Toe Blake ✝

Blake played junior and senior hockey in the Sudbury area and was part of the 1932 Memorial Cup champions, the Sudbury Cub Wolves. He played for the Hamilton Tigers of the Ontario Hockey Association during the 1934–35 season before he signed with the Montreal Maroons of the National Hockey League on February 22, 1935; he made his NHL debut two days later on February 24, against the Chicago Black Hawks. Blake played eight games with the Maroons in the 1934–35 season, but was held scoreless; he did not play in any of the team\'s playoff games, but when the Maroons won the Stanley Cup, Blake\'s name was added to the trophy. Blake then played for the Canadiens until his retirement in 1948. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL\'s Most Valuable Player in 1938–39; that same year he was also the league scoring champion with 47 points. For the last eight seasons, he was team captain, and led the Canadiens to Stanley Cups in 1944 and 1946. In the latter year, in which he incurred only one minor penalty, he became the first Canadien ever to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship, which only Mats Näslund has replicated since as of 2015 (in 1987–88).\n', ' While playing with the Canadiens, he was part of a trio called the "Punch Line," with Elmer Lach at centre and Maurice Richard at right wing. He scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in the 1944 Stanley Cup Finals at 9:12 of the first overtime of game four, helping the Canadiens complete a four-game sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks. The following season, the Punch Line became the second set of linemates ever to finish first, second, and third in NHL scoring in one season (Lach had 80 points, Richard 73, and Blake 67). They followed the Boston Bruins\' Kraut Line of 1939–40, and would be followed by the Detroit Red Wings\' Production Line in 1949–50.\n', ' During a loss to the New York Rangers on January 11, 1948, Blake collided with Rangers\' skater Bill Juzda, awkwardly hit the boards and suffered a double fracture of his ankle, ending his NHL career. In 1998, he was ranked number 66 on The Hockey News’ list of the NHL\'s 100 greatest players of all time to date.\n', '