2007–08 Detroit Red Wings season explained

The 2007–08 Detroit Red Wings season was the franchise's 76th season as the Red Wings and 82nd in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team won their eleventh Central Division title, sixth Presidents' Trophy, fifth Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, and won the Stanley Cup as league champion for the fourth time in eleven years. The team finished first in the Central Division and first in the Western Conference for their 17th consecutive playoff appearance and began the playoffs versus the Nashville Predators. The team won the first two games of the series at home but lost the next two at Nashville. In response to these losses, head coach Mike Babcock replaced starting goaltender Dominik Hasek with Chris Osgood. Osgood led the team to nine straight victories en route to a 14–4 record (and 16–6 overall team record) and a four games to two victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.

Three Red Wings players represented the West at the 56th National Hockey League All-Star Game in Atlanta, Georgia. Goaltender Chris Osgood along with defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom and center Pavel Datsyuk were starters in the game. The Western Conference team was coached by Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock.

As of 2024, this is the most recent season that a Presidents’ Trophy winner went on to also win the Stanley Cup in a full 82-game season, and the only time it has happened since the implementation of a salary cap as a result of the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

Regular season

The Red Wings had the best goaltending in the League, allowing only 179 goals (excluding five shootout goals).^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

Conference standings

Schedule and results

October

Record: 10–2–1; Home: 5–1–0; Road: 5–1–1

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 3		2 – 3	Detroit	SO		17,610	1–0–0	2
2	October 6	Detroit	3 – 4		SO	Hasek	18,768	1–0–1	3
3	October 8		2 – 4	Detroit		Hasek	16,913	2–0–1	5
4	October 10		2 – 4	Detroit			16,629	3–0–1	7
5	October 12		3 – 2	Detroit		Hasek	17,696	3–1–1	7
6	October 14	Detroit	4 – 1			Osgood	17,215	4–1–1	9
7	October 15	Detroit	3 – 6			Hasek	17,174	4–2–1	9
8	October 18	Detroit	4 – 2			Osgood	17,496	5–2–1	11
9	October 20	Detroit	5 – 2			Hasek	14,154	6–2–1	13
10	October 24		2 – 3	Detroit		Hasek	17,015	7–2–1	15
11	October 26		1 – 5	Detroit		Osgood	18,289	8–2–1	17
12	October 28	Detroit	3 – 2			Osgood	18,630	9–2–1	19
13	October 30	Detroit	2 – 1			Osgood	16,839	10–2–1	21

November

Record: 7–4–1; Home: 5–1–0; Road: 2–3–1

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
14	November 1	Detroit	4 – 1			Osgood	19,289	11–2–1	23
15	November 7		2 – 3	Detroit	SO	Osgood	16,885	12–2–1	25
16	November 9		1 – 4	Detroit		Hasek	18,654	13–2–1	27
17	November 11	Detroit	2 – 3			Osgood	19,045	13–3–1	27
18	November 13	Detroit	3 – 4			Hasek	18,440	13–4–1	27
19	November 17		5 – 3	Detroit		Hasek	20,066	13–5–1	27
20	November 18	Detroit	5 – 4		SO	Osgood	15,503	14–5–1	29
21	November 21		0 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	19,124	15–5–1	31
22	November 22	Detroit	2 – 3			Hasek	14,346	15–6–1	31
23	November 24	Detroit	2 – 3		SO	Osgood	17,513	15–6–2	32
24	November 27		3 – 5	Detroit		Osgood	17,108	16–6–2	34
25	November 29		2 – 4	Detroit		Osgood	17,001	17–6–2	36

December

Record: 12–2–1 ; Home: 6–1–1 ; Road: 6–1–0

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
26	December 1		2 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	18,557	18–6–2	38
27	December 4	Detroit	4 – 1			Hasek	21,273	19–6–2	40
28	December 7		0 – 5	Detroit		Hasek	19,508	20–6–2	42
29	December 9		2 – 5	Detroit		Hasek	19,609	21–6–2	44
30	December 10	Detroit	2 – 1			Osgood	15,056	22–6–2	46
31	December 13		4 – 3	Detroit	SO	Hasek	18,859	22–6–3	47
32	December 15		2 – 5	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	23–6–3	49
33	December 17		3 – 4	Detroit	SO	Hasek	19,483	24–6–3	51
34	December 19		2 – 6	Detroit		Hasek	19,516	25–6–3	53
35	December 20	Detroit	2 – 3			Osgood	19,150	25–7–3	53
36	December 22	Detroit	4 – 1			Hasek	18,568	26–7–3	55
37	December 26	Detroit	5 – 0			Osgood	19,250	27–7–3	57
38	December 27	Detroit	4 – 2			Hasek	18,007	28–7–3	59
39	December 29	Detroit	4 – 2			Osgood	17,866	29–7–3	61
40	December 31		2 – 0	Detroit		Hasek	20,066	29–8–3	61

