2005–06 Detroit Red Wings season

The 2005–06 Detroit Red Wings season was the 80th National Hockey League season in Detroit, Michigan. The Wings once again found themselves having the best regular season record, scoring 124 points for the second-highest point total in franchise history.

2005–06 Detroit Red Wings
Presidents' Trophy winners
Central Division champions
Division	1st Central
Conference	1st Western
2005–06 record	58–16–8
Home record	27–9–5
Road record	31–7–3
Goals for	305
Goals against	209
Team information
General manager	Ken Holland
Coach	Mike Babcock
Captain	Steve Yzerman
Alternate captains	Nicklas Lidstrom Brendan Shanahan
Arena	Joe Louis Arena
Average attendance	20,066 (100%)
Team leaders
Goals	Brendan Shanahan (40)
Assists	Nicklas Lidstrom (64)
Points	Pavel Datsyuk (87)
Penalty minutes	Chris Chelios (108)
Plus/minus	Mathieu Schneider (33)
Wins	Manny Legace (37)
Goals against average	Manny Legace (2.19)

The Red Wings began the season with a conflict in goal as recent pickup Chris Osgood was injured in preseason activities and unproven Manny Legace was to start in goal. Legace played great, winning 10 of his first 11 games, and quickly earned the starting goaltender job. The Red Wings decided to start Legace in the playoffs but his inexperience quickly showed and Detroit was knocked out in the first round by the Edmonton Oilers (who'd go on to win the conference) in six games.

Detroit defenseman, Jiri Fischer, suffered a cardiac arrest in the first period of a game against the Nashville Predators on November 21. The game was stopped and eventually called as many fans in Joe Louis Arena either could not see what was going on or looked on in horror. Fischer was given CPR on the Wings' bench and then carried out on a stretcher. Nashville had a 1–0 lead within the game and it was decided that the score would be added onto the rescheduled game later in the season.[1]

The Red Wings sold out all 41 home games in 2005–06, as 20,066 fans packed Joe Louis Arena for every regular season and playoff game played in Detroit.

There was no All-Star Game this year as the Winter Olympics in Turin took place in February 2006, where nine Red Wings players represented their countries. Kris Draper represented Canada,[2] Chris Chelios represented the United States,[3] Robert Lang represented the Czech Republic, Pavel Datsyuk represented Russia, and Nicklas Lidstrom, Mikael Samuelsson, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Tomas Holmstrom represented Sweden.[4] Team Canada Head Coach Wayne Gretzky told Steve Yzerman it was his decision as to whether he wanted to play in the 2006 Olympics. Citing his age and playing ability, Yzerman bowed out to give up his roster spot to a "more deserving player."[5]

Sweden won the gold medal in ice hockey, as all three goals scored in the gold medal game were by Red Wing players. Red Wings' Head Coach Mike Babcock decided to give the five gold medal winners from Detroit time to return to Sweden to celebrate. They only missed one game, February 28 against the San Jose Sharks. In that game, Detroit suffered their worst loss of the season, losing by four goals.

For the first time in 10 years, Detroit was not shut out in any of their 82 regular season games.[6] Offensively, Detroit trailed only the Ottawa Senators in scoring and shots on goal, with 301 goals (305 including the four shootout-winning goals) and 2,796 shots, respectively. Furthermore, for the first time since the 1992–93 season, the Red Wings scored more than 100 power play goals during the regular season, this time with 102.

Defensively, the Red Wings finished second in most shutouts for, with nine and allowed only 206 goals (209 including three shootout-winning goals), good enough for third overall.

Regular season

The Red Wings finished the regular season with the League's best power-play percentage, at 22.13% (102 for 461).[7]

Season standings

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Detroit Red Wings	82	58	16	8	305	209	124
2	4	Nashville Predators	82	49	25	8	259	227	106
3	13	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	35	43	4	223	279	74
4	14	Chicago Blackhawks	82	26	43	13	211	285	65
5	15	St. Louis Blues	82	21	46	15	197	292	57

