Montreal/St. Louis Stanley Cup Final 1968

[woodyt56]

The highest priced seats those days at the Old Barn were the "parquet" seats, 8 bucks a ticket. Might have been as high as $10 for Cup finals.

[FRSDailyTimes]

The St. Louis Blues were very competitive from day one

[SenhordoBonfim]

I love these old films with Dan Kelly doing the narration. The NHL's version of NFL Films...

[stratovani]

@ :46 So that's where Tim Thomas learned to stop a puck with his stick!

[industrialsun]

Last game for HoFer Toe Blake. HoFer Dickie Moore also retired after series ended.

[Cheessa]

The 1968 season was the first year I remember watching hockey. 

[MARILYN19481]

Glenn Hall won the Conn Smythe trophy.

[buschnic61]

Gump,Glen Hall AND young Scotty Bowman-sweeet!!-thanks

[dadoctor19]

I guess this would have been the last Stanley Cup finals series where both goaltenders played without masks.

Those guys had a lot of guts to play without face protection.

[ErikS1975FreeState]

Its pretty impressive that the Blues even made it this far being an expansion team

[ldhorricks]

@ErikS1975FreeState not really considering that the all of the 67 expansion teams were lumped into one one division (west)...

[roaringchicken92]

Great seeing Glenn Hall (and his perfect Brylcreem hair) and the Gumper again. Brass balls to play w/o a mask, but having a mask meant you warmed the bench in the playoffs, right Jacques/Rogie? :-)

[ldhorricks]

Love those expansion year uniforms...I have Jerseys (replicas of course) of all 12 teams from 1967...still looking for an L.A. Kings Home Purple, and a St. Louis Home Blue Jersey.

[GmanGregilla]

From 0:53 to 1:03 was a good string of plays made by the Blues, but, what kind of a save attempt was that from the Habs' Worsley? Jeez.

[switchhitter07]

Glenn Hall was great in the '68 playoffs, and I believe he won the Conn Smythe that year. St. Louis just didnt have enough offense to win when it came down to it. Had they had any offense, St. Louis may have one at least one stanley cup during that era. But thats a maybe.

[Scoclamor]

@switchhitter07 He won it alright! The Blues lost every game by 1 goal!

[euro3b]

the music reminds me of Scooby Doo

[azcactus2008]

I'm a Blues fan from way back, and I agree the Blues had no right being in the finals. The Blues might have been beaten in 4 games, but it was not a blow out. Glenn Hall kept it close. He was so good, he was the playoff MVP. Not bad for being on the loosing team. The Blues had some great old players out of retirement, Dickie Moore, Al Arbour,,,,,

[wrappindude]

No,it wasn't a close series at all.The Habs outclassed the Blues and won in 4 straight,I repeat,4 straight.The Blues had no business being there to begin with.Any of the original 6 would have beaten them .

[1topscout]

These games were mostly one goal decisions and several went to O.T. Which games were you at?

[clearcoat2000]

What was the N.H.L thinking? 1968, 1969 and 1970 were the worst finals in history. The only time in sport when the two best teams were not in the finals for the championship. St. Louis had no business being in the finals.

[1topscout]

Yeah - you probably don't like the BCS either! That's the problem with a playoff system. The NHL never has the two top teams in the final.

[vidlivs]

The BCS sucks, but who says the NHL never has the top two teams in the final.

Boston and Montreal in the late 70's, Philly and Mtl in 1976, Edmonton and the Islanders in 1983 & 1984, Philly vs Edmonton 1985, Mtl vs Calgary in 1989..etc...

[ldhorricks]

@1topscout I far preferred the more balanced reg season sched and the 1 vs. 16 etc. playoff format...i guess economics and travel got the better of that system.

[midaszone]

I was 11 at the time but I remember it very well. The best Final in history was 1971, Montreal winning 4 games to 3 over Chicago. Game 7 of that series was a classic.

[blank77]

A series my father said,the Blackhawks should have won.He cries to this day about that.

[ldhorricks]

@blank77 uh where do the hawks figure into this series

[ldhorricks]

@midaszone agree...a game for the ages ...right there with game 6 of the 80 finals....remember watching the 71 finals at my uncles place in rural Alberta. Today's game cant remotely compare to the drama and excitement of hockey back then...its all hype now and incredibly dull.

[AJ1161995]

thats so messed up goalies didnt wear helmets still i will always love blues

[hamkey69]

As a native of the St. Louis area, and a lifelong Blues fan, it's great to see so many wonderful memories...such great names from my childhood --- Frank St. Marseille, Barclay and Bob Plager, Noel Picard....and the maskless and outstanding Glenn Hall --- wasn't this the series when Hall won the Conn Smythe trophy???

[doogwood]

the blues were coached by future hall of fame coach scotty bowman...and the blues had some good players....red berenson, and the battling playgers, al arbour, frank ste marseille, phil goyette

[USAGiant]

Dumb question: Was not the Blues an '1st year expansion team' in 1968? If so how did they make the cup finals?

Usually expansion teams suck for the first couple of years.

[westholmes2001]

All the expansion teams were all put into the Western Conference, and the Original Six teams were put into the Eastern Conference, starting in 1967-68. The western teams played each other for a spot, and the eastern teams played for a spot. In 1970, as a part of "competitive balance", the NHL stuck Buffalo and Vancouver in the East, and moved Chicago to the West.

[sulliva]

The series was very close. I think they were all decided by a goal, and one may have gone to OT. The Blues were an expansion team, but they had great goaltending, and they had some tough guys.

[bigdaryle]

Yes, it was a very close series. Two of the games went to OT.

[lameroger]

The Expansion had their own divison while the Orignal Six had their own.

[justsaygary]

Very simple: When the NHL expanded in 1967, the put all six new teams in their own division (the Original Six made up their own division). Hence, the winner of the new division (St. Louis) went to the finals agains Montreal (the winner of their own division).

[DrFlippin]

Heyyyy!!! What the... the goalies aren't wearing masks!?? No helmets on the players, either??!! crazee, crazy.

[lameroger]

I dig that groovy music!

[smellyc]

Nice to see blank boards!

[sdfeinstein]

Isn't that the late great Dan Kelly on the mike...

[KNS1996DFS]

I think you're right. He called the series for CBS.

[webpcgame]

now blues sucks like big milfs

[mozartinlove]

GOD COULDNT BEAT THE CANADIENS !!!

[FischerFan]

I always enjoy watching footage of old hockey.

I'm a diehard Habs fan, and it's strange I found this video only days after Gump Worsley moved on to a better place.

The fledgling Blues were swept in this series, as well as the next two, but not at all embarassed in any of them. And their fans were wonderful. They adored their team in an enthusiastic yet classy style.

And yes, I dig that groovy music.

[renjhab21]

It was great living those days when hockey was hockey. Do you have the rest of it ? As an old time Canadiens fan, it would be great to see Forum part of the playoffs - especially the goal by Duff & Lemaire in the cup winner.

[madmodpo]

gump died yesterday . rip

[BluesFan16]

We were so close