Elmer James Lach - Born January 22, 1918 in Nokomis, Saskatchewan - Died April 4, 2015 in Kirkland, Quebec was a Canadian ice Hockey centre and coach.

- Stanley Cup Champion 1944, 1946, 1953 with Montreal Canadiens.
Lach scored the 1953 Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime.
Stanley Cup finalist 1947, 1951, 1952.

- Prince of Wales Trophy Champion 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947 with Montreal Canadiens.

- O'Brien Trophy Champion 1947 with Montreal Canadiens.

- Art Ross Trophy Winner 1948 (61 points, 30 goals).
Lach also led the NHL in scoring in 1944-45 (80 points. 26 goals).

- Hart Memorial Trophy Winner 1945.

- Thomas O'Connell Trophy Champion 1956 with Montreal Royals (coach).

Lach made his NHL debut with Montreal Canadiens on November 3, 1940 vs Boston Bruins at Montreal Forum in a 1-1 OT tie.

Lach scored his 1st NHL goal vs Turk Broda of Toronto Maple Leafs at 1:52 of 3rd period on November 16, 1940 at Maple Leaf Gardens in a 4-2 Toronto win.

Lach scored his 1st NHL hat-trick vs Sugar Jim Henry of New York Rangers on December 10, 1947 at Madison Square Garden in a 4-4 tie.

Lach played in 664 regular season NHL games, scoring 215 goals (45 GWG), 408 assists with 478 penalty minutes and 74 NHL playoff games, scoring 19 Goals (2 GWG / 2 OTG), 45 assists with 36 penalty minutes.

Lach was part of the famed NHL "Punch Line" with Rocket Richard & Toe Blake .... Lach set up (assist) the historic goal for the Rocket's 50th goal in 50 games (March 18, 1945 vs Paul Bibeault of Boston Bruins at Boston Garden) .... the 1st NHL player to accomplish this.

Lach played in NHL All-Star Games 1948, 1952, 1953.

Lach was voted to NHL First All-Star Teams in 1945, 1948, 1952.

Lach set a still-standing Montreal Canadiens record of 6 assists in one game on February 6, 1943 vs Boston Bruins.

When Lach retired in 1954, he was the league's all-time leading scorer.

When Lach retired, he accepted an offer to coach the Montreal Junior Canadiens. He also coached the Montreal Royals for two seasons, winning the 1956 Thomas O'Connell Memorial Trophy as QHL playoffs champions.

Elmer Lach was was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966.

Elmer Lach was was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 1967.

On December 4, 2009, coinciding with the Canadiens centennial celebration, his jersey number, 16, was retired a second time to honour Lach (along with Emile Bouchard's No. 3), as No. 16 had been retired previously for Henri Richard.

In 2017 Lach was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

NOTE
After Lach scored the 1953 Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime, Rocket Richard's stick accidentally broke the nose of Lach during the celebration. Lach would actually break his nose 7 times during his career, his jaw 3 times, along with many other injuries.