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December 22: On this day in 1917, the Toronto Arenas played their second game in Toronto franchise history and blasted the old Ottawa Senators 11-4. In doing so, Toronto accomplished something no Leaf team has been able to duplicate since that day, as three seperate Toronto players each had hat tricks in the game. Corb Dennenay, Reg Noble and Harry Meeking each tallied three times.
December 22: On this day in 1924, the Toronto St. Pats played their first ever game on American soil. The Boston Bruins had just become the first American based team in the NHL. Toronto showed American hockey fans a thing or two about how Canadians play the game. The final score was 10-1 for the St. Pats. Babe Dye netted five goals for Toronto.
December 22: On this day in 1928, Leaf Hall-of-Famer Red Horner played his first NHL game. He took a penalty on his first shift. Horner would go on to play 12 seasons in the NHL, all with the Maple Leafs. During the 1936-37 season, Horner became the first player in NHL history to be penalized 1,000 minutes. Between 1932-33 and 1939-40, Horner set an NHL record that stands to this day by leading the league in penalty minutes for 8 consecutive seasons. Horner became Leaf captain for two seasons between 1938 and 1940 and then retired having played all of his 490 NHL games as a Maple Leaf. He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1965 and was its oldest living member until his death in 2005, one month shy of his 96th birthday.
Turk Broda Special DayDecember 22: On this day in 1951 Turk Broda was accorded a special night at the Gardens by Conn Smythe, one of the rarest honors bestowed upon a Leaf. On this night, players and executives from Toronto, the opposing Bruins and every other NHL team gathered to pay respects to one of the greatest goalies of all time.
December 22: On this day in 1953, Leaf defenseman Ian Turnbull was born in Montreal, Quebec. As of 2007, Turnbull holds the Maple Leaf team record for most points in one season by a defenseman - 79, set in 1976-77. That same season, Turnbull scored 22 goals which is also a team record shared with Al Iafrate. Again, in that same season, Turnbull set an NHL record that he holds by himself to this day when on February 2, 1977, he scored 5 goals in one game. Turnbull recorded 414 points in 580 games as a Leaf between 1973 and 1981.
December 22: On this day in 1966, the Leafs had fallen from their first place position of December 8, but were comfortably secured in a playoff position. Here were the standings:
Team Chicago New York Toronto Montreal Boston Detroit | GP 26 28 27 25 27 27 | W 15 14 11 12 7 8 | L 7 8 9 11 15 17 | T 4 6 7 2 5 2 | GF 97 89 75 65 71 75 | GA 69 65 79 64 100 93 | Pts 34 34 29 26 19 18 |
