1967 NHL expansion draft explained

1967 NHL expansion draft
Date:	June 6, 1967
Location:	Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, Quebec
League:	National Hockey League
Expansion Teams:	California Seals Los Angeles Kings Minnesota North Stars Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins St. Louis Blues
Expansion Season:	1967–68
Next:	1970

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.

Rules

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

• Boston: goaltender  - Gerry Cheevers; skaters  - John Bucyk, Ted Green, Ed Westfall, Tom Williams, John McKenzie, Don Awrey, Ken Hodge, Phil Esposito, Fred Stanfield, Eddie Shack and Gary Doak. Among notable players who were initially unprotected but later added to the list as fills were Dallas Smith, Wayne Cashman, Eddie Johnston, Jean Pronovost, Ron Murphy, Glen Sather and Bob Leiter.^[4]
• Chicago: goaltender  - Denis DeJordy; skaters  - Bobby Hull, Dennis Hull, Doug Jarrett, Chico Maki, Gilles Marotte, Pit Martin, Stan Mikita, Doug Mohns, Pierre Pilote, Ken Wharram and Pat Stapleton. Among notable players who were initially unprotected but later added to the list as fills were Eric Nesterenko, Wayne Maki and Dave Dryden.^[4]
• Detroit: goaltender  - Roger Crozier; skaters  - Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Norm Ullman, Gary Bergman, Paul Henderson, Bruce MacGregor, Ted Hampson, Dean Prentice, Bert Marshall, Doug Roberts and Bob McCord. Among notable players who were initially unprotected but later added to the list as fills were Nick Libett, Howie Young, Gary Jarrett, Floyd Smith and Jim Watson.^[4]
• Montreal: goaltender  - Lorne Worsley; skaters  - Jean Beliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, J. C. Tremblay, Jacques Laperriere, Ted Harris, Terry Harper, John Ferguson, Ralph Backstrom, Henri Richard, Gilles Tremblay and Bobby Rousseau. Among notable players who were initially unprotected but later added to the list as fills were Rogie Vachon, Claude Larose, Dick Duff, Carol Vadnais, Serge Savard, Danny Grant, Jacques Lemaire and Andre Boudrias.^[4]
• New York: goaltender  - Ed Giacomin; skaters  - Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, Vic Hadfield, Phil Goyette, Arnie Brown, Bob Nevin, Jim Neilson, Harry Howell, Don Marshall, Orland Kurtenbach and Wayne Hillman. Among notable players who were initially unprotected but later added to the list as fills were Gilles Villemure, Red Berenson, Reggie Fleming, Gary Sabourin and Bob Plager.^[4]
• Toronto: goaltender  - Johnny Bower; skaters  - Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon, Tim Horton, Larry Hillman, Bob Pulford, Jim Pappin, Marcel Pronovost, Mike Walton, Ron Ellis, Pete Stemkowski and Brian Conacher. Among notable players who were initially unprotected but later added to the list as fills were Al Smith, George Armstrong, Allan Stanley, Duane Rupp, Murray Oliver, Bronco Horvath, Don Cherry and Red Kelly.^[4]

