On July 26. 1946, Frank Selke was hired as General Manager of the Canadiens, replacing Tommy Gorman.  He would later become the primary architect responsible for building hockey’s greatest dynasty, one that captured five consecutive Stanley Cups between 1956 and 1960.

During his reign, which extended to 1964, the Canadiens would prove six times that they were the best team in the world, making it through to the Stanley Cup Finals in10 consecutive years, between 1951 and 1960.

Selke helped build hockey’s best scouting and development program, one that yielded future Hall of Famers like Jacques Plante, Doug Harvey, Dickie Moore, Bernard Geoffrion and, of course, Jean Beliveau.

In what was perhaps his biggest coup, Selke bought the Quebec Senior Hockey League in order to secure the professional rights to the tall, talented center. He also had the stroke of genius to hire Toe Blake to replace Dick Irvin behind the Habs’ bench, allowing him to direct former teammate Maurice Richard.