Jan. 24, 1965 - While Detroit manager-coach Sid Abel attributed his Red Wings’ 4-1 triumph over a lackluster Toronto club tonight to a solid team effort, King Clancy, assistant chief of the vanquished Leafs, cast a dissenting vote.
“It was too much Gord Howe,” said Clancy. “He maltreated our guys and nobody retaliated. They let him get away with murder.”
Watching from the press box, it appeared as if the Leafs were slaughtered because they were too slow of foot, thought, and deed. The Red Wings beat them to the puck throughout most of the game and had a marked edge except for the first minute of play and about eight minutes in the third period.
This was one game in which shots on goal told the story. The Wings bombed 42 shots at hapless Johnny Bower, while the Leafs could only muster 24 at Detroit’s Roger Crozier — and most of these were feeble or hurried by a bristling Wing defense.
The blow that really killed the Leafs came early in the second period. Ed Joyal fired a blast off the goalpost, and it appeared to run straight across the goal line and out the other side.
There was no red light, but referee Vern Buffey blew his whistle and ruled it a goal. Bower started to protest but stopped when threatened with a fine. His mates raised only a half-hearted howl, with Clancy doing most of the roaring from the press box.
“Bower said the puck didn’t cross the line, and I’ll take his word for it,” said Leafs coach Punch Imlach. “But the refereeing didn’t kill us. We didn’t have enough bite in our checking.”
Ron Ellis, one of the few Leafs to show any hustle, spoiled Crozier’s shutout bid with a goal while the Leafs were a man short. Howe got that one back 26 seconds later when Norm Ullman’s shot from the point glanced in off his skate. Big Gordie was right in on Bower at the time, and Bower insisted it was another illegal score because Howe had both feet in the goal crease.
Howe said afterward: “I’ll take any that appear by my name on the scoresheet. I gave John enough room.”
Imlach, who usually resorts to the whip after such a defeat, has given his troops a two-day rest.
“Maybe a change of pace will snap them out of it for this coming weekend,” Imlach said. “Our offense has been poor for several games, but the defense had remained solid. In this game, the defense drooped back level with our offense, and we were dead.”
The fourth-place Wings now are only one point back of the Leafs — and have three games in hand.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments