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Sports / Labor

Ted Lindsay

1925–2019Canadian · ice hockey player, left wing, general manager

Fierce Red Wings left wing of the 'Production Line' who won four Stanley Cups with Detroit, led the first serious attempt to unionize NHL players, and stayed part of the club for the rest of his life.

Portrait of Ted Lindsay
Photo: Ryalschilders at English Wikipedia · CC0
Born

Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
Died

Oakland Township, Michigan
aged 93
Birth name
Robert Blake Theodore Lindsay
Also known as
Terrible Ted
Detroit years
1944–2019
Field
Sports, Labor

01 / The Detroit story

The Detroit story

Lindsay made his Red Wings debut in 1944 at nineteen and became the toughest, most combative member of the famed 'Production Line' with Gordie Howe and Sid Abel, helping Detroit win four Stanley Cups through the 1950s while playing at Olympia Stadium. Off the ice he organized the first serious players' association in the late 1950s after discovering NHL owners were keeping the pension plan secret, a stand that led directly to his trade away from Detroit in 1957. He returned as a player in his late thirties, later served as the Red Wings' general manager, and remained an honored member of the team's alumni community for the rest of his life, raising money for metro Detroit children's charities. In 2008 the club unveiled a statue of him at Joe Louis Arena, and he died at his home in Oakland Township, Michigan, in 2019.

Highlights

  1. Won four Stanley Cups with Detroit (1950, 1952, 1954, 1955)
  2. Part of the 'Production Line' with Gordie Howe and Sid Abel
  3. Organized the first serious NHL players' association in the 1950s
  4. Served as Red Wings general manager in the late 1970s
  5. Number 7 retired by Detroit in 1991; statue unveiled at Joe Louis Arena in 2008

02 / Their Detroit places

Their Detroit places 2

Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.

  1. Played here · 1944–1957, 1964–1965

    Olympia Stadium

    Demolished · 1927–1979

    His home rink through the four championship seasons and his brief 1960s comeback; demolished in 1987.

    5920 Grand River Ave, Detroit, MI 48208Map ↗Place page →Source ↗

  2. Memorial · 2008–2017

    Joe Louis Arena

    Demolished · 1979–2017

    A statue of Lindsay by sculptor Omri Amrany, who also created the Gordie Howe statue, was unveiled here on the arena concourse in 2008.

    19 Steve Yzerman Dr, Detroit, MI 48226Map ↗Place page →Source ↗