1979–80 Detroit Red Wings season explained

The 1979–80 season was the first season that the Red Wings played at their at the time newly built arena, the Joe Louis Arena.

League:	NHL
Season:	1979–80
Year:	1979
Team:	Detroit Red Wings
Record:	26–43–11
Divisionrank:	5th
Coach:	Bobby Kromm, Ted Lindsay
Altcaptain:	None
Goalsfor:	268
Goalsagainst:	306
Arena:	Detroit Olympia (Oct-Dec) Joe Louis Arena (Dec-Apr)

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 10, 1979	4–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	0–0–1
2	L	October 12, 1979	1–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	0–1–1
3	T	October 13, 1979	3–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	0–1–2
4	W	October 17, 1979	5–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	1–1–2
5	L	October 20, 1979	3–7	Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	1–2–2
6	W	October 25, 1979	4–0	Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	2–2–2
7	L	October 27, 1979	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	2–3–2
8	L	October 28, 1979	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	2–4–2
9	L	October 31, 1979	3–5	Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	2–5–2
10	W	November 3, 1979	2–0	Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	3–5–2
11	L	November 4, 1979	1–5	@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	3–6–2
12	W	November 7, 1979	5–3	Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	4–6–2
13	L	November 10, 1979	1–2	Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	4–7–2
14	L	November 14, 1979	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1979–80)	4–8–2
15	W	November 16, 1979	4–2	@ Washington Capitals (1979–80)	5–8–2
16	W	November 17, 1979	5–4	@ New York Islanders (1979–80)	6–8–2
17	L	November 21, 1979	1–4	@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	6–9–2
18	L	November 23, 1979	2–5	@ Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	6–10–2
19	T	November 24, 1979	3–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	6–10–3
20	T	November 27, 1979	5–5	Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	6–10–4
21	W	December 1, 1979	6–3	Boston Bruins (1979–80)	7–10–4
22	T	December 2, 1979	4–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	7–10–5
23	W	December 5, 1979	6–4	Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	8–10–5
24	W	December 8, 1979	5–1	Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	9–10–5
25	L	December 10, 1979	0–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	9–11–5
26	L	December 11, 1979	1–2	New York Rangers (1979–80)	9–12–5
27	T	December 13, 1979	6–6	@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)	9–12–6
28	T	December 15, 1979	4–4	Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	9–12–7
29	L	December 16, 1979	3–7	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	9–13–7
30	W	December 19, 1979	6–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	10–13–7
31	L	December 22, 1979	1–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	10–14–7
32	L	December 26, 1979	4–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	10–15–7
33	L	December 27, 1979	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	10–16–7
34	W	December 30, 1979	4–2	New York Islanders (1979–80)	11–16–7
35	L	December 31, 1979	3–5	Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	11–17–7
36	L	January 2, 1980	2–4	Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	11–18–7
37	W	January 4, 1980	6–3	@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	12–18–7
38	W	January 6, 1980	2–1	@ Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	13–18–7
39	W	January 9, 1980	4–0	New York Rangers (1979–80)	14–18–7
40	L	January 12, 1980	4–6	Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	14–19–7
41	L	January 13, 1980	2–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	14–20–7
42	W	January 16, 1980	5–1	Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	15–20–7
43	W	January 18, 1980	5–0	@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	16–20–7
44	W	January 19, 1980	5–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	17–20–7
45	L	January 23, 1980	3–5	New York Islanders (1979–80)	17–21–7
46	L	January 26, 1980	3–4	Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	17–22–7
47	W	January 27, 1980	7–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	18–22–7
48	L	January 30, 1980	4–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	18–23–7
49	W	January 31, 1980	4–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	19–23–7
50	W	February 2, 1980	3–0	@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	20–23–7
51	L	February 3, 1980	2–4	St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	20–24–7
52	T	February 6, 1980	2–2	Washington Capitals (1979–80)	20–24–8
53	L	February 9, 1980	5–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	20–25–8
54	L	February 10, 1980	1–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	20–26–8
55	T	February 13, 1980	2–2	Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	20–26–9
56	L	February 16, 1980	3–4	Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	20–27–9
57	L	February 18, 1980	2–4	Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	20–28–9
58	L	February 20, 1980	5–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	20–29–9
59	L	February 23, 1980	1–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	20–30–9
60	W	February 24, 1980	7–5	Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	21–30–9
61	W	February 28, 1980	4–1	Washington Capitals (1979–80)	22–30–9
62	W	March 1, 1980	4–3	@ New York Islanders (1979–80)	23–30–9
63	L	March 2, 1980	3–6	Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	23–31–9
64	L	March 5, 1980	3–5	Boston Bruins (1979–80)	23–32–9
65	T	March 8, 1980	2–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	23–32–10
66	W	March 9, 1980	6–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	24–32–10
67	T	March 12, 1980	4–4	Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	24–32–11
68	L	March 13, 1980	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)	24–33–11
69	L	March 15, 1980	2–5	@ Washington Capitals (1979–80)	24–34–11
70	L	March 16, 1980	2–6	Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	24–35–11
71	L	March 19, 1980	3–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	24–36–11
72	W	March 21, 1980	5–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	25–36–11
73	L	March 22, 1980	1–5	@ Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	25–37–11
74	L	March 26, 1980	2–5	Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	25–38–11
75	L	March 27, 1980	1–10	@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	25–39–11
76	W	March 29, 1980	9–7	Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	26–39–11
77	L	March 31, 1980	5–7	@ New York Rangers (1979–80)	26–40–11
78	L	April 2, 1980	2–7	Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	26–41–11
79	L	April 5, 1980	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	26–42–11
80	L	April 6, 1980	3–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	26–43–11

