Dear Reader – I can’t remember the night the Punch Imlach discussion took place. It may have been two or three years ago. It could have been as long as five years ago,
What I remember is the idea that came out of it and has been stuck in my brain ever since. It started as a simple discussion between James Fink, a reporter for “Business First” and myself while sitting in the press box high above the ice surface of KeyBank Center.
We had been looking at all of the banners hanging from the ceiling of the arena honoring such former players as Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, Rene Robert, Pat LaFontaine, Tim Horton, Danny Gare and Dominik Hasek. An additional two banners hang separately honoring the original owners of the Sabres, Seymour III and Norty Knox.
Jim thought that the Sabres should honor the memory of Imlach with a banner. Make it simple with a banner with Imlach’s name on it along with his signature fedora. I agreed with the idea at the time, but never gave any more thought about it.
Until now.
This year marked the 100th anniversary of Imlach’s birth. Punch was born on March 18, 1918.
For me, George “Punch” Imlach should be considered one of the “Founding Fathers” of the Buffalo Sabres organization. It was Imlach who actually put the original Sabres team together.
“When we found out that Punch was available we wanted to hire him right away,” said Seymour H. Knox III in an interview with me back in 1995. “We knew what he had done in Toronto with the Maple Leafs and the success he had.
“We felt he could do the same here in Buffalo.”
Which was why Imlach was hired as the teams first general manager and head coach for the Sabres initial season of 1970-71.
“We knew that Punch was available at the time,” recalled the late Seymour H. Knox III in a 1995 interview. “We knew of the success he had in Toronto with the Maple Leafs.
“We felt he could build a winner in Buffalo.”
The success Knox was referring to in Toronto were the four Stanley Cups Imlach led the Maple Leafs to as coach and general manager between 1958-68.
Imlach was hired as the Sabre first coach and general manager and immediately began building a winner out of nothing. His initial moves during that first season of 1970-71 helped build the foundation that the Sabres would continue to build on. Those moves included trading for goalie Roger Crozier and drafting Gilbert Perreault No. 1 overall in the 1970 Entry Draft.
Imlach’s amateur drafts over the next four years continued to build the team’s foundation and the players added included Rick Martin, Jim Schoenfeld, Larry Carrier and Danny Gare, among others.
Add to that a few key trades and the formation of the “French Connection” scoring line of Perreault, Martin and Rene Robert.
By just the team’s third season they were in the playoffs in what was then a tough Eastern Division of the NHL. By their fifth campaign the Sabres were in the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
Unfortunately, time ran out for Imlach by the 1978-79 season, being fired in December of 1978.
Imlach has been honored in the past with inductions into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto as well as the Sabres Hall of Fame.
Maybe now it’s time for a banner to hang from the rafters for fans now and in the future to remember Imlach by.
Until next time,
Randy Schultz
