1 00:00:05,178 --> 00:00:08,442 [crowd cheering] 2 00:00:10,923 --> 00:00:12,446 You've got to win. 3 00:00:12,490 --> 00:00:13,882 That's the only-- that's the only thing I know. 4 00:00:14,622 --> 00:00:16,798 -[Adrienne] At any cost? -At any cost. 5 00:00:16,842 --> 00:00:18,757 -[Adrienne] Kill the other guy? -Why not? 6 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:20,324 Get him out of the road, 7 00:00:20,367 --> 00:00:21,673 you'll never have to compete with him again. 8 00:00:21,716 --> 00:00:22,891 [Adrienne] There'll be somebody else 9 00:00:22,935 --> 00:00:24,284 come up in his place. 10 00:00:24,328 --> 00:00:25,720 Well, I'll take a shot at him, too. 11 00:00:26,895 --> 00:00:30,247 [narrator] In 1967, Canada celebrated 12 00:00:30,290 --> 00:00:31,987 its 100th birthday. 13 00:00:32,031 --> 00:00:34,816 For many Canadians, it was a time of hope. 14 00:00:34,860 --> 00:00:37,167 People were confident in looking ahead 15 00:00:37,210 --> 00:00:40,692 to a future even brighter than the past. 16 00:00:40,735 --> 00:00:43,303 From coast to coast to coast, 17 00:00:43,347 --> 00:00:45,218 people were brimming with optimism. 18 00:00:45,262 --> 00:00:48,221 And in Toronto, there was no reason 19 00:00:48,265 --> 00:00:51,442 to believe the Maple Leafs'’ Stanley Cup victory 20 00:00:51,485 --> 00:00:53,966 that year would be their last. 21 00:00:54,009 --> 00:00:55,707 [commentator] Fantastic. 22 00:00:55,750 --> 00:00:58,057 [crowd cheering] 23 00:00:58,101 --> 00:00:59,972 [narrator] The Toronto Maple Leafs, 24 00:01:00,015 --> 00:01:03,932 a beloved and historic hockey franchise, 25 00:01:03,976 --> 00:01:07,197 continue to enjoy support of fans around the world, 26 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,548 despite the fact that hockey's highest honor, 27 00:01:10,591 --> 00:01:11,679 the Stanley Cup, 28 00:01:11,723 --> 00:01:14,160 has eluded them for generations. 29 00:01:14,204 --> 00:01:16,641 But it wasn't always that way. 30 00:01:16,684 --> 00:01:18,686 It's hard to overstate 31 00:01:18,730 --> 00:01:21,820 just how good the Leafs once were. 32 00:01:21,863 --> 00:01:24,039 [man] The hockey capital of the world! 33 00:01:24,083 --> 00:01:26,085 [narrator] And how beloved they were. 34 00:01:26,129 --> 00:01:29,175 We have the world champions, the Maple Leafs. 35 00:01:29,219 --> 00:01:31,090 [narrator] But by the early '70s, 36 00:01:31,134 --> 00:01:34,615 a new boss took control of this storied franchise 37 00:01:34,659 --> 00:01:37,314 and nothing would ever be the same. 38 00:01:37,357 --> 00:01:39,403 Who told you that I interfered with the team? 39 00:01:39,446 --> 00:01:40,969 Never interfered with the team in my life. 40 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:43,537 [announcer] Now, there's all sorts of debris 41 00:01:43,581 --> 00:01:45,017 being thrown onto the ice. 42 00:01:45,060 --> 00:01:46,888 [man] I had to sit through an entire winter 43 00:01:46,932 --> 00:01:48,673 of this garbage with the Maple Leafs. 44 00:01:48,716 --> 00:01:50,022 [Ballard] We haven't played very well. 45 00:01:50,065 --> 00:01:51,458 Matter of fact, we played lousy. 46 00:01:51,502 --> 00:01:53,286 This team is never going to get any better. 47 00:01:53,330 --> 00:01:55,941 [reporter] Spring is the time of year the Leafs fall. 48 00:01:55,984 --> 00:01:57,595 [Ballard] I honestly feel that I have never done 49 00:01:57,638 --> 00:01:59,118 -anything that is wrong. -[interviewer] Why don't you 50 00:01:59,162 --> 00:02:00,467 like Harold Ballard? -[woman] Oh, because 51 00:02:00,511 --> 00:02:02,295 of what he had to say about women. 52 00:02:02,339 --> 00:02:05,820 [reporter] The Toronto Maple Leafs won in 1967. 53 00:02:05,864 --> 00:02:07,648 But since then, 54 00:02:07,692 --> 00:02:09,868 there's been no show for Harold and his boys. 55 00:02:09,911 --> 00:02:12,436 He's interested only in making his money, 56 00:02:12,479 --> 00:02:14,046 -and that's about it. -[narrator] Harold Ballard 57 00:02:14,089 --> 00:02:16,353 may have turned Maple Leaf Gardens 58 00:02:16,396 --> 00:02:19,486 into the cash box on Carlton Street, 59 00:02:19,530 --> 00:02:23,360 but he did so at the expense of its greatest asset. 60 00:02:24,404 --> 00:02:27,625 Ballard turned the Leafs from perennial cup favorites 61 00:02:27,668 --> 00:02:29,540 to perennial cellar dwellers. 62 00:02:29,583 --> 00:02:32,630 His meddling and combative behavior 63 00:02:32,673 --> 00:02:36,286 ruined the team for a generation and beyond. 64 00:02:36,590 --> 00:02:38,462 ♪ I'll see your face inside a cloud ♪ 65 00:02:38,505 --> 00:02:41,552 ♪ See your smile inside a window ♪ 66 00:02:41,595 --> 00:02:43,206 Do I have one word to describe him? 67 00:02:43,249 --> 00:02:46,121 -Entertaining. -A blowhard, a loudmouth. 68 00:02:46,165 --> 00:02:48,820 -Cantankerous. -Bombastic as hell. 69 00:02:48,863 --> 00:02:50,561 -Destructive. -Entitled. 70 00:02:50,604 --> 00:02:52,171 -Misunderstood. -Tough. 71 00:02:52,215 --> 00:02:54,217 -Vindictive. -Interesting. 72 00:02:54,260 --> 00:02:56,219 -Buffoon. -Enigma. 73 00:02:56,262 --> 00:02:57,959 ["One Fine Morning" by Lighthouse plays] 74 00:02:59,831 --> 00:03:06,620 ♪ Yeah, we'll fly, we'll fly 75 00:03:07,491 --> 00:03:09,232 ♪ Yeah, we'll fly 76 00:03:09,275 --> 00:03:14,454 ♪ 77 00:03:14,498 --> 00:03:16,282 [music stops] 78 00:03:17,022 --> 00:03:19,633 [narrator] Harold Ballard, who came to own the Leafs 79 00:03:19,677 --> 00:03:22,549 and the Cathedral of Hockey at 60 Carlton Street 80 00:03:22,593 --> 00:03:24,551 in Toronto, was the custodian 81 00:03:24,595 --> 00:03:26,640 of a piece of Canadian history. 82 00:03:26,684 --> 00:03:30,688 A hockey club, founded in 1917 as the Arenas, 83 00:03:30,731 --> 00:03:33,865 and renamed the St. Pats two years later. 84 00:03:33,908 --> 00:03:36,476 In 1927, the team was purchased 85 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,304 and renamed the Maple Leafs 86 00:03:38,348 --> 00:03:40,872 by Toronto Gravel Baron, Conn Smythe. 87 00:03:40,915 --> 00:03:44,310 And in 1931, he embarked on construction 88 00:03:44,354 --> 00:03:45,746 of Maple Leaf Gardens: 89 00:03:45,790 --> 00:03:47,531 a miracle of architecture 90 00:03:47,574 --> 00:03:49,968 that was finished in five short months. 91 00:03:50,011 --> 00:03:53,188 For years, the Leafs flourished and won 92 00:03:53,232 --> 00:03:55,843 under the tutelage of their proud owner. 93 00:03:55,887 --> 00:03:57,671 Conn Smythe was a winner 94 00:03:57,715 --> 00:03:59,760 in almost everything he touched. 95 00:03:59,804 --> 00:04:01,849 Whether as a prosperous businessman, 96 00:04:01,893 --> 00:04:04,112 owner of thoroughbred horses, 97 00:04:04,156 --> 00:04:06,985 or as the man who made the Toronto Maple Leafs 98 00:04:07,028 --> 00:04:08,726 synonymous with success. 99 00:04:08,769 --> 00:04:11,990 His legacy was hard for anyone to follow, 100 00:04:12,033 --> 00:04:13,557 let alone Harold Ballard, 101 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,777 whom Smythe once referred to as a pirate. 102 00:04:16,821 --> 00:04:18,605 [Brunt] Conn Smythe, hero of two wars. 103 00:04:18,649 --> 00:04:20,433 The guy who built the Gardens in the Depression. 104 00:04:20,477 --> 00:04:22,392 The guy who won all those Stanley Cups. 105 00:04:22,435 --> 00:04:25,264 The Smythe name is on the Stanley Cup 11 times. 106 00:04:25,308 --> 00:04:27,832 Nobody else is going to meet that boy. 107 00:04:27,875 --> 00:04:30,530 Conny was the type of person 108 00:04:31,488 --> 00:04:35,143 who could be very, very tough. 109 00:04:35,927 --> 00:04:40,627 He was not an admirer of Harold and made that clear. 110 00:04:40,671 --> 00:04:43,326 [narrator] No one saw Harold Edwin Ballard 111 00:04:43,369 --> 00:04:45,980 as the natural successor to Conn Smythe, 112 00:04:46,024 --> 00:04:48,069 except Harold himself. 113 00:04:48,113 --> 00:04:50,550 Since the day he was born in Toronto, 114 00:04:50,594 --> 00:04:53,031 July 30th, 1903, 115 00:04:53,074 --> 00:04:56,034 he was an ambitious, restless, free spirit 116 00:04:56,077 --> 00:04:58,906 who learned the business world at his father's knee. 117 00:04:58,950 --> 00:05:02,475 Sidney Eustace Ballard was a successful manufacturer 118 00:05:02,519 --> 00:05:05,348 of sewing machines and ice skates, 119 00:05:05,391 --> 00:05:07,567 and before long, his son, Hal, 120 00:05:07,611 --> 00:05:09,787 had dropped out of Upper Canada College, 121 00:05:09,830 --> 00:05:12,442 eventually opening up a manufacturing business 122 00:05:12,485 --> 00:05:16,271 of his own and invented a machine to cut hotdog rolls 123 00:05:16,315 --> 00:05:20,058 for Shopsy's Delicatessen, a Toronto landmark. 124 00:05:20,101 --> 00:05:23,975 But Harold Ballard was never cut out to just be successful. 125 00:05:24,018 --> 00:05:26,151 He needed excitement. 126 00:05:26,194 --> 00:05:28,371 He starts out life as a rich man's son. 127 00:05:28,414 --> 00:05:30,024 He doesn't have a care in the world. 128 00:05:30,068 --> 00:05:31,852 He was too young for World War One. 129 00:05:31,896 --> 00:05:33,680 He was too old for World War Two. 130 00:05:33,724 --> 00:05:36,727 During the Great Depression, he had a Playboy lifestyle. 131 00:05:36,770 --> 00:05:38,424 He'd dance the night away, you know. 132 00:05:38,468 --> 00:05:40,426 He-- he never had a worry in his life. 133 00:05:40,470 --> 00:05:41,993 [narrator] Among other passions, 134 00:05:42,036 --> 00:05:43,951 Ballard raised miniature speed boats 135 00:05:43,995 --> 00:05:47,215 known as sea fleas, and was even the flag-bearer 136 00:05:47,259 --> 00:05:50,915 for Canada's 1928 Winter Olympic team. 137 00:05:50,958 --> 00:05:53,787 In 1930, Ballard was the manager 138 00:05:53,831 --> 00:05:56,224 and coach of a minor league hockey team 139 00:05:56,268 --> 00:05:58,488 named the National Sea Fleas. 140 00:05:58,531 --> 00:06:01,839 And by 1940, Ballard found success 141 00:06:01,882 --> 00:06:04,319 as the president of the Toronto Marlboros, 142 00:06:04,363 --> 00:06:05,843 the Maple Leafs Farm Club, 143 00:06:05,886 --> 00:06:08,062 where he would forge a lifelong bond 144 00:06:08,106 --> 00:06:10,456 with Conn's son, Stafford Smythe. 145 00:06:11,283 --> 00:06:15,287 In 1957, an aging Conn Smythe 146 00:06:15,330 --> 00:06:18,029 turned over control of his beloved hockey team 147 00:06:18,072 --> 00:06:20,814 and building to a seven-person committee 148 00:06:20,858 --> 00:06:24,905 headed by his son Stafford, known as the Silver Seven. 149 00:06:24,949 --> 00:06:26,864 Newspaper owner, John Bassett, 150 00:06:26,907 --> 00:06:28,605 was also a member of the committee, 151 00:06:28,648 --> 00:06:30,563 and despite Conn's disapproval, 152 00:06:30,607 --> 00:06:32,478 they were soon joined by Ballard, 153 00:06:32,522 --> 00:06:35,307 who was appointed to fill a vacancy. 154 00:06:35,350 --> 00:06:37,396 I think there were originally seven owners 155 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:38,919 because they were called the Silver Seven, 156 00:06:38,963 --> 00:06:41,226 but it really became a three-man operation 157 00:06:41,269 --> 00:06:44,055 with Bassett, Ballard, and, uh, Smythe. 158 00:06:44,098 --> 00:06:46,710 We used to quake in our boots with John Bassett. 159 00:06:46,753 --> 00:06:49,713 He was always a stern kind of guy or had this image of that. 160 00:06:49,756 --> 00:06:52,455 And Stafford was another guy that seemed like a stern guy, 161 00:06:52,498 --> 00:06:54,239 and Harold was more of the fun-loving guy. 162 00:06:54,282 --> 00:06:56,763 They all tolerated each other to be part of this troika 163 00:06:56,807 --> 00:06:58,765 that took over from Conn Smythe. 164 00:06:58,809 --> 00:07:00,985 [Parrish] The Bassetts were the elite of Toronto, 165 00:07:01,028 --> 00:07:02,813 and the Smythes weren't far behind. 166 00:07:02,856 --> 00:07:06,077 And Harold Ballard wasn't very high on that list. 167 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:08,862 He had been the third fiddle, the seventh fiddle, 168 00:07:08,906 --> 00:07:10,908 for a lot of years at that point. 169 00:07:11,735 --> 00:07:15,826 And I think he wanted to prove that he could do the job, 170 00:07:15,869 --> 00:07:17,610 that he could get it all done. 171 00:07:17,654 --> 00:07:22,310 -[crowd cheering] -[upbeat music plays] 172 00:07:22,354 --> 00:07:24,530 [reporter] Executive Vice President, Harold Ballard. 173 00:07:24,574 --> 00:07:26,358 How are you, Harold? Do you feel good? 174 00:07:26,401 --> 00:07:27,577 Oh, couldn't feel better. 175 00:07:28,447 --> 00:07:32,451 That group ushered in a kind of a renewed era 176 00:07:32,495 --> 00:07:34,409 of success in Leaf hockey. 177 00:07:34,453 --> 00:07:36,324 When you look at what happened in, 178 00:07:36,368 --> 00:07:37,978 you know, the three consecutive cups 179 00:07:38,022 --> 00:07:41,591 between '62 and '64 and then after a couple of years, 180 00:07:41,634 --> 00:07:43,201 you know, failing in the playoffs, 181 00:07:43,244 --> 00:07:45,203 then winning again in '67, 182 00:07:45,246 --> 00:07:47,118 you know, he was a part of that. 183 00:07:47,161 --> 00:07:50,295 Well, he was around for four Stanley Cups. 184 00:07:51,035 --> 00:07:52,732 So, you know, a little bit. 185 00:07:52,776 --> 00:07:55,387 He was still a part owner, remember, in the good years. 186 00:07:55,430 --> 00:07:57,911 He loved seeing his team win. 187 00:07:57,955 --> 00:07:59,173 I was there when they won 188 00:07:59,217 --> 00:08:01,480 in the three Stanley Cups in a row. 189 00:08:01,524 --> 00:08:03,003 And there was nobody happier than Harold. 190 00:08:03,047 --> 00:08:04,831 This is our centennial year 191 00:08:04,875 --> 00:08:06,790 and we have our centennial project finished. 192 00:08:06,833 --> 00:08:08,443 -You got it, eh? -Yes, sir. 193 00:08:08,487 --> 00:08:09,967 -This is the one you want. -This is something. 194 00:08:10,010 --> 00:08:11,751 And I want to thank the supporters 195 00:08:11,795 --> 00:08:13,144 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, 196 00:08:13,187 --> 00:08:15,407 and I want to sympathize with the, uh, 197 00:08:15,450 --> 00:08:17,322 with our opponents. [chuckles] 198 00:08:19,803 --> 00:08:21,544 [announcer] The final score of tonight's game. 199 00:08:21,587 --> 00:08:23,241 Toronto Maple Leafs, three. 200 00:08:23,284 --> 00:08:24,808 The Montreal Canadiens, one. 201 00:08:24,851 --> 00:08:27,027 [Iaboni] Being there as a kid at that grade 202 00:08:27,071 --> 00:08:28,812 and seeing the Leafs come out one by one 203 00:08:28,855 --> 00:08:30,857 and seeing Terry Sawchuk and Dave Keon 204 00:08:30,901 --> 00:08:33,338 and all the players wave and all that kind of stuff 205 00:08:33,381 --> 00:08:35,340 was something that I-- I hope 206 00:08:35,383 --> 00:08:37,908 that the future, and the current generation 207 00:08:37,951 --> 00:08:40,475 of Leafs fans and the ones that are old enough to remember 208 00:08:40,519 --> 00:08:42,782 the championship of '67 experience again. 209 00:08:42,826 --> 00:08:44,654 [Bennett] When I think of the Maple Leafs, 210 00:08:44,697 --> 00:08:46,133 I think of my grandfather. 211 00:08:46,177 --> 00:08:48,788 My grandfather emigrated to Canada in 1967. 212 00:08:48,832 --> 00:08:50,616 Last year the Leafs won the Cup. 213 00:08:50,660 --> 00:08:54,054 Leafs win, craze of the city. 214 00:08:54,098 --> 00:08:56,970 You know, he went to the parade and it really showed him that, 215 00:08:57,014 --> 00:09:00,800 "Yeah, as much as I may feel different 216 00:09:00,844 --> 00:09:02,715 from any of the people in this new country, 217 00:09:02,759 --> 00:09:05,544 I am more alike than I am different." 218 00:09:05,588 --> 00:09:08,242 And he's been a diehard Leafs fan ever since. 219 00:09:10,897 --> 00:09:12,769 [narrator] Although Ballard wasn't a huge factor 220 00:09:12,812 --> 00:09:15,119 in the team's Cup wins in the '60s, 221 00:09:15,162 --> 00:09:17,469 he definitely made himself useful 222 00:09:17,512 --> 00:09:18,818 at Maple Leaf Gardens. 223 00:09:19,732 --> 00:09:21,995 His main job, and true passion, 224 00:09:22,039 --> 00:09:24,607 was to keep Maple Leaf Gardens full. 225 00:09:24,650 --> 00:09:27,435 And it was a job he was born to do. 226 00:09:27,479 --> 00:09:30,525 By 1969, profits had tripled 227 00:09:30,569 --> 00:09:32,832 to just under $1 million. 228 00:09:32,876 --> 00:09:35,443 He was not a great hockey man by any stretch. 229 00:09:35,487 --> 00:09:38,577 He really was at his best in the '60s as a promoter. 230 00:09:38,621 --> 00:09:41,580 He brought Muhammad Ali to the fight. 231 00:09:41,624 --> 00:09:43,626 Conn Smythe didn't want 232 00:09:44,452 --> 00:09:46,585 the Black draft-dodger in Toronto. 233 00:09:46,629 --> 00:09:49,675 There is one hell of a lot of difference 234 00:09:49,719 --> 00:09:53,070 in fighting in the ring and going to war in Vietnam. 235 00:09:53,113 --> 00:09:54,506 You know, and that's what caused 236 00:09:54,549 --> 00:09:56,813 Conn Smythe to give up his directorship 237 00:09:56,856 --> 00:09:59,380 was when Muhammad Ali could not find 238 00:09:59,424 --> 00:10:00,817 a fight in the United States. 239 00:10:00,860 --> 00:10:02,470 They looked at Canada. 240 00:10:02,514 --> 00:10:04,995 [Eagleson] Conn Smythe, he was the one that said, 241 00:10:05,038 --> 00:10:06,997 "I'm-- I'’m off the board 242 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:08,999 if you're bringing in Cassius Clay." 243 00:10:09,042 --> 00:10:13,656 He did not like what happened when they let 244 00:10:13,699 --> 00:10:17,790 Cassius Clay fight George Chuvalo in the Gardens. 245 00:10:17,834 --> 00:10:19,662 He didn't like a lot of things that Ballard did. 246 00:10:19,705 --> 00:10:21,838 [narrator] Conn Smythe, in protest, 247 00:10:21,881 --> 00:10:24,710 sells his remaining 5,100 shares 248 00:10:24,754 --> 00:10:28,453 of Maple Leaf Gardens LTD and resigns from the board. 249 00:10:28,496 --> 00:10:30,020 You think of Muhammad Ali, 250 00:10:30,063 --> 00:10:32,849 uh, not allowed to box, but there is a time 251 00:10:32,892 --> 00:10:34,677 he was able to get out of the country 252 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,287 and Harold Ballard facilitated that. 253 00:10:36,330 --> 00:10:38,681 People here in Canada are nice 254 00:10:38,724 --> 00:10:41,335 and it's a lot different from where I come from. 255 00:10:41,379 --> 00:10:43,686 [narrator] With Conn Smythe completely out of the picture, 256 00:10:43,729 --> 00:10:46,253 there wasn't much to constrain Harold Ballard. 257 00:10:46,819 --> 00:10:49,039 First on the agenda, removing the portrait 258 00:10:49,082 --> 00:10:51,911 of Queen Elizabeth to install more seats. 259 00:10:51,955 --> 00:10:53,739 [Stellick] When the mezzanines came in, 260 00:10:53,783 --> 00:10:55,045 the Queen was up there. 261 00:10:55,088 --> 00:10:56,481 But he didn't even think about that. 262 00:10:56,524 --> 00:10:57,743 But of course, he threw the great quip out. 263 00:10:57,787 --> 00:10:59,136 "She doesn't pay admission, 264 00:10:59,179 --> 00:11:00,398 so why would I let her in the game?" 265 00:11:00,441 --> 00:11:01,965 So, everybody went on that. 266 00:11:02,008 --> 00:11:03,880 What he was doing was taking this building that 267 00:11:03,923 --> 00:11:05,795 had been overbuilt. 268 00:11:05,838 --> 00:11:08,623 I mean, the building was really, really well-- well-constructed. 269 00:11:08,667 --> 00:11:11,409 He shrunk the seats to get more people in. 270 00:11:11,452 --> 00:11:13,324 You know, if there was money to be made, 271 00:11:13,367 --> 00:11:15,065 he didn't care who played Maple Leaf Gardens. 272 00:11:15,108 --> 00:11:16,806 You know, it was not a closed shop 273 00:11:16,849 --> 00:11:19,025 for anyone or no one. 274 00:11:19,069 --> 00:11:21,288 There was money to be made on a-- on a Muhammad Ali fight. 275 00:11:21,332 --> 00:11:23,116 I don't think he did it because he had 276 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:24,683 a great moral compass or anything like that. 277 00:11:24,727 --> 00:11:25,858 It was like, "Wow, this is great." 278 00:11:25,902 --> 00:11:27,555 I mean, the Beatles famous, 279 00:11:27,599 --> 00:11:29,993 you know, supposedly that urban legend, the myth. 280 00:11:30,036 --> 00:11:31,995 He sold the second show without a contract. 