1954 Detroit Red Wings prison game
The 1954 Detroit Red Wings prison game was an exhibition ice hockey game played on February 2, 1954. The exhibition was played outdoors at the Marquette Branch Prison between the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and a team put together by the inmates of the prison. It was the first ever outdoor game played by the Detroit Red Wings. After the first period the Red Wings were winning 18–0, and the scores for the remainder of the match were not kept.
The original planning for the game began in June 1953 when the general manager for the Red Wings, Jack Adams, visited the prison while doing a promotional tour for Stroh’s beer. There, the warden asked Adams if the Red Wings would come play the prison. Adams agreed, but only because he never expected the game to ever actually happen. Some say that Adams also agreed as a favor to two inmates he knew, Harry Keywell and Ray Bernstein, who were both members of the notorious Purple Gang.
