The Dallas Cowboys.
The New York Yankees.
The Los Angeles Lakers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs.
These are four of the most heavily covered professional sports teams in North America. The mundane is examined in microscopic detail and debated passionately by local and national media outlets.
As such, these teams have generated passionate responses, both positive and negative.
Specifically for Toronto, there is a reason why the city is referred to as “The Center of the Hockey Universe,” both earnestly and ironically. The Leafs are a way of life in Toronto, in Ontario, in Canada, and in the NHL writ large because they are an Original Six franchise in a major market.
As one of the league’s pillar franchises, the Leafs reside in a rarified air, with legends filling roles throughout the organization. We believe the following are the best-of-the-franchise’s-best.
EXECUTIVE:
CONN SMYTHE: When the award for the best player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is named in your honor, you have done something right. Smythe founded, owned, coached, and managed the Leafs for 30 years, according to EditorinLeaf.com, who won eight Stanley Cups during his tenure.
COACH:
HAP DAY: Some of the best coaches in NHL history have been employed in Toronto, and valid arguments can be made for them. However, the nod goes to Day who coached Toronto to five Cups between 1940 and 1950.
LEFT WING:
WENDEL CLARK: One of the best power forwards of his generation, Clark could play any way an opponent chose. The first overall pick in the 1985 draft, Clark scored 260 goals and recorded 441 points in 608 games with the Leafs, for whom he fought 108 of his 116 career fights. Only 5-foot-11 and 194 pounds, Clark’s wrecking-ball style of hockey took a physical toll, causing him to retire at age 33.
CENTER:
DAVE KEON: Only one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players and permanently residing in the Hockey Hall of Fame, Keon donned the blue and white for 15 of his 22 professional seasons. One0time teammate Ron Ellis said, according to NHL.com, “I don’t think I ever saw him play a bad game.” All Keon did was win the Calder Trophy as the league’s Rookie of the Year following the 1960-61 season, followed by two Lady Byngs as the league’s most gentlemanly player in ‘61-62 and 62-63, a Conn Smythe in 1996-67, and, oh yeah, four Cups (1962. 63, 64, and 67). He retired with 986 points in 1,296 games, an average of 0.76 points per game.
RIGHT WING:
TIE BETWEEN RICK VAIVE AND PHIL KESSEL: Two of the best snipers in Leafs history came to Toronto in trades. The Leafs acquired Vaive in February 1980, and merely recorded 537 points in 534 games in seven seasons, including back-to-back-to-back 50-goal campaigns. Kessel joined the organization in September 2009, which saw Toronto send two first round picks and a second-round pick to long-time rival Boston, who used those selections on Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton, and Jared Knight. The organization’s loss of what could have been a franchise center (Seguin) and franchise defenseman (Hamilton) made Kessel a target for criticism. So, too, was the unfortunate reality that he could not solve the franchise’s instability. On the ice, though, Kessel was an offensive force, scoring 30 goals in four of his six seasons with the Leafs.
DEFENSEMEN:
BORJE SALMING AND TIM HORTON: Salming, who passed away due to complications from Lou Gehrig’s disease in November 2022, was the NHL’s first Swedish superstar. A puck-mover and point-generator unparalleled, Salming proved his toughness by enduring abuse from rivals. “His body was covered with welts,” Lanny McDonald recalled in a story with NHL.com. “He’d just say, ‘I’m fine. I’m okay.’”
Horton was a physical, responsible defenseman over the course of his 24-year career, 20 of which were spent in Toronto. He earned the respect of rivals for his strength. “There were defensemen you had to fear because they were vicious and would slam you into the boards from behind, for one, Eddie Shore,” Bobby Hull said of Horton. “But you respected Tim Horton because he didn’t need that type of intimidation. He used his tremendous strength and talent to keep you in check.” Horton was not solely a defenseman, as he founded Tim Horton’s, the internationally famous coffee and doughnut franchise, while he was playing.
GOALIE:
WALTER ‘TURK’ BRODA: The greatest goaltender in Leafs history, bar none. Brodaspent his entire career with Toronto, where he won the Vezina Trophy twice, received Hart Trophy votes twice, was a first-team All-Star twice, and a second-team All-Star once. Oh, and there was the small matter of the five Stanley Cup championship-winning teams he starred on (1942, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951).