[8] Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference[9]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	P- Detroit Red Wings	CE	82	58	16	8	305	209	124
2	Y- Dallas Stars	PA	82	53	23	6	265	218	112
3	Y- Calgary Flames	NW	82	46	25	11	218	200	103
4	X- Nashville Predators	CE	82	49	25	8	259	227	106
5	X- San Jose Sharks	PA	82	44	27	11	266	242	99
6	X- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PA	82	43	27	12	254	229	98
7	X- Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	43	30	9	283	257	95
8	X- Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	41	28	13	256	251	95
8.5
9	Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	42	32	8	256	255	92
8	Los Angeles Kings	PA	82	42	35	5	249	270	89
11	Minnesota Wild	NW	82	38	36	8	231	215	84
12	Phoenix Coyotes	PA	82	38	39	5	246	271	81
13	Columbus Blue Jackets	CE	82	35	43	4	223	279	74
14	Chicago Blackhawks	CE	82	26	43	13	211	285	65
15	St. Louis Blues	CE	82	21	46	15	197	292	57

Divisions: CE – Central, PA – Pacific, NW – Northwest

P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

For complete final standings, see 2005–06 NHL season

Schedule and results

October

Record: 11–1–0; Home: 5–1–0; Road: 6–0–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 5	St. Louis	1 – 5	Detroit		Legace	20,066	1–0–0	2
2	October 6	Detroit	4 – 3	St. Louis		Legace	15,318	2–0–0	4
3	October 9	Calgary	3 – 6	Detroit		Legace	20,066	3–0–0	6
4	October 10	Vancouver	4 – 2	Detroit		Legace	20,066	3–1–0	6
5	October 13	Detroit	5 – 2	Los Angeles		Legace	18,118	4–1–0	8
6	October 15	Detroit	2 – 0	Phoenix		Legace	17,799	5–1–0	10
7	October 17	San Jose	2 – 3	Detroit	OT	Legace	20,066	6–1–0	12
8	October 21	Anaheim	2 – 3	Detroit		Legace	20,066	7–1–0	14
9	October 22	Detroit	6 – 0	Columbus		Legace	18,136	8–1–0	16
10	October 24	Detroit	6 – 2	Columbus		Legace	16,098	9–1–0	18
11	October 27	Chicago	2 – 5	Detroit		Legace	20,066	10–1–0	20
12	October 29	Detroit	4 – 2	Chicago		Osgood	20,658	11–1–0	22

November

Record: 7–5–2; Home: 4–2–1; Road: 3–3–1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
13	November 1	Chicago	1 – 4	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	12–1–0	24
14	November 3	Edmonton	4 – 3	Detroit	OT	Osgood	20,066	12–1–1	25
15	November 5	Phoenix	4 – 1	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	12–2–1	25
16	November 6	Detroit	4 – 1	St. Louis		Osgood	13,211	13–2–1	27
17	November 9	Los Angeles	5 – 4	Detroit	OT	Legace	20,066	14–2–1	29
18	November 11	Minnesota	1 – 3	Detroit		Legace	20,066	15–2–1	31
19	November 13	Detroit	1 – 4	Vancouver		Legace	18,630	15–3–1	31
20	November 16	Detroit	1 – 3	Calgary		Legace	19,289	15–4–1	31
21	November 17	Detroit	5 – 6	Edmonton	OT	Osgood	20,066	15–4–2	32
22	November 19	St. Louis	3 – 2	Detroit		Legace	20,066	15–5–2	32
	November 21	Nashville	PPD^†	Detroit		Legace	20,066
23	November 23	Colorado	3 – 7	Detroit		Legace	20,066	16–5–2	34
24	November 25	Detroit	1 – 3	Anaheim		Osgood	17,174	16–6–2	34
25	November 26	Detroit	7 – 6	San Jose		Osgood	17,496	17–6–2	36
26	November 28	Detroit	5 – 2	Los Angeles		Howard	18,118	18–6–2	38

^† Game was cancelled with 7:31 left in the first period after Jiri Fischer suffered heart failure on the bench. Nashville was ahead 1–0 and the score would be added to a January 23 rescheduled game.[10] Fischer was tended to and would soon after retire due to an enlarged heart and complications resulting thereof. He currently is director of player development for the Red Wings organization.

