50 Fun Facts About Toronto Maple Leafs

The franchise began play in the NHL's first season, 1917-18, under what name?

The team won the Stanley Cup that first season, though the Leafs do not count the earlier Blueshirts' history as their own.

The Toronto St. Patricks wore what colour from 1919 until Conn Smythe took over?

Babe Dye scored four in the 1922 Cup clincher over the Vancouver Millionaires under the St. Pats banner.

Conn Smythe's group bought the St. Patricks in 1927, beating a rival who wanted to move the team where?

C. C. Pyle had offered $200,000; Smythe argued civic pride mattered more than money.

Conn Smythe said he chose the maple leaf as a logo because of his experience as what?

He called it a badge of courage worn by Canadian soldiers; a Toronto baseball club had used the name since 1895.

Conn Smythe said the Leafs' colours meant sky and snow, but they also matched what?

Blue had long been associated with Toronto teams, going back to the Argonaut Rowing Club.

Maple Leaf Gardens was built in 1931 on land bought from which Toronto retailing family?

Construction took five months, and the Leafs lost the opener 2-1 to Chicago on November 12, 1931.

The radio broadcaster's press box high above the Gardens ice was nicknamed what?

A General Motors ad man said it looked like the gondola of an airship.

The Leafs' 1930s 'Kid Line' featured Busher Jackson, Joe Primeau and whom?

Coached by Dick Irvin, they won the 1932 Cup over the Rangers, whom Smythe had been fired by before ever coaching a game.

Whose No. 6, retired in 1934 after an Eddie Shore hit, was pro sports' first retired number?

The Ace Bailey Benefit Game held to pay his medical bills was the NHL's first All-Star Game.

The Leafs remain the only team to do what in a Stanley Cup Final, against Detroit in 1942?

Fourth-liner Don Metz sparked the reverse sweep, and Conn Smythe arrived at Game 7 in full military uniform.

Bill Barilko vanished in a 1951 plane crash near which Ontario town, months after his Cup-winning goal?

The wreck was found in 1962, the same spring the Leafs next won the Cup; his No. 5 was retired in 1992.

How many games of the 1951 Toronto–Montreal Stanley Cup Final went to overtime?

Barilko left his defensive post against orders to score the winner in Game 5.

The Leafs' 1967 Stanley Cup, their 13th, was won in six games over which team?

Jim Pappin scored the series winner; by 2025 the drought that followed had stretched to 57 seasons, the longest in league history.

Which coach-GM led the Leafs to four 1960s Cups and holds the club record for games coached?

He coached 770 regular-season games for Toronto and later spun the Buffalo Sabres' lucky wheel.

In 1972 majority owner Harold Ballard was convicted on how many charges of fraud and theft?

He served time at Millhaven and later said prison was like a motel with colour TV, golf and steak.

Darryl Sittler set the NHL single-game record with 10 points on February 7, 1976, against which team?

All six goals and four assists came against rookie goalie Dave Reece in an 11-4 win.

Darryl Sittler relinquished the Leafs captaincy in a dispute with which returning GM?

Imlach traded Sittler's friend Lanny McDonald partly to undermine him.

Which Kings star high-sticked Doug Gilmour unpenalised in the 1993 conference final, then scored the winner?

Toronto had led the series 3-2 and dreamed of a Cup Final against Montreal.

The 1994 draft-day trade that sent Wendel Clark to Quebec brought which future captain to Toronto?

In 1997 he became the first non-Canadian to captain the Leafs, and no European-born player has captained an NHL team longer.

The Leafs played their last game at Maple Leaf Gardens in February 1999 before moving to which arena?

The building was renamed Scotiabank Arena in 2018 and holds 18,819 for Leafs games.

After a decade sitting vacant, Maple Leaf Gardens reopened in 2012 with what occupying its lower floors?

Toronto Metropolitan University's arena, the Mattamy Athletic Centre, sits on the top level.

The Leafs' polar bear mascot wears No. 60 for what reason?

The polar bear made his first public appearance on July 29, 1995.

The Leafs lost the 2002 conference finals to which 'Cinderella' team?

Toronto had needed seven games each to get past the Islanders and Senators.

Whose three shutouts carried the Leafs past Ottawa in the first round in 2004?

