Are you a die-hard Detroit Red Wings fan? Think you know all there is to know about the team? Let’s find out. We’ve dug into the past to pull out some key moments by some of the great players and coaches in the franchise’s history.
How Well Do You Know the Wings’ History?
How many Stanley Cups did Gordie Howe win?
Howe led the Wings to four Cups and two Avco Cup (WHA) championship titles.
Who was the captain of the Wings before Steve Yzerman took over?
Danny Gare, who played eight seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, was captain of the Wings from 1982 until 1986 before joining the Edmonton Oilers.
Which player finished as the team’s top point-getter in the 2001-02 season?
Brendan Shanahan scored 37 goals and added 38 assists for 75 points to lead the team. Sergei Fedorov was second, Brett Hull was third.
Brett Hull scored his 700th goal against what team?
Hull scored his 700th goal on Jan. 10, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks.
Who was traded to Chicago for Chris Chelios in 1999?
At the trade deadline, the Wings traded Anders Eriksson and a first-round draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Chris Chelios. Earlier in his career, Chelios was quoted as saying he would never play for the Wings.
Which Red Wing was the first American-born defenseman to score 200 career goals?
Reed Larson, a product of the University of Minnesota. In his rookie season, he scored 19 goals and 60 points and was runner-up for the Calder Trophy in the 1977-78 season. Some guy named Mike Bossy won it. Reed totaled 20 goals in five straight seasons and topped the 60-point plateau eight times. He finished his career with 222 goals and 463 assists in 904 games.
What was the name of the Red Wings’ first arena?
The Olympia, located at 5920 Grand River Avenue in the Motor City.
Going back to the franchise’s beginning, the Detroit Cougars played their first season at the Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario. For the 1927-28 season, the Cougars moved into the new Detroit Olympia. That was the franchise’s home rink until December 27, 1979. The Wings left the Olympia for Joe Louis Arena where they played through the 2016-17 season. The Red Wings are scheduled to begin play at Little Caesars Arena for the 2017-18 season, with the first regular season game to be played on October 5, 2017, against the Minnesota Wild.
In the 1995-96 season, the Red Wings finished with how many points?
The Red Wings finished with a club record of 131 points, the most since the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens accumulated 132 points.
Which World Hockey Association team did Gordie Howe “defect” to in 1973?
After playing with the Red Wings from 1946 to 1971, Howe came out of retirement and joined the WHA Houston Aeros. He played until 1977, scoring 121 regular season goals.
Who became captain after Stevie Yzerman left the Red Wings in 2006?
Nicklas Lidstrom wore the ‘C’ for the Wings from 2006-12.
Who did the Red Wings take with their first pick in 1998?
Jiri Fischer was selected 25th overall from the Hull Olympiques of the QMJHL. Fischer was a solid defenseman for the Red Wings, playing more than 300 games with the franchise. Tragedy struck Fischer in 2005 when he went into cardiac arrest while on the bench. He stopped breathing but team doctors revived him.
For what other NHL franchise did Kris Draper play?
Draper was drafted 62nd overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 1989. Over the course of three seasons, he played 20 games for the Jets. He then played 17 seasons with the Red Wings. Draper won the Selke Trophy in 2004.
Who owned the Red Wings in the late 1990s and early 2000s?
Mike Illich, an American entrepreneur, owned the Wings. He also owned the Major League Baseball Detroit Tigers and the international fast food franchise Little Caesars Pizza. He passed away Feb. 10, 2017.
What was Ted Lindsay’s nickname?
Lindsay, known as ‘Terrible’ for his feisty play, played for the Red Wings from 1944 to 1957 and during the 1964-65 season. He wasn’t afraid to mix it up, accumulating 1,423 penalty minutes while with the Wings. Lindsay could also score. He tallied 335 regular season and 47 playoff goals during his time in Detroit. His number 7 sweater was retired by the Red Wings. Ted also played a game where a sniper was alleged to be looking for him.
Who was the first Red Wing to win the Hart Trophy?
Ebenezer ‘Ebbie’ Goodfellow won the league’s most valuable player award in 1940. He played 14 seasons for the Wings.
On June 13, 1997, who was injured in a serious car accident that ended his career?
Vladimir Konstantinov was injured just six days after winning the Stanley Cup with the Wings. He suffered severe brain damage and it tragically ended his excellent career. His number 16 was retired by the Red Wings organization but it does not hang in the rafters of the Joe.
How many Hart Trophies did Gordie Howe win?
Howe won the award six times: 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960 and 1963. He also set the NHL record for games played (1767) and seasons played (26).
Can you name “The Russian Five?”
The all-Russian line had Igor Larionov centered between left winger Vyacheslav Kozlov and right winger Sergei Fedorov with Viacheslav Fetisov and Vladimir Konstantinov on defense. The Russians helped the Red Wings to a phenomenal 62-win season in 1995-96.
