October 16, 1951
The first international television broadcast in the U.S. took place when Americans watched Princess Elizabeth during her Canadian visit.

April 15, 1952
President Truman signed the Japanese Peace Treaty, granting Japan full sovereignty and officially ended WWII in the pacific region.

July 14, 1952
General Motors perfected an air conditioning unit for cars using nontoxic Freon.



Most Goals - Gordie Howe: 47
Most Assists - Gordie Howe & Ted Lindsay: 39
Most Points - Gordie Howe: 86
Most Penalty Minutes - Ted Lindsay: 123
Most Wins, Goaltender - Terry Sawchuk: 44
Lowest Goals-Against Average - Terry Sawchuk: 1.94
Most Shutouts - Terry Sawchuk: 12
NHL Award Winners - Gordie Howe - Hart Trophy; Gordie Howe - Art Ross Trophy; Terry Sawchuk - Vezina Trophy
Terry Sawchuk, Red Kelly, Ted Lindsay & Gordie Howe - 1st Team All-Star

Central Division	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA
DETROIT	44	14	12	100	215	133
Montreal	34	26	10	78	195	164
Toronto	29	25	16	74	168	157
Boston	25	29	16	66	162	176
New York	23	34	13	59	192	219
Chicago	17	44	9	43	158	241

Playoff Results
Defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in Series "A" (4-0)
Defeated the Montreal Canadiens in Series "C" (4-0)
Leading Playoff Scorers
Ted Lindsay, Metro Prystai & Gordie Howe (7PTS)
Stanley Cup Champion
Detroit Red Wings



Despite a stunning setback in the 1950-51 playoffs, excitement still buzzed in Detroit. The Red Wings owned the game's best player (Gordie Howe), its most determined competitor (Ted Lindsay) and the man ultimately rated as hockey's greatest goalkeeper (Terry Sawchuk). Soon, they would again lift the sport's ultimate prize.

This would be the last season for Detroit's legendary Production Line and once more, the trio of Howe, Lindsay and Sid Abel finished 1-2-3 in team scoring. Howe equaled his NHL mark with 86 points to retain the NHL scoring title, while his 47 goals set a club record, ranking Howe second in NHL history to the 50-goal performance of Montreal's Maurice (Rocket) Richard in 1944-45.

The Wings assembled a club-record 15-game unbeaten streak from November 27 through December 28, as well as a 10-0-5 record unbeaten run on the road from October 18 to December 20, losing consecutive games just once all season. "I always felt sorry for who we were going to play the next night after we lost, because we were going to kick the living hell out of them," forward Marty Pavelich said.

Finishing first, Detroit equaled its club record with 44 wins, posting a second straight 100-point campaign, the only franchise to accomplish this feat during the NHL's first 54 seasons.

Howe added his first Hart Trophy as NHL MVP to his second Art Ross Trophy, while Sawchuk hung up a team-record 12 shutouts, earning the Vezina Trophy. Sawchuk, Howe, Lindsay and defenseman Red Kelly were selected to the NHL's First All-Star Team and all four, along with Abel, played in the NHL All-Star Game.

As outstanding as the regular-season was, the playoffs would prove to be the most dominant performance in Stanley Cup history.

The Wings swept to the championship in the minimum eight games, the first team ever to do so. Sawchuk posted four shutouts, as Detroit never allowed a post-season goal on Olympia ice. Lindsay scored in five straight playoff games, equaling a club standard established by Howe in 1948-49.

When it was over, GM Jack Adams described this group as the best Wings team ever assembled.



Wings sweep to their 5th cup

Detroit established there would be no letdown this spring, opening the semifinals with 3-0 and 1-0 whitewashes of Toronto. The Leafs were victimized 6-2 and 3-1 on home ice and the Wings were on their way to Montreal for the Stanley Cup final.

After posting 3-1 and 2-1 verdicts at the Forum, their return to the Olympia again saw Sawchuk close the door and a pair of 3-0 victories brought Lord Stanley's mug back to Hockeytown.

The Wings weren't the only ones flying on the ice that spring. So were mollusks, launched from the seats to commence a tradition which continues today.

When Detroit returned from Montreal up 2-0, Red Wings season-ticket holders Pete and Jerry Cusimano thought it would good luck to toss an octopus on the ice, since its eight tentacles represented the eight wins it took to attain the Stanley Cup.

Acquiring said mollusk would be easy, since the brothers were proprietors of an east-side Detroit fish market.

During the second period of Game 4 of the final, Pete reached under his seat and unleashed his flying octopus, changing Red Wings playoff hockey forever.



Sawchuk posts four shutouts in eight games

You can't win the Stanley Cup without great goaltending and with the type of goaltending Terry Sawchuk supplied in the 1951-52 playoffs, you couldn't lose. "Sawchuk performed as if he were triplets," Toronto writer Red Burnett suggested of his playoff performance.

Winning eight straight games, Sawchuk posted an astonishing 0.63 goals-against average and an amazing .977 save percentage. The red light never went on behind him in four games at the Olympia and his four shutouts tied a Stanley Cup record.

"I never had the idea the puck would get through," was Sawchuk's own assessment of his performance that spring.

Detroit GM Jack Adams embraced Sawchuk after the Cup-clinching win. "The greatest in hockey," he said of his goalie. "It sure helps when you've got a kid like that out there."



Gaye Stewart was dealt in the summer to the New York Rangers for Tony Leswick, who could play either wing. In a five-for-one deal with Chicago, Detroit GM Jack Adams shipped George Gee, Jim McFadden, Max McNab, Jimmy Peters and Clare Martin to the Blackhawks for $75,000 and defenseman Hugh Coflin. Center Alex Delvecchio, who set a rookie mark with six game-winning goals, center Fred Glover and defensemen Benny Woit and Larry Zeidel emerged from Detroit's farm system.



Red Wing Captains who have coached the team
Art Duncan
Sid Abel
Ted Lindsay
Alex Delvecchio



Nine members of the 1951-52 Wings - Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, Sid Abel, Red Kelly, Fred Glover, Marcel Pronovost, Vic Stasiuk, Johnny Wilson and Larry Wilson - later served as NHL coaches or GMs.


1951-52 Final
Terry Sawchuk made his debut in the Cup Final and rose to the occasion, recording two shutouts and limiting Montreal to just two goals during the four game series. Meanwhile, Gordie Howe contributed his first two career goals in a Stanley Cup championship series.
The Red Wings set an NHL record by winning all eight postseason games, including a four-game sweep over Toronto in the first round.

Semifinals