December

Record: 8–3–1; Home: 4–2–0; Road: 4–1–1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
27	December 1	Calgary	3 – 2	Detroit		Howard	20,066	18–7–2	38
28	December 4	NY Islanders	2 – 1	Detroit		Howard	20,066	18–8–2	38
29	December 6	New Jersey	2 – 5	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	19–8–2	40
30	December 9	Detroit	4 – 3	Washington		Osgood	18,277	20–8–2	42
31	December 12	Pittsburgh	1 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	21–8–2	44
32	December 13	Detroit	6 – 7	Atlanta		Osgood	17,559	21–9–2	44
33	December 15	Detroit	2 – 3	Florida	OT	Osgood	17,716	21–9–3	45
34	December 17	Detroit	6 – 3	Tampa Bay		Osgood	21,204	22–9–3	47
35	December 20	Columbus	3 – 4	Detroit	SO	Osgood	20,066	23–9–3	49
36	December 23	Detroit	3 – 2	Chicago	OT	Osgood	20,543	24–9–3	51
37	December 27	Detroit	4 – 1	Dallas		Osgood	18,584	25–9–3	53
38	December 31	Columbus	2 – 3	Detroit	OT	Osgood	20,066	26–9–3	55

January

Record: 8–4–2; Home: 4–3–1; Road: 4–1–1

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
39	January 3	Minnesota	4 – 2	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	26–10–3	55
40	January 5	St. Louis	0 – 3	Detroit		Legace	20,066	27–10–3	57
41	January 6	Detroit	3 – 1	Nashville		Legace	17,113	28–10–3	59
42	January 8	Dallas	6 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	28–11–3	59
43	January 10	Detroit	2 – 3	Carolina		Legace	18,730	28–12–3	59
44	January 12	Philadelphia	3 – 6	Detroit		Legace	20,066	29–12–3	61
45	January 14	NY Rangers	3 – 4	Detroit		Legace	20,066	30–12–3	63
46	January 18	Detroit	4 – 0	Columbus		Osgood	17,089	31–12–3	65
47	January 21	Detroit	4 – 3	Colorado		Legace	18,007	32–12–3	67
48	January 23^†	Nashville	3 – 2	Detroit		Legace	20,066	32–13–3	67
49	January 24	Nashville	2 – 1	Detroit	OT	Legace	20,066	32–13–4	67
50	January 26	Vancouver	1 – 2	Detroit		Legace	20,066	33–13–4	69
51	January 28	Detroit	1 – 2	Dallas	SO	Legace	18,584	33–13–5	71
52	January 30	Detroit	5 – 4	Minnesota		Legace	18,568	34–13–5	73

^†Makeup date for the November 21st game that was postponed. Nashville started the game with a 1–0 lead.

February

Record: 5–1–0; Home: 3–0–0; Road: 2–1–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
53	February 1	St. Louis	2 – 3	Detroit		Legace	20,066	35–13–5	75
54	February 4	Detroit	3 – 0	Colorado		Legace	18,007	36–13–5	77
55	February 8	Nashville	0 – 6	Detroit		Legace	20,066	37–13–5	79
56	February 9	Detroit	3 – 2	Nashville		Legace	17,113	38–13–5	81
57	February 12	Colorado	3 – 6	Detroit		Legace	20,066	39–13–5	83
58	February 28	Detroit	1 – 5	San Jose		Legace	17,496	39–14–5	83

March

Record: 11–1–3; Home: 4–1–3; Road: 7–0–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
59	March 1	Detroit	2 – 0	Anaheim		Osgood	16,606	40–14–5	85
60	March 4	Detroit	7 – 3	Phoenix		Legace	18,619	41–14–5	87
61	March 7	Phoenix	5 – 2	Detroit		Legace	20,066	41–15–5	89
62	March 9	Los Angeles	3 – 7	Detroit		Legace	20,066	42–15–5	89
63	March 11	Chicago	4 – 6	Detroit		Legace	20,066	43–15–5	91
64	March 12	Detroit	5 – 3	Chicago		Osgood	19,136	44–15–5	93
65	March 15	Anaheim	1 – 3	Detroit		Osgood	20,066	45–15–5	95
66	March 18	Detroit	4 – 3	Edmonton	SO	Legace	16,839	46–15–5	97
67	March 19	Detroit	7 – 3	Vancouver		Osgood	18,630	47–15–5	99
68	March 21	Nashville	3 – 2	Detroit	SO	Legace	20,066	47–15–6	100
69	March 23	San Jose	0 – 4	Detroit		Legace	20,066	48–15–6	102
70	March 25	Columbus	5 – 4	Detroit	SO	Osgood	20,066	48–15–7	103
71	March 27	Detroit	4 – 1	St. Louis		Legace	12,834	49–15–7	105
72	March 30	Detroit	4 – 2	Nashville		Legace	16,570	50–15–7	107
73	March 31	Chicago	3 – 2	Detroit	OT	Osgood	20,066	50–15–8	108

