WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.740 Apple podcast title, the 1967 NHL expansion, 00:00:04.059 --> 00:00:07.099 how one chaotic season rewrote hockey history. 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:10.679 In this deep dive, we explore the wild, transformative 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:15.099 1967 -68 NHL season. From the sudden doubling 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:17.039 of the league and the both of the original six 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:20.420 mythos, to massive labor strikes, the gritty 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:22.699 rise of the St. Louis Blues, and the tragic loss 00:00:22.699 --> 00:00:25.320 of Bill Masterton, we unpack the year that built 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:27.719 modern professional hockey. Tune in for behind 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:30.480 the scenes drama, bizarre TV broadcasting quirks, 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:34.140 and the origins of the NHLPA. Keywords, 1967 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:37.240 NHL expansion, original six, hockey history, 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:39.880 St. Louis Blues, Bill Masterton, NHLPA origins, 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:42.280 early sports television, Broad Street bullies, 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:45.280 hockey trivia. Imagine waking up tomorrow and 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.960 the company you work for has completely changed. 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:49.259 Like completely overhauled. Yeah, exactly. I 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:51.240 mean, overnight they have doubled their size. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:53.320 Wow. They have doubled their workforce. There 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:57.320 is just absolute chaos in the hallways. New rivalries 00:00:57.320 --> 00:00:59.159 are brewing at the water cooler and there are 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:01.100 these instant massive growing pains everywhere 00:01:01.100 --> 00:01:03.200 you look. It sounds like a total nightmare. It 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:05.140 really would be. It would be entirely overwhelming 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:08.420 to navigate. Well, take that feeling, take that 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:10.939 corporate chaos, and apply it directly to the 00:01:10.939 --> 00:01:13.480 professional sports world. Welcome to the Deep 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:15.480 Dive. I am so glad you're here with us today. 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:19.439 It really is the perfect analogy for the scale 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.840 of what we are looking at today. Because when 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:25.219 a major sports league doubles in size, it doesn't 00:01:25.219 --> 00:01:27.159 just change the travel schedule or add a few 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:31.079 games. No. It completely destabilizes the entire 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:34.040 ecosystem of the sport. And that destabilization 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:36.959 is exactly our mission for this Deep Dive. We 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:40.439 are looking at the 1967 to 1968 National Hockey 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.739 League season. It's a truly wild year. Oh, absolutely. 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:45.549 And we are pulling our facts today from... historical 00:01:45.549 --> 00:01:48.170 archives, specifically Wikipedia, to uncover 00:01:48.170 --> 00:01:50.810 how this single, wildly unpredictable season 00:01:50.810 --> 00:01:54.069 completely rewrote the DNA of professional hockey. 00:01:54.209 --> 00:01:55.870 It really did set the stage for everything that 00:01:55.870 --> 00:01:58.230 followed. It did. We are going to trace how it 00:01:58.230 --> 00:02:01.030 shifted from a very traditional, small -scale 00:02:01.030 --> 00:02:03.890 regional league into the foundation for the modern 00:02:03.890 --> 00:02:06.599 sports behemoth we know today. Okay, let's unpack 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:09.259 this. We have to start with the sheer audacity 00:02:09.259 --> 00:02:11.719 of what the NHL attempted here. I mean, before 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:15.819 the fall of 1967, you had the established, deeply 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:18.439 entrenched franchises. The ones we now refer 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:21.439 to as the original six. Exactly. And these teams 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:24.599 had decades of history. They had deep -seated 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:28.120 bad blood. Right. And then suddenly, the league 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:31.020 just decides to add six brand new franchises 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:34.379 all at once. Which is... That's a massive influx 00:02:34.379 --> 00:02:37.240 of new personnel. It's unheard of to just double 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.319 your league overnight. Now, I noticed in the 00:02:39.319 --> 00:02:41.819 notes that they didn't mix the new teams with 00:02:41.819 --> 00:02:44.020 the old ones, right? Like, they didn't try to 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:46.159 balance things out competitively. Not at all. 