Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs
One of the ‘Original Six’ members of the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) and play at the Air Canada Centre (ACC). The Leafs are well known for their long and bitter rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens. Ottawa Senators have emerged as their new rivals. The franchise is noted to have won thirteen Stanley Cups, eleven as the Leafs, one as the Toronto St. Patricks, and one as the Toronto Arenas.

The history of Toronto Maple Leafs dates back to 1917 when it was founded as the Toronto Arenas, replacing the Quebec Bulldogs as one of the four teams in the then brand new National Hockey League. Lawyer Eddie Livingstone was the founder of the franchise. Despite winning the Stanley Cup in the league’s first year, the Toronto Arenas struggled and in 1919 went on to become the Toronto St. Patricks. By 1922 the St. Pats defeated Ottawa and Vancouver in the playoffs to win Toronto’s second Stanely Cup championship.

In 1927, the club was sold to a new company headed by Conn Smythe and Hugh Aird, renaming it the Maple Leafs. They also began construction of the Maple Leaf Gardens, where the Leafs started playing in the 1931-32 season. Their first season in the new building also saw them win the Stanley Cup. Throughout the rest of the 1930s, the Maple Leafs appeared in numerous Stanley Cup finals, but could not win. Under the coach Hap Day, the Leafs came back from a three games to none deficit in the 1942 playoffs to defeat the Detroit Red Wings in their best of seven series.

Their return brought them the ultimate prize of the Stanley Cup after a ten year absence. The latter half of the 1940’s was dominated notably by the Toronto Maple Leafs. They won four straight championships from 1947-51 defeating Montreal and Detroit, twice each. The Maple Leafs era came to an end as Conn Smythe stepped down as general manager of the club in 1955. The Leafs struggled for the rest of the decade, ending last overall for the first time in the 1956-57 season. By 1960, the team was back in the Stanley Cup finals but lostto the Montreal Canadiens.

After a ten year drought, the Leafs were able to take home the cup in 1962 by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks. This win began a streak of three straight championships, making 4 in total for the decade of the 1960s. One of the highlights for the franchise was a 1976 game against the Boston Bruins. In this game, Darryl Sittler recorded an NHL record high 10 points in one game. The late 1970s were converted into a sideshow by Harold Ballard who fired Red Kelley, hired Roger Nielson, fired him and hired him back, and once again fired him along with Bob Davidson - all in the span of weeks.

On the ice, the Leafs were in and out of the playoffs and missed the postseason four times in eight years through the 1980s. April 1990 saw the passing away of Harold Ballard, leaving the venerable franchise in a mess. 1991 saw the arrival of veteran hockey executive Cliff Fletcher as the president and general manager of the club who made several on and off ice moves to start the rebuilding process. By 1996 Maple Leafs seemed to have landed on hard times as players like Mike Gartner, Dave Gagner, Doug Gilmour, and Dave Ellet were traded.

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About the Author:
Emily Gardner is always on the move. In the last year alone, she has spent weeks at a time in California, Connecticut and Texas. While not traveling for photojournalism assignments, she indulges in rock music, twister and foosball.