Dave Gatherum

On October 11, 1953 Dave Gatherum made his debut in the National Hockey League. Thanks to an injury to Detroit's regular goaltender Terry Sawchuk, the Red Wings summoned Gatherum from the Quebec Senior League for 3 games. He went 2-0-1

In his very first game Gatherum became the 7th NHL goaltender to record a shutout in his first career game as the Red Wings won 3-0 over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

He stretched his shutout to streak to 100 minutes and 21 seconds, setting a NHL record for longest shutout sequence by a goaltender from start of career. In fact, his three games he allowed only three goals.

Not bad, eh? 2-0-1 with the a GAA of 1.00 with 1 shutout. You would think that would earn him another trial. But Sawchuk returned and Gatherum was released and never surfaced in the NHL again.

Gatherum returned to Quebec to play senior hockey. He later moved to Edmonton then to British Columbia where he starred with the Kelowna Packers for several seasons.

In 2009 a pretty cool story emerged. The Detroit Red Wings acknowledge Gatherum's contributions 55 years earlier by giving him a Stanley Cup ring. The Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1954. Though Gatherum had played just 3 games and was not around in the playoffs, they gave him a Stanley Cup ring 5 decades later.

The box arrived at his Thunder Bay home completely unannounced with a note from Mike and Marian Illitch:

"We are very pleased to be able to acknowledge your past Stanley Cup Championship by presenting you with a 2008 championship ring. We sincerely thank you for the pride you brought to the team, the city of Detroit, and the State of Michigan, and we congratulate you on your accomplishment.


Mike and Marian."

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Emil Hanson

In 1932-33 the Detroit Red Wings signed a fellow named Emil Hanson to a contract. They would use him for only 7 contests (0 points). But in doing so they signed the first and, as of 2011, only player born in South Dakota.

Aside from those handful of games Hanson made a good living playing hockey in the AHA with teams in Minneapolis and St. Paul. He was known for his versatility, playing both on defense and on the wings.

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Frank "Frosty" Carson

This good looking fellow here is Frank "Frosty" Carson, brother of fellow NHLers Bill and Gerry. He's pictured here in a New York Americans jersey from the 1930-31 season, his only season with the Amerks. He was better know for playing with the Montreal Maroons from 1925 through 1928 (winning the Stanley Cup in 1926) and the Detroit Falcons/Red Wings from 1931 through 1934.

Born in Bracebridge, Ontario, Carson was from quite the hockey family. Like his brothers Bill and Gerry, "Frosty" was a heck of an amateur player. This sturdy winger was a "lion-hearted" hockey sensation in Stratford, playing junior with the Midgets and senior with the Indians.

Carson retired from hockey in 1934 and worked for Industrial Acceptance Corporation in the Chatham/Windsor region. In 1950 he settled in Crumlin, Ontario (near London) where he operated a grocery/hardware store. He died of a heart attack in 1957, just 55 years old.

In 2004 the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame in Parry Sound inducted this local legend, saying he was "a determined competitor and a consummate team player. He was a smooth and graceful skater and possessed great puck handling skills. He never took or invited too many penalties. He was somewhat of a philosopher and looked upon hockey as a lot of fun and a good trade. He was always held in very high regard for his integrity and perseverance from all those who had contact with him."

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Howie Young

NHL president Clarence Campbell called Howie Young “"the worst detriment to the NHL to ever lace up a pair of skates." Frank Sinatra simply called him “Howie baby.”

Raised by his grandparents in what is now southeast Toronto, Howie was blessed with natural athleticism. He wanted to be a cowboy like his idol, John Wayne, until he saw his first game at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Despite the fact he was an alcoholic by age fifteen, his play and ferocious style attracted NHL scouts and at 18 he was invited to Canadiens' training camp. Unfortunately, his hard partying ways left him hung over and sick and the Habs sent him home.

He played first in the OHL, then for the QMJHL Chicoutimit Sagueneens, where he racked up 180 PIM in 50 games. After that, he played one season for the WHL New Westminster Royals. He saw little action with them, playing only four games. Finally after two seasons in the AHL and 330 PIM, Young broke into the Detroit Red Wings lineup for the 1960-61 season.

His crushing bodychecks and fast, smart play helped Detroit to the 1961 Staley Cup Finals, and in 1962-63, compiled a then-record 273 penalties in 64 games. The same year, he made the cover of Sports Illustrated, despite being extremely hungover at the photo shoot.

By this time, Young had been arrested several times for public drunkeness. Despite his winning smile and gregarious personality, his life was going downhill quickly. The Red Wings had run out of patience, and sent him to the Blackhawks, who had even less patience. After only 39 games, they traded him to the WHL Los Angeles Blades while retaining his NHL rights.

While playing for the Blades, Frank Sinatra called. Impressed by Young's good looks, Sinatra wanted the troubled hockey player to play a combat Marine in his movie None But the Brave. Young departed the team for the shoot in Hawaii, remaining drunk or hungover the entire time.

"Wild Thing" returned to the Blades, but his life was finally reaching its nadir in May 1965. His second marriage falling apart, he woke up in an L.A. jail cell after being arrested yet again. This time, he had been trying to break into his own apartment. Sitting in the jail cell, he vowed to get sober. Two days later, he joined AA.

“On the bench I would say, 'Please God, just get me through this game,' “ said Young, looking back. “Then it was, 'Hey, God, just get me through this period.' Finally, it was, 'God, just get me through this shift.' “

Sober and working to regain his fitness, he once again attracted the attention of the Red Wings, who brought him back for the 1966-67 season and posted a +16 in 1967-68. A reporter asked Gordie Howe what he thought of Young's transformation, to which Howe replied “He's still going around in circles – but different circles.”

Despite his remarkable turnaround, the Wings let Young go once again. He bounced around the WHL and AHL, spending the 1968-69 season with the Blackhawks and the 1970-71 season with the Canucks.

After several more years in the minor leagues, Young made one final major league appearance in the WHA with the Phoenix Roadrunners and Winnipeg Jets for the 1974-77 seasons. Three years later, he quit hockey and worked in the Southwest United states, doing everything from washing dishes to truck driving.

After a brief comeback, first with the IHL Flint Spirits and then ACHL New York Slapshots, he finally settled in New Mexico with his partner, China. In the predominately Navajo town of Thoreau, he owned a ranch and drove school buses, fulfilling his dream of being a cowboy. He also became active in the community, trying to raise money for a town rink, and his goal was to nurture the NHL's first Navajo player. “These kids are such natural athletes. All I've got to do is bring the ice, and they'll do the rest.”

Young died of pancreatic cancer on November 26, 1999 at age 62.

Howie Young is another example of a good hockey player ruined by personal demons. However unlike the John Kordics and Steve Durbanos of the world, Young could have really been somebody.

Jack Adams, the former Detroit Red Wing general manager, once described Young as having a "chance to become a second Eddie Shore."

"He could have been in the Hall of Fame," said Mike Nardella, a long time Blackhawks trainer "Howie could skate backward better than most could skate forward."

Jack Adams, the former Detroit Red Wing general manager, once described Young as having a "chance to become a second Eddie Shore."

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"Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe was once quoted as saying "Hockey is a man's game." In the game of hockey, Gordie is the man.

Hall of Famer Bill Gadsby claimed "He was not only the greatest hockey player I've ever seen, but also the greatest athlete."

The right winger was a giant in his time at 6'1" and 205 lbs. He had the build of a heavyweight boxing champion. And he knew how to fight.

Part of the legend of Gordie Howe is his unmatchable toughness. He had "windshield wiper elbows" and like to give "close shaves" to anyone who dared to challenge. Ask any hockey experts who they'd choose as the toughest NHLer ever, and most would put their money on Gordie Howe against anyone else.

Those who knew Gordie away from the rink would never believe his on ice instincts.

"Despite an even temperament and a real distaste for combat, there is a part of Howe that is calculatingly and primitively savage," Mark Kram wrote in Sports Illustrated in 1964. "He is a punishing artist with a hockey stick, slashing, spearing, tripping and high-sticking his way to a comparative degree of solitude on the ice."

Gordie had a nasty habit of never forgetting and always getting even. One hockey legend serves as a fine example of this would have been an exchange with Maple Leaf defenseman Bob Baun. In 1957, Baun knocked Howe down with vicious intent. Howe had to be helped to the bench. 10 seasons later in 1967, Baun was playing for Oakland and was defending Howe on a one-on-one rush. Howe took a shot and the follow through of the stick caught Baun in the throat. Baun was down on the ice bleeding. Howe mercilessly stood over him and said "Now we're even."

While few in the game were tougher than "Mr. Hockey," even fewer were more talented. In his prime in the 1950s and 1960s he was routinely described by coaches as the smartest player, the finest passer, the best playmaker and the most unstoppable puck carrier in the game. Aldo Guidolin, an opponent of Howe back in the early days, understatedly remarked "Gordie plays a funny kind of game; he doesn't let anyone else touch the puck!"

Gordie Howe not only outperformed everybody, but outlasted everybody. Gordie played from 1946 until 1980. In his last season he was a 51 year old grandfather playing with and against players the were old enough to be his son! Howe played 33 seasons in the pros. One with Omaha of the USHL, 26 in the NHL (25 with Detroit) and 6 with the WHA.

While Wayne Gretzky has since dwarfed all of his statistical achievements, Howe dominated the game over many different eras.

His credentials speak for him. He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, and 1963. He led the NHL in scoring in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957 and 1963. He finished in the top 5 of NHL scoring in 20 consecutive seasons. He was a 21 time All Star.

During the 1950s the standard argument was "Who's better? Howe or Maurice ("The Rocket") Richard. Upon The Rocket's retirement, Richard admitted Howe was the best. "Gordie could do everything" he said.

When it comes to who is the greatest player of all time, one of Howe's chief rivals is the Boston Bruins stand out Bobby Orr. Howe was already a NHL star when Bobby Orr was born in 1948, and was still in the big leagues when Orr retired in 1979. No skater can compare to Howe when it comes to the test of surviving time.

It's too bad the New York Rangers did not have a crystal ball. They were the first NHL team to discover him, and at age 15 invited him to their junior training camp in Winnipeg. A homesick Howe performed poorly and wanted to go back to the family farm in Saskatchewan. The unimpressed Rangers never thought twice about it, and let the quiet kid go without signing him to their organization.

The next year, a Red Wings scout discovered him and invited him to the team's training camp in Windsor, Ontario. A more mature Howe impressed, as the Red Wings acquired his playing rights. Two years later, at 18, Howe was playing in the NHL.

Howe did not set the league on fire right away. Howe spent more time establishing his physical reputation in that time, scoring a total of only 35 goals but dropping the gloves with any and all comers. The Red Wings were able to convince him that he would be better served to stay out of the penalty box, the ambidextrous shooter scored 35 goals in 1949-50, second in the NHL to Rocket Richard's 43.

A playoff game in March 1950 defines the essence of Gordie Howe. It happened in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Red Wings bitter rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs. The result almost ended his life, never mind his hockey career. Teeder Kennedy was carrying the puck when Gordie attempted to intercept him. A fraction of a second before impact, Kennedy pulled up, catapulting Gordie head first into the boards. He laid crumpled on the ice with a fractured skull. He was considered extremely lucky to survive such a blow and was told he'd never play hockey again. The next year he was the league's scoring leader by 20 points. It was the first of four consecutive Art Ross trophies as scoring champion.

His 1951-52 MVP season was even sweeter. After leading the NHL in scoring (86 points) and goals (47), he led Detroit to an 8-0 record in the playoffs in its sweep to the Stanley Cup.

In 1952-53, Howe became the first player to score at least 90 points, notching 95, with a career-high 49 goals. The Red Wings, who were upset by Boston in the first round of the playoffs that season, rebounded by winning the Cup in 1954 and 1955, giving them four championships in six years. The Wings enjoyed one of hockey's greatest dynasties, but it proved to be Howe's last Stanley Cup.

Howe would continue to dominate in this six-team, 70-game era. He became the NHL's career scoring leader in 1960 when he passed Richard's 946 points on Jan. 16, 1960. In 1962-63, Howe won his sixth MVP and scoring championship (86 points). On Nov. 10, 1963, he became the league's all-time leading goal scorer with 545, passing Richard again.

In 1968-69, in the second year of expansion, Howe achieved his first 100-point season. On the day before his 41st birthday, he scored four points in the season finale to give him 103.

Gordie retired from the Detroit Red Wings in 1971 to take a front office job. But after two years of inactivity, Gordie made one of the most astonishing come backs in pro sport history. At the age 45, he signed with the Houston Aeros of the WHA where he was teammates with his two sons Mark and Marty. The Howes lead their team to the WHA title twice under his leadership.

In 1977 he and his boys joined the WHA's New England Whalers. When the Whalers joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, Gordie made his triumphant return to the NHL at the unthinkable age 51! He drew capacity crowds as the fans wanted to see the 50 year old grandfather play against the young stars like Bryan Trottier, Marcel Dionne and Wayne Gretzky. In the Whalers first year they made playoffs. Then-Whalers president Howard Baldwin credited Howe, who scored 15 goals, with that feat. Howe wasn't exactly in his prime at that age, but he didn't look out of place on many nights either.

Over a period of 32 years (combining NHL and WHA totals) Gordie Howe scored 1071 goals 1518 assists and 2589 points. Only Wayne Gretzky's career totals are better. Howe was a gifted power forward, an accomplished defensive player, a feared giant and the only player to have dominated three different eras - postwar NHL, the Golden Era of the 1960s and the Expansion Era.

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Steve Yzerman

Heroic. Unselfish. Intelligent. Leader. Complete. These are just a few of the adjectives used to describe Hockeytown's Steve Yzerman.

Once he was scoring machine that used to single-handedly destroy the opposition with mind-boggling individual efforts night after night. Later he became forever remembered as the grizzled veteran captain that puts the team ahead of himself and accepts responsibility for all situations on the ice.

Steve Yzerman is a winner.

Stevie Y came out of junior hockey straight into the Detroit Red Wings camp in 1983. The Nepean, Ontario native was an outstanding center with legendary junior coach Dick Todd and his Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, from 1981 to 1983. He had 91 points in 56 games in his second year with the Petes, but his numbers were far from what a future NHL phenom would have had because Peterborough skated four lines, each having equal playing time.

Jim Devellano, the Wings GM at the time, had originally set his sights on Michigan native Pat LaFontaine for the 1983 draft, but his plans were foiled when LaFontaine was taken 3rd by the Islanders. With some disappointment, the Red Wings were left with the small Yzerman with the 4th overall pick. (Brian Lawton and Sylvain Turgeon went 1 & 2, respectively.)

Any notion of disappointment or concern about his size quickly disappeared. Yzerman arrived at training camp in 1983, "he immediately was our best player," said Devellano, who opened camp already deciding Yzerman would return to Peterborough. Instead Yzerman jumpstarted the Motor City, immediately giving the Wings hopes that finally they had found the player that would lead them back to respectability. In his rookie season, Yzerman scored 39 goals and 87 points and announced to the hockey world the Y-man had cometh.

Steve's great play would continue, but it was in the spring of 1987 when Yzerman first began is catapult to superstardom. That year he led the Wings deep into the playoffs, scoring 18 points in 16 games. He followed that up the next season by registering his first 50 goal and 100 point campaigns, and he did that in only 64 games.

The following season saw his point totals explode to the level that only Gretzky and Lemieux dared to enter. In 80 games Stevie Y scored 65 times while assisting on 90 others for 155 points! All three of those stats are Red Wing team records. For his efforts, Yzerman was voted by the players as the best player in the league that season, winning the Lester B. Pearson Trophy.

Proving that the previous season was no strange fluke, Yzerman duplicated his scoring feats by registering 62 twine-twisters with 65 assists for 127 points.

Despite the incredible offensive output by the Cranbrook, BC-born superstar, Yzerman never once made either the First or Second All Star Team. Nor did he win an Art Ross as the scoring leader. That's what happens when Gretzky and Lemieux were also around in their primes. No one, not even Stevie Y, could obtain their status or touch their trophies. Once you include the great Mark Messier as well, players as great as Steve Yzerman were unthinkably left off of Team Canada's national teams at Canada Cups.

Back in Detroit, despite being the one-man highlight film, the Red Wings had little playoff success to speak of.

This one man show of offensive fireworks would continue until the 1993-94 season when something happened in Yzerman's career. He sacrificed his own scoring exploits to become one of the best two way players in the history of the game.

While this transformation coincided with the arrival of Scotty Bowman, who gets much of the credit for the reworked masterpiece, it was Yzerman who deserves full credit. Dating back to his junior days he was always a solid two way player. Now he opted to focus his gifts equally all over the ice as opposed to just on offense. Stevie Wonder would turn from a rather one-dimensional offensive machine into one of the greatest two way players in the history of the sport.

Yzerman became perhaps the most complete player of the 1990s, continuing his offensive production, though at a lower rate, while dominating his defensive zone with vigor. In the process, Yzerman became a leader. He knew that becoming a more complete player was what was necessary for him to succeed and the Wings to win. His example spurred great things in Hockeytown.

Soon after this transformation, the Wings have began a mini-dynasty. Three Stanley Cups in five years, including back-to-back championships.

In 1995, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup finals series, the first for the team since the 1960s, but they were swept by the New Jersey Devils. In 1996, Detroit finished with an NHL record 62 regular season wins but they lost in the Conference finals to the eventual champions Colorado Avalanche.

In 1997, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup in 42 years by sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in 4 straight games. The following year Detroit repeated the feat, taking four in a row from the Washington Capitals. Yzerman's leadership and 24 points earned him the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. In an act of class, Yzerman handed the Cup first to the paralyzed Vladimir Konstantinov, a Red Wing defenseman who had been injured severely in a car accident just six days after the Cup victory in 1997.

