Jump to content

Toronto Maple Leafs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by GoodDay (talk | contribs) at 16:35, 23 June 2007 (→Current roster: Re-added 'Aubin'. The Maple Leafs haven't yet decided, who'll be the starter & backup). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Toronto Maple Leafs (disambiguation).
Toronto Maple Leafs
File:Toronto Maple Leafs.gif
ConferenceEastern
DivisionNortheast
Founded1917
HistoryToronto Arenas
1917-19 (unofficial in 1917-18)
Toronto St. Patricks
1919-February 14, 1927
Toronto Maple Leafs
February 14, 1927-present
Home arenaAir Canada Centre
CityToronto, Ontario
Team coloursRoyal Blue and White
MediaLeafs TV
Rogers Sportsnet Ontario
CFMJ (640 AM)
FAN (590 AM)
Owner(s)Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd.
General managerCanada John Ferguson Jr.
Head coachCanada Paul Maurice
CaptainSweden Mats Sundin
Minor league affiliatesToronto Marlies (AHL)
Columbia Inferno (ECHL)
Stanley Cups1917-18, 1921-22, 1931-32, 1941-42, 1944-45, 1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1950-51, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1966-67
Conference championshipsnone
Division championships1932-33, 1933-34, 1934-35, 1937-38, 1999-00

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The organization, one of the "Original Six" members of the NHL, is officially known as the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club, owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE). They play at the Air Canada Centre (ACC).

Franchise History

Early years (1917-27)

The National Hockey League was formed in Montreal, Quebec in 1917, and initially consisted of five teams formerly belonging to the National Hockey Association. Its formation was a reaction against Eddie Livingstone, owner of the NHA's Toronto Blue Shirts, by his fellow NHA owners. Eager to disassociate themselves from Livingstone, the owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators and Quebec Bulldogs created a new league—the NHL—and didn't invite Livingstone to join them. On paper, they also remained members of the NHA and were able to vote down Livingstone's attempts to keep that league operating.

The new league granted a Toronto franchise to the owners of Arena Gardens, which made a deal with Livingstone to lease his Blue Shirt players for the season, with the agreement that they would return the players to Livingstone when the season ended. Under manager Charlie Querrie, the Toronto team—still unofficially called the Blue Shirts—won the Stanley Cup in the NHL's inaugural season.

Instead of returning the players to Livingstone, the Arena Gardens owners then formed a new club, the Toronto Arena Hockey Club under Hubert Vearncombe. The team became known as the Toronto Arenas. Livingstone filed suit against Arena Gardens in a case that dragged through the courts for nearly a decade. He ultimately won the dispute, but never got his team back. Mounting legal bills from the dispute forced the Arenas to sell most of their stars, resulting in a horrendous five-win season in 1918-19. With the club losing money and no hope of catching Ottawa and Montreal in the standings in a three-team league, they requested permission to suspend operations in late February 1919. League president Frank Calder persuaded the team to play its 18th game on February 20, after which the league ended the regular season and immediately proceeded to the playoffs. The Arenas' .278 winning percentage that season is still the worst in franchise history.

After the season, the team was put up for sale.[1] Querrie put together a group that mainly consisted of the people who had run the senior amateur St. Patricks team in the Ontario Hockey Association the previous year. The new owners renamed the team the Toronto St. Patricks (or St. Pats for short). Among the officers of the St. Patrick's Professional Hockey Club Ltd. at the start of the 1919-20 season were president Fred Hambly, vice-president Paul Ciceri, secretary-treasurer Harvey Sproule, Charlie Querrie, and player-coach Frank Heffernan. The St. Pats won the Cup in 1922. The team colour was changed from blue to green.

