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Alex Delvecchio
Delvecchio
Position Centre
Shot Left
Height
Weight
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Teams Detroit Red Wings
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born (1931-12-04)December 4, 1931,
Fort William, Ontario, CA
Pro Career 1950 – 1974
Hall of Fame, 1977


Alexander Peter "Fats" Delvecchio, born December 4, 1931 in Fort William, Ontario, is a former player and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Playing Career[]

After playing a single junior league season for the Oshawa Generals of the OHA (during which he led the league in assists) Delvecchio joined the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League for the 1952 season, and helped the team to win the Stanley Cup that year.

He would go on to excel both at centre and left wing for twenty-two full seasons and parts of two others, and was notable for his spot on the Production line with linemates Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. No player in NHL history played more games with just the one team. One of the true gentlemen in the game of hockey, he was a three-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for combining good sportsmanship with excellence on the ice. Despite his impressive career, Delvecchio was never the Red Wings' leading scorer in a season. The closest he ever came was in the 1969–70 NHL season, where he was just 3 points behind Gordie Howe for the team lead.

Following his retirement as a player in 1973—having, at the time, played the second most games and with the second highest assist and point totals in league history—Delvecchio served two stints as Detroit's head coach and then as General Manager, until leaving hockey in 1977 to go into business. He was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in that year.

At the time of his retirement, he ranked second in nearly every significant offensive category in Red Wings history behind only Howe. He has since been passed in most of those categories by Steve Yzerman, but still ranks second all-time in games played as a Red Wing.

Career Statistics[]

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1950-51 Oshawa Generals OHA 54 49 72 121 36
1950-51 Detroit Red Wings NHL 1 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
1951-52 Indianapolis Capitals AHL 6 3 6 9 4
1951-52 Detroit Red Wings NHL 65 15 22 37 22 8 0 3 3 4
1952-53 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 16 43 59 28 6 2 4 6 2
1953-54 Detroit Red Wings NHL 69 11 18 29 34 12 2 7 9 7
1954-55 Detroit Red Wings NHL 69 17 31 48 37 11 7 8 15 2
1955-56 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 25 26 51 24 10 7 3 10 2
1956-57 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 16 25 41 8 5 3 2 5 2
1957-58 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 21 38 59 22 4 0 1 1 0
1958-59 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 19 35 54 6 -- -- -- -- --
1959-60 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 19 28 47 8 6 2 6 8 0
1960-61 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 27 35 62 26 11 4 5 9 0
1961-62 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 26 43 69 18 -- -- -- -- --
1962-63 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 20 44 64 8 11 3 6 9 2
1963-64 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 23 30 53 11 14 3 8 11 0
1964-65 Detroit Red Wings NHL 68 25 42 67 16 7 2 3 5 4
1965-66 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 31 38 69 16 12 0 11 11 4
1966-67 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 17 38 55 10 -- -- -- -- --
1967-68 Detroit Red Wings NHL 74 22 48 70 14 -- -- -- -- --
1968-69 Detroit Red Wings NHL 72 25 58 83 8 -- -- -- -- --
1969-70 Detroit Red Wings NHL 73 21 47 68 24 4 0 2 2 0
1970-71 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 21 34 55 6 -- -- -- -- --
1971-72 Detroit Red Wings NHL 75 20 45 65 22 -- -- -- -- --
1972-73 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 18 53 71 13 -- -- -- -- --
1973-74 Detroit Red Wings NHL 11 1 4 5 2 -- -- -- -- --
NHL Totals 1549 456 825 1281 383 121 35 69 104 29

Achievements[]

  • Retired ranked 2nd in NHL history in career Games Played (1549), Assists (825) and Points (1281).
  • Holds NHL records for seasons played and games played in a career spent with only one team.
  • Won three Stanley Cups with Detroit, in 1952, 1954 and 1955.
  • Delvecchio did not learn to skate until he was twelve years old, a remarkably late age for an NHL player.
  • Named a Second Team All-Star in 1953 (at centre) and 1959 (at left wing).
  • Played in the All-Star Game 13 times (in 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1967), a total surpassed by only five players.
  • Served as team captain for twelve years, a mark surpassed only in Wings' history by Steve Yzerman.
  • Remains 8th all-time in NHL history in games played and 27th in points scored.
  • Second in Red Wings history in games played; third in points, goals and assists
  • In 1998, he was ranked number 82 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
  • On November 10, 1991 his jersey, number 10, was retired by the Detroit Red Wings.
  • On October 16, 2008, The Red Wings unveiled a commemorative statue commissioned by artist Omri R. Amrany.

Gallery[]

Preceded by
Gordie Howe
Detroit Red Wings captains
1962-73
Succeeded by
Nick Libett
Preceded by
Ted Garvin
Head Coaches of the Detroit Red Wings
1973–1975
Succeeded by
Doug Barkley
Preceded by
Doug Barkley
Head Coaches of the Detroit Red Wings
1976
Succeeded by
Larry Wilson
Preceded by
Camille Henry
Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1959
Succeeded by
Don McKenney
Preceded by
Bobby Hull
Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1966
Succeeded by
Stan Mikita
Preceded by
Stan Mikita
Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1969
Succeeded by
Phil Goyette
Detroit Red Wings Head Coaches
DuncanKeatsAdamsIvanSkinnerAbelGadsbyHarknessBarkleyJ. WilsonGarvinDelvecchioL. WilsonKrommLindsayMaxnerDeaPolanoNealeParkDemersMurrayBowmanSmithLewisBabcockBlashill



This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Alex Delvecchio. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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