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:48.960 They created this incredibly stark dividing line. 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:51.539 They took the established original six powerhouses 00:02:51.539 --> 00:02:53.759 and put them all into the newly created East 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:56.439 Division. Yep. And then they took all six brand 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:58.780 new franchises and threw them into the West Division. 00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:01.500 And that geographical and cultural shift was 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:03.479 massive for the sport. You suddenly had teams 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:06.580 like the St. Louis Blues, the California Seals. 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.699 Wait, the Seals? Who actually changed their name 00:03:09.699 --> 00:03:11.879 to the Oakland Seals midway through that very 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:14.539 season, right? That's the one. Just adding to 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:16.659 the total chaos. Right. Along with them, you 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:18.979 had the Philadelphia Flyers, the Minnesota North 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:22.000 Stars, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Los Angeles 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.180 Kings. The logistics of that alone. must have 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:27.080 been a nightmare for the schedule makers. Oh, 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:29.580 without a doubt. Because with all those new teams 00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:32.580 came a significantly longer schedule. The league 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:35.500 bumped the regular season up from 70 games to 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:38.240 74 games. Which is a heavy toll on the players. 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:41.099 Definitely. And there is this amazing historical 00:03:41.099 --> 00:03:44.000 milestone right at the start of the season that 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:47.439 really highlights the scale. On October 18, 1967, 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:51.500 for the very first time ever, all 12 teams played 00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:54.449 on the exact same day. That is wild to think 00:03:54.449 --> 00:03:57.569 about. Six games happening simultaneously. Up 00:03:57.569 --> 00:03:59.550 to that point, a day like that was completely 00:03:59.550 --> 00:04:02.330 unprecedented in hockey history. What's fascinating 00:04:02.330 --> 00:04:04.650 here is how the league structured the postseason 00:04:04.650 --> 00:04:07.270 to account for this massive divide between the 00:04:07.270 --> 00:04:09.210 old guard and the rookies. Because the talent 00:04:09.210 --> 00:04:12.669 gap was huge, right? Oh, it was a canyon. So 00:04:12.669 --> 00:04:15.870 they introduced a new playoff format where the 00:04:15.870 --> 00:04:18.870 top four teams in each division qualified. The 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:20.709 first and third place teams played each other, 00:04:20.810 --> 00:04:22.550 and the second and fourth place teams played 00:04:22.550 --> 00:04:24.449 each other strictly within their own division. 00:04:24.769 --> 00:04:27.649 So they stayed in their lane. Exactly. The divisions 00:04:27.649 --> 00:04:30.709 absolutely did not cross over until the Stanley 00:04:30.709 --> 00:04:32.730 Cup finals. Wait, you're telling me they kept 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:35.310 the playoffs completely siloed until the championship 00:04:35.310 --> 00:04:37.689 round? That was the format. Doesn't that completely 00:04:37.689 --> 00:04:40.129 undermine the competitive integrity of the sport? 00:04:40.290 --> 00:04:43.629 I mean, you are essentially guaranteeing that 00:04:43.629 --> 00:04:46.129 an inferior expansion team makes the finals. 00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:49.240 while powerhouse teams in the East are forced 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:51.720 to eliminate each other early on. It absolutely 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:54.360 created a lopsided bracket. Yeah. But you have 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:57.339 to look at the business logic behind it. By engineering 00:04:57.339 --> 00:05:00.660 the postseason this way, the NHL guaranteed that 00:05:00.660 --> 00:05:02.740 a brand new market would be represented in the 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:04.740 Stanley Cup Finals. Oh, I see. So it's a marketing 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:07.680 tactic. Precisely. It was a highly calculated 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.259 move to create an instant underdog story and 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:14.379 build fan bases in places like Missouri or California. 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:16.199 That makes sense from a boardroom perspective. 