1976–77 Detroit Red Wings season

1976–77 Detroit Red Wings
Division	5th Norris
1976–77 record	16–55–9
Goals for	183
Goals against	309
Team information
General manager	Alex Delvecchio
Coach	Alex Delvecchio Larry Wilson
Captain	Danny Grant Dennis Polonich
Arena	Detroit Olympia
Team leaders
Goals	Walt McKechnie (25)
Assists	Walt McKechnie (34)
Points	Walt McKechnie (59)
Penalty minutes	Dennis Polonich (274)
Wins	Eddie Giacomin (8)
Goals against average	Eddie Giacomin (3.58)

The 1976–77 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 51st season. The Wings finished 5th in the Norris Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Regular Season

Final Standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	60	8	12	387	171	132
Los Angeles Kings	80	34	31	15	271	241	83
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	34	33	13	240	252	81
Washington Capitals	80	24	42	14	221	307	62
Detroit Red Wings	80	16	55	9	183	309	41

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	T	October 7, 1976	3–3	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	0–0–1
2	W	October 9, 1976	4–0	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	1–0–1
3	L	October 12, 1976	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	1–1–1
4	L	October 16, 1976	3–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	1–2–1
5	L	October 17, 1976	4–7	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	1–3–1
6	W	October 22, 1976	5–0	New York Islanders (1976–77)	2–3–1
7	L	October 23, 1976	2–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	2–4–1
8	L	October 26, 1976	2–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	2–5–1
9	L	October 28, 1976	1–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	2–6–1
10	L	October 30, 1976	1–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	2–7–1
11	W	October 31, 1976	6–5	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	3–7–1
12	W	November 4, 1976	3–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	4–7–1
13	T	November 7, 1976	0–0	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	4–7–2
14	L	November 9, 1976	1–8	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	4–8–2
15	L	November 10, 1976	4–6	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	4–9–2
16	T	November 13, 1976	3–3	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	4–9–3
17	L	November 16, 1976	0–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	4–10–3
18	T	November 17, 1976	5–5	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	4–10–4
19	W	November 19, 1976	5–2	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	5–10–4
20	L	November 21, 1976	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	5–11–4
21	W	November 24, 1976	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	6–11–4
22	W	November 25, 1976	3–1	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	7–11–4
23	L	November 27, 1976	0–5	New York Rangers (1976–77)	7–12–4
24	L	November 28, 1976	1–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	7–13–4
25	W	December 1, 1976	5–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	8–13–4
26	L	December 4, 1976	1–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	8–14–4
27	L	December 11, 1976	0–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	8–15–4
28	W	December 12, 1976	5–3	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	9–15–4
29	L	December 15, 1976	3–7	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	9–16–4
30	W	December 16, 1976	7–3	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	10–16–4
31	W	December 18, 1976	6–3	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	11–16–4
32	L	December 19, 1976	1–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	11–17–4
33	L	December 22, 1976	1–2	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	11–18–4
34	W	December 23, 1976	5–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	12–18–4
35	L	December 27, 1976	4–7	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	12–19–4
36	L	December 29, 1976	3–6	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	12–20–4
37	W	December 31, 1976	4–2	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	13–20–4
38	L	January 2, 1977	4–6	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	13–21–4
39	T	January 4, 1977	2–2	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	13–21–5
40	L	January 6, 1977	2–7	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	13–22–5
41	L	January 10, 1977	0–2	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	13–23–5
42	L	January 12, 1977	1–3	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	13–24–5
43	L	January 13, 1977	2–4	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	13–25–5
44	L	January 15, 1977	0–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	13–26–5
45	L	January 20, 1977	1–3	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	13–27–5
46	L	January 22, 1977	0–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	13–28–5
47	T	January 23, 1977	2–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	13–28–6
48	L	January 27, 1977	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	13–29–6
49	W	January 29, 1977	4–3	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	14–29–6
50	L	February 2, 1977	1–9	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	14–30–6
51	L	February 5, 1977	1–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	14–31–6
52	W	February 6, 1977	3–2	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	15–31–6
53	L	February 10, 1977	4–5	New York Rangers (1976–77)	15–32–6
54	T	February 12, 1977	2–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	15–32–7
55	L	February 13, 1977	3–5	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	15–33–7
56	L	February 15, 1977	2–6	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	15–34–7
57	T	February 17, 1977	2–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	15–34–8
58	L	February 19, 1977	1–2	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	15–35–8
59	L	February 20, 1977	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	15–36–8
60	L	February 23, 1977	2–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	15–37–8
61	W	February 24, 1977	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	16–37–8
62	L	February 26, 1977	3–4	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	16–38–8
63	L	March 1, 1977	3–8	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	16–39–8
64	L	March 3, 1977	2–4	New York Islanders (1976–77)	16–40–8
65	L	March 5, 1977	1–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	16–41–8
66	L	March 9, 1977	3–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	16–42–8
67	L	March 10, 1977	2–4	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	16–43–8
68	L	March 12, 1977	0–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	16–44–8
69	T	March 13, 1977	3–3	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	16–44–9
70	L	March 15, 1977	1–7	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	16–45–9
71	L	March 17, 1977	2–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	16–46–9
72	L	March 20, 1977	1–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	16–47–9
73	L	March 23, 1977	0–6	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	16–48–9
74	L	March 24, 1977	1–3	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	16–49–9
75	L	March 26, 1977	0–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	16–50–9
76	L	March 27, 1977	0–6	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	16–51–9
77	L	March 29, 1977	1–6	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	16–52–9
78	L	March 31, 1977	1–3	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	16–53–9
79	L	April 2, 1977	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	16–54–9
80	L	April 3, 1977	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	16–55–9

Playoffs

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

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
McKechnie, WaltWalt McKechnie	C	80	25	34	59	50	-24	3	3	1
Polonich, DennisDennis Polonich	C/RW	79	18	28	46	274	-20	6	1	1
Hextall, DennisDennis Hextall	LW	78	14	32	46	158	-35	5	0	1
Libett, NickNick Libett	LW	80	14	27	41	25	-25	3	1	0
Bergeron, MichelMichel Bergeron	RW	74	21	12	33	98	-40	3	0	5
Lochead, BillBill Lochead	LW	61	16	14	30	39	-11	4	0	3
Maloney, DanDan Maloney	LW	34	13	13	26	64	3	3	1	0
Harvey, BusterBuster Harvey	RW	54	11	11	22	18	-13	2	3	1
LeBlanc, J.P.J.P. LeBlanc	C	74	7	11	18	40	-16	0	0	2
Nahrgang, JimJim Nahrgang	D	53	5	11	16	34	-12	3	1	1
Cameron, AlAl Cameron	D	80	3	13	16	112	-43	1	0	0
Wilson, RickRick Wilson	D	77	3	13	16	56	-20	0	0	0
Lapointe, RickRick Lapointe	D	49	2	11	13	80	-17	1	0	0
Harper, TerryTerry Harper	D	52	4	8	12	28	-23	1	0	0
Grant, DannyDanny Grant	RW	42	2	10	12	4	-34	0	0	0
Joly, GregGreg Joly	D	53	1	11	12	14	-22	1	0	0
Hamel, JeanJean Hamel	D	71	1	10	11	63	-18	0	0	0
Bloom, MikeMike Bloom	LW	45	6	3	9	22	-10	0	0	0
Sheehan, BobbyBobby Sheehan	C	34	5	4	9	2	-10	0	0	0
Ritchie, BobBob Ritchie	LW	17	6	2	8	10	-13	1	0	0
Williams, FredFred Williams	C	44	2	5	7	10	-17	0	0	0
Murray, TerryTerry Murray	D	23	0	7	7	10	-18	0	0	0
Kelly, Dave LeslieDave Leslie Kelly	RW	16	2	0	2	4	-8	0	0	1
Coates, SteveSteve Coates	RW	5	1	0	1	24	-1	0	0	0
Schofield, DwightDwight Schofield	D	3	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	0
Larson, ReedReed Larson	D	14	0	1	1	23	-2	0	0	0
Watson, BryanBryan Watson	D	14	0	1	1	39	2	0	0	0
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin	G	33	0	1	1	4	0	0	0	0
Rutherford, JimJim Rutherford	G	48	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Martineau, DonDon Martineau	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Giroux, LarryLarry Giroux	D	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
LeBlanc, FernFern LeBlanc	C	3	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Berry, FredFred Berry	C	3	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Schamehorn, KevinKevin Schamehorn	RW	3	0	0	0	9	-1	0	0	0
McCutcheon, BrianBrian McCutcheon	LW	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Richardson, TerryTerry Richardson	G	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin	1791	33	8	18	3	107	3.58	3
Rutherford, JimJim Rutherford	2740	48	7	34	6	180	3.94	0
Richardson, TerryTerry Richardson	269	5	1	3	0	18	4.01	0
Team:	4800	80	16	55	9	305	3.81	3

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

Awards and Records

• The Red Wings did not win any awards this season.

See Also

• 1976–77 NHL season

References

• 1976–77 Detroit Red Wings Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.

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)