1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:05,135 --> 00:00:08,399 [crowd cheering] 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:12,403 You've got to win. 5 00:00:12,447 --> 00:00:13,839 That's the only-- that's the only thing I know. 6 00:00:14,579 --> 00:00:16,755 -[Adrienne] At any cost? -At any cost. 7 00:00:16,799 --> 00:00:18,714 -[Adrienne] Kill the other guy? -Why not? 8 00:00:18,757 --> 00:00:20,281 Get him out of the road, 9 00:00:20,324 --> 00:00:21,630 you'll never have to compete with him again. 10 00:00:21,673 --> 00:00:22,848 [Adrienne] There'll be somebody else 11 00:00:22,892 --> 00:00:24,241 come up in his place. 12 00:00:24,285 --> 00:00:25,677 Well, I'll take a shot at him, too. 13 00:00:26,852 --> 00:00:30,204 [narrator] In 1967, Canada celebrated 14 00:00:30,247 --> 00:00:31,944 its 100th birthday. 15 00:00:31,988 --> 00:00:34,773 For many Canadians, it was a time of hope. 16 00:00:34,817 --> 00:00:37,124 People were confident in looking ahead 17 00:00:37,167 --> 00:00:40,649 to a future even brighter than the past. 18 00:00:40,692 --> 00:00:43,260 From coast to coast to coast, 19 00:00:43,304 --> 00:00:45,175 people were brimming with optimism. 20 00:00:45,219 --> 00:00:48,178 And in Toronto, there was no reason 21 00:00:48,222 --> 00:00:51,399 to believe the Maple Leafs'’ Stanley Cup victory 22 00:00:51,442 --> 00:00:53,923 that year would be their last. 23 00:00:53,966 --> 00:00:55,664 [commentator] Fantastic. 24 00:00:55,707 --> 00:00:58,014 [crowd cheering] 25 00:00:58,058 --> 00:00:59,929 [narrator] The Toronto Maple Leafs, 26 00:00:59,972 --> 00:01:03,889 a beloved and historic hockey franchise, 27 00:01:03,933 --> 00:01:07,154 continue to enjoy support of fans around the world, 28 00:01:07,197 --> 00:01:10,505 despite the fact that hockey's highest honor, 29 00:01:10,548 --> 00:01:11,636 the Stanley Cup, 30 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:14,117 has eluded them for generations. 31 00:01:14,161 --> 00:01:16,598 But it wasn't always that way. 32 00:01:16,641 --> 00:01:18,643 It's hard to overstate 33 00:01:18,687 --> 00:01:21,777 just how good the Leafs once were. 34 00:01:21,820 --> 00:01:23,996 [man] The hockey capital of the world! 35 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,042 [narrator] And how beloved they were. 36 00:01:26,086 --> 00:01:29,132 We have the world champions, the Maple Leafs. 37 00:01:29,176 --> 00:01:31,047 [narrator] But by the early '70s, 38 00:01:31,091 --> 00:01:34,572 a new boss took control of this storied franchise 39 00:01:34,616 --> 00:01:37,271 and nothing would ever be the same. 40 00:01:37,314 --> 00:01:39,360 Who told you that I interfered with the team? 41 00:01:39,403 --> 00:01:40,926 Never interfered with the team in my life. 42 00:01:41,797 --> 00:01:43,494 [announcer] Now, there's all sorts of debris 43 00:01:43,538 --> 00:01:44,974 being thrown onto the ice. 44 00:01:45,017 --> 00:01:46,845 [man] I had to sit through an entire winter 45 00:01:46,889 --> 00:01:48,630 of this garbage with the Maple Leafs. 46 00:01:48,673 --> 00:01:49,979 [Ballard] We haven't played very well. 47 00:01:50,022 --> 00:01:51,415 Matter of fact, we played lousy. 48 00:01:51,459 --> 00:01:53,243 This team is never going to get any better. 49 00:01:53,287 --> 00:01:55,898 [reporter] Spring is the time of year the Leafs fall. 50 00:01:55,941 --> 00:01:57,552 [Ballard] I honestly feel that I have never done 51 00:01:57,595 --> 00:01:59,075 -anything that is wrong. -[interviewer] Why don't you 52 00:01:59,119 --> 00:02:00,424 like Harold Ballard? -[woman] Oh, because 53 00:02:00,468 --> 00:02:02,252 of what he had to say about women. 54 00:02:02,296 --> 00:02:05,777 [reporter] The Toronto Maple Leafs won in 1967. 55 00:02:05,821 --> 00:02:07,605 But since then, 56 00:02:07,649 --> 00:02:09,825 there's been no show for Harold and his boys. 57 00:02:09,868 --> 00:02:12,393 He's interested only in making his money, 58 00:02:12,436 --> 00:02:14,003 -and that's about it. -[narrator] Harold Ballard 59 00:02:14,046 --> 00:02:16,310 may have turned Maple Leaf Gardens 60 00:02:16,353 --> 00:02:19,443 into the cash box on Carlton Street, 61 00:02:19,487 --> 00:02:23,317 but he did so at the expense of its greatest asset. 62 00:02:24,361 --> 00:02:27,582 Ballard turned the Leafs from perennial cup favorites 63 00:02:27,625 --> 00:02:29,497 to perennial cellar dwellers. 64 00:02:29,540 --> 00:02:32,587 His meddling and combative behavior 65 00:02:32,630 --> 00:02:36,243 ruined the team for a generation and beyond. 66 00:02:36,547 --> 00:02:38,419 ♪ I'll see your face inside a cloud ♪ 67 00:02:38,462 --> 00:02:41,509 ♪ See your smile inside a window ♪ 68 00:02:41,552 --> 00:02:43,163 Do I have one word to describe him? 69 00:02:43,206 --> 00:02:46,078 -Entertaining. -A blowhard, a loudmouth. 70 00:02:46,122 --> 00:02:48,777 -Cantankerous. -Bombastic as hell. 71 00:02:48,820 --> 00:02:50,518 -Destructive. -Entitled. 72 00:02:50,561 --> 00:02:52,128 -Misunderstood. -Tough. 73 00:02:52,172 --> 00:02:54,174 -Vindictive. -Interesting. 74 00:02:54,217 --> 00:02:56,176 -Buffoon. -Enigma. 75 00:02:56,219 --> 00:02:57,916 ["One Fine Morning" by Lighthouse plays] 76 00:02:59,788 --> 00:03:06,577 ♪ Yeah, we'll fly, we'll fly 77 00:03:07,448 --> 00:03:09,189 ♪ Yeah, we'll fly 78 00:03:09,232 --> 00:03:14,411 ♪ 79 00:03:14,455 --> 00:03:16,239 [music stops] 80 00:03:16,979 --> 00:03:19,590 [narrator] Harold Ballard, who came to own the Leafs 81 00:03:19,634 --> 00:03:22,506 and the Cathedral of Hockey at 60 Carlton Street 82 00:03:22,550 --> 00:03:24,508 in Toronto, was the custodian 83 00:03:24,552 --> 00:03:26,597 of a piece of Canadian history. 84 00:03:26,641 --> 00:03:30,645 A hockey club, founded in 1917 as the Arenas, 85 00:03:30,688 --> 00:03:33,822 and renamed the St. Pats two years later. 86 00:03:33,865 --> 00:03:36,433 In 1927, the team was purchased 87 00:03:36,477 --> 00:03:38,261 and renamed the Maple Leafs 88 00:03:38,305 --> 00:03:40,829 by Toronto Gravel Baron, Conn Smythe. 89 00:03:40,872 --> 00:03:44,267 And in 1931, he embarked on construction 90 00:03:44,311 --> 00:03:45,703 of Maple Leaf Gardens: 91 00:03:45,747 --> 00:03:47,488 a miracle of architecture 92 00:03:47,531 --> 00:03:49,925 that was finished in five short months. 93 00:03:49,968 --> 00:03:53,145 For years, the Leafs flourished and won 94 00:03:53,189 --> 00:03:55,800 under the tutelage of their proud owner. 95 00:03:55,844 --> 00:03:57,628 Conn Smythe was a winner 96 00:03:57,672 --> 00:03:59,717 in almost everything he touched. 97 00:03:59,761 --> 00:04:01,806 Whether as a prosperous businessman, 98 00:04:01,850 --> 00:04:04,069 owner of thoroughbred horses, 99 00:04:04,113 --> 00:04:06,942 or as the man who made the Toronto Maple Leafs 100 00:04:06,985 --> 00:04:08,683 synonymous with success. 101 00:04:08,726 --> 00:04:11,947 His legacy was hard for anyone to follow, 102 00:04:11,990 --> 00:04:13,514 let alone Harold Ballard, 103 00:04:13,557 --> 00:04:16,734 whom Smythe once referred to as a pirate. 104 00:04:16,778 --> 00:04:18,562 [Brunt] Conn Smythe, hero of two wars. 105 00:04:18,606 --> 00:04:20,390 The guy who built the Gardens in the Depression. 106 00:04:20,434 --> 00:04:22,349 The guy who won all those Stanley Cups. 107 00:04:22,392 --> 00:04:25,221 The Smythe name is on the Stanley Cup 11 times. 108 00:04:25,265 --> 00:04:27,789 Nobody else is going to meet that boy. 109 00:04:27,832 --> 00:04:30,487 Conny was the type of person 110 00:04:31,445 --> 00:04:35,100 who could be very, very tough. 111 00:04:35,884 --> 00:04:40,584 He was not an admirer of Harold and made that clear. 112 00:04:40,628 --> 00:04:43,283 [narrator] No one saw Harold Edwin Ballard 113 00:04:43,326 --> 00:04:45,937 as the natural successor to Conn Smythe, 114 00:04:45,981 --> 00:04:48,026 except Harold himself. 115 00:04:48,070 --> 00:04:50,507 Since the day he was born in Toronto, 116 00:04:50,551 --> 00:04:52,988 July 30th, 1903, 117 00:04:53,031 --> 00:04:55,991 he was an ambitious, restless, free spirit 118 00:04:56,034 --> 00:04:58,863 who learned the business world at his father's knee. 119 00:04:58,907 --> 00:05:02,432 Sidney Eustace Ballard was a successful manufacturer 120 00:05:02,476 --> 00:05:05,305 of sewing machines and ice skates, 121 00:05:05,348 --> 00:05:07,524 and before long, his son, Hal, 122 00:05:07,568 --> 00:05:09,744 had dropped out of Upper Canada College, 123 00:05:09,787 --> 00:05:12,399 eventually opening up a manufacturing business 124 00:05:12,442 --> 00:05:16,228 of his own and invented a machine to cut hotdog rolls 125 00:05:16,272 --> 00:05:20,015 for Shopsy's Delicatessen, a Toronto landmark. 126 00:05:20,058 --> 00:05:23,932 But Harold Ballard was never cut out to just be successful. 127 00:05:23,975 --> 00:05:26,108 He needed excitement. 128 00:05:26,151 --> 00:05:28,328 He starts out life as a rich man's son. 129 00:05:28,371 --> 00:05:29,981 He doesn't have a care in the world. 130 00:05:30,025 --> 00:05:31,809 He was too young for World War One. 131 00:05:31,853 --> 00:05:33,637 He was too old for World War Two. 132 00:05:33,681 --> 00:05:36,684 During the Great Depression, he had a Playboy lifestyle. 133 00:05:36,727 --> 00:05:38,381 He'd dance the night away, you know. 134 00:05:38,425 --> 00:05:40,383 He-- he never had a worry in his life. 135 00:05:40,427 --> 00:05:41,950 [narrator] Among other passions, 136 00:05:41,993 --> 00:05:43,908 Ballard raised miniature speed boats 137 00:05:43,952 --> 00:05:47,172 known as sea fleas, and was even the flag-bearer 138 00:05:47,216 --> 00:05:50,872 for Canada's 1928 Winter Olympic team. 139 00:05:50,915 --> 00:05:53,744 In 1930, Ballard was the manager 140 00:05:53,788 --> 00:05:56,181 and coach of a minor league hockey team 141 00:05:56,225 --> 00:05:58,445 named the National Sea Fleas. 142 00:05:58,488 --> 00:06:01,796 And by 1940, Ballard found success 143 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,276 as the president of the Toronto Marlboros, 144 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:05,800 the Maple Leafs Farm Club, 145 00:06:05,843 --> 00:06:08,019 where he would forge a lifelong bond 146 00:06:08,063 --> 00:06:10,413 with Conn's son, Stafford Smythe. 147 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,244 In 1957, an aging Conn Smythe 148 00:06:15,287 --> 00:06:17,986 turned over control of his beloved hockey team 149 00:06:18,029 --> 00:06:20,771 and building to a seven-person committee 150 00:06:20,815 --> 00:06:24,862 headed by his son Stafford, known as the Silver Seven. 151 00:06:24,906 --> 00:06:26,821 Newspaper owner, John Bassett, 152 00:06:26,864 --> 00:06:28,562 was also a member of the committee, 153 00:06:28,605 --> 00:06:30,520 and despite Conn's disapproval, 154 00:06:30,564 --> 00:06:32,435 they were soon joined by Ballard, 155 00:06:32,479 --> 00:06:35,264 who was appointed to fill a vacancy. 156 00:06:35,307 --> 00:06:37,353 I think there were originally seven owners 157 00:06:37,397 --> 00:06:38,876 because they were called the Silver Seven, 158 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,183 but it really became a three-man operation 159 00:06:41,226 --> 00:06:44,012 with Bassett, Ballard, and, uh, Smythe. 160 00:06:44,055 --> 00:06:46,667 We used to quake in our boots with John Bassett. 161 00:06:46,710 --> 00:06:49,670 He was always a stern kind of guy or had this image of that. 162 00:06:49,713 --> 00:06:52,412 And Stafford was another guy that seemed like a stern guy, 163 00:06:52,455 --> 00:06:54,196 and Harold was more of the fun-loving guy. 164 00:06:54,239 --> 00:06:56,720 They all tolerated each other to be part of this troika 165 00:06:56,764 --> 00:06:58,722 that took over from Conn Smythe. 166 00:06:58,766 --> 00:07:00,942 [Parrish] The Bassetts were the elite of Toronto, 167 00:07:00,985 --> 00:07:02,770 and the Smythes weren't far behind. 168 00:07:02,813 --> 00:07:06,034 And Harold Ballard wasn't very high on that list. 169 00:07:06,077 --> 00:07:08,819 He had been the third fiddle, the seventh fiddle, 170 00:07:08,863 --> 00:07:10,865 for a lot of years at that point. 171 00:07:11,692 --> 00:07:15,783 And I think he wanted to prove that he could do the job, 172 00:07:15,826 --> 00:07:17,567 that he could get it all done. 173 00:07:17,611 --> 00:07:22,267 -[crowd cheering] -[upbeat music plays] 174 00:07:22,311 --> 00:07:24,487 [reporter] Executive Vice President, Harold Ballard. 175 00:07:24,531 --> 00:07:26,315 How are you, Harold? Do you feel good? 176 00:07:26,358 --> 00:07:27,534 Oh, couldn't feel better. 177 00:07:28,404 --> 00:07:32,408 That group ushered in a kind of a renewed era 178 00:07:32,452 --> 00:07:34,366 of success in Leaf hockey. 179 00:07:34,410 --> 00:07:36,281 When you look at what happened in, 180 00:07:36,325 --> 00:07:37,935 you know, the three consecutive cups 181 00:07:37,979 --> 00:07:41,548 between '62 and '64 and then after a couple of years, 182 00:07:41,591 --> 00:07:43,158 you know, failing in the playoffs, 183 00:07:43,201 --> 00:07:45,160 then winning again in '67, 184 00:07:45,203 --> 00:07:47,075 you know, he was a part of that. 185 00:07:47,118 --> 00:07:50,252 Well, he was around for four Stanley Cups. 186 00:07:50,992 --> 00:07:52,689 So, you know, a little bit. 187 00:07:52,733 --> 00:07:55,344 He was still a part owner, remember, in the good years. 188 00:07:55,387 --> 00:07:57,868 He loved seeing his team win. 189 00:07:57,912 --> 00:07:59,130 I was there when they won 190 00:07:59,174 --> 00:08:01,437 in the three Stanley Cups in a row. 191 00:08:01,481 --> 00:08:02,960 And there was nobody happier than Harold. 192 00:08:03,004 --> 00:08:04,788 This is our centennial year 193 00:08:04,832 --> 00:08:06,747 and we have our centennial project finished. 194 00:08:06,790 --> 00:08:08,400 -You got it, eh? -Yes, sir. 195 00:08:08,444 --> 00:08:09,924 -This is the one you want. -This is something. 196 00:08:09,967 --> 00:08:11,708 And I want to thank the supporters 197 00:08:11,752 --> 00:08:13,101 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, 198 00:08:13,144 --> 00:08:15,364 and I want to sympathize with the, uh, 199 00:08:15,407 --> 00:08:17,279 with our opponents. [chuckles] 200 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:21,501 [announcer] The final score of tonight's game. 201 00:08:21,544 --> 00:08:23,198 Toronto Maple Leafs, three. 202 00:08:23,241 --> 00:08:24,765 The Montreal Canadiens, one. 203 00:08:24,808 --> 00:08:26,984 [Iaboni] Being there as a kid at that grade 204 00:08:27,028 --> 00:08:28,769 and seeing the Leafs come out one by one 205 00:08:28,812 --> 00:08:30,814 and seeing Terry Sawchuk and Dave Keon 206 00:08:30,858 --> 00:08:33,295 and all the players wave and all that kind of stuff 207 00:08:33,338 --> 00:08:35,297 was something that I-- I hope 208 00:08:35,340 --> 00:08:37,865 that the future, and the current generation 209 00:08:37,908 --> 00:08:40,432 of Leafs fans and the ones that are old enough to remember 210 00:08:40,476 --> 00:08:42,739 the championship of '67 experience again. 211 00:08:42,783 --> 00:08:44,611 [Bennett] When I think of the Maple Leafs, 212 00:08:44,654 --> 00:08:46,090 I think of my grandfather. 213 00:08:46,134 --> 00:08:48,745 My grandfather emigrated to Canada in 1967. 214 00:08:48,789 --> 00:08:50,573 Last year the Leafs won the Cup. 215 00:08:50,617 --> 00:08:54,011 Leafs win, craze of the city. 216 00:08:54,055 --> 00:08:56,927 You know, he went to the parade and it really showed him that, 217 00:08:56,971 --> 00:09:00,757 "Yeah, as much as I may feel different 218 00:09:00,801 --> 00:09:02,672 from any of the people in this new country, 219 00:09:02,716 --> 00:09:05,501 I am more alike than I am different." 220 00:09:05,545 --> 00:09:08,199 And he's been a diehard Leafs fan ever since. 221 00:09:10,854 --> 00:09:12,726 [narrator] Although Ballard wasn't a huge factor 222 00:09:12,769 --> 00:09:15,076 in the team's Cup wins in the '60s, 223 00:09:15,119 --> 00:09:17,426 he definitely made himself useful 224 00:09:17,469 --> 00:09:18,775 at Maple Leaf Gardens. 225 00:09:19,689 --> 00:09:21,952 His main job, and true passion, 226 00:09:21,996 --> 00:09:24,564 was to keep Maple Leaf Gardens full. 227 00:09:24,607 --> 00:09:27,392 And it was a job he was born to do. 228 00:09:27,436 --> 00:09:30,482 By 1969, profits had tripled 229 00:09:30,526 --> 00:09:32,789 to just under $1 million. 230 00:09:32,833 --> 00:09:35,400 He was not a great hockey man by any stretch. 231 00:09:35,444 --> 00:09:38,534 He really was at his best in the '60s as a promoter. 232 00:09:38,578 --> 00:09:41,537 He brought Muhammad Ali to the fight. 233 00:09:41,581 --> 00:09:43,583 Conn Smythe didn't want 234 00:09:44,409 --> 00:09:46,542 the Black draft-dodger in Toronto. 235 00:09:46,586 --> 00:09:49,632 There is one hell of a lot of difference 236 00:09:49,676 --> 00:09:53,027 in fighting in the ring and going to war in Vietnam. 237 00:09:53,070 --> 00:09:54,463 You know, and that's what caused 238 00:09:54,506 --> 00:09:56,770 Conn Smythe to give up his directorship 239 00:09:56,813 --> 00:09:59,337 was when Muhammad Ali could not find 240 00:09:59,381 --> 00:10:00,774 a fight in the United States. 241 00:10:00,817 --> 00:10:02,427 They looked at Canada. 242 00:10:02,471 --> 00:10:04,952 [Eagleson] Conn Smythe, he was the one that said, 243 00:10:04,995 --> 00:10:06,954 "I'm-- I'’m off the board 244 00:10:06,997 --> 00:10:08,956 if you're bringing in Cassius Clay." 245 00:10:08,999 --> 00:10:13,613 He did not like what happened when they let 246 00:10:13,656 --> 00:10:17,747 Cassius Clay fight George Chuvalo in the Gardens. 247 00:10:17,791 --> 00:10:19,619 He didn't like a lot of things that Ballard did. 248 00:10:19,662 --> 00:10:21,795 [narrator] Conn Smythe, in protest, 249 00:10:21,838 --> 00:10:24,667 sells his remaining 5,100 shares 250 00:10:24,711 --> 00:10:28,410 of Maple Leaf Gardens LTD and resigns from the board. 251 00:10:28,453 --> 00:10:29,977 You think of Muhammad Ali, 252 00:10:30,020 --> 00:10:32,806 uh, not allowed to box, but there is a time 253 00:10:32,849 --> 00:10:34,634 he was able to get out of the country 254 00:10:34,677 --> 00:10:36,244 and Harold Ballard facilitated that. 255 00:10:36,287 --> 00:10:38,638 People here in Canada are nice 256 00:10:38,681 --> 00:10:41,292 and it's a lot different from where I come from. 257 00:10:41,336 --> 00:10:43,643 [narrator] With Conn Smythe completely out of the picture, 258 00:10:43,686 --> 00:10:46,210 there wasn't much to constrain Harold Ballard. 259 00:10:46,776 --> 00:10:48,996 First on the agenda, removing the portrait 260 00:10:49,039 --> 00:10:51,868 of Queen Elizabeth to install more seats. 261 00:10:51,912 --> 00:10:53,696 [Stellick] When the mezzanines came in, 262 00:10:53,740 --> 00:10:55,002 the Queen was up there. 263 00:10:55,045 --> 00:10:56,438 But he didn't even think about that. 264 00:10:56,481 --> 00:10:57,700 But of course, he threw the great quip out. 265 00:10:57,744 --> 00:10:59,093 "She doesn't pay admission, 266 00:10:59,136 --> 00:11:00,355 so why would I let her in the game?" 267 00:11:00,398 --> 00:11:01,922 So, everybody went on that. 268 00:11:01,965 --> 00:11:03,837 What he was doing was taking this building that 269 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:05,752 had been overbuilt. 270 00:11:05,795 --> 00:11:08,580 I mean, the building was really, really well-- well-constructed. 271 00:11:08,624 --> 00:11:11,366 He shrunk the seats to get more people in. 272 00:11:11,409 --> 00:11:13,281 You know, if there was money to be made, 273 00:11:13,324 --> 00:11:15,022 he didn't care who played Maple Leaf Gardens. 274 00:11:15,065 --> 00:11:16,763 You know, it was not a closed shop 275 00:11:16,806 --> 00:11:18,982 for anyone or no one. 276 00:11:19,026 --> 00:11:21,245 There was money to be made on a-- on a Muhammad Ali fight. 277 00:11:21,289 --> 00:11:23,073 I don't think he did it because he had 278 00:11:23,117 --> 00:11:24,640 a great moral compass or anything like that. 279 00:11:24,684 --> 00:11:25,815 It was like, "Wow, this is great." 280 00:11:25,859 --> 00:11:27,512 I mean, the Beatles famous, 281 00:11:27,556 --> 00:11:29,950 you know, supposedly that urban legend, the myth. 282 00:11:29,993 --> 00:11:31,952 He sold the second show without a contract. 