Lach, Elmer J.
Hockey
b. Jan. 22, 1918, Nokomis, SAS
Twice the NHL's leading scorer, Lach was the center for Rocket Richard and Toe Blake on the Montreal Canadiens' famous "Punch Line." When he led in scoring for the first time with 80 points in 1944/45, Richard was second with 73 and Blake was third with 67. Lach also won the Ross Trophy as the league's most valuable that year.
He won his second scoring title in 1947-48 with 61 points on 30 goals and 31 assists and he was among the top ten four other times. On November 8, 1952, he scored his 200th goal and assisted on Richard's 325th, an NHL career record at the time.
Lach joined the Canadiens in 1940 after playing amateur hockey in Saskatchewan. He retired after the 1953/54 season. He scored 215 goals and had 408 assists in 664 regular season games, with 19 goals and 45 assists in 76 playoff games.