December 1968: Henderson the Hero
Paul Henderson gives the Flyers a spark with a huge month of December as Philadelphia’s surprise 1968–69 season continues.
Editor’s note: This is a fictional account of the history of the NHL beginning in 1966–67. This narrative was created by playing Franchise Hockey Manager 4. For an introduction to this dynasty, visit: https://medium.com/historical-sports-gaming/re-writing-nhl-history-an-introduction-9ade4d8fe652.
Philadelphia finds itself in a dog fight for first place in the West Division with the Los Angeles Kings as the calendar turns to December. With a tough schedule to open the month, will the Flyers maintain their division lead?
DECEMBER 1968 IN PHILADELPHIA
Transactions: The Flyers got RW Jim Pappin back in the lineup in early December after Pappin missed the first third of the season with an injury. RW Mike Corrigan, who was a healthy scratch every game for the Flyers, was sent down to Quebec of the AHL.
FLYERS’ MONTH IN REVIEW — GAME BY GAME
Dec. 1— L 7–3 at Detroit — The ageless wonder Gordie Howe tallied a hat trick and one assist as the Red Wings win big at the Olympia.
Dec. 4 — L 3–2 at Los Angeles — The Kings jump out early with three goals in the first period and hang on to win. John Ferguson scored twice for Los Angeles.
Dec. 6 — T 5–5 at Oakland —The Flyers’ winless skid hits six with a tie in Oakland. Philadelphia trailed, 5–2, before getting three goals in the final 13 minutes to force the draw.
Dec. 8— W 6–1 vs. St. Louis — The Flyers finally get a win in a huge way. Six different Flyers scored in the game and Noel Picard registered three assists.
Dec. 12— W 5–3 vs. Toronto —Playing just his third game of the season, RW Jim Pappin steals the show with a hat trick, including two goals in the first period for Philadelphia.
Dec. 14 — L 5–0 at Montreal — The Canadiens chase G Tony Esposito out of the game with a four-goal first period and Habs G Roger Crozier earns a 27-save shutout.
Dec. 15— W 5–3 at New York —LW Paul Henderson scored halfway through the third period to break a 3–3 tie and help the Flyers to a big win at Madison Square Garden.
Dec. 17 — W 2–0 vs. Pittsburgh — G Glenn Hall earns his first shutout as a Flyer and Philadelphia gets goals from Henderson and D Ed Van Impe.
Dec. 19 —W 2–1 vs. Minnesota—Second period goals from Pappin and LW Brit Selby are enough for the Flyers to knock off the North Stars. Hall is solid in net again, stopping 18 of 19 shots.
Dec. 21 — W 4–3 at Los Angeles —Down 3–2 with under three minutes left, C Jim Johnson ties the game with a late goal. With 42 second remaining, Van Impe scores from the point to boost the Flyers to a huge win.
Dec. 22 — W 3–2 at Oakland — The Flyers win their fifth straight game with more heroics. RW Gary Dornhoefer deflects a point shot from D Dick Cherry into the net with 24 seconds left for the game-winning goal.
Dec. 25 — L 6–1 vs. New York — The Flyers’ win streak comes to a screeching halt on Christmas Day. Red hot Rod Gilbert leads the Rangers with a goal and three assists.
Dec. 27 — T 4–4 at Detroit — LW Don Blackburn and Dornhoefer each score early in the third period as the Flyers recover from a two-goal deficit and earn a point.
Dec. 29 — T 2–2 vs. Oakland — Every goal in the game was scored in the third period. D Lou Nanne’s second of the season tied the game at 2 with 3:22 remaining.
Team Leaders
Goals — Paul Henderson — 15
Assists — Pat Stapleton and Gord Labossiere — 19
Points —Paul Henderson — 31
Penalty Minutes — Gary Dornhoefer —78
Shots — Paul Henderson —134
Flyers’ Injuries: It was a relatively healthy month for Philadelphia, but there was one major injury. D Noel Picard broke his collarbone late during his three-assist game against St. Louis on Dec. 8. He will be out one to two months, but should be good to go for Philadelphia’s stretch run. D Larry Johnston, who played in two mid-November games for the Flyers, was recalled from Quebec.
My Reaction: The season continues to be a surprising success, but expectations have to be kept in check. The Flyers appear to have settled into position as an average team. It’s clear the team is better than your typical second year expansion team, but the team is also a full step below the elite of the NHL.
It’s amazing how much of a difference the first line is with Jim Pappin. Pappin has been terrific in his first 13 games with the club, averaging a point a game and giving a huge boost to fellow linemate Paul Henderson, who had an outstanding statistical month. The addition of Pappin also bolstered the second line as Gary Dornhoefer has played better being reunited with 1967–68 linemates Gord Labossiere and Brit Selby. One other change that has bolstered the offense has been putting Ross Lonsberry at third line right wing and scratching the struggling Larry Mickey. Lonsberry has seven points in 11 games and C Bryan Campbell is now third on the team in points despite playing the third line. The scoring depth has been a pleasant surprise.