283 00:11:31,995 --> 00:11:34,258 So he had the Beatles down for two shows. 284 00:11:34,302 --> 00:11:37,392 And Brian Epstein, the manager, fortunately, fortuitously, 285 00:11:37,435 --> 00:11:40,221 agreed to play a second show like four hours later. 286 00:11:40,264 --> 00:11:43,572 [Vaive] I heard the story about when the Beatles came over. 287 00:11:43,615 --> 00:11:45,139 They did a concert at the Gardens 288 00:11:45,182 --> 00:11:46,618 and it was in the summer. 289 00:11:46,662 --> 00:11:49,534 Folklore goes that Ballard turned off 290 00:11:49,578 --> 00:11:51,841 the air conditioning, which didn't exist. 291 00:11:51,885 --> 00:11:54,235 He delayed the concert by an hour and a half. 292 00:11:54,278 --> 00:11:55,802 Turned the heat on in the building 293 00:11:55,845 --> 00:11:57,542 and turned the water off. 294 00:11:57,586 --> 00:11:59,153 Where is the water fountain at Maple Leaf Gardens? 295 00:11:59,196 --> 00:12:00,850 I wouldn't-- I wouldn'’t take a drink from one. 296 00:12:00,894 --> 00:12:02,678 I don't even know where one was. 297 00:12:02,722 --> 00:12:04,332 So, people had to go to the concessions 298 00:12:04,375 --> 00:12:05,507 to get something to drink. 299 00:12:05,550 --> 00:12:08,205 And it was probably 110 degrees 300 00:12:08,249 --> 00:12:09,946 in the building at point. [laughs] 301 00:12:09,990 --> 00:12:12,035 So, I mean, from that standpoint, 302 00:12:12,079 --> 00:12:15,735 things like that, yeah, that was crazy like a fox. 303 00:12:15,778 --> 00:12:17,258 He loved that. 304 00:12:17,301 --> 00:12:19,129 He was, like, decades later, he loved that. 305 00:12:19,173 --> 00:12:22,306 Like, that was his reputation, that he was such a promoter 306 00:12:22,350 --> 00:12:23,917 that he did all these kind of things, 307 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,527 like his business savviness. 308 00:12:25,570 --> 00:12:27,877 I remember once when Billy Joel was playing 309 00:12:27,921 --> 00:12:29,096 and he was doing his sound check. 310 00:12:29,139 --> 00:12:30,488 Billy Joel, I guess, 311 00:12:30,532 --> 00:12:31,838 can be quite irascible too, right? 312 00:12:31,881 --> 00:12:33,622 And he sort of accosts Mr. Ballard, 313 00:12:33,665 --> 00:12:35,319 says something like, 314 00:12:35,363 --> 00:12:36,930 "Hey, what are you doing in here, buddy," or something, 315 00:12:36,973 --> 00:12:38,322 and Mr. Ballard turns to him and goes-- Says, 316 00:12:38,366 --> 00:12:39,671 "I own the fucking building." 317 00:12:39,715 --> 00:12:41,064 And Billy Joel goes, "Okay, great." 318 00:12:41,935 --> 00:12:43,414 You know? [laughs] 319 00:12:43,458 --> 00:12:44,764 That's a pretty solid answer back then. 320 00:12:44,807 --> 00:12:46,200 I own it. [laughs] 321 00:12:46,243 --> 00:12:48,637 In a time when there was no other venue 322 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:52,510 except the CNE that hosted over 5,000 people in Toronto. 323 00:12:52,554 --> 00:12:54,251 You know, if you were Springsteen 324 00:12:54,295 --> 00:12:55,992 and you weren't playing the CNE in-- 325 00:12:56,036 --> 00:12:57,820 in August, you had to play us. 326 00:12:58,516 --> 00:13:00,344 [narrator] For all his rough edges, 327 00:13:00,388 --> 00:13:02,869 Ballard did have someone that kept him grounded. 328 00:13:02,912 --> 00:13:06,089 His beloved wife, Dorothy, the dignified daughter 329 00:13:06,133 --> 00:13:08,352 of a preacher who patiently endured 330 00:13:08,396 --> 00:13:11,268 her husband's antics for 45 years. 331 00:13:11,791 --> 00:13:15,707 Dorothy's passing in 1969 due to cancer 332 00:13:15,751 --> 00:13:18,493 forever left a vacancy in Ballard's life. 333 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:21,670 [Iaboni] Harold Ballard losing his wife, Dorothy, 334 00:13:21,713 --> 00:13:25,413 in 1969 was a huge turning point in his life. 335 00:13:25,456 --> 00:13:27,807 She meant everything to him, and from the people 336 00:13:27,850 --> 00:13:30,374 that I spoke to as I got to know Harold Ballard 337 00:13:30,418 --> 00:13:34,509 along the way, they told me that he was a different persona 338 00:13:34,552 --> 00:13:36,511 uh, while she was alive. 339 00:13:36,554 --> 00:13:38,165 I think it had a massive impact on him. 340 00:13:38,818 --> 00:13:40,994 Uh, I think he choose a life partner 341 00:13:41,429 --> 00:13:43,779 and when that partner's gone, life changes. 342 00:13:43,823 --> 00:13:45,781 I think that shadow hung over him. 343 00:13:45,825 --> 00:13:49,480 But I think any man at that age has known grief, has known loss. 344 00:13:49,524 --> 00:13:52,396 He was a human being. He wasn't entirely a clown. 345 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,747 When his wife left us, he kind of became... 346 00:13:57,271 --> 00:14:00,056 I know-- More inward and more an executive. 347 00:14:00,927 --> 00:14:02,450 And he thought being an executive 348 00:14:02,493 --> 00:14:04,017 was to have everybody afraid of him. 349 00:14:04,931 --> 00:14:07,498 If you relate to today's world like Trump does. 350 00:14:07,542 --> 00:14:08,760 You know, everybody's scared of him, 351 00:14:08,804 --> 00:14:09,936 everybody'’s scared of him. 352 00:14:10,588 --> 00:14:13,200 And that-- that doesn't make a great executive. 353 00:14:13,243 --> 00:14:14,897 He's certainly looked after his wife 354 00:14:14,941 --> 00:14:16,333 every day of his life. 355 00:14:16,377 --> 00:14:18,118 You know, he, uh, 356 00:14:18,161 --> 00:14:20,598 he took flowers there, uh, every day. 357 00:14:20,642 --> 00:14:21,861 Every day. 358 00:14:24,298 --> 00:14:26,822 [narrator] While in mourning, things got worse 359 00:14:26,866 --> 00:14:29,477 when law enforcement became aware 360 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:34,177 that money was being skimmed from the cash box on Carlton. 361 00:14:34,221 --> 00:14:37,528 An RCMP raid at Maple Leaf Gardens 362 00:14:37,572 --> 00:14:39,443 led to a long investigation. 363 00:14:39,487 --> 00:14:44,144 The result was Stafford Smythe charged with income tax evasion 364 00:14:44,187 --> 00:14:46,537 and accused, along with Ballard, 365 00:14:46,581 --> 00:14:49,671 of illegally taking money from Maple Leaf Gardens 366 00:14:49,714 --> 00:14:53,805 to pay for home renovations and other personal expenses. 367 00:14:54,589 --> 00:14:56,069 It was something to the effect. 368 00:14:56,112 --> 00:14:57,809 It was a public company 369 00:14:57,853 --> 00:15:00,247 and they had appropriated money from the company. 370 00:15:00,290 --> 00:15:02,423 [narrator] June 1969, 371 00:15:02,466 --> 00:15:05,034 John Bassett, chairman of the board, 372 00:15:05,078 --> 00:15:06,688 held a vote to decide 373 00:15:06,731 --> 00:15:08,908 if Staff Smythe and Harold Ballard, 374 00:15:08,951 --> 00:15:11,867 despite neither yet being convicted of anything, 375 00:15:11,911 --> 00:15:13,913 should be removed from their post 376 00:15:13,956 --> 00:15:16,611 as president and executive vice president. 377 00:15:17,264 --> 00:15:21,485 The board voted eight to seven to oust Ballard and Smythe, 378 00:15:21,529 --> 00:15:24,358 with Bassett casting the deciding vote. 379 00:15:24,401 --> 00:15:26,882 Strangely, in a strategic blunder 380 00:15:26,926 --> 00:15:29,319 that would haunt Bassett for years to come, 381 00:15:29,363 --> 00:15:33,106 he allowed Smythe and Ballard to hold on to their shares 382 00:15:33,149 --> 00:15:34,846 and remain on the board. 383 00:15:36,109 --> 00:15:38,198 I think Bassett was in a position 384 00:15:38,241 --> 00:15:40,243 that-- that he couldn't win. 385 00:15:40,287 --> 00:15:44,465 He was a head of a major television network 386 00:15:44,508 --> 00:15:49,252 and also a member of the board of Maple Leaf Gardens. 387 00:15:49,296 --> 00:15:53,387 He felt in conscience that he should force 388 00:15:53,430 --> 00:15:55,780 the resignation of Smythe and Ballard. 389 00:15:57,173 --> 00:15:58,435 Ballard never forgave him 390 00:15:58,479 --> 00:16:00,307 and the first opportunity he had, 391 00:16:00,350 --> 00:16:01,438 they were out of here. 392 00:16:01,482 --> 00:16:04,267 Gone. Period. No debate. 393 00:16:04,311 --> 00:16:06,443 He's a great, uh, glad hander. 394 00:16:06,487 --> 00:16:10,491 And, uh, you know, the drama, that ivory smile. 395 00:16:10,534 --> 00:16:12,536 He looks like a [indistinct] smile 396 00:16:12,580 --> 00:16:14,712 when he tries to win you over with all that. 397 00:16:14,756 --> 00:16:17,802 But when you know Bassett and know him the way I know him, 398 00:16:17,846 --> 00:16:19,152 it's a different story. 399 00:16:20,936 --> 00:16:23,069 [narrator] A mere 18 months later, 400 00:16:23,112 --> 00:16:25,506 at the organization's annual meeting, 401 00:16:25,549 --> 00:16:28,552 Smythe and Ballard exacted their revenge. 402 00:16:28,596 --> 00:16:30,641 As the two largest shareholders, 403 00:16:30,685 --> 00:16:33,035 Ballard and Smythe managed to persuade 404 00:16:33,079 --> 00:16:35,559 the other shareholders to support them. 405 00:16:35,603 --> 00:16:37,735 They regained control of the board, 406 00:16:37,779 --> 00:16:40,347 reinstalling themselves as president 407 00:16:40,390 --> 00:16:42,479 and executive vice president. 408 00:16:42,523 --> 00:16:44,655 Now, in an untenable situation, 409 00:16:44,699 --> 00:16:47,180 Bassett and his loyalists resign. 410 00:16:47,789 --> 00:16:50,052 September 1st, 1971, 411 00:16:50,096 --> 00:16:52,924 he sold his shares to Ballard and Smythe 412 00:16:52,968 --> 00:16:56,015 for almost six million dollars. 413 00:16:56,058 --> 00:16:58,582 Ballard and Smythe had achieved their dream, 414 00:16:58,626 --> 00:17:01,237 complete control of the Toronto Maple Leafs, 415 00:17:01,281 --> 00:17:03,805 but they had no control of their destiny 416 00:17:03,848 --> 00:17:05,633 because it was time to go to trial. 417 00:17:06,286 --> 00:17:08,810 But Stafford never made it to the stand. 418 00:17:08,853 --> 00:17:11,856 He died unexpectedly from complications 419 00:17:11,900 --> 00:17:14,033 due to a bleeding ulcer, 420 00:17:14,076 --> 00:17:16,818 a mere 12 days before the trial. 421 00:17:16,861 --> 00:17:18,646 Only 50 years old, 422 00:17:18,689 --> 00:17:21,779 he had told anyone who'd listen that he would never go to jail. 423 00:17:21,823 --> 00:17:23,781 And he was correct. 424 00:17:23,825 --> 00:17:26,871 Stafford Smythe predeceases Ballard quite suddenly. 425 00:17:26,915 --> 00:17:29,831 When they got rid of Bassett and Stafford died, 426 00:17:29,874 --> 00:17:31,485 then it became for-- for Harold Ballard 427 00:17:31,528 --> 00:17:33,530 to take over and get rid of the Smythe's altogether. 428 00:17:33,574 --> 00:17:35,054 He wanted to make it his team. 429 00:17:35,097 --> 00:17:37,099 [narrator] A 68-year-old Ballard 430 00:17:37,143 --> 00:17:41,016 bought his shares, giving him a 71% controllinginterest 431 00:17:41,060 --> 00:17:43,149 in the building and the team. 432 00:17:43,192 --> 00:17:46,630 He then installed himself as president and chairman 433 00:17:46,674 --> 00:17:48,589 of Maple Leaf Gardens LTD. 434 00:17:48,632 --> 00:17:50,982 I think there was a second childhood element 435 00:17:51,026 --> 00:17:52,549 to it, like, "Oh, my God, 436 00:17:52,593 --> 00:17:54,508 I-- The Toronto Maple Leafs fell in my lap. 437 00:17:54,551 --> 00:17:56,379 And you know what? I'm going to have fun. 438 00:17:56,423 --> 00:17:58,120 And I'm going to take it and run with it. 439 00:17:58,164 --> 00:17:59,991 And I'm going to be-- I'’m going to be a somebody 440 00:18:00,035 --> 00:18:01,297 and people are going to know 441 00:18:01,341 --> 00:18:02,994 that I own the Toronto Maple Leafs." 442 00:18:03,038 --> 00:18:05,258 [narrator] To buy Bassett and Smythe's shares, 443 00:18:05,301 --> 00:18:09,131 Ballard went nearly $14 million in debt. 444 00:18:09,175 --> 00:18:10,524 He may have told the world 445 00:18:10,567 --> 00:18:12,439 he owned the Toronto Maple Leafs, 446 00:18:12,482 --> 00:18:15,006 but fact was, the banks did. 447 00:18:15,050 --> 00:18:17,879 He owns this much of the Maple Leaf Gardens LTD, 448 00:18:17,922 --> 00:18:20,447 Ballard does, and he's got a chance to buy this much. 449 00:18:20,490 --> 00:18:23,537 Okay? So Don Giffin, who became later on 450 00:18:23,580 --> 00:18:26,453 a prominent director, takes him to the TD Bank 451 00:18:26,496 --> 00:18:28,324 and arranges a loan for this much. 452 00:18:28,368 --> 00:18:29,847 So, he's in over his head 453 00:18:29,891 --> 00:18:31,545 like somebody that's bought a house, 454 00:18:31,588 --> 00:18:33,547 uh, you know, way beyond their means. 455 00:18:34,765 --> 00:18:38,247 [narrator] 1972 was an eventful year in hockey, 456 00:18:38,291 --> 00:18:42,164 with the NHL'’s continued expansion to 16 teams 457 00:18:42,208 --> 00:18:44,340 and the emergence of a rival league, 458 00:18:44,384 --> 00:18:46,603 the World Hockey Association. 459 00:18:47,387 --> 00:18:50,041 Life was difficult for Harold Ballard, 460 00:18:50,085 --> 00:18:52,740 who was guilty of having a bad hockey team 461 00:18:52,783 --> 00:18:55,569 and guilty in a court of law. 462 00:18:55,612 --> 00:18:56,961 [interviewer] Mr. Ballard, what are your thoughts 463 00:18:57,005 --> 00:18:58,615 now that the trial is finally over 464 00:18:58,659 --> 00:19:00,051 and you've been found guilty? 465 00:19:00,095 --> 00:19:01,966 I-- actually I don't feel guilty. 466 00:19:02,010 --> 00:19:05,535 But, however, the-- Judge Damon is-- is-- 467 00:19:05,579 --> 00:19:07,494 uh, considers that I am guilty. 468 00:19:08,234 --> 00:19:10,105 Uh, and it'’s entirely up to him. 469 00:19:10,149 --> 00:19:12,847 I've never, uh, given a jail sentence any-- 470 00:19:13,891 --> 00:19:16,633 any thought, it's the furthest from my mind. 471 00:19:16,677 --> 00:19:19,114 But, however, if there's a jail sentence, 472 00:19:19,158 --> 00:19:20,942 there'’s a jail sentence, let's face it. 473 00:19:20,985 --> 00:19:23,074 [narrator] Ballard's prison sentencing conflicted 474 00:19:23,118 --> 00:19:25,338 with the upcoming Summit series. 475 00:19:25,381 --> 00:19:28,428 For the first time, the best professional players 476 00:19:28,471 --> 00:19:30,821 from hockey's two superpowers, 477 00:19:30,865 --> 00:19:34,085 Canada and the USSR, went head to head. 478 00:19:34,608 --> 00:19:36,349 Proud Canadian that he was, 479 00:19:36,392 --> 00:19:40,179 Ballard let Team Canada train at Maple Leaf Gardens. 480 00:19:40,222 --> 00:19:44,183 Together with agent/union boss, Alan Eagleson, 481 00:19:44,226 --> 00:19:47,055 he bought the ad rights to the eight-game event 482 00:19:47,098 --> 00:19:49,188 and raked in millions. 483 00:19:49,231 --> 00:19:50,667 [interviewer] Now, what are your plans in terms 484 00:19:50,711 --> 00:19:52,234 of the, uh, Russia-Canada Hockey series? 485 00:19:52,278 --> 00:19:54,367 [Harold] I would like, if it was possible, 486 00:19:54,410 --> 00:19:57,021 if there was any way that they could extend 487 00:19:57,065 --> 00:20:00,460 their decision until after the series is over, 488 00:20:00,503 --> 00:20:02,418 well, I'd be very grateful because I've spent 489 00:20:02,462 --> 00:20:04,638 a tremendous amount of time 490 00:20:04,681 --> 00:20:07,423 on Hockey Canada since its conception. 491 00:20:07,467 --> 00:20:09,425 [narrator] Ballard got his wish. 492 00:20:09,469 --> 00:20:13,037 His sentencing was delayed until after this summit series, 493 00:20:13,081 --> 00:20:15,170 infuriating his critics. 494 00:20:15,214 --> 00:20:17,825 And he was in Moscow to witness possibly 495 00:20:17,868 --> 00:20:21,220 the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history. 496 00:20:23,787 --> 00:20:26,616 But for Ballard, national pride quickly turned 497 00:20:26,660 --> 00:20:28,836 to personal embarrassment. 498 00:20:28,879 --> 00:20:31,795 Upon his return from the Soviet Union, 499 00:20:31,839 --> 00:20:33,667 justice was served. 500 00:20:33,710 --> 00:20:36,365 In October 1972, 501 00:20:36,409 --> 00:20:38,498 he entered Millhaven Penitentiary 502 00:20:38,541 --> 00:20:42,328 to serve a three year sentence after being convicted 503 00:20:42,371 --> 00:20:45,679 of 47 white collar crimes. 504 00:20:45,722 --> 00:20:48,159 I don't actually recall 505 00:20:48,203 --> 00:20:50,074 the first time I met him because, 506 00:20:50,118 --> 00:20:53,817 unfortunately, when I first signed my first contract, 507 00:20:53,861 --> 00:20:55,950 Harold was in jail at that time. 508 00:20:55,993 --> 00:20:58,909 When he was sentenced to prison, I think he was shocked. 509 00:20:58,953 --> 00:21:01,434 I didn't think he felt he would go 510 00:21:01,477 --> 00:21:05,220 because he was this, you know, big, important guy in sports 511 00:21:05,264 --> 00:21:06,787 and owned the Toronto Maple Leafs. 512 00:21:06,830 --> 00:21:08,528 How could they do this to him? 513 00:21:08,571 --> 00:21:11,879 But he went and spent, uh, about a year in Millhaven. 514 00:21:11,922 --> 00:21:14,011 [Donald] The time in prison, you know, 515 00:21:14,055 --> 00:21:16,405 he decided that, "Bleep you," 516 00:21:16,449 --> 00:21:19,713 you know, "people can say you're a con, you can whatever. 517 00:21:19,756 --> 00:21:21,410 "I'm going to have fun about it, okay? 518 00:21:21,454 --> 00:21:23,456 And all the shots at me, I'm going to fire them back." 519 00:21:23,499 --> 00:21:25,109 He says, "Hey there, 520 00:21:25,153 --> 00:21:26,589 I want to show you what our Canadian prisons--" 521 00:21:26,633 --> 00:21:27,982 And he's got a stack of pictures on his desk. 522 00:21:28,025 --> 00:21:29,331 And he hands them to me, all right? 523 00:21:29,375 --> 00:21:30,767 And I started going through them 524 00:21:30,811 --> 00:21:32,943 and that's Harold in the guards' uniform 525 00:21:32,987 --> 00:21:34,510 with his feet up on the desk. 526 00:21:34,554 --> 00:21:36,556 Got a bottle of beer, a cigar, and color TV. 527 00:21:36,599 --> 00:21:38,732 This is what our Canadian prisons are like, right? 528 00:21:38,775 --> 00:21:40,734 [Harold] Outside the humiliation and disgrace, 529 00:21:40,777 --> 00:21:42,866 it wasn't bad because I had-- I had 530 00:21:42,910 --> 00:21:44,912 a very good time down there at Millhaven, 531 00:21:44,955 --> 00:21:46,566 I had my own room. 532 00:21:46,609 --> 00:21:48,524 It was a high class motel as far as I was concerned. 533 00:21:48,568 --> 00:21:49,699 [Adrienne] You weren't getting tenderloin 534 00:21:49,743 --> 00:21:51,005 three times a week, come on. 535 00:21:51,048 --> 00:21:52,354 [Harold] You think I wasn't, eh? 536 00:21:52,398 --> 00:21:53,877 -[Adrienne] No. -[Harold] Well, 537 00:21:53,921 --> 00:21:55,226 you just keep on thinking, baby, 538 00:21:55,270 --> 00:21:56,793 because you're not right. [cackling] 539 00:21:56,837 --> 00:21:59,883 While he was in Millhaven, 540 00:21:59,927 --> 00:22:02,321 Billy, his son, who was a young lawyer, 541 00:22:02,364 --> 00:22:05,367 who articled in our firm for a while, 542 00:22:05,411 --> 00:22:08,414 had taken over the entire operations, 543 00:22:08,457 --> 00:22:12,331 ran it without any hitches or any big problems. 544 00:22:12,983 --> 00:22:15,377 And then Harold came back 545 00:22:16,030 --> 00:22:18,728 and instead of patting him on the back and saying, 546 00:22:18,772 --> 00:22:20,643 "Son, you got a great future 547 00:22:20,687 --> 00:22:22,950 when I'm gone running this organization." 548 00:22:23,342 --> 00:22:24,691 He said, "Get out of here, 549 00:22:24,734 --> 00:22:27,694 I'm back in charge, so bugger off." 550 00:22:27,737 --> 00:22:29,260 I mean, it was that blunt. 551 00:22:29,304 --> 00:22:30,740 I couldn't-- I couldn'’t believe it. 552 00:22:30,784 --> 00:22:34,178 And there was always that ill feeling 553 00:22:34,222 --> 00:22:37,443 uh, between father and son as a result. 554 00:22:37,486 --> 00:22:39,227 [Adrienne] You're unrepentant. Totally unrepentant. 555 00:22:39,270 --> 00:22:40,620 Absolutely. 556 00:22:40,663 --> 00:22:42,317 And as far as old Diefenbaker goes, 557 00:22:42,361 --> 00:22:44,014 he got up in the house and said, 558 00:22:44,058 --> 00:22:46,539 "There's a law for the rich and one for the poor." 559 00:22:47,061 --> 00:22:49,106 Uh, you know, I got the tape on that. 560 00:22:49,672 --> 00:22:51,282 That old sucker would steal your eyes out 561 00:22:51,326 --> 00:22:53,154 and put a grape in and tell you, you look better. 