2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season

The 2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season saw the Detroit Red Wings attempt to defend their Stanley Cup title, but they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 7 games in the Stanley Cup Finals, the team they defeated in the finals the previous season. They were also unable to win the Presidents' Trophy for a second consecutive season. It was the 82nd season for the franchise (76th as the Detroit Red Wings). They did win the Clarence Campbell trophy in the western conference finals against the Chicago Blackhawks though a few days before the Stanley Cup finals.
==Offseason==
June 9: Dominik Hasek announced his retirement from the NHL. 
June 10: Detroit signed head coach Mike Babcock to three-year contract extension.
June 11: Assistant coach, Todd McLellan signed with the San Jose Sharks as their new head coach.
June 30: The Detroit Red Wings re-signed defenseman Andreas Lilja to a two-year contract. 
July 1: Brad Stuart re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings. It is a four-year deal worth $3.75 million per season, and a no-trade clause for the first two. 
July 2: Marian Hossa Signs 1 year $7.45M Contract
July 15: Dallas Drake announced his retirement from the NHL. 
July 23: Ryan Oulahen re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings with a one-year deal. 
July 30: Valtteri Filppula re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings. It is a $15 million, five-year deal. 
==Regular season==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
===Game log===
2008–09 Game Log	2008–09 Game Log	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Preseason: 6–1–2 (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 3–0–1)
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record
1 	September 24 	Montreal	3 – 2	Detroit 	SO	Howard 	15,319 	0–0–1
2 	September 25 	Detroit 	4 – 3	Boston 	 	Larsson 	 	1–0–1
3 	September 26 	Boston 	2 – 1	Detroit 	 	Conklin 	15,266 	1–1–1
4 	September 28 	Atlanta 	0 – 4	Detroit 	 	Osgood 	17,714 	2–1–1
5 	September 30 	Detroit 	1 – 2	Montreal	SO	Howard 	21,273 	2–1–2
6 	October 1 	Detroit 	4 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Osgood 	10,817 	3–1–2
7 	October 3 	Toronto 	3 – 5	Detroit 	 	Conklin 	17,913 	4–1–2
8 	October 4 	Detroit 	4 – 3	Toronto 	 	Osgood 	18,878 	5–1–2
9 	October 5 	Buffalo 	0 – 3	Detroit 	 	Conklin 	15,983 	6–1–2
==Playoffs==
Detroit has not missed the post-season since 1989–90. The 2008–09 season is their 18th consecutive playoff season.
2009 Stanley Cup playoffs	2009 Stanley Cup playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Western Conference quarter-final vs. (7) Columbus Blue Jackets: Detroit won series 4–0
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1 	April 16 	Columbus	1 – 4	Detroit 	 	Osgood 	20,066 	1–0
2 	April 18 	Columbus	0 – 4	Detroit 	 	Osgood 	20,066 	2–0
3 	April 21 	Detroit 	4 – 1	Columbus	 	Osgood 	19,219 	3–0
4 	April 23 	Detroit 	6 – 5	Columbus	 	Osgood 	19,219 	4–0
During the finals, Coach Mike Babcock joined Mike Keenan as the only coaches in NHL history to coach in Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals on two different teams, having been with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2003. When the Red Wings lost Game 7, Babcock had the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first coach in NHL history to lose a Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals on two different teams, as his Ducks lost to the New Jersey Devils in 2003.
