 Kennedy began the season playing rightwing . Then , in mid @-@ December , Leaf centre Mel Hill fractured his ankle and was lost from the team . This gave Kennedy his first opportunity to play regularly at the centre position where he would remain for most of his career . In a January 8 game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the Boston Bruins , the mayor of Port Colborne presented Kennedy and Don <unk> with gold watches on behalf of his town 's citizens . Kennedy would finish the season as the team 's second best goal @-@ scorer with 26 and was fourth in points . He was just 18 years old . In the playoffs , Toronto faced the powerful Montreal Canadiens . Although Toronto won the first game 3 – 1 , they were then swept in the next four and eliminated from the playoffs . The Toronto Daily Star said of Kennedy 's rookie season , " For our money the best rookie of the year though playing with one of the weakest lines in N.H.L. history . " Kennedy was ineligible for the rookie @-@ of @-@ the @-@ year award because of the two games he played with the Leafs at the end of the 1942 – 43 season . 
