Leaf Goaltending History - A look back through RCs

Ironman Indy

2009 Most Generous Member of the Year,
Joined
Jul 8, 2007
Messages
2,213
Reaction score
16
Location
St. John's, NL
All cards are RCs except for Customs for those who didn't have licensed RCs

The Toronto franchise started out in 1917 as the Arenas

1917-18
Harry "Hap" Holmes after winning the Stanley Cup with the Seattle Metropolitans the previous year was loaned to Toronto in January and won the Cup in 1918

2006HolmesBTPFFRC.jpg


Art Brooks saw 4 games of action and Sammy Hebert 2

FranchisesBrooks.jpg
FranchisesHebert.jpg


1918-19

Bert Lindsay in the starter for 16 games while Holmes see action in 2

1911LindsayC55RCF.jpg


Lindsay is the father of future Red Wings great Ted Lindsay

1919-20

The team is renamed the St. Pats and three goalies share duties that year

Ivan Mitchell, Howie Lockhart and Jake Forbes all appear in 5 or more games each

FranchisesMitchell.jpg
FranchisesLockhart.jpg


ForgottenFranchisesForbes.jpg


1920-21

Forbes starts the majority of games and Mitchell gets 4 starts

1921-28

John Ross Roach takes over as Toronto's goalie and would lead the team until 1928

Toronto changes their name to Maple Leafs to start the 1926-27 season

1923RoachV145-1RC.jpg


Mitchell, Lockhart and Joe Ironstone share a handful of games between them during Roach's reign.

FranchisesIronstone.jpg


Lorne Chabot is the Leafs goalie from 1928-33

Came to Toronto in a deal that sent Roach to New York

1933ChabotOPCV304RC.jpg


Lorne Chabot's backup
1928-32
CustomFranchisesGrant.jpg


George Hainsworth is a Leaf from 1933-37 after a great career in Montreal

He came over in a trade for Chabot

1933HainsworthOPCV304RC.jpg


A one game wonder in 1939-40
CustomFranchisesStein.jpg


The best ever Leafs goalie:
Leaf from 1936-52
1936BrodaOPCV304DRC.jpg


Broda won 5 Cups and 2 Vezinas

Broda would serve in WWII for 2 seasons

Paul Bibeault was loaned to Toronto from Montreal and would play in the majority of games in 43-44

Grant would reappear as a wartime replacement as well seeing action in 20 games

CustomBibeault.jpg


Another one game wonder in 1943-44
Custom1979Marois.jpg


Frank McCool won a cup for Leafs in 1945 as Broda's fill in

2004McCoolFranchisesRC.jpg


Gord Bell played 8 games in 1945-46

CustomFranchisesBell.jpg


Also played in 1945-46 - 5 games

CustomFranchisesBastien.jpg


1949-52

1951RollinsPHRC.jpg


1952-56

Lumley comes over from Chicago in a deal that sends Rollins the other way

1951LumleyPHRC.jpg


A handful of appearances mostly backing up Broda and Lumley 1949-50, 53-56

Custom1979Mayer.jpg


1955-60

1957ChadwickPHRC.jpg


1958-70

One of the most beloved Leafs goalies

1954BowerPHRC.jpg


5 games backing up Bower in 1960-61 and played a couple more in 69-70
Custom1979McNamara.jpg


Don Simmons backed up Bower from 1961-64

1957SimmonsToppsRC.jpg


Simmons came over from Boston with Chadwick going to the Bruins

A young Gerry Cheevers sees action in 2 games. He would be lost to the Bruins in the Intra league Draft a few years later

1965CheeversToppsRCFront.jpg


Shared the last Leafs cup with Bower, one of the all time greats
1964-67
1951SawchukPHRCF.jpg


