George "Punch" Imlach
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
George "Punch" Imlach (Born: March 15, 1918, Toronto, Ontario, Died: December 1, 1987), is a former NHL coach and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Following a brief playing career for the Quebec Aces of the QSHL, he became coach then owner of the franchise. It was during this time frame Imlach cam a cross a blooming young star named Jean Beliveau, and to his death, Imlach mainitained Beliveau was the greatest player he had ever coached. By 1958 Imlach was a personnel director with the Boston Bruins when he was offered a job by Conn Smythe of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Imlach inquired if he could become their General Manager, and Smythe agreed. Upon settling into his new post, the Leafs had a disappointing 1958-1959 season, and Imlach fired coach Billy Reay, replacing him with himself.
As new head coach, he quickly gained a reputation for abusing his players verbally and physically, but this tactic seemed to work, as he led the Toronto Maple Leafs to 4 Stanley Cups in 1962, 1963, 1964 and finally in 1967. Following expansion of the NHL from 6 teams to 12 for the 1967-1968 season, the Leafs were struggling and his veteran players grew impatient with Imlach's brash coaching style. He finally dispensed of the team's star player, Frank Mahovlich in 1968-69 to Detroit in return for 4 players much to the chagrin of fans and the media, and following an early exit in the ensuing playoffs, he was fired. He was then offered a coaching job by the Buffalo Sabres in 1970 but suffered a heart attack a year later, resigning the post after a breif return in 1972. Imlach was then given another coaching opportunity by the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1979-1981 at which point he was fired and then retired from coaching in the NHL. Imlach ammassed an impressive 423 wins, 373 losses and 163 to go along with 4 Stanley Cups. Imlach was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame a couple years later in 1984 and then died in 1987 on December 1st.
| Preceded by: Billy Reay | Head Coaches of the Toronto Maple Leafs 1959-1968 | Succeeded by: John McLean |
| Preceded by: Dick Duff | Head Coaches of the Toronto Maple Leafs 1980-1981 | Succeeded by: Joe Cozier |
