The year of 1967/68 was one that saw the NHL expand from six to twelve teams. The "Original Six" teams played in the same division, and two of them in the hunt for the last playoff spot met in March of 1968.
Each team had made a huge trade earlier. In the '67 offseason, Chicago traded Phil Esposito, Fred Stanfield and Ken Hodge to Boston for Pit Martin, Jack Norris and Gilles Marotte. Toronto, meanwhile needed a shakeup, traded Frank Mahovlich, Pete Stemkowski, and Garry Unger to Detroit for Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson and Floyd Smith. All three of these players play in the game.
Each team had lost a goalie recently, as well. In the expansion draft of 1967, Glenn Hall was lost by Chicago to St. Louis. Toronto lost Terry Sawchuk to Los Angles. So the Chicago Blackhawks were forced to make due with Dennis Dejordy, Dave Dryden and Jack Norris in 1967/68. The Toronto Maple Leafs had a pretty good backup in Bruce Gamble for the previous two season, and would split the chores with 43-year old Johnny Bower. Al Smith, another pretty good goalie, didn't get into any games that year for the Leafs, sans the All-Star-Game (During the time when it was the defending Stanley Cup Champions vs. the All-Stars from the rest of the league. This meant Toronto, who won the game 4-3 behind Gamble and Smith, beat the best of eleven other teams). Gary Smith was also gone from Toronto.
Gamble and Bower did the job in the Toronto. Bower was his usual self and Gamble bounced back from a off-season in 1966/67. Dejordy did most of the work in Chicago, getting only a little help from Dave Dryden and Norris. However, in this game, it was the Blackhawks that got the goaltending to stifle the new-look Leafs. Norris, at one point a defenceman, stopped 'em all!
1) The game is presented in colour, which is rare for most hockey games in the late 60s. All the other games I've seen (So far) from that era are black-and-white.
2) Speaking of white, notice as it is today, the home team wears dark and the visiting team wears white.
3) The first period is not shown.
4) Chicago is leading 1-0 as the footage starts.
5) Norris is playing goal for Chicago. One of only 10 games he played for the Hawks.
6) Bower is in net for Toronto, and his age is still a mystery. For the record, he was born November 8, 1924, making him 43 years old at the time of this contest.
7) Jimmy Pappin isn't with Toronto. He and coach Punch Imlach had a falling out that season, and he was traded in the off-season to Chciago, for Pierre Pilote. Pilote plays in this game, however. Pappin was playing for Rochester, the Leafs top farm team, when this March game was played.
8) Mike Walton (#16) gets a penalty shot for the second straight game for Toronto. He'd scored the previous game on one. Speaking of which...
9) This game was played on a Sunday. On the Saturday night before this, Toronto rallied from 4-0 down to beat Detroit 7-5 in Frank Mahovlich's first game back to TO.
10) Pit Martin scores into the empty net. Shortly thereafter, the broadcast ends. There is, however, another goal by Doug Jarrett. So not only do you not see Kenny Wharram's first period tally, but you only see half the game's total goals.
11) Helmets are worn by: Henderson, Mikita, Pilote, Conacher and Martin. Neither goalie wears one.
12) Ken Dryden is mistakenly named as Chicago's other goalie for this game, as Dennis Dejordy is injured and attending a funeral.
13) Brett Hull, a toddler at the time, is mentioned by Bobby Hull's mother @ 30:13! Turns out The Golden Brett is a big fan of Stan Mikita!
14) Bobby Hull's wife Joanne, is quite the artist! Amazing paintings!
15) The third period starts @ 40:13.
16) And speaking of which, Stan Mikita starts out the third period for a faceoff at centre against Dave Keon. Quite the curve on Mikita's stick, eh? Norris, by the way, was a bit of a pioneer for goalies in that he, too used a curve blade.
17) A rare time for Chicago where neither Phil or Tony Esposito is playing for the team. Tony started his NHL career in Montreal the next season, and picked up a Stanley Cup there before landing in the Windy City in 1969/70. Chicago would miss the playoffs in 1968/69, meanwhile.
18) Norris finishes with a shutout. It was his first of the season, and second (And last) of his NHL career.
19) Toronto will rue this loss as they miss the playoffs this season by just four points.
20) Kenny Wharram, who recently passed away, scores twice, although his first period marker is of course, not shown.
21) This is an afternoon game
“The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:
http://hsp.flyershistory.com
or
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/”
References
CBS Sports Presents NHL On CBS. "1968 COLOR LEAFS VS HAWKS chicago TV broadcast Johnny Bower." Youtube, uploaded by Newton Minnow, 15 Jan. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yORbvADnNsg. (Game is originally broadcast on CBS 10 Mar. 1968)
Diamond, Dan. Total NHL. Toronto: Dan Diamond And Associates, 2003. Print.
Oliver, Greg, and Richard Kamchen. The Goaltenders' Union: Hockey's Greatest Puckstoppers, Acrobats, And Flakes. Toronto: ECW Press, 2014. Print, pp. 104-108.
"Hockey Summary Project." Hockey Summary Project. N.p., 10 Jan. 2001. Web. 18 Jan. 2017. <http://flyershistory.com/>
"Official Site of the National Hockey League | NHL.com” | NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 18 Jan. 2017. <https://www.nhl.com>
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
Podnieks, Andrew, and Rob Del Mundo. The Best, Worst, And Biggest NHL trades Of All Time! Toronto: Moydart Press, 2013. Print, pp. 67-74, www.andrewpodnieks.com
Podnieks, Andrew. The Essential Blue & White Book: A Toronto Maple Leafs Factbook. Vancouver: Greystone, 2001. Print.
