TORONTO (Apr. 5) – The Maple Leafs, playoff spectators for a fifth season, still have work to do before they can equal the record for consecutive misses by a pre-expansion (or Original Six) team.
That mark is held by the Boston Bruins – post-season on-lookers for eight springs (1959-60 to 1966-67) in the pre-Bobby Orr/Phil Esposito era (the Bruins failed to qualify in Orr’s rookie campaign, then made it 29 years in a row). Next in line, with seven consecutive misses, are the Detroit Red Wings (1970-71 to 1976-77) and New York Rangers (1997-98 to 2003-04). The Chicago Blackhawks watched the Stanley Cup tournament for six years beginning in 1946-47. And, the Montreal Canadiens have twice missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons (1919-20 to 1921-22 and 1998-99 to 2000-01).
Of course, all the Original Six teams have been to the Stanley Cup final at least three times since the last appearance by the Maple Leafs in 1967. Boston (7), Chicago (3), Detroit (6), the Rangers (3) and Montreal (11) have combined for 30 trips to the championship since Canada’s Centennial year. Only the Blackhawks have failed to win the Stanley Cup during that time, last doing so way back in 1960-61. Expansion teams have made a whopping 51 appearances in the title round – perhaps the truest indication of how inept the Leafs have been for the past 43 years.
But, should the Maple Leafs break into contention in the foreseeable future, they won’t have much of a hill to climb as it pertains to Cup titles by their pre-expansion brethren. Consider the following:
*Boston has won the Stanley Cup only twice in the past 67 seasons (1969-70 and 1971-72).
*Chicago has won it only once (’60-61) in the past 70 seasons.
*The Rangers have one Cup victory (1993-94) in the past 68 seasons.
Montreal and Detroit are slightly different stories. The Habs have 20 Stanley Cups in the past 65 seasons; the Red Wings eight championships in 59 seasons.
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As the Leafs and their fans ponder the identity of the club’s next captain, it is a continuing wonderment that George Armstrong, in 1969, was the last Toronto captain to finish his career – uninterrupted – with the Blue & White. Armstrong yielded the captaincy to Dave Keon in 1969-70 and played two more seasons before retiring. The Chief was left unprotected by the Leafs for the original expansion draft, but GM/coach Punch Imlach re-claimed him as a fill-in during the June 6, 1967 lottery that stocked the in-coming teams. Had Armstrong been snapped up by any of the California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins or St. Louis Blues, he told me recently he would have reported to his expansion club. “I was 37 years old and I wanted to continue my NHL career at that point,” George said. “But, I’m glad the Leafs brought me back.”
The history of the ‘C’ since Armstrong is rather speckled. Here’s a review:
DAVE KEON [1969-70 to 1974-75]: A frequent playoff hero during the Leafs’ Stanley Cup dynasty of the ‘60s (and winner of the 1967 Conn Smythe Trophy), Keon was a natural successor to Armstrong, assuming the captaincy in September, 1969 – six months shy of his 30th birthday. Sadly for Keon, he presided over the initial decline of the hockey club under Stafford Smythe and Harold Ballard, and the Leafs made it past the opening round of the playoffs only once during his tenure (Toronto defeated Los Angeles, 2-1, in a best-of-three preliminary round in 1975, Keon’s final spring with the club). What followed was an acrimonious divorce that has embittered Keon through the years. The Leafs simply dumped him after being swept by Philadelphia in the ’75 quarterfinals. Ballard did not offer him a contract; neither would he trade Keon’s NHL rights. As such, the native of Noranda, Que. reluctantly fled to the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the rival World Hockey Association. He played with Minnesota, Indianapolis and New England before returning to the NHL in the 1979-80 assimilation of four WHA teams. Skating alongside 52-year-old Gordie Howe that season (and, later, 41-year-old Bobby Hull), Keon played three more years before retiring after the 1981-82 campaign. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986 and, only once, has he returned for a team-organized event. On Feb. 17, 2007, the Leafs commemorated the 40th anniversary of the ’67 championship prior to a game against Edmonton at the Air Canada Centre. Keon joined his former mates on the ice and received a lukewarm reception (the ovation for Johnny Bower was much louder). He hasn’t been back.
