1971–72 Toronto Maple Leafs season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1971–72
Year:	1971
Team:	Toronto Maple Leafs
Record:	33–31–14
Divisionrank:	4th
Goalsfor:	209
Goalsagainst:	208
Goalsleader:	Paul Henderson (38)
Assistsleader:	Norm Ullman (50)
Pointsleader:	Norm Ullman (73)
Pimleader:	Rick Ley (124)
Winsleader:	Bernie Parent (17)
Gaaleader:	Bernie Parent (2.56)

The 1971–72 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 55th season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL). It was also the 40th anniversary season of the opening of Maple Leaf Gardens. The Maple Leafs finished fourth, and qualified for the playoffs, losing in the first round to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.

Offseason

In June, team president Stafford Smythe and vice-president Harold Ballard were arrested for theft and fraud involving funds of Maple Leaf Gardens. They were charged jointly on the theft of $146,000 of funds and securities and Smythe was further charged for defrauding Maple Leaf Gardens of $249,000.^[1]

Regular season

On October 13, just after the start of the season, Smythe died of complications from a bleeding ulcer. The Leaf's home opener, scheduled for that night was postponed, only the second postponement in Maple Leaf Gardens history.^[1]

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 8, 1971	3–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	1–0–0
2	T	October 10, 1971	3–3	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	1–0–1
3	L	October 16, 1971	3–5	New York Rangers (1971–72)	1–1–1
4	T	October 17, 1971	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	1–1–2
5	L	October 20, 1971	2–7	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	1–2–2
6	L	October 22, 1971	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	1–3–2
7	W	October 23, 1971	5–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	2–3–2
8	T	October 27, 1971	0–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	2–3–3
9	T	October 30, 1971	1–1	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	2–3–4
10	T	October 31, 1971	3–3	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	2–3–5
11	W	November 1, 1971	6–1	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	3–3–5
12	L	November 3, 1971	1–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	3–4–5
13	W	November 6, 1971	3–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	4–4–5
14	L	November 7, 1971	1–8	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	4–5–5
15	L	November 10, 1971	2–5	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	4–6–5
16	T	November 13, 1971	2–2	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	4–6–6
17	T	November 14, 1971	3–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	4–6–7
18	W	November 17, 1971	5–1	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	5–6–7
19	W	November 20, 1971	5–1	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	6–6–7
20	W	November 21, 1971	4–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	7–6–7
21	W	November 24, 1971	2–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	8–6–7
22	T	November 27, 1971	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	8–6–8
23	L	November 28, 1971	1–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	8–7–8
24	W	December 1, 1971	4–2	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	9–7–8
25	L	December 4, 1971	3–5	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	9–8–8
26	W	December 8, 1971	3–1	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	10–8–8
27	L	December 11, 1971	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	10–9–8
28	W	December 12, 1971	4–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	11–9–8
29	W	December 14, 1971	4–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	12–9–8
30	W	December 15, 1971	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	13–9–8
31	W	December 18, 1971	8–1	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	14–9–8
32	W	December 19, 1971	4–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	15–9–8
33	L	December 22, 1971	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	15–10–8
34	W	December 25, 1971	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	16–10–8
35	L	December 26, 1971	1–3	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	16–11–8
36	W	December 28, 1971	4–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	17–11–8
37	L	December 29, 1971	3–6	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	17–12–8
38	W	January 1, 1972	5–2	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	18–12–8
39	L	January 5, 1972	0–2	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	18–13–8
40	T	January 8, 1972	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	18–13–9
41	W	January 9, 1972	2–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	19–13–9
42	T	January 12, 1972	1–1	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	19–13–10
43	W	January 15, 1972	4–3	New York Rangers (1971–72)	20–13–10
44	L	January 16, 1972	3–4	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	20–14–10
45	L	January 19, 1972	0–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	20–15–10
46	L	January 22, 1972	1–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	20–16–10
47	L	January 23, 1972	0–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	20–17–10
48	L	January 26, 1972	3–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	20–18–10
49	L	January 28, 1972	0–3	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	20–19–10
50	L	January 29, 1972	2–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	20–20–10
51	L	February 1, 1972	0–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	20–21–10
52	W	February 2, 1972	3–2	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	21–21–10
53	L	February 5, 1972	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	21–22–10
54	T	February 6, 1972	2–2	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	21–22–11
55	W	February 8, 1972	2–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	22–22–11
56	L	February 9, 1972	1–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	22–23–11
57	W	February 12, 1972	3–0	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	23–23–11
58	L	February 13, 1972	1–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	23–24–11
59	L	February 16, 1972	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	23–25–11
60	W	February 19, 1972	4–1	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	24–25–11
61	L	February 20, 1972	1–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	24–26–11
62	L	February 22, 1972	4–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	24–27–11
63	W	February 23, 1972	2–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	25–27–11
64	W	February 26, 1972	7–1	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	26–27–11
65	W	March 1, 1972	3–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	27–27–11
66	W	March 4, 1972	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	28–27–11
67	W	March 8, 1972	5–1	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	29–27–11
68	W	March 11, 1972	2–1	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	30–27–11
69	T	March 12, 1972	2–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	30–27–12
70	L	March 15, 1972	2–5	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	30–28–12
71	T	March 18, 1972	2–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	30–28–13
72	L	March 19, 1972	3–5	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	30–29–13
73	T	March 22, 1972	3–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	30–29–14
74	L	March 24, 1972	3–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	30–30–14
75	W	March 25, 1972	4–0	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	31–30–14
76	W	March 29, 1972	4–1	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	32–30–14
77	W	April 1, 1972	2–1	New York Rangers (1971–72)	33–30–14
78	L	April 2, 1972	4–6	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	33–31–14

