Detroit Red Wings Biggest Game

[LastWordArmy]

Welcome back to Last Word on Hockey’s summer series where we look at the biggest game in team history. Each day we will be back with a new team to look at. Looking at things like the lead-up, what happened, followed, and why it makes it the biggest game. The biggest game does not automatically mean a win, either. Sometimes, it can be a loss that set the franchise back massively. Sit back and enjoy as we break down all 31 team’s most important game. This is the Detroit Red Wings biggest game in franchise history. The full series is found here.

The Detroit Red Wings were a powerhouse and won Stanley Cups throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s. However, the franchise hit a rough patch. They went through something called the “Dead Wings” era from the start of expansion in 1967 until the early 80s.

Fortunes improved when pizza magnate Mike Illitch bought the club in 1982 and Steve Yzerman was drafted in 1983. Detroit slowly built a winner and added Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman to the mix, but never seemed to make any headway in the post-season. That is until this game.

Detroit Red Wings Biggest Game in Franchise History - Last Word on Hockey

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[Retire91]

Can only speak for games I know in my life time and I think keying in on Wings Avs March 26, 1997 was the game that galvanized the cup run. A stanley cup win is always a big game but I would argue that the total domination of the Avs in the regular-season game was actually a bigger game and set the tone for their path to the cup.

 

[newfy]

I was guessing that winning the cup in 97 would be the subject of the article but I think most fans will remember the brawl in 97 against the Avs more. When talking about the 97 season that single game comes up way more than the cup finals I think, even when old players talk about that year.

But I cant blame the author for picking breaking the cupless drought over it. Hard to say a game with a big brawl in the regular season is a teams most important game in history, especially an original 6 team

 

[Retire91]

yup as an original six team there would be so many to choose from but not many personal accounts considering that the dead wings era extends so far back. Cup doubt breaker certainly not a bad pick.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Red Wings-Avalanche game 6 in 96-97.

The Patrick Roy Statue of Liberty Game.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Having been lucky enough to attend a ton of games over the years I am torn between March 26th and Game 4 Cup clinching victory that year to end the draught.

I think it will be impossible to ever knock the brawl game outside of my mind as the best sporting event I have ever attended. But a part of what has anchored it in lore is that we did payoff the championship.

I don't think I have ever been in a more electric or entertaining environment though. I thought the roof might come off, my ears where ringing like when you walk out of a concert.

At the same time I remember scanning the crowd when we won it all a few months later, grown men and women crying and hugging each other in elation. Like @newfy said it is hard to pick.

From an organizational standpoint it has to be the 97 championship game 4 in my opinion.

 

[Shaman464]

Red Wings-Avalanche game 6 in 96-97.

The Patrick Roy Statue of Liberty Game.

Wasn't the statue of Liberty game 2002?

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Wasn't the statue of Liberty game 2002?

Yes it was.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

For the other side, big game goes bad, I can easily say the 94 game 7 against the Sharks is the biggest low I have experienced. The 09 finals game 7 was tough but we had won things at that point. Back in 94 I believed we were cursed to never win... I still remember people throwing their jersey in the garbage at the JLA and how crazy angry everyone was.

 

[Mlotek]

Red Wings-Avalanche game 6 in 96-97.

The Patrick Roy Statue of Liberty Game.

Pretty sure statue of Liberty was in 2000s

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

SCF 2009 game 7 AT HOME was the biggest game ever

 

[TheAngryHank]

Can only speak for games I know in my life time and I think keying in on Wings Avs March 26, 1997 was the game that galvanized the cup run. A stanley cup win is always a big game but I would argue that the total domination of the Avs in the regular-season game was actually a bigger game and set the tone for their path to the cup.

What a way for Mike Knuble to be introduced to the NHL.. couldn't imagine that game being being his first NHL game.

 

[Avery Rule]

Hard to pick one, the Montreal game where we shelled Roy definitely would set up some future events and is one of my most memorable.

Yzerman 50 foot goal against Jon Casey and the blues in the playoffs, DMacs awesome goal against the Flyers in the finals.

Lidstrom goal against Cloutier to turn the Vancouver series around "funny thing about Cloutier I bought a old box of sealed hockey cards and pulled a Dan Cloutier and Mario Lemieux jersey card last night"

The colorado brawls/ Lemieux hit/ failed statue of Liberty Roy play so many memorable moments against Colorado.

Just curious but who do you guys think would have won if Hasek had not tripped on the way down to fight Roy?

 

[FireBird71]

Game 4 against Philly in the Cup Finals...McCarty seals it

 

[Winger98]

Game 6 versus the Avs in 1996. It sealed a change to the club that began with the thumping the Wings took from NJ the year prior. The Wings win that series against the Avs, and I doubt we see Primeau traded for Shanny, we probably don't make a move for Murphy because we'd still have Coffey, etc. The fallout from that lost not only set the stage for The Brawl, but for the Wings to embrace reworking the team into the grittier, harder to play against team they became for their next two cup wins.

 

[vladdy16]

Wings were getting revenge in '97 no matter a fun regular season game or not. Wings were winning in '97 whether they won game 4 or not.

Game 7 against the Blues in 96 may have saved the dynasty. If we went out in the second rd to a burly team, after a great reg season after getting swept in the finals, it could've spelled a huge change of course at the worst time, and would've really hurt the relationship between JLA and the team.

Instead we got to play the eventual champs in what would be a generation defining match up. Lots of people took the easy road and said we got bullied again. We fought like hell in 96 and came out with a vendetta.

This one might be more fantastical, cuz the Caps were not that great.

But with the way they were winning and their goaltending, and after all we went through in the '97 off-season, game 2 at JLA in 98 felt like a miracle to me. This is where the mental fatigue and exhaustion kick in, finals in 95, semis in 96, finals in 97 plus a huge hole left in the roster. It really felt like, if we had to play more than 4 games in that series things could start to go horribly wrong.

So one of those two games is my pick for a game where the direction/perception of the franchise could've swung the most.