2015 NHL Draft
ROUND 1 | ROUND 2 | ROUND 3 | ROUND 4 | ROUND 5 | ROUND 6 | ROUND 7
SHARE
Share with your Friends


Gritty, gifted Lach centred Canadiens famous Punch Line, won three Stanley Cups

Saturday, 04.04.2015 / 10:35 AM / News

The Canadian Press

Share with your Friends


Gritty, gifted Lach centred Canadiens famous Punch Line, won three Stanley Cups

MONTREAL - Former Montreal Canadiens great Elmer Lach — who fed passes to Maurice (Rocket) Richard on the famous Punch Line — has died at age 97.

He had been the oldest living NHL player.

The native of Nokomis, Sask., could skate and score well enough to be called Elegant Elmer and had a battling nature that made him an invaluable player for the 1940s Canadiens.

The Punch Line with Toe Blake on left wing and Richard on the right terrorized opposing goalies for four years until Blake's retirement in 1948.

Lach retired as the league's all-time leader in points with 623, a far cry from the current record of 2,857 by Wayne Gretzky but was accomplished in an era of 50-game seasons in a super-competitive six-team league.

He won Stanley Cups 1944, 1946 and 1953 as well as the Hart Trophy in 1944-45. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1966.

NHL.TV™

NHL GameCenter LIVE™ is now NHL.TV™.
Watch out-of-market games and replays with an all new redesigned media player, mobile and connected device apps.

LEARN MORE

NHL Mobile App

Introducing the new official NHL App, available for iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets. A host of new features and improved functionality are available across all platforms, including a redesigned league-wide scoreboard, expanded news coverage, searchable video highlights, individual team experiences* and more. The new NHL App on your tablet also introduces new offerings such as 60fps video, Multitasking** and Picture-in-Picture.

*Available only for smartphones
** Available only for suported iPads
NHL.TV™ › SHOP.NHL.COM › NHL AUCTIONS › FOLLOW ON: FACEBOOK TWITTER