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Saying Farewell To An Icon |
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Hockey people, celebrities and Detroit Red Wings got their chance to say goodbye Ted Lindsay on Friday, as the club held a public visitation for the Red Wings legend at Little Caesars Arena.
Hall of Famer Lindsay, 93, who captained the Wings, won four Stanley Cups and an Art Ross Trophy and saw the mandatory three-year waiting period for his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame waived, died on Monday.
A private family funeral is slated for Saturday, but Friday was a chance for everyone else to pay their respects to someone who was an NHL legend but also so much more than that.
“ Just a first-class person is certainly how Ted is going to be remembered and obviously a feared hockey player, a very competitive hockey player,” former Wings forward Kris Draper said. “And just an outstanding man is how I remember him.
“I just can’t say enough about how Ted carried himself and his presence around our hockey team and our organization is something very special.”
Lindsay launched a charitable foundation that raised millions of dollars for autism research. In 1956, he put his career on the line to help his fellow players by spearheading organization of the NHLPA.
Every player who suited up for the Wings would eventually be fortunate enough to have Lindsay sidle up next to them in the dressing room, pull out a stool and share a coffee and a chat.
“Ted was a perfect gentleman,” former Wings forward Kirk Maltby recalled. “He was a great guy, loved to talk and reminisce and talk about the current game.
“It didn’t matter who you were. He just wanted to talk hockey, or just even say hi.”
Rookies were welcomed to the organization with a handshake and a smile from the man who stood second only to Gordie Howe among the legends of Red Wings hockey. Coaches and GMs could also count on regular jaw sessions with Lindsay.
“He’d come into my office and sit for an hour and just talk hockey, talk about the state of the team, things that he saw,” Holland said. “He loved hockey. He watched all the games. He had a passion for hockey, he had a passion for the Red Wings.
“He wanted the team to be good. He liked to be around the locker room, around the players.”
Former Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg remembered his welcome to the club from Lindsay.
“It didn’t take long until he came up and introduced himself,” Zetterberg said. “That was the kind of guy he was.”
If a player showed up early to get in a pre-practice workout, odds were pretty good that they’d find Lindsay already pumping iron in the weight room.
As fierce as they came on the ice, Lindsay, known as Terrible Ted, retired from the Wings in 1965 as the NHL’s all-time penalty minute leader, a title he held until 1976.
“That’s who Ted is, that’s how he lived his life,” former Wing Kirk Maltby said. “That’s how he played the game. It didn’t matter who he went up against. He gave everything he had, he did everything he could for the sake of his team and for the sake of winning.
“He’ll always be remembered as one of the best competitors ever to play the game.”
Lindsay will also be remembered as one of the greatest ambassadors for the sport in the history of the game.
“We’re celebrating an icon,” Holland said.
Larkin Update
Center Dylan Larkin, who missed Thursday’s shootout win over the New York Rangers, will also be out for weekend games at Tampa Bay and Florida.
“We don’t think it’s anything more than a neck strain at this stage of the game,” Holland said. “Doctors) did an MRI, a CT scan, we had people look at it.
“We’re going to get another opinion just to be sure.”
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