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Toe Blake
Early superstar played with Hamilton before his illustrious career in Montreal Before he became an icon with the Montreal Canadiens, Hector “Toe” Blake played with the Hamilton Tigers OHA Senior A club for three seasons, starting in 1932. Born in Victoria Mines, outside of Sudbury, in August of 1912, Blake began his hockey career with the Cochrane Dunlops and Sudbury Cub Wolves of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association in 1929. It was during this time he led the NOJHL in scoring and went on to help the Cub Wolves win the Memorial Cup. When with the Tigers, Blake’s star began to shine. During 1933-34, he scored 19 times in the 23-game season, along with picking up five more markers in eight games of Allan Cup playoffs when the Tigers were beaten by the Moncton squad. In his final year with the Tigers, Blake played eight games with the Montreal Maroons, and played one game of Stanley Cup competition, when the Maroons beat Toronto for the Cup. After a solid year with the Providence Reds in the Can-Am league, Blake was signed to the Canadiens in February of 1936. He played 11 games that season, but his showing was good enough to earn a fulltime spot with the team for the next season, where he remained until 1948. Blake’s playing career is full of highlights, but some of his most notable performances include a league-leading 47 points in the 1938-39 season, with 24 goals. He always scored double-digit goals for the next several years, but amassed 29 goals back-to-back in the 1944-45 and 1945-46 seasons.
The Habs were a powerhouse team in the NHL during this time, and Blake was outstanding at leading the league in post-season play. In 1943 he led with seven goals in post-season play, and in 1945 led with seven goals in nine games, plus earned the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanlike play. An excerpt from the Weekly Sports News of October 1948 by H.P. Zinck, presented the performance of Blake: “There was nothing at which he did not excel. He was a strong, fast skater; he could and did pick the corners with his shots; his passing left little to be desired; he was a past-master at both fore and back checking; his services were in demand when his team had the odd-man advantage and he was often pressed into service when his team was short-handed. “Possession all of these virtues, plus an abundance of hockey brains, his contract was coveted by every team in the league. The Montealers, knowing Toe’s worth turned a deaf ear to all offers, and used him as the keyman in building teams which won the league championship four straight seasons, 1943-44 through 1946-47.” In January of 1948 Blake suffered a broken leg, and could not continue to play. He went to coach the Montreal AHL affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, and a new career in hockey was established.
He coached in the Quebec Senior Hockey League in the early 1950s, and then the Canadiens came, calling, looking for a new head coach. Blake became the new bench boss in Montreal, and captured the Stanley Cup during his first five seasons with the team. Blake had high standards for his team, and his stern approach to coaching paid off handsomely. With players such as Jean Beliveau, Maurice Richard, Bert Olmstead, Boom Boom Geoffrion, and Jacques Plante, Blake’s team won eight Stanley Cups, and finished first nine times during his 13-year tenure. While his playing career took a back seat to his coaching career, Blake was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966. He had 235 goals and 292 assists for 527 points in 577 regular season NHL games. He retired from the game in 1968, and opened up a popular Montreal bar. He was also presented the Order of Canada, in 1982. Blake suffered from Alzheimer's Disease in his later years, and died of pneumonia in May of 1995, at the age of 82.
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