The Toronto Maple Leafs have a rich history that includes numerous All-Stars, Stanley Cup winners and Hall-of-Fame players. There have been 852 players who have donned the Blue and White since their entry into the NHL in 1917, with dozens wearing the same jersey number over the years.
In this completely non-scientific exercise, we’ll take a look at who wore which number and vote on who was the best. Some decisions will be so apparent that voting will not be necessary, as in the case of #93(unless there is a sizeable faction that believes that Alexander Godynyuk had a better Leaf career than Doug Gilmour).
#6
As with #5, the number of players who wore #6 is remarkably low due to a notable and traumatic event that caused the Leafs organization to retire it.
Finalists
Irvine “Ace… Bailey(1926-1933)
Toronto Totals – GP - 313, G – 111, A – 82, Pts – 193, PIM - 103
Stanley Cup Championships – 1 (1932)
Hockey Hall-of-Fame – Inducted 1975
Bailey was a prolific scorer in the early years of the Maple Leafs, leading the NHL in scoring in 1929 and tallying more than 20 goals three straight seasons from 1929 to 1931. In spite of his numbers declining to single digits in 1932, Toronto won the Stanley Cup in their first season at Maple Leaf Gardens.
The winger’s career was cut short as a result of a hit from Hall-of-Fame defenseman Eddie Shore in December 1933. Bailey suffered a fractured skull and lingered near death for days in a Boston hospital before recovering.
Ron Ellis (1962 – 1981)
Toronto Totals – GP – 1034, G – 332, A – 308, Pts – 640, PIM – 207
Stanley Cup Championships – 1(1967)
One of the few young members of the Leafs 1967 Cup winning squad, Ellis played over 1000 NHL games with Toronto and was known for his abilities as a two-way forward and gentlemanly play. The clean aspect to his game drew the admiration of Bailey(who was an off-ice official at the Gardens), to the point that he requested that Ellis wear his retired number #6. He scored 20 goals or more 11 times and was a member of Team Canada during the eight-game Summit Series against Russia in 1972.
After scoring a career-high 61 points in 1975, Ellis retired at the age of 30 but made a comeback two years later and scored 26 goals in the 1977-78 season, in which the Leafs reached the semi-finals before being swept by the eventual Cup-winning Canadiens.
*******
The social media movement that is spurring awareness of ALS(Lou Gehrig’s Disease) has now reached the Maple Leafs, as ex-Toronto forwards Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski posted a video on Instagram and challenged their former head coach and general manager to take the Ice Bucket Challenge.
This is a perfect metaphor for the departed Leafs, as both them were rather “cold… on the scoresheet in their last few seasons in Toronto. Kulemin was never able to follow up his 30 goal year in 2011, scoring just 23 goals in 188 games the next three seasons before leaving the Leafs as an unrestricted free agent.
Grabovski was used primarily in a checking role during the lockout shortened 2013 before being bought out of the final four years of his contract last summer. He had mixed success in Washington(13 G, 22 A in 58 games) but still was able to hit pay dirt on July 1.
The Islanders signed the pair for four years at a combined $9.2 Million per season.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
For Those on Twitter: Follow @mikeinbuffalo
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.