1968 NHL Intra-League Draft

By request here are the results of the 1968 NHL Intra-League Draft, held June 12. Each team protected 14 skaters and two goalies, and the draft price was $30,000.

The protected lists were as follows:

Boston Bruins	Chicago Black Hawks	Detroit Red Wings	Los Angeles Kings	Minnesota North Stars	Montreal Canadiens
Goaltenders
Gerry Cheevers	Denis DeJordy	Roger Crozier	Gerry Desjardins	Chuck Goddard	Rogie Vachon
Eddie Johnston	Dave Dryden	Roy Edwards	Wayne Rutledge	Cesare Maniago	Gump Worsley
Skaters
Don Awrey	Dennis Hull	Ron Anderson	Bryan Campbell	Dave Balon	Ralph Backstrom
Johnny Bucyk	Bobby Hull	Bobby Baun	Bill Flett	Andre Boudrias	Jean Beliveau
Wayne Cashman	Doug Jarrett	Gary Bergman	Brent Hughes	Wayne Connelly	Yvan Cournoyer
Gary Doak	Chico Maki	Alex Delvecchio	Ted Irvine	Ray Cullen	Dick Duff
Phil Esposito	Wayne Maki	Kent Douglas	Eddie Joyal	Bill Goldsworthy	John Ferguson
Ted Green	Gilles Marotte	Ron Harris	Skip Krake	Danny Grant	Terry Harper
Ken Hodge	Pit Martin	Gordie Howe	God Labossiere	Claude Larose	Ted Harris
John McKenzie	Stan Mikita	Nick Libett	Real Lemieux	Milan Marcetta	Jacques Laperriere
Glen Sather	Doug Mohns	Bruce MacGregor	Lowell MacDonald	Bob McCord	Jacques Lemaire
Eddie Shack	Eric Nesterenko	Frank Mahovlich	Poul Popiel	J.P. Parise	Henri Richard
Dallas Smith	Jim Pappin	Dean Prentice	Doug Robinson	Jim Pateron	Bobby Rousseau
Fred Stanfield	Bobby Schmautz	Pete Stemkowski	Dale Rolfe	Bill Plager	Serge Savard
Ed Westfall	Pat Stapleton	Jim Watson	Bill White	Bob Woytowich	Gilles Tremblay
Tom Williams	Ken Wharram		Bob Wall	Mike McMahon	J.C. Tremblay
New York Rangers	Oakland Seals	Philadelphia Flyers	Pittsburgh Penguins	St. Louis Blues	Toronto Maple Leafs
Goaltenders
Eddie Giacomin	Charlie Hodge	Doug Favell	Les Binkley	Glenn Hall	Johnny Bower
Gilles Villemure	Gary Smith	Bernie Parent	Joe Daley	Seth Martin	Bruce Gamble
Skaters
Arnie Brown	John Brenneman	Dick Cherry	Lou Angotti	Al Arbour	Ron Ellis
Reg Fleming	Larry Cahan	Gary Dornhoefer	John Arbour	Red Berenson	Paul Henderson
Rod Gilbert	Norm Ferguson	Jean Gauthier	Andy Bathgate	Craig Cameron	Bryan Hextall
Phil Goyette	Stan Fuller	Earl Heiskala	Leo Boivin	Terry Crisp	Larry Hillman
Vic Hadfield	Ted Hampson	Jim Johnson	Wally Boyer	Darryl Edestrand	Tim Horton
Wayne Hillman	Billy Harris	Forbes Kennedy	Val Fonteyne	Larry Keenan	Dave Keon
Harry Howell	Bill Hicke	Andre Lacroix	Earl Ingarfield	Ab McDonald	Murray Oliver
Orland Kurtenbach	Gary Jarrett	John Miszuk	George Konik	Noel Picard	Pierre Pilote
Don Marshall	Bert Marshall	Simon Nolet	Dunc McCallum	Barclay Plager	Marcel Pronovost
Jim Neilson	Tracy Pratt	Leon Rochefort	Keith McCreary	Bob Plager	Bob Pulford
Bob Nevin	Doug Roberts	Brit Selby	Noel Price	Rejean Richer	Duane Rupp
Jean Ratelle	George Swarbrick	Bill Sutherland	Jean Pronovost	Jim Roberts	Floyd Smith
Rod Seiling	Bryan Watson	Ed Van Impe	Ken Schinkel	Gary Sabourin	Norm Ullman
Ron Stewart	Howie Young	Joe Watson	Gene Ubriaco	Ron Schock	Mike Walton

The draft results:

