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April 25: On this day in 1962, jubilant Maple Leafs fans took took the streets of downtown Toronto to greet their conquering heros. The Leafs had ended an 11 year Cup drought a few evenings earlier against the Chicago Black Hawks.
April 25: On this day in 1964, the Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-0 to win their 12th franchise Stanley Cup and their third in a row of the 1960's. Hired Gun, Andy Bathgate scored the Cup-winning goal. Johnny Bower made 33 saves and became the first goaltender in NHL history to record a shutout in Game 7 of the Finals and at the same time propelling the Maple Leafs to their third straight Stanley Cup title. The Maple Leafs had also beaten the Red Wings to win the 1963 Stanley Cup, and the Chicago Blackhawks in 1962. All told, Toronto has 13 Stanley Cups to its credit. The Leafs went on to win another - and their most recent - in 1967 over the Montreal Canadiens. They also three-peated from 1947-49, beating the Canadiens and the Red Wings twice, respectively.
April 25: On this day in 1967, Bob Pulford of the Leafs ended Game 3 of the Finals against the Montreal Canadiens when he scored at 8:26 of the 2nd overtime period giving the Leafs a 3-2 win. It became one of the biggest goals in Leafs history. The important victory gave Toronto a 2-1 series lead enroute to a Stanley Cup championship one week later. Toronto outshot Montreal 62-54 in the game.
April 25: On this day in 1996, Wayne Gretzky recorded the last playoff point of his career against the Leafs, an assist as St Louis ousted the Leafs in the first round in 6 games. Only twice in his career did Gretzky face the Leafs in the playoffs, once in 1993 as a member of the L.A. Kings and then finally in 1996 as a member of the St. Louis Blues. The Leafs lost both series. Gretzky recorded 19 playoff points in 13 games against the Leafs in his career.
