1962/63

I recently realized I had not yet posted my 1962/63 program which was hiding in plain sight on my Leafs goalies shelf in the Den. Issued for the game on February 16, 1963 against the Rangers, a game won 4-2 by the Leafs as Don Simmons out-dueled Gump Worsley in the nets.

I would kill for one of the T-shirts from York peanut butter.

Here's a photo of a horse kissing Eddie Shack.

 Another riveting pic of The Big M, Frank Mahovlich enjoying a cup of coffee.

 A new innovation at this time was the broadcasting of live road games in a local movie theatre. $2.50 for the best seat seems a tad steep to watch on a screen (the internet tells me that is equal to roughly $20 today), I suppose there were zero other options though.

 Somewhat surprisingly, Boston's Johnny Bucyk was tops in the scoring parade at this point in the season, with teammate Murray Oliver close behind. They would both fade out to finish 7th and 10th respectively. Gordie Howe and Andy Bathgate each got hot as a pistol down the stretch. Howe tallied 29 points in the final 18 games, Bathgate collected 27 in the final 17.

 Leafs trainer Bob Haggert also sold Volkswagens on the side, because he had to.

The Leafs goaltending tandem of Bower and Simmons just missed out on the Vezina Trophy by a mere two goals to Glenn Hall and the Black Hawks.

These Leafs made a tidy $20 each for appearing in this add for Hearn Pontiac. The graphic artist made at least that much for the fine cut and paste pre-photoshop job. 

If you grew up in Toronto, you are familiar with Shopsy's hot dogs. They really were good.

1945/46

Here's the newest addition to the Maple Leaf Programme Project, my second one from the 1945/46 campaign. This one is from January 1946 and was sold during the Ice Follies shows that took over the Gardens for a stint. On the cover is a fantastic image (as they all were back then) of Leaf Gordie Drillon.

                                           

Inside the old programs, there's usually lots of nice old advertisements like the one above. Inside the front cover is a great full-colour ad for British American Motor Oil and inside is a full-page ad for a necessity of the day, Brylcreem.

 A large section of the program is devoted to the Ice Follies, but there is still five articles about hockey including the one below on how Russia has begun to play hockey.

 Finally, a cool add for CCM showing three of the main trophies in hockey.

1945/46

Check out this beauty. One of my annual "self-purchased" Christmas presents from this year. Fantastic artwork of Ted "Teeder" Kennedy for a game against the Black Hawks on December 1, 1945. Lineup page below shows Maple Leaf Gaye Stewart with 13 goals already in the campaign, Toronto had played 13 games to that point in the season. Stewart would finish the 50 game schedule with 37 goals to lead the league, the last Maple Leaf to do so.

To this point in the season, Toronto had a record of 3-9-1 while Chicago was 6-4-1. The Leafs would finish 5th and out of the playoffs for the season while the Hawks placed 3rd, only to be swept by Montreal in the Semi-finals.

There is a great spread in the program of some of the various events that Maple Leaf Gardens had hosted in 1945, including a show featuring Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger.

A few pages are devoted to the Leafs "Victory Dinner" celebrating the Cup win of 1944/45. A golf tournament was held on the day, showcasing various current and old-time Maple Leafs.

This page shows players receiving various gifts for winning the Championship as well as the Cup itself in it's old "stovepipe" variation. At centre-right below is a rare shot of Captain Syl Apps sporting a moustache. 

Finally, a cool advertisement for Odex Soap featuring some nice artwork. Apparently the entire squad washed wish Odex after every game, and for 6 cents a bar, how could they not!?