00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:19.449 But you are entirely correct. It also put a giant 00:05:19.449 --> 00:05:21.790 spotlight on the massive competitive imbalance 00:05:21.790 --> 00:05:25.129 between the veteran rosters in the East and those 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:27.750 expansion rosters in the West. Well, looking 00:05:27.750 --> 00:05:30.170 at the background materials, the restructuring 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:32.509 on the ice was really only half the battle. The 00:05:32.509 --> 00:05:35.949 off -ice stuff is arguably more intense. Yeah, 00:05:36.009 --> 00:05:38.209 the behind -the -scenes drama over player rights 00:05:38.209 --> 00:05:41.519 seems incredibly fraught. It wasn't just rookies 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.060 trying to find their footing. Major established 00:05:44.060 --> 00:05:46.600 stars were holding out and refusing to play. 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:48.740 Right. What was driving that sudden friction? 00:05:49.060 --> 00:05:51.680 This is arguably the most crucial off -ice development 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:55.839 of the 1967 story. The expansion was a logistical 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.560 triumph for the owners, sure, but it triggered 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:00.720 a massive shift in labor relations. Because of 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:02.939 the money. Always follow the money. To join the 00:06:02.939 --> 00:06:05.199 league, each of the six new franchises had to 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:08.100 pay a $2 million expansion fee. Okay, let me 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:11.699 do the math. Six teams, $2 million each. That 00:06:11.699 --> 00:06:15.040 is $12 million. $12 million flowing directly 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:17.560 to the owners of the original six teams. And 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:19.800 I'm guessing the players did not see a dime of 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:21.959 that windfall. Not a single cent. Unbelievable. 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:25.319 And yet the players were the ones being uprooted, 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:28.680 exposed in the expansion draft, and asked to 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.480 play a longer, more grueling 74 -game schedule. 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:34.819 They're doing more work for the exact same pay. 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:37.899 Exactly. The players realized the owners were 00:06:37.899 --> 00:06:40.519 getting rich off this massive expansion while 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:43.459 their own salaries remained relatively stagnant. 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:46.220 That perfectly explains the holdouts. I mean, 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.439 you look at the roster of guys refusing to sign 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:51.120 their contracts, and it's a literal who's who 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:53.540 of talent. The biggest names in the sport. You 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:56.720 had Tim Horton holding out in Toronto, Stan Mikita 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:59.300 and Kenny Worm holding out in Chicago. Huge stars. 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:02.889 Norm Ullman in Detroit. Ed Van Impey in Philadelphia. 00:07:03.290 --> 00:07:05.790 And the teams were aggressively fighting back 00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:07.769 against this. Oh, they did not want to give an 00:07:07.769 --> 00:07:10.029 inch. The New York Rangers actually fined three 00:07:10.029 --> 00:07:12.930 of their players, Rod Gilbert, Arnie Brown, and 00:07:12.930 --> 00:07:16.370 Orlin Kurtenbeck, $500 each just for holding 00:07:16.370 --> 00:07:18.649 out. And you have to remember, a $500 fine was 00:07:18.649 --> 00:07:21.629 a serious financial penalty in 1967. Right, that's 00:07:21.629 --> 00:07:24.329 a huge chunk of a salary back then. But the players 00:07:24.329 --> 00:07:26.569 were finally realizing their collective leverage. 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:31.040 This friction is what led directly to Alan Eagleson 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.680 helping to get the brand new National Hockey 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.319 League Players Association officially up and 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:38.459 running during this season. For you listening 00:07:38.459 --> 00:07:41.360 to this, it really requires taking a step back 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.620 from the game itself to appreciate the magnitude 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:47.060 of that shift. It changes everything. It does. 00:07:47.870 --> 00:07:50.069 This wasn't a minor squabble over a few dollars. 