Overall	Player Chosen	By	From	Player Removed From Protected List	Claim player or cash	Fill-in
Round 1
1	Carol Vadnais	Oakland Seals	Montreal Canadiens	Larry Cahan	claim	Claude Provost
2	Brian Conacher	Detroit Red Wings	Toronto Maple Leafs	Gary Marsh	claim	George Armstrong
3	Charlie Burns	Pittsburgh Penguins	Oakland Seals	George Konik	claim	Brian Perry
4	Larry Mickey	Toronto Maple Leafs	New York Rangers	Larry Hillman	claim	Larry Jeffrey
5	Larry Hillman	Minnesota North Stars	New York Rangers	Bill Plager	claim	Camille Henry
6	Jacques Plante	St. Louis Blues	New York Rangers	Seth Martin	cash	Bob Jones
	pass	Los Angeles
7	Ron Buchanan	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins	Jean Gauthier	claim	Ted Hodgson
	pass	Chicago Black Hawks
	pass	Boston Bruins
	pass	New York Rangers
	pass	Montreal Canadiens
Round 2
8	Fern Rivard	Minnesota North Stars	Philadelphia Flyers	Chuck Goddard	cash	Don Blackburn
9	Myron Stankewicz	St. Louis Blues	Los Angeles Kings	Rejean Richer	cash	Dave Amadio
Round 3
10	Larry Hale	Philadelphia Flyers	Minnesota North Stars	Bill Sutherland	claim	Bill Collins
Round 4
11	Bill Sutherland	Toronto Maple Leafs	Minnesota North Stars	Duane Rupp	claim	Parker MacDonald

The big news this year was Oakland's picking Carol Vadnais first overall. Supposedly Montreal 'gifted' Vadnais to Oakland by leaving him off the protected list in lieu of another player the Seals wouldn't have wanted. The price of this courtesy—again, supposedly—was that the Seals sent their first and second round picks in 1973's amateur draft to the Canadiens for the Canadiens' second round pick in '72 and the right to draft Vadnais. I can't find any period sources to substantiate this.

As you can see Larry Hillman and Bill Sutherland had busy days. Within the span of minutes Hillman was claimed by the Rangers from the Leafs when the Leafs dropped him from their protected list to make room for Larry Mickey, and then was picked by the North Stars from the Rangers. Sutherland was similarly dropped by the Flyers, claimed by the North Stars and picked by the Maple Leafs.

George Konik, the player claimed from the Penguins after the Penguins picked Burns, never played in the NHL again. He chose 'retirement' over playing for the Seals. He had a college degree (he played hockey at the University of Denver) and an off-season job in Minnesota, so he chose to pursue that career instead. He played in the 'amateur' USHL and for the U.S. national team, having become a naturalized citizen. His last pro hockey was played in the '72-'73 season for the WHA's Minnesota Fighting Saints.

←1966 Intra-League Draft

1969 Intra-League Draft→

NHL Draft Results

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.

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)

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 NHL Inter-League Draft & Reverse Draft

A lot of my research into the Seals has gone into player transactions. That's why I wanted to track down the draft order of the 1967 Expansion Draft. It wasn't enough for me to copy and paste a list of players drafted by the Seals: I wanted to know how the draft played out. Why the Seals picked one player over another. To see who was still available at any given point, who got picked before who, who got passed over.


This also led me to do a little investigating into the annual NHL drafts of the time. The NHL had instituted a "Intra-League Draft" in the early 1950s to help the Bruins and Black Hawks be more competitive. This eventually became the Waiver Draft, which lasted until the 2003-2004 season. The 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA eliminated the Waiver Draft. The purpose of this draft was to improve the non-playoff teams by allowing them to acquire their pick of some of the worst players on the playoff teams.


In the 1960s three other drafts were instituted: the Amateur Draft (now the Entry Draft), the Inter-League Draft and the Reverse Draft. The Inter-League Draft was akin to the Amateur Draft in that NHL teams picked players from other leagues but whereas the Amateur Draft was a draft of (mostly) junior players the Inter-League Draft was a draft of minor-league professionals playing in the Western Hockey League (not to be confused with the current Major Junior WHL), AHL and CPHL.


The Reverse Draft, inaugurated in 1965, was a 'reverse' version of the Inter-League Draft: WHL and AHL teams could draft players from the NHL teams. Pickings were usually quite slim as the number of players 'protected' by the NHL teams was two to three dozen. The minor pro teams were drafting players who were already playing in the minors anyway, some already playing for the minor team in question after been loaned to them by an NHL affiliate.


The results of Inter-League and Reverse Drafts weren't always reported well, probably because in some years these affairs were very brief. Tracing my way back through rosters there were a few players picked up by or lost from NHL teams for seemingly no reason when in fact they had been exchanged as part of these drafts.


The following are the results of the 1968 Inter-League Draft, which weren't even published in the NHL Guide that year.

Overall	Player Chosen	By	From
Round 1
1	Brian Perry	Oakland Seals	Providence Reds (AHL)
	pass	Detroit Red Wings
	pass	Pittsburgh Penguins
	pass	Toronto Maple Leafs
2	Larry Hale	Minnesota North Stars	Seattle Totems (WHL)
3	Myron Stankiewicz	St. Louis Blues	Hershey Bears (AHL)
	pass	Los Angeles Kings
	pass	Philadelphia Flyers
4	Larry Leach	Chicago Black Hawks	Portland Buckaroos (WHL)
	pass	Boston Bruins
	pass	New York Rangers
5	Len Ronson	Montreal Canadiens	San Diego Gulls (WHL)
Round 2
all teams passed

The NHL teams paid the respective minor league teams $30,000 for each pick.


Sources:
"NHL clubs pick 5 players in interleague drafting". The Globe & Mail (Toronto). p. 30. June 12, 1968.