penalty kill. Making the team On March 3, 1943, Kennedy signed a professional contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but management of the Leafs still wished to see Kennedy playing in an NHL game. Late in the 1942–43 season, they received permission from Kennedy's mother to take him out of school so he could accompany them on a road trip. He played in two of the final three games of the regular season, but did not continue with them into the playoffs. Making his NHL debut March 7, 1943, against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, he was put on the Leafs' third line on rightwing, instead of his customary centre position, on a line with Bud Poile and Gaye Stewart. He was told by coach Hap Day to simply "stay with your check and keep him from scoring." Kennedy's line scored three goals and he picked up one assist in a 5–5 tie. He then picked another assist in the next game in Boston. Kennedy had impressed the Leaf coaches, but his rights were still "officially" owned by the Montreal Canadiens. Toronto first tried to buy his rights from Montreal, but a trade was arranged exchanging Kennedy for Frank Eddolls. Toronto newspapers of the day in reporting the trade described the 17-year-old Kennedy as "a rangy youngster whose record in the OHA is exceptionally good", that he was "highly recommended by other hockey men" and was a "high-scoring right-winger". Nevertheless, interim manager Frank Selke had made the trade while Conn Smythe, owner of the Leafs, was away in service in World War II and Eddolls was one of his prized prospects. Smythe was furious when he discovered the trade, creating a rift between the two which ultimately led Selke to leave Toronto to manage the Canadiens. Ironically, Kennedy eventually became Smythe's favourite player and he called Kennedy "the greatest competitor in hockey". Looking back, some hockey pundits have called the trade the best the Toronto Maple Leafs have ever made. In 2001, Sports Illustrated writer and Montreal native, Michael Farber, included the Kennedy trade for Eddolls as one of "the five darkest days" in Montreal Canadiens' history. Kennedy played full-time with the Leafs for the first time in the 1943–44 season. Although the Leafs had won the Stanley Cup in 1942, at the time of Kennedy's arrival the Leafs were a team decimated by the loss of