60 Fun Facts About Detroit Red Wings

Under what name did the Detroit franchise enter the NHL in 1926?

The name honoured a folded western club whose roster Detroit had bought; it became the Falcons in 1930.

What was the team called for two seasons from 1930 before becoming the Red Wings?

The Falcons kept finishing near the bottom of the standings until James Norris bought the club in 1932.

The 'winged wheel' logo was inspired by the emblem of which club?

Owner James Norris had belonged to the MAAA, whose 'Winged Wheelers' won the first Stanley Cup in 1893; he thought a red version suited the Motor City.

How many Stanley Cups have the Red Wings won?

That is the most of any US-based franchise; only Montreal and Toronto have more.

The Red Wings are one of the NHL's 'Original Six'. Which of these is NOT one of the other five?

The Flyers arrived in the 1967 expansion; Montreal and Toronto complete the six.

Where did the franchise play its first season in 1926-27 because no Detroit rink was ready?

They moved into the new Detroit Olympia the following season and stayed there until December 1979.

What nickname is registered as a trademark of the Red Wings for the Detroit area?

The trademark dates from 1996, the season the team won a then-record 62 games.

What sea creature do Red Wings fans throw onto the ice during the playoffs?

The eight legs stood for the eight wins needed to take the Cup when fish-market owner Peter Cusimano first threw one in 1952.

What is the giant red-eyed cephalopod mascot that hung from the rafters at home playoff games called?

It was named for ice manager Al Sobotka, whose octopus-twirling the NHL tried to ban in 2008 with a $10,000 fine threat.

Which Journey song do Red Wings fans sing after home wins?

The PA cuts out so the crowd can sing the line about being 'born and raised in South Detroit'.

In which year did the Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup?

They beat Toronto in four games, then repeated in 1937 against the Rangers.

Which coach and general manager was the face of the franchise for 36 years from 1927?

The NHL's coach of the year award still carries his name; Norris kept him on 'probation' for a year when he bought the team.

What was the famous 1940s-50s trio of Gordie Howe, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay called?

The name nodded to Detroit's auto plants; Alex Delvecchio replaced Abel on the line in 1952.

Which Red Wings goaltender joined Howe, Abel and Lindsay for the 1952 sweep to the Cup?

Sawchuk retired as the all-time leader with 447 wins and 103 shutouts.

Who became the first woman to head an NHL franchise when she took over the Red Wings in 1952?

She lost a family power struggle to her brother Bruce in 1955, right after the team's seventh straight regular-season title.

Which 5'7" checker scored the Cup-winning goal in Game 7 of 1954, deflected in by Doug Harvey?

Harvey tried to glove the wobbling puck and redirected it past Gerry McNeil instead.

Ted Lindsay was traded to Chicago in 1957 largely for doing what?

The award for the players' pick as most outstanding player is now named after him.

Gordie Howe came from which small Saskatchewan community?

He scored only seven goals as a rookie in 1946-47 and did not hit his prime for a few more years.

How many times did Gordie Howe win both the Art Ross and Hart trophies as a Red Wing?

His number 9 was the first the club retired, in 1972; his 801 goals stood as the NHL record until Wayne Gretzky.

What is a 'Gordie Howe hat trick'?

Howe himself only recorded two such games in his entire career.

At what age did Gordie Howe retire from the NHL in 1980, after a season with the Hartford Whalers?

He is the only player to appear in the NHL in five different decades, and skated a shift for the IHL's Detroit Vipers in 1997 for a sixth.

What derisive nickname was given to Detroit's long slump from 1967 to 1982?

A run of questionable trades and a coach who banned long hair and smoking were part of it; the team missed the playoffs most years.

Which pizza chain founder bought the Red Wings from the Norris family in 1982?

The Little Caesars founder later bought the Tigers too, and the current arena carries his company's name.

From which junior team did the Red Wings draft Yzerman in 1983?

He led the team in scoring as a rookie and became captain at 21.

Yzerman was Red Wings captain for how many seasons, an NHL record when he retired in 2006?

He retired in 2006 as the longest-serving captain in the history of North American major league sports up to that time.

What was Yzerman's career-high goal total, set in 1988-89?

Detroit was still upset in the first round by Chicago that spring, and missed the playoffs the next year despite his 62 goals.

Which coach, hired in 1993, led the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups?

Bowman is the only coach to win Cups with three different teams and holds the record of nine as a head coach.

How many regular-season games did the Red Wings win in 1995-96, then an NHL record?

Despite the record, they lost the conference finals to the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche.

The 1997 Stanley Cup ended a Detroit drought of how many years?

The Wings swept Philadelphia; it was the longest drought in the league at the time.

Which goaltender won the Conn Smythe Trophy in Detroit's 1997 Cup run?

Osgood took over as the starter the next season and won again in 1998.

Which defenseman's career ended in a limousine accident six days after the 1997 Cup win?

The team dedicated the next season to him and wheeled him onto the ice to touch the Cup after the 1998 sweep of Washington.

What was the nickname of the 1990s team's Soviet-born group of Fedorov, Larionov and Fetisov?

