[NoSkillz]

1968-1969 SEASON


1968 NHL AMATEUR DRAFT

On the strength of their brutal first season in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins were given the honour of selecting first in a pretty solid 1968 Amateur Draft. With their pick, the Penguins selected promising 19 year old defender Brad Park.

Here is how the first round looked:

FIRST ROUND -
1. Pittsburgh Penguins - Brad Park, Defense, Canada
2. Oakland Seals - Don Luce, Centre, Canada
3. St. Louis Blues - Jerry Korab, Defense, Canada
4. Minnesota North Stars - Rene Robert, Right Wing, Canada
5. Philadelphia Flyers - Glenn “Chico” Resch, Goaltender, Canada
6. New York Rangers - Barry Gibbs, Defense, Canada
7. Montreal Canadiens - Rick Ley, Defense, Canada
8. Detroit Red WIngs - Rick Smith, Defense, Canada
9. Los Angeles Kings - Tom Webster, Right Wing, Canada
10. Boston Bruins - Jude Drouin, Centre, Canada
11. Toronto Maple Leafs - Gerry Pinder, Right Wing, Canada
12. Chicago Black Hawks - Tim Sheehy, Right Wing, USA

There were two rounds and 24 total selections in this year’s draft. The biggest names selected in the second round were defender Brad Selwood (Oakland) and goaltender Phil Myre (Minnesota).


1968-69 NHL SEASON PREVIEW

The only major rule change for the 1968-69 season was to add two games to each teams schedule, meaning 76 games would now be played by each club. Also, future Amateur Drafts would be expanded to cover any amateur player of qualifying age throughout the world.

There were a number of deals made in the pre-season, with some being extremely complicated three and four team deals. None were more complicated than the one that saw top goaltending prospect Bernie Parent traded twice in the same day, first going from the Rangers to the Black Hawks then later that day, he was moved to Montreal, his hometown.

The pre-season pundits felt Toronto stood the best chance of winning the Cup for a second consecutive year behind star defender Bobby Orr, with the Black Hawks and their dynamic duo of Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita looking to be the biggest challengers. The Rangers looked to be a dark horse candidate behind Jean Ratelle.

Top candidates in the scoring race are expected to be Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull from Chicago along with Detroit’s Gordie Howe. No change here from the last number of years.

The top defencemen in the league are considered to be last year’s Norris Trophy winner Bobby Orr (a new choice), Bruins veteran Ted Green and also Boston’s Pat Stapleton, a new name on this list. The top goaltenders are thought to be Montreal’s Jacques Plante, Chicago’s Glenn Hall and the expansion North Stars’ Gerry Cheevers, another new choice.

The notable 17 year olds entering this universe in 1968 include Kent-Erik Andersson, Dan Bouchard, Hardy Astrom, Henry Boucha, Bill Clement, Jerry Butler, Norm Gratton, Bob Kelly, Orest Kindrachuk, Ted McAneeley, Giles Meloche, Chris Oddleifson, Gerry O’Flaherty, Greg Polis, Darryl Sittler, Billy Smith, Bob Stewart, Dale Tallon, Murray Wing, Duane Wylie, John Garrett, Jocelyn Guevremont, Bobby Lalonde, Richard Lemieux, Willy Lindstrom, Hartland Monohan, Terry O’Reilly, Andre Peloffy, Pierre Plante, Craig Ramsay, Larry Robinson, Vic Venasky, Steve Vickers and Tom Williams.