I don't see his name mentioned too often here. For those that watched him play, what kind of player was he? How does he rate with his contemporaries? Was his just overlooked from playing with Howe, Lindsay, and Kelly?
Alex Delvecchio
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VanIslander
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The same goes for Sid Abel.
When you talk about greatest Red Wings ever, you gotta include "Old Bootnose", the captain of the 1943, 1950 and 1952 Stanley Cup teams who led the league in goals, won the Hart trophy and won multiple 1st team all-stars against stiff competition.
Abel, pictured above, was the first pivot of the Production Line. Delvecchio the later one. Their careers are intertwined in many people's minds, and one could argue they are equally overlooked apart from discussion of greatest "lines", maybe because of being overshadowed by Howe and Lindsay.
The HOH Project on this History board certainly valued them highly on the list of all-time greatest centers:
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When you talk about greatest Red Wings ever, you gotta include "Old Bootnose", the captain of the 1943, 1950 and 1952 Stanley Cup teams who led the league in goals, won the Hart trophy and won multiple 1st team all-stars against stiff competition.
Abel, pictured above, was the first pivot of the Production Line. Delvecchio the later one. Their careers are intertwined in many people's minds, and one could argue they are equally overlooked apart from discussion of greatest "lines", maybe because of being overshadowed by Howe and Lindsay.
The HOH Project on this History board certainly valued them highly on the list of all-time greatest centers:
| 30 | Sid Abel | 5'11" | 170 | 1918 | 2000 | 1938-1954 | Canada |
| 31 | Dave Keon | 5'9" | 165 | 1940 | 1960-1982 | Canada | |
| 32 | Doug Gilmour | 5'11" | 177 | 1963 | 1983-2003 | Canada | |
| 33 | Alexander Maltsev | 5'9" | 169 | 1949 | 1967-1984 | Russia | |
| 34 | Joe Thornton | 6'4" | 220 | 1979 | 1997-present | Canada | |
| 35 | Ron Francis | 6'3" | 200 | 1963 | 1981-2004 | Canada | |
| 36 | Peter Šťastný | 6'1" | 200 | 1956 | 1975-1995 | Slovakia | |
| 37 | Alex Delvecchio | 6'0" | 195 | 1932 | 1950-1974 | Canada |
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tony d
Registered User
One of the top Red Wings ever, very solid player. Tends to not get much notice but he was always an excellent player.
He was ranked 37th on this site's list of best centers. Obviously, Mikita and Beliveau were the contemporaries that got the most attention, but I was surprised to see him ranked below Ullman and Abel as well.
Canadiens1958
Registered User
Excellent two way center, AST LW. Definition of consistency, almost a flat line prime/peak. Disciplined, excellent on ice geometry.
Alex Delvecchio Stats | Hockey-Reference.com
Alex Delvecchio Stats | Hockey-Reference.com
Killion
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^^^ This. You could call him "The Quiet Man". Quietly went about his business like a surgeon. Paced. Measured. Very strong on his skates. As solid & reliable as it gets, full bag of tricks, astute.
greyraven8
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canuck2010
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seventieslord
Student Of The Game
Ullman and Abel had a lot of the same intangibles and attributes that Delvecchio had, but in addition, they had an extra gear talent-wise. Multiple times they each reached heights in the scoring race and in Hart voting, that Delvecchio could not reach, even with Howe as his linemate for 20 years.
Canadiens1958
Registered User
Reasons why he was Howe's linemate for a long time. Defensive play and stamina. 1956-57 Ullman was part of the New Production Line with Howe and Lindsay. Set the record at that time for RS points by a line.
Still Red Wings went back to Delvecchio as Howe's regular center.
Defensively Ullman was a level below. His O6 career year - 1964-65 still saw Parker Macdonald with a better +/- amongst Detroit centers and Delvecchio was close despite not having the advantage of a career year.
NHL.com - Stats
Against the Canadiens covering Beliveau or Henri Richard was a non-starter. Ullman would be assigned Ralph Backstrom. Delvecchio drew the tough assignments.
Delvecchio's defensive play suffered because he would be extra shifted at LW. Earned an AST nomination one year.
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seventieslord
Student Of The Game
+/- says very little about defensive play, and most of Ullman's best defensive work came after Detroit.
Canadiens1958
Registered User
Entitled to your opinion. But then you confirmed my view of Delvecchio with Detroit. With Toronto Ullman had Keon as a teammate and a selection of responsible wingers - Ellis and the like.
BobbyAwe
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overpass
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Alex Delvecchio was a very valuable linemate for Gordie Howe. He could play centre or wing, but maybe more importantly he could shift between the centre’s role and the winger’s role at need within a shift.