281 00:11:32,038 --> 00:11:34,301 So he had the Beatles down for two shows. 282 00:11:34,345 --> 00:11:37,435 And Brian Epstein, the manager, fortunately, fortuitously, 283 00:11:37,478 --> 00:11:40,264 agreed to play a second show like four hours later. 284 00:11:40,307 --> 00:11:43,615 [Vaive] I heard the story about when the Beatles came over. 285 00:11:43,658 --> 00:11:45,182 They did a concert at the Gardens 286 00:11:45,225 --> 00:11:46,661 and it was in the summer. 287 00:11:46,705 --> 00:11:49,577 Folklore goes that Ballard turned off 288 00:11:49,621 --> 00:11:51,884 the air conditioning, which didn't exist. 289 00:11:51,928 --> 00:11:54,278 He delayed the concert by an hour and a half. 290 00:11:54,321 --> 00:11:55,845 Turned the heat on in the building 291 00:11:55,888 --> 00:11:57,585 and turned the water off. 292 00:11:57,629 --> 00:11:59,196 Where is the water fountain at Maple Leaf Gardens? 293 00:11:59,239 --> 00:12:00,893 I wouldn't-- I wouldn'’t take a drink from one. 294 00:12:00,937 --> 00:12:02,721 I don't even know where one was. 295 00:12:02,765 --> 00:12:04,375 So, people had to go to the concessions 296 00:12:04,418 --> 00:12:05,550 to get something to drink. 297 00:12:05,593 --> 00:12:08,248 And it was probably 110 degrees 298 00:12:08,292 --> 00:12:09,989 in the building at point. [laughs] 299 00:12:10,033 --> 00:12:12,078 So, I mean, from that standpoint, 300 00:12:12,122 --> 00:12:15,778 things like that, yeah, that was crazy like a fox. 301 00:12:15,821 --> 00:12:17,301 He loved that. 302 00:12:17,344 --> 00:12:19,172 He was, like, decades later, he loved that. 303 00:12:19,216 --> 00:12:22,349 Like, that was his reputation, that he was such a promoter 304 00:12:22,393 --> 00:12:23,960 that he did all these kind of things, 305 00:12:24,003 --> 00:12:25,570 like his business savviness. 306 00:12:25,613 --> 00:12:27,920 I remember once when Billy Joel was playing 307 00:12:27,964 --> 00:12:29,139 and he was doing his sound check. 308 00:12:29,182 --> 00:12:30,531 Billy Joel, I guess, 309 00:12:30,575 --> 00:12:31,881 can be quite irascible too, right? 310 00:12:31,924 --> 00:12:33,665 And he sort of accosts Mr. Ballard, 311 00:12:33,708 --> 00:12:35,362 says something like, 312 00:12:35,406 --> 00:12:36,973 "Hey, what are you doing in here, buddy," or something, 313 00:12:37,016 --> 00:12:38,365 and Mr. Ballard turns to him and goes-- Says, 314 00:12:38,409 --> 00:12:39,714 "I own the fucking building." 315 00:12:39,758 --> 00:12:41,107 And Billy Joel goes, "Okay, great." 316 00:12:41,978 --> 00:12:43,457 You know? [laughs] 317 00:12:43,501 --> 00:12:44,807 That's a pretty solid answer back then. 318 00:12:44,850 --> 00:12:46,243 I own it. [laughs] 319 00:12:46,286 --> 00:12:48,680 In a time when there was no other venue 320 00:12:48,723 --> 00:12:52,553 except the CNE that hosted over 5,000 people in Toronto. 321 00:12:52,597 --> 00:12:54,294 You know, if you were Springsteen 322 00:12:54,338 --> 00:12:56,035 and you weren't playing the CNE in-- 323 00:12:56,079 --> 00:12:57,863 in August, you had to play us. 324 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:00,387 [narrator] For all his rough edges, 325 00:13:00,431 --> 00:13:02,912 Ballard did have someone that kept him grounded. 326 00:13:02,955 --> 00:13:06,132 His beloved wife, Dorothy, the dignified daughter 327 00:13:06,176 --> 00:13:08,395 of a preacher who patiently endured 328 00:13:08,439 --> 00:13:11,311 her husband's antics for 45 years. 329 00:13:11,834 --> 00:13:15,750 Dorothy's passing in 1969 due to cancer 330 00:13:15,794 --> 00:13:18,536 forever left a vacancy in Ballard's life. 331 00:13:19,363 --> 00:13:21,713 [Iaboni] Harold Ballard losing his wife, Dorothy, 332 00:13:21,756 --> 00:13:25,456 in 1969 was a huge turning point in his life. 333 00:13:25,499 --> 00:13:27,850 She meant everything to him, and from the people 334 00:13:27,893 --> 00:13:30,417 that I spoke to as I got to know Harold Ballard 335 00:13:30,461 --> 00:13:34,552 along the way, they told me that he was a different persona 336 00:13:34,595 --> 00:13:36,554 uh, while she was alive. 337 00:13:36,597 --> 00:13:38,208 I think it had a massive impact on him. 338 00:13:38,861 --> 00:13:41,037 Uh, I think he choose a life partner 339 00:13:41,472 --> 00:13:43,822 and when that partner's gone, life changes. 340 00:13:43,866 --> 00:13:45,824 I think that shadow hung over him. 341 00:13:45,868 --> 00:13:49,523 But I think any man at that age has known grief, has known loss. 342 00:13:49,567 --> 00:13:52,439 He was a human being. He wasn't entirely a clown. 343 00:13:52,483 --> 00:13:55,790 When his wife left us, he kind of became... 344 00:13:57,314 --> 00:14:00,099 I know-- More inward and more an executive. 345 00:14:00,970 --> 00:14:02,493 And he thought being an executive 346 00:14:02,536 --> 00:14:04,060 was to have everybody afraid of him. 347 00:14:04,974 --> 00:14:07,541 If you relate to today's world like Trump does. 348 00:14:07,585 --> 00:14:08,803 You know, everybody's scared of him, 349 00:14:08,847 --> 00:14:09,979 everybody'’s scared of him. 350 00:14:10,631 --> 00:14:13,243 And that-- that doesn't make a great executive. 351 00:14:13,286 --> 00:14:14,940 He's certainly looked after his wife 352 00:14:14,984 --> 00:14:16,376 every day of his life. 353 00:14:16,420 --> 00:14:18,161 You know, he, uh, 354 00:14:18,204 --> 00:14:20,641 he took flowers there, uh, every day. 355 00:14:20,685 --> 00:14:21,904 Every day. 356 00:14:24,341 --> 00:14:26,865 [narrator] While in mourning, things got worse 357 00:14:26,909 --> 00:14:29,520 when law enforcement became aware 358 00:14:29,563 --> 00:14:34,220 that money was being skimmed from the cash box on Carlton. 359 00:14:34,264 --> 00:14:37,571 An RCMP raid at Maple Leaf Gardens 360 00:14:37,615 --> 00:14:39,486 led to a long investigation. 361 00:14:39,530 --> 00:14:44,187 The result was Stafford Smythe charged with income tax evasion 362 00:14:44,230 --> 00:14:46,580 and accused, along with Ballard, 363 00:14:46,624 --> 00:14:49,714 of illegally taking money from Maple Leaf Gardens 364 00:14:49,757 --> 00:14:53,848 to pay for home renovations and other personal expenses. 365 00:14:54,632 --> 00:14:56,112 It was something to the effect. 366 00:14:56,155 --> 00:14:57,852 It was a public company 367 00:14:57,896 --> 00:15:00,290 and they had appropriated money from the company. 368 00:15:00,333 --> 00:15:02,466 [narrator] June 1969, 369 00:15:02,509 --> 00:15:05,077 John Bassett, chairman of the board, 370 00:15:05,121 --> 00:15:06,731 held a vote to decide 371 00:15:06,774 --> 00:15:08,951 if Staff Smythe and Harold Ballard, 372 00:15:08,994 --> 00:15:11,910 despite neither yet being convicted of anything, 373 00:15:11,954 --> 00:15:13,956 should be removed from their post 374 00:15:13,999 --> 00:15:16,654 as president and executive vice president. 375 00:15:17,307 --> 00:15:21,528 The board voted eight to seven to oust Ballard and Smythe, 376 00:15:21,572 --> 00:15:24,401 with Bassett casting the deciding vote. 377 00:15:24,444 --> 00:15:26,925 Strangely, in a strategic blunder 378 00:15:26,969 --> 00:15:29,362 that would haunt Bassett for years to come, 379 00:15:29,406 --> 00:15:33,149 he allowed Smythe and Ballard to hold on to their shares 380 00:15:33,192 --> 00:15:34,889 and remain on the board. 381 00:15:36,152 --> 00:15:38,241 I think Bassett was in a position 382 00:15:38,284 --> 00:15:40,286 that-- that he couldn't win. 383 00:15:40,330 --> 00:15:44,508 He was a head of a major television network 384 00:15:44,551 --> 00:15:49,295 and also a member of the board of Maple Leaf Gardens. 385 00:15:49,339 --> 00:15:53,430 He felt in conscience that he should force 386 00:15:53,473 --> 00:15:55,823 the resignation of Smythe and Ballard. 387 00:15:57,216 --> 00:15:58,478 Ballard never forgave him 388 00:15:58,522 --> 00:16:00,350 and the first opportunity he had, 389 00:16:00,393 --> 00:16:01,481 they were out of here. 390 00:16:01,525 --> 00:16:04,310 Gone. Period. No debate. 391 00:16:04,354 --> 00:16:06,486 He's a great, uh, glad hander. 392 00:16:06,530 --> 00:16:10,534 And, uh, you know, the drama, that ivory smile. 393 00:16:10,577 --> 00:16:12,579 He looks like a [indistinct] smile 394 00:16:12,623 --> 00:16:14,755 when he tries to win you over with all that. 395 00:16:14,799 --> 00:16:17,845 But when you know Bassett and know him the way I know him, 396 00:16:17,889 --> 00:16:19,195 it's a different story. 397 00:16:20,979 --> 00:16:23,112 [narrator] A mere 18 months later, 398 00:16:23,155 --> 00:16:25,549 at the organization's annual meeting, 399 00:16:25,592 --> 00:16:28,595 Smythe and Ballard exacted their revenge. 400 00:16:28,639 --> 00:16:30,684 As the two largest shareholders, 401 00:16:30,728 --> 00:16:33,078 Ballard and Smythe managed to persuade 402 00:16:33,122 --> 00:16:35,602 the other shareholders to support them. 403 00:16:35,646 --> 00:16:37,778 They regained control of the board, 404 00:16:37,822 --> 00:16:40,390 reinstalling themselves as president 405 00:16:40,433 --> 00:16:42,522 and executive vice president. 406 00:16:42,566 --> 00:16:44,698 Now, in an untenable situation, 407 00:16:44,742 --> 00:16:47,223 Bassett and his loyalists resign. 408 00:16:47,832 --> 00:16:50,095 September 1st, 1971, 409 00:16:50,139 --> 00:16:52,967 he sold his shares to Ballard and Smythe 410 00:16:53,011 --> 00:16:56,058 for almost six million dollars. 411 00:16:56,101 --> 00:16:58,625 Ballard and Smythe had achieved their dream, 412 00:16:58,669 --> 00:17:01,280 complete control of the Toronto Maple Leafs, 413 00:17:01,324 --> 00:17:03,848 but they had no control of their destiny 414 00:17:03,891 --> 00:17:05,676 because it was time to go to trial. 415 00:17:06,329 --> 00:17:08,853 But Stafford never made it to the stand. 416 00:17:08,896 --> 00:17:11,899 He died unexpectedly from complications 417 00:17:11,943 --> 00:17:14,076 due to a bleeding ulcer, 418 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,861 a mere 12 days before the trial. 419 00:17:16,904 --> 00:17:18,689 Only 50 years old, 420 00:17:18,732 --> 00:17:21,822 he had told anyone who'd listen that he would never go to jail. 421 00:17:21,866 --> 00:17:23,824 And he was correct. 422 00:17:23,868 --> 00:17:26,914 Stafford Smythe predeceases Ballard quite suddenly. 423 00:17:26,958 --> 00:17:29,874 When they got rid of Bassett and Stafford died, 424 00:17:29,917 --> 00:17:31,528 then it became for-- for Harold Ballard 425 00:17:31,571 --> 00:17:33,573 to take over and get rid of the Smythe's altogether. 426 00:17:33,617 --> 00:17:35,097 He wanted to make it his team. 427 00:17:35,140 --> 00:17:37,142 [narrator] A 68-year-old Ballard 428 00:17:37,186 --> 00:17:41,059 bought his shares, giving him a 71% controllinginterest 429 00:17:41,103 --> 00:17:43,192 in the building and the team. 430 00:17:43,235 --> 00:17:46,673 He then installed himself as president and chairman 431 00:17:46,717 --> 00:17:48,632 of Maple Leaf Gardens LTD. 432 00:17:48,675 --> 00:17:51,025 I think there was a second childhood element 433 00:17:51,069 --> 00:17:52,592 to it, like, "Oh, my God, 434 00:17:52,636 --> 00:17:54,551 I-- The Toronto Maple Leafs fell in my lap. 435 00:17:54,594 --> 00:17:56,422 And you know what? I'm going to have fun. 436 00:17:56,466 --> 00:17:58,163 And I'm going to take it and run with it. 437 00:17:58,207 --> 00:18:00,034 And I'm going to be-- I'’m going to be a somebody 438 00:18:00,078 --> 00:18:01,340 and people are going to know 439 00:18:01,384 --> 00:18:03,037 that I own the Toronto Maple Leafs." 440 00:18:03,081 --> 00:18:05,301 [narrator] To buy Bassett and Smythe's shares, 441 00:18:05,344 --> 00:18:09,174 Ballard went nearly $14 million in debt. 442 00:18:09,218 --> 00:18:10,567 He may have told the world 443 00:18:10,610 --> 00:18:12,482 he owned the Toronto Maple Leafs, 444 00:18:12,525 --> 00:18:15,049 but fact was, the banks did. 445 00:18:15,093 --> 00:18:17,922 He owns this much of the Maple Leaf Gardens LTD, 446 00:18:17,965 --> 00:18:20,490 Ballard does, and he's got a chance to buy this much. 447 00:18:20,533 --> 00:18:23,580 Okay? So Don Giffin, who became later on 448 00:18:23,623 --> 00:18:26,496 a prominent director, takes him to the TD Bank 449 00:18:26,539 --> 00:18:28,367 and arranges a loan for this much. 450 00:18:28,411 --> 00:18:29,890 So, he's in over his head 451 00:18:29,934 --> 00:18:31,588 like somebody that's bought a house, 452 00:18:31,631 --> 00:18:33,590 uh, you know, way beyond their means. 453 00:18:34,808 --> 00:18:38,290 [narrator] 1972 was an eventful year in hockey, 454 00:18:38,334 --> 00:18:42,207 with the NHL'’s continued expansion to 16 teams 455 00:18:42,251 --> 00:18:44,383 and the emergence of a rival league, 456 00:18:44,427 --> 00:18:46,646 the World Hockey Association. 457 00:18:47,430 --> 00:18:50,084 Life was difficult for Harold Ballard, 458 00:18:50,128 --> 00:18:52,783 who was guilty of having a bad hockey team 459 00:18:52,826 --> 00:18:55,612 and guilty in a court of law. 460 00:18:55,655 --> 00:18:57,004 [interviewer] Mr. Ballard, what are your thoughts 461 00:18:57,048 --> 00:18:58,658 now that the trial is finally over 462 00:18:58,702 --> 00:19:00,094 and you've been found guilty? 463 00:19:00,138 --> 00:19:02,009 I-- actually I don't feel guilty. 464 00:19:02,053 --> 00:19:05,578 But, however, the-- Judge Damon is-- is-- 465 00:19:05,622 --> 00:19:07,537 uh, considers that I am guilty. 466 00:19:08,277 --> 00:19:10,148 Uh, and it'’s entirely up to him. 467 00:19:10,192 --> 00:19:12,890 I've never, uh, given a jail sentence any-- 468 00:19:13,934 --> 00:19:16,676 any thought, it's the furthest from my mind. 469 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,157 But, however, if there's a jail sentence, 470 00:19:19,201 --> 00:19:20,985 there'’s a jail sentence, let's face it. 471 00:19:21,028 --> 00:19:23,117 [narrator] Ballard's prison sentencing conflicted 472 00:19:23,161 --> 00:19:25,381 with the upcoming Summit series. 473 00:19:25,424 --> 00:19:28,471 For the first time, the best professional players 474 00:19:28,514 --> 00:19:30,864 from hockey's two superpowers, 475 00:19:30,908 --> 00:19:34,128 Canada and the USSR, went head to head. 476 00:19:34,651 --> 00:19:36,392 Proud Canadian that he was, 477 00:19:36,435 --> 00:19:40,222 Ballard let Team Canada train at Maple Leaf Gardens. 478 00:19:40,265 --> 00:19:44,226 Together with agent/union boss, Alan Eagleson, 479 00:19:44,269 --> 00:19:47,098 he bought the ad rights to the eight-game event 480 00:19:47,141 --> 00:19:49,231 and raked in millions. 481 00:19:49,274 --> 00:19:50,710 [interviewer] Now, what are your plans in terms 482 00:19:50,754 --> 00:19:52,277 of the, uh, Russia-Canada Hockey series? 483 00:19:52,321 --> 00:19:54,410 [Harold] I would like, if it was possible, 484 00:19:54,453 --> 00:19:57,064 if there was any way that they could extend 485 00:19:57,108 --> 00:20:00,503 their decision until after the series is over, 486 00:20:00,546 --> 00:20:02,461 well, I'd be very grateful because I've spent 487 00:20:02,505 --> 00:20:04,681 a tremendous amount of time 488 00:20:04,724 --> 00:20:07,466 on Hockey Canada since its conception. 489 00:20:07,510 --> 00:20:09,468 [narrator] Ballard got his wish. 490 00:20:09,512 --> 00:20:13,080 His sentencing was delayed until after this summit series, 491 00:20:13,124 --> 00:20:15,213 infuriating his critics. 492 00:20:15,257 --> 00:20:17,868 And he was in Moscow to witness possibly 493 00:20:17,911 --> 00:20:21,263 the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history. 494 00:20:23,830 --> 00:20:26,659 But for Ballard, national pride quickly turned 495 00:20:26,703 --> 00:20:28,879 to personal embarrassment. 496 00:20:28,922 --> 00:20:31,838 Upon his return from the Soviet Union, 497 00:20:31,882 --> 00:20:33,710 justice was served. 498 00:20:33,753 --> 00:20:36,408 In October 1972, 499 00:20:36,452 --> 00:20:38,541 he entered Millhaven Penitentiary 500 00:20:38,584 --> 00:20:42,371 to serve a three year sentence after being convicted 501 00:20:42,414 --> 00:20:45,722 of 47 white collar crimes. 502 00:20:45,765 --> 00:20:48,202 I don't actually recall 503 00:20:48,246 --> 00:20:50,117 the first time I met him because, 504 00:20:50,161 --> 00:20:53,860 unfortunately, when I first signed my first contract, 505 00:20:53,904 --> 00:20:55,993 Harold was in jail at that time. 506 00:20:56,036 --> 00:20:58,952 When he was sentenced to prison, I think he was shocked. 507 00:20:58,996 --> 00:21:01,477 I didn't think he felt he would go 508 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:05,263 because he was this, you know, big, important guy in sports 509 00:21:05,307 --> 00:21:06,830 and owned the Toronto Maple Leafs. 510 00:21:06,873 --> 00:21:08,571 How could they do this to him? 511 00:21:08,614 --> 00:21:11,922 But he went and spent, uh, about a year in Millhaven. 512 00:21:11,965 --> 00:21:14,054 [Donald] The time in prison, you know, 513 00:21:14,098 --> 00:21:16,448 he decided that, "Bleep you," 514 00:21:16,492 --> 00:21:19,756 you know, "people can say you're a con, you can whatever. 515 00:21:19,799 --> 00:21:21,453 "I'm going to have fun about it, okay? 516 00:21:21,497 --> 00:21:23,499 And all the shots at me, I'm going to fire them back." 517 00:21:23,542 --> 00:21:25,152 He says, "Hey there, 518 00:21:25,196 --> 00:21:26,632 I want to show you what our Canadian prisons--" 519 00:21:26,676 --> 00:21:28,025 And he's got a stack of pictures on his desk. 520 00:21:28,068 --> 00:21:29,374 And he hands them to me, all right? 521 00:21:29,418 --> 00:21:30,810 And I started going through them 522 00:21:30,854 --> 00:21:32,986 and that's Harold in the guards' uniform 523 00:21:33,030 --> 00:21:34,553 with his feet up on the desk. 524 00:21:34,597 --> 00:21:36,599 Got a bottle of beer, a cigar, and color TV. 525 00:21:36,642 --> 00:21:38,775 This is what our Canadian prisons are like, right? 526 00:21:38,818 --> 00:21:40,777 [Harold] Outside the humiliation and disgrace, 527 00:21:40,820 --> 00:21:42,909 it wasn't bad because I had-- I had 528 00:21:42,953 --> 00:21:44,955 a very good time down there at Millhaven, 529 00:21:44,998 --> 00:21:46,609 I had my own room. 530 00:21:46,652 --> 00:21:48,567 It was a high class motel as far as I was concerned. 531 00:21:48,611 --> 00:21:49,742 [Adrienne] You weren't getting tenderloin 532 00:21:49,786 --> 00:21:51,048 three times a week, come on. 533 00:21:51,091 --> 00:21:52,397 [Harold] You think I wasn't, eh? 534 00:21:52,441 --> 00:21:53,920 -[Adrienne] No. -[Harold] Well, 535 00:21:53,964 --> 00:21:55,269 you just keep on thinking, baby, 536 00:21:55,313 --> 00:21:56,836 because you're not right. [cackling] 537 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,926 While he was in Millhaven, 538 00:21:59,970 --> 00:22:02,364 Billy, his son, who was a young lawyer, 539 00:22:02,407 --> 00:22:05,410 who articled in our firm for a while, 540 00:22:05,454 --> 00:22:08,457 had taken over the entire operations, 541 00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:12,374 ran it without any hitches or any big problems. 542 00:22:13,026 --> 00:22:15,420 And then Harold came back 543 00:22:16,073 --> 00:22:18,771 and instead of patting him on the back and saying, 544 00:22:18,815 --> 00:22:20,686 "Son, you got a great future 545 00:22:20,730 --> 00:22:22,993 when I'm gone running this organization." 546 00:22:23,385 --> 00:22:24,734 He said, "Get out of here, 547 00:22:24,777 --> 00:22:27,737 I'm back in charge, so bugger off." 548 00:22:27,780 --> 00:22:29,303 I mean, it was that blunt. 549 00:22:29,347 --> 00:22:30,783 I couldn't-- I couldn'’t believe it. 550 00:22:30,827 --> 00:22:34,221 And there was always that ill feeling 551 00:22:34,265 --> 00:22:37,486 uh, between father and son as a result. 552 00:22:37,529 --> 00:22:39,270 [Adrienne] You're unrepentant. Totally unrepentant. 553 00:22:39,313 --> 00:22:40,663 Absolutely. 554 00:22:40,706 --> 00:22:42,360 And as far as old Diefenbaker goes, 555 00:22:42,404 --> 00:22:44,057 he got up in the house and said, 556 00:22:44,101 --> 00:22:46,582 "There's a law for the rich and one for the poor." 557 00:22:47,104 --> 00:22:49,149 Uh, you know, I got the tape on that. 558 00:22:49,715 --> 00:22:51,325 That old sucker would steal your eyes out 559 00:22:51,369 --> 00:22:53,197 and put a grape in and tell you, you look better. 