1965-66 NHL Regular Season
Montreal names
Jack McCartan their starting goalie as the season begins.
McCartan plays 4 games and goes 4-0, with 2 shut outs!! The
Habs then shock their fans by waiving
McCartan! He is claimed by the NY Rangers, and sent to their AHL affiliate, the
Baltimore Clippers, where he is right now!! What a roller coaster ride for the journeyman!
McCartan thought he finally made it, then he didnt!
In early December,
Gordie Howe hits the 600 goal mark!! It’s a remarkable number, considering
Maurice Richard still sits in 2nd place 110 goals behind him.
Howe is still a 5 star guy at 37, and his averaging more then a point a game this season.
Howe celebrates goal 600!
Jean Beliveau just passed
Elmer Lach in all time assists!
Beliveau now has 664 assists.
Lach retired with 659. Here is the all time assist leaderboard.
Chicago’s Phil Esposito has finally broken out after a few years of huge potential but middling results. The 23 year old, in his 6th season just set a career high for goals with his 23rd, at the halfway point!!
Phil leads the league in goals after scoring a combined 41 the last 2 years. The emergence of
Esposito has
Chicago all the way up into……well….5th place. At least they are closer to 4th then last!
Chicago needs a high scoring Esposito!
Speaking of breaking out,
Bobby Hull has finally put together a regular season that would match his last two playoffs.
Hull has 27 goals and 56 points in 53 games on March 1st. That’s a fantastic year so far. At 27,
Hull has finally lived up to the potential he has been flashing during the spring.
Final Standings
The
Leafs have a pretty bad season, but still manage to sneak into the playoffs. The
Rangers, without
Johnny Bower, do not get the goaltending they have been accustomed to, and fall to last place.
I do find it weird, that even though
Phil Esposito and
Bobby Hull have huge break out years, their teams did not seem to capitalize on the performances. The
Leafs barely make the playoffs, and the
Blackhawks find themselves on the outside again!
30 year old Jack McCartan does not get that call up with the Rangers. He plays 30 games with the AHL Clippers, going 15-6-2, with a .917 save percentage.