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67-68MinNS
1967–68 Minnesota North Stars
Division 4th West
1967–68 record 27–32–15
Goals for 191
Goals against 226
Team information
General manager Wren Blair[1]
Coach Wren Blair
Captain Bob Woytowich
Alternate captains Dave Balon
Mike McMahon
Elmer Vasko
Arena Met Center
Team leaders
Goals Wayne Connelly (35)
Assists André Boudrias (35)
Points Wayne Connelly (56)
Penalty minutes Dave Balon (84)
Wins Cesare Maniago (21)
Goals against average Cesare Maniago (2.77)

The 1967–68 Minnesota North Stars season was the team's inaugural season in the National Hockey League (NHL). They finished 4th in the West Division with a record of 27 wins, 32 losses, and 15 ties for 69 points. In the playoffs, they defeated the Los Angeles Kings in seven games in the Quarter-finals before losing to the St. Louis Blues in the Semi-finals, also in seven games.

Off-season[]

On March 11, 1965, NHL President Clarence Campbell announced that the league would expand to twelve teams from six through the creation of a new six-team division for the 1967–68 season.[2] In response to Campbell's announcement, a partnership of nine men, led by Walter Bush and John Driscoll, was formed to seek a franchise for the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.[3][4] Their efforts were successful as the NHL awarded one of six expansion franchises to Minnesota on February 9, 1966.[4] In addition to Minnesota, the five other franchises were California (Oakland), Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.[4] The "North Stars" name was announced on May 25, 1966, following a public contest.[4] The name is derived from the state's motto "L'Étoile du Nord", which is a French phrase meaning "The Star of the North".[5] Months after the naming of the team, ground was broken on October 3, 1966, for a new hockey arena in Bloomington, Minnesota.[4] The home of the North Stars, the Metropolitan Sports Center (or Met Center for short), was built in 12 months at a cost of $7 million.[3] The arena was ready for play for the start of the 1967–68 NHL season, but portions of the arena's construction had not been completed.[6] Spectator seats were in the process of being installed as fans arrived at the arena for the opening home game on October 21, 1967.[6]

Pre-season[]

1967-Minn-LA-Maniago-Woytowich

Cesare Maniago, Bob Woytowich during a September 1967 exhibition game. Note the serif in the upper left corner of the "N" pointing downwards.

During the pre-season, the North Stars jersey emblem had a serif in the upper left corner of the "N" pointing downwards. Once the regular season began, the emblem's serif was changed to point horizontally.

The North Stars held their training camp in Haliburton, Ontario and played 14 exhibition games, finishing with a 6-7-1 record.

September 16, 1967: Memphis South Stars (CPHL) 3, Minnesota 1 @ Haliburton, Ontario
September 17, 1967: Minnesota 3, Oakland Seals 1 @ Port Huron, Michigan
September 18, 1967: Minnesota 7, Los Angeles Kings 3 @ Hamilton, Ontario
September 19, 1967: Los Angeles 6, Minnesota 2 @ Guelph, Ontario
September 20, 1967: Minnesota 10, Memphis South Stars 4 @ Kingston, Ontario
September 23, 1967: Minnesota 4, Oakland 3 @ Kingston, Ontario
September 24, 1967: Minnesota 3, Los Angeles 0 @ Oshawa, Ontario
September 26, 1967: Minnesota 3, Oakland 3 @ Oshawa, Ontario
September 29, 1967: Pittsburgh Penguins 7, Minnesota 2 @ Brantford, Ontario
September 30, 1967: Minnesota 6, Pittsburgh 1 @ Oshawa, Ontario
October 1, 1967: Oakland 3, Minnesota 2 @ Port Huron, Michigan
October 3, 1967: Philadelphia Flyers 4, Minnesota 3 @ Kingston, Ontario
October 4, 1967: Pittsburgh 2, Minnesota 0 @ Belleville, Ontario
October 5, 1967: Pittsburgh 5, Minnesota 2 @ Kingston, Ontario

Regular Season[]

1967-Maniago-Woytowich jerseys

Cesare Maniago and Bob Woytowich's 1967-68 jerseys.

