John Bassett Sr. Former Toronto Maple Leaf co-owner with Smythe and Ballard
John Bassett Sr. — A Broadcasting Pioneer, Maple Leaf Partner, and the Man Who Tried to Steady the Ship
While walking through Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, mini hockey stick and puck in hand, I visited the family plot of John Bassett Sr. — a name that, though perhaps quieter in the public memory than Smythe or Ballard, played a pivotal role in shaping both Canadian media and Maple Leafs history.
A visionary in Canadian communications, Bassett was best known as the founder of Baton Broadcasting in 1960. His media empire included CFTO-TV, Toronto’s first private television station, and later evolved into the framework of what would become CTV — helping to define Canadian broadcasting for decades to come.
But it’s his chapter in hockey history that caught my attention — and makes his story so compelling.
In 1957, Bassett joined a powerful committee of Maple Leafs shareholders known as the “Silver Seven”, overseeing hockey operations. Then, in 1961, came a pivotal turning point: Conn Smythe, patriarch of the Leafs, sold his majority interest in Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. — and with it, the Toronto Maple Leafs — to a trio consisting of his son Stafford Smythe, Harold Ballard, and John Bassett Sr.. The price? $2.3 million — a figure that feels almost fictional today, with the Leafs valued at $2.8 billion.
Harold Ballard, Stafford Smythe and John Bassett Sr.
The new leadership group quickly made their mark. They added 962 seats, opened the exclusive Hot Stove Lounge, and by 1968, had pushed seating capacity at the Gardens to 16,485. The money flowed, and so did the power dynamics.
But it wouldn’t last.
As Smythe and Ballard became increasingly erratic — and later embroiled in tax evasion investigations — Bassett tried to restore order. In 1969, he fired both men from their executive roles, but crucially did not force them to sell their shares.
That would prove to be a fatal error.
By 1971, Ballard and Smythe launched a proxy war, reclaiming control of the boardroom. Bassett, recognizing the writing on the wall, triggered the “shotgun clause” in their partnership agreement and sold his shares — walking away from what he likely saw as a sinking ship.
Unfortunately, his exit marked the beginning of what many fans call the darkest era in Toronto Maple Leafs history. Ballard’s controversial reign followed, and the team wouldn’t lift another Stanley Cup — a drought that continues to this day.
John White Hughes Bassett died in Toronto on April 27, 1998. He was 82.
1915-1998
Prime Minister John Turner’s grave in the distance with the Canadian flag.
