1978–79 Detroit Red Wings season
The 1978–79 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 47th season, 53rd overall for the franchise. It is the last full season at the Detroit Olympia for the team. A year later, they would move to the then-newly built Joe Louis Arena.Offseason
Regular season
Final standings
Schedule and results
Playoffs
The Red Wings did not qualify for the playoffs despite qualifying the previous year.Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| RW | 80 | 38 | 35 | 73 | 19 | -13 | 13 | 0 | 2 |
| C | 79 | 28 | 43 | 71 | 14 | -27 | 14 | 2 | 3 |
| D | 79 | 18 | 49 | 67 | 169 | -20 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| LW | 70 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 26 | -28 | 8 | 0 | 3 |
| C | 76 | 18 | 31 | 49 | 124 | -31 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| LW | 78 | 19 | 19 | 38 | 8 | -17 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| LW | 80 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 59 | -26 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| LW | 68 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| D | 68 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 114 | -25 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| LW | 56 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 14 | -9 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| D | 75 | 5 | 23 | 28 | 156 | -13 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| D | 68 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 64 | -25 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| C/RW | 62 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 208 | -10 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 19 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| LW | 20 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 33 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 29 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| LW | 40 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 20 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 36 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 8 | -6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 18 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C | 24 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 52 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 72 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 51 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 58 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 20 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 37 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 66 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LW | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G | 32 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G | 50 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| 1892 | 32 | 13 | 14 | 5 | 103 | 3.27 | 1 |
| 2908 | 50 | 10 | 27 | 11 | 189 | 3.90 | 0 |
| Team: | 4800 | 80 | 23 | 41 | 16 | 292 | 3.65 | 1 |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals;
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;Awards and records
Transactions
Roster
Draft picks
Detroit's draft picks at the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Ladislav Svozil was the first Czechoslovakian player drafted in the history of the NHL Draft. The Red Wings selected Svozil with their 14th pick in the 1978 Draft.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 9 | Willie Huber | | Hamilton Fincups |
| 1 | 12 | Brent Peterson | | Portland Winterhawks |
| 2 | 28 | Glenn Hicks | | Flin Flon Bombers |
| 2 | 31 | Al Jensen | | Hamilton Fincups |
| 3 | 53 | Doug Derkson | | New Westminster Bruins |
| 4 | 62 | Bjorn Skaare | | Ottawa 67's |
| 5 | 78 | Ted Nolan | | Toronto Marlboros |
| 6 | 95 | Sylvain Locas | | Sherbrooke Castors |
| 7 | 112 | Wes George | | Saskatoon Blades |
| 8 | 129 | John Barrett | | Windsor Spitfires |
| 9 | 146 | Jim Malazdrewicz | | St. Boniface Saints |
| 10 | 163 | Geoff Shaw | | Hamilton Fincups |
| 11 | 178 | Carl Van Harrewyn | | New Westminster Bruins |
| 12 | 194 | Ladislav Svozil | | HC Vitkovice |
| 13 | 208 | Tom Bailey | | Kingston Canadians |
| 14 | 219 | Larry Lozinski | | Flin Flon Bombers |
| 15 | 224 | Randy Betty | | New Westminster Bruins |
| 16 | 226 | Brian Crawley | | St. Lawrence University |
| 17 | 228 | Doug Feasby | | Toronto Marlboros |
