@UntimelyRippd

the anti-constitutional right-wing thugs in the Senate consented to pass a resolution honoring recently deceased Ted Lindsay, who was an NHL superstar in the 40s and 50s. he played for Detroit. he accomplished all sorts of things on and around the hockey rinks over the course of his life, but he failed completely in the most important effort of his career. I was mildly surprised to see it listed in the roll of his achievements, not because he failed, but because many of the swine who voted him this honor have nothing but contempt for people who do what he tried to do:

Whereas Robert Blake Theodore Lindsay (referred to in this preamble as “Ted Lindsay”) was born in Renfrew, Ontario, Canada, on July 29, 1925, and was a professional hockey player known for his love of the sport and defense of players’ rights;

Whereas, in 1917, the father of Ted Lindsay, Leslie “Bert” Lindsay, was one of the first players in the National Hockey League (in this preamble referred to as the “NHL”) and was the first NHL goalie in the history of the league to record a win;

Whereas Ted Lindsay entered the NHL in 1944 at 19 years of age when he joined the Detroit Red Wings;

Whereas Ted Lindsay was known as a fierce competitor who earned the nicknames “Terrible Ted” and “Old Scarface” for his toughness;

Whereas the NHL developed 2 penalties, elbowing and kneeing, because of his physical play;

Whereas Ted Lindsay played left wing on the “Production Line” alongside Gordie Howe and Sid Abel, the most productive offensive scoring unit in the NHL from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s;

Whereas Ted Lindsay played 14 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and led the team to 4 Stanley Cup championships;

Whereas, in 1950, Ted Lindsay started one of the most beloved traditions in the NHL by lifting the Stanley Cup over his head and skating around the rink after winning the Stanley Cup Finals;

Whereas Ted Lindsay led an effort to organize the first National Hockey League Players’ Association;

Whereas the Detroit Red Wings stripped Ted Lindsay of his captaincy and traded Ted Lindsay to the struggling Chicago Black Hawks in retribution for his actions to unionize NHL players;

...

If you're thinking, who the fuck cares about unionizing a bunch of millionaire athletes, I get where you're coming from, but here's the thing: in the 1950s, NHL players were damned near serfs. They weren't especially well-paid, they had no free agency at all, and they were treated as disposable -- a hard thing in a sport as physically punishing as hockey. A hockey player who took a puck in the face would leave the ice, go to the dressing room, get stitched up, and return to the game. A week later, he'd get the doctor's bill in the mail. There was supposed to be some sort of pseudo-pension funded by player contributions, but the team owners controlled the fund and gave the players no information about where their money was going. To get an idea of just how badly fucked up it was, consider Lindsay's linemate, Gordie Howe, the superstar of the era, who played for TWENTY-FIVE years in the NHL: In 1990, Howe was collecting a pension of a little over $1000/month. Canadian.

Even in the late 60s and early 70s, it was bad enough that one of the two greatest players of the post-Howe era, Phil Esposito, worked a summer job:

I started working in a steel plant when I was 15. When I turned 16, I got my driver's license and drove trucks at the plant — the tires were taller than I was — and bulldozers. I did that every summer until I was 30 years old. People don't realize that we didn't make enough money playing hockey to survive, so in the summer we worked. The year I scored 76 goals I made like 18 grand or something.

That year was 1971, Howe's final season -- and to put it in perspective, the previous record for goals scored was 58. At times, early in his NHL career, the money was so bad Esposito considered quitting to drive trucks full time. (Another NHL'er of the time once remarked that he might have to quit so as to focus on his growing restaurant business. Sadly, Tim Horton was killed driving home to Toronto after a game in Buffalo.)

One last note on the general cool-dudeness of Lindsay, taken from the resolution:

Whereas, in 1966, Ted Lindsay was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but refused to attend the men-only ceremony without his wife and children, leading to a rules change the following year;