from Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated,

After the fish and fists flew, the rookies rose up and the fines came down, the first and still only comeback from an 0-3 deficit in Stanley Cup Final history was recapped by Toronto forward Syl Apps, whose words spilled from the noisy home dressing room at Maple Leaf Gardens.

“By jiminy!” he cried out, according to the Canadian Press.

Ten years after the franchise’s last title, as war raged in the Pacific and European theaters, the 1942 Maple Leafs had roared back against the Red Wings. The heroes included a pair of brothers, including one summoned into substitute duty before Game 4, and the witnesses for the decisive Game 7 included 16,218 fans, the largest Canadian crowd ever recorded. Before long, the improbability of the event was being placed into historical context.

“Generations of hockey players yet unborn will hear time and again the story of the 1942 playoffs—the most exciting in the 50-year history of the Stanley Cup,” wrote John N. Sabo of the Detroit Free Press, two days after Toronto capped its revival with a 3-1 win.

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