Lindsay was positive influence on generations of Red Wings

When the Detroit Red Wings have open stalls in their locker room, they don't leave nameplates empty. They don't use generic nameplates, either. They fill the void with their biggest names, as if those old players were still there skating, training and dressing among the boys.
Their first choice, out of all the icons in their 93-season history, is always Ted Lindsay.

"He's the constant that's in there all the time," Red Wings equipment manager Paul Boyer said. "All the time."
Lindsay died Monday at age 93. He hadn't been around as much lately because of his failing health. But even in retirement, after years as a player, coach and general manager, he was in that room often.
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This was the legendary Terrible Ted, the ferocious 5-foot-8, 163-pound left wing who played on the Production Line, won the Stanley Cup four times in the 1950s and helped found what is now the NHL Players' Association.
And to the later generations, he wasn't just a black-and-white photo on the wall or a No. 7 in the rafters or a glass plaque at the Hockey Hall of Fame or a trophy for the most outstanding player as voted by the NHLPA.
He was an example, an inspiration. They could see the scars on his face and hear the passion in his voice.
"He was a great, great player -- obviously, his jersey's in the rafters -- but he was a better person," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. "He loved the game of hockey. He loved the people in the game. He loved the Red Wings."
When Mike and Marian Ilitch bought the team in 1982, their first hire was Jimmy Devellano as GM. Lindsay had played for the Red Wings from 1944-57, before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, and come out of retirement for a last hurrah with them in 1963-64. He'd been their GM from 1977-80 and their coach for 29 games over two stints from 1979-81. And he was still there.

"He'd come in and work out," said Devellano, now Red Wings senior vice president. "He was a fitness freak. But he loved to be around the players. He loved to be around hockey people. He was just really a hockey guy."
Lindsay made an impression when the Winnipeg Jets traded forward Jim Nill to the Red Wings in 1988.
"You're at practice, and you're working out," said Nill, who worked in the Red Wings front office from 1994-2013 and is now general manager of the Dallas Stars. "All of a sudden, you look, and that's Ted Lindsay. And there he is in the weight room. … It's almost like you say, 'When I grow up, I want to be like that guy. … Boy, he's got something. I want part of that.' "
Even someone like Mark Howe revered Lindsay. Howe was the son of Gordie Howe, Mr. Hockey, Lindsay's old linemate, and he was a defenseman on his way to the Hockey Hall of Fame himself.
"I was 38, 39, 40 years old," said Howe, who played for the Red Wings from 1992-95 and now scouts for them. "Ted Lindsay walks in the room, and you just stand up, you walk over, you go shake his hand. 'Good morning. How you doing?' It's neat, if you have any respect for history or the past. My thinking is, how can you not?
"He was a vicious, vicious competitor and a (heck) of a hockey player. I think it was pretty awesome to have a guy like that in the locker room."
Boyer joined the Red Wings in 1994. A couple of years later, he visited the Detroit Tigers and saw how they used nameplates of icons like Ty Cobb and Al Kaline when stalls were empty in the clubhouse. He replicated that.
The difference with Lindsay was that he actually was still using the locker.
"He was really happy to be around the dressing room, because he never left it," said Scotty Bowman, who coached the Red Wings from 1993-2002 and is now a senior adviser with the Blackhawks. "When I was there, he was there every day.
"I used to see him working out in the gym. I used to kid him. I said, 'I know you're not going to make another comeback, but try to get some more guys in here.' He liked that. He was proud. He was something."
When Mike Babcock coached the Red Wings from 2005-15, he would include Lindsay in team meetings. Once, he had Lindsay do a "family day," canceling the morning skate so Lindsay could share pictures of growing up in the mining town of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, and playing in the old NHL.
Listen to how Babcock refers to him.
"Mr. Lindsay was a real good friend of mine and an example to all of us," said Babcock, now coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. "He made you want to be a better man. He made our players in Detroit want to compete harder."

The players knew he was watching. He stayed current whether the Red Wings were at home or on the road, and Holland said he had a soft spot for players with intensity.
"Whether we were playing great or we weren't doing as well, he always had the great positive attitude," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "He shared with us how much that he was still working out quite a bit and staying in shape. Just a great, great person to be around. You always felt better about yourself and about the team after sitting with him for a few minutes."
The Red Wings will keep putting up Lindsay's nameplate in the locker room.
"It's just his presence, on and off the ice," Boyer said, mixing the present tense with the past. "There was an air about Ted Lindsay because he was Ted Lindsay. It wasn't arrogant. He was the kindest, most gentle man in the world. You wanted to be around Ted.
"It will continue. We'll keep him up the whole way."
NHL.com correspondent Aaron Vickers contributed to this report