Wren Blair

Wren Blair
Born	October 2, 1925 Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
Died	January 2, 2013 (aged 87) Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Wren Alvin Blair (October 2, 1925 – January 2, 2013) was a Canadian ice hockey coach born in Lindsay, Ontario. He was the first general manager of the Minnesota North Stars, serving from 1967 to 1974. Blair was the North Stars' first head coach in the 1967-68 season, and returned to that role midway through the 1968-69 season, relinquishing the role again during the 1969-70 season. He was also the General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins from July 1975 to December 1976. Blair was responsible for notifying the Boston Bruins about Bobby Orr and helped train him for the NHL.

Prior to an NHL career, Blair was the coach / manager of the Whitby Dunlops team that won Allan Cups in 1957 and 1959, and a gold medal at the 1958 Ice Hockey World Championships. He also coached the Kingston Frontenacs to the final EPHL championship in the 1962–63 season.

He died on January 2, 2013 aged 87 in Oshawa, Ontario.^[1][2]

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
		G	W	L	T	Pts	Finish	Result
Minnesota North Stars	1967–68	74	27	32	15	69	4th in West	Lost in Semi-Finals
Minnesota North Stars	1968–69	41	12	20	9	(35)	6th in West	(moved to GM role)
Minnesota North Stars	1969–70	32	9	13	10	(29)	3rd in West	(returned to GM role)
Total		147	48	65	34

References

2. "Saginaw hockey pioneer Wren Blair passes away". mlive.com. 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2013-01-03.

External links

• Wren Blair's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database