Marquette Prison Pirates

Marquette MI - 1954 Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Red Kelly, all future Hall of Famers… None of them played for the Marquette Pirates, BUT these Red Wings stars played against them in the first ever outdoor game to feature an NHL team. Oh, and it was also in the Maximum Security Prison in Marquette. This was a Pros vs Cons game featuring the Marquette Pirates, known as Emery’s Boys after warden Emery Jacques.  Who won? Well after the first period the score was 18-0 Red Wings, BUT the score wasn’t recorded for the rest of the game. Was there a comeback? Undoubtably no, but 10 weeks later the Wings won the Stanley Cup, perhaps those convicts toughened them up for that victory.