HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Hartford Whalers sent 15 players to the minor leagues Monday, including hockey great Gordie Howe's son Marty and Ray Allison,the team's top draft pick last year.
Marty Howe, who spent much of last year with the Whalers' minor-league club in Springfield, Mass., had come to camp behind five veteran defensemen.
He would have had to knock one of them off the team to earn a berth on the roster.
Howe had played briefly with his father and brother Mark on the Whalers at the end of last season.
Allison scored 16 goals in 64 games as a rookie last season and sparkled in the early days of training camp this year. But he played poorly in five exhibition games as the Whalers remained winless.
Goalies Ken Holland and Jay Palladino were also sent to the Whalers' Binghamton, N.Y. affiliate of the American Hockey League.
Others cut were: defensemen Chuck Luksa, Mark Renaud, Stuart Smith, and Kevin Kemp; left wings Bill Bennett, Jeff Brubaker, Dave McDonald, and M.F. Schurman; right wings Jean Savard and Tim Sheehy; and center Tom Colley.
