| | DETROIT -- Hockey's famed "Production Line" has lost its
sparkplug.
|  | | Sid Abel, shown during a 1995 ceremony to retire his No. 12, was a player, general manager, coach and broadcaster for the Wings. |
Hall of Famer Sid Abel, who centered Detroit's high-scoring line
between Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay, and later coached the Red
Wings to the Stanley Cup Finals four times, died Tuesday at age 81.
The cause of death was heart failure, said his daughter-in-law,
Karin Abel. Lindsay's wife, Joanne, said Abel had also battled
cancer and emphysema, and underwent hip surgery.
The Production Line was the NHL's premier offensive juggernaut
that made Detroit the first of the league's great postwar
dynasties. With Abel centering Howe and Lindsay, the Red Wings won
the first four of their league-record seven consecutive
regular-season titles and three Stanley Cups.
"We instinctively knew where the opposition was," said
Lindsay, 74. "We just understood each other. We knew where to go,
so we consequently were efficient."
Abel was a player, general manager, coach and broadcaster in his
32 years in the Red Wings organization.
Abel began his NHL career as the team's center in 1938 in
Detroit, spending nine full seasons and parts of three others with
the Red Wings, with two years of military service. He was named
captain of the team in the 1942-43 season at age 24, and held that
position until he was sold to Chicago after the 1951-52 season.
Howe said Abel was a mentor to all the younger players.
"I learned a lot from him from just listening," he said.
"When I was around Sid, that's the way it was. He was our captain
and leader ... he won in every aspect of the game."
With Abel, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1943, 1950 and
1952.
He accumulated 472 points (189 goals, 283 assists) in 613 career
games and ranks No. 11 in all-time team scoring for the Red Wings.
Nicknamed "Boot Nose," Abel had a league-high 28 goals in
1948-49, when he won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable
player.
The next season, he scored a personal high 34 goals and 69
points. That year, Lindsay led the NHL in scoring with Abel and
Howe finishing second and third, respectively. In the playoffs,
they led Detroit to a Stanley Cup championship over the New York
Rangers.
But there was more to Abel than just offense.
"People don't realize how rough he was," Howe told The
Canadian Press. "I got into a fight with Rocket Richard one time
and Sid stuck his nose in.
"Today, if you called someone what Sid called Rocket, you'd get
called up before a judge. Sid was leaning towards Rocket and Rocket
bopped him in the nose. When Rocket hit him, Sid said, 'You've got
to be tired,' and took him on. I couldn't help but laugh.
Afterwards, Sid told me, 'Hell, if you tire them out, I'll fight
anybody."'
But he was not as rough a player as linemates Howe and Lindsay,
and totaled just 79 penalty minutes for his entire career.
Abel left Detroit in 1952 to become the player-coach of the
Chicago Blackhawks for two season. He then retired as a player but
returned to Detroit as coach in 1957 and remained there until 1970.
During his years as Red Wings' coach, Abel amassed a mediocre
340-339-132 record, reaching the playoffs eight times but never
winning a Stanley Cup.
Abel later served as Detroit's general manager, resigning in the
1970-71 season amid a dispute with Ned Harkness, the club's rookie
head coach.
The following season, Abel was coach of the St. Louis Blues for
10 games (3-6-1). He also coached the 1975-76 Kansas City Scouts
for three losses. That franchise later moved to Colorado and
finally, New Jersey.
Abel returned to the Red Wings again in 1976-77 as an analyst on
the team's radio and television broadcasts.
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman remembered getting advice from
Abel, who was a broadcaster when he joined the team in 1983.
"We would talk about little plays," he said. "He would just
notice some things in the game and give me a little tip here and
there about what he saw and what he thought."
In 1995, Abel's No. 12 jersey was retired and raised to the
rafters in Joe Louis Arena -- fittingly between Howe's No. 9 and
Lindsay's No. 7.
"I'm a Red Wing, through and through," Abel said at the time.
"Detroit did so many things for me."
On Tuesday night before Detroit's game with St. Louis, Abel's
number was lowered slightly in tribute.
A native of Melville, Saskatchewan, Abel played in three
All-Star games and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.
He is survived by his wife, Gloria; a son, Gerald; a daughter,
Linda Johnson, all of Farmington Hills; a brother Don Abel of
Calgary, Alberta; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
A funeral was scheduled for Friday.
| |
ALSO SEE
Red Wings remember Abel with pregame tribute
|