The Conn Smythe era

Querrie lost a lawsuit to Livingstone and decided to put the St. Pats up for sale. He gave serious consideration to a $200,000 bid from a Philadelphia group. However, Toronto Varsity Graduates coach Conn Smythe put together an ownership group of his own and made a $160,000 offer for the franchise. With the support of St. Pats shareholder J. P. Bickell, Smythe persuaded Querrie to reject the Philadelphia bid, arguing that civic pride was more important than money.

After taking control on Valentine's Day 1927 Smythe immediately renamed the team the Maple Leafs. (The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team had won the International League championship a few months earlier and had been using that name for 30 years.) There have been numerous reasons cited for Smythe's decision to rename the team. The Maple Leafs say that the name was chosen in honour of the Maple Leaf Regiment from World War I. Another story says that Smythe named the team after a team he'd once scouted, called the East Toronto Maple Leafs.

Smythe's name was initially kept in the background. When the newly renamed Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club Ltd. promoted a public share offering to raise capital, it only disclosed that "one of the most prominent hockey coaches in Toronto" would be taking over management of the club.[2] That prominent coach turned out to be Smythe, who became general manager.

Initial reports were that the team's colours would be changed to red and white,[3] but the Leafs were wearing white sweaters with a green maple leaf for their first game on February 17, 1927[4] The next season, the Leafs appeared for the first time in the blue and white sweaters they have worn ever since. While the Leafs say that blue represents the Canadian skies and white represents snow, it is also true that top-level Toronto teams have worn blue since the Toronto Argonauts adopted blue as their primary colour in 1873. Another theory is that Smythe changed the colours as a nod to his high school alma mater, Upper Canada College, whose teams have worn blue and white since 1829 and the University of Toronto whose teams have also worn blue and were called the Varsity Blues.[5]

Toronto Maple Leafs opening night program at MLG, November 12, 1931

After four more lacklustre seasons, Smythe and the Leafs debuted their new arena, Maple Leaf Gardens, with a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on November 12, 1931. Led by the "Kid Line" (Busher Jackson, Joe Primeau and Charlie Conacher) and coach Dick Irvin, the Leafs would capture their third Stanley Cup victory during the first season in their new digs. They would go the distance in 1932, vanquishing Charlie Conacher's older brother Lionel Conacher and his Montreal Maroons in the first round, then in the semi-finals against the Boston Bruins, winning in the sixth overtime of the final game, and would not be overwhelmed in the Stanley Cup Finals by the hated New York Rangers. It was Conn Smythe's anti-Rangers revenge. The Maple Leafs went on a similar tear the next season, only to be upended by the Rangers.

The Leafs' star forward, Ace Bailey, was nearly killed in 1933 when Boston Bruins defenceman Eddie Shore checked him from behind into the boards at full speed. Maple Leafs defenceman Red Horner was able to knock Shore out with a punch, but it was too late for Bailey, who was by now writhing on the ice, had his career ended. Undeterred, the Leafs would reach the finals five more times in the next seven years, but would not win, bowing out to the now-defunct Maroons, the Detroit Red Wings in 1936, the Chicago Black Hawks in 1938, Boston in 1939, and the hated Rangers in 1940.

Toronto looked sure to suffer a similar fate in 1942, down three games to none in a best-of-seven final in 1942 against Detroit. However, fourth-line forward Don Metz would galvanize the team, coming from nowhere to score a hat trick in game four and the game-winning goal in game five, with the Leafs winning both times. Captain Syl Apps had won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy that season, not taking one penalty and finishing his ten-season career with an average of 5 minutes, 36 seconds in penalties a season. Goalie Turk Broda would shut out the Wings in game six, and Sweeney Schriner would score two goals in the third period to win the seventh game 3-1.

Apps told writer Trent Frayne in 1949, "If you want me to be pinned down to my [biggest night in hockey but also my] biggest second, I'd say it was the last tick of the clock that sounded the final bell. It's something I shall never forget at all." It was the first time a major pro sports team came back from behind 3-0 to win a best-of-seven championship series.

