Varnish, Elmer

Elmer Luck, a native of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, linked his entire professional career to one club - Montreal Canadiens.

The Center Forward, who had previously played in various junior teams in his native province, joined Canadiens in 1940. The finest hour of Elmer Luck came 3 years later, in 1943, when the Canadians head coach Dick Irwin decided to unite the then captain of the team, left winger Tou Blake , who had already established himself in the debut season as a talented sniper of right winger Maurice Richard and center forward Elmer Luck.

The “Impact Link” ( English Punch line ) - as journalists subsequently dubbed the Montreal’s first three — played a significant role in the team’s further successes, bringing it 2 Stanley Cups over the years of its existence (1943-1948). In the 1944–45 season, Shock Link players scored 220 points for three (a record that lasted until the 60s), Maurice Richard became the first hockey player in the NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games, and Elmer Luck with 54 assists, to which he added 26 abandoned washers, rightfully got Hart Trophy .

In 1948, Elmer Luck added one more to the already won trophies, becoming the first owner of the newly established Art Ross Trophy - a prize for the league's top scorer.

In 1954, Elmer Luck ended his career in the NHL by joining the Canadiens youth team as a coach. After working as a coach for several years, Elmer Luck left hockey; his subsequent life was not closely connected with professional sports. In 1966, Elmer Luck, like his Shock Link teammate Tou Blake, was included in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In December 2009, while celebrating the centenary of the Montreal Canadiens club, Elmer Luck's name sweater with number 16 was raised under the Bell Center arches. Elmer Luck, who was already 92 years old by that time, was personally present at this momentous event.

• Stanley Cup Winner (3): 1944, 1946, 1953
• Hart Trophy Winner: 1945
• Winner of Art Ross Trophy : 1948
• Member of the All-Star Game (5): 1944-46, 1948, 1952

• One of the wards of Elmer Luck while working at the Montreal Junior Canadiens was the younger brother of his partner in the Shock Link Maurice Richard - Henri Richard . Like Luck, Richard played in the center forward position; Henri Richard later recalled that Elmer Luck was skeptical of his prospects in the NHL due to very modest physical data (170 cm, 73 kg) ^[1] . When Henry Richard became a player of the Canadiens, he took number 16 - the same one under which Elmer Luck performed - and played for him in the NHL for 20 seasons. Currently, number 16 has been withdrawn by Montreal Canadiens; This is one of two numbers immortalized by the club in honor of two hockey players who wore it. What is noteworthy, Henri Richard's sweater was raised under the arches of the Bell Center 34 years earlier than Elmer Luck's sweater.

• Elmer Luck at the Hockey Legends website
• Elmer Luck - Stats at The Internet Hockey Database