Although the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967 (a Cup run that I analyzed in November), the team has made the playoffs in eight straight seasons (if you count the bubble year), even if all but one of those appearances ended in a first-round defeat. This year the Leafs are looking sharp with a 16–9–2 record, good for second in the Atlantic Division, and as usual, Leafs fans have high hopes that this team could flip the script. But, there was an earlier time in Leafs’ history when high hopes were out the window. At this time, hopes were as low as possible, and the time in question was the 1984–85 NHL season.
Brief background on the Leafs’ team landscape in 1984–85
This era of Leafs hockey was very much an in-between phase as just 6–7 years earlier, the team was very much in the playoff mix with a strong core consisting of captain Darryl Sittler and Lanny MacDonald upfront, Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull on defence, and Mike Palmateer in net. This group had faired well leading the team in the post-Dave Keon era, bringing the team to eight straight playoff appearances including five second-round finishes and one trip to the conference final in 1978.
By the time the 1984–85 season rolled around, the only member of that core group that remained was a 33-year-old Salming who was past his prime. The year prior, the team had failed to qualify for the post-season with an abysmal record of 26–45–9 but hoped they could turn things around the following season.
The rag-tag roster in question
Starting with the forwards, the group was led by team captain Rick Vaive. Vaive was actually a solid winger for the Leafs and was given the captaincy following a 1981–82 season in which he put up 54 goals and 89 points in 77 games. The following two seasons Vaive continued to thrive in Toronto with point totals of 79 in 1982–83 and 93 in 1983–84, so coming into the 1984–85 season, expectations were high for the 25-year-old.
Accompanying Vaive on the offensive end were left winger John Anderson and centre Bill Derlago. Both had put up decent prior with Derlago producing 74 points for the Leafs in 1980–81 followed by 84 points in 1981–82, and Anderson with 80 points in 1982–83 and 68 points in 1983–84.
On defence, Leafs legend Salming remained through the retooling era, although he was not quite the defensive scorer that was during the mid to late 70s, producing under 50 points in the two seasons prior.
The new top dog on the back end, however, was the young-gun Jim Benning. Benning was just 21 years old coming into the 1984–85 season, and the year prior had contributed a career-best 51 points in 79 games.
Finally, there was rookie defenceman, Al Iafrete. Iafrate would go on to have a 12-season-long NHL career, but during the 1984–85 season, he was the fresh-faced 18-year-old fourth-overall pick from the 1984 NHL Draft making his debut for the Leafs.
Possibly the worst season in Maple Leafs History
If you thought I was about to tell you that this rag-tag group pulled off the impossible and went on a deep playoff run, then you probably didn’t read the title.
The season started out well with the Leafs picking up back-to-back overtime wins in their first two games against playoff-level competition in the Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota North Stars.
From there the season went downhill, as the team lost four games in a row which would continue to be the narrative for the rest of the season. Despite 60-plus point seasons by Vaive, Anderson and Derlago, the team would go on to finish with a league-worst 20–52–8 record, even worse than the year prior.
The story of the 1984–85 season does have somewhat of a silver lining as that poor performance earned the Leafs the No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 NHL Draft, which they used to select eventual captain and Leafs great, Wendel Clark.
The team also just so happened to follow arguably the worst season in franchise history with three trips in a row to the playoffs, the first two of which saw them make the second round. So, while the 1984–85 season was beyond rough, it did serve its purpose in the grand scheme of the team’s rebuild.
