Toe Blake

Joseph Hector "Toe" Blake, CM (August 21, 1912 – May 17, 1995) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).[1] He is best known for his three-decade association with the Montreal Canadiens, with whom he won the Stanley Cup ten times as a player or coach. In 2017 Blake was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.[2]

Toe Blake
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1966
Photo as coach of the Canadiens, circa 1960s
Born (1912-08-21)August 21, 1912
Coniston, Ontario, Canada
Died May 17, 1995(1995-05-17) (aged 82)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 162 lb (73 kg; 11 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Maroons
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 1934–1948

Hockey career
The Punch line: Maurice Richard (bottom left), Elmer Lach (centre), and Toe Blake (bottom right)

Blake played junior and senior hockey in the Sudbury area and was part of the 1932 Memorial Cup champions, the Sudbury Cub Wolves. He played for the Hamilton Tigers of the Ontario Hockey Association during the 1934–35 season before he signed with the Montreal Maroons of the National Hockey League on February 22, 1935; he made his NHL debut two days later on February 24, against the Chicago Black Hawks.[3] Blake played eight games with the Maroons in the 1934–35 season, but was held scoreless; he did not play in any of the team's playoff games, but when the Maroons won the Stanley Cup, Blake's name was added to the trophy. Blake then played for the Canadiens until his retirement in 1948. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player in 1938–39; that same year he was also the league scoring champion with 47 points. For the last eight seasons, he was team captain, and led the Canadiens to Stanley Cups in 1944 and 1946. In the latter year, in which he incurred only one minor penalty, he became the first Canadien ever to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship, which only Mats Näslund has replicated since as of 2015 (in 1987–88).

While playing with the Canadiens, he was part of a trio called the "Punch Line," with Elmer Lach at centre and Maurice Richard at right wing. He scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in the 1944 Stanley Cup Finals at 9:12 of the first overtime of game four, helping the Canadiens complete a four-game sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks. The following season, the Punch Line became the second set of linemates ever to finish first, second, and third in NHL scoring in one season (Lach had 80 points, Richard 73, and Blake 67). They followed the Boston Bruins' Kraut Line of 1939–40, and would be followed by the Detroit Red Wings' Production Line in 1949–50.

Toe Blake

During a loss to the New York Rangers on January 11, 1948,[4][5] Blake collided with Rangers' skater Bill Juzda, awkwardly hit the boards and suffered a double fracture of his ankle, ending his NHL career.[1][5] In 1998, he was ranked number 66 on The Hockey News’ list of the NHL's 100 greatest players of all time to date.

After eight years coaching several of the Canadiens' minor-league affiliates, he was named head coach of the Canadiens in 1955–56, replacing Dick Irvin. Blake was fluent in French (his mother was a Franco-Ontarian), and Canadiens management also felt that Richard's former linemate was better suited to control the star's explosive temper (which had led to a riot the past spring).

Blake coached the Canadiens for thirteen years, winning eight Stanley Cups — the most titles for any coach in the team's history[6] and second-most league-wide, after Scotty Bowman, who won five Cups with the Canadiens, one with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and three with the Detroit Red Wings.[7] As of 2015, no coach has equalled his 500 regular-season wins with the Canadiens.[6] Notably, he won championships each in his first five seasons as a head coach, this streak being an NHL record that stands to this day. The only other person to have performed a similar feat in his first five seasons as a coach or manager of any particular team in North American professional sports is Casey Stengel of the New York Yankees, although unlike Blake's case the Yankees were not the first team Stengel managed.

Blake retired after the Habs clinched the Cup in game four of the 1968 Finals, ending 33 consecutive years at ice level with the Canadiens organization.

Blake turned down Jacques Plante's request to wear a mask during games for fear that it would impair his vision. However, after a shot from Rangers player Andy Bathgate broke Plante's nose in a game on November 1, 1959, Blake finally relented.[1]

Personal life

Born in what is now the ghost town of Victoria Mines, Blake was raised playing outdoor hockey in the town of Coniston near the city of Sudbury in Northern Ontario.

His nickname came from a childhood experience: his younger sister had difficulty pronouncing his name, rendering it as something like "Hec-toe". Thus, the nickname "Toe" arose, and ultimately replaced the nickname he had been given as a scorer, the Old Lamplighter, because he often activated the light behind the goal.[1]

After retiring from the Canadiens, Blake and his family resided permanently in Montreal. In 1952, he opened Toe Blake's Tavern, at the corner of Guy Street and Saint Catherine Street in Montreal, just a few blocks from the Montreal Forum.[1][8] The tavern closed in 1983.[8]

Blake suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his final years.[9] When respected writer Red Fisher visited him in the nursing home in 1989, Blake could not recognize his old friend. Blake died of pneumonia, typical of Alzheimer's patients, on May 17, 1995,[9] at the age of 82.

He was the uncle of Mike Blake.

Legacy

Blake was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966 in the player category, and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1982.[5] A park located next to his Montreal West home is named in his honor.

