On This Day February 5th.

Larry Morley Hillman

February 5: On this day in 1937, Larry Hillman was born in Kirkland lake, Ontario. Hillman was the most successful of the three Hillman brothers who played in the NHL and enjoyed Stanley Cup victories with Detroit, Montreal and Toronto, including the Leafs' 1967 triumph when he played in all 12 of the Leafs' post-season games. Although he was a journeyman, Larry Hillman was a winner. He played for the Leafs during the glory years between 1960 and 1968. He is also one of the most traveled players in hockey history, having played for 15 different teams in his 22 professional seasons.

Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly played on more Stanley Cup winning teams (eight) than any player who never played for the Montreal Canadiens. He was also a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto-area riding of York West from 1962 to 1965.

February 5: On this day in 1960, the Red Wings and the Rangers attempted to conduct a trade that fell through and would prove to have a huge positive impact for the Leafs of the early 1960's. The Wings wanted to send Red Kelly and Billy McNeil to the Rangers for Eddie Shack and Bill Gadsby, but Kelly and McNeil refused to report to the Rangers. On February 7th, the transaction was cancelled and on February 10th, the Wings sent Kelly to Toronto in exchange for Marc Reaume. Kelly had won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and went on to win four more with the Leafs.

February 5: On this day in 2008, the Leafs were disgraced at home by the Florida Panthers 8-0. Richard Zednik scored three goals for Florida while Tomas Vokoun made 24 saves in what was the biggest margin of victory in the Panthers 15-year history. It was one of several lop-sided defeats the Leafs suffered that season enroute to missing the playoffs for the third consecutive time. Since the Panthers entered the NHL for the 1993-94 season, the Leafs hold an all-time winning record between the two teams of W-25, L-12, T-7, OL-0 in 44 games played as of 2007-08. The two franchises have yet to meet in the playoffs.

Brendan Burke (left) with his father Brian Burke

February 5: On this day in 2010, Tragic news was announced as Brendan Burke, son of Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke, was killed this afternoon in a car accident near Economy, Ind. Burke lost control of the Jeep Grand Cherokee he was driving and slid into another vehicle head-on during snowy conditions. Passenger Mark Reedy, 18, was also killed. The 24-year old driver whose car collided with Burke's was not injured in the accident.