{"id":13298,"date":"2017-07-30T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-30T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=13298"},"modified":"2022-04-18T15:36:29","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T19:36:29","slug":"starting-six-detroit-red-wings-all-time-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/07\/30\/starting-six-detroit-red-wings-all-time-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting Six: Detroit Red Wings All-Time Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Starting Six series comes to you to dive into the best player at each position all-time for every organization. The biggest and best at each position, with the most memorable moments in franchise history. Here is the Detroit Red Wings all-time lineup.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Detroit Red Wings have had a storied 90-season history and they’re not afraid to tell you about it and celebrate it, hence the recently expired 25-season playoff streak. There is good reason to however, as the number of players, moments, and championships seems limitless in Detroit’s history. When “Hockeytown” was Hockeytown. Narrowing down the starting six for the franchise is a quite a difficult task. Here is an attempt to do so.<\/p>\n

Starting Six: Detroit Red Wings All-Time Lineup<\/h2>\n

Center:\u00a0Steve Yzerman<\/a> (1983-2006)<\/h3>\n

With his number 19 hanging in the rafters, there’s not a more iconic modern-day Red Wing than Yzerman. Drafted fourth overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, he debuted that season and immediately made an impact at the end of the “Dead Wings” era. Yzerman was named the youngest captain in team history in 1986 at 21-years-old. From 1966-83, the team made the playoffs twice in 17 seasons. They missed the playoffs twice in his 22-season career.<\/p>\n

Through it all, he scored 692 goals and 1,755 points in 1,514 games. From 1987-93, he was among the game’s best with six consecutive 100-point seasons that saw him score 50-or-more goals five of the six years, topping out at 65 in 1988-89. In Red Wings history, the now-general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning ranks fourth in games played, second in goals, first in assists (1,063), second in points, first in powerplay goals (202), first in shorthanded goals (50), and first in game-winning goals (94).<\/p>\n

However, under head coach Scotty Bowman, Yzerman gradually sacrificed regular season offense for championships when he took over in 1993. In the postseason however, Yzerman still has an incredible resume, scoring 70 goals and 185 points in 196 games. That earned him a Conn Smythe in 1998 when the team won back-to-back Cups, leading a team that persevered through losing teammate Vladimir Konstantinov<\/a><\/strong> on the ice carrying his belief that came from off of it. He lead 2002’s incredibly built Hall of Fame squad to a third Championship in six years on a bum knee and still scored six goals and 23 points in 23 games. Out of every moment Yzerman created, however, the most iconic came in a year in which his team didn’t even make it to the Stanley Cup Final.<\/p>\n