This Day in Hockey History – March 28, 1967 – Mikita Goes Apple Picking

At the end of the final Original Six season, the Chicago Blackhawks had scoring power houses who pushed the team to the top of the rankings. Back on March 12, 1967, Chicago had clinched the league title, but their players kept pushing for records. Sixteen days later, on March 28, center Stan Mikita set a new record for assists while teammate Bobby Hull faced a setback in his goal-scoring hopes.

The game that night at Chicago Stadium meant nothing as to standing because their opponents, the Detroit Red Wings, would not even make playoffs. However, the Blackhawks ran up the score to 7-2. Mikita started things off with the first goal (his 34th of the season) at 5:53 of the first period. On Chicago’s third goal, at 1:51 into the second period, Mikita assisted Ken Wharram for his 60th assist of the season. This beat the record of 59 regular-season assists that he set in 1964-65. His points for the season totaled 94, which put him only four points from Bobby Hull’s record of 97 points in one regular season. The Chicago Tribune called these “the only significant gains made by either club in the game.”

On the subject of Hull, he had two significant moments during the game. About halfway through the first period, a slapshot of his shattered the glass pane behind Detroit’s goal. The efforts to fill the hole caused a 51-minute delay because the first glass did not fit, the second glass crystalized (like ice), and finally, they installed chicken wire over the opening. Late in the third period, Hull injured himself in response to a teammate’s injury. Defenseman Matt Ravlich’s left ankle twisted until his leg broke when Detroit defenseman Bob Falkenberg grabbed Ravlich by the hips and basically threw him into the boards. Shortly after Ravlich left on a stretcher to be sent to the hospital, Hull checked Falkenberg. Unfortunately, as Hull described, “Falkenberg’s knee just hit mine as I was striding and drove it in. I felt it pop.” Hull’s doctor told him not to play the remaining few games before playoffs, so he could not break his 54-goal record.

After the last regular-season game on April 2, Mikita claimed he should have had another assist on Doug Mohns’ goal in the third period of that game. Official Lamie Crovat said he would belatedly award the assist after checking the films, but the films showed that the original ruling was correct. That meant that Mikita ended the 1966-67 season with two new records and a tied record. His assist on Ken Hodge’s goal at 14:19 of that same third period gave him his 97th point of the season, tying him with Hull for most points in one regular-season. Mikita’s 97 points set a new record for most points by a center, beating Jean Beliveau’s 91 points from 1958-59. Finally, Mikita ended the season with 62 assists to set his record even higher.

With all of these record-setting points, naturally Mikita earned the Art Ross Trophy as the scoring champion. Hull came in second with 80 points. This was Mikita’s third time taking home this trophy, having recently won in 1964 and 1965 with Hull winning it in 1966. In addition, Mikita received the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (as most gentlemanly player) and the Hart Memorial Trophy (as MVP). He remains the only player to win these three major awards all in the same year, and he did it again the next season.

At the end of the 1966-67 season, Chicago also had set records as a team. They had the most goals (264), a record previously held by the Montreal Canadiens from 1961-62 (with 259 goals). Their total points (701) surpassed the Canadiens’ record (of 697) from 1958-59. Within their club, this season set the record for the most wins (41), most game points (94), fewest losses (17), and least goals against (170).

Mikita retired in 1980 after having played all 22 seasons for Chicago, who retired his No. 21 that same year. Just three years later, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2011, a bronze statue of Mikita was placed outside the United Center. At that time, he still led Chicago in regular-season games played (1,394), playoff games played (155), regular-season assists (926), and playoff assists (91).

 Additional Sources:

• Ted Damata, “Hawks’ Cup Chances Hurt by Injuries to Hull, Ravlich,” Chicago Tribune, 29 March 1967, section 3, pp. 1 and 4.
• “Hawks Rewrite Record Book; Win, 8-0,” Chicago Tribune, 3 April 1967, section 3, pp. 1-2.
• “Hawks Find New Ice; No Mark for Mikita,” Chicago Tribune, 4 April 1967, section 3, pp. 1 and 4.
• Brian McFarlane, Brian McFarlane’s History of Hockey (Champaign, Ill.: Sports Publishing Inc., c1997), 99-100.
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2018/10/04/losses-lead-blackhawks-into-new-season/