Playoff frustrations would haunt the Red Wings in the following years, but they would regain the silver chalice in 2002. That year Yzerman turned in one of the most amazing seasons by any player in NHL history. Due to a hobbling knee injury, Yzerman, almost literally playing on one leg, led Canada to its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years before leading the Wings to their 3rd Stanley Cup championship in five years.

Steve Yzerman is no longer the high scoring one-man show of the Detroit Red Wings. Instead he is one of the game's most complete players ever. He is one the greatest leaders the ice has ever known. And most importantly, he is the captain of the 3 Stanley Cup Championships.

One of the NHL's true all time greats, Steve Yzerman is what hockey is all about.

The 41-year-old Yzerman is a Detroit sports icon, the longest-serving captain in NHL history (19 seasons). He and Gordie Howe are widely regarded as the greatest players in franchise history. Yzerman ranks seventh on the NHL's career list in goals (692) and assists (1,063) and sixth in points (1,755).

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Ted Lindsay

No man on skates was ever too big or too tough for Ted Lindsay to challenge. At 5'8" and 160lbs he used his big stick and his fists to cut down some of the biggest meanest men in National Hockey League history.

He was known as Scarface or Terrible Ted. The scars on his rugged face represented his courage in his many on ice battles. How many scars he can't tell you, because he lost count after 400 stitches. The nickname "Terrible" only referred to his reputation, because his play was magnificent.

The son of NHL goaltender Bert Lindsay, Ted Lindsay broke into the league in 1944 making the big jump to the NHL at age 19. Lindsay was a celebrated junior player with the St. Michael's Majors in Toronto, but somehow escaped the talent scouts of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Renfrew-born, Kirkland Lake raised Lindsay was property of the Detroit Red Wings, much to the chagrin of Leafs boss Conn Smythe.

Lindsay stepped in as a rookie and played on a line with the great Syd Howe and playoff hero Mud Bruneteau. Lindsay, though a small player, made his on-ice presence felt. He was full of moxie and never showed any hesitation in waging wars with the biggest and baddest men in the league. He was rough, often mean and occasionally dirty.

It was with a different line and with a different Howe that Lindsay would be famous for. For much of his career he played left wing on Detroit's famous "Production Line" with Gordie Howe and Sid Abel. With Lindsay in the lineup the Red Wings won eight regular season titles and four Stanley Cup Championships in the 40s and 50s.

Lindsay's place among hockey's great LWs is not in doubt. He was a 9 time all star, include 8 selections to the First Team. The 1950 Art Ross trophy winner scored 379 career goals, 472 career assists and 851 career points. He also had over 1800 PIMs in a 1000+ game career, all amazing numbers for the Original Six era.

Although he ranks as one of if not THE greatest left wingers in hockey history, perhaps his off ice achievements are his greatest legacy. He, and Doug Harvey, organized a handful of players who were courageous enough to stand up and challenge team ownership and organize the first professional hockey player's union, now known as the NHLPA.

On February 12th, 1957 the NHLPA's formation was announced, and almost immediately NHL owners looked to squash the movement. Each team began the successful disintegration of the player's movement, and they went to whatever lengths were deemed necessary. Jack Adams, the Red Wings legendary boss, was particularly irate and intimidate everyone of his players, and in most he was very successful. He unleashed a system campaign of lies and personal attacks on Lindsay, scaring most of the Red Wings players into backing away from certification votes.

The most notable name to back down was Gordie Howe, the best player in the league. Without Howe's commitment, the NHLPA was doomed to fail, and Lindsay knew it. This whole episode caused a major rift between the two that has never been fully healed.

For his union organizing activities, Detroit had little choice but to trade Lindsay to Chicago in 1957.

"A series of rumors about my attitude, as well as derogatory remarks about myself and my family showed me that the personal resentment of the Detroit general manager toward me would make it impossible for me to continue playing hockey in Detroit," said Lindsay.

Lindsay would play three years in Chicago, but his heart was always tattooed with Detroit's Winged Wheel. He retired a beaten man, an empty man.

Amazingly, after 4 years of retirement, he rejoined the Red Wings to finish off his career. "I just had the desire to wind up my career with the Red Wings," said Lindsay. "I liked playing in Chicago, and I gave them everything I had, but I knew in my heart I was a Red Wing."

"Through the years, I have so many wonderful memories of playing with the Red Wings: winning four Stanley Cups, scoring big goals, going into battle every night side by side with my teammates, playing with every ounce of effort I could muster."

The comeback only lasted one season but it was a season in which the Red Wings would lead the league for the first time in 8 years. Lindsay then re-retired and was inducted into the Hall of Fame a year later.

"Looking back, I've never had one regret," he said.

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Corrado Micalef

Something about Corrado Micalef always intrigued me. Maybe it was his unique name (he was born in Montreal but most of his family moved there from Italy or Malta). Or maybe his funny looking mask, as seen here in my favorite hockey card of his. Or maybe it was because he could be a flashy and spectacular goaltender. When on the top of his game he was entertaining to watch.

The problem was he often played spectacularly bad. His balance was questionable, and he was weak on his angles play. He relied heavily on his reflexes, but his goaltending fundamentals were his weakness at the NHL level. Experts at the time also often criticized Micalef's mental game, specifically his fragile focus and his lack of consistency.

Ultimately Corrado Micalef disappeared quite quickly from the NHL scene. In 113 games (all with the Detroit Red Wings), he had a weak record of 26-59-15 with a 4.24 GAA. Hey, it was the 1980s and the Red Wings at that time were a very weak team. Terry Sawchuk would not have thrived with the Wings at that time.

Micalef left North American pro hockey in 1986. But he continued playing in Europe for many seasons, playing in Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany, retiring in 2002. He also play professional roller hockey in the summer time, playing with the Montreal Roadrunners (1994, 1995), Orlando Jackals (1996) and San Jose Rhinos (1997).

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Kris Draper

When the Detroit Red Wings acquired a young rookie named Kris Draper from the Winnipeg Jets, they did so with the most lopsided trade in NHL history.

The Jets had a handshake agreement with Draper. If he was unable to make the Jets in 1993 (after 3 years in the minor leagues he had only played 20 games in Winnipeg) they would move him to another team. The Jets kept their word, selling Draper to Detroit for a measly $1.

Seventeen seasons later, Draper finally retired, still a member of the Red Wings. All told Draper finished his career with 161 goals and 203 assists in 1,157 regular-season games. He found a home on Detroit's third and fourth lines (often playing along side "Grind Line" mates Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur/Darren McCarty), crashing, banging and shutting down the other team's top lines. He was also a huge part of Detroit's elite penalty killing.

Talk about a buck well spent. Draper was an integral part of the Red Wings powerhouse teams that won four Stanley Cups. In an amazing 222 playoff games, Draper scored 24 goals and 46 points. He also played in the Olympics, the World Cup and four World Championships.

Speed and leadership were his two fortes. He may not have been named Yzerman, Fedorov or Lidstrom, but he was a pretty special piece of the Detroit Red Wings' undying success. He was a superstar role player.

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Paul Ysebaert

Paul Ysebaert is the perfect example of how a great supporting player can't always be a go to guy.

Ysebaert was a college star at Bowling Green, where he majored in marketing and promotion while setting records at the rink. Originally drafted by New Jersey, Paul couldn't crack the NHL until three years after college. He lit up the AHL, and was the league's highest scorer and MVP in 1990 before the Devils traded him to Detroit.

He was a decent two way winger with good offensive pop on a deep Detroit squad. A natural center, he was forced to play on the wing with the likes of Steve Yzerman, Sergei Federov and Jimmy Carson at center, Paul was moved to the wing in 1991-92 and responded incredibly. He scored a career high 35 goals, 40 assists and 75 points while also posting a league high +44, earning him the Alka Seltzer Plus Award. He backed that up with another strong year in 1992-93, with 34 goals and 62 points. Despite putting up great numbers, Ysebaert was never considered a go to guy. He never faced the strict defensive coverage that was reserved for teammates like Yzerman, Federov, Dino Ciccarelli or Ray Sheppard.

Ysebaert however found himself traded to Winnipeg in the summer of 1993 and suffered through a horrendous season. Paul couldn't find his groove in Winnipeg where he was expected to be a big part of the Jets offense. However in 60 games he scored 9 goals and 18 assists. By the trading deadline in March of 1994, he found himself traded to Chicago.

Paul, who owned and enjoyed racing thoroughbred horses, stepped up his production a bit in Chicago, but only played there in 26 regular season games with the Hawks before he was sent to the lowly Tampa Lightning.

In Tampa he struggled with a serious and reoccurring groin injury that hampered him for much of the next three seasons.

He managed to stay healthy for the entire 82 game season in 1997-98, and responded well. Ysebaert led his team in scoring with 40 points. But remember back in '91-92 when he posted a league best +44? Well somehow in '97-98 Ysebaert ended up with the worst plus-minus (-43) in the NHL.

Ysebaert played just 10 games in 1998-99 and finished the year in the minor leagues. Following the year he became an unrestricted free agent and headed to Europe.

