1967–68 St. Louis Blues season

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1967–68 St. Louis Blues
Division 3rd West
1967–68 record 27–31–16
Goals for 177
Goals against 198
General Manager Lynn Patrick
Coach Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman
Captain Al Arbour
Team leaders
Goals Red Berenson (22)
Assists Gerry Melnyk (35)
Points Red Berenson (51)
Penalties in minutes Gary Sabourin (50)
Wins Glenn Hall (19)
Goals against average Glenn Hall (2.48)

The 1967–68 season was the inaugural season for the St. Louis Blues. The Blues were one of the six new teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion. The other franchises were the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and California Seals. The league doubled in size from its Original Six.

St. Louis was the last of the expansion teams to officially get into the league. The Blues were chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks were owned at that time by the Wirtz family, who also owned the St. Louis Arena. The team's first owners were insurance tycoon Sid Salomon Jr., his son, Sid Salomon III, and Robert L. Wolfson. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. Salomon then spent several million dollars on renovations for the 38-year-old Arena, which increased the number of seats from 12,000 to 15,000 and provided its first significant maintenance since the 1940s.

Contents:
Regular seasonPlayoffsPlayer statsAwards and records - Transactions
Roster - Draft picksFarm teamsSee alsoReferences


[edit] Offseason

[edit] NHL Draft

[edit] Regular season

Original logo of the St. Louis Blues
Original logo of the St. Louis Blues

October 11, 1967 - The franchise's first game. The Blues and Minnesota North Stars played to a 2–2 tie at the St. Louis Arena.[1]

The Blues were originally coached by Lynn Patrick who resigned and was replaced by Scotty Bowman. Although the league's rules effectively kept star players with the Original Six teams, the Blues were one of the stronger teams of the Western Division. The playoff format required an expansion team to make it to the Stanley Cup finals, and the Blues made it to the final round.

[edit] Season standings

West Division GP W L T GF GA PTS
Philadelphia Flyers 74 31 32 11 173 179 73
Los Angeles Kings 74 31 33 10 200 224 72
St. Louis Blues 74 27 31 16 177 191 70
Minnesota North Stars 74 27 32 15 191 226 69
Pittsburgh Penguins 74 27 34 13 195 216 67
Oakland Seals 74 15 42 17 153 219 47

[edit] Expansion Draft

  • St. Louis Blues selections
# Player Drafted From
1. Glenn Hall (G) Chicago Black Hawks
2. Don Caley (G) Detroit Red Wings
3. Jim Roberts (D/W) Montreal Canadiens
4. Noel Picard (D) Montreal Canadiens
5. Al Arbour (D) Toronto Maple Leafs
6. Rod Seiling (D) New York Rangers
7. Ron Schock (C) Boston Bruins
8. Terry Crisp (C) Boston Bruins
9. Don McKenney (C) Detroit Red Wings
10. Wayne Rivers (RW) Boston Bruins
11. Billy Hay (C) Chicago Black Hawks
12. Darryl Edestrand (D) Toronto Maple Leafs
13. Norm Beaudin (RW) Detroit Red Wings
14. Larry Keenan (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
15. Ron Stewart (C) Boston Bruins
16. Fred Hucul (D) Toronto Maple Leafs
17. John Brenneman (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
18. Gerry Melnyk (C) Chicago Black Hawks
19. Gary Veneruzzo (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs
20. Max Mestinsek (RW) New York Rangers

[edit] Player stats

[edit] Forwards

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Gordon "Red" Berenson 55 22 29 51 22
Gerry Melnyk 73 15 35 50 14
Frank St. Marseille 57 16 16 32 12
Don McKenney 39 9 20 29 4
Terry Crisp 73 9 20 29 10
Bill McCreary 70 13 13 26 22
Gary Sabourin 50 13 10 23 50
Larry Keenan 40 12 8 20 4
Ron Schock 55 9 9 18 17
Tim Ecclestone 50 6 8 14 16
Ron Stewart 19 7 5 12 11
Craig Cameron 32 7 2 9 8
Dickie Moore 27 5 3 8 9
Wayne Rivers 22 4 4 8 8
Ron Attwell 18 1 7 8 6
Roger Picard 15 2 2 4 21
Gary Veneruzzo 5 1 1 2 0
Norm Beaudin 13 1 1 2 4
Claude Cardin 1 0 0 0 0

