Gorilla Crouch

Of course Steve Yzerman would be the dream team captain. Arguably Detroit’s best pivot in team history [although Sergei Fedorov in his prime certainly gave him a run for his money] Yzerman is flanked by the prototypical power forward and terrible Ted Lindsay. All three players rank in the franchise’s top 5 in goals scored and Yzerman is tops in assists.

Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay are both members of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Steve Yzerman will be as well as soon as he’s eligible to be enshrined

Sergei Fedorov also ranks in the top 5 in most offensive metrics, including: goals [4th], assists [5th], points [4th], even-strength, power play and short-handed goals [2nd in each category], and plus minus and game-winning goals [2nd as well]. Sid Abel doesn’t rank amongst the career leaders when it comes to offensive production but he was a member of the production line and won the Hart trophy in 1949. Brendan Shanahan is another recent Red Wing who ranks among the career leaders in most offensive categories, including goals [7th], points [8th], even-strength, power play, and game-winning goals [3rd for each].

Sid Abel is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and both Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan are good bets to be elected into the Hall.

Alex Delvecchio was also a member of the Production Line, and his offensive production ranks him 3rd in franchise history in goals, assists and points. Syd Howe was a member of the teams that won three Stanley Cups from the mid-30s through the early 1940s. He was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965. Mickey Redmond is known nowadays for providing color commentary for the local broadcasts of Red Wings games. He won two Stanley Cups in Montreal before coming over to Detroit. I originally had John Ogrodnick in this spot [someone had to rep the Dead Wings!] but Joe Pelletier suggested Redmond and it was an inspired suggestion. Redmond had two 50+ goal seasons in Detroit.

This actually ended up being a great fourth line. I was originally going to put Ebbie Goodfellow [from the mid-30s championship teams] here and Norm Ullman [who was a prolific scorer back in the 1950’s and 1960’s], but Joe suggested Tony Leswick and Kris Draper. Given this is the fourth line we are talking about they were both perfect fits.

Of course I planned on having Probie in the lineup given he is without a doubt one of the best fighters in NHL history. When Joe mentioned Leswick I checked out his Wikipedia page and this is the part that sealed the deal with putting him the lineup:

Detroit had seen the way that Leswick would go after Howe and knew that took guts. They decided to trade for Leswick after the 1950–51 season. On June 8, Tony Leswick became a Detroit Red Wing after a blockbuster trade that saw Gaye Stewart going to New York. Leswick would continue his pestering ways and was inserted on a line with Marty Pavelich and Glen Skov.

Dude was 5′7″ and he’d go after Mr. Hockey? Sold. Draper is dominant in the faceoff dot, has the wheels and defense. None of these guys are Hall of Famers but they are all folk heroes to the fans of Detroit. Perfect for the fourth line.