Irving Grundman (July 23, 1928 – February 26, 2021) was a Canadian ice hockey executive and municipal politician.
He went on to establish Laurentian Lanes – which owned bowling alleys in Montreal, Ottawa, and Kingston – in 1959,[5][6] along with his friend Jack Prehogan.
[5][3] He was subsequently appointed general manager (GM) after Sam Pollock retired in 1978,[5] edging out both Scotty Bowman and Al MacNeil for the job despite having no prior experience in hockey.
[8] However, he also passed on Montreal Juniors star and future NHL superstar, Denis Savard, as well as defencemen Larry Murphy and Paul Coffey with the first selection of the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, picking Doug Wickenheiser instead in what reporter Frank Seravalli described as an infamous selection.
[9] Grundman's biggest move as the Canadiens general manager occurred on September 7, 1982 when he traded Rod Langway, Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Ryan Walter and Rick Green.
While Grundman's acquisitions of Walter and Green proved to be solid for the Canadiens, the trade however wound up saving the Capitals franchise in the long term.
[13] They were charged in relation to receiving a $75,000 cash bribe from an undercover provincial police officer earlier that year, ostensibly in exchange for amending a municipal zoning bylaw.