1970–71 Detroit Red Wings season

1970–71 Detroit Red Wings
Division7th East
1970–71 record22–45–11
Home record17–15–7
Road record5–30–4
Goals for209
Goals against308
Team information
General managerSid Abel (Oct–Jan)
Ned Harkness (Jan–Apr)
CoachNed Harkness
Doug Barkley
CaptainAlex Delvecchio
Alternate captainsGary Bergman
Red Berenson
ArenaOlympia Stadium
Minor league affiliate(s)Fort Worth Wings (CHL)
Team leaders
GoalsTom Webster (30)
AssistsTom Webster (37)
PointsTom Webster (67)
Penalty minutesGary Bergman (149)
WinsRoy Edwards (11)
Goals against averageRoy Edwards (3.39)

The 1970–71 Detroit Red Wings season was Gordie Howe's final season with the Red Wings. Ned Harkness was hired as coach in 1970 and was promoted to general manager midway through the season. His background was a successful college hockey coach. He tried to force his two-way style of play on a veteran Red Wings team resistant to change. Harkness also demanded short hair, no smoking, and put other rules in place regarding drinking and phone calls.[1] The Red Wings finished in with a 22–45–11 record for 55 points for last place in the East Division, making things even worse was that they finished behind the two expansion clubs that season, the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks.

Offseason

The Fort Worth Wings of the Central Hockey League, coached by former Red Wings' defenceman Doug Barkley, continued to be operated as Detroit's top farm team during the 1969–70 season.[2]

Regular season

Red Wings general manager Sid Abel wanted to get rid of coach Ned Harkness and was overruled by team owner Bruce Norris. Once Harkness took over as general manager, he got rid of players he deemed a threat to him. On January 10, 1971, Doug Barkley was promoted to become head coach of the Red wings,[3] and on January 13, 1971, Frank Mahovlich was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Mickey Redmond, Guy Charron and Bill Collins. Mahovlich was reunited with his brother Pete, who had become a star player himself with the Canadiens. One of the few highlights of the season was the emergence of young rookie goaltender Jim Rutherford.

  • On October 29, Gordie Howe became the first player to record 1,000 assists in a 5–3 win over Boston at the Detroit Olympia.
  • The Wings suffered their worst defeat in franchise history January 2, when Toronto beat them 13–0.

Season standings

East Division[4]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Boston Bruins 78 57 14 7 399 207 +192 121
2 New York Rangers 78 49 18 11 259 177 +82 109
3 Montreal Canadiens 78 42 23 13 291 216 +75 97
4 Toronto Maple Leafs 78 37 33 8 248 211 +37 82
5 Buffalo Sabres 78 24 39 15 217 291 −74 63
6 Vancouver Canucks 78 24 46 8 229 296 −67 56
7 78 22 45 11 209 308 −99 55