DARRYL SITTLER [1975-76 to December, 1979 / 1980-81]: The franchise leader in career goals and points for more than 20 years after his departure, Sittler assumed the Leafs’ captaincy at the tender age of 25. Not unlike today, there was a profound leadership void on the hockey club in 1975, in the absence of veterans such as Keon, Norm Ullman and Ron Ellis (who retired for two seasons). Sittler became the dressing room voice for a new era of Maple Leafs that included Lanny McDonald, Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull, Dave (Tiger) Williams, Pat Boutette and Mike Palmateer. The club won five playoff series with Sittler as captain, and reached the Stanley Cup semifinals in 1978 after an upset of the New York Islanders on McDonald’s overtime tally in Game 7. During that same juncture, Sittler had his legendary 10-point explosion against Boston (six goals, four assists on Feb. 7, 1976 at Maple Leaf Gardens – still a single-game standard), and record-tying five-goal playoff eruption (also at the Gardens, against Philadelphia, Apr. 22, 1976). He became the first Leaf player to amass 100 points (1975-76) and broke his own record with a 45-goal, 117-point accumulation in 1977-78. His 72 assists that season stood as a club mark for 15 years. Under GM Jim Gregory, and coaches Red Kelly and Roger Neilson, Sittler wielded enormous clout in the dressing room – all three men trusting his professional, even-handed approach. That changed, abruptly, when Ballard re-hired an aging, cranky Imlach to succeed Gregory in 1979. Imlach put more effort in discrediting Sittler than he did in re-structuring the hockey club, and the Leafs went into a decade-and-a-half tailspin. When Imlach traded Sittler’s line-mate and best friend, McDonald, to the Colorado Rockies on Dec. 29, 1979, Sittler saw it as a move to further weaken his power base. One night later, before a home game against the Winnipeg Jets, he cut the ‘C’ from his jersey, an act Ballard considered treasonous. Though Ballard ultimately returned the captaincy to Sittler the following summer, player and owner had another falling out which led to Sittler being dealt – Jan. 20, 1982 – to Philadelphia for forward Rich Costello and a second-round draft pick (Czech forward Peter Ihnacak). Sittler stayed away from the Gardens for the rest of Ballard’s life. He returned to the club as a community representative when Cliff Fletcher became president and GM in the summer of 1991. Sittler, who will be 60 in September, remains in that capacity.
RICK VAIVE [1981-82 to 1985-86]: As Sittler’s career with the Leafs wound to a close, Vaive emerged as the best player on the hockey club. Acquired from Vancouver, along with Bill Derlago, for Tiger Williams and Jerry Butler in the only good trade of Imlach’s second stint as GM, Vaive was three months shy of his 23rd birthday when Ballard named him captain in February, 1982. It seemed like a premature, desperate move by the Leafs’ owner, but Vaive flourished in the role. Skating on a terrific line with Derlago and John Anderson (now coach of the Atlanta Thrashers), Vaive became the first Toronto player to score 50 goals in a season. In fact, he did it three years in a row, connecting for 54 goals in 1981-82; 51 goals in 1982-83 and 52 goals in 1983-84. Only Gary Leeman and Dave Andreychuk have since reached the 50-goal plateau in a Leafs jersey. Vaive’s tenure as captain, however, came to a crashing halt during a western road trip in February, 1986. After splitting games in Edmonton and Calgary, the Leafs had three days off in Bloomington, Minnesota before a Sunday afternoon match with the North Stars (Feb. 23, 1986). Apparently tired from a night of carousing, Vaive slept in and missed practice on Saturday. Though he owned up to the mistake, and publicly apologized to his teammates, Ballard and coach Dan Maloney removed the ‘C’ from his jersey. The Leafs dealt Vaive to Chicago in a blockbuster trade just prior to the 1987-88 season. Vaive, Bob McGill and Steve Thomas went to the Blackhawks for Ed Olczyk and Al Secord.
