Elmer Lach
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Elmer James Lach (, January 22, 1918 – April 4, 2015) was a Canadian professional
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 ...
player who played 14 seasons 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
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL). A
centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
, he was a member of the
Punch line A punch line (a. k. a. punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people laugh. It is the third and final part of the typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and the narrative which sets up ...
, along with Maurice Richard and
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 ...
. Lach led the NHL in scoring twice, and was awarded the
Hart 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 dona ...
in 1945 as the league's most valuable player. He won three
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 ...
s with Montreal. When Lach retired in 1954, he was the league's all-time leading scorer and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame twelve years later. His number 16 was retired on December 4, 2009, during the Montreal Canadiens centennial celebrations. In 2017 Lach was named one of the ' 100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.


Early life

Lach was born in
Nokomis, Saskatchewan Nokomis is a town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Nokomis had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 popu ...
, a small town north of Regina. Elmer was the youngest of two boys and four girls born to William and Mary-Ann Lach, who arrived in Canada from Eastern Europe in 1910. Lach's father was at first a farmer, then took a job as the head of public works for Nokomis, population 550. Lach played ice hockey for his school team, starting at age 12. Against the wishes of his Baptist parents, Elmer would sneak away to play ice hockey on a local pond instead of attending church on Saturday mornings. Lach began playing junior ice hockey with the Regina Abbotts in the 1935–36 season, arranged by a Nokomis doctor with contacts in Regina. In Regina, Lach would work at the team's owner's pool hall, racking balls for 25 cents per day. He played the two following seasons with the senior Weyburn Beavers of the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League (SSHL). He moved again in 1938 to star for two seasons for the senior Moose Jaw Millers, playing hockey in the winter for $75 a month and baseball in the summer, where he would be paid $2.50 per game behind the plate. In his first season with the Millers, he led them in assists, with 20, and was the leading playoff scorer. He also scored 17 regular-season goals. The next season, he scored 15 goals and 29 assists, and led in playoff scoring again. Lach was also noted for his defensive contributions. In 1937, Lach, along with future Hockey Hall of Fame member
Doug Bentley Douglas Wagner Bentley (September 3, 1916 – November 24, 1972) was a Canadian ice hockey left winger who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers as part of a senior and professiona ...
attended 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 ...
training camp; both were rejected as too small for the National Hockey League. According to Lach,
Conn Smythe Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, Military Cross, MC (; February 1, 1895 – November 18, 1980) was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs ...
, manager of the Leafs, saw Lach and Bentley and said "They were sending me big guys from the West, but instead they’ve sent me peanuts." It was during his time in Moose Jaw that Lach met his future wife, Kay Fletcher. Lach had a job reading meters for the National Light & Power Co., and one day he met Kay in her home. They married in 1941. That same year, Lach's mother died and his father moved to
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, beginning a lifelong estrangement from his son. In 1945, Elmer and Kay celebrated the birth of their only child, son Ron. Ron was born while Elmer was on the road with the Canadiens. According to ''Montreal Gazette'' columnist Dave Stubbs, Elmer wired Kay the message "Nice going, honey."


