History of the Toronto Maple Leafs
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The history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL), begins with the establishment of the NHL itself. Both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL arose from disputes between Eddie Livingstone, owner of the National Hockey Association's Toronto Blueshirts, and the other team owners of the Association. In November 1917, these other team owners founded the NHL, and granted Toronto a temporary franchise in their new league. Playing at Arena Gardens, this temporary team, the Toronto Arenas, won the 1918 Stanley Cup Finals following the inaugural 1917–18 NHL season. The NHL made the franchise permanent in October 1918.
In 1919, the club was sold to the St. Patrick Hockey Club, who renamed the franchise the Toronto St. Patricks. Although the St. Patricks won one Stanley Cup, in 1922, they were again put up for sale due following a series of litigations from Livingstone. The franchise was eventually sold to Conn Smythe in 1927, who immediately renamed the team the Toronto Maple Leafs (formally the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club). In an effort to finance the construction of Maple Leaf Gardens, Smythe launched Maple Leaf Gardens Limited (MLGL, renamed Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment in 1998), a publicly traded management company to own both the Maple Leafs and the planned arena. The Maple Leafs played their first game at Maple Leaf Gardens in November 1931. For most of the 1930s, the team was led by The Kid Line. Led by this line, the Maple Leafs won the 1932 Stanley Cup and made six more Stanley Cup Finals appearances in the following eight seasons.
As a result of the Great Depression, a number of NHL franchises financially struggled, suspended operations, or folded. By the 1942–43 season, the Maple Leafs were one of six remaining teams in the league. The Maple Leafs saw tremendous success during the early "Original Six" era (lasting until the 1966–67 season), winning the Stanley Cup in 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, and 1949. Following the Maple Leafs 1951 Stanley Cup victory, the team saw an 11-year championship drought. Prior to the 1961–62 NHL season, Conn Smythe sold nearly all of his shares in MLGL to a partnership made up of his son, Stafford Smythe, John Bassett, and Harold Ballard. The Maple Leafs found new success during the 1960s, winning the Stanley Cup in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967. Winning their last championship in Centennial Year prior to the 1967 NHL expansion, the Maple Leafs' drought between Stanley Cups is the longest active drought in the NHL.
In 1971, Ballard secured principal ownership of MLGL. During the 1970s, the Maple Leafs saw some success, only failing to qualify for the playoffs once in the decade. However, the Maple Leafs would fail to post a winning record for 12 years, from 1980–81 to 1992–93. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the team saw a resurgence in competitive play, missing the playoffs only twice from 1993 to 2004. In February 1999, the Maple Leafs moved from Maple Leaf Gardens, to their new home arena, the Air Canada Centre. Following the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the Maple Leafs saw a seven-year playoff drought, failing to qualify for the playoffs from the 2006 to 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. In August 2012, BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications completed the purchase for a combined 70 percent stake in MLSE. Shortly after the end of the 2013–14 season, Brendan Shanahan was appointed the president and alternate governor of the hockey club.