|
The 1967–68 NHL season was the 51st season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 12 teams, putting the new six in the West Division, while the original six were all placed in the East Division. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup against the new St. Louis Blues. ==League business== This season saw the NHL expand from the "Original Six" teams by adding six new franchises, including the St. Louis Blues, California Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Los Angeles Kings. On December 8, 1967, the California Seals were renamed the Oakland Seals before being renamed again to the California Golden Seals in 1970. As a result of the expansion, the League reorganized its teams into two divisions, placing the Original Six teams into the Eastern Division and the expansion franchises into the Western Division. The NHL, furthermore, increased its regular season schedule from 70 to 74 games per team 〔(HickokSports.com – History – NHL 1967–68 Season )〕 with each team playing 50 games against opponents within its own division (10 against each divisional opponent) and 24 games with teams in the opposite division (4 games per opponent). A new format for the playoffs would also be introduced which would see the top four teams in each division qualify for the post-season with the first and third and the second and fourth place teams in each respective division pairing off in a divisional semi-final series. The winners of the latter would then compete for their respective division's championship, the West finalists competing for the newly created Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and the East finalists vying for the older Prince of Wales, and a berth in the Stanley Cup finals. All series would be best-of-seven contests.〔 This season, the NHL also added a new player award called the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, named in honour of Bill Masterton who died on January 15, 1968, after sustaining an injury during a game (the first time an NHL player had ever died directly as a result of an on-ice injury). The minimum age of players subject to amateur draft was changed to 20.〔 There were a large number of holdouts this year. Three New York Ranger players, including Rod Gilbert, Arnie Brown and Orland Kurtenbach were fined $500 by their team. However, Ed Van Impe of the Flyers refused to sign his contract, followed by Earl Ingarfield and Al MacNeil also refused to sign, then Tim Horton of Toronto, Norm Ullman of Detroit and Kenny Wharram and Stan Mikita of Chicago. Led by Alan Eagleson, the new National Hockey League Players' Association was up and running. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1967–68 NHL season」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|