Baz Bastien Aldege " Baz " Bastien ( August 29 , 1919 – March 15 , 1983 ) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender , head coach and general manager . He played five games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1945 , but received most of his playing accolades while with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League . He later became the Hornets ' head coach and general manager and served in several front office positions with National Hockey League clubs until he was named the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1976 . He served in that capacity until his death in a car crash in 1983 . Playing career . Bastien began his playing career in 1939 , playing for the senior Port Colborne Sailors of the Ontario Hockey Association . He was sponsored by the Maple Leafs and in 1940 began playing for their team in the Senior A League : the Toronto Marlboros . The then - 21 year - old goaltender led the Marlboros to the league championship in his first season with the club . He spent another year with the Marlboros before joining the Cornwall Flyers of the Quebec Senior Hockey League . His playing career was temporarily interrupted by a two year stint of military service with the Canadian Army . He returned to North America and playing hockey in 1945 , beginning the season with the Maple Leafs . Unfortunately for him he was unable to secure a permanent spot on the Leafs ' roster after Turk Broda returned from his own military service . Bastien was sent by the Maple Leafs to the Pittsburgh Hornets , their top professional affiliate . He spent the majority of four seasons with the Hornets . He was named to the league ' s First All - Star team in 1947 , 1948 and 1949 and also won the Hap Holmes Memorial Award for fewest goals against in 1948 and 1949 . Personal tragedy befell Bastien on September 30 , 1949 , at Maple Leafs training camp in Welland , Ontario . On the third or fourth shot he faced that day the puck struck his right eye . The damage to his eye was severe to the extent that it needed to be removed . Bastien ' s playing career was over , and he would wear a glass eye for the rest of his life . Front office . " Baz " remained with the Hornets in an administrative capacity and was named their new head coach during the 1949 - 50 season . The following season he was named general manager , lasting one season before being replaced . He returned to the Hornets as head coach in 1953 , again for a single season . When the Hornets returned to Pittsburgh after a five season absence due to the destruction of Duquesne Gardens and construction of the Pittsburgh Civic Arena Bastien returned with them , again as head coach . He moved to the general manager ' s position again in 1962 , and remained in that capacity until the Hornets folded in 1967 . He returned behind the bench in 1966 , coaching them to a Calder Cup win , their third , in their final season . He joined the Detroit Red Wings as assistant general manager to former Hornet Sid Abel , and followed Abel to Kansas City in the same capacity in 1974 . Bastien returned to Pittsburgh in 1976 , replacing Wren Blair as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins . Death . Bastien was honored at a dinner by the Professional Hockey Writer ' s Association ( PHWA ) on March 15 , 1983 . That night while driving home he collided with a motorcycle . He was pronounced dead in hospital due to having fractured his skull in the collision and having had a heart attack afterward . He was 62 . Penguins coach Eddie Johnston was named his replacement a few weeks later . Two awards were created the following season to honor Bastien . The American Hockey League began awarding the Aldege " Baz " Bastien Memorial Award annually to the best goaltender in the league , and the Pittsburgh chapter of the PHWA awarded the Aldege " Baz " Bastien Memorial Good Guy Award to the Penguin judged to be most cooperative with the media . External links .