Considered a legend in coaching, it is forgotten just how good a Hockey player that Toe Blake was. He broke in with the Montreal Maroons, but after only playing a handful of games there, he joined the cross town Montreal Canadians and slowly worked his way up the ladder to stardom. Toe’s skills improved and he was rewarded with the Hart Trophy in 1939 and that year was his first of three post season First Team All Star spots. A couple of years later Blake was put on the “Punch Line” with Maurice Richard and Elmer Lach and he remained a consistent producer. “Old Lamplighter” would also become the Canadians Captain for eight seasons. 

Unarguably the best Left Wing of the 1950’s, Ted Lindsay was admitted right away to the Hockey Hall of Fame without having to wait the mandatory three year period after retirement. (Though, it should be noted that Lindsay retired once in 1960 and could have gone in before he returned in ’64) “Terrible” Ted was considered one of the toughest players in the NHL and spent his fair share of time in the penalty box, he was also a very good offensive producer and won the Art Ross once and led the league in assists twice. He was also a First team All Star a whopping eight times. 

The first Hockey player to win the Stanley Cup as a player five times, Ted Kennedy made the most of all of his abilities. He was a dynamic faceoff artist and skilled forechecker. He was not the best skater in the league, but he was able to put himself in perfect positions to get by his opponents effortlessly. 

The youngest of the Bentley brothers, Max Bentley may have been the most fun to watch. He was one of the best skaters and stickhandlers of his era, and he would often make opponents look foolish with his “dipsy doodle” like play.  Bentley would twice win the NHL scoring title twice while a member of the Chicago Blackhawks and won the Hart Trophy in 1943. Chicago however was not a great team, but he would get traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs and was in a position to provide another a unique skill set to an already loaded team. The fans took to him quickly as he did with the city of Toronto. He would go on to win three Stanley Cups with the Maple Leafs.