1953–54 Detroit Red Wings season

1953–54 Detroit Red Wings
1953–54 Detroit Red Wings
Stanley Cup champions
Prince of Wales Trophy winners
League	1st NHL
1953–54 record	37–19–14
Home record	24–4–7
Road record	13–15–7
Goals for	191
Goals against	132
Team information
General manager	Jack Adams
Coach	Tommy Ivan
Captain	Ted Lindsay
Alternate captains	Bob Goldham; Red Kelly; Marty Pavelich
Arena	Olympia Stadium
Team leaders
Goals	Gordie Howe (33)
Assists	Gordie Howe (48)
Points	Gordie Howe (81)
Penalty minutes	Ted Lindsay (110)
Wins	Terry Sawchuk (35)
Goals against average	Terry Sawchuk (1.93)

The 1953–54 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 28th season. The highlight of season was winning the Stanley Cup.

Offseason

Regular season

Prison game

On February 2, 1954, the Red Wings played an exhibition game against Marquette Branch Prison on an outdoor ice surface.

Final standings

National Hockey League^[1]
		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1		70	37	19	14	191	132	+59	88
2	Montreal Canadiens	70	35	24	11	195	141	+54	81
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	32	24	14	152	131	+21	78
4	Boston Bruins	70	32	28	10	177	181	−4	74
5	New York Rangers	70	29	31	10	161	182	−21	68
6	Chicago Black Hawks	70	12	51	7	133	242	−109	31

Record vs. opponents

1953–54 NHL Records ^[2]
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	MTL	NYR	TOR
Boston	—	11–1–2	3–8–3	4–6–4	7–7	7–6–1
Chicago	1–11–2	—	2–11–1	3–9–2	3–9–2	3–11
	8–3–3	11–2–1	—	6–6–2	6–5–3	6–3–5
Montreal	6–4–4	9–3–2	6–6–2	—	9–5	5–6–3
New York	7–7	9–3–2	5–6–3	5–9	—	3–6–5
Toronto	6–7–1	11–3	3–6–5	6–5–3	6–3–5	—

Schedule and results

1953–54 regular season^[3]

October

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 8, 1953	4–1	New York Rangers (1953–54)	1–0–0
2	L	October 10, 1953	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	1–1–0
3	W	October 11, 1953	4–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	2–1–0
4	T	October 16, 1953	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	2–1–1
5	W	October 17, 1953	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	3–1–1
6	W	October 18, 1953	4–0	Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	4–1–1
7	T	October 21, 1953	1–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	4–1–2
8	L	October 24, 1953	0–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	4–2–2
9	W	October 25, 1953	2–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	5–2–2
10	L	October 31, 1953	1–3	Boston Bruins (1953–54)	5–3–2

November

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
11	W	November 1, 1953	5–1	Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	6–3–2
12	T	November 7, 1953	2–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	6–3–3
13	T	November 8, 1953	2–2	New York Rangers (1953–54)	6–3–4
14	T	November 11, 1953	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1953–54)	6–3–5
15	W	November 14, 1953	3–2	@ New York Rangers (1953–54)	7–3–5
16	W	November 15, 1953	4–1	New York Rangers (1953–54)	8–3–5
17	W	November 19, 1953	3–2	Boston Bruins (1953–54)	9–3–5
18	L	November 21, 1953	0–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	9–4–5
19	W	November 22, 1953	3–2	@ New York Rangers (1953–54)	10–4–5
20	W	November 26, 1953	2–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	11–4–5
21	W	November 28, 1953	9–0	Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	12–4–5
22	W	November 29, 1953	9–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	13–4–5

