The Legacy of the Toronto Maple Leafs: A Comprehensive Guide to Canada’s Beloved Hockey Team
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been there since the beginning of the NHL. One of only two remaining charter members of the league, alongside the Montréal Canadiens, the Buds stand as the most valuable team in the NHL. Even with their record Stanley Cup drought, the city of Toronto continues to support its team.
Table of Contents
- Origins and History
- The Organization
- The Players
- Gameplay and Strategy
- The Modern Era
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The legacy of the legendary Maple Leafs from the pre-expansion NHL era endures. After all, Toronto stands second in all-time Stanley Cup wins. Legacy counts for a lot in the NHL, and the Buds have it by the bucket load. With the current team often favoured in hockey betting, there’s hope that the drought will soon end.
Hockey has long been popular in Canada, and since the late 1910s, this Toronto club has not only remained in the NHL, but for a long time, conquered the best of the best. A charter member of the Original Six, the Toronto Maple Leafs remain one of the biggest and most popular teams in Canada, regardless of their success - or lack of it - since the 1960s.
Origins and History
The Birth of a Franchise: From Toronto Arenas to Maple Leafs
In 1917, the Toronto Hockey Club was founded to compete in the NHL. After winning the Cup in that inaugural season, the NHL opted to engrave “Toronto Arenas” on the trophy in 1948. They did become known as Toronto Arenas for a time, but swiftly switched to the Toronto St. Patricks after being sold to the St. Patricks Hockey Club. Not long after that, the team became the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Evolution of the Team Name and Logo: A Journey Through Time
Three different owners wanted to call the hockey club three different things, with the first two linking back to the team’s owners. It wasn’t until Conn Smythe in 1927, that they’d get a non-corporate name and don the “Toronto Maple Leafs” moniker.
With this transition, the team’s colours changed from green and white (St. Pats) to the now-iconic blue and white. The logo changed from a green "Toronto St. Pats" design to a blue maple leaf, which has remained the central element of their identity ever since.
Pivotal Moments in Maple Leafs History
The storied franchise has many pivotal moments in its history, from its first Stanley Cup in 1918 to the years under Conn Smythe, to the drafting of Auston Matthews.
The First Stanley Cup Victory: A Dream Realized
In the 1917/18 season, the first season for what was then the Toronto Hockey Club, the team went all the way. Under the moniker of the Toronto Arenas on the trophy, Toronto’s inaugural season saw them win the NHL Championship and the Stanley Cup, beating the Vancouver Millionaires 3-2.
The Post-1967 Drought: Challenges and Resilience
Although they’re among the favourites to win the Conference in 2024/25, the Toronto Maple Leafs have consistently found themselves among the NHL’s top teams since 1967. The rapid growth of the league and Toronto’s inability to adjust, is often cited as an issue, especially under certain owners.
Yet, there’s resilience to be found in the Maple Leafs. They may be on the longest Cup drought, but the team is still wildly popular in one of the NHL’s biggest market. In fact, in 2024, Forbes still ranked the Toronto Maple Leafs as the most valuable team in the league.
The Organization
Ownership and Leadership Over the Years
In the team’s first ten years of existence, they went from being the Toronto Arenas (1917), owned by Arena Gardens of Toronto, to the Toronto St. Patricks in 1919 having been purchased by St. Patrick Hockey Club. In 1927, the legendary Conn Smythe bought the team and rebranded them as the Toronto Maple Leafs.
From 1927 to 1961, the Maple Leafs won seven Stanley Cups, at which point Smythe sold the majority of his shares to a collective that included his son. They won four more championships before Harold Ballard of that collective emerged as the majority owner. From 1972 to 1990 under Ballard, the team struggled immensely.
Ownership fell to Steve Stavro after the outspoken owner’s death in 1990. With Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd., Stavro would acquire the Toronto Raptors and what was the Air Canada Centre to then create Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, who presently owns the team.
From there, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment would see its majority shareholder become the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in 2003. In 2012, with a near 80 percent share, they sold the company to Bell and Rogers Communications. It wasn’t until late 2024 that one of them became the majority shareholder, with Rogers paying $3.5 billion to Bell to, hopefully, pave the way for a more driven and decisive board of owners.
