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10 Interesting Facts About the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs were founded in 1917 when a group of team owners from the NHA league decided to form a new league named the “National Hockey League” in order to get away from the antics of Eddie Livingstone, much despised owner of the Toronto Blue Shirts. The team was originally only intended to be a temporary team until they could resolve their dispute with Livingstone, and were run by the the Arena group who owned the Arena Gardens. The team which was renamed the Toronto Arenas, went on to win the first ever NHL championship! The next season, when the owners still couldn’t come to terms with Eddie Livingstone, the Arena group formed a new team called the Toronto Arena Hockey Club, and were granted full fledged membership into the NHL.
Due to an expensive legal battle with former Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone, who was suing them for taking his players, by 1920 the Toronto Arenas were in serious financial problems and needed to be rescued from bankruptcy. The team that came to the rescue was a group of investors led by the legendary Conn Smythe (read my section below on what an amazing contribution Conn Smythe made to the Maple Leaf franchise) . The new owners renamed the team to the Toronto St. Patricks in honor of Torontos growing Irish Population. The Toronto team received a new look as well changing their colors to green and white.
In 1927 Foster Hewitt made his debut as the radio voice behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. Soon hockey fans across Canada were huddled around the radio to hear Hewitt call the play-by-play action as King Clancy and the beloved Maple Leafs thrilled fans at the Mutual Street Arena.
The Toronto St Patricks were renamed the “Toronto Maple Leafs” by Conn Smythe in 1927, and it was also his idea to put the maple leaf on their blue and white sweaters. The team struggled through the late twenties but by 1931 things had improved as the "Kid Line" featuring Busher Jackson, Joe Primeau and Charlie Conacher led the Leafs to their 3rd Stanley cup in franchise history, playing in their first season in the newly built Maple Leaf Gardens. The Gardens became the first arena to host a 4 sides game clock in 1932.
The 1940s were a successful decade for the Leafs winning 5 Stanley Cups, including 3 consecutive championships beginning in 1946. Led by one of the greatest Leaf captains of all time, Ted “Teeder” Kennedy along with fellow superstars Syl Apps, Max Bentley and goaltending sensation Turk Broda, they defeated fellow original 6 teams Detroit Red Wings 4 times and Montreal Canadiens once to accomplish this feat and become the first Maple Leafs dynasty team in franchise history. Interestingly, Ted Kennedy (14 seasons), Syl Apps (10 seasons) and Turk Broda (14 seasons )all played their entire careers with the Maple Leafs.
In 1951, defenseman Bill Barilko scored a cup winning overtime goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a hard fought series with Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, the celebration didn’t last long as the following summer Bill Barilko died in a plane crash while on a fishing trip. That would be the last championship they would win that decade, but the team returned to glory in the early 60’s winning another 3 straight Stanley Cups between 1962 and 1964 on a team featuring Frank Mahovlich, Red Kelly, Johnny Bower, Dave Keon, Andy Bathgate, and Tim Horton. The Leafs got to drink from the cup once more in 1967, which is the last year the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup.
Harold Ballard, who was already part owner of the Maple Leafs, became a majority owner in 1972. He was a controversial owner who was known for feuding with key players such as Dave Keon, Lanny McDonald, and Darryl Sittler, as well as displaying eccentric behavior. In 1977, Ballard attempted to defy the NHL rule that players names must be displayed on the back of their jersey by putting the names in the same color as the jersey making it invisible. He would be fined $10000 / game before he relented and put the names on the back. In another incident Ballard caused uproar among Feminist when he said Women are only good on their back. Towards the end of the 70s the Leafs went into a downward spiral and missed the playoffs many seasons through the Ballard years until his death in 1990.
1976: Darryl Sittler sets an NHL record with 10 points in one game.
After Ballards death, Steve Stavro bought a majority stake in the Leafs and one of his first moves was to bring in Calgary Flames GM Cliff Fletcher (responsible for building the Flames' 1989 Stanley Cup championship team) to overhaul the Leafs. That season Leafs acquired Doug Gilmour in a blockbuster trade with Calgary, Dave Andreychuk from the Sabres and brought up goaltender Felix Potvin from the minors. With stellar goaltending from the rookie Potvin, the Maple Leafs had their first winning season in 14 yrs with a 44-29-11 record. After winning series against the Red Wings and St Louis Blues, the Leafs were one win shy of the Stanley Cup finals but were unfortunately eliminated by the LA Kings after a controversial Wayne Gretzky goal which would cost them the series.
