1971–72 Detroit Red Wings season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1971–72
Year:	1971
Team:	Detroit Red Wings
Divisionrank:	5th
Goalsfor:	261
Minorleague:	Fort Worth Wings (CHL)
Goalsleader:	Mickey Redmond (42)
Assistsleader:	Marcel Dionne (49)
Pointsleader:	Marcel Dionne (77)
Pimleader:	Gary Bergman (138)
Winsleader:	Al Smith (18)
Gaaleader:	Joe Daley (3.15)

The 1971–72 Detroit Red Wings season was Marcel Dionne's rookie season. The Red Wings placed fifth to miss the playoffs.

Regular season

Head coach Doug Barkley won just 3 of the first 11 games before being replaced by Johnny Wilson.

During his first season for Detroit in 1971–72, Marcel Dionne set an NHL record for scoring by a rookie with 77 points. This record has since been surpassed.

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 9, 1971	2–4	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	0–1–0
2	L	October 10, 1971	1–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	0–2–0
3	L	October 16, 1971	2–9	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	0–3–0
4	W	October 17, 1971	5–3	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	1–3–0
5	L	October 20, 1971	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	1–4–0
6	W	October 22, 1971	5–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	2–4–0
7	L	October 24, 1971	3–6	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	2–5–0
8	L	October 26, 1971	2–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	2–6–0
9	L	October 27, 1971	4–7	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	2–7–0
10	L	October 30, 1971	0–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	2–8–0
11	W	October 31, 1971	3–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	3–8–0
12	L	November 1, 1971	1–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	3–9–0
13	T	November 4, 1971	4–4	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	3–9–1
14	L	November 6, 1971	1–2	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	3–10–1
15	T	November 7, 1971	3–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	3–10–2
16	W	November 10, 1971	2–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	4–10–2
17	W	November 13, 1971	6–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	5–10–2
18	T	November 16, 1971	2–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	5–10–3
19	L	November 20, 1971	1–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	5–11–3
20	T	November 21, 1971	2–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	5–11–4
21	L	November 24, 1971	1–6	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	5–12–4
22	W	November 27, 1971	3–1	New York Rangers (1971–72)	6–12–4
23	W	November 28, 1971	4–2	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	7–12–4
24	L	December 1, 1971	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	7–13–4
25	T	December 2, 1971	1–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	7–13–5
26	W	December 4, 1971	5–1	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	8–13–5
27	L	December 5, 1971	1–2	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	8–14–5
28	L	December 8, 1971	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	8–15–5
29	W	December 11, 1971	6–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	9–15–5
30	W	December 14, 1971	4–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	10–15–5
31	T	December 17, 1971	3–3	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	10–15–6
32	L	December 18, 1971	2–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	10–16–6
33	W	December 22, 1971	3–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	11–16–6
34	L	December 25, 1971	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	11–17–6
35	W	December 26, 1971	5–1	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	12–17–6
36	W	December 29, 1971	7–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	13–17–6
37	W	December 31, 1971	6–3	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	14–17–6
38	W	January 2, 1972	6–4	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	15–17–6
39	L	January 5, 1972	2–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	15–18–6
40	T	January 7, 1972	4–4	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	15–18–7
41	W	January 9, 1972	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	16–18–7
42	W	January 11, 1972	5–0	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	17–18–7
43	W	January 15, 1972	7–4	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	18–18–7
44	L	January 16, 1972	2–9	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	18–19–7
45	L	January 19, 1972	1–4	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	18–20–7
46	W	January 22, 1972	3–2	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	19–20–7
47	W	January 23, 1972	3–1	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	20–20–7
48	W	January 27, 1972	3–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	21–20–7
49	T	January 29, 1972	4–4	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	21–20–8
50	L	January 30, 1972	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	21–21–8
51	W	February 1, 1972	4–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	22–21–8
52	L	February 3, 1972	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	22–22–8
53	L	February 5, 1972	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	22–23–8
54	W	February 6, 1972	8–2	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	23–23–8
55	W	February 10, 1972	4–2	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	24–23–8
56	T	February 12, 1972	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	24–23–9
57	L	February 16, 1972	2–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	24–24–9
58	W	February 19, 1972	6–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	25–24–9
59	L	February 20, 1972	3–4	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	25–25–9
60	W	February 22, 1972	5–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	26–25–9
61	W	February 24, 1972	2–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	27–25–9
62	L	February 26, 1972	1–8	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	27–26–9
63	L	February 27, 1972	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	27–27–9
64	W	February 29, 1972	8–2	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	28–27–9
65	L	March 2, 1972	4–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	28–28–9
66	L	March 4, 1972	4–5	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	28–29–9
67	W	March 5, 1972	6–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	29–29–9
68	L	March 8, 1972	1–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	29–30–9
69	L	March 11, 1972	2–4	New York Rangers (1971–72)	29–31–9
70	L	March 12, 1972	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	29–32–9
71	L	March 16, 1972	1–2	New York Rangers (1971–72)	29–33–9
72	W	March 19, 1972	7–6	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	30–33–9
73	W	March 21, 1972	7–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	31–33–9
74	W	March 22, 1972	6–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	32–33–9
75	L	March 25, 1972	3–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	32–34–9
76	W	March 28, 1972	6–3	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	33–34–9
77	T	March 29, 1972	2–2	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	33–34–10
78	L	April 2, 1972	1–6	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	33–35–10

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	78	28	49	77	14
	78	42	29	71	34
	78	28	41	69	16
	75	20	45	65	22
Nick Libett	77	31	22	53	50
	72	18	35	53	33
	71	15	25	40	38
	71	15	20	35	29
	64	17	12	29	10
	64	9	16	25	14
	39	9	5	14	8
	43	2	5	7	8
	19	2	3	5	0
	22	3	1	4	4

^[1]

Defencemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gary Bergman	75	6	31	37	138
Ron Stackhouse	73	5	25	30	83
	77	2	23	25	84
	65	4	20	24	111
	61	1	10	11	80
	45	2	4	6	9

^[1]

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average

Player	GP	MIN	W	L	T	SO	GA	GAA
	10	560	4	5	1	0	37	3.96
	29	1620	11	10	5	0	85	3.15
	43	2500	18	20	4	4	135	3.24

^[1]

Awards and records

• Marcel Dionne, NHL record (since broken), Most points by a rookie with 77 points.

Transactions

The Red Wings were involved in the following transactions during the 1971–72 season:

Trades

October 22, 1971	To Detroit Red Wings Ron Stackhouse	To California Golden Seals Tom Webster
January 13, 1971	To Detroit Red Wings Mickey Redmond Guy Charron Bill Collins	To Montreal Canadiens Frank Mahovlich

Draft picks

See main article: 1971 NHL Draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	2	Marcel Dionne	Center	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
2	16	Henry Boucha	Center	US National Development Team
4	44	George Hulme	Goaltender	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
5	58	Earl Anderson	Right Wing	University of North Dakota (WCHA)
6	72	Charlie Shaw	Defense	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
7	86	Jim Nahrgang	Defense	Michigan Tech University (NCAA)
8	100	Bob Boyd	Defense	Michigan State University (NCAA)

See also

• 1972 in Michigan

References

• Red Wings on Hockey Database

1. Web site: Detroit Red Wings 1971-72 roster and statistics . hockeydb.com . 30 September 2022.