The Maple Leafs’ Home: A History of Venues
As you’d expect from a team that dates back over a century, the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t been limited to just one home. That said, it may come as a surprise that the Buds have only played out of three venues, starting with the Mutual Street Arena until 1931.
Maple Leaf Gardens: An Iconic Hockey Cathedral
From 1932 to 1999, this cathedral of hockey housed an incredibly successful Toronto Maple Leafs and oversaw the many initial stages of NHL expansion. The Stanley Cup was won by the Leafs 11 times while they were at Maple Leaf Gardens, and it continues to stand and be used on Carlton Street to this day. Although it's used for shopping these days, the building was named a National Historic Site of Canada in 2007, showcasing its prominence in Canadian history.
Scotiabank Arena: The Modern Home of Leafs Hockey
Boasting an 18,800 capacity, the Scotiabank Arena has been the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors – both of which are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment – since 1999. The extensive venue is a huge attraction even beyond the Maple Leafs, being the busiest arena in Canada.
The Players
Legendary Maple Leafs Who Defined Era
Each era of success and hopes of success came with their own band of heroes on the ice and behind the bench. These are a few of those players who stand out for their contributions to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Dave Keon: The Face of the Franchise
Having won the Calder Trophy as a rookie for the Leafs in 1960/61, Dave Keon kicked on to become a legend of the team. He spent his first 15 seasons of professional hockey with the Buds, during which time, he collected four Stanley Cups. While not in the Hockey Hall of Fame yet, he was named to the 2017 list of the 100 Greatest Players in NHL History.
Mats Sundin: A Scandinavian Superstar
A trailblazing goalscorer for European hockey, Mats Sundin was a bona fide hero in Toronto for 13 seasons. Over those years, he nailed at least 70 points in seven of his seasons, and led the team on points. To date, the Swedish centre remains the franchise leader in goals (420) and points (987), respectively.
Auston Matthews: The Modern-Day Phenomenon
Picked first overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Buds hoped they were onto the face of their franchise for the next decade. Auston Matthews has certainly repaid that faith in him. The centre from Arizona has won multiple individual awards from the NHL, including the Calder, Rocket, Lindsay, and Hart Memorial Trophies, and now owns the single-season record for goals in the salary cap era with 69.
Hall of Famers and their Contributions
To date, over 60 players who once skated for the Toronto Maple Leafs are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with 13 who were nominated as a Builder of Hockey in North America. To become a Hall of Famer, you need to have had a profound impact on the league throughout your career, with many former Buds having hoisted the Stanley Cup.
The Importance of Draft Picks and Development
As with any team, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had to rely on good picks in the draft to build around. Right now, we’re seeing one of the Stanley Cup favourites perform, having been built around the Toronto picks of Morgan Rielly, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews. Plus, you can throw in the franchise’s picks of Lanny McDonald and Daryl Sittler, who are now in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Gameplay and Strategy
The Maple Leafs’ Style of Play Through the Decades
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been in action since 1917 including their years as the Arenas and St. Patricks. So, as you’d assume, they’ve gone through pretty much every style of play. The sport as a whole has transitioned from a more physical style to emphasizing speed and finesse before circling back again. In each of the 13 years that the Buds won the Stanley Cup, they were setting the trend for the style of play and outperforming all others.
Great Coaches and their Strategies
Three coaches stand out for their impact on the franchise. The first is Pat Quinn. Credited for changing coaching in the NHL throughout the late 1970s and 80s, turning from hard hits to a free-flowing and open style of play. Punch Imlach’s success still hangs as a shadow of former greatness over the Buds, with his reliance on players who were written off as too old, culminating in the last Stanley Cup of the Original Six era.
Before Imlach, though, came Hap Day. Winner of the first Stanley Cup three-peat. They say it was Day’s years spent as a referee while coaching minor league teams that gave him the nuanced understanding of the sport needed to turn the Maple Leafs into a real force in the 1940s.
