The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are one of the Original Six teams of the league. Founded in 1926, the team was known as the Detroit Cougars until 1930. For the 1930–31 and 1931–32 seasons, the team was named the Detroit Falcons, before changing their name to the Red Wings in 1932.
As of 2021, the Red Wings have won the most Stanley Cup championships of any NHL franchise based in the United States (11), and are third overall in total Stanley Cup championships, behind the Montreal Canadiens (24) and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Wings played their home games at Joe Louis Arena from 1979 until 2017, after playing for 52 years at Olympia Stadium; they moved into the Little Caesars Arena beginning with the 2017–18 season. The Red Wings are one of the most popular and successful franchises in the NHL; fans and sports commentators refer to the Detroit area as "Hockeytown", which has been a registered trademark owned by the franchise since 1996.
Between the 1931–32 and 1965–66 seasons, the Red Wings missed the playoffs only four times. Between the 1966–67 and 1982–83 seasons, the Red Wings made the playoffs only two times. However, thereafter, from 1983–84 to 2015–16, they made the playoffs 30 times in 32 seasons, including 25-straight from 1990–91 to 2015–16 (not counting the cancelled 2004–05 season); in 2006, this became the longest active streak of postseason appearances in all of North American professional sports and finished tied for the third-longest streak in NHL history. Since 1983–84, the Red Wings have tallied six regular season first-place finishes and have won the Stanley Cup four times (1997, 1998, 2002, and 2008).