Three years later, with their heroes from 1942 dwindling (due to either age, health, or the war), the Leafs turned to lesser-known players like rookie goalie Frank McCool and defenceman Babe Pratt. They would upset the Red Wings in the 1945 finals.

The powerful defending champion Montreal Canadiens and their "Punch Line" (Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Toe Blake and Elmer Lach), would be the Leafs' nemesis two years later when the two teams clashed in the 1947 finals. Ted "Teeder" Kennedy would score the game-winning goal late in game six to win the Leafs their first of three straight Cups — the first time any NHL team had accomplished that feat. With their Cup victory in 1948, the Leafs moved ahead of Montreal for the most Stanley Cups in franchise history. It would take the Canadiens 10 years to reclaim the record.

The Leafs and Habs would meet once again in the finals in 1951, with all five games going to overtime. Tod Sloan scored with 42 seconds left in the third period of game five to send it to an extra period, and defenceman Bill Barilko, who had scored only six goals in the regular season, scored the game-winner to win Toronto their fourth Cup in five years. Barilko's glory, however, was short-lived: he disappeared in a plane crash near Timmins, Ontario barely four months after that historic moment. Barilko's legacy is still remembered over 50 years later, and The Tragically Hip's song "Fifty Mission Cap" is based on his plight.

New owners, new dynasty in the 1960s

File:Mahovolich4Kelly8.jpg
1967: Frank Mahovlich and Red Kelly celebrate the Leafs' last Stanley Cup

Toronto was unable to match up with their Cup-winning teams of the 1940s and 1951 for a long time, and stronger teams like Detroit and Montreal won the Cup year after year. In fact, the Habs' 1950s dynasty closed with a last-round Maple Leaf sweep. They did not win another Stanley Cup until 1962. Before the season, Smythe had sold nearly all of his shares in Maple Leaf Gardens to a partnership of his son Stafford Smythe, newspaper baron John Bassett and Toronto Marlboros president Harold Ballard. The sale price was $2.3 million--a handsome return on Conn Smythe's original investment 34 years earlier.

And then, Toronto was able to reel off another three straight Stanley Cup victories from 1962 to 1964, with the help of Hall of Famers Frank Mahovlich, Red Kelly, Johnny Bower, Dave Keon, Andy Bathgate and Tim Horton, and under the leadership of coach and general manager Punch Imlach. However, Bathgate claimed after 1964-65 that all the autocratic Imlach said to himself and Mahovlich was insulting:

“Imlach never spoke to Frank Mahovlich or myself for most of the season, and when he did, it was to criticize. Frank usually got the worst. We are athletes, not machines, and Frank is the type that needs some encouragement, a pat on the shoulder every so often.”[6]

It was Bathgate's one-way ticket to the floundering Red Wings, but Toronto would, for a few more years, keep "The Big M."

In 1967, the Leafs and Canadiens met in the Cup finals for the last time. Montreal was considered to be a heavy favourite as analysts said that the Leafs were just a bunch of has-beens. But Bob Pulford scored the double-overtime winner in game three, Jim Pappin got the series winner in game six, and Keon won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs as the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in six games. The Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since.

In 1968, Mahovlich was traded to Detroit in a blockbuster trade. Then in 1969, following a first-round playoff loss to Boston, Smythe fired Imlach. Horton declared, "If this team doesn't want Imlach, I guess it doesn't want me." He was traded to the New York Rangers the next year.

The Ballard years

File:LeafCaptainSittler.jpg
Darryl Sittler, captain of the Leafs in the late 1970s and all-time leading scorer in franchise history.

Following Stafford Smythe's death, Harold Ballard won a battle for control of the team during the 1971-72 season. One of the most detested owners in NHL history, he traded away many of the team's most popular players. He also blocked Keon from signing with another NHL team when his contract ran out in 1975, forcing him to jump to the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association. Ballard assumed (correctly) that the Leafs would continue to sell out regardless of the team's on-ice quality, and refused to raise the payroll any higher than necessary to be profitable.