In the 1992-93 season, the Red Wings set a new club record with 369 goals. Who led the way?
Steve Yzerman had 58, Dino Ciccarelli had 41, Fedorov had 34, Ray Sheppard had 32, Paul Ysebaert had 34 goals.
Which Red Wings prospect accumulated 304 penalty minutes in 2000-01 playing for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the AHL?
Sean Avery achieved that outstanding number in just 58 games with Cincinnati. The 5’10”, 188 lb. center amassed 188 penalty minutes in 75 games over two seasons with the Red Wings before heading to the Los Angeles Kings.
What player did Darren McCarty go after on March 26, 1997?
McCarty despised Claude Lemieux and sought revenge for a previous incident in 1996.
“I never wanted to hurt anyone as much as I wanted to hurt Lemieux.”–Darren McCarty
In what year did the Wings claim their third Stanley Cup?
In 1943, after finishing first in the league during the regular season, the Red Wings claimed their third Stanley Cup. They beat the Bruins in four straight games.
Which Red Wing Hall of Famer was born in Alberta and played with the Red Wings from 1955 through most of the 1967-68 season?
Norm Ullman was an outstanding center for the Red Wings for 13 seasons. Ullman scored 324 regular season goals for the Wings and tallied 758 points. Ullman was traded to Toronto during the 1967-68 for fellow superstar Frank Mahovlich. Ullman was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982.
Where do the Red Wings hold their annual training camp?
Traverse City, MI
Who did the Red Wings take with their first pick in 2000?
The Red Wings selected Swedish defenseman Niklas Kronwall with the 29th overall pick out of Djurgardens in Stockholm. He’s since played 795 games, beginning with the 2003-04 season and has been named to the All-Star team four times.
Who captained the Red Wings for 19 years?
Steve Yzerman was named the youngest captain in franchise history when he was honored with the ‘C’ in 1986. He held it through the 2005-06 season.
Who led the group of local investors that started the franchise?
Charles Hughes, a Detroit businessman, paved the way.
What were the first two team names of the Red Wings?
The team was called the Detroit Cougars from 1926-30 and the Detroit Falcons from 1930-32.
How did the Red Wings get their name?
James Norris bought the Detroit franchise in 1933 after the club went bankrupt. He decided to rename the organization the ‘Red Wings’ after the Montreal Winged Wheelers, a team Norris played for himself.
What four players involved in a blockbuster trade between the Hartford Whalers and the Detroit Red Wings in 1996?
The trade sent Brendan Shanahan and defenseman Brian Glynn to Detroit for Paul Coffey, Keith Primeau and a first-round pick.
In 1933, who was the first Red Wing to win the Calder Trophy?
Carl Voss won the award for rookie of the year. In 38 games, he scored six goals and added 14 assists.
Who replaced Manny Legace when he left in 2006?
Dominik Hasek replaced Legace who left for the St. Louis Blues. It was his second stint with the Red Wings.
Who scored the Cup-clinching goal in Game 5 of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final?
Brendan Shanahan netted two goals in a 3-1 victory over the Hurricanes, securing the Cup for his team for the third time in six years. Holmstrom scored the first goal of the game.
What year did Gordie Howe join the team?
Howe began his legendary career with the Red Wings in 1946. He scored a goal against Toronto in his first NHL game.
Which players comprised the ‘Production Line?’
Sid Abel centered the line with Ted Lindsay on the left wing and Gordie Howe on the right wing.
In the 1949-50 season, the Production Line finished first, second and third in scoring. Lindsay had 78 points in 69 games, Abel had 69 points in 69 games and Howe had 68 points in 70 games.
What year did Mike and Marian Ilitch buy the team?
The Red Wings’ revival began in 1982 when owners Mike and Marian Ilitch bought the team.
How many points did Gordie Howe score in his career with the Red Wings from 1946 to 1971?
He had 786 goals and 1,023 assists for 1,809 points. For his entire NHL career, he had 1,850 points in 1,767 games.
Which players comprised the ‘Two Kids and an Old Goat’ line?
Stickhandling master Pavel Datsyuk centered the feared ‘Two kids and A Goat’ line along with Brett Hull and Boyd Devereaux in 2002. In 2003, Datsyuk centered the line with Brett Hull and Henrik Zetterberg in the place of Devereaux. Datsyuk finished fifth in team scoring with 12 goals and 39 assists for 51 points.
Who became the first defenseman in Red Wings history to score 200 career regular season goals for the club?
Nicklas Lidstrom became the first defenseman to score 200 career regular season goals as a member of the Red Wings. The left-handed shooting blue-liner joined the Red Wings from his native Sweden at the beginning of the 1991-92 season. Reed Larson, another Wings defenseman, scored 222 goals, but only 188 of them came while he was a member of the Red Wings.