Paul was a decent player, especially when in a complimentary role. He had explosive speed which made him a good penalty killer and forechecker. He had a quick hard shot which he used well in Detroit, but rushed too often in Tampa Bay. He wasn't much of a physical force, but was a competitive player who would take a hit to make a play any day.

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Fred Williams

When Fred came out of the juniors he was highly regarded by pro scouts. He played five seasons for the Saskatoon Blades (WHL) and scored 265 points  (82+183) in 319 games. These weren't any remarkable stats for a player picked in the 1st round, 4th overall in 1976, like Fred was.

But Detroit who were desperately looking for a strong centerman in 1976 liked the total package in Fred. Hall of Famer Alex Delvecchio who at that time was Detroit's GM was a big fan of Fred.

"We wanted an all-around player, not just a goal scorer or 'Fancy Dan'. We would have drafted Bernie Federko, but we felt from watching Freddie that he was the kind of a guy we wanted - a better all-around player." Delvecchio said shortly after Fred had been drafted.

Bernie Federko of course went on to score 1130 points in the NHL, which was 1123 points more than Fred ever did. At that time back in 1976 it was generally regarded that Federko played with some good wingers in the juniors, while Fred had no help at all. At the same time Fred was considered to be a much better two-way player.

Toronto's head scout, ex-NHL'er Bob Davidson also liked Fred.

"He shows a lot of poise for a rookie, and he doesn't throw the puck away" Davidson said after the 1976 pre-season. Fred's scouting report read:

"A very good skater who makes good plays. Excellent forechecker. Good shot. Good penalty killer. Plays point on the powerplay. Quiet personality. Great anticipation and hockey sense. "

Fred had a very impressing training camp as a rookie and it looked like Detroit had made a great pick. In his very first NHL game against Washington on October 7,1976 Fred was teamed with Buster Harvey and Bill Lochead. Fred scored the go-ahead goal (3-2) in the second period in the  game that ended in a 3-3 tie.

Little did people know that he would only score one more goal in his NHL career.

There was a lot of pressure on Fred and when he failed to score more points in the next few games then his confidence hit a real low. Fred only played 44 games for Detroit that 76-77 season, scoring two goals and adding five assists. He never played any more NHL games.

He was sent down to Rhode Island (AHL) in the middle of the season to get his confidence back, but he struggled there as well. (26 points in 34 games).

Although Fred made a couple of more training camps for both Detroit and Philadelphia, (where he was traded in 1979) he just couldn't crack the lineup of an NHL team. Fred played for the Kansas City Red Wings (CHL), Philadelphia Firebirds (AHL) and Maine Mariners (AHL). In 267 AHL games he scored 180 points, having a 55 and 51 point season in Maine as his best seasons. He retired only 26-years old in 1982.

It was really a shame for Fred that things didn't work out for him in the big league. He was a very modest person who was really down to earth and who didn't get a "big head" when he signed his lucrative contract with Detroit. His father worked with crane rentals and his mother was a jewellery store clerk in Saskatoon and they raised him well. Unfortunately the expectations together with his lucrative contract put more pressure on Fred then he could handle.

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Carson Cooper

Carson Cooper was one of the greatest amateur right wings to ever play hockey. Three times the man with the "Shovel-Shot" led the OHA Senior league in goals, including an incredible 33 goals in 10 games in 1924, and scored another 5 in 2 playoff games that year. He played for the OHA Senior league's Hamilton Tigers, a team that featured the great Green brothers. In 55 career games in Hamilton (over 6 seasons) Cooper netted 108 tallies

Perhaps Cooper might have joined the NHL's Hamilton Tigers like the Green brothers, but in 1924-25 a new team had entered the NHL. The Boston Bruins needed players so Cooper accepted a generous contract and started his NHL career in Beantown.

A bad charley horse made sure his first season was not impressive, but his second season certainly was, scoring 28 goals (2nd most in the whole league) in 36 games, establishing him as one of the NHL's best right wings. He played alongside "Sailor" Herberts. The two were dynamically noted for the speed and perplexing passing plays, catching many defenses off guard.

The following season Cooper got off to a slow start (4 goals in 10 games) and was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Billy Boucher. In 12 games with the Habs Cooper fired home 9 goals.

He was sold to the Detroit Cougars just before the 1927-28 season and became a solid though not spectacular scoring threat. In 5 years with Detroit he never missed a game and regularly challenged the 20 goal mark.

Always overshadowed by stars like Howie Morenz, Nels Stewart, Aurel Joliat or Bill Cook, Cooper didn't always get the credit he deserved. When the NHL let up on passing restrictions, Cooper decided to instead of star, set up goals for others. He had 18 goals and 18 assists and because of his unselfish work, George Hay had 18 goals, a figure he might never have achieved without Cooper's help. Hay was in the twilight of his career and it took an unselfish forward like Cooper to give Hay or Herbie Lewis the scoring chances they needed. Lewis scored 20 goals that season.

Cooper scored 14 goals and had 14 assists the next season, 1930-31, and was now slowing down a bit. He exited the NHL in 1932, only to stay in Detroit to play and coach with the IHL's Detroit Olympics for a couple of seasons. He later returned to now-renamed Red Wings and was a long time scout. His most famous find - Gordie Howe. He also is credited with finding Red Kelly, Ted Lindsay, Terry Sawchuk, Harry Lumley and Alex Delvecchio.

He was born in 1899 and died July 4th, 1955 of an apparent heart attack.

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Dennis Sobchuk

Dennis Sobchuk is still a hockey legend in Regina, where he starred with the junior Pats in the early 1970s. He played 200 games from 1971 to 1974, registering 191 goals and 225 assists. He was named the most valuable player of the 1974 Memorial Cup. He later had his number retired and is undoubtedly one of the greatest Pats of all time.

Lorne Davis, the long time Edmonton Oilers scout, remembers his junior exploits well.

"He played with a lot of energy. He could stickhandle and he could really shoot. He played with Clark Gillies (a Hockey Hall of Famer) at the time, people thought that Dennis would be the next great player. That didn't really happen but he had a great junior career."

His junior career was so impressive that he became the first player to sign with a professional hockey team before leaving major-junior hockey. He signed a 10-year, $1-million contract with the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers in 1973. He played the 1973-74 season with the Pats and was loaned to the Phoenix Roadrunners for the 1974-75 season because the Stingers didn't have an arena in which to play.

It was a very controversial move at the time, because of the money and because it was likely Sobchuk would have been the top player selected in the 1975 NHL draft. The WHA stole him before the NHL even had a chance, opening up a controversial practice the WHA would use with many of Canada's top junior players.

Sobchuk played for Phoenix, Cincinnati and Edmonton in 348 WHA games from 1974 through to 1979. He scored 145 goals and recorded 186 assists. His best offensive season was with the Stingers in 1976-77 when he had 44 goals and 51. Not bad, but his scoring and his play deteriorated from that season onward. He later tried resurrect his career in the NHL, but to no avail.

"Discipline-wise it may have helped me to go to the NHL," said Sobchuk, who played 35 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and Quebec Nordiques. "They were more structured in their foundation. In the WHA, we were just happy to have 18 guys on a team. One game we were supposed to play the Minnesota Fighting Saints and the Houston Areos came out because Minnesota folded that day. It was hard for a 20-year-old to be as serious in hockey as I would have been in the NHL."

Injuries really hampered Sobchuk's career.

"I had three shoulder separations and the third time they removed about six inches of my clavicle,'' Sobchuk said. "They told me at the time that when I turned 50 that I would have arthritis. It's hard to believe that I ever got to 50. It doesn't bother me now.

"It happened during the middle of my career when I was rolling," Sobchuk said. "The injuries happened one, two, three and it took the burning desire out. It seemed like every year I was battling to get back in shape. The guys were bigger. It wasn't as easy to get back in the stirrups. It wasn't fun again. It was work."

Sobchuk retired in 1983. He briefly returned to Regina to try his hand at coaching, but soon relocated to Bellingham, Washington, just south of the British Columbian border. He was involved in the construction of the local arena there, and soon turned to building and selling homes.

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Jack Adams

Jack Adams was born on June 14, 1895 in Fort William, Ontario.

Jack started playing hockey at the age of sixteen when he played in the Northern Michigan Senior League. He went on to have amateur stops in Peterborough and Sarnia. Adams decided against playing amateur and moved up to the professional league.

In 1918 he played for the Toronto Arenas. During his first year he helped Toronto to the Stanley Cup. He stayed there for another year before heading to Vancouver. It was when he was in Vancouver that he emerged as a scoring threat. In twenty four games he scored twenty four goals and eighteen assists. He joined the NHL's Toronto St. Pats the following year.

Jack spent four seasons with the St. Pats. The time he spent there showed him to be a steady goal scorer. He had three 26+ point seasons. In 1926-1927 seasons, Adams went to the Ottawa Senators where he had a dismal season...in forty games he had only five goals and one assist, but he did win the Stanley Cup that year.

Jack played along side such stars as King Clancy, George Boucher, Frank Nighbor, Cy Denneny, and Alex Connell.