00:07:50.170 --> 00:07:53.050 It was a fundamental revolution in how the business 00:07:53.050 --> 00:07:56.009 of sports operated. The players were looking 00:07:56.009 --> 00:07:59.470 at this massive influx of new revenue and demanding 00:07:59.470 --> 00:08:02.209 agency over their own careers. The labor force 00:08:02.209 --> 00:08:04.689 was demanding to be treated as partners, not 00:08:04.689 --> 00:08:07.069 just property to be traded to Oakland or Los 00:08:07.069 --> 00:08:09.930 Angeles on a whim. It is a foundational moment 00:08:09.930 --> 00:08:12.430 for modern sports unions, born directly out of 00:08:12.430 --> 00:08:15.410 the chaos of this specific expansion. So we have 00:08:15.410 --> 00:08:18.500 this boiling labor tension. An entirely new league 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:20.560 structure. And then the actual regular season 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:22.560 finally gets underway. And it does not go exactly 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.339 as planned. Not at all. The East Division delivered 00:08:25.339 --> 00:08:27.680 some really unexpected turbulence. Look at the 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:29.459 Montreal Canadiens. They actually stumble hard 00:08:29.459 --> 00:08:31.899 out of the gate. Very uncharacteristic for them. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:34.679 On their first West Coast road trip, they lost 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:37.500 to the Seals and the Kings. By December, the 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:39.559 mighty Canadians were sitting in last place. 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.620 Which would have caused absolute panic in a hockey 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:44.740 market like Montreal. Oh, the newspapers must 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:46.990 have been having a field day. But they had the 00:08:46.990 --> 00:08:49.549 veteran leadership to weather the storm. Jean 00:08:49.549 --> 00:08:52.450 Beliveau caught fire, the team went on a 12 -game 00:08:52.450 --> 00:08:55.529 winning streak, and their goaltender, Gump Worsley, 00:08:55.730 --> 00:08:58.110 put up unbelievable numbers. What's all those 00:08:58.110 --> 00:09:01.750 stats? A 1 .98 goals against average and six 00:09:01.750 --> 00:09:04.590 shutouts. Just dominant. He anchored a defense 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:07.330 that allowed the fewest goals in the entire league, 00:09:07.450 --> 00:09:09.909 pushing them right back to first place in the 00:09:09.909 --> 00:09:12.659 East. Now, while Montreal was clawing their way 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:15.799 back to the top, Boston was executing what could 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.299 only be described as a franchise -altering move. 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:20.580 One of the biggest trades of the era. They pulled 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:22.840 off a blockbuster trade with Chicago, bringing 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:25.399 in Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, and Fred Stanfield. 00:09:25.539 --> 00:09:28.100 And it paid off immediately. Instantly. Esposito 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:31.240 went off for 84 points. Pair that with Bobby 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.360 Orr winning the Norris Trophy as the league's 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.700 top defenseman, and Boston led the league in 00:09:35.700 --> 00:09:38.539 scoring. They ended up making the playoffs for 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:41.139 the first time in nearly a decade. The East was 00:09:41.139 --> 00:09:43.919 defined by those heavyweight legacy clashes, 00:09:43.980 --> 00:09:46.740 but looking at the West division, it really reads 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:49.279 like a free -for -all. A total scramble. Every 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.679 night was a battle for dominance among teams 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.059 that had absolutely no established chemistry. 00:09:54.379 --> 00:09:56.620 It really was the Wild West. I was looking at 00:09:56.620 --> 00:09:59.440 the preseason predictions, and writers had the 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:03.259 Los Angeles Kings pegged to finish dead last. 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:06.629 Which makes sense on paper. Right. Yet they somehow 00:10:06.629 --> 00:10:09.149 finished second, just a single point out of first 00:10:09.149 --> 00:10:12.029 place. How does an expansion team in Southern 00:10:12.029 --> 00:10:14.509 California, entirely built from scratch, pull 00:10:14.509 --> 00:10:16.389 that off? They did it through sheer financial 00:10:16.389 --> 00:10:19.029 force. What do you mean? Their owner, Jack Kent 00:10:19.029 --> 00:10:21.610 Cook, realized early on that they simply didn't 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:24.049 have the depth to compete over a grueling 74 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:26.690 -game season. Because the expansion draft leaves 00:10:26.690 --> 00:10:30.330 you pretty thin. Exactly. So he bypassed the 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:33.330 traditional drafting route entirely and literally 00:10:33.950 --> 00:10:36.750 bought an entire American Hockey League team, 00:10:36.870 --> 00:10:39.769 the Springfield Indians. Wait, he bought an entire 00:10:39.769 --> 00:10:42.149 minor league franchise just for spare parts? 00:10:42.370 --> 00:10:45.409 He paid a million dollars just to absorb their 00:10:45.409 --> 00:10:48.110 entire roster into the Kings system. That feels 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:50.789 like a massive loophole. It absolutely was, but 00:10:50.789 --> 00:10:53.149 it perfectly captures the desperate nature of 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:56.029 this expansion. There was no modern salary cap 00:10:56.029 --> 00:10:58.690 or unified minor league rulebook yet. You just 00:10:58.690 --> 00:11:01.129 used whatever leverage you had to survive. Exactly. 