Height: 5-9
Weight: 170
Shoot: L
Born: 31 Jan 1948, Renfrew ON
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | Los Angeles | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Los Angeles | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
• Brother of Terry Slater.
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Oh So You're the Coach's Brother • by Walt Marlow • The Hockey Spectator • November 10, 1972
Followers of men who play games have a tendency to nod knowingly when the coach has his brother on the team. But if there was any eyebrow raising in the case of Peter Slater the player and Terry Slater the coach, the latter, doubtless, had his position vindicated on a recent afternoon in New York. Brother Peter delivered the decisive goal in a 4-3 sudden death victory over the Raiders that snapped a three-game Los Angeles Sharks losing streak. Just a few short months ago when the Sharks were an organization of unsigned players, Terry scanned a scemingly endless list of draftees and allowed as to the fact that his brother Peter was quite a hockey player. "I had him with me in Des Moines last year," soberly reflected Terry. "He had 27 goals and 151 penalty minutes. He can skate, and he can rough it. I think he can make our club." To be sure, no one ever doubted that he would, with the possible exception of Peter himself. He knew that to earn a spot on the parent roster he'd have to play better than average. Through the first seven games, the 23-year-old Slater, who carries 170 pounds on a 5-11 frame, didn't exactly distinguish himself. His output was one goal, one assist, three minor penalties and one fighting major. For that matter, Sharks of far greater stature weren't distinguishing themselves, either. Particularly on home ice, where they captured only one of four starts before heading out on a five-game road trek. But Slater, paired with two other former International Leaguers, Tom Serviss and Bernie MacNeil, was improving with each outing. It seemed only a question of time before they started making an impact. They couldn't have picked a more opportune moment in New York. The Sharks, who had blown a 3-1 lead the night before in Philadelphia before finally succumbing, 5-4, had squandered a three-goal lead with the Raiders. That they were still around after regulation time was a minor miracle in itself considering the rest factor between evening and afternoon games. Terry the coach sent them out for the first shift of the overtime and New York never got out of its ownend of Madison Square Garden. And the Sharks had their first sudden-death victory 1:56 into the extra session when Slater connected on a 35-footer with assists going to MacNeil and Serviss. Also noted in that New York victory was the emergence of Mike Byers, who by his own calculations figures to score 40 goals this year. Through the first seven games he had only hit for one, a deplorable output that instigated some line juggling by Slater. Equally disappointing had been the play of Tom Gilmore, who had been tabbed to crack the Detroit Red Wings lineup this season before his defection to the WHA. A 30-goal producer in Tidewater of the American League last season, Gilmore finally got his first as a Shark in the Garden. Then Byers followed with two more. Also highly encouraging to Slater in that third road win in four starts was the play of goaltender George Gardner, winless in two previous outings. Slater had been forced to yank Gardner midway of the second period in the homestand finale against Ottawa after he had given up four "bad" goals. Los Angeles ultimately lost the bizarre contest, 8-5, drawing 23 minutes in penalties against Ottawa's 11. Slater, highly critical of the officiating Brent Casselman, observed: "I'm not saying we didn't deserve those penalties. But Ottawa, which is the worst team we've played, deserved a helluva lot more than they received." Slater went on to say: "We close the gap to 5-6 late in the game, and Ottawa is getting away with everything in the book. One of my guys so much as looks at somebody and up goes Casselman's arm. We see red when he steps on the ice. What's right for the other team is wrong for us in his book. He ruined a good hockey game by his inability to call'em on both sides." |
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