Ed Litzenberger passes away at age 78
- Thread starter kmad
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pappyline
Registered User
Sad news. He was my favorite player.
At his peak, he was a genuine superstar. Up there with Howe, Beliveau & Bathgate. Too bad he had to compete for RW allstar spots with the likes of Howe, Rocket, Geoffrion & bathgate.
Great puck handler and passer with a wicked slapshot. One of the hardest shots of his era. His stats dropped off after a car accident in 1960 where he was seriously injured & his wife died. Still played several more years as a role player & won 4 cups. Captain of the Hawks when they won the cup in 61.
One thing that always puzzled me was his brief time with Detroit. Started off centering Howe & Delvecchio and was outscoring them. For some reason Adams soured on him and eventually put him on waivers. Never could figure that out.
Always felt the Hawks should have retired his number.
At his peak, he was a genuine superstar. Up there with Howe, Beliveau & Bathgate. Too bad he had to compete for RW allstar spots with the likes of Howe, Rocket, Geoffrion & bathgate.
Great puck handler and passer with a wicked slapshot. One of the hardest shots of his era. His stats dropped off after a car accident in 1960 where he was seriously injured & his wife died. Still played several more years as a role player & won 4 cups. Captain of the Hawks when they won the cup in 61.
One thing that always puzzled me was his brief time with Detroit. Started off centering Howe & Delvecchio and was outscoring them. For some reason Adams soured on him and eventually put him on waivers. Never could figure that out.
Always felt the Hawks should have retired his number.
Dido, I was glad to see that Hull and company from their last Cup could see the hawks win last year.
The link site is great a real labor of love.
When Litzenberger had those great years with the Black Hawks, it irked me no end that the Canadiens had given him away as part of the Help the Hawks program. It semed he might be headed for a Hall of Fame career until his injury in the car wreck. As I remember--and Pappyline can correct me if I'm wrong--the one weakness in his game was relative lack of skating speed. And, despite his size, he did not have much of a tough side to his game.
pappyline
Registered User
Before the car accident, he was definitely on his way to a HOF career. Certainly are some guys in there that had lesser careers(Edgar Laprade comes to mind). Odd that Montreal let such a talented player go in the help the Hawks program. No other team was quite so generous. Certainly shows the depth the Habs had. Best thing that ever happened to Litz. Got more playing time & pp time & was part of a team on the rise. He scored a game winning goal in the big upset of the Habs in 61.
Peter9, do you remember him from his time with Montreal? I believe he mostly played RW on a line with Ken Mosdell & Calum Mackay. Mosdell made the 2nd AS team that year.
Regarding skating speed, I would say he was about average at his peak.He maybe lost a step after the car accident. Regarding toughness, he was a clean player but could look after himself. As Hawks best player for 5 years, I am sure that he had to put up with some guys taking runs at him but he was big and quite strong. Could be chippy enough. He had 63 pim in one season. Definitely not a Lady Byng candidate.
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tony d
New poll series coming from me on June 3
Canadiens1958
Registered User
Ed Litzenberger
Ed Litzenberger played less than half a season with the 1954-55 Canadiens. He was not a favourite of Dick Irvin Sr. and saw semi regular duty. Irvin Sr followed him to Chicago.Ed Litzenberger enjoyed his best years after Dick Irvin Sr left the Hawks following the 1955-56 season.
Ed Litzenberger never had the luxury of elite linemates with Chicago nor the benefit of a quarterback defenseman - Pilote was still learning the league.Within this context his numbers are impressive.His skating was somewhat deceptive. Slightly above average for the era. Post accident he seemed to have stamina issues. With the Leafs he had success as a spot player.
Ed Litzenberger played less than half a season with the 1954-55 Canadiens. He was not a favourite of Dick Irvin Sr. and saw semi regular duty. Irvin Sr followed him to Chicago.Ed Litzenberger enjoyed his best years after Dick Irvin Sr left the Hawks following the 1955-56 season.
Ed Litzenberger never had the luxury of elite linemates with Chicago nor the benefit of a quarterback defenseman - Pilote was still learning the league.Within this context his numbers are impressive.His skating was somewhat deceptive. Slightly above average for the era. Post accident he seemed to have stamina issues. With the Leafs he had success as a spot player.
