1967–68 NHL season

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 East Division and the expansion franchises into the West Division. The NHL, furthermore, increased its regular season schedule from 70 to 74 games per team 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). The newly created Clarence S. Campbell Bowl was awarded to the team that finished first in the West Division during the regular season, the Prince of Wales Trophy was likewise awarded the East Division first-place team. 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 in their respective divisional final series and a berth in the Stanley Cup finals. All series would be best-of-seven contests.

The 1967 NHL expansion draft was held on June 6, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec to fill the rosters of the six expansion teams. The 1967 NHL amateur draft was then held one day later at the same hotel. Under the agreement signed with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), all players who graduated from junior hockey became eligible for the amateur draft this year, and the minimum age of players subject to amateur draft was changed to 20. The Kings had the first overall picks in both drafts, selecting Terry Sawchuk first overall in the expansion draft, and drafting Rick Pagnutti first overall in the amateur draft.

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).

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.

Arena changes

• The expansion Blues moved into St. Louis Arena.
• The expansion Flyers moved into the Spectrum.
• The expansion Kings played their first two home games at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California, then their next 14 at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles before the team's permanent arena, The Forum in Inglewood, California, opened on December 30, 1967.
• The expansion North Stars moved into the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.
• The Rangers moved from the third Madison Square Garden to the fourth by February 18, 1968.
• The expansion Penguins moved into Pittsburgh Civic Arena.
• The expansion Seals moved into the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena.

Regular season

Highlights

All twelve of the League's member teams played games on the same day for the first time on October 18, 1967, competing in six scheduled games — the most the League had ever scheduled on one day.

On October 11, 1967, Jean Beliveau of Montreal scored his 400th career goal on goaltender Hank Bassen of the Pittsburgh Penguins. This also happened to be the first game in Penguins franchise history.

The Canadiens stumbled out of the gate. In their first west coast road trip, the Seals beat them 2–1 and the Kings beat them 4–2. The Habs lost quite a few more and were in last place by December. But by January, Jean Beliveau began to score and others were inspired also. The Habs got very hot, winning 12 consecutive games and then put together 10 more wins to take the East Division lead. Paced by Gump Worsley, who had 6 shutouts and a 1.98 goals against average and backstopped the team to the fewest goals allowed in the league, they managed to keep first place thereafter. Worsley, for the first time, made the first all-star team.

On February 24, 1968, Rogie Vachon of Montreal was the victim of four goals by Rod Gilbert, who set an NHL record with 16 shots on goal.

Eddie Giacomin again led the league with 8 shutouts, and led the Rangers to second place, bolstered by Jean Ratelle's emergence into stardom.

Boston obtained Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield in a blockbuster trade with Chicago. This trade, as shown over time, heavily favored the Bruins. This, coinciding with the rise of Bobby Orr, led to an improvement in Boston's play, and the Bruins led the league in scoring behind Esposito's 84 points and made the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. Though he missed action with a knee injury, Orr still won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenceman.

By contrast, the Chicago Black Hawks fell into a tailspin, and despite the scoring heroics of Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, were hard pressed to make the playoffs. Mediocre team defence and goaltending was the culprit. However, they were able to beat the Rangers in the quarter-final round, but lost in the semi-final round to eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens.

Roger Crozier felt the strain of goaltending and walked out on Detroit. He came back, but the Red Wings finished last anyway, despite a potent offense led by Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio and Norm Ullman. Even a late season trade of Ullman and Paul Henderson for Toronto star Frank Mahovlich and future Blues star Garry Unger was too little, too late. However, on March 24, 1968, Mahovlich became only the 11th player to score 300 goals as he scored both his 300th and 301st goals in a 5–3 win over the Boston Bruins.

Meanwhile, the defending Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs, still steady on defence in front of elder statesman Johnny Bower and backup Bruce Gamble, had numerous problems. Mahovlich spent time in hospital with a nervous breakdown, and the season was marred by contract disputes and tension with the high-strung coach, Punch Imlach. A late season charge failed to win a playoff berth.

