1977–78 Detroit Red Wings season

1977–78 Detroit Red Wings
Division2nd Norris
Conference5th Wales
1977–78 record32–34–14
Home record22–11–7
Road record10–23–7
Goals for252
Goals against266
Team information
General managerTed Lindsay
CoachBobby Kromm
CaptainDan Maloney
Dennis Hextall
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaDetroit Olympia
Team leaders
GoalsDale McCourt (33)
AssistsReed Larson (41)
PointsDale McCourt (72)
Penalty minutesDennis Polonich (254)
WinsJim Rutherford (20)
Goals against averageEd Giacomin (3.14)

The 1977–78 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 46th season, 52nd overall for the franchise. The Red Wings returned to the playoffs after an eight-year absence. In the postseason, the swept the Atlanta Flames 2–0 in the preliminary round, in the quarterfinal round the Wings would lose in five games to the eventual Stanley cup champion Montreal Canadiens. The Red Wings wouldn't return to the playoffs again until 1984, and wouldn't win another playoff series until 1987.

Regular season

Final standings

Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Montreal Canadiens 80 59 10 11 359 183 129
80 32 34 14 252 266 78
Los Angeles Kings 80 31 34 15 243 245 77
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 25 37 18 254 321 68
Washington Capitals 80 17 49 14 195 321 48

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Norris Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

1977–78 regular season[3]
October
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
1 T October 13, 1977 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 0–0–1
2 L October 15, 1977 2–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 0–1–1
3 L October 18, 1977 2–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) 0–2–1
4 T October 20, 1977 2–2 Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 0–2–2
5 W October 22, 1977 4–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) 1–2–2
6 W October 26, 1977 4–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 2–2–2
7 W October 27, 1977 3–1 Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) 3–2–2
8 L October 29, 1977 4–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 3–3–2
November
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
9 W November 2, 1977 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 4–3–2
10 L November 5, 1977 3–4 Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 4–4–2
11 W November 6, 1977 4–1 @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 5–4–2
12 T November 9, 1977 1–1 Washington Capitals (1977–78) 5–4–3
13 W November 12, 1977 3–1 New York Rangers (1977–78) 6–4–3
14 L November 13, 1977 0–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) 6–5–3
15 W November 16, 1977 10–1 St. Louis Blues (1977–78) 7–5–3
16 L November 18, 1977 3–5 @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) 7–6–3
17 W November 19, 1977 2–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) 8–6–3
18 W November 23, 1977 4–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) 9–6–3
19 L November 26, 1977 1–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 9–7–3
20 L November 27, 1977 1–4 New York Islanders (1977–78) 9–8–3
21 L November 30, 1977 4–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 9–9–3
December
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
22 L December 3, 1977 2–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 9–10–3
23 L December 4, 1977 1–6 @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 9–11–3
24 L December 6, 1977 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) 9–12–3
25 L December 8, 1977 4–6 @ Boston Bruins (1977–78) 9–13–3
26 L December 10, 1977 4–7 @ New York Islanders (1977–78) 9–14–3
27 T December 15, 1977 5–5 New York Rangers (1977–78) 9–14–4
28 W December 17, 1977 3–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) 10–14–4
29 L December 18, 1977 2–6 @ New York Rangers (1977–78) 10–15–4
30 L December 21, 1977 3–5 Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 10–16–4
31 L December 23, 1977 2–3 @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) 10–17–4
32 W December 27, 1977 5–2 Colorado Rockies (1977–78) 11–17–4
33 T December 29, 1977 3–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 11–17–5
34 L December 31, 1977 0–7 Boston Bruins (1977–78) 11–18–5
January
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
35 W January 5, 1978 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 12–18–5
36 W January 8, 1978 4–3 Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 13–18–5
37 W January 11, 1978 6–3 @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) 14–18–5
38 L January 12, 1978 1–6 Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 14–19–5
39 W January 14, 1978 6–2 Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 15–19–5
40 T January 18, 1978 4–4 @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) 15–19–6
41 W January 19, 1978 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) 16–19–6
42 L January 21, 1978 1–7 @ Boston Bruins (1977–78) 16–20–6
43 W January 22, 1978 6–3 Washington Capitals (1977–78) 17–20–6
44 L January 28, 1978 1–6 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) 17–21–6
45 T January 29, 1978 3–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) 17–21–7
46 L January 31, 1978 3–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 17–22–7
February
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
47 L February 1, 1978 0–2 @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 17–23–7
48 T February 4, 1978 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 17–23–8
49 W February 5, 1978 4–3 Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 18–23–8
50 W February 7, 1978 2–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 19–23–8
51 L February 9, 1978 3–5 Boston Bruins (1977–78) 19–24–8
52 L February 11, 1978 5–8 @ New York Islanders (1977–78) 19–25–8
53 W February 12, 1978 8–3 Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) 20–25–8
54 W February 16, 1978 5–3 Atlanta Flames (1977–78) 21–25–8
55 L February 18, 1978 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) 21–26–8
56 W February 19, 1978 5–1 Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 22–26–8
57 W February 23, 1978 4–1 Washington Capitals (1977–78) 23–26–8
58 T February 25, 1978 2–2 @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) 23–26–9
59 L February 26, 1978 1–3 St. Louis Blues (1977–78) 23–27–9
60 L February 28, 1978 3–9 @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 23–28–9
March
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
61 L March 1, 1978 2–3 @ New York Rangers (1977–78) 23–29–9
62 W March 4, 1978 3–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) 24–29–9
63 W March 5, 1978 4–3 Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) 25–29–9
64 T March 9, 1978 2–2 Boston Bruins (1977–78) 25–29–10
65 W March 11, 1978 5–4 Colorado Rockies (1977–78) 26–29–10
66 T March 12, 1978 4–4 Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) 26–29–11
67 T March 16, 1978 3–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 26–29–12
68 W March 18, 1978 5–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) 27–29–12
69 L March 19, 1978 4–6 @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) 27–30–12
70 W March 22, 1978 4–1 Atlanta Flames (1977–78) 28–30–12
71 T March 25, 1978 2–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 28–30–13
72 W March 26, 1978 4–1 @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) 29–30–13
73 W March 28, 1978 7–0 Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 30–30–13
74 L March 30, 1978 0–4 Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 30–31–13
April
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
75 L April 1, 1978 0–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) 30–32–13
76 L April 2, 1978 2–5 New York Islanders (1977–78) 30–33–13
77 T April 5, 1978 5–5 @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 30–33–14
78 W April 6, 1978 6–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 31–33–14
79 L April 8, 1978 1–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 31–34–14
80 W April 9, 1978 4–0 Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 32–34–14