560 00:22:54,372 --> 00:22:56,026 God damn. How are you? 561 00:22:56,069 --> 00:22:57,549 [narrator] Ballard was out of prison 562 00:22:57,593 --> 00:22:59,377 after only a year, 563 00:22:59,421 --> 00:23:02,989 and his first order of business was to foolishly ignore 564 00:23:03,033 --> 00:23:05,209 the World Hockey Association. 565 00:23:05,252 --> 00:23:08,168 The WHA, what good can they do for us? 566 00:23:08,212 --> 00:23:10,736 I mean to say we don't need them. They need us. 567 00:23:10,780 --> 00:23:12,956 [narrator] And for Leaf fans, turning his back 568 00:23:12,999 --> 00:23:17,134 on the greatest Leaf of all time was the deepest cut of all. 569 00:23:17,177 --> 00:23:23,706 ♪ 570 00:23:23,749 --> 00:23:25,621 [Sittler] He was a guy that won the Conn Smythe. 571 00:23:25,664 --> 00:23:28,450 You know, he's the greatest Leaf ever. 572 00:23:28,493 --> 00:23:30,669 Yeah, he was kind of born out of town, 573 00:23:30,713 --> 00:23:32,671 so to speak, with Harold and, 574 00:23:32,715 --> 00:23:35,152 you know, the WHA and a number of other guys had left 575 00:23:35,195 --> 00:23:37,284 because Harold didn't want to acknowledge that 576 00:23:37,328 --> 00:23:38,895 there was another league there. 577 00:23:38,938 --> 00:23:40,592 And, uh, rather than do what was right 578 00:23:40,636 --> 00:23:42,899 to build a hockey club, he let a number of guys go 579 00:23:42,942 --> 00:23:44,509 and Keon was one of them. 580 00:23:44,553 --> 00:23:46,076 [Parrish] And the WHA came 581 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:48,252 and took many of their best young players. 582 00:23:48,295 --> 00:23:49,775 And then Dave Keon, 583 00:23:49,819 --> 00:23:51,473 who had never been a Ballard fan, 584 00:23:51,516 --> 00:23:54,345 going back to the '60s, left in '75. 585 00:23:54,388 --> 00:23:58,436 And then that deteriorated into what went on for 20 or 25 years. 586 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,266 [Eagleson] And Keon was, uh, he was one of the pillars 587 00:24:02,309 --> 00:24:04,050 of the Leafs dynasty, 588 00:24:04,094 --> 00:24:06,923 and that was very sad to see him go. 589 00:24:06,966 --> 00:24:10,013 But he went to Minnesota for twice as much money. 590 00:24:10,056 --> 00:24:13,233 It was a sad end because I think that 591 00:24:13,277 --> 00:24:16,367 David, and rightfully so, deserved more money. 592 00:24:16,410 --> 00:24:18,195 He deserved more respect. 593 00:24:18,238 --> 00:24:21,198 But at the end of the day, it was time for him to sort of 594 00:24:21,241 --> 00:24:23,548 go elsewhere as well, because it wasn't going to work 595 00:24:23,592 --> 00:24:26,029 with the-- with the ownership that was-- was there. 596 00:24:26,072 --> 00:24:28,248 I'll tell you something, uh, Mr. Ballard 597 00:24:28,292 --> 00:24:29,772 is my type of guy. 598 00:24:29,815 --> 00:24:31,556 I know I'm going against the grain saying this. 599 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,950 I've always liked him and, uh, he says what he thinks 600 00:24:33,993 --> 00:24:35,778 and he's good for hockey. 601 00:24:35,821 --> 00:24:38,520 He didn't like the idea of giving money to the players. 602 00:24:38,563 --> 00:24:40,260 I don't know what he was thinking of, 603 00:24:40,304 --> 00:24:43,089 but he could see the other teams were doing it. 604 00:24:43,133 --> 00:24:44,743 If he didn't think the guy was worth 605 00:24:44,787 --> 00:24:46,571 so much money, he wouldn't pay them 606 00:24:46,615 --> 00:24:48,268 and that's why he lost them all. 607 00:24:48,312 --> 00:24:50,706 [McKenny] Yeah, it decimated the whole franchise. 608 00:24:51,620 --> 00:24:53,578 Because they-- they had nothing to work with. 609 00:24:53,622 --> 00:24:56,625 Nothing-- nothing to offer other teams to-- 610 00:24:56,668 --> 00:24:59,802 to bring in players that could help them win. 611 00:24:59,845 --> 00:25:01,847 We would have won four or five Stanley Cups 612 00:25:01,891 --> 00:25:06,199 in the mid, uh, the mid '’70s for sure. 613 00:25:06,243 --> 00:25:08,158 We would have had as good a team as Montreal had. 614 00:25:08,201 --> 00:25:09,376 No problem. 615 00:25:10,247 --> 00:25:12,597 It soured so many players, 616 00:25:12,641 --> 00:25:15,905 uh, on, uh, thinking 617 00:25:15,948 --> 00:25:18,951 they were a part of this Maple Leaf team 618 00:25:18,995 --> 00:25:21,388 and tradition that should have been 619 00:25:21,432 --> 00:25:23,129 way stronger at that time. 620 00:25:23,173 --> 00:25:25,958 But I think Harold underestimated 621 00:25:26,002 --> 00:25:28,613 the World Hockey Association's power. 622 00:25:28,657 --> 00:25:31,398 [Eagleson] He decided that the WHA wasn't going to last 623 00:25:31,442 --> 00:25:33,836 and he wasn't going to pay the blood money. 624 00:25:33,879 --> 00:25:36,142 That was his position and it hurt the team. 625 00:25:37,056 --> 00:25:39,711 [narrator] Ballard had a talent for making money, 626 00:25:39,755 --> 00:25:43,193 but he refused to spend it on anything. 627 00:25:44,194 --> 00:25:46,022 You combine his cheapness which, 628 00:25:46,065 --> 00:25:48,111 you know, showed up in, you know, 629 00:25:48,154 --> 00:25:49,460 significant hockey ways, 630 00:25:49,503 --> 00:25:50,983 but also in kind of penny ante ways. 631 00:25:51,027 --> 00:25:52,768 He nickeled and dimed like crazy. 632 00:25:52,811 --> 00:25:54,857 But, you know, remember, there's no salary cap 633 00:25:54,900 --> 00:25:56,119 in that era, right? 634 00:25:56,162 --> 00:25:57,903 There's no salary cap at all. 635 00:25:57,947 --> 00:26:00,645 And the Toronto Maple Leafs drove more revenue 636 00:26:00,689 --> 00:26:02,647 by some multiple 637 00:26:02,691 --> 00:26:04,475 than any other team in the National Hockey League, 638 00:26:04,518 --> 00:26:06,390 other than the New York Rangers. 639 00:26:06,433 --> 00:26:08,174 They had an enormous financial advantage 640 00:26:08,218 --> 00:26:09,654 up until the cap. 641 00:26:09,698 --> 00:26:12,004 All through the '80s when they were terrible, 642 00:26:12,048 --> 00:26:14,616 they still had that enormous financial advantage 643 00:26:14,659 --> 00:26:16,400 over everybody else in the NHL. 644 00:26:16,443 --> 00:26:18,445 There was no reason why they couldn't have spent money 645 00:26:18,489 --> 00:26:19,838 where you could spend money. 646 00:26:19,882 --> 00:26:22,972 He wanted to keep things on the cheap 647 00:26:23,015 --> 00:26:26,540 and make sure that there was plenty of money 648 00:26:26,584 --> 00:26:28,630 for himself and-- and the company. 649 00:26:28,673 --> 00:26:30,066 You must have 15 scouts. 650 00:26:30,893 --> 00:26:32,372 [interviewer] Most people around the league say 651 00:26:32,416 --> 00:26:33,896 -Leafs don't have enough. -Well, that's all right. 652 00:26:33,939 --> 00:26:35,114 Uh, who's got more? 653 00:26:36,289 --> 00:26:37,769 [interviewer] Uh, Calgary, Edmonton. 654 00:26:37,813 --> 00:26:39,945 -What have they done? -They're in first place. 655 00:26:39,989 --> 00:26:41,381 That's all right. 656 00:26:41,425 --> 00:26:42,731 Well, they can stay in first place. 657 00:26:42,774 --> 00:26:44,297 Some of their scouts, I wouldn't want. 658 00:26:44,341 --> 00:26:46,517 Our typical hockey office would have 659 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,388 20 times the number of people of that today, 660 00:26:48,432 --> 00:26:50,260 or 15 times the number of people that today. 661 00:26:50,303 --> 00:26:52,958 So it was-- People would always come up and say, 662 00:26:53,002 --> 00:26:55,657 "You're, like, smaller than some junior A operations." 663 00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:57,354 Well, that's kind of the-- You know, 664 00:26:57,397 --> 00:27:00,923 Mr. Ballard ran lean, to say the least. 665 00:27:00,966 --> 00:27:04,491 The reason he felt that he could sell programs 666 00:27:04,535 --> 00:27:07,451 was because there was no name on the back of the sweater. 667 00:27:07,494 --> 00:27:12,151 And he refused to have a name on the back of Leafs sweaters 668 00:27:12,195 --> 00:27:13,370 because he claimed to the league that 669 00:27:13,413 --> 00:27:14,850 that would hurt program sales. 670 00:27:14,893 --> 00:27:17,287 So when the league mandated that all do, 671 00:27:17,330 --> 00:27:20,072 he made sure that the lettering would be there, 672 00:27:20,116 --> 00:27:21,726 but it would be the same color as the jersey. 673 00:27:21,770 --> 00:27:23,162 So you'd never see it. 674 00:27:23,206 --> 00:27:25,251 Harold believed you have to pay 2.50 675 00:27:25,295 --> 00:27:27,732 to buy that program to make it all worth for him. 676 00:27:27,776 --> 00:27:29,342 You know, Guy Kinnear. 677 00:27:29,386 --> 00:27:31,083 You know, we had Guy Kinnear, his boat mechanic 678 00:27:31,127 --> 00:27:33,390 became the trainer of the team because he liked him. 679 00:27:33,433 --> 00:27:34,957 Yeah. He used to give guys NeoCitran. 680 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,003 like, a player would come in with some kind of 681 00:27:38,047 --> 00:27:39,396 a-- a nagging injury or something 682 00:27:39,439 --> 00:27:40,919 and he would give them a NeoCitran. 683 00:27:40,963 --> 00:27:43,443 Uh, because he was a boat mechanic, right? 684 00:27:43,487 --> 00:27:45,271 He didn't know, he was-- he was Ballard's boat mechanic 685 00:27:45,315 --> 00:27:46,795 up at his cottage. 686 00:27:46,838 --> 00:27:49,798 And he liked him, so he made him the trainer. 687 00:27:49,841 --> 00:27:51,495 He gave him the gig. 688 00:27:51,538 --> 00:27:52,888 He became the trainer of the Toronto Maple Leafs 689 00:27:52,931 --> 00:27:55,107 and he had zero, zero medical knowledge. 690 00:27:55,151 --> 00:27:56,413 None. 691 00:27:56,456 --> 00:27:57,980 And he became the trainer 692 00:27:58,023 --> 00:27:59,851 because Harold wanted to look after his guy. 693 00:28:01,026 --> 00:28:02,288 [narrator] His wife gone, 694 00:28:02,332 --> 00:28:04,203 his prison sentence behind him, 695 00:28:04,247 --> 00:28:06,292 he made the peculiar decision 696 00:28:06,336 --> 00:28:10,819 to move into an apartment inside Maple Leaf Gardens. 697 00:28:12,255 --> 00:28:15,214 Along with his unconventional new living quarters 698 00:28:15,258 --> 00:28:17,869 came an unexpected new friend, 699 00:28:17,913 --> 00:28:20,480 legendary Maple Leaf, King Clancy. 700 00:28:20,524 --> 00:28:23,092 [Iaboni] So now you've got him without his wife. 701 00:28:23,135 --> 00:28:25,572 Uh, King becomes the sidekick. 702 00:28:25,616 --> 00:28:27,792 Uh, he moves to Maple Leaf Gardens, 703 00:28:27,836 --> 00:28:28,967 lives there all the time. 704 00:28:29,011 --> 00:28:31,317 His wife had passed and in a-- 705 00:28:31,361 --> 00:28:33,232 I think, a seemingly sentimental way, 706 00:28:33,276 --> 00:28:35,757 just said, I'm going to move lock, stock, and barrel, 707 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:37,584 and I'm going to go a thousand miles an hour 708 00:28:37,628 --> 00:28:38,977 running the Toronto Maple Leafs. 709 00:28:39,021 --> 00:28:41,066 [McKenny] Like, he lived at the Gardens. 710 00:28:41,806 --> 00:28:46,637 He lived, ate, and slept with the Leafs in the gardens. 711 00:28:47,551 --> 00:28:50,815 One-- Once he took it over, he moved from Montgomery Road 712 00:28:50,859 --> 00:28:52,382 out in the West End, 713 00:28:52,425 --> 00:28:54,776 right into the gardens and-- and never left. 714 00:28:54,819 --> 00:28:56,821 [Brunt] He literally was there all the time. 715 00:28:56,865 --> 00:28:58,301 Yeah, he lived in his apartment, 716 00:28:58,344 --> 00:28:59,781 you know, he was either in his apartment 717 00:28:59,824 --> 00:29:01,260 or in his little bunker watching the game 718 00:29:01,304 --> 00:29:02,827 or somewhere within, 719 00:29:02,871 --> 00:29:04,394 walking the halls of that building. 720 00:29:04,437 --> 00:29:05,917 Well, no light. 721 00:29:05,961 --> 00:29:09,007 And one window that was-- Gave some natural light. 722 00:29:09,051 --> 00:29:10,400 But other than that, dark. 723 00:29:10,443 --> 00:29:13,577 Certainly not a comfortable place 724 00:29:13,620 --> 00:29:14,708 from my point of view. 725 00:29:14,752 --> 00:29:16,536 But he seemed to like it. 726 00:29:16,580 --> 00:29:18,582 He didn't have far to go after work. 727 00:29:18,625 --> 00:29:20,497 Like, can you imagine owning a sports franchise 728 00:29:20,540 --> 00:29:22,020 and you live in it? 729 00:29:22,064 --> 00:29:23,369 [Clark] Harold get up and go down to Hot Stove 730 00:29:23,413 --> 00:29:25,023 and grab a bowl of ice cream 731 00:29:25,067 --> 00:29:26,764 in the middle of-- The only one in the building. 732 00:29:26,808 --> 00:29:28,810 I can go up and play the organ in my house, 733 00:29:28,853 --> 00:29:30,812 and his-- his house is Maple Leaf Gardens, 734 00:29:30,855 --> 00:29:33,162 or I'm sitting in the reds eating a bowl cereal. 735 00:29:33,205 --> 00:29:35,642 To me, as a hockey bird, I think that'd be awesome. 736 00:29:35,686 --> 00:29:37,122 This is my house. 737 00:29:37,166 --> 00:29:38,907 And that was basically how we treated it. 738 00:29:38,950 --> 00:29:41,170 And because he lived there, he was the security guard. 739 00:29:41,213 --> 00:29:42,649 He was the night watchman. 740 00:29:42,693 --> 00:29:43,825 He could appear at any point in time, 741 00:29:43,868 --> 00:29:44,913 anywhere in the building. 742 00:29:44,956 --> 00:29:46,436 You know, it's funny, he, uh, 743 00:29:46,479 --> 00:29:48,264 had about four different exits or entrances, 744 00:29:48,307 --> 00:29:50,353 so you never really knew where he was. 745 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,618 I never had a brother. Or sisters. 746 00:29:55,706 --> 00:29:58,274 And consequently, I had to latch on to somebody 747 00:29:58,317 --> 00:30:00,537 and thank God I latched onto King. 748 00:30:00,580 --> 00:30:02,408 But he had to be special to put up with you. 749 00:30:02,452 --> 00:30:05,020 Well, I would say that's probably the reason 750 00:30:05,063 --> 00:30:07,370 that I thought so much of him, because, you know what? 751 00:30:07,413 --> 00:30:09,024 That kind of a son of a bitch I am. 752 00:30:09,067 --> 00:30:11,287 And it takes a-- 753 00:30:11,330 --> 00:30:13,289 it takes a pretty good person to put up with me. 754 00:30:13,332 --> 00:30:14,986 [narrator] King Clancy was beloved 755 00:30:15,030 --> 00:30:17,336 by players and fans alike, 756 00:30:17,380 --> 00:30:20,731 but his role with the Leafs wasn't well-defined. 757 00:30:21,427 --> 00:30:25,475 Public relations, interim coach, team mascot. 758 00:30:25,518 --> 00:30:26,737 He did it all. 759 00:30:26,780 --> 00:30:29,218 But Clancy's main responsibility 760 00:30:29,261 --> 00:30:32,569 was to be Harold Ballard's best friend. 761 00:30:32,612 --> 00:30:34,005 [Brunt] King was a delightful guy. 762 00:30:34,049 --> 00:30:35,615 Distracted Harold. 763 00:30:35,659 --> 00:30:37,182 He was kind of, to me, he was more like the, 764 00:30:37,226 --> 00:30:38,923 you know, court jester kind of guy, right? 765 00:30:38,967 --> 00:30:41,795 That kept Harold occupied so he didn't cut off 766 00:30:41,839 --> 00:30:42,884 more people's heads. 767 00:30:43,710 --> 00:30:46,800 And kind of distracted him, made him-- made him smile. 768 00:30:46,844 --> 00:30:48,280 That's kind of-- I always thought 769 00:30:48,324 --> 00:30:49,673 that was kind of King's role. 770 00:30:50,195 --> 00:30:51,805 [King] You know, a lot of people say, 771 00:30:51,849 --> 00:30:53,372 uh, Mr. Ballard is tough. 772 00:30:53,416 --> 00:30:55,809 Mr. Ballard is this. Mr. Ballard is that. 773 00:30:55,853 --> 00:30:57,942 Mr. Ballard, to my way of thinking, 774 00:30:57,986 --> 00:31:01,032 is one of the greatest people that I ever met. 775 00:31:01,076 --> 00:31:02,729 He's a class individual. 776 00:31:02,773 --> 00:31:04,253 He says things at times 777 00:31:04,296 --> 00:31:07,169 that he doesn't-- It just-- it just comes out. 778 00:31:07,212 --> 00:31:08,518 [Harold] We look like a couple of those 779 00:31:08,561 --> 00:31:09,911 God damn missionaries, don't we? 780 00:31:09,954 --> 00:31:11,695 Both of them had lost their wives, 781 00:31:11,738 --> 00:31:13,697 so they really didn't have any responsibilities to anybody. 782 00:31:13,740 --> 00:31:16,004 So he replaced his wife with King Clancy 783 00:31:16,047 --> 00:31:18,223 and the two of them, they were just like brothers 784 00:31:18,267 --> 00:31:19,877 who were born at the hip. 785 00:31:20,660 --> 00:31:22,140 [narrator] Ballard had his problems 786 00:31:22,184 --> 00:31:23,837 for a good part of the '70s, 787 00:31:23,881 --> 00:31:27,580 but in 1977, seemingly out of nowhere, 788 00:31:27,624 --> 00:31:30,061 the best Leaf team in a decade emerged. 789 00:31:30,105 --> 00:31:33,325 That unexpectedly remarkable club featured 790 00:31:33,369 --> 00:31:36,372 two of the top goal scorers in the NHL. 791 00:31:36,415 --> 00:31:38,374 A couple of blue-liners who could stack up 792 00:31:38,417 --> 00:31:41,464 against anyone, a hotshot kid in goal, 793 00:31:41,507 --> 00:31:45,120 Dave "Tiger" Williams, and an innovative coach 794 00:31:45,163 --> 00:31:48,427 nicknamed "Captain Video" behind the bench. 795 00:31:48,471 --> 00:31:51,343 He's a very intelligent fella, as far as hockey goes. 796 00:31:51,387 --> 00:31:53,258 Matter of fact, he's an intelligent fella, period. 797 00:31:53,302 --> 00:31:56,958 He's a schoolteacher and he's a great man for detail 798 00:31:57,001 --> 00:31:58,524 and he's a great man for discipline. 799 00:31:58,568 --> 00:32:00,831 And I think he's a great man for everything 800 00:32:00,874 --> 00:32:02,180 that a young fella needs today 801 00:32:02,224 --> 00:32:03,965 and that's the reason I hired him. 802 00:32:04,008 --> 00:32:06,576 They had a really good thing going in the late '70s. 803 00:32:06,619 --> 00:32:09,666 The Leafs were a contender against the Islanders 804 00:32:09,709 --> 00:32:11,450 when they beat the Islanders out. 805 00:32:11,494 --> 00:32:13,278 [announcer] Turnbull clears ahead to McDonald. 806 00:32:13,322 --> 00:32:15,715 McDonald, he scores! 807 00:32:15,759 --> 00:32:17,935 McDonald wins it! 808 00:32:17,979 --> 00:32:19,806 Lanny McDonald and the Leafs win it 809 00:32:19,850 --> 00:32:22,635 two to one in a goal by Lanny McDonald. 810 00:32:22,679 --> 00:32:24,550 [Parrish] The greatest moment in Leaf history, 811 00:32:24,594 --> 00:32:27,727 really, over the last-- Probably going back to 1967. 812 00:32:27,771 --> 00:32:29,294 [McDonald] Unbelievable series. 813 00:32:29,338 --> 00:32:32,994 But our team was so beat up, lost to Montreal 814 00:32:33,037 --> 00:32:38,390 in four straight and we still were close in those games. 815 00:32:38,434 --> 00:32:40,131 [Ralph] They should'’ve beat Montreal, 816 00:32:40,175 --> 00:32:41,393 but Boörje got hurt. 817 00:32:42,046 --> 00:32:45,093 And once he was done, they were pretty well cooked. 818 00:32:45,136 --> 00:32:47,051 [Cherry] Now, when they beat out the Islanders, 819 00:32:47,095 --> 00:32:49,010 they were only about a player away 820 00:32:49,053 --> 00:32:51,403 from a Stanley Cup. They were a good club. 821 00:32:51,447 --> 00:32:53,449 We knew we were on the right track. 822 00:32:53,492 --> 00:32:57,192 And yet within 365 days of that, it had all fallen apart. 823 00:32:57,235 --> 00:32:59,150 That team could have gone the distance. 824 00:32:59,194 --> 00:33:00,369 And then the next year, of course, 825 00:33:00,412 --> 00:33:01,935 everything was broken up. 826 00:33:01,979 --> 00:33:04,895 And then I think things went south from there. 827 00:33:04,938 --> 00:33:08,986 They just let everybody go and they got nothing. 828 00:33:09,030 --> 00:33:10,553 I'm not paying that guy that money. 829 00:33:10,596 --> 00:33:13,469 I'm not pay-- And the WHA was paying them. 830 00:33:13,512 --> 00:33:14,905 That's when they lost the club. 831 00:33:14,948 --> 00:33:16,254 [narrator] The following season, 832 00:33:16,298 --> 00:33:18,387 the decimated team struggled. 833 00:33:18,430 --> 00:33:21,085 We're not improving the way I thought we would. 834 00:33:21,129 --> 00:33:22,739 [narrator] And Ballard knew exactly 835 00:33:22,782 --> 00:33:25,611 who to blame for the team's woes. 836 00:33:25,655 --> 00:33:27,048 The coach. 