In the West Division, the Philadelphia Flyers became the first regular season champion of the expansion clubs. While their offense was poor (career minor-league Leon Rochefort led the team with just 21 goals), ex-Bruins' goaltenders Bernie Parent and Doug Favell showed surprising form. Behind such hardnosed players as Gary Dornhoefer, Ed Van Impe, Larry Zeidel and Forbes Kennedy, the team showed the first glimmers of the "Broad Street Bullies" of future years.

The Los Angeles Kings were a team that writers predicted to finish last in the new West Division. Owner Jack Kent Cooke had purchased the American Hockey League's Springfield Indians for $1 million to bolster the Kings roster. Surprisingly, the Kings finished second, just one point out of first. Bill Flett scored 26 goals, while Eddie Joyal scored 23 goals, adding 34 assists for 57 points and was the second leading scorer in the West Division. Among the expansion teams, the Kings had the best record against the established teams, going 10–12–2 vs. the Eastern Division.

Oakland, predicted to finish first, fell far short of the mark, amidst poor attendance. Defenceman Kent Douglas, a former Calder Memorial Trophy winner, played far below expected form and was traded to Detroit for Ted Hampson and defenceman Bert Marshall. The Seals finished last in the West Division.

Glenn Hall may have been deemed too old by the Black Hawks, which left him unprotected in the expansion draft, but not for the St. Louis Blues, who rode his five shutouts to a third-place finish. A surprising benefit was their leading scorer, previously unheralded Red Berenson (with only 45 points in 185 previous NHL games) who exploded into stardom, more than doubling his career total in only 55 games.

By contrast, the Pittsburgh Penguins finished fifth, led by former Ranger star Andy Bathgate. Behind an elderly roster—nine of their top ten scorers and both of their goaltenders were over thirty—they could neither muster much offense nor defence.

The Minnesota North Stars had their bright moments despite finishing fourth in the West Division. On December 30, 1967, Bill Masterton and Wayne Connelly each scored goals in a 5–4 upset win over the Boston Bruins. On January 10, Connelly—who would finish the season with 35 goals to lead his team and the West Division—had a hat trick in a 6–4 win over the West Division power, the Philadelphia Flyers and Masterton was the architect on all three goals.

Tragedy struck the league on January 13, 1968. In a game at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, the Oakland Seals were in town to play the North Stars and Bill Masterton led a rush into the Oakland zone. Two defencemen, Larry Cahan and Ron Harris braced for the old fashioned sandwich check and as Masterton fired the puck into the Seals zone, the two hit Masterton hard but cleanly. Masterton flipped backwards and hit his head on the ice. He was removed to a Minneapolis hospital where doctors were prevented from doing surgery by the seriousness of the head injury. Early on the morning of January 15, 1968, Bill Masterton died. He was the first—and as of 2023, the only—player to die as the direct result of injuries suffered in an NHL game, the only such incident in a senior game since 1907.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Playoffs

Main article: 1968 Stanley Cup playoffs

Playoff bracket

Under the new postseason format, the top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In the first round, the first-place vs. third-place and second-place vs. fourth-place playoff format that had been in place for the previous 25 seasons was retained within the East and West Divisions. The two winning teams from each division's first round series then met in the Stanley Cup Semifinals. The two winners of the Semifinals then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals. This guaranteed that an expansion team would at least reach the Finals, but also highlighted the competitive imbalance between the Original Six teams in the East Division and the expansion teams in the West Division.

