George Armstrong

George Armstrong was born on July 6, 1930 in Bowlands, Ontario. Nicknamed "Chief" due to his Irish-Algonquin heritage, Armstrong was put on the Maple Leafs protected list in 1946 when he was playing with the Copper Cliff Jr. Redmen of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA). He played for the Toronto Marlboros and spent two seasons with the Leafs American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets. He finally made the jump to the big club in 1951-52, playing in 20 games.

George Armstrong would go on to become a fixture at center for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was named as captain of the Maple Leafs in 1957 and was called "the best captain, as a captain, the Leafs have ever had", by Conn Smythe. Armstrong was an integral part of several successful Maple Leaf teams, winning four Stanley Cup championships. He retired as a player in 1971 and went on to coach the Toronto Marlboros to Memorial Cup victories in 1972-73 and 1974-75. George "Chief" Armstrong was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975. He spent nine years as a scout for the Quebec Nordiqies and cam back to Toronto in 1988 for a short stint as assistant general manager and scout.

George Armstrong's Career Statistics

Year     Team                  GP   G   A   Pts   Pim
1949-50  Toronto Maple Leafs    2   0   0     0     0  
1951-52  Toronto Maple Leafs   20   3   3     6    30  
1952-53  Toronto Maple Leafs   52  14  11    25    54 
1953-54  Toronto Maple Leafs   63  17  15    32    60 
1954-55  Toronto Maple Leafs   66  10  18    28    80  
1955-56  Toronto Maple Leafs   67  16  32    48    97  
1956-57  Toronto Maple Leafs   54  18  26    44    37  
1957-58  Toronto Maple Leafs   59  17  25    42    93 
1958-59  Toronto Maple Leafs   59  20  16    36    37 
1959-60  Toronto Maple Leafs   70  23  28    51    60 
1960-61  Toronto Maple Leafs   47  14  19    33    21  
1961-62  Toronto Maple Leafs   70  21  32    53    27  
1962-63  Toronto Maple Leafs   70  19  24    43    27 
1963-64  Toronto Maple Leafs   67  20  17    37    14  
1964-65  Toronto Maple Leafs   59  15  22    37    14 
1965-66  Toronto Maple Leafs   70  16  35    51    12
1966-67  Toronto Maple Leafs   70   9  24    33    26 
1967-68  Toronto Maple Leafs   62  13  21    34     4  
1968-69  Toronto Maple Leafs   53  11  16    27    10  
1969-70  Toronto Maple Leafs   49  13  15    28    12  
1970-71  Toronto Maple Leafs   59   7  18    25     6 
Career Totals                1188 296 417   713   721

George Armstrong Pictures