Quote:
Originally Posted by Temporary_User
Was there ever a system where teams homegrew their teams locally?
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Kind of, but not really. Before 1969, NHL teams sponsored junior clubs, and so they often had a good idea of what talent was available in those regions. Teams would list a kid at 14 or 15, and he'd go up through their junior system into the minors into the NHL. Thus teams with names like the Kitchener Rangers and the old Estevan Bruins.
(This led to an amusing Memorial Cup final in 1968 where the Estevan Bruins and Niagara Falls Flyers - both Bruins affiliates - came out wearing the same uniform.)
But there was no outright territorial control. The Bruins, for instance, signed the Kraut Line of Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer (all HHOFers) right out from under Toronto's nose.