faked once, moved in front of the net, forced goaltender Brimseck to go down, then lifted the puck over him. In the finals, Toronto swept Montreal in four straight games to win the Stanley Cup. Kennedy scored twice in the Cup-winning game and finished leading all players in the playoffs in points with eight goals and five assists and he was also not given a single penalty in the entire playoffs. His checking and work in the corners has been credited as critical to the victory. On the afternoon of Thursday, April 16, 1948, the Leaf players were greeted by thousands of Toronto fans as they got off the train from Detroit. They then rode open cars through a cascade of multi-coloured paper and ticket tape through Toronto's business district to arrive at a civic reception at City Hall. Speaking to the huge crowd, Conn Smythe announced that Kennedy was succeeding Syl Apps as captain who was retiring. In the off-season, on Saturday, June 12, 1948, Kennedy married Doreen Dent of Toronto in Knox College Chapel in Toronto. The Leafs struggled early in the 1948–49 season having lost Apps and Nick Metz to retirement, and then Kennedy for a month and Cal Gardner for two months due to injuries. By the end of January, Toronto was only one point ahead of the last place New York Rangers who had even played two fewer games than Toronto. Kennedy's return to the team in mid-January provided the needed spark to pull the Leafs out of their prolonged slump. Although finishing the regular season with a losing record of 23 wins 25 losses and 12 ties, they were able to place fourth, which was the last position qualifying for the playoffs. However, in the first round of the playoffs they defeated Boston in five games. Kennedy had scored the game-winning goal which put Toronto up 3–0 in games. Toronto then faced the first-place Detroit Red Wings. During the season, Detroit General Manager Jack Adams said of the Red Wings, "This is the greatest team in my 22 seasons here." However, Toronto swept the Red Wings in four straight games to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup. Kennedy finished the playoffs with two goals and six assists to lead the Leafs in points and was second only to Detroit's Gordie Howe overall. This was the first time a National Hockey League team had won