On This Day January 29th.

Joe Primeau

January 29: On this day in 1906, Maple Leaf Hall-of-Fame centerman Joe Primeau was born in Lindsay Ontario. Primeau played center on Toronto's famed "Kid" line along with Charlie Conacher and Busher Jackson. His superb passing skills earned him record breaking assist numbers in the early 1930's, especially in 1931, '32 and '34 when he led the NHL in assists and twice finished second in the scoring race, just a few points behind either one of his linemates. Primeau played all of his rather short NHL playing career with the Leafs and retired young at age 30 to take care of his construction business. He won the Stanley Cup as a player with the Leafs in 1932 and then as a coach in 1951 when the Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens who were bench-bossed by Primeau's former coach in Toronto, Dick Irvin. Primeau was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1963. He passed away on May 14 of 1989.

Pat Brian Patrick Quinn

January 29: On this day in 1943, Pat Quinn was born in Hamilton, Ontario. Quinn was a Leaf defenseman for a couple of seasons between 1968 and 1970. He was lost to Vancouver in the Expansion Draft when the Canucks entered the NHL in 1970 and after a couple of seasons he was lost to the Atlanta Flames in the 1972 Expansion Draft when they became an NHL franchise. Quinn's greater successes came as a coach. In Philadelphia he guided the Flyers to a record 35 game undefeated streak in 1979-80. As head coach in Vancouver, he led the Canucks to Game 7 of the Finals in 1994, losing to the Rangers by one goal. As bench boss for the Leafs between 1998 and 2006, he led the team to three seasons of a team record 45 wins. In 7 seasons with the Leafs, Quinn and the team never posted a losing record and made it to the Conference Finals twice. His overall regular season record with the Leafs was W-300, L-214, O/T-60. Quinn won the Jack Adams award twice in his coaching career as the league's best coach, but he never won the big prize, the Stanley Cup.

Walter "Babe" Pratt

January 29: On this day in 1946, Leaf defenseman Babe Pratt was suspended for life for gambling on NHL games by league President Red Dutton. After appealing, Bratt was reinstated just 16 days later and only missed 5 games. At the end of the season, the Leafs traded him to Boston where his NHL career ended after 31 games.

On This Day January 8th.

Walter "Babe" Pratt

January 8:  On this day in 1944, Leaf defenseman Babe Pratt set an NHL record that has since been tied but never beaten. Pratt became the first NHL defenseman to record six assists in one game as the Leafs hammered the Boston Bruins 12-3. Pratt shares the record with five other Hall-of-Fame defensemen, including Bobby Orr. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966, the year before his son, Tracy, entered the National Hockey League for his first of 10 seasons in the league.

Irvine "Ace" Bailey insisted that Ellis wear his retired number 6 because he admired his high-caliber yet clean style of play.

January 8   On this day in 1945, Ron Ellis was born in Lindsay, Ontario. Ellis spent his entire career as a Leaf between 1964 and 1981. In 1980, he became just the fourth Leaf in team history to play over 1,000 games in a Leaf uniform. Ellis was on the Leaf's Cup winning team of 1967. He started his Leaf career wearing #11. Then after a few seasons wearing jersey number 8, Ellis was bestowed a great honour when Hall-of-Fame Leaf Ace Bailey suggested the Leafs unretire his jersey number 6 and let Ellis wear it. In all, Ellis played 1,034 NHL games as a Leaf and scored 332 goals. He added 308 assists for a career total of 640 points. Along with Paul Henderson, Ron Ellis represented the Leafs on Team Canada for the Canada-Russia Summit series of 1972 and he was one of only 7 players to play in all 8 games.   

Howie Meeker

January 8:  On this day in 1947, Howie Meeker of Toronto became the first rookie in NHL history to score 5 goals in one game as the Leafs trounced the Chicago Black Hawks 10-4. Former Leafs goaltender Paul Bibeault was his victim. As of 2008, the feat has been equalled only once, by rookie Don Murdoch of the New York Rangers in 1976.

Miroslav "Opava" Frycer

January 8:  On this day in 1986, the Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers combined to come within 1 goal of an all-time NHL record for most goals by both teams in one game. The final score was 11-9 in favour of the Leafs. Miroslav Frycer netted four goals for the Blue and White. Gretzky had 3 goals and 3 assists. Chronic injuries affected his game in Detroit and his days in the NHL were clearly numbered. But one last trade to Edmonton postponed the inevitable for a while. He retired from the NHL in 1989.