Hall-of-Fame player and executive Bob Pulford has passed away, the NHL Alumni Association said. He was 89 years old.
An Ontario native, Pulford is one of the most integral figures in franchise history for his hometown team. He spent his playing days as a center and left winger after breaking into the league with the Maple Leafs in 1956-57, eventually becoming a five-time All-Star and one of the top penalty-killing forwards of the late Original Six era.
More than 55 years after Pulford played his last game for the Leafs, he still ranks quite high on the franchise leaderboard. He’s seventh in games played (947), 11th in goals (251), and 11th in points (563). He led Toronto with 10 assists in 12 playoff games in the Leafs’ last Stanley Cup victory in 1967, the fourth and final title of his career after winning three straight with the Leafs from 1962-64.
Pulford was traded to the Kings in 1970 and spent the final two seasons of his career in Los Angeles. While his offensive production wasn’t at its peak, he captained the Kings in his final season as a player in 1971-72 before beginning his arguably more impactful off-ice career as their head coach the following season.
As the sixth head coach for the Kings in their first six seasons, Pulford oversaw the team’s first sustained period of relevance. He posted a 178-150-68 record (.535) over five regular seasons, winning Coach of the Year honors in 1975 and beginning a streak of nine consecutive playoff appearances that still stands as a franchise record.
In 1977, the Blackhawks tabbed Pulford to serve as both their head coach and GM. That hiring would kick off a 30-year run for Pulford in Chicago – during which time he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player as part of the class of 1991 – that saw the franchise make the playoffs 22 times.
His roles were varied. Pulford had four separate stints as the Hawks’ head coach (1977-79, 1981-82, 1984-87, 1999-00), often taking over as the interim boss midseason when someone was fired. Those often overlapped with four stints as GM (1977-90, 1992-97, 1999-00, 2003-05). When he wasn’t either of those things, he served as the club’s senior VP of hockey operations until he transitioned to working for the Hawks’ parent company in 2007, no longer directly affiliated with the team.
Pulford was also the first head of the NHLPA, elected to the role in 1967 and holding it until Ken Dryden took over presidential duties in 1972.
All of us at PHR send our condolences to the Pulford family and the many in the hockey community who worked with him.