- 1965–66 NHL season
The 1965–66 NHL season was the 49th season of the
National Hockey League . Six teams each played 70 games. TheMontreal Canadiens won their second consecutiveStanley Cup as they defeated theDetroit Red Wings four games to two in the final series.League Business
Two new trophies was introduced for this season. Jack Adams won the first
Lester Patrick Trophy for his contribution to hockey in the United States. This was also the first season theConn Smythe Trophy was awarded for the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs.The only significant rules change for this season was a requirement that teams suit up two goaltenders for each game.
February saw the momentous announcement that six conditional franchises had been awarded to Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, all to begin play in 1967. The St. Louis franchise was surprising, as no formal application from the city had been tendered. It was awarded to fulfill the wishes of
James D. Norris andArthur Wirtz , owners of the Chicago Black Hawks, who also owned theSt. Louis Arena which they wanted to sell.On the debit side, a strong bid from Vancouver was rejected, much to the anger of Canadians and the protest of Prime Minister
Lester Pearson , and the rumor was widely spread - fuelled by a corroborating statement from Leafs' general managerPunch Imlach that the Toronto and Montreal owners had vetoed the bid out of a dislike for sharing television money.Regular season
Among notable players to debut this season was
Ed Giacomin for the Rangers,Bill Goldsworthy for the Bruins,Ken Hodge for Chicago andMike Walton for Toronto. In the meantime, however, the career of futureHockey Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay was over, as his request for reinstatement as an active player was vetoed by the Toronto ownership.Gordie Howe scored his 600th NHL goal in Montreal November 27th in a 3–2 loss to the Canadiens to the cheers of the local fans. Among lesser milestones in the season were
Frank Mahovlich 's 250th goal andJohn Bucyk 's andClaude Provost 's 200th.In an unusual incident, the Red Wings' jerseys were stolen from the visitors' dressing room in Montreal the night before a January game, and Detroit was compelled to play in the uniforms of their junior farm team in Hamilton, which were express shipped to Montreal in time for the match.
James D. Norris , owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, died of a heart attack in late February.Bobby Hull set a new record for goals in a season with 54 and a new record for points in a season with 97, earning him the Art Ross Trophy and his second straight Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player.Jacques Laperriere of Montreal won theNorris Trophy as best defenceman. In possibly the weakest Calder choice in history,Brit Selby won theCalder Memorial Trophy as best rookie.Final standings
"Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes"
All-Star teams
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1965–66 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
*J.P. Parise , Boston Bruins
*Derek Sanderson , Boston Bruins
*Bernie Parent , Boston Bruins
*Barry Ashbee , Boston Bruins
*Pete Mahovlich , Detroit Red Wings
*Danny Grant , Montreal Canadiens
*Ed Giacomin , New York RangersLast games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1965–66 (listed with their last team):
*Bill Gadsby , Detroit Red WingsSee also
*
List of Stanley Cup champions
*1965 NHL Amateur Draft
*National Hockey League All-Star Game
*1965 in sports
*1966 in sports References
* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]
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