1920s
The roots of the Red Wings go all the way back to the old Western
Hockey League, where the Victoria (British Columbia) Cougars were
members until their roster was sold to a group from Detroit on
September 25, 1926. The Detroit group had been awarded an NHL franchise on May 15, 1926.
The team began to play as the Detroit Cougars in the fall of 1926 while
playing its home games in Windsor, Ontario. Despite the fact that the
Victoria Cougars had won the Stanley Cup in 1925 and were Cup finalists in 1926, the Detroit Cougars finished 12-28-4; the NHL's worst record for the 1926-27 season.
Not only did the team struggle on the ice, but it performed poorly on
the ledger sheet as well where the Cougars were more than $80,000 in
debt.
Help came, the following season, in the form of Jack Adams as the
team's coach and general manager. Adams had played in the old Pacific
Coast league and in the NHL with the Toronto St. Pats and the Ottawa
Senators. Adam's tenure as coach and GM would last until the 1962-63
season, when Sid Abel took over.
The team also moved into the brand new Olympia Stadium for the 1927-28 season. A Detroit and professional hockey landmark, the Olympia would serve as the home for the franchise through the midway point of the 1979-80 season. With Adams at the helm, the team made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history (1928-29). However, they were still among the NHL's have-nots and perpetually close to bankruptcy.
There are few traditions in sports that compare to those in the game of
hockey. One such tradition is the throwing of octopi onto the ice at
Red Wings games. Ever wonder how it started?
The octopus first made its appearance on April 15, 1952, during the Red Wings' Stanley Cup playoff run.
Two Detroit brothers, Pete and Jerry Cusimano - storeowner's in
Detroit's Eastern Market - threw the eight-legged cephalopod on the ice
at Olympia Stadium. Each tentacle of the octopus was symbolic of a win
in the playoffs. Back then, the NHL boasted only six teams, and eight
wins (two best-of-seven series) were needed to win the Stanley Cup. The
Red Wings swept the series that year, and the Octopus has come to be
the good luck charm ever since.
The tradition carried over to Joe Louis Arena on opening night in 1979 when several found their way onto the ice.
During the 1995 playoffs, Bob Dubisky and Larry Shotwell, co-workers at
a meat and seafood retail company near Detroit, tossed a 38-pound
octopus onto the ice during the National Anthem prior to Game 1 of the
Western Conference Finals. The year after, the duo struck again with a
50-pounder in the Conference Finals. Although the feat received no
airtime on the nationally broadcast game, the octopus was proudly
displayed on the hood of the Zamboni between periods.
N 43° 28.907 W 070° 28.837
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Congratulations to Marciapanek for the FTF..he is 2 for 2 on this series ... stay tuned