This Day in Hockey History – May 11, 1968 – Blake Goes Out in Style

May 11, 2019

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Toe Blake had a 14-year career as an NHL player followed by a 13-year career as a coach. Between the two, he played in the minors for three seasons while coaching there for eight. Other than nine games played with the Montreal Maroons during the 1934-35 season, Blake remained with the Montreal Canadiens for 26 seasons. After his lengthy and successful career in hockey, he finally retired immediately following the Canadiens’ Stanley Cup victory on May 11, 1968.

It seemed that Blake collected Cups better than anyone. In his only season with the Maroons, his one playoff game entitled him to have his name etched after they won the 1935 championship. While playing for the Canadiens, Blake played in ten postseasons, and they won twice, in 1944 and 1946. As head coach, he led the Canadiens to the postseason every single year, and they won an unprecedented eight championships. Those included his first and final seasons as head coach, 1955-56 and 1967-68.

The NHL had just doubled in size the season of Blake’s last championship. Because of the way the six expansion teams were put into their own division, one of them would play the best of the established teams for the Stanley Cup finals. Montreal made it to the finals for the fourth (of five) consecutive years, and the brand new St. Louis Blues were unlucky enough to have to fight them for the Cup. Unsurprisingly, the Canadiens led the series 3-0.

By the beginning of the postseason, Blake had already decided to retire and informed Canadiens owners, the Molson brothers. He explained, “The tension is just too much. It gets tougher every year.” That particular season, he said, “The pressure started building as soon as we won the league title and I was shaking like a leaf.” Blake did not have long to wait to make the official announcement. On May 11, Montreal completed the sweep with a score of 3-2. As somewhat of a joke, he told the press, “I’d like to coach for 100 years, it’s the only thing I can do.” In reality, he turned his attention to the tavern in Montreal that bore his name.

Throughout his first NHL career, Blake played 577 games (235G, 294A, 529P). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 1966. Under his direction as head coach, the Canadiens had a record of 500‑255‑159 totaling 1159 points. Blake was officially the most winningest Montreal coach. When he retired in 1968, Blake said, “Maybe I can’t live without hockey but for my health’s sake I have to try it.”