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CaptainCrunch · 04-20-2024, 06:51 PM

1967-68

The gold rush was here. The NHL's decision to finally expand from 6 to 12 years mad a few of the owners nervous. They still had their doubts that cities like St. Louis and Oakland could sustain teams over the long run, while others hated the method chosen by the established clubs to keep their teams stocked.

The approved plan called for existing teams to protect 1 goalie and 11 other players for the draft. When a team lost a player, it could fill its protected list with another player. This meant that a team would lose its 13th best player and put its 14th best player, if it lost its 15th best then the 16th best would be protected. This system seemed to favour the established teams. Clarence Campbell's back up plan called for teams to be able to protect 2 players and only 14 other players in the 1968 and 69 league drafts, and he felt that this would help in the equalization and the new teams wouldn't have trouble picking which 14 players to protect.

However the older team said that they're going to have problems. Campbell felt that with his backup plan that teams would improve by 1968-69 and by 1970 the new teams would have a field day.

On June 6, 1967 the expansion draft was held in Montreal and the new teams found what they were getting for the $2 million dollar expansion team. However the new owners good will went up in cloud of cigar smoke and by the end of the expansion draft most of the new owners felt that they had been taken advantage of, after all they had paid $100,000 each for the bodies that ordinarily under the regular draft had only cost $30,000.00, however for the $2,000,000 they paid they did end up with 20 bodies, and a chance to share in radio, TV and attendance.

Even the players seemed to have differing opinions some of them looked at their team and felt their owners for all of the bodies and money had received only 7 or 8 actual NHL players. However the league had brilliantly put all of the new teams in a division of their own, so while the expansion teams got regularly pounded by the established teams, they still had a chance to contend except for California who were dreadful.

Combined the 6 new teams went a fairly respectable 40-86-18 record against the established teams.

The West Division playoffs were tightly contested in that all three of the series went 7 games, and even though St Louis got swept by the Canadians they were all 1 goal games.

At the end of the day the NHL had declared the expansion draft a success and lit their cigars up and racked in the money.

Trivia

The new expansion teams make up the West Division, while the Established teams make up the East Division, the league plays a 74 game specials.
Prior to the expansion draft LA Kings owner Jack Kent purchases the entire Springfield team from Eddie Shore giving the Kings a fully stocked farm team.
1967 Amateur draft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NHL_amateur_draft
1967 Expansion draft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NHL_expansion_draft
The LA Kings selected Terry Sawchuck with the first pick of the expansion draft.
The Rangers move into the newly constructed Madison Square Gardens.
The Hall of Fame inducts 4 members: Turk Broda, Neil Colville, Harry Oliver and Red Story.
Boston starts establishing the Big Bad Bruins when the steal Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield from the Black Hawks for Pit MArtin, Giles Marotte and Jack Norris.
Toronto trades Frank Mahovlich, Garry Unger and Peter Semkowski to Detroit for Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson and Floyd Smith.
Scotty Bowman takes the bench in St Louis after they fire Lynn Patrick after a 4-10-2 start.
On Oct 11th , Montreal's Jean Beliveau scores his 400th NHL Goal.
On Dec 8th the California Seals change their name to the Oakland Seals.
On Dec 30, CBS airs its first game of the week, it features LA and Philly in the first game at the LA Forum.
On Jan 13, 1968 Minnesota North Star Bill Masterton is checked by Seal defenseman Larry Cahan and Ron Harris. Masterton falls backwards and strikes his head on the ice, he dies 30 hours later. The league starts accelerating a movement towards helmets.
The Canadians win the East with a 42-22-10 record.
Stan Mikita leads the NHL with 87 points.
Bobby Hull leads the league in goals for the 6th time with 44.
The Flyers go 31-32-11 and win the Campbell Trophy for finishing first in the West.
The Penguins fail to make the playoffs in the West, Oakland finishes dead last after winning 11 of their first 64 games, they fire coach Bert Olmstead who probably said "thank god".
St Louis' Barclay Plager one of the three insane Plager brothers in the NHL leads the league with 153 PIM.
Montreal's Gump Worsley leads the NHL with a 1.98 gaa.
On March 3, 1968 Jean Beliveau scores his 1,000th point.
In the West playoffs St Louis upsets the Flyers in 7 games.
The North Stars lose their first 2 games against the Kings but battle back to win in 7 games.
In the East Montreal sweeps the Bruins, Chicago upsets New York in 6 games.
In the semifinals the Habs use the Hawks like a chew toy winning in 5 games, The North Stars and Blues go 7 games including 4 games in OT, but the Blue's prevail.
The St Louis are courageous in the finals, but lose in 4 straight games losing 4 won goal games with two of them going to ot.
Glenn Hall wins the Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing effort.
Stan Mikita wins the triple crown taking home the Byng, Art Ross and Hart Trophy.
Montreal's Gump Worsley and Rogie Vachon share the Vezina.
The Calder Trophy goes to Derek Sanderson of the Buins.
Bobby Orr wins his first of 8 Norris Trophies.
Montreal's Claude Provost wins the inaugural Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance, Sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
The Soviet Union utterly dominates the Olympics blowing out Canada 5-0 in the Gold Medal game.
Denver wins the NCAA Championships.

