Who's Sorry Now?

The years have not been kind to Chicago sports fans. The Cubs are baseball's professional patsies. The White Sox are better, but not to be confused with the New York Yankees. The brawny Bears have not won the National Football League championship since 1946. Then there is a basketball team called the Zephyrs; nobody much cares whether they win or not--and they don't. But this winter the hockey fans, at least, have something to talk about. With only 13 games left before the Stanley Cup playoffs, the hungry Chicago Black Hawks are perched atop the National Hockey League, five points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A Good Gamble. If the Hawks win, it will be their initial first-place finish since they entered the league 37 years ago. They once were the doves of the N.H.L., so timid that from 1947 to 1958 their only excursion outside the cellar was fourth place in 1953. At last. Owner Jim Norris took a gamble that few fans thought would work. As the club's 22nd coach, he chose a tall, bush-browed, front-office man named Rudy Pilous, who had no professional coaching experience.

Surprise. In 1959, Pilous' first full year, the Hawks came in third in the regular season, gave it a good try before losing out io Montreal in the playoffs. They have not been out of the play-offs since. and in 1961 managed to win the Stanley Cup by beating Detroit four games to two. At Chicago's ancient stadium, the noise these days is like feeding time at the zoo. "They expect us to win every game and don't think another team should even touch the puck," says Pilous. "But that's better than the old days, when they'd cheer you because they felt sorry for you."

Nobody feels sorry for the Black Hawks any more. Chicago always had good stick-men and shifty skaters. Pilous concentrated on teamwork and hard-checking, hard-skating conditioning. The Black Hawks are the only team in the league that regularly holds a workout on the day of a game. When they get on the ice, says Pilous, "they should be sharp and eager and ready to take a bite out of the puck." Pilous' approach has helped Left Wing Bobby Hull, 24, become one of the most explosive scorers in hockey history, with a record-tying 50 goals last year. Hull got off to a slow start this year, but at the halfway mark he found the range. Fed by his linemates, Right Wing Murray Balfour and Center "Red" Hay, he has scored 18 goals in his last 14 games, last week turned his second "hat trick" of the season with his 26th, 27th and 28th goals against the Boston Bruins. "I'm not ashamed to admit it," says Hull. "Murray and Red do the work and I get most of the credit. There I am, all alone and rested. When the puck gets to me, I shoot."

Scooters & Checks. Besides Hull & Co., there is the "Scooter Line," consisting of Center Stan Mikita, 22, and Forwards Ab McDonald and Ken Wharram, who have scored 57 goals among them. Then there is the Chicago defense. Only 134 goals have been scored against the Hawks so far this season, best record of any team in the league. Defenseman Elmer Vasko, 27, is the biggest man in hockey at 6 ft. 3 in., 220 Ibs., and takes a special joy in grinding ambitious enemy forwards into the boards. As for Goalie Glenn Hall, 31, an N.H.L. All-Star for six of the past seven years, he is well on his way toward his first Vezina Trophy as the league's best goalkeeper, with a league-leading goals-against average of 2.30.

On the road, the Hawks are loudly booed for their knock-'em-down-again style. They have racked up a grand total of 701 min. in the penalty box, second only to the hot tempered Detroit Red Wings, but they deny all accusations of dirty play. "It's just that we check so close," says Defenseman Wayne Hillman. "Just call it rough." When a Chicago player pounds into an opponent, it is not merely to take him out of a play; it is meant to wear him down, maybe hurt him a little, so that in the final period, when the Hawks are still strong, the other team yearns for the showers. They admittedly gorge themselves on the weaker teams (the New York Rangers have yet to beat them; the Boston Bruins have won only twice). But the Black Hawks are not particular. "We are a sound club," says Bobby Hull confidently. "We ought to win the title and the Stanley Cup both this time. I don't think anyone can catch us."

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