That 1954-55 season also marked the seventh successive season that the Red Wings were finishing first overall in the NHL standings. That’s a record which has never been equaled before or since in over a century of NHL competition.
On the decisive night, legendary Red Wings names dominated the scene. Terry Sawchuk got the win between the pipes. Alex Delvecchio scored twice. It was Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, who would net the Cup-winning goal, redirecting a Marcel Pronovost shot past Canadiens netminder Jacques Plante.
Howe finished that playoff campaign as the leading scorer. He’d account for 9-11-20 totals in 11 games. That set a Stanley Cup single-season mark. It also stood as the Red Wings club mark for decades.
Red Wings Would Spiral Downward
In the fall of 1955, one hockey publication boasted that the Red Wings were planning to imprison the Stanley Cup for all time. Instead, the team was about to head off into hockey purgatory.
Earlier that summer, Detroit GM Jack Adams would ship Sawchuk off to the Boston Bruins. In enusuing years, captain Ted Lindsay, Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Red Kelly and Sawchuk’s replacement Glenn Hall would also be sent packing.
The Wings would finish second to the Canadiens in the 1955-56 season and lose the Cup final series to Montreal in five games.As the Detroit Red Wings lick their wounds and limp to the finish line to complete another season concluding in a playoff absence, perhaps it’s better to look back than look ahead
