Read Online The Goal of My Life by Paul Henderson - Free Book Online
Authors: Paul Henderson
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we still missed the playoffs.
In 1968–69, we bounced back to grab a playoff spot with eighty-five points, ending up fourth in the East Division. But the playoffs were a disaster, as we were swept by the Bruins with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito in four straight games, losing the first two games in Boston 10–0 and 7–0. We were no match for the Bruins in that series, which featured the monstrous hit on Orr by Pat Quinn in Boston Garden. Right after the final game, Punch Imlach, who had been with the team since 1958, was fired as general manager and coach.
Imlach’s firing was so sudden. It was a bit of a shock the way they did it. However, I have to say we weren’t terribly surprised that Punch lost his job. He had a tough situation going on with the Leafs at that time. The team was rebuilding, and the roster was in transition, so it wasn’t the best place to be for any general manager and coach right about then. In the dressing room, we all knew there was no way we could compete against the better teams in the league, as we had shown in that series against Boston.
I didn’t wind up playing very long for Imlach, but he was certainly a very different coach than Abel was in Detroit. You just couldn’t challenge Imlach; he couldn’t stand anyone challenging him at any time. He was in total control of his teams, and you had better listen to him – or else. Abel was the opposite in that respect; he didn’t have an ego problem and was easier to talk to.
However, there was no doubt that Imlach had his strengths. He understood hockey, and he was a very good strategist. He was sharp at matching lines during a game, and was a very good tactician. He got more out of that 1967 StanleyCup Leafs team than anyone else could have, as that team probably shouldn’t have won a Stanley Cup. The Leafs really shouldn’t have beaten us (the Red Wings) back in 1963 either, but he did another good job with that team. But he got the most out of many of his players.
I remember that when I came to the team, he gave me Norman Vincent Peale’s famous book
The Power of Positive Thinking –
he really believed in it. I did too – some people kidded me that I could have written that book. That was Imlach’s upside: the positive thinking really came through when some of his teams won despite not being as talented as the opponents they beat.
His downside was his arrogance and his superstition. He had one flavour for everybody – he just couldn’t deal with players who were more idiosyncratic. He couldn’t understand them. Players like Frank Mahovlich, Carl Brewer, and Mike “Shaky” Walton, for instance – they just weren’t Imlach’s kind of players. If he had been a little wiser and a little more of a communicator, he would have been an even better coach.
And he was superstitious – very superstitious. That really drove me crazy, and a lot of other players wondered what he was up to as well. He’d wear the same hat because it was lucky, send players down to Rochester on a gut feeling, and make some hockey decisions based on superstition. When you operate like that, you lose a lot of respect in some quarters, and I think that really hurt Punch.
By the end of that 1969 playoff series, the writing was on the wall, and most of us knew it. He didn’t deserve to be fired in such a quick and heartless way, but as I said, he was in a very tough spot and we really weren’t shocked that they made a coaching change.
The 1969–70 season was very disappointing for us. Johnny McLellan took over as coach of the Leafs, and was as nice a man as you’d ever meet, but was probably too nice to be a coach in the NHL . People often took advantage of his kind nature, and that made a tough job even tougher. He was in a difficult spot, as he didn’t inherit a very good team, especially after we dealt Tim Horton – who had turned forty, but had been a first-team all-star in 1968–69 – to the New York Rangers. New general manager Jim Gregory
In 1968–69, we bounced back to grab a playoff spot with eighty-five points, ending up fourth in the East Division. But the playoffs were a disaster, as we were swept by the Bruins with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito in four straight games, losing the first two games in Boston 10–0 and 7–0. We were no match for the Bruins in that series, which featured the monstrous hit on Orr by Pat Quinn in Boston Garden. Right after the final game, Punch Imlach, who had been with the team since 1958, was fired as general manager and coach.
Imlach’s firing was so sudden. It was a bit of a shock the way they did it. However, I have to say we weren’t terribly surprised that Punch lost his job. He had a tough situation going on with the Leafs at that time. The team was rebuilding, and the roster was in transition, so it wasn’t the best place to be for any general manager and coach right about then. In the dressing room, we all knew there was no way we could compete against the better teams in the league, as we had shown in that series against Boston.
I didn’t wind up playing very long for Imlach, but he was certainly a very different coach than Abel was in Detroit. You just couldn’t challenge Imlach; he couldn’t stand anyone challenging him at any time. He was in total control of his teams, and you had better listen to him – or else. Abel was the opposite in that respect; he didn’t have an ego problem and was easier to talk to.
However, there was no doubt that Imlach had his strengths. He understood hockey, and he was a very good strategist. He was sharp at matching lines during a game, and was a very good tactician. He got more out of that 1967 StanleyCup Leafs team than anyone else could have, as that team probably shouldn’t have won a Stanley Cup. The Leafs really shouldn’t have beaten us (the Red Wings) back in 1963 either, but he did another good job with that team. But he got the most out of many of his players.
I remember that when I came to the team, he gave me Norman Vincent Peale’s famous book
The Power of Positive Thinking –
he really believed in it. I did too – some people kidded me that I could have written that book. That was Imlach’s upside: the positive thinking really came through when some of his teams won despite not being as talented as the opponents they beat.
His downside was his arrogance and his superstition. He had one flavour for everybody – he just couldn’t deal with players who were more idiosyncratic. He couldn’t understand them. Players like Frank Mahovlich, Carl Brewer, and Mike “Shaky” Walton, for instance – they just weren’t Imlach’s kind of players. If he had been a little wiser and a little more of a communicator, he would have been an even better coach.
And he was superstitious – very superstitious. That really drove me crazy, and a lot of other players wondered what he was up to as well. He’d wear the same hat because it was lucky, send players down to Rochester on a gut feeling, and make some hockey decisions based on superstition. When you operate like that, you lose a lot of respect in some quarters, and I think that really hurt Punch.
By the end of that 1969 playoff series, the writing was on the wall, and most of us knew it. He didn’t deserve to be fired in such a quick and heartless way, but as I said, he was in a very tough spot and we really weren’t shocked that they made a coaching change.
The 1969–70 season was very disappointing for us. Johnny McLellan took over as coach of the Leafs, and was as nice a man as you’d ever meet, but was probably too nice to be a coach in the NHL . People often took advantage of his kind nature, and that made a tough job even tougher. He was in a difficult spot, as he didn’t inherit a very good team, especially after we dealt Tim Horton – who had turned forty, but had been a first-team all-star in 1968–69 – to the New York Rangers. New general manager Jim Gregory
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