1979-80 O-Pee-Chee 271 Dan Maloney Hockey Card (Front)
1979-80 O-Pee-Chee 271 Dan Maloney Hockey Card (Back)
1979-80 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
Card Notes
“Dan joined the Leafs in 1977-78 as club reached playoffs for first time in 11 years.”
I believe we could call this 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee 241 Dan Maloney hockey card an uncorrected error. It had been eleven years since the Toronto Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup championship in 1966-67. However, the team only missed the post season three times over that span: 1967-68, 1969-70 and 1972-73.
However, 1977-78 did mark the first time since 1966-67 that Toronto reached the semi-final and this could be what the writers at O-Pee-Chee were trying to get at. Under Roger Neilson, the Maple Leafs swept the Los Angeles Kings in the preliminary round before going the distance to oust the New York Islanders in the quarter-final. They were then swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens in the semis.
Maloney was traded from the Detroit Red Wings near the end of the 1977-78 NHL season. He appeared in 13 regular season and 13 playoff games for Toronto that year. He remained with the Maple Leafs until 1981-82 when he retired as a player. The following year, Dan was behind the bench as an assistant coach. He was head coach for the Leafs in 1984-85 and 1985-86.