Victoria Maple Leafs
Encyclopedia
Western Hockey League (minor pro)
The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...
that played three seasons in Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, British Columbia, beginning in 1964. The previous season they had played as the Invaders
Denver Invaders
The Denver Invaders were a minor pro ice hockey team that played in Denver, Colorado in the Western Hockey League during the 1963-1964 season. They were the Spokane Comets before they moved to Denver. They played their regular season games at the Denver Coliseum, and their playoff games at the...
in Denver, Colorado, winning the regular season with the best record in the Western Hockey League. In 1967 they became the Phoenix Roadrunners
Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA)
The Phoenix Roadrunners were a team in the now defunct World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1977. They played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona...
.
From 1959 to 1963 the team had played as the Spokane Comets
Spokane Comets
The Spokane Comets are a defunct minor professional ice hockey team that was located in Spokane, Washington. They played in the Western Hockey League from 1960 to 1963.The 1962-63 team was coached by Roy McBride who piloted the team to a 30-38-2 record....
.
They were the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
History
The Victoria Cougars entered the WHL as an expansion team for the 1949-50 season. In 1961 they moved to Los Angeles to become the BladesLos Angeles Blades
The Los Angeles Blades were a professional inline hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. The Blades played in Roller Hockey International from 1993-1997 and played their home games at the Great Western Forum....
. In 1964, the Denver Invaders
Denver Invaders
The Denver Invaders were a minor pro ice hockey team that played in Denver, Colorado in the Western Hockey League during the 1963-1964 season. They were the Spokane Comets before they moved to Denver. They played their regular season games at the Denver Coliseum, and their playoff games at the...
were moved to Victoria and the rights to the Cougars' name were purchased by Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
owner Stafford Smythe who in turn renamed them the Maple Leafs.
The team logo was a stylized blue maple leaf, with the words "Victoria Maple Leafs" on it. They played in the Victoria Memorial Arena which opened in 1949 and sat 5033 spectators. Andy Stephen called the games for local radio station CKDA
CJZN-FM
-External links:** at Canadian Communications Foundation website...
. Fans of the team were well known for chanting the parent-team's cheer, "Go Leafs Go!"
Following the 1966-67 season, the Maple Leafs moved to Phoenix to become the Roadrunners
Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA)
The Phoenix Roadrunners were a team in the now defunct World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1977. They played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona...
, where they played until the WHL's demise in 1974. In Phoenix, the franchise won the last two WHL championships in 1973 and 1974. The Roadrunners then competed in the WHA
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
in 1974-75 using essentially the same team from the previous year.
In 1915, Victoria had had a baseball team named the Maple Leafs.
1964-65 season
The Maple Leafs finished the 1964-65 season with a 32-36-2 W-L-T record in fourth place in the 6-team league, making the WHL playoffs. Milan Marcetta led the team in scoring with 34 goals and 46 assists, and Larry Keenan scored 35 goals. Victoria sported four 30-goal scorers. Journeyman goaltender Al MillarAl Millar
Franklin Allan Millar is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in 6 NHL games with the Boston Bruins during the 1957–58 season. He was involved in the first trade in Philadelphia Flyers history when the Toronto Maple Leafs traded him to Philadelphia for cash on September...
played 63 games and future NHL goaltender Gary Smith also played in seven. The Leafs beat the Seattle Totems
Seattle Totems
The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. They were a member of various minor professional and semi-professional leagues between 1945 and 1975. They played their home games in the Mercer Arena and later at the Seattle Center Coliseum...
in a seven game semi-final, but lost to the Portland Buckaroos
Portland Buckaroos
The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon.-PCHL/NWHL era :The first incarnation of Portland Buckaroos played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena. The Buckaroos initially played in the four-team Pacific Coast Hockey League from...
in 5 games for the championship.
Millar
Al Millar
Franklin Allan Millar is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in 6 NHL games with the Boston Bruins during the 1957–58 season. He was involved in the first trade in Philadelphia Flyers history when the Toronto Maple Leafs traded him to Philadelphia for cash on September...
played 10 playoff games in goal, with Jean-Guy Morissette playing the other two.