During the 1970s, with the overall level of talent in the league diluted by the addition of 12 new franchises and the rival WHA, the Leafs, led by a group of stars such as Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald,enforcer Tiger Williams, Ian Turnbull and Borje Salming were able to ice competitive teams for several seasons. On February 7, 1976, Sittler would score six goals and four assists against the Bruins to establish a NHL single-game record that still stands more than 30 years later. But they only once made it past the second round of the playoffs, besting the New York Islanders, a soon-to-be dynasty, in the 1978 quarter-finals, only to be swept by their arch-rivals the Montreal Canadiens, in the semi-finals.

In July 1979, Ballard brought Imlach, a longtime friend, back to the organization as GM. When the Leafs traded McDonald, a close friend of Sittler, to the moribund Colorado Rockies on December 29, 1979; a member of the Leafs anonymously told the Toronto Star that Ballard and Imlach would "do anything to get at Sittler"[7] and traded McDonald to undermine Sittler's influence on the team. Sittler, along with other Leafs who were members of the NHL Players Association, was agitating for a better contract. Angry teammates trashed their dressing room in response, and Sittler temporarily resigned his captaincy. NHL executive director Alan Eagleson, who was also Sittler's agent, called the trade "a classless act."[7] Sittler himself was gone two years later, when the Leafs traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers. He left as the franchise's all-time leading scorer.

The McDonald trade sent the Leafs into a downward spiral. They finished five games under .500 and only made the playoffs due to the presence of the Quebec Nordiques, a refugee from the WHA, in the Adams Division. Ironically, Ballard had opposed taking the Nordiques and three other WHA teams into the NHL for the start of the 1979-80 season. He had never forgiven the WHA for nearly decimating his roster in the early 1970s, and the addition of three Canadian teams (the Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers) significantly reduced the Leafs' television revenue.

For the next 12 years, the Leafs were barely competitive, not posting another winning record until 1992-93. They missed the playoffs six times and only finished above fourth in their division once (in 1990, the only season where they even posted a .500 record). They only made it beyond the first round of the playoffs once (in 1986, advancing to the division finals), and won only 11 games in seven playoff appearances. The low point came in 1984-85, when they finished 32 games under .500, the second-worst record in franchise history (and only percentage points higher than the 1918-19 Arenas).

Many times, they made the playoffs with horrendous records. In 1987-88, for instance, they finished with the second-worst record in the league, and only one point ahead of the Minnesota North Stars for the worst record. However, the Norris Division was so weak that year (only the Red Wings finished with a winning record) that the Leafs still made the playoffs. Many Leafs fans consider Ballard's tenure as owner to be the darkest era in team history; indeed, they never finished above third in their division during Ballard's tenure. The Leafs' poor record resulted in several high draft picks. Wendel Clark, the first overall pick in the 1985 draft, was the lone success from the entry drafts of this period and went on to captain the team.

Resurgence in and after the 1990s

Ballard died in 1990. A year later, supermarket tycoon Steve Stavro, a longtime friend of Ballard's, bought the team from Ballard's estate in partnership with the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Unlike Ballard, Stavro hated the limelight and rarely interfered.

After 1991-92, ex-Calgary Flames GM Cliff Fletcher took over the team. In 1992-93, the Leafs began a resurgence. Unlike the league's other Canadian teams, the Leafs were not seriously impacted by the escalation of player salaries in the early 1990s. In fact, they actually thrived, as they were based in the league's fourth largest market. Doug Gilmour, who had come over from the Flames the previous season, scored 32 goals and 95 assists to lead the team in scoring. Dave Andreychuk had come to the Leafs from the Buffalo Sabres and would score 25 goals in his first 31 games as a Leaf as well as being the league's leading power-play goal scorer. Netminder Felix Potvin was also solid with an NHL-best 2.50 goals-against average. Toronto finished with a franchise-record 99 points, good enough for third place in the Norris Division. The Leafs dispatched the Detroit Red Wings in the first round with an overtime winner from Nikolai Borschevsky in game seven, then won the Norris Division Final by defeating the St. Louis Blues, also in seven games.

