1967 NHL expansion draft

The 1967 NHL expansion draft was held on June 6, 1967, in the ballroom of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the league's six expansion teams for the 1967–68 season: the California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues.

1967 NHL expansion draft
General information
Date(s)June 6, 1967
LocationQueen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, Quebec
Overview
LeagueNational Hockey League
Expansion teamsCalifornia Seals
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota North Stars
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
St. Louis Blues
Expansion season1967–68
1970 →

Rules

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As this ambitious expansion doubled the league's size from six to twelve teams, a large number of players were needed to fill the rosters of the new franchises. Almost all of the leading professional hockey players in North America were already under contract with the six existing franchises; therefore, the draft was established to equitably distribute players from the Original Six clubs (the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs) to the new teams. Each expansion team was to select twenty players from the established clubs: two goaltenders and eighteen forwards and defencemen. Thus, a total of 120 players were selected.

The existing clubs were allowed to exclude a goaltender and eleven other players from eligibility in the draft by naming them to "protected" lists.[1] Also excluded from the draft were Junior players, players who were young enough to play Junior (born on or after June 1, 1946) but who were already playing professionally, and players sold to the minor league Western Hockey League and Central Professional Hockey League before June 1, 1966.

The draft began with the drawing of the draft order. Each of the new teams' names was placed on a paper ballot enclosed in a capsule, which was drawn from the bowl of the Stanley Cup by NHL President Clarence Campbell. Montreal Canadiens general manager Sam Pollock helped Campbell draw up the rules for the draft.[2] This draft order was used in the first round to draft goaltenders. The order was then reversed in the second round, which was again specifically for goaltenders. The third round retained the second round's order, and in every subsequent round the draft order would rotate, such that the team that had picked first in the previous round would pick last in the following round while the other teams moved up to fill its place. Each expansion team had three minutes from the time of the previous selection to make its pick.[3]

After each of the first, third, fourth, seventh and subsequent players lost by any of the established teams, the team in question chose one undrafted player that it had left unprotected and moved him onto their protected lists.[1] Players who had played professionally for the first time in the 1966–67 season were ineligible from being picked until their respective team had filled their protected list with at least two goaltenders and eighteen other players.

Protected lists

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Draft results

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The draft began with the picking of the draft order. The Kings picked first, with the North Stars, Flyers, Penguins, Seals and Blues following in that order.

With the first pick in the draft the Kings chose future Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk, backbone of the great Detroit Red Wings teams of the 1950s and fresh off a Stanley Cup championship with the Maple Leafs. The first skater chosen was center Gord Labossiere of the Canadiens, also by the Kings, as the 13th selection.

Commentators compared the draft to a rummage sale, with the Original Six losing only unnecessary if not unwanted players. Some of the expansion teams bolstered their rosters before the Draft by purchasing minor league teams outright, thus gaining the rights to the players on their rosters, such as the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League by the Kings and the Quebec Aces of the AHL by the Flyers,[3] while the North Stars purchased the rights to seven amateur members of the Canadian National Team from Toronto.[5] A poll of minor league sportswriters and executives, following the draft, felt that Philadelphia had gotten the best of the selections and Los Angeles the worst, while the Boston Bruins were the hardest hit of existing clubs.[3] Among the Bruins' players drafted were future Hall of Famer Bernie Parent and future All-Stars J. P. Parise, Poul Popiel, Wayne Connelly, Bill Goldsworthy, Gary Dornhoefer, Ron Schock and Wayne Rivers. It was considered that the Canadiens – reported to have made a number of backroom deals to avoid losing valued unprotected players – fared the best of the established clubs, keeping unprotected talent such as Claude Larose, Carol Vadnais, Serge Savard and Danny Grant.[5]

One controversy arose from the retirement of Toronto star Red Kelly, who was expected to become the Kings' coach. As he was still under contract with the Maple Leafs, they had the rights to his services, but Leafs' general manager Punch Imlach insisted that the Kings use one of their picks to select him, and when this did not materialize, Imlach added Kelly to the Leafs' protected list, forcing the Kings to trade their 15th pick, Ken Block, for Kelly.[3]

Bill Flett and Poul Popiel were the last players selected in the Draft to be active in the NHL, both playing for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1979–80 season, while Parent, playing in 551 NHL games (not counting his season in the World Hockey Association) had the longest career of any goaltender selected. Popiel was the last player chosen to be active in professional hockey, playing for the Muskegon Mohawks of the International Hockey League in 1982.

By contrast, Don Caley, the 2nd pick of St. Louis, played only a single game for the Blues, the only game of his NHL career. Career Black Hawk Bill Hay, the 11th pick of the Blues, retired before the Draft; nineteen other skaters played 20 or fewer NHL games after the Draft.

