Detroit Red Wings Trivia
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56 free Detroit Red Wings trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Detroit Red Wings trivia quiz covers a century of Hockeytown, from the Cougars who played their first season across the river in Windsor to the Yzerman era and the current playoff drought. It starts with the things every fan knows: the octopus, the winged wheel, the Original Six, the Journey song. Then it digs into the Production Line and Terry Sawchuk, the first woman to run an NHL club, the Dead Wings years, Mike Ilitch's purchase, and the drafting of a Peterborough center named Steve Yzerman. The 1990s and 2000s get their due: Scotty Bowman, the 62-win season, the Russian Five, the 42-year drought ending in 1997, the Konstantinov tragedy, the Avalanche brawl, the 2002 and 2008 Cups, Lidstrom's seven Norris trophies and Datsyuk's magic. It finishes with the 25-year playoff streak, the move to Little Caesars Arena and the retired numbers. Every answer has been checked against the team's Wikipedia page and those of its players, and each explanation adds one detail worth remembering.
30 of 56 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Under what name did the Detroit franchise enter the NHL in 1926?
Cougars
Detroit entered the NHL in 1926 as the Cougars and played under that name for four seasons before a 1930 rebranding.
Q 02The 'winged wheel' logo was inspired by the emblem of which club?
The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association
The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association's hockey club, the Winged Wheelers, won the first Stanley Cup in 1893; James Norris, a former member, adapted its winged-wheel emblem for Detroit in 1932.
Q 03Detroit's 2008 championship brought the Red Wings' Stanley Cup total to what number?
11
The 2008 title, the Red Wings' first in six years, brought Detroit's total to 11 Stanley Cups, the most won by any US-based NHL team.
Q 04Where did the franchise play its first season in 1926-27 because no Detroit rink was ready?
Windsor, Ontario
The team played its 1926-27 home games across the river at the Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario, then moved into the new Detroit Olympia in October 1927.
Q 05What nickname is registered as a trademark of the Red Wings for the Detroit area?
Hockeytown
The Red Wings trademarked 'Hockeytown' in 1996 and painted the word at center ice, tying the nickname to the club's 1990s revival.
Q 06What sea creature do Red Wings fans throw onto the ice during the playoffs?
An octopus
The octopus tradition began in the 1952 playoffs, when an octopus's eight legs matched the eight wins then needed to claim the Stanley Cup.
Q 07What is the giant red-eyed cephalopod mascot that hung from the rafters at home playoff games called?
Al
The giant cephalopod is named Al after Al Sobotka, the ice manager who for decades cleared the eight-legged offerings fans threw onto the ice.
Q 08Which Journey song do Red Wings fans sing after home wins?
Don't Stop Believin'
Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" plays after home wins because its opening verse mentions a city boy 'born and raised in South Detroit'.
Q 09In which year did the Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup?
1936
Detroit's first Stanley Cup came in 1936, a 3-1 best-of-five win over Toronto; the team repeated in 1937 against the Rangers.
Q 10Which coach and general manager was the face of the franchise for 36 years from 1927?
Jack Adams
Jack Adams coached Detroit from 1927 to 1947 and ran the front office as general manager until 1962; the NHL's coach-of-the-year award bears his name.
Q 11What was the famous 1940s-50s trio of Gordie Howe, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay called?
The Production Line
The Production Line took its name from Detroit's auto plants; Alex Delvecchio took over Sid Abel's centre spot when Abel left for Chicago in 1952.
Q 12Which Red Wings goaltender joined Howe, Abel and Lindsay for the 1952 sweep to the Cup?
Terry Sawchuk
Sawchuk retired as the all-time leader with 447 wins and 103 shutouts.
Q 13Who became the first woman to head an NHL franchise when she took over the Red Wings in 1952?
Marguerite Norris
Marguerite Norris took over as Red Wings president in 1952 and lost a family power struggle to her brother Bruce in 1955, months after Detroit's second straight Stanley Cup.
Q 21Which pizza chain founder bought the Red Wings from the Norris family in 1982?