1965-66 season
In the 1965-66 season, the Maple Leafs defeated the San Francisco Seals in a seven game semi-final, to set up a rematch of the previous year's final. They beat the regular season champion BuckaroosPortland Buckaroos
The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon.-PCHL/NWHL era :The first incarnation of Portland Buckaroos played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena. The Buckaroos initially played in the four-team Pacific Coast Hockey League from...
in seven games to capture their only Lester Patrick Cup
Lester Patrick Cup
The Lester Patrick Cup was the championship trophy of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League from 1949 to 1974. Originally known as the President's Cup, the trophy was renamed in 1960 to honor pacific coast hockey pioneer and legend Lester Patrick following his death on June...
in Victoria and the first for the franchise going back to Denver and Spokane.
They finished the regular season in second place, with a 40-28-4 record under coach Frank Mario. Milan Marcetta repeated as team scoring leader with 28 goals and 54 assists. Bob Barlow
Bob Barlow
Robert George Barlow is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player.-Playing career:He was the captain of the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League during the 1968-69 season. He played in 77 NHL games with the Minnesota North Stars over parts of two seasons and 51 WHA games with the...
scored 42 goals and added 39 assists, Lou Jankowski scored 32 and Andy Hebenton added 31. Marcetta got 7 goals and 13 assists to win the playoff scoring title and Barlow scored another 10 goals and 9 assists tying Portland's Art Jones for second place in playoff scoring.
Barlow earned a place on the WHL First All-Star team.
Journeyman Al Millar started 51 games as goaltender before being sent to the Tulsa Oilers of the CPHL and John Henderson played in 24. With Millar gone, Henderson started all 14 playoff games.
1966-67 season
In their last season in the WHL, the Maple Leafs finished out of the playoffs with a fifth-place 30-34-8 W-L-T record. Buck Houle was the General Manager and Frank Mario was the coach. Milan Marcetta continued as the team's top goal and point scorer with 40 goals and 35 assists. Bruce Carmichael added 30 goals. Gary Smith started 17 games for Victoria in the net. Al SmithAl Smith (ice hockey)
Allan Robert Smith was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender. He died in 2002 as a result of pancreatic cancer.-Minor-pro career:Smith began junior hockey in 1961 with the Toronto Marlboros...
had started the season with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
but arrived in time to play 55 games for Victoria. Al Smith went on to play in the NHL with Toronto
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and five other teams over nine seasons, as well as the New England Whalers of the WHA.
Marcetta's output in Victoria earned him a trip to Toronto to play 3 playoff games for the 1967 Stanley Cup champion Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
where his name is engraved on the Stanley Cup.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes| Season | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1964-65 | 70 | 32 | 36 | 2 | 66 | 246 | 242 | 926 | 4th | Lost final (Portland Buckaroos Portland Buckaroos The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon.-PCHL/NWHL era :The first incarnation of Portland Buckaroos played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena. The Buckaroos initially played in the four-team Pacific Coast Hockey League from... ) |
| 1965-66 | 72 | 40 | 28 | 4 | 84 | 260 | 243 | 735 | 2nd | Won Lester Patrick Cup Lester Patrick Cup The Lester Patrick Cup was the championship trophy of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League from 1949 to 1974. Originally known as the President's Cup, the trophy was renamed in 1960 to honor pacific coast hockey pioneer and legend Lester Patrick following his death on June... |
| 1966-67 | 72 | 30 | 34 | 8 | 68 | 224 | 232 | 613 | 5th | Did not qualify |
| Totals | 214 | 102 | 98 | 14 | 218 | 730 | 717 | 2274 |
See also
- Denver InvadersDenver InvadersThe Denver Invaders were a minor pro ice hockey team that played in Denver, Colorado in the Western Hockey League during the 1963-1964 season. They were the Spokane Comets before they moved to Denver. They played their regular season games at the Denver Coliseum, and their playoff games at the...
- Phoenix RoadrunnersPhoenix Roadrunners (WHA)The Phoenix Roadrunners were a team in the now defunct World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1977. They played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona...
- Milan Marcetta
- Bob BarlowBob BarlowRobert George Barlow is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player.-Playing career:He was the captain of the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League during the 1968-69 season. He played in 77 NHL games with the Minnesota North Stars over parts of two seasons and 51 WHA games with the...
- Western Hockey LeagueWestern Hockey League (minor pro)The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...