Hall of Fame Professional Hockey Player and Coach. For 14 seasons (1929 to 1943) he played the forward and defenseman positions for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He guided the Red Wings to back-to-back Stanley Cup victories in 1936 and 1937 and again in 1943. In December 1924 he began his professional hockey career with the Saskatoon Sheiks of the Western Canada Hockey League. When Saskatoon called him up in December 1926, he refused to report and played senior hockey with the Ottawa Montagnards of the Ottawa City Hockey League instead, and played there for three seasons. In 1927 he was traded to the Detroit Olympics of the Canadian Professional Hockey League, but remained with the Montagnards for their championship season. In 1928 he joined the Olympics and played there for one season before signing with the Detroit Cougars (now Red Wings) of the NHL. He started out playing forward and switched to defense after three years and won the Hart Memorial Trophy as a defenseman in 1940, the first Red Wing to win this award. He was the captain of the Red Wings for five seasons until 1942, when he was succeeded by Syd Howe. During the 1942 to 1943 season, after missing most of it due to an injury, he served as the interim coach when Jack Adams was suspended during the 1943 playoffs. The Red Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1943, and his name was engraved on the Cup for a third and final time, becoming one of the last NHL players to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup as both player and coach, as league rules changed and playing coaches were eliminated. He retired from playing hockey the following season after knee problems began to slow him down. At the start of the 1947 to 1948 season, he was persuaded out of retirement by the Saint Louis Flyers of the American Hockey League (AHL). In his two years as coach of the Flyers, he led them from last place to the AHL Western Division Championship, the team's highest achievement at that time. He then succeeded Charlie Conacher to become the coach of the Chicago Black Hawks for the seasons of 1950 to 1951 and 1951 to 1952. After little success with the Black Hawks, he finally retired from the NHL for good. During his professional hockey career of 557 games, he scored 134 goals with 190 assists, for a total of 324 points. As coach of the Black Hawks, he posted a record of only 30 wins against 91 losses and 19 ties after two seasons. In 1959 he was a founding member of the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association, a charitable organization that is still in operation today. In 1963 he was inducted into the National Hockey League Hall of Fame and served for 21 years on the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee. He died of cancer at the age of 78.