NEW YORK RANGERS 1
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TOWN WEEKLY MAGAZINE SECTION
lO
PRO HOCKEY EMPLOYS
‘FARM’ SYSTEM
Top Row: (left to right) —Lynn Patrick, Larry Molyneaux, Art Coulter, Les=
ter Patrick, Ott Heller, Murray Patrick, Babe Pratt, Alex Shibicky, Harry Wes-
terby (trainer). Boitow Row—DPhil Watson, Bryan Hextall, Neil Colville, Davey
Kerr, Clint Smith, Cecil Dillion, Dutch Hiller, Mac Colville.
OEE ESE
THE TURNING WORM
Continued From Page 3
“0. K., Chief. That'll be all
— the barber took off the big
white apron and Marion
Michael slid to the floor. “Fifty
cents, young man, if you
please.”
Marion Michael slid to the floor.
“Fifty cents, young man, if you
please.”
MARION MICHAEL'S heart
thumped against his chest. His
voice sounded far away and
strange as he said, “I haven't
any money.”
“What?” the friendly barber
looked down at the small face,’
strained and tense.
“My father gave me fifty
cents—” the boy started and
choked.
“Did you know you hadn’t
any money when you came in,
Son?” Small boys at home had
given Tony understanding.
Marion Michael nodded.
“You shouldn’t do that, young
man.”
“But I had to have it done
before my father came home—"
something in the child’s face
made Tony sense the crisis in
the situation “—I couldnt
wait.” :
‘“Have your father come in
tonight and pay me, will you?”
The child nodded. “Oh, yes,
sure. And thank you for the
hair cut,” he called back from
the doorway.
Marion Michael slipped in the
service entrance, climbed the
back stairs and reached the
kitchen. Spread on silver
plates were the silly little sand-
wiches. He lifted the top of
one exploringly, and touched its
filling.
Lucy pushed open the swing-
ing door from the breakfast
room. “Yo’ motheh lookin’ all
oveh fo’ yo!” she began.
‘“Heaven’s sake, what you bin
doin’?”’ as she caught sight of
his bare bleached head.
“Nothin’.”
“Land ob Liberty! If yo’ was
mine I'd whale de daylights out
ob yo’. It’s time to pass ’roun’
dese here sandwiches. Better
20 on in.” Lucy placed a silver
plate in Marion Michael’s hand
and half pushed him through
the door.
Now for it!
The room was filled with the
heavy scent of flowers and thick
with clouds of cigarette smoke.
At the piano a young man was
playing idly, and knots of
people were chatting and laugh-
ing over the teacups when the
small grotesque figure entered,
the silver plate in both hands
held straight before him.
Mother sat behind the silver
tea tray. She gasped as she
saw the clipped head and
strained face of the little boy
who came toward her, passing
sandwiches. “Marion Michael
Ross!” Mother almost dropped
the teapot.
Gravely as an image the
small boy pacsed the silver
plate. A few smiles that flashed
across the faces of the guests
were frozen at the start when
they looked from the small boy
to the startled mother.
Mother looked as if she were
about to have a good cry, and
Marion Michael, heavy with
the feeling of impending pun-
ishment, knew that his own
tears were not very far away.
But no matter what lay ahead,
his job right now was passing
sandwiches. And pass sand-
wiches he would and did.
THAT WAS the strained
moment of Dad’s entrance. He
threw open the dor, and Marion
Michael looked up, rejoicing.
Now Dad would see it. No
more a sissy. Taking care of
Mother just as he had been told,
doing as she told him, but no
more a sissy. A man among
men!
Dad took one look at
Mother’s flushed embarrassed
face, around the room where
some twenty guests were strug-
gling to restrain smiles, glanced
at the bare head of the small
boy and grasped the situation.
In four quick strides Dad
crossed the room, leaned down
and kissed Mother. The fifth
step took him to the side of
Michael Marion, standing very
small and still, an empty silver
plate in his hands.
Dad didn’t kiss Marion
Michael. Instead he extended
his hand, took the small boy’s
in his own, and shook it heartily.
“Congratulations, Mike,” he
said. “I'm glad you got the
kind "of hair cut I asked for.
I like it. It’s great.” Then he
took a cup of tea,and ordered
a lot of sandwiches and talked
with everybody and the party
was gay again.
Marion Michael ran about,
passing sandwiches with a light
heart and an overflowing joy.
Dad had called him “Mike!” In
front of all that erowd. And
praised his hair cut.
It seemed an age until the
party broke up, and as the last
guests drifted away, Marion
Michael — Mike preferred —
heard Dad talking at the tele-
phone. He hung up the receiver
with a bang, strode through the
room and threw open the win-
dows.
“It’s decided, Adele,” he said.
Mother looked up from the
cups and plates. “What, dear?”
“I’ve just sent a telegram to
the manager. We’ll start for
the country on Monday.”
“But, Michael—”
Mother got no further, for
Dad went on: “This young
Mike of ours showed me the
way to handle the thing. I’ve
known for a long time that the
country job was the one I should
take. And I've been afraid be-
cause it was a change, because
living in the country might not
be quite so easy and pretty as
living here with all this—" he
waved toward the flowers and
the cake plates—“I’ve been let-
ting you and Marion—I mean
Mike, grow to be strangers to
me just because I was a coward.
But when I came in this after-
noon and saw that small head I
knew he wasn’t afraid, and I'm
not.
“We're going to the new job
next week, we three. You're
going to be well and strong in
that fresh, fine climate. And
Mike is going to learn to ride
and hunt. And I'm going to
have a home that I can come
back to at night.”
