Delvecchio’s mentor played in the first game at the Old Red Barn on Grand River and Delvecchio’s statue sparkles at the state-of-the-art arena on Woodward. He had ties to the earliest days of Detroit’s franchise, when it was owned by a grain and shipping magnate, and he relished its rebirth as Hockeytown, when it was owned by a pizza baron.

Even before he retired, Alex Delvecchio started receiving awards. They continued for more than four decades before the Detroit Red Wings great died.

A center who skated alongside Gordie Howe on the team’s famed “Production Line,” he helped win three Stanley Cups and stood out for his clean play over 24 years in Detroit.