The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) and are one of the Original Six teams of the league. [1] [2] There have been 28 head coaches in franchise history; three during the era of the Detroit Cougars (1926–1930) and Detroit Falcons (1930–1932) and the rest under the Detroit Red Wings (1932–present). Six Red Wings coaches have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as players: Jack Adams, Sid Abel, Bill Gadsby, Marcel Pronovost, Ted Lindsay, and Brad Park, while two others as builders: Tommy Ivan and Scotty Bowman. Adams, Bowman, Ivan, and Lindsay have also won the Lester Patrick Trophy, an award presented to those who have provided an outstanding service to hockey in the United States.
Barry Smith has the highest winning percentage of any Red Wings coach, with an .800 record from the five games he coached on an interim basis with Dave Lewis during the 1998 season. [3] [4] He is followed by Lewis who has a .672 winning percentage. [3] Larry Wilson, who coached the 1977 season, has the lowest winning percentage (.139). Jack Adams coached the most games of any Red Wings head coach, 964 games during his tenure with the Cougars, Falcons and Red Wings. Adams also has the most regular season losses and ties. [5] [6] The Jack Adams Award, awarded annually to the National Hockey League head coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success", is named after him. Mike Babcock has the most regular season wins. [6] Jacques Demers is the only NHL coach to have won the Jack Adams Award twice with the same team. Scotty Bowman also won twice, though with different teams: the first time, he was coach of the Montreal Canadiens. [7] The current head coach of the Red Wings is Derek Lalonde, who was hired in June 2022. [8]
Term | Definition |
---|---|
No. | Number of coaches [a] |
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
T | Ties |
OT | Overtime/shootout losses [b] |
Win% | Winning percentage |
# | Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Red Wings |
† | Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame |
‡ | Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Red Wings and also elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame |
Note: Statistics are correct through the 2023–24 NHL season.
No. | Name | Term(s) [c] | GC | W | L | T/OT | Win% | GC | W | L | T | Win% | Awards | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
1 | Art Duncan | 1926–27 | 33 | 10 | 21 | 2 | .333 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [9] | |
2 | Duke Keats ‡ | 1926–27 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 | .273 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [10] | |
3 | Jack Adams ‡ | 1927–47 | 964 | 413 | 390 | 161 | .512 | 105 | 52 | 52 | 1 | .500 | Stanley Cup (1936, 1937, 1943) First All-Star team Coach (1937, 1943) second All-Star team Coach (1945) | [5] [6] [11] [12] |
4 | Tommy Ivan † | 1947–54 | 470 | 262 | 118 | 90 | .653 | 67 | 36 | 31 | 0 | .537 | Stanley Cup (1950, 1952, 1954) | [6] [11] [12] [13] |
5 | Jimmy Skinner # | 1954–58 | 247 | 123 | 78 | 46 | .591 | 26 | 14 | 12 | 0 | .538 | Stanley Cup (1955) | [6] [11] [12] [14] |
6 | Sid Abel † | 1958–68 1969–70 | 811 | 340 | 339 | 132 | .501 | 76 | 32 | 44 | 0 | .421 | [6] [11] [15] | |
7 | Bill Gadsby ‡ | 1968–69 | 78 | 35 | 31 | 12 | .526 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [16] | |
8 | Ned Harkness # | 1970–71 | 38 | 12 | 22 | 4 | .368 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [17] | |
9 | Doug Barkley # | 1970–71 1975–76 | 77 | 20 | 46 | 11 | .331 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [18] | |
10 | Johnny Wilson | 1971–73 | 145 | 67 | 56 | 22 | .538 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [19] | |
11 | Ted Garvin # | 1973–74 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 1 | .227 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [20] | |
12 | Alex Delvecchio ‡ | 1973–75 1975–77 | 245 | 82 | 131 | 32 | .400 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [21] | |
13 | Larry Wilson # | 1976–77 | 36 | 3 | 29 | 4 | .139 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [22] | |
14 | Bobby Kromm # | 1977–80 | 231 | 79 | 111 | 41 | .431 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .428 | Jack Adams Award (1978) | [6] [11] [23] |
15 | Ted Lindsay ‡ | 1979–81 | 29 | 5 | 21 | 3 | .224 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [24] | |
16 | Wayne Maxner # | 1980–82 | 129 | 34 | 68 | 27 | .368 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [25] | |
17 | Billy Dea # | 1981–82 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [26] | |