Punch Imlach: The Original Architect
Entering a heated field of competitors in the NHL’s Original Six era, Punch Imlach would transform the Toronto Maple Leafs into titans of the sport. He was hired in 1958, and by 1962, they’d won the Stanley Cup. By 1964, the Buds had collected three on the bounce. Then, in the final year of the Original Six, he added another with his “Over The Hill Gang.”
Mike Babcock and Beyond: Modern Coaching Trends
In 2015, the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Mike Babcock to coach and oversee a major rebuild, which quickly led them to secure the first overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, where they selected Auston Matthews. Hailed as the best possible pick-up for the team and a true show of intent to win the Cup, by 2019, he was relieved of his duties.
The “Marner List” incident – in which Babcock told the rookie to list his teammates from hardest to least hardest working before revealing it to the players – was, apparently, the tip of the iceberg of his brash approach. Since then, Sheldon Keefe took the Buds to the next step, and now Craig Berube is behind the bench.
While the team is clearly built to emphasize skill players, that’s not the way of the NHL right now. Just look at how the Florida Panthers bullied their way to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals! Berube has taken this into consideration, demanding more grit. In the early 2024/25 season, the Maple Leafs were even able to go hit-for-hit with the Bruins.
The Modern Era
Recent Seasons: Successes and Shortcomings
Since the 2004/05 NHL Lockout – the season before which, the Buds made it to the Conference Semifinals – the Toronto Maple Leafs have been to nine of 19 playoffs, including their current eight-season run of postseason qualification. In all but one of those, they bowed out in the First Round, but in 2022/23, they went one step further.
The Future of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Being relatively successful, without ultimate success in the NHL for some time, the Maple Leafs don’t have a lot to look forward to coming down the prospect pipeline. Another pressing issue is how the front office has weighed its contracts. Four players hit for over $46 million of the $88 million cap, but two of those are UFAs soon.
Promising Young Talent in the Pipeline
The prospect pool of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2024/25 didn’t look great. In fact, by most rankings, it’s a top-five pool. There are some gems in there, though, like forward Easton Cowan, who stuck with the OHL’s London Knights this season, and Finnish right-shot defenseman Topi Niemelä, who’s with the Toronto Marlies this season.
Can the Maple Leafs End the Championship Drought?
The Toronto Maple Leafs can end their championship drought, which currently numbers 58 years. The roster is easily among the best in the NHL right now, and through the opening half of the 2024/25 season, the Buds topped the Atlantic Division, primed to win it in fact per the odds. Still, the First Round is rarely a good one for the Maple Leafs.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why haven’t the Toronto Maple Leafs won a Stanley Cup since 1967?
Many elements go into a team with the resources of the Toronto Maple Leafs failing to win the Stanley Cup in a record-setting clip of years. Overall, the finger has to be pointed to the management and its ability to build a team with the right pieces in place to challenge, while the league expanded from six teams to 32 teams.
Who are the most famous Maple Leafs players of all time?
It’s tough to look beyond Tim Horton as being the most famous Maple Leafs player of all time, given that his name is dotted on the double double cups of many Canadian’s morning routines. After Horton, the most famous Toronto players would be Dave Keon, Darryl Sittler, Mats Sundin, Syl Apps, and Teeder Kennedy.
What are the biggest rivalries for the Toronto Maple Leafs?
The storied Toronto Maple Leafs franchise has established more than its fair share of rivalries over the years. The biggest rivalry for the Buds has to be with the Montréal Canadiens, followed by their clashes with the Boston Bruins. When more evenly matched, their all-Ontario rivalry with the Ottawa Senators can also get heated.
Who is the oldest Toronto Maple Leafs player?
Presently, the oldest Toronto Maple Leafs player is Ryan Reaves, who clocks in at 38 years old. However, the oldest Toronto Maple Leafs player in franchise history remains Johnny Bower, who was 45 years and 32 days old when the goaltender hung up his skates in the 1969/70 season.
What is the average age of the Leafs players?
The average age of the Toronto Maple Leafs players in 2024/25 is 28.36 years old, as of the time of writing.