The ‘77-‘78 is what got me into the Wings. In fact I can nail down to the minute the moment I became a Wings fan. Coming home from hockey practice, 9 years old, my dad went into Mac’s Milk to pick up a few things, and left the car running with the radio on with the lowly Wings nursing a 2-1 lead late over the mighty 2-time defending Cup champs Montreal Canadiens. The crowd was into it, Bruce Martyn & Sid Abel were excited, and I suddenly found myself invested in the outcome. The Wings ended up giving up a goal with 16 seconds to go for a tie, but I was hooked. A new coach did seem to be key to the Wings’ bounce that season. Ted Lindsay and his “Aggressive Hockey Is Back In Town” slogan energized the fanbase - I even bought the t-shirt. Bill Lochead’s playoff series winning goal against Atlanta that next spring is the great forgotten goal of Red Wings history. Of course it all went to pot that summer with the Rogie Vachon-Dale McCourt-Marcel Dionne fiasco.
https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/197710200DET.html
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/250882-the-dale-mccourt-saga-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-team-loyalty