Former Montreal Canadiens forward Don Marshall, pictured in 2007, played for the Canadiens in the late 1950s, winning five consecutive Stanley Cups with the team.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
Don Marshall was the last surviving player from a Montreal Canadiens dynasty that won five consecutive Stanley Cups.
Mr. Marshall, who has died at 92, was regarded as one of hockey’s best checking forwards of his era.
A top scorer in junior and minor professional hockey, Mr. Marshall was relegated to the third or fourth line on a star-studded Canadiens roster often described as the greatest ever to step on the ice. He played a supporting role behind the likes of Maurice (Rocket) Richard, Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion and Jean Béliveau.
In such august company, the smooth-skating forward was relegated to penalty-killing duties when not assigned to shadow the top scorers on rival teams.
“The Canadiens just had too many good players,” he said after being traded to the New York Rangers in 1963, “so I never got the chance to play regularly until someone got hurt.”
Though knowledgeable hockey people appreciated his role in making the Canadiens a powerhouse team in the late 1950s, the two-way forward rarely received personal recognition.
Mr. Marshall never won an individual trophy, though in 1958 he finished second in voting behind Camille Henry of the Rangers for the Lady Byng Trophy as most gentlemanly player. He was once named to the league’s annual Second All-Star team. When hockey writers in New York voted on an “unsung player award,” the prize went to teammate Ron Stewart with Mr. Marshall as runner up.
Marshall was signed by the Canadiens organization at age 17 when he skated for the Junior Canadiens and won a Memorial Cup championship in 1950. He played his rookie season with the Canadiens in 1954.Imperial Oil-Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame
Mr. Marshall skated for the Canadiens, the Rangers, the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs over 18 National Hockey League seasons. He scored 265 goals with 324 assists in 1,176 regular-season games. He added another eight goals and 15 assists in 94 playoff games.
A lean and unintimidating left winger, who stood 5-foot-10 (178 centimetres) and weighed 166 pounds (75 kilograms), Mr. Marshall was noticeable on the ice, especially later in his career, for his thinning hair and prominent widow’s peak. A hockey writer once described him as looking “rather like a history professor in an Ivy League college.”
Donald Robert Gerald Marshall was born on March 23, 1932, to the former Dorothy Spottiswood Taylor and Samuel Marshall, a veteran of the First World War who was a noted amateur athlete in his youth. Donnie, the youngest of the family’s three children, grew up in the booming working-class city of Verdun, which is now part of Montreal. As a boy playing shinny, he wrapped telephone books around his lower legs as goalie pads.
Signed by the Canadiens organization at age 17, he skated for the Junior Canadiens, winning a Memorial Cup championship under coach Sam Pollock in 1950. The victorious players sipped pop from the cup. The high-scoring forward was named the junior league’s most valuable player two seasons later to cap a stellar junior career.
In his first season in the minor pros, he helped the Cincinnati Mohawks win the Turner Cup as International Hockey League champions. Mr. Marshall was named the league’s most valuable player.
The following season he was named the American Hockey League’s rookie of the year with the Buffalo Bisons.
At training camp with the Canadiens in 1954, Mr. Marshall was checked into the boards at Verdun Auditorium during a practice session. He kept playing, but his swollen leg led to a diagnosis of a fracture. He only skated in 39 games in his rookie NHL season, scoring just five goals.
He then played a key supporting role as the Canadiens won an unprecedented and unmatched five consecutive Stanley Cups. The other players to have their names engraved on the trophy for all five of those championships include Mr. Béliveau, Mr. Geoffrion, Rocket Richard, Henri Richard, Jacques Plante, Dickie Moore, Doug Harvey, Tom Johnson, Bob Turner, Jean-Guy Talbot, and Claude Provost. The latter three join Mr. Marshall as the four of the dozen not to have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Marshall, top left, stands with other members of the NHL's greatest dynasty, the 1955 - 56 to 1959-60 Montreal Canadiens. Front row: Dickie Moore, Jean Beliveau. Back row: Marshall, Jean-Guy Talbot and Henri Richard.Mark Blinch/Reuters
On Feb. 16, 1961, coach Toe Blake put Mr. Marshall on a line centred by Mr. Béliveau with Mr. Geoffrion on the right wing. The trio made life miserable for Boston bruins goalie Bruce Gamble, as Mr. Marshall scored three goals, including one short-handed, with one assist, while Mr. Geoffrion scored twice with three assists. The underachieving Mr. Béliveau managed a lone goal and two assists in a 9-1 victory notable for Mr. Marshall’s first of only two career hat-tricks.
After three seasons without a championship, the Canadiens brain trust decided to shake up the roster. Mr. Marshall, Phil Goyette and goaltender Mr. Plante were sent to the Rangers in exchange for four players, including goalie Lorne (Gump) Worsley.
Mr. Marshall scored a career-high 26 goals in his third season in New York, where he flourished as both a scorer and a checker.
The skilled left winger was the oldest player, at age 38, and the most experienced to be selected in the 1970 NHL expansion draft. Buffalo drafted him with their third pick, No. 5 overall. He scored 20 goals for the Sabres in their inaugural campaign.
Toronto then selected him in the interleague draft, and he skated in 50 games for the Maple Leafs, scoring two goals, before retiring from hockey at age 40.
Mr. Marshall died from complications of COVID-19 on Oct. 8 in Stuart, Fla. He leaves a son, Don Marshall Jr., and three daughters, Cindy Marshall, Darbie Conibear and Susan Marshall. He also leaves six grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. He was predeceased by a brother, Geoffrey Marshall, who died in 2004, aged 76, and a sister, Brenda Letts, who died in 2015, aged 93.
He was also predeceased by his wife of 66 years, who died in 2021, aged 92. Born in West Virginia, Betty Paige Cameron graduated college in Indiana with a degree in home economics before becoming a flight attendant with Capital Airlines. The couple met when Mr. Marshall was playing for Buffalo. “I was surprised when Don asked me for a date,” she once told the Montreal Star. “He’s not the wolf type, he’s rather shy, I told myself, and he wouldn’t want to take me out unless he’s really interested.” Fifteen months later, they were married. As it turns out, they met on the only flight Mr. Marshall took that season.
For his part, Mr. Marshall found solace in his hockey career knowing his efforts were appreciated by those who knew best.
“I don’t know about being underrated,” he told Phil Pepe of the New York Daily News in 1969. “Underrated by whom? By sportswriters and fans, maybe. As long as your teammates and management appreciate what you are doing, that’s what counts, and I think they do.”
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