The Devil Made Me has alluded to exploring the goalie makeup of the league, had expansion never occured. I find this a fascinatinating project and hope to spur it along. There are a lot of implications at play here, unique to goalies when comparing post-expansion goalies vs. Pre-expansion goalies.
So I propose starting in 1968, who does the collective here believe would be the starting 6 goalies in the league and their backups?
I just want to spur things along, and hope TDMM will take over from here
Who are your 6 starters and 6 backups in 1968?
!968-1969
Don't know how you would not count whomever was already in place for the Original Six.
As a
Bruins fan I know we had
Cheevers and
Johnston in uniform, having left both
Bernie Parent and
Doug Favell exposed in the expansion draft, (and both picked by the Flyers). So who would be preferred, given the hindsight?
The
Rangers relied heavily on
Eddie Giacomin, with
Gilles Villemure and
Don Simmons as backups, exposing
Cesare Maniago, (drafted by the North Stars).
Toronto went with
Bruce Gamble with
Johnny Bower as backup, exposing both
Terry Sawchuk, (who had been 15-5-4 / 2.81 GAA the year before) and
Gary Smith, (who played fairly well despite being on some atrociously bad defensive teams).
Chicago went with
Denis DeJordy and
Dave Dryden that season, leaving
Glenn Hall exposed for the 1967 draft, despite the fact that he had a good record for them and a better record in St. Louis than either DeJordy and Dryden had that year. Hall split duties with Jacques Plante, who had retired but was still property of the Rangers. Chicago also had let
Roy Edwards available in the draft and he was claimed by Pittsburgh (and later traded to Detroit). If there had been no expansion, would Plante have stayed retired?
Detroit went with
Roy Edwards,
Gary Crozier and an aging fast
Terry Sawchuk with
Joe Daley claimed by Pittsburgh.
Montreal went with
Rogie Vachon,
Gump Worsley and
Tony Esposito(!) after letting
Charlie Hodge, (who had been backup to Worsley the previous two seasons), get claimed by the Seals. Worsley was sold to the North Stars the following year and Montreal promoted rookie Phil Myre as backup to Vachon. Myre was subsequently claimed by Atlanta in the 1972 expansion draft.
For
Boston:
- Cheevers
- Johnston, (he played strongly as backup before starting to decline in the 72-73 season )
Bernie Parent didn't become the HoFer until after his first stint with Philly, where he was traded to Toronto a hectic 1 1/2 yr jaunt through WHA, to be ironically traded back to the Flyers in a deal that included Doug Favell.
For
New York:
- Giacomin
- Villemure
Maniago was a backup, NY being his 3rd NHL team sandwiched between 5 minor league teams in 5 years.
For
Toronto:
- Gamble
- Sawchuk
Would they have convinced Bower to retire? Would they have left Gary Smith in the minors until Sawchuk retired?
For
Chicago:
- DeJordy
- Hall
Hall was still playing strong but had lost the #1 job to DeJordy the year before. Was Hall exposed because Dave Dryden was a younger and cheaper alternative? Roy Edwards had been a career minor leaguer and I imagine he was Chicago property just so he could be exposed in the draft.
For
Detroit:
- Gary Crozier
- Don Edwards
These guys had been the tandem the previous season.
For
Montreal:
- Vachon
- Worsley
Hodge had been a backup for a couple of years before the draft and probably would've been released to the minors. Vachon and Worsley were the tandem. Worsley was still playing well, even at 39 yrs old....would he have also gone down to make room for Tony Esposito the following year or two later?
