By Brian Baker
On Canadian soil, in sudden death overtime, Sidney Crosby took the feed from Jarome Iginla, tied up in the corner, and snapped the puck through a small sliver of daylight that U.S. goalie Ryan Miller failed to block.
The passion and celebration that ensued over the “Golden Goal” at the Winter Olympics in 2010 [...more]

By Brian Baker
Much like the World Hockey Association of the 1970s, the Kontinental Hockey League in recent years sparked fears in the NHL that high-profile players would be stolen from North American pro teams.

By Brian Baker
The history surrounding diversity and the changing face of the National Hockey League has the makings of a classic espionage novel.
In particular, the story of the Stastny brothers, Peter and Anton, raises intrigue with their defection from Czechoslovakia with the help of the Quebec Nordiques organization.
In 1980, Peter went to Innsbruck, Austria [...more]

By Brian Baker
He treated coaches and players abysmally. He angered fans who thought he drove the Leafs onto the bottom rungs of the NHL ladder. And he served a year at Milhaven Penitentiary for tax evasion.
But after Harold Ballard, full owner of the Maple Leafs upon Stafford Smythe’s passing in 1972, died himself in 1990 [...more]

By Brian Baker
The hallowed shrine to Canada’s sport — where every record, every artefact of relevance is stored — is the Hockey Hall of Fame.
However, the building that houses all the trophies, jerseys of legends and various trinkets wasn’t always at its Toronto location at 30 Yonge St.

By Brian Baker
Feb. 7, 1976 will forever be known as a record-breaking day for Leafs Nation.
With goaltending great Gerry Cheevers on the bench, Boston Bruins coach Don Cherry played his young backup Dave Reece against Toronto.

By Brian Baker
What is hockey without play-by-play announcing?
Since the days when families would gather around their cathedral radios of the 1930s, the voice of one sportscaster or another would capture the imaginations of Canadians.
Toronto Maple Leafs games were first aired November 1931 on Canadian National Railways Radio, a precursor to the CBC.

By Brian Baker
The farm system has been crucial in building some of the Maple Leafs’ greatest teams.
At the centre of development have been the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association, St. John’s Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League, and St. Michael’s Majors who fed the Marlboros.
On top of these minor league squads the [...more]

By Brian Baker
War was brewing for the National Hockey League in the early 1970s.
The source of ire for then-president Clarence Campbell was a new competitive hockey league started by California businessmen Dennis Murphy and Gary Davidson.
The two had jumped on the disputed reserve clause that bound players to NHL teams after their contracts expired with [...more]

By Brian Baker
It cradles the booming voices, the vocal chords thrumming in jubilation as Toronto scores a goal.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs there have been three such homes, increasing in capacity through the years to welcome more members to their family.

By Brian Baker
The National Hockey League has its own list of names that will be forever immortalized. Besides the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 1960s dynasty, we can identify eight other periods in time when one team ruled.

The last time Leafs Nation got to see their team hoist the Stanley Cup was at the tail end of their very own dynasty.

By Brian Baker
The Stanley Cup may be the most prestigious trophy in hockey, but several others are also highly prized in the NHL.
The President’s Cup was first awarded in 1985–86 to the team with the best record during the regular season. Edmonton Oilers won it in its inaugural season.

By Brian Baker
What is professional hockey without honouring its stars?
Since its inception 93 years ago, the NHL has doled out a cache of hardware to its top athletes. Lord Stanley’s Cup is the top honour but it wasn’t an NHL exclusive until 1926.

By Brian Baker
“Bill Barilko disappeared that summer, he was on a fishing trip,” Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip sings in the tune “Fifty Mission Cap”. He continues: “The last goal he scored won the Leafs the Cup.”
Indeed, on April 21, 1951, the Maple Leafs defenceman, all of 24 years old, snapped a point [...more]

By Brian Baker
During the Maple Leafs dynasty of the 1960s a significant move was about to be made— one that would change the National Hockey League forever.
On March 11, 1965, league president Clarence Campbell announced the league expansion. Whether it was supported by Canadian fans though was another story.

By Brian Baker
Taking hockey to the professional level also meant something across Canada.
That’s why four angry owners and the secretary-treasurer of the former National Hockey Association — Frank Calder — founded the NHL.

By Brian Baker
While the rest of the NHL was taking shape, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization was continually evolving, welcoming names that would become Hall of Famers both on the ice and in the office.
At the head, donning a fedora, loose dress pants and a long businessman blazer was Constantine Falkland Smythe, a.k.a. Conn.

By Brian Baker
As one historian said of hockey, “It is as Canadian as the Maple Leaf”. So too was the birth of Leafs Nation.

By Brian Baker
You savour the salty tang of the wind that frosts your features.
You’re bundled up tight, nothing but mittens and a heavy woollen sweater between you and the Canadian winter of the early 1800s. You’re gliding in skates made of imported steel from Mother England.