NHL.com’s Dave Stubbs posted an “obit” piece regarding Red Wings alumnus Marty Pavelich, who passed away recently at 96 years of age:
Pavelich won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955. He played 633 games, all with Detroit from 1947-57, and had 252 points (93 goals, 159 assists). He had 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists) in 91 Stanley Cup Playoff games, five of his goals game-winners.
“I may not have been the most talented member of those teams, but you were never going to outwork me,” he told the Free Press earlier this month. “Nor could you ever have more desire to win than I did. I would like to think my legacy and what I am most proud of was my leadership in the locker room. I hated to lose — still do — and that is what I have attempted to pass on to all of the young people in sports and business I have met through the years.”
The 5-foot-11, 168-pound native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario arrived full-time with the Red Wings having played four seasons, from 1944-47, for their junior team in Galt, Ontario, splitting his 1947-48 rookie season with the NHL team’s minor-league affiliate in Indianapolis.
Pavelich went to the playoffs in all 10 of his NHL seasons, his left-wing assignment on the powerful Red Wings of the 1950s usually to shadow the opposition’s top offensive threats.
“I was playing on a regular line and (coach) Tommy Ivan came to me one day and said, ‘We want to make a checking line,’” Pavelich told reporter Ansar Khan of mlive.com in 2022. “I played with Glen Skov and Tony Leswick. I had to check (Montreal Canadiens superstar) Rocket Richard 14 times a year. That was not easy. To me, he was the greatest goal-scorer of all-time.”
Continued; Mr. Pavelich retired to the town of Big Sky, Montana, and he helped build its first rink. Here’s what legendary Red Wings scribe Keith Gave had to say about Pavelich:
He played a critical role with that Red Wings dynasty in the 1950s, very similar to Kris Draper nearly a half century later. Both four-time Stanley Cup champions. Marty's brother Matt was a HHOF linesman. https://t.co/iJ7nAItcZP
— Keith Gave (@KeithGave) June 28, 2024
He certainly is worthy of HHOF consideration.
— Keith Gave (@KeithGave) June 28, 2024
I would argue Marty Pavelich's No. 11 belongs in the rafters at LCA. https://t.co/B5ENz7mOYK
