Lynn Nicholas Libett (born December 9, 1945) is a Canadian retired

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. He played 12 years in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

(1967–79) and

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

(1979–1981). In 982 career games, he scored 504 points, and was captain of the Red Wings on two occasions during the 1970s.

Early years

Libett was born in 1945 at

Stratford, Ontario Stratford is a city on the Avon River (Ontario), Avon River within Perth County, Ontario, Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population of 33,232 in a land area of . Stratford is the County seat, s ...

. He played youth hockey with the Stratford Pee Wees and the Stratford Junior Braves.

Professional hockey

Libett played junior hockey with the

Hamilton Red Wings The Hamilton Red Wings were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1960 to 1974. The team was based in Hamilton, Ontario, at the Barton Street Arena, also known as the Hamilton Forum. History The Hamilton Tiger Cubs we ...

from 1962 to 1966, and began his professional hockey career with the

Memphis Wings The Memphis Wings were a professional ice hockey team in Memphis, Tennessee. They played from 1964–67 in the Central Professional Hockey League. As their name suggested, they were a farm team of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. History The Red ...

(1965–67) and

Fort Worth Wings The Fort Worth Texans were a professional ice hockey team based in Fort Worth, Texas. The Texans started playing in 1967 as the Fort Worth Wings, a minor league affiliate for the Detroit Red Wings. The team were part of the Central Hockey League ...

(1967-68). 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. He had a consecutive game streak of 389 games over five seasons, ending in March 1979. 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

in exchange for

Pete Mahovlich Peter Joseph Mahovlich (born October 10, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. Known in his playing years as "Little M", as his older brother Frank was the "Big M", Mahovlich played in the National Hocke ...

. He played two season with the Penguins, retiring after the 1980-81 season at age 35.

Family and later years

After retiring from hockey, Libett continued to live in metropolitan Detroit, working for Decoma, an automotive supplier and subsidiary of

Magna International Magna International Inc. is a Canadian parts manufacturer for automakers. It is one of the largest companies in Canada and was recognized on the 2020 ''Forbes'' Global 2000. The company is the largest automobile parts manufacturer in North Amer ...

. He survived non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the late 1980s. 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.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Libett, Nick 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 20th-century Canadian sportsmen