TORONTO (AP) — NHL executive Cliff Fletcher, who led the Calgary Flames to a Stanley Cup championship in 1989 and helped turn the Toronto into a contender while earning the nickname “Trader Cliff” for his skillful wheeling and dealing, has died at 90, the Maple Leafs announced Friday.
Fletcher was a senior adviser for the team, which did not provide details of his death.
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Among Fletcher’s many moves was bringing Lanny McDonald to the recently relocated Flames in 1981, and deals for Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin in Toronto that helped transform the Maple Leafs into a playoff threat.
“Few men in the history of hockey have had as profound and lasting an impact on the game as Cliff Fletcher,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “Revered for his keen eye for talent, respected for his management acumen and beloved for his character, Cliff devoted seven decades to hockey in myriad roles and leaves a legacy as remarkable for the many men and women he has mentored as for the franchises he helped established and games his teams won.”
Born in Montreal on Aug. 16, 1935, Fletcher started his career as a scout with his hometown Canadiens under the guidance of legendary executive Sam Pollock before heading to the St. Louis Blues as an assistant general manager in June 1969. He joined the expansion Atlanta Flames as GM in 1972 and remained with the team when it relocated to Calgary in 1980.
While often overshadowed by their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, Fletcher built a contender in Calgary.
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The team made its first Cup final in 1986, losing to Montreal in five games. The Flames beat the Canadiens in six games a few years later for their only title. The powerhouse roster built by Fletcher was captained by McDonald, backstopped by Mike Vernon in goal and included Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Joe Mullen, Al MacInnis, Gary Suter and a young Theo Fleury.
Fletcher, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004, took over as the Maple Leafs’ chief operating officer, president and GM in 1991. He quickly helped rebuild the team, which had slogged through a dismal decade under former owner Harold Ballard.
In a key move, Fletcher pried Gilmour from his successor in Calgary, and he also hired Pat Burns as coach in 1992.
The trade with the Flames supplemented other previous moves. Fletcher shipped a package including forward Vincent Damphousse to Edmonton for netminder Grant Fuhr, forward Glenn Anderson and others. Fuhr was later sent to Buffalo in a deal that netted 50-goal man Dave Andreychuk from the Sabres.
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In another franchise-defining swap, Fletcher dealt popular but oft-injured captain Wendel Clark to the Quebec Nordiques in 1994 as part of a package that included Sundin. A future Hall of Fame center, Sundin went on to become the face of the franchise and is now Toronto’s senior executive adviser of hockey operations.
“Cliff Fletcher inherited a club that had finished last in the NHL’s Norris Division in 1991, transforming them seemingly overnight,” the Maple Leafs said. “Those beloved Maple Leafs teams would come within one win of the Cup final in 1993 and returned to the conference final a year later.”
Fletcher remained with the Leafs until 1997 before front office stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Phoenix Coyotes. He returned to Toronto as interim GM in 2008.
His son, Chuck Fletcher, became a successful NHL executive in his own right. Chuck Fletcher served as GM of the Minnesota Wild from 2009 to 2018 and the Philadelphia Flyers from 2018 to 2024.
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