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70-71DetRW
1970–71 Detroit Red Wings
Division 6th East
1970–71 record 22-45-11
Goals for 209
Goals against 308
Team information
General manager Sid Abel
Ned Harkness
Coach Ned Harkness
Doug Barkley
Captain Alex Delvecchio
Alternate captains Gary Bergman
Red Berenson
Arena Olympia Stadium
Team leaders
Goals Tom Webster (30)
Assists Tom Webster (37)
Points Tom Webster (67)
Penalty minutes Gary Bergman (149)
Wins Roy Edwards (11)
Goals against average Roy Edwards (3.39)

The 1970-71 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 45th season. The Red Wings finished 6th in the East Division and did not qualify for the playoffs. It was Gordie Howe's final season with the Red Wings.

Off-season[]

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]

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 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 1000 career 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.

Final Standings[]

East Division
Team GP W L T GF GA Pts
Boston Bruins 78 57 14 7 399 207 121
New York Rangers 78 49 18 11 259 177 109
Montreal Canadiens 78 42 23 13 291 216 97
Toronto Maple Leafs 78 37 33 8 248 211 82
Buffalo Sabres 78 24 39 15 217 291 63
Vancouver Canucks 78 24 16 8 229 296 56
Detroit Red Wings 78 22 45 11 209 308 55

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log[]

Regular Season Results
No. R 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
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
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
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
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
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
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

Playoffs[]

  • The Red Wings did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats[]

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

[2]

Defencemen[]

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

[2]

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

[2]

Awards and Records[]

  • The Red Wings won no awards this season.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Mulvoy, Mark (1971-01-18). Poor Broken Wings. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on 2008-06-29.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000341971.html
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