Cliff Fletcher Dead at 90 After Decades Shaping Maple Leafs, Flames
Cliff Fletcher died at 90, closing a career that left the Calgary Flames with a Stanley Cup and the Toronto Maple Leafs with a franchise-altering roster reset. The Maple Leafs announced his death on Friday, and the news lands with his name tied to two of the most consequential stretches in those teams' histories.
Maple Leafs remember Fletcher
The Maple Leafs said, "The Toronto Maple Leafs and its fans will remain forever grateful for the many contributions Cliff made to the organization and the game of hockey". They added, "He will always be remembered as part of our hockey family. The club extends our deepest condolences to the Fletcher family, including his children Chuck and Kristy, their families, and his partner Linda."
Fletcher became general manager of the Maple Leafs in 1991 and quickly reshaped the roster. In early 1992, he completed a blockbuster trade with the Flames that sent Gary Leeman, Jeff Reese, Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk and Michel Petit to Alberta while bringing back Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley, Kent Manderville and Doug Gilmour.
Gilmour deal changed Toronto
That trade gave Toronto a central piece in Gilmour. With Pat Burns as coach, the Leafs set a new franchise record for wins and points in a season, then reached back-to-back Campbell Conference Finals in 1993 and 1994, returning to the final four for the first time since 1978.
Fletcher kept moving pieces after that. In the summer of 1994, he traded captain Wendel Clark to the Quebec Nordiques for Mats Sundin, and one of his final moves before stepping down in the spring of 1997 was dealing captain Doug Gilmour to the New Jersey Devils.
Flames run under Fletcher
Before Toronto, Fletcher spent two decades with the Flames and guided them through the relocation to Calgary in 1980. Under him, the franchise won the Smythe Division on two occasions, captured the Presidents' Trophy twice, reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1986 and then won the Stanley Cup in 1989.
The 1986 Final ended with a five-game loss to the Canadiens. Three years later, Calgary beat Montreal in six games to win its first Cup, with Al MacInnis taking the Conn Smythe Trophy. Fletcher also drafted Sergei Pryakhin with the final selection of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, and Pryakhin made his NHL debut in the 1988-1989 season after becoming the first Russian player permitted to play in the NHL by the Soviet Hockey Federation.
Fletcher's early rise
Fletcher got his start at 21 as a scout with the Montreal Canadiens under Sam Pollock. He left for the St. Louis Blues in 1966 and served as assistant general manager before joining the Central Hockey League's Kansas City Blues as general manager in 1971 and returning to the NHL with the expansion Atlanta Flames in 1972.
By the time his career reached Toronto and Calgary, Fletcher had already built the résumé that made him a Hockey Hall of Famer. The final measure of that run is simple: a Stanley Cup in Calgary, a rebuilt contender in Toronto, and a hockey life that stretched across eras, trades and two original pillars of the modern NHL.
