Top 5 Most Beloved Toronto Maple Leafs of All-Time
There are hundreds of beloved Toronto Maple Leafs in history, but we had to narrow it down to five.
The Toronto Maple Leafs may not have won a championship since 1967, but there have been countless adored players throughout history. From the captain who leads the team in points, to the tough guy who fights at will, Toronto has fallen in love with many different Maple Leafs.
The idea of falling in love with a hockey player is something that happens when you’re a kid. If you’re 40-years-old and have a shrine of a current Toronto Maple Leafs player, that’s just sad, because to me, fandom is at it’s highest peak when you’re a child.
The thrill of playing mini-sticks in your basement or hockey on the pond are memories that last a life-time and within those special moments, you always remember reenacting your favourite player. Whether it was pretending you were Mats Sundin taking a slap-shot to score his 500th goal or beating up one of your buddies like Dave “Tiger” Williams, you always reenacted your favourite hockey moments.
For kids watching the Toronto Maple Leafs today, all of them either wear #34 or #16 in minor hockey, pretending to be Auston Matthews or Mitch Marner. For those minor league players growing up, those professionals are like gods to them, just like the Darryl Sittler’s or Dave Keon’s were for others.
Every win felt like a Stanley Cup victory and every loss felt like the worst break-up of your life. It was do-or-die and when your favourite player did something special, there wasn’t anything cooler in life.
Here are the top five most beloved Toronto Maple Leafs players in team history:
#5. Tie Domi
When I think of a player who symbolizes the word “beloved,” it’s Tie Domi. In Toronto, the fanbase always falls in love with the blue-chipper or the lunch-pail type of player. The guy that sticks up for his teammates and although he may not show up on the scoresheet, he’ll fight anyone.
Domi spent 11 years in Toronto and was absolutely beloved. The reason the city fell in love with him was because he could fight way above his weight-class. The southpaw was only 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, but could take down someone like Donald Brashear who was 6-foot-3, 240 pounds.
It didn’t make any sense how Domi could hold his own so well for his size, but being left-handed had an advantage for him. Going up against mostly right-handed dominant players makes the left-handed bomb a surprise for many.
He was extremely gifted and although he was beloved by his own fans, he was hated by others, which is kind of why Toronto loved him even more. Just look what he did to that guy in the penalty box in Philadelphia. How could you not love a guy who beats up a fan for chirping him when he fell into the penalty box?
#4. Eddie Shack
Whether it was the cowboy hat or mustache, you could always recognize Eddie Shack. Most famously known being apart of four Stanley Cups in the 1960s with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Shack earned the well-deserved nickname as “The Entertainer.”
Shack was beloved by Toronto Maple Leafs fans because he could score a game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup Finals, then knock out the other team’s best player. “Clear the track, here comes Eddie Shack” became one of the most known lines to describe any player in Toronto Maple Leafs history.
In an article by The Canadian Press after Shack’s passing, Doug Gilmour described the reason why many people fell in love with him in the first place, saying:
“Eddie Shack taught me two important things — see humor in just about everything, and live like a Champion….Four cups with the Leafs and a personality larger than life.”
The life of a professional athlete is one that many people wish they had, but it’s also one that many take for granted. Shack didn’t allow the lifestyle to take over, as he lived every day to the fullest, with a strong sense of humor. If more people lived like “The Entertainer,” this world would be a better place, so we should all be thankful for Shack.
#3. Wendel Clark
The former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs played for the team on three different occasions and is still treated like he’s on the team. As one of the primary community ambassadors for the Toronto Maple Leafs, his presence is just as strong, as it was when he was playing.
It’s easy to see why Clark was beloved. There was nobody who could play like him and that’s why he was selected first overall by Toronto in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He was only 5-foot-11, 195 pounds but he played like he was 7-feet tall and 300 pounds.
His ability to fight and hit, while scoring goals was incredibly impressive. He spent so much time in the penalty box that it was shocking that he could still score 30 goals in a season. Clark was the type of player that looked bound for the Hockey Hall of Fame when his career started, but unfortunately a terrible back injury stopped him from hitting his full potential.
Despite never having the stat-line that many predicted, he was still loved in Toronto and continues to be today.
#2. Doug GIlmour
After leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to back-to-back Conference Finals in 1993 and 1994, Gilmour has been beloved and will continue to be forever. He ignited the fan-base when things were so glim and is the reason why the team came so close to reaching the Stanley Cup Finals.
Unlike some of the players we mentioned before, Gilmour didn’t fight and hit his way to popularity. It was his skill-set that made him a fan-favourite and a reason why half of Scotiabank Arena is still wearing a Doug Gilmour jersey.
Gilmour’s 1992-93 season is still the greatest individual season in Leafs history. After scoring 127 points, nobody has came close to touching that record since. Even though he played for six different NHL franchises, it feels like he only played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Whenever Gilmour is at a Toronto Maple Leafs event or happens to be in the crowd for a game at Scotiabank Arena, the place goes nuts. He was a special talent and he could have been even more beloved, had one of those 1990s team won a Stanley Cup.
Although old Maple Leaf Gardens has turned into a Loblaws now, you can still hear fans chanting “Dougie, Dougie, Dougie” if you close your eyes at 50 Carlton Street.
#1. Johnny Bower
What’s not to love about Johnny Bower? Playing well into his 40s, Bower made Tom Brady look young by how long he played in the NHL.
Nicknamed, “The China Wall,” it was tough to score a goal on the brilliant net-minder, who led the Toronto Maple Leafs to four Stanley Cups during his career. Despite his popularity in the 1960s with the Toronto Maple Leafs, that stardom and love got stronger as the years passed.
Even those fans who were 80 years younger than Bower fell in love with him because of how nice of a human-being he was. He always had time for a fan and the thing that made him so special was his autograph. If you ever got a signature from Bower, you knew it was his because of how legible it was.
Some players today sign their autograph like a doctor on a prescription pad, and the only way you know it’s that player is if they put their number above it. Bower, on the other hand, made sure that his signature was written in perfect cursive, because that’s how special that moment meant for him and for the fan. If someone wanted your autograph, you better make it legible.
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Bower’s public service after he died was one of the most special moments I can remember in recent years. Being in the building for that and then also watching the video tribute prior to the Leafs playing the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 2, 2018 was so special as there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd that night.