==Player stats==
===Skaters===
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	+/−	PIM
 	81	32	65	97 	+34	22
 	77	31	42	73 	+13	36
 	74	40	31	71 	+27	63
 	78	16	43	59 	+31	30
 	78	10	49	59 	+17	20
 	71	34	25	59 	+21	44
 	82	23	34	57 	+7 	16
 	80	6 	45	51 	+2 	50
 	74	14	26	40 	0 	46
 	81	19	21	40 	0 	50
 	80	12	28	40 	+9 	42
 	53	14	23	37 	+18	38
 	79	6 	13	19 	-7 	46
 	79	7 	10	17 	-13	40
 	65	6 	10	16 	+9 	48
 	67	2 	13	15 	-3 	26
 	60	2 	11	13 	+13	66
 	78	5 	6 	11 	-9 	28
 	13	5 	4 	9 	+5 	6
 	41	2 	5 	7 	-12	12
 	19	1 	3 	4 	-1 	15
 	4 	1 	1 	2 	0 	7
 	13	1 	0 	1 	-2 	25
 	16	0 	1 	1 	-7 	4
 	28	0 	0 	0 	+1 	18
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	+/−	PIM
 	23	11	13	24 	+13	13
 	23	12	11	23 	+8 	12
 	21	4 	12	16 	+11	6
 	23	3 	13	16 	+8 	8
 	23	9 	6 	15 	+17	12
 	23	6 	9 	15 	+5 	10
 	18	3 	9 	12 	+11	11
 	23	4 	8 	12 	+4 	6
 	23	5 	5 	10 	+7 	6
 	23	3 	6 	9 	+5 	12
 	16	1 	8 	9 	+5 	9
 	23	2 	7 	9 	+4 	33
 	22	4 	4 	8 	+9 	25
 	23	2 	5 	7 	-2 	22
 	23	0 	6 	6 	+8 	22
 	23	4 	1 	5 	+1 	4
 	10	2 	1 	3 	+2 	0
 	7 	0 	2 	2 	+2 	0
 	8 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0
 	20	0 	1 	1 	-1 	2
 	8 	0 	1 	1 	0 	7
 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0 	2
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
===Goaltenders===
Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	GP	TOI 	W 	L 	OT	GA 	GAA 	SA 	SV 	Sv% 	SO
 	46	2662	26	9 	8 	137	3.09	1208	1071	.887	2
 	40	2246	25	11	2 	94 	2.51	1033	939 	.909	6
 	1 	58 	0 	1 	0 	4 	4.10	28 	24 	.857	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	GP	TOI 	W 	L	GA	GAA 	SA 	SV 	Sv% 	SO
 	23	1,405	15	8	47	2.01	637	590	.926 	2
 	1 	19 	0 	0	0 	0.00	9 	9 	1.000	0
==Awards and records==
===Milestones===
Regular Season 	Regular Season 	Regular Season 	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season
Team member 	Milestone 	Reached 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Andreas Lilja 	400th NHL game 	October 11, 2008 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Brett Lebda 	200th NHL game 	October 11, 2008 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Marian Hossa 	300th NHL goal 	October 18, 2008 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Ken Holland 	500th win as General Manager 	October 27, 2008 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Niklas Kronwall 	200th NHL game 	November 26, 2008	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Brad Stuart 	600th NHL game 	November 28, 2008	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Pavel Datsyuk 	300th NHL assist 	November 28, 2008	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Johan Franzen 	100th NHL point 	December 1, 2008 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Derek Meech 	1st NHL goal 	December 4, 2008 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Jiri Hudler 	200th NHL game 	December 10, 2008	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Mike Babcock 	250th Win as coach 	December 10, 2008	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Jiri Hudler 	100th NHL point 	January 1, 2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Chris Chelios 	NHL record for most regular season career wins (880)	January 7, 2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Valtteri Filppula	200th NHL game 	January 17, 2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Brian Rafalski 	400th NHL point 	January 17, 2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Henrik Zetterberg	400th NHL game 	January 27, 2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Ville Leino 	1st NHL goal 	January 31, 2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Kris Draper 	1000th NHL game 	February 2, 2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Pavel Datsyuk 	500th NHL game 	February 13, 2009	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Mike Babcock 	200th win as coach of the Red Wings 	February 18, 2009	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Pavel Datsyuk 	500th NHL point 	February 25, 2009	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Kirk Maltby 	1000th NHL game 	February 27, 2009	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Chris Osgood 	300th win with the Red Wings 	March 14, 2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==Transactions==
===Free agents===
{|class="wikitable"	Acquired by Detroit	Acquired by Detroit 	Acquired by Detroit
Player 	Former team 	Contract Terms 	
Ty Conklin 	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 year; $750,000 	
Marian Hossa 	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 year; $7.4 million	
Darren Haydar	Atlanta Thrashers 	1 year 	
 
==Draft picks==
Detroit's selections at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario. 
Round	Overall Pick	Player 	Position 	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	30 	Thomas McCollum 	Goaltender	 	Guelph Storm (OHL)
3 	91 	Max Nicastro 	Defenseman	 	Chicago Steel (USHL)
4 	121 	Gustav Nyquist 	Center 	 	Malmö Redhawks (Sweden Jr.)
5 	151 	Julien Cayer 	Center 	 	Northwood School (HS-New York)
6 	181 	Stephen Johnston 	Left Wing 	 	Belleville Bulls (OHL)
7 	211 	Jesper Samuelsson	Center 	 	HC Vita Hästen (Swe-3)
==Farm teams==
The Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League remain the minor league affiliate of the Red Wings for the 2008–09 season.
==External links==
*2008-09 Detroit Red Wings Telecast Schedule
Category:Detroit Red Wings seasons
Category:2008 in hockey
Category:2009 in hockey