Toronto Marlboros (1904-1989)

The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club was started in Toronto, Ontario in 1903 by a group of Toronto sportsmen. It was named after the Duke of Marlborough. A hockey program was started in 1904. The team was commonly known as the Marlboros or Marlies and was also nicknamed the Dukes.
In the early years, the Marlboros were just one of many athletic clubs and junior hockey teams in and around Toronto that played in relative obscurity in the history books. The club was thrust onto the national scene in 1927 when Conn Smythe bought the Toronto Marlboros to be the farm team for his other recently acquired team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. From 1927 to 1989 the Marlboros and Maple Leafs shared common ownership first in the Smythe family and later in Harold Ballard. Upon the death of Conn Smythe, his son Stafford Smythe inherited the teams, and later sold a portion of both clubs to Harold Ballard. Ballard became sole owner of both teams upon the passing of Stafford Smythe.
The Marlboros served as a farm team for the Maple Leafs for 40 years until direct NHL sponsorship of junior teams ended in 1967; however, the two clubs continued to remain affiliated under a common ownership until 1989. During this time the Marlboros sent over 180 players to the NHL, including six future Hockey Hall of Fame inductees. The two teams often played double headers on Saturdays, with the junior games in the afternoon and the NHL games in the evening.
The original Hot Stove Club was formed at Maple Leaf Gardens on May 28, 1937, for the purpose of raising funds to support the Marlborough Hockey Club. The Hot Stove Club was given a permanent bar & lounge at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1963. From 1929 to 1975 the Marlboros won the national junior championship seven times.
Marlboro players from the Memorial Cups in the 1950s and 1960s jumped directly to the Maple Leafs, helping them win the Stanley Cup four times in the 1960s. Former NHL stars stayed in the organization to help coach in the junior ranks. Turk Broda and George Armstrong both coached the Marlboros to Memorial Cup victories.
Stafford Smythe organized the Metro Junior A League in 1961 as a rival league to the OHA, with the Marlboros as its charter member. After the league folded in 1963, the Marlboros scooped up all the former stars from the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons who had won two consecutive Metro Junior A league titles, and also retained their coach, Jim Gregory. The 1964 Marlboros were one of the strongest teams in Canadian junior history.
The Marlboros returned to prominence again in 1973, coached by former Toronto Maple Leafs captain George Armstrong. Armstrong's team in 1973 lost only seven games all season, and two years later he coached the Marlboros to their seventh national title in 1975.
The team began to take a decline in the standings in the late 1970s which continued through the 1980s. Many people[who?] felt that Harold Ballard's penny-pinching ways helped contribute to the demise of Canada's most successful junior team. After the 1988-89 season the Toronto Marlboros were sold, and they severed ties with the Maple Leafs. The OHA team moved to Hamilton, becoming the Dukes of Hamilton. They were not financially successful in Hamilton, though, and after only two seasons the Dukes became the Guelph Storm.

J. Ross Robertson Cup

•1928 Won - final opponent unknown
•1929 Won - final opponent unknown
•1932 Won - final opponent unknown
•1940 Lost to Oshawa Generals
•1941 Lost to Oshawa Generals
•1949 Lost to Barrie Flyers
•1951 Lost to Barrie Flyers
•1955 Won vs. St. Catharines Teepees
•1956 Won vs. Barrie Flyers
•1958 Won vs. Hamilton Tiger Cubs
•1964 Won vs. Montreal Jr. Canadiens
•1965 Lost to Niagara Falls Flyers
•1967 Won vs. Hamilton Red Wings
•1970 Lost to Montreal Jr. Canadiens
•1971 Lost to St. Catharines Black Hawks
•1973 Won vs. Peterborough Petes
•1975 Won vs. Hamilton Fincups

Hamilton Spectator Trophy

•1959-1960 59 points
•1963-1964 87 points
•1971-1972 93 points
•1972-1973 103 points
•1974-1975 105 points

Memorial Cup

•1929 Defeated Elmwood Millionaires
•1955 Defeated Regina Pats
•1956 Defeated Regina Pats
•1964 Defeated Edmonton Oil Kings
•1967 Defeated Port Arthur Marrs
•1973 Defeated Quebec Remparts
•1975 Defeated New Westminster Bruins

Eastern Canadian Champions

•1928 Lost to Ottawa Gunners
•1929 Defeated Ottawa Shamrocks

George Richardson Memorial Trophy

•1955 Defeated Quebec Frontenacs
•1956 Defeated Montreal Jr. Canadiens
•1958 Lost to Ottawa-Hull Junior Canadiens
•1964 Defeated Notre Dame de Grace Monarchs
•1967 Defeated Thetford Mines Canadien

• 1974-1975: OHL
• 1974-1975: Memorial Cup
• 1972-1973: Memorial Cup
• 1966-1967: Memorial Cup
• 1963-1964: Memorial Cup
• 1955-1956: Memorial Cup
• 1954-1955: Memorial Cup
• 1928-1929: Memorial Cup