Record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

1970–71 regular season[6]
October
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 10, 1970 5–3 California Golden Seals (1970–71) 1–0–0
2 L October 11, 1970 3–7 @ Boston Bruins (1970–71) 1–1–0
3 L October 13, 1970 3–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1970–71) 1–2–0
4 L October 15, 1970 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1970–71) 1–3–0
5 W October 17, 1970 3–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1970–71) 2–3–0
6 L October 18, 1970 1–2 Minnesota North Stars (1970–71) 2–4–0
7 L October 23, 1970 3–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1970–71) 2–5–0
8 T October 25, 1970 3–3 Montreal Canadiens (1970–71) 2–5–1
9 L October 28, 1970 1–4 @ New York Rangers (1970–71) 2–6–1
10 W October 29, 1970 5–3 Boston Bruins (1970–71) 3–6–1
November
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
11 L November 1, 1970 4–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (1970–71) 3–7–1
12 L November 4, 1970 2–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1970–71) 3–8–1
13 W November 5, 1970 3–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1970–71) 4–8–1
14 T November 8, 1970 3–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1970–71) 4–8–2
15 L November 12, 1970 1–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1970–71) 4–9–2
16 T November 15, 1970 4–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1970–71) 4–9–3
17 W November 17, 1970 5–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1970–71) 5–9–3
18 L November 21, 1970 1–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1970–71) 5–10–3
19 W November 22, 1970 4–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1970–71) 6–10–3
20 W November 26, 1970 4–2 Vancouver Canucks (1970–71) 7–10–3
21 L November 28, 1970 4–9 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1970–71) 7–11–3
22 W November 29, 1970 5–3 Montreal Canadiens (1970–71) 8–11–3
December
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
23 T December 3, 1970 4–4 Los Angeles Kings (1970–71) 8–11–4
24 L December 5, 1970 0–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1970–71) 8–12–4
25 L December 6, 1970 2–4 St. Louis Blues (1970–71) 8–13–4
26 W December 10, 1970 3–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1970–71) 9–13–4
27 W December 12, 1970 5–3 Buffalo Sabres (1970–71) 10–13–4
28 L December 13, 1970 2–6 @ Boston Bruins (1970–71) 10–14–4
29 L December 16, 1970 2–4 @ California Golden Seals (1970–71) 10–15–4
30 L December 19, 1970 1–9 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1970–71) 10–16–4
31 L December 20, 1970 3–7 California Golden Seals (1970–71) 10–17–4
32 L December 23, 1970 1–2 Boston Bruins (1970–71) 10–18–4
33 W December 26, 1970 7–4 New York Rangers (1970–71) 11–18–4
34 L December 27, 1970 2–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1970–71) 11–19–4
35 L December 31, 1970 3–8 Chicago Black Hawks (1970–71) 11–20–4
January
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
36 L January 2, 1971 0–13 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1970–71) 11–21–4
37 W January 3, 1971 3–2 California Golden Seals (1970–71) 12–21–4
38 L January 7, 1971 4–7 @ Buffalo Sabres (1970–71) 12–22–4
39 W January 9, 1971 3–2 Buffalo Sabres (1970–71) 13–22–4
40 L January 10, 1971 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1970–71) 13–23–4
41 T January 14, 1971 2–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1970–71) 13–23–5
42 L January 16, 1971 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1970–71) 13–24–5
43 L January 17, 1971 0–2 Minnesota North Stars (1970–71) 13–25–5
44 L January 21, 1971 0–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1970–71) 13–26–5
45 L January 23, 1971 2–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1970–71) 13–27–5
46 W January 24, 1971 7–3 Vancouver Canucks (1970–71) 14–27–5
47 T January 28, 1971 1–1 St. Louis Blues (1970–71) 14–27–6
48 T January 30, 1971 3–3 Los Angeles Kings (1970–71) 14–27–7
49 L January 31, 1971 1–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1970–71) 14–28–7
February
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
50 T February 3, 1971 4–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1970–71) 14–28–8
51 L February 4, 1971 0–1 New York Rangers (1970–71) 14–29–8
52 W February 7, 1971 5–2 @ California Golden Seals (1970–71) 15–29–8
53 L February 10, 1971 2–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1970–71) 15–30–8
54 L February 12, 1971 3–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1970–71) 15–31–8
55 W February 14, 1971 4–0 Los Angeles Kings (1970–71) 16–31–8
56 W February 18, 1971 5–3 Minnesota North Stars (1970–71) 17–31–8
57 W February 20, 1971 6–5 Buffalo Sabres (1970–71) 18–31–8
58 L February 21, 1971 1–4 @ New York Rangers (1970–71) 18–32–8
59 L February 25, 1971 1–3 St. Louis Blues (1970–71) 18–33–8
60 L February 27, 1971 2–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1970–71) 18–34–8
61 W February 28, 1971 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1970–71) 19–34–8
March
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
62 T March 4, 1971 2–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1970–71) 19–34–9
63 T March 6, 1971 2–2 New York Rangers (1970–71) 19–34–10
64 L March 7, 1971 1–4 Montreal Canadiens (1970–71) 19–35–10
65 L March 11, 1971 3–7 @ Vancouver Canucks (1970–71) 19–36–10
66 L March 13, 1971 2–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1970–71) 19–37–10
67 W March 14, 1971 8–5 @ California Golden Seals (1970–71) 20–37–10
68 L March 16, 1971 4–11 Boston Bruins (1970–71) 20–38–10
69 L March 18, 1971 3–7 @ Boston Bruins (1970–71) 20–39–10
70 L March 20, 1971 1–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1970–71) 20–40–10
71 L March 21, 1971 0–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1970–71) 20–41–10
72 L March 24, 1971 2–8 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1970–71) 20–42–10
73 W March 25, 1971 4–3 Vancouver Canucks (1970–71) 21–42–10
74 L March 27, 1971 2–9 @ Montreal Canadiens (1970–71) 21–43–10
75 W March 28, 1971 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1970–71) 22–43–10
76 T March 31, 1971 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1970–71) 22–43–11
April
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
77 L April 3, 1971 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1970–71) 22–44–11
78 L April 4, 1971 0–6 @ New York Rangers (1970–71) 22–45–11

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

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Tom Webster 78 30 37 67 40
Alex Delvecchio 77 21 34 55 6
Gordie Howe 63 23 29 52 38
Frank Mahovlich 35 14 18 32 30
Nick Libett 78 16 13 29 25
Garry Unger 51 13 14 27 63
Bruce MacGregor 47 6 16 22 18
Wayne Connelly 51 8 13 21 12
Bill Collins 36 5 16 21 12
Red Berenson 24 5 12 17 4
Rene LeClerc 44 8 8 16 43
Mickey Redmond 21 6 8 14 7
Tim Ecclestone 27 4 10 14 13
Don Luce 58 3 11 14 18
Guy Charron 24 8 4 12 4

[7]

Defensemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Gary Bergman 68 8 25 33 149
Mike Robitaille 23 4 8 12 22
Dale Rolfe 44 3 9 12 48
Ron Harris 42 2 8 10 65
Gerry Hart 64 2 7 9 148
Arnie Brown

[7]

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average

Player GP MIN W L T SO GA GAA
Roy Edwards 37 2104 11 19 7 0 119 3.39
Gerry Gray 7 380 1 4 1 0 30 4.74
Don McLeod 14 698 3 7 0 0 60 5.16
Jim Rutherford 29 1948 7 15 3 1 94 3.77

[7]

Awards and records

Draft picks

Detroit's draft picks at the 1970 NHL amateur draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 12 Serge Lajeunesse  Canada Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
2 26 Robert Guindon  Canada Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
3 40 Yvon Lambert  Canada Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)
4 54 Tom Johnston  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
5 68 Tom Mellor  United States Boston College (ECAC)
6 82 Bernie MacNeil  Canada Espanola Eagles (NOJHL)
7 95 Ed Hays  Canada University of Denver (WCHA)

References

  1. ^ Mulvoy, Mark (January 18, 1971). "Poor Broken Wings". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2008.
  2. ^ Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley (1971). Up From the Minor Leagues of Hockey. Chicago, Illinois: Cowles Book Company, Inc. p. 127.
  3. ^ Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley (1971). Up From the Minor Leagues of Hockey. Chicago, Illinois: Cowles Book Company, Inc. p. 128.
  4. ^ "1970–1971 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  5. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "1970-71 Detroit Red Wings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c "Detroit Red Wings 1970-71 roster and statistics". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
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