Bob Pulford

Bob Pulford
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1991
Born	(1936-03-31) March 31, 1936 Newton Robinson, ON, CAN
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	188 lb (85 kg; 13 st 6 lb)
Position	Forward
Shot	Left
Played for	Toronto Maple Leafs Los Angeles Kings
Playing career	1956–1972

Robert Jesse Pulford (born March 31, 1936) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League. He has been a coach and executive for the Chicago Blackhawks for the past thirty years.

Playing career

Pulford played junior hockey for the Toronto Marlboros for three seasons from 1953 to 1956, winning two Memorial Cups under coach Turk Broda. He moved up to the Maple Leafs for the 1956–57 season and remained with the team for 14 seasons wearing jersey #20. Pulford was an important member of the Leaf teams that won four Stanley Cups in 1962-63-64-67. The Leafs traded him to the Los Angeles Kings on September 3, 1970, where he played two seasons and retired as a player in 1972.

Pulford became head coach of the Kings for the 1972–73 season and led the team for five years before becoming coach and general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1977. As coach of the Kings, he helped Los Angeles go from being one of the worst defensive and penalty killing teams in the NHL to one of the best. He guided the Kings to their first playoff appearance in five years in 1974, and won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in the NHL in 1975. That season, the Kings amassed 105 points, still a club record through 2013. He also led the Kings to their first playoff series wins since 1969 when they defeated the Atlanta Flames in the first round of both the 1976 and 1977 NHL playoffs. Pulford left the Kings after the 1976–77 season after constant feuding with then owner Jack Kent Cooke. Pulford wanted to become General Manager as well as coach, or at least have a bigger role in player personnel decisions. Cooke however, often meddled in player personnel matters, and in the mid-70's, reverted to his old habits of trading promising young players and draft picks for veteran, past their prime former stars.

He served as coach for the Blackhawks on three separate occasions from 1977 to 1987. He was promoted to senior vice president in 1990, but took on the general manager's duties again from 1992 to 1997, from 1999 to 2000, and from 2003 to 2005. During his third stint as general manager, Pulford nominally doubled as head coach. However, Lorne Molleken remained the team's main operator on the bench, with Pulford as more or less a senior consultant.

In 7 seasons: 426 games as Hawks coach, Bob Pulford won 182, lost 176, and tied 68. His win percentage was .507 and he is ranked second behind Billy Reay in most regular season games won as Hawk coach.

With the series tied 1–1, Pulford scored the overtime game winner in game 3 of the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. The Montreal goalie was Rogie Vachon. Pulford later coached Vachon in Los Angeles as the Kings rose to prominence in the mid-1970s.

He won the Jack Adams Award for best coach in the NHL in 1975. Pulford was also honoured to be named head coach of Team USA during the 1976 Canada Cup tournament.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.

On October 11, 2007; Pulford was named an officer with the Wirtz Corporation and is no longer part of the day to day management of the Blackhawks.

His son-in-law is Dean Lombardi, a former assistant general manager for the Minnesota North Stars, former GM of the San Jose Sharks, and current president and general manager of the Los Angeles Kings since April 2006.

In 2012, Pulford was honoured by the Kings in a pregame ceremony; the team wore their purple and gold 1970s throwback uniforms in the game following this ceremony.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1954–55	Toronto Marlboros	OHA		47	24	22	46	0		—	—	—	—	—
1955–56	Toronto Marlboros	OHA		48	30	25	55	0		—	—	—	—	—
1956–57	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		65	11	11	22	32		—	—	—	—	—
1957–58	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		70	14	17	31	48		—	—	—	—	—
1958–59	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		70	23	14	37	53		12	4	4	8	8
1959–60	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		79	24	28	52	81		10	4	1	5	10
1960–61	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		40	11	18	29	41		5	0	0	0	8
1961–62	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		70	18	21	39	98		12	7	1	8	24
1962–63	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		70	19	25	44	49		10	2	5	7	14
1963–64	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		70	18	30	48	73		14	5	3	8	20
1964–65	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		65	19	29	39	46		6	1	1	2	16
1965–66	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		70	28	28	56	51		4	1	1	2	12
1966–67	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		67	17	28	45	28		12	1	10	11	12
1967–68	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		74	20	30	50	40		—	—	—	—	—
1968–69	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		71	11	23	34	20		4	0	0	0	2
1969–70	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		74	18	19	37	31		—	—	—	—	—
1970–71	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		59	17	26	43	53		—	—	—	—	—
1971–72	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		73	13	24	37	48		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1079	281	362	643	792		89	25	26	51	126

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
		G	W	L	T	Pts	Division rank	Result
LA	1972–73	78	31	36	11	73	6th in West	Missed playoffs
LA	1973–74	78	33	33	12	78	3rd in West	Lost in first round
LA	1974–75	80	42	17	21	105	2nd in Smythe	Lost in first round
LA	1975–76	80	38	33	9	85	2nd in Smythe	Lost in second round
LA	1976–77	80	34	31	15	83	2nd in Smythe	Lost in second round
CHI	1977–78	80	32	29	19	83	1st in Norris	Lost in first round
CHI	1978–79	80	29	36	15	73	1st in Norris	Lost in first round
CHI	1981–82	28	12	14	2	(72)	4th in Norris	Lost in Conf Champ
CHI	1984–85	27	16	7	4	(83)	2nd in Norris	Lost in Conf Champ
CHI	1985–86	80	39	33	8	86	1st in Norris	Lost in first round
CHI	1986–87	80	29	37	14	72	3rd in Norris	Lost in first round
CHI	1999–2000	58	28	24	6	62	3rd in Central	Missed playoffs
Total		829	363	330	136

See also

• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

External links

• Bob Pulford biography at Legends of Hockey
• Bob Pulford career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database