The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Stanley Cup drought is at 50 years and counting.
The Maple Leafs and the Blues are the only two teams that were in the league in 1967 to have not a Cup since that time. The Leafs haven’t evebn made a Cup Final since that time, but they have made five appearances in the Conference Final (or NHL semi-finals): 1978, 1993, 1994, 1999 and 2002.
One 50-year plus Maple Leafs drought did end this past June when Auston Matthews became the first Toronto player since 1966 (Britt Selby) to win the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year.
It’s logical that the team that procures and develops the best young talent will be likely Stanley Cup contenders, whether it be a six or 31- team NHL. That logic seems to apply for that great Leaf dynasty (of sorts) that won four Stanley Cups in a seven-year span beginning in 1962.
Back then, the Leafs would have four Calder winners in a span of nine years – Frank Mahovlich (1958), Dave Keon (1961), Kent Douglas (1963) and Selby (1966). Ron Ellis was runner-up to Roger Crozier of Detroit in 1964 while Brian Conacher placed third in 1967 (to a guy named Bobby Orr with Ed Van Impe of Philadelphia second).
The Leafs drafted Wendel Clark first overall in 1985 and a year later he was the runner-up to Gary Suter of Calgary for the Calder.
Following is a list of Leaf players that finished in the Top 10 in Calder over the past 50 years.
1974: Borje Salming 3rd (winner: Denis Potvin, New York Islanders)
1977: Mike Palmateer 5th (winner: Willi Plett, Atlanta Flames)
1993: Felix Potvin 3rd (winner: Teemu Selanne, Winnipeg Jets)
1998: Mike Johnson 4th (winner: Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins)
But not only did Matthews win the Calder, the Leafs also owned three of the top-six vote getters with William Nylander (fifth) and Mitch Marner (sixth). Toss in excellent rookie seasons from Connor Brown (the quietest 20-goal rookie season ever, so it seems) and Zach Hyman, and one gets an even greater appreciation for how special that Maple Leaf rookie class was, and will continue to be viewed in the years to come.
Does the end of the Maple Leafs Calder Trophy drought suggest the end of the Stanley Cup Cup drought? That’s a stretch, but last season’s rookie class was one that arguably delivered as many qualify freshmen to the Leafs lineup then in the previous 50 seasons combined.
The retired number banners of former Calder Trophy winners and Hall of Fame members Frank Mahovlich and Dave Keon currently hang prominently from the Air Canada Centre rafters, along with the banners from their four Stanley Cup championships.
It might not be too long, Maple Leafs fans hope, before those are joined by that next Stanley Cup banner.