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

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Dale McCourt C 76 33 39 72 10 10 10 3 5
Andre St. Laurent C 77 31 39 70 108 7 10 0 4
Reed Larson D 75 19 41 60 95 −8 7 1 4
Dennis Hextall LW 78 16 33 49 195 −5 2 2 3
Nick Libett LW 80 23 22 45 46 −3 1 1 1
Dan Maloney LW 66 16 29 45 151 4 3 0 1
Paul Woods LW 80 19 23 42 52 18 3 2 3
Bill Lochead LW 77 20 16 36 47 6 2 0 4
Dennis Polonich C/RW 79 16 19 35 254 −5 5 0 0
Vaclav Nedomansky RW 63 11 17 28 2 −17 5 0 1
Greg Joly D 79 7 20 27 73 −4 2 0 2
Perry Miller D 62 4 17 21 120 −5 0 1 1
Rick Bowness RW 61 8 11 19 76 −8 2 0 2
Terry Harper D 80 2 17 19 85 19 0 0 0
Dennis Hull LW 55 5 9 14 6 −20 2 0 1
Larry Wright C 66 3 6 9 13 −12 0 0 0
Al Cameron D 63 2 7 9 94 −12 1 0 0
Jean Hamel D 32 2 6 8 34 3 0 0 0
Thommie Bergman D 14 1 6 7 16 1 0 0 0
Errol Thompson LW 14 5 1 6 2 −4 1 0 0
Danny Grant RW 13 2 2 4 6 −2 1 0 0
Al McDonough RW 13 2 2 4 4 2 0 0 0
Bob Ritchie LW 11 2 2 4 0 −1 1 0 0
Rob Plumb LW 7 2 1 3 0 −4 1 0 0
Larry Giroux D 5 0 3 3 4 −5 0 0 0
J.P. LeBlanc C 3 0 2 2 4 1 0 0 0
Jim Rutherford G 43 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
Michel Bergeron RW 3 1 0 1 0 −2 0 0 0
Ron Low G 32 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Roland Cloutier C 1 0 0 0 0 −2 0 0 0
Ed Giacomin G 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
John Hilworth D 5 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0
Fern LeBlanc C 2 0 0 0 0 −2 0 0 0
Tim Sheehy RW 15 0 0 0 0 −13 0 0 0
Rick Vasko D 3 0 0 0 7 −1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Jim Rutherford 2468 43 20 17 4 134 3.26 1
Ron Low 1816 32 9 12 9 102 3.37 1
Ed Giacomin 516 9 3 5 1 27 3.14 0
Team: 4800 80 32 34 14 263 3.29 2