Who did the Red Wings take with their first pick in 2003?
Jim Howard was selected in the second round (64th overall) from the University of Maine. It looked like the Red Wings had found their goaltender of the future.
Which Russian left wing was traded for veteran goaltender Dominik Hasek?
Slava Kozlov was traded to the Sabres for Hasek. After his first season with the Sabres, he signed with the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2002-03 season.
Who did the Wings acquire at the trade deadline in the 1998-99 season?
They picked up defensemen Chris Chelios and Ulf Samuelsson, forward Wendel Clark, and goalie Bill Ranford.
After sweeping the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the first round, the Red Wings faced the Avalanche without the help of goaltender Chris Osgood, who was injured in Game 4 of the series with the Ducks. Ranford carried the Wings to wins in the first two games in Colorado, but the Red Wings lost Games 3 and 4 in Detroit. Even the premature return of Osgood was not enough to lift the Wings, who dropped the series in six games.
Which four Red Wing players have won the Hart Memorial Trophy for league MVP?
The four Wings to take home the Hart are Sergei Fedorov (1994), Gordie Howe (1963, 60, 58, 53, 52), Sid Abel (1949) and Ebbie Goodfellow (1940).
Who did the Red Wings take with their first pick in 2004?
Johan Franzen was selected 97th overall. He’s tallied 370 points in 602 games.
Who was the first Wing coach to win the Jack Adams Trophy (Coach of the Year)?
Bobby Kromm won the award for the 1977-78 season.
What year did the Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup?
The Wings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3 games to 1 in 1936. It was Detroit’s second appearance in the Final and Toronto’s sixth.
What was the score in the 2002 Western Conference Finals, when the Wings beat the Avalanche in Game 7?
It was a 7-0 spanking. Patrick Roy was pulled in the second period after letting in six goals in the game at Joe Louis Arena.
Who scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1997?
In dramatic style, right winger Darren McCarty scored the second and last goal for the Red Wings in the second period. Lidstrom, who scored in the first period, would have had the Cup-clinching goal if the Flyers’ Eric Lindros had not scored his first goal of the series with seconds left in the game.
What number is retired for Larry Aurie, but not up in the rafters?
Aurie was the heart and soul of the Wings, playing 11 seasons for the franchise. He was only 5-foot-6 and wore the number 6, which was retired after the 1937-38 season. Jimmy Devellano said owner Mike Ilitch refused to display the number because Aurie was not a Hall-of-Famer.
How many Stanley Cups did Hall-of-Fame coach Scotty Bowman win in his career as a coach?
Bowman retired as the winningest coach in NHL history with nine Stanley Cups. He won three of those Cups with the Red Wings, and the others with the Canadiens and Penguins. He also won one with the Penguins in 1991 as a director of player development and recruitment.
Against what team did Pavel Datsyuk score his first career four-point game in 2003?
Datsyuk scored two goals and had two assists as the Wings topped the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-2.
What players comprised the ‘Grind Line’?
Originally, the Grind Line consisted of three players in the 1990s: Kris Draper, Joe Kocur and Kirk Maltby. After the 1998 season, Darren McCarty replaced Kocur. It was called the Grind Line because it would wear down the opposition’s top scoring line with physical and tenacious play.
Which Red Wing won the Conn Smythe Trophy even though his team lost?
Roger Crozier was the first player to win the award while playing for the losing team in the Stanley Cup Final.
Which Red Wing won the Norris Trophy for top defenseman seven times?
Nicklas Lidstrom is as decorated a defenseman as they come. He won the Norris from 2001-2003, 2006-2008, and in 2011. He’s a four-time Cup winner, 12-time All-Star, Conn Smythe winner and Olympic gold medalist, to name a few.
What Red Wings went into the Hockey Hall of Fame before the three-year waiting period?
Ted Lindsay, Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk and Red Kelly.
What non-Hall-of-Fame goalie is considered the ‘Rodney Dangerfield’ of hockey?
Chris Osgood, of course. He has more wins than Ken Dryden, a better goals-against average than Grant Fuhr and more Stanley Cups than Dominik Hasek.
Who won Stanley Cups as a player, coach, and general manager?
Jack Adams, who played for Toronto and Ottawa, was then the Wings’ coach/GM.
How many of the Russian Five are in the Hockey Hall of Fame?
Three have made it. Viacheslav Fetisov (inducted 2001), Igor Larionov (inducted 2008) and Sergei Fedorov (inducted 2015).
What year did the tradition of throwing the octopus start?
The tradition of chucking the eight-tentacled creatures started in 1952.
How many Stanley Cups have the Red Wings won?
The Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups.
So, How’d You Do?
Did you get a few right? Did you know more than you thought? Regardless, we hope you had some fun and learned a few things along the way.
This is just one installment of Original Six trivia. Be sure to check out the Rangers, Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Bruins and Canadiens versions as well.
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