Adams' face was not a stranger amidst the hockey world. He signed a contract with the Detroit Cougars who were starting their second season. His job was to be the coach and general manager. While in Detroit, Adams sold hockey on and off the ice. He also pioneered the farm system in hockey. He made a tradition of turning out winning teams. In his career he built twelve league championships, seven of them in a row. He can also add seven Stanley Cups to his resume. He is the only person to have his name on the Stanley Cup as player, coach and GM

In Adams' thirty five years with Detroit, they only missed the playoffs seven times. His personal satisfaction was bringing a young boy from Floral, Saskatchewan named Gordie Howe and made him a superstar and legend.

Adams was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1959. He remained with Detroit until the end of the 61-62 season. When New York presented the Lester Patrick Trophy to the NHL in 1966 to recognize outstanding service to hockey in the United States, Jack Adams was named the first recipient.

Adams became president of the Central Hockey League after his departure from Detroit. Adams passed away on May 1, 1968 while working at his desk.

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Fern Gauthier

Don't laugh, but Fern Gauthier literally couldn't put a puck into the Atlantic Ocean. Or so legend has it, anyways.

First some background. The native of Chicoutimi had been a decent scorer with New York in 1943-44 (14 goals) and Montreal in 1944-45 (18 goals). The Detroit Red Wings eagerly pursued Gauthier's rights, as GM Jack Adams figured he could top 20 goals in a Red Wings uniform.

However Gauthier never did. He in fact only scored 14 goals over the next 5 years, though he did add 5 goals in 18 playoff games. But his usual lack of production became the joke of the Detroit media. They quickly said Gauthier couldn't puck the puck into the ocean!

Detroit Times hockey writer Lew Walter apparently put the charge to the test when the Red Wings visited New York for a road game. Walter and a photographer, armed with pucks and sticks, convinced Gauthier to head down to the docks of Manhattan, so that Gauthier could literally attempt to put the puck into the vast ocean.

Fern of course was able to put the pucks into the ocean. However he appeased Walter and allowed him to write a fictitious story. The grand tale Walter concocted had Gauthier missing the first two shots! Supposedly on the first shot a seagull swooped down and snatched the puck before it hit the water. And on the second shot the puck landed on a tugboat pulling a string of barges, one of which intercepted the puck.

Walter later revealed the truth and congratulated Fern on taking part in such a rib.

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Fred Glover

Fred Glover's NHL career of 13 goals in 93 games hides the fact of a great hockey player. His AHL stats show a different story. When he  retired as a player after the 1967-68 season, Glover was the all time leader in every category that the AHL kept stats in, games played (1201), goals (522), assists (815), points (1337) and penalty minutes (2402). He may have been the greatest player ever in the AHL.

How is it that such a player could get lost and play in the top minor league as its best player for 15 straight seasons after his final appearance in the NHL? The world of pro hockey during the six team era of the NHL was another world compared to how the game is today. With the sponsorship system in place, where junior aged players were signed to pro contracts that assigned their rights to the NHL team which sponsored their junior team, the NHL clubs had a massive number of players with NHL  potential in their systems. With only six NHL teams, the competition to make the the big team and stay in the NHL was intense. Their always was an upcoming prospect or a young minor league player challenging for your position on the team.

With that much competion between players for jobs, not only did your performance on ice figure into your career, your relationship with the management was also a factor in what kind of stay in the NHL you would  have. Management ruled hockey, and if a player didn't like it, then they could be banished into the minor leagues forever because there always was another guy to immediately step into the vacated position.

When Fred Glover signed with the OHA team in Galt in 1945 he became property of the Detroit Red Wings. After his first season in Galt, the Red Wings wanted him to move up the ladder in their system and offered him an official pro contract. Glover, because of the original type of contract he had signed, had the option to play another year in junior. When he decided to stay in Galt, the Red Wings weren't too happy with
their future prospect.

"Detroit offered me a pro contract," Glover explains, "they told me that certain players had signed and went pro for the same amount. I told them  that it didn't make any difference to me because I had the option to return to junior. Right away, that put me high on their list as a trouble maker."

When Glover did finally turn pro he was sent to the Red Wing's farm team in Indianapolis where he had two stellar seasons, especially the second which saw him lead the league in goals. The next season he was on the big league club until near the end of the season when he was sent back down  to Indianapolis.

Glover's stay in Detroit was extremely rocky. The Red Wings were managed by Jack Adams who ran the team in a ruthless manner. It was follow his way or else. In Glover, Adams had a player who had already challenged his authority. The team was in the middle of a run which would net four Stanley Cups in six seasons and Adams didn't need Glover's talents as much as a lesser club might. Glover sat on the bench and listened to Adams bark at him.

"In Detroit, you were always getting yelled at for something you didn't do," Glover remembers. "Half the time Adams would be yelling at the wrong guy. The players didn't have a chance in hell, you couldn't do anything but listen to it. If you didn't stay, then you could just go home. One game, I scored two goals and got one assist and all Adams did was chew on me about how I had only one hand on my stick. I just got sick of it all."

When the Red Wings farmed him out at the tail end of 1951-52, Glover went to Adams and told him that if his stay in Indianapolis was prolonged, then he wanted out of Detroit. Adams obliged by traded him to Chicago in the off season. The problem was that the Blackhawks were owned by the brother, and brother -in-law, of the owners of the Red Wings. Glover played even less in the Windy City and he was again banished to the AHL by mid-season. 1952-53 would be the last year he would ever play in the NHL.

The AHL back then was a very strong league. It's champions were dubbed  "the seventh best team in hockey," but in reality, depending on the fortunes of the bottom rung NHL teams, the argument could be made that the best of the AHL was actually the fourth or fifth best team in all of hockey. The top franchise in the league was the Cleveland Barons. The Barons were for all intents and purposes an NHL team in a minor league. They ran their own farm system, drew well and were on par with any of the other US based NHL franchises at the time.

Glover's stay with Chicago's farm team in St. Louis lasted about two weeks before he was traded to Cleveland. The situation in Cleveland was unique for players, they were in the minors but playing with a major league franchise. "The minimum salary for a NHL players was $5,000 back then," Glover explains, "But, the AHL teams wouldn't meet that minimum, that was except in Cleveland. General Manager Jim Hendy had a policy where any player who came to the club from a NHL team got paid that salary. No other team did that. And, on top of that, you didn't get the verbal abuse you got in the NHL." Fred Glover had found a home on the shores of Lake Erie.

Glover had a chance to return to the NHL in 1954 with the Rangers. The scout who had known Glover in the Detroit organization had started working for the Rangers and through his recommendation they invited him to training camp. Glover didn't want to go, but he agreed after being badgered about that decision. "What a screwy camp that was," he said.  "It was like a club, if you were in, you were okay. If not, you were considered an outsider. I went there wearing a knee brace because if I  wore it I wouldn't have any problems with my knee, and I didn't. I told the trainer that, but right away, they thought I had a bum knee. So, by mutual agreement I went back to Cleveland. Hell, I didn't want to go there anyway. It was all the usual NHL garbage anyway."

As much as his off ice troubles defined the course of his career, his on ice career was defined by two words, "desire" and "guts". John Ferguson played with Glover in Cleveland for three seasons. "Glover influenced me a lot," he says. "He was the greatest competitor I ever saw. For example, even when he was badly hurt, he still insisted on playing. He'd be taped  from head to foot and yet he's still be out there battling like nothing  was wrong. I'll always remember his advice, 'never let anyone fight you off the puck.'"

"He also fought a lot because of his style," Ferguson recalls, "and he occasionally lost. I've seen him get whipped worse in fist fights than any other player I ever saw, but two minutes later Freddie would be up and at it, going after the guy who had just beaten him to a pulp. Just being around Glover was enough to pick up another player's spirit."

Not only did Glover have the drive to endear him to team mates and fans alike, he also had good hands which meant that he could score. Within no time at all Glover was the scourge of the AHL and the darling of the Cleveland fans. When Jackie Gordon became player coach of the team in 1956-57, Glover was named captain to take his place. By the time Gordon retired from coaching after 1961-62, Glover was not only the best player in the AHL, he was the heart and soul of the whole Cleveland operation.

Glover was named playing coach to replace Gordon in 1962-63 and after his first season as coach the Barons experienced a management squabble where a majority group of shareholders made a move to get rid of team President Paul Bright and Gordon who was now the General Manager. They wanted Glover to stay as coach and as they pushed on in their bid to restructure the front office, Glover informed them that he would quit if Bright and Gordon were replaced When the shareholders didn't heed Glover's warning, he quit as soon as they had gone public with the management change.  Glover's retirement was catastrophic for the stockholders, not only did they stop the announced changes, they then sold the club to a group organized by Bright. Hockey in Cleveland couldn't thrive without Glover. The season that followed was perhaps the best of Glover's as a coach. He led the team to sweep of the Calder Cup in eight games, the only time in league history a team didn't lose a game in the playoffs.

