They Could’a been Legends Vol 1: V. Damphousse

The Maple Leafs have a rich history over the last thirty years that really gets’ underappreciated because of all the losing, the bad trades, the losing. the bad drafting and also the losing.

So much losing.

But, with things changing for the better (Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly) and time softening the blow, it’s easier to look back fondly on some players who – for whatever reason – are forgotten parts of Maple Leafs history.

They Could’a been Legends:

With their first round pick in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Vincent Damphousse out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

This was an excellent pick, as Damphousse went on to lead his draft class in goals, points, and penalty minutes.  Only Brian Leetch could have been a better choice for the Leafs, but either way, getting the second-best player in a draft while picking sixth is a good deal.

Damphouse made the Leafs immediately  after being drafted and scored 20 goals as a rookie.  He got better each season and peaked (as a Leaf) in 89-90 with 33 goals and 94 points. This would be the first of four 90 point seasons (and one 89 point) that he’d have in his career.

As the Leafs hit the 90s, they had a 90 point star centre who also played dirty enough to get a ton of penalty minutes. He was also just 23  years-old.

The problem was, they were complete garbage, and they were out of patience.

Cliff Fletcher Makes Terrible Trade

While Fletcher is lionized for his brilliant theft of Doug Gilmour, his trade of Vincent Damphousse has never gotten the roasting it deserved.  In fact, if you want my opinion, Fletcher is a terrible GM who dined out for years on the fact he was able to trick his old team into making one bad trade.

Now, I was only ten when this atrocity occurred, so I can’t say for certain how it was received, but I’m guessing everyone was pretty happy to land two Hall of Famers.  They shouldn’t have been though, because it was a garbage trade.

Fletcher traded his 90 point all-star, 23 year-old centre to the Oilers, along with Luke Richardson, Peter Ing and Scott Thornton for Grant Fuhr, Craig Berube and Glenn Anderson.

That’s three top-ten picks for two old guys, if you’re keeping track. The abject stupidity of this trade can’t be overstated.

Anderson was 30 at the time, and while Damphousse went on to score 89, 97 and 91 points in the three years after the trade, Anderson scored 55, 57 and 65.

Fuhr was even worse, playing two terrible seasons before giving way to Felix Potvin.   Yeah, I know, he got turned into Dave Anderchuck, but I think you’re better off with two star centres.  Ask the Penguins.

Stanley Cup

The rejuvenated and Damphousse-less Leafs went to the Final Four in 1993, losing to the L.A Kings, who lost to the Montreal Canadians.

Despite this 1993 team being the best memory an entire three generations of Maple Leafs fans has, the sad part is that the number-one centre on the Canadians that year was none other than Vincent Damphousse.

In one of the greatest ironies in Maple Leafs history, the player they traded away at age 23, in order to get themselves closer to being the Cup Contenders they never were, won the Stanley Cup with their most hated rival.

Legacy

Vincent Damphousse’s legacy is that of Stanley Cup winner, all-star MVP, sixth overall pick and ripped-off should-be Hall of Famer.  (I mean, if 1205 points and a Cup don’t get you in……)

Damphousse scored 1205 points in 1378 games (he was a point-per-game scorer for his career until a late career stint with the Sharks).  He is 46th on the all-time scoring list.

He was drafted sixth overall by a team whose fan base appreciated Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour, but couldn’t ever really get behind Damphousse, Mats Sundin or Phil Kessel.

The Leafs traded him because they were impatient and short-sighted. He could have been one of the greatest players in franchise history.