On This Day November 8th.

November 8: On this day in 1910, ex-Maple Leaf Bob Gracie was born in North Bay, Ontario. Gracie played for six different NHL teams during the 1930's, his first being the Leafs where he won a Stanley Cup in 1932. In the Cup-clinching game, the final score was 6-4 for the Leafs over the Rangers. Ace Bailey scored the 5th and Cup-winning goal. Gracie scored the 6th and final goal as insurance. He went on to win another Cup with the Montreal Maroons in 1935. Bob Gracie played 103 games for the Maple Leafs between 1931 and 1933. He scored 26 goals and assisted on 23 more. He passed away on August 10, 1963.

November 8: On this day in 1924, legendary Leaf goaltender Johnny Bower was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. The "China Wall" became a Leaf through the Inter-League Draft in June of 1958 at the age of 34. He quickly emerged as one of the best in the league in 1958-59, helping the Leafs to reach the Final in his first two seasons and then win four Stanley Cups between 1962 and 1967. Bower won the Vezina trophy in 1961 and shared it again with teammate Terry Sawchuk in 1965. He ranks second overall in Leafs history to only Turk Broda in total games played in, (472) and total wins (220). His last game was December 10, 1969. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1976.

November 8: On this day in 1963, Maple Leaf Gardens became the first NHL arena to install separate penalty box doors for each team. A week earlier, Bob Pulford of the Leafs and Terry Harper of the Canadiens had scrapped on the ice and continued their battle in the lone penalty box. A decision was made to install seperate box doors and eventually, seperate penalty boxes altogether. The other teams around the league soon followed the initiative.

November 8: On this day in 1967, the Maple Leafs played their first ever game in the State of California and defeated the expansion Oakland Seals 6-1. Johnny Bower got the win in nets for the Leafs on his birthday. He even assisted on one of the Leafs goals.

November 8: On this day in 1986, Leaf great and Hall-of-Famer King Clancy passed away at the age of 83. During his NHL career, Clancy was a player, a coach, an assistant General Manager and a referee. As a player, Clancy once played all six positions on the ice, including goaltender in a Stanley Cup Final game.


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