00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:03.190 And yet, despite that million dollar move, it 00:11:03.190 --> 00:11:04.720 was... was the Philadelphia Flyers who actually 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:07.440 won the West Division. Which is a story in itself. 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:09.679 What stands out to me is that their offense was 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.639 remarkably poor. Their leading scorer, Leon Rochefort, 00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:16.179 only had 21 goals. Not exactly an offensive powerhouse. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:19.159 No. But they won the division by relying heavily 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:21.600 on their goaltenders, Bernie Parent and Doug 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:25.059 Favill. And by playing this incredibly hard -nosed, 00:11:25.059 --> 00:11:27.679 punishing style of hockey. They set a tone early. 00:11:28.139 --> 00:11:30.419 You had guys like Gary Dornhofer and Ed Van Impey 00:11:30.419 --> 00:11:32.820 just throwing their weight around. We are really 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:36.320 seeing the very first terrifying glimmers of 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.379 what would soon become the infamous Broad Street 00:11:39.379 --> 00:11:42.039 Bullies. Establishing an identity early on is 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:44.500 crucial for an expansion team trying to build 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:47.379 a culture from nothing. And Philadelphia decided 00:11:47.379 --> 00:11:49.840 their identity was going to be physical intimidation. 00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:52.879 That physical intimidating style of play was 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.600 highly effective, but it also highlights just 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.450 how brutal the era was. a very different, very 00:11:58.450 --> 00:12:00.590 dangerous game back then. And unfortunately, 00:12:00.710 --> 00:12:03.529 that physical reality came with devastating consequences 00:12:03.529 --> 00:12:07.889 that season. It did. On January 13, 1968, the 00:12:07.889 --> 00:12:10.450 Oakland Seals were playing the North Stars at 00:12:10.450 --> 00:12:13.190 the Metropolitan Sports Center. Bill Masterton 00:12:13.190 --> 00:12:15.470 of the North Stars led a rush into the Oakland 00:12:15.470 --> 00:12:18.580 zone. Two SEALs defensemen, Larry Cahan and Ron 00:12:18.580 --> 00:12:21.659 Harris, braced for a check. And by all accounts 00:12:21.659 --> 00:12:23.440 from players and officials who were there, it 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:25.919 was a standard clean hockey play. Right. Masterton 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.159 fired the puck and the two defenders hit him. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:30.460 But Masterton flipped backwards from the impact 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:32.779 and hit his unprotected head directly on the 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:35.720 ice. He was rushed to a hospital in Minneapolis, 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:38.759 but the internal injury was too severe for doctors 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:41.799 to even attempt surgery. Early in the morning 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.080 on January 15, Bill Masterton passed away. It 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:47.299 remains a deeply sobering historical milestone 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:50.259 for the sport. He was the first and still the 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:52.919 only player to die as a direct result of injuries 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:55.460 suffered in an NHL game. The league responded 00:12:55.460 --> 00:12:57.820 by creating the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:00.600 which is awarded for perseverance, sportsmanship, 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:03.899 and dedication to hockey. Claude Provost of Montreal 00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:06.899 won it that very first year. This raises an important 00:13:06.899 --> 00:13:09.279 question, one that every major sports league 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.279 still grapples with today. How so? Well, how 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:14.340 do you balance the intense, inherent physical 00:13:14.340 --> 00:13:16.620 competition of a contact sport with the fundamental 00:13:16.620 --> 00:13:19.460 need for player safety? Masterton's tragic death 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:21.620 didn't result in overnight rule changes, but 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:23.740 the ripple effect forced long -term conversations 00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:26.159 about mandatory helmets. Which took years to 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:29.289 implement. It did. But it started the conversation 00:13:29.289 --> 00:13:32.190 about head protection, the speed of the game, 00:13:32.350 --> 00:13:35.029 and the medical infrastructure available at arenas. 