Punch Imlach

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Lore & Background

Born in Toronto, Imlach attended Riverdale Collegiate Institute and played junior hockey in the OHA for the Toronto Young Rangers (1935–38) and senior hockey with the Toronto Goodyears (1938–40) and the Toronto Marlboros (1940–41). He enlisted in the Canadian Army during World War II, where he coached for the first time, with an army team in Cornwall, Ontario. He was invited to training camp by the Detroit Red Wings after being discharged, but felt he had put on too much weight and declined. Imlach played for the Quebec Aces of the QSHL from 1945 to 1949 and spent 11 seasons with the team, becoming coach and then general manager, and then vice-president and part-owner of the franchise. After the 1956–57 season, Imlach moved to professional hockey, hired by the Boston Bruins as general manager of their Springfield Indians farm team. Before the season ended, Imlach had made himself head coach as well. After the season, team owner Eddie Shore took back control of the team, leaving Imlach without a job, although he was still under contract to the Bruins. In July 1958, the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Imlach, aged 40, as one of the team's two assistant general managers, along with King Clancy. However, the Leafs did not have a general manager, and Imlach instead reported to a seven-member committee headed by Stafford Smythe which oversaw the team's business operations. In November, Imlach was named general manager—only the third full-time general manager in the team's 40-year history. Only a week after his hiring, he fired head coach Billy Reay; Reay had been offered the general manager's job before Imlach was hired, but turned it down. Initially, Imlach said he was replacing Reay with Bert Olmstead as player-coach, but almost immediately, he changed his mind and made himself head coach. Imlach was known as a harsh taskmaster who frequently abused his players verbally and physically. He had a preference for older players, many of whom were his strongest supporters as they felt Imlach was giving them their last chance at winning the Stanley Cup. In contrast, many younger players, such as Frank Mahovlich, chafed at Imlach's autocratic coaching style. Imlach took over a team that had finished last the previous season and was mired in last place again at the time he took over for Reay. However, the team staged a strong run late in the season and finished a point ahead o

In Their Own Story

In February 1964, Imlach executed a blockbuster trade that reshaped the league's landscape. He sent Dick Duff, Bob Nevin, and three young prospects—Rod Seiling, Arnie Brown, and Bill Collins—to the New York Rangers in exchange for Andy Bathgate and Don McKenney. While Bathgate and McKenney departed after the next season, the trade highlighted Imlach's willingness to move even key veterans. Later, during the 1965 intra-league draft, he made a fateful decision by leaving Gerry Cheevers unprotected. The young goaltender was immediately snapped up by the Boston Bruins, launching a Hall of Fame career that Toronto missed out on. By February 1968, facing struggles after NHL expansion, Imlach traded franchise icon Frank Mahovlich, along with Garry Unger and Pete Stemkowski, to Detroit for Paul Henderson and Norm Ullman. These moves underscored his belief that no player was untouchable in the pursuit of championships.

Reader's Guide

George "Punch" Imlach was a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager. He was with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1958 to 1969 and again from 1979 to 1981, and with the Buffalo Sabres from 1970 to 1978. He won the Stanley Cup four times with Toronto (1962–1964, 1967). He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

Did You Know?

• Imlach was hired as an assistant general manager in July 1958, then named general manager in November 1958, and made himself head coach after firing Billy Reay.
• He was fired by the Leafs on April 6, 1969, minutes after an early playoff elimination by the Boston Bruins.
• In the 1974 entry draft, Imlach deliberately selected an imaginary Japanese centre, Taro Tsujimoto, in the 11th round (183rd overall).
• Imlach suffered a heart attack on January 7, 1972, and stepped down as Sabres coach in May 1972 on doctors' advice.