page_title: History of the Detroit Red Wings
section_title: 1940s
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Detroit Red Wings / Original Six era (1942–1967) / 1940s
caption_attribution_description: Gordie Howe
context_page_description: The history of the Detroit Red Wings begins in 1926, when the franchise began play in the National Hockey League. The professional ice hockey club was founded as the Detroit Cougars on September 25, 1926, one of three teams to join the NHL in 1926. With the demise of the Western Canada Hockey League, the rights to the players of the Victoria Cougars were purchased by a Detroit group led by Charles A. Hughes who kept the name "Cougars" for their NHL club. The new team struggled financially; in 1930, the Cougars changed their name to the Detroit Falcons, and after being bought out of receivership by James E. Norris were renamed as the Detroit Red Wings in 1932. The team played their first game on November 18, 1926, and won their first two Stanley Cup titles in 1936 and 1937. The Red Wings have won the Cup eleven times, more than any other American team in NHL history.
  The franchise played their first season's home games in Windsor, Ontario at the Border Cities Arena. The Detroit Olympia opened in 1927 and served as the team's home arena until the midpoint of the 1979–80 season when the Wings moved into Joe Louis Arena.
context_section_description: They made the Stanley Cup Finals in three consecutive years during the early 1940s. In 1941 they were swept by the Boston Bruins, in 1942 they lost a seven-game series against Toronto in the finals after winning the first three games, but in 1943, with Syd Howe and Mud Bruneteau scoring 20 goals apiece, Detroit won their third Cup by sweeping the Bruins. They remained a solid team through the rest of the decade, making the playoffs every year, and reaching the finals three more times.
  In 1946, one of the greatest players in hockey history came into the NHL with the Red Wings. Gordie Howe, a right-winger from Floral, Saskatchewan, only scored seven goals and 15 assists in his first season and would not reach his prime for a few more years. It was also the last season as head coach for Adams, who stepped down after the season to concentrate on his duties as general manager. He was succeeded by minor league coach Tommy Ivan.
  By his second season, Howe was paired with Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay to form what would become one of the great lines in NHL history—the "Production Line". Lindsay's 33 goals propelled the Wings to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they were swept by the Maple Leafs. Detroit reached the Finals again the following season, only to be swept again by Toronto.
caption: Gordie Howe made his debut with the Red Wings in the  1946–47 season.
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