Jimmy Skinner
James Donald Skinner ( born January 12, 1917 in Selkirk, Manitoba, † July 11, 2007 in Windsor, Ontario ) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. As a long- time member of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League in various positions as a coach and official, he once won the Stanley Cup.
- 2.1 As a coach
- 2.2 The General Manager
Career
Jimmy Skinner played as a youngster on the back position for several teams in his home province of Manitoba. He later received an offer while the New York Rangers, which he turned down, however, and instead he was playing for the Flin Flon Bombers of the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League. For the first contact with the Detroit Red Wings came when he for the Indianapolis Capitals, the farm team of Detroit, in the American Hockey League in 1944 and played a little later for another farm team, which went on the ice Omaha Knights.
1947 took over Skinner 's professional team Windsor Spitfires Hettche from the International Hockey League as a coach and led it in 1949 to win the Turner Cup. In the summer of 1954 he made the jump to the National Hockey League when he was signed by the Detroit Red Wings as the successor to head coach Tommy Ivan. The Red Wings played at Skinner a good season in 1954/55, culminating in winning the Stanley Cup. It was already the seventh Stanley Cup in the history of the Red Wings and should last for the time being have been for a period of 42 years.
The following season he led the team to the finals of the playoffs again, but failed this time to the Montreal Canadiens. Skinner coached the team another year and a half, had during the 1957/58 season as coach but to resign because of health problems.
Jimmy Skinner was the organization of the Detroit Red Wings but continue to receive in various management positions. Over the years he was head of the scouting department, director of the Farm Team and Director of Player Personnel. In 1962, he won with the Hamilton Red Wings of the Memorial Cup, when he was general manager of the junior farm team. With 63 years Skinner returned in 1980 once again in the spotlight of the NHL back, and he took over the post of general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, who were in a serious crisis. But under his leadership, no improvement set in, so he was replaced after only two years by Jim Devellano.
Skinner has received numerous awards throughout his career for his services. He was honored with shots into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, the Windsor / Essex County Sports Hall of Fame and the Detroit Red Wings Hall of Fame.
Jimmy Skinner died in 2007 at the age of 90 years in Windsor in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Birth of a Tradition
Jimmy Skinner is considered one of the fathers of a tradition that is now spread throughout the NHL. When he won in 1955 as a rookie coach the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings, he kissed the cup and was one of the first who showed that gesture. Today kissing the Stanley Cup is an established tradition in the league, which is continued by players and coaches.