Cliff Fletcher

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Clifford "Cliff" Fletcher (born August 16, 1935 in Montreal, Quebec) is a National Hockey League executive and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He is currently the Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Fletcher started his hockey career in 1956 for the Montreal Canadiens organization as a scout under Sam Pollock then later as the General Manager of the Verdun Blues of the Quebec Metropolitan Hockey League, one of the junior teams run by the Canadiens.

Fletcher joined the expansion St. Louis Blues in 1966 as a scout for Eastern Canada and soon became the assistant GM. With Fletcher, the Blues advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in each of their first three years.

In 1972, Fletcher again joined an expansion team with the Atlanta Flames, this time as the General Manager. He stayed with the franchise for 19 years, including helping organize the move to Calgary, Alberta in 1980 to become the Calgary Flames. With the Flames, he led them to two Smythe division titles, two Clarence S. Campbell Bowls, two Presidents' Trophies, and one Stanley Cup. Also with the Flames, he was the first GM to bring a player from the Soviet Union when Sergei Priakin played in 1988. He was the GM of Team Canada for the 1981 Canada Cup.

From the Flames, Fletcher moved on to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he was the Chief Operating Officer, president and General Manager from 1991 to 1997. Fletcher made a blockbuster trade with Doug Risebrough, his successor as the Flames' General Manager. He sent Gary Leeman, Michel Petit, Jeff Reese, Craig Berube, and Alexander Godynyuk to the Flames for Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley and Kent Manderville on January 2, 1992. That year, Fletcher also hired Pat Burns as head coach for the upcoming season.

During the 1992-1993 season, his second year as GM, the Leafs set team records with wins (44) and points (99), while Gilmour emerged as a superstar and scored a franchise-high 127 points. During the postseason awards ceremoney, Gilmour finished as runner-up for the Hart Trophy and won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as best defensive forward, while Burns won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year; the first major NHL individual awards that Leaf players had won since 1967. Fletcher's team reached the conference finals in 1993 and 1994, making it the only team in the NHL to make it that far in the playoffs across both seasons. In 1993, he was chosen as the "Man of the Year" and the "Executive of the Year" by The Hockey News.

In 1999, Fletcher joined the Tampa Bay Lightning as Senior Advisor to the GM for 2 seasons.

Fletcher joined the Coyotes on February 17, 2001 holding the position of Executive Vice President and General Manager. On August 28, 2001, he passed his GM role to Michael Barnett.

Fletcher's children are also involved in the sport. His son Chuck spent almost eight years as the Assistant General Manager of the Florida Panthers. In 2002, Fletcher joined the Anaheim Ducks as Director of Hockey Operations and was named Assistant General Manager, Hockey Operations in 2004. He currently serves as the Assistant General Manager to Ray Shero in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. His daughter Kristy is director of executive suite services for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors.

Fletcher spent 7 years on the Hockey Hall of Fame Board of Directors, having stepped down in 2002-03. He also spent time on the Hall of Fame selection committee. In 2004, he was selected to the HHOF as a builder and was inducted on November 8, 2004. He currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife Linda.