The player who changed team loyalty in the NHL

Warren Shaw
Sep 4, 2018 · 5 min read

The Detroit Redwings and the LA Kings entered into a deal that would send superstar forward Marcel Dionne to the Kings in exchange for Dan Maloney, Terry Harper and Bart Crashley.

Detroit Hockey fans were outraged that Dionne would consider leaving them. Almost no one knew it was the Wings that did not choose to match the Kings offer which made Dionne the highest paid player in the NHL.

Fans incorrectly blamed Dionne entirely,while overlooking the fact that the Redwings did not try to match the contract offered by the Kings.

The sting of Dionne’s departure lasted a long while and the pain re-emerged when Ted Lindsay took over the Wings and created the slogan ‘Agreesive Hockey is back in town.’

Lindsay felt the team needed a star goaltender recalling the exploits of Terry Sawchuk when he was a Redwing player.

Terrible Ted behaving just like he did as a player aggressively went after Rogie Vachon. If the Kings can take our star then we can take theirs, some observers reasoned as to why Ted made the move.

Prior to Lindsay’s pursuit of Rogie the Redwings drafted a junior center-man by the name of Dale McCourt.

He was selected number one overall in the amateur draft and had broken Marcel Dionne’s scoring records while in juniors.

A native of Falconbridge, Ontario, McCourt was a junior superstar in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). He was a consistent 50-goal scorer who captained the Hamilton Fincups to the Memorial Cup in 1976. He was also honored as the Stafford Smythe Memorial trophy as Memorial Cup MVP. In 1977 McCourt. represented Canada at the 1977 World Junior Championships where he was tournament all-star and helped Canada win a silver medal. That season he was named the Canadian Major Junior player-of-the-year in 1977. He graduated juniors as the all time leader in many scoring categories. McCourt concluded his junior career with 193 goals and 286 assists in 296 games

As a first year player he was one of the top rookies in the NHL scoring 33 goals and 73 points as a freshman.

His goal total also happened to be better than Dionne’s first year total with the Wings.

The team was so high on McCourt that they gave him Hall of fame inductee Alex Delvechio’s retired number ten later naming him team captain.

McCourt’s uncle was George Armstrong who captained the Toronto Maple Leafs and also wore the number.

The Wings and Lindsay were not expecting the Kings to make hard demands for players who could match Vachon’s value to their hockey club. After back and forth legal saber rattling the case went before a judge who ruled that fair compensation would be to send McCourt to Kings.

McCourt’s sophomore year was maligned by a court battle that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. McCourt became property of the Los Angeles Kings as it was ruled he would be the compensation for Detroit’s signing of former Kings goalie Rogie Vachon. McCourt refused to report to Los Angeles, and after a lengthy court battle, McCourt remained in Detroit.

The affair seemed to affect his play as he got off to a slow start. He finished with 28 goals and 71 points. McCourt would later comment that the lengthy court battle and the subsequent blackballing by the NHL and many NHL players cost him his love affair with the NHL. McCourt’s refusal to join the Kings and his after-treatment helped change the way many players looked at their team and ushered in what is now free agency.

With Detroit unable to make the playoffs, the Red Wings and GM Ted Lindsay became impatient and traded youngsters McCourt and Mike Foligno to the Buffalo Sabres early in the 1981–82 season. The trade would be one of the most famous in Buffalo history, as Foligno became a team leader and fan favorite.

McCourt, meanwhile, was not as popular in Buffalo,the home of speedy center Gilbert Perreault. McCourt had all the skills and hockey sense, but was never a fast skater. Playing primarily with wingers Tony McKegney and Alan Haworth. McCourt struggled under coach Scotty Bowman,after two seasons of just 20 goals each, McCourt was released.

McCourt had a more fulfilling experience in international hockey by twice representing Canada at the World Championships. In 1984–85, McCourt decided. to leave the NHL migrating to Europe,joining Ambri Piotta of Switzerland. He would stay in Switzerland for seven seasons before retiring in 1991.

In retirement McCourt remained in Europe, coaching in Italy, including as an assistant coach in the 1994 Olympics. He returned to Canada in 2000 and was reported to have a job as a truck driver.

No one knows what would have happened if McCourt chose a different path accepting the courts ruling and reporting to the Kings. What is clear is McCourt’s loyalty to the Wings cost him, but like his uncle he chose the old fashioned approach to his team, that of loyalty. McCourt’s outcome helped take Marcel Dionne off the hook with many Wings fans who were initially angry at his decision to bolt the Red Wings for the City of Angels.

Ironically, it was Rogie Vachon, the original focal point of the court decision, who traded Dionne to the Rangers from the Kings while he served as GM. Things have a way of going full circle. Unfortunately, the days when stars stay on one team their entire career is over. The salary cap and free agency assure not many players will retire with the team that drafted them. Steve Yzerman was the exception. Dale McCourt wanted to stay but was denied the opportunity.

Written by

Former syndicated columnist for Bleacher Report, Hockey Writers , examiner.com and Center Ice Magazine

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