Mother loked up into his face.
“I didn’t know you felt it so
deeply, Michael, being away—"
“We didn’t know Michael
felt it so deeply, either, wear-
ing that picturesque crop of
curls. It took a lot of courage
for him to have it cut.”
Like a whirlwind a small boy
came running into the room.
“Dad! Mother! What do you
think? I was eating a sand-
wich and look—it came out. My
front tooth! See—"
Under the close-clipped scalp
the child’s face grinned widely
He showed a yawning space.
“Don’t I look funny?”
“You look fine!’ said Mother
and Dad in unison.
THE LATEST and most impor-
tant development in present day
hockey is the appearance of the
“farm’’ system for developing
new talent. Responsible for
the innovation is Les Patrick,
veteran manager of the New
York Rangers.
The days of the individual
star in hockey is past, Patrick
told us. Today, the average big
time hockey team #8 composed
of a group of men of equal abil-
ity and drilled in the impor-
tance of teamwork. The star
system was the result of the
short squads of other days,
when with only 10 or 11 play-
ers at his command, the man-
ager had to keep them in the
game longer. Today, with even
amateur teams averaging 15
men to the squad, and the play
speeded up as it is, it is no
longer necessary to keep the
“men on the ice as long.
The current Rangers team is
unique in more than one re-
spect. In the first place, all but
two of the men on the squad
were developed by the team in
one of its farms. These two
men, Art Coulter, who was ae-
quired in a swap from the Black
Hawks, and Davey Kerr, who
was purchased from the Mon-
treal Maroons, pre-date the
establishment of the farm sys-
tem.
In brief, the way the farm
system works: The Edmingten,
Alberta ‘“Roamers,” while not
owned outright by the “Rang-
ers” are the first link in the
farm system. Here it is that
young Canadians (the backbone
of the sport, incidentally) are
given their first crack at com-
petition. The ‘Roamers’” is
strictly an amateur aggregation
(junior) and the boys average
from 17 to 19 years of age.
When one of the junior group
shows sufficient promise, he is
moved along into the senior
amateur unit, the New York
“Rovers” and is given an op-
portunity to display his wares
at the Madison Square Garden,
When the player has shown
sufficient progress and ability
to warrant promotion into the
professional ranks, he is sent
AHA RHR A
to the Philadelphia “Ram-
blers,”” which is rated as one of
the best teams in the Minor
Professional ranks. It is from
here; that he is promoted inte
big time on the “Rangers.”
Strangely enough, the num-
ber of hockey players gotten
from colleges is negligible.
Most ‘of the present day big
leaguers are natural born skat-
ers and hail from Canada. The
importance of the farm system
is again demonstrated through
this fact. The manager of the
amateur ‘‘Roamers,” always
anxious that his team contain
the best material available, is
always on the lookout for up
and coming stars. These men
are on call to the manager of
the ‘““Rangers’ at any time.
The development of the 4 R's
idea came about quite by acc
dent. Les Patrick, pilot of the
“Rangers,” ‘was interested im
amateur hockey only as a
hobby. He rented the Gardem
for Sunday night games for the
pros, and the use of the rink
in the afternoon went with it.
Consequently, he threw it opem
to the amateurs to encourage
interest in the sport.
At that time, the amateurs
were banded together in what .
was known as the Tri-State
League, consisting of Atlantie
City, Hershey, Pa., and Balti
more. With the availability of
the Garden, three New York
teams were added and it be-
came the Eastern League. The
New York aggregations were
the New York Athletic Club,
St. Nick’s and the Crescent
A. C. They were painfully bad.
A group of sportsmen ap-
proached Patrick for his opin-
ion on what was needed to perk
up the New York teams. ‘“Cana~
dians,” he answered.
The interested parties asked
Patrick’s co-operation in build-
ing a better set of outfits to rep-
resent Gotham, and he accept
ed. His first step was to estab-
lish a school in Winnipeg and
to invite the most promising
youngsters in the vicinity te
complete. That was in 1934,
Continued On Page 13
EEE ERATE
WORLD'S FAIR BUREAU
ARRANGEMENTS now have
been completed by the New
York World’s Fair committee
for an ever-changing program
of international music festivals
all through the Fair season,
Vocal and instrumental solo-
ists, symphony orchestras and
famous conductors of world re-
pute will be presented in the
World’s Fair Music Hall which
will seat 2500 persons.
Every land and every period
in music will be represented in
this series of music festival pro-
grams.
AVIATORS WHO have contrib-
uted to the progress made in
the science of flight will appear
in person at the Aviation Build-
ing.
Each day during the Fair,
some aviator will give talks on
his own epoch-making experi-
ences and will explain: the sig-
nificance of new triumphs in
conquering the air.
TOWN’S new service, the
World’s Fair Bureau, is open to
all readers of TOWN Weekly
Magazine Section. This depart-
ment will gladly answer any
questions about ‘interesting
points to visit, where to stop,
routes to take and other ques-
tions relating to the World's
Fair in New York.
TOWN’S World’s Fair Buream
supplements a special weekly
directory, with information om
popular-priced hotel and apars-
ment hotel accommodations im
and around New York, te-
gether with announcements eof
restaurants, amusements and
entertainments that you will
want to take in while on your
trip to the fair.
TOWN’S World’s Fair Bu-
reau will answer any ques-
tions on reservations,
places to visit in New
York, and any other ques-
tions relating to visits to
the World’s Fair at New
York. Enclose a self-ad-
dressed stamped envelope
and direct your questions
to TOWN, World's Fair
Bureau, P. 0. Box 721,
Rochester, N. ¥X.