WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.960 Apple podcast title, The Deep Dive, Unmasking 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:07.400 the NHL's Original Six, Monopolies, Myths, and 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:10.400 Hockey History, Apple podcast description. Are 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.119 the NHL's Original Six actually the original 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:16.199 teams? In this deep dive, we unpack the surprising 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:18.640 truth behind the 25 -season era that defined 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:21.399 professional hockey. From the Boston Bruins and 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:23.559 Toronto Maple Leafs to the Chicago Blackhawks, 00:00:23.579 --> 00:00:25.579 Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and New 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:28.019 York Rangers, we explore how the Great Depression 00:00:28.019 --> 00:00:30.320 and World War II shaped the league, discover 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:33.259 the secret Norris House League monopoly, the 00:00:33.259 --> 00:00:35.380 infamous 50 -mile rule that rigged the Stanley 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:37.719 Cup, and the labor battles that changed sports 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:40.189 history forever. Whether you're a diehard hockey 00:00:40.189 --> 00:00:42.609 fan or just love a story of power, corruption, 00:00:42.670 --> 00:00:45.409 and legacy, this episode reveals the hidden history 00:00:45.409 --> 00:00:48.280 behind sports' most nostalgic era. Welcome to 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:51.140 today's Deep Dive. I am so thrilled you're joining 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:52.700 us because today we are getting into something 00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:55.299 really fascinating. Yeah, we are. It's one of 00:00:55.299 --> 00:00:58.119 the most romanticized eras in all of sports history, 00:00:58.259 --> 00:01:00.799 really. It totally is. And if you are looking 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:03.759 for our Deep Dive titled Unmasking the NHL's 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.260 Original Six, Unpacking the Monopolies, the Myths, 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:10.459 and the Gritty Hockey History. you are in exactly 00:01:10.459 --> 00:01:13.239 the right place. Absolutely. Because even if 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:16.019 you just appreciate a beautifully designed vintage 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:19.040 sports sweater, you know the era we are talking 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:21.280 about today. Oh, for sure. I mean, it is a remarkably 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.719 powerful brand. When you picture vintage hockey, 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:26.879 you immediately picture those six iconic logos. 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:29.420 Right. But as we dig into the sources today, 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:32.879 the reality behind that branding is far more 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:35.040 complicated. And significantly more calculated 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:37.840 than most people realize. Exactly. So for this 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:40.299 deep dive, we are pulling... from a really comprehensive 00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:42.819 historical article that breaks down the entire 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:46.480 25 season original six era. It's a great source. 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:49.060 It really is. And our mission today is to look 00:01:49.060 --> 00:01:52.540 right past that sepia tone nostalgia. We want 00:01:52.540 --> 00:01:55.400 to uncover the surprisingly monopolistic reality 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:58.900 of how these teams built a sports empire. Because 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:01.459 it wasn't just about hockey. No. Not at all. 00:02:01.540 --> 00:02:04.900 We're talking power, corruption, labor battles, 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.280 and a rigged system that completely defined professional 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:10.879 hockey for a quarter of a century. It really 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:13.560 serves as a fascinating study in how scarcity 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:16.419 creates value. Yeah. We're looking at a league 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:19.979 that survived by the skin of its teeth, but then 00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:23.360 managed to turn that sheer survival into an exclusive. 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:26.819 Billion dollar club. A billion dollar club. OK, 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:28.800 let's unpack this because we need to set the 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.300 stage. Let's do it. We all know the six franchises. 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:33.819 You've got the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Blackhawks. 00:02:33.819 --> 00:02:36.539 And fun fact from our source, Blackhawks was 00:02:36.539 --> 00:02:39.060 actually spelled as two separate words back then. 00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:41.800 Oh, right. Good catch. Two words. Then you have 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:44.080 the Detroit Red Wings, the Montreal Canadiens, 00:02:44.099 --> 00:02:46.699 the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. 