Late in game six of the 1967 Stanley Cup final, Punch Imlach sent Stanley out to face Jean Beliveau for a crucial draw deep in Toronto's zone. Stanley and his teammates had one task - protect their slim 2-1 lead over Montreal.
After making sure everyone knew their assignment, Allan Stanley went to work.
"Stanley not only beat Jean Beliveau to the draw, but he knocked the Hab captain out of the way, allowing Kelly (Red) to field the puck, " wrote Red Burnett in The Toronto Daily Star. He went on to describe what happened once Kelly gained possession. "Kelly passed to Pulford (Bob), who relayed to Armstrong (George). The Leaf captain pounded the puck into the open net, to cinch the win."
Mission accomplished.
Allan Stanley passed away on October 18, 2013, at Speciality Care Case Manor in Bobcaygeon, Ontarion. He was 87.
Born in Timmins, Ontario, on March 1, 1926, Allan Herbert Stanley's first crack at professional hockey came in 1943-44, with the EAHL Boston Olympics. They were sponsored by the NHL Bruins.
Back in 1949, Stanley spoke about his subsequent departure from the Bruins organization.
"I was on loan from the Boston Olympics in the Eastern United States League to Providence and it seems that the Bruins had to take a defenceman off their list to make room for another," Stanley told The Hockey News.
Weston Adams and Art Ross took in the Providence game to watch Stanley before making any roster decisions. "The day they were to see me in action I was laid up in bed with a bad cold and sore throat, but I dressed anyway," stated Stanley. "I think I played the worst game of my career. The next day I read that I had been sold outright to the Reds."
Stanley's long-term goal was, like his Uncle, Barney Stanley, to don an NHL sweater. The elder Stanley made his name out west with the Vancouver Millionaires. He won a Stanley Cup with them in 1915. While coaching the Chicago Black Hawks in 1927-28, Barney Stanley played in his only National Hockey League contest. He became an honoured member in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.
Another Uncle, Ab Stanley, played senior hockey for the Hamilton Tigers.
In 1942, Allan Stanley patrolled the blue line for the Holman Pluggers a juvenile team in his home town. During a game in Toronto, he caught the eye of scout Baldy Cotton. This led Stanley to the Boston Olympics and Providence Reds.
His chance to make the big show came in December 1948.
"In the biggest deal in the history of the club, the New York Rangers yesterday acquired the services of Allan Stanley, husky defenceman from the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League," began a story by Joseph Nichols in the New York Times on December 10, 1948.
To obtain Stanley, the Rangers surrendered cash and players with an estimated value of $60,000 to $70,000. A huge sum for a late 1940s transaction.
He first NHL outing took place on December 11, 1948, at the Detroit Olympia. In his debut, the Rangers fell 5-3.
"Although Stanley played steady hockey he didn't figure in the scoring," noted the Associated Press of Stanley's performance.
Back home in New York the next evening, the tables were turned with the Rangers posting a 2-0 shutout over the Red Wings.
On December 15, 1948, the Toronto Maple Leafs came calling.
With his team up two goals early in the final frame, Stanley added to their margin by notching his first NHL point and goal.
"At 4:40, Fred Shero sent a relay to Stanley and the newcomer, firing from just inside Toronto's blue line, found the target with a lightning shot," chronicled The Times of Stanley's first tally.
A return engagement versus Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens on December 18, 1948, was a special occasion for the Ontario born rearguard.
When Stanley arrived at Toronto's Union Station, his Mom and Dad were there to greet him, having made the trip from up north. His Dad, Bill Stanley, held the position of Fire Chief in Timmins. After his son became a Ranger he stated, "We'll be down to Toronto to see him in action the next time New York plays there."
With family and friends on-hand, Stanley didn't disappoint.
"...He fed his wings and blocked well, gained two assists and generally looked as if he had been in the big time for years," offered Allan Nickleson in The Globe and Mail.
Early in 1949, Ranger coach, Lynn Patrick, gave this assessment of Stanley's game. "Stanley is a good blocker a good checker and he can also rough it up when he wants to," said the New York bench boss.
Stanley's stay in the Big Apple lasted until November 1954. New York's inability to evolve into a playoff contender resulted in Stanley becoming the object of fan frustrations. He had to contend with constant abuse flowing down from the stands.
To ease the situation management shipped Stanley to Chicago, and in October 1956 he returned to the Bruins fold.
Despite helping Boston have successful campaigns in both 1957 and 1958, they had apprehensions about Stanley's lasting-power. Nicknamed 'Snowshoes", his slow-moving style, combined with a leg injury, contributed to Boston once again moving Stanley.
Punch Imlach in Toronto, didn't share Boston's appraisal of Stanley's extended worth. He obtained the defenceman in an October 1958 trade.
Imlach thought Stanley would mature in the same manner as his Uncle Barney.
Late in his career, Barney Stanley used his hockey I.Q. to get by. He performed "when a veteran could get by on brains alone and Barney was one of the craftiest players the game has known," observed a Winnipeg columnist.
The same could be said of Allan Stanley.
"Stanley went on to play more than six hundred games for Toronto in the next ten years, as honest and dependable as a coach could ask for...," penned Imlach in his 1969 book, "Hockey Is A Battle".
The one Leaf who had the best sight lines to watch Stanley ply his trade was goalie Johnny Bower. In his book Bower wrote:
Allan was fantastic at playing the angle on the shooter and he never obstructed my vision while doing it. He was blessed with tremendous anticipation and seemed to know where I was going to play the rebound even before I did.
Commenting about both King Clancy and Allan Stanley, former Leaf defenceman Bob Baun wrote this about his coach (Clancy) and teammate (Stanley) in his autobiography: "They were masters of the defensive zone - I think either of them could have played in a rocking chair."
Allan Stanley finally settled into his rocking chair after one season of post-season competition with the Philadelphia Flyers. Prior to departing Toronto, he captured four Stanley Cups. In 1981, the Hockey Hall of Fame summoned Allan Stanley.
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