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Vaclav Nedomansky RW 7 3 5 8 0 1 0 0
Dale McCourt C 7 4 2 6 2 2 0 0
Paul Woods LW 7 0 5 5 4 0 0 0
Nick Libett LW 7 3 1 4 0 1 0 0
Bill Lochead LW 7 3 0 3 6 0 0 1
Errol Thompson LW 7 2 1 3 2 1 0 1
Dennis Hextall LW 7 1 1 2 10 0 1 1
Andre St. Laurent C 7 1 1 2 4 0 0 0
Thommie Bergman D 7 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
Reed Larson D 7 0 2 2 4 0 0 0
Dennis Polonich C/RW 7 1 0 1 19 0 0 0
Al Cameron D 7 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Terry Harper D 7 0 1 1 4 0 0 0
Jim Rutherford G 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Rick Bowness RW 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Larry Giroux D 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Jean Hamel D 7 0 0 0 10 0 0 0
Dennis Hull LW 7 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Greg Joly D 5 0 0 0 8 0 0 0
J.P. LeBlanc C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ron Low G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Jim Rutherford 180 3 2 1 12 4.00 0
Ron Low 240 4 1 3 17 4.25 0
Team: 420 7 3 4 29 4.14 0

[4]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus 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;

Transactions

The Red Wings were involved in the following transactions during the 1977–78 season.

Trades

Player acquired Acquired from For
Andre St. Laurent New York Islanders Michel Bergeron
Cash Philadelphia Flyers Terry Murray
Dennis Hull Chicago Blackhawks Red Wings' 4th round draft pick in 1980
Errol Thompson, 1st and 2nd round draft pick in 1978, 1st round Draft Pick in 1980 Toronto Maple Leafs Dan Maloney, 2nd round draft pick in 1980

Free agents

Player Former team
Player New team

Draft picks

Detroit's picks at the 1977 NHL amateur draft in Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Position Nationality College/junior/club team (League)
1 1 Dale McCourt Center  Canada St. Catharines Fincups (OHA)
3 37 Rick Vasko Defense  Canada Peterborough Petes (OHA)
4 55 John Hilworth Defense  Canada Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
5 73 Jim Korn Defense  United States Providence College (ECAC)
6 91 Jim Baxter Goaltender  Canada Union College (ECAC)
7 109 Randy Wilson Left wing  United States Providence College (ECAC)
8 125 Raymond Roy Center  United States Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
9 141 Kip Churchill Center  Canada Union College (ECAC)
10 155 Lance Gatoni Defense  Canada University of Toronto (CIAU)
11 163 Rob Plumb Left wing  Canada Kingston Canadians (OHA)
12 170 Alain Belanger Left wing  Canada Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
13 175 Dean Willers Right wing  United Kingdom Union College (ECAC)
14 178 Roland Cloutier Center  Canada Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
15 181 Ed Hill Right wing  United States University of Vermont (ECAC)
16 184 Val James Left wing  United States Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
17 185 Grant Morin Right wing  Canada Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
Reference: "1977 NHL amateur draft hockeydraftcentral.com". Retrieved January 6, 2009.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1977-78 Detroit Red Wings Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  4. ^ "1977-78 Detroit Red Wings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
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