1944–45 Detroit Red Wings season

The 1944–45 season was the Detroit Red Wings' 19th season of operation. The season saw the Wings achieve a record of 31–14–5, finishing second in the National Hockey League (NHL), qualifying the team for the playoffs. The coach and general manager was Jack Adams, with Flash Hollett serving as the team's captain.

After defeating the Boston Bruins in seven games in the semi-final, the Red Wings faced the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1945 Stanley Cup Final, a rematch of the 1942 series. After being down 3 games to none, the Red Wings stormed back and won the next three to force a pivotal Game 7 back in the Detroit Olympia, looking to become the second team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series and avenge their 1942 Stanley Cup loss. However, they were not able to maintain their momentum, and ultimately lost the final game of the series by a score of 2-1, which prevented them from getting revenge on the Maple Leafs for being reversed swept three years prior.

The 1944-45 Red Wings would eventually be joined by the 2023-24 Edmonton Oilers after they lost the 2024 Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers in seven game despite returning from a 3-0 series deficit.

Regular season Flash Hollett became the first defenseman to score twenty goals in one season.Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.23, James Duplacey, JG Press, The record would stand until Bobby Orr broke it several decades later.

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 29, 1944||7–1 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||1–0–0

|2||W||November 2, 1944||10–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1944–45) ||2–0–0

|3||L||November 4, 1944||2–3 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||2–1–0

|4||L||November 5, 1944||2–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||2–2–0

|5||L||November 11, 1944||2–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1944–45) ||2–3–0

|6||W||November 12, 1944||4–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||3–3–0

|7||W||November 15, 1944||8–4 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||4–3–0

|8||T||November 18, 1944||2–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1944–45) ||4–3–1

|9||W||November 19, 1944||4–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||5–3–1

|10||T||November 23, 1944||3–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||5–3–2

|11||W||November 25, 1944||7–4 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||6–3–2

|12||L||November 26, 1944||5–6 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||6–4–2

|13||W||November 29, 1944||6–3 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||7–4–2

|14||W||December 7, 1944||3–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1944–45) ||8–4–2

|15||W||December 10, 1944||7–6 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||9–4–2

|16||T||December 16, 1944||1–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||9–4–3

|17||L||December 17, 1944||1–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||9–5–3

|18||W||December 19, 1944||6–3 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||10–5–3

|19||W||December 21, 1944||11–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1944–45) ||11–5–3

|20||W||December 23, 1944||5–4 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||12–5–3

|21||W||December 25, 1944||6–4 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||13–5–3

|22||L||December 28, 1944||1–9 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||13–6–3

|23||W||December 31, 1944||6–2 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||14–6–3

|24||W||January 1, 1945||4–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||15–6–3

|25||T||January 4, 1945||4–4 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1944–45) ||15–6–4

|EXHIBITION||T||January 5, 1945||0–0 || align="left"| @ Curtis Bay, Coast Guard Cutters ||

|26||W||January 6, 1945||5–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||16–6–4

|27||W||January 7, 1945||8–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||17–6–4

|28||L||January 13, 1945||3–8 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||17–7–4

|29||W||January 14, 1945||3–0 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||18–7–4

|30||W||January 18, 1945||7–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1944–45) ||19–7–4

|31||L||January 21, 1945||3–6 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||19–8–4

|32||W||January 23, 1945||5–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||20–8–4

|33||W||January 27, 1945||5–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||21–8–4

|34||W||January 28, 1945||4–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||22–8–4

|35||L||February 3, 1945||2–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||22–9–4

|36||L||February 4, 1945||1–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||22–10–4

|37||L||February 10, 1945||2–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||22–11–4

|38||W||February 11, 1945||3–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||23–11–4

|39||W||February 14, 1945||4–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1944–45) ||24–11–4

|40||W||February 18, 1945||6–1 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||25–11–4

|41||L||February 22, 1945||3–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1944–45) ||25–12–4

|42||W||February 24, 1945||4–2 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||26–12–4

|43||W||February 25, 1945||3–1 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||27–12–4

|44||W||March 4, 1945||10–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||28–12–4

|45||W||March 8, 1945||7–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1944–45) ||29–12–4

|46||L||March 11, 1945||2–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||29–13–4

|47||T||March 13, 1945||2–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) ||29–13–5

|48||W||March 15, 1945||2–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) ||30–13–5

|49||W||March 17, 1945||4–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) ||31–13–5

|50||L||March 18, 1945||3–5 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) ||31–14–5

Legend:

Player statistics Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM RW 50 26 28 54 6 C/LW 46 17 36 53 6 RW 43 23 24 47 6 D 50 20 21 41 39 RW 49 19 20 39 17 C 50 15 24 39 31 LW 42 23 9 32 18 LW 44 15 11 26 6 RW 42 12 13 25 6 LW 45 17 6 23 43 D 50 7 14 21 10 LW/C 20 6 10 16 6 D 25 5 9 14 10 D 50 5 6 11 45 LW/C 14 7 2 9 6 LW/C 3 1 1 2 0 D 21 0 2 2 26 LW 4 0 2 2 2 D 2 0 0 0 2 G 12 0 0 0 0 G 37 0 0 0 0 C 2 0 0 0 0 G 1 0 0 0 0 Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LTGAGAA SO 2220 37 24 10 3 119 3.22 1 720 12 6 4 2 39 3.25 0 60 1 1 0 0 3 3.00 0 Team: 3000 50 31 14 5 161 3.22 1

Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM RW 14 5 6 11 2 RW 14 5 2 7 0 D 14 3 4 7 6 C 14 4 2 6 2 LW 14 4 2 6 0 RW 14 3 2 5 2 LW 14 2 1 3 0 D 14 2 1 3 4 LW 14 2 0 2 6 D 14 1 1 2 10 D 14 0 2 2 2 LW/C 6 0 1 1 0 RW 7 0 1 1 4 RW 6 0 1 1 0 RW 2 0 0 0 0 C/LW 7 0 0 0 2 G 14 0 0 0 0 Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LGAGAA SO 871 14 7 7 31 2.14 2 Team: 871 14 7 7 31 2.14 2

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;

See also 1944–45 NHL season

References