1967–68 Toronto Maple Leafs season

1967–68 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division	5th East
1967–68 record	33-31-10
Goals for	209
Goals against	176
Team information
General manager	Punch Imlach
Coach	Punch Imlach
Captain	George Armstrong
Arena	Maple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
Goals	Mike Walton (30)
Assists	Dave Keon (37)
Points	Mike Walton (59)
Penalty minutes	Tim Horton Pete Stemkowski (82)
Wins	Bruce Gamble (19)
Goals against average	Johnny Bower (2.25)

The 1967-68 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 51st season in the NHL. The Maple Leafs finished 5th in the East Division and missed the playoffs.

Pre-season

The Maple Leafs held their training camp in Peterborough, Ontario.

Draft Picks

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team

Players Lost in Expansion Draft

The following Maple Leafs were lost to various franchises in the Expansion Draft.

Player	Position	Drafted to
Al Arbour	(D)	St. Louis Blues
Bob Baun	(D)	Oakland Seals
Don Blackburn	(W)	Philadelphia Flyers
John Brenneman	(LW)	St. Louis Blues
Terry Clancy	(W)	Oakland Seals
Mike Corrigan	(LW)	Los Angeles Kings
Kent Douglas	(D)	Oakland Seals
Darryl Edestrand	(D)	St. Louis Blues
Aut Erickson	(D)	Oakland Seals
Bill Flett	(RW)	Los Angeles Kings
Pat Hannigan	(LW)	Philadelphia Flyers
Fred Hucul	(D)	St. Louis Blues
Larry Jeffrey	(LW)	Pittsburgh Penguins
Ed Joyal	(C)	Los Angeles Kings
Larry Keenan	(LW)	St. Louis Blues
Mike Laughton	(W)	Oakland Seals
Lowell MacDonald	(LW)	Los Angeles Kings
Terry Sawchuk	(G)	Los Angeles Kings
Brit Selby	(W)	Philadelphia Flyers
Gary Smith	(G)	Oakland Seals
Gary Veneruzzo	(LW)	St. Louis Blues

Regular Season

After Brian Conacher broke Bobby Orr's nose, a bench clearing brawl broke out, November 5, 1967.

Called up from the London Nationals of the OHA, Garry Unger played his first NHL game on November 4, 1967 in a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. The November 6, 1967 match versus Boston saw a bench clearing brawl at 5:28 of the second period. With the Bruins leading 1-0 on a Bobby Orr Power play goal, Leafs Brian Conacher was killing a penalty and dumped the puck into the Bruins zone as Orr approached him. Conacher's stick came up and broke Orr's nose. John McKenzie starting pummelling Conacher, who fell to the ice. Orr then joined in on beating Conacher, which resulted in the Leafs bench clearing, followed by the Bruins. It was the first bench clearing brawl in the league since December 6, 1963. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.

Garry Unger's 1st NHL goal, November 18, 1967.

J. P. Parisé played his only game for the Maple Leafs on November 15, 1967 in a 4-2 win over the Bruins and recorded an assist. Having signed a contract with Toronto, Garry Unger was given a regular shift with Pete Stemkowski and Jim Pappin for the November 18, 1967 game versus the Chicago Black Hawks. Trailing 1-0 early in the second period, Stemkowski dug the puck out of the corner and his centering pass caromed to Unger who whacked in his first NHL goal past Denis DeJordy.

Frank Mahovlich breaks Bobby Orr's collarbone, December 9, 1967.

Disaster struck during the December 9, 1967 Bruins-Leafs game in Toronto. In the first period while killing a penalty to Skip Krake, Bobby Orr began to carry the puck from in front of the Bruins net. He was hit with a clean check by Frank Mahovlich which broke his left collarbone. Amazingly, Orr played another penalty-killing shift before leaving the game. Later, a Mahovlich slap shot hit Ted Green above the knee and he was forced to leave the game. Green's injury caused him to miss only two games but Orr was out until Christmas.

Mike Byers played his first NHL game on December 30, 1967 in an 8-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. The Maple Leafs hosted the 21st National Hockey League All-Star Game at Maple Leaf Gardens on January 16, 1968. Toronto beat a team of All-Stars by a score of 4-3. Mike Pelyk and André Hinse were both called up for their first NHL game, a 3-2 loss to Chicago Black Hawks on February 7, 1968. Hinse played three more games, his only in the NHL, while Pelyk became a regular, his first of nine seasons for the Maple Leafs.

