His Story: Pete Mahovlich

When Pete Mahovlich joined the National Hockey League, he was instantly labeled as Frank Mahovlich's little brother. Little is about the last word that should be used to describe Pete Mahovlich.

Frank Mahovlich was a 10 year veteran by the time Pete broke into the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings in 1966. Frank had already established himself as not only one of the top scorers in league history, but one of the bigger players as well. Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 205 pounds, Frank was one of the largest players of his day, earning him the nickname "The Big M."

While Pete Mahovlich never really had a nickname that stuck quite like that, little brother Pete should have been known as "The Bigger M." Pete Mahovlich towered not only over brother Frank, but everyone else in the NHL. He stood at 6'5" and weighed 215 pounds. A player of that size is becoming more and more common today's NHL, but someone of that size playing hockey was almost unheard of back in the 1960 and 1970s.

As today's fans know, players of such huge size are often tagged as slow skaters and having poor hands. Oddly enough, Mahovlich excelled as a stickhandler, playmaker and penalty killer, and considering his awkward size was a good skater. What he lacked in speed and agility, he made up for with a crafty and industrious approach to the game that rarely left him out of the action.

Here's the full Pete Mahovlich story.