Indulge an old romantic for a moment.
Everybody knows Howe and Yzerman and Lidstrom, rightly so. But this franchise's history is layered, and there are giants getting quietly forgotten by the younger crowd. I'll start with Ted Lindsay. 'Terrible Ted.' The man practically invented the modern winger's snarl, refused to shake hands in defeat because he wanted to remember the feeling, and then went and fought the league to start the players' association and got buried in the minors for it. That's a Red Wing.
Sid Abel centering Howe and Lindsay on the Production Line is the kind of thing you should be able to recite in your sleep.
So. Who's YOUR forgotten great? Pass the history down. The young posters here deserve the stories.
Lindsay's the right place to start, and bless you for it. Mine's Alex Delvecchio. Played his whole career here, captained the team, almost never took a penalty, and just quietly piled up the points for two decades while flashier names got the headlines. The kind of steady greatness nobody appreciates until it's gone. Reminds me a little of what Seider could be if he sticks around twenty years.
I'll throw out Larry Aurie if we're going deep cut. Original-era Wing, they used to retire his number unofficially. Most people walking around in a jersey today couldn't name him. But I'll also bang the drum for the guys YOUNG fans skip from the 90s, the Konstantinov story alone should be required reading for anyone who wears this crest.
ok the Lindsay handshake story is genuinely badass and i had never heard it, this is why i lurk the off-ice board. consider a kid under 30 successfully educated 🫡
At least somebody on this board respects the past. Half the new posters think franchise history started when the rebuild did. Lindsay would've eaten this current third line for breakfast and not noticed.
my grandfather used to talk about the Production Line like it was scripture. reading this thread feels like sitting at his kitchen table again. thank you Otto, genuinely. this is the good stuff. 🥹