Everything Wrong with TSN’s All-Time Toronto Maple Leafs Team
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had some of the best talent in the history of the NHL
Earlier this week, TSN released their all-time Toronto Maple Leafs team via Twitter and the roster has sparked a lot of controversy within the hockey community.
This is part of the network’s ‘All-Time 7’ project where they list the all-time roster of each Canadian Team, and the criteria they have put together for player eligibility is far too specific in order to make a list that is as objective as possible.
The criteria goes as follows (Courtesy, TSN):
Player Criteria
- Team: two goalies, six defensemen, 12 forwards and one foundational player
- Members must have played at least 225 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs
- At least one member of the all-time team must be from the 2019-20 Maple Leafs
- Players are slotted in positions they played with the Maple Leafs
- One line must be comprised of defensive standouts, aka a checking line
- One pair must be comprised of suffocating defenders, aka a shutdown pair
- Lines and pairs are put together because they fit together, not because they are necessarily the first, second and third best at their positions
- Foundational players are defined as players part of the fabric – the DNA – of a franchise
- Last cuts by position are exactly as advertised, the players who just missed selection to the all-time team
I agree that the period of time you spend with the team should be a large factor in the placement of players for an all-time team, but putting a specific number of games on it can cause complications, where those factors should be indirectly applied and appreciated by fans without making it a necessity.
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This complication will be explained further as this article moves on.
Also, while I believe that Auston Matthews is indeed worthy of being placed among these names, and pretty much all Canadian teams have at least one player who could make it, the fact that an all-time team MUST contain a current player is pretty odd.
Next, the necessary criteria for the individual lines is far too specific. I totally understand that taking a creative approach to the will cause some interesting names to be thrown in the mix, but the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs all-time team has to have a ‘shutdown line’ just seems unnecessary when trying to craft an overall great team.
In addition to this, the idea that players are being slotted in “because they fit together”, not because they are the best at their position, is also kind of ridiculous. Just based on that piece of criteria, you are already proving that this can’t be a true all-time team.
The Problem With All-Time Lists
The one major distinction I think needs to be made, especially when dealing with an original six team like the Toronto Maple Leafs, is that there really should be two separate all-time rosters for pre and post NHL expansion.
I should start by saying that I honestly see no purpose in making any of these lists in general, due to the amount of logistical questions that come with making a definitive all-time team.
Is it just based on legacy (individual awards and Stanley Cups)? Are we building a team to play a game? Both of these questions should drastically change the way you pick your players, and this list finds themselves somewhere in the middle of those two questions.
While you cannot ignore individual and team awards, another reason why there should be a pre and post expansion list is because the value of a Stanley Cup or a Hart Trophy among a league with six teams should be drastically different than a team with 24 or 31.
As I mentioned, I am not saying that players like Busher Jackson or Alan Stanley weren’t great players in their own time.
Jackson averaged at least a point-per-game three times throughout his ten seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Alan Stanley was a lockdown defensemen who helped the Leafs finish with the second best goals against average (2.58) from 1960-68, while also taking home four championships throughout that time.
Although, it’s tough to argue whether or not they are better than a player from another generation, based on how significantly more difficult the game has become since then.
Now, let’s take a look at the players I would change on this roster.
Players Missing from the Toronto Maple Leafs All-Time Team
Despite the amount of negative things I’ve had to say so far, I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to create a Maple Leafs all-time team without facing criticism.
The TSN roster does have a decent amount of positions that are filled correctly based on the criteria they’ve put in place, especially on the defensive end. The only major change I would make on defense would be replacing Bob Baun with Thomas Kaberle.
Could there be more changed on the back end? Definitely. Could you make an argument within the next couple of seasons for Morgan Rielly to be included in this team? Absolutely. Was I hesitant to alter much more based on the fact that some of these players played more than five of my lifetimes ago? Bingo!
As for the forwards, this is where it gets a bit more controversial.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a long history of great centremen, and to have Darryl Sittler and Doug Gilmour absent from this team just doesn’t seem right.
In his six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Doug Gilmour produced the two greatest individual seasons in franchise history, scoring an unbelievable 238 points through 166 games between 1992-94.
As for Darryl Sittler, another fan favourite, he led the Maple Leafs in scoring eight times and sits second on the franchise’s all-time scoring list. I would elect to choose Sittler based on the fact that Gilmour had already established himself as an offensive talent many years before he became a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, where Sittler grew into the legend he was in Toronto.
In terms of who either of these two would replace, well, that’s definitely not an easy discussion.
I still think you leave Matthews in the lineup regardless of the parameters of their selection process, and even at my age I cannot deny the greatness of Syl Apps.
As for Dave Keon, while he is regarded as one of the greatest Maple Leafs of all time, and was offensively consistent throughout the entirety of his career in Toronto, Sundin’s point production was better as the all-time franchise leader in points, and he was arguably a more valuable piece to the roster during his time.
After much consideration, I think the best decision would be to replace Dave Keon with Darryl Sittler, and unfortunately leave Gilmour off of the list. The wingers selected are pretty solid, and after this decision this leaves a centreman core of Apps, Sundin, Matthews and Sittler (in no particular order).
I can easily see an argument made for either player making the list, and this is why everyone should just stay away from all-time arguments for good!
Next. Toronto Maple Leafs All-Decade Team Roundtable. dark
It’s safe to say with the current Toronto Maple Leafs being one of the most highly controversial teams in the NHL, it would be best to leave the legends of the past, in the past. Comparisons from current to older players only cause people to try and place one’s legacy over another, and can do far more bad than good to a fanbase.