# 1978–79 Detroit Red Wings season

The 1978–79 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 47th season and 53rd overall for the franchise. It is the last full season at the Detroit Olympia for the team. A year later, they would move to the newly built Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings did not qualify for the playoffs despite qualifying the previous year.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Norris Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 52 | 17 | 11 | 337 | 204 | 115 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | 281 | 279 | 85 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 34 | 34 | 12 | 292 | 286 | 80 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 24 | 41 | 15 | 273 | 338 | 63 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 23 | 41 | 16 | 252 | 295 | 62 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

Norris Division record vs. opponents :
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Norris Division
1978–79 NHL records
Team
DET
LAK
MTL
PIT
WSH
Total
Detroit
—1–5–22–4–23–53–2–39–16–7
Los Angeles
5–1–2—3–3–23–4–13–4–114–12–6
Montreal
4–2–23–3–2—5–2–17–0–119–7–6
Pittsburgh
5–34–3–12–5–1—4–3–115–14–3
Washington
2–3–34–3–10–7–13–4–1—9–17–6
Vs. Adams Division
1978–79 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
MIN
TOR
Total
Detroit
1–31–31–2–12–25–10–1
Los Angeles
3–11–2–13–10–47–8–1
Montreal
2–0–24–03–13–0–112–1–3
Pittsburgh
2–1–12–0–23–11–38–5–3
Washington
0–3–10–3–12–21–1–23–9–4
Vs. Patrick Division
1978–79 NHL records
Team
ATL
NYI
NYR
PHI
Total
Detroit
0–3–10–3–11–1–20–2–21–9–6
Los Angeles
2–20–2–21–30–43–11–2
Montreal
3–11–31–33–0–18–7–1
Pittsburgh
0–3–10–1–32–21–33–9–4
Washington
1–2–11–31–1–20–3–13–9–4
Vs. Smythe Division
1978–79 NHL records
Team
CHI
COL
STL
VAN
Total
Detroit
3–0–13–0–11–31–38–6–2
Los Angeles
3–12–0–22–1–13–110–3–3
Montreal
2–24–04–03–0–113–2–1
Pittsburgh
2–0–23–12–1–13–110–3–3
Washington
1–2–13–12–23–19–6–1 :

## Schedule and results

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 11, 1978 | 4–5 | St. Louis Blues (1978–79) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | L | October 14, 1978 | 1–3 | Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) | 0–2–0 |
| 3 | W | October 15, 1978 | 3–2 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) | 1–2–0 |
| 4 | T | October 18, 1978 | 3–3 | @ New York Rangers (1978–79) | 1–2–1 |
| 5 | T | October 19, 1978 | 2–2 | New York Rangers (1978–79) | 1–2–2 |
| 6 | T | October 21, 1978 | 4–4 | Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) | 1–2–3 |
| 7 | W | October 25, 1978 | 5–4 | Colorado Rockies (1978–79) | 2–2–3 |
| 8 | W | October 27, 1978 | 5–2 | @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) | 3–2–3 |
| 9 | W | October 28, 1978 | 7–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) | 4–2–3 |
| 10 | L | November 1, 1978 | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) | 4–3–3 |
| 11 | L | November 4, 1978 | 3–7 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) | 4–4–3 |
| 12 | T | November 5, 1978 | 3–3 | @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) | 4–4–4 |
| 13 | L | November 8, 1978 | 4–6 | Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) | 4–5–4 |
| 14 | L | November 9, 1978 | 3–8 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) | 4–6–4 |
| 15 | W | November 11, 1978 | 7–1 | Boston Bruins (1978–79) | 5–6–4 |
| 16 | L | November 15, 1978 | 3–5 | @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) | 5–7–4 |
| 17 | L | November 18, 1978 | 1–3 | Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) | 5–8–4 |
| 18 | L | November 19, 1978 | 3–4 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) | 5–9–4 |
| 19 | T | November 22, 1978 | 3–3 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) | 5–9–5 |
| 20 | L | November 25, 1978 | 0–4 | @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) | 5–10–5 |
| 21 | W | November 26, 1978 | 4–2 | Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) | 6–10–5 |
| 22 | T | November 29, 1978 | 2–2 | @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) | 6–10–6 |
| 23 | L | December 1, 1978 | 1–2 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) | 6–11–6 |
| 24 | L | December 2, 1978 | 2–5 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) | 6–12–6 |
| 25 | T | December 6, 1978 | 2–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) | 6–12–7 |
| 26 | L | December 7, 1978 | 5–6 | @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) | 6–13–7 |
| 27 | W | December 9, 1978 | 5–4 | New York Rangers (1978–79) | 7–13–7 |
| 28 | T | December 10, 1978 | 3–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) | 7–13–8 |
| 29 | T | December 13, 1978 | 5–5 | Atlanta Flames (1978–79) | 7–13–9 |
| 30 | L | December 14, 1978 | 1–4 | @ New York Islanders (1978–79) | 7–14–9 |
| 31 | L | December 16, 1978 | 2–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) | 7–15–9 |