Gordie Howe was a puck dominant winger who, unlike very few wingers in the league at the time, had the green light from his coach to carry the puck anywhere and everywhere on the ice. Centres who needed to carry the puck to be effective didn’t work with Howe. For example, when Guyle Fielder played with Howe during his brief NHL stint, he really struggled. Delvecchio was effective on the puck or off the puck, and had a high hockey IQ. His ability to adjust and play off Howe gave Howe the freedom to play his game. Similar to what Jacques Lemaire did for Guy Lafleur and Jari Kurri did for Wayne Gretzky.
Delvecchio and Howe were also a very good duo killing penalties at forward and running the power play from the blue line, which was another point of comparison to the Gretzky-Kurri partnership.
Gordie Howe was a puck dominant winger who, unlike very few wingers in the league at the time, had the green light from his coach to carry the puck anywhere and everywhere on the ice. Centres who needed to carry the puck to be effective didn’t work with Howe. For example, when Guyle Fielder played with Howe during his brief NHL stint, he really struggled. Delvecchio was effective on the puck or off the puck, and had a high hockey IQ. His ability to adjust and play off Howe gave Howe the freedom to play his game. Similar to what Jacques Lemaire did for Guy Lafleur and Jari Kurri did for Wayne Gretzky.
Delvecchio and Howe were also a very good duo killing penalties at forward and running the power play from the blue line, which was another point of comparison to the Gretzky-Kurri partnership.
Canadiens1958
Registered User
Excellent. This allowed Detroit a great deal of roster flexibility, playing retreads like Aldcorn and others with Delvecchio and Howe.
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Is it too late to resume the discussion of Alex Delvecchio on this thread?
Hockey fans who began following NHL hockey well after the first expansion might be underwhelmed with Alex Delvecchio's statistics - since his heyday predated the first expansion and the inflated statistics which resulted from it. Such fans might disregard Delvecchio as someone who put up a lot of points simply because he played a long time. But the fact is that Alex was a premier player while he was in his prime. Between 1952-53 and 1969-70, he finished in the Top Ten in goals scored five times; he finished in the Top Ten in assists ten times; and he finished in the Top Ten in points eleven times. Above this post, you'll read that Delvecchio was also an excellent defensive player.
Besides the (presumably) obvious names like Jean Beliveau and Stan Mikita, which of Alex's contemporaries at centre/center would you rank ahead of him?
Hockey fans who began following NHL hockey well after the first expansion might be underwhelmed with Alex Delvecchio's statistics - since his heyday predated the first expansion and the inflated statistics which resulted from it. Such fans might disregard Delvecchio as someone who put up a lot of points simply because he played a long time. But the fact is that Alex was a premier player while he was in his prime. Between 1952-53 and 1969-70, he finished in the Top Ten in goals scored five times; he finished in the Top Ten in assists ten times; and he finished in the Top Ten in points eleven times. Above this post, you'll read that Delvecchio was also an excellent defensive player.
Besides the (presumably) obvious names like Jean Beliveau and Stan Mikita, which of Alex's contemporaries at centre/center would you rank ahead of him?
vadim sharifijanov
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is the middle one young howe? i don't think i've ever seen a photo of him that young. weird to see him looking like such a pretty boy.
as for delvecchio, consistency, longevity, durability are key with him.
if you don't count his one game audition in 1951 and the eleven games he played in 1974, he only missed 42 games in 22 years.
he once held the third longest ironman streak ever, at 548 games.
MadLuke
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VanIslander
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I.Wouldn't.Want.To.Be.Caught.
Calling.Him.A.Pretty.Boy.
(His mother feared he would one day kill someone on the ice.)
VanIslander
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Staniowski
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Delvecchio was a great hockey player.....smart and very effective.
One of my favourites from the O6 era.
One of my favourites from the O6 era.
Iapyi
Registered User
For me Delvecchio is funny one because I remember as a young whipper snapper he was one of my favourite players for some reason.
Even being a Maple Leaf fan I just recall always liking Fats [his nickname] but to heck if I can remember why. [this is when us youngsters generally didn't like anyone on other teams, before we usually developed objectivity skills]
I mean he retired just before I became a teenager and I don't actually remember ever watching him play but I always really liked him.
Even being a Maple Leaf fan I just recall always liking Fats [his nickname] but to heck if I can remember why. [this is when us youngsters generally didn't like anyone on other teams, before we usually developed objectivity skills]
I mean he retired just before I became a teenager and I don't actually remember ever watching him play but I always really liked him.
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
I can never quite get over how hard and accurately these guys could shoot with those paddle-bladed sticks.
0:40, that’s a top-shelf shot from in tight with a stick blade shaped like a cutting board.
