It was unexpected then, and who would have predicted that it would not happen again? As of , it has been 49 years and counting. The members of the Leafs that season knew they were flawed. They were mostly old by hockey standards two were over 40, and six others were 36 or older and included some erratic personalities.
The team lacked scoring punch and had endured a season in which they had lost straight games. It was essentially the same team that the previous year had been swept in the playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens. Many of the players were also dissatisfied with general manager Punch Imlach. Imlach had a few loyalists on the team, and his reputation in the press which he controlled bordered on portraying him as a genius, since he had won three Stanley Cups in the early s.
But in reality, he was despised by most of the team and made one bad decision after another. He had completely alienated the team's one certain superstar, Frank Mahovlich , and most of the promising younger players such as Jim Pappin and Pete Stemkowski.
Captain George Armstrong tried to unite the failing team in a classic team meeting on 30 January, telling them that they had to ignore their animosity toward Imlach and solve their problems themselves.
Unfortunately, the team went on to lose another three games. On 18 February, lightning struck when the imperious Imlach suffered a health problem, and the team asked the legendary King Clancy to step in.
Suddenly, everything changed. The team won seven, lost one and tied two under Clancy. The first game after Imlach returned, the Leafs lost 5—0 to the Black Hawks 12 March ; they won six and lost four over the remainder of the regular season. One of the many conflicts between Imlach and his players had to do with a sea change that was occurring in the relationship between management and players. By , players had more leverage in their dealings with team owners and management, and decided to form a union.
The new players' union would eventually help to destroy a team like the Leafs, whose management simply could not accept any challenge to its authority. The Leafs finished the season in third place and under the strange rules of the six-team National Hockey League , this meant that they would play the first-place Chicago Black Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. The fourth-place team played the second-place team. In one of his controlling antics, Imlach flew the team to Peterborough , Ontario , and put them through a boot camp that made the players resent him even more.
The Black Hawks were heavily favoured. Ted Harris. Claude Larose. Gilles Tremblay. Terry Harper. Jacques Laperriere. Claude Provost. Jean-Guy Talbot. Rogie Vachon. Gump Worsley. Jim Pappin. Bob Pulford. Pete Stemkowski. Tim Horton. Mike Walton. Red Kelly. Dave Keon. Brian Conacher. Ron Ellis. Larry Hillman. Frank Mahovlich.
George Armstrong. Marcel Pronovost. Allan Stanley. Bob Baun. Aut Erickson. Milan Marcetta. Eddie Shack. Terry Sawchuk. Johnny Bower. Noel Price. Carol Vadnais. Andre Boudrias. Garry Peters. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup Finals 13 times, in , , , , , , , , , , , and Toggle navigation Champs or Chumps.
Past 10 Seasons - Championship Years , , , , , , , , , , , , Toronto Maple Leafs History. Overview The Toronto Maple Leafs have played a total of seasons. Have the Toronto Maple Leafs gone by any other names?
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