Marshall dies at 92, last survivor of Canadiens' 5-time Cup champion dynasty

Don Marshall, the last surviving member of the Montreal Canadiens’ historic 1956-60 Stanley Cup-winning dynasty, has died. He was 92.

A remarkable 12 players, along with general manager Frank Selke Sr. and coach Toe Blake, were members of all five of the Canadiens’ unprecedented run of five consecutive championships, a record that seems likely to stand forever.

Defenseman Jean-Guy Talbot, the second-last of the 12 surviving players, died in February.

The historic dozen, with Marshall: Jacques Plante, Henri Richard, Dickie Moore, Doug Harvey, Jean Beliveau, Bernie Geoffrion, Tom Johnson, Bob Turner, Maurice Richard, Talbot and Claude Provost.

Marshall, a native of Montreal-district Verdun, made his National Hockey League debut in 1951-52, playing one game with the Canadiens before he found a permanent role with the team during the 1954-55 season.

An excellent goal-scorer with soft hands around the net, Marshall was cast in a largely checking role with talent-rich Montreal, playing behind fellow centers Beliveau and Henri Richard.

Marshall would play 585 games with the Canadiens between 1951-63, with 254 points (114 goals, 140 assists) and had 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 78 Stanley Cup Playoff games with Montreal. He skated primarily on a line with Phil Goyette and Provost during his tenure there.

Don Marshall (back row, far right) as a member of the 1955-56 Canadiens. It was Montreal’s first of five consecutive Stanley Cup championships, Marshall one of 12 to play on all five of them.

A versatile center, strong role player and one of the best penalty-killers of his day, Marshall played 10 seasons with the Canadiens, having played his minor hockey in Verdun, just a few miles from the Montreal Forum.

He then played seven years with the New York Rangers before finishing his career with one season each for the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs, retiring after the 1971-72 season with 589 points (265 goals, 324 assists) in 1,176 NHL games and 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 94 playoff games.

Marshall went to the Rangers in an eight-player blockbuster trade on June 4, 1963, dealt to New York with goaltending legend Plante and Goyette for future Hall of Fame goalie Gump Worsley and skaters Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort and Len Ronson.

Don Marshall with the New York Rangers, behind Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens net chased by Pete Stemkowski (left) and Marcel Pronovost.

The Canadiens had high hopes for Marshall, based on his fine junior and minor-professional offensive output.

But Marshall, slotted by coach Dick Irvin Sr. between wings Maurice “Rocket” Richard and Bert Olmstead, broke his ankle in 1954 during training camp and played sparingly with senior-league Montreal before he could rejoin the Canadiens.

By then his prime position was lost, and Marshall was deployed by coach Irvin as a checker, penalty-killer and almost as a fill-in, as he was by Blake when the latter became coach in 1955-56.

Blake immediately led the Canadiens to their unprecedented five consecutive Stanley Cup titles, Marshall a key player on all five champions.

An efficient goal-scorer, he played the defensive role his coaches wanted without a murmur of protest, and he was one of the best of his generation.

"I could do it, as simple as that," he told NHL.com in 2017, speaking of being recast as a checker. "In the minor leagues, I killed penalties and scored goals. In the NHL, I killed penalties but didn't get the opportunity to score many.

“I knew I could play hockey, any position, and if I had to do what my coaches wanted to get on the ice, I'd do that. I had no problem with it."

The Canadiens of that era, he said, were simply expected to win, and a season without a Stanley Cup parade was viewed as a failure.

Marshall, who said with a laugh of his trade from Montreal to New York that he "was going from a team that was very good to a team that wasn't so good," recalled Blake as a coach who was "very good" with his players, a ferociously intense man who had his own way of doing things.

“We worked for those championships, don’t you worry,” Talbot said of the unbeatable Canadiens dynasty. “Before every game, we were afraid of losing. We worked so hard and the harder we worked, the more we won. We had a super team, all the players were like brothers, OK? Everybody went everywhere together; we never had a fight.

“The money we made wasn’t much, but it was better than lots of people. Lots of good players never won the Stanley Cup -- Gilbert Perreault, Marcel Dionne, Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, Bill Gadsby … all good players. You have to be in the right place at the right moment.”

Don Marshall in portraits with the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs, his last two of four NHL teams.

Marshall got his start in organized hockey in Verdun at the age of 10, skating effortlessly through bantam, midget and juvenile ranks before joining the Junior Canadiens for the 1950-51 season.

His path to the NHL was paved by winning Canada’s major-junior Memorial Cup championship with the 1949-50 Montreal Junior Canadiens and the 1953-54 American Hockey League rookie of the year award with Buffalo after having been a dominant force with Cincinnati of the International Hockey League in 1952-53.

Like many players of his day, Marshall had other business interests to make NHL ends meet. With Canadiens teammate Goyette, he opened a bowling alley in Montreal-suburban Lachine but it hit the gutters when he and Goyette were occupied with the Canadiens during bowling’s busy winter season.

Don Marshall (right) and Canadiens legend Yvan Cournoyer at a 2017 charity golf tournament outside of Montreal.

Marshall would also do some broadcast work in Montreal, working with the legendary team of Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin Jr. as an analyst.

“I enjoyed it even if it was pretty hard to get a word in with Dick and Danny going at it,” he joked.

Marshall found other work in the trucking industry and with a mechanical power company, eventually retiring to his beloved golf, which he played very well until his final years.

He knew when it was time to hang up his skates, miles still left in his blades but realizing he’d been away from home for too long.

“You like playing but you know when you can’t do the job anymore,” Marshall said a 2003 interview. “In the nine years after the Canadiens traded me, I only had my family with me twice. That was a reason to call it quits.”

He divided his later years between homes in Vermont and Florida.

Top photo: Don Marshall in portraits with the Montreal Canadiens.