Mike Ilitch
Mike Ilitch, the pizza-chain founder, paid about $8 million for the Red Wings in June 1982 and bought the Detroit Tigers a decade later.
Q 22From which junior team did the Red Wings draft Yzerman in 1983?
Peterborough Petes
Detroit took Yzerman fourth overall in 1983 from the Peterborough Petes of the OHL; he scored 87 points as a rookie and became captain at 21.
Q 23Yzerman was Red Wings captain for how many seasons, an NHL record when he retired in 2006?
19
Yzerman wore the C for 19 seasons, from October 1986 until his retirement in 2006, then the longest captaincy of one team in NHL history.
Q 14Which 5'7" checker scored the Cup-winning goal in Game 7 of 1954, deflected in by Doug Harvey?
Tony Leswick
Tony Leswick's floating shot from the blue line in overtime glanced off Doug Harvey's glove and past Gerry McNeil, ending the 1954 Final in Game 7.
Q 15Ted Lindsay was traded to Chicago in 1957 largely for doing what?
Helping start a players' union
Lindsay was punished for helping start a players' union, the 1957 NHL Players' Association; the award for the players' choice as most outstanding player was renamed for him in 2010.
Q 16Gordie Howe came from which small Saskatchewan community?
Floral
Gordie Howe was born in Floral, a hamlet just outside Saskatoon, in 1928, and grew up in Saskatoon before joining Detroit in 1946.
Q 17How many Art Ross Trophies and how many Hart Trophies did Gordie Howe win?
Six each
Gordie Howe won the Art Ross and the Hart Trophy six each, all with Detroit, the last pair coming in 1962-63.
Q 18What is a 'Gordie Howe hat trick'?
A goal, an assist and a fight in one game
A Gordie Howe hat trick is a goal, an assist and a fight in one game; Howe himself managed it only twice, both in the 1953-54 season.
Q 19At what age did Gordie Howe retire from the NHL in 1980, after a season with the Hartford Whalers?
52
Gordie Howe was 52 when he played his last NHL game with Hartford in April 1980, the only player to appear in the league in five different decades.
Q 20What derisive nickname was given to Detroit's long slump from 1967 to 1982?
The Dead Wings
Fans dubbed the team the Dead Wings during the 1967-82 stretch, when Detroit reached the playoffs only twice, in 1970 and 1978.
Q 24What was Yzerman's career-high goal total, set in 1988-89?
65
Yzerman scored 65 goals and 155 points in 1988-89, finishing third in scoring behind Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky; Detroit was nonetheless upset by Chicago that spring.
Q 25Which coach, hired in 1993, led the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups?
Scotty Bowman
Bowman is the only coach to win Cups with three different teams and holds the record of nine as a head coach.
Q 26How many regular-season games did the Red Wings win in 1995-96, then an NHL record?
62
The 1995-96 Red Wings went 62-13-7, breaking the 1976-77 Canadiens' mark of 60 wins, yet lost the conference final to the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche.
Q 27The 1997 Stanley Cup ended a Detroit drought of how many years?
42
Detroit's four-game sweep in the 1997 Final ended a 42-year wait since the 1955 title, then the longest active Stanley Cup drought in the NHL.
Q 28Which goaltender won the Conn Smythe Trophy in Detroit's 1997 Cup run?
Mike Vernon
Mike Vernon went 16-4 in the 1997 playoffs to earn the Conn Smythe, then was traded to San Jose that summer, handing the net to Chris Osgood.
Q 29Which defenseman's career ended in a limousine accident six days after the 1997 Cup win?
Vladimir Konstantinov
Vladimir Konstantinov suffered severe brain injuries in the June 13, 1997 crash; the next spring his teammates wheeled him onto the ice to touch the Cup after sweeping Washington.
Q 30What was the nickname of the 1990s team's Soviet-born group of Fedorov, Larionov and Fetisov?
The Russian Five
The Russian Five, rounded out by forward Vyacheslav Kozlov and a second Soviet-trained defenseman, was often sent out as a complete unit from the 1995-96 season.