On This Day July 9th.

July 9: On this day in 1927, Leonard "Red" Kelly was born in Simcoe, Ontario. Kelly became a Leaf in February of 1960 in a one-sided trade in favor of the Leafs that saw Mark Reaume go to the Detroit Red Wings. In Toronto, Kelly was converted from a defenseman to a center by coach Punch Imlach. In his first full season as a Leaf, Kelly had a career high 70 points and his left-winger, Frank Mahovlich exploded for a Leaf record high 48 goals. In all, Red Kelly played 470 of his 1,316 games for the Leafs over 8 seasons. He was a perennial All-Star who also won the Lady Byng trophy four times in his career, including once as a Leaf in 1961. He is the only player in NHL history who never played for the Montreal Canadiens and won as many as 8 Stanley Cups. Red Kelly also coached the Leafs for four seasons between 1973 and 1977. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.

July 9: On this day in 1973, former Toronto St. Pats and Maple Leafs goalie John Ross Roach passed away at the age of 73. Roach was the principal goaltender for Toronto during 7 straight seasons between 1921 and 1928. As a rookie, he was in goal when the St. Pats won their only Stanley Cup in 1922. He was with Toronto when the team changed ownership and became the Leafs in 1927. In 1932, he was the opposing goaltender for the Rangers as the Leafs fired 18 goals behind him in 3 games to capture the club's first Stanley Cup under the Maple Leafs banner. Roach had a career record of 98-107-17 in 222 total games as a St. Pat/Maple Leaf.