The GO Transit was established while Elvis and Pricilla were newlyweds after tying the knot a day earlier, Muhammed Ali was in the midst of his battle against the US army, Expo 67 was in full swing and the Toronto Maple Leafs were about to capture the 1967 Stanley Cup Championship. Not only did Jim Pappin lead the club in scoring during the post season, he also won himself a swimming pool as a friend of him placed a bet the club would win the Stanley Cup.
As the story goes, Pappin's friend was able to secure a bet in which the odds would provide him enough of a payout that buying a pool for his friend would not affect his winnings greatly. Pappin fluffed his friends word off at the time, until being awaken the morning after the teams Stanley Cup party by a pool installation company looking to start digging in the backyard of his Pickering, Ontario home.
With an average age of 31, the Maple Leafs had a roster laden with experience and talent that would land numerous members of the club in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It is hard to say how many would have guessed the club would still be waiting for it's next trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. After taking for granted the quality of talent being groomed in their very own background in form of Bobby Orr, or Brad Park who was playing for the Toronto Marlboros at Maple Leaf Gardens every Sunday afternoon, the Maple Leafs quickly discovered their talent pool was not as deep as it once was. Not only did they fail to recognize the future prospects needed to maintain a level of success the club and the fans had become accustomed to, they also failed to foresee the impact the leagues expansion would have on them as well.
The impact of the mistakes made within the organization grew as the years passed, with off ice follies involving Stafford Smythe and Harold Ballard leading the organization down a path few, including Smythe's own father, Conn Smythe, never imagined happening when he built the Maple Leafs dating back to its infancy. It was safe to the once proud and historic franchise was not what it once was.
Even with a few spurts of success during the 1970's with the likes of Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald and Borje Salming, the Maple Leafs were never able to get back to get past the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens, clubs who would find the most success during the same time line. With the clubs management miscalculating the affect of the World Hockey Association during these years, much like the early expansion era, the Maple Leafs saw valuable players leave the club during a time when they may have been the difference.
This buzz was not felt again until the earlier 1990's when the club was on the cusp of glory when Doug Gilmour, Wendel Clark and Felix Potvin had the Maple Leafs in the Western Conference finals in 1993 and 1994. These years created a buzz fans clamoured for but once again left the cupboards empty and the Maple Leafs were soon on the outside looking in come the spring of 1997 as the playoffs began. The hiring of Pat Quinn, the leadership of Mats Sundin and signing of Curtis Joseph brought the club back to the final four in 1999 and 2002 but both attempts fell shot.
So here we are, 44 years to the day when George Armstrong skated to centre ice with the help of his son Brian and accepted the Stanley Cup from Clarence Campbell. It was a club that was special at the time and is held with even more regard as each year goes by with the Maple Leafs failing to recapture its next championship. While the club is still searching for a trip back to the playoffs for the first time since 2004, let alone a championship, I wonder how long it be and how Pappin's Stanley Cup swim pool is holding up after all these years? I guess like most things involving the Maple Leafs, we will never know.
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