1976–77 Detroit Red Wings season

National Hockey League team season March 2026 August 2023 NHL 1976–77 1976 Detroit Red Wings 16–55–9 12–22–6 4–33–3 Wales 9th Norris 5th 183 309 Alex Delvecchio (Oct–Mar) Ted Lindsay (Mar–Apr) Alex Delvecchio,Larry Wilson Danny GrantDennis Polonich None Detroit Olympia Walt McKechnie (25) Walt McKechnie (34) Walt McKechnie (59) Dennis Polonich (277) Ed Giacomin (8) Ed Giacomin (3.58) The 1976–77 Detroit Red Wings season was the 51st season for the Detroit franchise, 45th as the Red Wings. The Red Wings failed to qualify to the playoffs for the seventh straight year for the first time in franchise history and for the first time since the 1958–59 season they finished last in the league. 2 Regular season Final standings DET Record vs. opponents DET Schedule and results background:#fff; border-top:#CE1126 5px solid; border-bottom:#CE1126 5px solid; 1976–77 regular season1976-77 Detroit Red Wings Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/DET/1977_games.html Hockey-Reference.com April 2, 2025 y background:#fff; border-top:#CE1126 2px solid; border-bottom:#CE1126 2px solid; October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |1||T||October 7, 1976||3–3 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1976–77) ||0–0–1 |- |2||W||October 9, 1976||4–0 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||1–0–1 |- |3||L||October 12, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||1–1–1 |- |4||L||October 16, 1976||3–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||1–2–1 |- |5||L||October 17, 1976||4–7 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) ||1–3–1 |- |6||W||October 22, 1976||5–0 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1976–77) ||2–3–1 |- |7||L||October 23, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) ||2–4–1 |- |8||L||October 26, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||2–5–1 |- |9||L||October 28, 1976||1–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||2–6–1 |- |10||L||October 30, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) ||2–7–1 |- |11||W||October 31, 1976||6–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1976–77) ||3–7–1 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#CE1126 2px solid; border-bottom:#CE1126 2px solid; November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |12||W||November 4, 1976||3–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) ||4–7–1 |- |13||T||November 7, 1976||0–0 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1976–77) ||4–7–2 |- |14||L||November 9, 1976||1–8 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1976–77) ||4–8–2 |- |15||L||November 10, 1976||4–6 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||4–9–2 |- |16||T||November 13, 1976||3–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||4–9–3 |- |17||L||November 16, 1976||0–2 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) ||4–10–3 |- |18||T||November 17, 1976||5–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1976–77) ||4–10–4 |- |19||W||November 19, 1976||5–2 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||5–10–4 |- |20||L||November 21, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||5–11–4 |- |21||W||November 24, 1976||4–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||6–11–4 |- |22||W||November 25, 1976||3–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1976–77) ||7–11–4 |- |23||L||November 27, 1976||0–5 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1976–77) ||7–12–4 |- |24||L||November 28, 1976||1–3 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||7–13–4 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#CE1126 2px solid; border-bottom:#CE1126 2px solid; December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |25||W||December 1, 1976||5–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) ||8–13–4 |- |26||L||December 4, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||8–14–4 |- |27||L||December 11, 1976||0–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||8–15–4 |- |28||W||December 12, 1976||5–3 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||9–15–4 |- |29||L||December 15, 1976||3–7 || align="left"| @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||9–16–4 |- |30||W||December 16, 1976||7–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) ||10–16–4 |- |31||W||December 18, 1976||6–3 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1976–77) ||11–16–4 |- |32||L||December 19, 1976||1–6 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||11–17–4 |- |33||L||December 22, 1976||1–2 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) ||11–18–4 |- |34||W||December 23, 1976||5–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||12–18–4 |- |35||L||December 27, 1976||4–7 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||12–19–4 |- |36||L||December 29, 1976||3–6 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) ||12–20–4 |- |37||W||December 31, 1976||4–2 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||13–20–4 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#CE1126 2px solid; border-bottom:#CE1126 2px solid; January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |38||L||January 2, 1977||4–6 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1976–77) ||13–21–4 |- |39||T||January 4, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) ||13–21–5 |- |40||L||January 6, 1977||2–7 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) ||13–22–5 |- |41||L||January 10, 1977||0–2 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1976–77) ||13–23–5 |- |42||L||January 12, 1977||1–3 || align="left"| @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||13–24–5 |- |43||L||January 13, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) ||13–25–5 |- |44||L||January 15, 1977||0–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) ||13–26–5 |- |45||L||January 20, 1977||1–3 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1976–77) ||13–27–5 |- |46||L||January 22, 1977||0–3 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) ||13–28–5 |- |47||T||January 23, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||13–28–6 |- |48||L||January 27, 1977||1–4 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) ||13–29–6 |- |49||W||January 29, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||14–29–6 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#CE1126 2px solid; border-bottom:#CE1126 2px solid; February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |50||L||February 2, 1977||1–9 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||14–30–6 |- |51||L||February 5, 1977||1–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||14–31–6 |- |52||W||February 6, 1977||3–2 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) ||15–31–6 |- |53||L||February 10, 1977||4–5 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1976–77) ||15–32–6 |- |54||T||February 12, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) ||15–32–7 |- |55||L||February 13, 1977||3–5 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||15–33–7 |- |56||L||February 15, 1977||2–6 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) ||15–34–7 |- |57||T||February 17, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||15–34–8 |- |58||L||February 19, 1977||1–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||15–35–8 |- |59||L||February 20, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1976–77) ||15–36–8 |- |60||L||February 23, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) ||15–37–8 |- |61||W||February 24, 1977||3–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||16–37–8 |- |62||L||February 26, 1977||3–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||16–38–8 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#CE1126 2px solid; border-bottom:#CE1126 2px solid; March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |63||L||March 1, 1977||3–8 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||16–39–8 |- |64||L||March 3, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1976–77) ||16–40–8 |- |65||L||March 5, 1977||1–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) ||16–41–8 |- |66||L||March 9, 1977||3–6 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||16–42–8 |- |67||L||March 10, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1976–77) ||16–43–8 |- |68||L||March 12, 1977||0–6 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||16–44–8 |- |69||T||March 13, 1977||3–3 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1976–77) ||16–44–9 |- |70||L||March 15, 1977||1–7 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) ||16–45–9 |- |71||L||March 17, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||16–46–9 |- |72||L||March 20, 1977||1–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) ||16–47–9 |- |73||L||March 23, 1977||0–6 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||16–48–9 |- |74||L||March 24, 1977||1–3 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) ||16–49–9 |- |75||L||March 26, 1977||0–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||16–50–9 |- |76||L||March 27, 1977||0–6 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||16–51–9 |- |77||L||March 29, 1977||1–6 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) ||16–52–9 |- |78||L||March 31, 1977||1–3 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) ||16–53–9 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#CE1126 2px solid; border-bottom:#CE1126 2px solid; April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |79||L||April 2, 1977||3–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||16–54–9 |- |80||L||April 3, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||16–55–9 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black Player statistics Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Walt McKechnie C 80 25 34 59 50−24331 Dennis Polonich C/RW 79 18 28 46 274−20611 Dennis Hextall LW 78 14 32 46 158−35501 Nick Libett LW 80 14 27 41 25−25310 Michel Bergeron ice hockey, born 1954 RW 74 21 12 33 98−40305 Bill Lochead LW 61 16 14 30 39−11403 Dan Maloney LW 34 13 13 26 643310 Buster Harvey RW 54 11 11 22 18−13231 J.P. LeBlanc Jean-Paul LeBlanc (ice hockey) C 74 7 11 18 40−16002 Jim Nahrgang D 53 5 11 16 34−12311 Al Cameron D 80 3 13 16 112−43100 Rick Wilson ice hockey D 77 3 13 16 56−20000 Rick Lapointe D 49 2 11 13 80−17100 Terry Harper D 52 4 8 12 28−23100 Danny Grant ice hockey RW 42 2 10 12 4−34000 Greg Joly D 53 1 11 12 14−22100 Jean Hamel D 71 1 10 11 63−18000 Mike Bloom Mike Bloom (ice hockey) LW 45 6 3 9 22−10000 Bobby Sheehan Bobby Sheehan (ice hockey) C 34 5 4 9 2−10000 Bob Ritchie ice hockey LW 17 6 2 8 10−13100 Fred Williams Fred Williams (ice hockey) C 44 2 5 7 10−17000 Terry Murray D 23 0 7 7 10−18000 Dave Kelly ice hockey, born 1952 RW 16 2 0 2 4−8001 Steve Coates RW 5 1 0 1 24−1000 Dwight Schofield D 3 1 0 1 20000 Ed Giacomin G 33 0 1 1 40000 Reed Larson D 14 0 1 1 23−2000 Jim Rutherford G 48 0 1 1 20000 Bryan Watson Bryan Watson (ice hockey) D 14 0 1 1 392000 Fred Berry Fred Berry (ice hockey) C 3 0 0 0 0−3000 Larry Giroux D 2 0 0 0 20000 Fern LeBlanc C 3 0 0 0 0−3000 Don Martineau RW 1 0 0 0 00000 Brian McCutcheon ice hockey LW 12 0 0 0 00000 Terry Richardson Terry Richardson (ice hockey) G 5 0 0 0 20000 Kevin Schamehorn RW 3 0 0 0 9−1000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO Ed Giacomin 1791 33 8 18 3 107 3.58 3 Jim Rutherford 2740 48 7 34 6 180 3.94 0 Terry Richardson Terry Richardson (ice hockey) 269 5 1 3 0 18 4.01 0 Team: 4800 80 16 55 9 305 3.81 3 hockey-reference.com 2009-06-02 1976-77 Detroit Red Wings Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/DET/1977.html 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 1976 NHL amateur draft held in Montreal. Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)14Fred Williams Canada Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)222Reed Larson United States University of Minnesota (WCHA)340Fred Berry Canada New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)458Kevin Schamehorn Canada New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)578Dwight Schofield United States London Knights (OMJHL)694Tony Horvath Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)7111Fern LeBlanc Canada Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)8120Claude Legris Canada Sorel Eperviers (QMJHL) See also 1976–77 NHL season References Category:Detroit Red Wings seasons Detroit Red Wings Detroit Red Wings Detroit Red Wings Red Wings Red Wings