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1970–71 Detroit Red Wings season

National Hockey League team season

Field	Value
League	NHL
Season	1970–71
year	1970
Team	Detroit Red Wings
Division	East
DivisionRank	7th
Record	22–45–11
HomeRecord	17–15–7
RoadRecord	5–30–4
GoalsFor	209
GoalsAgainst	308
GeneralManager	Sid Abel (Oct–Jan)
Ned Harkness (Jan–Apr)
Coach	Ned Harkness
Doug Barkley
Captain	Alex Delvecchio
AltCaptain	Gary Bergman
Red Berenson
Arena	Olympia Stadium
MinorLeague	Fort Worth Wings (CHL)
GoalsLeader	Tom Webster (30)
AssistsLeader	Tom Webster (37)
PointsLeader	Tom Webster (67)
PIMLeader	Gary Bergman (149)
WinsLeader	Roy Edwards (11)
GAALeader	Roy Edwards (3.39)

Ned Harkness (Jan–Apr) Doug Barkley Red Berenson

The 1970–71 Detroit Red Wings season was Gordie Howe's final season with the Red Wings. Ned Harkness was hired as coach in 1970 and was promoted to general manager midway through the season. His background was a successful college hockey coach. He tried to force his two-way style of play on a veteran Red Wings team resistant to change. Harkness also demanded short hair, no smoking, and put other rules in place regarding drinking and phone calls. The Red Wings finished in with a 22–45–11 record for 55 points for last place in the East Division, making things even worse was that they finished behind the two expansion clubs that season, the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks.

Offseason

The Fort Worth Wings of the Central Hockey League, coached by former Red Wings' defenceman Doug Barkley, continued to be operated as Detroit's top farm team during the 1969–70 season.

Regular season

Red Wings general manager Sid Abel wanted to get rid of coach Ned Harkness and was overruled by team owner Bruce Norris. Once Harkness took over as general manager, he got rid of players he deemed a threat to him. On January 10, 1971, Doug Barkley was promoted to become head coach of the Red wings, and on January 13, 1971, Frank Mahovlich was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Mickey Redmond, Guy Charron and Bill Collins. Mahovlich was reunited with his brother Pete, who had become a star player himself with the Canadiens. One of the few highlights of the season was the emergence of young rookie goaltender Jim Rutherford.

On October 29, Gordie Howe became the first player to record 1,000 assists in a 5–3 win over Boston at the Detroit Olympia.
The Wings suffered their worst defeat in franchise history January 2, when Toronto beat them 13–0.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|- |1||W||October 10, 1970||5–3 || align="left"| Bay Area Seals (1970–71) ||1–0–0 |- |2||L||October 11, 1970||3–7 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1970–71) ||1–1–0 |- |3||L||October 13, 1970||3–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1970–71) ||1–2–0 |- |4||L||October 15, 1970||1–2 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1970–71) ||1–3–0 |- |5||W||October 17, 1970||3–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1970–71) ||2–3–0 |- |6||L||October 18, 1970||1–2 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1970–71) ||2–4–0 |- |7||L||October 23, 1970||3–4 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1970–71) ||2–5–0 |- |8||T||October 25, 1970||3–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1970–71) ||2–5–1 |- |9||L||October 28, 1970||1–4 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1970–71) ||2–6–1 |- |10||W||October 29, 1970||5–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1970–71) ||3–6–1

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| Legend:

Player statistics

Forwards

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

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Tom Webster	78	30	37	67	40
Alex Delvecchio	77	21	34	55	6
Gordie Howe	63	23	29	52	38
Frank Mahovlich	35	14	18	32	30
Nick Libett	78	16	13	29	25
Garry Unger	51	13	14	27	63
Bruce MacGregor	47	6	16	22	18
Wayne Connelly	51	8	13	21	12
Bill Collins	36	5	16	21	12
Red Berenson	24	5	12	17	4
Rene LeClerc	44	8	8	16	43
Mickey Redmond	21	6	8	14	7
Tim Ecclestone	27	4	10	14	13
Don Luce	58	3	11	14	18
Guy Charron	24	8	4	12	4

Defensemen

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

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gary Bergman	68	8	25	33	149
Mike Robitaille	23	4	8	12	22
Dale Rolfe	44	3	9	12	48
Ron Harris	42	2	8	10	65
Gerry Hart	64	2	7	9	148
Arnie Brown

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
Roy Edwards	37	2104	11	19	7	0	119	3.39
Gerry Gray	7	380	1	4	1	0	30	4.74
Don McLeod	14	698	3	7	0	0	60	5.16
Jim Rutherford	29	1948	7	15	3	1	94	3.77

Draft picks

Detroit's draft picks at the 1970 NHL amateur draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	12	Serge Lajeunesse	Canada	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
2	26	Robert Guindon	Canada	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
3	40	Yvon Lambert	Canada	Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)
4	54	Tom Johnston	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
5	68	Tom Mellor	United States	Boston College (ECAC)
6	82	Bernie MacNeil	Canada	Espanola Eagles (NOJHL)
7	95	Ed Hays	Canada	University of Denver (WCHA)

References

Red Wings on Hockey Database

References

Mulvoy, Mark. (1971-01-18). "Poor Broken Wings". Sports Illustrated.
(1971). "Up From the Minor Leagues of Hockey". Cowles Book Company, Inc..
(1971). "Up From the Minor Leagues of Hockey". Cowles Book Company, Inc..
"1970-71 Detroit Red Wings Schedule".
"Detroit Red Wings 1970-71 roster and statistics".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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