A handful of games 1965-67
1968SmithOPCRC.jpg


Also a handful of games 1965-69
1970SmithOPCRC.jpg


1965-71
1962GambleToppsRC.jpg


Backed up Gamble for 1 year
1969-70
1969EdwardsOPCRC.jpg


2 games in 1970-71
CustomFranchisesMcLachlan.jpg


Another all time great near the end of his career
1970-73
1955PlantePHRC.jpg


The main man for the 71-72 season
1970-72
1968ParentOPCRC.jpg


One year with the Leafs splitting time with Plante
1972-73
1972LowOPCRC.jpg


Mr Backup
1972-78
1975McRaeOPCRC.jpg


1973-76
1969FavellToppsRC.jpg


Shared time with Favell 1973-75
1971WilsonOPCRC.jpg


Sees a few games between 74 and 79
1980HamelOPCRC.jpg


1975-77
1973ThomasOPCRC.jpg


The Popcorn Kid, a fan favourite during the late 70s
1976-80, 82-84
1977PalmateerToppsRC.jpg


Palmateer's backup 1978-80
1978HarrisonOPCRC.jpg


The next great leafs goalie? No didn't quite work out that way
1979-81
1981CrhaOPCRC.jpg


Ridley sees a half dozen games worth of action over 2 seasons
1976RidleyOPCRC.jpg


Backup duty
1979-83
1982TremblayOPCRC.jpg


After sharing Vezinas with Dryden was the main man in T.O. for 1981-82 season
1980-83
1974LarocqueOPCRC.jpg


2 games in 1981-82
CustomFranchisesParent.jpg


Backup for 3 seasons
1981StCroixOPCRC-1.jpg


Bruce Dowie appeared in 2 games in 83-84
CustomFranchisesDowie.jpg


1983-89
1987WreggetOPCRC.jpg


Platooned a lot with Wregget
1983-91
1984BesterOPCRC.jpg


1984-85 saw Tim Bernhardt get the lion's share of starts

1985BernhardtOPCRC-1.jpg


Was the man for one year 1985-86
1977EdwardsRC.jpg


Backed up Bester and Wregget mostly
1987-92
1990ReeseOPCRC.jpg


Well that brings me up to the late 80s early 90s, hope you learned something about the :leafs: ;)
 
Last edited:
I decided to move this from my Leafs goalie thread as it deserves its own thread in the vintage area.

My question is where the heck is Larocque? Come on man.

The best card EVER. As I mentioned before this card is one of the most important and special cards in my PC. Way back in 1981 it was the last card I needed to complete my set. Being a new leaf and a goalie I was going crazy trying to find it. We only had 1 store that sold the packs and all my buddies who had it was either Hab fans and wanted to keep it or only had 1 so they needed it for their set. Of course we were all set collectors back then. Anyhow I must have bought 200 extra packs just to get this card. I will never forget how excited My buddies and I was when I finally pulled it. I can still remember opening the pack on the grass bank next to the shop. The sun was shinning and we were all sitting there with our bikes at our feet. Ah great memories.

larocqueopc81.jpg
 
Last edited:
That's some awesome stuff.

It's so funny looking back at these shots... look at Ron Low. Almost no equipment. So small in nets. Even I could score on that guy all day long lol
 
Thanks Scott

I merged my two posts from that thread into a slightly better timeline

I'm guessing you missed my followup post and with it the inclusion of Bunny!
 
The best card EVER. As I mentioned before this card is one of the most important and special cards in my PC. Way back in 1981 it was the last card I needed to complete my set. Being a new leaf and a goalie I was going crazy trying to find it. We only had 1 store that sold the packs and all my buddies who had it was either Hab fans and wanted to keep it or only had 1 so they needed it for their set. Of course we were all set collectors back then. Anyhow I must have bought 200 extra packs just to get this card. I will never forget how excited My buddies and I was when I finally pulled it. I can still remember opening the pack on the grass bank next to the shop. The sun was shinning and we were all sitting there with our bikes at our feet. Ah great memories.

Stories like that are what make this hobby special. Everyone has 1 at least too.

I have a Wayne Gretzky second year card that was given to me from my dad when I was like 5 and I've kept it ever since. Probably the only card before 2001 I own lol
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
389,528
Messages
2,233,359
Members
4,149
Latest member
vegasfiredawg
Back
Top