Well Known Coaches of the 1963-64 CPHL

1963-64 was the first year of the Central Professional Hockey League, a minor pro league that existed from 1963-64 to 1983-84. The league changed its name to the Central Hockey League in 1968-69 but is not related to the current CHL. The coaches of the five teams were all established hockey men who are still mostly well known today.

In 1963-64, the league consisted of five teams with each playing a 72 game schedule. The Omaha Knights finished first overall with 97 points, 17 better than the second place St. Paul Rangers. The Knights and Rangers met in the playoff finals with Omaha coming out victorious in five games. St. Paul took the first game of the series 2-1 before the Knights won four straight by scores of 11-0, 3-0, 7-4 and 6-2.

The league’s scoring leader was Alain Caron of the St. Louis Braves with 77 goals and 125 points. A young Phil Esposito was in his second year of professional hockey and split the season between the Chicago Black Hawks and the St. Louis Braves. Despite playing just 43 games, Esposito finished sixth in the league with 80 points.

Scotty Bowman – Omaha Knights

The Omaha Knights had two head coaches during the 1963-64 CPHL season. Scotty Bowman coached the team’s first eight games before heading to Montreal to coach a minor league team there. The Knights went a perfect 8-0 under Bowman. Scotty went on to coach in the National Hockey League from 1967-68 to 2001-02 with the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He won nine Stanley Cup championships, five with Montreal, one with Pittsburgh and three with Detroit.

Bill McCreary – Omaha Knights

Bill McCreary stepped in after Bowman left town. He acted as a player / head coach and it was his only year coaching with Omaha. McCreary coached three partial NHL seasons in the early 1970’s with the St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks and California Seals. Bill was a veteran of 309 NHL regular season games between 1954-55 and 1970-71 with the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues.

Fred Shero – St. Paul Rangers

Fred Shero did not win a CPHL championship with the St. Paul Rangers in 1963-64 but did go on to win championships in the IHL, AHL, CHL and NHL. Fred was head coach in the National Hockey League from 1971-72 to 1980-81 with the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. He was the first ever recipient of the Jack Adams Award in 1973-74 as the NHL’s coach of the year.  He played 145 regular season NHL games between 1947-48 and 1949-50, all with the Rangers.

Harry Sinden – Minneapolis Bruins

Harry Sinden of the Minneapolis Bruins was another CPHL player / head coach. He played for Minneapolis for the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons. Sinden is most famous for his head coaching job with the Boston Bruins between 1966-67 and 1969-70. He led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup championship in 1969-70, with the help of Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. Sinden also returned for interim stints behind the Boston bench in 1979-80 and 1984-85.

Walter ‘Gus’ Kyle – St. Louis Braves

Walter ‘Gus’ Kyle was in his last year of coaching with the 1963-64 St. Louis Braves. In 1958-59, he coached the Calgary Stampeders to a WHL championship. Kyle played 203 games in the NHL between 1949-50 and 1951-52 with the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins.

Tony Leswick – Indianapolis Capitols / Cincinnati Wings

Tony Leswick had the dubious job of coaching the Indianapolis Capitols in 1963-64. After an explosion wrecked their arena just nine games into the season, the Capitals moved east to Cincinnati for the remainder of the season and were known as the Cincinnati Wings. The team won just 12 of their 72 games and finished dead last in the league. Leswick played 740 regular season games in the NHL between 1945-46 and 1957-58 with the Rangers, Red Wings and Black Hawks. He scored the winning goal in overtime of game seven of the 1953-54 Stanley Cup finals to give Detroit the victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

 

Dallas Stars Single Season Scoring Records

The Dallas Stars were originally the Minnesota North Stars, an expansion team in 1967-68 that played in Minnesota until the end of the 1992-93 season. The Stars have been in Dallas since 1993-94 but still include the history and tradition from the North Stars days. All the franchise’s current scoring records came from the team’s days as the North Stars.

Most Goals in a Single Season

Two players hold the record for most goals in a single season at 55. Dino Ciccarelli was the first to accomplish this feat in 1981-82. It was his first of two 50 goal seasons with the North Stars, scoring 52 in 1986-87. Dino played with Minnesota from 1980-81 until 1988-89. He continued to complete in the NHL until the end of the 1998-99 season with the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.

Ciccarelli ended his NHL career with 608 goals, the 17^th highest total all-time. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. He holds the record for most goals in a season with another hockey club, as well. In 1977-78, Dino scored 72 goals with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights. That count stands today as a team record.

Brian Bellows equalled Ciccarelli’s mark of 55 goals in 1989-90. It would be the only time in his career that Bellows would cross the 50 goal plateau, but ended up with 485 in total. Brian was the second overall pick at the 1982 NHL Entry Draft by the North Stars. He played with the team from 1982-83 to 1991-92. He played in the NHL until the end of the 1998-99 season with the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Washington Capitals.

Most Assists in a Single Season

Neal Broten holds the Stars record for most assists in a season with 76 in 1985-86. For the third round pick of the North Stars in 1979, it was a career high. Broten played with Minnesota from 1980-81 to 1994-95. He played two more seasons in the NHL, split between the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings. Neal’s number 7 is one of just three Dallas Stars retired numbers.

Most Points in a Single Season

Bobby Smith set the mark for most points in a season with 114 in 1981-82. The first overall pick at the 1978 NHL Entry Draft by Minnesota played with the club from 1978-79 to 1983-84, then again from 1990-91 to 1992-93. In between, he played for the Montreal Canadiens. Smith stampeded into the league in 1978-79, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. The previous season, Bobby set the OHL’s current marks for assists and points with 123 and 192 as a member of the Ottawa 67’s.

 

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.