1971–72 Detroit Red Wings season

1971–72 Detroit Red Wings
Division5th East
Goals for261
Team information
General managerNed Harkness
CoachDoug Barkley
Johnny Wilson
CaptainAlex Delvecchio
ArenaOlympia Stadium
Minor league affiliate(s)Fort Worth Wings (CHL)
Team leaders
GoalsMickey Redmond (42)
AssistsMarcel Dionne (49)
PointsMarcel Dionne (77)
Penalty minutesGary Bergman (138)
WinsAl Smith (18)
Goals against averageJoe Daley (3.15)

The 1971–72 Detroit Red Wings season was Marcel Dionne's rookie season. The Red Wings placed fifth to miss the playoffs.

Offseason

Regular season

Head coach Doug Barkley won just 3 of the first 11 games before being replaced by Johnny Wilson.[1]

During his first season for Detroit in 1971–72, Marcel Dionne set an NHL record for scoring by a rookie with 77 points. This record has since been surpassed.

Season standings

East Division[2]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Boston Bruins 78 54 13 11 330 204 +126 119
2 New York Rangers 78 48 17 13 317 192 +125 109
3 Montreal Canadiens 78 46 16 16 307 205 +102 108
4 Toronto Maple Leafs 78 33 31 14 209 208 +1 80
5 Detroit Red Wings 78 33 35 10 261 262 −1 76
6 Buffalo Sabres 78 16 43 19 203 289 −86 51
7 Vancouver Canucks 78 20 50 8 203 297 −94 48


Record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 9, 1971 2–4 Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 0–1–0
2 L October 10, 1971 1–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 0–2–0
3 L October 16, 1971 2–9 @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 0–3–0
4 W October 17, 1971 5–3 St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 1–3–0
5 L October 20, 1971 3–4 @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) 1–4–0
6 W October 22, 1971 5–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 2–4–0
7 L October 24, 1971 3–6 California Golden Seals (1971–72) 2–5–0
8 L October 26, 1971 2–5 Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 2–6–0
9 L October 27, 1971 4–7 @ New York Rangers (1971–72) 2–7–0
10 L October 30, 1971 0–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 2–8–0
11 W October 31, 1971 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 3–8–0
12 L November 1, 1971 1–6 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 3–9–0
13 T November 4, 1971 4–4 Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 3–9–1
14 L November 6, 1971 1–2 Boston Bruins (1971–72) 3–10–1
15 T November 7, 1971 3–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 3–10–2
16 W November 10, 1971 2–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 4–10–2
17 W November 13, 1971 6–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 5–10–2
18 T November 16, 1971 2–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 5–10–3
19 L November 20, 1971 1–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 5–11–3
20 T November 21, 1971 2–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 5–11–4
21 L November 24, 1971 1–6 @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) 5–12–4
22 W November 27, 1971 3–1 New York Rangers (1971–72) 6–12–4
23 W November 28, 1971 4–2 Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 7–12–4
24 L December 1, 1971 2–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 7–13–4
25 T December 2, 1971 1–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 7–13–5
26 W December 4, 1971 5–1 Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 8–13–5
27 L December 5, 1971 1–2 St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 8–14–5
28 L December 8, 1971 2–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 8–15–5
29 W December 11, 1971 6–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 9–15–5
30 W December 14, 1971 4–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 10–15–5
31 T December 17, 1971 3–3 @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) 10–15–6
32 L December 18, 1971 2–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 10–16–6
33 W December 22, 1971 3–0 Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 11–16–6
34 L December 25, 1971 3–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 11–17–6
35 W December 26, 1971 5–1 Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 12–17–6
36 W December 29, 1971 7–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 13–17–6
37 W December 31, 1971 6–3 California Golden Seals (1971–72) 14–17–6
38 W January 2, 1972 6–4 Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 15–17–6
39 L January 5, 1972 2–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 15–18–6
40 T January 7, 1972 4–4 @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) 15–18–7
41 W January 9, 1972 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 16–18–7
42 W January 11, 1972 5–0 Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 17–18–7
43 W January 15, 1972 7–4 Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 18–18–7
44 L January 16, 1972 2–9 @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) 18–19–7
45 L January 19, 1972 1–4 Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 18–20–7
46 W January 22, 1972 3–2 Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 19–20–7
47 W January 23, 1972 3–1 St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 20–20–7
48 W January 27, 1972 3–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 21–20–7
49 T January 29, 1972 4–4 Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 21–20–8
50 L January 30, 1972 2–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 21–21–8
51 W February 1, 1972 4–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 22–21–8
52 L February 3, 1972 4–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 22–22–8
53 L February 5, 1972 2–3 @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) 22–23–8
54 W February 6, 1972 8–2 California Golden Seals (1971–72) 23–23–8
55 W February 10, 1972 4–2 Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 24–23–8
56 T February 12, 1972 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 24–23–9
57 L February 16, 1972 2–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 24–24–9
58 W February 19, 1972 6–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 25–24–9
59 L February 20, 1972 3–4 @ New York Rangers (1971–72) 25–25–9
60 W February 22, 1972 5–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 26–25–9
61 W February 24, 1972 2–0 Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 27–25–9
62 L February 26, 1972 1–8 @ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 27–26–9
63 L February 27, 1972 1–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 27–27–9
64 W February 29, 1972 8–2 Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 28–27–9
65 L March 2, 1972 4–7 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 28–28–9
66 L March 4, 1972 4–5 Boston Bruins (1971–72) 28–29–9
67 W March 5, 1972 6–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 29–29–9
68 L March 8, 1972 1–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 29–30–9
69 L March 11, 1972 2–4 New York Rangers (1971–72) 29–31–9
70 L March 12, 1972 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 29–32–9
71 L March 16, 1972 1–2 New York Rangers (1971–72) 29–33–9
72 W March 19, 1972 7–6 Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 30–33–9
73 W March 21, 1972 7–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 31–33–9
74 W March 22, 1972 6–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 32–33–9
75 L March 25, 1972 3–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 32–34–9
76 W March 28, 1972 6–3 Boston Bruins (1971–72) 33–34–9
77 T March 29, 1972 2–2 @ New York Rangers (1971–72) 33–34–10
78 L April 2, 1972 1–6 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 33–35–10

