The Leafs - An Amazing History Lesson

By Jon Dwyer
Love of Sports Correspondent

Not since Red Kelly and Frank Mahovlich won their fourth Stanley Cups have the Toronto Maple Leafs posted a decent postseason record capable of capturing another Cup victory.

The date “1967” is seared into the subconscious of every Leafs fan. During that year, Red Kelly retired, Dave Keon won the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Leafs stood for one last time as the victors in a hard fought battle against the Montreal Canadiens.

The following year, Toronto lost to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, Frank Mahovlich was traded to Detroit and, perhaps most disappointing of all, coach Punch Imlach was fired by owner Stafford Smythe, causing defenseman Tim Horton to exclaim “if the team doesn’t want Imlach, I guess it doesn’t want me”. The loss of Horton and Imlach signifies the end of the last era in which so many NHL All-Stars donned the blue and white simultaneously.

Say what you will about Sittler, Salming, Clark, Gilmour and Sundin, but the fact remains that from 1962-67 ‘the Buds’ brought home four Cups as the result of an All-Star lineup featuring Hall of Famers Andy Bathgate, Johnny Bower, Tim Horton, Red Kelly, Dave Keon and Frank Mahovlich.

The fanaticism with which Toronto’s record is regaled by fans who were actually around for the last successful Stanley Cup bid seems infinitely overshadowed by the mythology of “The Leafs Curse” and the reality that since the death of Smythe in 1971 (the son of World War I veteran and founder of the Maple Leafs and builder of Maple Leafs Gardens, Conn Smythe) the Leafs have sullied every opportunity at redemption.

The decades following Smythe’s passing saw the deconstruction of the Leafs dynasty at the hands of Harold Ballard and the beginning of the Leafs descension into a dark age that would amaze even Petrarch.

“Bashin’ Bill” Barilko

A changing of the guard occurred when supermarket mega-lord Steve Stavro manned the helm after Ballard’s death in 1989. Stavro successfully picked up former Calgary Flames GM Cliff Fletcher (current interim GM) who successfully turned the team around. Fletcher’s acquisitions undoubtedly led to the Leafs’ success in the 1992-93 season during which Toronto nearly defeated Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angles Kings in the Campbell Finals.

In 2003, Stavro sold a majority of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) shares to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, a move which only serves to reinforce the distinction with which Toronto has emerged as the big-business, all non-sense team that maintains the highest profit margins the league round with an incessantly mediocre roster.

The absence of what is believed to be the most effective winning NHL pedagogy can be traced neatly to the mystery of Bill Barilko’s death and, more importantly, the unscrupulous tactics of Harold Ballard and Stafford Smythe in the 1960s and early ‘70s.

William “Bashin’ Bill” Barilko played five seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and while he wasn’t known as a goal scorer, registering a meager 26 of them in his career (five of which were in the playoffs), his #21 jersey will forever maintain its infamy for two very important reasons; Barilko’s game winning overtime goal to clinch the Stanley Cup in 1951 against the Canadiens and his mysterious disappearance four months later in August of that year.

**A point of interest, the 1951 Stanley Cup Final was the only series in history whereby every game was decided in overtime play (Toronto won in five games).

As his name aptly points out, “Bashin’ Bill” was known for his physical presence on the ice. - “He always managed to get a piece of you as he went by and he left many a bump on plenty of players.” - Former Canadiens great Maurice “Rocket” Richard is one of many players who spoke of Barilko’s uncanny ability to dominate the game along the boards and on open ice; even the Rocket couldn’t escape him.

Not long after winning the Cup, Bill and a friend, Henry Hudson (Barilko’s dentist), embarked on fishing trip to Seal River, Quebec, in Hudson’s float plane. After two days of fishing, the couple set for home with 120 pounds of catch in their pontoons, stopping to refuel along the Quebec/Ontario border. They lifted the single engine plane to the skies despite ominous warnings that a brewing storm was best avoided. That was the last time either of the two men were seen alive.

Mark this date (August 26, 1951) as the beginning of “The Leafs Curse.”

It wasn’t until June 2, 1962 that Barilko and Hudson were found in the forests just outside Cochrane, Ontario. During his 11-year absence, every major Canadian paper featured the story of his disappearance, search parties scoured over 500,000 square kilometers of dense Northern Ontario forest, stories began to surface that Barilko, the son of Russian descended parents, had defected to the USSR to join the ranks of the Soviet hockey squad. Above all else, the Leafs just couldn’t seem to win while he was gone.

Toronto had been the most successful NHL franchise during the 1940s, winning four Cups in five years. The loss of Barilko seemed to take the wind out of their sails, as they failed to win another Cup until “the year he was discovered,” to quote the Tragically Hip’s song “Fifty Mission Cap”

FYI … The “50 mission cap” was an actual hat given to fighter pilots who successfully flew 50 bomber missions in World War II. Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie came across a Barilko hockey card in the early 1990s, and the song about Barilko’s death and the impending Leafs curse, was born (attached is a picture of the card).

I suppose Downie used the term ironically as Barilko’s plane went down. He may also have researched the history of “the cap,” as he says in the song “I worked it in to look like that,” which could be a reference to the fact that when the hats given out to successful pilots they were often “worked in” so each pilot could adapt an individual look for his hat … or maybe he was just gloating about working in the 50 mission quote … he’s weird like that.

