1963 NHL Amateur Draft

1963 NHL Amateur Draft
General information
Date(s)	June 5, 1963
Location	Montreal, Quebec
First selection	Garry Monahan; Selected by: Montreal Canadiens
	NHL Amateur Draft

The 1963 NHL Amateur Draft was held on June 5 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the first NHL Amateur Draft and consisted of 16-year-old players.

The Amateur Draft was instituted by NHL President Clarence Campbell as a means of phasing out the sponsorship of amateur teams by the league's member clubs. The NHL wanted to create what Campbell called "a uniform opportunity for each team to acquire a star player." Prior to the creation of the draft NHL teams would sponsor amateur teams and players, pre-empting other NHL clubs from acquiring new, young talent, and limiting amateur players' prospects in the NHL to the team which sponsored them.^[1]

Eligibility in this draft was limited to all amateur players who would reach 17 years of age between August 1, 1963, and July 31, 1964. Under the league rules, teams were not allowed to talk to the drafted players about turning professional until they turned 18. At that point, the teams had 72 hours to get the players signed or placed on their negotiation list. Players already on sponsorship lists were ineligible.

The draft order was determined by giving the teams choice of their place in the six-team order based on a reverse order of the standings, for example, as the Boston Bruins finished last in the 1962–63 season they were given first choice of pick in the order. The final draft order was chosen to be Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs. The order would rotate in the next draft such that each team moved up one spot in the order, and the first pick Canadiens would move to sixth.

This first draft consisted of four rounds, however few top prospects were available to the draft in the early years as most of hockey's top junior players had already been assigned to NHL clubs through sponsored junior teams. In the 1963 draft only 21 players, out of a possible 24 picks, were chosen. This is because teams were allowed to defer their pick to the next team in the draft order. The Red Wings chose not to exercise their third and fourth round picks, and the Black Hawks elected not to exercise their fourth round pick.^[1]

Of the players selected five eventually played in the NHL, and only one won the Stanley Cup (Peter Mahovlich). None of the players selected have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Selections by round

Below are listed the selections in the 1963 NHL Amateur Draft.

= NHL All-Star ^[2]

= Hall of Famers

Round one

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
1	Garry Monahan	Centre	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	St. Michael's Buzzers (MetJHL)
2	Peter Mahovlich	Right Wing	Canada	Detroit Red Wings	St. Michael's Buzzers (MetJHL)
3	Orest Romashyna	Left Wing	Canada	Boston Bruins	New Hamburg Firebirds (CJCHL)
4	Al Osborne	Right Wing	Canada	New York Rangers	Weston Dodgers (MetJHL)
5	Art Hampson	Defence	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Trenton Midgets (OAAAMHL)
6	Walt McKechnie	Centre	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	London Nationals (WJBHL)
^{Reference: "1963 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com". Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2009.}

Round two

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
7	Rodney Presswood	Defence	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Georgetown Midgets (OAAAMHL)
8	Bill Cosburn	Centre	Canada	Detroit Red Wings	Bick's Pickles Midgets (OAAAMHL)
9	Terrance Lane	Centre	Canada	Boston Bruins	Georgetown Midgets (OAAAMHL)
10	Terry Jones	Centre	Canada	New York Rangers	Weston Midgets (OAAAMHL)
11	Wayne Davison	Defence	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Georgetown Midgets (OAAAMHL)
12	Neil Clairmont	Left Wing	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	Parry Sound Midgets (OAAAMHL)
^{Reference: "1963 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com". Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2009.}

Round three

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
13	Roy Pugh	Centre	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Aurora Bears (SOJCHL)
14	Roger Bamburak	Right Wing	Canada	Boston Bruins	Isaac Brock Secondary School (HS-Manitoba)
15	Mike Cummings	Forward	Canada	New York Rangers	Georgetown Midgets (OAAAMHL)
16	Bill Carson	Defence	Canada	Chicago Black Hawks	Brampton Midgets (OAAAMHL)
17	Jim McKenny	Defence	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons (MetJHL)
^{Reference: "1963 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com". Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2009.}

Round four

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team
18	Glen Shirton	Defence	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Port Colborne Midgets (OAAAMHL)
19	Jim Blair	Forward	Canada	Boston Bruins	Georgetown Midgets (OAAAMHL)
20	Cam Allison	Defence	Canada	New York Rangers	Portage la Prairie Terriers (CMJHL)
21	Gerry Meehan	Centre	Canada	Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons (MetJHL)
^{Reference: "1963 NHL Amateur Draft hockeydraftcentral.com". Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2009.}