With Montreal facing the New York Islanders in the Wales Conference final, Canadians and hockey purists began dreaming of a Montreal-Toronto Cup final, as the Leafs faced the Los Angeles Kings, led by the great Wayne Gretzky, in the Campbell Conference final. The Leafs were up 3-2 in the series, but lost game six. Gretzky's hat trick in game seven would finish the Leafs' run, and it would be the Kings who would move on to the Finals against the Canadiens.

Those hoping for an all-Canadian Stanley Cup final in 1993 had to make do with an all-Canadian Western Conference Final (newly renamed from the Campbell Conference) in 1994. The Leafs, however, were no match for the Vancouver Canucks, losing in five games.

After two years out of the playoffs in the late 1990s, the Leafs made another charge during the 1999 playoffs after moving from Maple Leaf Gardens to the new Air Canada Centre. Mats Sundin, who had joined the team from the Quebec Nordiques in a 1994 trade involving Wendel Clark, had one of his most productive seasons, scoring 31 goals and totaling 83 points. Sergei Berezin scored 37 goals, Curtis Joseph won 35 games with a 2.56 GAA, and enforcer Tie Domi racked up 198 penalty minutes. The Leafs eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but lost in five games to the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Maple Leafs would reach the second round in both 2000 and 2001, losing both times to the New Jersey Devils, who would make the Stanley Cup Finals both seasons. The 2000 season was particularly notable because it marked the Leafs' first division title in 37 years, as well as the franchise's first-ever 100-point season. The season ended on a particular low, however, with the Leafs being held to just 6 shots in the final contest (game six) against the Devils.

In 2002, they would dispatch the Islanders and their trans-Ontario rivals, the Ottawa Senators, in the first two rounds, only to lose to the Cinderella-story Carolina Hurricanes in the Conference Finals. The 2002 season was particularly impressive in that the Leafs had many of their better players sidelined by injuries, but managed to make it to the conference finals due to the efforts of lesser-known players who were led mainly by Gary Roberts, who put up a heroic fight, although they would eventually fall to the Hurricanes.

Joseph left to go to the defending champions in Detroit in the 2002 off-season; the team almost immediately found a replacement in veteran Ed Belfour, who came over from the Dallas Stars and had been a crucial part of their 1999 Stanley Cup run. Belfour could not help their playoff woes in the 2003 playoffs, however, as they lost to Philadelphia in seven games in the first round. The 2003-04 season started in an uncommon way for the team, as they held their training camp in Sweden, and playing in the NHL Challenge against teams from Sweden and Finland. That year, the Leafs posted a franchise-record 103 points and finished fourth in the Eastern Conference. They also managed a .628 win percentage, their best in 43 years. They defeated the Senators in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, but lost to the Flyers in the second round in six games. The Leafs did not make the playoffs in 2006, finishing tenth in the Eastern Conference.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the only Original Six franchise to have not reached the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1967 NHL Expansion. The Chicago Blackhawks, the only other Original Six team not to win a Stanley Cup since 1967 (their last title came in 1961), have been to the Finals three times since then.

2006 to present

On January 28, 2006, the Leafs lost their eighth game in a row, their first streak of that length in 10 years. The streak was snapped on January 30, 2006, with a win against the Florida Panthers.

