Latest news with #DougGilmour
National Post
2 days ago
- Business
- National Post
SIMMONS: Trader Cliff Fletcher turns 90: Maple Leafs legend still going strong
Everywhere Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin go, they are associated as members of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Associated for life. Article content Both of them were brought to Toronto by general manager Cliff Fletcher in one-sided deals accomplished by the most astounding big-name and big-game trader in hockey history. Article content Everywhere Lanny McDonald goes, everywhere his moustache is shown across Canada, he is associated with the Calgary Flames, the face of that franchise even though he played just 492 of his 1,111 National Hockey League games there. Article content Article content He was brought to Calgary in 1981, the second season after the club moved from Atlanta, in the deal that enabled Fletcher to begin the reshaping of the transferred franchise. Article content All this — and so much more — will be talked about, laughed about and toasted over as stories will be told on Fletcher's 90th birthday on Saturday with 18 family members and friends gathering for the weekend and longer in Laguna Beach, Calif. Article content 'Has anyone else worked 70 years in the NHL?' asked his son, Chuck Fletcher, who still works as a senior executive with the New Jersey Devils. 'My dad started with the Montreal Canadiens in 1955. He's been drawing an NHL paycheque ever since.' Article content Fletcher is on the current payroll of the Maple Leafs in a role of senior advisor, although he admits it's not much of a role anymore. Article content He has trouble walking and difficulty hearing these days, but no trouble watching hockey, talking hockey, or certainly retelling the stories of his own remarkable Hall of Fame career. Article content Article content 'His memory is incredible,' said Chuck, who has worked in the front office of six NHL teams. 'He can tell you everything. You do all the things that he's done and to have the ability to recall all it in such vivid detail, it's very impressive.' Article content Article content What's impressive is the list of accomplishments for his dad along the way. Trading is almost a lost art in today's salary-capped hockey world. But, when it wasn't, Fletcher was a veritable master of the big deal. Article content He stole Gilmour from Calgary just months after he had left the Flames for the Leafs. He all but stole Sundin for 13 Toronto seasons from Quebec in an emotional exchange for Wendel Clark and others in one of the most difficult trades he ever made. He stole McDonald from what was then the Colorado Rockies to begin the Flames footprint in Alberta. Article content He did a lot of stealing along the way. Article content But that wasn't all. In Calgary, he traded for Hall of Famer Joey Mullen and traded away the Hall of Famer Brett Hull. He traded for Grant Fuhr in Toronto and then dealt the Hall of Fame goalie to Buffalo for Hall of Fame winger Dave Andreychuk. He brought Tie Domi to the Leafs, traded for and traded away Larry Murphy, traded Mike Gartner for Glenn Anderson. Article content He drafted Hall of Fame players Al MacInnis, Joe Nieuwednyk, Mike Vernon, Hull and Sergei Makarov with the Flames, while also bringing borderline Hall players such as Gary Roberts, Gary Suter, Theo Fleury, Kent Nilsson and Paul Reinhart to the NHL. Article content The resume has just one Stanley Cup — the 1989 victory by the Flames — and that seems wrong. It should have more. At least one more from Calgary. And who knows what might have happened had the refereeing turned out differently in the 1993 Leafs playoff series against Los Angeles. Article content Article content But when Fletcher looks back now at so many exceptional deals, he does so with a certain pride and reverence. Article content 'For 2 1/2 years, Gilmour was the best player in the NHL … I thought we brought instant credibility back to the franchise at that time,' Fletcher said in a lengthy telephone interview. Article content 'Lanny gave our franchise credibility (in Calgary) when we had this all-time juggernaut just 180 miles down the road in Edmonton and had to establish something to compete. Article content Article content 'Quebec had Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg as its top two centres. Mats was the third centre on that team and they had just lost a playoff series to Montreal getting outmuscled pretty badly. They needed toughness. They needed someone like Wendel. I always thought the best way to make a trade sometimes was to figure out what your opponent needed to make their roster better and, if worked for both of you, terrific. Article content 'That happened with the Brett Hull trade. I said when we dealt him, that he would score 150 goals the next three seasons. Turned out I was wrong, I think