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December 13: On this day in 1919, the Toronto Arenas hockey club was purchased by a group of businessmen who changed the name of the team to the Toronto St. Patricks with the hope of attracting Toronto's large Irish population. The NHL franchise's nickname remained the St. Patricks or St. Pats until February of 1927. The Toronto St. Pats continued to play their home games at the Mutual Street Arena.
December 13: On this day in 1924, Hall of Fame Leaf defenseman and later head coach Clarence "Hap" Day played his first NHL game with the Toronto St. Pats. Actually he began his NHL career as a left-winger. Day played 548 games as a St. Pat/Maple Leaf between 1924 and 1937. When the Leafs acquired King Clancy, the Day-Clancy duo worked defensive magic together and helped the Leafs win the Cup in 1932. Hap Day served as Leaf team captain between 1927 and 1937. Day played his final season with the New York Americans in 1937-38 and then was signed as Maple Leaf head coach on April 17, 1940. Under Day, the Leafs would win 5 Stanley Cups during the 1940's, more than with any other Leaf coach in team history. His coaching record in 546 games was 259-206-81. Hap Day was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1961. He passed away in 1990 at the age of 88. He was the only Leaf in team history to serve as team captain, head coach and General Manager.
December 13: On this day in 1930, centreman Rolly Huard was brought up from the minors to play as an injury replacement for the Leafs against the Boston Bruins. The Leafs lost the game, but Huard scored a goal. Unfortunately, it would end up being Huard's only NHL game. Rolly Huard is one of only two players in NHL history to score a goal in their one and only NHL game. The other is Dean Morton.
December 13, on this day in 1933, Bruins defenceman Eddie Shore, in a daze following what he thought was a check by Toronto's Ace Bailey, charged the latter player from behind, flipping Bailey into the air and causing him to suffer a severe skull fracture after he landed on his head. The check was so vicious that Bailey was given the last rites before being transported to the hospital in Boston. Neurosurgeons operated throughout the night to save his life; however, Bailey's prognosis was so grim that morning papers printed his death notice. Bailey survived, but he never played professionally again. Shore ultimately served a 16-game suspension for the hit, and avoided being charged with manslaughter had Bailey died.
To raise money for Bailey's recovery, Maple Leaf Gardens hosted the Ace Bailey All-Star Benefit Game on February 14, 1934. The Maple Leafs defeated an all-star team of players from the rest of the league 7–3 while raising over $20,000. Prior to the game, the Leafs announced that no Toronto player would ever wear Bailey's #6 again, marking the first time in NHL history that a team retired a player's jersey number. Before the game, each player came out and shook Bailey's hand as they received their all-star jersey. The last player to do so was Eddie Shore. The crowd, which had fallen silent as Shore approached, erupted into loud cheering as Bailey extended his hand towards his attacker. Elmer Ferguson described the moment as "the most completely dramatic event I ever saw in hockey".
December 13: On this day in 1979, the Leafs acquired left-winger Terry Martin and defenseman Dave Farrish from the Quebec Nordiques in exchange for Reg Thomas. In a 3 month period between December, 1981 and March, 1982, Terry Martin was on a goal scoring binge, recording three hat tricks for the Leafs.
