les_glorieux Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 (edited) I don't know if it was on this board, but I remember seeing a link to an article about the Canadiens' draft history. It discussed the issue of the Habs getting first shot at francophone players. Thanks for the help! Edited March 27, 2007 by les_glorieux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 before the draft, each team got regional rights to players. I believe it was a 50 mile region (maybe more). So, if a player was from mississauga his rights (if claimed) belonged to the Maple Leafs, if he was from quincy his rights belonged to the Bruins, and if from longueuil he belonged to the canadiens. This generally entitled the canadiens to the top francophone players. In order to get the votes to bring in the draft, the league gave montreal a few years where they could get a first crack at (i think) the first 2 quebec-born players before the draft stared. I think this system lasted for like 3-5 years. First draft was in '63 and montreal's special right had definitely lapsed by 1971 when they traded for the right to draft lafleur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 A very good situation for the Habs... Hockey was a lot more political at this time. Imagine the same today : Lecavalier, Brière, Tanguay... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les_glorieux Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 In order to get the votes to bring in the draft, the league gave montreal a few years where they could get a first crack at (i think) the first 2 quebec-born players before the draft stared. I think this system lasted for like 3-5 years. First draft was in '63 and montreal's special right had definitely lapsed by 1971 when they traded for the right to draft lafleur. Yeah it'd be good to know when that was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexstream Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 before the draft, each team got regional rights to players. I believe it was a 50 mile region (maybe more). So, if a player was from mississauga his rights (if claimed) belonged to the Maple Leafs, if he was from quincy his rights belonged to the Bruins, and if from longueuil he belonged to the canadiens. This generally entitled the canadiens to the top francophone players. In order to get the votes to bring in the draft, the league gave montreal a few years where they could get a first crack at (i think) the first 2 quebec-born players before the draft stared. I think this system lasted for like 3-5 years. First draft was in '63 and montreal's special right had definitely lapsed by 1971 when they traded for the right to draft lafleur. yeah, it definitly ended before the best dynasty ever. also, if i recall, it only lasted for a couple of years after the 1st draft, really for not so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 yeah, it definitly ended before the best dynasty ever. also, if i recall, it only lasted for a couple of years after the 1st draft, really for not so long. If that were the case still there would be more than 24 Banners hanging in the rafters, but the Leafs wouldn't be on almost 40 years either. A guy by the name of Gretzky would have fallen within their region. Knowing Ballard though he would have sold him for peanuts. Can you imagine some of the Habs lineups in the 70's and 80's. Bossy with Lafleur Mario in the Bleu Blanc et Rouge....ah to dream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beliveau1 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Originally teams could basically purchase the rights to certain players by sponsoring the town and it's hockey program. In other words any player in that particular minor hockey system would then be playing for said NHL team. I grew up playing in the Boston system as I played minor hockey in New Liskeard - Boston had targeted a player in that system a few years earlier. It was their first rights to any player they wanted in that system and they had the right to 'card' that player - if they weren't interested then other teams could approach him. It was a loose based system that saw scouts out there fighting to find and sign any player they were interested in? In the case of Montreal, they had for years the first call on the 2 Quebec born players, so they could grab the 2 best players from the province that interested them. The rest were under the same scramble as the other provinces were. This ended about 2 years(?) prior to Lafleur was eligible for the draft. That is not the best or an exact description of the system, but it is a simplified explanation of how this worked way back when - before the draft was instituted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 That situation only was in effect for a couple of years. It actually hurt Montreal more than helped them, contrary to popular myth. The first year (1968, I believe) there was no local talent to speak of. In the 1969 draft, there were several top Francophone prospects, but Montreal also had to give up their top two picks in exchange. They drafted Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif. But the top player on their list that year played in the WHL. Sam Pollock was desperately hoping that he might last to the third round due to a congenital health problem. He lasted through the first round, but in the second round, Philadelphia drafted a skinny kid with epilepsy named Bobby Clarke. Sam Pollock said that he would have forfeited his terretorial selections gladly for the the chance to draft Clarke. The following year the NHL ended the experiment due because of expansion (Buffalo and Vancouver) and the fact that Gilbert Perreault was clearly the best prospect available. Hard to