![]() ![]() Although he scored only 5 goals, he amassed a league-best 9 assists and captured the play-off scoring race with 14 points. Apps led all scorers in post-season play that year. This dramatic Stanley Cup victory was engineered, in large part, by their captain. They became, and they remain, the only team to ever lose the first three games of a Stanley Cup final series and then win the final four games to capture the coveted trophy. And with that, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished a feat that has never been duplicated in the history of the National Hockey League. But in the third period the Leafs roared back, scoring three unanswered goals. For two periods it looked like Red Wings’ goalie Johnny Mowers would spoil the Leafs’ Cinderella comeback. A record crowd of 16,218 jammed into Maple Leaf Gardens to cheer on their heroes. The seventh game took the adversaries back to Toronto, where the whole city was hyped with Stanley Cup fever. The Leafs battled back to win the next three games and force a seventh game. “The only thing on our minds was, ‘We can’t go back to Toronto if we lose this game, too.’ We were thinking we couldn’t lose four straight and face the people back home.” ![]() In a 1975 interview with writer Jack Batten, Apps recalled the atmosphere in the Leafs’ dressing room before that fourth game. With their backs to the wall the Leafs were desperate for a victory. The fourth and what seemed certain to be the final game was to be held in Detroit. It looked as if the Stanley Cup would be going to Motor City. The Detroit Red Wings opened the finals that season with three straight, decisive victories. The Leafs captured the Stanley Cup in the most dramatic fashion ever witnessed in National Hockey League history to that date. In his ten-year NHL career, he amassed a grand total of only 56 penalty minutes, which is less than three two-minute minor penalties a year.īut that 1942 season stands out in the long and storied history of the Toronto Maple Leafs for another reason. In fact, Apps did not receive a single penalty during the entire 1941-42 season. Syl was a hard working but clean player, who seldom took penalties. Once again led the league in assists with 29, but he netted 5 more goals than in the previous season, for a total of 21. His second season wearing the blue and white jersey was even better than his first. Smythe added Bob Davidson, who had come up through the Leafs’ hockey system, and immediately the trio became a highly effective unit, both offensively and defensively.Īpps’ notched 16 goals and accumulated a league-leading 29 assists in his first season. But they needed a complimenting third linemate. The Leafs then tried Apps with another rookie, Gord Drillon, and the two youngsters immediately clicked. Conn Smythe hoped to fill the spot on what had formerly been known as the “Kid Line”, which had been created by former centreman Joe Primeau’s retirement. He received the Calder Trophy as the league’s outstanding rookie becoming the first Maple Leaf to win this award.Īpps started his first season with the Leafs at centre on a line between Charlie Conacher and Harvey (“Busher”) Jackson. Before turning to professional hockey, the two-time Canadian champ represented his country at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, placing sixth among the world’s elite vaulters.Īpps joined the Maple Leafs in 1936 and he wasted very little time establishing himself. Syl was a world class pole vaulter! In 1934, he captured the Canadian and British Empire pole vaulting championship. Syl Apps: A World Class Pole Vaulterīut, long before Syl Apps became a favorite of Leaf fans across Canada, he had gained international recognition in a field completely unconnected with either of his two main sports. He was an all-around athlete, playing not only hockey, but also football while he attended McMaster University. Syl Apps Toronto Maple Leafs - Paul White Sports Memorabilia Collection ![]()
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