Punch Imlach, coach of the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs, was not liked by most of the Leafs players. His approach to contracts was to give as little as possible to his players. Players did not have agents then, they negotiated their own contracts.
Imlach used hard tactics, like picking on some players to work harder than others in practice because of their contract demands, or their lack of scoring.
Jim Pappin was called up from the minors to play on and off with the team all season. Now that the playoffs had arrived, he was excited about giving a good showing of his abilities. He wanted to stay up in the big leagues and look good for one of the new expansion teams joining the NHL the next year (1967-1968 season).
The new expansion teams were the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings and the Oakland Seals - six teams in all.
Pappin wanted to get picked up by one of them to escape Toronto's coach Punch Imlach. Pappin ended up leading all Toronto players with seven goals and eight assists.
Game 3: Chicago at Toronto
April 11th, 1967 Terry Sawchuk in net for Toronto. Denis Dejordy in net for Chicago. Final Score: Toronto wins, 3 - 1
1st Period Goals
Toronto: Ron Ellis, assist from Red Kelly and Larry Jeffrey
2nd Period Goals
Toronto: Frank Mahovlich, assist from Mike Walton and Jim Pappin
Toronto: Jim Pappin, assist from Pete Stemkowski and Bob Pulford
3rd Period Goals
Chicago: Bobby Hull, assist from Lou Angotti and Ken Wharram
With the Leafs win, they now lead the series two games to one.