1975 Off-Season

1975 Entry Draft

The 1975 PHL entry draft was another strong one. Bruce Gratton was the first selection, going to the Dallas Metros. Gratton led the Western junior League’s Edmonton Drillers in scoring two years in a row, leading them to a league title in 1975. Washington took center Jeff Leroy second. Leroy is a big center from Manitoba who led the WJHL’s Red Deer Cowboys to the league semifinals. Toronto took defenseman Doug Nichol third overall, hoping he would anchor the Racer blue line along with Todd Beirness. Pittsburgh selected speedy winger Dave Farris with the fourth pick. Farris is an American kid who moved to Toronto at age 12 and played hockey for the first time at age 15. In only three years, Farris went from a beginner in house league, to a dominant force in the Ontario Junior League. Vancouver finally got their much-coveted goaltender in Chris Withrow to round out the top 5 picks. Other interesting picks included Seattle’s Jake Fairbanks from Cornell University, the highest pick ever from a US college, while Denver selected the first-ever Finnish born player in PHL history, Jani Kaaleppi.

1.      Dallas – Bruce Gratton, F

2.      Washington – Jeff Leroy, F

3.      Toronto – Doug Nichol, D

4.      Pittsburgh – Dave Farris, F

5.      Vancouver – Chris Withrow, G

6.      Seattle – Jake Fairbanks, F

7.      Quebec – Etienne St. Laurent F

8.      St. Louis – Kevin Cummins F

9.      Winnipeg – Pascal Renaud G

10.   Boston – Casey Oaks F

11.   Calgary – Ron Borden F

12.   California – Jacques Lambert D

13.   Denver – Jani Kaaleppi F

14.   Detroit – Mike Rigby D

15.   Philadelphia – Kevin Whitmore F

16.   Nova Scotia – Darian Peeler D

17.   Montreal – Adam Olsen F

18.   Chicago – Rob Saskin F

19.   New York – Bryan Trask F

20.   LA – Trent Rawling D

21.   Ottawa – Rob Ashley F

22.   Minnesota – Doug Lindley F

Rule Changes:

The playoff format is expanded to 16 teams.

Retirements:

Doug West, D, Detroit, Winnipeg, Boston (1954-1975)

Doug West retires as one of the greatest defensemen of all time. West spent the first 12 seasons of his career with Detroit alongside his brother, Sam. Together, the West brothers helped lift the Mustangs from the league basement to their first Lewis Cup victory in 1963. In 1966, both West brothers left Detroit to join the expansion Winnipeg Pioneers. Doug was named the Pioneers’ captain, leading them to a division title in 1970 before moving on to Boston, where he helped the Bulldogs win the Lewis Cup in 1971. After three seasons in Boston, West returned to Detroit just in time for the tail-end of their dynasty, winning his third championship with the team he started with in 1974. He had planned to retire but returned for one last season with the Mustangs.

Bobby Cole, G, Detroit, 1960-1975

Bobby Cole’s career started slowly. He was recruited by the Detroit Mustangs at age 17 in 1953, but did not crack the lineup until the 1960-61 season when he was 24. Cole immediately made history in his debut on January 26, 1961 when he became the first goalie in PHL history to permanently wear a mask, which he had been wearing in the minors since suffering a serious concussion in 1958. Cole would win his debut and go on to backstop the Mustangs to a Lewis Cup title two years later. By decade’s end, Cole had developed into one of the best goaltenders ever to play the game. Between 1969 and 1974, Cole played a key part of a Detroit dynasty that saw the Mustangs win four Cups in six seasons.

Ben Williams, F, Quebec, 1955-1975

For two decades, Ben Williams was a fan-favorite in Quebec. When the Sarnia, ON native arrived in Quebec in 1955, he was one of the only non-Quebec born players on the Nationale roster. He soon won the fans over, however, with his hard-nosed play and scoring touch. Williams would team up with a young Gilbert Giroux during the early 1960s to lead Quebec to four Lewis Cups in six seasons, including three straight from 1960 to ’62.

Transactions

Detroit trades F Bjorn Rasmussen to St. Louis in exchange for F Dave Hughes.

Rasmussen joins his fourth team in his career to provide leadership for a young, rebuilding team, while Hughes joins a rebuilding Detroit team.

LA trades D Todd Clinton to Chicago in exchange for D Don Sims.

LA beefs up their blue line with veteran Don Sims while Chicago gets a solid young D-man in Hughes.

News

In the wake of Skippy Cleveland’s death, the New York Civics and Calgary Wranglers both announced they would honor him by retiring his number 3. The PHL however, had no plans to retire it league-wide, until Boston veteran Don Greer announced that he was switching to number 33. Greer encouraged every other number 3 in the league to change their number in honor of Skippy. The players happily complied. I’m proud and happy to give up number 3 in honor of Skippy Cleveland.” Said LA forward Jack Carson, who switched to number 6. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one number 3, and that’s Skippy Cleveland.”

In July, Alan Garcia revealed some details about the World Hockey Challenge. The tournament will take place in September, 1976 in Toronto and feature six countries, Canada, USA, Soviet Union, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. It will be a round-robin format with the top two teams facing each other in the final. Rosters will be revealed at the conclusion of the 1975-76 PHL regular season.