Re-writing NHL History: An Introduction
An introduction to my revised NHL history using Franchise Hockey Manager 4.
The NHL landscape was changed forever on February 9, 1966. That day, the NHL Board of Governors awarded expansion franchises to six U.S. cities to begin play in the 1966–67 season. The decision to double the league’s size from six teams to 12 marked the end of the hockey’s Original Six era and the beginning of the “Modern Era.”
This was a golden era for hockey. In the 1965–66 season, when the NHL expanded, more than two dozen future Hall of Famers graced the roster of the Original Six. All six teams were selling out their arenas on a nightly basis and advances in air travel made it possible for teams from opposite coasts to play each other.
The NHL opted to give franchises to two west coast cities: Los Angeles and San Francisco. The San Francisco franchise would ultimately end up playing across the bay in Oakland. Minneapolis-St. Paul received a franchise, bringing the NHL to the hockey hotbed of Minnesota. Two Pennsylvania cities, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, received teams. Both had previously been home to a failed NHL franchises known as the Pittsburgh Pirates in the late 1920s and known as the Philadelphia Quakers for one season in the early 1930s. The final expansion city, St. Louis was granted a team in part to win the support of Blackhawks owners James Norris and Arthur Wirtz, who also owned St. Louis Arena and needed a full-time tenant.
I will be building an expansion team from scratch in this NHL historical replay using the game Franchise Hockey Manager 4. FHM4 has some bugs, but its historical mode can’t be found anywhere else and the game has improved to the point that I’m comfortable doing a full historical sim.
For this dynasty, I will be the GM and head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers were the most successful of the early expansion teams, winning Stanley Cups in 1973–74 and 1974–75. However, the team has failed to win a title in more than 40 years despite regularly appearing in the playoffs. My goal is to build the Flyers into a consistent champion over many years, not just during the Broad Street Bullies era.
I will be starting with a clean slate and conduct the 1967 Expansion Draft myself to build an entirely new roster for the Flyers. In order to participate in the expansion draft, FHM4 requires playing the previous season. This historical replay will therefore begin with a simulation of the 1966–67 season. I will take over the Flyers for the start of the 1967 offseason.
