May 15th, 2018If the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft was not one of the deepest drafts, it was certainly a very fruitful one. Fifty of the players selected went on to have NHL careers. Three became Stanley Cup champions. Fourteen players would play at least 500 regular season games, while three would eventually be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The...
By the summer of 1970, the Maple Leafs were a team that had fallen quickly from the pinnacle of NHL success. The Stanley Cup in 1967 was followed by playoff misses in 1968 and 1970, and a first round exit in 1969. John Bower retired following the 1969-70 season, George Armstrong followed the year after, and other veterans Bob Pulford and...
