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February 21: On this day in 1920, the St. Pats played the Ottawa Senators before a record crowd for an NHL game of 8,500 fans, a huge number in those days. The Senators defeated Toronto 5-3.
February 21: On this day in 1968, the first-season St. Louis Blues came into Toronto and humbled the Maple Leafs 5-1. It cost each Leaf player $100. Leaf coach Punch Imlach had levied the fine on each player every time the team lost at home to one of the six expansion teams. The Blues went through to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first three consecutive years of their existence, but have yet to win a Cup. As of 2006-07 the Leafs have an all-time winning regular season record against the Blues of W-89, L-86, T-25, OL-2. As of 2007, the Leafs and the Blues have met 5 times in the playoffs, all between 1986 and 1996. The Blues have been victorious in 3 of the 5 post season encounters.
February 21: On this day in 1974, the headlines in the Toronto Star read, "Hockey Star Tim Horton dies in car crash on QEW." Horton, now 44 years of age and on his fourth NHL team, the Buffalo Sabres, was returning to Buffalo from Toronto where the Sabres had lost to the Leafs 4-2 the night before. Horton had been named the game's 3rd star. He was driving a Ford Pantera, a car he had earned as a signing bonus from the Sabres. It was a single-car accident. Police who chased the sports car reported that it was traveling over 100 miles per hour before it crashed just outside of St. Catharines, Ontario. He died instantly. Horton was a Hall-of-Fame defenseman who played with the Leafs between 1950 and 1970. He left behind a wife and four daughters. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977. Today there are Tim Horton donut shops all across Canada.
