Hockey, and sports in general, can be broken down into moments. Some moments are bigger than others and chart the course of a franchise, and an entire league in some cases. These moments can define a team’s destiny for years to come. For this installment, we bring you the defining moments throughout the entire history of the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise.
The Defining Moments of the Toronto Maple Leafs Franchise
The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the most storied franchises in the NHL. One of the Original Six teams, they have the second-most Stanley Cups, more accurately, the centre of the hockey universe. A team with a history like the Leafs has numerous defining moments in its history. Moments from before many of the readers of this article were born (myself included). Despite all their numerous accolades, the history and the fame the team carries, their reputation does not always reflect this.
Harold Ballard Takes Sole Ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs
This is the reason for the Toronto Maple Leafs reputation not being a positive one. All of the jokes, the poor teams, the monumental collapses, it all starts here. We shall explain the details, next.
The Run Up
In 1961, after appearing in the Stanley Cup Final twice in a row, owner Conn Smythe sells the majority of his shares of Maple Leafs Gardens Limited to a group that consisted of Stafford Smythe, John W. H. Bassett, and Harold Ballard. Under this new management, the Leafs would go on to win three straight Stanley Cups from 1962-1964, including a final where Bobby Baun scored the Cup-winning goal on a broken ankle. Things were looking great for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They continued on to win a fourth Stanley Cup under this ownership in 1967.
The 1967 expansion draft came, and the Leafs, along with the other teams in the league, lost a number of players. They proceeded to miss the playoffs the following year, and only returned to get swept by the Bruins in 1969.
The Moment
In 1971, John Bassett decided to sell his shares of the team to Ballard and Stafford Smythe. Shortly afterwards, Stafford Smythe had passed away, and after a battle with Stafford’s family, Ballard ended up as the sole owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Aftermath
Ballard would go on to be notorious for many things during his time as the sole owner of the Leafs. There are countless stories about him, his numerous counts of fraud and theft, using team funds for his own projects. The numerous firings of the team over petty reasons, trading fan favourite, star players including chasing players like eventual star goalie Bernie Parent and Canadian hero Paul Henderson to the WHA.
Famously, in 1975, Ballard forced Keon away from the Leafs, despite being with the team for 15 years at that point and was the team captain. He did not, however, want Keon playing elsewhere without first being compensated. However, no compensation was good enough, and Ballard just held Keon’s NHL rights due to the reserve clause. Keon could not join another NHL team (including the soon-to-be dynasty New York Islanders), but was also refused the opportunity to play for the Leafs. He only had one choice, and that was also to move to the WHA.
All of this, compounded with Ballard’s general unwillingness to spend money to better the team is what made this era of the Leafs so infamous. Ballard had seemingly ruined a once great team, alienating players that had once loved Toronto, alienating future players by fighting against players’ rights in his battles with the NHLPA, his compulsion to micro-manage the team, shall we go on? Ballard made the Leafs a laughing stock around the league, a reputation that has a tendency to stick around even in 2025.
Other Leafs Defining Moments
Lifting the Curse
It’s the 1951 Stanley Cup Final, the game has been pushed to overtime against the Leafs’ rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. 24-year-old defenceman Bill Barilko has the puck on his stick and skates it in. He is able to get the puck past the Habs goalie and win the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in his five-year NHL career. The last goal he ever scored won the Leafs the cup.
That summer, Bill Barilko went on a fishing trip, flying with his dentist to Northern Quebec. When they were set to return, however, the plane went missing and the passengers disappeared. This tragic incident led to the Leafs going from winning the Stanley Cup four times in five years to losing in the first round and even missing the playoffs in subsequent years. With Barilko’s remains still missing, the Leafs could not win. The team was cursed.
11 years later, a helicopter pilot found the wreckage and remains of Barilko and his friend. That same year, the Leafs broke their Stanley Cup drought. It is said that the Leafs were cursed to lose until his remains were found. Finding the remains of Barilko helped usher in an era of winning again for the Leafs, even for just a brief time.
Opening of Maple Leaf Gardens
On November 12th, 1931, in downtown Toronto, one of the most well-known arenas ever opened its doors for the first time. The Leafs were done playing at Mutual Street Arena and had a shiny new rink to call their own. Maple Leaf Gardens is a staple and a monument to hockey. The arena held the first-ever NHL All-Star game in 1947, as well as its predecessor, which many consider to be an unofficial All-Star Game in 1934. Toronto won 11 of their 13 Stanley Cups in the Gardens. It even hosted Game 2 of the 1972 Summit Series, the only game Canada won on home soil.
Maple Leaf Gardens, at the time, were as synonymous with hockey as the Leafs were. The Leafs were even said to have sold out the Gardens every Saturday night home game since 1931. The arena even went beyond just hockey. It was one of the few venues that Elvis Presley performed at outside of the United States of America. It was also the only venue to host the Beatles on all three of their North American tours. This rink defined generations of Leafs hockey, from it’s opening 1931 until 1999 when the Leafs moved to the Air Canada Centre (at the time – now Scotiabank Arena). Also, you’ll want to stay tuned, as just like we did for the Montreal Canadiens Summer Series, we have a special edition. So be sure to check that out, too!
Main Photo Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
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