1967 - 68 NHL season The 1967 - 68 NHL season was the 51st season of the National Hockey League . Twelve teams each played 74 games . The Montreal Canadiens would win 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 . The St . Louis Blues , California Seals , Philadelphia Flyers , Minnesota North Stars , Pittsburgh Penguins , and Los Angeles Kings were all put into the Western Division . On December 8 , 1967 , the California Seals were renamed the Oakland Seals . This year also saw the addition of two new awards . With expansion came format change and with format change came a need for a new trophy for the winner of the newly formed West Division . The new trophy , called the Clarence S . Campbell Bowl , was for the winner of the West while the older trophy , the Prince of Wales , was now to be given to the winner of the East Division . Because of that , the NHL increased its regular - season schedules from 70 games per club ( 14 games X five opponents ) to 74 games per club ( 50 games with teams within its own division , 24 games with teams in the opposite division ) . The other new award was the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy , which was named in honour of Bill Masterton who died on 15 January , 1968 after sustaining an injury during a game ( the first time a 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 Detroitand Ken Wharram and Stan Mikita of Chicago . Led by Alan Eagleson , the new NHL Players Association was up and running . Regular season . Highlights . On October 11 , 1967 , Jean Beliveau scored his 400th career goal on goaltender Hank Bassen of the Pittsburgh Penguins . 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 , managed to keep first place thereafter . Worsley , for the first time , made the first all - star team . On February 24 , 1968 , Rogatien Vachon of Montreal was the victim of four goals by Rod Gilbert , who set an NHL record with 16 shots on goal . Ed 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 defense and goaltending was the culprit . 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 defense 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 . Oakland , predicted to finish first , fell far short of the mark , amidst poor attendance . Defenceman Kent Douglas , a former Calder 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 defense . 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 14 , 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 defenceman , 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 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 " < br > " Note : Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold " Scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1967 - 68 ( listed with their first team , asterisk ( * ) marks debut in playoffs ) : Last games . The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1967 - 68 ( listed with their last team ) :