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Prison Bound: Red Wings 1954



How many people know that the 1953/54 Red Wings ended up in prison? Not to worry it was not a long sentence, but it was a fun one to say the least. In the upper peninsula in the town of Marquette there was the Marquette Branch prison. Authorized by the Michigan State Legislature in 1885, on the shores of Lake Superior for under $200k. The Marquette Branch Prison was completed in 1889.


Fast forward to the early fifties and we see some pretty notable characters that ended up there. The Purple Gang, a notorious prohibition gang from Detroit, had a couple people from the gang doing time there in 1953. They just so happened to know Jack Adams, the then coach of the Detroit Red Wings. When they asked him for a favor to get a hockey game staged between the Red Wings and the prison team dubbed the Pirates, Jack agreed and went to work. Warden Emery Jacques agreed with Jack Adams and the stage was set.


It was now on Leornard “Oakie” Brumm to build an ice rink for the game to be played. Brumm was the prison’s athletic director and had built many amenities for the prison to date, including a shuffleboard court, curling rink and more. As the construction was underway, the Detroit Red Wings donated hundreds of dollars worth of equipment to the cause.


Leonard “Oakie” Brumm,was a former skater on the University of Michigan 1948 NCAA Championship hockey team, so for Brumm the construction of a hockey rink was right up his alley. Although some of the prison officials were concerned about putting hockey sticks in the hands of convicted felons, these were professional hockey players, from the old days on top of it. Everyone was rest assured so the game commenced.


Years later Ted Lindsey, hall of fame red wing caption 1944-1957, was to tell an interviewer that he was not worried. He led the league in penalties in minutes and felt he and the boys could hold their own. Lindsey went on to say it was not a worrisome situation as they met and got to know the inmates that summer prior to the game and were looking forward to it.


February 2, 1954 it was cold and snowing, the makeshift rink was nothing to the polished ice surface of Olympia. It was outdoors with 30 foot walls, guard towers and razor wire. But it was set and ready for the game of a lifetime for some of the Pirate prisoners. Not only were the Red Wings and the Pirates ready for action, the entire prison population showed up to cheer on and enjoy the game. Lindsay, Terry Sawchuk, Red Kelly, Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe and the rest of the team take the ice against the Marquette Prison Pirates and the inmates were granted a moment away from doing time, a small reprieve from their sentences most would never forget.


As one could imagine the Pirates did not have much of a chance, the Red Wings were not only pro’s but could have been an All Star team with the lineup of future hall of famers they had. By the end of the first period the Wings were up 18-0, even with Terry Sawchuck leaving the pipes to sign autographs for inmates and staff. The Pirates just could not get past the defense.


Sawchuck was recruited to play goal for the Pirates in the second period. Lindsey and Howe also went to the Pirates to help out. The scorekeeping stopped in the second. The period was more of a training session, teaching the Pirates passing and other skills. The Red Wings were awarded a trophy made from a galvanized steel “Honey Bucket”. They were also awarded handmade leather wallets from the prison workshop.


Later that year the Red Wings would go on to win a more well known trophy called Lord Stanley's Cup. The Associated Press reported that the Red Wings won with a score of 5-2. So that is the tale of how the Detroit Red Wings went to prison back in the winter of 1954. Several members of that Red Wings team would go on to the NHL Hall of Fame.


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