Sport: Timber!

The pro hockey season came in like a lamb. For almost a month the National Hockey League played before unfilled houses as though every man’s heart was set on winning the Lady Byng Trophy (hockey’s award for gentlemanly conduct). Last week in Chicago Stadium, hot-tempered Defenseman Kenny Reardon of the Montreal Canadiens put an end to all that.

When a fan heckled him as he skated close to the boards, Kenny unhesitatingly conked him on the head with a hockey stick. As the blood streamed, another spectator jumped onto the ice fighting mad but was lugged back before he reached Reardon. Other angry fans pressed against the low chicken-wire fence, and Canadiens Right Wing Leo Gravelle got into the act. He swung his stick and flayed three of the nearest spectators. It was 20 minutes before play could be resumed.

When the Chicago Black Hawks had won, 4-1 (and ten stitches had been taken in the first citizen’s head), Reardon and Gravelle were led off to the police station, booked and released under $200 bail. Next week when the Canadiens play in Chicago again, they will have a chance to tell the judge all about it. Charges: assault with deadly weapons.