Despite a late-season surge, which included more NHL ice time for third string goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin who had spent the season with the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League affiliate, the Leafs were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 1998 on April 15, 2006. This marked the first time that the team missed the playoffs under coach Pat Quinn, and as a result he was fired along with assistant coach Rick Ley five days after the regular season ended. Defenceman Aki Berg left the team shortly afterwards. Paul Maurice, the coach of the Marlies and a former NHL head coach who led the Carolina Hurricanes to victory over the Leafs in the 2002 Eastern Conference Final, was announced as Pat Quinn's replacement. After much speculation on whether Bryan McCabe would remain a Maple Leaf or not, Toronto wrote up a five-year contract, which McCabe signed on June 28. At the 2006 NHL Entry Draft the Leafs selected Jiri Tlusty with the 13th Overall pick. On the same day, the Leafs traded 2005 first round pick Tuukka Rask to the Boston Bruins for Goaltender/2004 Calder Memorial Trophy winner Andrew Raycroft.

On July 1, 2006 the Maple Leafs signed free agent defencemen Hal Gill (also from Boston) and Pavel Kubina (from 2004 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning) to long term deals. On July 18 2006 the Maple Leafs signed free agent Edmonton Oilers centre Michael Peca to a one-year, $2.5 million contract.

In the 2006-07 season, the Maple Leafs were led by veterans such as Mats Sundin, Bryan McCabe, and Tomas Kaberle and were assisted by young players such as Kyle Wellwood, Matt Stajan, and Alex Steen. Some additions to the team were Hal Gill (Boston Bruins), Pavel Kubina (Tampa Bay Lightning), and Michael Peca (Edmonton Oilers). These new recruits were signed to replace the talent of Eric Lindros (Dallas Stars), Tie Domi (retired), Jason Allison (unsigned), and Ed Belfour (Florida Panthers). Paul Maurice turned them in a different direction from the old head coach Pat Quinn and brought the team up-to-date with all of the new rules. On June 30 2006, the Maple Leafs bought out the contract of long-time fan favourite, Tie Domi. In addition to Domi, the Maple Leafs also decided against picking up the option year on the contract of goaltender Ed Belfour. Both players became free agents on July 1 2006, effectively ending their tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On November 28 2006, the Leafs traded goaltender Mikael Tellqvist to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Tyson Nash and a fourth-round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. On February 27, 2007, Yanic Perreault was acquired by the team for the third time, along with a 5th round draft pick in the 2007 draft, in a trade that sent Brendan Bell and a 2nd round pick in the same draft to Phoenix.[8]

Eventually the team would fall just short of a playoff berth for the 2007 season to the New York Islanders. The Maple Leafs won their last game of the season against the Montreal Canadiens in regulation time, eliminating Montreal. It also allowed them to watch a game the next day between the Islanders and the New Jersey Devils that would determine their playoff destiny. The Islanders won the game in a shoot out after the Devils scored with 0.9 seconds left to tie the game. This sent the Islanders to the playoffs; the Leafs missed the playoffs by one point for the second year in a row.

Following aka "Leafs Nation"

Maple Leafs fans worldwide are known by the collective nickname "Leafs Nation"; the club uses this term as the title of its website. Conversely, there is an equally passionate dislike of the team by fans of several other NHL teams. In November 2002, the Leafs were named by Sports Illustrated hockey writer Michael Farber as the "Most Hated Team in Hockey." He even mentioned that many rival fans believe that the referees were partial towards the Leafs, although the team's consistent position near the top of the penalty minutes statistics over the years may disprove that theory.

In the United States, several cities in the Sun Belt have sizable numbers of Leaf fans, as many Snowbirds tend to flock to locales such as Phoenix, Tampa Bay, and Miami during the winter, resulting in a boost in turnout and ticket sales when these franchises play the Maple Leafs.

The Leafs are sometimes referred to as "the Buds" (as in maple bud and/or short for buddy) by their legions of fans which has paralleled the use of "Habs" as a secondary nickname for the Montreal Canadiens.

Maple Leafs home games have long been one of the toughest tickets to acquire in Canada, even during lean periods. The Leafs have sold out every game since 1946. While scalping is technically illegal in Toronto, there are numerous scalpers around the Air Canada Centre. The only ways to get into a game are to buy tickets months in advance or to deal with scalpers at a markup considerably above face value.

