Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe joined the Red Wings at age 18 in 1946. Howe transcended the sport so that even non-hockey fans knew him. He played hard and he was tough. But as a real artist at the game he aimed to win, not to amass numbers. He played with intelligence and ability, not emotion. The six-foot, 205-pound player personified durability. Not until Wayne Gretzky did any player appproach his records. Howe played pro hockey for 32 years, 25 with the Wings. Gordie Howe (9) mixes it up with a couple of Toronto Maple Leafs in 1960. Howe played 25 seasons with the Wings and is generally recognized as one of the greatest ever to play the game. Early in his career, March 28, 1950, in a game with Toronto he tried to check Ted Kennedy, who stepped aside. Howe crashed into the boards and suffered a severe head injury. On the way into surgery he apologized to coach Jack Adams: "I'm sorry I couldn't help you more tonight." The trauma left him with a facial tic, causing him to blink his eyes and earning him the nickname Blinky. He often remarked to newsmen, "Old Blinky is flying tonight." And he flew through six decades of play. After retirement from the NHL he joined the World Hockey Association's Houston franchise and got to play with his sons Mark and Marty. After Houston folded in 1977, Howe went to the Hartford Whalers of the NFL and played three more seasons before retiring in 1980 at age 52. He played one more time, a cameo in October 1997, for the Detroit Vipers at age 69. Even in his later years Howe could shoot, set up plays, act as a triggerman and kill penalties. The great Canadian Maurice (Rocket) Richard said, "Howe is a better all-around player than I was." According to book "Who's Who of Sports Championships," "No one else, in any sport, ever performed at as high a level for as long a time as Gordie Howe." In 26 NHL seasons Howe played in 1,767 games, scored 801 goals, had 1,049 assists for 1,850 points. He also scored 174 goals in the World Hockey Association, with 344 assists in 419 games. 

Terry Sawchuk

Goalie Terry Sawchuk joined the Wings in 1950 and was named rookie of the year after his first season. His strange "gorilla" crouch allowed him to "keep better track of the puck through the player's legs on screen shots" he said. He also played better heavier, getting more wins at 205 pounds than earlier when he weighed 165. His career lasted 21 years, mostly with Detroit. He suffered many injuries and nervous problems. Detroit News columnist Jerry Green wrote of the great goalie after Sawchuk's No.1 jersey joined Howe's 9, Lindsay's 7 and Delvecchio's 10 in the rafters of Joe Louis Arena in 1994: "Back then Sawchuk faced the shooters without a mask, hanging tight in his crease, playing without relief over an entire season-long schedule unless cut to smithereens. Goalies were isolationists. Loners. Each team carried just one. The goalie would start every game, all 70."  Sawchuk played the most games in the NHL (971), won the most (435) and had the most shutouts (103).  Bud Lynch recalled "Marcel Pronovost was his roommate on the road. Pronovost would say 'Hello' in the morning in English and French. If Sawchuk said hello, Pronovost knew he would talk that day. If he didn't say hello, Pronovost knew Terry wouldn't say anything." Joe Falls recalled that once during an interview a photographer came in to the room. Sawchuk stood up and screamed: "Get out of here you no good SOB." He threw his skates at him, just missing his face, as the photographer escaped. Then he calmly said, "Now, what were we talking about?" Sawchuk died in 1970 after a bizarre fight with teammate Ron Stewart. 

Sid Abel 

Sidney Abel starred as the play-making center of the "Production Line" along with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. Abel started his NHL career in 1938, and became part of the famous line when Red Wings Coach Jack Adams put the trio together in 1947. "They could score goals in their sleep," Adams said. In the next season, Abel's best, he won the Hart Trophy as league MVP and also was named first-team All-Star. He skated with the Wings until 1951. In his 610 regular games he scored 189 goals, had 283 assists, with 28 goals and 30 assists in playoff games. The next year he became coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. In 1957 he rejoined the Wings as coach and later became general manager, remaining in that position until 1971. 

Ted Lindsay

Ted Lindsay, the third member of Detroit's Production Line, carried a big stick and wasn't afraid to use it. "Terrible Tempered Ted," a.k.a. "Scarface" (400 stitches, no records kept on teeth), despite being a fierce brawler, also was a skilled offensive player. He joined the Wings in 1944 at age 19 and helped win eight league titles and four Stanley Cups. He played in nine All-Star games. After 13 years with the Wings he played three years with the Chicago Blackhawks and retired in 1960. At age 39, sick of retirement, he came back to the Wings and helped them to win their first league championship in eight years. He didn't come back for the money, he said, he just wanted to end his career in Detroit. Ted Lindsay does a dance in front of the Toronto goal in 1964. His one-year return may be one of the most remarkable in sports. His numbers are in the record books. Ted Lindsay's life story, "Net Worth" aired on TV in 1995. In it his terribleness terrified not only opposition players but owners. While with the Wings, Lindsay tried to get more money for the players. "There were a lot of inequities, not for the star players but for the others," he said. "I was accused of trying to ruin hockey but hockey was, and still is, my life." As punishment for his rabble-rousing, GM Jack Adams banished Lindsay to Chicago. 
 

Delvecchio Info coming soon...