The Most Colorful Toronto Maple Leafs of All-Time
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a long history.
When you’ve been around as long as the Toronto Maple Leafs it’s inevitable that among the myriad of players that have donned the blue and white that there have been a few who called attention to themselves for reasons beyond skating, passing, and shooting.
Hockey is the world’s fastest team sport and the entertainment value of the game is arguably above and beyond all others. When you add some colorful personalities to the mix, it’s hard to understand why everyone isn’t a fan.
This article will look back at five one-time buds who were a joy to watch as much for their antics as their on ice performances. T
hey are among the most colorful, unique, and memorable players to have passed through the ranks of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
TORONTO, ON – MARCH 26: Brad Smith #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Graig Abel/Getty Images)
Brad “Motor City Smitty” Smith
Several Toronto Maple Leaf tough guys of yesteryear feature prominently on this list.
This is by no means a coincidence. The nature of their roles is inherently a source of amusement for those of us who have a penchant for hard hits, fisticuffs and good ole “old time hockey.”
1980s buds’ spark plug Brad Smith was not only tough-He was a consummate team player and on ice cheer leader.
His gung-ho attitude and his willingness to battle endeared him to teammates and the throngs who filled Maple Leaf Gardens.
Smith dropped the gloves and fought often as a Leaf and did so without the benefit of wearing a helmet. He was one of the last players in the league to forego a bonnet-a most valiant warrior, indeed.
Smith was a native of Windsor, Ontario, and spent most of his National Hockey League career across the river from his hometown with the Detroit Red Wing and their farm team, the Adirondack Red Wings, before spending two very memorable seasons in Toronto.
Time spent playing in Detroit earned Smith the nickname, “Motor City Smitty.” Although Smith’s time in Toronto was much shorter than others on this list, he warrants inclusion for how memorable his two years with the buds were.
Smith didn’t record many scoring points, but he is among the most determined and most spirited players to ever wear a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater. While he wasn’t a big offensive contributor, he scored some timely goals in the 1986 and 1987 playoffs.
Toronto Maple Leafs fans of the mid-1980s were starved for something to cheer about as the team had dropped to the lower rungs of the National Hockey League under the ownership of Harold Ballard.
Brad Smith provided a glimmer of hope during the 1987 Norris Division finals and became a Toronto fan favourite during a hard-fought six game series.
With Toronto leading the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in the series entering game six in Maple Leaf Gardens, the Maple Leafs had an opportunity to win a playoff series. This was no mean feat for a team that had finished the regular season 10 games below .500.
Early in the game, Smith scored a breakaway goal by deking around Blues goalie Craig Millen for what must have been the greatest goal that Smitty had ever scored in his pro career. The fans in Maple Leaf Gardens went crazy as Motor City had given them an early lead that they would not relinquish.
With a 4-0 lead and the clock ticking down, the gardens’ faithful were chanting for Smith who hadn’t played a shift for several minutes. During a stop in play, Smith skated out to hug goalie Ken Wregget and the gardens exploded in a rapturous ovation. I haven’t seen a Maple Leaf make a curtain call since.
Turk Broda
No list of colourful Toronto Maple Leafs would be complete without the inclusion of a goaltender.
Netminders have been famously peculiar throughout the history of the NHL, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have had no shortage of interesting netminders. One buds goalie stands out as particularly memorable for his spectacular play and his affable and colourful personality. That player would be Turk Broda-Leafs’ superstar goalie of the 1940s and early 50s.
The Brandon, Manitoba native made his NHL debut during the late 1930s, and by the 1940s had established himself and a bona fide NHL star while acquiring the nickname, “the China Wall.” Broda back stopped the Toronto Maple Leafs to four Stanley Cups during the 1940s and another in 1951.
Broda was once asked why he was so successful in the Stanley Cup Playoffs despite the obvious pressure, and Broda responded, “the bonus money wasn’t much but I always needed it.” He also stated that perhaps he was just too dumb to realize that the situation in the playoffs was serious.
Despite his success, Broda found himself at odds with Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe over the matter of his conditioning and body weight. A big eater, Broda had amusingly posed in his goal crease in full uniform scarfing down a heaping plate of pancakes.
Prior to the start of the 1949-50 season, Smythe had informed Broda that he would be replaced for the season by two American Hockey League goaltenders if he reported for training camp over the 190 lb weight mark.
Broda whipped himself into fighting shape in just a few weeks and was able to weigh in at 189 lb and thus kept his job as the Leafs’ goalie for another season.
Tie Domi
Toronto Maple Leafs enforcers, like goalkeepers, have been among the most interesting and memorable players in team history.
This certainly holds true for the next entry on our list-the diminutive heavyweight scrapper and possessor of perhaps the hardest head in NHL history, Tie Domi.
Domi was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 1988 entry draft and spent a year playing on the Leafs farm club in Newmarket where he quickly established himself as an up and coming bruiser who was not to be trifled with.
Domi played in only two games for the Toronto Maple Leafs before being shipped off to the New York Rangers, in 1990.
It was during his three seasons in New York City that Domi established himself as a major heavyweight enforcer, and he did so battling with much larger players such as Dave Brown and Bob Probert.
One memorable scrap between Probert and Domi went down at Madison Square Garden in February, 1992, and helped establish Domi’s notoriety in the league.
The lads threw down and Domi battled Probert to a draw in a spirited bout that saw both player land serious haymakers.
