Canadian centre and Hall of Famer renowned for his consistency and durability, who scored 490 career goals across 20 seasons with the Red Wings, Maple Leafs and Oilers.
Born on 26 December 1935 in Provost, Alberta, Norm Ullman made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1955-56 season and, in just his second year, was placed on a line with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay, quickly establishing himself as one of the league's premier centres. He led the NHL in goals in 1964-65 with 42, finishing second to Chicago's Stan Mikita in the scoring race that season, and was named to the NHL's First All-Star Team. Ullman was renowned above all for his remarkable consistency, recording sixteen consecutive 20-goal seasons, a testament to his durability and reliability over nearly two decades at the highest level. He served as an alternate captain for Detroit and was twice the leading playoff scorer for the franchise, helping the Red Wings reach multiple Stanley Cup Finals, though he never won the championship as a player. In March 1968, partway through his thirteenth season with Detroit, Ullman was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a landmark multi-player deal, where he continued to perform at an elite level well into his thirties. He later moved to the World Hockey Association, playing two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers before retiring in 1977. Ullman finished his career with 490 goals and 739 assists for 1,229 points across 1,410 regular-season games, and was an 11-time NHL All-Star. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, remembered as one of the finest and most durable centres of his generation.
Sixteen consecutive 20-goal seasons and remarkable durability across a 20-year career
How They Played
Smooth skater with excellent stickhandling and remarkable positional consistency
Lasting Impact
Widely regarded as one of the finest and most consistent centres in NHL history