837 00:33:27,091 --> 00:33:28,266 [Sittler] Roger Neilson. 838 00:33:28,832 --> 00:33:31,313 Quality man, quality coach. 839 00:33:31,356 --> 00:33:33,576 We loved playing for the guy. Had us prepared. 840 00:33:33,619 --> 00:33:37,101 Neilson was a very different man from Harold Ballard. 841 00:33:37,145 --> 00:33:40,539 He was an intellectual. He read books with no pictures. 842 00:33:40,583 --> 00:33:43,673 He had interests outside hockey. 843 00:33:43,716 --> 00:33:46,850 He tried to bring the 1970s 844 00:33:46,893 --> 00:33:50,027 to Maple Leaf Gardens, which had a fence around it, 845 00:33:50,636 --> 00:33:52,638 concealing the 1930s within. 846 00:33:52,682 --> 00:33:55,163 [Ormsby] And his nickname was "Captain Video" because, 847 00:33:55,206 --> 00:33:58,992 at least for Leafs' purposes, he was using video 848 00:33:59,036 --> 00:34:00,907 to show players, "Here's where you broke down, 849 00:34:00,951 --> 00:34:02,605 here's where you did a great job." 850 00:34:02,648 --> 00:34:05,303 This was all very new to the Toronto Maple Leafs. 851 00:34:05,347 --> 00:34:07,175 So I think, you know, there was some hope 852 00:34:07,218 --> 00:34:08,741 at that point, the late '70s, 853 00:34:08,785 --> 00:34:10,700 that maybe, "Oh, we are going to go on to, 854 00:34:10,743 --> 00:34:12,136 you know, the next century trying to 855 00:34:12,180 --> 00:34:13,790 move ahead of the game a little bit." 856 00:34:13,833 --> 00:34:15,357 The team the year before had gone 857 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:17,446 to the semifinals and knocked off the Islanders. 858 00:34:17,489 --> 00:34:18,838 And then the next year, 859 00:34:18,882 --> 00:34:20,405 they were struggling to be a 500 team. 860 00:34:20,971 --> 00:34:23,408 So he was anticipating them to get better. 861 00:34:23,452 --> 00:34:25,106 Instead of getting better, they were-- 862 00:34:25,149 --> 00:34:26,803 they were hanging on and hanging on. 863 00:34:26,846 --> 00:34:29,153 The style that Roger played was always 864 00:34:29,197 --> 00:34:31,242 a defensive style and it was boring. 865 00:34:32,025 --> 00:34:34,898 And a lot of the people in the media would influence 866 00:34:34,941 --> 00:34:36,508 Harold Ballard's thinking. 867 00:34:36,552 --> 00:34:39,076 "Is this it? Are you going to get rid of them now?" 868 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:40,730 And whether Ballard said, "Yeah, he's as good as gone," 869 00:34:40,773 --> 00:34:42,123 you know, I could just see him saying, 870 00:34:42,166 --> 00:34:43,689 "Oh, yeah, he's as good as gone." 871 00:34:43,733 --> 00:34:45,038 Or, "Yeah, there'll be somebody else 872 00:34:45,082 --> 00:34:46,431 behind the bench on Saturday night." 873 00:34:46,475 --> 00:34:48,172 And that-- that's all he needed. 874 00:34:48,216 --> 00:34:50,218 He just needed somebody to fuel that-- 875 00:34:50,261 --> 00:34:52,350 You know, to spark the-- the match. 876 00:34:52,394 --> 00:34:53,830 [Cherry] He's one of the best coaches 877 00:34:53,873 --> 00:34:56,093 in the National Hockey, Captain Video. 878 00:34:56,137 --> 00:34:58,791 He works at it night and day, but I don't like his style. 879 00:34:58,835 --> 00:35:00,271 You got to put on a show. 880 00:35:00,315 --> 00:35:02,621 The game is entertainment and he plays 881 00:35:02,665 --> 00:35:04,884 that defensive hockey, defensive hockey, 882 00:35:04,928 --> 00:35:06,538 although they're not doing so well this year. 883 00:35:06,582 --> 00:35:08,018 And it's deadly dull. 884 00:35:08,061 --> 00:35:10,194 Right up to game time, it wasn't clear 885 00:35:10,238 --> 00:35:12,065 who would replace Roger Neilson, 886 00:35:12,109 --> 00:35:15,634 the man fired yesterday as coach of the Maple Leafs. 887 00:35:15,678 --> 00:35:16,983 Now, we're out of a coach. 888 00:35:17,636 --> 00:35:20,465 So, I ran practices along with Lanny and Tiger 889 00:35:20,509 --> 00:35:22,380 for a few days while they're scrambling around. 890 00:35:22,424 --> 00:35:24,904 And again, the media is making a circus of this. 891 00:35:24,948 --> 00:35:26,993 A number of us went to Jim Gregory and said, 892 00:35:27,037 --> 00:35:29,300 "Listen, the best guy for the job for the rest 893 00:35:29,344 --> 00:35:31,215 of the season for sure is Roger Neilson." 894 00:35:31,259 --> 00:35:34,218 The players begged him not to let him go. 895 00:35:34,262 --> 00:35:35,524 Then he says, 896 00:35:35,567 --> 00:35:36,873 "Why don't you come back Saturday and we'll put 897 00:35:36,916 --> 00:35:38,353 a paper bag over your head 898 00:35:38,396 --> 00:35:40,572 and then we'll unveil it after the warm-ups." 899 00:35:40,616 --> 00:35:42,357 So, he wanted Roger to wear this bag. 900 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:44,054 I remember getting ready to go out on the ice. 901 00:35:44,097 --> 00:35:46,317 The media didn't know, they were gonna just 902 00:35:46,361 --> 00:35:48,537 go behind the bench when the national anthem started. 903 00:35:48,580 --> 00:35:51,192 And there's the coach, Roger Neilson, back. 904 00:35:51,235 --> 00:35:53,455 I remember standing inside the dressing room 905 00:35:53,498 --> 00:35:55,935 waiting for the signal to go, for the start of the game, 906 00:35:55,979 --> 00:35:57,850 and Ballard's there with a bag, 907 00:35:57,894 --> 00:35:59,591 "Yeah, put it on, put it on." 908 00:35:59,635 --> 00:36:01,376 Roger's kinda sheepish looking and we're kind of there-- 909 00:36:01,419 --> 00:36:04,030 "Just for real, you know, wear the frigging bag and stand 910 00:36:04,074 --> 00:36:05,815 at the national anthem, then pop it up." 911 00:36:05,858 --> 00:36:07,469 And I remember standing out there 912 00:36:07,512 --> 00:36:11,037 because I was near the dressing room area 913 00:36:11,081 --> 00:36:13,518 and it was just so crowded, you know, media and whatever, 914 00:36:13,562 --> 00:36:16,086 just waiting to see Roger come out. 915 00:36:16,129 --> 00:36:17,827 But that was insane. 916 00:36:17,870 --> 00:36:20,221 They were talking about sending me out first. 917 00:36:21,657 --> 00:36:23,354 [laughs] 918 00:36:23,398 --> 00:36:25,530 And I was-- I was mortified. 919 00:36:25,574 --> 00:36:28,098 But it was almost like a clown act... 920 00:36:29,534 --> 00:36:31,406 to send him out with a bag over his head. 921 00:36:31,449 --> 00:36:33,973 Come on, you don't do those things. 922 00:36:34,017 --> 00:36:36,411 [announcer] Here comes Roger Neilson. 923 00:36:37,368 --> 00:36:39,544 And the crowd is aware of it now. 924 00:36:40,458 --> 00:36:42,808 The crowd did not know that Roger Neilson 925 00:36:42,852 --> 00:36:45,594 would be back on the bench until this very moment. 926 00:36:45,637 --> 00:36:46,986 And they are standing. 927 00:36:47,726 --> 00:36:49,424 Have you ever seen anything like this 928 00:36:49,467 --> 00:36:50,903 in all the years of hockey? 929 00:36:50,947 --> 00:36:52,644 This is like a soap opera here. 930 00:36:52,688 --> 00:36:54,777 [Roger] The same fans have been, uh... 931 00:36:56,387 --> 00:36:58,302 demanding my scalp, all of a sudden 932 00:36:58,346 --> 00:37:01,305 just looking the other way and cheering me like we, uh... 933 00:37:02,915 --> 00:37:05,483 just won the Stanley Cup, so it was quite a thing. 934 00:37:05,527 --> 00:37:07,050 It was really embarrassing. 935 00:37:07,093 --> 00:37:11,228 Uh, But again, to Harold that was the great show. 936 00:37:11,272 --> 00:37:14,187 I can do something and, you know, 937 00:37:14,231 --> 00:37:16,625 then everybody's going to be talking about me. 938 00:37:16,668 --> 00:37:19,323 And I'm going to be sitting in that little box 939 00:37:19,367 --> 00:37:22,283 in the corner of the garden with a big smile on my face 940 00:37:22,326 --> 00:37:24,197 and laughing my butt off. 941 00:37:24,241 --> 00:37:25,460 [Ballard] Those guys don't worry about promotion 942 00:37:25,503 --> 00:37:27,244 or anything like that anyway. 943 00:37:27,288 --> 00:37:29,594 You know, maybe, there's been a lot of fun. 944 00:37:30,334 --> 00:37:31,988 You know, life's not so serious as all that 945 00:37:32,031 --> 00:37:34,425 you can make a few fun things out of it. 946 00:37:34,469 --> 00:37:37,210 It was obviously destructive, and it was obviously cruel, 947 00:37:37,254 --> 00:37:38,690 and it was obviously done on a whim. 948 00:37:38,734 --> 00:37:40,866 It wasn't like there was a plan. [laughs] 949 00:37:40,910 --> 00:37:42,390 You know? There wasn't a plan ever. 950 00:37:42,433 --> 00:37:45,088 He just did whatever the hell he felt like. 951 00:37:45,131 --> 00:37:47,351 It's, you know, it's a toy, right? 952 00:37:47,395 --> 00:37:50,702 [announcer] Roger Neilson back on the Leaf bench once again. 953 00:37:51,268 --> 00:37:54,750 Leaf owner Harold Ballard said he hadn't really fired Neilson. 954 00:37:54,793 --> 00:37:56,491 He just wanted to shake up the team, 955 00:37:56,534 --> 00:37:58,319 which had been in a slump. 956 00:37:58,362 --> 00:37:59,842 Now, listen. 957 00:37:59,885 --> 00:38:01,322 Who told you that I interfered with the team? 958 00:38:01,974 --> 00:38:03,454 [interviewer] Anyone knows that! 959 00:38:03,498 --> 00:38:05,021 No, never interfered with the team in my life. 960 00:38:05,064 --> 00:38:06,152 [interviewer] You've never interfered? 961 00:38:06,196 --> 00:38:07,328 Never interfered. 962 00:38:07,371 --> 00:38:08,894 Never got in the dressing room, 963 00:38:08,938 --> 00:38:11,201 except once when I had the trouble with Neilson. 964 00:38:11,244 --> 00:38:13,203 I went in there and straightened the guys out 965 00:38:13,246 --> 00:38:14,509 for five games, then they went back 966 00:38:14,552 --> 00:38:15,814 to the same old lullaby. 967 00:38:16,511 --> 00:38:18,295 [narrator] After being swept in the playoffs 968 00:38:18,339 --> 00:38:21,037 by Montreal for the second straight year, 969 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,039 Roger Neilsen is fired, 970 00:38:23,082 --> 00:38:26,738 along with highly respected hockey man, Jim Gregory, 971 00:38:26,782 --> 00:38:28,653 the Leafs' general manager. 972 00:38:29,262 --> 00:38:31,003 Jim Gregory was a great hockey man 973 00:38:31,047 --> 00:38:34,398 and a great person, you know, and Harold was fortunate, 974 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:36,966 in my mind, to have a guy like that running it. 975 00:38:37,009 --> 00:38:38,446 Now, if he just let him do that 976 00:38:38,489 --> 00:38:41,840 and do his things and give him the authority 977 00:38:41,884 --> 00:38:44,103 to spend the money that you might have to spend 978 00:38:44,147 --> 00:38:46,279 to keep an extra player rather than, 979 00:38:46,323 --> 00:38:47,368 you know, cut into it, 980 00:38:48,325 --> 00:38:50,414 uh, we probably would have had more success. 981 00:38:50,458 --> 00:38:53,025 He had the best hockey mind going in Jim Gregory. 982 00:38:53,069 --> 00:38:55,419 He had the most underrated Maple Leafs general manager, 983 00:38:55,463 --> 00:38:58,422 executive, most-- As beloved a guy as there would be 984 00:38:58,466 --> 00:39:00,468 in the National Hockey League in him. 985 00:39:00,511 --> 00:39:02,731 Jim Gregory started working there when he was 21 years old 986 00:39:02,774 --> 00:39:04,559 and Harold Ballard saw him as a kid. 987 00:39:04,602 --> 00:39:06,735 That's the worst thing I ever saw him do. 988 00:39:07,692 --> 00:39:09,346 When he fired Jim Gregory. 989 00:39:09,390 --> 00:39:10,521 We were on our way. 990 00:39:11,566 --> 00:39:15,265 But somehow or other he got enamored with Imlach, 991 00:39:15,831 --> 00:39:17,310 and brought him in. 992 00:39:17,354 --> 00:39:19,835 [narrator] After cleaning house, 993 00:39:19,878 --> 00:39:22,751 Ballard tried to resurrect the Leafs' glory days 994 00:39:22,794 --> 00:39:25,144 by bringing back the man who coached them 995 00:39:25,188 --> 00:39:27,625 to four Stanley Cups in the '60s. 996 00:39:27,669 --> 00:39:29,410 George "Punch" Imlach, 997 00:39:29,453 --> 00:39:32,064 was named the new general manager. 998 00:39:32,717 --> 00:39:35,372 Mr. Ballard knows me, and as I pointed out to him, 999 00:39:35,416 --> 00:39:37,766 my success in the hockey business 1000 00:39:37,809 --> 00:39:39,463 with the Maple Leafs and with Buffalo 1001 00:39:39,507 --> 00:39:41,291 was that I ran the show. 1002 00:39:41,334 --> 00:39:43,511 And so if you want me to have the same success, 1003 00:39:43,554 --> 00:39:45,382 then I have to run it. 1004 00:39:45,426 --> 00:39:47,340 Certainly, there's no sense of paying me a lot of money 1005 00:39:47,384 --> 00:39:48,864 and not letting me do the job 1006 00:39:48,907 --> 00:39:50,561 that I'm supposed to be able to do. 1007 00:39:50,605 --> 00:39:53,434 Harold got involved, brought Punch back 1008 00:39:53,477 --> 00:39:56,001 and then everything just went to shit after that. 1009 00:39:56,045 --> 00:39:58,482 Harold went for the bright lights of Punch. 1010 00:39:58,526 --> 00:40:00,528 Punch convinced him on a quick fix. 1011 00:40:00,571 --> 00:40:02,399 [Vaive] Just when things started to get good, 1012 00:40:02,443 --> 00:40:04,619 Harold would step in and do something stupid 1013 00:40:04,662 --> 00:40:06,795 and-- and turn it upside down. 1014 00:40:06,838 --> 00:40:08,405 [reporter] So you're telling us right here and now 1015 00:40:08,449 --> 00:40:09,841 that Imlach will run the hockey team 1016 00:40:09,885 --> 00:40:11,277 without any interference at all from you? 1017 00:40:11,321 --> 00:40:12,409 They won't have any interference, 1018 00:40:12,453 --> 00:40:13,758 as far as I'm concerned. 1019 00:40:13,802 --> 00:40:15,717 We will have talks and suggestions 1020 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:17,632 to one another, but that's not interference. 1021 00:40:17,675 --> 00:40:19,416 It's a business deal. 1022 00:40:19,460 --> 00:40:21,549 Punch is smart enough and knows enough about hockey 1023 00:40:21,592 --> 00:40:23,942 that he's not going to try and take it all on himself. 1024 00:40:23,986 --> 00:40:25,988 Imlach's hired in September. 1025 00:40:26,031 --> 00:40:29,208 I get a call from the secretary at Maple Leaf Gardens 1026 00:40:29,252 --> 00:40:31,080 that Mr. Imlach would like to see you in his office, 1027 00:40:31,123 --> 00:40:33,169 and I walk into Punch's office. 1028 00:40:33,212 --> 00:40:35,171 And this is the first time I met him, right? 1029 00:40:35,214 --> 00:40:36,781 And this is kind of how the meeting went. 1030 00:40:36,825 --> 00:40:38,827 Um, you go in and there's a board table there, 1031 00:40:38,870 --> 00:40:41,917 and I'm sitting at one end and he's standing up, 1032 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:43,571 and he goes, "Just who do you think you are?" 1033 00:40:43,614 --> 00:40:45,181 And then he said to me, he says, 1034 00:40:45,224 --> 00:40:46,878 "My captains have always been management, 1035 00:40:46,922 --> 00:40:48,401 and they do what management says." 1036 00:40:48,445 --> 00:40:50,360 And I said, "Well, I believe a captain is 1037 00:40:50,403 --> 00:40:51,970 a go-between between management. 1038 00:40:52,014 --> 00:40:54,103 We're all in this together to work to achieve 1039 00:40:54,146 --> 00:40:56,409 the same common goals," and all that sort of stuff. 1040 00:40:57,280 --> 00:40:58,934 And then the next thing he said, he said, 1041 00:40:58,977 --> 00:41:00,849 "And Alan Eagleson," he says, "he's your player agent." 1042 00:41:00,892 --> 00:41:03,068 He said, uh, "You know, when Eagleson says it's black," 1043 00:41:03,112 --> 00:41:04,809 he says, "I say it's white." 1044 00:41:04,853 --> 00:41:06,463 And he says, "You're going to be stuck in the middle. 1045 00:41:06,507 --> 00:41:08,421 "There's no gray area here, so I would suggest 1046 00:41:08,465 --> 00:41:10,380 you might want to look at getting another agent. 1047 00:41:10,902 --> 00:41:13,383 And he sayas, "Furthermore, you've got a no-trade contract. 1048 00:41:13,426 --> 00:41:15,254 And I don't believe in no-trade contracts, 1049 00:41:15,298 --> 00:41:17,126 and I'm going to test you in court." 1050 00:41:17,169 --> 00:41:18,823 Some people raised the question 1051 00:41:18,867 --> 00:41:22,435 about whether or not you have lost track 1052 00:41:22,479 --> 00:41:24,612 of the new generation, that you don't relate to them 1053 00:41:24,655 --> 00:41:26,309 as well as you did to the players 1054 00:41:26,352 --> 00:41:28,006 in the '50s and '60s. 1055 00:41:28,050 --> 00:41:30,922 It can't be, uh, funny people doing it their way, 1056 00:41:30,966 --> 00:41:33,446 it'’s got to be a team way of doing it, 1057 00:41:33,490 --> 00:41:35,013 and the coaches and the managers, 1058 00:41:35,057 --> 00:41:37,189 they call which way that's got to be done 1059 00:41:37,233 --> 00:41:39,888 and the player has to adjust himself to the team, 1060 00:41:39,931 --> 00:41:42,064 not the team or the rest of the players 1061 00:41:42,107 --> 00:41:45,937 adjusting to the-- the ways one certain person plays. 1062 00:41:45,981 --> 00:41:47,504 You never win that way. 1063 00:41:47,548 --> 00:41:49,506 That's just a fallacy to think you could. 1064 00:41:49,550 --> 00:41:51,943 I think it was clear that Punch Imlach 1065 00:41:51,987 --> 00:41:57,340 in 1979 did not understand the young hockey player of 1979. 1066 00:41:57,383 --> 00:42:00,212 I don't think that's my brilliant observation. 1067 00:42:00,865 --> 00:42:03,172 I think the game had passed him by. 1068 00:42:03,215 --> 00:42:06,958 [Sittler] I'm sure he saw me as a bit of a threat, 1069 00:42:07,002 --> 00:42:08,656 popular guy, a little bit of power, 1070 00:42:08,699 --> 00:42:11,789 and that he wanted to bring his own players in 1071 00:42:11,833 --> 00:42:14,618 and make his own team so that it was Punch'’s team. 1072 00:42:14,662 --> 00:42:17,795 [McDonald] Punch did things to upset the guys. 1073 00:42:17,839 --> 00:42:20,755 He would have us come down for two practices. 1074 00:42:20,798 --> 00:42:23,409 You'd come very first thing in the morning, 1075 00:42:23,453 --> 00:42:27,457 in rush hour, and then you'd have to stay downtown 1076 00:42:27,500 --> 00:42:30,068 'til a late afternoon practice 1077 00:42:30,112 --> 00:42:33,245 so he could send you home in rush hour. 1078 00:42:33,289 --> 00:42:36,858 And it was just to tick the guys off. 1079 00:42:36,901 --> 00:42:38,729 He was just a bad person. 1080 00:42:38,773 --> 00:42:42,733 He was just that snake that lived in the sewer hole. 1081 00:42:42,777 --> 00:42:44,648 It was a circus 1082 00:42:45,257 --> 00:42:47,042 where it didn't need to be a circus. 1083 00:42:47,085 --> 00:42:48,783 He was a ringmaster. 1084 00:42:48,826 --> 00:42:51,655 He was a carnival barker, but the tent was already full. 1085 00:42:51,699 --> 00:42:53,918 All he needed to do was hire competent people 1086 00:42:53,962 --> 00:42:55,354 and let them run the hockey club. 1087 00:42:55,398 --> 00:42:56,529 But he couldn't do that. 1088 00:42:57,966 --> 00:42:59,620 [narrator] Selected eighth overall 1089 00:42:59,663 --> 00:43:02,187 in the 1970 NHL draft, 1090 00:43:02,231 --> 00:43:04,450 Sittler was the face of the team. 1091 00:43:05,277 --> 00:43:08,541 Despite his popularity, or because of it, 1092 00:43:08,585 --> 00:43:11,544 Sittler'’s relationship with Imlach was rocky, 1093 00:43:11,588 --> 00:43:15,113 which meant his relationship with Ballard was rocky. 1094 00:43:16,071 --> 00:43:19,857 I think, honestly, he respected me as a person. 1095 00:43:19,901 --> 00:43:21,859 He said that publicly a number of times. 1096 00:43:21,903 --> 00:43:24,079 I was a hard working guy, a loyal employee, 1097 00:43:24,122 --> 00:43:25,646 a dedicated Maple Leaf. 1098 00:43:25,950 --> 00:43:28,213 I think Darryl, when he came here from London 1099 00:43:28,257 --> 00:43:30,563 as a first round pick, he did everything 1100 00:43:30,607 --> 00:43:34,698 he possibly could to carry the Leaf colors. 1101 00:43:34,742 --> 00:43:37,483 Once he was named captain, he took it up to the next level 1102 00:43:37,527 --> 00:43:41,009 that he was the team spokesman and it was his job. 1103 00:43:41,052 --> 00:43:45,013 So, he weathered the storm constantly in the media. 1104 00:43:45,056 --> 00:43:48,016 He was always up front, always talking to reporters, 1105 00:43:48,059 --> 00:43:50,758 regardless of what was going on behind the scenes. 