Nice to see that this little corner of the internet is getting some traffic. It's still a small number so I have the time to take a peek at the sorts of keywords you out there are using to find these pages. I haven't had much time lately to post something substantial but I thought I'd throw this out anyway: if there's something in particular that you're looking for, anything similar to what I've posted so far but haven't yet posted, leave a comment. For example I have loads and loads of this transaction data I haven't gotten around to posting, and so far I'm just posting it in completely random order. I'd rather help somebody out with something specific.
Cheers!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
The 1972 NHL Expansion and Inter-League Drafts
In November, 1971 the NHL awarded two new expansion franchises: one to Atlanta Hockey Inc., to play out of the new Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, and the other to Nassau Sports Ltd., playing out of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, New York. The decision to place teams in Atlanta and Long Island were seen as pre-emptive strikes against the World Hockey Association who might otherwise have operated teams in the new arenas. For the third time in only five years the NHL was expanding.
Like the 1967 and 1970 expansion drafts before it the 1972 draft allowed the new teams, the Atlanta Flames and New York Islanders, to draft players from the existing clubs. The two new teams paid $6,000,000 expansion fees and with those fees were allowed to pick 21 players, three players from each of the 14 existing teams. In other terms they paid $285,714.29 per new player. (The Islanders also paid a $4,000,000 indemnification fee to the Rangers for having encroached upon the Rangers' 'territory', so in a sense the Islanders spent $476,190.48 on each player!)
The rules were similar to the previous expansion drafts in 1967 and 1970: existing teams protected their best players (in this case 15 skaters and two goalies) and the expansion teams could have their pick of the rest. When a pick was made the team losing a player was allowed to add another to its protected list. The existing teams could lose only a maximum of three players, including a maximum of one goaltender. The Seals, Flyers, Canadiens and Blues could exempt themselves from losing a goaltender because they had each lost a goalie in the 1970 Expansion Draft. Montreal and St. Louis chose to leave themselves open losing a goalie again. First-year pros were also exempt.
Like the 1967 Expansion Draft, unlike the 1970 draft, the goaltenders were chosen first. Because each team could only lose one goaltender they didn't have to fill their protected list with another, they could fill with a player of any position. This had particular implications for the Canadiens which I will explain after the table of results.
The draft order was determined by a coin toss and a gentlemen's agreement between Flames General Manager Cliff Fletcher (who, if you're a new hockey fan, you might not know is the father of Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher) and Islanders GM Bill Torrey. The rules were that two coin tosses were to occur to determine who would chose first in the expansion draft and who would chose first in the amateur draft. The winner of the former coin toss would also chose first in the inter-league draft, only participated in this year by the Islanders and Flames. The expansion draft order would reverse after the second round of goalie selections, so that the team who lost the coin toss for first pick (of a goaltender) would get the first choice of skater.
The rules for determining the draft order were similar in 1970, when Sabres GM Punch Imlach won a coin toss for first choice in the intra-league draft and a roulette-esque game of chance over Canucks GM Bud Poile for first choices in the expansion and amateur drafts. Imlach chose Tom Webster with the first pick in the expansion draft, whom he traded to the Red Wings later that day for goalie Roger Crozier, giving him arguably the better goaltending between the two expansion clubs on top of having the first choice of forwards and defencemen. To top it off he had first overall in the amateur draft and chose future hall-of-famer Gilbert Perreault; the Canucks settled for Dale Tallon.
This brings us back to the gentlemen's agreement I mentioned before. Rather than leave themselves open to being on the losing side of both coin tosses, as Bud Poile was in 1970, Fletcher and Torrey decided to have the single coin toss for first overall in the amateur draft (since the amateur draft was expected to produce a future star player while the expansion draft was merely a pick of the dregs of the established teams). The winner of the coin toss would retain first choice in the amateur draft and cede first choices in the expansion and inter-league drafts to the other. Torrey won the coin toss, giving the Flames first choice (of goaltenders) in the expansion and inter-league drafts while the Islanders retained first choice in the amateur draft (and by extension the first choice of skaters in the expansion draft).
The existing teams protected the following players:
The draft proceeded as follows on June 6, 1972:
Note that, as I said before, the Canadiens could have exempted themselves from losing another goaltender in an expansion draft (they lost two in 1967 and one in 1970, most of any club up to that point), and chose not to. They had a plethora of talented young goaltenders and were willing to lose one in order to keep a few of their top prospects. Behind closed doors the Canadiens made deals with both the Flames and Islanders so that Montreal would get to keep its pick of prospects. In exchange for taking the players the Canadiens wanted them to take the Flames and Islanders would receive several Canadiens players as compensation at a later date.
When the Flames took Phil Myre first overall in the expansion draft this allowed the Canadiens to protect Chuck Lefley, then a point-per-game player for the AHL's Nova Scotia Voyageurs (Montreal's top affiliate). The Islanders and Flames agreed to take Bart Crashley and Kerry Ketter as the first and second skater selections, allowing the Canadiens to keep Bob Murdoch (defenceman Robert John Murdoch, who played for the Canadiens, Kings and eventually the Flames; not winger Robert Lovell Murdoch, who played for the Golden Seals, Barons and Blues). Over the following couple months the Canadiens made several trades with the Flames and Islanders to compensate them; the Flames ended up with Rey Comeau, Noel Price, Lynn Powis and Ted Tucker while the Islanders got Denis DeJordy, Chico Resch and Germain Gagnon. Going back to the Canadiens were mostly high draft picks and 'cash'. I say 'cash' with scare quotes because it was well understood at the time that the consideration in these deals was not money but rather having followed the Canadiens' draft plans.