Debuts

Bobby Schmautz, Chicago Black Hawks
Bill White, Los Angeles Kings
Walt McKechnie, Minnesota North Stars
Mickey Redmond, Montreal Canadiens
Jacques Lemaire, Montreal Canadiens
Garry Monahan, Montreal Canadiens
Walt Tkaczuk, New York Rangers
Dennis Hextall*, New York Rangers
Simon Nolet, Philadelphia Flyers
Barclay Plager, St. Louis Blues
Garry Unger, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

Bill Masterton, Minnesota North Stars

Bronco Horvath, Minnesota North Stars
Bernie Geoffrion, New York Rangers
Dickie Moore, St. Louis Blues
Don McKenney, St. Louis Blues

04-20-2024, 06:51 PM	#154
CaptainCrunch Norm! Join Date: Jun 2002 Exp:	1967-68 The gold rush was here. The NHL's decision to finally expand from 6 to 12 years mad a few of the owners nervous. They still had their doubts that cities like St. Louis and Oakland could sustain teams over the long run, while others hated the method chosen by the established clubs to keep their teams stocked. The approved plan called for existing teams to protect 1 goalie and 11 other players for the draft. When a team lost a player, it could fill its protected list with another player. This meant that a team would lose its 13th best player and put its 14th best player, if it lost its 15th best then the 16th best would be protected. This system seemed to favour the established teams. Clarence Campbell's back up plan called for teams to be able to protect 2 players and only 14 other players in the 1968 and 69 league drafts, and he felt that this would help in the equalization and the new teams wouldn't have trouble picking which 14 players to protect. However the older team said that they're going to have problems. Campbell felt that with his backup plan that teams would improve by 1968-69 and by 1970 the new teams would have a field day. On June 6, 1967 the expansion draft was held in Montreal and the new teams found what they were getting for the $2 million dollar expansion team. However the new owners good will went up in cloud of cigar smoke and by the end of the expansion draft most of the new owners felt that they had been taken advantage of, after all they had paid $100,000 each for the bodies that ordinarily under the regular draft had only cost $30,000.00, however for the $2,000,000 they paid they did end up with 20 bodies, and a chance to share in radio, TV and attendance. Even the players seemed to have differing opinions some of them looked at their team and felt their owners for all of the bodies and money had received only 7 or 8 actual NHL players. However the league had brilliantly put all of the new teams in a division of their own, so while the expansion teams got regularly pounded by the established teams, they still had a chance to contend except for California who were dreadful. Combined the 6 new teams went a fairly respectable 40-86-18 record against the established teams. The West Division playoffs were tightly contested in that all three of the series went 7 games, and even though St Louis got swept by the Canadians they were all 1 goal games. At the end of the day the NHL had declared the expansion draft a success and lit their cigars up and racked in the money. Trivia The new expansion teams make up the West Division, while the Established teams make up the East Division, the league plays a 74 game specials. Prior to the expansion draft LA Kings owner Jack Kent purchases the entire Springfield team from Eddie Shore giving the Kings a fully stocked farm team. 1967 Amateur draft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NHL_amateur_draft 1967 Expansion