Each team had made a huge trade earlier. In the '67 offseason, Chicago traded Phil Esposito, Fred Stanfield and Ken Hodge to Boston for Pit Martin, Jack Norris and Gilles Marotte. Toronto, meanwhile needed a shakeup, traded Frank Mahovlich, Pete Stemkowski, and Garry Unger to Detroit for Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson and Floyd Smith. All three of these players play in the game.
Each team had lost a goalie recently, as well. In the expansion draft of 1967, Glenn Hall was lost by Chicago to St. Louis. Toronto lost Terry Sawchuk to Los Angles. So the Chicago Blackhawks were forced to make due with Dennis Dejordy, Dave Dryden and Jack Norris in 1967/68. The Toronto Maple Leafs had a pretty good backup in Bruce Gamble for the previous two season, and would split the chores with 43-year old Johnny Bower. Al Smith, another pretty good goalie, didn't get into any games that year for the Leafs, sans the All-Star-Game (During the time when it was the defending Stanley Cup Champions vs. the All-Stars from the rest of the league. This meant Toronto, who won the game 4-3 behind Gamble and Smith, beat the best of eleven other teams). Gary Smith was also gone from Toronto.
Gamble and Bower did the job in the Toronto. Bower was his usual self and Gamble bounced back from a off-season in 1966/67. Dejordy did most of the work in Chicago, getting only a little help from Dave Dryden and Norris. However, in this game, it was the Blackhawks that got the goaltending to stifle the new-look Leafs. Norris, at one point a defenceman, stopped 'em all!
Things to look for:
1) The game is presented in colour, which is rare for most hockey games in the late 60s. All the other games I've seen (So far) from that era are black-and-white.
2) Speaking of white, notice as it is today, the home team wears dark and the visiting team wears white.
3) The first period is not shown.
4) Chicago is leading 1-0 as the footage starts.
5) Norris is playing goal for Chicago. One of only 10 games he played for the Hawks.
6) Bower is in net for Toronto, and his age is still a mystery. For the record, he was born November 8, 1924, making him 43 years old at the time of this contest.
7) Jimmy Pappin isn't with Toronto. He and coach Punch Imlach had a falling out that season, and he was traded in the off-season to Chciago, for Pierre Pilote. Pilote plays in this game, however. Pappin was playing for Rochester, the Leafs top farm team, when this March game was played.
8) Mike Walton (#16) gets a penalty shot for the second straight game for Toronto. He'd scored the previous game on one. Speaking of which...
9) This game was played on a Sunday. On the Saturday night before this, Toronto rallied from 4-0 down to beat Detroit 7-5 in Frank Mahovlich's first game back to TO.
10) Pit Martin scores into the empty net. Shortly thereafter, the broadcast ends. There is, however, another goal by Doug Jarrett. So not only do you not see Kenny Wharram's first period tally, but you only see half the game's total goals.
11) Helmets are worn by: Henderson, Mikita, Pilote, Conacher and Martin. Neither goalie wears one.
12) Ken Dryden is mistakenly named as Chicago's other goalie for this game, as Dennis Dejordy is injured and attending a funeral.
13) Brett Hull, a toddler at the time, is mentioned by Bobby Hull's mother @ 30:13! Turns out The Golden Brett is a big fan of Stan Mikita!
14) Bobby Hull's wife Joanne, is quite the artist! Amazing paintings!
15) The third period starts @ 40:13.
16) And speaking of which, Stan Mikita starts out the third period for a faceoff at centre against Dave Keon. Quite the curve on Mikita's stick, eh? Norris, by the way, was a bit of a pioneer for goalies in that he, too used a curve blade.
17) A rare time for Chicago where neither Phil or Tony Esposito is playing for the team. Tony started his NHL career in Montreal the next season, and picked up a Stanley Cup there before landing in the Windy City in 1969/70. Chicago would miss the playoffs in 1968/69, meanwhile.
18) Norris finishes with a shutout. It was his first of the season, and second (And last) of his NHL career.
19) Toronto will rue this loss as they miss the playoffs this season by just four points.
20) Kenny Wharram, who recently passed away, scores twice, although his first period marker is of course, not shown.
21) This is an afternoon game
“The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:
http://hsp.flyershistory.com
or
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/”
References
CBS Sports Presents NHL On CBS. "1968 COLOR LEAFS VS HAWKS chicago TV broadcast Johnny Bower." Youtube, uploaded by Newton Minnow, 15 Jan. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yORbvADnNsg. (Game is originally broadcast on CBS 10 Mar. 1968)
Diamond, Dan. Total NHL. Toronto: Dan Diamond And Associates, 2003. Print.
Oliver, Greg, and Richard Kamchen. The Goaltenders' Union: Hockey's Greatest Puckstoppers, Acrobats, And Flakes. Toronto: ECW Press, 2014. Print, pp. 104-108.
"Hockey Summary Project." Hockey Summary Project. N.p., 10 Jan. 2001. Web. 18 Jan. 2017. <http://flyershistory.com/>
"Official Site of the National Hockey League | NHL.com” | NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 18 Jan. 2017. <https://www.nhl.com>
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
Podnieks, Andrew, and Rob Del Mundo. The Best, Worst, And Biggest NHL trades Of All Time! Toronto: Moydart Press, 2013. Print, pp. 67-74, www.andrewpodnieks.com
Podnieks, Andrew. The Essential Blue & White Book: A Toronto Maple Leafs Factbook. Vancouver: Greystone, 2001. Print.
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