Cliff Fletcher

Cliff Fletcher, 2009

Clifford "Cliff" Fletcher (born August 16, 1935 in Montréal , Québec ) is a Canadian ice hockey official . As General Manager , he ran the Atlanta / Calgary Flames franchise for almost 20 years and won the Stanley Cup with the team in 1989 . He later worked in the same role with the Phoenix Coyotes and the Toronto Maple Leafs , where he still holds a position as a consultant. In 2004 he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame .

Career

Start and successes with the Flames

Cliff Fletcher, who never actively played ice hockey at a higher level, began his career in 1956 with the Canadiens de Montréal from the National Hockey League (NHL), for which he worked as a scout and later as the general manager of their junior team. In 1966 he was hired as a scout by the newly founded St. Louis Blues , where he was subsequently promoted to assistant to the general manager and thus worked under Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman .

In 1972 Fletcher was named the first general manager of the Atlanta Flames , which joined the NHL for the 1972/73 season. He led the team's fortunes for almost 20 years, with the Flames being sold to Calgary in 1980 and trading there as Calgary Flames from then on . Due to the style of his management, which was characterized by sometimes spectacular and risky transfers, he was nicknamed "Trader Cliff" during this time. He managed to put together one of the best teams in the NHL with the Flames, which recorded 16 playoffs in a row under him and finally won the Stanley Cup in 1989 . The most important players that the Canadian signed during his tenure with the Flames include Lanny McDonald , Doug Gilmour , Sergei Makarov and Joe Mullen , all of whom were later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame . Through the draft , he strengthened the team with Joe Nieuwendyk , Al MacInnis , Gary Suter , Jim Peplinski and Mike Vernon, among others . During this time he also looked after the Canadian national team as general manager at the Canada Cup 1981 , where the team won the silver medal.

Toronto, Tampa and Phoenix

In 1991 Fletcher left the Flames to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the same capacity , where he also served as president. As their general manager, he handled a ten-player transfer in his first year with Doug Risebrough , his successor in Calgary, with whom he brought, among others, Doug Gilmour to Toronto, who was later honored there with the Frank J. Selke Trophy . He also hired Pat Burns , who a little later was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the best head coach in the league. In 1993 and 1994, the Maple Leafs reached the conference finals, but missed the Stanley Cup final. After six years in Toronto, Fletcher handed over to Ken Dryden in 1997 and unofficially ended his career. In 1999 he briefly served in an advisory role with the Tampa Bay Lightning before he was hired by the Phoenix Coyotes as General Manager and Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations in February 2001 . A little later, he handed the role of General Manager to Michael Barnett , while he was Vice President in Arizona until 2007.

In 2004 he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, having previously served on the institution's board of directors . He was also part of the admission committee. In 2007 Fletcher returned to the Toronto Maple Leafs and in 2008 took over the role of General Manager on an interim basis again, but has since worked exclusively in an advisory capacity (Senior Advisor) .

Achievements and Awards

• 1981 silver medal at the Canada Cup
• 1989 Stanley Cup win with the Calgary Flames
• 2004 Induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame

Personal

His son Chuck Fletcher is also an official in the NHL, including general manager of the Florida Panthers and the Minnesota Wild .

Web links

• Cliff Fletcher at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Cliff Fletcher in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Steve Simmons: The last wheeler-dealer: Cliff Fletcher. torontosun.com, February 16, 2016, accessed on June 2, 2018 (English).