The 1967 NHL expansion draft was held on June 6, 1967, in the ballroom of the
Queen Elizabeth Hotel in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Quebec. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the league's six expansion teams for the
1967–68 season: the
California Seals
The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967–68 NHL season, 1967 to 1975–76 NHL season, 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oa ...
,
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...
,
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...
,
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...
,
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...
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
The Original Six () are the teams that composed the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1942 and 1967. The six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. ...
clubs (the
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
,
Chicago Black Hawks
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
,
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...
,
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...
, and
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
) to the new teams. Each expansion team was to select twenty players from the established clubs: two
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...
s 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.
[McFarlane (1969), p. 139] 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
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...
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
The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...
by NHL President
Clarence Campbell
Clarence Sutherland Campbell, (July 9, 1905 – June 24, 1984) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, referee, and soldier. He refereed in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1930s, served in the Canadian Army during World War II, then s ...
. Montreal Canadiens general manager
Sam Pollock helped Campbell draw up the rules for the draft.
[''The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory'', D'Arcy Jenish, p. 189, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ] 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.
[McFarlane (1969), p. 140]
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.
[ 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.[''Saskatoon Star-Phoenix,'' June 7, 1967, p. 27.]
*Chicago: ''goaltender'' – Denis DeJordy; ''skaters'' – Bobby Hull
Robert Marvin Hull (January 3, 1939 – January 30, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blond hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot t ...
, Dennis Hull, Doug Jarrett, Chico Maki, Gilles Marotte, Pit Martin
Hubert Jacques "Pit" Martin (December 9, 1943 – November 30, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who served as captain for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1975 to 1977. He was an NHL All-Star and ...
, Stan Mikita
Stanley Mikita (born Stanislav Guoth; May 20, 1940 – August 7, 2018) was a Slovaks, Slovak-born Canadian ice hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League, generally regarded as the best Centre (ic ...
, 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.[
*Detroit: ''goaltender'' – ]Roger Crozier
Roger Allan Crozier (March 16, 1942 – January 11, 1996) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals. During ...
; ''skaters'' – Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio
Alexander Peter "Fats" Delvecchio (born December 4, 1931) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach, and general manager who spent his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Detroit Red Wings. In a playing career tha ...
, Norm Ullman
Norman Victor Alexander Ullman (born December 26, 1935) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward. He previously played for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1955 to 1975, an ...
, 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.[
*Montreal: ''goaltender'' – Lorne Worsley; ''skaters'' – Jean Beliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, J. C. Tremblay, Jacques Laperriere, Ted Harris, Terry Harper, John Ferguson, ]Ralph Backstrom
Ralph Gerald Backstrom (September 18, 1937 – February 7, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and later a coach, entrepreneur and hockey executive. He played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles ...
, Henri Richard, Gilles Tremblay and Bobby Rousseau
Joseph Jean-Paul Robert Rousseau (born July 26, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Montreal Canadiens. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1962 as ...
. 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.[
*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.][
*Toronto: ''goaltender'' – ]Johnny Bower
John William Bower (né Kiszkan; November 8, 1924 – December 26, 2017) nicknamed "The China Wall", was a Canadians, Canadian ice hockey goaltender and inductee to the Hockey Hall of Fame, who won four Stanley Cups during his career with the Toro ...
; ''skaters'' – Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon, Tim Horton, Larry Hillman, Bob Pulford, Jim Pappin, Marcel Pronovost
Joseph René Marcel Pronovost (June 15, 1930April 26, 2015) was a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played in List of NHL players with 1000 games played, 1,206 games over 20 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons ...
, 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
Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...
, George Armstrong, Allan Stanley, Duane Rupp, Murray Oliver, Bronco Horvath
Bronco Joseph Horvath (March 12, 1930 – December 17, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 434 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1968.
Early life
Horvath was born to an ethnic Hungarian family t ...
, Don Cherry and Red Kelly.[
]
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
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
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
The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchises, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey Leagu ...
of the American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
by the Kings and the Quebec Aces
The Quebec Aces, also known in French as Les As de Québec, were an amateur and later a professional men's ice hockey team from Quebec City, Quebec.
History
The Aces were founded in 1928 by Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper Mills, the name Aces stan ...
of the AHL by the Flyers,[ while the North Stars purchased the rights to seven amateur members of the Canadian National Team from Toronto.][McFarlane (1969), p. 141.] 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.[ 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
Gerhardt Otto Dornhoefer (born February 2, 1943), better known as Gary Dornhoefer, is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston ...
, 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.[
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.][
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
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...
in the 1979–80 season, while Parent, playing in 551 NHL games (not counting his season in the World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...
) 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.
See also
* 1967 NHL amateur draft
*1967–68 NHL season
The 1967–68 NHL season was the 51st season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 12 teams, putting the new six in the newly created West Division, while the " Original Six" were all placed in the newly created East Division. Th ...
Notes
References
*
*
External links
1967 NHL Expansion Draft player stats
a
The Internet Hockey Database
{{St. Louis Blues
draft
Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...
California Golden Seals
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota North Stars
NHL expansion drafts
History of the Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
St. Louis Blues