1969–70 Toronto Maple Leafs season

1969–70 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division	6th East
1969–70 record	29–34–13
Goals for	222
Goals against	242
Team information
General manager	Jim Gregory
Coach	John McLellan
Captain	Dave Keon
Alternate captains	Ron Ellis Bob Pulford
Arena	Maple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
Goals	Ron Ellis (35)
Assists	Norm Ullman (42)
Points	Dave Keon (62)
Penalty minutes	Rick Ley (102)
Wins	Bruce Gamble (19)
Goals against average	Bruce Gamble (3.06)

The 1969–70 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 53rd season of play of the NHL Toronto franchise and 43rd as the Maple Leafs. After qualifying for the playoffs the previous season, the Leafs fell to last-place in the NHL East and did not qualify for the playoffs, marking the first time since 1958 that the club endured a last place finish.

Offseason

Punch Imlach's term as Maple Leafs' general manager ended after the 1969 playoffs. Jim Gregory, who had been an executive with the Toronto Marlboros was named general manager, the first new GM for the Maple Leafs since 1957.

NHL Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	9	Ernie Moser	Canada	Estevan Bruins (WCHL)
2	20	Doug Brindley	Canada	Niagara Falls Flyers (OHA)
3	31	Larry McIntyre	Canada	Moose Jaw Canucks (SJHL)
4	43	Frank Hughes	Canada	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
5	55	Brian Spencer	Canada	Moose Jaw Canucks (SJHL)
6	67	Bob Neufeld	Canada	Dauphin Kings (MJHL)

Regular season

Season standings

East Division

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Chicago Black Hawks	76	45	22	9	250	170	+80	99
2	Boston Bruins	76	40	17	19	277	216	+61	99
3	Detroit Red Wings	76	40	21	15	246	199	+47	95
4	New York Rangers	76	38	22	16	246	189	+57	92
5	Montreal Canadiens	76	38	22	16	244	201	+43	92
6	Toronto Maple Leafs	76	29	34	13	222	242	−20	71

Record vs. opponents

Vs. East Division

1969–70 NHL records
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	MTL	NYR	TOR	Total
Boston	—	3–3–2	1–2–5	2–3–3	4–4	4–3–1	14–15–11
Chicago	3–3–2	—	4–4	4–4	4–1–3	4–3–1	19–15–6
Detroit	2–1–5	4–4	—	4–2–2	2–4–2	6–2	18–13–9
Montreal	3–2–3	4–4	2–4–2	—	4–3–1	4–1–3	17–14–9
New York	4–4	1–4–3	4–2–2	3–4–1	—	6–2	18–16–6
Toronto	3–4–1	3–4–1	2–6	1–4–3	2–6	—	11–24–5

Vs. West Division

1969–70 NHL records
Team	LAK	MIN	OAK	PHI	PIT	STL	Total
Boston	5–0–1	4–1–1	5–0–1	4–0–2	5–0–1	3–1–2	26–2–8
Chicago	5–1	3–2–1	3–3	4–0–2	6–0	4–2	25–8–3
Detroit	6–0	1–1–4	4–2	3–1–2	4–2	4–2	22–8–6
Montreal	6–0	2–2–2	3–2–1	4–0–2	4–2	2–2–2	21–8–7
New York	4–1–1	3–1–2	5–1	0–0–6	4–1–1	4–2	20–6–10
Toronto	3–1–2	2–2–2	4–1–1	3–2–1	2–2–2	4–2	18–10–8

