About the Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings got their start as the Victoria Cougars, part of the Western Hockey League. The Cougars were sold to Detroit in 1926 and, although the Victoria Cougars had won Stanley Cup in 1925, their first season in Detroit was disaster. The club picked up pace under new coach and GM Jack Adams, who had played with the Toronto St. Pats and the Ottawa Senators. The team made it to the playoffs in 1928-29 and changed their name to the Detroit Falcons in 1930-31. Teams long-time financial woes since moving to Detroit ended when millionaire shipping magnate and former hockey player James Norris purchased the team. Norris and Adams agreed on a new logo, a winged wheel, and changed their name to the Red Wings. They won their first Stanley Cup in 1936 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Norris sold the Red Wings in 1982 to Mike and Marian Ilitch, the owners of Little Caesars Pizza. They hired Jimmy Develtano as the GM and picked up 18-yr old center Steve Yzerman in the 1983 NHL draft. By 1989 hed set team records for goals, assists and points, with the third highest scoring point total in NHL history, behind only Gretzky and Lemieux. In 1990 the team hired Bryan Murray as head coach, who had a disappointing season with the first missed playoffs in 14 years. Murray was fired after the 92-93 season and replaced by Scotty Bowman, who began to emphasize the teams defense. After series of trades and the 95 lockout, the Red Wings were a top team, advancing to the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1966. They were swept by the NJ Devils in the Cup Finals. Their next season was even better, when they broke an NHL record with 62 victories in a season. Significant trades in summer 2001 added Dominik Hasek, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille to the roster. They were a league best that season with 116 points and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in five games during the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals.

Bowman resigned after 9 seasons, and Hasek retired after the 2001-02 season, being replaced by new coach Dave Lewis and goalie Curtis Joseph from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brett Hull recorded his 700th goal on February 10 against the San Jose Sharks and became the sixth player in NHL history to reach this mark. He finished the season with 716 goals, for fifth best all-time. Detroit replaced Coach Lewis with Mike Babcock of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. After new NHL restrictions in 2005, the Wings had to buy out several contracts before the new season. They bought back former goaltender Chris Osgood from the New York Islanders for a one-year contract. By October, the Red Wings tied a league record with the most points (25) after 14 games and tied their franchises record with most consecutive wins (9). The team sent 10 of their best players to compete in the Winter Olympics for their home countries, including 5 gold winners for Team Sweden. They fell in game 6 of the playoffs against the Oilers, 4-3.

Captain Steve Yzerman announced his retirement on July 3, ending a 22-season career with the Red Wings, and Brendan Shanahan left the club after 9 seasons for a gig with the New York Rangers. Detroit re-signed Dominik Hasek to a one-year deal on July 31. The Red Wings open their season at home against the Vancouver Canucks on October 5.