[NoSkillz]

1967 NHL AMATEUR DRAFT

There were a few key changes prior to the 1967 Amateur Draft, none more important than the fact NHL sponsorship of junior teams would cease, making all players of qualifying age not already on NHL-sponsored lists eligible for the draft. This was offset by the fact that the minimum draft age was raised to 20, meaning an extremely weak draft class for the six new expansion clubs.

The Oakland Seals won the right to draft first overall and they chose 20 year old defender Chris Evans.

Here is how the first round went in a brutally weak draft:

FIRST ROUND -
1. Oakland Seals - Chris Evans, Defense, Canada
2. St. Louis Blues - Elgin McCann, Right Wing, Canada
3. Minnesota North Stars - Doug Barrie, Defence, Canada
4. Los Angeles Kings - Barry Wilkins, Defense, Canada
5. Philadelphia Flyers - Jim Lorentz, Centre, Canada
6. Pittsburgh Penguins - Nick Beverley, Defence, Canada
7. New York Rangers - Larry Pleau, Centre, USA
8. Boston Bruins - Ray Adduono, Centre, Canada
9. Detroit Red Wings - Wayne Carleton, Left Wing, Canada
10. Toronto Maple Leafs - Ross Lonsberry, Left Wing, Canada
11. Montreal Canadiens - Bob Smith, Centre, Canada
12. Chicago Black Hawks - Garry Monahan, Left Wing, Canada

There were only two rounds and 24 total players selected, with no one of note getting drafted in the second round.


1967-68 NHL SEASON PREVIEW

There was plenty of scrambling after the Amateur Draft, especially amongst the expansion clubs, as they battled hard to fill their rosters. Most of the early free agent signings were scooped up by the Original Six clubs, as the top players preferred going to established clubs.

Some of the expansion clubs, most notably the Pittsburgh Penguins, wouldn’t even have an 18 man roster before the regular season started, another shocking development and likely a bug (teams iced 18 man squads back in those days - 2 keepers and 16 skaters).

Rules changes for the 1967-68 season included a new 74 game regular season (up from 70 games) and a limit on the curvature of sticks set at 1.5 inches.

There were a number of deals made in the pre-season and St. Louis was the first expansion team to dip into that market, hoping they got their goaltender of the future in Roger Crozier, who was picked up in a deal with Chicago.

The Black Hawks were large favourites to repeat as champions for a fifth consecutive year, with their biggest challengers expected to be Toronto and Boston, with an aging Montreal team looked at as a dark horse candidate.

Top candidates in the scoring race will 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 Bruins blue liner Ted Green (a new choice), Hawks veteran Pierre Pilote and Boston’s Doug Mohns. The top goaltenders are thought to be Montreal’s Jacques Plante, Chicago’s Glenn Hall and New York’s Gump Worsley, another new choice.

The notable 17 year olds entering this universe in 1967 include Ivan Boldirev, Jiri Bubla, Mike Christie, Bobby Clarke, Andre Dupont, Butch Goring, Merv Haney, Bill Hogaboam, Rejean Houle, Dave Hudson, Larry McIntyre, Kevin Morrison, Dick Redmond, Larry Romanchych, Don Saleski, Ron Stackhouse, Bob Whitlock, Jiri Crha, Jim Hargreaves, Yvon Lambert, Mike Lampman, Reggie Leach, Chuck Lefley, Rick MacLeish, Al McDonough, Ulf Nilsson, Dennis Patterson and Errol Thompson.