named to the first All-Star team, along with defenseman Jack Stewart, while Ted and I were both named as Second Team All-Stars. I was fortunate to be selected despite fighting through a knee injury that season. In December, I had surgery to repair some torn cartilage, which cost me twenty games. Being on the shelf is always depressing, but in retrospect I can’t complain too much. It turned out to be the most games I ever missed in any one stretch in my career. I certainly had my share of injuries over the years, but I was lucky enough to play through most of them. After returning to the ice, I was eager to make up for lost time. I went on a bit of a tear to end the season, finishing with 12 goals and 25 assists in 40 games. The Red Wings topped the league in points for the first time since I’d joined the team in what would turn out to be seven straight seasons. As we headed into the playoffs, we felt as if momentum was on our side. For a while, it looked like it was. We beat Montreal in a tough seven-game series, which once again put us in the finals against the Maple Leafs. They’d had a rockier season that year, finishing fourth overall. Still, those damn Leafs managed to turn it on in the playoffs. They swept us in four games straight again. It was their third Stanley Cup in a row and we were sick of it. Getting swept once was bad enough, but having it happen in back-to-back years was like a punch to the gut. We were a proud group, and as we sat in the dressing room after our final loss of the season, we promised each other the next year would be different.
In 1949–50 we were on a mission. The taste of what it was like to play in the Stanley Cup finals was still fresh, and we knew we were good enough to finish the job. That season we again won the league championship, finishing 11 points clear of Montreal. I was twenty-one years old. It was my fourth year in the league and I felt like I’d turned the corner from being a raw kid with someability into a more complete hockey player. That year, the NHL also expanded the schedule to seventy games from sixty, which was fine by us. The members of the Production Line, who finished one-two-three in scoring, were happy to play as many games as we could. Ted led the way with 23 goals and 55 assists for 78 points. He also had 141 penalty minutes, more than twice as many as I was whistled at for that year. Sid was next, with 34 goals and 35 assists for 69 points, and I was one point behind him, notching 35 goals and 33 assists. My total that season was three points ahead of the Rocket, who finished fourth. Ted and Sid were picked as First Team All-Stars, while I was named to the second team along with teammates Red Kelly and Leo Reise Jr. Out of ten spots on the All-Star Team, five were filled by Red Wings. By the time the playoffs came around, we were certain that our talent was now steeped in enough experience to go all the way.
• • •
T he playoffs started on March 28, 1950. It was just three days before I turned twenty-two, but my birthday couldn’t have been further from my mind. We’d drawn the Leafs in the semifinals, which was fine with us. We were hungry for another crack at them after our previous playoff exits. As it happens, though, the best-laid plans often don’t work out the way you’d like. Once the puck dropped, game one was like déjà vu. The Leafs jumped out to a quick lead and were up 3–0 in the second period.
What happened next stirred up a controversy that lasted for years to come. Partway through the second period, Toronto center Teeder Kennedy was carrying the puck up his left wing. As I skated over to back-check, I was looking to anticipate his next move. I was closing in for the hit when I spotted the Leafs’ Sid Smith goingdown the middle. I figured Kennedy would move the puck to Smitty, so I leaned forward with my stick to intercept the pass. I was coming in hard and the lean brought my face closer to the ice. When Kennedy
In 1949–50 we were on a mission. The taste of what it was like to play in the Stanley Cup finals was still fresh, and we knew we were good enough to finish the job. That season we again won the league championship, finishing 11 points clear of Montreal. I was twenty-one years old. It was my fourth year in the league and I felt like I’d turned the corner from being a raw kid with someability into a more complete hockey player. That year, the NHL also expanded the schedule to seventy games from sixty, which was fine by us. The members of the Production Line, who finished one-two-three in scoring, were happy to play as many games as we could. Ted led the way with 23 goals and 55 assists for 78 points. He also had 141 penalty minutes, more than twice as many as I was whistled at for that year. Sid was next, with 34 goals and 35 assists for 69 points, and I was one point behind him, notching 35 goals and 33 assists. My total that season was three points ahead of the Rocket, who finished fourth. Ted and Sid were picked as First Team All-Stars, while I was named to the second team along with teammates Red Kelly and Leo Reise Jr. Out of ten spots on the All-Star Team, five were filled by Red Wings. By the time the playoffs came around, we were certain that our talent was now steeped in enough experience to go all the way.
• • •
T he playoffs started on March 28, 1950. It was just three days before I turned twenty-two, but my birthday couldn’t have been further from my mind. We’d drawn the Leafs in the semifinals, which was fine with us. We were hungry for another crack at them after our previous playoff exits. As it happens, though, the best-laid plans often don’t work out the way you’d like. Once the puck dropped, game one was like déjà vu. The Leafs jumped out to a quick lead and were up 3–0 in the second period.
What happened next stirred up a controversy that lasted for years to come. Partway through the second period, Toronto center Teeder Kennedy was carrying the puck up his left wing. As I skated over to back-check, I was looking to anticipate his next move. I was closing in for the hit when I spotted the Leafs’ Sid Smith goingdown the middle. I figured Kennedy would move the puck to Smitty, so I leaned forward with my stick to intercept the pass. I was coming in hard and the lean brought my face closer to the ice. When Kennedy
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