1967 NHL Expansion
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The National Hockey League added six new franchises for the 1967-68 NHL season, doubling the size of the league. This marked the first change in the composition of the league since 1942, when the New York Americans folded. The six teams added were:
- California Seals
- The history of this team is especially complicated. While still playing in the Bay Area, it changed its name twice, first to the Oakland Seals and then the California Golden Seals. Later, it moved to Cleveland, becoming the Cleveland Barons. The franchise then merged with the Minnesota North Stars. In 1991, the owners of the North Stars announced plans to move the team to the Bay Area. The NHL vetoed the move, but agreed to officially dissolve the Barons-North Stars merger. The North Stars owners were given a new franchise, the San Jose Sharks, and allowed to take half of the North Stars roster with them to the Bay Area.
- Los Angeles Kings
- Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars)
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- St. Louis Blues
For many years after the shakeout caused by the Depression and World War II, the NHL owners staunchly resisted applications to expand beyond the so-called "Original Six" clubs: (Boston, Montreal, Toronto, New York, Detroit and Chicago). Groups representing Philadelphia (which had secured rights to the long-dormant Montreal Maroons franchise), Los Angeles and the AHL Cleveland Barons were each in turn given conflicting requirements that seemed to contemporary observers designed to disqualify the bids, and it was widely understood that the existing NHL owners wanted no encroachments upon their profits.
By the mid-Sixties, however, fears of a competing league taking hold on the West Coast, and the desire for a new TV contract in the US, much like the ones Major League Baseball and the National Football League had secured, wore down the opposition. All the new franchises, except for the Pennsylvania ones, were outside the northeastern area of the Original Six, and locations were chosen specifically to broaden the appeal of the league. A television agreement reached with CBS specifically called for two of the new teams to be located in California.
Many were upset over the expansion. Canadian fans were irate that no Canadian teams were added, even though Vancouver put forward a bid (Baltimore was also a favorite that did not receive a slot). Politics took a hand in the selections; Vancouver's strong bid reportedly fell to Montreal's and Toronto's lack of desire to share CBC TV money with another Canadian club, and the powerful Chicago owner's support was reputedly contingent on the creation of a St. Louis team – though no formal bid had actually been received from St. Louis – to purchase the decrepit St. Louis Arena, which the Black Hawks ownership then also owned.
Furthermore, many traditionalists did not like the idea of expansion, claiming it would dilute the talent in the league. Even many of the proponents of expansion worried at the idea of immediately doubling the NHL's size, instead of easing teams in gradually (as had Major League Baseball).
Most experts agreed that the new owners paid a heavy price to join the league: expansion fees were high (around $2 million US, a very hefty sum then), players in the very strict expansion draft were a hefty $50,000, and most teams had no hope of competing in the near future. One advantage of the expansion, however, was that the teams were all lumped into the newly-formed West Division, and as the final round of the playoffs, one of the expansion teams got to play in the Stanley Cup finals, albeit with no realistic chance of winning in the early years.
The new teams offered a big change to the league. After seeing virtually the same red/blue/black uniforms for over 20 years, purple, green, sky blue, and orange were introduced. Players on the expansion teams were obviously outclassed by the older teams, and some games were not pretty.
The St. Louis Blues, featuring legends Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante, and future coaching legend Scotty Bowman, initially had the most success of this group, as they were the first expansion team to make it to the finals. They would repeat twice more as the West Division's representative, however they were swept all three times they made it to the finals. The Philadelphia Flyers would be the first team from this expansion group to win the Cup, but not until 1974.
The expansion of 1967 was the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. The six owners of the NHL, who had ruled the game with an iron fist, now had new company, with "radical" ideas for league growth: there would be further expansions in 1970, 1972 and 1974. The expansion, Bobby Orr's record contract, and the World Hockey Association forever changed the landscape of the North American professional game.
