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.

2 NHL Teams With Losing Records To Win Stanley Cup

In the modern age of the NHL with 30 teams competing for 16 playoff spots, it is inconceivable that a team could win the Stanley Cup with a losing record during the regular season. In the modern era, teams with a better than .500 record often do not even make the playoffs.

Believe it or not, twice in the history of the National Hockey League, teams with a losing record have not only made it to the Stanley Cup final but have taken the Cup home as league champions. It happened once during the ‘Original Six’ era and once even before that when there were eight NHL teams split into two divisions of 4 teams.

Chicago Blackhawks – 1937-38

The first time this happened was during the 1937-38 season. At the time, the teams in the league played just a 48 games schedule and long lost teams, the New York Americans and Montreal Maroons were still going strong. The Toronto Maple Leafs took the Canadian Division during the regular season with a record of 24 wins, 15 losses and 9 ties. The Boston Bruins ran away with the American Division with a record of 30 wins, 11 losses and 7 ties.

The Chicago Black Hawks finished third in the American Division, just two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings with a dismal record of 14 wins, 25 losses and 9 ties. The only team worse was the Montreal Maroons who were in their last year of existence. Yet, when all was said and done, the Black Hawks were crowned Stanley Cup Champs.

Chicago was coached by Bill Stewart. Never a player in the National Hockey League, it was the only year Stewart was a head coach in the league. The Black Hawks were led offensively during the regular season by Paul Thompson. Thompson scored 22 and assisted on 22 over 48 games. Two years later, Paul was the head coach for Chicago. In the playoffs, it was Russian born Johnny Gottselig that led the team with eight points.

Toronto Maple Leafs – 1948-49

The second time the situation arose was during the 1948-49 season. There were only six teams in the league and only the top four teams competed in the post season playoffs. The Detroit Red Wings took first place easily with 75 points over the 60 game season. Boston and Montreal were second and third with 66 and 65 points and the Toronto Maple Leafs rounded out the top four with 57 points on 22 wins, 25 losses and 13 ties.

Toronto went on to take their third straight Stanley Cup despite the weak regular season showing. This was the last time the feat was ever accomplished and probably will be the last time ever unless the league downsizes or changes its playoff structure in the future. It should be noted that most every season during the ‘Original Six’ era, the fourth place time had a losing record during the regular season so almost every year the opportunity was there for a severe underdog to take the Stanley Cup home.

The Hap Day coached Maple Leafs had Bill Barilko in the lineup and were led offensively by Harry Watson during the regular season. In the playoffs, it was Ted Kennedy leading the way with eight points. Turk Broda played goal for all of Toronto’s regular season and playoff games.