A 19th century local tailor and Milton’s greatest hockey player!
Each week, we speak with Milton Historical Society (MHS) President John Challinor II to gather information and details about the namesakes of our roads. If you weren’t aware, he and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, writing Milton Streets back in 2007.
Recently, we covered a pair of veterans to honour Remembrance Day. This week, we’re focusing on Leitch Landing and Tonelli Lane.
Starting with Leitch, Challinor says little is actually known about the former Milton tailor.
Back in then 1800’s, there was very little manufactured clothing. Most residents would have been wearing hand-made clothing on a daily basis. This made a good tailor very important for communities.
By the time Leitch began appearing in Milton’s newspaper, his business was already near the end of its run. Challinor says the plan is to continue looking through local documents, newspapers, and journals from that era to learn about Leitch, as well as other important figures who have fallen through the cracks of time.
Moving onto our second street, Challinor describes John Tonelli as an elite hockey player in every way.
On top of his four Stanley Cup rings with the New York Islanders dynasty, Tonelli also led the Calgary Flames to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history in 1985-1986. They would lose to Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens in five games. Tonelli would then travel to Los Angeles with Wayne Gretzky to play for the Kings. After three seasons in LA, he then split his final season playing with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Quebec Nordiques.
He’s one of 382 players to play more than 1,000 regular season NHL games across a career. Combining his NHL and WHA statistics, Tonelli has also played in 206 playoff games.
Along with his spot in the Milton Sports Hall of Fame and on the Milton Walk of Fame, Tonelli is also the namesake of the John Tonelli Sports Centre in Milton. His jersey number (27) was retired by the New York Islanders in 2020.
Known for his mix of skill and physicality, Challinor says Tonelli would fit in any era of hockey. He’s often compared to modern day players like Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, as well as Tom Wilson.
An interesting thing to note is that Milton only has one active NHL player in Michael Sgarbossa (Campbellville), whose playstyle is comparable to Tonelli. Challinor says he’d like to see Sgarbossa get more time with an NHL team before he retires.
It’s pretty clear that the Milton Menace is an apt name for our local hockey team.
If you’re looking to understand how Milton’s streets are named, you should check out the book written by Challinor and Dills. Published by the Milton Historical Society back in 2007, it sold out in about six weeks and has since been long out of print. That said, according to Challinor, you can still find a copy at the Milton Public Library. With nearly 15-years having passed since the initial publication, and the extensive town growth in that time, an updated book is likely to come.
You can also take a walk with the late Jim Dills down Milton’s Main Street in 2002.
If you have a suggestion on what you’d like to learn about next week, let us know! We’re currently working on names that we find interesting. You can message our Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram page, or even email us at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that we find interesting.
If you have a news tip or story idea, you can now send us a heads up via email at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. If you’d like to get ahold of me personally, shoot me a message at Cameron.Wilkinson@LocalRadio.ca. We’re in the business of content creation, so no idea is a bad idea.
