McNamara, who scouted Salming before becoming Maple Leafs GM, dies at 90

Gerry McNamara, who played seven games in goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1961 and 1970, scouted Swedish superstar defenseman Borje Salming, served as general manager during some of Maple Leafs’ darkest days in the 1980s then as a scout helped to build the 1989 Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames, died on Friday night at the age of 90.

“Gerry made an enduring impact on the organization, most notably by bringing Borje Salming to Toronto, helping pave the way for future generations of European players in the NHL,” the Maple Leafs said in a social media post on Saturday. “As general manager, he continued to shape the franchise, including the (1985) selection of (future captain) Wendel Clark as the first overall pick in the 1985 Entry Draft.”

The Maple Leafs honored McNamara, along with late Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero and late goalie and broadcaster Greg Millen, Saturday with a scoreboard tribute and moment of silence before their 1-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena.

Born Sept. 22, 1934, in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, McNamara found his way into junior hockey with the 1951-52 Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, a powerhouse team that produced many future Hall of Fame players for the Maple Leafs. Teammates included future Maple Leafs stars Dick Duff and Frank Mahovlich.

His goaltending career would take him widely through the minor pros during the mid- to late-1950s, playing for Pittsburgh, Hershey, Buffalo and Cleveland in the American Hockey League and with Sudbury in the Eastern Professional Hockey League.

Goalie Gerry McNamara in an early 1950s portrait with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors.

With legendary Johnny Bower the Maple Leafs’ undisputed goalie during the late 1950s into the 1960s, others filling the backup role, there would be little chance for McNamara to crack the big team, thus his travels through the minor pros.

But on Feb. 15, 1961, with Bower sidelined with a knee injury, the call went to the EPHL Sudbury Wolves and McNamara was summoned to make his NHL debut at the Montreal Forum the following night against the defending Stanley Cup champion Canadiens.

“I always had hopes,” McNamara, then 26, told reporters on the eve of his debut. “I always thought I was good enough, but I didn’t know what (Maple Leafs management) thought. I guess maybe this is my chance to prove it, but it’s a tough spot, isn’t it?”

The Feb. 15 Toronto Daily Star featured a cartoon of McNamara with Bower’s huge goalie skates on his back, illustrating the boots he was expected to fill.

The Toronto Daily Star of Feb. 15, 1961, reports on what would be the next night’s NHL debut of goalie Gerry McNamara.

"I'm nervous, I guess,” he told reporters. “But I think it helps you. You can't play well unless you're keyed up. It's not exactly nervousness – it's more of an edge that keeps you on your toes.

"I don’t know, sometimes when I can't find anything to get excited about, I don't play as well. All I can say is, I've been waiting for this chance and I don't intend to blow it."

McNamara handled himself admirably, making 27 saves in Toronto’s 3-1 loss. He surrendered goals to Marcel Bonin and Jean Beliveau, Donnie Marshall scoring Montreal’s third into an empty net.

“McNamara did a dandy job in goal,” Maple Leafs forward Red Kelly said. “He was in no way to blame for the defeat. You can’t win NHL games when you score one goal.”

Goalie Gerry McNamara stops Chicago Black Hawks’ Stan Mikita during the Feb. 18, 1961, game at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto’s John MacMillan and Larry Regan at left and right. The Maple Leafs won 5-2 in McNamara’s first of two career NHL victories.

McNamara won two games, lost two and tied one in his 1961 stint, then played 23:18 in two relief appearances in January 1970, no decisions to his name. Overall, he had a 2.61 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.

His Toronto career would continue as scout, then chief scout. In 1972, on a scouting trip to Sweden, he was so impressed with Salming that he phoned Maple Leafs general manager Jim Gregory in the middle of the night to make certain the Swedish great was on the team’s negotiation list. Salming and forward Inge Hammarstrom joined the team for 1973-74 as undrafted signings.

McNamara was named Maple Leafs GM in October 1981, replacing Punch Imlach, serving through Feb. 7, 1988, when he was fired by tempestuous team owner Harold Ballard. The Maple Leafs went to the Stanley Cup Playoffs three times on McNamara’s watch.

Ballard fired his GM by telephone, flying north from Florida, trying to get his resignation with the Maple Leafs mired in last place. When McNamara refused to quit, Ballard sacked him “because I didn’t want to embarrass Gerry.”

“I never ever dissed him,” McNamara said of Ballard, speaking to the Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby in a 2015 interview. “He treated me and my family tremendously well. That doesn’t mean he did some things he shouldn’t have, but I still respect him. He gave me the opportunity and I appreciate that. I said, ‘You own the club, you have a right to do whatever you want with it’. And he did.”

The Feb. 8, 1988 Toronto Star reports the firing of Gerry McNamara as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

McNamara would go on to scout for the Calgary Flames, presented a 1989 Stanley Cup ring a year after his retirement from the game for his role in helping to build that championship team. He was thrilled to be inducted into the Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

After a long time away from the game, deep wounds healed and grudges buried, McNamara was happy in recent years to again share his memories; some of his stories would have been great fiction if they weren’t fact. Encouraged by his friend Paul Patskou, a Toronto-based hockey historian and video archivist, his profile increased online and in friendly gatherings.

“We were fortunate to know Gerry McNamara,” Patskou posted Saturday on his Facebook page as part of a tribute. “Gerry was the ‘superstar’ of our weekly Zoom calls and a big part of our Maple Leafs Alumni lunches.

“We learned so much from Gerry, not only about hockey but life in general. He talked to us about loyalty and was so much fun to be with. … He was on radio shows and did signings all in the last few years after, as he called it, ‘hibernating’ for 20 years.

“He was proud of his association with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a player, scout and general manager. He changed the game by bringing in Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom and made good draft picks. It wasn't easy being a GM in the 1980s under Harold Ballard. We will sure miss him.”

Top photo: Gerry McNamara’s 90th birthday is celebrated by his family in 2024, and McNamara with Borje Salming, the superstar Swedish defenseman he brought from Sweden to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.