Later that day the Flames chose defenceman Bill Speer first overall in the Inter-League Draft. Speer had signed a contract with the WHA's New York Raiders and never played in the NHL again. The Flames chose to pass on the rest of their selections while the Islanders picked four players. Where applicable I have added the NHL team that held the chosen player's rights in parentheses. (Bill Speer's rights were sold to the Providence Reds by the Bruins on Nov. 5, 1971.)
Sources:
"Hockey Draft Is To Start Tuesday". The Spartanburg Herald. Associated Press. (Spartanburg, South Carolina). June 5, 1972. s. B p. 3. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l4AsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NM0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6650%2C901924
"The protected lists". Montreal Gazette. June 6, 1972. p. 13
Like the 1967 and 1970 expansion drafts before it the 1972 draft allowed the new teams, the Atlanta Flames and New York Islanders, to draft players from the existing clubs. The two new teams paid $6,000,000 expansion fees and with those fees were allowed to pick 21 players, three players from each of the 14 existing teams. In other terms they paid $285,714.29 per new player. (The Islanders also paid a $4,000,000 indemnification fee to the Rangers for having encroached upon the Rangers' 'territory', so in a sense the Islanders spent $476,190.48 on each player!)
The rules were similar to the previous expansion drafts in 1967 and 1970: existing teams protected their best players (in this case 15 skaters and two goalies) and the expansion teams could have their pick of the rest. When a pick was made the team losing a player was allowed to add another to its protected list. The existing teams could lose only a maximum of three players, including a maximum of one goaltender. The Seals, Flyers, Canadiens and Blues could exempt themselves from losing a goaltender because they had each lost a goalie in the 1970 Expansion Draft. Montreal and St. Louis chose to leave themselves open losing a goalie again. First-year pros were also exempt.
Like the 1967 Expansion Draft, unlike the 1970 draft, the goaltenders were chosen first. Because each team could only lose one goaltender they didn't have to fill their protected list with another, they could fill with a player of any position. This had particular implications for the Canadiens which I will explain after the table of results.
The draft order was determined by a coin toss and a gentlemen's agreement between Flames General Manager Cliff Fletcher (who, if you're a new hockey fan, you might not know is the father of Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher) and Islanders GM Bill Torrey. The rules were that two coin tosses were to occur to determine who would chose first in the expansion draft and who would chose first in the amateur draft. The winner of the former coin toss would also chose first in the inter-league draft, only participated in this year by the Islanders and Flames. The expansion draft order would reverse after the second round of goalie selections, so that the team who lost the coin toss for first pick (of a goaltender) would get the first choice of skater.
The rules for determining the draft order were similar in 1970, when Sabres GM Punch Imlach won a coin toss for first choice in the intra-league draft and a roulette-esque game of chance over Canucks GM Bud Poile for first choices in the expansion and amateur drafts. Imlach chose Tom Webster with the first pick in the expansion draft, whom he traded to the Red Wings later that day for goalie Roger Crozier, giving him arguably the better goaltending between the two expansion clubs on top of having the first choice of forwards and defencemen. To top it off he had first overall in the amateur draft and chose future hall-of-famer Gilbert Perreault; the Canucks settled for Dale Tallon.
This brings us back to the gentlemen's agreement I mentioned before. Rather than leave themselves open to being on the losing side of both coin tosses, as Bud Poile was in 1970, Fletcher and Torrey decided to have the single coin toss for first overall in the amateur draft (since the amateur draft was expected to produce a future star player while the expansion draft was merely a pick of the dregs of the established teams). The winner of the coin toss would retain first choice in the amateur draft and cede first choices in the expansion and inter-league drafts to the other. Torrey won the coin toss, giving the Flames first choice (of goaltenders) in the expansion and inter-league drafts while the Islanders retained first choice in the amateur draft (and by extension the first choice of skaters in the expansion draft).
