Few players in Toronto Maple Leafs history captured the imagination of hockey fans, and a place in their hearts, like number 27, Darryl Sittler. Selected as the Leafs’ first pick and eighth overall in the 1970 Entry Draft, Sittler began to shine during his third season in the league when he scored 77 points.
During a 1976 game, Sittler reached legendary status when he scored six goals and added four assists to set an NHL record for most points in a game. That record-breaking moment helped Sittler become the first ever Maple Leaf to reach 100 points in a single season. Later that April, Sittler’s sensational scoring streak would continue in the Stanley Cup playoffs when he scored five goals in a single game against the Philadelphia Flyers, tying a playoff record.
In 1989, Sittler was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and in 2003, the Leafs organization proudly raised a banner to the rafters with his number 27 and his name.
Darryl remains active in the hockey world and works with charities Special Olympics Canada, Screen Colons Canada and Colon Cancer Canada, in honour of his late wife Wendy who died from colon cancer in 2001.
