Ken Harrelson, nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, and also nicknamed "Yox" because of his facial expressions, is a former All-Star who played for four teams: the Kansas City Athletics (1963–66, 1967), Washington Senators (1966–67), Boston Red Sox (1967–69), and Cleveland Indians (1969–71). In his nine-season career, Harrelson was a .239 hitter with 131 home runs and 421 RBI in 900 games. He worked his 32nd season as the Chicago White Sox announcer in 2016. Although he did have a 1971 Topps Cleveland Indians card issued client send along a black and white photo he wanted to use to create a custom which is shown below.
Now I'll include another batch of hockey coaches. Client wanted the Original 6 coaches in 1971-72 format and also the 1967-68 Expansion team coaches in the 1967-68 format. I'll start with '67-68.
The L.A. Kings started there existence with Leonard "Red" Kelly as the bench boss. Red retired in 1967 after 20 NHL playing seasons. Larry Regan, who had been a teammate with Toronto during Red's first two seasons with the Leafs, was general manager of the Kings and recruited Kelly. Under rookie coach Kelly, Los Angeles did very well in its inaugural season, with a team that featured forwards Eddie Joyal, Bill Flett and Lowell MacDonald, Bill White and Dale Rolfe on defense and old pal Terry Sawchuk in goal.
Bert Olmstead won 5 Stanley Cups in his 14 year NHL career, retiring after the '61-62 season when claimed by New York in the Intra-League Draft. Bert coached the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League in 1965-66, then was hired as the inaugural coach and general manager of the Oakland Seals during that team's first year of operation. The club was woeful and quickly fell to the bottom of the standings. A fierce competitor as a player, Olmstead resigned late in the season and never again coached in the NHL. I think this photo says "Please late the clock run out !!"
From 1956 to 1965, Keith Allen was a head coach in the Western Hockey League with the Seattle Americans/Seattle Totems, with only one losing season in eight years. With the NHL expansion in 1967, Allen was hired as the first head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, with his former coach and teammate Bud Poile as general manager. In their inaugural season, the Flyers finished first in their division with the best record among the six new teams. They fell to third place in their division in the 1968–69 NHL season, and Allen then became the Flyers' general manager. There, he would help construct the famed "Broad Street Bullies" that led the Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975, earning the nickname "Keith the Thief".
Scotty Bowman started coaching with the Ottawa Junior Canadiens in the Quebec Junior Hockey League in 1956. Two years later, the team coached by Bowman and managed by Sam Pollock won the Memorial Cup in 1958. Soon thereafter, he moved into a coaching job with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League (OHA), the Montreal Canadiens' junior farm team. Bowman moved into the NHL in 1967 when he joined the expansion St. Louis Blues as assistant coach to Lynn Patrick coach-manager. However, Patrick resigned after a slow start, and Bowman started as coach at age 34. The Blues caught fire, and made it to the Stanley Cup finals in their first three years of existence. Bowman also served as Manager after Lynn Patrick gave up the job in summer of 1968. Bowman remained manager-coach in St. Louis until the end of the 1970–71 season, but left due to a dispute with team ownership.
Doug Barkley was head coach of the Fort Worth Wings of the Central Hockey League, Detroit's top farm team, and on January 10, 1971, after the Harkness shuffle was promoted to head coach of the Red Wings. He coached less than one year before being replaced by Johnny Wilson following a 3-8-0 start to the 1971–72 season.
Upon retiring as a player, Al MacNeil turned to coaching with the Montreal Voyageurs of the American Hockey League, top farm club of the Canadiens, for the 1969–70 season. After a successful debut, MacNeil became an assistant coach with the Canadiens for the 1970–71 season. When Ruel resigned 25 games into the season MacNeil took the helm and, in a major turn around, led them to a Stanley Cup. Crucial to the Stanley Cup victory was MacNeil's decision to use rookie goaltender Ken Dryden in the playoffs despite Dryden having played only six regular-season games in 1970–71. Winning the Cup, however, was not enough to save MacNeil's job; he was demoted to head coach of the Canadiens' American Hockey League affiliate, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, while the fluently bilingual Scotty Bowman succeeded him as head coach of the Habs. MacNeil won three Calder Cup Championships (1972, 1976, 1977) in six years with the Voyageurs.
John McLellan had only a brief appearance on the ice in the NHL, brought in by his hometown Maple Leafs to appear in his only two games. However, he would get his name on a Memorial Cup, with St. Mikes, an Allan Cup, with the Toronto Marlies, and a World Championship Trophy, with the Belleville McFarlands, scoring a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over Russia in the 1959 World Championships. McLellan turned to the world of coaching and managing soon after. He gained quick success by coaching Tulsa to the Adams Cup as champions of the Central Hockey League. McLellan finally made the NHL when the Leafs hired him as head coach for the 1969-70 season, replacing Punch Imlach. The Leafs missed the playoffs that first year, but he led the Leafs to the post-season in each of the following two years, only to be eliminated in round one. The Hockey News named McLellan as their coach of the year in 1971. During the 1971-72 season McLellan was hospitalized with ulcers and he would resign as coach in 1973, replaced by Red Kelly.
You can purchase these cards, or any of my Missing Link creations, for $10 each postpaid, or $7.95 for 3 or more. Email me at: [email protected], volume discounts available on larger orders.