Despite taking a couple of heavy shots from Probert at the end of the tilt, Domi stayed on his feet and after the players were separated by the linesmen, Domi gestured with his hands by his midsection to indicate that he had captured the NHL’s heavyweight belt from Probert.
Domi became favourite of the Madison Square Garden faithful with his memorable fights and animated antics.
After 3 years in New York, Domi was traded to the Winnipeg Jets where he would continue to battle foes and win fans.
In 1994, the resurgent Toronto Maple Leafs reacquired Domi for his pugilistic talents believing that his presence on the team would help protect stars such as Doug Gilmour and Dave Andreychuk and allow Wendel Clark to focus more on scoring and less on fighting.
Among Domi’s most memorable Maple Leafs moments were the times he squirted a heckling Philadelphia Flyers fan with water from the penalty box of the Spectrum, only to have the fan climb in the box to engage him in battle,and the time he cold-cocked New York Rangers defenseman, Ulf Samuelsson, with a single shot during a home game in Maple Leaf Gardens.
I don’t know how you feel about old time hockey, but the current edition of the Toronto Maple Leafs still need a major upgrade in the sandpaper department and a chip off the old block, Max Domi, would look awful good in a Leafs uniform sometime in the near future.
Eddie “the Entertainer” Shack
As one of the most unique and animated Toronto Maple Leafs players ever, Eddie Shack is a must inclusion on this list.
The Sudbury, Ontario, native began his career in the late 1950s with the New York Rangers before moving on to the Maple Leafs in the early 60s.
Shack’s arrival in Toronto coincided with the buds’ Stanley Cup winning streak in 1962, 1963, and 1964. Shack was an disturber who was known for his frantic rushes up the ice, scoring ability, and willingness to mix it up.
Shark moved around a lot and played for a number of NHL teams during his lengthy 20 year pro career. He had two stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs-from 1960 to 1967, and later, from 1973 to 1975.
In addition to the Maple Leafs, Shack suited up for the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers.
Shack was the type of player that you loved if he was on your side, but hated if he was on the opposition.
Shack was willing to drop the gloves and battle with many of foes, although he was not an enforcer in the traditional sense. He was an agitator who got under the skin of the opposition and often drew penalties more frequently than he took them.
One of the most memorable moments in Shack’s career happened during a game at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1974 against the St. Louis Blues during Shacks second stint as a bud.
As no other player could possibly do, Shack got under the skin of a trio of St. Louis Blues goons- brothers Bill and Barclay Plager, and Bob “Battleship” Kelly. The trio of St. Louis heavies all took runs at Shack, but Eddie, in his wisdom, swiftly skated to open ice and taunted the evil trio while leaving the job of corralling them up to the linesmen and his teammates. This incident is among a handful of truly humorous moments in Maple Leafs history.
Shack’s ebullient personality made him the perfect athlete to moonlight as a product pitchman, and Shack signed an apparently lucrative deal to became the nation symbol of the Canadian soft drink chain, The Pop Shop.
Shack made dozens of TV commercials showing him storming into various Pop Shop locations and demanding his soda. The commercials always ended with Shack uttering the famous line, “I’ve got a nose for value!” while tapping his large proboscis with a bottle of Pop Shop pop.
Dave “Tiger” Williams
Tiger Williams was one of the most popular Toronto Maple Leafs of the 1970s.
Today, he stands as the National Hockey League’s all-time leader in penalty minutes. Williams achieved this distinction with his fists which he used to defend his Maple Leafs teammates during the seventies, and later did the same for the Vancouver Canucks, the Los Angeles Kings, the Hartford Whalers and the Detroit Red Wings.
William was a second-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1974.
The Weyburn, Saskatchewan native play junior hockey for the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League where he was a high-scoring left winger who put up big numbers on the ice and in the penalty box.
In typical Williams fashion he referred to the town of Swift Current as “Speedy Creek”
The Tiger was among the most quotable NHL players during his run in Toronto, and throughout his career. When the Maple Leafs defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game of the 1977 NHL playoffs, Williams was asked what he thought of Pittsburgh’s chances of getting back into the three-game elimination series.
Williams quickly snapped back at the interviewer, “they’re done like dinner,” and this was indeed the case.
Williams spent six memorable years with the Toronto Maple Leafs and while he took on all comers, his most memorable battles were with the buds 1970s nemesis the Philadelphia Flyers in the quarterfinals in 1977 and 1978.
When facing the Broad Street Bullies, Williams had his work cut out for him and inevitably had to duke it out with Dave “the Hammer: Schultz on an almost nightly basis.
William was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in 1980 along with Jerry Butler in exchange for Bill Derlago and Rick Vaive.
Upon Williams return to Maple Leaf Gardens, that year Williams scored a goal on his former teammates and in a moment indelibly etched into the minds of many of his fans, Williams charged down the ice, took his stick and placed it between his legs and rode it like a hobby horse down on the ice while gesturing wildly to the fans with his free hand.
Tie Domi revisited this moment during a game in Madison Square Gardens in the early 90s after scoring a goal-a clear tip of the hat to Williams.
The Tiger was a fan-favorite during his tenure in T.O, but nobody loved him more than team owner Harold Ballard who was the recipient of a bear skin rug made from a bear that Williams had shot himself. (All information for this article from nhl.com, hockeydb.com, wikipedia and memory).
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He is the most colorful character in Toronto Maple Leafs history.