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 11, 1969	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	0–1–0
2	T	October 15, 1969	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	0–1–1
3	W	October 18, 1969	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	1–1–1
4	L	October 19, 1969	0–1	@ New York Rangers (1969–70)	1–2–1
5	L	October 22, 1969	3–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	1–3–1
6	W	October 25, 1969	4–2	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	2–3–1
7	W	October 29, 1969	4–2	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	3–3–1
8	L	November 1, 1969	2–3	New York Rangers (1969–70)	3–4–1
9	T	November 2, 1969	4–4	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	3–4–2
10	W	November 4, 1969	5–2	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	4–4–2
11	L	November 5, 1969	2–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	4–5–2
12	L	November 8, 1969	3–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	4–6–2
13	L	November 9, 1969	0–9	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	4–7–2
14	L	November 12, 1969	0–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	4–8–2
15	W	November 15, 1969	4–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	5–8–2
16	T	November 19, 1969	4–4	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	5–8–3
17	W	November 22, 1969	4–0	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	6–8–3
18	W	November 23, 1969	3–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	7–8–3
19	L	November 26, 1969	1–3	Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	7–9–3
20	W	November 29, 1969	5–2	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	8–9–3
21	L	November 30, 1969	1–4	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	8–10–3
22	T	December 3, 1969	5–5	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	8–10–4
23	W	December 6, 1969	5–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	9–10–4
24	L	December 7, 1969	2–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	9–11–4
25	L	December 10, 1969	3–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	9–12–4
26	L	December 11, 1969	3–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	9–13–4
27	L	December 13, 1969	1–3	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	9–14–4
28	W	December 14, 1969	3–1	@ New York Rangers (1969–70)	10–14–4
29	L	December 20, 1969	2–5	New York Rangers (1969–70)	10–15–4
30	W	December 21, 1969	3–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	11–15–4
31	W	December 24, 1969	8–1	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	12–15–4
32	L	December 26, 1969	1–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	12–16–4
33	W	December 27, 1969	4–1	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	13–16–4
34	T	December 31, 1969	1–1	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	13–16–5
35	W	January 3, 1970	6–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	14–16–5
36	T	January 4, 1970	4–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	14–16–6
37	T	January 7, 1970	3–3	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	14–16–7
38	W	January 10, 1970	4–3	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	15–16–7
39	L	January 14, 1970	1–7	New York Rangers (1969–70)	15–17–7
40	L	January 15, 1970	0–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	15–18–7
41	W	January 17, 1970	4–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	16–18–7
42	W	January 22, 1970	3–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	17–18–7
43	L	January 23, 1970	3–6	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	17–19–7
44	W	January 25, 1970	3–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	18–19–7
45	T	January 28, 1970	4–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	18–19–8
46	W	January 31, 1970	4–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	19–19–8
47	L	February 1, 1970	6–7	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	19–20–8
48	W	February 4, 1970	1–0	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	20–20–8
49	L	February 5, 1970	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	20–21–8
50	W	February 7, 1970	5–1	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	21–21–8
51	T	February 11, 1970	3–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	21–21–9
52	T	February 12, 1970	3–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	21–21–10
53	W	February 14, 1970	4–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	22–21–10
54	L	February 15, 1970	4–6	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	22–22–10
55	W	February 18, 1970	5–3	Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	23–22–10
56	L	February 21, 1970	5–7	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	23–23–10
57	L	February 22, 1970	3–5	@ New York Rangers (1969–70)	23–24–10
58	W	February 25, 1970	4–1	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	24–24–10
59	T	February 28, 1970	3–3	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	24–24–11
60	L	March 1, 1970	0–8	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	24–25–11
61	W	March 3, 1970	4–1	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	25–25–11
62	W	March 5, 1970	5–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	26–25–11
63	L	March 7, 1970	3–8	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	26–26–11
64	L	March 11, 1970	1–3	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	26–27–11
65	W	March 14, 1970	2–1	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	27–27–11
66	T	March 15, 1970	3–3	Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	27–27–12
67	L	March 18, 1970	4–7	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	27–28–12
68	W	March 21, 1970	2–0	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	28–28–12
69	W	March 22, 1970	5–2	@ New York Rangers (1969–70)	29–28–12
70	L	March 25, 1970	2–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	29–29–12
71	T	March 28, 1970	1–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	29–29–13
72	L	March 29, 1970	0–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	29–30–13
73	L	April 1, 1970	1–2	New York Rangers (1969–70)	29–31–13
74	L	April 2, 1970	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	29–32–13
75	L	April 4, 1970	2–4	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	29–33–13
76	L	April 5, 1970	1–3	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	29–34–13

