1967-68
OFF-SEASON
After 15 seasons and 940 games longtime Toronto Maple Leaf forward George Armstrong announced his retirement this off-season. He had 256 goals and 593 points in a career that included 4 Stanley Cups.
The big news though is the upcoming expansion draft as the NHL doubles in size from 6 to 12 teams. Notable newcomers joining the NHL this season include goaltender Tony Esposito and defenseman Guy Lapointe with the Montreal Canadiens. The league also will increase the schedule from 70 to 74 games.
Prior to the expansion draft the six new teams were able to sign some free agents. Here are the key signings for each club.
LOS ANGELES KINGS: Forwards Red Berenson and Johnny McKenzie. Berenson is 27 years old and has yet to play in the NHL while the 29 year old McKenzie has played 27 NHL games for Chicago.
MINNESOTA NORTH STARS: 26 year old defenseman Lou Nanne is the Stars only signing of note. He has yet to play an NHL game.
OAKLAND SEALS: The Seals signed 6 players but none are expected to have any impact in the NHL.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS: 3 good minor league forwards were inked by the Flyers in 20 year old Serge Bernier, 22 year old Andre Lacroix and 25 year old Simon Nolet.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS: The Pens signed 5 players with 25 year old defenseman Bill Speer being the closest to possibly reaching the NHL.
ST LOUIS BLUES: The Blues get longtime minor league forward Frank St. Marseille, who may end up being one of their offensive leaders.
EXPANSION DRAFT
LOS ANGELES KINGS- The Kings made out pretty good in the expansion draft adding 25 year old goaltender Roger Crozier, who had been Eddie Johnston's backup in Chicago the past couple of seasons. They also drafted forwards Floyd Smith and Eric Nesterenko from the defending Cup champions. Other picks include defensemen Bert Marshall and John Miszuk from Detroit along with tough guy John Ferguson from Montreal.
MINNESOTA NORTH STARS - The Stars grabbed 38 year old goaltender Gump Worsley after he was left unprotected by Detroit. Worsley is a veteran of 855 games including 56 appearances for the Wings last year. The move leaves Detroit dangerously thin in net with the starting job likely going to Les Binkley, who played just 3 games last year. Other Minnesota selections including defenseman Bobby Baun from Toronto, a veteran of 790 NHL games and center Ted Hampson who played for the Cup winning Black Hawks last season.
OAKLAND SEALS - The Seals got good young goaltender Rogie Vachon from Montreal as well as veteran ex-Habs Henri Richard and Kenny Wharram.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS - The Flyers also got veterans Claude Provost from Montreal, Don McKenney from Boston and former Maple Leaf Bob Pulford. In net the Flyers went with former Bruin Charlie Hodge, a 33 year old who lost his starting job in Boston to Bernie Parent.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS - The purge of veterans from Montreal continues as Pittsburgh selects 38 year old defenseman Tom Johnson, a future hall of famer. The Pens also get veteran forwards Parker MacDonald from Toronto, Jerry Toppazzini from Boston and Murray Oliver from Detroit. In net they will need to count on former Ranger farmhand Wayne Rutledge.
ST LOUIS BLUES- Toronto winger Jim Pappin and ex-Montreal center Ralph Backstrom are the best of a weak crop of picks for the Blues.
SUMMER MOVES
The expansion teams continued to fill out their rosters over the summer and some of the bigger signings are listed below.
The Los Angeles Kings signed highly touted free agent goaltender Gerry Cheevers, who could never crack the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup. Philadelphia added Cesare Maniago as a free agent pickup and named former Habs star Claude Provost their captain. Pittsburgh signed Ed Giacomin out of the Rangers system after the 28 year old spent most of the past decade in the minors.
If I was making pre-season predictions I would expect Los Angeles to be the class of the new clubs while St Louis could set an all-time mark for futility as the Blues roster looks very bare.
REGULAR SEASON
With expansion there was a huge disparity between the established clubs and new teams with many lob-sided games and as a result a slew of new records were set. The Chicago Black Hawks lost just 6 times all year and their 128 points smashed the previous single season record of 118 points set by the 1954-55 Montreal Canadiens.
Individual marks also fell as Stan Mikita of the Black Hawks won the NHL scoring title with a record 134 points, 17 more than the previous mark established by Montreal's Dickie Moore in 1954-55. Mikita also set the single season record for assists with 94, beating Jean Beliveau's 54-55 total of 77.
Meanwhile, Mikita's linemate Bobby Hull set a new record for goals in a season with 57, one more than Dickie Moore's 1954-55 total. During the season Mikita had a 21 game point streak while teammate Bobby Hull had a 19 gamer at the same time. They were both well shy of Maurice Richard's record 44 game point streak established in 1943-44.
