1968–69 Toronto Maple Leafs season



The 1968-69 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 52nd season in the NHL. The Maple Leafs finished 4th in the East Division and were swept in the Quarter-finals by the Boston Bruins 4 games to 0.

Boston Bruins 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 0
The teams last met a decade before in the 1959 Semi-finals where the Leafs edged the Bruins 4 games to 3. The Bruins ran roughshod over the Maple Leafs in the 1969 Quarter-finals, led by Phil Esposito who had 10 points, 5 goals from Derek Sanderson and Gerry Cheevers who had 2 shutouts and allowed only 5 goals in Boston's four game sweep. Game 1 at the Boston Garden was a wide open, penalty-filled affair dominated by the Bruins who outshot the Leafs 51-40. Boston scored two quick Power play goals by Esposito and John Bucyk and led 2-0 before four minutes were played. Esposito potted another before the first period ended. Johnny Bower was pulled and gave way to Bruce Gamble at the start of the second period. Bucyk scored his second goal and then Sanderson his first at 10:40. With the Bruins leading 5-0, the roughness picked up with the Leafs Forbes Kennedy drawing a double minor. Esposito scored on the power play for his first playoff Hat trick. Sanderson and Tim Horton fought and with two minutes to go in the period, Pat Quinn caught Bobby Orr with his head down and hit him with a high check. Orr lay motionless and the crowd began to bay for Quinn's head. Eventually, Orr regained consciousness and skated off the ice unsteadily (he was not stretchered off). He even exchanged a few words with Quinn on his way to the dressing room. Though taken to hospital with a concussion, he played in the next game. Quinn received a 5 minute elbowing penalty and went to the penalty box where he was attacked by fans. The glass behind the box shattered, police had to intervene and the Leafs bench cleared to help Quinn, who escaped the box and went to the dressing room. Esposito scored his fourth goal of the game during Quinn's penalty. With Boston leading 7-0 starting the third period, Fred Stanfield scored during the remainder of Quinn's penalty. Quinn returned to the ice and fans showered him with debris. With less than four minutes to play, multiple fights broke out beginning with Eddie Shack and Jim Dorey. Kennedy instigated a fight with Gerry Cheevers which resulted in multiple Bruins going after him. When he neared the boards, Kennedy was hit by a fan and he punched linesman George Ashley, who tried to restrain him. In all, 17 penalties were called. Kennedy received seven penalties and a game misconduct as part of 135 minutes in penalties in the game. Sanderson scored his second of the game and Ken Hodge his first as the Bruins destroyed the Leafs 10-0 powered by 6 points by Esposito.

Game 2 at Boston saw Toronto's Forbes Kennedy out of the line-up with a four game suspension and $1000 fine. It was a much tamer affair than Game 1 with only one fight. The Bruins continued to dominate the Leafs as John Bucyk opened the scoring in the first period, finishing off a 2 on 1 with Phil Esposito. Bucyk then blasted a slapshot from the left wing between Johnny Bower's pads. A Ted Green slapshot from the point sailed over Bower's shoulder to make it 3-0 Bruins at the end of the period. John McKenzie added another in the second period and Gamble was pulled in favour of Johnny Bower. Ken Hodge put the Bruins up 5-0 by the end of the second period and third period goals by Phil Esposito and Ron Murphy completed a 7-0 rout.

Game 3 at Maple Leaf Gardens was the closest game of the series as the Leafs came to life. The teams traded chances all game with Ed Westfall opening the scoring with a shorthanded goal to which Ron Ellis responded four minutes later. Ted Green's second of the series put the Bruins up 2-1 heading into the second period. Fred Stanfield extended the lead to 3-1 before Murray Oliver and Norm Ullman tied the game 3-3. Johnny Bower was pulled for the third game in a row for Bruce Gamble but Derek Sanderson's was set up by Bobby Orr for the third period's only goal as Boston edged Toronto 4-3. It was the first victory for Boston in Toronto since November 27, 1965.

Game 4 at Toronto saw Phil Esposito take a hooking penalty 23 seconds into the game. Ed Westfall picked off a pass by George Armstrong and sent Derek Sanderson in for a shorthanded goal at 1:21. Two minutes later on the power play, John Bucyk beat two Leafs to the puck in the left corner and passed it to Phil Esposito whose one-timer beat Johnny Bower for a 2-0 Bruins lead. The Leafs got one back on the power play as Murray Oliver made a nice move on Don Awrey and fed it to Ron Ellis who shot in the open right side of the net. In the second period, Westfall beat two Leafs to the puck and passed it out front to Eddie Shack. He pulled Tim Horton with him and then fed a pass to Derek Sanderson, who fired the game winner into the open left side of the net. With Mike Pelyk off for cross checking, Dave Keon scored a shorthanded goal on a 2 on 1 with Ellis. The Leafs couldn't even the score in the third period and the game ended with a 3-2 Boston win and a series sweep. It was the only game in which the Maple Leafs didn't pull their goalie. Immediately afterwards, Leafs GM and coach of over a decade, Punch Imlach, was let go.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Awards and Records

 * Forbes Kennedy set a league record for most penalties in a game (eight), most minutes (38), most penalties in a period (six) and most penalty minutes in a period (34) on April 2, 1969.
 * Norris Trophy: Tim Horton, Runner-Up
 * Tim Horton, Defense, NHL First Team All-Star

Transactions
The Maple Leafs were involved in the following transactions during the 1968-69 season.

Trivia

 * Maple Leafs who recorded a hat trick this season include:
 * Norm Ullman during the 5-2 win over the New York Rangers on December 7, 1968.
 * Norm Ullman during the 5-3 win over New York on January 4, 1969.
 * Ron Ellis during the 5-5 tie with the Minnesota North Stars on February 5, 1969.

Video
Complete game with commercials from the Leafs-Bruins match on October 26, 1968. During the second intermission (at 1:34:00), Tim Horton talks about his donut stores.