Detroit Cougars (NHL)

The Detroit Cougars (colloquially referred to as the Cougars) were a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of its American Division; They joined alongside the New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks. In 1930, the team was renamed the Detroit Falcons before being rebranded as the Detroit Red Wings two years later.

Detroit Cougars
Division	American
Founded	1926
History	Detroit Cougars 1926–1930 Detroit Falcons 1930–1932 Detroit Red Wings 1932–present
Home arena	Detroit Olympia
City	Detroit, Michigan
Team colors	Red, white
Media	(Unknown)
Owner(s)	Arnold Seyburn
General manager	Jack Adams
Head coach	Jack Adams
Captain	N/A
Stanley Cups	0
Conference championships	0
Presidents' Trophy	0
Division championships	0
Official website	Falcons

History

1925–1926: Foundation

At the April 18, 1926, NHL meetings to discuss expansion of the NHL, five applications were received from Detroit along with three from Chicago, one from Cleveland, one from New Jersey, one from Hamilton and one from New York. The New York application to become the New York Rangers was approved. The NHL decided to investigate all applicants before deciding at their next meeting. At the time, it was known that the Western Canada Hockey League was folding. Other than the Rangers, there was opposition to adding any other teams to the NHL. The NHL constitution required unanimous approval on adding new teams and the New York Americans were opposed to the plan to add one team in Detroit and one in Chicago, as the Americans favoured two teams in Chicago. This was overcome at the May 2, 1926, NHL meeting by amending the NHL constitution, which required only a 2⁄3 approval, to allow a simple majority vote for the approval of new teams and it became expected that Chicago and Detroit would receive franchises. At the meeting, what were now two competing syndicates vying for the Detroit franchise, one from Townsend and McCreath, and one from Bierer, were ordered to amalgamate by the NHL.

The next day, May 3, it was announced by Detroit promoters Morris Caplan and Morris Friedberg that they had purchased the 1925 Stanley Cup champion Victoria Cougars in expectation of an NHL franchise being awarded to them at NHL meetings later that month. Similarly, the Portland Rosebuds were also purchased that day by Chicago interests. On May 15, 1926, Detroit was tentatively awarded an NHL expansion team to a group of investors led by Townsend, Seyburn and McCreath, not Caplan and Friedberg, on condition of the arena being ready for the upcoming season. At the time, the arena was expected to be ready for December 1. The Victoria Club was sold by Lester and Frank Patrick to the Townsend group for $100,000, of which $25,000 went to Caplan and Friedberg. Although the arena was not ready, the franchise was permanently approved by the NHL on September 25, 1926. The franchise was established as the Detroit Cougars, retaining the Victoria name. However, the NHL does not consider the Red Wings to be a continuation of the Victoria team. The Rangers had been issued a franchise on May 15, while the Chicago Black Hawks joined the league the same day as the Cougars; the additions of these clubs increased the number of teams in the league to ten.

1926–1932: Playing years

Without a Detroit arena, the new Cougars played their first season in Windsor, Ontario, at the Border Cities Arena. Frank Patrick of Victoria did not come east to manage Detroit. The Cougars signed former Calgary Tigers player Art Duncan to play and coach the team, but the NHL, in its distribution of WHL players ordered Detroit to send players Art Gagne and Gord Fraser to the Chicago Black Hawks for Duncan. The Cougars played their first game on November 18, 1926, losing 2–0 to the Boston Bruins, and finished their first season with a record of 12 wins, 28 losses and 4 ties for 28 points, the worst record in the league; the 12 wins and 4 ties remain club records for fewest wins and fewest ties in a season.

The next year, the 1927–28 season, the team moved into the Detroit Olympia, playing their first game on November 22, 1927. This building would be the home arena for the team until 1979. Also in that year, Duncan was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was replaced as coach and general manager by Jack Adams, recently retired from the Ottawa Senators. Adams would be the face of the franchise for the next 36 years as coach or general manager. The Cougars finished with a record of 19-19-6, moving up to fourth place in the American division. The Cougars made the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 1929 with Carson Cooper leading the team in scoring. The Cougars were outscored 7–2 in the two-game series with Toronto. In 1930, the team changed its name to the Detroit Falcons as a result of a promotion with a newspaper, but occasionally still retained the Cougars' for select games as its tertiary uniforms. However, the team continued to have financial difficulties, and was forced into receivership in 1931.

Rebranding

Chicago grain merchant James E. Norris bought the team in 1932. His first act was to change the team's name into the Detroit Red Wings. He also designed a new logo with a wing protruding from a wheel, more or less the same logo that is used today. Norris believed the logo would help the team curry favor with Detroit's auto industry. He also wanted to pay homage to a hockey team for whom he had played earlier in the century, the Montreal Hockey Club—nicknamed the Winged Wheelers. Under the new name Red Wings, the team began to improve. Carl Voss was named the inaugural recipient of the NHL rookie-of-the-year award in 1932–33. The team as a whole also began to enjoy success. They reached the 1934 Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Chicago Black Hawks. Additionally, the Cougars name was fully dropped altogether by 1929, thus ending its run onto the ice permanently. Despite this, some Detroit Cougars players had their numbers retired within 1986 via an special celebration, showing them that they still use the Cougars nickname for occasional circumstances.

Players

Retired numbers

Detroit Cougars retired numbers (via Detroit Red Wings)

No.	Player	Position	Career	Number retirement
2	Red Green	LW	1919–1932	August 22, 1984
3	Dolly Dolson	G	1923–1933	August 22, 1984
11	Art Duncan	D	1913–1931	August 22, 1984
17	Hap Holmes	C	1912–1928	August 22, 1984
39	Omaha Taylor	N/A	1966–1999	February 6, 2024
99	Wayne Gretzky	N/A	1979-1999	February 6, 2000

While both Wayne Gretzky and Omaha Taylor never actually played for the Cougars, as they were not yet born at the time, they are honored as part of the Cougars' retired players list due to the Red Wings being the rightsholder of all history relating to the Detroit Cougars. Furthermore, both of their playing numbers were retired league-wide during the 2000 and 2024 NHL All-Star Games respectively, making them unable to issue those numbers.