NHL Notes : Car No. 11 Goes to Gretzky’s Father

Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky won his 11th car in being named the most valuable player for the NHL All-Stars at the recent Rendez-Vous ’87 in Quebec City, Canada.

This one, he decided, would go to his father.

“I bought him a big car and he wouldn’t drive it for two years,” Gretzky said. “He was embarrassed to drive it, so this car’s a little bit smaller, it’s more his size. He’ll drive this one. It’s more his style, as he would say.”

Meanwhile, the Soviet MVP, Valeri Kamensky, got only a stereo.

“Maybe they thought it would be easier for him to take it back on the plane to Russia,” Gretzky said.

What makes the Soviets so good at hockey?

“They capitalize on their chances,” says Rick Green of the Montreal Canadiens. “When they have a chance to score, they score.”

Winnipeg’s Dale Hawerchuk not only enjoyed playing against the Soviets in the Rendez-Vous series, he liked the attention.

“Playing in Winnipeg you don’t see this much press around, that’s for sure,” he said.

Rendez-Vous ’87 closing scene:

When the second game was over, Gretzky, the NHL captain, exchanged jerseys with Viacheslav Fetisov, the Soviet captain, and skated over to the Soviet bench where he got a warm bear hug from Coach Victor Tikhonov.

Bryan Trottier, veteran center of the New York Islanders, has blown the whistle on NHL referees.

In a guest column that appears in a recent edition of The Hockey News, Trottier criticized referees for allegedly allowing less-skilled players to get away with “the garbage--the holding, the clutching, the grabbing.

“There’s just so much interference in the game today and the refs aren’t calling it,” wrote Trottier, the president of the NHL Players’ Assn. “By not cracking down, they are helping to slow the game down from where it was two years ago. And it’s leading to a lot of frustration from the better-than-average players.”

After scoring his first goal in 22 contests, the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over St. Louis, Minnesota’s Willi Plett told sports writers:

“I’ve got a lot of quotes saved up for you guys.”

Penalty shots are unusual, but not when Minnesota plays Calgary. The North Stars and Flames have met three times this season, and Calgary has had a penalty shot in two.

Even more unusual: The Flames scored on both of them--Perry Berezan on Oct. 28 against Don Beaupre and Joey Mullen on Feb. 14 against Kari Takko.

For a recent game against Detroit, Walt Poddubny of the New York Rangers wore teammate Tomas Sandstrom’s pants.

“I’m surprised I didn’t get a high-sticking penalty,” said Poddubny, referring to Sandstrom’s propensity for such penalties.