NHL All-Star
NHL All-Star and NHL All-Star team
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Round # Player Position Drafted by Selected from
1 1 Terry Sawchuk↑‡ Goaltender Los Angeles Kings Toronto Maple Leafs
1 2 Bernie Parent↑‡ Goaltender Philadelphia Flyers Boston Bruins
1 3 Glenn Hall↑‡ Goaltender St. Louis Blues Chicago Black Hawks
1 4 Cesare Maniago Goaltender Minnesota North Stars New York Rangers
1 5 Joe Daley Goaltender Pittsburgh Penguins Detroit Red Wings
1 6 Charlie Hodge Goaltender California Seals Montreal Canadiens
2 7 Wayne Rutledge Goaltender Los Angeles Kings New York Rangers
2 8 Garry Bauman Goaltender Minnesota North Stars Montreal Canadiens
2 9 Doug Favell Goaltender Philadelphia Flyers Boston Bruins
2 10 Roy Edwards Goaltender Pittsburgh Penguins Chicago Black Hawks
2 11 Gary Smith Goaltender California Seals Toronto Maple Leafs
2 12 Don Caley Goaltender St. Louis Blues Detroit Red Wings
3 13 Gord Labossiere Centre Los Angeles Kings Montreal Canadiens
3 14 Dave Balon Left wing Minnesota North Stars Montreal Canadiens
3 15 Jim Roberts Defence St. Louis Blues Montreal Canadiens
3 16 Ed Van Impe Defence Philadelphia Flyers Chicago Black Hawks
3 17 Earl Ingarfield Centre Pittsburgh Penguins New York Rangers
3 18 Bob Baun Defence California Seals Toronto Maple Leafs
4 19 Bob Wall Defence Los Angeles Kings Detroit Red Wings
4 20 Ray Cullen Centre Minnesota North Stars Detroit Red Wings
4 21 Joe Watson Defence Philadelphia Flyers Boston Bruins
4 22 Al MacNeil Defence Pittsburgh Penguins New York Rangers
4 23 Kent Douglas Defence California Seals Toronto Maple Leafs
4 24 Noel Picard Defence St. Louis Blues Montreal Canadiens
5 25 Eddie Joyal Centre Los Angeles Kings Toronto Maple Leafs
5 26 Bob Woytowich Defence Minnesota North Stars Boston Bruins
5 27 Brit Selby Left wing Philadelphia Flyers Toronto Maple Leafs
5 28 Larry Jeffrey Left wing Pittsburgh Penguins Toronto Maple Leafs
5 29 Bill Hicke Right wing California Seals New York Rangers
5 30 Al Arbour Defence St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs
6 31 Real Lemieux Right wing Los Angeles Kings Detroit Red Wings
6 32 Jean-Guy Talbot Defence Minnesota North Stars Montreal Canadiens
6 33 Lou Angotti Right wing Philadelphia Flyers Chicago Black Hawks
6 34 Ab McDonald Left wing Pittsburgh Penguins Detroit Red Wings
6 35 Billy Harris Centre California Seals Detroit Red Wings
6 36 Rod Seiling Defence St. Louis Blues New York Rangers
7 37 Poul Popiel Defence Los Angeles Kings Boston Bruins
7 38 Wayne Connelly Right wing Minnesota North Stars Boston Bruins
7 39 Leon Rochefort Forward Philadelphia Flyers Montreal Canadiens
7 40 Leo Boivin↑† Defence Pittsburgh Penguins Detroit Red Wings
7 41 Larry Cahan Defence California Seals New York Rangers
7 42 Ron Schock Centre St. Louis Blues Boston Bruins
8 43 Terry Gray Right wing Los Angeles Kings Detroit Red Wings
8 44 Ted Taylor Left wing Minnesota North Stars Detroit Red Wings
8 45 Don Blackburn Left wing Philadelphia Flyers Toronto Maple Leafs
8 46 Noel Price Defence Pittsburgh Penguins Montreal Canadiens
8 47 Wally Boyer Centre California Seals Chicago Black Hawks
8 48 Terry Crisp Centre St. Louis Blues Boston Bruins
9 49 Bryan Campbell Centre Los Angeles Kings New York Rangers
9 50 Pete Goegan Defence Minnesota North Stars Detroit Red Wings
9 51 John Miszuk Defence Philadelphia Flyers Chicago Black Hawks
9 52 Keith McCreary Left wing Pittsburgh Penguins Montreal Canadiens
9 53 Joe Szura Centre California Seals Montreal Canadiens
9 54 Don McKenney Centre St. Louis Blues Detroit Red Wings
10 55 Ted Irvine Left wing Los Angeles Kings Boston Bruins
10 56 Len Lunde Left wing Minnesota North Stars Chicago Black Hawks
10 57 Garry Peters Centre Philadelphia Flyers Montreal Canadiens
10 58 Ken Schinkel Right wing Pittsburgh Penguins New York Rangers
10 59 Bob Lemieux Defence California Seals Montreal Canadiens
10 60 Wayne Rivers Right wing St. Louis Blues Boston Bruins
11 61 Howie Hughes Right wing Los Angeles Kings Montreal Canadiens
11 62 Bill Goldsworthy Right wing Minnesota North Stars Boston Bruins
11 63 Dick Cherry Defence Philadelphia Flyers Boston Bruins
11 64 Bob Dillabough Centre Pittsburgh Penguins Boston Bruins
11 65 J. P. Parise Left wing California Seals Boston Bruins
11 66 Bill Hay Centre St. Louis Blues Chicago Black Hawks
12 67 Bill Inglis Centre Los Angeles Kings Montreal Canadiens
