Sid Abel  Sidney Gerald "Sid" Abel (February 22, 1918February 8, 2000) was a Canadian Hall of Fame hockey player, coach and general manager in the National Hockey League, most notably for the Detroit Red Wings, and was a member of three Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1943, 1950, and 1952. In 2017 Abel was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. Born in Melville, Saskatchewan, "Old Bootnose", as he was known, Abel joined the Red Wings in 1938 after playing junior hockey with the Flin Flon Bombers. He split the next two seasons between Detroit and their affiliates in the International-American Hockey League before becoming a full-time player in 1940. Abel was named captain of the Red Wings in 1942. In 1943, Abel left the Red Wings to serve with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. During this time he skated with the RCAF team in Montreal. Abel was demobilized late in the 1946 season, regaining his team captaincy, just in time for the playoffs. In 1947, Abel and Ted Lindsay were teamed up with rookie right winger Gordie Howe as a forward line by Red Wings' coach Jack Adams. While Abel's effectiveness late that season and in the playoffs was limited by an attack of pleurisy, the line paid immediate dividends, turning Lindsay into a star and leading the team to a playoff berth. The following season, Lindsay, Abel and Howe finished 1-3-4 in team scoring, while leading the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup Finals. By the 1949 season, the newly dubbed "Production Line" led the Wings to the first of seven consecutive regular season first-place finishes, an unsurpassed NHL record, hampered only by serious injuries that cost Howe and Lindsay much of the season. Abel was tied with Lindsay for third in NHL scoring while leading the league in goals and recording career highs in goals and assists, and was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player, as well as being named to the First All-Star Team. The next three seasons saw Abel lead the Production Line to surpass any other forward line in points, and in 1950 season Lindsay, Abel and Howe finished 1-2-3 in league scoring, equalling the feat of the famed "Kraut Line" of the Boston Bruins from 1939 to 1940. Abel repeated his First All-Star Team honour in 1950 en route to playing for his second Stanley Cup champion, and was named Second Team All-Star in 1951.