00:02:46.699 --> 00:02:49.650 The classic lineup. Right. But here is our first 00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:53.069 major aha moment of the day. It's right in the 00:02:53.069 --> 00:02:55.090 name itself. Yeah, this gets people every time. 00:02:55.210 --> 00:02:57.669 Despite being universally called the original 00:02:57.669 --> 00:03:00.689 six, they're not actually the original teams 00:03:00.689 --> 00:03:03.430 of the National Hockey League. Not even close. 00:03:04.069 --> 00:03:06.770 The branding is a brilliant piece of accidental 00:03:06.770 --> 00:03:10.509 marketing, but historically it's a complete misnomer. 00:03:10.629 --> 00:03:12.909 It blew my mind. You hear original six and you 00:03:12.909 --> 00:03:14.610 naturally assume they were the founding fathers, 00:03:14.770 --> 00:03:17.860 you know. Sitting around a smoky room in 1917 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:20.319 drafting up the league together. That's the myth. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.919 The reality is a lot less romantic. If you trace 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:26.280 the NHL all the way back to its charter season 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:30.300 in 1917 to 1918, only two of those six teams 00:03:30.300 --> 00:03:33.400 were actually present. Just two. Just two. The 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:36.960 Canadians and the Maple Leafs. Wow. This specific 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:39.659 group of six teams didn't form the league. They 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:42.219 simply survived it. Survives is the perfect word 00:03:42.219 --> 00:03:45.199 for it. Because in the 1920s, the NHL actually... 00:03:45.259 --> 00:03:47.360 consisted of 10 teams. Right, it was much larger. 00:03:47.539 --> 00:03:49.780 But you have to factor in the massive historical 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:53.099 context of the era. The league basically ran 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:55.000 headfirst into the meat grinder of the Great 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.039 Depression. The financial pressures were just 00:03:57.039 --> 00:03:58.979 insurmountable for a lot of ownership groups. 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:01.800 Yeah, entire franchises were wiped off the map. 00:04:01.979 --> 00:04:03.960 Teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Ottawa 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.000 Senators. And the Montreal Maroons. All collapsed 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.000 under the economic strain because they literally 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.360 could not afford to keep the lights on and pay 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:15.379 their rosters. And then... Just as the league 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:17.459 is trying to find its footing after the devastation 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:19.860 of the Depression, World War II breaks out. Which 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:23.379 had a very specific, massive impact on the NHL. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:26.540 Because Canada entered the war in September 1939. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:30.339 Exactly. And suddenly, the Canadian player base, 00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:33.319 which was the absolute lifeblood of the sport, 00:04:33.850 --> 00:04:36.329 is severely depleted. So many young men left 00:04:36.329 --> 00:04:38.769 their skates behind for military service. You 00:04:38.769 --> 00:04:41.029 really see that play out in the financial and 00:04:41.029 --> 00:04:43.730 demographic attrition of the era. The league 00:04:43.730 --> 00:04:46.790 was bleeding talent and it was bleeding money. 00:04:46.970 --> 00:04:48.850 It was hemorrhaging in. The final casualty of 00:04:48.850 --> 00:04:50.930 this period was a team called the Brooklyn Americans. 00:04:51.370 --> 00:04:53.189 Right, the Americans. They had essentially been 00:04:53.189 --> 00:04:55.589 operating as a ward of the league since 1936, 00:04:55.790 --> 00:04:58.329 just barely scraping by. They finally suspended 00:04:58.329 --> 00:05:01.230 operations in the fall of 1942. And when the 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:04.290 dust settled from that final collapse, Only those 00:05:04.290 --> 00:05:06.509 six teams were left standing. Just six teams 00:05:06.509 --> 00:05:08.910 out of ten. And what is wild to me is what happened 00:05:08.910 --> 00:05:11.069 next, or rather what didn't happen. Yeah, the 00:05:11.069 --> 00:05:15.629 stagnation. Yes. For 25 seasons, from 1942 all 00:05:15.629 --> 00:05:18.920 the way to 1967. Absolutely nothing changed. 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:22.519 There was no expansion, no contraction, no teams 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:25.740 moving to new cities, no teams even changing 00:05:25.740 --> 00:05:29.500 arenas. It is this massive era of total unprecedented 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:32.060 stagnation. It's hard to even wrap your head 00:05:32.060 --> 00:05:34.160 around today. When you compare that level of 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.439 stagnation to the rest of professional sports, 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:38.819 it really stands out. Looking at North American 00:05:38.819 --> 00:05:41.540 sports history, this 25 season stretch is the 00:05:41.540 --> 00:05:44.120 second longest period without franchise movement, 00:05:44.300 --> 00:05:46.970 expansion or contraction. Second longest. What 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:49.649 beats it? The only streak that beats it is Major 00:05:49.649 --> 00:05:52.089 League Baseball, which had a 50 -season