00:13:35.169 --> 00:13:37.629 It permanently changed the lens through which 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:39.789 the violence of the game is viewed. It casts 00:13:39.789 --> 00:13:42.629 a very long, profound shadow over the legacy 00:13:42.629 --> 00:13:44.990 of that season. A tragedy that is still remembered 00:13:44.990 --> 00:13:48.850 today. As we move into the spring of 1968, the 00:13:48.850 --> 00:13:51.490 playoffs finally arrive, and we get to see that 00:13:51.490 --> 00:13:55.149 highly controversial siloed division format put 00:13:55.149 --> 00:13:57.940 to the test. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:13:58.350 --> 00:14:00.250 Because the contrast between the East bracket 00:14:00.250 --> 00:14:02.169 and the West bracket couldn't have been more 00:14:02.169 --> 00:14:05.090 pronounced. In the East, Montreal was an absolute 00:14:05.090 --> 00:14:07.309 juggernaut. Completely unstoppable. They drew 00:14:07.309 --> 00:14:09.690 Boston in the first round and swept them in four 00:14:09.690 --> 00:14:12.529 games. Then they faced Chicago and dispatched 00:14:12.529 --> 00:14:15.230 them in five games. Montreal essentially steamrolled 00:14:15.230 --> 00:14:17.049 their way through the established franchises 00:14:17.049 --> 00:14:19.210 to represent the East. They made it look easy, 00:14:19.230 --> 00:14:21.370 but over in the West, it was an absolute meat 00:14:21.370 --> 00:14:24.230 grinder. Oh, man. Every single team was playing 00:14:24.230 --> 00:14:27.169 their first ever playoff series. The talent level 00:14:27.169 --> 00:14:28.990 might have... been lower than the East, but the 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:31.269 desperation was off the charts. The St. Louis 00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:33.429 Blues became the ultimate story of resilience 00:14:33.429 --> 00:14:35.769 here. They had finished third in the regular 00:14:35.769 --> 00:14:38.750 season, but in the playoffs, coached by a young 00:14:38.750 --> 00:14:41.009 Scotty Bowman and anchored by goaltender Glenn 00:14:41.009 --> 00:14:44.429 Hall, they just went to war. It was grueling 00:14:44.429 --> 00:14:46.490 hockey. They beat the first place Philadelphia 00:14:46.490 --> 00:14:50.269 Flyers in a brutal seven game series. Then they 00:14:50.269 --> 00:14:52.610 faced the Minnesota North Stars in the semifinals, 00:14:52.750 --> 00:14:55.799 and that series went to seven games too. The 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:59.179 Blues survived 14 punishing playoff games just 00:14:59.179 --> 00:15:01.340 to make it out of the West. Which set up exactly 00:15:01.340 --> 00:15:04.419 what the NHL executives had engineered in boardrooms 00:15:04.419 --> 00:15:06.840 months prior. Right. The dream matchup for the 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:09.740 league. Exactly. The ultimate David versus Goliath 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:13.299 Stanley Cup finals. The mighty, rested Montreal 00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:16.500 Canadiens against the bruised, battered expansion 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:19.279 St. Louis Blues. Now, if you just glance at the 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.159 historical record book, it looks like a blowout. 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:24.679 Montreal swept the series 4 -0 to win the Stanley 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:27.659 Cup. But that sweep is incredibly deceiving. 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:30.600 Totally deceiving. Every single game in that 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:33.820 final was decided by just one goal. Two of the 00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:37.490 games went deep into overtime. The Blues pushed 00:15:37.490 --> 00:15:40.590 Montreal to the absolute brink every single night. 00:15:40.730 --> 00:15:44.710 In fact, they fought so hard that their goaltender, 00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:47.649 Glenn Hall, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy 00:15:47.649 --> 00:15:49.830 as the most valuable player of the playoffs. 00:15:50.110 --> 00:15:52.549 If we connect this to the bigger picture, Hall's 00:15:52.549 --> 00:15:55.649 MVP win completely defies conventional sports 00:15:55.649 --> 00:15:58.870 logic. How often does the losing team get the 00:15:58.870 --> 00:16:02.669 MVP? Almost never. Traditionally, the MVP goes 00:16:02.669 --> 00:16:05.029 to the standout star of the championship winning 00:16:05.029 --> 00:16:07.429 team. Of course. For Hall to win it, despite 00:16:07.429 --> 00:16:09.570 his team getting swept in the finals, is just 00:16:09.570 --> 00:16:12.529 extraordinary. He faced an unbelievable volume 00:16:12.529 --> 00:16:15.110 of shots, keeping an overmatched expansion team 00:16:15.110 --> 00:16:17.110 within a single bounce of the puck against an 00:16:17.110 --> 00:16:19.210 absolute dynasty. He practically carried them. 00:16:19.309 --> 00:16:22.210 He did. It fundamentally challenges how we define 00:16:22.210 --> 00:16:25.350 value and individual brilliance in a team's sport. 00:16:25.629 --> 00:16:28.350 He was a brick wall, and the voters clearly recognized 00:16:28.350 --> 00:16:29.730 that the Blues wouldn't have even been in the 00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:31.860 same time zone. as the Cup without him. A well 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:34.240 -deserved honor. Speaking of incredible individual 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:37.759 performances, before we wrap up, we really have 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:39.740 to touch on some of the statistical milestones 00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:42.460 from this year because the numbers are fascinating. 