Doug Jarrett’s Rare Goal Becomes a Shorthanded Game-Winner

Doug Jarrett was never known for putting up big offensive numbers from the blue line. The steady Chicago Blackhawks defenseman scored just 38 goals over 775 NHL regular season games. But on March 17, 1968, Jarrett made one of his rare goals count, scoring the game-winner in a victory over the Oakland Seals at Chicago Stadium.

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Highlights

• Doug Jarrett scored just four goals during the 1967-68 season.

• His fourth and final goal came on March 17, 1968 against the Oakland Seals.

• Jarrett scored the goal shorthanded with Gilles Marotte serving a penalty.

• Chico Maki assisted on Jarrett’s game-winning goal.

• Jarrett also assisted on Bobby Hull’s opening goal at 1:39 of the first period.

• He finished with a goal, an assist and a team-leading +3 rating.

• Jarrett recorded three of Chicago’s 32 shots on Gary Smith.

• He finished his NHL career with 38 goals in 775 regular season games.

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Jarrett was involved in the offense almost immediately. Just 1:39 into the opening period, Bobby Hull beat Oakland goaltender Gary Smith to give Chicago an early lead, with Jarrett picking up an assist. Later in the period, Gilles Marotte was sent to the penalty box for high sticking, putting the Blackhawks a man down.

Instead of Oakland taking advantage, Jarrett struck shorthanded. At 15:41 of the first period, he scored his fourth goal of the 1967-68 season with Chico Maki assisting. The goal ultimately stood as the game-winner and was also Jarrett’s final goal of the season.

Jarrett finished the night with three of Chicago’s 32 shots on Smith and led the Blackhawks with a +3 rating. Jarrett, Hull and Maki each contributed a goal and an assist. At the other end, Dave Dryden turned aside 22 of Oakland’s 23 shots to secure the victory.

The goal was a memorable offensive moment in an NHL career built much more around dependable defense. Jarrett played 775 regular season games and another 99 playoff contests between 1964-65 and 1976-77 with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers. His association with Chicago stretched back even further, beginning in the organization as a junior with the St. Catharines Teepees in 1960-61.

The Big 50: Chicago Blackhawks (The Men and Moments that Made the Chicago Blackhawks)

Relive the greatest players, personalities, and turning points in Blackhawks history in this countdown of the 50 most influential figures and moments that shaped the franchise.

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1967-68 NHL East Division Team Leaders

The 1967-68 National Hockey League season marked the addition of six new teams. Normally, expansion increases offense due to the watered down product on the ice. In 1967-68, that wasn’t really so. Stan Mikita won the Art Ross Trophy for the second year in a row but with ten less points than in 1966-67. Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks led the league with 44 goals. It was one of only five times from 1965-66 to the present when the goal scoring leader had less than 50 goals.

Stan Mikita – Chicago Black Hawks

Stan Mikita, obviously, led the Chicago Black Hawks with 87 points. Mikita played his entire NHL career with the Black Hawks from 1959-60 to 1979-80, contributing a total of 1,467 regular season points and winning the Art Ross Trophy four times. As for the Black Hawks, the team finished fourth in the newly formed East Division and lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup semi-finals.

Phil Esposito – Boston Bruins

Phil Esposito was in his first year with the Boston Bruins after coming over from the Black Hawks and his offensive juices were just starting to run. He led the Bruins with 84 points and finished second in the NHL behind Mikita. In the coming seasons, Esposito would win the Art Ross Trophy on five occasions between 1968-69 and 1973-74. Boston qualified for the post season for the first time since 1959 but lost in the first round.

Gordie Howe – Detroit Red Wings

Gordie Howe led the Detroit Red Wings with 82 points and placed third in the league. Howe had been a Red Wing since the 1946-47 season and would play with the club until the end of 1970-71. Detroit had a dismal season in 1967-68, finishing last in the East Division and out of the post season. In fact, just the Oakland Seals finished with a worst record in the NHL that season with 47 points to Detroit’s 66.

Jean Ratelle – New York Rangers

Jean Ratelle led the New York Rangers, a team that had a great regular season, finishing just four points behind the Montreal Canadiens for first overall. Yet, the Rangers were upset in the opening round by Chicago, a team that finished fourth in the East. Ratelle’s 78 points placed him fourth in the National Hockey League. Jean had just one more point than long time Rangers teammate Rod Gilbert.

