TORONTO (Dec. 11) -- The seven-game road trip the Maple Leafs embark on this Friday in Atlanta matches the club's longest journey since the National Hockey League expanded from six to 12 teams in 1967-68. It is the longest road swing for the team since November, 2003, when the Maple Leafs played six games in California and western Canada. The Blue & White has left home on a seven-game excursion only six times in the past 40 years. Here is a quick run-down of the marathon trips:
1967-68: In the first year of expansion, the Maple Leafs went on the road from Jan. 28 to Feb. 12, 1968 -- visiting Chicago, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Oakland. Toronto compiled a 1-5-1 record. Losses on that trip to the Flyers, Seals and Kings further entrenched the Leafs as the lone existing franchise to compile a sub-.500 record against the expansion entries.
1968-69: In Punch Imlach's final campaign as coach, the Leafs left Toronto from Jan. 19 to Feb. 2, 1969 -- visiting Boston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles, Oakland and St. Louis again. Their record was 2-5-0. Leafs would make the playoffs that spring, only to get annihilated by Boston in four games. Imlach was fired moments after the final match. That playoff series is still famous for Pat Quinn's crunching bodycheck on Bobby Orr, which left the Bruins' superstar unconscious on the Boston Garden ice, and sparked a wild brawl in the third period, featuring Leafs' slugger Forbes Kennedy.
1971-72: The Leafs were about to be raided by the upstart World Hockey Association when they left town from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1, 1972 -- visting Montreal, Minnesota, Chicago, Los Angeles, California, Vancouver and Detroit. This might have been the worst road trip in club history, as the Leafs went 0-7-0 and were shut out four times -- by the Canadiens, Blackhawks, Golden Seals and Red Wings. Three weeks later, goaltender Bernie Parent announced he was leaving the team to join Miami (later Philadelphia) of the WHA for the following season. Parent would be joined in the WHA exodus by forward Jim Harrison, and defencemen Jim Dorey, Rick Ley and Brad Selwood -- assuring the Leafs of their worst record in club history (to that point) in 1972-73.
1975-76: The Leafs were just about to turn the corner on a pretty fair season when they hit the road from Jan. 11 to 26, 1976 -- visiting Montreal, Minnesota, Kansas City, Detroit, Los Angeles, Vancouver and California. The record on the trip was 2-3-2. Less than two weeks later, Toronto would destroy Boston, 11-4, at Maple Leaf Gardens on the night captain Darryl Sittler established his NHL record of 10 points in one game (six goals and four assists), a mark that remains almost 31 years later. Between Feb. 7 and Mar. 10, the Maple Leafs compiled a 10-5-2 record -- good enough to carry them into the playoffs that spring. The line of Sittler, Lanny McDonald and Errol Thompson combined for 121 goals, and Sittler became the first Leafs player to record 100 points in a season.
1979-80: One of the most calamitous seasons in Leafs' history saw the club mercifully leave town from January 16 to 27, 1980, for visits to Pittsburgh, the N.Y. Islanders, Montreal, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Vancouver. Not surprisingly, the Buds went 2-5-0 on the trip -- getting hammered 9-6 on Long Island; 7-2 in Montreal, and 8-3 in Edmonton. With utter disarray on the blueline and in net (remember Jiri Crha?), opponents lit up the Leafs for seven or more goals on 14 occasions that season. It was the year owner Harold Ballard re-hired an out-of-touch Imlach to run the club, and it was a disaster from beginning to end. Included, was the wildly unpopular trade of Lanny McDonald to the Colorado Rockies, which prompted Sittler to cut the "C" from his jersey.
1998-99: Interestingly, after the Leafs' years in the Western Conference, this was the only time the club made a trip of seven games. It occurred from Jan. 12 to 28, 1999, and included stops in Tampa Bay, Florida, Philadelphia, Carolina, Dallas, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Toronto had a winning record of 4-2-1 in Pat Quinn's first season as head coach. I covered the entire journey and I remember how weather played havoc with flights. For a couple of nights, I was stranded in Plantation, Fla. (tough, huh?) and wasn't sure I'd be able to travel up to Philadelphia. Two feet of snow fell in the Toronto area, and all kinds of revisions had to be made in order to attend the seven matches.
For those not keeping track, the Maple Leafs composite record in the abovementioned trips was 11-27-4.
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Continuing with the nostalgia theme, NHL clubs will be permitted to create and sell retro (or third) jerseys again in 2008-09. The popular custom of recent years was put on hold this season as part of the league's arrangement with Reebok, which introduced the new lightweight uniform design. Almost all of the 30 teams made at least moderate changes to their jerseys for the current campaign, but the vintage look was postponed. It will be back next season -- with a preview in the outdoor game scheduled for Buffalo on New Year's Day. The Sabres will wear their white home uniforms from the 1970s, with the blue and gold trim, and the original team logo. Pittsburgh will don replicas of its powder-blue jersey from the '60s and '70s, with dark blue and white trim, and the logo of a penguin skating in a circular design. Should be neat.
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