#1 – Hap Day
Clarence Henry “Happy” Day is the Toronto Maple Leafs best coach of all-time. He spent his entire career behind the bench with the organization, ten seasons. That came after he spent 13 years playing for the franchise, acting as captain for 11 of those seasons.
Interestingly, Day transitioned from playing to enforcing the rules as a referee. He wore the stripes for two years while coaching a minor league in Toronto. Day’s experience as an on-ice official helped him behind the bench thanks to his thorough understanding of the rules. When Day wanted to return to the NHL he was hired by Conn Smythe to take over the coaching duties that were vacated when Irvin left for the Canadiens job.
Day found success in his new role. In his first year, 1940-41, the team won 28 out of their 48 games with six ties. He followed that up the next season by winning the Stanley Cup in dramatic fashion.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were in a big hole in the Finals, down three games to none when they managed to claw their way to a 4-3 victory in Game 4. There was no looking back after that. The Leafs thumped the Red Wings in the remainder of the series, capturing Day’s first title as a coach.
That 1942 Stanley Cup would be far from Day’s last. He won it again in 1945. Then three more times in consecutive years starting in 1947. That was the first time the NHL had seen a coach three-peat.
Day won five titles in ten years coaching the team. He also had his name etched into the Cup two more times with the Maple Leafs, once as a player and another as the assistant general manager.
As the team’s coach. Day had a regular-season points percentage of 54.9 in 546 games. He also owned a playoffs winning percentage of 42.9.
Mike Babcock has a long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath as Day.
Though the current coach has an excellent 56.3 points percentage in five seasons, he needs to find ways to win in the postseason. When Babcock starts taking the Toronto Maple Leafs out of the first round, he might find himself usurping someone to make the top-five.