Jean Beliveau – Montreal Canadiens

Jean Beliveau led the Montreal Canadiens with 68 points while playing in just 59 of Montreal’s 74 regular season games. Beliveau played his entire NHL career with Montreal, from 1953-54 to 1970-71. He won the Art Ross Trophy in 1955-56. Jean led the Habs to a Stanley Cup victory by sweeping the Bruins in the first round and taking the Black Hawks in five in the second round before sweeping the St. Louis Blues to capture the championship.

Mike Walton – Toronto Maple Leafs

Mike Walton led the Toronto Maple Leafs with just 59 points. Toronto went from winning the Stanley Cup in 1966-67 to not qualifying for the post season in 1967-68. Walton played in the NHL from 1965-66 to 1978-79 with the Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Black Hawks. Mike also played three years in the World Hockey Association with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and was awarded the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHA’s top scorer in 1973-74.

 

The 1967-68 Los Angeles Kings: In the Beginning...

It all began for the Los Angeles Kings in 1967-68. The team was one of six to be admitted into the National Hockey League, doubling the league in size. It was the first time the NHL had consisted of more than six teams since the Brooklyn Americans folded after the 1941-42 season.

Like the other five expansion teams, the Kings were a rag-tag bunch of career AHL veterans, untested rookies and NHL players in the twilight of their careers. The six new teams were packed in the Western Division. The difference between first and fifth in the West was just six points. The Oakland Seals fell away from the pack, finishing with just 15 wins and 47 points.

Los Angeles finished second in the West in that first season with 72 points over 74 games, just one point behind the first place Philadelphia Flyers. The Kings lost their first ever playoff round to the Minnesota North Stars. The series went seven games with the North Stars romping 9-4 to oust the Kings at the Forum in L.A. Los Angeles held 2-0 and 3-2 leads in the series but could not hold on for the victory.

Eddie Joyal led the club in assists and points during the regular season with 34 and 57 while playing the full 74 game schedule. Joyal played his first NHL game in 1962-63 with the Detroit Red Wings and appeared sparingly through the years with Detroit and the Toronto Maple Leafs before becoming a regular with the Kings. He also played half a season with the Philadelphia Flyers before ending his pro career in the WHA with the Edmonton Oilers.

Bill Flett had been stuck in the minors since turning pro in 1963-64. 1967-68 was his first season in the NHL and he led the Kings in goals with 26. Flett went on to play nearly 900 major league games between the NHL and WHA. He left the Kings midway through the 1971-72 season for the Philadelphia Flyers. He also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Atlanta Flames and Edmonton Oilers.

In goal, the Kings platooned a rookie and one of the greatest goaltenders to play the game. Wayne Rutledge played in 45 games in his first NHL season, while Terry Sawchuk played in 36. Rutledge was relegated to a backup role over the next two seasons with Los Angeles and eventually became a WHA mainstay, playing with the Houston Aeros during their entire history. Sawchuk, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, was on the downside of his great career and would play just 22 games over the next two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers.

Brian Kilrea is also in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but for what he accomplished as a builder in the Ontario Hockey League. Previous to 1967-68, Killer had played just one NHL game, with the Red Wings in 1957-58. He played just 25 games with Los Angeles but one of his three goals with the club was the first ever scored for the franchise. Kilrea went on to coach the Ottawa 67’s from 1974 to 2009.

There was one other Hall of Famer on the team but he stood behind the bench. Head Coach Red Kelly had just come off a Stanley Cup victory as a player with the Toronto Maple Leafs the year before. After a career that spanned from 1947-48, Kelly retired after hoisting the Cup and took a different direction within the game. He coached the Kings for two seasons and went on to coach the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1970’s.

Anchoring the defense was one of many long time American Hockey League veterans getting their first start in the NHL. Bill White played in the AHL as early as 1959-60, while still a junior with the OHA’s Toronto Marlboros. He went on to play over 600 regular season games and nearly 100 playoff games in the NHL with Los Angeles and the Chicago Black Hawks.

Bill also ended up behind the bench after his playing career was over. He spent one year as head coach of Chicago in 1976-77 before two years in the OHA. In his first season behind the bench with the Oshawa Generals, he was named coach of the year.