April

Record: 8–1–0; Home: 3–0–0; Road: 5–1–0

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
74	April 2	Detroit	3 – 2	Minnesota		Legace	18,568	51–15–8	110
75	April 3	Detroit	2 – 1	Calgary	SO	Osgood	19,289	52–15–8	112
76	April 7	Columbus	6 – 5	Detroit	SO	Legace	20,066	53–15–8	114
77	April 8	Detroit	4 – 2	Columbus		Osgood	18,136	54–15–8	116
78	April 11	Edmonton	0 – 2	Detroit		Legace	20,066	55–15–8	118
79	April 13	Detroit	7 – 3	Chicago		Legace	15,117	56–15–8	120
80	April 15	Detroit	3 – 2	St. Louis		Osgood	16,094	57–15–8	122
81	April 17	Dallas	2 – 3	Detroit		Legace	20,066	58–15–8	124
82	April 18	Detroit	3 – 6	Nashville		Osgood	17,113	58–16–8	124

• Green background indicates win.
• Red background indicates regulation loss.
• White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs

The Detroit Red Wings ended the 2005–06 regular season as the Western Conference's first seed and played Edmonton in the first round. Edmonton would go on to defeat Detroit and reach the Stanley Cup Finals, losing in Game 7 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Western Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton wins series 4–2

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 21	Edmonton	2 – 3	Detroit	2OT	Legace	20,066	1 – 0
2	April 23	Edmonton	4 – 2	Detroit		Legace	20,066	1 – 1
3	April 25	Detroit	3 – 4	Edmonton	2OT	Legace	16,839	1 – 2
4	April 27	Detroit	4 – 2	Edmonton		Legace	16,839	2 – 2
5	April 29	Edmonton	3 – 2	Detroit		Legace	20,066	2 – 3
6	May 1	Detroit	3 – 4	Edmonton		Legace	16,839	2 – 4

• Green background indicates win.
• Red background indicates loss.

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

			Regular season							Playoffs
Player	Pos		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Pavel Datsyuk	C		75	28	59	87	+26	22		5	0	3	3	0	0
Henrik Zetterberg	LW		77	39	46	85	+29	30		6	6	0	6	-2	2
Brendan Shanahan	LW		82	40	41	81	+29	105		6	1	1	2	0	6
Nicklas Lidstrom	D		80	16	64	80	+21	50		6	1	1	2	-4	2
Robert Lang	C		72	20	42	62	+17	72		6	3	3	6	-2	2
Tomas Holmstrom	LW		81	29	30	59	+14	66		6	1	2	3	-1	12
Mathieu Schneider	D		72	21	38	59	+33	86		6	1	7	8	-1	6
Jason Williams	C		80	21	37	58	+4	26		6	1	1	2	-3	6
Mikael Samuelsson	RW		71	23	22	45	+27	42		6	0	1	1	-1	6
Steve Yzerman	C		61	14	20	34	+8	18		4	0	4	4	-2	4
Kris Draper	C		80	10	22	32	+3	58		6	0	0	0	+3	6
Jason Woolley	D		53	1	18	19	+3	28		--	--	--	--	--	--
Johan Franzen	C		80	12	4	16	+4	36		6	1	2	3	0	4
Daniel Cleary	RW		77	3	12	15	+5	40		6	0	1	1	+2	6
Andreas Lilja	D		82	2	13	15	+18	98		6	0	1	1	-4	6
Mark Mowers	RW		46	4	11	15	+13	16		6	0	0	0	0	0
Brett Lebda	D		46	3	9	12	+9	20		6	0	0	0	+3	4
Chris Chelios	D		81	4	7	11	+22	108		6	0	0	0	+2	6
Kirk Maltby	LW		82	5	6	11	-9	80		6	2	1	3	+2	4
Niklas Kronwall	D		27	1	8	9	+11	28		6	0	3	3	0	2
Jiri Fischer	D		22	3	5	8	+8	33		--	--	--	--	--	--
Cory Cross*	D		16	1	1	2	+3	15		--	--	--	--	--	--
Don MacLean	C		1	1	1	2	+2	0		--	--	--	--	--	--
Jamie Rivers*	D		15	0	1	1	0	12		--	--	--	--	--	--
Valtteri Filppula	C		4	0	1	1	+1	2		--	--	--	--	--	--
Tomas Kopecky	RW		1	0	0	0	+1	2		--	--	--	--	--	--
Jiri Hudler	C		4	0	0	0	0	2		--	--	--	--	--	--
Kyle Quincey	D		1	0	0	0	0	0		--	--	--	--	--	--

*Stats reflect games played with Detroit only.

