Marty Pavelich (bottom right) in a 1955 file photo of The Detroit Red Wings team.The Associated Press
For hockey stars of the 1950s, the only thing clingier than their hockey sweater was Marty Pavelich.
Mr. Pavelich, who has died at 96, was regarded as one of the best checking forwards of his era, an energetic and fast-skating left winger whose assignment it was to keep rivals off the scoresheet.
The forward won four Stanley Cup championships with a Detroit Red Wings dynasty remembered for the scoring of Gordie Howe, the defensive play of Red Kelly and the goaltending of Terry Sawchuk.
While Mr. Pavelich was overshadowed by teammates, he revelled in his role as a shadow of opposing scorers, most notably as an ardent foe of Maurice (Rocket) Richard of the Montreal Canadiens. The pair – a little-known role player versus hockey’s most dynamic player – conducted a long-running feud. The checker knew he faced a determined scorer in the Rocket.
“He had arms and forearms on him like steel and his eyes flashed when he streaked to the net,” Mr. Pavelich told Tom Keenan of the Sault Star newspaper in 2010. “It was my job to stop him, and I worked all my life to hone my skills.”
A top goal scorer himself in junior hockey, Mr. Pavelich was assigned checking duties when promoted to the Red Wings during the 1947-48 season. He quit after 10 seasons when management threatened a demotion to the minors as part of a purge of players seen to be in favour of a union. Mr. Pavelich then went on to have success as a supplier of plastic products to the automotive industry in the Motor City.
Martin Nicholas Pavelich was born on Nov. 6, 1927, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to the former Zora Stilin, known as Rose, and Matthew Pavelich, a miner born in what is now Croatia. When Marty was aged 9, his father suffered a serious injury in the Parkhill Gold Mine when his drill caused dynamite left behind by others to explode. His face was peppered by rock fragments, and he suffered serious head injuries. He died 19 months later. Rose Pavelich remarried and Marty grew up in a blended family.
Marty Pavelich was educated at Sault Technical School, where he was known as a skier and hockey player. He later became a well-known catcher, third baseman and occasional pitcher as playing manager of the Lock City Beverages senior baseball team.
Marty Pavelich was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie.The Globe and Mail
Signed to the Red Wings organization while still a teenager, he played junior hockey for three seasons in Galt, now part of Cambridge, Ont. A prolific goal scorer, he was promoted to the minor-league Indianapolis Capitals. After just 26 games, he was promoted again to the parent club to replace an injured Eddie Bruneteau as a utility forward, making his National Hockey League debut a month after his 20th birthday.
The 5-foot-11 (180 centimetre), 168-pound (76 kilogram) forward scored his first NHL goal in just his second game after batting a loose puck past Chicago’s Emile (The Cat) Francis when a Gordie Howe pass bounced off a Chicago defender.
In 1952, Detroit coach Tommy Ivan placed Mr. Pavelich on a line with centre Glen Skov and right winger Tony (Mighty Mouse) Leswick. The trio became the league’s most formidable checking unit, assigned to play against the other team’s top line, as well as handling penalty kills.
Since all three had been solid scorers in junior hockey, they not only stifled rivals but occasionally scored important goals themselves, notably Mr. Leswick’s winner against Montreal in overtime of Game 7 to settle the 1954 Stanley Cup championship.
Mr. Pavelich was part of eight Red Wings teams to win the Prince of Wales Trophy as the top team in the NHL regular season. He won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 1950, ‘52, ‘54 and ‘55.
Management made a series of trades and demotions after they learned players, led by Detroit’s Ted Lindsay, were trying to form a union. When Mr. Pavelich was offered a contract in which he could be returned to the minors, he decided to retire from hockey instead. The two players were partners in the Lindsay-Pavelich Corporation, a plastics firm that supplied the automotive industry.
In 633 NHL games, he scored 93 goals with 159 assists. He had another 13 goals and 15 assists in 91 playoff games.
He was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie.
Mr. Pavelich’s younger brother, Matt, began a long career as an NHL linesman in 1956, making them what is believed to be the first player-official brother combination in the NHL. Two months later, the NHL hired Mr. Pavelich’s linemate’s brother, Art Skov, as a linesman.
Mr. Pavelich died on June 27 in Flower Mound, Tex. Earlier this year, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was predeceased by his second wife, Marjorie, who died in 2015, at the age of 84. He was also predeceased by his first wife, the former Anna Jean Eberlein, known as Jake, who died in 1970, at the age of 39, as well as by two sisters and a brother. He leaves three adult children, three grandchildren and two brothers, including Matt Pavelich, the first linesman to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
At the time of his death, Mr. Pavelich was the last living member of the 1950 Red Wings championship team. He was also the second oldest former NHL player behind 101-year-old Steve Wochy, who played 19 games for the Red Wings the season before Mr. Pavelich made his debut.
He retired to Montana in the early 1990s to indulge a passion for skiing and fly-fishing. After church on Sunday, he would go skating on a small outdoor rink. Over time, a grassroots organization raised funds for a large outdoor rink with players’ benches, overhead lights and a second-hand Zamboni. It was named the Marty Pavelich Ice Rink in honour of the hockey player who hung up his skates only four years ago at the age of 92.
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