# 1966–67 NHL season

The 1966–67 NHL season was the 50th season of the National Hockey League. This was the last season of only six teams in the NHL, as six more teams were added for the 1967–68 season. This season saw the debut of one of the greatest players in hockey history, defenceman Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to two in the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals to win their thirteenth Stanley Cup in franchise history; to date this is the Leafs' last Stanley Cup victory.

## League business

President David Molson of the Canadian Arena Company announced that the Montreal Forum would undergo major alterations in a $5 million work program commencing in April 1968.
The fourth NHL Amateur Draft was held on April 25, 1966, at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Barry Gibbs was selected first overall by the Boston Bruins.
NHL president Clarence Campbell and Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) president Fred Page announced a new five-year professional-agreement effective on July 1, 1967. The direct sponsorship of junior ice hockey teams by the NHL was to be phased out in the upcoming year, and no new sponsored players could be registered or be required to sign a contract restricting movement between teams. The agreement eliminated the A, B and C forms, which had angered the parents of amateur players and were the source of legal action threats when the professional team refused to release a player. Page succeeded in getting junior-aged players to be eligible for the NHL Amateur Draft once they graduate from junior hockey, or to be signed as a free agent in the year the player reaches his 20th birthday. The NHL agreed to pay development fees to the CAHA for the drafted players, and it allowed the CAHA to distribute the fees. The new agreement came at a time that also leveled the playing field for new NHL clubs in the 1967 NHL expansion.

## Regular season

Bobby Orr made his NHL debut on October 19, with an assist in a 6–2 win over Detroit.
On November 9, Ed Giacomin was subjected to one of the cruelest displays of fan abuse when the Boston Bruins came back to tie the Rangers 3-3. The fans pelted him with garbage and booed him viciously. From there, however, the Rangers began to win and the fans began to cheer for him. At one point, the Rangers were in first place, but slumped later and finished fourth.
Terry Sawchuk got his 99th shutout when Toronto blanked Detroit 4–0 on February 25. He got his 100th career shutout on March 4, when Toronto defeated Chicago 4–0.
Bobby Hull scored his 50th goal of the season when Chicago lost to Toronto 9–5 on March 18 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Another superlative for the Black Hawks was Stan Mikita, who tied the league scoring record with 97 points in claiming the Art Ross Trophy for the third time. Mikita was also awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player.
The Chicago Black Hawks, who had won three Stanley Cups, finished first overall in the standings for the first time in their history, a full seventeen points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and nineteen ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Boston Bruins missed the playoffs, their last time before their record 29-season playoff streak.

### Final standings

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 41 | 17 | 12 | 264 | 170 | +94 | 94 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 32 | 25 | 13 | 202 | 188 | +14 | 77 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 32 | 27 | 11 | 204 | 211 | −7 | 75 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | 70 | 30 | 28 | 12 | 188 | 189 | −1 | 72 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 27 | 39 | 4 | 212 | 241 | −29 | 58 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 17 | 43 | 10 | 182 | 253 | −71 | 44 |

## Playoffs
### Playoff bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals |
| 1 | Chicago | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Toronto | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Toronto | 4 | 3 | Toronto | 4 |
| | | | 2 | Montreal | 2 |
| 2 | Montreal | 4 | 2 | Montreal | 2 |
| 4 | New York | 0 | | | |

### Semifinals
#### (1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (3) Toronto Maple Leafs

Despite Chicago's impressive regular season marks, it was the third seed Toronto Maple Leafs who beat the Black Hawks in the first round of the playoffs.
* Toronto won series 4–2

#### (2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) New York Rangers

Montreal swept the Rangers in four games.
* Montreal won series 4–0

### Stanley Cup Final

* Toronto won series 4–2

## Awards

1966–1967 NHL awards :
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion) | Chicago Black Hawks |
| Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer) | Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins |
| Conn Smythe Trophy: (Most valuable player, playoffs) | Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player, season) | Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: (Best defenceman) | Harry Howell, New York Rangers |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender(s) of team with the best goals-against average) | Glenn Hall and Denis DeJordy, Chicago Black Hawks |

### All-Star teams

| Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers | G | Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks | D | Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Harry Howell, New York Rangers | D | Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins |
| Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks | C | Norm Ullman, Detroit Red Wings |
| Kenny Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks | RW | Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings |
| Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks | LW | Don Marshall, New York Rangers |

## Player statistics
### Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Stan Mikita | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 35 | 62 | 97 | 12 |
| Bobby Hull | Chicago Black Hawks | 66 | 52 | 28 | 80 | 52 |
| Norm Ullman | Detroit Red Wings | 68 | 26 | 44 | 70 | 26 |
| Ken Wharram | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 31 | 34 | 65 | 21 |
| Gordie Howe | Detroit Red Wings | 69 | 25 | 40 | 65 | 53 |
| Bobby Rousseau | Montreal Canadiens | 68 | 19 | 44 | 63 | 58 |
| Phil Esposito | Chicago Black Hawks | 69 | 21 | 40 | 61 | 40 |
| Phil Goyette | New York Rangers | 70 | 12 | 49 | 61 | 6 |
| Doug Mohns | Chicago Black Hawks | 61 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 58 |
| Henri Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 65 | 21 | 34 | 55 | 28 |
| Alex Delvecchio | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 17 | 38 | 55 | 10 |
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
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO |
| Glenn Hall | Chicago Black Hawks | 32 | 1664 | 66 | 2.38 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Denis DeJordy | Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 2536 | 104 | 2.46 | 22 | 12 | 7 | 4 |
| Charlie Hodge | Montreal Canadiens | 37 | 2055 | 88 | 2.60 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 3 |
| Ed Giacomin | New York Rangers | 68 | 3981 | 173 | 2.61 | 30 | 27 | 11 | 9 |
| Johnny Bower | Toronto Maple Leafs | 27 | 1431 | 63 | 2.64 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| Terry Sawchuk | Toronto Maple Leafs | 28 | 1409 | 66 | 2.81 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Roger Crozier | Detroit Red Wings | 58 | 3256 | 182 | 3.35 | 22 | 29 | 4 | 4 |
| Eddie Johnston | Boston Bruins | 34 | 1880 | 116 | 3.70 | 8 | 21 | 2 | 0 |

## Coaches

* 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

## Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1966–67 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
* Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
* Glen Sather, Boston Bruins
* Ed Van Impe, Chicago Black Hawks
* Carol Vadnais, Montreal Canadiens
* Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens
* Rogie Vachon, Montreal Canadiens

## Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1966–67 (listed with their last team):
* Bill Hay, Chicago Black Hawks
* Red Kelly, Toronto Maple Leafs

## 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 first season under a new U.S. rights agreement with CBS. Due to prior programming commitments for this season only, CBS sub-licensed its Sunday afternoon regular season games to RKO General. CBS still aired selected playoff games.