Toronto’s National Hockey League franchise was originally known as the Arenas when the club was founded in 1917.
Two years later, they were renamed the St. Patricks. When Conn Smythe, a local entrepreneur, bought the team in 1927, he renamed them The Toronto Maple Leafs and gave them blue and white uniforms. He claimed the colours were meant to represent Canadian sky and snow, but they also happened to match the branding of his sand and gravel business (as well as the look of other local teams). Smythe owned the Leafs for decades, winning eight Stanley Cups and building a wildly successful sports franchise for a booming city.
