1967–68 St. Louis Blues season

1967–68 St. Louis Blues
Division 3rd West
1967–68 record 27–31–16
Goals for 177
Goals against 198
Team information
General Manager Lynn Patrick
Coach Lynn Patrick
Scotty Bowman
Captain Al Arbour
Team leaders
Goals Red Berenson (22)
Assists Gerry Melnyk (35)
Points Red Berenson (51)
Penalties in minutes Gary Sabourin (50)
Wins Glenn Hall (19)
Goals against average Glenn Hall (2.48)
1968–69>

The 1967–68 season was the inaugural season for the St. Louis Blues. The Blues were one of the six new teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion. The other franchises were the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and California Seals. The league doubled in size from its Original Six.

St. Louis was the last of the expansion teams to officially get into the league. The Blues were chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Chicago Black Hawks. The Black Hawks were owned at that time by the Wirtz family, who also owned the St. Louis Arena. The team's first owners were insurance tycoon Sid Salomon Jr., his son, Sid Salomon III, and Robert L. Wolfson. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. Salomon then spent several million dollars on renovations for the 38-year-old Arena, which increased the number of seats from 12,000 to 15,000 and provided its first significant maintenance since the 1940s.

Offseason

NHL draft

The Blues attempted to select Saskatoon Blades forward Dale Fairbrother with their first round pick, but the pick was ruled invalid since Fairbrother was on the Portland Buckaroos' sponsored list.[1][2] The Blues passed on making selections in the second and third rounds.[2]

Regular season

Original logo of the St. Louis Blues

October 11, 1967 – the franchise's first game. The Blues and Minnesota North Stars played to a 2–2 tie at the St. Louis Arena,[3] with the Blues' first ever team goal scored by Larry Keenan of North Bay, Ontario. A St. Michaels product, Keenan had his career end prematurely due to injuries. He relocated back to North Bay where he coached a local Midget AAA team for many years.

The Blues were originally coached by Lynn Patrick who resigned in late-November and was replaced by Scotty Bowman. Although the league's rules effectively kept star players with the Original Six teams, the Blues were one of the stronger teams of the Western Division. The playoff format required an expansion team to make it to the Stanley Cup finals, and the Blues made it to the final round.

Season standings

West Division[4]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Philadelphia Flyers 74 31 32 11 173 179 −6 73
2 Los Angeles Kings 74 31 33 10 200 224 −24 72
3 St. Louis Blues 74 27 31 16 177 191 −14 70
4 Minnesota North Stars 74 27 32 15 191 226 −35 69
5 Pittsburgh Penguins 74 27 34 13 195 216 −21 67
6 Oakland Seals 74 15 42 17 153 219 −66 47

Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1TOctober 11, 19672–2 Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 0–0–1
2LOctober 13, 19671–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 0–1–1
3WOctober 14, 19674–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 1–1–1
4LOctober 18, 19671–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 1–2–1
5TOctober 21, 19673–3 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 1–2–2
6LOctober 22, 19670–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 1–3–2
7LOctober 25, 19672–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 1–4–2
8LOctober 28, 19671–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68) 1–5–2
9WNovember 1, 19675–1 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 2–5–2
10WNovember 4, 19673–2 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 3–5–2
11LNovember 8, 19671–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 3–6–2
12WNovember 11, 19675–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 4–6–2
13LNovember 12, 19672–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 4–7–2
14LNovember 15, 19671–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 4–8–2
15LNovember 18, 19673–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 4–9–2
16LNovember 19, 19672–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 4–10–2
17LNovember 22, 19671–3 Montreal Canadiens (1967–68) 4–11–2
18LNovember 25, 19671–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 4–12–2
19LNovember 26, 19670–1 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 4–13–2
20WNovember 29, 19673–2 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 5–13–2
21LDecember 2, 19671–5 Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 5–14–2
22LDecember 3, 19672–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 5–15–2
23LDecember 6, 19672–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 5–16–2
24WDecember 9, 19671–0 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 6–16–2
25WDecember 10, 19672–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 7–16–2
26WDecember 13, 19673–1 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 8–16–2
27TDecember 14, 19672–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 8–16–3
28LDecember 16, 19670–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 8–17–3
29LDecember 17, 19673–5 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 8–18–3
30WDecember 20, 19672–1 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 9–18–3
31LDecember 23, 19670–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 9–19–3
32WDecember 25, 19671–0 @ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 10–19–3
33WDecember 27, 19674–2 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 11–19–3
34WDecember 29, 19672–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 12–19–3
35LDecember 30, 19671–8 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 12–20–3
36WJanuary 3, 19684–0 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 13–20–3
37WJanuary 6, 19682–1 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 14–20–3
38TJanuary 10, 19682–2 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 14–20–4
39TJanuary 11, 19682–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 14–20–5
40LJanuary 13, 19681–3 New York Rangers (1967–68) 14–21–5
41TJanuary 14, 19682–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 14–21–6
42WJanuary 17, 19685–0 Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 15–21–6
43TJanuary 21, 19682–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 15–21–7
44WJanuary 24, 19685–2 Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 16–21–7
45TJanuary 25, 19684–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 16–21–8
46WJanuary 27, 19684–3 New York Rangers (1967–68) 17–21–8
47WJanuary 31, 19689–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 18–21–8
48LFebruary 1, 19680–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 18–22–8
49WFebruary 3, 19684–1 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 19–22–8
50LFebruary 7, 19684–6 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 19–23–8
51LFebruary 10, 19681–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 19–24–8
52TFebruary 11, 19683–3 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 19–24–9
53TFebruary 14, 19682–2 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 19–24–10
54WFebruary 16, 19683–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 20–24–10
55TFebruary 17, 19682–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 20–24–11
56WFebruary 21, 19685–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 21–24–11
57LFebruary 22, 19681–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68) 21–25–11
58LFebruary 25, 19682–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 21–26–11
59TFebruary 28, 19683–3 Montreal Canadiens (1967–68) 21–26–12
60TMarch 2, 19683–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 21–26–13
61LMarch 3, 19683–9 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 21–27–13
62WMarch 6, 19684–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 22–27–13
63WMarch 9, 19683–1 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 23–27–13
64WMarch 10, 19681–0 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 24–27–13
65TMarch 13, 19683–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 24–27–14
66TMarch 15, 19681–1 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 24–27–15
67LMarch 16, 19683–6 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 24–28–15
68LMarch 20, 19682–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 24–29–15
69LMarch 22, 19681–6 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 24–30–15
70TMarch 23, 19683–3 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 24–30–16
71WMarch 27, 19683–0 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 25–30–16
72LMarch 28, 19680–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 25–31–16
73WMarch 30, 19683–2 Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 26–31–16
74WMarch 31, 19685–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 27–31–16

Expansion draft

# Player Drafted from
1. Glenn Hall (G) Chicago Black Hawks
2. Don Caley (G) Detroit Red Wings
3. Jim Roberts (D/W) Montreal Canadiens
4. Noel Picard (D) Montreal Canadiens
5. Al Arbour (D) Toronto Maple Leafs
6. Rod Seiling (D) New York Rangers
7. Ron Schock (C) Boston Bruins
8. Terry Crisp (C) Boston Bruins
9. Don McKenney (C) Detroit Red Wings
10. Wayne Rivers (RW) Boston Bruins
11. Billy Hay (C) Chicago Black Hawks
12. Darryl Edestrand (D) Toronto Maple Leafs
13. Norm Beaudin (RW) Detroit Red Wings
14. Larry Keenan (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
15. Ron Stewart (C) Boston Bruins
16. Fred Hucul (D) Toronto Maple Leafs
17. John Brenneman (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
18. Gerry Melnyk (C) Chicago Black Hawks
19. Gary Veneruzzo (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
20. Max Mestinsek (RW) New York Rangers

