The National Hockey League was formed on November 26, 1917 as a
result of a meeting held at the Windsor hotel in Montreal. Present
at this meeting were team owners of the National Hockey
Association. However, the troublesome and unpopular owner of the
Toronto franchise in the NHA, Eddie Livingstone, was not invited to
attend. Former NHA secretary Frank Calder was chosen as the
NHL’s first President. Charter members included the Montreal
Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs and
a Toronto franchise, which was given to the directors of the Arena
Gardens in Toronto. Quebec elected not to operate until the 1919-20
season.
Babe Dye scored nine goals in the 1921-22 Stanley Cup finals
Toronto’s entry in the newly formed National Hockey League
for the 1917-18 season played its first game on December 19, 1917
against the Montreal Wanderers. Toronto scored a total of nine
goals but still lost the game by a count of 10-9. Ironically, it
was the only win for the Montreal Wanderers in the NHL as the team
folded operations when their arena burnt down after only six games.
That left the new league with only two other teams - the Montreal
Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators - to compete with the Toronto
team in the inaugural season of the league.
The first Toronto game wasn’t much of a success at the
gate either as a mere 700 people attended the first home game - and
many of those were soldiers in uniform that were guests of team
management.
So, it wasn’t an auspicious start for the Toronto team,
but that game was the beginning of a rich tradition of hockey in
Toronto that we know today as the ‘Leafs Nation’. At
the end of that first year, this Toronto club, called the Arenas,
managed to win the first ever Stanley Cup in the NHL.
Arenas’ goalie Hap Holmes backstopped the team to the
championship in five games over the Pacific Coast Hockey League
champions, the Vancouver Millionaires. The top scorer for the
Arenas in the finals, which was played at the Arena Gardens in
Toronto, was Alf Skinner with 10 points.
Late in the following season, the Toronto Arenas withdrew from
the NHL due to financial difficulties, but the Toronto franchise
reemerged in the 1919-20 season, this time with new owners and a
new name - Toronto St. Pats. The name was selected in hopes of
attracting the city’s large Irish population to attend the
home games. Two years later, in the 1921-22 NHL finals, the St.
Pats, managed by Charlie Querrie and coached by George
O’Donoghue, surprised the first-place Ottawa Senators in the
NHL finals, winning the two-game-total-goals series 5-4.
For the Stanley Cup, the St. Pats again faced and defeated the
champions from the west, the Vancouver Millionaires in five games
at the Arena Gardens. Babe Dye was the St. Pats star in the finals
scoring nine goals in the five games - still a record today. Dye
was also awarded the first-ever penalty shot, but failed to score
as his 36-foot shot sailed over the goalie’s head. The
winning goaltender for the St. Pats was John Ross Roach who allowed
just nine goals in the five games
The St. Pats failed to win a championship for the next few
seasons, but continued to build a foundation for a successful team.
On December 9, 1924, the St. Pats signed Clarence ‘Hap’
Day from the University of Toronto hockey team. Day would play,
coach and manage in Toronto until the end of the 1956-57 season.
Irvine ‘Ace’ Bailey joined the team for the 1926-27
season and led the team in points.
In February of 1927, Conn Smythe, who had built the New York
Rangers franchise but was dismissed in favour of Lester Patrick,
raised enough money to buy the St. Pats and prevented the team from
moving to Philadelphia. Smythe, a military man, immediately had the
Toronto franchise name changed from the St. Pats to Maple Leafs,
the name of a World War I fighting unit, the Maple Leaf Regiment.
He also switched the uniform colours to blue and white from green
and white.
The Leafs of the 1930’s were called the ‘Gashouse
Gang’ for their off-ice antics. These Leafs were a colourful
bunch. Pranks such as Charlie Conacher hanging King Clancy by his
feet out of an open hotel window were common. As Conn Smythe saw
the increasing popularity of the team, he knew that he needed a
larger, more modern arena to house his hockey team. However, North
America was in the midst of the Great Depression and finding
funding for construction was difficult if not impossible.
The 30's saw the Leafs move to their new home, Maple Leaf
Gardens Undaunted, the well-connected Smythe arranged for a
purchase of land from the Eaton family and convinced a number of
the well to do of the time to invest in the team and the new
building. When Smythe’s energetic assistant Frank Selke
convinced union members of the trades to takes shares of stock
instead of cash for their labour, the building of the hockey shrine
got the go-ahead and unbelievably was constructed in only five
months. It was referred to as a ‘miracle in
engineering’
s the war was ending in 1945, some of the Leafs who had joined
the armed forces were starting to return to the team. But the
Leafs, missing the injured Teeder Kennedy for most of the season,
failed to make the playoffs in 1945-46.
The following season with players like Apps and Broda finding
their form again and together with an outstanding crop of rookies
from the minor-league system, the Leafs won another Stanley Cup
beating the first place Montreal club in the finals in six games.
The Leafs had lost the first game of that series 6-0 which prompted
Habs star netminder Bill Durnan to question how the Leafs ever
advanced to the finals. The Leafs were inspired by Durnan’s
comments and went on to win four of the next five to win the 1947
Stanley Cup.
