Detroit has been nicknamed “Hockeytown,” because of the immense popularity of the Red Wings. As the Cougars, they played their home games at the Border Cities Arena for their first season. They moved to the Detroit Olympia in 1927, which was their home arena for more than forty years.

The Cougars made the playoffs in 1929, for the first time and lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were renamed the Falcons in 1930. In 1932, James E. Norris bought the team and renamed it the Red Wings. The Red Wings reached their first Stanley Cup Finals in 1934, where they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks. Their luck shone quickly enough as they won their first Stanley Cup in 1936, by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs. The next year they won it again, this time beating the New York Rangers.

Their third Cup came in 1943, when they defeated the Boston Bruins. In 1946, Gordie Howe joined the Red Wings. He would prove to be one of the greatest players in the NHL in the following years. In 1950, the Red Wings won their fourth Stanley Cup over the New York Rangers and in 1952, they won it again by defeating the Montreal Canadiens. In December 1952, James E. Norris died, leaving the club to his daughter Marguerite, who was the first woman to be the head of an NHL team.

In 1954 and 1955, the Red Wings continued their Cup winning streak as they beat the Canadiens in the finals both times. After that victory, the Red Wings reached the Finals several times, but had to wait many years before they could win the Cup again. From 1967, for the next twenty years, the Wings were not very successful and were even called the “Dead Wings.”

After the team drafted Steve Yzerman in 1983, their performance started improving again. They made the playoffs again after a gap of six years. In 1987, they reached the semifinals, but lost to the Edmonton Oilers. Though Yzerman kept performing well, the team was still not making it beyond the playoffs. In 1990, there was talk of Steve being traded, because the team did not even make the playoffs that year. But that was not to be and the team soon returned to its glory. In 1997, they won their eighth Stanley Cup. They repeated the feat in 1998 and 2002. The Red Wings have won ten Stanley Cups, which is the highest for an American NHL team.