Punch Imlach - Controversy in Toronto

Controversy in Toronto

In July 1979, Imlach returned to the Leafs as the right-hand man of owner Harold Ballard, his longtime friend. It was a controversial return, one that involved the dismantling of a team that had faced the Montreal Canadiens in the 1978 playoffs and was viewed by many as having a promising future. On his first day with the team, Imlach told the media that the Leafs only had five or six good players and the rest of the team needed to be improved.

Imlach implemented a dress code which required that all players wear a jacket and tie when in the Leafs' offices. Tiger Williams was fined $250 for not wearing a tie, and the fine would have doubled for a second offence. Players were no longer allowed to drink beer on plane and bus rides back from road games.

Imlach quickly butted heads with Leafs captain Darryl Sittler, using confrontational tactics to try to undermine his influence on the team. Imlach also disliked Sittler's prominent role in the NHL Players Association; during Imlach's first stint with the Leafs, he was well known as an ardent foe of the union and its executive director, Alan Eagleson.

In September, Imlach went to court in an unsuccessful attempt to get an injunction to stop Sittler and teammate Mike Palmateer from appearing on the TV show Showdown. Sittler had a no-trade clause in his contract and, through his agent, had insisted on $500,000 to waive it. With Sittler apparently untouchable, Imlach traded Sittler's best friend Lanny McDonald to the moribund Colorado Rockies on December 29, 1979. An anonymous player told the Toronto Star that Ballard and Imlach made the trade specifically to undermine Sittler's influence on the team. Eagleson, who was also Sittler's agent, called the trade "a classless act."

Imlach offered Sittler to the Sabres in return for Perreault, but was turned down. He rejected an offer from the Philadelphia Flyers who were said to be willing to trade Rick MacLeish and André Dupont for Sittler. In March 1980, after Floyd Smith was injured in a car accident and acting coach Dick Duff led the team to two lopsided defeats, Imlach named himself as coach. Imlach was able to get the Leafs to squeak into the playoffs, albeit with a record five games under .500—the first of 13 straight seasons without a winning record. Imlach named assistant Joe Crozier as his successor after the season.

It looked like the Leafs were ready to accept an offer for Sittler from the Quebec Nordiques when Imlach had another heart attack in August 1980. Ballard used the opportunity to name himself acting general manager and hold talks with Sittler, and the two agreed that Sittler would return to the team as captain for the 1980–81 season. Ballard also signed Börje Salming to a new contract with terms that Imlach had refused to offer. Before the end of 1981, Imlach was back running the Leafs as general manager.

During the Leafs' training camp in September 1981, Imlach suffered a third heart attack, which was followed by quadruple bypass surgery at Toronto General Hospital. Ballard became interim manager and told the media that Imlach's poor health meant that "he's through as general manager." Imlach was never officially fired, but when he tried to return to work in November, he found that his parking spot at Maple Leaf Gardens had been reassigned and Gerry McNamara had been made acting general manager. Imlach never returned to work and his contract was allowed to expire.

He suffered a fourth heart attack in November 1985 at a casino while on vacation in Las Vegas and died after a fifth heart attack in 1987 at age 69. Over his career, Imlach amassed a coaching record of 423 wins, 373 losses and 163 ties to go along with four Stanley Cups. His 365 wins with the Leafs are still the best in franchise history. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1984.