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.

Grand Rapids Griffins Scoring Records

The Grand Rapids Griffins professional hockey franchise was established for the 1996-97 IHL season. The Griffins played in the IHL from 1996-97 to 2000-01 before moving to the American Hockey League. Grand Rapids currently remains in the AHL. The Griffins are affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League.

The individual single season scoring records of the team are decent, considering the team was born at the end of the era of offense in North American pro hockey. The following records include both the years the Griffins spent in the IHL and AHL.

Goals – Donald MacLean

MacLean scored 56 goals in 76 games for the Griffins in 2005-06. He also assisted on 32 for 88 points. The goal total tied him with Denis Hamel of the Binghamton Senators for the AHL lead. Both have their name on the Willlie Marshall Award. However, MacLean gets the edge for playing one less game than Hamel. In 2005-06, Donald was also awarded the Les Cunningham Award as AHL most valuable player. In addition, he had a three game stint with the Red Wings.

Donald was originally a second round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 1995. He appeared in a total of 41 regular season NHL games over his career with the Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit and the Phoenix Coyotes.

MacLean won a scoring title in the AHL in 2001-02. He was awarded the John B. Sollenberger Trophy with 87 points in 75 games for the St. John’s Maple Leafs. Donald finished off his pro career in Europe from 2007-08 to 2010-11, playing in Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark. He is currently the assistant coach of Medvescak Zagreb of Austria’s EBEL. Zagreb was the last team he played for.

Assists – Jiri Hudler

The same year Donald MacLean was setting the Griffins record for goals, Jiri Hudler set the mark for assists in a season. Hudler assisted on 60 while scoring 36 of his own for 96 points in 76 games. Jiri finished third in the AHL for assists that year.

Hudler was a second round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. He has just passed the 450 game mark in his NHL career while playing for the Red Wings and Calgary Flames. 2014-15 will be his third year with Calgary.

Points – Michel Picard

In the first year of existence for the Griffins, 1996-97, Michel Picard set the team record for points that currently stands today. In 82 games for the IHL Griffins, Picard totalled 101 points on 46 goals and 55 assists. His point total placed him fourth in the IHL that season.

Picard was a ninth round pick of the Hartford Whalers in 1989. Over his career, he played in 166 regular season NHL games with the Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. Michel led the American Hockey League for goals in 1990-91, scoring 56 as a member of the Springfield Indians. He retired from hockey in 2008-09 after five years in Quebec’s LNAH.

1974-75 NHL Season By The Numbers

The 1974-75 National Hockey League season featured the Philadelphia Flyers finishing first overall and winning their second Stanley Cup championship in a row. It would be the end of a great run for the Broad Street Bullies as the following season would see the Montreal Canadiens enter their dynasty of four consecutive Stanley Cups.

1 – The Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals played their inaugural season in the National Hockey League. The Capitals stayed put and are a threat in the NHL today. The Scouts didn’t last long in Kansas City, moving first to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies then to the east coast to become the present day New Jersey Devils.

12 – Bernie Parent recorded twelve shutouts while leading the Philadelphia Flyers to the lowest goals against total in the NHL. The next best goaltender in the league had six shutouts. Parent earned the Vezina Trophy and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP.

51 – The Philadelphia Flyers were the only team to achieve the 50 win plateau in 1974-75. Their 113 points tied put them in a three-way tie for first overall with the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens. The Los Angeles Kings were the only other team to cross the 100-point threshold with 105. Philadelphia was the top team in the Clarence Campbell Conference and the Patrick Division.

67 – The upstart Washington Capitals lost 67 of 80 games in 1974-75. The Capitals won just eight, the lowest total ever recorded since the league moved to a 70 game schedule for the 1949-50 season. Expansion cousins, the Kansas City Scouts, fared a little better, winning 15, losing 54 and tying 11.

135 – Bobby Orr won the second Art Ross Trophy of his career with 135 points. Orr finished eight points ahead of teammate Phil Esposito and fourteen ahead of Marcel Dionne of the Detroit Red Wings. Orr won his first Art Ross in 1969-70 and is the only defenseman to win the award.

374 – The Montreal Canadiens led the NHL with 374 goals. Guy Lafleur was tops on the team with 53. Ten Montreal players had 20 or more goals and five scored 30 or more. The league leader in goals was Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins with 61.

1,047 – Eddie Shack, ‘The Entertainer’, played his 1,047^th and final game in the National Hockey League. Shack played 26 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1974-75 before retiring. Eddie started in the NHL way back in 1958-59 with the New York Rangers. Along the way, he also played for the Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins.