1943–44 Chicago Black Hawks season

1943–44 Chicago Black Hawks
O'Brien Trophy Winners
Division 4th NHL
1943–44 record 22–23–5
Home record 15–6–4
Road record 7–17–1
Goals for 178
Goals against 187
Team information
General Manager Bill Tobin
Coach Paul Thompson
Captain Doug Bentley
Arena Chicago Stadium
Team leaders
Goals Doug Bentley (38)
Assists Clint Smith (49)
Points Doug Bentley (77)
Penalties in minutes Earl Seibert (40)
Wins Mike Karakas (12)
Goals against average Mike Karakas (3.04)
<1942–43 1944–45>

The 1943–44 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 18th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a 5th-place finish in 1942–43, failing to qualify for the playoffs.

The Black Hawks would once again finish just under .500, with a 22–23–5 record, good for 49 points, and 4th place in the NHL. The Hawks 178 goals would rank them just ahead of the New York Rangers for 5th in the league, while the 187 goals they let in ranked 4th. The team would qualify for the playoffs, as they would have 6 more points than the 5th place Boston Bruins.

Doug Bentley would have another huge season, breaking the Black Hawks record for points in a season, which he set in the 1942–43 season, by earning 77 points, along with a club record 38 goals, which led the NHL. Clint Smith, who the Black Hawks acquired from the Rangers in the off-season, would set a club record with 49 assists, and win the Lady Byng Trophy. Bill Mosienko would have a break out season with 32 goals and 70 points. Earl Seibert would anchor the defense, leading all defensemen with 33 points and had a team high 40 penalty minutes.

In goal, the Hawks would begin the season with Hec Highton in goal, however, after a 10–14–0 start, and a GAA of 4.50, the Hawks would trade him to the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League for former Hawks goaltender Mike Karakas. Karakas would put together a 12–9–5 record with a 3.04 GAA, helping Chicago clinch the final playoff spot.

The Black Hawks would have a 1st round playoff date with the 2nd place Detroit Red Wings, who finished 9 points better than Chicago in the regular season, in a best of 7 series. The Hawks and Wings would split the opening 2 games in Detroit, and Chicago would take a 2–1 series lead by shutting out the Red Wings in game 3. The Black Hawks would dominate game 4, winning 7–1 and take a commanding 3–1 series lead. Chicago would then complete the upset in game 5, defeating the Wings 5–2 in Detroit, and earn a spot in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1941. Their opponent would be the Montreal Canadiens, who dominated the NHL with 83 points, 34 points better than the Hawks in the regular season. Chicago would prove to be no match for the powerful Canadiens, as they would sweep the Black Hawks, including a Stanley Cup clinching win in overtime in the 4th game, to win the 1944 Stanley Cup.

Season standings

National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Montreal Canadiens 50 38 5 7 234 109 +125 83
2 Detroit Red Wings 50 26 18 6 214 177 +37 58
3 Toronto Maple Leafs 50 23 23 4 214 174 +40 50
4 Chicago Black Hawks 50 22 23 5 178 187 −9 49
5 Boston Bruins 50 19 26 5 223 268 −45 43
6 New York Rangers 50 6 39 5 162 310 −148 17