562 00:22:54,329 --> 00:22:55,983 God damn. How are you? 563 00:22:56,026 --> 00:22:57,506 [narrator] Ballard was out of prison 564 00:22:57,550 --> 00:22:59,334 after only a year, 565 00:22:59,378 --> 00:23:02,946 and his first order of business was to foolishly ignore 566 00:23:02,990 --> 00:23:05,166 the World Hockey Association. 567 00:23:05,209 --> 00:23:08,125 The WHA, what good can they do for us? 568 00:23:08,169 --> 00:23:10,693 I mean to say we don't need them. They need us. 569 00:23:10,737 --> 00:23:12,913 [narrator] And for Leaf fans, turning his back 570 00:23:12,956 --> 00:23:17,091 on the greatest Leaf of all time was the deepest cut of all. 571 00:23:17,134 --> 00:23:23,663 ♪ 572 00:23:23,706 --> 00:23:25,578 [Sittler] He was a guy that won the Conn Smythe. 573 00:23:25,621 --> 00:23:28,407 You know, he's the greatest Leaf ever. 574 00:23:28,450 --> 00:23:30,626 Yeah, he was kind of born out of town, 575 00:23:30,670 --> 00:23:32,628 so to speak, with Harold and, 576 00:23:32,672 --> 00:23:35,109 you know, the WHA and a number of other guys had left 577 00:23:35,152 --> 00:23:37,241 because Harold didn't want to acknowledge that 578 00:23:37,285 --> 00:23:38,852 there was another league there. 579 00:23:38,895 --> 00:23:40,549 And, uh, rather than do what was right 580 00:23:40,593 --> 00:23:42,856 to build a hockey club, he let a number of guys go 581 00:23:42,899 --> 00:23:44,466 and Keon was one of them. 582 00:23:44,510 --> 00:23:46,033 [Parrish] And the WHA came 583 00:23:46,076 --> 00:23:48,209 and took many of their best young players. 584 00:23:48,252 --> 00:23:49,732 And then Dave Keon, 585 00:23:49,776 --> 00:23:51,430 who had never been a Ballard fan, 586 00:23:51,473 --> 00:23:54,302 going back to the '60s, left in '75. 587 00:23:54,345 --> 00:23:58,393 And then that deteriorated into what went on for 20 or 25 years. 588 00:23:58,437 --> 00:24:02,223 [Eagleson] And Keon was, uh, he was one of the pillars 589 00:24:02,266 --> 00:24:04,007 of the Leafs dynasty, 590 00:24:04,051 --> 00:24:06,880 and that was very sad to see him go. 591 00:24:06,923 --> 00:24:09,970 But he went to Minnesota for twice as much money. 592 00:24:10,013 --> 00:24:13,190 It was a sad end because I think that 593 00:24:13,234 --> 00:24:16,324 David, and rightfully so, deserved more money. 594 00:24:16,367 --> 00:24:18,152 He deserved more respect. 595 00:24:18,195 --> 00:24:21,155 But at the end of the day, it was time for him to sort of 596 00:24:21,198 --> 00:24:23,505 go elsewhere as well, because it wasn't going to work 597 00:24:23,549 --> 00:24:25,986 with the-- with the ownership that was-- was there. 598 00:24:26,029 --> 00:24:28,205 I'll tell you something, uh, Mr. Ballard 599 00:24:28,249 --> 00:24:29,729 is my type of guy. 600 00:24:29,772 --> 00:24:31,513 I know I'm going against the grain saying this. 601 00:24:31,557 --> 00:24:33,907 I've always liked him and, uh, he says what he thinks 602 00:24:33,950 --> 00:24:35,735 and he's good for hockey. 603 00:24:35,778 --> 00:24:38,477 He didn't like the idea of giving money to the players. 604 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,217 I don't know what he was thinking of, 605 00:24:40,261 --> 00:24:43,046 but he could see the other teams were doing it. 606 00:24:43,090 --> 00:24:44,700 If he didn't think the guy was worth 607 00:24:44,744 --> 00:24:46,528 so much money, he wouldn't pay them 608 00:24:46,572 --> 00:24:48,225 and that's why he lost them all. 609 00:24:48,269 --> 00:24:50,663 [McKenny] Yeah, it decimated the whole franchise. 610 00:24:51,577 --> 00:24:53,535 Because they-- they had nothing to work with. 611 00:24:53,579 --> 00:24:56,582 Nothing-- nothing to offer other teams to-- 612 00:24:56,625 --> 00:24:59,759 to bring in players that could help them win. 613 00:24:59,802 --> 00:25:01,804 We would have won four or five Stanley Cups 614 00:25:01,848 --> 00:25:06,156 in the mid, uh, the mid '’70s for sure. 615 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,115 We would have had as good a team as Montreal had. 616 00:25:08,158 --> 00:25:09,333 No problem. 617 00:25:10,204 --> 00:25:12,554 It soured so many players, 618 00:25:12,598 --> 00:25:15,862 uh, on, uh, thinking 619 00:25:15,905 --> 00:25:18,908 they were a part of this Maple Leaf team 620 00:25:18,952 --> 00:25:21,345 and tradition that should have been 621 00:25:21,389 --> 00:25:23,086 way stronger at that time. 622 00:25:23,130 --> 00:25:25,915 But I think Harold underestimated 623 00:25:25,959 --> 00:25:28,570 the World Hockey Association's power. 624 00:25:28,614 --> 00:25:31,355 [Eagleson] He decided that the WHA wasn't going to last 625 00:25:31,399 --> 00:25:33,793 and he wasn't going to pay the blood money. 626 00:25:33,836 --> 00:25:36,099 That was his position and it hurt the team. 627 00:25:37,013 --> 00:25:39,668 [narrator] Ballard had a talent for making money, 628 00:25:39,712 --> 00:25:43,150 but he refused to spend it on anything. 629 00:25:44,151 --> 00:25:45,979 You combine his cheapness which, 630 00:25:46,022 --> 00:25:48,068 you know, showed up in, you know, 631 00:25:48,111 --> 00:25:49,417 significant hockey ways, 632 00:25:49,460 --> 00:25:50,940 but also in kind of penny ante ways. 633 00:25:50,984 --> 00:25:52,725 He nickeled and dimed like crazy. 634 00:25:52,768 --> 00:25:54,814 But, you know, remember, there's no salary cap 635 00:25:54,857 --> 00:25:56,076 in that era, right? 636 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:57,860 There's no salary cap at all. 637 00:25:57,904 --> 00:26:00,602 And the Toronto Maple Leafs drove more revenue 638 00:26:00,646 --> 00:26:02,604 by some multiple 639 00:26:02,648 --> 00:26:04,432 than any other team in the National Hockey League, 640 00:26:04,475 --> 00:26:06,347 other than the New York Rangers. 641 00:26:06,390 --> 00:26:08,131 They had an enormous financial advantage 642 00:26:08,175 --> 00:26:09,611 up until the cap. 643 00:26:09,655 --> 00:26:11,961 All through the '80s when they were terrible, 644 00:26:12,005 --> 00:26:14,573 they still had that enormous financial advantage 645 00:26:14,616 --> 00:26:16,357 over everybody else in the NHL. 646 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:18,402 There was no reason why they couldn't have spent money 647 00:26:18,446 --> 00:26:19,795 where you could spend money. 648 00:26:19,839 --> 00:26:22,929 He wanted to keep things on the cheap 649 00:26:22,972 --> 00:26:26,497 and make sure that there was plenty of money 650 00:26:26,541 --> 00:26:28,587 for himself and-- and the company. 651 00:26:28,630 --> 00:26:30,023 You must have 15 scouts. 652 00:26:30,850 --> 00:26:32,329 [interviewer] Most people around the league say 653 00:26:32,373 --> 00:26:33,853 -Leafs don't have enough. -Well, that's all right. 654 00:26:33,896 --> 00:26:35,071 Uh, who's got more? 655 00:26:36,246 --> 00:26:37,726 [interviewer] Uh, Calgary, Edmonton. 656 00:26:37,770 --> 00:26:39,902 -What have they done? -They're in first place. 657 00:26:39,946 --> 00:26:41,338 That's all right. 658 00:26:41,382 --> 00:26:42,688 Well, they can stay in first place. 659 00:26:42,731 --> 00:26:44,254 Some of their scouts, I wouldn't want. 660 00:26:44,298 --> 00:26:46,474 Our typical hockey office would have 661 00:26:46,517 --> 00:26:48,345 20 times the number of people of that today, 662 00:26:48,389 --> 00:26:50,217 or 15 times the number of people that today. 663 00:26:50,260 --> 00:26:52,915 So it was-- People would always come up and say, 664 00:26:52,959 --> 00:26:55,614 "You're, like, smaller than some junior A operations." 665 00:26:55,657 --> 00:26:57,311 Well, that's kind of the-- You know, 666 00:26:57,354 --> 00:27:00,880 Mr. Ballard ran lean, to say the least. 667 00:27:00,923 --> 00:27:04,448 The reason he felt that he could sell programs 668 00:27:04,492 --> 00:27:07,408 was because there was no name on the back of the sweater. 669 00:27:07,451 --> 00:27:12,108 And he refused to have a name on the back of Leafs sweaters 670 00:27:12,152 --> 00:27:13,327 because he claimed to the league that 671 00:27:13,370 --> 00:27:14,807 that would hurt program sales. 672 00:27:14,850 --> 00:27:17,244 So when the league mandated that all do, 673 00:27:17,287 --> 00:27:20,029 he made sure that the lettering would be there, 674 00:27:20,073 --> 00:27:21,683 but it would be the same color as the jersey. 675 00:27:21,727 --> 00:27:23,119 So you'd never see it. 676 00:27:23,163 --> 00:27:25,208 Harold believed you have to pay 2.50 677 00:27:25,252 --> 00:27:27,689 to buy that program to make it all worth for him. 678 00:27:27,733 --> 00:27:29,299 You know, Guy Kinnear. 679 00:27:29,343 --> 00:27:31,040 You know, we had Guy Kinnear, his boat mechanic 680 00:27:31,084 --> 00:27:33,347 became the trainer of the team because he liked him. 681 00:27:33,390 --> 00:27:34,914 Yeah. He used to give guys NeoCitran. 682 00:27:34,957 --> 00:27:37,960 like, a player would come in with some kind of 683 00:27:38,004 --> 00:27:39,353 a-- a nagging injury or something 684 00:27:39,396 --> 00:27:40,876 and he would give them a NeoCitran. 685 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,400 Uh, because he was a boat mechanic, right? 686 00:27:43,444 --> 00:27:45,228 He didn't know, he was-- he was Ballard's boat mechanic 687 00:27:45,272 --> 00:27:46,752 up at his cottage. 688 00:27:46,795 --> 00:27:49,755 And he liked him, so he made him the trainer. 689 00:27:49,798 --> 00:27:51,452 He gave him the gig. 690 00:27:51,495 --> 00:27:52,845 He became the trainer of the Toronto Maple Leafs 691 00:27:52,888 --> 00:27:55,064 and he had zero, zero medical knowledge. 692 00:27:55,108 --> 00:27:56,370 None. 693 00:27:56,413 --> 00:27:57,937 And he became the trainer 694 00:27:57,980 --> 00:27:59,808 because Harold wanted to look after his guy. 695 00:28:00,983 --> 00:28:02,245 [narrator] His wife gone, 696 00:28:02,289 --> 00:28:04,160 his prison sentence behind him, 697 00:28:04,204 --> 00:28:06,249 he made the peculiar decision 698 00:28:06,293 --> 00:28:10,776 to move into an apartment inside Maple Leaf Gardens. 699 00:28:12,212 --> 00:28:15,171 Along with his unconventional new living quarters 700 00:28:15,215 --> 00:28:17,826 came an unexpected new friend, 701 00:28:17,870 --> 00:28:20,437 legendary Maple Leaf, King Clancy. 702 00:28:20,481 --> 00:28:23,049 [Iaboni] So now you've got him without his wife. 703 00:28:23,092 --> 00:28:25,529 Uh, King becomes the sidekick. 704 00:28:25,573 --> 00:28:27,749 Uh, he moves to Maple Leaf Gardens, 705 00:28:27,793 --> 00:28:28,924 lives there all the time. 706 00:28:28,968 --> 00:28:31,274 His wife had passed and in a-- 707 00:28:31,318 --> 00:28:33,189 I think, a seemingly sentimental way, 708 00:28:33,233 --> 00:28:35,714 just said, I'm going to move lock, stock, and barrel, 709 00:28:35,757 --> 00:28:37,541 and I'm going to go a thousand miles an hour 710 00:28:37,585 --> 00:28:38,934 running the Toronto Maple Leafs. 711 00:28:38,978 --> 00:28:41,023 [McKenny] Like, he lived at the Gardens. 712 00:28:41,763 --> 00:28:46,594 He lived, ate, and slept with the Leafs in the gardens. 713 00:28:47,508 --> 00:28:50,772 One-- Once he took it over, he moved from Montgomery Road 714 00:28:50,816 --> 00:28:52,339 out in the West End, 715 00:28:52,382 --> 00:28:54,733 right into the gardens and-- and never left. 716 00:28:54,776 --> 00:28:56,778 [Brunt] He literally was there all the time. 717 00:28:56,822 --> 00:28:58,258 Yeah, he lived in his apartment, 718 00:28:58,301 --> 00:28:59,738 you know, he was either in his apartment 719 00:28:59,781 --> 00:29:01,217 or in his little bunker watching the game 720 00:29:01,261 --> 00:29:02,784 or somewhere within, 721 00:29:02,828 --> 00:29:04,351 walking the halls of that building. 722 00:29:04,394 --> 00:29:05,874 Well, no light. 723 00:29:05,918 --> 00:29:08,964 And one window that was-- Gave some natural light. 724 00:29:09,008 --> 00:29:10,357 But other than that, dark. 725 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,534 Certainly not a comfortable place 726 00:29:13,577 --> 00:29:14,665 from my point of view. 727 00:29:14,709 --> 00:29:16,493 But he seemed to like it. 728 00:29:16,537 --> 00:29:18,539 He didn't have far to go after work. 729 00:29:18,582 --> 00:29:20,454 Like, can you imagine owning a sports franchise 730 00:29:20,497 --> 00:29:21,977 and you live in it? 731 00:29:22,021 --> 00:29:23,326 [Clark] Harold get up and go down to Hot Stove 732 00:29:23,370 --> 00:29:24,980 and grab a bowl of ice cream 733 00:29:25,024 --> 00:29:26,721 in the middle of-- The only one in the building. 734 00:29:26,765 --> 00:29:28,767 I can go up and play the organ in my house, 735 00:29:28,810 --> 00:29:30,769 and his-- his house is Maple Leaf Gardens, 736 00:29:30,812 --> 00:29:33,119 or I'm sitting in the reds eating a bowl cereal. 737 00:29:33,162 --> 00:29:35,599 To me, as a hockey bird, I think that'd be awesome. 738 00:29:35,643 --> 00:29:37,079 This is my house. 739 00:29:37,123 --> 00:29:38,864 And that was basically how we treated it. 740 00:29:38,907 --> 00:29:41,127 And because he lived there, he was the security guard. 741 00:29:41,170 --> 00:29:42,606 He was the night watchman. 742 00:29:42,650 --> 00:29:43,782 He could appear at any point in time, 743 00:29:43,825 --> 00:29:44,870 anywhere in the building. 744 00:29:44,913 --> 00:29:46,393 You know, it's funny, he, uh, 745 00:29:46,436 --> 00:29:48,221 had about four different exits or entrances, 746 00:29:48,264 --> 00:29:50,310 so you never really knew where he was. 747 00:29:51,877 --> 00:29:54,575 I never had a brother. Or sisters. 748 00:29:55,663 --> 00:29:58,231 And consequently, I had to latch on to somebody 749 00:29:58,274 --> 00:30:00,494 and thank God I latched onto King. 750 00:30:00,537 --> 00:30:02,365 But he had to be special to put up with you. 751 00:30:02,409 --> 00:30:04,977 Well, I would say that's probably the reason 752 00:30:05,020 --> 00:30:07,327 that I thought so much of him, because, you know what? 753 00:30:07,370 --> 00:30:08,981 That kind of a son of a bitch I am. 754 00:30:09,024 --> 00:30:11,244 And it takes a-- 755 00:30:11,287 --> 00:30:13,246 it takes a pretty good person to put up with me. 756 00:30:13,289 --> 00:30:14,943 [narrator] King Clancy was beloved 757 00:30:14,987 --> 00:30:17,293 by players and fans alike, 758 00:30:17,337 --> 00:30:20,688 but his role with the Leafs wasn't well-defined. 759 00:30:21,384 --> 00:30:25,432 Public relations, interim coach, team mascot. 760 00:30:25,475 --> 00:30:26,694 He did it all. 761 00:30:26,737 --> 00:30:29,175 But Clancy's main responsibility 762 00:30:29,218 --> 00:30:32,526 was to be Harold Ballard's best friend. 763 00:30:32,569 --> 00:30:33,962 [Brunt] King was a delightful guy. 764 00:30:34,006 --> 00:30:35,572 Distracted Harold. 765 00:30:35,616 --> 00:30:37,139 He was kind of, to me, he was more like the, 766 00:30:37,183 --> 00:30:38,880 you know, court jester kind of guy, right? 767 00:30:38,924 --> 00:30:41,752 That kept Harold occupied so he didn't cut off 768 00:30:41,796 --> 00:30:42,841 more people's heads. 769 00:30:43,667 --> 00:30:46,757 And kind of distracted him, made him-- made him smile. 770 00:30:46,801 --> 00:30:48,237 That's kind of-- I always thought 771 00:30:48,281 --> 00:30:49,630 that was kind of King's role. 772 00:30:50,152 --> 00:30:51,762 [King] You know, a lot of people say, 773 00:30:51,806 --> 00:30:53,329 uh, Mr. Ballard is tough. 774 00:30:53,373 --> 00:30:55,766 Mr. Ballard is this. Mr. Ballard is that. 775 00:30:55,810 --> 00:30:57,899 Mr. Ballard, to my way of thinking, 776 00:30:57,943 --> 00:31:00,989 is one of the greatest people that I ever met. 777 00:31:01,033 --> 00:31:02,686 He's a class individual. 778 00:31:02,730 --> 00:31:04,210 He says things at times 779 00:31:04,253 --> 00:31:07,126 that he doesn't-- It just-- it just comes out. 780 00:31:07,169 --> 00:31:08,475 [Harold] We look like a couple of those 781 00:31:08,518 --> 00:31:09,868 God damn missionaries, don't we? 782 00:31:09,911 --> 00:31:11,652 Both of them had lost their wives, 783 00:31:11,695 --> 00:31:13,654 so they really didn't have any responsibilities to anybody. 784 00:31:13,697 --> 00:31:15,961 So he replaced his wife with King Clancy 785 00:31:16,004 --> 00:31:18,180 and the two of them, they were just like brothers 786 00:31:18,224 --> 00:31:19,834 who were born at the hip. 787 00:31:20,617 --> 00:31:22,097 [narrator] Ballard had his problems 788 00:31:22,141 --> 00:31:23,794 for a good part of the '70s, 789 00:31:23,838 --> 00:31:27,537 but in 1977, seemingly out of nowhere, 790 00:31:27,581 --> 00:31:30,018 the best Leaf team in a decade emerged. 791 00:31:30,062 --> 00:31:33,282 That unexpectedly remarkable club featured 792 00:31:33,326 --> 00:31:36,329 two of the top goal scorers in the NHL. 793 00:31:36,372 --> 00:31:38,331 A couple of blue-liners who could stack up 794 00:31:38,374 --> 00:31:41,421 against anyone, a hotshot kid in goal, 795 00:31:41,464 --> 00:31:45,077 Dave "Tiger" Williams, and an innovative coach 796 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,384 nicknamed "Captain Video" behind the bench. 797 00:31:48,428 --> 00:31:51,300 He's a very intelligent fella, as far as hockey goes. 798 00:31:51,344 --> 00:31:53,215 Matter of fact, he's an intelligent fella, period. 799 00:31:53,259 --> 00:31:56,915 He's a schoolteacher and he's a great man for detail 800 00:31:56,958 --> 00:31:58,481 and he's a great man for discipline. 801 00:31:58,525 --> 00:32:00,788 And I think he's a great man for everything 802 00:32:00,831 --> 00:32:02,137 that a young fella needs today 803 00:32:02,181 --> 00:32:03,922 and that's the reason I hired him. 804 00:32:03,965 --> 00:32:06,533 They had a really good thing going in the late '70s. 805 00:32:06,576 --> 00:32:09,623 The Leafs were a contender against the Islanders 806 00:32:09,666 --> 00:32:11,407 when they beat the Islanders out. 807 00:32:11,451 --> 00:32:13,235 [announcer] Turnbull clears ahead to McDonald. 808 00:32:13,279 --> 00:32:15,672 McDonald, he scores! 809 00:32:15,716 --> 00:32:17,892 McDonald wins it! 810 00:32:17,936 --> 00:32:19,763 Lanny McDonald and the Leafs win it 811 00:32:19,807 --> 00:32:22,592 two to one in a goal by Lanny McDonald. 812 00:32:22,636 --> 00:32:24,507 [Parrish] The greatest moment in Leaf history, 813 00:32:24,551 --> 00:32:27,684 really, over the last-- Probably going back to 1967. 814 00:32:27,728 --> 00:32:29,251 [McDonald] Unbelievable series. 815 00:32:29,295 --> 00:32:32,951 But our team was so beat up, lost to Montreal 816 00:32:32,994 --> 00:32:38,347 in four straight and we still were close in those games. 817 00:32:38,391 --> 00:32:40,088 [Ralph] They should'’ve beat Montreal, 818 00:32:40,132 --> 00:32:41,350 but Boörje got hurt. 819 00:32:42,003 --> 00:32:45,050 And once he was done, they were pretty well cooked. 820 00:32:45,093 --> 00:32:47,008 [Cherry] Now, when they beat out the Islanders, 821 00:32:47,052 --> 00:32:48,967 they were only about a player away 822 00:32:49,010 --> 00:32:51,360 from a Stanley Cup. They were a good club. 823 00:32:51,404 --> 00:32:53,406 We knew we were on the right track. 824 00:32:53,449 --> 00:32:57,149 And yet within 365 days of that, it had all fallen apart. 825 00:32:57,192 --> 00:32:59,107 That team could have gone the distance. 826 00:32:59,151 --> 00:33:00,326 And then the next year, of course, 827 00:33:00,369 --> 00:33:01,892 everything was broken up. 828 00:33:01,936 --> 00:33:04,852 And then I think things went south from there. 829 00:33:04,895 --> 00:33:08,943 They just let everybody go and they got nothing. 830 00:33:08,987 --> 00:33:10,510 I'm not paying that guy that money. 831 00:33:10,553 --> 00:33:13,426 I'm not pay-- And the WHA was paying them. 832 00:33:13,469 --> 00:33:14,862 That's when they lost the club. 833 00:33:14,905 --> 00:33:16,211 [narrator] The following season, 834 00:33:16,255 --> 00:33:18,344 the decimated team struggled. 835 00:33:18,387 --> 00:33:21,042 We're not improving the way I thought we would. 836 00:33:21,086 --> 00:33:22,696 [narrator] And Ballard knew exactly 837 00:33:22,739 --> 00:33:25,568 who to blame for the team's woes. 838 00:33:25,612 --> 00:33:27,005 The coach. 