67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire

'67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire chronicles the drama and the intrigue surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs last Stanley Cup victory of 1967. Award-winning Toronto Star journalist Damien Cox and former Leaf general manager Gord Stellick are the authors of the novel. The book went into a softcover EDition in 2007.

Plot Summary

The structure of the book is composed of one chapter discussing a Maple Leafs playoff game from 1967 while the other chapter discusses the behind the scenes details at Maple Leaf Gardens. The chapters focus on the players frustrations with Imlach, the Maple Leafs going for the "quick fix" by sacrificing youth, which would be truly felt with the formation of the World Hockey Association, and the struggles that endured within Conn Smythe’s family and Harold Ballard’s ambition to make Maple Leaf Gardens more profitable.

Key aspects

Various chapters are dedicated to different players who made contributions to the Maple Leafs triumph. These would include Johnny Bower, Frank Mahovlich, Allan Stanley, Jim Pappin, and Dave Keon. An effort is made to discuss the tragic events that would unfold in the years after the Stanley Cup victory. Within five years of 1967, two members of that team, Tim Horton and Terry Sawchuk, would be dead and Harold Ballard would be in jail. The fact that a lurid [...] scandal was beginning at Maple Leaf Gardens is also featured in the book.

Losing the Edge

The book also discusses how the Maple Leafs empire was beginning to crumble as early as 1960. The first element that readers are exposed to is how Punch Imlach ignored minor hockey organizer Anthony Gilchrist's overtures to consider signing Bobby Orr. Other examples of future NHL legends that the Leafs passed on in the 1960's include the failure to draft Ken Dryden, a junior teammate of Conn Smythe's grandson, Tommy, in the 1964 NHL Draft.

The tone of the early chapters is that the Maple Leafs could have had a very talented team into the 1970's but Imlach's arrogance was a key contributor to the demise of the franchise. Another aspect that is discussed in the early chapters is the 1964 trade for Andy Bathgate with the New York Rangers. Imlach would give up [...] Duff, 28 years old, Bob Nevin, 26, Bill Collins, 20, and two prospects raised in Southern Ontario, Rod Seiling, 19, and Arnie Brown, 22, in exchange for Andy Bathgate, 31, and Don McKenney, 29. Although Bathgate helped the Maple Leafs win the 1964 Stanley Cup, players such as Dave Keon acknowledged that Leafs management was going for the "quick fix". Bathgate, seen by Leafs management as the next Gordie Howe, would be shipped to the Detroit Red Wings in 1965.

The book also explores how the Maple Leafs not only lost an opportunity to obtain Ken Dryden, but that the Maple Leafs actually had Gerry Cheevers in their system and lost him. Once the Maple Leafs obtained Terry Sawchuk in the inter-league draft of 1964, the Maple Leafs had a dilemma in 1965. With Johnny Bower, Sawchuk, and Cheevers in their system, one goalie had to be left unprotected. The Leafs kept the 24-year old Cheevers unprotected while they protected the 40-year old Bower and the 35-year old Sawchuk.

Five to a Crease

In 1966-67, the Maple Leafs had five goaltenders suit up during the regular season. Besides Bower and Sawchuk, the Maple Leafs employed Bruce Gamble, Al Smith, and Gary Smith. As Bower struggled with injuries, Al Smith actually sat on the bench for two of the last three Stanley Cup games. For many inside the organization, the controversy was that Smith was on the bench, and not a proven player like Gamble. The concern was that if Sawchuk was injured, having Smith instead of Gamble would be a huge risk. The source of the controversy was that Bruce Gamble was competing for the Rochester Americans. Imlach was a part owner of the Americans, and was anxious to protect Rochester's roster at playoff time, as a means of protecting his investment.

The Union

One of the elements that is widely recognized throughout the book is the power and influence that the Maple Leafs wielded throughout the league. This would be one of the key motivators for an unlikely subject of the book, Alan Eagleson. It was quickly realized that any attempt to create a union would be easier to achieve with Leafs players as his base of power.

Eagleson would form the Blue and White Group, a group of friends he had known from the Maple Leafs, including Carl Brewer, Bobby Baun, Bob Pulford, and Billy Harris, along with a car dealer, a jeweller, and three other lawyers. Eagleson's motive was to educate these players about investments, and use their funds more intelligently. Pulford, Brewer and Harris would earn university degrees after their playing degrees.

The Leafs acquisition of Andy Bathgate would prove advantageous to Eagleson. A friendship was forged into Toronto which would follow Bathgate to Detroit, where Eagleson would start to talk to Red Wings players about the concept of a union. The book discusses how Eagleson was responsible for three of the most influential hockey events of 1967. The first event would be the insistence that Eagleson would negotiate Bobby Orr's first pro contract with the Boston Bruins. This would lead to the beginnigs of "agents" in hockey. Secondly, Carl Brewer fought to have his amateur status reinstated. Lastly, Eagleson would be involved in representing the Springfield Indians during their negotiations with owner Eddie Shore over players rights.

Contents

See also

• National Hockey League rivalries
• List of most common NHL playoff series
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• List of NHL seasons
• List of NHL players
• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario

External links

• Toronto Maple Leafs official web site
• TML Fever Unoffical Site
• Unofficial Maple Leafs site