Bert Olmstead obit

Bert Olmstead, Hall of Fame Passer in Canadiens Dynasty, Dies at 89

He was not on the list.

Bert Olmstead, a Hockey Hall of Fame wing who played on five Stanley Cup championship teams, four times with the Montreal Canadiens of the 1950s, died on Tuesday in High River, Alberta. He was 89.

His death was announced by the Canadiens.

Playing in the N.H.L. for 14 seasons, Olmstead was especially adept at beating opponents to the puck in the corner and then setting up goals with pinpoint passes to the likes of Maurice Richard, Jean Béliveau and Boom Boom Geoffrion.

For all the talent on the Canadiens, Olmstead could be tough on his teammates when he felt they were not at their best.

He was a “hard-rock left winger who could hammer an opponent senseless and seconds later chew you out on the bench because you were three inches out of position on a play,” Béliveau recalled in his 1994 book, “Jean Béliveau: My Life in Hockey.” “He never let us relax or gave us a minute’s rest. He was always after us, pushing, pushing.”

Olmstead helped the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in 1953, ’56, ’57 and ’58 and was then selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in an intraleague draft. The Canadiens won another two consecutive Cups for a record five in a row, but he became a leader with the Leafs and helped propel them to a championship in 1961-62, his final season.

He led the N.H.L. in assists with 48 in the 1954-55 season and with 56, a league record at the time, the next season. He had an 8-point game in January 1954, with four goals and four assists, equaling an N.H.L. mark set by Richard in 1944. (That record was also later broken.)

Olmstead played in four All-Star Games, three with Montreal and one with Toronto, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985.

Murray Albert Olmstead was born on Sept. 4, 1926, in the tiny town of Sceptre, Saskatchewan. After playing junior and minor league hockey, he made his N.H.L. debut playing briefly for the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1948-49 season.

He had 20 goals, which remained his career high, along with 29 assists the next season.

Olmstead joined the Canadiens in 1950 and became part of a dynasty that also produced the Hall of Famers Jacques Plante in goal; Maurice Richard, Henri Richard, Béliveau, Geoffrion and Dickie Moore up front; and Doug Harvey and Tom Johnson on defense.

Olmstead did not hesitate to fight at a time when brawls were common. Maurice Richard, best known as a brilliant scorer with the nickname Rocket, was a tough customer as well and not exactly a favorite of Rangers fans.

Olmstead recalled one night at Madison Square Garden when a hammer landed with a thud between him and Richard while they were sitting on the Canadiens’ bench.

“I looked at Rock and said, ‘Do you know what that is?’ ” Olmstead was quoted as saying by the Hockey Hall of Fame. “He said, ‘No.’ I told him: ‘It’s a goddamned hammer. It could’ve killed either one of us, and I’ve got a pretty good idea it wasn’t aimed at me.’ ”

Olmstead had career totals of 181 goals and 421 assists. He was named the coach of the expansion Oakland Seals in their inaugural season, 1967-68, but resigned with the team’s record at 11-37-16.

He is survived by his wife, Nora; a daughter, Bonnie; a son, Dennis; and a granddaughter.

In addition to letting his teammates know when he thought they were not at their best, Olmstead could vent at his coach.

Bobby Baun, a longtime Maple Leafs defenseman, recalled that late in Olmstead’s career, “Bert would stand up to Coach Punch Imlach.”

“When Punch diagramed a play on the chalkboard, Bert would get angry,” Baun told Brian McFarlane in “Golden Oldies: Stories of Hockey’s Heroes” (2015). “He’d jump up and say: ‘Punch, that’s not the bleepin’ way to do it. I’ll show you how it should be done.’

“And Imlach would stand back and toss Olmstead the chalk.”