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Gordon "Red" Berenson 55 22 29 51 22
Gerry Melnyk 73 15 35 50 14
Frank St. Marseille 57 16 16 32 12
Don McKenney 39 9 20 29 4
Terry Crisp 73 9 20 29 10
Bill McCreary 70 13 13 26 22
Gary Sabourin 50 13 10 23 50
Larry Keenan 40 12 8 20 4
Ron Schock 55 9 9 18 17
Tim Ecclestone 50 6 8 14 16
Ron Stewart 19 7 5 12 11
Craig Cameron 32 7 2 9 8
Dickie Moore 27 5 3 8 9
Wayne Rivers 22 4 4 8 8
Ron Attwell 18 1 7 8 6
Roger Picard 15 2 2 4 21
Gary Veneruzzo 5 1 1 2 0
Norm Beaudin 13 1 1 2 4
Claude Cardin 1 0 0 0 0

Defencemen

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Jim Roberts 74 14 23 37 66
Barclay Plager 49 5 15 20 153
Fred Hucul 43 2 13 15 30
Noel Picard 66 1 10 11 142
Al Arbour 74 1 10 11 50
Bob Plager 53 2 5 7 86
Jean-Guy Talbot 23 0 4 4 2
Ray Fortin 24 0 2 2 8
Gordon Kannegiesser 19 0 1 1 13
Darryl Edestrand 12 0 0 0 2

Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player GP MIN W L T SO GAA
Glenn Hall 49 2858 19 21 9 5 2.48
Seth Martin 30 1552 8 10 7 1 2.59
Don Caley 1 30 0 0 0 0 6.00

Post-season stats

Forwards

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Gordon "Red" Berenson 18 5 2 7 9
Gerry Melnyk 17 2 6 8 2
Frank St. Marseille 18 5 8 13 0
Don McKenney 6 1 1 2 2
Terry Crisp 18 1 5 6 6
Bill McCreary 15 3 2 5 0
Gary Sabourin 18 4 2 6 30
Larry Keenan 18 4 5 9 4
Ron Schock 12 1 2 3 0
Tim Ecclestone 12 1 2 3 2
Craig Cameron 14 1 0 1 11
Dickie Moore 18 7 7 14 15
Gary Veneruzzo 9 0 2 2 2

Defencemen

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Jim Roberts 18 4 1 5 20
Barclay Plager 18 2 5 7 73
Noel Picard 13 0 3 3 46
Al Arbour 14 0 3 3 10
Bob Plager 18 1 2 3 69
Jean-Guy Talbot 17 0 2 2 8
Ray Fortin 3 0 0 0 2
Doug Harvey 8 0 4 4 12

Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player GP MIN W L T SO GAA
Glenn Hall

Playoffs

1968 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Stanley Cup Finals

The St. Louis Blues made a series of the Stanley Cup finals although they lost in four straight games. Glenn Hall was sensational, especially in game three when the Blues were outshot 46 to 15. Wrote Red Burnett, the dean of hockey writers then: "A number of Hall's saves were seemingly impossible. Experts walked out of the Forum convinced no other goaltender had performed so brilliantly in a losing cause." In the overtime of game three, Hall made a spectacular save on Dick Duff and then, standing on his head, made another save. "It was a heartbreaker to see" said Burnett "After the saves on Duff, Bobby Rousseau came and batted home the second rebound." Hall's heroics won him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

However, Montreal was not to be denied and won the Stanley Cup in game four as J. C. Tremblay fired home the winning goal. When the game ended, the fans came on the ice to celebrate, and balloons, hats and programs were thrown from the stands.

Date Visitors Score Home Score Notes
May 5 Montreal 3 St. Louis 2 OT
May 7 Montreal 1 St. Louis 0
May 9 St. Louis 3 Montreal 4 OT
May 11 St. Louis2 Montreal 3

Montreal wins the series 4–0.

Roster

1967–1968 St. Louis Blues Roster
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centers


Awards and honors

References

  1. "Invalid Claim by St. Louis in 1967 NHL Amateur Draft". Hockey Draft Central. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "1967 NHL Amateur Draft – Quick Facts". Hockey Draft Central. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  3. St Louis Blues – History
  4. "1967–1968 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.

External links

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