The '1967-68 NHL season' was the 51st
season of the
National Hockey League. Twelve teams each played 74 games. This season saw the NHL expand from the "
Original Six" teams by adding
six new franchises. The
St. Louis Blues,
California Seals,
Philadelphia Flyers,
Minnesota North Stars,
Pittsburgh Penguins, and
Los Angeles Kings were all put into the Western Division. On November 6, 1967,
[1] the California Seals were renamed Oakland Seals. This year also saw the addition of two new awards. With expansion came format change and with format change came a need for a new trophy for the winner of the newly formed West Division. The new trophy, called the
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, was for the winner of the West while the older trophy, the
Prince of Wales, was for the winner of the East. The other new award was the
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which was named in honour of
Bill Masterton who died on
15 January,
1968 after sustaining an injury during a game (the first time a NHL player had ever died directly as a result of an on-ice injury).
There were a large number of holdouts this year. Three New York Ranger players,
including
Rod Gilbert,
Arnie Brown and
Orland Kurtenbach were fined $500 by their team. However,
Ed Van Impe of
the Flyers refused to sign his contract, followed by
Earl Ingarfield and
Al MacNeil also refused to sign, then
Tim Horton of Toronto,
Norm Ullman of Detroitand
Ken Wharram and
Stan Mikita of Chicago. Led by
Alan Eagleson, the owners finally buckled and the new
NHL Players Association was up and running. Players salaries went up as a result.
Regular season
On October 11th, 1967, Jean Beliveau scored his 400th career goal on goaltender
Hank Bassen of the
Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Canadiens stumbled out of the gate. In their first west coast road trip, the Seals beat them 2-1 and the Kings beat them 4-2. The Habs lost quite a few more and were in last place by December. But by January, Jean Beliveau began to score and others were inspired also.
The Habs got very hot, winning 12 consecutive games and then put together 10 more wins in
a row before being stopped right at the Forum. On February 24th, the Rangers walked right in
and defeated the Canadiens 6-1 as
Rogatien Vachon, the young Montreal goalkeeper, was the
victim of four goals by
Rod Gilbert, who set an NHL record with 16 shots on goal.
The Canadiens, paced by
Gump Worsley's best season in which he had 6 shutouts and a 1.98
goals against average, managed to keep first place until the end of the season. Worsley,
for the first time, made the first all-star team.
Ed Giacomin again led the league with 8 shutouts, and led the Rangers to second place.
Boston obtained
Phil Esposito,
Ken Hodge and
Fred Stanfield and with
Bobby Orr
seasoned with a one year under his belt, the Bruins were on the rise. Though he missed
action with a knee injury, Orr still made the all-star team and won the Norris Trophy as the
NHL's top defenceman.
Roger Crozier felt the strain of goaltending and walked out on Detroit. He came back,
but the Red Wings finished last anyway.
The
Los Angeles Kings were a team that writers predicted to finish last in the new
West Division. The fact that
Jack Kent Cooke purchased the
Springfield Indians of
the
American Hockey League didn't seem to impress his critics. The Kings finished second,
just one point out of first.
Bill "Cowboy" Flett scored 26 goals and
Eddie Joyal
scored 23 goals, had 34 assists for 57 points and was the second leading scorer in the
West Division.
Oakland, predicted to finish first, had trouble getting off the launching pad, let alone fly.
Defenceman
Kent Douglas played far below form and was traded to Detroit for
Ted Hampson
and defenceman
Bert Marshall. The Seals finished last in the West Division.
The
Minnesota North Stars had their bright moments despite finishing fourth in the
West Division. On December 30th, 1967,
Bill Masterton and
Wayne Connelly each
scored goals in a 5-4 upset win over the Boston Bruins. On January 10th,
Wayne Connelly
had the hat trick in a 6-4 win over the West Division power, the
Philadelphia Flyers and
Masterton was the architect on all three goals. Then, tragedy struck. In a game at the
Metropolitan Sports Center in
Bloomington, Minnesota, the Oakland Seals were in
town to play the North Stars and Bill Masterton led a rush into the Oakland zone. Two
defenceman,
Larry Cahan and
Ron Harris braced for the old fashioned sandwich check
and as Masterton fired the puck into the Seals zone, the two hit Masterton hard but cleanly.
