Paul Woods called it a career at the end of last season following nearly 40 years as the radio analyst on the Detroit Red Wings broadcasts. Wednesday, he joined a new team of elite Michigan sports legends.
Woods was earning enshrinement into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, receiving recognition as part of the class of 2026.
Serving the Red Wings as a player and later as a radio analyst, Woods was the longest-serving broadcaster in Detroit sports history. He worked his 3,000th Red Wings game in 2022.
In 1987, Woods was approached about joining play-by-play man Bruce Martyn in the radio booth to call Red Wings games.
“They just called me and asked me after I got done playing,” Woods said. “And I started thinking about it.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll give that a shot.’ At least one day I’ll be able to say, ‘I did that.’”
He’d later work alongside current Red Wings play-by-play voice Ken Kal for more than three decades.
Woods Began as a Red Wings Player
Before moving into the radio booth, Woods moved fluidly around the ice as a Red Wings forward. He was among the NHL’s fastest skaters.
He made his NHL debut with the Wings during the 1977-78 season. Collecting career highs with 19 goals and 42 points, Woods helped Detroit make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 1969-70 season.
“I wanted to be an NHL hockey player at a young age,” Woods said. “I used to tell people in my hometown that I was going to do that. They’d all laugh, and it was the funniest thing they ever heard in their life, you know.
But I just kept at it.
“I really did believe it, and I just kept getting better and better, and then next thing you know, I’m playing the NHL against some guys who were your childhood heroes.”
Joining Woods in the MSHOF Class of 2026 are former WNBA star Swin Cash; Ferris State University football coach Tony Annese; Olympic swimmer Peter Vanderkaay; Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL running back Mark Ingram II; Charlevoix High School golf coach Doug Drenth; former Detroit Lions center Kevin Glover; and former Detroit Tigers General Manager Bill Lajoie.