839 00:33:27,048 --> 00:33:28,223 [Sittler] Roger Neilson. 840 00:33:28,789 --> 00:33:31,270 Quality man, quality coach. 841 00:33:31,313 --> 00:33:33,533 We loved playing for the guy. Had us prepared. 842 00:33:33,576 --> 00:33:37,058 Neilson was a very different man from Harold Ballard. 843 00:33:37,102 --> 00:33:40,496 He was an intellectual. He read books with no pictures. 844 00:33:40,540 --> 00:33:43,630 He had interests outside hockey. 845 00:33:43,673 --> 00:33:46,807 He tried to bring the 1970s 846 00:33:46,850 --> 00:33:49,984 to Maple Leaf Gardens, which had a fence around it, 847 00:33:50,593 --> 00:33:52,595 concealing the 1930s within. 848 00:33:52,639 --> 00:33:55,120 [Ormsby] And his nickname was "Captain Video" because, 849 00:33:55,163 --> 00:33:58,949 at least for Leafs' purposes, he was using video 850 00:33:58,993 --> 00:34:00,864 to show players, "Here's where you broke down, 851 00:34:00,908 --> 00:34:02,562 here's where you did a great job." 852 00:34:02,605 --> 00:34:05,260 This was all very new to the Toronto Maple Leafs. 853 00:34:05,304 --> 00:34:07,132 So I think, you know, there was some hope 854 00:34:07,175 --> 00:34:08,698 at that point, the late '70s, 855 00:34:08,742 --> 00:34:10,657 that maybe, "Oh, we are going to go on to, 856 00:34:10,700 --> 00:34:12,093 you know, the next century trying to 857 00:34:12,137 --> 00:34:13,747 move ahead of the game a little bit." 858 00:34:13,790 --> 00:34:15,314 The team the year before had gone 859 00:34:15,357 --> 00:34:17,403 to the semifinals and knocked off the Islanders. 860 00:34:17,446 --> 00:34:18,795 And then the next year, 861 00:34:18,839 --> 00:34:20,362 they were struggling to be a 500 team. 862 00:34:20,928 --> 00:34:23,365 So he was anticipating them to get better. 863 00:34:23,409 --> 00:34:25,063 Instead of getting better, they were-- 864 00:34:25,106 --> 00:34:26,760 they were hanging on and hanging on. 865 00:34:26,803 --> 00:34:29,110 The style that Roger played was always 866 00:34:29,154 --> 00:34:31,199 a defensive style and it was boring. 867 00:34:31,982 --> 00:34:34,855 And a lot of the people in the media would influence 868 00:34:34,898 --> 00:34:36,465 Harold Ballard's thinking. 869 00:34:36,509 --> 00:34:39,033 "Is this it? Are you going to get rid of them now?" 870 00:34:39,077 --> 00:34:40,687 And whether Ballard said, "Yeah, he's as good as gone," 871 00:34:40,730 --> 00:34:42,080 you know, I could just see him saying, 872 00:34:42,123 --> 00:34:43,646 "Oh, yeah, he's as good as gone." 873 00:34:43,690 --> 00:34:44,995 Or, "Yeah, there'll be somebody else 874 00:34:45,039 --> 00:34:46,388 behind the bench on Saturday night." 875 00:34:46,432 --> 00:34:48,129 And that-- that's all he needed. 876 00:34:48,173 --> 00:34:50,175 He just needed somebody to fuel that-- 877 00:34:50,218 --> 00:34:52,307 You know, to spark the-- the match. 878 00:34:52,351 --> 00:34:53,787 [Cherry] He's one of the best coaches 879 00:34:53,830 --> 00:34:56,050 in the National Hockey, Captain Video. 880 00:34:56,094 --> 00:34:58,748 He works at it night and day, but I don't like his style. 881 00:34:58,792 --> 00:35:00,228 You got to put on a show. 882 00:35:00,272 --> 00:35:02,578 The game is entertainment and he plays 883 00:35:02,622 --> 00:35:04,841 that defensive hockey, defensive hockey, 884 00:35:04,885 --> 00:35:06,495 although they're not doing so well this year. 885 00:35:06,539 --> 00:35:07,975 And it's deadly dull. 886 00:35:08,018 --> 00:35:10,151 Right up to game time, it wasn't clear 887 00:35:10,195 --> 00:35:12,022 who would replace Roger Neilson, 888 00:35:12,066 --> 00:35:15,591 the man fired yesterday as coach of the Maple Leafs. 889 00:35:15,635 --> 00:35:16,940 Now, we're out of a coach. 890 00:35:17,593 --> 00:35:20,422 So, I ran practices along with Lanny and Tiger 891 00:35:20,466 --> 00:35:22,337 for a few days while they're scrambling around. 892 00:35:22,381 --> 00:35:24,861 And again, the media is making a circus of this. 893 00:35:24,905 --> 00:35:26,950 A number of us went to Jim Gregory and said, 894 00:35:26,994 --> 00:35:29,257 "Listen, the best guy for the job for the rest 895 00:35:29,301 --> 00:35:31,172 of the season for sure is Roger Neilson." 896 00:35:31,216 --> 00:35:34,175 The players begged him not to let him go. 897 00:35:34,219 --> 00:35:35,481 Then he says, 898 00:35:35,524 --> 00:35:36,830 "Why don't you come back Saturday and we'll put 899 00:35:36,873 --> 00:35:38,310 a paper bag over your head 900 00:35:38,353 --> 00:35:40,529 and then we'll unveil it after the warm-ups." 901 00:35:40,573 --> 00:35:42,314 So, he wanted Roger to wear this bag. 902 00:35:42,357 --> 00:35:44,011 I remember getting ready to go out on the ice. 903 00:35:44,054 --> 00:35:46,274 The media didn't know, they were gonna just 904 00:35:46,318 --> 00:35:48,494 go behind the bench when the national anthem started. 905 00:35:48,537 --> 00:35:51,149 And there's the coach, Roger Neilson, back. 906 00:35:51,192 --> 00:35:53,412 I remember standing inside the dressing room 907 00:35:53,455 --> 00:35:55,892 waiting for the signal to go, for the start of the game, 908 00:35:55,936 --> 00:35:57,807 and Ballard's there with a bag, 909 00:35:57,851 --> 00:35:59,548 "Yeah, put it on, put it on." 910 00:35:59,592 --> 00:36:01,333 Roger's kinda sheepish looking and we're kind of there-- 911 00:36:01,376 --> 00:36:03,987 "Just for real, you know, wear the frigging bag and stand 912 00:36:04,031 --> 00:36:05,772 at the national anthem, then pop it up." 913 00:36:05,815 --> 00:36:07,426 And I remember standing out there 914 00:36:07,469 --> 00:36:10,994 because I was near the dressing room area 915 00:36:11,038 --> 00:36:13,475 and it was just so crowded, you know, media and whatever, 916 00:36:13,519 --> 00:36:16,043 just waiting to see Roger come out. 917 00:36:16,086 --> 00:36:17,784 But that was insane. 918 00:36:17,827 --> 00:36:20,178 They were talking about sending me out first. 919 00:36:21,614 --> 00:36:23,311 [laughs] 920 00:36:23,355 --> 00:36:25,487 And I was-- I was mortified. 921 00:36:25,531 --> 00:36:28,055 But it was almost like a clown act... 922 00:36:29,491 --> 00:36:31,363 to send him out with a bag over his head. 923 00:36:31,406 --> 00:36:33,930 Come on, you don't do those things. 924 00:36:33,974 --> 00:36:36,368 [announcer] Here comes Roger Neilson. 925 00:36:37,325 --> 00:36:39,501 And the crowd is aware of it now. 926 00:36:40,415 --> 00:36:42,765 The crowd did not know that Roger Neilson 927 00:36:42,809 --> 00:36:45,551 would be back on the bench until this very moment. 928 00:36:45,594 --> 00:36:46,943 And they are standing. 929 00:36:47,683 --> 00:36:49,381 Have you ever seen anything like this 930 00:36:49,424 --> 00:36:50,860 in all the years of hockey? 931 00:36:50,904 --> 00:36:52,601 This is like a soap opera here. 932 00:36:52,645 --> 00:36:54,734 [Roger] The same fans have been, uh... 933 00:36:56,344 --> 00:36:58,259 demanding my scalp, all of a sudden 934 00:36:58,303 --> 00:37:01,262 just looking the other way and cheering me like we, uh... 935 00:37:02,872 --> 00:37:05,440 just won the Stanley Cup, so it was quite a thing. 936 00:37:05,484 --> 00:37:07,007 It was really embarrassing. 937 00:37:07,050 --> 00:37:11,185 Uh, But again, to Harold that was the great show. 938 00:37:11,229 --> 00:37:14,144 I can do something and, you know, 939 00:37:14,188 --> 00:37:16,582 then everybody's going to be talking about me. 940 00:37:16,625 --> 00:37:19,280 And I'm going to be sitting in that little box 941 00:37:19,324 --> 00:37:22,240 in the corner of the garden with a big smile on my face 942 00:37:22,283 --> 00:37:24,154 and laughing my butt off. 943 00:37:24,198 --> 00:37:25,417 [Ballard] Those guys don't worry about promotion 944 00:37:25,460 --> 00:37:27,201 or anything like that anyway. 945 00:37:27,245 --> 00:37:29,551 You know, maybe, there's been a lot of fun. 946 00:37:30,291 --> 00:37:31,945 You know, life's not so serious as all that 947 00:37:31,988 --> 00:37:34,382 you can make a few fun things out of it. 948 00:37:34,426 --> 00:37:37,167 It was obviously destructive, and it was obviously cruel, 949 00:37:37,211 --> 00:37:38,647 and it was obviously done on a whim. 950 00:37:38,691 --> 00:37:40,823 It wasn't like there was a plan. [laughs] 951 00:37:40,867 --> 00:37:42,347 You know? There wasn't a plan ever. 952 00:37:42,390 --> 00:37:45,045 He just did whatever the hell he felt like. 953 00:37:45,088 --> 00:37:47,308 It's, you know, it's a toy, right? 954 00:37:47,352 --> 00:37:50,659 [announcer] Roger Neilson back on the Leaf bench once again. 955 00:37:51,225 --> 00:37:54,707 Leaf owner Harold Ballard said he hadn't really fired Neilson. 956 00:37:54,750 --> 00:37:56,448 He just wanted to shake up the team, 957 00:37:56,491 --> 00:37:58,276 which had been in a slump. 958 00:37:58,319 --> 00:37:59,799 Now, listen. 959 00:37:59,842 --> 00:38:01,279 Who told you that I interfered with the team? 960 00:38:01,931 --> 00:38:03,411 [interviewer] Anyone knows that! 961 00:38:03,455 --> 00:38:04,978 No, never interfered with the team in my life. 962 00:38:05,021 --> 00:38:06,109 [interviewer] You've never interfered? 963 00:38:06,153 --> 00:38:07,285 Never interfered. 964 00:38:07,328 --> 00:38:08,851 Never got in the dressing room, 965 00:38:08,895 --> 00:38:11,158 except once when I had the trouble with Neilson. 966 00:38:11,201 --> 00:38:13,160 I went in there and straightened the guys out 967 00:38:13,203 --> 00:38:14,466 for five games, then they went back 968 00:38:14,509 --> 00:38:15,771 to the same old lullaby. 969 00:38:16,468 --> 00:38:18,252 [narrator] After being swept in the playoffs 970 00:38:18,296 --> 00:38:20,994 by Montreal for the second straight year, 971 00:38:21,037 --> 00:38:22,996 Roger Neilsen is fired, 972 00:38:23,039 --> 00:38:26,695 along with highly respected hockey man, Jim Gregory, 973 00:38:26,739 --> 00:38:28,610 the Leafs' general manager. 974 00:38:29,219 --> 00:38:30,960 Jim Gregory was a great hockey man 975 00:38:31,004 --> 00:38:34,355 and a great person, you know, and Harold was fortunate, 976 00:38:34,877 --> 00:38:36,923 in my mind, to have a guy like that running it. 977 00:38:36,966 --> 00:38:38,403 Now, if he just let him do that 978 00:38:38,446 --> 00:38:41,797 and do his things and give him the authority 979 00:38:41,841 --> 00:38:44,060 to spend the money that you might have to spend 980 00:38:44,104 --> 00:38:46,236 to keep an extra player rather than, 981 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:47,325 you know, cut into it, 982 00:38:48,282 --> 00:38:50,371 uh, we probably would have had more success. 983 00:38:50,415 --> 00:38:52,982 He had the best hockey mind going in Jim Gregory. 984 00:38:53,026 --> 00:38:55,376 He had the most underrated Maple Leafs general manager, 985 00:38:55,420 --> 00:38:58,379 executive, most-- As beloved a guy as there would be 986 00:38:58,423 --> 00:39:00,425 in the National Hockey League in him. 987 00:39:00,468 --> 00:39:02,688 Jim Gregory started working there when he was 21 years old 988 00:39:02,731 --> 00:39:04,516 and Harold Ballard saw him as a kid. 989 00:39:04,559 --> 00:39:06,692 That's the worst thing I ever saw him do. 990 00:39:07,649 --> 00:39:09,303 When he fired Jim Gregory. 991 00:39:09,347 --> 00:39:10,478 We were on our way. 992 00:39:11,523 --> 00:39:15,222 But somehow or other he got enamored with Imlach, 993 00:39:15,788 --> 00:39:17,267 and brought him in. 994 00:39:17,311 --> 00:39:19,792 [narrator] After cleaning house, 995 00:39:19,835 --> 00:39:22,708 Ballard tried to resurrect the Leafs' glory days 996 00:39:22,751 --> 00:39:25,101 by bringing back the man who coached them 997 00:39:25,145 --> 00:39:27,582 to four Stanley Cups in the '60s. 998 00:39:27,626 --> 00:39:29,367 George "Punch" Imlach, 999 00:39:29,410 --> 00:39:32,021 was named the new general manager. 1000 00:39:32,674 --> 00:39:35,329 Mr. Ballard knows me, and as I pointed out to him, 1001 00:39:35,373 --> 00:39:37,723 my success in the hockey business 1002 00:39:37,766 --> 00:39:39,420 with the Maple Leafs and with Buffalo 1003 00:39:39,464 --> 00:39:41,248 was that I ran the show. 1004 00:39:41,291 --> 00:39:43,468 And so if you want me to have the same success, 1005 00:39:43,511 --> 00:39:45,339 then I have to run it. 1006 00:39:45,383 --> 00:39:47,297 Certainly, there's no sense of paying me a lot of money 1007 00:39:47,341 --> 00:39:48,821 and not letting me do the job 1008 00:39:48,864 --> 00:39:50,518 that I'm supposed to be able to do. 1009 00:39:50,562 --> 00:39:53,391 Harold got involved, brought Punch back 1010 00:39:53,434 --> 00:39:55,958 and then everything just went to shit after that. 1011 00:39:56,002 --> 00:39:58,439 Harold went for the bright lights of Punch. 1012 00:39:58,483 --> 00:40:00,485 Punch convinced him on a quick fix. 1013 00:40:00,528 --> 00:40:02,356 [Vaive] Just when things started to get good, 1014 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,576 Harold would step in and do something stupid 1015 00:40:04,619 --> 00:40:06,752 and-- and turn it upside down. 1016 00:40:06,795 --> 00:40:08,362 [reporter] So you're telling us right here and now 1017 00:40:08,406 --> 00:40:09,798 that Imlach will run the hockey team 1018 00:40:09,842 --> 00:40:11,234 without any interference at all from you? 1019 00:40:11,278 --> 00:40:12,366 They won't have any interference, 1020 00:40:12,410 --> 00:40:13,715 as far as I'm concerned. 1021 00:40:13,759 --> 00:40:15,674 We will have talks and suggestions 1022 00:40:15,717 --> 00:40:17,589 to one another, but that's not interference. 1023 00:40:17,632 --> 00:40:19,373 It's a business deal. 1024 00:40:19,417 --> 00:40:21,506 Punch is smart enough and knows enough about hockey 1025 00:40:21,549 --> 00:40:23,899 that he's not going to try and take it all on himself. 1026 00:40:23,943 --> 00:40:25,945 Imlach's hired in September. 1027 00:40:25,988 --> 00:40:29,165 I get a call from the secretary at Maple Leaf Gardens 1028 00:40:29,209 --> 00:40:31,037 that Mr. Imlach would like to see you in his office, 1029 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:33,126 and I walk into Punch's office. 1030 00:40:33,169 --> 00:40:35,128 And this is the first time I met him, right? 1031 00:40:35,171 --> 00:40:36,738 And this is kind of how the meeting went. 1032 00:40:36,782 --> 00:40:38,784 Um, you go in and there's a board table there, 1033 00:40:38,827 --> 00:40:41,874 and I'm sitting at one end and he's standing up, 1034 00:40:41,917 --> 00:40:43,528 and he goes, "Just who do you think you are?" 1035 00:40:43,571 --> 00:40:45,138 And then he said to me, he says, 1036 00:40:45,181 --> 00:40:46,835 "My captains have always been management, 1037 00:40:46,879 --> 00:40:48,358 and they do what management says." 1038 00:40:48,402 --> 00:40:50,317 And I said, "Well, I believe a captain is 1039 00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:51,927 a go-between between management. 1040 00:40:51,971 --> 00:40:54,060 We're all in this together to work to achieve 1041 00:40:54,103 --> 00:40:56,366 the same common goals," and all that sort of stuff. 1042 00:40:57,237 --> 00:40:58,891 And then the next thing he said, he said, 1043 00:40:58,934 --> 00:41:00,806 "And Alan Eagleson," he says, "he's your player agent." 1044 00:41:00,849 --> 00:41:03,025 He said, uh, "You know, when Eagleson says it's black," 1045 00:41:03,069 --> 00:41:04,766 he says, "I say it's white." 1046 00:41:04,810 --> 00:41:06,420 And he says, "You're going to be stuck in the middle. 1047 00:41:06,464 --> 00:41:08,378 "There's no gray area here, so I would suggest 1048 00:41:08,422 --> 00:41:10,337 you might want to look at getting another agent. 1049 00:41:10,859 --> 00:41:13,340 And he sayas, "Furthermore, you've got a no-trade contract. 1050 00:41:13,383 --> 00:41:15,211 And I don't believe in no-trade contracts, 1051 00:41:15,255 --> 00:41:17,083 and I'm going to test you in court." 1052 00:41:17,126 --> 00:41:18,780 Some people raised the question 1053 00:41:18,824 --> 00:41:22,392 about whether or not you have lost track 1054 00:41:22,436 --> 00:41:24,569 of the new generation, that you don't relate to them 1055 00:41:24,612 --> 00:41:26,266 as well as you did to the players 1056 00:41:26,309 --> 00:41:27,963 in the '50s and '60s. 1057 00:41:28,007 --> 00:41:30,879 It can't be, uh, funny people doing it their way, 1058 00:41:30,923 --> 00:41:33,403 it'’s got to be a team way of doing it, 1059 00:41:33,447 --> 00:41:34,970 and the coaches and the managers, 1060 00:41:35,014 --> 00:41:37,146 they call which way that's got to be done 1061 00:41:37,190 --> 00:41:39,845 and the player has to adjust himself to the team, 1062 00:41:39,888 --> 00:41:42,021 not the team or the rest of the players 1063 00:41:42,064 --> 00:41:45,894 adjusting to the-- the ways one certain person plays. 1064 00:41:45,938 --> 00:41:47,461 You never win that way. 1065 00:41:47,505 --> 00:41:49,463 That's just a fallacy to think you could. 1066 00:41:49,507 --> 00:41:51,900 I think it was clear that Punch Imlach 1067 00:41:51,944 --> 00:41:57,297 in 1979 did not understand the young hockey player of 1979. 1068 00:41:57,340 --> 00:42:00,169 I don't think that's my brilliant observation. 1069 00:42:00,822 --> 00:42:03,129 I think the game had passed him by. 1070 00:42:03,172 --> 00:42:06,915 [Sittler] I'm sure he saw me as a bit of a threat, 1071 00:42:06,959 --> 00:42:08,613 popular guy, a little bit of power, 1072 00:42:08,656 --> 00:42:11,746 and that he wanted to bring his own players in 1073 00:42:11,790 --> 00:42:14,575 and make his own team so that it was Punch'’s team. 1074 00:42:14,619 --> 00:42:17,752 [McDonald] Punch did things to upset the guys. 1075 00:42:17,796 --> 00:42:20,712 He would have us come down for two practices. 1076 00:42:20,755 --> 00:42:23,366 You'd come very first thing in the morning, 1077 00:42:23,410 --> 00:42:27,414 in rush hour, and then you'd have to stay downtown 1078 00:42:27,457 --> 00:42:30,025 'til a late afternoon practice 1079 00:42:30,069 --> 00:42:33,202 so he could send you home in rush hour. 1080 00:42:33,246 --> 00:42:36,815 And it was just to tick the guys off. 1081 00:42:36,858 --> 00:42:38,686 He was just a bad person. 1082 00:42:38,730 --> 00:42:42,690 He was just that snake that lived in the sewer hole. 1083 00:42:42,734 --> 00:42:44,605 It was a circus 1084 00:42:45,214 --> 00:42:46,999 where it didn't need to be a circus. 1085 00:42:47,042 --> 00:42:48,740 He was a ringmaster. 1086 00:42:48,783 --> 00:42:51,612 He was a carnival barker, but the tent was already full. 1087 00:42:51,656 --> 00:42:53,875 All he needed to do was hire competent people 1088 00:42:53,919 --> 00:42:55,311 and let them run the hockey club. 1089 00:42:55,355 --> 00:42:56,486 But he couldn't do that. 1090 00:42:57,923 --> 00:42:59,577 [narrator] Selected eighth overall 1091 00:42:59,620 --> 00:43:02,144 in the 1970 NHL draft, 1092 00:43:02,188 --> 00:43:04,407 Sittler was the face of the team. 1093 00:43:05,234 --> 00:43:08,498 Despite his popularity, or because of it, 1094 00:43:08,542 --> 00:43:11,501 Sittler'’s relationship with Imlach was rocky, 1095 00:43:11,545 --> 00:43:15,070 which meant his relationship with Ballard was rocky. 1096 00:43:16,028 --> 00:43:19,814 I think, honestly, he respected me as a person. 1097 00:43:19,858 --> 00:43:21,816 He said that publicly a number of times. 1098 00:43:21,860 --> 00:43:24,036 I was a hard working guy, a loyal employee, 1099 00:43:24,079 --> 00:43:25,603 a dedicated Maple Leaf. 1100 00:43:25,907 --> 00:43:28,170 I think Darryl, when he came here from London 1101 00:43:28,214 --> 00:43:30,520 as a first round pick, he did everything 1102 00:43:30,564 --> 00:43:34,655 he possibly could to carry the Leaf colors. 1103 00:43:34,699 --> 00:43:37,440 Once he was named captain, he took it up to the next level 1104 00:43:37,484 --> 00:43:40,966 that he was the team spokesman and it was his job. 1105 00:43:41,009 --> 00:43:44,970 So, he weathered the storm constantly in the media. 1106 00:43:45,013 --> 00:43:47,973 He was always up front, always talking to reporters, 1107 00:43:48,016 --> 00:43:50,715 regardless of what was going on behind the scenes. 