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December 25: On this day in 1920, the Toronto St. Pats played on Christmas day for the first time in the team's history. They defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-4. Between 1920 and 1957, Toronto and Montreal played 4 times on Christmas day with the St. Pats/Leafs winning all four times. The Leafs' last scheduled game on Christmas day of any season was in 1971. The Blue & White went out victorious with a 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Altogether, Toronto played 33 times on December 25th in their history and had an overall winning record of W-16, L-13, T4.
December 25: On this day in 1924, The Toronto St. Pats played the Hamilton Tigers for the first and only time on Christmas day. Hamilton walloped the St. Pats. 8-1. Hamilton would go on to finish in first place overall in the six-team NHL of 1924-25. Unfortunately it would be their last season in the NHL.
December 25: On this day in 1930, the Maple Leafs were hammered by the Detroit Falcons 10-1. The Detroit franchise played as the Falcons for only two seasons, 1930-31 and 1931-32, but the 10 goal Christmas present the Leafs were delivered marked the only time that the Falcons racked up a double-digit score. From 1932-33 on, the Detroit franchise has been known as the Red Wings. In all, the Leafs and the Falcons/Red Wings clashed 13 times on Christmas Day with Detroit winning 6 times, Toronto, 5 and 2 games were tied.
December 25: On this Christmas day in 1937, Leaf defenseman Rudolph "Bingo" Kampman played his first game in the NHL game as a Leaf. Bingo played five NHL seasons, all with the Leafs and formed part of the history-making team that came back from a 3 games to 0 deficit to win the Stanley Cup in 1942. Game 7 of the Final that season was his last NHL game. He passed away December 23, 1987, just 2 days before the 50th anniversary of his first game in a Maple Leaf uniform.
December 25: On this day in 1944, the Leafs played the third of three consecutive scheduled games against the Detroit Red Wings. Only three times in history have the Leafs been scheduled to play the same team three times in a row during the regular season. On this occasion, the Wings robbed the Leafs of a Christmas present, taking two of the three consecutive games. Their first encounter on December 16th ending in a 1-1 tie. The December 23rd game ended 5-4 for the Wings and the Leafs found a 6-4 lump of Detroit coal in their Christmas stockings.