1106 00:43:50,801 --> 00:43:52,324 And he rarely let it out. 1107 00:43:52,368 --> 00:43:53,717 Everybody really worked hard tonight, 1108 00:43:53,761 --> 00:43:54,849 really gave it everything they had. 1109 00:43:54,892 --> 00:43:56,720 And we finally beat the Flyers. 1110 00:43:56,764 --> 00:43:58,591 It's good-- it'’s good to see, but that's only one game. 1111 00:43:58,635 --> 00:44:01,682 They make it a seven game series that you have to win four in, 1112 00:44:01,725 --> 00:44:03,814 so there'’s three more tough ones yet. 1113 00:44:03,858 --> 00:44:05,642 You're the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 1114 00:44:05,686 --> 00:44:08,384 in 1976, you have a 10-point night, 1115 00:44:08,427 --> 00:44:10,778 you have a five-goal playoff game. 1116 00:44:10,821 --> 00:44:13,302 You scored the winning goal in the Canada Cup. 1117 00:44:13,345 --> 00:44:15,043 I mean, he's a hero. 1118 00:44:16,087 --> 00:44:19,134 [narrator] The tension between Sittler and Imlach exploded. 1119 00:44:19,612 --> 00:44:22,572 Imlach wanted to show the world who was boss, 1120 00:44:22,615 --> 00:44:25,531 so he convinced Ballard to do the unthinkable. 1121 00:44:26,097 --> 00:44:27,925 [Eagleson] I got a call from Ballard, says-- 1122 00:44:27,969 --> 00:44:29,405 said, "You're going to Philly." 1123 00:44:29,448 --> 00:44:32,277 And I said, "Harold, we've got a deal. 1124 00:44:32,321 --> 00:44:33,888 And you signed it." 1125 00:44:33,931 --> 00:44:36,934 So, it's no trade, and he's not going anywhere. 1126 00:44:36,978 --> 00:44:39,502 Lanny McDonald is exceptional, I would say. 1127 00:44:41,678 --> 00:44:42,723 Two days later... 1128 00:44:43,724 --> 00:44:45,595 they traded Lanny McDonald. 1129 00:44:46,465 --> 00:44:48,903 Darryl and I, we acted for Lanny too, 1130 00:44:48,946 --> 00:44:53,168 figured it was a way to teach me and Darryl 1131 00:44:53,211 --> 00:44:56,954 that he'll get me some way or the other or get Darryl. 1132 00:44:56,998 --> 00:45:01,045 [rock music playing] 1133 00:45:01,654 --> 00:45:04,048 [McDonald] Friends in Toronto would phone up and say, 1134 00:45:04,092 --> 00:45:07,008 "Oh, my gosh, thank goodness you got traded. 1135 00:45:07,051 --> 00:45:08,923 You're out of the madhouse." 1136 00:45:08,966 --> 00:45:13,362 But that first moment when you get traded, it's devastating. 1137 00:45:13,405 --> 00:45:15,625 I felt things were deteriorating in Toronto. 1138 00:45:15,668 --> 00:45:17,670 I didn't feel that, uh, 1139 00:45:17,714 --> 00:45:20,499 uh, what they were doing to the hockey club was helping. 1140 00:45:20,543 --> 00:45:22,284 I felt they were tearing down the players 1141 00:45:22,327 --> 00:45:25,113 and any time you start tearing down the players, uh, 1142 00:45:25,156 --> 00:45:26,375 you're tearing the heart and soul 1143 00:45:26,418 --> 00:45:28,159 out of your hockey club. 1144 00:45:28,203 --> 00:45:30,422 It's not as if I-- I'm just talking about sour grapes, 1145 00:45:30,466 --> 00:45:33,904 but the fans, uh, are very dissatisfied 1146 00:45:33,948 --> 00:45:35,863 and I can't blame them because, uh, 1147 00:45:35,906 --> 00:45:37,690 that is a hockey dynasty 1148 00:45:37,734 --> 00:45:39,823 and if that goes downhill, the whole league's hurting. 1149 00:45:39,867 --> 00:45:41,433 It was completely out of spite. 1150 00:45:41,477 --> 00:45:44,306 That was Punch when he came back from Buffalo. 1151 00:45:44,915 --> 00:45:47,700 Uh, basically, letting everyone know 1152 00:45:47,744 --> 00:45:49,441 that he was in charge. 1153 00:45:49,485 --> 00:45:52,488 And the best way that he was going to show the world 1154 00:45:52,531 --> 00:45:54,011 that he was in charge, well, 1155 00:45:54,055 --> 00:45:55,752 it was going to break up the two best friends, 1156 00:45:55,796 --> 00:45:57,188 Lanny and Darryl. 1157 00:45:57,232 --> 00:45:59,408 So, if you can't move Darryl, 1158 00:45:59,930 --> 00:46:03,238 then you-- you piss off Darryl by trading Lanny. 1159 00:46:03,281 --> 00:46:06,284 That was the great line by Frank Gore in the Toronto Star, 1160 00:46:06,328 --> 00:46:09,766 that Sittler was caught between the devil and the deep blue C. 1161 00:46:10,245 --> 00:46:12,116 The deep blue letter C on his chest, 1162 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:14,902 where they couldn't work for this man anymore. 1163 00:46:14,945 --> 00:46:16,555 Sittler understood how to succeed 1164 00:46:16,599 --> 00:46:18,035 in the National Hockey League. 1165 00:46:18,079 --> 00:46:20,995 He understood what it took and the sacrifice 1166 00:46:21,038 --> 00:46:22,605 and the work that all of them did 1167 00:46:22,648 --> 00:46:25,390 to get to be one of the Toronto Maple Leafs. 1168 00:46:25,434 --> 00:46:28,393 And then to see that C and that Leaf 1169 00:46:28,437 --> 00:46:30,439 become an object of ridicule... 1170 00:46:31,266 --> 00:46:32,963 that's got to be not only demoralizing, 1171 00:46:33,007 --> 00:46:34,704 it's gotta be very destabilizing. 1172 00:46:34,747 --> 00:46:38,099 To think I wanted so badly, 1173 00:46:38,142 --> 00:46:40,928 I dreamed so hard to wear this sweater, 1174 00:46:41,537 --> 00:46:42,712 and now it's a joke. 1175 00:46:42,755 --> 00:46:44,322 And what happened there was, 1176 00:46:44,366 --> 00:46:46,977 I'd gone through all these months 1177 00:46:47,021 --> 00:46:50,372 of this crap that was going on behind the scenes. 1178 00:46:51,286 --> 00:46:53,766 And I remember specifically saying to myself, 1179 00:46:53,810 --> 00:46:54,855 as I'm driving... 1180 00:46:55,856 --> 00:46:57,422 home, the morning of the morning skate, 1181 00:46:57,466 --> 00:46:59,294 it's a Saturday morning, and Lanny had been traded. 1182 00:47:00,121 --> 00:47:01,209 "Why am I here? 1183 00:47:01,862 --> 00:47:04,255 I'm here to play hockey. That's my job. 1184 00:47:04,299 --> 00:47:05,953 Punch doesn't respect me. 1185 00:47:05,996 --> 00:47:08,129 There's no communication as a captain. 1186 00:47:08,172 --> 00:47:10,044 So, I'm just going to remove the captain 1187 00:47:10,087 --> 00:47:11,175 and go to my job. 1188 00:47:11,219 --> 00:47:12,568 I'm going to show you, 1189 00:47:12,611 --> 00:47:14,352 make sure that I use this terminology, 1190 00:47:14,396 --> 00:47:16,615 the fat guy upstairs and the rest of Canada... 1191 00:47:17,660 --> 00:47:19,401 that I'm a hockey player, I'm going to play hockey. 1192 00:47:19,444 --> 00:47:20,750 That's what I'm paid to do. 1193 00:47:20,793 --> 00:47:21,969 Went back on the ice and played. 1194 00:47:22,447 --> 00:47:24,536 [McDonald] I love him, I respect him, 1195 00:47:24,580 --> 00:47:27,235 and that was his decision. 1196 00:47:27,278 --> 00:47:29,193 So, I back him completely. 1197 00:47:29,846 --> 00:47:31,195 Darryl did everything. 1198 00:47:32,370 --> 00:47:35,330 In spite of a bunch making life miserable for him. 1199 00:47:35,852 --> 00:47:38,202 Up until the trade of Lanny... 1200 00:47:39,943 --> 00:47:42,903 Darryl's position was impeccable 1201 00:47:42,946 --> 00:47:45,949 and nobody had any complaints whatsoever. 1202 00:47:45,993 --> 00:47:48,386 The only thing that hurt him with the public 1203 00:47:48,430 --> 00:47:51,694 was when he took off the C, but I don't blame him for it, 1204 00:47:51,737 --> 00:47:53,304 I commend him for it. 1205 00:47:53,348 --> 00:47:55,785 [Cherry] Oh, yeah. Harold, he was a vindictive guy. 1206 00:47:56,525 --> 00:47:58,614 You crossed him, you-- you paid the price 1207 00:47:58,657 --> 00:48:00,442 and, uh, Sittler paid the price. 1208 00:48:02,009 --> 00:48:04,576 [narrator] Harold Ballard was a man of convictions. 1209 00:48:04,620 --> 00:48:06,665 And not just the legal kind. 1210 00:48:06,709 --> 00:48:09,886 His blind faith in Punch Imlach cost him dearly, 1211 00:48:09,930 --> 00:48:13,107 and his refusal to pay players what they were worth 1212 00:48:13,150 --> 00:48:16,414 compounded an already terrible situation. 1213 00:48:16,458 --> 00:48:20,331 By 1982, Darryl Sittler's fate was sealed, 1214 00:48:20,375 --> 00:48:22,159 but he was the last to know. 1215 00:48:22,203 --> 00:48:23,552 I was making, well, maybe, 1216 00:48:23,595 --> 00:48:25,597 160, 170 grand a year, whatever it was, 1217 00:48:25,641 --> 00:48:27,817 and other guys were making 250, right? 1218 00:48:27,860 --> 00:48:30,037 So I went to Mr. Ballard and I said, 1219 00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:32,865 "Listen, uh, things have changed somewhat. 1220 00:48:32,909 --> 00:48:35,956 Would you consider, uh, moving forward, um, 1221 00:48:35,999 --> 00:48:37,914 signing me a new contract, and, kind of, 1222 00:48:37,958 --> 00:48:39,872 bringing my status up with these other guys?" 1223 00:48:39,916 --> 00:48:41,483 And I remember him saying to me, "Darryl, 1224 00:48:41,526 --> 00:48:44,007 leave it with me, I'll do whatever I can, right?" 1225 00:48:44,660 --> 00:48:46,749 The secretary calls and she says, 1226 00:48:46,792 --> 00:48:48,185 "Mr. Ballard wants to talk to you." 1227 00:48:48,229 --> 00:48:49,752 "Darryl." 1228 00:48:49,795 --> 00:48:51,362 he says, "I've decided what we're going to do." 1229 00:48:51,406 --> 00:48:53,712 We'll trade you to any city you want to go to. 1230 00:48:54,539 --> 00:48:56,411 Come and see me." Like that. 1231 00:48:56,454 --> 00:48:57,542 Yeah, I traded him. 1232 00:48:58,848 --> 00:49:00,241 And it was a tough thing to do. 1233 00:49:02,721 --> 00:49:04,462 But Darryl wanted another contract. 1234 00:49:05,463 --> 00:49:06,987 And Mr. Ballard wouldn't give it to him. 1235 00:49:08,684 --> 00:49:11,034 He wanted to play out the contract that he had. 1236 00:49:12,688 --> 00:49:15,212 And that's what started the brouhaha. 1237 00:49:15,256 --> 00:49:18,607 And that's why Darryl came and asked for a trade. 1238 00:49:19,129 --> 00:49:20,913 [Sittler] And then through the grapevine, so to speak, 1239 00:49:20,957 --> 00:49:22,698 that Harold's saying, "Ah, we're not trading him, 1240 00:49:22,741 --> 00:49:24,265 we're keeping him, we're just-- 1241 00:49:24,308 --> 00:49:26,093 we're just gotta motivate him a little bit." 1242 00:49:26,136 --> 00:49:27,790 or something to that effect, which fueled me more, right? 1243 00:49:27,833 --> 00:49:29,661 Like, okay, if you say you're going to trade me, 1244 00:49:29,705 --> 00:49:31,446 we're going to do a deal 1245 00:49:31,489 --> 00:49:33,056 and don't play these games, right? 1246 00:49:33,100 --> 00:49:35,363 Darryl is, you know, starting to get up in age. 1247 00:49:35,972 --> 00:49:37,452 He's still a good player. 1248 00:49:37,930 --> 00:49:41,325 But to try to get equal value 1249 00:49:41,369 --> 00:49:44,285 when you have to trade somebody and you have... 1250 00:49:45,895 --> 00:49:47,940 a certain amount of clubs to trade, 1251 00:49:47,984 --> 00:49:50,943 you can't trade to everybody because he won't go. 1252 00:49:50,987 --> 00:49:52,554 He's got no trade clause. 1253 00:49:52,597 --> 00:49:54,077 Because of my no trade contracts 1254 00:49:54,121 --> 00:49:56,427 I gave them five teams that they could, uh, 1255 00:49:56,471 --> 00:49:58,429 you know, have the opportunity to negotiate with. 1256 00:49:58,473 --> 00:50:00,823 One was Buffalo, Minnesota, Philadelphia, 1257 00:50:00,866 --> 00:50:02,259 or whatever, right? 1258 00:50:02,303 --> 00:50:04,087 And then they finally came to a deal 1259 00:50:04,131 --> 00:50:06,829 with Philadelphia, and that's how I left town. 1260 00:50:06,872 --> 00:50:10,093 My sense was always that the chaos 1261 00:50:10,137 --> 00:50:14,141 that Harold inspired, incited, created, 1262 00:50:14,184 --> 00:50:18,188 led to just a whirlwind of happenstance 1263 00:50:18,232 --> 00:50:22,192 and things going wrong and people blaming other people. 1264 00:50:22,236 --> 00:50:25,108 To me, the promise of the '70s 1265 00:50:25,152 --> 00:50:28,938 ended with Sittler's trade to Philadelphia 1266 00:50:28,981 --> 00:50:30,896 in January of '82. 1267 00:50:30,940 --> 00:50:33,073 [McDonald] Darryl was the one guy 1268 00:50:34,117 --> 00:50:36,467 that, from start to finish, 1269 00:50:36,511 --> 00:50:40,558 should have worn the Maple Leaf jersey forever 1270 00:50:40,602 --> 00:50:42,995 and never gone anywhere. 1271 00:50:43,039 --> 00:50:46,477 [Brunt] They were on the verge of being very, very good. 1272 00:50:46,521 --> 00:50:47,696 They should have been a contender 1273 00:50:47,739 --> 00:50:49,828 in a playoff team for a long time. 1274 00:50:50,612 --> 00:50:52,048 And instead, you know, 1275 00:50:52,092 --> 00:50:54,224 he attacked the foundation players. 1276 00:50:54,268 --> 00:50:56,444 He, you know, he singled guys out. 1277 00:50:56,487 --> 00:50:59,490 He humiliated them. And to what end? 1278 00:50:59,534 --> 00:51:01,231 Like, there's no-- there's no hockey argument 1279 00:51:01,275 --> 00:51:02,711 for what he did. 1280 00:51:02,754 --> 00:51:04,278 There's absolutely no hockey argument. 1281 00:51:04,321 --> 00:51:05,279 I don't think there's any marketing argument 1282 00:51:05,322 --> 00:51:06,671 for what he did. 1283 00:51:06,715 --> 00:51:08,064 There's not any argument for what he does. 1284 00:51:08,108 --> 00:51:09,805 It was kind of, you know... 1285 00:51:10,806 --> 00:51:12,503 cruelty, right? 1286 00:51:12,547 --> 00:51:14,375 Like, it was just kind of done out of cruelty and spite. 1287 00:51:14,418 --> 00:51:17,552 Harold didn't care about winning necessarily. 1288 00:51:17,595 --> 00:51:20,163 He said he wanted to win, but he cared more about the fact 1289 00:51:20,207 --> 00:51:23,514 that he was not the star of that team. 1290 00:51:23,558 --> 00:51:25,125 It was Roger Neilson, 1291 00:51:25,168 --> 00:51:26,561 it was Darryl Sittler, it was Mike Palmateer, 1292 00:51:26,604 --> 00:51:28,519 it was, like, the players and the team 1293 00:51:28,563 --> 00:51:31,348 became above him and he didn't like that one bit. 1294 00:51:31,392 --> 00:51:35,396 [energetic music playing] 1295 00:51:37,006 --> 00:51:39,748 [narrator] Rick Vaive came to Toronto in 1980 1296 00:51:39,791 --> 00:51:41,532 as part of the trade 1297 00:51:41,576 --> 00:51:44,535 that saw fan favorite Tiger Williams go to Vancouver. 1298 00:51:44,579 --> 00:51:48,887 Vaive became the first Leaf to score 50 goals in a season. 1299 00:51:48,931 --> 00:51:52,369 A feat he achieved in three consecutive years. 1300 00:51:52,413 --> 00:51:55,198 Logic suggested that Vaive deserved a raise. 1301 00:51:55,242 --> 00:51:58,984 But logic and Harold Ballard's wallet were at odds. 1302 00:51:59,028 --> 00:52:01,378 Ricky had just scored 50 for the third time, 1303 00:52:01,422 --> 00:52:04,947 and in one of the papers it said, 1304 00:52:04,990 --> 00:52:07,123 "Vaive scores 50 for the third year," 1305 00:52:07,167 --> 00:52:08,777 or something like that. 1306 00:52:08,820 --> 00:52:10,953 And his contract was up, and underneath it, it said, 1307 00:52:10,996 --> 00:52:12,868 "Looks like Ballard's going to have to loosen 1308 00:52:12,911 --> 00:52:13,869 his purse strings. 1309 00:52:14,826 --> 00:52:16,480 He turned to Ricky, who was right here. 1310 00:52:16,524 --> 00:52:18,787 My head-- My chin was basically on Rick's shoulder. 1311 00:52:18,830 --> 00:52:21,224 So, you know, Harold was right here and he says, 1312 00:52:21,268 --> 00:52:23,313 "If you think you're getting another 1313 00:52:23,357 --> 00:52:25,489 f'ing dime out of me, you're crazy." 1314 00:52:25,533 --> 00:52:28,188 And sits down. And he was dead serious. 1315 00:52:28,971 --> 00:52:31,887 So, as a young guy, I'm like, "Oof, you know, 1316 00:52:31,930 --> 00:52:33,758 this is the owner talking to the captain 1317 00:52:33,802 --> 00:52:35,847 and it's like, well, it's-- 1318 00:52:35,891 --> 00:52:37,936 this stuff's, uh, this stuff's real." 1319 00:52:37,980 --> 00:52:40,591 I don't think he gave a shit about the team. 1320 00:52:40,635 --> 00:52:42,419 I-- I honestly don't. 1321 00:52:42,463 --> 00:52:44,943 I think all he cared about was having people in the seats 1322 00:52:44,987 --> 00:52:46,162 and making money. 1323 00:52:46,206 --> 00:52:48,947 And I-- I don't think he cared 1324 00:52:48,991 --> 00:52:51,907 if we won a Stanley Cup or not, I-- I honestly don't. 1325 00:52:51,950 --> 00:52:53,256 [McKenny] I really feel sorry for the players. 1326 00:52:53,300 --> 00:52:54,997 I know they come to the rink 1327 00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:56,651 and they work as hard as they can 1328 00:52:56,694 --> 00:52:58,305 but you can't get that extra work out of yourself 1329 00:52:58,348 --> 00:52:59,871 unless you know you're gonna get some respect 1330 00:52:59,915 --> 00:53:01,482 for the job that you do, so you gotta have it. 1331 00:53:01,525 --> 00:53:02,961 And if that's not going to be there, 1332 00:53:03,005 --> 00:53:04,398 this team is never going to get any better. 1333 00:53:04,441 --> 00:53:06,138 [Ricky] Dan Maloney was kind of-- 1334 00:53:06,182 --> 00:53:08,619 you know, he started out a little bit rough as a coach, 1335 00:53:08,663 --> 00:53:11,231 but he was coming around and-- and-- you know, 1336 00:53:11,274 --> 00:53:13,145 we had a couple of good years under him. 1337 00:53:14,059 --> 00:53:15,844 And then he wanted a two-year contract. 1338 00:53:15,887 --> 00:53:17,585 Harold wouldn't give him any more than one. 1339 00:53:17,628 --> 00:53:19,543 So, he left and went to Winnipeg. 1340 00:53:19,587 --> 00:53:21,893 So, you know, we lost the one guy 1341 00:53:21,937 --> 00:53:25,027 that was kind of sort of starting to get it 1342 00:53:25,070 --> 00:53:27,290 and what it took, talking to the players 1343 00:53:27,334 --> 00:53:28,422 and communicating. 1344 00:53:28,987 --> 00:53:31,294 And then all of a sudden he's gone. 1345 00:53:31,338 --> 00:53:33,340 It was one thing after another. 1346 00:53:33,383 --> 00:53:37,344 It was, like, nonstop nonsense, uh, you know, by Harold. 1347 00:53:37,387 --> 00:53:39,171 It was always hard to countenance that 1348 00:53:39,215 --> 00:53:41,435 because Maple Leaf Gardens 1349 00:53:41,478 --> 00:53:43,524 was such a juggernaut financially. 1350 00:53:43,567 --> 00:53:45,047 It was in the '60s 1351 00:53:45,090 --> 00:53:47,092 when he was part of the Silver Seven. 1352 00:53:47,136 --> 00:53:50,357 It was in the '70s when he became the sole owner, 1353 00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:52,881 and it certainly was through the '80s 1354 00:53:52,924 --> 00:53:55,971 when there wasn't a seat to be had at Maple Leaf Gardens 1355 00:53:56,014 --> 00:53:59,670 and the TV contracts for the time were very lucrative. 1356 00:53:59,714 --> 00:54:01,803 And yet he didn't go out 1357 00:54:01,846 --> 00:54:04,284 and invest that money back in the team. 1358 00:54:05,459 --> 00:54:07,765 [Orr] Waiting for the Leafs to win at this point in time, 1359 00:54:07,809 --> 00:54:10,725 is like leaving on the porch light for Jimmy Hoffa. 1360 00:54:11,508 --> 00:54:13,380 [narrator] The turmoil of the '80s 1361 00:54:13,423 --> 00:54:17,558 made the Stanley Cup of 1967 seem like ancient history. 1362 00:54:18,080 --> 00:54:21,605 But Ballard carried on, confident and cocky, 1363 00:54:21,649 --> 00:54:23,738 more worried about the bottom line 1364 00:54:23,781 --> 00:54:25,392 than the blue line. 1365 00:54:25,957 --> 00:54:28,960 The Leafs of the '80s were a woe be gotten group. 1366 00:54:29,004 --> 00:54:31,572 It was pretty crazy, I mean, over those years 1367 00:54:31,615 --> 00:54:33,443 we drafted some pretty good players, 1368 00:54:33,487 --> 00:54:35,967 but Harold, he ran it. 1369 00:54:36,968 --> 00:54:38,361 First of all, 1370 00:54:38,405 --> 00:54:40,145 he wouldn't pay anybody good money. 1371 00:54:40,189 --> 00:54:41,930 He wouldn't pay for a good general manager 1372 00:54:41,973 --> 00:54:43,932 that could make good decisions. 1373 00:54:43,975 --> 00:54:45,673 So those players that we drafted, 1374 00:54:45,716 --> 00:54:47,327 that were good hockey players, 1375 00:54:47,370 --> 00:54:49,764 they were forced into action at 18 years old 1376 00:54:49,807 --> 00:54:51,983 when most of them weren't physically 1377 00:54:52,027 --> 00:54:54,551 or mentally ready to play in the National Hockey League. 