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| Nap Milroy, who played for the Lethbridge Maple Leafs, who won the 1951 World championship, tells some stories to Neal Tarnasky, Dylan Tait and Mitch Maxwell of the Hurricanes. The latter three are modelling the jerseys the Hurricanes will wear to honour the Maple Leafs. (Photo by Josh Schroeder) |
The jerseys will be worn to honour the Lethbridge Maple Leafs who won the 1951 World championship in Paris, France.
“The sweaters are great, they are an exact duplicate of the sweaters we wore in 1951,” Tom Wood, who played for the 1951 champs, said in a press release. “I think they make a wonderful souvenir of that special event in the history of sport in the City of Lethbridge.”
The Maple Leafs dominated the opposition in Europe, going 6-0 while outscoring the other guys, 62-6. They beat Finland 11-1, Norway 8-0, England 17-1, the U.S. 16-2, and Switzerland 5-1, before taking care of Sweden 5-1 in the final.
The Maple Leafs moved from Paris to London, England, and won the Winston Churchill tournament, beating the U.S. 5-0 and an English all-star team, 4-3.
According to the press release issued by the Hurricanes:
“The Maple Leafs played in front of 400,000 people and travelled 30,000 miles through 14 countries in their four-month long adventure before heading home to be welcomed like heroes. Thousands celebrated the players by hosting a special banquet and holding a parade in their honour.”
Nap Milroy, who also played for the Maple Leafs, was on hand Monday as the jerseys were unveiled.
"I am very honored that the Hurricanes are wearing an exact replica of our jersey's from 1951,” he said. “We never would have guessed that our winning the (World championship) in 1951 would have had such a long lasting effect.”
For collectors, the limited edition jerseys are on sale via online auction right here.
For more on the Maple Leafs, check out this website right here. If you're a hockey fan, you will discover a real treasure. The people who put it together deserve a real pat on the back. We don’t spend nearly enough time remembering our past and this website is marvellous.
Unfortunately, the Maple Leafs didn’t get a whole lot of mention in Jim Coleman’s wonderful book Hockey Is Our Game (Canada in the World of International Hockey) but this website more than fills the void. Check it out. You’ll be glad you did. (I, for one, had no idea that Stan Obodiac, the legendary public relations man for Harold Ballard’s Toronto Maple Leafs, had played for the Lethbridge Maple Leafs.)
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