The inaugural North Stars jersey colors were green, white and yellow with a primarily green home jersey and a primarily white away jersey. The jerseys had three stripes on the arms and body, no names on the back and the jersey numbers were outlined. The white jersey had a shoulder yoke and green sleeves below the stripes. The logo was an outlined, stylized "N" with a gold star above. The logo had a slight variation in the pre-season.

Bill Masterton scored the first goal in franchise history during the 2-2 tie against the St. Louis Blues on October 11, 1967.

1967-Oct11-Goldsworthy-Hodge

Bill Goldsworthy scores the first goal at the Met Center, October 21, 1967.

Workers were still installing seats in the Met Center on October 21, 1967, the day of the home opener as the North Stars faced the California Seals. Minnesota defeated California (soon to renamed Oakland) 3-1 with Bill Goldsworthy scoring the first goal in the Met Center's history and Ray Cullen netting the winner.

Balon from Masterton-3Jan1968

Bill Masterton sets up Dave Balon, January 3, 1968.

On December 13, 1967, the North Stars and Cesare Maniago achieved the first shutout in team history, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 4-0. Maniago and the North Stars went on a shutout streak, beating the Kings 3-0 on December 15 and the Oakland Seals 1-0 on December 16. Maniago had his 4th shutout on January 3, 1968 as the Stars blanked the Kings for the third time, by 6-0. Maniago finished the season with 6 shutouts, tied for second best in the league and the most in a season in his career.

On January 13, 1968, four minutes into a game against the Seals at the Met Center, North Stars center Bill Masterton was checked by Oakland's Larry Cahan and Ron Harris and fell backwards onto the ice head-first. The force of the back of his head hitting the ice damaged the pons and caused severe hemorrhaging, as blood gushed from his mouth and nose. Masterton was taken to hospital where he died two days later, becoming the only player ever to die as a result of an on-ice injury.

Final Standings[]

West Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Philadelphia Flyers 74 31 32 11 173 179 73
Los Angeles Kings 74 31 33 10 200 224 72
St. Louis Blues 74 27 31 16 177 191 70
Minnesota North Stars 74 27 32 15 191 226 69
Pittsburgh Penguins 74 27 34 13 195 216 67
Oakland Seals 74 15 42 17 153 219 47

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


Game Log[]

