George Armstrong (ice hockey)

The couple were married in Sudbury in 1929 and George arrived eleven months later.

He grew up in Falconbridge, Ontario where his father was a nickel miner.

George Edward Armstrong (July 6, 1930 – January 24, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Armstrong was born in 1930 in Skead, Ontario, to an Irish Canadian father, Frederick James Armstrong (1907-1990), and a Kanien'keha:ka of Wahta Territories mother, Alice Decaire (1907-2005).

He had one sister, Lillian Ellen McCourt (1936–2016).

Sport was an important part of Armstrong's family as his father played soccer and his mother was a canoeist.

The younger Armstrong developed a passion for hockey but was a poor skater, which his father believed was a consequence of a case of spinal meningitis George suffered at the age of six.

While attending Sudbury High School, Armstrong played on the hockey team with Red McCarthy and Tim Horton.

Inspired by a newspaper advertisement offering tryouts with the Copper Cliff Redmen of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association (NOJHA), Armstrong convinced Horton and McCarthy to join him in trying out.

They made the team and Armstrong began his junior hockey career at age 16 in the 1946–47 season.

He recorded six goals and five assists in nine games and caught the attention of scouts for the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Toronto Maple Leafs who added him to their protected list.

He also played with the Prince Albert Blackhawks for part of that season.

Armstrong quit school in grade 11 to focus on his hockey career.

The Maple Leafs placed Armstrong on the Stratford Kroehlers in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) junior division for the 1947–48 season.

He led the league in both assists (43) and points (73), and was named recipient of the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHA's most valuable player.

Promoted to the Toronto Marlboros for the 1948–49 season, Armstrong recorded 62 points in 39 games with the junior squad and played in three regular season and ten post-season matches for the senior team.

Armstrong remained with the senior Marlboros in 1949–50 where he served as captain.

He led the OHA senior division with 64 goals, at the time an OHA record, and recorded 115 points in 39 games.

He was again named the winner of the Red Tilson Trophy.

The Maple Leafs briefly recalled Armstrong during the 1949–50 season and he made his NHL debut on December 3, 1949.

He appeared in two games before returning to the Marlboros.

He played 1,188 NHL games between 1950 and 1971, all with Toronto and a franchise record.

He was the team's captain for 13 seasons.

Armstrong was a member of four Stanley Cup championship teams and played in seven NHL All-Star Games.

Armstrong played both junior and senior hockey in the Toronto Marlboros organization and was a member of the 1950 Allan Cup winning team as senior champions of Canada.

He returned to the Marlboros following his playing career and coached the junior team to two Memorial Cup championships.

In the 1950 Allan Cup playdowns, he recorded 19 goals and 19 assists in 14 games as the Marlboros won the national senior championship.

It was also during the season that he earned his nickname.

While visiting the Stoney Reserve in Alberta with the Marlboros, the locals presented Armstrong with a ceremonial headdress and called him "Big Chief Shoot the Puck" owing to his own Native heritage.

The nickname was often shortened to "Chief".

Upon turning professional in 1950–51, Armstrong was assigned to Toronto's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets.

In 71 games for Pittsburgh, he recorded 15 goals and 48 points.

Despite being hampered by hand and wrist injuries suffered in fights, Armstrong was the AHL's leading goal scorer and stood second in points by mid-season in 1951–52.

He was recalled to Toronto during the season and scored his first NHL goal, against goaltender Gerry McNeil of the Montreal Canadiens.

It was the first goal ever scored by a player with Native heritage.

He finished the season with three goals and three assists in 20 games with Toronto.

Though he missed the start of the 1952–53 season due to a separated shoulder, Armstrong earned a permanent spot on the Maple Leafs' roster.

He scored the final goal of the NHL's "Original Six" era as Toronto won the 1967 Stanley Cup.

He served as a scout for the Quebec Nordiques, as an assistant general manager of the Maple Leafs and for part of the 1988–89 NHL season as Toronto's head coach.

Armstrong was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Maple Leafs honoured his uniform number 10 in 1998, and later officially retired the number, along with ten others, during a pre-game ceremony on October 15, 2016.