Ted Lindsay

At 93 years old, Ted Lindsay has this physical status:

Ted Lindsay (born Robert Blake Theodore Lindsay; July 29, 1925 – March 4, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played as a forward for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Lindsay scored over 800 points in his Hockey Hall of Fame career, won the Art Ross Trophy in 1950, and won the Stanley Cup four times.

Often referred to as "Terrible Ted", Lindsay helped to organize the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) in the late 1950s, an action which led to his trade to Chicago.

In 2017, Lindsay was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

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Playing career

Lindsay was born in Renfrew, Ontario. Bert Lindsay, his father, had been a professional player himself, and was playing goaltender for the Renfrew Millionaires, Victoria Aristocrats, and Toronto Arenas. Lindsay played amateur hockey in Kirkland Lake before joining the St. Michael's Majors in Toronto. He appeared for the Memorial Cup champion Oshawa Generals in 1944.

Lindsay's success in the Ontario Hockey Association Junior A League (now the Ontario Hockey League) earned him an invite to play for the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL, his first big league debut came in 1944 at the age of 19. During the 1944-45 AHL season, Lindsay appeared in just one game in the AHL, with the Indianapolis Capitals.

Conn Smythe, Toronto's owner, and with whom he would continue to rival for the remainder of his career, he became an amateur in Toronto while still playing for Detroit.

Lindsay, a centre Sid Abel and right winger Gordie Howe on what the media and fans dubbed the "Production Line," the player's most popular player in the NHL. Despite being petite in stature relative to most players in the league, he was a tenacious competitor who was branded "Terrible Ted" for his toughness. Because of his rough play, the NHL was compelled to introduce 'elbowing' and 'kneeing' in order to discourage players from striking between players using the elbows and knees.

He earned the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top scorer with 78 points in the 1949-49-50 season, and his team took the Stanley Cup. He has helped Detroit win three more titles and appeared on the front page of a March 1957 Sports Illustrated book. Lindsay was the first person to lift the Stanley Cup and skate it around the rink, beginning the tradition.

Lindsay was also the representative of the Red Wings players at the annual pension plan meeting, where he discovered that the scheme was kept private. He discovered that the other pro leagues were much better than those in football and baseball. He was introduced to the lawyers representing the various league players and became aware that only through an association could the players' conditions be improved.

The players began asking for minimum compensation and a properly funded pension plan when teams simply owned their players for their entire careers. Although team owners were reaping money after a game, players were still earning a pittance, and many people were still working summer jobs to make a living. Almost all of these men had no more than a high school education and had been playing hockey as a sport all their working lives. Superstars from the 1950s earned less than $25,000 a year, and when they were released, they had nothing to fall back on and had to do whatever they could do in order to thrive.

The Montreal Canadiens' Doug Harvey, a former star, and a small group formed a small group in an attempt to establish the first National Hockey League Players' Association. All of the players at the time were contacted and asked for their help in establishing a "association" not a "union," which was considered far too late. Support for the cause was almost unanimous.

Lindsay played doggedly for the cause, and many fellow supporters of the organization were suspended or kicked into obscurity in the minor leagues. He and Harvey were sorely convinced that only a union would win the demands, they arranged a timeline to get players' help as a union. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings were voted for certification by a defiant gesture. Although Montreal's ownership was not opposed to a union, Conn Smythe of Toronto was adamantly against it. The four teams were under Norris syndicate or under contract in the United States. Despite Smythe's efforts, the Toronto Maple Leafs players overwhelmingly voted to unite. It was the turn of Detroit to assemble, and the Norrises would fight back.

When asked about the formation of the NHLPA, Lindsay said, "We don't have many grievances." "We just felt we should have an organization of this sort." Lindsay, one of the league's best players, was first fired from his captaincy and then traded to the struggling Chicago Black Hawks. Jack Adams then sparked rumors about Lindsay and derogatory remarks made against his old team in the media, as well as a fake deal that showed an overpaid annual salary to the public. The ruse worked, but the Red Wings players stayed out of it, and the union was discarded by the ruse. Harvey went from Montreal to the New York Rangers in a similar fashion.

Lindsay also brought an anti-trust lawsuit against the league, alleging a monopoly since 1926. The players had a solid argument, and Frank Calder's attempts against the American Hockey Association (AHA) in 1926 and 1932, notably including James E. Norris on the AHA front. In addition, the various Norris arenas were losing money due to ticket scalping and under-reporting arena capacities and actual ticket sales. The NHL, rather than going to court in February 1958, fulfilled the majority of the players' demands, but the pension scheme was not revealed until 1989, revealing a deficit of $25 million. Although a labour union was not established in 1958, a permanent union would be established in 1967.

Part of the problem of organising the players was confusion about the kind of association they were forming. The NHLPA had applied for recognition in Canada, but the OLRB had no expertise with workers like hockey players. 8 members of the NHLPA decided on individual terms and decided to continue bargaining in this manner. The issue of the NHLPA being a real union, where the participants were bound together and fighting for collective agreements was unclear. Milton Mound, the NHLPA's legal counsel, reported that the players will negotiate on topics that are common to all players (pensions, allowances), but that individual contracts will be retained. 9 players were forming a "trade union" and were no better than "commies" and would not be eligible for individual bonuses, according to Conn Smythe, who argued that players were becoming a "trade union" and were no better than "commies" and that "commies" were excluded from "commies." 5,8 He believed that hockey players were "independent contractors" and had no right or reason for a joint association.

