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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.

1978–79 Detroit Red Wings
League	15th NHL
Division	5th Norris
Conference	9th Wales
1978–79 record	23–41–16
Home record	15-17-8
Road record	8-24-8
Goals for	252
Goals against	295
Team information
General manager	Ted Lindsay
Coach	Bobby Kromm
Captain	Dennis Hextall Nick Libett and Paul Woods
Arena	Detroit Olympia
Team leaders
Goals	Václav Nedomanský (38)
Assists	Reed Larson (49)
Points	Vaclav Nedomansky (73)
Penalty minutes	Dennis Polonich (208)
Wins	Jim Rutherford (13)
Goals against average	Jim Rutherford (3.27)
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

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

^[1]

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.

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

The Red Wings did not qualify for the playoffs despite qualifying the previous year.

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

^[3]

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;

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.^[4]

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)

• 1978–79 NHL season

• "1978–79 Detroit Red Wings Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2009.