Jimmy Skinner

Jimmy Skinner
Date of birth	January 12, 1917
place of birth	Selkirk , Manitoba , Canada
date of death	July 11, 2007
Place of death	Windsor , Ontario , Canada
size	175 cm
Weight	83 kg
position	defender
Career stations
1938-1943	Flin Flon Bombers
1944-1945	Indianapolis Capitals
1945-1947	Omaha Knights

James Donald Skinner (born January 12, 1917 in Selkirk , Manitoba , † July 11, 2007 in Windsor , Ontario ) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach. As a long-time member of the Detroit Red Wings from the National Hockey League in various positions as coach and official, he once won the Stanley Cup .

Career

Jimmy Skinner played as a youth in the fullback position for several teams in his home province of Manitoba . He later received an offer from the New York Rangers , which he turned down and instead he played for the Flin Flon Bombers from the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League . The first contact with the Detroit Red Wings came when he played for the Indianapolis Capitals , the Detroit farm team , in the American Hockey League in 1944 and soon after went on the ice for another farm team, the Omaha Knights .

In 1947 Skinner took over the professional team Windsor Hettche Spitfires from the International Hockey League as a coach and led them to win the Turner Cup in 1949 . In the summer of 1954, he made the leap into 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 a good 1954/55 season under Skinner , which culminated in winning the Stanley Cup . It was the seventh Stanley Cup in the history of the Red Wings and should have been the last for a period of 42 years.

In the following season he led the team again in the final of the playoffs , but this time failed to the Montréal Canadiens . Skinner trained the team for another year and a half, but had to resign during the 1957/58 season due to health problems.

Jimmy Skinner remained in the Detroit Red Wings organization in various management positions. Over the years he has been Head of Scouting , Director of Farm Teams and Director of Player Personnel. He won the Memorial Cup with the Hamilton Red Wings in 1962 when he was general manager of the junior farm team. At the age of 63, Skinner returned to the limelight in the NHL in 1980 and he took over the post of general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, which were in a dire crisis. But even under his leadership there was no improvement, so that he was replaced by Jim Devellano after only two years .

Skinner has received several awards for his services throughout his career. He was honored with entries into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, the Windsor / Essex County Sports Hall of Fame and the Detroit Red Wings Hall of Fame.

2007 died Jimmy Skinner 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 has now spread across the NHL . When he won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings as a newcomer to coach in 1955 , he kissed the trophy and was one of the first to show the gesture. Today, the Stanley Cup kissing is an established tradition in the league that is continued by players and coaches.

Achievements and Awards

As a trainer

• 1949 Turner Cup win with the Windsor Hettche Spitfires
• 1955 Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings

As general manager

• 1962 Memorial Cup win with the Hamilton Red Wings

Web links

• Jimmy Skinner at hockeydb.com (English)
• Jimmy Skinner in the database of hockey-reference.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ canada.com, Skinner starts Stanley Cup kiss tradition ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.