Darryl Sittler Darryl Sittler ( b . September 18th 1950 in Kitchener , Ontario , Canada ) is a former professional centre who played in the National Hockey League chiefly for the Toronto Maple Leafs , but also for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings . A junior " B " player with the Elmira Sugar Kings , Sittler was drafted to the OHA by the London Nationals ( who became the next season the London Knights ) , where he played under former NHL stars Turk Broda and Bep Guidolin . In 1970 , Sittler was picked eighth overall by the Maple Leafs in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft . In 1975 , he became Leafs ' captain after Leafs management asked Dave Keon , then 35 years old , to pass the role on . During his first season as a captain , Sittler scored 41 goal s and 59 assist s , en route to his first 100 points campaign . It was also the first time in the history of the Maple Leafs that a player scored 100 points in a season . It is during that season , on February 7th 1976 , that Sittler established the NHL record for the most points in a match , with ten ( 6 goals 4 assists ) in a win over the Boston Bruins . During the 1976 Stanley Cup playoffs , he scored five goals in a match against the Philadelphia Flyers , tying the record for the most game in a single playoffs game . On that summer , he helped the Canadian National Team beat the Czechoslovaks in the inaugural Canada Cup by scoring the overtime winning goal of the tournament . In 1977 - 78 , strong of a 117 points season , Sittler finished third in the NHL in scoring ( behind Guy Lafleur and Bryan Trottier ) and was named to the Second All - Star team . In the playoffs , his Leafs upset the New York Islanders in the quarter - finals before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the Confwerence finals . Troubled times . Starting in 1978 , Sittler ' s relationships with the Maple Leafs organization , especially with owner Harold Ballard began to deteriorate . Slowly at first , things accelerated when Ballard hired Punch Imlach as general manager in July 1979 . The thing was that Ballard and Imlach had strained relations with NHLPA executive Alan Eagleson , who happened to be the player agent of over a dozen Maple Leafs players , including Darryl Sittler and his best friend and linemate , Lanny McDonald . With Imlach believing that Sittler had too much influence on the team , much was done to try to undermine that authority the Leafs captain had on his teammates . He went as far as going to court to try to get an injunction preventing Sittler and Mike Palmateer from appearing on the TV Show Showdown , an appearance that had been negociated by the NHLPA . Imlach later openly declared he was willing to listen to offers for Sittler from other teams ; problem was , Sittler had a no - trade clause in his contract . His agent , Eagleson , said it would cost the Leafs $ 500 , 000 to break that clause . That sum being too much for them , Imlach , rather than trade Sittler away , decided to trade his best friend McDonald , to one of the worst team of the league on top of that , the Colorado Rockies , on December 29th 1979 . Sittler responded to that by ripping the captain ' s " C " off his sweater . Ballard likened the act to burning the Canadian flag . Through the 1980 summer , Ballard insisted that Sittler wouldn ' t be back with the Leafs . However , before the start of the 1980 - 81 season , both Ballard and Sittler appeared together at a news conference , both smiling and seemingly bond by friendship , to announce that Darryl Sittler would indeed be back at the training camp - Sittler even showed up with the C on his sweater . He had arranged talks with Ballards on his own , while Imlach was hospitalized after suffering a second heart attack . Ballard , at said conference , mentioned that the real battle was between Imlach and Eagleson , and that Sittler had just been unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire . The next season , Ballard deemed Imlach ' s health to be too poor to assume his functions in the organization ; Gerry McNamara took his place . But Sittler ' s relationship with the Leafs organization by no means got better , even with Imlach gone . Eventually , it came to the point where Sittler told Ballard he was willing to waive his no - trade clause if he was to be traded to either the Philadelphia Flyers or the Minnesota North Stars . In the first week of December , Eagleson had agreed to terms with both the Flyers ' owner Ed Snider and the North Stars ' Lou Nanne . But despite that , it took another seven weeks before any move would be done ; meanwhile , Sittler had added the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders to the list of teams he was willing to be dealt to . Further pressure on the Leafs ' management came on January 5th 1982 when , on advice from his physician , Sittler walked out of the Leafs , saying he was " mentally depressed " by the interminable amount of time it took for a trade to occur . Fifteen days later , Darryl was traded to the Flyers for Rich Costello , the Hartford Whalers ' second round draft pick in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft ( who turned out to be Peter Ihnačák ) and future considerations , who turned out to be Ken Strong . It turned out to be a pretty small return for the Leafs , as only Peter Ihnačák played regularly with the team . Ironically , Imlach himself had turned down a Flyers offer in 1980 , who were said to be giving no less than Rick MacLeish and André Dupont for Sittler ' s services . Post - Leafs era . In his first season in Philadelphia , Sittler took part to the NHL All - Star game for a fourth time . After two seasons spent with the Flyers , Sittler was told he was to be named Flyers ' captain . On the day of the announcement , instead of giving him the team ' s captainship , newly appointed GM Bobby Clarke told Sittler he had been traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Murray Craven and Joe Paterson . Sittler would later describe this incident as the biggest disappointement of his life . He considered retiring and refused to report to the Wings for a few days . He however decided to join the team , a decision that proved bad for him , as Wings ' head coach Nick Polano wasn ' t very eager to give him playing time - Sittler had a quite unproductive season , which saw him achieve the worst goals - per - game average of his whole career . Detroit bought out his contract at the end of the season , and he refused a one - year offer from the Vancouver Canucks , preferring retirement . Non - playing days . Sittler was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989 . In 1991 , the Leafs ' new GM , Cliff Fletcher , offered him a role with the team as consultant , a role he accepted . That happened one year after Ballard ' s death .