He had replaced Curtis Joseph in 2002 and was a Vezina finalist his first year in Toronto.

In 2009 Brian Burke traded two first-round picks and a second to Boston for which winger?

The picks became Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton; Phaneuf arrived from Calgary months later.

Which president began a 'scorched earth' Leafs rebuild in 2015 and left in 2025?

The rebuild bottomed out with a last-place finish and the lottery win that delivered Auston Matthews.

Auston Matthews became the first player in modern NHL history to do what in his debut in 2016?

The Leafs still lost the game to Ottawa in overtime.

Auston Matthews set the Leafs' single-season record in 2023-24 with how many goals?

It brought him his third Rocket Richard Trophy; he had been the first Leaf ever to win it, in 2021.

Auston Matthews grew up in which Arizona city, attending Coyotes games from age two?

He was born in San Ramon, California, and played a year in Zurich before the 2016 draft.

The Leafs signed which centre to a seven-year, $77 million deal in 2018 and named him captain in 2019?

He was the club's 25th captain; the job later passed to Matthews.

The Leafs traded Mitch Marner in the 2025 off-season to which team?

Nicolas Roy came back and was later flipped to Colorado for picks.

Along with Wendel Clark and Auston Matthews, which 2026 selection was a Leafs first overall pick?

Clark went first in 1985 and Matthews in 2016.

How many seasons long was the Leafs' Stanley Cup drought at the end of the 2024-25 season?

The drought, the longest in NHL history, dates to 1967; only Montreal has more Cups or more NHL seasons than Toronto.

The Leafs have retired how many players' numbers, more than any club except Montreal?

For decades they 'honoured' numbers instead, until reversing course in 2016.

The Leafs' first home for 14 seasons before Maple Leaf Gardens was which building?

Also called Arena Gardens, it was owned by the company that first ran the franchise.

The Leafs performed the first trade in NHL history in 1917-18, sending Sammy Hebert to Ottawa for what?

The inaugural roster was largely leased from the NHA's Toronto Blueshirts.

Why was the club allowed to forfeit its last two games of the 1918-19 season?

That spring's Cup Final between Montreal and Seattle was abandoned because of the flu pandemic.

Which military band has performed at every Leafs home opener since Maple Leaf Gardens opened in 1931?

Smythe also had many Leafs take army training with the Toronto Scottish Regiment during World War II.

The Leafs' AHL affiliate shares its name with a historic city junior club; what is it?

The Marlboros were the club Harold Ballard ran before taking over the Leafs.

The Leafs' broadcasting rights are split between Rogers Communications and which other company?

Both telecom giants also co-own the parent company, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.

Who was the Leafs' first play-by-play broadcaster, calling games on radio from 1927 to 1968?

His 'Hockey Night in Canada' broadcasts became a Saturday-night tradition across the country.

The Leafs lost seven-game first-round series to which team in 2013, 2018 and 2019?

The 2013 collapse from a 4-1 third-period lead in Game 7 became shorthand for Leafs heartbreak.

The Leafs finished last in the NHL in 2015-16 for the first time since which season?

The lottery win that followed produced Auston Matthews.

Which Leafs captain won the 1942 Lady Byng Trophy without taking a single penalty?

He averaged 5 minutes 36 seconds in penalties per season and enlisted in the army during the war.

Which theatre impresario and mining magnate bought into the St. Patricks in 1924, later aiding Conn Smythe's takeover?

Bickell put in $25,000 as a favour to Querrie and became team president under Smythe.

Which Leaf was named playoff MVP and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in the 1967 championship run?

Keon had joined the club in 1960 straight from the St. Michael's Majors after impressing at training camp.

Who is the only goaltender ever to serve as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs?

He was also the first goalie named captain in the NHL, one of just six ever officially recognized in the role.

Who served as Leafs captain from 1958 to 1969, the longest tenure in team history?

In all, 25 individuals have worn the C, starting with Ken Randall in the inaugural 1917-18 season.

Conn Smythe was fired before his first season as GM and coach of which NHL team in 1926?

That made beating the Rangers in the 1932 Stanley Cup Final especially sweet for Smythe.

Which head coach earned a Leafs single-season record 115 points in 2021-22?

Berube later set a different mark, winning more games in his first Leafs season than any coach before him.