By Pat Calabria - New York Newsday, July 2, 1975
Photo courtesy of Tom Wersderfer
Whatever it is that Doug Hayes has, the National Lacrosse League could use more of it. In a sport that is still largely ignored and misunderstood, Hayes has been accepted, embraced and, yes, even asked for his autograph.
There were several of those requests last night, after Hayes scored four goals on only six shots and added five assists all in less than 2 periods, as the Long Island Tomahawks kept a share of first-place with a 25-20 victory over the Boston Bolts.
For a player already recognized as one of the best in the league, it was another performance to please those who insist that Hayes already is the best.
Tomahawks’ coach Morley Kells is one of the boosters. “He is better than Paul Suggate,” Kells said, readjusting his comparison of two weeks ago when he said Hayes would soon equal Suggate, now the league’s third-leading scorer.
At the time, though, Suggate was the league’s leading scorer, a distinction which today belongs to Hayes, the 24-year-old rookie, who has 54 goals and 75 assists.
“I’m happy and I’m enjoying lacrosse,” said Hayes. “Everything’s great.”
Photo courtesy of Tom Wersderfer
Certainly for Hayes and the Tomahawks, it is. The team has won six straight and 14 of 17 in its climb to first place, which is shared by Montreal. Hayes’ 130 points are one ahead of John Davis, of Montreal, which last night tied an NLL record by allowing Philadelphia only five goals in a 12-5 victory.
It’s fun to watch Hayes when he has the ball, long brown hair flowing from under his helmet and his long arms cradling the stick. His bursts of speed to- ward the cage are as recognizable as the batting stance of a baseball player or the form of a tennis pro. And it’s just as much fun to watch Hayes after a game.
He stood in a corridor beneath the stands in Nassau Coliseum last night, watching the final minutes after leaving the game with 13:04 left because of game misconduct penalty.
Sweat dripping down his legs, just a pair of shorts covering him, Hayes tiptoed out to a water fountain and immediately was besieged for autographs by a herd of grade schoolers in the crowd of 2,145.
Photo courtesy of Tom Wersderfer
“He’s got charisma,” said teammate and roommate Chuck Medhurst.
Hayes also has a flair for the unpredictable, for the crowd-pleasing and for the Hayes-pleasing.
Earlier this season, he bowed before entering the penalty box to the delight of an applauding audience. At a party given by team owner Bruce Norris last week, he stood up in front of all the players and their dates and all the executives and their wives and did an impersonation of Groucho Marx. “If the people enjoy it, why not?” he said.
That seems to be Hayes philosophy. “I am just that way,” he said of his outgoing nature. “Some guys on teams try and pick their friends and form little groups. I try to be friendly with everyone.”
Medhurst said, ‘He’s always clowning around and the ladies seem to like him. That’s part of the charisma.”
The other part is Hayes’ skill. He scored with 46 seconds left in the second period to gain Long Island a 14-14 tie, then scooped up a loose ball, passed it to Paul Warden, and Warden scored with four seconds left for a 15-14 lead.
He also assisted Warden on the first goal of the third period and later scored himself to start a three-goal tear that gave the Tomahawks an 18-15 lead. But after assisting on the last of Jim Johnston’s six goals, Hayes shoved and battered Boston’s Stan Ignatczyk and the fight resulted in four of the game’s 21 penalties, with Hayes leaving the game.
At 6-0, 190 pounds, Hayes is one of the tallest players in the league and one of the roughest, which he attributes to his interest in rugby, back in Vancouver. “The word out West was, ‘Don’t get him mad,'” Kells said.
Photo courtesy of Tom Wersderfer
That’s something Hayes never seems to do once the game is over. “I like to talk to people,” he said. “I won’t go up to a guy and tell him I’m Doug Hayes of the Tomahawks and all that, but if a guy comes up to me and asks me, I’ll tell him and I’ll talk to him. I like to talk to people like that.”
The people talk back. The spectators hooted when Hayes left the game because of the penalty. The cheers for him were loud. He is, along with teammate Dave Wilfong and Suggate, one of the few players in the NLL with a following.
The league could use 10 more like him,” Kells said.