• Game 28 would be the last game ever played in the Detroit Olympia.
• Game 33 would be the first ice hockey game ever played in the Joe Louis Arena.

As a result, the Red Wings were forced on a four-game road trip from December 16 to 26.

Playoffs

The Red Wings failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	C	80	30	51	81	12	1	7	2	3
	RW	79	35	39	74	13	-5	11	0	5
	RW	80	36	35	71	109	-2	9	0	0
	D	80	22	44	66	101	-7	7	0	2
	C	80	16	50	66	69	3	3	0	1
	LW	76	30	27	57	8	5	6	0	5
	LW	77	34	14	48	22	-10	8	2	3
	D	76	17	23	40	164	-26	4	2	2
	LW	41	8	24	32	8	-4	3	0	1
	LW	79	6	20	26	24	-19	0	0	0
	D/LW	63	5	13	18	108	-4	1	0	1
	D	80	0	17	17	38	-28	0	0	0
	C	42	3	12	15	10	-8	0	0	1
	D	59	3	10	13	45	-2	0	0	0
	LW	27	7	4	11	2	-2	0	0	2
	LW	44	6	5	11	19	-14	2	0	0
	C	33	4	6	10	0	-11	0	0	0
	C/RW	66	2	8	10	127	-15	0	0	0
	D	28	1	5	6	45	4	0	0	0
	D	49	1	4	5	43	-2	0	0	0
	LW	50	1	2	3	43	-21	0	0	0
	C	18	1	2	3	2	-1	0	0	0
	D	16	0	3	3	41	-4	0	0	0
	G	59	0	3	3	2	0	0	0	0
	RW	4	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
	D	3	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	0
	D	15	0	0	0	11	-2	0	0	0
	G	23	0	0	0	24	0	0	0	0
	RW	2	0	0	0	4	-2	0	0	0
	D	8	0	0	0	2	-11	0	0	0
	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	3474	59	20	30	8	209	3.61	4
	1326	23	6	13	3	92	4.16	1
Team:	4800	80	26	43	11	301	3.76	5

^[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 1979 NHL Entry Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	3	Mike Foligno		Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
3	45	Jody Gage		Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
3	46	Boris Fistric		New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
4	66	John Ogrodnick		New Westminster Bruins (WHL)
5	87	Joe Paterson		London Knights (OMJHL)
6	108	Carmine Cirella		Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)

See also

• 1979–80 NHL season
• 1980 in Michigan

References

• Web site: 1979–80 Detroit Red Wings Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-06 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-02 . 1979-80 Detroit Red Wings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.