draft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NHL_expansion_draft The LA Kings selected Terry Sawchuck with the first pick of the expansion draft. The Rangers move into the newly constructed Madison Square Gardens. The Hall of Fame inducts 4 members: Turk Broda, Neil Colville, Harry Oliver and Red Story. Boston starts establishing the Big Bad Bruins when the steal Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield from the Black Hawks for Pit MArtin, Giles Marotte and Jack Norris. Toronto trades Frank Mahovlich, Garry Unger and Peter Semkowski to Detroit for Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson and Floyd Smith. Scotty Bowman takes the bench in St Louis after they fire Lynn Patrick after a 4-10-2 start. On Oct 11th , Montreal's Jean Beliveau scores his 400th NHL Goal. On Dec 8th the California Seals change their name to the Oakland Seals. On Dec 30, CBS airs its first game of the week, it features LA and Philly in the first game at the LA Forum. On Jan 13, 1968 Minnesota North Star Bill Masterton is checked by Seal defenseman Larry Cahan and Ron Harris. Masterton falls backwards and strikes his head on the ice, he dies 30 hours later. The league starts accelerating a movement towards helmets. The Canadians win the East with a 42-22-10 record. Stan Mikita leads the NHL with 87 points. Bobby Hull leads the league in goals for the 6th time with 44. The Flyers go 31-32-11 and win the Campbell Trophy for finishing first in the West. The Penguins fail to make the playoffs in the West, Oakland finishes dead last after winning 11 of their first 64 games, they fire coach Bert Olmstead who probably said "thank god". St Louis' Barclay Plager one of the three insane Plager brothers in the NHL leads the league with 153 PIM. Montreal's Gump Worsley leads the NHL with a 1.98 gaa. On March 3, 1968 Jean Beliveau scores his 1,000th point. In the West playoffs St Louis upsets the Flyers in 7 games. The North Stars lose their first 2 games against the Kings but battle back to win in 7 games. In the East Montreal sweeps the Bruins, Chicago upsets New York in 6 games. In the semifinals the Habs use the Hawks like a chew toy winning in 5 games, The North Stars and Blues go 7 games including 4 games in OT, but the Blue's prevail. The St Louis are courageous in the finals, but lose in 4 straight games losing 4 won goal games with two of them going to ot. Glenn Hall wins the Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing effort. Stan Mikita wins the triple crown taking home the Byng, Art Ross and Hart Trophy. Montreal's Gump Worsley and Rogie Vachon share the Vezina. The Calder Trophy goes to Derek Sanderson of the Buins. Bobby Orr wins his first of 8 Norris Trophies. Montreal's Claude Provost wins the inaugural Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance, Sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The Soviet Union utterly dominates the Olympics blowing out Canada 5-0 in the Gold Medal game. Denver wins the NCAA Championships. Debuts Bobby Schmautz, Chicago Black Hawks Bill White, Los Angeles Kings Walt McKechnie, Minnesota North Stars Mickey Redmond, Montreal Canadiens Jacques Lemaire, Montreal Canadiens Garry Monahan, Montreal Canadiens Walt Tkaczuk, New York Rangers Dennis Hextall, New York Rangers Simon Nolet, Philadelphia Flyers Barclay Plager, St. Louis Blues Garry Unger, Toronto Maple Leafs Last games* Bill Masterton, Minnesota North Stars Bronco Horvath, Minnesota North Stars Bernie Geoffrion, New York Rangers Dickie Moore, St. Louis Blues Don McKenney, St. Louis Blues YouTube Video __________________ My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!