June 25th was an important date for the National Hockey League and its growth from six to 32 teams soon. Also, this date has brought us some significant rule changes, a new Postseason Award, and a whole host of new Superstars. So let’s jump aboard the THW time machine and enjoy all the best moments.
Expansion is the word of the day
The NHL laid the groundwork for expansion on June 25, 1965. This was the date when the league announced its intent to expand into new cities with a “major league center”. Two years later, the league had doubled from six to 12 teams when the California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Cardinals all started.
Four more teams were officially added to the league on this date in 1997. The NHL announced that the Nashville Predators would become the 27thy The team when it started playing in the 1998-99 season. The following season, the Atlanta Thrashers would join the ranks. They also announced that the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild would push the NHL to 30 teams at the start of the 2000-01 season.
Two years later, on June 25, 1999, the Thrashers filled out their roster for the Boston Expansion Draft. The Thrashers selected 26 players, one from each team except the Predators. Each team was allowed to protect either one goalkeeper, five defenders, and nine forwards or two goalkeepers, three defenders, and seven forwards. Teams that lost a goalkeeper in the previous year’s expansion draft cannot lose one this time around.
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The Thrashers had to select at least three goalkeepers, eight defensemen, and 13 forwards. The last two options can be from any situation. Their first pick was guard Trevor Kidd of the Carolina Hurricanes. Some of the other notable picks included Jamie Boushor, Marc Tenordi, Kelly Bushberger, and Steve Staius.
Prior to the draft, Atlanta acquired multiple players via trade, including Damien Rhodes and Ulf Samuelsson. Kidd, a first pick, was traded to the Florida Panthers for Gord Murphy, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Herberts Vasiljevs, and Justin Cox in the 1999 NHL Entry Round.
2010 brings an outstanding draft class
The NHL Entry Draft began on June 25, 2010, as 30 NHL teams gathered in Los Angeles. The Edmonton Oilers used the first overall pick to select Taylor Hall from the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. This was the first of three consecutive years with the Oilers selected first. They chose Ryan Nugent Hopkins in 2011 and Neil Yakubov in 2012.
The first round was full of future stars, including Tyler Seguin (2Abbreviation IIBoston Bruins), Ryan Johansen (4yBlue Jackets), Jeff Skinner (7yHurricanes), Cam Fowler (12yAnaheim Ducks), Vladimir Tarasenko (16yBlues), Yevgeny Kuznetsov (26yWashington Capitals), Charlie Coyle (28ySan Jose Sharks) and Brooke Nelson (30yNew York Islands).
Some of the best shots after the first round were Justin Volk (37yHurricanes), Tyler Toffoli (47yKings), Jason Zucker (59yWild), Brian Rust (80yPenguins), John Klingberg (131streetDallas Stars), Michael Ferland (133Research and developmentCalgary Flames), Brendan Gallagher (147yMontreal Canadiens), Mark Stone (178yOttawa Senators) and Frederick Anderson (187yTornadoes).
New rules, trophy
June 25, 1998, was a busy day for the NHL as they announced some rule changes and a new postseason award. First, the goal lines would be moved 11 to 13 feet away from the end boards, thus shortening the neutral zone. Also, the system of two rulers was slowly implemented. The league announced that there would be two on-ice referees for each team’s 20 during the 1998-99 season, 25 the following season, and would be used for every game starting in the 2000-01 season.
They also created the Maurice Richard Trophy, which is now awarded to the player who leads the league in goals each season. The first winner was Teemu Selanne, who scored 47 goals for the Ducks during the 1998-99 season. Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals has received the award nine times in his career so far. No other player has won it more than twice.
Jokes and wonders
The Chicago Blackhawks made a very wise move on June 25, 1979. They had originally drafted Real Cloutier ninth overall in the 1976 NHL Entry Draft, but decided to stay with the World Hockey League’s Quebec Nordiques. When the WHA folded, and the Nordiques joined the NHL, Cloutier’s rights were still held by the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks received Quebec’s first-round selection in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft in agreement not to take Cloutier back. They used this pick to select Hall of Famer Denis Savard.
The Kings made some major changes on June 25, 1992. They hired Nick Beverly as their new general manager, who soon named Barry Melrose as their new head coach. The Kings reached the Stanley Cup Final but lost to the Canadiens in their first season under Beverly and Melrose. However, the partnership was not long-term as Beverley resigned in May 1994, and Melrose was released after the 1994-95 season.
The Hockey Hall of Fame announced its newest class of members on June 25, 1993. The group includes Islanders goaltender and four-time Stanley Cup winner Billy Smith, along with Steve Shute and Guy Lapointe, who were key members of the Canadiens dynasty in the 1970s. New York Rangers Edgar LaPrade also did the trim, with builders Seymour Knox III and Frank Griffiths.
On June 25, 2021, the Tampa Bay Lightning punched a ticket to their second straight Stanley Cup Final after eliminating the New York Islanders 1-0 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. Now former Lightning and current Seattle Kraken Yanni Gord scored twice in the second period as Andrei Vasilevsky made 18 saves in the win. Veteran striker Patrick Maroun became the first player since Marc-Andre Fleury in 2016-18 (Penguins, Golden Knights) to reach three consecutive cup finals.
happy birthday
Doug Gilmour leads 25 current and former NHL players who share their birthday today. Gilmore, born June 25, 1963, played 20 seasons in the NHL after being drafted in the seventh round of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft by the Blues. He scored 450 goals and 1,414 points in 1,474 games with the Blues, Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabers and Canadiens.
After scoring 26 goals and 85 points during the 1988-89 regular season, he scored 11 goals and 22 points to carry the Flames to their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. He seemed to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final with the Maple Leafs in 1993 when he scored 10 goals and 25 points in 21 playoff games, but they lost to the Kings in a memorable seven-game Final.
Gilmour had a career-high 134 drafted meny Total. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011, and his number 93 has been retired by the Maple Leafs.
Other players born on this date include Ken Hodge (79), Greg Milne (66), Todd Redden (52), Robert Reichel (52), Glenn Metropolitan (49), Jonas Enroth (35), Jaden Schwartz (31) , Jordan Oesterle (31) and Mikhail Sergachev (25).
* Originally built by Greg Boysen