Fred Glover finally left Cleveland with the start of the 1968-69 season. He was hired to coach the Oakland Seals of the NHL. It was an opportunity he couldn't pass on. The Seals of the year before were an embarrassment. Picked to be the best of the new expansion teams, the team was the worst  and the players bickered under the strong hand of coach Bert Olmstead. With Glover the Seals were the most improved team in the league and zoomed to second place in the Western Division standings. A first round playoff loss could not hide the fact of a remarkable season and Glover was named Coach of the Year by The Hockey News.

The Oakland franchise was sore spot for the NHL, fans didn't show up during the dismal first season and still didn't come out to the rink despite the good reverse of fortune due to Glover's coaching. The  attitude of the fans might have caught up with the players the following season because the team simply didn't play with quite the drive and determination as it had before. The Seals barely made it into the last playoff spot and quickly exited the playoffs again. With the situation desperate for money to refianance the team, the NHL Governor's leaped at  the offer Charles O. Finley, the notorious owner of the baseball Oakland A's, made to purchase the team over the summer.

When Finley got control of the team in 1970-71 he immediately changed the team's named to California, dressing the team in bright yellow and green uniforms, and made the players don white skates. The season turned into a stunning disaster with the team limping home to set a new record of futility with 53 losses. Glover's magic with the team had eroded and Finley spent the off season restructuring the front office by hiring  Garry Young, director of player personal for the Bruins, to runthe club. The writing was on the wall for Glover and he lasted only three games into the following season before he was replaced by Vic Stasiuk.

Glover's unemployment lasted two weeks when the Los Angeles Kings made him only the second coach in NHL history to coach two teams in the same season. Unlike the first, Dick Irvin, who had guided the Leafs to Stanley Cup after being replaced in Chicago, Glover went the opposite way and  lead the Kings into another last place finish. The Kings fired him at the conclusion of the regular season.

With the WHA starting up for 1972-73, the Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA were more than willing to link the future of their team with the city's hockey history of the past and they hired Glover to a front office position. A position from which he resigned in a matter of two weeks. As he explained it, "I just didn't feel right stealing other team's players." Another Crusader official explained it this way, "Glover was hired while I was on a three week vacation. By the time I got back Freddie was gone."

Where Glover ended up was back in Oakland with the Seals. Charlie Finley and Garry Young had a falling out because Finley accused his GM/Coach of keeping some Seals from leaving for the WHA by signing them to contracts  of which he hadn't approved. The point of contention between them grew to  the point of where Finley pressed charges against Young and by mid-season he had fired him and Glover was back in to running the team. The Seals were decimated by defections to the WHA, losing a total of eight regulars and they finished last again. Ironically, the Crusaders were the team that had hit the Seals the most, signing away three players off the team.

When Finley had bought the Seals in 1970, the league finally thought it had solved the health of the failing franchise. By 1972, the NHL was pretty tired of Finley's antics in Oakland and saw the courtcase between him and Young as sure sign that he had no other intentions but to manage the Seals as a tax write off for his more profitable baseball operations. Whereas he had been a flamboyant and meddling operator of his baseball team, he was strictly a hands off owner with the hockey club. Infamous in the media for meddling in all aspects of his baseball team, Glover had this to say about his handling of the Seals, "Charlie doesn't meddle at all. I have no problem with him ever being in my office."

With his baseball team not as nearly solvent as it was when it was winning World Series in the early 70s, by the middle of the 1973-74 season Finley was making it well known that he had enough of the hockey club and the NHL Governors, desperate to rid themselves of him, bought the team outright. When the team was sold, Glover decided he had enough of the NHL and the sorry situation with the Seals. The management team the NHL was going to name to control the team eventually would have fired him, so Glover beat them to the punch and resigned right after the sale. With that, one of the greatest minor league players ever not to star in the NHL passed from any involvement with the game.

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Dolly Dolson

With all the great goaltenders that have played for the Detroit Red Wings, who do you think holds the team record for the lowest goals against average over one season? Terry Sawchuk? No! Apple Cheeks Lumley? Good guess, but nope. Chris Osgood? Sorry.

The answer is Clarence Dolson!

Who?

Clarence Dolson.

Born in Hespeler, Ontario way back in 1897, Dolson was a pint-sized goalie who wowed everybody but Detroit (at that time they were called the Cougars) boss Jack Adams. Despite having an incredible 1928-29 rookie season which included 19 wins in 44 games, 10 shutouts and a GAA of just 1.37, Adams didn't feel that the man nicknamed Dolly was a legitimate big league netminder.

Adams replaced Dolson with Bill Beveridge for the 1929-30 season, but had to return to Dolson in 1930-31 when Beveridge joined the Ottawa Senators. Dolson wasn't able to duplicate his magic of two years ago, though he was respectable with 6 shutouts and a 2.29 GAA on a bad team.

The following year the Ottawa Senators folded up shop for the year and their players were dispersed around the league. Detroit was quick to gobble up star netminded Alex Connell. Connell would play only the one season in Detroit, and the Wings acquired John Ross Roach from the New York Rangers to guard the net.

Clarence played sparingly from 1931-1933 in the minor leagues with the IAHL's Cleveland Indians.

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Jim Nahrgang

Jim Nahrgang was a defenseman who wasn't very fast but solid positionally.

This Millbank, Ontario native played his junior hockey for the Ottawa 67's and Kitchener Rangers between 1967-70 before playing four seasons (1970-74) for Michigan Tech (WCHA) where he studied business administration. He was an excellent student. One year he served as vice president of the Michigan Tech chapter of Blue Key, the National Honor Society.

Nahrgang captained the Michigan Tech team in his last year and was also chosen as a 1st team All-American All-Star. Twice he was named as Michigan Tech's Athlete of the Year, and after all was said and done he was induction to the school's athletic Hall of Fame.

Despite his fine college performance he never really caught on in the NHL. He was drafted by Detroit in 1971 (7th choice, 86th overall) and spent most of his time in the minors with Virginia and New-Haven (AHL) and Kansas-City  (CHL) except for a one game stint with Detroit in 1974-75 and a three game stint with Detroit in 1975-76.

In 1976-77 he filled in for 53 games with Detroit, doing quite well, collecting 16 points. he was a real utility player that season, not only playing on defense but taking shifts at all three forward positions. Despite his yeoman's effort, he would not be back the following year.

Nahrgang reported to the minors to play for the Kansas-City Red Wings (CHL) and Philadelphia Firebirds (AHL). After that season he hung up his skates, only 27 years old.

Nahrgang returned to his alma mater and took up coaching until the mid 1980s. He then moved on to become a vice president of Minneapolis based Ryan Companies, a commercial real estate development firm.

By the way, Jim has a couple of interesting family relationships. He is the brother in law of former NHLer Bob Lorimer. He is also the father of 2002 Olympic biathlete Andrea Nahrgang.

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Jim Niekamp

Shot blocking defenseman Jim Niekamp, a native of Detroit, started out playing hockey in Motown's recreation leagues. He then moved on to play his junior hockey for St.Jerome Alouettes and Hamilton Red Wings. He spent four seasons in the minor leagues (IHL,CHL and AHL) before getting his first taste of NHL action with his home team, the Detroit Red Wings.

Jim played 24 games with Detroit in 1970-71 recording two assists. He then had a 5 game stint with Detroit the following season. These 29 games was the only NHL action that he saw during his career. Jim was bound for the minor leagues but got saved by the WHA. The Los Angeles Sharks selected him in the WHA General Player Draft in 1972. Jim enjoyed five seasons in the WHA with the Sharks and Phoenix Roadrunners.

Although he had a very fine shot he never scored more than 7 goals in a season. Jim's strongest asset was without a doubt his ability to block shots. Many believed that if WHA would have had shot blocking as an official stat that Jim would be at the top every year. Jim's teammate in Phoenix, goalie Jack Norris also agreed that Jim was a great shotblocker.

"He's really got it perfected. Lots of guys try to do it and they stop a few with their legs. Jimmy doesn't seem to have any fear at all. He'll take it in the midsection, the chest, anywhere. If he starts down on a shot, he can get up quickly. And if he goes down, he always freezes the puck. He doesn't screen out a goaltender. In fact, he's one of the reasons the shots against us aren't higher. He's blocking between five and ten shots every game."

Jim started out as a winger when he was a youngster but as soon as he shifted to defense his great shot blocking came automatically. He in fact even helped develop a new piece of protective equipment that helped prevent injuries when blocking shots. It was a light foam-rubber pad that covered a player's chest and took out the sting out of blocking a shot with the upper body. The equipment was then manufactured by Cooper in Canada and KOHO in Finland.

Jim's last professional season came in 1977-78 when he played for the Phoenix Roadrunners in the PHL (Pacific Hockey League). Besides the 29 NHL games he also played 383 WHA games, scoring 16 goals and 96 points for 112 points.

By the way - Jim Niekamp's nickname was "Shitter." I do not know the story behind the nickname. In fact, I'm not sure I want to know.

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Jud McAtee

Jerome McAtee, better known as Jud, passed away on February 22nd, 2011. He was 91.