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Dave Keon	C	72	32	30	62	6	9	2	4
Norm Ullman	C	74	18	42	60	37	4	1	0
Mike Walton	C	58	21	34	55	68	7	0	6
Ron Ellis	RW	76	35	19	54	14	6	1	3
Murray Oliver	C	76	14	33	47	16	5	0	3
Jim McKenny	D	73	11	33	44	34	3	0	0
Paul Henderson	RW	67	20	22	42	18	5	0	4
Bob Pulford	LW	74	18	19	37	31	3	0	1
George Armstrong	RW	49	13	15	28	12	2	0	3
Brit Selby	LW	74	10	13	23	40	1	0	3
Tim Horton	D	59	3	19	22	91	1	0	1
Floyd Smith	RW	61	4	14	18	13	0	0	0
Jim Harrison	C	31	7	10	17	36	1	0	0
Jim Dorey	D	46	6	11	17	99	0	0	0
Rick Ley	D	48	2	13	15	102	1	0	0
Brian Glennie	D	52	1	14	15	50	0	0	0
Terry Clancy	RW	52	6	5	11	31	0	0	1
Pat Quinn	D	59	0	5	5	88	0	0	0
Mike Pelyk	D	36	1	3	4	37	0	0	0
Doug Acomb	C	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Wayne Carleton	LW	7	0	1	1	6	0	0	0
Marv Edwards	G	13	0	1	1	24	0	0	0
Bruce Gamble	G	52	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ken Murray	D	1	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Marcel Pronovost	D	7	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Ron Ward	C	18	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Johnny Bower	G	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Evans	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Danny Johnson	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Larry McIntyre	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gerry McNamara	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Randy Murray	D	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Gord Nelson	D	3	0	0	0	11	0	0	0
Brian Spencer	LW	9	0	0	0	12	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Bruce Gamble	3057	52	19	24	9	156	3.06	5
Marv Edwards	728	13	5	4	2	37	3.25	1
Johnny Bower	632	12	4	10	0	55	4.728	0
Gerry McNamara	23	2	0	0	0	2	5.22	0
Team:	4560	76	29	34	13	260	3.19	6

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Playoffs

• The Maple Leafs did not qualify for the postseason

Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1969–70 season.

Trades

December 10, 1969	To Boston Bruins Wayne Carleton	To Toronto Maple Leafs Jim Harrison
February 1, 1970	To Los Angeles Kings Gary Marsh	To Toronto Maple Leafs Jacques Lemieux
March 3, 1970	To New York Rangers Tim Horton	To Toronto Maple Leafs Denis Dupere
May 1, 1970	To Vancouver Canucks (WHL) Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Brad Selwood Rene Robert
May 18, 1970	To St. Louis Blues Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Jacques Plante
May 22, 1970	To Phoenix Roadrunners (WHL) Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Chris Evans Tom Martin
May 22, 1970	To Minnesota North Stars Murray Oliver	To Toronto Maple Leafs Terry O'Malley Brian Conacher

Intra-League Draft

June 9, 1970	From New York Rangers Guy Trottier
June 9, 1970	To Detroit Red Wings Tom Martin

Reverse Draft

June 9, 1970

To Vancouver Canucks (WHL) John Wright

Expansion Draft

June 10, 1970

To Vancouver Canucks Danny Johnson

Free agents

Player Former Team Doug Acomb Undrafted Free Agent Bob Liddington Undrafted Free Agent Brian Marchinko Undrafted Free Agent Gordie Nelson Undrafted Free Agent Ken Murray Undrafted Free Agent

References

• Maple Leafs on Hockey Database