1966 NHL amateur draft

1966 NHL amateur draft
1966 NHL amateur draft
General information
Date(s)	April 25, 1966
Location	Mount Royal Hotel; Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Overview
	24 total selections in 4 rounds
First selection	Barry Gibbs; (Boston Bruins)
Hall of Famers	1 D Brad Park;
	← 1965 1967 →

The 1966 NHL amateur draft was the fourth NHL entry draft. It was held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec on the off-day between games one and two of the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals.^[1]

This draft is notable for being the first in which the majority of the players selected (19 of 24 picks) came from top-tier junior teams which would, in the succeeding years, reorganize into Major Junior Hockey in Canada. Perhaps anticipating these changes, and looking to make the draft more competitive in advance of the 1967 NHL expansion, league president Clarence Campbell announced a plan eight months later to restructure rookie contracts and phase out direct sponsorship of junior hockey teams by NHL clubs.

Selections by round

Listed below are the selections in the 1966 NHL amateur draft.

= NHL All-Star^[a] ·

= Hall of Famers

Round one

#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
1	Barry Gibbs (D)	Canada	Boston Bruins	Estevan Bruins (SJHL)
2	Brad Park (D)	Canada	New York Rangers	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
3	Terry Caffery (C)	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
4	John Wright (C)	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	West Clair Gaels (OHA)
5	Phil Myre (G)	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Shawinigan Bruins (QJHL)
6	Steve Atkinson (RW)	Canada	Boston Bruins	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
^[2]

Round two

#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
7	Rick Smith (D)	Canada	Boston Bruins	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
8	Joey Johnston (LW)	Canada	New York Rangers	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
9	Ron Dussiaume (LW)	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
10	Cam Crosby (LW)	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
11	Maurice St. Jacques (C)	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	London Nationals (OHA)
12	Jim Whittaker (D)	Canada	Detroit Red Wings	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
^[2]

Round three

#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
13	Garnet Bailey (LW)	Canada	Boston Bruins	Edmonton Oil Kings (AJHL)
14	Don Luce (C)	Canada	New York Rangers	Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
15	Larry Gibbons (D)	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Markham Waxers (OHA)
16	Rick Ley (D)	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
17	Jude Drouin (C)	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Verdun Maple Leafs (QJHL)
18	Lee Carpenter (D)	Canada	Detroit Red Wings	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA
^[2]

Round four

#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
19	Tom Webster (RW)	Canada	Boston Bruins	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
20	Jack Egers (RW)	Canada	New York Rangers	Kitchener Greenshirts (OHA)
21	Brian Morenz (LW)	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Oshawa Generals (OHA)
22	Dale MacLeish (C)	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
23	Bob Pate (D)	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
24	Grant Cole (G)	Canada	Detroit Red Wings	St. Michael's Buzzers (OHA)
^[2]