R.I.P. George Armstrong (6 July 1930 - 24 January 2021)

[Hepcat]

Fabled Toronto Maple Leaf George Armstrong who was a regular with the team for twenty straight seasons from 1951-52 to 1970-71 died early on January 24th at the age of 90. Armstrong played a team record 1,187 games with the Maple Leafs scoring 296 goals during regular season action and added another 26 goals in 110 playoff games.

George Armstrong Stats - Hockey Database

George Armstrong was born in 1930 to an Irish Canadian father and Ojibway mother and grew up in Falconbridge, Ontario where his father was a nickel miner. He contracted spinal meningitis at the age of six which held him back when it came to developing skating skills as a youngster. By 1949-50 his skating and overall hockey skills were very developed indeed and he set a goal scoring record of 64 in the Senior Ontario Hockey Association and led his Toronto Marlboros to an Allan Cup victory awarded to the top amateur team in Canada.

After most of two seasons with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL, he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in the latter part of the 1951-52 season. He was made the team captain of the Maple Leafs at the start of the 1957-58 season and continued in that capacity until he retired. As such he was the captain of the Maple Leafs during their glory years when they won Stanley Cups in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967. Interesting that his goal in game six of the Stanley Cup finals against the Montréal Canadiens was the last goal scored in the NHL pre-expansion.

Here are some of my favourite George Armstrong hockey cards:

1960-61 Parkhurst



1964-65 Topps



1994 Parkhurst