Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Alex Delvecchio
When I was a little kid in Detroit-- a little kid who played hockey-- we all had to pick our favorite Red Wing. The most popular choice, of course, was Gordie Howe, the remarkable wing who was one of the best players in NHL history (and who owned a rink in the town north of us where sometime he would come out of the office to yell at people goofing off during free skating).
My choice, though, was Alex Delvecchio, the talented but often ignored center on the line with Howe and Ted Lindsay who just died at age 93. He was a team player who wasn't flashy; he was even known for playing with a stick with no curve to the blade so that he could shoot backhand as well as forehand.
I never met him or knew a lot about him other than how he played. But that was enough-- that is how I wanted to play, making others better. In the end, I wasn't great at that, at least on the rink, but the lesson was an important one....