[edit] Defencemen

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Jim Roberts 74 14 23 37 66
Barclay Plager 49 5 15 20 153
Fred Hucul 43 2 13 15 30
Noel Picard 66 1 10 11 142
Al Arbour 74 1 10 11 50
Bob Plager 53 2 5 7 86
Jean-Guy Talbot 23 0 4 4 2
Ray Fortin 24 0 2 2 8
Gordon Kannegiesser 19 0 1 1 13
Darryl Edestrand 12 0 0 0 2

[edit] Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player GP MIN W L T SO GAA
Glenn Hall 49 2858 19 21 9 5 2.48
Seth Martin 30 1552 8 10 7 1 2.59
Don Caley 1 30 0 0 0 0 6.00

[edit] Postseason Stats

[edit] Forwards

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Gordon "Red" Berenson 18 5 2 7 9
Gerry Melnyk 17 2 6 8 2
Frank St. Marseille 18 5 8 13 0
Don McKenney 6 1 1 2 2
Terry Crisp 18 1 5 6 6
Bill McCreary 15 3 2 5 0
Gary Sabourin 18 4 2 6 30
Larry Keenan 18 4 5 9 4
Ron Schock 12 1 2 3 0
Tim Ecclestone 12 1 2 3 2
Craig Cameron 14 1 0 1 11
Dickie Moore 18 7 7 14 15
Gary Veneruzzo 9 0 2 2 2

[edit] Defencemen

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player GP G AST PTS PIM
Jim Roberts 18 4 1 5 20
Barclay Plager 18 2 5 7 73
Noel Picard 13 0 3 3 46
Al Arbour 14 0 3 3 10
Bob Plager 18 1 2 3 69
Jean-Guy Talbot 17 0 2 2 8
Ray Fortin 3 0 0 0 2
Doug Harvey 8 0 4 4 12

[edit] Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player GP MIN W L T SO GAA
Glenn Hall

[edit] Playoffs

1968 Stanley Cup Playoffs

[edit] Stanley Cup Finals

The St. Louis Blues made a series of the Stanley Cup finals although they lost in four straight games. Glenn Hall was sensational, especially in game three when the Blues were outshot 46 to 15. Wrote Red Burnett, the dean of hockey writers then: "A number of Hall's saves were seemingly impossible. Experts walked out of the Forum convinced no other goaltender had performed so brilliantly in a losing cause." In the overtime of game three, Hall made a spectacular save on Dick Duff and then, standing on his head, made another save. "It was a heartbreaker to see" said Burnett "After the saves on Duff, Bobby Rousseau came and batted home the second rebound." Hall's heroics won him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

However, Montreal was not to be denied and won the Stanley Cup in game four as J.C. Tremblay fired home the winning goal. When the game ended, the fans came on the ice to celebrate, and balloons, hats and programs were thrown from the stands. Jean Beliveau, in a cast and crutches from his broken ankle, with Ralph Backstrom accepted the Cup from NHL president Clarence Campbell and the players did a victory lap with the Cup.

Less than 30 minutes after the Canadiens won the Cup, Canadiens coach Toe Blake announced his retirement. He gave reason that it had been a hard season, but the real reason was that his wife was dying of cancer and he wanted to spent his time with her. The celebration turned to a mournful event with players paying tribute to Blake, many in tears.

Date Visitors Score Home Score Notes
May 5 Montreal 3 St. Louis 2 OT
May 7 Montreal 1 St. Louis 0
May 9 St. Louis 3 Montreal 4 OT
May 11 St. Louis 2 Montreal 3

Montreal wins the series 4–0.

[edit] Roster

St. Louis Blues
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Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centers


  • GM:
  • Coach:

[edit] Awards and Honors

  • Glenn Hall, Conn Smythe Trophy

[edit] References

  1. ^ St Louis Blues - History