Last week, Auston Matthews officially became the 26th captain in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise, assuming the ‘C’ from John Tavares as part of a long-planned transition. In becoming captain, Matthews now joins a celebrated group of some of the organization’s biggest icons who bore the privilege and responsibility of the captaincy.
If we were to look at the best of that decorated group, we’d likely have to go back a ways to those whose leadership brought Stanley Cup triumphs. “Chief” George Armstrong’s 11 seasons as captain produced four Cups, while legendary Maple Leafs like Syl Apps and Ted “Teeder” Kennedy also oversaw championship victories while donning the ‘C’.
But even while the post-Expansion era hasn’t yielded anything in the way of Cups (as Leafs fans are regularly reminded), the ‘C’ has adorned the jersey of many Toronto greats. In recognition of the torch being passed from Tavares to Matthews and, with it, the anointment of the franchise’s 10th captain since their last Cup, let’s rank the nine men to have been named captain since the Maple Leafs were last champions.
9. Rob Ramage
Amongst an esteemed group of Maple Leafs, many of whom with names and numbers hanging in the rafters of Scotiabank Arena, it’s a little jarring to see Rob Ramage included in the list of former captains. Although he was a 15-year NHL defenseman and a two-time Cup champion, most fans are most likely to remember him as the impaired driver at the wheel in the collision that killed former Chicago Blackhawk Keith Magnuson.
Ramage was traded to the Maple Leafs from the Calgary Flames following their Cup-winning 1988-89 season and was immediately named captain after the organization had gone two seasons without one. The club actually saw a 10-win improvement during his first season in Toronto on the strength of Gary Leeman’s 51-goal campaign, but quickly fell 4-1 to the St. Louis Blues in the division semifinals. By the following season, they had regressed back to fifth in the Norris Division with just 23 wins before Ramage was left to be claimed by the Minnesota North Stars in the confusing 1991 expansion draft.
8. Rick Vaive
Nowadays, Rick Vaive is an esteemed Maple Leafs alumnus and ambassador of the organization, fondly remembered as the club’s first 50-goal scorer. In fact, he hit the lofty 50-goal mark three seasons in a row. The fact that none of those seasons (1981-82, 1982-83…
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