1967 NHL Expansion Draft

1967 NHL Expansion Draft
General information
Date(s)	June 6, 1967
Expansion team(s)	California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues
NHL Expansion and Dispersal Drafts 1970 >

The 1967 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 6, 1967, in the ballroom of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 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 defensemen. 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, second, sixth and subsequent rounds in which any of the established teams lost a player, 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 1980 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	Sawchuk, TerryTerry Sawchuk	Goaltender	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
1	2	Parent, BernieBernie Parent	Goaltender	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
1	3	Hall, GlennGlenn Hall	Goaltender	St. Louis Blues	Chicago Black Hawks
1	4	Maniago, CesareCesare Maniago	Goaltender	Minnesota North Stars	New York Rangers
1	5	Daley, JoeJoe Daley	Goaltender	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
1	6	Hodge, CharlieCharlie Hodge	Goaltender	California Seals	Montreal Canadiens
2	7	Rutledge, WayneWayne Rutledge	Goaltender	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
2	8	Bauman, GarryGarry Bauman	Goaltender	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens
2	9	Favell, DougDoug Favell	Goaltender	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
2	10	Edwards, RoyRoy Edwards	Goaltender	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks
2	11	Smith, GaryGary Smith	Goaltender	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
2	12	Caley, DonDon Caley	Goaltender	St. Louis Blues	Detroit Red Wings
3	13	Labossiere, GordGord Labossiere	Centre	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens
3	14	Balon, DaveDave Balon	Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens
3	15	Roberts, JimJim Roberts	Defence	St. Louis Blues	Montreal Canadiens
3	16	Van Impe, EdEd Van Impe	Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Chicago Black Hawks
3	17	Ingarfield, EarlEarl Ingarfield	Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
3	18	Baun, BobBob Baun	Defence	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
4	19	Wall, BobBob Wall	Defence	Los Angeles Kings	Detroit Red Wings
4	20	Cullen, RayRay Cullen	Centre	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
4	21	Watson, JoeJoe Watson	Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
4	22	MacNeil, AlAl MacNeil	Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
4	23	Douglas, KentKent Douglas	Defence	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
4	24	Picard, NoelNoel Picard	Defence	St. Louis Blues	Montreal Canadiens
5	25	Joyal, EddieEddie Joyal	Centre	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
5	26	Woytowich, BobBob Woytowich	Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Boston Bruins
5	27	Selby, BritBrit Selby	Left wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Toronto Maple Leafs
5	28	Jeffrey, LarryLarry Jeffrey	Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Toronto Maple Leafs
5	29	Hicke, BillBill Hicke	Right wing	California Seals	New York Rangers
5	30	Arbour, AlAl Arbour	Defence	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
6	31	Lemieux, RealReal Lemieux	Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Detroit Red Wings
6	32	Talbot, Jean-GuyJean-Guy Talbot	Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens
6	33	Angotti, LouLou Angotti	Right wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Chicago Black Hawks
6	34	McDonald, AbAb McDonald	Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
6	35	Harris, BillyBilly Harris	Centre	California Seals	Detroit Red Wings
6	36	Seiling, RodRod Seiling	Defence	St. Louis Blues	New York Rangers
7	37	Popiel, PoulPoul Popiel	Defence	Los Angeles Kings	Boston Bruins
7	38	Connelly, WayneWayne Connelly	Right wing	Minnesota North Stars	Boston Bruins
7	39	Rochefort, LeonLeon Rochefort	Forward	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens
7	40	Boivin, LeoLeo Boivin	Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
7	41	Cahan, LarryLarry Cahan	Defence	California Seals	New York Rangers
7	42	Schock, RonRon Schock	Centre	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
8	43	Gray, TerryTerry Gray	Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Detroit Red Wings
8	44	Taylor, TedTed Taylor	Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
8	45	Blackburn, DonDon Blackburn	Left wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Toronto Maple Leafs
8	46	Price, NoelNoel Price	Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	Montreal Canadiens
8	47	Boyer, WallyWally Boyer	Centre	California Seals	Chicago Black Hawks
8	48	Crisp, TerryTerry Crisp	Centre	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
9	49	Campbell, BryanBryan Campbell	Centre	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
9	50	Goegan, PetePete Goegan	Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
9	51	Miszuk, JohnJohn Miszuk	Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Chicago Black Hawks
9	52	McCreary, KeithKeith McCreary	Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Montreal Canadiens
9	53	Szura, JoeJoe Szura	Centre	California Seals	Montreal Canadiens
9	54	McKenney, DonDon McKenney	Centre	St. Louis Blues	Detroit Red Wings
10	55	Irvine, TedTed Irvine	Left wing	Los Angeles Kings	Boston Bruins
10	56	Lunde, LenLen Lunde	Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
10	57	Peters, GarryGarry Peters	Centre	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens
10	58	Schinkel, KenKen Schinkel	Right wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
10	59	Lemieux, BobBob Lemieux	Defence	California Seals	Montreal Canadiens
