Red Mitchell

World War II commitments depleted a lot of NHL rosters during the early 1940s. That opened up jobs for minor league players as fill-ins.

The Chicago Blackhawks blue line was particularly ravaged, and they sought out the help of veteran minor league tough guys like Leo Corbal, Joe Matte and Bill "Red" Mitchell among others.

Mitchell may have been the best of the bunch as he played in parts of three seasons, including most of the 1942-43 and 1944-45 seasons in Chicago. The Toronto born Mitchell scored 4 goals and 9 points in 82 career NHL games, along with a fairly quiet 67 PIMs.

Mitchell had previously led AHA in PIMs in 1938-39 and finished in the top 4 leaders on 5 total occasions.