Axxellien
Registered User
Ed Litzenberger....
.Yes, an early Power Forward on a surging Chicago team,,,Was never the same after that accident....Hope the Hawks stage an honour...
.Yes, an early Power Forward on a surging Chicago team,,,Was never the same after that accident....Hope the Hawks stage an honour...
I seem to be outvoted on my memory that he was not a good skater. I tried to find support on the web but the best I could find was an observation in one biographical note that he was "gangly but effective." Perhaps that gangly bit was what struck me all those years ago. Or perhaps it was that he suffered in comparison with his linemate in later years, Bobby Hull.
I don't really remember Litzenberger with the Canadiens. The game summaries do show he played with Calum MacKay and Kenny Mosdell in his half-season with the Canadiens. That 1954-55 season, Maurice Richard started out playing with Bert Olmstead and Jackie Leclair--now there was a fine skater--but after Litzenberger left, Richard's linemates were mainly Dickie Moore and Mosdell (who was replaced the following season by Henri Richard in his rookie year). Olmstead switched places with Moore, joining Beliveau and Geoffrion for the last half of the 1954-55 season.
In looking at the stats, I noted that because of the trade, Litzenberger ended up playing 73 games that season, which must have been the record for most games in a season, or close to it, since the regular season was then 70 games long.
Canadiens1958
Registered User
Apt Description
Apt description. Players taller than six feet were the exception during the fifties and there was a perception that their skating was not as good because they could not easily take advantage of their longer stride nor did they turn or corner as sharply or efficiently in a smaller space as the shorter players could.
Ed Litzenberger from my recollections was a better skater than the various tall defensemen and more than held his own with the tall forwards.
Apt description. Players taller than six feet were the exception during the fifties and there was a perception that their skating was not as good because they could not easily take advantage of their longer stride nor did they turn or corner as sharply or efficiently in a smaller space as the shorter players could.
Ed Litzenberger from my recollections was a better skater than the various tall defensemen and more than held his own with the tall forwards.
pappyline
Registered User
Axxellien
Registered User
...Yes, He did participate to that Leafs Dynasty of the 60s...He also won 2 AHL Calder Cups with Rochester later on....For sure both Montreal & Toronto franchises were stacked with native & aquired overflow talent, no doubt about it!
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pappyline
Registered User
The thing is, Imlach was a Great General Manager and picked off other team cast offs & used them with great success. Litzenberger helped toronto win cups yet Detroit let him go & received nothing in return. Chicago traded him to detroit for Melnyk & smith. Two guys that didn't help them. Both teams should have kept him. they would have been better off.
Yes, it was a great mistake for the Canadiens to let Litzenberger go to the Black Hawks during the 1954-55 season, it was a great mistake when the Black Hawks let Litzenberger go to the Red Wings, and it was a great mistake when the Red Wings let Litzenberger go to the Leafs.
The funny thing about the Litzenberger transfer from the Canadiens to the Black Hawks is that it was allowed because, as Canadiens 1958 notes, coach Dick Irvin wasn't fond of Litzenberger, and yet Irvin became coach of the Black Hawks the very next season.
As I've noted before in an exchange a few years ago with Pappyline, that 1960-61 Hawks team was loaded with Canadiens cast-offs who, much to my dismay, helped prevent the Canadiens from winning a sixth straight Stanley Cup although the Canadiens had dominated in the regular season.
Axxellien
Registered User
Amen:
..Imlach was indeed a genius at picking up Talents & placing them at the right place & at the opportune time...
..Imlach was indeed a genius at picking up Talents & placing them at the right place & at the opportune time...
pappyline
Registered User
For sure that Hawk 61 cup team was loaded with Canadien cast offs. players like Litz,Bill Hay,Murray Balfour, Reg fleming, Ab Mcdonald, Dollard St.Laurent. A lot of these players they paid for in cash. I guess Montreal had so much depth they couldn't keep everybody and had to make some tough decisions. They probably thought sending them to the doormat Blackhawks would do the least harm. boy, were they wrong.
