Report: Leafs have big plans for centennial

The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping to throw a 100th anniversary party to remember.

According to a report in the Toronto Star, the Leafs have a plan to host the all-star game, NHL Entry Draft and an outdoor game leading up to the club’s centennial year in 2017.

Outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the three events are considered crown jewels of the NHL season.

“That’s the big three and we would like to host each of them in one of the years leading up to 2016-17 (our 100th anniversary),” Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, told the Star in an email. “But nothing cast in stone at this time.”

Of the three events, the outdoor game presents the biggest challenge with no ideal venue in Toronto to host a Winter Classic or the all-Canadian version known as the Heritage Classic.

The Leafs were first known as the Toronto Arenas (1917) before becoming the St. Patricks (1919). Conn Smythe then bought the team in 1927 and renamed them the Maple Leafs after a World War I fighting unit.

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