Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers every Wednesday. This week presents a photo of three previous captains of the Toronto Maple Leafs and compares them with more recent former captain John Tavares and his successor, Auston Matthews.
Once again, the Toronto Maple Leafs hope to fulfill the dreams of their fans and win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1967.
John Tavares and Auston Matthews -- the former and current Maple Leafs captain, respectively, head their leadership group following and changing of the guard on Aug. 14, 2024.
On that date, Tavares unexpectedly handed the captaincy to Matthews. At first, it was believed their front office demanded the change, but the commotion was extinguished when management revealed Tavares supported it after talks with general manager Brad Treliving.
That succession of captains aligned with Maple Leafs history -- well-depicted by the accompanying photo (left to right: captains Syl Apps, Ted "Teeder" Kennedy and George Armstrong). After leading Toronto to successive Stanley Cup championships in 1947 and 1948, Apps seriously considered retirement but held on to the possibility of playing another season. Maple Leafs boss Conn Smythe had hoped that Apps, still in top condition, would play one more season.
"Apps is invaluable to the Leafs," coach Hap Day told The Globe and Mail on March 23, 1948.
However, after Toronto won the Stanley Cup again in 1948, an awkward misunderstanding about Apps' intentions led to Kennedy prematurely being named captain. It was then -- to avoid any confusion -- that Apps formally announced his retirement. Under Teeder's leadership, the Maple Leafs won the Cup in 1949 and 1951. Kennedy's final season wearing the "C" was 1956-57, when he shared the captaincy with defenseman Jim Thomson.
Armstrong became captain for the 1957-58 season and led the team to three consecutive championships (1962-1964), and a fourth in 1967. Helping to defeat the Montreal Canadiens in the best-of-7 Cup Final in 1967 in six games, George scored the third and last goal for Toronto in a 3-1 victory.
Here's how legendary Canadian play-by-play broadcaster Foster Hewitt described Armstrong's moves from the face-off deep in the Toronto end:
"The puck is dropped, (Allan) Stanley gets possession. He snaps the puck back to (Red) Kelly. Kelly kicks it to (Bob) Pulford. Pulford passes to Armstrong. Armstrong is driving hard. Army shoots toward the empty net. It's on target. It's in! He scores!"
In a reflective interview with Ken Campbell of the Toronto Sun on Feb. 13, 1999, Toronto center Bob Pulford recalled, “For George Armstrong to score that goal was an incredible feeling."
This season offers Matthews a second chance to pace his Maple Leafs teammates to Toronto's first Cup title in 59 years.
Hey, you never know!
