Sports / Labor
Ted Lindsay
1925–2019 · 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.
- 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
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
- Won four Stanley Cups with Detroit (1950, 1952, 1954, 1955)
- Part of the 'Production Line' with Gordie Howe and Sid Abel
- Organized the first serious NHL players' association in the 1950s
- Served as Red Wings general manager in the late 1970s
- 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.
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.
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.