Boston's Derek Sanderson also broke the single season penalty minute record by picking 386 minutes in the sin bin. The old mark of 338 was set by Ted Green of the Bruins in 1965-66.
Yvan Cournoyer of the Montreal Canadiens tied a record for most points in a game when scored 6 goals and added 3 assists in the Habs 14-1 pounding of the Oakland Seals on March 5th. Veteran Jean Beliveau reminded fans of his early days when the 36 year old had a 7 point night (3G 4A) in the same game. Cournoyer's point total ties the mark set by Carl Liscombe of Detroit in a playoff in 1943. His 6 goals equal Liscombe's total and are 1 shy of the record 7 scored by Dickie Moore of Montreal in a 1957 game.
The expansion teams also had some big performances led by ex-Canadien Kenny Wharram. The Oakland Seal scored 5 goals in the Seals 9-1 win over Los Angeles on November 21. Wharram, who also had an assist in that game, would later have a 5 point game in a win over Minnesota.
FRANCHISE FIRST GOALS
Here are the first goal scorer and results for each of the expansion teams in their debut.
LOS ANGELES - Larry Johnston got the first goal in Kings history assisted by Keith McCreary and John Miszuk. It came 5:22 in to the first period of a 4-3 loss to Philadelphia on October 13th. The Kings would blank Minnesota 4-0 behind a 23 save effort from Gerry Cheevers the next night for their first franchise victory.
MINNESOTA - Ted Hampson got the first North Stars goal 4:55 into the first period of a 4-3 loss to St Louis. Willie O'Ree and Bryan Hextall drew the assists. Minnesota would tie Oakland on Oct 13 and loss to Los Angeles on Oct 14 before winning their first game October 17th by a 3-1 score over Pittsburgh with Hampson assisting on all 3 goals.
OAKLAND - The Seals won their first ever game 6-2 on October 10th in Philadelphia over the Flyers. Veteran Kenny Wharram, who would score a career best 31 goals, got 2 in the opener including the Seals first ever goal at 7:07 of the opening period with Dick Meissner and Kevin Smith assisting.
PHILADELPHIA - The Flyers lost their opener 6-2 to Oakland at the Spectrum on October 10th with Cec Hoekstra's first career NHL goal also being the first in Flyers history. Don McKenney and Art Hampson drew the assists. Philadelphia's first win would come 3 nights later when they beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 at home.
PITTSBURGH - The Penguins made NHL history by becoming the first expansion team to beat an original six club when they downed Montreal 3-2 at The Forum on opening day October 10th. Larry Jeffrey had the Pens first goal with an assist from Sandy McGregor at 19:36 of the first period. Bert Marshall and Murray Oliver also beat Montreal's Jacques Plante in that game with ex-Hab Tom Johnson assisting on the game winner.
ST LOUIS - The Blues opened the regular season on a high note with a 4-3 victory over Minnesota on the road on October 10th. Wayne Rivers would get the first goal in franchise history with Murray Balfour and Ralph Backstrom earning the assists at 6:08 of the first period. Jim Pappin would be the star of the game with 2 goals and an assist. It was downhill from there for the Blues, who would win just 14 more games and finish dead last in the league.
ORIGINAL SIX DOMINATION
While the Penguins did shock Montreal in their season opener it would be mid-December before an expansion team would beat an original six squad again. The original six were so dominant that Boston finished last with 70 points in the East Division, a total that would have allowed the Bruins to finish first in the West with an 8 point cushion on Los Angeles.
Code:
EAST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 74 60 6 8 128
Toronto Maple Leafs 74 44 18 12 100
Detroit Red Wings 74 42 21 11 95
Montreal Canadiens 74 37 22 15 89
New York Rangers 74 39 26 9 87
Boston Bruins 74 31 35 8 70
WEST DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Los Angeles Kings 74 28 40 6 62
Pittsburgh Penguins 74 27 42 5 59
Philadelphia Flyers 74 22 41 11 55
Oakland Seals 74 20 40 14 54
Minnesota North Stars 74 19 46 9 47
St Louis Blues 74 15 47 12 42
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Stan Mikita CHI 74 40 94 134
Bobby Hull CHI 71 57 55 112
Alex Delvecchio DET 74 35 63 98
Phil Esposito CHI 74 42 44 86
Gordie Howe DET 74 28 56 84
Frank Mahovlich TOR 72 45 38 83
Norm Ullman NYR 72 22 58 80
Yvan Cournoyer MON 74 46 33 79
Floyd Smith LA 74 38 40 78
Bob Pulford PHI 74 34 41 75
Johnny Bucyk DET 71 33 42 75
PLAYOFFS
The new game playoff format has 1st playing 4th and second vs third in each division in the opening round with round two being a cross-over so East will play West in the second round unlike in real life when play stayed within the division until the Cup Finals.
