4 Big Name Goalies to Come out of the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft

When it comes to goalies and the NHL Draft, it’s a pretty bitter relationship to say the least. Goaltenders are rarely picked high in the draft and the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft was no exception. Just one goalie was picked in the first round, Ray Martyniuk was the fifth overall selection by the Montreal Canadiens. The Flin Flon Bombers goalie never saw action in the NHL. In fact, of the 12 goalies chosen in the entire draft, five never played in the NHL and eight saw less than 100 games. Therefore, just four of the 12 made a career of it.

Dan Bouchard

Dan Bouchard was the second highest picked goalie in 1970. The London Knights goaltender was chosen in the second round by the Boston Bruins, 27^th overall. Bouchard never played for the Bruins but did have a successful lengthy 655 game career in the NHL, starting in the 1972-73 season.

The expansion Atlanta Flames gave him the shot he needed to be a regular goalie in the league. He played with the Flames for the team’s entire existence in Atlanta. In his first year with the Calgary Flames, 1980-81, Dan was traded to the Quebec Nordiques after playing 14 games in Alberta. Bouchard played with the Nordiques until the end of the 1984-85 season and had one last NHL season with the Winnipeg Jets in 1985-86.

Billy Smith

The fifth round proved to be the goaltenders round in 1970. Billy Smith was the 59^th overall pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the fifth. Billy played just five games with the Kings before becoming the backbone of the backend of the New York Islanders for many years to come. Billy played 680 games over his career and is now enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gilles Meloche

Not far behind Smith in that fifth round was Gilles Meloche. Meloche was the 70^th overall pick, going to the Chicago Black Hawks. With a similar start to his career as Billy Smith, Meloche played just two games with the team that drafted him before becoming the number one man with the California Golden Seals in 1971-72.

Gilles played 788 games in net during his career that lasted until the end of the 1987-88 season. Meloche is regarded as the greatest goalie in Minnesota North Stars history. Along with the Black Hawks, Golden Seals and North Stars, Gilles Meloche also played for the Cleveland Barons and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ron Low

Ron Low was drafted way down in the eighth round by the Toronto Maple Leafs, 103^rd overall. Despite his low ranking, Ron made a decent career of it in the NHL, playing 382 games between 1972-73 and 1984-85. A bit of a travelling man, Low played for the Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques and New Jersey Devils.

3 From 1970 NHL Amateur Draft Now In Hockey Hall Of Fame

The 1970 NHL Amateur Draft was the first for the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks and saw 14 teams select 115 players over 14 rounds. 62 of the 115 players went on to play at least one game in the National Hockey League. Three of the 115 went on to have stellar NHL careers and eventually get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gilbert Perreault - 1990

Gilbert Perreault getting chosen first overall by the expansion Buffalo Sabres came down to a spin of the wheel. In deciding which of the two new teams would choose first, Buffalo and Vancouver each took a spin of ‘crown and anchor’ type wheel with Buffalo winning. The Sabres took Perreault and the Canucks took defenseman Dale Tallon.

Perreault was coming off a dominant junior season in the OHA, scoring 51 goals and totalling 121 points in 54 games for the Montreal Junior Canadiens. He finished second in the race for the Eddie Powers Trophy to Marcel Dionne of the St. Catherines Black Hawks, who finished with 132 points. Dionne would go second overall to the Detroit Red Wings in the 1971 draft.

Gilbert played his entire career with the Sabres, from 1970-71 to 1986-87. To this day, he is arguably the franchise’s greatest player. In his first season, he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie while scoring 38 goals and assisting on 34 others. That, coupled with the Lady Byng Trophy he won in 1972-73 would be the only major individual awards Perreault would win. He finished his career with 512 goals and 1,326 points. Gilbert Perreault was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990.

Darryl Sittler - 1989

Darryl Sittler was taken in the eighth position by the Toronto Maple Leafs after playing three years of junior hockey with the OHA’s London Knights. Although an immediate regular with Toronto, Sittler was a bit slower to start than his counterpart in Buffalo. In his first two seasons, Darryl contributed just 50 points in 123 regular season games.

Sittler played nearly 1,100 regular season games in the NHL between 1970-71 and 1984-85 with the Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings. Never a Stanley Cup winner and never the recipient of a major NHL individual award, Darryl did have two 100+ points seasons with Toronto and ended his career with 484 goals and 1,121 points. Darryl Sittler was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989.

Billy Smith - 1993

NHL teams rarely select goaltenders in the early rounds of the draft. Thus was the case with Billy Smith. The junior star with the Cornwall Royals of the QMJHL was taken down in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Kings, 59^th overall. Smith played just five games with the Kings in 1971-72 but became a regular with the New York Islanders in their inaugural season, 1972-73.

Smith was mostly New York’s number one goalie until he retired after the 1988-89 season. He viscously guarded between the pipes as the Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1979-80 to 1982-83. Billy was awarded the Vezina Trophy in 1981-82 and received the Conn Smythe Trophy the following season as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Billy Smith was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.