The Top 10 Mustaches in Toronto Maple Leafs History
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had some of the best caterpillars in the NHL. These are the ten best mustaches in franchise history.
Unique features always get remembered. This is especially true for Toronto Maple Leafs past and present. In hockey, accessorizing with a mustache has always been original.
The NHL has always been synonymous with long flowing hair and missing teeth. Style in the sport has not always been consistent with those who don’t wear skates to work. There are, however, some who have strayed from the traditional hockey look and made one of their own thanks to a mustache. We have curated ten of the best ever snot catchers to be displayed on the faces of Maple Leafs.
10. Dion Phaneuf
Dion Phaneuf might not be remembered for having a lip warmer. When rumours that the former captain of the Leafs may be returning in 2020 began circulating, most fans likely didn’t remember Phaneuf with facial hair.
Most likely recall Phaneuf by the money he was making while with the Maple Leafs. Dave Nonis did what he felt he needed to in order to keep the defenseman in Toronto. Nonis re-signed Phaneuf to a seven-year deal worth $49 million.
Phaneuf spent a small portion of his seven years in Toronto with a decent duster. If he ever finds himself with an NHL team, he should definitely bring it back.
9. Ian White
Another defenseman that finds his way onto this list is Ian White. Similar to Phaneuf, he didn’t keep the stache throughout his tenure with the Buds. It’s a shame since fans would have loved to have seen it flapping in the wind as White flew down the ice in Toronto from 2005 – 2010.
Coincidentally, White and Phaneuf were on opposite ends of a January 31, 2010 trade. White was a part of a package that included Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, and Jamal Mayers. Leafs general manager Brian Burke sent the group to the Calgary Flames in order to get the prized blueliner. Phaneuf was the biggest chip in the deal but he was also accompanied by Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie.
8. Auston Matthews
Aston Matthews went into training camp in September with a little extra weight on him, all above his upper lip. On a trip to Mexico, he grew the mustache without a plan for how long he’d keep it. He has said that his mom approved of the look which has lasted throughout the season.
Since Matthews has started playing as a stached man, he has upped his game. This year, he was on his way to making history before the season got cut short.
Matthews has been elite since being drafted first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Signed through the 2023-2024 season, he will hopefully continue to dazzle fans with his soup-strainer along for the ride.
7. Tom Watt
Tom Watt was born in Toronto, Ontario and has had a large connection to the city throughout his hockey career. He coached at a high school before getting the job as the bench boss for the University of Toronto’s Varsity Blues hockey team. Watt spent 15 years as the school’s head coach and had extraordinary success over that span. The club won 11 conference titles and nine CIAU championships.
Watt was always very recognizable thanks to his thick lampshade mustache. This was his preferred style after sporing a pyramidal ‘stache as the Jack Adams winning coach of the Winnipeg Jets.
By 1990, the lampshade was a mainstay on his face. That’s when he was hired to be an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. That position didn’t last long as Watt got promoted to become the team’s head coach by just the 12th game of the season.
Watt spent two years at the helm in Toronto before doing various other roles within the organization. He is still on the team’s payroll today working as a pro scout.
6. Leo Komarov
The man known as Uncle Leo was a fan favorite with the Maple Leafs. Leo Komarov was even more beloved when he grew a strong horseshoe mustache. The only problem with that beautiful creature was that it didn’t last long enough. It seemed that the crumb catcher disappeared as quickly as it arrived. Komarov played five seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He even split time in 2012-13 between the Toronto Marlies and Moscow Dynamo in the KHL. Komarov represented the Leafs at the 2016 All-Star Game.
5. Wendel Clark
When most people think about a Toronto Maple Leafs player with a horseshoe mustache, they aren’t thinking about Komarov. Instead, the person who generally comes to mind is Wendel Clark. He happens to be the second captain and first overall draft pick on this list.
