The man to watch tonight for the visiting Montreal Quebecois is forward John Davis. He was high scorer for Montreal last season with 78 goals, 105 assists for 183 points. Davis was almost the hero of the first Boston-Montreal game at the Forum on April 25. With 31 seconds to play and the Bolts leading 17-16 Davis took a clear 25-ft. shot to his favorite corner—the goalie’s lower left. The shot eluded Ted Gernaey but hit the post. Boston picked up the rebound and killed off the clock.
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President of the Quebecois is former Montreal Canadiens policeman John Ferguson.
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And, speaking of policemen, we have Bolts’ goalkeeper Bob McCready who was fined $100 by NLL commissioner Gerry Patterson for his part in that opening night fight with Long Island’s Ted Greves. Greves was a quarterback last year for CFL’s Hamilton Tiger Cats.
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Montreal coach Jim Bishop is one of the founders of the NLL. Bishop was a vice president in the Detroit Red Wings organization before leaving to help launch pro lacrosse. He was also a very successful Jr. A lacrosse coach with the Oshawa Green Gaels of the Ontario Lacrosse Association.
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The Bolts will make two more Garden appearances before heading off on a six-game road trip while the circus occupies the Garden. The Bolts play Wed., May 7 vs. the Maryland Arrows and Sat., May 10 against the Long Island Tomahawks.
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For the record, the first Boston player to score a goal in a home game was Brian Davidson. He beat Long Island’s Merv Marshallat 4:42 of the first period of the april 28th home game.
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The most spectacular goal of the season so far has to belong to Billy Squires. Squires, a full blooded Indian, had a clear breakaway on the Tomahawk goal. He threw several fakes, drew Marshal to his knees but, instead of shooting, Squires ran passed the net then whipped in an around-the-back-over-the-shoulder special.
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Les Quebecois players to watch tonight, based on their performances in the first Boston-Montreal game: defensemen Gord Floyd and Dave Litzenberger and forwards Sandy Lynch and Dale MacKenzie . . . and, of course, John Davis.
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Bolts’ captain Ivan Thompson commenting on the team’s first loss to Long Island: “We needed it to bring us back to reality. All the breaks went our way in the two road wins (Quebec and Montreal) and we were getting cocky. But nobody’s going to cakewalk to the championship in this league.”
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No final word on who’ll be in goal for Montreal tonight but look for some Roger Crozier style acrobatics if les Quebecois go with Ernie Mitchell. Mitchell played most of the first game at the Forum against Boston after Dave Evans got off to a bad start.
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Montreal’s John Sheffield, a 1974 all-American from Penn State, is the only black player in the NLL. Sheffield was on the Boston draft list but Montreal claimed him first.
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Bolts’ goalie Ted Gernaey has been experimenting with a hockey type goalie mask, much like the one worn by Bernie Parent.
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The Bolts have taken over the old AHL Boston Braves locker room.
