subject: A Look At The Detroit Red Wings [print this page] A Look At The Detroit Red Wings A Look At The Detroit Red Wings
Bring up the Detroit Red Wings in a conversation with a hockey fan, and you are sure to get a reaction. The Wings have become a bit like the New York Yankees of baseball. People either love them or they hate them. This is really no surprise. Just like the Yanks are considered baseball's best team, the Wings have become hockey's best. They are the model of hockey success. First of all, they have won more championships than any other team based in the States. Furthermore, they rank third in number of Cups won. With this in mind, we are going to talk today about their interesting history.
The team became part of the National Hockey League in 1926. In their first year, their home games were actually played in Windsor, Canada and they were called the Cougars. The next year, they played in Michigan at the Detroit Olympia. Neither year was kind to the franchise. First they finished dead last and then they finished fourth with a record of 19-19-6.
But fans really did not have a long wait to see their team succeed. The Cougars reached the playoffs on 1929, though they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1932, they changed their name to the Red Wings. This change in name seemed to bring about a change in their luck. Between 1933 and 1966, they made it to the playoffs all but four times.
This Detroit team made it to the Cup finals for the first time in 1934. Their opponent: the Chicago Blackhawks. The fans were ecstatic, but the Wings lost in four games. Two years later they would be back again and the result would be much different. In this Cup final series, they were facing the Maple Leafs. This time, they won the Stanly Cup in four games. To add to the impressiveness, they won again the following year with a defeat of the New York Rangers.
1946 saw the dawn of one of hockey's greatest and most recognized players. Hailing from Saskatchewan, Gordie Howe went on to become a legend and hall of famer. His nickname is "Mr. Hockey" and with good reason. For one thing, he is the only hockey player to have competed in five different decades - from the Forties through the Eighties.
Adding to the credence of the Mr. Hockey moniker is Howe's innumerable accomplishments on the ice. He has been a member of four Stanley Cup winning teams. He has been the league's MVP six times and led the league in scoring six times. At age eighty he was the first to be awarded the NHL's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Gordie's teams were not always successful. Red Wing teams saw a bad stretch during the late 60s and into the early 80s. Frustration abounded year after year, as the franchise only made it to the playoffs twice and one only a single series.
Nowadays, the team is simply good. There is no other way to say it and there is no arguing it. After surviving those dreaded years, the Wings have played consistent hockey. They have been in the playoffs every single year since 1990, a streak that is the longest of any sport.
