Cliff Fletcher
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George Clifford Fletcher (born 16 August 1935 in Montreal, Quebec) is a National Hockey League executive and current interim general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL. Some of his nicknames are the "Silver Fox" and "Trader Cliff", referring to the huge, multi-player trade that he made in 1992 to improve the Leafs.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Early positions
Fletcher started his career in 1956 for the Montreal Canadiens as a scout under Sam Pollock, then later became the General Manager of the Verdun Blues junior team.
He joined the expansion St. Louis Blues in 1966 as a scout for Eastern Canada worked his way up to the assistant GM position. With Fletcher's help, the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in each of their first three years. In 1972, he jumped at the chance to run his own team when offered a GM position in Atlanta.
[edit] Flames
Fletcher joined the newly-minted expansion Atlanta Flames team as General Manager. After years of financial struggles in Atlanta due to competition from the WHA, he helped organize the team's move to Calgary, Alberta in 1980. Over the next 10 years, he led the Calgary Flames to two Smythe division titles, two Clarence S. Campbell Bowls as Western Conference Champions, and two Presidents' Trophies, given to the team with the best NHL Regular season record. During his tenure in Calgary, he was the first GM to bring a player from the Soviet Union when Sergei Priakin played in 1988. The Flames won the Stanley Cup Championship in 1989 against the Montreal Canadiens.
He also served as the GM of Team Canada for the 1981 Canada Cup.
[edit] Maple Leafs
Fletcher moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1991, to serve as Chief Operating Officer, President and General Manager. He made a blockbuster trade with Doug Risebrough, his successor as the Flames' General Manager, sending Gary Leeman, Michel Petit, Jeff Reese, Craig Berube, and Alexander Godynyuk to the Flames for Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley and Kent Manderville on January 2, 1992. That year, Fletcher also hired Pat Burns as head coach for the upcoming season.
The positive impact on the Toronto team was immediate. During the 1992-1993 season, his second year as GM, the Leafs set team records with wins (44) and points (99), while Gilmour emerged as a superstar and scored a franchise-high 127 points. During the postseason awards ceremony, Gilmour finished as runner-up for the Hart Trophy and won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as best defensive forward, while Burns won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year; the first major NHL individual awards that Leaf players had won since 1967. Fletcher himself was named as the "Man of the Year" and the "Executive of the Year" by The Hockey News in 1993. The Leafs reached the conference finals in 1993 and 1994 - the only team in the NHL to make it that far in the playoffs in both seasons and the only one of the seven teams from those two years to not make a Stanley Cup Final since expansion.
He remained with the Toronto Maple Leafs for six seasons before retiring to Florida.
[edit] Lightning
In 1999, Fletcher joined the Tampa Bay Lightning as Senior Advisor to the GM for 2 seasons at the request of Jacques Demers, then Florida coach and GM. When Demers left the franchise in 1999, so did Fletcher.
[edit] Coyotes
Fletcher joined the Phoenix Coyotes on February 17, 2001 as General Manager and Executive Vice-President. On August 28, 2001, he passed his GM role to Mike Barnett and became Senior Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations.
On April 11, 2007, Fletcher and General Manager Mike Barnett were fired after the Coyotes finished the 2006-2007 season with its worst record since relocating from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996.
[edit] Return to Toronto
Fletcher was officially named the interim general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 22, 2008, replacing John Ferguson Jr. [1]Fletcher signed a nineteen month contract with the franchise; he will serve as GM for the first six months, afterwards he will serve as an executive for the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment organization.
During the press conference, MLSE president Richard Peddie can be seen mouthing Fletcher's statement on saying "the custodian of the keys" and "I look forward to the challenge and few tough months ahead." [2] This incident drew the ire of many Leafs fans, who already felt Peddie was meddling in the day to day operations of the NHL franchise.
[edit] Hockey Hall of Fame
Fletcher spent 7 years on the Hockey Hall of Fame Board of Directors, having stepped down in 2002-03. He also spent time on the Hall of Fame selection committee. In 2004, he was selected to the HHOF as a builder and was inducted on November 8, 2004.
[edit] Family
Fletcher's son Chuck was Assistant General Manager of the Florida Panthers and Director of Hockey Operations of the Anaheim Ducks. He currently serves as the Assistant General Manager to Ray Shero in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Fletcher's daughter Kristy is director of executive suite services for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors.
[edit] References
- Legends of Hockey - The Legends - Honoured Builder - Fletcher, Cliff - Biography. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
- Building a Franchise Is Fletcher's forte. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
- The second time around for Fletcher (Toronto Star article)
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Floyd Smith |
General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs 1991-97 |
Succeeded by Ken Dryden |
| Preceded by John Ferguson, Jr. |
General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs 2008- |
Succeeded by current |