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).

| RD1-group1=East Division | RD1-group2=West Division | RD1-seed1=1 | RD1-team1=Montreal | RD1-score1=4 | RD1-seed2=3 | RD1-team2=Boston | RD1-score2=0 | RD1-seed3=2 | RD1-team3=New York | RD1-score3=2 | RD1-seed4=4 | RD1-team4=Chicago | RD1-score4=4 | RD1-seed5=1 | RD1-team5=Philadelphia | RD1-score5=3 | RD1-seed6=3 | RD1-team6=St. Louis | RD1-score6=4 | RD1-seed7=2 | RD1-team7=Los Angeles | RD1-score7=3 | RD1-seed8=4 | RD1-team8=Minnesota | RD1-score8=4 | RD2-seed1=1 | RD2-team1=Montreal | RD2-score1=4 | RD2-seed2=4 | RD2-team2=Chicago | RD2-score2=1 | RD2-seed3=3 | RD2-team3=St. Louis | RD2-score3=4 | RD2-seed4=4 | RD2-team4=Minnesota | RD2-score4=3 | RD3-seed1=E1 | RD3-team1=Montreal | RD3-score1=4 | RD3-seed2=W3 | RD3-team2=St. Louis | RD3-score2=0

Quarterfinals

All series but Bruins-Canadiens had a game postponed after the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4.

The Canadiens drew the third-place Boston Bruins in the first round. The Bruins, making their first appearance in the playoffs since 1959, were swept in four games. In the other East series, the second-place Rangers faced off against the fourth-place Chicago Black Hawks. The Black Hawks, led by Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita defeated the Rangers in six to set up a Montreal-Chicago East Division showdown. The Black Hawks could not provide another upset, and lost to the Canadiens in five games, giving Montreal their only defeat of the playoffs.

In the West, all four teams played their first playoff series. The first-place Philadelphia Flyers lost their first-ever playoff series to the Blues, led by goaltender Glenn Hall and coached by future Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman in seven games, while the second-place Los Angeles Kings lost to the fourth-place Minnesota North Stars in seven games. The Blues would defeat the North Stars in seven games to advance to their first final.

(E1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (E3) Boston Bruins

|1-1-1 =Ken Hodge (1) – 04:00 |1-1-2 =14:08 – pp – Henri Richard (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =14:40 – Claude Provost (1) |goalie1-1 =Gerry Cheevers 33 saves / 35 shots |goalie1-2 =Gump Worsley 21 saves / 22 shots

|2-1-1 =Ken Hodge (2) – 13:58 |2-1-2 =09:33 – Jacques Lemaire (1) |2-2-1 =Ted Green (1) – pp – 13:06 |2-2-2 =04:15 – Jacques Laperriere (1) 09:24 – Jacques Lemaire (2) |2-3-1 =John McKenzie (1) – 10:47 |2-3-2 =10:24 – Dick Duff (1) 17:34 – Jean Beliveau (1) |goalie2-1 =Gerry Cheevers 36 saves / 41 shots |goalie2-2 =Gump Worsley 17 saves / 20 shots

|3-1-1 =05:15 – Ed Westfall (1) |3-1-2 =Jean Beliveau (2) – pp – 15:35 |3-2-1 =19:55 – Tommy Williams (1) |3-2-2 =Claude Provost (2) – pp – 07:39 Ralph Backstrom (1) – 08:41 John Ferguson (1) – 18:23 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Dick Duff (2) – 08:23 |goalie3-1 =Gerry Cheevers 28 saves / 33 shots |goalie3-2 =Gump Worsley 25 saves / 27 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =00:49 – Ed Westfall (2) |4-2-2 =Claude Larose (1) – 12:58 |4-3-1 =18:34 – Ken Hodge (3) |4-3-2 =Claude Larose (2) – 07:20 Ralph Backstrom (2) – 16:33 |goalie4-1 =Gerry Cheevers 31 saves / 34 shots |goalie4-2 =Gump Worsley 35 saves / 37 shots

