With their 62 wins, the 1995–96Detroit Red Wings eclipsed the all-time record of most regular-season wins, which had been set at 60 by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. Their 131 points during the regular season were the most since the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens accumulated 132 points (still an all-time record). They had two winning streaks of 9 games, and had a 13–game unbeaten streak from Sunday, March 3, 1996 to Sunday, March 31, 1996, going 12–0–1 during that stretch. Having the best record in the league, the Red Wings were awarded the President's Trophy. During the 1995–96 regular season, the Red Wings were the only team to score a goal in all 82 of its games.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Red Wings defeated the eighth-place Winnipeg Jets marking the Jets' final games in Winnipeg as the franchise relocated to Phoenix following their playoff defeat. The Wings then defeated the fifth-place St. Louis Blues in the second round. The latter series went to seven games, the seventh of which went to double overtime where Steve Yzerman's slap-shot goal beat Jon Casey in the top right-hand corner of the net. In the Western Conference Finals, the Red Wings were ousted in 6 games by the Colorado Avalanche who were in the first year after moving from Quebec. These two teams would start a rivalry which lasted nearly a decade. Currently, the rivalry has lessened due to poor performance of the Colorado Avalanche.
November 28, 1995: The Montreal Canadiens were playing the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. The day before the match, Mario Tremblay spoke to Mario Leclerc of "Le Journal de Montreal" newspaper. Tremblay mentioned that he was resentful of current Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman. The first five years of Tremblay’s career were played under Bowman, and Tremblay told Leclerc that Bowman would always threaten to send him to the minors.[1] When Leclerc approached Cournoyer, he stated that he did not want to speak about Bowman.[2] The Canadiens lost the game by a score of 3-2. The next day, the Journal de Montreal had a headline that stated, Bowman has the last word.[3]
Against the Hartford Whalers on March 6, 1996, Chris Osgood became the third goaltender in NHL history to score a goal.[4]
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Game log[]
October[]
#
Date
Visitor
Score
Home
OT
Record
Pts
1
October 6
Detroit
2 – 3
Colorado
0–1–0
0
2
October 8
Detroit
3 – 1
Edmonton
1–1–0
2
3
October 9
Detroit
5 – 3
Vancouver
2–1–0
4
4
October 13
Edmonton
0 – 9
Detroit
3–1–0
6
5
October 15
Detroit
5 – 5
Winnipeg
*
3–1–1
7
6
October 17
Calgary
3 – 3
Detroit
*
3–1–2
8
7
October 19
Detroit
2 – 4
New Jersey
3–2–2
8
8
October 21
Boston
2 – 4
Detroit
4–2–2
10
9
October 24
Ottawa
2 – 1
Detroit
4–3–2
10
10
October 27
Detroit
3 – 0
Calgary
5–3–2
12
11
October 30
Detroit
2 – 3
Winnipeg
5–4–2
12
November[]
#
Date
Visitor
Score
Home
OT
Record
Pts
12
November 1
Detroit
1 – 2
Buffalo
5–5–2
12
13
November 2
Detroit
6 – 5
Boston
*
6–5–2
14
14
November 4
Dallas
1 – 5
Detroit
7–5–2
16
15
November 7
Edmonton
2 – 4
Detroit
8–5–2
18
16
November 11
Detroit
5 – 2
San Jose
9–5–2
20
17
November 14
Detroit
6 – 5
Los Angeles
10–5–2
22
18
November 17
Detroit
5 – 4
Edmonton
11–5–2
24
19
November 22
San Jose
2 – 5
Detroit
12–5–2
26
20
November 24
Detroit
1 – 4
Philadelphia
12–6–2
26
21
November 25
NY Rangers
0 – 2
Detroit
13–6–2
28
22
November 28
Montreal
2 – 3
Detroit
14–6–2
30
December[]
#
Date