The Leafs, believing that strength down the middle was crucial
to success, were fearful that the veteran Apps would soon retire.
So, on November 2, 1947, Conn Smythe traded the entire
‘Flying Forts’ line plus two defencemen, Bob Goldham
and Ernie Dickens to Chicago for the former NHL scoring champion,
‘Dipsy Doodle Dandy’ Max Bentley and Cy Thomas. With
Apps, Kennedy and the supremely skilled Bentley as their centres,
the Leafs had their best season in 1947-48 finishing first and
defeating the Detroit Red Wings in the finals four- straight games
to easily win their second consecutive Cup.
By the time the 1948-49 season began, captain Syl Apps had
retired forcing the Leafs to trade for aggressive centreman Cal
Gardner from the Rangers. There was no surprise when hard-working
Teeder Kennedy replaced Apps as captain so the Leafs certainly
didn’t lack in leadership. The Leafs though had an off year
finishing in fourth place with a 22-25-13 record.
The Detroit Red Wings finished in first place - beginning a
dynasty of their own with seven straight first-place finishes. The
Wings, with their top line of Sid Abel between
‘Terrible’ Ted Lindsay and emerging superstar Gordie
Howe, were heavy favourites to win the Cup. The Leafs regrouped in
the playoffs and defeated the second-place Boston Bruins in five
games in the semis. In the finals, Toronto once again swept the
Detroit Red Wings in four games to win a record third-consecutive
Stanley Cup. The Leafs were victorious once again and the Red Wings
became increasingly embittered, having now lost 11 straight playoff
games to their hated rivals.
Remarkably, every game in these finals went into overtime and
the clinching Game 5 was particularly memorable as Timmins native
Bill Barilko scored his legendary winning goal in overtime.
‘Bashin’ Bill’ had left his defence position
(despite orders not to from coach Joe Primeau), to pick up an
errant pass and score on goalie Gerry McNeil to give the Leafs
their fourth Stanley Cup victory in five years.
Bill Barilko scored one of the most famous goals in NHL history
with the Maple Leafs But what started out as a promising decade
turned into what is referred to as the ‘lost years’
with the Leafs dynasty of the 1940’s turning into mediocrity
for most of the 1950’s.
The Leafs entered the 1961 semifinals against the Detroit Red
Wings with Bower, Kelly, Olmstead, Armstrong and others injured and
not able to play up to their capabilities. The Leafs disappointedly
went down to the Red Wings in five games.
But the Leafs were real close to success and in the following
season, they won their first Stanlcy Cup in 11 years, beating the
defending champion Chicago Black Hawks on Dick Duff’s winning
goal in Game 6. The Hawks had ended the Habs reign the previous
year and the Leafs now were hoping to start their own streak.
Interestingly, the last time that the Leafs won the coveted Cup
was in 1951 on Bill Barilko’s overtime goal. Barilko that
summer vanished after a fishing trip and had never been found.
After 11 years, and only after the Leafs won their next Cup, was
the crash site and Barilko’s body discovered.
During the 1966-67 season the Leafs were floundering and by
February 8, 1967, the team had lost 10 games in a row, sending
Imlach to the hospital with a stress related illness. Leafs were
fortunate that easy going King Clancy took over the coaching and by
the time Imlach returned, the club was on an 10 game unbeaten
string and had momentum going into the playoffs.
In the semi-finals, the Leafs faced the first place and
offensively powerful Chicago Black Hawks and the veteran Leaf squad
was given no chance to advance. But with the superb goaltending of
Sawchuk, especially in games five and six, together with sound team
defensive play, the Leafs beat the Hawks in 6 games to advance to
play the reigning Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. No one gave the
‘over the hill’ (with ten players over 30) Leafs a
chance in the finals either and in this year of ‘Expo
67’, plans were made to display the Cup in the Quebec
pavilion at Expo which was held in Montreal.
The Leafs lost the first game of the finals badly by a score of
6-2. Then for Game 2, the ageless Johnny Bower, then 42, turned
back time by shutting out the Habs 3-0. Bower was again sensational
in Game 3 when the Leafs won in double overtime on Bob
Pulford’s goal. The Leafs lost game four with Sawchuk
replacing the injured Bower, but Sawchuk rebounded in Games 5 and 6
to put on as outstanding a display of goaltending that has ever
been seen.
Late in the third period of Game 6 with the Leafs up by a goal
and with the Montreal goalie pulled for an extra attacker, Imlach
sent his veterans out to protect the slim lead. Allan Stanley took
the face-off, dropped the puck behind him to where Red Kelly just
beat the speedy Yvan Cournoyer to the loose puck. Kelly shoved the
puck ahead to Bob Pulford who spotted a streaking George Armstrong
on the right side. Armstrong took Pulford’s perfect pass and
after crossing the centre ice line, shot the puck into the empty
net and the Leafs won their 11th Stanley Cup.
It was the last Cup of the NHL’s ‘Original
Six’ as the league was doubling in size with the addition of
six new expansion teams for the 1967-68 season. It was the end of
an era for sure. But not known at the time, it was also the end of
the Toronto Maple Leafs as a powerful force in the NHL for many
years to come.