1108 00:43:50,758 --> 00:43:52,281 And he rarely let it out. 1109 00:43:52,325 --> 00:43:53,674 Everybody really worked hard tonight, 1110 00:43:53,718 --> 00:43:54,806 really gave it everything they had. 1111 00:43:54,849 --> 00:43:56,677 And we finally beat the Flyers. 1112 00:43:56,721 --> 00:43:58,548 It's good-- it'’s good to see, but that's only one game. 1113 00:43:58,592 --> 00:44:01,639 They make it a seven game series that you have to win four in, 1114 00:44:01,682 --> 00:44:03,771 so there'’s three more tough ones yet. 1115 00:44:03,815 --> 00:44:05,599 You're the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 1116 00:44:05,643 --> 00:44:08,341 in 1976, you have a 10-point night, 1117 00:44:08,384 --> 00:44:10,735 you have a five-goal playoff game. 1118 00:44:10,778 --> 00:44:13,259 You scored the winning goal in the Canada Cup. 1119 00:44:13,302 --> 00:44:15,000 I mean, he's a hero. 1120 00:44:16,044 --> 00:44:19,091 [narrator] The tension between Sittler and Imlach exploded. 1121 00:44:19,569 --> 00:44:22,529 Imlach wanted to show the world who was boss, 1122 00:44:22,572 --> 00:44:25,488 so he convinced Ballard to do the unthinkable. 1123 00:44:26,054 --> 00:44:27,882 [Eagleson] I got a call from Ballard, says-- 1124 00:44:27,926 --> 00:44:29,362 said, "You're going to Philly." 1125 00:44:29,405 --> 00:44:32,234 And I said, "Harold, we've got a deal. 1126 00:44:32,278 --> 00:44:33,845 And you signed it." 1127 00:44:33,888 --> 00:44:36,891 So, it's no trade, and he's not going anywhere. 1128 00:44:36,935 --> 00:44:39,459 Lanny McDonald is exceptional, I would say. 1129 00:44:41,635 --> 00:44:42,680 Two days later... 1130 00:44:43,681 --> 00:44:45,552 they traded Lanny McDonald. 1131 00:44:46,422 --> 00:44:48,860 Darryl and I, we acted for Lanny too, 1132 00:44:48,903 --> 00:44:53,125 figured it was a way to teach me and Darryl 1133 00:44:53,168 --> 00:44:56,911 that he'll get me some way or the other or get Darryl. 1134 00:44:56,955 --> 00:45:01,002 [rock music playing] 1135 00:45:01,611 --> 00:45:04,005 [McDonald] Friends in Toronto would phone up and say, 1136 00:45:04,049 --> 00:45:06,965 "Oh, my gosh, thank goodness you got traded. 1137 00:45:07,008 --> 00:45:08,880 You're out of the madhouse." 1138 00:45:08,923 --> 00:45:13,319 But that first moment when you get traded, it's devastating. 1139 00:45:13,362 --> 00:45:15,582 I felt things were deteriorating in Toronto. 1140 00:45:15,625 --> 00:45:17,627 I didn't feel that, uh, 1141 00:45:17,671 --> 00:45:20,456 uh, what they were doing to the hockey club was helping. 1142 00:45:20,500 --> 00:45:22,241 I felt they were tearing down the players 1143 00:45:22,284 --> 00:45:25,070 and any time you start tearing down the players, uh, 1144 00:45:25,113 --> 00:45:26,332 you're tearing the heart and soul 1145 00:45:26,375 --> 00:45:28,116 out of your hockey club. 1146 00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:30,379 It's not as if I-- I'm just talking about sour grapes, 1147 00:45:30,423 --> 00:45:33,861 but the fans, uh, are very dissatisfied 1148 00:45:33,905 --> 00:45:35,820 and I can't blame them because, uh, 1149 00:45:35,863 --> 00:45:37,647 that is a hockey dynasty 1150 00:45:37,691 --> 00:45:39,780 and if that goes downhill, the whole league's hurting. 1151 00:45:39,824 --> 00:45:41,390 It was completely out of spite. 1152 00:45:41,434 --> 00:45:44,263 That was Punch when he came back from Buffalo. 1153 00:45:44,872 --> 00:45:47,657 Uh, basically, letting everyone know 1154 00:45:47,701 --> 00:45:49,398 that he was in charge. 1155 00:45:49,442 --> 00:45:52,445 And the best way that he was going to show the world 1156 00:45:52,488 --> 00:45:53,968 that he was in charge, well, 1157 00:45:54,012 --> 00:45:55,709 it was going to break up the two best friends, 1158 00:45:55,753 --> 00:45:57,145 Lanny and Darryl. 1159 00:45:57,189 --> 00:45:59,365 So, if you can't move Darryl, 1160 00:45:59,887 --> 00:46:03,195 then you-- you piss off Darryl by trading Lanny. 1161 00:46:03,238 --> 00:46:06,241 That was the great line by Frank Gore in the Toronto Star, 1162 00:46:06,285 --> 00:46:09,723 that Sittler was caught between the devil and the deep blue C. 1163 00:46:10,202 --> 00:46:12,073 The deep blue letter C on his chest, 1164 00:46:12,117 --> 00:46:14,859 where they couldn't work for this man anymore. 1165 00:46:14,902 --> 00:46:16,512 Sittler understood how to succeed 1166 00:46:16,556 --> 00:46:17,992 in the National Hockey League. 1167 00:46:18,036 --> 00:46:20,952 He understood what it took and the sacrifice 1168 00:46:20,995 --> 00:46:22,562 and the work that all of them did 1169 00:46:22,605 --> 00:46:25,347 to get to be one of the Toronto Maple Leafs. 1170 00:46:25,391 --> 00:46:28,350 And then to see that C and that Leaf 1171 00:46:28,394 --> 00:46:30,396 become an object of ridicule... 1172 00:46:31,223 --> 00:46:32,920 that's got to be not only demoralizing, 1173 00:46:32,964 --> 00:46:34,661 it's gotta be very destabilizing. 1174 00:46:34,704 --> 00:46:38,056 To think I wanted so badly, 1175 00:46:38,099 --> 00:46:40,885 I dreamed so hard to wear this sweater, 1176 00:46:41,494 --> 00:46:42,669 and now it's a joke. 1177 00:46:42,712 --> 00:46:44,279 And what happened there was, 1178 00:46:44,323 --> 00:46:46,934 I'd gone through all these months 1179 00:46:46,978 --> 00:46:50,329 of this crap that was going on behind the scenes. 1180 00:46:51,243 --> 00:46:53,723 And I remember specifically saying to myself, 1181 00:46:53,767 --> 00:46:54,812 as I'm driving... 1182 00:46:55,813 --> 00:46:57,379 home, the morning of the morning skate, 1183 00:46:57,423 --> 00:46:59,251 it's a Saturday morning, and Lanny had been traded. 1184 00:47:00,078 --> 00:47:01,166 "Why am I here? 1185 00:47:01,819 --> 00:47:04,212 I'm here to play hockey. That's my job. 1186 00:47:04,256 --> 00:47:05,910 Punch doesn't respect me. 1187 00:47:05,953 --> 00:47:08,086 There's no communication as a captain. 1188 00:47:08,129 --> 00:47:10,001 So, I'm just going to remove the captain 1189 00:47:10,044 --> 00:47:11,132 and go to my job. 1190 00:47:11,176 --> 00:47:12,525 I'm going to show you, 1191 00:47:12,568 --> 00:47:14,309 make sure that I use this terminology, 1192 00:47:14,353 --> 00:47:16,572 the fat guy upstairs and the rest of Canada... 1193 00:47:17,617 --> 00:47:19,358 that I'm a hockey player, I'm going to play hockey. 1194 00:47:19,401 --> 00:47:20,707 That's what I'm paid to do. 1195 00:47:20,750 --> 00:47:21,926 Went back on the ice and played. 1196 00:47:22,404 --> 00:47:24,493 [McDonald] I love him, I respect him, 1197 00:47:24,537 --> 00:47:27,192 and that was his decision. 1198 00:47:27,235 --> 00:47:29,150 So, I back him completely. 1199 00:47:29,803 --> 00:47:31,152 Darryl did everything. 1200 00:47:32,327 --> 00:47:35,287 In spite of a bunch making life miserable for him. 1201 00:47:35,809 --> 00:47:38,159 Up until the trade of Lanny... 1202 00:47:39,900 --> 00:47:42,860 Darryl's position was impeccable 1203 00:47:42,903 --> 00:47:45,906 and nobody had any complaints whatsoever. 1204 00:47:45,950 --> 00:47:48,343 The only thing that hurt him with the public 1205 00:47:48,387 --> 00:47:51,651 was when he took off the C, but I don't blame him for it, 1206 00:47:51,694 --> 00:47:53,261 I commend him for it. 1207 00:47:53,305 --> 00:47:55,742 [Cherry] Oh, yeah. Harold, he was a vindictive guy. 1208 00:47:56,482 --> 00:47:58,571 You crossed him, you-- you paid the price 1209 00:47:58,614 --> 00:48:00,399 and, uh, Sittler paid the price. 1210 00:48:01,966 --> 00:48:04,533 [narrator] Harold Ballard was a man of convictions. 1211 00:48:04,577 --> 00:48:06,622 And not just the legal kind. 1212 00:48:06,666 --> 00:48:09,843 His blind faith in Punch Imlach cost him dearly, 1213 00:48:09,887 --> 00:48:13,064 and his refusal to pay players what they were worth 1214 00:48:13,107 --> 00:48:16,371 compounded an already terrible situation. 1215 00:48:16,415 --> 00:48:20,288 By 1982, Darryl Sittler's fate was sealed, 1216 00:48:20,332 --> 00:48:22,116 but he was the last to know. 1217 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:23,509 I was making, well, maybe, 1218 00:48:23,552 --> 00:48:25,554 160, 170 grand a year, whatever it was, 1219 00:48:25,598 --> 00:48:27,774 and other guys were making 250, right? 1220 00:48:27,817 --> 00:48:29,994 So I went to Mr. Ballard and I said, 1221 00:48:30,037 --> 00:48:32,822 "Listen, uh, things have changed somewhat. 1222 00:48:32,866 --> 00:48:35,913 Would you consider, uh, moving forward, um, 1223 00:48:35,956 --> 00:48:37,871 signing me a new contract, and, kind of, 1224 00:48:37,915 --> 00:48:39,829 bringing my status up with these other guys?" 1225 00:48:39,873 --> 00:48:41,440 And I remember him saying to me, "Darryl, 1226 00:48:41,483 --> 00:48:43,964 leave it with me, I'll do whatever I can, right?" 1227 00:48:44,617 --> 00:48:46,706 The secretary calls and she says, 1228 00:48:46,749 --> 00:48:48,142 "Mr. Ballard wants to talk to you." 1229 00:48:48,186 --> 00:48:49,709 "Darryl." 1230 00:48:49,752 --> 00:48:51,319 he says, "I've decided what we're going to do." 1231 00:48:51,363 --> 00:48:53,669 We'll trade you to any city you want to go to. 1232 00:48:54,496 --> 00:48:56,368 Come and see me." Like that. 1233 00:48:56,411 --> 00:48:57,499 Yeah, I traded him. 1234 00:48:58,805 --> 00:49:00,198 And it was a tough thing to do. 1235 00:49:02,678 --> 00:49:04,419 But Darryl wanted another contract. 1236 00:49:05,420 --> 00:49:06,944 And Mr. Ballard wouldn't give it to him. 1237 00:49:08,641 --> 00:49:10,991 He wanted to play out the contract that he had. 1238 00:49:12,645 --> 00:49:15,169 And that's what started the brouhaha. 1239 00:49:15,213 --> 00:49:18,564 And that's why Darryl came and asked for a trade. 1240 00:49:19,086 --> 00:49:20,870 [Sittler] And then through the grapevine, so to speak, 1241 00:49:20,914 --> 00:49:22,655 that Harold's saying, "Ah, we're not trading him, 1242 00:49:22,698 --> 00:49:24,222 we're keeping him, we're just-- 1243 00:49:24,265 --> 00:49:26,050 we're just gotta motivate him a little bit." 1244 00:49:26,093 --> 00:49:27,747 or something to that effect, which fueled me more, right? 1245 00:49:27,790 --> 00:49:29,618 Like, okay, if you say you're going to trade me, 1246 00:49:29,662 --> 00:49:31,403 we're going to do a deal 1247 00:49:31,446 --> 00:49:33,013 and don't play these games, right? 1248 00:49:33,057 --> 00:49:35,320 Darryl is, you know, starting to get up in age. 1249 00:49:35,929 --> 00:49:37,409 He's still a good player. 1250 00:49:37,887 --> 00:49:41,282 But to try to get equal value 1251 00:49:41,326 --> 00:49:44,242 when you have to trade somebody and you have... 1252 00:49:45,852 --> 00:49:47,897 a certain amount of clubs to trade, 1253 00:49:47,941 --> 00:49:50,900 you can't trade to everybody because he won't go. 1254 00:49:50,944 --> 00:49:52,511 He's got no trade clause. 1255 00:49:52,554 --> 00:49:54,034 Because of my no trade contracts 1256 00:49:54,078 --> 00:49:56,384 I gave them five teams that they could, uh, 1257 00:49:56,428 --> 00:49:58,386 you know, have the opportunity to negotiate with. 1258 00:49:58,430 --> 00:50:00,780 One was Buffalo, Minnesota, Philadelphia, 1259 00:50:00,823 --> 00:50:02,216 or whatever, right? 1260 00:50:02,260 --> 00:50:04,044 And then they finally came to a deal 1261 00:50:04,088 --> 00:50:06,786 with Philadelphia, and that's how I left town. 1262 00:50:06,829 --> 00:50:10,050 My sense was always that the chaos 1263 00:50:10,094 --> 00:50:14,098 that Harold inspired, incited, created, 1264 00:50:14,141 --> 00:50:18,145 led to just a whirlwind of happenstance 1265 00:50:18,189 --> 00:50:22,149 and things going wrong and people blaming other people. 1266 00:50:22,193 --> 00:50:25,065 To me, the promise of the '70s 1267 00:50:25,109 --> 00:50:28,895 ended with Sittler's trade to Philadelphia 1268 00:50:28,938 --> 00:50:30,853 in January of '82. 1269 00:50:30,897 --> 00:50:33,030 [McDonald] Darryl was the one guy 1270 00:50:34,074 --> 00:50:36,424 that, from start to finish, 1271 00:50:36,468 --> 00:50:40,515 should have worn the Maple Leaf jersey forever 1272 00:50:40,559 --> 00:50:42,952 and never gone anywhere. 1273 00:50:42,996 --> 00:50:46,434 [Brunt] They were on the verge of being very, very good. 1274 00:50:46,478 --> 00:50:47,653 They should have been a contender 1275 00:50:47,696 --> 00:50:49,785 in a playoff team for a long time. 1276 00:50:50,569 --> 00:50:52,005 And instead, you know, 1277 00:50:52,049 --> 00:50:54,181 he attacked the foundation players. 1278 00:50:54,225 --> 00:50:56,401 He, you know, he singled guys out. 1279 00:50:56,444 --> 00:50:59,447 He humiliated them. And to what end? 1280 00:50:59,491 --> 00:51:01,188 Like, there's no-- there's no hockey argument 1281 00:51:01,232 --> 00:51:02,668 for what he did. 1282 00:51:02,711 --> 00:51:04,235 There's absolutely no hockey argument. 1283 00:51:04,278 --> 00:51:05,236 I don't think there's any marketing argument 1284 00:51:05,279 --> 00:51:06,628 for what he did. 1285 00:51:06,672 --> 00:51:08,021 There's not any argument for what he does. 1286 00:51:08,065 --> 00:51:09,762 It was kind of, you know... 1287 00:51:10,763 --> 00:51:12,460 cruelty, right? 1288 00:51:12,504 --> 00:51:14,332 Like, it was just kind of done out of cruelty and spite. 1289 00:51:14,375 --> 00:51:17,509 Harold didn't care about winning necessarily. 1290 00:51:17,552 --> 00:51:20,120 He said he wanted to win, but he cared more about the fact 1291 00:51:20,164 --> 00:51:23,471 that he was not the star of that team. 1292 00:51:23,515 --> 00:51:25,082 It was Roger Neilson, 1293 00:51:25,125 --> 00:51:26,518 it was Darryl Sittler, it was Mike Palmateer, 1294 00:51:26,561 --> 00:51:28,476 it was, like, the players and the team 1295 00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:31,305 became above him and he didn't like that one bit. 1296 00:51:31,349 --> 00:51:35,353 [energetic music playing] 1297 00:51:36,963 --> 00:51:39,705 [narrator] Rick Vaive came to Toronto in 1980 1298 00:51:39,748 --> 00:51:41,489 as part of the trade 1299 00:51:41,533 --> 00:51:44,492 that saw fan favorite Tiger Williams go to Vancouver. 1300 00:51:44,536 --> 00:51:48,844 Vaive became the first Leaf to score 50 goals in a season. 1301 00:51:48,888 --> 00:51:52,326 A feat he achieved in three consecutive years. 1302 00:51:52,370 --> 00:51:55,155 Logic suggested that Vaive deserved a raise. 1303 00:51:55,199 --> 00:51:58,941 But logic and Harold Ballard's wallet were at odds. 1304 00:51:58,985 --> 00:52:01,335 Ricky had just scored 50 for the third time, 1305 00:52:01,379 --> 00:52:04,904 and in one of the papers it said, 1306 00:52:04,947 --> 00:52:07,080 "Vaive scores 50 for the third year," 1307 00:52:07,124 --> 00:52:08,734 or something like that. 1308 00:52:08,777 --> 00:52:10,910 And his contract was up, and underneath it, it said, 1309 00:52:10,953 --> 00:52:12,825 "Looks like Ballard's going to have to loosen 1310 00:52:12,868 --> 00:52:13,826 his purse strings. 1311 00:52:14,783 --> 00:52:16,437 He turned to Ricky, who was right here. 1312 00:52:16,481 --> 00:52:18,744 My head-- My chin was basically on Rick's shoulder. 1313 00:52:18,787 --> 00:52:21,181 So, you know, Harold was right here and he says, 1314 00:52:21,225 --> 00:52:23,270 "If you think you're getting another 1315 00:52:23,314 --> 00:52:25,446 f'ing dime out of me, you're crazy." 1316 00:52:25,490 --> 00:52:28,145 And sits down. And he was dead serious. 1317 00:52:28,928 --> 00:52:31,844 So, as a young guy, I'm like, "Oof, you know, 1318 00:52:31,887 --> 00:52:33,715 this is the owner talking to the captain 1319 00:52:33,759 --> 00:52:35,804 and it's like, well, it's-- 1320 00:52:35,848 --> 00:52:37,893 this stuff's, uh, this stuff's real." 1321 00:52:37,937 --> 00:52:40,548 I don't think he gave a shit about the team. 1322 00:52:40,592 --> 00:52:42,376 I-- I honestly don't. 1323 00:52:42,420 --> 00:52:44,900 I think all he cared about was having people in the seats 1324 00:52:44,944 --> 00:52:46,119 and making money. 1325 00:52:46,163 --> 00:52:48,904 And I-- I don't think he cared 1326 00:52:48,948 --> 00:52:51,864 if we won a Stanley Cup or not, I-- I honestly don't. 1327 00:52:51,907 --> 00:52:53,213 [McKenny] I really feel sorry for the players. 1328 00:52:53,257 --> 00:52:54,954 I know they come to the rink 1329 00:52:54,997 --> 00:52:56,608 and they work as hard as they can 1330 00:52:56,651 --> 00:52:58,262 but you can't get that extra work out of yourself 1331 00:52:58,305 --> 00:52:59,828 unless you know you're gonna get some respect 1332 00:52:59,872 --> 00:53:01,439 for the job that you do, so you gotta have it. 1333 00:53:01,482 --> 00:53:02,918 And if that's not going to be there, 1334 00:53:02,962 --> 00:53:04,355 this team is never going to get any better. 1335 00:53:04,398 --> 00:53:06,095 [Ricky] Dan Maloney was kind of-- 1336 00:53:06,139 --> 00:53:08,576 you know, he started out a little bit rough as a coach, 1337 00:53:08,620 --> 00:53:11,188 but he was coming around and-- and-- you know, 1338 00:53:11,231 --> 00:53:13,102 we had a couple of good years under him. 1339 00:53:14,016 --> 00:53:15,801 And then he wanted a two-year contract. 1340 00:53:15,844 --> 00:53:17,542 Harold wouldn't give him any more than one. 1341 00:53:17,585 --> 00:53:19,500 So, he left and went to Winnipeg. 1342 00:53:19,544 --> 00:53:21,850 So, you know, we lost the one guy 1343 00:53:21,894 --> 00:53:24,984 that was kind of sort of starting to get it 1344 00:53:25,027 --> 00:53:27,247 and what it took, talking to the players 1345 00:53:27,291 --> 00:53:28,379 and communicating. 1346 00:53:28,944 --> 00:53:31,251 And then all of a sudden he's gone. 1347 00:53:31,295 --> 00:53:33,297 It was one thing after another. 1348 00:53:33,340 --> 00:53:37,301 It was, like, nonstop nonsense, uh, you know, by Harold. 1349 00:53:37,344 --> 00:53:39,128 It was always hard to countenance that 1350 00:53:39,172 --> 00:53:41,392 because Maple Leaf Gardens 1351 00:53:41,435 --> 00:53:43,481 was such a juggernaut financially. 1352 00:53:43,524 --> 00:53:45,004 It was in the '60s 1353 00:53:45,047 --> 00:53:47,049 when he was part of the Silver Seven. 1354 00:53:47,093 --> 00:53:50,314 It was in the '70s when he became the sole owner, 1355 00:53:50,357 --> 00:53:52,838 and it certainly was through the '80s 1356 00:53:52,881 --> 00:53:55,928 when there wasn't a seat to be had at Maple Leaf Gardens 1357 00:53:55,971 --> 00:53:59,627 and the TV contracts for the time were very lucrative. 1358 00:53:59,671 --> 00:54:01,760 And yet he didn't go out 1359 00:54:01,803 --> 00:54:04,241 and invest that money back in the team. 1360 00:54:05,416 --> 00:54:07,722 [Orr] Waiting for the Leafs to win at this point in time, 1361 00:54:07,766 --> 00:54:10,682 is like leaving on the porch light for Jimmy Hoffa. 1362 00:54:11,465 --> 00:54:13,337 [narrator] The turmoil of the '80s 1363 00:54:13,380 --> 00:54:17,515 made the Stanley Cup of 1967 seem like ancient history. 1364 00:54:18,037 --> 00:54:21,562 But Ballard carried on, confident and cocky, 1365 00:54:21,606 --> 00:54:23,695 more worried about the bottom line 1366 00:54:23,738 --> 00:54:25,349 than the blue line. 1367 00:54:25,914 --> 00:54:28,917 The Leafs of the '80s were a woe be gotten group. 1368 00:54:28,961 --> 00:54:31,529 It was pretty crazy, I mean, over those years 1369 00:54:31,572 --> 00:54:33,400 we drafted some pretty good players, 1370 00:54:33,444 --> 00:54:35,924 but Harold, he ran it. 1371 00:54:36,925 --> 00:54:38,318 First of all, 1372 00:54:38,362 --> 00:54:40,102 he wouldn't pay anybody good money. 1373 00:54:40,146 --> 00:54:41,887 He wouldn't pay for a good general manager 1374 00:54:41,930 --> 00:54:43,889 that could make good decisions. 1375 00:54:43,932 --> 00:54:45,630 So those players that we drafted, 1376 00:54:45,673 --> 00:54:47,284 that were good hockey players, 1377 00:54:47,327 --> 00:54:49,721 they were forced into action at 18 years old 1378 00:54:49,764 --> 00:54:51,940 when most of them weren't physically 1379 00:54:51,984 --> 00:54:54,508 or mentally ready to play in the National Hockey League. 