A 102 Year History of Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coaches

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CANADA – OCTOBER 31: Remember the good old days; defeats have faded but the victories still are bright for these hockey legends. The Variety Club of Ontario honored Conn Symthe yesterday. And on hand were some of his 1932 Maple Leafs to add to the homage. Left to right are King Clancy; Red Honer; Frank Selke (team executive of that era); Hap Day; Conn Smythe; Ace Bailey; Joe Primeau; Alex Levinsky. (Photo by Dick Darrell/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /

1940-1958

Enter Clarence Henry Day also known simply as Hap Day, another player to coach. Day was a career long member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, spending 13 years playing for the organization, 11 as captain, before retiring from play and transitioning into a job refereeing in the minor leagues.

Smythe gave the head coaching role to Day in his return to the NHL in . Day excelled in the position behind the bench and guided the team through the 40’s with major success.

The Toronto Maple Leafs won five Stanley Cups under Day in 1942 against after losing in the first round the year previous, again in 1945 against the Detroit Red Wings and then in three back to back years in 1947 to 1949. Day was then promoted to an assistant general manager position but stepped down in 1950 after the team missed the playoffs.

Following Day, Joe Primeau entered the coaching position and lead the team to the Stanley Cup his first year in the role, winning the teams ninth championship but only held the job between 1950-1953.

Francis ‘King’ Clancy, one of the top scoring defensemen in NHL history acted as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs through 1953 to 1956.

Clancy had played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the later half of his career and returned to the team after his retirement. The team continued to struggle more and more under Clancy and he was appointed to an assistant general manager position and stayed in the teams front office for the rest of his life.

The Toronto Maple Leafs struggled for much of the rest of the 50’s and the succeeding head coaches, Howie Meeker and Billy Reay were both fired after the team finished 6th and 5th over all and repeatedly missed playoffs.

1958 brought in one of the more controversial faces in Toronto Maple Leafs history, George ‘Punch’ Imlach. Imlach was originally brought into the teamasa an assistant general manager but after Conn Smythe had stepped down in 1955 the team did not have a general manager and Imluch took over the position as well as fired Reay and took over the coaching position in 1958.

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