December

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
23	W	December 3, 1953	4–0	New York Rangers (1953–54)	14–4–5
24	L	December 5, 1953	0–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	14–5–5
25	L	December 6, 1953	0–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	14–6–5
26	T	December 9, 1953	3–3	@ New York Rangers (1953–54)	14–6–6
27	L	December 10, 1953	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1953–54)	14–7–6
28	W	December 12, 1953	7–1	Boston Bruins (1953–54)	15–7–6
29	W	December 13, 1953	4–3	Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	16–7–6
30	W	December 17, 1953	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	17–7–6
31	W	December 18, 1953	3–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	18–7–6
32	W	December 20, 1953	4–2	@ Boston Bruins (1953–54)	19–7–6
33	L	December 23, 1953	1–2	@ New York Rangers (1953–54)	19–8–6
34	L	December 26, 1953	2–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	19–9–6
35	W	December 27, 1953	2–1	Boston Bruins (1953–54)	20–9–6
36	T	December 31, 1953	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	20–9–7

January

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
37	L	January 1, 1954	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	20–10–7
38	T	January 3, 1954	0–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	20–10–8
39	W	January 7, 1954	3–1	Boston Bruins (1953–54)	21–10–8
40	W	January 10, 1954	2–1	Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	22–10–8
41	W	January 13, 1954	3–1	@ New York Rangers (1953–54)	23–10–8
42	W	January 14, 1954	2–1	@ Boston Bruins (1953–54)	24–10–8
43	L	January 17, 1954	2–3	New York Rangers (1953–54)	24–11–8
44	W	January 21, 1954	1–0	@ Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	25–11–8
45	L	January 23, 1954	1–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	25–12–8
46	W	January 24, 1954	2–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	26–12–8
47	T	January 28, 1954	3–3	New York Rangers (1953–54)	26–12–9
48	W	January 30, 1954	4–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	27–12–9
49	W	January 31, 1954	5–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	28–12–9

February

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
50	W	February 4, 1954	5–0	Boston Bruins (1953–54)	29–12–9
51	W	February 6, 1954	4–2	@ Boston Bruins (1953–54)	30–12–9
52	T	February 7, 1954	1–1	@ Boston Bruins (1953–54)	30–12–10
53	L	February 10, 1954	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1953–54)	30–13–10
54	W	February 14, 1954	5–0	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	31–13–10
55	W	February 15, 1954	3–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	32–13–10
56	T	February 17, 1954	0–0	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	32–13–11
57	L	February 18, 1954	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	32–14–11
58	L	February 20, 1954	0–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	32–15–11
59	W	February 22, 1954	3–0	Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	33–15–11
60	W	February 25, 1954	3–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	34–15–11

March

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
61	T	March 4, 1954	3–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	34–15–12
62	W	March 6, 1954	3–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	35–15–12
63	T	March 7, 1954	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	35–15–13
64	W	March 11, 1954	6–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54)	36–15–13
65	L	March 13, 1954	2–5	New York Rangers (1953–54)	36–16–13
66	L	March 14, 1954	0–2	@ New York Rangers (1953–54)	36–17–13
67	L	March 16, 1954	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1953–54)	36–18–13
68	T	March 18, 1954	3–3	Boston Bruins (1953–54)	36–18–14
69	L	March 20, 1954	1–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (1953–54)	36–19–14
70	W	March 21, 1954	6–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54)	37–19–14

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Finals

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 4	Montreal	1	Detroit	3
April 6	Montreal	3	Detroit	1
April 8	Detroit	5	Montreal	2
April 10	Detroit	2	Montreal	0
April 11	Montreal	1	Detroit	0	OT
April 13	Detroit	1	Montreal	4
April 16	Montreal	1	Detroit	2	OT

Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gordie Howe	RW	70	33	48	81	109
Ted Lindsay	LW	70	26	36	62	110
Red Kelly	D/C	62	16	33	49	18
Dutch Reibel	C	69	15	33	48	18
Johnny Wilson	LW	70	17	17	34	22
Alex Delvecchio	C/LW	69	11	18	29	34
Marty Pavelich	LW	65	9	20	29	57
Glen Skov	C/LW	70	17	10	27	95
Metro Prystai	C	70	12	15	27	26
Bill Dineen	RW	70	17	8	25	34
Tony Leswick	W	70	6	18	24	90
Marcel Pronovost	D	57	6	12	18	50
Bob Goldham	D	69	1	15	16	50
Vic Stasiuk	LW	42	5	2	7	4
Keith Allen	D	10	0	4	4	2
Jimmy Peters	RW	25	0	4	4	10
Benny Woit	RW/D	70	0	2	2	38
Al Arbour	D	36	0	1	1	18
Terry Sawchuk	G	67	0	1	1	31
Marcel Bonin	W	1	0	0	0	0
Dave Gatherum	G	3	0	0	0	0
Jim Hay	D	12	0	0	0	0
Earl Johnson	LW	1	0	0	0	0
Ed Stankiewicz	C	1	0	0	0	2
Lefty Wilson	G	1	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Terry Sawchuk	4004	67	35	19	13	129	1.93	12
Dave Gatherum	180	3	2	0	1	3	1.00	1
Lefty Wilson	16	1	0	0	0	0	0.00	0
Team:	4200	70	37	19	14	132	1.89	13

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gordie Howe	RW	12	4	5	9	31
Alex Delvecchio	C/LW	12	2	7	9	7
Ted Lindsay	LW	12	4	4	8	14
Red Kelly	D/C	12	5	1	6	0
Marcel Pronovost	D	12	2	3	5	12
Metro Prystai	C	12	2	3	5	0
Tony Leswick	W	12	3	1	4	18
Marty Pavelich	LW	12	2	2	4	4
Dutch Reibel	C	9	1	3	4	0
Johnny Wilson	LW	12	3	0	3	0
Glen Skov	C/LW	12	1	2	3	16
Bob Goldham	D	12	0	2	2	2
Benny Woit	RW/D	12	0	1	1	8
Keith Allen	D	5	0	0	0	0
Bill Dineen	RW	12	0	0	0	2
Gilles Dube	LW	2	0	0	0	0
Jimmy Peters	RW	10	0	0	0	0
Terry Sawchuk	G	12	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Terry Sawchuk	751	12	8	4	20	1.60	2
Team:	751	12	8	4	20	1.60	2

^[4]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Awards and records

Prince of Wales Trophy: || Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy: || Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
James Norris Memorial Trophy: || Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: || Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
Gordie Howe, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
Red Kelly, Defense, NHL First Team All-Star
Ted Lindsay, Left Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
Terry Sawchuk, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star

References

Red Wings on Hockey Database

^ "1953–1954 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1953-54 Detroit Red Wings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
^ "1953-54 Detroit Red Wings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.

[standings-div-1] "1953–1954 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.

[2] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[Gamelog-3] "1953-54 Detroit Red Wings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2025.

[4] "1953-54 Detroit Red Wings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

1953–54 NHL season
Teams	Boston Chicago Montreal New York Toronto
See also	All-Star Game Detroit Red Wings prison game Stanley Cup Finals

Detroit Red Wings
Founded in 1926 Based in Detroit, Michigan
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History (Original Six) Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Ilitch Holdings (Christopher Ilitch, chairman) General manager Steve Yzerman Head coach Todd McLellan Team captain Dylan Larkin Current roster
Arenas	Windsor Arena Olympia Stadium Joe Louis Arena Little Caesars Arena
Rivalries	Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche Toronto Maple Leafs
Affiliates	AHL Grand Rapids Griffins ECHL Toledo Walleye
Media	TV Bally Sports Detroit Radio WXYT WXYT-FM
Culture and lore	Victoria Cougars Al the Octopus Grind Line Hockeytown Legend of the Octopus Production Line Red Wings–Avalanche brawl Hakan Andersson "Stanley's Cup" (South Park) Russian Five Karen Newman Budd Lynch Al Sobotka London Lions "Don't Stop Believin'" "Without Me" Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F 1938 European tour 1954 prison game 2009 Winter Classic 2014 Winter Classic 2016 Stadium Series Centennial Classic 2025 Stadium Series
Category Commons

Detroit Red Wings seasons
1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship