The St. John's Maple Leafs played their inaugural game on May 8, 1991, in front of a sold-out crowd, where they defeated the Fredericton Canadiens 5–3.

[3] The team made it to the Calder Cup finals in their inaugural season, losing a seven game series to the Adirondack Red Wings four-games-to-three.

[4] They remained at Memorial Stadium for ten seasons until moving to the newly built Mile One Centre in downtown St. John's in 2001.

By 2005, the AHL's gradual withdrawal from the Atlantic left the Maple Leafs' nearest opponent as the Portland Pirates, 1,781 km (1,107 mi) away.

[5][6] Shannon (Shaq) Coady was the original stick boy for the St. John's Maple Leafs, after winning a local contest at the age of 14.

[10] St. John's Maple Leafs games were broadcast by VOCM news radio, (and by CJYQ in later seasons) and on local television by Cable Atlantic, which was acquired by Rogers Communications in 2001.

Brian Rogers was the long-time voice of the St. John's Maple Leafs,[11] after taking over the role from George MacClaren[12] in 1994.