1970–71 Detroit Red Wings season

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.

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

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

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

Awards and Records

• The Red Wings won no awards this season.

Gallery

Phil Esposito opens the season scoring, October 11, 1970.

Referee Dave Newell watches the Canucks and Red Wings brawl, January 24, 1971.

References

• Red Wings on Hockey Database

Detroit Red Wings
Team	Franchise • Players • Coaches • GMs • Seasons • Draft Picks • Little Caesars Arena
Stanley Cups	1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2008
Affiliates	Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL), Toledo Walleye (ECHL)