In 2011, the community centre in Blake's hometown of Coniston, Ontario, was renamed the "Toe Blake Memorial Arena" in his honour.[10]

Career statistics
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1929–30Cochrane DunlopsNOJHA73034—————
1930–31Sudbury Cub WolvesNOJHA63141220006
1930–31Sudbury IndustriesNOHA87181031124
1930–31Sudbury Cub WolvesM-Cup—————54156
1930–31Sudbury WolvesAl-Cup—————33140
1931–32Sudbury Cub WolvesNOJHA35054—————
1931–32Falconbridge FalconsNOHA108191821012
1932–33Hamilton TigersOHA-Sr.2294132620002
1933–34Hamilton TigersOHA-Sr.231914332834374
1933–34Hamilton TigersAl-Cup—————85274
1934–35Hamilton TigersOHA-Sr.1815112648—————
1934–35Montreal MaroonsNHL8000010000
1935–36Providence RedsCAHL331211236572352
1935–36Montreal CanadiensNHL1112328—————
1936–37Montreal CanadiensNHL431012221251010
1937–38Montreal CanadiensNHL431716333333142
1938–39Montreal CanadiensNHL482423471031122
1939–40Montreal CanadiensNHL4817193648—————
1940–41Montreal CanadiensNHL481220324930335
1941–42Montreal CanadiensNHL481728451930332
1942–43Montreal CanadiensNHL482336592654370
1943–44Montreal CanadiensNHL41263359109711182
1944–45Montreal CanadiensNHL492938672560225
1945–46Montreal CanadiensNHL502921502976135
1946–47Montreal CanadiensNHL602129506112790
1947–48Montreal CanadiensNHL32915244—————
1948–49Buffalo BisonsAHL181340—————
1949–50Valleyfield BravesQSHL431215271530110
1950–51Valleyfield BravesALX-Cup10000—————
NHL totals 577 235 292 527 282 57 25 37 62 23

Coaching record
TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLTPtsFinishResult
Montreal Canadiens1955–56 704515101001st in NHLWon Stanley Cup
Montreal Canadiens1956–57 70352312822nd in NHLWon Stanley Cup
Montreal Canadiens1957–58 70431710961st in NHLWon Stanley Cup
Montreal Canadiens1958–59 70391813911st in NHLWon Stanley Cup
Montreal Canadiens1959–60 70401812921st in NHLWon Stanley Cup
Montreal Canadiens1960–61 70411910921st in NHLLost in Semi-Finals
Montreal Canadiens1961–62 70421414981st in NHLLost in Semi-Finals
Montreal Canadiens1962–63 70281923793rd in NHLLost in Semi-Finals
Montreal Canadiens1963–64 70362113851st in NHLLost in Semi-Finals
Montreal Canadiens1964–65 70362311832nd in NHLWon Stanley Cup
Montreal Canadiens1965–66 7041218901st in NHLWon Stanley Cup
Montreal Canadiens1966–67 70322513772nd in NHLLost in Cup Final
Montreal Canadiens1967–68 74422210941st in EastWon Stanley Cup
Total9145002551591,159-13 playoff appearances
8 Stanley Cups

Awards
  • Stanley Cup champion — 1935 (with Montreal Maroons as a player)
  • Stanley Cup champion — 1944, 1946 (with Montreal Canadiens as a player)
  • Stanley Cup champion — 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1968 (head coach of Montreal Canadiens)
  • Hart Trophy — 1939
  • Scoring Leader — 1939
  • Lady Byng Trophy — 1946
  • NHL First Team All-Star — 1939, 1940, 1945
  • NHL Second Team All-Star — 1946
  • In January, 2017, Blake was part of the first group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.[2]

See also

References
  1. Christie, James (May 18, 1995). "Canadiens taskmaster won on skates and in a fedora". The Globe & Mail. p. E6.
  2. "100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  3. Coleman, Charles L. (1969). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol 2: 1927 – 1946 Inc. Sherbrooke, Quebec: Progressive Publications Incorporated. p. 238.
  4. "Our History 1947-1948". Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  5. "Spotlight: One on one with Toe Blake". Hockey Hall of Fame. January 2, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  6. "Top 10s - Coaches". Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  7. "Once around Scotty Bowman's home, in what is normally..." August 29, 2002. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  8. "Faubourg Building". Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  9. Thomas Jr., Robert McG (May 18, 1995). "Hector (Toe) Blake, 82, Is Dead; Coach of Canadiens Title Teams". New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  10. Punch, Rachel (September 13, 2011). "Toe Blake honour long overdue". Sudbury Star. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
Preceded by
Gordie Drillon		 NHL Scoring Champion
1939		 Succeeded by
Milt Schmidt
Preceded by
Eddie Shore		 Winner of the Hart Trophy
1939		 Succeeded by
Ebbie Goodfellow
Preceded by
Walter Buswell		 Montreal Canadiens captain
1940–48		 Succeeded by
Bill Durnan
Preceded by
Bill Mosienko		 Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1946		 Succeeded by
Bobby Bauer
Preceded by
Dick Irvin		 Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens
1955–68		 Succeeded by
Claude Ruel
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