The late great George “Punch” Imlach, one of the best general managers to ever run the Toronto Maple Leafs, went rogue in 1974. He was behind what may have been the greatest practical joke the NHL has ever seen, having a fictitious player be inscribed into the record books.
In order to fully explain the birth of the imaginary man who would now be 65 years old, we need to go back and trace his “father”, Imlach’s, history.(Note: this is an old, well known story. I have filled in facts and numbers with information from Wikipedia).