History of the Cougars

Founded in 1926, the team was known as the Detroit Cougars from then until 1930.

Since no arena in Detroit was ready at the time, the Cougars played their first season at the Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario. For the 1927–28 season, the Cougars moved into the new Detroit Olympia, which would be their home rink until December 15, 1979. This was also the first season behind the bench for Jack Adams, who would be the face of the franchise for the next 36 years as either coach or general manager.^[15]

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 the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1930, the Cougars have renamed the Falcons, but their woes continued, as they usually finished near the bottom of the standings, even though they made the playoffs again in 1932.

Established
1926

City
Detroit

League History
1926 – Present / National Hockey League

Team History
1932 – Present / Detroit Red Wings
1930 – 1932 / Detroit Falcons
1926 – 1930 / Detroit Cougars

Nickname
Cougars – The new Detroit franchise purchased players of the folded Victoria Cougars. The new Detroit franchise also adopted the Cougars’ nickname in honor of the folded franchise.

Championship
Stanley Cups 0
2008, 2002, 1998, 1997, 1955, 1954, 1952, 1950, 1943, 1937, 1936

Arena
2017 - Present / Little Caesars Arena
1979 – 2016 / Joe Louis Arena
1927 – 1979 / Detroit Olympia

*Ontario*
1926 – 1927 / Windsor Arena

Owner
2018 – Present / Ilitch Holdings
1982 – 2017 / Mike Ilitch
1955 – 1982 / Bruce Norris
1952 – 1955 / Marguerite Norris
1933 – 1952 / James E. Norris
1931 – 1933 / Creditors’ Committee
1926 – 1931 / Charles A. Hughes

Retired Number
1 / Terry Sawchuk
4 / Red Kelly
5 / Nicklas Lidstrom
7 / Ted Lindsay
9 / Gordie Howe
10 / Alex Delvecchio
12 / Sid Abel
19 / Steve Yzerman
99 / Wayne Gretzky

*Blue is this team’s history