Maybe Next Year Trivia Quiz

Answer: He was a convicted felon.

Ballard was convicted of 47 counts of fraud in 1972 and spent over a year in prison. Stories abound of his hostile behavior, legendary penny-pinching, and contempt for the team's fans. He frequently feuded with management and players, alienating many of the stars who played for the team.

However, while the team's on ice fortunes plummeted, its revenue increased exponentially during his tenure. It is no exaggeration to say that he was one of the most despised owners in professional sports history.

Answer: Bernie Parent

Parent had been acquired from the Flyers in a trade in 1971, and had played well for one season with the Leafs before leaving the NHL for the rival WHA. In 1973, Parent wanted to return to the NHL but did not want to play for the Leafs, who owned his rights, and a trade back to the Flyers was arranged. Favell shared starting goalie duties for three years with the Leafs before being traded, and the draft pick was used to acquire solid defense man Bob Neely. Parent, for his part, emerged as the league's premier goalie the following year with the Flyers, leading them to back to back Stanley Cups and winning two Vezina trophies for being the league's top goalie and two Conn Smyth trophies for being the playoff MVP, accomplishments beyond that of any Leaf player for generations to come.

Answer: Captain Darryl Sittler tore the C off his sweater.

The previous off-season, Ballard hired former Leafs coach Punch Imlach as general manager, who immediately fell into conflict with Sittler and many of the other players. Unable to trade Sittler because of a no-trade clause, Imlach instead opted to trade Sittler's close friend and fan-favorite, MacDonald.

After renouncing the captaincy, Sittler handed a statement to the media which read that he felt the captain's job was to be an intermediary between players and management and that he was unable do this as he had no communication with management.

Answer: They did not have a single winning season.

The 1980s were without question one of the darkest decades in team history. That the Leafs were unable to win as many games as they in lost in any season during this period is all the more remarkable in that, for most of the decade, they played in the Norris division, which was made up exclusively of the weakest teams in the league. League alignment at the time saw that only the last place team in each division missed the playoffs, allowing the Leafs an easy route to the postseason, including qualifying in 1987-88 despite finishing 20th in a league of 21 teams. Regardless of the mediocre competition, the Leafs did not once during the decade win the Norris division.

Answer: He was the youngest GM in the history of the league.

Stellick is mostly remembered for trading speedy winger Russ Courtnall to Montreal for enforcer John Kordic, a trade ridiculed to this day. However, the trade is alleged to have been done under pressure to acquire toughness, and Stellick, to his credit, resigned after one year on the job due to differences with Ballard.

In any case, a 30-year-old with no experience as an NHL GM is a strange choice for the top management position for one of hockey's most storied franchises, and the Stellick experiment is one of many failures in Leafs history.

Answer: Dave Keon

Keon, a former captain who played for the Leafs from 1960 to 1975, and won four Stanley Cups with the team, is widely considered the best player ever to wear the blue and white. By 1975, Keon and Ballard's relationship had soured, and they could not agree on a new contract. Keon opted to leave for the WHL, where he remained for five years while Ballard repeatedly refused to trade his rights to other NHL teams, including turning down an offer for Keon from the New York Islanders as they were putting together the final pieces of their dynasty. Keon continued to hold a grudge against the Leafs after Ballard's death, saying in an interview once that "the new ownership was no different than Ballard," a statement that became somewhat prophetic as time went on.

Answer: Eric Lindros

Lindros and the Leafs had on many occasions tried to orchestrate a trade to bring him to Toronto while he played for the Flyers. The 2005 signing finally made the Ontario native's dream of playing for the Leafs a reality. However, by this time Lindros' effectiveness was compromised due to his susceptibility to injury and he was no longer the dominant player he had been a few years earlier with Philadelphia.

After a steady start with the Leafs, Lindros injured his wrist and had to be removed from the lineup.

He returned, but promptly re-aggravated the injury, ending his season for good. In all, the Eric Lindros era with the Maple Leafs lasted 33 regular season games.

Answer: The Leafs blew a three goal lead in the 3rd period.

The Leafs led the Bruins 4-1 with less than 11 minutes remaining before allowing the Bruins to come back to tie the game in the 3rd period and then win in overtime. No team in NHL history had ever blown as big a lead with as little time remaining in a game seven. Regardless of the historic collapse, many Leafs fans saw reason to be optimistic: the Leafs were the youngest team in the playoffs that year and had exceeded expectations by coming so close to eliminating the heavily favored Bruins. The following year, the Leafs would lose 12 of the final 16 games of the regular season to fall from 3rd to 12th in the conference, missing the playoffs for the eighth time in nine years.

Answer: Tyler Seguin

Seguin is often associated with the Leafs because he was selected second overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2010 entry draft with a pick that was acquired from the Leafs in a trade for Phil Kessel. The Leafs also gave up another first round draft pick that the Bruins used to select defense man Dougie Hamilton. The highly scrutinized trade brought the Leafs their most dynamic player since Mats Sundin while it gave the Bruins two effective young players, including Seguin who played a role in their 2011 Stanley Cup win.

Doug Jarvis was selected by the Leafs in 1975 and was traded to Montreal where he won four Stanley Cups. Fredrick Modine was drafted in 1994 and won the Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightening in 2004. Thomas Kaberle was drafted in 1996 and traded to Boston at the 2011 deadline where he won the Stanley Cup along with Seguin.

Answer: Ron Wilson

Even by Maple Leafs coaching standards, Ron Wilson's tenure was truly dismal. Upon his hiring in 2008, he was one of the most winning coaches in the NHL and had had international success with Team USA. He was soon joined by his personal friend and former teammate, Brian Burke, who was hired to be the GM, and the two were given the task of bringing the Leafs back to respectability. Three and a half seasons later, and with no visible improvement on the ice, Wilson was fired after chants of "fire Wilson" reigned down from the stands at home games.

At the end of season 2011-12, Burke was let go as GM, likely a victim of his unending patience and loyalty to Wilson.