Reimer and a three-goalie system? Three goalies didn't work in 1973-'74

With James Reimer (let’s be honest, we didn’t expect this...) surprisingly inserting himself into the current Leaf goaltending picture, we have all no doubt been wondering, as Birky mentioned at Pension Plan Puppets on the weekend, if Brian Burke and Ron Wilson were possibly considering carrying three goalies for the foreseeable future.

Whether that actually happens once Giggy is healthy, I guess we’ll see.  (Wilson had said publicly a few days ago that Reimer is going back to the Marlies and I have no issue with that.  Time in the AHL is generally good for a goalie.  That said, he is the 'hot hand' right now, heading into the Phoenix encounter.)  I'm guessing most Leaf fans are hoping Wilson will run with Reimer for as long as it works, even if Giguere is "ready" to come back and play.

But this all got me thinking back to a time when the Maple Leafs actually went through an entire season—by design, if you can imagine—with three goaltenders.

Some of you will recall that I’ve written in earlier posts that I really liked the 1970-’71 Maple Leaf team.  I also liked what they were doing in 1971-‘72 under General Manager Jim Gregory, but they unfortunately ran into the eventual Cup champion Bruins in the first round of the playoffs in the spring of '72.

It all fell apart, though, in that summer of ‘72, when the exodus of talented, young Leaf players to the WHA began in earnest.  The most painful move was Bernie Parent heading to the erstwhile Miami Screaming Eagles.  What had been a promising goaltending future for the Leafs when Gregory acquired (future Hall-of-Famer) Parent in a great trade in January of 1971 went south very quickly.

Having the 40-something wonder Jacques Plante—which had been just fine the two seasons before with Parent around—wasn’t as comforting with Ron Low and Gord McRae as occasional back-ups.  Low and McRae were perfectly capable goalies, but it was a drop-off from Parent, who was capable of being a ful-time number-one guy on his own.  When the Leafs predictably struggled that season, Plante was traded by the end of that season, so in that summer of ‘73, the Leafs needed goaltenders- badly.

The obvious solution would have been bringing Bernie Parent back into the blue and white fold.  The good news at the time was that  Bernie wanted back into the NHL, after his failed sojurn in the fledgling WHA.

The bad news was that there was no way that he was he returning to the Leafs.  He didn't want to come back, for personal reasons I can't recall.  I think mostly it was because he wanted to go back to the Flyers.

So the Leafs got what they could in a trade that summer, sending Parent back to Philly and acquiring the talented but offbeat Doug Favell (pictured at right) from the Flyers and a first round draft choice, which turned out to be Bob Neely.  (As a side note, the Leafs gave up a second-round choice, which turned out to be Larry Goodenough, who had a pretty good NHL career.)

The Leafs must have sensed that Favell, though brilliant at times, was not the guy to rely on.  So, they brought in two other goalies: Eddie Johnston, who came from Boston along with a first-round draft choice (Ian Turnbull) in the Plante trade; and, Dunc Wilson, acquired in a trade from the Vancouver Canucks.

I’ll always remember King Clancy, then the Leaf assistant GM and all-around team spokesperson and organizational good-guy, being interviewed on Hockey Night in Canada during a game late that 1972-'73 season.  He was questioned in-between-periods about the Leafs’ lack of goaltending going forward, what with the then current season already obviously down the tubes and Plante having been traded.

King was at his barnstorming, snake-oil salesman best.  He barked at his inquisitors, “How do you know we don’t have a goalie right now for next season?”

When pressed, he wouldn’t give details, but it was clear he knew something was happening with the Bruins because of the Plante trade, probably (Eddie Johnston) but couldn’t say so because the Bruins were still playing for something that spring.  (It was likely a case of informal "future considerations", with the Leafs having a choice of one of a number of Bruin players at the end of the season.)

In any event, Johnston had been a steady if generally unspectacular goalie for the Bruins for many years, helping them win those two Cups in 1970 and 1972, though Gerry Cheevers was usually the go-to guy in goal.  Of historical significance, Johnston was (and still is, to my knowledge) the last Bruin goalie to play 70 games in a season, in 1963-’64, I think it was.  (I’m trying to think of other guys who have done it since, like Tony Esposito or Eddie Giacomin, but I don’t know if anyone since Johnston has played every game of their team’s regular season.)

But back to the Leafs that 1973-’74 season.  The problem was that they had three goalies, all ready and wanting to play.  Johnston was 38 years old at the time, Favell was still only 28 and Wilson 26, though unproven.

I knew Johnston was OK as a stop-gap goalie.  Favell, as I said earlier, could be brilliant (he could also be awful).  Wilson I had no major impression of, but I was lulled into thinking, hey, maybe this will be OK.  And, to a certain extent, it was.

Coach Red Kelly’s approach, at times was (believe it or not) to rotate the three guys, each guy playing one game, then the next guy, then the next guy.  In the end,  Favell was the nominal “number one”, playing 32 games, while    Johnston and Wilson each played 26 games.

When all was said and done, goaltending wasn’t the worst of the team’s problems.  The Leafs weren't a great team, but they did improve somewhat that season largely because they had five promising rookies (Salming, Hammarstrom, McDonald, Neely and Turnbull) in the line-up.  Both Favell and Wilson had goals against averages below 3, while Johnston was just above that.  I remember Wilson had a nice run at one point in the middle of the season.   He was an old-fashioned stand-up goalie, as was Johnston.  Favell was, well, kind of like Mike Palmateer who came after him, and a bit like Hasek- unorthodox to be sure, and sometimes spectacular.

But the “3-man” goalie system finished with a whimper that spring, when the Leafs went out quickly in the playoffs against the Bruins.  I remember, though, that Favell was amazing in one of the playoff games in Boston against the Bruins, and the Leafs only lost like 1-0.  But that was about all they had for the Bruins.  I don't think Johnston or Wilson played in the playoffs, but I really can't remember for sure.

I had nothing against the three guys who tended goal for the Buds that season.  They were all good goalies in their own right.  But I would have much preferred the one-goalie system:  (the future Hall-of-Famer, because of his play with the Flyers) Bernie Parent, who I wish the Leafs had signed in 1972.

As for the Leafs now, well, no team really wants three goalies on the big roster for any length of time.  But I'm guessing Reimer will stick around a while yet.  Giguere may indeed have to bide his time longer than originally planned.