Game log

Regular Season

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 October 31 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks 0–1–0 0
2 November 4 Montreal Canadiens 5–3 Chicago Black Hawks 0–2–0 0
3 November 6 Chicago Black Hawks 4–3 New York Rangers 1–2–0 2
4 November 7 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Montreal Canadiens 1–3–0 2
5 November 11 Boston Bruins 4–6 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3–0 4
6 November 13 Chicago Black Hawks 4–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–3–0 6
7 November 14 New York Rangers 5–10 Chicago Black Hawks 4–3–0 8
8 November 18 Boston Bruins 3–7 Chicago Black Hawks 5–3–0 10
9 November 21 Chicago Black Hawks 2–5 Detroit Red Wings 5–4–0 10
10 November 25 Detroit Red Wings 3–4 Chicago Black Hawks 6–4–0 12
11 November 28 Boston Bruins 4–5 Chicago Black Hawks 7–4–0 14
12 November 30 Chicago Black Hawks 5–6 Boston Bruins 7–5–0 14
13 December 2 Chicago Black Hawks 2–6 Montreal Canadiens 7–6–0 14
14 December 5 New York Rangers 6–7 Chicago Black Hawks 8–6–0 16
15 December 12 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 9–6–0 18
16 December 14 Chicago Black Hawks 3–4 Boston Bruins 9–7–0 18
17 December 18 Chicago Black Hawks 4–8 Toronto Maple Leafs 9–8–0 18
18 December 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–2 Chicago Black Hawks 9–9–0 18
19 December 22 Detroit Red Wings 1–7 Chicago Black Hawks 10–9–0 20
20 December 25 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Montreal Canadiens 10–10–0 20
21 December 26 Chicago Black Hawks 6–7 New York Rangers 10–11–0 20
22 January 1 Montreal Canadiens 4–0 Chicago Black Hawks 10–12–0 20
23 January 4 Chicago Black Hawks 4–6 Boston Bruins 10–13–0 20
24 January 6 Chicago Black Hawks 1–6 Toronto Maple Leafs 10–14–0 20
25 January 9 Chicago Black Hawks 2–4 Detroit Red Wings 10–15–0 20
26 January 13 Chicago Black Hawks 5–2 New York Rangers 11–15–0 22
27 January 16 Montreal Canadiens 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks 11–15–1 23
28 January 20 Chicago Black Hawks 3–4 Detroit Red Wings 11–16–1 23
29 January 23 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–5 Chicago Black Hawks 12–16–1 25
30 January 27 New York Rangers 4–6 Chicago Black Hawks 13–16–1 27
31 January 29 Chicago Black Hawks 4–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 14–16–1 29
32 January 30 Detroit Red Wings 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 15–16–1 31
33 February 1 Chicago Black Hawks 2–0 Boston Bruins 16–16–1 33
34 February 5 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Montreal Canadiens 16–17–1 33
35 February 6 Chicago Black Hawks 4–4 New York Rangers 16–17–2 34
36 February 10 Boston Bruins 5–4 Chicago Black Hawks 16–18–2 34
37 February 13 Montreal Canadiens 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 16–18–3 35
38 February 20 Toronto Maple Leafs 0–0 Chicago Black Hawks 16–18–4 36
39 February 22 Chicago Black Hawks 8–4 New York Rangers 17–18–4 38
40 February 26 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 18–18–4 40
41 February 27 New York Rangers 2–4 Chicago Black Hawks 19–18–4 42
42 March 2 Boston Bruins 2–4 Chicago Black Hawks 20–18–4 44
43 March 4 Chicago Black Hawks 2–6 Detroit Red Wings 20–19–4 44
44 March 5 Detroit Red Wings 1–6 Chicago Black Hawks 21–19–4 46
45 March 9 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks 21–20–4 46
46 March 12 New York Rangers 4–4 Chicago Black Hawks 21–20–5 47
47 March 14 Chicago Black Hawks 4–6 Boston Bruins 21–21–5 47
48 March 16 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3 Montreal Canadiens 21–22–5 47
49 March 18 Chicago Black Hawks 3–6 Detroit Red Wings 21–23–5 47
50 March 19 Detroit Red Wings 0–2 Chicago Black Hawks 22–23–5 49

Playoffs

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Detroit Red Wings 1

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 21 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 Detroit Red Wings 1–0
2 March 23 Chicago Black Hawks 1–4 Detroit Red Wings 1–1
3 March 26 Detroit Red Wings 0–2 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1
4 March 28 Detroit Red Wings 1–7 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1
5 March 30 Chicago Black Hawks 5–2 Detroit Red Wings 4–1

Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 4 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Montreal Canadiens 0–1
2 April 6 Montreal Canadiens 3–1 Chicago Black Hawks 0–2
3 April 9 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks 0–3
4 April 13 Chicago Black Hawks 4–5 Montreal Canadiens 0–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Doug Bentley 50 38 39 77 22
Clint Smith 50 23 49 72 4
Bill Mosienko 50 32 38 70 10
Cully Dahlstrom 50 20 22 42 8
George Allen 45 17 24 41 36

Goaltending

Player GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA
Mike Karakas 26 1560 12 9 5 79 3 3.04
Hec Highton 24 1440 10 14 0 108 0 4.50

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Doug Bentley 9 8 4 12 4
Clint Smith 9 4 8 12 0
George Allen 9 5 4 9 8
Bill Mosienko 8 2 2 4 6
Cully Dahlstrom 9 0 4 4 6

Goaltending

Player GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Mike Karakas 9 549 4 5 24 1 2.62

References

Notes
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