The existing teams protected the following players:
| Boston Bruins | Buffalo Sabres | California Golden Seals | Chicago Black Hawks | Detroit Red Wings | Los Angeles Kings | Minnesota North Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goaltenders | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers | Roger Crozier | exempt | Tony Esposito | Andy Brown | Gary Edwards | Cesare Maniago |
| Eddie Johnston | Dave Dryden | Gary Smith | Al Smith | Rogie Vachon | Gump Worsley | |
| Skaters | ||||||
| Don Awrey | Steve Anderson | Ivan Boldirev | Chris Bordeleau | Red Berenson | Ralph Backstrom | Fred Barrett |
| Garnet Bailey | Mike Byers | Gary Croteau | J.P. Bordeleau | Gary Bergman | Doug Barrie | Jude Drouin |
| John Bucyk | Butch Deadmarsh | Stan Gilbertson | Dennis Hull | Arnie Brown | Serge Bernier | Barry Gibbs |
| Wayne Cashman | Al Hamilton | Joe Johnston | Bobby Hull | Guy Charron | Bob Berry | Bill Goldsworthy |
| Phil Esposito | Tim Horton | Pete Laframboise | Doug Jarrett | Bill Collins | Larry Brown | Danny Grant |
| Ken Hodge | Jim Lorentz | Reggie Leach | Jerry Korab | Alex Delvecchio | Mike Corrigan | Ted Harris |
| Don Marcotte | Don Luce | Bert Marshall | Cliff Koroll | Gary Doak | Paul Curtis | Buster Harvey |
| Fred O'Donnell | Ray McKay | Walt McKechnie | Darryl Maggs | Tim Eccleston | Butch Goring | Dennis Hextall |
| Ron Plumb | Gerry Meehan | Gerry Pinder | Keith Magnuson | Tom Gilmore | Jim Johnson | Doug Mohns |
| Bobby Orr | Gilbert Perreault | Dick Redmond | Chico Maki | Larry Johnston | Real Lemieux | Lou Nanne |
| Derek Sanderson | Tracy Pratt | Bobby Sheehan | Pit Martin | Al Karlander | Bill Lesuk | Bob Nevin |
| Dallas Smith | Rene Robert | Paul Shmyr | Stan Mikita | Serge Lajeunesse | Barry Long | Dennis O'Brien |
| Fred Stanfield | Paul Terbenche | Rick Smith | Jim Pappin | Nick Libett | Gilles Marotte | Murray Oliver |
| Carol Vadnais | Jim Watson | Bob Stewart | Pat Stapleton | Mickey Redmond | Doug Volmar | J. P. Parise |
| Mike Walton | Randy Wyrozub | Tom Webster | Bill White | Ron Stackhouse | Juha Widing | Tom Reid |
| Montreal Canadiens | New York Rangers | Philadelphia Flyers | Pittsburgh Penguins | St. Louis Blues | Toronto Maple Leafs | Vancouver Canucks |
| Goaltenders | ||||||
| Ken Dryden | Ed Giacomin | exempt | Cam Newton | Jacques Caron | Bernie Parent | George Gardner |
| Michel Plasse | Gilles Villemure | Jim Rutherford | Peter McDuffe | Jacques Plante | Dunc Wilson | |
| Skaters | ||||||
| Pierre Bouchard | Ab DeMarco | Barry Ashbee | Syl Apps | Curt Bennett | Bobby Baun | Dave Balon |
| Yvan Cournoyer | Jim Dorey | Bill Brossart | Larry Bignell | Andre Dupont | Ron Ellis | Greg Boddy |
| Terry Harper | Bill Fairbairn | Bobby Clarke | Dave Burrows | Jack Egers | Brian Glennie | Andre Boudrias |
| Rejean Houle | Rod Gilbert | Bill Clement | Steve Cardwell | Chris Evans | Jim Harrison | Dave Dunn |
| Jacques Laperriere | Vic Hadfield | Gary Dornhoefer | Darryl Edestrand | Fran Huck | Paul Henderson | Jim Hargreaves |
| Guy Lapointe | Ted Irvine | Rick Foley | Nick Harbaruk | Mike Murphy | Pierre Jarry | Dennis Kearns |
| Claude Larose | Bruce MacGregor | Bob Kelly | Bryan Hextall | Danny O'Shea | Dave Keon | Orland Kurtenbach |
| Jacques Lemaire | Jim Neilson | Ross Lonsberry | Sheldon Kannegiesser | Kevin O'Shea | Rick Ley | Wayne Maki |
| Frank Mahovlich | Brad Park | Rick MacLeish | Rick Kessell | Barclay Plager | Jim McKenny | Gerry O'Flaherty |
| Pete Mahovlich | Jean Ratelle | Simon Nolet | Al McDonough | Bob Plager | Garry Monahan | Rosie Paiement |
| Henri Richard | Dale Rolfe | Jean Potvin | Greg Polis | Phil Roberto | Mike Pelyk | Poul Popeil |
| Jim Roberts | Bobby Rousseau | Don Saleski | Jean Pronovost | Gary Sabourin | Larry Pleau | Bobby Schmautz |
| Serge Savard | Rod Seiling | Dave Schultz | Duane Rupp | Frank St. Marseille | Darryl Sittler | Dale Tallon |
| Marc Tardif | Pete Stemkowski | Ed Van Impe | Ron Schock | Floyd Thompson | Errol Thompson | Don Tannahill |
| J.C. Tremblay | Walt Tkaczuk | Joe Watson | Bryan Watson | Garry Unger | Norm Ullman | Barry Wilkins |
The draft proceeded as follows on June 6, 1972:
| Overall | Player Chosen | By | From | Fill-In |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goaltenders | ||||
| 1 | Phil Myre | Atlanta Flames | Montreal Canadiens | Chuck Lefley |
| 2 | Gerry Desjardins | New York Islanders | Chicago Black Hawks | Dan Maloney |
| 3 | Dan Bouchard | Atlanta Flames | Boston Bruins | John McKenzie |
| 4 | Billy Smith | New York Islanders | Los Angeles Kings | Bob Woytowich |
| Skaters | ||||
| 5 | Bart Crashley | New York Islanders | Montreal Canadiens | Bob Murdoch |
| 6 | Kerry Ketter | Atlanta Flames | Montreal Canadiens | |
| 7 | Dave Hudson | New York Islanders | Chicago Black Hawks | John Marks |
| 8 | Norm Gratton | Atlanta Flames | New York Rangers | Glen Sather |
| 9 | Ed Westfall | New York Islanders | Boston Bruins | Nick Beverley |
| 10 | Ron Harris | Atlanta Flames | Detroit Red Wings | Leon Rochefort |
| 11 | Garry Peters | New York Islanders | Boston Bruins | |
| 12 | Larry Romanchych | Atlanta Flames | Chicago Black Hawks | |
| 13 | Larry Hornung | New York Islanders | St. Louis Blues | John Arbour |
| 14 | Bill MacMillan | Atlanta Flames | Toronto Maple Leafs | Denis Dupere |
| 15 | Bryan Lefley | New York Islanders | New York Rangers | Steve Andrascik |