1378 00:54:55,030 --> 00:54:57,075 [Leeman] As a young person, you go... 1379 00:54:58,512 --> 00:55:01,471 "Well, you know, it's not so secure here." 1380 00:55:01,515 --> 00:55:05,214 You-- you want to have the feeling of security 1381 00:55:05,257 --> 00:55:07,477 in your-- in your job. 1382 00:55:07,521 --> 00:55:10,524 You know, you don't want people to be afraid for their job, 1383 00:55:10,567 --> 00:55:13,004 if they make one mistake, like, you know, people are-- 1384 00:55:13,048 --> 00:55:14,310 Should be allowed to make mistakes 1385 00:55:14,354 --> 00:55:16,530 and they should be allowed to grow. 1386 00:55:16,573 --> 00:55:18,619 And that was never-- 1387 00:55:18,662 --> 00:55:20,055 that was never given to... 1388 00:55:21,186 --> 00:55:22,623 any teams in the '80s. 1389 00:55:22,666 --> 00:55:25,190 [Clark] And being a rookie at 18 in the NHL, 1390 00:55:25,234 --> 00:55:26,670 you're just so happy to be there. 1391 00:55:26,714 --> 00:55:29,238 And half our team was 20 and under at that stage. 1392 00:55:29,281 --> 00:55:31,762 And the other half team, you know, the Ricky Vaives 1393 00:55:31,806 --> 00:55:33,895 and Boörje Salmings, they would understand it. 1394 00:55:33,938 --> 00:55:35,331 They were ten years in the league, 1395 00:55:35,375 --> 00:55:37,333 15 years in the league and lived it. 1396 00:55:37,942 --> 00:55:39,509 So they're going, "Oh, here we go again." 1397 00:55:40,336 --> 00:55:42,338 For us, first year guys, we're like, 1398 00:55:42,382 --> 00:55:44,340 "This is awesome, we're playing in the NHL." 1399 00:55:44,384 --> 00:55:46,516 And I was 18 years old. I was just happy to be there. 1400 00:55:46,560 --> 00:55:49,737 [rock music playing] 1401 00:55:49,780 --> 00:55:52,653 [Joshi] So many talented people 1402 00:55:52,696 --> 00:55:56,744 that could have got that team, perennially competitive, 1403 00:55:56,787 --> 00:55:58,180 maybe not Stanley Cup every year, 1404 00:55:58,223 --> 00:56:00,530 but certainly not a laughingstock 1405 00:56:00,574 --> 00:56:02,140 as they were through the '80s, 1406 00:56:02,184 --> 00:56:05,883 were cast aside and it was a mess 1407 00:56:05,927 --> 00:56:08,408 and it just became worse and worse and worse. 1408 00:56:09,104 --> 00:56:11,019 [announcer] For the second time in three years, 1409 00:56:11,062 --> 00:56:14,414 the seats at Maple Leaf Gardens will be empty at playoff time. 1410 00:56:14,457 --> 00:56:17,634 Right now, the organization just doesn't have it. 1411 00:56:17,678 --> 00:56:19,244 [reporter] Are you disappointed in the Leafs? 1412 00:56:19,288 --> 00:56:21,899 -Not really. -[reporter] Why is that? 1413 00:56:21,943 --> 00:56:23,118 I didn't have great expectations for them 1414 00:56:23,161 --> 00:56:24,424 in the first place. 1415 00:56:24,467 --> 00:56:25,555 [reporter] You're a hockey fan? 1416 00:56:25,599 --> 00:56:27,122 Not really. 1417 00:56:27,165 --> 00:56:28,645 [reporter] You don't follow the Leafs at all? 1418 00:56:28,689 --> 00:56:30,212 -Not this year anyway. -[reporter] Why is that? 1419 00:56:30,255 --> 00:56:32,127 Uh, well, they're at the bottom, aren't they? 1420 00:56:32,170 --> 00:56:34,738 Going through those years was very difficult because 1421 00:56:34,782 --> 00:56:36,827 losing really gets to you after a while. 1422 00:56:36,871 --> 00:56:39,308 And it almost becomes a job. 1423 00:56:39,351 --> 00:56:41,484 And it was a job obviously. 1424 00:56:41,528 --> 00:56:43,617 And I got paid pretty good to do it. 1425 00:56:44,356 --> 00:56:46,184 But, you know, at the end of the day, 1426 00:56:46,228 --> 00:56:48,317 you got to have fun, too, I mean, when you go to work, 1427 00:56:48,360 --> 00:56:50,798 you want to have fun and you want to enjoy it. 1428 00:56:51,363 --> 00:56:53,888 And obviously we weren't having a whole lot of fun 1429 00:56:53,931 --> 00:56:55,324 because we weren't winning. 1430 00:56:55,367 --> 00:56:57,631 It's just unfortunate if you come along 1431 00:56:57,674 --> 00:57:00,329 as a young athlete at that time 1432 00:57:00,372 --> 00:57:02,070 and you've worked your whole life 1433 00:57:02,810 --> 00:57:05,290 to be a pro hockey player and you run into this. 1434 00:57:06,030 --> 00:57:08,816 It makes for a-- a rocky road. 1435 00:57:09,425 --> 00:57:10,905 You want to learn how to be a pro, 1436 00:57:10,948 --> 00:57:14,038 you want to see it from, you know, 1437 00:57:14,082 --> 00:57:16,301 the guys that are ahead of you, but, you know, 1438 00:57:16,345 --> 00:57:18,260 when things are happening to them like that, 1439 00:57:18,303 --> 00:57:21,916 how is it that they can pass on their experience? 1440 00:57:22,394 --> 00:57:26,573 It got to the point where the-- Even the fans were so disgusted 1441 00:57:26,616 --> 00:57:28,009 with what they were seeing. 1442 00:57:28,052 --> 00:57:29,271 There was one moment when... 1443 00:57:30,272 --> 00:57:32,579 the fans did something very un-Toronto like. 1444 00:57:32,622 --> 00:57:34,711 [announcer] Now there's all sorts of debris 1445 00:57:34,755 --> 00:57:36,191 being thrown onto the ice. 1446 00:57:37,975 --> 00:57:39,150 [Ormsby] I don't think it was directed 1447 00:57:39,194 --> 00:57:40,543 at the players so much, 1448 00:57:40,587 --> 00:57:43,415 but it was just the whole awful mess 1449 00:57:44,155 --> 00:57:45,809 that the Leafs had become. 1450 00:57:45,853 --> 00:57:47,376 [announcer] We've got a streaker on the ice. 1451 00:57:47,419 --> 00:57:49,073 [Eagleson] There's no question about that. 1452 00:57:49,117 --> 00:57:51,423 Harold was asked to take blame for that 1453 00:57:51,467 --> 00:57:53,077 because he was the owner. 1454 00:57:53,643 --> 00:57:55,427 So he didn't hire the right people. 1455 00:57:55,950 --> 00:57:59,040 And he didn't draft the right players 1456 00:57:59,083 --> 00:58:02,086 and they didn't run the organization. 1457 00:58:02,130 --> 00:58:04,959 So, they had a flow through from their minor team 1458 00:58:05,002 --> 00:58:06,613 up to the big leagues. 1459 00:58:06,656 --> 00:58:09,224 So, there's no question 1460 00:58:09,267 --> 00:58:12,140 that Harold has to take the hit for that. 1461 00:58:12,183 --> 00:58:14,142 [Parrish] I think for a lot of those years... 1462 00:58:15,143 --> 00:58:18,233 there was always the hope that sanity would prevail. 1463 00:58:18,755 --> 00:58:20,757 There was always the hope that 1464 00:58:20,801 --> 00:58:23,847 Harold would bring in someone who was qualified. 1465 00:58:24,848 --> 00:58:26,763 [Joshi] He didn't espouse to the business theory that, 1466 00:58:26,807 --> 00:58:29,287 you know, you need to spend money to make money. 1467 00:58:29,331 --> 00:58:30,811 To him, it was like, "Why? 1468 00:58:30,854 --> 00:58:32,508 Why do I have to do that? The building's full. 1469 00:58:33,509 --> 00:58:36,120 I've got program sales. I've got this. I got that. 1470 00:58:36,686 --> 00:58:39,950 Why do I need to go and pay the hockey executive 1471 00:58:39,994 --> 00:58:41,212 a couple hundred thousand dollars, 1472 00:58:41,256 --> 00:58:42,823 then give him all the control?" 1473 00:58:42,866 --> 00:58:44,564 That was the biggest thing. 1474 00:58:44,607 --> 00:58:47,654 He never gave anybody total autonomy or total control. 1475 00:58:47,697 --> 00:58:49,612 Everything had to go through him. 1476 00:58:49,656 --> 00:58:51,483 [reporter] How comfortable are you with your image 1477 00:58:51,527 --> 00:58:53,007 with Toronto hockey fans? 1478 00:58:53,050 --> 00:58:54,617 A lot of people think you're the problem here. 1479 00:58:55,096 --> 00:58:56,750 [Harold] Well, maybe I am. 1480 00:58:56,793 --> 00:58:59,100 If they want to buy the place, it's open for sale. 1481 00:58:59,143 --> 00:59:00,580 All they have to do is bring money. 1482 00:59:02,625 --> 00:59:04,627 [narrator] Ballard loved chaos 1483 00:59:04,671 --> 00:59:07,108 and reveled in sparring with the press 1484 00:59:07,151 --> 00:59:09,589 or anyone who questioned 1485 00:59:09,632 --> 00:59:12,417 his increasingly inappropriate behavior. 1486 00:59:12,461 --> 00:59:14,681 Now, don't start that fucking camera going. 1487 00:59:14,724 --> 00:59:16,552 Couple of swell looking broads in here. 1488 00:59:16,596 --> 00:59:18,728 Holy Christ, you ought to see the one in the front. 1489 00:59:18,772 --> 00:59:21,470 Talk about a linebacker. Jesus Christ, eh? 1490 00:59:21,513 --> 00:59:23,907 As we have been sucking the hind tit long enough 1491 00:59:23,951 --> 00:59:26,780 and with a few of these kind of guys coming in with-- 1492 00:59:26,823 --> 00:59:28,825 We are-- We're-- But don't laugh. 1493 00:59:28,869 --> 00:59:30,871 Goddammit, you can't-- 1494 00:59:30,914 --> 00:59:33,047 you can't ignore these kind of things. 1495 00:59:33,090 --> 00:59:35,440 And we've tried, whether you think we have or not, 1496 00:59:35,484 --> 00:59:37,834 with the bullshit that you put in the paper 1497 00:59:37,878 --> 00:59:39,662 telling us how rotten we've been. 1498 00:59:39,706 --> 00:59:42,752 Through his ownership years, he was on the record a lot 1499 00:59:42,796 --> 00:59:44,711 with comments that were misogynistic, 1500 00:59:45,363 --> 00:59:47,583 with comments that were homophobic, 1501 00:59:47,627 --> 00:59:49,019 with comments that were racist. 1502 00:59:49,890 --> 00:59:51,674 I don't think you can, 1503 00:59:51,718 --> 00:59:55,069 even though the times were different than they are today, 1504 00:59:55,112 --> 00:59:56,548 even in those times, 1505 00:59:56,592 --> 00:59:58,507 he was outrageous for those times. 1506 00:59:58,550 --> 00:59:59,943 Get out of here. 1507 00:59:59,987 --> 01:00:02,250 Or you'll get a good kick in the balls. 1508 01:00:02,293 --> 01:00:05,470 If Harold Ballard existed in 2022, 1509 01:00:05,514 --> 01:00:08,256 he would've been canceled, like, very quickly. 1510 01:00:08,299 --> 01:00:11,128 And essentially, this is someone who's incredibly powerful. 1511 01:00:11,172 --> 01:00:15,002 Pick what equity-deserving group he decided to offend. 1512 01:00:15,045 --> 01:00:17,221 And-- You-- And let's just do the bingo. 1513 01:00:17,265 --> 01:00:20,050 He decided to offend them all at different points 1514 01:00:20,094 --> 01:00:22,139 and was not apologetic about it. 1515 01:00:22,183 --> 01:00:23,837 [Khamisa] I don't know if Harold Ballard 1516 01:00:23,880 --> 01:00:25,708 would have been around very long in a present-day lens. 1517 01:00:25,752 --> 01:00:27,667 I don't think he would have had enough leeway 1518 01:00:27,710 --> 01:00:29,538 to have people forgive that 1519 01:00:29,581 --> 01:00:31,366 and allow him to stay in the role that he did. 1520 01:00:31,409 --> 01:00:33,368 You say something like some of the things 1521 01:00:33,411 --> 01:00:35,849 Harold Ballard said back then, you're out of there. 1522 01:00:35,892 --> 01:00:37,677 He was abusive to his players, 1523 01:00:37,720 --> 01:00:39,374 he was abusive to his general managers 1524 01:00:39,417 --> 01:00:41,071 and his coaches. 1525 01:00:41,115 --> 01:00:44,727 And he had this platform that really went unchallenged. 1526 01:00:44,771 --> 01:00:46,990 And he had an incredible interview 1527 01:00:47,034 --> 01:00:48,644 with CBC and Barbara Frum. 1528 01:00:48,688 --> 01:00:50,515 -[Barbara] Hi, Mr. Ballard. -[Harold] Hi. 1529 01:00:50,559 --> 01:00:51,952 -[Barbara] How are you? -[Harold] Well, I'm all right. 1530 01:00:51,995 --> 01:00:53,954 [Barbara] You won a hockey game? 1531 01:00:53,997 --> 01:00:55,695 [Harold] We won two. What's the matter with your addition? 1532 01:00:55,738 --> 01:00:57,174 Why don't you get somebody on there 1533 01:00:57,218 --> 01:00:58,741 that can handle this job, Dick? 1534 01:00:58,785 --> 01:01:00,177 Females on the radio, they're a joke. 1535 01:01:00,221 --> 01:01:02,179 -They're a joke. -[Dick] Hang on. 1536 01:01:02,223 --> 01:01:03,528 [Harold] You know where they're at their best, don't you? 1537 01:01:03,572 --> 01:01:05,139 [Dick] I probably should stay. 1538 01:01:05,705 --> 01:01:07,358 [Harold] Well, lock them up once in a while, 1539 01:01:07,402 --> 01:01:09,273 [indistinct] once in a while. 1540 01:01:09,317 --> 01:01:10,753 -[Barbara] Mr. Ballard-- -[Harold] Would you keep quiet? 1541 01:01:10,797 --> 01:01:12,233 [Barbara] No. This is still my show. 1542 01:01:12,276 --> 01:01:13,843 [Harold] Well-- 1543 01:01:13,887 --> 01:01:15,715 [Barbara] I have another question for you. 1544 01:01:15,758 --> 01:01:17,455 [Harold] I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Dick, 1545 01:01:17,499 --> 01:01:19,109 so when you learn to mind your own business, 1546 01:01:19,153 --> 01:01:20,720 and let me talk to Dick, it'll be fine. Goodbye. 1547 01:01:21,329 --> 01:01:24,767 He basically tells her to shut up on her own show. 1548 01:01:24,811 --> 01:01:26,203 This was him. 1549 01:01:26,247 --> 01:01:28,031 You're renowned for the outrageous things 1550 01:01:28,075 --> 01:01:30,817 you say about women, about racial groups. 1551 01:01:30,860 --> 01:01:32,557 Why do you say things like that? 1552 01:01:32,601 --> 01:01:34,255 Well, that's the way I think. 1553 01:01:34,298 --> 01:01:36,736 And as I said before, I tell people what I think. 1554 01:01:36,779 --> 01:01:38,215 I don't think one way 1555 01:01:38,259 --> 01:01:40,043 and then tell somebody else another way. 1556 01:01:40,087 --> 01:01:41,915 And to follow that up, 1557 01:01:41,958 --> 01:01:46,136 there was a CBC Fifth Estate story done on him in 1980. 1558 01:01:46,658 --> 01:01:48,486 And they had mics hanging around him. 1559 01:01:48,530 --> 01:01:51,272 When he is using the N-word around athletes 1560 01:01:51,315 --> 01:01:52,795 or about athletes, you know? 1561 01:01:52,839 --> 01:01:53,970 [man] Kelly. 1562 01:01:55,798 --> 01:01:58,148 And he's a hell of a-- he's a hell of a player too. 1563 01:01:58,192 --> 01:01:59,410 [Harold] [bleep] 1564 01:02:00,063 --> 01:02:01,978 No. Really? No, wait. 1565 01:02:03,806 --> 01:02:05,939 You don't think that being a [bleep] called Kelly, do you? 1566 01:02:05,982 --> 01:02:07,288 [indistinct]. 1567 01:02:08,419 --> 01:02:10,508 [Harold] No. Surely not. 1568 01:02:10,552 --> 01:02:12,162 This was not all for show. 1569 01:02:12,206 --> 01:02:14,817 I believe that's-- that's the man talking like that. 1570 01:02:14,861 --> 01:02:16,384 That's-- that's what he was all about. 1571 01:02:16,427 --> 01:02:18,778 Although, it's not tolerated in today's times, 1572 01:02:18,821 --> 01:02:20,823 I think he's grown up with people, 1573 01:02:20,867 --> 01:02:24,609 or it was a familiar comment and a familiar description. 1574 01:02:24,653 --> 01:02:26,437 And I don't think anybody is going to change him now. 1575 01:02:26,481 --> 01:02:27,830 And if he offends people, he just says, 1576 01:02:27,874 --> 01:02:29,527 "I don't care, I don't give a damn. 1577 01:02:29,571 --> 01:02:31,094 That's the way I feel, and that's the way I think, 1578 01:02:31,138 --> 01:02:32,704 and that's the way I talk. 1579 01:02:32,748 --> 01:02:34,184 If they don't like it, they don't have to do this." 1580 01:02:34,228 --> 01:02:35,620 [interviewer] Does it occur to you 1581 01:02:35,664 --> 01:02:37,144 that they might be deeply offended 1582 01:02:37,187 --> 01:02:38,754 -by your referring-- -Oh, I don't think so. 1583 01:02:38,798 --> 01:02:41,235 You want to get offended at that? That's stupid. 1584 01:02:41,278 --> 01:02:43,150 You couldn't get through a two sentence conversation 1585 01:02:43,193 --> 01:02:45,979 with Harold without it being full of invective 1586 01:02:46,022 --> 01:02:48,068 and, uh, obscenity. 1587 01:02:48,111 --> 01:02:51,811 The first time a female reporter was allowed in the Leaf room. 1588 01:02:52,768 --> 01:02:54,335 And he'd been fighting that with the league 1589 01:02:54,378 --> 01:02:56,380 for a little while, he didn't want any females 1590 01:02:56,424 --> 01:02:59,035 in-- in the-- Reporters in the room. 1591 01:02:59,079 --> 01:03:01,342 So after the game, the guys were gearing down 1592 01:03:01,385 --> 01:03:03,997 and she's standing over here and Harold walks in 1593 01:03:04,040 --> 01:03:05,781 and he sees her 1594 01:03:05,825 --> 01:03:07,522 and it was kind of a calculated move, 1595 01:03:07,565 --> 01:03:10,568 as soon as he's walking past her, 1596 01:03:10,612 --> 01:03:14,355 he turns to the room and he yells out, 1597 01:03:14,398 --> 01:03:17,097 "Look out, boys, we got a lizard watcher in here." 1598 01:03:17,140 --> 01:03:20,752 and keeps walking, and it was like, oh. [chuckles] 1599 01:03:20,796 --> 01:03:23,494 [McKenny] Rosie Dimanno or Christie Blatchford. 1600 01:03:23,538 --> 01:03:24,931 They weren't hockey fans. 1601 01:03:24,974 --> 01:03:26,541 They were just in there doing the job. 1602 01:03:26,584 --> 01:03:28,630 They had to go down and get some interviews 1603 01:03:28,673 --> 01:03:30,153 and to get the interviews, 1604 01:03:30,197 --> 01:03:31,894 they had to go into the dressing room and-- 1605 01:03:31,938 --> 01:03:33,896 and Harold said he didn't want to let them in there. 1606 01:03:33,940 --> 01:03:36,507 They come in there, get players half dressed, 1607 01:03:36,551 --> 01:03:38,945 want to bring a broad in, that's the worst thing. 1608 01:03:38,988 --> 01:03:41,077 If the broad comes in while I'm naked, 1609 01:03:41,121 --> 01:03:42,905 I'm going to tell you, it'll take you a lot longer 1610 01:03:42,949 --> 01:03:44,472 to get out than it does to get in. 1611 01:03:44,515 --> 01:03:45,908 And I told her, those are the conditions. 1612 01:03:45,952 --> 01:03:47,823 Take your clothes off and go on in 1613 01:03:47,867 --> 01:03:50,608 because we got guys there with cocks as long as your arm. 1614 01:03:52,001 --> 01:03:53,611 [reporter] We've got to do some bleeping here, guys. 1615 01:03:54,786 --> 01:03:56,136 [reporter] I can't use that, Harold. 1616 01:03:56,179 --> 01:03:57,615 Why? What's the matter with it? 1617 01:03:57,659 --> 01:03:58,921 -[reporter] Harold, it's-- -It's the truth. 1618 01:03:59,617 --> 01:04:01,881 Maybe it'll get him a little more ass somewhere. 1619 01:04:02,577 --> 01:04:04,753 I laughed out loud then, but today... 1620 01:04:06,015 --> 01:04:09,410 you know, there's no chance anybody would air that clip 1621 01:04:09,453 --> 01:04:11,586 or even use it as a quote. 1622 01:04:12,369 --> 01:04:14,502 Legally, they couldn't even put the stuff on TV 1623 01:04:14,545 --> 01:04:16,025 that he was saying. [laughing] 1624 01:04:17,331 --> 01:04:19,028 You take it back to your producers. 1625 01:04:19,072 --> 01:04:21,726 "You want to run this?" "Uh, no, I don't think so." 1626 01:04:21,770 --> 01:04:23,859 [laughing] 1627 01:04:23,903 --> 01:04:26,949 It's never been a correct stance to have, obviously. 1628 01:04:26,993 --> 01:04:29,386 And, uh, it comes with being entitled. 1629 01:04:29,430 --> 01:04:32,346 It comes with being insecure and it comes with, 1630 01:04:32,389 --> 01:04:34,957 you know, being challenged by someone who you feel 1631 01:04:35,001 --> 01:04:37,307 shouldn't have the right voice to challenge you. 1632 01:04:37,351 --> 01:04:39,135 I think, to a certain extent... 1633 01:04:40,354 --> 01:04:43,705 Ballard was smarter than the media 1634 01:04:43,748 --> 01:04:46,360 because he ultimately could play the long game. 1635 01:04:46,926 --> 01:04:50,190 He knew that he was going to be in that position of power 1636 01:04:50,233 --> 01:04:52,801 for years, for generations. 1637 01:04:52,844 --> 01:04:56,283 So that pressure, I think, caused a lot of people 1638 01:04:56,326 --> 01:04:58,111 to go along with Harold 1639 01:04:58,154 --> 01:04:59,590 instead of pushing up against him. 1640 01:04:59,634 --> 01:05:01,505 Harold had decided this is the time 1641 01:05:01,549 --> 01:05:04,900 to make a stand against women in the-- in the locker room. 1642 01:05:04,944 --> 01:05:07,947 And so, I remember the sports editors in Toronto 1643 01:05:07,990 --> 01:05:11,254 and the hockey writers leadership got together 1644 01:05:11,298 --> 01:05:12,777 at a little restaurant down on King Street 1645 01:05:12,821 --> 01:05:14,388 the night before the game, and we decided 1646 01:05:14,431 --> 01:05:15,998 that we were going to take Harold on. 1647 01:05:16,651 --> 01:05:18,696 And the only way to take Harold on was by, 1648 01:05:18,740 --> 01:05:20,437 first of all, by surprise, 1649 01:05:20,481 --> 01:05:22,613 and then two, by a show of force. 1650 01:05:22,657 --> 01:05:25,486 And so, we agreed that the next night 1651 01:05:25,529 --> 01:05:27,314 we would all descend on Maple Leaf Gardens. 