Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings Know All About Repeat Performances
Detroit and Pittsburgh met in 2008 and 2009 Cup finals
This spring’s Stanley Cup final is stirring up memories of an era when playing for Lord Stanley’s mug was something the Detroit Red Wings penciled into their plans at the outset of every NHL season.
It’s the defending champion Florida Panthers facing off with the Edmonton Oilers in a repeat performance of the 2023-24 Stanley Cup final. That hasn’t happened since 2008 and 2009, when the Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins squared off for the Stanley Cup in sucessive years.
Detroit downed Pittsburgh in six games in the 2008 final. That’s the most recent Cup victory by the Red Wings. The following spring, Pittsburgh rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 series deficits to down Detroit in seven games.
The SAVE and the CELEBRATION. 🏆
A 2009 Stanley Cup Final to remember for the @penguins.#HockeyHappyHour | @jerseymikes pic.twitter.com/xPbmWuHzUH
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 2, 2020
This will be the 12th time in NHL history that there’s been a Stanley Cup final rematch in successive years. If you’re keeping score at home, the same team has swept both ends of this unique doubleheader seven times.
Red Wings Played In Only Stanley Cup Threepeat
The Red Wings have been participants in five of those previous 11 occasions. Only the Montreal Canadiens (six) have been involved more often than Detroit.
Detroit dropped both the 1962-63 and 1963-64 Cup final series to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1963, the Red Wings lost in five games. A year later, Detroit was leading the series 3-2 and Game 6 3-2 late in the second period on home ice at Olympia Stadium. Toronto tied the score, then won on Bobby Baun’s infamous overtime goal scored while he was playing with a hairline fracture in his ankle.
1964. Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals. Bob Baun. The game after he scored an OT winner on a broken ankle. Toronto would defeat Detroit 4-0 in Game 7 and hoist the Stanley Cup for the 3rd consecutive time.
Hope you're resting well Boomer.🙏 pic.twitter.com/5zOxkke1kj
— The Hockey Samurai 侍 (@hockey_samurai) September 9, 2023
The Leafs easily beat Detroit 4-0 in Game 7 of that set.
Toronto also took both ends of a 1948 and 1949 Cup final rematch with Detroit. The Leafs swept to victory in both series.
The Canadiens and Red Wings took part in the only threepeat of Stanley Cup final series. Detroit beat Montreal in a seven-game final in 1954. Tony Leswick would net the Game 7 Cup winner in OT. The 1955 final was also a seven-game affair. It was again the Red Wings winning in seven games. Gordie Howe accounted for the Cup-winning goal and Alex Delvecchio scored twice in a 3-1 Game 7 triumph.
A third rematch came in the spring of 1956. This time, Montreal were easy winners in a five-game series.
