Maple Leafs, Smythe outsmarted rivals to land Apps, Broda in 1936

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 each Wednesday.
This week Fischler relates how Toronto Maple Leafs boss Conn Smythe outwitted his managerial rivals, Art Ross and Jack Adams, to sign future Hall of Famers and multiple Stanley Cup-winners, center Syl Apps and goalie Turk Broda.

During the mid-1930's, Conn Smythe was on the lookout for a couple of young stars to replenish an aging lineup for the Toronto Maple Leafs. After winning the Stanley Cup in 1932, the Maple Leafs began fading as their once speedy and fearsome Kid Line -- Charlie Conacher, Joe Primeau and Busher Jackson -- slowed to a crawl.
Operating on a couple of usually reliable tips, Smythe took off in search of a center to replace Primeau.
"I was looking for brave men, not big bruisers," Smythe said.
Then again so was Smythe's keen rival, Art Ross, the manager/coach of the Boston Bruins. And when it came to a center, they had the same player in mind, Syl Apps.
A multi-sport athlete at McMaster University, Apps had been a star fullback for his college football team. He also had won a gold medal as a pole vaulter in the British Empire Games and played senior hockey in Hamilton while attending McMaster.
"Ross got to him first," Smythe remembered, "but someone warned Art that Apps was going for the ministry. It turned out to be a bum steer but Ross fell for it and said he was damned if he 'wanted a minister on his Bruins.'
"Meanwhile, I was so impressed watching Syl in the first half of a football game between McMaster and the University of Toronto, I ran down between halves and put his name on the Leafs list. That meant we'd get him first if he ever wanted to play pro hockey."
But Smythe had to be patient. Apps decided to represent Canada as a pole vaulter in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He had the highest vault of his life, finishing sixth.
"When he got home," Smythe said, "I signed him and that season (1936-37) Syl finished second in NHL scoring (45 points; 16 goals, 29 assists) and won the rookie of the year award. His great skating and clean play made him one of our stars, a man people loved to watch."
Apps was the Maple Leafs captain when they had a come-from-behind win over the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final. Following his World War II service in the Canadian Army, Apps returned to Toronto, winning the Cup in 1947 and 1948.
"Before Apps retired (in 1948), Syl led us to first place in '47-'48, then he paced our club, beating Ross' Bruins in a five-game semi-final before we beat Detroit for our second Cup in a row," Smythe happily recalled.
"And my buddy, Ross, had made a big mistake; Apps never went through for the ministry!"
Around the same time that Apps signed with the Maple Leafs, Smythe was on the lookout to replace his aging goaltender George Hainsworth, who was nearly 41. Among the tips Smythe received was that he should go to Windsor, Ontario, where the minor league Windsor Bulldogs were playing the Detroit Olympics.
Both clubs were Red Wings' farm teams overseen by manager/coach Jack Adams, who Smythe disliked as much as he loathed Ross. Their feud originally erupted after Smythe had confidentially told Adams that he was about to put promising young defenseman Bucko McDonald on the Maple Leafs list.
"Before I could do it," Smythe growled, "Adams beat me to it and put McDonald on his list. Jack took advantage of something I said to him in confidence. But I knew that one day I'd get even with him."
What Smythe couldn't have known at the time was that a bad scouting tip he was given about a young goalie would turn out to be a bonanza for Toronto.
"Some mistake was made when I was told to look at this goalie for Windsor, Earl Robertson," Smythe said. "His club was playing the Detroit Olympics.
"I wondered why Robertson got the big tout. I couldn't take my eyes off the other guy, Turk Broda. He was the gem, not Robertson. Next I had to figure out how to get him since he was Detroit property."
As it happened a while later, Smythe was sitting one row behind Red Wings owner, Jim Norris, during the deciding game of the 1936 Cup Final. Just minutes after Detroit beat Toronto, Smythe leaned over Norris' shoulder and said, "Jim, now that you beat us have mercy on me and sell us Broda.'" The jubilant Norris shot back words he'd later regret, "Okay, Connie."
Norris figured, why not? He was the Red Wings owner and didn't have to tell Adams. Besides, Detroit had Vezina Trophy-winner Normie Smith, who was in his prime. The Red Wings unloaded Broda to the Maple Leafs for $8,000. In a couple of years Smith retired while Broda went on to become a superstar, helping the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup in 1942, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951.
In his autobiography, "If You Can't Beat 'Em In The Alley," Smythe wrote, "Adams must have ground his teeth every time he saw Broda play for us after that."
Likewise, Ross must have suffered a few migraines, himself, as Apps skated toward a Hall of Fame career -- and not the ministry!