Nick Libett
Nick Libett | |||
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Stratford, Ontario, Canada | December 9, 1945||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb) | ||
Position | Left wing | ||
Shot | Left | ||
Played for |
Detroit Red Wings Pittsburgh Penguins | ||
National team |
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Playing career | 1963–1981 |
Lynn Nicholas Libett (born December 9, 1945)[1] is a Canadian retired ice hockey player. He played 12 years in the National Hockey League as a left winger for the Detroit Red Wings (1967–79) and Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–1981). In 982 career games, he scored 504 points, and was captain of the Red Wings on two occasions during the 1970s.
Career
[edit]Libett was born in 1945 at Stratford, Ontario.[1] He played youth hockey with the Stratford Pee Wees and the Stratford Junior Braves.[2]
Professional hockey
[edit]Libett played junior hockey with the Hamilton Red Wings from 1962 to 1966, and began his professional hockey career with the Memphis Wings (1965–67) and Fort Worth Wings (1967-68).[1]
Libett made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1967-68 season. He was a starter at left wing for Detroit for 11 consecutive seasons from 1968-69 through the 1978-79 season. He led the NHL in games played four times, scored at least 20 goals six times, averaged over 50 points a season from 1971 to 1975, represented Detroit in the 1977 NHL All-Star Game, and finished seventh in the voting for the Frank J. Selke Trophy during the 1978-79 season.[1] He played in the playoffs only twice in his twelve seasons with the Red Wings.
On August 3, 1979, Libett was traded by the Red Wings to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Pete Mahovlich.[3] He played two season with the Penguins, retiring after the 1980-81 season at age 35.[1]
Family and later years
[edit]After retiring from hockey, Libett continued to live in metropolitan Detroit, working for Decoma, an automotive supplier and subsidiary of Magna International.[4] He survived non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the late 1980s.[5]
Libett and his wife, Jacqueline B. Libett, had three children: Stephanie, Christopher and Kathleen. Jacqueline died in 2019; they had been married for 53 years.[6]
Career statistics
[edit]Regular season and playoffs
[edit]Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1961–62 | Stratford Cullitons | CJHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1962–63 | Hamilton Red Wings | OHA | 32 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1963–64 | Hamilton Red Wings | OHA | 49 | 23 | 19 | 42 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1963–64 | Cincinnati Wings | CPHL | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1964–65 | Hamilton Red Wings | OHA | 51 | 24 | 37 | 61 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1965–66 | Hamilton Red Wings | OHA | 42 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 39 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
1965–66 | Memphis Wings | CPHL | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1966–67 | Memphis Wings | CPHL | 62 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 30 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||
1967–68 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 22 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1967–68 | San Diego Gulls | WHL | 10 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1967–68 | Fort Worth Wings | CPHL | 40 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1968–69 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 75 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1969–70 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 76 | 20 | 20 | 40 | 39 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
1970–71 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 78 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1971–72 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 77 | 31 | 22 | 53 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1972–73 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 78 | 19 | 34 | 53 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1973–74 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 67 | 24 | 24 | 48 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1974–75 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1975–76 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 20 | 26 | 46 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1976–77 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1977–78 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 23 | 22 | 45 | 46 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | ||
1978–79 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 68 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1979–80 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 78 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
1980–81 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 43 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
NHL Totals | 982 | 237 | 268 | 505 | 472 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
International
[edit]Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Canada | WC | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
Senior totals | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Nick Libett NHL Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
- ^ "Stratford Sports Wall of Fame 2013 - Athlete: Nick Libett". City of Stratford. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- ^ "Pens Get Libett For Mahovlich". The Pittsburgh Press. August 3, 1979 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jerry Green (February 16, 1997). "Ex-Wing Libett still skating". Detroit Free Press – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Libbett can relate". Detroit Free Press. July 31, 1994 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Jacqueline B. Libett". Legacy.com. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
External links
[edit]- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- 1945 births
- Living people
- Canadian ice hockey left wingers
- Cincinnati Wings players
- Detroit Red Wings captains
- Detroit Red Wings players
- Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
- Fort Worth Wings players
- Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) players
- Memphis Wings players
- San Diego Gulls (WHL) players
- Ice hockey people from Stratford, Ontario
- Pittsburgh Penguins players