History of The Toronto Maple Leafs - New Owners, New Dynasty in The 1960s

New Owners, New Dynasty in The 1960s

Toronto was unable to match up with their Cup-winning teams of the 1940s and 1951 for a long time, and stronger teams like Detroit and Montreal won the Cup year after year. In fact, the Habs' 1950s dynasty closed with a last-round Maple Leaf sweep. They did not win another Stanley Cup until 1962.

Before the 1961–62 season, Smythe sold nearly all of his shares in Maple Leaf Gardens to a partnership of his son Stafford Smythe, newspaper baron John Bassett and Toronto Marlboros president Harold Ballard. The sale price was $2.3 million—a handsome return on his original investment 34 years earlier. According to Stafford's son Thomas, Conn Smythe said years later that he expected to sell his shares only to his son and would not have sold his shares to the partnership. However, it is not likely that Conn Smythe could have believed that Stafford could have raised the money needed to make the deal on his own. This purchase gave the three control of about 60% ownership of the Leafs and Gardens.

And then, Toronto was able to reel off another three straight Stanley Cup victories from 1962 to 1964, with the help of Hall of Famers Frank Mahovlich, Red Kelly, Johnny Bower, Dave Keon, Andy Bathgate and Tim Horton, and under the leadership of coach and general manager Punch Imlach. However, Bathgate claimed after 1964–65 that all the autocratic Imlach said to himself and Mahovlich was insulting:

“Imlach never spoke to Frank Mahovlich or myself for most of the season, and when he did, it was to criticize. Frank usually got the worst. We are athletes, not machines, and Frank is the type that needs some encouragement, a pat on the shoulder every so often.”

It was Bathgate's one-way ticket to the floundering Red Wings, but Toronto would, for a few more years, keep "The Big M."

In 1967, the Leafs and Canadiens met in the Cup finals for the last time. Montreal was considered to be a heavy favourite as analysts said that the Leafs were just a bunch of has-beens. But Bob Pulford scored the double-overtime winner in game three, Jim Pappin got the series winner in game six, and Keon won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs as the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in six games. The Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since.

The next two seasons saw a great deal of turnover, engineered by Imlach, who detested the new Players' Association headed by Maple Leaf players. Bobby Baun and Kent Douglas were left unprotected in the expansion draft. In 1968, Mahovlich was traded to Detroit in a blockbuster trade.

But there was no improvement in the team. After a disastrous first-round playoff loss to Boston in 1969, Smythe fired Imlach.