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Both employer and employee were concerned about the confusion. The certification process had exacerbated the situation. The OLRB was taking time, and no one knew how this transnational group would function or how it would be recognized by the US National Labor Relations Board. 6 In fact, the NLRB begged the NHLPA to drop its unfair labour discrimination charge on November 20, 1957, arguing that it did not have jurisdiction. In early January 1958, the Montreal Canadiens players' withdrawal from the club was followed by 10–11.

On January 7, the OLRB's meeting was restarted, but both the League and the participants were worried. The NHL was convinced that the ORLB was not going to refuse the application no matter how they ruled on the union versus association issue, and that the players were concerned (especially because they didn't want to be a traditional "union").

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The players and owners wanted to get to the bottom of it, so they assembled, without lawyers, in the Biltmore Hotel's boardroom, just after the regular NHL winter meetings. 12 The NHL promised an out-of-court settlement on February 5, 1958:

The Lester B. Pearson Award was later named to the Ted Lindsay Award in honor for his role in the establishment of the original Players' Association. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation produced Net Worth, a hockey movie based on Lindsay's fight to establish the NHL Players' Union, which was based on the Lindsay chapters in the book of the same name.

The Red Wings' activities, although retaining influence over the players, hindered their on-ice record. Jack Adams was dismissed in 1961. Lindsay lived in Chicago for three years before retiring in 1960. The 39-year-old Lindsay, who was then a coach and general manager of the Red Wings, was enticed into a comeback by his former linemate, Abel. He appeared in just one season, leading Detroit to its first regular season championship since being drafted seven years ago.

In the 1965 interleague draft, the Red Wings did not have enough space on their roster to shield Lindsay. He wanted to retire as a Red Wing, and Abel and Abel planned to have him hide on the retired list for the 1965–66 season in the hopes of seeing him back for a "Last Hurrah" season next year. However, when Maple Leafs owner Stafford Smythe heard of this, he coerced the league to veto it, causing Lindsay to stay retired.

Lindsay had 479 goals and 851 assists in his 1,068 regular season appearances. He appeared in 133 playoff games and scored 47 goals and 96 points. On eight occasions, he was elected to the first All Star squad eight times and the second team on one occasion. In 1966, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he declined to attend the men-only function since he was not allowed to bring his wife and children. The laws were updated the following year, allowing women to attend. The Detroit Red Wings reflected his contributions to the team by retiring his number No. 95 on November 10, 1991. 7. He was ranked 21 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players in 1998.

NBC paid the NHL $500,000 for the right to broadcast games on national television in the United States in 1972. Lindsay and Tim Ryan, who did the play-by-play, were hired to do the color analysis. When Lindsay appeared on camera, his rough features, as well as the many cuts and stitches he acquired during his playing days, were apparent.

Lindsay was hired as the Red Wings' general manager in 1977, when the Red Wings were struggling just to make the playoffs. "Aggressive hockey has returned to town," he said in television commercials shortly after being taken over as general manager. He was named NHL executive of the year for his contributions. The Red Wings made the playoffs for the first time in nine years and won a playoff series for the first time in 12 years. He opted himself head coach late in the 1979-80 season. He started the 1980-81 season on the bench but was forced to leave after a 3-14-3 start.

Lindsay was a "Honored Member" of the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association and was instrumental in the organization's efforts to raise funds for children's charities in Metro Detroit. In December 2008, he attended the Special Olympics Sports Celebrities Festival in Toronto.

The Red Wings honored Lindsay's career with an original sculpture designed by artist Omri Amrany, who also created the Gordie Howe statue, on the Joe Louis Arena concourse on October 18, 2008.

The Ted Lindsay Foundation was established in 2001 to fund scientific trials into a cure for autism. The foundation has raised over $3.4 million to fund autism research and provide a network of families of those with autism. In 2007, his foundation donated over $100,000 to the Thoughtful House Center for Children.

The Lester B. Pearson Award will be reintroduced as the Ted Lindsay Award for his work, tenacity, leadership, and his contribution to the establishment of the original Players' Association on April 29, 2010. Every year, the Players' Association honors the NHL's Most Outstanding Player of the Regular Season.

Lindsay was Bob Erbey's third cousin, as well as being a distant cousin of brothers Bert and Con Corbeau, who were both Stanley Cup winners.

Lindsay was elected to the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and in 2009, she was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Lindsay was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree by Oakland University in April 2018.

Lindsay died in Oakland, Michigan, on March 4, 2019.

Lindsay was born during the Red Wings' game on March 7, 2019, where they met the New York Rangers for the first time. Every seat had a commemorative number 7, and the Red Wings beat 3–2 in a close game that culminated in a shootout. On March 8, Little Caesars Arena was held in honor of Lindsay.

Career statistics

* Stanley Cup champion.

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Awards and honours

• NHL First All-Star Team (1948, 1950–1954, 1956, 1957)
• NHL Second All-Star Team (1949)
• NHL All-Star Game (1947–1957)
• Art Ross Trophy winner (1950)
• Memorial Cup winner (1944)
• Four-time Stanley Cup champion (1950, 1952, 1954, 1955)
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966
• Inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2002
• Detroit Red Wings #7 retired on November 10, 1991
• The Hockey News Executive of the Year (1977)
• In January 2017, Lindsay was part of the first group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.