The Toronto Maple Leafs

Supported by an extremely loyal fan base, the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club, also known as the Toronto Maple Leafs, is one of the most storied major-league sports clubs in North America. The team was among the earliest members of the National Hockey League (NHL), and one of only two Canadian teams in the league to survive the interwar years. Under the leadership of Conn Smythe, the former St. Patrick’s Hockey Club (popularly known as the St. Pats or St. Patricks) became the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927. Smythe, who championed the building of Maple Leaf Gardens during the Great Depression, saw his ownership stake grow from 1927 to 1961, and served as President for much of that time. The franchise won 13 Stanley Cup championships from 1918 to 1967, enjoyed two dynasties spanning from the 1940s to the 1960s, and fostered numerous hockey legends. Broadcasts of the team’s games brought it national attention. Famed announcer Foster Hewitt called Leafs games on radio and later on the popular televised program Hockey Night in Canada.

The Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club traces its origins to one of the first teams to compete in the NHL, which was formed in 1917. The team, which played at Arena Gardens, was known as the Arenas, before becoming the St. Pats the following year. The team won the Stanley Cup in 1918 and 1922. In 1927, Toronto investor, businessman, and athlete Conn Smythe renamed the team the Maple Leafs when he and the group of investors he assembled saved it from being sold to Philadelphia. The NHL, although created in Canada, expanded into the United States in the 1920s and then became increasingly dominated by American business interests. Only two Canadian teams in the league – the Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens – survived the lean years of the 1920s and 1930s when many NHL teams moved, merged, or went bankrupt. During this time, the Leafs forged its identity as the only English-Canadian team.

In November 1931, the Toronto Maple Leafs played their first game in Maple Leaf Gardens, and with the ‘kid line’ of Charlie Conacher, Joe Primeau and Busher Jackson, went on to win the Stanley Cup that season. The team won ten more championships: in 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967, bringing the total number of Stanley Cup wins to 13. In the 1940s, goaltender Turk Broda and players Syl Apps and Ted Kennedy delighted fans with their on-ice success, and in the 1960s, coach Punch Imlach led a team dominated by Frank Mahovlich, Johnny Bower, Dave Keon, Tim Horton, and George Armstrong. Today, the Leafs’ fan base remains fiercely loyal to their team.

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