Toronto Huskies HISTORY

Player info
Roster and Stats
Team info
First NBA Game
Schedule and results

Stats

Quick facts:

Founded:    1946
Folded:     1947
Arena:      Maple Leaf Gardens
Titles:     None
Playoffs:   1
Colors:     Blue and White
Head Coach: Ed Sadowski, Lew Hayman, Dick Fitzgerald and Red Rolfe
GM:    	    Lew Hayman
Owners:     Ben Newman, Eric Cradock and Harold Shannon
Fun Fact:
Played in the first ever NBA game on 11/1/46, losing 68-66 to the New York Knicks.
As part of the NBA's 50th year celebration the newly created Toronto Raptors
Played against the Knicks.

Big Spender:
The Huskies made a quick splash when they signed Ed Sadowki to the largest contract in the BAA, Sadowki was signed for $10,000 to be the Huskies star player and their coach and have free reign over personal decisions effectively making him the GM. The sum, while by today's standards is paltry, was seen as a huge amount at the time. The reason behind it was to keep Sadowki away from the NBL teams who were wanting to sign him.

The money was not money well spent. While Sadowski did lead the Huskies in scoring at over 19 points a game, he was a terrible coach and demanded to be let go 12 games into the season. The Huskies won just 3 of their first 12 games and Sadowki proved to be completely ineffective as a coach and a GM. As a GM he hired mostly acquaintances from his alma mater Seton Hall, and when forced to hire local Canadian talent he held a contest between 6 players for 2 spots.

Sadowski wanted the Huskies to trade him to a winning team, the Huskies eventually gave in and traded him to the Cleveland Rebels.

Disfunction:
The Huskies were mired by poor decisions being made by people who did not understand basketball. The first problem was the teams practice facilities did not have backboard. The floor on Maple Leaf Garden's was also placed over the hockey ice and it caused the court to warp.

The team was terrible mismanaged, from Sadowski's nepotism to just horrible logistical decisions, it made the team almost impossible to run. One such incident occurred before a game against Providence. Toronto was hit by a heavy snowstorm, so it was decided that the players would take taxi's to Buffalo and than a train to Providence. The team had issues getting through the snow and into the United States and missed the train. The taxi's than drove the players to Providence just in time for their game. When the team got settled they realized that star player and head coach Ed Sadowski did not make the trip with them.

Quick Downward Spiral:
The Huskies never saw immediate financial success, they didn't even sell out their initial game. The Toronto Star reported that the ownership of the Huskies lost $100,000 in their first season. This huge financial losses and general disfunction caused the team to cease operations after just one season.

Huskies Standings
Season W L % Playoffs
46-47 22 38 .367None


Poster with Ed Sadowski(Tor) for the first ever NBA game.




Rendition of what the uniforms looked like

  • modern jersey replica

    Gino Sovran in 1946


    Promo ads for first ever NBA game.

    Bob Houbregs

    Ossie Schectman scores the first ever basket in NBA history.

    Promo ad for games between the Huskies and Ironmen and the Huskies and Capitols.







    News articles about the first ever BAA game.

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