ROB RAMAGE [1989-90 to 1990-91]: After the turmoil involving Keon, Sittler and Vaive – much of it self-induced – Ballard chose not to name a captain during the 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons. The Leafs floundered during that period, playing under two GMs (Gerry McNamara and Gord Stellick), and two coaches (John Brophy and George Armstrong). Prior to resigning from his post as manager in August, 1989, Stellick made a deal with Calgary. At the draft in Bloomington – less than a month after the Flames won the Stanley Cup – Stellick exchanged a second-round pick for Ramage, an offensively-gifted blue-liner about to enter his 11th NHL season. Having compiled totals of 66, 62 and 60 points during his years with Colorado, St. Louis and the Flames, Ramage was seen as a prudent acquisition by Stellick, coming off his 20-game Stanley Cup run in Alberta. Suitably impressed, Ballard named Ramage to fill the three-year captaincy void prior to the 1989-90 season. The Leafs made the playoffs in ’90, losing a best-of-seven quarterfinal to St. Louis in five games (Ballard died one night before his club was eliminated). Ramage played in all 160 regular-season games during his two-year stint with the club, and was claimed by the North Stars in the 1991 expansion lottery that stocked the San Jose Sharks. In December, 2003, Ramage was driving a car that swerved into the path of an on-coming vehicle, killing his passenger, former Chicago player and coach Keith Magnuson. In early-2008 – against the wishes of the Magnuson family – Ramage was sentenced to four years in prison on an impaired-driving conviction. He was released on bail and later challenged the ruling, suggesting that his Charter rights in the province of Ontario were violated.
WENDEL CLARK [1991-92 to 1993-94]: A semblance of calm returned to the Leafs captaincy when the wildly popular forward from Kelvington, Sask. assumed the role just prior to the 1991-92 season. Considered alongside Sittler as the best draft choice in the history of the club – he was the number-one overall selection in 1985 – Clark burst upon the NHL scene with a laser shot and a quick-strike fighting ability that subdued opponents. Though he was frequently sidelined with back problems in his early years – and was once accused, by Ballard, of “swinging the lead” – Clark scrapped his way into the hearts of Leaf fans and was the obvious choice to succeed Ramage as captain. He had seasons of 34, 37 and 46 goals in Toronto, riding shot-gun with Doug Gilmour during the impressive playoff drives of 1993 and 1994. Minutes prior to the ‘94 draft, in Hartford, Clark was surprisingly dealt to the Quebec Nordiques in the multi-player trade that brought Mats Sundin to the Leafs. He was re-acquired by Fletcher in March, 1996, and later returned for a third go-around – retiring as a Leaf after the 2000 playoffs. Wendel is now a community representative with the club.
DOUG GILMOUR [1994-95 to 1996-97]: The best player over a span of two seasons in the history of the Maple Leafs, “Killer” was next in line for the captaincy after the trade that sent Clark to Quebec. Though his best Toronto years were behind him, Gilmour was the face of the club and one of the most immensely popular figures to ever wear a Leafs jersey. When Fletcher and Calgary counterpart Doug Risebrough stunned the hockey world with a record 10-player swap in January, 1992, the Leafs thought they were getting a skilled, combative player in Gilmour. Not in anyone’s imagination was he about to become the most prolific set-up man in the history of the franchise. But, the slightly-built fellow wearing No. 93 carried the team on his back during the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons; the Leafs, in the first year, coming to within minutes of ending their quarter-century absence from the Stanley Cup final. Gilmour annihilated Sittler’s assists and points records with 95 and 127, respectively, and then took the Leafs to Game 7 of the conference final against Los Angeles. He followed up in ’93-94 with 84 assists and 111 points, as the Leafs again advanced to the conference title round before losing to Vancouver. The club began to falter in the lockout-shortened season of 1994-95, as a tired Gilmour could no longer put up mega numbers. In the latter half of the ’96-97 campaign, he urged Fletcher to either lock him up on a long-term deal, or to trade him. With the Leafs staggering, Fletcher chose Door No. 2 and dealt Gilmour to New Jersey. Pat Quinn re-acquired the scrappy veteran from Montreal at the trade deadline in 2003, but Gilmour suffered a career-ending knee injury, at Calgary, minutes into his second stint with the club. He is currently head coach of the OHL Kingston Frontenacs.
MATS SUNDIN [1997-98 to 2007-08]: There was absolutely no argument as to which player would succeed Gilmour as captain for the 1997-98 season. But, that didn’t prevent the Leafs – and president Ken Dryden – from dithering through a month of training camp in Kitchener, Ont. before rubber-stamping Sundin as the first European-born player to wear the ‘C’ in Toronto. And, what a choice it was. Though the Big Swede fought comparisons to Clark and Gilmour in his early years, he soon evolved into one of the most elegant and prolific skaters to ever pull on a blue and white jersey. His reign as captain fell one season shy of Armstrong’s club record and he passed Sittler as the all-time goals and points leader early in the 2007-08 campaign. Sadly, his career with the Leafs ended in controversy. Sundin professed his allegiance to the hockey club, and refused to waive his no-movement clause at the trade deadline in 2008, even though Fletcher promised to deal him to a Cup contender. Saying he did not want to be a “rental” player – preferring, instead, to complete the “entire journey” from training camp to season’s end with one team – Sundin remained with the Leafs in the futile last weeks of the ’07-08 season. He then waffled through the summer months and the first half of the next season before signing as an unrestricted free agent with Vancouver in January, 2009… which appeared to counteract his stance of being a “rental” commodity. Ineffective at age 38, Sundin retired after his half-season with the Canucks.
In their failed quest to become a playoff-contending team this season, the Leafs wisely held off on naming a successor to Sundin, even though coach Ron Wilson intimated – toward the end of training camp – that one of the club’s alternate captains (Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin and Tomas Kaberle) would be awarded the ‘C’ “possibly sometime in November”. With the Leafs staggering out of the gate in record fashion (3-11-6 after 19 games) – and the season in tatters – GM Brian Burke gutted the existing roster. His stunning acquisition of Dion Phaneuf from Calgary on Jan. 31 appeared to bring into focus the Leafs muddled captaincy once again. Though downplaying the issue, Phaneuf is working diligently and honestly toward earning the ‘C’, particularly in the dressing room (post-game visitors routinely ask to meet the charismatic defenseman). His detractors in Calgary would tell you he hasn’t displayed the proper maturity to be captain in such an important hockey market, and there could be merit to that argument. But, it certainly appears as if Phaneuf has the world at his feet here in Toronto, and will be given the opportunity to lead the hockey club, symbolically, beginning next season.
OTHER MUSINGS: Though the Leafs are comfortable the acquisition of sniper Phil Kessel will offset the first-round draft choices they yielded to Boston, there is no getting around a couple of facts: a) five of the top nine scorers in the league as of Sunday were chosen first overall in the NHL draft – Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, Joe Thornton and Patrick Kane. And, though Edmonton has the best chance of landing the number-one pick this year, a bad-luck draw could bestow the honor on the Bruins. It has happened before in the NHL draft lottery. And, b) in the past 21 years, the Leafs have made three trades involving their first or second-round choices that turned out horribly for the club. On Oct. 16, 1989, GM Floyd Smith dealt the Leafs’ 1991 pick to New Jersey for defenseman Tom Kurvers. The Devils wound up selecting Scott Niedermayer third overall. As part of the multi-player deal that brought Clark back to Toronto on Mar. 16, 1996, Fletcher gave the New York Islanders the Leafs’ first-round pick in '97. That selection, fourth overall, became Roberto Luongo. Then, on Mar. 13, 2001 – at the trade deadline – Quinn dealt forward Adam Mair and the Leafs’ second-round draft choice that June to Los Angeles for defenseman Aki Berg. With Toronto’s pick, 49th overall, the Kings selected Richmond Hill, Ont. native Mike Cammalleri from the University of Michigan. In summation, Kurvers – an average defenseman; Clark – nearing the end of his career, and Berg – a mediocre blue-liner, came to the Leafs for Niedermayer, Luongo and Cammalleri. Therefore, and as we’ve suggested many times, there will be no way to properly gauge the Kessel deal for at least five years…
In the spring of 2007, when then-GM John Ferguson mistakenly rushed to re-sign the nucleus of a failing roster, I began to loudly claim that the Leafs would never move forward until they dismantled the underachieving core. Burke finally turned the trick this season, unloading players such as Matt Stajan, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala. During all of that time, I was searching for the best way to describe the accumulative consequence that failure had on the returning skaters. Well, leave it to Burke to come up with the perfect phrase… as he did during a radio interview on Saturday. “Losing has a corrosive effect on a hockey player,” he said. It’s the reason he had to dismantle the roster and make room for the current crop of youngsters. There was only one contradiction in Burke’s statement: He suggested, again, that Kaberle might be back with the team next season, even though the Czech blue-liner has had maximum exposure to the “corrosive effect” of losing.
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