The corporation's roots can be traced back to 1927, when Conn Smythe organized a group of investors to purchase Toronto's premier hockey franchise, the Toronto St. Patricks of the National Hockey League (NHL), which had won Stanley Cup championships in 1918 (as the Toronto Arenas) and 1922, from a group headed by Charles Querrie. The club was playing poorly and minority partner Jack Bickell contacted Smythe about becoming coach of the team. However, Smythe told Bickell that he was more interested in buying a stake in the team. Not long after, with the team in trouble financially due to majority owner Querrie having lost a lawsuit to former Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone over ownership of the franchise, Querrie put the St. Pats up for sale and agreed in principle to sell them to C. C. Pyle for $200,000, who planned to move the team to Philadelphia. After Bickell contacted Smythe to inform him of the sale, Smythe persuaded Querrie that civic pride was more important than money and put together a syndicate that bought the St. Pats. Smythe himself invested $10,000 of his own money and his group contributed $75,000 up front and a further $75,000 due 30 days later, with Bickell retaining his $40,000 share in the team. The deal was finalized on Valentine's Day, and the new owners quickly renamed the team the Toronto Maple Leafs, after the national symbol of Canada. Smythe attributed his choice of a maple Leaf for the logo to his experiences as a Canadian Army officer and prisoner of war during World War I. Later that year, Smythe bought the junior hockey Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association to serve as a developmental team for Maple Leafs.