| 16 | Randy Manery | Atlanta Flames | Detroit Red Wings | Ralph Stewart |
| 17 | Brian Spencer | New York Islanders | Toronto Maple Leafs | Guy Trottier |
| 18 | Keith McCreary | Atlanta Flames | Pittsburgh Penguins | Eddie Shack |
| 19 | Terry Crisp | New York Islanders | St. Louis Blues | Noel Picard |
| 20 | Ernie Hicke | Atlanta Flames | California Golden Seals | Wayne Carleton |
| 21 | Ted Hampson | New York Islanders | Minnesota North Stars | Bob Paradise |
| 22 | Lew Morrison | Atlanta Flames | Philadelphia Flyers | Bill Flett |
| 23 | Gerry Hart | New York Islanders | Detroit Red Wings | |
| 24 | Lucien Grenier | Atlanta Flames | Los Angeles Kings | Wayne Lachance |
| 25 | John Schella | New York Islanders | Vancouver Canucks | John Wright |
| 26 | Bill Plager | Atlanta Flames | St. Louis Blues | |
| 27 | Bill Mikkelson | New York Islanders | Los Angeles Kings | |
| 28 | Morris Stefaniw | Atlanta Flames | New York Rangers | |
| 29 | Craig Cameron | New York Islanders | Minnesota North Stars | Gord Labossiere |
| 30 | John Stewart | Atlanta Flames | Pittsburgh Penguins | Ken Schinkel |
| 31 | Tom Miller | New York Islanders | Buffalo Sabres | Danny Lawson |
| 32 | Bob Leiter | Atlanta Flames | Pittsburgh Penguins | |
| 33 | Brian Marchinko | New York Islanders | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| 34 | Pat Quinn | Atlanta Flames | Vancouver Canucks | Wayne Connelly |
| 35 | Ted Taylor | New York Islanders | Vancouver Canucks | |
| 36 | Larry Hale | Atlanta Flames | Philadelphia Flyers | Mike Parizeau |
| 37 | Norm Ferguson | New York Islanders | California Golden Seals | Marshall Johnston |
| 38 | Bill Heindl | Atlanta Flames | Minnesota North Stars | |
| 39 | Jim Mair | New York Islanders | Philadelphia Flyers | |
| 40 | Frank Hughes | Atlanta Flames | California Golden Seals | |
| 41 | Ken Murray | New York Islanders | Buffalo Sabres | Jack Taggart |
| 42 | Rod Zaine | Atlanta Flames | Buffalo Sabres | |
Note that, as I said before, the Canadiens could have exempted themselves from losing another goaltender in an expansion draft (they lost two in 1967 and one in 1970, most of any club up to that point), and chose not to. They had a plethora of talented young goaltenders and were willing to lose one in order to keep a few of their top prospects. Behind closed doors the Canadiens made deals with both the Flames and Islanders so that Montreal would get to keep its pick of prospects. In exchange for taking the players the Canadiens wanted them to take the Flames and Islanders would receive several Canadiens players as compensation at a later date.
When the Flames took Phil Myre first overall in the expansion draft this allowed the Canadiens to protect Chuck Lefley, then a point-per-game player for the AHL's Nova Scotia Voyageurs (Montreal's top affiliate). The Islanders and Flames agreed to take Bart Crashley and Kerry Ketter as the first and second skater selections, allowing the Canadiens to keep Bob Murdoch (defenceman Robert John Murdoch, who played for the Canadiens, Kings and eventually the Flames; not winger Robert Lovell Murdoch, who played for the Golden Seals, Barons and Blues). Over the following couple months the Canadiens made several trades with the Flames and Islanders to compensate them; the Flames ended up with Rey Comeau, Noel Price, Lynn Powis and Ted Tucker while the Islanders got Denis DeJordy, Chico Resch and Germain Gagnon. Going back to the Canadiens were mostly high draft picks and 'cash'. I say 'cash' with scare quotes because it was well understood at the time that the consideration in these deals was not money but rather having followed the Canadiens' draft plans.
Later that day the Flames chose defenceman Bill Speer first overall in the Inter-League Draft. Speer had signed a contract with the WHA's New York Raiders and never played in the NHL again. The Flames chose to pass on the rest of their selections while the Islanders picked four players. Where applicable I have added the NHL team that held the chosen player's rights in parentheses. (Bill Speer's rights were sold to the Providence Reds by the Bruins on Nov. 5, 1971.)
| Overall | Player Chosen | By | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Speer | Atlanta Flames | Providence Reds (AHL) |
| 2 | Neil Nicholson | New York Islanders | Salt Lake Golden Eagles (WHL) (California Golden Seals) |
| 3 | Don Blackburn | New York Islanders | Providence Reds (AHL) (New York Rangers) |
| 4 | Connie Forey | New York Islanders | Hershey Bears (AHL) (Pittsburgh Penguins) |
| 5 | Dennis Kassian | New York Islanders | Cincinnati Swords (AHL) (Buffalo Sabres) |
Sources:
"Hockey Draft Is To Start Tuesday". The Spartanburg Herald. Associated Press. (Spartanburg, South Carolina). June 5, 1972. s. B p. 3. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l4AsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NM0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6650%2C901924
"The protected lists". Montreal Gazette. June 6, 1972. p. 13
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
2012 Stanley Cup Champions
Congratulations to the Los Angeles Kings for making hockey history of their own last night. They're the first #8 playoff seed to win the Stanley Cup since the format was introduced, and it's their first Stanley Cup in the team's 45-year existence.
Of the 1967 expansion teams still remaining the only one that hasn't won a Stanley Cup is the St. Louis Blues, this past season's surprise #2 seed in the Western Conference. For their sake I hope they can translate their regular season success to post-season success next year.
Of the 1967 expansion teams still remaining the only one that hasn't won a Stanley Cup is the St. Louis Blues, this past season's surprise #2 seed in the Western Conference. For their sake I hope they can translate their regular season success to post-season success next year.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
1972 NHL Intra-League Draft
The Intra-League Draft, as mentioned in an earlier post, was the forerunner of the Waiver Draft. NHL clubs protected their best players and allowed the rest of the league to have the pick of the rest, the idea being that the worst teams could improve themselves by acquiring the talent of the better teams for a nominal fee (in 1972, $40,000) and (eventually) the league's competition would be a little closer to parity.
The players being exchanged were often either older vets on their way out or younger players who hadn't yet established themselves. The biggest name in the '72 draft, Tim Horton, was definitely one of the former. The four-time Stanley Cup champion was 42 years old, heading into his 21st full year in the NHL. By this time he was supposedly very myopic (literally, not figuratively) and very highly compensated, which is why the Penguins were not upset in parting with his services. He played about a season-and-a-half in Buffalo, famously having died when he lost control of his De Tomaso Pantera in the wee hours of the morning of the 21st of February, 1974.
The way the Intra-League Draft worked was that the teams would submit protected lists, lists of player who would not be eligible to be picked, to the NHL Central Registry. If a team picked a player from another team the team that was picking had to remove a player from its protected list in order to accommodate the new player. As consideration the team that was losing the player had a choice between taking a cash fee (again, $40,000 in 1972) or claiming the player that the other team had removed from its protected list (and paying the claiming team $30,000). For example the Canucks picked Don Tannahill from the Bruins, they removed Don Ward from their own protected list, and Boston had the choice of $40,000 or taking Ward; they chose the cash. When the Kings picked Barry Long from the Black Hawks they removed Bill Orban from their list and instead of taking the cash the Black Hawks took Orban (and paid the Kings back $30,000, so the net return was Orban and $10,000).
The players being exchanged were often either older vets on their way out or younger players who hadn't yet established themselves. The biggest name in the '72 draft, Tim Horton, was definitely one of the former. The four-time Stanley Cup champion was 42 years old, heading into his 21st full year in the NHL. By this time he was supposedly very myopic (literally, not figuratively) and very highly compensated, which is why the Penguins were not upset in parting with his services. He played about a season-and-a-half in Buffalo, famously having died when he lost control of his De Tomaso Pantera in the wee hours of the morning of the 21st of February, 1974.
The way the Intra-League Draft worked was that the teams would submit protected lists, lists of player who would not be eligible to be picked, to the NHL Central Registry. If a team picked a player from another team the team that was picking had to remove a player from its protected list in order to accommodate the new player. As consideration the team that was losing the player had a choice between taking a cash fee (again, $40,000 in 1972) or claiming the player that the other team had removed from its protected list (and paying the claiming team $30,000). For example the Canucks picked Don Tannahill from the Bruins, they removed Don Ward from their own protected list, and Boston had the choice of $40,000 or taking Ward; they chose the cash. When the Kings picked Barry Long from the Black Hawks they removed Bill Orban from their list and instead of taking the cash the Black Hawks took Orban (and paid the Kings back $30,000, so the net return was Orban and $10,000).
| Overall | Player Chosen | By | From | Player Removed From Protected List | Claim player or cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | |||||
| 1 | Don Tannahill | Vancouver Canucks | Boston Bruins | Don Ward | cash |
| 2 | Barry Long | Los Angeles Kings | Chicago Black Hawks | Bill Orban | claim |
| 3 | Tim Horton | Buffalo Sabres | Pittsburgh Penguins | Danny Lawson | cash |
| 4 | Larry Pleau | Toronto Maple Leafs | Montreal Canadiens | Brad Selwood | claim |
| Round 2 | |||||
| 5 | Gerry O'Flaherty | Vancouver Canucks | Toronto Maple Leafs | Jim Niekamp | cash |
| 6 | Doug Volmar | Los Angeles Kings | Detroit Red Wings | Lucien Grenier | cash |
1972 Reverse Draft
The 1972 Reverse Draft was held June 8 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. The rules were that no NHL team could lose more than two players, and each pick cost the minor league team $15,000. A second phase of the draft, the rules to which I'm not certain of but I presume entail the NHL teams protecting more players than in the first phase, was held immediately after. In the second phase the pick price was halved to $7,500 and only one pick was made in this second phase of drafting. Note that I have called it "Round 4".
Note that players picked by a minor league club from their parent affiliate didn't count toward the two player limit. For example it appears the Canucks lost three players: John Hanna, Duke Harris and Barry Cummins. Hanna was picked by the Totems, a Canucks affiliate, therefore he didn't count toward the limit. In effect he didn't go anywhere and the Totems paid the Canucks $15,000 for allowing him to stay in Seattle; coincidentally he was lost to the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders anyway.
Sources:
"How the reverse draft went". Montreal Gazette. June 9, 1972. p. 18.
Note that players picked by a minor league club from their parent affiliate didn't count toward the two player limit. For example it appears the Canucks lost three players: John Hanna, Duke Harris and Barry Cummins. Hanna was picked by the Totems, a Canucks affiliate, therefore he didn't count toward the limit. In effect he didn't go anywhere and the Totems paid the Canucks $15,000 for allowing him to stay in Seattle; coincidentally he was lost to the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders anyway.
| Overall | Player Chosen | By | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | |||
| 1 | Larry Mavety | Tidewater Wings | Buffalo Sabres (Salt Lake Golden Eagles, WHL) |
| 2 | Bob Roselle | Seattle Totems | St. Louis Blues (Kansas City Blues, CHL) |
| 3 | Don O'Donoghue | Rochester Americans | Boston Bruins (Boston Braves, AHL) |
| 4 | Marv Edwards | Salt Lake Golden Eagles | Toronto Maple Leafs (Phoenix Roadrunners, WHL) |
| 5 | Rene Leclerc | Providence Reds | Detroit Red Wings (Tidewater Wings, AHL) |
| 6 | Ron Anderson | San Diego Gulls | Buffalo Sabres (Salt Lake Golden Eagles, WHL) |
| 7 | Andre Gaudette | Richmond Robins | Philadelphia Flyers (Richmond Robins, AHL) |
| 8 | Bob Peppler | Portland Buckaroos | Chicago Black Hawks (Syracuse Blazers, EHL) |
| 9 | Joe Daley | Cleveland Barons | Detroit Red Wings |
| 10 | Bernie Blanchette | Phoenix Roadrunners | St. Louis Blues (Kansas City Blues, CHL) |
| 11 | Ross Webley | Springfield Kings | Boston Bruins (Oklahoma City Blazers, CHL) |
| pass | Denver Spurs | ||
| pass | Cincinnati Swords | ||
| 12 | Hank Nowak | Hershey Bears | Philadelphia Flyers (Richmond Robins, AHL) |
| 13 | Jim Shaw | Baltimore Clippers | Chicago Black Hawks (Baltimore Clippers, AHL) |
| 14 | Bruce Landon | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | Los Angeles Kings (Springfield Kings, AHL) |
| 15 | Kerry Bond | Boston Braves | California Golden Seals (Phoenix Roadrunners, WHL) |
| Round 2 | |||
| 16 | John Hanna | Seattle Totems | Vancouver Canucks (Seattle Totems, WHL) |
| 17 | Duke Harris | Rochester Americans | Vancouver Canucks (Rochester Americans, AHL) |
| 18 | Barry Cummins | Salt Lake Golden Eagles | Vancouver Canucks (Seattle Totems, WHL) |
| 19 | Howie Hughes | San Diego Gulls | Los Angeles Kings (Seattle Totems, WHL) |
| 20 | Jim Young | Portland Buckaroos | Chicago Black Hawks (Flint Generals, IHL) |
| 21 | Ron Dussiaume | Springfield Kings | Chicago Black Hawks (Dallas Black Hawks, CHL) |
| 22 | Roy Edwards | Hershey Bears | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 23 | Claude Piche | Boston Braves | Minnesota North Stars (Roanoke Valley Rebels, EHL) |
| Round 3 | |||
| all teams passed | |||
| Round 4 | |||
| 24 | Hal Willis | Phoenix Roadrunners | St. Louis Blues (Denver Spurs, WHL) |
Sources:
"How the reverse draft went". Montreal Gazette. June 9, 1972. p. 18.
1968 Reverse Draft
Since I'm already on a kick of posting draft results, what the hell: might as well keep going!
The 1968 Reverse Draft was held June 13. The big news this year was that (gasp!) actual NHLers were taken! The most notable at the time was almost certainly Allan Stanley, then a 42-year-old veteran whose NHL career stretched all the way back to the late 1940s. He was a cornerstone of the Maple Leafs defence in the 1960s, having helped them to win four Stanley Cups in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967. Stanley was chosen by the Quebec Aces, then AHL affiliates of the Flyers. He would finish off his career playing a year in Philly.
In stark contrast to the 1965 Reverse Draft where as I pointed out only one player chosen had NHL experience in the previous season, many of the choices taken in '68 had played in the NHL in the preceding year. In fact Stanley, Ed Hoesktra and Seth Martin spent the whole year in the NHL and at no point in the season were they assigned to the minors.
For Hoekstra that was his one and only season as a bona fide NHL player. He played for the Flyers after having spent the better part of his career with the Quebec Aces. He never played another NHL game after that one year.
Martin was Glenn Hall's backup in St. Louis and was left exposed in this draft because he'd already made it known that he was going to retire as a professional hockey player and go back to Trail, B.C. He played another year with the famed Smoke Eaters, with whom he'd won the World Championship in 1961 and Allan Cup in 1962, and followed that up with a last hurrah in 1969-1970 with the Spokane Jets of the Western International Hockey League. The Jets defeated the Orillia Terriers in the Allan Cup finals and Martin capped off his hockey career with another championship. His replacement in St. Louis? An old pro by the name of Plante...
Trivia for you: centreman Bill Hay, chosen in the second round by the Providence Reds, was retired. He hadn't played any hockey since the end of the 1966-67 season and he never played pro hockey again. He was for a time a member of Black Hawks' "Million Dollar Line", with Murray Balfour on his right and Bobby Hull to his left. Bill Hay was an educated man, you see; after the 1966-67 season he moved permanently to Calgary and put his degree in geology to use, working in the oil industry. (His father, Charles Cecil Hay, was president of the British-American Oil Company at the time; B-A was part-owned by Gulf Oil and became Gulf Canada in 1969.) Hay later became president of the Calgary Flames and is currently the chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
1. Dick Meissner was loaned to the Clippers by the Black Hawks in November, 1967.
2. Bill Hay retired at the end of the 1966-67 season.
The draft price was $15,000 per player.