static 00:05:52.089 --> 00:05:55.629 stretch between 1903 and 1953. Okay, 50 seasons 00:05:55.629 --> 00:05:58.509 is wild. It is, but in hockey, a quarter of a 00:05:58.509 --> 00:06:00.889 century with exactly the same six teams playing 00:06:00.889 --> 00:06:03.449 in exactly the same buildings is incredibly rare. 00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:05.370 And it wasn't for a lack of interest from the 00:06:05.370 --> 00:06:06.910 outside. It wasn't like no one else wanted to 00:06:06.910 --> 00:06:09.290 play professional hockey or own a team. Oh, definitely 00:06:09.290 --> 00:06:12.420 not. This was an artificial fortress. The owners 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:15.120 of these six teams actively fought to keep the 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:18.459 pie sliced exactly six ways. There were multiple 00:06:18.459 --> 00:06:21.199 outside efforts to initiate expansion after the 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:25.199 war. For instance, in 1952, a very serious bid 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:27.540 came in from the American Hockey League's Cleveland 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:30.319 Barons. And they wanted to join the NHL. They 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:33.079 did. But the six owners consistently rejected 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:35.860 these bids. They just shut the door. Observers 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:38.360 at the time noted that the NHL owners would essentially 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:42.079 change the entry criteria every single time a 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:44.579 bid gained traction. Moving the goalposts. Exactly. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:48.399 Demanding exorbitant entry fees or suddenly altering 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:50.839 arena capacity requirements just to ensure the 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:53.279 expansion was defeated. They even went back on 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:55.519 their own promises to reactivate those dormant 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:57.480 franchises like the Maroons and the Americans 00:06:57.480 --> 00:06:59.639 once the war was over. They basically looked 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:01.740 around, realized they had an incredibly sweet 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:04.540 deal, and locked the doors from the inside. Which. 00:07:04.649 --> 00:07:07.649 brings us to how they actually ran this exclusive 00:07:07.649 --> 00:07:10.290 little club. Because if you think a six -team 00:07:10.290 --> 00:07:12.509 league means everyone gets a mathematically fair 00:07:12.509 --> 00:07:15.230 shot at the championship, we need to talk about 00:07:15.230 --> 00:07:17.930 the playoffs. The playoff format of the original 00:07:17.930 --> 00:07:20.629 six era is one of its most heavily criticized 00:07:20.629 --> 00:07:23.660 structural flaws. It's absurd. In a league of 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:26.560 only six teams, the top four teams in the regular 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:29.379 season advanced to the playoffs. It's mathematically 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:32.220 absurd for a professional sports league. Yeah. 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:34.480 You only had to be better than two other teams 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:37.439 over a grueling regular season to make the postseason. 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:39.800 Yeah, the bar was not very high. But how did 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:42.319 that actually play out on the ice? It created 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:45.480 incredibly static standings. Montreal, Toronto, 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.199 and Detroit essentially formed an upper class, 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:51.379 leaving Boston, New York, and Chicago to fight 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:53.560 over the scraps. The numbers from the sources 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:56.459 are staggering. Listen to these Stanley Cup numbers 00:07:56.459 --> 00:08:00.079 from this 25 season era. Montreal won 10 cups. 00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:04.139 Toronto won nine. Detroit won five. Chicago managed 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:07.759 to scrape out exactly one cup in 1961. And Boston 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:10.019 and New York. Zero. Not a single championship 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:12.680 in 25 years. That is a staggering disparity. 00:08:13.019 --> 00:08:14.980 And our sources point out that this wasn't just 00:08:14.980 --> 00:08:17.519 bad luck for the American teams or a case of 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.800 poor management. No, it was structural. This 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:22.120 upper class dominance was baked into the league's 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:24.660 rules. Why was there such a massive built -in 00:08:24.660 --> 00:08:27.319 advantage for those specific teams? It all came 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:29.860 down to a mechanism known as the 50 -mile rule. 