(E2) New York Rangers vs. (E4) Chicago Black Hawks

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =11:22 – Orland Kurtenbach (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =07:34 – pp – Harry Howell (1) |1-3-1 =Pierre Pilote (1) – pp – 12:27 |1-3-2 =01:36 – Rod Gilbert (1) |goalie1-1 =Denis DeJordy 41 saves / 44 shots |goalie1-2 =Ed Giacomin 31 saves / 32 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =15:57 – Rod Gilbert (2) |2-2-1 =Bobby Hull (1) – 10:12 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =12:40 – Donnie Marshall (1) |goalie2-1 =Denis DeJordy 28 saves / 30 shots |goalie2-2 =Ed Giacomin 36 saves / 37 shots

|3-1-1 =11:35 – Pit Martin (1) |3-1-2 =Vic Hadfield (1) – pp – 16:47 |3-2-1 =08:48 – Stan Mikita (1) |3-2-2 =Rod Gilbert (3) – 09:32 Rod Gilbert (4) – 09:38 |3-3-1 =02:36 – Pit Martin (2) 05:25 – pp – Stan Mikita (2) 08:59 – Dennis Hull (1) 18:19 – Doug Mohns (1) 19:42 – Gilles Marotte (1) |3-3-2 =Rod Seiling (1) – 13:22 |goalie3-1 =Denis DeJordy 29 saves / 33 shots |goalie3-2 =Ed Giacomin 24 saves / 31 shots

|4-1-1 =15:33 – Kenny Wharram (1) |4-1-2 =Ron Stewart (1) – 17:20 |4-2-1 =03:33 – Gilles Marotte (2) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =08:24 – Chico Maki (1) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Denis DeJordy 37 saves / 38 shots |goalie4-2 =Ed Giacomin 41 saves / 44 shots

|5-1-1 =Donnie Marshall (2) – 05:20 |5-1-2 =16:14 – pp – Bobby Hull (2) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Bobby Schmautz (1) – 16:46 |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Denis DeJordy 32 saves / 33 shots |goalie5-2 =Ed Giacomin 27 saves / 29 shots

|6-1-1 =05:50 – Doug Jarrett (1) |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =19:25 – Chico Maki (2) |6-2-2 =Rod Gilbert (5) – 03:15 |6-3-1 =02:39 – Pit Martin (3) 16:35 – Stan Mikita (3) |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Denis DeJordy 26 saves / 27 shots |goalie6-2 =Ed Giacomin 25 saves / 29 shots

(W1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (W3) St. Louis Blues

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Jimmy Roberts (1) – 14:13 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Glenn Hall 14 saves / 14 shots |goalie1-2 =Bernie Parent 32 saves / 33 shots

|2-1-1 =Dickie Moore (1) – 07:11 |2-1-2 =01:32 – Pat Hannigan (1) 18:37 – pp – Don Blackburn (1) 19:10 – Claude Laforge (1) |2-2-1 =Don McKenney (1) – 04:22 Larry Keenan (1) – 05:46 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =06:51 – Leon Rochefort (1) |goalie2-1 =Glenn Hall 37 saves / 41 shots |goalie2-2 =Doug Favell 26 saves / 29 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =02:54 – Terry Crisp (1) |3-2-2 =Jean Gauthier (1) – pp – 17:35 |3-3-1 =07:38 – Frank St. Marseille (1) |3-3-2 =Joe Watson (1) – 13:54 |3-4-1 =04:10 – Larry Keenan (2) |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Glenn Hall 33 saves / 35 shots |goalie3-2 =Bernie Parent 54 saves / 57 shots

|4-1-1 =06:52 – sh – Bill McCreary Sr. (1) 13:29 – pp – Red Berenson (1) |4-1-2 =Andre Lacroix (1) – pp – 02:26 |4-2-1 =16:55 – Dickie Moore (2) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =00:49 – Red Berenson (2) 16:05 – sh – Barclay Plager (1) |4-3-2 =Don Blackburn (2) – 14:04 |goalie4-1 =Glenn Hall 22 saves / 24 shots |goalie4-2 =Doug Favell 28 saves / 33 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =09:01 – Leon Rochefort (2) 13:18 – Rosaire Paiement (1) 15:52 – sh – Forbes Kennedy (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =17:00 – Brit Selby (1) |5-3-1 =Gerry Melnyk (1) – sh – 11:05 |5-3-2 =10:27 – pp – Rosaire Paiement (2) 13:26 – pp – Rosaire Paiement (3) |goalie5-1 =Glenn Hall 9 saves / 12 shots Seth Martin 17 saves / 20 shots |goalie5-2 =Bernie Parent 30 saves / 31 shots

