Punch Imlach

Four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs

George "Punch" Imlach (March 15, 1918 – December 1, 1987) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager best known for his association with the Toronto Maple Leafs, whom he was with from 1958 to 1969, and again from 1979 to 1981, and the Buffalo Sabres, whom he was with from 1970 to 1978. With Toronto he won the Stanley Cup four times, from 1962 to 1964 and again in 1967. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

Quick Facts

Position

Centre

Shoots

Right

Born

15 March 1918

Birthplace

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Died

1 December 1987

Hall of Fame

1984 (Builder)

Played for

Toronto Young Rangers
Toronto Goodyears
Toronto Marlboros
Quebec Aces

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.

Did You Know?

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.