Regular Season Results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 T October 11, 1967 2–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 0–0–1
2 L October 14, 1967 0–6 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 0–1–1
3 L October 15, 1967 3–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 0–2–1
4 T October 18, 1967 3–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 0–2–2
5 W October 21, 1967 3–1 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 1–2–2
6 W October 25, 1967 3–2 St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 2–2–2
7 L October 28, 1967 2–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 2–3–2
8 L November 1, 1967 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 2–4–2
9 W November 2, 1967 3–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 3–4–2
10 T November 4, 1967 2–2 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 3–4–3
11 W November 8, 1967 5–1 St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 4–4–3
12 W November 11, 1967 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 5–4–3
13 L November 15, 1967 1–5 Montreal Canadiens (1967–68) 5–5–3
14 T November 18, 1967 2–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 5–5–4
15 L November 19, 1967 2–5 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 5–6–4
16 L November 22, 1967 0–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 5–7–4
17 L November 25, 1967 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 5–8–4
18 L November 26, 1967 1–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 5–9–4
19 L November 29, 1967 1–5 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 5–10–4
20 T November 30, 1967 1–1 @ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68) 5–10–5
21 W December 2, 1967 5–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 6–10–5
22 W December 3, 1967 4–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 7–10–5
23 T December 6, 1967 1–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 7–10–6
24 L December 9, 1967 2–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 7–11–6
25 W December 10, 1967 7–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 8–11–6
26 W December 13, 1967 4–0 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 9–11–6
27 W December 15, 1967 3–0 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 10–11–6
28 W December 16, 1967 1–0 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 11–11–6
29 L December 21, 1967 0–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 11–12–6
30 L December 23, 1967 0–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 11–13–6
31 L December 25, 1967 0–1 St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 11–14–6
32 T December 27, 1967 3–3 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 11–14–7
33 L December 28, 1967 2–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68) 11–15–7
34 W December 30, 1967 5–4 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 12–15–7
35 W January 3, 1968 6–0 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 13–15–7
36 T January 6, 1968 5–5 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 13–15–8
37 W January 10, 1968 6–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 14–15–8
38 T January 13, 1968 2–2 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 14–15–9
39 L January 14, 1968 2–9 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 14–16–9
40 L January 17, 1968 0–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 14–17–9
41 L January 18, 1968 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 14–18–9
42 L January 20, 1968 1–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 14–19–9
43 W January 21, 1968 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 15–19–9
44 L January 24, 1968 2–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 15–20–9
45 W January 25, 1968 3–0 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 16–20–9
46 W January 27, 1968 3–1 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 17–20–9
47 W January 28, 1968 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 18–20–9
48 W January 31, 1968 6–1 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 19–20–9
49 L February 3, 1968 1–8 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 19–21–9
50 W February 4, 1968 4–3 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 20–21–9
51 W February 7, 1968 4–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 21–21–9
52 W February 10, 1968 5–2 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 22–21–9
53 L February 11, 1968 2–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 22–22–9
54 L February 14, 1968 3–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 22–23–9
55 L February 15, 1968 2–6 New York Rangers (1967–68) 22–24–9
56 T February 17, 1968 2–2 St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 22–24–10
57 W February 21, 1968 5–3 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 23–24–10
58 L February 22, 1968 3–7 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 23–25–10
59 L February 24, 1968 1–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 23–26–10
60 T February 25, 1968 3–3 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 23–26–11
61 L February 28, 1968 3–6 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 23–27–11
62 W March 2, 1968 3–2 Montreal Canadiens (1967–68) 24–27–11
63 T March 7, 1968 2–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 24–27–12
64 T March 9, 1968 1–1 New York Rangers (1967–68) 24–27–13
65 L March 10, 1968 0–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 24–28–13
66 L March 13, 1968 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 24–29–13
67 L March 16, 1968 1–2 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 24–30–13
68 W March 17, 1968 5–1 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 25–30–13
69 T March 20, 1968 3–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 25–30–14
70 W March 23, 1968 3–0 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 26–30–14
71 T March 24, 1968 4–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 26–30–15
72 W March 27, 1968 5–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 27–30–15
73 L March 30, 1968 2–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 27–31–15
74 L March 31, 1968 3–5 St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 27–32–15

Playoffs[]

Minnesota North Stars 4, Los Angeles Kings 3[]

In the first round of the Western Division playoffs, the North Stars defeated the Los Angeles Kings in seven games.

St. Louis Blues 4, Minnesota North Stars 3[]

1968-May3-Schock OT goal

Ron Schock wins Game 7 of the 1968 Semi-finals in double OT, May 3, 1968.

The West Division Final between the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota was one of the closest seven game series in NHL history. Games 2 (won by Minnesota on Parker MacDonald's goal), 4 (won by St. Louis' Gary Sabourin's goal) and 5 (won by St. Louis' Bill McCreary, Sr.'s goal) all went to overtime. Game 7 went to double overtime and was won by the Blues Ron Schock's breakaway goal.