10	60	Rivers, WayneWayne Rivers	Right wing	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
11	61	Hughes, HowieHowie Hughes	Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens
11	62	Goldsworthy, BillBill Goldsworthy	Right wing	Minnesota North Stars	Boston Bruins
11	63	Cherry, DickDick Cherry	Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
11	64	Dillabough, BobBob Dillabough	Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Boston Bruins
11	65	Parise, J. P.J. P. Parise	Left wing	California Seals	Boston Bruins
11	66	Hay, BillBill Hay	Centre	St. Louis Blues	Chicago Black Hawks
12	67	Inglis, BillBill Inglis	Centre	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens
12	68	Pronovost, AndreAndre Pronovost	Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
12	69	Gauthier, JeanJean Gauthier	Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens
12	70	Stratton, ArtArt Stratton	Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks
12	71	Harris, RonRon Harris	Defence	California Seals	Boston Bruins
12	72	Edestrand, DarrylDarryl Edestrand	Defence	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
13	73	Robinson, DougDoug Robinson	Left wing	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
13	74	Vasko, ElmerElmer Vasko	Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
13	75	Johnson, JimJim Johnson	Centre	Philadelphia Flyers	New York Rangers
13	76	Fonteyne, ValVal Fonteyne	Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
13	77	Clancy, TerryTerry Clancy	Right wing	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
13	78	Beaudin, NormNorm Beaudin	Right wing	St. Louis Blues	Detroit Red Wings
14	79	Corrigan, MikeMike Corrigan	Left wing	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
14	80	Hall, MurrayMurray Hall	Right wing	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
14	81	Dornhoefer, GaryGary Dornhoefer	Right wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
14	82	Gilbert, JeannotJeannot Gilbert	Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Boston Bruins
14	83	Pratt, TracyTracy Pratt	Defence	California Seals	Chicago Black Hawks
14	84	Keenan, LarryLarry Keenan	Left wing	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
15	85	Lemieux, JacquesJacques Lemieux	Defence	Los Angeles Kings	Montreal Canadiens
15	86	Watson, BryanBryan Watson	Defence	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
15	87	Kennedy, ForbesForbes Kennedy	Centre	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
15	88	McCarthy, TomTom McCarthy	Left wing	Pittsburgh Penguins	Montreal Canadiens
15	89	Erickson, AutAut Erickson	Defence	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
15	90	Stewart, RonRon Stewart	Centre	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins
16	91	MacDonald, LowellLowell MacDonald	Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
16	92	Collins, BillBill Collins	Centre	Minnesota North Stars	New York Rangers
16	93	Hannigan, PatPat Hannigan	Left wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Chicago Black Hawks
16	94	Dea, BillyBilly Dea	Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks
16	95	Boehm, RonRon Boehm	Left wing	California Seals	New York Rangers
16	96	Hucul, FredFred Hucul	Defence	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
17	97	Block, KenKen Block	Defence	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
17	98	Fitzpatrick, SandySandy Fitzpatrick	Centre	Minnesota North Stars	New York Rangers
17	99	Carruthers, DwightDwight Carruthers	Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	Detroit Red Wings
17	100	Rivard, BobbyBobby Rivard	Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Montreal Canadiens
17	101	Caron, AlainAlain Caron	Right wing	California Seals	Chicago Black Hawks
17	102	Brenneman, JohnJohn Brenneman	Left wing	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
18	103	Flett, BillBill Flett	Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	Toronto Maple Leafs
18	104	MacDonald, ParkerParker MacDonald	Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit Red Wings
18	105	Courcy, BobBob Courcy	Centre	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens
18	106	Pearson, MelMel Pearson	Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Black Hawks
18	107	Laughton, MikeMike Laughton	Centre	California Seals	Toronto Maple Leafs
18	108	Melnyk, GerryGerry Melnyk	Centre	St. Louis Blues	Chicago Black Hawks
19	109	Hughes, BrentBrent Hughes	Defence	Los Angeles Kings	Detroit Red Wings
19	110	Taylor, BillyBilly Taylor	Centre	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
19	111	Wright, KeithKeith Wright	Right wing	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins
19	112	Bathgate, AndyAndy Bathgate	Centre	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings
19	113	Hextall, BryanBryan Hextall	Forward	California Seals	New York Rangers
19	114	Veneruzzo, GaryGary Veneruzzo	Left wing	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
20	115	Dufour, MarcMarc Dufour	Right wing	Los Angeles Kings	New York Rangers
20	116	Richardson, DaveDave Richardson	Left wing	Minnesota North Stars	Chicago Black Hawks
20	117	Ball, TerryTerry Ball	Defence	Philadelphia Flyers	New York Rangers
20	118	Hunt, LesLes Hunt	Defence	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
20	119	Kilpatrick, GaryGary Kilpatrick	Defence	California Seals	Chicago Black Hawks
20	120	Mestinsek, MaxMax Mestinsek	Right wing	St. Louis Blues	New York Rangers

See also

• 1967 NHL Amateur Draft
• 1967–68 NHL season

Notes

1. 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. McFarlane (1969), p. 140
4. Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, June 7, 1967, p. 27.
5. McFarlane (1969), p. 141.

References

• 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.

External links

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