January

Record: 9–2–1; Home: 4–1–1; Road: 5–1–0

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
41	January 2		1 – 4	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	30–8–3	63
42	January 5	Detroit	3 – 0			Hasek	18,584	31–8–3	65
43	January 6	Detroit	3 – 1			Osgood	21,869	32–8–3	67
44	January 8		0 – 1	Detroit		Hasek	19,160	33–8–3	69
45	January 10		6 – 5	Detroit	SO	Osgood	17,848	33–8–4	70
46	January 12	Detroit	2 – 3			Hasek	20,208	33–9–4	70
47	January 15		5 – 1	Detroit		Osgood	17,408	33–10–4	70
48	January 17		2 – 3	Detroit	SO	Hasek	18,878	34–10–4	72
49	January 19	Detroit	6 – 3			Hasek	17,496	35–10–4	74
50	January 22	Detroit	3 – 0			Osgood	18,118	36–10–4	76
51	January 23	Detroit	2 – 1			Hasek	17,174	37–10–4	78
52	January 30		2 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	19,289	38–10–4	80

February

Record: 4–8–2; Home: 1–4–0; Road: 3–4–2

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
53	February 1		0 – 2	Detroit		Hasek	20,066	39–10–4	82
54	February 2	Detroit	3 – 1			Osgood	17,565	40–10–4	84
55	February 5	Detroit	3 – 2		OT	Hasek	18,568	41–10–4	86
56	February 7		5 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	18,852	41–11–4	86
57	February 9	Detroit	2 – 3		OT	Hasek	19,510	41–11–5	87
58	February 10		3 – 2	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	41–12–5	87
59	February 12	Detroit	2 – 4			Osgood	15,692	41–13–5	87
60	February 15		5 – 1	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	41–14–5	87
61	February 17	Detroit	0 – 1				18,584	41–15–5	87
62	February 18	Detroit	4 – 0			Osgood	18,007	42–15–5	89
63	February 22	Detroit	0 – 1			Osgood	19,289	42–16–5	89
64	February 23	Detroit	1 – 4			Howard	18,630	42–17–5	89
65	February 26	Detroit	3 – 4		SO	Osgood	16,839	42–17–6	90
66	February 29		3 – 2	Detroit		Hasek	20,066	42–18–6	90

March

Record: 10–2–1; Home: 7–1–1; Road: 3–1–0;

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
67	March 2	Detroit	4 – 2			Hasek	18,690	43–18–6	92
68	March 5		1 – 2	Detroit		Hasek	18,064	44–18–6	94
69	March 9		3 – 4	Detroit		Hasek	20,066	45–18–6	96
70	March 11		1 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	18,632	46–18–6	98
71	March 13		3 – 5	Detroit		Osgood	19,453	47–18–6	100
72	March 15		3 – 1	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	47–19–6	100
73	March 16	Detroit	3 – 4			Hasek	18,188	47–20–6	100
74	March 19		1 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	19,061	48–20–6	102
75	March 20	Detroit	6 – 3			Hasek	17,113	49–20–6	104
76	March 22	Detroit	4 – 1			Hasek	17,681	50–20–6	106
77	March 25	Detroit	2 – 1			Osgood	19,150	51–20–6	108
78	March 28		4 – 3	Detroit	OT	Osgood	20,066	51–20–7	109
79	March 30		0 – 1	Detroit	OT	Hasek	20,066	52–20–7	111

April

Record: 2–1–0 ; Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 0–1–0

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
80	April 2	Detroit	2 – 6			Hasek	21,365	52–21–7	111
81	April 3		2 – 3	Detroit		Hasek	19,435	53–21–7	113
82	April 6		1 – 4	Detroit		Hasek	20,066	54–21–7	115

Green background indicates win.
Red background indicates regulation loss.
White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs

Detroit has not missed the post-season since 1989–90. The 2007–08 season was their 17th consecutive playoff season. The Detroit Red Wings ended the 2007–08 season as the first seed in the Western Conference.