Clark played 13 seasons with the Leafs getting into 608 games. In that time he recorded 260 goals, 181 assists for a total of 441 points. He did it all with his signature push broom above his lip.
The reason that Leafs fans fell in love with Clark and continue to cheer him on with vigor each time he shows up to Scotiabank arena is because of the way he played the game. He was never afraid to go into the corners, mix it up with the competition, and drop the mitts when called upon. Clark was as tough as they come when he played. It could be why he and his ‘stache spent 1690 penalty minutes in the box throughout his career.
4. Pat Burns
One of the top five Maple Leafs coaches of all time, Pat Burns, had a strong demeanor behind the bench. He was well respected and effective in the role. He also looked good thanks to his mouth brow.
Burns was the coach in 1993 when Toronto had their deep run in the postseason. The Leafs made it all the way to the Conference Finals where they saw the Los Angeles Kings. Burns might have been able to boast about taking his team to the Stanley Cup Finals if referee Kerry Frasier had penalized Wayne Gretzky for his high stick on Doug Gilmour in Game 6.
Burns did eventually win the cup, coaching the New Jersey Devils in 2003. Sadly, he had neither his lip curtain or mullet when he hoisted the trophy.
3. Rob Ramage
Rob Ramage is yet another captain to play with a squirrel on his face. He is the only player in franchise history to be given the captaincy prior to playing a single game for the team. Ramage came from the Calgary Flames after winning the Stanley Cup. The defenseman was with the Buds for two seasons starting in 1989-90.
Ramage’s time with Toronto ended abruptly when the Leafs left him unprotected for the 1991 NHL Dispersal and Expansion Drafts. Jeff Hackett, the clean-shaven goaltender for the New York Islanders was picked first by the San Jose Sharks. Ramage went next with the Minnesota North Stars pick.
Unfortunately, Ramage isn’t often celebrated by the organization. This could be because he only had two years with the team but it’s more likely because the Leafs want to distance themselves from him. In 2007 Ramage was sentenced to four years in prison stemming from an intoxicated 2003 auto collision. It was an accident that took the life of former Chicago Blackhawks player Keith Magnuson.
2. Eddie Shack
Eddie Shack had two stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first began in the 1960-61 season and lasted seven years. When Shack was 23 for that first season with the club, he didn’t have his lip toupee yet. When he did grow in his mustache, it became an iconic look.
In his older age, now 83 years old, Shack has grown out a gunslinger mustache and paired it with a beard. In order to fully complete the look, Shack now also sports a cowboy hat.
1. Lanny McDonald
Lanny McDonald tops the list with the best flavor saver in franchise history. He was seen with his ‘stache styled two ways, with a style known as the wild west as well as the walrus. Now, at 67 years old, fans could get a glimpse of McDonald’s mouth mane at alumni events.
McDonald was a first-round, fourth overall pick in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft for the Maple Leafs. He spent seven highly efficient seasons with the club before general manager Punch Imlach traded him away. It was an act that McDonald believed was done out of spite. Imlach and McDonald didn’t get along.
In response to seeing a beloved player sent to the Colorado Rockies, Leafs fans gathered in front of Maple Leaf Gardens to picket the injustice. His friend and teammate Darryl Sittler resigned his captaincy as his own form of protest.
There might be something about captains and mustaches as McDonald was given a “C” for his jersey while with the only other teams he played for, the Rockies and Calgary Flames. Once he retired from playing, the Flames hired him to work as an executive in the organization.
McDonald was the first player in Flames history to have his number retired. His number nine can be seen hanging from the rafters today in Calgary. He was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 after playing 1111 NHL games, scoring 500 goals and 506 assists for a total of 1006 points.
Next. Is Jason Spezza a Hall of Famer?. dark
There has been a great deal of excellent face furniture in Leafs history. With Matthews making his pencil mustache popular, it’s possible that a whole new generation of future Toronto based players dress their lip with some muzzle fuzz when they go to the rink.