1968-69 O-Pee-Chee 128 Al Arbour Hockey Card (Front)
1968-69 O-Pee-Chee 128 Al Arbour Hockey Card (Back)
1968-69 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
Al was obtained from Maple Leafs in NHL expansion draft, currently captain of the Blues.
En Français
Al fut obtenu des Maple Leafs de Toronto lors du repêchage de l’expansion de la LNH. Il est présentement capitaine des Blues de St-Louis.
Details
Al Arbour was the fifth pick by the St. Louis Blues at the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, 30th overall. He was taken from the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that he’d played just 64 games with since the start of 1961-62. Arbour spent all of 1966-67 in the AHL with the Rochester Americans.
Arbour, a stay-at-home defenseman who had never scored more than three goals in an NHL season, had just one with the Blues in 1967-68. That goal came on November 1, 1967 when the Blues won 5-1 at home against the Boston Bruins.
In that match, Al scored on the powerplay at 18:07 of the second, assisted by Bob Plager and Ron Attwell, to make the score 5-0. The goal was scored on Gerry Cheevers while the Blues were on a five on three power play with both John McKenzie and Ted Green in the box for Boston.
In 1968-69, he again scored just a single goal but it turned out to be the only game winner of his NHL career. Fittingly, it was against the team that led him go, the Toronto Maple Leafs. On February 2, 1969, Arbour scored on Johnny Bower 4-2 in a 5-3 St. Louis win. It would also be the last goal he would score over his NHL career.
Between 1953-54 and 1969-70, Al Arbour played 626 regular season and 86 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. He was a three time Stanley Cup champ as a player and won four as head coach of the New York Islanders. Arbour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder in 1996.