Tommy Ivan

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Thomas Nathaniel Ivan (born January 31, 1911 in Toronto , Ontario , † June 25, 1999 ) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and official in the National Hockey League . He led the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup three times and won the trophy one more time with the Chicago Black Hawks as their general manager. In 1974 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame .

Career

Tommy Ivan played ice hockey in Brantford , but had to bury his ambitions for a career in professional sport as a 26-year-old because of a serious fracture of the cheekbone. Instead, he initially worked as a referee and later as a coach before he had to take up military service in the 1930s. After the end of World War II, he received the post as head coach of the Omaha Knights from the USHL professional league , which served as the farm team of the Detroit Red Wings . There he worked with the 17-year-old Gordie Howe , who made the jump to the NHL a little later and began a career that lasted over five decades.

In 1946 Ivan took over the Indianapolis Capitals from the AHL , which also had a cooperation with Detroit. When Jack Adams decided a year later to give up his coaching post with the Red Wings after 15 seasons, Tommy Ivan was his successor. In his first two years as head coach of Detroit, he led the team to the final of the playoffs twice before winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in 1950 . At the time, the team was full of ice hockey greats like Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay , Sid Abel , Marcel Pronovost , Red Kelly , Alex Delvecchio and Terry Sawchuk , who were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame after their careers ended . With this well-established team, Ivan achieved two more Stanley Cup victories in 1952 and 1954.

Although Tommy Ivan had celebrated great success in Detroit, won three Stanley Cups and finished the regular season in the top position seven times in a row, he decided to leave the Red Wings in the summer of 1954 and accepted an offer for the post of general manager of Chicago Black Hawks on. The Black Hawks were in a difficult phase at the time. In the only six teams in the NHL, they had only reached the playoffs twice in the past ten years and were even last in the league six times.

Ivan's commitment as the architect of the franchise was initially unsuccessful. Neither newcomer Frank Eddolls nor the former successful coach Dick Irvin , who left after a year due to illness, managed to get the team back on the road to success. Ivan then took over the coaching position himself in the summer of 1956, but even he could not bring about a change in just under a year and a half. The signing of Rudy Pilous during the 1957/58 season should finally be a step in the right direction and the following year the Black Hawks qualified for the playoffs for the first time in six years.

Tommy Ivan not only improved the organization of the Black Hawks in the coaching position, but also expanded the farm system by entering into collaborations with several lower-class teams, and brought talented young players to Chicago such as Bobby Hull , Stan Mikita and Bill Hay as well as seasoned veterans such as Glenn Hall and Ted Lindsay. In 1961, Ivan's work was finally crowned with success when the team led by coach Pilous won the Stanley Cup. The following year they reached the final again, but this time they were subject to the Toronto Maple Leafs .

In 1963 Ivan hired a new coach, Billy Reay , who led the Black Hawks to another participation in the Stanley Cup final. In the summer of 1967, Tommy Ivan handled a transfer deal that was soon considered one of the worst in NHL history. He sent Phil Esposito , Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield to the Boston Bruins , for which Gilles Marotte , Pit Martin and Jack Norris came to Chicago. While Esposito, Hodge and Stanfield developed into important pillars in Boston, Marotte and Norris could never really prove their worth in Chicago and only Martin could convince. In 1969 Ivan was able to improve his reputation again when he signed Tony Esposito , who could not prevail at the Montréal Canadiens , but developed in Chicago to one of the best goalkeepers of his time.

In 1971 and 1973 the Black Hawks reached the final of the Stanley Cup two more times, but they were unsuccessful from the series. For his services as general manager of the Chicago Black Hawks, he was finally inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1974 and received the Lester Patrick Trophy the following year .

After the 1976/77 season , the worst in nearly two decades, Tommy Ivan stepped down as general manager after 23 years. He led the Chicago Black Hawks out of a long crisis and to new successes. During his tenure, the franchise won the Stanley Cup once and moved into the NHL final four times.

Ivan stayed with the Black Hawks and was vice president of the franchise until his death in 1999.

Achievements and Awards

As a trainer

  • 1950 Stanley Cup winner with the Detroit Red Wings
  • 1952 Stanley Cup winner with the Detroit Red Wings
  • 1954 Stanley Cup winner with the Detroit Red Wings

As general manager

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ivan, Tommy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ivan, Thomas Nathaniel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Toronto , Ontario
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1999