|6-1-1 =18:06 – pp – Gerry Melnyk (2) |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Andre Lacroix (2) – 19:45 |6-4-1 =No scoring |6-4-2 =Don Blackburn (3) – 11:18 |goalie6-1 =Glenn Hall 41 saves / 43 shots |goalie6-2 =Bernie Parent 63 saves / 64 shots

|7-1-1 =Frank St. Marseille (2) – pp – 07:38 |7-1-2 =18:25 – pp – Bill Sutherland (1) |7-2-1 =Larry Keenan (3) – pp – 10:45 |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =Red Berenson (3) – 19:10 |7-3-2 =No scoring |goalie7-1 =Glenn Hall 26 saves / 27 shots |goalie7-2 =Bernie Parent 28 saves / 30 shots

(W2) Los Angeles Kings vs. (W4) Minnesota North Stars

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =19:55 – pp – Eddie Joyal (1) |1-3-1 =Dave Balon (1) – 03:54 |1-3-2 =03:13 – Bill White (1) |goalie1-1 =Cesare Maniago 38 saves / 40 shots |goalie1-2 =Terry Sawchuck 30 saves / 31 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =08:45 – pp – Lowell MacDonald (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =18:12 – Eddie Joyal (2) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Cesare Maniago 37 saves / 39 shots |goalie2-2 =Terry Sawchuck 18 saves / 18 shots

|3-1-1 =05:51 – Bill Collins (1) 15:48 – Ray Cullen (1) 17:34 – pp – Mike McMahon Jr. (1) |3-1-2 =Lowell MacDonald (2) – 12:44 Lowell MacDonald (3) – 13:56 Howie Hughes (1) – pp – 15:19 |3-2-1 =01:25 – Parker MacDonald (1) 16:56 – ps – Wayne Connelly (1) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =00:09 – Bill Collins (2) 17:50 – Andre Boudrias (1) |3-3-2 =Ted Irvine (1) – 03:23 Doug Robinson (1) – 04:15 |goalie3-1 =Cesare Maniago 24 saves / 29 shots |goalie3-2 =Terry Sawchuck 18 saves / 23 shots Wayne Rutledge 9 saves / 11 shots

|4-1-1 =11:30 – pp – Ray Cullen (2) |4-1-2 =Bill Flett (1) – 03:37 Bill White (2) – 04:45 |4-2-1 =06:31 – Mike McMahon Jr. (2) 09:27 – Dave Balon (2) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Cesare Maniago 30 saves / 32 shots |goalie4-2 =Terry Sawchuck 31 saves / 34 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =02:14 – Gord Labossiere (1) 02:29 – Gord Labossiere (2) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =12:23 – pp – Eddie Joyal (3) |5-3-1 =Wayne Connelly (2) – 07:15 Wayne Connelly (3) – 14:55 |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Cesare Maniago 21 saves / 24 shots |goalie5-2 =Wayne Rutledge 27 saves / 29 shots

|6-1-1 =08:05 – sh – Mike McMahon Jr. (3) |6-1-2 =Doug Robinson (2) – 11:12 |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =Real Lemieux (1) – 01:37 Howie Hughes (2) – 04:20 |6-3-1 =07:23 – Bill Goldsworthy (1) 16:39 – Bob McCord (1) |6-3-2 =No scoring |6-4-1 =09:11 – Milan Marcetta (1) |6-4-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Cesare Maniago 33 saves / 36 shots |goalie6-2 =Wayne Rutledge 29 saves / 33 shots

