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Toe Blake
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==Coaching career== After eight years coaching several of the Canadiens' minor-league affiliates, he was named head coach of the Canadiens on June 8, 1955, replacing [[Dick Irvin]].<ref>{{harvnb|Logothetis|2020|p=126}}</ref> Blake was fluently bilingual in English and French, and Canadiens management also felt that Richard's former linemate was better suited to control the star's explosive temper (which had led to a [[Richard Riot|riot]] the past spring). Blake coached the Canadiens for thirteen years, winning the [[Stanley Cup]] eight times β the most titles for any coach in the team's history, the most with one team,<ref name=top10>{{cite web|title=Top 10s - Coaches|url=http://ourhistory.canadiens.com/records/top10_coaches|publisher=Montreal Canadiens|access-date=February 9, 2015|archive-date=January 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127100037/http://ourhistory.canadiens.com/records/top10_coaches|url-status=dead}}</ref> and second-most league-wide behind [[Scotty Bowman]], who won nine Stanley Cups in total (five Cups with the Canadiens, one with the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]], and three with the [[Detroit Red Wings]].)<ref name=bowman>{{cite web|title=Once around Scotty Bowman's home, in what is normally...|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-08-29/sports/0208290225_1_toe-blake-coach-in-nhl-history-stanley-cup|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210015556/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-08-29/sports/0208290225_1_toe-blake-coach-in-nhl-history-stanley-cup|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 10, 2015|access-date=February 9, 2015|date=August 29, 2002}}</ref> His 500 regular-season wins are still the most in Canadiens history.<ref name=top10 /> Notably, he won championships in each of his first five seasons as a head coach, this streak being an NHL record that stands to this day. The only other person to have performed a similar feat in his first five seasons as a coach or manager of any particular team in North American professional sports is [[Casey Stengel]] of the [[New York Yankees]], although unlike Blake's case the Yankees were not the first team Stengel managed. Blake retired after the Habs clinched the Cup in game four of the [[1968 Stanley Cup Finals|1968 Finals]], ending 33 consecutive years at ice level with the Canadiens organization. Blake turned down [[Jacques Plante]]'s request to wear a mask during games for fear that it would impair his vision. However, after a shot from Rangers player [[Andy Bathgate]] broke Plante's nose in a game on November 1, 1959, Blake finally relented.<ref name=Christie/>
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