Wednesday, October 17, 2012

On The Marlies Third Jersey....

A few weeks ago, Marlies captain Ryan Hamilton stepped out onto the ice wearing the new Marlies third jersey. For fans like myself who remember the Marlboros era in Toronto, you couldn’t help but get goosebumps. For years, many of us whom have been telling the team to have a throwback third jersey finally got what we asked for.

Why was it so important? For an organization who is trying to instill in its players a sense of its storied history, the Marlboros crest is critical to their understanding of their role in the hockey traditions of Toronto.

In 1903, the secretary of the newly formed Marlboroughs Athletic Club sent a letter to the Duke of Marlborough (whose family name is the infamous Churchill) asking for permission to use the family name and crest. Permission was granted to the club and that allowed the Marlboroughs Athletic Club (that’s the A.C. story) to create the first incarnation of the crest we see and love today. The original crest debuted first in 1904 on a hockey sweater (without the leaf) for the Marlboros Senior team. In the late 1950s, the logo saw the addition of the maple leaf to reflect its tie to the NHL franchise whose farm system it supported and is the crest design we see today.

In 1927, Conn Smythe purchased the Toronto St. Pats and made the Marlboroughs the newly renamed Toronto Maple Leafs the club’s farm team, with both teams playing out of the Mutual Street Arena until the completion of Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931. The first player to exchange his Marlboros jersey for a Leafs sweater was the legendary Carl Voss (oddly enough not known for his play in the Leafs organization but in his role in professionalizing referees and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder in 1974). Incidentally, Voss is the only player to have worn a St. Pats, Marlboros, and Maple Leaf sweater and was signed by Frank Selke as the first player under contract to the Leafs on the same day Smythe purchased the team.

In 1929, the Marlboro Juniors won their first of 7 Memorial Cups (1929, 1954-55, 1955-56 1963-64, 1966-67, 1972-73, and 1974-75). In 1949-50, the Senior team won the Allan Cup. In total, the Marlboros won 7 Memorial Cups, 1 Allan Cup, 17 Robertson Cups, 5 Hamilton Spectator Trophies, 2 Eastern Canadian Championships, 5 George Richardson Memorial Trophies, and competed once (but lost) for the Lord Stanley Challenge Cup (now the Stanley Cup).

On top of that, the Marlboros have developed 6 Leafs Hockey Hall of Famers (and countless others who went onto careers with other teams), 52 Stanley Cup winners, and a huge number of NHLers that call themselves alumni represented in a Ring of Honour that virtually circles the Ricoh Coliseum today.

In short, the Marlboros are part of the era of winning hockey teams in Toronto and for an organization that it is trying to regain the winning way of the past, the third jersey symbolizes the history that the Marlies share with the Leafs as their farm team.

On Sunday, I proudly wore my 3rd jersey to the Ricoh Coliseum for the first time. Although it was disappointing to see a 4-0 loss, it didn’t take away from the sense of pride I had putting on that jersey.

My family once lived on Marlborough Avenue (which incidentally was home to Marlboros players) and that jersey reminds me of my childhood watching games in the reds at MLG and seeing players like Peter Zezel play before they made in the NHL. Seeing the Marlboros jersey back in use is truly special for me.

As for the name and number that will be crested on it, that’s an easy way. It is going to be George Armstrong. Who else symbolizes the ties between the Marlboros and the Leafs then the Chief?

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