|7-1-1 =Parker MacDonald (2) – 02:24 Wayne Connelly (4) – pp – 08:05 Bill Goldsworthy (2) – 16:25 |7-1-2 =02:51 – Doug Robinson (3) |7-2-1 =Milan Marcetta (2) – 08:45 Parker MacDonald (3) – 11:58 Milan Marcetta (3) – 12:49 Dave Balon (3) – 15:58 Andre Boudrias (2) – 16:12 |7-2-2 =05:12 – pp – Eddie Joyal (4) 16:45 – Poul Popiel (1) |7-3-1 =Bill Goldsworthy (3) – pp – 09:07 |7-3-2 =19:36 – Doug Robinson (4) |goalie7-1 =Cesare Maniago 22 saves / 26 shots |goalie7-2 =Terry Sawchuck 24 saves / 33 shots

Semifinals

(E1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (E4) Chicago Black Hawks

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =06:37 – Ralph Backstrom (3) 07:31 – Yvan Cournoyer (1) 09:24 – John Ferguson (2) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =15:26 – pp – Yvan Cournoyer (2) |1-3-1 =Doug Jarrett (2) – 10:20 Gilles Marotte (3) – 11:26 |1-3-2 =00:10 – John Ferguson (3) 01:28 – Gilles Tremblay (1) 07:08 – Jacques Lemaire (3) 16:03 – Jean Beliveau (3) 17:50 – Claude Larose (3) |goalie1-1 =Denis DeJordy 24 saves / 33 shots |goalie1-2 =Gump Worsley 32 saves / 34 shots

|2-1-1 =Stan Mikita (4) – pp – 05:03 |2-1-2 =10:58 – Jean Beliveau (4) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =10:04 – pp – Jean Beliveau (5) 15:41 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (4) 17:57 – pp – Jean Beliveau (6) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Denis DeJordy 35 saves / 39 shots |goalie2-2 =Gump Worsley 23 saves / 24 shots

|3-1-1 =15:25 – Doug Jarrett (3) |3-1-2 =Jean Beliveau (7) – 00:39 |3-2-1 =10:35 – Doug Jarrett (4) |3-2-2 =Yvan Cournoyer (3) – pp – 02:39 Yvan Cournoyer (4) – 06:11 J. C. Tremblay (1) – 12:05 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Denis DeJordy 29 saves / 33 shots |goalie3-2 =Gump Worsley 39 saves / 41 shots

|4-1-1 =08:57 – Bobby Hull (3) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =06:50 – sh – Bobby Hull (4) |4-2-2 =Henri Richard (2) – 03:37 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Denis DeJordy 28 saves / 29 shots |goalie4-2 =Gump Worsley 3 saves / 4 shots Rogie Vachon 29 saves / 30 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =08:10 – Bobby Rousseau (1) |5-2-1 =Bobby Schmautz (2) – 09:59 |5-2-2 =11:15 – sh – J. C. Tremblay (2) |5-3-1 =Stan Mikita (5) – pp – 01:23 Wayne Maki (1) – 08:14 |5-3-2 =06:38 – pp – Jacques Lemaire (5) |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =02:14 – Jacques Lemaire (6) |goalie5-1 =Denis DeJordy 40 saves / 44 shots |goalie5-2 =Rogie Vachon 24 saves / 27 shots

