1952–53 Toronto Maple Leafs season

1952–53 Toronto Maple Leafs
1952–53 Toronto Maple Leafs
League	5th NHL
1952–53 record	27–30–13
Home record	17–12–6
Road record	10–18–7
Goals for	156
Goals against	167
Team information
General manager	Conn Smythe
Coach	Joe Primeau
Captain	Ted Kennedy
Alternate captains	Max Bentley; Harry Watson
Arena	Maple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
Goals	Sid Smith (20)
Assists	Ted Kennedy (23); Bob Hassard (23)
Points	Sid Smith (39)
Penalty minutes	Fern Flaman (110)
Wins	Harry Lumley (27)
Goals against average	Harry Lumley (2.39)
	← 1951–52 1953–54 →

The 1952–53 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 36th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

National Hockey League^[1]
v
t
e
		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	70	36	16	18	222	133	+89	90
2	Montreal Canadiens	70	28	23	19	155	148	+7	75
3	Boston Bruins	70	28	29	13	152	172	−20	69
4	Chicago Black Hawks	70	27	28	15	169	175	−6	69
5	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	27	30	13	156	167	−11	67
6	New York Rangers	70	17	37	16	152	211	−59	50

Record vs. opponents

1952–53 NHL Records ^[2]
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	MTL	NYR	TOR
Boston	—	4–5–5	2–10–2	9–2–3	5–7–2	8–5–1
Chicago	5–4–5	—	3–9–2	3–7–4	10–3–1	6–6–2
Detroit	10–2–2	9–3–2	—	4–4–6	7–3–4	7–4–3
Montreal	2–9–3	7–3–4	4–4–6	—	7–2–5	7–5–2
New York	7–5–2	3–10–1	3–7–4	2–7–5	—	2–8–4
Toronto	5–8–1	6–6–2	4–7–3	5–7–2	8–2–4	—

Schedule and results

1952–53 regular season^[3]

October

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 11, 1952	2–6	Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	0–1–0
2	T	October 12, 1952	4–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	0–1–1
3	L	October 16, 1952	1–2	@ Boston Bruins (1952–53)	0–2–1
4	W	October 18, 1952	4–3	New York Rangers (1952–53)	1–2–1
5	W	October 19, 1952	3–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	2–2–1
6	W	October 22, 1952	5–4	Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	3–2–1
7	L	October 25, 1952	0–4	Boston Bruins (1952–53)	3–3–1
8	W	October 29, 1952	7–5	Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	4–3–1

November

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
9	W	November 1, 1952	3–2	Boston Bruins (1952–53)	5–3–1
10	W	November 2, 1952	4–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	6–3–1
11	W	November 5, 1952	4–1	New York Rangers (1952–53)	7–3–1
12	L	November 6, 1952	1–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	7–4–1
13	T	November 8, 1952	3–3	Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	7–4–2
14	L	November 11, 1952	0–4	@ Boston Bruins (1952–53)	7–5–2
15	W	November 13, 1952	3–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	8–5–2
16	L	November 15, 1952	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	8–6–2
17	W	November 16, 1952	6–3	@ New York Rangers (1952–53)	9–6–2
18	L	November 19, 1952	1–2	Boston Bruins (1952–53)	9–7–2
19	T	November 22, 1952	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	9–7–3
20	L	November 23, 1952	5–6	@ Boston Bruins (1952–53)	9–8–3
21	L	November 26, 1952	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1952–53)	9–9–3
22	T	November 27, 1952	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	9–9–4
23	L	November 29, 1952	1–3	Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	9–10–4
24	L	November 30, 1952	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	9–11–4

December

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
25	W	December 4, 1952	2–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	10–11–4
26	T	December 6, 1952	2–2	New York Rangers (1952–53)	10–11–5
27	W	December 7, 1952	2–0	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	11–11–5
28	L	December 10, 1952	1–2	Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	11–12–5
29	L	December 13, 1952	1–3	Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	11–13–5
30	T	December 14, 1952	2–2	@ New York Rangers (1952–53)	11–13–6
31	T	December 18, 1952	1–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	11–13–7
32	W	December 20, 1952	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	12–13–7
33	L	December 21, 1952	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	12–14–7
34	W	December 24, 1952	2–0	Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	13–14–7
35	W	December 27, 1952	3–0	Boston Bruins (1952–53)	14–14–7
36	T	December 31, 1952	3–3	@ New York Rangers (1952–53)	14–14–8

January

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
37	L	January 1, 1953	1–5	@ Boston Bruins (1952–53)	14–15–8
38	T	January 3, 1953	1–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	14–15–9
39	W	January 10, 1953	3–1	Boston Bruins (1952–53)	15–15–9
40	L	January 11, 1953	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	15–16–9
41	W	January 14, 1953	3–0	Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	16–16–9
42	W	January 17, 1953	1–0	New York Rangers (1952–53)	17–16–9
43	L	January 18, 1953	1–2	@ Boston Bruins (1952–53)	17–17–9
44	L	January 21, 1953	0–1	Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	17–18–9
45	L	January 22, 1953	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	17–19–9
46	W	January 24, 1953	2–0	Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	18–19–9
47	W	January 25, 1953	4–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	19–19–9
48	T	January 29, 1953	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1952–53)	19–19–10
49	W	January 31, 1953	4–0	New York Rangers (1952–53)	20–19–10

