Toronto Maple Leafs (ILL)

The City of Toronto has a long history of sport. It is home to a number of clubs, including: the Granite Club (est. 1836), the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (est. 1852), the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club (est. pre-1827), the Argonaut Rowing Club (est. 1872), Toronto Argonauts football club (est. 1873), the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club (est. 1881), and the Badminton and Racquet Club (est. 1924). A number of heritage venues have developed in Toronto such as: Christie Pits (est. 1899), Ricoh Coliseum (est. 1921), Varsity Arena (est. 1926), Maple Leaf Gardens (est. 1931).

Toronto has teams in nearly every major professional sport, including the Toronto Blue Jays (MLB), Toronto Argonauts (CFL), Toronto Raptors (NBA), Toronto Rock (NLL), Toronto FC (MLS), and the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL). Throughout the sports world, Toronto is perhaps best known for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Although Toronto has not won a Stanley Cup since 1967, the city is renowned as a hockey town.

Air Canada Centre (home of the Leafs, Raptors, and Rock) and Rogers Centre (home of the Blue Jays) are located in the downtown core and are within walking distance from one another via Bremner Boulevard. The Rogers Centre was the first stadium to have a fully retractable motorized roof. BMO Field (home of the Argonauts and Toronto FC) and Ricoh Coliseum (home of the Toronto Marlies) are located at Exhibition Place, situated just outside the downtown core, while also being within walking distance from one another.

The city is known for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, a team with passionate support in the city, and the most financially successful sport franchise in the country. The team built Maple Leaf Gardens, a sporting venue which served as the home arena for the Maple Leafs, and was also used for cultural and other events. Since 1999, they have played in the Air Canada Centre. The team's roots stretch back to the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association, the predecessor to the NHL. The NHA was founded in 1909 without any teams from Toronto. In 1911, the Mutual Street Arena was being built and Ambrose O'Brien, who had operated four NHA franchises but decided to get out of the business, sold two of his franchises to Toronto-based groups. The Toronto Hockey Club purchased one, which would become known as the Blueshirts, and a second was sold to a group affiliated with the Tecumseh Lacrosse Club for $500 cash and promissory notes for $2,000 which would be called the Toronto Tecumsehs. They were scheduled to begin play in the 1911-12 season, but construction delays led to the two Toronto teams being dropped from the schedule and they instead began play in 1912–13.

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