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:33.039 I found this concept fascinating. Think of it 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:35.659 like the most extreme version of a local television 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:39.370 blackout rule. but instead of applying to broadcasts 00:08:39.370 --> 00:08:42.590 it applies to human beings. That is a great way 00:08:42.590 --> 00:08:44.629 to look at it. If a teenager was playing hockey 00:08:44.629 --> 00:08:47.730 within 50 miles of your arena your team had a 00:08:47.730 --> 00:08:50.649 total monopoly on his professional future. The 00:08:50.649 --> 00:08:53.129 rule formally stated that each team had exclusive 00:08:53.129 --> 00:08:55.809 rights to negotiate contracts with local players 00:08:55.809 --> 00:08:58.809 within 50 miles of its home ice. Right. If a 00:08:58.809 --> 00:09:01.210 player lived outside that 50 -mile limit, they 00:09:01.210 --> 00:09:03.570 were technically free to field offers from any 00:09:03.570 --> 00:09:06.529 team. But if they fell inside it, they were locked 00:09:06.529 --> 00:09:08.950 to that local franchise. And there was a massive 00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:10.789 catch with the sponsorship system, right? Oh, 00:09:10.789 --> 00:09:13.490 yeah. Once a player agreed to an NHL sponsorship 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:16.330 -level contract, the club could just assign him 00:09:16.330 --> 00:09:18.679 to its sponsored junior squad. They essentially 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:21.080 owned his rights before he ever went pro. So 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:24.279 let's visualize the map here. You have the Montreal 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:27.299 and Toronto metropolitan areas. As you can imagine, 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:30.039 those regions were absolutely overflowing with 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:31.919 kids growing up playing ice hockey. Hockey was 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:34.580 everything there. They had an incredible abundance 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:38.059 of prospects right in their backyard. On the 00:09:38.059 --> 00:09:41.379 flip side, Boston, New York, and Chicago had 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:43.960 very few hockey prospects in their immediate 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:47.659 geographic territories. Detroit occupied an interesting 00:09:47.659 --> 00:09:50.100 middle ground, actually. How so? Because of their 00:09:50.100 --> 00:09:52.919 geographic location, southwestern Ontario actually 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:55.840 fell within their 50 -mile radius. Oh, right 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:58.620 across the border. Exactly. So while they didn't 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:00.840 have the massive countrywide advantage of the 00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:03.500 Canadian teams, they were positioned far better 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:06.440 than Boston, New York, or Chicago to pull in 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:08.899 top -tier Canadian talent. And the practical 00:10:08.899 --> 00:10:11.440 result of this rule is that the league became 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.919 almost entirely Canadian. Almost exclusively. 00:10:14.299 --> 00:10:17.169 All 16. ended up recruiting players from Canada 00:10:17.169 --> 00:10:19.950 by sponsoring minor league and junior teams up 00:10:19.950 --> 00:10:22.090 there because that's where the talent pool was 00:10:22.090 --> 00:10:24.909 deepest. American players were exceedingly rare 00:10:24.909 --> 00:10:27.950 in this era. You had a few standouts in the 1940s 00:10:27.950 --> 00:10:30.090 like goalkeepers Frank Brimsek and Mike Caracas, 00:10:30.190 --> 00:10:32.210 but they were very much the exception. It is 00:10:32.210 --> 00:10:34.269 worth noting that the Chicago Blackhawks did 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:36.470 try to push back against this trend initially. 00:10:36.730 --> 00:10:39.350 Oh, they did. Yeah, their owner, Major Frederick 00:10:39.350 --> 00:10:42.649 McLaughlin, was fiercely patriotic. He made a 00:10:42.649 --> 00:10:44.929 concerted effort to stock his roster with as 00:10:44.929 --> 00:10:47.090 many American players as possible. Interesting. 00:10:47.330 --> 00:10:50.110 But after he died in 1944, the team was sold, 00:10:50.210 --> 00:10:52.429 and from that point on, Chicago essentially abandoned 00:10:52.429 --> 00:10:55.409 that project. They had very few American -born 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:57.309 players after that, falling in line with the 00:10:57.309 --> 00:10:59.480 rest of the league. It's staggering when you 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:01.539 look at the actual rosters. Over this entire 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:04.600 25 -year span, the Toronto Maple Leafs only had 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:07.600 one American -born player, Jerry Foley. And he 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.220 barely played. Four games. He played four games 00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:12.580 for them. The Montreal Canadiens only had one 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:15.350 American -born skater. Norm Dussault. It was 00:11:15.350 --> 00:11:17.750 a very closed loop. Speaking of the Canadians, 00:11:17.870 --> 00:11:20.710 I saw a wild note in the sources about an emergency 00:11:20.710 --> 00:11:24.750 goalie situation in Boston in 1958. What exactly 00:11:24.750 --> 00:11:27.049 happened there? That is one of the most bizarre 00:11:27.049 --> 00:11:29.750 anecdotes of the era, and it perfectly highlights 00:11:29.750 --> 00:11:33.110 how insular things were. So in March 1958, the 00:11:33.110 --> 00:11:34.950 Canadians were playing the Bruins in Boston. 00:11:35.370 --> 00:11:37.950 Jacques Plante, Montreal's legendary goalie, 00:11:37.970 --> 00:11:40.590 gets injured in the second period. And back then, 00:11:40.710 --> 00:11:43.220 they didn't have a... backup goalie just sitting 00:11:43.220 --> 00:11:45.419 on the bench in full gear. Right. So Montreal 00:11:45.419 --> 00:11:47.720 desperately needs someone to get in the net. 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:50.139 The only person available was an American named 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:53.000 John Aiken. But Aiken wasn't a Montreal player. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.779 No. He was actually an arena employee for the 00:11:55.779 --> 00:11:59.019 Boston Bruins. Spectacular. He stepped in as 00:11:59.019 --> 00:12:01.220 an emergency replacement for half a game to play 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:04.519 against his own employer. An arena worker? strapping 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.580 on the pads against the Bruins, it really underscores 00:12:07.580 --> 00:12:09.840 how small the circle of talent was. Definitely. 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:12.279 And that lack of diversity wasn't just limited 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:16.500 to nationality. This era was incredibly exclusionary 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:19.600 on multiple fronts. For instance, European players 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:22.539 were practically non -existent. True. The only 00:12:22.539 --> 00:12:25.139 European -born and trained player of the entire 00:12:25.139 --> 00:12:28.340 era was a Swedish player named Ulf Sterner, who 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:31.360 played briefly for the Rangers in 1965. And the 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.460 exclusionary practices went much deeper than 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:35.860 geography, too. We have to talk about Willie 00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:38.120 O 'Ree. We absolutely do. Willie O 'Ree broke 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:40.860 the NHL's color barrier. He played for the Bruins 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:45.200 from 1958 to 1961. Making him the first and only 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:47.500 black player in the league during the entire 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:50.350 original six era. The league wouldn't see another 00:12:50.350 --> 00:12:53.690 black player until the 1970s. O 'Ree's presence 00:12:53.690 --> 00:12:56.149 was historic, but the fact that he was the only 00:12:56.149 --> 00:12:58.649 one for decades highlights just how fiercely 00:12:58.649 --> 00:13:01.830 the league guarded its closed loop. That lack 00:13:01.830 --> 00:13:04.370 of fresh talent, which the sources actually note, 00:13:04.470 --> 00:13:06.789 resulted in some of the weakest Calder Trophy 00:13:06.789 --> 00:13:09.490 winners or rookies of the year in NHL history 00:13:09.490 --> 00:13:12.870 during the 50s and 60s, wasn't just an accident 00:13:12.870 --> 00:13:15.460 of geography. It was by design. It was a symptom 00:13:15.460 --> 00:13:18.600 of a league where the owners had absolute unchecked 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:22.019 control. Which brings us to a man named James 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:24.860 E. Norris. Here we go. Here's where it gets really 00:13:24.860 --> 00:13:27.679 interesting. Because you cannot talk about the 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:30.820 original six without unpacking the absolute financial 00:13:30.820 --> 00:13:33.179 corruption of the ownership. If the 50 -mile 00:13:33.179 --> 00:13:36.080 rule represented a geographic monopoly, James 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:37.840 E. Norris represented the ultimate financial 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:40.019 monopoly. Right. Norris was the owner of the 00:13:40.019 --> 00:13:42.899 Detroit Red Wings. But in this era, the league 00:13:42.899 --> 00:13:44.940 tolerated business practices that would trigger 00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:47.480 massive federal investigations today. Oh, completely. 00:13:47.860 --> 00:13:50.759 Norris didn't just own Detroit. He effectively 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:53.200 owned the Chicago Blackhawks as well. Wait, how 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.820 does an owner casually own a rival team in the 00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:57.960 same division? How did the other owners react 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.200 to Norris basically bankrolling half the league? 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:04.259 They largely accepted it because they relied 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:07.799 on him. During the worst years of the Great Depression, 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:11.159 Norris used his immense wealth to extend mortgages 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:13.860 to the Boston Bruins to keep them afloat. So 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:16.480 he held significant financial leverage over Boston, 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:19.279 too. On top of that, he was the largest stockholder 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:21.279 in the New York Rangers. He had his hands in 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:24.580 four of the six teams. That is insane. Critics 00:14:24.580 --> 00:14:27.279 at the time literally joked that NHL stood for 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:29.529 the Norris House League. And they weren't entirely 00:14:29.529 --> 00:14:32.289 wrong. He essentially was the league. And when 00:14:32.289 --> 00:14:34.570 you have that kind of absolute unchecked control 00:14:34.570 --> 00:14:37.330 from a single ownership block, the people who 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:39.529 suffer the most are the workers. In this case, 00:14:39.549 --> 00:14:42.149 the players. The labor conditions for the players 00:14:42.149 --> 00:14:44.549 were incredibly exploitative. The system was 00:14:44.549 --> 00:14:46.649 designed to strip them of any leverage. They 00:14:46.649 --> 00:14:49.230 were just property. Players were routinely signed 00:14:49.230 --> 00:14:52.009 to binding contracts by teams as early as 16 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:55.009 years old. And once you signed that piece of 00:14:55.009 --> 00:14:58.029 paper, you were effectively owned by that franchise 00:14:58.029 --> 00:15:00.850 for your entire career. No free agency. None. 00:15:01.169 --> 00:15:04.090 They dictated where you played, how you developed, 00:15:04.289 --> 00:15:07.149 and what you earned with zero room for negotiation. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.259 There were absolutely no the safety nets. If 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:13.259 a team decided you weren't performing and sent 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:15.740 you down to the minor leagues, you took an immediate 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:18.019 drastic salary cut. And the team didn't even 00:15:18.019 --> 00:15:20.240 cover your relocation costs. You just had to 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.539 pack up your family, move to a new city, and 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:24.179 figure it out on a fraction of your previous 00:15:24.179 --> 00:15:26.259 income. Which naturally leads to the question, 00:15:26.460 --> 00:15:28.860 why didn't the players fight back against this 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:31.700 treatment? The truth is, they tried. They did 00:15:31.700 --> 00:15:35.100 try. In 1957, there was a major effort to form 00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:37.500 a players union accompanied by an antitrust action 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:39.960 against the league. An antitrust action essentially 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:42.539 meant the players were going to the courts to 00:15:42.539 --> 00:15:45.700 argue that the NHL was an illegal monopoly. Unlawfully 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:48.360 restricting their ability to earn a fair wage 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:51.220 in an open market. The main force agitating for 00:15:51.220 --> 00:15:54.080 this union was a superstar forward for the Red 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.779 Wings named Ted Lindsey. And we have to emphasize 00:15:56.779 --> 00:15:59.220 that Ted Lindsey was not a fringe player trying 00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:02.740 to save his roster spot. No, this guy was a massive 00:16:02.740 --> 00:16:05.919 star, a four -time Stanley Cup champion. He was... 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:08.700 The face of the franchise. His star power didn't 00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:11.220 protect him. The owners recognized the threat 00:16:11.220 --> 00:16:14.080 a union posed to their absolute control, and 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:16.519 their retaliation was swift and merciless. What 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:18.940 did they do? To punish Lindsay for his organizing 00:16:18.940 --> 00:16:22.159 activities, Detroit stripped him of his captaincy 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:24.399 and shipped him off to the Chicago Blackhawks. 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:26.860 Who, as we mentioned earlier, were the perennial 00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:30.279 last place bottom feeders of the league. Exactly. 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:33.720 That trade must have sent absolute shockwaves 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:35.740 through the locker rooms. It's classic union 00:16:35.740 --> 00:16:38.799 busting. The message was crystal clear. It doesn't 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:41.320 matter how many cups you win for us. If you step 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:43.700 out of line and demand fair treatment, we will 00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:46.039 completely derail your career. And it worked, 00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:48.360 didn't it? It worked perfectly. The union effort 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:51.480 collapsed shortly after. And the financial exploitation 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:55.259 went even deeper than salaries. We have to look 00:16:55.259 --> 00:16:57.600 at the player pension plan, which was originally 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:01.279 formed in 1946. On paper, a pension plan sounds 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:03.659 like a great benefit for the players. But in 00:17:03.659 --> 00:17:06.259 reality, the owners kept the financials of this 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:08.700 plan completely secret from the players whose 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:10.819 futures depended on it. The players just had 00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:13.440 to blindly accept whatever pension payments the 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:16.240 owners unilaterally decided to dispense. That 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:19.920 secrecy is incredibly sinister. It took years 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.599 for the players to gain any real footing. It 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:24.900 wasn't until subsequent actions by Toronto players 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:27.700 Bob Bowne and Carl Brewer in the early 1960s 00:17:27.700 --> 00:17:29.839 that the foundation was laid for the National 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:32.579 Hockey League Players Association. The NHLPA. 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:35.740 Right, which formally launched in 1967. But even 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:37.400 when the players finally got their association, 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:40.299 the corruption didn't stop. The betrayal came 00:17:40.299 --> 00:17:42.900 from within. The inaugural executive director 00:17:42.900 --> 00:17:45.940 of the newly formed NHLPA was a man named Alan 00:17:45.940 --> 00:17:48.279 Eagleson. And instead of fighting for transparency, 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:51.380 Eagleson continued the owner's tradition of hiding 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:53.579 the pension's financials from the players. Why? 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:56.500 Because he was actively skimming money from the 00:17:56.500 --> 00:17:59.259 plan to enrich himself and his associates. It 00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:01.829 was a massive systemic crime. That wasn't fully 00:18:01.829 --> 00:18:05.369 exposed and prosecuted until 1989. It is just 00:18:05.369 --> 00:18:08.410 layers upon layers of exploitation, all hidden 00:18:08.410 --> 00:18:11.029 beneath the shiny veneer of these classic hockey 00:18:11.029 --> 00:18:13.750 sweaters. It really taints the nostalgia when 00:18:13.750 --> 00:18:16.009 you look at the facts. It does. So what does 00:18:16.009 --> 00:18:18.670 this all mean for the timeline? How did it finally 00:18:18.670 --> 00:18:22.210 end? Because clearly this 25 year stranglehold 00:18:22.210 --> 00:18:24.369 couldn't last forever, especially with the world 00:18:24.369 --> 00:18:27.230 changing around them in the 1960s. The end of 00:18:27.230 --> 00:18:29.690 the era was driven by a generational shift in 00:18:29.690 --> 00:18:32.150 ownership, combined with the undeniable external 00:18:32.150 --> 00:18:34.529 pressure of television markets and rival leagues. 00:18:34.730 --> 00:18:37.849 By 1963, a younger, slightly more progressive 00:18:37.849 --> 00:18:40.450 guard was entering the NHL boardrooms. The key 00:18:40.450 --> 00:18:42.789 figure here was William M. Jennings, the governor 00:18:42.789 --> 00:18:44.710 of the New York Rangers. Jennings looks around 00:18:44.710 --> 00:18:46.849 the sports landscape and realizes the NHL is 00:18:46.849 --> 00:18:48.869 falling drastically behind, right? Precisely. 00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:51.289 Major League Baseball and the NFL were aggressively 00:18:51.289 --> 00:18:53.609 adding teams and expanding their footprints. 00:18:54.029 --> 00:18:56.170 The American Football League was proving that 00:18:56.170 --> 00:18:59.430 rival leagues could force massive mergers. Jennings 00:18:59.430 --> 00:19:01.710 saw that if the NHL didn't adapt, they were going 00:19:01.710 --> 00:19:04.309 to lose their status. He was specifically terrified 00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:07.789 of the Western Hockey League, the WHL. Up until 00:19:07.789 --> 00:19:10.730 then. The WHL was just a minor league operating 00:19:10.730 --> 00:19:12.990 on the West Coast, but they were threatening 00:19:12.990 --> 00:19:15.309 to declare themselves a major league. And if 00:19:15.309 --> 00:19:18.029 they declare a major league status, that means 00:19:18.029 --> 00:19:21.049 they can start ignoring NHL contracts. Offering 00:19:21.049 --> 00:19:23.890 massive salaries to poach the NHL's top stars. 00:19:24.089 --> 00:19:26.190 Totally dividing the fan base. Jennings knew 00:19:26.190 --> 00:19:28.430 they had to preempt that threat. Plus there's 00:19:28.430 --> 00:19:30.490 a massive crisis regarding television revenue. 00:19:30.970 --> 00:19:33.490 The NHL had actually lost its national broadcast 00:19:33.490 --> 00:19:36.609 deal with CBS in the United States back in 1960. 00:19:37.049 --> 00:19:39.430 Because a regional league huddled around the 00:19:39.430 --> 00:19:41.789 Great Lakes and the Northeast just didn't appeal 00:19:41.789 --> 00:19:44.369 to a national audience. Jennings knew that if 00:19:44.369 --> 00:19:46.369 they ever wanted to secure a lucrative national 00:19:46.369 --> 00:19:49.529 TV deal again, they absolutely needed a presence 00:19:49.529 --> 00:19:52.210 on the American West Coast. Initially, his peers 00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:54.930 rejected his proposal to add two West Coast teams. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:57.759 They liked their exclusive club. But he had planted 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.500 the seed, and the topic of expansion came up 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:02.859 at every single owners' meeting from then on. 00:20:03.180 --> 00:20:06.119 Finally, as the older, more conservative owners 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:08.759 phased out of the league, the remaining owners 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.980 made a massive decision in 1965. They were going 00:20:11.980 --> 00:20:13.920 to double the size of the league. Doubling the 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:17.039 league is a monumental leap. In February 1966, 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:20.160 they formally awarded expansion franchises to 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:23.680 six new cities. Los Angeles, Minnesota, Philadelphia, 00:20:24.099 --> 00:20:26.680 Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and the San Francisco 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:29.609 Oakland area. those teams would hit the ice for 00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:34.450 the 1967 -1968 season. Which means the 1967 Stanley 00:20:34.450 --> 00:20:37.289 Cup final was the ultimate swan song for the 00:20:37.289 --> 00:20:39.549 era we've been discussing today. When the Toronto 00:20:39.549 --> 00:20:41.710 Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens in 00:20:41.710 --> 00:20:44.789 six games to win the 1967 Cup, it officially 00:20:44.789 --> 00:20:47.289 closed the book on the original six. Though we 00:20:47.289 --> 00:20:49.130 should point out that those six historic teams 00:20:49.130 --> 00:20:51.509 didn't just quietly fade into the background 00:20:51.509 --> 00:20:53.690 when the new teams arrived. No, they maintained 00:20:53.690 --> 00:20:56.470 an iron grip on the league for a long time. The 00:20:56.470 --> 00:20:58.720 structural... Advantages, the wealth, and the 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.059 scouting networks they had built up over 25 years 00:21:01.059 --> 00:21:03.779 didn't vanish overnight. The first dozen seasons 00:21:03.779 --> 00:21:06.599 of the expansion era still saw absolute dominance 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:09.720 by the original six. You had the Bobby Orled 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:13.339 Bruins in the early 70s and that massive Canadians 00:21:13.339 --> 00:21:15.720 dynasty at the end of the 70s. It took a long 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:17.839 time for the expansion teams to reach any clear 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:21.160 parity. Looking at the sources, between 1967 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:24.920 and 1979, only one expansion team managed to 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.240 hoist the cup. The Philadelphia Flyers. Right, 00:21:27.299 --> 00:21:31.240 who won it back to back in 1974 and 1975. Every 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:33.920 other championship went to an original six franchise. 00:21:34.259 --> 00:21:36.440 And you could argue those foundational advantages 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:38.940 have never really vanished, especially when we 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:40.940 look at the financial side of the sport. The 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:43.279 modern day valuations prove that the monopolistic 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.200 branding of the original six paid off in a historic, 00:21:46.380 --> 00:21:49.700 lasting way. According to Forbes in 2015, the 00:21:49.700 --> 00:21:52.319 top five most valuable franchises in the entire 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:55.930 NHL were all original six teams. Wow. In that 00:21:55.930 --> 00:21:57.750 report, the Rangers were valued at approximately 00:21:57.750 --> 00:22:01.730 $1 .2 billion. The Canadians at $1 .18 billion. 00:22:01.970 --> 00:22:04.690 The Maple Leafs at $1 .15 billion. The Blackhawks 00:22:04.690 --> 00:22:06.710 and Bruins rounded out the top five, and the 00:22:06.710 --> 00:22:08.730 Red Wings were sitting very comfortably at eighth 00:22:08.730 --> 00:22:11.109 overall. So what we are really looking at here 00:22:11.109 --> 00:22:14.990 is a masterclass in how artificial scarcity and 00:22:14.990 --> 00:22:18.670 ruthless survival can create legendary brand 00:22:18.670 --> 00:22:20.890 prestige. It's incredible. When you look at a 00:22:20.890 --> 00:22:23.809 vintage original six hat or jersey today, it 00:22:23.809 --> 00:22:26.420 is incredibly easy. to get lost in the nostalgia 00:22:26.420 --> 00:22:30.119 of the sports golden age. But you are actually 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:33.180 looking at the ultimate survivors of a ruthless 00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:36.220 economic era. Teams that used every trick in 00:22:36.220 --> 00:22:38.380 the book. From territorial monopolies to labor 00:22:38.380 --> 00:22:40.900 exploitation, all to protect their kingdom and 00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:43.569 build a billion -dollar legacy. It completely 00:22:43.569 --> 00:22:46.230 changes how you view the early history of the 00:22:46.230 --> 00:22:48.650 sport. And there's one final detail from our 00:22:48.650 --> 00:22:50.849 source material that I think really emphasizes 00:22:50.849 --> 00:22:53.769 how the legacy of this era continues to evolve. 00:22:54.029 --> 00:22:57.710 In the 2013 -2014 season, the NHL underwent a 00:22:57.710 --> 00:22:59.970 massive structural shift and moved the Detroit 00:22:59.970 --> 00:23:02.430 Red Wings to the Eastern Conference. Okay, yes. 00:23:02.589 --> 00:23:05.470 Because of that specific move, the Chicago Blackhawks 00:23:05.470 --> 00:23:08.119 were left as the absolute... only original six 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:10.319 team in the entire Western Conference. Oh, wow. 00:23:10.420 --> 00:23:11.880 I hadn't considered the conference split like 00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:13.839 that. It's something to chew on the next time 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:17.779 you watch a modern NHL broadcast. How does being 00:23:17.779 --> 00:23:20.559 geographically and competitively isolated from 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:23.759 the other five historic franchises impact the 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.359 Blackhawks' legacy and their legendary rivalries 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:28.910 moving forward? When the ties of the original 00:23:28.910 --> 00:23:32.190 six are severed by modern conference lines, what 00:23:32.190 --> 00:23:35.130 happens to that shared history? That is a phenomenal 00:23:35.130 --> 00:23:37.690 question and exactly the kind of thought we love 00:23:37.690 --> 00:23:39.869 to leave you with. Thank you so much for joining 00:23:39.869 --> 00:23:42.289 us on this deep dive into hockey history. Keep 00:23:42.289 --> 00:23:44.789 asking questions, keep looking past the nostalgia, 00:23:44.910 --> 00:23:46.529 and we'll catch you on the next deep dive.