There are now podcasts available for the Leafs Nation, the most popular of which are the AM640 program "Leafs Lunch" [1] broadcast and "A Foot In The Crease - The Toronto Hockey Podcast" [2], whose guests this season have included Michael Landsberg, James Duthie, Jennifer Hedger, Bob McKenzie, Andy Frost and John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting.

Rivalries

The Maple Leafs' greatest rival is the Montreal Canadiens, given the long history of Original Six matchups and playoff meetings between the two clubs. The fact that Montreal is Canada's most populated French-speaking city also gives the rivalry a nationalistic flair, which is perhaps best captured in the popular Canadian short story "The Hockey Sweater" by Roch Carrier.

The rivalry between the Leafs and the Ottawa Senators, known as The Battle of Ontario, has heated up since the late 1990s, owing in no small part to the Canadiens' struggles during that period. While Ottawa has dominated during most of the teams' regular season matchups in recent years, the Leafs have won all four postseason series between the two teams.

The Leafs' biggest U.S.-based rivals of late have been the Philadelphia Flyers, who defeated the Leafs in the 2003 and 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The rivalry goes back to the 1970s when the Flyers and Leafs had the reputation as being two of the toughest (and often most penalized) teams in the league. Games between the two teams are still often very physical.

The Buffalo Sabres have also been cited as notable American rivals of the Leafs, mainly because of Buffalo's proximity to the Canadian border. A large contingent of Leaf fans typically travels the short drive to Buffalo for road games there, giving them a somewhat neutral setting.

The Leafs also maintain a traditional Original Six rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings. The teams' close proximity to each other (the two cities are just 230 miles apart) and a number of shared fans - particularly in markets such as Windsor, Ontario - means the rivalry is found more in the crowd than on the ice; since the Maple Leafs moved to the Eastern Conference in 1998, the two teams have faced each other less often each season. The 2007-08 NHL season will mark the first time the Leafs and Wings will not play each other in the regular season since the Original Six era.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Maple Leafs. For the full season-by-season history, see Toronto Maple Leafs seasons

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes, TG = Playoff series decided on total goals

Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
2001-02 82 43 25 10 4 100 249 207 1212 2nd in Northeast Lost in Conference Finals, 2-4 (Hurricanes)
2002-03 82 44 28 7 3 98 236 208 1390 2nd in Northeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Flyers)
2003-04 82 45 24 10 3 103 242 204 1452 2nd in Northeast Lost in Conference Semifinals, 2-4 (Flyers)
2004-05 Season cancelled due to 2004-05 NHL Lockout
2005-061 82 41 33 -- 8 90 257 270 1291 4th in Northeast Did not qualify
2006-07 82 40 31 -- 11 91 258 269 1065 3rd in Northeast Did not qualify
1 As of the 2005-06 NHL season, games remaining tied after overtime are decided by shootout.

Players

Current roster

As of June 22, 2007. [3]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
1 Canada Andrew Raycroft L 2006 Belleville, Ontario
30 Canada Jean-Sebastien Aubin R 2004 Montreal, Quebec
35 Finland Vesa Toskala L 2007 Tampere, Finland
Defencemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
7 Canada Ian White R 2002 Steinbach, Manitoba
8 Canada Carlo Colaiacovo L 2001 Toronto, Ontario
15 Czech Republic Tomas Kaberle - A L 1996 Rakovnik, Czechoslovakia
24 Canada Bryan McCabe - A L 2001 St. Catharines, Ontario
25 United States Hal Gill L 2006 Concord, Massachusetts
31 Czech Republic Pavel Kubina R 2006 Celadna, Czechoslovakia
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
13 Sweden Mats Sundin - C C R 1994 Bromma, Sweden
14 Canada Matt Stajan C L 2002 Mississauga, Ontario
16 Canada Darcy Tucker LW L 2000 Castor, Alberta
18 Canada Chad Kilger LW L 2004 Cornwall, Ontario
21 United States John Pohl C R 2005 Rochester, Minnesota
22 Canada Boyd Devereaux C L 2006 Seaforth, Ontario
23 Ukraine Alexei Ponikarovsky LW L 1998 Kiev, U.S.S.R.
42 Canada Kyle Wellwood C R 2001 Old Castle, Ontario
54 Canada Kris Newbury C L 2003 Brampton, Ontario
80 Kazakhstan Nik Antropov C L 1998 Ust-Kamenogorsk, U.S.S.R.
-- Canada Mark Bell LW L 2007 St. Pauls Station, Ontario