1380 00:54:54,987 --> 00:54:57,032 [Leeman] As a young person, you go... 1381 00:54:58,469 --> 00:55:01,428 "Well, you know, it's not so secure here." 1382 00:55:01,472 --> 00:55:05,171 You-- you want to have the feeling of security 1383 00:55:05,214 --> 00:55:07,434 in your-- in your job. 1384 00:55:07,478 --> 00:55:10,481 You know, you don't want people to be afraid for their job, 1385 00:55:10,524 --> 00:55:12,961 if they make one mistake, like, you know, people are-- 1386 00:55:13,005 --> 00:55:14,267 Should be allowed to make mistakes 1387 00:55:14,311 --> 00:55:16,487 and they should be allowed to grow. 1388 00:55:16,530 --> 00:55:18,576 And that was never-- 1389 00:55:18,619 --> 00:55:20,012 that was never given to... 1390 00:55:21,143 --> 00:55:22,580 any teams in the '80s. 1391 00:55:22,623 --> 00:55:25,147 [Clark] And being a rookie at 18 in the NHL, 1392 00:55:25,191 --> 00:55:26,627 you're just so happy to be there. 1393 00:55:26,671 --> 00:55:29,195 And half our team was 20 and under at that stage. 1394 00:55:29,238 --> 00:55:31,719 And the other half team, you know, the Ricky Vaives 1395 00:55:31,763 --> 00:55:33,852 and Boörje Salmings, they would understand it. 1396 00:55:33,895 --> 00:55:35,288 They were ten years in the league, 1397 00:55:35,332 --> 00:55:37,290 15 years in the league and lived it. 1398 00:55:37,899 --> 00:55:39,466 So they're going, "Oh, here we go again." 1399 00:55:40,293 --> 00:55:42,295 For us, first year guys, we're like, 1400 00:55:42,339 --> 00:55:44,297 "This is awesome, we're playing in the NHL." 1401 00:55:44,341 --> 00:55:46,473 And I was 18 years old. I was just happy to be there. 1402 00:55:46,517 --> 00:55:49,694 [rock music playing] 1403 00:55:49,737 --> 00:55:52,610 [Joshi] So many talented people 1404 00:55:52,653 --> 00:55:56,701 that could have got that team, perennially competitive, 1405 00:55:56,744 --> 00:55:58,137 maybe not Stanley Cup every year, 1406 00:55:58,180 --> 00:56:00,487 but certainly not a laughingstock 1407 00:56:00,531 --> 00:56:02,097 as they were through the '80s, 1408 00:56:02,141 --> 00:56:05,840 were cast aside and it was a mess 1409 00:56:05,884 --> 00:56:08,365 and it just became worse and worse and worse. 1410 00:56:09,061 --> 00:56:10,976 [announcer] For the second time in three years, 1411 00:56:11,019 --> 00:56:14,371 the seats at Maple Leaf Gardens will be empty at playoff time. 1412 00:56:14,414 --> 00:56:17,591 Right now, the organization just doesn't have it. 1413 00:56:17,635 --> 00:56:19,201 [reporter] Are you disappointed in the Leafs? 1414 00:56:19,245 --> 00:56:21,856 -Not really. -[reporter] Why is that? 1415 00:56:21,900 --> 00:56:23,075 I didn't have great expectations for them 1416 00:56:23,118 --> 00:56:24,381 in the first place. 1417 00:56:24,424 --> 00:56:25,512 [reporter] You're a hockey fan? 1418 00:56:25,556 --> 00:56:27,079 Not really. 1419 00:56:27,122 --> 00:56:28,602 [reporter] You don't follow the Leafs at all? 1420 00:56:28,646 --> 00:56:30,169 -Not this year anyway. -[reporter] Why is that? 1421 00:56:30,212 --> 00:56:32,084 Uh, well, they're at the bottom, aren't they? 1422 00:56:32,127 --> 00:56:34,695 Going through those years was very difficult because 1423 00:56:34,739 --> 00:56:36,784 losing really gets to you after a while. 1424 00:56:36,828 --> 00:56:39,265 And it almost becomes a job. 1425 00:56:39,308 --> 00:56:41,441 And it was a job obviously. 1426 00:56:41,485 --> 00:56:43,574 And I got paid pretty good to do it. 1427 00:56:44,313 --> 00:56:46,141 But, you know, at the end of the day, 1428 00:56:46,185 --> 00:56:48,274 you got to have fun, too, I mean, when you go to work, 1429 00:56:48,317 --> 00:56:50,755 you want to have fun and you want to enjoy it. 1430 00:56:51,320 --> 00:56:53,845 And obviously we weren't having a whole lot of fun 1431 00:56:53,888 --> 00:56:55,281 because we weren't winning. 1432 00:56:55,324 --> 00:56:57,588 It's just unfortunate if you come along 1433 00:56:57,631 --> 00:57:00,286 as a young athlete at that time 1434 00:57:00,329 --> 00:57:02,027 and you've worked your whole life 1435 00:57:02,767 --> 00:57:05,247 to be a pro hockey player and you run into this. 1436 00:57:05,987 --> 00:57:08,773 It makes for a-- a rocky road. 1437 00:57:09,382 --> 00:57:10,862 You want to learn how to be a pro, 1438 00:57:10,905 --> 00:57:13,995 you want to see it from, you know, 1439 00:57:14,039 --> 00:57:16,258 the guys that are ahead of you, but, you know, 1440 00:57:16,302 --> 00:57:18,217 when things are happening to them like that, 1441 00:57:18,260 --> 00:57:21,873 how is it that they can pass on their experience? 1442 00:57:22,351 --> 00:57:26,530 It got to the point where the-- Even the fans were so disgusted 1443 00:57:26,573 --> 00:57:27,966 with what they were seeing. 1444 00:57:28,009 --> 00:57:29,228 There was one moment when... 1445 00:57:30,229 --> 00:57:32,536 the fans did something very un-Toronto like. 1446 00:57:32,579 --> 00:57:34,668 [announcer] Now there's all sorts of debris 1447 00:57:34,712 --> 00:57:36,148 being thrown onto the ice. 1448 00:57:37,932 --> 00:57:39,107 [Ormsby] I don't think it was directed 1449 00:57:39,151 --> 00:57:40,500 at the players so much, 1450 00:57:40,544 --> 00:57:43,372 but it was just the whole awful mess 1451 00:57:44,112 --> 00:57:45,766 that the Leafs had become. 1452 00:57:45,810 --> 00:57:47,333 [announcer] We've got a streaker on the ice. 1453 00:57:47,376 --> 00:57:49,030 [Eagleson] There's no question about that. 1454 00:57:49,074 --> 00:57:51,380 Harold was asked to take blame for that 1455 00:57:51,424 --> 00:57:53,034 because he was the owner. 1456 00:57:53,600 --> 00:57:55,384 So he didn't hire the right people. 1457 00:57:55,907 --> 00:57:58,997 And he didn't draft the right players 1458 00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:02,043 and they didn't run the organization. 1459 00:58:02,087 --> 00:58:04,916 So, they had a flow through from their minor team 1460 00:58:04,959 --> 00:58:06,570 up to the big leagues. 1461 00:58:06,613 --> 00:58:09,181 So, there's no question 1462 00:58:09,224 --> 00:58:12,097 that Harold has to take the hit for that. 1463 00:58:12,140 --> 00:58:14,099 [Parrish] I think for a lot of those years... 1464 00:58:15,100 --> 00:58:18,190 there was always the hope that sanity would prevail. 1465 00:58:18,712 --> 00:58:20,714 There was always the hope that 1466 00:58:20,758 --> 00:58:23,804 Harold would bring in someone who was qualified. 1467 00:58:24,805 --> 00:58:26,720 [Joshi] He didn't espouse to the business theory that, 1468 00:58:26,764 --> 00:58:29,244 you know, you need to spend money to make money. 1469 00:58:29,288 --> 00:58:30,768 To him, it was like, "Why? 1470 00:58:30,811 --> 00:58:32,465 Why do I have to do that? The building's full. 1471 00:58:33,466 --> 00:58:36,077 I've got program sales. I've got this. I got that. 1472 00:58:36,643 --> 00:58:39,907 Why do I need to go and pay the hockey executive 1473 00:58:39,951 --> 00:58:41,169 a couple hundred thousand dollars, 1474 00:58:41,213 --> 00:58:42,780 then give him all the control?" 1475 00:58:42,823 --> 00:58:44,521 That was the biggest thing. 1476 00:58:44,564 --> 00:58:47,611 He never gave anybody total autonomy or total control. 1477 00:58:47,654 --> 00:58:49,569 Everything had to go through him. 1478 00:58:49,613 --> 00:58:51,440 [reporter] How comfortable are you with your image 1479 00:58:51,484 --> 00:58:52,964 with Toronto hockey fans? 1480 00:58:53,007 --> 00:58:54,574 A lot of people think you're the problem here. 1481 00:58:55,053 --> 00:58:56,707 [Harold] Well, maybe I am. 1482 00:58:56,750 --> 00:58:59,057 If they want to buy the place, it's open for sale. 1483 00:58:59,100 --> 00:59:00,537 All they have to do is bring money. 1484 00:59:02,582 --> 00:59:04,584 [narrator] Ballard loved chaos 1485 00:59:04,628 --> 00:59:07,065 and reveled in sparring with the press 1486 00:59:07,108 --> 00:59:09,546 or anyone who questioned 1487 00:59:09,589 --> 00:59:12,374 his increasingly inappropriate behavior. 1488 00:59:12,418 --> 00:59:14,638 Now, don't start that fucking camera going. 1489 00:59:14,681 --> 00:59:16,509 Couple of swell looking broads in here. 1490 00:59:16,553 --> 00:59:18,685 Holy Christ, you ought to see the one in the front. 1491 00:59:18,729 --> 00:59:21,427 Talk about a linebacker. Jesus Christ, eh? 1492 00:59:21,470 --> 00:59:23,864 As we have been sucking the hind tit long enough 1493 00:59:23,908 --> 00:59:26,737 and with a few of these kind of guys coming in with-- 1494 00:59:26,780 --> 00:59:28,782 We are-- We're-- But don't laugh. 1495 00:59:28,826 --> 00:59:30,828 Goddammit, you can't-- 1496 00:59:30,871 --> 00:59:33,004 you can't ignore these kind of things. 1497 00:59:33,047 --> 00:59:35,397 And we've tried, whether you think we have or not, 1498 00:59:35,441 --> 00:59:37,791 with the bullshit that you put in the paper 1499 00:59:37,835 --> 00:59:39,619 telling us how rotten we've been. 1500 00:59:39,663 --> 00:59:42,709 Through his ownership years, he was on the record a lot 1501 00:59:42,753 --> 00:59:44,668 with comments that were misogynistic, 1502 00:59:45,320 --> 00:59:47,540 with comments that were homophobic, 1503 00:59:47,584 --> 00:59:48,976 with comments that were racist. 1504 00:59:49,847 --> 00:59:51,631 I don't think you can, 1505 00:59:51,675 --> 00:59:55,026 even though the times were different than they are today, 1506 00:59:55,069 --> 00:59:56,505 even in those times, 1507 00:59:56,549 --> 00:59:58,464 he was outrageous for those times. 1508 00:59:58,507 --> 00:59:59,900 Get out of here. 1509 00:59:59,944 --> 01:00:02,207 Or you'll get a good kick in the balls. 1510 01:00:02,250 --> 01:00:05,427 If Harold Ballard existed in 2022, 1511 01:00:05,471 --> 01:00:08,213 he would've been canceled, like, very quickly. 1512 01:00:08,256 --> 01:00:11,085 And essentially, this is someone who's incredibly powerful. 1513 01:00:11,129 --> 01:00:14,959 Pick what equity-deserving group he decided to offend. 1514 01:00:15,002 --> 01:00:17,178 And-- You-- And let's just do the bingo. 1515 01:00:17,222 --> 01:00:20,007 He decided to offend them all at different points 1516 01:00:20,051 --> 01:00:22,096 and was not apologetic about it. 1517 01:00:22,140 --> 01:00:23,794 [Khamisa] I don't know if Harold Ballard 1518 01:00:23,837 --> 01:00:25,665 would have been around very long in a present-day lens. 1519 01:00:25,709 --> 01:00:27,624 I don't think he would have had enough leeway 1520 01:00:27,667 --> 01:00:29,495 to have people forgive that 1521 01:00:29,538 --> 01:00:31,323 and allow him to stay in the role that he did. 1522 01:00:31,366 --> 01:00:33,325 You say something like some of the things 1523 01:00:33,368 --> 01:00:35,806 Harold Ballard said back then, you're out of there. 1524 01:00:35,849 --> 01:00:37,634 He was abusive to his players, 1525 01:00:37,677 --> 01:00:39,331 he was abusive to his general managers 1526 01:00:39,374 --> 01:00:41,028 and his coaches. 1527 01:00:41,072 --> 01:00:44,684 And he had this platform that really went unchallenged. 1528 01:00:44,728 --> 01:00:46,947 And he had an incredible interview 1529 01:00:46,991 --> 01:00:48,601 with CBC and Barbara Frum. 1530 01:00:48,645 --> 01:00:50,472 -[Barbara] Hi, Mr. Ballard. -[Harold] Hi. 1531 01:00:50,516 --> 01:00:51,909 -[Barbara] How are you? -[Harold] Well, I'm all right. 1532 01:00:51,952 --> 01:00:53,911 [Barbara] You won a hockey game? 1533 01:00:53,954 --> 01:00:55,652 [Harold] We won two. What's the matter with your addition? 1534 01:00:55,695 --> 01:00:57,131 Why don't you get somebody on there 1535 01:00:57,175 --> 01:00:58,698 that can handle this job, Dick? 1536 01:00:58,742 --> 01:01:00,134 Females on the radio, they're a joke. 1537 01:01:00,178 --> 01:01:02,136 -They're a joke. -[Dick] Hang on. 1538 01:01:02,180 --> 01:01:03,485 [Harold] You know where they're at their best, don't you? 1539 01:01:03,529 --> 01:01:05,096 [Dick] I probably should stay. 1540 01:01:05,662 --> 01:01:07,315 [Harold] Well, lock them up once in a while, 1541 01:01:07,359 --> 01:01:09,230 [indistinct] once in a while. 1542 01:01:09,274 --> 01:01:10,710 -[Barbara] Mr. Ballard-- -[Harold] Would you keep quiet? 1543 01:01:10,754 --> 01:01:12,190 [Barbara] No. This is still my show. 1544 01:01:12,233 --> 01:01:13,800 [Harold] Well-- 1545 01:01:13,844 --> 01:01:15,672 [Barbara] I have another question for you. 1546 01:01:15,715 --> 01:01:17,412 [Harold] I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Dick, 1547 01:01:17,456 --> 01:01:19,066 so when you learn to mind your own business, 1548 01:01:19,110 --> 01:01:20,677 and let me talk to Dick, it'll be fine. Goodbye. 1549 01:01:21,286 --> 01:01:24,724 He basically tells her to shut up on her own show. 1550 01:01:24,768 --> 01:01:26,160 This was him. 1551 01:01:26,204 --> 01:01:27,988 You're renowned for the outrageous things 1552 01:01:28,032 --> 01:01:30,774 you say about women, about racial groups. 1553 01:01:30,817 --> 01:01:32,514 Why do you say things like that? 1554 01:01:32,558 --> 01:01:34,212 Well, that's the way I think. 1555 01:01:34,255 --> 01:01:36,693 And as I said before, I tell people what I think. 1556 01:01:36,736 --> 01:01:38,172 I don't think one way 1557 01:01:38,216 --> 01:01:40,000 and then tell somebody else another way. 1558 01:01:40,044 --> 01:01:41,872 And to follow that up, 1559 01:01:41,915 --> 01:01:46,093 there was a CBC Fifth Estate story done on him in 1980. 1560 01:01:46,615 --> 01:01:48,443 And they had mics hanging around him. 1561 01:01:48,487 --> 01:01:51,229 When he is using the N-word around athletes 1562 01:01:51,272 --> 01:01:52,752 or about athletes, you know? 1563 01:01:52,796 --> 01:01:53,927 [man] Kelly. 1564 01:01:55,755 --> 01:01:58,105 And he's a hell of a-- he's a hell of a player too. 1565 01:01:58,149 --> 01:01:59,367 [Harold] [bleep] 1566 01:02:00,020 --> 01:02:01,935 No. Really? No, wait. 1567 01:02:03,763 --> 01:02:05,896 You don't think that being a [bleep] called Kelly, do you? 1568 01:02:05,939 --> 01:02:07,245 [indistinct]. 1569 01:02:08,376 --> 01:02:10,465 [Harold] No. Surely not. 1570 01:02:10,509 --> 01:02:12,119 This was not all for show. 1571 01:02:12,163 --> 01:02:14,774 I believe that's-- that's the man talking like that. 1572 01:02:14,818 --> 01:02:16,341 That's-- that's what he was all about. 1573 01:02:16,384 --> 01:02:18,735 Although, it's not tolerated in today's times, 1574 01:02:18,778 --> 01:02:20,780 I think he's grown up with people, 1575 01:02:20,824 --> 01:02:24,566 or it was a familiar comment and a familiar description. 1576 01:02:24,610 --> 01:02:26,394 And I don't think anybody is going to change him now. 1577 01:02:26,438 --> 01:02:27,787 And if he offends people, he just says, 1578 01:02:27,831 --> 01:02:29,484 "I don't care, I don't give a damn. 1579 01:02:29,528 --> 01:02:31,051 That's the way I feel, and that's the way I think, 1580 01:02:31,095 --> 01:02:32,661 and that's the way I talk. 1581 01:02:32,705 --> 01:02:34,141 If they don't like it, they don't have to do this." 1582 01:02:34,185 --> 01:02:35,577 [interviewer] Does it occur to you 1583 01:02:35,621 --> 01:02:37,101 that they might be deeply offended 1584 01:02:37,144 --> 01:02:38,711 -by your referring-- -Oh, I don't think so. 1585 01:02:38,755 --> 01:02:41,192 You want to get offended at that? That's stupid. 1586 01:02:41,235 --> 01:02:43,107 You couldn't get through a two sentence conversation 1587 01:02:43,150 --> 01:02:45,936 with Harold without it being full of invective 1588 01:02:45,979 --> 01:02:48,025 and, uh, obscenity. 1589 01:02:48,068 --> 01:02:51,768 The first time a female reporter was allowed in the Leaf room. 1590 01:02:52,725 --> 01:02:54,292 And he'd been fighting that with the league 1591 01:02:54,335 --> 01:02:56,337 for a little while, he didn't want any females 1592 01:02:56,381 --> 01:02:58,992 in-- in the-- Reporters in the room. 1593 01:02:59,036 --> 01:03:01,299 So after the game, the guys were gearing down 1594 01:03:01,342 --> 01:03:03,954 and she's standing over here and Harold walks in 1595 01:03:03,997 --> 01:03:05,738 and he sees her 1596 01:03:05,782 --> 01:03:07,479 and it was kind of a calculated move, 1597 01:03:07,522 --> 01:03:10,525 as soon as he's walking past her, 1598 01:03:10,569 --> 01:03:14,312 he turns to the room and he yells out, 1599 01:03:14,355 --> 01:03:17,054 "Look out, boys, we got a lizard watcher in here." 1600 01:03:17,097 --> 01:03:20,709 and keeps walking, and it was like, oh. [chuckles] 1601 01:03:20,753 --> 01:03:23,451 [McKenny] Rosie Dimanno or Christie Blatchford. 1602 01:03:23,495 --> 01:03:24,888 They weren't hockey fans. 1603 01:03:24,931 --> 01:03:26,498 They were just in there doing the job. 1604 01:03:26,541 --> 01:03:28,587 They had to go down and get some interviews 1605 01:03:28,630 --> 01:03:30,110 and to get the interviews, 1606 01:03:30,154 --> 01:03:31,851 they had to go into the dressing room and-- 1607 01:03:31,895 --> 01:03:33,853 and Harold said he didn't want to let them in there. 1608 01:03:33,897 --> 01:03:36,464 They come in there, get players half dressed, 1609 01:03:36,508 --> 01:03:38,902 want to bring a broad in, that's the worst thing. 1610 01:03:38,945 --> 01:03:41,034 If the broad comes in while I'm naked, 1611 01:03:41,078 --> 01:03:42,862 I'm going to tell you, it'll take you a lot longer 1612 01:03:42,906 --> 01:03:44,429 to get out than it does to get in. 1613 01:03:44,472 --> 01:03:45,865 And I told her, those are the conditions. 1614 01:03:45,909 --> 01:03:47,780 Take your clothes off and go on in 1615 01:03:47,824 --> 01:03:50,565 because we got guys there with cocks as long as your arm. 1616 01:03:51,958 --> 01:03:53,568 [reporter] We've got to do some bleeping here, guys. 1617 01:03:54,743 --> 01:03:56,093 [reporter] I can't use that, Harold. 1618 01:03:56,136 --> 01:03:57,572 Why? What's the matter with it? 1619 01:03:57,616 --> 01:03:58,878 -[reporter] Harold, it's-- -It's the truth. 1620 01:03:59,574 --> 01:04:01,838 Maybe it'll get him a little more ass somewhere. 1621 01:04:02,534 --> 01:04:04,710 I laughed out loud then, but today... 1622 01:04:05,972 --> 01:04:09,367 you know, there's no chance anybody would air that clip 1623 01:04:09,410 --> 01:04:11,543 or even use it as a quote. 1624 01:04:12,326 --> 01:04:14,459 Legally, they couldn't even put the stuff on TV 1625 01:04:14,502 --> 01:04:15,982 that he was saying. [laughing] 1626 01:04:17,288 --> 01:04:18,985 You take it back to your producers. 1627 01:04:19,029 --> 01:04:21,683 "You want to run this?" "Uh, no, I don't think so." 1628 01:04:21,727 --> 01:04:23,816 [laughing] 1629 01:04:23,860 --> 01:04:26,906 It's never been a correct stance to have, obviously. 1630 01:04:26,950 --> 01:04:29,343 And, uh, it comes with being entitled. 1631 01:04:29,387 --> 01:04:32,303 It comes with being insecure and it comes with, 1632 01:04:32,346 --> 01:04:34,914 you know, being challenged by someone who you feel 1633 01:04:34,958 --> 01:04:37,264 shouldn't have the right voice to challenge you. 1634 01:04:37,308 --> 01:04:39,092 I think, to a certain extent... 1635 01:04:40,311 --> 01:04:43,662 Ballard was smarter than the media 1636 01:04:43,705 --> 01:04:46,317 because he ultimately could play the long game. 1637 01:04:46,883 --> 01:04:50,147 He knew that he was going to be in that position of power 1638 01:04:50,190 --> 01:04:52,758 for years, for generations. 1639 01:04:52,801 --> 01:04:56,240 So that pressure, I think, caused a lot of people 1640 01:04:56,283 --> 01:04:58,068 to go along with Harold 1641 01:04:58,111 --> 01:04:59,547 instead of pushing up against him. 1642 01:04:59,591 --> 01:05:01,462 Harold had decided this is the time 1643 01:05:01,506 --> 01:05:04,857 to make a stand against women in the-- in the locker room. 1644 01:05:04,901 --> 01:05:07,904 And so, I remember the sports editors in Toronto 1645 01:05:07,947 --> 01:05:11,211 and the hockey writers leadership got together 1646 01:05:11,255 --> 01:05:12,734 at a little restaurant down on King Street 1647 01:05:12,778 --> 01:05:14,345 the night before the game, and we decided 1648 01:05:14,388 --> 01:05:15,955 that we were going to take Harold on. 1649 01:05:16,608 --> 01:05:18,653 And the only way to take Harold on was by, 1650 01:05:18,697 --> 01:05:20,394 first of all, by surprise, 1651 01:05:20,438 --> 01:05:22,570 and then two, by a show of force. 1652 01:05:22,614 --> 01:05:25,443 And so, we agreed that the next night 1653 01:05:25,486 --> 01:05:27,271 we would all descend on Maple Leaf Gardens. 