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 19th.

January 19:  On this day in 1932, Charlie Conacher became the first Toronto player to score five goals in one game (versus New York’s Roy Worters) since the NHL's Toronto team became the Maple Leafs in 1927. The Leafs trounced the New York Americans 11-3. Altogether, Conacher had 14 three-or-more goal games in his NHL career as a Leaf. Only Darryl Sittler had more.

The Kid Line - Charlie Conacher, Joe Primeau, and Busher Jackson - Conacher Showcased

Baldy Harold Cotton

January 19:  On this day in 1933, Leafs Hap Day and Baldy Cotton set a team record when they each scored powerplay goals only 9 seconds apart. It was in an era when players served their entire penalty time regardless of whether or not the other team scored. The Leafs defeated the Bruins 3-0. Lorne Chabot picked up the shutout in goal for the Leafs. He is also the man credited with first discovering Bobby Orr when Number Four was just 13 years old, playing in a midget tournament for Parry Sound in a tournament in Unionville, Ontario in 1962 with players two and three years older than him.

Doug Baldwin

January 19:  On this day in 1946, Leaf defenseman Doug Baldwin made his NHL debut in a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers. He played 15 games for Toronto, recording one assist, before being forced out of the lineup due to an emergency appendectomy. He was traded to Detroit the following September. Baldwin had short stints with Chicago (five games) and Detroit (four games) in the NHL over the next two years before beginning a successful minor-league career that lasted until 1959. He was twice a USHL all-star and later became player-coach of Toledo. Doug Baldwin passed away on July 10, 2007 at the age of 84.

1974/75 - 1992/93 Campbell and Prince of Wales Conference Logos

January 19:  On this day in 1991, the old Chicago Stadium hosted the 42nd NHL All-Star game. The Campbell Conference beat the Wales Conference 11-5. The lone Leaf at the game was Vincent Francois Damphousse and he

Vincent Francois Damphousse

ended up scoring four goals while being named the game's MVP. It was the fourth time in All-Star game history that a Leaf player captured the honor. On October 14, 2000, Damphousse recorded his 1,000th career NHL point and was one of the most consistent players on the Sharks for the better part of six seasons, before signing as a free-agent with the Colorado Avalanche in the summer of 2004. Following a lock out year in 2004-05, Damphousse announced his retirement from the game of hockey during the summer of 2005.

On This Day January 1st.

John Ross Roach

January 1: On this day in 1926, the Toronto St. Pats played their first ever game on New Year's Day. They blanked the Ottawa Senators 3-0. Goalie John Ross Roach earned the shutout for Toronto. John Ross Roach was one of the smallest and most exciting goaltenders ever to backstop in the NHL. As of 2007, the Toronto St. Pats/Maple Leafs have an all-time winning record of 20-12-6 on the first day of the calendar year.

"Toronto Maple Leafs Logo"

"Montreal Maroons Logo"

January 1: On this day in 1930, the Leafs kicked off the 1930's with a 5-3 New Year's Day victory over the Montreal Maroons. In the 10 year period between January 1, 1930 and December 31, 1939, the Leafs compiled a record of W-237, L-168, T-72 for a .572 winning percentage, their best ever in any decade they've been in NHL, including the 1940's and 1960's. The 1929-30 season was the only one of the 1930's in which the Leafs missed the playoffs. They won the Stanley Cup the same season they opened Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931-32 and then made it to the Cup-Final five more times before the decade was out. They also finsihed first in their Division in 4 out of 10 years. The names of Charlie Conacher, Busher Jackson, Joe Primeau, Gordie Drillon and Syl Apps were continually amongst the league leaders throughout the decade.

"The New Year's Day Massacre"

January 1: On this day in 2000, the Leafs were crushed by the Buffalo Sabres 8-1 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo. Former Leaf coach Pat Quinn referred to the one-sided loss as "The New Year's Day Massacre." Maxim Afinogenov, Stu Barnes and Erik Rasmussen all had a pair of goals for the Sabres. Nevertheless, the Leafs would finish the 1999-2000 season with a record of 45-27-7-3, tying the franchise record of 45 wins in one season set the prior season.

January 1: On this day in 2011, A night of firsts: James Reimer won his first NHL start Saturday as the Toronto Maple Leafs went into Ottawa and embarrassed the Senators 5-1. It was Reimer's first start but second NHL appearance. He played 14 minutes in relief of J.S. Giguere on Dec. 20, stoping all four shots he faced in his debut. Already up 3-0 after the first period, the Maple Leafs added two second-period goals to take a 5-0 lead. Darryl Boyce, playing just his third game in the league, scored his first career goal after Brodeur (Brian Elliott started in goal for the Senators but he was replaced by Mike Brodeur 16 minutes into the first period after allowing three goals on just seven shots) Brodeur made 12 saves. gave up a big rebound off a shot by Kris Versteeg early in the period.