Twenty-five consecutive years in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Four championships in a span of 12 years. Those are some of the accomplishments fans of the Detroit Red Wings have seen in the past three decades.
The Red Wings have had two eras in which they were as good as any team that ever stepped onto an NHL rink. The Scotty Bowman/Mike Babcock–coached teams that helped turn Detroit into Hockeytown are familiar to most of today’s fans, but the Red Wings of the early 1950s that won four Cups in six years were just as dominant (albeit in a league that was just six teams, rather than today’s 31).
That team featured one of the NHL’s greatest and best-named lines, the “Production Line” with Ted Lindsay, Gordie Howe, and Sid Abel. Alex Delvecchio later moved into the middle. Red Kelly was the Nicklas Lidstrom of his day, a smart, smooth-skating defenseman who was among the greats of his era. Terry Sawchuk was arguably the greatest goaltender of the Original Six era.
Of course, the NHL will never see another player like Howe, whose greatness on and off the ice earned him the nickname “Mr. Hockey.” It was a perfect two-word description of a sports immortal.
The later era of Detroit dominance also had its stars. Steve Yzerman almost had two careers, one as one of the NHL’s highest-scoring centers, the second as an elite two-way player and leader. Lidstrom was arguably the best defenseman of the past 40 years. Bowman and Babcock are among the greatest coaches in NHL history.
For nine decades, the Red Wings have been a pillar of the National Hockey League. In good times and not so good times, they’ve always been among hockey’s most exciting teams.
And now on to this book. Just like a hockey game, the difficulty level of the questions you’ll see will get tougher as you move along from the first period through the second and third, into overtime, and finally on to the shootout. We hope you’ll have fun—and get a chance to prove to your friends what a great Red Wings fan you are!