Sources:
"Quebec Aces pluck Stanley from Leafs". Regina Leader-Post. Canadian Press. June 14, 1967. p. 27. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dOpUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lTwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2943%2C2840643
The 1968 Reverse Draft was held June 13. The big news this year was that (gasp!) actual NHLers were taken! The most notable at the time was almost certainly Allan Stanley, then a 42-year-old veteran whose NHL career stretched all the way back to the late 1940s. He was a cornerstone of the Maple Leafs defence in the 1960s, having helped them to win four Stanley Cups in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967. Stanley was chosen by the Quebec Aces, then AHL affiliates of the Flyers. He would finish off his career playing a year in Philly.
In stark contrast to the 1965 Reverse Draft where as I pointed out only one player chosen had NHL experience in the previous season, many of the choices taken in '68 had played in the NHL in the preceding year. In fact Stanley, Ed Hoesktra and Seth Martin spent the whole year in the NHL and at no point in the season were they assigned to the minors.
For Hoekstra that was his one and only season as a bona fide NHL player. He played for the Flyers after having spent the better part of his career with the Quebec Aces. He never played another NHL game after that one year.
Martin was Glenn Hall's backup in St. Louis and was left exposed in this draft because he'd already made it known that he was going to retire as a professional hockey player and go back to Trail, B.C. He played another year with the famed Smoke Eaters, with whom he'd won the World Championship in 1961 and Allan Cup in 1962, and followed that up with a last hurrah in 1969-1970 with the Spokane Jets of the Western International Hockey League. The Jets defeated the Orillia Terriers in the Allan Cup finals and Martin capped off his hockey career with another championship. His replacement in St. Louis? An old pro by the name of Plante...
Trivia for you: centreman Bill Hay, chosen in the second round by the Providence Reds, was retired. He hadn't played any hockey since the end of the 1966-67 season and he never played pro hockey again. He was for a time a member of Black Hawks' "Million Dollar Line", with Murray Balfour on his right and Bobby Hull to his left. Bill Hay was an educated man, you see; after the 1966-67 season he moved permanently to Calgary and put his degree in geology to use, working in the oil industry. (His father, Charles Cecil Hay, was president of the British-American Oil Company at the time; B-A was part-owned by Gulf Oil and became Gulf Canada in 1969.) Hay later became president of the Calgary Flames and is currently the chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
| Overall | Player Chosen | By | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | |||
| 1 | Jim Morrison | Baltimore Clippers | Philadelphia Flyers (Quebec Aces, AHL) |
| 2 | Ed Hoekstra | Denver Spurs | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 3 | Dick Meissner | Providence Reds | Chicago Black Hawks (Baltimore Clippers, AHL)1 |
| 4 | Brian Kilrea | Vancouver Canucks | Los Angeles Kings (Springfield Kings, AHL) |
| 5 | Rocky Farr | Cleveland Barons | Montreal Canadiens (Houston Apollos, CPHL) |
| 6 | Roger Cote | Phoenix Roadrunners | Los Angeles Kings (Springfield Kings, AHL) |
| 7 | Ted Snell | Springfield Kings | Boston Bruins (Hershey Bears, AHL) |
| 8 | Al Lebrun | San Diego Gulls | Chicago Black Hawks (Dallas Black Hawks, CPHL) |
| 9 | Bob Blackburn | Buffalo Bisons | New York Rangers (Buffalo Bisons, AHL) |
| 10 | Brian Bradley | Seattle Totems | Boston Bruins (Oklahoma City Blazers, CPHL) |
| 11 | Bob Barber | Hershey Bears | Montreal Canadiens (Houston Apollos, CPHL) |
| 12 | Rick Foley | Portland Buckaroos | Toronto Maple Leafs (Rochester Americans, AHL) |
| 13 | Allan Stanley | Quebec Aces | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 14 | George Gardner | Rochester Americans | Detroit Red Wings (Fort Worth Wings, CPHL) |
| Round 2 | |||
| 15 | Bill Hay | Providence Reds | St. Louis Blues2 |
| 16 | Jack McCartan | San Diego Gulls | Oakland Seals (Omaha Knights, CPHL) |
| 17 | Seth Martin | Buffalo Bisons | St. Louis Blues |
| 18 | Gord Vejprava | Seattle Totems | New York Rangers (Vancouver Canucks, WHL) |
2. Bill Hay retired at the end of the 1966-67 season.
The draft price was $15,000 per player.
Sources:
"Quebec Aces pluck Stanley from Leafs". Regina Leader-Post. Canadian Press. June 14, 1967. p. 27. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dOpUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lTwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2943%2C2840643
Saturday, June 2, 2012
1965 Reverse Draft
1965 was the year of the inaugural Reverse Draft. Held June 10 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, WHL and AHL teams paid $10,000 per pick to the NHL teams. In theory this draft was for the purpose of allowing the minor league teams to draft talent from the NHL clubs, clubs who had been poaching their players for many years. In practice this draft consisted mostly of the big clubs exchanging players from one minor league affiliate to another. The Portland Buckaroos of the WHL, the only WHL club at the time which had no affiliation with an NHL team, didn't bother participating; they passed on all their draft choices.
