The Toronto Maple Leafs were a professional

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

team in the

National Lacrosse Association The National Lacrosse Association was a professional box lacrosse league that operated in 1968–1969 with teams from both the United States and Canada. Due to poor attendance, the league folded in March 1969. After the folding, two teams (t ...

. The team is likely named in honour of the team with the same named that played one season in 1931 with the International Lacrosse League at the

Mutual Street Arena Mutual Street Arena, initially called Arena Gardens or just the Arena, was an ice hockey arena and sports and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1912 until 1931, with the opening of Maple Leaf Gardens, it was the premier site o ...

. The team started out in the senior A league in 1966. In 1968, the professional NLA was launched and the Maple Leafs joined the league, playing their home games at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

Stafford Smythe Conn Stafford Smythe (March 15, 1921 – October 13, 1971) was the son of Conn Smythe and president of Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. and the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team from 1961–1969 and from 1970 until his death. Early years Born in Toronto, ...

and

Harold Ballard Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 – April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as their home arena, Maple ...

, part owners of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

, were two of the five founding partners of the pro club, but financial difficulties forced Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. to take over ownership of the club midway through the season. The NLA suspended operations prior to the following season. However, the eastern division of the NLA reconstituted itself as the Eastern Professional Lacrosse Association, in which the Maple Leafs competed in 1969. By 1970 the pro league had disbanded. Toronto would be without pro box lacrosse until the arrival of the

Toronto Tomahawks The Toronto Tomahawks were a team in the original National Lacrosse League. The Tomahawks played their home games at Maple Leaf Gardens during the league's first season in 1974 and compiled a 17–23 record. This placed them fifth out of six teams ...

in 1974.

References

Maple Leafs Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment 1966 establishments in Ontario Lacrosse clubs established in 1966 {{lacrosse-stub