15) “Punch’s Revenge… Larry Keenan’s Game Winner vs. Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens (11/18/1970)
As we continue the list of most pivotal goals in Sabres history, we come upon the beginning of the one-sided rivalry between the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs. The genesis of this animosity starts with the Sabres owners Seymour and Northup Knox hiring ex-Leafs coach and general manager George “Punch… Imlach to lead their expansion franchise.
Imlach led the Maple Leafs to four Stanley Cup victories in 1962,1963,1964 and 1967 during his 11 year tenure and was fired by Toronto owner Stafford Smythe mere minutes after a four game sweep at the hands of Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins in 1969.
When news of the hiring reached Toronto, there was talk that it would enhance the natural rivalry between the two franchises and cities. Smythe(who died in 1971 while awaiting trial for income tax evasion) was skeptical of any rivalry, stating there would be none because Toronto would win every game.
Imlach was determined to make Smythe eat those words.
The teams met for the first time at Maple Leaf Gardens on November 18, 1970. The Sabres were going through the normal struggles of an expansion team and were 3-11-2 entering the game, but the possibility of winning for Imlach provided the Sabres with an extra dose of motivation.
With the score tied 2-2, Larry Keenan(a former Toronto farmhand) scored the eventual game-winner and added a second goal in a 7-2 rout of the Maple Leafs. After the game, Maple Leaf supporters chanted “We want Punch… while fans from Buffalo who made the 90 mile trip up the QEW retorted with “you can’t have him.…
My friend and co-author Chuck Bender disagree on the importance of this event, as from the Buffalo perspective it is a group of NHL journeymen, including many ex-Leafs players rising up to avenge the firing of their coach by the scandal ridden and criminal ownership group of Smythe and Harold Ballard in Toronto.
The other side of the story is that Imlach had systematically torn apart the Maple Leafs(who were 4-11-0 when the two clubs met) with questionable trades, giving up young players like Gerry Cheevers, J-P Parise and Garry Unger, divesting their minor league infrastructure that would have replenished the aging Leafs to be more competitive in the 1970’s. While Imlach’s crimes were not punishable by prison time, they should righteously tarnish his reputation in Toronto.
The Sabres have a disproportionate record of success against Toronto throughout their history (108-67-18) and it has long been my opinion that it is a product of a Napoleonic complex that the Buffalo organization has towards the proported “center of the hockey universe… in Toronto.
This dynamic makes for good theater whenever 10,000 Leafs fans invade the First Niagara Center two or three times a season to watch their team lose more often than not to a more energetic, motivated Buffalo club.
Here is some video from a December 1970 game between the Leafs and Sabres at MLG. By some miracle, the Leafs won this game.
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