Norm Ullman from Paul Henderson, March 9, 1968.

With playoff chances fading, the Red Wings made a blockbuster trade with the Maple Leafs on March 3, 1968, sending Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson, Floyd Smith and Doug Barrie in exchange for Frank Mahovlich, Pete Stemkowski, Garry Unger and the rights to Carl Brewer. The teams met less than a week later on March 9 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Detroit took a 4-0 lead, led by Mahovlich's goal and two assists. However, Ullman turned the tide with two goals and an assist as Toronto came back to win 7-5. Despite excellent performances from Mahovlich, Ullman, Unger and Henderson for the rest of the season, both teams missed the playoffs.

Final Standings

East Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	74	42	22	10	236	167	94
New York Rangers	74	39	23	12	226	183	90
Boston Bruins	74	37	27	10	259	216	84
Chicago Black Hawks	74	32	26	16	212	222	80
Toronto Maple Leafs	74	33	31	10	209	176	76
Detroit Red Wings	74	27	35	12	245	257	66

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	W	October 14, 1967	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	1–0–0
2	W	October 15, 1967	5–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	2–0–0
3	L	October 18, 1967	2–3	Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	2–1–0
4	L	October 19, 1967	0–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	2–2–0
5	L	October 21, 1967	3–5	New York Rangers (1967–68)	2–3–0
6	W	October 25, 1967	4–2	Los Angeles Kings (1967–68)	3–3–0
7	W	October 28, 1967	5–2	Oakland Seals (1967–68)	4–3–0
8	L	October 29, 1967	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1967–68)	4–4–0
9	W	November 1, 1967	5–0	Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	5–4–0
10	W	November 2, 1967	9–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	6–4–0
11	W	November 4, 1967	4–2	New York Rangers (1967–68)	7–4–0
12	T	November 5, 1967	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1967–68)	7–4–1
13	W	November 8, 1967	6–1	@ Oakland Seals (1967–68)	8–4–1
14	L	November 9, 1967	1–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68)	8–5–1
15	L	November 11, 1967	1–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68)	8–6–1
16	W	November 15, 1967	4–2	Boston Bruins (1967–68)	9–6–1
17	T	November 18, 1967	2–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	9–6–2
18	L	November 19, 1967	2–6	@ Boston Bruins (1967–68)	9–7–2
19	W	November 22, 1967	3–0	Minnesota North Stars (1967–68)	10–7–2
20	W	November 25, 1967	3–2	Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	11–7–2
21	W	November 29, 1967	2–1	Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	12–7–2
22	T	November 30, 1967	3–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	12–7–3
23	W	December 2, 1967	3–0	Oakland Seals (1967–68)	13–7–3
24	T	December 6, 1967	1–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68)	13–7–4
25	T	December 9, 1967	3–3	Boston Bruins (1967–68)	13–7–5
26	L	December 10, 1967	1–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1967–68)	13–8–5
27	L	December 13, 1967	1–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68)	13–9–5
28	W	December 16, 1967	4–2	New York Rangers (1967–68)	14–9–5
29	L	December 17, 1967	0–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	14–10–5
30	L	December 20, 1967	0–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	14–11–5
31	W	December 23, 1967	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	15–11–5
32	W	December 25, 1967	3–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	16–11–5
33	T	December 27, 1967	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	16–11–6
34	W	December 30, 1967	8–1	St. Louis Blues (1967–68)	17–11–6
35	L	December 31, 1967	0–4	@ New York Rangers (1967–68)	17–12–6
36	T	January 3, 1968	1–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	17–12–7
37	T	January 6, 1968	3–3	Boston Bruins (1967–68)	17–12–8
38	L	January 7, 1968	2–6	@ New York Rangers (1967–68)	17–13–8
39	W	January 10, 1968	2–1	Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	18–13–8
40	L	January 12, 1968	3–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68)	18–14–8
41	W	January 13, 1968	7–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68)	19–14–8
42	W	January 18, 1968	4–2	@ Boston Bruins (1967–68)	20–14–8
43	W	January 20, 1968	5–1	Minnesota North Stars (1967–68)	21–14–8
44	W	January 21, 1968	2–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	22–14–8
45	L	January 24, 1968	1–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68)	22–15–8
46	L	January 27, 1968	1–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	22–16–8
47	W	January 28, 1968	3–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	23–16–8
48	L	January 30, 1968	0–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	23–17–8
49	T	February 3, 1968	3–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68)	23–17–9
50	L	February 4, 1968	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68)	23–18–9
51	L	February 7, 1968	2–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	23–19–9
52	L	February 11, 1968	3–4	@ Oakland Seals (1967–68)	23–20–9
53	L	February 12, 1968	0–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68)	23–21–9
54	L	February 14, 1968	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	23–22–9
55	L	February 17, 1968	2–3	New York Rangers (1967–68)	23–23–9
56	L	February 21, 1968	1–5	St. Louis Blues (1967–68)	23–24–9
57	W	February 24, 1968	1–0	Boston Bruins (1967–68)	24–24–9
58	L	February 25, 1968	1–3	@ New York Rangers (1967–68)	24–25–9
59	L	February 28, 1968	0–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	24–26–9
60	L	February 29, 1968	1–4	@ Boston Bruins (1967–68)	24–27–9
61	W	March 2, 1968	5–2	Los Angeles Kings (1967–68)	25–27–9
62	W	March 6, 1968	7–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68)	26–27–9
63	W	March 9, 1968	7–5	Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	27–27–9
64	L	March 10, 1968	0–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	27–28–9
65	T	March 13, 1968	3–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1967–68)	27–28–10
66	W	March 16, 1968	3–0	Boston Bruins (1967–68)	28–28–10
67	L	March 17, 1968	4–7	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68)	28–29–10
68	L	March 20, 1968	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	28–30–10
69	W	March 21, 1968	5–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68)	29–30–10
70	W	March 23, 1968	3–1	New York Rangers (1967–68)	30–30–10
71	L	March 24, 1968	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1967–68)	30–31–10
72	W	March 27, 1968	6–0	Montreal Canadiens (1967–68)	31–31–10
73	W	March 30, 1968	3–0	Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68)	32–31–10
74	W	March 31, 1968	4–1	@ Boston Bruins (1967–68)	33–31–10

