The 1965

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Amateur Draft was the third

NHL Entry Draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

. It was a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

to assign unaffiliated amateur junior-age players to NHL teams. It was held on April 27, 1965, at the

Queen Elizabeth Hotel Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth (french: Fairmont Le Reine Élizabeth) is a historic grand hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With 950 rooms and 21 floors it is the largest hotel in the province of Quebec, and the second largest Fairmont hotel in ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. For the first time the eligibility rules were changed for the 1965 draft. The minimum age criterion was increased, to 18 from 16 years. Clubs were not permitted to begin negotiations with the selected players until they reached 19 years of age, and the date from which they were ineligible due to being on club sponsorship lists was pushed back from May 23 to April 1. The NHL also reached an agreement with the AHL, CHL and WHL, allowing their clubs to participate in the draft. After the NHL clubs made their selections the clubs from the other three leagues were permitted to make their own selections. Each AHL and WHL club was allowed three picks, while each CHL team was allowed two. The general consensus on the part of each participatory club was that the talent pool from which to draft was exceptionally poor. The majority of amateur players falling within the new age rules had already been sponsored, if not turned professional. 11 picks were made, which to this date remains the lowest ever in an NHL draft. Only two players played in the NHL: Pierre Bouchard and

Michel Parizeau Michel Gérard Parizeau (born April 9, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger and head coach who played two seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers. Parizeau also played ...

. The pool of available player talent was considered so poor that the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

elected not to participate whatsoever. The only non-NHL club to exercise their right to make a selection was the

Pittsburgh Hornets The Pittsburgh Hornets were a minor-league professional men's ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contrary to popular belief, the Pittsburgh Hornets did not evolve from the International Hockey League's Pittsburgh Shamrocks. The ...

of the AHL, who picked Junior C player Gary Beattie with the 11th, final pick.

Selections by round

Below are listed the selections in the 1965 NHL amateur draft.

Round one

Round two

Round three

Citations

References

External links

1965 NHL amateur draft player stats
a
The Internet Hockey Database

{{1965–66 NHL season by team

Draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

National Hockey League Entry Draft