I started following and cheering for the Leafs back in the late 1950s. It was a wonderful era to jump on that particular bus. The franchise had been struggling since the Bill Barilko-led Stanley Cup in 1951. But incoming — if relatively unheralded — GM and coach Punch Imlach was re-crafting the Leaf roster. He picked up some veterans like Allan Stanley, tossed overboard by the Bruins after having played reasonably well earlier in his career with the Hawks and Rangers. Stanley went on to a Hall-of-Fame career with Imlach and the Leafs, part of the “old guard” that captured a surprising “final” Stanley Cup in the May of 1967.
Johnny Bower: The ultimate Maple Leaf
