Detroit Red Wings are a professional hockey team that plays in the National Hockey League (NHL) . The Red Wings compete in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit .
Detroit entered the National Hockey League in 1926 as the Cougars. They played under that name until 1930, when they became the Falcons. The team adopted the nickname of the Red Wings in 1932. Detroit was one of the Original Six, a name given to the six teams that made up the NHL from 1942 to 1967, often considered the league’s Golden Age. The other teams were the Boston Bruins , Chicago Blackhawks , Montreal Canadiens , New York Rangers , and Toronto Maple Leafs .
Detroit won the Stanley Cup in 1936 and 1937 and again in 1943, but the team was among the NHL’s most successful from the late 1940’s through the mid-1960’s. During that period, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1950, 1952, 1954, and 1955 and made the finals seven other times from 1948 to 1966. The championship teams included some of the greatest stars in NHL history, including defensemen Bob Goldham, Red Kelly, and Marcel Pronovost; goalie Terry Sawchuk; centers Sid Abel and Alex Delvecchio; right winger Gordie Howe ; and left winger Ted Lindsay.
The team went into a decline from the late 1960’s to the mid 1980’s. Detroit finally made the Stanley Cup finals again in 1995, for the first time since 1966. The team, coached by Scotty Bowman, went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998, and 2002. The stars of those teams included centers Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman and defenseman Nicklas Lidström . Detroit won the Stanley Cup again in 2008, led by Lidstrom, left winger Henrik Zetterberg, and goalie Chris Osgood. Detroit made the Stanley Cup finals in 2009, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in an exciting seven-game series. The Red Wings made the playoffs 25 consecutive seasons, from 1991 to 2016. The streak ended when the team failed to make the playoffs for the 2016-2017 season.
