Doubt The Toronto Maple Leafs Will Win Another Stanley Cup? You're Not Alone

The Toronto Maple Leafs were last Stanley Cup champions over forty years ago. The last Stanley Cup came during the 1966-67 season, the last as a six team National Hockey league. The following season, expansion came to the NHL and the league increased in size from six to twelve teams.

It’s not just the Stanley Cup that doesn’t sit in Toronto’s trophy case. Since their last Stanley Cup victory, the Maple Leafs have had just six individual player award winners and none are considered ‘majors’.

The most recent award winner from Toronto was Mats Sundin who won one of the newest awards in the NHL. Sundin was honoured with the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2007-08. The award has only been given out since the 2006-07 season.

Another leadership based award was handed to a Maple Leaf in 1999-00. Curtis Joseph was named the recipient of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy which recognizes leadership on and off the ice. The Clancy Trophy was first awarded in 1987-88.

Jason Blake was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for the 2007-08 season after his battle with leukemia. The Masterton honours perseverance and sportsmanship.

The award that doesn’t win Stanley Cups, the Lady Byng Trophy, was awarded to Toronto’s Alexander Mogilny in 2002-03. The Lady Byng is handed out to the most gentlemanly player in the league.

1992-93 was Toronto’s busiest night at NHL awards ceremony in years. Pat Burns was selected as the Jack Adams Award winner as the league’s top coach. Doug Gilmour, after having a career season offensively, was ironically awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive minded forward.

Dave Keon is the only Maple Leaf to be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoffs most valuable player. He, of course, won it in 1966-67. The year before, Brit Selby was the last Toronto player to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie. Yet another year before that, the duo of Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk were the last Toronto goaltenders to win the Vezina Trophy.

The last time Toronto had a Hart Memorial Trophy recipient as NHL MVP was 1954-55 when Ted Kennedy took home the prize. The only other Maple Leaf to win the award was Babe Pratt in 1943-44.

There are six awards which a Toronto Maple Leafs player has never won: The Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award (since 1999-00); The Rocket Richard Trophy (since 1998-99); NHL Plus-Minus Award (since 1982-83); William M. Jennings Trophy (since 1981-82); The Norris Trophy (since 1953-54).

The sixth award that a Toronto player has never won is the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading point-getter during the regular season. The Art Ross has been awarded since 1947-48. However, in 1937-38, Gordie Drillon was the NHL’s scoring leader.

Will this dismal record change in 2010-11? No. James Reimer has had an outstanding second half of the season in net for the Maple Leafs and could be considered for the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. However, there are a number of other strong candidates that have produced for the full season on other teams in the league.