1973-74 O-Pee-Chee 1 Alex Delvecchio Hockey Card (Front)
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee 1 Alex Delvecchio Hockey Card (Back)
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
Four-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for clean, effective play, Alex is captain of the Red Wings. He is starting his 23rd season with the Wings, and has played in over 1,500 games. Only once has he missed more than four games in one season.
En Français
Alex, qui est capitaine des Red Wings, a reçu le Trophée Lady Byng à quatre reprises. Il commence sa 23ème saison avec les Wings et il a participé à plus de 1,500 parties. Seulement une fois a-t-il manqué plus de quatre joutes en une saison.
Details
ERROR. Alex Delvecchio won the Lady Byng Trophy three times over his NHL career, not four as stated on the back of this 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee hockey card. Finishing his NHL career with 1,550 regular season games played, Fats sat just 383 minutes in penalties. Interestingly, out of the 13 PIM he was assessed in 1972-73, five were from a fight with Bobby Clarke. We take a closer look at the game here: Bobby Clarke vs. Alex Delvecchio.
Delvecchio went just eleven games into the 1973-74 NHL season before hanging up the blades and stepping behind the bench to become the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. He coached the club for parts of four seasons, not reaching the post season once.
Alex’s 1,550 games played now place him 16th all-time in NHL history. He is now second among players that accumulated all their games with just one team. Fellow Detroit Red Wing Niklas Lidstrom is ahead by just 14 games.
When it comes to an exemplary attendance record, you can argue that Delvecchio is the true Ironman of the game (we took a closer look at this here: Alex Delvecchio Ironman). His streak of 548 consecutive games still places him 18th all-time. If you take his first and last seasons in the NHL out of the equation (partial seasons), Alex played in 97.3% of potential games. Over a career that included 22 full seasons, that’s a pretty amazing number.
Between 1950-51 and 1973-74 Alex Delvecchio appeared in 1,550 regular season and 121 playoff games in the National Hockey League, all with the Detroit Red Wings. The three time Stanley Cup champion was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977. His jersey number 10 was retired by the Wings in 1991.