games this season. . . . D Steve Marr (Medicine Hat) has signed with Herner (Germany Oberliga) for the rest of this season. . . . F Jakub Sindel (Brandon) signs with Pelicans Lahti (Finland SM-Liiga). He started the year with Plzen (Czech Extraliga), getting
four goals and four assists in 22 games. . . . Former Saskatoon Blades D Larry Sacharuk is the new head coach of SG Pontebba (Italy Serie A). Sacharuk, the only CHL defenceman to score
50 goals in a season (1971-72), was the head coach of Vojvodina (Serbia) and the Serbian National Team.
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JUST NOTES: RW Jordan Eberle, who has 23 goals in 33 games for the Regina Pats, left his last game with a strained hip flexor and will be re-evaluated Thursday in Ottawa by medical staff at the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. The Pats are listing him as being out day-to-day. . . . F Brett Sonne of the Calgary Hitmen is the WHL’s Boston Pizza player of the week. He had eight points, including five goals, as the Hitmen went 2-1-0-1 on the road last week. Sonne, 19, was a third-round pick by the St. Louis Blues in the 2007 NHL draft. . . . G Chet Pickard of the Tri-City Americans is the WHL’s nominee as the ADT CHL goaltender of the week. He was 3-0-0-0 with a shutout, a 0.67 GAA and a .976 save percentage. His NHL rights belong to the Nashville Predators. . . . The recalls have started. The Spokane Chiefs have brought in G Alex Wright, 18, from the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. Wright is expected to backup James Reid this weekend as Dustin Tokarski heads for the Canadian national junior team selection camp in Ottawa. . . . Elliott (Specs) Chorley, the first man to coach the Brandon Wheat Kings when they moved into the Western Canada Hockey League in 1967, died Friday in Brandon. He was 77. A memorial service is scheduled for Brandon’s Central United Church on Wednesday, 1 p.m. . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes made it seven victories in a row on Monday as they beat the Tigers 4-3 in OT in Medicine Hat. The Tigers tied the game on D Mark Isherwood’s shorthanded goal with 0.7 seconds left in the third period. Lethbridge won it when F Zach Boychuk scored 27 seconds into OT. D Ben Wright had three assists for the Hurricanes, who will go for their eighth straight victory Tuesday night against the visiting Kamloops Blazers.