Playoffs

• The Maple Leafs did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

#	Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
16	Walton, MikeMike Walton	73	30	29	59	48
20	Pulford, BobBob Pulford	74	20	30	50	40
8	Ellis, RonRon Ellis	74	28	20	48	8
14	Keon, DaveDave Keon	67	11	37	48	4
11	Oliver, MurrayMurray Oliver	74	16	21	37	18
27	Mahovlich, FrankFrank Mahovlich	50	19	17	36	30
10	Armstrong, GeorgeGeorge Armstrong	62	13	21	34	4
18	Pappin, JimJim Pappin	58	13	15	28	37
7	Horton, TimTim Horton	69	4	23	27	82
22	Conacher, BrianBrian Conacher	64	11	14	25	31
12	Stemkowski, PetePete Stemkowski	60	7	15	22	82
2	Hillman, LarryLarry Hillman	55	3	17	20	13
3	Pronovost, MarcelMarcel Pronovost	70	3	17	20	48
25	Carleton, WayneWayne Carleton	65	8	11	19	34
9	Ullman, NormNorm Ullman	13	5	12	17	2
26	Stanley, AllanAllan Stanley	64	1	13	14	16
19	Henderson, PaulPaul Henderson	13	5	6	11	8
4	Rupp, DuaneDuane Rupp	71	1	8	9	42
17	Smith, FloydFloyd Smith	6	6	1	7	0
17, 24	Byers, MikeMike Byers	10	2	2	4	0
21	Pelyk, MikeMike Pelyk	24	0	3	3	55
17	Unger, GarryGarry Unger	15	1	1	2	4
15	Tom Martin	3	1	0	1	0
24	McKenny, JimJim McKenny	5	1	0	1	0
19	Parise, J.P.J.P. Parise	1	0	1	1	0
1	Bower, JohnnyJohnny Bower	43	0	1	1	14
17	Harris, DukeDuke Harris	4	0	0	0	0
23	Hinse, AndreAndre Hinse	4	0	0	0	0
21	Sly, DarrylDarryl Sly	17	0	0	0	4
30	Gamble, BruceBruce Gamble	41	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Gamble, BruceBruce Gamble	2201	41	19	13	3	85	2.32	1294	1209	.934	5
Bower, JohnnyJohnny Bower	2239	43	14	18	7	84	2.25	1275	1191	.934	4
Team:	4440	74	33	31	10	169	2.28	2569	2400	.934	9

Awards and Records

• Bruce Gamble, All-Star Game MVP
• Vezina Trophy: Johnny Bower & Bruce Gamble, Runner-Up
• Tim Horton, Defense, NHL First Team All-Star

Transactions

The Maple Leafs were involved in the following transactions during the 1967-68 season.