he scored 160. But we wound up winning the Stanley Cup (with Rob Ramage). You never want to trade a player like that away, but that's my only championship and I'll take that deal any day of the week to get a Stanley Cup. Article content 'You know, I was able to trade Brett because we had Joey Mullen, a 50-goal scorer at right wing. We had Hakan Loob, a 50-goal scorer and we had Lanny, all on right wing.' Article content Of all the famous deals made, the one that rarely gets mentioned is a deal close to Fletcher's heart. Article content Article content 'I won't call it my biggest trade, but it might be the most significant,' Fletcher said. Article content In August of 1987, Fletcher acquired defenceman Brad McCrimmon from Philadelphia in exchange for a first- and third-round draft pick. That was before his famous 'Draft Shmaft' line in Toronto became famous. But the importance of the deal remains with Trader Cliff. Article content 'We gave up a lot for Brad McCrimmon, but he did so much for us. He was our leader in the dressing room. He was our leader on the ice and a very physical presence. He ran the room. In a way he ran our team. You can't underestimate what he meant to us. Article content 'The Flames team that won the Cup in '89 had six Hall of Fame players on it, but we were almost eliminated in the first round to Vancouver, who finished 40 points behind us. If Vernon doesn't make two career-like stops in overtime, we're gone — there is no Stanley Cup. After that, we go on to beat L.A. in four, Chicago in five before beating Montreal in six. That's how close it can be between winning and losing. Article content 'In 1986, things were different then. They didn't schedule days off between playoff series. We played St. Louis in the conference finals and went seven games with them, even though we shouldn't have. The final started right after Game 7. We ran out of gas by about Game 3. The way they schedule things today, with more time off, we might have won that year.' Article content That was the year they knocked out the dynastic Edmonton Oilers, interrupting what could have been a run of five straight Stanley Cups. Those were the Oilers of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Fuhr and Paul Coffey. The Oilers they sometimes played 18 times a season. Article content 'You have to understand, we move from Atlanta, we're the nobodies trying to establish ourselves and there's this all-time juggernaut building just down the highway. It was an incredible challenge to build a team that could compete with them, let alone win. Article content 'I'm proud of what we accomplished in Calgary.' Article content The hockey in Alberta in the 80s may have been the greatest NHL hockey ever played. Article content Article content When Fletcher decided to leave the Flames, where he had begun as expansion general manager in Atlanta, after the 1991 season, he thought he would take a year off and enjoy Florida life. Article content Instead, he immediately was sought after by the two wealthiest teams in the NHL. Both the New York Rangers and Leafs offered him front-office control of their hockey operations. He listened to both pitches and he chose Toronto. Article content At the beginning of his second season with the Leafs, his first with full-time Gilmour, his first with Pat Burns coaching, the Blue Jays scored their first of two consecutive World Series victories. Article content 'Toronto was electric back then, sporting wise' said Fletcher, whose two children grew into adults in Toronto. (His daughter Kristy is the COO of the Juno Awards). 'What the Blue Jays did — we respected their operation so much — was incredible. Their excitement became part of our excitement.' Article content As Fletcher gets ready to celebrate his 90th birthday, he knows that Pat Gillick, the architect of those Blue Jays teams, has a birthday coming up in just a few days: 'He's just a few years behind me. I think he's turning 88.' Article content Article content When Fletcher came to Toronto, he got to know one of the board members of the Leafs — including a guy named Ted Rogers. Article content All these years later, Ted has long since passed and the Leafs are corporately owned by Ted's, son Edward. The board Ted was part of was tossed aside when Steve Stavro took ownership control of the Leafs. Article content And Fletcher, who had two different stints as GM, with Stavro and with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, has remained with the team through the past five general managers and, while he doesn't travel much anymore, he doesn't miss a game on television. Article content 'I know how seriously he takes this,' Chuck said. 'I've sat with him for a lot of those Leafs playoff games. And he's a diehard, He's all-in. And that Florida series last year, with all the highs and lows of that series, that was a tough one to get through.'
