Talk:History of the National Hockey League/1967–1992

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The expansion era of the National Hockey League (NHL) began when six new teams were added for the 1967–68 season, ending the Original Six era. The six existing teams were grouped into the newly created East Division, and the expansion teams—the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues—formed the West Division.

The NHL added another six teams by 1974 to bring the league to 18 teams. This continued expansion was partially brought about by the creation of the World Hockey Association (WHA), which operated from 1972 until 1979 and sought to compete with the NHL for markets and players. Bobby Hull was the most famous player to defect to the rival league, signing a $2.75 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets. When the WHA ceased operations in 1979, the NHL absorbed four of the league's teams—the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets. This brought the NHL to 21 teams (the Cleveland Barons had ceased operations in 1978), a figure that remained constant until the San Jose Sharks joined as an expansion franchise in 1991.

The NHL became involved in international play, starting with the Summit Series in 1972, which pitted the top Canadian players of the NHL against the top players of the Soviet Union. Canada won the eight-game series four wins to three with one tie. The success of the series led to the creation of the Canada Cup, held five times between 1976 and 1991. NHL teams also faced Soviet League teams that toured North America between 1975 and 1991 in what was known as the Super Series. The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 saw many former Soviet-Bloc players stream into the NHL, joining several players who had defected in the 1980s.

This was one of the highest scoring periods in NHL history. It was led in the 1980s by the Edmonton Oilers and Wayne Gretzky, who scored 200 points or more four times, including a current league-record 215 in 1985–86. Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981–82 also remains a league record. No other player in NHL history has scored 200 points, although Mario Lemieux came close in 1988–89 with 199.

Expansion years
In 1963, Rangers governor William Jennings introduced to his peers the idea of expanding the league to the American West Coast by adding two new teams for the 1964–65 season. While the governors did not agree to the proposal, the topic of expansion came up every time the owners met from then on out. In 1965, it was decided to expand by six teams, doubling the size of the NHL. In February 1966, the governors met and decided to award franchises to Los Angeles, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and St. Louis. The league rejected bids from Baltimore, Buffalo and Vancouver. In Canada, there was widespread outrage over the denial of an expansion team to Vancouver in 1967; three years later, the NHL awarded a franchise to Vancouver, which formerly played in the Western Hockey League, for the 1970–71 season, along with the Buffalo Sabres.

On January 13, 1968, North Stars' rookie Bill Masterton became the first, and to date, only player to die as a result of injuries suffered during an NHL game. Early in a game against the Seals, Masterton was checked hard by two players causing him to flip over backwards and land on his head. Masterton was rushed to hospital with massive head injuries, and died there two days later. The National Hockey League Writers Association presented the league with the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy later in the season. Following Masterton's death, players slowly began wearing helmets, and starting in the 1979–80 season, the league mandated all players entering the league wear them.

In the 1968–69 season, second-year defenceman Bobby Orr scored 21 goals to set an NHL record for goals by a defenceman en route to winning his first of eight consecutive Norris Trophies as the league's top defenceman. At the same time, Orr's teammate, Phil Esposito, became the first player in league history to score 100 points in a season, finishing with 126 points. A gifted scorer, Orr revolutionized defencemen's impact on the offensive part of the game, as blue-liners began to be judged on how well they created goals in addition to how well they prevented them. Orr twice won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer, the only defenceman in NHL history to do so. Chronic knee problems plagued Orr throughout his career; he played 12 seasons in the NHL before injuries forced his retirement in 1978. Orr finished with 270 goals and 915 points in 657 games, and he won the Hart Memorial Trophy as league Most Valuable Player thrice.

The 1970s were associated with aggressive, and often violent play. Known as the "Broad Street Bullies", the Philadelphia Flyers are the most famous example of this mindset. The Flyers established league records for penalty minutes—Dave "the Hammer" Schultz' total of 472 in 1974–75 remains a league record. They captured the 1974 Stanley Cup, becoming the first expansion team to win the league championship.

