Rookie goalie stars, but Hawks lose THE OREGONIAN, JANUARY 1, 1984

VICTORIA. British Columbia - Offense stalled again on a night when the Portland Winter Hawks received excellent substitute goaltending and the result was a 4-1 Western Hockey League win for the Victoria Cougars Friday in Memorial Arena. Peter Fry a 16 year old rookie for the Hawks who played his midget hockey in Victoria last season was the star of the show, making 31 saves while allowing only one power-play goal by Simon Wheeldon midway through the second period. Fry's misfortune was that Ian Wood started in goal for Portland and gave up three scores in a little more than four minutes early in the first period before Fry was summoned.

"Peter was just outstanding - easily the best player on the ice for either club," said Portland Coach Ken Hodge. "He controlled his rebounds better, made more clean saves and covered up well."

For Wood, though, it was his second straight poor showing. In Portland's last game before the Christmas break at Kamloops, Wood was shelled for five goals in the first 6:11 before heading for the bench. Which prompted Hodge to quickly name Fry as the Hawks' starting goalie when Portland and Victoria meet again Saturday at 7pm in Portland's Memorial Coliseum. Hodge, though, would not commit himself any further. "with goaltending, it's difficult to make long range decisions," Hodge said.
Aside from Fry, Hodge was pleased with his "extras" - 15 year olds Dan Woodley, Jamie Nicolls and Jeff Finley, plus 14 year old David Archibald who were called up from the Hawks affiliate teams for this holiday weekend. "They played relatively well: they certainly didn't hurt us," Hodge said. What hurt Portland was an overall lethargic effort, very little team play and virtually no puck movement. The result was only 24 shots on Cougar goalie Darren Moren, who had an easy time of it after the opening two minutes. The Hawks got on the board first when Terry Perkins notched his 16th goal of the season off a scramble at the 1:30 mark. But, that was the extent of Portland's offense, which entered the contest with a 6.36 goals per game average and wound up with a season low for offensive production.
It was much like the outcome early in December at Brandon when Wood had his finest hour with 55 saves in a 5-2 loss, Portland's previous low for goals this season. Perkins' goal gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead but it wasn't long after that when the Cougars took the upper hand. Adam Morrison beat Wood from the left circle at 4:47, Wheeldon collected his first goal of the night at 7:11 on a breakaway and Richard Hajdu scored on a deflection four seconds into a Cougar powerplay at 8:58.
On came Fry, but it was too late for the Hawks' offense. Fry made 17 of his saves in the second period, beaten only by Wheeldon, who teamed with Jack Mackeigan on a picture passing play with the man advantage at 6:27. Moren had a strong cast in front of him, led by the Cougars defensive corps of Dean Drozdiak, Rob Kivell, Brenn Leach and Misko Antisin. The quartet combined to deny the Hawks inside and received strong support from the Cougar forwards, who helped out with tenacious back checking.
The Victoria victory did a lot to jam up the WHL West standings. Kamloops remains on top and Portland, 19-15, in second. Victoria, 18-15, pulled into a third place tie with New Westminister, 17-17-2 each with 36 points, two behind Portland. The Hawks extended their losing streak to three games while Victoria won for only the ninth time in 20 decisions on its home rink. It was Portland's eighth straight regular season loss in Memorial Arena and the Hawks have lost four of five games against the Cougars this season. Defenseman Brian Benning was missing from the Portland lineup for the second straight game, nursing a strained back.

SCORE BY PERIODS
Portland..................................................................1 0 0-1
Victoria..................................................................3 1 0-4
FIRST PERIOD
1. Portland-Perkins (Podloski, G. Walker) 1:30.
2. Victoria-Morrison (Mackey,Bayliss) 4:47
3. Victoria-Wheeldon (Martin) 7:11
4. Victoria - Haidu (Kivell, Martin) 8:58
Penalties - G. Walker (P) 6:59; Mackeigan (V) 6:59; B. Kivell (V) 15:35; Butz (P minor,major) 18:18 Davies (V minor,major) 18:18; B. Walker (P minor,major) 19:42 Hervey (V minor,major) 19:42
SECOND PERIOD
5. Victoria - Wheeldon (Mackeigan, Morrison) 6:27
Penalties - Davidson (P) 4:37; Antisin (V) 6:51; Kordic (P) 8:54; B. Walker (P) 9:44 Martin (V) 9:44; B. Walker (P, misconduct) 12:14; Martin (V, misconduct) 12:14; Kordic (P, minor, misconduct) 14:23; Sasser (P) 18:49
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring - None
Penalties - Kivell (V) 1:00; Archibald (P) 4:34; Davidson (P, double minor) 9:03; Mackeigan (V) 9:03; Kordic (P, misconduct) 10:47; Antisin (V, major) 10:47; Butz (P) 12:48; Kivell (V) 12:48, Moren (V, served by Priestly) 12:48; Fry (P, major, served by Sasser) 19:22)