When it was my turn, I just skated out and heard this huge cheer. It was very touching considering the bad circumstances under which I had left the team and that I had been away for four years.

I liked playing in Chicago, and I gave them everything I had, but I knew in my heart I was a Red Wing.

At 39, I was back in a Red Wings uniform and loving it.

Some nights, I was so good that I could have become an egotist.

By 1946, I knew Detroit was the best hockey city in the Original Six.

Through the years, I have so many wonderful memories of playing with the Red Wings: winning four Stanley Cups, scoring big goals, going into battle every night side by side with my teammates, playing with every ounce of effort I could muster.

My first season Butch Bouchard accidentally sent me to the hospital for three days with a concussion, but I never backed away from Butch or anyone else after I came back.