Grinch #1
The biggest, baddest Grinch in Maple Leafs history is without a doubt, the most-vile owner Toronto Sports has ever seen. We’re talking about Harold Ballard, a man who once called his daughter a “reptile”.
Ballard is responsible for firing the Hall of Fame coach, Roger Neilson. After his dismissal, Ballard decided to bring back Neilson upon hearing complaints from his players. In order to try and sell tickets and line his own pockets, Ballard attempted to make a spectacle out of the “new” coach of the team. He told reporters that he had found a “mystery man” to be the team’s new bench boss and instructed Neilson to wear a paper bag over his head pre-game in his return matchup. Thankfully, Neilson refused to give in to this stunt but it may have factored into him being fired for a second time by Ballard at the end of that season.
Ballard could have had his own top-10 Grinch moments but there is one specific incident that stands out to really demonstrate why he tops our list.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs were celebrating their centennial anniversary, the franchise named and ranked its top 100 players to ever pull a Toronto NHL sweater over their head. Dave Keon was at the top of that list, named the greatest player in the organization’s 100 years of operation. Unfortunately, Ballard had angered Keon so much that for years the star player wanted nothing to do with the Leafs.
Ballard was known to dislike Keon, the captain of the Leafs since 1969. That’s why the Grinch ensured that his club did not re-sign Keon when his contract expired. Although Toronto could have gotten a decent return in a trade for the star player prior to the expiration of the contract, Ballard demanded a far too exorbitant compensation. It made any trade impossible.
Unrestricted free agent rules weren’t in place at the time, which allowed Ballard to continue to make overly lofty demands in return for another team signing Keon. It made it so that other NHL clubs couldn’t sign him, despite his incredible talent.
With no teams able to sign the star forward, Keon was forced out of the NHL. He then joined the World Hockey Association (WHA). Luckily, when the WHA-NHL merger took place years later, the Hartford Whalers were absorbed into the NHL and Keon was once again able to compete in the world’s top league.
Ballard wasn’t just a criminal who owned the Toronto Maple Leafs, he’s also the organization’s ultimate Grinch.
From all of us at Editor in Leaf, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season. Most importantly, please remember, don’t be a Grinch!