Bob Baun is a Toronto Maple Leafs hero who is remembered for one of the most legendary goals in Stanley Cup playoff history. After being carried off on a stretcher at The Olympia in Detroit during game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup finals,Baun returned to the game with his broken ankle frozen . In overtime Baun scored the winning goal on a slapshot from inside the blue line. Baun still laughs about the goal because his shot deflected into the net off the derriere of Red Wings Hall Of Fame defenseman Bill Gadsby. Baun was reminiscing with me about his time in Toronto, as a member of 4 Stanley Cup winners. Our discussion focused on Coach and General Manager Punch Imlach and his impact on the dynastic Leafs of the 1960's. Baun conveyed to me that Imlach's biggest impact with the blue and white was as a motivator. His motivational tool was the threat of sending a player to the minors, if he was unhappy with a player for any reason relating to playing or contracts. A stay in the minor leagues during those days, could negatively impact a players pension, if he didn't play a certain number of N.H.L. games. Baun was a holdout from the Leafs during the 1965/66 season. He didn't get much playing time the next year including the playoffs, when Toronto shocked just about everybody in winning their 4th championship of the decade. As far as the strategy for the Maple Leafs during the Imlach era,Baun says it was designed by Bert Olmstead. The 6'2" left winger was selected in the 1958 Intra-League Draft from Montreal by then head coach Billy Reay, who would be fired early in the next season by Punch Imlach. Imlach appointed Olmstead as playing assistant coach but the former Canadien gave up the coaching role to focus on playing after 3 months. Bob Baun said it was Olmstead who turned Toronto into a hockey powerhouse when he arrived from the Habs, where he was an impact player on 4 Stanley Cup winners, playing on a line with Jean Beliveau and "Boom Boom" Geoffrion and setting a record with 56 assists during the 1955/56 season. Baun said that Imlach deferred to Olmstead in terms of strategy, because he suggested that Imlach knew he didn't have Olmstead's knowledge of the game. Bert Olmstead's tactics emphasized positional play, where a player could not leave his position, unless another player was going to cover for him when he moved from his specific area. According to Bob Baun, Olmstead also emphasized rapid puck movement in terms of passing plays. Baun added that Olmstead was one of the toughest players of his era, who others would not want to fight. He was so tough said Baun, that if you were on his bad side, Olmstead wouldn't hesitate to "stuff your head in the toilet". Bert Olmstead retired after the 1962 season, in which the Maple Leafs defeated the Chicago Black Hawks to capture their first of four championships in that decade. Baun said the Maple Leafs on ice approach to the game remained out of Imlach's hands,even after Bert Olmstead's retirement. The former Leaf blue-liner, said that other veteran Maple Leafs were also tacticians who took over that role and kept it out of Imlach's hands. The players Baun was referring to included Bob Pulford, Billy Harris,Carl Brewer,Red Kelly,Allan Stanley, and Tim Horton. Baun suggested that other than motivating players Imlach basically changed the lines during the game. When I asked Baun about Montreal coaching legend Toe Blake, the former Leaf surprised me by saying that if Blake was coaching the Maple Leafs of his era that "they would have won at least 10 Stanley Cups". Baun also alleged in our chat, that Imlach became distracted by off-ice issues relating to his personal and business affairs starting in 1965. Baun also suggested that those issues became problematic for the organization and the dressing room and felt it played a role in the decline of the Leafs after 1967. Bob Baun was the first President of the Players Association in 1967. With that in mind, Baun commented on the recent upheaval in the N.H.L.P.A.,and said from his perspective, the departure of both Pat Flatley, and Glenn Healy "is a big loss".