Sport: Good Times in the Garden

(2 of 2)

Waiting for Terry. On the nights when the Garden's basketball floor was put away and the ice rink refrozen, hockey fans also had to suffer the woes of injuries. Goalie Terry Sawchuk, best of a generation of topflight net tenders, fell ill (infectious mononucleosis), and Boston's narrow lead in the National Hockey League almost disappeared. But Coach Milt Schmidt, still smarting from a disappointing, injury-ridden season last year, snarled them back into winning ways. One of the secrets of his success was the decision to turn a so-so forward named Douglas ("Jet-Shot") Mohns into a defense man. In the front line last year, Jet-Shot scored only 18 points in 64 games. So far this season, operating from the back of the blue line, he has already scored 22 points in only 30 games. On the ice, Mohns backs up his shooting talents with surly vigor. A quiet, deadpan competitor, swift, blond Defenseman Mohns has the lean, utilitarian build of a Big Ten halfback, and he packs one of the roughest pairs of fists in hockey.

Last week when the Detroit Red Wings came to town, Goalie Sawchuk was still recuperating, and without him the Bruins were vulnerable. But Coach Schmidt's stiff training schedule had them prepared. Jet-Shot Mohns helped set up an early Boston goal, and the hard-pressed Bruins managed to hide behind it. The game ended in a tie, Boston 1, Detroit 1, leaving the Bruins still in first place, three thin points ahead of Detroit.