Jimmy Peters Sr.

Jimmy Peters Sr. was better known on the ice as "Shakey." In the late 1940s and 1950s Peters was an exciting scorer with four of the Original Six teams - Montreal, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit - twice.
He could dance down the ice with the puck, shaking his head left and right and defenders had no idea which way he was going to go.

Peters was born in Verdun, Quebec on October 2nd, 1922. He grew up playing youth hockey with the Verdun Canadiens. By the time he was 18 he was starring with the Oshawa Generals in the OHL.

The New York Americans - a long, defunct team - brought him to the pro leagues in 1941. The team would fold before Peters ever had a chance to play in Manhattan's bright lights. But he did apprentice with the Springfield Indians of the AHL for the 1941-42 season.

Peters was drafted into the Canadian Army in 1942. He served as a member of the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, being stationed in England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany before finally earning his discharge in 1945.

While he was in the armed forces he continued to play hockey out of Montreal and military bases across Europe. He also found time to get married and have a set of twins.

When Peters returned from the war he found out the Montreal Canadiens had drafted him. In fact he had not gotten far from the railroad station upon his arrival home when the Canadiens had him driven to the Forum to play in his first NHL game. He had not even met his wife or his twins - who were born while he was away.

Peters stuck with the Canadiens for the rest of the 1945-46 season, capping it off with the Stanley Cup.

After the 1946-47 season Peters was traded to the Boston Bruins. He would play two seasons with the Bruins, even earning team MVP status on year.

The 27 year old winger joined the Detroit Red Wings for the 1949-50 season, winning another Stanley Cup. After a couple of seasons in Chicago Peters returned to Detroit to win a third Stanley Cup in 1953-54.

In nine NHL seasons Peters played in 574 regular season games scoring 125 goals with 150 assists. He also played in 60 playoff games netting 5 goals and 9 assists.

Jimmy stayed in Detroit after hanging up his blades. He was a founding member of the Red Wing Alumni Association in 1955. It was a great passion of his for the next 45 years, raising money for countless monies and local and national charities. He would continue playing as long as he could, and then became the alumni's travelling referee.

Jimmy Peters Jr. would also go on to play 309 games in the NHL, including with the Detroit Red Wings.