As the Toronto Maple Leafs get set to play their final-ever NHL game at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday, we have a chance to reflect on some of the Leafs’ historic highs and lows at “The Joe.”
Feb. 10, 1980
Just a few weeks after general manager Punch Imlach angered Leaf fans by trading fan favourite Lanny McDonald to the Colorado Rockies, the Leafs won in their first-ever visit to Joe Louis Arena by a 4-1 scoreline with Floyd Smith (a longtime former Red Wings player) behind the bench.
Dec. 31, 1981
The Maple Leafs played a very physical game the previous night at home against the St. Louis Blues. The injury list grew and included the likes of defenceman Borje Salming and Bob Manno. Mostly due to close proximity of Detroit, the Leafs chose to recall two of their draft choices under emergency conditions from the Windsor Spitfires. Both Craig Muni and Darwin McCutcheon played their one and only NHL game as Leafs in Detroit. That night, they joined a defence corps that consisted of Barry Melrose and three underage defencemen who were regulars that season for the Leafs – 19-year-olds Bob McGill and Fred Boimistruck and 18-year-old Jim Benning. It marked the only time in NHL history that a team played with five underage defencemen in a single game.
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Wouldn’t you know it, the Leafs actually won the game 5-2. McCutcheon and Muni both made the short drive back to Windsor after the game. The clock struck midnight and we ushered in a New Year (1982) on the Leaf charter back to Toronto.
I remember two things vividly from that flight. One was coach Mike Nykoluk granting permission for the two Leafs radio broadcasters to “sneak” on the Leafs charter so they could be home for New Year’s. Owner and president Harold Ballard didn’t allow the media on the team charters (which has now come about full circle in 2017). He wasn’t at that game so play-by-play man Ron Hewat and colour voice Dale Tallon (yes, the same guy who is now an executive for the Florida Panthers) were on the charter for the one and only time.
The dark cloud I remember was talking to Darryl Sittler at the back of the plane. Despite the victory, he was clearly unhappy with how things were going with the team and for him personally with the Leafs. His dispute with Imlach had been going on for months. Little did I (or anyone else) realize this would be his last road game in a Maple Leafs uniform. He played the next home game, but he left the club before their next road game and was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers a few weeks later.
Summer, 1982
Mike Illitch purchased the Detroit Red Wings and things were never the same after that. He built up a first-class organization, and eventually the on-ice performance went through an abrupt change as well. He hired Jimmy Devellano as his first general manager.
A Toronto native, Devellano continued his active business interest hobby while running the Red Wings. That was buying stock in Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. with whatever available money he had. A decade later, he and another large MLG stockholder (former St. Louis Blues owner Harry Ornest) sparked an investigation into the Maple Leafs’ ownership situation that resulted in Steve Stavro needing to find others to help fund his ownership of the Leafs in order to come up with more money for the MLG shareholders (the largest being the Harold Ballard estate) that was due because of the initiative of Devellano and Ornest. Enter Larry Tannenbaum into the Leafs ownership circle.
Nov. 26, 1986
The Leafs won 3-1. Sitting in the Joe Louis Arena press box, I was aware that Salming had skated off the ice hurriedly after a scramble around the Leafs net. I was completely unaware of the extent of the injury. When I visited the dressing room right after the game, trainer Guy Kinnear had blood splattered all over his shirt, and even his glasses. I then found out that Gerrard Gallant’s skate had accidentally cut Salming and he found himself at a local hospital receiving hundreds of stitches.
I remember the Red Wing trainer saying, “he couldn’t be in better hands than with our plastic surgeon. He is as good as there is.” His comments proved to be accurate. Each visit after that, the doctor dropped by our dressing room to stop and chat with Salming.
A grateful Salming would enthusiastically chat with the doctor who also looked at his excellent work on Salming’s face like a great artist would look at a masterpiece painting.
Final two playoff games, 1987
On Apr. 29, 1987, the Leafs entered Game 5 full of optimism after Mike Allison scored an overtime goal in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series to put the Leafs up 3-1 against Detroit.
Game 5 saw the first of a three-game clinic of outstanding goaltending by Glen Hanlon and coaching strategy by Jacques Demers to have Wendel Clark’s cousin Joey Kocur go head-to-head against Clark and successfully neutralize him to a degree after he had a strong first four games. Hanlon and the Wings silenced the Leafs 3-0.
Following a 4-2 loss in Game 6 at Maple Leaf Gardens to even the series, it was a dispirited group that headed to Detroit for Game 7. A few injuries resulted in Miroslav Ihnacak among those being recalled from the AHL for the game. Harold Ballard, upon seeing Ihnacak board the plane, said loud enough for everyone to hear “we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel on this one.” Not exactly a motivational speech.
The antics and fun between coaches John Brophy and Jacques Demers earlier in the series dissipated. Rick Vaive was a last-minute scratch to add insult to injury. Game 7 was a repeat of Game 5 with a 3-0 Hanlon shutout victory for the Red Wings.
1988 playoffs
Despite a woeful regular season, being in the weak Norris Division had its advantages.
One was the Leafs still qualified for the playoffs and played the improving Red Wings in the first round. Detroit ended up winning in six games, with the final tilt featuring Leafs fans throwing pucks, sweaters and more on to the ice to express their displeasure.
The only two positives came at Joe Louis. A 6-2 win in Game 1 and Eddie Olczyk scoring a hat trick to lead the Leafs to a 6-5 victory in Game 5 to stave off the inevitable elimination.
1993 playoffs
This was the best of times. I was doing the colour commentary on Leafs radio broadcasts with Joe Bowen. I can remember the Red Wings had a record of 39-1-1 during the regular season, when they were leading a game after two periods.
The Leafs fell behind after two periods in both Game 5 and Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena, but stormed back with overtime wins as Mike Foligno scored in the fifth game and Nikolai Borschevsky potted the memorable winner in the series finale. That is still the most memorable Maple Leafs goal since their last Stanley Cup triumph in 1967.
I remember hearing a loud cheer from the few thousand long-suffering Leafs fans in attendance after Borschevsky’s goal, followed by the deathly silence and simmering anger of a Red Wings crowd that had seen enough playoff disappointments. That goal guided Ilitch into the new era to get to the next level, as he brought in Scotty Bowman as head coach in the off-season.
Oct. 9, 2009
This might seem a long time between memories, but it was a different era when the Red Wings and Leafs were put in different conferences after so many years as division rivals.
This was banner-hoisting night at Joe Louis Arena for their last Stanley Cup, and it was obviously a big night for Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and his team. The Leafs looked to rain on the Stanley Cup banner-raising parade in this season-opening game, and they did exactly that. Ron Wilson recorded his first win as Toronto defeated Detroit 3-2 on goals by Pavel Kubina, Dominic Moore and Nikolai Kulemin.
A side note was that this might have been the best game in the brief Jonas Frogren era for the Leafs. He had an assist in that game and was a plus-2. The 28-year-old from Sweden played 41 games for Toronto in his only NHL season before returning to Sweden. Not exactly a Salming-like career.