5 That Played 1,000 Games In A Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey

Throughout the long and storied National Hockey League history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, five players have appeared in over 1,000 regular season games with the club. The team has existed in the NHL since 1917. However, four of the five players played during generally the same era.

George Armstrong – 1,187

George Armstrong leads the way with 1,187 regular season games played in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. Armstrong played from 1949-50 to 1970-71, always with Toronto. In that time, he totaled 713 points and appeared on four Stanley Cup winning teams (1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64 and 1966-67). His number 10 is honoured by the Maple Leafs and George was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame 1975.

Tim Horton – 1,185

Tim Horton fell just two games shy of Armstrong with 1,185 games played with Toronto. However, Horton did play more NHL games, totaling 1,446 in a career that spanned from 1949-50 to 1973-74. Horton finished his career, playing with the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.

Horton was part of the same four Stanley Cup winning teams as George Armstrong. His number 7 is honoured by the team and he posthumously entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977.

 

Borje Salming – 1,099

Borje Salming played 1,099 games with Toronto from 1973-74 to 1988-89. He played one more NHL season with the Detroit Red Wings and retired with 1,148 regular season games. He totalled 768 points from the Toronto blue line and his 620 assists are a Toronto Maple Leafs record for most career assists. Borje’s number 21 has been honoured by the Maple Leafs. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996 and two years later he became a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame.

Dave Keon – 1,062

Dave Keon played 1,062 of his 1,296 NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs between 1960-61 and 1974-75. Keon played an additional 301 games in the World Hockey Association with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, Indianapolis Racers and New England Whalers. 

Keon returned to the NHL to play three years with the Hartford Whalers before retiring. Dave was part of the four Stanley Cup teams in the 1960’s. He won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1960-61, the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1966-67 and two Lady Byng Trophies. Keon was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986.

Ron Ellis – 1,034

Ron Ellis played 1,034 games with Toronto in an NHL career that spanned from 1963-64 (1 game) to 1980-81. In that time, he scored 332 goals and accumulated 640 points. He was a big part of the 1966-67 Stanley Cup winning team. Ellis is the only one of the five not in the Hockey Hall of Fame. If there were an honourable mention category, Ron would be there.

 

NHL Hockey Trivia: Toronto Maple Leafs Individual Records

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the oldest franchises in the National Hockey League and were once one of the most successful. The individual records of the Toronto Maple Leafs may not be as flashy as other NHL teams but the players involved are often legends of the game.

Test and expand your knowledge of Toronto Maple Leafs records with these four hockey trivia questions and answers.

Q. Before Rick Vaive came along in the early 1980’s and lifted Toronto’s goal scoring record above the 50 goal plateau, the Maple Leafs record for most goals in a season had stood since the 1960-61 season. Who held Toronto’s record for most goals in a season previous to the 1981-82 NHL season?

A. In 1960-61, Frank Mahovlich finished the season with 48 goals. The total was good for second in the NHL behind Bernie Geoffrion of the Montreal Canadiens who scored 50. It should be noted that Mahovlich did this when the Maple Leafs only played a 70 game schedule. Frank topped his personal best in 1968-69 as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, scoring 49.

Q. What Hockey Hall of Fame member holds the Toronto Maple Leafs record for most assists in a single season?

A. Doug Gilmour holds the record with 95 in 1992-93. This is the seventeenth highest single season total in NHL history. Gilmour also holds the number 2 spot in this category with 84 assists in the following season.

Gilmour totalled 964 assists over his NHL career. He played in the league from 1983-84 to 2002-03 with the St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Toronto, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens. Doug was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.

Q. What Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender holds the team career record for most shutouts, most wins and most losses?

A. Walter ‘Turk’ Broda played with Toronto from 1936-37 to 1951-52. Toronto was Broda’s only NHL club and finished his career with 62 shutouts, 302 wins and 224 losses. In eight of his seasons with the Maple Leafs, Broda appeared in every single regular season game. Twice, he was the recipient of the Vezina Trophy. In 1967, 15 years after retiring as a player, Turk was finally inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Q. There are four players that have scored more than 300 goals as a Toronto Maple Leaf. Who holds the record for most goals in a Maple Leafs jersey?

A. Mats Sundin left Toronto after the 2007-08 season having scored 420 goals for the Maple Leafs. Darryl Sittler had held the mark at 389 before that. Dave Keon scored 365 as a Maple Leaf and Ron Ellis scored 332 in Toronto.

Sundin scored 564 goals over his National Hockey League career. That total ties him for 21^st overall with Joe Nieuwendyk. The first overall pick at the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques played in the NHL from 1990-91 to 2008-09 with Quebec, Toronto and the Vancouver Canucks. Sundin entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Hartford Whalers in the Hockey Hall of Fame

I can hear Hartford Whalers fans crying foul at the title of this article, already. Indeed, there were six Hockey Hall of Fame members that skated for the Whalers but two didn’t stay long enough to work in their blades.

Bobby Hull, inducted in 1983, played nine games for the Whalers in 1979-80, the last nine games of his NHL career. Paul Coffey began the 1996-97 season with Hartford but was shipped to the Philadelphia Flyers after just 20 games. Then there’s Emile Francis who is in the Hall as a builder. Francis was General Manager of the Whalers from 1983 to 1989.

Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe entered the Hall five years before playing his first game with the WHA’s New England Whalers. In a strange twist of fate, Howe retired after the 1970-71 season and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972. He was coaxed back into professional hockey by the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association so that he could play with his sons, Mark and Marty, for the 1973-74 season. After four years in Houston, the Howe family moved to New England for the last two years of the WHA’s existence. Gordie played one full season with the NHL’s Hartford Whalers in 1979-80 before retiring for good.

Dave Keon

Dave Keon played with the WHA Whalers for three seasons and the NHL Whalers for three more. After a long NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Keon jumped ship to the WHA for the 1975-76 season. He played with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and Indianapolis Racers before joining New England. Dave Keon is the only player in history to win the Lady Byng Trophy in the NHL and the Paul Deneau Trophy in the WHA. Both awards honour the most gentlemanly player. Keon won two of each. After Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe retired from the Whalers after 1979-80, Keon became the oldest active player in the NHL.

Ron Francis

Ron Francis was the fourth overall pick at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, taken by the Hartford Whalers. Francis spent the better part of ten seasons with the Whalers from 1981-82 to 1990-91. After a stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins that put his name on the Stanley Cup twice, Francis made a homecoming of sorts, returning to the Carolina Hurricanes, the team formerly known as the Hartford Whalers. Like Keon, Francis was a gentleman, winning the Lady Byng on three occasions. Ron was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.

Mark Howe

The WHA career of Mark Howe mimicked his father’s. He began in Houston and ended up in New England. Howe played three years with the NHL Whalers before moving on to the Philadelphia Flyers. Mark’s NHL career came to an end after the 1994-95 season with the Detroit Red Wings. Howe is a member of the most recent Hall of Fame class, inducted in 2011.