On This Day May 28th.

May 28: On this day in 1909, Reginald "Red" Horner was born in Lynden, Ontario.
* Played his bantam hockey with North Toronto
* Was one of 72 players trying out for Frank Selke's Marlboro juniors in 1926 and made the team
* Conn Smythe thought that Horner's robust style was being wasted in the amateur leagues and called him up to the Maple Leafs
Reginald "Red" Horner
* Turned pro December 22, 1928 playing his first career NHL game for Toronto
* Horner, along with Harvey Jackson and Charlie Conacher, were the first known Marlboro graduates to play for the Maple Leafs
* Played in the first game at Maple Leaf Gardens on November 12, 1931
* Was a member of the Maple Leafs first Stanley Cup winning team in 1932
* Served as Leafs captain for two seasons from 1938-39 to 1939-40
* Played 490 career NHL regular season games for Toronto collecting 152 points (42 goals, 110 assists) with 1264 penalty minutes
* Played 71 career NHL playoff games for Toronto collecting 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) with 170 penalty minutes
* Led the NHL for eight consecutive seasons in penalty minutes from 1932-33 to 1939-40
* Led Toronto in penalty minutes 10 times, including nine straight from 1931-32 to 1939-40 (a franchise record)
* Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965
* Was part of the closing ceremony at Maple Leaf Gardens on February 13, 1999
* Was the oldest living former NHL player at 95 in 2005

May 28: On this day in 1969, goaltender Damian Rhodes was born in St. Paul Minnesota. Rhodes, a Leaf draft choice from 1987, played in goal for 47 games as a Leaf between 1991 and 1996, mostly as a backup to number one goalie Felix Potvin. Rhodes completed his days as a Leaf with a respectable record of 20-18-5.

May 28: On this day in 1974, the Leafs made Jack Valiquette their first choice, 13th overall in the NHL Entry Draft. Valiquette played one game for the Leafs the following season and was held pointless, although he was on the ice for 4 goals against. In his four seasons as a Leaf, he had earned a reputation as a player who fell down all of the time. Leaf management finally gave up on him and traded him to Colorado. Coach Don Cherry immediately equiped him with a new pair of skates and his production tripled to 107 points in 2 seasons with the Rockies.

May 28: On this day in 2002, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated and eliminated the Maple Leafs in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on an overtime goal by Martin Gelinas. The 'Canes needed three overtime victories in the series but allowed the Leafs only 6 goals in 6 games.


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