The 1966–67 NHL season was the 50th season of the National Hockey League. This was the last season of only six teams playing 70 games each, as six more teams were added for the 1967–68 season. This season saw the debut of one of the greatest players in hockey history, defenceman Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to two in the Stanley Cup Finals to win the Stanley Cup for the thirteenth time in franchise history; to date this is the Leafs' last Stanley Cup victory.

League business President David Molson of the Canadian Arena Company announced that the Montreal Forum would undergo major alterations in a $5 million work program commencing in April 1968.

The fourth NHL amateur draft was held on April 25, 1966, at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Barry Gibbs was selected first overall by the Boston Bruins.

NHL president Clarence Campbell and Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) president Fred Page announced a new five-year professional-agreement effective on July 1, 1967. The direct sponsorship of junior ice hockey teams by the NHL was to be phased out in the upcoming year, and no new sponsored players could be registered or be required to sign a contract restricting movement between teams. The agreement eliminated the A, B and C forms, which had angered the parents of amateur players and were the source of legal action threats when the professional team refused to release a player. Page succeeded in getting junior-aged players to be eligible for the NHL amateur draft once they graduate from junior hockey, or to be signed as a free agent in the year the player reaches his 20th birthday. The NHL agreed to pay development fees to the CAHA for the drafted players, and it allowed the CAHA to distribute the fees. The new agreement came at a time that also leveled the playing field for new NHL clubs in the 1967 NHL expansion.

Regular season Bobby Orr made his NHL debut on October 19, with an assist in a 6–2 win over Detroit.

On November 9, Ed Giacomin was subjected to one of the cruelest displays of fan abuse when the Boston Bruins came back to tie the Rangers 3-3. The fans pelted him with garbage and booed him viciously. From there, however, the Rangers began to win and the fans began to cheer for him. At one point, the Rangers were in first place, but slumped later and finished fourth.

Terry Sawchuk got his 99th shutout when Toronto blanked Detroit 4–0 on February 25. He got his 100th career shutout on March 4, when Toronto defeated Chicago 4–0.

Bobby Hull scored his 50th goal of the season when Chicago lost to Toronto 9–5 on March 18 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Another superlative for the Black Hawks was Stan Mikita, who tied the league scoring record with 97 points in claiming the Art Ross Trophy for the third time. Mikita was also awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player.

The Chicago Black Hawks, who had won three Stanley Cups, finished first overall in the standings for the first time in their history, a full seventeen points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and nineteen ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Boston Bruins missed the playoffs, their last time before their record 29-season playoff streak.

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket The top four teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. In the semifinals, the first-place team played the third-place team, while the second-place team faced the fourth-place team, with the winners advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. In both rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).

Semifinals

(1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (3) Toronto Maple Leafs Despite Chicago's impressive regular season marks, it was the third seed Toronto Maple Leafs who beat the Black Hawks in the first round of the playoffs.

(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) New York Rangers Montreal swept the Rangers in four games.

Stanley Cup Finals

Awards 1966–1967 NHL awardsPrince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion) Chicago Black HawksArt Ross Trophy:(Top scorer) Stan Mikita, Chicago Black HawksCalder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) Bobby Orr, Boston BruinsConn Smythe Trophy:(Most valuable player, playoffs) Dave Keon, Toronto Maple LeafsHart Trophy:(Most valuable player, season) Stan Mikita, Chicago Black HawksJames Norris Memorial Trophy:(Best defenceman) Harry Howell, New York RangersLady Byng Memorial Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Stan Mikita, Chicago Black HawksVezina Trophy:(Goaltender(s) of team with the best goals-against average) Glenn Hall and Denis DeJordy, Chicago Black Hawks

All-Star teams Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers GGlenn Hall, Chicago Black HawksPierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks DTim Horton, Toronto Maple LeafsHarry Howell, New York Rangers DBobby Orr, Boston BruinsStan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks CNorm Ullman, Detroit Red WingsKenny Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks RWGordie Howe, Detroit Red WingsBobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks LWDon Marshall, New York Rangers

Player statistics

Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Player Team GP G A Pts PIMStan Mikita Chicago Black Hawks 70 35 62 97 12Bobby Hull Chicago Black Hawks 66 52 28 8052Norm Ullman Detroit Red Wings 68 26 44 7026Ken Wharram Chicago Black Hawks 70 31 34 65 21Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 69 25 40 65 53Bobby Rousseau Montreal Canadiens 68 19 44 63 58Phil Esposito Chicago Black Hawks 69 21 40 6140Phil Goyette New York Rangers 70 12 49 616Doug Mohns Chicago Black Hawks 61 25 35 6058Henri Richard Montreal Canadiens 65 21 34 55 28Alex Delvecchio Detroit Red Wings 70 17 38 55 10 Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player Team GP MIN GA GAA W L T SOGlenn Hall Chicago Black Hawks 32 1664 66 2.38 19 5 5 2Denis DeJordy Chicago Black Hawks 44 2536 104 2.46 22 12 7 4Charlie Hodge Montreal Canadiens 37 2055 88 2.60 11 15 7 3Eddie Giacomin New York Rangers 68 3981 173 2.61 30 27 11 9Johnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs 27 1431 63 2.64 12 9 3 2Terry Sawchuk Toronto Maple Leafs 28 1409 66 2.81 15 5 4 2Roger Crozier Detroit Red Wings 58 3256 182 3.35 22 29 4 4Eddie Johnston Boston Bruins 34 1880 116 3.70 8 21 2 0

Coaches Boston Bruins: Harry Sinden Chicago Black Hawks: Billy Reay Detroit Red Wings: Sid Abel Montreal Canadiens: Toe Blake New York Rangers: Emile Francis Toronto Maple Leafs: Punch Imlach

Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1966–67 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins Glen Sather, Boston Bruins Ed Van Impe, Chicago Black Hawks Carol Vadnais, Montreal Canadiens Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens Rogie Vachon, Montreal Canadiens

Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1966–67 (listed with their last team): Bill Hay, Chicago Black Hawks Red Kelly, Toronto Maple Leafs

Broadcasting Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. HNIC also produced Wednesday night regular season game telecasts for CTV. Games were typically not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress.

This was the first season under a new U.S. rights agreement with CBS. Due to prior programming commitments for this season only, CBS sub-licensed its Sunday afternoon regular season games to RKO General. CBS still aired selected playoff games.

See also 1966–67 NHL transactions 1967 NHL Expansion List of Stanley Cup champions 1966 NHL amateur draft 20th National Hockey League All-Star Game National Hockey League All-Star Game Lester Patrick Trophy 1966 in sports 1967 in sports

References

Notes

External links Hockey Database NHL.com