Editing Toronto Maple Leafs (section)

==== Opening of Maple Leaf Gardens (1930s) ====
[[File:Maple Leaf Gardens Postcard 1931 (cropped) (cropped).jpg|thumb|alt=Far view of an ice hockey rink, with ice hockey players and a band standing at its centre. Spectators seated around the rink watch.|Opening ceremony for the first game at [[Maple Leaf Gardens]] on November 11, 1931]]
By 1930, Smythe saw the need to construct a new arena, viewing the Arena Gardens as a facility lacking modern amenities and seating.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=45}} Finding an adequate number of financiers, he purchased land from the [[Eaton family]], and construction of the arena was completed in five months.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=47–48}}<ref name=LEA30>{{cite web|url=http://mapleleafs.ice.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=42183|title=Toronto Maple Leafs History – 1930s|publisher=Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment|access-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref>

The Maple Leafs debuted at their new arena, [[Maple Leaf Gardens]], with a 2–1 loss to the [[Chicago Black Hawks]] on November 12, 1931.<ref name=LEA30 /> The opening ceremonies for Maple Leaf Gardens included a performance from the [[48th Highlanders of Canada]] Pipe and Drums.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.48highlanders.com/04_01.html|title=48th Highlanders of Canada Pipe and Drums|year=2018|access-date=August 21, 2018|publisher=Canadian Armed Forces|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822134550/http://www.48highlanders.com/04_01.html|archive-date=August 22, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The military band has continued to perform in every subsequent season home opening game, as well as other ceremonies conducted by the hockey club.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://torontosun.com/2016/10/14/highlanders-ready-for-maple-leafs-home-opener/wcm/f3a42af7-dd12-4db8-be5b-bf36ad52ca4b|title=Highlanders ready for Maple Leafs' home opener|newspaper=Toronto Sun|date=October 16, 2016|access-date=August 21, 2018|last=Hornby|first=Lance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821224608/https://torontosun.com/2016/10/14/highlanders-ready-for-maple-leafs-home-opener/wcm/f3a42af7-dd12-4db8-be5b-bf36ad52ca4b|archive-date=August 21, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3941653/johnny-bower-memorial-service/|title=Memorial service held in Toronto for hockey legend Johnny Bower|work=Global News|publisher=Corus Entertainment|date=January 2, 2018|access-date=August 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615114209/https://globalnews.ca/news/3941653/johnny-bower-memorial-service/|archive-date=June 15, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The debut also featured [[Foster Hewitt]] in his newly constructed [[press box]] above the ice surface, where he began his famous ''[[Hockey Night in Canada]]'' radio broadcasts that eventually came to be a Saturday-night tradition.<ref name="LEA30" /> The press box was often called "the gondola", a name that emerged during the Gardens' inaugural season when a [[General Motors Canada|General Motors]] advertising executive remarked how it resembled the gondola of an [[airship]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/the-press-gondola-at-maple-leaf-gardens|title=The press gondola at Maple Leaf Gardens|work=CBC Digital Archives|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|year=2018|access-date=February 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124171748/http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/the-press-gondola-at-maple-leaf-gardens|archive-date=January 24, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:NHL Kid Line 1930s.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Three players from the Toronto Maple Leafs' "Kid Line" standing next to each other outside in team apparel.|[[The Kid Line]] consisted of [[Charlie Conacher]], [[Joe Primeau]], and [[Busher Jackson]] (left to right). They led the Leafs to win the 1932 Stanley Cup, as well as four more Stanley Cup finals appearances over the next six years.]]
By the [[1931–32 NHL season]], the Maple Leafs were led by the "Kid Line" consisting of [[Busher Jackson]], [[Joe Primeau]] and [[Charlie Conacher]] and coached by [[Dick Irvin]]. The team captured their third Stanley Cup that season, vanquishing the Chicago Black Hawks in the first round, the [[Montreal Maroons]] in the semifinals, and the [[New York Rangers]] in the finals.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=52–53}} Smythe took particular pleasure in defeating the Rangers that year. He had been tapped as the Rangers' first [[general manager]] and coach for their inaugural season ([[1926–27 NHL season|1926–27]]) but had been fired in a dispute with [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]] management before the season had begun.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Lives of Conn Smythe: From the Battlefield to Maple Leaf Gardens: A Hockey Icon's Story|publisher=McClelland & Stewart|year=2012|first=Kelly|last=McParland|isbn=978-0-7710-5684-0|page=138}}</ref>

Maple Leafs star forward [[Ace Bailey]] was nearly killed in [[1933–34 NHL season|1933]] when [[Boston Bruins]] [[defenceman]] [[Eddie Shore]] checked him from behind at full speed into the boards.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=60}} Leafs defenceman [[Red Horner]] knocked Shore out with a punch, but Bailey, writhing on the ice, had his career ended.<ref name=LEA30 /> The Leafs held the [[Ace Bailey Benefit Game]], the NHL's first [[NHL All-Star Game|All-Star Game]], to collect medical funds to help Bailey. His jersey was retired later the same night.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=63}} The Leafs reached the finals five times in the next seven years but bowed out to the now-disbanded Maroons in 1935, the [[Detroit Red Wings]] in 1936, Chicago in 1938, Boston in 1939 and the Rangers in 1940.<ref name=LEA30 /> After the end of the [[1939–40 NHL season|1939–40 season]], Smythe allowed Irvin to leave the team as head coach, replacing him with former Leafs [[Captain (ice hockey)|captain]] [[Hap Day]].<ref name=LEA30 />