Born in Stratford, Ontario, McAtee was a standout with the Oshawa Generals, winning Memorial Cups in 1939 and 1940. In the early 1940s he turned professional, somehow avoiding any military time during World War II. For three seasons he apprenticed with the Indianapolis Capitols, earning 1 game try outs with the Detroit Red Wings in the latter two campaigns.

By the 1944-45 season McAtee became a full time member of the Red Wings, thanks largely to war depleted NHL lineups. The 5'9", 170lb left winger scored 15 goals and 26 points in 44 regular season games. He also added 2 goals and an assist in 14 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Unfortunately for McAtee, the Red Wings came up just short in game seven of the finals.

That game would prove to be McAtee's last in the NHL. Regular stars began returning to NHL lineups and callups like McAtee were demoted back down to the American Hockey League. McAtee played in the "A" with St. Louis and Hershey until 1949.

McAtee moved to Oklahoma in 1949 and wound down his playing career with 2 seasons in USHL with the Tulsa Oilers. He would remain in Oklahoma after hanging up his skates, at one point owning the Cosmopolitan Lounge in Tulsa. He passed away in Collinsville, OK.

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Hank Bassen

This red-haired goalie was never a regular in the NHL. He was a utility goalie who did his backup job very well. Being a back-up is one of the most difficult roles in hockey but Hank filled that role admirably. He even got the tag "Mr.Emergency" because of the way he was called in for duty. Unfortunately for Hank he played on NHL teams with great goaltenders. In Chicago he was stuck behind Al Rollins and in Detroit it was Terry Sawchuk (and later Roger Crozier).

"My career started as a back-up goalie and it seemed, more-or-less, to stay that way, Bassen recalled. "I did have some pretty illustrious partners and that had something to do with it. "

Hank was never the No.1 goalie in the NHL but he had a long and successful minor league career that saw him play in the AHL (Buffalo, Springfield, Pittsburgh), WHL (Calgary, Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton), EPHL (Sudbury) and CHL (Cincinnati). Hank played his junior hockey back home in Calgary for the Calgary Buffaloes and later on for Medicine Hat Tigers

Hank's playing style was unorthodox which didn't always sit well with his trainers. When Hank played for the legendary Eddie Shore in Springfield in 1958-59, he was wandering too much out of his position and flopping to the ice. So ol' Eddie Shore tied a rope around Hank's neck and the crossbar so that Hank wouldn't flop to the ice and wander out of his crease without getting strangled. Eddie however might have had some impact on Hank who was the WHL MVP, best goalie and a first team All-Star in 1960 when he led the league in several categories.

Hank made his NHL debut in 1954 with Chicago.

"Al Rollins got injured and Chicago called me up from Buffalo of the AHL" Hank said, " I'll never forget that flight to Chicago. To this day, I've never been more excited about anything."

He won that first start against the Bruins but was soon sent back to the minors again. In 1957 Hank was traded to Detroit in a five player deal which included Hall of famers Glenn Hall and Ted Lindsay.

Hank never won the Stanley Cup but remembered when his Detroit lost to Chicago in the 1961 Cup finals. Hank was in goal for Detroit in game six of the finals that Chicago won 5-1.

"I allowed a couple of soft goals that night but Chicago really wanted to win the Cup badly. We (Detroit) had been champions on a number of occasions in the previous decade but Chicago hadn't won the Cup for more than 20 years. As a result, they were really flying in that series and deserved to come out on top," Hank said.

In 1965-66 Hank backed up Roger Crozier in Detroit. In the 1966 Stanley Cup finals against Montreal he played in game four when Crozier wrenched his knee. Bassen allowed goals from Ralph Backstrom and Jean Beliveau as the Canadiens won 2-1 at the Olympia. He might not have won the Stanley Cup but he won the Calder Cup (AHL) with Pittsburgh Hornets in 1967. Hank played one more season in the NHL when he got picked up by the expansion Pittsburgh Penguins in 1967.

After the 1967-68 season Hank retired to operate an excavating business in Calgary. He also managed the junior Calgary Wranglers between 1984-86 before going on to become a sales representative for a printing firm.

The Bassen family showed up in the NHL again in 1985 when Hank's son Bob emerged in the league. Bob went on to play 14 seasons in the NHL between 1985-99.

Special thanks to Patrick Houda.

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Glenn Merkosky

Glenn Merkosky is one of those guys who never really got the NHL chance he deserved. For various reasons he was often overlooked, despite amassing one of the better AHL careers in history.

Glenn is the Adirondack Red Wings' all-time leader for both regular season and playoffs in goals, assists and points. He is the 10th-leading goal-scorer, and 22nd-leading overall scorer, in AHL history. The two-time winner of the Fred Hunt Trophy, the AHL's version of the Lady Byng, is the only player to have his jersey number (15) retired by the Wings.

Curiously, Glenn was never drafted by an NHL team. He did sign with the Hartford Whalers organization in the summer of 1980, one year after playing his overage year of junior hockey. "Merk" put in a couple of solid years with the Whalers AHL affiliate in Binghampton, and even earned a 7 game cup of NHL tea in 1981-82, but was released in the summer of 1982.

The Edmonton Alberta native singed on with the New Jersey Devils for the next three years. He did play in 39 NHL games, accomplishing little. He chipped in with 5 goals and 10 assists. But he did put in 3 solid years with the Devils farm teams

The Detroit Red Wings signed "Merk" in the summer of 1985. The Wings were looking for a solid minor league player to help their kids on the farm team, and never really gave Glenn an opportunity to play at the NHL level. That was unfortunate as Merkosky really matured with the Wings farm team in Adirondack, and became a great AHL level player.

For the next 6 years Glenn was an incredible player in Adirondack. He rewrote the team's record book, and even led the whole leage in goal scoring with 54 tallies in 1986-87. Despite this, Glenn only got into 20 NHL games over the 6 years.

Glenn was a complete player who did everything well, but nothing particularly outstandingly. He had a big heart, and a goal scorers touch. He was perhaps a tad small and a tad slow at the NHL level. Also affecting his chances at NHL employment was Detroits investment in other, younger players. Glenn wasn't as skilled as first overall draft pick Joe Murphy. He didn't have the size and strength of Adirondack teammate Adam Graves. And he didn't crash and bang as noticeably as Randy McKay.

Had he played in the waterdown 30 team NHL 10 years after his prime, Glenn would have enjoyed a few seasons in the NHL.

Glenn went on to become a long time scout for the Red Wings.

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Dean Morton

Dean Morton became the second player in NHL history to score a goal in his only NHL appearance. Rolly Huard of the 1930 Toronto Maple Leafs was the first.

Morton was a defensive d-man if there ever was one. He only scored 4 goals in 202 AHL and IHL games, though did pop in 6 in the the lowly Colonial Hockey League. He was a physical force both in junior and minor pro but wasn't a great skater and was a replaceable commodity, thus explaining his short career.

Drafted 148th overall from the Ontario Hockey League by Detroit in 1986. He turned pro a couple of seasons later, spending two years with the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings. In the 1989-90 season Morton got his only shot at NHL action, and made the most of it by scoring a goal.

His goal-a-NHL-game pace didn't impress many people apparently. He would spend the next three seasons bouncing around with 6 teams in 3 leagues before hanging up the skates in 1993.

Morton would return to the NHL as a referee in 2000.

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Max McNab

Max McNab was often called the nicest guy in all of professional hockey - a title he was quite deserving of.
However, despite being a promising prospect, Max never was able to make it to the big time, at least as a player.

A product of Watson, Saskatchewan, McNab was brought up in the Detroit Red Wings organization, and was being groomed as the heir apparant center to Sid Abel - the aging center on the famed Production Line with Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe.

McNab was on his way to showing he was ready for the big time in 1947-48 when he led the entire USHL in goal scoring with 44 goals in the same amount of games. That same season he got his first audition in the NHL, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists in 12 games.

The following season Max was given most of the season to earn a big league job, but failed to impress. He scored 10 goals and 13 assists in 51 uninspiring games.  He played just well enough to continue to toil in a 4th line role in 1949-50, when he played in 65 games, but picked up just 4 goals and 4 assists.

McNab was demoted to the minors following that season, only to reappear as an emergency injury replacement in the 1951 playoffs. After a season with the Indianapolis Capitals of the AHL, his career looked to be all but over when a bulging disc in his back forced him to miss the entire 1951-52 season. McNab however recovered fully and resettled out west, playing in the Vancouver suburbs with New Westminister Royals from 1952 through 1959

After his playing days were over, McNab became a highly respected hockey executive. He helped to make San Diego a hot though small hockey hotbed. He briefly served as the president of the old Central Hockey League before retuning to the NHL as the expansion Washington Capitals as the general manager.

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John Sorrell

Johnny Sorrell was a lanky left winger with the Detroit Falcons/Red Wings and New York Americans during the 1930s and early 1940s. Standing nearly 6 feet tall but weighing just 155 lbs, John was instantly nicknamed Long John.