February

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
50	L	February 1, 1953	1–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	20–20–10
51	L	February 5, 1953	0–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	20–21–10
52	L	February 7, 1953	2–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	20–22–10
53	L	February 8, 1953	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	20–23–10
54	T	February 14, 1953	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	20–23–11
55	W	February 15, 1953	2–1	@ New York Rangers (1952–53)	21–23–11
56	W	February 18, 1953	2–0	Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	22–23–11
57	T	February 21, 1953	2–2	Boston Bruins (1952–53)	22–23–12
58	L	February 25, 1953	1–2	Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	22–24–12
59	L	February 26, 1953	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	22–25–12
60	W	February 28, 1953	3–0	New York Rangers (1952–53)	23–25–12

March

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
61	L	March 1, 1953	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1952–53)	23–26–12
62	L	March 5, 1953	1–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	23–27–12
63	L	March 7, 1953	0–3	Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	23–28–12
64	L	March 8, 1953	1–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53)	23–29–12
65	L	March 14, 1953	1–3	Boston Bruins (1952–53)	23–30–12
66	T	March 15, 1953	1–1	@ New York Rangers (1952–53)	23–30–13
67	W	March 18, 1953	4–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53)	24–30–13
68	W	March 19, 1953	4–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1952–53)	25–30–13
69	W	March 21, 1953	5–0	New York Rangers (1952–53)	26–30–13
70	W	March 22, 1953	3–1	@ Boston Bruins (1952–53)	27–30–13

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Sid Smith	70	20	19	39	6
Ted Kennedy	43	14	23	37	42
Gord Hannigan	65	17	18	35	51
Ron Stewart	70	13	22	35	29
Bob Hassard	70	8	23	31	14
Tod Sloan	70	15	10	25	76
George Armstrong	52	14	11	25	54
Harry Watson	63	16	8	24	8
Max Bentley	36	12	11	23	16
Jimmy Thomson	69	0	22	22	73
Eric Nesterenko	35	10	6	16	27
Tim Horton	70	2	14	16	85
Leo Boivin	70	2	13	15	97
Rudy Migay	40	5	4	9	22
Jim Morrison	56	1	8	9	36
Fern Flaman	66	2	6	8	110
Phil Maloney	29	2	6	8	2
Howie Meeker	25	1	7	8	26
Danny Lewicki	4	1	3	4	2
Bob Solinger	18	1	1	2	2
Hugh Bolton	9	0	0	0	10
Harry Lumley	70	0	0	0	18
Parker MacDonald	1	0	0	0	0
Willie Marshall	2	0	0	0	0
Wally Maxwell	2	0	0	0	0
Dave Reid	2	0	0	0	0
Frank Sullivan	5	0	0	0	2
Ray Timgren	12	0	0	0	4

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Harry Lumley	4200	70	27	30	13	167	2.39				10
Team:	4200	70	27	30	13	167	2.39				10

^[4]

Awards and records

The Toronto Maple Leafs did not win any NHL awards and no players were selected for the All-Star Teams for the 1952–53 NHL season.

Transactions

The following is a list of all transactions that have occurred for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1952–53 NHL season. It lists which team each player has been traded to and for which player(s) or other consideration(s), if applicable.

September 11, 1952	To Toronto Maple Leafs Harry Lumley	To Chicago Black Hawks Cal Gardner Ray Hannigan Gus Mortson Al Rollins	^[5]^[6]
September 16, 1952	To Toronto Maple Leafs cash	To Boston Bruins Joe Klukay	^[5]^[7]

References

^ "Standings: 1952–1953". National Hockey League. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1952-53 Toronto Maple Leafs Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
^ "1952-53 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
^ ^a ^b "NHL trades for 1952-1953". NHL Trade Tracker. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
^ Diamond, Dan, ed. (2003). Total NHL. Chicago: Triumph Books. pp. 569, 591, 717, 888 & 898. ISBN 978-1-57243-604-6.
^ Diamond, Dan, ed. (2003). Total NHL. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 639. ISBN 978-1-57243-604-6.

[standings-div-1] "Standings: 1952–1953". National Hockey League. Retrieved February 28, 2020.

[2] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[Gamelog-3] "1952-53 Toronto Maple Leafs Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 4, 2025.

[4] "1952-53 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 27, 2009.

[:0-5] "NHL trades for 1952-1953". NHL Trade Tracker. Retrieved December 8, 2021.

[6] Diamond, Dan, ed. (2003). Total NHL. Chicago: Triumph Books. pp. 569, 591, 717, 888 & 898. ISBN 978-1-57243-604-6.

[7] Diamond, Dan, ed. (2003). Total NHL. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 639. ISBN 978-1-57243-604-6.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t e Toronto Maple Leafs
Founded in 1917 Based in Toronto, Ontario
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History Toronto Arenas Toronto St. Patricks Original Six Award winners Records Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Larry Tanenbaum, chairman) General manager Brad Treliving Head coach Craig Berube Team captain Auston Matthews Current roster
Arenas	Arena Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens Scotiabank Arena
Rivalries	Boston Bruins Detroit Red Wings Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Senators
Affiliates	AHL Toronto Marlies ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones
Media	TV Sportsnet Ontario TSN4 Radio Sportsnet 590 The Fan TSN Radio 1050 Choq FM 105,1
Culture and lore	2014 Winter Classic Centennial Classic 2018 Stadium Series 2022 Heritage Classic Carlton the Bear In popular culture Face-Off "Fifty Mission Cap" Hockey Knights in Canada The Hockey Sweater The Love Guru J. P. Bickell Memorial Award Maple Leaf Square Ford Performance Centre The Kid Line Toronto Blueshirts Leafs Nation Network
Category Commons

v t e Toronto Maple Leafs seasons
1910s	1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1952–53 NHL season by team
Teams	Boston Chicago Detroit Montreal New York Toronto
See also	All-Star Game 1953 Stanley Cup Finals

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Regular season

Awards and records

Transactions

See also

References