Masterton flipped backwards and hit his head on the ice. He was removed to a
Minneapolis
hospital where doctors were prevented from doing surgery by the seriousness of the head
injury. Early on the morning of January 15th, 1968, Bill Masterton died. He was the first
NHL player to die as the direct result of injuries suffered in an NHL game.
On March 24th,
Frank Mahovlich, traded to Detroit by Toronto in a trade that
saw
Norm Ullman go to Toronto, became only the 11th player to score 300 goals as
he scored both his 300th and 301st goals in a 5-3 win over the Boston Bruins.
Final standings
''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''
''Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold''
Scoring leaders
''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points''
Leading goaltenders
Stanley Cup playoffs
Stanley Cup finals
The
St. Louis Blues made a series of the Stanley Cup finals although they lost in four
straight games.
Glenn Hall was sensational, especially in game three when the Blues were
outshot 46 to 15. Wrote
Red Burnett, the dean of hockey writers then: "A number of Hall's
saves were seemingly impossible. Experts walked out of the Forum convinced no other goaltender
had performed so brilliantly in a losing cause." In the overtime of game three, Hall made a
spectacular save on
Dick Duff and then, standing on his head, made another save. "It was
a heartbreaker to see" said Burnett "After the saves on Duff,
Bobby Rousseau came and
batted home the second rebound." Hall's heroics won him the
Conn Smythe Trophy as the
most valuable player in the playoffs. But Montreal, like a champion, won the Stanley Cup
in game four as
J.C. Tremblay fired home the winning goal. When the game ended, the fans
came on the ice to celebrate, and balloons, hats and programs were thrown from the stands.
Jean Beliveau, in a cast and crutches from his broken ankle, with
Ralph Backstrom
accepted the Cup from NHL president Clarence Campbell and the players did a victory lap with
the Cup.
Less than 30 minutes after the Canadiens won the Cup, Canadiens coach
Toe Blake announced
his retirement. He gave reason that it had been a hard season, but the real reason was that
his wife was dying of cancer and he wanted to spent his time with her. The celebration turned
to a mournful event with players paying tribute to Blake, many in tears.
Playoff bracket
NHL awards
| 1967-68 NHL awards |
|---|
| Prince of Wales Trophy: | Montreal Canadiens |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Art Ross Memorial Trophy: | Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Claude Provost, Montreal Canadiens |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: | Derek Sanderson, Boston Bruins |
| Conn Smythe Trophy: | Glenn Hall, St. Louis Blues |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: | Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Plus-Minus Leader: | Dallas Smith, Boston Bruins |
| Vezina Trophy: | Rogatien Vachon & Gump Worsley, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lester Patrick Trophy: | Thomas F. Lockhart, Walter A. Brown, General John R. Kilpatrick |
All-Star teams
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
|---|
| Gump Worsley, Montreal Canadiens | G | Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers |
| Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins | D | J.C. Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens |
| Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs | D | Jim Neilson, New York Rangers |
| Stan Mikita, Chicago Blackhawks | C | Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins |
| Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings | RW | Rod Gilbert, New York Rangers |
| Bobby Hull, Chicago Blackhawks | LW | Johnny Bucyk, Boston Bruins |
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1967-68 (listed with their first team, asterisk(
★ ) marks debut in playoffs):
★
Bobby Schmautz, Chicago Blackhawks
★
Lowell MacDonald, Los Angeles Kings
★
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
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1967-68 (listed with their last team):
★
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
See also
★
1967 NHL Expansion
★
List of Stanley Cup champions
★
1967 NHL Amateur Draft
★
1967 NHL Expansion Draft
★
21st National Hockey League All-Star Game
★
National Hockey League All-Star Game
★
Ice hockey at the 1968 Winter Olympics
★
1967 in sports
★
1968 in sports
References
1. ''Minneapolis Tribune'' November 7, 1967 page 24 from an AP story
★
Hockey Database
★
NHL.com
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
