Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings were a part of the original six that began in 1926. The New York Rangers, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins, and the Toronto Maple Leafs also came into the NHL the same time as Detroit. They were known as the Detroit Cougars until 1930. They changed their team name to the Falcons for two seasons, before settling on the Red Wings in 1932-1933.

Detroit has the third-most Stanley Cup titles in NHL history with 11, and This is the most for an American team in the NHL.

The Red Wings played at Joe Louis Arena from 1979-2017 after playing at Olympia Stadium for 52 years. Detroit now plays games at Little Bovada Arena, and have since 2017-2018.

Detroit is also known as “Hockeytown.” This has been a registered trademark owned by the franchise since 1996. The Detroit Red Wings made it to the postseason for 25 consecutive seasons from the 1990-1991 season until 2015-2016. They have missed the postseason for the last four seasons, rebuilding after years of success.

Historic Players in Franchise History:

This franchise has a rich history of star players. Gordie Howe is one of the most well respected and best players to ever play the game. He passed away on June 10, 2016.

The Gordie Howe Hat Trick is still known in hockey circles and consists of a game with a fight, a goal, and an assist. In his NHL career, he played in 1767 games scoring 801 goals and 1049 assists.

Steve Yzerman played in the NHL from 1983-2006 and was the longtime captain of the Wings. He won three few Stanley Cups with the franchise. Yzerman is also the team’s new general manager, having worked with the Tampa Bay Lightning front office for several years beforehand. In 1514 career games as a player, Yzerman scored 692 goals and recorded 1063 assists.

Brendan Shanahan, Chris Osgood, Dominik Hasek, Larry Murphy, Mike Vernon, Chris Chelios, Ulf Samuelsson, Wendel Clark, Luc Robitallie, Brett Hull, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Vladimir Konstantinov, and Nicklas Lidstrom also played for the Red Wings during their history. Lidstrom won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman an incredible 10 times, including an unmatched 6 in a row between 1997-2003.

After they won the Stanley Cup Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1996-1997 in a sweep, defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov, one of the members of the “Russian Five”, suffered a brain injury in a limousine accident. His career came to an abrupt and unfortunate end. Detroit dedicated the 1997-1998 season to him, and won it all again that season, ending the Cup run with a four-game sweep of the Washington Capitals.

Their last Stanley Cup title came in the 2007-2008 season against the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Nicklas Lindstrom was the captain then and Henrik Zetterberg won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, with Mike Babcock at the helm.

They lost to the same Penguins the following season in seven games in the Stanley Cup Finals. Marian Hossa signed as a free agent in the offseason from Pittsburgh after the 2008 season, flipping from one Cup final team to the other. Hossa managed to lose in the finals in both years for each team, before redeeming himself with three Cups as a member of the Blackhawks in the 2010’s.

Management/Roster/Coaches:

Yzerman is the current general manager, andJeff Blashill is the current head coach. Michael Illtch Sr. is the current owner of the Detroit Red Wings.

The Red Wings hope to continue building through the draft, as they have a young core that likely won’t compete in the coming years. Larkin led the team in scoring this season with 19 goals 34 assists in 71 games, though like most of the Red Wings though, he finished with a negative plus/minus (-21). Tyler Bertuzzi led the team in goals with 21.