Player Stats[]

Forwards[]

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

# Player GP G A Pts PIM
12 Wayne Connelly 74 35 21 56 40
10 Ray Cullen 67 28 25 53 18
15 Andre Boudrias 74 18 35 53 42
17 Dave Balon 73 15 32 47 84
6 Parker MacDonald 69 19 23 42 22
8, 9, 14 Bill Goldsworthy 68 14 19 33 68
11, 20 J. P. Parise 43 11 16 27 27
18 Bill Collins 71 9 11 20 41
9 Milan Marcetta 36 4 13 17 6
19 Bill Masterton 38 4 8 12 4
7 Sandy Fitzpatrick 18 3 6 9 6
11 Ted Taylor 31 3 5 8 34
16 Bronco Horvath 14 1 6 7 4
16 Duke Harris 22 1 4 5 4
9 Murray Hall 17 2 1 3 10
7, 20 Ted McCaskill 4 0 2 2 0
7 Bob Charlebois 7 1 0 1 0
14 Len Lunde 7 0 1 1 0
20 Barrie Meissner 1 0 0 0 0
16, 22 George Standing 2 0 0 0 0
20 Walt McKechnie 4 0 0 0 0
7, 8, 16 Andre Pronovost 8 0 0 0 0

[7]

Defencemen[]

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

# Player GP G A Pts PIM
6 Mike McMahon 74 14 33 47 71
2, 16 Bob Woytowich 66 4 17 21 63
3 Bob McCord 70 3 9 12 39
4 Elmer Vasko 70 1 6 7 45
5 Pete Goegan 46 1 2 3 30
21 Bill Plager 32 0 2 2 30
22, 23 Lou Nanne 2 0 1 1 0
3 Jean-Guy Talbot 4 0 0 0 4
20 Don Johns 4 0 0 0 6
16, 22 Marshall Johnston 7 0 0 0 0

Goaltending[]

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

# Player GP MIN W L T SO GAA
1 Gary Bauman 26 1294 1 2 1 0 3.48
30 Cesare Maniago 52 2877 21 17 9 6 2.77
1 Carl Wetzel 5 269 1 2 1 0 4.01

Awards and Records[]

  • The North Stars did not win any awards this season.

Transactions[]

Draft Picks[]

Expansion Draft[]

See also: 1967 NHL Expansion Draft
# Player Drafted from
1. Cesare Maniago (G) New York Rangers
2. Garry Bauman (G) Montreal Canadiens
3. Dave Balon (LW) Montreal Canadiens
4. Ray Cullen (C) Detroit Red Wings
5. Bob Woytowich (D) Boston Bruins
6. Jean-Guy Talbot (D) Montreal Canadiens
7. Wayne Connelly (RW) Boston Bruins
8. Ted Taylor (LW) Detroit Red Wings
9. Pete Goegan (D) Detroit Red Wings
10. Len Lunde (C) Chicago Black Hawks
11. Bill Goldsworthy (RW) Boston Bruins
12. Andre Pronovost (LW) Detroit Red Wings
13. Elmer Vasko (D) Chicago Black Hawks
14. Murray Hall (W) Chicago Black Hawks
15. Bryan Watson (D/W) Detroit Red Wings
16. Bill Collins (C) New York Rangers
17. Sandy Fitzpatrick (C) New York Rangers
18. Parker MacDonald (C) Detroit Red Wings
19. Billy Taylor (C) Chicago Black Hawks
20. Dave Richardson (LW) Chicago Black Hawks

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

See Also[]

References[]

  1. [1]
  2. Showers, Bob (2007), Minnesota North Stars: History and Memories with Lou Nanne, Beaver's Pond Press, pp. 5, ISBN 1592981976
  3. 3.0 3.1 Showers, Bob (2007), Minnesota North Stars: History and Memories with Lou Nanne, Beaver's Pond Press, pp. 8, ISBN 1592981976
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Showers, Bob (2007), Minnesota North Stars: History and Memories with Lou Nanne, Beaver's Pond Press, pp. 9, ISBN 1592981976
  5. Minnesota North Stars. Sports E-cyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Showers, Bob (2007), Minnesota North Stars: History and Memories with Lou Nanne, Beaver's Pond Press, pp. 28, ISBN 1592981976
  7. http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MNS/1968.html

External Links[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1967–68 Minnesota North Stars season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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