1974 Entry Draft
Perhaps the strongest draft in PHL history took place in
June, 1974. It began when St. Louis set their future in place by selecting
phenom David Appleby first overall. In two seasons in the Ontario junior
league, Appleby shattered nearly every one of the league’s scoring records,
leading the Waterloo Warriors to two consecutive league titles. Mentioned in
the same breath as legends such as Skippy Cleveland and Tommy Cooper, as well
as current stars like Stuart Holly and Gilbert Giroux, Appleby was projected by
some- including Skippy himself- to someday become the greatest scorer of all
time. Seattle and Dallas were both able to select top notch prospects as
cornerstones for their franchises, with the Grey Wolves taking sniper Pete
Holloway and the Metros selecting big power forward Mike Fleming. Washington
took the top defenseman in the draft, Joe Kelly, who the Generals figured would
fit nicely playing alongside star defenseman Craig Tucker, while Pittsburgh
rounded out the top five selecting Dave Breedon, a sniper projected to be a top
scorer but often passed over due to weak skating ability.
1.
St. Louis – David Appleby, F
2.
Seattle – Pete Holloway, F
3.
Dallas – Mike Fleming, F
4.
Washington – Joe Kelly, D
5.
Pittsburgh – Dave Breedon, F
6.
Vancouver – Marcus Renberg, D
7.
Quebec – Ron Plunkett, F
8.
Toronto – Joe Dowling, F
9.
Calgary – Brian Trask, D
10.
Denver – Willy Rowe, D
11.
Winnipeg – Donny McMillen, F
12.
California – Yvon Tremblay, G
13.
Nova Scotia – Ken Butler, F
14.
New York – Dennis Aguilar, F
15.
Boston – Colin Fleming, F
16.
Chicago – Emmett Blake, D
17.
Philadelphia – Pierre-Claude Boutin, F
18.
Ottawa – Randy McCracken, F
19.
Montreal – Benoit Gervais, F
20.
LA – Todd Clinton, D
21.
Minnesota – Kevin Jewett, F
22.
Detroit – Dan Overton, F
Rule Changes:
In July, 1974, Alan Garcia announced that the playoff format
would be expanded to 16 teams beginning in the 1975-76 season.
Retirements:
Will Pratt, D, Hamilton, Calgary, 1961-1974
Will Pratt was one of the only bright spots during the
Hamilton Kings last decade in Hamilton, anchoring the blue line there for seven
years before jumping to the GHL with Calgary in time for the league’s final
season in 1968. Pratt would help lead Calgary to a GHL title that year before
returning to the PHL with the Wranglers the next season, where he would remain
for the following five years.
Randy Kane, D, Nova Scotia, 1959-1974
One of the last original Claymores, Randy Kane provided a
solid presence on the Nova Scotia blueline for all 15 seasons of the teams
existence, winning a Lewis Cup with them in 1967. Later in his career, Kane
became a valuable mentor to young players.
Transactions
Nova Scotia acquires G Tim Underwood from Calgary in
exchange for F Bruce Ricketts.
The Claymores find a more than adequate replacement in net
for expansion draft victim James Steger, while Calgary strengthens their crop
of young forwards.
News
On August 1, 1974, Alan Garcia called a press conference to
make a couple of big announcements. First, Garcia caught everyone off guard
when he announced that Long Island, NY had been awarded an expansion franchise
to begin play in 1976. This was a curious move, as the expansion committee had
clearly been left out of the decision. “This is the best move for the league.”
Said Garcia. “The expansion committee will reconvene in the next few weeks to
determine the second franchise to begin play in 1976. We simply could not turn
down the opportunity that Long Island gave us. A 21,000 seat arena is being
built in the area that will be exclusively owned by the club, we could not very
well say no to that.”
After addressing expansion, Garcia then made the exciting
announcement that the PHL would participate in the first-ever World Hockey
Challenge in the fall of 1976. The World Hockey Challenge will be a six-nation
international tournament to be held every four years featuring the best players
from around the world. Canada, USA, and the Soviet Union are expected to be the
top contenders in the tournament.
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