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	77	23	50	73	26	8	9	0	1
	73	38	19	57	32	14	12	1	5
	72	18	30	48	4	1	2	2	5
	78	23	24	47	17	7	4	0	7
	66	19	17	36	104	-4	5	0	0
	76	5	31	36	27	1	2	0	0
	74	15	17	32	44	-4	1	0	4
	78	14	17	31	47	2	2	1	2
	50	4	19	23	56	10	1	0	2
	52	9	12	21	16	-12	2	0	1
	72	4	17	21	58	7	2	0	1
	61	10	7	17	39	-1	2	0	2
	77	7	10	17	4	5	1	0	0
	38	8	8	16	4	-1	2	0	0
	50	2	14	16	0	2	1	0	0
	67	1	14	15	124	3	0	0	0
	74	2	12	14	101	8	0	0	0
	61	2	8	10	44	11	0	0	1
	18	3	4	7	13	-3	0	0	1
	36	1	5	6	65	2	0	0	0
	46	1	4	5	44	-2	0	0	0
	47	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	34	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	2715	47	17	18	9	116	2.56	3
	1965	34	16	13	5	86	2.63	2
Team:	4680	78	33	31	14	202	2.59	5

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
	5	2	3	5	0	0	0	0
	5	1	3	4	2	0	0	0
	5	3	0	3	2	2	1	0
	5	1	2	3	6	0	0	0
	5	1	1	2	4	1	0	0
	5	1	0	1	10	0	0	1
	4	1	0	1	16	0	0	0
	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	25	0	0	0
	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	8	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
	243	4	1	3	13	3.21	0
	60	1	0	1	5	5.00	0
Team:	303	5	1	4	18	3.56	0

^[2]

Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1971–72 season.

Trades

August 20, 1971	To Detroit Red Wings Brian Conacher	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cash
August 30, 1971	To Montreal Canadiens Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Terry Clancy
September 27, 1971	To Vancouver Canucks Doug Brindley	To Toronto Maple Leafs Andre Hinse
February 20, 1972	To New York Rangers Jim Dorey	To Toronto Maple Leafs Pierre Jarry

Intra-League Draft

June 5, 1972	From Montreal Canadiens Larry Pleau
June 5, 1972	To Montreal Canadiens Brad Selwood
June 5, 1972	To Vancouver Canucks Gerry O'Flaherty

Expansion Draft

June 6, 1972	To Atlanta Flames Billy MacMillan
June 6, 1972	To New York Islanders Brian Marchinko
June 6, 1972	To New York Islanders Brian Spencer

Reverse Draft

June 8, 1972

To California Golden Seals Marv Edwards

Free agents

Player Former Team Undrafted Free Agent Undrafted Free Agent Undrafted Free Agent

Draft picks

Toronto's draft picks at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	22			Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
2	23			St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
3	30			Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
3	37			Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
4	51			Peterborough Petes (OHA)
5	65			Sudbury Wolves (NOHA)
6	79	Mike Ruest		Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
7	93			Bemidji State University (WCHA)
7	98	Steve Johnson		Verdun Maple Leafs (QMJHL)
8	107	Bob Burns		Royal Military College (CIAU)

See also

• 1971–72 NHL season

References

• Web site: 1971–72 Toronto Maple Leafs Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-06 .

Notes and References

1. News: The Globe and Mail . Gardens' head always approachable, but personality sparked controversy . McLeod, Rex . Walker, Gord . 51 . October 14, 1971.
2. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-27 . 1971-72 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.