Toronto mourns its former captain (symbol image)
Photo: Chris Young / AP / dpa
George "Chief" Armstrong, former captain of the NHL franchise Toronto Maple Leafs, is dead. The Canadian ice hockey team announced on Sunday that Armstrong died at the age of 90.
The Canadian led Toronto to four Stanley Cup victories (1962, 1963, 1964, 1967) and is the franchise's record player with 1,118 appearances.
Armstrong never played for any other NHL team.
“Rest in peace, George.
You will be missed very much, ”said club president Brendan Shanahan.
Armstrong was a proud yet humble man "who loved to be a Maple Leaf, but never sought the limelight, although no player played any more games for Toronto or was captain of the team for longer."
Armstrong was one of the first ice hockey professionals of indigenous descent.
When he visited a Native American reservation with the Toronto Marlboros, a junior Maple Leafs farm team, they reportedly called him "Big Chief Shoot-the-Puck" and presented him with a headdress.
The nickname, shortened to "Chief," persisted well beyond Armstrong's career.
In December 1949 he made his debut for Toronto in the NHL, after 21 seasons he ended his career in 1971.
Armstrong was captain of the team for twelve years and won the Stanley Cup four times with the Maple Leafs.
He was also there in 1967 and scored the last goal in the sixth game to beat the Montréal Canadiens 3-1.
Since then, Toronto has been waiting for a Stanley Cup triumph.
Armstrong had a total of 713 scorer points (296 goals, 417 assists) in his 1188 games.
In 1975 Armstrong was inducted into the Hall of Fame, but he did not want to give a prepared speech.
The Maple Leafs published a paragraph on Sunday from the speech that was not given at the time: “Ice hockey is a great game and I love it.
I'm part of a dwindling generation that will never be back.
Each of us is unique that will never be repeated.
I would like to thank all my friends and acquaintances for their advice and pointers, which have made me what I am today: a very, very happy person. "
Icon: The mirror
ptz / sid / Reuters