QUARTERFINALS
The Chicago Black Hawks faced the fourth place Montreal Canadiens with the Hawks winning the series in 6 games. Regular season scoring champ Stan Mikita continued his offensive production with 8 points in the 6 games while goaltenders Eddie Johnston and Peter McDuffe split the 6 games in the Chicago crease, with each going 2-and-1.
The Hawks would meet the winner of Pittsburgh-Philadelphia in the second round. The Keystone State battle would be the only series to go the full seven games with the Penguins earning a 4-2 victory in the deciding contest thanks to a hat trick from Parker MacDonald.
On the other side of the bracket the Oakland Seals, led by 10 points from Ron Murphy and 9 from Henri Richard, knocked off the first place Los Angeles Kings in 6 games while Toronto needed just 5 games to eliminate Detroit in the other quarterfinal. Veteran goaltender Terry Sawchuk made 4 starts for the Leafs in the series and posted a .944 save percentage. He also earned his 7th career playoff shutout.
The semi-finals had very little drama as the Original Six teams dominated. Chicago swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in 4 straight games, outscoring the Pens 23-2 in the process. Mikita added 11 more points in the series and Bobby Hull scored 6 goals.
Oakland did manage to surprise Toronto with a 4-3 victory in their series opener but the Leafs roared back with 4 straight easy victories.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The finals would be a rematch of 1964-65 when the Leafs beat Chicago for their record 18th Cup. Since then Chicago has won each of the last two Cups and the Hawks enter the series as favourites to make it 3 straight titles.
Chicago shows it's dominant offense in Game One as Bobby Hull scores twice and adds 4 assists while Phil Esposito gets a hat trick in the Hawks 7-1 victory on home ice. The third member of that line - Stan Mikita- has a goal and 3 helpers in the win. Chicago outshot the Leafs 44-8 in the contest.
The Leafs look like a different squad in Game Two as they score 4 times in the first 12 minutes to chase Chicago goaltender Eddie Johnston from the game. Toronto wins 6-4 behind 2 goals from Frank Mahovlich and a goal and 2 assists from Gary Jarrett. Bobby Hull had 2 third period goals as Chicago's comeback bid falls short.
Chicago gives 20 year old Peter McDuffe the start in place of Johnston and it nearly pays off. McDuffe made 23 saves but the Leafs win 2-1 thanks to first period goals from Mahovlich and Bruce MacGregor. The Leafs went with a young goaltender of their own as rookie Gary Smith filled in for the aging Sawchuk and stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced. Bobby Hull, with his 11th goal in 13 playoff games, was the lone Chicago marksman.
Johnston and Sawchuk both return to the nets for Game Four and the Black Hawks even the series with a 5-3 victory. Stan Mikita has 2 goals and an assist to lead the Hawks, who also get goals from Bobby Hull, his brother Dennis and Chico Maki.
Sawchuk makes 37 saves but it is not quite enough in Game Five as the Leafs fall 2-1 in Chicago and trail the Hawks 3 games to two in the series. Phil Esposito scored the first Chicago goal and assisted on Bobby Hull's game winner early in the third period. Mikita drew two helpers in the contest. Ron Ellis was the only Leaf to beat Johnston, who faced 20 shots.
The line of Mikita, Hull and Esposito does all the damage as Chicago rallies from a 2-1 deficit after 40 minutes to beat Toronto 4-2 and claim their third straight Stanley Cup title. Esposito had a goal and 3 assists, Mikita 2 goals and an assist while Bobby Hull had a 1 goal and 1 assist in the deciding game.
Stan Mikita finished with a playoff record 32 points (11G 21A) in 16 games while Bobby Hull set a record for goals with 14 and finished with 29 points. The third member of the line - Phil Esposito- had 9 goals and 14 assists as they finished 1-2-3 in playoff scoring. Despite the heroics from Mikita the Conn Smythe was awarded to Chicago defenseman Doug Jarrett, who had a strong playoff also with 2 goals and 17 assists for 19 points.
Other Award winners:
HART TROPHY: Stan Mikita Chicago (74GP 40-94-134)
VEZINA TROPHY: Eddie Johnston Chicago (49-5-6, 1.53)
NORRIS TROPHY: Pierre Pilote Chicago (69GP 9-60-69)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Stan Mikita Chicago (74GP 40-94-134)
CALDER TROPHY: Gary Unger Toronto (74GP 21-29-50)
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Eddie Johnston Chicago Glenn Hall New York Rangers
D Pierre Pilote Chicago J Laperriere Montreal
D Bobby Orr Boston Doug Jarrett Chicago
C Stan Mikita Chicago Norm Ullman New York Rangers
LW Bobby Hull Chicago Floyd Smith Los Angeles
RW Alex Delvecchio Detroit Phil Esposito Chicago