1654 01:05:27,314 --> 01:05:29,534 [announcer] Last night, the Toronto chapter 1655 01:05:29,577 --> 01:05:31,710 of the Professional Hockey Writers Association 1656 01:05:31,753 --> 01:05:33,625 stormed the inner dressing room 1657 01:05:33,668 --> 01:05:35,888 to show their displeasure over what they considered 1658 01:05:35,932 --> 01:05:38,151 an unprofessional working environment. 1659 01:05:38,195 --> 01:05:39,631 [Parrish] As soon as the game ends, 1660 01:05:39,674 --> 01:05:41,415 or leading up to the end of the game, 1661 01:05:41,459 --> 01:05:44,157 more people troop out of-- out of the press box 1662 01:05:44,201 --> 01:05:45,767 at Maple Leaf Gardens than I've ever seen, 1663 01:05:45,811 --> 01:05:47,595 head down to the dressing room, 1664 01:05:47,639 --> 01:05:50,816 and ten minutes after the game ends, 1665 01:05:51,338 --> 01:05:53,166 the door is supposed to be open, 1666 01:05:53,210 --> 01:05:54,559 so whoever was the head of the line 1667 01:05:54,602 --> 01:05:56,865 just opens the door and we walk in 1668 01:05:56,909 --> 01:05:58,389 and it was a very tight and cramped 1669 01:05:58,432 --> 01:06:00,086 Leafs dressing room in those days. 1670 01:06:00,130 --> 01:06:02,915 But there's probably 35 of us strong, including women, 1671 01:06:02,959 --> 01:06:05,004 that just walk into the dressing room 1672 01:06:05,048 --> 01:06:06,614 while Harold is in there. 1673 01:06:06,658 --> 01:06:08,312 Harold hasn't come out of the dressing room yet. 1674 01:06:08,355 --> 01:06:10,009 He was standing there with his cane and waving it. 1675 01:06:10,053 --> 01:06:11,663 Get out of here! Get the fuck out of here! 1676 01:06:11,706 --> 01:06:12,881 Get out! Fuck! 1677 01:06:12,925 --> 01:06:14,187 And that will remain 1678 01:06:14,231 --> 01:06:15,797 one of my enduring images of Harold. 1679 01:06:15,841 --> 01:06:18,670 I mean, just ranting and raving with his cane 1680 01:06:18,713 --> 01:06:20,063 and waving it at everybody. 1681 01:06:20,106 --> 01:06:21,934 If I'd have been sensible, 1682 01:06:21,978 --> 01:06:23,457 I should have got one of the hockey sticks 1683 01:06:23,501 --> 01:06:25,024 and decapitated the bastards. 1684 01:06:25,068 --> 01:06:26,547 [reporter] Now, as the letter says, 1685 01:06:26,591 --> 01:06:28,332 "In light of last night's march, 1686 01:06:28,375 --> 01:06:31,030 the entire Leafs dressing room is off limits 1687 01:06:31,074 --> 01:06:33,772 to all female and male reporters." 1688 01:06:33,815 --> 01:06:35,687 [interviewer] Harold, the media in Toronto, 1689 01:06:35,730 --> 01:06:37,341 are they too tough on your hockey club these days? 1690 01:06:37,384 --> 01:06:38,646 Oh, no. They're a bunch of jerks. 1691 01:06:38,690 --> 01:06:40,518 Who worries about what they say? 1692 01:06:40,561 --> 01:06:42,476 Especially that Globe and Mailbunch, they, uh, 1693 01:06:42,520 --> 01:06:44,522 they should be writing, uh, kids books 1694 01:06:44,565 --> 01:06:46,654 or comics or something like that. 1695 01:06:46,698 --> 01:06:48,178 You're still after the guys from the Globe? 1696 01:06:48,221 --> 01:06:49,396 Why no-- why not? 1697 01:06:49,440 --> 01:06:51,268 They're, uh, I mean to say, 1698 01:06:51,311 --> 01:06:53,226 when you talk about halfwits, you have to talk about them. 1699 01:06:53,705 --> 01:06:55,707 [narrator] Ballard never held back his tongue 1700 01:06:55,750 --> 01:06:57,578 for anyone or anything, 1701 01:06:57,622 --> 01:07:00,103 but at that point in his life, the one constant he had 1702 01:07:00,146 --> 01:07:03,149 that kept him somewhat even keeled was King. 1703 01:07:03,193 --> 01:07:06,413 King passed away November 10th, 1986. 1704 01:07:06,457 --> 01:07:08,633 I don't think there's anybody that knew King 1705 01:07:09,503 --> 01:07:11,418 that, uh, won't think about him daily 1706 01:07:11,462 --> 01:07:13,246 or when there's a hockey game on 1707 01:07:13,290 --> 01:07:16,641 because there were so many facets of things that he did, 1708 01:07:16,684 --> 01:07:18,947 not only in hockey, but other things. 1709 01:07:18,991 --> 01:07:21,994 And I never realized how much of a loss 1710 01:07:22,038 --> 01:07:23,865 that's going to be to the building. 1711 01:07:23,909 --> 01:07:25,693 I don't think he will ever get this thing straightened out. 1712 01:07:26,346 --> 01:07:29,262 Harold was okay when King Clancy was alive, 1713 01:07:29,306 --> 01:07:30,959 and then when King passed away, 1714 01:07:31,003 --> 01:07:33,092 he started to go downhill pretty quickly 1715 01:07:33,136 --> 01:07:37,444 and I think he was senile before anybody believed he was 1716 01:07:38,315 --> 01:07:40,012 to be honest with you. 1717 01:07:40,056 --> 01:07:42,058 [Clark] I think that was his last real tie to hockey 1718 01:07:42,101 --> 01:07:43,755 because King Clancy was a lifer 1719 01:07:43,798 --> 01:07:45,800 as far as hockey player, referee, coach. 1720 01:07:45,844 --> 01:07:48,629 He did it all in the game and he'd drive in every morning, 1721 01:07:48,673 --> 01:07:50,979 have breakfast with Harold in the Hot Stove. 1722 01:07:51,023 --> 01:07:53,243 And when King passed, that-- 1723 01:07:53,286 --> 01:07:55,636 I think that was the last real connection... 1724 01:07:57,116 --> 01:08:01,120 to hockey in his era of somebody he really trusted. 1725 01:08:01,164 --> 01:08:03,818 [Williams] They sat in that Muppet box there together 1726 01:08:03,862 --> 01:08:05,168 'til the day they both couldn't do it. 1727 01:08:05,211 --> 01:08:06,560 I think it was-- 1728 01:08:07,083 --> 01:08:09,563 it was a movie, those two guys as far as I am concerned. 1729 01:08:09,607 --> 01:08:11,087 I love King. 1730 01:08:11,130 --> 01:08:12,958 I mean, I named my daughter after King. 1731 01:08:13,393 --> 01:08:15,308 [Parrish] He was a lonelier figure 1732 01:08:15,352 --> 01:08:17,963 because King humanized Harold. 1733 01:08:18,006 --> 01:08:21,793 King had a sense of humor and got along with everybody. 1734 01:08:22,272 --> 01:08:25,492 And, so, if Harold and he hung out 1735 01:08:25,536 --> 01:08:27,973 and he and Harold were friends, I thought, 1736 01:08:28,016 --> 01:08:29,714 "Well, maybe there is another side to Harold." 1737 01:08:29,757 --> 01:08:32,412 I've never seen it, but maybe there is another side. 1738 01:08:32,456 --> 01:08:35,111 [narrator] Ballard indeed had many different sides 1739 01:08:35,154 --> 01:08:36,808 to his persona, 1740 01:08:36,851 --> 01:08:39,811 but for all his bravado, bluster, and brouhaha, 1741 01:08:39,854 --> 01:08:43,075 something rarely talked about was his philanthropy. 1742 01:08:43,858 --> 01:08:45,208 [man 1] His Ontario game for the physically disabled. 1743 01:08:45,251 --> 01:08:46,905 [man 2] For physically disabled. 1744 01:08:46,948 --> 01:08:48,385 He was involved in swimming and he won three gold medals. 1745 01:08:48,428 --> 01:08:49,777 -Is that so? -Isn't that super? 1746 01:08:49,821 --> 01:08:50,909 Well, that's fine. 1747 01:08:51,953 --> 01:08:53,477 [narrator] Ballard never tried to hide 1748 01:08:53,520 --> 01:08:56,088 his animosity toward the media. 1749 01:08:56,132 --> 01:08:58,221 What he did try to keep secret 1750 01:08:58,264 --> 01:09:00,701 was the amount of money he gave to charity. 1751 01:09:01,441 --> 01:09:04,444 Harold would donate $25,000, 1752 01:09:04,488 --> 01:09:08,013 $50,000, uh, at a time, 1753 01:09:08,361 --> 01:09:10,102 and that was a lot of money back then... 1754 01:09:11,147 --> 01:09:12,626 to Special Olympics. 1755 01:09:13,323 --> 01:09:15,151 On one condition: 1756 01:09:15,847 --> 01:09:20,286 that no one could ever find out where that money came from. 1757 01:09:20,330 --> 01:09:22,723 And we begged Harold, like, 1758 01:09:23,333 --> 01:09:25,509 you need to let us tell this story. 1759 01:09:26,031 --> 01:09:27,467 And he said, "Nope. 1760 01:09:28,251 --> 01:09:30,122 They'll think I've gone soft." 1761 01:09:30,166 --> 01:09:34,126 But the money kept coming, uh, to Special Olympics. 1762 01:09:34,170 --> 01:09:36,215 [Stellick] I think he cared about charity. 1763 01:09:36,259 --> 01:09:38,435 I remember it around Christmas time, 1764 01:09:38,478 --> 01:09:40,959 he would call down to the-- to the vault, 1765 01:09:41,002 --> 01:09:42,482 and that's where the money was kept, 1766 01:09:42,526 --> 01:09:46,007 and they would bring up, like, $50,000 in cash 1767 01:09:46,051 --> 01:09:47,661 and you could see him back there doling it out 1768 01:09:47,705 --> 01:09:49,533 to different envelopes. 1769 01:09:49,576 --> 01:09:51,056 [announcer] A gentleman who's been a big, big help 1770 01:09:51,099 --> 01:09:53,406 to big brothers, Mr. Harold Ballard. 1771 01:09:58,194 --> 01:09:59,847 [Cherry] He did a lot of things for charity 1772 01:09:59,891 --> 01:10:01,762 that nobody knows about. 1773 01:10:01,806 --> 01:10:04,243 He didn't want anybody to think he was a good guy. 1774 01:10:04,287 --> 01:10:05,723 Don't ask me why. 1775 01:10:05,766 --> 01:10:07,246 [announcer] This is unbelievable. 1776 01:10:07,290 --> 01:10:08,769 [Cherry] I remember when the Junior Club 1777 01:10:08,813 --> 01:10:11,163 was over there and they had the big brawl. 1778 01:10:11,207 --> 01:10:12,947 The punch out in Piestany, I think they got-- 1779 01:10:12,991 --> 01:10:14,558 He'd give them all gold medals. 1780 01:10:15,080 --> 01:10:17,778 [Joshi] To show his support for what had happened. 1781 01:10:17,822 --> 01:10:21,217 We were all upset, angry at the time, 1782 01:10:21,260 --> 01:10:23,828 but it was Harold Ballard, the owner of the Maple Leafs 1783 01:10:23,871 --> 01:10:27,223 who would make a gesture of that kind of magnitude to this kid. 1784 01:10:29,747 --> 01:10:31,227 Husky [indistinct] 1785 01:10:31,270 --> 01:10:33,011 [indistinct] 1786 01:10:33,054 --> 01:10:35,231 Tigers, eat 'em raw. 1787 01:10:36,362 --> 01:10:38,146 [narrator] After failed attempts to launch 1788 01:10:38,190 --> 01:10:40,975 a new CFL franchise in the early '70s, 1789 01:10:41,019 --> 01:10:43,674 Ballard bought the struggling Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1790 01:10:43,717 --> 01:10:48,331 on the cheap for $1.2 million in 1978. 1791 01:10:48,374 --> 01:10:49,984 During the '80s, they became 1792 01:10:50,028 --> 01:10:52,726 his most successful sports franchise. 1793 01:10:55,207 --> 01:10:57,905 The team made the Gray Cup in 1980, 1794 01:10:57,949 --> 01:11:00,212 '84, and '85 1795 01:11:00,256 --> 01:11:03,737 before finally winning it all in 1986. 1796 01:11:03,781 --> 01:11:05,435 [reporter] Hamilton loves its football team 1797 01:11:05,478 --> 01:11:07,567 and even loves Harold Ballard, 1798 01:11:07,611 --> 01:11:09,047 the man everybody loves to hate. 1799 01:11:10,396 --> 01:11:13,617 [Iaboni] When he won in 1986 with the Gray Cup, 1800 01:11:13,660 --> 01:11:15,793 it was also one of the saddest times 1801 01:11:15,836 --> 01:11:20,188 I've seen Harold Ballard because King Clancy died, 1802 01:11:20,232 --> 01:11:21,842 so his sidekick is gone. 1803 01:11:21,886 --> 01:11:25,019 So at the end of the game, he was there by himself. 1804 01:11:25,672 --> 01:11:27,021 He's finally won a championship 1805 01:11:27,065 --> 01:11:28,762 and he can't share it with anybody. 1806 01:11:28,806 --> 01:11:30,547 There's nobody there. You could tell he was on the-- 1807 01:11:30,590 --> 01:11:32,549 on the decline health-wise. 1808 01:11:32,592 --> 01:11:33,985 He was walking very slowly. 1809 01:11:34,028 --> 01:11:35,291 He was having trouble with his feet. 1810 01:11:36,030 --> 01:11:37,467 And I took him downstairs. 1811 01:11:38,119 --> 01:11:40,252 And then, I watched him in the media conference. 1812 01:11:40,296 --> 01:11:43,386 And I'd seen this man since the early '70s, 1813 01:11:43,429 --> 01:11:44,691 until 1986. 1814 01:11:45,170 --> 01:11:46,345 And I'm watching him. 1815 01:11:46,954 --> 01:11:49,783 And I said to myself, "This is sad 1816 01:11:49,827 --> 01:11:53,221 because Harold Ballard can't be Harold Ballard." 1817 01:11:54,179 --> 01:11:55,311 He wasn't himself. 1818 01:11:56,007 --> 01:11:58,401 I mean, he would throw out the odd line. 1819 01:11:58,444 --> 01:12:00,228 But I think the fact that he was missing 1820 01:12:00,272 --> 01:12:01,578 King Clancy not being there 1821 01:12:01,621 --> 01:12:03,362 to see this ultimate championship 1822 01:12:03,406 --> 01:12:05,408 and the fact that he'd won something 1823 01:12:05,451 --> 01:12:07,192 was probably a total shock to him. 1824 01:12:11,631 --> 01:12:14,460 [narrator] Yes, King Clancy passed away that year, 1825 01:12:14,504 --> 01:12:16,419 but Ballard wasn't alone. 1826 01:12:16,462 --> 01:12:18,943 A few years earlier, a mystery woman 1827 01:12:18,986 --> 01:12:21,249 came into his life from out of the blue... 1828 01:12:23,251 --> 01:12:27,168 She showed up unannounced at Maple Leaf Gardens one day 1829 01:12:27,212 --> 01:12:28,431 and never left. 1830 01:12:28,953 --> 01:12:30,955 I remember the first day I saw her. 1831 01:12:32,086 --> 01:12:33,523 It was Mr. Ballard's birthday. 1832 01:12:34,480 --> 01:12:37,875 And she was out in the office with a birthday cake. 1833 01:12:38,789 --> 01:12:42,488 And I remember Stan Obodiac bringing her in 1834 01:12:42,532 --> 01:12:45,056 to see Mr. Ballard with the birthday cake. 1835 01:12:45,709 --> 01:12:47,145 And the rest is history. 1836 01:12:47,188 --> 01:12:48,842 They were perfectly matched. 1837 01:12:48,886 --> 01:12:51,584 Two peas in a pod because she was a con and so was he. 1838 01:12:51,628 --> 01:12:53,151 I tell you how weird it was, 1839 01:12:53,194 --> 01:12:55,327 she called herself Mrs. Ballard for years. 1840 01:12:55,371 --> 01:12:56,894 He never married her. 1841 01:12:56,937 --> 01:12:58,809 She kept him alive. Yolanda kept him alive. 1842 01:12:58,852 --> 01:13:01,333 She was more obvious than a $3 bill. 1843 01:13:01,899 --> 01:13:04,031 Okay, she came in like a bull in a china shop. 1844 01:13:04,075 --> 01:13:06,164 She targeted him, and, uh, 1845 01:13:06,207 --> 01:13:09,472 he wasn't fooled by it, but she was relentless. 1846 01:13:10,124 --> 01:13:12,779 And at the end, he needed, almost, a nursemaid that way. 1847 01:13:13,258 --> 01:13:14,781 Yolanda did a couple of smart things. 1848 01:13:14,825 --> 01:13:17,697 She, uh, bought him the dog, TC Puck. 1849 01:13:17,741 --> 01:13:19,438 He really loved the dog. 1850 01:13:19,482 --> 01:13:21,092 [Stellick] The challenge with that team photo was, 1851 01:13:21,135 --> 01:13:22,789 didn't matter how anyone looked in the photo, 1852 01:13:22,833 --> 01:13:24,791 we had to get TC Puck sitting down. 1853 01:13:24,835 --> 01:13:26,445 You'd set him on the ice 1854 01:13:26,489 --> 01:13:28,621 and his balls would get frozen and he'd jump off. 1855 01:13:28,665 --> 01:13:31,102 And she gave us a towel to put under as hind legs. 1856 01:13:31,145 --> 01:13:33,278 But his third year he sat down, no problem on the ice, 1857 01:13:33,321 --> 01:13:34,714 but because his balls weren't freezing. 1858 01:13:34,758 --> 01:13:37,064 So that was her greatest contribution. 1859 01:13:37,108 --> 01:13:42,330 Harold treated her harshly quite often. 1860 01:13:42,374 --> 01:13:44,158 Do this. Give me that. 1861 01:13:44,202 --> 01:13:47,161 Everybody says, "Oh, she's a gold digger. She did this." 1862 01:13:47,771 --> 01:13:49,555 Harold said, "Ah, what the hell? 1863 01:13:49,599 --> 01:13:51,035 Whatever I give her, I give her." 1864 01:13:51,078 --> 01:13:52,819 I don't know what he left her, 1865 01:13:52,863 --> 01:13:55,474 but I think she became King's replacement. 1866 01:13:56,344 --> 01:13:58,956 Just as King became Stafford's replacement. 1867 01:13:59,565 --> 01:14:03,526 Harold liked someone beside him all the time. 1868 01:14:04,048 --> 01:14:05,266 And she was that. 1869 01:14:05,919 --> 01:14:08,008 [McKenny] I see Yolanda walk across the street 1870 01:14:08,052 --> 01:14:10,271 'cause she lived on Granby Street, just-- 1871 01:14:10,315 --> 01:14:11,577 just south of the gardens. 1872 01:14:11,621 --> 01:14:13,231 And she comes across the street. 1873 01:14:13,274 --> 01:14:15,189 I said, "Yolanda, how's it going?" 1874 01:14:15,233 --> 01:14:16,756 And she goes like that. 1875 01:14:16,800 --> 01:14:19,846 And she's got, like, five diamond rings on 1876 01:14:19,890 --> 01:14:22,545 with a great big smile on her face. 1877 01:14:22,588 --> 01:14:24,938 I found her to be an extremely imposing, 1878 01:14:24,982 --> 01:14:28,159 uh, individual who wanted to run his life. 1879 01:14:28,202 --> 01:14:29,987 So, I felt it was a bad thing in his life 1880 01:14:30,030 --> 01:14:32,555 for him to be with her. So, I-- 1881 01:14:32,598 --> 01:14:34,513 I think that that was something that-- 1882 01:14:34,557 --> 01:14:37,081 that at the end of the day, she was about Yolanda. 1883 01:14:37,560 --> 01:14:39,039 Uh, now, she cared for him. 1884 01:14:39,083 --> 01:14:40,911 I think she-- she did care for him. 1885 01:14:40,954 --> 01:14:43,261 But she also wanted to make sure that-- 1886 01:14:43,304 --> 01:14:45,306 that when Harold was gone, that she was taken care of. 1887 01:14:45,350 --> 01:14:47,483 He probably liked all the confrontation 1888 01:14:47,526 --> 01:14:49,006 and all the arguing and all that stuff 1889 01:14:49,049 --> 01:14:50,660 because she never backed down from them. 1890 01:14:51,182 --> 01:14:54,402 She'd argue with him. She wasn't afraid of him at all. 1891 01:14:54,446 --> 01:14:56,970 Once she was official in the will... 1892 01:14:58,189 --> 01:14:59,712 she didn't take any shit off him, 1893 01:14:59,756 --> 01:15:01,148 I'll tell you that. 1894 01:15:01,192 --> 01:15:02,889 [laughing] 1895 01:15:02,933 --> 01:15:04,935 So, there was a general manager's office at the back 1896 01:15:04,978 --> 01:15:06,980 and one time, when I went back there, 1897 01:15:07,024 --> 01:15:08,329 there was Yolanda, 1898 01:15:08,373 --> 01:15:10,114 and she just was in her undergarments 1899 01:15:10,157 --> 01:15:12,029 and she'd snuck out of the apartment to use the phone. 1900 01:15:12,072 --> 01:15:15,423 And I thought, "I don't think this will be the GM's office." 1901 01:15:15,467 --> 01:15:17,382 And then it became a walk in closet for Yolanda 1902 01:15:17,425 --> 01:15:18,514 the next week. 1903 01:15:18,557 --> 01:15:20,037 She had fun early on. 1904 01:15:20,080 --> 01:15:21,734 She was a low-rent version 1905 01:15:21,778 --> 01:15:24,041 of the Kardashians or the Gabor sisters. 1906 01:15:24,084 --> 01:15:25,651 That's what she kind of was. 1907 01:15:25,695 --> 01:15:27,871 She needed money. She needed to get in somewhere. 1908 01:15:27,914 --> 01:15:29,829 The rumor was before she came to the lease 1909 01:15:29,873 --> 01:15:31,614 that she was running a limousine business, 1910 01:15:31,657 --> 01:15:33,006 but people thought it was an escort business. 1911 01:15:33,050 --> 01:15:34,573 They weren't sure. 1912 01:15:34,617 --> 01:15:36,488 But she had all kinds of financial problems. 1913 01:15:36,532 --> 01:15:38,359 You know, that's what made the kids 1914 01:15:38,403 --> 01:15:40,013 even edgier. 1915 01:15:40,057 --> 01:15:41,667 [narrator] As Yolanda and Ballard got closer, 1916 01:15:41,711 --> 01:15:43,234 Ballard's children, 1917 01:15:43,277 --> 01:15:45,758 Bill Harold Jr., and Mary Elizabeth, 1918 01:15:45,802 --> 01:15:47,455 grew increasingly concerned 1919 01:15:47,499 --> 01:15:49,675 about the nature of their relationship. 1920 01:15:49,719 --> 01:15:51,547 [Ormsby] He lived a life with so many cautionary tales 1921 01:15:51,590 --> 01:15:52,635 along the way. 1922 01:15:52,678 --> 01:15:57,204 And at the end, you know, 1923 01:15:57,248 --> 01:16:00,425 the family relationships were strained with his children. 1924 01:16:01,557 --> 01:16:03,602 Dragged out in the courts. 1925 01:16:03,646 --> 01:16:06,039 He's got Yolanda changing her name 1926 01:16:06,083 --> 01:16:07,475 to Ballard legally. 1927 01:16:08,259 --> 01:16:13,220 And then some accounts say she was also, you know, 1928 01:16:13,264 --> 01:16:15,135 thieving from him as well, you know, 1929 01:16:15,179 --> 01:16:17,616 some money was going to her that he didn't know about 1930 01:16:17,660 --> 01:16:20,184 and, you know, [sighs] 1931 01:16:20,227 --> 01:16:22,752 he was losing control of a lot of things, 1932 01:16:22,795 --> 01:16:24,492 not just his own health, 1933 01:16:24,536 --> 01:16:26,843 but maybe the ability to make very good decisions. 