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:45.279 The expansion naturally diluted some of the defensive 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.700 talent across the league. Right, spreading the 00:16:47.700 --> 00:16:49.879 good players thinner. Exactly, which allowed 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:52.320 elite offensive players to reach new heights. 00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:56.299 Take Stan Mikita of Chicago. He was an absolute 00:16:56.299 --> 00:16:59.120 machine that year, sweeping the major awards. 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:02.320 He won the Art Ross for top scorer, the Hart 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.400 Memorial Trophy for regular season MVP, and the 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:07.559 Lady Bing Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship. 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.099 Sweeping those three is rare enough on its own. 00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:12.400 But it's even more impressive when you consider 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.180 Makeda used to be one of the most penalized players 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:17.819 in the league. He completely transformed his 00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:20.579 game to rely on skill rather than agitation. 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.740 We also saw historic volume shooting. Rod Gilbert 00:17:23.740 --> 00:17:27.319 of the Rangers took a record 16 shots on goal 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:29.920 in a single game against Montreal's Rogy Vachon. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.460 16 shots by one guy. Yep, and he scored four 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:34.960 times. That is relentless. And if you're a sports 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:37.500 analytics fan, 1967 is a banner year for you. 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.279 Oh, a huge year. The NHL officially introduced 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:42.859 the plus -minus statistic this season. For those 00:17:42.859 --> 00:17:44.779 who don't know, it measures the goal differential 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:47.950 when a specific player is on the ice. Dallas 00:17:47.950 --> 00:17:50.210 Smith, the Boston Bruins, led the league in plus 00:17:50.210 --> 00:17:52.690 minus that first year. And that simple metric 00:17:52.690 --> 00:17:56.029 completely revolutionized how defensive forwards 00:17:56.029 --> 00:17:58.089 and stay -at -home defensemen were evaluated. 00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:00.970 Because it gave them a measurable impact. Exactly. 00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:04.069 Suddenly, you didn't need to score goals to prove 00:18:04.069 --> 00:18:06.670 your mathematical value to the team. You just 00:18:06.670 --> 00:18:09.269 had to prevent the other team from scoring while 00:18:09.269 --> 00:18:11.190 you were out there. It changed the way rosters 00:18:11.190 --> 00:18:13.440 were built. But perhaps the most fascinating 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:17.359 quirk of the 1967 -1968 season isn't about what 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:19.700 happened on the ice or the stats, but how the 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:22.500 fans at home actually consumed the product. Oh, 00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:24.940 the television broadcast quirks from this era 00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:27.759 are wild to think about. They really are. Broadcasting 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.240 was highly fragmented. In Canada, CBC televised 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:33.619 Saturday night games and playoff games while 00:18:33.619 --> 00:18:36.019 producing Wednesday games for CTV. And in the 00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:38.859 United States, CBS held the rights. But here's 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:41.160 the historical anomaly. These games were often 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:44.019 not broadcast in their entirety. Right. Networks 00:18:44.019 --> 00:18:45.920 would typically just join the games in progress. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:49.279 For you listening, think about how we consume 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:52.759 sports today with on -demand streaming, multiple 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:56.039 camera angles, pre -game shows. It's a massive 00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:58.700 production now. Imagine tuning into a modern 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:01.289 playoff game. And the television network just 00:19:01.289 --> 00:19:03.890 casually drops you into the middle of the second 00:19:03.890 --> 00:19:07.190 period because a prior program ran long. It's 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:09.369 jarring to even think about today. You'd miss 00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:12.059 half the