On the River Lyd Dartmoor

Clarence Henry “Happy” (”Hap”) and Margaret Day, Toronto By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario

One of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ most celebrated players and coaches, Clarence Henry “Happy” (“Hap”) Day started his professional hockey career with the Toronto St. Pats in 1924. Born in Owen Sound, Day would play as a defenseman for the team for thirteen years (the team becoming the Maple Leafs during the 1926/27 season), winning Toronto’s third Stanley Cup in 1932 as the team’s captain (he was captain of the team for eleven years, the second-longest period of any Leaf player). During the off-season after his first Cup win, Day married Margaret Shaw and they honeymooned in Europe, visiting restaurants and galleries throughout England and Scotland. It was during this trip that Day and his new wife purchased this canvas by Alfred Fontville de Breanski, titled ”On The River Lyd, Dartmoor”. Following the end of his playing career in 1938, Hap Day became the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs and would prove to be one of the team’s most successful leaders behind-the-bench. During Day’s tenure as coach, the Leafs would win five Stanley Cups, between 1942 and 1949, the 1949 team becoming the first in NHL history to win three consecutive championships. Day would win an additional Cup in 1951 as the team’s assistant manager, his name appearing on the trophy seven times. Day enjoyed a 33-year professional hockey career (as a player, coach, assistant general manger and referee), 28 of which were spent with the Maple Leafs organization. After retiring from the Leafs in 1957, Day purchased a business, Elgin Handles in St. Thomas, Ontario, which he would later sell to his son, Kerry. Day was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961 and his jersey number 4 was retired by the Maple Leafs in 2016, fitting recognition for one of the team’s most successful and celebrated players and coaches. Day’s banner hangs in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. This artwork has remained in the Day family for over ninety years, hanging prominently in their homes until this offering at auction.