1934 01:16:26,886 --> 01:16:29,367 [narrator] Harold Ballard's mental and physical state 1935 01:16:29,410 --> 01:16:30,847 were both on the decline. 1936 01:16:31,412 --> 01:16:34,502 In 1988, Ballard suffered a heart attack 1937 01:16:34,546 --> 01:16:37,462 while vacationing in Florida with Yolanda. 1938 01:16:37,505 --> 01:16:39,377 [reporter] Harold Ballard is resting comfortably 1939 01:16:39,420 --> 01:16:40,987 here at the Miami Heart Institute, 1940 01:16:41,031 --> 01:16:42,380 one of the finest facilities 1941 01:16:42,423 --> 01:16:44,251 for heart attack patients in the U.S. 1942 01:16:44,295 --> 01:16:47,341 We have had presidents here, we've had heads of state, 1943 01:16:47,385 --> 01:16:50,083 we've had a lot of dignitaries and celebrities. 1944 01:16:50,127 --> 01:16:51,955 And I have to say that Mr. Ballard 1945 01:16:51,998 --> 01:16:53,783 has created more interest, 1946 01:16:53,826 --> 01:16:57,003 certainly more phone calls than anyone that I can recall. 1947 01:16:57,047 --> 01:16:58,222 He's doing just fine. 1948 01:16:58,788 --> 01:17:01,312 Just fine. He's, uh, he's up. He's walking around. 1949 01:17:01,355 --> 01:17:04,924 The doctors are-- are really quite surprised. 1950 01:17:04,968 --> 01:17:06,317 But I'm, you know, 1951 01:17:06,360 --> 01:17:07,753 I'm not surprised by anything Harold does. 1952 01:17:07,797 --> 01:17:09,189 [interviewer] What do you mean by that? 1953 01:17:09,233 --> 01:17:10,669 He's just-- He's a... 1954 01:17:12,976 --> 01:17:15,152 His body is as big a character as he is. 1955 01:17:15,195 --> 01:17:17,067 He just-- He comes through these things. 1956 01:17:17,110 --> 01:17:18,851 [narrator] Back in Toronto, 1957 01:17:18,895 --> 01:17:21,549 tension continued to grow within the Ballard clan. 1958 01:17:22,333 --> 01:17:23,813 [news anchor] A judge has declared him 1959 01:17:23,856 --> 01:17:25,466 mentally incompetent. 1960 01:17:25,510 --> 01:17:27,686 So Yolanda Ballard and Ballard's daughter, 1961 01:17:27,730 --> 01:17:29,645 Mary Elizabeth Flynn, went to court 1962 01:17:29,688 --> 01:17:31,603 to fight over who should be guardian 1963 01:17:31,647 --> 01:17:34,214 of Harold Ballard and his multimillion dollar empire. 1964 01:17:34,258 --> 01:17:36,695 Harold needs me. 1965 01:17:37,522 --> 01:17:39,698 Desperately needs me, as I need Harold. 1966 01:17:39,742 --> 01:17:41,221 They're well looked after. 1967 01:17:41,265 --> 01:17:43,136 There's no one eating out of the garbage cans. 1968 01:17:43,180 --> 01:17:44,921 They all have good educations. 1969 01:17:45,922 --> 01:17:48,228 And what they have left in the, uh, 1970 01:17:48,272 --> 01:17:50,317 grab bag when I go, that's up to them. 1971 01:17:50,361 --> 01:17:52,015 They'll fight like hell about it. 1972 01:17:52,058 --> 01:17:54,191 There'll be lawsuits and war, and everything else. 1973 01:17:54,234 --> 01:17:55,714 I don't worry about it. 1974 01:17:55,758 --> 01:17:57,585 I don't try to make favorites of anybody. 1975 01:17:58,282 --> 01:18:00,458 I want them to think I'm a miserable bastard. 1976 01:18:00,501 --> 01:18:02,547 And that's the-- that's the way to run it. 1977 01:18:02,590 --> 01:18:05,724 She was very manipulative and clever 1978 01:18:05,768 --> 01:18:07,073 but could civil heads prevail? 1979 01:18:07,117 --> 01:18:08,684 Could he have called them in and said, 1980 01:18:08,727 --> 01:18:10,816 "You know, let's just give you some money?" 1981 01:18:10,860 --> 01:18:13,950 But instead, it turned into an incredibly acrimonious. 1982 01:18:13,993 --> 01:18:16,866 It was a horrible, horrible time behind the scenes, I'm sure, 1983 01:18:16,909 --> 01:18:20,739 but the displays in public were even worse. 1984 01:18:20,783 --> 01:18:22,523 The Yolanda story, 1985 01:18:22,567 --> 01:18:24,525 where she ran through the Molson Cup press conference 1986 01:18:24,569 --> 01:18:26,049 in her bathrobe and, uh, 1987 01:18:26,092 --> 01:18:29,705 curlers with a strip sirloin stuck to her eye, 1988 01:18:29,748 --> 01:18:33,709 screaming that she'd just been punched in the eye. 1989 01:18:33,752 --> 01:18:35,841 Those of us, 15, 20 of us that were there, 1990 01:18:35,885 --> 01:18:37,713 we were like looking at each other going... 1991 01:18:38,844 --> 01:18:40,367 "Circus is still in town." 1992 01:18:41,368 --> 01:18:42,456 [reporter] Police are investigating 1993 01:18:42,500 --> 01:18:43,893 an alleged assault 1994 01:18:43,936 --> 01:18:45,851 upon Ballard's companion, Yolanda. 1995 01:18:45,895 --> 01:18:48,462 And police have questioned Harold's son, Bill Ballard. 1996 01:18:48,506 --> 01:18:53,163 Bill apparently cold cocked Yolanda, allegedly. 1997 01:18:53,729 --> 01:18:56,296 [reporter] Bill Ballard denied assaulting Yolanda Ballard. 1998 01:18:56,862 --> 01:18:58,908 When he and Yolanda got into a tussle 1999 01:18:58,951 --> 01:19:01,214 in Harold Ballard's office last fall, 2000 01:19:01,258 --> 01:19:05,305 Bill Ballard described Yolanda as being out of control. 2001 01:19:05,349 --> 01:19:07,960 He also said that when she accused him 2002 01:19:08,004 --> 01:19:10,571 of trying to assault her, he retorted... 2003 01:19:15,751 --> 01:19:16,621 Go on! 2004 01:19:18,971 --> 01:19:20,407 What the hell's the matter with you? 2005 01:19:20,451 --> 01:19:22,018 [reporter] It obviously bothers you 2006 01:19:22,061 --> 01:19:23,628 that people are talking about your personal life. 2007 01:19:23,671 --> 01:19:25,282 It's all right. 2008 01:19:25,325 --> 01:19:27,197 They-- they get a lot of fun out of talking about me. 2009 01:19:27,240 --> 01:19:28,720 Let them go ahead. 2010 01:19:28,764 --> 01:19:30,461 Have you ever seen me try and stop them? 2011 01:19:31,244 --> 01:19:32,724 [reporter] No, but it bothers you. 2012 01:19:32,768 --> 01:19:34,378 Well, have you ever see me try and stop them? 2013 01:19:34,900 --> 01:19:36,336 Why the hell don't you get some brains 2014 01:19:36,380 --> 01:19:37,860 and think for yourself? 2015 01:19:37,903 --> 01:19:39,252 [reporter] It's-- You used to say things-- 2016 01:19:39,296 --> 01:19:41,298 Ah, get ou-- You guys make me sick. 2017 01:19:41,341 --> 01:19:44,083 [narrator] Bill was eventually convicted of assault 2018 01:19:44,127 --> 01:19:45,737 and fined $500. 2019 01:19:46,651 --> 01:19:50,916 However, for Harold Ballard, his time was coming to an end. 2020 01:19:50,960 --> 01:19:53,353 [Stellick] As far as his condition, it's stable. 2021 01:19:53,397 --> 01:19:56,008 He's a diabetic, and we have to be concerned. 2022 01:19:56,487 --> 01:19:57,923 [reporter] How are you feeling, Harold? 2023 01:19:57,967 --> 01:19:59,011 Not too good. 2024 01:20:00,839 --> 01:20:04,451 [narrator] Harold Ballard passed away on April 11th, 1990. 2025 01:20:04,495 --> 01:20:08,325 [sad piano music playing] 2026 01:20:08,368 --> 01:20:10,327 [news anchor] It was Harold Ballard's last visit 2027 01:20:10,370 --> 01:20:12,242 to Maple Leaf Gardens. 2028 01:20:12,285 --> 01:20:14,548 When the doors opened, Ballard's longtime companion, 2029 01:20:14,592 --> 01:20:17,073 Yolanda Ballard, was given an hour for a private visit. 2030 01:20:17,116 --> 01:20:18,639 [reporter] Yolanda, how are you this morning? 2031 01:20:18,683 --> 01:20:20,293 So sad. 2032 01:20:20,337 --> 01:20:22,382 He was very, very tough at times, 2033 01:20:22,426 --> 01:20:25,559 but, he was uh, he was soft inside too. 2034 01:20:25,603 --> 01:20:27,257 He had a lot of character and, um... 2035 01:20:28,084 --> 01:20:30,216 he had a lot of will and a lot of drive to do 2036 01:20:30,260 --> 01:20:31,609 whatever he wanted to do. 2037 01:20:31,652 --> 01:20:36,135 ♪ 2038 01:20:36,179 --> 01:20:38,616 [reporter] In life, he was an outrageous character. 2039 01:20:38,659 --> 01:20:40,531 In death, he'd suddenly become 2040 01:20:40,574 --> 01:20:42,925 one of Toronto's most generous philanthropists. 2041 01:20:42,968 --> 01:20:45,928 [Lawyer] And the beneficiary of this estate is charity. 2042 01:20:45,971 --> 01:20:47,538 [reporter] That was the announcement 2043 01:20:47,581 --> 01:20:49,540 from Harold Ballard's lawyer today. 2044 01:20:49,583 --> 01:20:51,107 And the three Ballard children said 2045 01:20:51,150 --> 01:20:53,152 they were expecting it and it's okay. 2046 01:20:53,196 --> 01:20:55,546 They were each millionaires long before their father died. 2047 01:20:57,113 --> 01:20:58,592 We can't spend what we have now. 2048 01:20:58,636 --> 01:21:00,159 So, I mean, how much-- how much is more? 2049 01:21:00,638 --> 01:21:03,684 And, you know, personally, I don't need the money. 2050 01:21:03,728 --> 01:21:05,338 I make a lot on my own. [chuckles] So... 2051 01:21:06,296 --> 01:21:08,472 [reporter] If there is to be a fight over Ballard's will, 2052 01:21:08,515 --> 01:21:10,691 it will come from his longtime companion, Yolanda, 2053 01:21:10,735 --> 01:21:13,216 who's to receive $50,000 a year for life 2054 01:21:13,259 --> 01:21:14,913 or until she marries. 2055 01:21:14,957 --> 01:21:16,480 You know, she got something, I think, in the world. 2056 01:21:16,523 --> 01:21:18,177 But Stavros bought her silence. 2057 01:21:18,221 --> 01:21:19,918 The rumor was that Steve Stavros 2058 01:21:19,962 --> 01:21:21,833 gave her five million dollars and a pair of golds 2059 01:21:21,877 --> 01:21:23,313 to never speak again, 2060 01:21:23,356 --> 01:21:24,923 and she never said a bad word about him. 2061 01:21:25,402 --> 01:21:27,404 Personally [indistinct] get less. 2062 01:21:27,447 --> 01:21:30,059 I think it's sort of, you know, fine-- 2063 01:21:30,102 --> 01:21:31,756 A fine settlement. 2064 01:21:31,799 --> 01:21:32,931 [interviewer] Do you see her contesting it? 2065 01:21:32,975 --> 01:21:34,411 [Bill] I-- 2066 01:21:34,454 --> 01:21:36,239 A, I don't ever want to see her again, 2067 01:21:36,282 --> 01:21:38,328 but B, there's nothing she does that amazes me anymore. 2068 01:21:38,850 --> 01:21:40,330 [Stellick] I thought for sure 2069 01:21:40,373 --> 01:21:41,505 she was going to burn through that money. 2070 01:21:41,548 --> 01:21:43,028 And you're going to see Yolanda 2071 01:21:43,072 --> 01:21:44,464 on the front page of the Toronto Sun, 2072 01:21:44,508 --> 01:21:46,118 you know, with a cup in her hand 2073 01:21:46,162 --> 01:21:48,816 on a street corner and a cane, you know, saying, 2074 01:21:48,860 --> 01:21:50,993 "The Ballard family screwed me out of everything." 2075 01:21:52,995 --> 01:21:54,518 [narrator] Harold Ballard owned 2076 01:21:54,561 --> 01:21:56,433 one of the most successful franchises 2077 01:21:56,476 --> 01:21:58,435 in the history of the NHL. 2078 01:21:58,957 --> 01:22:01,699 But under his stewardship, the Maple Leafs, 2079 01:22:01,742 --> 01:22:04,223 winners of 13 Stanley Cups, 2080 01:22:04,267 --> 01:22:07,096 but none since 1967, 2081 01:22:07,139 --> 01:22:10,229 endured ten losing seasons in a row. 2082 01:22:10,273 --> 01:22:13,189 From 1979 to 1989. 2083 01:22:13,232 --> 01:22:17,933 ♪ 2084 01:22:17,976 --> 01:22:19,673 [Brunt] It's amazing he didn't kill this thing. 2085 01:22:19,717 --> 01:22:22,241 He couldn't kill it and expansion couldn't kill it. 2086 01:22:22,285 --> 01:22:24,374 And, you know, millions of options on television 2087 01:22:24,417 --> 01:22:26,028 and online and all that stuff still couldn't kill it. 2088 01:22:26,071 --> 01:22:28,160 It's out there, it's in the genes somewhere still 2089 01:22:28,204 --> 01:22:29,945 that he, you know, he didn't manage to kill it. 2090 01:22:30,728 --> 01:22:34,123 But, you know, I just kind of-- you-- you wonder, 2091 01:22:34,166 --> 01:22:35,951 you know, you could have had some of that, right? 2092 01:22:35,994 --> 01:22:37,604 Like he-- There was-- He could have been that guy. 2093 01:22:37,648 --> 01:22:38,997 He could have been the beloved owner 2094 01:22:39,041 --> 01:22:41,043 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, you know, 2095 01:22:41,086 --> 01:22:43,219 who looked after his alumni and, you know, 2096 01:22:43,262 --> 01:22:45,264 built a strong team, and hired a good coach, 2097 01:22:45,308 --> 01:22:46,918 and let him do his job. 2098 01:22:46,962 --> 01:22:49,051 And, you know, and then miraculously, in 1982, 2099 01:22:49,094 --> 01:22:52,097 they won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1967 2100 01:22:52,141 --> 01:22:53,620 and the streets filled 2101 01:22:53,664 --> 01:22:55,013 and he could have been that guy, right? 2102 01:22:55,622 --> 01:22:57,581 Wouldn't it have been better, you know? 2103 01:22:58,147 --> 01:22:59,583 Wouldn't that have been better than the story 2104 01:22:59,626 --> 01:23:00,671 we're telling here? 2105 01:23:01,367 --> 01:23:03,717 If the Leafs had won just one Stanley Cup 2106 01:23:03,761 --> 01:23:06,677 under his ownership, he'd be remembered now 2107 01:23:06,720 --> 01:23:09,506 as a funny, irascible old scamp. 2108 01:23:09,549 --> 01:23:11,725 [Vaive] He ran it like a goddamn circus. 2109 01:23:11,769 --> 01:23:13,771 It was-- [laughing] 2110 01:23:13,814 --> 01:23:15,729 Every single day, 2111 01:23:16,339 --> 01:23:19,298 something in a newspaper of some stupid thing 2112 01:23:19,342 --> 01:23:22,475 that he said, you know, was front and center. 2113 01:23:22,519 --> 01:23:24,695 And it wasn't about the hockey team. 2114 01:23:24,738 --> 01:23:26,131 It was just about Harold. 2115 01:23:26,175 --> 01:23:29,352 And that was Harold's goal, I believe, 2116 01:23:29,395 --> 01:23:32,529 was to get on the front page of the sports every single day. 2117 01:23:32,572 --> 01:23:34,705 And he-- and he pretty much managed that. 2118 01:23:34,748 --> 01:23:37,316 His championship was being the guy, 2119 01:23:37,360 --> 01:23:40,928 was being, uh, the face of the franchise, 2120 01:23:40,972 --> 01:23:44,715 which is why when, you know, members of the franchise, 2121 01:23:44,758 --> 01:23:47,544 whether it be famous and beloved captains 2122 01:23:47,587 --> 01:23:51,113 or really smart coaches, pushed up against him, 2123 01:23:51,722 --> 01:23:53,985 they were quickly removed from the franchise. 2124 01:23:54,029 --> 01:23:56,901 So, I think, no question, his motivations 2125 01:23:56,944 --> 01:23:59,730 were to be front and center at all times. 2126 01:24:00,209 --> 01:24:03,995 The last line of the obituary says... 2127 01:24:05,344 --> 01:24:08,130 "Harold Ballard was predeceased 2128 01:24:08,173 --> 01:24:10,915 by his wife, Dorothy, and his hockey team." 2129 01:24:12,134 --> 01:24:15,006 And, uh, maybe that says it best of all. 2130 01:24:17,139 --> 01:24:20,707 [Brunt] Harold was, you know, of a different class. 2131 01:24:20,751 --> 01:24:22,274 He came by his money a different way. 2132 01:24:22,318 --> 01:24:23,797 He didn't play by the rules, 2133 01:24:23,841 --> 01:24:26,278 and he didn't care about the decorum 2134 01:24:26,322 --> 01:24:28,106 expected of somebody in his position. 2135 01:24:28,150 --> 01:24:29,977 And I think he was flipping a middle finger 2136 01:24:30,021 --> 01:24:31,283 to people every day. 2137 01:24:31,327 --> 01:24:32,632 [McKenny] I don't think he ever took 2138 01:24:32,676 --> 01:24:34,460 any Dale Carnegie courses, you know. 2139 01:24:35,157 --> 01:24:37,246 It's my building, it's the only building in town, 2140 01:24:37,289 --> 01:24:38,856 if you don't like it, fuck off. 2141 01:24:39,596 --> 01:24:42,381 That was his idea of PR. [laughs] 2142 01:24:42,425 --> 01:24:43,948 It was his team. He owned it. 2143 01:24:43,991 --> 01:24:46,081 We don't have to like maybe how he did it, 2144 01:24:46,864 --> 01:24:48,300 but it was his. 2145 01:24:48,344 --> 01:24:49,823 [Parrish] When you look at the pantheon 2146 01:24:49,867 --> 01:24:51,651 of sports owners through history, 2147 01:24:51,695 --> 01:24:54,001 who are the greatest ones and who are the worst ones? 2148 01:24:54,567 --> 01:24:58,397 And Harold's name, even today, 30 years after his passing, 2149 01:24:58,441 --> 01:25:00,399 it does get included in that list 2150 01:25:00,443 --> 01:25:02,271 of the worst owners. 2151 01:25:02,314 --> 01:25:04,011 It's because of the combination. 2152 01:25:04,490 --> 01:25:07,145 He wasn't a strong hockey guy, didn't pay 2153 01:25:07,189 --> 01:25:09,191 and didn't hire strong hockey people, 2154 01:25:09,234 --> 01:25:11,976 and he wasn't a very nice man as well. 2155 01:25:12,019 --> 01:25:13,847 I viewed him probably 2156 01:25:13,891 --> 01:25:15,762 in the same level as a grandfather. 2157 01:25:15,806 --> 01:25:19,026 You know, what he wanted from you was-- 2158 01:25:19,070 --> 01:25:20,724 was very basic. 2159 01:25:20,767 --> 01:25:23,770 Be willing to die for that crest. 2160 01:25:24,554 --> 01:25:27,774 And when you're bleeding, it better be blue and white. 2161 01:25:27,818 --> 01:25:29,385 Doesn't matter what he... 2162 01:25:30,386 --> 01:25:32,605 I loved him. I loved him. 2163 01:25:32,649 --> 01:25:36,043 I don't think he understood the modern game, 2164 01:25:36,087 --> 01:25:38,829 especially after the series of '72, 2165 01:25:38,872 --> 01:25:41,440 when training changes from what the Russians had taught 2166 01:25:41,484 --> 01:25:43,138 about off ice training, 2167 01:25:43,181 --> 01:25:45,792 when strategy in the game changes, 2168 01:25:45,836 --> 01:25:47,533 when videotape comes in. 2169 01:25:47,577 --> 01:25:49,318 International players, there's guys who speak Swedish 2170 01:25:49,361 --> 01:25:51,842 in the dressing room for crying out loud. 2171 01:25:51,885 --> 01:25:54,366 That's not easy to adapt when you're born in 1903 2172 01:25:54,410 --> 01:25:56,063 in a monocultural city. 2173 01:25:56,107 --> 01:25:59,676 But the people who did adapt won the Stanley Cup, 2174 01:26:00,546 --> 01:26:03,593 and Harold just sat in his booth with old King Clancy. 2175 01:26:04,246 --> 01:26:08,467 And they lost. And they lost, and they lost, and they lost. 2176 01:26:08,511 --> 01:26:09,816 And he's remembered as a loser. 2177 01:26:10,730 --> 01:26:12,167 [reporter] You remind me of the story 2178 01:26:12,210 --> 01:26:14,125 of the circus owner who goes to a small town 2179 01:26:14,169 --> 01:26:16,171 and takes a white horse and paints black stripes on it 2180 01:26:16,214 --> 01:26:17,824 because he said they've never seen a zebra. 2181 01:26:17,868 --> 01:26:19,348 So, this might as well be a zebra. 2182 01:26:19,391 --> 01:26:20,610 -You're right. -[reporter] You're a con artist. 2183 01:26:20,653 --> 01:26:22,177 Well, that's what they call me. 2184 01:26:22,655 --> 01:26:23,700 [interviewer] You don't deny it? 2185 01:26:23,743 --> 01:26:24,831 No, no, no. 2186 01:26:25,919 --> 01:26:28,095 [narrator] Since the demise of Harold Ballard, 2187 01:26:28,139 --> 01:26:30,359 the team has had a handful of ups 2188 01:26:30,402 --> 01:26:32,404 and plenty of downs. 2189 01:26:32,448 --> 01:26:34,276 So, as a millennial, you've certainly heard about 2190 01:26:34,319 --> 01:26:36,582 the Harold Ballard curse 2191 01:26:36,626 --> 01:26:39,759 and how his misgivings 2192 01:26:39,803 --> 01:26:44,677 and, you know, negative acts maybe haunt the franchise 2193 01:26:44,721 --> 01:26:46,984 the same way that the Curse of the Babe 2194 01:26:47,027 --> 01:26:49,900 would have been a thing in baseball. 2195 01:26:49,943 --> 01:26:52,729 I'm hopeful, um, but... 2196 01:26:53,817 --> 01:26:56,863 sometimes even the best of hopes are tested. 2197 01:26:57,386 --> 01:26:59,083 I think they have very smart people 2198 01:26:59,126 --> 01:27:02,565 running the organization, very different minded people 2199 01:27:02,608 --> 01:27:04,828 from a lot of different avenues coming together 2200 01:27:04,871 --> 01:27:07,526 to help build what they hope is a winning team. 2201 01:27:08,005 --> 01:27:09,746 I do feel like there is something 2202 01:27:09,789 --> 01:27:11,356 placed upon this team 2203 01:27:11,400 --> 01:27:13,053 that has prevented them from succeeding. 2204 01:27:13,097 --> 01:27:15,055 They've been so good. 2205 01:27:15,099 --> 01:27:17,275 [narrator] But through it all, Leafs fans the world over 2206 01:27:17,319 --> 01:27:20,670 continue to hope and dream that perhaps 2207 01:27:20,713 --> 01:27:23,716 this will be the season finally 2208 01:27:23,760 --> 01:27:28,243 that the Toronto Maple Leafs break the Ballard curse. 2209 01:27:29,548 --> 01:27:33,596 [rock music playing] 2210 01:28:48,453 --> 01:28:53,589 ♪