# 1956–57 Detroit Red Wings season

The 1956–1957 Detroit Red Wings were one of six teams in the 40th season of the National Hockey League. The team finished with a record of 38 wins, 20 losses, and 12 ties, giving the Red Wings the best record in the regular season and the Prince of Wales Trophy. Their record earned the Red Wings first seed in the 1957 Stanley Cup Semi-finals, where Detroit lost their playoff series with the Boston Bruins 4–1.
Gordie Howe led the NHL in both goals scored (44) and points overall (89), beating fellow Red Wing Ted Lindsay by four points. Howe also won the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy.

## Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 38 | 20 | 12 | 198 | 157 | +41 | 88 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 35 | 23 | 12 | 210 | 155 | +55 | 82 |
| 3 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 34 | 24 | 12 | 195 | 174 | +21 | 80 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | 70 | 26 | 30 | 14 | 184 | 227 | −43 | 66 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 21 | 34 | 15 | 174 | 192 | −18 | 57 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 16 | 39 | 15 | 169 | 225 | −56 | 47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1956–57 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 8–5–1 | 7–4–3 | 7–4–3 | 5–8–1 | 7–3–4 |
| Chicago | 5–8–1 | — | 2–10–2 | 3–8–3 | 1–7–6 | 5–6–3 |
| Detroit | 4–7–3 | 10–2–2 | — | 4–6–4 | 10–3–1 | 10–2–2 |
| Montreal | 4–7–3 | 8–3–3 | 6–4–4 | — | 8–5–1 | 9–4–1 |
| New York | 8–5–1 | 7–1–6 | 3–10–1 | 5–8–1 | — | 3–6–5 |
| Toronto | 3–7–4 | 6–5–3 | 2–10–2 | 4–9–1 | 6–3–5 | — |

