Legendary coach Toe Blake came out of retirement to lead the East Division all-star team in 1969
With four of his Blues voted on by the writers, Bowman added four more: Harvey, Noel Picard, Jim Roberts and Ab McDonald. While he would use regular lines from St. Louis, Minnesota and Oakland as his units, there was great talk about the dream line Blake would use with Boston's Phil Esposito between Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings, making his 20th of 23 career All-Star Game appearances, and Bobby Hull of Chicago. In the end, they didn't have a point.
Admittedly, Hull, wearing No. 16, was a little under the weather. Lips pursed in a pre-game photo taken with Howe and Canadiens great Jean Beliveau, he was 17 pounds under his usual playing weight, the jaw he'd broken in action clear to see.
Blake chose not to select a third goalie, as had Bowman by adding Bernie Parent of the Philadelphia Flyers to the Blues tandem of Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante; Blake would use Giacomin for the first and third periods, Boston's Gerry Cheevers for the second. Parent would be the only one of five in the game not to yield a goal; he made 10 saves in the second.
"This could be one of the best all-star games yet," Blake predicted two days before the event.