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

		Regular season										Playoffs
Player		GP	Min	W	L	OTL	GA	SO	SV%	GAA		GP	Min	W	L	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Manny Legace		51	2905	37	8	0	106	7	.915	2.19		6	1029	2	4	18	0	.884	2.65
Chris Osgood		32	1846	20	6	0	85	2	.897	2.79		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Jimmy Howard		4	201	1	2	0	10	0	.904	2.99		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Awards and records

Trophies and awards

• Presidents' Trophy: Detroit Red Wings
• James Norris Memorial Trophy: Nicklas Lidstrom
• Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Pavel Datsyuk
• Lester Patrick Trophy: Steve Yzerman

Milestones

Nicklas Lidstrom recorded his 600th career assist on March 7, 2006.

Transactions

The Red Wings were involved in the following transactions during the 2005–06 season.[11]

Trades

March 9, 2006	To Phoenix Coyotes Jamie Rivers	To Detroit Red Wings Seventh-round pick in 2006 Draft
March 9, 2006	To Detroit Red Wings Cory Cross	To Pittsburgh Penguins Fourth-round pick in 2007 Draft

Free agents

Player signed Former team G Chris Osgood St. Louis Blues D Andreas Lilja Nashville Predators F Mikael Samuelsson Florida Panthers

Player lost New team F Darren McCarty Calgary Flames G Curtis Joseph Phoenix Coyotes D Mathieu Dandenault Montreal Canadiens F Ray Whitney Carolina Hurricanes D Derian Hatcher Philadelphia Flyers

Draft picks

As there was no 2004–05 season to set the order for the draft, a lottery was held in which teams were assigned a number of balls, between one and three, based on the number of playoff appearances the team had had in the past three seasons. As the Red Wings had made the playoffs three consecutive seasons, they were given only one ball in the lottery. The Red Wings ended up with the 19th overall pick.

Detroit's picks at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario:

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	19	Jakub Kindl (D)	Czech Republic	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
2	42	Justin Abdelkader (LW)	United States	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)
3	80	Christofer Lofberg (C)	Sweden	Djurgardens IF
4	103	Mattias Ritola (C/W)	Sweden	Leksands IF Jr. (Sweden)
5	132	Darren Helm (LW)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
5	137	Johan Ryno (RW)	Sweden	Kumla Jr. (Sweden Jr.)
5	151	Jeff May	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
6	175	Juho Mielonen	Finland	Ilves (Finland Jr.)
7	214	Bretton Stamler	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)

Farm teams

Grand Rapids Griffins

The Griffins were Detroit's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2005–06.

Toledo Storm

The Storm were the Red Wings' ECHL affiliate for the 2005–06 season.

Two players were signed to short deals from the storm this year including, G. Moore Sr. And A. McCarthy. Neither of which saw playing time.

See also

• 2005–06 NHL season

References

• Player stats: Detroit Red Wings player stats on espn.com
• Game log: Detroit Red Wings game log on espn.com
• Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com

1. Defenseman stable, breathing on his own, ESPN.com, accessed August 31, 2007.
2. Meet the athletes: ice hockey, cbc sports, accessed August 31, 2007.
3. Chris Chelios, usolympicteam.com, accessed August 31, 2007.
4. Let the games begin Archived 2006-04-27 at the Wayback Machine, NHL.com, accessed August 31, 2007.
5. Yzerman pulls name out of Team Canada list, ESPN.com, accessed August 31, 2007.
6. https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/DET/2006_games.html
7. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2006.html
8. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2009). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2010. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 162.
9. "2005–2006 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
10. Wings' Fischer collapses, game cancelled, TSN.com, November 21, 2005, accessed August 30, 2007.
11. 2005 NHL Free Agents, proicehockey.about.com, accessed August 30, 2007.