European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 21, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 21, 19b7 the stars and stripes Page 19 commentary flyers reach new Low in Gorilla War turn on the police scanner scoop we re going to the Stanley cup finals. You never know where violence might break out when the Philadelphia Fly cars Are involved. Lei s Post a reporter Over near die Liberty Bell. The flyers might catch Wayne gift sky out for a walk and try to jump him. Lei s Slick another reporter Over near Wanamaker s in Case grand Fuhr goes shopping and they try to Bush whack him. Ami Don t forget the medi Cal renter in ease or. Randy Gregg pays a professional visit and the flyers catch him out by himself. Make sure the sports reporters get out to the spec Trum Early on Friday night. Don 1 ice them Dawdle in the press room during warm ups either. They should be watching practice ready to take Down uniform numbers and Chart he  flyers Sel a new Low even for the National hockey league when they jumped a rival player atthe end of pregame warm up last thursday in Man trial. Then nil president John Ziegler set a Newslow for lenient standards by Banning Only inc backup brawler who started the  fight in Montreal seems 10 be traced to Hie pro Vocative Little ritual of Claude Lernice of the canadians who made a habit of flicking a puck into the empty flyer net at the end of every pregame warm up. Since the sortie by Lem Cui was technically a violation of a to fool Boundary Between warm up zones the flyers could have asked officials to assess a two minute penalty. Instead the flyers chose to take the matter info their own hands de Hospodor s hands. A do fens Man who had played Only five limes in the playoffs and had not been in uniform for the first five games of the Montreal series suddenly materialized during the pregame skate for the sixth game of a semifinal  happened to Lead the flyers charge Back on the ice and happened to Duke out Lemieu while the other flyers backed him up. Naturally the canadians returned to the ice in various singes of undress and answered Back wit their fists before official or guards or real police could gel there. In its boys with be boys stance the league does not have a plan for stopping fights Dur ing games or in the flyer1 Case before games. It has Long been the suggestion Here that aloud Siren touched off by an official at Rin Klide would be the final signal to Slop fighting. Everybody who keeps swinging after the Siren should be sus Pended immediately one game per minute. The problem with turning the matter Over to local authorities is that the visiting team might be hauled off unfairly to a real penalty Box Down at the police station but thai might not have been a bad idea the other night at any rate civil authorities in Mon Treal Are still investigating. The Day after the flyers beat the canadians the league announced the punishment a total of $24,500 in fines split 36 ways Mere Beer Money. Only Hospodar was banned from the finals. Banning Only Hospodar was the most stupid thin the league could have done since he was totally irrelevant to the finals anyway. There is probably no Lega proof hat he was Given instructions to Start a pregame fight but subs like de Hospodar do not go put casually and Start a Brawl 15 minutes before game time without knowing the sentiment of their teams. His Bosses used him the Way a Street gang uses a Crow bar. He was a human weapon expendable in every Way. Because the game had not started the officials did not have authority to Levy penalties according to a league source. That Means the flyers found a Loop Bole and exploited it since the Braw was a True learn Effort it would have been fitting if the league Hail banished the entire flyer organization Llic owner the general manager and certainly Mike Keenan. The , Andall the players to the penalty Box for the Slart of he game in Montreal. Make pm sit there while  put in an empty net goal fur a Neil i 0 advantage for the canadians. Instead the flyers sent out their real hockey play ers and won the game -4-3. Their tactics of in Nida lion paid off leaving the canadians coach Jeanperrin shaking his head with disdain As if saying 10 himself anybody but those Guys the enforcer is a Philadelphia tradition Goingback to Dave the Hammer Sciuk whose disruptive tactics helped the flyers win inc Stanley dip in1974 and 1975. Alicr that every team had to recruit grapplers not terrible human beings hut marginal hockey players with a Clear Mission Start punch ing or catch the mid night bus of t. Going Back to their tradition the flyers have locked up on enough gorillas to Challenge for the Stanley cup again. They have some Fine players unto watch but their fights seem calculated passion less just part of the game plan. And any league thai condones these tactics deserves the minor sport stat us it has in the United states. We happen to like hockey in my household. Some relatives Are visiting from Canada and we had big plans to Lay in some Coldis and some pretzels for wednesday night s Edmonton flyers game on the Cable hockey can be a sport of Grace and action an strategy but i can understand my friends who stick up their noses at hockey and say i m turned off bythe  fighting during the games is bad enough but fighting before the game is disgraceful. The league s owners should haul John Ziegler into the penalty to alongside the flyers management and ask exactly Why a Margi Nal slugger Ike Hospodar was in uniform Ifni tight leading the Gallant crusaders into Battle the Yoffy Tornal oilers Star collects two nil awards Edmonton Alberta