National Post
3 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Happy 90th birthday Trader Cliff: Still alive, still well, still loving the Maple Leafs
Everywhere Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin go, they are associated as members of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Associated for life. Both of them were brought to Toronto by general manager Cliff Fletcher in one-sided deals accomplished by the most astounding big name and big game trader in hockey history. Everywhere Lanny McDonald goes, everywhere his moustache is shown across Canada, he is associated with the Calgary Flames, the face of that franchise even though he played just 492 of his 1,111 National Hockey League games there. He was brought to Calgary in 1981, the second season after the club moved from Atlanta, in the deal that enabled Fletcher to begin the reshaping of the transferred franchise. All this – and so much more – will be talked about, laughed about, and toasted over as stories will be told on Fletcher's 90th birthday on Saturday with 18 family members and friends gathering for the weekend and longer in Laguna Beach, Calif. 'Has anyone else worked 70 years in the NHL?' asked his son, Chuck Fletcher, who still works as a senior executive with the New Jersey Devils. 'My dad started with the Montreal Canadiens in 1955. 'He's been drawing an NHL paycheque ever since.' Fletcher is on current payroll of the Maple Leafs in a role of senior advisor, although he admits it's not much of a role anymore. He has trouble walking and difficulty hearing these days but no trouble watching hockey, talking hockey, or certainly retelling the stories of his own remarkable Hall of Fame career. 'His memory is incredible,' said Chuck, who has worked in the front office of six NHL teams. 'He can tell you everything. You do all the things that he's done and to have the ability to recall all it in such vivid detail, it's very impressive.' What's impressive is the list of accomplishments for his dad along the way. Trading is almost a lost art in today's salary capped hockey world. But when it wasn't, Fletcher was a veritable master of the big deal. He stole Gilmour from Calgary just months after he had left the Flames for the Leafs. He all but stole Sundin for 13 Toronto seasons from Quebec in an emotional exchange for Wendel Clark and others in one of the most difficult trades he ever made. He stole McDonald from what was then the Colorado Rockies to begin the Flames footprint in Alberta. He did a lot of stealing along the way. But that wasn't all. In Calgary, he traded for Hall of Famer Joey Mullen and traded away the Hall of Famer Brett Hull. He traded for Grant Fuhr in Toronto and then dealt the Hall of Fame goalie to Buffalo for Hall of Fame winger Dave Andreychuk. He brought Tie Domi to the Leafs, traded for and traded away, Larry Murphy, traded Mike Gartner for Glenn Anderson and drafted Hall of Fame players Al MacInnis, Joe Nieuwednyk, Mike Vernon, Hull and Sergei Makarov with the Flames while also bringing borderline Hall players such as Gary Roberts, Gary Suter, Theo Fleury, Kent Nilsson and Paul Reinhart to the NHL. The resume has just one Stanley Cup, the 1989 victory by the Flames. And that seems wrong. It should have more. At least one more from Calgary. And who knows what might have happened had the refereeing turned out differently in the 1993 Leafs playoff series against Los Angeles. But when Fletcher looks back now at so many exceptional deals, he does so with a certain pride and reverence. 'For 2 1/2 years Gilmour was the best player in the NHL… I thought we brought instant credibility back to the franchise at that time. 'Lanny gave our franchise credibility (in Calgary) when we had this all-time juggernaut just 180 miles down the road in Edmonton and had to establish something to compete. 'Quebec had Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg as its top two centres. Mats was the third centre on that team and they had just lost a playoff series to Montreal getting outmuscled pretty badly. They needed toughness. They needed someone like Wendel. I always thought the best way to make a trade sometimes was to figure out what your opponent needed to make their roster better and if worked for both of you, terrific. 'That happened with the Brett Hull trade. I said when we dealt him, that he would score 150 goals the next three seasons. Turned out I was wrong, I think he scored 160. But we wound up winning the Stanley Cup (with Rob Ramage). You never want to trade a player like that away, but that's my only championship and I'll take that deal any day of the week to get a Stanley Cup. You know I was able to trade Brett because we had Joey Mullen, a 50-goal scorer at right wing; we had Hakan Loob, a 50-goal scorer and we had Lanny, all on right wing.' Of all the famous deals made, the one that rarely gets mentioned is a deal close to Fletcher's heart. 'I won't call it my biggest trade, but it might be the most significant,' said Fletcher in a lengthy telephone interview. In August of 1987, Fletcher acquired defenceman Brad McCrimmon from Philadelphia in exchange for a first and third round draft pick. That was before his famous Draft Shmaft line in Toronto became famous. But the importance of the deal remains with Trader Cliff. 'We gave up a lot for Brad McCrimmon, but he did so much for us. He was our leader in the dressing room. He was our leader on the ice and a very physical presence. He ran the room. In a way he ran our team. You can't underestimate what he meant to us. 'The Flames team that won the Cup in '89 had six Hall of Fame players on it but we were almost eliminated in the first round to Vancouver who finished 40 points behind us. If Vernon doesn't make two career like stops in overtime, we're gone. There is no Stanley Cup. After that, we go on to beat LA in four, Chicago in five before beating Montreal in six. That's how close it can be between winning and losing. 'In 1986, things were different then. They didn't schedule days off between playoff series. We played St. Louis in the conference finals and went seven games with them, even though we should't have. The Final started right after Game 7. We ran out of gas by about Game 3. The way they schedule things today, with more time off, we might have won that year.' That was the year they knocked out the dynastic Edmonton Oilers, interrupting what could have been a run of five straight Stanley Cups. Those were the Oilers of Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr and Coffey. The Oilers they sometimes played 18 times a season. 'You have to understand, we move from Atlanta, we're the nobodies trying to establish ourselves and there's this all-time juggernaut building just down the highway. It was an incredible challenge to build a team that could compete with them, let alone win. 'I'm proud of what we accomplished in Calgary.' The hockey in Alberta in the 80s may have been the greatest NHL hockey ever played. When Fletcher decided to leave the Flames, where he had begun as expansion general manager in Atlanta, after the 1991 season, he thought he would take a year off and enjoy Florida life. Instead, he was immediately sought after by the two wealthiest teams in the NHL. Both the New York Rangers and Leafs offered him front office control of their hockey operations. He listened to both pitches. He chose Toronto. At the beginning of his second season with the Leafs, his first with full-time Gilmour, his first with Pat Burns coaching, the Blue Jays won their first of two consecutive World Series victories. 'Toronto was electric back then, sporting wise' said Fletcher, whose two children grew into adults in Toronto. (His daughter Kristy is the COO of the Juno Awards). 'What the Blue Jays did – we respected their operation so much – was incredible. Their excitement became part of our excitement.' As Fletcher gets ready to celebrate his 90th he knows that Pat Gillick, the architect of those Blue Jays teams, has a birthday coming up in just a few days. 'He's just a few years behind me. I think he's turning 88.' When Fletcher came to Toronto, he got to know one of the board members of the Leafs. Guy named Ted Rogers. All these years later, Ted has long since passed and the Leafs are corporately owned by Ted's, son Edward. The board Ted was part of was tossed aside when Steve Stavro took ownership control of the Leafs. And Fletcher, who had two different stints as GM, with Stavro and with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, has remained with the team through the past five general managers and while he doesn't travel much anymore, he doesn't miss a game on television. 'I know how seriously he takes this,' said Chuck. 'I've sat with him for a lot of those Leaf playoff games. And he's a diehard, He's all in. And that Florida series last year, with all the highs and lows of that series, that was a tough one to get through.' Fletcher jokes that he plans on living long enough to see the Leafs win a Stanley Cup. He says he has no intention of 'leaving this side of the lawn' before that happens. But about this season, who knows? 'In my own mind, I second-guess everything going on around the league like any other fan or media member,' he said. 'It'll be a challenging time for them. Mitch Marner is one of the best players in the NHL. He wasn't coming back and it's up to us now – Brad Treliving and his crew – to find a way to get around it. I have so much respect for the current organization that I'm sure they will recover and go back to being one of the best teams in the league.'
National Post
03-07-2025
- Sport
- National Post
LEAFS NOTES: Gilmour-Marner connection now long distance
From the moment a young Mitch Marner stepped on the ice as a Maple Leaf, the Doug Gilmour comparisons began. Article content Of similar height and weight, both 100-point playmaking OHL juniors, strong defensively, hard to hit, they were also linked by sweater No. 93, which Mitch wore in London in homage to his father Paul's favourite Leaf. In his current role as a club ambassador, Gilmour saw Marner up close many times. Article content Article content Article content 'I've been a big fan of Mitch's from the very beginning,' Gilmour told the Toronto Sun on Wednesday. 'One of my favourite players to watch. He's come a long way.' Article content While Marner trails only Gilmour in franchise post-season assists — 60 to 50 — it was playoff intangibles that clearly separate them. The Gilmour-led Leafs of the 1990s played in two conference finals and eight different series in four years, while Marner never got past the second-round in nine seasons. Article content It's a big reason Gilmour — and everyone else in these parts — will have to watch Marner from afar as a Vegas Golden Knight. Seeing him wear a mustard-toned 93 — digits he couldn't have in Toronto as it was retired for Gilmour — will take some getting used to. Article content 'It's going to be hard days for Leaf fans to see him,' predicted the 62-year-old Gilmour. 'He's a guy that can play everywhere in your lineup: Power play, penalty killing and he can get you 100 points. Article content 'But it's the business, right? And sometimes the business is not fun. Hey, I played for seven different teams (St. Louis, Calgary, Toronto, New Jersey, Chicago, Buffalo and Montreal). My young daughter would be worried sometimes and say 'Dad, they say you're no good', but I'd tell her 'Somebody else will always want you.' ' Article content Marner left for Vegas with an eight-year, $96 million US deal, agreed to in his final hours as a Maple Leaf. But barring a Leafs-Knights Stanley Cup final, he will be back in town only once a season. Article content Players will insist the most under-rated members of a team are its equipment managers. Article content 'One hundred per cent,' said Gilmour. 'You just look at all the hours they put in during the day. And at night, when we'd get off a plane and able to go right to bed, they're on their way to the rink to get our stuff ready.' Article content It was a jolt to many Leafs and former NHLers to learn a decade ago that Scott McKay, Toronto's long-time equipment man in the Pat Quinn era, had a cancer diagnosis. He has survived, but the battle continues and friends want to help him raise funds and awareness in a big way. Article content On Thursday, Gilmour, Curtis Joseph, Shayne Corson, Brad May and Raffi Torres will reveal Street Hockey For The Cure, to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society, the Scott McKay Foundation and the St. Michael's Hospital Foundation. Proceeds of the Sept. 13-14 tournament near the grounds of the Hotel X at Exhibition Place will go to reducing the financial burden of cancer patients throughout treatment, such as the Wheels For Hope transportation program.