12 68 Andre Pronovost Left wing Minnesota North Stars Detroit Red Wings
12 69 Jean Gauthier Defence Philadelphia Flyers Montreal Canadiens
12 70 Art Stratton Centre Pittsburgh Penguins Chicago Black Hawks
12 71 Ron Harris Defence California Seals Boston Bruins
12 72 Darryl Edestrand Defence St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs
13 73 Doug Robinson Left wing Los Angeles Kings New York Rangers
13 74 Elmer Vasko Defence Minnesota North Stars Chicago Black Hawks
13 75 Jim Johnson Centre Philadelphia Flyers New York Rangers
13 76 Val Fonteyne Left wing Pittsburgh Penguins Detroit Red Wings
13 77 Terry Clancy Right wing California Seals Toronto Maple Leafs
13 78 Norm Beaudin Right wing St. Louis Blues Detroit Red Wings
14 79 Mike Corrigan Left wing Los Angeles Kings Toronto Maple Leafs
14 80 Murray Hall Right wing Minnesota North Stars Chicago Black Hawks
14 81 Gary Dornhoefer Right wing Philadelphia Flyers Boston Bruins
14 82 Jeannot Gilbert Centre Pittsburgh Penguins Boston Bruins
14 83 Tracy Pratt Defence California Seals Chicago Black Hawks
14 84 Larry Keenan Left wing St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs
15 85 Jacques Lemieux Defence Los Angeles Kings Montreal Canadiens
15 86 Bryan Watson Defence Minnesota North Stars Detroit Red Wings
15 87 Forbes Kennedy Centre Philadelphia Flyers Boston Bruins
15 88 Tom McCarthy Left wing Pittsburgh Penguins Montreal Canadiens
15 89 Aut Erickson Defence California Seals Toronto Maple Leafs
15 90 Ron Stewart Centre St. Louis Blues Boston Bruins
16 91 Lowell MacDonald Right wing Los Angeles Kings Toronto Maple Leafs
16 92 Bill Collins Centre Minnesota North Stars New York Rangers
16 93 Pat Hannigan Left wing Philadelphia Flyers Chicago Black Hawks
16 94 Billy Dea Centre Pittsburgh Penguins Chicago Black Hawks
16 95 Ron Boehm Left wing California Seals New York Rangers
16 96 Fred Hucul Defence St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs
17 97 Ken Block Defence Los Angeles Kings New York Rangers
17 98 Sandy Fitzpatrick Centre Minnesota North Stars New York Rangers
17 99 Dwight Carruthers Defence Philadelphia Flyers Detroit Red Wings
17 100 Bobby Rivard Centre Pittsburgh Penguins Montreal Canadiens
17 101 Alain Caron Right wing California Seals Chicago Black Hawks
17 102 John Brenneman Left wing St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs
18 103 Bill Flett Right wing Los Angeles Kings Toronto Maple Leafs
18 104 Parker MacDonald Left wing Minnesota North Stars Detroit Red Wings
18 105 Bob Courcy Centre Philadelphia Flyers Montreal Canadiens
18 106 Mel Pearson Centre Pittsburgh Penguins Chicago Black Hawks
18 107 Mike Laughton Centre California Seals Toronto Maple Leafs
18 108 Gerry Melnyk Centre St. Louis Blues Chicago Black Hawks
19 109 Brent Hughes Defence Los Angeles Kings Detroit Red Wings
19 110 Billy Taylor Centre Minnesota North Stars Chicago Black Hawks
19 111 Keith Wright Right wing Philadelphia Flyers Boston Bruins
19 112 Andy Bathgate↑‡ Centre Pittsburgh Penguins Detroit Red Wings
19 113 Bryan Hextall Forward California Seals New York Rangers
19 114 Gary Veneruzzo Left wing St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs
20 115 Marc Dufour Right wing Los Angeles Kings New York Rangers
20 116 Dave Richardson Left wing Minnesota North Stars Chicago Black Hawks
20 117 Terry Ball Defence Philadelphia Flyers New York Rangers
20 118 Les Hunt Defence Pittsburgh Penguins New York Rangers
20 119 Gary Kilpatrick Defence California Seals Chicago Black Hawks
20 120 Max Mestinsek Right wing St. Louis Blues New York Rangers

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b McFarlane (1969), p. 139
  2. ^ The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p. 189, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
  3. ^ a b c d McFarlane (1969), p. 140
  4. ^ a b c d e f Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, June 7, 1967, p. 27.
  5. ^ a b McFarlane (1969), p. 141.

References

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  • Cauz, Louis (June 3, 1967). "Few treasure's for newcomers at hockey's rummage sale". Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. 27.
  • McFarlane, Brian (1969). 50 Years Of Hockey. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Greywood Publishing Limited.
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