Mikita: Leafs Are NHL’s Dirtiest Team

Mar. 15, 1965 - Stan Mikita was an angry hero as he knotted his tie after leading the Chicago Black Hawks to a comeback 5-3 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs before close to 20,000 happy fans at Chicago Stadium last night.

The click center, who scored the tying and winning goals and assisted on two others, tabbed the Leafs as the NHL’s dirtiest team.

“What do they feed those guys to make them so nasty?” asked Stan. “They get away with murder.”

Mikita and several of his mates were sizzling over a second-period injury to Chico Maki, who was forced out of the game with a bruise on the lower abdomen.

One Hawk claimed Maki was kicked, another thought it was a knee, and a third figured he was speared.

Coach Billy Reay, happy at the way his men overcame a first-period 3-1 deficit, said he didn’t see the incident.

“Maki has a nasty bruise,” explained Billy. “They packed it in ice, and he’ll spend the night in the hospital. But if there is no hemorrhage, he will be ready for our game in Boston Wednesday.”

Mikita, who now leads the scoring race with 28 goals and 56 assists, is only two assists away from the league record held jointly by the Leafs’ Andy Bathgate and Montreal’s Jean Beliveau.

What’s more important, his efforts kept the Hawks within two points of the Red Wings and one ahead of the Canadiens in the thrilling NHL run to the wire.

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