1966-67 NHL season

1966-67 Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs.

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 the game's history, Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins.

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.

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 accepts the Calder Memorial Trophy.

Bobby Orr made his NHL debut on October 19th, with an assist in a 6-2 win over Detroit. Orr finished the season with 41 points, second only to veteran defenseman Pierre Pilote of Chicago. Named to the Second All-Star Team, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy by a wide margin, with his defense partner Joe Watson finishing fourth in voting. Orr was sixth in voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy and third for the James Norris Memorial Trophy as best defenseman. The winner of the Norris Trophy, Harry Howell famously predicted that he was glad to win when he did, because "Orr will own this trophy from now on."

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

Bobby Hull scored his 50th goal of the season when Chicago lost to Toronto 9-5 March 18th at Maple Leaf Gardens.

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.

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

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

Leading Goaltenders

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
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
Roger Crozier	Detroit Red Wings	58	3256	182	3.35	22	29	4	4
Eddie Johnston	Boston Bruins	34	1880	116	3.70	8	21	2	0

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. The Leafs went on to win the Stanley Cup over the Montreal Canadiens four games to two; it proved to be the most recent time Toronto has won the Cup. The Leafs' squad was renowned as the oldest ever to win a Cup final; the average age of the team was well over thirty, and four players were over forty.

see 1967 Stanley Cup Finals

Playoff Bracket

	Semifinals					Finals
	1	Chicago Black Hawks	2
	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
						3	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
						2	Montreal Canadiens	2
	2	Montreal Canadiens	4
	4	New York Rangers	0

NHL Mid-Season Awards

1966-1967 Mid-Season NHL awards
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
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:	Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers

Mid-Season All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers	G	Charlie Hodge, Montreal Canadiens
Harry Howell, New York Rangers	D	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks	C	Norm Ullman, Detroit Red Wings
Rod Gilbert, New York Rangers	RW	Ken Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks	LW	Don Marshall, New York Rangers

NHL Second Half Awards

1966-1967 Second Half NHL awards
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Hart Memorial Trophy: Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Vezina Trophy: Denis DeJordy, Chicago Black Hawks

Second Half All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers	G	Denis DeJordy, Chicago Black Hawks
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Harry Howell, New York Rangers
Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins	D	Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks	C	Norm Ullman, Detroit Red Wings
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Ken Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks	LW	Doug Mohns, Chicago Black Hawks

NHL Awards

1966-1967 NHL Awards
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Chicago Black Hawks
Art Ross Memorial 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:	Gordie Howe, Charles F. Adams, James E. Norris

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
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

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
• Garry Bauman, Montreal Canadiens
• Gary Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs

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

Gallery

Joe Watson, Wayne Connelly, Ross Lonsberry, Bobby Orr and Ted Rodgson at Bruins training camp, October 10, 1966.

Ed Westfall, Claude Larose, Ted Green, Gerry Cheevers, December 28, 1966.

Bobby Orr ties the game up, February 4, 1967.

Bobby Orr scores, February 18, 1967.

Ken Schinkel scores shorthanded, March 11, 1967.

Bernie Parent, Ron Schock, Henri Richard, Gary Doak in 1966-67 season action.

Tom Williams, Harry Sinden, Pit Martin, Bobby Orr, Ron Stewart in 1966-67 season.

Paul Henderson and Bobby Orr in 1966-67 season action.

Doug Mohns, Bernie Parent, Bobby Orr and #7 Phil Esposito in 1966-67 season action.

Video

A minute and a half clip showing Bobby Rousseau scoring while Bobby Orr serves his first NHL penalty on October 22, 1966.

Bruins-Habs, Bobby Rousseau scores (1966-67)

The second and third period of the Bruins-Leafs match from November 26, 1966.

1966 11 26 TORONTO VS BOSTON ORIG CBC Telecast Bobby Orr Rookie

Nearly 10 minutes of random clips from the 1966-67 season set to Mexican horn music. At 1:45, Boston's Wayne Connelly scores, assisted by Ron Schock, which tied the December 28, 1966 game versus the Montreal Canadiens at 1-1.

Blades and Brass

See Also

• 1967 NHL Expansion
• 1966 NHL Amateur Draft
• 20th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1966-67 Calder Memorial Trophy

References

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