1967 NHL Expansion
The National Hockey League added six new franchises for the 1967-68 NHL season, doubling the size of the league. This marked the first change in the composition of the league since 1942, when the Brooklyn Americans folded.
Expansion teams
The six teams added were:
- California Seals (renamed the Oakland Seals midway through the first season, and later the California Golden Seals)
- Los Angeles Kings
- Minnesota North Stars
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- St. Louis Blues
History
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). 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.
The league was an early leader in television broadcasting, both in Canada and the U.S. However, by 1960, the NHL ended their TV contract, and had none until 1963. The owners saw that the televising of other sports enhanced those leagues' players image and would provide leverage at salary time. Already players were starting to get lawyer's help in negotiating contracts. The league did not want to change game start times to suit the networks. However, in 1965, the league was told that it would not receive a contract without expansion, and the networks were considering televising Western Hockey League games.[1]
However, fears of a competing league taking hold on the West Coast, and the desire for a lucrative TV contract in the US, much like the ones Major League Baseball and the National Football League had secured, wore down the opposition. All the new franchises, except for the Pennsylvania ones, were outside the northeastern area of the Original Six, and locations were chosen specifically to broaden the appeal of the league. A television agreement reached with CBS specifically called for two of the new teams to be located in California.
Expansion
Opposition
Many were upset over the expansion. Canadian fans were irate that no Canadian teams were added, even though Vancouver put forward a bid. Baltimore was also a favorite that did not receive a slot. Politics took a hand in the selections; Vancouver's strong bid reportedly fell to Montreal and Toronto's lack of desire 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.
Furthermore, many traditionalists did not like the idea of expansion, claiming it would dilute the talent in the league. 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.
Most experts agreed that the new owners paid a heavy price to join the league: the expansion fee was $2 million US, 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. One advantage of the expansion, however, was that the new teams were all lumped into the newly-formed West Division, and as the final round of the playoffs, one of the expansion teams got to play in the Stanley Cup finals, albeit with no realistic chance of winning in the early years.
Changes
The new teams offered a big change to the league. After seeing virtually the same red/blue/black uniforms for over 20 years, purple, green, sky blue, and orange were introduced. Players on the expansion teams were mostly cast-offs from the older teams, and some games were not pretty. By the mid-1970s, five of the six teams would find success, with the Philadelphia Flyers winning the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975. The California Seals franchise, 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 the Dallas Stars) in 1978.
Future impact
The expansion of 1967 was the end of the original six era, and the beginning of the modern era of the NHL. The six owners of the NHL, who had ruled the game with an iron fist, now had new company, with "radical" ideas for league growth: 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.
References
- ^ [Cruise], pg.
- Cruise, David and Griffiths, Alison (1991). Net Worth: Exploding the myths of Pro Hockey. Stoddart Publishing.
See also
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