Young broke into the Red Wings lineup in the 1960–61 season and soon earned a reputation as one of the toughest, most promising, and most troubled young defenders in the sport. He was blessed with a high level of natural skill and was one of the most fearsome bodycheckers in the game, but was tremendously undisciplined both on an off the ice, and a constant headache to the Detroit organization. He recorded 8 assists in his rookie season, and led the Wings with 108 penalty minutes in only 29 games. In the playoffs, he appeared in all eleven games and scored two goals to help the Red Wings reach the Stanley Cup Finals.\n', '

He split another season between the NHL and the minors before establishing himself as a regular in 1962–63. That year he recorded nine points in 62 games and set the league record for penalty minutes, recording 273 to break Lou Fontinato\'s old record of 202. His pugilistic exploits earned him a place on the cover of Sports Illustrated in January 1963.\n', '

However, his drinking had by this point reached full-blown alcoholism, and despite his popularity in Detroit the team shipped him to the Chicago Black Hawks in the summer of 1963.\n', '

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