(W3) St. Louis Blues vs. (W4) Minnesota North Stars

|1-1-1 =Milan Marcetta (4) – pp – 07:49 |1-1-2 =14:27 – Tim Ecclestone (1) |1-2-1 =Wayne Connelly (5) – 00:49 Wayne Connelly (6) – pp – 15:41 |1-2-2 =09:31 – pp – Frank St. Marseille (3) 10:05 – pp – Dickie Moore (3) 12:36 – sh – Bill McCreary Sr. (2) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =14:08 – Larry Keenan (4) |goalie1-1 =Cesare Maniago 28 saves / 33 shots |goalie1-2 =Glenn Hall 25 saves / 28 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =Jimmy Roberts (2) – 12:28 |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =02:12 – Milan Marcetta (5) 07:00 – Bill Goldsworthy (4) |2-3-2 =Frank St. Marseille (4) – pp – 04:58 |2-4-1 =03:41 – Parker MacDonald (4) |2-4-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Cesare Maniago 23 saves / 25 shots |goalie2-2 =Glenn Hall 24 saves / 27 shots

|3-1-1 =Milan Marcetta (6) – 09:38 Bill Goldsworthy (5) – 13:00 J. P. Parise (1) – 19:01 |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =Bill Goldsworthy (6) – 16:33 |3-2-2 =04:53 – Dickie Moore (4) |3-3-1 =Dave Balon (4) – pp – 00:09 |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Cesare Maniago 30 saves / 31 shots |goalie3-2 =Glenn Hall 16 saves / 21 shots

|4-1-1 =Walt McKechnie (1) – 04:42 J. P. Parise (2) – pp – 14:40 |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =Wayne Connelly (7) – 19:37 |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =11:57 – Jimmy Roberts (3) 12:57 – Dickie Moore (5) 19:49 – Jimmy Roberts (4) |4-4-1 =No scoring |4-4-2 =01:32 – Gary Sabourin (1) |goalie4-1 =Cesare Maniago 39 saves / 43 shots |goalie4-2 =Glenn Hall 21 saves / 24 shots

|5-1-1 =Walt McKechnie (2) – 05:39 |5-1-2 =01:53 – Bob Plager (1) 10:44 – Gary Sabourin (2) |5-2-1 =Bob McCord (2) – 06:31 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =17:27 – Bill McCreary Sr. (3) |goalie5-1 =Cesare Maniago 52 saves / 55 shots |goalie5-2 =Glenn Hall 26 saves / 28 shots

|6-1-1 =05:28 – pp – Wayne Connelly (8) 10:54 – Andre Boudrias (3) |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =06:34 – Bill Goldsworthy (7) 17:16 – Bill Goldsworthy (8) |6-2-2 =Gary Sabourin (3) – 13:53 |6-3-1 =09:52 – Milan Marcetta (7) |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Cesare Maniago 22 saves / 23 shots |goalie6-2 =Glenn Hall 12 saves / 15 shots Seth Martin 21 saves / 23 shots

|7-1-1 =No scoring |7-1-2 =No scoring |7-2-1 =No scoring |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =Walt McKechnie (3) – 16:49 |7-3-2 =17:20 – Dickie Moore (6) |7-4-1 =No scoring |7-4-2 =02:50 – Ron Schock (1) |goalie7-1 =Cesare Maniago 36 saves / 38 shots |goalie7-2 =Glenn Hall 44 saves / 45 shots

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1968 Stanley Cup Finals

The Blues faced the Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. Blues coach Bowman, a long-time member of the Canadiens organization was unable to spur the Blues to an upset, but they made it a hard-fought series, with each game being decided by one goal and two going to overtime. However, the Canadiens, led by Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard, were not to be denied and swept the series in four games. Despite this, the exceptional performance of the heavy underdog Blues impressed and surprised most hockey fans who were expecting an utter blowout by the Canadiens, to the point that their goaltender Glenn Hall, who helped lead the team to the Cup Finals, was named the MVP of the playoffs.

