National anthem at Maple Leaf Garden (1968)

Journeys into Hockey

In our last posting we shared a video of the anthem being played at the Gardens in 1964.

The music was God Save the Queen.

Fast forward four years - post centennial 1967 - and the music is Oh Canada.

And the portrait of the Queen has been replaced - by flags positioned on what looks like a Stanley Cup replica hanging from the scoreboard.

Note that althoigh the AMerican flag was flying the NHL practice of teh time was that only the anthem of the host team was played (Exception then was Boston wher Canadian anthem was also played). It would not be for a few years yet that both anthems would be played.