CBC Digital Archives

Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup

It was a classic match-up: the Toronto Maple Leafs taking on the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final. It was a seesaw series until Game 5, when the Leafs were up three games to two. They needed just one more to take the Stanley Cup home, and on May 2, 1967, they did it, besting the Canadiens 3-1 in Game 6. In this clip from CBC Television, fans line Toronto streets for the team's victory parade.

Thousands cheer on the procession of waving Leafs in convertibles, accompanied by marching bands and ticker tape. In the lead car with the Cup is team captain George Armstrong, his father Fred, team president Stafford Smythe and executive vice president Harold Ballard. The parade, taking a route from Maple Leaf Gardens to Toronto City Hall, ends in a ceremony during which Mayor George Dennison presents team captain George Armstrong with an engraved gold watch. 
• Schools let out early the day of the parade so children could attend.

• At the City Hall ceremony, players also signed a Centennial guest book. All eventually received engraved watches from the city. In previous years the players were awarded cuff links, tie bars and silver cigarette cases.

• New players received Stanley Cup rings from the hockey club, and previous winners had another diamond added to theirs. All players also received lifetime passes to Maple Leaf Gardens.

• In reporting on the parade, both of Toronto's daily newspapers led with the news that Leafs defenceman Bob Baun had opted to go fishing with his sons instead. Baun, who had been instrumental in the team's 1964 Cup victory, sat on the bench for most of the final series. According to his wife, his pride was hurt and "he just wanted to get away." The Toronto Daily Star noted: "To him, accepting the cheers of the crowd... would be wrong."

• Among the other well-known players on the Leafs that year were Tim Horton, Jim Pappin, Dave Keon, Eddie Shack, Frank Mahovlich, Red Kelly and goalies Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk.

• Many of the players on the Leafs that year were well over 30, and at least two were over 40. Though the press derided the team as "over the hill," coach George "Punch" Imlach defended them: "Yeah, they may be bums, but they're my bums, so that's the end of that."

• The Leafs introduced a new jersey just before the playoffs in 1967, featuring an 11-point leaf (like that on Canada's flag) in place of the former 35-point leaf.

• This was the last year for the original six-team league. For the 1967-68 season there were six new teams: the Philadelphia Flyers, the Minnesota North Stars, the Los Angeles Kings, the California Seals, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues.

• The Toronto Maple Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967, a drought (as of 2012) of 45 years. Only the New York Rangers have gone longer without a Cup - 54 years passed between their wins in 1940 and 1994.

Medium: Television
Program: CBC Television News
Broadcast Date: May 8, 1967
Duration: 2:04

Last updated: April 30, 2013

Page consulted on April 30, 2013

All Clips from this Topic

Related Content

1971: Canada's first successful plane hijacki...

An armed gunman reroutes Air Canada jet to Cuba.