| 32 | L | December 17, 1978 | 0–3 | New York Islanders (1978–79) | 7–16–9 |
| 33 | W | December 20, 1978 | 7–2 | Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) | 8–16–9 |
| 34 | L | December 22, 1978 | 2–4 | @ New York Rangers (1978–79) | 8–17–9 |
| 35 | T | December 23, 1978 | 2–2 | Washington Capitals (1978–79) | 8–17–10 |
| 36 | T | December 26, 1978 | 2–2 | Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) | 8–17–11 |
| 37 | L | December 27, 1978 | 2–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) | 8–18–11 |
| 38 | L | December 30, 1978 | 1–3 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) | 8–19–11 |
| 39 | L | December 31, 1978 | 4–5 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) | 8–20–11 |
| 40 | L | January 6, 1979 | 1–4 | Washington Capitals (1978–79) | 8–21–11 |
| 41 | L | January 7, 1979 | 3–4 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) | 8–22–11 |
| 42 | T | January 10, 1979 | 5–5 | New York Islanders (1978–79) | 8–22–12 |
| 43 | T | January 11, 1979 | 3–3 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) | 8–22–13 |
| 44 | L | January 13, 1979 | 3–7 | Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) | 8–23–13 |
| 45 | W | January 17, 1979 | 4–1 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) | 9–23–13 |
| 46 | L | January 19, 1979 | 1–5 | @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) | 9–24–13 |
| 47 | L | January 20, 1979 | 3–4 | Atlanta Flames (1978–79) | 9–25–13 |
| 48 | T | January 25, 1979 | 6–6 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) | 9–25–14 |
| 49 | L | January 27, 1979 | 3–6 | Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) | 9–26–14 |
| 50 | L | January 28, 1979 | 2–7 | @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) | 9–27–14 |
| 51 | W | January 30, 1979 | 7–4 | Washington Capitals (1978–79) | 10–27–14 |
| 52 | L | February 1, 1979 | 1–6 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) | 10–28–14 |
| 53 | L | February 3, 1979 | 2–4 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) | 10–29–14 |
| 54 | W | February 4, 1979 | 8–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) | 11–29–14 |
| 55 | L | February 14, 1979 | 2–3 | Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) | 11–30–14 |
| 56 | W | February 18, 1979 | 6–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) | 12–30–14 |
| 57 | L | February 19, 1979 | 2–6 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) | 12–31–14 |
| 58 | W | February 21, 1979 | 4–3 | @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) | 13–31–14 |
| 59 | L | February 24, 1979 | 1–3 | @ New York Islanders (1978–79) | 13–32–14 |
| 60 | W | February 25, 1979 | 8–1 | Colorado Rockies (1978–79) | 14–32–14 |
| 61 | L | February 28, 1979 | 5–6 | St. Louis Blues (1978–79) | 14–33–14 |
| 62 | W | March 3, 1979 | 5–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) | 15–33–14 |
| 63 | L | March 4, 1979 | 4–6 | Boston Bruins (1978–79) | 15–34–14 |
| 64 | L | March 7, 1979 | 1–5 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) | 15–35–14 |
| 65 | T | March 11, 1979 | 3–3 | Washington Capitals (1978–79) | 15–35–15 |
| 66 | T | March 12, 1979 | 3–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) | 15–35–16 |
| 67 | W | March 14, 1979 | 4–1 | @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) | 16–35–16 |
| 68 | W | March 17, 1979 | 3–1 | @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) | 17–35–16 |
| 69 | W | March 18, 1979 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) | 18–35–16 |
| 70 | W | March 20, 1979 | 5–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) | 19–35–16 |
| 71 | W | March 21, 1979 | 4–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) | 20–35–16 |
| 72 | L | March 24, 1979 | 2–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) | 20–36–16 |
| 73 | W | March 25, 1979 | 2–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) | 21–36–16 |
| 74 | L | March 27, 1979 | 2–5 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) | 21–37–16 |
| 75 | L | March 28, 1979 | 1–8 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) | 21–38–16 |
| 76 | L | March 31, 1979 | 4–5 | Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) | 21–39–16 |
| 77 | W | April 1, 1979 | 3–1 | Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) | 22–39–16 |
| 78 | L | April 4, 1979 | 1–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) | 22–40–16 |
| 79 | L | April 7, 1979 | 3–4 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) | 22–41–16 |
| 80 | W | April 8, 1979 | 1–0 | Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) | 23–41–16 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Vaclav Nedomansky | RW | 80 | 38 | 35 | 73 | 19 | -13 | 13 | 0 | 2 |
| Dale McCourt | C | 79 | 28 | 43 | 71 | 14 | -27 | 14 | 2 | 3 |
| Reed Larson | D | 79 | 18 | 49 | 67 | 169 | -20 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| Errol Thompson | LW | 70 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 26 | -28 | 8 | 0 | 3 |