Western Conference Quarter-finals: vs. Nashville Predators (8)

Detroit wins series 4–2.

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 10		1 – 3	Detroit		Hasek	20,066	1 – 0
2	April 12		2 – 4	Detroit		Hasek	20,066	2 – 0
3	April 14	Detroit	3 – 5			Hasek	17,113	2 – 1
4	April 16	Detroit	2 – 3			Hasek	17,113	2 – 2
5	April 18		1 – 2	Detroit	1OT	Osgood	20,066	3 – 2
6	April 20	Detroit	3 – 0			Osgood	17,113	4 – 2

Western Conference Semi-finals: vs. Colorado Avalanche (6)

Detroit wins series 4–0.

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 24		3 – 4	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	1 – 0
2	April 26		1 – 5	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	2 – 0
3	April 29	Detroit	4 – 3			Osgood	18,007	3 – 0
4	May 1	Detroit	8 – 2			Osgood	18,007	4 – 0

Western Conference Finals: vs. Dallas Stars (5)

Detroit wins series 4–2

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	May 8		1 – 4	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	1 – 0
2	May 10		1 – 2	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	2 – 0
3	May 12	Detroit	5 – 2			Osgood	18,532	3 – 0
4	May 14	Detroit	1 – 3			Osgood	18,532	3 – 1
5	May 17		2 – 1	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	3 – 2
6	May 19	Detroit	4 – 1			Osgood	18,532	4 – 2

Stanley Cup Finals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (2)

Detroit wins series 4–2

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	May 24		0 – 4	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	1 – 0
2	May 26		0 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	2 – 0
3	May 28	Detroit	2 – 3			Osgood	17,132	2 – 1
4	May 31	Detroit	2 – 1			Osgood	17,132	3 – 1
5	June 2		4 – 3	Detroit	3OT	Osgood	20,066	3 – 2
6	June 4	Detroit	3 – 2			Osgood	17,132	4 – 2

The Pittsburgh Penguins ranked 2nd in the Eastern Conference regular season.

Detroit wins the Stanley Cup for the 11th time, and first since 2002

2008 National Hockey League All-Star Game

See main article: 2008 National Hockey League All-Star Game.

The 2008 National Hockey League All-Star Game took place on January 27, 2008 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 8-7. The following are Red Wings players who participated in the all-star game.

Mike Babcock (Head Coach, Western Conference)
Chris Osgood (Starting Goaltender, Western Conference)
Niklas Lidstrom (Defense Starter, Western Conference)
Pavel Datsyuk (Forward Starter, Western Conference)

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Pavel Datsyuk	82	31	66	97	41	20
Henrik Zetterberg	75	43	49	92	30	34
Nicklas Lidstrom	76	10	60	70	40	40
Brian Rafalski	73	13	42	55	27	34
Daniel Cleary	63	20	22	42	21	33
Jiri Hudler	81	13	29	42	11	26
Tomas Holmstrom	59	20	20	40	9	58
Mikael Samuelsson	73	11	29	40	21	26
Johan Franzen	72	27	11	38	12	51
Valtteri Filppula	78	19	17	36	16	28

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Henrik Zetterberg	22	13	14	27	16	16
Pavel Datsyuk	22	10	13	23	13	6
Johan Franzen	16	13	5	18	13	14
Niklas Kronwall	22	0	15	15	16	18
Jiri Hudler	22	5	9	14	-1	14
Brian Rafalski	22	4	10	14	6	12
Nicklas Lidstrom	22	3	10	13	8	14
Mikael Samuelsson	22	5	8	13	8	8
Tomas Holmstrom	22	4	8	12	4	26
Valtteri Filppula	22	5	6	11	7	2

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Regular season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Chris Osgood	43	2409	27	9	4	84	4	.914	2.09
Dominik Hasek	41	2350	27	10	3	84	5	.902	2.14
Jimmy Howard	4	197	0	2	0	7	0	.926	2.13

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Chris Osgood	19	1160	14	4	30	3	.930	1.55
Dominik Hasek	4	206	2	2	10	0	.888	2.91