18 | Nick Polano # | 1982–85 | 240 | 79 | 127 | 34 | .400 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | [6] [11] [27] | |
19 | Harry Neale | 1985–86 | 35 | 8 | 23 | 4 | .286 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [28] | |
20 | Brad Park ‡ | 1985–86 | 45 | 9 | 34 | 2 | .222 | — | — | — | — | — | [6] [29] | |
21 | Jacques Demers | 1986–90 | 320 | 137 | 136 | 47 | .502 | 38 | 20 | 18 | 0 | .526 | Jack Adams Award (1987, 1988) | [6] [11] [30] |
22 | Bryan Murray | 1990–93 | 244 | 124 | 91 | 29 | .568 | 25 | 10 | 15 | 0 | .400 | [6] [11] [31] | |
23 | Scotty Bowman † | 1993–2002 | 701 | 410 | 193 | 98 | .655 | 134 | 86 | 48 | 0 | .642 | Stanley Cup (1997, 1998, 2002) Jack Adams Award (1996) | [6] [11] [12] [32] |
24 | Barry Smith # | 1998–99 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | — | — | — | — | — | [4] [6] [11] | |
25 | Dave Lewis | 1998–99 2002–05 | 169 | 100 | 42 | 27 | .672 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | [3] [6] [11] | |
26 | Mike Babcock | 2005–2015 | 786 | 458 | 223 | 105 | .649 | 123 | 67 | 56 | 0 | .545 | Stanley Cup (2008) | [6] [11] [12] [33] |
27 | Jeff Blashill # | 2015–2022 | 537 | 204 | 261 | 72 | .447 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | [34] [35] | |
28 | Derek Lalonde # | 2022–present | 164 | 76 | 69 | 19 | .521 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | [8] |
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are one of the Original Six teams of the league. Founded in 1926, the team was known as the Detroit Cougars until 1930. For the next two seasons, the team was named the Detroit Falcons, before changing their name to the Red Wings in 1932.
William Scott Bowman is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) head coach. He holds the record for most wins in league history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and his 14 Stanley Cup wins ranks second most of all time for any player, coach or executive. He coached the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He was most recently the senior advisor of hockey operations for the Chicago Blackhawks, until stepping down in July 2022. Bowman is often regarded as the greatest coach in NHL history.
Mike Babcock is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He spent parts of eighteen seasons as a head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL), beginning when he was named head coach of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, whom he led to the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals. In 2005, Babcock signed with the Detroit Red Wings, winning the Stanley Cup with them in 2008, and helping them to the Stanley Cup playoffs every year during his tenure and setting a record for most wins in Red Wings history. In 2015, he left Detroit to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs, a position he held until he was fired in 2019. During his coaching tenure from 1991 to 2019, Babcock's teams missed the post-season only four times. In 2023, he attempted a return to the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets; however, he resigned before the beginning of the 2023–24 season amidst investigations into allegations of misconduct.
Gerard Gallant is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously served as the head coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets (2004–2006), Florida Panthers (2014–2016) and Vegas Golden Knights (2017–2020). He is a three-time finalist for the Jack Adams Award for NHL coach of the year, winning the award in 2018 for the Golden Knights' first season. He was also a two-time Canadian Hockey League (CHL) coach of the year during his tenure with the Saint John Sea Dogs, where the team secured two President's Cup victories and one Memorial Cup.
The history of the Detroit Red Wings begins in 1926, when the franchise began play in the National Hockey League (NHL). The professional ice hockey club was founded as the Detroit Cougars on September 25, 1926, one of three teams to join the NHL in 1926. With the demise of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), the rights to the players of the Victoria Cougars were purchased by a Detroit group led by Charles A. Hughes who kept the name "Cougars" for their NHL club. The new team struggled financially; in 1930, the Cougars changed their name to the Detroit Falcons, and after being bought out of receivership by James E. Norris were renamed as the Detroit Red Wings in 1932. The team played their first game on November 18, 1926, and won their first two Stanley Cup titles in 1936 and 1937. The Red Wings have won the Cup eleven times, more than any other American team in NHL history.