How was it going to work? Everyone in hockey wanted to know.
How were Brendan Shanahan, Lou Lamoriello and Mike Babcock, three ultra-competitive hockey men, three largely controlling figures, none of them short of ego, all of them
“Decisions,” Lou Lamoriello says — and then he repeats the word just to make sure he is being clear. He doesn’t like to tell you much. That’s his style. He is more than...
Toronto Sun 2016-06-21Jake Gardiner has become accustomed to having his head on a swivel during Maple Leafs games, trying to be aware as possible of what each opposing forward is going to do...
Toronto Sun 2015-09-24If this is Mitch Marner’s last run through the Ontario Hockey League, the Maple Leafs’ first-round pick in 2015 has started to go out in style. Marner had an assist on...
Toronto Sun 2016-04-04TORONTO — If Lou Lamoriello could gather a certain group of Maple Leafs prospects in a room and give them a singular message on the eve of the playoffs, he probably would...
Toronto Sun 2016-03-22
Even in a quiet moment, away from the blue and white noise, Lou Lamoriello won’t allow himself to dream. It isn’t who he is. He says he won’t think about the possibility of drafting Auston Matthews first overall, the probability of Steven Stamkos’ availability in free agency, the opportunity left behind by the Maple Leafs new-found salary cap flexibility. “I’m not even thinking...
Toronto SunWe interrupt all this cooing over Mike Babcock and Lou Lamoriello for a brief pronouncement: The intended blowing up of the Maple Leafs never happened. Phil Kessel was traded. But as the Leafs open training camp Thursday, they return with 14 of their top 15 players from a year ago, post-trade deadline. The same goalies. The same centres. Five of the six defencemen. All the...
Toronto SunIf only the many problems dogging the Maple Leafs could be solved by Lou Lamoriello dragging shaggy-haired Maple Leafs to the barber. The new general manager knows the team’s troubles will be much harder to eradicate than beards, moustaches and a suit and tie on the road. Purported implementation of his rigid rules in New Jersey have been an amusing sidebar heading to training...
Toronto SunSure, the games mean nothing in the standings other than the mostly nonsensical quest for the Maple Leafs to secure rock bottom in the NHL standings. Whereas a year ago, when the games really did mean nothing and the players acted, tried and behaved accordingly, the first six games of the final quadrant of the 2015-16 season have been a revelation for Mike Babcock’s team. Fair...
Toronto SunMike Babcock wouldn’t mind a quicker path to success. With the defending Chicago Blackhawks arriving at the Air Canada Centre for the Maple Leafs’ second and last Friday night home game of the 2015-16 regular season, the Leafs coach was reminded that the Hawks have become a model franchise thanks in part to a core of home-grown players. No fewer than 10 Blackhawks who...
Toronto SunThe raw materials are of questionable quality, but the Maple Leafs grand rebuild is about to commence on the job site. After a summer of assembling some of the biggest names in the game for quality control, work finally commences when 70-plus players arrive for training camp medicals in Toronto on Thursday morning. On Wednesday, the club released its camp roster, which head...
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club) is a professional ice hockey franchise based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team is one of the "Original Six" league members. As of 2012 they were owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Ltd. and are represented by chairman Larry Tanenbaum. Their general manager is Brian Burke. Their head coach is Randy Carlyle. In 1999 they moved to Air Canada Centre, which replaced Maple Leaf Gardens, their home since 1931.
The team was founded in 1917 as the Toronto Arenas. They changed their name to the Toronto St. Patricks two seasons later. They adopted the Maple Leafs name in 1926. Their colors are blue and white.
As of 2011 the Maple Leafs had won thirteen Stanley Cup championships, second only to the twenty-seven championships of their primary rival, the Montreal Canadiens. They won their last championship in 1967. The 45-year drought between championships is currently the NHL's longest, excluding teams added in the 1967 expansion which doubled the team count to twelve. They are the only "Original Six" team which has not won the Stanley Cup championship since.
