Toronto Maple Leafs Forgotten Player in the Top 100

Toronto Maple Leafs released their top 100 players of All-Time on Friday in honor of their centennial celebration season. Some questionable names made the list, while a few others were left off completely. One of those forgotten players stands out for personal reasons.

Celebrating their centennial season in 2016-17, the Toronto Maple Leafs released their list of top 100 players of all-time on Friday. It was a vote by 30 members of the Leafs centennial committee with the 31st vote coming from the fans.

Overall, the organization did a great job constructing the list with a top 10 that is difficult to argue with.

Here’s what it looks like (the full top 100 can be found here):

1. Dave Keon
2. Syl Apps
3. Ted Kennedy
4. Darryl Sittler
5. Mats Sundin
6. Tim Horton
7. Johnny Bower
8. Borje Salming
9. Frank Mahovlich
10. Turk Broda

While you could find reasons to argue for some of the rankings in the top 100, give the centennial committee credit for targeting the right players (for the most part). That being said, there are some players that left this writer scratching his head in curiosity. It’s not offense to the likes of Alexander Mogilny, Gary Roberts, Ed Belfour, or Ed Olczyk, but their tenures with the team were fairly short-lived. Then, you’ve got players like Todd “Giveaway” Gill and Brian Glennie cracking the top 100.

The Forgotten Maple Leaf

You can call it personal bias if you must, but I can name a more successful, longer tenured Maple Leaf more deserving than all six players listed above.

His name is Bill Thoms.

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Where does the personal connection come in? Well, Bill Thoms was my grandmother’s uncle (brother of her father). William “Bill” David Thoms was born on March 5th, 1910 in Newmarket, Ontario.

The 5’10 168lbs center made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1932-33 as a 22-year-old posting 12 points in 29 games. Charlie Conacher (11th all-time) was the same age as Thoms but in his 4th season with the team. He finished the 32-33 season second on the team in points with 33. Leading the team in scoring that year was 21-year-old Harvey “Busher” Jackson (16th all-time) with 44 points in 48 games.

In 1933-34, Bill Thoms finished fifth in team scoring with 26 points in 47 games and was named to the NHL All-Star Game. Leading the way in points was Conacher (52), Joe Primeau (46), Jackson (38), and King Clancy (28). All four of those gentlemen fared very well on the top 100.

Skipping two years ahead to 1935-36. Thoms had a career year in his 4th season with the Maple Leafs (even though it wasn’t his highest point total). He racked up 23 goals, 15 assists (38 points) in 48 games. He tied Charlie Conacher with an identical stat line, although Conacher played four fewer games. Thoms and Conacher finished tied for the league lead in goals that season.

Thoms played an integral role in the Maple Leafs playoff run that year. He finished second in team scoring with eight points (in nine games) behind only Frank “Buzz” Boll. Unfortunately, Toronto fell short to Detroit in the Stanley Cup Final. Bill Thoms was later voted to the second All-star Team in 1935-36 for his impressive 23-goal campaign.

Thomas spent a little over six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs to begin his NHL career. He was eventually traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1938-39 in exchange for Elwyn “Doc” Romnes. Romnes only played 36 games for Toronto before joining the New York Americans a year later. His NHL career would abruptly end 14 games later. Bill Thoms played nearly seven seasons with the Blackhawks before splitting his final year in 1944-45 between Chicago and Boston.

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Bill Thoms had a successful career. To be able to have your name alongside the likes of Charlie Conacher for the NHL lead in goals is an incredible feat. You have to wonder whether a Stanley Cup ring (or lack thereof) has anything to do with the decision to keep him off the list?

To be fair, timing and luck played a factor. Bill joined the Maple Leafs in 1932-33, a year after Toronto had won the Stanley Cup. Toronto would make it to the Stanley Cup Final in four of the next six seasons falling short to the New York Rangers in 1933, Montreal Maroons in 1935, Detroit Red Wings in 1936, and Chicago Blackhawks in 1938.

He was traded that next season, once again joining a team fresh off a Stanley Cup victory. Chicago would only go the distance in one of Thoms’ six seasons, but unfortunately, Bill was lost to a season-ending injury earlier that year. He racked up eight points in seven games to start the 1943-44 campaign before going down. Who knows, maybe Bill Thoms would have that Stanley Cup ring and could have helped the Blackhawks knock off the Montreal Canadiens had he been healthy.

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Wrap-Up

Like I said, call it personal bias if you must. Me? I call it an injustice for a distant family relative that served this organization so well – certainly better than some of those names listed near the top.

It’s great that the franchise wanted to mix a more modern feel to their top 100 with players that even younger generations might be familiar with, but it’s also important that we don’t forget history.

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