# 1971–72 Toronto Maple Leafs season

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.

## 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.

### Final standings

East Division vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 54 | 13 | 11 | 330 | 204 | +126 | 119 |
| 2 | New York Rangers | 78 | 48 | 17 | 13 | 317 | 192 | +125 | 109 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 46 | 16 | 16 | 307 | 205 | +102 | 108 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 33 | 31 | 14 | 209 | 208 | +1 | 80 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 33 | 35 | 10 | 261 | 262 | −1 | 76 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 16 | 43 | 19 | 203 | 289 | −86 | 51 |
| 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 203 | 297 | −94 | 48 |

### 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 |
| Norm Ullman | 77 | 23 | 50 | 73 | 26 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Paul Henderson | 73 | 38 | 19 | 57 | 32 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 5 |
| Dave Keon | 72 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Ron Ellis | 78 | 23 | 24 | 47 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Jim Harrison | 66 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 104 | -4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim McKenny | 76 | 5 | 31 | 36 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Darryl Sittler | 74 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 44 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Garry Monahan | 78 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 47 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Jim Dorey | 50 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 56 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Guy Trottier | 52 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 16 | -12 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Brad Selwood | 72 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 58 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Billy MacMillan | 61 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 39 | -1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Denis Dupere | 77 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Kehoe | 38 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 4 | -1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Donnie Marshall | 50 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Ley | 67 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 124 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Baun | 74 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 101 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Glennie | 61 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 44 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pierre Jarry | 18 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 13 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Brian Spencer | 36 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 65 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Pelyk | 46 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 44 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bernie Parent | 47 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Marchinko | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry O'Flaherty | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Bernie Parent | 2715 | 47 | 17 | 18 | 9 | 116 | 2.56 | 3 |
| Jacques Plante | 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 |
| Dave Keon | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norm Ullman | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim McKenny | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Henderson | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Ellis | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Harrison | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Guy Trottier | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre Jarry | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Baun | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denis Dupere | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Glennie | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Kehoe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Ley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy MacMillan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Donnie Marshall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garry Monahan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bernie Parent | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Pelyk | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brad Selwood | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darryl Sittler | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

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

## Transactions

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

### Trades

| August 20, 1971 | To Detroit Red WingsBrian Conacher | To Toronto Maple LeafsCash |
| August 30, 1971 | To Montreal CanadiensCash | To Toronto Maple LeafsTerry Clancy |
| September 27, 1971 | To Vancouver CanucksDoug Brindley | To Toronto Maple LeafsAndre Hinse |
| February 20, 1972 | To New York RangersJim Dorey | To Toronto Maple LeafsPierre Jarry |

### Intra-League Draft

| June 5, 1972 | From Montreal CanadiensLarry Pleau |
| June 5, 1972 | To Montreal CanadiensBrad Selwood |
| June 5, 1972 | To Vancouver CanucksGerry O'Flaherty |

### Expansion Draft

| June 6, 1972 | To Atlanta FlamesBilly MacMillan |
| June 6, 1972 | To New York IslandersBrian Marchinko |
| June 6, 1972 | To New York IslandersBrian Spencer |

### Reverse Draft

| June 8, 1972 | To California Golden SealsMarv Edwards |

### Free agents

| Player | Former Team |
| Lyle Moffat | Undrafted Free Agent |
| Joe Lundrigan | Undrafted Free Agent |
| Gord McRae | 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 | Rick Kehoe | Canada | Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) |
| 2 | 23 | Dave Fortier | Canada | St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA) |
| 3 | 30 | Ralph Hopiavuori | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OHA) |
| 3 | 37 | Gavin Kirk | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OHA) |
| 4 | 51 | Rick Cunningham | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHA) |
| 5 | 65 | Bob Sykes | Canada | Sudbury Wolves (NOHA) |
| 6 | 79 | Mike Ruest | Canada | Cornwall Royals (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 93 | Dale Smedsmo | United States | Bemidji State University (WCHA) |
| 7 | 98 | Steve Johnson | Canada | Verdun Maple Leafs (QMJHL) |
| 8 | 107 | Bob Burns | Canada | Royal Military College (CIAU) |