A Don Cherry / Darryl Sittler tracer

Today is the 36th anniversary of Darryl Sittler's 10-point night, and a few websites (like this one) are linking to a Don Cherry clip where he talks about the game.

Cherry says that the Leafs "showed no mercy" on the Bruins, and says you should never embarrass another team, because it might come back to haunt you. He says that the Leafs gave Sittler a silver tea set after the game, "for murdering us like that. I got the paper, I cut out the picture, and every time we came to Maple Leaf Gardens after that, I put this picture up ..."

"For the next three years, we never lost to the Leafs at the Gardens."

So as not to be accused of picking on Ken Dryden, I looked it up.

The presentation of the tea set was Friday, April 9, 1976, before a playoff game against the Penguins (according to the next day's Globe and Mail). The next two games in Toronto against the Bruins were actually Leaf wins:

12/09/76: Leafs 7, Bruins 5
11/27/76: Leafs 4, Bruins 2

But after that, the Leafs didn't beat the Bruins at home until the 1982-83 season:

03/26/77: Bruins 7, Leafs 5
11/19/77: Bruins 3, Leafs 1
02/15/78: Bruins 4, Leafs 2
04/08/78: Bruins 3, Leafs 1
10/28/78: Bruins 5, Leafs 3
12/05/78: Bruins 5, Leafs 1
12/27/78: Bruins 1, Leafs 1
04/04/79: Bruins 3, Leafs 3
11/17/79: Bruins 2, Leafs 0
04/02/80: Bruins 5, Leafs 2
12/27/80: Bruins 6, Leafs 3
03/11/81: Bruins 3, Leafs 3
11/21/81: Bruins 5, Leafs 3

10/27/82: Leafs 4, Bruins 1

So, if Cherry remembers the events correctly, it must be that he started posting the photo only after the game of 11/27/76. And, although it was at least five years until the Leafs won again, rather than just three, Cherry left the Bruins after the 1978-79 season, so he might just be referring to his own tenure there.

Thanks to the Hockey Summary Project for the scores.


(Note: This was cross-posted to the SIHR mailing list.)