Maple Leafs, 12 Wins in First 20 Games


The Toronto Maple Leafs have started this season with 12 victories in their first 20 games of the season. Sure, that's fairly impressive but the fact they have no "extra points" and 8 losses kind of dulls the feat. No matter how you look at it though, 12 wins in 20 games to start a season is indeed a rare feat for Toronto. 

In fact Toronto has not accomplished this in 19 years, and it is only the 4th time in 63 years they have done it. Overall, this is only the 11th time in franchise history to start a year with at least 12 wins in the first 20 games. A fact that hopefully bodes well for the Leafs is that each time they have done this they havefinished at least third in their division (or the entire NHL prior to 1967) and have made the playoffs every single time. 

The eleven occasions that Toronto has started with at least 12 wins in their first 20 are as follows:

2012/13; 12-8-0
57 GOALS  FOR - 46 AGAINST

1993/94; 13-3-4
79 GOALS FOR - 53 AGAINST
Finished 2nd

1977/78; 12-5-3
71 GOALS FOR - 54 AGAINST
Finished 3rd

1961/62; 13-6-1
70 GOALS FOR - 45 AGAINST
Finished 2nd

1950/51; 13-4-3
67 GOALS FOR - 42 AGAINST
Finished 2nd

1941/42; 14-6-0
63 GOALS FOR - 36 AGAINST
Finished 2nd

1940/41; 14-5-1
60 GOALS FOR - 38 AGAINST
Finished 2nd

1934/35; 15-4-1
60 GOALS FOR - 40 AGAINST
Finished 1st

1933/34; 14-3-3
74 GOALS FOR - 30 AGAINST
Finished 1st

1920/21; 12-8
92 GOALS FOR - 87 AGAINST
Finished 1st

1917/18; 12-8
100 GOALS FOR - 97 AGAINST
Finished 2nd







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ron Hextall and the stolen Conn Smythe Trophy

Image
Ron Hextall did not deserve the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1987....there, I said it. I recently caught game seven of the '87 finals on ESPN Classic, where the Oilers beat the Flyers 3-1. Hextall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy to the disdain and boos of the Northlands Coliseum. Hextall was (and remains) the fourth player to win the trophy in a losing cause. Even as a teenager following these playoffs as they happened, I thought this was an injustice. Upon further inspection, I believe he only won because he was a rookie, and was the "sexy" pick as opposed to the proper pick. When looking at his numbers, it's hard to figure why he won. Hextall finished with 15 wins, 11 losses and a GAA of 2.77. Oilers, Grant Fuhr went 14 and 5 with an average of 2.46. I realize that stats cannot tell the whole story, but even if we dig further the award doesn't seem justified. His .908 Save Pct was the same as Fuhr's and tied for third behind Ken Wregget and Kelly Hrudey. Also,
Read more

WHA Ottawa Civics, The Two Week Franchise

Image
Tom Earl, Daryl Maggs, Mark Lomenda, Gary MacGregor, Garry Swain "Please let the fans make up their own minds," Henry Feller told a press gathering. "Let them decide if they want pro hockey here. We have to average 7,000 or 8,000 in the remaining 19 home games for a break-even point." Feller was a director of the Founders Club who had interest in buying the WHA's Denver Spurs club. Ivan Mullinex, owner of the Spurs had brought his team to Ottawa in an attempt to drum up interest and save his investment. The date was January 2, 1976 and Mullinex was in debt to a Denver bank to the tune of $1 million dollars. This same day, the newly christened Civics lost their first game under the new moniker by a score of 2-1 at Cincinnati. Star of the team, Ralph Backstrom said after the game, "Our first official notice of the move hit us when we entered the Cincinnati rink and the names on the big scoreboard read: Stingers and Civics. Until that moment we were un
Read more

Team Canada 1972, What Might have Been

Image
Guy Lafleur, if he had played in the 72 Summit Series "No way. Can you imagine what our fans would say if we allowed Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito to play for Canada in that series and either...suffered an injury that might prevent them from playing with us for a year or more?" This was the concern of Weston Adams Jr, president of the Boston Bruins as quoted on April 20, 1972. After being speculated and discussed since February 1972 at the Olympics in Sapporo Japan, the series was set to go. Early on however, controversy stirred as to who exactly would be representing Canada. Bruins GM, Milt Schmidt agreed with his boss saying, "My only interest would be to see the Russians play the Bruins for the world championship...or whatever team wins the Stanley Cup." In the Vancouver Sun a few days later, the legendary Jim Coleman responds to the American naysayers suggesting that Team Canada should be made up strictly of players from Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal
Read more