The National Hockey League (NHL) undertook a major expansion for the 1967–68 season, adding six new franchises to double the size of the league. This marked the first change in the composition of the league since 1942, when the Brooklyn Americans folded. It ended the era of the Original Six.

[edit] Background

History of the NHL

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Founding	(1917–1942)
Original Six	(1942–1967)
Expansion era	(1967–1992)
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For many years after the shakeout caused by the Depression and World War II, the NHL owners staunchly resisted applications to expand beyond the so-called "Original Six" clubs (Boston, Montreal, Toronto, New York, Detroit and Chicago).^[1][2] Groups representing Philadelphia (which had secured rights to the dormant Montreal Maroons franchise), Los Angeles and the AHL Cleveland Barons were each in turn given conflicting requirements that seemed to contemporary observers designed to disqualify the bids, and it was widely understood that the existing NHL owners wanted no encroachments upon their profits.^[2]

The league was an early leader in television broadcasting, both in Canada and the U. S.^[3] However, by 1960, the NHL had ended its TV contract, and had none until 1963.^[1] The owners saw that the televising of other sports enhanced the images of those leagues' players and would provide leverage at salary time. Already, players were starting to get legal help in negotiating contracts.^[3] The league did not want to change game start times to suit the networks.^[1] However, in 1965, the league was told that it would not receive a contract without expansion, and the networks were considering televising games from the Western Hockey League (WHL), an ostensibly minor league that had by that time expanded into several large West Coast markets and accumulated strong rosters by attracting players excluded from the static NHL rosters of the era.^[4]

Fears of the WHL becoming a rival major league and the desire for a lucrative TV contract in the U. S., much like the ones Major League Baseball and the National Football League had secured, wore down the opposition; moreover, as more conservative owners retired, a younger guard more receptive to expansion, such as Stafford Smythe in Toronto, David Molson in Montreal, and William M. Jennings in New York, took power.^[1]

[edit] Expansion teams

In 1963, Rangers governor William Jennings introduced to his peers the idea of expanding the league to the American West Coast by adding two new teams for the 1964–65 season. His argument was based around concerns that the Western Hockey League intended to operate as a major league in the near future. He also hoped that teams on the west coast would make the league truly national, and improve the chances of returning to television in the United States as the NHL had lost its deal with CBS. While the governors did not agree to the proposal, the topic of expansion came up every time the owners met from then on out.

The expansion process formally began in March 1965, when NHL President Clarence Campbell announced that the league proposed to expand its operations through the formation of a second six-team division. San Francisco–Oakland and Vancouver were declared "acceptable cities" with Los Angeles and St. Louis as potential sites. In February 1966, the NHL Board of Governors considered applications from 14 different ownership groups, including five from Los Angeles, two from Pittsburgh, and one each from Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Philadelphia, San Francisco-Oakland, St. Louis, Baltimore, Buffalo and Vancouver. Cleveland and Louisville had also expressed previous interest but were not represented.^[5]

Six franchises were ultimately added. Four still play in their original cities, one has relocated and one ceased operations.

• California Seals (renamed Oakland Seals and later California Golden Seals; relocated to Cleveland as Cleveland Barons in 1976; ceased operations in 1978 with merger into Minnesota North Stars)
• Los Angeles Kings
• Minnesota North Stars (merged with Cleveland Barons in 1978; relocated to Dallas as Dallas Stars in 1993)
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Pittsburgh Penguins
• St. Louis Blues

[edit] Opposition

Many were upset over the expansion. Canadian fans were irate that no Canadian teams were added, even though Vancouver put forward a bid.^[1] Politics took a hand in the selections; Vancouver's strong bid reportedly fell to Montreal and Toronto's unwillingness to share CBC TV revenues with another Canadian club, and the powerful Chicago owner's support was reputedly contingent on the creation of a St. Louis team – though no formal bid had actually been received from St. Louis – to purchase the decrepit St. Louis Arena, which the Black Hawks ownership then also owned.^[1][2]

Furthermore, many traditionalists did not like the idea of expansion, claiming it would dilute the talent in the league.^[5] Even many of the proponents of expansion were worried at the idea of immediately doubling the NHL's size, instead of easing teams in gradually, as had Major League Baseball.^[6]

Most experts agreed that the new owners paid a heavy price to join the league: the expansion fee was $2 million U. S., players in the very strict expansion draft were a hefty $50,000, and most teams had no hope of competing successfully with the established teams in the near future.^[1] One advantage of the expansion, however, was that the new teams were all placed in the newly-formed West Division, and as such, an expansion team was guaranteed a slot in the Stanley Cup finals.

[edit] Changes

The new teams offered a big change to the league. After seeing virtually the same red/blue/black uniforms for over twenty years, purple, green, sky blue, and orange were introduced.^[5]

[edit] Success of the expansion teams

All the expansion teams were placed in the same division in 1967–68, so their success was largely gauged relative to each other. The Philadelphia Flyers won this division in the first season for the expansion teams and quickly built a strong team that would go on to win the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975. The St. Louis Blues also immediately made an impact, with three finals appearances in the first three years, but have never since reached the Stanley Cup finals. The Pittsburgh Penguins were largely unsuccessful in the beginning, failing to win their division until 1990–91, but accumulated draft picks to eventually build a strong team that would win two Stanley Cups in the early 1990s and another in 2009. The Los Angeles Kings have achieved one Stanley Cup finals appearance, during their Wayne Gretzky era, but have not won the cup.

At the end of the 2008–09 season, which marked the 40th season for the expansion teams, the Penguins are the most successful in terms of number of Stanley Cups (3). The Flyers are the most successful expansion team in terms of winning percentage (57.8%), number of conference finals appearances (14), Stanley Cup finals appearances (8) and playoff appearances (32).

The disappointment for the league was the California franchise which, uncompetitive both on the ice and at the box office, was moved to Cleveland and became the Barons in 1976, and then merged with the Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars) in 1978.^[5]

The expansion was the end of the Original Six era, and the beginning of the modern era of the NHL. There would be further expansions in 1970, 1972 and 1974. The expansion, Bobby Orr's record contract, and the World Hockey Association forever changed the landscape of the North American professional game.^[3][5]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• 1967 NHL Expansion Draft