Allan Stanley (left) and George Armstrong with the Cup
George "Punch" Imlach, having made his name in the Quebec Senior Hockey League, was hired to run the Leafs in 1958. In his 1st 2 seasons at the helm, he got them to the Stanley Cup Finals, but they lost both to the Canadiens.
He began to build a veteran team, adopting the idea that George Allen, as coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins a few years later, called "The Future Is Now." Along with right wing and team Captain George Armstrong, left wing Frank Mahovlich, center Dave Keon, defenseman Tim Horton and goaltender Johnny Bower, Imlach traded for Detroit Red Wings defenseman Leonard "Red" Kelly, moving him to center, and Boston Bruins defenseman Allan Stanley -- who turned out to be aptly named, as hockey has not only the Stanley Cup, but the Allan Cup, although he never won that)..
This team won the Cup in 1962, defeating the defending Champion Chicago Black Hawks in the Finals. They won again in 1963 and 1964, each time beating the Red Wings. They backslid in 1965 and 1966. Imlach tinkered a little more, even bringing in the man then recognized as the greatest goaltender of all time, Terry Sawchuk, and defenseman Marcel Pronovost, both from the Wings.
Age and experience aside, Imlach still acted like a dictator. He wasn't the first head coach in major league sports, nor the last, to give his players a common enemy to rally each other against, with an "I'll show him!" attitude.
In particular, Imlach did not get along with Mahovlich, despite "The Big M" possibly being the greatest player in the history of that historic franchise. As hockey historian Charles Wilkins put it, "It has been postulated (by, among others, Frank himself) that Punch drove Frank nuts. It has also been postulated that Punch was one of the few people who understood Frank. It stands to reason that one extraterrestrial -- one, albeit, from the opposite end of the galaxy -- should understand another."
The Leafs upset the Hawks in the Semifinals, but still went into the Finals against the 2-time defending Champion Canadiens as underdogs, due to their ages: Bower, 42; Stanley, 41; Kelly, 39; Sawchuk, Horton and Pronovost, 37; Armstrong, 36; Bob Pulford, 31; Eddie Shack, Larry Hillman and Bobby Baun, 30. In comparison, the 29-year-old Mahovlich and the 27-year-old Keon were kids.
Games 1 and 2 of the Finals were held at the Montreal Forum. The Canadiens won the opener, 6-2. But the Leafs took Game 2, 3-0. The action moved to Maple Leaf Gardens, and Pulford won Game 3 with a goal at 8:26 of the 2nd overtime, 3-2. The Canadiens took home-ice advantage back in Game 4, 6-2. But the Leafs won Game 5 in Montreal, 4-1.
There was no scoring in the 1st period of Game 6 in Toronto. Ron Ellis scored at 6:25 of the 2nd period, and Jim Pappin with 36 seconds left in it. At 5:28 of the 3rd period, former Leaf Dick Duff brought the Canadiens back to within 2-1.
In the last minute of regulation, Canadiens coach Toe Blake pulled goalie Lorne "Gump" Worsley for an extra skater. A faceoff between Stanley and Canadiens Captain Jean Béliveau was to Sawchuck's left. CBC broadcaster Foster Hewitt announced, "Imlach is making his stand with an all-veteran lineup! Stanley, Horton, Kelly, Pulford and Armstrong! Sawchuk, of course, is in goal!" Stanley won the faceoff, and passed it to Pulford, who passed it to Armstrong, who took it up the ice, and put it in the empty net. The Leafs won, 3-1, and won the Cup.
Shortly thereafter, Imlach finally accepted the age of his team, and began to break it up. He didn't have much choice: The incorrectly-named "Original Six" era was over, and expansion was going to claim some of his players.
Kelly retired, was named the 1st head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, and he took Sawchuk as their 1st goalie. Mahovlich was traded to Detroit in 1968, and to Montreal in 1971. The sight of Frank Mahovlich winning the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens -- twice -- must have been jarring to Toronto fans.
The Leafs' ownership situation fell into a mess, too, as stockholders got indicted for tax fraud and other charges. Imlach was never investigated, but Harold Ballard, who won the ownership struggle (despite eventually going to prison for a year for tax fraud himself), fired him. In 1970, Imlach became the 1st head coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, with considerably less success. He later returned to the Leafs for 10 games in the 1979-80 season, and died in 1987.
Imlach, Armstrong, Bower, Horton, Kelly, Keon, Mahovlich, Pronovost, Pulford, Sawchuk and Stanley were all elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Together, they had put together a hockey dynasty. However, in the 55 years since 1967:
* The Leafs have finished 1st in their Division just twice, in 2000 and 2021.
* They have failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs 21 times.
* They've at least qualified for the Playoffs' round of 8 19 times.
* They've been 1 of the last 4 teams standing only 5 times: 1978, 1993, 1994, 1999 and 2002.
* And they haven't even reached the Stanley Cup Finals. Not one time in over half a century.
In 1967, the Leafs won their 13th Stanley Cup. The Canadiens then had 14. Since then, the Canadiens have won 10, the Leafs none -- and that's with the Canadiens having won none since 1993.
In spite of having a great history, and about 75 percent of Canada to themselves, and the national media behind them, and the country's largest market behind them, and not having played to an unsold seat since World War II (except for COVID restrictions), the Toronto Maple Leafs are a joke.
*
May 2, 1967 was a Tuesday. Football was out of season. The NBA season ended 8 days earlier, when the Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Francisco Warriors in Game 6 of the Finals.
And these baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 13-4 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Fritz Peterson got lit up for 6 runs in the 1st inning, including a bases-loaded double by Harmon Killebrew. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4.
* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. John Sullivan singled Cleon Jones home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Willie Mays went 3-for-6 with an RBI.
* The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-3 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks both went 0-for-3.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Wes Parker doubled home the winning runs -- including pitcher Don Sutton, used as a pinch-runner -- in the top of the 11th inning. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Bob Gibson pitched a 2-hit shutout. Pete Rose went 0-for-4.
* A doubleheader was split at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Both games ended 1-0. The Washington Senators won the opener, with Pete Reichert allowing 1 hit over 7 1/3rd innings, Dave Baldwin allowing 1 hit and getting 1 out, and Darold Knowles going perfect the rest of the way. The Kansas City Athletics won the nightcap, with Jim "Catfish" Hunter pitching a 7-hit shutout.
* The California Angels beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.
* The Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers were scheduled to play at Comiskey Park in Chicago, but the game was called off. Because it was too cold. In May. The game was made up the next day. The White Sox won, 2-1. Gary Peters outpitched Denny McLain. Al Kaline went 2-for-5.
* It must have been really cold in the Midwest on that May 2, because the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland Municipal Stadium was also called off. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 30. The Indians won the 1st game, 8-2. Brooks Robinson hit a home run, but had to leave the game due to injury. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4. The O's won the 2nd game, 4-2. Frank did not play in this one. Brooks did, but went 0-for-4.
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