Draft results

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		Goaltender		Toronto Maple Leafs
1	2		Goaltender		Boston Bruins
1	3		Goaltender		Chicago Black Hawks
1	4		Goaltender		New York Rangers
1	5		Goaltender		Detroit Red Wings
1	6		Goaltender		Montreal Canadiens
2	7		Goaltender	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
2	8		Goaltender	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens
2	9		Goaltender	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
2	10		Goaltender	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks
2	11		Goaltender	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
2	12		Goaltender	St. Louis Blues	Detroit Red Wings
3	13		Centre	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens
3	14		Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens
3	15		Defence	St. Louis Blues	Montreal Canadiens
3	16		Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Chicago Black Hawks
3	17		Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
3	18		Defence	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
4	19		Defence	Los Angeles Kings	Detroit Red Wings
4	20		Centre	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
4	21		Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
4	22		Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
4	23		Defence	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
4	24		Defence	St. Louis Blues	Montreal Canadiens
5	25		Centre	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
5	26		Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Boston Bruins
5	27		Left wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Toronto Maple Leafs
5	28		Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Toronto Maple Leafs
5	29		Right wing	California Seals	New York Rangers
5	30		Defence	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
6	31		Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Detroit Red Wings
6	32		Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens
6	33		Right wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Chicago Black Hawks
6	34		Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
6	35		Centre	California Seals	Detroit Red Wings
6	36		Defence	St. Louis Blues	New York Rangers
7	37		Defence	Los Angeles Kings	Boston Bruins
7	38		Right wing	Minnesota North Stars	Boston Bruins
7	39		Forward	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens
7	40		Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
7	41		Defence	California Seals	New York Rangers
7	42		Centre	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
8	43		Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Detroit Red Wings
8	44		Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
8	45		Left wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Toronto Maple Leafs
8	46		Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	Montreal Canadiens
8	47		Centre	California Seals	Chicago Black Hawks
8	48		Centre	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
9	49		Centre	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
9	50		Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
9	51		Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Chicago Black Hawks
9	52		Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Montreal Canadiens
9	53		Centre	California Seals	Montreal Canadiens
9	54		Centre	St. Louis Blues	Detroit Red Wings
10	55		Left wing	Los Angeles Kings	Boston Bruins
10	56		Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
10	57		Centre	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens
10	58		Right wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
10	59		Defence	California Seals	Montreal Canadiens
10	60		Right wing	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
11	61		Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens
11	62		Right wing	Minnesota North Stars	Boston Bruins
11	63		Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
11	64		Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Boston Bruins
11	65		Left wing	California Seals	Boston Bruins
11	66		Centre	St. Louis Blues	Chicago Black Hawks
12	67		Centre	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens
12	68		Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
12	69		Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens
12	70		Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks
12	71		Defence	California Seals	Boston Bruins
12	72		Defence	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
13	73		Left wing	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
13	74		Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
13	75		Centre	Philadelphia Flyers	New York Rangers
13	76		Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
13	77		Right wing	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
13	78		Right wing	St. Louis Blues	Detroit Red Wings
14	79		Left wing	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
14	80		Right wing	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
14	81		Right wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
14	82		Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Boston Bruins
14	83		Defence	California Seals	Chicago Black Hawks
14	84		Left wing	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
15	85		Defence	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens
15	86		Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
15	87		Centre	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
15	88		Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Montreal Canadiens
15	89		Defence	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
15	90		Centre	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
16	91		Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
16	92		Centre	Minnesota North Stars	New York Rangers
16	93		Left wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Chicago Black Hawks
16	94		Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks
16	95		Left wing	California Seals	New York Rangers
16	96		Defence	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
17	97		Defence	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
17	98		Centre	Minnesota North Stars	New York Rangers
17	99		Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Detroit Red Wings
17	100		Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Montreal Canadiens
17	101		Right wing	California Seals	Chicago Black Hawks
17	102		Left wing	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
18	103		Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
18	104		Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
18	105		Centre	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens
18	106		Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks
18	107		Centre	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
18	108		Centre	St. Louis Blues	Chicago Black Hawks
19	109		Defence	Los Angeles Kings	Detroit Red Wings
19	110		Centre	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
19	111		Right wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
19	112		Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
19	113		Forward	California Seals	New York Rangers
19	114		Left wing	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
20	115		Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
20	116		Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
20	117		Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	New York Rangers
20	118		Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
20	119		Defence	California Seals	Chicago Black Hawks
20	120		Right wing	St. Louis Blues	New York Rangers

See also

• 1967 NHL Amateur Draft
• 1967–68 NHL season

References

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

External links

• 1967 NHL Expansion Draft player stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Notes and References

1. McFarlane (1969), p. 139
2. The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p. 189, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009,
3. McFarlane (1969), p. 140
4. Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, June 7, 1967, p. 27.
5. McFarlane (1969), p. 141.