Born in Chesterville Ontario on January 16, 1906, Sorrell's hockey career began in the Can-pro league in 1927 with the Quebec Beavers. In 1928 he moved on to play with the Windsor Bulldogs. He was technically the property of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. The Habs moved Sorrell to the London Panthers of the IAHL for the 1929-30 season.

The mild mannered Sorrell exploded with the Panthers, leading the entire IAHL with 31 goals in just 42 games. Instantly, every NHL team was interested in Sorrell's services.

It was the Detroit Falcons (later renamed Red Wings) who won the Sorrell sweepstakes when they traded Herbie Stuart to London on February 8, 1930. For the next 7 1/2 seasons Sorrell was a key contributor to the Detroit franchises' success. Part of that success included back to back Stanley Cup championships in 1936 & 1937. That first Stanley Cup championship was Sorrell's career highlite. He scored 7 points in as many games to help his team realize the dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup.

A skilled player with good skating ability, Sorrell twice led the Wings in goal scoring. This was quite an accomplishment considering his teammates included the great Ebbie Goodfellow, Syd Howe and Mud Bruneteau.

As his production hinted of slowing down, Sorrell was traded to the NY Americans in 1938 in exchange for Hap Emms. Sorrell played 3 1/2 seasons in New york and a couple more in the minor leagues before turning to the world of coaching in Indianapolis.

John was also a heck of a baseball player. In the hockey off season he played semi-professional baseball.

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Lefty Wilson

Ross "Lefty" Wilson was the long time equipment trainer of the Detroit Red Wings. However when he first started he also served as the team's practice goalie, and since team's only carried one goal at the time, he also served as an emergency replacement if a team's goalie got hurt!


Wilson was a capable backstopper in junior hockey, but he had a less than memorable professional career. He was signed by the Wings in 1944 and reported to the Wings farm team in Omaha where he'd also serve as the assistant trainer, a job he took only to make sure he got to play in Omaha.


Red Wings boss Jack Adams pretty much summed up Wilson's career on the ice in this quote - "As a goaltender, he makes a pretty good trainer."


Wilson eventually was promoted to the Red Wings to serve as the equipment trainer as well as practice netminder. He quickly made a name for himself as the loudest man in hockey, as he loved to yell words of encouragement to his players, not to mention some less than kind words to the referees.


As mentioned earlier, Lefty would also serve as the emergency replacement goalie if one of the team's goalies got hurt. This happened on three occasions.


The first was on October 10, 1953 when he replaced the legendary Terry Sawchuk, who hurt his kneecap. Wilson stepped in and never surrendered a goal in 16 minutes of play.


On January 22, 1956, the Maple Leafs Harry Lumley had to leave a game against the Wings and Lefty had to dress up for the Leafs, and face his usual comrades. Much to the excitement of the crowd, Wilson shut down his own team in 13 minutes of action. On one rush he picked the net off of its moorings and turned the net around facing the boards so that the wings couldn't score on him! The referees of course were not amused, but Lefty would claim it was an accident. The NHL had to change the rule after that incident.


On December 29, 1957, Wilson dressed for the Boston Bruins as their starting goalie Don Simmons pulled out of the game just 8 minutes in. Wilson played brilliantly for the final 52 minutes, surrendering his only NHL goal against en route to tying the team that gave him his pay checks.


For a trainer, his goaltending stats are quite remarkable. Just one goal against in 85 minutes of action gave him a career GAA of 0.71! He is also almost assuredly the only man in NHL history to play in just three NHL games, each of which were played with a different team.

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Alex Delvecchio

Everybody considers Gordie Howe one of the greatest players ever partly because of his longevity. That being said, Alex Delvecchio also deserves mention among the game's legends.

Alex played 24 NHL seasons, only missing a ridiculously miniscule total of 43 games due to injury. Unlike Howe, Delvecchio spent his entire career with the same team - the Detroit Red Wings. Delvecchio was as consistent a player as you'll find.

Many words describe Alex Delvecchio. Consistent. Durable. Gentleman. Winner. Leader. Loyal. If forced to choose just one word to sum up his legacy, it would have to be legend.

Alex Delvecchio was born on December 4, 1932 in Fort William, Ontario, which is now a part of the city of Thunder Bay. He got his first pair of skates at the age of six and taught himself to skate on the many frozen ponds in his rural Ontario setting.

He didn't start playing organized hockey until he was 12, but he was quickly identified by a Red Wings scout named Lou Passador. On Passador's advice, Red Wings boss Jack Adams signed the youngster and assigned him to a junior B team in his native Fort William. It was there that Delvecchio matured into a man and intimidating hockey player, gaining 5 inches and 20 pounds in 2 years.

Soon Delvecchio was transferred to Detroit's main prospect mill in Oshawa where former NHL great Larry Aurie coached the OHA Generals. Delvecchio would credit Aurie with becoming a smart hockey player, focusing on puck control and playmaking, and maturing on the ice.

Delvecchio's favorite junior passing target was a fellow named Lou Jankowski. Jankowski led the entire league in scoring, with 65 goals and 59 assists for 124 points. Delvecchio finished right behind with 49 goals and 72 assists for 121 points. But it was Delvecchio who made the immediate jump to the 1951-52 Red Wings, perhaps the greatest team of all time. Jankowski essentially became a bust by NHL terms.

After starting the season in the minor leagues, Delvecchio broke into the Wings' line-up as a centre, replacing Larry Wilson. He would often play with wingers Johnny Wilson and Metro Prystai, though many games the trio didn't see a lot of ice time. Yet the rookie scored 15 goals and 22 assists, helping Detroit finish first through the regular season. More importantly, that spring the Wings won the Stanley Cup in eight straight games.

Delvecchio will never forget how special that team was.

"That was a great team we had and I felt proud to be among so many players that were true stars of the game. Terry Sawchuk was in goal and in those eight playoff games against Toronto and Montreal, he only gave up six goals. We had Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel, Gordie Howe, Glen Skov, Tony Leswick, Metro Prystai and Marty Pavelich up front. Marcel Pronovost, Red Kelly and Bob Goldham were three of our defensemen," Delvecchio recalled.

That nucleus was the toast of the league for most of the early 1950s, capturing two more Stanley Cups in 1954 and 1955. That gave Delvecchio 3 Stanley Cup championships. For the Red Wings they had 4 championships in 6 seasons, and finished the regular season in first place in 7 consecutive seasons.

Delvecchio was just entering his prime, and fully replaced Sid Abel on the Production Line with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. Through his prime years in the late 50s and 1960s, Delvecchio finished in the top 10 in scoring 10 times. Like a fine wine Delvecchio seemed to only get better with age, recording his best season in 1968-69 when he scored 25 times and assisted on 58 others for a total of 83 points. In 13 of his 24 seasons he scored 20 or more goals, contributing towards a career total of 456 goals and 825 assists, plus 35 goals and 69 assists in playoffs.

Delvecchio and Howe in particular shared a special chemistry. Later on it was Frank Mahovlich who was the perfect fit for Delvecchio.

"They just said, 'give it to Gordie. He'll put it in the net,' " Delvecchio said. "When Gordie was there it was `give it to Gordie' and when Frank (Mahovlich) was there they said `give it to Frank'. I concentrated on playmaking."

Bruce MacGregor, a former teammate of "Fats" Delvecchio, fondly recalls the days where Number 10 centered a line with the Big M.

"Alex was a natural athlete. His biggest assets were his skating and passing, a fluid skater with an effortless style. I remember him centering for big Frank Mahovlich. Frank had that big, sweeping stride, and it was tough for centers to judge where he'd be for a pass. But Alex would him almost every time, right on the money. Alex was the best center man at making consistently perfect passes that I've ever seen."

Alex was truly one of the game's most sportsmanlike gentleman. A three time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy, Alex was only penalized for 383 minutes in 24 years. The two time all-star was also a leader, taking over from Gordie Howe as team captain in 1962 until the day he retired in 1973. He was also extremely loyal to the Detroit Red Wings. In fact he was so loyal to Detroit that he turned down a lucrative offer from his longtime sidekick Gordie Howe to join the Houston Aeros of the WHA in 1973.

After his playing career was over he was offered to coach Detroit. Which he gladly accepted.

"My goal was to be a coach in the NHL someday," he confessed. "So I was elated when I was approached about the job."

When asked to describe his coaching philosophy, he replied:

"Theories and systems ? Are you kidding ? You can't play hockey by a lot of theories and systems. It's too fluid a game for that. You've got to make quick decisions on the ice and you can't be wondering if the decision fits into your system."

Well, with an approach like that I guess it's not surprising that Coach Delvecchio didn't last too long. In parts of 4 seasons he posted a 82-131-32 record 245 games, a winning percentage of just .400. He also served as general manager.

He remained in the Detroit area and became a salesperson for a customer appreciation business that provides signs and novelty items to firms wanting to give their clients tokens of appreciation. He also became very active with the Red Wings Alumni Association.

Whoever said "nice guys finish last" should learn about Alex Delvecchio. He was largely overshadowed by his Detroit teammates, but Delvecchio earned the immortal spotlight of Hockey Hall of Fame enshrinement in 1977.

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