THE TAVARES IMPACT

Christmas in July took on a new meaning for Toronto Maple Leaf fans when the club signed the prized free agent of 2018, John Tavares. The addition of the former New York Islander gave Toronto a solid force up the middle. The threesome at centre ice includes Auston Matthews, Tavares and Nazem Kadri.

Perhaps, the greatest combination of power at centre for the Maple Leafs was in 1947. A November trade with the Chicago Black Hawks resulted in Toronto obtaining Max Bentley. He joined Syl Apps and Ted Kennedy in the job of distributing the puck to Leaf wingers.

Howie Meeker, the 1947 winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, explained what it meant to have his new teammate wearing the blue & white. Meeker discussed the transaction with me as part of my new book, Bob Goldham Outside The Goal Crease. Goldham was one of five Leafs going to Chicago for Bentley and Cy Thomas. "The previous two years Bentley won the scoring championship. He comes to our place and plays on the third line. He was the guy that took all the rookies. He was the guy that took the borderline hockey players and gave them jobs. He still led our team in scoring."

As defending Stanley Cup champions, Bentley helped the Leafs capture another crown in 1948. In the Stanley Cup final, Toronto sweeped Detroit by winning game four in Detroit by a score of 7-2. Then, in the 1949 final, the Leafs once again only needed four contests against the Red Wings to gain their third consecutive Cup. Bentley rounded out his Stanley Cup run with Toronto in 1951. He led all playoff performers that year with eleven assists.

"When you go through it up front, we're going to have lots of depth and lots of speed," said Leaf bench boss Mike Babcock at the presser to announce the Tavares signing. "We will find really good mixes for those guys." Early speculation has Tavares playing between Zach Hyman and Mitch Marner.