Mastodon
@National Hockey League

NHL Team History Painted Profile – Maple Leafs (completed). Please help fact check.



I’m painting a profile of every NHL team in league history in my daughter’s roller rink in our basement (33’ x 14’ room). I call it the Roller Rink Archives. All surface markings are to scale of an NHL rink.
Here are some pictures of it. I started with the maple leaf’s franchise. Let me know your thoughts and suggestions. I want to create an educational display that allows you to easily understand the sometimes complicated history of the NHL. Keep in mind, only two (Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Arenas) of the four franchises that began the league in the 1917-1918 season are a part of the original six teams (the original six era didn’t actually start until 1942).
Of note with the Maple Leafs section, the 1917 team is often referred to as the “Toronto Hockey Club”, as the team didn’t have an official name because they were leased to the Toronto Arena Company for that year. With that said,“The Torontos” as the media referred to them at the time, won the first Stanley cup in NHL history (keep in mind that the Stanley cup existed before the NHL, and was not exclusive to the NHL until 1926).
Though there was no name engraved on the cup for that year (1917-1918), in the late 1940’s the NHL officially had “Toronto Arenas – 1918” written on the cup. For this purpose I have the Toronto Arenas painted for two years, as it makes it easier to understand.
Here is a brief summary that I wrote for the panel:
“The Toronto Maple Leafs franchise was operated by the Toronto Arena Company in the inaugural 1917-1918 NHL season. They were the first team to win the Stanley Cup in NHL history. In 1919, new owners renamed the team the Toronto St. Patricks. In 1927, another ownership group, led by Conn Smythe, bought the team and officially changed the name to the Toronto Maple Leafs Club.
Past Maple Leaf greats include Dave Keon, Syl Apps, Ted Kennedy, Darryl Sittler, Mats Sundin, Tim Horton, Johnny Bower, Borje Salming, Frank Mahovlich, and many more.”
Everything has been hand drawn (with pencil), and painted (with paint pens and brushes). No stickers or stencils were used.

There are 32 sections of painted “plexiglass” that are dedicated to painting all of the current NHL teams. I plan to also paint all of the past teams connected with each current franchise. A 33rd section will include a dutch door above the entrance, and will profile all of the defunct teams that are not connected with a current NHL franchise. A 34th section will include a dutch door above the penalty box, and will be a legend of what each section displays.
Please let me know if you see anything inaccurate regarding NHL history. Let me know your thoughts, as I’m open to suggestions. I want it to be like the NHL Hall of Fame, but less information and easier to understand.

by rollerrinkofdreams

1 Comment

  1. Kooky-Seesaw9890

    The dream of any mini hockey player out there. This looks so good, wow.

Write A Comment