The

1946–47 BAA season The 1946–47 BAA season was the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America. The league launched with 11 teams playing a 60-game schedule. The postseason tournament (the 1947 BAA Playoffs) at its conclusion, ended with the Philad ...

was the Toronto Huskies' inaugural and sole season of existence. The

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

's first game was played at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

in Toronto on November 1, 1946. The

New York Knickerbockers The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associati ...

defeated the Toronto Huskies 68–66 at Maple Leaf Gardens. The teams were part of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

, the forerunner to the NBA. The Huskies finished last in their division and folded after one season. Throughout the season, the Huskies had four head coaches: Ed Sadowski 3–9, Lew Hayman 0–1, Dick Fitzgerald 2–1, and

Red Rolfe Robert Abial "Red" Rolfe (October 17, 1908 – July 8, 1969) was an American baseball third baseman, manager (baseball), manager and front-office executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the New York Yankees from 1931 to 194 ...

17–27.

Roster

Regular season

The attendance for the inaugural match was 7,090 with ticket prices ranging from 75 cents to two dollars and fifty cents. On that night, anyone taller than George Nostrand, the tallest Husky at 6'8", was given free admission. Attendance quickly dwindled and the Toronto Star published an estimate that team owners Eric Cradock (co-owner of the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

football team) and Harold Shannon lost $100,000 in one season of operations. The managing director of the Huskies was Lew Hayman, who was also the coach and general manager of the Alouettes. Previously, he had been a star basketball player at Syracuse University. Other key figures included team president Charles Watson, co-founders Ben Newman and Salter Hayden and Annis Stukus.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Player stats

''Note: GP= Games played; FG= Field Goals; FT= Free Throws; FTA = Free Throws Attempted; AST = Assists; PTS = Points''

Playoffs

*The Huskies did not qualify for the postseason.

Transactions

Trades

Purchases

Dispersal Draft

After the Huskies joined the

Pittsburgh Ironmen The Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association). The team was based in Pittsburgh and played at Duquesne Gardens. They ended their only season in the BAA i ...

in disbanding their franchises altogether on July 27, 1947, the remaining eight teams left in the BAA (the surviving seven teams from the league's first successful season alongside the original Baltimore Bullets franchise that came from the original American Basketball League by a dispute with that league) entered into what became its first ever dispersal draft on August 2 that year, with each team taking players that were originally from the Canadian-based Huskies alongside the American-based

Cleveland Rebels The Cleveland Rebels were a basketball team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a forerunner of the modern National Basketball Association (NBA), based in Cleveland. Franchise history The Rebels were an inaugural franchise in the BAA ...

, Detroit Falcons, and Pittsburgh Ironmen franchises. The following teams acquired these players from the Huskies during the dispersal draft period. * Baltimore Bullets: Leo Mogus & Dick Schulz *

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

: Harry Miller *

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

: Mike McCarron *

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2025, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

: Dick Fitzgerald *

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerb ...

: Roy Hurley,

Bob Mullens Robert Joseph Mullens (November 1, 1922 – July 22, 1989) was an American professional basketball player. An All-American at Fordham University, Mullens played one full season in the Basketball Association of America (which merged with the Nat ...

, & Red Wallace

References

External links

1946-47 Huskies Season on Database Basketball

{{DEFAULTSORT:1946-47 Toronto Huskies Season Toronto Huskies seasons

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...