Two moves occurred this season. The club moved from the Western to the Eastern Conference of the NHL as result of expansion into Nashville. The club moved from Maple Leaf Gardens to the new Air Canada Centre arena.
The 1998–99 season was one of the few incredible seasons that I can remember over the past 43 years. As Pat Quinn consolidated control of the team it began to come together. The Leafs were not picked to make the playoffs that season but instead the team saw tremendous improvements over the 1997–98 season and the team got plenty of help from its new members, who included Bryan Berard, Sylvain Cote, Alexander Karpovtsev (who led the league in +/- with +39 but wasn't eligible for the NHL Plus-Minus Award since he played in only 58 games), Yanic Perreault and Steve Thomas (who finished second on the team in points with 73). But the biggest reason for the turnaround was the signing of free agent goalie Curtis Joseph who was runner up for the Vezina Trophy that year.
Pat Quinn introduced a 'run and shoot' offense to the Leafs despite the fact that much of the league was moving towards the 'trap' defense. The move reaped immediate rewards as 6 Maple Leafs scored 20 or more goals. Toronto set a club record for most regular-season wins (45) and earned 97 points to finish second in the Northeast Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. They lead the league in most goals for (268), and were the only team to score 200 or more even-strength goals.
In the playoffs the Maple Leafs beat the Flyers led by Eric Lindros in the first round in 6 games. The next round the Leafs took on the Penguins led by Jaromir Jagr and again won in 6 games. However, in the Eastern Finals the Leafs ran up against Dominic Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres and lost in 5. It was the first time since 1993 that the Maple Leafs made it to the final four.
On February 13, 1999, the Toronto Maple Leafs ended a 67-year tradition when they played their last game at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Maple Leafs lost 6–2 to the Chicago Blackhawks. Former Leaf Doug Gilmour scored a fluke goal in that game and notorious tough guy Bob Probert scored the final NHL goal in MLG history during the third period. During the emotional post-game ceremony, legendary Canadian singer Anne Murray performed The Maple Leaf Forever, clad in a Leafs jersey.
The first Maple Leafs home game took place on February 20, 1999, versus the Montreal Canadiens, won by the Leafs 3–2 on an overtime goal by Steve Thomas.
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