Hockey Stick Or Nine-Iron?

That picture above was from the 1962 Stanley Cup Final when the Toronto Maple Leafs knocked off the defending Stanley Cup champions in the Chicago Blackhawks by a 4-2 margin in the best-of-seven series. It was a series marked by very few close wins as only two of the six games was decided by one goal whereas three games were decided by three goals or more. Dick Duff's third goal of the playoffs on the power-play at 14:14 of the third period was the Stanley Cup-winning goal in Game Six's 2-1 victory for the Leafs, and the celebration ensued above. The players enjoyed their summers, and it would be back to work in September for most as the new season would begin on October 10.

1962 was a long way from 2018 when players begin work for the next season seemingly the day after their season is over in the previous year. Players still smoked if they wanted. There was some money for stars, but most made meagre wages comparatively to future generations. And for a vast majority of players, they'd go off to tend to their second jobs or their farms while they counted down the days until the next season.

After winning the Stanley Cup in 1962, imagine your excitement in receiving the following letter in your mailbox! Clicking on the letter will make it readable. Note that this has been going around for some time on social media with names attached, but I am removing the names and notes off the letter since I received this from a third-party.

I found this letter to be a bit comical considering what we know now, but the reality was far different prior to the expansion in 1967 and the WHA's impact on player wages. The "old days" of the NHL really were a different time altogether.

Training camp at the start of September in a neutral location is nothing new. It keeps players away from their normal hangouts during the season and keeps distractions usually to a minimum, so having the Leafs set up camp on September 7 in Peterborough is nothing ground-breaking.

The Empress Hotel as the site of the Leafs' orientation camp is somewhat notable. According to this article, "[t]he Empress suffered so much damage in a disastrous fire in 1956 that what was left was demolished. Another hotel building rose from the ashes," and it seems the Leafs took advantage of the modern amenities in the new hotel. Physical examinations - basically height and weight measurements - were done between 9am and noon, giving the players ample time to arrive at the hotel. Lunch would be served at 1pm, players would head over to the rink - likely the Peterborough Memorial Center which opened in 1956 - to get sized up for equipment, and then could skate off the lunch they just ate in a brand-new, modern arena.

It's is this third paragraph where things go in a different direction than what we know about modern training camps. Yes, golf expeditions can happen when guys agree to meet days prior to training camps, but that's beyond rare nowadays. However, the Leafs made golf "a must in the training camp schedule". I'm quite certain teams today would never make golf a "must" during camps whatsoever. But on the bright side, their choice of the Kawartha Golf Club is a good one, though, as Kawartha is a top-notch facility when it come to the golf experience. Maybe the current-era Leafs need to take a flyer here?

I chuckled at "in view of the fact that nearly all players have cars" as that just seems like a preposterous statement today, but 1962 still saw players with wages more akin to what grand prizes on scratch tickets are today. The fact that the Leafs were willing to provide train transportation to Peterborough - again, another sign of the times - is a pretty cool thing to do in 1962.

If there's one statement that may have proved that this training camp system worked, it's the statement in the fifth paragraph that reads, "we will show everybody that we deserve it and intend to keep it." If you're up on your NHL history, the Leafs indeed repeated as Stanley Cup champions in 1962-63. Not bad for a little golf and the same physical education class most children get nowadays.

Alerting the players with one month to go in the summer that they are not to more than seven pounds over their playing weight made me chuckle. Most of the time, these guys used training camp to get back into shape, so the read-between-the-lines message here might be "hope you didn't get fat". Nonetheless, the 20 push ups, 20 sit ups, and 30 knee bends sounds like a helluva plyometric workout in 1962. The fact that the Leafs went on to win the Stanley Cup for the second year in row might be proof positive that less is more when it comes to hockey. Or not. I could be wrong here.

I love the warning about the competition on the club. Rookies may take your job, veterans, so "be ready for the competition and not sorry". Love it. That's some solid "Punch" Imlach motivation. Also, the part about being better conditioned to avoid injuries is a little crazy as well as the Montreal Canadiens suffered through injuries all season long and were brushed aside by the Maple Leafs in the 1963 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Maybe this Imlach character was onto something regarding summer conditioning?

"Let's make this another profitable year with a big playoff split." This is a seemingly nice way of asking the players to try and have another two-round playoff year. Forget defending the Stanley Cup - he mentioned that above - let's go get another pay day, boys!

It was a different time back in 1962. Training camps were entirely different than they are today. It's amazing how much the game has changed in 50 years when you consider that smoking was allowed, drinking post-game happened almost always, and golfing was a mandatory part of training camp.

Stick-tap to Richard for sending me the letter!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!