10 Incredible Things You Didn’t Know About the Toronto Maple Leafs
By Jeff Borsuk
The Toronto Maple Leafs are winding down a regular season in which they’ve known their playoff opponent since before Christmas.
Despite playing over half a season of meaningless games, the Toronto Maple Leafs season has still been incredibly entertaining.
That’s the fun of having one of the best rosters in the league. But while we wait for the playoffs, it doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun –
The history of the Toronto Maple Leafs is long and filled with interesting idiosyncrasies. Here are ten of them that fans have likely never heard before.
10 Interesting Facts About the Toronto Maple Leafs
1. The Maple Leafs had the same coach as the Toronto Argonauts.
Mike Rodden coached the football team in 1920, taking his club to the Grey Cup finals. He was back at the helm in 1926 when he led the Argonauts to an even record and missed the playoffs.
Rodden was given his shot to coach the Toronto St. Patricks for the 1926–27 season. He had the job for a total of two games. Rodden lost both contests and was fired. Incredibly, Rodden was also a referee for the Ontario Hockey Association while working as a coach in Toronto.
2. The Toronto Maple Leafs first ever draft pick didn’t play with the team until he was reacquired.
In 1963, the NHL held its first ever amateur draft. The Buds had the sixth pick, which they used to select Walt McKechnie. The center was 16 at the time.
McKechnie played junior hockey after being drafted. By the time he turned pro, he went to the WHL to play for the Phoenix Roadrunners and then the Minnesota North Stars in their expansion that same season.
McKechnie played for a total of nine NHL clubs. He didn’t lace up for the Leafs until they traded for him over a decade after his draft.
He played two seasons for the Leafs. In his first year, 1978-79, McKechnie played 79 games and scored 25 goals and 36 assists for a total of 61 points. McKechnie followed that up the next season by playing 54 games where he recorded seven goals and 36 assists for a sum of 43 points.