Trades

June 6, 1967	To Minnesota North Stars Ken Broderick Barry MacKenzie Gary Dineen	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash
June 8, 1967	To Los Angeles Kings Red Kelly	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ken Block
September 1, 1967	To Philadelphia Flyers Al Millar	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash
September 12, 1967	To Phoenix Roadrunners (WHL) Tom Polanic	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash
October 3, 1967	To California Seals Gerry Ehman	To Toronto Maple Leafs Bryan Hextall Jr. J.P. Parise
October 15, 1967	To Phoenix Roadrunners (WHL) Walt McKechnie	To Toronto Maple Leafs Steve Witiuk
December 23, 1967	To Minnesota North Stars J.P. Parise Milan Marcetta	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ted Taylor Murray Hall Don Johns Len Landle Duke Harris Carl Wetzel
January 13, 1968	To Minnesota North Stars Bronco Horvath	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash
March 3, 1968	To Rochester Americans (AHL) Duke Harris	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash
March 3, 1968	To Detroit Red Wings Frank Mahovlich Pete Stemkowski Garry Unger Carl Brewer	To Toronto Maple Leafs Doug Barrie Norm Ullman Paul Henderson Floyd Smith
March 25, 1968	To St. Louis Blues Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Pat Quinn
May 14, 1968	To Oakland Seals Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Terry Clancy
May 23, 1968	To Chicago Black Hawks Jim Pappin	To Toronto Maple Leafs Pierre Pilote
June 6, 1968	To Detroit Red Wings Doug Barrie	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash
June 6, 1968	To Rochester Americans (AHL) Murray Hall	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash
June 11, 1968	To Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Bob Barlow	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash

Intra-League Draft

June 12, 1968	To New York Rangers Brian Conacher
June 12, 1968	To Minnesota North Stars Duane Rupp
June 12, 1968	To New York Rangers Larry Hillman
June 12, 1968	From Minnesota North Stars Bill Plager
June 12, 1968	From New York Rangers Larry Mickey
June 12, 1968	From Minnesota North Stars Bill Sutherland
June 12, 1968	From Detroit Red Wings Gary Marsh

Reverse Draft

June 13, 1968	To Philadelphia Flyers Allan Stanley
June 13, 1968	To Portland Buckaroos (WHL) Rick Foley
June 13, 1968	From Detroit Red Wings George Gardner

Free Agents

Player Former Team Rene Robert Undrafted Free Agent

Player New Team Dickie Moore St. Louis Blues

Trivia

• Maple Leafs who recorded a Hat trick this season include:
  • Mike Walton during the 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins on November 15, 1967.
  • Frank Mahovlich during the 8-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on December 30, 1967.
  • Bob Pulford during the 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 13, 1968.
  • Floyd Smith during the 7-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on March 17, 1968.

Gallery

Ed Westfall scores, January 6, 1968.

Fred Stanfield, Gerry Cheevers, Garry Unger, Dallas Smith, February 24, 1968.

Pre-season @ Quebec City

Video

Blues-Leafs game from December 30, 1967.

1967 NHL Regular Season St Louis at Toronto 12 30 1967

Nearly three hours of video from the Bruins-Maple Leafs game on January 6, 1968. All goals are shown including one by Bobby Orr which tied the game 3-3. An interview with Derek Sanderson is shown in the first intermission. During the second intermission, highlights from the December 27, 1967 Bruins-Black Hawks game are shown including a Hat trick by Phil Esposito. Milt Schmidt is then interviewed.

1968 JAN 6 BRUINS @ MAPLE LEAFS

Leafs-Black Hawks game from March 10, 1968.

1968 CHICAGO vs TORONTO PART BROADCAST IN COLOR

References

• Maple Leafs on Hockey Database