Welcome back to Trade-versary! Last time we checked in it was August 5th, 1999 and the Maple Leafs traded Jeff Reese to the Tampa Bay Lightning. This time we’re going all the way back to October 26th, 1927. The Maple Leafs were just bought by Conn Smythe about a year earlier, and in February of that year they were renamed the Maple Leafs.
As the Leafs were preparing for the 1927-28 season, the Maple Leafs were looking to shore up their defense. They had their eye on a defender from the Ottawa Senators (the original ones), and worked out a deal to send cash to the team rather than weaken the lineup.
The Senators quickly accepted the cash offer as the team was - get this - struggling financially. Ottawa at the time was the smallest market in the NHL, and was having trouble paying for travel and keeping up with the other teams.
[Checks date on trade to make sure that’s not supposed to say 2017]
Gorman would slot into the Maple Leafs line up and play 19 games for them on defense, adding only one assist to his career totals. The Leafs would go on to demote him to the Toronto Ravinas of the Canadian Professional Hockey League on February 10th, 1928, but he refused to report. Three days later he would be traded for cash to the Kitchener Millionaires of the CPHL. At the lower level he would have five points (4G, 1A) and that would be his final year as a professional hockey player.
Edwin Gorman NHL stats
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924-25 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 30 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 49 |
| 1925-26 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 23 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 1926-27 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 39 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 1927-28 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 30 |
| 1927-28 | Kitchener Millionaires | CPHL | 12 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 20 |
Did the Leafs win this trade? Well they paid cash for a defender who had just won the Stanley Cup with the Senators. Then they got cash for him from Kitchener. So, eh.
The Senators got some much needed cash to float their season, but they’d end up having to play home games in Detroit to get the ticket money needed to keep the team in the black, then lost star player Jack Adams to the new Detroit Cougars NHL club where he would become Coach and General Manager.
Both teams tried to get what they thought was a piece for success but neither worked out long term for both teams.
That was the trade from October 26th. See you all next time, in oh, 3 months when I remember to do another one.
