Punch line (ice hockey)

In the 1943–44 season, Montreal head coach Dick Irvin tried a line combination of Lach at centre, Maurice Richard on the right wing, and Toe Blake at left.

[1] Lach was presented the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player, and was named to the first All-Star team, with Blake and Richard joining him.

All three members have been in the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1966, when Blake and Lach joined Richard, an inductee five years prior (1961).

Blake would retire after the 1947–48 NHL season, but would later coach Richard on the famed Canadiens teams of the late 1950s that won five Stanley Cups in a row.

Blake also was the Canadiens' coach for eight of the record eleven Cups won by Maurice Richard's younger brother, Henri.