The draft picks listed below are listed with both the NHL team whom they were nominally picked from as well as the minor-league affiliate they had been playing for in the 1964-65 season.
Note that Carl Wetzel, the goalie taken in the first round by the Quebec Aces, was the only player taken who had spent any time in the NHL in the '64-'65 season. He was the back-up to Roger Crozier and only appeared in two games. In January, 1965 he was demoted to Pittsburgh of the AHL.
1. Boston Bruins traded Ken Stephanson to Detroit Red Wings with Ab McDonald and John McKenzie for Bob Dillabough, Ron Harris, Junior Langlois and Parker MacDonald, May 31, 1965.
2. I'm not sure why Duncan MacDonald had been playing for a Bruins affiliate instead of the Maple Leafs; I suspect he had been loaned to the Minneapolis Bruins for the rest of the '64-'65 season. It was not uncommon back then.
Again, as with the 1966 Amateur Draft I have assigned no overall order to the picks because I can't be sure whether the AHL and WHL teams picked together or each league had its turn one after the other. The order presented here is accurate with respect to each league.
Source:
"Eight From Habs In Reverse Draft". Montreal Gazette. June 11, 1965. p. 27. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SIY1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=Wp8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4308%2C2428581
The draft picks listed below are listed with both the NHL team whom they were nominally picked from as well as the minor-league affiliate they had been playing for in the 1964-65 season.
Note that Carl Wetzel, the goalie taken in the first round by the Quebec Aces, was the only player taken who had spent any time in the NHL in the '64-'65 season. He was the back-up to Roger Crozier and only appeared in two games. In January, 1965 he was demoted to Pittsburgh of the AHL.
| Overall | Player Chosen | By | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | |||
| Frank Martin | Providence Reds | Montreal Canadiens (Quebec Aces, AHL) | |
| Adam Keller | Cleveland Barons | Detroit Red Wings (Pittsburgh Hornets, AHL) | |
| Howie Menard | Springfield Indians | Detroit Red Wings (Memphis Wings, CPHL) | |
| Pete Ford | Pittsburgh Hornets | Chicago Black Hawks (St. Louis Braves, CPHL) | |
| Ken Stephanson | Baltimore Clippers | Detroit Red Wings (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL)1 | |
| Pete Panagabko | Hershey Bears | Boston Bruins (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL) | |
| Roger Lafreniere | Buffalo Bisons | Detroit Red Wings (Providence Reds, AHL) | |
| Carl Wetzel | Quebec Aces | Detroit Red Wings (Pittsburgh Hornets, AHL) | |
| Bob Barlow | Rochester Americans | Montreal Canadiens (Seattle Totems, WHL) | |
| Round 2 | |||
| Dave McComb | Cleveland Barons | Montreal Canadiens (Cleveland Barons, AHL) | |
| Brent Hughes | Springfield Indians | Boston Bruins (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL) | |
| Danny Belisle | Pittsburgh Hornets | New York Rangers (Vancouver Canucks, WHL) | |
| Duncan MacDonald | Baltimore Clippers | Toronto Maple Leafs (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL)2 | |
| Gerry Ouellette | Buffalo Bisons | Boston Bruins (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL) | |
| Moe Mantha | Quebec Aces | Montreal Canadiens (Seattle Totems, WHL) | |
| Barrie Ross | Rochester Americans | New York Rangers (St. Paul Rangers, CPHL) | |
| Round 3 | |||
| Wayne Schultz | Cleveland Barons | Boston Bruins (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL) | |
| Jean Cossette | Baltimore Clippers | Montreal Canadiens (Seattle Totems, WHL) | |
| Round 4 | |||
| Gerry Brisson | Cleveland Barons | Montreal Canadiens (Seattle Totems, WHL) | |
| Mike Corbett | Baltimore Clippers | Toronto Maple Leafs (Tulsa Oilers, CPHL) | |
2. I'm not sure why Duncan MacDonald had been playing for a Bruins affiliate instead of the Maple Leafs; I suspect he had been loaned to the Minneapolis Bruins for the rest of the '64-'65 season. It was not uncommon back then.
| Overall | Player Chosen | By | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | |||
| Jerry Toppazzini | Los Angeles Blades | Detroit Red Wings (Pittsburgh Hornets, AHL) | |
| John Gravel | San Francisco Seals | Boston Bruins (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL) | |
| Bob Perreault | Victoria Maple Leafs | Boston Bruins (San Francisco Seals, WHL) | |
| Ron Boehm | Vancouver Canucks | Boston Bruins (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL) | |
| Doug Senior | Seattle Totems | Montreal Canadiens (Seattle Totems, WHL) | |
| pass | Portland Buckaroos | ||
| Round 2 | |||
| Harry Sinden | San Francisco Seals | Boston Bruins (Minneapolis Bruins, CPHL) | |
| Wayne Muloin | Vancouver Canucks | Detroit Red Wings (St. Paul Rangers, CPHL) | |
| Ray Kinasewich | Seattle Totems | Montreal Canadiens (Seattle Totems, WHL) | |
| Round 3 | |||
| Buddy Boone | Vancouver Canucks | New York Rangers (Vancouver Canucks, WHL) | |
Again, as with the 1966 Amateur Draft I have assigned no overall order to the picks because I can't be sure whether the AHL and WHL teams picked together or each league had its turn one after the other. The order presented here is accurate with respect to each league.
Source:
"Eight From Habs In Reverse Draft". Montreal Gazette. June 11, 1965. p. 27. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SIY1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=Wp8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4308%2C2428581
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