Hall of Famers

The following members of the Toronto Maple Leafs have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The list includes anyone who played for the Leafs who was later inducted as a player. The list of builders includes anyone inducted as a builder who spent any part of their career in a coaching, management, or ownership role with the Leafs.

Players


Builders

  • Harold Ballard, owner/executive/director, 1957-89, inducted 1977
  • J. P. Bickell, shareholder/director, 1919-51, inducted 1978
  • Punch Imlach, coach/general manager, 1958-69 and 1979-80, inducted 1984


Team captains


Retired numbers

The Leafs have a policy of retiring numbers only for players "who have made a significant contribution to the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and have experienced a career-ending incident while a member of the Maple Leaf team". Barilko (whose career ended with death in a plane crash)[9] and Bailey (whose career ended with a severe head injury)[10] met the criteria. These two numbers were not officially retired until October 17, 1992. Ron Ellis received permission from Bailey, by the time of his career the Leafs' Director of Scouting, to wear number 6.

Honoured numbers

In 1993, the Leafs began a policy of honouring their greatest players by declaring their number an "Honoured Number" rather than retirement. MLSE CEO Richard Peddie formed a committee in 2005 to study the issue and announced the decision to continue with the honoured number program late that year, citing a desire to allow current players to build upon the legacy of those numbers.

First round draft picks


Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history, as of the end of the 2005-06 season. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Legend: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Maple Leafs player

Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Darryl Sittler C 844 389 527 916 1.09
Mats Sundin* C 907 388 521 909 1.00
Dave Keon C 1062 365 493 858 .81
Borje Salming D 1099 148 620 768 .70
George Armstrong RW 1187 296 417 713 .60
Ron Ellis RW 1034 332 308 640 .62
Frank Mahovlich LW 720 296 303 599 .83
Bob Pulford LW 947 251 312 563 .59
Ted Kennedy C 696 231 329 560 .80
Rick Vaive RW 534 299 238 537 1.01

NHL awards and trophies


Toronto Maple Leafs individual records

See also

References

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ECyclopedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "The Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club, Limited" (advertisement), Toronto Star, February 17, 1927, p. 18.
  3. ^ "Good-bye St. Pats, howdy Maple Leafs," The Globe, February 15, 1927, p. 6
  4. ^ "Toronto crumbles New York chances," The Globe, February 18, 1927, p. 8.
  5. ^ Lance Hornby "The Story of Maple Leaf Gardens, 100 Memories at Church and Carlton", page 37.
  6. ^ McDonell, Chris. (2005). Hockey's Greatest Stars: Legends and Young Lions. Firefly Books. p. 84. ISBN 1-55407-038-4.
  7. ^ a b "Lanny McDonald trade has Sittler in tears," Jim Kernaghan, Toronto Star, December 29 1979, p. 1.
  8. ^ "Leafs Re-Acquire Perreault". MapleLeafs.com. 2007-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Alumni Bios: Bill Barilko". Toronto Maple Leafs.
  10. ^ "Alumni Bios: Ace Bailey". Toronto Maple Leafs.
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1917-18 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1921-22 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1931-32 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1941-42 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1944-45 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1950-51 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Stanley Cup Champions
1966-67 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Toronto_Maple_Leafs&oldid=140132230"