1966–67 NHL season

1966–67 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 19, 1966 - May 2, 1967
Number of games	70
Number of teams	6
Regular season
Season champion	Chicago Black Hawks
Season MVP	Stan Mikita (Chicago Black Hawks)
Top scorer	Stan Mikita (Chicago Black Hawkss)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Dave Keon (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup champions	Toronto Maple Leafs
Runners-up	Montreal Canadiens
NHL seasons
← 1965–66	1967–68 →

The 1966–67 NHL season was the 50th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. Since the 1942–43 season, there had only been six teams in the NHL, but this was to be the last season of the Original Six 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 won the Stanley Cup over the Montreal Canadiens

League business

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

NHL sponsorship of junior teams ceased, making all players of qualifying age not already on NHL-sponsored lists eligible for the amateur draft.

Regular season

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

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.

This is the last season for the 29 years in which The Boston Bruins missed the playoffs.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

National Hockey League

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Chicago Black Hawks	70	41	17	12	94	264	170	757
Montreal Canadiens	70	32	25	13	77	202	188	879
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	32	27	11	75	204	211	736
New York Rangers	70	30	28	12	72	188	189	664
Detroit Red Wings	70	27	39	4	58	212	241	719
Boston Bruins	70	17	43	10	44	182	253	764

Playoffs

For more details on this topic, see 1967 Stanley Cup playoffs.

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. Toronto won games 2,3,5,and 6. Montreal swept the Rangers to advance to the final.

Playoff bracket

	Semi-finals					Stanley Cup Final
	1	Chicago Black Hawks	2
	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
						2	Montreal Canadiens	2
						3	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
	2	Montreal Canadiens	4
	4	New York Rangers	0

Finals

Main article: 1967 Stanley Cup Finals

The Maple Leafs faced off against second-place Montreal for the Cup. The teams split the first four games, the third game in Toronto won in overtime by Toronto (on a goal by Bob Pulford against Rogie Vachon, whom Pulford would later coach in Los Angeles). The Leafs then won the next two to win the Cup and win it on home ice. As of the 2010–11 season, this is the most recent time the Leafs made the Finals.

NHL awards

1966–1967 NHL awards
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Chicago Black Hawks
Art Ross Trophy:	Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Harry Howell, New York Rangers
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Vezina Trophy:	Glenn Hall & Denis DeJordy, Chicago Black Hawks
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Gordon Howe, Charles F. Adams, James E. Norris

All-Star teams

Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers	G	Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs
Harry Howell, New York Rangers	D	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks	C	Norm Ullman, Detroit Red Wings
Kenny Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks	RW	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks	LW	Don Marshall, New York Rangers

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Stan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	70	35	62	97	12
Bobby Hull	Chicago Black Hawks	66	52	28	80	52
Norm Ullman	Detroit Red Wings	68	26	44	70	26
Ken Wharram	Chicago Black Hawks	70	31	34	65	21
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	69	25	40	65	53
Bobby Rousseau	Montreal Canadiens	68	19	44	63	58
Phil Esposito	Chicago Black Hawks	69	21	40	61	40
Phil Goyette	New York Rangers	70	12	49	61	6
Doug Mohns	Chicago Black Hawks	61	25	35	60	58
Henri Richard	Montreal Canadiens	65	21	34	55	28

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	SO
Glenn Hall	Chicago Black Hawks	32	1664	66	2.38	19	5	5	2
Denis DeJordy	Chicago Black Hawks	44	2536	104	2.46	22	12	7	4
Rogatien Vachon	Montreal Canadiens	19	1137	47	2.48	11	3	4	1
Charlie Hodge	Montreal Canadiens	37	2055	88	2.60	11	15	7	3
Ed Giacomin	New York Rangers	68	3981	173	2.61	30	27	11	9
Johnny Bower	Toronto Maple Leafs	27	1431	63	2.64	12	9	3	2
Terry Sawchuk	Toronto Maple Leafs	28	1409	66	2.81	15	5	4	2
Lorne Worsley	Montreal Canadiens	18	888	47	3.18	9	6	2	1
Gerry Cheevers	Boston Bruins	22	1298	72	3.33	5	10	6	1
Bruce Gamble	Toronto Maple Leafs	23	1185	67	3.39	5	10	4	0
Bernie Parent	Boston Bruins	18	1022	62	3.64	4	12	2	0
Eddie Johnston	Boston Bruins	34	1880	116	3.70	8	21	2	0

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
• 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

See also

• 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
• 1966 in sports
• 1967 in sports

References

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (1994). Years of glory, 1942-1967: the National Hockey League's official book of the six-team era. Toronto, ON: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-2817-2. 
• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X. 
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 9781894801225. 
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.. ISBN 0771041799. 
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc.. ISBN 0785396241. 
• McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0684-13424-1. 

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com
• NHL (2004). NHL Guide & Record Book 2005. NHL.