Return to Glory: The Leafs from Imlach to Fletcher

Albert Stray is librarian and manager of the Streetsville Public
Library.

This chronicle of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ climb to respectability
after decades of mismanagement is divided into two parts, both packed
with hockey history, commentary, and analysis. The death of Harold
Ballard in 1990 is the dividing line.

Part 1 covers the tumultuous 1970s and 1980s, an era when Leaf fortunes
were dictated by two larger-than-life egos, Punch Imlach and Harold
Ballard. Under Ballard’s reign, the farm system was sacrificed; scouts
weren’t hired; the fledgling WHA was ignored; smaller seats were
installed to increase seating capacity; Foster Hewitt’s gondola was
trashed; Stanley Cup banners were taken down; and former players were
made unwelcome. This section is not all doom and gloom, however. The
author shares bits of trivia, discusses the background of the players’
association, and explains how the old sponsorship program worked and
what it meant to teams like Toronto and Montreal.

Part 2 picks up the story with Steve Stavros’s fight for control of
the Gardens and of the team following Ballard’s death. Podnieks
discusses in depth the fight over Harold Ballard’s will, Donald
Giffin’s commitment to building a competitive team, and the reasoning
behind the draft-day trade of Wendel Clark in 1994. The labor dispute
that defined the following spring is also closely examined; Podnieks
calls it for what it was—a power struggle between the owners and the
players’ association. The book ends with an account of the shortened
1994–95 season.

The appendix contains a wealth of information about past Leaf greats,
team captains, and coaches; Cup rosters from the 1914 Toronto Blueshirts
to the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs; Leaf all-time records and individual
trophy winners; and the names of those players who appeared in all-star
games up to 1994–95. Black-and-white action photos supplement the
text. A detailed table of contents somewhat compensates for the lack of
an index.