Toronto St . Pats " This article is about the National Hockey League team . " " For the amateur team that played in the Ontario Hockey Association , please see the Toronto St Patricks . " The Toronto St . Patricks professional team started as an amateur ice hockey organization . In 1919 , the club purchased the Toronto National Hockey League ( NHL ) franchise from the Arena Company and the NHL . The club renamed the franchise the Toronto St . Patricks club and operated the franchise until 1927 , when it was sold to a partnership of Conn Smythe and Toronto investors . The club won the Stanley Cup in 1922 . Club history . The St . Pats organization had operated amateur hockey clubs in the Toronto area since the first decade of the 1900s , including the senior amateur Toronto St Patricks team in the Ontario Hockey Association . The Toronto NHL franchise , since the NHL ' s founding in 1917 , had been operated by the Arena Company , operators of the Arena Gardens arena in Toronto . The franchise and the NHL itself , were involved in litigation with the owner of the Toronto NHA franchise , Eddie Livingstone . While the legal battles were going on , the club had a successful season in 1917 - 18 , winning the Stanley Cup , but the following season saw a steep drop - off and the club did not finish the season . Before the 1919 – 20 season , the Arena Company stated that it wished to get out of managing the team . Manager Charlie Querrie , who also managed the Toronto Tecumsehs lacrosse club , at first had the club name changed to Tecumsehs on December 7 , 1919 . The following day , Querrie reached agreement with the Toronto St Patricks club of amateur ice hockey to purchase the franchise . Frank Heffernan was named as manager . On December 13 , 1919 , the NHL , under the direction of Frank Calder transferred the Toronto franchise to the Toronto St . Pats group , for the fee of $ 5 , 000 . The incorporation date of the club was December 22 , 1919 , and listed Fred Hambly , Percy Hambly , Paul Ciceri and Querrie with 99 shares each , and Richard Greer with 4 shares . In 1919 – 20 , the franchise basically started over . Although Charlie Querrie returned , player turnover was nearly 100 % , partly because the Quebec NHL franchise was activating for this season , and players were being returned to the club , and the poor performance of the previous season , and the turnover in franchise management . The club improved to second and third place finishes in the halves of the schedule . In 1920 – 21 , the club placed second and first in the schedule halves , enough to make a playoff appearance . Unfortunately , the ' Super Six ' of Ottawa would dominate the club 7 – 0 in a two - game total goals playoff . The experience would be helpful in the following season , however . In the 1921 – 22 season , the St . Pats made their first and only appearance in the Stanley Cup Final . After placing second in the league standings , the club upset first place Ottawa to win the NHL championship and face Vancouver in the final . A fifth and deciding game five was necessary in this series to determine who would win the Cup . After Vancouver won game one , 4 – 3 , Babe Dye scored 4 : 50 into overtime of game two to give Toronto a 2 – 1 win . Then in game three , goaltender Hugh Lehman led the Millionaires to a 3 – 0 shutout win . However , the St . Patricks tied the series in game four , 6 – 0 , as John Ross Roach became the first rookie goaltender to record a Stanley Cup shutout . game five belonged to Toronto as Dye scored 4 goals in a 5 – 1 victory to clinch the Cup . For the series , Dye scored 9 out of the St . Pats 16 goals , while Roach posted a 1 . 80 goals - against average . In the following two seasons , the St . Pats would miss the playoffs with third place finishes . In 1924 – 25 , the club would place second and play off against the Montreal Canadiens . While Hamilton had played first , the club was on strike , making the St . Pats - Canadiens semi - final the de facto final . The Canadiens would win the playoff to advance to the Stanley Cup Final . In 1925 – 26 , the club struggled to a sixth placing , finishing behind the expansion Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Americans . Top scorer Babe Dye struggled and the club finished sixth out of seven teams . The Canadiens had lost their top goalie Georges Vezina and placed last . In 1926 – 27 , the club finished fifth and last in the new Canadian division . Dye was sold to the new Chicago Black Hawks team for cash . The club was in trouble in 1927 , both on the ice and legally . Querrie lost a lawsuit to Livingstone and decided to put the St . Pats up for sale . He gave serious consideration to a $ 200 , 000 bid from a Philadelphia group . However , Toronto Varsity Graduates coach Conn Smythe put together an ownership group of his own and made a $ 160 , 000 offer for the franchise . With the support of St . Pats shareholder J . P . Bickell , Smythe persuaded Querrie to reject the Philadelphia bid , arguing that civic pride was more important than money . Seasons . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , OTL = Overtime losses , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes , TG = Playoff series decided on total goals "