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Team member	Milestone	Date
	700th NHL Game	October 3, 2007
	300th NHL Point	October 12, 2007
	1st NHL Assist	October 12, 2007
	100th NHL PIM	October 12, 2007
	1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	October 15, 2007
Matt Ellis	1st NHL Goal	October 18, 2007
	100th NHL Game	October 18, 2007
	100th NHL PIM	October 20, 2007
	700th NHL Game	October 20, 2007
	200th NHL Career Win	December 15, 2007
	700th NHL Assist	January 2, 2008
	1600th NHL Game	February 10, 2008
Pavel Datsyuk	400th NHL Point	February 18, 2008
	1000th NHL Game 300th NHL Assist	March 11, 2008

Playoffs
Player	Milestone/Record	Date
	248th NHL Playoff Game (Most NHL playoff games by any player in history. Broke the record held by Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy).	April 12, 2008 June 4, 2008
	197th NHL Playoff Game for the Red Wings, breaking Steve Yzerman's franchise record.	April 18, 2008
Nicklas Lidstrom	100th NHL Playoff Assist.	April 29, 2008
	His 11 goals are one more than the previous club playoff record shared by Petr Klima (1988), Sergei Fedorov (1998) and Brett Hull (2002). Franzen did it in fewer games (10) than anybody else. Nine goals in one series broke the club mark held by Gordie Howe (eight vs. Montreal Canadiens in 1949) and established an NHL record for a four-game series. First player to record two hat tricks in one playoff series since Edmonton Oilers Jari Kurri notched three vs. Chicago Blackhawks in 1985. First Red Wing to record two hat tricks in one series since Norm Ullman in 1964 vs. Chicago Blackhawks.	May 1, 2008^[4]
	48th NHL Playoff Win, breaking franchise record held by Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk.	May 19, 2008
Niklas Lidstrom	First player born and trained in Europe to captain a Stanley Cup winning team.	June 4, 2008
	27 Playoff Points in a year, breaking franchise record held by Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov (24 Points). 13 Playoff Goals. Tied with Johan Franzen for the franchise record by scoring the Cup winning goal.	June 4, 2008
	15 Playoff Assists in a year, breaking franchise record held by Niklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios (13 Assists).	June 4, 2008
Niklas Kronwall, Mikael Samuelsson, Henrik Zetterberg	Joined the Triple Gold Club.	June 4, 2008
	Got the first hat trick of his career against Dallas in game three of the Western Conference Finals in the 2007-2008 season.	May 12, 2008

Transactions

The Red Wings have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

February 8, 2008	To Montreal Canadiens	To Detroit Red Wings
	Brett Engelhardt	Francis Lemieux
	To Los Angeles Kings	To Detroit Red Wings
February 26, 2008		2nd round pick in 20084th round pick in 2009

Free agents

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms
July 1, 2007			5 years, $30 million
July 3, 2007			1 year, $500,000
July 3, 2007			1 year, $500,000
July 5, 2007			1 year, $500,000
July 9, 2007			1 year, $550,000
July 16, 2007			1 year, $475,000
July 16, 2007	Randall Gelech		2 years, $975,000
July 16, 2007			1 year, $550,000
July 16, 2007			1 year, $500,000
October 3, 2007			1 year, $525,000

Player	New team
	Anaheim Ducks
	Chicago Blackhawks
	Los Angeles Kings
	Anaheim Ducks
	New York Islanders
	Colorado Avalanche
	San Jose Sharks

Draft picks

Detroit's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio.^[5]

Round		Player	Position	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	27	Brendan Smith	Defenseman	St. Michael's Buzzers (OPHL)
3	88	Joakim Andersson	Center	Frölunda HC (Swe Jr.)
5	148	Randy Cameron	Center	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
6	178	Zack Torquato	Center	Erie Otters (OHL)
7	208	Bryan Rufenach	Defenseman	Lindsay Muskies (OPJHL)

Farm teams

Grand Rapids Griffins

The Grand Rapids Griffins remain Detroit's American Hockey League affiliate in 2007–08.

References

Player stats: Detroit Red Wings player stats on espn.com
Game log: Detroit Red Wings game log on espn.com
Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com

Notes and References

Web site: 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings Roster and Statistics.
Web site: 2007-08 NHL Schedule and Results.
Web site: 2007-08 NHL Summary.
Web site: mlive.com. Red Wings sweep Colorado with 8-2 win. May 2, 2008. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110518171053/http://www.mlive.com/sports/statewide/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fsports-0%2F120970890484460.xml&coll=6. May 18, 2011. mdy-all.
2007 NHL Entry Draft Results nhl.com