World Hockey Association
In 1972, the NHL faced competition from the newly formed World Hockey Association (WHA). The WHA lured many players away from the NHL. The WHA's biggest coup was to lure Bobby Hull from the Black Hawks to play for the Winnipeg Jets. He signed a $2.75 million contact, and lent instant credibility to the new league. After Hull signed, several other players quickly followed suit and the NHL suddenly found itself in a war for talent. By the time the 1972–73 WHA season began, 67 players had switched from the NHL to the WHA. The NHL also found itself competing with the WHA for markets. Initially, the league had no intention to expand past 14 teams, but the threat the WHA represented caused the league to change its plans. The league hastily announced the creation of the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames as 1972 expansion teams. Following the 1972–73 season, the NHL announced it was further expanding to 18-teams for the 1974–75 season, adding the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals. In just eight years, the NHL had tripled in size to 18 teams. By 1976, both leagues were dealing with serious financial problems. Talk of a merger between the NHL and the WHA was growing. In 1976, for the first time in four decades, the NHL approved franchise relocations; the Scouts moved after just two years in Kansas City to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies, while the California Golden Seals became the Cleveland Barons. Two years later, after failed overtures about merging the Barons with Washington and Vancouver, the Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars, reducing the NHL to 17 teams for 1978–79.

The move towards a merger picked up in 1977 when John Ziegler succeeded Clarence Campbell as NHL president. The WHA folded following the 1978–79 season, while the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets joined the NHL as expansion teams, which brought the league up to 21 teams, a constant until 1991. The merger brought Gordie Howe back to the NHL for one final season in 1979–80, during which he brought his NHL career total to 801 goals and 1,850 points. It was also the last season for the Atlanta Flames. The team averaged only 9,800 fans in attendance and lost over $2 million. They were sold for a record $16 million, and relocated north to become the Calgary Flames in 1980–81. Two years later, the Rockies were sold for $30 million, and left Denver to become the New Jersey Devils for the 1982–83 season.

More dynasties
Although the league expanded to six to 21 teams, dynasties still prevailed in the NHL. In 1980, the New York Islanders won their first of four consecutive Stanley Cups, becoming the second franchise to do so after the Canadiens. With the likes of Billy Smith, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, and Bryan Trottier, the Islanders dominated both the regular season and the playoffs. In 1981, Bossy became the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games since Maurice Richard accomplished that feat in 1945.

In 1982–83, the Edmonton Oilers won the regular season championship. The Oilers were led by Wayne Gretzky, who remained with the Oilers when they joined the NHL in 1979. He scored 137 points in 1979–80 and won the first of nine Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player. Over the next several seasons, Gretzky established new highs in goals scored in a season, with 92 in the 1981–82 season; in assists, with 163 in the 1985–86; and in total points, with 215 in 1985–86. Gretzky also set the record for scoring 50 goals in the fewest number of games, achieving the mark in 39 games. The Islanders and Oilers met in the Finals as New York swept Edmonton for their last Stanley Cup. The following season, the Oilers and Islanders met again in the playoffs. The Oilers won the rematch in five games, marking the start of another dynasty.

Led by Gretzky and Mark Messier, the Oilers won five Stanley Cup championships between 1984 and 1990. On August 9, 1988, Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, in financial trouble, traded Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky's trade to the Kings popularized ice hockey in the United States. With the Kings, Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's record for the most career points. Mario Lemieux led Pittsburgh to Stanley Cups in 1990–91 and 1991–92. A gifted forward, he won six Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer and he scored 199 points in 1988–89, becoming the second highest single-season point scorer behind Gretzky. Lemieux's career was plagued by health issues, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and he retired in 1997. In 2000 he returned and finished his NHL career in 2006 with more than 1,700 points.

Fall of the Iron Curtain
The NHL became first involved in international play in the mid-1970s, starting with the Summit Series in 1972 which pitted the top Canadian players of the NHL against the top players in the Soviet Union. With the eight-game series tied at three wins apiece and a tie, Paul Henderson scooped up a rebound and put it past Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak with 34 seconds left in the eighth and final game to score the series-winning goal.

Whilst European-born players were a part of the NHL since its founding, it was still rare to see them in the NHL until 1980, although the WHA employed a number of them. Borje Salming was the first European star in the NHL and Finns Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen helped lead the Oilers dynasty of the 1980s. The WHA opened the door, and players slowly joined the NHL, but those behind the Iron Curtain were restricted from following suit. In 1980, Peter Stastny, his wife, and his brother Anton secretly fled Czechoslovakia with the aid of Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut. The Stastnys' defection made international headlines, and contributed to the first wave of Europeans' entrance into the NHL. Hoping that they would one day be permitted to play in the NHL, teams drafted Soviet players in the 1980s, 27 in all by the 1988 draft; however, defection was the only way such players could play in the NHL. Shortly before the end of the 1988–89 regular season, Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher announced that he had reached an agreement with Soviet authorities that allowed Sergei Pryakhin to play in North America. It was the first time a member of the Soviet national team was permitted to leave the Soviet Union. Shortly after, Soviet players began to flood into the NHL. Teams anticipated that there would be an influx of Soviet players in the 1990s, as 18 Soviets were selected in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft.