The Top 5 Grinches in Toronto Maple Leafs History

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been plagued by some real Grinches over their franchise’s history. We rank the top 5 of all-time.

It’s the holiday season, which means it’s time to celebrate. Many will spend this time gathering with family and sharing fond memories together and spreading joy. This isn’t that kind of article. Instead, prepare yourself to be reminded of some of the darkest times in Toronto Maple Leafs history.

We will be your guide on this tour through history as you relive the things you have consciously forced from your memory. Prepare to learn about the top five Toronto Maple Leafs Grinches of all-time.

In order to get prepared, let’s establish first who/what is meant when we use the word Grinch. There haven’t been furry green players on skates cross-checking opponents, fans, and officials with reckless abandon as one would expect from the character imagined by Dr. Seuss. No. Instead, we will define our Grinch as the antagonist in Leafs history who had the ability to figuratively rip the hearts of Leafs fans out of their chests.

The most recent Grinch to taunt the Maple Leafs has been COVID-19. Despite wreaking havoc over the NHL, Toronto, and the rest of the globe, it doesn’t make the official list. Even though players like Auston Matthews were at one point positive with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 has been a worldwide Grinch and not one specific to the Maple Leafs.

Some may expect the NHL resident Grinch, Commissioner Gary Bettman, to also make this list. You’ll be shocked to learn that he didn’t find his way into the top five. As we’ve learned from the story, the Grinch’s “small heart grew three sizes.” It hasn’t yet been proven that Bettman has the capacity to have his heart grow. More importantly, the public has never even seen proof that he has a heart.

Now that we know who didn’t make the list, let’s get to who did.