rewrite history, but I have to think that Montreal would have been much further ahead with Bobby Clarke and another player than Houle and Tardif, who actually spent their best seasons in the WHA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beliveau1 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 That situation only was in effect for a couple of years. It actually hurt Montreal more than helped them, contrary to popular myth. The first year (1968, I believe) there was no local talent to speak of. In the 1969 draft, there were several top Francophone prospects, but Montreal also had to give up their top two picks in exchange. They drafted Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif. But the top player on their list that year played in the WHL. Sam Pollock was desperately hoping that he might last to the third round due to a congenital health problem. He lasted through the first round, but in the second round, Philadelphia drafted a skinny kid with epilepsy named Bobby Clarke. Sam Pollock said that he would have forfeited his terretorial selections gladly for the the chance to draft Clarke. The following year the NHL ended the experiment due because of expansion (Buffalo and Vancouver) and the fact that Gilbert Perreault was clearly the best prospect available. Hard to rewrite history, but I have to think that Montreal would have been much further ahead with Bobby Clarke and another player than Houle and Tardif, who actually spent their best seasons in the WHA. Tardif yes - he did little in Montreal, but Houle was a fairly vital part of that 70's dynasty. The line of Tremblay, Houle and Lambert were a very high energy trio that played an important role. Many a night they stepped up with vital contributions when the big line was being shut down..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les_glorieux Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 Sources anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beliveau1 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 (edited) The C form was the standard document issued by the National Hockey League to acquire amateur players in the Original Six era. Prior to the Universal Draft of 1969, amateur drafts were for players who were not on a sponsorship list. The form, which usually led to a professional contract, would be signed by an amateur prospect at age 18 and it was permissible to be renewed only once. The player would usually be a member of a junior team that was affiliated with a National Hockey League franchise. There was a popular view at the time that parents signed very young children's hockey lives over to the teams. This comes from the fact that at the time, most Junior clubs were owned or subsidised by NHL teams, and usually subsidised minor hockey in their areas. However, a prospect had to be 18 years of age or older to sign a C-Form. Players as young as 14 could be put on a 4-name future negotiation list (as was the case for Bobby Orr in 1962) NHL Draft History - Wikipedia In other words you sponsored a towns hockey program and had first dibs on any player in that system, but the player had to be 18 to be put on an official signature card. I think the first 2 Quebec players option started around 1963? It really ended with expansion in 1970 - the year Perreault was first overall(69 saw Montreal get the first 2 picks) :?- Could you imagine him on that 70's dynasty too? other oddities the Habs had In 1936 after a horrible finish the NHL granted Montreal the absolute rights to all French-Canadian players for 2 seasons. Leaf owner Conn Smythe was afraid the NHL's oldest franchise would fold(several already had thanks to the depression era) so he actually persuaded the owners of the Canadiens to hire Dick Irvin who was then coach of Smythe's Leafs - the rest is history and the Leafs have paid the price for that one!!!! Edited March 27, 2007 by beliveau1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortcat1 Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 i know that this is only vaguely related but one of the things that attracted me to the canadiens was the french-canadiens on the team... it was so much easier for a young french-canadien to relate to a beliveau, a richard, a provost, etc than it was to related to a mahovlich or a hull or a howe or a... GO :hlogo: GO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobRock Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Philadelphia drafted a skinny kid with epilepsy named Bobby Clarke. Bobby's diabetic, not epileptic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Right you are. Anyway, what I read was that Pollock and Co. would have taken Clarke with their first pick if they had the chance. If you had to choose, they probably would have been better off with Clarke than any of the local players they drafted under that rule. Or even all of the local players they drafted. Might have brought them a couple of extra Cups during the Flyers heyday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beliveau1 Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Right you are. Anyway, what I read was that Pollock and Co. would have taken Clarke with their first pick if they had the chance. If you had to choose, they probably would have been better off with Clarke than any of the local players they drafted under that rule. Or even all of the local players they drafted. Might have brought them a couple of extra Cups during the Flyers heyday. yeah there were a lot of picks from Quebec over the years that were busts unfortunately - but then there have been a lot of picks from all over the map that didn't pan out. As Bill Torrey always said, it's a crap shoot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.