The L.A. Kings had free claim on young Bernie Parent, but he slipped through their fingers and on to stardom in Philadelphia.
The St. Louis Blues picked Glenn Hall even though he was retired, then talked him back in net for three straight Stanley Cup finals. The Oakland Seals, whom experts thought assembled the best team, finished last in their inaugural season and last or second-last in their nine tortured years of existence.
So when Kings GM Larry Regan says he made “a terrible mistake” in the NHL’s memorable 1967 expansion draft, he wasn’t alone, nor were the Blues and Flyers the only savvy selectors that day at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.