# 1944–45 Detroit Red Wings season

The 1944–45 season was the Detroit Red Wings' 19th season of operation. The season saw the Wings achieve a record of 31–14–5, finishing second in the National Hockey League (NHL), qualifying the team for the playoffs. The coach and general manager was Jack Adams, with Flash Hollett serving as the team's captain.

## Regular season

Flash Hollett became the first defenceman to score twenty goals in one season. The record would stand until Bobby Orr broke it several decades later.

### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 38 | 8 | 4 | 228 | 121 | +107 | 80 |
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 31 | 14 | 5 | 218 | 161 | +57 | 67 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 24 | 22 | 4 | 183 | 161 | +22 | 52 |
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 50 | 16 | 30 | 4 | 179 | 219 | −40 | 36 |
| 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 13 | 30 | 7 | 141 | 194 | −53 | 33 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 50 | 11 | 29 | 10 | 154 | 247 | −93 | 32 |

### Record vs. opponents

1944–45 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 7–3 | 0–9–1 | 0–10 | 4–3–3 | 5–5 |
| Chicago | 5–5 | — | 5–5 | 0–8–2 | 7–1–2 | 5–4–1 |
| Detroit | 9–0–1 | 7–3 | — | 1–8–1 | 6–2–2 | 8–1–1 |
| Montreal | 10–0 | 7–1–2 | 8–1–1 | — | 9–1 | 4–5–1 |
| New York | 3–4–3 | 3–3–4 | 2–6–2 | 1–9 | — | 2–7–1 |
| Toronto | 5–5 | 6–3–1 | 1–8–1 | 5–4–1 | 7–2–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 29, 1944 | 7–1 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | W | November 2, 1944 | 10–3 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | L | November 4, 1944 | 2–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | L | November 5, 1944 | 2–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 2–2–0 |
| 5 | L | November 11, 1944 | 2–5 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 2–3–0 |
| 6 | W | November 12, 1944 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 3–3–0 |
| 7 | W | November 15, 1944 | 8–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 4–3–0 |
| 8 | T | November 18, 1944 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 4–3–1 |
| 9 | W | November 19, 1944 | 4–3 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 5–3–1 |
| 10 | T | November 23, 1944 | 3–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 5–3–2 |
| 11 | W | November 25, 1944 | 7–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 6–3–2 |
| 12 | L | November 26, 1944 | 5–6 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 6–4–2 |
| 13 | W | November 29, 1944 | 6–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 7–4–2 |
| 14 | W | December 7, 1944 | 3–2 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 8–4–2 |
| 15 | W | December 10, 1944 | 7–6 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 9–4–2 |
| 16 | T | December 16, 1944 | 1–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 9–4–3 |
| 17 | L | December 17, 1944 | 1–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 9–5–3 |
| 18 | W | December 19, 1944 | 6–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 10–5–3 |
| 19 | W | December 21, 1944 | 11–3 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 11–5–3 |
| 20 | W | December 23, 1944 | 5–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 12–5–3 |
| 21 | W | December 25, 1944 | 6–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 13–5–3 |
| 22 | L | December 28, 1944 | 1–9 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 13–6–3 |
| 23 | W | December 31, 1944 | 6–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 14–6–3 |
| 24 | W | January 1, 1945 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 15–6–3 |
| 25 | T | January 4, 1945 | 4–4 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 15–6–4 |
| EXHIBITION | T | January 5, 1945 | 0–0 | @ Curtis Bay, Coast Guard Cutters | |
| 26 | W | January 6, 1945 | 5–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 16–6–4 |
| 27 | W | January 7, 1945 | 8–4 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 17–6–4 |
| 28 | L | January 13, 1945 | 3–8 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 17–7–4 |
| 29 | W | January 14, 1945 | 3–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 18–7–4 |
| 30 | W | January 18, 1945 | 7–3 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 19–7–4 |
| 31 | L | January 21, 1945 | 3–6 | Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 19–8–4 |
| 32 | W | January 23, 1945 | 5–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 20–8–4 |
| 33 | W | January 27, 1945 | 5–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 21–8–4 |
| 34 | W | January 28, 1945 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 22–8–4 |
| 35 | L | February 3, 1945 | 2–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 22–9–4 |
| 36 | L | February 4, 1945 | 1–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 22–10–4 |
| 37 | L | February 10, 1945 | 2–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 22–11–4 |
| 38 | W | February 11, 1945 | 3–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 23–11–4 |
| 39 | W | February 14, 1945 | 4–2 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 24–11–4 |
| 40 | W | February 18, 1945 | 6–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 25–11–4 |
| 41 | L | February 22, 1945 | 3–5 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 25–12–4 |
| 42 | W | February 24, 1945 | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 26–12–4 |
| 43 | W | February 25, 1945 | 3–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 27–12–4 |
| 44 | W | March 4, 1945 | 10–4 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 28–12–4 |
| 45 | W | March 8, 1945 | 7–3 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 29–12–4 |
| 46 | L | March 11, 1945 | 2–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 29–13–4 |
| 47 | T | March 13, 1945 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 29–13–5 |
| 48 | W | March 15, 1945 | 2–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1944–45) | 30–13–5 |
| 49 | W | March 17, 1945 | 4–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 31–13–5 |
| 50 | L | March 18, 1945 | 3–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 31–14–5 |

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Joe Carveth | RW | 50 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 6 |
| Syd Howe | C/LW | 46 | 17 | 36 | 53 | 6 |
| Mud Bruneteau | RW | 43 | 23 | 24 | 47 | 6 |
| Flash Hollett | D | 50 | 20 | 21 | 41 | 39 |
| Steve Wojciechowski | RW | 49 | 19 | 20 | 39 | 17 |
| Murray Armstrong | C | 50 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 31 |
| Carl Liscombe | LW | 42 | 23 | 9 | 32 | 18 |
| Jud McAtee | LW | 44 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 6 |
| Eddie Bruneteau | RW | 42 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 6 |
| Ted Lindsay | LW | 45 | 17 | 6 | 23 | 43 |
| Bill Quackenbush | D | 50 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 10 |
| Don Grosso | LW/C | 20 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 6 |
| Earl Seibert | D | 25 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 10 |
| Harold Jackson | D | 50 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 45 |
| Tony Bukovich | LW/C | 14 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 6 |
| Butch McDonald | LW/C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Cully Simon | D | 21 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
| Lorrain Thibeault | LW | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hy Buller | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Connie Dion | G | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harry Lumley | G | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Reay | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Normie Smith | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Harry Lumley | 2220 | 37 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 119 | 3.22 | 1 |
| Connie Dion | 720 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 39 | 3.25 | 0 |
| Normie Smith | 60 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 3000 | 50 | 31 | 14 | 5 | 161 | 3.22 | 1 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Joe Carveth | RW | 14 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| Eddie Bruneteau | RW | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Flash Hollett | D | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Murray Armstrong | C | 14 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Carl Liscombe | LW | 14 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Mud Bruneteau | RW | 14 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Jud McAtee | LW | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Earl Seibert | D | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Ted Lindsay | LW | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Harold Jackson | D | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Bill Quackenbush | D | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Tony Bukovich | LW/C | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Fido Purpur | RW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Steve Wojciechowski | RW | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Gerry Couture | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Syd Howe | C/LW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Harry Lumley | G | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Harry Lumley | 871 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 | 2.14 | 2 |
| Team: | 871 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 | 2.14 | 2 |
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;