On This Day March 4th.

March 4: On this day in 1939, Leaf left-winger George Parsons suffered a career ending eye injury in a game against Chicago. He was 24 years old. Shortly after the incident, the NHL adopted a rule forbidding players with sight in only one eye to play. Parsons played 64 games for Toronto between 1936 and 1939 and scored a dozen goals.

March 4: On this day in 1967, Terry Sawchuk recorded his 100th NHL career shutout. This time it came at the expense of the Chicago Black Hawks who were blanked by the Leafs 3-0. Sawchuk recorded 4 of his record total of 103 career shutouts with Toronto where he played 91 games.

March 4: On this day in 1973, the Philadelphia Flyers humiliated the Maple Leafs 10-0 in Philadelphia. Future Leaf goalie Doug Favell earned the shutout for the Flyers. Rick MacLeish of the Fyers scored four goals on his way to a 50-goal season. The Leafs went on to miss the playoffs in 1973. As at the end of the 2007-08 season, the Maple Leafs had an all-time regular season losing record against the Flyers of W-48, L-74, T-22, OL-2 in 146 matches between the two teams. The Leafs and Flyers have met 6 times in the playoffs in NHL history with Philly having won 5 of the 6 series, including three in consecutive years between 1975 and 1977.

March 4: On this day in 1978, defenseman Ron Wilson made his NHL debut with the Leafs in a 4-3 Leafs victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Maple Leaf Gardens. Wilson was the Leafs' 8th round draft choice, 132nd overall in 1975. Over the next three seasons, he split his time between Toronto and the minors before moving to Switzerland to play full time for several seasons. He returned to the NHL in 1985 as a free agent and signed with the Minnesota North Stars. Ron Wilson's father Larry and his uncle Johnny were NHL teammates in the 1950's. Larry won a Cup with Detroit in 1950 and uncle Johnny was on all four Red Wing cup-winners of the decade and later played a season with the Leafs. Ron Wilson played 64 games for the Leafs between 1977-78 and 1979-80, scoring 7 goals and 15 assists. In 1993, he began his long NHL coaching career.

March 4: On this day in 1999, the Leafs set a regular season team record for fewest shots on goal with a measley total of nine. Unbelievably, Curtis Joseph and the Leafs blanked the St. Louis Blues 4-0. The Blues outshot the Leafs 28-9 in the game but Toronto truly capitalized on their limited chances and won.
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