game. It really speaks to the transitional 00:19:12.059 --> 00:19:15.359 era the sport was in. The NHL was aggressively 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:18.740 expanding its geographical footprint, but television 00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:21.200 networks were still figuring out how to prioritize 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.619 and program a sport that had previously been 00:19:23.619 --> 00:19:26.440 viewed as a niche regional attraction. They didn't 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:28.759 know how to handle it yet. Exactly. The infrastructure 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:30.960 of sports broadcasting was struggling to catch 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.460 up to the massive new product the NHL had just 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:36.420 created. What does this all mean? Good question. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:40.720 When we look back at the 1967 to 1968 NHL season, 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:43.700 we aren't just looking at a trivia answer about 00:19:43.700 --> 00:19:45.599 when the league doubled in size. It's so much 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.819 more than that. We are looking at a logistical 00:19:47.819 --> 00:19:51.279 miracle where executives successfully integrated 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:54.420 six brand new teams and kept the engine running. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.319 We are looking at the dawn of the players union, 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:00.400 driven by a realization of their own financial 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:03.240 worth. A huge turning point for labor. We are 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:05.920 looking at a heartbreaking tragedy that permanently 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:09.019 altered how the sport handles player safety. 00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:12.779 And we are looking at a ruthlessly designed playoff 00:20:12.779 --> 00:20:15.599 format that manufactured one of the greatest, 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:19.720 grittiest underdog runs in hockey history. with 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:21.740 the St. Louis Blues. It's the absolute hinge 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:23.660 point of hockey history. Hinge point, I like 00:20:23.660 --> 00:20:25.640 that. Everything before it is the classic era, 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:28.279 and everything after it is the modern era. The 00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:30.440 decisions made, the friction created, and the 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:32.720 boundaries pushed in this single season laid 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.480 the structural foundation for the massive 32 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:37.940 -team global enterprise we see today. But before 00:20:37.940 --> 00:20:39.680 we go, I want to leave you with a final thought 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:42.039 to mull over on your own. We've talked extensively 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.299 about the stats, the corporate expansion, the 00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:46.579 unions, and the executives. But I want you to 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:49.400 imagine the cultural and personal shock of that 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:52.980 1967 expansion draft, purely from a player's 00:20:52.980 --> 00:20:56.180 perspective. Think about what it would feel like 00:20:56.180 --> 00:20:58.619 to be suddenly uprooted from a legacy franchise 00:20:58.619 --> 00:21:01.240 in the original six. Leaving all that history 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:03.500 behind. You are stripped of that deep history, 00:21:03.660 --> 00:21:06.259 removed from that established locker room, and 00:21:06.259 --> 00:21:08.839 sent across the continent to a brand new city 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:11.980 with absolutely zero hockey culture. Starting 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:14.220 from scratch. You are suddenly forced to build 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:17.200 a fan base entirely from scratch in a place where 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:19.980 people might not even know the rules of the game. 00:21:20.690 --> 00:21:23.569 How would that sudden loss of prestige and the 00:21:23.569 --> 00:21:26.569 heavy burden of being a force pioneer change 00:21:26.569 --> 00:21:29.029 your identity as an athlete? It's an entirely 00:21:29.029 --> 00:21:31.690 different kind of challenge, far removed from 00:21:31.690 --> 00:21:33.789 just putting the puck in the net. It is a profound 00:21:33.789 --> 00:21:36.309 psychological toll that will never show up on 00:21:36.309 --> 00:21:38.769 a stat sheet. It's fascinating to think about. 00:21:38.829 --> 00:21:40.690 Thank you so much for joining us for this deep 00:21:40.690 --> 00:21:42.930 dive into one of the most transformative years 00:21:42.930 --> 00:21:44.750 in sports history. It's been a great discussion. 00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:47.269 We loved unpacking this material with you. Until 00:21:47.269 --> 00:21:49.710 next time, keep exploring and keep diving deep.