1978–79 Detroit Red Wings season

The 1978–79 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 47th season and 53rd overall for the franchise. It is the last full season at the Detroit Olympia for the team. A year later, they would move to the newly built Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings did not qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 1976–77 season and it is also since the 1976-77 season that the team finished last in the conference despite qualifying the previous year.

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||L||October 11, 1978||4–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||0–1–0

|2||L||October 14, 1978||1–3 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||0–2–0

|3||W||October 15, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||1–2–0

|4||T||October 18, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||1–2–1

|5||T||October 19, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||1–2–2

|6||T||October 21, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||1–2–3

|7||W||October 25, 1978||5–4 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||2–2–3

|8||W||October 27, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||3–2–3

|9||W||October 28, 1978||7–2 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||4–2–3

|10||L||November 1, 1978||1–4 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||4–3–3

|11||L||November 4, 1978||3–7 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||4–4–3

|12||T||November 5, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||4–4–4

|13||L||November 8, 1978||4–6 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||4–5–4

|14||L||November 9, 1978||3–8 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||4–6–4

|15||W||November 11, 1978||7–1 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||5–6–4

|16||L||November 15, 1978||3–5 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||5–7–4

|17||L||November 18, 1978||1–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||5–8–4

|18||L||November 19, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||5–9–4

|19||T||November 22, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||5–9–5

|20||L||November 25, 1978||0–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||5–10–5

|21||W||November 26, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||6–10–5

|22||T||November 29, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||6–10–6

|23||L||December 1, 1978||1–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||6–11–6

|24||L||December 2, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||6–12–6

|25||T||December 6, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||6–12–7

|26||L||December 7, 1978||5–6 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||6–13–7

|27||W||December 9, 1978||5–4 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||7–13–7

|28||T||December 10, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||7–13–8

|29||T||December 13, 1978||5–5 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||7–13–9

|30||L||December 14, 1978||1–4 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1978–79) ||7–14–9

|31||L||December 16, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||7–15–9

|32||L||December 17, 1978||0–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||7–16–9

|33||W||December 20, 1978||7–2 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||8–16–9

|34||L||December 22, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||8–17–9

|35||T||December 23, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||8–17–10

|36||T||December 26, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||8–17–11

|37||L||December 27, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||8–18–11

|38||L||December 30, 1978||1–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||8–19–11

|39||L||December 31, 1978||4–5 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||8–20–11

|40||L||January 6, 1979||1–4 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||8–21–11

|41||L||January 7, 1979||3–4 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||8–22–11

|42||T||January 10, 1979||5–5 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||8–22–12

|43||T||January 11, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||8–22–13

|44||L||January 13, 1979||3–7 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||8–23–13

|45||W||January 17, 1979||4–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||9–23–13

|46||L||January 19, 1979||1–5 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||9–24–13

|47||L||January 20, 1979||3–4 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||9–25–13

|48||T||January 25, 1979||6–6 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||9–25–14

|49||L||January 27, 1979||3–6 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||9–26–14

|50||L||January 28, 1979||2–7 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||9–27–14

|51||W||January 30, 1979||7–4 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||10–27–14

|52||L||February 1, 1979||1–6 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||10–28–14

|53||L||February 3, 1979||2–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||10–29–14

|54||W||February 4, 1979||8–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||11–29–14

|55||L||February 14, 1979||2–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||11–30–14

|56||W||February 18, 1979||6–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||12–30–14

|57||L||February 19, 1979||2–6 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||12–31–14

|58||W||February 21, 1979||4–3 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||13–31–14

|59||L||February 24, 1979||1–3 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1978–79) ||13–32–14

|60||W||February 25, 1979||8–1 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||14–32–14

|61||L||February 28, 1979||5–6 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||14–33–14

|62||W||March 3, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||15–33–14

|63||L||March 4, 1979||4–6 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||15–34–14

|64||L||March 7, 1979||1–5 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||15–35–14

|65||T||March 11, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||15–35–15

|66||T||March 12, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||15–35–16

|67||W||March 14, 1979||4–1 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) ||16–35–16

|68||W||March 17, 1979||3–1 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||17–35–16

|69||W||March 18, 1979||4–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||18–35–16

|70||W||March 20, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||19–35–16

|71||W||March 21, 1979||4–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||20–35–16

|72||L||March 24, 1979||2–5 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||20–36–16

|73||W||March 25, 1979||2–1 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||21–36–16

|74||L||March 27, 1979||2–5 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||21–37–16

|75||L||March 28, 1979||1–8 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||21–38–16

|76||L||March 31, 1979||4–5 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||21–39–16

|77||W||April 1, 1979||3–1 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||22–39–16

|78||L||April 4, 1979||1–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||22–40–16

|79||L||April 7, 1979||3–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||22–41–16

|80||W||April 8, 1979||1–0 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||23–41–16

Legend:

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG RW 80 38 35 73 19-131302 C 79 28 43 71 14-271423 D 79 18 49 67 169-20620 LW 70 23 31 54 26-28803 C 76 18 31 49 124-31411 LW 78 19 19 38 8-17703 LW 80 14 23 37 59-26131 LW 68 15 19 34 204310 D 68 7 24 31 114-25402 LW 56 16 13 29 14-9304 D 75 5 23 28 156-13301 D 68 10 17 27 64-25311 C/RW 62 10 12 22 208-10100 C 19 6 6 12 20101 LW 20 4 8 12 333200 C 29 5 6 11 01100 LW 40 4 7 11 20-4000 C 36 2 9 11 8-6100 C 18 4 6 10 4-5101 C 24 2 6 8 4-7200 D 52 2 4 6 72-9000 D 51 0 6 6 58-3000 D 20 0 4 4 6-8000 D 9 0 3 3 81000 D 37 1 1 2 66-13000 LW 7 1 1 2 2-1000 D 13 0 2 2 6-7000 G 32 0 2 2 40000 D 15 0 2 2 42000 G 50 0 1 1 210000 LW 6 0 0 0 0-2000 D 11 0 0 0 26-1000 C 5 0 0 0 00000 LW 1 0 0 0 00000 C 1 0 0 0 00000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 1892 32 13 14 5 103 3.27 1 2908 50 10 27 11 189 3.90 0 Team: 4800 80 23 41 16 292 3.65 1

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;

Draft picks Detroit's draft picks at the 1978 NHL amateur draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Ladislav Svozil was the first Czechoslovak player drafted in the history of the NHL Draft. The Red Wings selected Svozil with their 14th pick in the 1978 Draft.Hockey's Book of Firsts, p. 46, James Duplacey, JG Press,

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)19Willie Huber Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL)112Brent Peterson Portland Winterhawks (WCHL)228Glenn Hicks Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)231Al Jensen Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL)353Doug Derkson New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)462Bjorn Skaare Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)578Ted Nolan Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)695Sylvain Locas Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)7112Wes George Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)8129John Barrett Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)9146Jim Malazdrewicz St. Boniface Saints (MJHL)10163Geoff Shaw Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL)11178Carl Van Harrewyn New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)12194Ladislav Svozil HC Vitkovice (Czechoslovakia)13208Tom Bailey Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)14219Larry Lozinski Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)15224Randy Betty New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)16226Brian Crawley St. Lawrence University (ECAC)17228Doug Feasby Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)

See also 1978–79 NHL season

References