'A real relic': Lost watch from Maple Leaf's 1967 Stanley Cup win found in Banff after decades

Calgarian Bradley Evasiuk was out hiking around Lake Minnewanka recently, when he came across a handsome Birks watch just lying there on the trail.

He leaned down, picked it up and flipped it over to see an inscription on the back.

"My jaw hit the floor almost. There was a piece of history, practically," Evasiuk said.

There, engraved into the watch was a message from the City of Toronto mayor to the head doctor of the Maple Leafs, commemorating their last Stanley Cup win in 1967.

Thatdoctor was Calgary surgeon Tait McPhedran,who passed away in 2012.

The oldest of his five sons, Norm McPhedran,joined theCalgary Eyeopener on Tuesday.

He says he thinks he knows when his father might have lost his watch.

This very special Maple Leafs watch reunion was 30 years in the making

4 years ago

Duration 1:52

A relic of the last Stanley Cup win for the Toronto Maple Leafs (way back in 1967) was just found on an Alberta mountain path. Turns out the watch, which belonged to the team's doctor who has since passed away, was lost roughly 30 years ago but found it's way back to Tait McPhedran's family this week.

A dark evening in the mountains

Around 1991, Norm said his dad and a friend had planned a hike at Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park in the winter.

At one point, they arrived at a dam that was wired shut, blocking their way.

Norm saidtheir light ran out, and they ended up having to spend the night in the mountains.

They both managed to make it back by the morning, Norm said, just as he and his brother Bruce were on their way to go look for their dad.

"That's where we think it happened," Norm said.

He guesses the watch must have been there for about 30 years.

Finding the watch is huge, Norm says, especially since their mom just passed away this year, so they couldn't ask her about the watch or where it was.

"Dad was pretty understated with this stuff, but you know, as any Leafs or Flames fan would say, 'God, this is a real relic'," Norm said.

From Calgary and back

TaitMcPhedran spent a lot of his early life moving around, with some of his high school years spent in Calgary.

Then he went off to the Second World War, and when he came back in 1945he was faced with a choice to go back to B.C. as logger, or continue school.

He opted to go to medical school in Toronto, graduated in 1950 and eventuallyMcPhedran became a surgeon at Toronto General Hospital.

"He was the youngest surgeon of a pretty impressive group of surgeons at that time," Norm said.

He was later asked to be a doctor for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

During the Stanley Cup game in 1967 the last year the team won the cup Norm said his dadwas right next to the bench.

"He opened and closed the gate for them," Norm said.

Because of the doctor'saffiliation with the team and itswin, the City of Toronto gifted him the watch.

As for how the family later ended up in Calgary,McPhedranwas eventually offered theposition ofchief surgeon and the first professor of surgeons at Calgary's medical school, Norm said. He remained an avid outdoorsman even in his later years, fond of golf, skiing and hiking in the mountains.

And now that the watch is back, he and his brothers will have to discuss which of them will get to keep it.

Listen to the full interview onthe Calgary Eyeopenerhere: