The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the oldest and most iconic franchises in the NHL. The team, although it was not called the Maple Leafs at the time, began its journey in 1917 as the Toronto Arenas in the league’s inaugural season. In 1919-20, because it wanted to appeal to the large Toronto Irish population, the team it’s name to the St. Patricks. That name stuck for eight seasons.
Finally, in 1927, the team settled on its current name – the Maple Leafs. The name came as a tribute to Canadian soldiers who fought in the Maple Leaf Regiment during World War I. Throughout the Maple Leafs’ history of now more than a century, the team has become a central part of Canadian hockey culture. That said, there are Maple Leafs fans all over the world. The Maple Leafs logo is classic.
The Lows of Being a Maple Leafs’ Fan
Throughout its history, the Maple Leafs have experienced both highs and lows; and sometimes, these highs and lows have come together. Indeed, that seems to be the current state of this team. High during the regular season, but low during the postseason.
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It has been a sometimes frustrating ride for Maple Leafs’ fans. In this post, I want to take a bit of a deeper dive into what my own research suggests are the four worst teams in Maple Leafs’ franchise history.
The Dreadful 1984-85 Toronto Maple Leafs
The 1984-85 season stands as a nightmare for the Maple Leafs. It is generally regarded as the worst season in the team’s history. Under head coach Dan Maloney, the team struggled both offensively and defensively. In the end, the dismal record of 20-52-8 (totalling a mere 48 points in the regular season) tells the story clearly enough.
Although the great Borje Salming was still around, the team’s defence was its Achilles’ heal. The team allowed an NHL-high of 369 goals while only scoring 290 themselves – the fewest goals in the NHL that season. Their woeful play landed the team at the bottom of the NHL standings and out of the playoffs.
The key players during the 1984-85 season included Rick Vaive, the captain and leading goal scorer. He put up an impressive 35 goals. In fact, the team had three 30-goal scorers. John Anderson scored 32, and Bill Derlago added 31. Vaive also led in points with 68. Dan Daoust led the team in assists with 37. Bob McGill accumulated the most penalty minutes with 250.
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In goal, Tim Bernhardt had a surprisingly good season on such a poor team. He played 37 games, with a record of 13-19-4 and a goals-against-average of 3.74. The second-best goalie was Ken Wregget, but his play couldn’t compare. He played 23 games, with a record of 2-15-3 and a goals-against-average of 4.84.
The Struggling 1981-82 Toronto Maple Leafs
The 1981-82 season was the team’s second-worst in franchise history. The Maple Leafs, who were coached by Mike Nykoluk, grappled with huge shortcomings and finished with a poor record of 20-44-16. Putting up only 56 points on the season, the team struggled at both ends of the ice and missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
Interestingly, while the season was poor, it did produce a highlight. It was the season that Vaive set the franchise record for goal scoring – until Auston Matthews broke it during the 2021-22 season. It was also the season that saw Maple Leafs’ great Darryl Sittler traded to the Philadelphia Flyers.
That season, Vaive began his run of three straight 50-goal seasons and was the key offensive contributor. Once again, Bill Derlago scored well with 34 goals, and John Anderson added 31. As well, Salming stood tall on the blue line.
Related: Remembering Borje Salming: “King” of Maple Leafs’ Defensemen
The goalie spot was split between Vincent Tremblay and Michel Larocque. In a curious statistic, Tremblay is credited with playing 40 games, and Larocque with playing 50 games. Given that there were only 80 games in the season, it suggests that the goalies were regularly pulled in the middle of their games and kept replacing each other.
Finding good goalie play that season was tough. The goalies’ statistics were sad. Tremblay put up a .871 save percentage and a 4.52 goals-against-average, while Larocque had a .862 save percentage and a 4.70 goals-against-average.
The Struggles of 1990-91 Toronto Maple Leafs:
Coached by Doug Carpenter (who was replaced early in the season by Tom Watt), the 1990-91 season was the third-worst Maple Leafs team in franchise history. It was yet another challenging chapter in the team’s continuing struggles during this same decade.
Finishing with a record of 23-46-11, the Maple Leafs accumulated only 57 points, which was yet another playoff miss. While the team was defensively weak (it gave up the second-most goals in the NHL with 351), its biggest problem was the huge offensive struggles. The team only scored 254 goals during the season.
The best player by far for the team was Vincent Damphousse, who scored 26 goals and added 47 assists (for 73 points). After Damphousse’s 73 points, the next highest point total came from Mike Krushelnyski. But he had only had 39 points on the season. The only other player that season to score 20 goals was Daniel Marois, who scored 21.
In goal, Peter Ing carried the team and played 56 games, putting up a 16-29-8 record with a 3.84 goals-against-average and a .883 save percentage.
The Struggles of 1985-86 Toronto Maple Leafs:
Coached once again by Maloney, the 1985-86 season was the team’s fourth-worst season. Again, it was another challenging year for the team. But it was also an odd season. The team finished with the fourth-worst record in the NHL with a record of 25-48-7 and only 57 points. However, it did squeak into the last playoff spot in the weak Norris Division.
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The division champion, Chicago Blackhawks, only recorded 86 points. The Leafs’ .356 winning percentage was the fourth-worst in franchise history and the worst ever for a playoff qualifier. However, the team swept the Blackhawks in three games in the Norris semi-finals before eventually being eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in a tough seven-game Norris Final.
The 1985-86 season saw rookie Wendel Clark begin his great Maple Leafs career. He led the team in goals with 34, while Vaive again scored 33, Miroslav Fryčer added 32, and Tom Fergus added 31. Fryčer led the team in assists with 43 and in points with a total of 75. Clark picked up the most penalty minutes with 227 during his rookie season.
In goal, Don Edwards had been signed for three years to become the starting goalie; but the former Vezina winner didn’t play with the same skill he had shown with the Buffalo Sabres. He put up a record of 12-23-0, with a goals-against-average of 4.78 and a save percentage of .860. The Maple Leafs bought out the final two years of his contract.
The Bottom Line
In my research, these were the Maple Leafs’ four worst seasons. In some ways, it’s good that they all came within a short stretch of a decade – from 1981 to 1991. Given what I’ve learned about the passion of Maple Leafs’ fans, I can’t imagine how distraught they were during this period.
Fortunately, the team has improved in the past 30 seasons. Perhaps the Maple Leafs will soon rise to new heights. If this team can ever win another Stanley Cup, it would leave the struggles of these dismal seasons far back in the rearview mirror.