1652 01:05:27,357 --> 01:05:29,577 [announcer] Last night, the Toronto chapter 1653 01:05:29,620 --> 01:05:31,753 of the Professional Hockey Writers Association 1654 01:05:31,796 --> 01:05:33,668 stormed the inner dressing room 1655 01:05:33,711 --> 01:05:35,931 to show their displeasure over what they considered 1656 01:05:35,975 --> 01:05:38,194 an unprofessional working environment. 1657 01:05:38,238 --> 01:05:39,674 [Parrish] As soon as the game ends, 1658 01:05:39,717 --> 01:05:41,458 or leading up to the end of the game, 1659 01:05:41,502 --> 01:05:44,200 more people troop out of-- out of the press box 1660 01:05:44,244 --> 01:05:45,810 at Maple Leaf Gardens than I've ever seen, 1661 01:05:45,854 --> 01:05:47,638 head down to the dressing room, 1662 01:05:47,682 --> 01:05:50,859 and ten minutes after the game ends, 1663 01:05:51,381 --> 01:05:53,209 the door is supposed to be open, 1664 01:05:53,253 --> 01:05:54,602 so whoever was the head of the line 1665 01:05:54,645 --> 01:05:56,908 just opens the door and we walk in 1666 01:05:56,952 --> 01:05:58,432 and it was a very tight and cramped 1667 01:05:58,475 --> 01:06:00,129 Leafs dressing room in those days. 1668 01:06:00,173 --> 01:06:02,958 But there's probably 35 of us strong, including women, 1669 01:06:03,002 --> 01:06:05,047 that just walk into the dressing room 1670 01:06:05,091 --> 01:06:06,657 while Harold is in there. 1671 01:06:06,701 --> 01:06:08,355 Harold hasn't come out of the dressing room yet. 1672 01:06:08,398 --> 01:06:10,052 He was standing there with his cane and waving it. 1673 01:06:10,096 --> 01:06:11,706 Get out of here! Get the fuck out of here! 1674 01:06:11,749 --> 01:06:12,924 Get out! Fuck! 1675 01:06:12,968 --> 01:06:14,230 And that will remain 1676 01:06:14,274 --> 01:06:15,840 one of my enduring images of Harold. 1677 01:06:15,884 --> 01:06:18,713 I mean, just ranting and raving with his cane 1678 01:06:18,756 --> 01:06:20,106 and waving it at everybody. 1679 01:06:20,149 --> 01:06:21,977 If I'd have been sensible, 1680 01:06:22,021 --> 01:06:23,500 I should have got one of the hockey sticks 1681 01:06:23,544 --> 01:06:25,067 and decapitated the bastards. 1682 01:06:25,111 --> 01:06:26,590 [reporter] Now, as the letter says, 1683 01:06:26,634 --> 01:06:28,375 "In light of last night's march, 1684 01:06:28,418 --> 01:06:31,073 the entire Leafs dressing room is off limits 1685 01:06:31,117 --> 01:06:33,815 to all female and male reporters." 1686 01:06:33,858 --> 01:06:35,730 [interviewer] Harold, the media in Toronto, 1687 01:06:35,773 --> 01:06:37,384 are they too tough on your hockey club these days? 1688 01:06:37,427 --> 01:06:38,689 Oh, no. They're a bunch of jerks. 1689 01:06:38,733 --> 01:06:40,561 Who worries about what they say? 1690 01:06:40,604 --> 01:06:42,519 Especially that Globe and Mailbunch, they, uh, 1691 01:06:42,563 --> 01:06:44,565 they should be writing, uh, kids books 1692 01:06:44,608 --> 01:06:46,697 or comics or something like that. 1693 01:06:46,741 --> 01:06:48,221 You're still after the guys from the Globe? 1694 01:06:48,264 --> 01:06:49,439 Why no-- why not? 1695 01:06:49,483 --> 01:06:51,311 They're, uh, I mean to say, 1696 01:06:51,354 --> 01:06:53,269 when you talk about halfwits, you have to talk about them. 1697 01:06:53,748 --> 01:06:55,750 [narrator] Ballard never held back his tongue 1698 01:06:55,793 --> 01:06:57,621 for anyone or anything, 1699 01:06:57,665 --> 01:07:00,146 but at that point in his life, the one constant he had 1700 01:07:00,189 --> 01:07:03,192 that kept him somewhat even keeled was King. 1701 01:07:03,236 --> 01:07:06,456 King passed away November 10th, 1986. 1702 01:07:06,500 --> 01:07:08,676 I don't think there's anybody that knew King 1703 01:07:09,546 --> 01:07:11,461 that, uh, won't think about him daily 1704 01:07:11,505 --> 01:07:13,289 or when there's a hockey game on 1705 01:07:13,333 --> 01:07:16,684 because there were so many facets of things that he did, 1706 01:07:16,727 --> 01:07:18,990 not only in hockey, but other things. 1707 01:07:19,034 --> 01:07:22,037 And I never realized how much of a loss 1708 01:07:22,081 --> 01:07:23,908 that's going to be to the building. 1709 01:07:23,952 --> 01:07:25,736 I don't think he will ever get this thing straightened out. 1710 01:07:26,389 --> 01:07:29,305 Harold was okay when King Clancy was alive, 1711 01:07:29,349 --> 01:07:31,002 and then when King passed away, 1712 01:07:31,046 --> 01:07:33,135 he started to go downhill pretty quickly 1713 01:07:33,179 --> 01:07:37,487 and I think he was senile before anybody believed he was 1714 01:07:38,358 --> 01:07:40,055 to be honest with you. 1715 01:07:40,099 --> 01:07:42,101 [Clark] I think that was his last real tie to hockey 1716 01:07:42,144 --> 01:07:43,798 because King Clancy was a lifer 1717 01:07:43,841 --> 01:07:45,843 as far as hockey player, referee, coach. 1718 01:07:45,887 --> 01:07:48,672 He did it all in the game and he'd drive in every morning, 1719 01:07:48,716 --> 01:07:51,022 have breakfast with Harold in the Hot Stove. 1720 01:07:51,066 --> 01:07:53,286 And when King passed, that-- 1721 01:07:53,329 --> 01:07:55,679 I think that was the last real connection... 1722 01:07:57,159 --> 01:08:01,163 to hockey in his era of somebody he really trusted. 1723 01:08:01,207 --> 01:08:03,861 [Williams] They sat in that Muppet box there together 1724 01:08:03,905 --> 01:08:05,211 'til the day they both couldn't do it. 1725 01:08:05,254 --> 01:08:06,603 I think it was-- 1726 01:08:07,126 --> 01:08:09,606 it was a movie, those two guys as far as I am concerned. 1727 01:08:09,650 --> 01:08:11,130 I love King. 1728 01:08:11,173 --> 01:08:13,001 I mean, I named my daughter after King. 1729 01:08:13,436 --> 01:08:15,351 [Parrish] He was a lonelier figure 1730 01:08:15,395 --> 01:08:18,006 because King humanized Harold. 1731 01:08:18,049 --> 01:08:21,836 King had a sense of humor and got along with everybody. 1732 01:08:22,315 --> 01:08:25,535 And, so, if Harold and he hung out 1733 01:08:25,579 --> 01:08:28,016 and he and Harold were friends, I thought, 1734 01:08:28,059 --> 01:08:29,757 "Well, maybe there is another side to Harold." 1735 01:08:29,800 --> 01:08:32,455 I've never seen it, but maybe there is another side. 1736 01:08:32,499 --> 01:08:35,154 [narrator] Ballard indeed had many different sides 1737 01:08:35,197 --> 01:08:36,851 to his persona, 1738 01:08:36,894 --> 01:08:39,854 but for all his bravado, bluster, and brouhaha, 1739 01:08:39,897 --> 01:08:43,118 something rarely talked about was his philanthropy. 1740 01:08:43,901 --> 01:08:45,251 [man 1] His Ontario game for the physically disabled. 1741 01:08:45,294 --> 01:08:46,948 [man 2] For physically disabled. 1742 01:08:46,991 --> 01:08:48,428 He was involved in swimming and he won three gold medals. 1743 01:08:48,471 --> 01:08:49,820 -Is that so? -Isn't that super? 1744 01:08:49,864 --> 01:08:50,952 Well, that's fine. 1745 01:08:51,996 --> 01:08:53,520 [narrator] Ballard never tried to hide 1746 01:08:53,563 --> 01:08:56,131 his animosity toward the media. 1747 01:08:56,175 --> 01:08:58,264 What he did try to keep secret 1748 01:08:58,307 --> 01:09:00,744 was the amount of money he gave to charity. 1749 01:09:01,484 --> 01:09:04,487 Harold would donate $25,000, 1750 01:09:04,531 --> 01:09:08,056 $50,000, uh, at a time, 1751 01:09:08,404 --> 01:09:10,145 and that was a lot of money back then... 1752 01:09:11,190 --> 01:09:12,669 to Special Olympics. 1753 01:09:13,366 --> 01:09:15,194 On one condition: 1754 01:09:15,890 --> 01:09:20,329 that no one could ever find out where that money came from. 1755 01:09:20,373 --> 01:09:22,766 And we begged Harold, like, 1756 01:09:23,376 --> 01:09:25,552 you need to let us tell this story. 1757 01:09:26,074 --> 01:09:27,510 And he said, "Nope. 1758 01:09:28,294 --> 01:09:30,165 They'll think I've gone soft." 1759 01:09:30,209 --> 01:09:34,169 But the money kept coming, uh, to Special Olympics. 1760 01:09:34,213 --> 01:09:36,258 [Stellick] I think he cared about charity. 1761 01:09:36,302 --> 01:09:38,478 I remember it around Christmas time, 1762 01:09:38,521 --> 01:09:41,002 he would call down to the-- to the vault, 1763 01:09:41,045 --> 01:09:42,525 and that's where the money was kept, 1764 01:09:42,569 --> 01:09:46,050 and they would bring up, like, $50,000 in cash 1765 01:09:46,094 --> 01:09:47,704 and you could see him back there doling it out 1766 01:09:47,748 --> 01:09:49,576 to different envelopes. 1767 01:09:49,619 --> 01:09:51,099 [announcer] A gentleman who's been a big, big help 1768 01:09:51,142 --> 01:09:53,449 to big brothers, Mr. Harold Ballard. 1769 01:09:58,237 --> 01:09:59,890 [Cherry] He did a lot of things for charity 1770 01:09:59,934 --> 01:10:01,805 that nobody knows about. 1771 01:10:01,849 --> 01:10:04,286 He didn't want anybody to think he was a good guy. 1772 01:10:04,330 --> 01:10:05,766 Don't ask me why. 1773 01:10:05,809 --> 01:10:07,289 [announcer] This is unbelievable. 1774 01:10:07,333 --> 01:10:08,812 [Cherry] I remember when the Junior Club 1775 01:10:08,856 --> 01:10:11,206 was over there and they had the big brawl. 1776 01:10:11,250 --> 01:10:12,990 The punch out in Piestany, I think they got-- 1777 01:10:13,034 --> 01:10:14,601 He'd give them all gold medals. 1778 01:10:15,123 --> 01:10:17,821 [Joshi] To show his support for what had happened. 1779 01:10:17,865 --> 01:10:21,260 We were all upset, angry at the time, 1780 01:10:21,303 --> 01:10:23,871 but it was Harold Ballard, the owner of the Maple Leafs 1781 01:10:23,914 --> 01:10:27,266 who would make a gesture of that kind of magnitude to this kid. 1782 01:10:29,790 --> 01:10:31,270 Husky [indistinct] 1783 01:10:31,313 --> 01:10:33,054 [indistinct] 1784 01:10:33,097 --> 01:10:35,274 Tigers, eat 'em raw. 1785 01:10:36,405 --> 01:10:38,189 [narrator] After failed attempts to launch 1786 01:10:38,233 --> 01:10:41,018 a new CFL franchise in the early '70s, 1787 01:10:41,062 --> 01:10:43,717 Ballard bought the struggling Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1788 01:10:43,760 --> 01:10:48,374 on the cheap for $1.2 million in 1978. 1789 01:10:48,417 --> 01:10:50,027 During the '80s, they became 1790 01:10:50,071 --> 01:10:52,769 his most successful sports franchise. 1791 01:10:55,250 --> 01:10:57,948 The team made the Gray Cup in 1980, 1792 01:10:57,992 --> 01:11:00,255 '84, and '85 1793 01:11:00,299 --> 01:11:03,780 before finally winning it all in 1986. 1794 01:11:03,824 --> 01:11:05,478 [reporter] Hamilton loves its football team 1795 01:11:05,521 --> 01:11:07,610 and even loves Harold Ballard, 1796 01:11:07,654 --> 01:11:09,090 the man everybody loves to hate. 1797 01:11:10,439 --> 01:11:13,660 [Iaboni] When he won in 1986 with the Gray Cup, 1798 01:11:13,703 --> 01:11:15,836 it was also one of the saddest times 1799 01:11:15,879 --> 01:11:20,231 I've seen Harold Ballard because King Clancy died, 1800 01:11:20,275 --> 01:11:21,885 so his sidekick is gone. 1801 01:11:21,929 --> 01:11:25,062 So at the end of the game, he was there by himself. 1802 01:11:25,715 --> 01:11:27,064 He's finally won a championship 1803 01:11:27,108 --> 01:11:28,805 and he can't share it with anybody. 1804 01:11:28,849 --> 01:11:30,590 There's nobody there. You could tell he was on the-- 1805 01:11:30,633 --> 01:11:32,592 on the decline health-wise. 1806 01:11:32,635 --> 01:11:34,028 He was walking very slowly. 1807 01:11:34,071 --> 01:11:35,334 He was having trouble with his feet. 1808 01:11:36,073 --> 01:11:37,510 And I took him downstairs. 1809 01:11:38,162 --> 01:11:40,295 And then, I watched him in the media conference. 1810 01:11:40,339 --> 01:11:43,429 And I'd seen this man since the early '70s, 1811 01:11:43,472 --> 01:11:44,734 until 1986. 1812 01:11:45,213 --> 01:11:46,388 And I'm watching him. 1813 01:11:46,997 --> 01:11:49,826 And I said to myself, "This is sad 1814 01:11:49,870 --> 01:11:53,264 because Harold Ballard can't be Harold Ballard." 1815 01:11:54,222 --> 01:11:55,354 He wasn't himself. 1816 01:11:56,050 --> 01:11:58,444 I mean, he would throw out the odd line. 1817 01:11:58,487 --> 01:12:00,271 But I think the fact that he was missing 1818 01:12:00,315 --> 01:12:01,621 King Clancy not being there 1819 01:12:01,664 --> 01:12:03,405 to see this ultimate championship 1820 01:12:03,449 --> 01:12:05,451 and the fact that he'd won something 1821 01:12:05,494 --> 01:12:07,235 was probably a total shock to him. 1822 01:12:11,674 --> 01:12:14,503 [narrator] Yes, King Clancy passed away that year, 1823 01:12:14,547 --> 01:12:16,462 but Ballard wasn't alone. 1824 01:12:16,505 --> 01:12:18,986 A few years earlier, a mystery woman 1825 01:12:19,029 --> 01:12:21,292 came into his life from out of the blue... 1826 01:12:23,294 --> 01:12:27,211 She showed up unannounced at Maple Leaf Gardens one day 1827 01:12:27,255 --> 01:12:28,474 and never left. 1828 01:12:28,996 --> 01:12:30,998 I remember the first day I saw her. 1829 01:12:32,129 --> 01:12:33,566 It was Mr. Ballard's birthday. 1830 01:12:34,523 --> 01:12:37,918 And she was out in the office with a birthday cake. 1831 01:12:38,832 --> 01:12:42,531 And I remember Stan Obodiac bringing her in 1832 01:12:42,575 --> 01:12:45,099 to see Mr. Ballard with the birthday cake. 1833 01:12:45,752 --> 01:12:47,188 And the rest is history. 1834 01:12:47,231 --> 01:12:48,885 They were perfectly matched. 1835 01:12:48,929 --> 01:12:51,627 Two peas in a pod because she was a con and so was he. 1836 01:12:51,671 --> 01:12:53,194 I tell you how weird it was, 1837 01:12:53,237 --> 01:12:55,370 she called herself Mrs. Ballard for years. 1838 01:12:55,414 --> 01:12:56,937 He never married her. 1839 01:12:56,980 --> 01:12:58,852 She kept him alive. Yolanda kept him alive. 1840 01:12:58,895 --> 01:13:01,376 She was more obvious than a $3 bill. 1841 01:13:01,942 --> 01:13:04,074 Okay, she came in like a bull in a china shop. 1842 01:13:04,118 --> 01:13:06,207 She targeted him, and, uh, 1843 01:13:06,250 --> 01:13:09,515 he wasn't fooled by it, but she was relentless. 1844 01:13:10,167 --> 01:13:12,822 And at the end, he needed, almost, a nursemaid that way. 1845 01:13:13,301 --> 01:13:14,824 Yolanda did a couple of smart things. 1846 01:13:14,868 --> 01:13:17,740 She, uh, bought him the dog, TC Puck. 1847 01:13:17,784 --> 01:13:19,481 He really loved the dog. 1848 01:13:19,525 --> 01:13:21,135 [Stellick] The challenge with that team photo was, 1849 01:13:21,178 --> 01:13:22,832 didn't matter how anyone looked in the photo, 1850 01:13:22,876 --> 01:13:24,834 we had to get TC Puck sitting down. 1851 01:13:24,878 --> 01:13:26,488 You'd set him on the ice 1852 01:13:26,532 --> 01:13:28,664 and his balls would get frozen and he'd jump off. 1853 01:13:28,708 --> 01:13:31,145 And she gave us a towel to put under as hind legs. 1854 01:13:31,188 --> 01:13:33,321 But his third year he sat down, no problem on the ice, 1855 01:13:33,364 --> 01:13:34,757 but because his balls weren't freezing. 1856 01:13:34,801 --> 01:13:37,107 So that was her greatest contribution. 1857 01:13:37,151 --> 01:13:42,373 Harold treated her harshly quite often. 1858 01:13:42,417 --> 01:13:44,201 Do this. Give me that. 1859 01:13:44,245 --> 01:13:47,204 Everybody says, "Oh, she's a gold digger. She did this." 1860 01:13:47,814 --> 01:13:49,598 Harold said, "Ah, what the hell? 1861 01:13:49,642 --> 01:13:51,078 Whatever I give her, I give her." 1862 01:13:51,121 --> 01:13:52,862 I don't know what he left her, 1863 01:13:52,906 --> 01:13:55,517 but I think she became King's replacement. 1864 01:13:56,387 --> 01:13:58,999 Just as King became Stafford's replacement. 1865 01:13:59,608 --> 01:14:03,569 Harold liked someone beside him all the time. 1866 01:14:04,091 --> 01:14:05,309 And she was that. 1867 01:14:05,962 --> 01:14:08,051 [McKenny] I see Yolanda walk across the street 1868 01:14:08,095 --> 01:14:10,314 'cause she lived on Granby Street, just-- 1869 01:14:10,358 --> 01:14:11,620 just south of the gardens. 1870 01:14:11,664 --> 01:14:13,274 And she comes across the street. 1871 01:14:13,317 --> 01:14:15,232 I said, "Yolanda, how's it going?" 1872 01:14:15,276 --> 01:14:16,799 And she goes like that. 1873 01:14:16,843 --> 01:14:19,889 And she's got, like, five diamond rings on 1874 01:14:19,933 --> 01:14:22,588 with a great big smile on her face. 1875 01:14:22,631 --> 01:14:24,981 I found her to be an extremely imposing, 1876 01:14:25,025 --> 01:14:28,202 uh, individual who wanted to run his life. 1877 01:14:28,245 --> 01:14:30,030 So, I felt it was a bad thing in his life 1878 01:14:30,073 --> 01:14:32,598 for him to be with her. So, I-- 1879 01:14:32,641 --> 01:14:34,556 I think that that was something that-- 1880 01:14:34,600 --> 01:14:37,124 that at the end of the day, she was about Yolanda. 1881 01:14:37,603 --> 01:14:39,082 Uh, now, she cared for him. 1882 01:14:39,126 --> 01:14:40,954 I think she-- she did care for him. 1883 01:14:40,997 --> 01:14:43,304 But she also wanted to make sure that-- 1884 01:14:43,347 --> 01:14:45,349 that when Harold was gone, that she was taken care of. 1885 01:14:45,393 --> 01:14:47,526 He probably liked all the confrontation 1886 01:14:47,569 --> 01:14:49,049 and all the arguing and all that stuff 1887 01:14:49,092 --> 01:14:50,703 because she never backed down from them. 1888 01:14:51,225 --> 01:14:54,445 She'd argue with him. She wasn't afraid of him at all. 1889 01:14:54,489 --> 01:14:57,013 Once she was official in the will... 1890 01:14:58,232 --> 01:14:59,755 she didn't take any shit off him, 1891 01:14:59,799 --> 01:15:01,191 I'll tell you that. 1892 01:15:01,235 --> 01:15:02,932 [laughing] 1893 01:15:02,976 --> 01:15:04,978 So, there was a general manager's office at the back 1894 01:15:05,021 --> 01:15:07,023 and one time, when I went back there, 1895 01:15:07,067 --> 01:15:08,372 there was Yolanda, 1896 01:15:08,416 --> 01:15:10,157 and she just was in her undergarments 1897 01:15:10,200 --> 01:15:12,072 and she'd snuck out of the apartment to use the phone. 1898 01:15:12,115 --> 01:15:15,466 And I thought, "I don't think this will be the GM's office." 1899 01:15:15,510 --> 01:15:17,425 And then it became a walk in closet for Yolanda 1900 01:15:17,468 --> 01:15:18,557 the next week. 1901 01:15:18,600 --> 01:15:20,080 She had fun early on. 1902 01:15:20,123 --> 01:15:21,777 She was a low-rent version 1903 01:15:21,821 --> 01:15:24,084 of the Kardashians or the Gabor sisters. 1904 01:15:24,127 --> 01:15:25,694 That's what she kind of was. 1905 01:15:25,738 --> 01:15:27,914 She needed money. She needed to get in somewhere. 1906 01:15:27,957 --> 01:15:29,872 The rumor was before she came to the lease 1907 01:15:29,916 --> 01:15:31,657 that she was running a limousine business, 1908 01:15:31,700 --> 01:15:33,049 but people thought it was an escort business. 1909 01:15:33,093 --> 01:15:34,616 They weren't sure. 1910 01:15:34,660 --> 01:15:36,531 But she had all kinds of financial problems. 1911 01:15:36,575 --> 01:15:38,402 You know, that's what made the kids 1912 01:15:38,446 --> 01:15:40,056 even edgier. 1913 01:15:40,100 --> 01:15:41,710 [narrator] As Yolanda and Ballard got closer, 1914 01:15:41,754 --> 01:15:43,277 Ballard's children, 1915 01:15:43,320 --> 01:15:45,801 Bill Harold Jr., and Mary Elizabeth, 1916 01:15:45,845 --> 01:15:47,498 grew increasingly concerned 1917 01:15:47,542 --> 01:15:49,718 about the nature of their relationship. 1918 01:15:49,762 --> 01:15:51,590 [Ormsby] He lived a life with so many cautionary tales 1919 01:15:51,633 --> 01:15:52,678 along the way. 1920 01:15:52,721 --> 01:15:57,247 And at the end, you know, 1921 01:15:57,291 --> 01:16:00,468 the family relationships were strained with his children. 1922 01:16:01,600 --> 01:16:03,645 Dragged out in the courts. 1923 01:16:03,689 --> 01:16:06,082 He's got Yolanda changing her name 1924 01:16:06,126 --> 01:16:07,518 to Ballard legally. 1925 01:16:08,302 --> 01:16:13,263 And then some accounts say she was also, you know, 1926 01:16:13,307 --> 01:16:15,178 thieving from him as well, you know, 1927 01:16:15,222 --> 01:16:17,659 some money was going to her that he didn't know about 1928 01:16:17,703 --> 01:16:20,227 and, you know, [sighs] 1929 01:16:20,270 --> 01:16:22,795 he was losing control of a lot of things, 1930 01:16:22,838 --> 01:16:24,535 not just his own health, 1931 01:16:24,579 --> 01:16:26,886 but maybe the ability to make very good decisions. 