Sergei Fedorov was one of the first players to defect from the Soviet Union and won the Hart Trophy in 1994.

Whose hit from behind on Kris Draper in the 1996 playoffs ignited the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry?

Draper needed his jaw wired shut; Darren McCarty took revenge in the 'Fight Night at the Joe' brawl of March 1997.

Which Red Wing flattened Patrick Roy with a body check when the goalie skated out during the 1997 brawl?

Roy had left his crease to help Lemieux, who was being pummelled by McCarty.

Which team did the Red Wings beat in the 2002 Stanley Cup Final?

That summer's additions of Hasek, Hull and Robitaille paid off; Bowman and Hasek both retired after the win.

Which team did Detroit beat in Game 6 to win the 2008 Stanley Cup?

Zetterberg scored the winner and took the Conn Smythe; Pittsburgh got its revenge in a seven-game rematch the next year.

Nicklas Lidstrom made history in 2008 as the first what to captain a Cup winner?

The Swede won the Norris Trophy seven times and was nicknamed 'the Perfect Human'.

How many Norris Trophies did Nicklas Lidstrom win?

Only Bobby Orr has more, with eight; Doug Harvey also has seven.

Which Red Wing was nicknamed 'the Magic Man' and won four straight Lady Byng trophies?

He also won three Selke trophies as the league's best defensive forward before returning to Russia in 2016.

How many consecutive seasons did the Red Wings make the playoffs before the streak ended in 2017?

The streak died in the final season at Joe Louis Arena, the same year owner Mike Ilitch passed away.

Where did the Red Wings play their home games from 1979 to 2017?

'The Joe' replaced the Olympia, home since 1927, and was itself replaced by Little Caesars Arena.

Which building became the Red Wings' home in 2017?

The $862.9 million building also brought the Pistons back downtown from Auburn Hills.

Who returned to the Red Wings as general manager in April 2019?

The former captain had built the Tampa Bay Lightning into a power before coming home.

Who was named Red Wings captain in January 2021?

The Michigan native succeeded Henrik Zetterberg, who had retired in 2018.

Which former Red Wing had his number retired by the team in January 2026?

His number 91 joined the nine retired numbers, including Red Kelly's 4, raised in 2019.

Which number has been out of circulation since 1997 without being officially retired?

It was Vladimir Konstantinov's; Larry Aurie's 6 is in similar limbo because the Ilitch family does not count its 1938 retirement.

Where did the Red Wings open the 2009-10 season, losing twice to St. Louis?

The Wings had not played in Europe since 1938, when they and the Canadiens toured Paris and London.

What NHL record did the Red Wings set during the 2011-12 season?

It was also their 21st straight playoff season, though Nashville knocked them out in five games.

Which Red Wing's 2005 cardiac arrest on the bench caused the first NHL game postponed for an injury?

The Predators were allowed to keep their 1-0 lead when the game was replayed two months later.

Which coach left the Red Wings for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015?

He had won the 2008 Cup in Detroit; Grand Rapids Griffins coach Jeff Blashill replaced him.

The Red Wings played the second NHL Winter Classic in 2009 at which ballpark?

They beat the Blackhawks 6-4; the 2014 Winter Classic against Toronto was played at Michigan Stadium.

Detroit stocked its first roster in 1926 by buying the players of which folded WHL club?

That club had won the 1925 Stanley Cup and reached the 1926 Final; Detroit adopted its nickname in its honour.

What business was James E. Norris in when he bought the team in 1932 and renamed it the Red Wings?

Norris had twice failed to buy an NHL team; his first act was the name change, and he kept the incumbent coach on a year's probation.

In 1938 the Red Wings and which team became the first NHL clubs to play games in Europe?

They played nine games in Paris and London, Detroit going 3–5–1; the Wings did not return to Europe until 2009.

Which coach, hired in 1970, imposed rules on hair, smoking and phone calls that veterans hated?

A successful college coach hired in 1970, he tried to force a two-way style on a veteran team and was forced out in 1974.

Who threw the very first eight-legged offering onto the ice at a Red Wings playoff game in 1952?

Peter Cusimano's eight-legged offering symbolised the eight wins then needed for the Cup, and Detroit swept both series that spring.

In 2008 the NHL threatened a $10,000 fine if ice manager Al Sobotka kept doing what?

The league said matter flew off the octopus onto the ice; the ban was later loosened to allow twirling at the Zamboni entrance.

Whom did the Red Wings beat 4–2 in the first regular-season game at Little Caesars Arena?

The 2017 opener's good start did not last: Detroit went 30–39–13 that season and missed the playoffs for a second straight year.

In 2019–20 the Red Wings won only 17 games, their fewest since which season?

They finished 17–49–5 with the NHL's worst record and were eliminated before the trade deadline, a first since the 2003–04 Penguins.

Who replaced Derek Lalonde as Red Wings head coach after he was fired on December 26, 2024?

Assistant Bob Boughner went out with Lalonde and Trent Yawney came in as McLellan's assistant; the team still missed the playoffs.