Scouts Notes: November 1975

• November of ’75 got off to a rough start for the Scouts, getting shutout first in Toronto and then in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, they were not merely shutout, but completely blown out of the water by the score of 10-0 (an identical score to a game in Philadelphia the previous season). This ended a brutal five game losing streak in which the Scouts were shutout four times and outscored by a total of 25-2. The streak came to an end with a 3-2 home victory over the Golden Seals on the 5^th.

• After that game, the Scouts power-play stood at a dismal 3 for 63 (4.86%). It improved to 13.07% by the end of the season, but special teams were abysmal all year: they finished dead last in both power-play percentage and penalty-kill percentage (72.88%).

• After earning a tie against the Maple Leafs at home in their next game, the Scouts embarked on a seven game road trip. The American Royal rodeo kept them out of Kemper for 20 days. They earned three points in the seven games by virtue of a victory against the Rangers and a tie in St. Louis. The Rangers were in the midst of intense upheaval; stars Derek Sanderson, Gilles Villemure, Eddie Giacomin, Brad Park and Jean Ratelle had all recently been shipped out, and Phil Esposito was still brand new in town after a blockbuster trade with the Bruins. After the Scouts scored their sixth goal in their 6-4 victory, Rangers fans rained down chants of “Ed-die, Ed-die” in protest of the Rangers shipping their beloved goaltender Giacomin out of town. Rangers goaltender Dunc Wilson flipped them the bird.

• Guy Charron and Denis Herron seem to be the only Scouts who played decently early on in the season. Herron couldn’t get many victories, but he got a lot of credit from the press for impressive play and keeping the Scouts in games they otherwise didn’t deserve to be. Wilf Paiement started the year ice cold. He told the Star, “I’m not relaxed like I was last year. I can’t sleep.” He broke out if it towards the end of November (but then missed the last two months of the year with an injury).

• The team returned home on Thanksgiving, November 27^th, to host the Blues. The Scouts treated captain Simon Nolet to a 3-2 victory on his 34^th birthday, and fans were treated(?) to a performance by the Hudson Brothers after the game.

• The Scouts record for the month was 3-8-3 (.321), and attendance for the four home games averaged 8,167.