"We'll Take It Here"; Punch Imlach

A few tidbits from the day off between Game 5 and Game 6 of the 1967 Cup Final culled from the archives of the Montreal Gazette and Toronto Star:
"We'll wind it up here," Maple Leafs coach Punch Imlach stated after the Leafs went through an hour-long practice session on the Sunday after Game 5. Toronto had beaten Montreal at the Forum the previous night by a score of 4-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the 1967 Cup Final. Imlach continued, "We don't even have transportation booked for a return to Montreal, we haven't even tried. He finished by saying, "I have nothing to say. After 96 games, I'm all talked out. The team'll have to do the talking in this one." Of course Imlach added, "What difference does it make? Has Blake decided who he's going to use in goal?"
"You'll know who's in goal at game time and not before", said Montreal coach Toe Blake, answering Imlach's query. "It doesn't matter who's in goal as long as we work in front of him. It wasn't Vachon's fault that we lost on Saturday. He's been terrific since he came up and could rebound with a big game. Gump was great in the playoffs last year, but he hasn't played for a long time and could be rusty." However, an anonymous Habs veteran commented, "We'll win with Gump. Experience counts most in the playoffs."
Leaf goaltender, Terry Sawchuk commented on this hopefully being the final game of the season,"When I walked here in the sunshine I thought this is the kind of a morning a guy should be able to sit on a bank of a trout stream with a cold brew in one hand and a fishing line in the other."
Imlach wondered about injured Johnny Bower,"I'm surprised he didn't come out to skate today, but I guess he didn't feel he was ready." Bower of course had a torn groin muscle from warm-ups prior to the fourth game.
Montreal initially canceled reservations at a suburban Toronto motel in favour of their customary downtown hotel after they heard all the visiting newspapermen would be there as well. Alas, the newsmen moved back to the city too and it was too late for the team to switch back.
Leaf rookie Brian Conacher was somewhat miffed that he hadn't been credited with an assist in the Game Five win,"I checked the puck off Bobby Rosseau and knocked it free to Marcel (Pronovost). I felt I deserved an assist and told the referee (Bill Friday). He made the correction with the fellow at the timekeeper's bench and that's the last I heard of it." Pronovost had notched the third goal, a shorthanded marker at 12:02 of the second period on Saturday night. Fifty years later, Conacher has yet to receive his assist and he ended the post-season with 3 goals and 2 assists in 12 games. He would not play another NHL playoff game after the '67 Cup Final. 
Toronto is a 9-5 favourite to take the Cup in Game 6.
The Conn Smythe Trophy will not be presented, nor the winner named, until two days after the Cup Final. This is not because league governors will take that long to decide but because the NHL feels two presentations in one evening are too many.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHA Ottawa Civics, The Two Week Franchise

Image
Tom Earl, Daryl Maggs, Mark Lomenda, Gary MacGregor, Garry Swain "Please let the fans make up their own minds," Henry Feller told a press gathering. "Let them decide if they want pro hockey here. We have to average 7,000 or 8,000 in the remaining 19 home games for a break-even point." Feller was a director of the Founders Club who had interest in buying the WHA's Denver Spurs club. Ivan Mullinex, owner of the Spurs had brought his team to Ottawa in an attempt to drum up interest and save his investment. The date was January 2, 1976 and Mullinex was in debt to a Denver bank to the tune of $1 million dollars. This same day, the newly christened Civics lost their first game under the new moniker by a score of 2-1 at Cincinnati. Star of the team, Ralph Backstrom said after the game, "Our first official notice of the move hit us when we entered the Cincinnati rink and the names on the big scoreboard read: Stingers and Civics. Until that moment we were un
Read more

Team Canada 1972, What Might have Been

Image
Guy Lafleur, if he had played in the 72 Summit Series "No way. Can you imagine what our fans would say if we allowed Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito to play for Canada in that series and either...suffered an injury that might prevent them from playing with us for a year or more?" This was the concern of Weston Adams Jr, president of the Boston Bruins as quoted on April 20, 1972. After being speculated and discussed since February 1972 at the Olympics in Sapporo Japan, the series was set to go. Early on however, controversy stirred as to who exactly would be representing Canada. Bruins GM, Milt Schmidt agreed with his boss saying, "My only interest would be to see the Russians play the Bruins for the world championship...or whatever team wins the Stanley Cup." In the Vancouver Sun a few days later, the legendary Jim Coleman responds to the American naysayers suggesting that Team Canada should be made up strictly of players from Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal
Read more

Ron Hextall and the stolen Conn Smythe Trophy

Image
Ron Hextall did not deserve the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1987....there, I said it. I recently caught game seven of the '87 finals on ESPN Classic, where the Oilers beat the Flyers 3-1. Hextall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy to the disdain and boos of the Northlands Coliseum. Hextall was (and remains) the fourth player to win the trophy in a losing cause. Even as a teenager following these playoffs as they happened, I thought this was an injustice. Upon further inspection, I believe he only won because he was a rookie, and was the "sexy" pick as opposed to the proper pick. When looking at his numbers, it's hard to figure why he won. Hextall finished with 15 wins, 11 losses and a GAA of 2.77. Oilers, Grant Fuhr went 14 and 5 with an average of 2.46. I realize that stats cannot tell the whole story, but even if we dig further the award doesn't seem justified. His .908 Save Pct was the same as Fuhr's and tied for third behind Ken Wregget and Kelly Hrudey. Also,
Read more