Elmer Lach

Elmer Lach was a Canadian NHL centre who starred as the playmaking pivot of Montreal's famed 'Punch Line' with Maurice Richard and Toe Blake, winning three Stanley Cups.

Elmer James Lach was born on 22 January 1918 in Nokomis, Saskatchewan, Canada, a small town 133 kilometres north of Regina, and signed with the Montreal Canadiens in 1940 having arrived at training camp with only an overnight bag, not expecting to be offered a contract. Lach set a Canadiens franchise record with six assists in a single game in 1943, and became the centre of the legendary "Punch Line" alongside Maurice Richard and Toe Blake beginning in the 1943-44 season, a combination that dominated the NHL for four consecutive years. Lach led the NHL in scoring twice, and won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1945, the same season the Punch Line finished first, second, and third in league scoring, an unprecedented feat for a single forward line. Lach won three Stanley Cups with Montreal, in 1944, 1946, and 1953, and retired in 1954 as the league's all-time leading scorer. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966, had his number 16 retired by the Canadiens in 2009, and died on 4 April 2015, at age 97, having been the oldest surviving NHL player at the time of his death.

Lach was known for his exceptional playmaking ability and hockey intelligence as a center. He possessed excellent vision and passing skills, making him the ideal pivot between his linemates Maurice Richard and Toe Blake on the Punch Line.

Lach helped establish the Montreal Canadiens' winning tradition and demonstrated the importance of skilled playmaking centers in hockey.

• Hart Memorial Trophy (1945)
• Art Ross Trophy (1945, 1948)
• 3 Stanley Cups (1944, 1946, 1953)
• NHL First Team All-Star (1945, 1948, 1952), Second Team (1944, 1946)
• Hockey Hall of Fame inductee 1966