Lethbridge Maple Leafs Hockey Club, World's Amateur Champions (3499500992)

The Lethbridge Maple Leafs were, at times, a senior, intermediate, and junior ice hockey team that operated out of

Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains contribute to t ...

. They are best known for winning the 1951

World Ice Hockey Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

. The Maple Leafs were a men's

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisd ...

team from Lethbridge,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

formed in 1936, playing in the Alberta Senior Hockey League. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Maple Leafs played in the

Western Canada Senior Hockey League The Western Canada Senior Hockey League was a senior ice hockey league that played six seasons in Alberta and Saskatchewan, from 1945 to 1951. The league produced the 1946 Allan Cup and the 1948 Allan Cup champions, and merged into the Pacific Coast ...

. In 1950, they captured the Western Canadian Championship. The Maple Leafs were selected to represent Canada at the 1951 World Championships in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

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. Coached by Dick Gray, the Maple Leafs won the gold medal, following which they embarked on a

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an tour. They entered the first Sir Winston Churchill Cup Competition, winning the gold medal. During their European tour, they played 62 games winning 51, tying 4, and losing 7 of them. The team's tour was overseen by Frank Sargent, a past-president of the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included ...

. He stated the Lethbridge Maple Leafs were the best goodwill ambassadors the Canada could have had, describing them as gentlemanly and well-behaved. The 1951 Lethbridge Maple Leafs team was inducted to the

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, dedicated to the preservation and history of sports within the province. It was created in 1957 by the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union (AAAU). The museum ...

in 1974.

Senior team

West Kootenay League (1937-38)

1937-38: 2nd in East, Lost Semi Final

Alberta Senior Hockey League (1938-42)

1938-39: 1st, Won Final, Lost West Semi-Final 1939-40: 2nd, Lost Semi Final 1940-41: 1st, Won Final, Lost West Final 1941-42: 2nd, Won Final, Lost West Semi-Final

Western Canada Senior Hockey League (1946-49)

1946-47: 3rd, Lost Final 1947-48: 4th, Lost Semi-Final 1948-49: 4th, Lost Semi-Final

Intermediate team

The Maple Leafs won the provincial titles in 1936-37 and 1949–50, In both these years they won the Western Canada title as well. Their 1949-50 title led to them being chosen as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

's representative in the 1951 World Ice Hockey Championships. Prior to that competition they went on a European tour. They then won the World Championship. The team continued to compete into the late 1950s.

1951 World Championship roster

Ken Branch Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

Bill Chandler William Stephen Chandler (August 27, 1895 – May 23, 1953) was an American basketball and baseball coach. He served as the head basketball coach at River Falls State Normal School—now known as the University of Wisconsin–River Falls—fr ...

Dinny Flanagan Denis William Flanagan (July 22, 1930 – November 25, 2018) was a Canadian ice hockey player with the Lethbridge Maple Leafs. He won a gold medal at the 1951 World Ice Hockey Championships in Paris, France. The 1951 Lethbridge Maple Leafs team w ...

Bill Flick William John Flick (March 10, 1927 – March 20, 2018), was a Canadian ice hockey player. He was born in Guelph, Ontario. In 1947 he made the Stratford Indians Senior Men's amateur hockey team. In the same year he was traded to the Kitchener W ...

* Bill Gibson * Dick Gray (Coach) *

Mallie Hughes Maldwyn D. Hughes (October 13, 1921 – March 18, 1995) was a Canadian ice hockey player with the Lethbridge Maple Leafs. He won a gold medal at the 1951 World Ice Hockey Championships in Paris, France. The 1951 Lethbridge Maple Leafs team was ...

Bert Knibbs Bert Monroe Knibbs (March 3, 1924 – July 31, 1998), was a Canadian ice hockey player with the Lethbridge Maple Leafs. He won a gold medal at the 1951 World Ice Hockey Championships in Paris, France. The 1951 Lethbridge Maple Leafs team ...

Jim Malacko James I. Malacko (May 27, 1930 – December 25, 2016) was a Canadian ice hockey player with the Lethbridge Maple Leafs. Known as "Shorty", he was on the team which won a gold medal at the 1951 World Ice Hockey Championships in Paris, France. ...

* Robert McGregor *

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

* Nap Milroy *

Hector Negrello Hector Negrello (March 10, 1921 – June 9, 2000) was a Canadian ice hockey player with the Lethbridge Maple Leafs. He won a gold medal at the 1951 World Ice Hockey Championships in Paris, France. The 1951 Lethbridge Maple Leafs team was ...

Stan Obodiac Stanley Obodiac (February 7, 1922 – November 3, 1984) was a Canadian ice hockey player with the Lethbridge Maple Leafs. He won a gold medal at the 1951 World Ice Hockey Championships in Paris, France. The 1951 Lethbridge Maple Leafs team wa ...

* Walter Rimstad * Mickey Roth * Lou Siray * Carl Sorokoski * Jack Sumner * Don Vogan * Tom Wood

NHL alumni

Thirteen alumni of the Lethbridge Maple Leafs also played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

.legendsofhockey alumni search
/ref> * Viv Allen *

Garth Boesch Garth Vernon Boesch (October 7, 1920 – May 14, 1998) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs between 1946 and 1950. He won the Stanley Cup three times with Toronto, from 1947 to ...

* Jack Evans * Joe Fisher * Bing Juckes * Alex Kaleta * Bob Kirkpatrick * Odie Lowe *

Jake Milford John Calverley "Jake" Milford (July 29, 1914 – December 24, 1984) was a general manager in the National Hockey League. In the early sixties, Milford built the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League into a powerhouse winning ...

* Tony Savage * Sweeney Schriner * Peter Slobodian * Ken Stewart

References

{{Reflist Alberta Senior Hockey League * Defunct ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey teams in Alberta Senior ice hockey teams Sport in Lethbridge Ice hockey teams representing Canada internationally 1936 establishments in Alberta Ice hockey clubs established in 1936