|1-1-1 =09:19 – Barclay Plager (2) |1-1-2 =Henri Richard (3) – 09:42 |1-2-1 =08:16 – pp – Dickie Moore (7) |1-2-2 =Yvan Cournoyer (5) – 18:14 |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |1-4-1 =No scoring |1-4-2 =Jacques Lemaire (7) – 01:41 |goalie1-1 =Glenn Hall 35 saves / 38 shots |goalie1-2 =Gump Worsley 34 saves / 36 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =Serge Savard (1) – sh – 02:17 |goalie2-1 =Glenn Hall 35 saves / 36 shots |goalie2-2 =Gump Worsley 19 saves / 19 shots

|3-1-1 =Frank St. Marseille (5) – pp – 10:22 |3-1-2 =14:24 – pp – Yvan Cournoyer (6) |3-2-1 =Red Berenson (4) – 03:37 |3-2-2 =01:23 – sh – Serge Savard (2) |3-3-1 =Red Berenson (5) – sh – 17:25 |3-3-2 =11:43 – Ralph Backstrom (4) |3-4-1 =No scoring |3-4-2 =01:13 – Bobby Rousseau (2) |goalie3-1 =Glenn Hall 42 saves / 46 shots |goalie3-2 =Gump Worsley 12 saves / 15 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =16:47 – Dick Duff (3) |4-2-1 =Craig Cameron (1) – 06:53 Gary Sabourin (4) – pp – 07:50 |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =07:24 – Henri Richard (4) 11:40 – J. C. Tremblay (3) |goalie4-1 =Glenn Hall 28 saves / 31 shots |goalie4-2 =Gump Worsley 19 saves / 21 shots

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Other statistics

The NHL began tracking the plus-minus statistic this season. It measures the difference between the number of goals scored by a player's team while a player is on the ice against the number of goals scored by the opposing team. Power play goals do not count toward the statistic; it does include short-handed goals scored by the opposing team during power plays.

• Plus-Minus leader: Dallas Smith, Boston Bruins

Coaches

East

• Boston Bruins: Harry Sinden
• Chicago Black Hawks: Billy Reay
• Detroit Red Wings: Sid Abel
• Montreal Canadiens: Toe Blake
• New York Rangers: Emile Francis
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Punch Imlach

West

• Los Angeles Kings: Red Kelly
• Minnesota North Stars: Wren Blair
• Oakland Seals: Bert Olmstead and Gord Fashoway
• Philadelphia Flyers: Keith Allen
• Pittsburgh Penguins: George "Red" Sullivan
• St. Louis Blues: Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman

Debuts

The following is a list of notable players who played their first NHL game in 1967–68 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Bobby Schmautz, Chicago Black Hawks
• Bill White, Los Angeles Kings
• Walt McKechnie, Minnesota North Stars
• Mickey Redmond, Montreal Canadiens
• Jacques Lemaire, Montreal Canadiens
• Garry Monahan, Montreal Canadiens
• Walt Tkaczuk, New York Rangers
• Dennis Hextall*, New York Rangers
• Simon Nolet, Philadelphia Flyers
• Barclay Plager, St. Louis Blues
• Garry Unger, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of notable players who played their last game in the NHL in 1967–68 (listed with their last team):

• Bill Masterton, Minnesota North Stars
• Bronco Horvath, Minnesota North Stars
• Bernie Geoffrion, New York Rangers
• Dickie Moore, St. Louis Blues
• Don McKenney, St. Louis Blues
• Al MacNeil. Pittsburgh Penguins

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. HNIC also produced Wednesday night regular season game telecasts for CTV. Games were typically not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress.

This was the second season under the U.S. rights agreement with CBS. This season, CBS aired Saturday afternoon games between December 30 and January 20, then Sunday afternoon games from January 28 through March. The network then aired Sunday afternoon playoff games.

Notes

References

• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley

References

1. "NHL Guide & Record Book 2005".
2. "HickokSports.com – History – NHL 1967–68 Season".
3. (August 19, 1966). "Sweeping Changes In Pro-Am Hockey Pact". Winnipeg Free Press.
4. Stubbs, David. (2023-04-07). "All 32 NHL teams on ice for 1st time recalls similar scene in 1967".
5. Brian McFarlane, ''50 Years of Hockey'', p. 140–143, Greywood Publishing Ltd, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
6. [http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=25429 Stanley Cup Notebook]