Larry Aurie
Canadian right winger for the Detroit Red Wings.
Lawrence Henry 'Little Dempsey' Aurie was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings. He was known for his all-around play and goal-scoring achievements, and he helped the team win its first two Stanley Cup championships in 1936 and 1937.
Quick Facts
- Played for
- Detroit Red Wings
- League
- NHL
- Position
- Right wing
- Shoots
- Right
- Born
- 8 February 1905
- Birthplace
- Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
- Died
- 12 December 1952
- Place of death
- Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Facts from the source article.
Playing career
Larry Aurie broke into professional hockey in 1926 with the London Panthers of the Canadian Professional Hockey League. The very next season, he jumped to the NHL, joining the Detroit Cougars. He would spend his entire NHL career with that franchise, which later became the Falcons and then the Red Wings, finally hanging up his skates in 1938. Despite standing just 5-foot-6, Aurie’s intense off-season training and grit earned him two colorful nicknames: “Little Dempsey” for his willingness to drop the gloves, and “The Little Rag Man” for his dazzling ability to control the puck while killing penalties. Twice he led Detroit in assists, and during the 1933–34 season his 35 points topped the team’s scoring charts. He finished third in the entire NHL with a career-high 46 points in 1934–35 and fourth overall with 43 points in 1936–37. Alongside Herbie Lewis, Aurie represented the Red Wings at the first NHL All-Star Game in 1934. He captained the club in 1932–33, led the league in playoff scoring in 1934 with 10 points in nine games, and topped the NHL in goals in 1937 with 23, earning a spot on the postseason First All-Star Team. He was a key piece of the Wings’ first great line, centering Marty Barry and left wing Lewis. Owner James Norris considered Aurie the heart of the franchise, praising his selfless hustle. On March 11, 1937, Aurie scored his league-leading 23rd goal in a 4–2 win over the New York Rangers, but later that same game fractured his leg in a collision with defenseman Art Coulter, ending his season. That scoring title still earned him a First All-Star Team berth. The broken leg never fully healed, and his play suffered. In 1937–38, he managed just 10 goals and 19 points, forcing him to retire at age 33. Norris honored him by retiring his No. 6 jersey, the first Red Wing to receive that distinction. The next season, Aurie became player-coach of Detroit’s AHL affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets, but he returned to the Red Wings for one final game on January 10, scoring the winning goal in a 3–0 shutout over Montreal. He later went on to coach the Oshawa Generals.
Retirement
Larry Aurie’s No. 6 was taken out of circulation by Red Wings owner James Norris right after the 1937–38 season, though Aurie did suit up one last time for Detroit on January 10, 1939. The number was brought back only once, in the late 1950s, for his cousin Cummy Burton—not his nephew, as often mistakenly reported—and the family gave its okay. During the 1960s, the jersey hung in the lobby of Olympia Stadium, but when the team moved to Joe Louis Arena, owner Mike Ilitch chose not to display it alongside the other retired numbers, even though several published accounts backed its retired status. In a 1997 Detroit Free Press piece, Wings vice president Jim Devellano explained the team’s refusal by noting Aurie wasn’t a Hall of Famer, despite the fact the number had already been retired before Ilitch bought the team in 1982. Still, it’s long been accepted that no Red Wing will ever wear No. 6 again. Aurie died at Detroit’s Mount Carmel Mercy Hospital on December 12, 1952, after suffering a stroke while driving the night before. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan.
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