Player statistics

Forwards

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

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Marcel Dionne 78 28 49 77 14
Mickey Redmond 78 42 29 71 34
Red Berenson 78 28 41 69 16
Alex Delvecchio 75 20 45 65 22
Nick Libett 77 31 22 53 50
Tim Ecclestone 72 18 35 53 33
Bill Collins 71 15 25 40 38
Al Karlander 71 15 20 35 29
Leon Rochefort 64 17 12 29 10
Guy Charron 64 9 16 25 14
Doug Volmar 39 9 5 14 8
Dan Johnson 43 2 5 7 8
Ab McDonald 19 2 3 5 0
Brian Conacher 22 3 1 4 4

[1]

Defencemen

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

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Gary Bergman 75 6 31 37 138
Ron Stackhouse 73 5 25 30 83
Arnie Brown 77 2 23 25 84
Larry Johnston 65 4 20 24 111
Ron Harris 61 1 10 11 80
Bob Wall 45 2 4 6 9

[1]

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
Andy Brown 10 560 4 5 1 0 37 3.96
Joe Daley 29 1620 11 10 5 0 85 3.15
Al Smith 43 2500 18 20 4 4 135 3.24

[1]

Awards and records

  • Marcel Dionne, NHL record (since broken), Most points by a rookie with 77 points.

Transactions

The Red Wings were involved in the following transactions during the 1971–72 season:

Trades

October 22, 1971 To Detroit Red Wings
Ron Stackhouse 		To California Golden Seals
Tom Webster
January 13, 1971 To Detroit Red Wings
Mickey Redmond
Guy Charron
Bill Collins 		To Montreal Canadiens
Frank Mahovlich

Draft picks

Main article: 1971 NHL Draft
Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team
1 2 Marcel Dionne Center St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
2 16 Henry Boucha Center US National Development Team
4 44 George Hulme Goaltender St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
5 58 Earl Anderson Right Wing University of North Dakota (WCHA)
6 72 Charlie Shaw Defense Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
7 86 Jim Nahrgang Defense Michigan Tech University (NCAA)
8 100 Bob Boyd Defense Michigan State University (NCAA)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Detroit Red Wings 1971-72 roster and statistics". hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  2. ^ "1971–1972 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  3. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.