This Day in Hockey History – May 2, 1967 – Age is Just a Number to Leafs

May 2, 2019

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On May 2, 1967 the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final with a score of 3-1. This date is often associated with the fact that this was the last Stanley Cup awarded in what has become known as the Original Six Era. It was also the the last time the Leafs won the Stanley Cup.

However, when the Leafs beat the Canadiens on May 2nd, they also became the first team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup with a team whose average age was 30 or older. This achievement is often overshadowed, though it spoked to the tenacity of their team.

“The Leafs who were underdogs at the start of the best-of-seven series, took the cup 4-2 by winning the second, third, fifthy and sixth games,” reported the Star-Phoenix of Saskatoon.

Game 6 saw no goals scored in the first period.

Ron Ellis, who was 22 at the time of the game, got the Leafs on the scoreboard 6:25 into the middle frame, and with that lead, Toronto never trailed in the game. With 36 seconds remaining in the second, 27-year-old Jim Pappin got the team in blue and white another, giving them a little breathing space going into the third.

While the Canadiens managed to get one back off the stick of Dick Duff 5:28 into the third, Leafs captain George Armstrong, sealed the deal with his empty net goal at 19:13 of the third. Armstrong was 36, and he wasn’t the oldest of the team by any means.

The Leafs goaltending duo were Terry Sawchuk, who was 37 years old and the man between the pipes that night. He made 40 of 41 saves that night. His backup was Johnny Bower, age 42. On the back end Toronto’s d-men included Allan Stanley (age 40), Tim Horton (age 37), Marcel Pronovost (age 36) and Bob Baun (age 30). In addition to Armstong, Red Kelly (age 39), who was two months and one week shy of his 40th birthday, represented the forwards.

“[The team may have had] more ability in other years, but I’ve never played with a club that had more fight,” Armstrong said. “We might not have outplayed them but we certainly outscored them. This was a different kind of team. Young fellows came along and they were the ones that gave us the edge. It was a great mesh of old and young and great goaltending.”

It just goes to show that while hockey is traditionally played by the youngsters, that if the team’s players have the fight, the heart and the determination, that sometimes even the fastest of teams may not be able to stop that hurtling hockey train from succeeding.