Career

Rejecting the Maple Leafs' assessment, 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 ...
signed Lach as a free agent on October 24, 1940. With the arrangement of Moose Jaw's owner Cliff Henderson, Montreal player-scout Paul Haynes paid Lach $100 for his rights, "more money than I'd had in my pocket in my life.". He came to the Canadiens' training camp with only an overnight bag, not expecting to be offered a contract. Henderson had encouraged Lach to go, expecting him to return in time for the Millers' training camp, and be in better shape for it, but Lach never returned to the Millers. In his first NHL season, Lach played 43 games, scoring seven goals and adding 14 assists. He was limited to only one game the following season, after crashing into the boards in the first game, dislocating his shoulder, fracturing his wrist and injuring his elbow. He returned the following season to score 58 points in 45 games. A highlight of the 1942–43 season came when he set a still-standing Canadiens record of six assists in one game on February 6, 1943. 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, Maurice Richard on the right wing, and
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 ...
at left. This line became known as the
Punch line A punch line (a. k. a. punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people laugh. It is the third and final part of the typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and the narrative which sets up ...
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. Montreal won the
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 ...
, his first with the team, sweeping 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 Final series. 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, line mate Maurice Richard became the first player in the NHL to score 50 goals in 50 games. The Punch line amassed 220 points in total for the season, an NHL record until the 1960s. Lach won the
Hart 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 dona ...
as the league's most valuable player, and was named to the First All-Star Team. 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. The Canadiens won the
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 ...
for the second time in Lach's career, defeating the
Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
in five games. 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 era ended when Blake retired due to injury at the end of the season. At the end of the 1948–49 season, Lach announced his retirement while recovering from a fractured jaw, but returned for the following season. Lach led the league in assists for the last time in the 1951–52 season, with 50. In the 1952–53 season, Lach won his third and final Stanley Cup in a memorable finish. In the 1953 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins, Lach scored the cup-winning goal at 1:22 of overtime in the fifth game of the series. In the on-ice celebration immediately after the goal, Maurice Richard accidentally broke Lach's nose with his stick. In 1953–54, Lach was again held back by injuries and his place was taken by another great,
Jean Béliveau Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau (August 31, 1931 – December 2, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played parts of 20 seasons with the National Hockey League's (NHL) Montreal Canadiens from 1950 to 1971. Inducted into the ...
, whom he tutored in faceoffs. When the playoffs began, Lach was no longer a full-time player, but he was inserted into the lineup in the 1954 Stanley Cup Final when Montreal fell behind in the series. Montreal extended the series to seven games, but ultimately lost. Lach received numerous injuries during his career. His nose was broken seven times; his jaw (later permanently wired) was broken three times, officially only twice as he did not tell Irvin of one fracture because he did not want to come out of a game; a fractured skull that at first was treated as a "slight concussion". In one incident Lach suffered two severed veins in his foot from the slash of a skate blade. He played on until a teammate saw the blood. According to
Ted Reeve Edward Henry Reeve (January 6, 1902 – August 27, 1983) was a multi-sport Canadian athlete and sports journalist. He was on two Grey Cup winning teams as a football player, a Mann Cup championship as a lacrosse player and three Yates Cup cha ...
, curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame in the 1950s, any pictorial record of the 1940s NHL would have to include prints of Lach's X-rays. Lach was injured so many times that he was offered $17,000 (enough for a house at the time) by his health insurance company to retire from hockey. Lach was known for his skills at passing and speed in skating. Beliveau spoke glowingly of Lach's passing ability in his biography. He was also known for his competitiveness and willingness to fight in the corners to get the puck. According to writer Trent Frayne, "To some, lmer Lachis hockey’s greatest competitor; to others, ‘the nastiest so-and-so in the league‘, in a 1950 article in the '' Saturday Evening Post''.


Later life

Lach retired after the 1953–54 NHL season as the league's all-time leading scorer, having played 664 regular season games, scoring 215 goals and 408 assists for 623 points, as well as 76 playoff games, in which he scored 19 goals and 45 assists for 64 points. He retired to accept an offer to coach the Montreal Junior Canadiens. He also coached the
Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...
for two seasons, before pursuing business interests. He worked for Maislin Transport for 30 years in sales and public relations, retiring in the 1980s. He was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966. In 1998, he was ranked number 68 on ''The Hockey News list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. On December 4, 2009, coinciding with the Canadiens centennial celebration, his jersey number, 16, was retired a second time to honour Lach (along with Emile Bouchard's No. 3; No. 16 had been retired previously for
Henri Richard Joseph Henri Richard (February 29, 1936 – March 6, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1955 to 1975. He was nicknamed "Pocket Rocket" aft ...
). Lach was married to Kay until her death in 1985. He married his second wife, Lise Desjardins, years later. The two lived together in Pointe Claire, Quebec. Lise Lach died October 13, 2014, at age 87 from
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...
.
Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
was a favourite pastime of Lach's. He played it into his 90s and for a while could match his age in his score. He met his second wife, Lise, while golfing. Part of his job entertaining clients with Maislin was taking them golfing. His son Ron was manager of the Beaconsfield Golf Club. On March 28, 2015, Lach suffered a stroke at a long-term care facility in
Beaconsfield, Quebec Beaconsfield is a suburb on the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the Greater Montreal region locally referred to as the West Island. It is a prestigious residential community located on the north shore of Lac Saint-Louis, bordered on ...
, where he had moved after Lise's death. He never regained consciousness and on April 4, 2015, died at a palliative care facility in
Kirkland, Quebec Kirkland is an Greater Montreal, on-island suburb on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is named after Charles-Aimé Kirkland, a Quebec provincial politician. It was incorporated as a town in 1961. Kirkland is primarily a r ...
. He had been the oldest living former Canadiens player. Lach's final public appearance was at the funeral of Jean Béliveau on December 10, 2014.


Career statistics

*
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 ...
Champion. Sources: HHOF,
SIHR A Seer (also sihr) is a traditional unit of mass and volume used in large parts of Asia prior to the middle of the 20th century. It remains in use only in a few countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, and parts of India although in Iran it indicate ...
.


Awards

* Art Ross Trophy (1945, 1948) * Hart Trophy (1945) * NHL First All-Star Team centre (1945, 1948, 1952) * NHL Second All-Star Team centre (1944, 1946) * Hockey Hall of Fame (1966) * Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (1967) * In January, 2017, Lach was part of the first group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. Source: Hockey Hall of Fame, Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lach, Elmer 1918 births 2015 deaths Art Ross Trophy winners Canadian ice hockey centres Hart Memorial Trophy winners Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Montreal Canadiens players National Hockey League players with retired numbers National Hockey League scoring leaders (prior to 1947–48) People from Rural Municipality Wreford No. 280, Saskatchewan Stanley Cup champions