Defense remains the concern about this team. Teams with talented, fast lineups such as Montreal have torched us so far and there’s been games where the defense has been dowright dreadful. Losing Noel Picard has hurt, as the struggling Joe Watson has been badly exposed playing on the second pairing. Lou Nanne also had a number of bad defensive games in December, leaving Philadelphia with little depth at right defense. In goal, Glenn Hall has cemented his role as the starter as he’s played miles better than Tony Esposito this season. Still, defense is an area where we may need to make a move in the next couple months. With some extra depth players available to trade at center, expect to see a move made sooner rather than later.
January’s Schedule: Jan. 2 — vs. Chicago, Jan. 4 — at Pittsburgh, Jan. 5 — vs. Toronto, Jan. 8 — at Toronto, Jan. 9 — vs. New York, Jan. 11 — at Minnesota, Jan. 15 — at St. Louis, Jan. 16 — vs. Montreal, Jan. 18 — vs. Boston, Jan. 19 — vs. Detroit, Jan. 23 — at Chicago, Jan. 25 — at Montreal, Jan. 26 — vs. Pittsburgh, Jan. 30 — vs. Chicago
DECEMBER 1968 IN THE NHL
The preseason Stanley Cup favorites, Chicago, are quietly having a solid season atop a very competitive East Divison. The Black Hawks dropped just three games in December and have generally held on to the top spot in east though the rest of the division remains right on their tails. Little else changed in the East in December as most of the teams were fairly equal. The Bruins finally came back down to earth after their 11-game unbeaten streak in November and Montreal has also drifted back to reality after a fast October. All six teams in the East are within seven points of each other and both Toronto and New York are just one point behind Boston for the East’s final playoff spot. The downside for the defending champion Rangers is they have already played 36 games, more than any team in the East, and still sit in last place.
Unlike the East, there are clearly haves and have nots in the West. It appears first place will be a two-way race between last year’s division champs, the Kings, and the upstart Flyers. Philadelphia leads Los Angeles by six points, but the Kings have three games in hand on the the Flyers. Behind them, the Blues and Seals have played typical, expansion club hockey and have similar records to boot. Both are tied in the standings with 29 points, but St. Louis has three fewer games played than Oakland. Both teams are comfortably in playoff position at the moment thanks to the ineptitude of the bottom feeders of the West. The Penguins finally ended their NHL record 19-game losing streak in early December and won three games in the month, but have no shot of getting back in the playoff race this season. They may have to “battle” for the first pick in next year’s draft with Minnesota, however. The North Stars were a dreadful 2–11–2 in December and head coach John Muckler could be fired any day now. Minnesota is 11 points out of the West’s last playoff spot at this point.
NHL Trades in October —There were a couple deals in December as trade season begins to heat up:
Minnesota trades RW George Swarbrick and D Aut Erickson to Detroit for D Jim Watson — This trade makes no sense for Detroit’s point of view. It appears on its face that they are adding a physical winger who can also score in Swarbrick, but they promptly sent him to the Central League after the trade. Watson has struggled his season like his brother, Joe, but he should improve the North Stars dreadful defensive corps.
Detroit trades RW Terry Gray to Toronto for LW Andre Hinse — Hinse is a nice, offensive-first prospect who could have some productive years in the future, but won’t add anything to Detroit this year. Still, a good trade for the Red Wings as Gray has been a healthy scratch the entire season so far and has yet to appear in a game. Toronto has struggled offensively this year so this trades makes sense, though Gray is a pretty minor addition.
NHL League Leaders
Goals —Jean Ratelle, New York — 24
Assists — Bobby Orr, Boston — 43
Points — Jean Ratelle, New York — 57
Penalty Minutes — Howie Young, Minnesota — 136
Shots — Frank Mahovlich, Toronto —186
Wins — Denis DeJordy, Chicago — 16
Goals Against Average — Denis DeJordy, Chicago — 1.87 (leads starting goalies)
Save Percentage — Gerry Cheevers, Los Angeles — .927 (leads starting goalies)
Players of the Month Awards
Skater of the Month — Rod Gilbert (RW), New York —I’m sort of kicking myself for not trading for Gilbert over the summer. Gilbert had an incredible December with nine goals and 17 assists for an outstanding 26 points! The month included a 16-game point scoring streak that ran more than a month before being snapped against Oakland on Dec. 26.
Goalie of the Month — Roger Crozier, Montreal — Crozier takes this honor for the second straight month for good reason. Crozier earned shutouts in three of his eight starts in December, blanking three teams with winning records: Philadelphia, Chicago and New York. He leads the NHL with five shutouts this season.