| Andre St. Laurent | C | 76 | 18 | 31 | 49 | 124 | -31 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Dan Labraaten | LW | 78 | 19 | 19 | 38 | 8 | -17 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Paul Woods | LW | 80 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 59 | -26 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Nick Libett | LW | 68 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Willie Huber | D | 68 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 114 | -25 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Dan Bolduc | LW | 56 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 14 | -9 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Perry Miller | D | 75 | 5 | 23 | 28 | 156 | -13 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Thommie Bergman | D | 68 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 64 | -25 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Dennis Polonich | C/RW | 62 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 208 | -10 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Roland Cloutier | C | 19 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dennis Hextall | LW | 20 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 33 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Fern LeBlanc | C | 29 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Lochead | LW | 40 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 20 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Carroll | C | 36 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 8 | -6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Hogaboam | C | 18 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J.P. LeBlanc | C | 24 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jean Hamel | D | 52 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 72 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Harper | D | 51 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 58 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Joly | D | 20 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Cameron | D | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Hilworth | D | 37 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 66 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rob Plumb | LW | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lorry Gloeckner | D | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Rutherford | G | 32 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Taft | D | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rogie Vachon | G | 50 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mal Davis | LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Hanson | D | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brent Peterson | C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Short | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bjorn Skaare | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Jim Rutherford | 1892 | 32 | 13 | 14 | 5 | 103 | 3.27 | 1 |
| Rogie Vachon | 2908 | 50 | 10 | 27 | 11 | 189 | 3.90 | 0 |
| Team: | 4800 | 80 | 23 | 41 | 16 | 292 | 3.65 | 1 |
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 1978 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Ladislav Svozil was the first Czechoslovakian player drafted in the history of the NHL Draft. The Red Wings selected Svozil with their 14th pick in the 1978 Draft.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 9 | Willie Huber | Canada | Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL) |
| 1 | 12 | Brent Peterson | Canada | Portland Winterhawks (WCHL) |
| 2 | 28 | Glenn Hicks | Canada | Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL) |
| 2 | 31 | Al Jensen | Canada | Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL) |
| 3 | 53 | Doug Derkson | Canada | New Westminster Bruins (WCHL) |
| 4 | 62 | Bjorn Skaare | Norway | Ottawa 67's (OMJHL) |
| 5 | 78 | Ted Nolan | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL) |
| 6 | 95 | Sylvain Locas | Canada | Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 112 | Wes George | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) |
| 8 | 129 | John Barrett | Canada | Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL) |
| 9 | 146 | Jim Malazdrewicz | Canada | St. Boniface Saints (MJHL) |
| 10 | 163 | Geoff Shaw | Canada | Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL) |
| 11 | 178 | Carl Van Harrewyn | Canada | New Westminster Bruins (WCHL) |
| 12 | 194 | Ladislav Svozil | Czechoslovakia | HC Vitkovice (Czechoslovakia) |
| 13 | 208 | Tom Bailey | Canada | Kingston Canadians (OMJHL) |
| 14 | 219 | Larry Lozinski | Canada | Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL) |
| 15 | 224 | Randy Betty | Canada | New Westminster Bruins (WCHL) |
| 16 | 226 | Brian Crawley | Canada | St. Lawrence University (ECAC) |
| 17 | 228 | Doug Feasby | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL) |