1932 01:16:26,929 --> 01:16:29,410 [narrator] Harold Ballard's mental and physical state 1933 01:16:29,453 --> 01:16:30,890 were both on the decline. 1934 01:16:31,455 --> 01:16:34,545 In 1988, Ballard suffered a heart attack 1935 01:16:34,589 --> 01:16:37,505 while vacationing in Florida with Yolanda. 1936 01:16:37,548 --> 01:16:39,420 [reporter] Harold Ballard is resting comfortably 1937 01:16:39,463 --> 01:16:41,030 here at the Miami Heart Institute, 1938 01:16:41,074 --> 01:16:42,423 one of the finest facilities 1939 01:16:42,466 --> 01:16:44,294 for heart attack patients in the U.S. 1940 01:16:44,338 --> 01:16:47,384 We have had presidents here, we've had heads of state, 1941 01:16:47,428 --> 01:16:50,126 we've had a lot of dignitaries and celebrities. 1942 01:16:50,170 --> 01:16:51,998 And I have to say that Mr. Ballard 1943 01:16:52,041 --> 01:16:53,826 has created more interest, 1944 01:16:53,869 --> 01:16:57,046 certainly more phone calls than anyone that I can recall. 1945 01:16:57,090 --> 01:16:58,265 He's doing just fine. 1946 01:16:58,831 --> 01:17:01,355 Just fine. He's, uh, he's up. He's walking around. 1947 01:17:01,398 --> 01:17:04,967 The doctors are-- are really quite surprised. 1948 01:17:05,011 --> 01:17:06,360 But I'm, you know, 1949 01:17:06,403 --> 01:17:07,796 I'm not surprised by anything Harold does. 1950 01:17:07,840 --> 01:17:09,232 [interviewer] What do you mean by that? 1951 01:17:09,276 --> 01:17:10,712 He's just-- He's a... 1952 01:17:13,019 --> 01:17:15,195 His body is as big a character as he is. 1953 01:17:15,238 --> 01:17:17,110 He just-- He comes through these things. 1954 01:17:17,153 --> 01:17:18,894 [narrator] Back in Toronto, 1955 01:17:18,938 --> 01:17:21,592 tension continued to grow within the Ballard clan. 1956 01:17:22,376 --> 01:17:23,856 [news anchor] A judge has declared him 1957 01:17:23,899 --> 01:17:25,509 mentally incompetent. 1958 01:17:25,553 --> 01:17:27,729 So Yolanda Ballard and Ballard's daughter, 1959 01:17:27,773 --> 01:17:29,688 Mary Elizabeth Flynn, went to court 1960 01:17:29,731 --> 01:17:31,646 to fight over who should be guardian 1961 01:17:31,690 --> 01:17:34,257 of Harold Ballard and his multimillion dollar empire. 1962 01:17:34,301 --> 01:17:36,738 Harold needs me. 1963 01:17:37,565 --> 01:17:39,741 Desperately needs me, as I need Harold. 1964 01:17:39,785 --> 01:17:41,264 They're well looked after. 1965 01:17:41,308 --> 01:17:43,179 There's no one eating out of the garbage cans. 1966 01:17:43,223 --> 01:17:44,964 They all have good educations. 1967 01:17:45,965 --> 01:17:48,271 And what they have left in the, uh, 1968 01:17:48,315 --> 01:17:50,360 grab bag when I go, that's up to them. 1969 01:17:50,404 --> 01:17:52,058 They'll fight like hell about it. 1970 01:17:52,101 --> 01:17:54,234 There'll be lawsuits and war, and everything else. 1971 01:17:54,277 --> 01:17:55,757 I don't worry about it. 1972 01:17:55,801 --> 01:17:57,628 I don't try to make favorites of anybody. 1973 01:17:58,325 --> 01:18:00,501 I want them to think I'm a miserable bastard. 1974 01:18:00,544 --> 01:18:02,590 And that's the-- that's the way to run it. 1975 01:18:02,633 --> 01:18:05,767 She was very manipulative and clever 1976 01:18:05,811 --> 01:18:07,116 but could civil heads prevail? 1977 01:18:07,160 --> 01:18:08,727 Could he have called them in and said, 1978 01:18:08,770 --> 01:18:10,859 "You know, let's just give you some money?" 1979 01:18:10,903 --> 01:18:13,993 But instead, it turned into an incredibly acrimonious. 1980 01:18:14,036 --> 01:18:16,909 It was a horrible, horrible time behind the scenes, I'm sure, 1981 01:18:16,952 --> 01:18:20,782 but the displays in public were even worse. 1982 01:18:20,826 --> 01:18:22,566 The Yolanda story, 1983 01:18:22,610 --> 01:18:24,568 where she ran through the Molson Cup press conference 1984 01:18:24,612 --> 01:18:26,092 in her bathrobe and, uh, 1985 01:18:26,135 --> 01:18:29,748 curlers with a strip sirloin stuck to her eye, 1986 01:18:29,791 --> 01:18:33,752 screaming that she'd just been punched in the eye. 1987 01:18:33,795 --> 01:18:35,884 Those of us, 15, 20 of us that were there, 1988 01:18:35,928 --> 01:18:37,756 we were like looking at each other going... 1989 01:18:38,887 --> 01:18:40,410 "Circus is still in town." 1990 01:18:41,411 --> 01:18:42,499 [reporter] Police are investigating 1991 01:18:42,543 --> 01:18:43,936 an alleged assault 1992 01:18:43,979 --> 01:18:45,894 upon Ballard's companion, Yolanda. 1993 01:18:45,938 --> 01:18:48,505 And police have questioned Harold's son, Bill Ballard. 1994 01:18:48,549 --> 01:18:53,206 Bill apparently cold cocked Yolanda, allegedly. 1995 01:18:53,772 --> 01:18:56,339 [reporter] Bill Ballard denied assaulting Yolanda Ballard. 1996 01:18:56,905 --> 01:18:58,951 When he and Yolanda got into a tussle 1997 01:18:58,994 --> 01:19:01,257 in Harold Ballard's office last fall, 1998 01:19:01,301 --> 01:19:05,348 Bill Ballard described Yolanda as being out of control. 1999 01:19:05,392 --> 01:19:08,003 He also said that when she accused him 2000 01:19:08,047 --> 01:19:10,614 of trying to assault her, he retorted... 2001 01:19:15,794 --> 01:19:16,664 Go on! 2002 01:19:19,014 --> 01:19:20,450 What the hell's the matter with you? 2003 01:19:20,494 --> 01:19:22,061 [reporter] It obviously bothers you 2004 01:19:22,104 --> 01:19:23,671 that people are talking about your personal life. 2005 01:19:23,714 --> 01:19:25,325 It's all right. 2006 01:19:25,368 --> 01:19:27,240 They-- they get a lot of fun out of talking about me. 2007 01:19:27,283 --> 01:19:28,763 Let them go ahead. 2008 01:19:28,807 --> 01:19:30,504 Have you ever seen me try and stop them? 2009 01:19:31,287 --> 01:19:32,767 [reporter] No, but it bothers you. 2010 01:19:32,811 --> 01:19:34,421 Well, have you ever see me try and stop them? 2011 01:19:34,943 --> 01:19:36,379 Why the hell don't you get some brains 2012 01:19:36,423 --> 01:19:37,903 and think for yourself? 2013 01:19:37,946 --> 01:19:39,295 [reporter] It's-- You used to say things-- 2014 01:19:39,339 --> 01:19:41,341 Ah, get ou-- You guys make me sick. 2015 01:19:41,384 --> 01:19:44,126 [narrator] Bill was eventually convicted of assault 2016 01:19:44,170 --> 01:19:45,780 and fined $500. 2017 01:19:46,694 --> 01:19:50,959 However, for Harold Ballard, his time was coming to an end. 2018 01:19:51,003 --> 01:19:53,396 [Stellick] As far as his condition, it's stable. 2019 01:19:53,440 --> 01:19:56,051 He's a diabetic, and we have to be concerned. 2020 01:19:56,530 --> 01:19:57,966 [reporter] How are you feeling, Harold? 2021 01:19:58,010 --> 01:19:59,054 Not too good. 2022 01:20:00,882 --> 01:20:04,494 [narrator] Harold Ballard passed away on April 11th, 1990. 2023 01:20:04,538 --> 01:20:08,368 [sad piano music playing] 2024 01:20:08,411 --> 01:20:10,370 [news anchor] It was Harold Ballard's last visit 2025 01:20:10,413 --> 01:20:12,285 to Maple Leaf Gardens. 2026 01:20:12,328 --> 01:20:14,591 When the doors opened, Ballard's longtime companion, 2027 01:20:14,635 --> 01:20:17,116 Yolanda Ballard, was given an hour for a private visit. 2028 01:20:17,159 --> 01:20:18,682 [reporter] Yolanda, how are you this morning? 2029 01:20:18,726 --> 01:20:20,336 So sad. 2030 01:20:20,380 --> 01:20:22,425 He was very, very tough at times, 2031 01:20:22,469 --> 01:20:25,602 but, he was uh, he was soft inside too. 2032 01:20:25,646 --> 01:20:27,300 He had a lot of character and, um... 2033 01:20:28,127 --> 01:20:30,259 he had a lot of will and a lot of drive to do 2034 01:20:30,303 --> 01:20:31,652 whatever he wanted to do. 2035 01:20:31,695 --> 01:20:36,178 ♪ 2036 01:20:36,222 --> 01:20:38,659 [reporter] In life, he was an outrageous character. 2037 01:20:38,702 --> 01:20:40,574 In death, he'd suddenly become 2038 01:20:40,617 --> 01:20:42,968 one of Toronto's most generous philanthropists. 2039 01:20:43,011 --> 01:20:45,971 [Lawyer] And the beneficiary of this estate is charity. 2040 01:20:46,014 --> 01:20:47,581 [reporter] That was the announcement 2041 01:20:47,624 --> 01:20:49,583 from Harold Ballard's lawyer today. 2042 01:20:49,626 --> 01:20:51,150 And the three Ballard children said 2043 01:20:51,193 --> 01:20:53,195 they were expecting it and it's okay. 2044 01:20:53,239 --> 01:20:55,589 They were each millionaires long before their father died. 2045 01:20:57,156 --> 01:20:58,635 We can't spend what we have now. 2046 01:20:58,679 --> 01:21:00,202 So, I mean, how much-- how much is more? 2047 01:21:00,681 --> 01:21:03,727 And, you know, personally, I don't need the money. 2048 01:21:03,771 --> 01:21:05,381 I make a lot on my own. [chuckles] So... 2049 01:21:06,339 --> 01:21:08,515 [reporter] If there is to be a fight over Ballard's will, 2050 01:21:08,558 --> 01:21:10,734 it will come from his longtime companion, Yolanda, 2051 01:21:10,778 --> 01:21:13,259 who's to receive $50,000 a year for life 2052 01:21:13,302 --> 01:21:14,956 or until she marries. 2053 01:21:15,000 --> 01:21:16,523 You know, she got something, I think, in the world. 2054 01:21:16,566 --> 01:21:18,220 But Stavros bought her silence. 2055 01:21:18,264 --> 01:21:19,961 The rumor was that Steve Stavros 2056 01:21:20,005 --> 01:21:21,876 gave her five million dollars and a pair of golds 2057 01:21:21,920 --> 01:21:23,356 to never speak again, 2058 01:21:23,399 --> 01:21:24,966 and she never said a bad word about him. 2059 01:21:25,445 --> 01:21:27,447 Personally [indistinct] get less. 2060 01:21:27,490 --> 01:21:30,102 I think it's sort of, you know, fine-- 2061 01:21:30,145 --> 01:21:31,799 A fine settlement. 2062 01:21:31,842 --> 01:21:32,974 [interviewer] Do you see her contesting it? 2063 01:21:33,018 --> 01:21:34,454 [Bill] I-- 2064 01:21:34,497 --> 01:21:36,282 A, I don't ever want to see her again, 2065 01:21:36,325 --> 01:21:38,371 but B, there's nothing she does that amazes me anymore. 2066 01:21:38,893 --> 01:21:40,373 [Stellick] I thought for sure 2067 01:21:40,416 --> 01:21:41,548 she was going to burn through that money. 2068 01:21:41,591 --> 01:21:43,071 And you're going to see Yolanda 2069 01:21:43,115 --> 01:21:44,507 on the front page of the Toronto Sun, 2070 01:21:44,551 --> 01:21:46,161 you know, with a cup in her hand 2071 01:21:46,205 --> 01:21:48,859 on a street corner and a cane, you know, saying, 2072 01:21:48,903 --> 01:21:51,036 "The Ballard family screwed me out of everything." 2073 01:21:53,038 --> 01:21:54,561 [narrator] Harold Ballard owned 2074 01:21:54,604 --> 01:21:56,476 one of the most successful franchises 2075 01:21:56,519 --> 01:21:58,478 in the history of the NHL. 2076 01:21:59,000 --> 01:22:01,742 But under his stewardship, the Maple Leafs, 2077 01:22:01,785 --> 01:22:04,266 winners of 13 Stanley Cups, 2078 01:22:04,310 --> 01:22:07,139 but none since 1967, 2079 01:22:07,182 --> 01:22:10,272 endured ten losing seasons in a row. 2080 01:22:10,316 --> 01:22:13,232 From 1979 to 1989. 2081 01:22:13,275 --> 01:22:17,976 ♪ 2082 01:22:18,019 --> 01:22:19,716 [Brunt] It's amazing he didn't kill this thing. 2083 01:22:19,760 --> 01:22:22,284 He couldn't kill it and expansion couldn't kill it. 2084 01:22:22,328 --> 01:22:24,417 And, you know, millions of options on television 2085 01:22:24,460 --> 01:22:26,071 and online and all that stuff still couldn't kill it. 2086 01:22:26,114 --> 01:22:28,203 It's out there, it's in the genes somewhere still 2087 01:22:28,247 --> 01:22:29,988 that he, you know, he didn't manage to kill it. 2088 01:22:30,771 --> 01:22:34,166 But, you know, I just kind of-- you-- you wonder, 2089 01:22:34,209 --> 01:22:35,994 you know, you could have had some of that, right? 2090 01:22:36,037 --> 01:22:37,647 Like he-- There was-- He could have been that guy. 2091 01:22:37,691 --> 01:22:39,040 He could have been the beloved owner 2092 01:22:39,084 --> 01:22:41,086 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, you know, 2093 01:22:41,129 --> 01:22:43,262 who looked after his alumni and, you know, 2094 01:22:43,305 --> 01:22:45,307 built a strong team, and hired a good coach, 2095 01:22:45,351 --> 01:22:46,961 and let him do his job. 2096 01:22:47,005 --> 01:22:49,094 And, you know, and then miraculously, in 1982, 2097 01:22:49,137 --> 01:22:52,140 they won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1967 2098 01:22:52,184 --> 01:22:53,663 and the streets filled 2099 01:22:53,707 --> 01:22:55,056 and he could have been that guy, right? 2100 01:22:55,665 --> 01:22:57,624 Wouldn't it have been better, you know? 2101 01:22:58,190 --> 01:22:59,626 Wouldn't that have been better than the story 2102 01:22:59,669 --> 01:23:00,714 we're telling here? 2103 01:23:01,410 --> 01:23:03,760 If the Leafs had won just one Stanley Cup 2104 01:23:03,804 --> 01:23:06,720 under his ownership, he'd be remembered now 2105 01:23:06,763 --> 01:23:09,549 as a funny, irascible old scamp. 2106 01:23:09,592 --> 01:23:11,768 [Vaive] He ran it like a goddamn circus. 2107 01:23:11,812 --> 01:23:13,814 It was-- [laughing] 2108 01:23:13,857 --> 01:23:15,772 Every single day, 2109 01:23:16,382 --> 01:23:19,341 something in a newspaper of some stupid thing 2110 01:23:19,385 --> 01:23:22,518 that he said, you know, was front and center. 2111 01:23:22,562 --> 01:23:24,738 And it wasn't about the hockey team. 2112 01:23:24,781 --> 01:23:26,174 It was just about Harold. 2113 01:23:26,218 --> 01:23:29,395 And that was Harold's goal, I believe, 2114 01:23:29,438 --> 01:23:32,572 was to get on the front page of the sports every single day. 2115 01:23:32,615 --> 01:23:34,748 And he-- and he pretty much managed that. 2116 01:23:34,791 --> 01:23:37,359 His championship was being the guy, 2117 01:23:37,403 --> 01:23:40,971 was being, uh, the face of the franchise, 2118 01:23:41,015 --> 01:23:44,758 which is why when, you know, members of the franchise, 2119 01:23:44,801 --> 01:23:47,587 whether it be famous and beloved captains 2120 01:23:47,630 --> 01:23:51,156 or really smart coaches, pushed up against him, 2121 01:23:51,765 --> 01:23:54,028 they were quickly removed from the franchise. 2122 01:23:54,072 --> 01:23:56,944 So, I think, no question, his motivations 2123 01:23:56,987 --> 01:23:59,773 were to be front and center at all times. 2124 01:24:00,252 --> 01:24:04,038 The last line of the obituary says... 2125 01:24:05,387 --> 01:24:08,173 "Harold Ballard was predeceased 2126 01:24:08,216 --> 01:24:10,958 by his wife, Dorothy, and his hockey team." 2127 01:24:12,177 --> 01:24:15,049 And, uh, maybe that says it best of all. 2128 01:24:17,182 --> 01:24:20,750 [Brunt] Harold was, you know, of a different class. 2129 01:24:20,794 --> 01:24:22,317 He came by his money a different way. 2130 01:24:22,361 --> 01:24:23,840 He didn't play by the rules, 2131 01:24:23,884 --> 01:24:26,321 and he didn't care about the decorum 2132 01:24:26,365 --> 01:24:28,149 expected of somebody in his position. 2133 01:24:28,193 --> 01:24:30,020 And I think he was flipping a middle finger 2134 01:24:30,064 --> 01:24:31,326 to people every day. 2135 01:24:31,370 --> 01:24:32,675 [McKenny] I don't think he ever took 2136 01:24:32,719 --> 01:24:34,503 any Dale Carnegie courses, you know. 2137 01:24:35,200 --> 01:24:37,289 It's my building, it's the only building in town, 2138 01:24:37,332 --> 01:24:38,899 if you don't like it, fuck off. 2139 01:24:39,639 --> 01:24:42,424 That was his idea of PR. [laughs] 2140 01:24:42,468 --> 01:24:43,991 It was his team. He owned it. 2141 01:24:44,034 --> 01:24:46,124 We don't have to like maybe how he did it, 2142 01:24:46,907 --> 01:24:48,343 but it was his. 2143 01:24:48,387 --> 01:24:49,866 [Parrish] When you look at the pantheon 2144 01:24:49,910 --> 01:24:51,694 of sports owners through history, 2145 01:24:51,738 --> 01:24:54,044 who are the greatest ones and who are the worst ones? 2146 01:24:54,610 --> 01:24:58,440 And Harold's name, even today, 30 years after his passing, 2147 01:24:58,484 --> 01:25:00,442 it does get included in that list 2148 01:25:00,486 --> 01:25:02,314 of the worst owners. 2149 01:25:02,357 --> 01:25:04,054 It's because of the combination. 2150 01:25:04,533 --> 01:25:07,188 He wasn't a strong hockey guy, didn't pay 2151 01:25:07,232 --> 01:25:09,234 and didn't hire strong hockey people, 2152 01:25:09,277 --> 01:25:12,019 and he wasn't a very nice man as well. 2153 01:25:12,062 --> 01:25:13,890 I viewed him probably 2154 01:25:13,934 --> 01:25:15,805 in the same level as a grandfather. 2155 01:25:15,849 --> 01:25:19,069 You know, what he wanted from you was-- 2156 01:25:19,113 --> 01:25:20,767 was very basic. 2157 01:25:20,810 --> 01:25:23,813 Be willing to die for that crest. 2158 01:25:24,597 --> 01:25:27,817 And when you're bleeding, it better be blue and white. 2159 01:25:27,861 --> 01:25:29,428 Doesn't matter what he... 2160 01:25:30,429 --> 01:25:32,648 I loved him. I loved him. 2161 01:25:32,692 --> 01:25:36,086 I don't think he understood the modern game, 2162 01:25:36,130 --> 01:25:38,872 especially after the series of '72, 2163 01:25:38,915 --> 01:25:41,483 when training changes from what the Russians had taught 2164 01:25:41,527 --> 01:25:43,181 about off ice training, 2165 01:25:43,224 --> 01:25:45,835 when strategy in the game changes, 2166 01:25:45,879 --> 01:25:47,576 when videotape comes in. 2167 01:25:47,620 --> 01:25:49,361 International players, there's guys who speak Swedish 2168 01:25:49,404 --> 01:25:51,885 in the dressing room for crying out loud. 2169 01:25:51,928 --> 01:25:54,409 That's not easy to adapt when you're born in 1903 2170 01:25:54,453 --> 01:25:56,106 in a monocultural city. 2171 01:25:56,150 --> 01:25:59,719 But the people who did adapt won the Stanley Cup, 2172 01:26:00,589 --> 01:26:03,636 and Harold just sat in his booth with old King Clancy. 2173 01:26:04,289 --> 01:26:08,510 And they lost. And they lost, and they lost, and they lost. 2174 01:26:08,554 --> 01:26:09,859 And he's remembered as a loser. 2175 01:26:10,773 --> 01:26:12,210 [reporter] You remind me of the story 2176 01:26:12,253 --> 01:26:14,168 of the circus owner who goes to a small town 2177 01:26:14,212 --> 01:26:16,214 and takes a white horse and paints black stripes on it 2178 01:26:16,257 --> 01:26:17,867 because he said they've never seen a zebra. 2179 01:26:17,911 --> 01:26:19,391 So, this might as well be a zebra. 2180 01:26:19,434 --> 01:26:20,653 -You're right. -[reporter] You're a con artist. 2181 01:26:20,696 --> 01:26:22,220 Well, that's what they call me. 2182 01:26:22,698 --> 01:26:23,743 [interviewer] You don't deny it? 2183 01:26:23,786 --> 01:26:24,874 No, no, no. 2184 01:26:25,962 --> 01:26:28,138 [narrator] Since the demise of Harold Ballard, 2185 01:26:28,182 --> 01:26:30,402 the team has had a handful of ups 2186 01:26:30,445 --> 01:26:32,447 and plenty of downs. 2187 01:26:32,491 --> 01:26:34,319 So, as a millennial, you've certainly heard about 2188 01:26:34,362 --> 01:26:36,625 the Harold Ballard curse 2189 01:26:36,669 --> 01:26:39,802 and how his misgivings 2190 01:26:39,846 --> 01:26:44,720 and, you know, negative acts maybe haunt the franchise 2191 01:26:44,764 --> 01:26:47,027 the same way that the Curse of the Babe 2192 01:26:47,070 --> 01:26:49,943 would have been a thing in baseball. 2193 01:26:49,986 --> 01:26:52,772 I'm hopeful, um, but... 2194 01:26:53,860 --> 01:26:56,906 sometimes even the best of hopes are tested. 2195 01:26:57,429 --> 01:26:59,126 I think they have very smart people 2196 01:26:59,169 --> 01:27:02,608 running the organization, very different minded people 2197 01:27:02,651 --> 01:27:04,871 from a lot of different avenues coming together 2198 01:27:04,914 --> 01:27:07,569 to help build what they hope is a winning team. 2199 01:27:08,048 --> 01:27:09,789 I do feel like there is something 2200 01:27:09,832 --> 01:27:11,399 placed upon this team 2201 01:27:11,443 --> 01:27:13,096 that has prevented them from succeeding. 2202 01:27:13,140 --> 01:27:15,098 They've been so good. 2203 01:27:15,142 --> 01:27:17,318 [narrator] But through it all, Leafs fans the world over 2204 01:27:17,362 --> 01:27:20,713 continue to hope and dream that perhaps 2205 01:27:20,756 --> 01:27:23,759 this will be the season finally 2206 01:27:23,803 --> 01:27:28,286 that the Toronto Maple Leafs break the Ballard curse. 2207 01:27:29,591 --> 01:27:33,639 [rock music playing] 2208 01:28:48,496 --> 01:28:53,632 ♪