Bert Olmstead, Hall of Fame hockey player, dies at 89

Bert Olmstead, the Hall-of-Fame left winger who played on five Stanley Cup championships teams during his 14-year NHL career, has died. He was 89.

The NHL and the Montreal Canadiens said Wednesday that Olmstead died Monday.

Olmstead had 181 goals and 421 assists in 848 regular-season games for Chicago, Montreal and Toronto from 1948 to 1962. He had 16 goals and 43 assists in 115 playoff games, winning titles with the Canadiens in 1953, 1956, 1957 and 1958 and the Maple Leafs in 1962.

“The National Hockey League family mourns the passing of Bert Olmstead — a fierce competitor and a five-time champion who played in the Stanley Cup Final 11 times in his 14-season career with Chicago, Montreal and Toronto,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Bert’s passion for the game earned unwavering respect from his teammates.”

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985, Olmstead played on Montreal’s top line with Maurice Richard and Elmer Lach and later Jean Beliveau and Bernie Geoffrion.

The Saskatchewan native matched the then-NHL record with eight points — four goals and four assists — in Montreal 12-1 victory over Chicago in Jan. 9, 1954, and set a record with assists on Beliveau’s three goals in a 44-second span against Boston on Nov. 5, 1955. He also set a record with 56 assists in 1955-56, and finished that season with a career-high 70 points.

Olmstead coached the expansion Oakland Seals in 1967-68, going 11-37-16 before resigning.