Toe Blake: Winning Is Everything

by Paul Logothetis, Scotty Bowman (Foreword by)

Overview

The first ever biography of Toe Blake — Hockey Hall of Famer and eleven-time Stanley Cup winner

“Holy Dirty Dora!” Hector “Toe” Blake would bark while pacing behind the Montreal Canadiens bench, hands thrust into his pockets, jawing at chewing gum before intentionally banging his forehead into the glass that separates players and fans. No lead was safe or sufficient for the lifelong hockey man at the helm of the greatest dynasty in NHL history. As a player, Toe won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Maroons before captaining a stumbling Canadiens organization to glory and a pair of Cups. As the Habs coach, Toe cemented the team’s status as lords of the league with eight more.

Born into a family of 11, Blake emerged from the poverty of the Depression and a youth spent working the mines of Sudbury’s Nickel Belt to find junior hockey success and an unlikely shot at the NHL. While a fiery temper and penchant for stick-swinging nearly railroaded Toe’s promise, the Canadiens recognized his talent and leadership, and he went on to spend more than 50 years with the organization.

History remembers Toe being hoisted onto the shoulders of his beloved players, waving his signature fedora and sipping from the Cup, but behind the success was a man driven by fear and an obsessive desire for victory. Despite personal tragedy, Toe always put winning first, and as a result, there are few coaches in any sport who have enjoyed Blake’s success and even fewer who endured the toll that came with it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770414907
Publisher:	ECW Press
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Paul Logothetis is a former Associated Press sports writer who contributes to The Guardian and Deutsche Press-Agentur. He spent over a decade reporting from the Olympics, F1, World Cup and Champions League finals while working as a correspondent in London and Madrid. He now lives in his hometown of Montreal.

Read an Excerpt

Fittingly, it was the Rocket who ended up with the Stanley Cup clincher in the 3-1 Game 5 victory that kicked off the first of a record five straight Stanley Cup triumphs for the Canadiens. Fans, who had paid $1.75 for tickets, began flooding the ice after the players had shook hands, while Blake was lifted onto the shoulders of Butch Bouchard and Jack Leclair for a lap of honor. Blake waived his fedora and saluted the crowd before his grin grew even larger when Bouchard brought him in for a sip of champagne from the Cup. Bouchard had only played Game 5 because Blake sensed the club would close out the series and he wanted his captain – a man who had postponed retirement for one season at Blake’s request – to accept the trophy on behalf of the team.

Inside the dressing room, Toe quietly made the rounds shaking hands and thanking each of his players as champagne corks popped all around him. Mayor Jean Drapeau, accompanied by two policemen, arrived in the dressing room handing out cigars and announcing the team would be welcomed at the Helene de Champlain on St. Helen’s Island for a special banquet following the victory parade in a few days. That forced a number of players looking to leave for Florida to stretch their plans. Selke lauded Blake’s work in keeping the club focused all season, and Blake admitted afterward few changes to the roster would be needed the following season.

"Those newspaper men really put a lot of great pressure on the club when they called us to finish in first place—after all, I thought Detroit had won the league last year. They not only picked us to finish first place but to win the Cup,” Blake said in his distinct voice, which was high in accentuation but not in pitch, akin to a man with a fresh lozenge lodged in his throat. “I thought it put a lot of pressure on the boys, but they came through whenever they had to win an important game. They played well under pressure.

Toe marveled as 250,000 fans packed the city streets for what turned out to be a 6-1/2-hour parade celebration. It was a season Toe would never forget. The Canadiens felt Blake’s mastery had shaped the beginning of what was certain to be a prolonged period of success.

Table of Contents

Foreword Scotty Bowman ix

Author's Note & Acknowledgements xi

Chapter 1 Game Day 1

Chapter 2 Childhood 10

Chapter 3 Sudbury 22

Chapter 4 Montreal 44

Chapter 5 Punch Line 75

Chapter 6 Valleyfield 99

Chapter 7 Coach of the Canadiens 125

Chapter 8 Record Run 154

Chapter 9 Quit, You Bum! 172

Chapter 10 Caretaker Coach 193

Chapter 11 The Tavern 212

Chapter 12 Last Cup 218

Chapter 13 Life After Death 237

Chapter 14 Legacy 258

Appendix Toe Blake Timeline 267

Editorial Reviews

03/23/2020

Sportswriter Logothetis delivers a solid, insightful biography of Hector “Toe” Blake (1912­—1995), whose legendary three-decade association with the Montreal Canadiens included winning the Stanley Cup 10 times as either a player or coach. Starting with Blake’s Depression-era youth in Coniston, Ontario, where he learned to play hockey with “pucks cut from birch trees” before being signed by the Canadiens in 1936, and then moving through Blake’s playing and coaching career, Logothetis provides an excellent look at how both the personal and professional aspects of hockey have changed over the years. He shows how Blake learned to control his “aggressive behavior” and “loud and foul-mouthed on-ice presence,” allowing him to focus on his game and become an effective part of the Canadiens in the 1930s and ’40s, when he joined linemen Elmer Lach and Maurice Richard in what came to be known as the the Punch Line, one of the best offensive units of the era. Logothetis also shows how Blake changed from “an old-school coach” to a more modern type who pushed his players “to play to their strengths but did not point the finger when mistakes were made.” This look at an important figure in the world of professional hockey will thrill fans of all allegiances. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

One of the most complete hockey biographies I have ever read, this book is a wonderful look at Blake's career and life and any hockey fan would enjoy reading this.” — The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books blog

“Sportswriter Logothetis delivers a solid, insightful biography of Hector ‘Toe’ Blake . . . Logothetis provides an excellent look at how both the personal and professional aspects of hockey have changed over the years . . . This look at an important figure in the world of professional hockey will thrill fans of all allegiances.” — Publishers Weekly

“The book about Toe Blake, arguably the greatest NHL coach of all time, is a very good read and one that is hard to put down. . . Toe Blake: Winning is Everything is an excellent hockey book and a good gift idea for Father's Day. Highly recommended!” — Metroland Media syndication

From the Publisher

04/24/2020

With 24 Stanley Cup championships, the Montreal Canadiens represent the winningest franchise in the National Hockey League—and no Canadien represents this winning tradition more than Hector "Toe" Blake (1912—95). In this first-ever biography of Blake, sportswriter Logothetis provides a detailed account of his subject's life and career as a player and coach, most of which was with the Canadiens. Blake had a Hall of Fame career as an NHL player for 12 seasons, though his legacy as a player is often overshadowed by Maurice "Rocket" Richard, his line mate on the famous "Punch" line of the 1940s. But Blake's true legacy was as a coach, including winning the Stanley Cup in his first five seasons as head coach and eight Cup victories when he retired, an NHL record at the time. His hockey career was personified by Blake's zealous and unwavering desire to win every game, every championship, even every puck battle in the corner. VERDICT Logothetis presents Blake's story ably and thoroughly, though a lack of bibliography may be problematic for some. The appeal will be to hockey fans as well as filling a gap of coverage of one of the NHL's top coaches and players.—Michael C. Miller, Austin P.L. & Austin History Ctr., TX

Library Journal

Read More