In May of 1962, Punch Imlach led a new crew of blue and white warriors to a Cup victory against the Blackhawks, declaring the end of the “Leafs Jinx,” just a few months before the discovery of Barilko’s body.

Stafford Takes Control

The 1960s were a time of rebirth in North America as the sociocultural landscape of the 1950s suburban life soon gave way to the intellectual rebellion of the emerging youth and middle classes. The era of abandoning ‘the old way of doing things’ was not lost on the Maple Leafs. Though they’d finally won they Cup and the drought was over, the decade that emphasized flower power, civil rights and the Vietnam War was a time when Toronto hockey began its storied journey away from sportsmanship and transparency, towards shrewd business tactics and boardroom terrorism.

It was during the Leafs funk in the ‘50s that Stafford Smythe, the aforementioned son of Leafs demigod Conn Smythe, began to play an important role as a member of the “Silver Seven,” a group of individuals hired by Smythe, Sr. to run hockey operations for the Leafs. Stafford, an educated man in his mid-30s, soon began to tilt the balance of power in his favor, teaming up with former Toronto Marlboros (Leafs farm team) coach and eventual Leafs owner, Harold Ballard. After firing Leafs coaching legend and then GM Hap Day, and quickly extraditing the newly chosen Howie Meeker, Stafford forced the Leafs to enter the 1957-58 season without a general manager.

It became abundantly clear that Junior had his eyes set on the captains chair and would stop at nothing until he had a controlling interest in the team. In the years to come, Stafford aligned himself ideologically with a choice members of the Toronto business community who wanted to see a change in Leafs business ethic and saw the opportunity to turn a penny while affecting such change. With secret financing from Ballard and media baron John Basset, Stafford purchased the Leafs in a shotgun deal in 1961 that bargained the company away from his father for $2.3 million, swindling his own flesh and blood with the insistence the financing came from him and him alone.

The change in ownership brought with it a new raison d’etre for the Leafs, witnessing the expansion of seating at Maple Leaf Gardens, increased ticket prices and the welcomed arrival of six Stanley Cup victories in seven years; everything seemed on the up and up for Toronto.

Turned Upside Down

All’s well that ends well, as Shakespeare told us, but these situations rarely end well. It was during this period relations became strained within the ranks of the Maple Leafs executive. The books didn’t properly reflect the new profits being generated by the increased percentage of ticket sales and advertising. It became apparent both Smythe and Ballard were “skimming off the top.”

Not to be outdone, Bassett tipped off the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who conducted a federal investigation which resulted in the seizure of documents from Maple Leaf Gardens and subsequent changes pressed against Stafford, claiming he avoided paying income tax and that he, along with Ballard, had used money from the Leafs parent company, Maple Leaf Gardens, Ltd, to pay for personal expenditures such as home renovations and other frivolous expenses.

Having notified the RCMP had isolated both Ballard and Smythe, John Bassett, as the newly appointed chairman of the board of directors, convinced the other members that Ballard and Smythe should be removed, citing examples of misconduct. They were promptly fired. Unfortunately for Bassett, he was either unable, or too stupid to force either of the disgraced executives to sell their controlling shares in the corporation. This proved to be a costly mistake.

In the years following the investigation, both Ballard and Smythe regained control of the team, and in 1970 Smythe was once again named president of the Maple Leafs. Facing dire straits, Bassett negotiated the sale of his shares to both men for the sum of $6 million the following year.

This story reeks of the kind of cloak and dagger goings-on of the ancient Romans. Both men held controlling interests in the biggest hockey team in North America and, while up on federal charges of tax evasion and embezzlement, were able to stage a hostile takeover of the very corporation they swindled out of millions of dollars. This makes the ENRON scandal look like a walk in the park (well, all right, not exactly).

As legend would have it, succumbing to the stress of the situation, Stafford died of a stomach ulcer not long before his trial was scheduled to begin. Ballard, who as mentioned went on to own the team until his timely death, was found guilty of tax evasion. Fitting of the whole story, while Ballard was in court on this matter he managed to (I suppose in his spare time) swindle Stafford’s shares (postmortem) away from his family.

The history of the Maple Leafs is far more detailed and, believe it or not, enjoyed decades of much happier times. The story of Bill Barilko is a testament to the mythology of one of the greatest teams in sporting history, as well as a truly gentler time for the Leafs.

However, the story of Bashin’ Bill also serves as a not so gentle paradox with the tale of Harold Ballard and Stafford Smythe, proving the ruminations of powerful men are a dangerous thing. Much the same way Caesar was outdone by Brutus, Smythe fell subject to the machinations of Ballard.

If ever you sit and stare at the television wondering in amazement why the Toronto Maple Leafs management put forth such a poor effort, remember the story of Harold Ballard. When you ask “why can things change, they just have to change,” don’t mistake your emotions for idealism. But, at the same time, don’t hold your breath for the expected change. You’ll find yourself going the way of the dodo bird - and Bill Barilko.

Keep your stick on the ice and your eyes on the management everybody. These guys play for keeps!