Though the Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup in 43 years (as of 2010), which is one of the longest droughts in NHL history, Leaf fans (aka “Leafs Nation”) continue to bleed blue and white as they support their team through hard times. The team sold out every game at Maple Leaf Gardens from 1946 until it closed in 1999, and have sold out every game at the Air Canada Centre since October 2002.With an average of US$1.9 million per game, the Leafs had the highest average ticket revenue per game in the 2007–08 season. The team continues to be ranked the most valuable hockey franchise in the world, with their latest evaluation worth $470 million.
...and here are some more quick facts submitted by our awesome members
- It was during the 1933-34 season that Eddie Shore put a vicious hit on the Leafs star Ace Bailey. The hit resulted in a skull fracture and ended Ace Baileys hockey career.
- In 1962 Maple Leaf Gardens became the first arena to install seperate penalty boxes. Too bad it would make for a more interesting game if they went back to shared penalty boxes!
- On Sept 30 1997 Mats Sundin was name captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Conn Smythes Contributions to the Toronto Maple Leafs
In 1927 Conn Smythe arrived in Toronto with a debt to settle againt the Rangers. The previous season Smythe had been hired by the Rangers to build a championship team from scratch, and so he did. Unfortunately, he wasnt going to be there to see them win it because the Rangers fired him before their first game. Smythes made it a mission to build a team in Toronto that was better than the one he had built in New York but only one problem, he was a little short on cash. So Conn Smythe took the $10,000 fee he had earned from the Rangers and bet it on a University of Toronto football game. He then took his winnings from that bet and let it all ride on a Toronto St Patricks hockey game. The Pats won and Smythe now had the $165,000 he needed to along with a group of investors buy the St Patricks franchise.
Now Conn Smythe had to figure out how to turn a last place team into a contender, and he knew the #1 guy he wanted wearing a Maple Leafs jersey. The Ottawa Senators were putting King Clancy on the market for $50000, unfortunately the Leafs board of directors were only willing to cough up $25000 for him..so Clancy decided it was time to place another longshot bet on a horse with 108 to 1 odds against him. Sure enough the horse pulled through and Smythe left the track over $15000 richer. With these winnings plus a couple players Smythe was able to turn the deal with the Senators and King Clancy joined the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Conn Smythe was a World War 1 hero who had been captured and spent 14 months in a German POW camp, later becoming a recipient of the Military Cross. In honour of that, he renamed the team to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927 and it was also his idea to put the maple leaf on their blue and white sweaters. Wanting full control of the Leafs rebuilding process, Conn Smythe took over GM and coaching duties of the Maple Leafs that same year.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were a hit and as the fan base grew, Conn Smythe had a vision of the Leafs playing before fans in a world-class arena. This may have been one of Smythes greatest gambles to date after all they were in the midst of the great depression and money was tight. That wouldnt stop Smythe though and he proceeded on with his vision. Finally on November 12, 1931 the Leafs opened Maple Leaf gardens before an audience of 13 233. Ticket prices for that event ranged from 95 cents to $2.75. That first season in the new arena, Conn Smythe finally got his revenge as the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup over his arch-nemisis the New York Rangers. This was the first Stanley Cup victory for the team since they had become the Toronto Maple Leafs.
When the second world war came around, Conn Smythe felt it was his civic duty to leave his position with the Maple Leafs to go join the war effort. After being stationed in England for nearly two years, Smythe was sent to France in 1944, where he was badly wounded suffering injuries that would affect his the rest of his life.
Upon his return to the leafs, Conn Smythe bought a majority share of the leafs and returned to his GM position, a role he held until he sold his share to his son in 1961. Throughout his career with the leafs he was principal owner of the franchise from 1927 to 1961 and his name appears on the Stanley Cup eleven times: 1932, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967.
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