# 1961–62 Detroit Red Wings season

The 1961–62 NHL season was the 36th season for the Detroit Red Wings.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 42 | 14 | 14 | 259 | 166 | +93 | 98 |
| 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 37 | 22 | 11 | 232 | 180 | +52 | 85 |
| 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 31 | 26 | 13 | 217 | 186 | +31 | 75 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | 70 | 26 | 32 | 12 | 195 | 207 | −12 | 64 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 23 | 33 | 14 | 184 | 219 | −35 | 60 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 15 | 47 | 8 | 177 | 306 | −129 | 38 |

### Record vs. opponents

1961–62 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 2–10–2 | 4–8–2 | 3–10–1 | 2–10–2 | 4–9–1 |
| Chicago | 10–2–2 | — | 7–3–4 | 3–9–2 | 7–6–1 | 4–6–4 |
| Detroit | 8–4–2 | 3–7–4 | — | 3–8–3 | 6–5–3 | 3–9–2 |
| Montreal | 10–3–1 | 9–3–2 | 8–3–3 | — | 8–1–5 | 7–4–3 |
| New York | 10–2–2 | 6–7–1 | 5–6–3 | 1–8–5 | — | 4–9–1 |
| Toronto | 9–4–1 | 6–4–4 | 9–3–2 | 4–7–3 | 9–4–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 12, 1961 | 2–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | T | October 14, 1961 | 3–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 0–1–1 |
| 3 | T | October 15, 1961 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 0–1–2 |
| 4 | W | October 19, 1961 | 7–3 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 1–1–2 |
| 5 | T | October 21, 1961 | 4–4 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 1–1–3 |
| 6 | W | October 22, 1961 | 5–4 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 2–1–3 |
| 7 | L | October 26, 1961 | 0–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 2–2–3 |
| 8 | L | October 28, 1961 | 5–7 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 2–3–3 |
| 9 | L | October 29, 1961 | 3–6 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 2–4–3 |
| 10 | W | November 2, 1961 | 1–0 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 3–4–3 |
| 11 | L | November 5, 1961 | 2–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 3–5–3 |
| 12 | W | November 9, 1961 | 2–1 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 4–5–3 |
| 13 | L | November 11, 1961 | 1–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 4–6–3 |
| 14 | W | November 12, 1961 | 3–0 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 5–6–3 |
| 15 | L | November 15, 1961 | 0–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 5–7–3 |
| 16 | L | November 18, 1961 | 1–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 5–8–3 |
| 17 | W | November 19, 1961 | 6–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 6–8–3 |
| 18 | L | November 22, 1961 | 0–4 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 6–9–3 |
| 19 | L | November 23, 1961 | 3–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 6–10–3 |
| 20 | L | November 26, 1961 | 1–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 6–11–3 |
| 21 | W | November 30, 1961 | 3–1 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 7–11–3 |
| 22 | L | December 2, 1961 | 2–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 7–12–3 |
| 23 | W | December 3, 1961 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 8–12–3 |
| 24 | T | December 7, 1961 | 3–3 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 8–12–4 |
| 25 | W | December 9, 1961 | 3–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 9–12–4 |
| 26 | W | December 10, 1961 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 10–12–4 |
| 27 | W | December 14, 1961 | 5–0 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 11–12–4 |
| 28 | W | December 17, 1961 | 3–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 12–12–4 |
| 29 | L | December 20, 1961 | 1–6 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 12–13–4 |
| 30 | L | December 21, 1961 | 2–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 12–14–4 |
| 31 | L | December 23, 1961 | 1–6 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 12–15–4 |
| 32 | L | December 25, 1961 | 4–6 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 12–16–4 |
| 33 | T | December 28, 1961 | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 12–16–5 |
| 34 | L | December 30, 1961 | 4–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 12–17–5 |
| 35 | W | December 31, 1961 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 13–17–5 |
| 36 | T | January 4, 1962 | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 13–17–6 |
| 37 | W | January 6, 1962 | 6–2 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 14–17–6 |
| 38 | T | January 7, 1962 | 2–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 14–17–7 |
| 39 | L | January 13, 1962 | 3–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 14–18–7 |
| 40 | W | January 14, 1962 | 2–1 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 15–18–7 |
| 41 | L | January 18, 1962 | 3–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 15–19–7 |
| 42 | T | January 20, 1962 | 2–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 15–19–8 |
| 43 | L | January 21, 1962 | 3–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 15–20–8 |