Visitor
Score
Home
OT
Record
Pts
23
December 1
Anaheim
2 – 5
Detroit
15–6–2
32
24
December 2
Detroit
11 – 1
Montreal
16–6–2
34
25
December 5
Philadelphia
3 – 5
Detroit
17–6–2
36
26
December 7
Dallas
1 – 3
Detroit
18–6–2
38
27
December 8
Detroit
1 – 2
NY Rangers
*
18–7–2
38
28
December 12
Detroit
5 – 2
St. Louis
19–7–2
40
29
December 13
Chicago
1 – 3
Detroit
20–7–2
42
30
December 15
New Jersey
1 – 3
Detroit
21–7–2
44
31
December 20
Detroit
6 – 1
Anaheim
22–7–2
46
32
December 22
Detroit
5 – 1
Calgary
23–7–2
48
33
December 23
Detroit
1 – 0
Vancouver
24–7–2
50
34
December 26
St. Louis
2 – 3
Detroit
25–7–2
52
35
December 29
Detroit
2 – 1
Dallas
26–7–2
54
36
December 31
Hartford
2 – 3
Detroit
27–7–2
56
January[]
#
Date
Visitor
Score
Home
OT
Record
Pts
37
January 3
Dallas
3 – 3
Detroit
*
27–7–3
57
38
January 5
Detroit
2 – 5
Pittsburgh
27–8–3
57
39
January 6
Chicago
0 – 3
Detroit
28–8–3
59
40
January 8
Winnipeg
6 – 4
Detroit
28–9–3
59
41
January 10
Detroit
4 – 0
Dallas
29–9–3
61
42
January 12
Los Angeles
2 – 3
Detroit
30–9–3
63
43
January 13
Detroit
4 – 2
Washington
31–9–3
65
44
January 17
Colorado
2 – 3
Detroit
32–9–3
67
45
January 24
San Jose
2 – 4
Detroit
33–9–3
69
46
January 25
Detroit
4 – 2
Ottawa
34–9–3
71
47
January 27
Detroit
5 – 5
Chicago
*
34–9–4
72
48
January 30
Toronto
2 – 4
Detroit
35–9–4
74
February[]
#
Date
Visitor
Score
Home
OT
Record
Pts
49
February 3
Pittsburgh
0 – 3
Detroit
36–9–4
76
50
February 6
Florida
2 – 4
Detroit
37–9–4
78
51
February 8
Detroit
1 – 3
Florida
37–10–4
78
52
February 10
Detroit
3 – 2
Tampa Bay
*
38–10–4
80
53
February 13
Los Angeles
4 – 9
Detroit
39–10–4
82
54
February 15
Washington
3 – 4
Detroit
40–10–4
84
55
February 16
Detroit
3 – 4
St. Louis
40–11–4
84
56
February 18
Detroit
3 – 2
Toronto
41–11–4
86
57
February 19
Vancouver
3 – 4
Detroit
42–11–4
88
58
February 22
Toronto
3 – 5
Detroit
43–11–4
90
59
February 24
Tampa Bay
0 – 2
Detroit
44–11–4
92
60
February 27
Detroit
6 – 2
NY Islanders
45–11–4
94
61
February 29
NY Islanders
1 – 5
Detroit
46–11–4
96
March[]
#
Date
Visitor
Score
Home
OT
Record
Pts
62
March 2
Vancouver
3 – 2
Detroit
46–12–4
96
63
March 3
Detroit
6 – 2
Chicago
47–12–4
98
64
March 6
Detroit
4 – 2
Hartford
48–12–4
100
65
March 8
Detroit
4 – 2
Colorado
49–12–4
102
66
March 10
Detroit
5 – 2
Winnipeg
50–12–4
104
67
March 12
Winnipeg
2 – 5
Detroit
51–12–4
106
68
March 17
Calgary
2 – 4
Detroit
52–12–4
108
69
March 19
Toronto
5 – 6
Detroit
53–12–4
110
70
March 20
Detroit
4 – 3
Toronto
*
54–12–4
112
71
March 22
Colorado
0 – 7
Detroit
55–12–4
114
72
March 24
Detroit
2 – 2
St. Louis
*
55–12–5
115
73
March 25
Anaheim
1 – 5
Detroit
56–12–5
117
74
March 27
Buffalo
2 – 4
Detroit
57–12–5
119
75
March 31
St. Louis
1 – 8
Detroit
58–12–5
121
April[]
#
Date
Visitor
Score
Home
OT
Record
Pts
76
April 2
Detroit
3 – 6
San Jose
58–13–5
121
77
April 3
Detroit
2 – 2
Los Angeles
*
58–13–6
122
78
April 5
Detroit
2 – 2
Anaheim
*
58–13–7
123
79
April 7
Detroit
4 – 1
Chicago
59–13–7
125
80
April 10
Winnipeg
2 – 5
Detroit
60–13–7
127
81
April 12
Chicago
3 – 5
Detroit
61–13–7
129
82
April 14
Detroit
5 – 1
Dallas
62–13–7
131
Player stats[]
Regular season[]
Forwards
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
↑Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.350 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
↑Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.351 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
↑Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.351 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2