What is the Greatest Season in Toronto Maple Leafs History?
By Kyle Cushman
4. 1960-61: 70 games, 90 points, .643 PTS%
Another team incredibly close to the previous in points percentage, the 1960-61 Toronto Maple Leafs challenged the Montreal Canadiens for the first seed heading into the playoffs, losing out by two points.
With such a great regular season, the Leafs took home a lot of hardware. Dave Keon won the Calder after a 45 point campaign, while veterans Red Kelly and Johnny Bower won the Lady Byng and Vezina respectively. Bower was also named the first All-Star team, along with Frank Mahovlich and, on the second team, Allan Stanley.
Mahovlich broke out offensively in 1960-61 with 48 (!) goals in the regular season, the best single-season total in Toronto history at the time and a record that stood for 21 years. To go with the massive goal totals, Mahovlich also recorded 36 assists for 84 points, good for third in NHL scoring behind the Canadiens duo of Bernie Geoffrion and Jean Beliveau. Not only did Mahovlich lead the team in points, he also led in PIM, sitting in the box for 131 minutes.
In one of the more surprising postseasons in NHL history, the Habs and Leafs were both upset in the first round by Chicago and Detroit. The Blackhawks finished the year 15 points behind Toronto, while the Red Wings were 24 points behind. Despite this, Detroit knocked off the Leafs in five games in the semi-finals.
An interesting note, the Leafs won four Stanley Cups in the 1960s, including three consecutive after this 1960-61 season, yet this was Toronto’s best regular season in the decade. Just another example of the randomness in the Stanley Cup playoffs, I suppose.