## Game log

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 11, 1956 | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | W | October 13, 1956 | 4–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | W | October 14, 1956 | 2–1 | New York Rangers (1956–57) | 3–0–0 |
| 4 | T | October 18, 1956 | 3–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 3–0–1 |
| 5 | T | October 21, 1956 | 3–3 | Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 3–0–2 |
| 6 | W | October 25, 1956 | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 4–0–2 |
| 7 | W | October 28, 1956 | 4–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 5–0–2 |
| 8 | L | November 1, 1956 | 3–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 5–1–2 |
| 9 | W | November 3, 1956 | 2–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 6–1–2 |
| 10 | L | November 8, 1956 | 1–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 6–2–2 |
| 11 | W | November 10, 1956 | 6–4 | @ New York Rangers (1956–57) | 7–2–2 |
| 12 | W | November 11, 1956 | 3–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 8–2–2 |
| 13 | W | November 15, 1956 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 9–2–2 |
| 14 | L | November 17, 1956 | 2–6 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 9–3–2 |
| 15 | W | November 18, 1956 | 8–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 10–3–2 |
| 16 | T | November 22, 1956 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 10–3–3 |
| 17 | W | November 24, 1956 | 3–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 11–3–3 |
| 18 | T | November 25, 1956 | 3–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 11–3–4 |
| 19 | W | November 29, 1956 | 4–1 | New York Rangers (1956–57) | 12–3–4 |
| 20 | L | December 1, 1956 | 0–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 12–4–4 |
| 21 | W | December 2, 1956 | 1–0 | Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 13–4–4 |
| 22 | W | December 6, 1956 | 3–2 | Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 14–4–4 |
| 23 | L | December 8, 1956 | 3–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 14–5–4 |
| 24 | L | December 9, 1956 | 2–4 | @ New York Rangers (1956–57) | 14–6–4 |
| 25 | W | December 13, 1956 | 2–1 | New York Rangers (1956–57) | 15–6–4 |
| 26 | W | December 15, 1956 | 5–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 16–6–4 |
| 27 | L | December 16, 1956 | 1–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 16–7–4 |
| 28 | T | December 20, 1956 | 1–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 16–7–5 |
| 29 | T | December 22, 1956 | 1–1 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 16–7–6 |
| 30 | T | December 23, 1956 | 3–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 16–7–7 |
| 31 | W | December 25, 1956 | 8–1 | New York Rangers (1956–57) | 17–7–7 |
| 32 | W | December 27, 1956 | 5–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 18–7–7 |
| 33 | L | December 30, 1956 | 2–4 | Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 18–8–7 |
| 34 | W | December 31, 1956 | 1–0 | @ New York Rangers (1956–57) | 19–8–7 |
| 35 | W | January 2, 1957 | 2–0 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 20–8–7 |
| 36 | L | January 5, 1957 | 0–1 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 20–9–7 |
| 37 | W | January 6, 1957 | 2–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 21–9–7 |
| 38 | L | January 10, 1957 | 1–2 | Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 21–10–7 |
| 39 | L | January 12, 1957 | 4–5 | New York Rangers (1956–57) | 21–11–7 |
| 40 | W | January 13, 1957 | 3–2 | @ New York Rangers (1956–57) | 22–11–7 |
| 41 | T | January 17, 1957 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 22–11–8 |
| 42 | W | January 19, 1957 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 23–11–8 |
| 43 | W | January 20, 1957 | 5–2 | New York Rangers (1956–57) | 24–11–8 |
| 44 | W | January 24, 1957 | 6–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 25–11–8 |
| 45 | W | January 26, 1957 | 4–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 26–11–8 |
| 46 | W | January 27, 1957 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 27–11–8 |
| 47 | L | January 31, 1957 | 3–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 27–12–8 |
| 48 | W | February 2, 1957 | 5–4 | @ New York Rangers (1956–57) | 28–12–8 |
| 49 | T | February 3, 1957 | 3–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 28–12–9 |
| 50 | L | February 7, 1957 | 0–1 | Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 28–13–9 |
| 51 | W | February 9, 1957 | 3–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 29–13–9 |
| 52 | T | February 10, 1957 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 29–13–10 |
| 53 | W | February 14, 1957 | 3–2 | New York Rangers (1956–57) | 30–13–10 |
| 54 | W | February 16, 1957 | 3–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 31–13–10 |
| 55 | W | February 17, 1957 | 6–2 | Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 32–13–10 |
| 56 | T | February 21, 1957 | 3–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 32–13–11 |
| 57 | L | February 23, 1957 | 3–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 32–14–11 |
| 58 | L | February 24, 1957 | 1–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 32–15–11 |
| 59 | L | February 28, 1957 | 0–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 32–16–11 |
| 60 | L | March 2, 1957 | 1–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 32–17–11 |
| 61 | T | March 3, 1957 | 1–1 | @ New York Rangers (1956–57) | 32–17–12 |
| 62 | W | March 7, 1957 | 4–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 33–17–12 |
| 63 | L | March 9, 1957 | 2–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 33–18–12 |
| 64 | L | March 10, 1957 | 1–4 | @ New York Rangers (1956–57) | 33–19–12 |
| 65 | W | March 12, 1957 | 4–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 34–19–12 |
| 66 | W | March 14, 1957 | 3–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1956–57) | 35–19–12 |
| 67 | W | March 17, 1957 | 2–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1956–57) | 36–19–12 |
| 68 | L | March 21, 1957 | 0–2 | Boston Bruins (1956–57) | 36–20–12 |
| 69 | W | March 23, 1957 | 5–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 37–20–12 |
| 70 | W | March 24, 1957 | 4–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1956–57) | 38–20–12 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Gordie Howe | RW | 70 | 44 | 45 | 89 | 72 |
| Ted Lindsay | LW | 70 | 30 | 55 | 85 | 103 |
| Norm Ullman | C | 64 | 16 | 36 | 52 | 47 |
| Alex Delvecchio | C/LW | 48 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 8 |
| Dutch Reibel | C | 70 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 6 |
| Red Kelly | D/C | 70 | 10 | 25 | 35 | 18 |
| Billy Dea | LW | 69 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 14 |
| Lorne Ferguson | LW | 70 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 26 |
| Metro Prystai | C | 70 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 16 |
| John Bucyk | LW | 66 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 41 |
| Marcel Pronovost | D | 70 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 38 |
| Marty Pavelich | LW | 64 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 48 |
| Billy McNeill | RW | 64 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 34 |
| Bill Dineen | RW | 51 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 12 |
| Warren Godfrey | D | 69 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 103 |
| Al Arbour | D | 44 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 38 |
| Larry Hillman | D | 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Gord Hollingworth | D | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| Dale Anderson | D | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Murray Costello | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Glenn Hall | G | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Tom McCarthy | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gord Strate | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Glenn Hall | 4200 | 70 | 38 | 20 | 12 | 155 | 2.21 | 4 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 38 | 20 | 12 | 155 | 2.21 | 4 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Gordie Howe | RW | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Ted Lindsay | LW | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Alex Delvecchio | C/LW | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Billy Dea | LW | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Metro Prystai | C | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Norm Ullman | C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Bob Bailey | RW | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Dutch Reibel | C | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Lorne Ferguson | LW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Red Kelly | D/C | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| John Bucyk | LW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Dale Anderson | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Arbour | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Bill Dineen | RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Warren Godfrey | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Glenn Hall | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Marty Pavelich | LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Marcel Pronovost | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Glenn Hall | 300 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 3.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 300 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 3.00 | 0 |
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;