Edmonton Journal
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
Doug Gilmour and ex-Leafs/NHLers take cancer fight to the street rink
Article content Any NHLer will tell you the most underrated members of a team are its equipment managers. Article content 'One hundred per cent,' said former Maple Leafs captain Doug Gilmour. 'You just look at all the hours they put in during the day. And at night, when we'd get off a plane and able to go right to bed, they're on their way to the rink to get our stuff ready.' Article content Article content It was a jolt to many Leafs and former NHLers to learn a decade ago that Scott McKay, Toronto's long-time equipment man in the Pat Quinn era, had a cancer diagnosis. He has survived, but the battle continues and friends want to help him raise funds and awareness in a big way. Article content Article content On Thursday, Gilmour, Curtis Joseph, Shayne Corson, Brad May and Raffi Torres will reveal Street Hockey For The Cure, to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society, the Scott McKay Foundation and the St. Michael's Hospital Foundation. Proceeds of the Sept. 13-14 tournament near the grounds of the Hotel X at Exhibition Place will go to reducing the financial burden of cancer patients throughout treatment, such as the Wheels For Hope transportation program. Article content 'It could be an aunt, an uncle and in my case it was a really good friend. Bob Lavelle,' he said. 'He used to be my marketing guy, the man who started the NHL player softball tournament in Niagara Falls. They discovered a lump in his shoulder when he wasn't that old and was gone. Article content 'We want to be there for Scotty, who has really given back to the community, despite his diagnosis.' Article content Article content The 3-on-3 tournament is open to ages 13 to 50-plus and includes a special division for first responders. Each team will get to meet Gilmour and the NHLers, while playing on a half-scale rink with dasher boards, netting and volunteer officials Article content 'We've done different thinks like this for Easter Seals and the homeless,' said Gilmour, now a Leafs club ambassador. Article content
Vancouver Sun
02-07-2025
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
Doug Gilmour and ex-Leafs/NHLers take cancer fight to the street rink
Any NHLer will tell you the most underrated members of a team are its equipment managers. 'One hundred per cent,' said former Maple Leafs captain Doug Gilmour. 'You just look at all the hours they put in during the day. And at night, when we'd get off a plane and able to go right to bed, they're on their way to the rink to get our stuff ready.' It was a jolt to many Leafs and former NHLers to learn a decade ago that Scott McKay, Toronto's long-time equipment man in the Pat Quinn era, had a cancer diagnosis. He has survived, but the battle continues and friends want to help him raise funds and awareness in a big way. On Thursday, Gilmour, Curtis Joseph, Shayne Corson, Brad May and Raffi Torres will reveal Street Hockey For The Cure, to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society, the Scott McKay Foundation and the St. Michael's Hospital Foundation. Proceeds of the Sept. 13-14 tournament near the grounds of the Hotel X at Exhibition Place will go to reducing the financial burden of cancer patients throughout treatment, such as the Wheels For Hope transportation program. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Gilmour points out that almost every family has lost someone to the dreaded disease. 'It could be an aunt, an uncle and in my case it was a really good friend. Bob Lavelle,' he said. 'He used to be my marketing guy, the man who started the NHL player softball tournament in Niagara Falls. They discovered a lump in his shoulder when he wasn't that old and was gone. 'We want to be there for Scotty, who has really given back to the community, despite his diagnosis.' The 3-on-3 tournament is open to ages 13 to 50-plus and includes a special division for first responders. Each team will get to meet Gilmour and the NHLers, while playing on a half-scale rink with dasher boards, netting and volunteer officials 'We've done different thinks like this for Easter Seals and the homeless,' said Gilmour, now a Leafs club ambassador. At 62, the franchise leader in playoff points gets in some ball hockey and puts on the blades for some charity tournaments. 'I took a year off of skating, then woke up one morning and said: 'Geez, I really miss it'.' For more information on the tournament head to Lhornby@ X: @sunhornby
