The post Kennedy Was a Life Saver With Red Wings appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.
Forbes Kennedy
The Detroit Red Wings traded for two future Hall of Famers to get Forbes Kennedy from the Chicago Blackhawks.
When Kennedy arrived at training camp in Sault Ste. Marie, in the fall of 1957, he was immediately turning heads.
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“Kennedy has the kind of aggressiveness that we want,” Red Wings GM Jack Adams told the Detroit Free Press. “He’s a better player than I had even hoped for.
“He’s got himself a place on our club.”
A hockey legend in the Canadian Maritimes, Kennedy died Monday at the age of 90.
Kennedy’s arrival in Detroit came as part of the package that sent Red Wings captain Ted Lindsay and goalie Glenn Hall to the Chicago Blackhawks in a July 23, 1957, trade.
At first, it appeared that he might have been worth a piece of that cost. Playing all 70 games during the 1957-58 season, Kennedy contributed 11 goals and 16 assists. His 135 penalty minutes led the Red Wings.
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Over his remaining time with Detroit, Kennedy’s production would diminish. He’d scored only three more goals in 98 games with the Red Wings. However, his aggressive streak never weakened over what would amount to a journeyman NHL career.
Kennedy was a Protector on the ice and in the Water
Arguably, Kennedy’s greatest moment with the Red Wings came not on the ice, but rather in the water.
Back home during the summer of 1959, Kennedy was working as a lifeguard in Charlottetown, PEI. One August day, leaping into action, he swam to the rescue of a young girl who was drowning, pulling her to the safety of the shore.
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Over a 603-game NHL career, Kennedy also played for the Boston Bruins, was an original Philadelphia Flyer, and closed out his NHL days with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1968-69.
That season, Kennedy led the NHL with 219 penalty minutes. He would be the last center to lead the league in PIM until another former Red Wings player, Sean Avery, did so with the Los Angeles Kings in 2003-04.
It was during the 1969 NHL playoffs against the Bruins that Kennedy’s most infamous NHL moment took place. The Bruins beat the Leafs 10-0 in Game 1 of their quarterfinal series at Boston Garden. In the midst of the rout, the teams engaged in a Stanley Cup tradition of that era, a bench-clearing brawl.
Seeking to get at Boston goalie Gerry Cheevers, Kennedy knocked linesman George Ashley to the ice when the official attempted to get between the combatants. Kennedy was suspended by the NHL for the remainder of the postseason.
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He never played another NHL game.
The post Kennedy Was a Life Saver With Red Wings appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.