12 Sports Aces, January 1943 — page 68: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Pucksters — the Prod | By Mac Davis While there is life, there is fight. The ice immortals keep their blades burnished long after they themselves are consigned to the puck junkpile. : HE spirit, the fire, the cour- age of great sports heroes never quite. dies out, it re- mains within them so that for a thrilling moment they can cast off the weight of years and show the bright fire of youth. When that happens there’s another exciting sport story to tell. Lester Patrick was a hockey player. From his early days in Montreal when he first strapped on a pair of skates to the day many years later in New York when he closed his brilliant career for ever, the Silver Fox’s flashing blades etehed many thrilling exploits in the annals of hockey. Yet he was an old man for sports when he fashioned his greatest and most brilliant moment, during the Stanley Se- ries of 1928. At that time the New York Rangers went to Montreal to fight it out with the Montreal Maroons for the Stanley Cup— the world series of hockey. Manager of the Rangers, Lester Patrick hadn’t been on the ice for half a dozen years; his hair had turned silvery gray, he was crowd- ing forty-five. That night he sat on the sidelines and saw his Rangers lose the first series game to the Maroons. The Ranger camp was confused and disheartened. Only the Sil- ver Fox remained calm and confident. ‘In the second game the Rangers and Maroons fought out the first period with- out a score. Up and down the ice, shooting, passing, checking—it was a bitter game that demanded plenty of grit of the play- ers. Suddenly Nels Stewart came whirling down the ice with the puck at the end of his stick, and in the twinkling of an eye- lash he sent it spinning toward the Rangers’ net. Lorne Chabot, the Ranger goalie, crouched low to intercept the flying puck. The puck struck him in the eye with a sickening thud and down went Chabot, half blind. Panic gripped the Rangers, for not only was Chabot their best goalie, but the only available one. It was a desperate situation, and the Silver Fox thought fast. He turned to his players and commended: “Go out there, boys, and argue with the referee!” Surprised, one player asked: “But what shall we argue about?” Lester Patrick snapped back: “Any- thing, but keep talking until I get back.” As Patrick left the ring the Rangers went to work on the referee. They argued and bickered about this and that. They even complained about the condition of the ice. But they kept talking until sud- denly, amidst all the bickering, Lester Patrick skated forth. He was dressed in uniferm and carried a goalie’s stick. “All right boys,” he stated calmly, “I’m playing the net.” Through the remainder of that game the old Silver Fox, like Horatius guarding the bridge, stood off the terrific Maroon attacks on the net. The Rangers, fighting with new fire, scored and the game was forced into overtime. They scored again in the overtime and won. In the final games of that memorable series, which the Rangers finally won, (E©@) E@QMMIC HOOKS