The Punch line was a famous

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

line for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in the 1940s. It consisted of

Elmer Lach Elmer James Lach (, January 22, 1918 – April 4, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 14 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL). A centre, he was a member of the Punch line, along with Ma ...

at center,

Toe Blake Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plant ...

on left wing, and

Maurice Richard Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard (; ; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL hist ...

on the right side. During their time together, they led the Canadiens to two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

victories. During the 1944–45 NHL season, the three finished first (Lach), second (Richard), and third (Blake) in scoring for the league. They would also form the forward line for the first all-star team in that same season. Richard would be the first team all-star right wing for all but one year while with Blake and Lach.

History

In the 1943–44 season, Montreal head coach

Dick Irvin James Dickinson "Dick" Irvin Jr. (or II) (July 19, 1892 – May 16, 1957) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played for professional teams in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Western Canada Hockey League, and th ...

tried a line combination of Lach at centre,

on the right wing, and

at left. This line became known as the Punch line and dominated the NHL for four seasons. In the first season of the Punch line, Lach played 48 games, scoring on average an assist per game; he also added 24 goals. At the conclusion of the season, Lach was named to the second All-Star team. He also won his first

, helping sweep the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the 1944–45 season, Lach played in all 50 games, picking up a league-leading 80 points, of which 26 were goals and 54 were assists. That season, linemate Maurice Richard became the first player in the NHL to score

50 goals in 50 games In the National Hockey League (NHL), the phrase "50 goals in 50 games" (50-in-50) refers to a player scoring 50 goals within the first 50 (or fewer) games of his team's season. An extremely rare feat, the NHL has only officially deemed five playe ...

. That season, the Punch line amassed 220 points in total, an NHL record until the 1960s. Lach was presented the

Hart Memorial Trophy The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, is an annual award for the most valuable player in the National Hockey League (NHL), voted by the members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The original trophy was donat ...

as the league's Most Valuable Player, and was named to the first All-Star team, with Blake and Richard joining him. After being eliminated by the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in the semi-finals in the previous season, Lach and the Canadiens won another Stanley Cup in the 1945–46 season. Lach led all players with 34 regular season assists, and was named once more to the second All-Star team. In the 1947–48 season, Lach became the first recipient of the

Art Ross Trophy The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League (NHL) player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season. It was presented to the league by former player, General Manager, and head coach Art Ross. The trophy has ...

, after leading the league in points, with 61. The Punch line ceased to exist after Blake retired at the end of the season. All three members have been in the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

since 1966, when Blake and Lach joined Richard, an inductee five years prior (1961). Blake would retire after the

1947–48 NHL season The 1947–48 NHL season was the 31st season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 60 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the Stanley Cup winners. They defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to none. This season saw the introduc ...

, but would later coach Richard on the famed Canadiens teams of the late 1950s that won five Stanley Cups in a row. Lach and Richard would later both set the record for most points in a career. Blake also was the Canadiens' coach for eight of the record eleven Cups won by Maurice Richard's younger brother,

Henri Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry (given name), Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List_of_rulers_named_Henry#France, List of rulers named Henry ...

References

External links

Plenty of 'Punch' left in LachThe Golden Years: Toe Blake
{{1947–48 NHL season by team History of the Montreal Canadiens 1943–44 NHL season 1944–45 NHL season 1945–46 NHL season 1946–47 NHL season 1947–48 NHL season Nicknamed groups of ice hockey players

History

See also

References

External links