The last time the Habs and Leafs celebrated Stanley Cup victories
CBC Archives | Posted: May 20, 2021 12:30 PM | Last Updated: May 20, 2021
Montreal, Toronto NHL teams haven't won since 1993 and 1967, respectively
The teams paired in one of Thursday night's NHL playoff matches haven't been seen together in the playoffs for 42 years, according to CBC Sports.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens last met in the playoffs in 1979, a year the Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup.
The last time the Habs won the Cup was in 1993, when they beat the L.A. Kings. And afterwards, they held a parade in the streets of Montreal.
"It was also a chance to recover some of their dignity lost in last Wednesday's rampage," said Peter Mansbridge on CBC's Prime Time News, introducing a recap of the event by reporter Neil Macdonald.
The parade was "a few miles of adulation," said Macdonald. The camera showed a huge crowd of fans cheering as a float bearing some of the Canadiens, smiling and waving, passed by.
That contrasted with scenes from the night the Habs won the Stanley Cup at home, when, Macdonald said, the team was "forgotten amid the broken glass" and mayhem on the streets.
"It was pretty stupid, what happened," said a young woman seated on the street during the parade. "We're here to celebrate now, not to make trouble."
Macdonald noted a heavy police presence, which evidently meant the parade was "much better staffed" than the night of the game. There was another difference, too.
"It was a fast parade — a lot faster than past parades," he said. "The whole thing whizzed by in about five minutes."
Further back in time for the Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have to go back further in time to recall their Stanley Cup parades, but they held four of them in the space of six years.
"It was a great day for Toronto," said reporter Bill Copps in a flashback item from the 1980s looking back at the 1964 parade. Ticker tape was seen streaming down from buildings lining the route. "The Bay Street crowds cheered... and there was Johnny Bower, followed by Bob Pulford and other members of the team."
Copps recapped the team's Stanley Cup wins of the 1960s, in 1962, 1963 and 1964.
"Oh yes, they came back again in 1967," said Copps. "But since then, it's been no show for [former owner] Harold [Ballard] and his boys."