| 44 | W | January 24, 1962 | 3–0 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 16–20–8 |
| 45 | L | January 27, 1962 | 2–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 16–21–8 |
| 46 | T | January 28, 1962 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 16–21–9 |
| 47 | L | January 31, 1962 | 1–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 16–22–9 |
| 48 | L | February 1, 1962 | 4–7 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 16–23–9 |
| 49 | L | February 3, 1962 | 1–8 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 16–24–9 |
| 50 | W | February 4, 1962 | 6–0 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 17–24–9 |
| 51 | T | February 7, 1962 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 17–24–10 |
| 52 | T | February 10, 1962 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 17–24–11 |
| 53 | W | February 11, 1962 | 5–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 18–24–11 |
| 54 | W | February 15, 1962 | 4–3 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 19–24–11 |
| 55 | W | February 18, 1962 | 4–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 20–24–11 |
| 56 | L | February 21, 1962 | 4–6 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 20–25–11 |
| 57 | L | February 24, 1962 | 1–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 20–26–11 |
| 58 | L | February 25, 1962 | 2–8 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 20–27–11 |
| 59 | T | March 3, 1962 | 2–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 20–27–12 |
| 60 | W | March 4, 1962 | 4–2 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 21–27–12 |
| 61 | L | March 6, 1962 | 4–5 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 21–28–12 |
| 62 | W | March 8, 1962 | 3–0 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 22–28–12 |
| 63 | L | March 10, 1962 | 0–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 22–29–12 |
| 64 | T | March 11, 1962 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 22–29–13 |
| 65 | L | March 14, 1962 | 2–3 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 22–30–13 |
| 66 | L | March 15, 1962 | 0–4 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 22–31–13 |
| 67 | W | March 18, 1962 | 4–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 23–31–13 |
| 68 | L | March 20, 1962 | 0–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 23–32–13 |
| 69 | T | March 24, 1962 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 23–32–14 |
| 70 | L | March 25, 1962 | 2–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 23–33–14 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Gordie Howe | RW | 70 | 33 | 44 | 77 | 54 |
| Alex Delvecchio | C/LW | 70 | 26 | 43 | 69 | 18 |
| Norm Ullman | C | 70 | 26 | 38 | 64 | 54 |
| Vic Stasiuk | LW | 59 | 15 | 28 | 43 | 45 |
| Bill Gadsby | D | 70 | 7 | 30 | 37 | 88 |
| Ed Litzenberger | C/RW | 32 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 4 |
| Claude Laforge | LW | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 20 |
| Bruce MacGregor | C | 65 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 16 |
| Marcel Pronovost | D | 70 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 38 |
| Warren Godfrey | D | 69 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 84 |
| Howie Glover | RW | 39 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 44 |
| Parker MacDonald | C | 32 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 8 |
| Marc Boileau | C | 54 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 8 |
| Allan Johnson | RW/C | 31 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 14 |
| Len Lunde | C | 23 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 4 |
| Val Fonteyne | LW | 70 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4 |
| Pete Goegan | D | 39 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 24 |
| Larry Jeffrey | LW | 18 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 20 |
| Leo Labine | RW | 48 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 30 |
| Gerry Odrowski | D | 69 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 24 |
| Howie Young | D/RW | 30 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 67 |
| Chuck Holmes | RW | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Forbes Kennedy | C | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Pit Martin | C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Noel Price | D | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Hank Bassen | G | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Bob Dillabough | C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jack Hendrickson | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Lowell MacDonald | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Wayne Rivers | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Sawchuk | G | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Terry Sawchuk | 2580 | 43 | 14 | 21 | 8 | 141 | 3.28 | 5 |
| Hank Bassen | 1620 | 27 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 75 | 2.78 | 3 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 23 | 33 | 14 | 216 | 3.09 | 8 |
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;